Lecture 3
The Christian Life
First published in London, 1859
For this is
the love of God: that we keep his commandments; and his commandments are
not grievous. (1 John 5:3)
We
endeavored in the previous lectures to point out, first, the grand and
clear idea--in which the whole Word of God combines--that the Savior is
"God manifest in the flesh," the First and the Last of all that
we can know or love of God, who alone can mold us into his own image and
likeness. We endeavored also to point out that this one God had followed
erring man, and was in Christ reconciling man unto himself, uniting the
broken link of communication between himself and his creatures, and by
enabling man to abide in him, pouring into him a spirit by which all his
sins could be overcome and his whole mind transformed so as to be lovingly
obedient to the spirit and laws of the Gospel.
We have
now, carrying on the argument, to endeavor to show that all God intended
in making us as our Creator, all that he intended by delivering us as our
Redeemer, can be attained only in those who seek, by power from the great
Savior Jesus Christ, to live a truly Christian life by keeping his
commandments. "For this is the love of God: that we keep his
commandments; and his commandments are not grievous."
We are
anxious, first of all, to draw your attention to the fact that all God's
operations since the fall, all the Savior's dealings, are for the purpose
of rescuing man from the dominion of sin. His object in creation and
redemption is to form a happy, glorious, blissful heaven from the human
race.
It is
impossible for man to be happy except so far as he overcomes his sins and
receives from God the principles that form happiness. It is a mistake to
suppose that happiness is an independent blessing, an effect without a
cause. This error has continued long, and has exercised a most deleterious
influence upon the human race. Men conceive that happiness is a gift that
can be imparted to a person irrespective of the principles that are within
him; it is not considered that happiness is a fruit which only grows on
one tree, the tree of goodness and wisdom. Misery is not something
independent inflicted upon us by someone else, but it is a fruit that
grows upon the tree of sin. Take away the sin, and you take away the
misery; leave the sin, and you also leave the misery.
It is
astonishing to find that men so often overlook this. They act upon the
idea that happiness could be given in the same way a concert of music can
be given. For instance, how often do we hear the exclamations uttered,
"Well I hope, after all, I shall go to heaven." "If I can
only get into heaven at last, I shall be all right." "I do not
care for anything else if I can only secure my salvation at last."
These persons are under the false impression we have mentioned: that
happiness may be gotten as a gift offered and given from without--although
this is in total opposition both to human experience and to that divine
teaching, which says, "The kingdom of God cometh not with
observation; neither shall they say, 'Lo, here!' or, 'Lo, there!' For
behold, the kingdom of God is within you" (Luke 17:20, 21).
This, we
know from experience, is the fact. For we find persons--and this
experience confronts us in every condition of life--we find persons with
all the means of outward gratification: possessed of wealth, possessed of
power, of rank and dignities, of high situation, possessed of magnificent
houses and gardens, and attended by a large retinue of servants; but do
these things make the selfish and the evil happy? Everyone knows they do
not. The king who in his inmost soul is a corrupt and self-seeking despot
is amongst the most miserable of the human race--not half so happy as many
of his lowly subjects who at their own humble fireside, are of the
character of which Jesus speaks when he says, "Blessed are the poor
in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:3).
The
"poor in spirit" are not necessarily those who are in the lowest
condition of society only. It is possible for a man quite poor in pocket
to be amongst the proudest of the human race, and as miserable as the most
towering of the ambitious. It is possible for a person in the very highest
rank of society to be humble and lowly--nay, the very highest Being of all
is the lowliest of all. "Come unto me," said the Most High when
amongst his creatures, "all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I
will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek
and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls" (Matthew
11:28, 29). He, though infinitely rich, for our sakes became poor in order
that he might be the servant of all, and the minister of all.
It is thus,
then, the possession of a heart that is humble that brings happiness--a
heart humble enough to prefer God's will to its own will, God's wisdom to
its own conceits, godliness of life to wickedness of life; a heart that
takes practically the glorious maxim of a celebrated writer who said,
"All religion has relation to life, and the life of religion is to do
good" (Emanuel Swedenborg, The Doctrine of Life #1). The
humble man, be his rank high or low, be he the inhabitant of a palace or
the tenant of a cottage, he will be the Christlike man on earth, and will
enter into God's happiness in heaven. "This is the love of God: that
we keep his commandments."
Allow me to
direct your attention to this important word "keep"--for there
are many who imagine that love is a sentiment only; who mistake feeling
for principle; who suppose that they love where they have a strong
sentiment of admiration. But this is not true love. The Apostle shows what
he means by true love in saying, "This is the love of God: that we
keep his commandments."
It is of
the utmost importance that this be borne in mind; for a person may
sometimes love very deeply, and yet not have at the same time a sensation
of delight in loving; while on the other hand, a person may have a strong
sentiment of admiration and yet have no real love. A person will think
sometimes that he has a strong love for doing good to others when he sits
enjoying the sentimental feeling of, "How delightful it would be to
see all the world happy! How delightful it would be for poverty to be
completely banished! How very delightful it would be for the philanthropic
feeling to be carried out, so that all the world might live in magnificent
palaces and enjoy everything that is comfortable and happy!" And he
may suppose that because he glories and gloats over this feeling, he has
the love of God and the love of his brother--while in fact, he will not
deny himself a single indulgence; he will not deny himself even of a
chance of overreaching his brother in a bargain; he will not deny himself
an unjust advantage over another. He will not, in fact, put himself to
inconvenience in anything that requires a subjugation of his own selfish
passions, even for the poor person in the next garret or neighboring
cellar. And he supposes, nevertheless, that he has the love of God. But
oh, how mistaken is he! "For this is the love of God, that we keep
his commandments."
Never mind
whether you feel it very pleasant at the time or not. You most likely will
not; for by nature we are now so corrupted that to do good is difficult at
first--although we have the germ of all that is noble; although God has
taken care that "where sin abounded, grace did much more abound"
(Romans 5:20); although God has taken care that in every child there
should be the commencement of the kingdom of heaven. It is not the will of
our Father in heaven that one of these little ones should perish. He,
therefore, has taken care that at the commencement of life there should be
the germ of every noble power and principle. Not a child is born but can
become an angel, if he obey the Savior and work out his own
"salvation with fear and trembling."
But
nevertheless, there is also around these heavenly centers in the soul a
mass of impurity, of tendencies to evil, of selfishness, of the love of
the world, of the pride of life--of a thousand things that have to be
overcome. And consequently the spirit of religion, when it comes to man
and opposes his own active worldly life, which has become vivid and
energetic within him, will tell him that he is to take up his cross. The
Lord Jesus said, "He that taketh not his cross and followeth after me
is not worthy of me" (Matthew 10:38). "If any man will come
after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily, and follow
me" (Luke 9:23).
Now, this
taking up the cross is not anything of an external character. It is
nothing wonderful, ascetic, or out of the way. Sometimes instead of paying
attention to God's ways, we make some devices of our own; instead of
looking at the crosses that really exist, we make
crosses--extraordinary crosses. That is not the way of the Word of God;
rather, it is that we "keep his commandments." You will find
that salutary work is cross enough.
