Chapter XVIII: Part 18

ix. 8-x. 4. _But His hand is stretched out still._

Much is said in the Bible concerning the hand of God.[1] Consider what the hand is to man: it is the chief instrument by which he executes his purposes,--farmer, builder, artist, author, &c.; and by the hand of God is meant His executive force in all its varied forms. God has the means of doing all His will, and He is not an unconcerned spectator of human affairs--these truths inspire God's people with hope, courage, and joy; and they ought to inspire with terror all who are in rebellion against Him. His hand is outstretched, not for, but against them; His irresistible executive forces are certain to be put forth for their overthrow. Alike for the warning of those whose lives are not governed according to the Divine will, and for the exciting of holy watchfulness in those who are trying to obey that will in all things, let us study this prophecy for the purpose of discovering, +I. The reasons why God's hand is outstretched in anger.+ Remind you that this is not an exhaustive statement of those reasons, and that no man is necessarily safe merely because his conduct is not here specifically described, I point out that among the things that put man in the most extreme peril of destruction by their Creator are--1. _Oppression_ (x. 1, 2.)[2] 2. _Hypocrisy_ (ix. 17).[3] 3. _Stubbornness under Divine chastisements_ (ix. 9, 10).[4] +II. The effects of the outstretching of God's hand in anger.+ These are _terrible, increasing, continuous._ +III. The mode of escape for those against whom God's hand is stretched out in anger.+ Not defiance, but submission and repentance (ix. 13). +IV.+ Let us note with reverent and thankful wonder, that +against the wicked God's hand is long stretched out;+ that it does not, as it so easily might, come down upon them instantly with destructive force. What a proof we have here that, while He is inflexibly righteous, He is tenderly pitiful! And what an encouragement we have here to return to Him with penitence of heart![5]

FOOTNOTES:

[1] It is so vast that the mighty ocean lies in the hollow of
it (Isa. xl. 12). It is a hand of power and skill, for by
it the foundations of the earth were laid; and all the
wondrous hosts of heaven fashioned (Isa. xlviii. 13;
lxvi. 2). In it our life is (Dan. v. 23). When He opens it,
His creatures are filled with good, and all their desires
are satisfied (Ps. civ. 28; cxlv. 16). By it the Good
Shepherd feeds, guides, and protects His sheep (Ps.
xcv. 7). It is a good hand, helping all who are trying to
serve God (Ezra viii. 22; Neh. ii. 18). It is a mighty
hand, delivering His people (Exod. xiii. 3). It is a hand
that controls those who control others (Prov. xxi. 1). Even
the shadow of it is sufficient protection (Isa. li. 16). It
is a heavy hand when it rests upon His people in
chastisement (Job xix. 21), and still more so when it rests
upon the wicked in punishment (1 Sam. v. 11). It is
outstretched to fight against His enemies (Jer. xxi. 5).

[2] See outlines on pages 94-96 (OPPRESSION OF THE POOR, THE
PLEADER AND THE JUDGE).

[3] H. E. I. 3026, 3027; P. D. 1923.

[4] H. E. I. 143, 158.

[5] H. E. I. 2286.

THE DUTY OF THE AFFLICTED.

ix. 9-14. _And all the people shall know, &c._

God here complains of what Israel did when grievous and prolonged afflictions, sent by God, fell upon them:[1] then they left undone what they ought to have done, and did what they ought not to have done; and this opens up the great subject of _the duty of the afflicted._

An entirely different interpretation has to be put upon affliction in the case of men whose sincere desire is to govern their lives according to the will of God, and in the case of men who are living wholly unto themselves. It is exclusively of afflictions that befall men of the latter order that we intend now to speak, though many things that will be said apply to _all_ the afflicted.

+I.+ In the case of the ungodly, the DESIGN of the affliction is in the first instance corrective, and then, in the event of its not accomplishing this end, punitive.

+II.+ Their DUTY is--1. +To recognise that their afflictions come from God.+ This is a fact that wicked men are very slow to recognise; they prefer to attribute their troubles to "bad luck," miscalculations on their part, superior ingenuity or force on the part of their human adversaries, &c. They prefer anything to a recognition of the awful fact that it is God who is dealing with them (H. E. I. 143). 2. +Submission to the will of God.+ This is frequently the result of recognition that the affliction comes from Him; men cease to use such language as is attributed to the Israelites (ver. 10). Were it not that sin dethrones the reason, this would always be the case; but it is not so,--men can be found so hardened in iniquity that they resolve to fight against God. Stoutheartedness in affliction is an admirable thing; there is a place for it; but it is utterly misplaced when it leads men to struggle against the Almighty. The only and inevitable result is heavier affliction and ultimate ruin (vers. 11-14. H. E. I. 146, 147).[2] 3. +Repentance toward God.+ (1.) Repentance is more than submission (H. E. I. 4206-4209). (2.) God will be satisfied with nothing less than change of heart towards Him. (3.) Here we reach one of the most terrible results of iniquity; by it men are incapacitated for naturally doing that which is indispensable to their salvation. Did not God pity sinful men, they could never attain to that state of heart and mind without which it would be impossible for God to forgive them. But Christ has been "exalted . . . for to _give_ repentance and forgiveness of sins." With the outward stroke of affliction there comes to the heart the inward grace of Christ: let transgressors be prompt to submit to the one, and to avail themselves of the other (H. E. I. 145, 4210).

