Holiness: Its Nature, Hindrances, Difficulties and Roots

There is a glorious promise given by the Builder. The gates of hell shall not prevail. He who cannot lie has pledged his word that all the powers of hell shall never overthrow his church. It shall continue and stand in spite of every assault. It shall never be overcome. All other created things perish and pass away, but not the church which is built on the rock. Empires have risen and fallen in rapid succession. Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Tyre, Carthage, Rome, Greece, Venice. Where are all these now? They were all the creation of man's hand and have passed away. But the true church of Christ lives on. The mightiest cities have become heaps of ruins. The broad walls of Babylon have sunk to the ground. The palaces of Nineveh are covered with mounds of dust. The hundred gates of Thebes are only matters of history. Tyre is a place where fishermen hang their nets. Carthage is a desolation. Yet all this time the true church stands. The gates of hell do not prevail against it. The earliest visible churches have in many cases decayed and perished. Where is the church of Ephesus and the church of Antioch? Where is the church of Alexandria and the church of Constantinople? Where are the Corinthian and Philippian and Thessalonian churches? Where indeed are they all? They departed from the word of God. They were proud of their bishops and synods and ceremonies and learning and antiquity. They did not glory in the true cross of Christ. They did not hold fast the gospel. They did not give the Lord Jesus his rightful office or faith its rightful place. They are now among the things that have been. Their candlestick has been taken away. But all this time the true church has lived on. Has the true church been oppressed in one country? It has fled to another. Has it been trampled on and oppressed in one soil? It has taken root and flourished in another climate. Fire, sword, prisons, fines, penalties have never been able to destroy its vitality. Its persecutors have died and gone to their own place. But the word of God has lived and grown and multiplied. Weak as this true church may appear to the eye of man, it is an anvil which has broken many a hammer in times past and perhaps will break many more before the end. He that lays hands on it is touching the apple of his eye. Zechariah 2.8 The promise of our text is true of the whole body of the true church. Christ will never be without witness in the world. He has had a people in the worst of times. He had 7,000 in Israel even in the days of Ahab. There are some now, I believe, in dark places of the Rome and Greek churches who in spite of much weakness are serving Christ. The devil may rage horribly. The church in some countries may be brought exceedingly low. But the gates of hell shall never entirely prevail. The promise of our text is true of every individual member of the church. Some of God's people have been so much cast down and disquieted that they have despaired of their safety. Some have fallen sadly as David and Peter did. Some have departed from the faith for a time like Cranmer and Jewel. Many have been tried by cruel doubts and fears but all have got home safe at last, the youngest as well as the oldest, the weakest as well as the strongest. So it will be to the end. Can you prevent tomorrow's sun from rising? Can you prevent the tide in the Bristol Channel from ebbing and flowing? Can you prevent the planets moving in their respective orbits? Then and then alone can you prevent the salvation of any believer, however feeble, the final safety of any living stone in that church which is built upon the rock, however small or insignificant that stone may appear. The true church is Christ's body, not one bone in that mystical body shall ever be broken. The true church is Christ's bride. Those whom God has joined in everlasting covenant shall never be put asunder. The true church is Christ's flock. When the lion came and took a lamb out of David's flock, David arose and delivered the lamb from his mouth. Christ will do the same. He is David's greater son. Not a single sick lamb in Christ's flock shall perish. He will say to his father in the last day, Of them which thou gavest me, I have lost none. John 18.9 The true church is the wheat of the earth. It may be sifted, winnowed, buffeted, tossed to and fro, but not one grain shall be lost. The tares and chaff shall be burned. The wheat shall be gathered into the barn. The true church is Christ's army. The captain of our salvation loses none of his soldiers. His plans are never defeated. His supplies never fail. His muster role is the same at the end as it was at the beginning. Of the men that marched gallantly out of England many years ago in the Crimean War, how many ever came back? Regiments that went forth, strong and cheerful, with bands playing and banners flying, laid their bones in a foreign land and never returned to their native country. But it is not so with Christ's army. Not one of his soldiers shall be missing at last. He himself declares, they shall never perish. John 10.28 The devil may cast some of the members of the true church into prison. He may kill and burn and torture and hang. But after he has killed the body, there is nothing more than he can do. He cannot hurt the soul. When the French troops took Rome years ago, they found on the walls of a prison cell under the Inquisition the words of a prisoner. Who he was we know not, but his words are worthy of remembrance. Though dead, he yet speaketh. He had written on the walls very likely after an unjust trial and still more unjust excommunication the