To
transform the spirit into a state of order, of harmony with God's
commandments, is no easy task. Though there will be comfort enough,
encouragement enough; though the Lord Jesus will help us--for without him
we can do nothing; though his angels will be brought into communion with
us, for "the angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear
him" (Psalm 34:7) and they will afford us help and encouragement; yet
nevertheless, for the selfish man to fight against the selfishness will be
a cross; for the worldly man to fight against his worldliness will be a
cross; for the sensualist to fight against his degraded appetites will be
a cross; for the ill-tempered person to fight against bad temper will be a
cross; and so on through the whole catalogue of evil passions. For let us
bear in mind that in Scripture, all these sins are real sins which have to
be subdued. It is not shams that we have to bring before you. It is a real
change from evil that must take place.
There are
some people who talk in a strange style indeed. They say truly that the
Lord Jesus was our Savior--that he lived for us, that he died for us, that
he rose again for us. All that is most fully and divinely true. But they
go farther and say, "He carried away my sins at that time; he removed
them. I have nothing to do with them--only to believe that he did
it." While they have the sin of selfishness, the sin of hating, the
sin of cheating, and a thousand other sins, because their religion is not
a real but a fanciful religion, they talk this kind of nonsense and say
that they are quite delivered from their sins--while if they cannot see
their own sins, everybody else can.
It is not a
deliverance of this kind that the Scriptures invite us to think about. It
is really to believe that the Lord Jesus is a living Savior; that he not
only was nineteen hundred years ago, but is now Christ in you, as
the hope of glory; not Christ thousands of years ago, but Christ in you--a
living Christ; he who ever liveth to give you power to conquer sin, to
implant in you the spirit of virtue and every excellency, and to transform
you to the image of himself. This is the living Savior, the divine Jesus,
who "saves his people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21). This,
then, "is the love of God, that we keep his commandments."
Well, but
some may say, "To keep his commandments . . . that is
a very hard, indeed impossible task; we shall never go to heaven if we are
to go by keeping his commandments. We must go to heaven some other
way." Let me assure you that you will never get to heaven by any
other way. If you cannot go to heaven by keeping the commandments, you
will never get to heaven without. For, in the first place, what are the
commandments of God? They are, in reality, the laws of happiness. We could
go through them one by one, but everyone can readily do it for
himself--and then see how impossible it would be to form a heaven on any
other principle than on that of keeping the commandments.
Let us
take, for instance, the first: that we are to love the Lord our God, that
lovable Being who brought Israel out of its state of bondage, and who
brings us out of the bondage of sin whenever we are made really free.
"If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed" (John
8:36); and there can be no freedom without him. If we love this glorious
God and Savior, he forms the center of our souls, the sun of our spirits,
and from him come grace and glory. Under his gracious smile it is as if we
were in the sunlight splendor of a spiritual day: all is beautiful above,
within, and around, for we have received blessedness, light, and love from
him.
Well,
suppose that a man loves himself and does not obey the commandments. He is
the little god of his own idolatry; he is always seeking how he can make
others subservient to him. However the wavering balance of things may
shake, he endeavors to give it a movement in his own direction. Now
suppose that a number of persons are collected together, and this is the
principle in each one of them. What must happen? Each is seeking for
homage and gain to himself. Every one of them has as many enemies as there
are persons, because each one is trying to take advantage of the
other--trying to take from him, and not give to him. Place these persons
how you like; they cannot be otherwise than full of envy and
uncharitableness--and this is hell, not heaven. So if a person does not
keep the commandment "thou shalt not steal"--does not keep it in
thought as well as in deed, such a one cannot form part of heaven. How is
it possible to form a heaven out of a number of people of that kind? Each
one is trying to take from the other; is stealing the other's goods, or
happiness, or ideas; or in some way taking from, and not adding to, the
comfort of the others. Could you make a heaven of people of this kind? It
would be hell wherever you put them.
So that you
see the commandments are the laws of happiness; they are the rules of
spiritual health. God did not impose them to put a burden upon his
creatures, but because they were necessary. They are just as necessary for
the good health of the soul (and the good health of the soul is salvation)
as sound rules are essential to the health of the body. The word
"salvation" is simply the word "health" applied to the
soul. "Salus" is the Latin word. It is health for the
spirit: to be in a state of health and well-being, to be delivered from
sin and all its tendencies, and to be initiated into heavenly excellencies
and all their virtues. This is salvation. "What doth the Lord require
of thee," says the prophet, "but to do justly, and to love
mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" (Micah 6:8). The essence of
every virtue is justice; that is the cardinal principle--justice to God
and justice to man.
We do not
sometimes see the whole force of the divine teaching in the Word upon this
subject, for in our English Testament, the word "justice" in the
original language is nearly always translated "righteousness,"
and in general conversation, righteousness has come to mean piety rather
than justice. A person is said to be a righteous person who is very
attentive to religious observances. It is good, it is highly important to
attend to these. But they are the means of religion, not the end.
Justice is the end: coming into a state of religious regard to God--that
is, living holily from love to God because he constitutes the foundation
of our every blessing; and loving him, therefore, with all the heart, and
loving our fellow creatures as his children, and because we love them,
being just to them, dedicating to them those powers and efforts which God
has given to us for the purpose of making our fellow creatures happy. This
is justice. And if, wherever you find the word "righteousness"
in the English Testament, you read "justice" instead, you will
find that a large portion of the Sacred Scriptures is given to teach us to
be just. "Blessed are they who do hunger and thirst after justice;
for they shall be filled" (Matthew 5:6). "Except your justice
shall exceed the justice of the Scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no
case enter into the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:20). Note that
it says "in no case." There is no exception.
Now, it is
this cardinal principle of justice that is the soul of all the
commandments. "What doth the Lord require of thee, but to do
justly"; mind you, not to think justly; not to sentimentalize
about justice, but to do justly. And in doing justly, also "to
love mercy": to have a tender regard for those who need your help, as
you need the help of others; "love mercy": endeavor to help the
weak as Christ has helped you; "love mercy," and yet make no
claim to merit, indulge in no glorification of yourself, but "to walk
humbly with your God" (Micah 6:8). The more you receive from him, the
more are you a debtor to him. What have we that we have not received? The
more we receive, the more we owe.
There is no
room, therefore, for anyone--for a Christian especially, one who is
animated by the love of God, who keeps God's commandments--there is no
room for him to imagine that he has any claim to merit, that he has
anything of self-righteousness to boast of. If his righteousness is not
from God it is not righteousness at all; it is a mere pretence. We are to
do what he has commanded us, and when we have done it, feel that to the
Lord Jesus Christ all the glory and the praise are due. But do it;
because there is no preparation for heaven, there is no real possession of
the love of God, but by doing his commandments.
