Jude 1:3

Beloved.

Ministerial courtesy and love

1 Piety is no enemy to courtesy.

2. The work and labour of a minister should proceed from love to his people.

3. People should study to be fit for the love of their pastor.

4. The love of a minister must not be slack and remiss, but vehement and ardent.

5. Loving a minister’s person has a great influence upon loving his doctrine.

6. The aim of minister in being beloved of his people should be to benefit their souls.

7. The love of a minister to his people should procure love again from his people. (W. Jenkyn, M. A.)

I gave all diligence.

Diligence

1. Greatest diligence is always to be used about the best things, about matters of greatest concernment. It is madness to make as great a fire for the roasting of an egg as for the roasting of an ox; to follow the world with as much fervency as we do holiness: and about trifles to be employed with vast endeavours. It is impossible to be too diligent for heaven, and difficult not to be over-diligent for the earth.

2. All that ministers, even the best of them, can do, is but to be diligent, to take pains and endeavour (1 Corinthians 3:6). One thing to preach, another to persuade.

3. Diligence in duty is the commendation of ministers. The light of knowledge without the heat of love, speaks him not excellent. He is not made for sight, but for service.

4. People who partake of the minister’s diligence, must take heed of negligence. (W. Jenkyn, M. A.)

To write unto you.--

Writing

Writing is a great help to promote the common salvation. By this means we speak to the absent and to posterity; and by this means are the oracles of God preserved in public records, which otherwise were in danger of being corrupted, if left to the uncertainty of verbal tradition. Apostolical doctrine being committed to writing, remaineth as a constant rule of faith and manners. Finally, by writing, the streams of salvation are conveyed into every family, that in the defect of public preaching good supply may be had in this kind (Judges 5:14). Again, in controversials there is great use of writing, controversies not being so easily determined by the judgment of the ear as the eye. In the clamour of disputations and violent discourse, usually there is such a dust raised, that we cannot so soon discern the truth as upon a calm debate, and mature consideration of what is delivered in writing. (T. Manton.)

Of the common salvation.--

The common salvation

I. Invite attention to the theme. “The common salvation.”

1. Salvation is adapted to all. It meets the case of man, as it provides--

(1) An atonement for sin.

(2) A justifying righteousness.

(3) The Holy spirit, to renew and sanctify.

2. The salvation of the gospel is sufficient for all. As well exhaust the Godhead as exhaust it. If you were bid betake yourself to that mighty ocean, would you say there was not water enough for me to bathe in?

3. The salvation of the gospel offers itself freely to all.

II. Exhort the urgency of personal appropriation of the common salvation. It suggests mournful considerations. Is what lies within the reach of all, what comes as a boon to be forfeited. Ah, what a dismal consummation from such preliminaries! It is no dubious problem, that, in order to any benefit, the salvation must be appropriated; otherwise it is worse than of no avail. For that dishonoured salvation must throw a dismal complexion on your eternity. It must add intensity to all its retributions. (Adam Forman.)

The common salvation

I. The essential truths it embraces.

1. The full admission of man’s entire depravity and ruin.

2. The necessity of an entire and sole dependence on the finished work of Christ.

3. The necessity of the influences of the Holy Spirit, for the regeneration and sanctification of the soul.

II. The wondrous scenes it discloses.

1. Look back to the counsels of eternal love.

2. Observe the scenes of the Redeemer’s advent.

3. Look to the scenes of purity and bliss above.

III. The distinguishing blessings it confers.

1. Pardon and peace.

2. Adoption and dignity.

3. Comfort and preservation.

4. Present pleasure and joyful anticipation.

IV. The personal attention it demands. (W. Spencer.)

The common salvation

(with Titus 1:4):--Jude was probably one of Christ’s brothers, and a man of position and influence in the Church. He is writing to the whole early Christian community, numbering men widely separated from each other by nationality, race, culture, and general outlook on life; and he beautifully and humbly unites himself with them all as recipients of a “common salvation.” Paul is writing to Titus, the veteran leader to a raw recruit; and yet Paul beautifully and humbly associates himself with his pupil, as exercising a “common faith.” But you will notice that they take up the same thought at two different stages, as it were. The one declares that there is but one remedy for all the world’s woes; the other declares that there is but one way by which that remedy can be applied. All who possess “the common salvation” are so blessed because they exercise “the common faith.”

I. The underlying conception of a universal deepest need. “The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.” The tap root of all human miseries lies in the solemn fact of human transgression. That is a universal fact. Wide differences part us, but there is one thing that we have all in common: a conscience and a will that lifts itself against disliked good. Beneath all surface differences of garb there lies the same fact, the common sickness of sin. Now, do not let us lose ourselves in generalities. Whatever you may want, be sure of this: that your deepest needs will not be met until the fact of your individual sinfulness and the consequences of that fact are somehow or other dealt with, staunched, and swept away.

