“I HAD no idea that night when God awakened me that I was listening to a sermon, preached purposely, against the evangelistic meetings being held in the town, or I would not have gone to the one I found peace at the night following.”
The foregoing is in substance the comment G―made to some Christians on learning, shortly after he was saved, that his minister’s sermon the previous Lord’s Day night had been preached in opposition to the blessed work of God then going on in the town, and at which he had got assurance of salvation; though the fact could not be denied that God, who is “sovereign,” really used part of his minister’s ill-designed sermon to awaken him to the need of getting “ready to MEET GOD.” But for that awakening, he would not have gone to the meeting where he found peace, as he had no desire for anything religious beyond the mere form of attending the church of his forefathers on Sundays, and paying that respect to his minister that he judged due to one occupying so sacred a position.
The “work of God” referred to had been going on for a few weeks in a small Scotch town. Gospel addresses had been given nightly by an earnest evangelist with great power, and souls were getting saved at every meeting. Some of the ministers in the town lent both their presence and help in the good work, while one or two others kept entirely aloof. One of the latter (some of whose flock had got saved at these meetings), took for his text on the night referred to Matt. 13:31, 3231Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: 32Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof. (Matthew 13:31‑32)― “The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: which indeed is the least of all seeds; but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come, and lodge in the branches thereof.”
During his exposition, he made some remarks to the following effect: ―
“We learn from this parable that the kingdom of heaven is a very small thing in its beginning, so small that it is scarcely perceptible in the heart in which it is sown. This shows us how impossible it is for anyone to be positive he has become the ‘subject of grace’ until a considerable time has elapsed after the deposit of the seed in the soul. In fact, it is questionable if any one since apostolic times could make themselves certain on that matter in this world. True, we do read of a few in the Bible, such as Paul, who had that certainty at times, but these were exceptions, and for special reasons was this assurance given to these select individuals.
“Now, what are we to think of the audacity of many we hear of in these days, and at present in our own town, who, we are told, went into a meeting utterly godless, and come out at the finish full-grown Christians, able to say they were saved? What a contradiction is all this to the parable before us! Think on the time it would take for the smallest Of all seeds to grow to the large mustard-tree of the East; and yet we are asked to believe by itinerant preachers of the present day that the seed of the ‘kingdom of heaven.’ can be planted in a man’s heart, and go through all the successive stages of growth, till he become a full-grown Christian with assurance ―all within an hour or so.
“No, my brethren, the thing is against all reason, as well as against the teaching of our Lord in this parable. Instead of being carried away by these excitable and sensational fallacies, let us ‘apply our hearts unto wisdom,’ and seek to avail ourselves of every means of grace afforded us; for be assured there is really no time to waste if we want to escape hell and gain heaven.
“It may be the seed of the kingdom has been planted in our hearts when very young―perhaps at baptism or our mother’s knee. But what have we been doing with the seed? Have we been diligently cultivating the soil, in which it was sown, by reading the Bible, attending to public and family worship, partaking of the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, giving to home and foreign missions, and helping on every good work? Depend upon it, my brethren, we need to be ‘up and doing,’ if we want to be true Christians. A man’s life at the longest is but short to prepare him for the ‘life to come.’
“If any of you feel you have not lived in the past as you should have done, there is all the more need to give yourself to it now in real earnest, for again I say, ‘there is no time to lose.’ ‘wail yourselves of every means of grace.’ If we go on living in carelessness, in the hope that we can become a full-grown Christian within an hour, and thus be fit to meet God, we make a great mistake.”
Now, what was the effect of this remarkable sermon on the heart and conscience of G―? He was completely arrested by the latter part of it. The former part―text as well―like all the sermons he had ever heard, went over his head as if it had never been uttered. But when the minister said, “There is no time to waste if we want to escape hell, and gain heaven,” he was divinely arrested, and was held spell-bound to the finish, feeling most keenly what a dreadful failure his whole past life had been; how it had been wasted in sin and folly; and instead of attending to all the “means of grace” within his reach, he had attended to none, save going to church on Sundays, He went home with a very sad heart, almost despairing of ever being able to make up for lost time.
He lay in bed that night thinking over his minister’s words, “There is no time to waste if we want to escape hell and gain heaven,” and “life at the longest is but short to prepare for the life to come.”
