or among the chaff? Neutrality is impossible. Either you are in one
class, or in the other. Which is it of the two?
You attend church, perhaps. You go to the Lord's table. You like good
people. You can distinguish between good preaching and bad. You think
Popery false, and oppose it warmly. You think Protestantism true, and
support it cordially. You subscribe to religious Societies. You attend
religious meetings. You sometimes read religious books. It is well: it
is very well. It is good: it is all very good. It is more than can be
said of many. But still this is not a straightforward answer to my
question.--Are you wheat or are you chaff?
Have you been born again? Are you a new creature? Have you put off the
old man, and put on the new? Have you ever felt your sins, and repented
of them? Are you looking simply to Christ for pardon and life eternal?
Do you love Christ? Do you serve Christ? Do you loathe heart-sins, and
fight against them? Do you long for perfect holiness, and follow hard
after it? Have you come out from the world? Do you delight in the Bible?
Do you wrestle in prayer? Do you love Christ's people? Do you try to do
good to the world? Are you vile in your own eyes, and willing to take
the lowest place? Are you a Christian in business, and on week-days, and
by your own fireside? Oh, think, think, think on these things, and then
perhaps you will be better able to tell the state of your soul.
I beseech you not to turn away from my question, however unpleasant it
may be. Answer it, though it may prick your conscience, and cut you to
the heart. Answer it, though it may prove you in the wrong, and expose
your fearful danger. Rest not, rest not, till you know how it is between
you and God. Better a thousand times find out that you are in an evil
case, and repent betimes, than live on in uncertainty, and be lost
eternally.
II. Let me show, in the second place, _the time when the two great
classes of mankind shall be separated_.
The text at the beginning of this paper foretells a separation. It says
that Christ shall one day do to His professing Church what the farmer
does to his corn. He shall winnow and sift it. He "shall throughly purge
His floor." And then the wheat and the chaff shall be divided.
There is no separation yet. Good and bad are now all mingled together in
the visible Church of Christ. Believers and unbelievers,--converted and
unconverted,--holy and unholy,--all are to be found now among those who
call themselves Christians. They sit side by side in our assemblies.
They kneel side by side in our pews. They listen side by side to our
sermons. They sometimes come up side by side to the Lord's table, and
receive the same bread and wine from our hands.
But it shall not always be so. Christ shall come the second time with
His fan in His hand. He shall purge His Church, even as He purified the
temple. And then the wheat and the chaff shall be separated, and each
shall go to its own place.
(_a_) Before Christ comes _separation is impossible_. It is not in man's
power to effect it. There lives not the minister on earth who can read
the hearts of every one in his congregation. About some he may speak
decidedly;--he cannot about all. Who have oil in their lamps, and who
have not,--who have grace as well as profession,--and who have
profession only and no grace,--who are children of God, and who of the
devil,--all these are questions which in many cases we cannot accurately
decide. The winnowing fan is not put into our hands.
Grace is sometimes so weak and feeble, that it looks like nature. Nature
is sometimes so plausible and well-dressed, that it looks like grace. I
believe we should many of us have said that Judas was as good as any of
the Apostles; and yet he proved a traitor. I believe we should have said
that Peter was a reprobate when he denied his Lord; and yet he repented
immediately, and rose again. We are but fallible men. "We know in part
and we prophesy in part." (1 Cor. xiii. 9.) We scarcely understand our
own hearts. It is no great wonder if we cannot read the hearts of
others.
But it will not always be so. There is One coming who never errs in
judgment, and is perfect in knowledge. Jesus shall purge His floor.
Jesus shall sift the chaff from the wheat. I wait for this. Till then I
will lean to the side of charity in my judgments. I would rather
tolerate much chaff in the Church than cast out one grain of wheat. He
shall soon come "who has His fan in His hand," and then the certainty
about every one shall be known.
