| Back to Home Page | Back to Book Index
|
Deuteronomy Chapter
One
Deuteronomy 1
Chapter Contents
The words Moses spake to Israel in the plains of Moab
The promise of Canaan. (1-8) Judges provided for the people. (9-18) Of the
sending the spies-God's anger for their unbelief and disobedience. (19-46)
Commentary on Deuteronomy 1:1-8
(Read Deuteronomy 1:1-8)
Moses spake to the people all the Lord had given him in
commandment. Horeb was but eleven days distant from Kadesh-barnea. This was to
remind them that their own bad conduct had occasioned their tedious wanderings;
that they might the more readily understand the advantages of obedience. They
must now go forward. Though God brings his people into trouble and affliction
he knows when they have been tried long enough. When God commands us to go
forward in our Christian course
he sets the heavenly Canaan before us for our
encouragement.
Commentary on Deuteronomy 1:9-18
(Read Deuteronomy 1:9-18)
Moses reminds the people of the happy constitution of
their government
which might make them all safe and easy
if it was not their
own fault. He owns the fulfilment of God's promise to Abraham
and prays for
the further accomplishment of it. We are not straitened in the power and
goodness of God; why should we be straitened in our own faith and hope? Good
laws were given to the Israelites
and good men were to see to the execution of
them
which showed God's goodness to them
and the care of Moses.
Commentary on Deuteronomy 1:19-46
(Read Deuteronomy 1:19-46)
Moses reminds the Israelites of their march from Horeb to
Kadesh-barnea
through that great and terrible wilderness. He shows how near
they were to a happy settlement in Canaan. It will aggravate the eternal ruin
of hypocrites
that they were not far from the kingdom of God. As if it were
not enough that they were sure of their God before them
they would send men
before them. Never any looked into the Holy Land
but they must own it to be a
good land. And was there any cause to distrust this God? An unbelieving heart
was at the bottom of all this. All disobedience to God's laws
and distrust of
his power and goodness
flow from disbelief of his word
as all true obedience
springs from faith. It is profitable for us to divide our past lives into
distinct periods; to give thanks to God for the mercies we have received in
each
to confess and seek the forgiveness of all the sins we can remember; and
thus to renew our acceptance of God's salvation
and our surrender of ourselves
to his service. Our own plans seldom avail to good purpose; while courage in
the exercise of faith
and in the path of duty
enables the believer to follow
the Lord fully
to disregard all that opposes
to triumph over all opposition
and to take firm hold upon the promised blessings.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Deuteronomy》
Deuteronomy 1
Verse 1
[1]
These be the words which Moses spake unto all Israel on this side Jordan in the
wilderness
in the plain over against the Red sea
between Paran
and Tophel
and Laban
and Hazeroth
and Dizahab.
All Israel —
Namely
by the heads or elders of the several tribes
who were to communicate
these discourses to all the people.
In the wilderness — In
the plain of Moab
as may appear by comparing this with Deuteronomy 1:5
and Numbers 22:1
and Deuteronomy 34:8. The word Suph here used does
not signify the Red-Sea
which is commonly called jam-suph
and which was at
too great a distance
but some oiher place now unknown to us
(as also most of
the following places are) so called from the reeds or flags
or rushes (which
that word signifies) that grew in or near it.
Paran —
Not that Numbers 10:12
which there and elsewhere is
called the Wilderness of Paran
and which was too remote
but some other place
called by the same name.
Laban
Hazeroth
and Dizahab — These places seem to be the several bounds
not of the whole country of
Moab
but of the plain of Moab
where Moses now was.
Verse 2
[2] (There are eleven days' journey from Horeb by the way of mount Seir unto
Kadeshbarnea.)
There are eleven days journey — This is added to shew that the reason why the Israelites
in so many
years were advanced no farther from Horeb
than to these plains
was not the
distance of the places but because of their rebellions.
Kadesh-barnea —
Which was not far from the borders of Canaan.
Verse 3
[3] And
it came to pass in the fortieth year
in the eleventh month
on the first day
of the month
that Moses spake unto the children of Israel
according unto all
that the LORD had given him in commandment unto them;
The eleventh month —
Which was but a little before his death.
All that the Lord had given him in
commandment — Which shews not only that what he now
delivered was in substance the same with what had formerly been commanded
but
that God now commanded him to repeat it. He gave this rehearsal and exhortation
by divine direction: God appointed him to leave this legacy to the church.
Verse 4
[4]
After he had slain Sihon the king of the Amorites
which dwelt in Heshbon
and
Og the king of Bashan
which dwelt at Astaroth in Edrei:
Og — His palace or
mansion-house was at Astaroth
and he was slain at Edrei.
Verse 7
[7] Turn you
and take your journey
and go to the mount of the Amorites
and
unto all the places nigh thereunto
in the plain
in the hills
and in the
vale
and in the south
and by the sea side
to the land of the Canaanites
and
unto Lebanon
unto the great river
the river Euphrates.
To the mount of the Amorites — That is
to the mountainous country where the Amorites dwelt
which is
opposed to the plain
where others of them dwelt. And this is the first
mentioned
because it was in the borders of the land.
Verse 8
[8]
Behold
I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the
LORD sware unto your fathers
Abraham
Isaac
and Jacob
to give unto them and
to their seed after them.
Before you —
Heb. Before your faces; it is open to your view
and to your possession; there
is no impediment in the way.
Verse 9
[9] And
I spake unto you at that time
saying
I am not able to bear you myself alone:
At that time —
That is
about that time
namely
a little before their coming to Horeb.
Verse 12
[12] How
can I myself alone bear your cumbrance
and your burden
and your strife?
Your burden —
The trouble of ruling and managing so perverse a people.
Your strife —
Your contentions among yourselves
for the determnination whereof the elders
were appointed.
Verse 15
[15] So I
took the chief of your tribes
wise men
and known
and made them heads over
you
captains over thousands
and captains over hundreds
and captains over
fifties
and captains over tens
and officers among your tribes.
Officers —
Inferior officers
that were to attend upon the superior magistrates
and to
execute their decrees.
Verse 16
[16] And
I charged your judges at that time
saying
Hear the causes between your
brethren
and judge righteously between every man and his brother
and the
stranger that is with him.
The stranger —
That converseth or dealeth with himn. To Such God would have justice equally
adtninistred as to his own people
partly for the honour of religion
and
partly for the interest which every man hath in matters of common right.
Verse 17
[17] Ye
shall not respect persons in judgment; but ye shall hear the small as well as
the great; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is
God's: and the cause that is too hard for you
bring it unto me
and I will
hear it.
Respect persons —
Heb. Not know
or acknowledge faces
that is
not give sentence according to
the outward qualities of the person
as he is poor or rich
your friend or
enemy
but purely according to the merit of the cause. For which reason some of
the Grecian law-givers ordered that the judges should give sentence in the dark
where they could not see mens faces.
The judgment is God's — It is passed in the name of God
and by commission from him
by you as
representing his person
and doing his work; who therefore will defend you
therein against all your enemies
amid to whom you must give an exact account.
Verse 18
[18] And
I commanded you at that time all the things which ye should do.
All the things which ye shall do — I delivered unto you
and especially unto your judges
all the laws
statutes
and judgments revealed unto me by the lord in Horeb.
Verse 24
[24] And
they turned and went up into the mountain
and came unto the valley of Eshcol
and searched it out.
Eshcol —
That is
of grapes
so called from the goodly cluster of grapes which they
brought from thence.
Verse 28
[28]
Whither shall we go up? our brethren have discouraged our heart
saying
The
people is greater and taller than we; the cities are great and walled up to
heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakims there.
Greater — In
number and strength and valour.
