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world which worketh death," for that "godly sorrow which worketh repentance unto life, and needeth not to be repented of."

AUGUST 10.-"The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage.”—Psalm xvi. 6.

We may put this acknowledgment into the mouth of AN INHABI

TANT OF THIS FAVOURED COUNTRY.

People are naturally attached to a land in which they were born and brought up, and with which all their earliest recollections and feelings are associated. It has pleasures and charms for them that others know not of. And who would be cruel enough to deprive them of their preference? and make them miserable by comparison? Rather, who would not rejoice that there is no region so absolutely dreary and barren as to have no flowers and attractions scattered over it by the kindness of Providence, to bind them to their native soil, and to make it painful to leave their own country and their father's house?

Yet we need not confound things that differ; and it would be the strangest inconsideration and ingratitude, were we, as Englishmen, to be unaffected with the advantages we enjoy in this highly distinguished and indulged country. We refer not to our extensive dominion, far surpassing the Roman world, having more than sixty millions under our sway, in one part of our dominion only. Neíther do we admire the manner in which our dominion has sometimes been acquired and enlarged; though we are persuaded the conquerors will prove blessings to the conquered. In a thousand. instances we are far from faultless. But,

"England, with all thy faults I love thee still!"

And how much is there, whatever view I take, to induce the acknowledgment, "The lines are fallen to me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage." Let me think of our insular situation, in consequence of which we are open to commerce; guarded from invasion; and even in war itself know so little of its ravages, never hearing the confused noise of warriors, or seeing garments dipped in blood. Let me think of the temperature of our atmosphere, in which we are not frozen to statues, or dissolved in heat. Let me think of our freedom from tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, pestilences. Let me think of a country where the seasons regu larly return and melt into each other-where are the sweet interchanges of hill and vale, and wood and lawn-where the pastures are clothed with flocks and herds-where the fields and valleys stand thick with corn-where we are fed with the finest of the wheat. Let me think of a country whose merchants are princes, and whose traffickers are the honourable of the earth-a country ennobled by the zeal of patriots, enriched by the blood of martyrs, endeared and sacred by the dust of a pious multitude without number-a country illustrious by every kind of genius, and by every improvement in science and in art-a country in whose well-balanced constitution are blended the advantages of monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy, without their defects-a country whose government is equally averse to tyranny and anarchy; where none

Let

are above law and none below it; where liberty has so long fixed her abode; where religious opinions produce no civil disabilities; where all persecution is excluded; and where every man sits under his own vine and vineyard, and none can make him afraid. me think of a country where charity and compassion reign not only in numberless personal acts, but in a thousand institutions to meet every kind of distress, and lessen the sum of human woe. Let me think of a country possessing not only so many natural, intellectual, civil, and social advantages, but so many moral and religious privileges; where not only the darkness of paganism, but of superstition is past, and the true light shineth; where the Scriptures are found in our own language, and all are allowed to read them, and able to procure them; where the word of life is preached, and we can hear the joyful sound of the truth as it is in Jesus; where the Gospel of Christ is not only spreading widely among ourselves, but zealous and persevering efforts are making by individuals and communities to convey it to others-Where shall I end? And can I glance at all this, and not say, "It is a good land which the Lord our God hath given us?" Ought I not to be thankful to him who determines the bounds of my habitation, and performeth all things for me? Ought I not to bear with patience and cheerfulness a few difficulties and trials inseparable from a condition so favoured and indulged? Ought I not to be concerned to improve my privileges, and to fear the danger arising from so great a responsibility? Where much is given, will not much be required? Was not Capernaum that was exalted unto heaven thrust down to hell? Did not God say to the Jews, You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore you will I punish? And ought I not to dwell in the land, and to do all in my power to promote the righteousness which exalteth a nation? And should not I pray for its safety, and peace, and prosperity? "Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their children. And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it."

AUGUST 11.-"The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage."-Psalm xvi. 6.

WE may put this acknowledgment into the mouth of A CHRIS

TIAN WITH REGARD TO HIS SPIRITUAL CONDITION.

