Chapter XXX: Part 30

"A hiding-place from _the wind,_ a covert from _the
tempest._" Soon Red Sea and all were lost in a sand-storm,
which lasted the whole day. Imagine all distant objects
entirely lost to view,--the sheets of sand fleeting along
the surface of the desert like streams of water; tempest of
sand, driving in your face like sleet. Imagine the caravan
toiling against this--the Bedouins each with his shawl
thrown completely over his head, half of the riders sitting
backwards,--the camels, meantime, thus virtually left
without guidance, though, from time to time, throwing their
long necks sideways to avoid the blast, yet moving straight
onwards with a painful sense of duty truly edifying to
behold. . . . Through the tempest, this roaring and driving
tempest, which sometimes made me think that this must be
the real meaning of 'a _howling_ wilderness,' we rode on
the whole day.--_Dean Stanley: Sinai and Palestine,_ pp.
68, 69.

[2] I was reading, a day or two ago, one of our last books of
travels in the wilderness of the Exodus, in which the
writer told how, after toiling for hours under a scorching
sun, over the hot white marly flat, seeing nothing but a
beetle or two on the way, and finding no shelter anywhere
from the pitiless beating of the sunshine, the three
travellers came at last to a little Retem bush only a few
feet high, and flung themselves down and tried to hide at
least their heads from those 'sunbeams like swords,' even
beneath its ragged shade. And my text tells of a great
rock, with blue dimness in its shadow, with haply a fern or
two in the moist places of its crevices, where there is
rest and a man can lie down and be cool, while all outside
is burning sun, and burning sand, and dancing mirage.--_A.
Maclaren._

[3] When I was at Nuremberg, among the scenes of interest, I
visited the tower where are preserved some of the
instruments of torture which were used both by the
Inquisition and the Municipality in the Middle Ages. As one
looked at them, the heart grew sick at the thought of the
pain which by means of them had been inflicted upon
countless victims; and _as_ instruments by which human
beings had been tortured, they were hateful. On the other
hand, when one thinks what this verse has been to countless
human souls, what consolation and courage it has ministered
to those who were sick at heart in many generations, it is
impossible not to look upon it with love.

[4] It is one of a large number of passages which I like to
think of as _Scripture's lamps._ Starting at mid-day from a
railway terminus, you wonder to see that the lamps in the
carriages are lighted; but very soon the train plunges into
a tunnel, and you perceive that they were not lighted a
moment too soon. So with these lamps of Scripture: get them
hung up in your soul at the outset of your journey in life.
Sooner than you think you will find yourself in some dark
tunnel of trial. It will be too late _then_ to think of
furnishing yourself with them. Blessed are those then in
whom they are brightly shining!

[5] It is not to be expected that the young will fully
appreciate it. They have not had the experience necessary
to enable them to do so. At the outset of a voyage,
passengers are apt to think most about those things in a
ship which are comparatively unimportant--the size of their
berths, the elegant decorations of the cabin, &c.; but
before it is ended, especially if the voyage is a stormy
one, they come to think more about the staunchness of the
vessel, the strength of the rigging, the seamanship of the
captain rather than of his fitness or unfitness for a
drawing-room. So in dealing with the Bible: at the outset
of life, we are apt to give our whole attention to things
_comparatively_ unimportant, such as the possibility of
reconciling the first chapter of Genesis with the teaching
of modern science, &c.; but, by and by, trouble teaches us
to value the Scriptures as our only sure guide amidst
life's moral perplexities, as our only true comforter
amidst life's sorrows. It is trouble that teaches us that
the promises are "precious promises;" and therefore I may
fairly expect that the promise of our text will be prized
by the aged.

[6] One day--one of the most beautiful and happy days I have
ever known--I and some friends visited the Valley of Rocks,
at Lynton, in North Devon. We had selected for our
dining-place the shaded side of one of the largest of the
rocks which have made that valley famous. Just as we were
finishing our repast, an aged gentleman approached us, and
asked to be permitted to share our resting-place. "I should
not have intruded upon you," he said, "but I am very
weary." Instantly my text recurred to my memory, and I saw
somewhat of its power and beauty: "As the shadow of a great
rock in a weary land." In such a land, on such a day, how
welcome is the sight of a great rock! How sweet and
refreshing to rest in its cooling shade! Amid the toils and
troubles of life we often need rest and refreshment. _Have
you found them in Christ?_ Are the declarations of our text
true?

THE CHRISTIAN'S REFUGE.

(_For Christmas Day._)

xxxii. 2. _A man shall be as an hiding place, &c._

This is a very remarkable prophecy and promise, and at first sight most strikingly at variance with almost every other declaration of the Word of God, _e.g.,_ Isa. ii. 22; Ps. clxvi. 3; lxii. 8, 9; Jer. xvii. 5. "A _man_ shall be as an hiding place from the wind!" A poor, weak, helpless mortal, unable to protect himself from the wind and tempest, shall _he_ be our refuge? Shall God's own Word command us to leave the living Fountain, and betake ourselves in our necessities to the broken cisterns of earth? Strange inconsistency, astonishing contradiction to every other portion of God's Word? But who is this Man? He of whom it is also written (Zech. xiii. 7; Phil. ii. 6); and who is thus spoken of by the Spirit of God Himself, when predicting the event of this day (Isa. ix. 6). It is the Lord Jesus Christ, then, who reveals Himself in the words before us under two striking similitudes; the first of which regards His people's safety, and the second their consolations.

