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Jeremiah
Chapter Six
Jeremiah 6
Chapter Contents
The invasion of Judea. (1-8) The justice of God's
proceedings. (9-17) All methods used to amend them had been without success.
(18-30)
Commentary on Jeremiah 6:1-8
(Read Jeremiah 6:1-8)
Whatever methods are used
it is vain to contend with
God's judgments. The more we indulge in the pleasures of this life
the more we
unfit ourselves for the troubles of this life. The Chaldean army shall break in
upon the land of Judah
and in a little time devour all. The day is coming
when those careless and secure in sinful ways will be visited. It is folly to
trifle when we have eternal salvation to work out
and the enemies of that
salvation to fight against. But they were thus eager
not that they might
fulfil God's counsels
but that they might fill their own treasures; yet God
thereby served his own purposes. The corrupt heart of man
in its natural
state
casts out evil thoughts
just as a fountain casts out her waters. It is
always flowing
yet always full. The God of mercy is loth to depart even from a
provoking people
and is earnest with them
that by repentance and reformation
they may prevent things from coming to extremity.
Commentary on Jeremiah 6:9-17
(Read Jeremiah 6:9-17)
When the Lord arises to take vengeance
no sinners of any
age or rank
or of either sex escape. They were set upon the world
and wholly
carried away by the love of it. If we judge of this sin by God's word
we find
multitudes in every station and rank given up to it. Those are to be reckoned
our worst and most dangerous enemies
who flatter us in a sinful way. Oh that
men would be wise for their souls! Ask for the old paths; the way of godliness
and righteousness has always been the way God has owned and blessed. Ask for
the old paths set forth by the written word of God. When you have found the
good way
go on in it
you will find abundant recompence at your journey's end.
But if men will not obey the voice of God and flee to his appointed Refuge
it
will plainly appear at the day of judgment
that they are ruined because they
reject God's word.
Commentary on Jeremiah 6:18-30
(Read Jeremiah 6:18-30)
God rejects their outward services
as worthless to atone
for their sins. Sacrifice and incense were to direct them to a Mediator; but
when offered to purchase a license to go on in sin
they provoke God. The sins
of God's professing people make them an easy prey to their enemies. They dare
not show themselves. Saints may rejoice in hope of God's mercies
though they
see them only in the promise: sinners must mourn for fear of God's judgments
though they see them only in the threatenings. They are the worst of revolters
and are all corrupters. Sinners soon become tempters. They are compared to ore
supposed to have good metal in it
but which proves all dross. Nothing will
prevail to part between them and their sins. Reprobate silver shall they be
called
useless and worthless. When warnings
corrections
rebukes
and all
means of grace
leave men unrenewed
they will be left
as rejected of God
to
everlasting misery. Let us pray
then
that we may be refined by the Lord
as
silver is refined.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Jeremiah》
Jeremiah 6
Verse 1
[1] O ye
children of Benjamin
gather yourselves to flee out of the midst of Jerusalem
and blow the trumpet in Tekoa
and set up a sign of fire in Bethhaccerem: for
evil appeareth out of the north
and great destruction.
Benjamin —
Judah
when the ten tribes fell off
the tribe of Benjamin adhered to Judah
and was incorporated into them; if it be asked why the prophet rather speaks to
Benjamin than to Judah
the reason probably may be
because he being of
Anathoth was of that tribe
and therefore mentions them as his own countrymen.
Gather —
Gather yourselves together by the sound of the trumpet at Tekoa
one of those
fenced cities twelve miles from Jerusalem that Rehoboam built.
A sign —
Fire a beacon.
Beth-haccerem —
Signifies the house of the vineyard
probably some high tower built among the
vineyards for the keepers of them to watch them.
Verse 3
[3] The shepherds with their flocks shall come unto her; they shall pitch
their tents against her round about; they shall feed every one in his place.
The shepherds —
The Chaldean princes
with their armies
as so many flocks
shall come into
this pleasant land.
In his place —
Each one in his quarter or station.
Verse 4
[4]
Prepare ye war against her; arise
and let us go up at noon. Woe unto us! for
the day goeth away
for the shadows of the evening are stretched out.
Prepare —
These seem to be the words of God calling them to this work.
Arise —
This shews how ready they will be to obey God's call.
The day goeth — We
delay
and tarry too long
and the day spends apace.
The shadows —
They were so eagerly set upon it
that they watched the lengthening of the
shadow
which shews the approach of the evening.
Verse 5
[5]
Arise
and let us go by night
and let us destroy her palaces.
This night —
They would lose neither day nor night; which shews that
they were
extraordinarily stirred up by God in this expedition.
Verse 6
[6] For thus hath the LORD of hosts said
Hew ye down trees
and cast a mount
against Jerusalem: this is the city to be visited; she is wholly oppression in
the midst of her.
Said — To
the Chaldeans: God would have the Jews to know
that they have not so much to
do with the Chaldeans as with him; that they are his rod to scourge them for
their sins. And thus God is said to hiss for such whom he will employ in such
work
Isaiah 5:26; 7:18. And he styles himself the Lord of hosts
to shew that it is in vain to contend in battle with them
whom he sends forth.
Trees —
Such as you may have need of to raise up works against the strong places.
Cast a mount —
Throw up one continued trench
as a mount round about it.
Oppression —
There are found in her all kinds of oppression and injustice.
Verse 8
[8] Be
thou instructed
O Jerusalem
lest my soul depart from thee; lest I make thee
desolate
a land not inhabited.
Be thou instructed — I
would yet willingly spare them if it might be.
Depart —
Heb. be disjointed
a most emphatical metaphor
whereby God would express how
great grief it is to him to withdraw himself from them
even like the
separating one limb from another.
Verse 9
[9] Thus
saith the LORD of hosts
They shall throughly glean the remnant of Israel as a
vine: turn back thine hand as a grapegatherer into the baskets.
Glean —
Judah shalt be gleaned over and over
'till there be a full end
none left.
Turn back — As
much as to say
they should not be content with one spoiling
but they should
go back a second and a third time
to carry away both persons and spoil.
Verse 10
[10] To
whom shall I speak
and give warning
that they may hear? behold
their ear is
uncircumcised
and they cannot hearken: behold
the word of the LORD is unto
them a reproach; they have no delight in it.
Their ear — An
uncircumcised ear
signifies the rejecting of instruction; an uncircumcised
heart
an obstinate and rebellious will.
They cannot —
They had brought themselves under that incapacity by their obstinacy and
wilfulness.
A reproach —
They laugh at it
and scorn it.
Verse 11
[11]
Therefore I am full of the fury of the LORD; I am weary with holding in: I will
pour it out upon the children abroad
and upon the assembly of young men
together: for even the husband with the wife shall be taken
the aged with him
that is full of days.
I am full — I
am
as it were
filled with the fire of God's wrath
which I am forced to
discharge myself of.
Abroad —
The streets being the places where children are wont to sport.
The husband —
One sex as well as the other
shall be a prey to the enemy.
Full of days —
Such as had filled up the number of their days
as were at the edge of the
grave.
Verse 13
[13] For
from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is given to
covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth
falsely.
Falsely —
Heb. doing falsehood
as if that were their whole work
the proper sin of the
priests and prophets
to deceive the people
and to flatter them by false
visions.
Verse 14
[14] They
have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly
saying
Peace
peace; when there is no peace.
They have —
This refers peculiarly to the prophets; making light of these threatenings
daubing over the misery and danger that was coming on the people
by persuading
them
that it should not come
or if it did
it would be easily cured.
Verse 15
[15] Were
they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay
they were not at all
ashamed
neither could they blush: therefore they shall fall among them that
fall: at the time that I visit them they shall be cast down
saith the LORD.
Committed —
Both by encouraging the people
and joining with them in their idolatries.
Verse 16
[16] Thus
saith the LORD
Stand ye in the ways
and see
and ask for the old paths
where
is the good way
and walk therein
and ye shall find rest for your souls. But
they said
We will not walk therein.
Stand — He
now turns his speech to the people
and gives them counsel; by a metaphor taken
from travellers
that being in doubt of their way
stand still
and consider
whether the direction they have received from some false guide
be right or
not.
Verse 17
[17] Also
I set watchmen over you
saying
Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they
said
We will not hearken.
Trumpet —
The voice of his prophet
intimating his loud crying upon the account of
eminent danger.
Verse 18
[18]
Therefore hear
ye nations
and know
O congregation
what is among them.
Nations — He
calls upon the nations round about to be spectators of his severity against
Judah.
What —
The greatness of their punishment
as the effect of the greatness of their
sins.
Verse 20
[20] To
what purpose cometh there to me incense from Sheba
and the sweet cane from a
far country? your burnt offerings are not acceptable
nor your sacrifices sweet
unto me.
Sheba — A
country in Arabia Faelix
to which country frankincense was peculiar.
The sweet cane —
The same that is mentioned as an ingredient in the holy oil
Exodus 30:23. To what purpose art thou at this
trouble and charge to fetch these ingredients for thy incense.
Verse 21
[21]
Therefore thus saith the LORD
Behold
I will lay stumblingblocks before this
people
and the fathers and the sons together shall fall upon them; the
neighbour and his friend shall perish.
I will say — I
will suffer such things to be laid in their way
as shall be the occasion of
their destruction.
The neighbour — Men
of all sorts and conditions.
Verse 22
[22] Thus
saith the LORD
Behold
a people cometh from the north country
and a great
nation shall be raised from the sides of the earth.
Behold —
God shall stir up the Chaldeans like a great storm.
The sides —
The uttermost parts of the Babylonian territories.
Verse 24
[24] We
have heard the fame thereof: our hands wax feeble: anguish hath taken hold of
us
and pain
as of a woman in travail.
We — The prophet
personates the peoples affections.
Verse 25
[25] Go
not forth into the field
nor walk by the way; for the sword of the enemy and
fear is on every side.
Go not forth —
Expressing the great danger that there would be everywhere.
Verse 26
[26] O
daughter of my people
gird thee with sackcloth
and wallow thyself in ashes:
make thee mourning
as for an only son
most bitter lamentation: for the
spoiler shall suddenly come upon us.
Gird thee —
The prophet calls upon them to mourn in the deepest manner.
Verse 27
[27] I
have set thee for a tower and a fortress among my people
that thou mayest know
and try their way.
I have set thee —
Here God speaks by way of encouragement to the prophet
and tells him
he had
made him a fortified tower
that he might be safe
notwithstanding all the
attempts against him.
And try — As
refiners do metals; hereby be is encouraged to reprove them more freely
God
will give him prudence to see what is amiss
and undauntedness to oppose it.
Verse 29
[29] The
bellows are burned
the lead is consumed of the fire; the founder melteth in
vain: for the wicked are not plucked away.
The bellows —
The prophet prosecutes his metaphor taken from refining of metals
intimating
that the prophets had spent their breath to no purpose
and their strength was
consumed by their labour.
The lead —
The judgments which were heavy
as lead upon them
are all wasted
and do no
good.
In vain —
Let the artist use his greatest skill and industry
yet is it all in vain.
Verse 30
[30]
Reprobate silver shall men call them
because the LORD hath rejected them.
Refuse — Such
as will be rejected in payments.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Jeremiah》
"ASK FOR THE OLD PATHS" Jeremiah 6:16
INTRODUCTION
1. The Old Testament is filled with many lessons for the Christians... a. It was written for our learning - Ro 15:4 b. It was written for our admonition - 1 Co 10:11 2. One such lesson is that found in the days of Jeremiah... a. A time of religious and social turmoil b. The nation of Israel [The Lord wanted to offer them rest for their souls (Jer 6:16). Usingthe imagery of travelers who have lost their way
the Lord calls forthem to...] I. ASK FOR THE OLD PATHS
A. THE LORD MAKES HIS PLEA... 1. "Stand in the ways and see" - Jer 6:16 a. There is not just one path b. There are many directions one might follow 2. "Ask for the old paths" - Jer 6:16 a. The 'old way' is often the best way b. Such is certainly the case here 3. "Where the good way is" - Jer 6:16 a. Not all paths lead to the 'good way' b. In this case
the old paths led back to the Law of Moses - cf. Jer 7:22-24 B. JESUS MAKES A SIMILAR PLEA TODAY... 1. To strive to enter the right path - Lk 13:24 a. With a gate that is narrow
and not easily entered b. Where there is only one way to the Father - cf. Jn 14:6; Ac4:12
2. For there are other
broad
ways that one might follow - Mt7:13
a. A way that many follow b. A way that leads to destruction 3. Yet the way Jesus offers is a 'good way' a. One that likewise offers rest for our souls - Mt 11:28 b. In this case
the way leads back to words of Jesus - Mt11:29
[The words of Jesus are relatively "old" by today's standards. Whathappened to Israel in Jer 18:15
they had stumbled...] II. FROM THE ANCIENT PATHS TO WALK IN PATHWAYS
A. ISRAEL 1. Why? Because they had forgotten God - Jer 18:15 2. Though God had revealed Himself and His will long before 3. He had established a "highway" for them to follow 4. Instead
they had turned to many of the side "pathways" B. GOD'S PEOPLE FACE SIMILAR DANGERS TODAY... 1. Jesus established a "highway" for us to follow a. His words
doctrine
commandments - cf. Mt 11:29 ('learn from Me') b. Communicated through His apostles - cf. Mt 28:20 c. Aided by the Holy Spirit - Jn 16:12-13 d. Which the early disciples were careful to follow - Ac 2:42 e. Which the Christians were commanded to follow - 2 Th 2:15;3:6
2. Yet there are man "pathways" that would lead us astray a. Such as doctrines of men - Mt 15:9 b. Such as philosophies of men - Co 2:8 [Often packaged as "new!" and "improved!"
such doctrines andphilosophies fail to deliver what only the Lord truly offers ("rest foryour souls"). To ensure that we are not led astray
we need to...] III. SET UP SIGNPOSTS MAKE LANDMARKS
A. THIS WAS THE SOLUTION FOR ISRAEL 1. To set up road marks which would direct them back to the right way - Jer 31:21 2. For them
these 'signposts' and 'landmarks' was the Law of Moses a. To which they were not to add or take way - Deu 4:1-2 b. Which they were to teach every generation - Deu 4:9 B. THIS IS THE SOLUTION FOR US TODAY... 1. To set up road marks which lead us to the right way 2. For us
these 'signposts' and 'landmarks' are found in: a. The apostles' doctrine
received as God's Word - Ac 2:42;1 Co 14:37; 1 Th 2:13
b. For they contain the doctrine of Christ
without which we cannot have God - 2 Jn 9 CONCLUSION
1. Do you desire to have rest for your soul...? a. Freedom from sin
freedom from guilt? b. With inner peace and tranquility in the midst of outward turmoil? 2. The path to such rest is an old path... a. Found only in Him who lived and died for our sins nearly 2000 years ago b. Whose doctrine has been faithfully preserved by His apostles in the New Testament If you are stumbling around in life
then "Ask For The Old Paths" thatwill lead you back to God...!
－－《Executable
Outlines》
06 Chapter 6
Verses 1-30
Verses 1-9
Arise
and let us go up at noon.
Christian effort
That spirit-stirring call of the text
so needful to arouse the
Chaldeans on their march to the ancient
is as needful for us on our pilgrimage
to the new
Jerusalem.
1. In other passages
the early years of childhood and youth are
pointed out as the special time for God’s service. While the heart is warm and
pliant. Ere the hardening influence of a selfish world
having closed it to the
Saviour’s call
has swept and garnished it for tenantry of evil.
2. “Arise
and let us go up at noon.” It is midday with you
to whom
the text is speaking. It is the period for active endeavour. Now the calls of
the world are dinned most loudly into your ears. In the earlier hours
and at
the close of your passing day
you were and will be alike incapable of
prolonged toil. Now the requirement is made of you
and to what behests does it
bid you attend? Make the most of your time. Are you poor? Strive for
independence. Are you rich? Strive for place and power. Are you intellectual?
Seek a sphere for display
a stage for self-glorification. Thus speaks the
world
and were some of its directions pursued in moderation
pursued
subordinate to higher and nobler motive
there might be wisdom in our chastened
regards. But
alas! how many go to extreme in these observances
and become the
slaves of time and sense. Apply those misdirected energies to a nobler cause.
The rewards of time are not worth such care as this. In themselves
they are of
scarce more value than the withered leaves which crowned the victor in the
ancient games. Arise
and go up at noon to seek the incorruptible crown. Ye are
soldiers engaged in warfare. The sword is drawn. The banner is spread. Its
emblem is the Cross. Your weapons are not carnal. The din of military music
shall not spur you to the dangerous assault; but strains of sweetest melody
shall speak to you of peace
peace on earth
goodwill to men; peace which the
world can neither give nor take away.
3. But have you passed that period of activity
and in your
retrospect of its busy hours do you feel how prodigally your energies have been
wasted? Have ungodly habits become so confirmed
that now at your journey’s
end
being dead to the enticements of the present
you are not alive to the
requirements of the future? Shall an appeal
which might impress a heart yet
warm and flexible
fall coldly on the worn and weary conscience of the aged?
The gracious and long-suffering Master has still this call to summon you
“Arise
and let us go by night.” Ye have heard and disregarded the call
throughout the day
and therefore may not be as those who
having never been
hired earlier
received every man a penny
but whatsoever is right
that shall
ye receive. Go by prayer and penitence
by sought and found spiritual guidance
or soon the light of life will be extinguished in outer darkness.
4. But ye have been watchful and faithful. Ye arose
and went up at
noon. It is not woeful to you that the day goeth away. It is no cause of regret
that the shadows of evening are stretched out. “Behold! I come quickly
” the
Saviour says to you; and joyfully ready is your reply
“Even so
come
Lord
Jesus.” All things are yours: love and reverence from all without
peace
unspeakable from all within. Ye shall arise and go. The shadows stretched
before you shall be dispelled forever
and the brightness of that noon which
shall fade no more shall rest upon you. (F. Jackson.)
Verse 4
Woe unto us! for the day goeth away.
“Woe unto us!”
