And this makes the latter days so pre-eminently perilous; seduction within is vastly more dangerous than attack without. How much more when it arises amongst the consecrated guardians of truth! If the defection were limited to the laity, the believer’s path would be comparatively easy; but here lies the danger, that the truth will be resisted by the very men whose sole office it is to teach it; perverted by those who are solemnly entrusted with its maintenance; that there will be traitors in the very heart of the camp of God; that men holding the church’s orders, and thereby winning to themselves the church’s confidence, will draw away disciples after them, and, retaining their ecclesiastical position, will employ its influence as the secret antagonists of the truth. [41]
Such being the predicted condition of the visible church in the latter days, it remains only that we draw from the prophecy two or three important practical conclusions.
(1.) There is no Scriptural warrant for expecting infallibility in the visible church.
We need not pause to examine into the frail and feeble arguments on which the claim to such a gift is based, nor need we attempt to follow controversial writers in their contradictory endeavours to ascertain its seat. Let that seat be what it may, whether popes alone, or councils alone, or councils summoned under pontifical authority, we are prepared to prove from the prophetic Scriptures that there are no circumstances whatever under which any body of uninspired men can claim to be received as unerring authority by the church. If ever there has been a necessity for an infallible living voice to preserve the truth, and to cut off heresy by decrees, that necessity, all must admit, will be vastly multiplied in the latter days. Then there will be the false Christs foretold by our Lord; then the three unclean spirits will go forth to seduce professors; then the man of sin will be seated in the temple of God, and then, if ever, the infallible decree will be needful to assert the truth. But who at such a time is to decree it? There will be, as we have shown, a body of men within the church, corrupting the truth, resisting the truth, turned unto fables, believing lies. Are such persons to be admitted to the church’s councils, or are they not? Are they, or are they not, to take a part in the decision? If they are, there is too much reason to fear it would be vitiated by their fables, that the dead fly would cause to stink the apothecary’s ointment. But, if not, how are they to be excluded? By what tests is the council to be purified? They will all retain the form of godliness; they will appear with all the weight of ecclesiastical position, and apostolical ordination; there will be nothing wanting in the regularity of their orders, the validity of their sacraments, or the apparent godliness of their life; they will subscribe to any forms, and sign any articles; nor will there be any visible, tangible, criterion, by which they can be excluded from the church’s ministry or council chamber; but yet, if admitted, they will draw away disciples after them, and by speaking perverse things will vitiate every decision in which they are permitted to take a part.
The prophetic Scriptures, therefore, are in perfect harmony with the remainder of the bible and lead us like it to the one infallible rule of faith, the written word of the living God. To this St. Paul directed Timothy; for, after having foretold the seductive errors about to arise and advance within the church, he leads him to the bible as the only sure resting place, and says, “And that from a child thou hast known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works;” vv. 15–17. He seems here to place the infallibility of the word in direct contrast to the fallibility of men. In the course of his prophecy he has shown that amongst those who retain the form of godliness there will spring up many who deny its power; but then, turning to the written word, he says, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God;” every sentence is infallible, every word inspired. On this alone is there any sure footing for those that would stand the shock of the latter days. If they lean on tradition, on councils, on popes, or even on devoted ministers whose characters they revere, and whose ministry they have found a blessing to their souls, they are leaning after all on man, on man who may fail them at the very crisis of their peril; but, when they draw truth from the fountain of truth, they may receive it with unreserved reliance, for God himself has given it, and declared by the Holy Ghost that it “is able to make us wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.”
(2.) The people of God should not be shaken in their faith by the dangers which they observe within the church.
In saying this, it is not intended to under-rate the deep anxiety of the times in which we live. On the contrary, we believe the conflict now rising amongst professors to be one of so vast a moment as to have been the subject of prophetic warning no less than eighteen hundred years ago. But, at the same time men should not be soon shaken in mind or troubled. Our faith should rather be confirmed than weakened; for, as the fulfilment of each prophecy gives additional strength to our confidence in the prophet, so the rise of each new danger within the visible church should only add to our unshaken reliance on the divine authority, and unaltered infallibility of the word. If the guide through some unknown country were to warn us at the outset of our journey that, as we approached the close, we should find the path narrow, the bye-ways many, and the guides divided, we might feel distressed when his words were verified, but each new danger would increase our confidence in his guidance. So it is with the church. The path is narrow, the journey difficult and dangerous, but we must remember that the Guide told us of it at the outset, and the one result should be that we trust him more unreservedly, and lean with more peaceful security on his word. This is the use which our Lord himself has taught us to make of rising dangers. For mark his words: “When these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh;” Luke, xxi. 28. Believers are not to look down in discouragement, but to look up in hope. They are to take courage and be cheered on to fresh victories; they are to rejoice in the unfailing character of the word, and witnessing the progress of predicted dangers, are to look joyfully for predicted joys; they are to regard these fearful times as forerunners of their coming glory, and, fear being absorbed in hope, are to watch in joyful expectation for their crowning blessedness at the advent of their Lord.
(3.) How precious are the promises of a Saviour’s preserving grace!
It has been shown that the latter days will be days of peril, that there will spring up seducing teachers even in the very heart of Christianity in its purest form, that no articles or ecclesiastical system can avail to prevent their rise and progress, and that no human tests can separate the reality from the form of godliness. As these latter days approach, we are bound to apprehend these spiritual perils for ourselves and our little ones; we must expect our sons and daughters, as they grow up into the world, to be attacked by this deadly pestilence, and, unless preserved by grace, blighted and withered ere the lovely bloom be formed. In perilous times we live; for perilous times we are training our families. Oh! the blessedness of those precious promises which assure us that he will keep his own children to the end! Oh! the peace of being able to fall back upon those gracious words, “I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand!” Keeping to them we need not tremble at the subtle and skilful combination with which the enemy leads on his mighty hosts against the truth; nor need we shrink from the struggle in the deep consciousness of weakness, insufficiency, and ignorance. No! Believers! ye are in the right hand of the Lord; ye are purchased by the blood of Jesus, and loved with an everlasting love; ye are under the sacred teaching of the Holy Ghost, and by him called, preserved, taught, and sanctified; ye must therefore be content to cast away all earthly dependencies, to cease from every arm of flesh, to throw yourselves without either reserve or doubt on Him who has redeemed you by his blood; resting on his word as alone infallible, and abiding in his grace as the one and all-sufficient source of life, strength, peace, and holiness. “Of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.”