Deut. 29:29.

Deut. 29:29.

[Whatever else we may possess, yea, whatever we may either do or suffer for the Lord’s sake, if we have not an active principle of love in our hearts, “we are only as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal.” St. John even appeals to us on this subject, and makes us judges in our own cause: “Whoso hath this world’s goods, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in hime?” In truth, the want of this principle, whatever else we may possess, will be adduced by our Judge, in the last day, as the ground of our eternal condemnation: “Depart, accursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels! for I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me not in; naked, and ye clothed me not; sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not unto me.”

Thus, then, as the Moabites and Ammonites are condemned for not administering to the necessities of Israel in the wilderness, so shall we, if we do not exercise benevolence towards our indigent fellow-creatures, to whatever sect or nation they belong, so far as it shall be in our power to afford them the relief which they stand in need of.]

Conceiving the general point established, that we should shew benevolence to all, I proceed to mark,

  II.      Our special obligation to exercise it towards God’s ancient people—

The Jews have, at all events, the same claim to our benevolence as any other people whatever. There is no exception made in Scripture with respect to them: and, consequently, if we should fail in establishing their peculiar claims, our main argument would remain in all its force. But they have claims superior to any other people upon earth—

  1.      We are more indebted to them than to any other people under heaven—

[To whom are we indebted for all the instruction which we have received respecting the way of peace and salvation? We owe it all to Jews. We know nothing of God and of his Christ, but as it has been revealed to us by Jewish prophets and Apostles: yea, the very Saviour himself was of Jewish extraction: and, therefore, in that very fact we may well find a motive to exercise benevolence towards all who are related to him according to the flesh. Such infinite obligations as we owe to that people should surely be requited in acts of love towards their descendants; even as God himself often shewed mercy to rebellious Israel for Abraham’s and for David’s sake; and as David for Jonathan’s sake spared Mephibosheth, who must otherwise, as a descendant of Saul, have been involved in the ruin of all his house.]

  2.      The very blessings which we enjoy were taken from them, on purpose that they might be transferred to us—

[The Jews were once the only people upon earth who possessed the blessings of salvation. But God, in righteous indignation, cast off them; and, in a way of sovereign grace and mercy, took us from a wild olive-tree, and grafted us in upon the stock from which they had been broken, and “from which they had been broken on purpose that we might be grafted in.” The fact is, that every soul amongst us, that now derives sap and nourishment from God’s olive-tree, actually occupies, as it were, the place of a Jew, who has been dispossessed of his privileges, in order that we might enjoy them. Now, I would submit it to your own judgment: Suppose a person to have been disinherited by his father, on purpose that I, who had no relation to him, nor any more worthiness in myself than the disinherited offender, might he made his heir: suppose that disinherited son, in a state of extreme distress, should ask alms of you, whilst I was living in affluence close at hand; would you not refer him to me, as the person who might well be expected to attend to his case, and to relieve his necessities? And, if I dismissed him from my door as a worthless vagabond, in whose welfare I had no concern, would you not feel surprise and grief, yea, and a measure of indignation too? And if I professed to be a man of piety and benevolence, would you not spurn at my profession, as downright hypocrisy? Now, then, if under such circumstances you would condemn me, know that “thou thyself art the man.” For, all that thou hast of spiritual good was once the exclusive heritage of the Jew: and thou art possessing what has been taken from him; yea, thou art revelling in abundance, whilst he is perishing in utter want: and all the obligation which, by thine own confession, would attach to me in the case I have stated, is entailed on thee: and thou, in refusing to fulfil it, art sinning against God, and against thine own soul.]

  3.      This very transfer of their blessings to us has been made for the express purpose that we might dispense them to that bereaved people in the hour of their necessity—

[True, we are permitted to enjoy them ourselves, yea, and to enjoy them in the richest abundance: but we are particularly intrusted with them for the benefit of the Jews. Hear what God himself has declared on this subject: “As ye in times past (ye Gentiles) have not believed God, but have now obtained mercy through their unbelief; even so have these also (these Jews) now not believed, that through your mercy they” should be left to perish? No: but that through your mercy they “also may obtain mercy.” Now, take again the case before stated: and suppose the man who had disinherited his son, and left me his estate, to have declared in his will, that he left me the estate on purpose that in the hour of his son’s extremity I might shew kindness to him, and relieve his necessities; what would you say of me then, if I spurned him from my door, and left him to perish with hunger, when I was myself revelling in all manner of luxurious abundance? Well, “Thou art the man:” and what thou wouldest say of me, thou must say of thyself, as long as thou neglectest to promote the welfare of God’s ancient people: yes, “out of thine own mouth shalt thou be judged, thou wicked servant.” God has made thee a trustee for the Jew; and thou hast not only betrayed thy trust, but left him to perish, when thou hadst in possession all that his soul needs; and which thou couldest impart to him, to the full extent of his necessities, without feeling any sensible diminution of thy wealth; yea, when, strange to say! thou mightest increase thy wealth by relieving him. Tell me, then, in this view of the matter, whether thou hast not special obligations to shew benevolence to the Jew?]

But I must go further, and mark,

  III.      The more particular obligations which we have to exercise benevolence towards them at this time—

God, by his providence, called the Ammonites and Moabites to shew kindness to Israel; and their guilt was greatly aggravated by their manifesting such unwillingness to co-operate with him in his designs of love towards them: and on this account was so heavy a judgment denounced against them, “even to their tenth generation.” And is not God now calling us to concur with him in what he is doing for his ancient people? Yes; I think his call to us is clear and loud. Observe,

  1.      The interest which is now felt in the Christian world for their restoration to God—

[This interest is really unprecedented. There have been times when a few persons have laboured for their welfare: but now there is, throughout Europe and America, a very great and general increase of kindness towards them. They are no longer made the universal objects of hatred and persecution, as in former ages: even where there is no love towards them, there is a great diminution of hostility: and in many instances they have been treated with much liberality and candour by Christian governments, being raised by them to a measure of respect and honour that has not been accorded to them in former times. And for their conversion to Christianity, and their restoration to the divine favour, exertions are making to a considerable extent — — — And is not this of the Lord? Methinks, such a victory over the prejudices of Christians is scarcely less a work of divine power, than was the deliverance of Israel from the hand of the Egyptians: and, as such, it is a call from God to concur with him in his labours of love towards them. See what is at this moment doing amongst the more religious part of the Christian community, in the circulation of the Scriptures, and especially of the New Testament; and what efforts are making by Christian missionaries for the conversion of the Jews! and I must say, that this is a call from God to us, and that it is no less our privilege, than it is our duty, to obey it.]

  2.      The stir which prevails amongst the Jews themselves—

[This also obtains to a degree unprecedented since the early ages of Christianity. “Verily, there is a stir amongst the dry bones throughout the whole valley of vision.” Great numbers of Jews, upon the continent especially, and to a certain extent at home also, begin to think that Christianity may be true; and that that Jesus, whom their fathers crucified, may be the Messiah: and, if they did but know how, in the event of their embracing Christianity, they might support themselves and their families, great multitudes, I doubt not, would prosecute their inquiries, till they had attained the true knowledge of their Messiah and of his salvation. Let me then ask, Whence is this? Is not this the work of God? And is it not an encouragement to us to exert ourselves for their entire conversion? Methinks “they are saying to us, Come over to Macedonia, and help us;” and we ought, one and all of us, according to our ability, to obey the call.]

  3.      The earnests which God has given us in the actual conversion of some to the faith of Christ—

[If we cannot speak of Pentecostal days, we can declare, that God has accompanied his word with power to the hearts of some; and that “one of a city and two of a tribe” have already, as God has given us reason to expect, been brought to the saving knowledge of their Messiah. Of those who have embraced “the truth as it is in Jesus,” some have attained to a real eminence in the divine life, and are at this moment not inferior to the most exalted characters in the Christian world. This shews that God is about to rebuild his temple: and surely it does not become us “to dwell in our ceiled houses” at ease, when he is so plainly calling upon us to co-operate with him: we should rather “strengthen the hands of those who are labouring in this good work,” and, like Cyrus, afford every possible facility for the accomplishment of this vast and glorious undertaking. We should endeavour to improve “this acceptable timeo;” removing to the utmost of our power all obstacles to their conversion; and labouring, if by any means we may be God’s honoured instruments, to bring them home to him, and to present them as “an offering in a clean vessel to the Lordq.”]

  4.      The general voice of prophecy—

[Prophecy begins to be better understood amongst us: and it is the united conviction of all who have studied the prophecies, that the time for the restoration and conversion of the Jews is nigh at hand. The twelve hundred and sixty years spoken of by Daniel, as the period fixed in the divine counsels for the establishment of the Redeemer’s kingdom among them, are, on any computation, nearly expired. Ought we not then, like Daniel, to put forth our prayers to God for the consummation of this great event, and by all possible means to help it forward?

I think, that, putting all these circumstances together—the concern of Christians, the stir among the Jews, the real converts from among them, and the unquestionable ground which is given us in prophecy to expect their speedy conversion—we may regard it all as a call from God, scarcely less powerful than that given to the Moabites and Ammonites of old, to “come to the help of the Lord,” and to labour with all our might for their salvation. In truth, if we do not act thus, we can expect nothing but “the curse of God,” and the most lasting tokens of his displeasure.]

  1.      You will say, perhaps, that You hare no connexion with the Jews, and therefore may well be excused from all concern about them—

[But what had the Ammonites and Moabites to do with the Jews? They were descended, not from Abraham, but from Lot, and had never had any intercourse with them. But this was no excuse for their neglect: nor can any similar excuse avail for us.]