II. The common remedy. “The common salvation.” There is one remedy for the sickness. There is one safety against the danger. There is only one, because it is the remedy for all men, and it is the remedy for all men because it is the remedy for each. Jesus Christ deals, as no one else has ever pretended to deal, with this outstanding fact of my transgression and yours. He, by His death, as I believe, has saved the world from the danger because He has set right the world’s relations to God. On the Cross, Jesus Christ the son of God bore the weight of the world’s sin, yours and mine and every man’s. Further, Jesus Christ imparts a life that cures the sickness of sin. Christ deals with men in the depths of their being. He will give you, if you will, a new life and new tastes, directions, inclinations, impulses, perceptions, hopes, and capacities, and the evil will pass away, and you will be whole. Jesus Christ heals society by healing the individual. There is no other way of doing it. If the units are corrupt the community cannot be pure.

III. The common means of possessing the common healing. My second text tells us what that is--“The common faith.” If it is true that salvation is a gift from God, then it is quite plain that the only thing that we require is an outstretched hand. It is no arbitrary appointment. The only possible way of possessing “the common salvation” is by the exercise of “the common faith.” (A. Maclaren, D. D.)

The common salvation

I. It is common because it comes to all men from: a common source.

II. Because it concerns all classes.

III. Because it satisfies a common need.

IV. Because it is adapted to men of all races and every clime.

V. Because it is the theme of all the writers of Scripture. Learn--

1. To accept this salvation.

2. To publish it.

3. To defend it. (James Hoyle.)

The common salvation

I. It lies open to all.

II. Christ is offered freely to all, in order to be received altogether as He is exhibited in the gospel.

1. In His complex character as God-man.

2. In all His offices as Mediator, Prophet, Priest, and King. (F. Frew.)

The general character of the gospel scheme

I. The gospel, which is characterised by its spiritual or experimental effect, is here called “the salvation.” It is the instrumental medium through which this comprehensive blessing is conveyed to the soul. “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.

II. The gospel is not only called “the salvation,” but “the common salvation.” This may be intended to intimate--

1. That the salvation which the gospel reveals flows to believers from one common source--Christ.

2. That it is the same salvation that is enjoyed by all the children of God.

3. That the salvation of the gospel is common to every age, and class, and clime.

4. That all true believers have a common interest in this salvation--that they are all alike bound to maintain its doctrines, to vindicate its principles, and to promote its practical designs.

III. The gospel is also here described as “the faith once delivered to the saints.”

IV. The manner and spirit in which we are to “contend for the faith.”

V. The reasons which render this contending for the faith necessary.

1. Because men are by nature hostile to the truth, and therefore disposed to pervert it.

2. Because the glory of God is peculiarly connected with the preservation of His truth.

3. Because the uncorrupted truth is essential to the salvation of man.

4. Because we are bound in this matter to follow the example of our Lord and His apostles. (W. McGilvray, D. D.)

The common salvation

1. God is most free of His best blessings. He affords salvation in common to all His people.

2. Christ and heaven are full and satisfactory; they are enough for all.

3. None should be willing to be saved alone. Heaven was made for a common good.

4. They who teach others the way to salvation, should be in a state of salvation themselves. He who has sailed into foreign coasts, discourses more thoroughly and satisfactorily than he who has only map knowledge.

5. The commonness of salvation to all believers should be a great inducement to every one to labour particularly for salvation, and that they may not miss of it themselves.

6. There is but one way to heaven. There are many nations, more men, only one faith.

7. The partakers of this “common salvation,” who here agree in one way to heaven, and who expect to be hereafter in one heaven, should be of one heart. (W. Jenkyn, M. A.)

The common salvation

And note that he calleth it common salvation, not proper to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Peter, etc., but common to all. First, he calleth it common salvation. First, to admonish all men to lay hold of it. So saith Paul to Timothy, “Lay hold of eternal life.” And also to admonish ministers to neglect no sheep of God, not the very least. Secondly, he calleth it common salvation because it is not prepared for some few, as the Ark was for the deluge. Salvation is of the Jews, but the doctrine of the gospel is offered unto all. Thirdly, he calleth it common salvation because we are all saved by one common means, that is, by Christ. In this sense, as salvation is called common, so the Church is called common or catholic in three respects. First, it is not tied to any time, as the time of the law, but it endureth for ever. Secondly, it is not tied to any place, but to the whole world. Thirdly, it is not tied to any persons, as to the seed of Abraham, but to all that believe. In these respects salvation is called catholic, or common, and so is the Church. (S. Otes.)

