In considering the state of the world as foretold in prophecy preparatory to the advent of our blessed Lord, we have been led thus far to much matter of a distressing character; we have had to draw the picture of a busy world steeped in apathy, and a professing church full of apostacy; the prospect has in very truth been fearful, gloomy, and disheartening; but we are now to turn to brighter topics, and draw our thoughts to the beloved family of God’s faithful children, to the little band of justified believers, to those that are new born of God, to the blessed church of God’s elect: we are to examine prophecy respecting them; we are to search into their character, joys, and sorrows; and to gather from the testimony of the Spirit the condition in which they will be found at the advent of our Lord.

I. They will be found scattered throughout society.

Our Lord prayed for his people, “not that they should be taken out of the world, but that they should be kept from the evil;” and we are never to expect to find them externally separate from the surrounding world. They will not be gathered together in separate states and villages; there will not be one village of unbelievers and another of believers; but there will be some of both classes every where. The tares will grow with the wheat, and the wheat with the tares. This appears very plainly from the prophecy of our Lord already referred to; “I tell you, In that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left;” Luke, xvii. 34–36. This passage describes the separation of God’s children from the world, or the gathering in of God’s elect; and the point which at present we would particularly observe is this, that up to the very crisis they are together in society, in the same bed, the same shop, the same field; there is no visible separation, no drawing off from the duties of common life; all are together to the very night of the advent.

II. And we may remark, secondly, that the saints of God will not be distinguished by any ecclesiastical system.

There is a natural craving in the human mind for something tangible and visible. Hence the origin of idolatry; men want to see the object of their worship, and so create for themselves an image. Hence also the craving after that which God has declared impossible, a visible church free from error; an outward form inseparable from inward grace; a pure, holy, spotless framework, which, excluding all others, shall embrace in its system the whole of God’s elect. But this second fiction is quite as impossible as the first, and there is no more expectation of seeing God’s elect embodied in a form than of seeing God himself represented in an image. [51] God’s children are a scattered family; scattered not merely as to place but as to discipline. In saying this we do not undervalue a Scriptural discipline, or regard episcopacy as a thing which may be set aside at pleasure: as we find it in the bible we give thanks also that we find it in our church. But what we mean is this, that God’s grace is not tied down to ecclesiastical machinery; that a true church cannot command it, a defective church cannot exclude it. None can bind the life-giving power of the Spirit.

Thus all the descriptions of the saints of God in the latter days describe them not by outward form, but by inward grace; the distinguishing features are always spiritual, never ecclesiastical; they refer to character, not discipline. For example: “Hear the word of the Lord, ye that tremble at his word; Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name’s sake, said, Let the Lord be glorified: but he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed;” Isaiah, lxvi. 5. There can be no doubt as to the date of this prophecy; it plainly carries us right up to the advent. “He shall appear to your joy.” Nor can there be any doubt again as to the persons addressed in it; they are the blessed company of the saved in distinction to the miserable multitude of the lost. “He shall appear to your joy.” And now how are they described? He does not say “Hear ye the word of the Lord, ye that are correct in your ecclesiastical arrangements; ye whose ministers are possessed of Apostolical succession;” nor “ye that are in communion with the Pope of Rome;” but “ye that tremble at his word.” Whoever therefore receives in faith the promises of the bible; whoever is brought by God’s Spirit blessing those promises to believe on Jesus, whoever he be, and wherever he be, whether he be churchman, dissenter, or even Romanist, that man is safe, and the Lord Jesus “shall appear for his joy.” [53]It is just the same in the book of Revelation. In that remarkable prophecy we have repeated mention of the saints in direct contrast with the apostacy of the latter days: we have in several passages their portrait clearly drawn, as if to leave no doubt as to their character when that last peril should gather around the faith. Now this description is always of a spiritual character. The seed of the woman are those “which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ;” xii. 17. “Here is the patience of the saints; here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus;” xiv. 12. “These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful;” xvii. 14. In all these passages there is not one word of outward form, they refer exclusively to inward life.

