Chapter V: Part 5

What should I instance in that, whereof not Scripture, not
books, but the whole world, is full--the inevitable
sequences of sin and punishment? Neither can it be
otherwise "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?"
saith Abraham. _Right,_ is to give every one his due: wages
is due to work; now "the wages of sin is death:" So then,
it stands upon no less ground than very necessary and
essential justice to God, that where wickedness hath led
the way, there punishment must follow.--_Hall,_ 1574-1656.

[2] There may be a forsaking of a particular sin that has been
delightful and predominant without sincerity towards God,
for another lust may have got possession of the heart, and
take the throne. There is an alternate succession of
appetites in the corrupt nature, according to the change of
men's temper or interests in the world. As seeds sown in
that order in a garden, that 'tis always full of a
succession of fruits and herbs in season; so original sin
that is sown in our nature is productive of divers lusts,
some in the spring, others in the summer of our age, some
in the autumn, others in the winter. Sensual lusts flourish
in youth, but when mature age has cooled these desires,
worldly lusts succeed; in old age there is no relish for
sensuality, but covetousness reigns imperiously. Now he
that expels one sin and entertains another continues in a
state of sin; 'tis but exchanging one familiar for another;
or, to borrow the prophet's expression, "'Tis as one should
fly from a lion, and meet with a bear that will as
certainly devour him."--_Salter._

[3] Thou dost not hate sin if thou only hatest some one sin.
All iniquity will be distasteful in thy sight if God the
Holy Spirit has really made them to loathe iniquity. If it
say to a person, "I will not receive you into my house when
you come dressed in such a coat;" but if I open the door to
him when he has on another suit which is more respectable,
it is evident that my objection was not to the person, but
to his clothes. If a man will not cheat when the
transaction is open to the world, but will do so in a more
secret way, or in a kind of adulteration which is winked at
in the trade, the man does not hate cheating, he only hates
that kind of it which is sure to be found out; he likes the
thing itself very well. Some sinners, they say they hate
sin. Not at all; sin in its essence is pleasing enough, it
is only a glaring shape of it which they
dislike.--_Spurgeon._

If we would realise the full force of the term "hatred of
evil," as it ought to exist in all, as it would exist in a
perfectly righteous man, we shall do well to consider how
sensitive we are to natural evil in its every form to pain
and suffering and misfortune. How delicately is the
physical frame of man constructed, and how keenly is that
slightest derangement in any part of it felt! A little mote
in the eye, hardly discernible by the eye of another, the
swelling of a small gland, the deposit of a small grain of
sand, what agonies may these slight causes inflict! That
fine filament of nerves of feeling spread like a wonderful
network of gossamer over the whole surface of the body, how
exquisitely susceptible is it! A trifling burn, or scald,
or incision, how does it cause the member affected to be
drawn back suddenly, and the patient to cry out! Now there
can be no question that if man were in a perfectly moral
state, moral evil would affect his mind as sensibly and in
as lively a manner--would, in short, be as much of an
affliction to him, as pain is to his physical frame. He
would shrink and snatch himself away, as sin came near to
his consciousness, the first entrance of it into his
imagination would wound and arouse his moral sensibilities,
and make him positively unhappy.--_Goulburn._

[4] The worst sin is not some outburst of gross transgression,
forming an exception to the ordinary tenor of life, bad and
dismal as such a sin is; but the worst and most fatal are
the small continuous vices which root underground and
honeycomb the soul. Many a man who thinks himself a
Christian is in more danger from the daily commission, for
example, of small pieces of sharp practice in his business,
than ever was David at his worst. White ants pick a carcase
clean sooner than a lion will.--_Maclaren._

[5] As an eagle, though she enjoy her wings and beak, is wholly
prisoner if she be held but by one talon, so are we, though
we could be delivered of all habit of sin, in bondage
still, if vanity hold us but by a silken thread.--_Donne,_
1573-1631.

Ships, when the tide rises and sets strongly in any
direction, sometimes turn and seem as if they would go out
upon it. But they only head that way, and move from side to
side, swaying and swinging without moving on at all. There
seems to be nothing to hinder them from sailing and
floating out to sea; but there is something. Down under the
water a great anchor lies buried in the mud. The ship
cannot escape. The anchor holds her. And thus are men
holden by the cords of their own sins. They go about trying
to discover some way to be forgiven, but yet keep good
friends with the devil that is in them.--_Beecher._

[6] Thou hast laid down the commission of an evil, but hast
thou taken up thy known duty? He is a bad husbandman that
drains his ground, and then neither sows nor plants it.
It's all one if it had been under water as drained and not
improved. What if thou cease to do evil (if it were
possible) and thou learn'st not to do well? 'Tis not thy
fields being clear of weeds, but fruitful in corn, pays the
rent, and brings thee in thy profit; nor thy not being
drunk, unclean, or any other sin, but thy being holy,
gracious, thy having faith unfeigned, pure love, and the
other graces which will prove thee sound, and bring in
evidence for thy interest in Christ, and through Him of
heaven.--_Gurnell,_ 1617-1679.

