Holiness: Its Nature, Hindrances, Difficulties and Roots

Chapter 16, page 254 Without Christ Ye are without Christ Ephesians 2-12 The text which heads this paper describes the state of the Ephesians before they became Christians But that is not all It describes the state of every man and woman in England who is not converted to God A more miserable state cannot be conceived It is bad enough to be without money, or without help, or without home, or without friends But it is far worse to be without Christ Let us examine the text this day and see what it contains Who can tell but it may prove a message from God to some reader of this paper 1. Let us consider in the first place when it can be said of a man that he is without Christ The expression without Christ, be it remembered, is not one of my own invention The words were not first coined by me, but were written under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost They were used by St. Paul when he was reminding the Ephesian Christians what their former condition was before they heard the gospel and believed 2. Ignorant and dark no doubt they had been, buried in idolatry and heathenism, worshippers of the false goddess Diana But all this he passes over completely He seems to think that this would only partially describe their state So he draws a picture of which the very first feature is the expression before us At that time ye were without Christ, Ephesians 2.12 Now what does the expression mean? A. A man is without Christ when he has no head knowledge of Him Millions no doubt are in this condition They know not who Christ is, nor what He has done, nor what He taught, nor why He was crucified, nor where He is now, nor what He is to mankind In short they are entirely ignorant of Him The heathen of course who never yet heard the gospel come first under this description But unhappily they do not stand alone There are thousands of people living in England at this very day Who have hardly any clearer ideas about Christ than the very heathen Ask them what they know about Jesus Christ And you will be astounded at the gross darkness which covers their minds Visit them on their deathbeds And you will find that they can tell you no more about Christ than about Mohammed Thousands are in this state in country parishes and thousands in towns And about all such persons but one account can be given They are without Christ I am aware that some modern divines do not take the view which I have just stated They tell us that all mankind have a part and interest in Christ whether they know Him or not They say that all men and women however ignorant while they live shall be taken by Christ's mercy to heaven when they die Such views I firmly believe cannot be reconciled with God's word It is written this is life eternal that they might know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent John 17 3 It is one of the marks of the wicked on whom God shall take vengeance at the last day that they know not God 2 Thessalonians 1 8 An unknown Christ is no savior What shall be the state of the heathen after death? How shall the savage who never heard the gospel be judged? In what manner will God deal with the helplessly ignorant and uneducated? All these are questions which we may safely let alone We may rest assured that the judge of all the earth will do right Genesis 18 25 But we must not fly in the face of scripture If Bible words mean anything to be ignorant of Christ is to be without Christ B But this is not all a man is without Christ when he has no heart faith in him as his savior It is quite possible to know all about Christ and yet not to put our trust in him There are multitudes who know every article of the belief and can tell you glibly that Christ was born of the Virgin Mary suffered under Pontius Pilate was crucified dead and buried They learned it at school They have it sticking fast in their memories But they make no practical use of their knowledge They put their trust in something which is not Christ They hope to go to heaven because they are moral and well conducted Because they say their prayers and go to church Because they have been baptized and go to the Lord's table But as to a lively faith in God's mercy through Christ A real intelligent confidence in Christ's blood and righteousness and intercession These are things of which they know nothing at all And of all such persons I can see but one true account They are without Christ I am aware that many do not admit the truth of what I have just said Some tell us that all baptized people are members of Christ by virtue of their baptism Others tell us that where there is a head knowledge We have no right to question a person's interest in Christ To these views I have only one plain answer The Bible forbids us to say that any man is joined to Christ until he believes Baptism is no proof that we are joined to Christ Simon Magus was baptized and yet was distinctly told that he had no part or lot in this matter Acts 8.21 Head knowledge is no proof that we are joined to Christ The devils know Christ well enough but have no portion in Him God knows no doubt who are His from all eternity But man knows nothing of anyone's