  2.      You will reply, that it is God’s work, and that it should be left to him to accomplish it in his own time and way—

[And might not the Ammonites and Moabites say the same? God not only could, but did, supply their wants by miracle: but this was no justification of those who refused to them the proper offices of love. Nor will this be any justification of our neglect.]

  Permit me, in CONCLUSION, to bring two things to your remembrance:

  1.      That the Ammonites and Moabites had an excuse which you have not—

[They might have said, These Israelites are going to extirpate the seven nations of Canaan: and we will not concur in such a work as this. But, in converting the Jews to Christ, we adopt the readiest and most certain way for the salvation of the whole world. If they, then, were excluded from the congregation of the Lord, even to the tenth generation, for their inhumanity, judge what tokens of God’s displeasure await you for yours.]

  2.      That they were condemned for not coming forth, as volunteers, to “meet Israel with bread and water”—

[What shall you then be, who are thus entreated and solicited to concur with Jehovah in this good work, if you still refuse your aid, or give it with such indifference, as to shew that your heart does not go forth with your hands in the service of the Lord? You remember, that when Nabal said, “Shall I take my bread and my water, and give them to those whom I know not whence they be?” it well nigh cost him his life; yea, it actually did cost him his life. And I tremble to think what judgments await you, if ye resist our importunity, and refuse to co-operate with God in the work proposed. But “I hope better things of you, my Brethren, though I thus speak;” and I hope and trust that you will henceforth, each according to his ability, be workers together with God for the salvation of God’s ancient people, and through them for the salvation of the whole world. And let me not be misunderstood: I am far from intending to say that all who have neglected this sacred cause are equally obnoxious to God’s displeasure; for it is but lately that the attention of the Christian world has been called to it: but I think you will agree with me, that it is now high time to exert ourselves for God, and to redeem, as far as possible, the time we have lost. The cause well deserves our most assiduous efforts: and we may be sure, that God, who so indignantly resented the supineness of the Ammonites, will richly repay all that we can do for the furtherance of his gracious designs: for he has said, “Blessed is he that blesseth thee; and cursed is he that curseth thee.”]

CCXV

GOD’S CARE FOR HIS PEOPLE

  Deut. 23:5.

The Lord thy God would not hearken unto Salaam: for the Lord thy God turned the curse into a blessing unto thee, because the Lord thy God loved thee.

TO those who are ignorant of the way of salvation, we preach Christ crucified: for “there is no other name under heaven but his, whereby any man can be saved.” But to those who are well instructed in the fundamental truths of our holy religion, we bring forward rather what relates to the life of godliness: having laid the foundation, we endeavour to build upon it a suitable superstructure. Now, a realizing sense of God’s care and love, such a sense of his goodness as leads us to live altogether by faith upon him, is one of the sublimest attainments that can be made in this world. And to assist you in this, will be my endeavour at this time.

Let us notice, then, from the words before us,

  I.      God’s love to his ancient people—

This appeared in bringing them forth out of Egypt, and in preserving them throughout their wanderings in the wilderness: and especially, also, in the instance that is here specified, the counteracting of the designs of Balaam, and “the turning of his curse into a blessing unto them.”

See the account given us by Moses—

[To enter fully into this, the whole history of the transaction, the 22d, 23d, and 24th chapters of tin: Book of Numbers should be attentively perused. Instigated by a desire to obtain “the wages of unrighteousness.” yet conscious that he was under a restraint from the Most High God, Balaam madly pursued his object, even after he was rebuked for his iniquity by the beast on which he rode, and which, was enabled to utter the reproof in language used by man. He constantly confesses his inability to go beyond what Jehovah should see fit to permit; yet as constantly sought to evade or change the divine counsels, and to execute the project for which he was hired. Every distinct prophecy which he utters, rises in force and grandeur: and when complained of by Balak for pouring forth blessings upon them, instead of denouncing curses against them, he confesses, “I have received commandment to bless: and God hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it.” At last, finding how vain it was to seek by enchantments to alter the divine purpose, he forbore to offer any more of his sacrifices. and yielded to the impulse within him to foretell the certain successes of those whom he had sought to destroy. And, having thus provoked the king of Moab to dismiss him without the promised rewards, he resumed his prophetic strains, and declared, not only that this people should triumph over Moab, but that from them should One arise, who should establish an universal empire, and have dominion over the whole world.

All this, Joshua brought to the remembrance of Israel, long after they had been established in the land of Canaan; saying, “Balak the son of Zippor arose and warred against Israel, and sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you: but I would not hearken unto Balaam; therefore he blessed you STILL: so I delivered you out of his hand.”]

Now all this was the fruit of God’s unchanging love—

[God had chosen them to himself in Abraham, and had ordained that they should be to him a peculiar people above all others upon the face of the whole earth. In this choice of them he had been influenced, not by any foreseen worthiness in them; for he knew, from the beginning, what a stiff-necked people they would prove; but solely by his own sovereign will and pleasure: “He loved them because he would love them.” To them, also, had he promised the land of Canaan: and therefore, when the time was come for their possession of it, no enemy could stand before them, nor could any conspiracies which could be formed prevail against them. Hence, in despite of all the efforts which Balaam made to curse them, he was constrained to “bless them still.”]

From the whole of God’s kindness to them, we may be led to contemplate,

  II.      His love to his Israel at this day—

His people are now redeemed, even as they were of old, only from infinitely sorer bondage, a bondage to sin and Satan, to death and hell. They are brought also through a dreary wilderness, towards the heavenly Canaan. They have enemies also to contend with. True it is, they have not to dispossess any of their land; nor do they, by invading the property of others, provoke hostility: but they have enemies notwithstanding, yea, and enemies who are bent upon their destruction: but from all of them God will surely deliver his redeemed people.

He will deliver them both from men and devils—

[From the beginning of the world hare God’s chosen people been opposed and persecuted, even from the time of Abel to the present hour. It was the superior piety of Abel that called forth the resentment of the envious Cain, and stimulated him to imbrue his hands in his brother’s blood. And our Lord puts the question to his malignant enemies, “Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted?” It might be thought, indeed, that it would be impossible for any one to hate and persecute the holy Jesus, in whose whole life not a single flaw could be found, and who, by his benevolent and unnumbered miracles, must have endeared himself to every one. But the brighter his light was, the more were the children of darkness incensed against him; so that they never ceased, till they had prevailed against him, and “crucified the Lord of Glory.” All his Apostles, too, were objects of the world’s hatred: and our Lord has told us, that all his followers will have their cross to bear, after the example which he has set us. And do we not find it so? Is there a faithful servant of the Lord, especially if he fill any important station, and be active in honouring his Divine Master—is there one. I say, that is not reviled and persecuted for righteousness sake? True, fires are not now kindled, as once they were, to consume them, because the laws of the land forbid it: but it is as true at this day as ever it was in the apostolic age, that “all who will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.”

And has the hostility of Satan at all abated? Does not “that roaring lion go about at this day as much as ever, seeking whom he may devour?” What can the Apostle mean, when he says, “We wrestle not with flesh and blood, (not with flesh and blood only,) but with principalities and powers, and spiritual wickednesses in high places?” Or for what end are we still enjoined to “put on the whole armour of Godk,” if we have not still many enemies to contend with?

But God will preserve us from them all, and “turn their curses into blessings.” “Whatsoever will ultimately advance our welfare, he will permit: but whatsoever would have an injurious effect, he will avert; as it is said, “The wrath of man shall praise thee; and the remainder of it shalt thou restrain.” We may not see the precise way in which good shall be brought out of evil: Joseph could form no idea of the benefit which was ultimately to accrue from all his trials: nor could Job from his: but they were constrained to acknowledge, that, however designed for evil, the events, every one of them, issued in good: and thus has God engaged, that “all things shall work together for his people’s good;” and that their “light and momentary afflictions shall work for them a far more exceeding and eternal weight of gloryn.”]

To this Almighty God is pledged, by the love that he bears towards us—

[God has loved his people with an everlasting love; and therefore with loving-kindness he both draws us to him, and secures our welfare. Now, the record in my text is especially intended by God himself to illustrate and confirm this truth. Hear what God says by the Prophet Micah: “O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab consulted, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim unto Gilgal, that ye may know the righteousness of the Lord.” God is a righteous and faithful God; and he has engaged, that “no weapon that is formed against his people shall prosper,” and that “none shall prevail against them to pluck them out of his hands:” we may be perfectly assured, therefore, that he will keep them to the end; and that “not one jot or tittle of his word will ever fail.” “Having loved his own, he will love them to the end.”]

  I close with a word or two of ADVICE—

  1.      Be not hasty in your anticipations of evil as the result of your trials—

[Jacob, on the loss of his favourite son Joseph, exclaimed, “All these things are against me!” But that was the very event which God had ordained for the preservation of himself and his whole family; yea, and for the completion of all his promises respecting the Messiah, and the salvation of the whole world by him. And perhaps that very trial, of which we are ready to complain, is, according to his eternal purpose, to be the destined means of preserving us from destruction, and of preparing us for glory. Wait, and “see the end of the Lord;” and you will find as much reason to bless God for your severest troubles, as for the most acceptable of all his blessings.]

  2.      Learn in every dispensation to acknowledge a Father’s love—

[There is not, in fact, any single trial that does not proceed from God. “Not a hair of your head can fall” but by his gracious permission. Men, devils, yea the very elements, are only instruments in his hands to fulfil his will. The Jews, in crucifying the Messiah, executed only “what God’s will and counsel had determined before to be done:” and, though “they neither meant nor thought so,” they were his agents, to accomplish what was necessary for the redemption of the world. Men and devils may have prepared a furnace for you: but it is God who puts you into it, to purify you from your dross, and to “bring you forth as vessels meet for the Master’s use.” True, he will punish those agents; as he did Balaam, who was slain amongst the enemies of God: but you “he will make perfect through sufferings,” and recompense in proportion to all that you have endured for him.]