THE GREAT TASK.

i. 17. _Learn to do well._

Negative goodness is not enough to meet the Divine requirements. Those who have "ceased to do evil" must "learn to do well." God demands positive excellence.[1] The cultivation of well-doing is the surest guarantee against evil-doing.[2]

+I. Well-doing is a thing to be learned.+ We have been too prone to look at it in its other aspect only, as a thing springing from faith and love, not as a thing to be cultivated. But see Phil. iv. 9; 1 Tim. v. 4; Titus iii. 14; Matt. xi. 29; Heb. v. 3 All _experience_ is in accordance with the teaching of these texts. Has any case occurred in which at the beginning of the Christian life a person was proficient in well-doing? Men are not born into the Christian life with a perfect capacity to _do_ well, any more than they are born into the natural life with a perfect capacity to _speak_ well. Conversion is a beginning, not an ending.[3] We then begin to learn the standards, methods, opportunities, and practice of excellence. In the hour of conversion we do but pass into Christ's school, and begin to be His _disciples._ Well-doing is not to be learned in one lesson, nor in six lessons. [_Illustration:_ frequent advertisement, "French in six lessons." Absurd!] It was only after a prolonged training and most varied discipline that St. Paul could say, "I have _learned_ in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content." Is _that_ a lesson to be acquired in a day? Let our own hearts supply further proof. Look within, and see the evils yet unsubdued, the excellences yet unattained, the difficulty with which many a duty is discharged, and you will see the necessity of _learning_ to do well. We have _learned_ to do well only when it has become a _habit_ to us, when we do it as easily and naturally as a well-trained merchant's clerk adds up a column of figures correctly. But can any _habit_ be acquired without prolonged practice?[4]

+II. Well-doing is learned much in the same way as other things are learned.+ Learning a language involves study, patience, perseverance, practice. Not otherwise can we learn to do well.[5]

+III. In learning to do well, we need both inspiration and help.+ We have both; the _inspiration_ in the example of our Lord (Acts x. 38; Heb. xii. 2); the _help_ in the gracious assistance of the Holy Ghost (Rom. viii. 26). Therefore, difficult as the task is, we may address ourselves to it with good hope of success.--_William Jones._

FOOTNOTES:

[1] All the religion of some men runs upon _nots._ "I am not as
this publican." That ground is nought, though it brings not
forth briars and thorns, if it yieldeth not good increase.
Not only the unruly servant (Matt. xxiv. 48, 49) is cast
into hell, but also the _idle_ servant (Matt. xxv. 30).
Meroz is cursed not for opposing and fighting, but for not
helping. Dives did not take away food from Lazarus, but he
did not give him any of his crumbs. "I set up no other
gods;" ay, but dost thou reverence and obey the true God?
"I do not profane the Sabbath." Dost thou sanctify it? Thou
dost not wrong thy parents; but dost thou reverence them?
Thou dost not murder; but dost thou do good to thy
neighbour? Usually men cut off half of their bill, as the
unjust steward bade the man who owed a hundred set down
fifty. We do not think of sins of omission. If we are no
drunkards, adulterers, and profane persons, we do not think
what it is to omit respects to God, not to reverence His
holy majesty, not to delight in Him and His
ways.--_Monton,_ 1620-1667.

[2] Fighting faults is the most discouraging thing in the
world. When corn reaches a certain height, no more weeds
can grow among it. The corn overshadows and grows them
down. Let men fill themselves full of good things. Let them
make their love and purity and kindness grow up like corn,
that every evil and noxious thing within them may be
overshadowed and die.--_Beecher._

[3] No man is born into the full Christian character, any more
than he is born into the character of a man when he comes
into the world. A man at conversion is in the state of one
who has just come in to the possession of an old homestead.
He had the title, and he can make for himself a beautiful
home. But the dust, the dirt, and the cobwebs of years
choke all the rooms, and must be cleared away. Many sills
and beams are rotten, and must be replaced by new ones.
Chambers must be refitted, walls newly plastered, the whole
roof must be searched over, and every leak stopped. There
must be a thorough cleansing and repair before the mansion
is habitable; and when all this is done, it is only _an
empty house_ that the man has. The same kind of thing that
man has _who has trained himself into freedom from wrong,
without having become faithful in right deeds._--_Beecher._

[4] Character is consolidated habit, and habit forms itself by
repeated action. Habits are like paths beaten hard and
clear by the multitude of light footsteps which go to and
fro. The daily restraint or indulgence of the nature, in
the business, in the hope, in the imagination, which is the
inner laboratory of the life, creates the character which,
whether it be here or there, settles the
destiny.--_J. Baldwin Brown._

[5] It is not great, or special, or extraordinary experiences
which constitute in the best sense the _religious_
character. It is the uniform daily walk with God, serving
Him in little things as well as great--in the ordinary
duties and everyday avocations, as well as in the midst of
grave and eventful contingencies. As the sublimest symphony
is made up of separate single notes;--as the wealth of the
cornfield is made up of separate stalks, or rather of
separate grains;--as the magnificent texture, with its
gorgeous combinations of colour, is made up of individual
threads;--as the mightiest avalanche that ever came
thundering down from its Alpine throne, uprooting villages
and forests, is made up of tiny snowflakes;--so it is with
the spiritual life. That life is itself the grandest
illustration of the power of littles. Character is the
product of daily, hourly actions, words, thoughts; daily
forgivenesses, unselfishnesses, kindnesses, sympathies,
charities, sacrifices for the good of others, struggles
against temptations, submissiveness under trial. Oh it is
these, like the blending colours in a picture, or the
blending notes of music, which constitute the
man.--_Macduff._