following striking words, Blessed Jesus, they cannot cast me out of thy true church. That record is true. Not all the power of Satan can cast out of Christ's true church one single believer. I trust that no reader of this paper will ever allow fear to prevent his beginning to serve Christ. He to whom you commit your soul has all power in heaven and earth and he will keep you. He will never let you be cast away. Relatives may oppose. Neighbors may mock. The world may slander and ridicule and jest and sneer. Fear not, fear not. The powers of hell shall never prevail against your soul. Greater is he that is for you than all they that are against you. Fear not for the church of Christ when ministers die and saints are taken away. Christ can ever maintain his own cause. He will raise up better saints and brighter stars. The stars are all in his right hand. Leave off all anxious thought about the future. Cease to be cast down by the measures of statesmen or the plots of wolves in sheep's clothing. Christ will ever provide for his own church. Christ will take care that the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. All is going on well though our eyes may not see it. The kingdoms of this world shall yet become the kingdoms of our God and of his Christ. I will now conclude this paper with a few words of practical application. One, my first word of application shall be a question. What shall that question be? What shall I ask? I will return to the point with which I began. I will go back to the first sentence with which I opened my paper. I ask you whether you are a member of the one true church of Christ. Are you in the highest, the best sense, a churchman in the sight of God? You know now what I mean. I look far beyond the church of England. I am not speaking of church or chapel. I speak of the church built upon the rock. I ask you with all solemnity, are you a member of that church? Are you joined to the great foundation? Are you on the rock? Have you received the Holy Ghost? Does the Spirit witness with your spirit that you are one with Christ and Christ with you? I beseech you in the name of God to lay to heart these questions and to ponder them well. If you are not converted, you do not yet belong to the church of the rock. Let every reader of this paper take heed to himself if he cannot give a satisfactory answer to my inquiry. Take heed. Take heed that you do not make shipwreck of your soul to all eternity. Take heed lest at last the gates of hell prevail against you, the devil claim you as his own, and you be cast away forever. Take heed lest you go down to the pit from the land of Bibles and in the full light of Christ's gospel. Take heed lest you are found at the left hand of Christ at last, a lost Episcopalian or a lost Presbyterian, a lost Baptist or a lost Methodist. Lost because with all your zeal for your own party and your own communion table, you never joined the one true church. Number two. My second word of application shall be an invitation. I address it to everyone who is not yet a true believer. I say to you, come and join the one true church without delay. Come and join yourself to the Lord Jesus Christ in an everlasting covenant not to be forgotten. Consider well what I say. I charge you solemnly not to mistake the meaning of my invitation. I do not bid you leave the visible church to which you belong. I abhor all idolatry of forms and parties. I detest a proselytizing spirit. But I do bid you come to Christ and be saved. The day of decision must come sometime. Why not this very hour? Why not today while it is called today? Why not this very night ere the sun rises tomorrow morning? Come to him who died for sinners on the cross and invites all sinners to come to him by faith and be saved. Come to my Master Jesus Christ. Come I say for all things are now ready. Mercy is ready for you. Heaven is ready for you. Angels are ready to rejoice over you. Christ is ready to receive you. Christ will receive you gladly and welcome you among his children. Come into the ark. The flood of God's wrath will soon break upon the earth. Come into the ark and be safe. Come into the lifeboat of one true church. This old world will soon break into pieces. Hear you not the tremblings of it? The world is but a wreck hard upon a sand bank. The night is far spent. The waves are beginning to rise. The wind is getting up. The storm will soon shatter the old wreck. But the lifeboat is launched and we, the ministers of the gospel, beseech you to come into the lifeboat and be saved. We beseech you to arise at once and come to Christ. Dost thou ask how can I come? My sins are too many. I am too wicked yet. I dare not come. Away with the thought. It is the temptation of Satan. Come to Christ as a sinner. Come just as you are. Hear the words of that beautiful hymn. Just as I am without one plea, but that thy blood was shed for me, and that thou bidst me come to thee, O Lamb of God, I come. This is the way to come to Christ. You should come waiting for nothing and tarrying for nothing. You should come as a hungry sinner to be filled, as a poor sinner to be enriched, as a bad, undeserving sinner to be clothed with righteousness. So coming Christ would receive you. Him that cometh to Christ he will in no wise cast out. O come, come to Jesus Christ. Come into the true church by faith and be saved. 