5.1 True Saints - The true friends of God and man
Who is on the Lord's side? (Exodus 32:26)
The question was addressed by Moses to the professed
people of
God, immediately after their great departure from God
while Moses
was on the Mount, when they went and worshiped a golden
calf which
had been cast for them by Aaron. After expostulating
with the guilty
nation, he called out, "Who is on the Lord's
side?" It is not my intention
to dwell on the history of this case particularly, but
to come at once to
the main design I have in view this evening, which is
to show that
there are three classes of professing Christians.
I. The true friends of God and man.
II. Those who are
actuated by
hope and fear, or in other words by self-love, or by
selfishness.
III.
Those who are actuated by public opinion.
These three classes may be known by attending to the
characteristic
developments which show what is the leading design in
their religion.
It needs not be proved, that persons may set out in
religion from very
different motives, some from real love to religion, and
some from other
motives. The differences may be arranged in these three
classes, and
by attending to the development of their real design in
becoming
religions, you learn their characters. They all profess
to be servants of
God, and yet by observing the lives of many, it becomes
manifest that
instead of their being God's servants they are only
trying to make God
their servant. Their leading aim and object is to
secure their own
salvation, or some other advantage for themselves,
through the
medium of the favor of God. They are seeking to make
God their
friend, that they may make use of him to serve their
own turn.
I. There is a class of professed Christians who are the
true friends of
God and man.
If you attend to those things which develop the true
design and aim of
their religion, you will see it to be such. They are
truly and sincerely
benevolent.
1. They will make it manifest that this is their
character, by their
carefulness in avoiding sin.
They will show that they hate it in themselves, and
that they hate it in
others. They will not justify it in themselves, and
they will not justify it
in others. They will not seek to cover up or to excuse
their own sins,
neither will they try to cover up or to excuse the sins
of others. In short
they aim at perfect holiness. This course of conduct
makes it evident
that they are the true friends of God. I do not mean to
say that every
true friend of God is perfect, no more than I would say
that every truly
affectionate and obedient child is perfect, or never
fails in duty to his
parent. But if he is an affectionate and obedient
child, his aim is to
obey always, and if he fails in any respect, he by no
means justifies it,
or pleads for it, or aims to cover it up, but as soon
as he comes to
think of the matter, is dissatisfied with himself, and
condemns his
conduct.
So these persons who are the true friends of God and
man, are ever
ready to complain of themselves, and to blame and
condemn
themselves for what is wrong. But you never see them
finding fault
with God. You never hear them excusing themselves and
throwing off
the blame upon their Maker, by telling of their
inability to obey God, or
speaking as if God had required impossibilities of his
creatures. They
always speak as if they felt that what God has required
is right and
reasonable, and themselves only to blame for their
disobedience.
2. They manifest a deep abhorrence of the sins of other
people.
They do not cover up the sins of others, or plead for
them and excuse
them, or smooth them over by "perhaps this,"
or "perhaps that." You
never hear them apologizing for sin. As they are
indignant at sin in
themselves, they are just as much so when they see it
in others. They
know its horrible nature, and abhor it always.
3. Another thing in which this spirit manifests itself,
is zeal for the
honor and glory of God.
They show the same ardor to promote God's honor and
interest, that
the true patriot does to promote the honor and interest
of his country.
If he greatly loves his country, its government, and
its interest, he sets
his heart upon promoting its advancement and benefit.
He is never so
happy as when he is doing something for the honor and
advancement
of his country. So a child that truly loves his father,
is never so happy
as when he is advancing his father's honor and
interest. And he never
feels more indignant grief, than when he sees his
father abused or
injured. If he sees his father disobeyed or abused by
those who ought
to obey, and love, and honor him, his heart breaks
forth with indignant
grief.
There are multitudes of professing Christians, and even
ministers, who
are very zealous to defend their own character and
their own honor.
But this one class feel more engaged, and their hearts
beat higher,
when defending or advancing God's honor. These are the
friends of
God and man.
4. They show that they sympathize with God in his
feelings towards
man.