THE NOBLEST ART.

i. 17. _Learn to do well._

+I. To do well is a thing that requires to be learned.+ 1. _It does not come to us naturally,_ as breathing and sleeping do. That which comes to us naturally is to do evil. This is manifest in every child: it needs no teaching to do evil, but it needs a great deal of teaching before it will habitually do well. Nor does proficiency in well-doing come to us even with our new birth. Then come new desires after righteousness, but the knowledge and practice of righteousness have to be learned.[1] At our new birth we are _born_ "babes in Christ:" manhood in Christ is reached only by _growth._[2] 2. _It is not a thing we acquire unconsciously,_ as infants learn to see and hear, or as older persons acquire the accent of the country in which they reside, or as invalids gain health at the seaside. Living in a religious atmosphere will not of itself make us religious, nor will mere companionship with good men. Association with artists will not of itself make a man an artist; and association with Christians will not of itself make any man a Christian. Judas was in constant association with Christ himself for more than three years, and at the end of that period, instead of doing well, he committed he foulest of all crimes. To do well is an _art,_ and, like every other art, it can be mastered only by deliberate efforts of the will.[3] This is the testimony both of _Scripture_ and _experience._ (See preceding outline.)

+II. To do well is a thing that may be learned.+ Not all persons, however earnest their desires or persevering their efforts, can become poets, painters, statesman, orators. But to do well is an art in which all regenerate persons may become proficient, some with greater ease than others, but to none is the task impossible. There is no vice which a regenerate man may not lay aside, no excellence to which he may not attain.

+III. To do well is a thing that must be learned.+ It is an imperative demand which God makes upon all His people. We cannot satisfy it by "ceasing to do evil." It is not enough for the "branches" of the True Vine not to bring forth "wild grapes;" they must bear _fruit_--_much_ fruit--to the glory of the Husbandman (John xv. 8). Not only must Christ's followers be "blameless," they must be _conspicuous_ for excellence. "Let your _light_ so SHINE before men that they may _see_ your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." These truths being settled in our minds, let us ask ourselves.

+IV. How this noblest of arts may be acquired.+ 1. _By setting before ourselves, and carefully studying, the noblest models._ Thus do those who would become proficient in other arts: music, painting, sculpture, architecture, &c. Now the great Master in the art of well-doing was our Lord Jesus Christ: we must therefore study Him and His works. But as it is often a help to the discovery of the secrets of a great master's excellences to study the works of his disciples, as thus our attention is sometimes directed to points we might otherwise overlook, and as by the contrast between him and them, even when they have done their best, we get a clearer view of his transcendent power--so it will be helpful to us to study the character of Christ's noblest disciples,[4]--always, however, coming back to the study of _His_ character, remembering that we shall succeed in doing well only in proportion as we become like _Him._ 2. _By becoming imbued with the principles by which the great masters in this art were animated._ Mere mechanical imitation is always a poor thing, and often a grotesque and pitiable thing; because circumstances are continually varying. What kind of an English home would the most exact reproduction of the most beautiful of all classic villas be? The architect who forgot that the climate of England is not like that of Rome or Athens would be accounted a fool. Yet many professed imitators of Christ have fallen into a similar mistake; they have imitated merely the outward circumstances of His life, and have forgotten that the essential thing it to have "the _mind_ that was in Christ." When we have _that,_ all else will follow as a matter of course. Now the great principle which governed Christ and His noblest disciples was love--love to God and man: a _docile_ love, which did not seek to please God in _its_ way, but in _His_ way, and evermore searched the Scriptures to discover upon what things God looks with delight. 3. _By patient and persevering endeavours to embody in our practice the truths we have thus discovered._ Only by such endeavours can the mastery in any art be won. 4. _By fidelity in little things._ The master's ease is reached only by the student's painstaking--by his careful endeavour to be _right_ in each individual note, line, shade, stroke, word. It is _thus,_ and thus only, that the _habit_ of doing well is gained.

+V. Let us remember certain things for our own encouragement.+ 1. _We are not left to learn this art alone:_ we have the constant help of the most reasonable, patient, and successful of all teachers. We are disciples of _Christ._ How much that means! He does not expect us to become proficients in a few lessons. He remembers that the most advanced of us are only little children in His great school. If He sees in us the earnest _desire_ and the resolute _endeavour_ to learn, He is well satisfied.[5] He will most carefully adapt His methods of instruction to our individual capacity. He will lead us on to the goal step by step. Already in countless thousands of instances He has dealt successfully with most intractable materials: scholars who seemed hopelessly dull and inapt He has so instructed that they have passed the great examination that awaits us all at death; and they are now carrying on their studies in the great university of heaven. 2. _In no other art does progress bring so much happiness:_ the testimony of a good conscience; consciousness of the approval of God; a pleasant retrospect, brightening hopes. 3. _In no other art does proficiency ensure such rich rewards._ Proficiency in any other art can but win for us the honours and joys of earth; proficiency in this will secure for us the honours and joys of heaven. It is one great doctrine of Scripture, that we are _saved_ through our faith: it is another, that we are _rewarded_ according to our works.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The process of being born again is like that which a
portrait goes through under the hand of the artist. When a
man is converted, he is but the outline sketch of a
character which he is to fill up. He first lays in the dead
colouring. Then come the work of laying in the colours, and
he goes on, day after day, week after week, month after
month, year after year, blending them, and heightening the
effect. It is a life's work; and when he dies he is still
laying in and blending the colours, and heightening the
effect. And if men suppose the work is done when they are
converted, why should we expect anything but lopsided
Christian character?--_Beecher._

