TEN SERMONS on the SECOND ADVENT
VI. THE CHURCH'S MOTIVE FOR SERVICE.
"Beloved, now are we the sons of
God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that when He
shall appear we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is. And every one
that has this hope in him purithieth himself, even as He is pure." -
I John iii. 2, 3.
"Every one that hath this hope," and only such as
have it. For this hope is the peculiar possession of the Sons of God, who know
something of "what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon them."
Then, observe, that this hope, though it is the blessed possession of "the Sons
of God," is not centred in themselves, but it is fixed upon another. The words
"in Him" mean literally "upon Him," i.e., upon Christ. Hence the R.V.
translates it "Every one that hath this hope set on Him." It is not who hopeth,
for that would refer to the act of hoping, whereas he who has this hope, has it
as a permanent possession, and fixed on Christ as the glorious object. Then,
its action is ever present; it "purifieth." When we "see Him," " we shall be
like Him," therefore if we want to be like Him now, we must behold Him, and be
occupied with Him. "He IS pure." Purity belongs to Him, and our purity is
secured by occupation with Him in the glory. "We, beholding, are changed into
the same image from glory to glory." Here is no restless effort, no anxious
toiling. It is simply "we beholding - beholding - are changed." Here is the
divine prescription for conformity to the image of Christ: here is that which
will transfigure us and make us "like Him."
Now our text lays down
this great principle, that the coming of Christ in glory is not a mere doctrine
to be preached; not a mere theory to be held; not a mere dogma to be believed,
but it is the mighty motive for all true Christian service. It is a hope that
is bound up inseparably with all doctrines, all ordinances, all precepts, and
all practice. For example, we desire to "walk worthy of the vocation wherewith
we are called": we desire to "walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing"; to be
"fruitful in every good work"; diligent in all service. Then the question is,
How shall we accomplish this? "What must we do" in order to attain this desired
end?
Man, of course (even the spiritual man), is ready with his
various rules for holy living! for he is by nature a Pharisee, and is always
ready "to do" something. Even when he confesses that he has been "justified by
grace" he would like to be sanctified by works! He forgets that God has "made
Him (Jesus) to be unto us, justification and sanctification," and that we are
not justified in Christ by grace without an effort, and then left to be
sanctified in ourselves by our own effort. Truly, in this - in the highest
things as well as in the lowest - in this, as in all beside, God's thought are
not man's thoughts, nor his ways our ways (Is. lv. 8). Man says that faith is
that which will produce holiness of living; God says it is hope. Man says it is
faith in Christ's power to keep me if I can only keep my own faith! but God
says it is "hope" in Christ's coming for me, that will purify me, and this
blessed hope He has given me as my permanent possession.
At the very
best, all this is only man's substitute for God's divine prescription. It shuts
out the true way and gives a false way; it shuts out the only efficacious
means, and presents powerless means; it shuts out the substance, and gives a
shadow. God's way of making our walk correspond with our "holy calling," is to
fill us with the blessed hope of Christ's coming, and to occupy us with His
glory, so that "we beholding... are changed." Man's way is to occupy us with
ourselves: with our spiritual life, which is to be deepened; with our faith,
which is to be increased; with our walk, that is to be perfected. God's way is
to point us to Christ's glory in heaven; man's way is to point us to Christ's
power in us. God says the hope of coming glory will purify us; man says it is
the power of present faith that will do it.
Oh, dear brethren, beware
of any presentation of Doctrine that takes the eye from Christ! Beware of any
phase of it which puts anything, however minute, however plausible, however
apparently good, between the heart and Christ. Beware of building on the
promises, instead of on the Promiser; beware of being occupied with the
blessing instead of the Blesser. If the mere "blessing" be the object of our
lives, we shall most certainly never attain it: but having the Blesser we have
all He can give, and His richest blessing will be with us without an effort.
Hence, you will observe, here, that it is not the doctrine of Christ's
second coming that will do anything for us, but it is Christ who is coming, on
whom this, our purifying hope, is set. This necessarily keeps the heart in
contact with Christ. This contact secures our "abiding in Him" without striving
to abide. This 'abiding' is the source of all fruitfulness and obedience (John
xv. 5). Hence the power of this hope. The Buddhists have a saying, that "if you
think of Buddha and pray to Buddha you will become Buddha" So the one who looks
and waits for God's Son from Heaven will be like Enoch, the seventh from Adam.
He will "walk with God," for he knows that at any moment it may be said of him
"he was not, for God took him." It is easy for superficial readers and thinkers
to pronounce the Apostles mistaken in looking for the Lord in their day. But no
one can be "mistaken" who thus realizes the power and blessing of this
purifying hope. The Apostles and early Christians were no more mistaken than
the saints who, yesterday, fell asleep. For their Christian character was,
alike, shapen and formed by having their hope "set on Him." And happy shall we
be if we are like them in thus looking for His appearing.
