Chapter 12.
THE OUTLINE OF THE APOSTLES PREACHING.
HIS DESCRIPTION OF THE HEATHEN.
HIS DESCRIPTION OF THE NOMINALLY CHRISTIAN WORLD.
Though virtue be exhibited in all her loveliness, and vice in all its
deformity; though everything attractive be brought before the sinner, to win
him over to the charms of moral excellence- yet, eloquence, with all its
powers, can never change the heart. The moral essay, by its musical cadence
and well-selected words, may please the ear and gratify the taste; but Satan
despises such a feeble effort to overthrow his kingdom. It is as weak as
chaff before the wind. With undisturbed repose he keeps his goods in peace,
and still remains secure within the citadel of the heart.
What power, then, can dislodge this mighty foe? What voice can bid the dying
sinner live? Important question! The preaching of Christ Crucified, through
whom grace abounds to the chief of sinners, is the weapon with which the
Almighty Spirit destroys the powers of darkness- the instrument which he
employs to new-create the soul. No human eloquence can effect so great a
work. The glory belongs to Him, who said, "Let there be light and there was
light." The power is from him who is pleased through the "foolishness of
preaching, to save those who believe." How all-commanding are the words of
Jesus, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, the hour is coming, and now is, when
the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear shall
live."
"Unlike human discipline, which advances by a slow and imperceptible
progress, gaining at one time and losing at another, the Gospel works a
radical change of the heart, and accomplishes such a revolution in its
principles, that the effect immediately appears in the reformation of the
life. Philosophy, with much labor, may extort from the barren soil, a few
dwarfish and sickly plants; but the Gospel makes a rich harvest of heavenly
graces and virtues spring up in the desert of the soul." O that every heart
may experience this glorious change!
Let us unite with the spouse in her ardent longings after Christ, "Awake, O
north wind, and come south; blow upon my garden that the spices may flow
out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits." Were
this the universal prayer, the Church would soon experience the gracious
presence of her Lord, and taste the sweetness of his love, "I have come into
my garden, my sister, my spouse; I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I
have eaten my honey-comb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk;
eat, O friends; drink, yes, drink abundantly O beloved." Lord, do not delay
your coming. Visit every heart with your salvation; and fill the world with
the blessings of your grace.
RUIN, REDEMPTION, and REGENERATION are three comprehensive words, which form
the great outline of Gospel Truth. The amplification of the truths which are
contained under these terms, with all their various bearings on the present
and future destiny of man, composed the substance of the great Apostle's
preaching.
How humbling are his views of mans APOSTASY from God- "We are by nature the
children of wrath. All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.
Death has passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. The unrighteous
shall not inherit the kingdom of God."
How consoling are his views of man's RECOVERY through Christ- "Jesus Christ
came into the world to save sinners. He gave himself a ransom for all. We
have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins. We are justified
freely by his grace. He has made peace through the blood of his cross. He is
made unto us, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. He is
all, and in all."
How purify in- are his views of man's RENEWAL unto holiness. "If any man be
in Christ, he is a new creature. As many as are led by the Spirit of God,
they are the sons of God. Those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh
with the affections and lusts. Without holiness, no man shall see the Lord."
This minister of righteousness, receiving his commission immediately from
Christ, proclaimed, through divine inspiration, these glorious doctrines of
grace; preaching everywhere, repentance toward God, and faith toward our
Lord Jesus Christ The Spirit accompanied the Word by his sovereign power,
and multitudes became obedient to the faith.
The doctrine of a Redeemer, obeying the Law, and dying on the cross for man,
is the very hinge of all evangelical revelations; the very life of all
evangelical blessings. The doctrine of the atonement, is the grand
peculiarity of the Gospel; it is the central point in which all the lines of
duty unite, and from which all the rays of consolation proceed.
Faith draws all its hope, strength, and assurance; from the word, the
fullness, and the promises of Christ. It receives from him, pardon with the
one hand, and holiness with the other; both, being equally the design of his
mediatorial work, and equally the desire of every new-born soul. Paul had no
greater joy, than to set forth the glories of his Redeemer. Knowing where
lay the blessed spring of all his privileges and comforts, his heart glowed
with delight, when engaged in making known to others the unsearchable riches
of Christ. By blessed experience, he had learned, that where sin abounded,
grace did much more abound; that as sin has reigned unto death, so now grace
reigns through righteousness, unto eternal life, by Jesus Christ our Lord.