justification until he believes The grand question is, do we believe? It is written, he that believeth not the Son shall not see life But the wrath of God abideth on him He that believeth not shall be damned John 3.36 and Mark 16.16 If Bible words mean anything, to be without faith is to be without Christ See, but I have yet one thing more to say A man is without Christ when the Holy Spirit's work cannot be seen in his life Who can avoid seeing if he uses his eyes That myriads of professing Christians know nothing of inward conversion of heart They will tell you that they believe the Christian religion They go to their places of worship with tolerable regularity They think it a proper thing to be married and buried with all the ceremonies of the church They would be much offended if their Christianity were doubted But where is the Holy Ghost to be seen in their lives? What are their hearts and affections set upon? Who is the image and superscription that stands out in their tastes and habits and ways? Alas, there can only be one reply They know nothing experimentally of the renewing, sanctifying work of the Holy Ghost They are yet dead to Christ And of all such, only one account can be given They are without Christ I am well aware again that few will admit this The vast majority will tell you that it is extreme and wild And extravagant to require so much in Christians And to press on everyone conversion They will say that it is impossible to keep up the high standard which I just referred to Without going out of the world And that we may surely go to heaven without being such very great saints To all this I can only reply What sayeth the scripture? What sayeth the Lord? It is written, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God Except ye be converted and become as little children Ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven He that sayeth he abideth in Christ ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked If any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of his The scripture cannot be broken If Bible words mean anything, to be without the spirit is to be without Christ I commend the three propositions I have just laid down to your serious and prayerful consideration Mark well what they come to Examine them carefully on every side In order to have a saving interest in Christ Knowledge, faith and the grace of the Holy Ghost are absolutely needful He that is without them is without Christ How painfully ignorant are many They know literally nothing about religion Christ and the Holy Ghost and faith and grace and conversion and sanctification are mere words and names to them They could not explain what they mean if it were to save their lives And can such ignorance as this take anyone to heaven? Impossible, without knowledge, without Christ How painfully self-righteous are many They can talk complacently about having done their duty and being kind to everybody And having always kept to their church And having never been so very bad as some And therefore they seem to think they must go to heaven And as to deep sense of sin and sinful faith in Christ's blood and sacrifice These seem to have no place in their religion Their talk is all of doing and never of believing And will such self-righteousness as this land anyone in heaven? Never, without faith, without Christ How painfully ungodly are many They live in the habitual neglect of God's Sabbath, God's Bible, God's ordinances and God's sacraments They think nothing of doing things which God has flatly forbidden They are constantly living in ways which are directly contrary to God's commandments And can such ungodliness end in salvation? Impossible, without the Holy Ghost, without Christ I know well that at first sight these statements seem hard and sharp and rough and severe But after all, are they not God's truth as revealed to us in scripture? If truth, ought they not to be made known? If necessary to be known, ought they not to be plainly laid down? If I know anything of my own heart, I desire above all things To magnify the riches of God's love to sinners I long to tell all mankind what a wealth of mercy and loving kindness there is laid up in God's heart For all who will seek it But I cannot find anywhere that ignorant and unbelieving and unconverted people have any part in Christ If I am wrong, I shall be thankful to anyone who will show me a more excellent way But till I am shown it, I must stand fast on the positions I have already laid down I dare not forsake them, lest I be found guilty of handling God's word deceitfully I dare not be silent about them, lest the blood of souls be required at my hands The man without knowledge, without faith, and without the Holy Ghost is a man without Christ Let me now turn to another point which I wish to consider What is the actual condition of a man without Christ? This is a branch of our present subject that demands very special attention Thankful indeed should I be, if I could exhibit it in its true colors I can easily imagine some reader saying to himself Well, suppose I am without Christ Where is the mighty harm? I hope God will be merciful I am no worse than many others I trust all