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Ezekiel Chapter
Nine
Ezekiel 9
Chapter Contents
A vision denoting the destruction of the inhabitants of
Jerusalem
and the departure of the symbol of the Divine presence.
Commentary on Ezekiel 9:1-4
(Read Ezekiel 9:1-4)
It is a great comfort to believers
that in the midst of
destroyers and destructions
there is a Mediator
a great High Priest
who has
an interest in heaven
and in whom saints on earth have an interest. The
representation of the Divine glory from above the ark
removed to the
threshold
denoted that the Lord was about to leave his mercy-seat
and to
pronounce judgment on the people. The distinguishing character of this remnant
that is to be saved
is such as sigh and cry to God in prayer
because of the
abominations in Jerusalem. Those who keep pure in times of general wickedness
God
will keep safe in times of general trouble and distress.
Commentary on Ezekiel 9:5-11
(Read Ezekiel 9:5-11)
The slaughter must begin at the sanctuary
that all may
see and know that the Lord hates sin most in those nearest to him. He who was
appointed to protect
reported the matter. Christ is faithful to the trust
reposed in him. Is he commanded by his Father to secure eternal life to the
chosen remnant? He says
Of all that thou hast given me
I have lost none. If
others perish
and we are saved
we must ascribe the difference wholly to the
mercy of our God
for we too have deserved wrath. Let us still continue to
plead in behalf of others. But where the Lord shows no mercy he does no
injustice; he only recompenses men's ways.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Ezekiel》
Ezekiel 9
Verse 1
[1] He cried also in mine ears with a loud voice
saying
Cause them that have charge over the city to draw near
even every man with his
destroying weapon in his hand.
He — The man whom he had seen upon the throne.
Them — Those whom God hath appointed to destroy the city:
perhaps angels.
Every man — Every one; 'tis an Hebrew idiom.
Each of these had a weapon proper for that kind of destruction which he was to
effect; and so
some to slay with the sword
another with the pestilence
another with famine.
In his hand — Denoting both expedition in
and
strength for the work.
Verse 2
[2] And
behold
six men came from the way of the higher
gate
which lieth toward the north
and every man a slaughter weapon in his
hand; and one man among them was clothed with linen
with a writer's inkhorn by
his side: and they went in
and stood beside the brasen altar.
And — As soon as the command was given
the ministers of
God's displeasure appear.
Men — In appearance and vision they were men
and the
prophet calls them as he saw them.
The north — Insinuating whence their
destruction should come.
One man — Not a companion
but as one of authority over them.
With linen — A garment proper to the
priesthood.
They — All the seven.
Verse 3
[3] And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the
cherub
whereupon he was
to the threshold of the house. And he called to the
man clothed with linen
which had the writer's inkhorn by his side;
The glory — The glorious brightness
such as
sometimes appeared above the cherubim in the most holy place.
Gone up — Departing from the place he had so long dwelt in.
He was — Wont to sit and appear.
Threshold — Of the temple
in token of his
sudden departure from the Jews
because of their sins.
Verse 4
[4] And the LORD said unto him
Go through the midst of the
city
through the midst of Jerusalem
and set a mark upon the foreheads of the
men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst
thereof.
That sigh — Out of grief for other mens sins
and sorrows.
Cry — Who dare openly bewail the abominations of this wicked
city
and so bear their testimony against it.
Verse 5
[5] And to the others he said in mine hearing
Go ye after
him through the city
and smite: let not your eye spare
neither have ye pity:
The others — The six slaughter-men.
Verse 6
[6] Slay utterly old and young
both maids
and little
children
and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin
at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the
house.
At my sanctuary — There are the great sinners
and
the abominable sins which have brought this on them.
Verse 7
[7] And he said unto them
Defile the house
and fill the
courts with the slain: go ye forth. And they went forth
and slew in the city.
And slew — The slaughter also was in vision.
Verse 8
[8] And it came to pass
while they were slaying them
and I
was left
that I fell upon my face
and cried
and said
Ah Lord GOD! wilt thou
destroy all the residue of Israel in thy pouring out of thy fury upon
Jerusalem?
Was left — Left alone
now both the sealer
and the slayers were
gone.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Ezekiel》
09 Chapter 9
Verses 1-11
Verse 1-2
One man among them was clothed with linen.
Christ the Commander of the angels
1. Elect Jews under the law were saved by the mediatorial work of
Christ incarnate
as we are under the Gospel. Christ frequently appeared as
man
intimating thereby His future incarnation
and that that nature must
concur to the making up of His mediatorship: He did not mediate for them as
God
for us as man; but He mediated then as man promised
now He mediates as
man manifested.
2. The Lord Christ is the chief commander of all angelical and human
forces. He was in the midst of these six military angels that were to bring in
the Chaldean forces at the several gates of the city; He was their General.
3. When judgments are abroad
and the godly are in danger
Christ
mediates and intercedes for them.
4. Christ hath a special care of His in times of trouble; He appears
with an inkhorn to write down what is said and done against them
to make known
the mind of God to them
to seal and discriminate them from others.
5. Those who are upon great and public designs should begin with God
and consult with Him. These seven here go in and stand by the altar
inquire of
God what His pleasure is. So have the worthies of God done (Ezra 8:21).
6. Those who are employed by the Lord must be careful that they countenance
no corruptions in worship. Neither Christ nor the angels would come at the
false altar
which Ahaz had caused to be set up; but they go to God’s altar
the brazen altar; by this they stood
not the other.
7. In times of judgment
as God discountenances false worship
so He
discovers and countenances His own way of worship. (W. Greenhill
M. A.)
With a writer’s inkhorn.--
The man with the inkhorn
(to young men):--This man with the inkhorn may stand for a
class--the whole class of writers and literary men. I would start from the
position that the powers of literature belong of right to Jesus Christ
and
that literature is included among those things of which Paul said to the
Christian man: “All are yours
for ye are Christ’s
and Christ is God’s.”
I. The close
relation that exists between Christianity and literature.
1. One fact that meets us on the very threshold is this
that
humanly speaking
the Bible itself is a literary product. Had there been no
such thing as literature there never could have been a Bible; for no one would
have been able either to write or to read. As our Lord Jesus glorified the
human body by His inhabitation of it in the Incarnation
so we may say
literature is transfigured and glorified by this special inhabitation of the Divine
Spirit in the books of the Old and New Testaments.
2. But
passing beyond the pages of the Bible
we see again how
Christ-loving men have used the powers of literature for the advancement of
God’s kingdom in the world. In the early days of the Church
Christianity owed
very much to the literary gifts of men like Origen and Chrysostom
Tertullian
and Augustine. And when we see the great days of the Reformation dawning upon
Europe
there is no doubt that we must associate that marvellous spiritual revival
with the previous Revival of Letters. Luther was indebted for his knowledge of
Greek to those Greek scholars who
after the Fall of Constantinople
came
flocking to the West
and who spread abroad that interest in the Greek language
and literature which by and by sent men back once more to the neglected pages
of the Greek New Testament. And so we see Luther sitting all alone through the
midnight hours in his high tower of the Wartburg Castle
in the very heart of
the great Thuringian Forest. Before him lies his open Bible
and from the
closest study of its pages he is seeking to apprehend the very mind of his
Lord. When I was in the Wartburg some years ago I was shown the place on the
wall which was struck by the famous inkhorn that Luther flung at the Devil.
Luther did discomfit the devil with an inkhorn; but it was by that translation
of the Bible which came from his pen
and which is still one of the
masterpieces of German literature
and by those other writings which shook the
hearts of men like a mighty trumpet blast
and destroyed
in most European
lauds
the awful domination of Rome.
3. But
when we speak of literature
we have to go beyond the Bible
and beyond all purely religious writings. We have to think of that great world
of books which includes history and science
philosophy
poetry
and fiction.
And may we not say that the best books in those various departments
whether
written by Christian men or not
are all of them full of facts and principles
that really illustrate and corroborate the teaching of the Bible?
II. Some friendly
counsels which are suggested by this subject.
1. First
let me put the old apostolic injunction which Paul
addressed to a young friend
“Give attendance to reading.” All around us there
is a great and growing devotion to athletic interests
which threatens in many
cases to swallow up all interests of a higher kind. Now
bodily exercise is
profitable
without doubt; but it cannot be profitable to exercise the body
until we have no time or strength left for the cultivation of the mind. You
must read diligently
eagerly
carefully
if you would enlarge and enrich and
strengthen your mind. And let me exhort you here to begin to form a little
library of your own as early as possible. Do not be content with borrowing books
but have your favourite authors around you in your own room. “A young man
”
says one
“may lodge in a very small room. But what do you mean by a small
room? When I go into a young man’s room
and see on the wall a shelf of books;
when I take down Shakespeare
or Dante
or Tennyson
or Carlyle
I do not know
the size of that room. The walls are nothing
for that man holds the ends of
the earth. For every taste like literature
or art
or science
or philosophy
is a window in the smallest room
and through the windows a man can see
anything
right on to the throne of God.”
2. Next
I would say
take heed what you read. The world is full of
bad books
as well as of good books
for the man with the inkhorn
in not a few
cases
has sold himself to the service of the Devil. Beware of bad books! If a
book fills your mind with evil thoughts
or leaves a bad taste in your mouth
cast it from you at once. Why should a man feed his soul on filth and garbage
when he is free to walk through the garden of the Lord
plucking all manner of
pleasant fruits? And
apart from what is positively bad
do not spend too much
time on what is scrappy or ephemeral. There are diversities of gifts
and
diversities of taste. Provided you confine yourself to what is wholesome
whatever interests you most will be likely to profit you most. But do not
forget that the Bible must come first.
3. Let me remind you that
as Christian young men
you should
consecrate to Christ all the knowledge that you gain
and should use it as far
as possible for the benefit of others. Remember
after all
that life is more
than literature
and that Christianity is greater even than the Bible.
