There will be no such sorrow when believers gather together round the throne of the Lamb. Not one of the ship's company shall be found absent.

"Some on boards, and some on broken pieces of the ship,--all will get safe to sh.o.r.e at last." (Acts xxvii. 44.) The great waters and raging waves shall swallow none of G.o.d's elect. When the sun rises they shall be seen all safe, and "gathered together."

Even the day after a great victory is a sorrowful time. The triumphant feelings of the conquerors are often mingled with bitter regrets for those who fell in action, and died on the field. The list of "killed, wounded, and missing," breaks many a heart, fills many a home with mourning, and brings many a grey head sorrowing to the grave. The great Duke of Wellington often said, "there was but one thing worse than a victory, and that was a defeat." But, thanks be to G.o.d, there will be no such sorrow in heaven! The soldiers of the great Captain of our salvation shall all answer to their names at last. The muster-roll shall be as complete after the battle as it was before. Not one believer shall be "missing" in the great "gathering together."

Does Christmas, for instance, bring with it sorrowful feelings and painful a.s.sociations? Do tears rise unbidden in your eyes when you mark the empty places round the fireside? Do grave thoughts come sweeping over your mind, even in the midst of your children's mirth, when you recollect the dear old faces and much loved voices of some that sleep in the churchyard? Well, look up and look forward! The time is short. The world is growing old. The coming of the Lord draweth nigh. There is yet to be a meeting without parting, and a gathering without separation.

Those believers whom you laid in the grave with many tears are in good keeping: you will yet see them again with joy. Look up! I say once more.

Lay hold by faith on the "coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together unto Him." Believe it, think of it, rest on it. It is all true.

Do you feel lonely and desolate as every December comes round? Do you find few to pray with, few to praise with, few to open your heart to, few to exchange experience with? Do you learn increasingly, that heaven is becoming every year more full and earth more empty? Well, it is an old story. You are only drinking a cup which myriads have drunk before.

Look up and look forward. The lonely time will soon be past and over: you will have company enough by and by. "When you wake up after your Lord's likeness you shall be satisfied." (Ps. xvii. 15.) Yet a little while and you shall see a congregation that shall never break up, and a sabbath that shall never end. "The coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together unto Him," shall make amends for all.

XX

THE GREAT SEPARATION

"_Whose fan is in His hand, and He will throughly purge His floor, and gather His wheat into the garner; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire._"--Matt. iii. 12.

The verse of Scripture which is now before our eyes contains words which were spoken by John the Baptist. They are a prophecy about our Lord Jesus Christ, and a prophecy which has not yet been fulfilled. They are a prophecy which we shall all see fulfilled one day, and G.o.d alone knows how soon.

I invite every reader of this paper to consider seriously the great truths which this verse contains. I invite you to give me your attention, while I unfold them, and set them before you in order. Who knows but this text may prove a word in season to your soul? Who knows but this text may help to make this day the happiest day in your life?

I. Let me show, in the first place, _the two great cla.s.ses into which mankind may be divided_.

There are only two cla.s.ses of people in the world in the sight of G.o.d, and both are mentioned in the text which begins this paper. There are those who are called _the wheat_, and there are those who are called _the chaff_.

Viewed with the eye of man, the earth contains many different sorts of inhabitants. Viewed with the eye of G.o.d it only contains two. Man's eye looks at the outward appearance:--this is all he thinks of. The eye of G.o.d looks at the heart:--this is the only part of which He takes any account. And tried by the state of their hearts, there are but two cla.s.ses into which people can be divided:--either they are wheat, or they are chaff.

_Who are the wheat in the world?_ This is a point which demands special consideration.

The wheat means all men and women who are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ,--all who are led by the Holy Spirit,--all who have felt themselves sinners, and fled for refuge to the salvation offered in the Gospel,--all who love the Lord Jesus and live to the Lord Jesus, and serve the Lord Jesus,--all who have taken Christ for their only confidence, and the Bible for their only guide, and regard sin as their deadliest enemy, and look to heaven as their only home. All such, of every Church, name, nation, people, and tongue,--of every rank, station, condition, and degree,--all such are G.o.d's "wheat."

Show me people of this kind anywhere, and I know what they are. I know not that they and I may agree in all particulars, but I see in them the handiwork of the King of kings, and I ask no more. I know not whence they came, and where they found their religion; but I know where they are going, and that is enough for me. They are the children of my Father in heaven. They are part of His "wheat."

All such, though sinful and vile, and unworthy in their own eyes, are the precious part of mankind. They are the sons and daughters of G.o.d the Father. They are the delight of G.o.d the Son. They are the habitation of G.o.d the Spirit. The Father beholds no iniquity in them:--they are the members of His dear Son's mystical body: in Him He sees them, and is well-pleased. The Lord Jesus discerns in them the fruit of His own travail and work upon the cross, and is well satisfied. The Holy Ghost regards them as spiritual temples which He Himself has reared, and rejoices over them. In a word, they are the "wheat" of the earth.

