EVERY conscientious Christian desires to be a witness for his Lord; but no one can be a true witness, unless he understand the nature of the Divine interests in which he. is placed;- what they are intrinsically in the mind of God;- and how they are compromised and misrepresented among men. I must know, so to speak, not only the Divine idea of the Church, and the constitution of it; but I must also mark how and where it has fallen; or I cannot be an intelligent witness, apprehending the instruction given in Scripture to guide and sustain me at such a time. How can I appreciate instruction offered to me when the Church is in a low state, if I understand not its low state? and how can I discern its low state, unless I know what it should be if it had continued faithful to the mind of God? T must, therefore, first understand what the Church was when in order; and then, observing the present contrast, study and acquire the principles and conduct which becomes me as Christ's witness in such circumstances.
The Church in order was composed:-First, of 'members gathered out of the world unto the rejected Lord, on whom they believed unto salvation. " The Lord added unto the Church such as should be saved":. (Acts 2:4747Praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. (Acts 2:47)).
Thirdly, they excommunicated from among themselves every one "called a brother " whose evil was open and willful (1 Cor. 5).
Fourthly, they sought and received edification through the gifts of the Spirit, conferred individually (1 Cor. 12 and 14.)..
Sixthly, they were awaiting the return of their Lord from Heaven (1 Thess. 1); they by faith sitting there together with Him (Eph. 2)
Now, the Church's decline on the other hand is marked by several traits. First of all, it has lost the true idea of being the habitation of God through the Spirit. The presence and direct rule of the Lord is un-thought of, and there is no apprehension that a Saint's place now is sitting together with Christ in Heaven. Its true position with the Lord and for God is either un-, known or ignored. Then the want of care for one -another which crept in-the purity of the assembly-began to be disregarded, and each, to consider only for himself; and from this the responsibility of one to another as members of the same body, became practically forgotten (1 Cor. 11:19-2219For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you. 20When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord's supper. 21For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken. 22What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise you not. (1 Corinthians 11:19‑22).).
Another trait of decline is their turning aside from grace unto law (Gal. 3.)
Another, the admittance of many to communion without any careful scrutiny as to the ground of their adhesion, and thus the assembly, ere long became " a great house," because wood, hay and stubble were introduced into the building (2 Peter 2:44For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; (2 Peter 2:4), 2 Tim. 2:2020But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honor, and some to dishonor. (2 Timothy 2:20)).
And lastly, they abandoned spiritual ground and assumed natural ground in principle, as Core. They assumed to order themselves without the intervention of the Spirit of God (Jude, 3 John). Can any honest soul survey the present state of the Church, and not admit how these germs of evil, noticeable in the Apostles' days, have sprung up and borne full grown fruit; and, that the Church now, instead of being the pillar and the ground of truth, is a " great house ' wherein there, are vessels to honor and vessels to dishonor. The more I contrast the present state of the House of God on earth with its original and normal state, and the designs of God therein, the more must I seek and endeavor to be as His mind instructs me, emerging out of confusion and walking according to His mind. The first question is -Is it according to the mind of God, that in the present ruin of the Church there should be any testimony of His mind and purpose in the Church:- and secondly, if He enjoins that there should be, what is the character and what the duties of the witness? Now, it is plain to any student of the Scripture, that so long as any circle or dispensation of God is not set aside by Him, so long is it the first duty of His people, to own and support it; nay-the truer the heart of the disciple is to Him the more will he cling to and maintain the name of God in connection with that circle of interest with which he is engaged. How else could it be? If God have any distinct circle of interest into which He has called me; shall not I, according to my devotion to Him, own and support that circle of interest as He may enable me? Does it not both test, and distinguish the faithfulness of a servant, the extent and ability by which, he supports and vindicates the purpose of God, when hope is almost gone.... At the last extremity, Daniel, though the lions' den loomed before his own soul, yet as he prayed, his windows were opened toward Jerusalem; the spot of God's interest on the earth. Now, as it is plain and natural, that the true servant of God could never be the less faithful amid abounding unfaithfulness, but, on the contrary, more devoted to do what few others might care to do; pressed in his spirit to maintain the mind and intention of God in the circle in which he is called, because he sees it to be little, or no where done; not that he is better than others, but in conscience and heart he feels called on to spend, and be spent, and the more so because of the wide spreading failure.
. Let us look through Scripture, and gather up instruction as to the manner and action of God's servants at the declension of every dispensation.
