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Post by Admin on Nov 6, 2024 17:08:24 GMT -5
XLI.
The Two Cries And The Two Answers
"There be many that say, Who wil shew us any good? Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us." — Psalm 4:6
THERE are two cries here—the cry of the sons of men, and the cry of the sons of God. They are very unlike. Yet they are both importunate. They go up unceasingly. Earth is full of them. Wherever you go, you hear either the one or the other. They are the cries of men like ourselves; of men who have souls to fill; who know what sorrow is, and what is joy. The men who utter them are made by the same God; placed in the same world; heirs of a common mortality; moving on to one eternity. We find them often side by side; in one city, one village, one family. Not the Hindoo using one cry, and the European the other; but intermingled; the two cries constantly going up from the same places.
I. The cry of the sons of men. "Who will shew us good." Let us mark what it is, and what it means.
(1.) It is the cry of emptiness. These sons of men feel that there is something lacking. They were not made for this perpetual hunger and thirst. They are empty, and therefore they cry. They are poor and needy; but find no supply.
(2.) It is the cry of weariness. They who utter it are seeking rest, but finding none; they labor and are heavy laden. They would fain rest, but know not how or where. UNREST! This is their portion. Unrest here; sad prelude of the eternal unrest, the never-ending weariness.
(3.) It is the cry of darkness. All is darkness and blindness. They grope about, not knowing which way to look, or to turn; and they cry, shew us, Shew us something; for our eyes are blind; we have tried in vain to see.
(4.) It is the cry of helplessness. They have tried many expedients; tried to create good for themselves, or to get it from others; but in vain. They find themselves helpless.
(5.) It is the cry of earnestness. It comes forth often amid bitter tears and groans. Men are bent on being happy; they would do or give anything for happiness. They are mistaken, yet in earnest. They would take any good, if they could get it.
(6.) It is the cry of despair. Who, who, who? They have tried every one, everything. All in vain. They are emptier, hungrier, thirstier, sadder than at first.
(7.) It is a loud and universal cry. Many. Yes, the whole world. It is Esau's loud and bitter cry reverberating through the earth. It is the cry of the many, not of the few. The world is unhappy. It has no rest. It is thirsty,and knows not where to drink; it is hungry, and knows not where to find bread. It weeps,and knows not how to get its tears dried! Every man walks in a vain show; going about asking, Who will shew me any good?
II. The cry of the sons of God. Very different in all respects. They know what is written, "He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good."
(1.) It is the cry of the few, not of the many. For the sons of God are a little flock. One here, and another there; not like fields of grain, nor gardens full of flowers, but plants in a desert,—a few scattered ones here and there.
(2.) It is a certain and definite cry. They know what they want, and how to get their want supplied. They do not grope about on all sides; they go straight to the source.
(3.) It is a cry to God. It is God alone in whom their hope is. They go straight to Him. Whom have I in heaven but thee? He is their portion and their all.
(4.) It is a cry for light. They have some light already, but they want more. We have a sun, but we need it daily; more and more sunshine!
(5.) It is a cry for light from the face of God. Light! Light from God! Light from the face of God. The light of God's countenance! This means that God was to gladden them with His favor and love, of which the benignant smile of the countenance was the expression. Lift up the light of thy countenance on me, is our lifelong prayer!
6.) It is a cry which will be answered. The cry of the sons of men goes up in vain. They speak to the rocks, and get merely the echo of their own voice. But this cry is heard; daily, constantly. Light streams down and into them. God's countenance is their sun. There is health in it,— "healing in His beams." What a contrast between the two cries and the two answers!
O ye sons of men, how long will ye love vanity? How long will ye doat upon this vain world, and worship it as your idol? How long will ye treat its broken cisterns as if they were the fountains of living water? Oh, love not the world!
What will its good things profit in the day of the Lord? Will its pleasures cheer a death-bed, or brighten the gloom of the grave? What is the ball room when "its flowers are fled, its garlands dead?" What can the music and measure of the dance do for you when sickness comes, or the last
trumpet sounds? Will that gay dress of yours do for a shroud? Or will it suffice instead of "the fine linen which is the righteousness of the saints?
How will these "revellings and banquetings" appear to you in the retrospect of time, still more in the retrospect of eternity? What will you think of your "idle words," your "foolish talking and jesting," your "filthy communication," your riotous mirth, your luxurious feasting, when you stand confronted with the last enemy, or before the Judge of all? You have gone from scene to scene, from gaiety to gaiety, from party to party, from vanity to vanity, from novel to novel, from ball to ball, in the dreary emptiness of your poor aching hearts, crying, "Who will shew us any good?" and when the end comes, what is your gain? Is it heaven, or is it hell? Is it joy, or is it woe?
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Post by Admin on Nov 6, 2024 17:09:16 GMT -5
XLII.
The Knowledge Of God's Name
"They that know thy name wil put their trust in Thee." —Psalm 9:10
THERE are three things here which sum up this passage,—the name; the knowledge; the trust.
I. The name. A name is that which marks one man out from another, by which one man addresses another; and, in eastern lands and early days, which expresses the character or circumstances of the man to whom it belongs. Thus God's name marks him out; by it we address Him; it embodies His character. Thus He himself gives it, "Jehovah, Jehovah Elohim, merciful and gracious," &c. It is this name that is written all over the Bible, but specially exhibited in Christ Jesus, who came to declare to us the Father's name. It is a name—
(1.) Of Greatness. Jehovah, God, Creator, El-Shaddai; all expressive of majesty and power and glory. The Lord God omnipotent.
(2.) Of Grace. It is the declaration of free love. "Merciful and gracious."He to whom it belongs must be the fountain-head of love. "God is love." In him is infinity of compassion and longsuffering.
(3.) Of Forgiveness. He pardons iniquity, transgression, and sin; all sin, great and small; there is forgiveness with Him, that He may be feared; forgiveness to the uttermost.
(4.) Of righteousness and holiness. It is holy love that is to be found in Him; righteous grace to the unrighteous; righteous pardon to the guilty. God's pity to the sinner is holy pity. It is as the Holy One that he loves, and pities, and blesses. It is a name revealing all that a sinner needs; unfolding the mind and heart of God; gathering into one glorious sun the light scattered over the universe, diffused throughout the Bible. It is the name of names; in it music, light, medicine, peace, assurance forever. The great and gracious character of God, thus embodied in a name, brought to a point, is made much more accessible, placed more within our reach and comprehension; pledged to us by the very fact that it has been deposited in a name. No man likes to sully his good name, to act inconsistently with his own name, or the family name. And shall God not act consistently with His name? Shall He treat us in a way that shall belie the name that He has taken to himself? When we plead that name and appeal to it, will He not immediately and cordially respond?
II.
The Knowledge. For a thing like this to be of any use to us, we must know it. So long as it remains unknown, it is useless; as good as non-existent. The sun is of no use to me if I am shut out from its light. Food is of no use to me if I do not know of its existence. So all the love of God is useless to the sinner, unless he knows it. The knowledge of it is that which introduces its blessings to the needy soul. Nothing more is needed, nothing less will do. This knowledge is not a price which we pay,
nor a qualification by which we are fitted for blessing, nor a recommendation which invites God to bless us. It is simply the natural way of letting in the blessing, as opening our windows is the natural way of letting in the light. The child's knowledge that his father loves him makes him happy. The father's knowledge that his child has recovered from a deadly sickness, brings immediate relief. The criminal's knowledge that his sovereign has pardoned him, removes his burden. In all these cases, and such like, it is the simple knowledge of what is good and gladdening that does the work, and we never think of puzzling ourselves with asking, But is my knowledge of a right kind? Is it of the quality and quantity that will secure blessing for me? As if our getting the benefit of good news depended upon a certain peculiar way of knowing them, on which peculiarity turned the whole virtue of the thing known.
Ah, it is not thus that we deal with earthly love! It is not thus that we conjure up difficulties and distinctions, and metaphysical questions, which can never be properly adjusted, and which, if they were adjusted, would leave us just where we were. For say what we like, knowledge is just knowledge, and not something else; knowing the love of a person is just knowing it, and not some mysterious act or feeling or combination of emotions which the poor man cannot fathom, and about which
philosophers have wrangled for ages.
III.
The Trust. Such is God's name that it cannot be known without evoking trust; and the trust arising from this simple knowledge is the truest and most blessed of all. God's character is of such a kind as to call up confidence as soon as it is known by a sinner; and he who has no confidence in God, does not yet know him or his name. Did he know it, he could not help trusting him. When we come into contact with a loveable object, we cannot help loving; when we come into contact with a trustworthy object, we cannot help trusting, unless we are persuaded that it is a false report which we have heard concerning this loveableness or
this trustworthiness. The knowledge of the name of God is that which leads to trust. Hence we preach that name,—that name of grace and love, of mercy and of truth! We bring true tidings concerning it; and we give evidence, in the death and resurrection of the Son of God, that these tidings are quite as true and as good as they profess to be. It is on the basis of "infallible proofs" that we rest our gospel. Our tidings are as sure as they are blessed.
