but of liberty before God. The Bible does not grant us liberty to believe what we please, it demands that we shall believe what it says; for thus the Lord commanded by Moses: "Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish aught from it." Deut. 4, 2. Nowhere does the Bible say, a man should have liberty to believe what he pleases. That would indeed be a broad and convenient way. Likewise, it belongs to walking in the broad way, if we do say that the Bible is the supreme rule of faith, but seek ways and means to twist its teachings to suit our notions, or to make them agree with the wisdom of the world and the speculations of philosophy falsely so called. This too belongs to walking in the broad way, if we do not want false doctrines rebuked publicly, or do not want the truth confessed so plainly in word and deed that errorists and the world would be offended. To go by expediency in matters of doctrine and faith, to construe the Word so as to please the carnal-minded and the wise of this world, is walking in the broad way. If, in matters of doctrine and faith, many claim the liberty to believe what they please, the number of those will scarcely be less who claim for themselves the liberty to live as they please and to do what they please. The latter will naturally result from the former. The man who will not be hedged in by the teachings of the Bible is very apt to find the way of the commandments too narrow for him. Those are not few who are church members and perhaps frequent the house of worship, but they live like heathen. They practice cursing, lying, cheating; they walk in avarice, spite and envy; they delight in intemperance, fornication and lasciviousness; they want to miss none of the carnal joys of this world. They say within themselves: 'Let preachers preach; we will do as we like." "Ye shall know them by their fruits: Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles. Even so a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit." The fruit shows the quality of the tree. They that walk after the flesh are evil trees planted in the broad way, and their having their name on the church roll will not save them from the place to which that way leads. And what of that other class who have the name of being Christians, who bring not the fruits of the Spirit? What of those who say "Lord, Lord," and do not the will of the Father which is in heaven? What of the trees that bear leaves and bloom and bring no fruit? "Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire." The tree that brings no fruit is no good. "A certain man," says the Lord, "had two sons; and he came to the second, and said, Son, go work to-day in my vineyard. And he said, I go, sir: and went not." Matt. 21, 30. To say Lord, Lord, and yet not gird the loins to do the will of God is an easy, convenient, broad kind of religion, and many there be who walk in this way. But the Lord here speaks of still another class of such who profess to be His servants, saying: "Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?" Among these are some who spake true prophecies, as Balaam, that avaricious and wicked fellow, who gave utterance to that beautiful prophecy of the Star out of Jacob; some who performed true miracles, as Judas, the thief and traitor; some who perform "lying wonders," very common in the time of popery. To them belong the "false Christs and false prophets" who have appeared in great numbers in these latter days, pretending to perform miracles. What are we to judge of these? In what way are they walking? The words of their mouth betray the sentiment of their heart. Because they have done such great works they count themselves worthy of a seat in paradise. They walk in the way of spiritual pride, self-conceit and carnal boastfulness. Those in the narrow way speak a very different language. They do not glory in their own works, they glory in the work of Jesus Christ. They do not say: We have worked righteousness, they say; 'Our Lord Jesus Christ has worked righteousness for us.' Their own works are very small in their own esteem, but great unto them is the work of Him who shed His blood to redeem them from sin. To be cleansed from their sins by the blood of Christ is to those in the narrow way the one thing needful. They sing as they go: And should I through Christ's merits prove Yet e'er so faithful in my love, That I could keep from wrong alway And sin not to my dying day; Still would I when I Christ shall see, Not think of zeal or piety, But this a sinner nears the throne Surely, every one who brings his own works before God is walking in the broad way, being "vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind." Col. 2, 18. II. That it is far easier and pleasanter to the flesh to walk in the broad than in the narrow way, is evident. The man who is ready to bow to every Word of God, and who will confess and practice it, must soon experience the truth of the words which the Lord spake to the disciples: "Ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake." Matt. 24, 9. Both infidels and errorists are united in opposition to him who holds and confesses the Word of truth and right, and frequently this will cause him