The Babylonians are represented by the prophet as coming to
plunder the Holy City
like flocks being led to their feeding ground. They
hurry to the work of destruction
yet they are not speedy enough
for work
takes time
and time flees fast away. “Prepare ye war against her: arise
and
let us go up at noon. Woe unto us! for the day goeth away
” etc. “Arise
and
let us go by night
and let us destroy her palaces.” We have no city to
destroy
and it is morning; yet
standing
as we do
almost on the threshold of
another year
these words are worthy of consideration. The day of opportunity
that tills year contained is going away
the shadows of the evening are
stretched out. And with the departure of the day and the deepening of the
shadows of the night
some among the bravest hearts may well exclaim
“Woe unto
us!” For all who are Christ’s servants
as they grow in grace
more clearly
come to see the great issues of life
the vast importance of the days and
months and years which God has given them to spend to His glory. With this
clearer sight comes the consciousness of the awful waste of time for which men
are answerable
a waste which can never be repaired. True
that the blood of
Jesus Christ cleanses from all sin; but only if there he true repentance. As
you really understand the cleansing and accept it
so you will grow most
earnest in guarding the gift of time.
1. Save time in your work. Surely it is “woe unto us” that we have
been so half-hearted often in our time of work; so ready to lay down the task
that is difficult
or so ready to do it lazily and badly. The great characters
in history are mostly the indefatigable
who
while they worked
worked hard.
2. Save time in your leisure. Do not spend it all in amusement
which
excites
but does not profit. If you have your evenings free
use some to the
glory of God
by helping children
by showing acts of kindness
by improving
your own knowledge.
3. Again
save time on Sundays. How can men’s religion be real and
true if they spend Sunday mornings in bed? (W. R. Hutton
M. A.)
Opportunities for self-rescue
I. Heaven granted
these men of Judah an opportunity for escaping a great evil; so it has to all
unconverted men. The evil to which the Jews were exposed was very great: it was
captivity
slavery
utter destruction of the country. But this was only a
shadow of the moral dangers to which every unconverted man is exposed. He is in
danger of losing his soul. To lose a soul is to lose all true liberty
pure
sympathies
harmonious affections
real friendships
self-approving conscience
true hopes
and means of improvement. And when these are gone
the worth of
existence is gone
for it becomes an intolerable curse.
II. The opportunity
which these men of Judah had for escaping their danger was now drawing to a
close; so is the opportunity of all unconverted men. The whole day of life
scarcely opens before it begins to close.
1. This opportunity is constantly departing to return no more.
2. This opportunity is constantly departing though the work be not
done.
III. The closing of
the opportunity of these men of Judah was fraught with terrible calamity; so it
will be with all unconverted men. “Woo unto us
” exclaims the doomed Jew in
bitter anguish. “Woe unto us”; we have not only lost our country and become the
slaves of a heathen despot
bug we have shamefully neglected the merciful
opportunities with which providence has favoured us. These words remind us of
the language of Christ (Luke 19:41-44). Conclusion--“Now is the
accepted time.” Today is “the day of salvation.” (Homilist.)
The old and the new year
The old year is dying
the new year is about to commence. And
whether the past has been wasted
or redeemed and used for God; whether the
work of the past has been done or left undone
still there is a work for all of
us. Each day and each year brings its own proper duties
and our conscience
needs to be awakened and stirred to the right performance of them. The day
goeth away. And you feel that there is something solemn about this passing from
one year to another.
1. Some of you are anxious about your spiritual condition. Take the
past year as a whole
and perhaps you may be able to hope that some progress
has been made. But it has not been all progress. The picture has its dark side.
You have had your temptations
you have had your troubles and annoyances; and
you have been forced to see how weak your strength is
how poor your best
resolutions
how much you have fallen short of what you had intended a year ago.
The day goeth away. But if the past has not been what you wished
must you
therefore give up in despair? Nay
you may be thankful if you have advanced at
all. You could have made no way whatever but for the grace of God. Believe that
He who has been with you hitherto will enable you to live more and more to your
Master’s glory.
2. Again
the close of the year may suggest its thoughts to those
who
as our fellow labourers in the schools
or among the sick and destitute
are trying to do the Lord’s work
and to be a blessing to their neighbours in
their generation. You look back over the year that is gone
and there are
abundant reasons for regret. Opportunities for good have been lost which never
will come back again. Some one was lying ill
and you knew of the illness
but
you delayed your visit. You would go tomorrow: you had other things to do
today. And tomorrow you went
but it was too late. Death had come before you.
Or again
you might have taken a bolder and firmer course
had your zeal for
God been stronger. You saw some evil done
and you did not protest against it.
You heard ill-natured words
and you did not try to check them. You might have
spoken for God
and you cowardly held your peace. Yet all has not been failure.
Feel as painfully as we may our weakness and want of faith
still we may see
and thankfully acknowledge the evident signs of God’s presence with His people
here. (Canon Nevill.)
A New Year’s sermon
I. The fact here
indicated. The day glides imperceptibly away
from morning to noon
from noon
to eve. Does not this strikingly typify our life in this world? Do not our
years glide on like the minutes and hours of the natural day? And
ere ever we
are aware
do we not perceive that the shadows are lengthening? Are we not
reminded of the flight of time by many things which we see around us? The old
men
with whose slow step we were familiar
are disappearing from the scene;
those whom we knew in their prime now bear the marks of age. But does not this
suggest to us one particular in which the analogy between the natural day and
our human life signally fails? We know the very hour
we can ascertain the very
minute
when the sun will set. But how different is it with the life of man?
Who can tell when
in any individual case
that life shall end? Who but He who
knows the end from the beginning
and who is the God of our lives and the
length of our days? But whether the period of our sojourn upon earth be brief
or protracted
it is quickly passing away. Whether we are to be cut down when
the shadows have stretched out far
or while they are yet comparatively short
in the case of every one of us they are lengthening; and in the case of not a
few
it approaches eventide
and their sun declines to its setting. But surely
there arises here another question. When the day declines and nightfall comes
what then? “After death the judgment.” Death does not reduce us to nothingness
but detaches us from time to land us in eternity. It places us before the
tribunal of the Most High to receive the sentence which is to fix unchangingly
our final doom. “We must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.”
II. What effect the
consideration of this fact should have upon us.
1. It should have this effect
to impress us with the solemn and
abiding conviction that it is a fact. We are ever prone to take it for granted
that though the end of life is no doubt approaching
it is still distant from
us; that though the duration of life is very uncertain to men generally
and to
our friends and neighbours around us
we are much less likely to be suddenly
removed
and may reassuredly count upon a protracted span being afforded to us
is a strange and subtle delusion of the human heart
and sedulously fostered by
the enemy of souls
the father of lies. How needful to learn and lay to heart
the lesson here taught; how needful to be thoroughly persuaded that it is a
solemn fact that our life is a vapour which appears for a little time and then
vanishes away; that not with respect to our fellow men merely
but with respect
to ourselves also
the days of earth are drawing to a close
and that to any
one of us the end may come very soon and very suddenly!
2. But
further
it is of the last importance that we not only really
believe this fact
but that we give practical effect to the belief. What are
your resolutions for the future? Will you be stirred up to greater diligence
and devotedness ere your sun go down! And if you
if any of you
are still far
from God
living in carelessness and unbelief
will you not take warning by the
lengthening shadows to make your peace with God ere it be too late? (P.
Hope
B. D.)
Difficulties of old age
I. The appointed
period of grace is coming rapidly to a conclusion. “The day goeth away.” It has
been enjoyed in the fulness of its privileges. It has been for some
far
protracted. But while unimproved
it has tended only to increase the guilt and
danger of the soul. For fifty years the Redeemer has called upon some now aged
sinner to turn to Him and live. How difficult is it to arouse him to a consciousness
or belief
of the privileges which are yet remaining
and of the duty which yet
rests upon him! The recollection of wasted opportunities drives him to despair.
II. The short
period of grace now remaining. He set out early in the morning to go astray
from God. Through the whole day
he has been pressing forward in his course
with unabating rapidity. And now
when the shadows of the evening are stretched
out
and exhausted nature is asking for repose; alas
is this an hour in which
to commence the journey of a day? Death now stands at the door. The line which
separates him from eternity
has dwindled to a hair. And he is tempted to yield
to total despair of escaping at all from the ruin which is so close upon him.
The difficulty which his own heart presents as thus arising from his shortened
remaining period of probation
Satan employs as a temptation to him
to be
quiet and careless under his conscious load of sin.
III. The increased
hardness of his own heart. When young
conviction of sin impressed his mind.
His eyes could weep under the preaching of the Gospel. He then often felt
strongly excited towards a life of holiness and piety. But now he has no such
feelings. The rain which descends to refresh others
seems rather to hasten his
decay. The summer and the harvest have passed without advantage
and every
succeeding day of autumn seems only to dry
and harden
and seal up the earth
against the arrival of a frost-bound and cheerless winter.
IV. The pride of
character which is always an attendant upon advanced periods of life. The heart
may be often moved
the conscience awakened
and the emotions aroused
in the
bosom of an aged transgressor
and a strong desire be felt
to lay down his
burden
and find peace in believing in Jesus. But an assumed dignity and
coolness of manner are drawn over a broken
bleeding spirit
because an
acknowledgment of these awakened feelings will be so humiliating to the age and
station of the individual concerned. But there remains no other course of
safety. To this humbling ground
sinful man must be brought
or he will
assuredly perish. (S. H. Tyng
D. D.)
Opportunities lost
The opportunity for success was lost; the day of action had been
misspent
and the result was
captivity and slavery. The day of action was
going away; the shadows of the evening which was to cover them with its
darkness and sorrow
were already stretched out. Just so it is with multitudes
now in reference to the work of their salvation. The Gospel of the Son of God
has been preached in their ears
until it has become stale and powerless. They
listen to it
but take no heed to its requirements.
1. Look at the opportunities which the Church affords to all
attendants on her service
not only of learning their duty
but also of
practising it to the glory of God.
2. Then
again
look at the opportunities for repentance and faith
which God has given you in the daily providence of life. You have been rich
perhaps
and He has made you poor--Why? That He may give you spiritual riches
which moth and rust can not corrupt. You have been poor and He has made you
rich--Why? That you might “remember the Lord thy God
for it is He that giveth
thee power to get wealth.” You have been well
and He has laid you on a bed of
sickness--Why? That you might consider your latter end. You have been sick and
He has made you well--Why? That you should love your Divine Healer
and seek
for your spiritual healing. Your life is full of the echoes of God’s voice
speaking to you in His daily providence
as well as in the inspired Word and
through the ministry of His Church. Yet hour after hour has glided away
and
you have hesitated
procrastinated
put off to a more convenient season. Shall
life’s sun go wholly down
shall the night of death wrap you in its starless
mantle
without one honest effort on your part to secure your soul’s salvation?
(Bp. Stevens)
.
An inch of time
“Millions of money for an inch of time
” cried Elizabeth--the
gifted but ambitious Queen of England
upon her dying bed. Unhappy woman!
reclining upon a couch--with ten thousand dresses in her wardrobe--a kingdom on
which the sun never sets
at her feet--all now are valueless
and she shrieks
in anguish
and she shrieks in vain
for a single “inch of time.” She had
enjoyed threescore and ten years. Like too many among us
she had devoted them
to wealth
to pleasure
to pride
and ambition
so that her whole preparation
for eternity was crowded into a few moments! and hence she
who had wasted more
than half a century
would barter millions for an inch of time.
The shadows of the evening
are stretched out.
The setting sun
There is something at once grand and solemn in a setting sun. It
is the sinking to rest of the great king of day; the withdrawing from the busy
world the light that has called out its activity
and the covering up with the
veil of darkness the scenes that glistened with the radiance of noon. There is
however
in the setting of the sun of life
that which is equally grand
still
more solemn
and surpassingly sublime.
1. The sun
when it sets
has run a whole day’s circuit; his pathway
has apparently traversed an entire are of the heavens
and slowly
patiently
but surely
it has done its allotted work. And so the aged Christian
when he
dies
is described as having “run his race
” as having “finished his course.”
He has toiled a whole day of life
and has come to his grave in a “good old
age
” having “finished the work which was given him to do”; and though all his
labours have been imperfectly done
though he himself feels more deeply than he
can express his unprofitableness before God
yet he looks for acceptance
not
to any merit of his own
but only for Christ Jesus sake
who of God and by
faith is made unto him “wisdom
and righteousness
and sanctification
and
redemption.” We can contemplate with satisfaction
then
the aged disciple
having “borne the burden and heat of the day
” patiently waiting for the
stretching out of the evening shadows and the hour of his own sunset.
2. Another point to be considered is
the fact that the setting of
the sun is not always like the day which it closes. The morning may have been
bright
and the evening hour dark with tempests; or the rising may have been
obscured by clouds and mists
which gradually faded away and left a clear sky
at sunset. So the sunset hour of Christian life does not always correspond to
his previous day. We have seen the last hours of the believer shrouded in
impenetrable gloom
and we have seen them gilded with hope and radiant with the
forecast glories of the upper world. The way in which a Christian dies is not
always an index of his spiritual condition. He is to be judged by his life
not
by his death. Self-denial
the mortification of our passions
the resisting of
earthly temptations
the putting into active exercise
and amidst opposing
difficulties
the whole class of Christian affections which flow out from the
simple principle of loving our neighbour as ourselves
and the manifestation of
that life of faith
of prayer
of holiness
of zeal
which necessarily results
from the constraining love of Christ in the heart all these qualities and tests
of character scarcely find a place on a dying bed
so that persons thus
situated have few opportunities to develop the true evidences of the work of
grace. The varieties of Christian experience are literally innumerable; but
whatever their nature
we must not judge of the validity of one’s hope
or the
genuineness of one’s conversion
by his dying hour. Yet
when that dying hour
accords with a long life of piety
or a true profession maintained in health
and strength; when it is but a concentrating within itself of the glories which
have been more or less visible in the whole track of his experience
then is it
eloquent in its revelations of the riches
and peace
and joy which God
generally gives to those who are faithful unto death: and though we cannot
order when or how our lives shall close upon earth
yet it should be our aim so
to live as to secure
if God pleases
a serene
if not a triumphant exit
that
our setting sun may
like the sun in the firmament
grow larger and more
resplendent as it declines
until passing away it shall leave behind a trail of
glory spread all over the place of our departure.
3. Another interesting thought connected with this subject is
that
the sun is not lost or extinguished when it sets. This may seem a very trite
remark concerning the natural sun
but it is not so trite when we speak of the
soul set in death. For are we not apt to grieve over the going down of our
friends to the grave
as if they were to be forever hidden in its dark
chamber--as if the bright spark of their immortality had been suddenly
quenched?
4. And this leads us to make one final observation
namely
that when
we see the sun set
we know that it will rise again; and so when we see the body
of our friends borne to the voiceless dwelling of the tomb
we know that they
also shall rise again. (Bp. Stevens.)
Verse 8
Be thou instructed
O Jerusalem
lest My soul depart from thee.
The way to prevent the ruin of a sinful people
I. The infinite
goodness and patience of God towards a sinful people and His great
unwillingness to bring ruin and destruction upon them. How loath is He that
things should come to this extremity?
II. The only proper
and effectual means to prevent the misery and ruin of a sinful people. If they
will be instructed
and take warning by the threatenings of God
and will
become wiser and better
then His soul will not depart from them
He will not
bring upon them the desolation which He hath threatened.
III. The miserable
case and condition of a people
when God takes off His affection from them and
gives over all further care and concernment for them. Woe unto them
when His
soul departs from them! For when God once leaves them
then all sorts of evil
and calamities will break in upon them. (Archbishop Tillotson.)
A warning to the nation
I. The caution.
1. Whereby are we to be instructed? By the state of affairs
and by
the reason of things
or the right of cases.
2. Wherein are we to be instructed?
3. What is it to be instructed?
II. the
enforcement.
1. An argument of love and goodwill
“lest My soul depart from thee.”
2. An argument from fear
“lest I make thee desolate
” A double
argument is as a double testimony
by which every word is established (2 Corinthians 13:1).
3. This double argument shows us two things.
Verse 10
They have no delight in it.
The impediments to the right celebration of religious ordinances
You will readily admit
that the feeling of delight accompanying
the performance of anything is
for the most part
a sign and measure of its
profitable accomplishment; that that is usually well done which is done
cheerfully and with the heart; and that nothing
on the contrary
is more
commonly deteriorated in the performance of it
than what is entered on with
the apprehension of its being a piece of drudgery
and gone through as a mere
task. How true does this remark hold in the department of religion! If we
approach the exercises of religion
whether reading or hearing the Word
or the
sacraments
or prayer
as formalists come to them--if we take no lively
interest in them--if we are actuated merely by the force of custom
the power
of example and other motives of expediency
how can they ever profit us? Are we
not changing the sources of heaven’s blessings into empty and broken cisterns?
I. In attending to
the circumstances that operate to take away from us delight in Christian
ordinances
we observe
that an unfavourable change in the frame of mind
as
persons are engaged In religious exorcises
often occurs
at least at times
occurs
unavoidably
however our desires and endeavours may be set against it.
At one time we will be attending with deep earnestness
at another time
listening with cold indifference. There is now a great acuteness in receiving
instruction
at another time almost a deadness that blunts the edge of the best
directed observations. Now
all such changes as these are still
in so far as
they are traceable to constitutional temperament
to be ranked among the class
of what the Bible calls our infirmities
and when they are met by meditation on
the Word of God
and by prayer
in order that we may be cured
they are not
charged as criminalities against us. At the same time
take good heed lest you
ascribe to those things over which you think you have no control
what all the
while springs from sinful negligence.
II. First
the
state of mind I have described
shows that there has not been with us due
consideration before we have come to the public ordinances of religion. We do
not consider that the services of the sanctuary relate to God in our adoring
or praising
or supplicating Him whom the universe celebrates as its Maker
whom angels
principalities and powers reverently worship--we do not consider
that the services of the sanctuary are the appointed means through which the
soul is called to discourse with its own original
with Him who is the source
of bliss. We do not consider that the services of the sanctuary present the
sublimest objects for the exercise of the understanding
the most splendid for
attracting the imagination
the most engaging for affecting the heart.
