Sermon 916. A Generous Proposal
(No. 916)
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"Come you with us, and we will do you good." Numbers 10:29.
THESE ancient words, so simple, yet so sweet, fascinate us with a potent hallowed charm. They ring out their melody like afamiliar air. The language of a heart full of kindness, inspired with faith, and inspirited with the enthusiasm of a hopeso much Divine that the lapse of ages impairs not their force, or diminishes anything from their natural spontaneous freshness.This story of Hobab one can hardly read without remembering the Apostolic declaration that the Law was a "shadow of good thingsto come." A truly instructive shadow it was. In this instance the shadow is so like the image, the type so like the antitype,that we can almost see the Christian Church, and the convert as he is invited to unite with it. And we may behold in metaphorthe blessings of which he may expect to be a partaker in so doing.
"Come you with us, and we will do you good," seems to be quite as suitable an address from the lips of a Christian pastoras from those of the Prophet of Horeb, who was king in Jeshurun. We do not feel in the least degree hesitant as if we werewrenching the words from their natural association, or even exercising the slightest ingenuity in accommodating them to ourown circumstances, so suitable do they seem for our use. The people of Israel in the wilderness were a type of the Churchof Christ. The invitation here given was such as may be given to those who are proper subjects for communion with the ChristianChurch.
We shall proceed accordingly, this evening, to talk to you upon four things. First, the nature of a true Church as it is depictedby Israel in the wilderness. Secondly, the obligation of such a Church to invite suitable persons to join it. Thirdly, theargument that the Church may use, and the inducements it will always have to offer in setting forth the benefits to be conferredon those who heartily respond. And fourthly, the scrupulous fidelity it behooves us, as members of the Church, to observein keeping our pledge ever afterwards to seek the welfare of such as unite with our fellowship.
I. First, then, WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF A TRUE CHURCH AS IT IS PICTURED BY ISRAEL IN THE WILDERNESS? We might prolongthe answer to this question with many minute features, but it will be unnecessary, at present, to do more than give you asimple broad outline. The people in the wilderness were a redeemed people. They had been redeemed by blood and redeemed bypower. The sprinkling of the blood of the paschal lamb over their lintels and their doorposts had secured their safety whenthe first-born of Egypt was slain.
Thus they were redeemed by blood, while wonderful miracles were worked throughout the whole land. And at the last, when threatenedand pursued by their oppressors, the whole of the pride and pomp of Egypt was destroyed in the Red Sea. They were, indeed,redeemed by power. So, all the true members of God's Church understand what the blood of sprinkling means. They have enjoyeda Passover through it. God has passed over them-passed over them in mercy. Justice has executed its warrant upon the Personof the Lamb, and they have escaped-they have been redeemed by blood.
And the Holy Spirit has entered into their hearts and made them hate their former sins. He has delivered them from the dominantpower of their inward corruptions, has set them free and brought them out of the bondage of sin. Thus they have also beenredeemed by power, and no one has any right to think himself a member of Christ's Church unless by faith he has seen himselfredeemed by blood-and in his experience has also been redeemed by the power of the Holy Spirit.
But, according to our text and the context, the Israelites were a people who were passing through a land where they foundno rest, neither did they desire any, for they were journeying to another country, the promised land, the Canaan. Now, hereis another description of the true Church of God. They are not of the world, even as Christ is not of the world. This is nottheir rest. Here they have no continuing city. Objects which may suit men who have no outlook beyond death would not be suitableto them. That which rejoices the heart of the mere worldling gives them but very slender solace.
Their hope and their consolation lie beyond the river. They look for a city that has foundations whose Builder and Maker isGod.
Judge then, my dear Hearer, whether you are a member of God's Church, of the Church of Jesus Christ. If you are, you are astranger and a foreigner this night here below, however pleasant the tent of your pilgrimage may be. Your Father's house onHigh is your destination. You are an exile from your home, albeit to your faith's foreseeing eye its golden gates may neverso clearly appear. You have not yet come to your rest, but there remains to you a rest, a rest to which you shall come indue time, though you have not yet reached it. May I entreat you to put these questions to your own hearts as they arise, andjudge yourselves.
