Chapter XXVI: Part 26

"In that day." Christ came "in the fulness of time." There are reasons and circumstances specially favourable to the advancement of the kingdom of Christ. There is a time in the purpose of Jehovah when all nations shall walk in the light. We may mark the circumstances which are usually indicative of the further spread of the Gospel. 1. When there is a time of special revival, reformation, and earnestness in the Church. As in time of Hezekiah. 2. When God stirs up His people to exert themselves for the world's salvation, it is a sign that the world's salvation is coming on apace. "When God enters the chamber, and awakens His children, and bids them rise, it is a sign that the morning has come." 3. When the church longs, waits, prays for the success of the work, the time is likely to have come. "As soon as Zion travailed she brought forth her children." Let the Church of Christ really desire, believe in, pray for the world's conversion, and God will open the windows of heaven and pour down the blessing. Have you been sufficiently interested in the world's salvation? As individuals? Are we sufficiently interested in our own?--_J. Rawlinson._

EARLY RELIGIOUS TRAINING.

(_Sunday School Anniversary Sermon._)

xxviii. 9, 10. _Whom shall He teach knowledge? &c._

Whether we regard these verses as the language of the drunkards of Ephraim, deriding the Lord's messengers for the plainness and urgency of their unwelcome instructions, or as the language of the prophet himself affirming interrogatively the spiritual ignorance and imbecility of the people, with their prophets and priests, they suggest the importance of earnestly instructing the young in the knowledge of our relations to God and eternity. We may turn to them more hopefully than to the old. Youth is the time for learning. In the first ten years of life are laid the foundations of the social and religious character which every man carries to the grave. Therefore we should not leave them to be laid haphazard, but should do our utmost to bring it to pass that they shall be such that on them can be built the structure of a holy life. To accomplish this we must instruct them in the revealed will of God. 1. The youth learns nothing good until he is taught. Though wise to do evil, to do good he has no knowledge. 2. The young mind is susceptible of deep and enduring impressions (H. E. I., 775, 776, 786). 3. Scriptural knowledge is not only of surpassing value, but is more easily imparted to the young than most of that human knowledge for which the opening powers are often severely taxed. If difficulties arise from immaturity and levity of mind, they are more than balanced by freedom from the prejudices of age, and the perplexing cares of life; by their docility and instinctive desire to penetrate the unknown; by the eagerness with which they seize upon the explanations of facts in nature and providence, or on similitudes and allegories; and by their unsuspecting confidence in the ability of their appointed teachers. Their natural aversion to God is but partially developed, and waits the coming of riper years to mature its strong resistance to the Divine claims. 4. The weightiest obligations rest on parents to give their children religious instruction (H. E. I., 803-806). When parents are unable to do so personally, through defect of ability, or the urgency of paramount duties, it is their privilege to do so through the kind offices of others. 5. A failure in the discharge of parental obligations to children imposes on others who fear God the duty of teaching the knowledge. They are immortal; for them Christ died. Of the fulness and glory of the results of a faithful performance of this duty no adequate conception can be formed by us on this side of heaven.--_R. S. Storrs, D.D., American National Preacher,_ xix. 121-141.

THE POWER OF LITTLES.

xxviii. 10. _Here a little and there a little._

The application of this text is first of all to the impressions produced by the Word of God and the efficacy of constant religious instruction. But it is in this same way, by little and little, that all great and lasting impressions are made and the mightiest results accomplished.

+I. The processes of nature.+--Mighty and sudden changes are not the rule, but gradual and prepared ones. The seasons, the months, day into night, night into day--how gradual and imperceptible the transitions. The germination of seed, &c. +II. The formation of character.+--Little by little every man's character is _formed_ (H. E. I., 709-711, 1836-1851) or _spoiled_ (H. E. I., 4521-4523, 4720-4725). All the steps, successively, that lead either to heaven or hell are small, one by one, except in great crimes, and even then there has been a gradual preparation for them (H. E. I., 428, 429). So conversion, that great change of the soul, is prepared for imperceptibly (H. E. I., 1462). From minute and commonplace thoughts, words, actions, results character for eternity! +III. Christian service.+--Called not to acts of heroism, but to a faithful discharge of commonplace duties (H. E. I., 4149). +IV. Christian work.+--It is by little and little that, in such a world as this, we must do the greater part of the good that we ever accomplish (H. E. I., 1725). +V. The training of children.+--Heavenly habits are to be formed in them by the influence upon them of daily, familiar, minute, but ever-recurring examples set before them (H. E. I., 777-779, 790, 802). +VI. Preparation for heaven.+--Try to gain a little for God, a little for heaven, a little more of grace _every_ day. Do this in _little_ things and you will accomplish _great_ things. Here a little and there a little will carry you on from step to step, from grace to glory (H. E. I., 2512, 2537).--_G. B. Cheever, D.D.: American National Preacher,_ xxvi. 145-152.

THE SURE FOUNDATION.

xxviii. 16. _Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Behold! I
lay in Zion a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner-stone
for a firm foundation; he that believeth shall not be in
haste.--Birks._[1]

I. Who this foundation is. II. Where this foundation is laid. III. The Author of this foundation. IV. The character of this foundation. V. The safety of those who build upon it.--_R. Bingham, M.A.: Sermons,_ p. 202.

I. God's foundation for the eternal salvation of sinners. II. Its properties and excellences. III. The blessedness of those who build upon it.--_W. Hancock, B.D.: Sermons,_ pp. 1-16.