Accordingly we do not in our petitions implore that fixedness of heart which is
required in the true and spiritual worshipper; we do not enter the sanctuary
cherishing the serious thought that we come hither to seek the blessings which
the mercy of the Saviour gives to every one who feels his need of them
and
asks them. On the contrary
we come to the sanctuary altogether unconcerned; we
sit down without offering in our minds one preparatory petition; we possess a
frame of mind that is akin to levity; we are chargeable at least with
indifference
which can only be excusable in our waiting on an empty
ceremonial. Even allowing that the individual still possesses some desire to
receive the benefits of religious ordinances in the sanctuary
they are
rendered quite impracticable to him
except where the devotional exercises of
every day are preparatory to those of the Sabbath. The want of serious
consideration before we come to engage in religious ordinances
leads directly
to want of due reflection when engaged in the performance of them; for such
trains of thought as we have been cherishing
are not easily broken down
and
in fact
we cannot authoritatively dismiss them--they have fastened themselves
by innumerable links to the mind
and though many of these links may from time
to time be detached by us
still numbers are left which are quite sufficient to
rivet the objects of our affectionate concern to our memories and our hearts.
Such objects
through long usage
become great favourites with the mind
and
hence
it not only attends to them in the season of disengagement from other
things
but strives to get back to them
even when occupied in the ordinances
of religion. Then when we think how base and degraded our natural dispositions
are
surely it is a most unreasonable expectation that we are prepared for the
spiritual exercises of the Sabbath
if we have had no preparatory devotional
exercises for such a day.
III. Most serious
and grievous is the evil of which I am now speaking. Whatever degree of it
adheres to us its tendency is to destroy utterly the capacity of religious
feeling
and to increase that searedness of conscience which is the forerunner
of open profligacy. Let us then be roused to consideration. Let us come to
religious ordinances with serious thoughts on their nature
their
reasonableness
their awful sanctions
and their inestimable utility; and
having especially in view the example of the serious worshipper who prays for the
spirit of prayer
and who is a suppliant in private for the grace of
supplication which is to be employed by him in public
let us endeavour when we
join in religious ordinances to preserve seriousness of mind. Let us for this
purpose devoutly consider the object we have in view
whether engaged in the
Word
in sacrament
or in prayer. Let us not give a single moment’s
encouragement to thoughts upon other subjects. Let us withstand the inroads of
such thoughts--let us cast them out as of Satan
when they enter
and let us
try to prevent them entering at all. Let there be prayer
consideration and
serious concern; and thus entering into the great truths
into the sweetness of
religion
there will be no longer felt the weariness with which we set out. The
satisfaction and delight
so conducive to our improvement
will then take the
place of the fatigue and irksomeness of the mere bodily worshipper. The Sabbath
will be the most acceptable of all refreshments
the Psalms of the sanctuary
will be the sentiments of gratitude and joy
the prayers offered will be as the
flame which first ascended in holy ardour to its origin
and the Word will be
the principal vehicle of calling into action every good resolution. Religion
will then become that very privilege it is intended to be; the elements
set
upon the table
will appear as the memorials of all that is dear and precious
to our souls; the sentiments of holy love will be awakened in commemorating the
blessed Friend who gave His soul for us sinners; and thus the sanctuary and its
services will become the pledge to us of the noblest benefits
the scene of the
most glorious hopes
and an incitement to devoted obedience. (W. Muir
D. D.)
The Gospel unappreciated
Alphonse Kerr heard a gardener ask his master’s permission to
sleep for the future in the stable. “For
” said he
“there is no possibility of
sleeping in the chamber behind the greenhouse
sir; there are nightingales
there which do nothing but guggle and keep up a noise all the night.” The
sweetest sounds are but an annoyance to those who have no musical ear;
doubtless the music of heaven would have no charm to carnal minds
certainly
the joyful sound of the Gospel is unappreciated so long as men’s ears remain
uncircumcised.
Verse 14
They have healed also the hurt . . . slightly
saying
Peace
peace; when there is no peace.
Healing our wounds slightly
I. What need we
all have of healing.
1. Asserted in Scripture.
2. Confirmed by experience.
II. Who they are
that heal their wounds slightly.
1. They who rely on the uncovenanted mercy of God
fatally deceive
their souls by expecting mercy contrary to Gospel.
2. They who take refuge in a round of duties; no attainments can
stand in place of Christ.
3. They who rest in a faith that is unproductive of good works; but
the faith that apprehends Christ will “work by love
” “purify the heart
”
“overcome the world.”
III. How we may have
them healed effectually.
1. The Lord Jesus has provided a remedy for sin (Isaiah 53:5).
2. That remedy applied by faith shall be effectual for all who trust
in it.
Address--
1. Those who feel not their need of healing.
2. Those who
after having derived some benefits from Christ
have
relapsed into sin.
3. Those who are enjoying health in their souls. (C. Simeon
M. A.)
False teachers
How mischievous is that false kindness which is afraid of telling
you honestly the state of the case
if it happen to be dangerous or desperate!
Now
in regard of their eternal concerns
men have a willingness to be
deceived
though in regard of their temporal concerns
they are keenly alive to
attempts at imposition
and eager to resent them. They commonly prefer the
moral physician who will make light of their vices
and not startle them by
faithfully exposing their danger
though
were they similarly beguiled by one
whom they consulted on a bodily malady
they would denounce him as guilty of
the most hateful perfidy. And it may be for your profit
if we look into some
of the more ordinary cases. First
we would remind you that
if there be truth
in the statements of Scripture
there is a distinction the very strongest
between the people of the world and the people of God. Yet
here is the respect
in which
perhaps
the danger is the greatest of the moral hurt being only
slightly healed
and peace prophesied when there is no peace. The worldly are
well pleased to have the differences between themselves and the religious made
as few and unimportant as possible
inasmuch as they are thus soothed into a
persuasion that after all they are in no great danger of the wrath of the
Almighty. On the other hand
those who profess a concern for the soul are often
still so much inclined to the pursuits and the pleasures of earth
that they
have a ready ear for any doctrine which seems to offer them the joys of the
next life
without requiring continued self-denial in this life. Thus it is an
unpopular thing
opposed to the inclinations of the majority of hearers
to
insist upon the breadth of separation between the worldly and the religious
to
represent
without qualification or disguise
that the attempting to serve two
masters is the certain serving of only one
and that the master whose wages is
death. But if we would be faithful in the ministry
this is what we must do. To
do otherwise
would be to play with your souls--to lead you into delusion
which
if continued
must leave you shipwrecked for eternity. Take another case
the case of those in whom has been produced a conviction of sin
whose
consciences after a long slumber have been aroused to do their office and have
done it with great energy. It is no uncommon thing for conviction of sin not to
be followed by conversion. Hundreds who have been stirred for a time to a sense
of guilt and danger
in place of advancing to genuine penitence have lapsed
back into former indifference. Ah
this is amongst the most alarming of moral
phenomena. The signs and earnest
as we thought of life
give a melancholy and
mysterious interest to death. Let the ministers of religion take heed that they
be not accessory to so disappointing an occurrence
and they easily may be. The
spiritual physician may be too hasty in applying to the wounded conscience the
balm of the Gospel; and thus he may arrest that process of godly contrition
which seemed so hopefully begun. It is no time to speak of free forgiveness
till the man exclaims in the agony of alarm and almost of despair
“What must I
do to be saved?” Then display the Cross. Then expatiate on the glorious truth
that “the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost.” Then point
to the unsearchable riches of Christ
and meet every doubt
oppose every
objection
and combat every fear by exhibiting the mighty fact of an atonement
for sin. But the case suggested by our text is that of a too hasty
appropriation of the consolations of Christianity
and this case we cannot
doubt is of frequent occurrence. Not
indeed
that whenever conviction of sin
is not followed by conversion
the cause is to be found in the premature use of
the mercies of the Gospel. We know too well that in many instances the
conscience which had been mysteriously aroused is as mysteriously quieted; so
that
without a solitary reason
men who had manifested anxiety as to their
souls
and apparently been earnest in seeking salvation
are soon again found
amongst the careless and indifferent
as busy as ever with chasing shadows
as
pleased as ever with things that perish in the using. For a moment they have
seemed conscious of their immortality and have risen to the dignity of
deathless beings
and then the pulse has ceased to beat
and they have again
been creatures of a day in place of heirs of eternity. Still
if there be many
instances in which we may not fairly ascribe to a too hasty appropriation of
the mercies of the Gospel
the failure of what seemed hopefully commenced
we
may justly say that such an exhibition is likely to produce so disappointing a
result
and that the probability is that it frequently does. We have further to
remark
that the peculiar doctrines of Christianity are strongly offensive to
the great body of men
and that on this account chiefly it is that there is so
much reluctance to the bringing them forward
and so much readiness to explain
them away. You cannot fail to be aware that the offence of the Cross has not
ceased
you must be sufficiently aware that these are not days when men are
called to join the noble army of martyrs
yet there is an opposition to the
peculiar doctrines of the Gospel
an opposition which gives as much cause now
as there was in earlier days for the Saviour to exclaim
“Blessed is he
whosoever shall not be offended in Me.” So that here is a precise case in which
the known feelings of the generality of men place the teacher under a
temptation to keep back truth
or of stating it so equivocally that its full
force shall not be felt
He cannot be ignorant that if he set forth without
reserve
or disguise the corruption and helplessness of man
insist on the
perfect gratuitousness of salvation
and refer to God’s mercy and
distinguishing grace as first exciting the desire for deliverance
and then
enabling us to lay hold upon the provided succours
he will have to encounter
the antipathies of perhaps a majority of his hearers; and he is consequently
and naturally moved to the concealing much
and the softening down more; and if
he yield to the temptation
then we have that mixed and diluted theology which
does not
indeed
exclude Christ
but assigns much to man
which without
denying the meritorious obedience and sufferings of the Mediator soothes our
pride with an assurance that by our good works we contribute something towards
the attainment of everlasting happiness. By encouraging the opinion that men
are not very far gone from original righteousness
that notwithstanding the
fall
they retain a moral power of doing what shall be acceptable to God
and
that their salvation is to result from the combination of their own efforts and
the merits of Christ
we maintain that by encouraging such opinions as these
the teacher flatters his hearers with the most pernicious of all flattery
hiding from them their actual condition
and instructing them
how to miss
at
the same time that they think they are securing deliverance. Probably enough
has been advanced to certify you not only of the possible occurrence but of the
grievous peril which must lie in the substituting in religion what is
superficial for what ought to be radical. It is on this that we are most
anxious to fix your attention. We want to have you satisfied that there can be
no falser kindness than that which should hide from men their real condition
and that it is the very extreme of danger when those who are tottering believe
themselves secure. It needs no small courage--we ought rather to say
it needs
no small grace--to be willing to know the worst; not to be afraid of finding
out how bad we are
how corrupt
how capable of the worst actions
if left to
ourselves. This is a great point gained in spiritual things
it is a great
point gained to be able to pray with David
“Search me
O God
and try me
and
see if there be any wicked way in me.” We call it a great point gained to be
willing to know the worst; for so long as we stop short of this
we shall
always be trying half measures
healing the hurt slightly
and therefore never
reaching the root of the disease. We counsel you then to be honest with
yourselves
honest in observing the symptoms of spiritual sickness
honest in
applying the remedies prescribed by the Bible. (H. Melvill
B. D.)
False peace
I. A false peace
what is it? We do not mean
in describing a false peace
to depict the state of
those who are utterly indifferent to religious claims and obligations. We are
speaking of another class
in whose minds there has been at some time an
anxiety concerning their state in the sight of God. They have felt that sin is
within them
that sin is working out terrible results
and
unless some remedy
be applied
must work their ultimate ruin. This anxiety has increased upon
them; and at length they have found the anxiety soothed; its pressure has been
alleviated
and at length it has departed. But it has been soothed by
unsuitable means. To be in a state of false peace is to be in a state of
composure--not of indifference
but of composure and satisfaction
in a belief
that all is well when all is not well. And this may arise from various causes.
1. It may be that some are lulled into this false peace from the fact
of never having had clear and scriptural notions of the true nature of sin.
They have had their attention perhaps drawn rather more to sins and to sinning
than to sin; and in their cases it may have happened that the course of sinning
has not been a very atrocious course--that the habitude has never manifested
itself in any very formidable way. Now
so long as our attention is fixed upon
sins
and so long as our minds are drawing distinctions between the greater and
the lesser amount of actual transgressions against God
we overlook the
scriptural view of sin
as that fatal principle in the nature of man which
taints every faculty
and which renders it utterly impossible that man should
live in the light of God’s countenance.
2. But suppose men do entertain scriptural views of sin
as a deadly
principle within them
still they may have very inadequate views of the justice
of God and of His perfect holiness. Many minds are very apt to measure God
as
it were
by a human standard
as if God’s mode of procedure would be governed
on the same principles on which man’s mode of procedure is usually governed;
and the consequence is
that they invest God with a kind of mercy which is
altogether unscriptural. If the sinner views God merely as a God of goodness
and tenderness and mercy
and thinks His justice is not to have its full and
unrestricted exercise
then we ask
what are we to do with those passages of
God’s Word which exhibit all His attributes in their just proportions
and
their relations one to another?
3. False peace may also be produced by having obscure notions of the
Gospel. If we could sum up the whole Gospel message
the whole of the rich
provision of God’s mercy and justice in Christ Jesus
in one sentence
we
should say
it is a remedy for sin; but multitudes hear the Gospel
in all its
simplicity and fulness
and yet come to the conclusion that the Gospel system
only calls us into a greater familiarity of relation to God
that it sets
before us a more spiritual walk than the people who lived under the Jaw were
accustomed to
that it calls upon us for a higher moral bearing
and that if we
do in the main adhere to that
as if it were a second form of law exhibited to
us
then all shall be well; but they overlook the fact that there is in the
Gospel a remedy for sin--that it contains a provision for the healing
the true
healing of the wound which sin has made.
4. This false peace may arise
moreover
out of an imperfect
reception of the true Gospel. The doctrines may be received; the matters of
fact upon which the doctrines are based may be received; the economy of the
Gospel may be received
as far as the intellect goes; but there may be no
surrender of the soul to the Gospel--there may be no yielding up of all the
perversity of the natural man to the sweet and precious operations of the
Spirit of God
seeking to establish His truth in the heart as a remedy for sin.
Now we believe
that wherever these four
or any one of these four causes
exist
the result is a false peace. And let it be borne in mind
that most men
are very much disposed to be satisfied with a false peace. When the testimony
of conscience has been stirring
when the burden of sin has been felt to be a
heavy burden
there is a disposition to embrace the first offer of peace that
presents itself. And why is it so? Because the burden is heavy to be borne
and
the anxiety it occasions is a distressing anxiety
which is to be got rid of in
any way. Anything
therefore
that can silence conscience
or that can lessen
the severity of its testimony
will be resorted to
and will be regarded as
peace.
II. The real nature
of that only peace which can be relied upon. Let it be remembered
that true
peace has relation both to God and to man; that is
it must be a peace on both
sides--on the side of a just and holy God
and on the side of man with his
“carnal mind” which is “enmity against God.” There must be peace on both sides;
and the peace on God’s side must be a peace that shall be in the highest degree
honourable to Himself; and in order to be strictly honourable to Him
it must
be a peace that shall have magnified His justice
as well as given Him a just
occasion for the exercise of mercy. It is plain
therefore
that man himself
cannot make and establish such a peace
either by sacrifice or by service. Then
the truth is
that God has taken the whole matter into His own hands. He
regards man as altogether helpless in this respect; and God undertakes for the
establishing a peace that shall be in the highest degree honourable to Himself
and in the utmost degree suitable to man. In graciously revealing Himself
then
in Christ
God has come forth from the light and glory in which He has
dwelt from all eternity
and in the person of Jesus
the Eternal Word
has
manifested Himself in an attitude of peace--is at peace. “God was in Christ
reconciling the world unto Himself
not imputing their trespasses unto them.”
In that declaration we “see the attitude of peace. God comes not forth
in the
Gospel of His dear Son
as an avenger
but He comes honourably forth as a
peacemaker. He comes forth
manifesting the strength and severity of His
justice
and magnifying the perfection of His justice. He spared not His own
Son.”
III. The danger of a
false peace. There is present danger
and there is future danger. So long as a
false peace is soothing our anxieties in regard to our state as sinners before
God
this helps to deaden conscience; it does not always satisfy
but it
subdues the activity of conscience
and opens a way for the subtle workings of
Satan. Moreover
this false peace disinclines the mind of the deluded one for
the definiteness of the Christian state and the Christian character--makes all
the peculiarity that marks the Christian and the Christian’s walk
distasteful--makes it regarded as too exact
as too minute
as going too far in
its restraints upon the natural freedom of man; and the consequence is
that it
is said
as it is sometimes said of some ministers of the Gospel
that their
views are a great deal too high
that they expect a great deal more of people
than they ought
that they are always raising a standard which makes religion
appear so impracticable. Lastly
there is the danger of indisposing us to study
the depths of the written Word
and to listen to those depths when they are
brought out in the public ministry of the Word. So long as the imagination is
pleasantly exercised
and the ministry of the preacher is like the song of one
who hath a pleasant voice
and playeth well upon an instrument
there is
contentedness; but when the depths of God’s truth are brought forth
then it is
regarded as a dry matter--a matter in which they have but little concern; and
whilst this state of mind exists
the false peace makes the sinner to lie in a
perilous abode
like a man whose roof is on fire
and who is pressed down by
the weight of slumber. But the danger is also future. If we die in a false
peace
then in the day of resurrection and in the judgment we meet God as an
avenger
and an avenger during all eternity. (G. Fisk
LL. B.)
Foundation of peace
There is a very true sentence of Lord Macaulay’s
in which he
says
“It is difficult to conceive any situation more painful than that of a
great man condemned to watch the lingering agony of an exhausted country
to
tend it during the alternate fits of stupefaction and raving which precede its
dissolution
and to see the symptoms of vitality disappear
one by one
till
nothing is left but coldness
darkness
and corruption.” It was just such a
situation that the prophet Jeremiah was at this time condemned to fill. We feel
that there is real agony in the sentence of doom he is compelled to utter. What
aggravated his own personal grief was that he saw the remedy that alone could
save them
the thorough
searching
radical treatment of their ease that
contained their only hope
and they refused it
and with the very grip of death
upon them they turned for comfort to those who had the mildest treatment to
prescribe
and who cried
“Peace
peace
when there was no peace.”