Who starts up a finished Christian? The very best men come
from their graves, like Lazarus, "bound with
grave-clothes,"--not like Jesus, who left the death-dress
behind Him; and, alas! in their remaining corruptions all
carry some of these cerements about with them, nor drop
them but at the gate of heaven.--_Guthrie._

[2] God deals in spiritual proceedings, as in natural, to
extremes by the mean. We are not born old men; but first an
infant, then a man, then old. We are conceived of immortal
seed, born of the Spirit, so go on to perfection. There is
first a seed, then a plant, then a tree. We go not at one
jump into heaven, nor at one stroke kill the
enemy.--_Adams,_ 1643.

[3] Cast a sponge into water, and, the fluid filling its empty
cells, it swells out before our eyes, increases more and
more. There is no effort here, and could be none; for
though once a living animal, the sponge is now dead and
dry. But it is not as sponges fill with water, nor to use a
Scripture figure often employed, and sometimes misapplied,
as Gideon's fleece was filled with dews, that God's people
are replenished with His grace. More is needed than simply
to bring ourselves in contact with ordinances, to read the
Bible, to repair on Sabbath to Church, to sit down in
communion seasons at the Lord's table.--_Guthrie._

[4] God hath provided and recommended to us one example as a
perfect standard of good practice--the example of our Lord.
That indeed is the most universal, absolute, and assured
pattern; yet doth it not supersede the use of other
examples. Not only the valour and conduct of the general,
but those of inferior officers, yea the resolution of
common soldiers, doth serve to animate their fellows. The
stars have their season to guide us as well as the sun;
especially when our eyes are so weak as hardly to bear the
day. Even considering our infirmity, inferior examples by
their imperfection sometimes have a peculiar advantage. Our
Lord's most imitable practice did proceed from an immense
virtue of Divine grace which we cannot arrive to; it is in
itself so perfect and high, that we may not ever reach it:
looking upon it may therefore sometimes dazzle and
discourage our weakness. But other good men had assistance
in measure such as we may hope to approach unto; they were
subject to the difficulties which we feel; they were
exposed to the perils of falling which we fear; we may
therefore hope to march on in a reasonable distance after
them; we may, by help of the same grace, come near in
transcribing their less exact copy.--_Barrow,_ 1630-1677.

[5] Gotthold observed a boy in a writing-school eyeing
attentively the line placed before him, and labouring to
write with equal correctness and beauty. Mark, said he to
the bystanders, how all perfection is the offspring of
imperfection, and how by frequent mistakes we learn to do
well. It is not required of this boy that his penmanship
shall equal that of the line. He satisfies his master by
the pains he takes; for these are a ground of hope that he
will progressively improve, and at last learn to write with
rapidity and elegance. We also have a pattern to copy. It
has been left us by the Lord Jesus Christ, and is His most
perfect and holy life. And think not that He extracts more
from us than the teacher does from the pupil. No, indeed;
if He find us carefully studying His example, and diligent
in our endeavours to imitate it, He exercises forbearance
towards our faults, and by His grace and Spirit daily
strengthens us to amend.--_Scriver,_ 1629-1693.

THE OPPRESSED AND THEIR RELIEF.

i. 17. _Relieve the oppressed._

Religion means sympathy with man in his oppressed condition. The truth alone can give men freedom. +I. The oppressed.+ 1. _There are those oppressed by sinful habits._ Many men are their own tyrants. They build their own prison, make their own fetters, and whip themselves. Their oppression is the consequence of their sin. Such are to be relieved, however little they may appear to desire or deserve it, by the compassion of the good. 2. _There are those oppressed by commercial difficulty._ There are many men whose commercial life is one continual struggle to get on, and to provide those things honest in the sight of the world. They have small capital. Fortune seems against them. They are active, but they do not succeed. Such ought to be relieved by the generous consideration of the good. 3. _There are those oppressed by domestic misfortune._ The wife has lost her husband. The children have buried their parents. They are out alone in the wide world. They are liable to the thoughtless but stern oppression of men. Such must be relieved by the good. 4. _There are those oppressed by religious bigotry._ There are many great souls who are larger than a sect, oppressed by the conventionally orthodox. They are driven from their pulpits. They are excommunicated from their synagogue. They need the relief of true sympathy. +II. Their relief.+ 1. _By personal sympathy._[1] Genuine sympathy is always a relief to an oppressed[2] It heals the soul and lightens the burden.[3] A kind word, a cheering look, is welcome to the oppressed. 2. _By intelligent advocacy._ The cause of the oppressed should be advocated where it is likely to be redressed. Politics can be employed in no higher ministry than in seeking the relief of the oppressed. 3. _By practical help._ Sympathy must not be substituted for personal and self-denying help. Words are well; smiles are welcome; but personal help is the most effective to the removal of oppression.--_J. S. Exell._

FOOTNOTES:

[1] We are all sons of one Father, members of one body, and
heirs of one kingdom, in respect of which near-linking
together there should be compassion and sympathy betwixt
us. If one member do but grieve, all suffer with it. When a
thorn is got into the foot, how is it that the back bows,
the eyes pry into the hurt, and the hands are busied to
pluck out the cause of the anguish? And we, being members
of one another, should bear with and forbear one the other,
the not doing whereof will stick as a brand upon our souls
that we are of the number of them that have forsaken the
fear of the Almighty.--_Spencer,_ 1658.

