We Are The Lord’s 

The Presidential Address Delivered At The Annual Meeting of The Metropolitan Association Of Strict Baptist Churches, March 14^th, 1911. 

Abridged for these pages. It will be found in extenso in the Annual Record of the proceedings of the Association for the year ending March, 1911, to be obtained of the Honorary Secretary, F. T. Newman, 64, West Side, Clapham Common, London, S.W.

By Pastor Edwin White, Woolwich

“Whether we live therefore or die, we are the Lord’s.”—Romans 14:8

The Saviour demands our highest service. The position we occupy in the Church of God calls for our most strenuous efforts, that we may devote all our powers to His cause. We are met that we may encourage one another in the holy work in which we are engaged. There may be danger of our growing weary, but we must not faint. I have therefore chosen the words “We are the Lord’s” as the motto of my address. I observe firstly that

WE ARE THE LORD’S SUBJECTS.

We own no Lord but Jesus in the Church, and no other Ruler over all matters spiritual but Him. No laws but those which He has given, have any weight with us whatever. To Him we loyally bow, and wait to do His will with eager desire. He has the undoubted right to reign over us. He is a King who never needs a successor, nor does He lose one of His subjects; He loves them too well. He has bought them each with His own heart’s blood, and He has knit their spirits to Himself by an inseparable bond which all the powers of earth and hell can never disunite. We have taken the oath of allegiance to Him. “As the Lord liveth, whether in life or death, where the King is there will we be.”

WE ARE THE LORD’S BRETHREN.

This relationship becomes closer as we proceed. A monarch has many subjects, but few brothers; but our Lord is not ashamed to call all His subjects His brethren. They are of the same Father; the same life is in them, eternal and undying, holy and conformed to Him. We belong to the whole family of heaven, of whom Christ is the Elder Brother—the pattern of all the rest, and pledged to bring them all to glory. In this brotherhood all are equal in Christ the Lord. There need be no jealousies. We are all near akin to Him—nearer than angels are. Oh, that brotherly love may prevail in all our Churches, and the example of our Elder Brother be followed by us all, in affection, meekness and humility!

WE ARE THE LORD’S MEMBERS.

It is incumbent upon all His people to be members of the visible Church of Christ, and those who neglect this are robbing themselves of a great privilege, but they must first be members of Him—a part of Himself, a vital union existing as with all the parts of the body, each united to the living Head, and He supplies the whole with life and vigour. No member can dispense with Him. He could sever them from Himself, but He will not. His members must be complete. Nor can we do without one another. The hand cannot say to the foot, “I have no need of thee.” Let us cherish every member. All are dear to Christ, “for we are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones.” Being members of Him, the strong should help the weak. Thus our association as Churches is for this very purpose, “that we may bear one another’s burdens and so fulfil the law of Christ.” Our membership to Christ is one of the strongest reasons for our mutual helpfulness, for in so doing we are doing it unto Him.

AS A HOLY COMPANY WE CONSTITUTE THE LORD’S BRIDE.

This is the dearest of all relationships. On her He lavishes His tenderest love. To her He addresses words of sweetest endearment. From her He withholds no secret. On her He confers all His wealth. She dwells near His heart, and, though frail and sinful, she is never out of His thoughts. He beholds her with loving gaze. She is perfect in His view. This mutual love and admiration we recognise with joy. Our union is a veritable love-match. Words fail to express His worth and loveliness. The bride looks on His face with rapture, and when the veil of flesh is dropped, and we behold Him as He is, that ecstatic vision will fill every heart with adoring wonder and delight, throughout the cycles of eternity. We already anticipate this holy joy in such gatherings as this. We think of the white-robed throng of the Church triumphant who have gone on before, and we long to join them. “’We,” with them, “are the Lord’s.” “More happy, but not more secure, the glorified spirits in heaven.”

WE ARE THE LORD’S BECAUSE WE HAVE CHOSEN HIM—

chosen Him as our portion for evermore. None but Christ will satisfy the soul of the Christian. The world is an empty void compared with Him. With growing years He becomes dearer in our esteem. We have never repented of our choice, or wished to leave Him for another love. It is our irrevocable choice. We would not go back from it. We could not. He binds our souls fast unto Himself for evermore. We have chosen Him as the sole object of our trust. We have the fullest confidence in His merit, His blood, His righteousness, His mediation, His efficacious power to save. We need no other Saviour. We find our “All-in-all” in Him. Ever since that choice was made—the result of His choice of us—we have found a solid peace, a sure resting-place, a glorious hope, blooming with immortality and everlasting bliss. In Him we chose that good part which shall not be taken away from us.