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Post by Admin on Nov 6, 2024 17:11:29 GMT -5
XLIII.
Deliverance From Deep Waters
"He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters." Psalm 18:16
WE take these words as the expression,
(1.) of David's experience; (2.) of Christ's experience; (3.) of every Christian's experience.
In all these we learn much of God; David's God; the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; our own God. For it is His character that is thus unfolded to us. He is the God of all grace; nay, God is love; in Him there is help, and with Him is plenteous redemption; He it is that redeems Israel out of all his troubles. It is He who is above; it is He who sends from above; it is He who takes (lays hold of); it is He who draws,— and that out of many waters. Such is the God with whom we have to do! He is infinite in power and grace. To know Him is life eternal; to rest upon His love and power is the true strength and solace of the soul! The knowledge of ourselves troubles and casts down; the knowledge of this God relieves and lifts up. The great use of knowing ourselves is, not that we may be qualified for receiving and being received by Him,but that we may become more and more dissatisfied with self, and more and more drawn to Him who is altogether unlike self, more and more emptied of everything; so that as empty vessels we may be in a state for containing Him and His fullness. For it is our emptiness that attracts and makes us suitable for His fullness; and it is in knowing self that we are: emptied of self. We decrease, He increases.
I. David's experience. This whole psalm refers to this subject; and his whole life is an exemplification of the text. He was constantly in the deep and many waters, from the day that Samuel anointed him king. First Saul, then the Philistines, then Absalom, threatened to overwhelm him. They compassed him about; they raged against him; they poured their billows over him; till he seemed sinking in the waters; not once nor twice, but: many times. In each successive peril God drew near to save; He sent
from above, He laid hold of him, He drew him out of many waters. Jehovah's love and power never failed. Low as David went down, they went down lower still. Whether as the young shepherd of Bethlehem he was exposed to any danger save that of the lion and the bear, we know not; but no sooner is he named king than enemies arise; the floods assail him. That which we should have expected to be the termination of trouble and danger, stirred up these, introduced him into conflict; raised the storm; drew the rage of enemies around. What could David have done, had it not been for Jehovah his God! His arm, His shield, His sword,—they were his protection and deliverance.
II. Messiah's experience. These psalms of David are the psalms of the Son of David; and this psalm is specially His resurrection psalm. All His life He was exposed to foes. He was made to feel the wrath of God, as the bearer of our sins, "Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves, all thy waves and billows have gone over me." It was so during His life, as when He said, "Now is my soul troubled;" it was so in Gethsemane, when He said, "My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death;" it was so on the cross, when He cried, "My God;" it was so when He lay under the power of death. But "Jehovah sent from above, He took Him, He drew Him out of many waters." He "delivered Him because He delighted in Him." As our sin-bearer, our curse bearer, our death bearer, He had Jehovah's wrath poured upon Him. This was the depth out of which he was plucked by the Father's hand; and His deliverance is ours. It was as our Surety, our Substitute, that He was drawn out of many waters.
III. The Christian's experience. By nature he is in these many waters, though at first he knows it not. "Under wrath" is the description of his condition; "the wrath of God abides upon him." He is not alive to this.
His eyes and ears are closed. He sees not, hears not the roaring waves of wrath. Like Jonah, he is asleep in the storm. When the Holy Spirit shews him where he is, and what he is, terrors seize him. He is overwhelmed, and knows not how to help himself. All help is vain. He looks upward, and sees him who was drawn out of many waters, and Him who drew Him. He remembers the words, Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. He appeals to that name; and forthwith the help comes down, and he is delivered, and henceforth his song of grateful joy is, "He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters." So in after conflicts; so in daily troubles; so in times of sorrow; so on his bed of death; and so in the day when his body shall be delivered from death and the grave.
Thus he ascribes all to God, from first to last; the sending, the taking, the drawing; all are of God. Salvation is of the Lord. Of Him, and to Him, and through Him are all things. Yes, Jehovah saves! He does not help us to save ourselves; He SAVES! However far down we may be; however deep the waters; however near the perishing,—He can rescue! His arm is not shortened that it cannot save; nor waxed feeble that it should fail to grasp us or to draw us up. His is salvation to the uttermost; deliverance from the lowest hell.
All true religion must begin with salvation. God's hand must lay hold on us and lift us up. Untrue religion may begin in any way; and can go on without salvation, without pardon, without reconciliation, without any putting forth of the mighty power of God. But the true, the real, the divine, must begin with this conscious rescue, this plucking from the waves of wrath; and must, though perhaps with feeble voice, sing Messiah's song, "He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters.
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Post by Admin on Nov 6, 2024 17:13:19 GMT -5
XLIV.
The Excellency Of The Divine Loving Kindness
How excellent is thy loving-kindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings."Psa.36:7
THERE are two special things, fitting in the one to the other, (1.) Divine loving-kindness; (2.) Human trust.
I. Divine loving-kindness. "How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God!" David speaks as one who had known it, who had tasted that the Lord is gracious. He is here telling his experience to God himself, but in the hearing of man, that he may know it too. He speaks because he believed and felt. His history had been throughout an exhibition of the lovingkindness of the Lord, as indeed is the history of each of us.
And this loving-kindness is genuine, and true, and deep. There is no pretense about it. It is as true as God himself. "God is love," "God is rich in mercy," "God so loved the world." There is nothing more real than the love of God. But it is not of its reality that David here speaks. He takes that for granted. No one who knows Jehovah could doubt it. But it is of its excellence that he speaks. God's love is such an "excellent and glorious thing"! It is "precious" beyond all gems or gold, for that is the meaning of the word. It is the most costly and rare of all things. It is beyond all price and all excellence of earth. What can equal in costliness the love of God! Its preciousness is measured by the gift it gave, and by the innumerable gifts contained in that one,—life, pardon, salvation, peace, the glory to be revealed. In this love there are unsearchable riches,—exceeding riches of grace. There are no riches to be compared to this great love of .God.Having it we are rich indeed. Without it we are poor, life is blank, eternity is dark.
II. Human trust. It is of Adam's sons that David speaks. "Therefore shall the children of men put their trust in the shadow of thy wing;" that is, betake themselves to thee as their refuge. God's character is then the basis of human confidence. That character is the attraction to the sinner, for it is just such a character as suits him,—irrespective of his being anything but a man and a sinner. This love which so suits the sinner and calls forth his confidence is that which is exhibited in the cross of Christ. That cross is the revelation of God's love as a righteous thing; and thus appeals both to man's heart and his conscience. The love furnishes the ground for trust, and the cross removes every reason for distrust.
Let us here note such points as the following:—
(1.) Man's ignorance of God. With the Bible in his hand he yet knows not God, he worships an unknown God. "They know not me," is God's testimony against man. Ignorance of God is a sin of no common heinousness.
(2.) Man's mistakes as to God. He imagines Him to be such an one as himself. He entertains a bad opinion of Him. He thinks of him as a God yet to be propitiated by work, or prayer, or sacrifice. He mistakes His character, His words, His gospel.
(3.) Man's distance from God. Departure from God is the sinner's own act. He has fled from God, and he prefers this state of distance. He dislikes the idea of nearness. To get as far from God as possible is his object. And not only does he depart from God, but he says to God, Depart from me.
(4.) Man's distrust of God. He not merely mistakes God, but he thoroughly distrusts Him. He cannot imagine God to be anything but his enemy. He has no confidence in Him. He cannot feel himself safe in the hands of God. To be simply at the mercy of God, without claim, or merit, or recommendation, is a hateful as well as dreadful thought.
Let us mark God's remedy for all these. It is a double one,— subjective and objective.
(1.) Subjective. The subjective is the moral or spiritual rectification of nature and character by the power of the Holy Ghost. "Ye must be born again." It is the re-begetting, the transforming the whole man, enabling him to love what he hated, and to hate what he loved. It is the renewal of every part of the man's soul and being, creating him in Christ unto good works, for we are his workmanship, we are the clay and he the potter.
(2.) Objective. This is the representation given of Himself in His revelation. He shews himself to the sinner in an aspect at once gracious and glorious. He makes Himself be seen as the sinner's friend and not his enemy. He unveils and unfolds his whole character as the God of all grace, the Lord God merciful and gracious, pardoning iniquity, transgression, and sin.
It is to the overshadowing, protecting wings of God that David here points us, those wings of which the Lord spoke as stretched out to shelter Jerusalem, those wings under which Israel encamped or marched through the desert. He stretches out His wings and calls. He tells us of a sure and sufficient shelter, and bids us at once take refuge there. These wings are broad, and large, and strong, fitted to shelter all the sons of Adam. And thus stretched out they themselves invite us. They contain their own
invitation. They say, Come and be safe, come and be blest, come and be sheltered from present wrath and from the wrath to come. Come, for all things are ready; the love is ready, the deliverance is ready, the protection is ready. Oh, well with them who have taken shelter beneath the shadow of the everlasting wing.
