THE TEST OF OUR DISCIPLESHIP.
By G. B. Thompson
Many professed Christians are unsettled in their minds whether or not they are in a saved condition. A sister recently told me that for years she has been a member of the church, has realized that at any moment her life might be cut off and her probation ended, and yet she has never been really sure that she was a saved child of the Lord. Possibly there are others in the same wretched condition. Surely there is something in religion more satisfactory than an experience of uncertainty. It is possible to know day by day that we are accepted in Christ, children of the Lord, saved by His grace. There is one text in the Bible by which each of us may settle for himself this important matter. With this one text before us, we can decide, can determine beyond a peradventure, whether or not we are living in a saved condition. The text is 1 John 3:14: “We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.” Notice, it says that we “know.” Know what?—That we have “passed from death [the unsaved state] unto life [the saved state].” But how do we know it?—Why, “because we love the brethren.” That is plain. Do you love the brethren? “Yes, I love most of them.” But that is not what the Lord says. Do you love all the brethren? “Well,” you say, “I love all of them but one or two, and they have not treated me as they should, and there is a little hardness in my heart toward them.” But are they not your brethren?—“Yes; we are members of the same church.” Then the test of your religion is that you love them also. “But they have talked about me.” Possibly; but it is altogether likely that they have never said half as many bad things about you as the Lord knows about you. “But they have lied about me,” you say. This may be; but you should rejoice and be exceedingly glad that all the truth about you has not been spread abroad. Which, think you, would be the worse—to have the whole truth of your life blazed abroad, or a few false statements circulated? Which would suit you the better? Suppose some brother or sister, through the weakness of the flesh, has done wrong and talked about you, and you turn a cold shoulder toward them, remain away from meeting on Sabbath, and refuse, perhaps, to take part in the ordinances at quarterly meeting. This is wrong; Jesus did not do so when He was here; for when in the garden, He called Judas His friend after Judas had sold Him for thirty pieces of silver, and at the ordinance of humility Jesus washed Judas’s feet. Jesus loved all, even the ungodly and those who evil entreated Him and spit upon Him. And if we are Christlike, we shall do the same. So if we know that we love all, and that no root of bitterness is in our hearts, we may know that we are saved children of the Lord. But if there is somebody against whom we have a sort of grudge, and take pleasure in pointing out his weaknesses when opportunity offers, we may be sure that we have something in our heart that can never enter heaven. We have the same thing in our heart that Satan allowed to enter into his when he was the covering cherub, and which resulted in his expulsion from heaven. It will do the same for us, unless we gain the victory over it. The wicked thing is there just the same, whether it leads us to hate one or a score. “Whoso hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.” 1 John 3:15. My brother, my sister, do you love all the brethren? If so, you are a child of the King.