pecuniary losses, because those who hate the truth will, if possible, avoid having dealings with him. The confession of the truth and genuine godliness do not make a man popular with the world. To continue in the Word is surely walking in the narrow way. Why be so scrupulous about keeping in the narrow way of God's Word and command, and avoiding the broad way of liberalism? Are there not also among those who entertain errors true children of God? It is true, a man may be in error in some or even in many points of doctrine without knowing it and yet be a true Christian, but woe unto us, if we knowingly and willingly sacrifice one jot of God's truth, or in any way sanction the perversion of any one Word of the Lord; for then would we be obliged to experience that the broad way indeed does lead down to destruction. In this respect doctrine and morals compare. A man may sin from ignorance and yet remain a Christian. If a Christian does aught against the law of God without knowing that it is sin, he is indeed culpable before God; for ignorance brings guilt, because no man should be ignorant of what is the will of God; yet sinning unwittingly will not make a man an un-Christian, because it is done in ignorance. But if a man willingly does that which he knows to be sin and so consents to sin, he is condemned; and if a man adheres to or sanctions a doctrine which he knows to be false, he is equally condemned; for in both cases he acts against his own better knowledge. Likewise condemned is he who is willfully ignorant, who does not know the truth and does not want to know it, as well as the man who does not care, whether he has the truth or not. A man who does not care whether, in his actions, he does right or wrong is certainly not a Christian, otherwise sin and virtue could not be indifferent to him; neither can he be a Christian who does not care whether the doctrine which he hears and holds be true or false, otherwise the truth of God could not be an indifferent thing to him. It was one of the most artful devices of Satan in these latter evil days to bring up the idea, if a man were only sincere in his convictions, it would make no difference what he believed, and he need not be so scrupulous about orthodoxy. That is one of the great falsehoods of our times, and it is the mother of indifferentism and emancipation from the authority of the Word. With our text it surely compares strangely: "Beware of false prophets." A clear and distinct command of the Lord. Dare we set it aside? dare we say, it would make no difference whether the prophecy which we hear, to which we hold, be true or false? If we set aside this command of the Lord and will not beware of false prophets and will not search in the Scripture whether the teachings which we hear are divine truth, then we are taking away from the Word of the Lord, " and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book." Rev. 22, 19. Those who refuse to do a command of the Lord, or who set it aside as unnecessary and indifferent, are not minded like the children of God; for these say: "Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth." 1 Sam. 3, 10. Surely, all those who teach men so are false prophets, and will receive the reward of false prophets; for they are speaking against the Lord. Akin to this saying, is that idea so commonly expressed: It would make no difference what a man believed, if he would only live right. Many there are who accept this notion as a wise and true saying, but it is one of those sayings which, like counterfeit money, will pass only until they are examined right. Is it a wise and true saying: It will make no difference what ideas a man has about farming, if he will only farm right? You will say: That is nonsense. If a man has wrong ideas about farming he will farm wrong. The man who is convinced that he can raise a good crop of corn by planting in the fall will plow and plant, and labor and seed will be lost. First a man must be taught farming, and he must be taught it right, then he can farm right. First a man must believe right, then he can live right. Life and walk flow from a man's creed and faith. The man who believes the Mormon doctrine will live like a Mormon. The man who believes the Koran will exult in sabering Christians. Right faith will beget right life, wrong faith wrong life. Therefore it is so highly necessary to walk in the narrow way, and not to dread the labor and trouble of searching the Scriptures to learn from them what to believe and how to live in order to be saved. This necessity the Lord urges upon us when He says of false prophets that "they are ravening wolves." False prophets are ravening wolves," because they destroy the souls like wolves destroy the sheep. We have therefore great reason to do what the Lord says of His sheep: "A stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him; for they know not the voice of strangers." John 10, 5. In all things concerning the salvation of the soul we must incline our ears to none other than to Jesus alone; for He alone is that good Shepherd who saves His sheep from the wolf. If we hear a voice which would lead us away from the truth as it is in Jesus, we must turn away our ears |