Enoch, I may say, was the first witness in decline. By faith he was translated, and he walked with God three hundred years. The principle of true testimony is seen in him. He walked with God above the abounding ungodliness. He was the more singular as a; witness, because the opposition Was rather irreverence and hard speeches of professors; but, this is just what marks the true witness when the declension is greatest. I must be transcendentally devoted to my master's cause and interests.
Noah was a witness in decline; building an ark, and preaching righteousness in face of 'a wale opposing 'world, carrying out God's purpose and mind in the most remarkable Manner when left alone, and men universally had no fear of God before their eyes.
Abraham was a witness; alone and singularly leaving all his natural associations in order to be for God according to His mind on earth. The failure of man on the earth was patent; therefore Abraham is called to 'walk apart from his natural associations, and follow God on the earth, and the more simply he did so, however great the opposition, the more distinct and assured was his own blessing; and the more truly did he maintain the 'mind of God on earth. When did the Patriarchs suffer and lose true blessing, but when they wandered from the 'path of separation and testimony to. which. they were called? and they always were restored to their blessings when they resumed their place as witnesses. When was Joseph the boldest witness? Was it not when encircled by ignorant and unbelieving Egyptians;-and then, too, 'was he, in the most manifest way, helped of God, and for God.
Moses in Egypt was a witness when he confronted every opposition offered to God, whether it was Pharaoh, or Jannes and Jambres (2 Tim. 3:88Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. (2 Timothy 3:8).), and as the difficulty increased, he was on God's side, and rose up superior to it. The greater the difficulty and the danger, the better did this true witness stand forth for God and 'vindicate His name and purpose. Then again in the wilderness in the midst of his own people, he acts single-handed for God in the face of the people when they had transgressed; standing at the gate of the camp and exhorting every one who was on the Lord's side to rally round him, and consecrate himself " to the Lord, every man upon his son and upon his brother, that he may
bestow upon you a blessing this day;" and afterward pitching the tabernacle without the camp that every one who sought the Lord might resort to it.
Caleb was a witness when he endeavored to still the murmuring multitude of Israel, assuring them that if the Lord delighted in them, He would bring them into the land and give it to them (Num. 13).
Each of the Judges in their day and generation was a witness standing forth alone and single-handed to restore God's people to their proper moral position as the Lord's inheritance. The witness was the more distinct and remarkable according to the extent and greatness of the embarrassments in his way. To be a witness in the true sense of the word, he must stand forth superior to every shade of corrupt influence and antagonism. We see this in a very marked way in Daniel; and in Shadrach, Meshech, and Abednego. The truth of God was denied, and they stood forth to maintain and vindicate it. No amount of difficulty or Of adverse 'power deterred them; they shrank not from their responsibility, and were signally successful.
Ezra was a witness, not only leading back the captivity to Jerusalem and building, the temple though encountering therein every difficulty; but so entering into the mind of God that he encountered his own people in their tenderest point, in order to deliver them from every association unworthy of God's people (Ezra 9: 10.). It is among his own that the fidelity of the witness is best seen, because there it is most tested. I may very boldly and unflinchingly testify against an open enemy, but to oppose my own; and wound them in their peculiar sensitiveness must be, in a good man, the greatest test and 'proof of his fidelity,-yet, a true witness will meet one as firmly as the other, because it is for God he is acting and not for man.
Nehemiah was a witness. See how he feels for the condition of Jerusalem! Undaunted by the apparent wreck of God's interests on earth, broken up and piece-meal as they may be, the true witness nevertheless connects himself with them, reckoning on the power of God to maintain his own interests so long as he is pleased to confine them to any particular. circle. How Nehemiah pines to do the work! How he surveys the ruins and much rubbish by night, and yet how he builds, prays and suffers! A witness is essentially a martyr (the same word for both in Greek) because death alone can check his career or divert him from his course.
Mordecai was a witness. He imperiled his own life and the lives of all his people because he would not do homage to Haman the Agagite. Cost him what it would he would not forget God's fiat on Amalek, but maintain it. at the risk of everything personal and natural. In how small a thing apparently can one be a true witness, and being such, can accomplish such wondrous results. It is when the most disguised inroad is made on the purpose and will of God that the witness necessarily makes his greatest stand, and therefore he always shapes his course according to the nature of the opposition leveled against the truth of God, so that if I know the nature and intent of the opposition I know the direction in which the witness will work, and vice versa.