WE HAVE OPENLY PROFESSED THAT WE ARE THE LORD’S.

What does our baptism signify? What does our Church-membership signify? What does this Union of Strict and Particular Baptist Churches signify? Why this—that “we are the Lord’s”; given up to Him and to one another in His name. This was our testimony before men and angels, made openly in the sight of many witnesses and to which we thus “subscribed with our hand”; and having given our hand to the Lord we dare not go back, or even look back. Nor will we give up one doctrine, one precept, one command, or one of the ordinances which we have openly professed. What we avouched years ago, we stand to to-day. Truth is unchanging. The Scriptures which we have professed to believe and to receive from the Lord are unalterable. To us these things are a sacred trust. They are written upon our hearts, and our open profession is the outcome of our firm and abiding conviction of their truth.

WE STAND TO DEMONSTRATE THAT “WE ARE THE LORD’s.”

We will prove it by our Divine calling. We can defend our right by the way we were brought to the Lord. We are prepared to give “a reason of the hope that is in us” to every man who may ask us. We are the Lord’s by a new and heavenly birth, and we insist on this in all who compose our Churches. May our conditions of membership never be broader than our Lord has made them. Over the portal there must be written, in letters large and clear, “All who enter here must be born again.” We stand to defend our position. Our Churches are Scripturally composed of such as the Lord has called as His own, and formed and maintained in the way He has appointed. We can defend our Order as having received it from Him. But, brethren, the best defence, the best proof that we are the Lord’s, are the holiness, the purity, the zeal, the concord of our Churches, the Spirit of Christ manifest in each member. We shall best defend our position by keeping close to Him and His Word. We are “set for the defence of the Gospel”; let us seek to adorn it by loyalty to God our Saviour.

WE GLORY IN THE FACT THAT “WE ARE THE LORD’S.’’

We make our boast in our Lord. He has done such noble deeds. As a warrior He has fought such battles as none ever fought before—or since, and all for us. His honours are great; His renown is unequalled—“All over glorious is our Lord.” His virtues are unsurpassed. No poet, prophet or preacher has ever set forth His worth, or told out half His excellence. His character shines brighter with passing years, and His fame is more illustrious as centuries roll on. His righteousness is unsullied by time; His wisdom baffles every foe; His power overcomes every obstacle, and His riches are exhaustless to meet our needs. All this He is to us—our Lord. Well may we glory in Him. His love to us is wonderful.

WE ARE THE LORD’S AT ALL TIMES.

The soldier may doff his regimentals, the policeman his uniform, the judge lay aside his robes of office, but we are the Lord’s always; we are never off duty. Whatever position we occupy, we are the Lord’s. Whether as masters or servants we are a holy priesthood, and stand ever before the Lord to offer the sacrifice of ourselves—body, soul, and spirit—unto Him, which is “our reasonable service.” Let us never be ashamed to own “Whose we are, and Whom we serve,” and may He never have cause to be ashamed of us, or our conduct toward Him. May we remember the high dignity of our relationship to Him at all times, and this will ennoble our actions, make us fearless of men or devils; and we shall fear only to do wrong because “we are the Lord’s.”

“WE ARE THE LORD’S” THOUGH FAlTH SHOULD “BECOME FEEBLE AND DIM.”

Not always are we on the mount of assurance, enjoying holy, rapturous confidence. There are times when evidences are not clear; when we walk in darkness, and have no light; when hopes decline and trembling faith seems almost to expire; when we fear to claim Him as our Lord; when there seems to be a dearth in His Church as though the Lord had left us. “We see not our signs.” We mourn our absent God. The ministry seems to lack spiritual power, and the ordinances of His house appear destitute of life and vigour. Prayer falters on our lips, and the hope almost quits our hearts that we shall ever again enjoy His blessing. But we are still the Lord’s. “Weeping may endure for night, but joy cometh in the morning.” He may have hidden His face that we may seek Him more earnestly. We have not lost His presence, though He hides Himself. The shadows will flee away; winter will give place to summer, with its warmth, growth, and fruitfulness. The Church will yet be revived as the corn under the dew and rain of heaven. The Lord has not forsaken His inheritance. The Church is still His Beulah—the land in which He delighteth.

