Sermon 1436. What The Church Should Be

(No. 1436)

DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, SEPTEMBER 29, 1878,

BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"That you may know how you ought to beha ve yourself in the house of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillarand basement of the Truth." 1 Timothy 3:15.

PAUL'S design in this Epistle was to instruct young Timothy how he should behave himself in the Church of God, so as to dischargehis office as minister, evangelist and pastor with honor to himself and profit to the people. He reminds him that the Churchis the house of God and in God's own house a man ought to be upon his best behavior, for it is no light thing to draw nearunto the Lord. A poor man who is called to visit a prince or king will anxiously enquire how he ought to act. We, poor creaturesthat we are, when we are admitted into the Church which is the house of God, should enquire what conduct will be decorousand comely in those who are admitted into the Presence of the great King and permitted to dwell within His palace gates.

Especially should each of us endeavor to behave himself aright in the house of God if we know that we are looked up to andimitated. All who teach the young, all who are parents, all who are persons of age and experience, all who occupy influentialpositions and especially all deacons, elders and preachers should pray the Lord that they may know how they may behave themselvesin the house of God, lest inadvertently their misbehavior should be injurious to the weaker sort. Such need to learn how theyshould behave to their brethren, to the Elder Brother and to the great Father of all. We need to learn the ways of the house,the customs of the palace.

Part of the objective of the sermon this morning will be that those of us who are in the house of God may learn how we shouldbehave in it-but special prominence will be given to steadfastness in the faith which makes a man not only a dweller in theChurch but a pillar of it. I am not going to trouble you, this morning, with the various interpretations which have been givento the passage before us. It has been a sort of Plain of Esdraelon, where battles have been fought from time immemorial. Manysuggestions have been made as to its interpretation, so as to avoid the sense given in our version because that sense hasbeen perverted into a defense of the Romish church. It seems to me, however, looking at it as carefully as I am able to do,that our translation is about the best possible one and I feel sure that it has in it the mind

of God.

Probably the sense would never have been disputed if it had not been for the controversies which have arisen in which thisverse has been misused and misrepresented. I am rather suspicious of interpretations which arise out of controversies. Whathave we to do with giving either a Protestant or a Catholic sense to Scripture? Is it not our duty to give the true sense,be it what it may? There can never be any justification for twisting Scripture in order to wrench it out of an enemy's hand.Nor is there any need in this case, even if it were allowable! In vain has the Romish church tried to gather from this versethat she is the great source of truth, for the passage can never apply to her, since she has utterly gone aside from the Truthof God and is described by the Apostle in the verses which follow the text as departing from the faith, giving heed to seducingspirits, forbidding to marry and so forth.

Popery or no popery, let us take the Word of God in its natural and evident meaning, and we shall be instructed thereby. MayGod the Holy Spirit enable us to understand His own word.

I. First, I shall at some length expound the text, and then try to enforce the lesson from it. In expounding it, I see threethings to note, and the first is THE GLORIOUS NAME OF THE CHURCH-"The Church of the living God." First, it is called the Church.What is a church? It is an assembly-and a Christian Church is an assembly of faithful men-of men who know the Truth of God,believe it, acknowledge it boldly and adhere to it.

The Greek word signifies an assembly summoned out of the whole population to exercise the right of citizenship. An ecclesia,or church, is not a mob, nor a disorderly gathering rushing together without end or purpose, but a regular

assembly of persons called out by Grace and gathered together by the Holy Spirit. Those persons make up the assembly of theliving God! In order to be a Christian Church, there must be a selection and a calling out-and that calling must come fromGod who alone can call effectually. Touching all the members of this select assembly there is an eternal purpose which isthe original reason of their being called-and to each of them there is an effectual calling whereby they actually gather intothe Church.

