1598. The Substance Of True Religion

A Sermon Delivered On Sunday Morning, May 15, 1881, By C. H. Spurgeon, At The Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington. *3/23/2013

But you should say, “Why do we persecute him, since the root of the matter is found in me?” [Job 19:28]

For other sermons on this text:
   [See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 505, “Root of the Matter, The” 496]
   [See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 1598, “Substance of True Religion, The” 1598]
   Exposition on Job 19 [See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 2909, “Job’s Sure Knowledge” 2910 @@ "Exposition"]

1. You will always understand a passage of Scripture better if you carefully examine to its context. The habit of picking out portions from the Bible and isolating them from their context may be carried a great deal too far, and in the process the reader may miss the mind of the Spirit, and force upon the words a meaning of his own. If we were to treat men’s books as we do God’s Book we should, probably, be judged to be insane. It is, indeed, a wonderful book to bear such mangling. Every sensible person will see that it must always be wise to study the context, for it is likely enough to cast a light upon the passage in hand. Job in the verse before us is answering Bildad the Shuhite. Now, this Bildad on two occasions had described Job as a hypocrite, and accounted for his dire distress by the fact that, though hypocrites may flourish for a time, they will ultimately be destroyed. In the two bitter speeches which he made he described the hypocrite under the metaphor of a tree which is torn up by the roots, or dies down even to the root. In his first address, in the eighth chapter, he says concerning the hypocrite, “He is green before the sun, and his branch shoots forth in his garden. His roots are wrapped around the rock heap, and sees the place of stones. If he destroys him from his place, then it shall deny him, saying, ‘I have not seen you.’ ” [Job 8:16-18] Even the very root of the hypocrite was to be pulled up, so that the garden in which he once flourished should not remember that he had ever been there. Being much pleased with his metaphor, Bildad in the eighteenth chapter uses it again. He says in that chapter, “His confidence shall be rooted out of his tabernacle, and it shall bring him to the king of terrors. His roots shall be dried up beneath, and his branch shall be cut off above.” [Job 18:14-16] This, then, was his way of attacking Job: he presented by the emblem of a tree the state and fate of the false-hearted, — they might flourish for a time, but they would wither at last, even down to the very root, dried up and blasted by the justice of God. The inference he meant to draw was this: you, Job, are utterly dried up, for all your prosperity is gone, and therefore you must be a hypocrite. The assault was very cruel, but the sufferer successfully parried it. “No,” says Job, “I am no hypocrite. I will prove it by your own words, for the root of the matter is still in me, and therefore I am no hypocrite. Though I admit that I have lost branch, and leaf, and fruit, and flower, yet I have not lost the root of the matter, for I hold the essential faith as firmly as ever; and, therefore, by your own argument, I am no hypocrite, and ‘You should say, "Why do we persecute him, since the root of the matter is found in me?"’ ”

2. There is, then, dear friends, something in true religion which is its essential root. It has fundamental matters which cannot be dispensed with under any circumstances. Some things pertaining to godliness, are ornamental, useful, pleasant, and desirable, yet these may be absent and still there may be the truth of religion in the soul: but there is something which cannot be absent in any case without its being certain that the man is not a true child of God; there is something which is vital, without which there is no spiritual life. We are going to speak this morning about this essential thing as we are enabled to by the Holy Spirit.

3. Job derived comfort from the fact that the root of the matter was in him, whatever his accusers might say, and I trust that others will be encouraged as they, too, shall find that the root of the matter is in them. It will be pleasant for my heart to cheer the fainting, and equally so if I can lead my stronger brethren to deal tenderly with them.

4. I. Our first thought will be that THIS ROOT OF THE MATTER MAY BE CLEARLY DEFINED.

5. We are not left in the dark concerning what the essential point of true religion is: it can be laid down with absolute certainty. True, there has been considerable disputing over the phrase before us, and questions have been raised concerning what Job meant by “the root of the matter,” but I think that if we read the verse in its own context, apart from any extraneous suggestion, there will be no doubt about its meaning. Begin at the twenty-fifth verse, and read on as Job spoke, and he tells us plainly what is “the root of the matter.” Here it is: “I know that my Redeemer lives, and he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh I shall see God: whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another; though my inward parts are consumed within me.” [Job 19:25-27] This knowledge of the Redeemer is evidently the root of the matter. Come, then, let us look more closely into this choice confession of faith. I shall not attempt to expound this golden utterance, but I shall glance at it with the one object of showing what Job considered to be the essence of true religion.