Note now,
some of the practical uses which the Holy Spirit makes of this blessed hope in
the Word of God.
1. It is a powerful
motive with the sinner to make him turn from his evil ways. The command to
repent stands frequently connected with the Lord's coming (Matt. iii. 2; Acts
iii. 19, 20; xvii. 30, 31). All the passages which speak of the nearness of the
day of the Lord, its suddenness, its terrors for the ungodly; all appeal
powerfully to the neglector of the great salvation. If this doctrine be really
true, it is evident that it is not merely a question of the uncertainty of life
(which is the point of most pulpit appeals), but of the certainty of Christ's
coming. "When once the Master of the House hath risen up and shut to the door,"
&c. All depends on this:- the movement of Christ! while He is seated at
God's right hand the door of mercy is open, when once He is risen up, it will
be shut! And yet preachers neglect this powerful motive, and introduce another
which the Scriptures do not urge.
2.
Again, why is a man not profited if he "gain the whole world and lost his own
soul?" (Matt. xvi. 26). Why? Because the next verse tells us "FOR the Son of
Man shall come in the glory of His Father with His angels and then shall He
reward every man according to his works." That is why. If a man could gain the
whole world, it would be useless for the Lord is coming to judge it.
3. Why is the case of mere professors,
who say "Lord, Lord," so hopeless? (Matt. vii. 21) Because the next verse tells
us, that "in that day... then will I profess unto them, I never knew you,
depart from Me." That is why!
4. How
does Jesus warn us not to be ashamed of Him and of His words now (Mark viii.
38). By reminding us in the next verse, that "of him also shall the Son of Man
be ashamed when He cometh in the glory of His Father with the holy angels."
5. What is the true comfort for those
who are "troubled" at Christ's absence? Not, you shall die and come to me, but
"I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am, there ye may be
also" (John xiv. 1-3).
6. What is true
comfort in bereavement? "Comfort one another with these words." What words?
Words which tell of the reunion of those who have fallen asleep with those who
are alive and remain, when the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven to
receive both into His presence. "So (lit., thus, in this manner) shall we ever
be with the Lord" (I Thess. iv. 13-18). The Great Comforter Himself likewise
connected true comfort with Resurrection. "Thy brother shall rise again" (John
xi. 23). But man has improved on that; and has quite a different mode of
comforting bereaved ones now. He quite dispenses with the hope of the Advent
and of Resurrection, and bids all mourners to comfort themselves with a kind of
Christian Spiritualism, which quiets everyone, good and bad alike, with the
delusion of all going to heaven when they die!
7. The hope of a groaning creation is bound up with the
manifestation of the saints with Christ in glory. "For the earnest expectation
of the creature (creation, R.V.) waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of
God... because the creature (creation, R.V.) itself also shall be delivered
from the bondage of corruption, into the glorious liberty (R.V. into the
liberty of the glory) of the children of God" (Rom. viii 19-23).
8. With what motive are we urged not to judge one
another now, and not to be moved when others judge us? (I Cor. iv. 3, 4)
Because the next verse says, "Therefore judge nothing before the time, until
the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and
will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have
praise of God."
9. If we are exhorted
to draw near with faith and take the bread and wine in memory of our Lord's
death at His first advent, we cannot, or ought not to do it, without connecting
it with His second advent (I Cor. xi. 26), "For as often as ye eat this bread
and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till He come."
10. Is love for the person of Christ set before us
as the greatest and most important of all things? It is so in consideration of
the fact that He is coming again. "If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ
let him be Anathema [accursed], Maranatha [our Lord cometh] (I Cor. xvi. 22).
It is the fact of the Lord's coming which puts everything in its right place.
The apostle had much to complain of in this first epistle to the Corinthians.
In chapter i., divisions; iv., false judgments; v., uncleanness; vi., brother
going to law with brother; x. xi., errors in ritual; xv. 35, errors of
doctrine; but when he comes to the last verse in that epistle; when it is a
question of Maran-atha; when things are weighed in light of that all-pervading
fact of the Lord's coming, then he does not say, if any man be not moral or
orthodox, &c., but "if any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ." As much as
to say - Nothing but love for Christ will stand us in any stead when "Our Lord
cometh." A man may be perfectly moral, orthodox, and correct in ritual, and yet
have no love for Christ! This fact of the Master's coming puts all these things
in their proper place, and tells us that the Lord alone shall be exalted in
that day, and only those who have His love shed abroad in their hearts by the
Holy Ghost shall be exalted with Him.