The person and salvation of Jesus Christ are frequently spoken of under the image here presented, the most obvious and expressive image of security, that of a foundation. Our Saviour expressly appropriates to Himself (Psalm cxviii. 22). The same architectural idea appears in Eph. ii. 20; 1 Pet. ii. 4-8.

+I. The grand object which God proposed to Himself in all His dispensations to man,+ viz., the laying of a foundation in which the hope of a repenting sinner might rest, with regard to God and Eternity. We trace this object, 1. In the primal promise (Gen. iii. 15). 2. In the mysterious rite of sacrifice Divinely appointed from the beginning to prefigure "the Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world." 3. In the whole system of the Mosaic law, "The schoolmaster to bring us to Christ." 4. More and more distinctly announced in the Psalms and Prophecies. The foundation proclaimed by Jehovah in the text is the chief end of all He has done and revealed to mankind; the central point in which all the lines of His providence and His word meet and terminate. Nature supplies the scene, providence the scaffolding, revelation the plan, and that mighty spiritual edifice of which this is the foundation.

+II. This foundation was needed.+ None will dispute this point. So sensible are men that they need a foundation for hope towards God, that every one is disposed to lay his own. Every one feels that without some restitution made to a holy God sin cannot be pardoned nor the sinner saved. The question is, How shall a proper foundation be laid? where shall an adequate restitution be found? The most important question in the universe to be answered and at the same time the most difficult! (1 Sam. ii. 25). Only three kinds of restitution on the part of man are imaginable--penitence, good works, voluntary sufferings; but none of these, nor all put together, can be deemed satisfactory in the case before us. 1. _Penitence_ is no foundation of the soul before God; the most sorrowful remembrance of sin cannot repair it (H. E. I., 4225-4228). 2. Neither are _good works,_ to which the same insufficiency attaches; they are always required, and therefore can never possess a superfluity or redundancy of merit (H. E. I., 375, 1950). And this applies to the best works; but what are ours in the sight of God? 3. The only remaining kind of restitution is by _voluntary sufferings:_ this, by its very definition, is absurd and vain, for if any sufferings are required they become part of our duty; but to invent penances of our own is no part of our duty, and must be contradictory rather than satisfactory to the Divine law. Penitence, good works, voluntary sufferings, may be methods of procuring for us the priestly absolution of a poor sinful man like ourselves; but they will not secure for us the Divine acceptance.

III. Observe, it is in the midst of the false foundations, the "baseless fabrics" of sinners, that God in our text introduces His own, +the only true and solid foundation.+ All who build their hope on any other will be compelled at last to say, "We have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood we have hid ourselves." See 1 Cor. iii. 10. The wonderful way in which this stone was laid; how a person of the Godhead assumed our human nature, He who was in the form of God took the form of a servant, He became "Jehovah our righteousness." See 2 Cor. v. 19. He who laid the foundation of the heavens and the earth alone could lay this foundation in Zion!

+VI. The excellent qualities of this foundation.+ It is represented--1. As _"a tried stone:"_ a foundation which has resisted the strongest attempts to shake it,--that has stood the trial of unnumbered enemies and friends. It has been proved in the fiery trial of Divine justice, and the sins of the whole world have tried its strength to sustain an overwhelming weight. The storms of persecution have raged against it in vain, still it stands uninjured (Heb. xiii. 8)! In every respect "a tried stone;" tried by God, by Satan, by man; tried in life, in death, in eternity; tried by all the saints in all their trials; and never tried in vain! 2. As _"a corner-stone."_ The corner-stone unites both sides of an edifice; and St. Paul represents Christ as Him in whom the whole building, fitly compacted, rises a spiritual habitation of God (Eph. ii. 19-22). 3. As _"precious;"_ precious in respect to the Saviour's Person as the only begotten Son of God; in respect to His sacrifice; a foundation composed not of corruptible things (1 Peter i. 18, 19). 4. As _"a sure foundation:"_ not an imaginary one like every other, but one real and substantial! In the Hebrew the word is reduplicated for the greater emphasis, "A foundation, a foundation!" Not a transitory but an eternal one. We are dying men; we sojourn in a world of vanity and death; what we want is a "sure foundation." Behold in Christ this grand desideratum!

+V. The happiness of him who rests on this foundation.+ "He that believeth shall not make haste;" he shall not be thrown into disquietude and agitation of spirit. Never has the strength of this foundation been so well appreciated as when it was most tried, most needed. When our flesh and our heart fail, then is the time to find in God the rock of our heart, in Christ the foundation of our soul!

CONCLUSION.--But then we must possess the character defined in the text; "he that believeth," is he that amidst the wreck of nature shall be saved on this foundation. We must see to it that we have that faith which is known by its fruits, which keeps the commandments, purifies the heart, works by love, overcomes the world, resists the devil, rejoices in Christ.--_Robert Hall: Fifty Sermons,_ pp 68-86.

+I. God's foundation for the stability of His Church.+ 1. _This foundation was planned in the eternal counsels of Jehovah_ (1 Pet. i. 20; Luke xi. 50; Rev. xiii. 8). 2. _This foundation was actually laid in the incarnation and sufferings of Jesus Christ_ (2 Cor. v. 21; Gal. iii. 13; 1 Pet. ii. 22). 3. _This foundation is proclaimed in the preaching of the Gospel_ (Luke xxiv. 47; Acts xiii. 38, 39).

