GC - 05-Happy Consequences of Observing all the Christ has Commanded

5. Happy consequences of observing all that Christ has commanded.

It has been proved, I hope, with sufficient clearness and fullness, in the preceding chapter, that God has given to us through Christ and His Apostles, a perfect guide of life-a guide which is neither too exacting nor too latitudinarian, but which is divinely adapted to the capacity, wants, and circumstances of all men. It should be carefully remembered, however, that it is not the mere having of this guide, but the faithful observance of all its requirements, that makes us happy. "Not everyone," says Christ, "that saith unto me, ’Lord, Lord,’ shall enter into the kingdom of Heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 7:21). And again He says, "If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them" (John 13:17). So, also, Paul testifies in his letter to the Romans. "Not the hearers of the law," he says, "are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified" (Romans 2:13). And James, in his letter "to the twelve tribes scattered abroad," says, with equal point and clearness, "Whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his doing" (James 1:25).

I wish, then, to notice in this closing chapter, some of the happy consequences that would follow from a careful observance of all that Christ has required of us through the Apostles. And, for the sake of order and perspicuity, I will notice

1. Personal benefits to individual believers. When God created man, He endowed him with certain desires and appetites, in harmony with the sphere and rank which he was to occupy in the scale of creation. The normal exercise and gratification of these were not only right and proper in themselves, but they were, in fact, essential to the existence, propagation, and happiness of the race. So long as man remained in a state of innocence, they were to him a source of unmingled pleasure. But, when sin came, all was changed. No power or susceptibility of the soul was then destroyed, and none was created; but all its faculties were then more or less perverted. Man became a slave to "the lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eye and the pride of life;" and hence it is that, to this day, our own lusts, and passions, and appetites, are the greatest disturbers of our peace and happiness. Excess in eating and drinking, and other carnal indulgencies, is now, it would seem, the common order of society; while envy, jealousy, hat-red, and revenge, have thrown the world into a state of perpetual anarchy and war.

Christ proposes to change all this-to bring man back again to his normal and primeval state. And for this purpose He re-quires that every man shall crucify the flesh with its affections and its lusts (Galatians 5:24); that he shall "live soberly, and righteously, and godly," as a condition of enjoying everlasting life (Titus 2:12); and that he shall, in a word, give "ALI, DILIGENCE" in adding to his faith "temperance" or self-government, as well as every other Christian virtue, if he would become an heir of the eternal inheritance, through the redemption that is offered to us in the Gospel. (See 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; Galatians 5:19-21; Php 3:18-19; Hebrews 12:14; 2 Peter 1:5-11, etc.) This He does not, however, require any man to do simply in and of himself. He knows very well that we cannot do it. The chains and fetters that bind us to sin and Satan are too strong to be broken by our unaided efforts. But Christ calls on us to do all that we possibly can, assuring us, at the same time, that He will do the rest. And so He gives the Holy Spirit to all them that obey Him (Acts 5:32). He gives it to us as a Comforter and Advocate (John 16:7; 1 John 2:1), to help our infirmities (Romans 8:26), and to strengthen us with all might in the inner man (Ephesians 3:16). He sends His holy angels also to minister to the heirs of salvation (Hebrews 1:14), while He Himself is ever present with us to give us the victory. "Lo," says He, "I am with you all the days even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:19). No one, then, need be discouraged in view of the magnitude and difficulty of the undertaking. True, indeed, our conflict with sin is very great, and not infrequently of long continuance. It will never wholly terminate while we live in the flesh. But that it is, nevertheless, quite possible for us, through Divine grace, to gain such a victory, over the world, the flesh, and the devil, that we will be no longer subject to their slavish despotism, is evident (1) from the fact that God Himself has positively required this of us; and (2) from the fact that many of our predecessors, and even of our contemporaries, have actually gained this victory, and come off more than conquerors through Him who has loved us. And what some have done, all, of course, may do. We have but to observe carefully and prayerfully all that Christ has required of us through the Apostles, and then the Holy Spirit will dwell in us and fill us with "love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance" (Galatians 5:22-23); Christ Himself will also be with us (Matthew 28:19); and all things will work together for our good (Romans 8:28). This is enough. Anything more is perhaps hardly desirable in our present state.

