CanTherebeUnity
The glorified saints in heaven." Now before I leave this part of my subject, I ask every reader of this paper to thoroughly understand the present situation of God's family, and to form an accurate estimate of it. Do not measure its numbers nor its privileges by what you see with your eyes. You see only a small body of believers at the present time. But you must not forget that a great number has already made it safely to heaven, and that when all are assembled at the last day, there will be a great multitude that no one could count." [Revelation 7:9] 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 already made it 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 that 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 on earth." 3. I will now move on to the last thing which I promised to consider—What are the future prospects of the whole family in heaven and on earth? The future prospects of a family! What a vast amount of uncertainty these words open up when we look at any family we now see in the world! How little we can tell of the things coming on any of us! What a mercy it is that we do not know the sorrows and trials and separations which our beloved children may have to experience, after 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 the next twenty years. [Proverbs 27:1] Surely, foreknowledge of the future prospects of our household 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 in time follow the path of a reckless son, and never return home!
Think how many a fair daughter, the joy of a mother's heart, will in a few years follow her own stubborn will, 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 wearisome to herself, if not to others! Think of the endless disagreements and divisions that will arise out of money matters! Yes, there is many a life-long quarrel over a small sum of money, between those who once played joyfully 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 a family of which I am speaking in this paper, and commending 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 will all be brought safely home one day. Here on earth they may be scattered, tried, tossed with storms of life, and bowed down with afflictions. But not one of them will perish. [John 10:28] The weakest lamb will not be left to perish in the wilderness: the feeblest child will not be missing when the roll call is called out at the last day. In spite of the world, the flesh, and the devil, the whole family will get home. "For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life!" [Romans 5:10] (b) The members of God's family will one day all have glorious bodies. When the Lord Jesus Christ comes the second time, the dead saints will all be raised and the living will all be changed. They will no longer have a vile mortal body, full of weaknesses and infirmities: they will have a body like that of their risen Lord, without the slightest vulnerability to sickness and pain. They will no longer be clogged and hindered by an aching frame, when they want to serve God: they will be able to serve Him night and day without any weariness, and to attend to Him without any distraction. The former things will have passed away. That word will be fulfilled, "I am making everything new!" Revelation 21:5] (c) One day, the members of God's family will all be gathered into one company. It does not matter 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 traveled by the modern transportation of our day. One may have his bones laid to rest in an Australian desert, and another may have been buried in an English churchyard. It makes no difference. All will be gathered together from north and south, and east and west, and meet in one happy assembly, never to part again. The earthly partings of God's family are only for a few days. Their meeting is for eternity. Little does it matter where we live. It is a time of scattering now, not of gathering. Little does it matter where we die. All graves are equally near to Paradise. But it does matter whether we belong to God's family. If we do we are sure to meet again in the end. (d) One day the members of God's family will all be united in mind and judgment. They are so divided now about many little things. About the things needful to salvation there is a marvelous unity among them. About many speculative points in religion, about forms of worship and church government, they often sadly disagree. But one day there will be no disagreement among them at all. Ephraim will no longer disturb Judah, nor Judah Ephraim. Partial knowledge and dim vision will be ended forever. Divisions and separations, misunderstandings and misinterpretations, will all be buried and forgotten. Since there will only be one language, so there also will be only one opinion. At last, after thousands of years of strife and clashing, perfect unity and harmony will be found. A family will finally be shown to angels and men in which all are of one mind. (e) One day the members of God's family will all be perfected in holiness. They are not now literally perfect, although they "have been given fullness in Christ." [Colossians 2:10] Though they are born again, and renewed after the image of Christ, they stumble and fall short in many things. [James 3:2] No one knows it better than they do themselves. It is their grief and sorrow that they do not love God more heartily and serve Him more faithfully. But one day they will be completely freed from all corruption. They will rise again at Christ's Second Coming without any of the disorders and sicknesses which now cleave to them in their lives. Not a single evil temper or corrupt inclination will be found in them. They will be presented by their Lord and Husband to the Father, without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing—perfectly holy and without blemish—fair as the moon, and clear as the sun. [Ephesians 5:27, Song of Solomon 5:10] Grace, even now, is a beautiful thing, when it lives, and shines, and flourishes in the midst of imperfection. But how much more beautiful will grace appear when it is seen pure, unmixed, unmingled, and alone! And it will be seen so when Christ comes to be glorified in His saints at the last day. (f) Last, but not least, one day, the members of God's family will be eternally provided for. When the affairs of this sinful world are finally wound up and settled, there will be an everlasting reward for all the sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty. Not even the weakest of them will be overlooked and forgotten. There will be something for everyone, according to their faithfulness. The smallest vessel of grace, as well as the greatest, will be filled to the brim with glory. It would be pure folly to pretend to describe the precise nature of that glory and reward. It is a thing which "no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has conceived." [1 Corinthians 2:9] It is enough for us to know that each member of God's family, when he awakes from the grave to his Master's likeness, will be "satisfied." [Psalm 17:15] Above all, it will be enough to know that their joy, and glory, and reward will be