' !' '' > > '< ' «> ¦ i, i' :#®sa^-; ¦''!'P'f''f vl ";*S !iV^;.W*A'.>'iv;;'.;.'iS'!^-'- ! '''•.¦ J' ..a. A ........ A i &« «'£¦ Sf° '¦'.'.- S ' t ' , ' . (, \ 'f Illiiilil V^'frVWiY^-ftw^tii. k'^f>::-'f'.^' , ,', ' i 1 Vi 31111111111 1';'?ij*(iv!vS:7.!7K,.;SS:,5: 11 r<'u *:/?.& a eople that when appearances all look as if their destruction was imminent, they are still safe. They have fears within and fightings without. They have the world, the flesh and the devil leagued against them. Perhaps there is not a government on earth which has not some anti-christian legislation, that might become a trap and a snare to a good man's conscience. The thousandth part of the war waged, or the conspiracies formed, and of the blood and treasure expended against Christ's cause, would have rooted out from the earth any institution ever established among men, other than 148 JEHOVAH-JIREH. the kingdom of Christ. Still it lives, yea, it flourishes. How is this ? The sole answer is, That in Providence, God fulfils his promises : " No weapon formed against thee shall prosper," Isa. liv. 17; and, "Though I make a full end of all nations, yet will I not make a full end of thee : but I will correct thee in measure." Jer. xxx. 11. Beziers is besieged. The Protestant cause depends on its safety. The besieged are secure. The bell begins to ring at midnight. Every man is at his post just in time to repel the assault with dismay to the foe. Who rang that alarm bell ? Not some faithful sentinel, but a drunken man in a frolic, not knowing what he was doing. Surely God's hand was strikingly in this matter. Paris is drenched in Protestant gore. For three days and nights the blood-hounds of regal and papal persecution devour the flock of Christ. His people, who are slain, are gathered home to the Redeemer's bosom. But some of them God would still keep alive for important purposes. One man takes refuge in an oven. His pursuers search diligently for him. They are within a yard of him, but they find him not. Why do they not look into the oven? Just as he entered it, God sent a spider quickly to weave a thick web over its mouth ; he then sent a flaw of wind to fill the web with dust ; and so the bloody men said, Our victim is not here. Thus God saved, the life of SPECIAL PROVIDENCE OYER SAINTS. 149 Du Moulin (the Molinseus of Church History.) Must he not have been an atheist if he could have denied God's hand in this affair? A voyage of four thousand miles has been performed, doubling Cape Horn, and that in a small boat. Was not God's hand visible here? It is not known* that any of these voyagers, who had just escaped butchery by mutineers, were pious men ; but the last day will probably show that they were saved in answer to the prayers of some child of God ; and they must have been brutish not to have said to their friends or to each other as they made the shore, Here is the finger of God. A thief, who had a few moments before stolen a bottle of warm milk hears a noise, and drops his bottle in the forest. By this means a persecuted minister and his wife, as they sit sadly down on a rock and find it, are able to give food to their little child, ready to die for want of nourishment. Marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty. VII. God often saves his people by leading them to go where they never intended to go, and where they are sorry to find they have gone, and to do what they never desired to do. The life of Augustine in the 5th century, the life of Dr. John Rodgers of the 18th cen tury, and the life of Rev. William Calhoun of the 19th century were all preserved from destruction by deadly enemies, who hated their doctrine, and lay in wait to 13* 150 JEHOVAH-JIREH. put them to death on roads, which these servants of God intended to travel, but from which they unac countably wandered. " Living and dying do not go by probabilities." God has one end; man another. Joseph had no design of becoming prime minister of Egypt, temporal saviour of the world, and so a type of the great Redeemer, when he told his dreams to his brethren, or when he went to Shechem. Yet had he failed to do either, he had not stood in his lot and ful filled his course. God's ways are unsearchable and his judgments past finding out. SPECIAL PROVIDENCE OVER SAINTS. 