the Sabbath holds in the mind of God. It is needless to multiply
passages, but there is just one to which we must refer the reader, in
connection with our present subject, namely, Leviticus xxiii.--"And
the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 'Speak unto the children of Israel,
and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the Lord, which ye shall
proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are My feasts. Six days
shall work be done; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of rest, a holy
convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the Sabbath of the
Lord in all your dwellings." (Ver. 1-3.)
Here it stands at the head of all the feasts given in this marvelous
chapter, in which we have foreshadowed the entire history of God's
dealings with His people Israel. The Sabbath is the expression of
God's eternal rest, into which it is His purpose yet to bring His
people, when all their toils and sorrows, their trials and
tribulations, shall have passed away--that blessed "Sabbath-keeping
[σαββατισμός]" which "remaineth for the people of God." In
various ways He sought to keep this glorious rest before the hearts of
His people; the seventh day, the seventh year, the year of
jubilee--all these lovely sabbatic seasons were designed to set forth
that blessed time when Israel shall be gathered back to their own
beloved land, when the Sabbath shall be kept, in all its deep, divine
blessedness, as it never has been kept yet.
And this leads us, naturally, to the second point in connection with
the Sabbath, namely, its permanency. This is plainly proved by such
expressions as, "perpetual," "a sign forever," "throughout your
generations." Such words would never be applied to any merely
temporary institution. True it is, alas! that Israel never really kept
the Sabbath according to God; they never understood its meaning, never
entered into its blessedness, never drank into its spirit. They made
it a badge of their own righteousness; they boasted in it as a
national institution, and used it for self-exaltation; but they never
celebrated it in communion with God.
We speak of the nation as a whole. We doubt not there were precious
souls who, in secret, enjoyed the Sabbath, and entered into the
thoughts of God about it; but as a nation, Israel never kept the
Sabbath according to God. Hear what Isaiah says, "Bring no more vain
oblations; incense is an abomination unto Me; the new moons and
_Sabbaths_, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is
iniquity, even the solemn meeting." (Chap. i. 13.)
Here we see that the precious and beautiful institution of the Sabbath
which God had given as a sign of His covenant with His people, had, in
their hands, become a positive abomination, perfectly intolerable to
Him. And when we open the pages of the New Testament, we find the
leaders and heads of the Jewish people continually at issue with our
Lord Jesus Christ in reference to the Sabbath. Look, for example, at
the opening verses of Luke vi.--"And it came to pass on the second
Sabbath after the first, that He went through the corn-fields; and His
disciples plucked the ears of corn, and did eat, rubbing them in their
hands. And certain of the Pharisees said unto them, 'Why do ye that
which is not lawful to do on the Sabbath days?' And Jesus answering
them said, 'Have ye not read so much as this, what David did, when
himself was a hungred, and they which were with him; how he went into
the house of God, and did take and eat the show-bread, and gave also
to them that were with him; which it is not lawful to eat, but for the
priests alone?' And He said unto them that the Son of Man is Lord also
of the Sabbath."
And again, we read, "It came to pass also on another Sabbath, that He
entered into the synagogue and taught; and there was a man whose right
hand was withered. And the scribes and Pharisees _watched Him_,
whether He would heal on the Sabbath day, that they might find an
accusation against Him." (Only conceive, an accusation for healing a
poor, afflicted fellow-mortal!) "But He knew their thoughts"--yes, He
read their hearts through to their very centre, "and said to the man
which had the withered hand, 'Rise up, and stand forth in the midst.'
And he arose and stood forth. Then said Jesus unto them, 'I will ask
you one thing, Is it lawful on the Sabbath day to do good, or to do
evil? to save life, or to destroy it?' And looking round about upon
them all, He said unto the man, 'Stretch forth thine hand.' And he did
so; and his hand was restored whole as the other. And they were filled
with madness; and communed one with another what they might do to
Jesus."
What an insight we have here into the hollowness and worthlessness of
man's Sabbath-keeping! Those religious guides would rather let the
disciples starve than have _their_ Sabbath interfered with; they would
allow the man to carry his withered hand to the grave rather than have
him healed on _their_ Sabbath. Alas! alas! it was indeed their
Sabbath, and not God's. His rest could never comport with hunger and
withered hands. They had never read aright the record of David's act
in eating the show-bread. They did not understand that legal
institutions must give way in the presence of divine grace meeting
human need. Grace rises, in its magnificence, above all legal
barriers, and faith rejoices in its lustre; but mere religiousness is
offended by the activities of grace and the boldness of faith. The
Pharisees did not see that the man with the withered hand was a
striking commentary upon the nation's moral condition, a living proof
of the fact that they were far away from God. If they were as they
ought to be, there would have been no withered hands to heal; but they
were not, and hence their Sabbath was an empty formality--a powerless,
worthless ordinance--a hideous anomaly, hateful to God, and utterly
inconsistent with the condition of man.
Take another instance, in Luke xiii.--"And He was teaching in one of
the synagogues on the Sabbath." (Assuredly, the Sabbath was no day of
rest to Him.) "And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of
infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise
lift up herself. And when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him, and
said unto her, 'Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity.' And He
laid His hands on her, and _immediately she was made straight, and
glorified God_." Beautiful illustration of the work of grace in the
soul, and the practical result, in every case. All on whom Christ lays
His blessed hands are "immediately made straight," and enabled to
glorify God.
But man's Sabbath was touched. "The ruler of the synagogue answered
with indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath day."
He was indignant at the gracious work of healing, though quite
indifferent as to the humiliating case of infirmity; and he "said unto
the people, 'There are six days in which men ought to work: in them
therefore come and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.'" How little
this poor hollow religionist knew that he was in the very presence of
the Lord of the true Sabbath! How utterly insensible he was to the
moral inconsistency of attempting to keep a Sabbath while man's
condition called aloud for divine work! "The Lord then answered him,
and said, 'Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the Sabbath
loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to
watering? And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom
Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond
on the Sabbath day?'"
What a withering rebuke! What an opening up of the hollowness and
utter wretchedness of their whole system of Judaism! Only think of the
glaring incongruity of a Sabbath and a daughter of Abraham bound by
the cruel hand of Satan for eighteen years! There is nothing in all
this world so blinding to the mind, so hardening to the heart, so
deadening to the conscience, so demoralizing to the whole being, as
religion without Christ. Its deceiving and degrading power can only be
thoroughly judged in the light of the divine presence. For aught that
the ruler of the synagogue cared, that poor woman might have gone on
to the end of her days bowed together and unable to lift up herself.
He would have been well content to let her go on as a sad witness of
the power of Satan, provided he could keep his Sabbath. His religious
indignation was excited, not by the power of Satan as seen in the
woman's condition, but by the power of Christ as seen in her complete
deliverance.
But the Lord gave him his answer. "And when He had said these things,
all His adversaries were ashamed" (as well they might); "and all the
people rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by Him."
What a striking contrast! The advocates of a powerless, heartless,
worthless religion unmasked and covered with shame and confusion on
the one hand, and on the other, all the people rejoicing in the
glorious actings of the Son of God, who had come into their midst to
deliver them from the crushing power of Satan, and fill their hearts
with the joy of God's salvation, and their mouths with His praise!