2. Benefits to the families of believers.

Parents are, by God’s appointment, made responsible for the proper training, instruction, and education of their children. Bring up your children "in the nurture and admonition of the Lord," is one of the most solemn, and, at the same time, one of the most difficult charges that God has ever imposed on any class of mortals. Human nature is in itself the most delicate and complex of all things earthly. And hence, to properly develop, mold, and educate the human spirit, even in its primeval state, would have been an exceedingly difficult and embarrassing problem. But it has become tenfold more so in our present lapsed and preternatural condition. For the mind of the child is now prone to vice even from its birth (Psalms 51:5; John 3:6; Romans 3:10-18; Romans 5:12; Romans 5:18-19; Ephesians 2:3, etc.). Its passions and appetites are all more or less perverted by sin; and the influences of the world are largely adverse to its proper training and culture. No wonder then, that in irreligious families so many of the children are given up to all manner of carnal lusts and pleasures; and no wonder that the vicious practices of youth become so often the enslaving habits of manhood. The wonder is that, under such circumstances, the grace of God is able to rescue even occasionally one of these habitual transgressors as a brand from everlasting burnings. But how very different the case would be, if the parents were all pious; and if they were carefully observing all that Christ has enjoined on us through the Apostles! As it is ever true, that "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh" (Matthew 12:34), these parents would naturally and habitually talk to their children about God, and Christ, and heaven, when sitting in their own houses, when walking by the way, when lying down, and when rising up (Deuteronomy 6:4-9). And this they would do, not in a repulsive and forbidding way, but with all the tenderness and grace of that Spirit which would be as a wellspring of love and joy in their own hearts (John 7:37-39). Such parental influences strengthened by the habitual reading of God’s word, family prayer, and a life of holy trust in God and submission to His will, could not fail to have a most salutary effect on the tender minds and hearts of young children. Most of them would, no doubt, be converted to God at a very early age; and thus might be saved, through family influence, millions of precious souls, who, for want of this early training, will be banished with an "everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power." The Commission, carried out to its legitimate results, would there-fore make of many a house a nursery for heaven, which is now a nursery for hell. It would make Bethels of our homes, and fill them with the songs of pure and joyful hearts; so that it might be said again with truth and propriety, "Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise."

"Happy the home where Jesus’ name
Is sweet to every ear;
Where children early lisp His fame
And parents hold Him dear.

"Happy the home where prayer is heard,
And praise is wont to rise;
Where parents love the sacred word,
And live but for the skies."

3. Benefits to the Church.

Sin has had the effect to alienate the hearts of all men from God, and also from one another (Colossians 1:21). And, as a result of this, it has divided the race into many unfriendly castes, and filled the world with adverse interests and hostile armies. To correct these evils was manifestly one of the objects for which Christ established His Church on earth. He intended that it should be a society of pious and holy brethren, who, being freed from all selfishness, malice, envy, jealousy and revenge, would be united in the strongest ties of fraternal affection (Matthew 20:26; Romans 12:10; Ephesians 4:3; Php 2:3; Hebrews 13:1; 2 Peter 1:7). And hence it is often called a body, of which Christ Himself is the Head, and all who are united to Him by faith and obedience are the members (Romans 12:5; 1 Corinthians 12:12-28; Ephesians 4:12-16). In this body, there is manifestly no room for caste; no ground for worldly distinctions of any kind. In it, says Paul, "there is neither Jew nor Greek, neither bond nor free, neither male nor female; but all are one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28). As members of the one family of God, all have a Divine, right to whatever is really necessary to their being and their well-being. They are all required to "bear one another’s burdens" (Galatians 6:2), and, as stewards of the manifold grace of God, to minister to each other’s wants in every way that is possible (Romans 12:13; Galatians 2:10; Hebrews 6:10; Hebrews 13:16; 1 Peter 4:9; 1 John 3:17). Not that everyone should possess the same amount of wealth, and have the same social position and influence in the body. This does not follow from our premises. God bestows His talents on His children according to the ability which He has given them (Matthew 25:15). And so, also, He has arranged the several members of the body (1 Corinthians 12:18). Some, having higher gifts, are made more responsible than others; but, nevertheless, "the eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of thee; nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you" (1 Corinthians 12:21). The members are all so arranged, that there should be no cause of strife or schism among them, but that "the whole body being fitly joined together, and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part," might constantly increase "unto the edifying of itself in love" (Ephesians 4:16).

Now, if all this were done according to the tenor and spirit of the Commission, as given to us by our blessed Lord, who can estimate the happy results that would follow? What a glorious body the Church would then become, "having neither spot, nor wrinkle, nor any such thing!" The poor would no longer be put to shame in the presence of their rich brethren; and the rich would no longer trust in their uncertain riches; but remembering that all things are ours, "whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come," we would all, in humility and love, labor to promote each other’s welfare, and trust only "in the living God who gives us all things richly to enjoy." And then how very interesting would be our meetings for social worship! How much more we would all see of the beauties of God’s Word; how sweet would be the melody of our psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs; and how fervent and refreshing would be the prayers of an assembly filled and animated with the love and Spirit of Christ! Like David, we would all rejoice when our brethren would say to us, "Let us go up to the house of the Lord;" for then Jerusalem would be our chief joy.

