Online Resource Library
Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadAnthology of 3,000+ Classic Sermons: JEWELS from JAMES vol 6
Subjects in this Topic:
JEWELS from JAMES
(Choice devotional selections from the works of John Angell James)
We must learn it by painful experience!
The death of Christian friends should impress us with, even as it shows us—the vanity of the world. All that poetry ever wrote, even the most mournful, beautiful, and pensive of its strains—all that philosophy ever argued—all that morality ever taught, conveys no such view, and is calculated to produce no such impressions, of the emptiness of the world—as the desolate chamber, the vacant place, the deserted chair, the picture—of some dear object of our heart's affection!
It is at the tomb of that loved, lost friend, the world stands stripped of its false disguise, and is presented to us as a shadow! Gloom now covers everything. Scenes that once pleased, please no more. Favorite walks are shunned, or re-trodden only to remind us of the dear companion that once shared their beauties with us. Seasons return, but not to bring with them the delights with which the presence of one beloved object associates them. We go about in the bitterness of our spirit, crying, “Vanity of vanity—all is vanity and vexation of spirit!” We are ready to sigh for death to relieve us from the tedium of existence, and the sense of emptiness!
Be it so! It is all true! The world is empty! And it was intended by God that it should be! The world contains no satisfying bliss!
It is a cistern, a broken cistern, which can hold no water. God told us so, but we would not learn this by His word—so now we must learn it by painful experience! If we cannot be taught by 'faith', since we must learn—we are in mercy taught by 'feeling' it to be empty!
Oh let us go to the fountain that is full, flowing, open! Let us go to the fountain of living waters! If there is emptiness, nothingness, in the world—there is fullness in God! Is there enough in Him to satisfy millions of millions, and not enough to satisfy us? Let us crucify the world. There is more happiness in a crucified world, than in an idolized one!
If our hearts cannot die to the world anywhere else—let them be crucified at the tomb of those we love!
The plough and the harrow
In some people we discover a striking and beautiful mellowness of character, as the result of God's chastening hand. The roughness, harshness, arrogance, and haughtiness of their conduct, which once rendered them annoying and offensive, are scraped off—and a sweet gentleness, humility, meekness, and softness of manner, and a tenderness of spirit have come in their place. There is now...
a gentleness in their speech, a mildness in their look, and a kindliness and cautiousness in their manner, which tell us how the haughty spirit has been broken, and the proud loftiness of their mind has been brought down. An unusual loveliness has been spread over their character, a holy amiableness has been infused into their temper, and a stubborn self-will has yielded to a kind consideration of the wishes and feelings of others; which convince all around them, how much the Spirit of God has done in them, and for them, by the afflictions they have endured. How the plough and the harrow have broken up the hard soil, and pulverized the rough clods of their stubborn nature, and prepared it for the growth of the precious seed of the kingdom.
“Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Your word. It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn Your statutes. I know, O Lord, that Your judgments are righteous, and that in faithfulness You have afflicted me.” (Psa_119:67, Psa_119:71, Psa_119:75)
These predominant sins
Almost all of us have 'favorite pet sins'—which there is not ordinarily that concern and labor for putting them away, which there should be. They are indulged, instead of being resisted. Thus they gain strength by such indulgence, and most sadly disfigure our character and disturb our spiritual peace!
Prosperity, like sunshine upon weeds, often causes them to grow rapidly! And then God in great faithfulness, love and mercy sends adversity, like frost, to kill them. Upon a bed of sickness, and in other severe trials—they are often remembered, understood, and seen in all their sinfulness. They are then lamented, confessed, and mortified.
Nothing can be a darker sign than for a professor's conscience to be so dull and drowsy during a time of trial, as to leave him unadmonished respecting these predominant sins.
It is sometimes a blessed fruit of tribulation, that these predominant sins have been weakened, if not eradicated.
It is worth any amount of suffering to secure this result.
Happy the Christian who comes out of the furnace, with his dross removed by the fire! No matter what he has lost —he has gained freedom from these inward enemies of his peace and purity.
We all know more than we do; and we should be more solicitous to reduce to practice what we already know, than to acquire still more of 'mere theory'.
Pulpit buffoonery
One characteristic of Whitefield's manner which deserves particular attention, was his solemnity. He never degraded the pulpit by low humor and low wit; abounding in anecdote—but he was uniformly solemn. His deep devotional spirit contributed largely to this, for his piety was the inward fire which supplied the ardor of his manner.
He was eminently a man of prayer; and had he been less prayerful, he would also have been less powerful. He came into the pulpit from the closet where he had been communing with God, and could no more be trifling, merry, or humorous at such a time, than could Moses when he came down from the fiery mount to the people! Happily the age and taste for pulpit buffoonery is gone, I hope never to return.
It was the stamp and impress of eternity upon his preaching that gave Whitfield such power. He spoke like a man who stood upon the borders of the unseen world, alternately enrapt in ecstasy as he gazed upon the felicities of heaven; and convulsed with terror as he heard the howlings of the damned, and saw the smoke of their torment ascending from the pit forever and ever. His maxim was to preach for eternity. He said if ministers preached for eternity they would act the part of true Christian orators.
We need pastors imbued with his spirit, his piety, his dependence upon the Spirit of God, his love for souls, his devotedness, and his earnestness!
And tell me, my brethren, what are all the prettinesses, the beauties, or even sublimities of human eloquence; what are all the similes, metaphors, and other garniture of rhetoric which many in this day are aiming at, to move, and bow, and conquer the human soul—compared with “the powers of the world to come?”