To those who see no danger and desire no security, these expanded wings may be nothing; for what is a Saviour to a sinner that knows not his peril. But to those who know what wrath is and what sin is, what condemnation is and what the judgment to come, who know that God is a consuming fire, and that the day of vengeance is coming, and that an unpardoned, unreconciled sinner must then have to face an angry God,—that wing, that hiding-place, that covert, that Saviour, are of infinite preciousness. And
seeing in that outstretched wing the loving-kindness of the Lord, they betake themselves eagerly to its shelter, and as "the children of men," the "sons of Adam," the sinners of humanity, they put their trust beneath its shadow.
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Post by Admin on Nov 6, 2024 17:14:03 GMT -5
XLV.
The Sickness, The Healer, And The Healing
"I said, Lord, be merciful unto me: heal my soul; for I have sinned against Thee." — Psalm 41:4
THIS is the cry of the needy; of him who has no helper; of him who in the time of trouble finds that there is no refuge but in God. It is the cry from the soul's sickbed,—more terrible than the sickbed of the body,—to the divine Physician, for the application of his heavenly skill and medicine. It
tells us—
I.Sin is the soul's sickness. It is an infinite evil; the evil of evils, in comparison with which mere pain is nothing. The end of all bodily sickness, if allowed to run its course, would be death temporal; so the end of all sin, if unarrested, would be death eternal. It is infinitely varied in its nature, though comprehended under some general descriptions, and capable of being classified under certain heads. All the diseases, or shades of disease, of the body, are but types of the awful varieties of sin. Palsy, leprosy, fever, blindness, and the like, are symbols of sin. The whole head is sick, and the whole heart is faint. There is the disease of unbelief, of impenitence, of lust, of enmity to God, of pride, of worldliness, &c.; all these have penetrated our spiritual system, and destroyed our spiritual health. Not that sin is mere disease or misfortune, to be got quit of gradually by a healthy regimen, or diet, or medicine; to be wrought out of the constitution by human skill and effort. It is guilt as well as sickness, to be dealt with by the Judge as much as the physician; nay, by the Judge first, before the physician can touch it,—for as the order of the evil was first, the guilt and then the disease following thereon, so the order of the
remedy is first the pardon and then the health.
II. God is the soul's Healer. Whether we look at sin as disease or as guilt, or as both together, we find that in regard to it we must deal with God alone. The medicine, the skill, the pardon, the deliverance, are in His hands. With no other must we transact in the matter of sin's removal; not with self, or man, or the flesh, or the church, or a creed, or a priest, but with God himself; and that directly, face to face, alone, without any medium or intervention. All others are physicians of no value. They heal not at all, or they heal slightly, or they increase and irritate the disease.
Health is with God alone. He heals effectually and eternally. He who is the soul's life is also the soul's health. Whatever be the sickness, deep or slight, of long or brief standing, connected with the eye, the ear, the hand, the feet, the head, or the whole spiritual being, the counsel which must be given to the sick soul is, Go straight to God; deal with Him, and let Him deal with you.
III. God is most willing that the soul should be healed. He has no pleasure in our sickness or death; His desire is that we should live and be in health. Our sickness is not of Him, but of ourselves, just as truly as our health is not of ourselves, but of Him. Yet He loves not the evil of His creatures; He desires their good, not their evil. Why, then, does He allow sickness and death? For infinitely wise reasons, of which you and I know nothing, but which will be known sooner or later. Yet our present ignorance should not lead us to deny the sincerity of God's desire for our welfare. The two things will be found perfectly reconcilable, and both equally true. Let us not take up with one-sided truth, but let us receive both sides, according to the divine revelation, whatever our perplexed minds may argue.
IV. God has made provision for the soul's healing. The disease was so thoroughly beyond human skill that none but God could undertake the cure. He has undertaken it; He has provided the means, He has sent the physician. The medicine is the cross. There is forgiveness which is indispensable as the commencement of the cure; righteous forgiveness through the death of the Surety. At and with the cross the cure begins, and begins by the pardon of the sinner. But pardon is not the whole. There is fear, trouble, disquietude, weariness, darkness, and such like. For these also the cross provides. And with the medicine there is the Physician
Himself, Christ Jesus; or rather there is Christ and the Holy Spirit, Christ dispensing the Spirit, and the Spirit revealing Christ. The power and the skill are in their hands. They apply the divine provision. So that everything pertaining to the healing of the soul is truly divine. Hear the Lord's own declaration regarding this, "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up," &c. We ask then,
(1.) Hast thou been healed? If so, give God the glory. Assuredly the health came not from man, but from the love and power of God, from the cross of Christ, from the hand of the Holy Ghost.
(2.) Wilt thou be made whole? Perhaps thou art still unhealed? Be it so. The cross is here for healing; look and be cured, look and be saved, look and be forgiven. It is not working, or buying, or deserving, but simply looking. The sight of the cross is pardon, and health, and life. The leaves of this tree are for the healing of the nations.
(3.) Canst thou do without healing? Is thy wound so slight, thy disease so trivial, that thou canst do without the cross, and that thou canst heal thyself? Or though unhealed dost thou think thou canst go on as thou art, well enough, without health? Suppose thou couldst in this world, what of the world to come? Tossed upon an eternal sick-bed, think of that!
Eternal disease pervading body and soul, think of that! Oh, look and be healed! Make at once the application of our text, "Heal my soul, for I have sinned against thee.
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Post by Admin on Nov 6, 2024 17:15:21 GMT -5
XLVI.
The Consecration Of Earth's Gold And Silver
"And the daughter of Tyre shal be there with a gift; even the rich among the people shall entreat thy favor." —Psa. 45:12
THIS is a latter-day scene; for the whole psalm is resplendent with latter day glory; the glory of Christ the King; the glory of the Church the bride;the glory of the palace, the throne, the retinue, the kingdom. All here is glory, gladnessrighteousness. It is the time of the restitution of all things.
We ask,
I. Who is this daughter of Tyre?She is the old Phoenician city,lying on the sea coast at the foot of Lebanon; the representative of the old world's commerce.
(1.) What she was. The great merchant-city of the old world, the representative of ancient commerce, and splendor, and wealth; the center of magnificent villas, extending for miles north and south,—down to the water's edge and up the slopes of Lebanon.
(2.) What she is. Desolate; the old city swept away; the new one, a small sea-port; hardly more than a fishing village.
(3.) What she is to be. More than one prophecy foretells the resuscitation of Tyre in the latter day. (Isaiah 23:18.) Though the old city shall "not be found," yet there shall be a representative of it,—the same great merchant-city, only "holy."
II. To whom she comes. It is to Christ and his church that she comes.
She seeks them out and bows before them. For the position of all things and parties is reversed in that day. The Church is on the throne; the world seeks her out and does homage. What a contrast to the condition of things during these ages past! The church no longer dishonored, trodden on, persecuted, despised; but honored and set on high; sought unto by all the earth, even its greatest; "the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honor into it." The saints, along with their Lord, receive the tribute of earthly homage. The Bride of Christ shares his dignity and glory.
III. What she brings. It is here simply called "a gift;" but in that how much is comprehended. As the wise men from the east brought their peculiar gifts, so is it with the daughter of Tyre. She comes and lays her merchandise, her wealth, her splendor at Immanuel's feet. In Ezekiel we have the full enumeration of her articles of value and beauty. All luxuries, all necessaries, all precious metals, all gems, apparel,— everything that the world admires, gathered from every region. What a gift! Unsought by
the church. Tyre brings her gift, hastening to do homage to the glorious King, and adorning her with all that is beautiful, and precious, and perfect.
IV. What she teaches us. To lay our all at Christ's feet,— nationally and individually. That shall be the day of full consecration to God, the acknowledgment of Christ's right to the ownership of everything. As yet we have no true idea of consecration,—the consecration of ourselves, all that we have, things common or precious, to God and His Christ. But we shall know it then, and see it as it has never been seen before. And what a consecration shall there be in the latter day, even were it only of Tyre. How much more when it is of far greater cities and kingdoms than Tyre, our own for instance, to which Tyre is a mere village, or merchant depot. As Tyre was the great commercial metropolis of the old world, so is Great Britain, with its mighty London, the great commercial metropolis of the modern earth. All that made Tyre great and glorious is to be found ten
times magnified and multiplied in her. All things that God has made are precious, and meant to glorify him. Every creature of God is good. We are not to conclude that because gold, and silver, and gems have been abused for pride, and luxury, and vain
glory, they Ought to be despised by the Christian. They are all capable of consecration to God; all intended to glorify him. It is not easy to consecrate the splendid and the beautiful things of earth to his glory just now. There are so many evil influences at work, perverting them, degrading them, defiling them. They are, and have been so long, the ministers of creature pride; idols, vanities, follies. But still they are all capable of good and noble uses; and shall one day take their proper place in creation, like the stars above and the flowers below.