151 CHAPTER XIII. THE SPECIAL KINDNESS OF PROVIDENCE TOWARDS GOOD MEN CONTINUED. fTlHE lives of good men do much in furnishing the -¦- history of redemption. Let us pursue the subject. VIII. Because God is omnipotent and controls all causes, he can save as well without miracle as with it. For three successive days does a copious shower put out the fire kindled by savages to burn alive a prisoner who was a child of prayer. Yet the clouds which dropped down these rains may have arisen entirely under the influence of natural causes. Indeed preser vation and other blessings secured to God's people in his ordinary providence are no less safe and certain, and no less fit to be matters of grateful meditation than if secured by suspending the laws of nature. To a considerate mind they are perhaps even more so. By an act of volition God could create and send down to each man's door the baked loaves from heaven. Instead of that he waters the earth so that it can be plowed and broken to pieces. He then directs men to 152 JEHOVAH-JIREH. sow the wheat, and he sends dew and showers to make it sprout and grow. He then alternately sends the frost and the sun. Perhaps he covers it with a thick, moist mantle of snow. In the spring he sends the melting sun, and plentiful showers. He keeps away noisome insects, and destructive vegetable diseases, and brings the grain to maturity. It is cut ; it is dried by the heat he sends ; it soon appears in baked loaves on the table. The devout husbandman sees God's hand in all the process. When Merlin, the Chaplain of Admiral Coligny, found his distinguished patron murdered on the melancholy St. Bartholomew's day, he concealed himself in a hay-loft. In the Acts of the next Synod, over which he presided, it is recorded that though many died of hunger, he was supported by a hen regularly laying an egg near his place of refuge. A similar record is made of another French minister, M. de Luce, and a Swabian minister, John Breng, both of whom were kept alive in the same way. To a thoughtful mind ordinary providence is more marvellous than a miracle. The latter is but one act of God, while the former is a series of divine acts working slowly but most surely. A count is suspected of treason. He is arrested and imprisoned. In the yard to his dungeon between the paving stones springs up a little flower. He watches it. He waters it. He cares for it. It grows. He writes the history of its SPECIAL PROVIDENCE OVER SAINTS. 153 developement and growth. This narrative is God's appointed means of effecting his release. See a little book called Picciola. IX. God's providence towards his people dates not at the time of their being called to a knowledge of himself, but long before. In the formation of their bodies, what goodness appears. No man has ever been able to suggest how the form or figure of the hu man frame could be improved. In this indeed the wicked share the same bounty of God. In their early infancy how amazing was God's care over them. Think too of the early and deep impressions which God often makes on the minds and hearts of his chosen, even years before their conversion. In a soli tary wood among huge rocks, or hoary mountains, or by some gentle stream, or noble river, or vast expanse of waters, what conceptions of God has many a child had ! In an escape from danger, what a sense of God's goodness has stolen over the hearts of his people, even before their conversion. John Brown of Haddington tells us of his deep religious impressions at a sacra mental meeting, when he was under ten years of age. The late Dr. Archibald Alexander, when only four years and a half old, was greatly interested in a ser mon on 1 Cor. xvi. 22. Even where such impres sions do not end in a speedy conversion, they are often very salutary in preserving the young from the worst 154 JEHOVAH-JIREH. forms of evil. Nor is anything more wonderful than the means God uses for the conversion of his people. A sermon, in which the preacher had no knowledge and no design respecting the spiritual good of any par ticular person, a sermon by a weak man addressed to those who had often heard much better discourses on the same topics, a text of Scripture learned twenty years before, a little portion of truth found on a piece of wrapping-paper, a sudden death of some wicked man, the death of some good man, a good book, a kind word, a look of tenderness, the consistent piety of a pious wife, husband or friend, and even the profane ness of wicked men have been the means of bringing sinners to repentance. Many a man has been led to the Saviour by truths, which the preacher did not in tend to utter when he began his discourse. Augus tine tells us of a celebrated Manachee who was thus converted under the labors of the bishop of Hippo. Paul and Silas were not the only prisoners who were honored of God as the means of converting; their har- dened jailors. Had the persecution not arisen at Jerusalem, Philip would not have fallen in with the Ethiopian returning to his own country and reading Isaiah. So that great man might have died in igno rance of the true meaning of the prophet. Many a man has gone for no good end to hear a sermon, and SPECIAL PROVIDENCE OVER SAINTS. 