Therefore he could tell every weeping penitent, these glad tidings of great
joy, that, Jesus is able to save to the uttermost all who come unto God by
him, seeing he ever lives to make intercession for them.
And what returns did such ambassadors of Christ receive? From the world,
hatred and persecution; from false brethren, grief and treachery; but from
the faithful in Christ Jesus, an abundance of love and reverence. Pastors
and ministers were then looked upon as the common parents of Christians,
whom, as such, they honored and obeyed; and to whom they applied for counsel
and direction in all important cases. A pious and faithful minister was in
those days dearer to them than the most valuable blessings upon earth; and
they could lack anything rather than be without them. When Chrysostom was
driven by the Empress Eudoxia into banishment, the people, as he went along,
burst into tears, and cried out, "It were better the sun should not shine,
than that John Chrysostom should not preach." They could not then lose their
spiritual guides, without looking upon themselves as widows and orphans,
bewailing their death with a general sorrow, as if they had lost a common
father. Such was the love which cemented ministers and people together in
those early ages of the Christian church.
How transforming are the doctrines of grace, when applied by faith to the
conscience, through the power of the Holy Spirit. They remove the burden of
sin by revealing a sin-bearing Savior; they strip man of his boasted
excellence, by laying him low at the foot of the cross; they change him into
the image of Jesus, by shedding abroad the love of God in his heart; they
destroy the weeds of selfishness and strife, by sowing the gracious seeds of
unity, peace, and concord in the soul. The moral wilderness becomes the
garden of the Lord; the desert rejoices and blossoms as the rose. What but
Almighty energy could produce so great a change. Man is naturally proud; the
Gospel makes him humble. Man is naturally carnal; the Gospel makes him
spiritual. Man is naturally worldly; the Gospel makes him heavenly. Man is
naturally dead in sin, and blind to his condition; the Gospel quickens him
to a life of holiness, and enlightens his mind to know himself, and Christ
as his only Savior.
The Gospel is good news to poor sinners; the proclamation of a full and free
forgiveness of all sin, through faith in a crucified Redeemer. The Gospel is
the most glorious Revelation of God to man; the brightest display of his
Justice, Holiness, and Love, ever vouchsafed to intelligent beings. Here, we
behold the love of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, planning, executing,
and applying the gracious work of human redemption. In the Gospel we have
the strongest motives to gratitude and obedience. It is full of the sweetest
promises to every penitent believer, who flies to Jesus for life and
salvation.
Let us enquire how this Gospel has come to us. Has it convinced us of our
lost condition? Has it truly humbled us in the sight of God? Has it made us
apply to Christ in faith, and earnest supplication? Have we experienced a
change of heart, being renewed in the spirit of our mind? Do we feel joy in
the Holy Spirit, and peace with God through Jesus Christ?
It is easy in these days of the Church's quiet, to pass for religious
characters, since few events occur to try the principles of professors. But
all is not sterling that dazzles the eye. Many seem to take delight in
religious institutions, and to be on friendly terms with their religious
neighbors, who yet remain, through life, satisfied with barren notions of
the Gospel, and strangers to its renovating power. May the Holy Spirit
preserve us from this fatal error. Let us beware of false marks, of a false
peace, and groundless hopes; for this truth stands immovably fixed in the
Word of God- "Those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them are
not Christians at all."
The doctrines of grace, systematically arranged in the mind, while the heart
is estranged from God, will profit us no more than the idea of a valuable
estate would benefit a person on the verge of bankruptcy, because its
fields, woods, and mansions were vividly painted on his imagination. Without
a personal interest in the merits of Christ, and an experimental
acquaintance with his salvation, it is vain to expect admission into the
celestial city.
Nominal Christianity neither receives nor confers a blessing. Thousands
pride themselves in the name of Christian, as if that were sufficient to
secure salvation, in the absence of every holy affection. Blessed are they,
who can unite with John in all the fullness of his assurance; "We have known
and believed the love that God has to us. We know that we are of God. We
know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding that we
may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son
Jesus Christ."
As fallen creatures, we need a spiritual discernment, and a spiritual taste.
Without the former, a thick darkness respecting the things of God would ever
shroud the understanding; without the latter, no real delight in the riches
of his grace would be felt in the soul. When these blessings are imparted,
we then love Christ above every other object, and obey his will above every
other principle.