We must now ask the reader to turn to the gospel of John for further
illustration of our subject. We earnestly desire that this vexed
question of the Sabbath should be thoroughly examined in the light of
Scripture. We are convinced that there is very much more involved in
it than many professing Christians are aware.
At the opening of John v, we are introduced to a scene strikingly
indicative of Israel's condition. We do not here attempt to go fully
into the passage, we merely refer to it in connection with the subject
before us.
The pool of Bethesda, or "house of mercy"--while it was undoubtedly
the expression of the mercy of God toward His people--afforded
abundant evidence of the miserable condition of man in general, and of
Israel in particular. Its five porches were thronged with "a great
multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the
moving of the water." What a sample of the whole human family, and of
the nation of Israel! What a striking illustration of their moral and
spiritual condition as viewed from a divine stand-point. "Blind, halt,
withered"--such is man's real state, if he only knew it.
But there was one man in the midst of this impotent throng so far
gone--so feeble and helpless, that the pool of Bethesda could not meet
his case. "A certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and
eight years. When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a
long time in that case, He saith unto him, 'Wilt thou _be made_
whole?'" What grace and power in this question! It went far beyond the
utmost stretch of the impotent man's thoughts. He thought only of
human help, or of his own ability to get into the pool. He knew not
that the speaker was above and beyond the pool, with its occasional
movement--beyond angelic ministry--beyond all human help and effort,
the Possessor of all power in heaven and on earth. "The impotent man
answered Him, 'Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put
me into the pool; but while I am coming, another steppeth down before
me.'" What a true picture of all those who are seeking salvation by
ordinances! Each one doing the best he could for himself. No care for
others. No thought of helping them. "Jesus saith unto him, 'Rise, take
up thy bed, and walk.' And immediately the man was made whole, and
took up his bed, and walked: _and on the same day was the Sabbath_."
Here we have man's Sabbath again. It certainly was not God's Sabbath.
The miserable multitude gathered around the pool proved that God's
full rest had not yet come--that His glorious antitype of the Sabbath
had not yet dawned on this sin-stricken earth. When that bright day
comes, there will be no blind, halt, and withered folk thronging the
porches of the pool of Bethesda. God's Sabbath and human misery are
wholly incompatible.
But it was man's Sabbath. It was no longer the seal of Jehovah's
covenant with the seed of Abraham (as it was once, and will be again),
but the badge of man's self-righteousness. "The Jews therefore said
unto him that was cured, 'It is the Sabbath day; it is not lawful for
thee to carry thy bed.'" It was no doubt lawful enough for him to lie
on that bed, week after week, month after month, year after year,
while they were going on with their empty, worthless, hollow attempt
at Sabbath-keeping. If they had had one ray of spiritual light, they
would have seen the flagrant inconsistency of attempting to maintain
their traditionary notions respecting the Sabbath in the presence of
human misery, disease, and degradation. But they were utterly blind,
and hence when the glorious fruits of Christ's ministry were being
displayed, they had the temerity to pronounce them unlawful.
Nor this only; but "therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought
to slay Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath day."
What a spectacle! Religious people--yea, the leaders and teachers of
religion--the guides of the professed people of God, seeking to slay
the Lord of the Sabbath because He had made a man every whit whole on
the Sabbath day!
But mark our Lord's reply.--"My Father _worketh_ hitherto, and I
work." This brief but comprehensive statement gives us the root of
the whole matter. It opens up to us the real condition of mankind in
general, and of Israel in particular; and, in the most affecting
manner, presents the grand secret of our Lord's life and ministry.
Blessed be His name, He had not come into this world to rest. How
could He rest? how could He keep a Sabbath in the midst of human need
and misery? Ought not that impotent, blind, halt, and withered
multitude which thronged the porches of the pool of Bethesda have
taught "the Jews" the folly of their notions about the Sabbath? For
what was that multitude but a sample of the condition of the nation of
Israel, and of the whole human family? and how could divine love rest
in the midst of such a condition of things? Utterly impossible. Love
can only be a worker in a scene of sin and sorrow. From the moment of
man's fall, the Father had been working; then the Son appeared to
carry on the work; and now, the Holy Ghost is working. Work, and not
rest, is the divine order in a world like this. "There remaineth
therefore a rest to the people of God."
The blessed Lord Jesus went about doing good on the Sabbath day as
well as on every other day; and finally, having accomplished the
glorious work of redemption, He spent the Sabbath in the grave, and
rose on the first day of the week, as the First-begotten from the
dead, and Head of the new creation, in which all things are of God,
and to which, we may surely add, the question of "days and months and
times and years" can have no possible application. No one who
thoroughly understands the meaning of death and resurrection could
sanction for a moment the observance of days. The death of Christ put
an end to all that order of things, and His resurrection introduces us
into another sphere entirely, where it is our high privilege to walk
in the light and power of those eternal realities which are ours in
Christ, and which stand in vivid contrast with the superstitious
observances of a carnal and worldly religiousness.
But here we approach a very interesting point in our subject, namely,
the difference between the Sabbath and the Lord's day, or first day of
the week. These two are often confounded. We frequently hear, from the
lips of truly pious people, the phrase, "Christian Sabbath," an
expression no where to be found in the New Testament. It may be that
some who make use of it mean a right thing; but we should not only
mean right, but also seek to express ourselves according to the
teaching of holy Scripture.
We are persuaded that the enemy of God and of His Christ has had a
great deal more to do with the conventionalisms of christendom than
many of us are aware; and this it is which makes the matter so very
serious. The reader may perhaps feel disposed to pronounce it mere
hair-splitting to find any fault with the term "Christian Sabbath;"
but he may rest assured it is nothing of the sort: on the contrary, if
he will only calmly examine the matter in the light of the New
Testament, he will find that it involves questions not only
interesting, but also weighty and important. It is a common saying,
"There is nothing in a name;" but in the matter now before us, there
is much in a name.
We have already remarked that our Lord spent the Sabbath in the grave.
Is not this a telling and deeply significant fact? We cannot doubt it.
We read in it, at least, the setting aside of the old condition of
things, and the utter impossibility of keeping a Sabbath in a world of
sin and death. Love could not rest in a world like this; it could only
labor and die. This is the inscription which we read on the tomb where
the Lord of the Sabbath lay buried.
But what of the first day of the week? Is not it the Sabbath on a new
footing--the Christian Sabbath? It is never so called in the New
Testament. There is not so much as a hint of any thing of the kind. If
we look through the Acts of the Apostles, we shall find the two days
spoken of in the most distinct way. On the Sabbath, we find the Jews
assembled in their synagogues for the reading of the law and the
prophets: on the first day of the week, we find the Christians
assembled to break bread. The two days were as distinct as Judaism and
Christianity; nor is there so much as a shadow of Scripture foundation
for the idea that the Sabbath was merged in the first day of the week.
Where is the slightest authority for the assertion that the Sabbath is
changed from the seventh day to the eighth, or first, day of the week?