I. The prophet
here lays his finger on the essential error--the formalist has no adequate idea
of the significance of sin. To suppose you have healed the corruption of a
man’s nature by the sacrifice of a turtle dove is the merest folly. To suppose
that you remove the enmity of a man’s heart against God by crying “Peace
peace” is an incredible mockery. Peace with God is the will
and the heart
and
the conscience at one with Him.
II. This ignorance
of the priests as to the very nature of the sin they professed to cure reminds
us of the truth of Lord Bacon’s saying
that that is a false peace which is
grounded upon an implicit ignorance
just as all colours agree in the dark. You
may cherish the ignominious ambition to have peace at any price. You may escape
the problems of thought by declining to think. You may avoid the responsibility
of freedom by voluntary slavery; you may escape the pain of repentance by
ignoring the reality of sin; yes
you may refuse to acknowledge the obligations
of the light by dwelling ever in the darkness; you may prefer to be the victim
of error and superstition to being their victor; you may prefer the cowardly
acquiescence of surrender to the glad triumph of conquest; but you will surely
not delude yourselves into the belief that you have settled anything
healed
any hurt
or that the peace you enjoy is a worthy one
with any elements of
desirability at all. For let us be quite sure that true peace--moral or
mental--is based upon an honest facing of the truth. It was old Matthew Paris
the last of the old monastic historians
who complained somewhat pathetically
that the case of historians was hard
because if they told the truth they
provoked men
while if they wrote what was false they offended God. The
historian’s art
it appears
must have in it something of the photographer’s
whose bounden duty is well known to be to make men better looking than they
are. It has been urged
that if you can persuade a man that he is better than
be really is
he will try to live up to the new revelation. Overlook his
faults
and explain his errors away
and he will take heart and grow better.
The question comes back to an old one that has been asked and discussed again
and again
“Can there ever be any moral uses in a lie?” Do we believe in that
religious homoeopathy that proposes to cure one immorality by another
conceal
corruption by falsehood
and cover sinfulness by lying? Can any possible good
come out of such a practice? Can there ever be any moral uses in a lie? I think
you will agree with me
that even if it were possible to obtain a satisfactory
peace by the suppression of conviction on the one hand
or a misrepresentation
of fact on the other
we are not at liberty to take it on such terms. To obtain
a worthy peace we must face the facts. (C. S. Horne
M. A.)
A blast of the trumpet against false peace
It is no uncommon thing to meet with people who say
“Well
I am happy enough. My conscience never troubles me. I believe if I were to die
I should go to heaven as well as anybody else.” I know that these men are
living in the commission of glaring acts of sin
and I am sure they could not
prove their innocence even before the bar of man; yet will these men look you
in the face and tell you that they are not at all disturbed at the prospect of
dying. Well
I will take you at your word
though I don’t believe you. I will
suppose you have this peace
and I will endeavour to account for it on certain
grounds which may render it somewhat more difficult for you to remain in it.
1. The first person I shall deal with is the man who has peace because
he spends his life in a ceaseless round of gaiety and frivolity. You have
scarcely come from one place of amusement before you enter another. You know
that you are never happy except you are in what you call gay society
where the
frivolous conversation will prevent you from hearing the voice of your
conscience. In the morning you will be asleep while God’s sun is shining
but
at night you will be spending precious time in some place of foolish
if not
lascivious
mirth. If the harp should fail you
then you call for Nabar’s
feast. There shall be a sheep shearing
and you shall be drunken with wine
until your souls become as stolid as a stone. And then you wonder that you have
peace. What wonder! Surely any man would have peace when his heart has become
as hard as a stone. What weathers shall it feel? What tempests shall move the
stubborn bowels of a granite rock? You sear your consciences
and then marvel
that they feel not. Oh
that you would begin to live! What a price you are
paying for your mirth--eternal torment for an hour of jollity--separation from
God for a brief day or two of sin!
2. I turn to another class of men. Finding that amusement at last has
lost all its zest
having drained the cup of worldly pleasure till they find
first satiety
and then disgust lying at the bottom
they want some stronger
stimulus
and Satan
who has drugged them once
has stronger opiates than mere
merriment for the man who chooses to use them. If the frivolity of this world
will not suffice to rock a soul to sleep
he hath a yet more hellish cradle for
the soul. He will take you up to his own breast
and bid you suck therefrom his
own Satanic nature
that you may then be still and calm. I mean that he will
lead you to imbibe infidel notions
and when this is fully accomplished
you
can have “Peace
peace
when there is no peace.”
3. I shall come now to a third class of men. These are people not
particularly addicted to gaiety
nor especially given to infidel notions; but
they are a sort of folk who are careless
and determined to let well alone.
Their motto
“Let tomorrow take care for the things of itself; let us live
while we live; let us eat and drink
for tomorrow we die.” If their conscience
cries out at all
they bid it lie still. When the minister disturbs them
instead of listening to what he says
and so being brought into a state of real
peace
they cry
“Hush I be quiet I there is time enough yet; I will not
disturb myself with these childish fears: be still
sir
and lie down.” Oh! up
ye sleepers
ye gaggers of conscience
what mean you? Why are you sleeping when
death is hastening on
when eternity is near
when the great white throne is
even now coming on the clouds of heaven
when the trumpet of the resurrection
is now being set to the mouth of the archangel?
4. A fourth set of men have a kind of peace that is the result of
resolutions which they have made
but which they will never carry into effect.
“Oh
” saith one
“I am quite easy enough in my mind
for when I have got a
little more money I shall retire from business
and then I shall begin to think
about eternal things.” Ah
but I would remind you that when you were an
apprentice
you said you would reform when you became a journeyman; and when
you were a journeyman
you used to say you would give good heed when you became
a master. But hitherto these bills have never been paid when they became duo.
They have every one of them been dishonoured as yet; and take my word for it
this new accommodation bill will be dishonoured too.
5. Now I turn to another class of men
in order that I may miss none
who are saying
“Peace
peace
when there is no peace.” I do not doubt but that
many of the people of London enjoy peace in their hearts
because they are
ignorant of the things of God. If you have a peace that is grounded on
ignorance
get rid of it; ignorance is a thing
remember
that you are
accountable for. You are not accountable for the exercise of your judgment to
man
but you are accountable for it to God.
6. I now pass to another and more dangerous form of this false peace.
I may have missed some of you; probably I shall come closer home to you now.
Alas
alas
let us weep and weep again
for there is a plague among us. It is
the part of candour to admit that with all the exercise of judgment
and the most
rigorous discipline
we cannot keep our churches free from hypocrisy. Oh! I do
not know of a more thoroughly damnable delusion than for a man to get a conceit
into his head
that he is a child of God
and yet live in sin--to talk to you
about sovereign grace
while he is living in sovereign lust--to stand up and
make himself the arbiter of what is truth
while he himself contemns the
precept of God
and tramples the commandment under foot.
7. There remains yet another class of beings who surpass all these in
their utter indifference to everything that might arouse them. They are men
that are given up by God
justly given up. They have passed the boundary of His
long suffering. He has said
“My Spirit shall no more strive with them”;
“Ephraim is given unto idols
let him alone.” As a judicial punishment for
their impenitence
God has given them up to pride and hardness of heart. (C.
H. Spurgeon.)
False security
I. How is it
persons reach this state of easy confidence?
1. There is a disposition to acknowledge in a general way that they
are sinners
though also to palliate the enormity of sin
and to gloss it over
with the gentle epithet of an infirmity.
2. Then
to make all right
secure
and comfortable
the sentiment is
cherished that God is merciful and will overlook our infirmities. But this
mercy
so vaguely trusted in
is not the mercy which has been made the subject
of an actual offer from God to man. He has stepped forth to relieve us from the
debt of sin.
II. The evils of
such a false confidence.
1. It casts an aspersion on the character of God.
2. It is hostile to the cause of practical righteousness
since it
tends to obliterate all restraints
on the specious plea of all-availing mercy
and leaves every man to sin just as much as he likes. (T. Chalmers
D. D.)
Peace
when there is no peace
The value of these Old Testament prophecies for us is that they
hold up the mirror to nature. Under different guises we see men grappling with
the same problems
encountering the same fears
wrestling with the same
difficulties
meeting the same joys and the same disappointments. History is
ever repeating itself.
1. The same oppression
the same sin
the same corruptions which are
causing so much anguish in our midst
were at work there
and from many a heart
there went up the cry
“How long
O Lord
how long?” The means they adopted
were not sufficient for the end
and that is just the point at which these
Israelites join hands with many reformers in our days. There are fashions in
these things as in everything else. With the crowd and with the priests in
these far-off days it was sacrifice and burnt offering. With us the favourite
nostrums are somewhat different. Let us look at some of them.
2. There is much truth in a great deal of what has been said by the
advocates of each of these different systems
and within certain limits they
are right. That they will ever reach the root of the matter is another thing.
They are no new doctrines. Long have men tried them. And what has been the
result where they have had freest play? A perfect cure? An approach to an ideal
State? Alas
no. In some cases one or other of them
or all of them together
may have contributed to render life easier
or more comfortable to individuals
here and there; but none of them
nor all of them together
have been able to
heal the hurt of humanity. They are but the purple patches with which men seek
to hide the festering sores. The trouble is in the heart
in the blood
in the
innermost centre of our being
and till it is expelled from that citadel
there
can be no hope for us
or the world. They who cherish the supposition that man
at bottom is a lover of truth and light
of purity and goodness
fondle a vain
conceit. Is there no cruelty
is there no lust in upper circles of society? Is
there no impurity
no degradation
no oppression among the learned? Is there no
misery
no broken hearts in the homes of the wealthy? Are there no tears
no
sighs
no wrinkled brows where intemperance is unknown? (R. Leggat.)
Useless doctoring
In China they have some queer ways of doctoring sick people
and
in Pekin
it is said
they have a brass mule for a doctor! This mule stands in
one of their temples and sick people flock there by the thousands to be cured.
How can a brass mule cure anybody? do you ask. Sure enough
how can he? and yet
these poor ignorant people believe it. If you lived there
instead of in this
country
it is likely that when you had a toothache your father would take
you--to a dentist? Oh no! That is what they do in this country. In Pekin you would
probably be taken to the temple where the brass mule stands
and be lifted up
so that you could rub his teeth
then rub your own
and then think the pain
ought to go away. If you fell down and hurt your knee
you would go and rub the
mule’s knee
and then your own
to make it well. They say so many have rubbed
the mule that they have rubbed the brass off in many places
so that new
patches had to be put on
and his eyes have been rubbed out altogether. But a
brand new mule stands waiting to take the place of the old one when that
finally falls to pieces. It seems a very simple way to cure pains and aches
but
I fear
the pain is not very much better after the visit to the mule; and
I am sure all boys and girls who read of the “brass doctor” will be glad they
live in this land
even if dentists do sometimes pull out teeth that ache
and
doctors often give medicine that is not pleasant to take.
False peace
Your peace
sinner
is that terribly prophetic calm which the
traveller occasionally perceives upon the higher Alps. Everything is still. The
birds suspend their notes
fly low
and cower down with fear The hum of bees
among the flowers is hushed. A horrible stillness rules the hour
as if death
had silenced all things by stretching over them his awful sceptre. Perceive ye
not what is surely at hand! The tempest is preparing
the lightning will soon
cast abroad its flames of fire. Earth will rock with thunder blasts; granite
peaks will be dissolved; all nature will tremble beneath the fury of the storm.
Yours is that solemn calm today
sinner. Rejoice not in it
for the hurricane
of wrath is coming
the whirlwind and the tribulation which shall sweep you
away and utterly destroy you. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Verse 15
They were not at all ashamed.
Shamelessness in sin
the certain forerunner of destruction
He who has thus sinned himself past feeling
may be justly
supposed to have sinned himself past grace.
1. Extraordinary guilt. “Committed abomination.”
2. Deportment under guilt. “Not at all ashamed
” etc.
3. God’s high resentment of their monstrous shamelessness. “Were they
ashamed?”
4. The consequent judgment. “Therefore shall they fall
” etc.
I. What shame is
and what influence it has upon the government of men’s manners.
1. Shame is a grief of mind springing from the apprehension of some
disgrace brought upon a man. And disgrace consists properly in men’s knowledge
or opinion of some defect
natural or moral
belonging to them. So that when a
man is sensible that anything defective or amiss
either in his person
manners
or the circumstances of his condition
is known
or taken notice of
by others; from this sense or apprehension of his
there naturally results upon
his mind a certain grief or displeasure
which grief properly constitutes the
passion of shame.
2. From this
that shame is grounded upon the dread man naturally has
of the ill opinion of others
and that chiefly with reference to the turpitude
or immorality of his actions
it is manifest that it is that great and powerful
instrument in the soul of man whereby Providence both preserves society and
supports government
forasmuch as it is the most effectual restraint upon him
from the doing of such things as more immediately tend to disturb the one and
destroy the other.
3. He whom shame has done its work upon
is
ipso facto
stripped
of all the common comforts of life. The light is to him the shadow of death; he
has no heart nor appetite for business; his very food is nauseous to him. In
which wretched condition having passed some years
first the vigour of his
intellectuals begins to flag and dwindle away
and then his health follows; the
hectic of the soul produces one in the body
the man from an inward falls into
an outward consumption
and death at length gives the finishing stroke
and
closes all with a sad catastrophe.
II. By what ways
men come to cast off shame and grow impudent in sin.
1. By the commission of great sins. For these waste the conscience
and destroy at once. They are
as it were
a course of wickedness abridged into
one act
and a custom of sinning by equivalence. They steel the forehead
and
harden the heart
and break those bars asunder which modesty had originally
fenced and enclosed it with.
2. Custom in sinning never fails in the issue to take away the sense
and shame of sin
were a person never so virtuous before. First
he begins to
shake off the natural horror and dread which he had of breaking any of God’s
commands
and so not to fear sin; next
finding his sinful appetites gratified
by such breaches of the Divine law
he comes to like his sin and be pleased
with what he has done; and then
from ordinary complacencies
heightened and
improved by custom
he comes passionately to delight in such ways. Finally
having resolved to continue and persist in them
he frames himself to a
resolute contempt of what is thought or said of him.
3. The examples of great persons take away the shame of anything
which they are observed to practise
though never so foul and shameful in
itself. Nothing is more contagious than an iii action set off with a great
example; for it is natural for men to imitate those above them
and to
endeavour to resemble
at least
that which they cannot be.
4. The observation of the general and common practice of anything
takes away the shame of that practice. A vice a la mode will look virtue
itself out of countenance
and it is well if it does not look it out of heart
too. Men love not to be found singular
especially where the singularity lies
in the rugged and severe paths of Virtue.
5. To have been once greatly and irrecoverably ashamed renders men
shameless. For shame is never of any force but where there is some stock of
credit to be preserved. When a man finds that to be lost
he is like an undone
gamester
who plays on safety
knowing he can lose no more.
III. The several
degrees of shamelessness in sin.
1. A showing of the greatest respect
and making the most obsequious
applications and addresses to lewd and infamous persons; and that without any
pretence of duty requiring it
which yet alone can justify and excuse men in
it.
2. To extenuate or excuse a sin is bad enough
but to defend it is
intolerable. Such are properly the devil’s advocates.
3. Glorying in sin. Higher than this the corruption of man’s nature
cannot possibly go. This is publicly to set up a standard on behalf of vice
to
wear its colours
and avowedly to assert and espouse the cause of it
in
defiance of all that is sacred or civil
moral or religious.
IV. Why it brings
down judgment and destruction upon the sinner.
1. Because shamelessness in sin always presupposes those actions and
courses which God rarely suffers to go unpunished.
2. Because of the destructive influence which it has upon the government
of the world. It is manifest that the integrity of men’s manners cannot be
secured
where there is not preserved upon men’s minds a true estimate of vice
and virtue
that is
where vice is not looked upon as shameful and opprobrious
and virtue valued as worthy and honourable. But now
where vice walks with a
daring front
and no shame attends the practice or the practisers of it
there
is an utter confusion of the first dividing and distinguishing properties of
men’s actions; morality falls to the ground
and government must quickly
follow. And whenever it comes to fare thus with any civil State
virtue and
common honesty seem to make their appeal to the supreme Governor of all things
to take the matter into His own hands
and to correct those clamorous
enormities which are grown too big and strong for law or shame
or any human
coercion.
V. What those
judgments are.
1. A sudden and disastrous death; and
indeed
suddenness in this can
hardly be without disaster.
2. War and desolation.
3. Captivity. (R. South
D. D.)
The shamelessness of sinners
The legend says that
a sinner being at confession
the devil
appeared
saying
that he came to make restitution. Being asked what he would
restore
he said
“Shame; for it is shame that I have stolen from this sinner
to make him shameless in sinning; and now I have come to restore it to him
to
make him ashamed to confess his sins.”
Neither could they blush.
Blushing
(with Ezra 9:6):--“Just fancy
” said Tom
who
had been doing a bit of word study by the aid of his newly-acquired Skeat
“to
blush is
in its origin
the same word as to blaze
or to blast
and a blush in
Danish means a torch.” “And a very good origin too
” said his sister
who got
red in the face and hot all over on the slightest provocation. Yes
youth is
the blushing time of life. Said Diogenes to a youth whom he saw blushing:
“Courage
my boy
that is the complexion of virtue.”
I. There is the
blush of guilt. Who broke the window? All were silent; but one boy looked
uneasy. His blush was the blast of his red-hot conscience
condemning the dumb
tongue.
II. There is the
blush of shame. It was such a mean thing to tell that lie to one’s own father.
It was a shabby trick I played my chum. And that nasty word I spoke yesterday
to a girl
too
it makes me sick-ashamed of myself to think of it. Yes; you
ought to think shame. But “the man that blushes is not quite a brute.”
III. There is the
blush of modesty. Tom said nothing about his splendid score at the match
until
his sister read aloud at breakfast next morning the flattering report given in
the newspaper
at which Tom blushed like a girl. He had his revenge
however
when more than one letter came to Shena from Dr. Barnardo
and Tom protested
that he knew now why she had no money to spend on sweets
and poor Shena got
very red in the face and went out of the room.
IV. There is the
blush of honest indignation at the meanness of the cheat
the cruelty of the
bully
the greed of the glutton
and the indifference of selfish souls. This
blush of virtuous anger must have come into the meek face of Christ
when He
rebuked the disciples for keeping the mothers from bringing their children to
Him.