+I. As regards their safety:+ "hiding place from the wind, covert from the tempest." Picture to yourself one of those scenes which Eastern travellers paint, when they describe the passage of a caravan across some dreary desert, where, throughout the long day's journey, there is no house, no rock, no tree to afford a moment's shade or shelter. The wind suddenly rises, the lightning glares, and in the distance are beheld gigantic columns of sand, raised and kept together in such vast masses by the whirlwind that drives them towards the poor bewildered travellers, who behold in them at once their destruction and their grave. In vain do they attempt to fly; as vain were all thoughts of resistance. Before the shortest prayer is finished, that multitude that was just now full of life and animation, is hushed in silence; every heart has ceased to beat; the simoom of the desert has passed over them, and the place they occupied is scarcely to be distinguished from the surrounding plain. This is no flight of the imagination, but a simple statement of a fact of not unfrequent occurrence. Now imagine in such a scene with what feelings these alarmed and flying travellers would greet "a hiding-place" and "a covert." If a rock of adamant, a barrier which neither sand, nor wind, nor tempest could beat down or overleap, should suddenly spring up between them and those swiftly advancing columns of death, what would be their feelings of joy, their thoughts of gratitude, their language of praise! Who can imagine the heartfelt cry of thanksgiving to God which would arise from that vast multitude at so complete, so merciful, so unhoped-for a deliverance? With such feelings should we "behold the Man" of whom I speak to-day. We stood in as great a danger. Our sins had raised a tempest of the wrath of God, against which the whole created host of heaven would in vain have attempted to erect a barrier. But our Lord has wrought a deliverance for us as much needed, as unexpected, as complete. He has interposed between us and the mighty "wind," the appalling "tempest," which justly threatened our destruction. Let us who have found shelter in Christ rejoice in Him, and be glad this day because of the quietness we enjoy. Let those who are still outside the great "Hiding-Place," the wondrous "Covert" which God's mercy has provided, remember that an unapplied Saviour is no Saviour. Their peril has been in no sense lessened by His advent. In the gladness of this day they can have no share.

+II. His people's consolation.+ "As rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land." Before we had symbols of _safety;_ here we have symbols of _consolation._ 1. _God's people often feel that this world is a dry and barren place and thirst for consolation and succour._ That which they thirst for, they may find in Christ. He is not merely a river, but (so abundant are His consolations) "rivers of water" to them that are fainting under the trials, anxieties, or distresses of the world. But it is not enough that the river is running at your feet; you must know it is there, you must drink of its waters, or they will not assuage your thirst. In Hagar sitting down in utter hopelessness and helplessness, when near her there was an abundant supply of water for herself and her child (Gen. xxi. 15-19), we have an emblem of too many distressed and sorrowful Christians. "_Rivers_ of water" are flowing past you: arise, and drink! (Rev. xxii. 17). 2. _God's people are often faint and weary as they pursue their earthly pilgrimage._ But during every stage of it they may "renew their strength," and so be enabled to persevere until at length "they stand in Zion before God," for Christ is "as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land." Don't be satisfied with just coming _within the range of the shadow_ of the Rock; there are in the Rock recesses where you may find a complete shelter and a sweeter rest. Enter into them. Cultivate a closer fellowship with Christ. So in every stage of your journey you shall have not only strength, but joy (Isaiah xxxv. 10).--_H. Blunt, A.M.: Posthumous Sermons,_ pp. 23-42.

The "Man" here referred to is the Divine Redeemer--the one theme of the Bible. "Hiding-place" and "covert" express substantially the same idea--shelter, defence, safety, deliverance from both actual and impending evil. Jesus Christ in this broad and comprehensive sense is the Refuge of His people. Fleeing to Him, men find protection, &c.

+I. Christ is a refuge in the day of earthly disappointment.+ Human life full of disappointments. Few of our anticipations of good realised. Our fondest and most sacredly cherished hopes blighted. The world deceives men: it is not what it seems to be, it does not satisfy the desires it awakens. The god of this world is the master spirit of lying and deception, and he so manages the shifting scenes as to keep up the deception until the last. So with (_a_) the man of business, (_b_) those who aspire to earthly honour, fame, power, (_c_) the student, (_d_) the pleasure-seeker. To these children of disappointment, Christ is a refuge; He has Himself felt the ills of life (Heb. iv. 15, 16). There is a "hiding-place" where the fury of life's storms never comes; the God of mercy offers eternal life in the Gospel. Forsaken, disheartened, disappointed men may still be accepted of Christ, and find peace and rest in Him.

+II. Christ is a Refuge in time of affliction.+ This is a world of sorrow and suffering; men turn from it in disgust and anguish to seek relief elsewhere, or to weep life away in sadness and darkness. Now Christ alone is available in just such an hour. When the world turns its back upon us, there is a Friend who sticketh closer than a brother--one born for adversity--a shield and a deliverer in the day of affliction. We may not be able to explain the philosophy of the thing, but the soul that looks to Christ is so sustained as to rejoice in the tribulation, and the heaviest burden is lightened and made a blessing.

+III. Christ is a Refuge in the day of trial.+ It pleases the Lord to make full proof of His people. He puts their love, fidelity, and integrity to the test. God tries (_a_) our faith, (_b_) hope, (_c_) patience, (_d_) principles. And in His day of fiery trial our only safety is in the "hiding-place" of Divine mercy--we need the "covert" of the Almighty wings. None but Christ is able to give the soul confidence in such days and hours.