Pride and the lust of the flesh, are continually opposing the humbling and
the holy doctrines of the Gospel. Salvation by grace, through faith, is
offensive to our pride. Salvation by grace, through the sanctification of
the Spirit, is equally distasteful to our fleshly mind.
The leaven of pride is not wholly eradicated, even in the bosom of the
humble Christian. There are seasons when it works with painful violence; and
then, the darkness of our minds, and the deadness of our hearts, indicate
that the Holy Spirit is grieved, and that Satan has gained an advantage over
us. Spiritual pride is a subtle evil. It slides into our prayer, and
entwines itself about our praise. It spoils our best duties, and creates
that fondness for human approbation, which puffs up the heart, and steals it
away from God.
When the Gospel of Christ, that word of life and reconciliation, shall be
exhibited in its spirit and power by all professing Christians, happy indeed
will the period be! Then the knowledge of the Lord will overspread the
earth; for many will go to and fro in the name of the Lord, and knowledge
shall be increased.
But have we attained this consummation, so devoutly to be wished? Is this
the aspect of the nominally Christian world? Can we say, that in every
place, "judgment runs down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream?"
Alas! we have to mourn over thousands, who, while they eagerly grasp after
the fruit of the tree of knowledge, despise the infinitely richer fruit of
the tree of life. If knowledge is power, how important, for the well being
of society, that it be founded upon, and drawn from, the Word of God.
Unsanctified knowledge puffs up. It engenders schisms in the Church, and
disorders in the state.
As a Christian people, we may value ourselves upon our benevolent
institutions and religious societies, and think we have done much good in
aiding their establishment and enlargement; but has inward piety been the
spring of our outward exertions? Has love to Christ been our daily
constraining motive? "Bodily exercise profits little, but godliness is
profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of
that which is to come." This, says the Apostle, is a faithful saying, and
worthy of all acceptance.
Let us view the two portraits of mankind as drawn by the pencil of eternal
Truth, by which we shall see that man, while unconverted to God, is the same
internally, whatever change may have taken place in his outward condition.
Behold first the picture which Paul draws of the Heathen world, and which is
a faithful representation of modern Paganism- "When they refused to
acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their evil minds and let them do
things that should never be done. Their lives became full of every kind of
wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, fighting, deception, malicious
behavior, and gossip. They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud,
and boastful. They are forever inventing new ways of sinning and are
disobedient to their parents. They refuse to understand, break their
promises, and are heartless and unforgiving. They are fully aware of God's
death penalty for those who do these things, yet they go right ahead and do
them anyway. And, worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too."
O what a deluge of evil has sin brought upon the earth! Surely, where the
Gospel shines, the prospect will be cheering. Happy could we find it so.
Look at the picture which the Apostle again draws of the nominally Christian
world, and the heart must sicken at the view. "You should also know this,
Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. For
people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and
proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They
will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and unforgiving; they
will slander others and have no self-control; they will be cruel and have no
interest in what is good. They will betray their friends, be reckless, be
puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. They will act as if
they are religious, but they will reject the power that could make them
godly. You must stay away from people like that."
How awful in their features of evil, are these two portraits of mankind. The
Heathen world, and the nominally Christian world, are essentially the same.
Have we not entered upon these predicted times of peril? Does not iniquity,
to a frightful extent, abound among us? Are not the elements of confusion
now at work? Do not these detailed enormities, both disfigure and convulse
the nations of Christendom? The Papal apostasy is gathering its forces
against the truth of the Bible; infidelity is waving its banners in proud
defiance. Worldly mindedness and indifference are sapping the foundations of
the visible Church. Sensuality and profaneness stain the Christian name.
Pure and undefiled religion is branded as wild enthusiasm while the humble
follower of Christ, who mourns in secret over his country's crimes, and
pleads for God before a sneering world, is made a butt for ridicule, and the
sport of scorn.
The heart of man naturally revolts against this faithful exposure of its
enormities. Our pride fondly shelters itself under the 'dignity of human
nature'. We cannot bear to be told how wicked we are, how very far gone,
even as far as possible, from original righteousness. But the Bible is no
flatterer; it is a faithful mirror, in which we may clearly see, (if we have
eyes to see) our real state, divested of all paint and covering. This
offends our pride; we cannot endure the sight; therefore we turn away with
disgust from this Holy Book, and consider it our enemy, because it tells us
the truth.