Then, also, there is a hedging and fencing about of this Church, by which it is maintained as a separate body, distinct fromall the rest of mankind. The command which calls them away from the world is very clear-"Come out from among them and be youseparate, says the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and you shallbe My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty." The Church is not a number of unregenerate people coming together entirelyof their own notion to defend such-and-such dogmas. Such persons may form a club, but they cannot make a Church! There mustbe a coming together of renewed men, in the name of Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit-and these must meet for purposeswhich God Himself ordains-and be joined together after His own fashion.

Jesus must be the uniting cornerstone and His Spirit the indwelling power, as it is written, "In whom you also are built togetherfor an habitation of God through the Spirit." But the title grows upon us when we read it as "the Church of God." There isa Synagogue of Satan and there is a Church of God. There are churches so-called which are not of God, though they take uponthemselves His name. But what an honor it is to be one of the assembly of God, to be one of those whom God has chosen, whomGod has called, whom God has quickened, whom God has sanctified, whom God loves and calls His own! How honored is that assemblyin which He resides! The text speaks not of the church of a country, or of a city, nor of the church of king or prelate, butof the Church of God!

Blessed be God, since Jesus Christ ascended up on high there has never ceased to be a Church of God in the earth, generallyhidden and concealed, often persecuted and always despised, yet still living! This Church, like its Lord, has been more oftenfound among the poor than among the rich, more frequently confessing at the stake than honored in the palace. Still has shebeen present bearing witness for the Truth of God even in the darkest times. There has been left to us a remnant, accordingto the election of Grace, in every age-I speak not, now, of this denomination nor of that-but of the truly spiritual peoplewho have witnessed faithfully in the life and power of God to the Truth of God as it is in Jesus. This is the Church of God!

The title is enhanced in its excellency by the word which is applied to God. It is, "The Church of the living God"- not yourcongregation, O Diana, though they said of you that you did fall from Heaven, for you are a lifeless image! What was Dianaof the Ephesians? What life or power was in that senseless block? Timothy knew that the assembly which gathered in the nameof Diana was not called out by a living god. Brethren, it is a glorious fact that our God, the God of the Church, lives andreigns, and that He shows His life all around us! We see Him sustaining Nature, ruling Providence and reigning in the midstof His Church! And while we see Him we adore Him. Jehovah is the living God and the Divine Life is seen in each of the adorablePersons of the Godhead. Our Lord Jesus Christ is not to us a dead Christ-we love and bless Him because He once died upon theCross-and we adore Him because He always lives to make intercession for us!

We are bold to preach the Gospel because of His living power and we are earnest to observe His commands because we acknowledgeHis living government in the midst of the Church. The living God proves His life among us by the Holy Spirit, by the conversionof sinners, by comforting and instructing saints and by edifying the faithful into a building fitly framed together. Since,then, the Church belongs to the living God, what is a dead church? Is that the church of the living God? How can it be? Onlyas you and I possess the Spirit of God quickening us to a life of godliness may we dare to think ourselves a part of the Churchof the living God! If you have never been quickened by the Spirit of God; if you are dead in trespasses and sins, what haveyou to do with the Church of the living God?

O you dead and corrupt, how can you have communion with the living in Zion?! Only when you live unto God may you be builtup as living stones into the living Temple of the living God! The thing most to be dreaded in any one Church is the decayof life. We may soon fall into formalism and even hold the Truth in the cold grip of spiritual death! Prayer may be neglectedand the other offices of spiritual life may be disregarded and then all will languish. "You have the name

that you live and are dead" is the dreadful sentence which must be written across the brow of a merely nominal church! Brethren,if we would be the Church of the living God, we must be thoroughly alive unto God!

What an august body is this Church of the living God! Where do I see it? I say not that I see the whole of it, for as yetthis bride of Christ is in the making. As Adam saw not Eve until she was perfected and, therefore, we cannot suppose thatshe saw herself, so we see no visible embodiment of the entire Church of Christ nor shall we see it until Christ shall comea second time and shall present her unto Himself a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing. Today wemust walk very much by faith as to the Church of Christ, for her members are yet being fashioned and are best discerned byspiritual men. Happy are we if we are members of that Church, yes, members of Christ Himself by the living faith which unitesus to the living God!