These, then, are the duties of sinful men upon whom affliction has come. Let your compliance with them be--1. +Prompt.+ Not to comply with them is to perish. Not to comply with them promptly is an aggravation of all your former iniquity (H. E. I. 4247, 4248). By delay you may exhaust the Divine patience (Prov. xxix. 1). 2. +Thankful.+ Adore the benignity of God, in that He is willing to receive you on your mere repentance; a repentance which He Himself enables you to exercise. Remember that where God sees it, He does not merely turn away His chastisements from the penitent transgressor; He receives him into His favour, and blesses him as a son in whom He delights (Luke xv. 22, 23). Men do not act so. When their foes submit, they require from them an indemnity for the wrong that has been done; often an indemnity that is intended to be crushing, _e.g.,_ Germany and France. But God in all His dealings with penitent sinners shows Himself to be a God of grace (Micah vii. 18, 19). 3. +Intelligent.+ Do not imagine that there is anything meritorious in your repentance (H. E. I. 4225-4228). Remember that God thus deals with you solely for Christ's sake, through whose atonement it has become possible for Him to show mercy to penitent transgressors. Here is an additional argument for the exercise of repentance, that God Himself, at so great a cost, had laid the foundation on which He can deal with you otherwise than in the way of justice. If you persist in your iniquity, and by your stubbornness leave Him no alternative but to destroy you, He will be able with absolute truth to say to each of you, "Thou hast destroyed thyself!" Even in pronouncing judgment upon you, He will clear himself; as did our Lord when He left Jerusalem to its fate (Matt. xxiii. 37, 38).[3]

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The Ten Tribes had already suffered many an affliction;
their political organisation had often been broken up by
civil wars and foreign invasions, as the house of unburnt
brick dissolves into mud before the rain, and the flower of
the people had been cut down as lavishly as men cut down
the cheap sycamores; but with that stoutness of heart, that
obstinate toughness which in all ages to the present has
marked this race, the men of Ephraim and Samaria seem to
rise superior to every calamity; like Solomon, they will
change the sycamores for cedars, and they will replace the
brick with hewn stones. The conversion of Damascus from an
ancient enemy into an ally encouraged them in their hopes;
but Jehovah will confound their policy by bringing the
conquerors of Damascus upon them.--_Strachey._

[2] A man under God's affliction is like a bird in a net; the
more he strives, the more he is entangled.--_Bishop Hall._

[3] When the monster-taming Hercules overcame all in the
Olympics, Jupiter at last, in an unknown shape, wrestled
with him: the victory was uncertain, till at length Jupiter
descried himself, and Hercules yielded. No striving with
supreme powers: we must submit ourselves unto the mighty
hand of God, acknowledge our offences, call to Him for
mercy. If He strike, as it is with them that are wounded
with the spear of Achilles, He alone must help.--_Burton._

LEADERSHIP.[1]

(_An Ordination Sermon._)

ix. 15, 16. _The prophet that teacheth lies, he is the
tail, &c._

+I. The world is so constituted that leaders of the people are at present a necessity.+ It is no disparagement of oak trees to say that few of them are sixty feet high; and it is no disparagement of our fellow-men to say that few of them are qualified to lead others. In both cases we have to do with an ordinance of God. We are all included in it. We all need, in some respect or other, to be led. This arises from the disparity between human needs and human powers. Our faculties and time are too limited to allow any man to dispense with guidance. Even the accomplished statesman needs to be guided in the matter of health by the physician; the skilled physician needs to be guided in building by an architect, and so on through all the grades of human life. Men need guidance in commerce, politics, literature, art, philosophy, and in religion. There is to be a time when in this last respect guidance will not be needed (Jer. xxxi. 33, 34), but that time is not yet. The people still need guidance in religion, because, 1. While in some of its aspects it is so simple that a child is capable of it, in others it is so profound that they need the most thoughtful instruction concerning it. 2. There are many false forms of religion seeking to win acceptance (Matt. xxiv. 24; 2 Pet. ii. 1; 1 John iv. 1). 3. The natural tendency of the human heart inclines it to the acceptance of those forms of faith which are most unscriptural. This is the real secret to the power of Romanism. To-day, therefore, the people still need religious leaders, and leaders of the highest order. Even with the Bible in their hands, most men need guidance (Acts ix. 30, 31). Woe to them, if they take as their guides men who have not themselves been taught of the Holy Ghost!

+II. Leadership involves for the leaders the highest honour or the deepest shame.+ Many aspire to lead: few think of the difficulties and responsibilities of leadership. 1. _The man who leads his fellow-men well is entitled to the highest honour._ He cannot do it without noble qualities of mind and heart. Those who are well-led are, as a rule, not slow to acknowledge and reward the service that has been rendered them. 2. _But leadership does not necessarily involve any honour at all._ The post of prominence may only bring out into view the leader's incompetency, mental and moral. "The fierce light that beats upon a throne," and upon a pulpit, reveals every speck and flaw in its occupant. It is a perilous thing to exchange the pew for the pulpit. 3. _Through leadership a man may reach the most utter degradation and shame._ He may do this (1.) through his _incompetency._ Admiral Byng might have lived and died a respectable English gentleman, if he had not been made an admiral. Many envied him when he was so gazetted: none envied him when he was shot. Many a "stickit minister" would have made a highly respectable and useful church-member. (2.) Through his _dishonesty._ Many a leader, claiming to be the head of a community, has really been its "tail," carried by it, not carrying it on in paths of truth and honesty. His aim has been, not the welfare of his followers, but his own aggrandisement and popularity; his concern has been, not to speak the truth, but to say what would be pleasant. His was the sin of many who claimed to be prophets in Israel (Isaiah iii. 12, v. 20; Jer. v. 31). It is a common sin to-day, both in the political and religious world. Let those who claim to be ministers of God shun it. Self-seeking, everywhere despicable, is in the pulpit most hateful and criminal (P. D. 2482). Let every preacher regard as warnings those base prophets of Israel; let him endeavour to realise that wonderful picture of a true leader drawn by Christ's enemies (Matt. xxii. 16).