Mohammedanism is the religion of a book
for above Mohammed himself stands the
Koran. But Christianity is not the religion of a book: it is the religion of a
life. Jesus Christ Himself is the Alpha and Omega of it
and it is love to
Jesus
loyalty to Jesus
the service of Jesus
that are the true marks of a
Christian. (J. G. Lambert
B. D.)
The writer’s inkhorn
No one ever had such Divine dreams as Ezekiel. In a vision this
prophet had seen wrathful angels
destroying angels
each with a sword
but in
my text he sees a merciful angel with an inkhorn. The receptacle for the ink in
olden time was made out of the horn of a cow
or a ram
or a roebuck
as now it
is made out of metal or glass
and therefore was called the inkhorn
as now we
say inkstand. We have all spoken of the power of the sword
of the power of
wealth
of the power of office
of the power of social influence
but today I
speak of the power for good or evil in the inkstand. It is a fortress
an
armoury
a gateway
a ransom
or a demolition. “You mistake
” says someone
“it
is the pen that has the power.” No
my friend; what is the influence of a dry
pen? Pass it up and down a sheet of paper
and it leaves no mark. It expresses
no opinion. It gives no warning. It spreads no intelligence. It is the liquid
which the pen dips out of the inkstand that does the work. Here and there a
celebrated pen
with which a Magna Charta or a Declaration of Independence
or
a treaty was signed
has been kept in literary museum or national archives
but
for the most part the pens have disappeared
while the liquid which the pens
took from the inkstand remains in scrolls which
if put together
would be
large enough to enwrap the round world.
1. First
I mention that which is purely domestic. The inkstand is in
every household. It awaits the opportunity to express affection or condolence
or advice. Father uses it; mother uses it; the sons and daughters use it. It
tells the home news; it announces the marriage
the birth
the departure
the
accident
the last sickness
the death. That home inkstand
what a mission it
has already executed
and what other missions will it yet fulfil! May it stand
off from all insincerity and all querulousness. Oh
ye who have with recent
years set up homes of your own! out of the new home inkstand write often to the
old folks
if they be still living. A letter means more to them than to us
who
are amid the activities of life
and to whom postal correspondence is more than
we can manage. As the merciful angel of my text appeared before the brazen
altar with the inkhorn at his side in Ezekiel’s vision
so let the angel of
filial kindness appear at the altars of the old homestead.
2. Furthermore
the inkstand of the business man has its mission.
Between now and the hour of your demise
O commercial man
O professional man
there will not be a day when you cannot dip from the inkhorn a message that
will influence temporal and eternal destiny. There is a rash young man running
into wild speculation
and with as much ink as you can put on the pen at one
time you may save him from the Niagara rapids of a ruined life. On the next
street there is a young man started in business
who through lack of patronage
or mistake in purchase of goods
or want of adaptation
is on the brink of
collapse. One line of ink from your pen will save him from being an underling
all his life
and start him on a career that will win him a fortune which will
enable him to become an endower of libraries
an opener of art galleries
and
builder of churches.
3. Furthermore
great are the responsibilities of the author’s
inkhorn. When a bad book is printed you do well to blame the publisher
but
most of all blame the author. The malaria rose from his inkstand. The poison
that caused the moral or spiritual death dropped in the fluid from the tip of
his pen. But blessed be God for the author’s inkhorn in ten thousand studies
which are dedicated to pure intelligence
highest inspiration
and grandest
purpose. They are the inkstands out of which will be dipped the redemption of
the world. The destroying angels with their swords seen in Ezekiel’s vision
will be finally overcome by the merciful angel with the writer’s inkhorn. Among
the most important are the editorial and reportorial inkstands. You have all
seen what is called indelible ink
which is a weak solution of silver nitrate
and that ink you cannot rub out or wash out. Put it there
and it stays. Well
the liquid of the editorial and reportorial inkstands is an indelible ink. It
puts upon the souls of the passing generations characters of light or darkness
that time cannot wash out and eternity cannot efface. Be careful how you use
it. While you recognise the distinguished ones who have dipped into the
inkstand of the world’s evangelisation
do not forget that there are hundreds
of thousands of unknown men and women who are engaged in inconspicuous ways
doing the same thing! How many anxious mothers writing to the boys in town! How
many sisters writing encouragement to brothers far away! How many bruised and
disappointed and wronged souls of earth would be glad to get a letter from you!
Stir up that consolatory inkhorn. All Christendom has been waiting for great
revivals of religion to start from the pulpits and prayer meetings. I now
suggest that the greatest revival of all time may start from a concerted and
organised movement through the inkhorns of all Christendom
each writer dipping
from the inkhorn nearest him a letter of Gospel invitation
Gospel hope
Gospel
warning
Gospel instruction. The other angels spoken of in my text were
destroying angels
and each had what the Bible calls a “slaughter weapon” in
his hand. It was a lance
or a battle axe
or a sword. God hasten the time when
the last lance shall be shivered
and the last battle axe dulled
and the last
sword sheathed
never again to leave the scabbard
and the angel of the text
who Matthew Henry says was the Lord Jesus Christ
shall from the full inkhorn
of His mercy give a saving call to all nations. That day may be far off
but it
is hopeful to think of its coming. Is it not time that the boasted invention of
new and more explosive and more widely devastating weapons of death be stopped
forever
and the Gospel have a chance
and the question be not asked
How many
shots can be fired in a minute? but how many souls may be ransomed in a day?
Hail
Thou Mighty Rider of the white horse in the final triumph! Sweep down and
sweep by
Thou Angel of the New Covenant
with the inkhorn of the world’s
evangelisation! (T. De Witt Talmage.)
Verses 3-6
Set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh.
The protected people
I. God has a
people of His own in a world of sinners
who feel for His honour
and desire to
sustain His authority. These are the salt of the earth; the preservation of
men. Set apart by the Lord
for Himself; made by the Holy Spirit
new creatures
in Christ Jesus; standing with His robe of righteousness
complete in Him;
instant in prayer; fruitful in holiness; and preferring the reproach of Christ
to the treasures of the world; they are at once the ornament and the defence of
mankind. And it imports an amazing amount of corruption and guilt in a land
when it is proclaimed that such men can but deliver their own souls
and shall
be no longer the instruments to convey Divine blessings to others. These people
of God have not sighed in listless idleness
or wept tears of fearful
indolence
without an effort to stop the progress of man’s iniquity. No. They
are those who have first done all in active effort which they could do to
restrain the wickedness of others; and who now
while they are mourning for
their sins
are bearing their testimony with fidelity against them. Jealous for
the honour of God
happy in the acceptance of a Saviour
knowing the comforts
of the Holy Ghost
believing the revealed responsibility and destiny of sinful
men
they long to the end of life for the salvation of the ungodly; and sigh
and cry unto God
while they live
over a destruction in which they have no
participation
and which men bring wholly upon themselves.
II. This people are
entirely protected in the destruction which God brings upon the ungodly. Amidst
surrounding ungodliness
the secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him
and
He will hide them in His tabernacle
until the danger be overpast. They are
marked by His infallible determination
and are sealed by His Spirit unto the
day of redemption. Known by the mark of grace--grace which loved them
bought
them
found them
brought them back
kept them
and crowned them--they stand
before God
sanctified and secured. Happy in their eternal enjoyments. Happy in
all their earthly sorrows. Happy
peculiarly in this
that they sighed and
cried for the abominations of men
in their zeal for the honour of the Lord of
hosts.
III. While the
people of God are thus distinguished and protected
the destruction of the ungodly
will be entire. Long has God endeavoured to lead them to repentance; long has
the Saviour stood waiting to receive them; long has the Divine Spirit exerted
Himself to bring them back to Christ. And while all this was passing
they
might have found a refuge in the Gospel
and have gained eternal life. But now
the dispensation of mercy has been closed
and they are left
as they have
chosen to be left
to the unbending operation of law. They die without mercy.
They perish without redemption. They are destroyed forever. This destruction
will begin with those who are most highly favoured with religious privileges.
“Begin at My sanctuary
” says the Lord to the angels of destruction. “Judgment
must begin at the house of God
” says the apostle Peter
as if in reference to
this very passage of our text. Neither the pulpit nor the sanctuary; neither
profession nor self-complacency shall afford protection to the sinner’s soul.
There is no respect of persons before the tribunal of the living God. The
hypocrite shall be unveiled; the false professor shall be exhibited as he is;
the self-righteous man shall be held up to view in his own deformities and
unrepented sin shall everywhere see the destroying weapon
with an irreversible
energy
coming upon itself. (S. H. Tyng
D. D.)
The mark of life
The mark in this case was
as the Hebrew verb indicates
to be the
letter Tau
the oldest form of which
as in Phoenician and earlier Hebrew
alphabets
was that of a cross. Such a mark had been in use from the time of
the Book of Job
as the equivalent of a signature (Job 31:35); or
as in later Arab use
was
branded on sheep and cattle as a sign of ownership. To assume that there was
any reference in it to the significance which was to attach to the sign of the
cross in Christian symbolism would be
perhaps
too bold a hypothesis; but the
fact that such a symbol appeared in the crux ansata (the cross with a handle to
it) of Egyptian monuments
as the sign of life
may possibly have determined
its selection in this instance
when it was used to indicate those who
as the
people of Jehovah
bearing His stamp upon them
were to escape the doom of
death passed upon the guilty. (Dean Plumptre.)
Safety in time of destruction
I. The description
here given of those persons whom the man with the writer’s inkhorn was
commanded in the day of wrath to mark upon the forehead. Idolatry
infidelity
mockery of God
appear to have been the principal part--the head and front of
Israel’s offending
and for this the destroyer was sent forth
and the hand of
unrelenting
unsparing vengeance commanded to do its work. Are we individually
and unfeignedly sighing and crying for England’s abominations? Are we
confessing our sins
and feeling the weight of personal transgressions
and
acknowledging the power and faithfulness of God in pardoning and removing them?
Are our hearts and hands uplifted for the land we dwell in? Are our voices as
loud in prayer to God for mercy towards the guilty as they are to our fellow
creatures in reprobation of them?
II. What is the
nature of that mark to which the prophet in the text refers? We find similar
language used by St. John in the Apocalypse (Revelation 7:3-4). Of whatever nature
then
the mark may be
it is expressive of
and a security for preservation.
The allusion may be to the ancient custom of branding slaves upon the forehead
by which it was known whose property they were
or probably to that signalising
mark of blood seen upon the door post of Israel
in Egypt
which secured them
in the hour that the destroying angel smote the first-born of her oppressors.
Both ideas may be involved
and from both we shall compound our idea of the
mark.
1. There will be the blood
the mark of the blood
which blood
sprinkled upon the heart
disarms just vengeance
and secures it against the
wrath of God. Is the blood upon your heart?--in plain terms
do you know its
character
estimate its worth; rest upon its merits
and consider it as the
mark of distinguishing grace and the security for certain preservation?