Never let us speak disrespectfully of the Church of God, nor think of her with other than love and with intense devotion toher interests, for she belongs to God! Let us pray for her peace and prosperity, since she is the City of the great King.Let us ask the Lord daily to make His own Church more and more visible and powerful in the midst of mankind, that she maycome forth "fair as the moon, clear as the sun and terrible as an army with banners."

II. Now, secondly we will consider HER DESIGN IN REFERENCE TO GOD. The Apostle speaks of the Church of the living God as thehouse of God. This is a very beautiful and instructive figure. "The Most High dwells not in temples made with hands," whetherthey are called cathedrals, churches, or meeting houses. Today there is no consecrated shrine, no appointed building wherewe must resort if we would meet with God, for behold the Lord is to be found everywhere by those who worship Him in spiritand in truth! True hearts view the entire universe as a temple wherein everyone speaks of the Glory of God. Yet there is ashrine and a temple, but it is living and spiritual-the called-out assembly- the Church of the living God is the special abodeof Deity.

I suppose we are to understand, first, by the Church being God's house, that it is the place of His worship. As of old thetemple was the holy place to which the children of Israel went up in pilgrimage, the point towards which they opened theirwindows when they prayed and the place of the one altar and the one sacrifice. So now the Church of God is the only placeof God's true worship. He is spiritually worshipped nowhere else. They who were never called and never quickened by Him maypretend to worship Him, but what is dead worship to the living God? They may profess to serve Him with gorgeous ceremonies,smoking incense and harmonious music-but what is this to Him who is a Spirit and must be worshipped in spirit and in truth?

It is only where men are spiritual that there can be spiritual worship! It is only with their love, their trust and joy inthe name of Jesus and with their prayers and praises presented by the power of the Holy Spirit that God is to be worshippedat all! Do not dream, you ungodly, that you can worship the living God! The first essential to your acceptance is that youaccept His salvation. Be first reconciled to Him by the death of His Son-for how shall His enemies present to Him acceptablepraises? You must become a part of the living Church by being born again, or else you cannot worship the Lord at all!

But I like better, still, to get away from the somewhat ceremonious idea of a temple to the more familiar thought of a houseor home. The Lord makes the Church the place of His indwelling. The thought, itself, is charming. It is that old prophecyfulfilled, "I will dwell in them and walk in them." God calls His Church a house in the sense of His residing there! He iseverywhere, but His special resort, the place of His feet, the home of His heart, is His called-out congregation, His elect,redeemed, regenerated, sanctified Church! Does not this invest Believers with a wondrous dignity, that God should dwell inthem? "Know you not that your bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit?" God dwells in you! If you are, indeed, quickenedof the Spirit, the Spirit abides in you and shall be with you forever!

Of the Church we read, "God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved." In his own house, a man not only dwells, forhe might do that in any inn-but there he feels himself to be at home and, therefore, it is the place of his manifestation.You do not see the real man on the bench, for there you see a judge-nor on business, for there you see a trader-but at homewith the children! As one of them, you see the man, the father, the husband! You see his heart and soul. And God is not seenin all the universe with anything like the degree of clearness that He is beheld in the midst of His people! The Lord Godis more gloriously manifested in His people than in all the works of creation.

First, in the Person of His Son He has revealed Himself right gloriously! And then in all those who are united to His Son,He manifests Himself to us as He does not unto the world. Oh, what unbending of Divine majesty have we seen!

What unveilings of the incomprehensible! What revelations of the infinite has the Lord caused to pass before His Church! "Isat down under His shadow with great delight, and His fruit was sweet unto my taste." "He brought me into the banqueting houseand His banner over me was love." It is in the midst of His Church that we see our Lord and are glad! A man's house is, also,the place of his paternal rule. In the Church we are under the present rule of our heavenly Father.