6. And, first, it is clear that “the root of the matter” is firm faith in the Redeemer; it is to be able to say from the innermost heart, “I know that my Redeemer lives.” Not I think so, but “I know”; for saving faith is certain, and the true believer is a positivist. Faith abhors conjectures, it will not put its foot down upon fictions, but rests upon matters of fact. Faith never deals in the imaginary goods of opinion, theory, speculation, and probability; she searches for the priceless pearl of certainty; she needs to know. Such was the faith of Job, and he expresses it in firm, decided, clear language, saying — “I know that my Redeemer lives.”

7. This faith was an appropriating one, so that Job took for himself the Redeemer. “I know that my Redeemer lives,” laying hold upon the Lord to be to him all that he was meant to be, namely, a Redeemer who would set him at liberty from his misery. He embraced the Redeemer as his own, and believed that he would be raised by him from the pit of corruption. Come, brethren, do we have such a faith as this? a faith which knows that there is a Saviour able to redeem and sure to accomplish the work? And do we take him for our own, saying — “my Redeemer?” This is the point — Do we accept him in his ordained office and cast our soul entirely upon him? Are we content to sink or swim with God’s appointed Saviour? If saved it shall be by him; and are we content to lie and decide the issue at the foot of his cross? Whatever other redeemers there may be, is the Lord Jesus our Redeemer in whom we trust as able to save to the uttermost those who come to God by him? This is the “root of the matter”; a recognition of the redeeming Lord, and a simple dependence upon him for sure salvation.

8. Look steadily at the passage, and especially gaze into its original meaning, and you will see that in this “root of the matter” there is a recognition of the blessed Christ of God in the particular relationship which he has taken up to man. It is, “I know that my goel, or kinsman, lives.” You know what the next of kin was among the Jews: it was he who must redeem the inheritance if it had been alienated from the family: he was the guardian of those to whom he was next of kin. If there had been manslaughter committed, it was the goel, the near kinsman, who must take vengeance on behalf of the murdered man. The goel was the patron of the weak ones of the family, and the defender of the whole clan. Boaz was the redeemer of Ruth’s patrimony, because he was her next of kin, after one other had refused to fulfil the office. Beloved, this is a cardinal point of saving faith, that Jesus Christ the eternal Son of God is next of kin to us poor, guilty men. His name is Emmanuel, God with us: not only God from before all worlds, but God with us in our nature. The Word was made flesh: Jesus was born at Bethlehem, and there he was nursed on the breast of a woman. He lived among our race, bearing our infirmities, and tempted in all points like as we are, though without sin. It is most sweet for faith to say — he is nearest of kin to me; my goel, my redeemer; bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh — 

   “In ties of blood with sinners one.”

He is the Head, the second Adam of our race, a brother born for adversity, yes, and more than a brother. Because he has condescended to enter into the closest of all relationships with us by taking our nature upon himself, the Lord Jesus has now become our Redeemer, bound to restore to those who are in him the inheritance which was forfeited by the fall. Glory be to his name, he has restored what he did not take away; he has redeemed from the hand of the enemy what sin and Satan snatched from us by our first parents’ fault. Nor is this all, — the goel was bound also to avenge the quarrel of his client. Our Lord is now our advocate with the Father, pleading our cause both by the word of his mouth and by the power of his arm. “You have pleaded the causes of my soul,” oh Jesus! You are my defender, my patron, my shield, and my very great reward.

9. Brethren, this is the root of the matter, to believe in the incarnate God, to accept his headship, to claim his kinship, and to rely on his redemption. This is the root of the matter, to call Jesus ours, our kinsman and Redeemer, and then to leave everything in his hands: to commit to him our cause, our hopes, our fears, our past, our present, and our future, and now and throughout life to fix our entire confidence upon him, because it is his office and prerogative to be the Redeemer of all who are akin to him. This is plain enough, and there is no mist about it. Say, is the Son of God all this to you?

10. Still look at the text further, and you perceive that the root of the matter is to believe that this kinsman, this Redeemer lives. We could never find comfort or salvation in one who had ceased to be. We have no living hope unless we believe that our Lord Jesus Christ was raised from the dead. Job knew that the Redeemer lived in that capacity before he died, and we know that he lives for ever, though he once died and was buried. If it were possible for us to believe in the merit of Christ’s death, and to deny his resurrection, our faith would have a fatal flaw in it. “He was delivered for our offences, but he was raised again for our justification”; and, therefore, we must believe in the resurrection or we are not justified. It is because he lives for ever to make intercession for us that he is able to save to the uttermost those who come to God by him.