They have the same kind of friendship for souls that
God feels. I do
not mean that they feel in the same degree, but that
they have the
same kind of feelings. There is such a thing as loving
the souls of men
and hating their conduct too. There is such a thing as
constitutional
sympathy, which persons feel for those who are in
distress. This is
natural. You always feel this for a person in distress,
unless you have
some selfish reason for feeling malevolent. If you saw
a murderer
hung, you would feel compassion for him. The wicked
have this
natural sympathy for those that suffer.
There is another peculiar kind of sympathy which the
real child of God
feels, and manifests towards sinners. It is a mingled
feeling of
abhorrence and compassion, of indignation against his
sins, and pity
for his person. It is possible to feel this deep
abhorrence of sin mingled
with deep compassion for souls capable of such endless
happiness,
and yet bound to eternal misery.
I will explain myself. There are two kinds of love: one
is the love of
benevolence. This has no respect to the character of
the person loved,
but merely views the individual as exposed to suffering
and misery.
This God feels towards all men. The other kind includes
esteem or
approbation of character. God feels this only towards
the righteous. He
never feels this love towards sinners. He infinitely
abhors them. He
has an infinitely strong exercise of compassion and
abhorrence at the
same time. Christians have the same feelings, only not
in the same
degree, but they have them at the same time. Probably
they never feel
right unless they have both these feelings in exercise
at the same
time. The Christian does not feel as God feels towards
individuals nor
feel according to the true character of the
individuals, unless both
these feelings exist in his mind at the same time. You
see this by one
striking characteristic. The Christian will rebuke most
pointedly and
frequently those for whom he feels the deepest
compassion. Did you
never see this?
Did you never see a parent yearning with compassion
over a child,
and reprove him with tears, and yet with a pungency
that would make
the little offender quail under his rebuke. Jesus
Christ often manifested
strongly these two emotions. He wept over Jerusalem,
and yet he tells
the reason in a manner that shows his burning
indignation against
their conduct. "O Jerusalem, thou that kills the
prophets and stones
them that are sent unto thee!" Ah, what a full
view he had of their
wickedness, at the moment that he wept with compassion
for the
doom that hung over them.
It is just so with this class of Christians. You never
find one of them
addressing a sinner so as merely to make him weep
because
somebody is weeping for him. But his tender appeals are
accompanied with strong rebuke for sin.
I wish you to remember this point that the true friend
of God and
man never takes the sinner's part, because he never
acts through
mere compassion. And at the same time, he is never seen
to
denounce the sinner, without at the same time
manifesting
compassion for his soul and a strong desire to save him
from death.
5. It is a prominent object with such Christians, in
all their intercourse
with men, to make them friends of God.
Whether they converse, or pray, or attend to the duties
of life, it is their
prominent object to recommend religion and to lead
every body to
glorify God. It is very natural they should do this, if
they are true friends
of God. A true friend of the government wishes
everybody to be a
friend of the government. A true and affectionate child
wishes
everybody to love and respect his father. And if only
one is at enmity,
it is his constant aim and effort to bring him to
reconciliation. The same
you would expect from a true friend of God, as a
leading feature of his
character, that he would make it a prominent object of
his life to
reconcile sinners to God.
Now mark me! If this is not the leading feature of your
character, if it
is not the absorbing topic of thought and effort to
reconcile men to
God, you have not the root of the matter in you.
Whatever appearance
of religion you may have, you lack the leading and
fundamental
characteristic of true piety. It wants the leading
feature of the character
and aims of Jesus Christ, and of his apostles and
prophets. Look at
them, and see how this feature stands out in strong and
eternal relief,
as the leading characteristic, the prominent design and
object, of their
lives, Now let me ask you, what is the leading object
of your life, as it
appears in your daily walk? Is it to bring all God's
enemies to submit
to him? If not, away with your pretensions to religion.
Whatever else
you may have, you have not the true love of God in you.
6. Where there are persons of this class, you will see
them
scrupulously avoid everything that in their estimation
is calculated to
defeat their great end.