155 before the discourse was ended has forgotten what he came for and has begun to cry for mercy. X. God's providence in raising up good ministers of various gifts to edify his church is truly striking. It is the time of the American Revolution. A com pany is drilling and firing by platoons. In the ranks is a malicious man, who wishes to have his spite on a particular family. He loads his piece so heavily that he knows firing it off will burst the barrel of his gun. Just before firing he calls a lad in the crowd to take his place. The noble, impulsive boy, suspecting no harm, consents, fires the gun, and his left hand is shivered. Amputation is necessary. This cruel act gives a new direction to his whole life. His parents send him to a classical school taught by a pious man. The youth learns well, in due time becomes a Christian, is finally ordained to the Gospel ministry, bears the name of the preacher with the silver fist and the silver voice, Avith great power addresses thousands in the open air, and dies greatly lamented leaving a noble posterity behind him. Such was the history of Drury Lacy. Some boys are pursuing a rabbit. It takes refuge in a hollow log. While one boy is attempting to cut it out, another puts in his arm, trying to reach his prey. The axe cripples his hand for life. He is edu cated, becomes a herald of salvation and leaves a pre cious memory in all the land. When Patrick Henry 156 JEHOVAH-JIREH. heard him discourse on the creation, he said it seemed to him as if that man could almost make a world. His name was James Waddell, who in the blindness of his latter years is so justly described by William Wirt in "The British Spy." Many a time by the feebleness of their bodies pa rental counsels respecting the temporal conduct of their children are defeated, and parental pity at last consents to their commencing studies which may give them the learning so useful to preachers of the Gospel. In due time God calls them to a knowledge of him self and of his Son. Then by his Spirit he calls them to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ. To others, whom God designs for great hardships in the ministry, he gives great vigor of constitution, so that they can bear almost any amount of labor and weariness. How marvellous also is God's providence in the mental and social character naturally possessed by his people, so as to fit them to act their several parts in life. In il lustration look at the ministers of Christ. One is timid, and God makes him especially useful to the diffident in encouraging them, and to the self-confident in awakening salutary fears. Another is bold, and he alarms the guilty and encourages the wavering. One is full of love and so wins the coy and melts the hardened. Another is borne down by an awful sense of the danger of the wicked, and so he cries aloud and SPECIAL PROVIDENCE OVER SAINTS. 157 spares not. One is a son of, thunder. Another is a son of consolation. One excels in logic, another in rhetoric. One is best at explaining the doctrines, an other is excellent at exhortation. One does most good by his pen, another by private conversation, and an other in the pulpit. Yet all these men are giving ex pression to their respective natural and social dispo sitions, now sanctified by divine grace, and turned to a holy work. Like acts of providence may be noticed in the variety of character displayed by all his people. XI. When means have been blessed to the conver sion of his people, how strange the providences of God which lead to their growth in grace ! They are ready to lean on one minister ; and God takes him away and sends another. They think affliction would do them good, and God makes his mercies overflow. Or they think prosperity best for them, and God crosses all their plans and spoils their pleasant things. They are self-confident and fear not falling into sin, and soon a sad lapse fills their hearts with anguish. They are much afraid of bringing dishonor on their profession, and their fears are blessed to their preservation from sin. A Christian poet, who has often edified the church of God, has well described this matter, when he says : "I asked the Lord, that I might grow In faith, and love and every grace ; 14 158 JEHOVAH-JIREH. Might more of his salvation know, And seek more earnestly his face. " 'Twas He who taught me thus to pray, And He, I trust has answered prayer j But it has been in such a way As almost drove me to despair. " I hoped that in some favored hour, At once he'd answer my request; And by His love's constraining power, Subdue my sins and give me rest. " Instead of this He made me feel The hidden evils of my heart, And let the angry ,powers of hell Assault my soul in every part. "Yea, more; with His own hand He seemed Intent to aggravate my woj Crossed all the fair designs I schemed, Blasted my gourds, and laid me low. " ' Lord, why is this ?' I trembling cried, 'Wilt thou pursue thy worm to death ?' "Tis in this way,' the Lord replied, 'I answer prayer for grace and faith.' " ' These inward trials I employ From self and pride to set thee free, And break thy schemes of earthly joy, That thou may'st seek thy all in me.' " XII. Go among God's people and learn how goodly in many ways their lot has been. What good parents most of them have had. How wonderfully God has led them in many important steps in life. How SPECIAL PROVIDENCE OVER SAINTS. 