The great moral magnet
“As for Me, if I am lifted up from the earth I will draw all people to Myself.” (Joh_12:32)
So said the Savior of men. The cross is for all ages and all countries the great moral magnet to draw men...
from barbarism to civilization, from sin to holiness, from misery to happiness, and from earth to heaven!
“One thing I do!” Php_3:13
Human life is so short, and the faculties of man are so limited, that he who would do some great thing, must do but one; and must do that one with such a concentration of his forces, as, to idle spectators who live only to amuse themselves, looks like enthusiasm, and almost draws upon him the charge of fanaticism.
It is never to be forgotten, amidst all the fluctuations of opinion, all the vicissitudes of earthly affairs, and even the advance of civilization, science, and social improvement —that human nature, in its spiritual condition and its relation to God, remains unchanged. The lapse of ages will never improve our natural corruption, nor will the progress of science and advance of civilization eradicate it. Man as he is born into the world in sin, and grows up in it, will still, as ever, need both the redemption and the regeneration of the gospel of Christ.
The great stream of the population is dashing in one mighty cataract over the precipice of impenitence and unbelief—into the dreadful gulf below!
Oh wonderful, ineffable, inconceivable exchange!
The SUDDEN DEATH of a real Christian, is an unspeakable blessing. Such a one is spared...
the languors of sickness, the racking pain, the anguish sometimes almost intolerable, and all the other terrible harbingers of death protracted through wearisome nights and months of vanity! To be exempt from the heart-rending pangs of separation at the last faltering adieu; to be saved from those gloomy apprehensions which sometimes arise in the minds of the strongest and holiest of believers when contemplating the portals of the tomb; to be carried through the iron gates of death before we knew we were drawing near to them; to wake up in a moment, as from a dream, at the sound of the seraphim's song—and exchange in an instant of time the sights of earthly objects for the glorious realities of heaven—and the society of friends below for the innumerable company of angels; to find ourselves suddenly in the presence of God and the Lamb, and see the smile of welcome upon the countenance of the Savior—and with a burst of astonishment and gratitude to exclaim, “And is this heaven? and am I there?
How short the road! How swift the flight!”
Oh wonderful, ineffable, inconceivable exchange!
“In vain our fancy strives to paint The moment after death, The glories that surround the saint, When he resigns his breath!
“Thus much, and this is all we know—
They are completely blessed, Are done with sin, and care, and woe, And with their Savior rest!”
Sudden death to a real Christian—is one mighty bound from earth to heaven! Sudden death to an unconverted sinner—is one dreadful stumble into hell. Oh, unutterable horror—to be surprised, overwhelmed, confounded in a moment—by exchanging the pleasures, the friends, the possessions, the prospects of earth—for those doleful shades, where peace and hope can never dwell.
You, too, may die suddenly. Are you ready, quite prepared by repentance towards God, faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, and a holy life—for death—for speedy death—for sudden death? Prepare to meet your God! Prepare for death, for judgment and eternity! Prepare! Prepare!
You will certainly die!
“But you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die!” (Gen_2:17)
Every dying groan, every tolling death-bell, every funeral procession, every opened grave, proclaims the evil of sin, and is a warning against it!
“For the wages of sin is death.” (Rom_6:23)
Death is the dreadful gate, the dark passage to eternity!
True believers pass through this solemn scene uttering the song of triumph, “Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!”
Old age, apart from moral excellence, is an object of detestation and loathing. A wicked old man is the most shocking spectacle upon earth—with the exception of a wicked old minister!
Dumb dogs!
“Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker, fellow soldier”
(Php_2:25)
Some people seek the pastoral ministry, as an office which provides a good income—while they disregard all its duties and its obligations. Such doubtless there are, men who seek the ministry for the indulgence of a literary taste, or for the gratification of a propensity to idleness. It is too true that all sections of the church are cursed with some ministers of this description, who are each looking for his gain. “His watchmen are blind, all of them, they know nothing; all of them are dumb dogs, they cannot bark; they dream, lie down, and love to sleep.
These dogs have fierce appetites; they never have enough. And they are shepherds who have no discernment; all of them turn to their own way, every last one for his own gain.” Isa_56:10 - Isa_56:11
But look at the true, the good, the faithful minister, as described in Scripture. He is...
a laborer, a watchman, a fisher, a soldier, a builder, a wrestler; all terms that employ toil, vigilance, effort, perseverance, and enduring self-denial. There are some men, whose lives and exertions justify the employment of such figures of speech. They do labor...
in the closet by wrestling supplication; in the study by intense application; in the pulpit by earnest preaching; in the church by pastoral oversight; in the houses by counsel, reproof, and warning; by their pens as well as their tongues; on week days and on Sundays; at home and abroad.
The faithful minister must be classed among those who have no leisure. As he maintains a holy, blameless and consistent life, many are...
impressed by his example, enriched by his beneficence, blessed by his prayers, and instructed by his principles.
Truth and love are the two most powerful things in the universe! It is by the 'silken cord of love', united with the 'golden thread of truth', that the church must draw the world to Christ.
The Bible is the central luminary around which all true Christians revolve, in nearer or remoter orbits, reflecting the splendor of its beams, and governed by the power of its attraction.
See how well the world goes on without them!
(John Angell James, “The London Missionary Society” 1849)
Christ can do much by the weakest instrument; and He can do altogether without the strongest. He that could do without apostles and prophets, after he had removed them by death, can dispense with us! This should check the inflation of some proud men's minds, and repress that overweening conceit by which they destroy in part their own usefulness.
It would surprise and mortify many, could they come out of their graves ten years after they had entered them, and still retained the ideas they once entertained of their own importance—to see how well the world goes on without them!