2. There is the mark of servitude.
III. God’s command
to the destroyers. First the man with the inkhorn goes forth to secure God’s
chosen
and then goes forth the command unto the men with the slaughter
weapons. “Begin at My sanctuary
” slay
spare not. Christendom
generally
is
His professed house
and England
in peculiar
is His sanctuary. The other
nations have tasted a little of these judgments
and war and pestilence and
forebodings of fresh evil are now among the bitter ingredients of the
Continental cup of vengeance. But the time is come when judgment in her
severest form must begin at the house of God--begin with us
and shake with its
most appalling force
not merely those institutions which papal and
schismatical revenge are bent on destroying
but the imposing fabric of
evangelical profession. This sanctuary needs cleansing. This amalgamation of
wheat and tares under the common aspect of wholesome grain needs sifting. (H.
J. Owen.)
The distinguishing signs of the righteous
I. The characters
described.
1. The characters are those who inwardly feel and lament on account
of the abominations of men. They thus feel--
2. The evidence of this inward feeling for souls.
II. The mark
appointed.
1. A mark of distinction.
2. A Divine mark.
3. This mark is prominent. “In the forehead.” Grace
in its essence
is secret
but always visible in its effects.
4. This mark is essential.
III. The deliverance
secured.
1. From destruction.
2. Personal.
3. Certain.
Application--
1. The subject furnishes a test of Christian character. Do we sigh
and cry
etc.
2. It should be a stimulus to increased exertion.
3. Urge upon the exposed sinner the necessity of immediately
obtaining the mark. (J. Burns
D. D.)
The mark of deliverance
When God visits the world
or any part of it
with His desolating
judgments
He usually sets a mark of deliverance on such as are suitably
affected with the sins of their fellow creatures.
I. What is implied
in being suitably affected with the sins of our fellow creatures? That we are
naturally disposed to be little or not at all affected with the sins of others
unless they tend
either directly or indirectly
to injure ourselves
it is
almost needless to remark. If our fellow creatures infringe none of our real or
supposed rights
and abstain from such gross vices as evidently disturb the
peace of society
we usually feel little concern respecting their sins against God;
but can see them following the broad road to destruction with great coolness
and indifference
and without making any exertion
or feeling much desire to
turn their feet into a safer path. This being the case
it is evident that a
very great and radical change must take place in our views and feelings before
we can be suitably affected with the sins of our fellow creatures
if the
conduct of the persons mentioned in our text is the standard of what is
suitable.
1. If we fear sin more than the punishment of sin; if we mourn rather
for the iniquities than for the calamities which we witness; if we are more
grieved to see God dishonoured
His Son neglected
and immortal souls ruined
than we are to see our commerce interrupted
our fellow citizens divided
and
our country invaded it is one proof that we resemble the characters mentioned
in our text.
2. Being suitably affected with the sins of our fellow creatures
implies the diligent exertion
by every means in our power
to reform them.
This attempt must be made--
3. Those who are suitably affected with the sins of their fellow
creatures will certainly be much more deeply affected with their own. While
they smart under the rod of national calamities
they will cordially
acknowledge the justice of God
and feel that their own sins have assisted in
forming the mighty mass of national guilt.
II. On such as are
thus affected
God will set a mark of deliverance
when those around them are
destroyed by His desolating judgments. This may be inferred--
1. From the justice of God. As they have separated themselves from
others by their conduct
it requires that a mark of separation and deliverance
should be set upon them by the hand of a righteous God. Hence the plea of
Abraham with regard to Sodom
a plea of which God tacitly allowed the force.
Witness the preservation of guilty Zoar for the sake of Lot
and the
declaration of the destroying angel
I cannot do anything till thou be come
thither.
2. From God’s holiness. As a holy God He cannot but love holiness; He
cannot but love His own image; He cannot but love those who love Him. But the
characters of whom we are speaking evince by their conduct that they do love
God. His cause
His interest
His honour
they consider as their own. A holy
God
therefore
will
nay
He must
display His approbation of holiness by
placing upon them a mark of distinction.
3. From His faithfulness. God has said
Them that honour Me I will
honour. (E. Payson
D. D.)
The character of Zion’s mourners
In the text we have two things.
1. A party distinguishing themselves from others in a sinning time.
And this they do by their exercise
not by any particular name of sect or
party
but by their practice.
2. Here is God’s distinguishing that party from others in a suffering
time
seeing to their safety when the men with the slaughter weapons were to go
through.
(i) To go through the midst of Jerusalem
the high streets. The
mourners would be found there
by their carriage among others
testifying their
dislike of the God-provoking abominations abounding among them.
(ii)
To
set a mark upon them. This is to be done before the destroying angels get the
word to fall on
to show the special care that God has of His own in the time
of the greatest confusion.
(iii)
To
set it in their foreheads. In the Egyptian destruction the mark was set on
their door posts
because their whole families were to be saved; but here it
was to be set on their foreheads
because it was only designed for particular
persons.
I. Times of
abounding sin are heavy times
times of sighing and groaning to the serious
godly
Zion’s mourners. I am to give the import of this exercise
and therein
the character of Zion’s mourners
to whom times of abounding sin are heavy
times
times of sighing and groaning.
1. Zion’s mourners are godly persons
who in respect of their state
have come out from the world lying in wickedness
and joined themselves to
Jesus Christ (1 John 5:19).
2. Waking godly persons
not sleeping with the foolish virgins.
3. Mourners for their own sins (Ezekiel 7:16).
4. Public spirited persons
who are concerned to know how matters go
in the generation wherein they live: how the interest of the Gospel thrives
what regard is had to the law and honour of God
what case religion is
in
--whether Satan’s kingdom is gaining or losing ground.
5. Tender persons
careful to keep their own garments clean in a
defiling time
and dare not go along with the course of the times (Revelation 3:4).
6. Zealous persons
opposing themselves to the current of
abominations
as they have access (Psalms 69:9).
7. Persons affected at the heart for the sins of the generation
to
the making of them sigh and groan on that account before the Lord
when no eye
sees but the all-seeing One (Jeremiah 13:17).
II. Why such times
are heavy times
times of sighing and groaning to Zion’s mourners.
1. Because of the dishonour they see done to God by these
abominations (Psalms 69:9).
2. Because of the wounds they see given to religion and the interest
of Christ by these abominations
and the advantage they see accruing to the
interest of the devil and his kingdom thereby (Romans 2:24).
3. Because of the fearful risk they see the sinners themselves run by
these their abominations (Psalms 119:53).
4. Because of the contagion to others they see ready to spread from
these abominations (Matthew 18:7; Ecclesiastes 9:1-18).
5. Because of the judgments of God which they see may be brought upon
those yet unborn
by reason of these abominations. Hence says the prophet (Hosea 9:13-14).
6. Because of the Lord’s displeasure with the generation for these
abominations (Jeremiah 15:1).
7. Because of the common calamity in which they see these abounding
abominations may involve themselves and the whole land. (T. Boston
D. D.)
Mourning for other men’s sins
I. It is a duty.
If we are by the prescript of God to bewail in confession the sins of our
forefathers
committed before our being in the world
certainly much more are
we to lament the sins of the age wherein we live
as well as our own (Leviticus 26:40).
1. This was the practice of believers in all ages. Seth called the
name of his son
which was born at the time of the profaning the name of God in
worship
Enos
which signifies sorrowful or miserable
that he might in the
sight of his son have a constant monitor to excite him to an holy grief for the
profaneness and idolatry that entered into the worship of God (Genesis 4:26). The rational and most
precious part of Lot was vexed with the unlawful deeds of the generation of
Sodom
among whom he lived (2 Peter 2:7-8). The meekest man upon
earth
with grief and indignation breaks the tables of the law when he sees the
holiness of it broken by the Israelites
and expresseth more his regret for
that
than his honour for the material stones
wherein God had with His own
finger engraven the orders of His will. David; a man of the greatest goodness
upon record
had a deluge of tears
because they kept not God’s law (Psalms 119:136). Besides his grief
which
was not a small one
horror seized upon him upon the same account (Psalms 119:53). How doth poor Isaiah
bewail himself
and the people among whom he lived (Isaiah 6:5). Perhaps such as could hardly
speak a word without an oath
or by hypocritical lip service
mocked God in the
very temple.
2. It was our Saviour’s practice. He sighed in His spirit for the
incredulity of that generation
when they asked a sign
after so many had been
presented to their eyes (Mark 8:12). The hardness of their hearts
at another time raised His grief as well as His indignation (Mark 3:5). He was sensible of the least
dishonour to His Father (Psalms 69:9). He wept at Jerusalem’s
obstinacy
as well as for her misery
and that in the time of His triumph. The
loud hosannas could not silence His grief
and stop the expressions of it (Luke 19:41).
3. Angels
as far as they are capable
have their grief for the sins
of men. They can scarce rejoice at men’s repentance without having a contrary
affection for men’s profaneness. How can they be instruments of God’s justice
if they are without anger against the deservers of it?
II. It is an
acceptable duty to God.
1. It is a fulfilling the whole law
which consists of love to God
and love to our neighbours.
2. It is an imitating return for God’s affection. The pinching of His
people doth most pierce His heart; a stab to His honour
in gratitude
should
most pierce theirs.
3. This temper justifies God’s law and His justice. It justifies the
holiness of the law in prohibiting sin
the righteousness of the law in condemning
sin; it owns the sovereignty of God in commanding
and the justice of God in
punishing.
4. It is a sign of such a temper God hath evidenced Himself in
Scripture much affected with. A sign of a contrite heart
the best sacrifice
that can smoke upon His altar
next to that of His Son.
III. It is a means
of preservation from public judgments.
1. Sincerity always escapes best in common judgments
and this temper
of mourning for public sins is the greatest note of it.
2. This frame clears us from the guilt of common sins. To mourn for
them
and pray against them
is a sign we would have prevented them if it had
lain in our power; and where we have contributed to them
we
by those acts
revoke the crime.
3. A grief for common sins is an endeavour to repair the honour God
has lost. When we concern ourselves for God’s honour
God will concern Himself
for our protection. God never was
or ever will be
behind-hand with His
creature in affection.
4. The mourners in Sion are humble
and humility is preventive of
judgments. God revives the spirit of the humble (Isaiah 57:15). They that share in the
griefs of the Spirit shall not want the comforts of the Spirit.
