[Feb. 10th, 1878.]
The exhortation “stand fast” occurs no less than six times; and still more frequently the same duty is enjoined in equivalent forms of expression. The duty, therefore, is one of primary importance.
There are two requisites to standing fast, viz., something to stand upon, and strength. A man may have his feet on a rock, yet if he be as weak as a rag, he cannot stand; and no matter how strong he is, if his feet are on quick-sand, he cannot be stable.
FIRST, as to the ground on which to stand.
- It must be truth. 2. Right principles. Truth is permanent, error is changeable, and therefore in every department, unless a man’s views are correct, there is no security for his stability. But as our subject is Christian Stability, the truth demanded is religious truth, the truth of the Bible. Some men’s faith rests on tradition, that of others on speculation, and that of others still, on feeling. They believe what is agreeable to them.
These foundations are all unstable. The traditions of the Pharisees have all passed away; the traditions of the Church change from age to age. Speculation results in philosophy, than which nothing is more unstable; e.g., the different schools of Greek philosophy, of the middle ages, of our own day, as Rationalism, Pantheism, Materialism, Atheism, and now Pessimism.
Feeling. Many believe in God; they believe in his mercy, but not justice, not in salvation by blood, not in depravity, not in God’s sovereignty, not in eternal punishment. The only stable foundation is the Bible; the firm conviction that the Bible is the word of God, that what it teaches is true infallibly. The only ground of this faith, which is stable, is the witness of the Spirit. True experimental religion is the only security against error, and the only security for stability.
Right Principles are necessary; not expediency, not self-interest or the interest of parties, but what is right.
SECOND, we must have STRENGTH. There is much difference naturally among men, but the strength needed is not our own. It is of the Lord. It is his, and his gift. If we trust in ourselves, we fall.
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