will be right at last Listen to me and by God's help I will try to show you You are sadly deceived Without Christ all will not be right but all desperately wrong A. For one thing to be without Christ is to be without God The Apostle St. Paul told the Ephesians as much as this in plain words He ends the famous sentence which begins Ye were without Christ by saying Ye were without God in the world And who that thinks can wonder That man can have very low ideas of God Who does not conceive him a most pure and holy and glorious and spiritual being That man must be very blind who does not see that human nature is corrupt and sinful and defiled How then can such a worm as man draw near to God without comfort? How can he look up to Him with confidence and not feel afraid? How can he speak to Him, have dealings with Him Look forward to dwelling with Him without dread and alarm There must be a mediator between God and man And there is but one that can fill the office That one is Christ Who art thou that talkest of God's mercy and God's love Separate from and independent of Christ There is no such love and mercy recorded in Scripture Know this day that God out of Christ is a consuming fire Hebrews 12.29 Merciful He is beyond all question Rich in mercy, plenteous in mercy But His mercy is inseparably connected with the mediation of His beloved Son Jesus Christ It must flow through Him as the appointed channel Or it cannot flow at all It is written He that honoreth not the Son Honoreth not the Father which hath sent Him I am the way, the truth, and the life No man cometh unto the Father but by me John 5.23 And 14.6 Without Christ we are without God B. For another thing to be without Christ is to be without peace Every man has a conscience within him Which must be satisfied before he can truly be happy So long as this conscience is asleep or half dead So long no doubt he gets along pretty well But as soon as a man's conscience wakes up And he begins to think of past sins And present failings And future judgment At once he finds out that he needs something to give him inward rest But what can do it? Repenting and praying And Bible reading And church going And sacrament receiving And self mortification may be tried And tried in vain They never yet took off the burden from anyone's conscience And yet peace must be had There is only one thing can give peace to the conscience And that is the blood of Jesus Christ sprinkled on it A clear understanding that Christ's death was an actual payment of our debt to God And that the merit of that death is made over to man when he believes Is the grand secret of inward peace It meets every craving of conscience It answers every accusation It calms every fear It is written these things I have spoken unto you That in me ye might have peace He is our peace Being justified by faith we have peace with God Through our Lord Jesus Christ John 16.33 Ephesians 2.14 And Romans 5.1 We have peace through the blood of his cross Peace like a deep mine Peace like an ever flowing stream But without Christ we are without peace C. For another thing to be without Christ is to be without hope Hope of some sort or other almost everyone thinks he possesses Rarely indeed will you find a man who will boldly tell you that he has no hope at all about his soul But how few there are that can give a reason of the hope that is in them 1 Peter 3.15 How few can explain it, describe it, and show its foundations How many a hope is nothing better than a vague empty feeling Which the day of sickness and the hour of death will prove to be utterly useless Impotent alike to comfort or to save There is but one hope that has roots, life, strength, and solidness And that is the hope which is built on the great rock of Christ's work and office as man's redeemer Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid which is Jesus Christ 1 Corinthians 3.11 He that buildeth on this cornerstone shall not be confounded About this hope there is reality It will bear looking at and handling It will meet every inquiry Search it through and through and you will find no flaw whatever in it All other hopes besides this are worthless Like summer-dried fountains they fail man just when his need is the sorest They are like unsound ships which look so well as they lie quiet in harbor But when the winds and the waves of the ocean begin to try them Their rotten condition is discovered and they sink beneath the waters There is no such thing as a good hope without Christ And without Christ is to have no hope Ephesians 2.12 D. For another thing to be without Christ is to be without heaven In saying this I do not merely mean that there is no entrance into heaven But that without Christ there could be no happiness in being there A man without a savior and redeemer could never feel at home in heaven He would feel that he had no lawful right or title to be there Boldness and confidence and ease of heart would be impossible Amidst pure and holy angels under the eyes of a pure and holy God He could not hold up his head he would feel confounded and ashamed It is the very essence of all true views of heaven that Christ is there Who art thou that dreamest of a heaven in