Israel in the wilderness, according to the text, again, was a people walking by faith as to the future. Remember, the wordsare, "They were going to the place of which the Lord said, I will give it to you." They had never seen it-no one had comefrom it to tell them of it. True, in after days some spies had returned-but they brought up an ill report of the land, sothat the people required even more faith, then, than they did before. If anyone had said to them, "But, if there is a landthat flows with milk and honey, how will you gain it? The inhabitants thereof are strong and mighty-how are you sure thatyou will ever obtain this goodly land?" the only reply would have been, "The Lord has spoken to us concerning it."
Every true Israelite had been instructed as to the Covenant God had made with Abraham when He said, "To you and to your seedwill I give this land to possess it," and every true Israelite was expecting that His people should find a lodgment and aportion in that land evermore because of the Covenant which God had made with his fathers. They were walking, then, in thatrespect, by faith-looking for a country which they had not seen-traversing a desert in search of a land which as yet theyhad not known. And with only God's Word for their title deed and nothing more.
And such are God's people now. As for joys to come, they have not tasted them-but they are looking for them because God haspromised them. "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has preparedfor them that love Him. But God has revealed them unto us by His Spirit," and the Spirit reveals them only to our faith. Ifyou ask me, "How do you know that there is a Heaven?" I must answer you, I believe it on God's testimony. I have no otherwarrant for it. No man has returned from that fair land to testify that he has heard the everlasting song, or seen the blessedcitizens as they stand in their bright array before the Everlasting Throne.
Nor want I that any such should return. God's Word is enough. Let that stand instead of the testimony of ten thousand angels,or of myriads of the white-robed host of spirits who might have returned to tell the tale. We walk by faith as Israel didof old. Are you walking by such a faith? Do you believe in the unseen future, and does the hope of an unseen reward make youdespise the present rewards of sin? Are you willing to bear the reproach of Christ because you count it greater treasure thanall the riches of Egypt? Are you willing, now, to take up with Christ's Cross because you believe in Christ's crown? Thoughyou have not seen it, do you believe in it, and rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory?
These people, also, as to their present circumstances were walking by faith. It was not merely faith which sang to them ofCanaan, but it was faith that told them of the manna which fell day by day, and the water which flowed from the rock-whichstream followed them in their journey. Why, they could not live in any other way in the wilderness but by faith in God, forfrom that arid strand there sprang nothing for their nourishment! Here and there a palm tree-now and then a cooling well.But for the most part, had it not been for the goodness of God, their way had been over a desert, cheerless, waste, and terrible.But He gladdened it for them, and made the place of His feet, and of their feet, too, right glorious, for His mercy and Hisloving kindness endure forever!
Now, in this world the Christian man has to live by faith upon God as to present things. As to temporal necessities he mustcast all his care on Him who cares for us, but especially as to all spiritual supplies the Christian has no stock of Grace.He has no inner spring within himself in his old nature. He has to look for everything that can sustain his new life fromGod, even the Father, who has promised not to forsake him. Now surely, my dear Hearer, you know whether you are living bypresent faith or not. If all your comfort is derived from that which you can handle, and hear, and see. And if your joys oflife are only the outward things of the present-then you are no member of the Church of God.
Whether you may have been baptized, or confirmed-whatever profession you may have made, or whatever sign you may have received-youdo not belong to Christ's people-nor can you belong to them. But if you live by faith, I care not of what Church you are amember. If you are exhibiting day by day a living faith upon a living but unseen God. If
your trust is in His Providence. If you daily resort to Christ for help and succor. If you have that faith which is the markof God's elect, you may depend upon it that you are one of His.
One other mark let us give among many more which might be mentioned. These people found, wherever they went, that they weresurrounded by foes. In the wilderness the Amalekites were against them. When they crossed into the promised land all the inhabitantsof Canaan were up in arms against them. So I think you will find it if you are a child of God. All places are full of snares.Events, prosperous or adverse, expose you to temptations. All things that happen to you, though God makes them work for good,in themselves would work for evil. Here on this earth the world is no friend to Divine Grace to help you on to God.