+III. Leadership involves for the led salvation or destruction.+ It is not a trivial matter to be well or ill led. How true this is politically, commercially, legally; it is not less true religiously. That community shows little wisdom that chooses its leaders carelessly. That community is insane which demands that its prophets shall prophesy unto it only smooth things (Isa. xxx. 10). The following of religious leaders who are themselves led by the Spirit of God will result in temporal and eternal well-being; but trust in "religious" demagogues, whose aim is not to speak the truth, but to flatter those who listen to them, results inevitably in social and spiritual ruin. In self-defence, then, demand of your minister that he speak to you, not what is pleasant, but what is true; and count him not your enemy, but your best friend when he utters what, just because it is the truth of God, shall smite and wound as if it were a sharp two-edged sword (Heb. iv. 12).

FOOTNOTES:

[1] See outline: "BLIND LEADERS," p. 92.

TWO CONSTANT FEELINGS IN THE MIND OF GOD.

ix. 17. _Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their
young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and
widows._

From one point of view, this is a terrible text! it shows us that a people may arrive at such a condition of desperate and incorrigible wickedness, that God may feel constrained, as the upholder of truth and righteousness in the world, to destroy them. But, on the other hand, how worthy of thought and thanksgiving is this revelation of God's _constant_ feelings towards two very opposite classes of persons--those who are most joyful, and those who are most sorrowful.

+I. God's feelings toward young men.+ He has "joy" in them, a fact of which young men seldom think. Doubtless He has joy in them, 1. because of what they are; and 2. because of what they may become. He has this joy in them as their Creator. The great Artist has a delight in all His works (Gen. i. 31; Prov. viii. 31). Young men are a realisation, more or less perfect, of a thought, an ideal in the Divine mind. Strength and comeliness of body, courage and vivacity of mind, modesty and generosity of heart, are the ideal characteristics of a young man, and precisely as they are actually found in any young man, God has "joy" in him, just as He has joy in the strength of the horse, the beauty of the swan, or the melody that is poured forth by the lark or the nightingale. We frequently see a young man who is obviously a glorious work of God; and had not sin so terribly cursed and marred our race, all young men would have been such as the British youths whose beauty called forth the old pleasant jest, "Not Angles but angels."

All this is, of course, equally true of young women. For the Bible is in this respect to be interpreted like our English laws, concerning which it is decreed that the word "man" shall mean "woman" also in all cases in which nature herself does not forbid such an interpretation. A young woman is more than a pleasing mass of flesh and blood; she is a realisation of a thought of God, a work of the unseen Artist, to whom all that is beautiful in the universe owes its existence.[1] Many a young woman is so beautiful that the human artist counts himself happy indeed if he can make on the canvas any fair transcript of her loveliness; and, what is better still, the beautiful body is but a casket in which a more beautiful body is enshrined.

Young men and women, think of this--God delights in you! What effects will a realisation of this thought have upon you? 1. _It will check that vanity by which the strength of the young man and the beauty of the young woman are often so pitifully marred_ (1 Cor. iv. 7). 2. _It will cause you to reverence yourselves._ Those who think that no one cares for them, are apt not to care for themselves; but consciousness that we are observed leads us to circumspection and self-control. If the observation be friendly and approving, it is a stimulus to endeavour to merit it. Respect kindles self-respect. Remembering how God looks upon you, you will shrink from doing anything that will lessen His "joy" in you; you will not voluntarily permit faults or vices to mar the nobleness and beauty that call it forth, any more than the roses, if they had power of self-defence, would give a lodgment to those insects which blight the beauty that causes beholders to joy in them. 3. _Kindly, loving feelings toward God will spring up in you._ Friendliness and love tend to call forth friendship and love; just as the sunshine and rain that in early summer descend from the natural heavens cause flowers to spring forth from the earth.

Consider what joy God must have had in the young man Jesus of Nazareth, and why He had it, and resolve that the same causes for this Divine joy shall exist in you.

