I. The Christian idea of life: “To the Lord we live: to the Lord we die.” That idea of life is founded on Rom_14:7. In one aspect that is a universal and inevitable law. Now, Paul says that what all other men must do unconsciously, the Christian does consciously. Life has two aspects--the voluntary and the involuntary. Both these spheres of life are to be consecrated.
1. In the Christian idea the whole of those marvellous activities that rise from our will are to be one scene of dedication to God. This seems visionary and impossible. I believe it is practicable and attainable. To illustrate this. Our voluntary actions are most powerfully influenced by silent currents of emotion which only now and then flash into sight. Just as in the ocean, underneath the constant motion of its waves, there are deep currents setting in one fixed direction, undisturbed by the roar of the storm, and moving on still when calmness rests on the sea--so in the life of the soul. You see this in great transgressors. The silent progress towards crime culminates suddenly in outward action, and the unseen smouldering fire leaps out in flame. You see it in great discoverers. They had long been seeking for a truth; in a moment it revealed itself, and the silent train of inquiry flashed then to its result. We see it in ourselves. We have found temptation suddenly assume a gigantic and almost irresistible strength after periods of carelessness or unwatchfulness over our inner life. Or we have often found, after long fear and foreboding of some trial, a strength of soul arise which enables us to bear it. Now, if these silent, secret tendencies of thought and feeling control so much of our voluntary life, may not that life be wholly consecrated, if a great silent consecration be the strong impulse of our being? Have we not met with men whose lives were silent prayers, who have made us feel--even by passing words and trifling things--that Christ was being “formed within them”? Such men apparently forget the future in their work, but really, never. Present a temptation to them, and their strength of resistance manifests itself. If, then we are dedicated, we “live unto the Lord.”
2. But there are the inevitable occurrences in life. Against them our wills are powerless. Constantly do we feel the truth of the proverb, “Man proposes, but God disposes.” Now the question arises, How can such things be consecrated; can we consecrate the unknown and inevitable? We cannot, but we can dedicate ourselves by accepting the inevitable as coming from the hand of our Father. Not in mechanical submission, like slaves broken into discipline by the lash; not in hard stoicism, like the creatures of an inscrutable and remorseless fate; but in patient, trustful resignation, as children who, though they cannot trace the Father’s plan, can yet repose on the knowledge of His love. To the man who canthus see God’s glory through the windows of life, all adverse circumstances become consecrations. Disappointments bear on their bitter winds the sounds of songs. Great sorrows may rend the temple of life, but they will reveal within an altar and a sacrifice kindled by a Divine fire. Therefore, “whether we die, we may die unto the Lord.”
II. The motive by which this consecration may be realised (Rom_14:9). There are two aspects of this--
1. By the power of His love Christ is Lord over our voluntary life. Christ must possess us, and we must yield up our hearts daily as living sacrifices to God through Him. It may be said, “But this is ideal and impossible, and would generate a morbid pietism.” I do not say we can always be consciously acting under the power of Christ’s love. But a deep communion with Him may so penetrate us with His Spirit as to hallow and glorify all our life, and thus “we may live unto the Lord.”
2. Christ is Lord over the inevitable events of life. All things are given into His hands. He is King over our whole histories. Our disappointments, failures, sorrows, “death’s agonies and fears,” are known to and sympathised with by Him. (E. L. Hull, B.A.)
A consecrated life
I.Implies--
1. Complete submission to Christ’s authority.
2. Devotion to Him as our highest aim.
3. Subserviency to His designs.
II. Secures--
1. Happiness.
2. Honour.
3. Blessing.
4. Success.
5. Final salvation. (J. Lyth, D.D.)
Living unto the Lord
I. What this is. It is the consecration to Christ of the life.
1. Intellectual. To think for Him, study Him, understand His will, read His Word.
2. Emotional. To make Him the object of our love, joy, hope.
3. Practical. To use the mouth to speak for Him, the hands to work for Him, the feet to carry His messages.
4. Spiritual. To be one with Him.
II. How this is to be accomplished.
1. By His living unto us. This He has done and still does.
2. By His drawing us to Himself. This He does by the allurements of His love.
3. By our willing surrender to His attraction.
4. By definite acts and a permanent spirit of self-consecration.
III. For what purpose this is done.
1. Supremely--for Christ’s glory.
2. Mediately--for the benefit of the world.
3. Subordinately--for our own perfection.
IV. To what issue does this tend?
1. Christ’s universal supremacy in fact as well as by right.
2. A regenerated universe.
3. Endless personal reward. (J. W. Burn.)
Living unto the Lord
I.Living unto the Lord may be considered as including the following particulars--
1. That we make His will the rule, the only rule, of our conduct.
2. That we make His approbation our governing aim, and to study to please Him in all that we do.
3. That we make His glory our end in everything we do.
4. That we be wholly resigned to His disposal; blessing Him at all times, in adversity as well as in prosperity, making Him as welcome to take from us as to give unto us.
5. That we be so thoroughly devoted to Him as to account that we live not at all, but in so far as we serve Him and show forth His praise.
II. Apply this description of genuine Christianity as a measure or standard for helping us to judge of our spiritual condition.
1. Of what weight is the authority of God in your hearts ?
2. Whom do you seek to please, and whose approbation do you principally covet?
3. What regard do you feel for the honour of your Lord?
4. What is it that gives the highest value to everything in your esteem?
Conclusion--
1. Unless we live unto the Lord we shall counteract the very design of that marvellous love He hath manifested towards us in giving Himself for us an offering and sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour.
2. We are therefore obliged to live unto the Lord, as we regard the honour of our Master, and the credit of that saving religion which He taught.
3. We are bound to live in the manner I described by the strictest ties of justice and equity (1Co_6:19-20). (R. Walker.)