3. Last of all let me give a word of exhortation to all believers into whose hands this paper may fall. Strive to live a holy life. Walk worthy of the church to which you belong. Live like citizens of heaven. Let your light shine before men, so that the world may profit by your conduct. Let them know whose you are and whom you serve. Be epistles of Christ, known and read of all men, written in such clear letters that none can say of you, I know not whether this man be a member of Christ or not. He that knows nothing of real practical holiness is no member of the church on the rock. Strive to live a courageous life. Confess Christ before men. Whatever station you occupy in that station, confess Christ. Why should you be ashamed of him? He was not ashamed of you on the cross. He is ready to confess you now before his father in heaven. Why should you be ashamed of him? Be bold. Be very bold. The good soldier is not ashamed of his uniform. The true believer ought never to be ashamed of Christ. Strive to live a joyful life. Live like men who look for that blessed hope, the second coming of Christ. This is the prospect to which we should all look forward. It is not so much the thought of going to heaven as of heaven coming to us. That should fill our minds. There is a good time coming for all the people of God, a good time for all the church of Christ, a good time for all believers, a bad time for the impenitent and unbelieving, but a good time for true Christians. For that good time, let us wait and watch and pray. The scaffolding will soon be taken down. The last stone will soon be brought out. The top stone will be placed upon the edifice. Yet a little time in the full beauty of the church which Christ is building shall be clearly seen. The great master builder will soon come himself. A building shall be shown to assembled worlds in which there shall be no imperfection. The Savior and the saved shall rejoice together. The whole universe shall acknowledge that in the building of Christ's church all was well done. Blessed it shall be said in that day if it was never said before. Blessed are all they who belong to the church on the rock. Chapter 14 Page 229 Visible churches warned. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. Revelation 3.22 I suppose I may take it for granted that every reader of this paper belongs to some visible church of Christ. I do not ask now whether you are an Episcopalian or Presbyterian or Independent. I only suppose that you would not like to be called an Atheist or an Infidel. You attend the public worship of some visible particular or national body of professing Christians. Now, whatever the name of your church may be, I invite your special attention to the verse of Scripture before your eyes. I charge you to remember that the words of that verse concern yourself. They are written for your learning and for all who call themselves Christians. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. This verse is repeated seven times over in the second and third chapters of the book of Revelation. Seven different letters does the Lord Jesus there send by the hand of his servant John to the seven churches of Asia. Seven times over he winds up his letter by the same solemn words. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. Now the Lord God is perfect in all His works. He does nothing by chance. He caused no part of the Scriptures to be written by chance. In all His dealings you may trace design, purpose, and plan. There was design in the size and orbit of each planet. There was design in the shape and structure of the least fly's wing. There was design in every verse of the Bible. There was design in every repetition of a verse wherever it took place. There was design in the sevenfold repetition of the verse before our eyes. It had a meaning and we were intended to observe it. This verse appears to me to call the special attention of all true Christians to the seven epistles to the churches. I believe it was meant to make believers take particular notice of the things which these seven epistles contain. Let me try to point out certain leading truths which these seven epistles seem to me to teach. They are truths for the times we live in. Truths for the latter days. Truths which we cannot know too well. Truths which it would be good for us all to know and feel far better than we do. Number one. I ask my readers to observe in the first place that the Lord Jesus in all the seven epistles speaks of nothing but matters of doctrine, practice, warning, and promise. I ask you to look over these seven epistles to the churches quietly and at your leisure and you will soon see what I mean. You will observe that the Lord Jesus sometimes finds false with false doctrines and ungodly inconsistent practices and rebukes them sharply. You will observe that he sometimes praises faith, patience, work, labor, perseverance, and bestows on these graces high commendation. You will sometimes find him enjoining repentance, amendment, return to the first love, renewed application to himself, and the like. But I want you to observe that you will not find the Lord in any of the epistles dwelling upon church government or ceremonies. He says nothing about sacraments or ordinances. He makes no mention of liturgies or forms. He does not instruct John to write one word about baptism or the Lord's Supper or apostolic succession of ministers. In short, the leading principles of what may be called the sacramental system are not brought forward in any one of the seven epistles from first to last. Now why do I dwell on this? I do it because many professing Christians in the present day would have us believe these things are of first, of cardinal, of paramount importance. There are not a few who seem to hold that there can be no church without a bishop and no godliness without a liturgy. They appear to believe that to teach the value of the sacraments is the first work of the minister and to