Surely, if there be any, nothing is easier than to produce it; but
there is absolutely none.
And be it remembered that the Sabbath is not merely _a_ seventh day,
but _the_ seventh day. It is well to note this, inasmuch as some
entertain the idea that provided a seventh portion of time be given to
rest and the public ordinances of religion, it is quite sufficient,
and it does not matter what you call it; and thus different nations
and different religious systems have their Sabbath day. But this can
never satisfy any one who desires to be taught exclusively by
Scripture. The Sabbath of Eden was _the_ seventh day: the Sabbath for
Israel was _the_ seventh day. But the eighth day leads our thoughts
onward into eternity; and, in the New Testament, it is called "the
first day of the week," as indicating the beginning: of that new order
of things of which the cross is the imperishable foundation, and a
risen Christ the glorious Head and Centre. To call this day the
"Christian Sabbath" is simply to confound things earthly and heavenly;
it is to bring the Christian down from his elevated position as
associated with a risen and glorified Head in the heavens, and occupy
him with the superstitious observance of days, the very thing which
made the blessed apostle stand in doubt of the assemblies in Galatia.
In short, the more deeply we ponder the phrase "Christian Sabbath,"
the more we are convinced that its tendency is, like many other
formularies of christendom, to rob the Christian of all those grand
distinctive truths of the New Testament which mark off the Church of
God from all that went before and all that is to follow after. The
Church, though on the earth, is not of this world, even as Christ is
not of this world. It is heavenly in its origin, heavenly in its
character, heavenly in its principles, walk, and hope. It stands
between the cross and the glory. The boundaries of its existence on
earth are, the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Ghost came down to form
it, and the coming of Christ to receive it to Himself.
Nothing can be more strongly marked than this; and hence, for any one
to attempt to enjoin upon the Church of God the legal or superstitious
observance of "days and months and times and years," is to falsify the
entire Christian position, mar the integrity of divine revelation, and
rob the Christian of the place and portion which belong to him through
the infinite grace of God and the accomplished atonement of Christ.
Does the reader deem this statement unwarrantably strong? If so, let
him ponder the following splendid passage from Paul's epistle to the
Colossians--a passage which ought to be written in letters of gold:
"As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in
Him; rooted and built up in Him, and stablished in the faith, as ye
have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Beware lest any man
spoil [or make a prey of] you through _philosophy and vain
deceit_"--mark the combination! not very flattering to philosophy--"after
the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after
Christ. For in Him dwelleth _all the fullness of the Godhead_
[θεότης, deity] bodily. And ye are complete in Him, which is the
head of all principality and power." What more can we possibly want?
"In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision _made without
hands_, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the
circumcision of Christ: buried with Him in baptism, wherein also ye
are risen with Him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath
raised Him from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins and the
uncircumcision of your flesh, hath He quickened together with Him,
_having forgiven you all trespasses_; blotting out the handwriting of
ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it
out of the way, nailing it to His cross; and having spoiled
principalities and powers, He made a show of them openly, triumphing
over them in it."
Magnificent victory! A victory gained single-handed--gained for us!
Universal and eternal homage to His peerless name! What remains? "Let
no man _therefore_ judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a
holy day, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath: which are a shadow of
things to come; but the body is of Christ."
What can one who is complete and accepted in a risen and glorified
Christ have to do with meats, drinks, or holy days? what can
philosophy, tradition, or human religiousness do for him? What can
passing shadows add to one who has grasped, by faith, the eternal
substance? Surely nothing; and hence the blessed apostle
proceeds--"Let no man beguile you of your reward, in a voluntary
humility, and worshiping of angels, intruding into those things which
he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, and _not
holding the Head_, from which all the body by joints and bands having
nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the
increase of God. Wherefore _if ye be dead with Christ_ from the
rudiments of the world, why, _as though living in the world_, are ye
subject to ordinances, [such as,] 'Touch not [this],' 'Taste not
[that],' 'Handle not [the other]'; which all are to perish with the
using; after the commandments and doctrines of men? Which things have
indeed a show of wisdom in will-worship, and humility, and neglecting
of the body; not in any honor to the satisfying of the flesh;" that
is, not giving the measure of honor to the body which is due to it as
God's vessel, but puffing up the flesh with religious pride, fed by a
hollow and worthless sanctimoniousness. (Col. ii. 6-23.)
We do not dare to offer any apology for this lengthened quotation. An
apology for quoting Scripture! Far be the thought! It is not possible
for any one to understand this marvelous passage and not have a
complete settlement, not only of the Sabbath question, but also of
that entire system of things with which this question stands
connected. The Christian who understands his position, is done
forever with all questions of meats and drinks, days and months and
times and years. He knows nothing of holy seasons and holy places. He
is dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, and as such, is
delivered from all the ordinances of a traditionary religion. He
belongs to heaven, where new moons, holy days, and Sabbaths have no
place. He is in the new creation, where all things are of God; and
hence he can see no moral force in such words as "Touch not, taste
not, handle not." They have no possible application to him. He lives
in a region where the clouds, vapors, and mists of monasticism and
asceticism are never seen. He has given up all the worthless forms of
mere fleshly pietism, and got, in exchange, the solid realities of
Christian life. His ear has been opened to hear, and his heart to
understand, the powerful exhortation of the inspired apostle, "If ye
then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where
Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things
above, not on things on the earth. For _ye are dead_, and your life is
hid with Christ in God. When Christ, our life, shall appear, then
shall ye also appear with Him in glory. Mortify therefore your members
which are upon the earth."
Here we have unfolded before our eyes some of the glories of true,
practical, vital Christianity, in striking contrast with all the
barren and dreary forms of carnal and worldly religiousness. Christian
life does not consist in the observance of certain rules,
commandments, or traditions of men. It is a divine reality. It is
Christ in the heart, and Christ reproduced in the daily life, by the
power of the Holy Ghost. It is the new man, formed on the model of
Christ Himself, and displaying itself in all the most minute details
of our daily history--in the family, in the business, in all our
intercourse with our fellow-men, in our temper, spirit, style,
deportment, all. It is not a matter of mere profession, or of dogma,
or of opinion, or of sentiment; it is an unmistakable, living reality.
It is the kingdom of God, set up in the heart, asserting its blessed
sway over the whole moral being, and shedding its genial influence
upon the entire sphere in which we are called to move from day to day.
It is the Christian walking in the blessed footsteps of Him who went
about doing good; meeting, so far as in him lies, every form of human
need; living not for himself, but for others; finding his delight in
serving and giving; ready to soothe and sympathize wherever he finds a
crushed spirit or a bereaved and desolate heart.