“Will it be worthwhile,” he said to himself, “to attempt being a Christian now? Yes, I must try it, for I cannot make up my mind to be lost forever. The minister said, ‘if we had not lived a right life in the past, we might by greater earnestness become true Christians yet!’ So, by God’s help, I will now attend to ‘every means of grace,’ and thus do my best to escape the hell that I fear I should be sent to, if I was called to meet God in my present state.”
As he had fortunately missed the evil design of the sermon, and learned the day following there was to be a gospel preaching that night in the hall where the evangelistic meetings were held, he was fully determined he would not miss it, nor any such meetings, remembering well the exhortation of his minister to “avail ourselves of every means of grace.”
At eight o’clock that night he was found for the first time in a meeting of the kind, eager to hear all the preacher had to say, who took for his text, “Now is the accepted time; now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:22(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succored thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.) (2 Corinthians 6:2)).
The preacher went into his subject with an earnestness that at once arrested the attention of his already anxious hearer. If ever two sermons, both in their object and substance, were diametrically opposed to each other, they were those G―listened to these two successive nights.
He drew special attention to the word “Now,” twice repeated in his text, showing that the poor sinned who believed in the Lord Jesus was a possessor of salvation “Now.” He further showed there was no other way of getting saved than through Christ; for there was “no other name given among men whereby we must be saved,” but the name of Jesus (Acts 4:1212Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. (Acts 4:12)). And to despise or neglect this salvation, which is now offered to all by free grace, would land all who did so in the “lake of fire” forever (Heb. 2:33How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; (Hebrews 2:3); Acts 13:4141Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish: for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you. (Acts 13:41)). “Those who were trying,” he further said, “like the Jews, to work out a ‘righteousness of their own,’ in the hope that God could accept them on that ground, were making a fatal mistake. Nothing we could do could ever satisfy God for the sins we had committed. So all who are saved, or ever will be, must be saved by the work of another, and that work the work of God’s own Son, which He accomplished to the eternal satisfaction and glory of God when He died for our sins on the cross. His own words, as He bowed His head in death, ‘It is finished,’ conclusively prove that there is nothing left for the poor sinner to do. How could the work of atonement be FINISHED, if it required the very smallest thing of ours added to it to complete it?
“Then, if we want a PROOF that God is satisfied with the work of His Son, we get it in the fact that He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in heavenly glory as Man. This a righteous and holy God could not have done with the One who took the responsibility of all our sins and guilt upon Him if those sins had not been fully atoned for, and put away forever from before His eyes.
“Further, it is from the glory where He now is that the gospel comes, proclaiming in the ears of lost, hell-deserving, and hell-bound sinners a full, free, present, and eternal salvation, to be received ‘NOW,’ where you sit―yes! where you are, and as you are!”
The preacher afterward referred to many Scripture proofs of what “God’s salvation” had done for the worst of sinners. “Look how it saved the repentant thief on the very brink of death and hell (Luke 23:4343And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise. (Luke 23:43)). Also three thousand of the very murderers of Christ the first day the gospel was preached ‘by the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven’ (Acts 2:4141Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. (Acts 2:41); 1 Peter 1:1212Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into. (1 Peter 1:12)). The notorious ‘blasphemer’ and ‘persecutor,’ the ‘chief of sinners,’ Saul of Tarsus. How the Philippian jailer got saved by it, when so miraculously wakened out of his sleep in the dead hour of the night; and all kinds of sinners since—the speaker among the rest. The proof is not wanting either that it is as effectual today as ever it was; for look how God has been saving souls here every night of late-many of whom are sitting before me now with the very ‘joy of salvation’ expressed in their faces.
“Now, should there be one here who is yet without this ‘assurance’ and ‘joy of salvation,’ but is anxious to have it, ―thank God! he can have it ‘NOW,’ for ‘now’―not tomorrow― ‘is the accepted time,’ as our text shows. Tomorrow might find those who put it off till then in the torments of hell.”
This, then, was in substance the gospel. G — heard that memorable Monday night. For a time he felt more bewildered than anything else. It was so contrary to all he had listened to the previous night. But there was such power and point about it that he had the distinct conviction that he was listening to a God-given message for his own soul.
