of hope,--You may be so saved, without question. But if you want to know
whether a man can be saved without _any_ inward sense, or knowledge, or
hope of salvation, I answer, that ordinarily He cannot. I warn you
plainly to cast away all indecision as to your state before God, and to
make your calling sure. Clear up your position and relationship. Do not
think there is anything praiseworthy in always doubting. Leave that to
the Papists. Do not fancy it wise and humble to be ever living like the
borderers of old time, on the "debateable ground." "Assurance," said old
Dod, the puritan, "may be attained: and what have we been doing all our
lives, since we became Christians, if we have not attained it?"
I doubt not some true Christians who read this paper will think their
evidence of sonship is too small to be good, and will write bitter
things against themselves. Let me try to cheer them. Who gave you the
feelings you possess? Who made you hate sin? Who made you love Christ?
Who made you long and labour to be holy? Whence did these feelings come?
Did they come from nature? There are no such products in a natural man's
heart.--Did they come from the devil? He would fain stifle such feelings
altogether.--Cheer up, and take courage. Fear not, neither be cast down.
Press forward, and go on. There is hope for you after all. Strive.
Labour. Seek. Ask. Knock. Follow on. You shall yet see that you are
"sons of God."
III. Let me show, in the last place, _the privileges of the true
Christian's relation to God_.
Nothing can be conceived more glorious than the prospects of the sons of
God. The words of Scripture which head this paper contain a rich mine of
good and comfortable things. "If we are children," says Paul, "we are
heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ,--to be glorified
together with Him." (Rom. viii. 17.)
True Christians then are "heirs."--Something is prepared for them all
which is yet to be revealed.
They are "heirs of God."--To be heirs of the rich on earth is something.
How much more then is it to be son and heir of the King of kings!
They are "joint heirs with Christ." They shall share in His majesty, and
take part in His glory. They shall be glorified together with Him.
And this, we must remember, is for _all_ the children. Abraham took care
to provide for all his children, and God takes care to provide for His.
None of them are disinherited. None will be cast out. None will be cut
off. Each shall stand in his lot, and have a portion, in the day when
the Lord brings many sons to glory.
Who can tell the full nature of the inheritance of the saints in light?
Who can describe the glory which is yet to be revealed and given to the
children of God? Words fail us. Language falls short. Mind cannot
conceive fully, and tongue cannot express perfectly, the things which
are comprised in the glory yet to come upon the sons and daughters of
the Lord Almighty. Oh, it is indeed a true saying of the Apostle John:
"It doth not yet appear what we shall be." (1 John iii. 2.)
The very Bible itself only lifts a little of the veil which hangs over
this subject. How could it do more? We could not thoroughly understand
more if more had been told us. Our mental constitution is as yet too
earthly,--our understanding is as yet too carnal to appreciate more if
we had it. The Bible generally deals with the subject in negative terms
and not in positive assertions. It describes what there will not be in
the glorious inheritance, that thus we may get some faint idea of what
there will be. It paints the _absence_ of certain things, in order that
we may drink in a little the blessedness of the things _present_. It
tells us that the inheritance is "incorruptible, undefiled, and fadeth
not away." It tells us that "the crown of glory fadeth not away." It
tells us that the devil is to be "bound," that there shall be "no more
night and no more curse," that "death shall be cast into the lake of
fire," that "all tears shall be wiped away," and that the inhabitant
shall no more say, "I am sick." And these are glorious things indeed. No
corruption!--No fading!--No withering!--No devil!--No curse of sin!--No
sorrow!--No tears!--No sickness!--No death! Surely the cup of the
children of God will indeed run over! (1 Pet. i. 4; v. 4; Rev. xx. 2;
xxi. 25; xxii. 3; xx. 14; xxi. 4; Is. xxxiii. 24.)
But there are positive things told us about the glory yet to come upon
the heirs of God, which ought not to be kept back. There are many sweet,
pleasant, and unspeakable comforts in their future inheritance, which
all true Christians would do well to consider. There are cordials for
fainting pilgrims in many words and expressions of Scripture, which you
and I ought to lay up against time of need.