(_b_) Before Christ comes it is useless to _expect to see a perfect
Church_. There cannot be such a thing. The wheat and the chaff, in the
present state of things, will always be found together. I pity those who
leave one Church and join another, because of a few faults and unsound
members. I pity them, because they are fostering ideas which can never
be realized. I pity them, because they are seeking that which cannot be
found. I see "chaff" everywhere. I see imperfections and infirmities of
some kind in every communion on earth. I believe there are few tables of
the Lord, if any, where all the communicants are converted. I often see
loud-talking professors exalted as saints. I often see holy and contrite
believers set down as having no grace at all. I am satisfied if men are
too scrupulous, they may go fluttering about, like Noah's dove, all
their days, and never find rest.
Does any reader of this paper desire a perfect Church? You must wait for
the day of Christ's appearing. Then, and not till then, you will see a
"glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing." (Eph.
v. 27.) Then, and not till then, the floor will be purged.
(_c_) Before Christ comes it is vain to _look for the conversion of the
world_. How can it be, if He is to find wheat and chaff side by side in
the day of His second coming? I believe some Christians expect that
missions will fill the earth with the knowledge of Christ, and that
little by little sin will disappear, and a state of perfect holiness
gradually glide in. I cannot see with their eyes. I think they are
mistaking God's purposes, and sowing for themselves bitter
disappointment. I expect nothing of the kind. I see nothing in the
Bible, or in the world around me, to make me expect it. I have never
heard of a single congregation entirely converted to God, in England or
Scotland, or of anything like it.--And why am I to look for a different
result from the preaching of the Gospel in other lands? I only expect to
see a few raised up as witnesses to Christ in every nation, some in one
place and some in another. Then I expect the Lord Jesus will come in
glory, with His fan in His hand. And when He has purged His floor, and
not till then, His kingdom will begin.
_No separation and no perfection till Christ comes!_ This is my creed. I
am not moved when the infidel asks me why all the world is not
converted, if Christianity is really true. I answer, It was never
promised that it would be so in the present order of things. The Bible
tells me that believers will always be few,--that corruptions and
divisions and heresies will always abound, and that when my Lord returns
to earth He will find plenty of chaff.
_No perfection till Christ comes!_ I am not disturbed when men say, "Make
all the people good Christians at home before you send missionaries to
the heathen abroad." I answer, If I am to wait for that, I may wait for
ever. When we have done all at home, the Church will still be a mixed
body,--it will contain some wheat and much chaff.
But Christ will come again. Sooner or later there shall be a separation
of the visible Church into two companies, and fearful shall that
separation be. The wheat shall make up one company. The chaff shall make
up another. The one company will be all godly. The other company will be
all ungodly. Each shall be by themselves, and a great gulf between, that
none can pass. Blessed indeed shall the righteous be in that day! They
shall shine like stars, no longer obscured with clouds. They shall be
beautiful as the lily, no longer choked with thorns. (Cant. ii. 2.)
Wretched indeed will the ungodly be! How corrupt will corruption be when
left without one grain of salt to season it! How dark will darkness be
when left without one spark of light! Ah, it is not enough to respect
and admire the Lord's people! You must belong to them, or you will one
day be parted from them for ever. There will be no chaff in heaven.
Many, many are the families where one will be taken and another left.
(Luke xvii. 34.)
Who is there now among the readers of this paper that loves the Lord
Jesus Christ in sincerity? If I know anything of the heart of a
Christian, your greatest trials are in the company of worldly
people,--your greatest joys in the company of the saints. Yes! there are
many weary days, when your spirit feels broken and crushed by the
earthly tone of all around you,--days when you could cry with David,
"Woe is me that I dwell in Mesech, and have my habitation in the tents
of Kedar." (Ps. cxx. 5.) And yet there are hours when your soul is so
refreshed and revived by meeting some of God's dear children, that it
seems like heaven on earth. Do I not speak to your heart? Are not these
things true? See then how you should long for the time when Christ shall
come again. See how you should pray daily that the Lord would hasten His
kingdom, and say to Him, "Come quickly, Lord Jesus." (Rev. xxii. 20.)
Then, and not till then, shall be a pure unmixed communion. Then, and
not till then, the saints shall all be together, and shall go out from
one another's presence no more. Wait a little. Wait a little. Scorn and
contempt will soon be over. Laughter and ridicule shall soon have an
end. Slander and misrepresentation will soon cease. Your Saviour shall
come and plead your cause. And then, as Moses said to Korah, "the Lord
will show who are His,"[14] (Num. xvi. 5.)
