Loyalty to the King and the Kingdom
Loyalty to the King and the Kingdom LOYALTY TO THE KING AND THE KINGDOM
By Paul Southern
Twenty-three years ago I stood in a city on the Atlantic seaboard and for more than an hour watched American soldiers as they marched by on dress parade. All activities of the city were temporarily suspended, hats were removed and tear-climmed eyes tried to smile through that terrible experience which the United States was having at that time. Thousands of persons lined the streets and stood at rapt attention as the flag went by.
Hats off!
The flag is passing by!
Along the street there comes
A blare of bugles, a ruffle of drums.
A flash of color beneath the sky:
Hats off!
Truly, that was a demonstration of loyalty to the American union.
Yesterday afternoon at 3:30 o’clock I stood in the office of Hendrick Memorial Hospital here in Abilene and talked to Brother Don Morris by telephone. He said, “I want you to speak tomorrow morning at 11 o’clock on the Abilene Christian College Lectureship,” The first question I asked was, “What is the subject?” Brother Morris said, “Loyalty to the King and the Kingdom.” The first thought that ran through my mind was that picture of thousands of civilians standing at attention in Newport News, Virginia, twenty- three years ago while that army of soldiers passed. I said to myself, “Wouldn’t it be fine if all the Christiana in the army of the Lord were just as loyal to the King of kings as we were at that time to the Red, White, and Blue?” As I talked to Brother Morris this second thought and picture of loyalty came to me. A father and son were driving by night through the tall pines of East Texas. By mutual agreement with his parents, the son was leaving home for the first time to go out in search of life, fortune and happiness. As we journeyed from home to a little town in East Texas, the moon with its mellow beams was playing a silent symphony upon those tall pines, while Father played a spiritual symphony upon my heart. At the railroad station he took my ambitious, vibrating body into his arms and placed a kiss upon my brow. As I hoarded the train, he said to me: “Son, be faithful to the Lord.” Here we have another picture of loyalty,
Today we are here to talk to you about "Loyalty to the King and the Kingdom.” There is something about the word loyalty that is attractive to me. I like to think about it. It suggests permanence, constancy, inflexi-bility. The word loyalty means that spirit of faith and devotion which causes one to remain true to a sover-eign, to a superior, an ideal or an institution. The word denotes allegiance to someone in authority. It is that in human conduct which causes man to hold tenaciously to the thing which he believes to be right. When we speak of the King, we are talking about Jesus Christ, our Lord, who became King when he sat down at the right hand of the Father and sent forth the Holy Spirit to guide the apostles into all truth. On the first Pentecost after the ascension of Christ, Peter said: “Let all the house of Israel therefore know assuredly, that God hath made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom ye crucified” (Acta 2:36). Since that time I believe Jesus has been the King, upon the throne of David, upon his Father’s throne, and upon his own throne. God “put all things in subjection under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all” (Ephesians 1:22-23). This King who is the captain of our salvation is the one we have in mind in this address.
WTien we talk about being loyal to the kingdom, we are thinking of the church, that blood-bought institution which came into existence on the first Pentecost after the resurrection of Christ. Peter referred to that event as “the beginning” (Acts 11:15). Since that time the kingdom of the King of kings has con-tinued to function, and I am persuaded that it will continue to function throughout time. When eternity’s morn has dawned, the saints of all ages will sit down in the very presence of that King to live forever and forever more. The importance of being loyal to the King and the kingdom cannot be stressed too much. The tragedy of all tragedies, it seems to me, is a broken faith. Young people meet at the altar and pledge their troth one to the other for life. Some of them, and one would be too many, go out the next day and break faith with that one to whom they pledged their life, their love, and their all. Business men, perhaps members of the church of the Lord, operating businesses on opposite sides of the street, will enter a verbal agreement to sell products for a certain price, and the next day one of them breaks faith by cutting prices. In this audience there are hundreds of persons who have bowed at the altar of the Lord and pledged their obedience to the King. I wonder if we have kept the faith. That loyalty to the King is important is a point that need not be argued. Jesus said: “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (Matthew 6:24). Then he said: “But seek ye first his kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33). Those 3,000 souls bap-tized on Pentecost had this idea of loyalty, for we read that “they continued stedfastly in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and the prayers" (Acts 2:42).