This is Christianity. And oh, how it differs from all the forms in
which legality and superstition clothe themselves! How different from
the unintelligent and unmeaning observance of days and months and
times and years, abstaining from meats, forbidding to marry, and such
like! How different from the vaporings of the mystic, the gloom of the
ascetic, and the austerities of the monk! How totally different from
all these! Yes, reader; and we may add, how different from the
unsightly union of high profession and low practice--lofty truths held
in the intellect, professed, taught, and discussed, and worldliness,
self-indulgence, and unsubduedness! The Christianity of the New
Testament differs alike from all these things. It is the divine, the
heavenly, and the spiritual, displayed amid the human, the earthly,
and the natural. May it be the holy purpose of the writer and the
reader of these lines to be satisfied with nothing short of that
morally glorious Christianity revealed in the pages of the New
Testament.
It is needless, we trust, to add more on the question of the Sabbath.
If the reader has at all seized the import of those scriptures which
have passed before us, he will have little difficulty in seeing the
place which the Sabbath holds in the dispensational ways of God. He
will see that it has direct reference to Israel and the earth--that it
was a sign of the covenant between Jehovah and His earthly people, and
a powerful test of their moral condition.
Furthermore, he will see that Israel never really kept the Sabbath,
never understood its import, never appreciated its value. This was
made manifest in the life, ministry, and death of our Lord Jesus
Christ; who performed many of His works of healing on the Sabbath day,
and, at the end, spent that day in the tomb.
Finally, he will clearly understand the difference between the Jewish
Sabbath and the first day of the week, or the Lord's day; that the
latter is never once called the Sabbath in the New Testament, but on
the contrary, is constantly presented in its own proper distinctness:
it is not the Sabbath changed or transferred, but a new day
altogether, having its own special basis and its own peculiar range of
thought, leaving the Sabbath wholly untouched, as a suspended
institution, to be resumed by and by, when the seed of Abraham shall
be restored to their own land. (See Ezek. xlvi. 1, 12.)
But we cannot happily turn from this interesting subject without a few
words on the place assigned, in the New Testament, to the Lord's day,
or first day of the week. Though it is not the Sabbath; and though it
has nothing to do with holy days, or new moons, or "days and months
and times and years;" yet it has its own unique place in Christianity,
as is evident from manifold passages in the scriptures of the New
Testament.
Our Lord rose from the dead on that day; He met His disciples again
and again on that day; the apostle and the brethren at Troas came
together to break bread on that day (Acts xx. 7.); the apostle
instructs the Corinthians, and all that in every place call on the
name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to lay by their offerings on that day;
thus teaching us, distinctly, that the first day of the week was _the_
special day for the Lord's people to assemble for the Lord's supper,
and the worship, communion, and ministry connected with that most
precious institution. The blessed apostle John expressly tells us that
he was in the Spirit on that day, and received that marvelous
revelation which closes the Divine Volume.[18]
[18] Some are of opinion that the expression, "on the Lord's day"
ought to be rendered, "on the day of the Lord," meaning that the
apostle was in the spirit of that day when our Lord Christ shall take
to Himself His great power and reign. But to this view there are two
grave objections. In the first place, the words τῇ κυριακῇ
ἡμέρα, rendered, in Revelation i. 10, "The Lord's day," are quite
distinct from ἠ ἡμέρα κυρίον, in 1 Thessalonians v. 2; 2
Thessalonians ii. 2; 2 Peter iii. 10, properly rendered, "The day of
the Lord."
This we consider a very weighty objection, and one quite sufficient to
settle the question. But in addition to this, we have the argument
based on the fact that by far the greater portion of the book of
Revelation is occupied, not with "the day of the Lord," but with
events prior thereto.
Hence, therefore, we feel persuaded that "the Lord's day" and "the
first day of the week" are identical; and this we deem a very
important fact, as proving that that day has a very special place in
the Word of God--a place which every intelligent Christian will
thankfully own.
Thus, then, we have a body of Scripture evidence before us amply
sufficient to prove to every pious mind that the Lord's day must not
be reduced to the level of ordinary days. It is, to the true
Christian, neither the Jewish Sabbath on the one hand, nor the Gentile
Sunday on the other; but the Lord's day, on which His people gladly
and thankfully assemble around His table, to keep that precious feast
by which they show forth His death until He come.
Now, it is needless to say that there is not a shade of legal bondage
or of superstition connected with the first day of the week. To say
so, or to think so, would be to deny the entire circle of truths with
which that day stands connected. We have no direct commandment
respecting the observance of the day, but the passages already
referred to are amply sufficient for every spiritual mind; and
further, we may say that the instincts of the divine nature would lead
every true Christian to honor and love the Lord's day, and to set it
apart, in the most reverent manner, for the worship and service of
God. The very thought of any one professing to love Christ engaging in
business or unnecessary traveling on the Lord's day, would, in our
judgment, be revolting to every pious feeling. We believe it to be a
hallowed privilege to retire, as much as possible, from all the
distractions of natural things, and to devote the hours of the Lord's
day to Himself and to His service.
It will perhaps be said that the Christian ought to devote every day
to the Lord. Most surely; we are the Lord's, in the very fullest and
highest sense. All we have and all we are belongs to Him; this we
fully, gladly own. We are called to do every thing in His name and to
His glory. It is our high privilege to buy and sell, eat and drink,
yea, to carry on all our business, under His eye, and in the fear and
love of His holy name. We should not put our hand to any thing, on any
day in the week, on which we could not, with the fullest confidence,
ask the Lord's blessing.
All this is most fully admitted. Every true Christian joyfully owns
it. But, at the same time, we deem it impossible to read the New
Testament and not see that the Lord's day gets a unique place; that it
is marked off for us, in the most distinct way; that it has a
significance and an importance which cannot, with justice, be claimed
for any other day in the week. Indeed, so fully are we convinced of
the truth of all this, that even though it were not the law of England
that the Lord's day should be observed, we should deem it to be both
our sacred duty and holy privilege to abstain from all business
engagements, save such as were absolutely unavoidable.
Thanks be to God, it is the law of England that the Lord's day should
be observed. This is a signal mercy to all who love the day for the
Lord's sake. We cannot but own His great goodness in having wrested
the day from the covetous grasp of the world, and bestowed it upon His
people and His servants to be devoted to His worship and to His work.
What a boon is the Lord's day, with its profound retirement from
worldly things! What should we do without it? What a blessed break in
upon the week's toil! How refreshing its exercises to the spiritual
mind! How precious the assembly around the Lord's table to remember
Him, to show forth His death, and celebrate His praise! How delightful
the varied services of the Lord's day, whether those of the
evangelist, the pastor, the teacher, the Sunday-school worker, or the
tract distributor! What human language can adequately set forth the
value and interest of all these things? True it is that the Lord's day
is any thing but a day of bodily rest to His servants; indeed, they
are often more fatigued on that day than on any other day of the
week. But oh! it is a blessed fatigue--a delightful fatigue--a fatigue
which will meet its bright reward in the rest that remains for the
people of God.
Once more, then, beloved Christian reader, let us lift up our hearts
in a note of praise to our God for the blessed boon of the Lord's day.
May He continue it to His Church until He come. May He countervail, by
His almighty power, every effort of the infidel and the atheist to
remove the barriers which English law has erected around the Lord's
day. Truly, it will be a sad day for England when those barriers are
removed.