+IV. Christ is a Refuge in the day of fear.+ Sin is darkness, and hence wherever there is sin there is gloom and fear. The wicked man is a slave to fear, and even the Christian at times suffers greatly because of it. The remedy for this gloomy experience is in Christ; and there is a power in the Gospel to lift the soul into a region of perpetual sunshine. In Christian experience, peace, joy, and hope are the ministering angels (Hab. iii. 17, 18).

+V. Christ is a Refuge from the torments of an accusing conscience.+ The day of self-convicted guilt always a day of memorable experiences. Conscience upbraids, justice demands satisfaction; the soul is ready to sink into hell. Whose arm can save you in such an hour? where shall he seek refuge? in that hour none but Christ can save.

+VI. Christ is a Refuge in the day of final wrath.+ The wrath to come--the just, final, and eternal wrath of God--a reality, a fixed fact in thought and experience. Jesus Christ is a refuge from this impending evil. The Cross lifted up on Calvary has received the thunder; God and the believer in Jesus Christ are reconciled. What, then, have they to fear whose life is hid in Christ? Death cannot harm, the judgment-day need not terrify.

Glorious Refuge! it never fails--is never shut against the penitent soul--has never been shaken--and will yet resist the fire and deluge of the great day of wrath. This is the Ark, and they are eternally safe who are therein.--_J. M. Sherwood: National Preacher,_ 1859, p. 217.

RIVERS OF WATER IN A DRY PLACE.

xxxii. 2. _As rivers of water in a dry place._

The surface sense of this passage may refer to Hezekiah and to other good kings who were a means of great blessing to the declining kingdom of Judah; but its declarations are too full of meaning to be applied solely or primarily to any mere man. They are never fully understood until they are applied to Christ, the true King of righteousness, who confers the highest blessings upon His people. In Him there is a fulness and variety of blessing such as the varied metaphors of this passage fail to set forth. He is the true Man of whom Isaiah speaks; the man in whom the fulness of the Godhead dwells bodily, and who therefore can be, and is, "as rivers of water in a dry place."

I. THE METAPHOR. This implies, 1. Great _excellence_ of blessing. How valuable is a river to the land through which it flows! So Christ is the source and the sustenance of the fertility, fruitfulness, and beauty of His people. 2. _Abundance_ of blessing. Think of the vast floods that flow through the Amazon, the Ganges, the Indus, the Orinoco. So in Christ there is grace sufficient for all mankind. 3. _Freshness_ of blessing.[1] 4. _Freeness_ of blessing. Though individuals may claim peculiar rights in rivers, all creatures drink of them freely, the dog as well as the swan. So may all, however vile, partake of the grace that is in Christ. 5. _Constancy_ of blessing. Pools and cisterns dry up, but the river goes on for ever. So it is with Jesus; the grace to pardon and the power to heal are not spasmodic powers in Him, they abide in Him unabated for evermore.

II. A SPECIAL EXCELLENCE which the text mentions. "Rivers of water _in a dry place._" Only the residents in a tropical country can fully appreciate that phrase. But Christ came to such a place when He came to our race. So He does when with His salvation He visits the individual soul. Were it not for Him, the souls, even of His people under the influence of wealth or of poverty, of the cares or of the pleasures of life, would be always dry. But He refreshes, sustains, and fertilises those who otherwise would utterly faint and fail.

III. PRACTICAL LESSONS. 1. _See the goings out of God's heart to man, and man's way of communing with God._ God's heart is an infinite ocean of goodness, and it flows forth to us through Jesus Christ, not in streams and driblets, but in rivers of grace and mercy. These streams we cannot purchase or merit, we have only to receive them; when we drink of the stream, we partake of God. 2. _See what a misery it is that men should be perishing and dying of soul thirst when there are these rivers so near._ Some have never heard of them; therefore help to the utmost the Missionary Society. Others who have heard of them are smitten with a strange insanity that leads them to turn away from them. 3. _Let us learn where, if we are suffering from spiritual drought and barrenness, the blame lies._ It cannot lie in Christ. 4. _If Christ is ready to be to us as rivers,_ drink of Him, all of you.[2] Live near Him. Live in Him.[3]--_C. H. Spurgeon: Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit,_ No. 1243.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] In a river we see not only excellence and abundance, but
_freshness._ A pool is the same thing over again, and
gradually it becomes a stagnant pond, breeding corrupt life
and pestilential gases. A river is always the same, yet
never the same; it is ever in its place, yet always moving
on. Filled to the brim with living water, even as in ages
long gone by, and yet flowing fresh from the spring, it is
an ancient novelty. We call our own beautiful river,
"Father Thames," yet he wears no furrows on his brows, but
leaps in all the freshness of youth. You shall live by the
banks of a river for years, and yet each morning its stream
shall be as fresh as though its fountain had been unsealed
but an hour ago when the birds began to awake the morning
and the sun to sip the dews. Is it not so with our Lord
Jesus Christ? Is He not evermore as bright and fresh as
when first you met with Him?--_Spurgeon._