Verse 31
[31] And
in the wilderness
where thou hast seen how that the LORD thy God bare thee
as
a man doth bear his son
in all the way that ye went
until ye came into this
place.
Bare thee —
Or
carried thee
as a father carries his weak and tender child in his arms
through difficulties and dangers
gently leading you according as you are able
to go
and sustaining you by his power and goodness.
Verse 32
[32] Yet
in this thing ye did not believe the LORD your God
Ye did not believe the Lord — So they could not enter in
because of unbelief. It was not any other
sin shut them out of Canaan
but their disbelief of that promise
which was
typical of gospel grace: to signify that no sin will ruin us but unbelief
which is a sin against the remedy; and therefore without remedy.
Verse 33
[33] Who
went in the way before you
to search you out a place to pitch your tents in
in fire by night
to shew you by what way ye should go
and in a cloud by day.
Your words — That
is to say
your murmurings
your unthankful
impatient
distrustful and
rebellious speeches.
Verse 36
[36] Save
Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it
and to him will I give the land
that he hath trodden upon
and to his children
because he hath wholly followed
the LORD.
Save Caleb —
Under whom Joshua is comprehended
though not here expressed
because he was
not now to be one of the people
but to be set over them as a chief governor.
Verse 37
[37] Also
the LORD was angry with me for your sakes
saying
Thou also shalt not go in
thither.
For your sakes —
Upon occasion of your wickedness and perverseness
by which you provoked me to
speak unadvisedly.
Verse 38
[38] But
Joshua the son of Nun
which standeth before thee
he shall go in thither: encourage
him: for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.
Who standeth —
Who is now thy servant.
Verse 44
[44] And
the Amorites
which dwelt in that mountain
came out against you
and chased
you
as bees do
and destroyed you in Seir
even unto Hormah.
As bees — As
bees which being provoked come out of their hives in great numbers
and with
great fury pursue their adversary and disturber.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Deuteronomy》
01 Chapter 1
Verses 1-8
These be the words which Moses spake unto all Israel on this side
Jordan in the wilderness.
Moses’ discourse to Israel
I. The date of
this sermon which moses preached to the people of Israel. A great auditory no question
he had
as many as could crowd within hearing
and particularly all the elders
and officers
the representatives of the people; and probably it was on the
Sabbath day that he delivered this to them.
1. The place where they were now encamped was in the plain
in the
land of Moab (Deuteronomy 1:1; Deuteronomy 1:5)
where they were just
ready to enter Canaan
and engage in a war with the Canaanites. Yet he
discourseth not to them concerning military affairs
but concerning their duty
to God; for if they kept themselves in His fear and favour
He would secure to
them the conquest of the land; their religion would be their best policy.
2. The time was near the end of the fortieth year since they came out
of Egypt. So long God had borne their manners
and they had borne their own
iniquity (Numbers 14:34); and now a new and more
pleasant scene was to be introduced
as a token for good
Moses repeats the law
to them. Thus
after God’s controversy with them for the golden calf
the first
and surest sign of God’s being reconciled to them was the renewing of the
tables. There is no better evidence and earnest of God’s favour than His
putting His law in our hearts (Psalms 147:19-20).
II. The discourse
itself. In general
Moses spake unto them “all that the Lord had given him in
commandment” (Deuteronomy 1:3)
which intimates
not
only that what he new delivered was for substance the same with what had
formerly been commanded
but it was that God now commanded him to repeat. He
gave them this rehearsal and exhortation purely by Divine direction. God
appointed him to leave this legacy to the Church. He begins his narrative with
their removal from Mount Sinai (Deuteronomy 1:6)
and relates here--
1. The orders God gave them to decamp and proceed in their march (Deuteronomy 1:6-7). “Ye have dwelt long
enough in this mount.” That was the mount that burned with fire (Hebrews 12:18)
and gendered to bondage (Galatians 4:24). Thither God brought them
to humble them
and by the terrors of the law to prepare them for the land of
promise. There He kept them about a year
and then told them they had dwelt
long enough there
they must go forward. Though God bring His people into
trouble and affliction
into spiritual trouble and affliction of mind
He knows
when they have dwelt long enough in it
and will certainly find a time
the
fittest time
to advance them from the terrors of the spirit of bondage to the
comforts of the spirit of adoption (Romans 8:15).
2. The prospect He gave them of a happy settlement in Canaan
presently: “Go to the land of the Canaanites” (Deuteronomy 1:7). Enter and take
possession; it is all your own. “Behold
I have set the land before you” (Deuteronomy 1:8). But when God commands
us to go forward in our Christian course
He sets the heavenly Canaan before us
for our encouragement. (Matthew Henry
D. D.)
Moses spake . . .
according unto all that the Lord had given him.
A God-given sermon
Moses spoke what the Lord had commanded him; in other words
Moses
gave the people what God had given him (Acts 3:6). Though the words were Moses’
the thing uttered was of God. Some speak according to the wisdom of the world:
they can tell much about its craft
villainy
hollowness; and they preach
selfishness
more or less refined
as a means of personal defence
and the true
source of success. Some speak according to one thing
others according to something
else. Moses spoke according to what God had given him. He therefore spoke God’s
truth.
I. Because Moses
spoke God’s truth he uttered what would be advantageous to the people. The path
of happiness is the way of wisdom. Wisdom is happiness as well as pleasant (Proverbs 8:1-36.). True wisdom is the
fear of God (Job 28:28). The man who declares God’s
truth instructs in wisdom and leads men to happiness. Happiness is what men are
seeking. Those who conduct others into happiness meet an universal want.
II. Because Moses
spoke what God gave him
he could speak--
1. With courage.
2. With power.
III. Because Moses
spoke what God gave him to speak
he relieved himself of responsibility.
1. Commissions are sometimes entrusted to men by God which they are
afraid to execute. They thereby entail calamity upon themselves and all
connected with them (Jonah).
2. Duties imposed by God
if neglected
bring desolation on the man
and his family--Achan (Judges 7:1-25).
3. Knowledge
wisdom
visions of the Divine glory are vouchsafed to
men to be used for the improvement of the world
the upholding of the Church
and the honour of God.
4. Money
influence
opportunity is entrusted to many in these days.
Such is not to be lavished on ourselves. God gave it; He expects it to be used
in His service. (J. Saurin.)
On this side Jordan
etc.--
The worth of the present
Moses repeated the law as soon as he had opportunity
and
circumstances required it. He did not wait till the promised land was entered.
The work of today was not delayed till the morrow. It was done at once. He did
it where he was--in the land of the Gentiles--surrounded with heathen--in the
country of foes. Trapp with no little humour remarks on these
words
“And he
was not long about it. A ready heart makes a riddance of God’s work
for being
oiled with the Spirit
it becomes lithe and nimble and quick of despatch.”
Three practical hints--
I. What is to be
done do at once. Moses on this side of Jordan began to speak. Had Moses been a
boy at school he would not have put off his prayers till he got home
where
there were no schoolfellows to chaff. He would have said them then and there.
II. Do not think
that there will be a more propitious time than the present.
1. Dallying with duties does not diminish difficulties.
2. Delay positively increases difficulties. Power unused decreases.
If duty is deferred a day we are a day’s wasted strength the weaker.
3. We know what is to be done now; tomorrow it may be forgotten.
Cares of life may usurp attention. The duties are pushed aside--choked
down--killed. Weeds grow faster than corn. Cares and duties come quicker than
time.
III. Do some good
things in this life--in the desert
so called
on this side of Jordan. Do not
wait till heaven is reached
that angels alone may be witness of your good
deeds. Moses did not defer till the promised land was reached. He did what he
was able out of the promised land. It was well he did. He never reached Canaan.
Had he put off all till then
nothing would have been done. (J. Saurin.)