The bias of the current is not towards Heaven. Alas, it is the other way! "Behold I send you forth as sheep in the midst ofwolves." "The whole world lies in the Wicked One, and you are of God, little children." Darkness prevails. It cannot ministerto your safety or to your happiness. Neither can the sinful world minister light to the understanding, peace to the conscience,joy to the heart, or holiness to the life of the Believer. You will have to fight continually. The last step you take willbe a conflict, and you will never be able to sheathe your sword until you are in the bosom of Christ. Thus must you maintainthe godly warfare-
"'Till with yonder blood-bought crowd You shall sing on Canaan's shore Songs oft triumph, sweet and loud War with Amalek nomore."
Here, then, are some of the marks of the Church of Christ. I hope that a part of that Church worships in this House of Prayer.A part of that Church will be found to worship in every House of Prayer where the disciples of our common Lord assemble, andthe mystery of God and of the Father and of Christ is acknowledged.
II. Let us pass on to the second word, which is this, that IT IS THE DUTY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH TO INVITE SUITABLE PERSONSTO JOIN WITH IT. As you read-"Come you with us, and we will do you good"-are not these the terms in which any Church shouldinvite a suitable pastor to unite with it? I have always felt that they have a better application to a pastor than they haveto the people. For it is said of Hobab, "You know how we are to encamp in the wilderness, and you shall be unto us insteadof eyes."
It was inviting a really efficient helper, who would be of great service to the Israelites, to come and cast in his lot withthem. So should a Church expect to find in its pastor one who may guide them, because he knows how they are to encamp in thewilderness. One who may be to them, in some respects, instead of eyes. Their invitation should come in this way, not only,"Come you with us, that we may get good out of you"-that is one design-but it should also be, "Come you with us, that we maydo you good. That we may hold up your hands, that we may sustain you by our prayers, that we may back you up by our efforts.That being led onward by you from one work of Christian activity to another, we may never fail you, never betray you, butmay stand with you even to the last."
I believe you will seldom get much good unless you are willing also to confer good. Those who are the nearest to the heartof the preacher, in all Christian service, will in all probability be most spiritually enriched under his ministry. I speaknot of myself nor for myself, but I specially address myself now to those of you, my Hearers, who are members of other Churches.Do, I exhort you, love your ministers! Stand up for their character in all companies! Rally at their side in all their efforts-neverlet them have to regret your absence at the weeknight service, or at any other time, if you can help it.
Let them see that you appreciate the men whom you have chosen to be over you in the Lord, and that you have said in invitingthem to come among you, "Come you with us, and we will do you good." Not to linger on that view, however pertinent and seasonable,let us take the words as significant of the manner in which Churches should invite suitable persons to come among them asprivate members. Are there not those who go in and out merely as visitors worshipping with you, who have never joined handswith you in Covenant?
They meet with you as mere hearers, under the same ministry, but they have not identified themselves with the brotherhoodto sit down and feast with you at the Table of the Lord. To such as these the proposal may be made, and the welcome proffered.The conditions, of course, need to be thoroughly understood on our part as well as on theirs. We dare not invite anyone tojoin the visible Church who has not first joined the invisible Church. We do not believe that a man has any right to be baptizedin water unless he has first been baptized in the Holy Spirit. Nor that anyone has a right to
eat of the Lord's Supper, the outward signs of bread and wine, until he has eaten of the flesh and drank of the blood of theSon of Man, in a spiritual sense.
He must have the essence of the symbol before we dare give the symbol. So a man must be vitally united to the living Churchof Christ before he has any right to be professionally united there. Therefore it would be a sin on the part of any childof God to say to anyone whom he knew to be an unconverted person, "Come and unite yourself with the Church." No, that cannotbe. First, dear Hearer, you must be one with Christ, reconciled to God, a Believer in the precious blood-and then afterwardsyou may come to the Church of God. But until then you have no part nor lot in this matter, for you are still in the gall ofbitterness and in the bonds of iniquity.
Moses did not thus invite any strangers or neighbors indiscriminately, saying, "Come you with us," but he invited Hobab asone whom he well knew, and of whose fitness he could no doubt feel. Was not Raguel his father, the priest of Midian, a servantof the Most High God? And was not Hobab also a worshipper of Jehovah, the God of Israel? "Come you with us," says he, "youare our kith and kin. Birds of a feather flock together. Come you with us and we will do you good. You are one of our Brethren,come and welcome, nothing shall stand in the way. Come you with us, and we will do you good."