(_a_) Is _knowledge_ pleasant to us now? Is the little that we know
of God and Christ, and the Bible precious to our souls, and do we
long for more? We shall have it perfectly in glory. What says the
Scripture? "Then shall I know even as also I am known." (1 Cor.
xiii. 12.) Blessed be God, there will be no more disagreements among
believers! Episcopalians and Presbyterians,--Calvinists and
Arminians,--Millennarians and Anti-millennarians,--friends of
Establishments and friends of the Voluntary system,--advocates of
infant baptism and advocates of adult baptism,--all will at length
see eye to eye. The former ignorance will have passed away. We shall
marvel to find how childish and blind we have been.
(_b_) Is _holiness_ pleasant to us now? Is sin the burden and bitterness
of our lives? Do we long for entire conformity to the image of God? We
shall have it perfectly in glory. What says the Scripture? "Christ gave
Himself for the Church," not only that He might sanctify it on earth,
but also "that He might present it to Himself a glorious Church, not
having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing." (Ephes. v. 27.) Oh, the
blessedness of an eternal good-bye to sin! Oh, how little the best of
us do at present! Oh, what unutterable corruption sticks, like birdlime,
to all our motives, all our thoughts, all our words, all our actions!
Oh, how many of us, like Naphtali, are goodly in our words, but, like
Reuben, unstable in our works! Thank God, all this shall be changed.
(Gen. xlix. 4, 21.)
(_c_) Is _rest_ pleasant to us now? Do we often feel "faint though
pursuing?" (Judges viii. 4.) Do we long for a world in which we need not
to be always watching and warring? We shall have it perfectly in glory.
What saith the Scripture? "There remaineth a rest for the people of
God." (Heb. iv. 9.) The daily, hourly conflict with the world, the
flesh, and the devil, shall at length be at an end. The enemy shall be
bound. The warfare shall be over. The wicked shall at last cease from
troubling. The weary shall at length be at rest. There shall be a great
calm.
(_d_) Is _service_ pleasant to us now? Do we find it sweet to work for
Christ, and yet groan being burdened by a feeble body? Is our spirit
often willing, but hampered and clogged by the poor weak flesh? Have our
hearts burned within us, when we have been allowed to give a cup of cold
water for Christ's sake, and have we sighed to think what unprofitable
servants we are? Let us take comfort. We shall be able to serve
perfectly in glory, and without weariness. What saith the Scripture?
"They serve Him day and night in His temple." (Rev. vii. 15.)
(_e_) Is _satisfaction_ pleasant to us now? Do we find the world empty?
Do we long for the filling up of every void place and gap in our hearts?
We shall have it perfectly in glory. We shall no longer have to mourn
over cracks in all our earthen vessels, and thorns in all our roses, and
bitter dregs in all our sweet cups. We shall no longer lament with Jonah
over withered gourds. We shall no longer say with Solomon, "All is
vanity and vexation of spirit." We shall no longer cry with aged David,
"I have seen an end of all perfection." What saith the Scripture? "I
shall be satisfied when I awake with Thy likeness." (Eccles. i. 14; Ps.
cxix. 96; xvii. 15.)
(_f_) Is _communion with the saints_ pleasant to us now? Do we feel that
we are never so happy as when we are with the "excellent of the earth?"
Are we never so much at home as in their company? (Ps. xvi. 3.) We shall
have it perfectly in glory. What saith the Scripture? "The Son of man
shall send His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all they
that offend, and them which work iniquity." "He shall send His angels
with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His
elect from the four winds." (Matt. xiii. 41; xxiv. 31.) Praised be God!
We shall see all the saints of whom we have read in the Bible, and in
whose steps we have tried to walk. We shall see apostles, prophets,
patriarchs, martyrs, reformers, missionaries, and ministers, of whom the
world was not worthy. We shall see the faces of those we have known and
loved in Christ on earth, and over whose departure we shed bitter tears.
We shall see them more bright and glorious than they ever were before.
And, best of all, we shall see them without hurry and anxiety, and
without feeling that we only meet to part again. In the coming glory
there is no death, no parting, no farewell.
(_g_) Is _communion with Christ_ pleasant to us now? Do we find His
name precious to us? Do we feel our hearts burn within us at the thought
of His dying love? We shall have perfect communion with Him in glory.