As the preacher proceeded, backing up the assertions he made by quotations from the “Word of God,” G―became more and more enwrapt, listening as for life, till he was convinced that this “salvation” was the very thing he a poor sinner needed, and now wanted; and finally, as the speaker assured the anxious soul that it was offered to him “Now”―and only now―he gladly closed in with the blessed offer, and got on the spot what he thought when he came into the meeting it would take a lifetime to secure—the salvation of his precious immortal soul. Blessed salvation! that can thus meet the guiltiest of Adam’s fallen race, bringing with it to the heart that receives it Such a conscious knowledge of God’s wondrous love which drives from the heart all that fear that has torment which lodges in the heart of every one in their natural state (1 John 4:18, 1918There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. 19We love him, because he first loved us. (1 John 4:18‑19)).
Now, blessed and happy as G — was that night with the perfect ASSURANCE that he was saved for time and eternity through believing in Christ (Acts 16:3131And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. (Acts 16:31); Eph. 2:8, 98For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9Not of works, lest any man should boast. (Ephesians 2:8‑9)), and even fit, through the blood of the Lamb, to go to heaven, should the Lord have called him hence that same night, yet he was only a “babe in Christ,” and not, as his minister said on the previous night, a “full-grown Christian,” because he had assurance.
It is the portion of the youngest believers in Christ to know that their sins are forgiven (1 John 2:1212I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake. (1 John 2:12); Eph. 1:77In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; (Ephesians 1:7); Heb. 10:17, 1817And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. 18Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin. (Hebrews 10:17‑18); Rev. 1:55And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, (Revelation 1:5)). In fact, no one has a right to call himself a Christian who does not know that his sins are forgiven. It is not till this fact is known that we really start on our Christian course. From that point we are to “grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” From “babes in Christ” to “young men,” and from “young men” to “fathers” in Christ (1 John 2:12-1412I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake. 13I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father. 14I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one. (1 John 2:12‑14); 2 Peter 3:1818But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen. (2 Peter 3:18); 1 Cor. 3:1, 21And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. 2I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. (1 Corinthians 3:1‑2)).
In conclusion, one word of comment on the parable of the “mustard seed,” as the interpretation and application in the sermon alluded to are so plausible that those who do not read God’s Word for themselves might quite easily be misled. “The kingdom of heaven,” as presented in this parable, is not that which is sown in the heart. We have that aspect of the kingdom in the first parable in the chapter, viz., the “parable of the sower” (see Matt. 13:3-93And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; 4And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: 5Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: 6And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. 7And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: 8But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. 9Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. (Matthew 13:3‑9)). Then the Lord’s interpretation of it in verses 18-23. Verse 19 distinctly says it was sown in his heart. Now the parable of the “mustard seed” sets forth the planting and growth of the “kingdom of heaven” as a religious system set up on the EARTH. Like the “mustard seed,” it was very small in its beginning, being confined to those who believed in Jerusalem when Peter, who got the keys to open the kingdom, preached his first sermon on the day when the Holy Ghost was given by Christ the “King,” who had now taken His place IN HEAVEN (see Matthew 16:1919And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. (Matthew 16:19); Acts 2:14, 4714But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: (Acts 2:14)
47Praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. (Acts 2:47)). From that small thing it has spread over a great part of the earth, embracing all Christendom, with its millions of souls. Thus has the small seed planted in Jerusalem grown till it has become the large tree of all Christian profession, true and false, as the parable of the ten virgins shows― “five wise” and “five foolish” (Matt. 25:1-131Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. 2And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 3They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: 4But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. 6And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. 7Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. 8And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. 9But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. 10And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. 11Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. 12But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. 13Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh. (Matthew 25:1‑13)).
I have no doubt most of my readers will belong to the kingdom of heaven in its outward or professing form, but that will do no more for you than the lamp and wick did for the five foolish virgins. It was only those who had oil who went in when the bridegroom came. So will it be when the Lord comes for His people; it will only be those who have been truly “born of God” by His Spirit and Word that will be taken to glory. Will you, my reader, be one of them? Do not rest till you can say, “Yes, thank God!”
The foregoing narrative of God’s dealing with G-shows how He can and does work in carrying out His purposes of love and grace, notwithstanding all the wicked designs of the enemy to hinder poor sinners from getting the blessings that a Saviour God has for them. J. M.