God’s address to His people
I. God
in His
address to His people
enjoins action. “Not slothful” is the apostolic command.
“Ye have dwelt long enough.” The time of inactivity is over. “Turn you
take
your journey.” God enjoins on His people to be like Himself. He is ever active.
The whole seven days round His energies are going forth in creating and
blessing. Not less active than the Father is the Son. Week day and Sabbath He
exerted Himself to make man happier and the world brighter. His reason for this
He gives in John 5:17. It is not unnatural
therefore
that God seeks in His people qualities so largely developed in
Himself. God does not want idlers in His vineyard. Man was put into the garden
of the world to work (Genesis 2:15). However
God permits some
rest. Life is not all work. Storm and calm
battle and peace
make history. But
still the law of life and growth is
the more we do within certain limits the
more we are able to do. This is true both physically and spiritually. People of
impaired health by proper exercise become strong. The morally weak are
strengthened by the exercise of trial. The more kind a man tries to be
the
more he is. So with faith
patience
hope.
II. God advises
with regard to the nature
direction
and extent of this action.
1. Nature of the action. Let it be action with a purpose in view.
Have an aim in life. “Go to the mount of the Amorites.”
2. Direction of the action. Two hints with regard to that--
3. Extent of the action. Begin at the near
then proceed to what is
more remote
till the whole world is affected by your life
e.g.--
III. God
in His
address
points out how rightly directed action will bring its own reward.
“Behold
I have set (Hebrews ‘given’) the land before you: go in and possess.”
1. True work is sure to bring recompense of some kind. It brings
external reward. A day’s work brings the day’s wages. The sewings of spring are
followed by the harvests of autumn. It brings an internal reward in a man’s own
nature and being.
2. Show what work is. Distinguish work from pleasure. Pleasure is the
expending of energy without any end or purpose save the sensations caused by
the act of waste
whereby pleasure has been defined as “dissipating
enjoyments”; work is energy expended for a purpose. In its idea it is
conservative. Work is action to get a return for the energy so spent
both to
recuperate and increase the power thus employed. Pleasure seeks nothing save
the sensation; work demands a recompense. God promises to work its recompense.
“Go in and possess.” (J. Saurin.)
The discourse delivered by Moses
The faithful servants of the Lord
with advancing years and
experience
frequently acquire increasing reputation for wisdom
integrity
and
disinterested philanthropy
as well as pious zeal for the glory of God. While
they draw nearer to the heavenly world they often seem to breathe a purer air
and all their words have a heavenly savour; their motion accelerates as they
approach their rest; their earnestness increases
when they can be influenced
by no earthly motive; and their confidence and comfort acquire strength in
defiance of the approaching king of terrors. Under such circumstances their
instructions are doubly impressive
and frequently have a durable effect upon
the survivors. They should then seize every occasion of reminding the people of
the wisdom
power
truth
and love of God
as manifested in His dealing with
them: and there are times when they may also
consistently with deep humility
speak of their own conduct
their love to souls
their faithful labours
their
self-denial
and patient sufferings in the arduous work about which they are
engaged; in order to obviate prejudice
and to obtain a more favourable attention
to further exhortations. But it is likewise necessary to show the people their
transgressions
that they may be duly humbled; to warn them against the fatal
effects of unbelief and sin; to point out the advantages of confidence in God
and obedience to Him; and to unite confessions of their own imperfection and
sinfulness
both to avoid giving needless offence
to suggest encouragement
and to excite personal humiliation. (Thomas Scott.)
Ordered from the mountain
God knows
then
how long we have been here or there. He keeps the
time; He knows when we have been “long enough” in one place. “Ye have dwelt
long enough in this mount.” We may get tired even of mountains. Wherever we
live we need change. We are ordered down off the mountain. Soon after we have
said
It is good to be here
the Leader proposes that we should go down again
tie will not have any heaven built upon earth; He will never allow us to build
permanently upon foundations that are themselves transitory. There are many
mountains to come down--mountains of supposed strength
when the very robustest
man must lie down and say
“I am very weary
tired to exhaustion”; mountains of
prosperity
when Croesus himself must come down
saying
“I am a poor man; let
the meanest slave serve me
for I cannot longer serve myself.” Then there is
the coming down that is inevitable--the time when God says to every one of us
“You have been long enough on the mountain of time; pass through the grave to
the hills of heaven
the great mountains of eternity.” Sometimes we think we
have been too long on the mountain
and wonder when He will come whose right it
is to bring the sheep into the fold; we say in our peevishness--not always
impious
but rather an expression of weakness--Surely we have been forgotten; by
this time we ought to have been with the blessed ones; the night is coming on
quickly
and we shall be drenched with dews. So long are some men kept outside
on the very top of the hill
where very little grass grows--bare
rocky places.
But God cannot forget; we must rest in His memory; He puts Himself even before
a mother who may forget her sucking child
but He has pledged Himself never to
forget His redeemed Church. But
having ordered His people away from the
mountain
where can they take up their abode We find the answer in the seventh
verse. God has many localities at His command
so He disperses the people
setting them “in the plain
ill the hills
in the vale
” “by the seaside
” and
“unto the great river
the river Euphrates.” What space God has! “In My
Father’s house are many mansions”--in My Father’s house are many localities.
Why do we choose our own place? Did ever man dispute the Divine sovereignty
without regretting his encounter with the Eternal Will? Why have any will? Were
we serving wooden gods
mechanical deities
divinities of our own creation or
invention
we might dispute with them
point out what possibly they may have
overlooked
and draw holder programmes; but if God is the only-wise
if God is
love
if God is light
if God died for us in the person of His Son
why not
say
Not my will
but Thine be done: take me to the mountain or the plain
the
hills or the vale
the seaside or the river; the taking itself shall be as a
vision of heaven? (J. Parker
D. D.)
A stationary position degrading
I remember hearing a naturalist describe a species of jelly fish
which
he said
lives fixed to a rock
from which it never stirs. It does not
require to go in search of food
because in the decayed tissues of its own
organism there grows a kind of seaweed on which it subsists. I thought I had
never heard of any creature so comfortable. But the naturalist who was
describing it went on to say that it is one of the very lowest forms of animal
life
and the extreme comfort which it enjoys is the very badge of its degraded
position.
Go in and possess the
land.--
The blessedness and glory of the promised land
I. To give a
spiritual description of the land which Jehovah hath proposed as the end of our
pilgrimage
and of which we all profess to be in search.
1. It is a land to whose delightfulness
beauty
and fertility
Jehovah Himself had borne the most ample and undoubted testimony.
2. But the land of Canaan was not merely a country known by
description
however magnificent and encouraging
as well as unchangeably true
the testimony of God might be concerning it. The spies who had been sent
in
whatever guilty unbelief their mission originated
had searched it out
from
Dan even to Beersheba; and they had brought with them of the grapes
and
pomegranates
and figs
that the people might see
and taste
and judge for
themselves. And what was this except a type of Christ
the true Vine
some
clusters of which the searching eye of faith may see?
3. It is
moreover
a land of promise; and here is the leading feature
of its peculiar preciousness. Jehovah saith not that Canaan is a country which
His people might inhabit
if they could win it in their own strength; for then
where were the weapons of their successful warfare
and where the might in
which to overcome their enemies? But it is a land which
in the exercise of His
free and sovereign grace
He made over to them--not giving it to them because
they were a great nation
for they were the fewest of all people
but because
He loved them.
II. The injunction
given by Jehovah to His people--“Go in
and possess the land”; and
as it is
added in the twenty-third verse
where the command and promise are repeated
“Fear not
neither be discouraged.” The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence
and the violent take it by force. Never imagine that the Canaan which you
profess to seek will be your own without a warfare. Fight valiantly
pray
fervently
trust implicitly
and you will be made more than conquerors. Neither
doubt nor distrust the sure promise and inviolable covenant of an unchangeable
God. Oh
how keenly should this Scripture rebuke all loiterers in the holy war!