The common salvation

I. Because it provides that which mankind everywhere require. It may be rightfully said, I think, that mankind are addicted to religion; by which I mean that the propensity to engage in worship, and to seek for help and succour from powers which are external to our selves--that that propensity is characteristic to man as man. Man is religious because he cannot help it; he is religious from necessity; he wants that which naturally he does not possess, and without which he believes it cannot be well with him, either now or hereafter. Why else will you find men going upon pilgrimages, offering sacrifices, and enduring the heaviest self-denial? Well, look here, in the glorious gospel of the blessed God you have just the common benefaction which humanity require. This, and not something else; not this or something else, but this exclusively, and this alone.

II. Because you can communicate it to mankind everywhere. I have spoken of various forms of religious service, and various modes of religious action; now of many of them it may be said that they arose out of the necessities of some given district, and that they relate exclusively to the peculiarities of that district. But you cannot tell me of any region of earth where Christianity cannot be instituted; the man does not live to whom it may not be preached, and by whom it may not be forthwith enjoyed. The nation cannot be found under heaven to which it may not be sent. The government does not exist under which it will not survive. Peculiarities, geographical, local or national, cannot be found whereby it would be set at nought.

III. Because it is adapted to mankind everywhere. It is not only required by them in the general, but it is adapted to them severally, wherever they may be found. There are great peculiarities--personal peculiarities amongst the human family.

1. What peculiarities there are, for example, in respect to constitutional temperament! One man is cheerful, so much so that some would say of him, that he is volatile and gay. Another man, on the contrary, is taciturn. It would be said of him that he is gloomy or morose. Others partake of each of these peculiarities in a manner which, perhaps, may be said to constitute the temperament we most admire. The gospel when brought to bear on these peculiarities, ministers impulse where it is required--it ministers equanimity where that is required, and strength where strength is required. It preserves cheerfulness from degenerating into levity, and seriousness from degenerating into gloom.

2. Again, what peculiarities there exist with respect to age! The young man needs to be reminded that the world is a great delusion, and to be kept under constant, powerful, yet cheerful check, lest he put darkness for light, and light for darkness. The man of business needs to be reminded that this is not his rest. The man of threescore years and ten needs to be succoured, comforted, and cheered by the consolations of the gospel. It takes the young man and the maiden, and administers counsel and instruction to them. It takes the man of business, and is like a monitor at his very elbow on the exchange, bidding him not to forget the things which are unseen and eternal. It goes to the old man’s chamber, and makes all his bed in his sickness.

3. Yet again, there are peculiarities with respect to intellectual power. There are some men who are profoundly intellectual, and there are other men who are not profoundly intellectual. There is a very great variety of gradation between those two extremes; but mark! The proverbs, the parables, the doctrines, the invitations in this Book were made as much for the sage as they were for the rustic; and, engaged as men of the most opposite intellectual power may be upon the examination of it, I would defy anybody to tell whether the philosopher or the peasant were most at home.

4. Then there is another peculiarity with regard to the degree of each person’s criminality. It is adapted to the profligate, the blasphemer, the dishonourable--to adopt the language of the Apostle Paul, it is adapted to the disobedient, the lawless, the ungodly.

IV. Because it may be proffered to all mankind, everywhere. So explicit are its declarations, so unrestricted are its invitations. “Believe thou on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved!” The light of heaven is unrestricted, and the light of the gospel is equally so. (W. Brock.)

Earnestly contend for the faith once delivered.

