Sermon No. 2807: Spared!
Exposition: EPHESIANS 1.
Verses 1, 2. Paul, an Apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints, which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus, Grace be to you, andpeace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ The Apostle desires the same blessing for us who are "the faithful in Christ Jesus," as he did for the saints at Ephesus. He longs that we, also, may be filled with Grace and peace "from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ." And the wish of the Apostle is according to the will of God who would have us abound in Grace and in peace. Some of you Christian people are troubled in mind, yet your Lord said to His disciples and through them to you, "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you...Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." Jesus knew that in the world you would have tribulation, but He willed that in Him you would have peace. And the way to get that peace is by getting Divine Grace. "Grace be to you, and peace." The more gracious you are, the more easily will you bear the trying circumstances which surround you. Look not for peace apart from Grace—when you have Grace, you have a right to peace.
3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. I notice how, often, in the Epistles, benedictions are followed by doxologies. This is because the true heart loves to bless the Lord. What a rich treasure we have who are blessed "with all spiritual blessings!" There is nothing we can need but what is provided for us by our gracious God. Why are you poor, then, when God "has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ"? Is it not because you often forget to go to the heavenly in Christ, and begin looking to the earthly in yourselves? There is nothing but starvation there—all true riches are found in the heavenly in Christ.
4. According as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should he holy and without blame before Him in love. The Apostle did not ignore the glorious and blessed doctrine of Divine Election. He delighted to meditate upon it and to speak of it. I wish that some Christians, nowadays, were not so much afraid of it. All spiritual blessings come to us in this way—this is the fountainhead of all favor and Grace—"According as He has chosen us in Him, before the foundation of the world." The objective of our election—that to which God has chosen us in Christ is— "that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love." Unless you are holy, how can you talk of being chosen of God, for the elect are chosen unto holiness, chosen to be delivered from all blame through the love and Grace of God?
5, 6. Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His Grace, wherein He has made us accepted in the Beloved. I t is well said, by an old writer, that there is no book which is written with such brevity as the Bible. It seems to give us the condensed essence of the Truth of God in the smallest possible space. What a mass of thought there is in those few lines which I have just read to you! We see here that we become the children of God by adoption, whatever the Universal Fatherhood people may say—"Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself—and that this adoption is the result of predestination and is not because of our own merits, but, "according to the good pleasure of His will." Some systems of theology have much of logic, but little of God. But in Paul's teaching, it is God first, and last, and in the middle and all over. "To the praise of the glory of His Grace." What a wonderful expression this is—not only "the glory of His Grace," but the praise of that glory! God has done all things with a view to magnifying His Grace in the hearts of the sons and daughters of men—"Wherein He has made us accepted in the Beloved." There seems to me to be a sacred poem in these words, "accepted in the Beloved." To my heart there is more heavenly music in those four words than in any oratorio I ever heard! "Accepted in the Beloved." Oh, what honey this is in the mouth, what cheer this is in the heart! Are all of you, dear Friends, "accepted in the Beloved"?
7, 8. In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His Grace; wherein He has abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence. Wisdom and prudence are two of the handmaids of Grace. Grace reigns through righteousness and the wisdom and prudence of God are set to work so to conduct the whole of the arrangements that "the glory of His Grace" may be all the more conspicuous!
9. Having made known unto us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He has purposed in Himself Even our knowledge of God's will is the result of "His good pleasure." If your eyes have been divinely opened, you see the will of God coming in everywhere—and ordering all things according to His gracious and unerring purpose!
10. That in the dispensation of the fullness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in Heaven, and which are on earth; even in Him. All the things that are in Christ shall be gathered together. None of them shall be left out. His great Covenant work shall be, in all respects, fully accomplished. There shall be no failure in any point. Whether in Heaven, or on earth, the things which are in Christ shall be gathered together in One, "even in Him."
11. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who works all things after the counsel of His own will How the Apostle delights to harp upon this theme! The Holy Spirit knew that a time would come when men would put a slur upon this glorious Truth of God, so He inspired His servant to set it forth as the very brightness of the sun in the spiritual firmament—"being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who works all things after the counsel of His own will."