Read the preceding verse: "The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot." What wonder then that the possessor should exclaim, "The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage." He uses but one word in describing his estate, but it is the most comprehensive. Had he written volumes, and enumerated all the treasures of heaven, and earth, and sea, he would have said less, and to far less purpose, than in saying, "The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance." The greater includes the less. If He be mine, what is the substance of my portion but his fulness? and the measure of my portion but his immensity? and the duration of my portion but his eternity? Yet this is the truth of the case; in the

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everlasting covenant ordered in all things and sure, he has been pleased to make over himself to his people, with all he is, and all he has. " "I will be thy God. I will pardon thy sins. I will sanetify thy nature. I will supply all thy need. I will be light to thy darkness. I will be strength to thy weakness. I will bless thy bread and thy water. All my ways towards thee shall be mercy and truth. All things shall work together for thy good. I will guide thee with my counsel, and afterward receive thee to glory." This is no more than the meanest Christian may claim and exult in. Meanest did we say? We retract the term. A Christian may be afflicted and poor; but he cannot be mean-He is one of the excellent of the earth, of whom the world is not worthy. Let the rich and the great bring together all their claims, and make their boast, the poorest Christian beggars them all; for he can say, "God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever." And he ought to preserve a sense of this in his mind. He ought to live nobly. He ought to feel contentedly in whatsoever state he is. He ought not to envy others their good things; nor sink like others under losses and trials. When their lamps are put out they are in utter darkness; but the Sun of righteousness arises upon him. When their vessels are broken all their comforts are gone; but he has the fountain of living waters-They have no God; but "the Lord is the portion of his inheritance."

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If from viewing his state essentially he examines it comparatively, he will have fresh reason to exclaim, “The lines are fallen to me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage." For what should we value a heritage? We should commend it for healthfulness. No heritage would be deemed pleasant and goodly that was injurious to health, without which we can relish nothing. The apprehension of losing this all-important blessing would alone induce us to resign any situation, unless we were compelled to remain in it. But such is the Christian's heritage, that all those who have lived upon it, however disordered before, have been restored to a miracle, and each of them could say, I am a wonder unto many. We should commend it for fertility. Hence Moses extols Canaan as a land flowing with milk and honey, and in which there was no scarceness. In like manner he says of Joseph; "Blessed of the Lord be his land, for the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and for the deep that coucheth beneath, and for the precious fruits brought forth by the sun, and for the precious things put forth by the moon, and for the chief things of the ancient mountains, and for the precious things of the lasting hills." No earthly inheritance can yield the possessor every thing he wants; but God's riches in glory by Christ Jesus can supply all the Christian's need. We should commend it for safety. The best heritage would fetch little that had no defence, but was open to invasion and injury. There is nothing that adds so much to the enjoyment of a possession as a sense of security: sitting under our own vine and fig tree, and none making us afraid. Upon all the Christian's glory there is a defence. His soul dwells at ease: and he is in quiet from the fear of evil. An heritage would not be deemed pleasant or goodly if cut off from the privilege of intercourse. Christians have the communion of saints. There is an open and constant communication between

them and heaven.

his Son Jesus Christ.

Their fellowship is with the Father and with

Blessed are the people that are in such a case: yea, happy is the people whose God is the Lord.

AUGUST 12." They shall cry unto the Lord because of the oppressors, and he shall send them a saviour, and a great one."-Isaiah xix. 20.

LET us consider these words in the noblest exemplification of which they are susceptible; and let us remark what they say of the saved and what they say of the Saviour.

