Brethren, the Jewish nation, or church-for the nation was the church-was no pilgrim or stranger upon earth assuredly. “Days long in the land;” “blessings in casket and in store;” “to be the head only, and not the tail” among the nations, and their enemies smitten before their faces; these were the things plainly, though conditionally, promised them. If you are successors to all these, who are the successors to the apostles and the primitive witnesses for Christ?-” fools,” and “weak,” and “despised;” and “hungry,” and “thirsty,” and “naked,” and “buffeted,” and “having no certain dwelling-place;” blessing when reviled; persecuted and suffering it?
The law is your rule of life, and holy, and just, and good it is, though as many as are of its works-upon that principle-are under the curse; as the apostle says. But whose is the “rule” of being a “new creature in Christ Jesus,” crucified to the world by His cross, and glorying in it? (Gal. 6:14-1614But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. 15For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. 16And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God. (Galatians 6:14‑16).) You find no pilgrim or strangership in your rule, and that may suit you; but you find no glories of the new creation in it either; nor does it speak to you as a heavenly people, sanctified, and sent into the world as the Father sent His Son. All this is nowhere; the Christian's place no higher than the Jews; the standard of walk no different; for, of course, if the law is your rule, and was the Jews', there cannot, and ought not, to be any difference between your walk and his; your place in Christ and its responsibility are gone, for of this the Jew knew nothing.
But “if any man be in Christ he is a new creature; old things are passed away, behold all things are become new.” Brethren, what does this mean: “a new creature;” a new sort of creature, as the word implies? Do you go back to Adam, the pure and innocent man in the garden which God set him in to dress and keep? Nay, that would be no creature new in kind. Adam, even pure and good before his fall, was yet “of the earth, earthy.” Is Christ but the first man set up afresh? Nay, verily, he “is the second man, the Lord from heaven.” Let men cavil as they please, He is a heavenly man; a second, another sort; a “last Adam,” head of a new race, beginning of a new creation. And you and I, who believe, are “in Him,” seen and accepted before God, in the Beloved.” “As is the earthly, such are they also that are earthly; and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.” The image of it we have not yet, true. That will be ours in the day of His coming. The thing we are.
“Heavenly” and “in Christ:” oh, brethren, think you we realize our place and portion? “Old things passed away, and all things become new?” Do you and I know what it is to look up into those heavens, where the Son of God sits in glory all His own, and see and recognize in Him what we are before God: “as He is,” even “in this world"? Can we say quite confidently, each for himself, “Yes, we are identified with Him who represents us there before the eye of God; as He is, in whom no spot was ever found, nor can be, but perfectness, after God's own heart wholly"? That it is to be in Christ, a new creature. Our rule is to “walk in Him,” as being what we really are: heavenly, citizens of heaven, pilgrims and strangers upon earth.
All the rest the cross has ended for us. We have died with Christ out of our old Adam condition; our old man is crucified with Christ. The flesh is in us still, indeed, but in us a foreign thing; and we are not in it before God, nor identified with it in anywise, but with Him in whom it was never found. We are in Him, as He is.
Brethren, can we own this, and seek to get on in world that crucified the Lord; whose prince and God is Satan; and friendship with which is enmity against God? Can we claim rights where we are dead? Can we take up carnal weapons, where He has bidden not to resist evil? Can we take the law with others, where God has shown us grace ourselves? Can we be magistrates and politicians, where Satan is really prince? Can we find ease and enjoyment, where every step of His way led Him on to a death by wicked hands, even the death of the crass?
“Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I also confess before my Father which is in heaven, but whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword..... He that loseth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me. . . And he that taketh not his cross and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.”
“Sell that ye hath, and give alms: provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not.... for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their Lord, when he will return from the wedding, that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open to him immediately. Blessed are those servants whom the Lord, when he cometh, shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them sit down to meat, and shall come forth and serve them.”