"We shall ever be with the Lord." (1 Thess. iv. 17.) We shall be with
Him in paradise. (Luke xxiii. 43.) We shall see His face in the kingdom.
These eyes of ours will behold those hands and feet which were pierced
with nails, and that head which was crowned with thorns. Where He is,
there will the sons of God be. When He comes, they will come with Him.
When He sits down in His glory, they shall sit down by His side. Blessed
prospect indeed! I am a dying man in a dying world. All before me is
dark. The world to come is a harbour unknown. But Christ is there, and
that is enough. Surely if there is rest and peace in following Him by
faith on earth, there will be far more rest and peace when we see Him
face to face. If we have found it good to follow the pillar of cloud and
fire in the wilderness, we shall find it a thousand times better to sit
down in our eternal inheritance, with our Joshua, in the promised land.
If any one among the readers of this paper is not yet among the sons and
heirs, I do pity you with all my heart! How much you are missing! How
little true comfort you are enjoying! There you are, struggling on, and
toiling in the fire, and wearying yourself for mere earthly
ends,--seeking rest and finding none,--chasing shadows and never
catching them,--wondering why you are not happy, and yet refusing to see
the cause,--hungry, and thirsty, and empty, and yet blind to the plenty
within your reach. Oh, that you were wise! Oh, that you would hear the
voice of Jesus, and learn of Him!
If you are one of those who are sons and heirs, you may well rejoice and
be happy. You may well wait, like the boy Patience in Pilgrim's
Progress: your best things are yet to come. You may well bear crosses
without murmuring: your light affliction is but for a moment. "The
sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the
glory which is to be revealed."--"When Christ our life appears, then you
also shall appear with Him in glory." (Rom. viii. 18; Colos. iii. 4.)
You may well not envy the transgressor and his prosperity. You are the
truly rich. Well said a dying believer in my own parish: "I am more rich
than I ever was in my life." You may say as Mephibosheth said to David:
"Let the world take all, my king is coming again in peace." (2 Sam. xix.
30.) You may say as Alexander said when he gave all his riches away, and
was asked what he kept for himself: "I have hope." You may well not be
cast down by sickness: the eternal part of you is safe and provided for,
whatever happens to your body. You may well look calmly on death: it
opens a door between you and your inheritance. You may well not sorrow
excessively over the things of the world,--over partings and
bereavements, over losses and crosses: the day of gathering is before
you. Your treasure is beyond reach of harm. Heaven is becoming every
year more full of those you love, and earth more empty. Glory in your
inheritance. It is all yours if you are a son of God: "If we are
children, then we are heirs."
(1) And now, in concluding this paper, _let me ask every one who reads
it Whose child are you_? Are you the child of nature or the child of
grace? Are you the child of the devil or the child of God? You cannot be
both at once. Which are you?
Settle the question without delay, for you must die at last either one
or the other. Settle it, for it can be settled, and it is folly to leave
it doubtful. Settle it, for time is short, the world is getting old, and
you are fast drawing near to the judgment seat of Christ. Settle it, for
death is nigh, the Lord is at hand, and who can tell what a day might
bring forth? Oh, that you would never rest till the question is
settled! Oh, that you may never feel satisfied till you can say, "I have
been born again: I am a son of God!"
(2) _If you are not a son and heir of God, let me entreat you to become
one without delay._ Would you be rich? There are unsearchable riches in
Christ. Would you be noble? You shall be a king. Would you be happy? You
shall have a peace which passeth understanding, and which the world can
never give and never take away. Oh, come out, and take up the cross and
follow Christ! Come out from among the thoughtless and worldly, and hear
the word of the Lord: "I will receive you, and will be a Father unto
you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord almighty." (2
Cor. vi. 18.)
(3) _If you are a son of God, I beseech you to walk worthy of your
Father's house._ I charge you solemnly to honour Him in your life; and
above all to honour Him by implicit obedience to all His commands, and
hearty love to all His children. Labour to travel through the world like
a child of God and heir to glory. Let men be able to trace a family
likeness between you and Him that begat you. Live a heavenly life. Seek
things that are above. Do not seem to be building your nest below.