[2] Certain it is, that nothing can better do it, so there is
nothing greater, for which God made our tongues, next to
reciting His praises, than to minister comfort to a weary
soul. And what greater pleasure can we have than that we
should bring joy to our brother, who, with his dreary eyes,
looks to heaven and round about, and cannot find so much
rest as to lay his eyelids close together, than that thy
tongue should be tuned with heavenly accents, and make the
weary soul to listen for light and ease; and when he
perceives that there is such a thing in the world, and in
the order of things as comfort and joy, to begin to break
out from the prison of his sorrows, at the door of sighs
and tears, and, by little and little, melts into showers
and refreshment? This is glory to thy voice and employment
fit for the brightest angel. But so have I seen the sun
kiss the frozen earth, which was bound up with images of
death, and the colder breath of the north; and then the
waters break from their enclosures, and melt with joy, and
run in useful channels; and the flies do rise again from
their little graves in the walls, and dance awhile in the
air, to tell that there is joy within, and that the great
mother of creatures will open the stock of her new
refreshment, become useful to mankind, and sing praises to
her Redeemer: so is the heart of a sorrowful man under the
discourses of a wise comforter; he breaks from the despairs
of the grave, and the fetters and chains of sorrow; he
blesses God, and he blesses thee, and he feels his life
returning: for to be miserable is death, but nothing is
life but to be comforted: and God is pleased with no music
from below so much as in the thanksgiving songs of relieved
widows, of supported orphans, of rejoicing and comforted
and thankful persons.--_Jeremy Taylor,_ 1612-1667.

[3] Till we have reflected on it, we are scarcely aware how
much the sum of human happiness in the world is indebted to
this one feeling--sympathy. We get cheerfulness, and
vigour, we scarcely know how or when, from mere association
with our fellow-men; and from the looks reflected on us of
gladness and enjoyment we catch inspiration and power to go
on, from human presence and from cheerful looks. The
workman works with added energy from having others by. The
full family circle has a strength and a life peculiarly its
own. The substantial good and the effectual relief which
men extend to one another is trifling. It is not by these,
but by something far less costly, that the work is done.
God has ensured it by a much more simple machinery. He has
given to the weakest and the poorest power to contribute
largely to the common stock of gladness. The child's smile
and laugh are mighty powers in this world. When bereavement
has left you desolate, what substantial benefit is there
which makes condolence acceptable? It cannot replace the
loved ones you have lost. It can bestow upon you nothing
permanent. But a warm hand has touched yours, and its
thrill told you that there was a living response there to
your emotion. One look, one human sigh, has done more for
you than the costliest present could convey.--_Robertson,_
1816-1853.

GOD'S IDEAL OF GOODNESS.

i. 17. _Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the
oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow._

This verse is more correctly translated thus--_"Learn to do well; seek judgment, restrain the oppressor, right the fatherless, maintain the cause of the widow."_--or, _"Learn to do good; seek out judgment, redress wrong, judge the fatherless, befriend the widow."_

The form of these admonitions was determined by the sins of which the rulers of Jerusalem had been guilty. By them the course of justice had been perverted (ver. 23; Micah iii. 11, &c.); wrongs had been left unredressed, and oppressors unrestrained; the orphans and the widows, having neither money to bribe nor power to overawe the corrupt judges, had sought in vain for justice,--such judges as our Lord has depicted in His parable (Luke xviii. 2) were common. The four specific admonitions of this verse are a divinely-inspired exposition of the general admonition with which it commences. So regarded, we find it in _God's ideal of goodness._ The command is given, "Learn to do well." Yes, but what is meant by learning to do well? "To do well," says the prophet, is "to seek out judgment, to restrain the oppressor, to judge the fatherless, to befriend the widow."

This Divine ideal of goodness is in startling opposition to certain standards of excellence widely accepted both in the Church and in the world. It is in opposition (1) to the idea that _a good man is one who does no harm._ How prevalent is the notion that a man who refrains from injuring his neighbours is a person worthy of high commendation! But to do no harm merely is to fall far short of the Scripture standard of excellence.[1] It is in opposition (2) to the idea that _a man who confines himself to the cultivation of personal virtues is a true follower of Christ._ In all our Churches there are multitudes of persons whose "religion" is a purely selfish consideration. They have been taught that certain excellences are necessary to qualify them for admission to heaven, and to the cultivation of these excellences they address themselves assiduously, merely that they may secure their own eternal well-being. But such persons fail to observe that the mind that was in Christ was not a spirit of self-seeking but of self-sacrifice. It is in opposition (3) to the idea that _the more spiritual a man is, the more indifferent he will be to what happens in the world._ It is precisely to concern as to what happens in the world that we are here called. We are to "seek out justice," to use all our influence that justice and righteousness shall prevail in the community in which we dwell. We are not simply to mourn over wrongs; we are to redress them, and we are to restrain the oppressors. Especially are we to see to it that justice is done to the orphans, and to all helpless ones such as they. The widow we are to befriend; she is to be our "client," and we are to see to it that she is not wronged because God has been pleased to remove her natural defender. To live thus for others, to be the friend of the friendless, the defender of the weak, the resolute opposer of all oppressors,--this and this only, is to realise the Divine ideal of goodness.[2]