We profess to love and follow Jesus
but when He cries “Go up and possess the
land
” we willingly linger in the desert of our own coldness and worldly love.
(R. P. Buddicom.)
Enlargement-a New Year’s address
John Foster
in one of his admirable essays
speaks of truth as
presenting to the inquirer’s view a beautiful and spacious landscape
divided
into delightful gardens
green meadows
so that wherever he casts his eyes he
beholds some beautiful plant or flower of truth. You have entered into this
goodly land of truth
“Go in and possess it”; extend this year your knowledge
of it
make its riches your own priceless possession. God has given unto us
intellectual power; and
having bestowed this blessing upon us
He requires
that we do our utmost in order to secure mental culture. Truth has many
departments
but truth in its highest form is presented to us in Holy
Scripture. What a realm of beauty and fertility is presented to us here! Let us
“go in and possess this land.” And let us “go in” feeling that we are
entering a large land; not mistaking for the whole a little tract we have
traversed
but convinced that there are unexplored regions yet to be brought to
light. Oh
to be delivered from all narrowness in reference to our conceptions
of truth
and specially of truth bearing upon our spiritual weal! There are
I
know
certain teachings which are to be regarded as foundation teachings
as
for instance
the Divinity and Incarnation of Christ
the Atonement of Jesus
His victory over death
His resurrection
etc. But whilst holding these great
verities of eternal truth unswervingly
let us come to the study of this Book
of God believing that there are hidden treasures here
and which He will reveal
to us by His Spirit if we carry on our investigation in the spirit of patience
thoughtfulness
courage
and prayer. One of the most beautiful conceptions of
heaven we can possibly form is that of its being “the land of uprightness”;
perfect purity
complete rectitude prevailing. And whilst it is true that
heaven “remaineth to the people of God
” it is also true that they who have
believed enter it even here. The blessings flowing to us through our union to
Christ are present
and the elements which constitute the character of the
glorified in heaven are to mark
in a growing measure
God’s servants who are
still on earth. Be it ours
then
to go on developing in all the excellencies
of the Christian character. There is a realm which must be described as one of
sin and death
of bondage and darkness. Oh
to possess that land
and to
transfer it to Christ
that thus
under the influence of His Spirit
its evil
may give place to purity
its slavery to liberty
whilst through its chambers
of death life may spread! This is our mission as the followers of the Lord
Jesus. In calling us into union with Himself He calls us
in fact
into
sympathy with Him in His glorious purpose of effecting the ultimate deliverance
of the world from the captivity of evil. When we speak of possessing the world
for Christ
what difficulties present themselves to our view! How vast is the
territory yet to be covered! How inapproachable many of its tracts
so that
noble lives are sacrificed by the way
or reach their destination only to die!
How unhealthy the climates
and how unyielding the superstitions! How the work
is impeded
too
by the policy of governments
taking the carnal weapons where
we would use the spiritual
and introducing the soldier where we would plant
the missionary. Truly
there are many hindrances. But we will not despair. It
is the cause of God in which we are enlisted. When He works
who shall hinder?
(S. D. Hillman
B. A.)
And I spake unto you at that time
saying
I am not able to bear
you myself alone.
The promised increase pleaded
I. The glorious
being addressed. “The Lord God of your fathers.”
1. In His essential character as Lord God.
2. In His relative character. “Lord God of your fathers.”
3. The subject has a general application to our spiritual
predecessors. Those early Christian fathers who had to witness before the pagan
world
and who passed through horrid persecutions
and yet were supported and
made successful in spreading the Gospel through the world.
II. The
comprehensive petition presented. “Make you
” etc. In the petition are two
parts
multiplication of numbers and the Divine blessing.
III. The ground of
encouragement adduced. “As He hath promised.” Now
God did promise Abraham.
Observe some of the traits of these promises. They are--
1. Absolute in their nature. He has not said He will multiply the
Church if--
2. They are numerous. Scattered over the whole extent of revelation.
3. They have been principally made to Christ.
4. Partially fulfilled.
Application.
1. The divinity of our religion.
2. The benevolence of our religion.
3. The final triumphs of our religion.
4. The bearing of our subject on the religious instruction of the
rising generation. (J. Burns
D. D.)
The blessing of a numerous progeny
I. That children
ought to be esteemed blessings
and that he who has a numerous offspring ought
to be thankful to God for them. This is a blessed tiling
for--
1. Such a man is a public blessing to the kingdom in which he lives;
for the riches of a kingdom consists in the number of its inhabitants.
2. A numerous offspring is a valuable blessing with respect to
private families
and that mutual comfort and support which those who came
originally out of the same loins yield to one another. These bonds are
inseparable when the same interests are bound by natural affection.
3. A numerous offspring is a valuable blessing to the parent himself
The Jew looked forward to the Messiah being born of his family; the Christian
can see a new heir of righteousness. There is joy in their birth; there is
pleasure in their after-life if the child is trained aright.
II. God is the sole
author and disposer of these blessings (Psalms 127:3). This blessing is called an
heritage. An heritage is an estate got by ancestors
and descends to us
lineally without our painstaking. God is our Ancestor
from whom we enjoy all
favours. Three lessons are gathered from the subject of this verse.
1. Let those who have no children learn from hence to wait with
patience the Divine pleasure
to continue in prayer and alms deeds
and to be
fruitful in good works; and if they have not children after the flesh
they
will have a multitude who will call them blessed
and who in the endless ages
of eternity will be to them as children.
2. Let those who have a numerous family of children be thankful to
God for bestowing these blessings on them
and use their utmost endeavour to
make them blessings indeed
by grounding them in the principles of religion
and bringing them up soberly and virtuously to some lawful calling.
3. Those who have had children and are deprived of them
either by
natural death or
which is worse
by any unfortunate accident
may hence learn
to resign themselves to the will of God
and entirely to depend on His good
providence. (Lewis Atterbury.)
Numerical increase
In this part of his narrative he insinuates to them--
1. That he greatly rejoiced in the increase of their numbers. He owns
the accomplishment of God’s promise to Abraham (Deuteronomy 1:10). You are as the stars
of heaven for multitude; and prays for the further accomplishment of it (Deuteronomy 1:11). God make you a
thousand times more. This prayer comes in a parenthesis; and a good prayer
prudently put in cannot be impertinent in any discourse of Divine things; nor
will a pious ejaculation break the coherence
but rather strengthen and adorn
it. But how greatly are his desires enlarged when he prays that they might be
made a thousand times more than they were! We are not straightened in the power
and goodness of God; why should we be straightened in our own faith and hope
which ought to be as large as the promise? It is from the promise that Moses
here takes the measure of his prayer
the Lord bless you as He hath promised
you. And why might he not hope that they might become a thousand times more
than they were now
when they were now ten thousand times more than they were
when they came down into Egypt
above two hundred and fifty years ago? Observe
when they were under the government of Pharaoh the increase of their numbers
was envied
and complained of as a grievance (Exodus 1:9); but now
raider the
government of Moses
it was rejoiced in
and prayed for as a blessing
the
comparing of which might give them occasion to reflect with shame upon their
own folly when they had talked of making a captain and returning to Egypt.
2. That he was not ambitious of monopolising the honour of the
government and ruling them himself alone as an absolute monarch (Deuteronomy 1:9). Magistracy is a burden.
Moses himself
though so eminently gifted for it
found it lay heavy on his
shoulders; nay
the best magistrates complain most of the burden
and are most
desirous of help
and most afraid of undertaking more than they can perform.