But still more. A corrupt church cannot exclude divine grace; for we have in this book a full description of the great apostacy which is to swallow up all other heresies in the latter days. In chap. xvii. and xviii. it is described under the name of “Babylon.” There is, we know, a difference of opinion as to the application of this prophecy. It may be an open question whether or not it applies to Rome. But on one thing all are agreed—that it is a description of a tremendous ecclesiastical apostacy which will be destroyed at the advent of the Lord. Now chapter xviii, gives a description of its fall,—a fall predicted in immediate connexion with the advent: “And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird;” v. 2. And the remarkable point is this, that even in Babylon, just at the period of her fall, there shall be found scattered a little band of the chosen saints of God; for what saith the angels cry? “Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues;” v. 4. Even there, and even then, will be some of the chosen people of the Lord.

But, on the other hand, a pure church cannot secure divine grace. A Scriptural liturgy, and Scriptural articles, cannot secure a Scriptural people. There will be weeds in the garden, as well as flowers in the waste. This appears very plainly from the parable of the virgins. There can be no doubt of the reference of this parable to the visible church before the advent. It is a description of those who professed to be waiting for the bridegroom. Now we see in the ten virgins a perfect oneness of ecclesiastical form. There was no visible difference between the foolish and the wise. They were watching together; they professed allegiance to the same bridegroom; they had the same vessels, and the same lamps; the passer by could have seen no difference: the distinction was within, not without; and because the oil was wanting to the foolish, the bridegroom said, “I never knew you.”

We are brought therefore to the conclusion that the saints of God will not be distinguished by ecclesiastical system. There will be nothing in them which the world can see, except it be the fruit of the Spirit. There will be no outward form, which can stamp them certainly as the elect of God. They will be knit to Christ by a living union, but the tie will be invisible. They will have the Father’s name written on the forehead, but no mortal eye can discern the character. They will be sealed by the seal of the Spirit, but there will be nothing external to enable man to pronounce with certainty upon their safety.And how solemn are the thoughts involved in this sacred truth! We have already found that there will be no distinction in society, that in the same family, in the same trade, in the same shop, nay even in the same bed, one shall be taken and the other left. But this carries us farther still, and shows that there will be the same separation even in the same church. Two persons will come together to the same building, join in the same outward worship, make use of the same liturgy, sing the same praises, hear the same chapters, listen to and perhaps approve the same sermons, and kneel side by side at the same communion. Man will discern no outward difference. And so Christ will find them at his coming. They will “both grow together until the harvest.” Then and not till then will God separate his children. Then will it appear that the one has been a follower of the Lamb, the other of the world; the one born again of God, the other unregenerate; the one justified, the other damned; and all because the one was a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, the other had the form of godliness, but rested there, and was without its power.

III. They will stand out as witnesses for Christ in the midst of general declension. The ship at anchor will remain unmoved while all around it are drifted down the tide: and this is the position in which Christ will find his chosen people: they will hold fast anchored in Christ, while all around them are drifted off from God. We have already called your attention to the great apostacy foretold within the visible church, and we have only now to remark its widespread influence and effect. This is described by our Lord: “And many false prophets shall arise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved;” Matthew, xxiv. 11–13. These words foretell a period of abounding error, abounding sin, and abounding departure from the Lord: abounding error; “And many false prophets shall arise, and shall deceive many:” abounding sin; “because iniquity shall abound:” and abounding departure from the Lord; “the love of many shall wax cold.” The chill shall reach even those whose hearts once seemed warm. Nor shall any stand but the heirs of God’s salvation. “He that shall endure unto the end the same shall be saved.” All mere professors are here described as fallen; all mere hereditary Christians fallen; all Christians by expediency fallen; all who have rested in ecclesiastical, architectural, and ornamental Christianity fallen; all those who have had the form without the power—fallen; all fallen but the little band of those faithful men whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life. They will then stand out as the rock, when the storm has washed away the sand that covered it; unshaken, immovable, and only made conspicuous by the tempest. Or as the evergreen; still verdant, still beautiful, when the winter’s frost has stripped the neighbouring plants whose short-lived beauty seemed far more brilliant under the summer’s sun; so will they abide in the winter time of the church’s history; their life untouched, for it consists in a union with their Lord; their beauty undiminished, for it is His unfading likeness impressed by the Holy Ghost upon their heart.