+II. God's feelings towards orphans and widows.+ "Mercy on their fatherless and widows." A more familiar thought, but let us not therefore overlook its preciousness. How frequent and how emphatic are the declarations of God's pity for the orphans and widows (Exod. xxii. 22; Deut. x. 18; Ps. x. 14, 18; lxviii. 5; lxxxii. 3; cxlvi. 9; Jer. xlix. 11, &c.) Yea, we are taught that at least one-half of religion consists in being like God in this respect (Jas. i. 27). God's pity is practical; let those to whom it is promised trust in it confidently.[2] And let God's people make it their business--put themselves to pain and trouble--to be like Him in this respect: _this_ is the way to secure His favour for themselves.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The world is God's journal, wherein He writes His thoughts
and traces His tastes. The world overflows with beauty.
Beauty should no more be called trivial, since it is the
thought of God.--_Beecher._

[2] There are no such promises to those who are free from
sorrow and trial as are full and abundant to the afflicted.
A good country physician in New England went to a
neighbour's house to tell a wife and mother of the sudden
death of her absent husband. She was more than ordinarily
frail and dependent. She had a large family. Her husband
had acquired no property. The fresh blow was indeed
terrible to her. When the first wild burst of sorrow was
over, she looked up through her tears to her sympathising
friend, and said in agony, "But, Doctor, _what_ shall I
do?" "My dear woman, I don't know," said the kind-hearted
physician. "All I can say is, I only wish I had as many
promises of God to take right home to myself as you have
just now. The Bible is full of promises to those who are in
your case." And the stricken woman lived to realise the
truth and preciousness of the richest of those
promises.--_Trumbull._

DIVINE ANGER.

ix. 17. _For all this His anger is not turned away, but His
hand is stretched out still._

I. Anger in God is a calm and just sense of displeasure against sin.[1] II. Has its expression in the judgments executed upon men in this life. III. These under an administration of mercy are designed to be corrective. IV. Cannot in the case of failure satisfy the purposes of the Divine anger. V. Hence in all cases of impenitence God's anger is not turned away, &c.--_J. Lyth, D.D.: Homiletical Treasury._ Part I. p. 15.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The anger which God feels and displays is always against
_sin._ It is never against sinners as offenders against
Himself personally, but as violators of the eternal laws of
righteousness and love. It is not possible for the most
daring transgressor to injure God in the slightest degree,
and therefore He can never feel anything approaching to
that personal vindictiveness which we feel against those
who have wronged us. There are some passages which at first
sight convey a different impression, as when it is said,
"Know therefore that the Lord thy God . . . repayeth them
that hate Him to their face, to destroy them; He will not
be slack to him that hateth Him; He will repay him to his
face" (Deut. vii. 10); and again, "God is jealous, and the
Lord revengeth, and is furious; the Lord will take
vengeance upon His adversaries" (Nahum i. 2). But terrible
as such passages are, they admit of a ready explanation. In
them God manifestly speaks as "the Judge of all the earth,"
as the Representative and Administrator of righteousness.
Some years ago, proclamations denouncing the severest
penalties against Fenianism were issued in the name of our
beloved Queen; but no one imagined that she cherished any
personal hostility against those offenders against her
authority. Every month it is her melancholy duty to sign
documents that consign convicted murderers to the scaffold,
but no one regards these death-warrants as any proof that
she delights in the sufferings of those whose sentence she
confirms. Nor will any thoughtful person interpret such
passages as setting forth anything else than God's resolve
to be faithful to His duties as the supreme administrator
of justice, notwithstanding that in being so He must
perform many things that are revolting to His infinite
tenderness and compassion. His expostulations with sinners
to repent and turn from their transgressions are a
sufficient confirmation of this interpretation (Ezek.
xviii. 31, 32, &c.) His anger against sin and sinners is no
passion of personal vindictiveness, but is the natural
revulsion of purity from impurity, of honesty from fraud,
of truthfulness for falsehood; this instinctive abhorrence
of generosity for meanness, of benevolence for malice, of
kindness for cruelty.

If God did not feel and manifest this anger against sin, it
would be impossible to respect and love Him. If He could
look down on the mean and dastardly things that are done
every day, and yet remain cold and emotionless as an
iceberg, as indifferent to the sufferings of His creatures
as some Oriental despots have been to the miseries of their
wretched subjects, our whole soul would rise up in
righteous condemnation of Him.--_R. A. B._

See outlines: GOD OPPRESSED, pp. 28-32; A TERRIBLE RESOLVE,
pp. 61, 62; THE PURPOSE OF PUNISHMENT, pp. 63, 64.

THE DESTRUCTIVENESS OF SIN.

ix. 18-19. _For wickedness burneth as the fire, &c._

One of the grandest and most fearful scenes in nature is the forest on fire. This is the figure Isaiah employs to describe the destruction that was coming upon sinful and stubborn Israel.[1] That destruction would not be spared and the wealthiest could not escape. And all this woe, at which it behoved the people to tremble, is attributed to the wickedness in which they delighted. "Wickedness burneth as the fire"--a comprehensive statement eternally true.