keep to their parish church the first business of a people. Now let no man misunderstand me when I say this. Do not run away with the notion that I see no importance in sacraments. On the contrary, I regard them as great blessings to all who receive them rightly, worthily, and with faith. Do not fancy that I attach no value to episcopacy, a liturgy, and the parochial system. On the contrary, I consider that a church well administered which has these three things and an evangelical ministry is a far more complete and useful church than one in which they are not to be found. But this I say, that sacraments, church government, the use of a liturgy, the observance of ceremonies and forms are all as nothing compared to faith, repentance, and holiness. And my authority for so saying is the whole tenor of our Lord's words to these seven churches. I never can believe if a certain form of church government was so important as some say, that the great head of the church would have nothing said about it here. I should have expected to have found something said about it to Sardis and Laodicea. But I find nothing at all and I think that silence is a great fact. I cannot help remarking just the same fact in Paul's parting word to the Ephesian elders. Acts 20 verses 27 through 35. He was then leaving them forever. He was giving his last charge on earth and spoke as one who would see the faces of his hearers no more. And yet there is not a word in the church about the sacraments and church government. If ever there was a time for speaking of them, it was then. But he says nothing at all and I believe it was an intentional silence. Now here lies one reason why we, who rightly or wrongly are called evangelical clergy do not preach about bishops and the prayer book and ordinances more than we do. It is not because we do not value them in their place, proportion and way. We do value them as really and truly as any and are thankful for them. But we believe that repentance toward God, faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ and a holy conversation are subjects of far more importance to men's souls. Without these, no man can be saved. These are the first and most weighty matters and therefore on these we dwell. Here again lies one reason why we so often urge on men not to be content with the mere outward part of religion. You must have observed that we often warn you not to rest on church membership and church privileges. We tell you not to be satisfied all is right because you come to church on Sunday and come up to the Lord's table. We often urge you to remember that He is not a Christian who is one outwardly. That you must be born again. That you must have a faith that worketh by love. That there must be a new creation by the Spirit in your heart. We do it because this seems to us the mind of Christ. These are the kind of things He dwells upon when writing seven times over to seven different churches. We feel that if we follow Him we cannot greatly err. I am aware that men charge us with taking low views of the subjects to which I have adverted. It is a small thing that our views are thought low so long as our consciences tell us they are scriptural. High ground, as it is called, is not always safe ground. What Balaam said must be our answer. What the Lord saith, that will I speak. Numbers 24.13 The plain truth is there are two distinct and separate systems of Christianity in England at the present day. It is useless to deny it. Their existence is a great fact and one that cannot be too clearly known. According to one system, religion is a mere corporate business. You are to belong to a certain body of people. By virtue of your membership of this body, vast privileges both for time and eternity are conferred upon you. It matters little what you are and what you feel. You are not to try yourself by your feelings. You are a member of a great ecclesiastical corporation. Then all its privileges and immunities are your own. Do you belong to the one true visible corporation? This is a grand question. According to the other system, religion is eminently a personal business between yourself and Christ. It will not save your soul to be an outward member of any ecclesiastical body whatever, however sound that body may be. Such membership will not wash away one's sin or give you confidence in the day of judgment. There must be personal faith in Christ, personal dealings between yourself and God, personal felt communion between your heart and the Holy Ghost. Have you this personal faith? Have you this felt work of the Spirit in your soul? This is a grand question. If not, you will be lost. This last system is the system which those who are called evangelical ministers cleave to and teach. They do so because they are satisfied that it is the system of Holy Scripture. They do so because they are convinced that any other system is productive of the most dangerous consequences and calculated to delude men fatally as to their actual state. They do so because they believe it to be the only system of teaching which God will bless and that no church will flourish so much as that in which repentance, faith, conversion, and the work of the Spirit are the grand subjects of the minister's sermon. Once more I say, let us often look carefully over the seven epistles to the churches. Number two, I ask my readers in the second place to observe that in every epistle the Lord Jesus says, I know thy works. That repeated expression is very striking. It is not for nothing that we read these words seven times over. To one church the Lord Jesus says, I know thy labor and patience. To another, thy tribulation and poverty. To a