66 And this is the very image the prophet applies to the Messiah: "He shall see his seed." "He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied." Paul and his companions call the Thessalonians their "glory and joy." Yet they were only ministers by whom they believed. If converts are the glory and joy of those who are only the instruments of their conversion, how much more are they the glory and joy of him who is the author of it! It is the joy of benevolence. No pleasure is so unselfish; so pure so blissful in prospect, and in review, as the pleasure of doing good. But this pleasure will always be in proportion to the degree of benevolent disposition in the benefactor. Who then can imagine the measure of delight in the communication of his favours He must enjoy, "whose heart is made of tenderness," who, when he was rich for our sakes became poor, and died that we might live? O that we ! were as willing to be blessed as he is to deliver and to indulge us.) Then the giver and the receiver would rejoice together. The joy is encouraging. The awakened and convinced sinner feels his need of strong consolation. But why should he despond? Why should he ask, will he receive me if I apply to him? Does not the Saviour command him to look? Does he not invite him to come? Does he not complain that he will not come? And does not his application afford him pleasure? In pleading with you therefore, O sinner, we have to urge his interest as well as your own. You have long enough dishonoured him, and grieved his holy Spirit. Surely now you ought to delight him; and there is one thing by which you may be sure to do it. Retire with weeping and supplication to his footstool: and cry, Lord, save, I perish; and thy sorrows and sighs will yield him as much satisfaction as the songs of angels-"The prayer of the upright is his delight." : The joy is exemplary. As Christians we must not only depend upon him, but resemble him: not only glory in his cross, but tread in his steps. We are commanded to walk in love as Christ also. hath loved us and are assured that if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. Let therefore his grief be our grief: let his joy be our joy and let his joy be fulfilled in us. Let us spare no exertions, let us grudge no sacrifices in our concern to save sinners. Let the work be its own reward. Let the very doing of it be our pleasure. It is what he himself enjoins and expects. "And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost." The persons intended are angels and saints. The former readily comply: "There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth." And can the latter refuse? They who have themselves been recovered and restored? They who have known the misery of sin, and the joy of his salvation? Can they see the grace of God and not be glad? NOVEMBER 10.-"Unto you therefore which believe he is precious"-1 Peter ii. 7. YET there are many to whom he is not precious who yet believe, and would be offended if they were called infidels. Peter cannot therefore refer to every kind of belief. There is a faith which is without works, and dead, being alone. But "the faith of God" is operative. It "worketh by love ;" and especially love to the Saviour. When we consider how much depends upon faith; that it is the principle of all genuine religion; that it is the medium of our justification; that we are saved through faith; and that by faith we live and walk; it must be of great importance to know whether we are the subjects of it: and accordingly we are commanded to "examine ourselves whether we be in the faith." And here we are furnished with one of the most pleasing and convincing evidences of the fact. It is the endearment of the Lord Jesus. Is he in our view fairer than the children of men? Is he altogether lovely? all our salvation and all our desire ? our glory and our joy? He is so to them that believe-To them " that believe he is precious." But if this preciousness be the evidence of faith, it is no less the consequence of it. The saints in light do not require faith to endear him. They no longer walk by faith, but by sight. Ah! ye spirits of just men made perfect, in whose number we now reckon many of our own connexions, you see him as he is, and are satisfied by beholding his face in righteousness! But if he is made precious to us in this world it must be by faith. For, first, it is by faith that we gain our information concerning him. We cannot love him without knowing him: but it is faith alone that reveals him to the mind, and tells us where he is, and what he is, and what he possesses, and what he has done, and suffered, and promised. And, secondly, it is only by faith we can, when he is known, make use of him for all the purposes he is ordained to accomplish. He is the refuge, and he is the food of the soul: but a refuge cannot secure us unless it be entered; and food cannot nourish us unless it be eaten but this application to him, and of him, is the work of faith. It is not a mere notion, but an actual experience, that attaches the Christian to Christ. He has "received him," and received him "full of grace and truth." He has found him infinitely suited to all his wants, and adequate to his relief. Yea, he has healed his broken heart, he has calmed his troubled conscience, he has made him free