Meanwhile let us use all we have for God. The widowed church just now does not need the gems of earth to adorn her; nay, they would be incongruous with her widow's weeds. We can dispense with ornament and show God does not need these at present, though he will one day bring to light all the treasures hid in his storehouse of the beautiful and glorious; and they shall adorn the new Jerusalem, and the new earth, where dwelleth righteousness. But our substance, our money, let us consecrate to God, lay out our gains for him. He calls on our commercial nation thus to honor him,—to use their gains not for themselves, but for him. He asks for honor and service from our commerce. Men of business, consecrate your gain to him. Jesus is worthy to receive all you have. Give it to him; grudge not. He will repay you a thousandfold.
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Post by Admin on Nov 6, 2024 17:16:17 GMT -5
XLVII.
The Gifts Of The Ascended One
"Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive; thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell among them." — Psalm 68:18
THIS psalm is of and for Messiah. It is He whose name is Jah,—the Lord God of Israel,—He is addressed throughout this psalm as God. It is this psalm which the apostle quotes in Ephesians (4:8), and interprets of Christ and His ascension. It is Christ that David here addresses, "Thou hast ascended on high."
I. The ascension. This is the last point of Messiah's earthly history,and sums up the whole. But according to the interpretation of Paul, it includes all that went before, "what is but that He also descended! The ascent reminds us of a descent. He descended to Bethlehem; and then He descended to Joseph's tomb. After that all was ascension; and the expression of our text includes or rather expresses resurrection. He went down into the lower parts of the earth; he came up again; and then he went on high. This ascending was the completion of his work; the carrying out of His love; the Father's testimony of personal acceptance and delight; and His seal to the absolute perfection of the work for which He descended. It was a real ascension; a glorious one; a very exalted one; far above all principalities and powers; to the Father's throne. "We see Jesus crowned with glory and honor." All heaven is His; and He has entered into possession of His heavenly inheritance. All power is given to Him in heaven and in earth. He fills all things. The universe now is His.
II. The triumph. "Thou hast led captivity captive." Whether this refers to His leading forth His redeemed out of their captivity, or leading into captivity those who held them bound, the triumph is the same, and the words point to the same event,—the same enemies, the same battle, the same victory. It is Messiah's triumph; over His enemies, the Father's, and ours. The warfare is that predicted in Paradise, between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. That warfare concerns .us; it is for us. He who fights is the captain of our salvation. The battle went on during the ages before He came; it came to a head on the cross; it is not yet finished; and the full consummation of the triumph is reserved for His second coming, when He binds Satan and casts him into the bottomless pit. Then shall He complete His triumph; and shew that He is more than conqueror. Meanwhile His victory upon the cross is ours. He has fought our battle, and won our victory. "Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." What enemy can prevail? No weakness of ours can dismay us. We glory in our infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon us. Let us then fight the good fight. The foe is already routed by our Captain; it is only with his broken and scattered troops that we have to do.
III. The recompense. "Thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also." Thus the Father rewards His faithful service. Not only does He receive the Spirit without measure for Himself; but the gifts of the Spirit for others. This is the apt recompense of His self-emptying. He emptied Himself, therefore hath the Father filled Him; filled Him with the Spirit; filled Him with the Spirit's mighty and manifold gifts. Much of the Spirit was given before He came; we read of the Spirit filling holy men; but much was reserved for His glorification, that the connection between Him and the gift of the Spirit might be manifested. When He was glorified, the Pentecostal shower came down; the residue of the Spirit was given. This fullness of the Spirit was,—
(1.) For men; not for angels, but men;not for heaven, but for earth. It was as the ascended God-man that He received the Spirit, for those whose nature He took. "I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh;" not on the unfallen, but fallen sons of Adam.
(2.) For the rebellious. For those who stand farthest off; full of enmity and resistance. Not for the good, but the evil. As of the Son of man on earth, so of Him in heaven, we may say, "He came to seek that which was lost; not to call the righteous, but sinners." Thus Christ has received the Spirit for sinners; as Egypt's corn was entrusted to Joseph for the hungry. Go to Him who has the seven spirits of God; deal with Him who freely dispenses this Spirit. Come to the waters.
If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink.
IV.
The final result. "That the Lord God might dwell among them." God had been driven from earth, from among men. His object is to return; and all that He has done in and through Christ is to secure that return. He does this,—
(1.) By incarnation. The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. God thus tabernacled with men.
(2.) By the cross. It is the propitiation that makes it a righteous thing for God thus to dwell. It is the blood that brings it about. No blood, no indwelling.
(3.) By the Holy Ghost. It is this that is referred to in our text. The Spirit purchased by the blood comes down and comes in.
He has been doing this in individual souls. They are the habitation of the Spirit; temples of the Holy Ghost. He is yet to do so more conspicuously when Jesus comes the second time. Then shall this prophecy be fulfilled.
The tabernacle of God shall be with men; God shall be with them, their God. Earth shall be full of the Holy Ghost, and glorious with His gifts.
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Post by Admin on Nov 6, 2024 17:17:28 GMT -5
XLVIII.
The Speaker, The Listener, The Peace
"I will hear what God the Lord will speak: for he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints; but let them not turn again to folly." — Psalm 85:8
LET us meditate on this verse under the following heads: (1.) Them listener; (2.) the speaker; (3.) the message; (4.) the confidence; (5.) the issue.
I. The listener. "I will hear," says the writer of this psalm. He speaks as a listener, as one whose ears are open. "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear." This is our true attitude, into which we came at conversion.
God said, "Hear and your soul shall live”; he "opened our ear to hear as the learned," i.e., as "one who is under teaching." So we began to listen; and in listening found life. Such is to be our life; a life of listening; not to man, nor self, nor the world, but to God. As creatures, listening is our proper attitude, much more as sinners. Let the willing ear be ours. How
much we lose by the closed ear!
II. The Speaker. God, the Lord; God, even Jehovah. Other speakers may win the ear of the multitude, but it is to God the Lord that the saint listens. His voice is powerful. Its tones are penetrating; its words attractive. God speaks as one entitled to be heard, expecting to be heard. He speaks with authority, waiting for our obedience to the heavenly voice. To less than such a speaker we do not feel constrained to listen, but to Him we must. He speaks, we cannot but hear.
III.The message. He will speak peace to his people. It is peace that Jehovah speaks, for he is the God of peace; "he maketh peace in his high places." Peace is the substance of the message that has all along been carried to us; peace, peace to him that is afar off, and to him that is nigh peace in heaven; peace on earth; peace between man and God; the peace of pardon, the peace of reconciliation, the peace that passes all understanding,—peace through the blood of the cross, through Him who is our peace. It might have been wrath, nay, ought to have been wrath; but it is not wrath, only peace; for He is long-suffering and slow to wrath; nay, God is love.
IV. The confidence. The Psalmist knows what he is to expect from such a God. Before the peace comes, he knows that it is coming; for he knows the God to whom he is called upon to listen. This is the confidence which he has in Him. He does not listen uncertainly, as not knowing what will come forth. He has heard of this God before,—of what He does and speaks—and he opens his ear in happy confidence. He is sure that no wrath will come, only love, only peace. This God is the God of salvation,
—the God who gave his Son. Shall He not then speak peace?
V. The issue. "Let them not return to folly;" or, and "they shall not return to folly." He does not say, Let them not turn to folly, and then he will speak peace to them; but he will speak peace first, and then they shall not return to folly. This is God's order; the true and divine order; the reverse of man's. It is not first holiness and then peace, but first peace and
then holiness. The root of all holiness is peace with God. Till the clouds are rolled away, and the sun shines out, we cannot be warmed and enlightened. Till the frost is gone, and the ice dissolved, the river cannot flow on and water the fields. Christ did not say, Go, and sin no more, and I will not condemn thee; but, "Neither do I condemn thee; go, and sin no more."
We are in rebellion. Our chief controversy with God is as to the gospel of peace. Our unbelief of this is our sin of sins, our master-sin, to which all others are subordinate. How can we abstain from the lesser sins so long as the master-sin remains; so long as there is no peace between us and God, but only rebellion and controversy. The first step to a holy life is being at
peace with God.
In order to a holy life God must come in and dwell in us. He cannot do this till he has brought us into peace with himself,—till we have listened to and believed the tidings of peace which he hath spoken. Reconciliation must be the beginning of all indwelling; and this reconciliation is the result of our believing His message of peace.
Nor indeed has the soul leisure to attend to good works or growth in holiness till the question of peace has been settled. That question must ever be foremost, engrossing us absolutely, and leaving no time nor inclination for anything else. It is too momentous to be left in uncertainty; too vast to be taken up along with others. This great point between us and God once settled, we are free to devote our undivided energies to the work of progress; not till then.
A saint then is one who has listened to God; who has heard the words of peace from His lips; who has believed them; who has been reconciled; and who knows that he is so. Therefore He seeks to be holy. He hates his former folly. He does not return to it. He does not make his free pardon a reason for returning to it.
Brethren, be consistent! Beware of sin, folly, unholiness of every kind. Be Christians out and out. Shew that the peace you have received is a holy peace.
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Post by Admin on Nov 6, 2024 17:20:03 GMT -5
XLIX.