Elijah was a witness when he confronted all the prophets of Baal and vindicated the name and power of God before all Israel.
Micaiah was a witness when, regardless of personal sufering, he announced the fate of the king of Israel according to the word of God, and demonstrated to the king how he had been deceived. Elisha was a witness when by the word of the Lord he maintained the relief there would be from the famine in Samaria, though the first man in the realm denied the possibility of it. The prophets were witnesses. What a place Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, and Habakkuk occupied in Israel I They stood singly for God and braved continually the enmity and reproach of their own people; declaring, on the one hand, the sin of the people, and on the other, the heart of Him against whom they sinned. I do not stay to adduce particular instances of their testimony, for the whole books of their prophecy are such. Haggai and Zechariah were witnesses, testifying for God to the returned remnant either in encouragement or warning according to their need.
John Baptist was a witness. He came in the way of righteousness, and he maintained it against Herod the King; and his life paid the forfeit. It is not in one bold general line that the chief virtue of the witness is seen; it is in standing forth and giving issue with any principle, power or element which undermines or subverts the purpose and counsel of God at any given time. Our Lord was the faithful and true witness. He saw and confronted every departure from God, even the most subtle. His whole life from the manger to the cross was characterized by this. Whenever God is most successfully misrepresented, and by the most acceptable authority, there He stands alone to dispel and break up the false coverings that enshrouded it, and to disclose the simple and clear mind of God. Whether it be Satan in the wilderness, or in the midst of the Synagogue on the Sabbath day; Whether it be before the assembled court of the Jewish Sanhedrim; or alone with the desolate thief on the Cross, where Satan exulted in His death-in every instance He stood faithful the more manifestly for God, as God was most covertly misrepresented; and His truth therefore the more compromised.
The Lord tells His disciples "ye are my witnesses," and we mark this in them; that where the truth of God is misunderstood or compromised they present an unflinching front to vindicate it and justify God. While the Church as a vessel of testimony or any dispensation was in freshness and power, there was a more defined and palpable line for the witness; the opposition was. more open and discernible; but as the Church became corrupted and disorganized from within, the duty and service of the wittness was not only more onerous, but his ability and competency to be a witness was the more severely tested. Unless he could grapple with the insidious and covert workings of Satan, now no longer an open enemy, but transformed into an angel of light, through the members of, the assembly, lie was plainly unequal to the task of a witness in that state of things. Now this is the cause of all the unfitness and inadequacy
which we mark in this day in so many earnest souls who desire to be witnesses. They do not see where the most deadly evil is working; for the deadliest evil is the one which feeds on the soul without detection; and so emasculates the truth of God, that in the end it is left with the pretense of truth which is worse than open evil.
It is plain, then, that the more fallen and disorganized the Church is, the more peculiar and trying must be the course of the witness. His one simple duty is to resist every inroad against the truth and counsel of God, and the more insidious and covered the attempt is, the more distinctly and openly to denounce and expose it. To be a witness of this order, the Apostle Paul instructs Timothy in his second epistle to him. In that epistle we find that the 'great point pressed on Timothy is clear and positive separation froth profane and vain babblings.. Previously he had been exhorted to hold fast the form of sound words; and again; " rightly to divide the word of truth," thus intimating that his great and constant work would be to separate the precious from the vile in doctrine. What a state of things for a servant of God!. His chief and most difficult enemies from within, corrupting and misrepresenting the truth of God which they professed to maintain. What a place of trial and proof! In such a state of things, the witness must purge himself from the vessels to dishonor; he must preserve as distinct a separation between himself and them, as a man washed has between that washed off and himself. The word of these babblers spreads as a gangrene; it is not merely leaven, it destroys vitality, it " overthrows the faith of some." The witness is required to separate in the most marked way from Ahem. His separation marks his faithfulness. It is the distinctness of his separation that proves him a witness. When things had come to this,. he has no other way to spew himself as true to his mission but by separation, and the more unequivocal it is, the better witness he will be. A witness thinks not of trials and difficulties; he braves all, for he is on God's side; and he thinks not of them, however timid his nature, because he knows he is on God's side; he' only thinks what is his appointed course, and on that, according to his faithfulness, he proceeds: Here we see that when profane and vain babbling is suffered in the assembly, the witness has no option but to clear