+II. The peculiar qualities by which this foundation is distinguished.+ 1. It is a _stone, denoting strength._ 2. It is a _living stone._ Possessing life in Himself, He is able to communicate it (John i. 4, v. 26; Rom. viii. 2). 3. A _tried stone._ The Father tried it, earth tried it, hell tried it. 4. A _precious corner-stone._ Corner-stones are generally placed for three purposes for (_a._) union; for (_b._) beauty; for (_c._) direction or example. 5. A _sure foundation._

+III. The safety and blessedness of all those who depend upon this foundation.+--_J. Sherman: British Pulpit,_ ii. 185-193.

Whatever subordinate reference there may be in these words to the Jews, the principle reference is to the Messiah. For this view we have apostolic authority. St. Paul says: "As it is written." Where? In our text. "Whosoever believeth in Him shall not be ashamed." And St. Peter quotes from Isaiah the same text.

+I. The Emblem of the Lord Jesus.+ "A stone." Whether we consider Him "a stone" for solidity, or for strength, or for duration, He is all these; for whatever changes may take place among men, with Him "there is no variableness nor shadow of turning." Peter calls Him--1. A "living stone," meaning that He has life in Himself, that He procures and dispenses it to others. So Paul (Col. iii. 4). 2. He is a _tried stone._ Everything in regard to Him was tried in the days of His flesh: His wisdom, His meekness, His love. 3. He is a _precious stone._ Precious to God the Father, to angels, to Christians (1 Pet. ii. 7). 4. A precious _corner-stone._ The corner-stone stands to unite. He unites in His person deity and manhood. We see in Him united the Old and New Testament dispensations. He unites Jews and Gentiles (Eph. ii. 14).

+II. His destination.+ "Behold I lay in Zion," &c. 1. _Who lays this foundation?_ GOD. 2. _Where does He lay this foundation?_ "In _Zion._" Jesus was a Jew, of the family of David. To the woman at the well He said, "Salvation is of the Jews." See Ps. cx. 2; and Isa. ii. 2, 3, xxv. 6.

+III. How well He answers the purpose and end.+ "A sure foundation." He is a sure foundation for all. Myriads have trusted in Him, and to the whole world it may be said (Isa. xxvi. 4).

+IV. The blessedness of those who make use of it.+ "He that believeth shall not make haste." This declaration is not opposed to _diligence;_ now, for "the King's business requireth haste." No (Ps. cxix. 60). But--1. To _impatience_ (see chap. v. 19). "Blessed are they that _wait_ on Him." 2. To _confusion._ Terror will overwhelm the godless (Rev. i. 7). But believers (1 John ii. 28).

+V. Observe the ushering in of the whole scene.+ "Behold." Angels pause before the great work of redemption, and "desire to look unto these things." "Herein is His love made manifest." Behold He "hath commended His love, that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us." Be not of those who "Behold and wonder and perish;" but let the command inspire you with gratitude, admiration, obedience, and zeal. "Hear, and your souls shall live."--_William Jay: Sunday Evening Discourses,_ pp. 18-25.

+I. The prominent idea of the text.+ Christ a foundation-stone. 1. The _Builder_ is Jehovah Himself. He drew the plan of the spiritual building, determined the materials of which it should be constructed, the stone on which it should rest, and then with His own hand laid that foundation. 2. The _Site_ of the building was "Zion." This is generally explained as referring to the Church. But is not the Church the building? Is there not an incongruity in saying, I lay in the Church a foundation-stone on which the Church is to be built? Is there any reason why the passage might not be understood literally as referring to Jerusalem? Is there not a very appropriate sense in which it was true that the foundation on which the Church rests was laid in Jerusalem? Was it not there that the Son of God offered up Himself as a sacrifice, and made atonement for man? Was it not there that the Holy Spirit descended and gave effect to the finished work of redemption? Was it not there the gospel was first preached by the apostles? And was not all this in accordance with the pre-arrangements of God's plan? As Zechariah's fountain was to be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and as Ezekiel's waters were to flow forth from the temple, so Isaiah's foundation-stone was laid in Jerusalem. 3. The _building_ to be reared on this stone was to be composed of Christian men of all ages and all nations. They are being collected now; they will all as lively stones by gathered in, fitly framed together, and built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner-stone.

+II. The qualities attributed to this foundation-stone.+ 1. A _tried_ stone. 2. A _precious_ corner-stone. How shall we estimate its worth? By its intrinsic value? Precious beyond all price. By its scarceness? No other stone like it in the universe. By the importance of the service it renders in the building? Precious to the Builder, to the holy angels, to the redeemed before the throne, to believers on earth. 3. A _sure_ foundation. Firm, solid, safe.

+III. The import of the promise annexed.+[2] 1. Shall not make haste, or be in haste. 2. Shall not be put to shame (Rom. ix. 33, x. 11, &c.)

CONCLUSION.--If not on the foundation, get on it. If on it, keep on it. Be not content to build on it yourself, but try to induce others to do so.--_John Corbin._

+I. Sinful, dying man needs a foundation on which he may securely rest his immortal hopes.+ Every man who studies his own nature and destiny as immortal and accountable instinctively feels that he needs something to give him support under the trials of life, and peace and hope as he is about to enter upon the invisible world. This feeling may exert no decisive influence over his conduct; it may be counteracted by other influences; but it is in him; and he cannot get rid of it.