The Believing Man's Confident Appeal
"Preserve my soul, for I am holy." —Psalm 86:2
SOME mountain-heights, whether of the Alps or Grampians, look very formidable and inaccessible, so that a traveler turns away from them in despair, perhaps in fear. But at length he learns that on one side there is a slope and pathway which make the ascent quite pleasant. So is it with this text; from which many turn away as terrible and repulsive, till they learn what it really means. Just as it was with Luther and the texts relating to "the righteousness of God." Let me shew that our text has really no terror in it; that it is just such as any believing man when coming to God should use; not David only, nor the Son of David, but all who own Him. It is the word "holy" that makes many shrink. They say, I am not holy, I cannot use it. How then, I ask, could David use it, when he had to say,"Behold I was shapen in iniquity;" and in this psalm once and again casts himself on the God of mercy as a sinner. But this word has no reference to spiritual perfection or even any approach to it. It does not mean "free from sin." It means one on whom God's favor rests, or, as in the margin, "one whom thou favors." The question then is, who are they on whom God's favor rests, and how do we enter into this favor.
There are some who have never been out of favor; the angels above. There are some who once were in favor,but have lost and shall never regain it nor taste it again,—Satan and his angels. There is only one on whom that favor rests in infinite measure, the Son of God, "this is my beloved Son," &c. But there are some who though they have lost it may regain it, and such are we. God has provided a way for this,— for complete restoration to his favor, and that forevermore.
This restoration is not for the least depraved, but for the chief; not for those who have some strength left, but for those who have none. Nor is it on account of or in proportion to our freedom from sin. It is entirely through another, and on account of Him in whom God is well pleased; and in proportion to His good pleasure or satisfaction in Him and in His work.
God's infinite favor towards and delight in Him is the foundation of his favor towards and delight in us. Our belief of God's testimony to his well-pleased in his Son brings us into the state of being well-pleasing to him.
Respecting this well-beloved Son, God has recorded a testimony; and in connection with it he has given a promise that whosoever receives the testimony is immediately brought into favor with himself. It is not a testimony without a promise, nor a promise without a testimony. It is a promise based upon a testimony; and so connected with it that we are to consider ourselves assured of the favor as soon as we receive the testimony. The moment then that we believe we enter into favor, and may use the cry of our text, "Preserve my soul, for I am one whom them favor';" and this without hesitation and without presumption. So long as I do not credit the divine testimony and confide in the divine promise, I am not in favor; nay, the wrath of God abides upon me; but as soon as I thus credit and thus confide, I am in favor, and I ought to know and rejoice in this.
There are thus, properly speaking, just two states in which a man can be before God, wrath or favor, according as he rejects or receives the testimony; and in one of these two he must come to God. Such is the alternative. He must either come saying, "Preserve my soul, for I am under wrath;" or with David, "Preserve my soul, for I am under favor."
Men have framed for themselves other states, less decided than these.
There is,
1. Wrath. This is when there is an open and decided rejection of God's testimony. Then it is acknowledged that there is wrath.
2. Semi-wrath. This is when the open rejection has ceased, and there is what is called a wish to believe or a trying to believe. Then men hold that there is a modification of the wrath,—only half wrath; and with this they pacify their consciences.
3. Semi-favor. This is supposed to be when the sinner has taken some good steps in the right direction, made some advances to God, though he has not fully believed the testimony, or believed it in the right way, with the requisite quantity of feeling. He is reckoned as making progress in the way to favor.
4. Favour. This is supposed to be when the sinner has summed up his evidences and ascertained the excellent quality of his faith. Then looking to that quality of his faith he can count on God's favor, not because he has ascertained that "it is a faithful saying," &c., but that his faith is of sufficient substance and excellence.
5. Uncertainty. This is the general state of things. Men, professing to believe the gospel, do not know what they are, nor who they are, nor where they are. They are uncertain as to wrath; they speak as if there was such a thing as semi wrath, or semi-favor. Nay, they rather glory in this uncertainty, as being true humility and genuine Christianity; whereas it is certainty that makes us humble and holy.
But all this is in contradiction to the Bible. In all this there is no right comprehension of either law or gospel. There is no approach to David's posture or David's cry, "Preserve my soul, for I am one whom thou favors."
Ah, surely a believed gospel was meant to do more for this. It brings us at once out of wrath into favor; as such we live, speak, feel, and pray. Wefind that in His favor is life.
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Post by Admin on Nov 6, 2024 17:21:06 GMT -5
L.
The Love And The Deliverance
"Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him.'' —Psalm 91:14
THIS is one of the psalms of Messiah; and Satan's quotation of the eleventh verse shews that it was accepted as such by the Jews, and by Jesus Himself. (Matthew 4:6.) Yet it is not (one verse excepted) spoken by but to Messiah. It contains the Father's proclamation to Him, and to men regarding Him; and still more, the Father's assurance to Him of fellowship and protection while dwelling in the land of strangers and enemies. It contains some of the words poured into his ear morning by morning, when he wakened his ear to hear as one that is taught (Isaiah 50:4). For as man he was counselled, comforted, strengthened, cheered,
taught of God.
The first and second verses are the introduction or key to the whole. In the first the Father, as the Son is about to enter on his mission on earth, amid all the diseases, troubles, hatreds, strifes, conspiracies of this fallen state of danger and sorrow, proclaims, "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty;" i.e., he that "enters into the chambers" (Isaiah 26:20), or takes up his abode with God in his "pavilion" (Psalm 27:5), shall be under the protection of the Almighty. Or rather we may say that the Father pours these words of cheer into the ears of the Son, making known the secret, the one secret of the security of creaturehood. In the second verse the Son, in words of happy confidence, replies, "I will say of Jehovah, He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in him will I trust." Then the Father, from the third to the fourteenth verse, pours into the filial ear words of blessed assurance.
Deliverance, security, protection, victory over enemies and dangers, power over evil, angelic ministry,—these are the assurances given by the Father to the Son in entering on his awful work in this fallen world. "Be of good cheer, for I am with you, and there shall not an hair of your head perish," is the substance of the assurance thus so fully given. And if ever such
assurance was needed it was then, when the three and thirty years' battle was to be fought with sin and hell.
Then at the fourteenth verse the Father proclaims to the whole world,—to men and angels,—the grand principle of His dealings with His Son; what He did for him, and why He did it, that we may know why and what he does for us. Deliverance and exaltation are the two special blessings promised; the reason of these is
(1.) he set his love upon me;
(2.) he knew my name. Let us inquire, 1st, into the deliverance; 2nd, into the love.
I. The deliverance. Messiah was always in danger, and always crying for deliverance,—"Deliver me, O my God." How often that word
was on His lips! See Psalms 22, and 40, and 69. Enemies surrounded Him, as Saul did David, and sought His life. Death took hold on Him. Our iniquities (he calls them mine!) took hold on him. The snares of hell took hold on Him. The grave took hold on Him. Innumerable evils compassed Him about. But when He was sinking in deep waters, God sent and drew Him out. When sore pressed on every side, God fought for Him, and put His enemies to flight. He, the poor and needy one, was delivered!
II. The reason for it. "Because he set his love on me." God would not suffer one who loved Him so much to be overpowered. Love like his must be honored! Love like his must not go down before his enemies. God's desire is to be loved, for He is infinitely loveable! He never found one before that loved him as Christ did, and could do. For Christ loved him with a divine strength! Oh how gloriously was the commandment fulfilled in Christ, when he loved him with the whole of the divine strength, that infinite capacity for loving which belonged to him. God honors Christ's love by granting him continual deliverance. He loved, and he was
delivered for his love! Learn,
(1.) That God wants to be loved. He desires the love of creaturehood. He made us to love him, and he cannot be satisfied without our love. Thou shalt love the Lord with all thy heart, is not merely a command, but a thing of earnest desire. God is not indifferent as to our love, nor heedless of our coldness. He asks love, and he feels the refusal of it. "Love me" is his message to us; "give me thy heart." He gave us his heart when he gave his Son, and now he asks ours in return.
(2.) He is infinitely worthy of it. He is the infinitely loveable and glorious one; just such a being as to command our entire affection, and fill our souls. The only question would seem to be, Are we permitted to love such a glorious being? for if so, then let us pour out the whole fullness of our hearts upon him. Who are we that we should be allowed to love him; nay, commanded; nay, punished for not loving?
(3.) He blesses and rewards them that love Him. The crown of life hereafter is to them that love him; and the present blessings of deliverance, support, defense, comfort, is to those that set their love on him. No good thing will he withhold from them that love and fear him. He is their light, their joy, their staff, their shield, their tower, their arm, their strength; he compasses them about with songs of deliverance.
Let us learn to love him. For what he is in himself; for what he has done, and has promised to do for us. Let us love him for his love and for his loveableness. We love him because he first loved us. He has set his love on us, let us set our love on him. God's love to us, and our love to him, Is not this the essence of true religion? What poor, empty, shrivelled things are these hearts of ours unless filled with the love of God? What a poor thing is life, if not consecrated, gladdened, brightened with this glorious love!
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Post by Admin on Nov 6, 2024 17:35:14 GMT -5
LI.