indeed, he has given him boldness and access with confidence into the holiest of all. And he does not need to be told that all this is the effect of believing on the name of the only begotten Son of God. Thirdly, without faith we have no complacency in him. We cannot esteem and rejoice in any thing unless we feel some congeniality with it. “They that are after the flesh do mind," that is, love, savour, and relish, "the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit." And to "be spiritually minded is life and peace." Christ is a holy, spiritual, heavenly Saviour. He was named Jesus because he was to save his people from their sins: and he gave himself for them, that he might redeem them from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. A natural man therefore can have no delight in him or communion with him; "for what communion hath light with darkness, or what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness?" But to a believer he is precious because he has this principle of conformity. He has the Spirit of Christ; and he received this Spirit not by the works of the law, but by the hearing of faith. His heart is purified; and the heart is purified by faith. He is sanctified, and we are sanctified by faith that is in him. It follows from the admission of this truth, that the reason why he is not more precious, is because of our remaining unbelief. Wherefore let us pray always that our God would count us worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness and the work of faith with power: that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in us, and we in him." NOVEMBER 11.-"He is precious.”—1 Peter ii. 7. We have seen to whom he is precious. "To them that believe." Let us now ask what proofs do they give of this preciousness? And in what seasons do they peculiarly realize the force of it? In evidence of this preciousness see how he fills their minds. To the miser his money is precious, and therefore his mind dwells upon it: the child is precious to the mother, and therefore she cannot forget it-So the believer thinks of Jesus, and his thoughts of him are frequent and pleasant. "My meditation of him shall be sweet. How precious are thy thoughts unto me, O God, how great is the sum of them-when I awake I am still with thee." See how he employs his tongue. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. The impressions made upon our feelings by an object pre-eminently dear and interesting, can hardly be restrained. When the Pharisees desired our Lord to silence the multitude who were acclaiming him in the temple; he answered, "If these should hold their peace the stones would cry out." And when Peter and John were ordered by the council to speak no more in the name of Jesus; they replied, "We cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard." David therefore says, "My mouth shall show forth thy righteousness and thy salvation all the day; for I know not the numbers thereof." And he could equally reckon upon the disposition of others: "Thy saints shall bless thee. They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power; to make known to the sons of men his mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of his kingdom." See also what sacrifices they are willing to make for him. For him, says Paul, I have suffered the loss of all things. The noble army of martyrs followed him to prison and to death. There is the same spirit in believers now, and they evince it as far as opportunity allows. They go forth to him without the camp, bearing his reproach. For his sake they endure the sneers of neighbours, the frowns of friends, the menaces of superiors. For his sake they give up the world; and all their sins, though dear as a right eye, or profitable as a right hand; yea, and forsake all that they have, as far as it comes in competition with him. Their regard appears too in their valuing every thing in relation to him. They are never so pleased with the works of nature as when they are emblems of his beauty and glory. They are never so delighted with ordinances as when they are mediums of communion with him. The Bible is most precious, as it is the word of Christ, and testifies of him. Heaven is most attractive as a place in which they shall be with him to behold his glory. No cause interests them like his. Their very souls are identified with it. They are sorrowful for the solemn assembl,, and the reproach of it is their burden: while no news equals the success of his affairs, and the increase of his empire. In a word, he is so dear and essential to them, that nothing can be a substitute for him on earth or in heaven; while he can be a substitute for any thing-for every thing: "Although the fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vine; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off fron the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation." Thus he is always undeniably precious to them that believe: yet there are seasons in which they peculiarly feel the force of it. Such is the day of effectual calling. If ever food is relished it is when we are hungry. If ever we prize the physician, it is when we are sick, and long for health and cure. Our Lord promised to send the Holy Spirit, to convince us of sin, and to glorify himself: and the former is