+II. Such a foundation is laid for him in Zion.+ This foundation is our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Pet. ii. 4-6). It is described 1. as _a stone,_ indicating the solidity and durableness of that on which we are invited to rest our immortal interests. In rearing a building of any importance, we deem it essential that the foundation be laid in the most enduring materials. How much more should we look for this when we build for eternity! 2. As _a tried stone._ It has been tested in every possible way, and in the severest manner, and therefore justly claims our full and unhesitating confidence.[3] Other grounds of hope have been resorted to by men--philosophy, infidelity, self-righteousness--but they have always failed in the day of trial. But a countless multitude, as they have risen from earth to heaven, have testified to the perfect safety of trusting in Christ. Hence it is called 3. _a precious stone._ How precious none can know but such as have made trial of it in their times of need--the sinner, burdened with a sense of guilt, and sinking in despair; the believer, rejoicing in hope, and looking forward to heaven as his eternal home; the dying Christian, as he closes his eyes on this world, in joyful hope of another and a better; the redeemed in glory, as they cast their crowns at His feet. Ask them what they think of Christ. 4. As _a corner-stone._ The principal weight of an edifice rests on the corners; and hence, in building, the largest and firmest blocks are selected and placed there as best adapted to unite and support the whole structure. This is the idea intended to be expressed when Christ is spoken of as a corner-stone. It is He who, by His truth, His grace, and His spirit, converts and sustains the whole living temple (Eph. ii. 20-22). 5. As summing up the whole--_a sure foundation._ Hence it is said, "He that believeth shall not make haste."[4] The specific idea is that of a man on whose house the tempest beats, and who apprehends that the foundation is insecure, or feels it to be giving way beneath him, and therefore makes haste to flee from his dwelling to seek a more safe position. The foundation laid in Zion is so firm and secure that if a man trusts himself on it, he shall have no cause of alarm, however the storms may beat, and the waves dash and foam around him. Amid the wreck of matter and the crash of dissolving worlds, he shall not be confounded, but shall come forth at last unharmed and victorious over all, and find in his Judge a friend, and in the kingdom of His Father and God an everlasting home.

+III. It is the duty and privilege of all to build their hopes on this foundation without delay.+

--_Joel Hawes, D.D.: Sermons,_ pp. 307-317.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] _"He that buildeth shall not make haste."_ The apostles
Paul and Peter, in citing this passage, quote from the
Septuagint, and accordingly they render it _"he that
believeth shall not be ashamed"_ (Rom. ix. 33), or
"confounded" (1 Pet. ii. 6). The Hebrew word properly
signified "to make haste," and hence, according to one
lexicographer, "to hurry hither and thither as persons in
confusion." The apparent discrepancy between the text as
given by Isaiah in the Old Testament and as quoted by the
apostles in the New vanishes at once when we consider the
nature of the future employed. Conceive the situation of a
man who has "built his house upon the sand." The rains
descend, the floods beat upon that house, the foundations
begin to give way, the house totters to its fall, and the
frightened inmate, terrified and bewildered, "makes haste"
to escape to a place of safety. Another has built his house
upon the rock. Upon this also the rains descend and the
floods beat, but its firm foundations remain unmoved
because it is founded upon a rock, and its happy inmate, so
far from being obliged to "make haste" to escape, in
conscious security may smile at the storm. "He that
believeth shall not make haste"--"shall not be
confounded"--"shall not be ashamed" of his hope.--_John
Dowling, D.D._

[2] A. V. _"Shall not make haste."_ See translations by
Alexander and Delitzsch. Kay and Birks, _"Shall not be in
haste."_ Cheyne, _"He that hath faith shall not give way."_
The text reading does not suit the connection; it seems to
have arisen out of a confusion of the letters mem and
kheth. Sept., Tay., Pesh., feeling that something was
wrong, render freely "Shall not be put to shame?" But as to
the connection see preceding extract from Dowling.

[3] If you had a bridge to cross which had stood for centuries
and over which thousands of people had passed every day
with entire safety, you would feel no hesitation in making
that of it yourself. So is Christ set before you--a
_tested_ foundation of hope.--_Hawes._

[4] See note 1 above.

OUR TRUST AND OUR TEST.

xxviii. 16. _A tried stone._

This phrase may be more literally rendered "a stone for proof," and so rendered admits of two interpretations. The commonly received opinion, that it means a stone which has been tried and found sufficient is probably correct, and is more in harmony with the context; but Calvin understands by it a stone which was to be the test or standard of comparison for others. However this may be, we have inspired authority for saying that the stone is no other than our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Pet. ii. 6); and we may profitably consider Him in these two aspects, as our Trust and our Test.

I. HE IS OUR TRUST, because He has been tried. "Tried in the days of His humanity by all the vehemence of temptations, and the weight of afflictions, yet, like gold from the furnace, rendered more shining and illustrious by the fiery scrutiny."--(_Hervey._) [For further amplifications, see the other outlines on this text.--R.A.B.]

II. HE IS OUR TEST. In Him we have the true touchstone of character. All men naturally divide themselves into good or bad, saved or lost, by their acceptance or rejection of Him. By this touch-stone strange discoveries have been made in every age. The Pharisees and Scribes had a high character for piety until this trying stone was applied to them, and then it appeared what they were--the most inveterate enemies of God on earth. The reception which men gave to Jesus Christ is the great criterion of their character, as Simeon predicted (Luke ii. 34). This is the supreme test by which God is trying _you,_ and by which your eternal destiny will be determined.--_Samuel Davies, A.M., Sermons,_ ii. 29-33.

