Magyar Egyház, 1979 (58. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1979-04-01 / 4. szám
10 MAGYAR EGYHÁZ First of all, we are exhorted to do our duty; God having honored us who were so unworthy, we ought to labor on our part to fill the office whereunto we are called. When the church is called the house of the living God, it ought to awaken us to walk otherwise than we do. Why do we sleep in our sins? Why do we run into wickedness? Do we think that God doth not see us? that we are far out of His sight, and from the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ? Let us remember that the Word of God is preached to us, that God dwelleth among us, and is present with us; as our Lord Jesus Christ saith, “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matt. 18:20), And we know, as it is said, that “In him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Col. 2:9). So then, how oft soever the devil attempts to rock us to sleep, and tie us to the vanities of this world, or tempt us with wicked lusts, we ought to remember this sentence, and set it before our eyes; that God dwelleth in the midst of us, and that we are His house. Now we must consider that God cannot dwell in a foul place: He must have a holy house and temple. And how? Oh, there is no difficulty in setting out ourselves finely that all the world may gaze at us; but God taketh no pleasure in all these vanities of the world. Our beautifying must be spiritual: we must be clad with the graces of the Holy Ghost: this is the gold and silver, these are the precious stones spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, when he describeth the temple of God (Isa. 60:6). Seeing God is so gracious as to have His Word preached among us, let us live in obedience to His divine commands, that He may reside with us, and we be His temple. For this cause, let us see that we cleanse ourselves from all our filthiness, and renounce it, that we may be a fit place for God’s holiness to dwell in. If we attend to these things, we shall reap great joy, seeing our Lord joineth Himself to us, and maketh His residence in our souls and bodies. What are we? There is nothing but rottenness in us: I speak of the body only, but more particularly of the soul, which is still more infected; and yet we see the Lord will build up us, that we may be fit temples for His majesty to reside in. We have great occasion to rejoice by reason of this text; and ought to strive to obtain the pureness which is required by the gospel, because God will have us joined to Him, and sanctified by His Holy Spirit. Our text says the church of God is the pillar and ground of the truth. God is not under the necessity of borrowing any thing from man, as we before observed; He can cause His truth to reign without our help: but He doth us this honor, and is so gracious as to employ us in this worthy and precious calling. He could instruct us without our hearing the voice of man; He could also send His angels, as He did to His servants in ancient times: but He calleth and gathereth us together in His church; there is His banner which He will set up among His flock; this is the kingly sceptre whereby He will have us ruled. Therefore God hath shut up His truth in the Scriptures, and will have it preached and expounded to us daily. For when Paul speaketh of the truth, he meaneth the doctrine of salvation, which God hath revealed to us in His Word. The apostle saith the doctrine of God (which is the incorruptible seed, whereby we are born anew to everlasting life) is the truth. This is set forth in Colossians 1:5, John 16:13, and 17:17. John often speaketh of the gospel by calling it the truth: as if He should say, without it we know nothing, and whatsoever we can comprehend, is vain: so that this is the only sure foundation upon which we can rest. And indeed, what would it profit us if we knew all other things, and were destitute of the knowledge of our God? If we know not God, I say, alas, we are not more than miserable? But as God hath imprinted His image in His Word, it is there He presenteth Himself to us, and will have us to behold Him, as it were, face to face (2 Cor. 3 and 4). Therefore it is not in vain that Paul giveth this title to the preaching of the Word of God: namely, that it is the truth. By this means He maketh Himself known to us; it is also the means of our salvation; it is our life, our riches, and the seed whereby we become the children of God: in short, it is the nourishment of our souls, by which we are quickened. Therefore let us remember that Paul saith the truth is maintained among us by the preaching of the gospel, and men are appointed thereunto. First of all, we are miserable (as I before observed) if we know not God. And how shall we know Him, unless we suffer ourselves to be taught by His Word? We must learn to seek for this treasure, and apply all our labor to find it: and when God is so gracious, as to offer it to us, let us receive it as poor beggars starved with hunger. When it pleaseth Him to bestow such a benefit upon us, let us withdraw ourselves from worldly matters, that we may not despise His inestimable blessings. Seeing the truth of God cannot reign among us, unless the gospel be preached, we ought to esteem it highly, knowing that He otherwise holdeth Himself afar off. If these things were observed as they ought to be, we should see more reverence for the