The Sin And Folly Of Being Unhappy
"Serve the Lord with gladness." —Psalm 100:2
I once had the question put to me, "Do you think a sinner has any right to be happy here?" Without entering into the truths or errors which that question suggested, I simply answered, "Is there any religion in being miserable?" and I added at another time to a similar question, "I do not think that gloom is a bit better or more acceptable to God than the most frivolous levity." "Be not as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance," said the Lord. Let us consider the sin and folly of being unhappy; specially of rendering unhappy service to God. His yoke is easy, and his burden light.
I. God is happy. He is the blessed God, in whom are the fountains of all gladness. Hence that expression, "the joy of God" is one denoting the joy that is in God, even more than the joy he gives. Christ was a man of sorrows during his earthly life, because he was bearing our sins. But he sorrowed that we might not sorrow, but rejoice. He served the Father in sorrow that we might serve him with gladness.
II. The angels are happy. They are the blessed angels. They only know what sorrow is by seeing it in us when they come to minister to us.
Their heaven is a happy heaven, all around them is happiness, their wells never run dry, their sky never clouds, their sun never sets. They do not sigh, nor weep, nor wring their hands, nor sprinkle ashes on their fair heads. They drink always of the rivers of pleasure, which are at the right hand of God. Sometimes their joy rises higher, as when they shouted for joy over the new-made world, or as when they are called on to join in the joy of God over one sinner that repents. They serve the Lord with gladness.
III. Forgiven men are happy. This is David's testimony, "Blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven." These are a two-fold class:
(1.) Those who have departed and are with Christ;
(2.) Those who are still here.
Of that latter section of redeemed men we say they are happy though imperfect, because they are forgiven. They are in an evil world, and have much evil within them,—many trials, sore warfare, great feebleness,—yet they are happy. Why? Because forgiven. The favor of God rests on them.
They know it, and find that in his favor is life. Being forgiven, and knowing this, they serve the Lord with gladness. It would appear, then, not only that there is happiness in heaven with God and the holy angels, but that there is happiness here on earth, and that we may be partakers of it. The basis and the beginning of that happiness must be the forgiveness of sins and the favor of God. These are attainable; they are presented to us as free gifts; we are besought to accept them; we cannot reject them without sinning. We see then that it is both sinful and foolish to be unhappy; that is, where there is unhappiness it must be the result of our own sin and folly in refusing to be happy. Let me notice then,
I.
We can only be unhappy by refusing pardon. The pardon is provided, and it is preached to the sons of men.
(1.) It is a free pardon;
(2.) a righteous pardon;
(3.) a present pardon;
(4.) a comprehensive pardon, covering all sin;
(5.) it is to be had in simply, believing what God has told us about the propitiation of his Son. So that God is not refusing pardon, nor bargaining about it; nor affixing unreasonable conditions, nor
indeed conditions of any; kind; nor making it an uncertainty, or the reward of a good life. On the contrary, he is making it known in the; clearest terms; he is laying it down at our feet; he is taking it up and putting it into our hands, pressing us with exceeding and infinite urgency to receive it at
once, absolutely, unconditionally, and unchangeably as his free gift. If so, then must not the absence of this pardon be the fruit of our own rejection of it; and not God's sovereignty or unwillingness? We are unhappy, not simply because we are sinful and foolish, but because we are resolutely indulging in the sin and folly of rejecting God's gift, and so of refusing to be happy. A sinner's unhappiness is the result of his sin and folly. O sinful, foolish man, thus to refuse the happiness provided by God; to prefer the "sad countenance" of the hypocrite to the face shining with pardon.
II. We can only be unhappy by refusing Christ. It is not Christ's refusing us (he never did so), but it is our refusing Christ that keeps us unhappy. He is the free gift of God to us; he, the living, the dying, the buried, the risen Christ; he, the Word made flesh; he, the great vessel of divine fullness; he, the depositary of eternal life; he is God's free gift to us; a gift which we are not merely at liberty to accept, but which we refuse at our peril. We can only be unhappy by refusing Christ! Oh the
folly and sin of remaining unhappy! Persistence in the rejection of Christ is the true cause of all the unhappiness of earth. You shut your eyes and ears against him, how can you be happy?
III. We can only be unhappy by determining not to turn. God says, "Turn ye, turn ye, why will ye die"; turn and live. It is vain for us to throw the blame off ourselves, and say, "I want to turn, but I cannot, and God will not help me." This is not true. "I am most willing to be converted, but God will not convert me," is just as if the drunkard were to say, "I am most willing to give up drinking, but God will not help me to be sober"; or the swearer, "I am most anxious to cease swearing, but I cannot, and God will not give me the power." Whatever, then, the solemn truth of God's sovereignty may be (and he would not be God were he not sovereign), it is not that sovereignty that is hindering you from turning, but your own determination not to do so. Your not turning is the cause of your unhappiness; you cannot be happy till you turn. Your being unhappy is, then, your own sin and folly. O foolish sinner, to refuse to be happy! O folly, without a name or parallel! But in that unhappy state you cannot serve the Lord. In like manner is it with all of us. We might be always happy, were we always receiving the gifts which Christ presents to us; crediting the divine testimony as to the sufficiency of the great sacrifice, and the freeness of the great love.
"Unhappiness thus is willful. "Ye will not come to me." It profited nothing. It does not liberate, or strengthen, or sanctify, or comfort. To be unhappy is our folly and our sin. When happy, we can work so much more vigorously and successfully; no toil is irksome; no trouble or annoyance is felt. When unhappy, all is reversed. Be happy then in God (this is one great part of our testimony); taste his love; live in his smile; then you will see what a wise and holy thing happiness is; and when Jesus comes the second time you will enter into his joy.
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Post by Admin on Nov 6, 2024 17:35:51 GMT -5
LII.
The Book Of Books Proverbs 2:1-5
THE words "my Son" are not spoken at random, or inserted without a meaning. In them God speaks to us as unto children (Hebrews 12). It is a father's voice that speaks to us in the book of Proverbs. Solomon's counsels to Rehoboam are God's messages to us.
The subject here is the divine Word, its nature and use, with the way in which we are to receive it. It is assumed to be,
(1.) True. Not partially so, but absolutely and perfectly.
(2.) Infallible. Not imperious or dictatorial, yet infallible.
(3.) Precious. Containing infinite treasures.
(4.) Profound. It will bear searching, digging, meditation. It has much on the surface; far more beneath. Go as deep as you like, the vein is not exhausted.
(5.) Intelligible. Though spoken by God, it is quite as intelligible as that spoken by man. A father's words to his child are meant to be understood. This Word is here called by many names: "my words," "my commandments," "wisdom," "understanding," "knowledge." The way in which we are to deal with it is spoken of under various figures: "receiving," "hiding," "inclining the ear," "applying the heart," "crying after," "lifting up the voice for," "seeking," "searching"; each of these implying honesty, earnestness, perseverance, faith,—each successive word embodying some more meaning, some deeper truth than its predecessor.
Let us mark then,
I. Solomon’s object in the Proverbs. It is good to go back to the original speaker or writer; to remember the instrument through which the Holy Spirit spoke, whether Moses, or David, or Solomon, or Isaiah. This not only brings out better the human side of the book or passage; not only enables us to realize the words as thoroughly human words; but it gives a point and interest and meaning to them which otherwise is lost. Paul's words are not Peter's, nor John’s; yet they are all the words of the Holy Ghost.
So the words of Solomon the king, and Amos the Tekoan herdsman, are both the words of God, yet there are differences; and these
differences have a meaning. The Proverbs of Solomon would have been equally true, though uttered by Amos, yet they would not have had the peculiar point which they possess when coming from the lips of the greatest, richest, wisest of kings. The royal lessons of this royal teacher and father are summed up in "the fear of the Lord, and the knowledge of God." This is his object, even in that book which seems filled with common life, and its maxims and scenes. Fear God; know the Lord; this is
the sum of all that he has to say to us.
II. God's object in the Bible. To teach us to know and fear Him. Many subordinate things, but this as the main thing; this as the result of all its precepts, warnings, facts, histories. The Bible terminates on God, as it begins with him. It comes from God, and goes back to him, leading us along with it. The Bible has specially to do with the world to come, even in those books which are occupied with the duties and concerns of this.
Let your Bible lead you straight to God; let every perusal teach you more of him. As was God's object in writing the Bible, so let yours be in reading it. Be sure to find him everywhere.
III. The way in which He would have us treat the Bible.
(1.) Receive it. Take it as true, divine, infallible. Listen to it, as his voice, his message. Let its words flow in to ear and heart.
(2.) Prize it. It is no common possession. It is treasure, riches, gold,— all divine. As such it must be used lovingly, reverently, devoutly, believingly.
(3.) Study it. It must be "hid," laid up, sought out, searched, weighed. No surface work, no holiday work. Day and night, it must be studied with the whole vigor of our souls.
(4.) It must be prayed over. In the study of it we must deal with God. He has the key for unlocking its chambers; the light for shewing us all its recesses. We must go to him to be taught: "If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God." Like old Bradford, we must study it on our knees.