A TESTED SAVIOUR.

xxviii. 16. _A tried stone._

This is perhaps an allusion to the custom of builders who are about to lay the foundation for some massive structure. Before they raise the edifice they test the character of the substratum on which they think of building. Is not our blessed Lord in every way a tried, a tested, an approved Saviour! I. _Did not the Father try Him_ and find Him faithful in every way?--in His willingness, His obedience, His love? II. _Did not Satan try Him_ and find Him upright? Tried by temptations addressed to His natural appetite, to pride, and to ambition. III. _Was He not tried by wicked and unbelieving men?_ By Pharisees, Sadducees, and Herodians in His own day, and by sceptics in ours. IV. _By the afflicted, the poor, the destitute_ in His own day and in ours? and in each case only to bring out more clearly the marvellousness of His resources. V. _By the contrite and broken-hearted?_ VI. _By believers in every generation?_ And what has been their unanimous testimony? Is it not that they found Him more than equal to all their wants and able to do for them all that they could ask or think? Could so many millions of witnesses, in other respects trustworthy, be mistaken on this point? VII. HAVE YOU TRIED HIM?--_R. Bingham, M.A.: Sermons,_ pp. 208-215.

FALSE REFUGES.

xxviii. 17. _And the hail shall sweep away the refuge of
lies._

Numerous are the stratagems of Satan to ruin souls. In some he effects this by hurrying them on in the broad way of open transgression; in others, by rendering them the victims of some peculiar constitutional sin--pride, avarice, &c.; in others, by inciting a spirit of disbelief of the truth (Ps. xiv. 1); in others, by inducing inattention to the things of the soul. But our text leads us to contemplate _the false refuges to which he causes others to betake themselves._

+I. Sinners often feel the necessity of a refuge.+ This arises sometimes from--1. _An internal sense of guilt._ Unless in cases of utter obduracy, transgression and remorse are ever wedded together. Even pagans have these pangs of guilty torture. Under these, men sigh for peace, long for rest, and earnestly desire a refuge. 2. _The calamitous events of life._ Sudden adversity, domestic bereavement, visiting the open grave of some friend, bodily indisposition, mental disquietude, &c. 3. _The supposed nearness of death._ Men who mock at religion in health, quail at the approach of death. Voltaire trembled in a storm, anxious then to have deliverance, to obtain a refuge. 4. _Under the alarming influence of the preached word._ When the truth has flashed across the mind and startled the conscience. Thus Felix, and thus thousands. How lamentable that these impressions and convictions are often so fleeting; but still more so, when the convicted sinner flees to sources of false security.

+II. Sinners frequently betake themselves to refuges of lies.+ Of these notice--1. _Partial reformation of life._ Giving up the grosser sins of which they have been guilty, intemperance, profanity, fraud, &c. When the whole body is diseased, the amputation of one member is fruitless. 2. _A general regard to Christian morality,_ to the outward acts of obedience, and the decencies of society. 3. _An outward profession of religion._ Punctual regard to public worship, a proper regard to ordinances, a name among the people of God. 4. _A prominent and public sectarian spirit._ Rigid adherence to party, sect, and creed; violent anathematising all others; great ardour in the public events of the Church to which they belong. "Come, see my zeal," &c. 5. _Distinguished generosity._ Liberality to the poor, works of beneficence, co-operation with the compassionate and benevolent. All these things are good in their legitimate sphere and extent, but they are all often only refuges of lies; they may engage a man's anxious attention, while the root of the matter has yet no place in his heart (1 Cor. xiii. 1-3; Matt. vii. 22, 23). 6. A still more commonly frequent refuge of lies: _a general reliance on the mercy of God._ A kind of self-confident persuasion that God is good, that He will not punish, an indefinite resting on His clemency, forgetting His righteousness, purity, truth, &c.

+III. Such refuges of lies will be ultimately swept away.+ They will be so--1. _In a dying hour._ Then the mental vision often becomes peculiarly acute, the moral sense keen and distinct, and the honesty of the spirit throws off the tinsel mask, which is now manifestly worse than useless. How poor and worthless is self-righteousness, in all its possible extent, to a spirit just stepping into the presence of the holy God. A queen of England, although professing to be "Defender of the Faith," and having bishops at her control, felt this, and died in circumstances of unutterable alarm. 2. _In the morning of the resurrection._ Then all classes and distinctions will be reduced to two. None but the righteous will have a part in the first resurrection. Others will rise with shame, confusion, and horror to everlasting contempt. 3. _In the decisions_ _of the judgment._ God will judge all men in righteousness. The wicked and the righteous will be separated (Matt. xxv. 32, 33); no pretence, disguise, plea, stratagem, importunity, or effort, will avail. All refuges of lies will be swept away.

APPLICATION.--1. Warn against these destructive schemes and wiles of Satan. 2. Exhibit the one only refuge, Jesus Christ, who delivers from the wrath to come. 3. Urge instant faith in Him. "Count all things but loss," &c. All who believe in Him are secure for both worlds. To this Refuge let _all_ repair, earnestly, and now.--_Jabez Burns, D.D.: Pulpit Cyclopædia,_ iii. 153-156.

THE SHORT BED AND THE NARROW COVERING.

xxviii. 20. _For the bed is shorter, &c._

Of all the striking images made use of in this chapter, none was so likely to catch the ear, and impress itself on the memory, and become a seed of useful reflection, as that embodied in this proverbial saying. Epigrams have done much to guide popular movements. Lord Bacon speaks of them as "the edge-tools which cut and penetrate the knots of business and affairs." The adage before us is homely, but forcible and expressive. To a fastidious taste and a false refinement it may appear undignified; but where one has to deal with reckless folly and obstinacy, he selects what best serves his purpose of exposing it. Lifted out of the occasions which gave the birth, these pithy and sententious sayings admit of manifold applications. They refute error, and make truth visible.