Notwithstanding the fact that it is important to be loyal, I think some persons today are just scared to death for fear the church is going to be destroyed before this generation comes to a close. Ladies and gentlemen, I do not share the opinion of some that the church today is headed for swift destruction. We concede that there are some departures, but these have been with us since the birth of the church, I have enough confidence in what Jesus said when he promised to build the church to believe that he will fulfill that promise through his word. “Upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hades shall not prevail against it” (Matt'. 16:18). There is not enough power on earth to thwart the progress of the church of Jesus Christ. Oh, yes, we are going through a crisis, but there never was a time in the history of the church when God’s people were not going through a crisis. There will always be a crisis as long as there is sin. The King of kings will continue to lead his army against the hosts of error. But I am persuaded that the church will come out more than conqueror and leave this world in a blaze of glory. In this matter of loyalty, of course, I am interested in others. I want the church to wield the greatest influence possible. Still I must say that loyalty on my part has a supremely selfish angle. The church can get along without me and my loyalty; do not forget that. But I cannot get along without being loyal to the church and its King. Certainly there are others entrusted to our care and for them we ought to be loyal. As Daniel of old said: “And they that are wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever” (Daniel 12:3). But after all, loyalty to the King and the kingdom is a thing that I ought to be interested in for my own sake.
We have several kinds of loyalty in the brotherhood, various grades and shades of it. We have hard preach-ing and soft preaching, yellow preaching and red preaching. In some places they have done a complete black-out. It just depends on where you are when you talk about this thing called loyalty, in whose camp you happen to be found- For instance, I sometimes have occasion to talk to some of my brethren who do not believe in Bible classes on Lord’s day morning. They declare to me that they are the only loyal people today. Then I come along and find some other brethren who believe, they say, in having supervised Bible study on the Lord’s day or any other day. These declare unto me that they are the only loyal brethren, that the others are asleep on the job, simply playing at the game of saving souls. However, I think the first group is more loyal to its views than the latter group. They say they do not believe in having organized classes, and they stick to it. They simply do not have them. At the North Side church of Christ in Abilene, Texas, we have four hundred and fifty members, with an average attendance of one hundred and seventy-five on Lord’s day morning for the Bible classes. Which one is more loyal to its views?
Yes, there are grades and shades of loyalty. We have the Bible college group and the anti-Bible college group, and in some places they will not speak to one another. You are loyal, depending on where you are. In fact, my friends, it sometimes resolves itself to this: You are not loyal unless you skin them the way I do! Sometimes I get to thinking that I am about the best preacher there is, and unless Homer Hailey over there skins them just as I do, in the same terminology, he is not loyal. John O’Dowd comes along and preaches the same doctrine, and he may class me and Brother So-and-So somewhere else. And we are not dealing in personalities; we are simply illustrating a point.
You know, we sometimes become so self-centered and cocksure in our own judgment that we are the only loyal ones, and that everybody else has lost the faith. I saw Charlie Chaplin in “Shoulder Arms.” He stopped the commanding officer and said: “Say, Buddy, everybody in this division is out of step except me.” Chaplin could not realize that he was the only one out of step. Sometimes I think that the whole brotherhood is out of step, when all that I need is a good night's rest and a dose of Alka Seltzer. You know, I do not like the idea of having some man force his rubber stamp upon me and my preaching to make me loyal. And you tell me the same thing, for that is right. Any time a preacher of the gospel or an institution or a congregation thinks that he or it must place a rubber stamp upon me and my preaching to make me loyal, And you tell me the same thing, for that is right. Any time a preacher of the gospel or an institution or a congregation thinks that he or it must place a rubber stamp of approval upon all others before they can be certified to preach or set up a congregation, right then and there he becomes a pope, whether he wears that name and the pope’s clothing or not.
