Sermon 359. The Tabernacle-Outside The Camp

A SERMON DELIVERED ON SUNDAY MORNING, FEBRUARY 10, 1861, BY THE REV. C. H. SPURGEON, AT EXETER HALL, STRAND.

"And Moses took the Tabernacle and pitched it outside the camp, afar off from the camp, and called it the Tabernacle of thecongregation. And it came to pass, that everyone which sought the LORRD went out unto the Tabernacle of the congregation,which was outside the camp." Exodus 33:7.

I HAVE been somewhat perplexed in studying this text, for according to the book of Exodus, the Tabernacle-the Tabernacle strictlyso called-did not exist at the time to which it refers. In the succeeding Chapters of this very Book, we have an account ofthe gifts which were made by the peoplefor the construction of that Tabernacle, wherein God dwelt while the children of Israel abode in the wilderness. It seemsto me, after looking at the various authorities upon the point, and considering the opinions of those who have well studiedit, that when the children of Israelcame out of Egypt there may have been some large tent constantly pitched in the center of the camp which had no Ark of theCovenant in it and probably no altar. The vessels and implements for the service of the sanctuary had not then been made.Not even had the pattern been seen byMoses in the holy mountain. The people may be considered to have been at that time under the Patriarchal dispensation whichreaches on, if I understand Scripture aright, until the time of the giving of the Law and 40 days beyond that, really-forit was 40 days after the giving ofthe Law, before the ceremonials of Levitical worship were thoroughly established. Moses was 40 days in the mountain receivinginstruction as to how the future worship of God should be ordered; that worship had not then begun in all its glorious splendor-Aaronhad not even beenordained a priest. The service of the Levitical dispensation awaited as yet those statutes and ordinances by which its observanceswere solemnly imposed. Previous to this, as I take it, there was a large tent in the center of the camp set apart for thatworship which was common toPatriarchal times-for prayer, praise and burnt sacrifices. Now, here God dwelt in the midst of this Tabernacle. He was inthe center of His people; His cloud overshadowed them by day, and kept off from their heads the burning heat; that cloud waslike a luminous atmosphere abovethem by night, so that probably they could see by night as well as by day. God was in the midst of them-this was their gloryand their boast. They had no strange God. The LORD Himself had made their camp the place for His feet, and glorious, indeed,it was! But while Moses hadascended to the mountaintop, the people, who were an unspiritual race, needed something that they could see. They neededsome visible personification of that spiritual God whom they were unable to worship unless they sawHim in type and figure.So they said unto Aaron, "Up, make usgods that shall go before us!" They broke off their earrings and they fashioned there a golden calf, and they said, "Thesebe your gods, O Israel, that brought you up out of the land of Egypt." I do not think that they meant to worship the calf,but they intended to worship Jehovahunder the representation of a calf, for it is expressly said in the Word, "Then they proclaimed a feast unto Jehovah," whichshows that even their dancing around the calf was but a human invention whereby they hoped to honor and to glorify Jehovah.But they vexed the Holy One untoanger, and they grieved His Holy Spirit so that He went forth from the midst of them. He would not acknowledge the campany more as being the place where He could dwell.

A voice might have been heard in Heaven, "Let Us go from here." The holy God could not abide any longer in the central spotof a camp so defiled by sin! The pillar of cloud moved and Moses bade the proper officers lift up the sacred tent-they carriedit up the side of the hill-Justice was aboutto take away from the people the Presence of God, but Mercy stopped its march! Mercy seemed to say, "Though God cannot abidein the midst of the people, yet He will not go very far from them." So He stayed upon the hillside, and there was the Tabernaclepitched, afar off from thepeople, but not so far that they could know that God was there; not so far but that they who "sought the Lord" might reachthe

Tabernacle at an easy distance. This, I say was intended to teach the people that God did not recognize their camp as beingany longer His dwelling place, because human invention had stained His worship and laid His honor in the dust.