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What they say of the saved: "They shall cry unto the Lord because of the oppressors." The representation includes their stateThey are oppressed, and their oppressors are worse enemies than any of the conquerors who have enslaved nations. They are more base, and vile, and cruel, and reduce their vassals to far greater wretchedness and ruin. And we cannot mistake who these tyrants are, when we know that "the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the Devil," that he “might deliver us from this present evil world," that he might "turn every one of us away from our iniquities," that he might save his people from their sins." It includes their sensibility. Many are unwilling to own their condition; and resemble the Jews, who, when our Lord spoke of making them free, exclaimed, "We were never in bondage to any man," though they had been captives to every neighbouring power, and were then a Roman province. But these are awakened to consider, and enlightened to see their deplorable estate. This is what divines call conviction of sin; and which commonly operates in the following order. The man first feels the effects of his sin. The prodigal began to be in want: I here perish with hunger: I will arise. Then he feels the guilt of sin, and learns that whatever miseries he has brought upon himself here, they are only the beginnings of sorrow, and a small part of his desert. The soul that sinneth it shall die. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hand of the living God. Who can dwell with everlasting burnings? At last he becomes sensible of the pollution of sin, as the defilement of the soul, and as rendering him unfit for communion with a holy God-" Behold, I am vile: wherefore I abhor myself, repenting in dust and ashes." It includes also their disposition"They cry unto the Lord" for relief and deliverance. Conviction of sin always issues in earnest prayer: and such prayer cannot be in vain.

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He shall send them a Saviour"-And what is said of him? A single distinction is given him: but how much does it contain! and how suitable, how necessary is it to meet our wants! Our case is beyond expression difficult; yea, it is desperate in itself, and also with regard to " the help of men and angels joined." Every kind of saviour therefore will not do for us; he must be mighty to save: and our help is laid on one that is mighty-He shall send them a Saviour;" and a great one." He is so in four respects. A great one if we consider the dignity of his person. The grandest titles are not withholden from him in the Scriptures of truth. There he is not only the child born, and the son given, but the mighty God. VOL. II.

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There he is not only the man and the sufferer, but the maker of all things: "all things were created by him and for him." Can we think too highly of such a Saviour? Can we confide in him too confidently? Can our interests ever fail in such hands? "I know," says Paul, "whom I have believed, and am persuaded he is able to keep that which I have committed to him against that day."

A great one if we consider the immensity of the number he saves. These have been commonly few compared with their cotemporaries; yet the aggregate of them from the beginning is a countless multitude. But when we look to the future, we read of the nations of them that are saved. It is said, he shall sprinkle many nations. Yea, all nations shall be blessed in him: all flesh shall see the salvation of God.

A great one if we consider the vastness of the deliverance he achieves. It is called "so great salvation:" inexpressibly, inconceivably great. What are all other salvations compared with this? They free us from some evils, this saves us from all evil. They confer some advantages, this secures every advantage. They are temporal, this is eternal: " Israel shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation; they shall not be ashamed or confounded, world without end."

A great one if we consider that his sufficiency reaches beyond every extremity. Hence, says the Apostle, "He is able to save unto the uttermost." His blood cleanses from the greatest guilt. His grace can enlighten the darkest understanding, and soften the hardest heart, and subdue the most rebellious will-Nothing is too hard for the Lord.

But some may be ready to say, you need not enlarge here. We do not question his ability-but his readiness to save. Is he a willing Saviour? In answer to this, we observe, First, That the assurance of his ability is an implication of his willingness: for it would be useless, it would be worse than useless, it would tantalize and torment us, were we informed that our perishing condition was within the compass of his power, but not within the reach of his pity. And, Secondly, the sacred writers would think his compassion was taken for granted, and that no one could possibly doubt the inclination of his heart. Who, without our solicitation, remembered us in our low estate, and said, Deliver from going down into the pit, I have found a ransom? Who took upon him flesh and blood, and came into the world to save sinners? Who, when rich, for our sakes became poor? Who died for the ungodly? Who has said, and confirmed it by his oath, by his blood, and by every instance of his conduct, "him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out?"—" Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief."

AUGUST 13.-"And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it JEHOVAH-nissi."-Exod. xvii. 15.

It was upon the defeat of Amalek and his people that Moses built this altar for sacrifice and thanksgiving. But what is the import of the name he gave it; JEHOVAH-NISSI? The Lord my banner. A banner is a military flag, standard, or ensign, commonly coloured and figured, carried in war, and displayed to collect, re

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