If the death of ordinary individuals be but as the casting of a pebble from the seashore into the ocean, which is neither missed from the one nor sensibly gained by the other; the death of the more extraordinary ones is but as the sinking of a larger rock into the abyss beneath—it makes at the time a rumbling noise and a great splash; but the wave which it raises soon subsides into a ripple, the ripple itself as soon sinks to a placid level, the tide flows, ships pass, commerce goes on, and shore and ocean appear just as they did before the disruption!
Ah! my brethren, let us seek to have our record in heaven, where it will be engraved in characters which will stand forever on the Rock of Ages! For it will soon be effaced here on earth, where it is only as a footprint upon the sand, which the next wave will speedily and entirely obliterate forever!
A censurable, disgraceful, and destructive habit!
“That you not become slothful, but imitators of those who through faith and patience are inheriting the promises.”
(Heb_6:12)
Slothfulness, in every aspect in which it can be viewed, and in every relation to human affairs, is a censurable, disgraceful, and destructive habit! With that incalculable source of energy which every rational and healthy mind carries about within itself, and with the many occasions and demands for its exercise, which in this busy world surround us—it is a sin and a shame for any man to “stand idle all the day long.”
Indolence, in reference to the concerns of this world, is bad enough. But where shall we find language sufficiently strong to describe the present guilt and future misery of indolence and sloth in reference to the soul and the soul's concerns? Of all the instances of folly, sin, and misery, which the inhabitants of earth present, the most astounding must be the sight of an impenitent sinner, slumbering in careless security over the over the bottomless pit!
One would be led to imagine, did not experience testify to the contrary, that there is enough in that one word 'eternity' to rouse all men to the most intense concern, and to the most laborious diligence!
Could that happy spirit who has lately left our world be permitted to address you from her throne of glory, with what an emphasis would she say, “Beloved friends, with whom on earth I took sweet counsel, and walked to the house of God in company, could you conceive of but a thousandth part of the glory which now surrounds me, you would account that world which so sinfully engrosses your attention scarcely worth a passing glance, or a momentary thought! Do not be slothful, when heaven or hell hangs upon your life! Do not be slothful, when eternity is before you! Do not be slothful, when infinite joy, or endless woe, attends on every breath!”
How perilous to yourselves, how corrupting to others, how discreditable to religion, how displeasing to Christ, is slothfulness in the Christian profession!
The highest class in the school of Christ
“So that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” Heb_6:12
By patience, we mean a quiet waiting, amidst sufferings and sorrows—for the heavenly kingdom. Patience is an uncomplaining willingness to remain any length of time, and amidst any tribulation, for the glory to be revealed.
No circumstances of life, (and let the sufferer hear and drink in the soul-comforting thought,) no circumstances of life seem to ripen the Christian so fast or so perfectly for heaven—as the experience of sorrow and affliction. Oh! then let our comforts go, then let our eyes weep, then let our hearts bleed—if our Father is thus ripening us for everlasting fruition and inconceivable bliss!
“But patience must do its complete work, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.” (Jam_1:4)
James intimates, that when we are enabled to exercise the grace of patience, we have reached the highest class in the school of Christ, have nothing more to learn upon earth, and are ready and fit to depart, and to be with Jesus—and have then obtained as much grace as can be possessed, short of glory itself!
Patience, then, sufferer, patience! The first moment, and the first glance of heaven will be an infinite recompense for all you suffer—for all you lose on earth! If every step on earth is a step of suffering—then let each be a step of patience!
Weep you may—murmur you must not.
Nature may pay the tribute of a groan—but grace must pay it with a smile.
The shower of your tears may fall—but in the rays of the Sun of Righteousness must reflect the beauteous rainbow of the promise.
Christian, you make your way to glory along the path of patient resignation, which, if it is like the Valley of Weeping, and has its briars and its thorns—has also its refreshing rain-pools of heavenly consolation!
The base cares and the petty enjoyments of the present world
Sin is raging all around us!
Satan is busy in the work of destruction!
Men are dying!
Souls are every moment departing into eternity!
Hell is enlarging her mouth, and multitudes are continually descending to torments which knows no mitigation and no end!
Heaven expanding above us!
Hell yawning beneath us!
Eternity opening before us!
How astounding is it sometimes to ourselves, that, favored with a certain, though distant, view of the celestial city, living almost within the sight of its glories and the sound of its music, the base cares and the petty enjoyments of the present world should have so much power over us, as to retard us in our heavenward course, and make us negligent and indolent, heedless and forgetful.
Time is short, life uncertain, death at hand, and immortality is about to swallow up our existence in eternal life—or eternal death!
Love of deception
They are a rebellious people, deceptive children, children who do not obey the Lord's instruction. They say to the seers, “Do not see,” and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy the truth to us. Tell us flattering things! Prophesy illusions! Get out of the way! Leave the pathway. Rid us of the Holy One of Israel.” (Isa_30:9 - Isa_30:11)
A wish to be deceived is a state of mind by no means uncommon. This was the case with the Jews at the time when this prophecy was delivered. Their national crimes were bringing destruction nearer and nearer. Their political horizon was perpetually becoming darker, and signs of the accumulating vengeance of Heaven were multiplying around them. The prophets, bearing the burden of the Lord, represented him as a holy Being, whom their transgressions insulted, and whose justice must necessarily be roused to avenge wrong. One denunciation followed another, until the people, alike unwilling to be reformed and to hear of the punishment which would come upon them for their impenitence, were anxious to change the tone of the prophets' faithful ministrations. They could not bear the pungent warnings of those holy men; they trembled under the solemn and impassioned appeals of Isaiah and his fellow-prophets, and endeavored, either by threats to silence, or by bribes to corrupt, the oracles of heaven.