3. That he was not desirous to prefer his own creatures
or such as
should underhand have a dependence upon him; for he leaves it to the people to
choose their judges
to whom he would grant commissions; not to be turned out
when he pleased
but to continue as long as they approved themselves faithful (Deuteronomy 1:13). We must not grudge
that God’s work be done by other hands than ours
provided it be done by good
hands.
4. That he was m this matter very willing to please the people
and
though he did not in anything aim at their applause
yet in a thing of this
nature he would not act without their approbation. And they agreed to the
proposal (Deuteronomy 1:14). The thing which thou
hast spoken is good. This he mentions to aggravate the sin of their mutinies
and discontents after this
that the government they quarrelled with was what
they themselves had consented to; Moses would have pleased them if they would
have been pleased.
5. That he aimed to edify them as well as to gratify them; for--
The execution of a nation’s laws
The constitution of a man’s body is best known by his pulse; if it
stirs not at all
then we know he is dead; if it stirs violently
then we know
him to be in a fever; if it keeps an equal stroke
then we know he is sound and
whole: in like manner we may judge of the estate of a kingdom
or commonwealth
by the manner of execution of its laws. (J. Spencer.)
That great and terrible wilderness.
Memorable experiences
There are some things that are never to be forgotten in
life. There are troubles whose shadow is as long as life’s whole day. The
troubles are past
but the shadow is still there; the victory is won
but the
battle seems still to be booming in our ear. We are miles and miles away from
the desert--yea
half a continent and more--but who can ever forget “all that
great and terrible wilderness”? Yet life would be poor without it. The memory
of that wilderness chastens our joy
touches our prayer into a more solemn and
tender music
and makes us more valiant
because more hopeful
in reference to
all the future. There cannot be two such wildernesses in the whole universe. We
are the better for the wildernesses of life
and we cannot escape them. Oh
that great and terrible wilderness! It comes after us now like a ghost; it
darkens upon our vision in the dream-time; we repeat the journey in the night
season
and feel all the sleet and cold
all the dreariness and helplessness of
the old experience. How many a joy we have forgotten; but we cannot play with
“that great and terrible wilderness.” The very pronouncement of the words makes
us cold. It was “great”; it was “terrible”; it was a “wilderness.” But
rightly
trodden
its barren sand made us men; taken in the right spirit
we thought we
saw in it the beginning of the garden of God. Every man does not pass through
exactly the same wilderness; it is not needful that he should do so in order to
confirm this doctrine--namely
that in all lives there are great dreary spaces
that we approach with fear and traverse almost with despair. What are the
thoughts that such a review should excite? Can we look back upon that way
through all the great and terrible wilderness
without remembering the Divine
help which we received? God was God in the wilderness; God looked at us through
the darkness
and there was no blaze of anger in His eye. Who can forget the
touch that came upon our burning brow in the night time? Who can forget the
ever-branching tree just by the side of the bitter pool? Who can forget the
clump of palm trees where no palm trees were expected? Who can cease to
remember the voice of leadership--the strong
authoritative man who came
amongst us like a revelation from God
and spoke broad words in broad tones
and was a tower of strength to us in the time of our weakness
and wonder
and
fear--the sympathetic pastor
the mighty preacher
the kind friend
the one who
understood us wholly through and through? Then
is there no Divine purpose
the
recollection of which may sustain us in traversing wildernesses and lonely
deserts? Who made the world? Is the world a fatherless thing
a self-rounded
thing that may split up at any moment
or is there method in it? Is there a God
above it? Is there a throne anywhere? And the King
is He but a name or an
echo? I see purpose in my life; I see it now--Thou hast done all things well. I
did not think so at the time; I should have made the wilderness a mile shorter
but it was on the last mile that I saw the brightest angel. I would have come
to honour and renown sooner; but I see now that the very movements were ticked
off
and that a moment earlier would have been a mistake. “I would have come
”
says another Christian man
“to a sense of competency
and comfort
and
household security ten years ago; but in my soul I see that ten years ago I
could not have borne what I now carry gracefully.” Thou hast done all things
well. I would not have had seven graves in the cemetery
nor two
nor one; but
I see now that I am the richer for the seven; I would not now have it
otherwise. They are my best estate; I have property in them; I grow my choicest
flowers there; there I meet with the angels that understand me. There is a
method in all this; I accept it; I will bow down before it; I will kiss the rod
that lacerated me to the bone; it was in my Father’s hand. Then is there to be
no human gratitude springing out of all this? Is ours to be a false life--an
unsympathetic existence? As we have received help of God
let us give help to
others. (J. Parker
D. D.)
The utility of sandy deserts
If we do not at once see the use of a thing which is unbeautiful
we are apt to disdain it altogether. Utility or beauty we demand as a
characteristic of everything. But let it be constantly remembered that our
limited vision and knowledge often prevent our discerning the uses which exist
in things. Do not be deceived by the mere appearance. The sandy deserts which
one might have been inclined to consider as mere encumbrances on the earth are
of high importance in creating winds. They send off vast streams of hot air
into the higher regions of the atmosphere
and hence the cooler air off the
coasts is sucked away in an opposite direction. The deserts
indeed
may be
regarded as vast suction pumps placed at certain stations on the earth
to
create useful winds and help the transport of moisture to lands that are in
want of it. But for the Thibetan deserts there would have been no southwest
monsoon; and without the monsoon the fertile plains of Hindostan would have
been a waste of sand. (Scientific Illustrations.)
The Lord . . . hath set the land before thee.
The heritage of grace
There is a heritage of grace which we ought to be bold enough to
win for our own possession. All that one believer has gained is free to
another. We may be strong in faith
fervent in love
and abundant in labour;
there is nothing to prevent it; let us go up and take possession. The sweetest
experience and the brightest grace are as much for us as for any of our
brethren. Jehovah has set it before us; no one can deny our right; let us go up
and possess it in His name. The world also lies before us to be conquered for
the Lord Jesus. We are not to leave any country a corner of it unsubdued. That
slum near our house is before us
not to baffle our endeavours
but to yield to
them. We have only to summon courage enough to go forward
and we shall win
dark homes and hard hearts for Jesus. Let us never leave the people in a lane
or alley to die because we have not enough faith in Jesus and His Gospel to go
up and possess the land. No spot is too benighted
no person is so profane as
to be beyond the power of grace. Cowardice
begone! Faith marches to the
conquest. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The folly of unbelief
Moses recounted what had occurred in the wilderness of
Paran about two years after the Israelites went out of Egypt. They had reached
Kadesh on the verge of the Negeb or South Country. They resolved to send spies
before them to reconnoitre. This resolve
as the sequel proved
showed a want
of faith on the part of many
and even a determined desire on the part of some
to find an excuse for returning to Egypt. The majority of the spies
while
extolling the country
magnified the difficulties which seemed to be on the
path to its conquest. Only two of the spies were on the Lord’s side. But the
latent unbelief of the people brushed aside their arguments. Only too ]ate the
people repented of their folly
and were driven back before the Amorites to
their forty years of wandering. Moses dwelt on this incident because it showed
the folly and punishment of unbelief
and was thus a warning example. So it is
to the Christian Church (1 Corinthians 10:6). It shows--
I. Some hindrances
to faith.
1. The history is typical of what often occurs in the Christian life.
Many come to the borders of the kingdom of God and fail to enter.
2. The causes of failure are similar
the chief cause is unbelief.
Because of this the Israelites could not enter. The proofs God had given of His
power and willingness aggravated this unbelief. Every step of the journey
proved the Divine goodness. But they forgot all God had done. Unbelief
frustrated all.
3. So is it with individual men. Barriers to entrance to the Divine
kingdom are raised by themselves. They do not trust in the Divine promises.