Now, I have heard persons speak on this wise, "I believe that my child has been converted, but you must not think that I havepressed him, for I never spoke to my child about religion." I am heartily ashamed of a father who can say that! And I hopethat he will be equally ashamed of himself. I quite agree, however, that no parent and no friend should press another to makea public profession of faith until he is as assured as he possibly can be that the fruits of the Spirit are put forth in thatchild, or that friend. But, once assured of that, there can be no credit in holding your tongue about a Christian duty. Itis the duty of every child of God to be associated with the Christian Church, and surely it is part of our duty to instructothers to do what the Lord would approve of! Do not, therefore, hesitate to say to such as serve and fear the Lord, "How isit that you remain outside the pale of the visible Church? Come you with us, and we will do you good." So Moses did to Hobab.
As it is a very kind and tender word, "Come you with us," let it be spoken persuasively. Use such reasoning as you can toprove that it is at once their duty and their privilege. Observe, Moses does not command, but he persuades. Nor does he merelymake a suggestion or give a formal invitation, but he uses an argument. He puts it attractively, "And we will do you good."So, look the matter up-study it-get your arguments ready. Seek out inducements from your own experience. Draw a reason, andthere and then try to persuade your Christian friends.
Do it heartily. Observe how Moses puts it as from a very warm heart. "Come you with us. Give me your hand, my Brother. Comeyou with us, and we will do you good." There are no "ifs," "ands," or "buts." It is not, "Well, you may perhaps be welcome,"but "Come you with us." Give a hearty, loving, warm invitation to those whom you believe to be your Brothers and Sisters inChrist.
Do it repeatedly if once will not suffice. Observe in this case, Hobab said he thought he would depart to his own land andhis kindred. But Moses returned to the charge, and says, "Leave us not, I pray you." How earnestly he puts it! He will haveno put off. If at first it was a request, now it is a beseeching almost to entreaty-"Leave us not, I pray you." And how herepeats the old argument, but puts it in a better light-"If you go with us, yes, it shall be, that what goodness the Lordshall do unto us, the same will we do unto you."
I would, therefore, earnestly say to Christian Brothers and Sisters here, look for some among our congregation, such as youbelieve to be godly people, and put to them this matter. I am sure they are losing much benefit, and quite certain that theyare standing in an irregular position. If it is right for any one Christian not to be a member of a Church it is right forall Christians not to be members of Churches-consequently it would be right for there to be no visible Church, and ordinancesmight be dispensed with-for all these things must either exist through the maintenance of sacred order or else collapse withthe breach of godly discipline.
What is not the duty of one is not the duty of any-and what is the duty of one is the duty of all-for we all stand alike beforeGod. If I may be innocent in abstaining from union with the people of God, so may all of you. Or if you may, so may I. Thereis no more obligation upon me to preach the Gospel than there is upon any one of you to make a profession of his faith. Ifyou are a Christian, the same rule of love that prompts me to speak for my Lord should prompt you in
your way to speak for your Lord. And if I should not be excusable if I remained silent, and refused to bear my testimony,neither will you be excusable, being a Christian, if you refuse to unite yourself with the people of God.
Remember our Master's word, "Whoever therefore, shall confess Me before men, him will I confess also before My Father whichis in Heaven. But whoever shall deny Me before men," (which has the force there of not confessing), "him will I also denybefore My Father which is in Heaven."
Before I leave this point let me call your attention to a certain sense in which Christian men may address this invitationto all that they meet with. "Come you with us, and we will do you good." Not, "come and join our Church," not, "come and bemembers," not, "come and put on a profession of faith." You cannot say that to any but to those in whom you see the fruitsof the Spirit. But you may say, and you ought to say, to ALL persons of all classes on all sides, "Come away from the seedof evildoers. Cast in your lot with the people of God. Leave the world, come on pilgrimage to the better country. Forsakethe pursuit of vanities-lay hold on eternal life. Waste not all your thoughts upon the bootless cares of time-think aboutthe momentous matters of eternity.
"Why will you be companions of those who are upon the wrong side, and whose cause is the cause of evil? Why will you remainan enemy to God? Why will you be in an unreconciled state? We, by God's Grace, have cast in our lot with Christ and with Hiscause. We desire to live to His glory. Our ambition is to serve Him. If we could, we would live without sin, for we hate itand loathe it. If we could, we would be as the angels are, without a single fault. Come and cast in your lot with us-thatis, believe. That is, trust a Savior slain. That is, put your soul into the custody of Christ the Intercessor. That is, pressforward through a life of holiness on earth to a home of happiness in Heaven." "Come you with us, and we will do you good."