Again, let
us notice some objections to this teaching. "Keeping God's
commandments," say some, "Well, I do not think that that is the
way to heaven. That was the way in the old law; that was what was given to
the Jews." And so it was--and it was given to the Jews for the very
same purpose. God's laws are always the same, though we may need fresh
help to be assisted to become Godly--that is, Godlike (that old English
word is more often used than understood, but it means Godlike)--to become
in our degree such as God is in his infinite excellency. And this was
always the will and the teaching of God. In the Old Testament you will
find that he says his commandments "are not a vain thing for you,
because they are your life" (Deuteronomy 32:47). They are the
essential qualifications for happiness. "O that there were such a
heart in them," the Lord says, "that they would fear me, and
keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them and with
their children forever!" (Deuteronomy 5:29).
Talk of
keeping the commandments not being intended by God; why, he intended that
men should be happy. He must have intended that they should keep the
commandments. It is not the keeping of the commandments that makes misery.
It is not keeping them. It is not doing these holy laws that is the
cause of all the mischief that occurs to ourselves and others. If there
were no sin, there would be no misery. God has not created a single
faculty, from the crown of the head to the sole of the foot, but what
tends to happiness. It is our tendency to sin that makes unhappiness; and
to come out of it is to come out of sorrow. "Behold, I give unto you
power," says the Lord Jesus, "to tread on serpents and
scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing shall by any
means hurt you" (Luke 10:19). We cannot keep the commandments, we
never could, without power given from God; but with the power that is
given, we feel we can keep them, and we must.
But some
may say, "That is a terribly heavy burden." What does the
Apostle say? He says: "His commandments are not grievous" (1 John
5:3). It is a heavy burden so long as you do not like it. But come into
the love of keeping the commandments for God's sake, and for the sake of
your fellow creatures. Love this duty because it is essential to
happiness, because it is the only way to become an angel and to prepare
for heaven, and you will find the "burden" get lighter and
lighter and lighter, until at length it is no burden at all. Then you
"shall run and not be weary; and shall walk and not faint"
(Isaiah 40:31). You will find that soon it will be your delight to keep
the commandments. That is what the Scriptures teach: "Blessed are
they that keep his commandments"--not blessed shall they be,
but "blessed are they that keep his commandments." They
will be blessed now, and that will be the warranty for their being blessed
hereafter.
Those who
do not enter into this Christian life are often afflicted with fear and
anxiety that they will not go to heaven. They say they wish they knew. It
is not difficult for us to tell, if we are honest to the Word and to the
truth, when we observe our affections, thoughts, and acts. He will go to
heaven who opens his heart to let heaven come in to him; he will go to
heaven who is heavenly. "He that hath wrought us," the Apostle
says, "for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the
earnest of the Spirit" (2 Corinthians 5:5). He gives us the
"earnest" now. Heaven grows in those who keep God's commandments
from love; and they find that inward bliss spreads its holy balm around
and within them because their hearts are animated by love and goodness to
others.
God blesses
them as they work this principle out, and they thus work out their own
salvation with fear and trembling. But as they grow in love, fear is cast
away. You begin the work of religion with fear, but you do not finish with
it. You begin with fear, but as you advance in holy excellences, fear
passes away and a childlike love and holy affection for God grows and
grows until it takes possession of the whole man. And at the period when
our work is finished, it is but putting off the outward covering of clay,
and we find that we are at once in harmony with "the spirits of just
men made perfect" (Hebrews 12:23), and are happy by the principles
which make them happy by making them good.
But again,
it may be said, "Did not Christ come to keep the law for us, and is
not his righteousness imputed to us? You are forgetting the Gospel; you
are talking about the law as it was under the Old Testament." Oh no!
The Gospel came not to make man less holy, but more so. The
Gospel came not to say that a man need be less attentive to his
life than he was before, but more attentive. Christ came in order
to convey to man power to conquer the sins that were passed over before,
when God was not so close to man--when his power was not brought down so
thoroughly as it was when he was manifest in the flesh.
But when
Christ came into the world he brought more power to fight against the
evils that could not be overcome before, so that man could conquer his
selfishness, could become Christlike. And it is the great end of
Christianity to make Christ's men. The word "Christian" means a
"Christ's man"--one who is truly living because the Spirit of
Christ lives in him. And although he cannot become entirely conformed to
his Heavenly Master all at once, he can begin at once. And as he
pursues the blessed course mentioned in our text--"This is the love
of God, that we keep his commandments"--and prays to Jesus Christ
from day to day for more power, for more faithful obedience, he will find
that he goes on and on, conquering one class of evils after another as
they are presented to him, just as the Israelites in going from Egypt to
Canaan conquered one class of enemies and then another during their
wanderings in the wilderness. While we are going through our wilderness we
shall have power given us to overcome the various evils that infest and
assault us:
And never sit we down and
say
There's nothing left but sorrow;
We walk the wilderness today,
The promised land tomorrow.
When we are
thus by Christ's influence made to be Christ's men, and prepared for
heaven. The angelic character being formed becomes animated by love to
Christ and love to one another, and in this case our delight will be in
doing good. Difficulties will be healthful exercises; everything will be
joyous to us then. The homeliest comforts will be made delightful then.
And when such men are congregated together in that glorious world where
things are more pliant than here--that final inner world, the world of
mind, where everything outside answers to the graces that are within--in
such case, in heaven within and around, all things corresponding to the
virtues of those that dwell there, there will be happiness from first to
last. "Enter thou," said the Lord Jesus, concerning him who was
faithful over a few things, "Thou hast been faithful over a few
things; I will make thee ruler over many things. Enter thou into the joy
of thy Lord" (Matthew 25:21).
But it may
be said, "What are these works--these doings that you talk about so
much? Are they almsgiving, fasting, frequent worship?" The answer is
given in the text: "That we keep his commandments" in every work
we have to do. It is an interesting view of the case to notice that the
works of a person are the embodiment of what the man is. In every work
that a man does, of course, there must be some principle operating. He
performs every work from some cause. And he who examines a little as to
the origin of work will see that a man does his works from his heart--from
his will. He wills an act before he does it, and therefore the work is of
just the same kind, of just the same quality, as his will.
And every
work has this quality within it: that it confirms a person in the
principle from which he acts. A selfish man by every selfish act increases
that principle. Just as a person who uses his hands very much in his trade
enlarges his hands, so it is with every principle: the more we practice
it, the more potent it becomes in us. And therefore, he who would not have
wickedness of any kind growing more deeply in him must avoid doing it.
"He that doeth righteousness is righteous." the Apostle says (1 John
3:7). "Not everyone that saith unto me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter
into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father
which is in heaven," says the Lord Jesus (Matthew 7:21).
A person
advances in proportion to his faith in doing; and hence it is that the
Apostle teaches, not only that the love of God is in keeping his
commandments, but that faith also exists, consists, and is shown, in
doing. He says, "Show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show
thee my faith by my works" (James 2:18). That is the only way that
faith can be shown: by our works. For it is very clear that if a person
has a knowledge of religion but his works are irreligious, although he may
have a faith as far as saying he believes this or that proposition or
creed, he does not really believe it; he really believes what he does.
If I
believe that religion is better for me than irreligion, I shall do it. I
may talk with another very largely about religion; say how much better it
is to be religious; I may pride myself on being very eloquent, and think I
believe because I dream over it and adorn it with imaginative pictures.