+I. Consider how true it is in regard to individuals.+ The forest-fire--1. _what a trivial thing it may seem in its commencement!_ It was but a little heap of dried leaves and sticks which a thoughtless traveller kindles, that by means of the little fire thus produced he might cook his evening meal. He had no conception how that fire would spread. So the wickedness that ultimately consumes and utterly destroys, often commences in what seems a little transgression, _e.g.,_ the few glasses of wine taken at a wedding-breakfast by one who has been a total abstainer; the little act of dishonesty that is undetected, &c. (James iii. 5). Many of the passions by which millions are consumed--avarice, lust, intemperance, &c.--seem little things in their commencement (H. E. I. 4497, 4498, 4513-4518). 2. _It makes progress according to its own laws,_ utterly regardless of the desires of the onlookers. It will not stop at any line which they may prescribe. No man can accomplish a desire to burn down just one acre of a forest. If he kindles a fire in the forest at all, it will advance as far and as long as there is fuel for it. So no man can determine beforehand the measure of the power which permitted wickedness shall acquire over him; the fire which a man kindles in the forest of his own passions will go burning on long after he may wish it to stop. 3. _Its power grows continually._ It acquires a marvellous intensity and fervour as it proceeds (H. E. I. 409, 4500, 4501, 4534-4537). 4. Consequently _it proceeds with ever-accelerating rapidity._ Here again the moral analogy is frightfully accurate. 5. Consequently, too, _its range continually widens._ That which began as a little point becomes a vast circle constantly expanding. Things that seemed so far off as to be absolutely safe are speedily included in the ring of flame. So the fire of ungodliness which was kindled in one passion hastens through the whole nature, and destroys every vestige of virtue and nobility; it seizes every faculty of mind and heart.[2] 6. _It is remorselessly undistinguishing in its effects._ The fair flowers and the poisonous weeds, the stately cedars and the misshapen brambles, it consumes alike. So again with the sinner: the wickedness that consumes him spares nothing. In workhouses, lunatic asylums, prisons, how many most terrible proofs there are of the truth of this declaration! Once the owners of many choice possessions, and with prospects as fair as those of any of us, they are now like the forest region _after_ the fire--blackened and desolate.

+II. Consider how true this is of nations.+ Wickedness consumes the nation's prosperity, happiness, strength, and ultimately its existence.[3]

From all this there are many lessons to be learned. 1. _He is a fool who makes a sport of sin_ (Prov. x. 23). He is infinitely more foolish than the child who plays with fire. 2. _He is a fool who does not stamp out the fires of unholy passion the instant that he perceives them beginning to kindle upon him._ In dealing with sin, or in dealing with fire, our only safety lies in the promptest and most energetic action (H. E. I. 4733, 4734).[4] 3. _Those nations are guilty of suicidal folly who legalise vice in any form._ 4. _Those who pander to a nation's vices are traitors of the worst kind_.[5]--_R. A. B._

In this message the prophet affirms that there are resemblances between a fire and sin. It is not a common fire to which he refers, such as is employed for domestic or public purposes. It is a great conflagration which burns the humble shrubbery, the gigantic forest, extends over the land, and sends a mighty column of smoke and flame up to heaven. By attending to this comparison some of the characteristics of sin will vividly appear.

+I. The origin of a great fire.+ Recently we read an account of a great fire, and the paragraph closed with these words: "The origin of the fire is unknown." Suppositions were made, conjectures were offered, still a deep mystery which may never be unravelled. The same with the origin of sin. We know it had a beginning, for God only is from everlasting. We know it had a beginning before Eve and Adam felt its power, since they were tempted. We know it began with him who is called Satan and the father of lies. Still, there are three questions about it which we cannot answer. 1. _Where_ did it begin? 2. _When_ did it begin? 3. _How_ did it begin? These questions might have been answered; they have not, because such information is not required by us in this stage of our unending history.

+II. The progress of a great fire.+ Place one spark amid combustible material in London. Let it alone. What will be the result? It will leap from point to point, house to house, street to street, until the whole city is in flames. Sin has spread in an exactly similar way. One sin, to the individual; one wrong action, to the family; one immoral look, to thousands; one crime, to a kingdom. The sin of one woman away in the East, some sixty centuries ago, has spread itself amongst the whole race; and there is not one who has not felt, to some extent, its scorching power.

+III. The transforming power of a great fire.+ Wood, coal, &c., it transforms into its own essence, because it makes fire of these. It is even so with sin. It turns everything, over which it gains the slightest control, into its own nature--that is, into a curse. The desire to _possess,_ sin has turned it in a different direction, and made it an autocratic passion. Take the principle of _ambition_ the same way. Take _commerce_ in the same way. Thus the richest blessings, yea, all the blessings which God has given to us, sin can so transform that they shall become curses.

+IV. The destructive energy of a great fire.+ Who can calculate the amount of property in London alone which has been destroyed by fire? But the destruction which sin has caused in London is infinitely greater and more momentous. Some have bodies once beautiful, now bloated and withered by sin. Some have feelings, once tender, now petrified by sin. Some whole intellectual powers were once strong, now feeble by sin. Some, who were once full of hope, now hopeless by sin. The destruction which sin has caused is awful. And this it must ever do to all who touch it. Avoid it, therefore, more than anything else. Herein only is safety.

+V. The termination of a great fire.+ It terminates when all the material is consumed and reduced to ashes. Can the fire of sin ever be put out in this way? The body in the grave is scorched by it no more; but what of the soul? Look at the rich man. He is tormented, in pain, not by a literal flame, but by the fire of sin. He will be so for ever, because the soul is immortal.