which Christ has no place Awake to know thy folly Know that in every description of heaven which the Bible contains The presence of Christ is one essential feature In the midst of the throne, says St. John, stood a lamb as it had been slain The very throne of heaven is called the throne of God and of the lamb The lamb is in the light of heaven and the temple of it The saints who dwell in heaven are to be fed by the lamb And led to living fountains of waters The meeting of the saints in heaven is called the marriage supper of the lamb Revelation 5, 6, 22, 3, 21, 22, 23, 7, 17, 19, 9 A heaven without Christ would not be the heaven of the Bible To be without Christ is to be without heaven I might easily add to these things I might tell you that to be without Christ is to be without life Without strength, without safety, without foundation Without a friend in heaven, without righteousness None so badly off as those that are without Christ What the ark was to Noah What the Passover lamb was to Israel in Egypt What the manna, the smitten rock, the brazen serpent The pillar of cloud and fire The scapegoat were to the tribes in the wilderness All this the Lord Jesus is meant to be to man's soul None so destitute as those that are without Christ What the root is to the branches What the air is to our lungs What food and water are to our bodies What the sun is to creation All this and much more Christ is intended to be to us None so helpless, none so pitiable as those that are without Christ I grant that if there were no such things as sickness and death If men and women never grew old and lived on this earth forever The subject of this paper would be of no importance But you must know that sickness, death and the grave are sad realities If this life were all If there were no judgment, no heaven, no hell, no eternity It would be mere waste of time to trouble yourself With such inquiries as this tract suggests But you have got a conscience You know well that there is a reckoning day beyond the grave There is a judgment yet to come Surely the subject of this paper is no light matter It is not a small thing and one that does not signify It demands the attention of every sensible person It lies at the very root of that all important question The salvation of souls To be without Christ is to be most miserable Number one And now I ask everyone who has read this paper through To examine himself and find out his precise condition Are you without Christ? Do not allow life to pass away without some serious thoughts and self-inquiry You cannot always go on as you do now A day must come when eating and drinking and sleeping and dressing And making merry and spending money will have an end There will be a day when your place will be empty And you will be only spoken of as one dead and gone And where will you be then If you have lived and died without thought about your soul Without God and without Christ Oh remember it is better a thousand times to be without money And health and friends and company and good cheer Than to be without Christ Two If you have lived without Christ hitherto I invite you in all affection to change your course without delay Seek the Lord Jesus while he may be found Call upon him while he is near He is sitting at God's right hand Able to save to the uttermost everyone who comes to him However sinful and careless he may have been He is sitting at God's right hand Willing to hear the prayer of everyone who feels that his past life has been all wrong And wants to be set right Seek Christ Seek Christ without delay Acquaint yourself with him Do not be ashamed to apply to him Only become one of Christ's friends this year And you will say one day it was the happiest year that you ever had Three If you have become one of Christ's friends already I exhort you to be a thankful man Awake to a deeper sense of the infinite mercy of having an almighty Savior A title to heaven A home that is eternal A friend that never dies A few more years and all our family gatherings will be over What a comfort to think that we have in Christ something that we can never lose Awake to a deeper sense of the sorrowful state of those who are without Christ We are often reminded of the many who are without food or clothing or school or church Let us pity them and help them as far as we can But let us never forget that there are people whose state is far more pitiable Who are they? The people without Christ Have we relatives without Christ? Let us feel for them Pray for them Speak to the King about them Strive to recommend the gospel to them Let us leave no stone unturned in our efforts to bring them to Christ Have we neighbors without Christ? Let us labor in every way for their soul salvation The night cometh when none can work Happy is he who lives under the abiding conviction That to be in Christ is peace, safety and happiness And that to be without Christ is to be on the brink of destruction Chapter 12, page 262 Thirst Relieved In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water John 7, verses 37 and 38 The text which heads this chapter contains one of those mighty sayings of Christ Which deserve to be printed in letters of gold All the