11. In the Roman Catholic church her images are the image of her faith. Is Christ really what we see portrayed in places of worship of the papal order? We see there times without number Jesus as a child in his mother’s arms, feeble, dependent, insignificant; clearly showing how the worship of Christ is overshadowed by that of the Virgin, and how his blood and righteousness are forgotten amid the imaginary glories of Mary. How else do you see the Saviour in papal churches? Why, everywhere he is represented as dead, as nailed to a cross, or wrapped in grave-clothes. So far, so good, for we also believe in Christ who died, though we do not set up his image or picture; but Jesus is not dead now, neither is he here among the tombs, for he has risen. It is testified of Jesus that he lives; but in the church of Rome it is the priest who lives and acts, and does all things, while the Christ of God is virtually excluded, and made of no avail apart from sacraments and ceremonies. Our Saviour is still living and active in the midst of his people, and this is one of the vital points of our holy faith. We address ourselves directly to the living Redeemer, and his present power to save is the basis of our expectation of eternal life and resurrection. Oh, if it were not for this we might all despair: we should be the ministers of a dead Christ, and you would be believers in a lifeless Saviour: the cross would be a powerless doctrine, and the gospel a lifeless message, and under it men would still lie dead in their trespasses and sins. Our Redeemer lives in fulness of power to bless by his everlasting priesthood. Say, then, dear souls, do you believe in Jesus Christ, your kinsman? Do you believe that he has redeemed both your persons and your inheritance? and do you believe that he lives, having gone up into glory to prepare a place for you? This is the “root of the matter”: a living faith in a living Redeemer, who by his death has ransomed his people.

12. Still there was more than this: Job believed in this next of kin of his who still lived, that he would surely save him, since he trusted in him. He expected that he would right all things, however wrong they might be, and clear the character of his servant. Job felt that though his accusers might condemn him, and his appeal to God might not win him a vindication, so that he might go down to his grave under a cloud of reproach, and lie there and rot with a dishonoured memory, yet he would be cleared one day. Though the worms might devour his body until no rag or relic of him remained, yet his living kinsman would never rest until he had cleared him, and enabled him to see God without fear. This is the grandeur of faith to feel that whatever God may do with me, if I am in Christ and behave myself as his faithful servant, he will preserve me from all harm. My cause may seem so utterly dead that it is only fit for worms’ meat, but the Christ of God will bring out judgment to victory. This is the work of faith to cast my soul on Christ my next of kin, whose business it is to redeem me, and though I cannot see the way by which I am to be saved, yet to be sure that I shall be. If my hopes perish and my soul sinks down into the dust of death, yet to the uttermost Christ can save me, and he will, and I am sure of it; and when at last the death frost strikes cold at my heart and I can help myself no more, and human helpers fail me, I will commit my spirit into the dear hands of him who is nearest and dearest, and I shall feel in that last fainting hour that his presence is my support. Yes, and I shall see my God again, and even my poor failing body, full of aches and pains and weakness, after resting in the grave for a little while, shall rise again in beauty and power. The grave is a refining pot where the bodies of the saints are purified and made fit to dwell with the pure and holy God for ever. Faith has no question about the resurrection; she does not have a mere hope, but a firmly assured belief, so that she cries, “I know that in my flesh, through Christ my Redeemer, I shall see my God without fear.” Every man in a certain sense will see God, for every eye shall behold the King upon the throne of judgment; but that expectation would not be a basis for comfort, and therefore more is meant here by seeing God. Job evidently expected to see God with acceptance and with delight, and he felt quite sure about this, though the corruption of his body looked like an effective barrier to the accomplishment of such a hope. All his friends may condemn him, and treat him as an alien and a stranger, but he so trusts himself with his Redeemer that he is quite sure of justification before God and men. Those who have a divine advocate must be cleared in the judgment. Now, soul, answer this question, do you commit yourself wholly and entirely to the Mediator, the Incarnate God, the Kinsman of humanity? Say, do you look only to your living Advocate, in life, in death, and in eternity? Is Christ your all in all, your sole and solid hope? Oh, then, rest assured that “the root of the matter is found in you.”