Behave like a man who seeks a city out of sight, whose citizenship is in
heaven, and who would be content with many hardships till he gets home.
Labour _to feel like a son of God_ in every condition in which you are
placed. Never forget you are on your Father's ground so long as you are
here on earth. Never forget that a Father's hand sends all your mercies
and crosses. Cast every care on Him. Be happy and cheerful in Him. Why
indeed art thou ever sad if thou art the King's son? Why should men ever
doubt, when they look at you, whether it is a pleasant thing to be one
of God's children?
Labour _to behave towards others like a son of God_. Be blameless and
harmless in your day and generation. Be a "peacemaker among all =you=
know." (Matt. v. 9.) Seek for your children sonship to God, above
everything else: seek for them an inheritance in heaven, whatever else
you do for them. No man leaves his children so well provided for as he
who leaves them sons and heirs of God.
Persevere in your Christian calling, if you are a son of God, and press
forward more and more. Be careful to lay aside every weight, and the sin
which most easily besets you. Keep your eyes steadily fixed on Jesus.
Abide in Him. Remember that without Him you can do nothing, and with Him
you can do all things. (John xv. 5; Philip. iv. 13.) Watch and pray
daily. Be steadfast, unmoveable, and always abounding in the work of the
Lord. Settle it down in your heart that not a cup of cold water given in
the name of a disciple shall lose its reward, and that every year you
are so much nearer home.
"Yet a little time and He that shall come will come, and will not
tarry." (Heb. x. 37.) Then shall be the glorious liberty, and the full
manifestation of the sons of God. (Rom. viii. 19, 21.) Then shall the
world acknowledge that they were the truly wise. Then shall the sons of
God at length come of age, and be no longer heirs in expectancy, but
heirs in possession. Then shall they hear with exceeding joy those
comfortable words: "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom
prepared for you from the foundation of the world." (Matt. xxv. 34.)
Surely that day will make amends for all!
XIX
THE GREAT GATHERING
"_Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ, and by our gathering together unto Him._"--2 Thess. ii.
1.
The text which heads this page contains an expression which deserves no
common attention. That expression is,--"Our gathering together."
"Our gathering together!" Those three words touch a note which ought to
find a response in every part of the world. Man is by nature a social
being: he does not like to be alone. Go where you will on earth, people
generally like meeting together, and seeing one another's faces. It is
the exception, and not the rule, to find children of Adam who do not
like "gathering together."
For example, Christmas is peculiarly a time when English people "gather
together." It is the season when family meetings have become almost a
national institution. In town and in country, among rich and among poor,
from the palace to the workhouse, Christmas cheer and Christmas parties
are proverbial things. It is the one time in the twelvemonth with many
for seeing their friends at all. Sons snatch a few days from London
business to run down and see their parents; brothers get leave of
absence from the desk to spend a week with their sisters; friends accept
long-standing invitations, and contrive to pay a visit to their
friends; boys rush home from school, and glory in the warmth and comfort
of the old house. Business for a little space comes to a standstill: the
weary wheels of incessant labour seem almost to cease revolving for a
few hours. In short, from the Isle of Wight to Berwick-on-Tweed, and
from the Land's End to the North Foreland, there is a general spirit of
"gathering together."
Happy is the land where such a state of things exists! Long may it last
in England, and never may it end! Poor and shallow is that philosophy
which sneers at Christmas gatherings. Cold and hard is that religion
which pretends to frown at them, and denounces them as wicked. Family
affection lies at the very roots of well-ordered society. It is one of
the few good things which have survived the fall, and prevent men and
women from being mere devils. It is the secret oil on the wheels of our
social system which keeps the whole machine going, and without which
neither steam nor fire would avail. Anything which helps to keep up
family affection and brotherly love is a positive good to a country. May
the Christmas day never arrive in England when there are no family
meetings and no gatherings together!