APPLICATION.--1. _Men are good precisely in proportion as they are like God._[3] Between a merely "harmless" man and God there is no resemblance. Between a man who lives only to secure his own well-being and God there is a positive contrast. Between a man who is indifferent to the sorrows and the wrongs of his fellow-men there is still greater contrast. He is not indifferent to what takes place on earth. It is His supreme glory that He burns with indignation against oppression, and that He is the friend especially of the friendless and the weak (Ps. cxlvi. 7-9; cxlvii. 2-6). It is to resemblance to Him in these things, and not merely in abstinence from evil, that we are called (James i. 27). 2. _A selfish life is a godless life._ Men may be eminently respectable members of society, and highly esteemed members of churches, and yet be utterly unlike God. Men who live only for themselves, or to promote the happiness merely of their own households, and selfishly decline to take any part in philanthropic labours, or in social and political movements which have for their object the removal of public wrongs, are utterly out of sympathy with Him upon whose approval they reckon so confidently and so mistakenly. Had they any true love for God, they would have an unselfish love for men, and would be quick to feel and to resent the wrongs that are done them (1 John iii. 14, &c.) Dives was probably a highly respectable citizen of Jerusalem, and on good terms with the authorities of the temple, but the selfishness of his life sufficed at the last to exclude him from the Divine presence.[4] 3. _A godlike life can never be a life of ease._ How many members of our churches have incurred Christ's woe! (Luke vi. 26). Prudent men, they have been careful never to "meddle" in affairs of their neighbours; they have never identified themselves with any revolutionary movements; against wrongs which have not troubled themselves they have never uttered words of flaming indignation! And yet they imagine themselves to be followers of Him who spoke of "the cross" which each of His disciples would have to carry. What He meant by this saying is a mystery to them. But let them begin to endeavour to "learn to do well" and this saying of His will be a mystery to them no longer. The world will very soon hate them even as it hated Him. But this is one of the surest signs that we are His (John xv. 18, 19).

FOOTNOTES:

[1] He is not half a saint who is but a negative saint. The
forbearance of gross corruptions is the easiest and least
part of religion, and therefore will not speak any man in a
state of salvation. The tree that is barren and without
good fruit is for the fire, as well as the tree that brings
forth evil fruit.

For men to think to excuse themselves that they do no hurt,
wrong neither man, woman, or child, and are not, as the
Pharisee said, as the publicans, who generally were
oppressors, it but a vain, foolish thing. The idle servant
might have said, "Lord, I did no harm with my talent; I did
not lay it out in rioting and drunkenness, or any way to
Thy dishonour; I only hid it, and did not improve it,"--yet
this was enough to condemn him. Can we call ground good
ground for bearing no weeds, if it never bring forth good
corn? Or do we count that servant a good servant who doth
not wrong his master in the estate by purloining or wasting
it, if he live idle all day, and neglect the business his
master appoints him?--_Swinnock,_ 1673.

[2] A religion that does not take hold of the life that now is,
is like a cloud that does not rain. A cloud may roll in
grandeur, and be an object of admiration, but if it does
not rain, it is of little account so far as utility is
concerned. And a religion that consists in the observance
of magnificent ceremonies, but that does not touch the
duties of daily life, is a religion of show and of
sham.--_Beecher._

[3] To be godly is to be godlike. The full accord of all the
soul with His character, in whom, as their native home,
dwell "whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are
lovely," and the full conformity of the will to His
sovereign will, who is the life of our lives--this, and
nothing shallower, nothing narrower, is religion in its
perfection, and the measure in which we have attained to
this harmony with God is the measure in which we are
Christians. As two stringed instruments may be so tuned to
one keynote that if you strike the one, a faint ethereal
echo is heard from the other, which blends
undistinguishably with its parent sound; so drawing near to
God, and brought into unison with His mind and will, our
responsive spirits vibrate in accord with His, and give
forth tones, low and thin indeed, but still repeating the
mighty music of heaven.--_Maclaren._

[4] They are selfish--because they have no motive of action
beyond themselves. They individualise existence. The spider
weaves a web, and that is its world. It retires into its
corner for observation, and has no concern for any
surrounding objects, except as they may be caught upon its
net, and appropriated to its use. So they who live without
God reticulate life with selfishness. Nothing concerns them
except as it may be drawn into the mesh of scheming for
ministering to their own wants and wishes.--_Bellew._

GOD'S GRACIOUS INVITATION TO SINNERS.

i. 18. _Come now, and let us reason together, saith the
Lord; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as
white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall
be as wool._