What use are we to make of this very significant incident? Give heed, Brothers and Sisters, I beseech you. This is just theposition, I take it, of God's Tabernacle at the present hour. They who seek the Lord must go out from the camp, and from thecongregation, and if they would commune with theMost High, they cannot do it in the camps of even the religious and professing world. They must, like the Master, go forthoutside the camp bearing His reproach. The day will come in which we shall be able to have fellowship with God in the camp;when the Tabernacle of the Lordshall be among men, and He shall dwell among them; but that time is not yet. Now His Tabernacle is out of the camp, andaway from men. Those who would follow Him must be separate, must come out from the masses, must be distinct and set apartin order to be recognized as the sons andthe daughters of the Lord God Almighty.

There are three points upon which I shall enlarge this morning. The first will be that outside the camp is the place for trueseekers of God. Secondly, that this going forth from the camp will involve some considerable inconvenience. And thirdly, Ishall earnestly exhort you, as God shall help me,if you are seeking God, to take care that you go outside the camp, afar off from the camp according to His Word.

I. First, then, they who seek the Lord must, at this day, as in the time of the narrative we have just read, GO OUTSIDE THECAMP.

It is scarcely necessary for me to say that no man can be a true seeker of God who has anything to do with the camp of theprofane. We must take care that our garments are entirely clean from those lusts of the flesh, and those blasphemies of theungodly. It will be impossible for you, O Seeker,ever to have communion with God while you have fellowship with Belial! You can not go to the synagogue of Satan, and tothe synagogue of God at the same time; you will be an arrant fool if you shall attempt it; you will be mad if you shall perseverein the attempt; you will hesomething more than lost if you desire to be saved while you continue in so estranged a state! God will not allow us todo as the old Saxon king did who set up his old gods in one part of the church, and hung up the crucifix in another, hopingthat by having two strings to his bow,he might make sure he was safe. Other religions may be tolerant, but the religion of Christ knows no tolerance with regardto error! Before God's Ark, Dagon must fall. Dagon may be content for God's Ark to stand, if he may stand, too-but the Arkof God knows of nothing but anabsolute Supreme for itself, and a total destruction of all other gods. Either you must serve God or nothing; no compromisemust be attempted-it will be considered as an audacious blasphemy of God! Come out, then, if you would be saved-come out fromthe herd of sinners; leavethe godless and the Christless generation, for in that camp there will be no possibility of fellowship with God!

Again-we must as much come out from the camp of the careless, as from the camp of the profane. The largest company in theworld is not that of the profane, but of the thoughtless-not those who oppose, but those who neglect the great salvation.For every man who is openly an antagonist of Truth,there are probably a thousand men who care neither for Truth nor error! The Sadducees still remain a very numerous body-menwho are content to live as they like, holding really and secretly within them, certain evil thoughts, but still willing togo with the crowd, and to benumbered with the followers of Christ. Ah, if you would see the face of God, my Hearer, them come out from among the giddy,thoughtless throng! It is not possible for you to worship Him who bore the Cross, while you shall be mingling in the amusementsof the world, and toying withthe charms of the flesh! Come out from among them-be not numbered with them-let your conduct and conversation distinguishyou at once from them! Let it be seen that you, also, are with Jesus of Nazareth. Let none mistake you for a mere bystander,a simple looker-on, but let allknow that you are one of His disciples because your speech betrays you! Oh, I do again repeat it-let none think that inthe camp of the negligent, the thoughtless, those who count it enough to be moral before man, but who never think of God-letnone think that salvation is to befound there!

But we must go further than this-if a man would have fellowship with God, he must go even out of the camp of the merely steady,sedate, and thoughtful, for there are multitudes whose thoughts are not God's thoughts, and whose ways are not His ways, whoare in every respect conformed outwardly tothe Laws of God. They rigidly observe the customs of upright society-they think, and therefore abhor the trifles of theworld-they sit down, and meditate, and therefore understand the hollowness of this present life, but who, notwithstanding,have never learned to set theiraffections on things above. Though they are not as foolish as to think that the shadows of this world are a substance, yethave they never sought eternal realities. You must come out from these, for unless your righteousness exceeds theirs, youshall not be saved! Unless there shallbe something more in you than in the merely steady, respectable and outwardly moral, you shall never know the peace-speakingblood of Christ, nor enter into the "rest which remains for the people of God." Up! Get away from them! It is not enough toleave the Amalekites-you mustleave even the hosts of Moab-brother though Moab may seem to be to the Israel of God!