It may perhaps be said by some that the Jewish Sabbath is done away,
and is therefore no longer binding. A large number of professing
Christians have taken this ground, and pleaded for the opening of the
parks and places of public recreation on the Sunday. Alas! it is
easily seen where such people are drifting to, and what they are
seeking. They would set aside the law, in order to procure a license
for fleshly indulgence. They do not understand that the only way in
which any one can be free from the law is by being dead to it; and if
dead to the law, we are also, of blessed necessity, dead to sin and
dead to the world.
This makes it a different matter altogether. The Christian is, thank
God, free from the law; but if he is, it is not that he may amuse and
indulge himself, on the Lord's day or any other day, but that he may
live to God. "I through law am dead to law, that I might live unto
God." This is Christian ground, and it can only be occupied by those
who are truly born of God. The world cannot understand it; neither can
they understand the holy privileges and spiritual exercises of the
Lord's day.
All this is true; but, at the same time, we are thoroughly convinced
that were England to remove the barriers which surround the Lord's
day, it would afford a melancholy proof of her abandonment of that
profession of religion which has so long characterized her as a
nation, and of her drifting away in the direction of infidelity and
atheism. We must not lose sight of the weighty fact that England has
taken the ground of being a Christian nation--a nation professing to
be governed by the Word of God. She is therefore much more responsible
than those nations wrapped in the dark shades of heathenism. We
believe that nations, like individuals, will be held responsible for
the profession they make; and hence those nations which profess and
call themselves Christian shall be judged, not merely by the light of
creation, nor by the law of Moses, but by the full-orbed light of that
Christianity which they profess--by all the truth contained within the
covers of that blessed book which they possess, and in which they make
their boast. The heathen shall be judged on the ground of creation;
the Jew, on the ground of the law; the nominal Christian, on the
ground of the truth of Christianity.
Now this grave fact renders the position of England, and all other
professing Christian nations, most serious. God will most assuredly
deal with them on the ground of their profession. It is of no use to
say they do not understand what they profess; for why profess what
they do not understand and believe? The fact is, they profess to
understand and believe; and by this fact they shall be judged. They
make their boast in this familiar sentence, that "the Bible, and the
Bible alone, is the religion of Protestants."
If this be so, how solemn is the thought of England judged by the
standard of an open Bible! What will be her judgment?--what her end?
Let all whom it may concern ponder the appalling answer.
* * * * *
We must now turn from the deeply interesting subject of the Sabbath
and the Lord's day, and draw this section to a close by quoting for
the reader the remarkable paragraph with which our chapter ends. It
does not call for any lengthened comment, but we deem it profitable,
in these "Notes on Deuteronomy," to furnish the reader with very full
quotations from the book itself, in order that he may have before him
the very words of the Holy Ghost, without even the trouble of laying
aside the volume which he holds in his hand.
Having laid before the people the ten commandments, the lawgiver
proceeds to remind them of the solemn circumstances which accompanied
the giving of the law, together with their own feelings and utterances
on the occasion.
"These words the Lord spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of
the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with
a great voice; and He added no more. And He wrote them in two tables
of stone, and delivered them unto me. And it came to pass, when ye
heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, (for the mountain
did burn with fire,) that ye came near unto me, even all the heads of
your tribes, and your elders; and ye said, 'Behold, the Lord our God
hath showed us His glory and His greatness, and we have heard His
voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that God
doth talk with man, and he liveth. Now therefore why should we die?
for this great fire will consume us: if we hear the voice of the Lord
our God any more, then we shall die. For who is there of all flesh,
that hath heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst
of the fire, as we have, and lived? Go thou near, and hear all that
the Lord our God shall say; and speak thou unto us all that the Lord
our God shall speak unto thee, and _we will hear it and do it_.' And
the Lord heard the voice of your words, when ye spake unto me; and the
Lord said unto me, 'I have heard the voice of the words of this
people, which they have spoken unto thee: they have well said all that
they have spoken. O that there were such a heart in them, that they
would fear Me, and keep _all_ My commandments _always_, that it might
be well with them, and with their children forever! Go say to them,
Get you into your tents again. But as for thee, stand thou here by Me,
and I will speak unto thee all the commandments, and the statutes,
and the judgments, which thou shalt teach them, that they may do them
in the land which I give them to possess it.' Ye shall observe to do
therefore as the Lord your God hath commanded you: ye shall not turn
aside either to the right hand or to the left. Ye shall walk in _all
the ways_ which the Lord your God hath commanded you, that ye may
live, and that it may be well with you, and that ye may prolong your
days in the land which ye shall possess."
Here the grand principle of the book of Deuteronomy shines out with
uncommon lustre. It is embodied in those touching and forcible words
which form the very heart's core of the splendid passage just
quoted.--"O that there were _such a heart in them, that they would
fear Me_, and keep all My commandments always, that it might be well
with them, and with their children forever!"
Precious words! They set before us, most blessedly, the secret spring
of that life which we, as Christians, are called to live from day to
day--the life of simple, implicit, and unqualified obedience, namely,
a heart fearing the Lord--fearing Him, not in a servile spirit, but
with all that deep, true, adoring love which the Holy Ghost sheds
abroad in our hearts. It is this that delights the heart of our loving
Father. His word to us is, "My son, give Me thine heart." Where the
heart is given, all follows, in lovely moral order. A loving heart
finds its very deepest joy in obeying all God's commandments; and
nothing is of any value to God but what springs from a loving heart.
The heart is the source of all the issues of life; and hence, when it
is governed by the love of God, there is a loving response to all His
commandments. We love His commandments because we love Him. Every word
of His is precious to the heart that loves Him. Every precept, every
statute, every judgment--in a word, His whole law is loved,
reverenced, and obeyed, because it has His name and His authority
attached to it.
The reader will find in psalm cxix. an uncommonly fine illustration of
the special point now before us--a most striking example of one who
blessedly answered to the words quoted above--"O that there were _such
a heart_ in them, that they would fear Me, and keep _all_ My
commandments _always_!" It is the lovely breathing of a soul who found
its deep, unfailing, constant delight in the law of God. There are no
less than one hundred and seventy allusions to that precious law,
under some one title or another. We find scattered along the surface
of this marvelous psalm, in rich profusion, such gems as the
following:--
"Thy Word have I _hid_ in mine _heart_, that I might not sin against
Thee." "I have rejoiced in the way of Thy testimonies as much as in
all riches." "I will meditate in Thy precepts, and have respect unto
Thy ways." "_I will delight myself_ in Thy statutes; I will not forget
Thy Word." "My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto Thy
judgments at all times." "_Thy testimonies_ are also _my delight_, and
my counselors." "_I have stuck_ unto Thy testimonies." "Behold, _I
have longed_ after Thy precepts." "_I trust_ in Thy Word." "_I have
hoped_ in Thy judgments." "_I seek_ Thy precepts." "_I will delight
myself_ in Thy commandments, which _I have loved_." "_I remembered_
Thy judgments." "_Thy statutes_ have been _my songs_ in the house of
my pilgrimage." "I turned _my feet_ unto _Thy testimonies_." "_I have
believed_ Thy commandments." "_The law of Thy mouth_ is better unto me
than thousands of gold and silver." "_I have hoped_ in Thy Word."