It is scarcely possible to conceive of a more interesting and delightful exhibition of the love and mercy of God than is presented to us in these words; unless they had been found in the volume of eternal truth, we might have justly doubted their veracity. For the speaker is Jehovah, a Being infinitely happy and glorious in Himself. He needs not, on His own account, the return of the sinner to Himself. Besides, He is the offended party. How marvellous, then, that He should stoop to ask reconciliation with poor wretched man, the rebel and traitor against heaven. Notice--+I. The characters addressed.+ Not such as excel in moral excellency, but in the vilest and most degraded of sinners. How apt we are to think that such are past reclamation. Yet it is to these that the invitation of our text is addressed--those whose sins are as scarlet and crimson. This description includes--1. _Those whose sins are glaring and manifest._ In the heart of men there is much evil that man or angel never sees. External circumstances act in the moral world as the shore to the ocean, limiting and bounding its waters. The control thus exerted upon men is well for them, for society, and for the Church. But numbers cast it off, sin in open day, and glory in their shame. Their sins are as scarlet or as crimson. 2. _Those whose iniquities are specially productive of much evil and misery_--ringleaders in sin; ridiculers of piety, who labour to throng the road to hell; ungodly masters; ungodly heads of households, &c. 3. _Those who have sinned against great privileges and mercies_ (Matt. xi. 20-24). As it is with nations and cities, so it is with individuals.[1] How many have had privileges of a high character--pious parents, religious society, a faithful ministry, special providences, &c. 4. _Backsliders,_ who by their fall have hardened others in iniquity, and caused them to scoff at religion. 5. _Aged transgressors._ +II. The invitation presented.+ "Come and let us reason," &c. He wishes to have your state and condition tested by reason. He gives you opportunities of self-defence; He is willing to hear all your motives, arguments, &c. Now, will you come to God, and reason with Him? What will you say? 1. _You cannot plead ignorance._ You have seen the evil of your way, and yet have chosen it. 2. _You cannot plead necessity._ The Jews of old declared that they were not free agents, and that they could not help committing the sins of which they were guilty (Jer. vii. 10). This is the grossest self-deception. It cannot be the will of God that you should do evil (1 Thess. iv. 3; James i. 13; 1 Pet. i. 16). To attribute our sins to Him is the most outrageous impiety. You have sinned freely; it has been your own act and choice. 3. _You must plead guilty._ Cast yourself on the mercy of God, pleading guilty, you shall not be condemned, if--4. _You plead the merits of Christ._ He is "the propitiation for our sin." Here is your hope, your plea. In availing yourself of this plea, all that God requires is repentance and faith. +III. The gracious promise.+--_Jabez Burns, D.D., Pulpit Cyclopædia,_ iii. 161-165.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] All our sins are of a "crimson" dye, for remember, it is
not needful to have steeped our hands in a brother's blood
to make our guilt "scarlet." God measures sins by
privileges. One evil thought in one man is as much as a
thousand crimes in another man.--_Vaughan._

CLEANSING FOR THE VILEST.

i. 18. _Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as
white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall
be as wool._

We are informed by the Rabbins that the high priest bound a scarlet fillet round the neck of the scapegoat, and that when the priest confessed his own sins and the sins of the people, the fillet became white if the atonement was accepted by God, but that if it was not accepted, the fillet remained scarlet still. The Rabbins further say that the goat was led about twelve furlongs out of Jerusalem where it was thrown down a precipice, and was mangled to atoms by the fall. In case of the sacrifice being received by Heaven, a scarlet ribbon which hung at the door of the temple changed from scarlet to pure white. They affirm that it is to this changing of the fillet and ribbon from scarlet to white that Isaiah refers in our text. While we regard these as fictions, and not as facts, they serve to illustrate the nature and greatness of the change spoken of in it. +I. Scarlet and crimson represent sins of excessive and glaring notoriety.+ 1. The soul has been steeped in the dyeing element. 2. It has carried away as much of the dyeing quality as it can hold. It is twice dipped in the dye-vat. 3. The sins glare and arrest the eye like scarlet in the sun. As the uniform of the British soldier is most conspicuous, so these sins glare in the eye (1) of society, (2) of conscience, (3) of Divine justice. +II. Scarlet and crimson symbolise the fast and permanent hold of these sins upon the soul.+ 1. The sins are not a _stain_ but a _dye._ 2. The sins are not superficial: they have penetrated into the fabric, every thread of which has been dyed. The faculties are the threads: the whole man the web. 3. The sins are not typified by _any_ dye, but by _scarlet_ and _crimson,_ which are as permanent as the fabric they colour. They resist sun, dew, rain, the wash. +III. Scarlet and crimson becoming white as snow represents the perfect removal of the greatest sins.+ The colouring element is removed. The soul is _restored._ The power that removes the sin yet saves the soul. _Application._--There is hope, then, even for the vilest. The most desperately sinful need not despair.[1]--_J. Stirling._

FOOTNOTES:

[1] In nature there is hardly a stone that is not capable of
crystallising into something purer and brighter than its
normal state. Coal, by a slightly different arrangement of
its particles, is capable of becoming the radiant diamond.
The slag cast out from the furnace as useless waste forms
into globular masses of radiating crystals. From tar and
pitch the loveliest colours are now manufactured. The very
mud of the road, trampled under foot as the type of all
impurity, can be changed by chemical art into metals and
gems of surpassing beauty; and so the most unpromising
materials, the most worthless moral rubbish that man cast
out and despise, may be converted by the Divine alchemy
into the gold of the sanctuary, and made jewels fit for the
mediatorial crown of the Redeemer. Let the case of Mary
Magdalene, of John Newton, of John Bunyan, of thousands
more, encourage those who are still in the gall of
bitterness and in the bond of iniquity. Seek to be
subjected to the same purifying process; lay yourselves
open to the same spiritual influences; yield yourselves up
into the hands of the Spirit to become His finished and
exquisite workmanship; seek diligently a saving and
sanctifying union with Christ by faith, and He will perfect
that which concerneth you, and lay your stones with fair
colours (Ps. lxviii. 13).--_Macmillan._