4. The effects of not watching have been in every way disastrous. You are waiting for death and judgment rather than for Him who has conquered death and borne judgment for you. These are indeed the common portion of men as such. “It is appointed unto men once to die, and after this the judgment.” And you have forgotten so the distinctness of your own portion, that you account it enthusiasm for a man to say with the apostle, “We shall not all die,” and almost heresy to affirm, as the Lord does, that” whosoever heareth his words, and believeth in him that sent him, shall not come into judgment." Yet both are simple scripture statements, which the holding fast the Lord's coming gives to the soul in full and unclouded reality. For those who are watching for Him, what more simple than the apostle's language, “we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord"? Is death to these a necessity, a thing “appointed"? And as for judgment-though we shall all give account of ourselves to God-when “the Lord cometh to execute judgment upon all,” even Enoch tells us, “He cometh with ten thousands of his saints” (Jude 1414And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, (Jude 14)), or, as Paul says (Col. 3:44When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. (Colossians 3:4)), “When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall we also appear with him in glory.”
“For this we say unto you by the word of God, that we which are ALIVE AND REMAIN unto the coming of the Lord, shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to MEET THE LORD IN THE AIR, and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” (1 Thess. 4:16, 1716For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 4:16‑17).) That is our portion who are His, living or dead, when He comes: “Every man in his own order; Christ, the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.” Mark that! Not everybody at His coming; but “they that are Christ's at his coming.” This is the divine “order.” “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we (tile living) shall be changed.” Thus shall we go up to meet the Lord. It is the fulfillment of His own promise: “In my Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so I would have told you; I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also.”
Blessed, blessed words! Are they a call to judgment, think you, reader? Do you expect a sentry and a challenge at the door of the Father's house? or to be put on trial, and judged according to your works, to see if you have title to enter there?
Does He not, then, “know them that are his"? May there be in the company of those “raised in glory,” or “changed,” and having “put on the image of the heavenly,” one who perchance may yet have no title to be there? And the “dead in Christ,” who have been many of them more than a millennium “absent from the body, and present with the Lord"-will you put them on trial too, to see if they were indeed rightly there?
No, it is all forgetfulness of the place we have with Him-of His love, and of the value of His work. We have forgotten, that if it be true-as it is-that “God shall judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he has ordained;” it is written no less, that we “are not of the world, even as he is not of the world,” and that “as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment, so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and"-blessed alternative of man's natural portion-” to them that look for him shall he appear the second time, without sin, unto salvation.”
This is our hope, beloved brethren, to be with Himself before He comes to execute judgment, and when He does appear for that, we know that we also shall appear with Him.
The common doctrine is a cloud upon this precious hope, and no indirect question of the very certainty of salvation itself. If the day of judgment is to decide who are the saved ones, it is no wonder if many think they cannot be sure even as to themselves before. And if we are to be judged then according to our works who but must shrink from the thought of it! The result is, on the one side, legality seeking to rest on its own performances in view of the day of judgment; and, on the other, the lack of comfort and assurance because on, this very ground. How different the believer's position as stated in Rom. 5, where, being “justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God! “How different a thing it is to be seeking to make oneself fit to pass the judgment, and recognizing the grace which has already given me a place in Christ in the day of grace and of salvation! “Herein is love made perfect with us (see margin), that we should have boldness in the day of judgment, because as He is"-as Christ in glory is-” so are we in this world.” (1 John 4:1717Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. (1 John 4:17).) The day of judgment will not upset the confidence of the day of grace, for we shall be with Him and like Him, the Judge, before that day comes. We are now as He is. When He shall appear, we shall appear with Him in glory.
Bear with me a little yet, beloved brethren; and suffer a further question. We have spoken of that church, so dear to Christ, for which He gave Himself. If I turn to the picture of it which I have, in its first bright days, it is impossible not to ask of that church which is the body of Christ, united together and to Him by that Spirit by which we are all baptized into that one body (1 Cor. 12)-where is that church now? It still remains, you say, scattered throughout the various bodies of Christendom. Well, this is true, no doubt. But then, what scattered it? And, more, what keeps it scattered? Was it an evil for it to be scattered? And is it not as great an evil for it to continue scattered?
You may say, “We neither scattered, nor can bring it together again.” That is true too: neither you nor I can undo what has been done. But we can surely own the evil, and ourselves cease from it. And this we are called and bound to do.