IV. A fourth remark follows at once from this position of the saints as witnesses in the midst of general declension, viz. this: they will be unsupported by the arm of flesh. When all except the true saints have declined from the faith, it stands to reason that those saints will be left unsupported by the world’s influence. This appears also very plainly from our Lord’s prophecy: “Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake;” Matthew, xxiv. 9. Political influence will then be against the truth. “Ye shall be hated of all nations.” There will be a national opposition to true godliness, as there ought to be a national support of it. We must be prepared therefore to see all national and political influence thrown boldly into the scale of error: we shall be taught by the sins of those in power not to lean on the arm of flesh, to cease from man, to rest simply upon Christ and Christ alone. Then God’s redeemed will find no help from statesmen, but draw all their help from Christ. They will be forced to cleave to those precious promises, “I am with you always even unto the end of the world;” “The gates of hell shall not prevail against you;” “Fear not, little flock, it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” Their union with him will be every day more and more precious; their thirsting after him more and more intense; his word, his grace, his presence, his love, will be the strength of their hope, the subject of their discourse, the one source of their joy; and, forsaken by all other, they will cleave only unto him till the blessed day when as the King of kings he shall come forth for their joy and glory.

V. And this leads us to a fifth and last feature in the description of the saints. They will be waiting and watching for the coming of the Lord.

It is sometimes thought enthusiastic to be speaking much of the second coming of the Lord. Unfulfilled prophecy is thought difficult, and it is better, say many, to dwell exclusively upon the more certain narratives of the past. But not so the Scriptures. They describe believers as waiting, watching, and ardently expecting the blessed period of their Saviour’s glory. For example, in 1 Thess. v. 4, expectation of the advent is the distinguishing characteristic of the people of God: “But ye brethren are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.” To the world at large it should come as a thief in the night; it would find them unexpecting, unprepared; but not so to the saints. They would be on the look out; the world’s night would be their day; the world’s darkness their light; the world might see nothing, but they would see Christ. “Ye brethren are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.”

And it is very important in this respect to observe the contrast between the children of God and the surrounding world. With reference to the advent apathy, we have already seen, is to be the leading feature of society. Men will be unconscious and regardless of its approach. But with reference to the world’s progress, even they shall be alarmed. They will be aroused, but not by the hope of Jesus. For look at the description: “Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken;” Luke, xxi. 26. These words describe an undefined sense of something coming; a general expectation of some approaching crisis; a feeling of wonder as to what will happen next; a breaking up of former confidence, and a fearful looking after those things which are coming on the earth. Such will be the mind of those who look at things on merely worldly grounds. But now observe the contrasted character of the children of God. “When these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh;” v. 28. Like the men of the world, they look for an approaching crisis, but as men of faith they look beyond it. Like the world they observe the gathering storm; but as believers they fix their eye on Him who governs it. They will study history with their bibles in their hands; they will see in each passing change fresh landmarks, fresh signs of their Lord’s approach. In the sound of war and the advance of error they will hear as it were the distant footsteps of their coming Lord. Prophecies will become clearer and clearer to their view, the book being unsealed according to the words of Daniel, because “the time of the end” is come. Facts will become interpreters, and difficulties be cleared up by the fulfilment of the prophecies; the signs of the advent will become intelligible in history; so that when He comes he will find his servants watching; looking up and lifting up their heads; waiting patiently, yet longing ardently; and ready to welcome their reigning King with the words long since provided for them by the Prophet. “Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”

Believers! ye must be found thus waiting, thus watching. Time is hurrying on; but the men of this world still sleep in apathy. The voice of the watchman fails in rousing them; the signs of the times are neglected and despised by them. But it must not be so with the saints of God. Ye must be listening for his coming footstep; watching and keeping your garments in the midst of seducing error and abounding sin. As the chosen of God, ye must be standing forth for truth; as witnesses for Christ, ye must exalt the sovereignty of the word and of the Lamb; as citizens of the New Jerusalem, ye must be strangers and pilgrims upon earth. Oh! may God grant us all grace that we may be found faithful! May He hold us in his own right hand, and so make us more than conquerors over sin and error! May He take, under his especial care our wives, our children; our brethren, our dear friends, with the whole multitude of his scattered church! May He himself keep them and us in these dangerous days! that so, at his coming, both they and we may be found amongst the blessed company of God’s faithful saints, and, beholding Christ in his glory may be made like him through the omnipotence of his grace!

THE END.