They always wish to avoid every thing calculated to
prevent the
salvation of souls, everything calculated to divert
attention or in any
way to hinder the conversion of souls. It is not the
natural question
with them, when any thing is proposed which is
doubtful, to ask, "Is
this something which God expressly forbids?" The
first question that
naturally suggests itself to their minds is, "What
will be the bearing of
this upon religion? Will it have a tendency to prevent
the conversion
of sinners, to hinder the progress of revivals, to roll
back the wheels of
salvation?" If so, they do not need the thunders
of Sinai to be pealed
in their ears, to forbid their doing it. If they see it
contrary to the spirit
of holiness, and contrary to the main object they have
in view, that is
enough.
Look at the temperance reformation for an illustration
of this. Here let
me say, that it was the influence of intemperance, in
hindering the
conversion and salvation of sinners, that first turned
the attention of
the benevolent men who commenced the reformation, to
inquire on
the subject. And the same class of persons are still
carrying it on.
Such men do not stand and cavil at every step of the
way, and say,
"Drinking rum is no where prohibited in the Bible,
and I do not feel
bound to give it up." They find that it hinders
the great object for which
they live, and that is enough for them they give it up
of course. They
avoid whatever they see would hinder a revival, as a
matter of course,
just as a merchant would avoid anything that had a
tendency to impair
his credit, and defeat his object of making money by
his business.
Suppose a merchant was about to do something that you
knew would
injuriously affect his credit, and you go to him in the
spirit of friendship
and advise him not to do it, would he turn round and
say, "Show me
the passage in the Bible where God has prohibited
this?" No. He
would not ask you to show him anything more than this,
that it is
inconsistent with his main design.
Mark this, all of you: A person who is strongly
desirous of the
conversion of sinners does not need an express
prohibition to prevent
his doing that which he sees is calculated to prevent
this. There is no
danger of his doing that which will defeat the very
object of his life.
7. This class of professing Christians are always
distressed unless
they see the work of converting sinner going on.
They call it a lamentable state of things in the
church, if no sinners are
converted. No matter what else is true, no matter how
rich the
congregation grows, nor how popular their minister, nor
how many
come to hear him, their panting hearts are uneasy
unless they see the
work of conversion actually going on. They see that all
the rest is
nothing without this yea, that even the means of grace
are doing
more hurt than good, unless sinners are converted.
Such professors as these are a great trouble to those
who are
religious from other motives, and who therefore wish to
keep all quiet,
and have everything go on regularly in the "good
old way." They are
often called "uneasy spirits in the church."
And mark it! if a church has
a few such spirits in it, the minister will be made
uneasy unless his
preaching is such as to convert sinners. You sometimes
hear of these
men reproving the church, and pouring out their
expostulations for
living so coldly and worldly, and the church reply,
"O, we are doing
well enough, do you not see how we foolish, it is only
because you are
always uneasy." When in fact their hearts are
grieved and their souls
in agony because sinners are not converted and souls
are pressing
down to hell.
8. You will see them when manifesting a spirit of
prayer, praying not
for themselves but for sinners.
If you know the habitual tenor of people's prayers, it
will show which
way the tide of their feelings sets. If a man is
actuated in religion
mainly by desire to save himself, you will hear him
praying chiefly for
himself that he may have his sins pardoned and
"enjoy" much of the
Spirit of God, and the like. But if he is truly the
friend of God and man,
you will find that the burden of his prayers is for the
glory of God in the
salvation of sinners; and he is never so copious and
powerful in prayer
as when he gets upon his favorite topic the conversion
of sinners.
Go into the prayer meeting where such Christians pray,
and instead
of seeing them all shut up in the nut shell of their
own interests,
spending their whole prayer on themselves, and just
closing with a
flourish about the kingdom of Christ, you will hear
them pouring out
their souls in prayer for the salvation of sinners. I
believe there have
been cases of such Christians who were so much absorbed
in their
desires for the salvation of sinners, that for weeks
together they did
not even pray for their own salvation.
Or if they pray for themselves at all, it is that they
may be clothed with
the Spirit of God, so that they can go out and be
mighty through God
in pulling souls out of the fire.