Some want to test your loyalty on only one item of faith and practice. Some years ago I was invited to a city to “try out" for the church work there. They called a meeting of the elders and deacons that afternoon, and put me on the carpet. One man in that group gave me a rather severe grilling to determine my loyalty. It was akin to the “third degree.” But there was only one point in which he was interested, and that point was premillennialism, I said: "Certainly the doctrine is wrong, and I preach against it every time it is necessary.” I am willing to affirm any time that the doctrine of premillennialism is false, but I refuse to be fitted into that one mold. I refuse to be judged for loyalty on that one point alone. Now you may misunderstand me, but I am determined not to be misunderstood. As I indicated at the outset of this lecture, I believe the kingdom and the period of regeneration began when Jesus Christ sat down at the right hand of the Father and sent forth the Holy Spirit. Otherwise, I could not believe the New Testament. I am definitely opposed to this damnable heresy called pre-millennialism. But I think some people have gone to another extreme in trying to measure loyalty by that one point alone. That is the thing I am stressing. Needless to say, my job with the church referred to above went “with the wind.”
Others make the “restoration movement” a test of loyalty. And that takes me across the country to another city where I was being considered for some church work. The “presiding elder” did not ask if I believed in Jesus Christ as the Son of God. He did not ask if I was interested in building up the church in that growing and wicked city. He did not ask if I believed in the Bible as the word of God, an all-sufficient guide in this life and to mansions in the sky. No, he wanted to know where I stood on the “restoration movement.” I said it is no wonder that the Baptists and Methodsits write books criticising us and Alexander Campbell and Saying that we have a human creed. If we make that movement the only test of loyalty, then the movement itself becomes a sectarian institution. Please do not misunderstand me. I rejoice in all the great works that were done by Alexander Campbell, Barton W. Stone, “Raccoon” John Smith and other pioneers. But if I should do on this platform this morning some of the things which they did in the meetings they held, many of the persons in this audience would say, “He is not loyal.”
Sometimes loyalty to Christ is gauged by the religious journal one reads. Not long ago a man asked me: “Do you get the Bible Bugle? (purely fictitious names—P. S.) the Flimsy Foundation? the Gospel Clarion? the Keyhole Gazette?” Yes, I read all of them, and like them fine. I like John O’Dowd's paper; I like Foy Wallace’s paper; I like Brother McQuiddy's paper; I like Brother Showalter’s paper. Why I have a fine treat sometimes with these papers. I take an afternoon off and spread all the papers out before ma and just watch those writers as they spar back and forth. And, of course, they always wind up in a good humor by patting one another on the back and saying, “Kitty, kitty, kitty!” Please understand that I am not opposed to the papers; I am for them. But any time a man tries to circumscribe me by any one paper I am going to jump the fence. Any time one paper sets
itself up as the only standard of loyalty it thereby be-comes a sectarian organization and institution. Chris-tianity is bigger than any one religious paper. In other places loyalty is judged by selfish Congrega-tionalism. I have preached in cities where there were several congregations, and I declare unto you that some of the leaders were interested in preaching the gospel only to the people within the four walls of one church house. Some were jealous and envious of other con-gregations just as loyal to the truth as they were. Why some would not even attend a gospel meeting over at the other place. Is that the test of loyalty to the King and his kingdom in which we are interested?
We have known of cases where loyalty was deter-mined by the preacher one liked. I went to a place to preach once. After being there for some time, I began to wonder where the other three hundred members were. We could have a big crowd every time, perhaps a building full, and still never see about half of the members. Then I got to calling around to see about the other “nine.” One man who was not coming spoke right out, and I appreciated his frankness. He said: “Nobody can preach like Brother So-and-So, and if you want me to come you will have to bring him back as the preacher.” That man thought he was loyal to the King. You know, sometimes we preachers get more additions than the Lord does. It sounds good in the religious papers to report big numbers. Besides, it helps us to get other meetings* But is that loyalty to Christ? We have had some preacher rings just as political as Chicago’s politics. Haven’t you heard them talk? “This is a good thing,” they say. “You pitch me a meeting and I’ll pitch you one.” Is that the test of loyalty which will build a world brighter than this one?
