How dreadful a thing it is to allow ourselves to get into a condition of soul in which we are unable to bear distinct testimony against the ministers of Satan. “We must,” it is said, “be liberal”; “we must not hurt people’s feelings.” But truth is truth, and we are not to put error for truth. Nothing but a secret desire to stand well with the world will ever lead to this careless method of dealing with evil.
It is often urged, “We must present truth in such an aspect as will attract,” when what is really meant is that truth is to be made a kind of variable, elastic thing, which can be turned into any shape, or stretched to any length, to suit the taste and habits of those who would fain put it out of the world altogether.
Truth, however, cannot be thus treated; it can never be made to reduce itself to the level of this world. Those who profess to hold it may seek to use it thus, but it will ever be found the same pure, holy, faithful witness against the world and all its ways. It will speak distinctly, if its voice be not stifled by connection with the practice of faithless men.
When the church stoops so low as to acknowledge the wisdom of this world, who will observe any distinct testimony for God. All sinks down to one common level, and the enemy will have his own way. In this way the voice of truth is hushed and God is forgotten.
The attempt to accommodate truth to those who are of the world can only end in complete failure. Let truth stand upon its own heavenly height; let saints stand fully and firmly with it; let them invite sinners up to it; but let them not descend to the low and groveling pursuits and habits of the world, and thus rob truth of all of its edge and power. It is far better to allow the contrast between God’s truth and the world’s ways to be fully seen, than to identify with them, when they really do not agree.
We may think to commend truth to the minds of worldly people by an effort to conform to their ways; but, so far from commending it, we in reality expose it to secret contempt and scorn. The man who conforms to the world will be the enemy of Christ, and the enemy of Christ’s people. Let us shake off the world’s influence, and purge ourselves from its ways.
We have no idea how insidiously it creeps in upon us. The enemy at first weans from really simple and Christian habits, and by degrees we drop into the current of the world’s thoughts. What is needed is the single-minded devotion of people to whom the Lord is everything and the world is nothing. May we, with holy jealousy and tenderness of conscience, watch against every approach of evil.
All this is deeply solemn. We know of few things more dangerous than intellectual familiarity with the letter of Scripture where the spirit of it does not govern the conscience, form the character, and shape the way. What we have now is a cool indifference on the part of Christians to the Scriptures–pure truth wields little power over the conscience–and thereby the sharp edge of Scripture is blunted or turned aside. Christians may quote scripture after scripture, but it seems no more than the pattering of rain upon the window: human reason is at work, the will is dominant, self-interest is at stake, human opinions bear sway, and God’s truth practically is set aside. We want to tremble at the truth of God, to bow down in reverential submission to its holy authority in all things. A single line of Scripture ought to be sufficient for souls on any point. May the Lord raise up many faithful witnesses and truehearted witnesses in these last days.
The truth of God is a perfect chart, in which every exigency of the Christian manner has been anticipated. Every rock, every sand bank, every shoal, every strand, every island, has been carefully noted. All the need of the Church of God, its members, and its ministers, has been fully provided for.
How could it be otherwise? Could the mind of God have devised, or His finger sketched an imperfect chart? Impossible! We must either deny the divinity or admit the sufficiency of the Book. We are absolutely shut up to this alternative. We must set a higher value than ever upon the truth, and to warn them, in most urgent terms, against every influence, whether of tradition, or rationalism, which might shake our confidence. It is imperative that we keep the truth of God–treasure it in our hearts–and submit to its authority.