So, then, the exhortation of our text which, strictly speaking, seems most applicable to the minister, becomes next suitableto the child of God who has not up to now cast in his lot with the company of our Lord's disciples. And after that, in a certainsense, it may be appropriately addressed to all who come under the sound of the Gospel. "Come you with us, and we will doyou good."
III. But now, our third observation is that THE MAIN ARGUMENT-THE MOST POWERFUL INCENTIVE WE CAN EVER USE IS THAT ASSOCIATIONWITH THE CHURCH OF CHRIST WILL DO THOSE WHO ENTER
INTO IT GOOD.
I am sure it will, for I speak from experience. And if I were to call upon many scores, and even hundreds, in this House ofPrayer, they would all bear the same testimony-that union with the people of God has done them good. The Church of God maysay this, first, because she can offer to those who join with her good company. In the Church of God are those who are called"the excellent of the earth," in Whom David said was all his delight. In the Church of God are the humble, meek, and lowly.
And, though in that Church there will come a traitorous Judas, yet there are not wanting the warm-spirited and loving John,the bold and daring Peter, the practical James, the well-instructed Paul in labors more abundant, and many of the precioussons of Zion and daughters of Jerusalem in like manner. Of whom, I might affirm, as the Apostle did of Priscilla and Aquila,they are my helpers in Christ Jesus, unto whom I not only give thanks, but also all the Churches of the Gentiles. Truly wecan sing with heart-felt sincerity, Dr. Watts' paraphrase of David's Psalm -
"Here my best friends, my kindred dwell, Here God my Savior reigns."
Good company is ever a good thing, and the children of God may say to their Brethren who have not yet joined with them, "Comeyou with us, and we will do you good," for we will introduce you to the goodly fellowship of the saints. Come join a sectionof the general assembly and Church of the First-Born whose names are written in Heaven, and whose work of faith, patienceof hope, and labors of love are spread abroad throughout the world.
"Come with us," the Church of God may say, "and you shall have good instruction," for it is in the true Church of God thatthe doctrines of Grace are preached, that the Covenant of Grace is unfolded, that the Person of Christ is extolled, that thework of the Spirit is magnified. All the precious things, indeed, which make up the spiritual meat of God's servants are broughtforth and put upon the table every Sunday. There the good stewards bring forth things both new and old. In the midst of theChurch the Good Shepherd makes us to lie down in the green pastures, and leads us be-
side the still waters. Come you with us, and the teaching of the Church shall do you good-you shall hear those glorious doctrineswhich shall build you up in your most holy faith.
"Come you with us, and we will do you good," in the best sense, for you shall feel in our midst the good Presence of God.Where two or three are gathered together in Christ's name, there is He in the midst of them. And in the greater assembliesof His people, when the solemn hymn swells up to Heaven and the fervent prayer rises like a cloud of sweet perfume, and theministry of the Gospel is diffused like a sweet smelling savor of Christ unto God-there is God. There the Father is, receivingreturning prodigals, accepting His dear children who feel the spirit of adoption.
There the Son is, manifesting Himself unto them as He does not unto the world. There the Spirit is, working in them to willand to do of His own good pleasure, and helping their infirmities as a Comforter and an Advocate. Have you not often feltthe Presence of God, my dear Brothers and Sisters, in your assemblies as the people of God? Can you not, therefore, say withthe recollections in your glowing hearts of the consolations you have received in association with each other, "Come you withus, and we will do you good"?
"Come with us again, for you shall participate in all the good offices of the Church." That is to say, my Christian Brothersand Sisters, if you will cast in your lot with us, if there is prayer, you shall have your share in it. We will pray for youin your trouble, and trial, and anguish. If a Brother's voice can intercede for you when your tongue is dumb with grief, youshall certainly have such help as they that can minister to you. Come you with us, for in the true Church of God there issympathy. Genuine Believers are taught to "weep with those that weep," and to "rejoice with those that rejoice." They feelthat they are members, one of another, and partakers of the same life with Jesus Christ.