stars in heaven are bright and beautiful Yet even a child can see that one star exceleth another in glory All scripture is given by inspiration of God But that heart must indeed be cold and dull Which does not feel that some verses are peculiarly rich and full Of such verses, this text is one In order to see the whole force and beauty of the text We must remember the place, the time, and the occasion when it comes in The place, then, was Jerusalem, the metropolis of Judaism And the stronghold of priests and scribes, of Pharisees and Sadducees The occasion was the Feast of Tabernacles One of those great annual feasts when every Jew, if he could Went up to the temple according to the law The time was the last day of the feast When all the ceremonies were drawing to a close When the water drawn from the fountain of Siloam According to traditional custom Had been solemnly poured on the altar And nothing remained for worshippers but to return home At this critical moment, our Lord Jesus Christ Stood forward on a prominent place And spoke to the assembled crowds I doubt not, he read their hearts He saw them going away with aching consciences and unsatisfied minds Having got nothing from their blind teachers, the Pharisees and Sadducees And carrying away nothing but a barren recollection of pompous forms He saw and pitied them and cried aloud like a herald If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink That this was all our Lord said on this memorable occasion I take leave to doubt I suspect it is only the keynote of his address But this, I imagine, was the first sentence that fell from his lips If any man thirst, let him come unto me If anyone wants living, satisfying water Let him come unto me Let me remind my readers in passing That no prophet or apostle ever took on himself To use such language as this Come with us, said Moses to Hobab Numbers 10-29 Come to the waters, says Isaiah Isaiah 55 verse 1 Behold the Lamb, says John the Baptist John 1-29 Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, says St. Paul Acts 16-31 But no one except Jesus of Nazareth ever said, Come to me That fact is very significant He that said, Come to me Knew and felt, when he said it That he was the eternal Son of God The promised Messiah, the Saviour of the world There are three points in this great saying of our Lord To which I now propose to direct attention 1. You have a case supposed, if any man thirst 2. You have a remedy proposed Let him come unto me and drink 3. You have a promise held out He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living waters Each of these points concerns all Into whose hands this paper may fall On each of them I have somewhat to say 1. In the first place, then, you have a case supposed Our Lord says, if any man thirst Bodily thirst is notoriously the most painful sensation To which the frame of mortal man is liable Read the story of the miserable sufferers in the black hole at Calcutta Ask anyone who has traveled over desert plains under a tropical sun Hear what any old soldier will tell you Is the chief want of the wounded on the battlefield Remember what the crews of ships lost in mid-ocean Tossed for days in boats without water go through Mark the awful words of the rich man in the parable Send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water To cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame The testimony is unvarying There is nothing so terrible and hard to bear as thirst But if bodily thirst is so painful How much more painful is thirst of soul? Physical suffering is not the worst part of eternal punishment It is a light thing even in this world Compared to the suffering of the mind and inward man To see the value of our souls And find out they are in danger of eternal ruin To feel the burden of unforgiven sin And not to know where to turn for relief To have a conscience sick and ill at ease And to be ignorant of the remedy To discover that we are dying, dying daily And yet unprepared to meet God To have some clear view of our own guilt and wickedness And yet to be in utter darkness about absolution This is the highest degree of pain The pain which drinks up soul and spirit And pierces joints and marrow And this no doubt is the thirst of which our Lord is speaking It is thirst after pardon, forgiveness, absolution, and peace with God It is the craving of a really awakened conscience Wanting satisfaction and not knowing where to find it Walking through dry places and unable to get rest This is the thirst which the Jews felt When Peter preached to them on the day of Pentecost It is written that they were pricked in their heart and said Men and brethren, what shall we do? Acts 2.37 This is the thirst which the Philippian jailer felt When he awoke to consciousness of his spiritual danger And felt the earthquake making the prison real under his feet It is written that he came trembling And fell down before Paul and Silas And brought them out saying Sirs, what must I do to be saved? Acts 16.30 This is the thirst which many of the greatest servants of God Seem to have felt when light first broke in on their minds Augustine seeking rest among the Manchean heretics And