Sunday Morning at the Christadelphian Ecclesia, No. 308
“Exhort one another.”—Paul.
p. 280We are called upon this morning to consider Jesus in the particular aspect in which he is presented to us in the emblems spread upon the table. We are invited to look a very long way back, through the dim distance of 1800 years, to the time when Jesus was in the flesh—when he was “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief”—learning obedience by the things which he suffered, submitting to humiliation and death, in order that he might lay the foundation of the glorious state of things, which we are now permitted in him to hope for.
But it seems highly probable it will not be very long before we and the world at large, will have to look npon him in a very different aspect indeed, because we see in the present state of Europe the sure prognostication of the approach of the time when the prediction of Daniel shall be fulfilled, which says: “The saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom and possess the kingdom for ever.” The particular course that events may take, it is not permitted us to know; all that we get in the vision is simply a broad outline. We have the symbols of the four great dominions that have existed on the earth; but there is nothing to represent the details involved in the setting-up of one, and the casting-down of another. You do not, in the vision, see the causes which led to the transitions represented. So in the present, it is enough for us to see the broad course of events. All we do know and expect is that at this time, the Papal supremacy will come to an end, and that afterwards the Ancient of Days will soon be manifested in the person of Jesus.
We have been singing about the “Man of Sorrows,” in the garden of Gethsemane. There the work began. In that dark and bitter hour, he laid the foundation of the mighty triumph which he is shortly to effect in the earth. “He bowed beneath the sins of men” even to the grave: but he rose again, and went away to heaven, and has been away all this time—so long, that men have forgotten him, except as a worthless tradition. But we, thanks to God’s unmerited favour, have had our attention called back to the truth concerning him, and are waiting in silence, in quietness and patience, for his return from heaven. Are we worthy of this position? Are we quite ready to go and meet him, with the account which everyone of us will have to render? James indicates the principle of readiness, in the chapter read. He says “Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves; for if any be a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man beholding his natural face in a glass; for he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.”
Now that is very plain and simple, there is no mistaking the meaning of it. The “perfect law of liberty” is to be found in the Bible. Jesus says “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free:” that is to say, the unfolding of God’s mind to us in the various matters made known in the Bible, constitutes the law of liberty. What we have to do, is to look into it, and not to forget what we read. A great deal depends upon memory, in reference to salvation, in fact, it is true what was once said by Dr. Thomas “that, salvation is very much a matter of good memory.” To “orthodox” ears, this would seem a most irreverent remark; but it is exactly true. Proof of it you will find in 1 Cor. xv. 1-2; and Heb. iii. 26. Both these agree with James when he says that “that man is blessed who is not a forgetful hearer of the word.” But some may say that some persons have good memories, and some have bad ones, by natural constitution. The answer to this is, that everybody has a good memory for what they give their attention to, and what they like. Nobody forgets the house he lives in; no one forgets his friends; no one ever forgets the money that is owing to him. Why? Because these things are continually under p. 281cognisance—seen by the eyes or heard by the ears. Now the reason why the majority of people are forgetful hearers of the word, is because they are not constant readers of it. They do not “continue” in this law; they allow themselves to be diverted by the ephemeral things of life, from the important business of making themselves familiar with God’s word, by reading. They are without excuse. They plead bad memories, but they forget they have the power of making a good one. They have a good memory for what they continually busy themselves about. This is a universal rule. Do you think anybody would have a good memory for Greek or Algebra, if they did not apply themselves with diligence? People dive into musty and intricate studies to qualify themselves for a good position in society. In this way they make a memory for learning, and gain their object. So it must be with us. We must qualify ourselves for the great future, by studying day and night, those disclosures of the divine mind which have been preserved in record for our benefit. We must be diligent readers of the Bible, and thus we shall gain a good and serviceable memory of all that God would have us remember, viz., the truth concerning Christ, and His will concerning us. In this way, we shall stand ready for the summons which may at any time come forth.
When Christ sends for us, very likely the message will come by the hands of an angelic visitor. The angels have always been used in times past, in the furtherance of divine arrangements. They had much to do with the first advent of Christ, with his birth, his sufferings and his resurrection. And we know that at his second appearing, he will be accompanied by a multitude of them. Now this may happen any day. Supposing you are sitting quietly by the fireside at night, the labours of the day completed, and you think of going to bed, how shall you feel if all of a sudden, a beautiful and dignified visitor present himself with the intimation that “the Master is come and calleth for thee?” It will all depend upon the disposal you have been making of your time and your money and your strength. What sort of a day have you been spending? You have been exceedingly troubled, and taken up with business or the house. You have been in a ferment of discontent. You have been very angry with somebody. You have neglected your reading. You thought something else more important than the meeting. You have not been thinking about Christ at all; have not been doing anything for him—how shall you feel? Very much abashed, very much frightened—paralysed with consternation.
But let us suppose the case stands the other way. You are depressed with sorrow. You have had a hard fight. You have been harassed in a variety of ways; but you have done your duty. You have snatched your reading amidst the pressure of life’s duties; you have given your countenance to the work done for Christ. You have preferred his assemblies to private or worldly pleasure. You have done what you could to promote his service in the proclamation of the truth, the visitation and comfort of the lambs of his flock, and in the relief of his poor. You are sad with a sadness the world does not understand. You are grieved at the triumph of Christ’s enemies, the faithlessness and unconcern of those who profess his name, and it may be, at your own shortcomings hindering you in the race. The pressure of individual circumstances bows you down. Your pocket may be empty, because of what you considered it your duty to do. In tears you pour out your complaint before God, and that messenger comes to you. How shall you feel? You shall feel as no language can express; you will not be filled with ecstacy, because the judgment has to pass, before you know your lot; but you will feel a calm relief from the knowledge that there is nothing in the present state worth living for; and that your inmost desires and highest aspirations are towards the things that are of God. Joy (mixed with fear) will fill your heart, to know that God has taken the work in hand Himself.
You go to the judgment-seat, and whom do you meet there? Why the man who, above all others, has been for a lifetime the cherished ideal of your heart—an ideal implanted there by the truth, and which has been growing sharper in outline, dearer to the affections, more real to the assurance, and consciousness as years roll by. You see him after whom your soul longs, in whom you have confided all your hope, and for whom you have risked all your interests. Shall you be afraid now? You will tremble, p. 282because a righteous man has a deep sense of the greatness and holiness of God. You will feel in that great presence like Daniel in the presence of the angel. But listen, “Oh man, greatly beloved, be strong, and be of good courage.”
Who would not labour for such a result? It is not too late for us to mend, to become devoted, to throw our soul into the things that belong to Christ. We may rest assured of this, that any man or woman who simply tinkers at Christ’s work, who simply compliments the truth with a nominal adhesion, who is a mere patron of the truth, who does not feel it a privilege of the highest kind to lay themselves on the altar of its service—aye, beneath the wheels of its chariot, if needs be, to be crushed in its onward progress—will be rejected. “If any man love father or mother, sister or brother, house or land more than me, he is not worthy of me.”
R. R.