A great fire has been terminated by a superior quenching power. There is also an element which can completely remove sin from the soul. What is it? Nothing can be more important than the true answer to this question. Health must depart, trade must be left, money not required. Our souls must live for ever. With sin, no heaven, but hell. How delivered? Ask those in heaven, and those on earth, who have been saved. They all say that the fires of unholy passion have been quenched in them, and their guilt removed, by the blood of the Lamb. Apply at once to the same source.--_A. McAuslane, D.D._

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Civil war and foreign invasion shall rage through this
reprobate people like the fire with which the husbandman
clears the ground of briers and thorns. The wickedness of
the land becomes its own punishment, and burns with a fury
which is indeed the wrath of God, while its fuel is the
people themselves.--_Strachey._

Wickedness, _i.e.,_ the constant thirst of evil, is a fire
which a man kindles in himself. And when the grace of God
which daps and restrains this fire is all over, it is sure
to burst forth. . . . The fire, into which this wickedness
bursts forth, seizes individuals first of all; and then,
like a forest fire, it seizes upon the nation at large in
all its ranks and members, who roll up in the form of
ascending smoke. . . . In its historical manifestation,
this judgment consisted in the most inhuman
self-destruction during an anarchial civil
war.--_Delitzsch._

The picture of guilt grows darker still. It is like
destroying fire in the jungle of a forest. The confusion
and misery thus caused are like the volumes of smoke that
mount up in whirling eddies from such a
conflagration.--_Birks._

[2] Oftentimes a ruling sin will have power little by little to
colour the whole life with its own tints; to assimilate
everything there to itself, as in ever-widening circles to
absorb all into its own vortex, being as it were a gulf, a
maelstrom, into which all that was better and nobler in the
man is irresistibly attracted and drawn, and is there
swallowed up, and for ever disappears.--_Trench._

See also the Outline: THE TOW AND THE SPARK, pp. 69-71.

[3] See Outline: INIQUITY A BURDEN, p. 13.

[4] When the heart begins once to be kindled, it is easy to
smother the smoke of passion, which else will fume up into
the head and gather into so thick a cloud that we shall
lose the very sight of ourselves, and what is best to be
done--_Sibbes._

When a fire is first broken out in a chimney, it may with
much less labour be quenched than when it has seized the
timber of the house. What small beginnings had those fires
which have conquered stately palaces, and turned famous
cities into ruinous heaps!--_Swinnock._

[5] See Outline: INIQUITY A BURDEN, p. 13.

LEGALISED INJUSTICE.

x. 1-4. _Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, &c._

I. An indictment against wicked magistrates. II. A challenge. III. A sentence.

I. Magistrates and rulers are answerable to God. II. Their decisions will be revised. III. Will in many instances be reversed. IV. The consequences of their injustice will return back upon themselves.[1]--_J. Lyth, D.D.: Homiletic Treasury,_ Part I. p. 16.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] See Outlines: OPPRESSION OF THE POOR, pp. 94, 95; and THE
PLEADER AND THE JUDGE, pp. 95-97.

THE DAY OF VISITATION.

x. 3. _And what will ye do in the day of visitation, &c._

These questions were addressed to men who were living lives of ungodliness, and who were rich and strong in the results of their iniquity. To such men I put the same questions. Do not resent them; answer them, at least to yourselves. All the warnings of the Bible are warnings of true and intelligent friendship, all its threatenings "are but the hoarse voice of God's love, crying, Do thyself no harm!" (H. E. I., 604, 605). Let self-love, which has been your governing motive all through your life, move you to consider, before it is too late, what you will do in "the day of visitation." It will not always be with you as it is to-day.

I. There will probably come to you a "day of visitation" in the shape of AFFLICTION. You have known little of it, but, if life be prolonged, it will certainly come to you (Job v. 7; H. E. I., 47). In how many forms it may come upon you! Broken health--blasted reputation--poverty--bereavement: these things may come upon you singly, or in various combinations, or all together. Men quite as strong as you have been overtaken and overthrown by them (H. E. I., 3991, 4403-4406, 4975-4989). What will you do in the day of visitation and desolation? To whom will you flee for help? To man? You will then find what worldly friendship is worth (H. E. I., 2016-2112, 2131-2137). To God? But will He then hear you? He does not necessarily listen to men merely because they are in trouble (Judg. x. 14; Jer. vii. 16; Prov. i. 26-31). It is the penitent's suppliant only that God will hear and answer, and your very pain and terror may incapacitate you for the exercise of genuine repentance; _that_ consists, not in dread of the consequences of sin, but in disgust of sin itself. As your friend I counsel you (Job xxii. 21-28). It is a mean and miserable thing to have recourse to God only when in trouble (H. E. I., 3877-3879).

II. But if your lot is different from that of all other men, and no day of sorrow ever dawns upon you, there will come to you a "day of visitation" in the shape of DEATH. _That_ is certain! What will you do then? To whom and to what will you flee for help? Friends, wealth--what will be their power or value then? And "to whom will you leave your glory?" For you will have to leave it (Ps. xlix. 16, 17; Eccles. v. 15; 1 Tim. vi. 7). And when you have left it, what will become of _you?_ Prepare for what which is at once so inevitable and so momentous (H. E. I., 1562-1566).

III. But that is not all. Beyond, there is a supreme "day of visitation," the DAY OF JUDGMENT (H. E. I. 3045, 3055, 3061; P. D. 2100, 2103, 2106, 2107). _You_ will be in that countless multitude which will stand before the "great white throne." And you will not be overlooked or forgotten then; _you_ will be judged according to the records in "the books" that will then be opened (Rom. xiv. 12). Help--who can then render it to you? Your "glory"--it will have disappeared, or it may reappear as your shame. None of the things which secure for your consideration now will have a shadow of importance then. Do I speak to you as a foe or as a friend when I urge you to prepare for this inevitable meeting with God? (H. E. I., 3062-3066). The time to prepare is _now._ The way to prepare, you know; put into practice that which you have been taught. Then all these days of visitation will be transformed and stripped of their terrors. In the day of sorrow you will have a Friend who will know how to comfort you; in the day of death that Friend will be with you, upholding you in all that may be involved in that profound mystery; in the day of judgment that Friend will be the occupant of the throne, and He will speak to you, not words that will blast you for ever, but words that will fill you with eternal joy.