13. It is clear that the essence of true religion can be clearly defined: Job has defined it, and there it is. Judge for yourselves concerning whether you possess it or not.

14. II. Secondly, let us spend a few minutes in observing that in our text THIS FUNDAMENTAL MATTER IS MOST INSTRUCTIVELY DESCRIBED by the words which I have so constantly repeated — “the root of the matter.” What does this mean?

15. First, does it not mean what is essential? “The root of the matter.” To a tree a root is absolutely essential; it is a mere pole or piece of timber if there is no root. It can be a tree of a certain kind without branches, and at certain seasons without leaves, but not without a root. Look at the trees in the winter. Their substance is in them when they lose their leaves; the foliage has all fallen, but the bare boughs and stem still make a tree, because a root is there. You may call it a tree even though only the trunk remains rooted to the soil. But it is not a tree if you have taken the root away and set it up in the hedge — it is mere dead timber for the scaffold or the fire. So, if a man has faith in the Redeemer, though he may be destitute of a thousand other most necessary things, yet the essential point is settled: he who believes in Christ Jesus has everlasting life. If he has faith he has the substance of things hoped for, and hope will turn to experience as he grows in grace; but if he has no faith in the Redeemer he may make a towering profession, he may possess vast knowledge, he may speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and he may outstrip all his companions in zeal, but he is not a plant of the Lord’s right hand planting, for he has no root in himself, and will before long wither away.

16. The root, again, is not only what is vital to the tree, it is from the root that the life-force proceeds by which the trunk and the branches are nourished and sustained. There is hope for a tree if it is cut down that it shall sprout again, at the scent of water it shall bud; as long as there is a root there is more or less of vitality and power to grow, and so faith in Christ is the vital point of religion; he who believes lives. If you do not know the living Redeemer you do not know life. Without trust in the work of Jesus a man may attempt to follow the moral teachings of Jesus, but he will miss salvation, since no morals which do not begin with faith in God can be acceptable to the Most High. The practical teaching of our holy religion is admirable, and we must obey it or be lost; but the root of holy living is faith in Christ, neither can it be produced otherwise. I would not say a word against the right exercise of the emotions, or the education of the understanding, or the regulation of the passions, for all these are good as branches of the tree; but the root, the living part of godliness, is our union to Christ by faith, our laying hold upon the incarnate Son of God as dying and rising again on our behalf.

17. Again, it is called the “root of the matter” because it comprehends all the rest; for everything is in the root. You walked in your garden in the winter, and many plants were entirely invisible; there was not the slightest sign of their presence in the soil: now they are above ground, they are flowering, they are proceeding to fruit. Where was the plant? It was all in the root. Leaf, branch, fruit, seed — all were there. Even so, all the elements of a perfect character lie hidden in faith in Christ. The holiness of heaven is packed away in the faith of a penitent sinner. Look at the crocus bulb; it is a poor, base, unpromising kind of thing, and yet wrapped up within that brown package there lies a golden cup, which in the early spring will be filled with sunshine: you cannot see that wondrous chalice within the bulb; but he who put it there knows where he has concealed his treasure. The showers and the sun shall unwrap the enfoldings, and out shall come that dainty cup to be set upon God’s great table of nature, as an intimation that the feast of summer is soon to come. The highest saintship on earth is hidden within the simplicity of a sinner’s faith, like a flower within a seed: yes, the perfect character of those who are without fault before the throne of God is all in embryo within that first look of faith which links the soul with the atoning merits of the great Redeemer. My brother, a young heaven sleeps within your childlike confidence in Christ: it will only need the culture of the Holy Spirit to develop your new life into the perfect image of Christ Jesus your Lord. Faith is the essence, the vitality, the sum of true godliness, and hence it is called “the root of the matter.”

18. III. So I come, thirdly, to dwell upon a further remark: — THIS ROOT OF THE MATTER MAY BE PERSONALLY DISCERNED, AS BEING IN A MAN’S OWN POSSESSION.