But earthly gatherings after all have something about them that is sad
and sorrowful. The happiest parties sometimes contain uncongenial
members: the merriest meetings are only for a very short time. Moreover,
as years roll on, the hand of death makes painful gaps in the family
circle. Even in the midst of Christmas merriment we cannot help
remembering those who have passed away. The longer we live, the more we
feel to stand alone. The old faces will rise before the eyes of our
minds, and the old voices will sound in our ears, even in the midst of
holiday mirth and laughter. People do not talk much of such things; but
there are few that do not feel them. We need not intrude our inmost
thoughts on others, and especially when all around us are bright and
happy. But there are not many, I suspect, who reach middle age, who
would not admit, if they spoke the truth, that there are sorrowful
things inseparably mixed up with a Christmas party. In short, there is
no unmixed pleasure about any earthly "gathering."
But is there no better "gathering" yet to come? Is there no bright
prospect in our horizon of an assembly which shall far outshine the
assemblies of Christmas and New Year,--an assembly in which there shall
be joy without sorrow, and mirth without tears? I thank God that I can
give a plain answer to these questions; and to give it is the simple
object of this paper. I ask my readers to give me their attention for a
few minutes, and I will soon show them what I mean.
I. There is a "gathering together" of true Christians which is to come.
_What is it, and when shall it be?_
The gathering I speak of shall take place at the end of the world, in
the day when Christ returns to earth the second time. As surely as He
came the first time, so surely shall He come the second time. In the
clouds of heaven He went away, and in the clouds of heaven He shall
return. Visibly, in the body, He went away, and visibly, in the body, He
will return. And the very first thing that Christ will do will be to
"gather together" His people. "He shall send His angels with a great
sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the
four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." (Matt. xxiv. 31.)
The _manner_ of this "gathering together" is plainly revealed in
Scripture. The dead saints shall all be raised, and the living saints
shall all be changed. It is written, "The sea shall give up the dead
which are in it, and death and hell shall give up the dead that are in
them."--"The dead in Christ shall rise first. Those which are alive and
remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the
Lord in the air."--"We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the
trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we
shall be changed." (Rev. xx. 13; 1 Thess. iv. 16, 17; 1 Cor. xv. 51,
52.) And then, when every member of Christ is found, and not one left
behind, when soul and body, those old companions, are once more
reunited, then shall be the grand "gathering together."
The _object_ of this "gathering together" is as clearly revealed in
Scripture as its manner. It is partly for the final reward of Christ's
people: that their complete justification from all guilt may be declared
to all creation; that they may receive the "crown of glory which fadeth
not away," and the "kingdom prepared before the foundation of the
world;" that they may be admitted publicly into the joy of their
Lord.--It is partly for the safety of Christ's people, that, like Noah
in the ark and Lot in Zoar, they may be hid and covered before the storm
of God's judgment comes down on the wicked; that when the last plagues
are falling on the enemies of the Lord, they may be untouched, as
Rahab's family in the fall of Jericho, and unscathed as the three
children in the midst of the fire. The saints have no cause to fear the
day of gathering, however fearful the signs that may accompany it.
Before the final crash of all things begins, they shall be hidden in the
secret place of the Most High. The grand gathering is for their safety
and their reward. "Fear not ye," shall the angel-reapers say, "for ye
seek Jesus which was crucified."--"Come, my people," shall their Master
say: "enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide
thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be
overpast." (Matt. xxviii. 5; Isa. xxvi. 20.)
(_a_) This gathering will be a _great_ one. All children of God who have
ever lived, from Abel the first saint down to the last born in the day
that our Lord comes,--all of every age, and nation, and church, and
people, and tongue,--all shall be assembled together. Not one shall be
overlooked or forgotten. The weakest and feeblest shall not be left
behind. Now, when "scattered," true Christians seem a little flock;
then, when "gathered," they shall be found a multitude which no man can
number.
(_b_) This gathering will be a _wonderful_ one. The saints from distant
lands, who never saw each other in the flesh, and could not understand
each other's speech if they met, shall all be brought together in one
harmonious company. The dwellers in Australia shall find they are as
near heaven, and as soon there, as the dwellers in England. The
believers who died five thousand years ago, and whose bones are mere
dust, shall find their bodies raised and renewed as quickly as those who
are alive when the trumpet sounds. Above all, miracles of grace will be
revealed. We shall see some in heaven who we never expected would have
been saved at all. The confusion of tongues shall at length be reversed,
and done away. The assembled multitude will cry with one heart and in
one language, "What hath God wrought!" (Num. xxiii. 23.)