They are troubled by the thought that they are too sinful--that they must
repent
prepare themselves
etc. But salvation does not depend on these things
though they may show that our hearts are set on it. The slave who is offered
freedom does not need to attempt to purchase it. So sinful men may enter the
strait gate in the Divine strength
through Christ. It was not their
preparedness that entitled the Israelites to enter into the land of promise
but their faith in the Divine promises.
II. Difficulties in
the way of spiritual progress.
Our brethren have discouraged our heart.
Do not be discouraged
To be discouraged is to lose one’s energy and vitality. When a man
is discouraged he is of no use; his power has gone out of him. Courage is a
large and noble quality
and necessary in all the relations of life. It is not
merely shown in the boldness which confronts danger and is self-possessed in
peril. It also is needed to face other difficulties promptly
to do one’s duty
cheerfully when the hope of success is small; to stand alone for the truth and
right; not to be discouraged by disappointment
nor by the censures and
reproofs of the hostile
nor by the indifference of the unsympathising. In
short
courage is the quality which is opposed to all discouragement. No wonder
people admire courage. It is indispensable to nobleness of life. How much
courage some men and women display in taking on themselves new
responsibilities
in going promptly to perform untried and difficult duties
in
keeping up the struggle of life amid many discouragements. Courage is a virtue
needed by women no less than by men. How many poor women there are who work on
to support their families
rising early and going late to bed
and eating the
bread of care. They keep their children tidy and neat
keep them at school
exhaust every contrivance to maintain themselves
try every possible means of
overcoming the daily difficulties of life
and so hold on
year after year
when strong men might have been discouraged and have given up. I think as much
heroism is shown every day in such ways as by the soldiers who hold an
important position in a battle against overwhelming odds. There is no more
important work in this world
no greater duty
than to help others to keep up
their courage. He is our best friend whoso words of cheerful confidence give
more life to our heart
and he is our enemy who by his words of doubt and his
spirit of fear saps this ardour
and takes from us our courage. And yet how
many there are whoso habit it is to look at the dark and discouraging side of
life. They dwell on the faults and follies of men; they retail every petty
scandal they hear; they exaggerate the amount of evil in the world; they suggest
a low and selfish motive as the root of good actions; they quench the ardour of
generous enthusiasm by a cold scepticism. Whenever we have talked with such
persons we have been inclined to say
“Our brethren have discouraged our
heart.” (J. F. Clarke.)
Discouragers
Here is a man like a cloud
and a cloud without any silver lining.
He gets between you and the sun. He makes everything dark. He puts the worst
constructions
and attributes the worst motives
and takes the darkest view.
You do not like to meet the murksome man. You do not wish to be overcast.
Perhaps today you are hopeful. You have difficulties
but by God’s blessing you
can work out. Your church is struggling
but you think you see a brighter day.
You have some sorry apples in your basket
but you have gotten the big ones on
top. You have a skeleton or two in your closet
but they are out of sight. The
sun is shining today up on the high places and valleys of your landscape. And
here comes that human cloud
with his shadow creeping on before him. You avoid
him. You take the other side of the street. Because you know in ten minutes he
would get all the small apples on the top of your basket. He would have all the
skeletons out of your closet
because he likes their company. You escape him
because
you do not want him to cool your iron
for it is hot and you have made up your
mind to strike it. Such a man may be a Christian; but he has a great besetting
sin
which he must watch and pray against. Let him add this petition to his
litany: From all blue devils; from all dismal dejection; from all bilious
despondency; from all funereal gloom
and from all unchristian
hopelessness--good Lord
deliver us. (R. S. Barrett.)
Joshua . . . Encourage him.
Encourage your minister
Joshua was a young man in comparison with Moses. He was about to
undertake the onerous task of commanding a great people. He had
moreover
the
difficult enterprise of leading them into the promised laud
and chasing out
the nations which possessed it. The Lord commanded Moses therefore to encourage
him
that in the prospect of great labour he might not be dismayed.
I. God
even our
God
is graciously considerate of His servants
and would have them well fitted
for high enterprise with good courage. He does not send them as a tyrant would
send a soldier upon an errand for which he is not capable
nor does He
afterwards withhold His succour
forgetful of the straits to which they may be
reduced; but tie is very careful of His servants
and will not let one of them
perish. The Lord our God hath strong reasons for being thus considerate of His
servants.
1. Are they not His children? Is He not their Father? Does tie not
love them? Now
none of us would send a child of ours upon a difficult
enterprise without being anxious for his welfare. We would not put him upon a
trial beyond his strength
without at the same time guaranteeing to stand at
his side and make his strength equal to his day.
2. Moreover
the Father Himself is concerned as to His honour in all
that they do. If any servant of God shall fall
then God’s name is despised.
The daughters of Philistia rejoice
and the inhabitants of Ekron triumph. His
honour is too much concerned ever to permit this. Ye feeble ones
to whom God
hath given to do or to suffer for His name’s sake
rest assured that He hath
His eye upon you now. He cannot leave you
unless He can cease to be “God over
all
blessed for ever.”
3. Observe well how far the tender consideration of God for His
servants extends! He not only considers their outward state
and the absolute
interests of their condition
but He remembers their spirits
and loves to see
them of good courage.
II. God uses His
own people to encourage one another. He did not say to the angel
“Gabriel
there is My servant Joshua
about to take the people into Canaan--fly down and
encourage him.” God never works needless miracles. Gabriel would not have been
half so well fitted for the work as Moses. A brother’s sympathy is more
precious than an angel’s embassy. To whom
then
should this work of
encouraging the people be committed?
1. Surely the elders should do it; those of riper years than their
fellows. I know of nothing more inspiriting than to hear the experience of a
grey-headed saint. I have found much spiritual comfort in sitting at the feet
of my venerable grandfather
more than eighty years of age.
2. Not the aged only
but the wise in the family should be
comforters. All believers are not equal in knowledge. Oh
ye that have searched
the Scriptures through and know its promises
be sure to quote the promises of
God to trembling hearts
and especially to those engaged in arduous labour for
the Master. Comfort them. Repeat the doctrine of God’s faithfulness; say to
them
“He will be with thee
He will not fail thee
neither forsake thee: fear
not
neither be dismayed.” Oh
that the wise-hearted in the Lord’s family would
be thus employed at all times.
3. Nor can I doubt that the happier sort of Christians ought always
to be engaged in comforting the mournful and sorrowing. You know whom I mean;
their eyes always sparkle; wherever they go they carry lamps bright with
animation
sunshine gleams in their faces
they live in the light of God’s
countenance.
4. Let the brother of low degree be likewise encouraged by those who
are rich among you. You may frequently breathe comfort into a desponding spirit
by seasonable help.
III. I advance to
the object that is uppermost in my mind. I believe there is a special occasion
for the exercise of this duty of encouraging one another in the case of the
minister and Church in this place. It is a fresh enterprise surrounded with
peculiar difficulties
and demanding special labour. It is a work so solemn
that if you do not encourage your minister your minister will probably sink
down in despair. Remember that the man himself needs encouragement because he
is weak. Who is sufficient for these things? To serve in any part of the
spiritual army is dangerous
but to be a captain is to be doubly exposed. The
most of the shots are aimed at the officers. There are all sorts of
discouragements to be met with. Professing Christians will backslide. Those who
do remain will often be inconsistent
and he will be sighing in his closet
while
you
perhaps
are thanking God that your souls have been fed under him.