necessary to the latter. When we see our true character and condition as sinners, then the proud looks are humbled, and the lofty looks are laid low, and the Lord alone is exalted. Such is the Sabbath. It is named in honour of him "the Lord's day." It is to bring him to our remembrance as rising from the dead, and entering into his rest after finishing the work that was given him to do. His people hold some communion with him through the week: but week days are always in a degree worldly days. They have some glimpses of him, and some words from him, in pressing through their ordinary concerns. But they want larger and more intimate intercourse with their best friend. And when the Sabbath comes they take him to their retirement, and he manifests himself to them. And they go to his own house, where they see his power and glory in the sanctuary, and praise him with joy ful lips. Such is the period of holy fellowship at his table. In reference to this, where is the believer who has not been able to say, I sat under his shadow with delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste? In no other duty have we such views of him as here. We see him in the very act of dying for us. He is evidently set forth crucified among us. As a risen Saviour he comes and shows us his hands and his feet, and assures us that because he lives we shall live also. Such is the day of trouble. A friend is born for adversity, and endeared by the time of need; but many who wear the name are then found to withdraw themselves. But he comes near-and must come near if his word can be trusted-"I will be with thee in trouble." He is touched with the feeling of our infirmities, and in all our affliction he is afflicted. Human friendship, when sincere and lively, is limited. But nothing is too hard for the Lord. He can comfort us in all our tribulation; and turn the shadow of death into the morning. Such is a dying day. The day of trouble may come, the day of death will come; and if it does not bring Christ with it!-But if he is with us when heart and flesh fail; if we can by faith view Jesus as having put away our sin by the sacrifice of himself, as going to prepare a place for us, and as coming again to receive us to himself, that where he is there we may be also; this will turn VOL. II. 22 the chamber of sickness into the house of God and the gate of heaven-we shall be joyful in glory, and shout aloud upon our beds "Jesus, the vision of thy face Hath overpowering charms; Scarce shall I feel death's cold embrace, If Christ be in my arms. "Then, while ye hear my heartstrings break, How sweet my moments roll! NOVEMBER 12.-"Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him: on the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him."-Job xxiii. 8, 9. : SOME have considered this allusively, and exemplified it thus-I go forward;" forward to the promises. These abound in the Scriptures, are adapted to all our wants, and provide for a great while to come; and there was a time when I could claim them as my own, and plead them in prayer, and make them my songs in the house of my pilgrimage: now they seem only the property of others, and if they are not wells without water, they seem as springs shut up, and fountains sealed to me-I go "forward, but he is not there."I go "backward;" backward to experience. I once thought that I had been convinced of sin, that I had trembled at his word, that I had rejoiced in his salvation, that my fellowship had been with the Father and his Son Jesus Christ: now my former views and feelings, my distresses and my comforts, and which I had supposed to be spiritual and divine, appear suspicious, and I fear I have no part or lot in the matter; and that my heart has never been right in the sight of God-I go "backward, but I cannot perceive him." I turn to "the left hand, where he doth work, and survey the operations of nature." These are his inferior doings, but they are the produce of his wisdom, power, and goodness; and all his works praise him. And there was a time when in the field, the meadow, the garden, I walked with God. I saw his sun rising upon the evil and the good, and his rain coming down, and his paths dropping fatness. Every thing seemed full of God. Yea, I saw my Redeemer in the rose and in the lily, and said, As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my Beloved among the sons: now creation seems a kind of blank-"I cannot behold him."-I turn "to the right hand," among his nobler works of grace. I think of the glories of redemption, the operations of his Holy Spirit; I mingle with his people in the sanctuary, I repair to the table of my dying LordBut he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him." Now all this is true in itself, and many a reader perhaps may be able to make it his own. But evangelical spiritualizers have not a little injured the Scripture, by giving it meanings which are not its What is true in doctrine is not always true in the text, from which, by force or artifice, it is derived. A preacher is bound, however he may use it as an allusion or illustration, to inculcate the true and real import of every passage. Therefore we observe that Job here, by a fulness of phraseology, would express his ignorance and perplexity with regard to God's present dispositions and dispensa own. |