Is not the language of our hearts too much in unison with those of old,
"They tell the prophets, "Shut up! We don't want any more of your reports."
They say, "Don't tell us the truth. Tell us nice things. Tell us lies.
Forget all this gloom. We have heard more than enough about your 'Holy One
of Israel.' We are tired of listening to what he has to say."
And, are there not too many ministers who apply the flattering ointment to
the conscience, like those, of whom the Lord thus speaks, "These evil
prophets deceive my people by saying, 'All is peaceful!' when there is no
peace at all! It's as if the people have built a flimsy wall, and these
prophets are trying to hold it together by covering it with whitewash! Tell
these whitewashers that their wall will soon fall down. A heavy rainstorm
will undermine it; great hailstones and mighty winds will knock it down. And
you shall know that I am the Lord!"
How awakening is the command of Jehovah to all his ministering servants,
"Cry aloud, spare not, lift up your voice like a trumpet, and show my people
their transgressions, and the house of Jacob their sins. Blow the trumpet,
in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain; let all the inhabitants of
the land tremble, for the day of the Lord comes, it is near at hand." But,
when the alarm is sounded, and when sinners are warned to flee from the
wrath to come, they treat both the messenger and his message with contempt.
They are like the sons of Lot, of whom it is recorded, "And Lot went out,
and spoke unto his sons-in-law who married his daughters, and said up, get
out of this place, for the Lord will destroy this city. But he seemed as one
that mocked unto his sons-in-law."
As it was in the days of Lot, even so it is now. When the faithful servant
of Christ, with the Bible in his hand, and the love of souls in his heart,
lifts up his voice, saying, "Arise , and depart; for this is not your rest;
because it is polluted, it shall destroy you, even with a sore
destruction;'' his voice is unheeded; and with Isaiah he has to mourn-
"Lord, who has believed our report? I have spread out my hands all the day
unto a rebellious people."
Regardless alike of the displeasure of the world, or worldly- professors of
godliness, Paul boldly declared, "God is not mocked, for whatever a man
sows, that shall he also reap. he who sows to his flesh, shall of the flesh
reap corruption. When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, your
lives will produce these evil results: sexual immorality, impure thoughts,
eagerness for lustful pleasure, idolatry, participation in demonic
activities, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish
ambition, divisions, the feeling that everyone is wrong except those in your
own little group, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other kinds of sin.
Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of
life will not inherit the Kingdom of God."
Let us compare these works of the flesh which exclude the soul from heaven,
with the already enumerated sins of the heathen, and of the nominally
Christian world, and we must tremble for the millions who are living in the
constant indulgence of these iniquities, and who are traveling, if grace
does not intervene to save them, to eternal ruin. It may sound uncharitable
to the fastidious ear, but the Word of God cannot be broken, "He that
believes not shall be damned. If you live after the flesh ve shall die."
How faithful is the pen of inspiration. The very evils which we now lament,
prove the truth of that Book, which has foretold those miseries that are
coming upon the earth. But let us not despond, "The Lord reigns, be the
earth ever so unquiet." He guides the complicated machine of human events,
and can, by his overruling power, make all these evils finally to promote
the spirituality and enlargement of his Church.
Is any thing too hard for the Lord, whose wisdom is as infinite as his
power, and whose love is commensurate with eternity? Let us then, with
fervency pray for the gracious outpouring of the Holy Spirit, for that
promised season of refreshing from His presence, which, descending in
showers of blessings upon our country and the world, will transform the
moral desert into the garden of the Lord.
Blessed Jesus! look in mercy upon your inheritance; cause your face to
shine, and we shall be saved. Show your servants your work, and their
children your glory.
"From your seat of mercy bending,
Where you sit enthroned on high,
Lord, in pity condescending,
Hear a helpless sinner's cry.
By unwearied foes surrounded,
Without strength to fight or flee,
Let me never be confounded,
For my hope is placed on thee.
In the hour of tribulation,
To your promise, Lord I cling;
From the storm of fierce temptation
Shield me with your guardian wing.
Let the weight of earthly trials
Drive me nearer to your breast
And afflictions, bitter trials,
Make your blessings doubly blessed.
Then, though dangers' troubled ocean,
Threat me with its rudest shock,
Safe I view its wild commotion
Anchored on the Eternal Rock."