The holiness of God was a subject peculiarly offensive to them—hence the exclamation, “Rid us of the Holy One of Israel!” They wanted to hear only of his mercy. They would have disrobed him of his garments of light, and silenced, if they could, the song of the seraphim, uttered in praise of his unsullied purity. The deity they wanted to hear of, was an indulgent being, who would overlook sin, and never punish the transgressor. They wished to hear no more of the rigid and strict requirements of the law—but to listen only to the soothing sounds of promise; they were anxious that the terrible thunders of justice should die away midst the soft whispers of mercy. They were determined to go on in sin, and therefore desired, whatever might be “right things,” to hear only smooth things, and to be left to go on unmolested in their career of iniquity.
Happy would it be for multitudes, if this love of deception had been confined to the Jews—if this demand for “smooth things” had been made only by them. But, alas! they have many, very many followers under the present dispensation. The faithful ministers of Jesus Christ meet with the same reception from many of their hearers, as did the prophets of the older economy.
There are not lacking in our age many who are anxious to save their own souls and those that hear them; who, in their solicitude to be clear from the blood of all men, shun not to declare “the whole counsel of God.” Their aim is not to please men—but to profit their hearers; not to satisfy their taste, or amuse their fancy, or lull them into a false peace, or wrap them up in unfounded security—but to save them from the wrath to come. Hence, they are anxious to convince them of sin, and by “the terrors of the Lord to persuade” them to urge the all-important enquiry, “What shall I do to be saved?” They know that without previous conviction, alarm, and penitence, there can be no true comfort and therefore their aim is, like that of the skillful surgeon, to probe the wound before they attempt to heal it. This many of their hearers cannot endure; they want smooth things, not right things; they cannot bear to have their consciences roused, their fears alarmed, and their minds rendered uneasy. They wish the preacher to avoid all harsh themes, and confine himself to more agreeable and palatable topics. The people to whom I here allude, are those people in our congregations, who, though they attend an evangelical ministry, have never yet been converted by the grace of God—but are still living either in open sin, or predominant worldly-mindedness; who know that if religion is indeed what they hear it often described, they can make no pretensions to it; who have no intention of altering their course, and who wish, therefore, to be left to pursue it, without being disturbed by the voice of ministerial faithfulness.
Churches should be purified as much as possible from all secularity, and conducted as much as possible in simplicity and godly sincerity, without the admixture of that fleshly wisdom which guides the affairs of this world. They should be divested of earthly pomp, guided by men of piety, and most cautiously preserved from that self-importance and self-dependence, which all imposing organizations of numbers, wealth, and influence, are apt to produce.
True religion
True religion is...
a principle of the heart; an element of the character; the habit of thinking, feeling, and acting aright in all our social relations; the basis of every virtue; the main prop of every excellence; the fear of the Lord, by which men depart from evil; faith working by love; such a belief in the gospel of Christ, as leads to a conformity to His example.
True religion, though founded on a belief of doctrines, and nourished by the exercises of devotion—diffuses its influence over the entire character of man.
True religion is the belief, the love, the worship, the imitation of Jesus.
True religion is sound morality, animated and sanctified by the spirit of true devotion to Christ.
True religion prescribes, not only homage to God, but follows him into the domestic circle.
Imagining we are going on to heaven
“The human heart is more deceitful than anything else and desperately wicked!” Jer_17:9
Oh, the idea of imagining we are going on to heaven—when step by step we are advancing to hell!
Is this possible? It is! And the very possibility should awaken our alarm.
Is it common? It is! And this should carry our solicitude to the highest pitch.
What did Christ say on this matter? Read with awe and trembling. “Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven.
Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'“ Mat_7:21 - Mat_7:23.
Read, I say, this passage in which our Lord with His own hand, sounds the alarm through the whole church.
Ought you not to examine? Is not there need of it? Is it not all but madness to go on without it? Mistake! What in such a matter as salvation? Mistake! What in a matter in which an error will require an eternity to understand, and an eternity to deplore it!
Very many know the theory of divine truth, without feeling its influence on the heart, or exhibiting it in the conduct. They often see the right way; without walking in it. Only those who are renewed and sanctified by the truth, will be eternally saved.
A holy, moral, useful, happy man
Explain to them the moral attributes of the great GOD...
His holiness as opposed to all iniquity, His truth as manifested in the accomplishment of His word His mercy which inclines Him to pity the miserable.
Endeavor to make them understand the exceeding sinfulness of SIN, as breaking through all the obligations imposed upon the conscience by the majesty and goodness of God. Strive to lead them to a knowledge of the total corruption of their nature, as the source and spring of their actual transgressions.
Unfold to them their situation, as under the wrath of God on account of their sins. Show them their inability, either to atone for their guilt or renovate their nature.
Lead them to CALVARY, and develop the design of the Savior's death as a sacrifice for sin, and teach them to rely upon His merits alone for salvation.
Direct them to the HOLY SPIRIT as the fountain of grace and strength for the renewal of their hearts.
Lay before them all the branches of Christian DUTY; those which relate to God, such as faith, repentance, love, obedience, and prayer; and those which relate to man, as obedience to parents, honesty to their employers, kindness to all. Enforce upon them the obligations of public worship.
Particularly impress upon them, that genuine religion, while it is founded on a belief of God's word, does not consist merely of abstract feelings, or occasional duties, but in a principle of submission to the revealed will of Jehovah, implanted deep in the human heart, pervading the conduct, and spreading over the whole character, so as to form a holy, moral, useful, happy man.