5. Such keep covenant with God. The contract runs on God’s part to be
an enemy to His people’s enemies (Exodus 23:22). It must run on our parts
to love that which God loves
hate that which God hates
grieve for that which
grieves and dishonours Him; who can do this by an unconcernedness?
6. Such also fear God’s judgments
and fear is a good means to
prevent them. The advice of the angel upon the approach of judgments is to fear
God
and give glory to Him (Revelation 14:7).
IV. The use.
1. Reproof for us. Where is the man that hangs his harp upon the
willows at the time the temple of God is profaned? It reproves
then--
2. Of comfort to such as mourn for common sins. All the carnal world
hath not such a writ of protection to show in the whole strength of nature
as
the meanest mourner in Sion hath in his sighs and tears. Christ’s mark is above
all the shields of the earth; and those that are stamped with it have His
wisdom to guard them against folly
His power against weakness
the everlasting
Father against man
whose breath is in his nostrils.
3. Mourn for the sins of the time and place where you live. It is the
least dislike we can show to them. A flood of grief becomes us in a flood of
sin.
Christian humiliation
I. Some of the
grounds we have for humiliation before God
for sighing and crying
because of
iniquity. God is entitled to the love and service which He receives from us. He
made us
and in requiring that we should devote those powers and faculties with
which He has endowed us
to Himself and to His service
He only requires that
property which is His own
and which should be employed in a way that is
agreeable to the great Author and Owner of that property. Jehovah is also
infinitely worthy of the supreme love and devoted obedience of His people. He
is possessed of every possible perfection--He is distinguished by every moral
excellence in a degree that is infinite. God has also been exceedingly kind to
us. He has heaped upon us unnumbered benefits. He supplies our daily
our
hourly
wants
and He has not only made provision for us in time
but at the
expense of His own Son’s life; He has provided also for our eternal happiness.
Besides all this
the service to which God calls us is not only obedience to
which He has a right
but it is also obedience of a kind that is calculated to
confer upon those who render it the highest degree of satisfaction. This
then
being the case
this the relation in which we stand to God
these the benefits
we have received at His hand
this the nature and character of the service He
demands from us
how utterly inexcusable on our part any kind
any degree
of
transgression! One transgression is directly opposed to the nature of His
kingdom. Thus
then
have we ample grounds of humiliation were we this day
chargeable in the sight of God
with having only once deviated from the moral
path of God. But
oh! how often have we wandered from it! Never once have we given
to God the holy sense of love He is entitled to receive at our hands. Every
moment of our conscious or waking existence we have been guilty of coming short
of what it was our imperious duty to have rendered. But besides these
shortcomings which have been thus innumerous
oh! how numerous
and also how
aggravated our actual positive transgressions! Seek
oh! seek the contrition
the humiliation of soul
which a sense of sin ought to inspire. But besides
iniquities within
do not iniquities also prevail around us
of a very heinous
and aggravated character; iniquities in a high degree insulting to the name of
God; iniquities in a high degree calculated
if we would have the Lord’s
indignation averted
and if we would be distinguished by the state of mind with
which such prevailing iniquities should be contemplated by us all
to lead us
to sigh and cry because of them?
II. A mark is still
stamped upon every child of God. They have the impress of God’s own image upon
their character
--they have those moral lineaments of character stamped upon
them by which God Himself is distinguished; they are thus marked as Jehovah’s
property
as in a very peculiar and special manner His own; and
regarding all
such
it may unhesitatingly be affirmed
that because of prevailing
abominations they sigh and cry. Oh! how desirous that we should seek to have
the spirit that is here adverted to by the Lord! Is calamity at any great
distance from us? Are there no threatening clouds lowering above us? (J.
Marshall
M. A.)
The care of Christ over His mourners
I. God at all
times narrowly inspects the state of His Church. “Go through the midst of the
city
” etc. His eyes are in every place
but especially upon the Church
His
pleasant land
from the one end of the year to the other. He distinguishes with
an accuracy peculiar to Himself
her true members from hypocrites. He knows her
enemies
and restrains or destroys them. He knows when her members are in right
exercise
and when they are in the wrong. How should this inspire fear and reverence
faith and hope
simplicity and godly sincerity in all her members!
II. Christ’s
principal work is in the Church. Christ is head over all things
for His Church
which is His body
the fulness of Him that filleth all in all. He worketh as
God in all places
but the particular sphere of His work is in His Church. He
executes all His offices in her
and nowhere else
and He has appointed
ordinances as tokens of His gracious presence with His people.
III. Christ’s
errands to His Church are generally in mercy. “Set a mark upon the foreheads
”
etc. There are indeed exceptions to this rule. Sometimes He comes to unhinge
her constitution
to remove His ordinances
to bid a farewell to her
and to
execute His judgments upon her
as in the case of the Jewish Church afterwards
and of the seven Churches of Asia. His design
notwithstanding these and other
instances
is to save and deliver
when He cometh to His Church. He is the
Saviour of His body
the Church
and all He doth for her is for her eternal advantage.
IV. In times of
great and general defection God has a mourning remnant. He had so at Jerusalem
at the time specified
wicked as it was. These were few in number
and unknown
to the prophet
perhaps unknown to the angels
and to one another; but they were
known to Christ. He found them out
and it was His delightful work to signalise
His mercy
and the mercy of His Father
in setting a mark upon their foreheads.
He is infinite in wisdom
and cannot commit a mistake; He is infinite in power
and nothing can obstruct His design of mercy towards His own elect. These
mourners may be few in number
but they are reckoned by Christ as equal
and
superior to a generation of other men. They are sometimes a third part
sometimes a tenth
and at other times as a few berries on the top of the
uppermost branches; but still these few are mourners.
V. Sin is always
hateful to a holy soul. He sighs and cries for it. Every good man
like
Hannibal against the Romans
has sworn eternal war against sin. It is bitter to
him
because contrary to the nature
the will
and the law of that God whom he
supremely esteems and loves; because it killed the Lord Jesus
and grieves the
Holy Spirit of God. It is bitter in his heart
in his closet
in his family
in
all places and circumstances.
VI. Saints not only
hate sin
but sigh and cry for it. The first refers to the affection of mind
and the last to the expressions of it in tears and other signs of grief. Grief
for sin made the saints in Scripture water their couch with tears
to eat no
pleasant bread
to keep them waking
to make them roll in dust
because God was
dishonoured
and sin was committed by themselves and others. Alas! how few are
now found in such exercise!
VII. Good men mourn
not only for their own sins
but for all the abominations done in the midst of
the land. They grieve
first for their own sins
and then for the sins of
others. It were rank hypocrisy to invert this order; to do so is insufferable
in the eyes of God and man. They who live in sin
who never grieve for their
own sins
and yet pretend to bewail public crimes
are most detestable
characters. As far as the knowledge of sin extends
good men loathe and grieve
for it. When robberies
murders
and other crimes which tend to dissolve
society are committed
when the sword of the magistrate is stretched forth in
vain
then it is time for God to work
and for saints to be dreadfully afraid
of His judgments.
VIII. In times of
judgments for sin
God generally sets a mark upon his mourning remnant. He did
so here
and in other instances innumerable. He is the guardian of the Church
the protector of the poor. He issues out a writ of protection in their favour
as in the 91st Psalm. He invites them to flee from danger
as in Isaiah 26:1-21. He delivers the island of
the innocent
He saves His righteous Lots in the destruction of the wicked. His
Calebs and Joshuas live still. His fruit-bearing trees are spared
while the
barren trees are struck with His lightning. (Christian Magazine.)
Godly sorrow for abounding iniquity
I. When
or upon
what occasions
the exercise of godly sorrow for sin is in a peculiar manner
seasonable.
1. When transgressors are very numerous; when the body of a people is
corrupted.
2. The call becomes still more pressing when transgressors are not
only numerous
but likewise bold and impudent; sinning
as Absalom did
“before
all Israel
and in the sight of the sun.” This is fatal presage of approaching
vengeance; for God will not always tolerate such insolent contempt of His
authority.
3. Especially when sinners are not only numerous and impudent
but
likewise guilty of those grossest abominations which in former ages have been
followed with the most tremendous judgments. If you read the Scriptures you
will find that profane swearing
perjury
contempt of the Sabbath
theft
murder
and adultery are all of this kind.
4. When the persons that commit them are resolute and incorrigible.
When the wicked are forewarned of their sin and danger; when
by the preaching
of the Word
their duty is plainly and faithfully set before them; when they
are exhorted by others and rebuked by their own consciences; when they are
smitten with such rods as bear the most legible signature of their crimes; or
when
in a milder way
they are admonished and warned by the punishments
inflicted upon others for the same crimes; when
after all or any of these
means employed to reclaim them
they still hold fast their iniquities
and will
not let them go: then should the godly lament and mourn
and pray with
redoubled earnestness for those miserable creatures who have neither the
ingenuity nor the wisdom to pray for themselves.
II. A few obvious
remarks relative to the time and place in which our lot is cast. It is too
apparent to be denied
that the vices I mentioned under the former head
intemperance
lewdness
the most insolent abuse of the Christian Sabbath
lying
cursing
and even perjury itself
are more or less practised in every
corner of the land. However
as they cannot be strictly accounted the peculiar
reproach of the present age
I shall remind you of some other instances of
departure from God which
with greater and more evident propriety
may be
termed the distinguishing characteristics of the times in which we live.
1. I begin with Infidelity
which of late hath spread itself through
all orders of men
the lowest not excepted.
2. Again
is there not a visible contempt of the authority of God?
3. Further
we seem
in a great measure
to have lost any proper
sense of our dependence upon God. “When His hand is lifted up we do not see.”
We forget Him in prosperity; and in adversity we look no higher than the
creature.
4. To all these I must add the luxury and sensuality which have now
spread their roots and branches so wide that they may truly be said to fill the
whole land. Pleasure is at length become a laborious study; and with many
I am
afraid
it is their only study: for it leaves them no room to pursue any other.
While the poor are striving
while many who are willing to labour can find no
employment
and not a few have abandoned their native country to seek that
sustenance in foreign parts which they could not earn at home; still is
pleasure pursued with increasing ardour
and no price is deemed extravagant
that can purchase an addition to it.
III. A few of the
genuine symptoms and proper effects of the gracious temper I mean to recommend.
