Just
Dipping
Just as it is nice occasionally to substitute a bowl of tortilla
chips and some salsa for a regular and heavy meal, so there are occasions for
dipping into the best of the thoughts of spiritual writers from the past.
I have been enjoying “Puritan
gems; or, Wise and holy sayings of ... Thomas Watson” , a collection of some of the best and pithy
statements from that prince among the puritans.
The work is arranged by topics, starting with Affliction and
Assurance, and ending with Truth and World, and on each topic there are a
number of gathered gems from Watson’s works.
Watson was one of those ministers deprived of their office in
the Great Ejection of 1662 when some 2500 evangelical pastors were ejected from
the Church of England. The denomination
was hell-bent on imposing unbiblical practices upon its clergymen, but Watson
like others refused to compromise their conscience for the sake of comfort.
His final sermon to his people, which is a challenge to our own
age, contains these moving words:
The hour
is come wherein the sun is setting upon many of the godly pastors. The shadows
of the evening are stretched forth upon us; our day draws to a close, and our
work seems to be at an end. Our pulpits and places must know us no more. This
is the Lord's doing; let all the earth keep silence before Him.
It is not
a light thing for me, brethren, to be laid aside from the work, and cast out of
the vineyard of the Lord; and it must be something of weight that must support
under so severe a doom. I know there are many who will add to the affliction of
the afflicted, by saying that it is our own fault; "They might have
prevented it—if they had wanted to." Whether this is so or not, God knows,
and let the Lord be judge. Blessed be God, that this is not laid to our charge
as the reason of our expulsion, either deficiency or scandal!
You are
not ignorant what things there are imposed on us as the condition of our
continuing our ministry; which, however lawful and expedient they seem in the
judgment of many—yet have the most specious arguments that plead for them. They
have left me utterly dissatisfied in my conscience about them. I must profess
before God, angels, and men, that my non-submission is not from any disloyalty
to authority, nor from pride, or any factious disposition or design—but because
I dare not contradict my conscience nor do anything concerning which my heart
tells me, "The Lord says—Do it not."
After all
my most impartial inquiries, after all my seeking counsel from the Lord, after
all my considering and consulting with men of all persuasions about these
matters—I find myself so far short of satisfaction, that I am plainly put to
this choice—to part with my ministry—or my conscience. I must choose that my
ministry be sealed up by my sufferings, than lengthened out by a lie.
But
however, though I must now no longer act as a minister, I shall, through the
grace of God, endeavour peaceably and patiently to suffer as a Christian. I
should, to testify my obedience to authority, have become all things to all men
to the uttermost that I could, with any clearness of heart; but, since matters
stand so, I must lose my place or my peace. I cheerfully allow myself to be
thrust off the stage.
And now,
welcome the cross of Christ; welcome reproach; welcome poverty, scorn and
contempt, or whatever else may befall me on this account! This morning I had a
flock—and you had a pastor; but now, behold a pastor without a flock—and a
flock without a shepherd! This morning I had a house—but now I have none! This
morning I had a living—but now I have none! "The Lord has given, and the
Lord has taken away! Blessed be the name of the Lord."
Beloved,
I am sensible of many weaknesses and disadvantages I am under which may render
a suffering state the harder to be borne. Help me by your prayers, and not me
only—but all my brethren also with whom my lot must fall. "Pray for us,
for we trust that we have a good conscience, in all things willing to live honestly."
Pray:
1. That
God would make our silence speak, and preach the same holy doctrine that we
have preached with our lips.
2. That
He would give supports answerable to our sufferings; that He who comforts those who are cast down, will
also comfort His servants who are cast out.
3. That,
according to our earnest expectation and our hope, as always, Christ may be
magnified in us, whether it be by life or by death.
And thus,
brethren, I bid you all farewell. In the words of the Apostle, 2 Corinthians
13:11, "Finally, brethren, farewell. Aim for perfection, listen to my
appeal, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be
with you."
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