"_Thy law_ is _my delight_." "_Mine eyes_ fail for _Thy Word_." "_All_
Thy commandments are faithful." "Forever, O Lord, Thy Word is settled
in heaven." "_I will never forget_ Thy precepts." "_I have sought_ Thy
precepts." "_I will consider_ Thy testimonies." "Thy commandment is
exceeding broad." "O how love I _Thy law_! it is _my meditation_ all
the day." "How sweet are _Thy words_ unto _my taste_! yea, sweeter
than honey to my mouth." "_Thy testimonies_ have I taken as a
_heritage forever_; for they are _the rejoicing of my heart_." "I will
have respect unto Thy statutes _continually_." "I love Thy
commandments above gold, yea, above find gold." "I esteem _all_ Thy
precepts concerning _all_ things to be _right_." "Thy testimonies are
wonderful." "I opened my mouth and _panted_, for I _longed_ for Thy
commandments." "Upright are Thy judgments." "Thy testimonies ... are
righteous, and very faithful." "Thy Word is very pure." "Thy law is
the truth." "The righteousness of thy testimonies is everlasting."
"All Thy commandments are truth." "Thy Word is _true from the
beginning_; and every one of Thy righteous judgments _endureth
forever_." "_My heart_ standeth _in awe_ of _Thy Word_." "_I rejoice_
at Thy Word, as one that findeth great spoil." "Great peace have they
that love Thy law." "_My soul_ hath kept _Thy testimonies_; and I love
them exceedingly." "I have chosen Thy precepts." "Thy law is my
delight."
Truly, it does the heart good, and refreshes the spirit, to transcribe
such utterances as the foregoing, many of which are the suited
utterances of our Lord Himself, in the days of His flesh. He ever
lived upon the Word. It was the food of His soul, the authority of His
path, the material of His ministry. By it He vanquished Satan; by it
He silenced Sadducees, Pharisees, and Herodians; by it He taught His
disciples; to it He commended His servants, as He was about to ascend
into the heavens.
How important is all this for us! How intensely interesting! How
deeply practical! What a place it gives the holy Scriptures! For we
remember that it is, in very deed, the blessed Volume of inspiration
which is brought before us in all those golden sentences culled from
psalm cxix. How strengthening, refreshing, and encouraging for us to
mark the way in which our Lord uses the holy Scriptures at all times,
the place He gives them, and the dignity He puts upon them! He appeals
to them on all occasions as a divine authority from which there can be
no appeal. He, though Himself as God over all, the Author of the
Volume, having taken His place as man on the earth, sets forth with
all possible plainness what is man's bounden duty and high privilege,
namely, to live by the Word of God, to bow down in reverent subjection
to its divine authority.
And have we not here a very complete answer to the oft-raised question
of infidelity, "How do we know that the Bible is the Word of God?" If
indeed we believe in Christ--if we own Him to be the Son of God, God
manifest in the flesh, very God and very man, we cannot fail to see
the moral force of the fact that this divine Person constantly appeals
to the Scriptures--to Moses, the prophets, and the psalms, as to a
divine standard. Did He not know them to be the Word of God?
Undoubtedly. As God, He had given them; as Man, He received them,
lived by them, and owned their paramount authority, in all things.
What a weighty fact is here for the professing church! What a
withering rebuke to all those so-called Christian doctors and writers
who have presumed to tamper with the grand fundamental truth of the
plenary inspiration of the holy Scriptures in general, and of the five
books of Moses in particular! How terrible to think of the professed
teachers of the Church of God daring to designate as spurious,
writings which our Lord and Master received and owned as divine!
And yet we are told, and we are expected to believe that things are
improving! Alas! alas! it is a miserable delusion. The degrading
absurdities of ritualism, and the blasphemous reasonings of
infidelity, are rapidly increasing around us; and where these
influences are not actually dominant, we observe, for the most part, a
cold indifference, carnal ease, self-indulgence, and worldliness--any
thing and every thing, in short, but the evidence of improvement. If
people are not led away by infidelity on the one hand, or by ritualism
on the other, it is, for the most part, owing to the fact that they
are too much occupied with pleasure and gain to think of any thing
else. And as to the religion of the day, if you subtract money and
music, you will have a lamentably trifling balance.
Hence, therefore, it is impossible to shake off the conviction that
the combined testimony of observation and experience is directly
opposed to the notion that things are improving. Indeed, for any one,
in the face of such an array of evidence to the contrary, to cling to
such a theory, can only be regarded as the fruit of a most
unaccountable credulity.
But perhaps some may feel disposed to say that we must not judge by
the sight of our eyes; we must be hopeful. True, provided only we have
a divine warrant for our hopefulness. If a single line of Scripture
can be produced to prove that the present system of things is to be
marked by gradual improvement, religiously, politically, morally, or
socially, then, by all means, be hopeful. Yes; hope against hope. A
single clause of inspiration is quite sufficient to form the basis of
a hope which will lift the heart above the very darkest and most
depressing surroundings.
But where is such a clause to be found? Simply no where. The testimony
of the Bible, from cover to cover; the distinct teaching of holy
Scripture, from beginning to end; the voices of prophets and apostles,
in unbroken harmony--all, without a single divergent note, go to
prove, with a force and clearness perfectly unanswerable, that the
present condition of things, so far from gradually improving, will
rapidly grow worse; that ere the bright beams of millennial glory can
gladden this groaning earth, the sword of judgment must do its
appalling work. To quote the passages in proof of our assertion would
literally fill a volume; it would simply be to transcribe a large
portion of the prophetic scriptures of the Old and New Testament.
This, of course, we do not attempt. There is no need. The reader has
his Bible before him; let him search it diligently. Let him lay aside
all his preconceived ideas, all the conventionalisms of christendom,
all the ordinary phraseology of the religious world, all the dogmas of
the schools of divinity, and come, with the simplicity of a little
child, to the pure fountain of holy Scripture, and drink in its
heavenly teaching. If he will only do this, he will rise from the
study with the clear and settled conviction that the world will, most
assuredly, not be converted by the means now in operation--that it is
not the gospel of peace, but the besom of destruction that shall
prepare the earth for glory.
Is it, then, that we deny the good that is being done? Are we
insensible to it? Far be the thought! We heartily bless God for every
atom of it. We rejoice in every effort put forth to spread the
precious gospel of the grace of God; we render thanks for every soul
gathered within the blessed circle of God's salvation. We delight to
think of eighty-five millions of Bibles scattered over the earth. What
human mind can calculate the results of all these, yea, the results of
a single copy? We earnestly wish Godspeed to every true-hearted
missionary who goes forth with the glad tidings of salvation, whether
into the lanes and court-yards of London, or to the most distant parts
of the earth.
But, admitting all this, as we most heartily do, we nevertheless do
not believe in the conversion of the world by the means now in
operation. Scripture tells us that it is when the divine judgments are
in the earth, the inhabitants of the world shall learn righteousness.
