Moreover, brethren, to keep close to Jesus Christ is right. It is in itself
to keep close to integrity, for the Lord Jesus never stepped out of the right
path. He never asks any of his followers to do anything which be a breach of
the right, or which will make them turn aside from uprightness. If we could
put our feet down exactly where his feet went down, even though we had to
walk up to Calvary itself, it would be our duty so to do, for his path was
perfect rectitude, and in him was no sin. We challenge heaven, with its
omniscience, to detect a flaw in him. We challenge hell, with its malice, to
discover in him an aught that is amiss. Lovers of the right and of the true,
ask grace that you may be as he was. You cannot be more eminent for virtue
than he. You cannot serve your God better. You cannot do better than keep
close to every step that he has taken, and, whether in life or in death, to
follow him. It is right, then, because he deserves it; it is right, again
because in itself it is according to the eternal rules of equity.
And, my brethren, there is another argument why we should cleave to Jesus,
and it is this-wherefore should we leave him? Can anybody suggest a reason
why the lover of Christ should turn from him? Polyearp was asked that he
should curse Christ, and he replied, “Wherefore should I curse him? “The,
assembly in the amphitheatre could give no answer to that; all hell could
never give a reply to that. What hath he done, what hath he done that we
should leave him? What can he have done, and what is there that the world can
offer that would ever repay us for leaving him? Could we so false, so
traitorous prove as to turn away from Christ, what should we gain? A little
pleasure, gone in a moment, like thorns that crackle beneath the pot. What
should we lose, my brethren? We should lose the joy of life; we should lose
our support in tribulation; we should lose our hope in death; we should lose
heaven, to inherit nothing but the blackness of darkness for ever. I cannot
conceive a bribe heavy enough to weigh against him; I cannot imagine an
honour bright enough to compare with him. I cannot conceive a disgrace that
can be black enough to compare with the disgrace of deserting him. The silver
mine of Demas is a poor reward for selling his Master. All the wealth of
India, could it be poured into one’s lap, were but a mockery of a soul that
damned itself by casting away its confidence in Christ. To whom should we go,
Master; to whom should we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. To leave
Christ would be the meanest thing of which any could be capable. I suppose
the devil himself, with all that ho has ever done, has never been able to
compass a wickedness that would equal the wickedness, if it were possible, of
a truly gracious soul deliberately deserting Jesus for the world, for such a
soul knows the hollowness of this world’s joys; such a soul knows something
of the sweetness of Jesus; such a spirit has been with him, and has learned
of him, has had the enlightenments of his grace, has learned the faithfulness
of his promise and the love of his heart. Oh! could such a thing be, could
the Lord’s grace so utterly leave a believer that he should turn out an
apostate after all, there is need to dig another hell, as much lower than
hell as hell is lower than the earth; there is need to kindle yet more
furious flames; seven times hotter might the furnace be heated for such an
apostate. Glory be to God, it shall not be.
“Grace will complete what grace begins,
To save from sorrows and from sins
The work which wisdom undertakes,
Eternal mercy never forsakes.”
“This article originally appeared here at Bible Bulletin Board.”