CCXVI

GLEANING, A DIVINE ORDINANCE

  Deut. 24:19–22.

When thou cuttest down thine harvest in thy field, and hast forgot a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again to fetch it: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow: that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hands. When thou beatest thine olive-tree, thou shalt not go over the boughs again: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow. When thou gatherest the grapes of thy vineyard, thou shalt not glean it afterward: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow. And thou shalt remember, that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt: therefore I command thee to do this thing.

IT is surprising to see to what minute things Jehovah condescends in his legislation to the Jews. In no other community under heaven were such things accounted worthy of distinct and authoritative enactments. People must not yoke together in a plough an ox and an ass. They must not seethe a kid in its mother’s milk. In taking a bird’s nest, they must not take the dam with her young. But “God, their great Lawgiver, is love:” and all his laws breathed love, not to men only, but to the whole creation: and by them he has shewn, that he desired all his people to live under the influence of this divine principle; and, in the smallest matters no less than in the greatest, to bring it into exercise. Hence he appointed, that, when they gathered in the fruits of the earth, they should guard against selfishness, and manifest a spirit of love towards their more indigent and afflicted brethren. In the very words which I have just read, the threefold repetition of them shews what tenderness there is in the bosom of Almighty God towards the poor and afflicted, and how desirous he is that all his people should resemble him: and for this end he commands, that, in the season of their own prosperity, they should be especially mindful of “the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow.” The manner in which he enforces this command respecting gleaning, will lead me to consider,

  I.      The privilege of gleaning, as accorded to the Jews—

The Jews had been brought out from Egypt from the sorest bondage—

[By mighty signs and wonders had God brought them out: and had throughout all their generations caused them to enjoy blessings for which they had not laboured, and to reap an harvest which they had never sown. For the space of forty years in the wilderness they had no occasion for agricultural labours; but from day to day did they glean around their tents the food which the Great Proprietor of all caused to be scattered for their use. And when they came into the promised land, “they found there great and goodly cities which they had never built, and houses filled with all manner of good things which they had never filled, and wells which they had never digged.” Like gleaners, they had only to enter on the field, and to appropriate every thing which they found to their own use — — —]

From this consideration they were enjoined to give somewhat of a like advantage to their poorer brethren—

[”Freely they had received; and freely they were to give.” They were to bear in mind the misery from which their forefathers had been delivered; and from a sense of gratitude to their Heavenly Benefactor, they were to shew love to their brethren, and liberality to the poor. They were not to be exact even in the reaping of their crops, but to leave the corners of their fields standing for the benefit of “the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow:” and, after having gathered in their corn, or their grapes, or olives, they were not to be going over their ground or their trees again, but to leave the remaining produce for those whose necessities called for such aid: yea, and to rejoice in seeing the wants of others supplied, though at their expense. And surely this was reasonable in the highest degree, since the whole land itself had been originally the gift of God, as was also the produce of it in every successive year. What could their own labours effect without the fruitful showers and the genial warmth of the sun? On God they depended, notwithstanding their own efforts: and God gave them an assurance, that on a cheerful and liberal discharge of their duty towards their brethren, they should receive his blessing on their own labours.]

But let me proceed to mark,

  II.      The far higher grounds of this privilege as existing amongst us—

True, the Jewish law does not extend to us: nor does the law of this land accord in this respect with the Jewish law. The matter has been tried, and authoritatively decided. But, so general is the sense of propriety which exists in this kingdom, that the privilege of gleaning is conceded to the poor, as much as if it were a right established by law: and I suppose that for every thousand pounds that are paid in rent to the proprietor of the soil, not less than one hundred pounds, and perhaps too hundred, are gratuitously left to be gathered by the poor in the way of gleaning. And this is as it should be. For—

Let it be recollected from what misery we have been redeemed—

[Not an Egyptian bondage merely was ours, but a bondage to sin and Satan, death and hell. And what has the Great Proprietor of heaven and earth done for us? He has, by the blood of his only dear Son, brought us out from this bondage: and in the field of his Gospel has strewed a rich profusion of food, of which all of us may eat, and live for ever. Take the inspired volume: there is the field, into which all may enter. and gather for themselves. The promises there scattered, and standing, as it were, in every corner of the Bible, are sufficient for the whole world. All that is required is, that we go in, and glean for ourselves. The manna in the wilderness nourished those only who gathered it for their daily use: and, if the poor will avail themselves of the bounty scattered in our fields, they must go out and gather it. Were all the harvest left upon the field, it would benefit none, unless it were reaped and appropriated to our use: so all the promises of salvation will have been given to us in vain, if we do not exert ourselves, from day to day, to appropriate them to ourselves, for our own personal benefit. But, if we will “labour thus for the meat that endureth unto eternal life, the Son of Man will give it us” according to the utmost extent of our necessities. Then shall we gather all the blessings, both of grace and glory; for no one of which have we any other claim, than as gratuitous largesses, bestowed by the Lord of the harvest on his necessitous and dependent vassals.]

And can we have any stronger argument than this for liberality to the poor?

[Methinks, “the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow,” should be made to share our temporal blessings, when we are so richly and gratuitously nourished with those which are spiritual and eternal. We are taught to “love one another, as Christ has loved us.” And when St. Paul was urging the Corinthian Church to liberality, he could find no stronger argument than this; “Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.” Say, Brethren, whether this consideration be not amply sufficient to animate us to the most enlarged liberality for his sake? Yes, truly; instead of grudging to others the remnants of our harvest, we should be ready to say with Zacchæus, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor.” Indeed, even for our own sakes we might practise this divine lesson: for “if we give to the poor, we lend to the Lord; and whatsoever we lay out, he will pay us again.” In truth, to “honour the Lord with our substance, and with the first-fruits of all our increase, is the way, the surest way, to fill our barns with plenty, and to make our presses burst out with new wine.” But I rather dwell on the other motive only; because the “love of Christ,” if duly felt in our hearts, “will constrain us” to every possible exercise of love to him, and to the poor for his sakei.]

  Let me now, then, ADDRESS you all—

  1.      As Gleaners, avail yourselves of your privilege—

[I say again, the whole field is open before you: and, as God’s servant, I have been commissioned to “scatter handfuls for you,” that you may not labour in vain: yea, I have invited you to “come, even amongst the sheaves;” and, so far from “reproaching you” for your boldness, have encouraged you by the strongest assurances of the unbounded liberality of my Divine Master. Bear in mind, that you are gleaners. You must indeed labour with diligence: but the whole that you gather is a gift: you never raised by your own personal labour one single grain of what you gather: all your labour consists in gathering up what the Great Proprietor, your Lord and Saviour, has strewed for you. Whilst you, then, have all the benefit, let him have all the glory.]

  2.      As Proprietors, perform the duty that is here enjoined you—

[Cultivate, every one of you, a spirit of liberality. Let “the stranger” share your bounty; and let “the fatherless and widows” be the special objects of your care and tender compassion. If you comply not readily with this injunction, what pretensions can you have to call yourselves followers of Christ? “If any man see his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?” “He that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” On the other hand, “abound in the riches of liberality;” and “so shall your light break forth as the morning,” and “a recompence be given you at the resurrection of the justn.”]

CCXVII

GRATITUDE TO GOD ENFORCED

  Deut. 26:3–6.

And thou shalt go unto the priest that shall be in those days, and say unto him, I profess this day unto the Lord thy God, that I am come unto the country which the Lord sware unto your fathers for to give us. And the priest shall take the basket out of thine hand, and set it down before the altar of the Lord thy God. And thou shalt speak and say before the Lord thy God, A Syrian ready to perish was my father.

The ceremonial law is considered in general as a system of burthensome rites, that had in themselves no intrinsic value, and were useful only as prefiguring the mysteries of the Gospel. But though this view of it is in a measure just, yet we may disparage that law too much; because there was in many of its ordinances a proper tendency to generate divine affections. In the law before us, certain professions were required to be made at the same time that the first-fruits were presented: and the words that were put into the mouths of the offerers, reminded them of the obligations which they owed to God, and, consequently, were suited to excite, as well as to express, their gratitude to God. As far as respected the deliverance of that people from Egypt, there is no further occasion for the law; and therefore it is superseded with the rest of the Jewish ritual: but as an intimation of the high value which God sets on grateful recollections, it is worthy of our highest regard.

We shall take occasion from it,

  I.      To point out our duty in reference to the mercies we have received—

We surely ought not to receive them like the brute beasts, which have no understanding: it is our duty to act as intelligent creatures; and to make the mercies of our God an occasion of augmented benefit to our souls. For this purpose we ought,

  1.      To review them frequently—

[Even national mercies ought not to be overlooked by us. It was to them in a peculiar manner that the ordinance before us had respect. The Jews were required not only to look back to the deliverance of their nation from Egypt, but to trace back their origin to Jacob their father, whose mother was a Syrian, who himself married two Syrian women, and himself lived in Syria for twenty years; whose children also, with the exception of Benjamin, were all born in Syria, and were the heads and progenitors of all the Jewish tribes. He on many occasions was near perishing: when he fled from the face of Esau, when he was followed by Laban his father-in-law, and when he was met again by Esau at the head of four hundred men, he was in danger of being destroyed: in which case his children would either never have existed, or would all have been destroyed with him. But God had preserved him from every danger, and brought his posterity to Canaan agreeably to his promise: and they in grateful remembrance of this were to profess it openly from year to year; “A Syrian ready to perish was our father.”