12-14. That we should be to the praise of His glory, whom first trusted in Christ. In whom you also trusted, after that you heard the Word of Truth, the Gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that you believed, you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, who is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of His glory. Twice more, in these three verses you have this expression, "to the praise of His glory," making a third time with that which he said before, "to the praise of the glory of His Grace." The true Gospel glorifies God! False gospels may have what is called "the enthusiasm of humanity" about them, but the true Gospel has an enthusiasm for the living God and it magnifies and glorifies Him. Note, O Believers, that you first trust in Christ and after that you have the seal of the Spirit. There are some who look for the sealing of the Spirit before believing in Jesus—but neither God nor man will set a seal to a blank paper—there must be the writing of faith upon the heart and then the Spirit of God comes in, with His blessed seal, and sets it at the bottom as His Divine and gracious token of acceptance. The Holy Spirit is "the earnest of our inheritance." Now, an earnest is a part of the possession, itself—it is not simply a pledge, it is more than that—so the Holy Spirit in our heart is Heaven begun below—it is the young dawn of the everlasting day! Blessed be God, we have His Spirit within us, and we rejoice in His indwelling!
15-17. Therefore I, also, after Iheard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, andlove unto all the saints, cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory, may give unto you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. You know Him, for He has saved you—now go on to know a great deal more of Him. You can scarcely have a better gift than this, "the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him." The knowledge of Christ Crucified is the most excellent of all the sciences! It is better to be well acquainted with Christ than to be a very Solomon concerning all other things, yet not to know Him.
18. The eyes of your understanding being enlightened. You have eyes—God's Grace has given them to you—but they are capable of additional power and force and there is the telescope of faith, which you are allowed to use, which will enable you to see much more than you have ever seen as yet!
18. That you may know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints. First, you are to know what your inheritance is. That is "the hope of His calling." And, next, you are to know what Christ's inheritance in you is, which is another thing. It is a most blessed subject for meditation that you are Christ's, altogether Christ's, and that all you are to be, will be Christ's, and that in you, poor creatures though you are, He will yet have a rich inheritance. Paul would have you know what are "the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,"
19. And what is the exceeding greatness ofHispower toward us who believe. It takes a great deal of Divine Grace to make a Believer, and to keep a Believer—nothing but the almighty power of God can do it.
19, 20. According to the working of His mighty power, which He worked in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places. Not only raising Him from the dead, but lifting Him up to His own right hand and setting Him there, "in the heavenly places."
21. Far above all principality, andpower, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come. The power of God which works in a Believer is the same power with which He raised Christ from the dead and set Him in this preeminent place.
22. And has put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be the Head over all things to the Church, This power is also to be seen working in you who believe in Jesus. What wonders of Grace we shall be when God has exerted that stupendous and amazing energy in each one of us, even as in His own Son! What an inheritance Christ will have in us then!
23. Which is His body, the fullness of Him that fill all in all Said I not truly to you that this blessed Book is full of Truth put into as few words as possible? Verily, there is none like it! Other books, at the best, are like gold hammered out very thin, but here you have ingots of solid spiritual wealth, priceless in value! God help us all to make them our own treasure, for Christ's sake! Amen.
Sermon No. 2808: The Disowned (LORD'S-DAY, DECEMBER 7, 1902)
"Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of Heaven; but he who does the will of My Father in Heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name? And in Your name have cast out devils? And in Your name done many wonderful works? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you: depart from Me, you that work iniquity." Matthew 7:21-23.
ONE of the best tests by which we may try many things is to ask, "How will they appear at the Day of Judgment?" Our Lord here says, "Many will say to Me in that day." He used no other words to describe that memorable period because that terse, brief expression suggests so much—"in that day"—that terrible day—that Last Great Day—that day for which all other days were made—that day by which all other days must be measured and judged. I pray, dear Friends, that we may, each one of us, begin to set in the light of "that day" the things that we most prize. The riches upon which you have set your heart—how will their value be reckoned "in that day"—and how much of comfort will they then afford you? As for the way in which you have been spending your wealth—will that be such as you will remember "in that day" with satisfaction and comfort? Value your broad acres and your noble mansions, or your more moderate possessions according to this gauge of their real worth—how will they be valued "in that day"? And as to the pursuits which you so eagerly follow and which now appear so important to you that they engross the whole of your thoughts and arouse all your faculties and energies—are they worthy of all this effort? Will they seem to be so "in that day"?