19. Job says to his teasing friends, “You should say, ‘Why do we persecute him, since the root of the matter is found in me?’ ” Notice the curious change of pronouns. “You should say, ‘Why do we persecute him, since the root of the matter is found in him?’ ” that is how the words would naturally run. But Job is so earnest to clear himself from Bildad’s insinuation that he is a hypocrite that he will not speak of himself in the third person, but plainly declares, “The root of the matter is found in me.” Job seems to say, “The vital part of the matter may or may not be in you, but it is in me, I know. You may not believe me, but I know it is so, and I tell you, to your face that no argument of yours can rob me of this confidence; for since I know that my Redeemer lives, I know that the root of the matter is found in me.” Many Christian people are afraid to speak in that way. They say, “I humbly hope it is so, and I trust it is so.” That sounds very pretty; but is it right? Is that the way in which men speak about their houses and lands? Do you possess a little freehold? Did I hear you answer, “I humbly hope that my house and garden are my own?” What, then, are your title-deeds so questionable that you do not know? Is this the way in which you speak of your wages at the end of the week? “I sometimes have a hope that these shillings are mine.” Is that the way you talk about your wife? Is that how you speak of your own life? Are you afraid even to call your soul your own? No, no; we demand certainties in reference to things of value, and so it ought to be with regard to Christ and eternity; we cannot put up with mere hopes and surmises in reference to them. Believers should strive for certainty about eternal things, and learn to say, like Job, “I know that my Redeemer lives,” and, “The root of the matter is found in me.”

20. Notice well that sometimes this root needs to be searched for. Job says “the root of the matter is found in me,” as if he had looked for it, and made a discovery of what otherwise would have been hidden. Roots generally lie underground and out of sight, and so may our faith in the Redeemer. His interest in the Redeemer may have been a question for self-examination with Job when his griefs first came thick and heavy; it may be a matter of search with us, too.

   He that never doubted of his state,
   He may — perhaps he may, too late.

21. I can understand a Christian doubting whether he is saved or not, but I cannot understand his being happy while he continues to doubt about it, nor happy at all until he is sure of it. Job had made his personal condition the subject of investigation; he had dug beneath the surface, and had seen within his heart. You cannot always find roots in winter-time, unless you use a spade and turn over the soil: there are winter-times with us when we cannot tell whether we have real faith in Christ or not until we examine ourselves whether we are in the faith. After searching, Job found the treasure, and said, “the root of the matter is found in me.”

22. And notice again, the root of the matter in Job was an inward thing. “The root of the matter is found in me.” He did not say, “I wear the outward garb of a religious man”; no, but, “the root of the matter is found in me.” If you, my hearers, are in the possession of the essence of true Christianity, it does not lie in your outward profession, your baptism, your church membership, or your reception of the Lord’s Supper; but it lies within your heart and mind. Faith, which is the evidence of the inner life, is altogether spiritual and inward; its abode is within the vitals of the spiritual being, in the very core of the renewed heart. True godliness cannot be separated from the godly man; it is woven into him just as a thread enters into the essence and substance of the fabric.

23. When grace is found in us, and we really do believe in our Redeemer, we ought to affirm it; for Job says, “The root of the matter is found in me. I know that my Redeemer lives.” Are there not some among you who have never said as much as that? Some of you who are believers have never yet acknowledged our Lord. What did I call some of you the other day? I think I compared cowardly believers to rats behind the wainscotting that come out at night to eat a crumb or two, and then run in again. The rat is a poor creature to be compared with: it is a domestic animal, I suppose, for it lives in the house; but it is not a beautiful object to be compared to, and so I will not compare you to it, although there might be more untruthful comparisons. I urge you try and change before I am driven to the simile, and never be ashamed of Christ, or if you ever are so, be more ashamed of yourselves. There ought to be an open declaration of our faith whenever it is necessary, for it is written, “Be always ready to give a reason for the hope that is in you with meekness and, fear.”

24. The fact of our having the root of the matter in us will be a great comfort to us. “Alas,” says Job, “my servant will not come when I call him, my wife is strange to me, my relatives fail me, but I know that my Redeemer lives. Bildad and Zophar, and others of them, all condemn me, but my conscience acquits me, for I know that the root of the matter is in me.” It is a blessed thing to be able to hear the harsh speeches of men as though we did not hear them. What does it matter after all how others judge me if I know what I do know, and am sure in my own soul that I am right with God? What if men find fault with our eyes does it matter if we can say, “One thing I know, whereas I was once blind now I see.” Critics may find fault with our experience, and they may call our earnest utterances rant, but this will not affect the truth of our conversion, or the validity of our testimony for Jesus. If the little bird within our bosom sings sweetly it is of little consequence if all the owls in the world hoot at us.

