Practical Religion — The Family of God
THE FAMILY OF GOD
"_The whole family in heaven and earth.
_"--Ephes.
iii.
15. The words which form the title of this paper ought to stir some feelings in our minds at any time.
There lives not the man or woman on earth who is not member of some "family."
The poorest as well as the richest has his kith and kin, and can tell you something of his "family."
Family gatherings at certain times of the year, such as Christmas, we all know, are very common.
Thousands of firesides are crowded then, if at no other time of the year.
The young man in town snatches a few days from business, and takes a run down to the old folks at home.
The young woman in service gets a short holiday, and comes to visit her father and mother.
Brothers and sisters meet for a few hours.
Parents and children look one another in the face.
How much there is to talk about!
How many questions to be asked!
How many interesting things to be told!
Happy indeed is that fireside which sees gathered round it at Christmas "the whole family!"
Family gatherings are natural, and right, and good.
I approve them with all my heart.
It does me good to see them kept up.
They are one of the very few pleasant things which have survived the fall of man.
Next to the grace of God, I see no principle which unites people so much in this sinful world as family feeling.
Community of blood is a most powerful tie.
It was a fine saying of an American naval officer, when his men insisted on helping the English sailors in fighting the Taku forts in China,--"I cannot help it: blood is thicker than water."
I have often observed that people will stand up for their relations, merely because they _are_ their relations,--and refuse to hear a word against them,--even when they have no sympathy with their tastes and ways.
Anything which helps to keep up family feeling ought to be commended.
It is a wise thing, when it can be done, to gather together at Christmas "the whole family."
Family gatherings, nevertheless, are often sorrowful things.
It would be strange indeed, in such a world as this, if they were not.
Few are the family circles which do not show gaps and vacant places as years pass away.
Changes and deaths make sad havoc as time goes on.
Thoughts will rise up within us, as we grow older, about faces and voices no longer with us, which no Christmas merriment can entirely keep down.
When the young members of the family have once begun to launch forth into the world, the old heads may long survive the scattering of the nest; but after a certain time, it seldom happens that you see together "the whole family."
There is one great family to which I want all the readers of this paper to belong.
It is a family despised by many, and not even known by some.
But it is a family of far more importance than any family on earth.
To belong to it entitles a man to far greater privileges than to be the son of a king.
It is the family of which St. Paul speaks to the Ephesians, when he tells them of the "whole family in heaven and earth."
It is the family of God.
I ask the attention of every reader of this paper while I try to describe this family, and recommend it to his notice.
I want to tell you of the amazing benefits which membership of this family conveys.
I want you to be found one of this family, when its gathering shall come at last,--a gathering without separation, or sorrow, or tears.
Hear me while, as a minister of Christ, and friend to your soul, I speak to you for a few minutes about "the whole family in heaven and earth:"-- I.
First of all, _what is this family_?
II.
Secondly, _what is its present position_?
III.
Thirdly, _what are its future prospects_?
I wish to unfold these three things before you, and I invite your serious consideration of them.
Our family gatherings on earth must have an end one day.
Our last earthly Christmas must come.
Happy indeed is that Christmas which finds us prepared to meet God!
I.
_What is that family_ which the Bible calls "the whole family in heaven and earth"?
Of whom does it consist?
The family before us consists of all real Christians,--of all who have the Spirit,--of all true believers in Christ,--of the saints of every age, and Church, and nation, and tongue.
It includes the blessed company of all faithful people.
It is the same as the election of God,--the household of faith,--the mystical body of Christ,--the bride,--the living temple,--the sheep that never perish,--the Church of the first-born,--the holy Catholic Church.
All these expressions are only "the family of God" under other names.
Membership of the family before us does not depend on any earthly connection.
It comes not by natural birth, but by new birth.
Ministers cannot impart it to their hearers.
Parents cannot give it to their children.
You may be born in the godliest family in the land, and enjoy the richest means of grace a Church can supply, and yet never belong to the family of God.
To belong to it you must be born again.
None but the Holy Ghost can make a living member of His family.
It is His special office and prerogative to bring into the true Church such as shall be saved.
They that are born again are born, "not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."
(John i. 13. ) Do you ask the reason, of this name which the Bible gives to the company of all true Christians?
Would you like to know why they are called "a family"?
Listen and I will tell you.
(_a_) True Christians are called "a family" because they have all _one Father_.
They are all children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
They are all born of one Spirit.
They are all sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty.
They have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby they cry, Abba Father.
(Gal.
iii.