But if the next day, when I come to the active duties of life, I take the
first opportunity of cheating the person with whom I have to do, it is
evident that I believe in cheating, and I do not believe in truth and
uprightness. If when a person is unable to gratify my wish I become angry
and revengeful, it is evident I believe in anger and revenge. I may fancy
that I believe in the excellency of the opposite, but what I really
believe is what I do.
And
therefore it is that the word "faith" should always mean to us
not a speculative, but a living active belief: being faithful to
principle--that is really faith. Being faithful both to what Christ
teaches and to what Christ is; believing in his power and in his goodness;
believing in his wisdom and what he commands us to do and be--that is
faith. And he who really believes this, really acts from it. Therefore it
is that the Apostle Paul says, "Though I have all faith, so that I
could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing" (1 Corinthians
13:2). That is, though I have all that speculative belief, all that idea
about religion which would assert a belief in the whole creed, it is of no
use in the sight of God. Our real belief is the real inward disposition we
have, which comes out in our acts, and is shown by what we do.
It is very
clear, then, that the longer a person pursues the principles of heavenly
goodness through Christ, by power from him, the more he becomes
angel-minded. His inward virtues even give a beauty to his countenance and
his entire appearance. They make him so that little children love him.
Children see that there is something in him and around him that is
delightful to them, that tends to make all who come near him happy,
because the angel is becoming more and more formed within him.
"This," therefore, "is the love of God: that we keep his
commandments."
Let persons
who wish to become really religious, who believe in the end of their
being, not dream about any fanciful taking away of their sins. But let
them look into themselves, see the sins they have and love, and strive for
their removal. Sins differ as everything else differs. There is a variety
in faces; there is a variety in virtues; there is a variety in sins. No
two souls are alike any more than two blades of grass are alike, and
sometimes this is a cause of self-deception. A covetous person that has no
tendency to prodigality will pride himself on being better than his
neighbor. He fancies that he is good because he is not of a wasteful
character like his prodigal neighbor. The man who is hedonistic and
drunken will frequently give himself credit for being superior to another
who is parsimonious, and will say, "God will rather have me than the
skinflint that lives next door." And so each person excuses his
particular failing by comparing himself with another, whose sin differs
from his own.
Too many of
us are content with mere lip confession, without real self-examination. We
say with the church, "We have erred and strayed from thy ways like
lost sheep. We have left undone those things which we ought to have done;
and we have done those things which we ought not to have done, and there
is no health in us." But we really never look within to see whether
that is true or not. It is, no doubt, true. But we do not seek out our
particular sins, and see in what way we so grievously offend. Very often
it happens that you will hear of a person said to be "dreadfully
religious, but terribly ill-tempered." Many are very strict in piety,
but it is found they are very keen hands at a bargain. They are devoted to
class meetings and church meetings, but are very inconsiderate about their
shopmen--will exact unconscionable hours and labor from them as though
they were slaves. All these things are the result of persons making a lip
confession, but no real confession, of evils as existing in themselves.
They either do not look into themselves, or do not say what they see
there.
Yet that is
the only way in which we can get the victory over our sins. It is not by
general confession and a heedless life. It is a particular examination
that is wanted to detect in what way we sin, and prayer to the Lord for
power to overcome our sins when discovered. One may have a bad temper.
Another person may be naturally amiable, but have sins of slothfulness,
sins of self-complacency, sins of being quite satisfied that they are all
right, even though they never make any earnest endeavor to use their
talents for the good of their fellow creatures, and can hardly be brought
to see that they have any sins at all because they see that they are not
so peevish as somebody else.
But the
conviction we should all have is the conviction that we have many sins and
many failings. Each has his besetting sins, his sins of mind and heart,
and he never can be happy until these are overcome by the active power and
agency of the Lord Jesus Christ. Self is a terrible servant which, when
once exposed, will be hated, and must be slain. It is a lurking serpent
that coils itself up in some secret recess of the soul, ever ready to dart
out and destroy.
After a
person has examined himself and seen in what way he falls short, if he
will then read the Word, and pray to God from day to day for strength, he
will assuredly conquer. To read the Word in order to get the knowledge of
God's truth--this is the "sword of the Spirit"; this is the
power by which sin may be overcome. "Now ye are clean through the
Word which I have spoken unto you" (John 15:3), the Lord says. It is
by the Word we are saved from destruction, it is by the power of truth
that we overcome sin. And as we act earnestly, sincerely, patiently,
diligently, beginning in the morning and going on throughout the
day--beginning with prayer to the Lord to give us power that day to be in
communion with him, and to act kindly and justly to all belonging to our
home, and to all with whom we are connected in business, and carrying this
throughout the day into every act--sin will weaken in us, and heaven will
strengthen.
Some will
say, "We shall never get on in the world if we do this." But
that is a sign that you do not have faith in the Savior. The Savior is he
who made heaven and earth, and who rules it, and yet you do not have faith
in him. You have a talking faith perhaps, but you do not have an actual
living faith in the Savior. The Savior says, "If a man love me, he
will keep my words" (John 14:23); "If ye love me, keep my
commandments" (John 14:15); "If thou wilt enter into life, keep
the commandments" (Matthew 19:17). Do you believe this? If you say
you cannot get on without breaking the commandments, you do not believe
it, and therefore you do not have faith.
Some people
talk about going to heaven by faith alone. But if they have faith alone,
they do not have faith. The virtues of religion do not exist alone. They
exist altogether, or none of them are there. The trinity in religion is
like the Trinity in God. The Trinity in God is in him in whom "dwells
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily" (Colossians 2:9). The
essentials of Deity are altogether in the One God. The trinity in religion
is the same, the three great principles of love and faith and works go all
together. A man that thinks he has love only does not have love; he only
has fancy, sentiment. "This is the love of God, that we keep his
commandments." "If a man love me, he will keep my words."
"Love is the fulfilling of the law" (Romans 13:10); there is no
love without that.
He who says
he has faith, and hopes to be saved by faith alone, does not have faith;
he is mistaken. Suppose a person wishes to go to a certain place, and asks
me to direct him. If, after I have told him the right way, I see him turn
around and walk in the opposite direction, I know he does not believe me.
In all our other dealings with our fellowmen, we judge their real belief,
their real intentions, by their actions. If a person tells me that he is a
great friend of mine, or the neighbor who lives next door says that he
wishes me well, but I find that he is doing all sorts of unpleasant things
to make me uncomfortable, I see at once that he does not believe what he
professes. He professes well, but does not mean it--and I do not believe
his words. His actions tell me what he really means. And so it is in
religion, in our relation to God. Therefore it is that the Scriptures set
no value whatever upon a faith that professes to be faith alone.
"Faith," says St. James, "if it hath not works, is dead,
being alone. . . . The devils also believe and
tremble" (James 2:17, 19). What better are they for that?
And so it
is with works. Works that are not from love and faith are not good works.