Perhaps it rarely occurs to our minds that we have quite as much reason for gratitude on a national account as even the Jews themselves: but, if we call to mind the state of our forefathers, who were as ignorant of God as the most savage Indians, and remember, that we ourselves should have been bowing down to stocks and stones just like them, if the light of the Gospel had not been sent to dispel our darkness, we shall see that we may well adopt the language of our text and say, “A Syrian ready to perish was our father.”

But we should be careful also to review our personal mercies. Let us look back to the weakness of infancy, the thoughtlessness of childhood, the folly of youth, and see now marvellously God has preserved us to the present hour, whilst millions have been cut off by a premature death, or left to protract a miserable existence in pain, or infamy, or want. The means by which we have been rescued from danger, and even the minutest occurrences that have contributed to our deliverance, are worthy of our most attentive survey, and must be distinctly viewed, if ever we would “understand aright the loving-kindness of the Lord.” We must not however dwell solely, or even chiefly, on temporal mercies, but must raise our thoughts to those which are spiritual. What matter for reflection will these afford! If we consider the former blindness and ignorance of our minds, the hardness and depravity of our hearts, the indifference which we manifested towards the concerns of eternity, and the awful danger in which we stood, what reason have we to bless our God that he did not take us away in such a state! And, if we can say, as in our text, that “we are come unto the country which the Lord sware unto our fathers for to give us,” and are “partakers of his promise in Christ Jesus,” then have we indeed cause for thankfulness, even such cause, as we may well reflect upon to the latest hour of our lives — — — On these then we should “muse till the fire burn, and we be constrained to speak of them with our tongues.” In the ordinance before us a particular season was appointed for this exercise: and it is well to have seasons fixed upon in our own minds for a more solemn commemoration of the mercies received by us. If the commencement of the new year, for instance, or our birth-day, were regularly dedicated to this service, it could not be better spent. But, if our minds be duly impressed with a sense of God’s goodness to us, we shall not be satisfied with allotting one particular period to the contemplation of it, but shall be glad to think and speak of it every day we live.]

  2.      To requite them gratefully—

[The Israelites were appointed to offer the first-fruits of the earth to God, in token that they acknowledged him as the Proprietor and Giver of all that they possessed. Now it is not necessary that we should present the same specific offerings as they; but we must dedicate to God the first-fruits of our time, and the first-fruits of our property. We should fear the Lord in our youth, and not think it sufficient to give him the gleanings and the dregs of life — — — and we should “honour him with our substance, and with the first-fruits of all our increase;” “giving liberally, if we have much, and, if we have but little, doing our diligence gladly to give of that little.” But chiefly should we consecrate ourselves to God: for we ourselves are, as the Apostle calls us, “a kind of first-fruits of God’s creatures.” Our bodies and our souls, together with all their faculties and powers, are his: “We are not our own; we are bought with a price; and to honour him is our bounden duty.” This is the very intent of God’s mercies to us; nor do we ever requite them as we ought, till we “present ourselves to God as living sacrifices,” and “glorify him with our bodies and our spirits which are his.” This surrender of ourselves to him should be most solemn and devout. The image in our text admirably illustrates it: The priest took the basket that contained the first-fruits, and “set it down before the altar of the Lord his God.” Thus should we go into the very presence of our God, and dedicate ourselves to him, as his peculiar people. Rather, if we may so speak, we should put ourselves into the hands of our great High-Priest, that he may “present us holy and unblamable, and unreprovable in his sight.”]

Such is obviously our duty. We proceed now,

  II.      To recommend it to your attention—

Persons in general are ready to defer the performance of this duty under an idea that it pertains not to them, at least not at present, and that an attention to it would deprive them of much happiness: but we must press upon your consciences the observance of it; for it is,

  1.      An universal duty—

[Who is there that has not received innumerable mercies for which he has reason to be thankful? Verily, marvellous as are the displays of God’s goodness recorded in the Scriptures, there is no man who might not find as wonderful records of it in his own life, if he could trace all the dispensations of Providence towards him, as clearly and minutely as they are marked in the inspired volume towards God’s people of old — — —

But there is one point wherein all mankind are upon a level: we may all look back to the state of Adam after he had fallen, and had reduced himself and all his posterity to ruin. How awful our condition then! Truly we should have been for ever like the fallen angels, destitute of all help or hope, if God had not marvellously interposed to rescue us from death and hell by the sacrifice of his only dear Son. With what emphasis then may every one of us say, “A Syrian ready to perish was our father!” Here all the wonders of redeeming love unfold themselves to our view — — — and he who has no heart to adore God for them, has no evidence, no hope, of any interest in them — — —]

  2.      A reasonable duty—

[If we have conferred favours on any person for years together, do we not expect our kindness to be acknowledged and requited as opportunities shall occur? Do we not look with abhorrence upon a man that is insensible to all the obligations that can be heaped upon him? But what are the kindnesses which we can shew to a fellow-creature in comparison of those which we have received from God? — — — Shall we then expect a tribute of gratitude from him, and think ourselves at liberty to withhold it from our Heavenly Benefactor? — — — Let the world ridicule devotion, if they will, and call the love of God enthusiasm: but we will maintain it, that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,” and that an entire surrender of ourselves to him is “a reasonable service” — — — Do we inquire, whence it is that ungodly men regard the sublimer exercises of religion as unnecessary and absurd? We answer, They have never considered what obligations they owe to God. Only let them once become acquainted with “the height and depth and length and breadth of the love of Christ,” and they will see, that reason, no less than revelation, demands of us this tribute; and that every enlightened mind must of necessity accord with that of the Psalmist, “What shall I render to the Lord for all the benefits he has done unto me?” “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me bless his holy name!”]

  3.      A delightful duty—

[In the passage before us it is associated with joy: and indeed, what is such a service but a foretaste of heaven itself? Did any one ever engage in it, and not find his soul elevated by it to a joy which nothing else could afford? Let any one ruminate on earthly things, and his meditations will only augment his cares, or at best inspire him with a very transient joy. Let him dwell upon his own corruptions, and, though they are a proper subject of occasional meditation, they will only weigh down his spirits, and perhaps lead him to desponding fears. But let the goodness of God, and the wonders of redeeming love, be contemplated by him, and he will soon have his mind raised above earthly things, and fired with a holy ambition to honour and to resemble God. See how the Psalmist expresses his thoughts on such occasions: what glorious language! how sublime must have been the feelings of his soul, when uttering it before God! Know ye then that this is the state to which we would invite you, and that the daily experience of it is the best preparative for the joys above.]

CCXVIII

COVENANTING WITH GOD EXPLAINED

  Deut. 26:17–19.

Thou hast avouched the Lord this day to be thy God, and to walk in his ways, and to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and to hearken unto his voice: and the Lord hath avouched thee this day to be his peculiar people, as he hath promised thee, and that thou shouldest keep all his commandments; and to make thee high above all nations which he hath made, in praise, and in name, and in honour; and that thou mayest be an holy people unto the Lord thy God, as he hath spoken.

The covenant which was made with the Jews at Mount Horeb, though materially different from that which exists under the Christian dispensation, was yet intended to shadow forth that which all of us are called upon to enter into with our God. The Jewish covenant had respect in a great measure to temporal blessings, the bestowment of which was suspended entirely on their performance of certain conditions: whereas ours relates altogether to spiritual blessings; and though it has conditions as well as theirs, it provides strength for the performance of them, and thereby secures from failure all those who cordially embrace it. We may take occasion therefore from the words before us to consider,

  I.      Our covenant engagements—

The Jews were required to “avouch,” or profess openly, their acceptance of God as their God, and their determination to obey his will in all things; and such are the engagements which we also are called to take upon ourselves under the Christian dispensation:

  1.      To accept God as our God—

[The Jews had most satisfactory evidence that Jehovah was the only true God, and that he alone was worthy to be worshipped and adored. But, great as were the evidences of his kindness towards them, they are nothing in comparison of the demonstrations of his love to us. The gift of his only dear Son to die for us must for ever eclipse every other expression of his love: and this peculiarly distinguishes the view in which we are to accept him: we must regard him as our incarnate God, as “God IN Christ Jesus, reconciling the world unto himself, and not imputing their trespasses unto them.” Think a moment what is implied in such an acceptance of God: it supposes, that we feel our guilty, helpless, and hopeless state by nature; that we see the suitableness and sufficiency of the provision which God has made for us in the Son of his love; and that we are determined to have no dependence on any thing but on the meritorious death and the all-sufficient grace of the Lord Jesus — — —

But it is not merely a secret determination which God requires: that determination must be avowed; we must “avouch” him to be the Lord our God. We must not be ashamed of Christ, but must “confess him before men,” and be as bold in acknowledging him, as the ungodly are in their allegiance to the god of this world — — —]

  2.      To act towards him as becomes us in that relation—

[Universal obedience to his commands was promised by the Jews of old; and the same must be promised by us also. We need not attempt to discriminate between the various terms here used: this we are sure is intended by them, that we are to yield obedience to the whole of his will as far as we know it, neither regarding any thing as unworthy of our notice, nor any thing as too difficult for us to perform: we must “hearken to his voice,” as the angels in heaven do, with an unwearied solicitude to know more of his will, and an incessant readiness to comply with the first intimations of it. We must be searching and meditating continually to find out what he speaks to us in his written word; and be listening also attentively to the still small voice of his Spirit, speaking to us in our consciences: and, whatever we ascertain to be his mind and will, that we are to do without hesitation, and without reserve.