What is the chief objective of your life? Will you think as much of it "in that day" as you do now? Will you then count yourself wise to have so earnestly pursued it? You fancy that you can defend it, now, but will you be able to defend it then—when all things of earth and time will have melted into nothingness? You value the esteem in which you are held among men and you do rightly, for, "a good name is better than precious ointment." But are you really worthy of the good name that has been given to you? Is that favorable judgment of your fellow creatures the verdict of the Infallible Truth of God? Will you be as highly honored "in that day" as you are now? Will as much credit be given to you for honesty and virtue, then, as is given to you now? Is there no tinsel, no veneer, no deception, no counterfeit coin about you? O my Brothers and Sisters, who among us can submit his position and his fellow men to such a test as this without the most solemn questioning and searching of heart?
You young men are, perhaps, rejoicing in your youth and letting your heart take full liberty in the enjoyment of earthly pleasure. God forbid that I should deprive you of any real pleasure, but let me ask, concerning those enjoyments, how will they appear "in that day"? Will they bear serious reflection even now? Then, how are they likely to endure the more sober judgment that will be exercised then? "In that day," when the glare of this world's lamps shall have died out and the glitter of its pomp shall forever have passed into the eternal darkness, how will your pleasures look then? Especially if you have sold yourself for those pleasures—if you have bartered your peace of mind for them—if you have disobeyed your God in order that you might enjoy them! How will they then appear when, at the end of the feast, the cost of it has to be met and you have to give in your last account? It is truly wise for a man to be familiar with his last hours. It is well for him to often rehearse that grand act when he must gather up his feet in the bed and die—and meet his father's God.
But it is still wiser for him to leap over the chasm which divides him from the realities of eternity and, by the force of faith rather than by imagination, picture himself standing in that mighty throng of the risen dead from every part of land and sea—the innumerable population of this great globe—every eye turned in one direction, all looking to Him who shall sit upon the Great White Throne, that Christ who was once crucified in weakness, but who shall come in power and great Glory, appointed Judge of all mankind! I know that I am inviting you to think of something that you do not wish to have brought to your mind. The world plucks you by the sleeve and says, "Come away," but I would gladly detain you for a little while as the ancient mariner held the wedding guest—yet not to tell you a quaint story of far-off seas and strange adventures, but to solemnly talk to you about your immortal soul—and to stir you up to see to its future destiny, lest Christ should come and you should be as unprepared for His coming as the men in the days of Noah were for the flood which swept them all away!
Well, then, as everything is to be regarded as it will appear "in that day," we will try to judge our profession of religion by that test, for it will mainly be to those who think themselves Christ's people that I shall speak. And I pray that a strong North wind may blow through us and if there is any chaff in this great heap, may it be speedily discovered and be driven out from amidst the wheat!
We shall, first of all, notice that the persons mentioned in our text, whom Christ "never knew" in a saving sense, went a long way in religion. Secondly, they kept it up a long while. Thirdly, they were fatally mistaken and, fourthly, they found it out in a very terrible way.
I. First, then, there are some to whom Christ will say, at the last, "I never knew you," yet who WENT A LONG WAY IN RELIGION. Who were they and what did they do?
Well, first, they were persons who made an open profession. Jesus said, "Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of Heaven." They called Christ, "Lord," so they virtually declared that they were His disciples. They said this plainly, as though they were not at all ashamed of it and were, indeed, even proud of it. They said it twice over, zealously, frequently, "Lord, Lord." They said it as if the saying of it were so sweet to them that they could not say it often enough. They said it in all sorts of company. They sometimes said it when wiser men would not have said it. We know many persons who have never made any profession of being Christ's followers. They that are outside of Christ, God judges. But let those who are within, those who have come into the fellowship of the Church and have said, "Lord, Lord," judge themselves lest they should be deceived into a false security! It is not everyone who has been called by the name of Christ whom He will acknowledge "in that day." There has been many a loud profession that will count for nothing in that heart-searching time. O my Brothers and Sisters, I am speaking to myself as I speak to every member of this Church and every member of any other Christian Church—I beseech you to see to it that you have something more than a mere profession, for these condemned ones had made an open profession of religion, yet Christ will say to them— "I never knew you."