We come now to ask this question: Just what is the meaning of loyalty as applied to the King and his king-dom? The word loyalty involves obedience to consti-tuted authority. It comes to us through the Latin “lex,” meaning law. There can be no loyalty apart from law. Then who is the lawgiver? Is it Paul Southern? O. M. Reynolds? C. A. Buchanan? R. C. Bell? No. Neither is it Moses, nor Abraham, nor John the Baptist. “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:17). Paul said the law was a “tutor to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith” (Galatians 3:24). That law has been taken out of the way and nailed to the cross (Colossians 2:14). Christ is now the spokesman in religious matters. “All authority hath been given unto me in heaver and on earth,” Jesus said (Matthew 28:18). God speaks today through his Son (Hebrews 1:1-2). “Whosoever goeth onward and abideth not in the teaching of Christ, hath not God: he that abideth in the teaching, the same hath both the F ather and the Son” (2 John 1:9). In the kingdom of God, I bend my knee to one only, the Lord Jesus Christ, and I refuse to be tested for loyalty upon any other ground. He alone is my Master, and the gospel is God’s power to save (Romans 1:16). Jesus is the captain of our salvation (Hebrews 2:10). All spiritual blessings are in him, “in whom we have our redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace” (Ephesians 1:3; Ephesians 1:7).
Loyalty to Christ involves a number of things, first of which is purity of doctrine. There can be no other loyalty unless the doctrine is pure. That is why I said at the outset that we ought to continue “stedfastly in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and the prayers” (Acts 2:42). But some of the “loyal” congregations over the country have a peculiar idea of loyalty to that doctrine. For instance, in a town where I held a meeting last summer one of the ciders wanted to dismiss services on Sunday night and go over and help a denomination close a meeting. He even thought it would be all right for our people to sing in the choir. In another town they wanted to dismiss on Sunday night and join up with the denominations in a big rally to wind up a Boy Scout week. Is this purity of doctrine? There is no reason for the church to exist if we join hands with all the denominations. Christ did not build sectarian denominations, and to unite with them is to become a rebel in his sight.
Loyalty to the King involves purity of worship. Many persons want Mark 16:16 and Acts 2:38 preached, but they do not want anything said about disorderly worship. “That is not the gospel,” they say, “We know our duty about such things. Why don’t you preach the gospel?” One man said concerning one of my sermon? along this line, “We have heard that for 40 years.” We have also heard Acts 2:38 since Pentecost, but we still like to put it upon our tongues as a morsel of sweet bread. Some people worship in vain, according to our King, because of their behavior around the Lord’s table. I don’t think I am loyal to the King who gave his life’s blood for me if I sit around the Lord’s table and talk and laugh as I would at a football game. Loyalty to Christ includes being loyal to the worship set up by the apostles of Christ in the long ago. If we add to it or take away from it, we come under the condemnation of Christ who said: “This people honoreth me with their lips; But their heart is far from me. But in vain do they worship me, Teaching as their doctrines the precepts of men” (Matthew 15:8-9).
Neither can a Christian be loyal to Christ without purity of life. I am thinking now of a certain church member who, in his day, could defeat any denomina-tional preacher in the matter of proving sound doctrine. No enemy of the cross could emerge victorious when that church member crossed swords with him.