In the Church of God you will sometimes see this very remarkably. I believe that when Paul said, concerning certain offensesin the Church, "For this cause some are sickly among you and many sleep," he gave us a hint of the remarkable discipline whichthe great Head of the house exerts over Church members. I do not say over members of all churches, but I say that among membersof pure churches there is a solemn discipline going on, for the Lord is jealous over His house and He will be sanctified inthem that come near unto Him. Therefore "be you clean that bear the vessels of the Lord."

If a man is a father, he expects that his word should rule his household. In the blessed household of God our Father, ourLord is the only ruler! In God's house we know no Law but God's Law and we acknowledge no legislator but Jesus, who said,"One is your Master, even Christ, and all you are brethren." Blessed is that rule and blessed are they who submit to it, obeyingHis commandments, listening to the voice of His Word! God grant us Grace to stand up for the crown rights of King Jesus andthe paternal authority of God in His own Church! And never may we idolize any merely human authority in the Church, howeverlong the usurpation may have continued. If any come among us and speak not according to His Word, let us judge that they haveno light in them and let us give no place for subjection to them-no, not for an hour!

Once again, it is for his own house that a man works and spends his strength. It is the object of his choicest purposes. Ifa man shall compass sea and land to gain gold, it is for his house. If he rises up early and sits up late and eats the breadof carefulness, it is still for his house. And so the great Householder rules all things for His chosen family and the endand the design of all Providence, if we were to trace it to its ultimate objective, is the good of them that love God andare the called according to His purpose! The Lord's people are His portion and His inheritance. Dwelling in them, He regardsthem as His palace-He looks upon the Church as the eye of the universe, the joy of the earth, the crown of all His works!Towards her His thoughts of love go forth and for her are His Words of Truth and acts of power!

We will not leave this point without observing how holy, then, should all members of Christian Churches be! "Holiness becomesyour house." An unholy member of a Church of the living God?! What shall I say? Let that black stone be wet with tears ofpenitence this very day and then may it be washed in the blood of Jesus! O members of the Church, is your conduct inconsistentwith your profession? Judge yourself and be zealous and repent! All of us may well humble ourselves in the sight of God andask Him to cleanse us that we may be fit for Him to dwell in. How obedient, also, should we be-for if we are a part of thehouse of God, let it be our joy to submit ourselves to the Master.

When we were children in the home of a loving father, his rule was not irksome to us-and with such a Father as our God weadmit that His Commandments are not grievous. Let us obey carefully and joyfully, each one of us. How struck with awe oughtevery Church member to be to think that he is built into God's house! Truly, as I enter among the people of God, I feel boundto cry with Jacob, "How dreadful is this place! It is none other than the house of God!" Take not lightly upon yourselvesa profession of Christianity! And when you have been baptized into the name of Christ and are united with His Church, seethat you walk circumspectly and that you adorn the doctrines of God, your Savior, in all things.

At the same time, how full of love ought we to be, for God is Love! A house is no home if love is absent and a Church of theliving God is unchurchly if there is division among the Brethren. Is it not written, "The Father Himself loves you"? "Littlechildren, love one another"? "God is love and he that dwells in love dwells in God, and God in Him"? Thus have we spoken uponthe design of the Church in reference to God-the tug of war comes in the third place.

III. THE DESIGN OF THE CHURCH IN REFERENCE TO THE TRUTH. Paul compares it to a pillar and its

pedestal or basement, for that, I think, would be a fair translation. The temple of Diana, at Ephesus, was adorned with morethan a hundred columns of stupendous size. They were mostly of Parian marble and were either furnished by the various citiesof Asia as offerings to the goddess, or were contributed by wealthy men and princes. These pillars are said to have been immensemonoliths-single stones of 60 feet in height-and they were set upon a basement which was elevated ten steps above the surroundingarea.