The impious mask of a cowardly heart
A man says there is no God, because he wishes there were none. He scorns spiritual religion, because spiritual religion condemns him. He is an infidel because he is a sinner. He is a scoffer because he is an infidel.
The true and ultimate source of scoffing at true religion is an unrenewed, unsanctified mind—a heart that hates God, and abhors his image.
The religion of the Bible is...
too humbling for the pride of their intellect, too holy for the corruptions of their heart, too strict and too rigid for their indulgent lives, and they cannot endure it. And being unable to confound it by logic, or overwhelm it by eloquence, they treat it with derision.
In some cases the scoffing may be traced up to fear, united with dislike. The scorner secretly trembles at the idea of a God, and of a judgment to come. He fears that there may be a reality in religion, and if there is—what is to become of him! The poor creature, like a scared child whistling as he passes through a graveyard to keep up his courage, or laughing at the story of a ghost, to conceal the palpitations of his heart, ridicules true religion to allay, if possible, the rising alarms of his conscience, and to avoid the terrors of his affrighted imagination.
The sneering countenance is often the impious mask of a cowardly heart and of a trembling conscience.
The abominable adage!
“Exhort the younger men to be sober-minded.”
Tit_2:6
There are many things which tend to nourish the love of sensual pleasure in the youthful bosom. At their age care sits lightly on the heart, the passions are strong, the imagination is lively, the health is good, the social impulse is felt in all its energy, the attractions of friends are powerful; and this they imagine is the ideal time for them to take their fill of pleasure. They think that they shall settle down by and by, when the season of youth is past; and that sobriety, morality, and religion will all come in the proper order of nature.
Worldly pleasure, decked in the voluptuous attire and the gaudy ornaments of a harlot, appears to their heated imagination, with all the attractive charms of a most bewitching beauty. They yield themselves at once to her influence, and consider her as abundantly able to afford them all the happiness they desire. Their great concern is to gratify their senses. The soul and all its vast eternal concerns is neglected for the pleasures of fleshly appetites!
We frequently hear the abominable adage, “Youth is the time for pleasure, manhood is the time for business, and old age is the time for religion.”
It is not possible for language to utter, or mind to conceive, a more gross or shocking insult to God than this!—which is in effect saying, “when I can no longer enjoy my lusts, or pursue my gains—
then I will carry to God a body and soul worn out in the service of sin, Satan, and the world!”
The monstrous wickedness and horrid impiety of this idea is enough, one would think, when put clearly to him, to shock and terrify the most confirmed and careless sinner in existence!
Thoughtless and sensual young man, who has no idea of happiness but as arising from fleshly indulgence, and who is drinking continually the intoxicating cup of worldly pleasure—pursue your course if you are determined on this mode of life; gratify your appetites; indulge all your passions; deny yourself nothing; eat, drink and be merry; disregard the admonitions of conscience, trample under foot the authority of Scripture—but do not think that you shall always prosper in the ways of sin, or carry forever that air of jollity and triumph.
The day of reckoning is at hand, when for all these things, you will be called into judgment! God now witnesses, and takes account of all your ways, and will one day call you to His judgment, and repay you according to your doings! “For God will bring every act to judgment, including every hidden thing, whether good or evil.” (Ecc_12:14)
God's flock
“I exhort the elders among you: shepherd God's flock.”
(1Pe_5:2)
The flock which is committed to their care is the God's flock —which is thus denominated to teach us that believers are the special property of Christ, which He owns, loves, and protects —in distinction from the wicked (who, are a kind of wild beasts in whom He has neither peculiar property nor pleasure). They are thus denominated also, to teach us that Christians are not to live solitarily and unconnected, but are to unite themselves with each other in visible communion and brotherly love, and are to submit to the guidance and directions of their great Shepherd, and in all things to manifest the simplicity, harmlessness, and innocence of which the sheep is the natural emblem.
Handel's “Messiah”
Concerning Handel's “Messiah” with what sentiments may it be supposed the Son of God beholds the scenes of His suffering life, atoning death, and final appearance in judgment—blended with all the hilarity of a musical festival, and sung by graceless men and women—for the entertainment of the multitude!
Let those whose spiritual vision is not quite obscured by their musical taste, compare the scenes of an oratorio when “the Messiah” is being performed—and those of the house of God when the Lord's supper is celebrated—and remembering that the subject is the same in both, let them ask if both can be right? Is the cross on which the Savior loved and died rightly appropriated—when it is used for the purposes of amusement, gaiety and fashionable vanity?
The subject of the “Messiah,” as revealed in the Holy Scriptures, is given for the purpose of bringing men to repentance, faith and salvation; to be the great means, through faith, of overcoming the world with all its lusts of the flesh, lusts of the eye, and the pride of life; to give a death blow to the love of the world in the heart of man; and to subjugate the senses and the imagination to unseen and eternal things.
While in Handel's “Messiah”, the cross of Christ, instead of crucifying us to the world, and the world to us, is employed as an amusement to add new attractions to earth, and to yield new gratifications to sense, and thus to make man more effectually the captive of that world—of which he should seek by faith to be the conqueror.
For what purpose is this 'sacred music' performed?
It is for amusement! Purely for amusement! Is it, then, done, for the glory of God—to convert the most solemn and sacred topics of divine truth into a source of public entertainment? No! It is done to draw people together to hear the sufferings of the Messiah set forth for much the same purpose as they are called to be entertained by a dramatic representation of the sorrows of Hamlet or Romeo!