This one clause of inspiration ought to be sufficient to prove that it
is not by the gospel that the world is to be converted; and there are
hundreds of clauses which speak the same language and teach the same
truth. It is not by grace, but by judgment, that the inhabitants of
the world shall learn righteousness.
What, then, is the object of the gospel? If it be not to convert the
world, for what purpose is it preached? The apostle James, in his
address at the memorable council at Jerusalem, gives an answer, direct
and conclusive, to the question. He says, "Simeon hath declared how
God at the first did visit the Gentiles." For what? To convert them
all? The very reverse--"_To take out of them_ a people for His name."
Nothing can be more distinct than this. It sets before us that which
ought to be the grand object of all missionary effort--that which
every divinely sent and divinely taught missionary will keep before
his mind in all his blessed labors. It is "to take out a people for
His name."
How important to remember this! How needful to have ever before us a
true object in all our work! Of what possible use can it be to work
for a false object? Is it not much better to work with a direct view
to what God is doing? Will it cripple the missionary's energies, or
clip his wings, to keep before his eyes the divine purpose in his
work? Surely not. Take the case of two missionaries going forth to
some distant mission-field: the one has for his object the conversion
of the world; the other, the gathering out of a people. Will the
latter, by reason of his object, be less devoted, less energetic, less
enthusiastic, than the former? We cannot believe it; on the contrary,
the very fact of his being in the current of the divine mind will
impart stability and consistency to his work, and, at the same time,
encourage his heart in the face of the difficulties and hindrances
which surround him.
But however this may be, it is perfectly plain that the apostles of
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ had no such object, in going forth
to their work, as the conversion of the world. "Go ye into all the
world, and preach the gospel to every creature; he that believeth and
is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be
damned."
This was to the twelve. The world was to be their sphere. The aspect
of their message was, unto every creature; the application, to him
that believeth. It was pre-eminently an individual thing. The
conversion of the whole world was not to be their object; that will be
effected by a different agency altogether, when God's present action
by the gospel shall have resulted in the gathering out of a people for
the heavens.[19] The Holy Ghost came down on the day of Pentecost, not
to convert the world, but to "_convict_ [ἐλέγξει]]" it, or
demonstrate its guilt in having rejected the Son of God.[20] The
effect of His presence was to prove the world guilty; and as to the
grand object of His mission, it was to form a body composed of
believers from amongst both Jews and Gentiles. With this He has been
occupied for the last eighteen hundred years. This is "the mystery" of
which the apostle Paul was made a minister, and which he unfolds, so
fully and blessedly, in his epistle to the Ephesians. It is
impossible for any one to understand the truth set forth in this
marvelous document, and not see that the conversion of the world and
the formation of the body of Christ are two totally different things,
which could not possibly go on together.
[19] We would commend to the reader's attention psalm lxvii. It is one
of a large class of passages which prove that the blessing of the
nations is consequent upon Israel's restoration. "God be merciful unto
us [Israel], and bless us; and cause His face to shine upon us, that
Thy way may be known upon earth, Thy saving health among _all
nations_.... God shall bless us; and _all the ends of the earth_ shall
fear Him." There could not be a more lovely or forcible proof of the
fact that it is Israel, and not the Church, that will be used for the
blessing of the nations.
[20] The application of John xvi. 8-11 to the Spirit's work in the
individual is, in our judgment, a serious mistake. It refers to the
effect of His presence on earth, in reference to the world as a whole.
His work in the soul is a precious truth, we need hardly say, but it
is not the truth taught in this passage.
Let the reader ponder the following beautiful passage: "For this cause
I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, if ye have
heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to
you-ward: how that by revelation He made known unto me the mystery;
(as I wrote afore in few words, whereby, when ye read, ye may
understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) which in other ages
was not made known unto the sons of men"--not made known in the
scriptures of the Old Testament, nor revealed to the Old-Testament
saints or prophets--"as it is now revealed unto His holy apostles and
prophets" (that is, to the New-Testament prophets) "by the Spirit;
that the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and
partakers of His promise in Christ by the gospel: whereof I was made a
minister according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by
the effectual working of His power. Unto me, who am less than the
least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among
the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; and to make all men
see what is the dispensation [οἰκονομία] of the mystery,
which _from the beginning of the world_ hath been _hid in God_, who
created all things by Jesus Christ: to the intent that now unto the
principalities and powers in the heavenlies might be known by the
Church the manifold wisdom of God." (Eph. iii. 1-10.)
Take another passage from the epistle to the Colossians.--"If ye
continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from
the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to
every creature which is under heaven, whereof I Paul am made a
minister, who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that
which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for His
body's sake, which is the Church: whereof I am made a minister,
according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to
complete the Word of God; even the mystery which hath been hid from
ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to His saints: to
whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this
mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all
wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:
whereunto I also labor, striving according to His working, which
worketh in me mightily." (Chap. i. 23-29.)
From these and numerous other passages, the reader may see the special
object of Paul's ministry. Assuredly he had no such thought in his
mind as the conversion of the world. True, he preached the gospel, in
all its depth, fullness, and power--preached it "from Jerusalem and
round about unto Illyricum"--"preached among the Gentiles the
unsearchable riches of Christ," but with no thought of converting the
world. He knew better. He knew and taught that the world was ripening
for judgment--yes, ripening rapidly; that "evil men and seducers shall
wax worse and worse;" that "in _the latter times_ some shall depart
from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of
devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared
with a hot iron; forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from
meats, which God had created to be received with thanksgiving of them
which believe and know the truth."
And further still, this faithful and divinely inspired witness taught
that "in _the last days_"--far in advance of "the latter
times"--"perilous [or difficult] times shall come. 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 rather than lovers of God_; having a form of godliness, but
denying the power thereof." (Compare 1 Tim. iv. 1-3 with 2 Tim. iii.
1-5.)
What a picture! It brings us back to the close of the first of Romans,
where the same inspired pen portrays for us the dark forms of
heathenism; but with this terrible difference, that in 2 Timothy it
is not heathenism, but nominal Christianity--"a form of godliness."
And is this to be the end of the present condition of things? Is this
the converted world of which we hear so much? Alas! alas! there are
false prophets abroad; there are those who cry, Peace, peace, when
there is no peace; there are those who attempt to daub the crumbling
walls of christendom with untempered mortar.
But it will not do. Judgment is at the door. The professing church has
utterly, shamefully failed; she has grievously departed from the Word
of God, and revolted from the authority of her Lord. There is not a
single ray of hope for christendom. It is the darkest moral blot in
the wide universe of God, or on the page of history. The same blessed
apostle from whose writings we have already so largely quoted, tells
us that "the mystery of iniquity doth already work;" hence it has been
working now for over eighteen centuries. "Only He that now hindereth
will hinder until He be taken out of the way. And then shall that
Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His
mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming: even him,
whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs
and lying wonders, 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. 7-12.)
How awful is the doom of christendom! Strong delusion! Dark damnation!