[2] Is Christ a river? then _drink of Him,_ all of you. To be
carried along on the surface of Christianity, like a man in
a boat, is not enough, you must drink or die. Many are
influenced by the externals of religion, but Christ is not
in them; they are on the water, but the water is not in
them; and if they continue as they are they will be lost. A
man may be in a boat on a river and yet die of thirst if he
refuses to drink; and so you may be carried along and
excited by a revival, but unless you receive the Lord Jesus
into your soul by faith, you will perish after
all.--_Spurgeon._

[3] If Christ be like a river, let us be like the fishes, _live
in it._ The fish is an ancient Christian emblem for Jesus
and His people. I sat under a beech-tree some months ago in
the New Forest; I gazed up into it, measured it, and marked
the architecture of its branches, but suddenly I saw a
little squirrel leap from bough to bough, and I thought,
"After all, this beech-tree is far more to you than me, for
you live in it. It delights me, it instructs me, and it
affords me shade, but you live in it and upon it." So we
know something about rivers, and they are very useful to
us, but to the fish the river is its element, its life, its
all. So, my brethren, let us not merely read about Christ,
and think of Him, and speak of Him, but let us live on Him,
and in Him, as the squirrel in the tree and the fish in the
river. Live _by_ Him, and live _for_ Him: you will do both
if you live _in_ Him.--_Spurgeon._

[See also Outlines, RIVERS OF WATERS, xxx. 25, 26, and
ENRICHING RIVERS, xxxiii. 21.]

COMFORT IN CHRIST.

xxxii. 2. _As the shadow of a great rock in a weary land._

This chapter begins with a prophecy of the Messiah, and of the happiness which the godly should enjoy under His reign (ver. 1). True as well as beautiful are its descriptions of Christ.

+I. To the children of God this world is often "a weary land."+ 1. _Because of the labours they have to undergo._ This is a laborious world (Eccles. i. 8). Employment is in itself a blessing; it was provided for man in Eden; but every day the sun sets upon millions who are faint and weary, who are overwrought, and for whom there will be no sufficient rest until they lie down in the grave. To God's children it is a special cause of weariness that they are compelled to devote so much time in labouring for "the meat which perisheth," and that they have so little time for meditation and for communion with God. 2. _Because of the troubles to which they are exposed_ (Job v. 7). Troubles attend every stage and condition of life. They are national, domestic, personal. The pains and evils of life commonly increase as its length is protracted. And there is nothing more wearisome than troubles. Many who can endure labour cannot endure trouble. This makes the heart stoop, and weakens the mind as well as the body. A troublesome world must be a wearisome world. 3. _Because of the perplexities by which they are harassed._ This is a dark world. What is past, what is present, as well as what is to come, lies involved in darkness. Life is full of mystery. Strange and unexpected events are constantly happening, which disappoint the hopes and frustrate the designs of the wisest. Providence often baffles the interpretation and tries the faith even of the most devout. Wickedness is often triumphant, and virtue trampled under foot. Good men are often tired of living in a world which subjects them to continual anxiety and suspense. 4. _Because of the sin by which they are surrounded._ The moral atmosphere in which they live is uncongenial. The practices and principles with which they are daily brought into contact fill them with disgust, with indignation, and with grief (2 Pet. ii. 7, 8; Ps. cxix. 139, 156, 158; Acts xvii. 16; Ezek. ix. 4).

+II. Whensoever God's children are weary of the world, they may find comfort in Christ.+ They may always find comfort. 1. _In the compassion of Christ._ He knows what it is to be faint and weary. He knows the heart of a pilgrim and stranger. And He has the tenderest compassion for His friends in distress or want. He is as pitiful to-day as He was when He tabernacled on earth. He feels all that His followers feel (Acts ix. 2; Heb. iv. 14-16). 2. _In the intercession of Christ._ As He prayed for Peter (Luke xii. 32) and for all His disciples before His crucifixion (John xvii.), so He still makes intercession for His followers according to their necessities. And His intercession is always prevalent (John xi. 42). 3. _In the strength of Christ._ Weakness is the cause of weariness, and the weary may always find the strength they want in Christ (Phil. iv. 13; 2 Cor. xii. 7-10). 4. _In the government of Christ._ He has promised to give them peace even in this world (John xiv. 27; xvi. 33; xiv. 2, 3). These are great and precious promises, because they are sure promises.

APPLICATION.--Since the friends of Christ, when they are weary of the world, may always find comfort in Him--1. _They should not regard the things which make them weary of it as curses but as blessings._ It is a good thing to have our hold of the world loosened. It is a good thing to be driven to Christ. All their trials and sufferings are suited to prepare them to enjoy more peace and rest in Christ, than they could otherwise enjoy. When a man finds a covert in a great storm, he finds more pleasure in it than he does on a fine fair day. So Christians enjoy more real satisfaction and happiness in adversity than in prosperity, because while prosperity leads them to the enjoyment of the world, adversity leads to the enjoyment of Christ. 2. _They enjoy more happiness even in this life than sinners do._ Sinners often seem happier than saints, but theirs is a loud and transient mirth, whereas God's people have a deep and lasting joy. Autumn is oftener a pleasanter season than spring, but it deepens into the gloom and vigour of winter; whereas after the storms of March and the rain of April come the bright joyous days of summer. The life of the sinner is at best an autumn life, with autumn prospects, but the life of God's children is a spring life. And even here and now they (and they only) are filled with that peace of God which passeth all understanding, affords joy in sorrow, and gives rest to the weary. 3. _They ought never to be heard murmuring or complaining under any troubles or afflictions in which they may be involved._ This world is full of murmuring; and when God's people complain, it is highly offensive to God (Ps. cvi. 25, 26). But why should they complain? (Heb. xii. 11). And they have a present refuge, even Christ, in whom they may find "strong consolation." 4. _They ought never to be found depressed with anxiety as to the future_ (Phil. iv. 6, 7).--_Dr. Emmons: Works,_ vol. iii. 352-365.

CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

xxxii. 8. _But the liberal deviseth liberal things; and by
liberal things shall he stand._

This prophecy relates to the time when the kingdom of Judah would relinquish its foolish dependence on Egypt. The king would reign in righteousness. Men and things would be called by their true names. Selfish injustice to the poor would contrast with considerate helpfulness. When generosity begins to be exercised on a large scale, the standard is raised. The raising of the standard tends to the general enlargement of the scale of benevolence.

Our subject is Christian liberality.

I. THE QUALITIES BY WHICH IT IS DISTINGUISHED.

1. _Sympathy._ It is the opposite of the disposition to act on the assumption that a man's own interest and happiness is the main end of his existence. It is the disposition that looks out to others, imagines their case, feels for them, desires their happiness. Difference of race, nationality, church, opinion sinks to nothing in its presence. It asks, What is the need? Neither temporal nor spiritual need exhausts it. Spiritual need is the chief. It desires the salvation of all men. And when compassion for men's souls is tenderest, compassion for their temporal sufferings is usually also tenderest. The heart is often larger than the purse; but the purse-strings will not be closed. Our hospitals and other institutions for the relief of suffering and distress owe their origin and support mainly to Christian sympathy.

2. _Ingenuity._ "_Deviseth_ liberal things." Many contribute to benevolent objects when solicited, but never originate anything in such a direction. There should be a thoughtful, holy solicitude to know what is needed, and how much of it we are able to do. Those act a useful part who discover for themselves and suggest to others suitable and feasible methods of usefulness. There should also be conscientious thoughtfulness as to the proportion to be established between what God gives to us and what we give to Him in return. As Jacob (Gen. xxviii. 20-22).

3. _Action._ Liberality does not terminate in feeling and thought (James ii. 15, 16; 1 John iii. 17, 18). It does not devise methods of usefulness and leave them to be carried out by others. The good Samaritan did not look at the man who had been robbed and half-killed on the road and pass on (Luke x. 33, 37). The woman who brought the alabaster box of ointment and anointed the feet of Jesus showed her love to Him more than if she had spoken a thousand endearing words.

4. _Willingness._ No selfish churl strikes out new plans of usefulness. Such as exists he unwillingly helps, if he helps them at all. According to the Christian idea, no amount of mere giving which does not come from the willing heart is accepted as liberality. The voluntary principle is alone recognised as the principle of liberality. And voluntaryism means willinghood (2 Cor. viii. 12).

5. _Continuance._ Not by one generous act, nor by such an act occasionally, can the title of liberality be won. Excitable persons impulsively promise, but reflection brings them to their true selves; and they either break the promise or fulfil it grudgingly. Some undertake Christian work; for a time do it; perhaps do it well; but _after_ a time weary of its inconvenience, sacrifice, and slow results. Now the liberal man "stands by" his liberal things. The other reading is, "adheres" to them. Continuance in the race reaches the goal.

II. THE SOIL IN WHICH IT IS NOURISHED.

It is engendered and thrives in the soil of Christianity. For it is in accordance with--1. _Its Spirit._ It is the spirit of love. The man who drinks most into the spirit of Christianity will be most likely to feel such benevolent interest in humanity as will take practical shapes. It tends to the overthrow of selfishness. It fosters the spirit of self-sacrifice. 2. _Its Precepts._ We are commanded to stretch forth the helping hand to those in need. We are to extend the kingdom of Christ. Gifts and offerings in some form are demanded by the two great dispensations; by the Gospel no less than by the Law. He who lives for himself, giving forth nothing, or giving with grudging hand, has yet to learn the first principles of Christian obedience. 3. _Its Examples._ The newly formed Church in Jerusalem. Contributions throughout the churches afterwards for impoverished Christians there. Above all the example of Christ.

Do not suppose that liberality obtains no recognition. 1. _It becomes a source of pleasure._ Let any one put this to the test. And the pleasure is in proportion to the sacrifice it costs (Acts xx. 35). 2. _It is returned in blessing_ (Prov. iii. 9, 10). We cannot explain how this comes about, because we cannot explain the way of God's Providence. Everything is in His hands. Can bless or blast your affairs. It certainly brings spiritual blessing. Exercises, develops, improves faith, love, self-denial. The indwelling Spirit of God is manifested in larger measure. Conscience approves. 3. _It will obtain the final recognition._ It is all recorded. Nothing forgotten, however little. "Cup of cold water." "Ye have done it unto Me." Let us strive for that commendation of Jesus, and for His commendation now, such as that He gave to the widow who gave her mites, and to the woman who did what she could.--_J. Rawlinson._

A CALL TO THE CARELESS.

xxxii. 11. _Be troubled, ye careless ones._[1]