25. There is more real comfort in the possession of simple faith than in the fond persuasion that you are in a high state of grace. When we proudly think, “Oh, I do not need to look at the root of the matter, for my flowers and fruits are evidence more than sufficient,” we are getting dangerously elevated. That man is in a perilous plight who boasts in himself, saying, “How useful I am! how gifted! how influential! How highly my brethren think of me!” All this will turn out to be unsubstantial comfort in the hour of trial, but the root of the matter yields the sweetest and surest consolation at all times. If your Redeemer lives you shall have a candle lit for you in the darkest shadows.

26. This fact also will be your defence against opposers. So you may answer them in Job’s way, “You ought not to condemn me; for, though I am not what I ought to be, or what I want to be, or what I shall be, yet still the root of the matter is found in me. Be kind to me, therefore.” Carefully observe this, my dear young friends. You have been recently converted, and if you fall in with those who are very stern and censorious you must not be surprised. Some venerable professors have not so much grown ripe as sour, and they show their sourness by censuring their younger brethren. It does not occur to them to say, “Why do we persecute him, since the root of the matter is in him?” But you may defend yourself against their harsh speeches by declaring that you believe in the Saviour even as they do. Say to them, “I do not know as much about the Lord Jesus as you do, but I most heartily trust him. He is as much my Redeemer as he is yours. Do not, therefore, drive me from your company, but deal gently with me, as with a lamb of the flock.” I hope that you who are now young and timid will become strong in the Lord before long, and be no longer in danger from severe judgments, and when that comes about I hope that you will have learned by experience to be very gentle with those who are weak in the faith. If our friends are sincere in their attachment to the Redeemer let us treat them as our brethren in Christ.

27. So much on our third point.

28. IV. Now we come to the fourth subject of discourse, which is a practical lesson from the text for those believers in Christ who have passed beyond the root stage into a further development. Notice, then, that THIS ROOT OF THE MATTER IS TO BE TENDERLY RESPECTED BY ALL WHO SEE IT. “You should say, ‘Why do we persecute him, since the root of the matter is found in me?’ ”

29. What a rebuke this is to the persecutions which have been carried on by nominal Christians against each other, sect against sect! Romanists have fiercely persecuted Protestants, and Protestants have persecuted each other. If they had only listened to their gracious Lord and Saviour they would have heard him whisper, “You should say, ‘Why do we persecute him, since the root of the matter is found in me?’ ” How can those who trust in the same Saviour rend and devour each other? In many of the islands of the South Seas our missionaries have been the means of converting the people to the faith. In one of these the shaven crowns of Rome began to put in their appearance, with the view of turning the people away from the faith to the errors of Rome. Among their cunning instruments of conversion was a picture representing the tree of the church. Certain twigs were represented as rotten; they were cut off, and were falling into the fire: these were such people as Luther, Calvin, and other famous teachers of the gospel. The Protestant missionaries, too, were dead twigs, and were all to be removed from the tree. The natives were not quite sure about this, and made more enquiries. Certain other branches were green and vigorous; these were the priests of the Catholic church, and the larger boughs were bishops and cardinals of the same community: the natives were not quite clear about that, and passed on to examine the trunk. This of course consisted of an array of popes, of whom the islanders had never heard. They passed on, hoping to come to something presently; and so they did, for at the bottom was the name of our Lord Jesus. The enquiring islanders said, “And what is this at the bottom, marked with the name of Jesus?” “That is the root,” said the priest. “Well, then,” shouted the natives, “we have the root! The new teachers say we have the root, and so we are all right; our missionaries have told us the truth.” There was logic and wisdom in that. Let us see to it that “we have the root.” Friend, do you believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God? If so, you have the root. I shall be very sorry if you belong to the Church of Rome, for she teaches much error; but if you rest entirely on Christ Jesus you will be saved. Do you believe in the once crucified but now living Christ? Well, my brother, I am sorry you should be a High-Churchman, or anything else which is not according to Scripture, but your faith has saved you. I ask you to think the same of me, if I too am a believer in the one Redeemer. If I believe, and rest my soul on the one salvation which God has provided in Christ Jesus, have charity towards me, for this rock will bear both you and me. This should end all religious persecutions.