_Who are the chaff in the world?_ This again is a point which demands special attention.

The chaff means all men and women who have no saving faith in Christ, and no sanctification of the Spirit, whosoever they may be. Some of them perhaps are infidels, and some are formal Christians. Some are sneering Sadducees, and some self-righteous Pharisees. Some of them make a point of keeping up a kind of Sunday religion, and others are utterly careless of everything except their own pleasure and the world. But all alike, who have the two great marks already mentioned--_no faith and no sanctification_,--all such are "chaff." From Paine and Voltaire to the dead Churchman who can think of nothing but outward ceremonies,--from Julian and Porphyry to the unconverted admirer of sermons in the present day,--all, all are standing in one rank before G.o.d: all, all are "chaff."

They bring no glory to G.o.d the Father. "They honour not the Son, and so do not honour the Father that sent Him." (John v. 23.) They neglect that mighty salvation which countless millions of angels admire. They disobey that Word which was graciously written for their learning. They listen not to the voice of Him who condescended to leave heaven and die for their sins. They pay no tribute of service and affection to Him who gave them "life, and breath, and all things." And therefore G.o.d takes no pleasure in them. He pities them, but He reckons them no better than "chaff."

Yes! you may have rare intellectual gifts and high mental attainments: you may sway kingdoms by your counsel, move millions by your pen, or keep crowds in breathless attention by your tongue; but if you have never submitted yourself to the yoke of Christ, and never honoured His Gospel by heartfelt reception of it, you are nothing in His sight.

Natural gifts without grace are like a row of cyphers without an unit before them: they look big, but they are of no value. The meanest insect that crawls is a n.o.bler being than you are: it fills its place in creation, and glorifies its Maker with all its power, and you do not.

You do not honour G.o.d with heart, and will, and intellect, and members, which are all His. You invert His order and arrangement, and live as if time was of more importance than eternity, and body better than soul.

You dare to neglect G.o.d's greatest gift,--His own incarnate Son. You are cold about that subject which fills all heaven with hallelujahs. And so long as this is the case you belong to the worthless part of mankind.

You are the "chaff" of the earth.

Let this thought be graven deeply in the mind of every reader of this paper, whatever else he forgets. Remember there are only two sorts of people in the world. There are wheat, and there are chaff.

There are many nations in Europe. Each differs from the rest. Each has its own language, its own laws, its own peculiar customs. But G.o.d's eye divides Europe into two great parties,--the wheat and the chaff.

There are many cla.s.ses in England. There are peers and commoners,--farmers and shopkeepers,--masters and servants,--rich and poor. But G.o.d's eye only takes account of two orders,--the wheat and the chaff.

There are many and various minds in every congregation that meets for religious worship. There are some who attend for a mere form, and some who really desire to meet Christ,--some who come there to please others, and some who come to please G.o.d,--some who bring their hearts with them and are not soon tired, and some who leave their hearts behind them, and reckon the whole service weary work. But the eye of the Lord Jesus only sees two divisions in the congregation,--the wheat and the chaff.

There were millions of visitors to the Great Exhibition of 1851. From Europe, Asia, Africa, and America,--from North and South, and East and West,--crowds came together to see what skill and industry could do.

Children of our first father Adam's family, who had never seen each other before, for once met face to face under one roof. But the eye of the Lord only saw two companies thronging that large palace of gla.s.s,--the wheat and the chaff.

I know well the world dislikes this way of dividing professing Christians. The world tries hard to fancy there are _three_ sorts of people, and not _two_. To be very good and very strict does not suit the world:--they cannot, will not be saints. To have no religion at all does not suit the world:--it would not be respectable.--"Thank G.o.d," they will say, "we are not so bad as that." But to have religion enough to be saved, and yet not go into extremes,--to be sufficiently good, and yet not be peculiar,--to have a quiet, easy-going, moderate kind of Christianity, and go comfortably to heaven after all,--this is the world's favourite idea. There is a third cla.s.s,--a safe middle cla.s.s,--the world fancies, and in this middle cla.s.s the majority of men persuade themselves they will be found.

I denounce this notion of a middle cla.s.s, as an immense and soul-ruining delusion. I warn you strongly not to be carried away by it. It is as vain an invention as the Pope's purgatory. It is a refuge of lies,--a castle in the air,--a Russian ice-palace,--a vast unreality,--an empty dream. This middle cla.s.s is a cla.s.s of Christians nowhere spoken of in the Bible.