Let us notice in conclusion the connection of all this with Christ. He is "the Word of God," and the Bible is " the word of God." He connects the two things together when he says, "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you." The testimony of all Scripture is to Christ; he is its Alpha and Omega. It is through him that we have the knowledge and the fear of God.
To know him is to know the Father, and we find him in the word; the more we dig into the word, we find the more of him. They are they which testify of him. Search the Scriptures! They contain life, and they contain
THE LIFE. Let us go to them for both. How little of them do we know; how much we ought to know, and might know, if we would search! Would you be wise? Study the Word, and find THE WISDOM OF GOD there.
Would you be holy? Study the Word. It sanctifies its readers. Would you be happy? Study the Word. In its words is blessedness,—the peace and joy of God
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Post by Admin on Nov 6, 2024 17:36:41 GMT -5
LIII.
The Secret Of Deliverance From Evil
"By the fear of the Lord men depart from evil." — Proverbs 16:6
THERE is "evil" in the world. The world is now the opposite of what God made it, "good," "very good." It lieth in wickedness. There is evil within and without; evil moral and material. "Every creature of God" was made good, but each one has become evil. There is evil in the sense of disorder, pain, disease, sorrow, death. There is evil in the sense of sin. It is this last that our text points to; for evil in the sense of disease, or death, or sorrow, is not to be cured just now, by the remedy our text suggests, or by any remedy whatever. For such cures as these we wait till the resurrection of the just.
What then is this evil which God calls sin? To know this we must go to the Bible; and the Bible points us to the fall, to the deluge, to Sodom and Gomorrah, to Sinai, to Calvary, that we may learn what it is, and what God thinks of it. Specially the two last, Sinai and Calvary; not Sinai without Calvary, nor Calvary without Sinai; the law must be read in the light of the Cross. There is another revelation or declaration of sin; but it is not yet come; the second death, an eternal hell. And yet when it does come it will not tell us more than the cross has done. Men make light of sin; fools make a mock at sin. At the worst they treat it simply as a calamity, an unavoidable misfortune, a hereditary evil, for which they are not wholly responsible. God's estimate of sin is unspeakably awful. "It is the abominable thing which I hate; it is an evil that I cannot bear; it cast the angels out of heaven; it rained the world; it brought the deluge; it drew down the fire and brimstone; it slew my Son; it will yet set the world on fire; it will kindle hell." God does not look on sin as man looks.
We wonder at all this, and say, Why then does God allow it to remain? Why did he let it enter? Why does he not sweep it off?
We answer, God allowed it to enter, just that it might spread and unfold itself; and yet also that it might at length be utterly rooted out. He did not destroy it at once, because he wished to shew its awful nature, its power to propagate, its manifold aspects, the utter impotency of mere creaturehood; and yet also to crush it forever. God at this moment is carrying on these two processes,—letting sin spread and develop itself, getting quit of it. One great object in redemption is, to destroy it from man's heart and from man's earth. The Bible is a revelation of God's means for thus extirpating sin. The Son of man came to deliver us from it; and he does so by bringing us back to the fear of God.
How am I to get quit of this evil? This is the great question.
1. Not by time. Time cures many things, but not this. It wears the rock, but it cures not sin. Sin only grows more inveterate when left to itself.
2. Not by effort. Strength of human will is no more against sin than the helm of the little skiff in the day of the raging tempest. Human resolution will not do. The enemy is too subtle and too strong.
3. Not by human wisdom. Science and philosophy can do nothing. Human skill, human devices and physical appliances,—laws social, or sanitary, or political, can do nothing. It is too terrible a disease for man to heal.
4. Not by law. By the law is the knowledge of sin, not the cure of it.Law is powerless in such a case. It is but a torch held up at midnight to shew the ruin, and havoc, and woe.
5. Not by terror. By terror evil may be pent up,—compelled to hide itself, not driven out. No terror nor force can make a man holy. If not by these, then by what is evil expelled from us? By the fear of Jehovah, our text replies. It is only this that goes to the root of the matter.
This is the true medicine, the true corrective, the true deterrent, the true expulsive energy, acting both from without and from within: from without, because He whom we fear is without; from within, because this fear of Jehovah is implanted within us.
By the fear of God we do not mean the dread of God or the terror of the Lord. Dread may restrain evil, but cannot extirpate; it may make a man a plausible hypocrite, but not a saint. The true fear of the Lord, the moment that it begins to act upon the soul, does lead men to depart from evil.
This fear of God has its root in pardon. "There is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared." Forgiveness, ascertained forgiveness, conscious forgiveness; this is the beginning of all true fear. The want of pardon, a doubtful pardon, a pardon to be worked for all the days of our life, may produce dread, but not fear.
This fear resting on an ascertained forgiveness expels a world of evil from the human heart, and keeps it from re-entrance. It loosens the hold which sin has on us; it liberates us, that we may be free to be holy. The evil things which God hates, bondage, gloom, moroseness, doubt, hard thoughts, as well as love of the world and love of sin, are all detached from us, and we from them. Like sunshine falling on a frozen river, the fear of God dissolves our frozen faculties, and sets a flowing the waters of
the soul. It works itself out, unfolds itself in such things as those:—
1. Obedience. We obey because we fear. This is the true obedience, the result of filial, happy fear. We are constrained to obey; and yet we obey freely and joyfully.
2. Fellowship. Without the fear which springs from pardon there could be no fellowship. Dread keeps the soul from God; true fear brings it nigh. Dread shuts up the soul against intercourse with God; true fear leads it to unbosom itself without reserve, yet with reverence.
3. Love. Fear produces love, and love produces fear. They minister to each other. God's forgiving love kindles love in us; and yet it is reverential love, for he who has forgiven and loved us is so infinitely great and glorious.
4. Zeal. Work for this God becomes our second nature. We cannot but work. The effect of this blessed fear upon us is to set all our faculties in motion, to make us zealous men. Slothfulness, and selfishness, and indifference, when touched by this fear, flee away like unclean spirits. Thus we say to ourselves,
1. I fear God, therefore I must listen to him. I am not terrified into listening, I am attracted to it. The voice of that infinite Jehovah who has freely forgiven me is to me the sweetest as well as most solemn of all voices. I love to hear Him speak; and I am always saying, "Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth."
2. I fear God, therefore I must try to please him. I must not merely seek to avoid offending or displeasing, I must try to please him; and I must live, like Enoch, a life of God-pleasing; not man-pleasing, nor self-pleasing.
3. I fear God, therefore I must give up sin. This new fear of God has turned my love of sin into hatred. I hate sin, because I fear God. He hates it, therefore I hate it, and give it up. The more I think of him, the more am I disposed to part with all sin.
4. I fear God, therefore I must do his will. The will of him whom I fear must ever be my rule of duty. The more that I fear him, the more will his will become my rule. Not my will, but thine be done, is what we say to the God whom we fear.
5. I fear God, therefore I must seek to be like him. Mere dread would never lead us to desire conformity to his image; but fear does. It is God's glory that we thus stand in awe of; and beholding it, we are changed into the same image from glory to glory.
Thus it is that by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil. Yes, this is the divine cure for sin. This is our strength against temptation; our refuge against the fear of man; our help against every adversary. And what a glorifying thing it is to God when we say that his fear would deliver you from all sin.
And what a solemn thing it is to tell the sinner,—it is the want of this fear that is making you what you are. "The transgression of the wicked says, There is no fear of God before his eyes!" Yes, the want of this fear is the cause of all the evil, and the presence would be the introducer of all good.
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Post by Admin on Nov 6, 2024 17:37:36 GMT -5
LIV.
The Voice Of The Heavenly Bridegroom
"Rise up my love, my fair one, and come away."— Song of Solomon 2:10,13
THE speaker is the heavenly Bridegroom, the Lord Jesus Christ. It is his voice we hear; the voice which is as the sound of many waters; which spake the "gracious words" the like of which were never uttered on earth.
It is to his bride he speaks; "the bride, the Lamb's wife;" his chosen, redeemed, called, sanctified one; given him of the Father before the world began; his one spouse, his "love, his dove, his undefiled;" of whom it is written, "Christ loved the church, and gave himself for it." Of the saints of all ages is this "bride," this "body," composed; all of them washed in the
same blood, and clothed with the same righteousness.
1. It is the voice of love. "My love" is his name for his church.
Other names of endearment he has for her, but this is chief. All in him betokens love. All that he is, and says, and does, intimates love; a love that passes knowledge; a love stronger than death and the grave; a love which many waters cannot quench nor the floods drown. It is in tender love that the Bridegroom thus addresses the Bride.
2. It is the voice of admiration. "My fair one " is his name for her.
Thou art all fair, my love, there is no spot in thee. The "fairest among women, "is his name for her, even as her name for him is the "chiefest among ten thousand." The heart of the Bridegroom is full of admiration for the beauty and perfection of his bride. She is "perfect through the comeliness which he has put upon her." He has ravished our heart, and we have ravished his.