V. Just twice
I
think
do we read of blushing in the Bible
and the solemn thing is that the
blush in both cases is not before men
but under the eye of God.
1. One of the most remarkable prayers in the Bible is the prayer of
Ezra
the scribe--the brave
good
holy man who led a company of his Israelite
brethren from Babylon to Jerusalem. It rises hot and passionate out of his very
heart; for
like all priestly souls
he makes all the sins of the people his
own. “O my God
I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to Thee
my God.” He
loved his people so dearly that their faults seemed to be his own
and he
blushed before the Holy God for shame of them.
2. Quite at the opposite pole of feeling is the other place in the
Bible where blushing is spoken of. For Jeremiah
the broken-hearted prophet of
the Lord
uses it when he has to describe the utter callousness of the people
in spite of all their sins and sorrows. “They were not at all ashamed
neither
could they blush.” That is surely the most hopeless state of all
when one has
lost the very power to feel shame and sorrow before God. The Florentines used
to point to Dante in the street
whispering
“There’s the man who has been in
hell.” But hell has come into the heart of the man who cannot blush. Oh
it is
better
as Mahomet said in his old age
to blush in this world than in the
next. St. John of the eagle eye and loving heart tells us that in the great day
of judgment we shall either have the boldness or liberty and confidence of
children
or we shall shrink away with shame “like a guilty thing surprised.” (A.
N. Mackray
M. A.)
Verse 16
Stand ye in the ways
and see
and ask for the old paths
where is
the good way
and walk therein.
The good old way
Were you called together to listen to the present preacher only
courtesy might demand at your hands an attentive hearing for him; but if an
apostle of our Lord Jesus Christ were the preacher
he would have far higher
claims; and if one of the ancient prophets were the speaker
or at any rate
could an angel or an archangel be permitted now to address you
we think you
would all admit that to be inattentive to his words would be highly unbecoming:
how much more so to be inattentive if the God of the whole earth were addressing
you! And is He not? “Thus saith the Lord
Stand ye in the ways
and see
” etc.
I. To the way
recommended in the text. “Ask for the old paths
where is the good way.” The
words of the text are metaphorical
and represent true religion under the aspect
of a pilgrimage or a journey. If
then
you ask me
“What is the way to
heaven?” I refer to the words of the Lord Jesus when speaking to Thomas. “I
”
said He
“am the way.” “No man cometh unto the Father but by Me.” Christ is the
way. He is the way from sin to holiness
--from darkness to light
--from bondage
to liberty
--from misery to happiness
--from the gates of hell to the throne of
heaven. But how is He the way? By His example: for “leaving us an example
we
should follow His steps.” By His doctrine: for “we know that He is true
and
teaches the way of God in truth.” By His sacrificial death: for “we have
boldness to eater into the holiest by the blood of Jesus
by a new and living
way
which He hath consecrated for us
through the veil
that is to say
His
flesh.” By His Spirit: when He
the Spirit of truth
is come
He will guide you
into all the truth. How
then
are we to walk in the way? By “repentance
towards God
and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ.” “Except ye repent ye
shall all perish.” Believe m the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. “He
that believeth shall not perish.” But what are the epithets by which the way is
described in our text? The way is not “the broad way” that leadeth to
destruction; nor “the hard way
” pursued by transgressors; nor the way that
only seemeth right to a man
while the end thereof is death; but it is the good
way
and the old path.
1. It is an old way. True
there are persons who more than insinuate
that the way
as just described to you
is a new thing. They say the way to
heaven is not now what it formerly was
if our definition is correct. But what
have we said? Have we not affirmed that salvation is by Christ
and through Him
only? Have we not said that repentance and faith are the conditions of obtaining
it from Him? And is this new doctrine? Why
this doctrine is as old as the days
of Wesley and Whitfield
for they proclaimed it in England
Wales
Ireland
Scotland
and America. But go a step further back. What were the leading
doctrines of the illustrious Reformers? For what were they traduced
slandered
excommunicated
and martyred
but for this? They asserted that penance was a
human prescription--that works of supererogation were a delusion--that images
beads
holy water
crucifixes
and relics were but “sanctified nonsense”--that
Christ was the only mediator between God and man. But we go further still. What
did our Lord and the apostles themselves teach? They preached “repent and
believe!” Nor do we stop here. What did the prophets--Isaiah
Jeremiah
Ezekiel
Micah
Malachi
and the rest--who flourished from seven hundred to a
thousand years anterior to the Christian era teach? Did not they speak of the
promised seed
the Messiah
the Redeemer
in whom men should believe
and by
whom they should be saved? Go to that splendid treasury of ecclesiastical
biography--the eleventh chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews
and look at the
fourth verse: “By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than
Cain
by which he obtained witness that he was righteous
God testifying of his
gifts: and by it he being dead
yet speaketh.” Well
then
some three thousand
years elapsed between the time of Abel’s believing and that of Jeremiah’s
preaching
and the way had been tried during the whole of that long period
and
was therefore properly called by the prophet “the old path.” Oh no; we bring no
new doctrine to your ears
no new way before your eyes. We grant you that some
of the circumstantials of religion have been changed since the days of Abel; but
the essentials have remained the same. A Saviour
a mediator
a sacrifice
an
atonement; repentance
faith
prayer
and holy living--thane all abide ever.
The way is called new by the apostle
in reference to that fuller and clearer
development of it furnished by the life and death of the Lord Jesus; and even
when contrasting it with those ritualistic observances on which the Jews had
long laid more than sufficient stress: but in all ages Christ has been the
Saviour of men
and faith in Him the prime condition of salvation.
2. The text speaks of this way as a good one. “Where is the good
way?” It is not only a good way
but the good way--good emphatically; the only
good way
therefore
par excellence
the good way. God is the author of it
and
He is good. He is the good Being: His name God implies this
as it is a
contraction of the adjective “good.” Christ is the way
and He is good.
Pilate’s question
“What evil hath He done?” remains still unanswered. The Holy
Spirit recommends this way; and He would not recommend anything evil. The Bible
is a good book--all insinuations by scoffers to the contrary
notwithstanding
--and it strongly urges us to pursue this way. There have
been--and
thank God! still are--some good men in the world
bad as it is; and
they have travelled
or are travelling in this way. However vile they may have
been ere entering this way
they became virtuous and happy when they began to
travel on this path. Men have said the way of salvation by faith in the merits
of another is not good
for it will lead to licentiousness--to
latitudinarianism. But such men speak without experience. The faith that saves
us is not a nominal thing--not merely speculative
but practical
evangelical
faith. “Show me thy faith without thy works
” O objector
“and I will show thee
my faith by my works.” Ah
there it is. This faith of ours works
and has
works; “it works by love
and purifies the heart.” While we repose on the
merits of the Saviour
we copy the example of the Saviour; while we believe He
died for us
we exhibit the genuineness of our belief by a holy life.
II. The duty the
text enjoins. “Stand ye in the ways
” etc.
1. “Stand in the ways
and see.” These words seem to refer to the
position of a traveller on foot
who
in prosecuting his pilgrimage
has
reached a point where there is a junction of several roads; and who is
perplexed by this circumstance
and at a loss which way to pursue. What can he
do in this case? The text says
“Stand
” halt
ere you go astray
and try to
ascertain the proper direction
or you may lose time in losing your way
and
perchance may haw to retrace your steps
amid the jeers of witnesses
and under
the self-inflicted penalty of regretful reproach. He takes from his pocket a
book and a map
from which he learns that the road to the right goes to one
place
that to the left to another
but the one straight on to the place of his
destination. He then
after due examination
prosecutes his pilgrimage with
pleasurable satisfaction; having no tormenting doubts as to his course
but a
strong assurance of reaching
by and by
the desired end. Now
the traveller to
eternity--the man in search of “the path of life”--has been graciously provided
with an “itinerary”; that is
God’s own road book
the Bible. Hence
says the
Saviour
“Search the Scriptures
for in them ye think ye have eternal life
and
they are they which testify of Me.” Go
then
fellow traveller
to the
ever-blessed book; pore over its lessons; study its precepts; imitate its
examples; and realise its promises.
2. “Ask for the way.” See that man with his map and book; he is still
perplexed somewhat; he wants counsel; he needs a guide; let him ask advice of
those who know by experience what he has yet to learn. Ah! up comes a person
who knows the road intimately
who has travelled along it these many years
and
who loves to give his best practical advice to all inquirers. Well
ask him. He
is a Gospel minister
or some old weather-beaten pilgrim
who has borne the
heat of many a summer
and the stormy blasts of many a winter; he will be right
glad to tell thee the way thou shouldst go. And
if he fail
there is a Guide
who never will; for
“when the Spirit of truth is come
He will guide you into
all the truth.”
3. “Walk therein.” Yes
it avails not what we read
how much
information we acquire
with whomsoever we converse
or even how often we pray
unless we “walk in the way.” John Bunyan tells us of a Mr. Talkative
who was
very ready and fluent in religious discussions and conversations; but who left
the practical part of religion to others. Alas! that the descendants of that
personage are not extinct. Remember that no man can get to heaven by looking at
maps of the road
or conversing with those who are journeying thitherward; we
must all “walk in the way.”
III. To the blessing
promised. “Ye shall find rest for your souls.” The word “rest” is one of the
sweetest monosyllables in our language. Robert Hall said he could think of the
word tear till he wept; I could think of the word rest till I smiled. After a
paroxysm of pain
how delicious is ease and rest after a hard day’s toil
how
delightful to retire to rest! And if rest of the body be sweet
sweeter still
is rest for the soul. “The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmities
but a
wounded spirit who can bear?” Rest for the soul we all long to find; we cannot
help it. We must be in quest of rest do what we may. Peace
happiness
mental
quietude
rest
every man of all things desiderates. But where may it be found?
Secularists and quondam socialists say in gratifying our animal passions; the
miser--significant name
literally miserable--hopes to find it among golden
gains; the ambitious climbs up the rugged heights of power and fame
and hopes
to descry it there; but the Christian is the only man who can exclaim with the
exulting Greek
Eureka! Eureka! I have found it! (W. Antliff
D. D.)
The ancient paths
Transition is easy from an outward physical path to a moral
meaning: roads men walk with their feet suggest the road men’s thoughts
habitually walk in
the path in which their feelings are accustomed to move
the way in which their conduct naturally flows. In this secondary sense
use
text to point out the necessity
in all who would go right
of keeping upon the
old ways
the ascertained ways
which
in the experience of mankind
have been
proved beneficial.
I. Our boast of
novelty
our glorying in our newness
as if we were in advance of everybody and
everything else
is a fanciful mistake. Our thoughts
and all the channels of
our thoughts
are the result of the thought and experience of thousands of
years that are gone by. Political habits and customs
knowledge of right and
equity
have been gradually unfolded from ages past. Combinations are new
elements are old.
II. The present
time is noticeable for an extraordinary outbreak of activity along new lines of
thought and belief.
1. Men are inclined to doubt generally the social and moral results
of past experience
to repudiate long-accepted social maxims and customs.
2. General distrust is being thrown upon religions teachings: not
positive unbelief
but uncertainty. And by having confidence in religion its
real power is destroyed. Thus thousands are abandoning old paths--old thoughts
usages
customs
habits
convictions
virtues.
III. There are
certain great permanencies of thought
character
and custom
especially
necessary in our time.
1. Moral and social progress can never be so rapid as physical
developments. Men cannot be changed in their principles
feelings
and inner
life in the same ratio as external changes go on.
2. There is danger in giving up any belief or custom which has been
entwined in our moral sense. Regard as sacred the first principles of truth.
3. In the transition from a lower to a higher form of belief there is
peril. Hence
we are not to think it our duty in a headlong way to change men’s
beliefs simply because they are erroneous. As if changing from one mode of
belief to another was going to change the conscience
reason
moral
susceptibility
and character.
IV. The
relinquishment of trust or of practice should always be from worse to better.
If you want a traveller to have a better road
make that better road
and then
he will need no argument to persuade him to walk in it. If you are teaching
that one intellectual system is better than another
and that one religious
organisation
church
or creed
is better
prove it by presenting better fruit
than the other
and men will need little argument beyond. If a Church breeds
meekness
fortitude
love
courage
disinterestedness; if it makes noble
men--uncrowned but undoubted princes
--then it is a Church
a living epistle
which will convince men.
V. All new truths
like new wines
must have a period of fermentation.
1. All truths are at first on probation; must be scrutinised
ransacked
vindicated.
2. Guard against wild and unseasonable urgency in throwing off
traditional faiths and truths
for those you can discover for yourselves.
Accept what other men construct for you. We are so related
by the laws of God
one to another
that no man can think out everything for himself.
VI. We do well to
look cautiously at new truths and those who advocate them. There is a conceit
a dogmatism
a bigotry of science
as really as there is of religion.
Application--
1. All the tendencies which narrow the moral sense and enlarge the
liberty of the passions are dangerous.
2. All tendencies which increase self-conceit are to be suspected and
disowned.
3. Those tendencies which extinguish in a man all spiritual elements
such as arise from faith in God
in our spirituality and immortality
must
inevitably degrade our manhood.
4. All tendencies which take away your hope of and belief in another
world
take away your motive for striving to reach a higher life. Without this
hope men will have a weary pilgrimage in a world of unbelief. (H. W.
Beecher.)
The old paths
I. The old paths
are to be distinguished from theological creeds and dogmas. Lifted upon the
shoulders of many generations
with opportunities for interpreting the Bible in
the light of a developing Christianity
it would be strange if our horizon had
not increased. Think as those men thought--not necessarily what they thought.
II. A return to the
“old paths” does not call us away from vigorous life. Wherever human thought
in obedience to its best nature
essays to got wherever desire for higher and
better things reaches out
there are the paths of the Lord. They are as “the
shining light
that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.” Treading them
“every power finds sweet employ.”
III. Some of the
characteristics of the old paths.
1. They are plain. True
the fogs sometimes hang low upon them as
upon worldly ways; but we can always
in the darkest hour
see one step before
us
and that taken
we can see another. The engineer cannot see his track all
the way from New York to Albany
but in the heaviest night he trusts his
headlight and keeps on his way. So let the Christian do.
2. They are unchanging. God’s paths
like Himself
are “the same
yesterday
today
and forever.”
3. They are paths of righteousness (Psalms 23:3). Old coins lose their royal
stamp by much handling. So with some of our grandest words. Righteousness is
one of them. It is not formalism
it is not morality. It is right living
with
a pure heart as its source.
4. They are paths of mercy (Psalms 25:10).
5. They are paths of plenty (Psalms 65:11). What a struggle men have
for mere existence! They rise early and sit up late and eat the bread of
affliction. They have left the paths of the Lord. They have chased phantoms.
They must endure for the time the fruit of their doings. Yet
notwithstanding
these seeming exceptions
the precious promise abides (Psalms 37:3).
6. They are paths of life (Proverbs 2:19). What a path that where
Christ is the support of our steps
guide of our way
and the crown of our
journey’s end!
7. They are paths of peace (Proverbs 3:17; Isaiah 26:3). There is no peace but in
the narrow way where God gives pardon and reconciliation.
8. They are His paths (Isaiah 2:3). It is not possible
in a
spiritual sense
that God should give us anything and not give us Himself.
Without Himself the graces of the Spirit are only names.
IV. How to find
these paths.
1. By standing. How hard it is to stop and stand still and think and
search!
2. By seeing. With open eyes we may see whether the path be an old
path
whether it is macadamised with living truth
whether they who are upon it
wear the livery of the Great King.
3. By asking. Men are ever ready to ask counsel in worldly things.
Why not of God and His servants in regard to heavenly things? “Ask
and ye
shall receive.”
4. By walking. Having used sight and tongue and thoughts
we are then
to act. God has united faith and works
prayer and activity.
V. The promise to
those who obey. “Rest.” (E. P. Ingersoll
D. D.)
Novelty in religion exploded
Novelty is a term which
when applied to man
always involves a
degree of previous ignorance. The astronomer finds out new stars
the botanist
new plants
the linguist new tongues
the geometrician new modes of proof and
illustration
the politician new laws
the geographer new islands
the
navigator new creeks
anchorages and havens
the tradesman new articles of
commerce
the artificer and mechanic new methods of accomplishing the work of
their hands. Each successive generation
in a civilised country especially
makes advancement on the experiments of the former. In religious matters
however
it is different. We am to expect no new Bible
no new ordinances
no
new Messiah
no new discoveries in the substance of truth and piety
any more
than we look for a new sun
moon
and seasons
in the institutions of nature.
We allow
indeed
that in ourselves
as we pass from a state of unregeneracy to
that of renewal
“old things pass away
and all things become new”; that in the
progress of sanctification
there is a succession of discoveries
as we grow in
knowledge and grace; that in the pursuit of schemes of usefulness
new modes of
operation may be struck out; but as to all the rest
it is established by the
Great Head of the Church to be subjected to no alteration until the time of the
restitution of all things
when there shall be a “new heaven and earth
” etc.
I. Trace the good
old way.
1. There is the way of theory. This will be found in its grand and
essential elements in the Word of truth; for this is the chart or map in which
the path is laid down in which the pious have walked from the beginning.
2. There is the way of experience
or the application of these truths
to the mind by such an influence and in such a way as to render them living
principles of activity and enjoyment. Repentance for sin
dependence
devotion
etc.
3. There is the way of practice; and this with regard to God and our
fellow creatures.
II. Show what is
your duty with respect to the path which has been described.
1. Primarily
to institute a serious
a deliberate and cautious
inquiry
that you may ascertain whether you are in the right way. One grand
reason why many who profess to make the inquiry “What is truth?” do not
succeed
is
that they indulge in a light
trifling temper of mind
quite
unsuited to the character of their avowed engagement
and highly offensive to
God.
2. Steadily pursue the path you have ascertained to be right. Aim to
be established
strengthened
settled on your most holy faith
and guard
against that versatility which will be an effective preventive to
sanctification
comfort
and usefulness. With walking we always connect the
idea
not of habit only
but of progress. Your knowledge
your sacred virtues
your practical obedience should be always on the advance.
Conclusion--
1. The lamentable consequences of a refusal to walk in this way.
2. The inestimable advantages of walking in the good old way. (John
Clayton.)