Diana had her pillar and her basement, but she had no pillar or basement of the Truth of God-hers was all imposture throughout.Now, Paul calls the Church of God the basement and pillar of the Truth. What does He mean? Notice, that she is not the creatorof the Truth, nor the inventor and fashioner of doctrine. You would think from the talk of certain divines, nowadays, thatthe Church of God must surely be a manufactory of notions, a school of inventions where clever men think out new gospels fornew times, or, like spiders, spin out of themselves fresh webs as the old ones are broken!

Our admiration is solicited for those who are "abreast of the times" and who keep pace with the wonderful advance of the 19thCentury. Now, the Church of God is not the inventor of the Truth of God-she is the pillar and basement of it! Let it be remembered,also, that the figure must not be pushed beyond what it was meant to teach. In a certain sense the Church cannot be the pillarand basement of the Truth. Truth is true of itself and owes its origin to God Himself and the nature of things. The Churchis not here described as the deepest foundation of the Truth, for the basement of the pillar of the Truth of God rests ona Rock and the Church rests on God, the Rock of Ages.

But the Truth of God, in itself, is one thing, as truth as existing in the world is another thing! You often hear it saidat public meetings that truth is mighty and will prevail. I dare say the proverb is true, but if you put a truth away on theshelf and no man mentions it for ages, it will not prevail! Truth never prevails till some living mind believes it, vindicatesit and proclaims it abroad. The person who thus takes up a grand Truth of God, declares it, fights for it and makes it known,may be very properly called the pillar and the basis of the cause, for the spread of the principle depends upon him. We maysay of the Reformation, Luther was its pillar and basement-or of Methodism the same might be said of Wesley.

Note how, in another place, Paul says that James and Cephas and John seemed to be pillars-that is to say, they held up thegood cause. There are men alive at this day of whom we may say, "They are the pillars of the cause," and in the same sensethe Church of God is the pillar and the basement of the Truth of God among mankind. Notice that the text speaks of, "The Churchof God," meaning all the people of God and not the clergy, alone. There is a very grave lesson here. We frequently hear itsaid, "So-and-So is gone into the church." Now remember that everybody who has gone into Christ Jesus has gone into the Church,but no one else! The clergy are not the Church! It would be a great pity if they were.

In all Churches of the living God it is a great fault if the whole of the people are not recognized in the work of the Lord,in the affairs of His house and especially in the maintenance of His Truth. As fish are said to stink first at the head, sowill you find that the first people to depart from the Truth are those who ought to be the very last, namely, the professedteachers of it! If the people could but speak so as to be heard, we should not have one-half the heresy which now defilesthe house of God! The people are very often put on one side, as if they were not at all to be considered, but were to be managedand catered to by their spiritual lords! Then, alas, these great ones betray the cause and sell Christ as cheaply as Judasdid! They mix up the teaching of the Spirit with the conceit of the flesh and become so wise that they refuse to know Christand Him crucified.

They will not keep to the Scriptures, but dive down into their own thoughts and imaginations till they stir the mud at thebottom of their subjects and do not, themselves, know where they are, nor can any man tell them! Most of the false doctrinein the world has been suggested by those whose very office it is to preach the Truth! Hence the Truth of God is not trustedto the ministry-it is based and pillared upon the whole Church! The poor old bed-ridden Sister who sings of Jesus' everlastinglove is quite as much a defender of the faith as an archbishop-perhaps more! The unlettered peasant who knows the doctrinesof Grace by deep experience and, therefore, will never let them go, is as true a guardian of the Gospel treasure as the mostprofound scholar! And perhaps far more so. The whole of you who really love God are set for the maintenance of the Truth ofGod in the world! Under God the Holy Spirit, the cause of Truth depends upon you- you are its pillar and its basement!