himself as clear as washing could do of any connection or association with any such. The word " purge" implies the most stringent and practical separation. Leaven we find dealt 'with in another way (1 Cor. 5), but here, where the truth is compromised by teachers in the assembly, the witness is called not merely to denounce and repel such profanities, but in the most marked manner, and in his own person, to draw the line of separation between himself and them; and, having done so, to seek association with them who call on the Lord in a like spirit, as I understand "pure heart;" 'and he was not, so to speak, qualified for this " pure " company unless he had in this absolute manner purged himself. One little comprehends how essential and imperative it is on the witness to be valiant for the truth; and. even when some in heart desire it, how often do we find that they are entirely unable to bear against the evil, and simply because they have not rigidly adhered to God's counsel in this epistle. They controvert and disallow, but they do not " purge;" and, consequently,. they are not witnesses 'in such times. In general, we are more distressed by immorality of conduct than by false teaching; but this only proves our lack of spiritual sense. It is very evident that the Church at first had no list of those who should be excluded from the Lord's table; but when the spiritual sense was enfeebled the Apostle gave them a list, though not including in it murderers, heretics, or the more heinous crimes, on the presumption that their spiritual sense was not yet so low as that; but now, when profane and vain babblings are suffered in the assembly; the Apostle- enjoins Timothy to purge himself from them; he cannot be a witness if he does not, nor is any one a witness who does not. Has God revealed His word and mind, and in such a way and at such a cost, even by His own Son; and can I, as a witness, suffer any compromise or misrepresentation of it? True,. I ought to be gentle, and to " instruct those that oppose themselves," but these must be persons who will listen. The devil was a liar from the beginning, and he used every artifice to mar and spoil the truth, and therefore the witness, at such a time as is here described, has a double work, subserving. to the one end; one rightly to divide the word of truth, and the other to distance himself as positively and as openly as possible from every vain and profane babbler. And not only this, hut a witness for these days must. " turn away ' from them who are described as walking after their own lust, while having the form of godliness but denying the power of it. Now, of these, a worse class arise, who, like Jannes and Jambres, withstand the truth. They are still worse than the babblers, the witness knows them, but abides in the Apostles' doctrine, and holds to the Scriptures as his authority. Nothing must discourage him in these disastrous times; the appearing of the Lord and his kingdom must stimulate and sustain him in proclaiming the word; ever urgent, convicting, rebuking, encouraging with all patience and doctrine. And when the time comes when they who now hear him will no longer hearken to sound doctrine, the witness is only to go on: And be sober, " exempted from false influences " in all things, bearing evils, doing the work of an evangelist; that is to say, as it appears to mc; do everything from the very beginning, as it were, commencing anew, reverting to the foundation, and working from it. We are also instructed how a witness, even a woman, should act with reference to an unsound Teacher (2 John), not only not to receive him, but not to greet him. Surely,- when one considers the place of exclusiveness which this word demands, we must feel how few real godly witnesses there are in this day. As a rule, is there any of this decided animadversion of unsound teaching in this day? Whoever does not practice it, is not a witness, for he does not meet the exigency.
In Jude, also, we are instructed that the witness's singular and distinct work is to " contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints." Now, the very fact of such an injunction as this being needed, discloses the state of the Church. It is not (mark I) the faith as it is held, but, as it was once delivered, and it is not in an easy compromising way, but in an energetic decided way that he is " earnestly to contend for it.
The " Beloved" are called on here to maintain spiritual ground; and thus as a matter of course, to be outside 'natural ground. Now spiritual ground in such a day as is here described, involves the necessity. of scrutiny and patience with godly fear. Some are to be treated more leniently than others. " Of some have compassion, making a difference; others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment spotted by the flesh." That is, they are to be rescued if possible, but with marked recognition and denunciation of their present place and standing. A true witness not only accords with and heartily accepts all this, stringent and trying as it must be to his natural mind, but, he hails the instructions as to what should be his course of action for meeting the interests of his Lord in an evil day; and never feels himself true to Him unless vindicating His name and truth on earth. How, in the face of these Scriptures, any one can defend anything bordering on indifferentism or neutrality is unaccountable? Any one who does so is plainly not a witness; and, therefore, I can only say, the Lord teach us and stir up our hearts to be for Him as His witnesses, while he leaves us here.