26; John iii.
8; 2 Cor.
vi.
18; Rom.
viii.
15. ) They do not regard God with slavish fear, as an austere Being, only ready to punish them.
They look up to Him with tender confidence, as a reconciled and loving parent,--as one forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin, to all who believe on Jesus,--and full of pity even to the least and feeblest.
The words, "Our Father which art in heaven," are no mere form in the mouth of true Christians.
No wonder they are called God's "family."
(_b_) True Christians are called "a family," because they all _rejoice in one name_.
That name is the name of their great Head and Elder Brother, even Jesus Christ the Lord.
Just as a common family name is the uniting link to all the members of a Highland clan, so does the name of Jesus tie all believers together in one vast family.
As members of outward visible Churches they have various names and distinguishing appellations.
As living members of Christ, they all, with one heart and mind, rejoice in one Saviour.
Not a heart among them but feels drawn to Jesus as the only object of hope.
Not a tongue among them but would tell you that "Christ is all."
Sweet to them all is the thought of Christ's death for them on the cross.
Sweet is the thought of Christ's intercession for them at the right hand of God.
Sweet is the thought of Christ's coming again to unite them to Himself in one glorified company for ever.
In fact, you might as well take away the sun out of heaven, as take away the name of Christ from believers.
To the world there may seem little in His name.
To believers it is full of comfort, hope, joy, rest, and peace.
No wonder they are called "a family."
(_c_) True Christians, above all, are called "a family" because there is so strong _a family likeness_ among them.
They are all led by one Spirit, and are marked by the same general features of life, heart, taste, and character.
Just as there is a general bodily resemblance among the brothers and sisters of a family, so there is a general spiritual resemblance among all the sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty.
They all hate sin and love God.
They all rest their hope of salvation on Christ, and have no confidence in themselves.
They all endeavour to "come out and be separate" from the ways of the world, and to set their affections on things above.
They all turn naturally to the same Bible, as the only food of their souls and the only sure guide in their pilgrimage toward heaven: they find it a "lamp to their feet, and a light to their path."
(Psa.
cxix.
105. ) They all go to the same throne of grace in prayer, and find it as needful to speak to God as to breathe.
They all live by the same rule, the Word of God, and strive to conform their daily life to its precepts.
They have all the same inward experience.
Repentance, faith, hope, charity, humility, inward conflict, are things with which they are all more or less acquainted.
No wonder they are called "a family."
This family likeness among true believers is a thing that deserves special attention.
To my own mind it is one of the strongest indirect evidences of the truth of Christianity It is one of the greatest proofs of the reality of the work of the Holy Ghost.
Some true Christians live in civilized countries, and some in the midst of heathen lands.
Some are highly educated, and some are unable to read a letter.
Some are rich and some are poor.
Some are Churchmen and some are Dissenters.
Some are old and some are young.
And yet, notwithstanding all this, there is a marvellous oneness of heart and character among them.
Their joys and their sorrows, their love and their hatred, their likes and their dislikes, their tastes and their distastes, their hopes and their fears, are all most curiously alike.
Let others think what they please, I see in all this the finger of God.
His handiwork is always one and the same.
No wonder that true Christians are compared to "a family."
Take a converted Englishman and a converted Hindoo, and let them suddenly meet for the first time.
I will engage, if they can understand one another's language, they will soon find common ground between them, and feel at home.
The one may have been brought up at Eton and Oxford, and enjoyed every privilege of English civilization.
The other may have been trained in the midst of gross heathenism, and accustomed to habits, ways, and manners as unlike the Englishman's as darkness compared to light.
And yet now in half an hour they feel that they are friends!
The Englishman finds that he has more in common with his Hindoo brother than he has with many an old college companion or school-fellow!
Who can account for this?
How can it be explained?
Nothing can account for it but the unity of the Spirit's teaching.
It is "one touch" of grace (not nature) "that makes the whole world kin."
God's people are in the highest sense "a family."
This is the family to which I wish to direct the attention of my readers in this paper.
This is the family to which I want you to belong.
I ask you this day to consider it well, if you never considered it before.
I
have shown you the Father of the family,--the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
I have shown you the Head and Elder Brother of the family,--the Lord Jesus Himself.
I have shown you the features and characteristics of the family.
Its members have all great marks of resemblance.
Once more I say, consider it well.
Outside this family, remember, there is no salvation.
None but those who belong to it, according to the Bible, are in the way that leads to heaven.
The salvation of our souls does not depend on union with one Church or separation from another.