What does the expression mean-the pillar and basement? I think it means, first, that in the Church, the Truth should abide.In the Church of the living God it always does abide, even as a pillar stirs not from its place. In the confession of theChurch, made by each one of her members; in the teaching of her ministers and in the witness of the whole body, the Truthof God will be found at all times. The Church of God is not the quicksand of the Truth, but the pillar and pedestal of it-sheis not the floating island of the Truth, but the eternal column of it. The Church stands

steadfast and unmovable as a pillar of Truth fixed on its base. If you find not the Truth of God anywhere else, you will findit in the Church of the living God, which is Truth's castle and stronghold.

"In which church?" you ask. I said in the Church of the living God! I did not say in the Church of England, nor in the Churchof Scotland, nor in the Wesleyan Church, nor in the Baptist Church, nor even in the assembly of Exclusive Brethren! But Idid say that the Truth of God is as a treasure in the Church of the living God and it is never removed from her keeping! Therefore,if the Truth of God is not maintained by any so-called church, it is not the Church of God! When the Truth of God is givenup, everything is given up! The very idea of a Church involves the retaining of the Truth with constant steadfastness andif this is neglected, the so-called church has nothing left in it but the name! As a pillar and its base are always in oneplace, so will the Church be a fixed, permanent and unalterable column of Gospel Truth- and woe to her if she is not!

Secondly, "the pillar and basement," means that in the true Church the Truth of God is lifted up as upon a pillar. Truth notonly rests there as on a pedestal, but it stands upright as a pillar! It is the duty and the privilege of the Church of Godto exalt the Truth into the open view of all mankind. Possibly you may have seen the column of Trajan, or the column in thePlace Vendome in Paris-these may serve as illustrations. Around these shafts you see the victories of the conqueror picturedin relief and lifted into the air, that all may see them.

Now, the Church of God is a pillar which lifts up and publishes, far and wide, the achievements of our conquering Lord! Itsays to all mankind, "God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles,believed on in the world, received up into Glory." I may give an illustration of a pillar being said to speak from our owncolumn commemorating the great fire of London which is popularly called the Monument. It used to bear an inscription to theeffect that the papists burned the city, a charge which no one now believes. The poet Pope said of it-

"Where London's column, pointing to the skies, Like a tall bully lifts its head and lies." Now I shall venture to alter thelines, and say-

"See Christ's own Church, still pointing to the sky Like a tall champion, lifts His Truth on high."

Our Lord never taught us to hide the Gospel in little rooms down back alleys-He would have us come to the front as much aswe can! The Church is not a cellar to conceal the Truth of God, but a pillar to display it! "A city set on a hill cannot behid." What is there to be ashamed of? We may, ourselves, remain unknown, but we must make the Truth known at all costs. TheChurch should be like a lighthouse, which is often built as a tall pillar to bear the light at its summit and, like a memorialcolumn which bears a statue upon the top of it, she should lift up the Truth of God before the gaze of all men!

Again, a Church is intended by God to set forth the Truth with beauty, for in a temple, pillars and columns are meant forornaments as well as for service. The fluted and richly carved pillars of Diana's temple were the admiration of all who sawthem and, in later days they were so esteemed that they were carried to other lands to adorn other edifices- the dome of SantaSophia, in Constantinople, now rises from columns of green jasper originally placed in the temple of Diana! The Church shouldadorn the doctrine of God her Savior in all things. His Truth should be emblazoned upon her like an inscription upon a column,so stately as to secure attention and command respect. A living Christian is the best ornament of Christianity-God's serviceshould be performed in the beauty of holiness.

Once more, it is the Church's business to maintain the Truth of God with all her might. She is set as a bronze wall and aniron pillar against all error. However men may cringe or bow, there stands the column fast and firm, fixed on its pedestal,set on its base. So should the Church in all ages stand fast to Truth and yield to no error, nor concealment of doctrine,nor change of ordinance! The Church of the Apostles is the model of the Church of today. The pattern of the Church of Christis not to be found in the popish synagogues of the middle ages, but in the first age when Jesus Christ spoke and said, "Goyou, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit: teachingthem to observe all things whatever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world."