We must draw yet another line, more marked and distinct than this. He who would know anything of God aright must even comeout of the camp of the merely religious. Look at them-how they go to their church. What for? Frequently to show their finery,and often to be seen of their friends. Look howmany o to chapel. And what for? It is their custom; it is their habit! They sing as God's people sing; they appear to takea holy delight in the worship of the Most High; they bow as God's people bow when they pray-they do more-they sit at the Lord'sTable, and appear to knowsomewhat of the joy which that ordinance affords! They come to Baptism; they pass through the stream, and yet in how manycases they have a name to live and are dead? Oh, it is one thing to attend to religion, but another thing to be in ChristJesus! It is one thing to have the nameupon the church rolls, but quite another thing to have it written in the Lamb's Book of Life! There is not a church underHeaven that is quite pure; with all our care, with all our industry, and watchfulness, we cannot prevent the sad fact! Hypocriteswill mingle with the sincere,and the tares will be sown with the wheat-so I suppose it must be, till the reapers come and gather the tares in bundlesto burn. I pray you let none of you think that you have taken out a patent for Heaven when you have made a profession of yourfaith in Christ! That professionmay be a lie! The conduct which springs from it may be but the result of custom. Except a man be born of water and of theSpirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God! "That which is born of the flesh is flesh." And only "that which is bornof the Spirit is spirit." Do youbelieve that one-tenth of the religion you see about you is sincere? What do we say, then, to the fact that when investigationhas been made as to articles sold at shops, there is scarcely a single article in any trade which is not found to be adulterated?Why is this? If it wereonly some men who did this, and they were notorious, we might flatter ourselves that Christians are surely clear. But whatif it grows into a custom? When the fact comes out that in the most cases our articles of food are shamefully mixed, and thatwith poisonous ingredients in someinstances, what are we to say? Can that religion which spreads over London-which seems to be adopted by almost everybody-can that be sound while it allows this thing to go on under its cover? And have you not remarked the course of business? Howoften you must have noticed"astounding failures," and that, too, of men professedly religious! Do you not sometimes see the most shameful fraudulentbankruptcies, and these are perpetrated by men who have occupied your pews and listened to your ministry?

What does this teach us but that there is more glitter than there is gold, and that there may be much varnish and much paintwhere there is but little of the sound material of Divine Grace? Oh, Sirs, if half the religion of England were true religion,we should not be such a people as we now are!Give us but one man out of three of those who profess to be followers of Christ, sincerelyHis and thoroughlyHis, and howchanged would this empire become, and what a different face would all the commercial relations of life bear to the eyes evenof outward observers! There is, itmust be confessed, much delusion! I believe there is more sound godliness in England than ever there was since she was anation-but yet as in the rolling of every chariot, there is a cloud of dust, so is there mixed up with the advance of theSavior's Kingdom, that rolling cloudof dust-hypocrisy and vain pretense. Let us take heed to ourselves, then, that we go forth outside the camp; that we aredistinguished and separated, not merely from the irreligious, but from the religious, too-that we are as separate even fromthe nominal church, as we are fromthat people who profess not to know the Lord and are therefore cursed!