The old paths
Perhaps the chief danger attending modem progress is the neglect
of antiquity. This does not apply to literature and art
but to science and
religion. A man who aspires to excellence in letters or art must go on
pilgrimage to the old paths
and having found them must abide in them. Take the
single example of sculpture. What has been gained for this art in the
advancement of later times? Nothing has been gained
but much lost which can
never be recovered. The most celebrated work of recent artists in stone is
little more than an imitation of the masterpieces of Athens executed between
two and three thousand years ago. The hope of the learner in this profession is
to stand in the old paths. With some qualifications the same is true of
literature. The Greek and Roman classics are still our teachers; and there is
no prospect of the immediate declension of their authority. No liberal
education is supposed to be possible without the languages of antiquity and the
compositions that adorn them. Scientific culture has been repaid by abundant
fruit in recent years: but the losses sustained by science through our
ignorance of antiquity are inconceivable. Students in science will be the first
to acknowledge and deplore this loss. But while literature cannot neglect the
old paths
and science is devoutly engaged in retracing her lost ways
religion
is in imminent danger of drifting from her ancient landmarks. The peril I
desire to point out is not new in the history of the Christian faith. There is
something in his nature which makes a human being feel after a God; and this
act of search would be far more likely to touch the object sought when the race
was young
when the impressions received were new
uncorrupted by speculation
unfettered by tradition
than at this time when the race is old and our
impressions of the self within us
and of surrounding nature
are unconsciously
weighted and often made false by hereditary influences
and by misleading ideas
that swarm about us in childhood and are the spring of errors which it is the most
difficult task of education to discover and correct. This invariable tendency
to look for truth and wisdom and goodness
not to the possibilities of the
present
not even to the lessons of the immediate past
but to the records and
traditions of a remote age
is a striking confirmation of the biblical history
of mankind. That wistful looking back on the part of the nations is a pathetic
sign that something is missing which once was ours when heaven and truth were
nearer to this earth than they are now. When I bring these problems to the
ancient ways of God that
setting out from the creation of man and following
the race
converge upon Christ
I discover the clue that leads to their
interpretation. The old paths ran into Christ. His attitude towards the men who
flourished before Him was neither hostile nor independent. He spoke of them
with reverence; He quoted their teaching in support of His own claims; He
proved that that teaching when divided from Himself was not only incomplete
but in some cases had no meaning; that He
in fact
was the complement of the
older wisdom. He dwelt not only with contemporaries
but in the old paths as
the Illuminating Presence of the past. “Before Abraham was
I am.” He lighted
up the parables of the sages; He harmonised prediction with history
and type
with the fulfilling event or person. And as the old paths met in Christ--as He
was the “Way” to which all other paths and ways led the traveller
not only
thoroughfares defined and laid down in systems of law and belief
but irregular
tracks made by earnest but wandering feet in search of the Highway; as He was
the “Truth
” in which all moral intimations
ideas
and aspirations found their
fulfilment and satisfaction; as He was the “Life
” in which all the nobler
elements of the heart attained their highest purity and their perfect
expression--so He is now the centre and resting place of all doctrine
of all
inquiry
and of all faith. What will be the result of the attempt to make the
New Testament a modern publication? We smooth a hardness here
we read in a
meaning there
we hide the significance of this doctrine behind the assumed
importance of that
on the plea of keeping the Book in touch with a scientific
age. There will be no end to this recasting until we end the Bible itself. We
share the conquests of science
and partake the renown of scientific men; but
theirs is the truth of research
ours is the truth of revelation. Their
conclusions are necessarily subject to revision; many of them perish outright;
but the Word of our God abideth
and shall stand forever. (E. E. Jenkins
LL. D.)
The old paths
I. Excellent
general advice. “Stand
and see
and ask.” I take these words to be a call to
thought and consideration. Now
to set men thinking is one great object which
every teacher of religion should always keep before him. Serious thought
in
short
is one of the first steps towards heaven. There are but few
I suspect
who deliberately and calmly choose evil
refuse good
turn their back on God
and resolve to serve sin as sin. The most part are what they are because they
began their present course without thought. They would not take the trouble to
look forward and consider the consequences of their conduct. By thoughtless
actions they created habits which have become second nature to them. They have
got into a groove now
and nothing but a special miracle of grace will stop
them. There are none
we must all be aware
who bring themselves into so much
trouble by want of thinking as the young. Too often they choose in haste a wrong
profession or business
and find after two or three years
that they have made
an irretrievable mistake
and
if I may borrow a railway phrase
have got on
the wrong line of rails. But the young are not the only persons who need the
exhortation of the text in this day. It is preeminently advice for the times.
Hurry is the characteristic of the age in which we live. On every side you see
the many driving furiously
like Jehu
after business or politics. They seem
unable to find time for calm
quiet
serious reflection about their souls and a
world to come. Men and brethren
consider your ways. Beware of the infection of
the times.
II. A particular
direction. “Ask for the old paths.” We want a return to the old paths of our
reformers. I grant they were rough workmen
and made some mistakes. They worked
under immense difficulties
and deserve tender judgment and fair consideration.
But they revived out of the dust grand foundation truths which had been long
buried and forgotten. By embalming those truths in our Articles and Liturgy
by
incessantly pressing them on the attention of our forefathers
they changed the
whole character of this nation
and raised a standard of true doctrine and
practice
which
after three centuries
is a power in the land
and has an
insensible influence on English character to this very day. Can we mend these
old paths? Novelty is the idol of the day. But I have yet to learn that all new
views of religion are necessarily better than the old. It is not so in the work
of men’s hands. I doubt if this nineteenth century could produce an architect
who could design better buildings than the Parthenon or Coliseum
or a mason
who could rear fabrics which will last so long. It certainly is not so in the
work of men’s minds. Thucydides is not superseded by Macaulay
nor Homer by
Milton. Why
then
are we to suppose that old theology is necessarily inferior
to new? I ask boldly
What extensive good has ever been done in the world
except by the theology of the “old paths”? and I confidently challenge a reply.
There never has been any spread of the Gospel
any conversion of nations or
countries
any successful evangelistic work
excepting by the old-fashioned
distinct doctrines of the early Christians and the reformers.
III. A precious
promise. “Ye shall find rest to your souls.” Let it never be forgotten that
rest of conscience is the secret want of a vast portion of mankind. The
labouring and heavy laden are everywhere: they are a multitude that man can
scarcely number; they are to be found in every climate and in every country
under the sun. Everywhere you will find trouble
care
sorrow: anxiety
murmuring
discontent
and unrest. Did God create man at the beginning to be
unhappy? Most certainly not. Are human governments to blame because men are not
happy? At most to a very slight extent. The fault lies far too deep to be
reached by human laws. Sin and departure from God are the true reasons why men
are everywhere restless
labouring
and heavy laden. Sin is the universal
disease which infects the whole earth. The rest that Christ gives in the “old
paths” is an inward thing. It is rest of heart
rest of conscience
rest of
mind
rest of affection
rest of will. (Bishop J. C. Ryle.)
Standing in the old paths
I. The dangers of
judging of religion
without long and diligent examination. Happy would it be
for the present age if men were distrustful of their own abilities.
II. The
reasonableness of searching into antiquity
or of asking for the old paths.
With regard to the order and government of the primitive Church
we may
doubtless follow their authority with perfect security; they could not possibly
be ignorant of laws executed
and customs practised
by themselves; nor would
they
even supposing them corrupt
serve any interests of their own
by handing
down false accounts to posterity. Nor is this the only
though perhaps the
chief use of these writers; for
in matters of faith
and points of doctrine
those
at least
who lived in the ages nearest to the times of the apostles
undoubtedly deserve to be consulted. The oral doctrines
and occasional
explications of the apostles
must have been treasured up in the memory of
their audiences
and transmitted for some time from father to son.
III. The happiness
which attends a well-grounded belief and steady practice of religion. Suspense
and uncertainty distract the soul
disturb its motions
and retard its
operations; while we doubt in what manner to worship God
there is great danger
lest we should neglect to worship Him at all. There is a much closer connection
between practice and speculation than is generally imagined. A man disquieted
with scruples concerning any important article of religion
will
for the most
part
find himself indifferent and cold
even to those duties which he
practised before with the most active diligence and ardent satisfaction. Let
him then ask for the old paths
where is the good way
and he shall find rest
for his soul. (S. Johnson
LL. D.)
On the appeal to antiquity in matters of religion
The appeal to antiquity is worth your closest observation
as one
which may as well be made in our own days as in those of the prophet Jeremiah.
The paths which are to be sought for are “the old paths
” and it is their age
which seems represented as giving them safety. Now it were quite idle to assert
that this is in all cases a sound view
or that it will necessarily hold good
when applied to the businesses and sciences of life. If we attempted
for
example
to introduce into natural philosophy
the principle that the old paths
are the best
we should only be urging men to travel back to a broad waste of
ignorance
and to settle themselves once more in the crudest and most erroneous
of opinions. We are quite ready with the like admission
in matters of civil
polity. We hold unreservedly that nothing human can come to its perfection at
once; and that whilst there are certain fundamental principles which can never
be swerved from with safety
the determination of the best form of government
for a community demands many successive experiments; so that one generation is
not to hand down its institutions to the next
as not to be violated because
not to be improved. The legacy of the fathers should be their experience
and
that experience should be carried by the children as a new element into their
political competitions. But the principle which applies not to sciences or
governments may be applicable
without reservation
to religion. Religious
truth is matter of revelation
and not therefore left to be searched out and
determined by successive experiments; whereas truth of any other description is
only to be come at by painful investigation; and until that investigation has
been carried to the farthest possible limit
we have no right to claim such a
fixedness for our positions
that those who come after us must receive them as
irreversible. Yet we would not have it thought
that even in matters of
religion
we yield unqualified submission to the voice of antiquity. We hold
that there is room for discovery
strictly and properly so called in theology
as well as in astronomy or chemistry. We ourselves must necessarily be more
advantageously circumstanced than any of our fathers
when the matter in
question is the fulfilment of prophecy. Prophecy is of course nothing but
anticipated history; and the further on
therefore
we live
in the march of
those occurrences which are to make up the story of our globe and its tenants
the more power have we to find the foretold in the fulfilled
and thus to
lessen the amount of unaccomplished prediction. Now when this exception has
been made
we do not hesitate to apply our text to the disclosures of
revelation
and to assert that in all disputes upon doctrines
and in all
debates upon creeds
it is the part of wise men to appeal to antiquity.
1. When we speak of antiquity
we refer to Christianity in its young
days
whilst the Church was still warm with her first love
and her teachers
were but little removed from those who had held intercourse with Christ and His
apostles. It is in this manner
for example
that we introduce the authority of
antiquity into the question of infant baptism. Unless apostles baptised
infants
and unless they taught that infants were to be received into the
Church
it seems well-nigh incredible that those who lived near their times
and must have obtained instruction almost from their very lips
should have
adopted the custom of infant baptism. We would advance another illustration of
the worth of the witness of antiquity
and we fetch it from a fundamental
matter of doctrine. We believe
undoubtedly
that the Bible is adapted to all
ages of the world and all ranks of society; and that the Spirit which indited
it
is as ready now
as in the early days of Christianity
to act as its
interpreter and open up its truths. We are assured
therefore
that the sublime
doctrine of the Trinity
if it
indeed
be contained in the Word of
inspiration
will be made known to every prayerful and diligent student; and
that there will need no acquaintance with the creeds or the commentaries of primitive
Christians
in order to the apprehending of this grand discovery of the nature
of Godhead. But
at the same time
when all kinds of opinions are broached
diametrically at variance with the doctrine of the Trinity
and men labour to
devise and support interpretations of Scripture which shall quite overthrow
this foundation stone of Christianity
we count it of no mean worth
that in
writings which have come down to us from days just succeeding the apostolic
we
can find the Trinity in unity as broadly asserted
and as clearly defined
as
in any of the treatises which now professedly undertake its defence. Now you
will understand
from these instances
the exact use of antiquity
in matters
of religion; and the sense in which it may fairly be expected that the old
paths are the right. “Where was your religion till Luther arose?” is the
question broached in every dispute between the Romish Church and the Reformed.
The Romish Church prides itself on being the old Church
and reproaches the
Reformed with being the new. And we admit
in all frankness
that if the Romish
Church made good its pretensions--if it could win for itself the praise of
antiquity
and fix fairly on the Protestant newness
Popery would gain an
almost unassailable position; for we are inclined to hold it as little less
than an axiom in religion
that the oldest Christianity is the best. But we are
quite ready to meet the Roman Catholic on the ground of antiquity; and to
decide the goodness by deciding the oldness of our paths. We contend
that
whatever is held in common by the two Churches may be proved from Scripture
and shown to have been maintained by the earliest Christians; but that
everything received by the Romish and rejected by the Protestant
can neither
be substantiated by the Bible
nor sanctioned by the practice of the primitive
Church.
2. There is not one amongst you
who ought not to know something of
this appeal to antiquity. We may make the like assertion in regard to the
Christian Sabbath. If asked for our authority for keeping holy the first day of
the week
in place of the seventh
you cannot produce a direct scriptural
command; but we are in possession of such clear proof
that the apostles and
their immediate successors made the first day their Sabbath
that we may claim
to the observance all the force of Divine institution. This
however
we must
all see
is employing the practice of antiquity where we have not a distinct
precept of Scripture; in other words
we prove the right paths by proving the
old paths. We are not
indeed
able to appeal to primitive Christians
and to
show you this union of Church or State as being sanctioned by apostolical
practice. Of course
until the rulers of the kingdom embraced the faith of
Christ (and this was not of early occurrence)
Christianity could not become
established. But
as Milner observes
from the earliest ages of patriarchal
government
when holy men were favoured with a Divine revelation
governors
taught the true religion
and did not permit their subjects to propagate atheism
idolatry
or false religion. There was
as under the Jewish constitution
an
unquestionable authority which the magistrates possessed in ecclesiastical
regulations: so that union between Church and State
in place of being novel
can be traced up almost from the beginning of the world. (H. Melvill
B. D.)
The old paths
I. The
denomination.
1. “Old paths.” Way of--
2. “Old
” because--
II. The despot.
“Good way.”
1. A path may be “old
” yet not “good”; this is both.
2. When may a path be called “good”?
III. The directions.
They who seek this path should bell.
1. Cautious in their observations.
2. Earnest in their inquiries.
3. Prompt in entering thereon.
IV. The
destination.
1. In the journey many blessings of rest will be enjoyed
as
contentment
satisfaction
cheerfulness
security.
2. Afterwards there will be fulness of rest: the path leads to
eternal repose
happiness
glory. (Sermon Framework.)
The good old path
Men are travellers. No continuing city here; no rest. Days upon
earth but a shadow; none abiding. Must go on--from earth
with its cares and
sorrows and privileges and joys--either to heaven or hell.
I. A solemn
exhortation.
1. We should ascertain what path we are walking in. Men do not think
enough about spiritual things. Many a poor misguided traveller would enter the
right path and obtain eternal life if he gave heed to the things which make for
his peace.
2. We must not only ascertain if our way be wrong
but inquire for
the right path.
3. Having found the right path
we are to walk in it. Knowledge alone
is not sufficient; there must be practical application of it.
II. A gracious
promise.
1. The rest promised is of the highest kind. For the soul. The soul
requires it. Burdened with sin; filled with feverish anxiety; like a ship
tossed on a troubled sea.
2. This rest can be bestowed by God alone. It is the fruit of our
union with Him
the result of our being His dear children.
3. In what does it consist? In our being forgiven; in our being
conscious of the Divine favour; in our having the Spirit of Christ in our
souls; in our dependence upon the promises. (H. B. Ingrain.)
The good old way
I. The nature of
the old way from which adam so fatally swerved
and all his descendants with
him.
1. The way of self-denial. As this principle involves resistance to
temptation
control of temper and overthrow of natural inclinations and habits
it is necessarily an important ingredient of true religion; from the nature of
the case
from the bare fact of its being amenable to the superior will of the
Almighty
an indispensable requisite of finite perfection in all instances
whatsoever.
2. The way of implicit dependence upon God. Until the foul spirit of
restless discontent took possession of his breast Adam was sufficed to rest and
rely for everything upon the wisdom
power
love and benignity of Him who
created him content to know no more than what He taught him
and to exercise
his mental faculties and reasoning powers in entire subordination to his
Superior’s wish
questioning nothing
but taking everything as perfect that
came from Him. The knowledge
service and worship of God were the objects of
all he thought
saw
or did. Beyond them there was nothing he eared to desire
or know.
3. The way of humility. “Knowledge” says St. Paul
“puffeth up
but
charity edifieth.” What knowledge? Not the chastened
subdued
heaven-taught
and heaven-tempered wisdom which guided the soul and enlarged the understanding
of Adam before he fell
but that meretricious counterfeit of it--that now
delusive light
whose pride-awakening
man-flattering beams
brought first to
bear on his foolish heart by the arch destroyer at the fall
allured him to his
destruction.
II. How we may obey
the command of the text in returning to this way. Whoever in earnest desires to
recover his lost innocence
and the forfeited favour of his Creator
and to
return to that better land
that state of ineffable bliss and purity
which was
the original birthright of us all
are taught in the Gospel of the grace of God
that the first step in that direction is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ
the
Saviour of sinners; which is nothing else than that filial trust or confidence
we have already mentioned as displayed by Adam before he fell.
III. The necessity
and advantage
as well as duty
of obeying the advice given in the text. (S.