He will carry them in His bosom
“He will tend his flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs in His arms; He will carry them in His bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.” Isa_40:11
He will carry them in His bosom—where He could not only hear, but feel every bleat they uttered; and have all the tenderness of His own heart excited by the anxious and fluttering pulsations of theirs!
See Him in the midst of his disciples...
how feeble were their perceptions, how weak their faith, how worldly their expectations, how slow their growth!
Yet how kindly did He bear with their dullness, and how gently did He chide their imperfections.
Wealth
The responsibility attached to wealth seems to be poorly understood.
It should ever be borne in mind that the exercise of mercy and charity is represented by our Lord in his description of the judgment day, as one of the principal topics of scruting in that season of final retribution. What a spectacle of horror and amazement will the rich man then present, who lavished in selfish extravagance that princely fortune which was entrusted to him for the benefit of society. Let such men read the parable of Dives and Lazarus—its salutary and impressive warnings were delivered expressly for them!
Wealth, considered as a means of sensual gratification, ranks but one step above the acorns of the swine; while as a means of relieving misery, wealth opens sources of felicity, as lofty and sublime as the joy of angels!
Exhibit in their conduct
Those who profess to believe in the truth of Christianity, should be careful to exhibit in their conduct...
the purity, the benevolence, the meekness, and humility of the gospel.
Let every Christian embody in his own character and conduct, the evidence of Christianity, and prove that it is from heaven, by showing that it makes him heavenly.
The ungodly should consider their dreadful situation, hastening...
from sinning to dying, from death to judgment, from judgment to the bottomless pit, and then from age to age of torment without end or mitigation! They are kindling for themselves a fire which shall burn to the lowest hell.
An unholy minister
An unholy minister is the most dreadfully guilty, and the most fatally mischievous person in existence! He is a living curse, a walking pestilence, diffusing a savor of death around him wherever he goes; from whom, as to any voluntary association, every godly person should flee with greater horror than from a person infected with the plague. His name is Apollyon—his work destruction.
It is dreadful to reflect what multitudes are now in the bottomless pit, who were conducted there by the damnable heresies of such men's lives; from whose imprecations, envenomed by despair, the guilty authors of their ruin will find neither escape nor shelter through everlasting ages, but feel the guilt of blood forever upon their wretched souls!
A mere pedestal for the preacher's fame!
“We preach Christ crucified!” 1Co_1:23
From the cross, as the tree of life, hang in maturity and abundance—all those fruits of grace which are necessary to the salvation of the soul.
Are we guilty—here is pardon.
Are we rebels against God—here is reconciliation.
Are we condemned—here is justification.
Are we unholy—here is sanctification.
Are we agitated with conscious guilt—
here is peace for a wounded spirit.
My brethren in the ministry—the pulpit is intended to be a pedestal for the cross. But alas! even the cross itself, it is to be feared, is sometimes used as a mere pedestal for the preacher's fame! We may roll the thunders of eloquence, we may dart the coruscations of genius, we may scatter the flowers of poetry, we may diffuse the light of science, we may enforce the precepts of morality from the pulpit —but if we do not make Christ crucified the great subject our preaching, we have forgotten our purpose, and shall do no good.
Satan trembles at nothing but the cross. And if we would destroy his power, and extend that holy and benevolent kingdom of Jesus, it must be by means of the cross.
“For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. My speech and my proclamation were not with persuasive words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and power.” (1Co_2:2 - 1Co_2:4)
Fresh communications
The Holy Spirit is not only the efficient cause and author of our spiritual life; but He is also the sustainer of it.
We need fresh communications of His grace every step of our course, to keep before us...
the glory of God as our center, rest, and end; the loveliness, beauty, and preciousness of Christ; the evil of sin; the transcendent excellence of holiness; the sublimity and importance of heaven, and eternal life.
The true believer...
seeks God as his supreme end, enjoys God as his chief good, obeys God as his Sovereign Ruler.
It is an act of amazing love that God should not only give us his Son—but his Spirit also!
That God should make a temple for the Holy Spirit in our hearts, is a display of infinitely greater condescension, than for the greatest monarch upon earth to take up his dwelling in a mud hut.
One thing is certain—you are a sinner, a poor, miserable, and perishing sinner!
The door of mercy is open, and you are welcome to enter in! You can go to God in no other way, but as a sinner. God meets His repenting enemies, only at the cross!
“I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” Luk_5:32
No declension in piety
We are not to conclude that our piety is declining, merely because our feelings are not so lively and flashy as they once were. If there is a growth...
in humility and meekness, in tenderness of conscience and self-denial, in a sense of the value of Christ, in dependence upon the Spirit, there is no declension in piety, although there may be less of vivid emotion than there once was.
Just as there is no decay of strength in the human body, where the sprightliness and efflorescence of youth are gone, if the grave robustness of manhood remains. Nor should the aged believer mistake the 'decay of nature' for the 'decline of grace'. He hears, he prays, he reads, he remembers, and enjoys with less ability than he once did; but this is the effect of old age, and not of backsliding.
Declension in piety
There are three stages of departure from God—
1. spiritual declension 2. actual backsliding 3. final apostasy
They are intimately connected, and lead on, unless stopped by divine grace, from one to the other. There have been many people in these states in every age of the church—
there are some now. Professors are continually falling away from Christ, some only in heart, others openly in conduct; some partially and for a season, others totally and forever.
The hopes of pastors and churches are continually receiving the bitterest disappointment from the relapses of those who “did run well.” Like the blossoms in the spring, for a time they excited the most pleasing anticipations—but a blight came on —the blossom went up as dust, and the root appeared to be rottenness.