If there is anything to be found in ordinances you shall have a share of that good thing. If the Lord reveals Himself in thebreaking of bread, you shall not be shut out from the Table. Come you with us, and when we behold Him you shall see Him, too.Come you with us, and if our fellowship is with Christ, you shall have a share in it. And if our conversation of the thingsof God is sweet and pleasant, you, too, shall have your say and your good word, and we will rejoice to hear you. We inviteyou to a pure brotherly fellowship, not to one of name only, but in deed and in heart. "Come you with us, and we will do yougood."
But the good that Hobab was to get was not only on the road. He must have got a deal of good on the road, for he saw in thesacrifice what he had never seen before. While he walked among those tents of Judah he must have felt that God was remarkablypresent there as he had never felt it among the tents of Midian. He saw there every morning the pillar of cloud, and everynight the pillar of fire. He heard the sound of the silver trumpets. He saw the uplifting of the sacred banners, and the marchingof the chosen host of God, and he must have felt, "This is a place more marvelous than any I have ever trod before in thatfalling manna, in that miraculous stream. I see everywhere the marks of Omnipotence, love, and wisdom as I never have seenthem in all my solitary musings or my long wanderings aforetime."
So, in the Church of God there are the footprints of Deity, there are marks of the sublime Presence of the Christ of God whoabides in the furnace with His afflicted people. Signs of God's Presence such as all the world besides cannot exhibit. Youshall get good on the road. But still, the main good that Hobab got was this-he went into the promised land with God's people.We read of his people, the Kenites dwelling in the land in aftertime. He seems to have become a partaker of the same Covenantwith Israel, to have become part and parcel with them. So, the main blessing that you get from being united with the invisibleChurch of Christ through being part and parcel of the Body of Christ is reserved for the hereafter-
"When God makes up His last account
Of natives in the Holy Mount;
'Twill be an honor to appear
As one new born and nourished there." Woe unto those who shall have no part with Israel in the day when the lots shall bedivided and the portions shall be given! Woe unto such as shall be found among the Amalekites or Canaanites-strangers to thechosen seed! But happy shall all they be who have God to be their God, for their portion shall be bliss forever. Come you,therefore, with us, for whatever good the Lord shall do unto us you shall be a partaker in it.
IV. And now, lastly. All this being seriously pondered and clearly understood, the last point is a matter of very seriousimportance. Lest we should be found mere pretenders, LET ALL OF US WHO BELONG TO CHRIST'S CHURCH
TAKE CARE TO MAKE THIS ARGUMENT TRUE.
I speak to many Brothers and Sisters here who have long been joined to the visible Church of God, and I put these questionsto them-How have you carried out this silent compact which has been made with the friends of Christ? You have promised todo them good-have you fulfilled your pledges? I am afraid few of us have done good to our fellow Christians up to the measurethat we might have done, or that we ought to have done. Some professors, I fear, have forgotten the compact altogether. Theyjoined the Church, but the idea of doing good to the rest of the community has scarcely entered into their mind.
"Come you with us, and we will do you good." You say this, then, to the poor members of the Church. Has God prospered you?Do them good. Say not to them, "Be you warmed and be you filled," but as far as ever your ability can reach, minister to themthat Christ may not have to say to you, "I was an hungered and you gave me no meat. I was thirsty and you gave me no drink."Let your charity be wide as the world, for God makes it to rain on the just and the unjust-but remember-He has a peculiarpeople, and He would have us to be a peculiar people unto Himself. Let us do good unto all men, but specially to those whoare of the household of faith. If you know a Brother in Christ whose need is pressing, own him as a Brother-open your handswide unto him-do him good in this respect.
You that are old members of the Church, well established and instructed, you have virtually promised to do good to the youngmembers-will you not try to do so? Some of them, perhaps, are not all you would like them to be. Mind you, you are not tocondemn, but to reform them. Can you not gently prune the luxuriance of their branches that are a little too wild? Would itnot be possible for you, in a loving and an affectionate manner, to assist them in the points in which they are weak? To leadthem in the matters in which they err? Do them good-do not clamor against them with reproach, censure, sneer, and jibe. Norwish to bind them down to conformity with your rules, judging them by the som-berness of your own disposition.
