10. Professing Christendom

There are many significant marks of peculiar importance in the last book of the Scriptures. Its very title draws attention to the first verse. It is the revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave unto Him to shew unto His servants the things which must shortly come to pass. It is heaven’s viewpoint of human affairs, to be most carefully considered and weighed by every child of God. Blessed indeed is the one who reads and heeds. It is essentially a prophetic book, and we may rightly think that the seven epistles to the churches in chapters two and three indicate the varying and progressive condition of the church from the Ascension of our Lord to His Return. So frequently does that solemn injunction iterate: “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.” The Spirit is speaking to the churches, He is speaking about the overcomers in the midst of the churches, He is speaking of the Coming One their Lord. How impressive then is that condition of the church of Laodicea which is declared by the All-Seeing One in the seventh letter. “So then, because thou art neither cold nor hot, I spue thee out of My mouth.” 1 Is this a statement to be passed over lightly? Are we too quickly to conclude that it is merely historical, a judgment on some group of believers nearly nineteen centuries ago without any peculiar significance to us now? Would that it were so! On the contrary there is every reason to conclude, both from observation as well as from the Word, that the conditions of the church at Laodicea represent the condition of Christendom just before the Lord Himself returns. “When the Son of Man cometh shall He find faith on the earth?” 2 We have already seen both from the Word as well as by experience that the world is not getting better, but here we find in our sorrow that the spiritual condition of the church is also declining. The Spirit speaks to the churches of a time when the churches shall be self-satisfied, having need of nothing, 3 knowing not their essential poverty in the things of grace, a church in which the Holy Spirit can do no mighty work, a church which ceases to be of vital value to its Lord and is therefore rejected as definitely as the nation of Israel.

The Name used is significant. He is “the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness.” By implication we perceive that the church in the last time will be a church that pays little attention to His words. His moral teaching is certainly accepted in theory, but His great words on sin, His blood, hell, eternity, His return, all these are explained away, for men are resolved not to embody them in the witness of the Christian ministry. “Behold I come quickly” 4 is the cry of the Bridegroom in this book. “The Spirit and the Bride say come,” 5 but modern Christendom does not say so. The modernist pulpit is quite uninterested in His promises, some of our Lord’s utterances are definitely a handicap, and every possible means is employed to remove their impression. His prophetic word, of course, is scouted as being hearsay of Jewish tradition, an unfortunate sharing by the Lord of Truth of the apocalyptic delusion of an ignorant populace. It nevertheless remains that He is still the Faithful and True Witness. The religious leaders in England would much rather listen to a prominent scientist or a well-known publicist as to the prospects for the future than they would turn to the Word of God. But He is not only the Faithful and True Witness, He is also “The Beginning of the Creation of God.” 6 By this title He declares that He is the Author by resurrection of the new creation, the people who possess and enjoy the life that is eternal. Of this life as an actual and present experience the vast bulk of Christendom is ignorant. I have been in touch recently with a church where the minister a cultured man, has been preaching on our Lord’s words: “Ye must be born again.” 7 It was the beginning of difficulties in his church and sadness in his own heart. I have a Bulletin issued by some Free Church Ministers in which there is a serious discussion as to whether decision should precede or follow admission into the church. While not desiring in any way to misrepresent these views, yet it is really astonishing that such a question should be raised. The true church is a company of men and women born again of the Holy Spirit, and it is the duty of every local church to see that as far as possible its membership is similarly constituted. There can be no admittance without evidence of repentance and faith sealed by the gift of the Holy Spirit. In no circumstances whatsoever can the company of true believers recognise the living church unless there is a genuine seeking to preserve the spiritual integrity of Christian fellowship. The church of the Lord Jesus Christ is the church of the new creation 8 born again after the Spirit into the image of its Heavenly Lord.

Organised Christendom is also described as a “lukewarm” church. It is “neither cold nor hot.” Does this mean that there is no real deep love for the Saviour of the church? That perhaps would be denied. Yet as I listen to religious leaders or read their statements I perceive no calling to the people to give their hearts to Jesus Who has broken His heart for them on Calvary. 9 Principles and ideals, programmes and campaigns to which people are asked graciously to give their support we have in abundance, but no love. The church appeals for the tolerant interest of the masses, but it is almost silent on the broken heart of Christ in redemption, and even in these dark days there is no appeal to the hearts of men. It is not seemly now for professing Christians to sing:

I thank Thee for wearing the crown on Thy brow, If ever I loved Thee, My Jesus, ‘tis now.

Yet the greatest truth concerning God is His love, and that love is to be brought home to men as a present reality by the Holy Spirit moving through our hearts in the same tender Calvary love. It is what the world needs, it is a ministry for many a heart, but we are lukewarm. We endeavour to be philanthropic, ministers and clergy were never more concerned for the social well-being of the masses, but the love that is Calvary love, that moves men’s hearts to respond to Jesus, 10 that love is lacking. It is love that springs out of the blood, and the modern church has little to say concerning that.

