IV. But we must hasten to the last clause of the description. “In their mouth was found no guile, for they are without fault before the throne of God.” Here are two things mentioned—A guileless corruption before men, and a faultless standing before God.
On the first I need say but little. You have been so familiar with the practice, and beautiful exhibition of it in the character of the dear brothers that you do not require a description of it from me. Most truly we may say of them all “In their mouth was found no guile.” There was a guileless transparency of character pervading them all. But we must not pass thus hastily by the remaining clause, “For they are without fault before the throne of God.” Strictly speaking these words refer exclusively to the 144,000, when taking their place before the throne of God. But surely they give us an insight into the present standing of all those already there. They seem to teach us that spotless faultlessness is like the atmosphere of Heaven, and that all before that throne are faultless. We may think, then, of those we dearly love as now standing before yonder Throne, quite faultless. There is no sin reckoned to them, for it is all blotted out for ever; and no sin cleaving to them, for they are free from its corruption, being “made perfect” “as the spirits of the just.” There is no sin there, for there are no tears; and where sin is there is always sorrow. Let us be cheered, then, by the happy thought that they are now without fault before the Throne of God. But must we wait till we reach the Throne before we can be without fault before it? Are we to toil on through the wilderness, and wait till the pilgrimage is over before we can go faultless into his presence? If so, the Christian’s life would be indeed a dreary one. But, believers, ye are without fault before the Throne now, even now! I verily believe that when you saw our dear friend in the midst of you, in his farm, in his garden, in your cottages, he was at those very times without fault before God. How so? you may say. Did he not perpetually confess that he was a sinner? Did he not acknowledge his sin, and weep for it? How, then, could he be without fault? How could he be a guilty sinner, and yet faultless before God? Hear his own words in answer to it—“A poor sinner in myself, but pardoned and accepted in the beloved Son of God, and only so, only so, Amen, only so, only so, Amen, Amen.” And, again, “What should I do without Christ? such a poor sinner, but complete and accepted in the Beloved. Such a good foundation! such a blessed salvation!” If all his faults were cast into the depth of the sea, and God’s promises fulfilled which said “The iniquities of Israel shall be sought for and shall not be found;” then before that Throne he was faultless. And so, if we stand in the righteousness of God, nay! if in Christ we are made the righteousness of God, then in Him we are faultless, faultless even now, because Christ is faultless, and we stand in Him. In this connection observe the allusion to the 32nd Psalm. The Revelation is full of allusions to the Old Testament, and I cannot help thinking that here is one. The same two things are mentioned in this passage and in that psalm; the absence of guile, and the absence of all fault. Of the guile the Psalmist says, “In whose spirit there is no guile” and of the fault he says, “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, and whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity,” &c. Here, then, is the secret of being without fault before the Throne. Their transgression is forgiven, their sin covered, and their iniquity not imputed by God. Thus it is, that at the same time in the same person there may be the two apparent opposites; in yourself deep corruption, in the Lord Jesus Christ unblemished spotlessness. Before your own conscience you may be full of sin, and at the same time before the Throne of God perfectly faultless: in yourself humbled to the dust; in Christ Jesus reconciled, accepted, and beloved, and regarded as though you were absolutely spotless; for you are without fault in the righteousness of Christ.
What, then, is the conclusion of the whole matter? What is the lesson to be learnt from the text? and what from the whole history of our honoured friend? What is the lesson that he would have drawn from it himself had he been here to speak to us this day? I believe he would have summed it all up in one word, i.e., Christ. This is what he taught in his family, and made the unceasing subject of his family worship. This is what he taught in the Sunday school, and pressed with a holy perseverance on the hearts and consciences of his class. This was the subject of his addresses in the schoolroom, as well as of all his visits in the cottages. In these visits he carried many a kind gift for the body, but he always remembered his one message, and was never silent on the free grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. And do you think he would speak less of Him now? Now that he sees that blessed Saviour whom he so long believed, and has himself experienced the actual joy of his presence? No, if he now were to speak to us I am persuaded it would be all of Christ. If he could give one more lesson to his class it would be to assure them that the half had never yet been told them, and that there is a joy in Christ of which he had known here only just the small beginning. If he were to speak to you young men he would tell you there is nothing that can ever satisfy your soul but Christ. Life may now seem very bright to you; but there are days of mourning before you as well as days of rejoicing, and there is nothing but Christ then can either save or satisfy your soul. And so, if He were to speak to you mourners it would still be the same thing to you. How would he tell of the balm of Gilead for the wounded heart, and of the great purpose of God, surely doing all things well for the eternal life of His chosen people! and once more, if he were to speak to those amongst us who are still unchanged, still unconverted, still without the new birth, still without Christ, how would he press upon you the great atonement made on the Cross for every guilty sinner; and how would he weep over the hard impenitent hearts that remain unmoved, unsoftened, unsaved by His grace! But we cannot hear his voice: it is now silent upon earth, and must remain so till the Lord comes. His thanksgivings are now heard only in Heaven. But the unmistakeable testimony remains, and may God so write it on our hearts, that when we are called, as he has been, to give up our great account, we may be found, as I am persuaded he is, without fault before the Throne of God.