He knew the plan of salvation, when and where the church was established, what constitutes scriptural baptism, when we should observe the Lord’s supper, and that the Bible is our only authority in religion. But this champion of the truth was often removed in a drunken stupor from the gutter. If my loyalty does not carry over into the busy mart of life, then I am a slacker and a rebel. “Pure religion and undefiled before our God and Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their afflictions, and to keep oneself un-spotted from the world” (James 1:27). “Come ye out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, And touch no unclean thing; And I will receive you, And will be to you a Father, and ye shall be to me sons and daughters” (2 Corinthians 6:17-18). “Set your mind on things that are above, not on the tilings that are upon the earth” (Colossians 3:2). “And they that are of Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with the passions and the lusts thereof” (Galatians 5:24). Any time I go before the world as a Christian parading the banner of Prince Emmanuel and dragging it in the dust by immorality, I am not loyal to the King—it matters not how strong I am on baptism, or against premillennlal- ism or anything else.
Loyalty to the King certainly would include purity of stewardship, in the matter of money, time, talent, influence, yea, life itself. By way of illustration, the average member of the church gives twenty cents a week to the church. I have observed this summer after summer where I have held meetings. Simply divide the amount given by the number in each congregation and the result is about twenty cents each. That means about $10.00 a year. The average “smoking member” of the church of the Lord if that’s permissible terminology, spends $50.00 a year for tobacco. Is this loyalty to the King? In a certain Texas town last summer I heard a man talking about his loyalty. “Why I read the Bible through twice a year,” he said, “and I am going to read it through three times this year.” Then some church leaders told me about a business meeting which the man attended. They were discussing church finance. Our “loyal” church member stood up and said: “I just don’t understand how some people can get along without giving. My wife and I just can’t stand to give less than $1.00 per month.” And they told me that the man and his wife attended the movies every time the show changed. Still he insists that he is loyal to the King. I know a sister who looks like a Broadway fashion plate every time she steps out to services, and she gives the church a dime just as regularly as the Lord’s day rolls around. What good does it do for one to sing: “Take my silver and my gold, not a mite would I withhold.” unless he gives as the Lord has prospered him? In the matter of church attendance I believe loyalty plays a part. Christians have some definite appointments with the Lord which must be kept. Yet some assume that they may skip the worship on the slightest provocation* or the most trivial excuse. I called on an old gentleman once to find out why he was not attending the worship. As soon as I entered his home, he began to tell me why he could not come. “I am old, and almost blind,” he said. “My hair is gray, and my body is withering with the weight of years. But my spirit is with you every time the church meets on the first day of the week. I am too old and frail to go to the services any more.” I noticed on the lapel of his coat a badge of some kind and asked him about it. It must have pleased him, for his face lighted up with a smile as he told me about it. It was a long story about his work in a certain lodge, Just a few night3 before, he had gone down to the lodge hall—in fact, he “let the cat out of the bag” by telling me that he went every week. But on this un-forgettable night, the lodge members had a kind of celebration in his honor. They presented the badge to him as a token of appreciation for his long and faithful service. The badge showed that he had a perfect record of service and attendance for twenty-fiv< years. And I said, “Uh, huh,” but not very loud. Oh, yes, that church member chould go to the lodge meeting on the darkest of the night \ but he did not think enough of his Lord to meet aro ind the table on the first day of the week. Presen in spirit? Loyal to the Master? Well, you be the judge.
Then there is the matter of mission work. It has been called to our attention during this lectureship that we ought to lift up our eyes and look on the fields that are white unto harvest. Jesus commanded that we go into all the world with the gospel. The church is the pillar and the ground of the truth (1 Timothy 3:15). We are in the world with a book in our hands, for we “have this treasure in earthen vessels" (2 Corinthians 4:7). Christ has no other means of saving the world except through the gospel. We have pledged our allegiance to the King, who has commissioned us to carry the message to every creature. Are we going to carry this message? If not, can we truthfully say we are loyal to the King?