1. We can never be assured that our grief for the sins of others is
pure
and of the right kind
unless our hearts be duly affected with grief and
sorrow for our own transgressions. Godly sorrow is just and impartial; it
always begins at home
and makes few visits abroad
till domestic sins are
first bewailed.
2. Our grief is of the right kind when it leads us to pray for
transgressors: and when it hath not this effect
we have not only cause to
suspect
but may conclude
without hesitation
that it is spurious and
counterfeit.
3. Our grief for the sins of others
if pure and genuine
will be
accompanied with proper endeavours to reclaim them. Every true mourner will
consider himself as “his brother’s keeper
” and will leave no means unattempted
to prevent his ruin. He will set his guilt and danger before him in the most
prudent and affecting manner he can; and though he meet with many repulses
nay
though his labour of love should be requited with scorn and hatred
yet he
will repeat his application again and again
and take hold of every favourable
opportunity that presents itself.
4. If we are in truth possessed of this gracious temper
if our grief
for abounding iniquity flows from the pure fountain of love to God
and zeal
for His glory
we shall own His cause in the most perilous times
and reckon
nothing too dear to be hazarded in His service. We must be doing in a humble
dependence upon His grace; and then we may both ask
and hope to obtain
His
blessing upon our endeavours. But if we pray
and sit still; if we lie howling
upon our beds
when we should be abroad at our labour
we offend God instead of
pleasing Him
and can look for no other answer but this
“Who hath required
these things at your hand?” (R. Walker.)
Mourning over the sins of the city
I. The persons
mentioned. Those that sigh and cry
etc. From whence we may observe
that such
persons there are that do so
and it is their duty so to do
even to sigh and
cry for the abominations
all of them
that are done in the midst of the city.
1. Out of their inward hatred and antipathy
even to sin itself.
2. Out of love to God
and a tenderness of His honour and glory.
3. Out of respect to themselves
and their own advantage. The more
sin there is abroad
the more are all men concerned in it; not only evil men
but good
who are from hence in so much the greater danger; and that in a
twofold respect
both as to matter of defilement and of punishment. They are
more in danger from hence to be polluted
and they are more in danger from
hence to be afflicted; and this makes them to be so much troubled at it.
4. The servants of God have herein also a respect to others
even
sometimes to wicked men themselves
whom considered as men they lament for
while they are guilty of such and such miscarriages. Those that cannot mourn
for themselves
through the obstinacy of themselves; yet they have in those
cases others better than themselves to mourn for them.
II. A special care
or regard which is had of them. Go and set a mark upon the foreheads of them
that
etc.
1. It is a mark of honour and observation; such persons as these are
they are highly esteemed and accounted of by God Himself.
2. It is a mark of preservation likewise
and that especially; it is
such a mark as whereby God does distinguish them from other persons in the
execution of His judgments
which He does graciously exempt them from. Now
the
reason of God’s indulgence to such persons as are thus affected is especially
upon this account--
III. There are
divers sorts of persons in the world
which come short of this duty.
1. Those that practise the abominations are far enough from mourning
for them
and so consequently far enough from this privilege here mentioned in
the text
of having a mark set upon them.
2. Such that do encourage others in wickedness
and not only not
restrain them
but rather countenance them
and further them in it.
3. Which is a lower degree of it
which do not lay the sins and
abominations to their heart
which are not humbled for them
when it concerns
them
and becomes them to be. As we desire that God should not judge us
it
concerns us to judge ourselves. (T. Herren
D. D.)
The safety mark in troublous times
I. The search.
1. It is no surface search which God institutes. Were it so
who
would not have “the mark”? how few would there be on whom “the slaughter
weapon” shall do its work.
2. It is a house search whereby we must be proved. Look well to what
goes on within thy habitation
if thou wouldst have “the slaughter weapon” pass
and touch thee not. Hath God His altar in thy house
so that thy family cannot
be classed amongst those “that call not on His name”? Is the Word of God read
within thy walls
and is that Word made the court of decision from which there
is no appeal? It is a heart search. God “trieth the reins and the heart.” It
was the sad confession of one
at an hour
too
when he needed every stay
“that though he had kept up the profession of religion in his house
he had
never had the reality of it in his heart.” Let not this conviction be yours.
“Keep thy heart with all diligence.”
II. The sigh and
the cry. “Set a mark on the foreheads of the men that sigh and cry for all the
abominations that be done
” etc. Men account those as poor and pitiful that
looking for the signs of the times
are solemnised at heart
because of “the
things that are coming on the earth”; but grant me
O Lord! the contrite heart
“the sigh and the cry” for the evil that is in the world. This attracts the eye
of God.
1. This disposition of mind includes an insight into sin
some
perception of the mystery of iniquity; such see that with all the fair surface
sin presents
it is hateful in God’s sight
ruinous to the soul in which it
dwells
that it is of hell
and leads to hell.
2. Love of God
and hence desire for His glory
is the mainspring of
that grief of heart spoken of in our text.
3. Know we this blessed sorrow
this “sigh and cry” of our text? Loud
are the calls for it; do they find an answer within us?
III. The safety
mark. “Set a mark.”
1. This is the protecting mark which men should seek in troublous
times. The world hath its places of safety
its towers of strength
its carnal
weapons
its wise plans
but “like a dream when one awaketh
” so do these
disappear
and fail them in the hour of need.
2. This mark is indelible
it cannot be taken away. Kings have their
marks
their orders of merit
their distinctions and titles to distribute
but
a breath of popular outbreak may sweep them all away. Death certainly removes
them
breaks the staff of office
“man being in honour abideth not”; but this
safety mark of which our text speaks
who shall deprive us of?
3. It shall be recognised and acknowledged at the last day. Woes may
come on the earth
but they cannot injure you; death shall come
but it shall
prove life to you; the judgment day shall but gather you to glory. (F.
Storr
M. A.)
God’s care of His people in time of peril
1. The Lord looks upon the world with a discriminating eye; some He
looks upon to be marked
and some to be left unmarked. His eye distinguisheth
between the precious and the vile (Psalms 34:15-16).
2. When the Lord proceeds to judgment of cities
churches
people
kingdoms
He doth it judiciously
considerately. He doth not pour out wrath
from heaven at all adventures
let it light where and upon whom it will; but He
makes inquiry who are fit to be punished
and who are to be spared.
3. In the worst times God hath some who are faithful
and serve Him.
God had His Huss
Jerome of Prague
and Luther
in times bad enough.
4. The number of men to be saved in Jerusalem is few.
5. The Lord hath a special care of His saints when dreadful and
destroying judgments are coming upon others.
(i) Men. It is put indefinitely
not confined to noble
wise
rich
learned
but any condition of men that were godly; any poor man
any servant
any child
any little one
let their grace be never so mean
if they had any
grace at all
they should have the seal as well as the best.
(ii)
Mourners.
6. It is the Lord Christ who is the marker of the saints.
7. God and Christ are not ashamed of theirs in the worst times and
greatest dangers.
8. The faithful are so far from complying with the wickedness of the
times
that they sigh and cry for the abominations thereof. (W. Greenhill
M. A.)
Christians a living protest against sin
I. God’s people
described.
1. They are sighing ones
sorrowing.
2. They are crying ones
protesting.
II. Their peculiar
mark
a mark of--
1. Separation.
2. Service.
3. A visible mark.
4. A mark of safety. (W. W. Whythe.)
Let not your eye spare
neither have ye pity.
Retribution
I. The chief
distinction between men is moral. Upon what principle were these two divisions
(verses 4
5) made?
1. Not unreasoning caprice.
2. Not any material characteristics.
3. Not any mental qualities.
4. Simply the moral character.
The “great gulf fixed” is the spiritual difference between the
impenitent and the devout
the selfish and the loving
the Christly and the
Christless.
II. The results of
this distinction are tremendous. To be on the wrong side of this dividing line
meant to be doomed to the six slayers
and means ever destruction. Lust is a
fare
love of money is a cancer
intemperance is a flood
self-love is a
petrifaction; and these are ever burning or eating out or drowning or hardening
the manhood of sinners. And there is
moreover
“the second death.” Goodness is
safety now
and forever.
III. The Divine
superintendence of human destiny is perfect. Every detail of this judgment was
given by God. Through Him the angel knew whom to seal
and the others knew whom
to slay. So is it ever; the arrangements for man’s retributive future are
securely safe
because--
1. The moral character and condition now are conspicuous. The seal is
on the forehead.
2. The arrangement is Divine. There can be no mistake or injustice. (Urijah
R. Thomas.)
Verse 8
I was left.
Spared
I. A pathetic
reflection
which seems to invite us to take a solemn retrospect - “I was
left.” You remember
many of you
times of sickness. You walked among the
graves
but you did not stumble into them. Fierce and fatal maladies lurked in
your path
but they were not allowed to devour you. The bullets of death
whistled by your ears
and yet you stood alive
for his bullet had no billet
for your heart. “I was left”--preserved
great God
when many others perished;
sustained
Standing on the rock of life when the waves of death dashed about
me
the spray fell heavy upon me
and my body was saturated with disease and
pain
yet am I still alive--permitted still to mingle with the busy tribes of
men. Now
then
what does such a retrospect as this suggest? Ought we not each
one of us to ask the question
What was I spared for? Why was I left? Was it
that mercy might yet visit you--that grace might yet renew your soul? Have you
found it so? Say
sinner
in looking back upon the times when you have been
left
were you spared in order that you might be saved with a great salvation?
Let us change the retrospect and look upon the sparing mercy of God in another
light. “I was left.” You were born of ungodly parents; the earliest words you
can recollect were base and blasphemous
too bad to repeat. You grew up
you
and your brothers and your sisters
side by side; you filled the home with sin
you went on together in your youthful crimes
and encouraged each other in evil
habits. You recollect how one and another of your old comrades died; you
followed them to their graves
and your merriment was checked a little while
but it soon broke out again. Then a sister died
steeped to the mouth in infidelity;
after that a brother was taken
--he had no hope in his death
all was darkness
and despair before him. And so
sinner
thou hast outlived all thy comrades.
And now thou art left
sinner; and
blessed be God
it may be you can say
“Yes
and I am not only left
but I am here in the house of prayer; and if I
know my own heart
there is nothing I should hate so much as to live my old
life over again.” As you have served the devil through thick and thin
until
you came to serve him alone
and your company had all departed
so by Divine
grace may you be pledged to Christ--to follow Him
though all the world should
despise Him
and to hold on to the end
until
g every professor should be an
apostate
it might yet be said of you at the last
“He was left; he stood alone
in sin while his comrades died; and then he stood alone in Christ when his
companions deserted him. Thus of you it should ever be said
‘He was left.’”