Now this we must determine through grace to do. We must not come to God only as a Saviour to deliver us, but also as a Lord to govern us: and we must resolve that henceforth “no other Lord shall have dominion over us.” Nor must this determination be kept secret: this also must be avowed: we must let it be seen “whose we are, and whom we serve;” and must evince a firmness in his service which neither the terrors nor allurements of the world can ever shake — — —]

Precisely corresponding with our engagements are,

  II.      Our covenant advantages—

God affords us ample encouragement to “lay hold on his covenant;” for he avows his determination,

  1.      To own us as his people—

[The very moment that we look to Christ as “all our salvation and all our desire,” God will set his seal upon us as “his peculiar treasure.” Just as a person who has bought any thing of great value, regards it from that moment as his own property, and uses all proper methods for the securing the full possession of it, so does God: “he sets apart him that is godly for himself:” he gives “his angels charge over him,” and “avouches” him from that day to be “his purchased possession.” He “avouches” it, I say, and makes it manifest both to the man himself and to the world around him. To the man himself he gives “a Spirit of adoption, enabling him to cry, Abba, Father,” and to ascertain, by “the witness of that Spirit, that he is a child of God.” To the world around him also he makes it manifest, by enabling him to “walk as Christ walked,” and “to shine as a light in the midst of a dark benighted world.” Instantly does the change in him become apparent, so that his friends and neighbours cannot but confess that he is a new creature: and, though some will ascribe the change to one thing, and some to another, they are constrained to acknowledge, that his new mode of life is such as they cannot attain to, and such as approves itself to be the very work of God himself.]

  2.      To bestow on us blessings worthy of that relation—

[The first thing which the child of God desires, is holiness: and behold, as soon as ever he embraces the Christian covenant, God engages to make him holy, and to enable him “to keep all his commandments.” This is a peculiar point of difference between the Jewish covenant and ours, as we have already observed; and it is that which is our greatest encouragement under the consciousness we feel of our own weakness. God “will put his Sprit within us, and cause us to walk in his statutes,” This is actually a part of HIS covenant engagements; and must be esteemed by us as our security for the enjoyment of all our other advantages.

Together with this does God undertake to give us the most exalted honour and happiness: “he will make us high above all people in praise, and in name, and in honour.” “Behold,” says the Apostle, “what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called THE SONS OF GOD!” Yes, he “calls us not servants, but friends,” yea, “sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty.” For us has he prepared crowns and kingdoms, that we may “sit with him on his throne,” and be partakers of his glory for ever and ever. This, and infinitely more than language can express, has “God prepared for them that love him,” and that embrace “his covenant of life and peace:” and he pledges his truth and faithfulness for the performance of his word.

O Christian, what advantages are these! what tongue can ever utter them; what imagination can ever conceive of them aright! Know however, that, unspeakable as they are, they are all thy rightful portion, thine everlasting inheritance.]

  APPLICATION—

Twice is the expression used, “this day;” “this day thou hast avouched;” and “this day God has avouched, &c.” Permit me then to ask, Have you ever known such a day as this, a day wherein you have solemnly surrendered yourselves to God as his redeemed people, with a full determination to serve him with your whole hearts; and a day wherein he has “manifested himself to you as he does not unto the world,” and “sealed you with the Holy Spirit of promise, as the earnest of your inheritance?”

To those who have known such a day:

[Perhaps you were brought to it through many and severe afflictions; but have you ever regretted for a moment the means by which such a blessed end has been accomplished? We say then, Let not the remembrance of that day escape from your minds. You cannot but recollect what a solemn transaction it was between God and your own souls: what shame you felt that ever you had alienated yourselves from him, what gratitude to him for his gracious acceptance of you, what a determination to live entirely to his glory, and what a persuasion that you could never be base enough to forget the engagements of that day. But do you not find that the good impressions have been greatly weakened, and that, whilst the ardour of your will and affections has cooled, little remains except the convictions of your judgment? Ah! beware of “leaving your first love,” or of resting satisfied with past experiences. Know that it is not on any one day that these transactions must be realized, but every day of your lives. You should be again and again renewing your vows unto the Lord, and be daily occupied in fulfilling them. Look to it then, that neither the cares of the world, nor the deceitfulness of riches, nor the lusts of the flesh, nor the fear of man, nor any other thing, “choke the good seed within you, or prevent your bringing forth fruit unto perfection.”]

To those who wish for such a day,

[(For we trust that such there are amongst us, who yet cannot speak of such a day as past,) we would earnestly suggest some necessary cautions.

Delay not thus to give yourselves up to God: but be particularly on your guard not to do it in a legal, self-righteous, self-dependent spirit. There are two mistakes which are very generally made, which yet are of most fatal consequence: the first is, that our covenant-engagements relate only to the performance of our duties; whereas they relate primarily to our acceptance of God as our reconciled God in Christ Jesus: and the second is, that we are to found all our hopes of covenant advantages on our own obedience; whereas we should regard them, not as purchased by us, but as bestowed on us in the covenant, and as secured to us in Christ Jesus. Happy would it be, if this matter were more clearly understood: it lies at the very root of all our comfort, and of all our stability: till we see all our holiness secured to us as well as required of us, we shall never rely as we ought on the promises of God, or give to him the glory due unto his name. See how the covenant is expressed by an inspired prophet: not only does it say, “They shall be my people, and I will be their God,” but, to secure their part of the covenant as well as God’s, God promises “not to turn away from them, or to suffer them to turn away from him.” Thus is “the covenant ordered in all things, and therefore sure:” but it is sure to those only who lay hold on it with a just apprehension of its nature, and a simple dependence on its provisions.]

Those, who have no idea of any such day,

[May probably be found amongst us. There are some who seem to take credit to themselves for never having made any profession of religion at all. But can they suppose that this is any excuse for their irreligion, or that it invalidates their obligation to serve the Lord? See the solemn injunction that precedes the text: can they make that void? See what is the prophet’s description of things under the gospel dispensationh: there not only are the Lord’s people represented as encouraging one another to covenant thus with God, but the state of their minds is accurately delineated, and the whole mode of their proceeding described. Be it known then that this is the duty of every one amongst us. If we would have God for our portion in a better world, we must accept him now: and, if we would be his people in a better world, we must give ourselves up to him now. To make excuses is vain. This duty is paramount to every other: and therefore we call upon all of you this day to “avouch God for your God,” that he, in the day of judgment, may acknowledge you as his redeemed people.]

CCXIX

THE EXTENT AND EXCELLENCY OF THE MORAL LAW

  Deut. 27:26.

Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them: And all the people shall say, Amen.

THE law here spoken of is the moral law. This every person is bound to keep in its utmost extent. The curse of God is denounced against every violation of it. This sanction, tremendous as it is, should be universally approved. Hence God commanded his people to express their approbation of it. “Amen” in Scripture signifies an affirmation, or a wishc. The adding of “Amen” to the doctrine of the text implies,

  I.      An assent to its truth—

The doctrine is, that the law of God curses us for one offence. This is often, through ignorance of the Scriptures, denied; but it may be established by a cloud of witnesses.

[Death is declared to be the necessary fruit of sin. Every deviation from the line of duty subjects us to God’s wrath. An idle word is sufficient to condemn us. The most secret thought is punishable by our Judge. Omissions of duty will entail on us the same judgments. A violation of the law in one point ensures condemnation as truly, though not as severely, as a rejection of the whole. One single transgression brought misery on the whole worldk; and this was agreeable to the terms of the Adamic covenant. St. Paul speaks of this penalty as still in forcem. He even cites the very words of the text in proof of the doctrine which we deduce from them. Hence the law is called “a ministration of death.”]

None, however, will cordially assent to the truth of this doctrine till they see ground for,

  II.      A confession of its reasonableness—

The law, both in its extent and sanctions, is highly reasonable. That one sin may reasonably subject us to condemnation appears,

From analogy—

[Offences in civil society are rated according to the dignity of the person against whom they are committed. Now sin is committed against an infinitely great and good God. Hence it contracts an inexpressible malignity. Moreover one act of treason is punished with death. Nor is this judged unreasonable in human governments. Why then may not the death of the soul be annexed to every instance of rebellion against God?]

From the nature of sin—

[Sin dishonours God, takes part with Satan, and unfits for heaven. Are these such light evils, that they not only may, but must be overlooked? Is God forced to honour those who dishonour him? Has not He as much right to be our enemy, as we have to be his? When he sees us destitute of any love to him, is he bound to renew our hearts that we may be capable of enjoying him? Is he unjust if he leave us to eat the fruit of our own way?

But an extorted confession of its reasonableness is not sufficient—

God requires of us further,

  III.      An acknowledgment of its excellency—

The law thus sanctioned is truly excellent: any other would have been less worthy of the great Lawgiver—

[Had it required less than perfect obedience, or had the penalty of transgressing it been no more than a temporary punishment, neither his holiness nor his justice had been so conspicuous.]

Any other would have been more ruinous to man—

[A permission to violate that law in ever so small a degree would have been a licence to make ourselves miserable. Had death been annexed to many transgressions, and not to one, we should have been at a loss to know our state. We should have been with more difficulty drawn from seeking righteousness by our obedience to the law. We should have seen less evil in transgressing it. We should have been less anxious to obtain an interest in Christ. Thus, though mercy is provided, we should have been less likely to obtain it, or to secure its continuance.]

Any other would have been less honourable to Christ—

[He would have endured less suffering for us. His inter-position for us had been less needed; it would have discovered far less love. The obligations conferred by it would have been comparatively small. He would have been less honoured by all. Some would have been saved without his aid. Many would, to eternity, have ascribed the honour of their salvation to themselves.]

In this view “the ministration of death was glorious”—

Such a discovery of its excellency will immediately produce,

  IV.      An approbation of it with respect to our own particular case—

A person taught of God will cordially approve of this law: he will love it as the means of humbling him in the dust—

[It discovers to him, as in a glass, his manifold transgressions. It convinces him of his desert of punishment. It shews him the impossibility of making reparation to God. It constrains him to cry, “Save, Lord, or I perish!” And thus it brings him to the state he most desires.]