Here I am stopped by the question, But in what respect is a Christian to come out from all these, and more especially to comeout from the mere professors? I will tell you, Brothers and Sisters. There is occasion enough just now for the watchman tosound the notes of warning in your ears. Thereasons why the nominal Church at the present time is not the place where the Tabernacle is pitched, is that the Churchhas adulterated the worship of God by the addition of human ceremonies. I shall not stay to indicate them, but I believe thereis a great proportion of the worshipof Christians in these days which is not warranted by the Word of God. We have made an advance beyond its plain letter,and have added to the pure Word of God, inventions of our own. Now, in coming out from the Church, we must leave all ceremoniesbehind us which are not absolutelytaught in the Scriptures! We must shake our garments of every performance, however fair and admirable it may look, unlessit has strictly the letter of Divine Inspiration to warrant it. Having done this in a Church capacity, we must then come outfrom all the doctrines of the churchwhich are not strictly Scriptural. We must leave behind us the dogmas of our creeds, if the creeds are not consistent withthe Word of God; we must dare to bear our testimony against all false teaching; we must take care that we share none of theblame of those men who keep back apart of God's Word, and therefore mar their ministry, and spoil its effect upon their hearers. We must come out from allthe practices of the Church which are not in accordance with God's Word! We must never plead the precedent of godly men forany act or thought which God Himselfhas not enjoined. Come right out! You have nothing to do with what even a Christian might tolerate; you are to come straightout from the camp, and taking heed that you swerve not to the right hand or to the left, "follow the Lamb wherever He goes."

Take care, too, that you are not actuated by the motives of the nominal Christian. Many nominal Christians have, as the motivesof their lives, the maintaining of appearance-the keeping up of the respectable sham of godliness. Your conversation mustbe in Heaven; your motive must be derived fromHeaven, and your life must be, not in profession, but in reality, "a life of faith upon the Son of God who loved you andgave Himself for you." In conclusion, if you would have true fellowship with Christ, you must come out from the camp and bedevoted-your whole spirit, soul andbody- entirely in the Lord's strength, perpetually and continually to His service! You must say what many say with the lips,but what few can really feel in the heart, "For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." Nothing short of this will be atrue coming out of the camp!Nothing but this will give you that near and intimate relationship and communion with God after which every Believer's soulis panting, and without which it cannot find repose!

II. Having thus tried briefly to describe the Truth that outside of the camp is the place for seekers of God, I shall nowtake the second point-THIS GOING OUT OF THE CAMP WILL INVOLVE MUCH INCONVENIENCE.

Some try to get over the inconvenience in the way Joshua did. They think they will come out of the camp altogether and livein the Tabernacle, and then there will be no difficulty. You know there are many pious minds, a little overheated with imagination,who think that if they never mix with theworld, they could be holy. No doubt they would like to have a building erected in which they could live and pray and singall day and never go to work, nor have anything at all to do with buying and selling. Thus they think by going outside thecamp, they would become the people ofGod. In this, however, they mistake the objective of the Christian religion-"I pray not that You should take them out ofthe world, but that You should keep them from the Evil One." That were an easy, lazy subterfuge for getting rid of the hardtask of having to fight forChrist-to go out of the battle in order that you may win the victory is a strange method, indeed, of seeking to come off"more than conquerors!" No, no, we must be prepared like Moses, to go into the camp and to come outof it-always to come outof it when we seek fellowship withGod-but still to be in it; to be mixed up with it; to be in the midst of it doing the common acts of man, and yet neverbeing tainted by its infection; and never having the spirit troubled by that will and evil which is so rampant there. I counselyou, not that you should come outof the world, but that being in it, you should be so distinctly not of it that all men may see that you worship the Fatheroutside the camp of their common association, and their carnal worship.

This will involve many inconveniences. One stands on the outset. You will find that your diffidence and your modesty willsometimes shrink from the performance of duty's stern commands. If you follow Christ, you must confess Him. The Master desiresto have no secret disciples; if Christ is worthanything, He is worth confessing boldly before the world, before angels and before devils! "Whoever therefore shall be ashamedof Me, and of My Words in this adulterous and pitiful generation; of Him also shall the Son of Man be ashamed when He comesin the glory of His Father withthe holy angels." You must be able to say emphatically, "I am not ashamed to avow that my heart is given to Jesus the Crucified.As He espoused my cause publicly before a gazing world, so I espouse His. His Cross have I taken, all else to leave, if itis necessary that I may followHim. He is my Lord, to Him I will submit; He is my Trust, on Him I lean; He is my Hope, for Him I look." Do not try theplan which some are attempting-of being Christians in the dark. Put on Christ. You know how the promise is made, "He who believesand is baptized shall besaved." Do not shrink from the second part of the command. If you have believed, profess your faith in Baptism; be not ashamedof your Lord and Master. Know you not that the Lord has said, "He who with his heart believes, and with his mouth confesses,shall be saved"? You must makea public confession! I know there is no merit in the confession, but still, is it not right?-is it not reasonable? How canyou expect the blessing of God if you do not what Christ tells you, and do it not asChrist tells you? Come out; wear