They are at best only appearances--virtues that seem to have a decent
character, but do not really flow from love to God and faith in his
principles. They are not good works. The Apostle Paul speaks of such when
he says, "Though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I
give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me
nothing" (1 Corinthians 13:3). It is quite possible for a person
to do many useful things to a town--to give money to build a hospital, to
give many gifts to the poor, to be very generous, and yet only to do these
things to obtain the support of the electors, or to secure praise and
reputation, or from some other selfish motive. There is no goodness in
such a course. The works are not good works, although they may look like
good works. And hence the Lord Jesus said, "I know thy works"
(Revelation 2:2), and he "gives to every man according as his work
shall be" (Revelation 22:12). He alone knows what works really are.
And therefore whoever has works without love and faith does not have good
works; he has a name to live, but he is dead.
The three
virtues go together, and therefore St Paul says: "Neither
circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith which
worketh by love" (Galatians 5:6)--all three together. Neither persons
who are merely attentive to rituals and ceremonies, as the Jews were to
circumcision and other rites, nor persons who protest loudly against such
things are in true faith, because these things are of no real value in the
sight of God. The "faith which worketh by love"; the faith that
makes a man love the Savior; the faith that makes a man love his fellow
creatures; the faith that makes him honest; the faith that makes him
victorious over his evils; the faith that enables him to triumph over his
daily failings, and that brings him more and more into the likeness of his
Heavenly Master--this is the true and saving faith, and there is no other.
Such, then,
are the principles which constitute a Christian life. And they refer to
the whole life, not simply to pious observances. They concern not simply
the Sunday, but Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and every day in the week.
They refer not simply to the closet, but to the breakfast and dinner
table; the doings and dealings of the home in every respect. We have too
long been in the habit of dividing religion from the world, and we have
made a sour religion and a bad world. A person has imagined that by being
religious on Sunday, he may allow himself many sinful indulgences on the
other days in the week; and if he has been rather loose and easy in his
business, he will make up for it by extra piety on Sunday.
All these
are miserable delusions. Sunday is the spiritual market day to lay in food
for the rest of the week. But if you do not use the food, you will be no
better for the supply. Sunday is the day for getting strength in order to
spend every other day aright; but if you do not use the strength, you will
be no better for it. The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the
Sabbath. Immortal beings were not made solely to attend to the services of
the Sabbath; but those services were made to help us to become men, to
help us to obtain those virtues which constitute the character of a
Christian. When men grow more and more heavenly in all their being and
habits, each Sabbath receiving more and more strength from the Most High,
until at length they are quite ready to enter heaven, and know and feel
that they are ready by the happiness they enjoy within and the happiness
that glows around them--when they feel that they are ready to enter into
the glorious world which is like their heaven within, where every act is
filled with happiness because every act is the outburst of wisdom and
communion with the Lord, then has the Sabbath done its work.
Such, then,
is the Christian life. Let us endeavor not to make any religion a
substitute for this, but everything in religion a help to this, a channel
to this. Let us not deceive ourselves. We are every day fitting ourselves
either for heaven of for hell.
Life is a
serious thing--not a melancholy thing, but a serious, an important thing.
This world is a training place for a higher and better world. It is not a
world that is of no consequence in relation to eternity--not a world in
which we may live as we please, and at the last make a gasp and say we
believe this and that, and hope God will take us and make us happy. If we
trust to anything of this kind, we shall find it a broken reed that will
fail us. As we said before, we must be re-formed to be happy; we must
conquer our evils to be happy. There is no other way. Anything that seems
of another character is an apparent exception, which, be assured, is no
real exception. Let us bear in mind that Jesus said, "Except your
righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees,
ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew
5:20).
And why
should we want to enter any other place? The life of religion is a
thousand times better than anything else here. The life of sin never was a
happy life. This is what we should endeavor to help our young people to
see: that the life of religion, of true religion, of the religion of doing
justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with God, is the only way to
peace and blessing.
I do not
mean the life of religion as some people fancy it is a happy one. This
often seems to some to be the life of making themselves as miserable as
they can--the life of going about and hanging their heads like a bulrush;
the life of being as lackadaisical as possible. God did not make this
beautiful world in which we live in order that we might be perpetually
spreading a miserable pall of mourning everywhere, and not be able to
enjoy the mercies he has given us. He came not to take your joys away from
you but, as he himself said, "that my joy might remain in you, and
that your joy might be full" (John 15:11). God wants to take away
from us the things that make us miserable. He intends us to have all the
blessedness that is in harmony with innocence, and only to fight against
sins because they are contrary to the spirit of holiness and wisdom and
happiness.
At times it
seems as if a man was throwing away some advantage if he did not act
unjustly. That is a mistake. He does nothing of the kind. If he would have
all that is really necessary to his comfort and happiness in this world,
and be prepared at the same time for everlasting happiness and comfort in
the eternal world, let him live the life of religion--of real, living,
practical justice and piety. This is to be as happy as our state of
probation and preparation will admit, and to have heaven in addition. Why
not live this life? Why not have continually impressed upon our children
these blessed truths? Begin with the beginning of life; labor not vainly
to the end. Too many talk of dying well; they should talk of living
well--for they are sure to die well if they live aright.
Prepare to die? Prepare to
live.
We know not what is living;
And let us for the world's good give,
As God is ever giving.
Give action, thought, love, wealth, and time,
To win the primal age again,
Believe me 'tis a truth sublime,
God's world is worthy better men.
Live
according to the principles of the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be safe
in letting your dying take care of itself. "Be thou faithful unto
death, and I will give thee a crown of life" (Revelation 2:10).
"The
kingdom of God is within you" (Luke 17:21). Let these principles be
practiced in ourselves; let them be taught by living them before our
children; and let our children have the happiness of learning and
understanding and being impressed by them, and we shall save them from
innumerable sorrows. We shall preserve them from ten thousand afflictions
that rend hearts, that destroy the peace of homes, that make the world the
battlefield, the Golgotha, of man instead of being God's outer palace and
training place for heaven. We shall find, then, that this world is not the
world of sorrow that too many have lamented to find it. It is a glorious
world; it is a beautiful world. It only requires that men should be in
spirit like God, and this world would be like God's kingdom--showing God's
happiness in an outer and lower sphere, but realizing what the angel sang,
as heard by John: "And the seventh angel sounded; and there were
great voices in heaven, saying, 'The kingdoms of this world are become the
kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ; and he shall reign forever and
ever'" (Revelation 11:15).
Let us hope
that these truths may begin to permeate the world. Let men make their home
circles into gems from which the beauty and blessedness of heaven may
shine and be reflected on all around, and God will remember us in the day
that he makes up his jewels.
The Discussion
A gentleman
present said that he very much approved of all that had been advanced as
to the excellence of a Christian life. No one could object to that. But
what he did object to was making it an essential to salvation. He wanted
to hear what the lecturer had to say to that grand declaration of the
Apostle, "Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith
without the deeds of the law" (Romans 3:28).
Dr. Bayley:
First, I would remark that the Apostle does not say that we are justified
by faith alone, without the deeds of the law. Faith has its part in
the work of justifying the soul, but it has not the only part. The Apostle
says in the preceding chapter, "For not the hearers of the law are
just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified"
(Romans 2:13). Faith makes the intellect just by filling it with truth;
love makes the heart just by filling it with goodness; and works make the
life just by filling it with virtue. We are, therefore, justified by
faith, we are justified by love, we are justified by works--but we are
justified by none of them alone.