third, thy charity and service and faith. But to all he uses the words I now dwell on. I know thy works. It is not I know thy profession, thy desires, thy resolutions, thy wishes, but thy works. I know thy works. The works of a professing Christian are of great importance. They cannot save your soul. They cannot justify you. They cannot wipe out your sins. They cannot deliver you from the wrath of God. But it does not follow because they cannot save you that they are of no importance. Take heed and beware of such a notion. The man who thinks so is fearfully deceived. I often think I could willingly die for the doctrine of justification by faith without the deeds of the law. But I must earnestly contend as a general principle that a man's works are the evidence of a man's religion. If you call yourself a Christian you must show it in your daily ways and daily behavior. Call to mind that the faith of Abraham and of Rahab was proved by their works. James 2 verses 21 through 25 Remember it avails you and me nothing to profess we know God if in works we deny him. Titus 1 16 Remember the words of the Lord Jesus. Every tree is known by its own fruit. Luke 6 44 But whatever the works of a professing Christian may be Jesus says I know them. His eyes are in every place beholding the evil and the good. Proverbs 15 3 You never did an action however private but Jesus saw it. You never spoke a word no not even in a whisper but Jesus heard it. You never wrote a letter even to your dearest friend but Jesus read it. You never thought a thought however secret but Jesus was familiar with it. His eyes are as a flaming fire. The darkness is no darkness with him. All things are open and manifest before him. He says to everyone I know thy works. A. The Lord Jesus knows the works of all impenitent and unbelieving souls and will one day punish them. They are not forgotten in heaven though they may be upon earth. When the great white throne is set and the books are opened the wicked dead will be judged according to their works. B. The Lord Jesus knows the works of his own people and weighs them. By him actions are weighed. 1 Samuel 2 3 He knows the why and the wherefore of the deeds of all believers. He sees their motives in every step they take. He discerns how much is done for his sake and how much is done for the sake of praise. Alas not a few things are done by believers which seem very good to you and me but are rated very low by Christ. C. The Lord Jesus knows the works of all his people and will one day reward them. He never overlooks a kind word or a kind deed done in his name. He will own the least fruit of faith and declare it before the world in the day of his appearing. If you love the Lord Jesus and follow him you may be sure your work and labor shall not be in vain in the Lord. The works of those that die in the Lord shall follow them. Revelation 14 13 They shall not go before them nor yet by their side but they shall follow them and be owned in the day of Christ's appearing. The parable of the pounds shall be made good. Every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor. 1 Corinthians 3 8 The world knows you not for it knows not your master but Jesus sees and knows all. I know thy works. Think what a solemn warning there is here to all worldly and hypocritical professors of religion. Let all such read, mark and digest these words. Jesus says to you, I know thy works. You may deceive me or any other minister. It is easy to do so. You may receive the bread and wine from my hands and yet be cleaving to iniquity in your hearts. You may sit under the pulpit of an evangelical preacher week after week and hear his words with a serious face but not believe them. But remember this, you cannot deceive Christ. He who discovered the deadness of Sardis and the lukewarmness of Laodicea sees you through and through and will expose you at the last day except you repent. Oh, believe me, hypocrisy is a losing game. It will never answer to seem one thing and be another. To have the name of Christian and not the reality. Be sure if your conscience smites you and condemns you in this matter, be sure your sin will find you out. The eye that saw Achan steal the golden wedge and hide it is upon you. The book that recorded the deeds of Gehazi and Ananias and Sapphira is recording your ways. Jesus mercifully sends you a word of warning today. He says, I know thy works. But think also what encouragement there is here for every honest and true hearted believer. To you also Jesus says, I know thy works. You see no beauty in any action that you do. All seems imperfect, blemished and defiled. You are often sick at heart of your own shortcomings. You often feel that your whole life is one great error and that every day is either a blank or a blot. But now know that Jesus can see some beauty in everything that you do from a conscientious desire to please him. His eye can discern excellence in the least thing which is a fruit of his own spirit. He can pick out the grains of gold from amidst the dross of your performances and sift the wheat from amidst the chaff in all your doings. Your tears are all put into his bottle. Your endeavors to do good to others, however feeble, are written in his book of remembrance. The least cup of water given in his name shall not lose its reward. He does not forget your work and labor of love however little the world may regard it. It is very wonderful but so it is. Jesus loves to honor the work of his spirit in his people and to pass over their frailties. He dwells on the faith of Rahab but not on her lie. He commends his apostles for continuing with him in his temptations and passes over