14: "This is certain,--when the elect are all converted, then Christ
will come to judgment. As he that rows a boat stays till all the
passengers are taken into his boat, and then he rows away; so Christ
stays till all the elect are gathered in, and then He will hasten
away to judgment."--_Thomas Watson._ 1660
Who is there among the readers of this paper that knows his heart is not
right in the sight of God? See how you should fear and tremble at the
thought of Christ's appearing. Alas, indeed for the man that lives and
dies with nothing better than a cloak of religion! In the day when
Christ shall purge His floor, you will be shown up and exposed in your
true colours. You may deceive ministers, and friends, and
neighbours,--but you cannot deceive Christ. The paint and varnish of a
heartless Christianity will never stand the fire of that day. The Lord
is a God of knowledge, and by Him actions are weighed. You will find
that the eye which saw Achan and Gehazi, has read your secrets, and
searched out your hidden things. You will hear that awful word, "Friend,
how camest thou in hither, not having a wedding garment?" (Matt. xxii.
12.) Oh, tremble at the thought of the day of sifting and separation!
Surely hypocrisy is a most losing game. Surely it never answers to act a
part. Surely it never answers, like Ananias and Sapphira, to pretend to
give God something, and yet to keep back your heart. It all fails at
last. Your joy is but for a moment. Your hopes are no better than a
dream. Oh, tremble, tremble: tremble and repent!
III. Let me show, in the third place, _the portion which Christ's people
shall receive when He comes to purge His floor_.
The text at the beginning of this paper tells us that, in good and
comfortable words. It tells us that Christ shall "gather His wheat into
the garner."
When the Lord Jesus comes the second time, He shall collect His
believing people into a place of safety. He will send His angels and
gather them from every quarter. The sea shall give up the dead that are
in it, and the graves the dead that are in them, and the living shall be
changed. Not one poor sinner of mankind who has ever laid hold on Christ
by faith shall be wanting in that company. Not one single grain of wheat
shall be missing and left outside, when judgments fall upon a wicked
world. There shall be a garner for the wheat of the earth, and into that
garner all the wheat shall be brought.
It is a sweet and comfortable thought, that "the Lord taketh pleasure in
His people" and "careth for the righteous." (Ps. cxlix. 4; 1 Pet. v. 7.)
But how much the Lord cares for them, I fear is little known, and dimly
seen. Believers have their trials, beyond question, and these both many
and great. The flesh is weak. The world is full of snares. The cross is
heavy. The way is narrow. The companions are few. But still they have
strong consolations, if their eyes were but open to see them. Like
Hagar, they have a well of water near them, even in the wilderness,
though they often do not find it out. Like Mary, they have Jesus
standing by their side, though often they are not aware of it for very
tears. (Gen. xxi. 19; John xx. 14.)
Bear with me while I try to tell you something about Christ's care for
poor sinners that believe in Him. Alas, indeed, that it should be
needful! But we live in a day of weak and feeble statements. The danger
of the state of nature is feebly exposed. The privileges of the state of
grace are feebly set forth. Hesitating souls are not encouraged.
Disciples are not established and confirmed. The man out of Christ is
not rightly alarmed. The man in Christ is not rightly built up. The one
sleeps on, and seldom has his conscience pricked. The other creeps and
crawls all his days, and never thoroughly understands the riches of his
inheritance. Truly this is a sore disease, and one that I would gladly
help to cure. Truly it is a melancholy thing that the people of God
should never go up to mount Pizgah, and never know the length and
breadth of their possessions. To be brethren of Christ, and sons of God
by adoption,--to have full and perfect forgiveness, and the renewing of
the Holy Ghost,--to have a place in the book of life, and a name on the
breast-plate of the Great High Priest in heaven,--all these are glorious
things indeed. But still they are not the whole of a believer's portion.
They are upper springs indeed, but still there are nether springs
beside.