+I. Who are the careless ones in our own day?+ 1. _Those who neglect the Bible._ Its main object is to arouse the attention of sinners. Claims and deserves attention. That man is indifferent to the welfare of his country who never examines the principles of its constitution, the character of its laws, &c. So he who neglects the Bible can never be regarded as a serious man. He is careless on the most momentous of all subjects. 2. _Those who neglect prayer._ All who have any proper feeling towards God must regard this as a solemn duty. Nature teaches its necessity and importance, the Scriptures enjoin it with great earnestness (Luke xviii. 1; 1 Thess. v. 17). 3. _Those who neglect the Sabbath._ This "made for man," appointed for his convenience and spiritual good. An institution of unspeakable importance as regards eternity--in fact, no religion without it. 4. _Those who neglect the institutions of the sanctuary._ Those anxious to know "what they must do to be saved" always prize the preaching of the Gospel. On the other hand, as the interest in religion declines, so will be our indifference to the means of grace. See you one who makes his attendance on God's house a matter of convenience, who avails himself of any trifling excuse to be absent, &c., there is a careless one. So also with those who are so absorbed in the pursuits of this life, so as to have neither leisure nor disposition to attend the place of prayer. 5. In a word, those are careless ones _who live in impenitence and unbelief._ Repentance and faith in Christ. The great interest of the soul cannot be secured without these, and no man can be said to take heed to the things that belong to his peace, without obeying Christ's commands concerning them.

+II. Why such ought to be troubled.+ Those who are indifferent are disposed to remain so--carelessness perpetuates itself. Still there are reasons why such should be troubled. 1. _The fact that you are careless is a ground of alarm._ Carelessness, an evidence of our ignorance of the true condition of the soul in the sight of God. Something truly frightful in false security where the danger is real and great. With such this fancied security is the most alarming symptom. The sinner suffering from a disease which no human skill can remove--in danger of eternal death. How fearful then the indifference, how appalling the apathy of such! 2. _This indifference indicates a state of mind in which every blessing will be abused, and every warning neglected._ A habit of body that would render everything received for nourishment or for medicine useless would be dreadful; what, then, of that moral disease which perverts every gift and makes the diversified means which God employs accomplish nothing for our good? 3. _You ought to be troubled when you reflect what it is you are careless about,_ viz., your salvation. The man who is indifferent about his health, or regardless of his temporal interest, is unwise; what, then, of one who hazards the salvation of his soul by neglect? Salvation is offered in Christ--indifference is unbelief. Why so eager after the acquisition of wealth, and indifferent about the true riches? 4. Another cause of alarm _is the exposure of your present position._ Neglect of the Gospel ensures destruction (Heb. ii. 3). This apathy a crime for which no amiableness or morality can atone. 5. _No more powerful means will be employed to awaken you to the concerns of your soul._ God disclaims any responsibility for your loss (Isa. v. 4; Matt. xxiii. 37). Ministers have preached, Christian friends have entreated, the Holy Spirit has been sent down, and still you are careless. The very heathen will rise up in judgment. If one rising from the dead would not make those hear who had Moses and the prophets, what shall awaken those who have Christ and the apostles? 6. _This carelessness is induced, it is not natural._ A long process of hardening the heart is gone through before such a state of apathy is reached. But once ours, it has all the force of habit, and is not easily broken up (Matt. xi. 21). This indifference is _voluntary_ (Acts xxiv. 25). Felix _might_ have taken a different course. No iron necessity binds men to the fatal course they take, but a perverse will and an unbelieving heart. 7. _This carelessness is a state of mind that provokes God to withdraw His Spirit._ Deeply criminal. No apathy in heaven, there ought to be none on earth. Must it not offend God, to say that He has failed to reveal Himself in a way to interest His creatures? And yet men can be interested in a novel while the Gospel is neglected. Under the old dispensation He said, "My people would not hearken to My voice, so I gave them up to their hearts' lust." What of those who then reject the Son? 8. _This indifference will ultimately be broken up, and will aggravate condemnation a thousandfold._ Though retribution sleep, it must come and will not tarry. The Jews were spared forty years after the Saviour had wept over their doomed city. So with the sinner; there comes a time when he can be indifferent no longer; the realities of judgment and eternity produce a conviction which will go on deepening for ever. How it will embitter the soul then to dwell upon this carelessness of the past. Recollection itself a source of misery (Luke xvi. 25). What words can express the anguish of a soul thus reminded of lost opportunities, &c.

Throw off this lethargy. From this moment seek the Lord with your whole heart, and call upon Him while He is near. Why run the desperate hazard of having to do all this on a dying bed?--_Mark Tucker, D.D.: National Preacher,_ vol. vii. p. 138.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] See outlines on chap. i. 3, p. 7-12 (THOUGHTLESSNESS
through RELIGIOUS CONSIDERATION).

THE ESSENTIAL CONDITION OF MISSIONARY SUCCESS.

xxxii. 13-15. _Upon the land of my people, &c._

This chapter commences with a prophecy of the appearance and the kingdom of Christ. But instead of finishing the painting of that beautiful scene, with what might be anticipated as the effect of this appearance, Isaiah proceeds, in our text, to paint a scene of great desolation and barrenness. So, when our Saviour came, the effect of His appearance was by no means such as might have been expected; after gathering a few out of the Jewish nation and thus planting the first Christian Church, He retired from the nation, on account of its impenitence and unbelief; and the land is still abandoned to desolation and barrenness. That barrenness, and the spiritual barrenness and blindness of that despised people, will continue until the arrival of the important event predicted in the last verse.