Contending for the faith

The revelation of God in Christ--whose contents are the object of Christian faith and are therefore described as the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints--does not consist merely in additional knowledge concerning God. Christ is the Saviour as well as the teacher of men. A large part, perhaps the larger part, of the revelation of God which has come to the race through Christ consists in the actual redemption of men from sin and eternal death. Those who receive the Christian gospel are not only brought under the power of great and pathetic and animating truths concerning God--they enter into the actual possession of a redemption which God has achieved for the race. To them the faith was once for all delivered. That is, the revelation of God in Christ, the Christian gospel, which is the object of the faith of all Christians, and which is here described as “the faith,” is committed to the trust of all who have been actually redeemed and restored to God by Christ. They are responsible for its purity and integrity. There are other provisions for perpetuating it, and for renewing it, when it has been corrupted or wholly lost. The written story of the earthly life and ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the authoritative teaching of the apostles. But even those sacred books were written by elect saints in discharge of the same trust which has been inherited by ourselves. They stand apart. They have an exceptional authority. But they illustrate the fidelity which is required of the saints of all succeeding generations; and in our age, as in all past ages, the effective defence of the faith lies, under God, with living men and women who through Christ have received the remission of sins, and the supernatural life, and the grace and light of the Holy Ghost. To the saints was the faith delivered once for all. The saints of every age are responsible for defending it in times of peril and asserting its power. For they, and they alone, have an independent, personal, and immediate knowledge of the Divine objects of faith. Some kinship with a poet’s genius is necessary for a true understanding of his verse; and spiritual kinship with the writers of the Old Testament and the New is necessary to catch their real thought. Who can tell what is meant by being “in Christ” except the man who is conscious that he himself is “in Christ “? Who can have any clear perception of the great truth--the paradox of the Christian gospel--that we are justified, not by our own righteousness, but in Christ, except the man who, out of the fulness of his own happy experience, can join in the exulting triumph of saints and say, “Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,” etc. The theologian, therefore, must first of all be a saint. It is not enough that he has mastered the theories of conflicting theologies concerning the Christian atonement, the forgiveness of sins, justification, the new life which is given to the race in Christ, judgment to come. He must know for himself the greatness of the Christian redemption. He must be vividly conscious that in the power of a new life he has passed into a new world, if he is to be able to give any true account of that Divine regenerative act in which the new life is given. His science is the science of God. He must have a large and varied knowledge of God--not merely of the speculations of other men about God. His faith in Christ as the Eternal Word who has become flesh must rest, not on proof texts, but on a direct vision of Christ’s glory, and his faith in the Holy Spirit on his own consciousness that that august and gracious Presence dwells in him as in a temple. For his thought to move with any certainty in the great mysteries which surround the being of the Eternal, he must be able to say with other saintly souls, “Through Christ we have access in one Spirit unto the Father.” To all Christian men the great objects of faith are revealed by the Spirit of God. No man can really say that Jesus is the Lord but in the Holy Spirit. The theologian who is called of God to be the teacher of the Church must receive in larger measure than his brethren “the Spirit of wisdom and revelation” in the knowledge of God. It is not given indeed to man to know in this direct way all the wonders of the Divine kingdom; and the theologian, like the discoverers in other sciences, must sometimes rely on the observations and experience of other men. The great things he should know for himself. Where his own vision is defective, and his own experience at fault, he will try to learn what other men have seen and what other men have experienced. He will distinguish between their speculations and the facts which they have verified and which have been verified by ordinary Christian men in different ages and under different conditions. He will remember that to the meek God teaches His way. He has to give an intellectual account of the faith once for all delivered to the saints. He will therefore attribute supreme value to that central substance of Christian truth which has been the life and strength of Christian men in all generations. The spirit of intellectual adventure will not be uncontrolled. He will not imagine that after nineteen centuries of Christian history the saints have yet to learn what are “the first principles of Christ.” Believing that the light of God has come to himself he will also believe that it came to devout men of past generations. We claim for the intellect the largest freedom. It can render no worthy service to the Church or to truth if it be fettered. We claim for it in religion a freedom as large as is conceded to it in science. In science it cannot change the facts; its function is to ascertain and to interpret them. In faith it cannot change the facts; its function is to ascertain and to interpret them. In both departments the facts are supreme. Wherever facts are known the speculative intellect is under limitations and restraints; it is absolutely free only where it is absolutely ignorant. The methods of the intellect in the investigation of religious truth differ from its methods in the investigation of scientific truth, as the methods of the historian differ from the methods of the chemist. But the claim for intellectual freedom in theology needs no other qualification than that which is imposed upon it in every other province of intellectual activity--facts, through whatever channel the certain knowledge of them may come, and by whatever methods they are discovered or verified--facts are its only limitation. It is our duty to keep an open mind to the discoveries of theologians and scholars; but this does not mean that we should consent to regard all the articles of the Christian faith as open questions. On the great subjects our mind is made up. The facts we know, and under God we have to transmit the knowledge of them to coming generations. We are willing, if necessary, to revise definitions, but can accept no definition which obscures the Divine glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Son of Man, Creator, Brother, Lord, Redeemer of the human race. We are prepared to discuss theories of the Atonement, but can accept no theory which would dislodge our hearts from their sure confidence in Christ, in whom we have redemption through His blood, even the remission of sins according to the riches of God’s grace. We confess that the mystery of the eternal life of God transcends our science; that the terms of the creeds must be inexact; that they point towards august truths, but do not reach them; and yet, with reverence and awe we worship Father, Son, and Holy Spirit--one God, blessed for evermore; and in the knowledge of God we have eternal life. The substance of the faith delivered once for all to the saints of the first age has been verified in the experience of the saints of every succeeding generation, and has, in these last days, been verified in our own. Theologians have not to create new heavens and a new earth, but to give a more exact account of that spiritual universe whose mysteries and glories have environed the saints from the beginning. (R. W. Dale, D. D.)