(_a_) The Lord _takes pleasure in His believing people_. Though black in
their own eyes, they are comely and honourable in His. They are all
fair. He sees "no spot" in them. (Cant. iv. 7.) Their weaknesses and
short-comings do not break off the union between Him and them. He chose
them, knowing all their hearts. He took them for his own, with a perfect
understanding of all their debts, liabilities, and infirmities, and He
will never break His covenant and cast them off. When they fall, He will
raise them again. When they wander, He will bring them back. Their
_prayers_ are pleasant to Him. As a father loves the first stammering
efforts of his child to speak, so the Lord loves the poor feeble
petitions of His people. He endorses them with His own mighty
intercession, and gives them power on high. Their _services_ are
pleasant to Him. As a father delights in the first daisy that his child
picks up and brings him, even so the Lord is pleased with the weak
attempts of His people to serve Him. Not a cup of cold water shall lose
its reward. Not a word spoken in love shall ever be forgotten. The Holy
Ghost inspired St. Paul to tell the Hebrews of Noah's faith, but not of
his drunkenness,--of Rahab's faith, but not of her lie. It is a blessed
thing to be God's wheat!
(_b_) The Lord _cares for His believing people in their lives_. Their
dwelling-place is well known. The street called "straight," where Judas
dwelt, and Paul lodged,--the house by the sea-side, where Peter prayed,
were all familiar to their Lord. None have such attendants as they
have:--angels rejoice when they are born again; angels minister to them;
and angels encamp around them. None have such food;--their bread is
given them and their water is sure, and they have meat to eat of which
the world knows nothing. None have such company as they have: the Spirit
dwelleth with them; the Father and the Son come to them, and make their
abode with them. (John xiv. 23.) Their steps are all ordered from grace
to glory: they that persecute them persecute Christ Himself, and they
that hurt them hurt the apple of the Lord's eye. Their trials and
temptations are all measured out by a wise Physician:--not a grain of
bitterness is ever mingled in their cup that is not good for the health
of their souls. Their temptations, like Job's, are all under God's
control.--Satan cannot touch a hair of their head without their Lord's
permission, nor even tempt them above that which they shall be able to
bear. "As a father pitieth his own children, so does the Lord pity them
that fear Him." He never afflicts them willingly. (Ps. ciii. 13; Lam.
iii. 33.) He leads them by the right way. He withholds nothing that is
really for their good. Come what will, there is always a "needs-be."
When they are placed in the furnace, it is that they may be purified.
When they are chastened, it is that they may become more holy. When they
are pruned, it is to make them more fruitful. When they are transplanted
from place to place, it is that they may bloom more brightly. All things
are continually working together for their good. Like the bee, they
extract sweetness even out of the bitterest flowers.
(_c_) The Lord _cares for His believing people in their deaths_. Their
times are all in the Lord's hand. The hairs of their heads are all
numbered, and not one can ever fall to the ground without their Father.
They are kept on earth till they are ripe and ready for glory, and not
one moment longer. When they have had sun and rain enough, wind and
storm enough, cold and heat enough,--when the ear is perfected,--then,
and not till then, the sickle is put in. They are all immortal till
their work is done. There is not a disease that can loosen the pins of
their tabernacle, until the Lord gives the word. A thousand may fall at
their right hand, but there is not a plague that can touch them till the
Lord sees good. There is not a physician that can keep them alive, when
the Lord gives the word. When they come to their death-bed, the
everlasting arms are round about them, and make all their bed in their
sickness. When they die, they die like Moses, "according to the word of
the Lord," at the right time, and in the right way. (Deut. xxxiv. 5.)
And when they breathe their last, they fall asleep in Christ, and are at
once carried, like Lazarus, into Abraham's bosom. Yes! it is a blessed
thing to be Christ's wheat! When the sun of other men is setting, the
sun of the believer is rising. When other men are laying aside their
honours, he is putting his on. Death locks the door on the unbeliever,
and shuts him out from hope. But death opens the door to the believer,
and lets him into paradise.