This suggests also one more form of the same retrospect. What a special
providence has watched over some of us
and guarded our feeble frames! Why are
you spared? are you an unconverted man? an unconverted woman? To what end are
you spared? Is it that you may at the eleventh hour be saved? God grant it may
be so. But art thou a Christian? Then it is not hard for thee to answer the
question
Why art thou spared? Tell it out
tell it out
thou aged man; tell
the story of that preserving grace which has kept thee up till now. Tell to thy
children and to thy children’s children what a God He is whom thou hast
trusted.
II. A prospect.
“And I was left.” You and I shall soon pass out of this world into another.
This life is
as it were
but the ferry boat; we are being carried across
and
we shall soon come to the true shore
the real terra firma
for here
there is nothing that is substantial. Great God
shall I stand there wrapped in
His righteousness alone
the righteousness of Him who sits my Judge erect upon
the judgment seat?--shall I
when the wicked shall cry
“Rocks hide us
mountains on us fall
” shall this eye look up
shall this face dare to turn
itself to the face of Him that sits upon the throne? Shall I stand calm and
unmoved amidst universal terror and dismay? shall I be numbered with the goodly
company who
clothed with the white linen which is the righteousness of the
saints
shall await the shock
shall see the wicked hurled to destruction
and
feel and know themselves secure? Shall it be so
or shall I be bound up in a
bundle to burn
and swept away forever by the breath of God’s nostrils
like
the chaff driven before the wind? It must be one or the other; which shall it
be?
III. A terrible
contrast. There will be some who will not be left in the sense we have been
speaking of
and yet who will be left after another and more dreadful manner.
They will be left by mercy
forsaken by hope
given up by friends
and become a
prey to the implacable fury
to the sudden
infinite
and unmitigated severity
and justice of an angry God. But they will not be left or exempted from
judgment
for the sword shall find them out
the vials of Jehovah shall reach
even to their heart. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Wilt Thou destroy all the
residue of Israel?--
Zeal and pity
The prophet passes from one state of feeling to another. Sometimes
he is in sympathy with the Divine resentment
and is himself full of fury
against the sinful people (Ezekiel 3:14)
and of scorn that rejoices
at their coming chastisements (Ezekiel 6:11)
but when the judgments of
God are abroad before his eyes he is appalled at their severity
and his pity
for men overcomes his religious zeal. (A. B. Davidson
D. D.)
Verse 9
The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceeding great.
The evil and its remedy
(with 1 John 1:7):--We can learn nothing
of the Gospel except by feeling its truths
--no one truth of the Gospel is ever
truly known and really learned until we have tested and tried and proved it
and its power has been exercised upon us. No man can know the greatness of sin
till he has felt it
for there is no measuring rod for sin except its
condemnation in our own conscience
when the law of God speaks to us with a
terror that may be felt. And as for the richness of the blood of Christ and its
ability to wash us
of that also we can know nothing till we have ourselves
been washed
and have ourselves proved that the blood of Jesus Christ the Son
of God hath cleansed us from all sin.
1. I shall begin
then
with the first doctrine--“The iniquity of the
house of Israel and Judah is exceeding great.” Some imagine that the Gospel was
devised
in some way or other
to soften down the harshness of God towards sin.
Ah! how mistaken the idea! There is no more harsh condemnation of sin anywhere
than in the Gospel. Nor does the Gospel in any way whatever give man a hope
that the claims of the law will be in any way loosened. Christ hath not put out
the furnace; He rather seemeth to heat it seven times hotter. Before Christ
came sin seemed unto me to be but little; but when He came sin became exceeding
sinful
and all its dread heinousness started out before the light. But
says
one
surely the Gospel does in some degree remove the greatness of our sin.
Does it not soften the punishment of sin? Ah
no! Stand at the feet of Jesus
when He tells you of the punishment of sin
and the effect of iniquity
and you
may tremble there far more than you would have done if Moses had been the
preacher
and if Sinai had been in the background to conclude the sermon. And
now let us endeavour to deal with hearts and consciences a moment. There are
some here who have never felt this truth. But come
let me reason with you for
a moment. Your sin is great
although you think it small. Follow me in these
few thoughts
and perhaps thou wilt better understand it. How great a thing is
one sin when
according to the Word of God
one sin could suffice to damn the
soul. One sin
remember
destroyed the whole human race. Again
what an
imprudent and impertinent thing sin is. Behold! there is one God who filleth
all in all
and He is the Infinite Creator. He makes me
and I am nothing more
in His sight than an animated grain of dust; and I
that animated grain of
dust
with a mere ephemeral existence
have the impertinence and imprudence to
set up my will against His will! I dare to proclaim war against the Infinite
Majesty of heaven. Again
how great does your sin and mine seem
if we will but
think of the ingratitude which has marked it. Oh
if we set our secret sins in
the light of His mercy
if our transgressions are set side by side with His
favours
we must each of us say
our sins
indeed
are exceeding great! And
again
I repeat it
this is a doctrine that no man can rightly know and receive
until he has felt it. Hast thou ever felt this doctrine to be true--“my sin is
exceeding great”?
2. “Well
” cries one
turning on his heel
“there is very little
comfort in that. It is enough to drive one to despair
if not to madness
itself.” Ah
friend! such is the very design of this text. We turn therefore
from that terrible text to the second one” The blood of Jesus Christ His Son
cleanseth us from all sin.” There lies the blackness; here stands the Lord
Jesus Christ. What will He do with it? Will He go and speak to it
and say
“This is no great evil
this blackness is but a little spot?” Oh
no; He looks
at it
and He says
“This is terrible blackness
darkness that may be felt;
this is an exceeding great evil.” Will He cover it up
then? Will He weave a
mantle of excuse
and then wrap it round about the iniquity? Ah
no; whatever
covering there may have been He lifts it off
and He declares that when the
Spirit of truth is come He will convince the world of sin
and lay the sinner’s
conscience bare
and probe the wound to the bottom. What then will He do? He
will do a far better thing than make an excuse or than to pretend in any way to
speak lightly of it. He will cleanse it all away
remove it entirely by the
power and meritorious virtue of His own blood
which is able to save unto the
uttermost. “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.” Dwell
on the word “all” for a moment. Great as are thy sins
the blood of Christ is
greater still. Thy sins are like great mountains
but the blood of Christ is
like Noah’s flood; twenty cubits upwards shall this blood prevail
and the top
of the mountains of thy sin shall be covered. Just take the word “all” in
another sense
not only as taking in all sorts of sin
but as comprehending the
great aggregate mass of sin. Couldst thou bear to read thine own diary if thou
hadst written there all thy acts? No; for though thou be the purest of mankind
thy thoughts
if they could have been recorded
would now
if thou couldst read
them
make thee startle and wonder that thou art demon enough to have had such
imaginations within thy soul. But put them all here
and all these sins the
blood of Christ can wash away. Nay
more than that. Come hither
ye thousands
who are gathered together to listen to the Word of God; what is the aggregate
of your guilt? Could ye put it so that mortal observation could comprehend the
whole within its ken
it were as a mountain with a base
broad as eternity
and
a summit lofty almost as the throne of the great archangel. But
remember
the
blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth from all sin. Yet
once more
in the praise
of this blood we must notice one further feature. There be some of you here who
are saying
“Ah! that shall be my hope when I come to die
that in the last
hour of my extremity the blood of Christ will take my sins away; it is now my
comfort to think that the blood of Christ shall wash
and purge
and purify the
transgressions of life.” But
mark! my text saith not so; it does not say the
blood of Christ shall cleanse--that were a truth--but it says something greater
than that--it says
“The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth”--cleanseth
now. Come
soul
this moment come to Him that hung upon the Cross of Calvary!
come now and be washed. But what meanest thou by coming? I mean this
come thou
and put thy trust in Christ
and thou shalt be saved. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The land is full of blood.--
Crime
I. The utter want
of moral training in thousands of homes is one cause of the prevalence of
crime. What cares the fashionable mother or the father deeply immersed in
business for the moral culture of their children? Hence they grow up in
ignorance of all those moral and virtuous principles which are the great
safeguards against crime. Then
in thousands of homes the overworked mother has
no heart for the duties which she owes to her poor neglected children.
II. The almost
universal desecration of the holy Sabbath is another fruitful source of crime.
This is God’s day
and man has no right to appropriate it to pleasure or to
business.
III. Intemperance is
constantly adding to the long list of criminals. It is itself a crime
and the
prolific source of every form of iniquity.
IV. The laxity with
which the laws are enforced invites to their violation.
V. Another source
of crime is the low
vicious literature.
VI. With shame we
utter the truth
that many of the crimes of this age may be traced to the
pulpit. It is too tender of crime. It is afraid or ashamed to denounce sin. (R.
H. Rivers
D. D.)
And the city full of
perverseness.--
Temptations peculiar to Christians in great cities
As this is a state of moral probation
it is the design of God to
allow us to be surrounded by temptations while we live in this world. Sometimes
these come from our intercourse with our fellow men
sometimes from our own
corrupted hearts within us
and sometimes from the wiles of the great tempter.
There are also certain periods or situations in life when we are exposed to
particular kinds of temptations. Those which beset the young man
those which
beset the middle-aged man
and those which beset the old man
may be unlike
and yet each is adapted to the particular period of life. There are also
particular places in which temptations are heavier than in others.