I. Apply this aphorism to the _shifts of diplomacy._ This is the use which the prophet makes of it. No words could better expose the folly of the Egyptian alliance. The "scornful" politicians of Jerusalem "had not only secured themselves by a treaty with that personification of death and hell, the Assyrian, but they had outwitted him; for what chance could a mere barbarian soldier have against the deep-laid policy of an old, long-civilised state? They were in communication with Egypt and Ethiopia, and at the proper time would bring the armies of Tirhakah to free them from the power of Sennacherib." This was the plausible but imprudent and deceitful scheme which the prophet denounced; and all such measures will in due time land their short-sighted and dishonest authors in the short bed with the narrow covering.

II. Apply it to the _dishonesties of trade_ and the _reckless extravagance of living._ The rash speculator and the careless spendthrift will soon find out its truth. If they do not live within their means, and regulate dress and diet according to their income, they will soon find themselves in the short bed, vainly seeking warmth and comfort under a scanty covering. How much society has suffered from reckless speculation! Many a promising youth has foolishly squandered his means, and has grown so enormously in his luxurious habits, that he has no room to stretch himself on the short bed of his income. Visions of sequestration disturb his repose; pinching poverty hinders his comfort.

III. The same imprudent miscalculation is seen in _the plans of worldly-minded men._ Their purpose is to make a fortune, and then retire to enjoy it. They imagine that thus they shall have constructed an ample bed with abundant covering, in which they may comfortably spend the evening of life's day. But they have made their bed without measuring its occupant at his full height. Providing for the body, but neglecting the soul, they are cribbed and confined within the narrow boundaries of time, and it will be well for them if they discover their mistake when the chill frosts of old age seize upon their uncovered limbs.

IV. Apply it to the _expedients by which men seek spiritual rest._ There are many short beds on which they seek repose, and narrow coverings in which they try to wrap themselves. What apologies do they find for their sin!--how earnestly they work out a righteousness of their own in which to find shelter, forgetting that "all have sinned and come short," and "the one thing" they lack is a fatal defect! They will soon shiver with cold under this insufficient covering. Nothing but the saving work of Christ can answer man's need as a sinful creature. Here is both room and warmth (Matt. xi. 28). As the fond mother lays her child to sleep, so will He provide for our comfort (Isa. lxvi. 13). The word "hap" is dear to a Scotch ear, expressing "the care with which the bed-clothes are laid upon the little forms, and carefully tucked in about the round sleeping cheeks." Seek rest in Christ. He will support you in sickness and sooth you in pain; and when laid down on your last bed, rejoicing in the fulness and all-sufficiency of His grace, you will fall asleep in Him. A common proverb runs, "He has made his bed, and now he must lie on it," sometimes harshly used, yet expressing a solemn truth (Gal. vi. 7; Isa. l. 11).--_William Guthrie, M.A._

An end is proposed to be accomplished; the first consideration will be the suitability and sufficiency of means. The kingdom of Judah was trusting in inadequate defences against the Assyrians, whose approach was feared. False gods. Words of false prophets. Alliance with Egypt. Warned against all these. True defence in faithful adherence to God as covenant God. If they continued to look elsewhere they would find themselves in the position of a man in a bed too short for him, or with a covering too narrow to wrap himself. Instead of comfort and rest, weariness, discomfort, unrest. The bed does not answer its end. It is inadequate.

This thought is capable of another application. Men's religious beliefs and practices may be inadequate. A religion for man must be true in itself, be evidenced as true, be adapted to and sufficient for his religious necessities, capacities, and susceptibilities. Otherwise, it is inadequate.

Point out the inadequacy of some religious ideas that are in vogue.

+I. Scepticism is inadequate.+ There is not only the unbelief that denies the truth of Christianity, but the more subtle unbelief which refuses to affirm while it does not exactly deny. It says we know nothing, and may act on the assumption that there is nothing--as to God, Christ, a future state. Now we might show that there is sufficient evidence, but at present only show that this theory is not adequate to the demands of human nature. It is a fair inference from the almost universal experience of mankind that the doctrines of God, conscience, responsibility, prayer, a future state of existence, are congenial to human nature. Education does not account for them, although it may give them shape. Without them human nature is short of something which it needs. It is adapted to them. Without them its deepest needs are inadequately supplied.

The religion of the Bible supplies the need of man in all these respects. It reveals the Divine Being and character. It tells of a Father on whom, in his helplessness, man may call. It guides his conscience so that it may fitly guide _him._ It acquaints us with the nature of the life to come.

+II. Self-righteousness is inadequate.+ There are necessities which did not exist in man's original constitution, self-created necessities. The state of sinfulness is a second nature, superinduced on the original nature. Overlooking this, many imagine the Divine favour can be won and the religious life prosecuted by obedience to God and kindness to man. They proceed on the supposition that it is only necessary to continue such a course from any given commencement. If the sinful part is recognised, it is assumed that it will be condoned in consideration of the new service. It is assumed that the long-standing debt of former sin will be gradually paid by goodness in excess of ordinary demands, or that God, in some unknown way, will remit it.