Contend for the faith

I. The great cause for the maintenance of which the apostle exhorts Christians to contend.

1. For the purity of the faith.

2. For the influence of the faith.

3. For the propagation of the faith.

II. The grounds which justified the apostle in making this duty so imperative.

1. The importance of the faith in itself.

2. The proneness of men to deteriorate or pervert the faith.

3. The violent opposition of avowed enemies, and the seduction of secret foes.

4. The Divine origin of the revelation.

III. The spirit and temper in which, as Christians, we should discharge the duty.

1. Our methods must be spiritual, not carnal.

2. Our efforts should be enlightened and scriptural.

3. We should contend for the faith with great earnestness.

4. We should combine with firmness a charitable spirit.

5. While active in the propagation of the gospel among our fellow men, there should be a consistent exemplification of religion in our own lives.

6. We should give ourselves to prayer, accompanying all our exertions with ardent supplications for the outpourings of the Holy Spirit. (C. Barry.)

The defence of the faith

I. The cause to re defended. “The faith.”

1. Christians are not called upon to contend for--

(1) Mere forms and ceremonies.

(2) Mere speculative opinions, though those opinions may refer to some points of Christian doctrine.

2. We are to contend for--

(1) The great facts of the gospel. The incarnation, miracles, sufferings, death, resurrection, etc., of Christ.

(2) The essential doctrines of the faith. The fall of man. Divinity and atonement of Christ. Influence of Holy Spirit. Salvation by faith.

(3) The experimental power and influence of the faith. Practical holiness.

II. The nature of this duty. “Earnestly contend.”

1. Not with bigoted zeal.

2. Not with secular, carnal weapons.

3. In a Christian spirit.

4. Judiciously.

5. Practically. By example, as well as precept or rebuke.

III. The necessity of discharging this duty.

1. It is enjoined by Divine authority.

2. By contending for the faith you will yourself become more established in it. (Josiah Hill.)

The faith once delivered to the saints

I. What is it?

1. The word faith here must be understood as meaning the objects of faith--all the great doctrines of the gospel which we must cordially believe, and all its holy precepts which we must diligently practise.

2. This faith was once delivered to the saints. It was communicated first to the evangelists and apostles by the teaching of Jesus Christ and by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and was by them spread abroad in the world.

II. How are we to contend for it?

1. We must strenuously contend for this faith, as a prize of inestimable value.

2. We must also contend for this faith with great diligence. It should be our daily study and prayer that this faith may be firmly rooted in our own hearts, and in the hearts of all who are placed under our care or under our influence.

3. We must contend for the faith once delivered to the saints, with much anxiety. We must be “sober and vigilant,” as knowing that we are exposed to many enemies, who would rob us of our faith.

4. We must further contend for this faith with constant perseverance. Surely you would not wish merely to fight some battles well in contending for your Christian faith, and then give up all for lost.

Conclusion:

1. If any additional motives are necessary to persuade you thus to “contend for the faith once delivered to the saints,” consider--

(1) How much your present peace and eternal welfare depend upon this contest.

(2) Consider how strongly you are urged by a principle of gratitude to hand down to others the pure faith of the gospel which you have received from your fathers.

(3) There is another motive which should strongly urge you in this arduous contest: This is the love of Christ and of your brethren. (John Bull, M. A.)

Contending for the faith

I. We are called to contend earnestly. But to contend earnestly does not mean that we are to contend bitterly, fiercely, unkindly. It merely means, that we view the question as we ought to view it; that we are serious where we should be serious; firm where we should be firm; and that, as we know the value of truth, we should be as decided in maintaining it as we have been diligent in seeking it.

II. The object for which we abe directed to contend. We are to contend earnestly; but it is “for the faith once delivered to the saints.” In other words, we are to contend, not for any notions of our own, not for any private views, personal feelings, imaginary distinctions, but for that which God has revealed. It is not easy to say how much the character of contention is affected by that, which is regarded as its object. If the object is personal, the contention becomes personal. Self-love, in that case, mixes itself with the feelings of the moment; and pride and vanity, and a hundred other evil tempers, are enlisted in the cause, and add bitterness and warmth to the dispute. On the other hand, he who wishes to defend nothing but “the faith once delivered to the saints,” can contend, and earnestly too, without allowing his earnestness to exceed its proper limits, or become violent and intemperate. The cause in which he is engaged sanctifies the spirit with which it is advocated. The consciousness that he has truth on his side makes him calm. The assurance of God’s word gives certainty and steadiness to his reasoning. (H. Raikes, M. A.)

The permanence of the Christian faith

What are our primary, positive reasons--such as spring from the broad facts which meet us on the forefront of history and human nature--for believing in the permanence of our Christian creed?

1. First, surely we may gather reassurance from the past history of Christianity. Human nature is one and the same beneath all distinctions of race and class. Christianity has already in the past shown a marvellous power so to get down to the permanent roots of human life and to pass in substance unchanged through the greatest possible crisis and most radical epochs of change in human history.