Gentleman: But
what do you make of that expression, "Without the deeds of the
law"?
Dr. Bayley:
It means without circumcision, sacrifices, ceremonies, or Jewish
righteousness of any kind; for that was all either trifling in itself, or
defiled with the idea of merit. To understand the Apostle's argument
rightly, we must not forget the controversy which was then rife among the
Christians, who were very many of them only imperfectly delivered from
Jewish prejudices, and still thought they must keep the law as they had
done, and add the Christian faith to the Jewish rites. In this
controversy, keeping the law meant acting out the Jewish observances.
You will
find this illustrated in the Acts of the Apostles, especially in chapters
15 and 21. In chapter 15, we are told, "Certain men who came down
from Judea taught the brethren, and said, 'Except ye be circumcised after
the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved.' When Paul and Barnabas had no
small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and
Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the
Apostles and Elders about this question" (Acts 15:1, 2). This subject
was considered by the Apostles and elders, and "there arose up
certain of the sect of the Pharisees who believed, saying, "It is
needful to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of
Moses'" (Acts 15:5). Here it is most clear what is meant by keeping
the law. It meant living as the Jews did, conforming to their ritual,
being men of the letter of religion, not of its spirit.
This is
apparent in an equally striking manner in chapter 21. Paul came again to
Jerusalem, and his coming once more produced great disturbance among the
Judaising Christians. Some of the Apostles and elders evidently temporized
very much. It was said to Paul, "Thou seest, brother, how many
thousands of Jews there are who believe; and they are all zealous of
the law and they are informed of thee, that thou teachest all the Jews
who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to
circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs. . . .
Do therefore this that we say to thee: We have four men which have a
vow on them. Them take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges
with them, that they may shave their heads. And all may know that those
things whereof they were informed concerning thee are nothing, but that
thou thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the law" (Acts
21:20, 21, 23, 24). Here, again, it is most evident that "keeping the
law" had become a technical phrase for observing the Jewish customs,
while "faith" meant a living belief in Christianity--a living
belief because grounded in love, and productive of just and holy
works.
The Apostle
never meant to say that a man could be justified without doing God's will
as well as believing it. No one speaks more strongly for Christian works
than he. Look at the chapter before the one from which our friend's
passage is taken, where the Apostle says that:
God will render to every man
according to his deeds: to them who by patient continuance in well
doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but
unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey
unrighteousness, indignation, and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon
every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of
the Gentile; but glory, honor, and peace, to every man that worketh
good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile. For there is no
respect of persons with God. (Romans 2:6-11)
Nothing,
surely, can be stronger than this; and it is the Apostle's constant
doctrine.
In the
passage which the gentleman cited at first, the Apostle does not say we
are to be justified by faith without any law at all, but by the law of
faith--that is, the law as the Christian understands it, in its
spirit, and in living obedience to the divine commandments. This was a
righteousness before the Jewish law, and was always contained within its
rituals and symbols. This is the righteousness of faith. Hence the
Apostle says, "Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law?
of works? Nay; but by the law of faith" (Romans 3:27). "Do we
then make void the law through faith? God forbid; yea, we establish the
law" (Romans 3:31). The law of the divine commandments, as the
Apostle understood it, would be more perfectly done than it had ever been
done before, for now it would be done "in spirit and in life."
Hence he
says again: "Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing,
but the keeping of the commandments of God" (1 Corinthians
7:19). Again: "For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth
anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love"
(Galatians 5:6). And once more: "For in Christ Jesus neither
circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new
creature" (Galatians 6:15). Love, too, with the Apostle, is the
ground of faith, and consists in the fulfilling of the law. He says:
Owe no man anything, but to
love one another; for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For
this, "Thou shalt not commit adultery," "Thou shalt not
kill," "Thou shalt not steal," "Thou shalt not bear
false witness," "Thou shalt not covet;" and if there be
any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying,
namely, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Love worketh no ill to
his neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. (Romans
13:8-10)
Gentleman: You
say, sir, that love is the root or ground of faith. Now, sir, it has
always been represented to me the other way--that faith is the root of
love. And if it were not so, would not the Apostles have told their
converts to have love? But when the jailer at Philippi said, "What
must I do to be saved?" the Apostle only said, "Believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved" (Acts 16:30, 31).
Dr. Bayley:
It is very evident that the jailer was in the love to be saved, or he
would not have asked the question so earnestly. And if to this love he
added the real belief on the Lord Jesus Christ, he would be saved from sin
and all its consequences. The love comes first, the belief second, and the
practice last. If there be much love, there will be much belief and much
practice. If there be little love, there will be little belief and little
practice. "For with the heart a man believeth unto
righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation"
(Romans 10:10).
Gentleman: I
have been taught that saving faith produces love and works as necessary
consequences, as a tree produces fruit. Do you not believe it is so, sir?
Dr. Bayley:
That is a very common idea, but I fear there is much delusion hidden under
its specious appearance. It would seem to imply that a person need not
concern himself about good works, but only about faith, since if his faith
be of the right kind--that is, truly orthodox--his works are sure to be
what they ought to be.
Now, let us
put this idea to a practical test. Are the works of professors of religion
generally what they ought to be? Do the traders, the employers of labor,
the laborers themselves, the clergy even, act upon the principles of the
Christian faith? It must be answered that very few indeed do so--perhaps
not one in a hundred thousand. Must we say, then, that not one in a
hundred thousand has the right belief, or his practice would be perfect,
since a true faith necessarily produces the right conduct? Nay, is there a
single man whose conduct is in all respects right? Must we conclude, then,
that not a single man on the earth has the right faith--instead of that
there is some fallacy in the idea of a correct faith necessarily producing
good works?
Perhaps
there are many fallacies in the proposition. We suspect there are. What is
meant by a correct faith with those who use this argument? Generally it
means a faith that the Lord Jesus died for us. But if it be asserted that
everyone who believes that the Lord Jesus died for him will necessarily
produce good works, we know it is not true. Great numbers who have this
belief are very evil men--especially if they do not believe also that good
works are necessary to salvation. Most Christians have the belief that
Christ died for them; indeed, you will find very few who have it not. And
yet the lives of most Christians do not abound in good works.
The faith
in the Lord's death, if taken as the whole of faith, makes an incorrect
faith because it is incomplete. It is a part of faith, yet only a small
part. And it is wrong to assume as an entire faith the proposition that
the Lord Jesus died for us. A true faith is a faith, not in a single
proposition, but in the Lord Jesus Christ. And a faith in the Lord Jesus
is a belief in what he is and what he says.
We never
say we believe in a person when we do not credit what he says. Now, those
who do not believe that good works should be done as necessary to
salvation do not believe the Lord Jesus, who constantly teaches to do good
works. "If thou wilt enter into life," he says, "keep the
commandments" (Matthew 19:17). "They that have done good shall
come forth unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil,
unto the resurrection of damnation" (John 5:29). "Not
everyone that saith unto me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of
heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in
heaven" (Matthew 7:21). If we believe in the Lord Jesus as our divine
Savior, and in the absolute necessity of a life according to his
commandments, we shall be strongly disposed to do good works. But even
then we shall do them voluntarily, not compulsorily.