Encourage your minister
I pray yon
wherever you attend--encourage him for
your own sake. A discouraged minister is a serious burden upon the
congregation. When the fountain gets out of order you cannot expect water at
any of the taps; and if the minister be not right it is something like a steam
engine in a great manufactory--everybody’s loom is idle when the motive power
is out of order. See that he is resting upon God and receiving His Divine
power
and you will all know
each Sabbath day
the benefit of it. This is the
least thing you can do. There are many other things which may cause you
expense
effort
time
but to encourage the minister is so easy
so simple a
matter
that I may well press upon you to do it. Perhaps you will say
“Well
if it is so simple and easy
tell us
who are expecting to settle down in this
place
how we can encourage the minister here.” Well
you can do it in several
ways.
1. You can encourage him by very constant attendance. Those who are
going from place to place are of no use to anybody; but those are the truly
useful men who
when the servants of God are in their places
keep to theirs
and let everybody see that whoever discourages the minister
they will not
for
they appreciate his ministry.
2. Again
let me say
by often being present at the prayer meeting
you can encourage the minister.
3. Again
you can all encourage the minister by the consistency of
your lives. I do not know when I ever felt more gratified than on one occasion
when
sitting at a church meeting
having to report the death of a young
brother who was in the service of an eminent employer
a little note came from
him to say
“My servant
Edward--
is dead. I send you word at once that you
may send me another young man; for if your members are such as he was
I never
wish to have better servants around me.” I read the letter at the church
meeting
and another was soon found. It is a cheering thing for the Christian
minister to know that his converts are held in repute. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Encouragement
I. The text
supposes that difficulties will be encountered. In the Christian life there are
many obstacles.
1. Difficulties made by ourselves.
2. Difficulties arising from the conduct of others.
3. Difficulties expressly sent by God to test His servants.
II. The text gives
a command to surmount these difficulties. We should encourage our fellow
Christians.
1. To meet their trials with patience.
2. Steadily to fight till they conquer them.
3. To profit by them.
III. The text
contains a lesson for every Christian preacher and teacher. “Encourage”--
1. The penitent sinner.
2. The young believer.
3. The well-tried saint. (J. W. Macdonald.)
The Christian pastor encouraged by his flock
You need not be told that those clergymen who enter into the
spirit of their office are oppressed with discouragements of various kinds.
These it is incumbent on you to anticipate
and as far as lies in your power to
prevent; a measure far more easy to effect than a removal of them after they
have actually taken place.
I. He is liable to
discouragement arising from fear as to the inefficacy of his public and private
labours.
1. “Encourage him” by your regular attendance on the public
worship
of God. Let it ever be remembered that attendance on the House of God IS not a
matter of choice
but a sacred duty.
2. “Encourage him” by endeavouring to derive personal benefit from
his ministry.
3. “Encourage him” by endeavouring to counteract his fears in
manifesting your readiness to cooperate with him in all his efforts to do good.
It is heartless work to labour alone.
4. “Encourage him” by praying for him.
5. “Encourage him” by informing him of the success of his labours
whether on yourselves or on others.
II. A second source
of ministerial discouragement regards the unfavourable impressions likely to be
made on some minds by the faithful discharge of his professional duties. Let it
be your delight to “encourage” your minister by following him with patience and
docility in all his researches into the inexhaustible treasures of inspiration.
III. Another species
of ministerial discouragement sometimes arises from fear respecting the failure
of the affection of our people and the diminution of our own usefulness should
we continue long to labour amongst them. There are some who will show less
forbearance to a minister than to others; and who
not satisfied with exciting
the hostility of their families
labour by partial statements of their own case
to create a general prejudice against him. Contentions in parishes and in
churches have often caused clergymen to sigh for a place in the desert
that
they might leave their flocks and go from them; indeed
they have made them
long for that place “where the wicked cease from troubling and where the weary
are at rest.” Encourage your minister
therefore
by endeavouring to be “all of
one mind.” As Christians
you must walk in love. (T. Gibson
M. A.)
Salutary encouragement
A gentleman travelling in the northern part of Ireland
heard the voices of children
and stopped to listen. Finding the sound came
from a small building used as a school house he drew near; as the door was open
he went in and listened to the words the boys were spelling. One little fellow
stood apart
looking very sad. “Why does that boy stand there?” asked the
gentleman. “Oh
he is good for nothing
replied the teacher. “There is nothing
in him. I can make nothing of him. He is the most stupid boy in the school. The
gentleman was surprised at his answer. He saw the teacher was so stern and
rough that the younger and more timid were nearly crushed. After a few words to
them
placing his hand on the head of the little fellow who stood apart
he
said
“One of these days you may be a fine scholar. Don’t give up; try
my boy--try.”
The boy’s soul was aroused. A new purpose was formed. From that hour he became
anxious to excel
and he did become a fine scholar. It was Dr. Adam Clarke.
A minister’s encouragement
I remember to have preached
years ago
at a watering place
in the Virginia mountains
at the dedication of a new church. The people were
all strangers to each other; and as he went away my friend said (who had a
right to speak so familiarly)
“I wonder
my dear fellow
that you could be
animated at all today; for we are all strangers
and things were pretty cold I
thought.” “Ah
but
” the preacher replied
“you did not see old brother
Gwathmey
of Hanover
who sat there by the post. The first sentence of the
sermon caught hold of him
and it kept shining out of his eyes and his face
and he and the preacher had a good time together
and we didn’t care at all
about the rest of you.”
Timely encouragement
As Luther was passing to the assembly room of the Diet a noted
commander
George Von Frundesberg
touched him on the shoulder
and said
“My
dear monk
thou art now about taking a step the like of which neither I nor
many a commander on the hardest fought battlefield has ever taken. If thou art
right and sure of thy cause
proceed in God’s name
and be of good cheer; God
will not forsake thee.” (Little’s Historical Lights.)
Encouragement needed
Lord Lytton
in his essay on the efficacy of praise
tells
a story of Mr. Keen
who
when performing in some city of the United States
came to the manager when the play was half over
and said
“I can’t go on
again
sir
if the pit keeps its hands in its pockets. Such an audience would
extinguish AEtna.” Upon this the manager told the audience that Mr. Keen
not
being accustomed to the severe intelligence of American citizens
mistook their
silent attention for courteous disappointment
and that if they did not applaud
Mr. Keen as he was accustomed to be applauded
they could not see Mr. Keen act
as he was accustomed to act. Of course
the audience took the hint
and as
their fervour rose
so rose the genius of the actor
and their applause
contributed to the triumphs it rewarded.
In this thing ye did not believe the Lord your God.
Partial truth
These are the great battles of the world. Not the clang of swords
and the roar of kingdoms
but the conflict of man with God
--man calling God a
liar; these are the disastrous and fatal wars. We think ourselves refined
because we shrink from the taste of hot blood
and then go and secretly disobey
the God that made us. We are often called upon to contemplate what may be
called partial faith. We have faith in spots; we are mainly bruises of
unbelief
wounds of unconfessed but deadly atheism; yet here and there
leopard-like or zebra-like
we are studded with pieces of detached piety. How
true this is let every man bear witness on his own account. We do believe some
things
but generally they are things of no importance. We believe things that
cost us nothing. Who believes the thing that has a Cross. Wet with red blood in
the middle of it? We are all partially religious
whimsically religious
religious after a very arbitrary and mechanical fashion. It is marvellous how
the conscience is trained in little dots and short lines
and how the total
manhood is left in a practically atheistic condition. We see what is meant by
partial faith when we contemplate a vision which comes before us every day of
our life
and that is the vision of partial character. Where is there a man
that is all reprobate? The son of perdition occurs but now and then in the
rolling transient centuries. Who is there who has not some good points about
him? How we magnify those points into character. The chain is no stronger than
its weakest link. Would you trust a chain thirty links long if you were sure
that one of the links was very weak? You are no stronger than your weakest
point; study that weak point; repair
amend
or remove it
or replace it by
some point worthy of the rest of the character. That would be common sense
that would be downright logic worthy of the market place. Why not accept it and
realise it? We all believe in providence. Which providence? how much
providence? in what seasons do we believe in providence? We are great believers
in blossoming time
but what faith have we when the snow upon our path is six
feet deep and the wind a hail and frost? The Lord has many fine day followers.