Note, next, that they had undertaken religious service, and that of a high class, for Christ says of them, "Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name?" They had not served in any mean capacity, for they had prophesied or preached in the name of Christ! This is one of the things to which false professors are very prone—they love to take the chief places in the synagogue. There is many a true servant of Christ who prefers to be a doorkeeper in the house of the Lord, while many a hypocrite, who would not keep the door on any account, would very cheerfully occupy the Prophet's chair and prophesy in Christ's name! Ah, my Brothers, this thought comes home to those of us who hold any office in the Church, and especially to those of us who are preachers of the Gospel! If preaching could save a man, Judas would not have been damned! If prophesying could save a man, Balaam would not have been a castaway. We may preach with the tongues of men and of angels, yet, if we have not love, it profits us nothing. We may be even leaders of the Church in the noblest and highest enterprises and yet, for all that, Christ may say to us, at the last, "I never knew you." "But, Lord, the world blazed with my fame!" "I never knew you." "I gathered thousands round about me." "I never knew you." "Wherever I went, they flocked to listen to my words." "I never knew you." Some of you may say, "Lord, I was a deacon of the Church," or, "I was an elder. I was accustomed to visit the sick and to speak to enquirers. Everybody in the Church knew me and I was held in high repute." Yet He may say, "I never knew you. I am an utter stranger to you. Your name was never familiar to Me. I never knew you. Depart from Me." This Truth of God comes close to home and it ought to, to everyone of us who has ever professed to be engaged in Christ's service!
These people, too, had obtained remarkable success, for they went on to say, "Have we not, in Your name, cast out devils?" It is grand success to cast out devils and they might well rejoice in it. But, dear Friends, if you and I should be able to cast devils out of others, yet the devil would not be cast out of ourselves and we will be in a woeful plight at the last! If you knew a man who had the power to cast out a devil, you would probably say to yourself, "I wish I were as sure of salvation as he is. Did I not see Satan, as lightning, fall from Heaven while he spoke in the name of the Lord?" Suppose that did happen—it would not prove that his name was written in the Lamb's Book of Life. Rejoice in your success, my dear Friend, as I may rejoice in mine, but let us both rejoice with trembling, for, although we may have brought ten thousand souls to Christ, yet, after all, we may never have come to Him, ourselves! And if so, He will say to us, at the last, "I never knew you."
And, once more, these people were not merely professors, and doers of great works, and very successful, but they were exceedingly zealous and were noted for their practical energy, for they said, "Have we not, in Your name, done many wonderful works?" They had done many works in Christ's name. They were busy night and day—they had a great many irons in the fire. They seemed as if they could never do too much and what they did was really very wonderful! In fact, they did not like to do anything unless it was wonderful. A great part of the charm of it, to them, was that people wondered at them, and it kept them diligently at their work because they were so much wondered at. Yet is it possible that a wonderful life should, after all, be a lost life—that a doer of many wonderful works should, at the last, be found wanting? Can it be? Yes, for so the Lord Jesus puts it in our text and, therefore, I invite each professed Believer here, however highly favored he may have been in his Master's service, to put away from him everything that might tend to false security and to ask himself, "Shall I, in that Last Great Day of account be proved to be right?"
I can imagine what some of you have been saying to yourselves while I have been speaking. You have said, "Well, I am not a professor of religion. I am not a prophesier. I never thought of attempting to cast out devils! I never did any wonderful works." And you have comforted yourselves with the thought that my message did not concern you. But immediately after my text there is something that relates to you—"Whoever hears these sayings of Mine." Now, you are, at least, all hearers—and if the Gospel that you hear shall be so perfectly pure that it may be truly called the sayings of Christ, yet remember that there are multitudes of hearers who, through not being doers of the Word, will find at last that Christ never knew them, either! "But, Lord, I always sat in my seat. I was never absent from the services—I used to be there whenever the doors were opened. I was there as regularly as the minister, himself." Yes, that may all be true, yet the Lord Jesus will not know you unless your heart has truly known Him!
If you remain without repentance and without faith, you may go to the House of Prayer till you totter on your staff and you may never once have been an inattentive hearer—but, unless faith comes to you by the hearing of the Word— and that faith makes you a doer of it, verily, verily, I say unto you, when the winds shall blow, the floods shall rise and the rain shall descend, your house shall be proved to have been founded on the sand and shall be swept away forever! So take our text with that which goes before it—and that which follows after it—and you will find that there is something here for each of you! These people went a long way in religion, but they did not go far enough. II. Now, secondly, THEY KEPT IT UP A LONG WHILE.