THE ASSYRIAN INVASION OF JUDAH.

x. 5-34. _O Assyrian, the rod of Mine anger, &c._

This prophecy may be used to illustrate the following truths of abiding interest. +I. The power of empires and the policy of statesmen are all under the control of God.+ Free-will is one great fact of the universe; an all-controlling providence is another; and God knows how to harmonise both. In investing man with free-will, God did not abdicate the throne of the universe; He still rules, and whether they do it voluntarily or involuntarily, all men further His purposes. 1. This is a truth to be ever remembered by those who rule. Their desire should be to work along with God, and not merely in subordination to Him. This is the one secret of true prosperity and abiding power. 2. It is full of consolation for good men when rulers are yielding to a mad and wicked ambition (Ps. lxxvi. 10). +II. God exercises His control of empires and statesmen for the promotion of the welfare of His people.+ Every great empire has some underlying policy that guides and controls all its actions; _e.g.,_ the underlying policy of Russia is said to be the ultimate acquisition of Constantinople. God's "great policy" is the promotion of the welfare of His people. In raising up or casting down kingdoms He has this object always in view. This again is a profoundly practical truth. 1. The ruler who remembers it will at least abstain from every form of assault on the Church of God. He who undertakes to persecute the Church, undertakes to make war upon Him from whom he received his power, and who can instantly resume it (Acts ix. 4 and Matt. xxviii. 18). 2. Remembering it, God's people will not be dismayed in times of calamity. They will look with assured confidence, not for the destruction of the Church, but of her persecutors; and they will not look in vain. When the "whole work" that God has in view shall be accomplished, the ungodly instrument by which it was effected shall be utterly broken (vers. 12-20). [All this belongs to a realm of truth, the importance and preciousness of which is not likely to be appreciated in these times of freedom from persecution, but by the martyrs in all ages it has been well understood.] +III. In the view of God the welfare of His people is prompted precisely in proportion as their holiness is promoted.+ We see from verses 20, 21, that while God intended by the Assyrian invasion to punish iniquity (ver. 6), His ultimate design was to bring His people back to Himself in penitence and faith. Here we have, 1. A correction of our views. We are apt to suppose that by the welfare of the Church is meant peace and outward prosperity. We are satisfied if her revenues and social influence are increasing. God often thinks it better to take these things away. The day of true welfare for Judah begins when the fierce armies of Assyria come up against her (H. E. I., 3666). 2. Light is cast upon God's estimate of holiness. So precious is it in His sight, that He overrules even the policies of great empires for the promotion of it among His people. It is distinctly revealed that this is His aim in all the discipline of our personal life (Heb. xii. 10; H. E. I., 85-90, 2842, 2843). This should be to us, then, 3. An instruction. We should estimate holiness as God does. We should constantly "follow" it (Heb. xii. 14; H. E. I., 2845-2848). And besides humbly submitting to His chastisements (Lam. iii. 22), we should thankfully acquiesce in whatever calamities He is pleased to send upon His church or on ourselves, even though they be relatively as terrible as an invasion by the Assyrians, remembering that His purpose therein is to bring us back to Himself, to make us like Himself, and so render us capable of a happiness that shall be perfect and eternal.

THE ASSYRIAN.

x. 5-34. _O Assyrian, the rod of Mine anger, &c._

The Assyrian. I. _His commission_--subordinate, a mere rod in God's hands--defined. II. _His pride_--he boasts of his schemes--his achievements--his strength and wisdom--of what he will do against God. III. _His rebuke_--just--keen--humiliating. IV. _His punishment_--irresistible--sudden--signal--effected by Divine power.

I. The mightiest nations are but instruments of the Divine will. II. Are employed to execute wrath upon the guilty. III. God appoints their special work. IV. Defines its limits. V. Controls their ambitious purposes. VI. Rewards them accordingly.--_J. Lyth, D.D.: Homiletical Treasury,_ p. 16.

We know what the Assyrians were in the history of the world. They do not stand alone; they belong to a class of men who have appeared again and again, and are numerously represented in the world to-day--men of enormous force, of abounding energy, of vast ambition, of unscrupulous determination. Such men as Ghengis-Khan, Nebuchadnezzar, Alexander the Great, Cæsar, and Napoleon, are their conspicuous representatives, but their representatives only. They are to be found elsewhere than on thrones and at the head of armies. They have been represented in the Church by ambitious and unscrupulous popes, cardinals, and bishops not a few. They are represented among our nobles by domineering landlords; in commerce by great capitalists, who brook no competition, but will crush a rival at any cost. This chapter concerns men who live in England to-day, and it has for us more than an historic interest.

+I. The ambition of powerful men.+ Having power, they naturally and lawfully wish to use it. The astonishing and lamentable thing is the manner in which they delight to use it. God intends all the power that He gives to be used for the same purposes as He uses His own--for the upholding of weakness, the relief of the needy, the dispensing of blessing. But almost always those to whom God intrusts much power use it for self-aggrandisement. Their delight is to crush others (vers. 13, 14; H. E. I. 243; P. D. 244). Instead of doing their best to resemble God, they do their utmost to resemble the devil. What a pitiable mistake! How much the ambitious man thus loses! What a horrible perversion of the means of blessing!