2. Should we not find reassurance in the fact that the panics with which the faith of our own generation has been assailed are storms which the ship of Christian faith is already showing signs that she can weather? For example, it cannot be denied that the horror with which, not wisely perhaps, but certainly not unnaturally, new conceptions of evolution in nature were at first regarded by theologians and Christian teachers is passing away, and they at least are declaring on all sides and in all good faith that they do not find their frankest acceptance at all inconsistent with a Christian belief.

3. Again, if we are tempted to take an over-ideal view of development as the law of the world, and to fear that Christianity by the very fact that it claims finality proves its falsity, is there anything more reassuring than to consider carefully the broad fact that Christian morality has as a matter of history vindicated its claim in this respect. A morality--an ideal of human life, individual and social--promulgated in Syria 1800 years ago, proclaimed in its completeness by a few mostly uneducated men of Jewish birth and training, within the limit of a few years--this nt and individual conviction of Christian truth. We want men who are not echoes, but voices; men who draw their inspiration from prayer rather than from preaching, from individual self-consecration, and not from collected sympathy. Then should we feel less that external things can effect the grandeur and earnestness of our Christian life. And one other fact will bring all this to a personal and direct application. We must be thus conquerors over circumstances and opposing forces, for our Christianity will ever be weak. We must be men, not spiritual infants, or we shall lose our Christian mission in life.

II. This conquest contains in itself the elements of everlasting blessedness. Who does not feel it better to be alone with Christ in struggling with opposing influences than to be up-borne by the current of popularity and stimulated by the flattery or friendship of men? And when thus we gain, through our own battle, a deeper insight into the mystery of that life of Jesus, and have the consciousness of a growing fellowship with Him, we are already being clothed in the white garments of eternity, and walking with the Son of God. (E. L. Hull, B. A.)

The undefiled few

I. The undefiled few.

II. The present power of Christ’s undefiled few. It would appear to be one of the Divine arrangements that the many should be blessed in the power and influence of the few. No single phase of human life but has been lifted up into dignity for ever through the example of some noble moral hero. There are ever the few in political life who see clearly, grasp principles vigorously, and lead aright the unthinking many. There are many students in the walks of science and literature who never reach beyond the common level, and in each age there are a few men of genius like Bacon, and Butler, and Newton, and Herschell, who rise high up above their fellows, the giants of the intellectual world. The principle may even be seen working within the Church.

III. The future glory of Christ’s undefiled few.

1. They who struggle after goodness now shall find themselves then settled in goodness for ever. He who tries to reach Christlike purity daily finds his dangers growing less, his temptations becoming fewer, his struggles ever more surely ending in the victory of the good.

2. Above all, these undefiled few shall have a communion with Christ of an extraordinary intimacy and preciousness. “With Me.” (R. Tuck, B. A.)

The two garments

The words “garment,” “robe” and “raiment” are used in the Scriptures to typify character. When a man repents of sin and joins himself by faith to Jesus Christ, he is clothed with a new nature. He “puts on Christ,” so that there is not only an inward faith in Christ, but some good degree of outward resemblance in daily conduct. This may be called the garment of grace. It means Christian character. Now character is not determined by a single act, but by habitual conduct. It is a fabric made up of thousands of threads, and put together by uncounted stitches. However thorough may be the cleansing process wrought upon the heart at the time of conversion, yet no one becomes absolutely spotless. We live also in a defiling world. If we walk through certain streets in this city we must be on the lookout, or our clothes will become besmirched. A good man goes to his place of business and finds himself in the atmosphere of Mammon. It is every citizen’s duty to take a citizen’s part in politics; but when he becomes a zealous partisan there is plenty of “pitch” around in the caucus and the convention, and unless he is a conscientious man he is apt to be defiled. In social life he encounters the prevailing trend for show and self indulgence and expensive living. On a white surface the slightest spot shows painfully; and it is no easy thing to keep the spiritual raiment clean. Yet by the indwelling power of Christ’s grace there are those “even in Sardis” who keep their spiritual garments comparatively clean. If a true follower of Christ becomes soiled with impurity, he grieves over it, repents of it, and hastens to that Saviour who pardons and restores. By such processes can only the garment of grace be kept from utter disfigurement and defilement. By and by this garment of grace shall be laid aside for the garment of glory. The one is for time; the other is for eternity. The first garment is a Christian character formed by the regenerating Spirit of God in this world. The other is a Christian character completed, consummated, and glorified in that world wherein entereth nothing whatsoever that defileth. They “walk with Jesus in white, for they are worthy.” Determine that whatever others may do you will be a thorough and consecrated servant of your Master, “even in Sardis.” Determine that you will keep the garment of character undefiled. If all Sardis is infected with the lust of gold, let not the canker eat into your soul. However many in Sardis rush off into frivolities and into these scenes of folly that make deathbeds terrible, do you choose rather the joys of holy converse with the Master in the “upper chamber.” (T. L. Cuyler, D. D.)