Living unto the Lord
1.Christ is the giver of our life.
2. He is the sustainer of our life.
3. He has redeemed our life.
4. He should therefore have the devotion of our life.
5. Then He will be the rewarder of our life. (R. Walker.)
Working as to the Lord
Let me say this--we want to work as in the presence of the Lord. We know that the apostle in writing to Timothy in the Second Epistle says when he was speaking of his adversaries, “Notwithstanding, the Lord stood with me and strengthened me.” There is such a thing as working under the eye of men. I was in a factory the other day in Fife, and the head of the firm took me through it; and while there was considerable activity and diligence on the part of the hands employed, I noticed when the master stood beside the man or woman engaged in a certain work that there was a kind of special care. They were working under the master’s eye. Ah! my brethren and my sisters, if we know that the Lord is with us in the pulpit or in the class or as we speak to individual souls we shall seek to do the work as under His eye. (W. Lockhart.)
And whether we die, we die unto the Lord.
Dying unto the Lord
I.What is it to die unto the Lord? To have a view to the glory of God in all that pertains to our death.
1. In the state of our views and feelings in the prospect of death. It is not to be wondered at that the ungodly should fear death. But when God’s people are alarmed it is a disparagement to Christ. When, however, they look forward to death with holy calmness and no longer regard it as the king of terrors, trusting in the sufficiency of Christ to bear up, God is glorified. Such count not their lives dear to them.
2. In the frame of our mind, and the tenor of our actions, during the various preparatory exercises which may precede death.
(I) A deathbed brings around you affectionate friends, and places you in a situation to speak with effect and with power on Christ’s behalf. Many good men and women are found on their deathbeds to be eminent and successful preachers of righteousness.
(2) You may glorify God also in the meditations of your own hearts by the resignation with which you endure the chastenings of your Father.
3. Amidst the struggle and pain with which death is attended. Some only of God’s saints are privileged thus to give glory to God. Times of trial and persecution are the seasons in which God has been most signally glorified amidst the last sufferings of His saints.
II. What means should be employed that we may be prepared to die unto the lord?
1. Enrich your minds with the stores of Divine truth. A deathbed needs these supports, and they are then very precious.
2. Do not entangle yourself needlessly with the concerns and cares of the world. Many Christians, by erring in this respect, greatly disturb the peace of their dying hours, and impair the force and value of their testimony.
3. Mortify all the evil tempers and corrupt feelings of the natural heart. Fretfulness and impatience, excessive concern about personal indulgences, and discomposure at apparent neglect sit ill on a dying Christian. These can only be obviated by attending when you are in health to the right ordering of every feeling and temper, and by self-denial.
4. Accustom yourselves to just and scriptural notions of death. Considering--
(1) The uncertainty of your dying hour.
(2) How near it is.
(3) Its consequences.
5. Learn to lean with a simple, childlike trust on Christ. The nearness of Christ to the dying man is the great concern, and then all helps and accessories may be withdrawn. (S. Smith.)
Dying unto the Lord
It is true that no earthly friend can accompany us through the swellings of Jordan. But though we may then be alone in one sense, yet we need not in another: the Saviour has promised to accompany us. He says, “When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee.” See that child who has to go through a dark plantation at the dead hour of night. Does he fear? No. Why? Simply because his father’s hand is locked in his. The presence of his father dismisses his fears. So, when we are in the hands of our heavenly Father, we need not fear. He who holds up worlds can surely protect us, and He has pledged Him-self to do so if we fully trust ourselves to Him. (J. Whitson.)
Dying unto the Lord
“Paid the debt of nature.” No; it is not paying a debt: it is rather like bringing a note to a bank to obtain solid gold in exchange for it. In this case you bring this cumbrous body, which is nothing worth, and which you could not wish to retain long: you lay it down, and receive for it, from the eternal treasures, liberty, victory, knowledge, rapture. (J. Foster.)
Dying unto the Lord
A lieutenant in an Iowa regiment was brought into the hospital, wounded in the shoulder. At first it was thought that he would recover; but, after a few days, he rapidly declined. Just before his death, a lady nurse said to him, “Lieutenant, you have but a few moments to live: if you have any word to send to your wife and little one in Iowa, you must speak it very quickly.” He looked up at her, his face shining like an angel’s, and said, “Tell my wife that there is not a cloud between me and Jesus.” (G. S. F. Savage.)
Living and dying unto the Lord
I. Real Christians are the Lord’s.
1. By election.
2. By redemption.
3. By sanctification.
4. By adoption. He has received them into His holy family, and entitled them to all the privileges and blessings of it.
II. They are willing both to live and to die to the Lord. There is no medium between men’s living and dying to God, and their living and dying to themselves (Rom_14:7). They are willing--
1. To live to Him, by--
(1) Self-dedication.
(2) Submission to His government.
(3) A cheerful and universal obedience to His commands.
(4) Promoting the interests of His kingdom.
2. To die unto the Lord.
(1) As to the time when they shall die.
(2) As to the place of their dying.
(3) As to all the other circumstances of their death, whether with disease or accident, etc.
Conclusion: If Christians are willing to live and to die to the Lord, then--
1. The life of a real Christian is a life of self-denial.
2. They live much happier than those who live to themselves.
3. Their life is an exemplary life.
4. Their death, though a gain to them, is a loss to the world.
5. They are willing to bury their friends who dieto the Lord, whenever they are called to the trial. (N. Emmons, D.D.)
Whether we live, therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s.--
We are the Lord’s
I.Living.
1. Consecrated to Him.
2. At His disposal.
3. Under His protection.
4. Acknowledged and blessed by Him.
II. Dying.
1. When and where He pleases.
2. Glorifying Him.
3. Delivered by Him.
4. Claimed as His property for ever. (J. Lyth, D.D.)