159 pleasant have been their friends and their children. Even the little ones, whom Jesus has early called to himself, seem still to warm and nestle in the bosom of parental love. How many good books they have had to read. What kind and skillful physicians have attended them in sickness. When disease has come upon them, what good places they have had to be sick in. How infrequent and short their bodily infirmities commonly are. How sejdom have they suffered for the want of suitable food, or clothing, or shelter, or any necessary thing. How marked the hand of God in ordering the general tenor of their lives. Often have their feet well nigh slipped, but God has held them up. They have been in the midst of almost all evil, but it has not been allowed to sweep them away. How often has God " hedged up their way with thorns, and made a wall that they could not find their paths." Hos. ii. 6. Often they could not perform their enter prises, which would have proved their ruin. Job v. 12. The unseen dangers from men and devils, from friends and foes, from darkness and pestilence sur rounding us, are far more numerous than those which are visible. Could we have seen them all as God saw them, our lives would probably have been full of misery. How kind his providence in giving us a heart and temper to enjoy life and its mercies. XIII. Toward his people God's providence is ex- 160 JEHOVAH-JIREH. c'eedingly rich in spiritual blessings. It embraces a plan reaching from eternity to eternity. It is set forth in a covenant ordered in all things and sure, an ever lasting covenant, having the Lord Jesus Christ for a Surety and Mediator. God's loving-kindness laid the foundation of the whole scheme of redemption. It shall lay the top-stone in glory. It orders everything aright forever. Thus far the history of redemption has no parallel. It is God's chief work, the wonder of angels, the joy of saints. The whole subject seems to abash the faculties of all right-minded creatures. The sea of Jehovah's compassion and wisdom has never been fathomed by men or angels. Under the conduct of providence it will be widening its shores and deepening its abysses forever. PRACTICAL REMARKS. 161 CHAPTER XIV. PRACTICAL REMARKS ON CHAPTERS XII. AND XIH. I. ^11 THAT a theme for humble, devout and joy- ' ? ous meditation have we in this doctrine of providence ! The pious Flavel says : " It will doubt less be a part of our entertainment in heaven to view with transporting delight how the designs and methods were laid to bring us hither : and what will be a part of our blessedness in heaven may be well allowed to have a prime ingrediency into our heaven upon earth. To search for pleasure among the due observations of Providence is to search for water in the ocean." Vol. 4, p. 340. In a like strain the amiable John Howe says : " When the records of eternity shall be exposed to view, all the counsels and results of the profound wisdom looked into : how will it transport, when it shall be discovered ! Lo, thus were the designs laid ; here were the apt junctures and admirable dependen cies of things, which, when acted upon the stage of time, seemed so perplexed and intricate." Let God's "loving-kindness" be continually before your eyes. 14 is 162 JEHOVAH-JIREH. Think on his judgments. "He, that will observe the wonderful providences of God, shall have wonderful providences of God to observe." "Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the loving-kindness of the Lord." Charnock says : " It is a part of atheism not to think the acts of God in the world worth our serious thoughts. . . . God is highly angry with those that mind him not ; ' Because they regard not the operation of his hands, he shall destroy them, and not build them up?'" Ps. xxviii. 5. It is a divine art to view the hand of God in every thing. It is an ennobling employment to meditate on all the wonders he has wrought. " The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have plea sure therein." Ps. cxi. 2. That was a good resolution of Asaph : "I will remember the works of the Lord ; surely I will remember thy wonders of old : I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings." Ps. lxxvii. 