When a man has had ten thousand pounds unexpectedly left to him
he is prone to
sing
“God moves in a mysterious way.” He is mayhap
notwithstanding his psalm
singing
a hypocrite; he does not understand the meaning of faith
which is
self-transformation into the very bosom of God. We often hear of some persons
who are remarkably sound on certain doctrines. I dread to hear of any man who
is particularly sound
on any one doctrine
because I have the suspicion that
he is magnifying his soundness upon that doctrine that he may ingratiate
himself into my confidence so far as to inoculate me with some peculiar heresy
of his own. As we have said before
what would be thought of any man who was
partial to certain letters of the alphabet
and remarkably sound upon the
consonants
or who held two of the vowels with most pious and clinging faith
who would lay down his intellectual life for the vowel a and for the vowel o
but who would take leave to cherish his own suspicions with regard to the
soundness of the other vowels? What of the man who is strong upon the letter b
but a little heretical upon the letter z? This is God’s charge against
us by the mouth of His prophets and apostles--“Yet in this thing ye did not
believe.” We must not only be careful about what we do believe
but about what
we do not believe. Do we really believe in providence?--in the shepherdly God
in the fatherly God
in the motherly God
in the God of the silent step
who
comes with the noiselessness of a sunbeam into the chamber of our solitude and
desolation? Do we really believe in the God who fills all space
yet takes up no
poor man’s room
and who is constantly applying to broken or wounded hearts the
balm that grows only in old sweet Gilead? Do we believe that the very hairs of
our head are all numbered? I am not so old in faith as mighty Habakkuk
I could
see many trees blighted without losing my faith; but there is
one tree
if
aught should happen to any single branch or twig of that tree
my soul’s faith
would wither. What
then
can be my faith
if it is true
and it is true
that
a chain is no stronger than its weakest link? We believe in prayer. How much?
At what time do we believe in prayer? Are there not periods of agony in life in
which we dismiss all around
and look with dumb sorrow upon the unheeding
heavens? It is in vain that we say we believe in prayer
and that we lament for
those who do not pray
if our prayer does not stand us in good stead in the
hour and article of life’s extremest agony. Remember the possibility of our
having a partial faith
a partial faith in providence
a partial faith in
prayer
and remember that the chain is no stronger than its weakest point; and
if in this thing or that we do not believe the Lord our God
we may strike the
rest of our faith dead as with a sword stroke. Lord
save me
or I perish! What
we want
then
is an all-round faith; in other words
what we want is an
all-the-year-round faith. But our faith comes in fits and starts. Perhaps this
may be accounted for by the fact that we have confounded the word creed with
the word faith. Creed is weather
faith is climate; creed is a variable
alphabet
faith is an eternal poetry. We live on faith
we walk by faith;
without faith we have no life. As to our creed
take it
leave it
read it
despise it
adopt it
do what you like with it
but faith abides for ever
sometimes requiring new words and new modes
but never changing its inward and
Divine substance and meaning. Let every man apply this text to himself. Let no
man charge another about this merely occasional or spasmodic faith. Now and
again we hear men say
My faith could not rise to that height. Sometimes I may
ask for a little patience
now and again I may say
Give me time. Lord
Thou
knowest all things
Thou knowest that I love Thee. That is the true faith. So
long as that love lingers in the heart hell shall not have thee
nor the gates
of hell prevail against the rock on which you build. This is very serious. This
reflection makes life very solemn. Some of us have thought too much that we
could take up our faith and set it down
that we may believe a little of this and
a little of that; some of us have not thought much of the roundness of the orb
of faith. Let us not give way to censoriousness upon others. You do not know
how hard it is for some men to believe. It may be comparatively easy for you
and me to believe. But we who are strong should bear the infirmities of the
weak; we should be patient with the slow
we should desire that other men may
know the joy and the blessedness and the triumph and the glory of the full
life. (J. Parker
D. D.)
To show you by what way ye should go.
The Bible like the pillar of cloud and fire
I. As the pillar
of cloud and fire was a blessing to the Jews
so is the Bible a blessing to all
ages.
1. Consider the characteristics of the Bible as set forth by those of
the pillar. That pillar had its own history.
2. Consider the general influence of the Bible on the world as
illustrated by the influence of the cloud upon those who went with it. The
cloud benefited many who never knew or felt its value. In the camp of Israel
there were many who were very thoughtless
as there are many in every age
yet
did they enjoy the light and beat and guidance. They owed much of their comfort
to that mystic cloud
but never felt or even thought of their obligation. Just
so is it in reference to the Bible. Its influence is found in many a home where
it is not acknowledged.
II. Some of those
who were blessed by the light and comforts of the mystic cloud were barred at
last from Canaan
as some who have been blessed by Bible truth will never find
their way to heaven. When that man on yon northern hills was surrounded by
thick mist--when in that mist he lost his way and was overtaken by the chill
dark night
and lost his footing on the narrow ledge along which the path led
him
and fell headlong into the deep abyss and was killed--the sight was very
sad. But I can point you to a sadder scene than that. It is to see a man walk
over some terrible precipice when the sun of heaven is shining to show his
danger
and his eyes are open to it. But the saddest sight of all is to see
lost for ever
men and women who have been instructed in the Bible. Many who
know the way to heaven come short of it through unbelief.
III. Those who were
faithful to God were led by the mystic cloud to Canaan; so shall all believers
be led by the Word of God to heaven. Out of all the people who left Egyptian
bondage only two entered the land of promise
Caleb and Joshua. The benefits of
the fiery cloud were lost upon the rest. The cloud led them ever Jordan
and
left them safe in possession of the land. Thus it ever is. Those who are
faithful to God find His Word their guide and comfort to the end. Its promises
turn their darkness into day
and calm all storms of inward fear. (E. Lewis
B. A.)
Because he hath wholly followed the Lord.
Following the Lord fully
You want to be a Christian
meanwhile your heart is set upon
getting riches. You would store your mind with the learning and wisdom of the
world
you wish to gain repute as a good talker in company
and a convivial
guest at the social hoard. Ambition prompts you to seek fame among your
fellows. Well
I shall not denounce any of these things
but I would use every
persuasion to induce you who are believers in Christ to renounce the world. If
Christ has redeemed you He has henceforth a claim on you as His servant
and it
is at your peril that you take up any pursuits that are inconsistent with a
full surrender of yourself to Him. Why many Christians never attain to any
eminence in the Divine life is because they let the floods of their life run
away in a dozen little rivulets
whereas if they cooped them up in one channel
and sent that one stream rolling on to the glory of God
there would be such a
force and power about their character that they would live while they lived. (C.
H. Spurgeon.)
Following the Lord fully
It ought to be the great care of every one of us to follow the
Lord fully. We must follow Him universally
without dividing; uprightly
without dissembling: cheerfully
without disputing; constantly
without
declining; and this is following Him fully. (Matthew Henry.)
Self-concentration on God
No man makes progress in any branch of human thought or
science without this first condition--the habit of pinning himself down wholly
to the subject in band
and rigidly restraining all other thoughts. You must
bring your instrument to a point before it will penetrate
to an edge that it
may cut; and only firm concentration of oneself on the matter before us will do
that. Alas! how little of this patient prolonged concentration of interested
thought on our dear Lord do even the best and devoutest of us employ! And as for
the ordinary Christian life of this day
what a sad contrast does it present to
such an ideal. (A. Maclaren
D. D.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》