There were two cla.s.ses in the day of Noah's flood, those who were inside the ark, and those who were without;--two in the parable of the Gospel-net, those who are called the good fish, and those who are called the bad;--two in the parable of the ten virgins, those who are described as wise, and those who are described as foolish;--two in the account of the judgment day, the sheep and the goats;--two sides of the throne, the right hand and the left;--two abodes when the last sentence has been pa.s.sed, heaven and h.e.l.l.

And just so there are only two cla.s.ses in the visible Church on earth,--those who are in the state of nature, and those who are in the state of grace,--those who are in the narrow way, and those who are in the broad,--those who have faith, and those who have not faith,--those who have been converted, and those who have not been converted,--those who are with Christ, and those who are against Him,--those who gather with Him, and those who scatter abroad,--those who are "wheat," and those who are "chaff." Into these two cla.s.ses the whole professing Church of Christ may be divided. Beside these two cla.s.ses there is none.

See now what cause there is for self-inquiry. Are you among the wheat, or among the chaff? Neutrality is impossible. Either you are in one cla.s.s, or in the other. Which is it of the two?

You attend church, perhaps. You go to the Lord's table. You like good people. You can distinguish between good preaching and bad. You think Popery false, and oppose it warmly. You think Protestantism true, and support it cordially. You subscribe to religious Societies. You attend religious meetings. You sometimes read religious books. It is well: it is very well. It is good: it is all very good. It is more than can be said of many. But still this is not a straightforward answer to my question.--Are you wheat or are you chaff?

Have you been born again? Are you a new creature? Have you put off the old man, and put on the new? Have you ever felt your sins, and repented of them? Are you looking simply to Christ for pardon and life eternal?

Do you love Christ? Do you serve Christ? Do you loathe heart-sins, and fight against them? Do you long for perfect holiness, and follow hard after it? Have you come out from the world? Do you delight in the Bible?

Do you wrestle in prayer? Do you love Christ's people? Do you try to do good to the world? Are you vile in your own eyes, and willing to take the lowest place? Are you a Christian in business, and on week-days, and by your own fireside? Oh, think, think, think on these things, and then perhaps you will be better able to tell the state of your soul.

I beseech you not to turn away from my question, however unpleasant it may be. Answer it, though it may p.r.i.c.k your conscience, and cut you to the heart. Answer it, though it may prove you in the wrong, and expose your fearful danger. Rest not, rest not, till you know how it is between you and G.o.d. Better a thousand times find out that you are in an evil case, and repent betimes, than live on in uncertainty, and be lost eternally.

II. Let me show, in the second place, _the time when the two great cla.s.ses of mankind shall be separated_.

The text at the beginning of this paper foretells a separation. It says that Christ shall one day do to His professing Church what the farmer does to his corn. He shall winnow and sift it. He "shall throughly purge His floor." And then the wheat and the chaff shall be divided.

There is no separation yet. Good and bad are now all mingled together in the visible Church of Christ. Believers and unbelievers,--converted and unconverted,--holy and unholy,--all are to be found now among those who call themselves Christians. They sit side by side in our a.s.semblies.

They kneel side by side in our pews. They listen side by side to our sermons. They sometimes come up side by side to the Lord's table, and receive the same bread and wine from our hands.

But it shall not always be so. Christ shall come the second time with His fan in His hand. He shall purge His Church, even as He purified the temple. And then the wheat and the chaff shall be separated, and each shall go to its own place.

(_a_) Before Christ comes _separation is impossible_. It is not in man's power to effect it. There lives not the minister on earth who can read the hearts of every one in his congregation. About some he may speak decidedly;--he cannot about all. Who have oil in their lamps, and who have not,--who have grace as well as profession,--and who have profession only and no grace,--who are children of G.o.d, and who of the devil,--all these are questions which in many cases we cannot accurately decide. The winnowing fan is not put into our hands.

Grace is sometimes so weak and feeble, that it looks like nature. Nature is sometimes so plausible and well-dressed, that it looks like grace. I believe we should many of us have said that Judas was as good as any of the Apostles; and yet he proved a traitor. I believe we should have said that Peter was a reprobate when he denied his Lord; and yet he repented immediately, and rose again. We are but fallible men. "We know in part and we prophesy in part." (1 Cor. xiii. 9.) We scarcely understand our own hearts. It is no great wonder if we cannot read the hearts of others.

But it will not always be so. There is One coming who never errs in judgment, and is perfect in knowledge. Jesus shall purge His floor.

Jesus shall sift the chaff from the wheat. I wait for this. Till then I will lean to the side of charity in my judgments. I would rather tolerate much chaff in the Church than cast out one grain of wheat. He shall soon come "who has His fan in His hand," and then the certainty about every one shall be known.