forever. They will never lose what they will receive in the day of the Lord. The inheritance reserved for them, when they come of age, is "an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade." [1 Peter 1:4] These prospects of God's family are great realities. They are not vague shadowy talk of man's invention. They are real true things, and will be seen as such before long. They deserve your serious consideration. Examine them well. Look around the families of earth with which you are acquainted, the richest, the greatest, the noblest, and the happiest. Where will you find one among them all which can show prospects to compare with those of which you have just heard? The earthly riches, in many a case, will be gone in a hundred years or so. The noble blood, in many a case, will not prevent some disgraceful deed from staining the family name. The happiness, in many a case, will be found hollow and illusive. Few, indeed, are the homes that do not have a secret sorrow, or a "skeleton in the closet." Whether for present possessions or future prospects, there is no family so well off as "the whole family of God in heaven and earth." Whether you look at what they now have, or what they will have in heaven, there is no family like the family of God. My task is done. My paper is drawing to a close. It only remains to close it with a few words of practical application. Give me your attention for the last time. May God bless what I am going to say for the good of your soul! (1) I ask you a simple question. Take it with you to every family gathering which you join at any season of the year. Take it with you, and amidst all your happiness make time for thinking about it. It is a simple question, but a solemn one, Do you really belong to the family of God? To the family of God, remember! This is the point of my question. It is no answer to say that you are a Protestant, or belong to so-and-so denomination, or are an Evangelical. I want to hear of something more and better than that. I want you to have some soul-satisfying and soul-saving religion. A religion that will give you peace while you live, and hope when you die. To have such peace and hope you must be something more than a Protestant, or a member of so-and-so denomination, or an Evangelical. You must belong to "the family of God." I firmly believe that thousands around you do not belong to the family. But that is no reason why you should not. If you do not yet belong to God's family, I invite you this day to join it without delay. Open your eyes to see the value of your soul, the sinfulness of sin, the holiness of God, and the present danger of your present condition, the absolute necessity of a mighty change. Open your eyes to see these things, and repent this very day. Open your eyes to see the great head of God's family, even Christ Jesus, waiting to save your soul. See how he has loved you, lived for you, died for you, risen again for you, and obtained complete redemption for you. See how he offers you free, full, immediate pardon, if you will only believe in Him. Open your eyes to see these things. Seek Christ at once. Come and believe in Him, and commit your soul to His keeping this very day. I know nothing of your family or past history. I do not know where you go to spend your holidays, or what company you are going to be in. But I am bold to say, that if you join the family of God you will find it the best and happiest family in the world.
(2) If you really belong to the whole family in heaven and earth, count up your privileges, and learn to be more thankful. Remember what a mercy it is to have something which the world can neither give nor take away—something which makes you independent of sickness and poverty—something which is your own forevermore. The old family home will soon be empty and up for sale. The old family gatherings will soon be past and gone forever. The loving faces we now delight to gaze on are rapidly leaving us. The cheerful voices which now welcome us will be silent in the grave. But, thank God, if we belong to Christ's family there is a better gathering yet to come. Let us often think of it, and be thankful! The family gathering of all God's people will make up for all that their religion now costs them. A meeting where none are missing—a meeting where there are no gaps and empty places—a meeting where there are no tears—a meeting where there is no parting—such a meeting as this is worth a fight and a struggle. And such a meeting is yet to come to "the whole family in heaven and earth." In the meantime let us strive to live worthy of the family to which we belong. Let us labor to do nothing that may cause our Father's house to be spoken against. Let us endeavour to make our Master's name beautiful by our disposition, conduct, and conversation. Let us love as brethren, and abhor all quarrels. Let us behave as if the honour of "the family" depended on our behavior. So living, by the grace of God, we will make our calling and election sure, both to ourselves and others. So living, "we will have the sure hope of receiving a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." [2 Peter 1:11] So living, we will recommend our Father's family to others, and perhaps by God's blessing induce them to say, "We will go with you."
Our Home
"Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations." [Psalm 90:1]
There are two reasons why the text which heads this paper should ring in our hearts with special power. It is the first verse of a deeply solemn Psalm—the first bar of a wondrous piece of spiritual music. I cannot tell how others feel when they read the ninetieth Psalm It always makes me lean back in my chair and think. For one thing, this ninetieth Psalm is the only Psalm composed by "Moses, the man of God." It expresses that holy man's feelings, as he saw the whole generation whom he had led out of Egypt, dying in the wilderness. Year after year he saw that fearful judgment being fulfilled, which Israel brought on itself by unbelief: "In this desert your bodies will fall—everyone of you twenty years old or more who was counted in the census and who has grumbled against Me. Not one of you will enter the land." [Numbers 14:29-30] One after another he saw, laying in the desert, the bones of the heads of the families whom he had led out of Egypt. For forty long years he saw the strong, the swift, the wise, the tender, the beautiful, who had crossed the Red Sea with him in triumph, cut down and withering like grass. For forty years he saw his companions continually changing, becoming weaker and passing away. Who can wonder that he should say, "Lord, You have been our dwelling place." We are all pilgrims and strangers on the earth, and we have no place to dwell. "Lord, You are our home." For another thing, the ninetieth Psalm forms part of the Burial Service of the Church of England. Whatever fault men may find with the Prayer-book, I think no one can deny the singular beauty of the Burial Service. Beautiful are the texts which it puts into the minister's mouth as he meets the coffin at the churchyard gate, and leads the mourners into the church. Beautiful is the chapter from the