30. But next it ought to be the end of all ungenerous denunciations. If I know that a man is really believing in Jesus Christ, I may not treat him as an enemy. If I perceive that he holds a great many wrong notions, I am to be grieved about his mistakes, and to labour for his instruction, but I ought not to feel rancour towards him. It is my duty, especially if I am a public instructor, to expose and refute his errors; but as for the man himself, if he trusts in the atoning blood, I am not to treat him as a reprobate. Does he believe in Jesus Christ alone? Does he hold vital, fundamental truth, then I am not to make him an offender for a word, and twist his language into a meaning that he never intended by it. I am too near akin to every believer in Jesus to take down bell, book, and candle and excommunicate him for not being so well instructed as he might be. If the Redeemer is next of kin to me and next of kin to him, why then we are near of kin to each other, and it is unseemly for us to strive together being brethren. We are bound to contend for the faith and against all errors, but anything like personal animosity must be far from us. Oh for more Christian love! If the root of the matter is in any man, do not let us persecute him, but encourage him. “Well, but I could not enter into any Christian work with him, nor enjoy fellowship with him, for he does not agree with me.” Is it indeed so? May the Lord take pity on you. I should not wonder that you are the worse man of the two: he may be wrong in head, but you are certainly wrong in heart. Very frequently it happens that the man who has most of the spirit of love is also the man who is nearest to the truth, and I generally assume that he who is the least sour is the most sound. The party who most needs to be questioned concerning whether the root of the matter is in him is the brother who has no love. He whose spirit is perfumed with love for others, not only has the root but something of branch too, for love is the fair outgrowth of faith. Death to error, death to sin, but salvation to the sinner and life to the believer, notwithstanding all his mistakes. Let denunciations and exclusiveness be ended for ever, and let us acknowledge our kinship with all who are in Christ.

31. Further than this, the question is, “Why do we persecute him?” We can do that by a cold doubt. I have seen chilly suspicion exercised by good solid substantial Christians, who have had a chronic fear and trembling lest new converts should not be true converts. The young man seems to be very earnest; he is evidently much impressed; he forsakes his sin, and there is a great change in him; he boldly declares his faith in Jesus Christ; but the jealous guardian of the purity of the church objects, for the young man was converted in an irregular way; he did not go among the Presbyterians or Baptists, or Congregationalists, or Evangelical Church people and get saved in a respectable manner, but he went out in the street and he heard a mere ranter, or a Salvation Army captain, and therefore it is feared that it cannot be a genuine work of grace. The cautious brother does not say much, but he draws himself into himself and retires from the person whom he suspects, just as a snail draws in his horns and hides himself in his shell. The elder brother is angry and will not go in; and in that way he persecutes the returning prodigal. Why, some of these icy critics will cause the very marrow of a poor fellow’s bones to freeze while he looks at him. Do not let us stand off in holy isolation from any who have the root of the matter in them. Why should we persecute them? Let us encourage them, and give them information upon the points in which they are deficient. Some people appear to think that every convert ought to be born a fully developed man in Christ Jesus, even as, according to mythology, Minerva sprang from the brain of Jove, a fully grown woman, fully armed, shield and spear and all. I do not see people born again in this way. I believe that some of God’s men who are to be leaders are born with beards, and very early exhibit a knowledge far beyond their years, which sets them in the forefront from the first; but for the most part God’s children are little when they are born, even as ours are. When my sons first came to my house they were by no means the young men they are now. I should think it is likely that the same may be said of your children; what wonder, then, that it is so in God’s house! Little children cannot run alone, and cannot even speak plainly. Besides, they make strange noises, and by their cries they become a nuisance to those who have no sympathy with babes; and so it is with new-born Christians, they cannot run as we could wish them to, and they cannot explain the doctrines of grace as we could desire, or pray as we should like them to pray. Well, but they are little children. They are alive, however. Do not let us bury them, but let us nurse them. It is one of the duties of mature Christian life to take this child and nurse him for God, for he will give us our wages.

32. Dear brothers and sisters, I urge you to be on the look out in this congregation for those who have just received the root of the matter, those who have just had the seed dropped into the soul. It has hardly begun to sprout yet, but you can see it is there. They can just say — 

   We are poor sinners, and nothing at all,
   But Jesus Christ is our all in all.

Do not frighten them, do not distress them, do not chill them like a sharp frost. Cheer and encourage them, and say, “I, too, was once as you are. Indeed, and I, too, often am as you are. Indeed, and I, too, sometimes wish I were as you are, for I would still keep on my knees, keep humbly dependent upon Christ. Come, if elder brethren will not receive you, I will, and I will cheer you and encourage you for Jesus’ sake.”