He will delight in it as endearing Christ to his soul—

[The depth of his disorder makes him value the Physician. He sees his need of one to “bear the iniquity of his holy things.” He finds that Christ is set forth for this very purposex. Hence he rejoices in Christ as his Almighty Saviour.]

Such an approbation of it was expressed by Jeremiah. St. Paul also highly commends it in this viewz; and every true Christian can adopt his words.

  APPLICATION—

[Let us study this law as a covenant. Let us acknowledge our condemnation by it. Let it serve as a “schoolmaster to bring us to Christ.” Let that declaration be the ground of our hopec.]

CCXX

THE DUTY OF FEARING GOD

  Deut. 28:58, 59.

If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this Law that are written in this boot, that thou mayest fear that glorious and fearful name, The Lord thy God; then the Lord will make thy plagues wonderful.

WE admire the fidelity of Moses, who “declared to Israel the whole counsel of God,” “not withholding from them any thing whereby they might be profited.” To deliver such warnings as are contained in this chapter, must have been inexpressibly painful to him. But he had no alternative, unless indeed he would subject himself to all the curses here denounced; and involve himself, as well as them, in all the consequences of his unfaithfulness and concealment. Brethren, the same necessity lies on us also: we must, at the peril of our souls, deliver all that God has commissioned us to declare: and, if we fail to do so, not only will “you perish in your iniquities, but your blood will be required at our hands.” Bear with me, then, I pray you, whilst with becoming fidelity I set before you,

  I.      What God requires of us—

God is indeed a great and glorious Being, “a God of terrible majesty,” “before whom the pillars of heaven tremble, and are astonished at his reproofc.” And he requires that “we fear his glorious and fearful name.” He requires that we regard him,

  1.      With reverential awe—

[Truly “he is greatly to be feared, and to be had in reverence of all them that are round about him.” When he came down upon Mount Sinai in the presence of all Israel, not a soul except Moses was suffered to approach him: and, if even a beast had touched the mountain, it must immediately be slain. So great was the terror which his presence inspired, that even “Moses himself said, I exceedingly fear and quake.” And he is still the same God, though he do not manifest himself in the same way. Yes, under the New Testament, as well as the Old, we are taught to bear this in mind, that “our God is a consuming fire, and never to be approached but with reverence and godly fear.”]

  2.      With obediential love—

[This is the point more especially noticed in the passage before us: and wherever the fear of God is, it must of necessity manifest itself in this way. There will be a real desire to please God; and a full conviction, that every command of his is “holy, and just, and good.” Nothing will be deemed “an hard saying;” nothing be accounted “grievous.” We shall not wish for any limit to our obedience; but shall regard the entire surrender of our souls to him as a reasonable service. This is the conclusion to which Solomon came, after carefully weighing the whole matter: “Fear God and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty (and end, and happiness) of man.”]

  3.      With undivided attachment—

[God will not endure a rival in our affections. He must have the whole heart: and the person who shall dare to offer him “a divided heart, shall surely be found guilty before him.” It is true, we do not give way to gross idolatry, like those to whom our text was addressed: but if we look into “the chambers of imagery” within us, we shall find as many idols as ever were worshipped in the time of Israel’s most determined apostasy. And “God is still, as he ever was, a jealous God,” that “will not have his glory given to another:” yea, “his very name is, Jealousi.” Know, then, that you must not “set your affections on any thing here below,” but have them all concentrated on him, fearing nothing, desiring nothing, confiding in nothing, in comparison of him. Father, mother, wife and children, houses and lands, yea, and our own life also, must all be subordinated to him, and sacrificed for him, whensoever our duty to him shall call for it. We must love and serve him, him supremely, him only, him exclusively.]

Hear, then, I entreat you,

  II.      What we must expect at his hands, if we comply not with his requisition—

The Lord made the plagues of his people truly wonderful. Never since the world began was any nation visited with such heavy judgments as they, nor will there ever be the like again, even to the end of time. They are, and were designed to be, “a sign unto usm.” Truly, then, if we fear not God, “our plagues also shall be wonderful.” They shall be wonderful,

  1.      Here—

[Look at the different nations of the world, and see what tormentors they are to each other. Behold also the famines, pestilences, earthquakes, which God sends at different times, as “avengers of his quarrel” with those who rebel against him. See. too, the whole frame of society, whether in larger bodies or in private families; and behold what feuds obtain amongst them, insomuch that there is scarcely a body to be found, the members of which are not arrayed more or less in mutual hostility, and contributing to each other’s disquiet. Take all the different individuals of mankind; there is scarcely one who has attained the age of manhood, or, at all events, been long settled in the world, without having, in some respect or other, his very life embittered to him, so that at times, if there had been no future state of existence, he would have almost wished for death as a release from his troubles. Mark the tempers which agitate men’s minds, and the curse which there is even upon their blessings, insomuch that those who most abound in this world’s goods are not unfrequently the most miserable of mankind. Thus, even in this world, does God fulfil his threatening in our text, and “make our plagues wonderful.”]

  2.      Hereafter—

[Who can conceive a soul, at its first entrance into the invisible world, beholding all at once the face of an angry and avenging God? How does it start back from him, and cry to rocks and mountains to hide it from his presence! Who can conceive that soul hearing from its Judge those terrific words, “Depart, accursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels?” Who can conceive hell opening for its reception, and the man cast, body and soul, “into the lake of fire and brimstone,” “where the worm of an accusing conscience never dieth, and the fire is never quenched?” Who can conceive the soul’s retrospect of the mercies it has despised, and the opportunities it has for ever lost? and, above all, who can conceive its prospects of eternity, as the duration of all the misery to which it is consigned? Say, Beloved, whether then the plagues will not be wonderful? Now they may be laughed at and despised: but when this cup of God’s indignation shall be put into the sinner’s hands, and he is left to drink it to the very dregs, there will be an end of all his laughter, and to all eternity will he be occupied in “weeping and wailing and gnashing his teeth.”]

  BEHOLD, then—

[“I now set life and death before you.” Say, which of the two ye will choose. If ye doubt the fulfilment of God’s threatenings, read the sad catalogue of woes that were denounced against the Jews, and tell me if so much as one of them has failed of its accomplishment Indeed, my Brethren, every Jew you see is a witness for God, that His word shall be fulfilled in all its fearful extent — — — But, on the other hand, let me say, that the converse of our text is also true. Yes, if you fear and obey the Lord, your blessings also shall be wonderful. Even in this world “the peace of God’s obedient people passeth all understanding,” and their joy is often unspeakable and glorified. And if you could follow a believing soul into the eternal world; if you could behold it when first it is introduced into the presence of its God and Saviour; if you could see it, whilst the Judge of quick and dead is pronouncing that laudatory sentence, “Well done, good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord;” if, further, you could behold it in the very bosom of its God, invested with a happiness which can never be interrupted, and a glory that shall never end; then you would say that its blessedness is truly wonderful. Why, then, brethren, should you not seek this bliss? Why will you cast it all away, and treasure up for yourselves the sad alternative, even the misery that shall endure for evermore? I pray you, be wise in time; and consider your latter end, ere it be too late! And I pray God, that what has been spoken may now be so impressed upon your minds, that that which took place in Jerusalem may never be realized in you: “She remembered not her latter end; therefore she came down wonderfully.”]

CCXXI

MEN’S BLINDNESS IN SPIRITUAL THINGS

  Deut. 29:4.

The Lord hath not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day.

THERE is nothing more comforting to a minister, than to see “the word of the Lord running and glorified” amongst the people of his charge. On the other hand, it is extremely painful to him to find that his labours have been in a great measure in vain. Yet such are the reflections which many a faithful minister is led to make, after an attentive survey of his ministrations. The Prophet Isaiah felt occasion to lament this, in his day; saying, “Who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed?” Our blessed Lord had but too much reason to make a similar complaint respecting the issue of his labours alsob. Thus we find Moses, after the most indefatigable exertions for the space of forty years, constrained to adopt towards the Jewish people the language of my text; “The Lord hath not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day.” Would to God that there were not grounds, also, for similar complaint amongst you, my Brethren! But Christian fidelity compels me to declare, that to a most lamentable extent these words are verified in this place: and, of course, I must open to you the complaint,

  I.      As uttered by Moses against the people of his charge—

They had “seen” with their bodily eyes all the wonders that had been wrought for them in Egypt and the wilderness — — — But they had no spiritual perception of them. They understood not,

  1.      The true character of that dispensation—

[They viewed the various occurrences as so many separate and detached events; and had no idea of their figurative import, no conception of them as shadows of good things to come. They saw not that more wonderful redemption which was typically exhibited to their view. The paschal lamb led them not to the contemplation of their Messiah, and of the deliverance which he should effect through the shedding, and the sprinkling, of his most precious blood. Their subsistence by manna, and by water from the rock, served not to shew them what it was to live by faith on the Son of God, or to experience in their souls the refreshing communications of the Spirit of God. And though they had already seen a portion given to three of their tribes, yet did they not contemplate the issue of a believer’s warfare in the possession of the heavenly Canaan. As for the Law that had been given them, whether the moral or ceremonial law, they knew not the true intent of either: they had no idea of the one as shutting them up to the only possible way of salvation through faith in their Messiah, or of the other as shadowing forth that Messiah in all his offices. In fact, they had no spiritual discernment of any of these things, but were uninstructed and unedified by all that they had seen and heard.]