Declension in piety, means a diminution of its vigor at the heart; a loss of the power of godliness, or, to use a scriptural phrase, “a leaving of our first love.” There is no immorality; no open sin; but an utter decay of pious affection. The whole amount of piety that is left—is cold, heartless, dead formality. The fundamental doctrines and precious truths of the Gospel, though not renounced, are not relished and fed upon with that eager appetite, keen relish, and exquisite zest which they once were.
The means of grace, though not neglected—are mere forms, imparting no quickening power, and yielding no spiritual enjoyment. Pious affections of peace, joy, love, delight in God, and hope of heaven—are almost extinguished. The vigor of watchfulness, spirituality of mind, and the severity of mortification of sin are relaxed—under the idea that so much strictness in religion is not necessary. The tenderness of the conscience is blunted—and little sins of temper, of the heart and the tongue, are committed with far less repugnance than formerly. Besetting sins, once nearly subdued—acquire fresh life and power. In short, piety has lost its hold upon the mind, the heart, and conscience, as an elevating, sanctifying, and satisfying reality. Delight in God, the love of Christ, the joyful hope of heaven, have well near ceased!
Those in affliction
Those in affliction should restrain their grief, and not be swallowed up of overmuch sorrow. An excessive degree of distress, a refusal to be comforted, a disposition to nourish grief—is a temper dishonorable to a Christian, who, in the darkest and dreariest scenes of human life, ought never to appear like those who are without God and without hope.
PATIENCE must have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and entire, lacking nothing.
RESIGNATION must not only suppress the murmur, but dictate words of confidence and peace. “Though He slays me, yet will I trust in him,” must be your declaration, as well as your purpose.
FAITH—strong, steady faith—which cleaves closer to Christ, in proportion as other things fail, must be in exercise.
HOPE, as the anchor of your soul, must keep your little bark safe amidst the storm.
MEEKNESS must put forth all its power and beauty in preventing peevishness, and producing a sweetness of temper in the midst of perplexing and ruffling circumstances.
ASSURANCE that all things are working together for good, should bear the soul above the low and cloudy horizon of present trials, and enable it to spot eternal sunshine beyond the storm; and rendered the brighter by the gloom, from the midst of which it is contemplated.
While at the same time, a deep concern should be manifested for a sanctified use of every affliction.
Concern should be manifested...
to glorify God in the fires, to have every corruption mortified, to have every grace strengthened; to die to earth, to live for heaven.
A showy and extravagant style of living!
“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.”
(Col_3:1 - Col_3:2)
Avoid, I beseech you, a showy and extravagant style of living! Do not be ambitious of obtaining...
a large, luxurious house, elegant furniture, fine, expensive clothing, and a country residence.
What are these things to a man whose heart should be set on things that are above, not on things that are on earth?
The worm of pride feeds upon the root of piety!
Pride will prevent that deep humiliation before God, that self-abhorrence, that self-annihilation, that entire dependence, and sense of ill-desert which are essential to the spirit of true piety; and, at the same time, pride will call into active operation many tempers most inimical to godliness.
Prosperity
“Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they increase in riches.” Psa_73:12
Worldly-mindedness is a very common fruit of prosperity.
O how difficult is it to maintain this pure, spiritual, unearthly, heavenly taste—in the midst of prosperity! How difficult is it to help loving the world—when it puts on all its charms, smiles upon us, and caresses us!
Many prosperous Christians are miserably low in spiritual piety, have little enjoyment of God, and little communion with Christ.
Prosperity, by multiplying the sources of earthly gratification, tends to take us off from those which are spiritual and divine.
Prosperity tends...
to carnalize our affections, to vitiate our holy taste, and to wither our devotion.
Nothing is more beautiful in our world than the manifest association of humble piety and temporal prosperity; it is the temper of heaven united with the possession of earth.
The man who makes this attainment, is great in the kingdom of God. His prosperity is maintained without injury to himself. Let the prosperous Christian aim at this beautiful combination.
“Keep vanity and lies far away from me. Don't give me either poverty or riches. Feed me only the food I need.” Pro_30:8
Inconsistent professors
“We exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.” 1Th_2:12
Multitudes have staked the truth of Christianity on the conduct of its professors.
Inconsistent professors, therefore, are the abettors of infidelity and irreligion. They are mere caricatures of piety, which they represent with hideous and distorted features, and commend to the ridicule and disgust of onlookers.
Inconsistent professors are traitors in the camp, and betray the cause which they profess to defend. They are destroyers of other men's souls! No sins have so much power to do mischief as theirs; and none have been so destructive. Hell swarms with souls whom inconsistent professors have hurried on to perdition!
The faith, and love, and holiness of believers, are one of God's ordinances for the conversion of sinners, and it is an ordinance that has been greatly blessed. The beauties of holiness displayed in all their symmetry and harmony, as they are embodied in the character of eminent Christians, have been employed by the Spirit of God to soften prejudice, and subdue enmity.
Many who turned with disgust from religion as it was seen disfigured and deformed in some inconsistent professors; have, by a more pure and lovely manifestation of holiness, been charmed into admiration, affection, and imitation.
Our influence!
The influence of one lively, ardent, active Christian, is a blessing to the whole church of which he is a member. His prayers at the meetings, and his conversation in the companies of Christian friends, tend not only to stop the spreading lukewarmness of many others; but to kindle a similar spirit to his own, in the hearts of those with whom he associates.
He keeps up the spiritual atmosphere of the church, and makes it amiable, spiritual and heavenly.