I. Christians in
great cities are peculiarly tempted to overlook the guilt of sin. We all know
that familiarity with anything has a wonderful effect upon our feelings; and
that it is a principle in human nature
that what is in itself revolting will
by familiarity
cease to disgust. The first time the medical student enters the
dissecting room he has a feeling excited very nearly allied to that of
shuddering. The mangled dead are strewn around
and those who hold the
dissecting knife are there
silent as the dead
as if that were no place for
cheerfulness. The images which he sees haunt him after leaving the room. But in
a few years this same man can shut himself up there for days
and have scarcely
a feeling of revolt
or an unpleasant image remain upon his mind. The young
soldier
who first joins his company
has never voluntarily inflicted a wound
upon any human being. He has never seen human blood flow
and has never beheld
distress created by design. The first oath of his comrade startles him. At the
beat of the drum
which
for the first time
calls him to face the enemy
he
turns pale. But he need be in the army but a very few years
and he can witness
the falling of men around him--see the mangled remains of his fellow--hear the
groans of death
and see all the cruelties of the battlefield
and even close
with the enemy
bayonet to bayonet
and slay his foes man by man
and yet
at
the close of the day
take his meal
and lie down to sleep with as much
indifference as if he had been engaged in reaping the harvest of wheat. This is
almost literally getting hardened to misery and woe
and is a clear
illustration of the principle. Now
in great cities it is nearly impossible not
to have the mind in almost constant contact with sin and crime. There the
Sabbath is trampled upon
fearlessly
constantly
and shamelessly
by the high
and the low. And do you need proof that this familiarity with Sabbath breaking
destroys something of the sacredness of that day? In great cities
too
the
temptation to feel no responsibility to God how money is spent is very great
and very distressing. Familiarity with sin
too
begins early in large cities;
and if God
in His providence
should take off the veil which covers all
we
should be astonished at the crimes which the children of Christian parents
practise in early life
and at what practices are allowed
with hardly a
trembling for the consequences.
II. Christians in
large cities are peculiarly tempted to engage in worldly amusements. By worldly
amusements I mean such as are the greatest delight of people who profess to
live only for this world. If I specify cards
balls
and theatres I shall be sufficiently
definite to be understood. Now
when the doors are wide open--when the world
around--the great mass of mankind--say there is no harm in those exciting
amusements
though they know that they are most thronged by those who live
farthest from God; when they are so fashionable that you can hardly mingle with
genteel society
unless you fall in with them; when they are precisely adapted
to our natural and strong desire for excitement
is there anything strange that
the Christian should feel it hard that his Bible warns
“touch not
taste not
handle not”? Is it wonderful that some think it is a little sin--a sin
to be
sure
but so small that God will not notice it--that many feel that they may
pluck the fruit this once; that many think they are not known to do it
and
think it is all buried from the eye of their fellow Christians?
III. Christians in
great cities are peculiarly tempted to neglect the religion of the heart. It
requires much more labour to roll a stone up a steep hill than up a hill whose
angle of ascent is less; and if the stone be a very smooth one
and the ground
very slippery
the labour is still more increased. Who that has lived in the
great city only a few years need be reminded that all good impressions fade
away almost as soon as made? Perhaps the very habits of business
so essential
to your prosperity in the city
have an unhappy influence upon the religion of
the heart. You rise at a stated time in the morning; open your store at a given
moment; know to a moment when the mail arrives and closes; must meet your
accounts at a given moment; and thus you are in the habit of being punctual and
exact. When the moment arrives for you to do this or that
you do it
and then
throw it off the mind. And is there not a temptation to treat the duties of the
closet in the same way? And thus we may have the name of religion and the form
of religion
while the heart is a stranger to its power; and when we place
religion on the cold level with business
we may be sure that it will have too
slight hold of us either to subdue the soul or console it. It is to my purpose
here to remark
how very seldom personal
experimental religion is made the
subject of conversation between Christians. The fact will not be questioned.
How can it be accounted for? Is it because there are so many other topics
floating
that we are never at a loss to hear or tell some new thing? But why
is not religious experience one of the first topics of conversation? Or
if not
among the first
why is it wholly banished? Do we need it less here than
elsewhere? Or is it because we are very prone to neglect the heart
and find it
more agreeable to tread upon the surface
than to go as deep as the heart? Then
as to reading
how much stronger is the temptation to lay the hand on the fresh
morning paper
and spend some time over that
than over the Book of God! To
keep along with the tide of human events
and yet not have eternal things weigh
upon us! The temptation to neglect the heart
too
from the fact that our time
is so completely absorbed
is very great. This makes superficial
Christians--Christians who cannot stand against temptation; and who
when
temptations come
inquire not what God will now have them do
and how He would
have them meet them
but how they can shift off responsibility
and make
everything turn to their own advantage.
IV. Christians in
great cities are peculiarly tempted to be uncharitable towards one another.
Character
strained
and in full action
is ever before you
and you see all
its defects. The joints of the harness are constantly opening
and any man can
throw in an arrow
though he draw the bow at venture. Character is the easiest
thing in the world to talk about. We know
and we must know each other most
fully
situated as we are in large cities; but this
instead of making us
uncharitable
censorious
and severe towards each other
ought to lead us to
remember that every man lives in a glass house
and that therefore we ought to
be very watchful and very careful.
V. Christians in
great cities are peculiarly tempted to be jealous of one another. No Christian
is sanctified but in part; and very few are so sanctified that they can bear to
be overlooked or unnoticed. Hence
when they see that one of their number is
by any means
attracting attention--is considerably noticed
and they are left
behind
the feeling of jealousy is very likely to be awakened. Does such a one
give more liberally than others--does he pray or speak more acceptably in
public--does he
on any account
receive more notice than others--does he
exercise any acquired influence--the feeling of jealousy is awakened
and
almost unconsciously to himself
the complaining Christian takes the sharpest
of all weapons by which to remove the envied one
and that weapon is the
tongue. (John Todd
D. D.)
Duties peculiar to Christians in great cities
I. Christians
in
the large city
should constantly bear in mind that they are continually
surrounded by great temptations. Some may prefer to remain in ignorance of
their dangers
because responsibility and duty come with knowledge. But is this
wise or safe? A father sends a son to a distant city on business. When the
young man reaches it he finds the plague is there. It is all around him
and
daily
in every street
death is doing his work. What is safe for this young
man? to remain in ignorance of his danger
or to know it all
and
by care
abstinence
and medicine
do all in his power to preserve his life and health?
A valuable ship
freighted with a rich cargo
is just passing through a winding
channel
amid rocks and shoals
islands and reefs. Would you have her captain
sleep in his berth
or would you have him
though accompanied with painful
anxieties
on the watch
eyeing and shunning these dangers? In all such cases
the answer is plain enough. If God has made it the duty of a man to live in a
large city
He will shield him and protect him
if faithful to his God. But
even the Son of God must not tempt His Father
by throwing Himself down from
the pinnacle of the temple
and then claiming the promise that He would give
His angels charge over Him. The mercy of God may follow a man who throws
himself in the way of danger
and may pluck him out; but no man has a right to
rely upon this. And what shall we do
say you--and how shall we be safe? Ah! it
would be comparatively easy to answer this question
could I first make you
sensible of the fact that the temptations of the crowded city are great in
number
and powerful to resist. Oh! could you see the spots where Christians
have fallen
all marked with blood
you would be almost afraid to walk the
streets.
II. Christians in
great cities should feel that they are peculiarly bound to act from principle
and not from impulse
fashion
or popularity. That man only has a correct
standard of action and of life who makes the revealed will of God his standard.
In all places and circumstances
all other standards will vary
and especially
is this the case in the large city. Here new things are constantly coming up
and what is in vogue and popular today may be the very reverse tomorrow. What
comes in on the flood tide today may be left on the sand when the tide comes to
ebb
and nobody will think it worth picking up. It is painfully amusing to
notice how things
men
and measures
which are popular beyond description today
and of which it seems as if we could never tire
will
in a few days
have
passed away and be forgotten. The reason is
that which decides a thing to be
good or bad
desirable or otherwise
is public opinion; and that is as variable
as the wind. Men
and communities of men
are governed
moved
and guided by
it
and even the Christian is in great danger of allowing himself to be guided
by it too. To do this or that
because public sentiment says so
and make this
a rule of action
will save much reflection
much thought
and much prayer for
direction. But this is not that standard which God has revealed
and which
never varies. How much easier
too
to act from impulse
and to go forward in a
certain course as long as the impulse sets us that way
and then to go backward
if a counteracting impulse sets us the other way
than to do right
and go
right at all times
without waiting for impulses
and without being driven out
of our proper orbit by them!
1. Be familiar with the Bible. The book of God is so full of
biography--it places men in such a variety of situations
and all under the
strong light of inspiration
that it is almost
if not literally
impossible to
find a situation in which a man can be placed where all his relations to God
and to man are to be drawn out
for which a parallel may not be found in the
Word of God.
2. Habituate yourself to read sound and thorough works in practical
theology
and by this means strengthen the mind and heart
and the purposes of
the soul
in what is correct and right.
3. Make every decision of moral conduct the subject of individual and
fervent prayer. A conscience intuitively knowing what is right and what is
wrong is what God gives only in answer to prayer.
III. It is
peculiarly the duty of Christians in large cities to set their faces against
extravagance. But do not such and such families
who profess to be Christian
do so and so? Yes; but do they show that the Gospel of Christ
and the glory of
God
is the ruling passion of their lives? If not
are they safe models for us?
But my neighbour does thus and thus. Very likely; and your neighbour may be
better able than you are
or he may be doing what he ought not to do
and what
he cannot do long. But
say you
can you draw the limits
and go into the
particulars
and say whether this and that is wrong? No; nor have I any wish to
do it. But am I not safe in saying
that so long as Christians are so
extravagant that they are not known from the world--so long as
in consequence
of extravagance
they fail in business as often as the world
in proportion to
their numbers
there must be something wrong in their slavery to fashion?
IV. Christians in
great cities are peculiarly bound to become attached to the cause of Christ.
The soul
without any doubt
was formed for strong attachments. We love those
who are bound to us by the ties of relationship; and the last ties which the
hand of death shall sever are those which bind us to the beings whom we love.