11. Are we exhorted (Eph. iv. 30) to "grieve not the Holy Spirit of
God"? it is added, "whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption."
12. Are we exhorted to "be sober"? the
exhortation is based on the same motive. (I Thess. v. 2-6).
13. Are we exhorted to forbearance and gentleness?
(for this is the meaning of the word in Phi. iv. 5), "Let your moderation be
known unto all men"? The reason for it is "The Lord is at hand," and He
therefore will put all right that is now so wrong. And if His coming be so
near, such things are not worth contending for.
14. Have we "need of patience that after we have done the will of
God we may receive the promise" (Heb. x. 36)? The motive for it is found in the
next verse:-"For yet a little while and He that shall come will come and will
not tarry." And again, "Be patient therefore brethren unto the coming of the
Lord." (Jas. v. 7).
15. Are we
exhorted to mortify the flesh? This is still the mighty motive, "When Christ
who is our life shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory.
Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth," etc. (Col. iii. 4, 5)
16. Does the apostle pray that his
Philippian converts "may be sincere and without offence"? It is with reference
to and "till the day of Christ." (Phil. i. 9, 10).
17. If John exhorts his "little children" to "abide
in Him," the exhortation is pointed with this motive "that when He shall appear
we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before Him at His coming." (I John
ii. 28.)
18. If our faith be tried, it
is that it "might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of
Jesus Christ." (I Pet. i. 7).
19. We
are bidden to "rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings."
Why? "that when His glory shall be revealed ye may be glad also with exceeding
joy." (I Pet. iv. 13.)
20. If we are
exhorted to "watch unto prayer," it is because "the end of all things is at
hand." (I Pet. iv. 7)
Here are twenty examples, and a hundred might
easily be given. But these will be sufficient to show that the doctrine is no
mere visionary enthusiasm, or fanaticism; but is one of the most practical of
all the truths revealed in the Word of God.
But there is one aspect
which we must consider at greater length, and that is its connection with
Missionary work. There is nothing more urgently and frequently laid to its
charge, than that this doctrine tends to paralyse missionary effort. But "the
tree is known by its fruit," and so far from this being the case, we find one
among the Primitive Churches which is indeed a Model Church, the church of
Thessalonica. It received abundant and almost unqualified praise; and it was
emphatically a missionary church. "Ye were ensamples (the apostle writes - I
Thess. i. 7, 8) to all that believe, in Macedonia and Achaia, for from you
sounded out the word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in
every place your faith to God-ward is spread abroad." And this church was all
this because of the Christian character of its members. That character was
formed on "all truth," and hence it was not deformed. It was perfect in its
threefold completeness.
(I) They had "TURNED to God from idols,
(2) to
SERVE the living and true God, and
(3) to WAIT for God's Son from Heaven"
(I Thess. i. 9, 10). Yes. They waited for God's Son from Heaven. Not for Death,
or Providence, or Titus, or the World's conversion, or the Restoration of the
Jews, or for the reconstruction of the Roman Earth, but for God's Son from
these two Epistles to the Thessalonians. One verse in four! a dozen passages in
four or five pages which speak of the coming of God's Son from Heaven! Every
chapter contains a reference to it (I Thess. i. 10; ii. 17-20; iii. 11-13; iv.
13-18; v. 1-6, 13; 2 Thess. i. 6-10; ii. 1-12; iii. 5). No wonder it was a
Model Church!
Again, there are facts which none can gainsay. The Early
Christians were characterised by two things, (1) their doctrine was intensely
Millenarian and (2) their practice was intensely Missionary. They waited and
looked for the Lord, and "they went everywhere preaching the Word." And the
period in the later history of the Church was marked by the absence of these
two things which generally go together. A man may have a missionary spirit and
yet not look for Christ's return. But it is impossible for one who "waits for
God's Son from Heaven" not to do his utmost to "sound forth the word of the
Lord in every place."
Did not the Saviour tell us that it was "the
wicked servant" who said in his heart "My Lord delayeth His coming"? Did He not
warn us of the three great dangers which flow from the "Evil" heart that
cherishes such a thought?
(1) Self-indulgence: he begins "to eat and drink
with the drunken."
(2) Self-assertion: he begins "to smite his
fellow-servants." And
(3) Self-delusion: "the Lord of that servant shall
come in a day when he looketh not for Him, and in an hour that he is not aware
of." (Matt. xxiv. 48-50. Luke xii. 45, 46.)
No! Our Lord's coming when
held in the power of the doctrine, is the greatest possible incitement to
Missionary work, and to Pastor fidelity, integrity, and zeal. Look at I Pet. v.