finding none Luther groping after truth among monks in Erfurt monastery John Bunyan agonizing amidst doubts and conflicts in his Elstow cottage George Whitfield groaning under self-imposed austerities Or want of clear teaching when an undergraduate at Oxford All have left on record their experience I believe they all knew what our Lord meant when he spoke of thirst And surely it is not too much to say That all of us ought to know something of this thirst If not as much as Augustine, Luther, Bunyan or Whitfield Living as we do in a dying world Knowing as we do if we will confess it That there is a world beyond the grave And that after death comes the judgment Feeling as we must do in our better moments What poor, weak, unstable, defective creatures we all are And how unfit to meet God Conscious as we must be in our inmost heart of hearts That on our use of time depends our place in eternity We ought to feel and to realize something like thirst For a sense of peace with the living God But alas, nothing proves so conclusively the fallen nature of man As the general, common want of spiritual appetite For money, for power, for pleasure, for rank, for honor, for distinction For all these the vast majority are now intensely thirsting To lead forlorn hopes, to dig for gold, to storm a beach To try to hew a way through thick-ribbed ice to the North Pole For all these objects there is no lack of adventurers and volunteers Fierce and unceasing is the competition for these corruptible crowns But few indeed by comparison are those who thirst after eternal life No wonder that the natural man is called in scripture Dead, and sleeping, and blind, and deaf No wonder that he is said to need a second birth and a new creation There is no surer symptom of mortification in the body Than the loss of all feeling There is no more painful sight of an unhealthy state of soul Than an utter absence of spiritual thirst Woe to that man of whom the Savior can say Thou knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked Revelation 3.17 But who is there among the readers of this paper that feels the burden of sin And longs for peace with God? Who is there that really feels the words of our prayer book confession I have erred and strayed like a lost sheep There is no health in me, I am a miserable offender Who is there that enters into the fullness of our communion service And can say with truth The remembrance of my sins is grievous And the burden of them is intolerable You are the man that ought to thank God A sense of sin, guilt, and poverty of soul Is the first stone laid by the Holy Ghost when he builds a spiritual temple He convinces of sin Light was the first thing called into being in the material creation Genesis 1.3 Light about our own state is the first work in the new creation Thirsting soul, I say again You are the person who ought to thank God The kingdom of God is near you It is not when we begin to feel good But when we feel bad That we take the first step towards heaven Who taught thee that thou wast naked Whence came this inward light Who opened thine eyes and made thee see and feel Know this day that flesh and blood hath not revealed these things unto thee But our Father which is in heaven Universities may confer degrees And schools may impart knowledge of all mysteries But they cannot make men feel sin To realize our spiritual need And feel through spiritual thirst Is the ABC in saving Christianity It is a great saying of Elihu in the book of Job God looketh upon men And if any say I have sinned And perverted that which was right And it profited me not He will deliver his soul from death And his life shall see the light Job 33 verses 27 and 28 Let him that knows anything of spiritual thirst Not be ashamed Rather let him lift up his head and begin to hope Let him pray that God would carry on the work he has begun And make him feel more Two I pass from the case supposed To the remedy proposed If any man thirsts Says our blessed Lord Jesus Christ Let him come unto me and drink There is a grand simplicity about this little sentence Which cannot be too much admired There is not a word in it of which the literal meaning Is not plain to a child Yet simple as it appears It is rich in spiritual meaning Like the cordineur diamond Which you may carry between finger and thumb It is of unspeakable value It solves that mighty problem Which all the philosophers of Greece and Rome Could never solve How can man have peace with God? Place it in your memory side by side With six other golden sayings of our Lord I am the bread of life He that cometh to me shall never hunger And he that believeth on me shall never thirst I am the light of the world He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness But shall have the light of life I am the door By me if any man enter in He shall be saved I am the way, the truth and the life No man cometh unto the Father but by me Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden And I will give you rest Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out Add to these six texts the one before you today Get the whole seven by heart Rivet them down in your mind and never let them go When your feet touch