His badge; bear His name and say to the sons of men, "Let others do as they will, as for me and my house, we will, we mustserve the Lord."

When you have got over that difficulty-when your reserve has given place to a good confession, and you appear upon the stageof action, you will find that then your trouble really begins! Perhaps when you go outside the camp you will lose some ofyour best friends. Perhaps your mother may say shewould not mind your serving Christ, but she wishes that you belonged to her denomination, while you feel that if you serveChrist at all, you must go just where He would have you go, and carry out to the letter all His will. Some of your dearestcompanions may say. "Well, if youturn religious, certainly our acquaintance must cease; we should never agree, and therefore we had better part." And somewith whom you have to live, will day after day put you to a sort of martyrdom before a slow fire by giving you the trial ofcruel ridicule; you will find thatmany a tie has to be cut when your soul is bound with cords to the horns of the altar. Can you do it? As Christ left HisFather for you, can you leave all for Him? Do you know that text and is it terrible to you- "If a man loves father and mothermore than Me, he is not worthy ofMe, and if a man loves son or daughter more than Me, he is not worthy of Me"? Are you ready to carry out your convictions,come what may? Should you turn back, would that be to rely upon the promise which David uttered-"When my father and motherforsake me, then the Lord shalltake me up"? You are not fit to be a disciple of Christ if you cannot take the like of this into the cost of following yourSavior, and estimate it as a light affliction compared with the eternal weight of Glory which shall be given to them who faithfullyserve Him, and fully avowthemselves His, when others would turn them aside!

You will find, too, when you go outside the camp, you will have some even professedly godly people against you. It is oneof the sorest trials that I know of in the Christian life to have godly men, themselves, censure you. "Ah," they will say,when you are filled with the Spirit, and are anxiousto serve God as Caleb did, with all your heart-"Ah, young Man, that is fanaticism, and it will grow cool, by-and-bye." Whenyou are called to some good work for your fellow men, they will tell you, "That is too bold a deed; too daring an act of enthusiasm."To say-"Whether anywill follow me or not, here I go straight to battle and to victory"-this is the prowess of faith, and Christ requires itof every one of you! The godly will follow you, by-and-by, when you succeed, but you must be prepared to go without them sometimes.Look at young David. Heknows that he is called to fight with Goliath, but his brothers say, "Because of your pride and the naughtiness of yourheart to see the battle, have you come." But David cares not; he brings back the bloody head of the giant, and there is hisrefutation of their slander! You do thesame. Be prepared to meet with cold-hearted Christians; you will have to stand alone and bear their sneer as well as thesneer of the world; you will have to endure their "judicious" remarks, and bear their sage cautions, and their serious suggestionsagainst your being too bold andtoo hot. Let none of these things dismay you! Do your Master's will and do it thoroughly! Go the whole way with your Lordand Master, and you shall come to be had in reverence of them who sit at the table with you.