The business of the Church is to uphold, defend, maintain, and propagate the pure doctrines of Christ and His Apostles-andif she fails in this-if in her midst the Truth is not prized, if it is not adorned, if it is not vindicated and proclaimed,the church, so-called, is no longer the pillar of the Truth, but a bowing wall and a tottering fence! Now, I

must occupy your time a little longer while I try to enforce a Truth which lies very near my own heart. And I pray God itmay lie near the hearts of all His people at this perilous hour.

The Truths of God which may be derived from the text are of one order. The first is that the whole Church is to maintain theTruth. Dear Brothers and Sisters, be very zealous for the Gospel, the old, old Gospel of the Grace of God! Be very zealousof the doctrine of Justification by Faith and forgiveness by the Atonement. I speak to you who know the Truth, for you, alone,make up the Church of God. Do not, I beseech you, allow in yourselves an ignorance of God's Word, but study it and seek toknow more and more of it. And what you do know, by the teachings of God's Spirit, bind about yourselves as a belt never tobe loosened!

There are seducing spirits abroad that would deceive, if it were possible, the very elect! Therefore I entreat you to notbe beguiled by their exceeding craftiness. Turn not aside from your steadfastness, but abide in the faith! They will tellyou that you are bigoted. Never mind them, for in their mouths bigotry is another name for decision of character! The Gospelof salvation is the hope of men, therefore do all you can to make it known! Do not cast in your lot with those who are givento change, but stand in the old paths. It may happen that the wealthier people of the town are in error and it may be foryour temporal advantage to join their community-but make no confederacy with false doctrine! Better go to the meanest conventicleand help to maintain the Truth of God than attend the wealthiest congregation where the Gospel is thrown into the background!

I charge you by the living God, in these evil days, to keep yourselves pure from error! A true Church is appointed of Godfor the conservation of His Truth-and before the Lord, at the foot of the Cross, in the power of the eternal Spirit-we wouldpray that even unto death we may be faithful to our charge! Next, remember that a church is unchurched which is not faithfulto the Truth of God. The church of Rome, when she forbade to marry and commanded to abstain from meats, set up also the "mass"in the place of the Sacrifice of Christ and her priests in the place of the one Great High Priest. Then she taught and encouragedidolatry in the worship of images, relics and the like. By all this she unchurched herself and is now described in Scripture,not as the bride of Christ, but as the harlot of Babylon!

She is not the pillar of the Truth, but the grave of it! She was moved by error. She fell from her uprightness. She lies pronein utter ruin, never to be restored. Alas, any church may thus perish! The apostasy of Rome should be a warning to all otherChurches of the living God, lest they, also, by little and little become defiled and cease to answer to the Divine designand are cast away forever! Next, remember that any Church fails in her design as being the pillar and basement of the Truthof God in proportion as she departs from the Truth of God. I therefore do, with all my soul, condemn what I see around meeverywhere of disregard to the Truth of God!

It is not merely that men change their views, but that they are becoming indifferent to Truth altogether and seem to thinkthey do God a service when they unsettle the youthful minds of our day! First, we deplore all tampering with Inspiration.The Sacred Volume is scarcely admitted to be Inspired at all, or at best it is said to be inspired in some such moderatedsense as Milton or Shakespeare may have been inspired! Then this Book is torn away from Scripture and then the other-and somewho ought to know better say, "That portion of the Bible is written for the Jews, but not for us." And so, by degrees, allthe precious Volume is torn from us.