They are miserably deceived who think that it does, and will find it out to their cost one day, except they awake.
No!
the life of our souls depends on something far more important.
This is life eternal, to be a member of "the whole family in heaven and earth."
II.
I will now pass on to the second thing which I promised to consider.
_What is the present position_ of the whole family in heaven and earth?
The family to which I am directing the attention of my readers this day is divided into two great parts.
Each part has its own residence or dwelling-place.
Part of the family is in heaven, and part is on earth.
For the present the two parts are entirely separated from one another.
But they form one body in the sight of God, though resident in two places; and their union is sure to take place one day.
Two places, be it remembered, and two only, contain the family of God.
The Bible tells us of no third habitation.
There is no such thing as purgatory, whatever some Christians may think fit to say.
There is no house of purifying, training, or probation for those who are not true Christians when they die.
Oh no!
There are but two parts of the family,--the part that is seen and the part that is unseen, the part that is in "heaven" and the part that is on "earth."
The members of the family that are not in heaven are on earth, and those that are not on earth are in heaven.
Two parts, and two only!
Two places, and two only!
Let this never be forgotten.
Some of God's family are safe _in heaven_.
They are at rest in that place which the Lord Jesus expressly calls "Paradise."
(Luke xxiii.
43. ) They have finished their course.
They have fought their battle.
They have done their appointed work.
They have learned their lessons.
They have carried their cross.
They have passed through the waves of this troublesome world and reached the harbour.
Little as we know about them, we know that they are happy.
They are no longer troubled by sin and temptation.
They have said good-bye for ever to poverty and anxiety, to pain and sickness, to sorrow and tears.
They are with Christ Himself, who loved them and gave Himself for them, and in His company they must needs be happy.
(Phil.
i.
23. ) They have nothing to fear in looking back to the past.
They have nothing to dread in looking forward to things to come.
Three things only are lacking to make their happiness complete.
These three are the second advent of Christ in glory, the resurrection of their own bodies, and the gathering together of all believers.
And of these three things they are sure.
Some of God's family are still _upon earth_.
They are scattered to and fro in the midst of a wicked world, a few in one place and a few in another.
All are more or less occupied in the same way, according to the measure of their grace.
All are running a race, doing a work, warring a warfare, carrying a cross, striving against sin, resisting the devil, crucifying the flesh, struggling against the world, witnessing for Christ, mourning over their own hearts, hearing, reading, and praying, however feebly, for the life of their souls.
Each is often disposed to think no cross so heavy as his own, no work so difficult, no heart so hard.
But each and all hold on their way,--a wonder to the ignorant world around them, and often a wonder to themselves.
But, however divided God's family may be at present in dwelling-place and local habitation, it is still one family.
Both parts of it are still one in character, one in possessions, and one in relation to God.
The part in heaven has not so much superiority over the part on earth as at first sight may appear.
The difference between the two is only one of degree.
(_a_) Both parts of the family love the same Saviour, and delight in the same perfect will of God.
But the part on earth loves with much imperfection and infirmity, and lives by faith, not by sight.
--The part in heaven loves without weakness, or doubt, or distraction.
It walks by sight and not by faith, and sees what it once believed.
(_b_) Both parts of the family are saints.
But the saints on earth are often poor weary pilgrims, who find the "flesh lusting against the spirit and the spirit lusting against the flesh, so that they cannot do the things they would."
(Gal.
v.
17. ) They live in the midst of an evil world, and are often sick of themselves and of the sin they see around them.
--The saints in heaven, on the contrary, are delivered from the world, the flesh, and the devil, and enjoy a glorious liberty.
They are called "the spirits of just men made perfect."
(Heb.
xii.
23. ) (_c_) Both parts of the family are alike God's children.
But the children in heaven have learned all their lessons, have finished their appointed tasks, have begun an eternal holiday.
--The children on earth are still at school.
They are daily learning wisdom, though slowly and with much trouble, and often needing to be reminded of their past lessons by chastisement and the rod.
Their holidays are yet to come.
(_d_) Both parts of the family are alike God's soldiers.
But the soldiers on earth are yet militant.
Their warfare is not accomplished.
Their fight is not over.
They need every day to put on the whole armour of God.
--The soldiers in heaven are all triumphant.
No enemy can hurt them now.
No fiery dart can reach them.
Helmet and shield may both be laid aside.
They may at last say to the sword of the Spirit, "Rest and be still."
They may at length sit down, and need not to watch and stand on their guard.
