SUBSTANCE OF AN ADDRESS BY HAMILTON SMITH

I desire to call your attention to some of the moral characteristics that should mark those who confess Jesus as Lord.

Three scriptures will bring before us the Lordship of, Christ. Peter, in preaching to the Jews on the day of Pentecost, proclaims the great fact that Christ has been exalted to the place of supremacy; he says:"God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ" (Acts 2:36). Turning to Acts 10 :36 we glean the further thought that His supremacy is a universal supremacy-" He is Lord of all." Passing to a third scripture, Phil. 2:9-11, we learn that if Christ has the place, of universal supremacy, every created being in the universe will at last have to acknowledge Him as Lord; and, furthermore, when every created being acknowledges Christ as Lord, it will be to the glory of the Father. If a man attempts to take the place of universal sway on earth, it is invariably for his own glory, and God will put that man down. Universal dominion belongs to Christ alone, and His glory He will not give to another. Any other man who seeks this place is usurping the rights of Christ, and will inevitably come to his ruin.

I now pass from that which is general and universal, to that which is particular and individual, because, while Christ may be confessed as Lord of all-and the devils shall have to do that-those who are brought into blessing today are those who through faith say not only He is the Lord, but He is my Lord. I think you will agree that there are a great many Christians who know Christ as their Saviour (they would not be Christians if they did not), and yet do not submit to His authority as Lord.

Let me remind you, here, that the co-relative of Lord is servant, and the instant I say that Christ is my Lord, I practically say that I am His servant. Let me turn your attention to some scriptures which will bring before us the marks that should characterize those who confess Christ as their Lord, and who thus take the place of being His servants.

We turn first to John 20 :11-16, and I think we shall see that the first great characteristic of the servant is affection for the Lord. Here we have a woman who definitely confesses Christ as her Lord. She says :"They have taken away my Lord." I think you will admit that every line of the passage reveals a heart aflame with love to the Lord. Love brought Mary to the tomb ; love held her there when all others had gone. The disciples may return to their homes, but love for the Lord is more to Mary than home or anything or anyone else. Love made her think that the Stranger she addressed would know who she meant when she said, "If them have borne Him hence, tell me where them hast laid Him." Love made her oblivious to her own frail body, when she said, " I will take Him away." The world had crowned Him with a crown of thorns, but Mary crowned Him in the affections of her heart. Ah, brethren, we sing sometimes, and quite rightly, "Crown Him Lord of all," but have we crowned Him as Lord in the affections of our hearts, to "reign without a rival there ?"

Turning to Acts 22 :6-10, we shall see that another great characteristic of the servant is obedience. In the conversion of Saul of Tarsus, the light and the voice from heaven reveal to him Jesus in glory, with the immediate result that Saul confesses Him as Lord, saying, "What shall I do, Lord?" He owns Him as Lord, to direct him, and he takes his place as servant to obey Him. 'Saul was naturally, as he himself tells us, an insolent, overbearing man, a man with an iron will, more used to command than to obey, but so thorough is the change wrought by his conversion, that from the outset of his Christian career, he is delivered from his own proud will, and seeks only the will of Him who had appeared to him.

Let us pause and challenge our hearts as to how often we have asked the Lord this great question:"What shall I do, Lord?" Is this the question that governs my daily life ? The question is not, What can I do this day that will be right ? or, Can I do this without offending my conscience ? or, How can I best serve the country? but, " Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do ?" Dear brethren, we may go through the day doing a good many things that are right and nice, and yet from the beginning to the end of the day we may not have done a single thing as the Lord would have us do. Do we realize that we have been left in this world to do the will of the Lord ? How am I spending my time ? My time is the Lord's, and it is not a question of what I think right, or of what my conscience would allow me to do. The great question is:"Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do ?" We want so to walk in the path of obedience to the Lord, that when we have finished we may receive His "Well done." Let us not wait till the end of our days to repent of having wasted our time, but seek henceforth to do the will of the Lord.