You that are here can tell how it is with your prayers,
whether you feel
most and pray most for yourselves or for sinners. If
you know nothing
about the spirit of prayer for sinners, you are not the
true friend of God
and man. What! no heart to feel when sinners are going
to hell by your
side! No sympathy with the Son of God, who gave his
life to save
sinners! Away with all such professions of religion.
"If any man have
not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His." Do
not tell me men are truly
pious, when their prayers are droned over, as much a
matter of form
as when the poor popish priest counts over his beads.
Such a man
deceives himself, if he talk about being the true
friend of God and
man.
9. These persons do not want to ask what are the things
they are
"required" to do for the conversion of
sinners.
When anything is presented to them that promises
success in
converting sinners, they do not wait to be commanded to
do it, on
pains and penalties if they do not. They only want the
evidence that it
is calculated to advance the object on which their
hearts are set, and
they will engage in it with all their soul. The
question is not with them
all the while, "What am I expressly commanded to
do?" but, "In what
way can I do most for the salvation of souls, and the
conversion of the
world to God?" They do not wait for an express
command in the Bible,
before they engage in the work of missions, or Sabbath
schooled or
any other enterprise that promises to save souls; but
they are ready
to every good word and work.
10. Another characteristic of such Christians is a
disposition to deny
themselves to do good to others.
God has established throughout all the universe the
principle of
GIVING. Even in the natural world, the river, the
ocean, the clouds, all
give. It is so throughout the whole kingdom of nature
and of grace.
This diffusive principle is every where recognized.
This is the very
spirit of Christ. He sought not to please himself, but
to do good to
others. He found his highest happiness in denying
himself to do good
to others. So it is with this class of persons they are
ever ready to
deny themselves of enjoyments and comforts, and even of
necessaries, when by so doing they can do more good to
others.
11. They are continually devising new means and new
measures for
doing good.
This is what would be expected from their continual
desire to do good.
Instead of being satisfied with what does not succeed,
they are
continually devising new ways and means to effect their
object. They
are not like those persons who make themselves
satisfied with doing
what they call their duty. Where an individual is
aiming mainly at his
own salvation, he may think if he does his duty he is
discharged from
responsibility, and so he is satisfied he thinks he has
escaped from
divine wrath and gained heaven for himself, by doing
what God
required him to do, and he cannot help it, whether
sinners are saved
or lost. But with the other class, it is not so much
their object to gain
heaven and avoid wrath, but their leading object is to
save souls and
to honor God. And if this object is not advanced, they
are in pain. Such
a man in the one whose soul is all the while devising
liberal things, and
trying new things, and if one fails, trying another and
another, and
cannot rest till he has found something that will
succeed in the
salvation of souls.
12. They always manifest great grief when they see the
church asleep
and doing nothing for the salvation of sinners.
They know the difficulty the impossibility of doing
anything
considerable for the salvation of sinners while the
church is asleep. Go
into a church where the great mass are doing nothing
for the
conversion of sinners, and floating along on the
current of the world,
and you will find that the true friends of God and man
are grieved at
such a state of things. Those who have other objects in
view in being
religious, may think they are going on very well. They
are not grieved
when they see the professed people of God going after
show and folly.
But if there are any of this class, you will find them
grieved and
distressed at heart, because the church is in such a
state.
13. They are grieved if they see reason to think their
minister
temporizes, or does not reprove the church pointedly
and faithfully for
their sins.
The other classes of professors are willing to be
rocked to sleep, and
willing their minister should preach smooth, flowery,
and eloquent
sermons, and flattering sermons, with no point and no
power. But
these are not satisfied unless he preaches powerfully
and pointedly,
and boldly, and rebukes and entreats and exhorts, with
all long-suffering
and doctrine. Their souls are not fed, or edified, or
satisfied
with any thing that does not take hold, and do the work
for which the
ministry was appointed by Jesus Christ.
14. This class of persons will always stand by a
faithful minister, who
preaches the truth boldly and pointedly.