(2) Last, but not least, both parts of the family are alike safe and secure.
Wonderful as this may sound, it is true.
Christ cares as much for His members on earth as His members in heaven.
You might as well think to pluck the stars out of heaven, as to pluck one saint, however feeble, out of Christ's hand.
Both parts of the family are alike secured by "an everlasting covenant ordered in all things and sure."
(2 Sam.
xxiii.
5. ) The members on earth, through the burden of the flesh and the dimness of their faith, may neither see, nor know, nor feel their own safety.
But they are safe, though they may not see it.
The whole family is "kept by the power of God, through faith unto salvation."
(1 Peter i. 5. ) The members yet on the road are as secure as the members who have got home.
Not one shall be found missing at the last day.
The words of the Christian poet shall be found strictly true:-- "More happy, but not more secure, The glorified spirits in heaven."
Before I leave this part of my subject, I ask every reader of this paper to understand thoroughly the present position of God's family, and to form a just estimate of it.
Learn not to measure its numbers or its privileges by what you see with your eyes.
You see only a small body of believers in this present time.
But you must not forget that a great company has got safe to heaven already, and that when all are assembled at the last day they will be "a multitude which no man can number."
(Rev. vii.
9. ) You only see that part of the family which is struggling on earth.
You must never forget that the greater part of the family has got home and is resting in heaven.
--You see the militant part, but not the triumphant.
You see the part that is carrying the cross, but not the part which is safe in Paradise.
The family of God is far more rich and glorious than you suppose.
Believe me, it is no small thing to belong to the "whole family in heaven and earth."
III.
I will now pass on to the last thing which I promised to consider.
--_What are the future prospects_ of the whole family in heaven and earth?
The future prospects of a family!
What a vast amount of uncertainty these words open up when we look at any family now in the world!
How little we can tell of the things coming on any of us!
What a mercy that we do not know the sorrows and trials and separations through which our beloved children may have to pass, when we have left the world!
It is a mercy that we do not know "what a day may bring forth," and a far greater mercy that we do not know what may happen in twenty years.
(Prov.
xxvii.
1. ) Alas, foreknowledge of the future prospects of our belongings would spoil many a family gathering, and fill the whole party with gloom!
Think how many a fine boy, who is now the delight of his parents, will by and by walk in the prodigal's footsteps, and never return home!
Think how many a fair daughter, the joy of a mother's heart, will follow the bent of her self-will after a few years, and insist on some miserably mistaken marriage!
Think how disease and pain will often lay low the loveliest of a family circle, and make her life a burden and weariness to herself, if not to others!
Think of the endless breaches and divisions arising out of money matters!
Alas, there is many a life-long quarrel about a few pounds, between those who once played together in the same nursery!
Think of these things.
The "future prospects" of many a family which meets together every Christmas are a solemn and serious subject.
Hundreds, to say the least, are gathering together for the last time: when they part, they will never meet again.
But, thank God, there is one great family whose "prospects" are very different.
It is the family of which I am speaking in this paper, and commending to your attention.
The future prospects of the family of God are not uncertain.
They are good, and only good,--happy, and only happy.
Listen to me, and I will try to set them in order before you.
(_a_) The members of God's family shall all be _brought safe home_ one day.
Here upon earth they may be scattered, tried, tossed with tempests, and bowed down with afflictions.
But not one of them shall perish.
(John x.
28. ) The weakest lamb shall not be left to perish in the wilderness: the feeblest child shall not be missing when the muster-roll is brought out at the last day.
In spite of the world, the flesh, and the devil, the whole family shall get home.
"If, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life."
(Rom.
v.
10. ) (_b_) The members of God's family _shall all have glorious bodies_ one day.
When the Lord Jesus Christ comes the second time, the dead saints shall all be raised and the living shall all be changed.
They shall no longer have a vile mortal body, full of weaknesses and infirmities: they shall have a body like that of their risen Lord, without the slightest liability to sickness and pain.
They shall no longer be clogged and hindered by an aching frame, when they want to serve God: they shall be able to serve Him night and day without weariness, and to attend upon Him without distraction.
The former things will have passed away.
That word will be fulfilled, "I make all things new."
(Rev. xxi.
5. ) (_c_) The members of God's family shall all be _gathered into one company_ one day.
It matters nothing where they have lived or where they have died.
They may have been separated from one another both by time and space.
One may have lived in tents, with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and another travelled by railway in our own day.
One may have laid his bones in an Australian desert, and another may have been buried in an English churchyard.