Modern Christendom is self-sufficient. It will beg the favours of the world, but it will not beg the mercy of God. There are thousands of members in our churches who have never been to a prayer meeting, for what Christian today would seriously consider the injunction to “pray without ceasing” 11? All over the country there is the same pitiful confession that prayer meetings will not go. Yet the prayer meeting is the place where the people of God are to lay hold of their Heavenly Father for the answer to every need of the fellowship and of the individual. It is the urge Godward that is missing today. The urge manward is strong, but Godward it is weak. I sympathise in a measure with ministers because it is difficult to carry on a meeting which is not supported, but no doubt if our preaching were designed to encourage praying there would be some improvement. It is prayer that we need, it is the sense of utter helplessness that must be if we are to be used of God, but at the moment we are rich. That is to say as far as God is concerned we think ourselves rich. If the churches are emptying it is not because ministers are failing to preach the truth, it is not because there has been any disobedience towards God, no, the only direction in which religious leaders will look is in organisation, methods and relationships manward. Urge revival and you will discover that few are interested. Urge the ministers and clergy to get down low before God and there will be little response. As to opening our Bibles and waiting to know before Him where we may be grieving Him no religious leader in this country amongst the great denominations has yet made the suggestion. Indeed, today we are faced with a dual doctrine of infallibility. Multitudes believe in the infallibility of the Pope and are so mesmerised by the claims of Rome as to be willing to trust their whole eternal welfare to an organisation that denies to them the privilege of reading the Word of God. But in the Free Churches there is also an infallible centre, it is not the Pope but it is the modern mind. The Bible is faulty in the opinion of the modern mind. That settles it! Hell has no reality in fact. Forthwith it ceases to be! One great statesman said of another that he had a tendency to wipe out a fact with a phrase. What shall we say of the man who calls himself a minister of Christ and forthwith denies the teaching our Lord gave on matters of the deepest concern? Much is said of the dogmatism of the Second Adventist. What dogmatism there may be springs out of an honest belief in the trustworthy character of the Word of God. If we are proved to be wrong we shall be able to declare with a good conscience that we took God’s Word at its own estimate, and at least no soul will have been lulled into a false security. But what shall we say of the man who glibly declares that there are many passages of Scripture which do not mean what they say, or certainly have no relevant meaning to the reader in the twentieth century? I should like those who are so confident in shaking the people’s trust in the Bible to think carefully before they speak. A man with strong Communist leanings came to my vestry in order that he might vent his wrath on professing Christendom. He declared that for years Communism had taught that the miracles of the Gospel were mythical. For years, said he, the bishops have declared we were ungodly because we held that view, but now they tell us they themselves do not believe in all of them and they admit that we have been right all the time. Then he added with confidence that in the same way all the other traditions still being maintained would ultimately be surrendered. It would be well if those who are so eager to retain the intellectuals within the sphere of organised religion would remember that they are being most carefully watched by the masses.

It is a curious feature of modern religion that in a very subtle way the church ordained of God to proclaim Christ to men has thrust itself forward on the public consciousness and obscured the Lord. In Free Church circles the issues are frequently presented as being between the church and the world, whereas essentially the church is a witness to our Lord and all issues are between Him and the unbeliever. Instead of calling men to repentance and to seek a saviour we are belabouring them to attend services and ceremonies leaving them with the impression that Christianity is a duty to be performed instead of a grace to be received. The mark of insanity is the tendency of an individual to talk of himself only. Many inmates of asylums appear to be quite rational, but all their conversation is centred upon themselves. This a marked characteristic of modern Christendom, which is silent concerning the present glory and the return of our Lord but is very voluble about itself and the world.

It is significant that the end of the Laodicean church was complete and final rejection. “So then because thou art neither cold nor hot I spue thee out of my mouth.” This is the end of all that religion in any individual or organisation which is the product of the imagination and is alien to the revelation of God. The Church of Jesus Christ is founded on Him, in truth and in His life. It is independent of men’s opinions. Men’s opinions cannot in the least degree affect the truth of God in Christ. Their opinions do but determine their own attitude and destiny. God has no place for a religion without a Holy Ghost revelation. God is resolved to reject and dispense with all that is not of Jesus His Beloved Son. Only that which was in the ark was saved at the time of the flood, and only that which shares the life of Jesus will be saved in the coming catastrophe. The Antichrist is doomed to be consumed with the breath of His mouth, the Scarlet Woman will perish at the hands of her one-time admirers, the church which professes but does not possess His life will be spued out of His mouth. The foolish virgins are plainly told: “Verily I say unto you, I know you not.” 12 The man who buried his talent is cast as an unprofitable servant into outer darkness. Men gather the fruitless branch and it is burned. The salt that has lost its savour is trodden under foot because it is “good for nothing.” 13 Are all these meaningless warnings? Is the answer of the church a self-satisfied shrug of the shoulders that assures all and sundry that within the sphere of organised religion everybody is perfectly safe for time and eternity? It is this lost sense of eternal values that weighs on one’s spirit. The church of today has no eternal message to press upon the consciences of men. The issues that matter are political and international, and we are leaving an impression on the masses that eternity is of very little importance. Only when it is too late shall we awake to the tragedy of such a situation.

What is to be done in such circumstances? Our Glorious Overcomer Who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Father spues the organisation as a whole out of His mouth, but in mercy He turns to the individual: “Behold I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him and sup with Him and he with me.” 14 The day of opportunity for the organisation is gone, the day of mercy for the individual here and there abides. This text, so frequently used as an application to the unbeliever is really for the believer. It is the appeal of the Living Lord in heaven to the individual believer to let Him come right into his life for undivided fellowship in all that He is in His heavenly glory and all that He will be in His coming again. And that is where the issue is at this moment. It is with the individual, with you, with me. The day of His appearing is approaching. In that day the only issue that matters will be your personal relationship to Him Who shed His blood at Calvary for you. Is He yours? 15 Are you undividedly His? 16 Time is short, eternity is long. Is the door of your heart wide open to welcome Him in?

1

Revelation 3:14-22

2

Luke 18:6-8

3

Revelation 3:17

4

Revelation 22:20

5

Revelation 22:17

6

Revelation 3:14

7

John 3:3

8

Revelation 3:14 & Isaiah 43:19, 44:24

9

Luke 24:26 & 46-49

10

John 17:20-23, John19:18, Psalm 22, Isaiah 53

11

1 Thessalonians 5:17

12

Matthew 25:1-13

13

Matthew 5:13

14

Revelation 3:20

15

Luke 22:19-20

16

Luke 8:4-21