11, 12. II. There is excellent wisdom in our Saviour's say ing, "What I do thou knowest not now; but hereafter thou shalt know it." In this world nothing in provi dence is fully finished. Judge artists or artizans by appearances when their work is but half done, and not one of them could stand so unfair a test. Peter was greatly opposed to Christ's dying at all. The disciples were overwhelmed when he did die. But out of his PRACTICAL REMARKS. 163 death sprang the life of the world. There would have been no gospel to believe or to preach, had Jesus not died. God's " way is in the sea, and his path in the great waters, and his footsteps are not known." Ps. lxxvii. 19. A carpenter's rule is too short to measure the heavens with. The waters of the sea can never be comprehended in a bottle. Neither can we ever fully know any act of providence as God knows it. But to judge of an event before the final issue is great folly. It is also sin. It is both arrogant and presumptuous. It also brings much misery with it. Who is more wretched than the man, who sees nothing but desolat ing storms in every cloud, nothing but disaster in every undertaking, nothing but sorrow in the very means used for his joy, nothing but overthrow in the steps which lead to his exaltation? Oh for a stronger faith. Oh for more patience. Could we but calmly wait and let the God of all the earth do as he pleases, all would be well. We are so wrapped up in selfishness that we egregiously over-estimate the importance of our own affairs. A splendid steamer is swiftly passing up the Mississippi. She has more than five hundred passen gers, pressing home to soothe sorrow, or scatter joy, to give life to commerce, and to carry messages of go vernment. Vast interests depend on her safety and her speed. A little boy darts into the saloon, crying for the captain. At length he finds him, and says, 164 JEHOVAH-JIREH. "O captain, stop the boat, do stop the boat." "Why so, my son?" said the urbane officer. The boy replied, "I have dropped my orange overboard, do stop the boat." He was told it could not be done. His soli citude settled into sadness, which left him only after sleep. Think of that boy and his orange. There was some proportion between the value of that orange and the other interests involved, yet it was exceedingly small. But there is no proportion between our com fort for a day and the glory of God to eternity, or be tween our afflictions here and the glory that shall be revealed in us hereafter. "Be patient, brethren, unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." We know not what is best for us. Foolish children eat green apples, but prudent people first let them mature. Let us trust God joyfully. Ps. xxvii. 5. III. How entirely do just views of God's word aud providence change the aspects of every thing. He, who has any right views, would rather be with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the furnace, or with Daniel in the lions' den than with Nebuchadnezzar on the throne. Paul bound with a chain was far more to be envied than Nero wearing the imperial purple. Paul and Silas were far from being the most unhappy men in Philippi the night their feet were in the stocks. There are two sides to every providence, as there were to the pillar of cloud and of fire. The bright side is PRACTICAL REMARKS. 165 towards the children of God. It ever will be so. God has ordained it. He will make good all his promises. "Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright." Therefore, ye heroes of the cross, gird on your armor. Fight the good fight of faith. Never yield to fear. Endure hardness. Live to please him who has called you to be soldiers. Jesus reigns. Hear him proclaiming: "All power in heaven and earth is given unto me." He is King of kings. He rules in the kingdoms of men. He is God in Zion. He loves the church more than you do. He died for it. He loves his people as the apple of his eye. No thing shall harm those who are the followers of that which is good. O shout and give thanks. Robert Southwell, awaiting martyrdom in prison, wrote to his friend : " We have sung the canticles of the Lord in a strange land, and in this desert we have sucked honey from the rock, and oil from the hard flint." Learn this heavenly art. IV. Sinners, will not you give your hearts to God, and secure the blessings of his kindness, the care of his special providence? Do you not need a Father in heaven? Do you not wish for a shield and buckler and horn of salvation? Persisting in sin and folly, the stars will fight against you in their courses. Yielding to the claims of divine love and authority all nature will at Jehovah's bidding fight for you. Will you 166 JEHOVAH-JIREH. bow your neck? Will you take Christ's yoke upon you? Will you be saved? V. The right observance of providence is a great duty. The particulars of this duty are well stated by Boston: 1. We should watch for them till they come. Heb. ii. 1-3; Ps. cxxx. 1, 5, 6; Lam. iii. 49, 50. 