Though the immediate bearing of these words is upon the state and prospects of the Jewish people, yet they may be considered as assigning the reason why the nations of the earth continue in so wretched a state, with respect to things spiritual and Divine, as they now exhibit; and as directing our expectations, and regulating our confidence, respecting the final termination of this state of things. The momentous truth taught in this passage is, that _the ultimate success of missions depends upon the communication of the Spirit._

That the Spirit of God is afforded at present to the Church is evident from its existence; for, since the Church is entirely a spiritual structure, raised and preserved by that Divine Spirit, if it had been utterly withdrawn the Church would have been annihilated. But the especial time here announced has not yet arrived; the Spirit is not "poured from on high" in that plenitude and variety of gifts which may reasonably be expected.

I. That the success of missions depends on the outpouring of the Spirit of God, appears to be manifest, 1. From the Scriptures (_text:_ chap. xli. 19, 20; Zech. iv. 6, xii. 10; Joel ii. 28-32, with Acts ii. 16-18; Ezek. xxxix. 29). 2. From the record concerning the Great Captain of our salvation, He did not enter upon His work until He was anointed by the Spirit of God (Luke iv. 18, 19). 3. From the experience of the apostles. Until the effusion of the Spirit from on high, on the day of Pentecost, they were not qualified for their work in the nations to which they were sent. 4. From the testimony of the apostles. All their successes they attributed to a Divine agency (Acts xi. 21, xiv. 27, xvi. 14; 1 Cor. iii. 5-7, &c.). 5. From the testimony of those who have had the greatest success in preaching the Gospel in heathen as well as in Christian lands.[1] 6. From the records of their most eminent successes.[2] 7. From the nature of the work to be accomplished. Considering the state of men, it is impossible to suppose that anything less than a Divine power can change the heart.[3]

II. There are two reasons why we are in danger of forgetting our dependence on the Spirit of God. 1. We cannot arrange the time and manner in which the Divine agency will be exerted; and we are called upon to exert ourselves in much the same way as though there were no such doctrine existing in our creed, and no such expectation existing in our minds. Consequently, even while strenuously attending to our duty, we are very apt to lose sight of that mysterious Divine agency on which the success of all our efforts must depend, and to direct our attention exclusively to the apparatus we are setting in motion. 2. This is an invisible power, and is manifest to us only in its effects; whereas our own actions and plans are objects of distinct observation. It is one thing to believe that there is an agency of the Spirit, and quite another thing to have a deep and practical persuasion of it, and to regulate all our actions and expectations in dependence on it.

III. Some practical results which should follow from our belief that the success of missions depends on the agency of the Divine Spirit. 1. In attempting the work of the evangelisation of the heathen, we ought to renounce all expectations of success founded on our own strength or resources. 2. In connection with every attempt for the conversion of the heathen, there should be earnest prayer. In every period of the world, a spirit of prayer for this great object has been the precursor of real success. 3. In the manner in which we prosecute this work, we should be exceedingly careful not to grieve the Spirit of God. There must be nothing in our conduct or temper opposed to the simplicity and purity of the Christian dispensation. Our mission must not be made the instrument of ostentation and gratification, or of amusing the public by a display of gaudy eloquence. All rivalry between different societies that has not for its end the knowledge and service of God, is offensive in His sight. Let us guard against the least disposition to depreciate or hide in silence the success of others; which shall lead us to look coolly on the most splendid acts of missionary labour, unless they emanate from ourselves, or bring honour to our party. 4. Our dependence for the men and the means wherewith to carry on this great work, must rest absolutely and exclusively on God. Whensoever He puts forth the influence of His Spirit, some of His servants will devote themselves to the work, and others of them will gladly contribute to it of their wealth (Isa. lx. 5-7). 5. The doctrine of the text teaches us to regulate our confidence with respect to the success of every particular mission, at the same time that it animates that confidence in regard to the final success of the success itself. 6. If success in any field of effort does not reward our toil, instead of charging God with any arbitrarily withholding of the help of His Spirit, let us examine the instruments wherewith we are endeavouring to effect so great and important a charge, and see if there be not in them something unworthy of the enterprise, and keeps back the needed blessing. 7. However success may seem to delay, let us acquiesce, without repining, in the dispensations of God; and let us point our views forward to a future period, that will certainly come, when the Spirit will be poured out from on high, and when the Redeemer will take to Him His great power, and reign universally in the hearts of men.--_Robert Hall: Works,_ vol. vi. pp. 158-180.

As regards the final and universal triumphs of the Gospel, believers cannot entertain a doubt. Glorious things are spoken of Zion, &c. We are explicitly assured that the kingdoms of this world shall one day become the kingdoms of Christ.

But what is to secure this? Our hope hangs on one thing--the promise of the Spirit. Every past conquest has been the effect of union and communion with the Comforter; and our own ability for the enterprises of the future must be derived from the same source. The chapter begins with a cheering account of the approach of a brighter day following a season of gloom and depression, which is to be terminated finally and only by the pouring out of the Spirit from on high. So always. Large as are our resources, we were never more dependent on help from heaven than now. Without special Divine aid we can do nothing.