H. Simpson.)
The respect due to antiquity
It has been well said by Lord Bacon
that the antiquity of past
ages is the youth of the world--and therefore it is an inversion of the right
order
to look for greater wisdom in some former generation than there should
be in our present day. “The time in which we now live
” says he
“is properly
the ancient time
because now the world is ancient; and not that time which we
call ancient
when we look in a retrograde direction
and by a computation
backward from ourselves.” There must be a delusion
then
in that homage which
is given to the wisdom of antiquity
as d it bore the same superiority over the
wisdom of the present times
which the wisdom of an old does over that of a
young man. It is in vain to talk of Socrates
and Plato
and Aristotle. Only
grant that there may still be as many good individual specimens of humanity as
before; and a Socrates now
with all the additional lights which have sprung up
in the course of intervening centuries to shine upon his understanding
would
be a greatly wiser man than the Socrates of two thousand years ago. But however
important thus to reduce the deference that is paid to antiquity; and with
whatever grace and propriety it has been done by him who stands at the head of
the greatest revolution in philosophy.
we shall incur the danger of running into most licentious
waywardness
if we receive not the principle
to which I have now adverted
with two modifications. Our first modification is
that though
in regard to
all experimental truth
the world should be wiser now than it was centuries
ago
this is the fruit not of our contempt or our heedlessness in regard to
former ages
but the fruit of our most respectful attention to the lessons
which their history affords. We do right in not submitting to the dictation of
antiquity; but that is no cause why we should refuse to be informed by her--for
this were throwing us back again to the world’s infancy
like the second
childhood of him whom disease had bereft of all his recollections. And so
again
in the language of Bacon
“Antiquity deserveth that reverence
that men
should make a stand thereupon
and discover what is the best way; but when the
discovery is well taken then to make progression.” But there is a second
modification
which
in the case of a single individual of the species
it is
easy to understand
and which we shall presently apply to the whole species. We
may conceive of a man
that
after many years of vicious indulgence
he is at
once visited by the lights of conscience and memory; and is enabled to contrast
the dislike
and the dissatisfaction
and the dreariness of heart
which now
prey on the decline of his earthly existence
with all the comparative
innocence which gladdened its hopeful and happy morning. As he bethinks him of
his early home
of the piety which flourished there
and that holy atmosphere
in which he was taught to breathe with kindred aspirations
he cannot picture
to himself the bliss and the beauty of such a scene
mellowed as it is by
distance
and mingled with the dearest recollections of parents
and sisters
and other kindred now mouldering in the dust
he cannot recall for a moment
this fond
though faded imagery
without sighing in the bitterness of his
heart
after the good old way. Now
what applies to one individual may apply to
the species. In a prolonged course of waywardness
they may have wandered very
far from the truth of heaven. And after
perhaps
a whole dreary millennium of
guilt and of darkness
may some gifted individual arise
who can look athwart
the gloom
and descry the purer and the better age of Scripture light which
lies beyond it. And as he compares all the errors and the mazes of that vast
labyrinth into which so many generations had been led by the jugglery of
deceivers
with that simple but shining path which conducts the believer unto
glory
let us wonder not that the aspiration of his pious and patriotic heart
should be for the good old way. We now see wherein it is that the modern might
excel the ancient. In regard to experimental truth
he can be as much wiser
than his predecessors
as the veteran and the observant sage is wiser than the
unpractised stripling
to whom the world is new
and who has yet all to learn
of its wonders and of its ways. The voice that is now emitted from the schools
whether of physical or of political science
is the voice of the world’s
antiquity. The voice emitted from the same schools
in former ages
was the
voice of the world’s childhood
which then gave forth in lisping utterance the
conceits and the crudities of its young unchastened speculation. But in regard
to things not experimental
in regard even to taste
or to imagination
or to
moral principle
as well as to the stable and unchanging lessons of Divine truth
there is no such advancement. For the perfecting of these
we have not to wait
the slow processes of observation and discovery
handed down from one
generation to another. They address themselves more immediately to the spirit’s
eye; and just as in the solar light of day
our forefathers saw the whole of
visible creation as perfectly as we--so in the lights
whether of fancy
or of
conscience
or of faith
they may have had as just and vivid a perception of
nature’s beauties; or they may have had as ready a discrimination
and as
religious a sense of all the proprieties of life; or they may have had a
veneration as solemn
and an acquaintance as profound
with the mysteries of
revelation
as the men of our modern and enlightened day. And
accordingly
we
have as sweet or sublime an eloquence
and as transcendent a poetry
and as
much both of the exquisite and noble in all the fine arts
and a morality as
delicate and dignified; and
to crown the whole
as exulted and as informed a
piety in the remoter periods of the world
as among ourselves
to whom the
latter ends of the world have come. In respect of these
we are not on higher
vantage-ground than many of the generations that have gone by. But neither are
we on lower vantage ground. We have access to the same objects. We are in
possession of the same faculties. And
if between the age in which we live
and
some bright and bygone era
there should have intervened the deep and the
long-protracted haze of many centuries
whether of barbarism in taste
or of
profligacy in morals
or of superstition in Christianity
it will only
heighten
by comparison
to our eyes
the glories of all that is excellent; and
if again awakened to light and to liberty
it will only endear the more to our
hearts the good old way. (T. Chalmers
D. D.)
Steadfastness in the old paths
In what respect should we follow old times? Now here there is this
obvious maxim--what God has given us from heaven cannot be improved
what man
discovers for himself does admit of improvement: we follow old times then so
far as God has spoken in them; but in those respects in which God has not
spoken in them
we are not bound to follow them. Now knowledge connected merely
with this present world
we have been left to acquire for ourselves. How we may
till our lands and increase our crops; how we may build our houses
and buy and
sell and get gain; how we may cross the sea in ships; how we may make “fine
linen for the merchant
” or
like Tubal-Cain
be artificers in brass and iron:
as to these objects of this world
necessary indeed for the time
not lastingly
important
God has given us no clear instruction. Here then we have no need to
follow the old ways. Besides
in many of these arts and pursuits
there is
really neither right nor wrong at all; but the good varies with times and
places. Each country has its own way
which is best for itself
and bad for
others. Again
God has given us no authority in questions of science. If we
wish to boast
bout little matters
we know more about the motions of the heavenly
bodies than Abraham
whose seed was in number as the stars; we can measure the
earth
and fathom the sea
and weigh the air
more accurately than Moses
the
inspired historian of the creation; and we can discuss the varied inhabitants
of this earth better than Solomon. But let us turn to that knowledge which God
has given
and which therefore does not admit of improvement by lapse of time;
this is religious knowledge. God taught Adam how to please Him
and Noah
and
Abraham
and Job. He has taught every nation all over the earth sufficiently
for the moral training of every individual. In all these cases
the world’s
part of the work has been to pervert the truth
not to disengage it from
obscurity. The new ways are the crooked ones. The nearer we mount up to the
time of Adam
or Noah
or Abraham
or Job
the purer light of truth we gain; as
we recede from it we meet with superstitions
fanatical excesses
idolatries
and immoralities. So again in the case of the Jewish Church
since God
expressly gave them a precise law
it is clear man could not improve upon it;
he could but add the “traditions of men.” Lastly
in the Christian Church
we
cannot add or take away
as regards the doctrines that are contained in the
inspired volume
as regards the faith once delivered to the saints. Other
foundation can no man lay
than that is laid
which is Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 3:11). But it may be
said that
though the Word of God is an infallible rule of faith
yet it
requires interpreting
and why
as time goes on
should we not discover in it
more than we at present know on the subject of religion and morals? But this is
hardly a question of practical importance to us as individuals; for in truth a
very little knowledge is enough for teaching a man his duty: and
since
Scripture is intended to teach us our duty
surely it was never intended as a
storehouse of mere knowledge. Little knowledge is required for religious
obedience. The poor and rich
the learned and unlearned
are here on a level.
We have all of us the means of doing our duty; we have not the will
and this
no knowledge can give. We have need to subdue our own minds
and this no other
person can do for us. Practical religious knowledge is a personal gift
and
further
a gift from God; and
therefore
as experience has hitherto shown
more likely to be obscured than advanced by the lapse of time. But further
we
know of the existence of an evil principle in the world
corrupting and
resisting the truth in its measure
according to the truth’s clearness and
purity. Our Saviour
who was the truth itself
was the most spitefully
entreated of all by the world. It has been the case with His followers too. The
purer and more valuable the gift which God bestows
far from this being a
security for the truth’s abiding and advancing
rather the more grievously has
been the gift abused (1 John 2:18; 2 Timothy 3:13). Such is the case as
regards the knowledge of our duty
--that kind of knowledge which alone is
really worth earnest seeking. And there is an important reason why we should
acquiesce in it;--because the conviction that things are so has no slight
influence in forming our minds into that perfection of the religious character
at which it is our duty ever to be aiming. While we think it possible to make
some great and important improvements in the subject of religion
we shall be
unsettled
restless
impatient; we shall be drawn from the consideration of
improving ourselves
and from using the day while it is given us
by the
visions of a deceitful hope
which promises to make rich but tendeth to penury.
On the other hand
as we cease to be theorists we shall become practical men;
we shall have less of self-confidence and arrogance
more of inward humility
and diffidence; we shall be less likely to despise others
and think of our own
intellectual powers with less complacency. It is one great peculiarity of the
Christian’s character to be dependent; to be willing to serve
and to rejoice
in the permission; to be able to view himself in a subordinate place; to love
to sit in the dust. To his ears the words of the text are as sweet music: “Thus
saith the Lord
Stand ye in the ways
and see
and ask for the old paths
” etc.
The history of the old dispensation affords us a remarkable confirmation of
what has been argued; for in the time of the law there was an increase of
religious knowledge by fresh revelations. From the time of Samuel especially to
the time of Malachi
the Church was bid look forward for a growing
illumination
which
though not necessary for religious obedience
subserved
the establishment of religious comfort. Now
observe how careful the inspired
prophets of Israel are to prevent any kind of disrespect being shown to the
memory of former times
on account of that increase of religious knowledge with
which the later ages were favoured; and if such reverence for the past were a
duty among the Jews when the Saviour was still to come
much more is it the
duty of Christians. Now
as to the reverence enjoined and taught the Jews
towards persons and times past
we may notice first the commandment given them
to honour and obey their parents and elders. This
indeed
is a natural law.
But that very circumstance surely gives force to the express and repeated
injunctions given them to observe it
sanctioned too (as it was) with a special
promise. But
further
to bind them to the observance of this duty
the past
was made the pledge of the future
hope was grounded upon memory; all prayer
for favour sent them back to the old mercies of God. “The Lord hath been
mindful of us
He will bless us”; this was the form of their humble
expectation. Lastly
as Moses directed the eyes of his people towards the line
of prophets which the Lord their God was to raise up from among them
ending in
the Messiah
they in turn dutifully exalt Moses
whose system they were
superseding. Samuel
David
Isaiah
Micah
Jeremiah
Daniel
Ezra
Nehemiah
each in succession
bear testimony to Moses. Oh
that we had duly drunk into
this spirit of reverence and godly fear. Doubtless we are far above the Jews in
our privileges; we are favoured with the news of redemption; we know doctrines
which righteous men of old time earnestly desired to be told
and were not. Yet
our honours are our shame
when we contrast the glory given us with our love of
the world
our fear of men
our lightness of mind
our sensuality
our gloomy
tempers. What need have we to look with wonder and reverence at those saints of
the old covenant
who with less advantages yet so far surpassed us; and still
more at those of the Christian Church
who both had higher gifts of grace and
profited by them! (J. H. Newman
D. D.)
Religion an ancient path
and a good way
I. The instructive
view given of religion.
1. It is an ancient path. The Gospel is coeval with the Fall. All the
Mosaic rites and ceremonies were typical of the blessings of the Gospel
dispensation
and taught the faithful worshipper to look forward to the
Saviour.
2. It is a good way.
II. The duty
enjoined.
1. We are to use every endeavour to become acquainted with the ways
of religion.
(a) The way therein marked out is a way of holiness and purity.
(b) The superior excellence of the Scriptures
as a rule of life
will
be still further evident if we consider their high authority.
2. Our knowledge must be reduced to practice; when we have found the
good way
we must walk in it.
3. It is our duty to persevere in a religious course
it will not
answer a traveller’s purpose
who has a necessary journey before him
to
proceed a little way in it
and then give over
or take a different path that
leads a contrary way. So
in the ways of religion
he
and he only
who holds
out to the end shall be saved.
III. The import of
the gracious promise
by which the duty here enjoined is recommended and
enforced. The rest here promised consists--
1. In our being delivered from those uneasy doubts and anxieties of
mind which arise from an uncertainty as to the way in which we ought to go.
2. Those who walk in the good way of religion find rest to their
souls
as they are thereby delivered from the great cause of inward uneasiness--the
sense of unpardoned guilt; or
in other words
from the terrors of an accusing
conscience.
3. They who walk in the ways of religion find rest to their souls
as
they are thereby delivered from those sources of disquietude which spring from
sinful and unruly passions.
4. This good way infallibly conducts those who walk in it to
uninterrupted and everlasting happiness in the world to come. (James Ross
D. D.)
Reverence for the old things
Jeremiah was the most unpopular of the prophets. First because he
was somewhat of a pessimist
uttering predictions which the events proved true
enough
but which were painted in too gloomy colours to suit the tastes of the
people. Secondly
because he never flattered. And a third
and even greater
reason for the dislike
was that they regarded him as old-fashioned
out of
date
an antiquated
obsolete old fogey
with his eyes behind. He was always
harping on the old times when people lived simple lives and feared God. And the
people sneered at him as a sort of fossil
as a man who had been born a century
too late. The people had a disease upon them which might be called Egyptomania.
They wanted to form a close alliance with Egypt
and to adopt all their modes
of life
their dress
furniture
luxuries
self-indulgences
political ideas
military system
laws
morals
and religion. There was to be a clean sweep made
of all that Israel had loved and believed in and by taking heathen Egypt as a
model they would speedily attain to Egypt’s greatness and splendour. This was
the craze against which the prophet set himself
and protested in vain. For
there are times when a people are determined to destroy themselves. Are the old
paths always Divine
and the new ways always as dangerous as this prophet
thought them? The answer has to be qualified
and there are more answers than
one. The Bible does not always speak in the same voice about it. If Jeremiah
looked back with lingering affection
St. Paul
who had seen the higher truth
in Christ
had his eyes in front
and advised us to forget the things which are
behind. And a greater than Paul has told us that every wise man will bring out
of his treasury things new and old. The man who sneers at everything which is
old
and fancies that wisdom always wears a brand new face
has precious little
of the latter article himself. The alphabet and the simple rules of arithmetic
are as ancient as an Egyptian mummy
but they are not out of date yet. We still
need some of the things which Noah and Abraham prized. On the other hand
the man
who sets his face against everything new is shutting his eyes to the light.
I. To bind
ourselves to the old paths is
for us at least
in many things impossible. We
live in the midst of rapid movement and change
and we are carried along by it
in spite of ourselves. And if we could do it
it would be paralysing. It would
be the end of all healthy life and action. It is the distinguishing feature of
Christian nations to be forever casting off the old and putting on the new. It
is a dead religion which stands still and makes men stand still. The spirit of
life in Christ Jesus urges the world on
away from a dead past nearer to the
golden age which is to be. I hardly dare bring before you the things which are
going on in China. And it all comes from a blind
brutal
obstinate clinging to
the old paths. The world moves on
and the Chinese refuse to move. God in His
mercy has brought us out of all that
and given us eyes to see that through the
ages one unceasing purpose runs
and the minds of men are widened with the
process of the suns. There are a hundred things in nearly every department of
life which we do and know and understand better than our fathers. We should
never dream of going back in science
machinery
politics
government
freedom
of thought and speech
or in religion.
II. To forsake all
the old paths is a folly quite as blind and self-destructive as to cling to
them all. Wisdom was not born in the present century. It dwelt with God before
the foundation of the world
and He gave some of it to men who lived thousands
of years before our time. We are cleverer than the ancients in some things
but
not in all. The Greek thinkers were superior to the best thinkers of today. We
could not now produce such books as Plato wrote
and the Hebrew prophets and psalmists
put all our cleverest writers into the shade. We cannot build temples as the
men of old built. We cannot paint pictures or carve statues or create things of
beauty as they did. We have no Homers and Virgils
Dantes
Miltons
Shakespeares
Bunyans. In moral and religious things many of those greatest men
were far in advance of our best
and we can only reach some of their excellence
by learning of them and treading in the old paths. In fact
in the greatest
things of life the old ways are the everlasting ways
and the only ways of
safety. They have stood the test of time. For the momentous questions of
morality and righteousness
worship and reverence
sin and human need
God and
immortality
spiritual mysteries and things unseen
we have still to sit like
children at the feet of those giants of faith
those great souls from Moses to
St. Paul
who walked with God and spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
We cannot dispense with the Ten Commandments yet. And as for the Sermon on the
Mount
its very perfection is our despair. If you want to find the highest
types of manhood
you will stand rather in the old paths than the new; you will
look back rather than around you. If we want to know what sin is
we must go to
the Bible and the Cross of Jesus Christ
and not to the modem ideas
which
often make light of sin and treat it as irresponsible disease. If we want to
learn the depth of penitence we must go to the soul-stricken David or the
weeping Peter. And if we would see light beyond the grave we must go all that
way back and stand with the women and the disciples before an open sepulchre.
Yes
and perhaps above all things
if we would learn how to live and love
to
endure and to hope
to suffer and to die
it is only in the old Bible paths
that we can get the lesson. The new lights will show us how to get money
faster
and to make life smoother and more comfortable
but they will not help
us to be brave in difficulties
patient in cross bearing
and fearless in the
hour of death. (J. G. Greenhough
M. A.)
The Jesus way
“You must not be discouraged
” said a Kiowa Indian
“if we Indians
come slow. It is a long road for us to leave our old Indian ways
and we have
to think a great deal; but I am sure that all the Indian people will come into
the Jesus road for I see that these white Jesus people are here to help us
and
I thank them for coming. Tell the Christian people to pray for us. We are
ignorant
but we want to be led aright
that we may come into the Jesus road.”
The quaint Indian expressions are very suggestive. It is indeed a “long road”
to leave our old ways; and when we feel that we are safe in the “Jesus road
”
we should take time to ask ourselves if we are sure we are treading it as we
should
if we are sure we are not walking in some path that seems to run
parallel with it
but which in reality is leading us farther and farther away.
(Christian Age.)
Ye shall find rest for
your souls.--
Soul rest
It is the distinguishing mark of the “good” and “old” way that in
it men find rest for their souls. You may judge between the true Gospel and the
false
between that which is of God and that which is of man
by this one test.