(_d_) And the Lord _will care for His believing people in the dreadful
day of His appearing_. The flaming fire shall not come nigh them. The
voice of the Archangel and the trump of God shall proclaim no terrors to
their ears. Sleeping or waking, quick or dead, mouldering in the coffin,
or standing at the post of daily duty,--believers shall be secure and
unmoved. They shall lift up their heads with joy when they see
redemption drawing nigh. They shall be changed, and put on their
beautiful garments in the twinkling of an eye. They shall be "caught up
to meet the Lord in the air." (1 Thess. iv. 17.) Jesus will do nothing
to a sin-laden world till all his people are safe. There was an ark for
Noah when the flood began. There was a Zoar for Lot when the fire fell
on Sodom. There was a Pella for early Christians when Jerusalem was
besieged. There was a Zurich for English reformers when Popish Mary came
to the throne. And there will be a garner for all the wheat of the earth
in the last day. Yes! it is a blessed thing to be Christ's wheat!
I often wonder at the miserable faithlessness of those among us who are
believers. Next to the hardness of the unconverted heart, I call it one
of the greatest wonders in the world. I wonder that with such mighty
reasons for confidence we can still be so full of doubts. I marvel,
above all things, how any can deny the doctrine that Christ's people
persevere unto the end, and can fancy that He who loved them so as to
die for them upon the cross, will ever let them be cast away. I cannot
think so. I do not believe the Lord Jesus will ever lose one of His
flock. He will not let Satan pluck away from Him so much as one sick
lamb. He will not allow one bone of His mystical body to be broken. He
will not suffer one jewel to fall from His crown. He and His bride have
been once joined in an everlasting covenant, and they shall never, never
be put asunder. The trophies won by earthly conquerors have often been
wrested from them, and carried off; but this shall never be said of the
trophies of Him who triumphed for us on the cross. "My sheep," He says,
"shall never perish." (John x. 28.) I take my stand on that text. I know
not how it can be evaded. If words have any meaning, the perseverance of
Christ's people is there.
I do not believe, when David had rescued the lamb from the paws of the
lion, that he left it weak and wounded to perish in the wilderness. I
cannot believe when the Lord Jesus has delivered a soul from the snare
of the devil that He will ever leave that soul to take his chance, and
wrestle on in his own feebleness, against sin, the devil, and the world.
I dare be sure, if you were present at a shipwreck, and seeing some
helpless child tossing on the waves were to plunge into the sea and save
him at the risk of your own life,--I dare be sure you would not be
content with merely bringing that child safe to shore. You would not lay
him down when you had reached the land, and say, "I will do no more. He
is weak,--he is insensible,--he is cold: it matters not. I have done
enough,--I have delivered him from the waters: he is not drowned." You
would not do it. You would not say so. You would not treat that child in
such a manner. You would lift him in your arms; you would carry him to
the nearest house; you would try to bring back warmth and animation; you
would use every means to restore health and vigour: you would never
leave him till his recovery was a certain thing.
And can you suppose the Lord Jesus Christ is less merciful and less
compassionate? Can you think He would suffer on the cross and die, and
yet leave it uncertain whether believers in Him would be saved? Can you
think He would wrestle with death and hell, and go down to the grave for
our sakes, and yet allow our eternal life to hang on such a thread as
our poor miserable endeavours.
Oh, no: He does not do so! He is a perfect and complete Saviour. Those
whom He loves, He loves unto the end. Those whom He washes in His blood
He never leaves nor forsakes. He puts His fear into their hearts, so
that they shall not depart from Him. Where He begins a work, there He
also finishes. All whom He plants in His "garden inclosed" on earth, He
transplants sooner or later into paradise. All whom He quickens by His
Spirit He will also bring with Him when He enters His kingdom. There is
a garner for every grain of the wheat. All shall appear in Zion before
God.
From false grace man may fall, and that both finally and foully. I never
doubt this. I see proof of it continually. From true grace men never do
fall totally. They never did, and they never will. If they commit sin,
like Peter, they shall repent and rise again. If they err from the right
way, like David, they shall be brought back. It is not any strength or
power of their own that keeps them from apostacy. They are kept because
the power, and love, and promises of the Trinity are all engaged on
their side. The election of God the Father shall not be fruitless; the
intercession of God the Son shall not be ineffectual; the love of God
the Spirit shall not be labour in vain. The Lord "shall keep the feet of
His saints." (1 Sam. ii. 9) They shall all be more than conquerors
through Him that loved them. They all shall conquer, and none die
eternally.[15]