There is another inconvenience to which you will most surely be exposed, namely, that you will be falsely charged. Some willsay, "You make too much of non-essentials." That is a thing I frequently hear-non-essentials! There are certain things inScripture, they tell us, that are non-essentials,and therefore they are not to be taken any notice of. Doctrinal views, and the Baptism of Believers, for instance-theseare non-essential to salvation, and therefore, is the inference which follows according to the theory of some-we may be verycareless about them! Do you know,Believer in Christ, that you are a servant? And what would you think if a servant should first wittingly neglect her duty,and then come to you and tell you that it is non-essential? If she should not light the fire tomorrow morning, and when youcame down, she were to say, "Well,Sir, it is non-essential; you won't die though the fire is not lit"-or if, when she spread the breakfast, there was no provisionthere but a crust of bread, and nothing for you to drink; what if she should say, "Well, Sir, it is non-essential, you know?There is a glass of waterfor you and a piece of bread-the rest is non-essential." If you came home and found that the rooms had never been swept,and the dust was upon them, or that the bed had not been made, and that you could not take an easy night's rest, and the servantshould say, "Oh, it isnon-essential, Sir; it is quite nonessential." I think you would find it to be non-essential for you to keep her any longer,but extremely essential that you should discharge her! And what shall we say of those men who put aside the words of Christ,and say, "His precepts are quitenon-essential"? Why, I think because they are non-essential, they therefore become the test of your obedience! If you couldbe saved by them, and if they were necessary to your salvation, your selfishness would lead you to observe them; but inasmuchas they are not necessary to yoursalvation, they become tests of your willingness to obey Christ!

If the Lord had left a record in His Word-"He who believes and picks up a pebble stone shall be saved," I dare not neglectto pick up the pebble stone! And if I found that in Holy Scripture there were doctrines even of less value than the greatpoints of our Christian religion, I should stillthink it were my duty to bow my judgment, and to turn my intellect to the reception of God's Truth just as God sent it forth!That idea about non-essentials is wicked and rebellious! Cast it from you! Go outside the camp; be particular in every point.To the tiniest jot and tittle,seek to obey your Master's will and seek His Grace that you may walk in the way of His Commandments with a perfect heart.But then, if you do walk according to this rule, others will say, "You are so bigoted." Thus reply to them-"I am very bigotedover myself, but I never claimany authority over you. To your own Master you stand or fall, and I do the same." If it is bigotry to hold decisive viewsabout God's Truth, and to be obedient in every particular, as far as God the Spirit has taught me-if that is bigotry-all hailbigotry! Most hallowed thing!The thing called bigotry is that which inclines one man to bind another's conscience; the duty of all men is truly the same.But then I must not make my conscience the standard for another. It must be the standard for myself, and Iam not to violateit-"He who knows his Master'swill and does it not, shall be beaten with many stripes." Take heed, therefore, that you do His will when you know it. Butif another, not knowing His will, should reprove you, be ready to give an answer to him that speaks to you with meekness.But be not harsh with any man. You arenot his master! Be not stern with those who differ from you, for you are not made the judge of mankind. You are not arbiterof right and wrong. Leave others to be as conscientious as yourself, and believe that a Christian, though he may differ fromyou, is as much sincere in hisdifference as you are in your dissent from him. Yet be careful that no unhallowed charity compel you to lay down the weaponsof your warfare; be careful that Satan does not deceive you, and make you charitable to yourself. Be charitable towards everyother man, but never toyourself! Forgive every other man the injuries that he does, but forgive not yourself! Weep, lament and sigh before God,and so may He always help you thus to go forth outside the camp.

With one other remark I will leave this point about the inconveniences. If you follow Christ and come outside the camp, youmust expect to be watched. I have frequently noticed that when a member of our Church does anything wrong, people will say,"There is your religion-a horrible thing!" If aperson who scrupulously goes to church, but swears, nobody thinks anything of it; but if he is a Dissenter-"Oh, it is horrible!"Well, so it is, I admit. But it shows that people expect those who dissent to be better than those who do not! I only wishtheir expectation couldalways be fulfilled. If you profess to go outside the camp, others will look for something extra in you-mind that they arenot disappointed. They oughtto expect it, and I am glad they do expect it. I have heard some say, "I do not want to join thechurch because then there wouldbe so much expected of me." Just so, and that is the very reason why you should-because their expectation will be a sortof sacred clog to you when you are tempted and may help to give impetus to your character and carefulness to your walk-whenyou know that you are looked uponby the eyes of men. I wish to have the members of this Church carefully watched by the ungodly. If you catch them tripping,notice it. If you see them going into sin, let it be spoken of. God forbid we should wish to conceal it! Let it come out.If we are not what we profess to be,the sooner we are unmasked the better; only do judge us fairly; do judge the life of a professing Christian honestly. Donot expect perfection of him! He does not profess to be perfect, but he does desire to try to keep his Master's Law, and todo to others as he would they shoulddo to him.