4. Benefits to the world. The Church was established on earth for the enlightenment and salvation of the world. As Christ by the grace of God suffered death for all men, so also the Commission embraces all. "Go ye," said our blessed Savior to His Apostles, and through them to His Church, "and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit; teaching them to observe all things whatever I have commanded you; and, lo, I am with you all the days, even to the end of the age." They did go. Beginning at Jerusalem, they went thence to Samaria and other cities of Palestine; and thence to the uttermost parts of the earth. And, though op-posed by priests and philosophers, and kings and princes, their triumphs were everywhere without a parallel; and, finally, the banner of the Cross waved in triumph over the ruins of fallen paganism throughout the Roman Empire. But then a compromise was effected. The Church became carnalized and secularized. It was no longer the pure and simple word of God that was proclaimed to the people, but everywhere the Gospel was henceforth corrupted and perverted by "the doctrines, opinions, and commandments of men." As a consequence, the Man of sin was born, and, for one thousand years, Popery ruled the world. At length the Reformers of the sixteenth century arose, and Protestantism made an effort to re-store to the people the primitive Gospel. Much was done by such men as Luther, Melanchthon, Zwingli, and Calvin, to free the human mind from the enslaving fetters of Popish tyranny and superstition; but to this day the Commission of Christ and the teachings of His Apostles are greatly neglected by carnalized and sectarian Churches. The consequences are ruinous. Personal piety, as a general thing, falls far short of the Divine standard; family worship and family training are very much neglected; the Church is still in alliance with the world; and many for whom Christ died, and who might be saved through the faithful practical presentation of the truth, are daily perishing in their sins.

Who, then, can estimate the happy consequences that would result to the world, if the Church, freed from all the errors and corruptions of both tradition and philosophy, would, in obedience to the Commission of our blessed Savior, earnestly endeavor to make disciples of all the nations, teaching them at the same time to observe diligently and faithfully all that is required of us in the writings of the Apostles? That it is her duty to do so, no one who properly understands the Scriptures, can doubt for a moment. Upon her will ever rest, "even to the end of the age," the solemn obligation to carry out the Commission of Christ, according to the example and instructions of the Apostles. She is now "the pillar and ground of the truth" (1 Timothy 3:15); the candlestick, that is to dispense the light of the Gospel to the benighted nations of the earth (Revelation 1:20). And hence it is made our duty to do good to all men as we have opportunity (Galatians 6:10). "Let him that heareth, say, Come," is one of the last and most solemn of all the charges that Christ has given to His disciples (Revelation 12:17). Let the standard of personal piety then be first properly elevated; let the houses of all Christian parents be made houses of prayer and nurseries of virtue; let the Church become what she ought to be, and what, by the Commission of Christ and the teachings of the Apostles, she is really required to be, and very soon the work will all be accomplished. "The everlasting Gospel" will soon be preached to "every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people" under heaven (Revelation 14:6); the kingdom of the world will soon become the Kingdom of Christ (Revelation 11:15); and the world itself will soon become a temple of His praise. From these premises the following reflections are naturally suggested:

1. Christianity must be of heavenly origin. "Judge the tree by its fruit." The religious system of the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans, have all passed away, because they were all impure, selfish, and of evil tendencies. There was nothing in them to sanctify and elevate the human soul, to make all men love one another as brethren, and practically recognize and acknowledge their paramount obligations to God as their Creator, Preserver, and Redeemer. And, for the same reason, Mohammedanism, Brahmanism, Buddhism, and all other religious systems of human origin, are rapidly waning before the increasing light of modern civilization. But Christianity, carried out into practice, would make even this sinful world a paradise, by requiring and enabling all men to love God supremely and their neighbors as themselves. Surely, then, it must be not of human but of Divine origin.

2. How very great must be the obligations of all men to receive and obey the "form of doctrine" that has been delivered to us in the Holy Scriptures! If it was conceived in the love and wisdom of God, procured through the blood of Christ, revealed by the Holy Spirit, and handed down to us through the labors, sufferings, and death, of many heroic martyrs, then, indeed, what must be the destiny of those who willfully neglect or reject it? What else can such men expect than "a certain fearful look for a judgment and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries?" But-

3. How inconceivably glorious must be the destiny of those who, from the heart, receive and obey the "form of doctrine" which God has so graciously revealed to us in the Gospel! If it serves to make us all so very happy, even now in this world of sin and death, what must be the effect when, freed from all impurity, and invested with bodies like unto the glorious body of the Son of God, we shall be allowed to unite with myriads of angels and all the ransomed millions of our race in ascriptions of praise to God and the Lamb, for ever and ever! Let us, then, dear reader, endeavor so to live that, by the grace of God through Christ, this destiny may be ours.