The few in Sardis

I. The rarity of those who are the true saints on the earth. Sadly the truth presses on every mind that it is the many who are sluggish and fruitless, it is only the few who are faithful. A little band of executive Church labourers produce what each year gathers.

II. Their purity. They “have not defiled their garments.” Holiness of life is more than vividness of experience.

III. The prospect of the saints.

1. The word here rendered “walk” means to accompany around. Thence it is applied to sharing the continuous lot of one with whom we dwell.

2. “They shall walk with Me.” The companionship is that of Christ Himself, for it is He that is here speaking.

3. It is the symbol of glory hereinafter to be revealed to believers. Here are two thoughts distinctly suggested, each of which has great value. The one is that the glory of that future state is not so much in its triumphs and trophies as in its graces. The glory is its sinlessness, its perfect freedom from all pollution. So it is of much more importance what we shall be than what we shall have. Then the other thought is that holiness here is its own reward, here and yonder too.

IV. The prerogative of the saints. “They are worthy.” The significance of this statement takes its force from the connection in which it stands. One prerogative is asserted in their behalf; they are proper companions for God’s Son. (C. S. Robinson, D. D.)

The duty of maintaining an unsullied character

I. Consider the great difficulty of preserving innocence amidst surrounding corruption.

1. The natural abhorrence which rises in the breast at the first appearance of its detestable form is insensibly weakened and effaced by repeated views of it. There is, besides, in the view of a multitude running to do evil, a temptation of peculiar force.

2. Amidst the universal infection of vice some men there are whose particular constitution, or want of experience in the ways of the world, expose them greatly to its deadly influence. The man of good nature, and of an easy, pliable temper, who suspects not the treachery of others, becomes an easy prey to the temptations of the wicked.

II. The dignity and excellence of that man who, notwithstanding every assault, maintains an unsullied character.

III. Enforce the imitation of christ’s example by the great motive mentioned here.

IV. The reason for conferring such honours on the good and virtuous. “They are worthy.” (J. Main, D. D.)

God’s little remnant keeping their garments clean in an evil day

I. Offer a few propositions concerning this remnant.

1. God’s remnant are a holy people. They are a set of men that study to keep clean garments.

2. God has a special eye of favour and kindness on this remnant in a sinful and declining time.

II. Show that Christ has a high value for this remnant.

1. Consider what an account He makes of them when compared with the rest of the world (Isaiah 43:4; Psalms 119:119; Lamentations 4:2).

2. That this little remnant are worthy on Christ’s account will appear if we consider the names and compellations that He gives them (Malachi 3:17).

3. Consider the endeared relations they stand under unto Him. There is a legal, a moral, and a mystical union between Him and them.

4. That they are worthy in His esteem appears from what He does for them (Revelation 1:5; Hebrews 8:12; Hebrews 4:16).

III. Inquire into what is imported in the remnant keeping their garments clean.

1. That even God’s remnant are not without danger of defiling themselves with the sins and defections of their day.

2. That foul garments are very unbecoming and unsuitable unto God’s remnant. A careful study of universal obedience unto all known and commanded duties. A holy caution and tenderness in guarding against all sin, especially the prevailing sins of the day.

IV. Inquire into the import of the consolatory promise made unto the remnant that keep their garments clean.

1. “What is imported in walking with Him?

(1) It necessarily supposes the soul’s subsistence in a separate state, or after its separation from the body, otherwise it could not be said to walk with Him.

(2) Its activity.

(3) Perfect peace and agreement between Christ and men.

(4) Intimacy.

(5) Full pleasure, satisfaction, and complacency.

2. What is imported in walking with Him in white?

(1) That then all their black and beggarly garments shall be laid aside.

(2) That perfect holiness shall then be their adornment.

(3) Victory over all their enemies, whether outward or inward.

(4) High honour.

(5) Priestly service.

(6) A blessed conformity between Christ and them.

(7) The beauty of the Lord their God will then be upon them.

V. Inquire into the connection between the duty and the privilege, between keeping the garments clean and walking with Christ in white.

1. Negatively there is no connection of merit, as if our keeping of clean garments did deserve that we should walk with Christ in white.

2. Positively there is--

(1) A connection of decree or purpose in this matter.

(2) A connection of promise.

(3) A connection of meetness or congruity.

(4) A connection of evidence.

Application:

1. Holiness is to be studied and pursued, however it may be ridiculed and mocked at by a profane world.

2. They labour under a mistake who think or say that it is a vain or “unprofitable thing to serve the Lord” and to keep His way.