COMFORT FOR THE DESPONDING.

i. 18. _Come now, and let us reason together, saith the
Lord; Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as
white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall
be as wool._

Some are kept in a desponding state--+I. By the views they entertain of the sovereignty of God and the doctrine of election.+ But--1. The election of God, whatever it is, is an election _unto life,_ and not unto destruction. It should therefore be a source of encouragement, not discouragement; it should awaken hope and joy, rather than despondency. 2. God's election is _His_ rule of action, not yours: yours is the Bible.[1] 3. The thing you are required to believe in order to salvation is not your election, but God's truth. 4. In your present state you have nothing to do with election;[2] but if you will entertain the question, the _evidence_ is much more in favour of your election than against it. +II. By the views they take of certain isolated passages of Scripture+ (Matt. xii. 31, 32; Heb. xii. 17; Prov. i. 24-31). Not one of these passages, rightly understood, need quench your hope. Where there is one obscure passage that seems to make against you, there is a hundred which plainly and positively tell you that if you turn you shall live, if you believe you shall be saved. +III. By an apprehension that their repentance has not been deep enough.+ But--1. The genuineness of your repentance is not to be estimated by the pungency of your feelings.[3] 2. It is not the depth of your feelings that is your warrant to come to Christ. 3. Your penitential feelings will not be likely to be increased by staying away from Christ. +IV. By the fear that they have gone too far and sinned too much to be forgiven.+ But, admitting the very worst you can say of yourself, there is everything in the character of God, in the work of Christ, in the power of the Spirit, in the experience of other sinners,[4] in the promises of the Bible, to inspire and sustain your hope.--_John Corbin._

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Whatever the decrees of God be concerning the eternal state
of men, since they are secret to us, they can certainly be
no rule either of our duty or comfort. And no man hath
reason to think himself rejected of God who does not find
the marks of reprobation in himself--I mean an evil heart
and life. By this, indeed, a man may know that he is out of
God's favour for the present; but he hath no reason at all
from hence to conclude that God hath from all eternity and
for ever cast him off. That God calls him to repentance,
and affords him the space and means of it, is a much
plainer sign that God is willing to have mercy upon him,
than anything else can be that God hath utterly cast him
off. For men to judge of their condition by the decrees of
God, which are hid from us, and not by His Word, which is
near us, is as if a man wandering in the wide sea in a dark
night, when the heaven is all clouded, should resolve to
steer his course by the stars which he cannot see, but only
guess at, and neglect the compass which is at hand, and
would afford him much better and more certain
direction.--_Tillotson,_ 1630-1694.

[2] We have no ground at first to trouble ourselves about God's
election. "Secret things belong to God." God's revealed
will is, that all who believe in Christ should not perish.
It is my duty, therefore, knowing this, to believe: by
doing whereof I put that question, whether God be mine or
no? out of all question, for all that believe in Christ are
Christ's, and all that are Christ's are God's. It is not my
duty to look to God's secret counsel, but to His open
offer, invitation, and command, and thereupon adventure my
soul. In war men will venture their lives, because they
think some will escape, and why not they? In traffic beyond
the seas many adventure a great estate, because some grow
rich by a good return, though some miscarry. The husbandman
adventures his seed, though sometimes the year proves so
bad that he never sees it more. And shall not we make a
spiritual adventure, in casting ourselves upon God, when we
have so good a warrant as His command, and so good an
encouragement as His promise, that He will not fail those
that rely on Him?--_Sibbes,_ 1577-1635.

[3] I see no reason to call in question the truth and sincerity
of that man's repentance who hates sin and forsakes, and
returns to God and his duty, though he cannot shed tears,
and express the bitterness of his soul by the same
significations that a mother does in the loss of her only
son. He that cannot weep like a child may resolve like a
man, and that undoubtedly will find acceptance with God.
Two persons walking together espy a serpent; the one
shrieks and cries out at the sight of it, the other kills
it. So it is with sorrow for sin; some express it by great
lamentations and tears, and vehement transports of passion;
others by greater and more real effects of detestation--by
forsaking their sins, by mortifying and subduing their
lusts; but he that kills it doth certainly best express his
inward enmity against it.--_Tillotson,_ 1630-1694.

[4] Oh who can read of a _Manasseh,_ a _Magdalene,_ a _Saul,_
yes, an _Adam,_ who undid himself and a whole world with
him, in the roll of pardoned sinners, and yet turn away
from the promise, out of a fear that there is not mercy fit
in it to serve his turn? These are landmarks that show what
large boundaries mercy hath set for itself, and how far it
hath gone, even to take into its arms the greatest sinners
that make not themselves incapable thereof by final
impenitency. It were a healthful walk, poor doubting
Christian, for thy soul go to this circuit, and oft see
where the utmost stone is laid and boundary set by God's
pardoning mercy, beyond which He will not go.--_Gurnall,_
1617-1679.

SIN AND GRACE.

i. 18. _Come now, and let us reason together, saith the
Lord; Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white
as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as
wool._

For an exposition of the symbolism of this verse, see note.[1]