their ignorance and want of faith. Luke 22 28 Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. Psalm 103 13 And as a father finds a pleasure in the least acts of his children, of which a stranger knows nothing, so I suppose the Lord finds a pleasure in our poor feeble efforts to serve him. But it is all very wonderful. I can well understand the righteous in the day of judgment, saying, Lord, when saw we thee, and hungered and fed thee, or thirsty and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger and took thee in, or naked and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick or in prison and came unto thee? Matthew 25 verses 37-39 It may well seem incredible and impossible that they can have done anything worth naming in the great day. Yet so it is. Let all believers take the comfort of it. The Lord says, I know thy works. It ought to humble you, but it ought not to make you afraid. Number 3 I ask my readers to observe in the third and last place that in every epistle the Lord Jesus makes a promise to the man that overcomes. Seven times over Jesus gives to the churches exceeding great and precious promises. Each is different and each full of strong consolation, but each is addressed to the overcoming Christian. It is always he that overcometh, or to him that overcometh. I ask you to take notice of this. Every professing Christian is a soldier of Christ. He is bound by his baptism to fight Christ's battle against sin, the world, and the devil. The man that does not do this breaks his vow. He is a spiritual defaulter. He does not fulfill the engagements made for him. The man that does not do this is practically renouncing his Christianity. The very fact that he belongs to a church, attends a Christian place of worship, and calls himself a Christian is a public declaration that he desires to be reckoned a soldier of Jesus Christ. Armor is provided for the professing Christian if he will only use it. Take unto you, says Paul to the Ephesians, the whole armor of God. Stand, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And above all, take the shield of faith. Ephesians 6 verses 13-17 And not least, the professing Christian has the best of leaders, Jesus the captain of salvation, through whom he may be more than conqueror. The best of provisions, the bread and water of life, and the best of pay promised to him, an eternal weight of glory. All these are ancient things. I will not be drawn off from my subject in order to dwell on them now. The one point I want to impress upon your soul just now is this, that the true believer is not only a soldier but a victorious soldier. He not only professes to fight on Christ's side against sin, the world and the devil, but he actually does fight and overcome. Now this is one grand distinguishing mark of true Christians. Other men perhaps like to be numbered in the ranks of Christ's army. Other men may have lazy wishes and languid desires after the crown of glory. But it is the true Christian alone who does the work of a soldier. He alone fairly meets the enemies of his soul, really fights with them, and in that fight overcomes them. One great lesson I want men to learn from these seven epistles is this, that if you would prove you are born again and going to heaven, you must be a victorious soldier of Christ. If you would make it clear that you have any title to Christ's precious promises, you must fight the good fight in Christ's cause, and in that fight you must conquer. Victory is the only satisfactory evidence that you have a saving religion. You like good sermons perhaps. You respect the Bible and read it occasionally. You say your prayers night and morning. You have family prayers and give to religious societies. I thank God for this. It is all very well. But how goes the battle? How does the great conflict go on all this time? Are you overcoming the love of the world and the fear of man? Are you overcoming the passions, tempers, and lusts of your own heart? Are you resisting the devil and making him flee from you? How is it in this matter? You must either rule or serve sin and the devil and the world. There is no middle course. You must either conquer or be lost. I know well it is a hard battle that you have to fight and I want you to know it too. You must fight the good fight of faith and endure hardships if you would lay hold of eternal life. You must make up your mind to a daily struggle if you would reach heaven. There may be short roads to heaven invented by man, but ancient Christianity, the good old way, is the way of the cross, the way of conflict. Sin, the world, and the devil must be actually mortified, resisted, and overcome. This is the road that saints of old have trodden in and left their record on high. A. When Moses refused the pleasures of sin in Egypt and chose affliction with the people of God, this was overcoming. He overcame the love of pleasure. B. When Micaiah refused to prophecy smooth things to King Ahab, though he knew he would be persecuted if he spoke the truth, this was overcoming. He overcame the love of ease. C. When Daniel refused to give up praying, though he knew the den of lions was prepared for him, this was overcoming. He overcame the fear of death. D. When Matthew rose from the receipt of custom and our Lord's bidding, left all and followed him, this was overcoming. He overcame the love of money. E. When Peter and John stood up boldly before the council and said, We cannot but speak the things we have seen and heard, this was overcoming. They overcame the fear of man. F. When Saul the Pharisee gave up all his prospects of preferment among the Jews and preached that very Jesus whom he had