Loyalty to the King involves being faithful in all cir-cumstances, under ah difficulties: in peace and prosperity, in health and happiness, in sickness and death, in perils and persecutions. Some people give up when the way is hard, but you know the Lord never guaran-teed that it would be downhill and shady all the way. “Take up your cross and follow me,” he said. Truly, some days must be dark and dreary, into each life some rain must fall. But “blessed are ye when men shall reproach you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evii against you falsely, for my sake,” Jesus said (Matthew 5:11-12). “Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven.” “If a man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God in this name” (1 Peter 4:16). Our loyalty should be like that of Stephen, who was willing to die for his faith in Christ. Even in death he could pray for his persecutors, ‘'Lord, lay not this sin to their charge” {Acts 7:60). Let us be as faithful as those disciples who met around the cross that eventful day when Jesus said: “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matt. 27:46). Think of that mother who camped at the foot of the cross to see her own son crucified for the sins of the world. Let us be as loyal to the King as she was to that Son and as he was to her. Certainly, no human love is more profound than a mother’s love. When everyone else ceases to think of you, your mother ceases to think of everyone, else. Let us be as loyal today as Paul was when he came to the end of the journey. He said: “I have fought a good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith” (2 Tim. 4:7).
Let me give you a word picture of loyalty. In 79 A.D. Mount Vesuvius was in eruption. Because of his interest in science and education, there was a man standing just as close to that volcano as possible. He had devoted his life to scientific research, and wanted to remain true to his obligation. That man was Pliny. His loyalty to his work in the great phenomena of nature caused him to get too close to that burning inferno, and he lost his life in the interest of posterity. There were some soldiers standing guard that day in Pompeii, which was buried by the eruption of Vesuvius. Pick and spade have revealed to us that some of those who might have run for their lives and safety stood there on duty to be incased by the molten lava which flowed down the hillside. They were loyal to their responsibility, stood guard to the last. All of which reminds us of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. “Take up the whole armor of God,” he said, “that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and, having done all, to stand” (Eph, 6:13). On the eve of the Battle of Waterloo, someone asked the “Iron” Duke of Wellington, “What are your orders for tomorrow in case you are killed?” He said, “Stand and die to the last man.” The next day they stood, and some of them died, but when the noise of battle had cleared away the history of civilization had been changed and Napoleon had gone down in defeat. Down here in San Antonio a few years ago a little group of men loyal to their country bared their breasts to that oncoming horde of Mexicans and defended their flag to the last man. During the Battle of Gettysburg in the Civil War, the flag bearer was injured and fell upon the ground. His buddies rushed to his side and said, “You are wounded, aren’t you?” He said: “Yes, I am more than wounded; I am dying. But look! The old flag has not touched the ground yet.” With one hand he was still holding the flag afloat upon the breeze. The bearer went down in death, but the standard of the party still waved.
These stories of loyal patriotism are impressive, but I am talking to you about loyalty to a flag, a King and a kingdom that mean infinitely more than political and military kingdoms. Polycarp, a disciple of John, seems to have caught this spirit of loyalty. When he was arraigned for trial, the proconsul said, “Renounce Christ and I will release you.” Polycarp, looking upward toward heaven, said: “Eighty and six years have I served him, and he hath never wronged me, and how can I blaspheme my King who hath saved me?” “I have wild beasts,” the proconsul threatened, “and I will expose you to them unless you recant.” With a stedfast loyalty Polycarp said, “Call them.” “I will tame your spirit by fire,” said the Roman. “You threat-en me,” said Polycarp, “with the fire which burns only for a moment, and are yourself ignorant of the fire of eternal punishment reserved for the ungodly.” Within a short while Polycarp was bound on the burning stake, where he thanked God for the honor of a martyr’s fate. He was loyal to his convictions, even unto death, I suggest to you that we should be just as loyal to the King and his kingdom. “Be ye stedfast, uninova- ble, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord" (1 Cor. 15:58). Ihe blessings of heaven are for those who are faithful in God’s service to the end. “Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee the crown of life” (Rev. 2:10). Just as my father said to me when I was leaving home, “Son, stand up for Jesus, beloyal to the King,” so I am appealing to us to maintain that same loyalty. Back yonder somewhere the most of us met Christ at the altar of obedience and pledged him our life, our love, our all. Have we kept the faith ? "Blessed are those servants, whom the Lord when he cometh shall find watching” (Luke 12:37).