This bed is too short. This covering too narrow. The religion for a fallen creature must deal seriously with the state of sin, guilt, condemnation. The question meets you at the outset. If every farthing of your present income is absolutely required to meet your barest necessities, how can you out of it pay back debts? Does not the law require a perfect obedience? Do you at present render more than it requires? Do you ever, with your best endeavour, come up to the law?

It is hopelessly inadequate. The religion for man must provide a free forgiveness; one also honourable to God. It is not in our power. It is in God. And He has made such a provision. The Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is that provision. His obedience, death, righteousness. Freely given without works to the believing sinner. This is the only adequate ground. This bed is long enough. This covering wide enough.

+III. Ceremonialism is inadequate.+ Human nature is impure. It needs cleansing as well as pardon. Some imagine this is accomplished by sacramental grace, through baptism, which is supposed to regenerate; and the mysterious influence of the consecrated bread and wine. All this is inadequate. No outward rite can effect an inward and spiritual change. There must be a new nature. There must be a love of holiness and a living growth into holiness. There must be a new birth. There must be the conviction of sinfulness; the acceptance of Christ; the surrender to the authority of Christ. For this the Gospel provision is adequate. There is the word of God which proclaims the mercy and offers the inducement. There is the Holy Spirit which changes the heart.

Be not satisfied with inadequate religion. Remember the solemn importance of possessing an adequate religion.--_J. Rawlinson._

IRRELIGIOUS MOCKERY.

xxviii. 22. _Now, therefore, be ye not mockers, lest your
bands be made strong._

The sense of the ludicrous is excited by words, ideas, images, or objects in which unexpected resemblances are seen in things previously considered incongruous, or in which incongruity is perceived where complete resemblance was supposed. The perception of the ludicrous varies. Where it exists in connection with the ability to convey the ludicrous idea in language, it is called wit. It is one of God's gifts. There is no reason why it should not be exercised. The evil is in untimeliness and excess. It is dispiriting and sad to be with people who are always and only see the dismal side of everything. It is equally pitiable to observe people who are ever in search of something laughable. The latter is a present-day danger. We have publications whose aim is to present the ludicrous side of everything. The popular taste encourages such writing. Even grand themes are not exempt for this kind of treatment. Some mock deliberately that they may injure; others thoughtlessly for the amusement of the moment. Of all wit it is the most gratuitous the easiest, the most mischievous and dangerous.

I. THE OBJECTS BY WHICH IT IS EXCITED.

Religious persons; their peculiarities, especially their foibles. Christian ministers as to their style and manner. In their impatience of the warnings addressed to them by the prophet, the people of Judah mocked his teaching as characterised by the repetition that is only suitable to children (9-13). Some find food for mockery in the doctrines of the Gospel. Others in the demand of holiness (Prov. xiv. 9). Others in the observances of worship. Others find the language of Scripture the most convenient point to their jests.

II. THE MOTIVES IN WHICH IT ORIGINATES.

Many do it from mere inconsiderateness. It is sometimes indulged in from the wish to please. Mockery of religious persons and things is so palatable to many that there is great temptation to it. More frequently it originates in the rooted hostility of the carnal mind against all earnest religion. Mockery is the most annoying form of attack; it is most keenly felt; it is most difficult to answer. It serves the purpose when argument fails. One grinning Voltaire may do more execution than many reasoning Humes. Many a time since the days of Nehemiah have Sanballat and his Samaritans mocked the builders of the wall of Jerusalem.

III. THE DANGERS WHICH IT INVOLVES.

1. To those who hear it. They become less susceptible of religious impression. If the head of a family habitually refer to religious persons and subjects in a mocking and disrespectful manner, his children will probably grow up with a dislike of religion.

2. To those who indulge in it. They lose their own respect for religion, if they had any, by associating it with the ideas of a low and ludicrous nature. They lose the elevating mental influence of having their minds in earnest contact with its grand truths. They lose the spiritual improvement which might have been the result of such contact.

3. And the warning of the text points to direct punishment. The "consumption determined." It points to the bands of captivity which would be more strong because of their unbelieving mockery. The mocker is preparing strong bands of distress for his conscience, if the day should ever come when he is awakened to a sense of sin and an earnest desire for salvation. How bitterly will he repent the injury his levities did to his own mind and the mind of others. Still more saddening is the thought that the mocker is likely so to harden his heart into insensibility to serious impression, that even on the bed of death, and with the solemnities of eternity before him, it will be impossible to awaken serious concern.

Follow the mocking soul to the bar of God where it must answer for its mockeries, and for all the state of mind which rendered it possible to mock. +There will be no mockery in hell!+

Do not brave these bands. Young men, do not sit in the seat of the scorner. Do not be among the mockers. Let the mocker hear the solemn warning of the text, and repent and seek mercy through the cross, and relinquish his folly.--_J. Rawlinson._

THE PARABLE OF THE HUSBANDMAN.

xxviii. 24, 25. _Doth the ploughman plough all day to sow?
&c._[1]

Means adapted to the end must be used if any end is to be accomplished. The physician knows this. So does the general. So does the manufacturer. So does the farmer. He is not always ploughing. Nor always sowing. Nor always threshing. Nor does he treat every kind of produce in the same way. And God employs various methods in dealing with men. He aims to turn them from evil, and He adapts His methods. The teaching of the text may be applied to the Divine dealing with men generally.