And all this in the face of the dreams of those false prophets who
talk to the people about "the bright side of things." Thank God, there
is a bright side for all those who belong to Christ. To them, the
apostle can speak in bright and cheering accents.--"We are bound to
give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord,
because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through
sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: whereunto He
called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord
Jesus Christ." (2 Thess. ii. 13, 14.)
Here we have, most surely, the bright side of things--the bright and
blessed hope of the Church of God--the hope of seeing "the bright and
morning Star." All rightly instructed Christians are on the look-out,
not for an improved or a converted world, but for their coming Lord
and Saviour, who has gone to prepare a place for them in the Father's
house, and is coming again to receive them to Himself, that where He
is, there they may be also. This is His own sweet promise, which may
be fulfilled at any moment. He only waits, as Peter tells us, in
long-suffering mercy, not willing that any should perish, but that all
should come to repentance. But when the last member shall be
incorporated, by the Holy Ghost, into the blessed body of Christ, then
shall the voice of the archangel and the trump of God summon _all_
the redeemed, from the beginning, to meet their descending Lord in the
air, to be forever with Him.
This is the true and proper hope of the Church of God--a hope which He
would have ever shining down into the hearts of all His beloved
people, in its purifying and elevating power. Of this blessed hope the
enemy has succeeded in robbing a large number of the Lord's people.
Indeed, for centuries it was well-nigh blotted out from the Church's
horizon; and it has only been partially recovered within the last
fifty years. And, alas! how partially! Where do we hear of it,
throughout the length and breadth of the professing church? Do the
pulpits of christendom ring with the joyful sound, "Behold the
Bridegroom cometh"? Far from it. Even the few beloved servants of
Christ who are looking for His coming, hardly dare to preach it,
because they fear it would be utterly rejected. And so it would. We
are thoroughly persuaded that, in the vast majority of cases, men who
should venture to preach the glorious truth that the Lord is coming
for His Church, would speedily have to vacate their pulpits.
What a solemn and striking proof of Satan's blinding power! He has
robbed the Church of her divinely given hope, and instead thereof, he
has given her a delusion--a lie. Instead of looking out for "the
bright and morning Star," he has set her looking for a converted
world--a millennium without Christ. He has succeeded in casting such a
haze over the future, that the Church has completely lost her
bearings. She does not know where she is. She is like a vessel tossed
on the stormy ocean, having neither compass nor rudder, seeing neither
sun nor stars. All is darkness and confusion.
And how is this? Simply because the Church has lost sight of the pure
and precious word of her Lord, and accepted instead those bewildering
creeds and confessions of men which so mar and mutilate the truth of
God that Christians seem utterly at sea as to their proper standing
and their proper hope.
And yet they have the Bible in their hands. True; but so had the Jews,
and yet they rejected that blessed One who is the great theme of the
Bible from beginning to end. This was the moral inconsistency with
which our Lord charged them in John v.--"Ye search the Scriptures; for
in them ye think ye have eternal life; and they are they which testify
of Me; and ye will not come to Me, that ye might have life."[21]
[21] The word ἐρευνᾶτε maybe either imperative or indicative;
but the context, we judge, demands the latter. They had the
Scriptures; they were read in their synagogues every Sabbath day; they
professed to believe that in them they had eternal life; they
testified of Him; and yet they would not come to Him. Here was the
flagrant inconsistency. Now, if ἐρευνᾶτε be taken as a
command, the whole force of the passage is lost.
Need we remind the reader that there are plenty of arguments and
inducements leading us to search the Scriptures, without appealing to
what we believe to be an inaccurate rendering of John v. 39?
And why was this? Simply because their minds were blinded by religious
prejudice. They were under the influence of the doctrines and
commandments of men. Hence, although they had the Scriptures, and
boasted of having them, they were as ignorant of them, and as little
governed by them, as the poor dark heathen around them. It is one
thing to have the Bible in our hands, in our homes, and in our
assemblies, and quite another thing to have the truths of the Bible
acting on our hearts and consciences, and shining in our lives.
Take, for instance, the great subject now before us, and which has led
us into this very lengthened digression. Can any thing be more plainly
taught in the New Testament than this, namely, that the end of the
present condition of things will be terrible apostasy from the truth,
and open rebellion against God and the Lamb? The gospels, the
epistles, and the Revelation all agree in setting forth this most
solemn truth, with such distinctness and simplicity that a babe in
Christ may see it.
And yet how few, comparatively, believe it! The vast majority believe
the very reverse. They believe that by means of the various agencies
now in operation all nations shall be converted. In vain we call
attention to our Lord's parables in Matthew xiii.--the tares, the
leaven, and the mustard-seed. How do these agree with the idea of a
converted world? If the whole world is to be converted by a preached
gospel, how is it that tares are found in the field at the end of the
age? how is it that there are as many foolish virgins as wise ones
when the Bridegroom comes? If the whole world is to be converted by
the gospel, then on whom will "the day of the Lord so come as a thief
in the night"? or what mean those awful words, "For when they shall
say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as
travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape"? In view
of a converted world, what would be the just application, what the
moral force, of those most solemn words in the first of Revelation,
"Behold, He cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see Him, and they
also which pierced Him; and _all kindreds of the earth shall wail_
because of Him"? Where are all those wailing kindreds to be found if
the whole world is to be converted?
Reader, is it not as clear as a sunbeam that the two things cannot
stand for a moment together? Is it not perfectly plain that the theory
of a world converted by the gospel is diametrically opposed to the
teaching of the entire New Testament? How is it, then, that the vast
majority of professing Christians persist in holding it? There can be
but the one reply, and that is, they do not bow to the authority of
Scripture. It is most sorrowful and solemn to have to say it; but it
is, alas! too true. The Bible is read in christendom, but the truths
of the Bible are not believed--nay, they are persistently rejected;
and all this in view of the oft-repeated boast that "the Bible, and
the Bible alone, is the religion of Protestants."
But we shall not pursue this subject further here, much as we feel its
weight and importance. We trust the reader may be led by the Spirit of
God to feel its deep solemnity. We believe the Lord's people every
where need to be thoroughly roused to a sense of how entirely the
professing church has departed from the authority of Scripture. Here,
we may rest assured, lies the real cause of all the confusion, all the
error, all the evil, in our midst. We have departed from the Word of
the Lord, and from Himself. Until this is seen, felt, and owned, we
cannot be right. The Lord looks for true repentance, real brokenness
of spirit, in His presence. "_To this man_ will I look, even to him
that is _poor_, and of a _contrite_ spirit, and trembleth at My Word."
This always holds good. There is no limit to the blessing when the
soul is in this truly blessed attitude. But it must be a reality. It
will not do to talk of being "poor and contrite," we must be in the
condition. It is an individual matter. "_To this man_ will I look."
Oh may the Lord, in His infinite mercy, lead us, every one, into true
self-judgment, under the action of His Word. May our ears be open to
hear His voice. May there be a real turning of our hearts to Himself
and to His Word. May we turn our backs, in holy decision, once and
forever, upon every thing that will not stand the test of Scripture.
This, we are persuaded, is what our Lord Christ looks for on the part
of all who belong to Him, amid the terrible and hopeless _debris_ of
christendom.