33. Well, try and do that this morning, if you can, before you leave the Tabernacle. There may be someone sitting next to you who just needs a word. Try it. I know some will be quite frightened at your venturing to speak to them. Very well, frighten them a little, it will not harm them. Try the power of courteous personal appeal. It may be if you frighten one or two you will be the means of blessing so many more that if those who are frightened do not forgive you they will not break your heart. God himself will not, because there will be nothing to forgive. He will commend you for what you have done, and I urge you, therefore, do it for Jesus Christ’s sake. Amen.

[Portions Of Scripture Read Before Sermon — Job 19 Ps 92]
[See Spurgeon_Hymnal “Spirit of the Psalms — Psalm 104” 104]
[See Spurgeon_Hymnal “Jesus Christ, In Heaven — ‘He Ever Liveth’ ” 326]
[See Spurgeon_Hymnal “Gospel, Received by Faith — ‘Be Not Afraid, Only Believe’ ” 550]

Spirit of the Psalms
Psalm 104 <10s. 11s.>
1 Oh worship the King,
   All glorious above;
   Oh gratefully sing
   His power and his love;
   Our Shield and Defender,
   The Ancient of Days,
   Pavilion’d in splendour,
   And girded with praise.
2 Oh tell of his might,
   Oh sing of his grace.
   Whose robe is the light,
   Whose canopy, space;
   Whose chariots of wrath
   Deep thunder clouds form;
   And dark is his path
   On the wings of the storm.
3 The earth with its store
   Of wonders untold,
   Almighty, thy power
   Hath founded of old;
   Hath stablish’d it fast
   By a changeless decree,
   And round it hath cast,
   Like a mantle, the sea.
4 Thy bountiful care
   What tongue can recite?
   It breathes in the air,
   It shines in the light,
   It streams from the hills,
   It descends to the plain,
   And sweetly distils
   In the dew and the rain.
5 Frail children of dust,
   And feeble as frail,
   In thee do we trust,
   Nor find thee to fail;
   Thy mercies how tender,
   How firm to the end,
   Our Maker, Defender,
   Redeemer, and Friend!
6 Oh measureless might!
   Ineffable love!
   While angels delight
   To hymn thee above,
   The humbler creation,
   Though feeble their lays,
   With true adoration
   Shall lisp to thy praise.
                  Sir Robert Grant, 1839.

Jesus Christ, In Heaven
326 — “He Ever Liveth”
1 He lives, the great Redeemer lives,
   (What joy the blest assurance gives!)
   And now before his Father God,
   Pleads the full merit of his blood.
2 Repeated crimes awake our fears,
   And justice arm’d with frowns appears;
   But in the Saviour’s lovely face
   Sweet mercy smiles, and all is peace.
3 Hence, then, ye black despairing thoughts;
   Above our fears, above our faults,
   His powerful intercessions rise;
   And guilt recedes, and terror dies.
4 In every dark distressful hour,
   When sin and Satan join their power,
   Let this dear hope repel the dart,
   That Jesus bears us on his heart.
5 Great Advocate, Almighty Friend,
   On him our humble hopes depend:
   Our cause can never, never fail,
   For Jesus pleads, and must prevail.
                           Anne Steele, 1760.

Gospel, Received by Faith
550 — “Be Not Afraid, Only Believe” <6.6.4.6.6.6.4.>
1 My faith looks up to thee,
   Thou Lamb of Calvary,
      Saviour divine:
   Now hear me while I pray;
   Take all my guilt away;
   Oh let me from this day
      Be wholly thine.
2 May thy rich grace impart
   Strength to my fainting heart,
      My zeal inspire:
   As thou hast died for me,
   Oh may my love to thee
   Pure, warm, and changeless be,
      A living fire.
3 While life’s dark maze I tread,
   And griefs around me spread,
      Be thou my guide;
   Bid darkness turn to day,
   Wipe sorrow’s tears away,
   Nor let me ever stray
      From thee aside.
4 When ends life’s transient dream,
   When death’s cold sullen stream
      Shall o’er me roll,
   Blest Saviour, then in love,
   Fear and distrust remove;
   Oh bear me safe above,
      A ransom’d soul.
                     Ray Palmer, 1834.