the cold river On the bed of sickness and in the hour of death You will find these seven texts all above price John 6.35 8.12 10.9 14.6 Matthew 11.28 John 6.37 For what is the sum and substance of these simple words? It is this Christ is that fountain of living water Which God has graciously provided for thirsting souls From him as out of the rock smitten by Moses There flows an abundant stream for all who travel Through the wilderness of this world In him as our redeemer and substitute Crucified for our sins and raised again for our justification There is an endless supply of all that men can need Pardon, absolution, mercy, grace, peace, rest, relief, comfort and hope This rich provision Christ has bought for us At the price of his own precious blood To open this wondrous fountain he suffered for sin The just for the unjust And bore our sins in his own body on the tree He was made sin for us who knew no sin That we might be made the righteousness of God in him 1 Peter 2.24 3.18 2 Corinthians 5.21 And now he is sealed and appointed To be the reliever of all who are laboring and heavy laden And the giver of living water to all who thirst It is his office to receive sinners It is his pleasure to give them pardon, life and peace And the words of the text are a proclamation he makes to all mankind If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink The efficacy of a medicine depends in great measure On the manner in which it is used The best prescription of the best physician is useless If we refuse to follow the directions which accompany it Suffer the word of exhortation While I offer some caution and advice about the fountain of living water A. He that thirsts and wants relief must come to Christ himself He must not be content with coming to his church and his ordinances Or to the assemblies of his people for prayer and praise He must not stop short even at his holy table Or rest satisfied with privately opening his heart to his ordained ministers O no, he that is content with only drinking these waters Shall thirst again, John 4.13 He must go higher, further, much further than this He must have personal dealings with Christ himself All else in religion is worthless without him The king's palace, the attendant servants The richly furnished banqueting house, the very banquet itself All are nothing unless we speak with the king His hand alone can take the burden off our backs and make us feel free The hand of man may take the stone from the grave and show the dead But none but Jesus can say to the dead, come forth and live John 11.41-43 We must deal directly with Christ B. Again, he that thirsts and wants relief from Christ must actually come to him It is not enough to wish and talk and mean and intend and resolve and hope Hell, that awful reality is truly said to be paved with good intentions Thousands are yearly lost in this fashion and perish miserably just outside the harbour Meaning and intending they live, meaning and intending they die O no, we must arise and come If the prodigal son had been content with saying How many hired servants of my father have bread enough and to spare And I perish with hunger I hope someday to return home He might have remained forever among the swine It was when he arose and came to his father That his father ran to meet him and said Bring forth the best robe and put it on him Let us eat and be merry Luke 15.20-23 Like him we must not only come to ourselves and think But we must actually come to the high priest, to Christ We must come to the physician C. Once again, he that thirsts and wants to come to Christ Must remember that simple faith is the one thing required By all means let him come with a penitent, broken and contrite heart But let him not dream of resting on that for acceptance Faith is the only hand that can carry the living water to our lips Faith is the hinge on which all turns in the matter of our justification It is written again and again that whosoever believeth Shall not perish, but have eternal life John 3.15-16 To him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly His faith is counted for righteousness Romans 4.5 Happy is he that can lay hold on the principle laid down in that matchless hymn Just as I am, without one plea, but that thy blood was shed for me And that thou bid'st me come to thee, O Lamb of God, I come How simple this remedy for thirst appears But oh how hard it is to persuade some persons to receive it Tell them to do some great thing, to mortify their bodies To go on pilgrimage, to give all their goods to feed the poor And so to merit salvation, and they will try to do as they are bid 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 contain thousands of classic and contemporary Puritan and Reform books and videos at great discounts is on the web at www.swrb.com We can also be reached by email at swrb at swrb.com By phone at 780-450-3730 By fax at 780-468-1096 Or by mail at 4710-37A Edmonton Alberta Canada T6L 3T5 You may also request a free printed catalog And remember that John Calvin, in defending the Reformation's Regulative Principle of Worship, or what is sometimes called 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