3. It is the voice of authority. The husband is the head of the wife; so is Christ the head of the church; and though it is love that speaks, it is authoritative love. "Arise," "come away." Obedience is our true position; and no amount of love in him can ever alter this. It is not bondage; but it is obedience. It is not sternness on his part, yet it is authority. Our Bridegroom is Jehovah, Immanuel, King of kings, and Lord of lords. Shall we treat his voice as that of an inferior or an equal; or as the voice of him whom no amount of condescension and endearment, and admiration, can ever make less truly the Head of the church, Head of principalities and powers, the Head of the universe, of whom it is said to the church, "He is thy Lord, worship thou him."
But when and in what circumstances does he speak these words to his church? Doubtless at his second coming, when calling her to the honor and glory prepared for her.
I. When he calls her up into the clouds to meet him in the air. He comes for her; and he finds her in the grave. He speaks to her as once before to Lazarus, Come forth; "thou shalt call, and I will answer;" awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust." He summons her from the tomb; he summons her up into the clouds, into his pavilion, where the marriage is celebrated— "Come up hither." He speaks, she hears, and goes up to meet him for whom she had waited so long. "Arise, my love."
II. When he calls her into the marriage chamber. The marriage follows the ascension. She goes in with him to the marriage; blessed are they that are called to the marriage supper; she goes in and sits down beside him as his bride, his queen, in gold of Ophir. "Arise, my love."
III. When he calls her into the new Jerusalem. Out of the marriage chamber they come. They rise up from the feast. They enter the city. He calls her into the city which he has prepared,—the place which he had gone to prepare for her,— the "many mansions." "Arise, my love."
IV. When he calls her up to his throne. This is the final act of blessing. Come sit with me on my throne; come reign with me over a redeemed creation. Now the crown is put upon her head; and the royal robes invest her. The everlasting kingdom is now hers. She is heir of God, and joint heir with Christ Jesus. "Arise, my love."
Thus he shall speak to his church in the day of his coming glory; for then shall the song of songs be realized to the full.
Meanwhile he speaks thus to us singly. As he said to Abraham in Ur, Get thee out of this land, so does he speak to each of his Abrahams, his chosen ones,—Come out and be separate; arise, shine, for thy light is come; arise, leave the world; become a pilgrim; arise, quit thy sins, become holy; arise, take up thy cross and follow me. He spoke thus to each of us at first;
he speaks thus to each of us still each day; for each day is a repetition of the first message on his part, and the first obedience on ours. Arise,—come away,—follow me. He speaks as the Saviour, and as the Bridegroom. Let us hear, let us follow. Upward, still upward; onward, still onward, is his beckoning. This is no place of tarrying; no congenial air or climate or company for the bride, the Lamb's wife. This is not our rest; this is not the resurrection-land; nor the marriage hall, nor the new Jerusalem, nor the kingdom. We must not tarry here. We have foretastes here, but that is all; the Lord's supper reminds us of the marriage supper.
It is well to sit for an hour at the earthly table, but it is better to sit down forever at the eternal table. With such a summons and such a hope, let us not sleep as do others; let us awake and arise, and come away; away from sin, and dearth, and sorrow; away to the everlasting hills, the everlasting city, the everlasting glory. We are joint-heirs with him; partakers of his throne and crown.
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Post by Admin on Nov 6, 2024 17:44:05 GMT -5
LV.
The Love That Passeth Knowledge
"Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the foods drown it: if a man would give al the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned." — Song of Solomon 8:7
LET us take this verse as descriptive of the love of Christ, the "love that passeth knowledge." It is he who speaks in the fifth verse, "I raised thee up under the apple tree"; and his words here remind us of similar ones elsewhere: "I have loved thee with an everlasting love, and with loving kindness have I drawn thee"; "I drew them with cords of love, and with the bands of a man"; "he found him in a desert land, and in a waste howling wilderness"; only these three passages refer to Israel, whereas
our text refers to the whole church from the beginning, of which it is said,"Christ loved the church, and gave himself for it."
We might say that the passage carries us back to Eve, "the mother of all living,"—Eve under the fatal tree. The redeemer comes and raises up her offspring under that tree, for she is the mother of the living; and there this mother of the living brought her children forth in sorrow, according to the original sentence on woman, "In sorrow shalt thou bring forth children."
Jesus thus declares his love to his church, and she replies, "Set me as a seal," not only on thy heart, but on thine arm, thine inner, and thine outer part,—thy place of love; thy place of strength; thy place of energy and action. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? His love is invincible and irresistible as death; it is a jealous love, unyielding and inexorable as the grave. Its true figure is that of fire,—coals of fire,—the very flame of Jehovah. Here, then, is the love of Christ! Its breadth, length, height, and depth, are absolutely immeasurable. But our text singles out two things especially concerning this love: (1.) It is unquenchable; (2.) it is
I. It is unquenchable. It is not all love that is unquenchable; but this is. It is love forevermore. As the great old poet writes— ….."Love is not love, Which alters when it alteration finds, Or bends, with the remover to remove; Oh no, it is an ever-fixed mark, That looks on tempests, and is never shaken. It is the star to every wandering bark,Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken."
Beyond a father's, or a mother's, or a brother's, or a sister's, or a lover'slove, is this great love of Christ; the one and only love that passeth knowledge; the one love that nothing in heaven, or earth, or hell is able to extinguish or cool; the one love whose dimensions are beyond all measure. It is here spoken of as a thing of fire; and of it as such it is affirmed that "waters," "many waters" (Psalm 69:1,2) cannot quench it; as a thing of life which the floods cannot drown (Psalm 69:15, 93:3).
(1.) The waters of shame and suffering sought to quench and drown it.They would have hindered its outflowing, and come (like Peter) between the Saviour and the cross; but this love refused to be arrested on its way to Calvary; it would not be either quenched or drowned. Herein was love! It
overleaped all the barriers in its way; it refused to be extinguished or drowned. Its fire would not be quenched, its life would not be drowned.
(2.) The waters of death sought to quench it. Their waves and billows went over him. The grave sought to cool or quench it; but it proved itself stronger than death. Neither death nor the grave could alter or weaken it. It came out of both as strong as before. Love defied death, and overcame it.
(3.) The waters of our unworthiness could not quench nor drown love. In general we find love drawing to the loveable; and when anything unbecoming occurs, withdrawing from its object. Not so here. All our unfitness and unloveableness could not quench nor drown his love. It clung to the unlovely, and refused to be torn away.
(4.) The waters of our long rejection sought to quench it. After that the gospel had shewed us that personal unworthiness could not arrest the love of Christ, we continued to reject him and his love. Yet his love surmounted this unbelief, and survived this rejection. In spite of all it remained
unquenched.
(5.) The waters of our daily inconsistency sought to quench it. Even after we have believed, we are constantly coming short. Ah what inconsistencies, coldness, backslidings, lukewarmness,
doubtings, worldliness, and such like, are daily flowing over this love to quench its fire and drown its life! Yet it survives all; it remains unquenched and unquenchable.
All these infinite evils in us are like "waters," "many waters"; like "floods"; torrents of sin, waves and billows of evil,—all constantly laboring to quench and drown the love of Christ! And truly they would have annihilated any other love; any love less than divine. But this is unchangeable and everlasting.
II. It is unpurchaseable. "If a man should give all the substance of his house for love, it would be utterly contemned." The full meaning of this will come out under the following heads. All that a man has can do nothing in such a case. Love is not merchandise; it is no marketable commodity. It has nothing to do with gold and silver. A man's whole substance is unavailing and useless,
(1.) As a gift to persuade him to love. Love does not come by gifts, least of all does divine love c his free love!
(2.) As payment for having been loved. Neither before nor after has gold anything to do with love. Pay a man for loving! How revolting the thought! Pay Christ for loving! What a wickedness and what an
impossibility in the thought! Love is altogether free.
(3.) As a bribe to tempt him NOT to love. Should the whole universe be offered to Christ on condition of his ceasing to love us, it would be utterly contemned. Who or what shall separate us from the love of Christ? All earth and heaven together would be ineffectual to cool or quench this mighty love. He cannot but love, whatever may be the gifts proffered to stay his love.
(4.) As a substitute for love. As if a man should say to another,—a father to a son, or a brother to a sister,—I cannot love you, but here is money to make up for my want of love! Would not such a proposal be utterly contemned? Were Christ to say to us, I cannot love you, but I give you heaven, would that suffice? Would not the answer be, What are all these gifts without love. Though we give our body to be burned, what would this be without love? Or what can Christ say to us for bringing him gifts, offerings, prayers, tears, money,— everything but love! Without love, what are the riches of the universe? It is love he asks; it is love we need.
Love we must have. What shall be given in exchange for love?
The love of Christ truly passes knowledge. It is infinite like himself. It emerges out of every storm or flood. It survives all unworthiness, and unbelief, and rejection. It is this that fills the soul; that liberates us from bondage; that gladdens us in the most sorrowful hour. Love is the true
sunshine of life; and with this love Christ is to fill, not heaven only, but also earth, when he comes again in his glory.
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