And then, what about these various bodies of Christendom, among which you say the true church is scattered? Plainly they are not the true church themselves, for the very reason, that the true church is scattered amongst them. If, then, they are not the true church, what are they? Do they even represent the true church, as far as an outward visible body may?
They do not, for they are not one body, even professedly, but many; and, by the very fact of what they are, to be a member of any one of them is to be not a member of the rest. Thus these bodies do not even represent the church of God. They are societies of people who are associated together upon the ground, not of membership in the body of Christ, but of holding certain views which distinguish them from other Christians. And that (suffer me to say it, brethren-the appeal is to scripture in the matter), that is true sectarianism, “schism” in the Bible sense, “schism in the body” (of Christ).
Mark it, then, brethren; it is no schism to be outside these bodies. It is a duty; for by the very fact of being united to them, I separate myself so far from all those who, though true and devoted Christians, cannot give in their adhesion to the creed or to the regulations of the sect.
The moment I get the true thought of the church of God, I see it to be a body into which Christ, the Head admits, and He alone, for He alone baptizes with the Holy Ghost, and by one Spirit we are all baptized into one body. Scripture owns no other membership than this-the being members of Christ-of His body. If you and I are such, we belong already to the church, and have to receive one another, as Christ received us, “to the glory of God.” He who imposes conditions is guilty of dividing the body of Christ, not he who cannot in conscience come under the conditions. That discipline is to be maintained is, of course, true, but this is not in question here. Aside from this, the gathering together of Christians as such, apart from all denominational distinctions, is the only “assembling of ourselves together” that the scripture knows.
Do you say, “Well, but that assembly of Christians, as such, must be subject to the order which Christ has instituted for His church"? I answer, Surely so; but this is too small a loophole to admit all or any of the ecclesiastical systems of the day. Tested by the word of God, these all founder upon this, that they put into men's hands the power which alone belongs to Christ, give Him nominal headship but not actual, and subject the conscience thus to men and not to God.
All human regulations, however wise and expedient in their design, yet as regulations necessarily do this. Who has power to regulate in the church of Christ but Christ? Not the whole church together, much less any class or section in it. Are not the scriptures able to furnish thoroughly to every good work? What want we more? Are all your creeds, confessions, canons, and what not, clearer and more forcible than the word itself? Are your liturgies the supply of a deficiency which the Head of the church has not provided for? Alas! is it not all sheer dishonor done to Him, and in reality a subtle form of unbelief in His only authoritative word?
But again, I read that Christ has given gifts to His church: some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers. The apostles and prophets remain as the foundation (Eph. 2:2020And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; (Ephesians 2:20)); the others carry on the building to this day. Evangelists labor in the world outside; pastors and teachers in the church inside. The possession of the gift entailed the responsibility of using it (1 Peter 4:1010As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. (1 Peter 4:10)); for He who gave it could not have made a mistake in giving it. Now, once more, suffer me to ask-and if it be folly, bear with me in my folly-whence did men get the control they exercise over the gifts of Christ? Who gave them power to ordain, or appoint, or choose, or send out, or locate and settle the servants of another master? Is it no interference, think you, with Himself, that He has given the gift to use, but you are to give the authority to use it?
I ask for scripture to show that men were ever ordained to teach or preach at all. It is too scanty a foundation for it to adduce that Paul and Barnabas were separated to a special work among the heathen, by the imposition of the hands of prophets and teachers. (Acts 13) In the first place, Paul certainly was not ordained then, for to some of the very people to whom he was then sent, he declares that he was “an apostle, not of men, nor by man.” (Gal. 1:11Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;) (Galatians 1:1).) Secondly, the work they were set apart to was simply a definite mission among the Gentiles, which chapter xiv. 26 tells us was “fulfilled;” but Paul's apostleship did not end with that. Thirdly, they were prophets as well as teachers who acted in the matter. And, lastly, “the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul,” not, See if Barnabas and Saul are proper persons to be separated. In other words, He pointed out to them directly those whom He would have sent, not gave them authority to choose and send.