Have you ever noticed how long some people will manage to keep a business going even after the capital has been spent for years? The whole concern is thoroughly rotten, but, somehow or other, in divers ways they succeed in keeping up the appearance of prosperity. There gets to be, at last, a little suspicion abroad that things are not quite as they seem, yet the clever people avoid the crash that appears to be inevitable. I expect there is many a firm in the city that is just like tinder, yet, for all that, it does not catch on fire for a time. There are certain artful ways by which men can prop up a thing which, otherwise, would soon tumble down. It is so with religion. You can very easily patch up a profession when a nasty, ugly hole comes in it—you can daub it over and if a sudden temptation comes like the blast of a tempest and takes off a piece of the roof, there are plenty of roofers to be had who will soon put on a few new slates and make the broken place look neat and sound. And even when the old hovel is only fit to be taken down and burned, you can still get some ivy and a few flowers to grow over it and make quite a picturesque thing of it. And there are people who do just that with their old rickety religion. It never was worth having, yet they managed to keep it up for a very long while!
It was so with the people mentioned in our text, for, first, they were not silenced by men. They prophesied in Christ's name, yet nobody said to them, "You shall not prophesy again, for you are living such inconsistent lives that we will not listen to you." This does not appear to have happened with any of these people. The man who went about casting out devils was not stopped and he kept on doing so and he even declared to Christ that he had done it, and done it continually. Ah, my Brothers and Sisters, some of us have seen ministers whose characters have been ruined so that they will never be likely to preach again! We have known some church members whose hypocrisy has been found out, so that they will never come to the Communion Table again unless the Lord shall, in His Grace, grant them repentance. Yet, what may be the difference between them and some of us except that they have been found out and we have not? Or it may be that had we been exposed to the temptations to which they yielded, or had we been tested as they were, we would have fallen with as great a crash as they did, for it is quite possible that we are no more sound at heart than they were! May the Lord give us the Grace to lay this matter to heart, for, if a man is conscious of being right, it will not hurt him to search himself— and there is not one among us to whom it will be an injury to have it suggested that we should try and test ourselves in the sight of God.
Further, it does not appear that Christ Himself openly disowned these people during their lifetime. He held His tongue concerning them until "that day." There they were, preaching, teaching a Sunday school class, distributing the bread and wine at the Communion Table, going about among their fellow members, actively engaged in Christian service and everybody saying of them, "What good people they are! "Yet the Lord Jesus Christ knew that they were not! Why, then, did He not, in His righteous wrath, at once expose them? He did not, for such is His gentleness that He will bear long—even with a Judas—so He let these hypocrites alone throughout their whole lives. And they died "in the odor of sanctity," and somebody preached a funeral sermon upon them and wrote their memoirs and it was only at the Last Great Day that the lie was discovered and then, for the first time, Christ said publicly to them, "I never knew you. I had nothing to do with you. How came you to be professedly in My Church? What right had you to preach in My name? What authority had you to speak to devils in My name? I never knew you. You were always an impostor from the first day until now." He knew all about them all the while, yet He did not expose them until the last.
And note, once more, that they clung to their false hopes right to the end. They did not really know of the deception themselves. "What?" you ask, "did they never think that they were deceived?" Perhaps they did, now and then, but they always said to themselves. "We must not get into a doubting frame of mind. This looking within and searching our hearts will not do—it will only disturb and distress us." So they went on daubing themselves with untempered mortar. They were as wrong as wrong could be, yet everybody treated them as though they were right, so they thought at last that they wereright. For a man may, in time, make himself believe what he knows to be a lie. I have heard persons tell stories about themselves which had not any foundation in fact, but they have told them so often that I am sure they believe that they are really speaking the truth, though if they would only think seriously, they would perceive that their tale is all invention. A man may go in and out among Christians, join in their prayers, and praises, communions and even preach their Gospel or hear it, till, at last, without any reason for his belief, he may persuade himself that it is all right. He may even pass through the portals of death undeceived! The righteous are often troubled when they come to die, but it is with these self-deceived people as the Psalmist said, "There are no bands in their death: but their strength is firm. They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men." Take heed, I beseech you, of self-deception. I say it first to myself and next to you, lest, not until "that day" should we hear the Lord Jesus say to us, "I never knew you," and lest, even "in that day," we should say to Him, "Lord, Lord," and begin to argue that we were all right—but Christ should put an end to it all by saying, "Depart from Me, you that work iniquity."
III. I must be brief upon my third division. These people went a long way in religion and they kept it up a long while, but THEY WERE FATALLY MISTAKEN.