While on the other hand, the influence of one worldly minded, convivial professor, whose spiritual affections, if not wholly extinguished, are smouldering under a heap of earthly cares and tastes—depresses and chills the piety of all who come near him. He is...
a hindrance to pious conversation, an interruption to the fellowship of the saints, an extinguisher upon the devotion of the church.
However profitable the fellowship may have been before he entered the room, he soon contrives, by anecdotes, politics, or business, to turn the current into some low and earthly channel.
It is of immense consequence that we should all consider the effect which our influence has upon others. Our influence is always acting upon others; and their influence is always acting upon us! This is a solemn consideration, which we should never forget for a single hour. This applies universally.
We are all perpetually sending forth, and receiving influence.
An incarnation of love
Jesus Christ was an incarnation of love in our world. He was love living, breathing, speaking, acting among men!
His birth was the nativity of love.
His sermons the words of love.
His miracles the wonders of love.
His tears the meltings of love.
His crucifixion the agonies of love.
His resurrection the triumph of love.
A stronger and a holier affection
Christian! Would you be crucified to the world, and have the world crucified to you? Would you indeed, and in truth, have the spirit of the world cast out of you? Would you cease to be characterized as 'minding earthly things'?
Go daily by sacred meditation, to Mount Calvary, and while all the mysteries of redeeming love, as concentrated in the cross, there meet the eye of faith—and as the visions of celestial glory, seen most distinctly from that spot, attract and fix the transported gaze of hope—you will see the beauty of the earth fade away before you, amidst the splendor of a more excellent glory, and feel the love of the world die within you, under the power of a stronger and a holier affection.
The neglect of domestic piety
There is probably scarcely any deficiency of the church in the present day, more apparent than the neglect of domestic piety.
Family prayer is not performed with that constancy, solemnity, and fervor, which is calculated to interest and to edify.
Parental authority is not maintained with that steadiness which is adopted to inspire respect, and that affection which is likely to secure obedience.
As to the judicious, diligent, and engaging Biblical instruction, which is necessary to inform the mind, to enlighten the conscience, and to form the character; it is in some families almost entirely neglected.
Far more solicitude is felt, and far more pains are taken by many, to educate their children for this world than for the future eternal world; and to fit them to act their part well for time, than to prepare them for the scenes of eternity.
In many Christian homes, family piety is but the form of godliness—without its power.
The religion of today has lost something of its steadiness, its seriousness, and its dignity; and has acquired too much of the flutter and the vanity of a thing of fashion and excitement.
True religion ought to be sustained, in all its exercises and habits, with an appropriate seriousness, dignity, and conscientiousness.
A substitute for personal piety?
Zeal in Christian service cannot be a substitute for personal piety. The attendance at the committee cannot be an excuse for neglecting the closet. The financial support of a church can be no apology for neglecting to mortify a corruption. Yet there is a tendency in this day to forget this. There is an imminent danger of losing sight of religion as a personal, private, and individual concern. We are too much drawn away from our closets and our own hearts, as we lose the habit of silent meditation.
We are so accustomed to excitement, that there is a dullness in solitude. Private prayer is neglected for that which is social; the Bible is neglected for the sermon; and the closet is neglected for the committee-room. The great system of revealed truth is not sufficiently brought before us in its grandeur, glory, and demands—as a matter for our individual contemplation, reception, and application.
The evidence of genuine piety is to be found in...
real humility, self-distrust, hungering and thirsting after righteousness, sorrow for sin, and a continual effort to regulate your thoughts, feelings, and conduct by the Word of God.
Genuine piety will not thrive and increase without effort—but is of so tender and delicate a nature as to require great, constant, and persevering concern, watchfulness, and care.
He will not forget the lambs
(John Angell James, “The Christian Professor”)
“He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will gather the lambs in his arm, and carry them in his bosom.”
(Isa_40:11)
Are you alarmed at the difficulties and dangers of the wilderness way? Consider that you enjoy the notice, the love, intercession, and the support of the Great and Good Shepherd, who gathers the lambs in His arms, and carries them in His bosom.
He will not forget the lambs—their feeble bleat attracts His notice, their helplessness draws His attention, and for them he puts forth all His pastoral kindness and skill.
Cunning artifices, deep devices, artful machinations
It is one of the cunning artifices, the deep devices, the artful machinations of Satan—to lead men into self-deception, when he can no longer hold them in careless indifference; to ruin their souls in the church, when he cannot effect it in the world; to lull them asleep by the privileges of church fellowship, when he cannot continue their slumber amidst the pleasures of sin.
O how many is he leading captive this way? How many is he conducting to perdition, whom he has first blindfolded with the bandage of a false profession? How many are there in all our churches, who are in this dreadful state!
Consider Jesus!
“Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession.” Heb_3:1.
Jesus was so dead to this world, that He renounced wealth, rank, ease and fame.
Jesus was so holy that He could appeal to the most malignant of his foes for the sinless purity of His conduct.
Jesus was so submissive to the divine will, that He drank the deepest, fullest, bitterest cup of human woe, without a murmur.
Jesus was so meek and lowly, as to bear the greatest injuries and insults with unruffled serenity and placability.
Jesus was so full of benevolence, as to pray for His foes, to die for them, and save them.
Yes, we say to the world, “Look at Jesus of Nazareth in His holy and beneficent career, or in his ignominious and agonizing death—see him whose whole character was a compound of purity and love—there is our model.”
We confess that the salvation of immortal souls is the most momentous interest in the universe; and that our time, influence, talents and property—are at Christ's command.
We profess that we have received Christ as the end of our very existence.
We profess that we have ceased to live for wealth, ease, or reputation, as the supreme object of pursuit.
We profess that we receive Christ as our pattern and example,