Could the saints in Heaven, who used to feed on the Word of God, return to this lower world, they would be surprised to findthat our wise men have questioned almost every Prophet, Evangelist, Psalm and Epistle! Every portion of the Word of God ischallenged and the whole of Scripture is assailed-and that by men who continue in what professes to be a Church of the livingGod! We still hold that the Bible, and the Bible, alone, is the religion of the Christian-and we intend to hold to it allthe more because others fall from their steadfastness! Alas, the grand old doctrines of the Gospel are also despoiled! Doyou notice, nowadays, how all the great Truths of God are being spirited away? Men use the words, but they mock the ears,for they reject the sense-they hand us nuts-we crack them and we find that the worm of modern thought has eaten out the meat!

The doctrine of the Atonement has, in some cases, been the chief object of assault. Take that away and what is left?! Forwhat purpose is there a Church at all if the Atonement of Jesus Christ is not to be proclaimed by it? Let her die! Why shouldshe live if she has no testimony to bear! If she has no Divine, Infallible message of pardon for the guilty and rest for theweary, let her perish! Listen to the detestable talk of modern ecclesiastics and you will hear them say, "Brethren,

your own thoughts are your best guide! The enlightened consciousness of this age will best instruct you. The Bible is oursacred book, but cut out whatever you like, alter whatever you please.

"We will yield anything sooner than be in opposition to the philosophers! Our illiterate predecessors, the fishermen, togetherwith Paul and others, were raw hands at teaching and very unwisely thrust themselves into conflict with the best thought andculture of the period-so that their teaching was to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness-but we know agreat deal better! We adapt ourselves to the times and entertain great sympathy for honest doubt. We also know on which sideour bread is buttered and we are ready to alter and amend to please the fashion of the hour!" Where this is the talk, thereremains no longer a Church of the living God! It is nothing but the name of a church when the doctrines of God's InfallibleWord are trod in the dust!

A church ceases to be a Church of Christ in proportion, also, as she alters the ordinances of God. These must be practicedas they were delivered. When a church rejects the ancient ordinances of Believers' Baptism and the Lord's Supper, her nextstep is to make new ones! Thus forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from meat are brought in. The first is much vauntedas a means for the production of purity, but how much the priests and monks and nuns have done for purity I leave historyto record! Believers' Baptism was thrown to the winds and then baptismal regeneration must be brought in. The Lord's Supperwas by far too common and so the "unbloody sacrifice of the 'mass'" was devised! O Church of God, when will you come backto the Law and to the Testimony and follow the mind of Christ and the doings of His Apostles?

Churches also get wrong when they neglect discipline; when they admit into their membership persons who do not even professto be converted and, I add, when, because of pleasing men, they tolerate in their midst ministers whose teaching is corruptand full of infidelity! There are preachers, nowadays, who are studiously undermining the faith once delivered to the saints!The Church should separate itself both from wicked persons and from false teachers. She should no more tolerate evil teachersin her pulpits than you would allow a poisoner in your nursery, or a wolf in your sheepfold. God grant that our Churches mayrise to their duty, however painful it may be! Yes, may they keep close to the faith, for otherwise they cannot be the pillarand basement of the Truth of God! An unholy, unregenerated church can never be the pillar of the Truth of God. If there isa failure in vital godliness; if humble walking with God is neglected, the Church cannot long remain a healthy Church of God.

Now, Brothers and Sisters, you see how each one of you ought to behave in the Church of God. One part of your behavior isthat you abide firm as a pillar. Stand fast! Be strong! You ought to be pillars, especially you who have known the Lord 30or 40 years. You should stand fast to the Truth of God and I pray that you may. May the Church in Scotland, which of old witnessedto the Gospel, be kept steadfast. Her Covenanting fathers loved the Truth of God and shed their blood for it. May the Lordhelp their sons to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. May the Churches of our own England also be recoveredfrom their declension and then maintained by the Spirit of God in stern fidelity to the Gospel.

I cannot finish my sermon better than by commending to you the verse which was sung just now by your 5,000 voices-

"Should all the forms that men devise Assault my faith with treacherous art,

I'll call them vanity and lies, And bind the Gospel to my heart."