Then Paul and Barnabas ordained elders in every city. And afterward Timothy and Titus, as apostolic delegates, did the same. But though an elder should be “apt to teach,” his vocation as an elder was not to teach but to “oversee.” It is well known that the word “bishop,” the elder's official title, means “overseer,” and is so translated. (Acts 20:2828Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. (Acts 20:28).) They were elderly grave men, fathers of families, who could show, by the careful training of their own families, that they knew how to take care of the church of God. They tended-were shepherds to, as the word translated “feed” means (Acts 20:2828Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. (Acts 20:28) Peter 5:2)-the church of God. If they had gift, they labored in the word and doctrine (1 Tim. 5:1717Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially they who labor in the word and doctrine. (1 Timothy 5:17)), but they might rule well without that. Not that they were separate classes of elders, for which there is no scripture at all; but if they had gift, they used it, yet it was not confined to them.
These elders never ordained. Apostles did and could depute others. In Timothy's case, who was no elder, when a spiritual gift was given to him by prophecy, it was accompanied with the imposition of the elders' hands. That is the whole scripture on the subject. As for the successors of apostles, or of Timothy and Titus, they exist in the fables of tradition-nowhere else. Scripture speaks only of a wide-spread ruin of the church, beginning in the apostles' days, and these commend us to the word of God in their own absence, not to successors. (Acts 20:33And there abode three months. And when the Jews laid wait for him, as he was about to sail into Syria, he purposed to return through Macedonia. (Acts 20:3)2 Peter 1:1515Moreover I will endeavor that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance. (2 Peter 1:15).)
Why do I speak of this? I would gladly be spared having to do so, and have been thus brief, as desiring to call attention to the subject, rather than pretending to make all plain. But the evils resulting from the common view and practice are great and many, and would justify a much longer notice. When I turn from the blessed word of God and its teachings-from its free and simple ministry, in love, to all and anywhere, of whatsoever any one might have for the common good of all-when, I say, I turn from this to the narrow systems of men, where hired preachers have each their little circle in which their voice is alone entitled to be heard; when I see the sheep of Christ ofttimes clinging to those who cannot feed them (even if they teach no positive heresy, and are themselves Christian men), just because they have the commission of men, and refuse other teachers who have not, or are not their ministers, as they would say; what can I think, beloved brethren? And this is one grand evil of the system, that by maintaining the need of an external commission from those who are supposed to have authority to give it, the commission is as the result made the test of the truth. The truth ceases to have entire authority. Christ is made to commission men who do not preach it, nay, often men who are not His at all. And yet they say there would be confusion from allowing Christians to act simply upon their own conscience to God, and that men would not know whom in that case to listen to or believe. Is not this as much as saying that Christ's sheep do not hear His voice, and that they will hear the voice of strangers?
Brethren, there is still, thank God, a living acting Head to the church, His body-One who cares for His own as tenderly as ever, yea, as when He laid down His life for His sheep-One who, Himself at God's right hand, has sent down in His own absence “another comforter,” to abide with us forever. The Holy Spirit is really present with us in that place of infallible Guide and Director in the church of God, which is falsely and blasphemously claimed by the Roman pope. Alas are Protestants conscious of His presence, and of what the fact of His presence involves? For if He be here, must He not be Sovereign? Once He did act, and was acknowledged: set apart men to their several spheres of service, as well as gave capacity to serve; sent men hither and thither at His will; and the whole church, in its coming together, could be trusted to His guidance, without prayer-book, priest, or president-each man left to his own conscience before God; all “a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.” The rule was, as to worship, “in spirit and in truth;” the rule, as to ministry, “all things to edification.” In the public assembly, the women were to be silent. (1 Cor. 14) The one exception shows how large is the liberty for all else.
But I close, though having scantily uttered what was on my mind. But, oh, for a heart rightly to feel all the deep dishonor we have done to Him in the ruin we have brought in everywhere. Repair it we never can; but we can judge ourselves about it, “cease to do evil, learn to do well.” Our resource and hope is in the Lord Himself coming to end it all, and in the bliss of His own presence for the feeblest and most failing of His own. May we be waiting for Him!
F. W. G.