But, it maybe asked, How am I to know the will of the Lord ? Let us turn to Acts n :19-23. Here we shall see that another great characteristic of the servant is dependence. Only as we are dependent upon the Lord can we know His will. This passage records how some of the believers, who were scattered by the persecution at Jerusalem, went to Antioch "preaching the Lord Jesus," and we read, "The hand of the Lord was with them." Alas, how much of the evangelistic work of today is marred by the organizing hand of man, with the result that though by the grace of God many souls may be brought to the knowledge of the Saviour, yet they do not come under the sway of Christ. But at Antioch "the hand of the Lord was with them;" therefore, we read, "a great number believed and turned unto the Lord." They not only believed, but the Saviour they believed in became their Lord. The tidings of this work reached the assembly at Jerusalem, and they sent forth Barnabas to Antioch, "who, when he came and had seen the grace of God was glad, and exhorted them all (all converts) that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord." Now herein lies the secret of knowing the will of the Lord. This word "cleave" comes from the same Greek word that in John 15 is translated so many times by the word, "abide." Abiding with the Lord conveys the thought of a daily, practical, dependent walk in nearness of heart to the Lord Jesus. Beloved brethren, do we covet this ? Shall we ever know the will of the Lord unless we are walking with the Lord ? It involves daily prayer in which we speak to the Lord, and by which our souls and spirits are put in touch with Him, and also daily reading and meditation of the word of God, in which the Lord speaks to us.

Turning now to John 15:14, 15, we shall see that by abiding with the Lord we become intelligent in the mind of the Lord. The Lord is speaking to His servants, but He calls them His friends. He says:"Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you." Mark, He does not say, "I will be your friend, if you obey Me." He was our Friend when He went to the cross and died for us as poor sinners, but we are His friends when we abide with Him and do His commands. A friend is one to, whom we can speak of our intimate affairs, even though they are not personally concerned. And thus the Lord treats His friends ; for He says :"All things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you." Not simply the things that concern the Church, but "all things," the things that concern the glory of Christ. Thus we get spiritual intelligence in the mind of the Lord.

Turning now to 2 Timothy 2:19, we read, " Let everyone that nameth the name of the Lord depart from iniquity" (N. Trans.). Here we have another important mark of the servant of the Lord. He must be separate from evil. Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord must depart from iniquity, and separate from vessels to dishonor, if he is to be "a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the Master's use." Beloved brethren, we mourn that there are so few conversions, so much preaching and so little apparent result. I would suggest that perhaps one reason is that we are not careful enough as to our ways, our associations, etc.; not sufficiently exercised to be vessels meet for the Master's use. All the talking and preaching in the world is no good if there is not the separate life in communion with the Lord.

These then are some of the characteristics of the true servant of the Lord. Others will occur to you, such for instance as diligence, sobriety, gentleness, self-control, and the like, but none perhaps are more important than those we have looked at, viz., affection for the Lord, obedience to the Lord, intelligence in the mind of the Lord, and holy separation to the Lord, for His use.

In closing, let me point to one more scripture, that will bring before us the blessed end of the servant's path. In 2 Tim. 4:7, 8, we read:"I have fought the good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith :henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day:and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing." At the end of the path is the "crown of righteousness." But, let us remember, there is also "the way of righteousness" (Prov. 12:28)), and "the armor of righteousness" (2 Cor. 6:7). We must first put on the armor of righteousness and fight the good fight; we must walk the way of righteousness if we would wear the crown of righteousness. We must gird on the armor now, if we are to wear the crown in eternity.

Very soon we shall take the last step in the course and fight the last fight in the conflict, and then, at last, when the servant puts off the armor, the Lord will put on the crown.

The first step in this blessed path is taken in the present time, when the servant crowns his Lord in the affections of his heart, and the last step is in eternity, when the Lord crowns the servant with the crown of righteousness.

" Take Thou our hearts, and let them be
Forever closed to all but Thee ;
Thy willing servants, let us wear
"The seal of love for ever there.

Firstborn of many brethren, Thou!
To whom both heaven and earth must bow;
Heirs of Thy shame and of Thy throne,
We bear the cross, and seek the crown."