The idea we
are now considering seems to assume that when faith is received into the
soul, its results--as necessary offshoots and without will on man's
part--will be virtuous works. We do not think so. The faith which produces
good works must be a faith that good works ought to be done; a faith that
the Lord requires them; a faith that heaven, where the Lord's will is
done, can only be entered by those who have prepared themselves by doing
the Lord's will here. This faith and life are procured not by necessity,
but by constant effort. "Work out your own salvation," says the
Apostle, "with fear and trembling" (Philippians 2:12). If faith
be regarded as a tree, we must remember that trees do not necessarily
produce good fruit, but only according to their cultivation. He who grafts
his trees with proper slips, and duly prunes the branches, digs and
enriches the soil, and in everything provides for their wants, will have
an abundance of good fruit; but no others will.
The process
of being converted to a Christian life is, briefly, this: We first obtain
the knowledge of heavenly things either through teachers, preachers, or
otherwise from the Word; "faith comes by hearing" (Romans
10:17). Having gotten the knowledge of faith in the memory, we are excited
by some circumstance or other afforded to us by a merciful Providence to
ponder upon it, and to be convinced of its necessity for us in order to
save us from hell and prepare us for heaven. The longer and more deeply we
ponder upon it, and the more we read, reflect, and pray, the more does
faith open its sublime lessons to the soul, and imbue the intellect. As we
embrace the truth because it is true and good, we see that it must purify
our hearts and reform our lives, and we pray to the Lord that it may
effect these saving works. At first we see but little by the light of
faith; but it detects our most glaring evils, and gives us power to reform
them. Gradually its light increases, and we see more to correct, and we
will to be more and more conformed to the divine mind. Thus we go on by
the power of the Savior until, every evil being subdued, and the life
transformed, we obtain deep, interior, and lasting peace. All this
proceeds by volition and effort, and no perfection comes of itself. The
whole process is done by man, but by power from God.
Gentleman: What
are the good works that are to be done to work out salvation?
Dr. Bayley:
That is an important question, for too many have an idea that the good
works of religion are only acts of piety such as attending places of
worship, reading the Bible, contributing to the spread of religion, and
all such works as are connected with Sunday exercises. But this is a
dangerous error.
Works are
all the acts of life. Those of Sunday ought to be done, but those of the
other days not to be left undone. The service of Sunday is really to
enable us to act rightly on Monday and all the other days. On Sunday we
ought by reflection and examination to prepare ourselves to improve our
whole daily life. If we do not use it for this purpose it is a fraud, an
hypocrisy, and a delusion. Hear what the Lord says to the wicked
worshippers of old:
When ye come to appear
before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts?
Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new
moons and Sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot endure; it is
iniquity, even the solemn meeting. . . . And when ye
spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you; yea, when ye
make many prayers I will not hear; your hands are full of blood. Wash
you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine
eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the
oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. (Isaiah 1:12, 13,
15-17)
A person
ought to pray, and to pray earnestly, for power to practice. But prayers
are only words, and make a very slight impression when not followed by
acts of justice and virtue. Actions flow from the heart; they form and
reveal the man. Acts form habits, and evil habits enchain the soul. A man
is what he habitually and freely does, not what he prays without doing. A
person's real religion is just so much as appears in his daily acts in the
form of justice and truth--justice in deed and truth in word. Every work
is either good or evil. It is good if done from a spirit of religion; it
is evil if done from a selfish, unjust, and impure spirit. The corrupt and
fraudulent practices which prevail everywhere reveal the real want of
faith at the present time. Men have faith now in cunning, in fraud, in
outward show, in fashion, in Mammon, but little faith in goodness, in
order, in truth, and in God.
But a
better time is coming. True faith is like a grain of mustard seed now, but
it will grow and spread and fill the whole earth. In the meantime, let me
exhort my hearers, whatever their occupations may be, to do them from love
to God and man, to execute them from principles true, honest, and just,
and their every work will then be a good work, and their whole life be a
life of religion.
Gentleman: Is
it your opinion, sir, that amusements are sinful?
Dr. Bayley:
Certainly not, if they are innocent and take place at proper times. He who
inspires the birds to sing, the flowers to bloom, and the sparkling spray
to dance in the sunbeam desires to see all his creation happy. To man, he
says, "These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain
in you, and that your joy might be full" (John 15:11).
Labor is
now continued much too long. Shops are kept open with flaring lights, when
both principals and assistants would be much better employed with cheerful
and instructive books and studies, or healthy recreations. The worship of
Mammon is a heavy, joyless curse. Sad is it that men have not the courage
to follow only the happy laws of their Savior and Creator. Men destroy
their health, and the health of their servants, in accumulating a mass of
wealth which, from debilitated frames, they are unable to enjoy. They have
been full of care, anxiety, and toil in getting it; and when they have
realized the dream for which they have forfeited too often both conscience
and health, they find nothing but emptiness, weariness, and grief.
If they had
done business moderately and from just principles, business--and life
itself--would have been a real pleasure. And when age rendered repose
necessary, the man who had passed his life in virtuous and active
usefulness could always have looked back upon it with pleasure, be an
example and a counselor to the young, and wait until his Lord summoned him
to heaven.
Gentleman: But
we are told in the Bible, sir, that labor is a curse inflicted for the sin
of Adam. It must surely, then, be right to avoid it as much as possible.
Dr. Bayley:
That is a popular delusion. Excessive labor is a curse, but orderly work
is one of God's highest blessings. When Adam sinned, it was said, "In
the sweat of thy brow shalt thou eat thy bread" (Genesis 3:19). But
before that, when he was placed in Paradise, he was commanded "to
dress and to keep it" (Genesis 2:15). Depend upon it: orderly work is
the salt of life. Active labor brings forth everything valuable in life,
and constitutes true dignity. The man who is sacrificing himself that his
children may have nothing to do is laboring, not to bless them, but to
give them a life of misery. The Lord himself works for all (Psalm 40:5;
103:6; 145:9; etc.); the angels are ministering spirits (Hebrews 1:14).
And we must minister to the general happiness, too, in some useful
occupation, or we cannot be happy. Wearisome is the life that has no
useful aim:
Triumph and Toil are twins;
and aye
Joy suns the cloud of sorrow;
And 'tis the martyrdom today
Brings victory tomorrow.
Gentleman: May
I ask, sir, what is the light in which the sacraments are held in the New
Church? In these days we hear much of baptismal regeneration when the
sacrament is administered by a successor of the apostles. Do you hold that
doctrine, sir?
Dr. Bayley:
Certainly not. Regeneration with us is a fact, not a fancy. A man is born
again when he receives from the Lord new tempers, new thoughts, and a new
life. When, as the Apostle says, "he has put off the old man with his
deeds, and put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the
image of him that created him" (Colossians 3:9, 10).
Gentleman: But
what has the baptism of a child to do with this?