They were mistaken, first, because their tongues belied their hands. They said, "Lord, Lord," but they did not do the will of the Lord. They were very glib of tongue when they took to prophesying, but the message never came out of their hearts. They never did the things they told others to do—they were earnest to exhort, but not diligent to set a good example to their hearers. They cast out devils, but, at the same time, they did not, themselves, escape from the power of the devil by giving up sin and following after righteousness. They failed in the matter of practical holiness. They had not the Grace of God in their souls, displaying itself in their ordinary, everyday actions. They could talk. They could sing. They could prophesy, but they were not obedient to the Divine commands and they did not walk in the ways of God.
Then, next, they used the name which is dear to the disciples of Christ, but they did not possess the nature of disciples. They used Christ's name, for they said to Him, "Have we not prophesied in Your name? And in Your name have cast out devils? And in Your name done many wonderful works?" They knew Christ's name, but they had not His Nature! They quoted His name, but they never copied His example. They had never come to Him and trusted and loved Him. They knew His name, but they did not know Him. And, alas, He knew their names, but He did not know them. There was no communion—no intimacy between them.
Next, they prophesied, but they did not pray. Prayer is a vital evidence of Christianity, but prophecy is not. A thousand sermons would not prove a man to be a Christian, but one genuine prayer would. It is easy enough to speak to men, but quite another thing, from our inmost soul, to speak to God. They failed in that point and, therefore, their failure was fatal.
Further, they attended to marvels, but not to essentials. They neglected the important things which should have been done in secret. They did much that could be seen in public, but they failed in the plainer, simpler things that nobody saw. Let me just say to you, Brothers and Sisters, that herein lies a great part of our danger—the risk of getting a religious character without having a renewed heart—doing religious actions without really being born-again—learning the brogue of the New Jerusalem without having been born as a citizen of the heavenly city—becoming fluent talkers and earnest workers, but not having confessed sin, or repented of it, or laid hold on Jesus Christ by living faith. I beseech you, young professors, to covet most of all secret holiness—the holiness that does not wish to be seen—plain, honest dealing with God in private—much secret prayer and meditation upon the Word—in brief, a life of true consecration to God. You may prophesy if God calls you to do so. Perhaps you will cast out devils, I hope you may and, in Christ's name you may do many wonderful works, but, first of all, "you must be born-again." You must become as little children to sit at the feet of Jesus and to learn of Him. You must be obedient to His commands and yield yourselves up to Him, or else you will be fatally mistaken, whatever profession you may make.
IV. Now, last of all, I want to remind you that THESE PEOPLE FOUND OUT THEIR MISTAKE IN A MOST TERRIBLE WAY.
Oh, if they could only have found it out before! Possibly, they attended a ministry that was very soothing. Or, if they heard a sermon that seemed to plow them up, they said, "The preacher is very rough, he has not enough love"—as if it were not the truest love to bid men search, test and try themselves, lest they should be mistaken and so be lost! There are some whose preaching is all sweetness—it would do very well for catching flies—but it is no use in winning souls. It would be more than my soul is worth for me to come here and cajole you into a lying confidence and, as long as these lips can speak, there shall be no man self-deceived here for lack of warning and earnest exhortation to lay himself before God and ask God to search him and try him, and see if there are any wicked ways in him—and lead him in the way everlasting! It is not sufficient to feel quite sure of Heaven, and to begin singing—
"Happy day!Happy day!"
Suppose that, after all, you are not saved? "Ah," says one, "I cannot endure that supposition." No, dear Friend, but perhaps it may be true. And if it is true, what a mercy it would be for you to find it out now, when, in a moment, you may look away to Jesus and find eternal life! Whereas, if you do not find it out till the time when the unhappy men and women, mentioned in our text, found it out, that is to say, "in that day," you will then find it out too late! Once become a bankrupt in the great business of life and you are bankrupts forever! Once lose the battle of life and your defeat is eternal! Imagine not—dream not—conjure not up to yourselves any false notion of a larger hope lest you sink at last into a still deeper disappointment. "The Holy Spirit says, Today if you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts." But He tells none of us to hold out to you any hope but that which hangs upon the winged moment in which you are now existing! "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved." "He that believes and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believes not shall be damned." This is part of the great commission that Christ gave to all His disciples and he that dares to fall short of it, or to go beyond it, is a traitor to his Lord and a murderer of the souls of men! And this we pray that we may never be.