+I. God intended to open a way of salvation.+ Man needs salvation because he is a sinner. Can conceive a state of things in which he would not need it, as of one who needs no physician. If he had continued holy and obedient. But that is not his case. He is a sinner, characterised by impurity, and exposed to perdition.--Now God, in His pitying love, would save us. How shall He proceed? Shall He, by His arbitrary will, sweep away the facts? Such a procedure would be entirely inconsistent with the existence of moral government and the rectitude of the Divine character. 1. One part of the case to be dealt with was the condemned state of man under the Divine law. Forgiveness could not righteously be given without some satisfaction. Man could not make it. God in Christ, in His whole personality and work, has made the satisfaction. The method adopted is exactly adapted to the nature of the case. 2. But the other part of the case was also to be dealt with. Sinfulness is deep-seated in man's nature. He loves it. Until he is changed, he is not even inclined to sue for mercy, still less to escape from sin. The Lord Jesus Christ was sent to turn us from our iniquities. How does He do this? (1.) _By moral motive._ The law was inadequate. He introduces a new motive. Not only the mercy, but the fact that it has been procured at such a cost, that the love was equal to such a sacrifice. It appeals directly to the heart, as well as to the judgment, for a condemnation of sin. (2.) _By spiritual influence._ The influence of the Holy Spirit strives with those to whom the gospel is preached, with a view to the overcoming their indifference, reluctance, and sin.--The method is adapted, in both its sides, to the end in view. It only requires the sinner's consent. Hence--

+II. God intended the way of salvation to be made known to men.+ If consent to it and faith in it is requisite to participation of its blessings, it must be understood--1. The information might have been imparted in a separate revelation by the Holy Spirit to every man. Would supersede all evidence, and all exercise of human faculty. Would not be adapted to man as a reasonable being. 2. Angelic ministry might have been employed. Open to similar objection. Would have made miracle the rule instead of the exception. It would have changed the order of nature. 3. The method adopted is the simple arrangement that those who are acquainted with it, believe it, consent to it, make the Gospel known. A method exactly adopted to the nature of the case. According to the constitution of human nature, the Gospel thus approaches it for the purpose of gaining the understanding, the heart, and the will. Bear in mind the power of sympathy between human beings. He who has received a truth desires to impart it. He who has experienced the salvation pities those who need it as he did. He who speaks from his own experience speaks with tenderness, and earnestness, and influence. The sick heed the recommendation of a physician by those whom he has cured. On this principle of adaptation the Lord Jesus instituted the living ministry of apostles, evangelists, pastors, parents, all Christians. He inspired some to put on permanent record the truth as He revealed it, as a standard of appeal. They are to study it. They are to use the same principle of adaptation. There is youth, age, different measure of instruction, different classes, spheres, circumstances.

+III. God intended to train those whom He saved.+ Believers are already saved, because pardoned and sanctified. But they require training into riper holiness, greater usefulness, greater fitness for the future heaven. Therefore the Saviour instituted such means as are adapted to secure these ends. Church fellowship, public worship, pastoral teaching, Christian habits of watchfulness, thoughtfulness, prayer. All these are adapted to the training of the spiritual plant.

Are you in sympathy with God's end? In yourselves? In the world? Then adapt yourselves to its realisation.--_J. Rawlinson._

In these verses there are three kinds of seed mentioned; fitches, cummin, and corn. The fitches and cummin were small seeds like the caraway or chickpea. When these smaller herbs had to be threshed, this was done by hand; but when the corn had to be threshed, that was thrown on the floor, and men would fasten horses or oxen to a cart with iron-dented wheels; that cart would be drawn round the threshing-floor, and so the work would be accomplished. And so the idea expressed is different kinds of threshing for different products.

+I. We must all go through some kind of threshing process.+ The fact that you are devoting your life to honourable and noble purposes will not win you any escape. Wilberforce, the Christian Emancipator, was in his day derisively called "Doctor Cantwell." Thomas Babington Macaulay, the advocate of all that was good long before he became the most conspicuous historian of his day, was caricatured in one of the _Quarterly Reviews_ as "Bubble-tongued Macaulay." Norman McLeod, the great friend of the Scotch poor, was industriously maligned in all quarters. As the small wits of London took after John Wesley, the father of Methodism. If such men could not escape the maligning of the world, neither can you expect to get rid of the sharp, keen stroke of the tribulum. All who will live godly in Christ Jesus must suffer persecution. +II. It is not compliment to us if we escape great trial.+ There are men who suppose they are the Lord's favourites, simply because their barns are full, and their bank account is flush, and there are no funerals in the house. It may be because they are fitches and cummin, while down at the end of the lane, the poor widow may be the Lord's corn. You are little pounded, because you are little worth, and she bruised and ground, because she is the best part of the harvest. By carefulness of the threshing, you may always conclude the value of the grain. (H. E. I., 186-196, 3692-3695). +III. God proportions our trials to what we can bear.+ The rod for the cummin, the staff for the fitches, the iron wheel for the corn. (H. E. I., 179-188, 3674-3695). +IV. God continues trials until we let go.+ As soon as the farmer sees that the straw has let go the grain, he stops the threshing. We hold on to this world with its pleasures, riches, and emoluments, as though for ever. God comes along with some threshing trouble, and beats us loose. Oh, let go! Depend upon it that God will keep upon you the staff, or the rod, or the iron wheel until you _do_ let go. +V. Christian sorrow is going to have a sure terminus.+ "Bread corn is bruised, because _He will not be ever threshing it._" So much of us as is wheat will be separated from so much of us as is chaff, and there will be no more need of pounding. "He will not ever be threshing it." Blessed be God for that! (Rev. xxi. 4).--_T. De Witt Talmage, D.D._

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