3. Gospel purity and holiness is not such a common thing as the world apprehends.

4. See hence what it is that sweetens the pale countenance of the king of terrors to believers: it is this, they see that upon the back of death they will be admitted to walk with Christ in white. (John Erskine, D. D.)

Sardis

In the case of the Church at Sardis, we observe--

I. The sad spectacle of spiritual declension. The Church is represented as having only a name to live. The world sometimes sees the worst side, and God the best, but in Sardis it was the opposite. The word “dead,” however, is not used absolutely, but comparatively, for there were certain rare plants in this desert of decaying vegetation that required to be watched and strengthened. Yet the faith and virtue of these were in danger.

1. There were some things ready to die. What things? Faith, love, zeal, hope.

2. Things requiring to be strengthened. Weak and incipient virtue, languishing graces, and faint desires. Things that are decaying need cherishing. Learn a lesson of the gardener, and nurse the exotics of the soul. Give thy soul room and stimulus and appropriate exercise.

3. Things that needed remembrance. Appeal to experience, to the memory of former days and old associations. We may forget our past history and so live a sort of fragmentary life.

4. Things that needed to be repented of. Dereliction of duty, loss of faith, decay of love.

II. The cheering spectacle of religious fidelity. “Thou hast a few names,” etc.

1. Redeeming features in the most sombre landscapes. There is always a green spot in the desert.

2. The saints in Sardis were in striking contrast to the society around them. They were pure amidst impurity, holy among the vile. They closed their eyes to the brilliant illusions, their ears to the flattering enticements, or corrupt pagan society.

III. The glorious spectacle of the coronation and triumph of faith. “They shall,” etc. Weigh the reward thus symbolically described.

1. Heaven’s purity for the pure on earth.

2. Enrolment in the register of heaven for those who have held fast the faith of the saints.

3. Recognition before God and the angels for those who, though scorned of men, are eternally honoured by God. (W. E. Daly, B. A.)

Purity rewarded

True, all our lives long we shall be bound to refrain our soul and keep it low; but what then? For the books we now forbear to read, we shall one day be endued with wisdom and knowledge. For the music we will not listen to, we shall join in the song of the redeemed. For the Figures from which we turn, we shall gaze unabashed on the beatific vision. For the companionship we shun, we shall be welcomed into angelic society and the communion of triumphant saints. For the pleasures we miss, we shall abide, and evermore abide, in the rapture of heaven. (Christina G. Rossetti.)

Pure amidst defilement

A writer tells of going with a party down into a coal mine. On the other side of the gangway grew a plant which was perfectly white. The visitors were astonished that there, where the coal-dust was continually flying, this little plant should be so pure and white. A miner who was with them took a handful of the black dust and threw it upon the plant; but not a particle adhered. Every atom of the dust rolled off. The visitors repeated the experiment, but the coal-dust would not cling. There was a wonderful enamel on the folds of the white plant to which no finest specks could adhere. Living there amid clouds of black dust, nothing could stain the snowy whiteness. (J. R. Miller, D. D.)

They shall walk with Me in white.--

Walking in white

I. The promise of continuous and progressive activity. “They shall walk.” “There remaineth a rest for the people of energies of a constant activity for God.” “They shall walk” in all the more intense than it was at its highest here, and yet never, by one hair’s breadth, trenching upon the serenity of that perpetual repose. And then there is the other thought too involved in that pregnant word, of continuous advancement, growing every moment nearer and nearer to the true centre of our souls, and up into the loftiness of perfection.

II. The promise of companionship with Christ. If there be this promised union, it can only be because of the completeness of sympathy and the likeness of character between Christ and His companions. The unity between Christ and His followers in the heavens is but the carrying into perfectness of the imperfect union that makes all the real blessedness of life here upon earth.

III. The promise of the perfection of purity. Perhaps we are to think of a glorified body as being the white garment. Perhaps it may be rather that the image expresses simply the conception of entire moral purity, but in either case it means the loftiest manifestation of the most perfect Christlike beauty as granted to all His followers.

IV. The condition of all these promises. There is a congruity and proportion between the earthly life and the future life. Heaven is but the life of earth prolonged and perfected by the dropping away of all the evil, the strengthening and lifting to completeness of all the good. And the only thing that fits a man for the white robe of glory is purity of character down here on earth. There is nothing said here directly about the means by which that purity can be attained or maintained. That is sufficiently taught us in other places, but what in this saying Christ insists upon is that, however it is got, it must be got, and that there is no life of blessedness, of holiness and glory, beyond the grave, except for those for whom there is the life of aspiration after, and in some real measure possession of, moral purity and righteousness and goodness here upon earth. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)