No matter if the truth he preaches hits them, they like
it, and say, Let
the righteous smite me, and it shall be an excellent
oil. When the truth
is poured forth with power, their souls are fed, and
grow strong in
grace. They can pray for such a minister. They can weep
in their
closet, and pour out their souls in prayer for him,
that he may have the
Spirit of God always with him. While others scold and
cavil at him and
talk about his being extravagant, and all that, you
will find Christians
of this sort will stand by him, yea, and would go to
the stake with him
for the testimony of Jesus. And this they do for the
best of all reasons
such preaching falls in with the great design for which
these
Christians live.
15. This sort of Christians are especially distressed
when ministers
preach sermons not adapted to convert sinners.
I mean when the sermon is not especially addressed to
the church, to
stir them up. Others may approve the sermon, and praise
it, and tell
what a great sermon it is, or how eloquent, or lucid,
or grand, or
sublime, but it does not suit them if it lacks this one
characteristic
a tendency to convert sinners. You will find some
people that are great
sticklers for the doctrine of election, and they will
not believe it is a
gospel sermon unless it has the doctrine of election in
it, but if the
doctrine of election is in it they are suited whether
it is adapted to
convert sinners or not. But where a man has his heart
set on the
conversion of sinners, if he hears a sermon not
calculated to do this,
he feels as if it lacked the "great thing"
that constitutes a gospel
sermon. But if they hear a sermon calculated to save
souls, then they
are fed, and their souls rejoice.
Hence you see the ground for the astonishing difference
you often find
in the judgment which people pass upon preaching. There
is in fact no
better test of character than this. It is easy to see
who they are that are
filled with the love of God and of souls, by the
judgment which they
pass upon preaching. The true friends of God and man,
when they
hear a sermon that is not particularly designed to
probe and rouse the
church and bring them to action, if it is not such as
to bear down on
sinners and does not tend to convert sinners, it is not
the sermon for
them.
You will always find this class of persons speaking in
terms of
dissatisfaction with themselves, that they do no more
for the
conversion of sinners.
However much they may really "do" for this
object, it seems that the
more they do the more they long to do. They are never
satisfied.
Instead of being satisfied with the present degree of
their success,
there is no end of their longing for the conversion of
sinners. I recollect
a good man, who used to pray till he was exhausted with
praying for
individuals, and for places, and for the world's
conversion. Once when
he was quite exhausted with praying, he exclaimed
"Oh! my longing,
aching heart! There is no such thing as satisfying my
unutterable
desires for the conversion of sinners. My soul breaketh
for the longing
that it hath." That man, though he had been useful
beyond almost any
other man of his age, yet he saw so much to do, and he
so longed to
see the work go forward and sinners saved, that his
mortal frame
could not sustain it. "I find," said he, one
day, "that I am dying for want
of strength to do more to save the souls of men. Oh,
how much I want
strength, that I may save souls."
16. If you wish to move this class of persons, you must
make use of
motives drawn from their great and leading object.
If you wish to move them, you must hold up the
situation of sinners,
and show how they dishonor God, and you will find this
will move their
souls and set them on fire sooner than any appeal to
their hopes and
fears. Roll on them this great object. Show them how
they can convert
sinners, and their longing hearts beat and wrestle with
God in prayer,
and travail for souls, until they see them converted,
and Christ formed
in them the hope of glory.
I might mention many other characteristics which belong
to this class
of professing Christians the true friends of God and
man, did time
and strength permit. But I must stop here, and postpone
the
consideration of the other two classes till next Friday
evening, if we are
spared, and the Lord permit.
Now, do you belong to this class, or not? I have
mentioned certain
great fundamental facts, which, when they exist,
indicate the true
character of individuals, by showing what is their main
design and
object in life. You can tell whether this is your
character. When I come
to the other part of the subject, I shall endeavor to
describe those
classes of professing Christians, whose religious zeal,
prayers, and
efforts, have another design, and show their character,
and how this
design is carried out.
And now, beloved, I asked you before God, have you
these
characteristics of a child of God? Do you know they
belong to you?
Can you say, "O Lord, thou knowest all things,
thou knowest that I love
thee, and that these are the features of my
character!"
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