  2.      The obligations which it entailed upon them—

[The very first and most obvious effect of all these wonders should have been, to bring them to the knowledge of Jehovah as the only true God, and to make them his faithful worshippers and adherents to the latest hour of their lives. Yet, behold! they had not been delivered from Egypt three months, before they made and worshipped the golden calf: yea, and all the way through the wilderness they “took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of their god Remphan, figures which they made as objects of their worship,” in preference to Jehovah, whom thus they provoked to jealousy, till he was constrained to pour forth his wrath upon them to their destruction. It might well be expected, too, that they would yield up themselves to God in a willing obedience to his Law, and live altogether devoted to his service. But they were “a rebellious and stiff-necked people,” from first to last. The mercies of God could not win them to obedience, nor his judgments deter them from disobedience. The present and future gratification of their senses was all that they desired: and, if only they had their enjoyments, they cared not whether God were glorified or not.

We say not that this was the character of all that people: but when we recollect, that of that whole nation two only, of all the men that came out of Egypt, were suffered to enter into Canaan, we cannot but fear that the exceptions were very few, and the great mass of the people were of the very description represented in our text.]

Humiliating as this complaint is, we must also consider it,

  II.      As applicable to ourselves at this day—

Infinitely greater have our advantages been than those enjoyed by the Jewish people. They had the shadow only, but we the substance. The whole of redemption has been set before us: yet we, for the most part, have but a very faint and inadequate conception of it. By the great mass of nominal Christians,

  1.      The nature of the Gospel is very indistinctly seen—

[A mere general notion of salvation by Christ may be entertained: but of the grace of the Gospel, its freeness, its fulness, its suitableness, how little is seen! and how far are we from “comprehending the length and breadth, and depth and height of the love of Christ” contained in it! How few amongst us have any just views of “the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ,” and of all the divine perfections, as united, and harmonizing, and glorified, in this stupendous mystery! The various offices of the sacred Three, all sustained and executed for us, how little of them is known! Indeed, indeed, the generality of those who call themselves Christians are as dark with respect to the excellency and glory of the Gospel, as the Jews themselves were of the scope and character of their Law.]

  2.      The effects of it are very partially experienced—

[What might we expect from those who have been redeemed by the blood of God’s only dear Son, and renewed in their souls by the operation of his blessed Spirit? Should we not be full of admiring and adoring thoughts of God? Should we not be wrapt, even to the third heaven, in love to Christ? Should we not be “yielding up both our bodies and our souls to God, as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to him as our reasonable service?” And to what an extent should we not be sanctified, in all our tempers, dispositions, and actions, if we were duly influenced by the principles of the Gospel! In a word, if we felt as we ought, methinks our every feeling would be love, and our every word be praise.

But look at the great majority of those to whom the Gospel has been ministered, and say whether any measure of these effects be visible upon them? Alas! it is as true of us as of the Jews, that “God has not given us an heart to perceive, or eyes to see, or ears to hear, unto this day.”]

  Let me then ADDRESS myself,

  1.      To those who are altogether blind—

[Perhaps you will be disposed to say, “If God has not given me this discernment, the fault is not mine.” But this is a fetal error: for the fault is altogether yours. Had you sought of God the illuminating influences of his Spirit, he would have opened your blind eyes, and unstopped your deaf ears, and renewed you in the spirit of your mind: no earthly parent would so readily bestow bread on his famished child, as God would have given to you his Holy Spirit in answer to your prayers. If, then, you “perish for lack of knowledge,” it must be ascribed to your own obstinate neglect of those means which God has appointed for the attainment of spiritual instruction.]

  2.      To those who think they see—

[Multitudes, like the Pharisees of old, are ready to ask with confidence, “Are we blind also?” To these we reply, Let your lives declare: let the fruit determine the quality of the tree. Yes, brethren, “if you were indeed blind, you would comparatively have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.” Your conceit and self-sufficiency render your blindness tenfold more odious, more incurable, and more fetal — — —]

  3.      To those whose eyes God has opened—

[Verily, the mercy vouchsafed to you is beyond measure or conception great. You doubtless feel what a blessing the gift of reason is, which so elevates you above the beasts: but fax richer is the gift of spiritual discernment, which enables you to see “the things of the Spirit,” and elevates you above your fellow-men, even above the wisest and greatest of the human race. Compare the Apostles with the philosophers of Greece and Rome; mark, not merely their intellectual powers, but their moral habits and their spiritual attainments ; then will you have some conception of the mercies vouchsafed to you, and will appreciate, in some poor measure, the obligations conferred upon you.]

CCXXII

DANGER OF CARNAL SECURITY

  Deut. 29:19, 20.

And it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst: the Lord will not spare him, but then the anger of the Lord and his jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the Lord shall blot out his name from under heaven.

GOD has declared that he “desireth not the death of a sinner, but rather that he should turn from his wickedness and live:” and this is abundantly evident from the forbearance which he exercises towards sinners, and from the means he has used for their restoration to his favour. When he brought the Israelites out of Egypt, he entered into covenant with them on Mount Horeb: and when that whole generation had perished in consequence of their violations of his covenant, he was graciously pleased to renew the covenant with their children in the land of Moab: and the reason he gives for that condescending kindness is, lest they should presumptuously sin, and miserably perish, after the example of their fathers.

In the words which we have just read, he intimates,

  I.      The astonishing delusion of sinners—

That the greatest part of mankind are walking after the imaginations of their own hearts, is evident ; and that God denounces his vengeance against them, is equally evident: yet on every side we behold,

  1.      Their fearlessness—

[God speaks to them in the plainest terms, that “the soul that sinneth shall die,” and that “the wicked shall be turned into hell, even all the people that forget God.” They themselves too cannot but acknowledge, that “the wrath of God is revealed against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.” Yet they hear the denunciations of God’s wrath with perfect indifference: they account them not worth the smallest consideration: yea, to use the expressive language of the Psalmist, “they puff at them,” ‘What though they do “set at nought God’s law, and walk rather after the imagination of their own hearts ?” What though they do “add drunkenness to thirst,” and “draw out sin as a cart-ropec,” adding fresh materials continually, and drawing it out without any intermission to an indefinite length, will God regard such trifling matters ? No: He does not see them, or deem them worthy of his notice. He does indeed threaten to punish these things ; but he will never execute his threatenings.’ If any menace their temporal welfare, they are open enough to the impressions of fear, and anxious enough to escape the danger: but if God threaten them with his everlasting displeasure, they regard it as an empty sound. Thus do they cast off all fear of God, and treat both him and his word with the utmost contempt.]

  2.      Their self-complacency—

[They can see no evil in sin: they are sensible that they do not conform to God’s law; (nor indeed have they any wish to do so ;) but yet, though their actions are not correct, their hearts are good: they mean no harm: they do as they would be done by; and that, in their estimation, comprehends all that is required of them. It is truly astonishing to see how, in the midst of all their iniquities, men will “bless themselves in their hearts,” as much as if there were nothing amiss in their conduct. They quite resent the idea of being sinners, and of deserving God’s wrath and indignation: they conceive that they are very good sort of people (as the expression is), and deserving of God’s favour. Thus it was with the Jews of old; “The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are these:” they thought that no expressions were too strong to characterize their goodness. And thus do sinners in this day boast of their goodness: yea, not only the moral and sober do so, but even the drunken, the sensual, the profane: all are ready to think themselves as good as they need to be, and to answer, like the Youth in the Gospel, “What lack I yet?” So blinded are they by Satan, and hardened through the deceitfulness of their own hearts!]

  3.      Their confidence—

[They entertain no doubts or fears: they think that all go to heaven, and that they must of necessity be happy when they die. “I shall have peace,” is the bold assertion of every one amongst them ; nor will they suffer the safety of their state to be once questioned. On some occasions perhaps a suspicion arises in their minds that it is not quite so well with them as they imagine; but in general they go on as assured of happiness as if all the promises of the Gospel were on their side. Nor is this only in the thoughtlessness of youth: their confidence increases with their age: and even in death they frequently retain it to such a degree as to feel no fear of death: and this delusion of theirs is considered by the survivors as an evidence of their final acceptance. Well does the prophet say of them, “A deceived heart hath turned them aside, so that they cannot deliver their souls, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?”]

But God views them with other eyes, and denounces,

  II.      Their awful doom—

The terms in which this is declared are sufficient to alarm the most careless sinner. The wrath of God is here denounced against him. This must be his portion: and this doom is,

  1.      Infallibly certain—

[Sinners imagine that God cannot inflict punishment: they suppose that if not inconsistent with his justice, it would at least be contrary to his acknowledged goodness and benignity. They think that, when the time comes, he will relent, and spare them. But, in our text, he meets that error, and declares, “The Lord will not spare him.” “I have spared him long enough,” the Lord will say: “I bore with all his wickedness for many years:” “I waited long to be gracious to him:” “I called to him, but he would not hear ; I entreated him, but he refused to hearken: and therefore he now may call, and I will not hear: I will even laugh at his calamity, and mock when his fear is come.” Now God would “repent him of the evil which he has thought to bring” on any sinner: but how inflexible he will be in that day, the prophet has abundantly declared. The sinner may “knock at the door which is shut against him, saying, Lord, Lord, open to me: but I will say, Depart from me, I never knew thee, thou worker of iniquity.”]

  2.      Inexpressibly severe—

[What must it be to have “the anger and the jealousy of Almighty God” incensed, and so incensed, as to be, as it were, “smoking against us?” But, to form a just idea of the sinner’s doom, we must take all the most terrific passages of the word of God, and contemplate all the images contained in them, and then conceive of all of them combined to fill up the measure of his misery. Oh, if we think of “that lake that burneth with fire and brimstone,” “where the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched,” where there is nothing but “weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth,” and “the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever,” what an idea does it all give us of the judgments that await the impenitent transgressor! Yet these, yea and “all the curses that are written in the sacred volume ” from one end of it even to the other, shall come upon him, and shall “lie and abide upon him for ever and ever.” Once, if he had sought for mercy through the Lord Jesus Christ, his name might have been “written in the book of life;” but now “God will blot out his name from under heaven,” and it shall be found registered only with those of the devil and his angels.