As “by their fruits ye shall know them
” so by this one fruit among the rest:
Does it bring rest into the soul? If not
it is not of God; but if it brings a
clear
sure
true
honest rest into the soul
then it cometh of standing in the
good way. Remember that rest was the promise of the Saviour. “Come unto
Me”--not to anything else
but “unto Me
all ye that labour and are heavy laden
and I”--Myself personally--“will give you rest” But what next? “Take My yoke
upon you and learn of Me
and ye shall find rest”--that is another rest
still
deeper
which you find in service. Oh
what a blessed Saviour we follow
who
everywhere giveth us rest! Rest is enjoyed by believers now. But you will never
find it anywhere else; as in no other form of religion
so in no other form of
pursuit. If you follow wealth you will not find rest there. I spoke some time
ago with a gentleman whom I believed to own more than a million
and I ventured
to say that I should think after a man had got a million
it would not be worth
while to have any more
because he could not get through that lot. “Ah
” he
said
“I did not know”; and
truly
I did not know; but yet I knew enough to
perceive that if a man had a million millions he would not be content. And if
you go in for health and pursue that with all diligence
as you might readily
do
yet even in the best health there is no rest. It is a noble gift; they who lose
it know how precious it is; but there is no rest in that. And as in honour
or
any earthly thing
of themselves they are the occasion of disquiet; they often
are a seed plot wherein thorns grow that pierce us. But there is rest in Jesus
there is rest in a solid
simple faith in Him
but there is no rest anywhere
else.
I. In thy good way
we find rest
if we walk therein.
1. There is the way of pardon by an atonement. What a rest that
brings to the conscience! A crushed conscience is but an echo of a truth. There
is that in the nature of God and in the necessity of things
of which the
conscience is but a faint echo
and when your conscience tells you sin must be
punished
it tells you the truth; there is no escape from that necessity
and
because Jesus suffered in our room and stead here is a glorious gate of
salvation
but there is no other. So the way of pardon by an atonement gives
rest to the conscience.
2. The way of believing the Word of God as being inspired of God
and
being our authoritative guide
is a great rest to the understanding
“But do
you understand it all?” No
sir
I do not; I do not want to. I want to love a
great deal more
but I do not care so much about growing in that particular
direction of finding out riddles and being able to thread the spheres. But if I
could love my Lord better
and be more like Him
I would be happy. “Well
but
you do not understand it
and yet you believe it.” Yes
I do; I find it is such
a great thing to move my little bark side by side with a great rock
so high
that I cannot see the top of it
because then I know I shall be sweetly
sheltered there. Well
it is almost as good not to know as it is to know about
a great many things
and sometimes better not to know
because then you can
adore and consider that when faith bows before the majesty of an awful mystery
she pays to God such homage as cherubim and seraphim pay Him before His throne.
3. There is a way which Christians learn of trusting their affairs
with God which gives a general rest to their minds. You see
if you are truly a
Christian you have not got anything
you have given it all to the Lord. Cannot
you therefore trust Him with it? And pray which part of your business would you
like to manage yourself? Mark it off and then make a black mark against it
for
you will have no end of mischief and trouble there. Oh
happy is that man who
leaves everything
soul and body
entirely in the hands of God
and is content
with His Divine will.
4. The way of obedience to the Lord gives rest to the soul. He that
believes in Jesus obeys Jesus. Oh
if you do right and stand fast in your
integrity you shall wear that little herb called “heart-ease
” and he that
weareth that is more happy than a king! and if you can go home at night
and
that little bird in your bosom
called conscience
can sweetly sing to you that
you have done a right thing
you shall rest in peace. And
mark you
even as to
temporal things in the long run you shall be no loser; but if you should be
you will count it an honour to lose for Christ’s sake and for the right
and in
the end
if you lose silver you shall gain gold. The way of obedience to Divine
command gives rest to the soul.
5. The way of close communion with Christ is a way of profound rest
unto the soul. Once get to be in Him
and to abide in Him
let your communion
with Him be unbroken day after day
month after month
and year after year
and
ye shall find rest unto your soul.
II. The rest which
is found by walking in the good way is good for the soul.
1. There is a rest which rusts and injures the soul; but Gospel rest
is of a very peculiar kind; it brings satisfaction
but it never verges on
self-satisfaction. Oh
to be satisfied in Christ Jesus! Full
and therefore
craving to be fuller; fed
and therefore hungering to have more.
2. Next
the rest that comes with Christ is a sense of safety
but it
is not a sense of presumption. The man that is most safe in Christ is just the
man that would not run any risks whatever. Secure
but not carnally secure; in
safety
but not presumptuous.
3. This blessed rest creates content
but it also excites a desire of
progress. The man that is perfectly content to be saved in Christ Jesus is also
very anxious to grow in grace.
4. He that rests in God is also delivered from all legal fears
but
he is supplied with superior motives for holiness. The fear of hell and the
hope of heaven are poor motives to effort; but to feel “I cannot be lost; the
blood of Christ is between me and the everlasting fire; I am bound for the
everlasting kingdom
and by the certainties of the Divine promise as a believer
I shall never be ashamed.”
III. Rest of this
kind ought to be enjoyed now by every Christian. It is enjoyed by many of us
and it is a grievous error when it is not the case with all real Christians.
Some of you say: “I trust I am a Christian
but I do not get much of this
rest.” It is your own fault. I will tell you one thing
though--you would find
more rest if you walked in the middle of the way. The best walking to heaven is
in the middle of the road; on either side where the hedges are there is a ditch
as well. I do not care to go to heaven along the ditch
on the outside of the
road. Have you never heard the American story of a gentleman who invited a
friend up to his orchard to come and eat some of his apples--he had such
exquisite apples? But though he invited his friend several times
he never
came. At last he said: “I wish you would come and taste my fruit--it is
wonderful
just in perfection now.” He said: “Well
to tell you the truth! have
tasted it
and I was ill after it.” “Well
” said he
“how came that about?”
“Well
as I was riding along I picked up an apple that fell over into the
road.” “Oh
dear
” he said
“you do not understand it. I went miles to buy that
peculiar sort of apple to put round the edge of the orchard; that was for the
boys
so that after they had once tasted that particular apple they might not
think of coming any farther. But if you will go into the orchard you will find
I have a very different sort of fruit inside.” Now
do you know that round the
margin of religion the trees of repentance and so forth grow--that fruit not
over sweet to some palates. Oh
but if you would come inside
but if you would
come into the very centre
what joy you would have! Surely
Christians
you have
reason enough for delight. What a happy religion that is in which pleasure is a
precept! “Rejoice in the Lord always” is as much a command as “Thou shalt keep
the Sabbath day.” Remember that
and do pray God that you may get into the very
middle of the road
know you are there
and keep there year after year by
Divine grace
for then you shall find rest unto your souls. Well
then
this
rest ought to be enjoyed now. We ought to throw aside these anxious cares of
ours; if we do not
in what respect are we better than worldlings? An excursion
to heaven is the best relief from the cares of earth
and you may soon be
there. Last night a friend living in Colombo
Ceylon
said
“Oh
it is a
beautiful place to live in. Although it is very hot where we live
yet in a few
hours we get up in the eternal snows where we shall be as cool as we wish.”
That is just what we are here. It is very hot: the cares and trials of life
often parch us
but in five minutes we can be up there in the hill country
and
behold the face of Him we love. Why do we not oftener go there? (C.
H. Spurgeon.)
The bugle call to rest
In nothing has God consulted economy less than in the provision He
has made to guard us from danger; and the Divine solicitude to rescue us from
ruin is strongly contrasted with our perpetual propensity to rush into it. In
the moral constitution of the mind
also
the safeguards against danger are no
less remarkable than the provisions for enjoyment. Why is conscience made so
acutely wakeful and sensitive
but with a view to guard us against the first
approaches of sin? Why is memory made so tenaciously to treasure up the results
of past experience and failure
but to repress that inconsiderate eagerness
which would hurry us on to ruin? In the Bible God has preeminently placed the
strongest guards on the side of danger.
I. The attractive
view of religion furnished in this one word “rest.” God might have made
religion a state of penance and bondage
and it would still have been such had
we been suffered to “escape so as by fire.” Instead of this
tie clothes His
religion with attractiveness and tenderness.
1. It brings rest to the understanding by the truths it reveals.
2. It brings rest to the conscience by the pardon it imparts.
3. It brings rest by revealing an adequate object on which the
affections can repose. The tendency of irreligion is to dishonour and degrade
our nature
by confining us to the world and to time; that of real religion is
to exalt and ennoble the mind by connecting us with God and eternity. The one leaves
us to mourn
with orphaned heart; the other brings God before us as the object
most worthy of our affections
and able to meet and satisfy the vast capacities
of happiness which His own kindness has originated.
II. Causes of the
rejection of religion by the worldly and inconsiderate.
1. A false estimate of themselves and of the evil and danger to
which
in consequence of sin
they are exposed.
2. The unsuspected influence of evil habits
and the progressive and
hardening tendency of uurepented sin. As Jeremy Taylor puts it: “Vice first is
pleasing
then delightful
then frequent
then habitual
then confirmed; then
the man is impenitent
then he is obstinate
then he resolves never to repent
and then he dies.”
3. The injurious and delusive results of a false and formal
profession of religion. Despair is a near neighbour of presumption. The system
which is founded in fraud must end in delusion. It fails to satisfy
as it
fails to sanctify.
4. Because the period is extremely short in which the voice of God
as a Saviour
can be heard at all. “Mercy is like the rainbow which God set in
the clouds to remember mankind. It shines here as long as it is not hindered;
but we must never look for it after it is night.” (Homiletic Magazine.)
Verse 20
Your burnt offerings are not acceptable.
Waste worship
I. The manifest
failure of these Jewish offerings.
1. By these their consecration was to be furthered. But they were
foul.
2. By these their repentance was to be awakened. But they sinned
shamefully.
3. By these their minds were to be directed to the Messiah. But
in
their arrogance and care for mere externals
they lost sight of spiritual
lessons.
4. By these God was to be pleased and propitiated. The text indicates
their complete miscarriage in this respect.
II. The indignant
question and repudiation.
1. God thrusts from Himself the offensive temple offerings. He
demands the heart. Nothing is sweet to God without love.
2. God stigmatises them as purposeless and waste.
3. Worship that offends God is waste
but also something more. Heart
hardening. Judgment. Punishment.
Lessons--
1. The most important matter about our spiritual things is their
acceptableness with God.
2. Our best energies are needed
not for externals
but internals. (W.
B. Haynes.)
Ostentatiousness of hypocrisy
Drones make more noise than bees
though they make neither honey
nor wax. (J. Trapp.)
Verse 29-30
The bellows are burnt.
The bellows burnt
Apply to--
I. The prophet
himself. The prophet was exhausted before the people were impressed. So also
with Noah
Isaiah
John the Baptist
Jesus Himself. Nor since
by apostles
confessors
zeal-consuming preachers
has the iron-hearted world become melted;
but they themselves have suffered and perished amid their work.
1. It is the preacher’s business to continue labouring till he is
worn out.
2. The Gospel he preaches is the infallible test between the precious
and the vile.
II. The afflictions
which God sends upon ungodly men. Sent to see if they will melt in the furnace
or not. But where there is no grace in affliction the afflictions are sooner
exhausted than the sinner’s heart is made to melt under the heat caused
thereby--e.g.
Pharaoh
not softened by all the plagues. Ahaz
“when he
was afflicted
he sinned yet more and more.” Jerusalem
often chastised
yet
incorrigible. Sinners
upon whom God’s judgments exert no melting power.
III. The
chastisements which God sends upon His own people. The great Refiner will have
His gold pure
and will utterly remove our tin. Do not let it be said that the
bellows are used till they are worn out before our afflictions melt us to
repentance and cause us to let go our sins.
IV. The time is
coming when the excitement of ungodly men will fail them. Many activities are
kept up by outward energies inciting men.
1. Excitement in pursuit of wealth. Yet how little will the joys of
wealth stimulate you in your last moments!
2. Excitement in pursuing fame. Alas! men burn away their lives for
the approbation of fellow creatures; and these fires will die down into
darkness.
3. Living for pleasure; but satiety follows
and the flame of joy
goes out.
4. Hypocrisy is with some their “bellows”; but this feigned zeal and
pretended piety will end in black despair.
V. Those
excitements which keep alive the Christian’s zeal. In certain Churches we have
seen great blazings of enthusiasm
misnamed “revivals
” mere agitations.
Genuine revivals I love
but these spurious things are fanaticism. Why was it
the fire soon went out? The man who blew the bellows left the scene of
excitement
and darkness ensued. Our earnestness is worthless which depends on
such special ministrations. Is the fire in our soul burning less vehemently
than in years past? Our obligations to live for Christ are the same; our
Master’s claims on our love are as strong; the objects for which we served God
in the past are as important. Should we grow less heavenly the nearer we come
to the New Jerusalem? (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The prophet’s consuming zeal and the people’s unresponsiveness
He likens the people of Israel to a mass of metal. This mass of
metal claimed to be precious ore
such as gold or silver. It was put into the
furnace
the object being to fuse it
so that the pure metal should be
extracted from the dross. Lead was put in with the ore to act as a flux (that
being relied upon by the ancient smelters
as quicksilver now is in these more instructed
days); a fire was kindled
and then the bellows were used to create an intense
heat
the bellows being the prophet himself. He complains that he spake with
such pathos
such energy
such force of heart
that he exhausted himself
without being able to melt the people’s hearts; so hard was the ore
that the
bellows were burned before the metal was melted--the prophet was exhausted
before the people were impressed; he had worn out his lungs
his powers of
utterance; he had exhausted his mind
his powers of thought; he had broken his
heart
his powers of emotion; but he could not divide the people from their
sins
and separate the precious from the vile. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The lead is consumed of
the fire.
Refining fire
We mean precisely the same thing as the Hebrew prophet meant when
we say
as nowadays we are so apt to say
that life is a school. People still
are puzzled by the punishments of life. The discipline is strict. The rules are
rigid. Oftentimes we suffer. It is not by any means all play. But there are
lessons to be learned
and forbearance to be used
and suffering to be borne.
It seems to us narrow and foolish of Jeremiah to have fancied that the Lord
raised up those great Assyrian and Babylonian nations simply for the purpose of
trying and testing the Jewish people. It was narrow also of the Jews to fancy
themselves the “chosen people
” whom God particularly loved and wished to save.
Yet all of us today are similarly narrow in one sense
and we have to be. We
cannot free ourselves
you and I and others like us
from the conviction that
we
as men and women
by virtue of the very life that is in us
are the centre
and meaning of this entire universe. Believe this in some degree we must. Doubt
it
and the very heavens are bleak and bare. Every system in philosophy
every
article of religious faith
every discovery in science
is based
more or less
directly
upon the supposition of this distinct relationship between the outer
universe and the life of man. Let us use
for convenience’ sake
the analogy of
the prophet. We will suppose that we are placed here as the crude ore is thrown
into the furnace
in order to be refined. Along what lines should the process
of refinement work? Nothing is more familiar than the claim that sorrow
chastens us
and hardships strengthen
and trials test. As Goethe said
“Talent
is perfected in retirement
but character only in the stream of life.” They
tell this concerning Wendell Phillips. Whenever the great orator tended to
become a little prosy in his speeches
and to lose some of his customary fire
certain young Abolitionists used to get together near the door and start a
hiss. The note of disapproval never failed to arouse the lion in the speaker
and he was electrified at once into matchless eloquence. The world’s agencies
of trial and toil and difficulty are indeed in vain
the bellows of life are
consumed most uselessly
if you and I are not made more courageous and calm and
self-reliant by the process. And yet the hard things of this world ought not to
be the only ones to have this refining influence. We are weak and ungrateful
and made of anything but precious metal
if we are not purified by the
privileges of life
hallowed by its happiness
humbled by success. In everyday
life most of us are not deficient in gratitude. We appreciate the kindness and
generosity of our friends. But how few of us in comparison fall to our knees in
an hour of newborn joy
or reverently think of life’s higher meaning
and
resolve on a rigider performance of our duties
when success has bathed us in
its golden sunshine! There is no much surer test of character than this: What
effect has good fortune had? If the person is innately weak to whom some power
or privilege has come
he answers it by pride and selfishness and vain indulgence.
He feels himself exalted; and
instead of looking up in reverence and humility
to his God
he looks down with coldness on his fellow men. Shall I tell you
what is to me one of the most inspiring
beautiful sights in all the wide range
of human activity and character? It is to see and know of anyone truly great
who has been humbled by success
and touched into infinite modesty by the
consciousness of superlative ability. It is to find people refined into
simplicity and gentle devoutness by the world’s blandishments and distinctions
and honours. And this has been the refining influence to which the noblest and
the truest ones have answered. You all know
too
the saying of the
distinguished
world-honoured discoverer
Sir Isaac Newton
--that he was nothing
but a helpless child gathering pebbles on a boundless shore
with the great
ocean of undiscovered truth stretching away beyond him. I have spoken of sorrow
and of joy--the two extremes of existence--as having properly this purifying
influence on life. Let
me now speak broadly of certain phases of refinement
which ought to appear as the result of the world’s great processes.
1. First
there is the refining fire of glory
which is so abundant
in the outward world. It is for us to answer it by what is known as reverence.
We have not the pure metal which is sought
if we are not so refined by the
wonders of the world as to kneel in worship
and uplift our souls in awe. “This
world is not for him who does not worship
” said an ancient Persian sage; and
our kindred souls give back the truth across the centuries
“This world is not
for him who does not worship.”
2. Again
there is the burning fact of law. All things around us are
done with persistency. Everything is regular. The smallest function is precise.
Surely the knowledge of such constancy should have its influence on us. It
should take what is pure within us. It should appeal to the clear metal of our
better selves
and make us trust.
3. Finally
the fire of utter impartiality surrounds us. The world is
laid at each one’s feet. The Divine bounty is not given to this person
and
denied to that one; but all of us receive. And the answering refinement which
should come from receptive human beings
who may doubt its nature or its need?
A suggestive legend comes to us from Mohammedan writings. Abraham
it is said
once received an old man in his tent
who
in sitting down to eat
neglected to
repeat a “grace.” “My custom
” he said
in explanation
“is that of the fire
worshipper.”--Whereupon the Jewish patriarch in wrath undertook to drive him
from his door. But suddenly God appeared to him
and
restraining the churlish
impulse
cried: “Abraham
for one hundred years the Divine bounty has flowed
out to you in sunshine and in rain; and is it for you to deny shelter to this
man because his worship is not thine?” Even thus does nature speak a silent yet
severe rebuke to our narrowness
our lack of sympathy
our petty distinctions
and rivalries in social life. “Be broad
” she cries. “Let love control your
acts; to those who need
extend a helping hand.” (P. R. Frothingham.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》