WE ARE THE LORD’S, AND, THEREFORE, ETERNALLY SAFE.

As in the past, so still, there are enemies to His Church, but her defence is of God. He is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved. Whatever foes may assail, they must deal with our Lord. He will never see His truth overthrown or His Church destroyed. We have a strong city—with salvation for her bulwarks; she will stand for ever, firmly fixed in her eternal union to her Lord, which neither earth nor hell can dissolve. She needs no earthly power to defend her rights, or sword of state to fight her battles. Her armour is invincible. On the right hand and on the left she is clad in the panoply of God. With the Captain of our salvation as our Head, we go forth conquering and to conquer in His name, safe under His banner.

WE ARE THE LORD’S—WE ARE SATISFIED WITH HIM.

We want no other master. He has dealt with infinite tenderness towards us all these years. In spite of all our shortcomings and failures, He has been very gracious towards us. He has helped us in every need; often filled our cup to overflowing with the riches of His grace; made earth’s treasures seem to us so poor compared to Him, and has thus made us feel that we desired naught but Himself. Our happiness is complete when, like the beloved John, we are favoured to pillow our head upon His breast. Earth recedes and heaven is near. Oh, this is the Land of Beulah. There will be only the river to cross and we shall be at home–“for ever with the Lord.” He ravishes and delights the soul. We wonder not at the glowing, ecstatic language of Joseph Swain, “When on My Beloved I gaze,” and all other objects are obliterated from our view. Where can we find a physician so skillful as He? a counsellor so wise? a friend so faithful? a lover so affectionate? a lord so powerful? Our confidence in Him is unbounded. When others, alas! have left Him, we have seemed to hear Him say, “Will ye also go?” Our ready reply has been, “Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life, and we believe and are sure that Thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.”

WHILE WE CLAIM TO BE BAPTISTS, WE ARE FIRST THE LORD’S.

We are not ashamed of our title, whoever gave it to us, because it distinguishes our Lord. He was a Baptist before we were; and because we are the Lord’s we are Baptists, and if we are not the Lord’s we have no right to be Baptists—“One Lord, one faith, one baptism.” We are sometimes charged with making too much of baptism, but we put it in its proper place and observe its due order. A man may be a Baptist and not the Lord’s, even as Simon Magus was not the Lord’s though baptised. Because we are the Lord’s we have been “buried with Him in baptism unto death,” that “we should live and walk for Him in newness of life.”

AS MEMBERS OF CHURCHES WE ARE THE LORD’S FIRST.

We are members of Him before we are members of the Church. The Lord claims us. We give ourselves first to the Lord, and then to the Church for His sake. This should assuredly follow, but it does not always, even with those who are truly His. Do these fully recognise His claims upon them, and their obligations to Him? If all the members of our Churches recognised His pre-eminent claims as their Lord we should soon see a gracious revival in our midst.

WE ARE UNITED, BUT THE LORD IS THE CENTRE.

He is the Lord around Whom all Scriptures centre. Prediction and prophecy, type and Psalm, all centre in and lead up to Him. Every inspired penman points to Him. He is the subject of their loftiest thought and most eloquent utterances. They vie to extol in seraphic terms the Lord of Whom they write in the noblest strains of adoring homage. He is the supreme object of His people’s trust. Hence they all meet at His cross and at His footstool of mercy. They all bow with sacred wonder and delight as they each exclaim, with glowing hearts, “My Lord and my God.” He is the centre of this Association. He holds us together by the bonds of love and allegiance to Himself. We own no Lord but Him alone. He is the centre of heaven;· before Him bow all the blest inhabitants there. To them He is “the King of kings and the Lord of lords.” He is the centre of all government in heaven, in earth, and hell. The day is fast hastening when He will return triumphant from the skies. Then the vast host of His ransomed Church will shout—“This is THE LORD. We have waited for Him. The kingdoms of this world are the kingdoms of our God and our Lord for ever and for ever.” Amen.