Notice how these people found out their fatal mistake. They found it out from what Christ said. He said to them, "I never knew you." Not passionately, or angrily, but in stern, sad, solemn tones He said, "I never knew you." "But we used Your name, good Lord." "I know you did, but I never knew you, and you never truly knew Me." I can almost imagine someone turning around, "in that day," and saying to some Christians who used to sit in the same pew, "You knew me." "Yes," they will reply, "we knew you, but that is of no use, for the Master did not know you." I can picture some of you crying out to your minister, "Pastor, did you not know us? Surely you recollect what we used to do." What can he reply? "Ah, yes, sorrowfully do I acknowledge that I know you, but I cannot help you. It is only Christ's knowing you that can be of any use to you."
Note, also, the terror that is implied in what Christ did not say. He says, "Depart from Me, you that work iniquity." But who can tell all that those words mean? What happened to these people after that sentence was pronounced upon them by Christ? It was that "nameless woe" of which we sang a little while ago. There is no name that can ever fully describe your state of woe if Christ does not know you—and says that He never did know you. If you have no acquaintance with the Redeemer—if in His loving heart there is no recognition of you—if He says, "I never knew you," ah, then, woe! Woe! Woe a thousand times! Woe without hope for you, for, to be unknown of Him is to be devoid of hope forever and forever!
Perhaps the worst thing of all was, the solemn truth of what Christ did say. He never tells a lie, so, if He ever says to a man, "I never knew you," His words are true. Just think a minute about that short sentence. I wonder whether it is true concerning any of you here? Christ knows all who have ever sought His face with repentance and faith—but these people, though they had prophesied in His name, cast out devils and done many wonderful works, had never repented, or believed in Jesus. You remember those verses by John Newton—
Lord, that mercy came to me!" If that is true of any of you, you can say to the Lord, "You know me, Lord, for I came to You and said, God be merciful to me a sinner." But, "in that day," these pretenders will have to recollect that they never did that! David said to the Lord, "You have known my soul in adversities." Beloved, some of you know what it is to go to God with every trouble that ever comes upon you, but these pretenders did not—and they had to remember, "in that day," that they had never resorted to God—never had fellowship with Christ—never, indeed, became acquainted with Him. "No," says Christ, "I never saw you come as a beggar to My door. I never saw you sit as a disciple at My feet. I never saw you as a humble follower treading in My footsteps. I never saw you as a sheep that knew My voice and followed Me. I never knew you. You were a stranger to Me—you and I never exchanged a word with one another. We were not friends. You never leaned your head on My bosom. You had nothing to do with Me and now I have nothing to do with you."
If Christ ever thus shakes you off and says to you, "I never knew you," you will, indeed, be shaken off! It may be that my words upon this solemn theme distress you, but how much more will His words distress you when His own dear lips shall say, "I never knew you!" O Christ of God, never say those words to any of us! O blessed Lamb of God, You who are all our salvation, and all our desire, we know that You can never say such words as those to some of us, for you have known us even from eternity and we have long known You! You know whom You have chosen—You know whom You have redeemed with Your precious blood—you know whom You have called by Your Grace. You know whom You have quickened, preserved and kept even to this day, but, oh, never let us be among the self-deceived who shall, "in that day," hear You say, "I never knew you!"
There is more thunder in those four words than you ever heard in the most terrible tempest that has rolled over your heads! There is no stamp of the foot or fire-glance of the eye to accompany them—they are spoken calmly and deliberately, yet they are terrible and overwhelming! "I never knew you."
Judge, dear Friends, whether you know Christ or not, and whether Christ knows you and, as you judge yourselves, whatever your verdict may be, take this last word of advice—whether He knows you or not, come to Him! Trust Him! Rest in Him! I felt, as I was thinking over this subject, "Well, perhaps my Lord does not know Me" So I made sure that He should, for I sought Him, then and there, and I exhort you to do the same. If you fear whether you know Him, trust
Him this very moment! Then if you have made a mistake up to now, and have not really known Him, you will begin to know Him, now. And if you have known Him, you will blessedly renew your acquaintance with Him and the question that has troubled you will disappear! And you will say, "Yes, Lord, blessed be Your name, I do know You, by Your Grace, and You know me, and You will know me forever and ever." May the Lord give each one of us this blessing, for Jesus' sake! Amen.