What if they are lively and cheerful-try to make them merry and wise. Let them be happy and rejoice-seek that their happinessmay be in Christ, and their rejoicing in the Lord. Do them good. There are some of your fellow Christians who are faint-hearted-notpleasant people to talk to. They will never cheer you much. They always look on the black side. They have always some trouble.They are terribly dull company-do not shun them, do them good. Strengthen the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. Sayto them that are of feeble heart, "Be strong. Fear not." Do not forsake them, but you that are spiritual bear their burdens,and help to make them rejoice.
Some among your number will be backsliders-alas, that it should be so. Let not your coldness ever accelerate the pace at whichthey step aside-rather let your persevering care watch over them, that their first wandering may be soon checked. Little,alas, can be done to remedy backsliding when it goes far, but much may be done by nipping it in the bud. In the Church ofGod, prevention is infinitely better than cure. Watch over them, then. "If any man be overtaken in a fault, you that are spiritualrestore such an one in the spirit of meekness, remembering yourself lest you also be tempted."
Some in the Church may be ignorant. There always were such. No standard of height is set up in the Word of God for all therecruits to be up to that level. No bylaw prescribes that none be received unless they are of a certain stature. If, therefore,some you meet with are very ignorant, do them good. Do not set about a report of any absurd remark that they may make, orany misapprehension they may have upon a point of Divinity. You were not always so wise as you are now-probably you are notso wise now as you think you are. But anyhow, I shall argue from the wisdom you possess your duty to impart. You have said,"Come you with us, and we will do you good." It is not doing any man good to smile at him, to find fault with him for notknowing. But it is doing him good to hide his shortcomings and help his progress.
Once again-there may be some in your midst who are in a good deal of trouble. Have they no friends to sympathize and consolethem? Alas, friends in this world are often too much like swallows that are gone as soon as the first frost appears. Let itnot be so with you-if you never owned him your friend before-be his friend now. Come to his aid if you possibly can. Let himhave your countenance. Do not pass him because his black coat has a rusty hue. Do not get out of his way because you are afraidthat he is short of cash. As far as ever you can, let him see, now he is in his trouble, that you did not value him for whathe had, but for himself, for his character, for his attachment to Christ.
If anybody has spoken ill of him, do not be ready to jot down as true the slander that every fool or villain may please tohold forth against a Christian man. Search for yourselves, and if you are obliged to believe it, yet say little about it.Carry it before God, as though it were your own sin, and sorrow over it. Talk to your Brother, if it is your lot to know
him well, and get him to leave the evil into which he has fallen, and lead him back again. But do not forsake him. Or if heis the victim of slander and scandal, be you among the first to defend him. I do hope that there will always be among us aspirit of true Christian brotherhood so that those who love Christ and have thrown in their lot with us may find that we reallydesire to do them good.
I have thus spoken more particularly because I know that the number of Christians among us who are not making a professionis unusually large just now. I had far rather it should be so than that it should be the reverse-than that many should bemaking a profession without knowing or feeling the private virtue and public faith it demands. Better that you were outsidethe visible Church all your lives, and be in Christ, than make a profession and yet have no part nor lot with Him. All theseoutward things are nothing compared with the inward. "You must be born again." There must be a living faith in Christ, a realchange of heart-an indwelling of the Spirit of God to attest the verity of your godliness. Where these are, the rest oughtnot to be neglected.
These things ought you to have done, and not to have left the other undone, but still, even if they are left undone, it shallnot amount to a total shipwreck. But if there is no faith, you may build the vessel as you will, and you may think that youhave loaded her with precious treasures-but sink she must-because that alone which would have kept her afloat has been neglected.
God grant us to be one with Christ, and to be one with His people in time and in eternity. There now-there now- there is Christ'sChurch. And if I saw that she were in the stocks, and all were hooting her-if she stood in the pillory, and all were peltingher-yet it would be my desire to throw in my lot with her! Whatever she endured I would endure, because the day comes whenthose who were not on the side of Christ and His Church would give their eyes if they had been!
Yes, would wish themselves that they had never been born to think that they did not take up with the reproached people, anddid not side with the reproached Savior. O be with Christ in His sorrows, that you may be with Him in His joy! Be with Himin His reproach, that you may be with Him in His glory! Amen.