+II. The godlessness of powerful men.+ 1. Mistaking the use to which their strength should be put, they also forget its source. They are so besotted as to think that it is _theirs,_ something which they have originated; as if the jets of a fountain should boast of the water that leaps up through them, forgetful of the reservoir whence it comes (1 Cor. iv. 7). We see how foolish this is; let us not forget how common it is; let us be on our guard against an error so common and so absurd (Deut. viii. 10-18; Dan. iv. 29-31. P. D. 2861). 2. Their godlessness appears, too, in their imagination that there is no limit to their power (vers. 8-11; chap xxxvii. 24). In their projects there is no dependence on Divine guidance and support, no submission to the Divine will (Jas. iv. 13-15).

+III. The real position of powerful men.+ They imagine that they are autocrats: they really are merely instruments in the hand of God. God will be served by us, voluntarily or involuntarily. He knows how, without impairing the freedom of the will, to use powerful men for the accomplishment of His purposes; in much the same way as the miller deals with the stream that rushes past his mill--he does not try to destroy it, or to stop it, he merely turns it in among his wheels, and then unconsciously it uses its mighty force in doing his work (vers. 5, 6; P. D., 2899). So it was with Pharaoh: though resolved not to serve Jehovah (Exod. v. 2), he did serve Him most effectively (Exod. ix. 16). So, though we may not be able in all cases to trace it, we may be sure it is with all wicked men (Ps. lxxvi. 10). God absolutely controls the vast universe over which He rules: if we will not serve Him as sons, we must do it as slaves or as tools.

+IV. The end of men who forget the source of their power, and use it in a godless spirit.+ They are but rods in God's hand, and when He has accomplished by them what He intended to do, He breaks them, and casts them aside. In their folly they imagine that they can never be broken (Ps. x. 6); yet how easy it is for Him utterly to destroy them! Far-stretching and mighty they seem as a forest, yet how easily is a forest destroyed by fire (vers. 16-19). God's judgments are as axes, by which even the monarchs of the forest are brought low (vers. 33, 34). By Isaiah we are reminded of three historic instances in which all this has been verified: the Egyptians (vers. 24, 26); the Midianites (ver. 26); the Assyrians (vers. 17, 18, 32-34; xxxvii. 36). If we needed any proof that God and His government of the world are still the same, surely we have it in the history of Napoleon I. Let the mighty nations of the earth lay these lessons to heart (P. D., 2787). Let all who are disposed to vaunt their wealth or power be mindful of them: the ruler or the merchant-prince of to-day may be a beggar tomorrow (1 Sam. ii. 3, 4, 7-10; H. E. I., 4404, 4976; P. D., 149, 1617).

MAN PROPOSES, GOD DISPOSES.

x. 7-15. _Howbeit He meaneth not so, &c._

"Man appoints, but God disappoints," "Man proposes, but God disposes," are proverbs which sum up a good deal of human experience. We are often reminded of their truth even when we are striving to be on the side of God, and to be co-workers with Him. There will be great differences between what _we_ "mean" and "think," and what _He_ has determined in reference to the same actions.[1] But more frequently we see this in the case of men who, like the Assyrians, are constructing their plans in direct opposition to God, fully bent on carrying out ambitious and rapacious schemes. All the while they are only agents in effecting Divine purposes; they do what they never "meant" to do.

+I. Man's purposes are often godless.+ In the sense, 1. Of being formed _independently of God_ (vers. 11, 13, 14). Men forget that God is inseparably connected with us and all our movements (Ps. cxxxix. 1-12); they never ask whether God will approve of their plans, nor what will happen should He frown upon them; they assume that they have only to plan and execute, forgetting the lessons of experience. Their conduct is as foolish as it is irreligious; irrational because it is atheistic (Jas. iv. 13-15). 2. Of being formed _in defiance of God._ Men harden themselves against the appeals and warnings of conscience and Scripture, and deliberately engage in enterprises upon which they know they cannot ask God's blessing, upon which they know must rest God's curse. Amid all their dark designs there is the torturing thought, which they would fain banish, but which clings to them still, that there _is_ a Sovereign Lord whose counsel shall stand. +II. God knows how to use man's godless purposes for the furtherance of His glorious designs.+ This is done, 1. _Sometimes by making an evil purpose the very means of continuing and spreading His good work._ How often is this seen in the history of persecutions! (See Acts xviii. 1, 2. The Pilgrim Fathers. Tyndale's Bible. Martyrdoms, &c.). The means which men take for putting out the light are used by God for spreading it. 2. _Sometimes by allowing the evil purposes to work on up to the point when its success appears certain, and then bringing about a totally different result._ The device of Joseph's brethren only needed time to effect God's purpose. Haman; enemies of Daniel. There is no stage of a wicked design safe from the chance of utter confusion, and even the last act that was intended to be a triumph may turn out a tragedy. 3. _Sometimes the evil purpose is allowed to do all that was intended, and yet God effects through it His highest designs, even when human wisdom would declare that the case was hopeless._ The crowning example of this is to be found in the suffering and death of our Lord Himself. Every step of that malignant crime, which was thought to be a step towards the utter destruction of the Saviour's mission, was but helping on the triumph intended in the counsels of Eternal Love (John xii. 32).