We would not say to the world, "Shut your eyes." The eyes of the world are intended to be checks upon the Church. The worldis the black dog that wakes up Christ's slumbering sheep-yes, and sometimes hunts them into the fold when otherwise they wouldbe wandering upon the mountains! Expect to bewatched, Christian! In the day when you say, "I will go outside the camp to follow Christ," expect to be misrepresented;expect that the dogs of this world will bark at you. They always bark at a stranger, and if you are a stranger and a foreigner,they will bark at you. Expect,too, that they will watch your little slips, so let that be a check to you and make you pray each moment, "Lord, hold meup and I shall be safe." I would that there could be trained in all our Churches and places of worship, a race of men andwomen who would be really distinct-asmuch distinct from the professing church at large, as that church is from the ungodly world itself.

III. Now I come to use certain arguments by which I desire EARNESTLY TO PERSUADE EACH CHRISTIAN HERE TO GO OUTSIDE THE CAMP,TO BE EXACT IN HIS OBEDIENCE, AND TO BE PRECISE IN HIS FOLLOWING THE LAMB WHEREVER HE GOES.

I use first a selfish argument-it is to do it for your own comfort's sake. If a Christian can be saved while he conforms tothis world, at any rate he will be saved so as by fire. Would you like to go to Heaven in the dark, and enter there as a shipwreckedmariner climbs the rocks of his nativecountry? Then be worldly; be mixed up with the people and remain in the camp. But would you have a Heaven below as wellas a Heaven above? Would you comprehend with all saints what are the heights and depths, and know the love of Christ whichpasses knowledge? And would you have anabundant entrance into the joy of your Lord? Then come out from among them, and be separate, and touch not the unclean thing!There are many professors, and I trust they are true Christians, too, who are very unhappy-and generally it is because theyare worldly Christians. Oh, wehave some members of our Church, I trust they are saved, but you know they are as money-getting, and as money-keeping asany men whose portion is in this life! They seem to give as much of their whole force to the world as ever a worldling can,and then they wonder why they are nothappy! Why, they have laid up much of their treasure on earth, and the moth has got at it and the rust has corrupted it,and what wonder? Had they put their treasure wholly in Heaven, no moth or rust would ever have consumed it. It is our unspiritualheartthat makes our misery. Ifwe were more Christ-like, we would have more of Christ's Presence, and more of that peace of God which passes understanding.For your own comfort's sake, if you are a Christian, be a Christian and be a marked and distinct one- distinct even from thechurch at large itself!

But I have a better reason than that, and it is for your own growth in Grace do it. If you would have much faith, you cannothave much faith while you are mixed with sinners. If you would have much love, your love cannot grow while you mingle withthe ungodly. You may be a babe in Grace, but younever can be a perfect man or woman in Christ Jesus while you have anything to do with the worldly maxims, and businessand cares of this life. I do not mean while you have to do with them in a right way, but while you mix yourself up with them,and are operated upon by them so asto turn aside from that straight line in which it is the Christian's duty to walk! Little stones in the shoe make a traveler'swalk very uncomfortable, and some of these little practices and little sins, as some call them, will make your path to Heavenvery unhappy! You will veryseldom be able to run in God's ways-you will be a mere creeper! It will be a long while before you will bear the image ofHim who created you; you will be a marred vessel-perhaps a vessel meant for honor-but marred upon the wheel-notwithstandingthat by your mixing up withthe customs of the world and going with the worldly church and with the multitude to do evil.