We are well aware that these truths are unwelcome to the generality of men: but it is infinitely better to contemplate them in time, than to be left to experience them in eternity.]

  Let us LEARN then from this subject,

  1.      To compassionate the ungodly world—

[Were we to see men in danger of perishing in the sea, the most hardened amongst us would be moved to compassion: why then do we not pity those who are ready every moment to sink into the flames of hell? That they themselves are not alarmed is rather the reason why we should feel the more alarmed; because their foot will infallibly “slide in due time,” and “the wrath of God will come upon them to the uttermost.” Let “our eyes then run down with tears for them,” and “our head be a fountain of tears to weep for them day and night.” Let our efforts too be exerted to awaken them to a timely care of their own souls.]

  2.      To be on our guard against being influenced by their advice—

[Those who see not their own danger will be equally secure respecting us, and will endeavour to lull us asleep by their confident assertions. But, if their presumption will not benefit themselves, it will assuredly not benefit us. The antediluvian world, and the inhabitants of Sodom, despised the warnings given them, and accounted them as idle tales: but the threatened judgments came at last, and the deceivers and deceived perished in one indiscriminate mass. So will it be at the end of the world. Every title of God’s word shall be fulfilled; and therefore let those who would draw you back to the world be disregarded by youk. “Let God be true, but every man a liar.”]

  3.      To be thankful if God has made us to differ from them—

[What reason had Noah and Lot to be thankful that they were enabled to believe the divine testimony! And truly, if we are enabled to come forth from an ungodly world, and to enter into the true Ark, the Lord Jesus Christ, we have no less reason to be thankful than they. It is no less the fruit of God’s sovereign grace, than was the mercy vouchsafed to them. Let us then be increasingly watchful against presumptuous confidence, and all the delusions of our own hearts; and, in an unreserved attention to all God’s commands, let us “keep ourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.”]

CCXXIII

SECRET THINGS BELONG TO GOD

  Deut. 29:29.

The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this Law.

NEVER were mercies granted to any people, so rich as those which were vouchsafed to Israel: nor were there ever judgments so signally, through successive ages, inflicted on any other nation, as on them. And all this was in accordance with prophecy, even with the prophecies which Moses himself delivered to them previous to their entrance into Canaan. All was foreseen by God ; and was foretold also, with sufficient clearness, if they would but learn to act in obedience to the divine warnings. To inquire into the reasons of God’s dealings with them, and especially to sit in judgment upon God as though he dealt hardly with them, would be to no purpose. The reasons of his determinations were hid in his own bosom: and his determinations themselves were made known to them for their benefit: and God expected that they should make a suitable improvement of all the information which he had given them. This seems to be the general import of our text ; from whence I shall take occasion to shew,

  I.      The proper limit for our inquiries into the things of God—

God has been pleased to reveal much to us respecting his nature, his dispensations, his purposes: but there is infinitely more which he has not seen fit to communicate; and which, if communicated, we should be no more able to comprehend, than a child could comprehend the deepest discoveries of philosophy. Even what we do know, we know only in part: in fact, our knowledge of every thing is so superficial, that it scarcely deserves to be called knowledge: and, therefore, in relation to every thing the utmost possible diffidence becomes us. For, after all, what know we,

  1.      Of God’s nature?

[We are informed that “He is a Spirit;” that he is, from all eternity, a self-existent Being: that “the heaven of heavens cannot contain him.” But what idea have we of a Spirit? What notion can we form of eternity and omnipresence? The greatest philosopher in the universe has not a whit more adequate conceptions of these thing, than a little infant. Nor do we, in reality, know any thing more of the moral perfections of the Deity, than we do of those which we call natural. We speak of his holiness, and justice, and mercy, and truth: but out knowledge of these things is altogether negative: we merely know that he is not unholy, or unjust, or unmerciful, or untrue ; and that is all.

And what shall I say to his subsistence in Three Persons, each possessing all the attributes of Deity, whilst yet there is but ONE GOD ? We know that the Father is spoken of as the Fountain from whence all proceeds; that the Son also is spoken of as executing all which the Father had ordained for the redemption of the world ; and that the Holy Ghost also is spoken of as applying to the sons of men all that the Son has purchased, or the Father ordained. But of these things we know nothing beyond what God has told us in his word: and if we attempt to descant upon them, “we only darken counsel by words without knowledge.” In the contemplation of such mysteries, it becomes us to bear in mind the pointed interrogations of Zophar; “Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty to perfection ? it is high as heaven; what canst thou do ? deeper than hell ; what canst thou know?”]

  2.      Of his dispensations?

[We know that God ordereth every thing both in heaven and earth; and that without him “not a sparrow falls to the ground,” nor “an hair from the head of one of his servants.” But will any one inform us how God overrules the minds of voluntary agents, so as infallibly to accomplish his own will and yet not participate in the evils which they commit ? Our blessed Lord was put to death “by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God:” and yet, throughout the whole of that scene, the agents followed altogether the dictates of their own hearts, and “with wicked hands crucified and slew him.” And will any one inform us how this was done ? And if we know so little of God’s Providence, who shall declare to us the wonders of his Grace ? Will any one tell us why the world was left four thousand years before the Saviour was sent to redeem it? or why Abraham was chosen in preference to all other persons upon earth, that the Saviour should descend from him, and that it should be in the line of Isaac and Jacob, rather than through the line of Ishmael and Esau? Will any one tell us how the Spirit of God acts upon the souls of some, to quicken, sanctify, and save them; whilst others never experience these operations; or experience his influence only in such a degree as ultimately to aggravate their eternal condemnation ? Let any one only tell us how mind operates upon matter in any one motion of his own body: and if he cannot tell this, how shall he presume to judge of God, “whose ways are in the great deep, and his paths past finding out?”]

  3.      Of his purposes?

[We are assured that “God doeth every thing according to the counsel of his own will; and that none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?” But who has searched the records of heaven, so as to tell us what shall come to pass, either in reference to nations, or to any solitary individual? Our blessed Lord repeatedly checked all presumptuous inquiries into these things. When his disciples asked him, “Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel ? he answered, It is not for you to know the times and the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.” And when Peter inquired of him respecting John, “Lord, what shall this man do ? our Lord replied, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?”

In truth, we know nothing of God; nothing of what he is, or does, or will do, any further than he has been pleased to reveal himself to us: and all our inquiries respecting him should issue in that profound adoring exclamation, “O the depth!” Instead of complaining that our knowledge is so circumscribed, we should be thankful that it extends so far: for if there be little communicated to gratify a foolish curiosity, there is every thing made known to us that can conduce to our present and eternal welfare.]

This idea points out to us,

  II.      The proper use to be made of all the knowledge we obtain—

Every thing that God has revealed is intended to have a practical effect: and every thing contained in Holy Writ has a direct tendency to convey some spiritual benefit to our souls. Let us briefly trace this in what is revealed concerning,

  1.      God and his perfections—

[All that is spoken in Scripture upon this sublime subject, tends to fill us with holy fear, and love, and confidence; and to bring us to God, as his obedient subjects and servants — — —]

  2.      Christ and his offices—

[There is no way to the Father but through the Son. When, therefore, we read of him as the Prophet, Priest, and King of his Church, we are of necessity taught to look to him for the illumination of our minds, the pardon of our sins, the subjugation of all our spiritual enemies. We are taught to “live altogether by faith in him, who has loved us, and given himself for us” — — —]

  3.      The Holy Spirit, and his operations—

[If we can come to God only through the Son, so neither have we any access to him but by the Spirit. Hence, in desiring his gracious influences, we should seek to have the whole work of grace wrought within us, and to be “transformed into the divine image,” and be “made meet for our eternal inheritance” — — —]

  4.      The Gospel, with all its promises and precepts—

[Nothing of this is to he contemplated as a mere matter of speculation ; but the whole Gospel is to be embraced as a remedy, as a remedy suited to our wants and sufficient for our necessities. Every promise of it is to be embraced as a ground of hope ; and every precept in it is to be obeyed as an evidence of our faith and love — — —]

  5.      The realities of the eternal world—

[No one ever came from heaven or from hell to inform us what those states were, or what was the full import of those terms under which those states are displayed. Nor is it of importance to us to know more of them in this world. We already know enough to call forth into activity our hopes and our fears: and our wisdom, is so to improve our knowledge of them, as to “flee from the wrath to come,” and to “lay hold on eternal life” — — —

In a word, “whatsoever is revealed belongs to us and to our children for ever, that in all succeeding ages we should do all the words of God’s Law,” and approve ourselves to him as a faithful and obedient people.]

  Hence, then, we may see—

  1.      What answer we should make to the proud objector—

[Persons will sit in judgment upon God and his revealed will, as if they were capable of determining, by their own wisdom, what was fitting for him to reveal or do ; and they will decide with confidence on all which they either see or hear, precisely as if they were competent to weigh in a balance all the mysteries of divine wisdom. With what impious boldness will many revile the mystery of a Trinity of Persons in the Godhead; the incarnation of Christ, and his atoning sacrifice ; and the influences of the Holy Spirit. But to all such proud objectors I will say, with St. Paul, “Nay but, O man! who art thou that repliest against God?” Thou mistakest utterly the province of reason, if thou thinkest that she is to sit in judgment upon such mysteries as these. She is to judge whether the book which we call the Bible, be of divine inspiration: but when that is once admitted, then she must give way to faith, whose office it is to embrace all that God has revealed, and to make use of it for the ends and purposes for which he has revealed it. And if thou wilt presume to “reprove God, thou shah surely answer for it:” for “he giveth not account to man of any of his mattersg.”]

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