once persecuted, this was overcoming. He overcame the love of man's praise. The same kind of thing which these men did, you must also do if you would be saved. They were men of like passions with yourself, and yet they overcame. They had as many trials as you can possibly have, and yet they overcame. They fought, they wrestled, they struggled. You must do the same. What was the secret of their victory? Their faith. They believed on Jesus, and believing were made strong. They believed on Jesus, and believing were held up. In all their battles they kept their eye on Jesus, and he never left them nor forsook them. They overcame by the blood of the Lamb, and the word of their testimony. And so may you. Revelation 12, 11 I set these words before you. I ask you to lay them to heart. Resolve by the grace of God to be an overcoming Christian. I fear much for many professing Christians. I see no sign of fighting in them, much less of victory. They never strike one stroke on the side of Christ. They are at peace with his enemies. They have no quarrel with sin. I warn you, this is not Christianity. This is not the way to heaven. I often fear much for those who hear the Gospel regularly. I fear lest you become so familiar with the sound of its doctrines, that insensibly you become dead to its power. I fear lest your religion should sink down into a little vague talk about your own weakness and corruption, and a few sentimental expressions about Christ, while real, practical fighting on Christ's side is altogether neglected. Oh, beware of this state of mind. Be doers of the word, and not hearers only. No victory, no crown. Fight and overcome. James 1, 22 Young men and women, and especially those who have been brought up in religious families, I fear much for you. I fear lest you get a habit of giving way to every temptation. I fear lest you become afraid of saying no to the world and the devil. And when sinners entice you, think it least trouble to consent. Beware, I do beseech you of giving way. Every confession will make you weaker. Go into the world resolved to fight Christ's battle and fight your way on. Believers in the Lord Jesus of every church and rank in life, I feel much for you. I know your course is hard. I know it is a sore battle you have to fight. I know you are often tempted to say it is of no use and to lay down your arms altogether. Cheer up, dear brethren and sisters. Take comfort, I entreat you. Look at the bright side of your position. Be encouraged to fight on. The time is short. The Lord is at hand. The night is far spent. Millions as weak as you have fought the same fight. Not one of all those millions has finally been led captive by Satan. Mighty are your enemies, but the captain of your salvation is mightier still. His arm, his grace, and his spirit shall hold you up. Cheer up and be not cast down. What though you lose a battle or two, you shall not lose all. What though you faint sometimes, you shall not be quite cast down. What though you fall seven times, you shall not be destroyed. Watch against sin, and sin shall not have dominion over you. Resist the devil, and he shall flee from you. Come out boldly from this world, and the world shall be obliged to let you go. You shall find yourselves in the end more than conquerors you shall overcome. Let me draw from the whole subject a few words of application, and then I have done. Number one. For one thing, let me warn all who are living only for the world, to take heed what they are doing. You are enemies to Christ, though you may not know it. He marks your ways, though you turn your backs on him, and refuse to give him your hearts. He is observing your daily life, and reading your daily ways. There will yet be a resurrection of all your thoughts, words, and actions. You may forget them, but God does not. You may be careless about them, but they are carefully marked down in the Book of Remembrance. This Reformation audio track is a production of Stillwater's Revival Books. SWRB makes thousands of classic Reformation resources available, free and for sale, in audio, video, and printed formats. Our many free resources, as well as our complete mail-order catalog, containing thousands of classic and contemporary Puritan and Reformed books, tapes, and videos at great discounts, is on the web at www.swrb.com. the scriptural law of worship, commenting on the words of God, which I commanded them not, neither came into my heart. From his commentary on Jeremiah 731, writes, God here cuts off from men every occasion for making evasions, since he condemns by this one phrase, I have not commanded them, whatever the Jews devised. There is then no other argument needed to condemn superstitions, than that they are not commanded by God. For when men allow themselves to worship God according to their own fancies, and attend not to his commands, they pervert true religion. And if this principle was adopted by the Papists, all those fictitious modes of worship, in which they absurdly exercise themselves, would fall to the ground. It is indeed a horrible thing for the Papists to seek to discharge their duties towards God, by performing their own superstitions. There is an immense number of them, as it is well known, and as it manifestly appears. Were they to admit this principle, that we cannot rightly worship God, except by obeying his word, they would be delivered from their deep abyss of error. The Prophet's words then are very important, when he says that God had commanded no such thing, and that it never came to his mind. As though he had said, that men assume too much wisdom, when they devise what he never required, nay, what he never knew.