But let me put it to you in another way. I beseech you Christian men and women, come right out and be your Master's soldierswholly for the Church'ssake!It is the few men in the Church, and those who have been distinct from her, who have saved theChurch in all times. Who saved the Church in thedays of the Reformation? It was not the good men who were in the midst of the Church of Rome! There were very many humblecurates in villages, and priests here and there, who were doing their best, I believe, to teach the Truth of God. But thesemen never saved the Church of Christ.She would have gone to ruin for all they did for her. It was Luther, and Calvin, and Zwingli who came right out and said,"No, we will have nothing to do with anti-Christ!" Who saved the Church a hundred years ago? Why, I dare to say, it was notthose excellent men who in their ownplaces of worship were pursuing their holy calling, but it was those who were first called Methodists-Whitefield and Wesley-themen who said, "This cold age will never do; in this absence of the Spirit of God, there can never be a time of blessing tothe Church." It was menlooked upon as fanatics, enthusiasts and heretics who ought to be excommunicated. They came right out as distinct men; asif they were the particular stars of the sky, and they alone cleft the darkness! So must it be with us. There must be someamong us who care nothing for thisworld-who dash worldly laws and customs to the ground, and in the name of God and His Church-and in Truth are prepared-thoughwe may be embarrassed and hindered by what is called public opinion-to defy public opinion and do the right and the true,come what may! And you,too, in your life must do what God's ministers must do both with tongue and life. If the Church is to be saved, it is notby men in her, but by the men who seem to go out even from her to bear Christ's reproach, and do Him service outside the camp.

And for the world's sake, let me beg you to do thus. Let the Church become more and more adulterated with world-liness; lether Christians become more and more conformed to the world; let her lords be cowed down under the bondage and tyranny of worldliness,and what will the Church be worth, andwhat will the world do? Her salt will have lost its savor, and then the world must rot and putrefy! The Church itself cannever be the salt of the world unless there are some particular men who are the salt of the Church! Do you then come out!Be singularly exact in your obedienceto Christ; be scrupulously observant of all that He commands; be you distinct from the professing world, and so shall youbless the world through the Church!

And now lastly, for your Master's sake. What have you and I to do in the camp when He was driven from it? What have we todo with hosannas when He was followed with hootings, "Crucify Him, crucify Him"? What have I to do in the tent while my Captainlies in the open battlefield? What have we to doto dwell in our ceiled houses, and to be peaceful, and to have the smile of men, while Jesus is hounded to His death andnailed to the accursed Cross? By the wounds of Christ, Christian, I beseech you, mortify the flesh with its affections andlusts; by Him who came unto His own,and His own received Him not, expect not to be received even by your own; by Him who was the Heir, and of whom they said"Let us kill Him," I pray you expect the same treatment from the same world! "Shall the servant be above his Master, or thedisciple above his Lord?" If they callthe Master of the house, Beelzebub, what should they say of the servant? Are you prepared for silken ease when your Masterfought to win the crown? Did He die to save you, and will you not be willing to die to serve Him? Again I ask it-what haveyou to do with making love to thatworld which put Him to death? Dare you hold a parley with the enemy against whom you are sworn to fight? What? Will yoube coward enough to ask for peace at the hands of the foe who has reddened himself with Jesus' blood? In the name of God andof His Son, cast down your gauntlet,draw your sword, and throw away its scabbard! The world was never friends with the man that was a friend to Christ! Youcannot possibly have its friendship, and smile, and have the fellowship and smile of God, too! Make your choice, Christian!Make your choice now. Which shall itbe-the world or Christ? It cannot be both! Which will you have? Will you be called a right good man, or will you be hissedand pointed at? Will you wear a fool's cap and a fool's coat, and go to Heaven, or wear a wise man's gown and go to Hell?Will you wear a thorny crown to besaved, or a golden crown and be lost? Make your choice, Christians, for one of these two things it must come to! God helpus now to say, in the name of Him by whose merit and blood we have been saved-"I do this day take Christ to be my Lord, andcome fair or foul-

"Through floods and flames, if Jesus leads, I'll follow where He goes."

So be it! So be it, for Christ's sake-that while saved by faith in Jesus-we may prove our faith by never shrinking from thetrial which that faith necessarily involves! The Lord bless you, for Jesus' sake.