One word more. From Rev. 2 and 3., it is evident that to be a witness, in the state of things described there you must be an overcomer (mown). And, this is self. evident; for, how could I be a witness for God against surrounding evil, unless I had overcome it? The blessings are for the overcomers; and the witness at such a time is one who testifies against the prevailing corruption, and is, therefore, characterized by the angel or messenger: This the whole assembly ought to be; but whoever is so, is one who, knowing the mind of the Lord, proclaims it and presses it on the conscience of his hearers. Calling on the saints to be overcomers, he presents the truth from which they have swerved, and which, if owned, would deliver them from the surrounding evil. He acts as the Lord's messenger, and, therefore, in keeping with His mind. And this puts him in the position of a pioneer, as well as a teacher, for the message which he delivers is to rally the overcomers, and to show them the way to take. And in order to. deliver the message he must be on the vantage- ground himself: a victor himself and one able to remove difficulties for those who would be victors, to shed the light of the truth on the: scene in which they are, and thus practically to spew: them their way out of it. Thus the witness must not tamper or parley with anything which could obstruct the full free deliverance of the Saints. He must repel all indifferentism to the truth or concession to error; because the whole value of his service lies in the power and distinctness- with which he maintains the truth, which alone can emancipate. He has one simple thought and work, and that 'is, to deliver simply and unflatteringly his Lord's message. If it be not his Lord's message, it is not fit for the time, and, therefore, not worth anything, for it is only his own; but, if it be, the care of the witness is to guard it, and to press it on souls. It is the truth-the Lord's mind His message for the moment, which is his chief thought and care. The effects produced by this testimony he% may watch, and they necessarily interest him, but only in. proportion to their being genuine effects of the truth, for which he is responsible: To win adherents is not his aim; far less to compromise in order that he may; his business is with the truth. To it he stands, rejoicing in all who rally round and espouse it, not. for his own sake, or even for their sakes, save as secondary, but because the truth the mind of His Lord, is resumed and maintained. 'He can never lose sight of the specialty of his service as a witness, and no consideration of effects must turn him aside from his post. Of course he consorts with, and finds help from the receivers of it, but the tie between them and him is the truth, and no lower interest. This is ever the duty and calling a witness, and the greater the decline the more so, because there is all the more difficulty to maintain the truth without mixture; and to maintain it thus is what every witness for God in every dispensation is called to.
The Lord give us to understand how high and blessed it is to be His witnesses here in the evil day; and to estimate how great is the privilege to be entrusted with His mind and truth. May we spew daily that this is our great care and nothing short of it; not to gain adherents. Happy and 'encouraged we are by every true one with whom we can consort; he who walks in truth helps the other; but not seeking anything but the truth of which we testify; and which will in proportion as it acts on souls, unite them on the Lord's side, for He is Himself the only perfect expression of the truth, to whom be glory forever.: Amen.
FRAGMENTS.
" A wise man's heart is at his right hand; but a fool's at his left" (Eccl. 10:22A wise man's heart is at his right hand; but a fool's heart at his left. (Ecclesiastes 10:2)). In Psa. 16:88I have set the Lord always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. (Psalm 16:8), we read—" I have set the Lord always before me: because lie is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.", if, then, He be at my right hand, where must my heart be if I am wise? The fool's heart being at his left. hand is that it is set upon other objects, not upon the Lord.
" Surely a serpent will bite without enchantment; and a babbler is no better'? (Eccl. 10:1111Surely the serpent will bite without enchantment; and a babbler is no better. (Ecclesiastes 10:11)). A serpent bites because it is a serpent: it wants an opportunity rather than a provocation; it is its nature. So, whatever may be a babbler's pretext,-however pressing he may urge the reason to be, Why he " ought" to speak his mind, or "discharge his conscience," with 'respect to others' failings, he babbles because he is a babbler. "God is not mocked," and knows how to distinguish between the exercise of a Christian grace, and the indulgence of a carnal propensity, if I do not.
It is written (Prow. 1. 7), "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge"; and we may surely say, that he who is actuated thereby will find in; Christ all that his conscience or his heart
can crave after. He is the "city of refuge," where the soul finds not only shelter from the avenger of blood, but a settled and abiding habitation of security, sustenance, and rest. " Fools despise wisdom and instruction," seeking for these things else. where, but their labor can only weary and disappoint.
In us, the power of hope consists in Him being our hope;. In the hope in us being—First. The sympathy of His hope (1 Thess. 1-3, and Rev. 22:2020He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. (Revelation 22:20)); Secondly. Id the sight of God and our Father. The joy of hope in us is (John that He is so occupied with the Father's thoughts and purposes that He must come again for us the children.