Dr. Bayley:
Neither the baptism of a child nor of an adult effects this. It is only
the outward sign of it. The water used in baptism corresponds to purifying
truth; for that cleanses the soul as water purifies the body. Water is
applied to the child or adult in baptism to signify that the inward water
of the Holy Word must be applied to the spirit to render it clean from
evils, both hereditary and actual. The Lord ordained this sign to be used
for admission into his church, and no doubt when done from love to him it
has his especial blessing, and connects us more fully with the angels of
his kingdom. And there is great propriety in the baptism of infants
because in reality the will of the Lord is that they should in all things
from earliest childhood be instructed in truth, and prepared for heaven.
We baptize
in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, because these are
the three great essential principles in the Deity. The Father is the
divine love, the Son is the incarnate wisdom, and the Holy Spirit is the
divine virtue flowing out from God. Man is inwardly baptized in the name
of the divine love as he becomes loving; in the name of the divine wisdom,
or the Son, as he becomes wise; and in the name of the divine outflowing
virtue or operation as he becomes virtuous in every act of life. This is
what baptism signifies, and as our regeneration proceeds, this is what
inward baptism actually is. It is worthy of observation that we read in
the Acts of the Apostles of their baptizing in the name of the Lord Jesus
(Acts 19:5)--a fact which teaches very strongly that they regarded that
name as the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Gentleman: Will
you favor us also with your view of the Holy Supper?
Dr. Bayley:
As to the Holy Supper, the New Church teaches that it is the most Holy
Sacrament, and the grand means by which the Lord most fully feeds the
humble soul. The bread is the symbol of the heavenly bread of divine
goodness, the bread of life; the wine is the symbol of divine wisdom, the
new wine of the kingdom of heaven. When the natural elements are taken
into the body, the spiritual food signified is taken into the soul, and
thus the Lord sups with us and we with him. This is the holiest act of
worship, and the highest means of conjunction with heaven. We ought never
to neglect the high and sacred privilege of meeting our blessed Lord, and
being strengthened by his divine flesh and blood. His flesh is meat
indeed, and his blood is drink indeed (John 6:55). He who eats his flesh
and drinks his blood has eternal life (John 6:54). By prayer, by hearing
and reading the Word, and by the Sacrament, we obtain divine illumination,
strength, and blessing; and by these all sins are subdued, and we rise
daily to those graces which prepare the soul for peace and heaven.
Gentleman: One
question I should like finally to ask. I understand you to assert that a
Christian life is in all cases indispensable for salvation. Now, I will
not say but that is the safest course and the general way, but I have
thought there were exceptions, extraordinary cases. Such, for instance, as
the thief upon the cross. He had no time to live a good life, and yet
Jesus said to him, "Today thou shalt be with me in paradise"
(Luke 23:43). What do you say to that, and the eleventh-hour laborers
(Matthew 20:6)?
Dr. Bayley:
We know nothing of the previous life of the malefactor who said,
"Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom" (Luke
23:42). He may, for anything we know, have been a very good man in his
ordinary life, and fallen into the fault for which he suffered from sudden
temptation--like the Apostle Peter, who was undoubtedly a good man, but
who, nevertheless, under severe and sudden temptation, cursed and swore,
and denied his Master (Matthew 26:74; Mark 14:71).
Moreover,
an ordinary thief was not punished with death amongst the Jews, but made
to restore, in some cases twofold, and in some fourfold. This man's fault
was something different from that of an ordinary bad character. Dr. Kitto
observes:
Some eminent
writers are of opinion that he was, in all probability, not a thief who
robbed for profit, but one of the insurgents who had taken up arms on a
principle of resistance to the Roman oppression, and to what they
thought an unlawful burden--the tribute money. They are of opinion,
also, that it is far from certain that either his faith or repentance
was the fruit of this particular season. He must have known something of
the Savior, otherwise he could not have said, "He hath done nothing
amiss." He was convinced of our Lord's Messiahship: "Lord,
remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom."
Koecher
tells us that it was a very ancient tradition that the thief was not
converted at the cross, but had been previously imbued with a knowledge of
the Gospel. To all this I will add that the Lord who had previously laid
down the law that "not everyone that saith unto me, 'Lord, Lord,'
shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will
of my Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 7:21) was the same Lord who
admitted this man, and who knew him thoroughly. I don't believe he would
break his own law, and therefore I conclude this man was a doer of
his will.
As to the
eleventh-hour laborers, they had been waiting to be hired all the day, and
when they were hired they obtained as much reward for their short time as
the others had gained for all the day. They were placed first, for they
denote the best principles of the soul, which come into operation the
last. The whole vineyard represents the mind which has to be regenerated.
The whole day is the whole of man's life. The different classes of
laborers mean the different classes of affections which are made active in
the soul. The first are the least excellent. As the lord of the vineyard
goes out at successive times, he brings in fresh laborers who have been
waiting to be hired all the day, and at last those of the eleventh hour
(Matthew 20:1-16).
So is it in
our regeneration. The principles from which we first act in religion are
low and selfish, much actuated by fear. Then we come into the love of
knowing truth; then into the love of understanding the truth; then into
the love of goodness, and of God, who is goodness itself. We begin with
fear, but we come at length into that perfect love which casts out fear (1 John
4:18). The affections of this love are the eleventh-hour laborers. They
are the last which shall be first.
And now in concluding our subject for this evening, allow me to mention
that only this doctrine of the Christian life which we have been urging is
in harmony with the great Scripture doctrine of judgment according to our
works. If the doctrine of salvation by faith alone were right, all
judgment of our works would be superfluous, since those who had the right
faith would be saved, and those who had not would be condemned. Yet in no
case where judgment is referred to or described is there any enquiry
or declaration made in relation to faith. The judgment is always that of
works.
Let us
suppose a case. A man has lived in villainy and crime all his life. His
career has been spotted with vice and selfishness, ever deepening, until
he comes upon the verge of eternity. Then, terrified at the prospect, he
recoils from the punishment before him, and he cries out with terror.
Preachers come and tell him he must have faith that Christ died for him;
and now, being powerless to act, and wishful to escape punishment, he
cries out that he believes, and dies. In the judgment, all his life will
be declared--as it was--evil. And the law of judgment is: he that has done
evil shall come forth to condemnation. If the momentary faith will
set aside the judgment of the life, undoubtedly judgment is an utterly
vain thing, and the whole Word of God, which declares that we shall be
judged according to our works, is vain.
But it
cannot be so. The very idea of this world is that of a testing period.
Here we are men in the process of making--and what we make ourselves to be
in actual life, such shall we be in the end. "He that is holy, let
him be holy still . . . and he that is unjust, let him be
unjust still" (Revelation 22:11). In the early portion of the Bible,
we find it written, "If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted?
And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door" (Genesis 4:7). And
in the last chapter of the same holy record it is said, "And, behold,
I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as
his work shall be" (Revelation 22:12).
May this
great truth lead us daily to prepare, that all our works may be done in
the spirit of justice and judgment, which is the spirit of heaven; and the
sentence of our merciful Judge at the last may be: "Well done, thou
good and faithful servant . . . enter thou into the joy of
thy Lord" (Matthew 25:21).
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