But this is not all. In most situations we become attached to inanimate
objects. The man who spent his childhood in the country loves his native
hills--he loves the fields which lie in sight of his father’s door. Every tree
and shrub is connected with some pleasant recollection of childhood. Now
in a
great city there are no such attachments. You live in a street
or in a
particular house
for years
and you leave it without regret and without
sorrow. You go into another without reluctance
and without emotion. The
unceasing hurry and perpetual pressure for time prevent our forming those deep
attachments which we do in country life. Our attachments
so to speak
are to
things in general--to the general excitement which surrounds us. The waves roll
too rapidly to allow us to love anyone very strongly. And the danger is
that these
same feelings and associations be applied to the cause of Christ; that the
habits of mind and of situation lead us to place the cause of God just where we
do everything else; and that we feel an attachment to that no stronger than we
do to other things. Now we reach the point at which I am aiming
and I say that
though you are so situated in Providence that you form no very strong
attachment to your dwelling
to your street
to your business
to the family
pew in the church
to the changing mass of human beings around you
yet it
ought to be a matter of deep interest
of study
and of great effort
to have
one set of attachments that are strong
permanent
and which make a part of
your very existence--and these should be your attachments to the cause of Jesus
Christ. You will ask how you can thus become attached to the cause of
Christ
and exercise towards that a set of feelings so entirely different from
what you do towards other things? My reply is
Be in the habit of doing
something for the cause of Christ every day
and you will soon find that you
love that cause above all other things. What makes you love the flower that
stands in your parlour
meekly curling its graceful form towards the window
to
drink in the beams of light? Not because it is helpless or beautiful. The china
vase may be all that; but because you every day do something for it. You give
it water--you remove it
when it requires more heat or more air--you watch its
budding--you study its nature and its wants. What makes the stranger
who takes
the helpless infant to her home
so soon attached to it? Because she is every
hour doing something for it; and God has made it impossible for us not to love
anything which we aid--an unanswerable argument for the benevolence of Him who
formed the human heart! Let the Christian be in the daily habit of making
sacrifices
in order to be punctual in his closet--to be daily growing in a
knowledge of his Bible--to be prompt and faithful in attending the meetings for
prayer
keeping his heart warm and solemn--to give of his property to build up
the cause of Christ cheerfully; let him aim to do something that shall be a
self-denial
every day
in order to aid the cause of Christ
and he will love
that cause; and
while mingling in the tide of men that is passing away
and
where everything is changing
he will have his heart and hopes bound to the
throne of God
and his soul will have an anchor that is sure and steadfast.
Perhaps the very fact that his attachments to other things are loose may render
these the stronger.
V. It is
peculiarly the duty of Christians
in great cities
to feel a high
responsibility. By the talents which Christ puts into the hands of His servants
we understand all the opportunities which we have of doing good to ourselves
or to others; and if
at the great day
our responsibilities are to be
commensurate with our opportunities
in those respects
they will be great
indeed. (John Todd
D. D.)
Dangers peculiar to worldly men engaged in business in great
cities
I. Success in
business in the great city requires close attention
severe application
and
engrossing watchfulness; and this tends to shut eternal things from the mind
and to endanger the soul. But perhaps you will say
this very devotedness of
heart and mind is necessary in order to success in business here
and any
diversion of the attention will endanger success; and therefore
if a man have
his attention so diverted and engrossed that he becomes a religious man
he
will be less likely to succeed in business. I reply
that does not follow; for
if he did
God could not assure us that godliness is profitable for the life
that now is
as well as for the life to come. It does not follow
also for
three very plain reasons; namely--
1. If you become really a religious man
your weary spirit will be
periodically bathed
cooled
and refreshed
by turning off your thoughts
and
having them come in contact with the Bible
with the Sabbath
and with God’s
Spirit.
2. The community will have confidence in a conscientious
holy man
and will do much to aid
to sustain
and to encourage him.
3. The blessing of God will more surely attend him; and His blessing
can make rich.
II. The object for
which the worldly man comes to a great city
and for which he stays there
is
to acquire property--and this tends to lead him to shut God away from his
thoughts. Suppose a man were to go into some distant part of the world
for the
express purpose of making money; and if he found that spot very unfavourable to
meditation
to prayer
to finding eternal life
what would he say? Would he not
be apt to say
I cannot here attend to religion--it is a poor place for that;
but I will give my whole time and attention and soul and mind to the business
which brought me here
and as soon as possible I will return to my home
where
I shall have time and opportunity and everything favourable to my finding
eternal life. I will therefore give it no thought at present. And is not the
man of the world
in the great city
tempted to do this very thing? Is he not
in danger of feeling that the great
the absorbing object for which he is here
is to acquire property; and till this end is gained he has no time
no heart
to give to his soul? In all that he does he wishes to keep that plan
uppermost--to be sure that every sun that shines
and every breeze that blows
has something to do in promoting that great plan--that one plan.
III. The sympathies
of all around him tend to carry his feelings in the channels of earth--and
these endanger the soul of the worldly man in the great city. You speak with
perhaps fifty men during the day
and five hundred during the week
and among
them all you hear not a word about the interests of the soul. And you will say
we must not only he men of business
but we must talk and think about business
about commerce and politics
the light and the grave news of the day
to show
that we are men of business. All this may be true
and I mention it because it
is true
and because the great impression which this great crowd of immortal
beings makes upon each other is adverse to their finding eternal life. Oh! if
you lived in a world where everything
from the fresh daily paper that you find
in the morning on your table
to the late partings at evening
tended to remind
you of God
and to call forth your sympathies towards Him
it would be very
different. But the living mass around you
so alive
and so awake to everything
relating to this world--so eager for something new--so delighted with anything
that can excite--so anxious to live in the swollen tide of human sympathies
seek to turn all this tide in a channel that leads from God.
IV. Dangers attend
the man of the world
in his business
before and after the question of his
success is settled. Is it not so
that a man in the full tide of
business--while straining every nerve to reach the point of certain success and
entire safety
so chases the world all the week--so courts it
in all possible
ways
that when the Sabbath arrives he is so exhausted that he has no energy of
body
no energy of soul
no elasticity of spirit
to meet the duties of that
holy day? Is it not so
that he can hardly rise on the Sabbath morning in
season to find the house of God; and when he does go there
does he not too
often come much like an exhausted machine
and has no power to gird up his mind
to sober thought
to deep reflection
to manly discussion
or to close and
thorough reasoning? But suppose he has passed the point alluded to
and is sure
to succeed in business
and to become an independent man. The dangers to his
soul may now be increased tenfold. There may now be some relaxation to that
keen
intense
anxious pursuit of business; hut his very relaxations become
dangerous
inasmuch as they tend to animalism. How often do we see a man
as
soon as it is decided that he will be successful in business
commence a course
of stimulating his system
till it becomes overburdened
and is destroyed by
its own fulness. What creates that riot in the blood
which cuts off such men
at a stroke
and with a suddenness that would be painfully surprising were it
not so common? All this animalism
which leads the man to yield to good eating
and good drinking continually
is certain to drive God from the heart
while it
destroys the powers of the body; and experience will testify that
as a general
thing
such men are the very last that are brought into the kingdom of God.
Then there is that loftiness and pride of feeling which is almost inseparable
from success in business
and which makes us look down upon those beneath us
with feelings allied to scorn
and upon ourselves as great and wise
or we
could not have succeeded. How few who are successful in business are willing to
ascribe it all to God’s good providence which favoured them!
V. The man of the
world
in the great city
is in fearful danger of having his soul ruined by the
money spirit of this age. Wherever you turn you will see proofs of the
universal presence of this spirit. You have heard it in the murmurs of the
street--you have seen it written on the golden splendours of those who have not
fallen--you have seen it upon the tarnished glories of the fallen and
falling--in the blasted hopes of thousands--and you will read it on the anxious
brow of your acquaintance. You have heard the proof of it sighed from the massy
prison; it is read in the glance of the fugitive from justice;--it is summed up
in startling numbers at the bottom of the daily expense book. Now
what have
been the inevitable consequences of this race in the fashions of earth? One
very plain one is
that everybody must be in debt! It is the order of the age
that all must make as much show as possible; and money is desired only for this
end. Of course
every man will calculate to live up
fully up
to his income.
Then others
and many
too
will go beyond their income--beyond what they can
earn. The next result is
that those who are honest cannot get all their honest
income
because all by which a dishonest man exceeds his income must come out
of the honest: And as very few calculate to live under their supposed
income
and as many will live over theirs
the consequence must be that
everybody runs in debt. This must be the result to all who do not live as much
within their income as will make up for what others exceed theirs. Now
the
very spirit of the age tempts the man of business to graduate his expenses
not
by what he has in his hand
but by what he ought to have. A man in business
this year makes sales
the profits of which are some five thousand dollars. He
sells to some fifty different people
and at the end of the year he is to
receive the profits. Now
what is the temptation? Is it not to consider the
five thousand dollars as already his own
to graduate his expenses accordingly
and to forget that he has virtually been insuring on the honesty and success of
the fifty men to whom he has made sales? And when at length he finds that he is
disappointed--that instead of obtaining profits
he has lost fully to that
amount--what does he do
or rather what is he tempted to do? To contract and
curtail expenses? Or is he now tempted to become reckless
and to plunge
headlong into almost any speculation which promises relief? Hence we have an
evil arising from the spirit of the age worse than any and all yet mentioned;
and that is
men are tempted to use dishonest means and reckless measures to
obtain money to keep up in the race which all around them are running.
VI. The man of the
world
in the great city
is tempted to undervalue truth. The buyer pretends
that he is quite indifferent whether he purchases or not; and the seller is quite
indifferent whether he sells or not; and so these two indifferent men will
contrive to meet every few hours
and throw out baits to each other
and yet
both professing not to desire the trade! The purchaser decries the goods--he
has seen better
has had cheaper offered him--can do better elsewhere; and yet
when he cannot cheapen them any further
to oblige the seller
he takes them!
“It is naught
it is naught
” saith the buyer
“and straightway goeth away and
boasteth.” It is not for us to say how much news is manufactured for particular
purposes--how many letters are conveniently forgotten to be delivered
till too
late to take advantage of the news--how many letters are received which were
never written; but it is for us to say that the man of business
in the great
city
is awfully tempted to exaggerate good qualities
to point them out where
they do not exist
to conceal defects
and to gloss over imperfections
without
recollecting that the eye of God is upon him. If he says it is difficult to get
along without doing so
I reply
that this very difficulty constitutes his
danger--that it will be more difficult to bear the indignation of God forever;
that “lying lips are an abomination to the Lord”; and that no apology will be
accepted by Him. (John Todd
D. D.)
Verse 11
Reported the matter
saying
I have done as Thou hast commanded
me.
The completion of the work of mercy
We do not find that those who were commissioned to destroy
reported what destruction they had made
but he who was appointed to protect
reported his matter
for it would be more pleasing both to God and to the
prophet to hear of those who were saved than of those that perished. Or this
report was made now because the thing was finished
whereas the destroying
world would be a work of time
and when it was brought to an end then the
report should be made. See how faithful Christ is to the trust reposed in Him.
Is He commanded to secure eternal life to the chosen remnant? He has done as
was commanded Him. Of all that Thou hast given Me I have lost none. (M.
Henry.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》