I. The Spirit of God must be with us, _or we shall not use the right means for converting the world._ Our work is a vast one, but we are not left in uncertainty as to the way in which it is to be accomplished. The Gospel made for man. Sending the knowledge of Christ abroad through the nations is the appointed method of saving men. 1. More faith is needed in God's instrumentality. The cause may seem unequal to the effect, but a Divine unseen agency accompanies it, and difficulties must pass away. 2. No part of our business to make experiments for the relief of human woe or guilt; or dig channels for our compassion other than those in which the Saviour's flowed. Calvary our sole expedient, &c. 3. We need to keep to the means by which all this is accomplished without deviation or faltering. A downward tendency in the best of men, even when engaged in the holiest of work, which nothing but a constantly exerted influence from God can effectually counteract. Charters, subscriptions, pledges will not do it. 4. Must not lay our strength out on extraneous matter. Our true service only performed while relying on Divine aid.

II. Unless the Holy Spirit be with us, _we shall never prosecute our work with proper energy._ An enterprise like ours cannot be expected to flourish unless it takes fast hold on the hearts and sympathies of its friends. It is a cause of too much import to be carried on lukewarmly. One of the main purposes of the Church, her own self-extension. How shall we get up to this state of feeling, this standard of action? Never! until we have more of the Spirit of God.

Again, half our strength has to be expended in trying to keep our enterprise up to the lines already reached. We seem at times to be merely stationary, and this side by side often with great secular prosperity. Why this falling off? And that as contrasting with the success of primitive believers? They seem to have carried with them a never-failing assurance, that where they planted and watered, God would give the increase. The Church can never come up to this standard until the Spirit is more copiously poured upon us from on high. We are shut up to this single resource.

III. That the Spirit must be given us, _or we shall never see our efforts crowned with success._ Something in a simple dependence on Divine help which imparts to our labours a character so earnest and decided as betokens a favourable result. We work best ourselves when we feel that God is working in us and by us. Nothing so nerves the arm and strengthens the heart as confidence in Him. So Luther, Whitfield, Paul wrought. Nothing else will keep zeal alive in the Church.

Hence arises 1. _Our encouragement._ Faith in the efficacy of the Gospel preached under the influence of the Holy Ghost is to be the mainspring of all our efforts. The Spirit is to take of the things of Christ and show them to men. We can only be straitened on that side. 2. _Our duty._ All converging to a single point--prayer.--_David Magie, D.D.: National Preacher,_ vol. xxi. p. 221.

Let it be supposed that the invader and the conqueror have been in our land. Cultivation has disappeared, impoverishment and neglect reign over its once fertile and well-cared-for fields. The city, formerly the centre of life and activity, depopulated and desolated. Its factories dilapidated, its exchange a ruin, its streets overgrown with grass. Such was the ruin the prophet saw about to befall his country. How long would it continue? Until God should pour His Spirit upon the people, so as to turn them from their iniquities. When the moral scene changed, the material scene would also. Prosperity would return. The city would again be populated; the country resume its beauty and fertility; the wilderness would be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest.

It is a picture of the world's moral desolation without the Gospel; of the time when the power of the Gospel shall be displayed; and of the happy state of the world in that day of its power. These topics are presented in the text; the necessity, the certainty, and the condition of the world's salvation.

I. ITS NECESSITY. It is a fallen world. Scepticism at present criticises the Christian representation of the moral state of human nature as too low, while its standard is too high. Whatever may be said of the latter part of the indictment, the former part must be denied. The alienation of the human heart from God; its aversion to His holiness; the depth of its pollution, as evinced in the crimes and vices which disfigure the face of society, and are too patent to be refined away. With all the restraining influences around us, we have enough at our hand to justify the representation that man is morally fallen and desolated. Add to this the idolatry, with its attendant cruelty and impurity, prevalent over so large a population of the human family. And to this the extreme and manifold wickedness of men in history. The Christian representation of the state of human nature is fully justified. There is universal sin. There is need of mercy, change, conversion. Not merely the adoption, by large masses of men, for various reasons, of new religious names and forms. It is a personal conversion. Men need the change one by one.

II. ITS CERTAINTY. We should despair of the world's conversion if our vision were limited to its existing state. We should pronounce it as hopeless as the attempt to tear up the everlasting mountains from their roots, or to drive the ocean from its bed. But we are not thus limited. We are not at liberty thus to limit our vision. In the Word of God we find it declared that the redeeming dominion of Christ shall be co-extensive with the globe. Plain statements sometimes, utterly inexplicable except in this way. Including these in our vision, we have nothing to do with the difficulties, but only with the great duty of their destruction.

Include in the vision the words of Christ. His declarations and commands before leaving the world contemplate the universal diffusion of His salvation. And we must include His work. The expenditure will bear some relation to the result. It cost the death of the incarnate Son of God. That the event is long delayed proves nothing when we remember how long the world had to wait for His coming.

III. ITS CONDITION. The moral desolation will continue until the Spirit be poured upon us from on high. The Gospel only saves as the Spirit makes it efficacious. The human heart and will are opposed to the entrance of the truth. Not only evidence but influence is required. It is essentially a spiritual work, and only the Holy Spirit is equal to it. It is a work in hearts opposed to God, and His power can alone produce the willingness which is the very essence of the saving change. Every time we pray for the conversion of sinners and for the coming of God's kingdom, we practically acknowledge the necessity of the Spirit's work. The universal necessity is the necessity of the individual case. The world's conversion is pictured out in the conversion of every sinner. The power of the Spirit is the security for the fulfilment of the Word (Joel ii. 28-32; Acts ii. 17-21; Ezek. xxxvii. 1-14; John iii. 6-8; 1 Cor. ii. 4, 5, iii. 6, 7).