2-4 "Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof,
not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind,
neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock,
and when the Chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory
that fadeth not away." And 2 Tim. iv. 1, 2 (R.V.) "I charge thee in the sight
of God and of Christ Jesus, who shall judge the quick and the dead, and by His
appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be instant in season, out of
season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and teaching." And
Phil. ii. 16, "Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of
Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain."
These
are the appeals of Scripture as to Ministerial and Missionary work and zeal;
and how powerful is the message, carried under such motives! Look at the appeal
to the heathen idolators (Acts xvii. 30, 31), or to the scoffers and mockers
(Jude 14, 15). How powerful and weighty are these motives for, and subjects of
preaching. And the consolation for the workers, how sweet, based on the same
blessed truth: "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have
kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness,
which the Lord the righteous judge shall give me at that day; and not to me
only but unto all them also, that love His appearing." (2 Tim. iv. 7, 8). No,
dear brethren, there can be no paralysing of missionary effort when its very
key note is "I must work while it is day for the night cometh when no man can
work."
On the contrary, the doctrine of the Lord's speedy coming puts
all work in its right place. It tells us that the great object of the preaching
of the gospel is not the conversion of the world, which would put off that
coming to an indefinite day, or for a thousand years at least. The professing
church has told the world that its mission is to convert it, but she deceives
the world, and the world can turn round and taunt her with her failure, while
it can point to the awful fact that it is fast converting the professing church
to its own worldliness.
It all depends, however, on what the gospel
was sent and meant to do. If the gospel was meant to convert the world, it will
be a failure if this is not done. But if the gospel was meant "to take out ...
a people for His name," then it is not a failure, for this is being done. If it
was sent that God might in mercy "save some," then it is not a failure. If it
was given that a company which no man can number might be saved out of every
people and kindred and nation, then it is no failure, for that is being done.
If it was sent that it might be "preached for a witness unto all nations," then
it is not a failure for this is being done." And these are the objects of the
gospel, and therefore of Missionary labour "according to the Scriptures."
All the Prophets and Apostles agree in testifying that the world will
never know blessing without the Blesser; will never know peace till "the Prince
of Peace" shall come, and will never know Righteousness until "He comes whose
right it is;" until "a King shall reign in Righteousness." The Prophets and
Apostles of old were animated by no such false hopes. One said "Lord, who hath
believed our report." (John xii. 38. Rom. x. 16). Another said "The love of
Christ constraineth us" (not the hope of success). They strove as "Stewards" to
be faithful (I Cor. iv. 1-3), and looked for the commendation "Well done good
and faithful servant" - not good and successful. Yes, it is "the love of
Christ," the love of a crucified, risen, ascended, and returning Saviour which
alone will enable any one to obey the last great command "GO! preach the gospel
to every creature." There our commission begins and ends. We have nothing to do
with results. As stewards we must be found faithful and no apparent failure can
dishearten us if we only bear in mind that "known unto God are all His works
from the beginning of the world;" and that His word cannot return to Him void.
It must prosper in the thing whereunto He hath sent it; and that His purpose
and counsel must stand for ever.
Thus, this mighty motive breathes its
peace into the hearts of Christian workers, takes away all anxiety, and removes
all fear. Need I contrast with this, the powerlessness and inadequacy of any
other or lower motives, which lead to the frantic efforts of but too many in
the present day who believe the world is to be converted before Christ comes,
and that man can do it if he likes! No wonder that such are tempted to lose
faith in the power of the simple Word of God, and take up every new scheme,
adopt every fresh novelty, and try every fresh panacea; aiming at Reformation
rather than at Regeneration, hardly touching the fringe of the masses; and then
leaving those whose characters they have improved and reformed, just as far
from the kingdom of Heaven.
No - dear brethren - "that which is born
of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit ... Ye must
be born again" (John iii. 8, 9). And the gospel has lost none of its ancient
power. It is, as much to-day as when it was first preached, "the power of God
unto salvation." It needs no pity, no help, and no hand-maid. It can overcome
all obstacles, and break down all barriers. No human device need be tried to
prepare the sinner to receive it, for if God has sent it no power can hinder
it; and if He has not sent it, no power can make it effectual.
Dear
brethren, let us as Christian ministers and workers esteem it our highest
privilege to be "workers together with God" in a work that cannot possibly
fail. Let us receive into our hearts this mighty motive for holy living, and
effective service. Remember how it is used by the Holy Spirit in the Word as
the ground of its appeals, the point of its arguments, and the basis of its
exhortations: and "knowing the time that now it is high time to awake out of
sleep, for now is our Salvation nearer that when we believed. The night is far
spent, the day is at hand, let us therefore cast off the works of darkness and
put on THE ARMOUR OF LIGHT." (Rom. xiii. 11, 12)