2. We should take heed to them, and mark them when they come. Isa. xxv. 9; Ezek. i. 15; Zech. vi. 1 ; Luke xix. 44. 3. We should seriously review them, ponder and narrowly consider them. Ps. cxi. 2; Ezek. x. 13-; Ps. Ixxiii. 16; Job x. 2; Ps. lxxvii. 6. 4. We should lay them up, and keep them in record. Luke i. 66; 1 Sam. xvii. 37; Ps. xxxvii. 25. 5. We should observe them for practical purposes, that they may have a sanctifying power over our hearts and lives. Ps. lxiv. 7, 9; Deut. xxix. 2, 3, 4; 2 Kings vi. 33; Ecc. vii. 14. JOB'S TRIALS AND MERCIES. 167 CHAPTER XV. ALTERNATE LIGHT AND DARKNESS IN PROVIDENCE, ILLUSTRATED IN THE CASE OF THE GREAT MAN OF UZ. rilHE book of Job is the oldest and the best epic -™- poem in the world. The persons prominently be fore us are Jehovah, Satan, Job, Job's wife, his three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar, and that remark able person, Elihu. Much of the book is a dis cussion of the principles, on which the speakers sup pose God's providence to be conducted. Some have surmised that Job was a fictitious charac ter; but this is surely a mistake. The prophet Ezekiel clearly proves that he was a historic personage — as much so as Noah or Daniel. Ezek. xiv. 14, 20. He was a man, and a very good man. The course of providence towards him is full of in struction. In his life we find lessons of much value. Instruction by example clearly points out the duty to be performed, shows that it is practicable, and awakens in the virtuous the desire of imitation. 168 JEHOVAH-JIREH. Among mere men we seldom find a striking exam ple of more than one grace. Abraham was distin guished for his faith ; Moses, for his meekness ; Daniel, for his intrepidity; John, for "the tenderness of his love; and Job, for his patience. If we would find per fect symmetry of character in any portion of history, we must go to the man Christ Jesus. It may aid us to pursue a method in our reflections. I. Let us consider the course of providence towards Job, and his character and circumstances before his great afflictions. Job was a man of great piety. The Scriptures say that he was upright and perfect. He was not double-tongued, nor double-minded, but sin cere, free from hypocrisy, and had respect to all God's commandments. "He feared God and eschewed evil." This character is given by God himself. His reputa tion among men was both fair and high. "When the young men saw him, they hid themselves." In his presence "the aged arose and stood up. The princes refrained talking and laid their hand on their mouth. The nobles held their peace, and their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth." Job xxix. 8-10. Proba bly no man ever received more marked attention from great and small than did Job. "Unto him men gave ear and waited and kept silence at his counsel. After his words they spake not again. And they waited for him as for the rain." Job xxix. 21-23. JOB'S TRIALS AND MERCIES. 169 He was also esteemed wise, and possessed great in fluence by his eloquence. He was a sound adviser. Speaking of his influence over men, it is said, "He chose out their way." Job xxix. 25. Job was also a great captain. His military skill and prowess were such that he dwelt as king in the army. Job xxix. 25. "He brake the jaws of the wicked, and plucked the spoil out of his teeth." Job xxix. 17. He was also a philanthropist. He was not in deed ostentatious in his charity, yet such a city set on a hill cannot be hid. " When the ear heard him, then it blessed him; and when the eye saw him, it gave witness to him; because he delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him. The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon him; and he caused the widow's heart to sing for joy. He was eyes to the blind, and feet was he to the lame. He was a father to the poor." Not only did he do good and relieve the dis tressed in cases which others brought to his notice; but he sought, out the necessitous and afflicted. "The cause which he knew not, he searched out." Job xxix. 16. In his labors of love he was both diligent and disinterested. Before his afflictions Job was a man of great wealth. He owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred she- 15 H 170 JEHOVAH-JIREH. asses, and a very great household, that is, numerous servants. Job i. 3. In wealth he excelled all the rich men of the East. So abundant were his possessions that "he washed his steps in butter, and the rock poured him out rivers of oil." In his own family, Job enjoyed domestic comfort. Although he had his fears about his children, yet it does not appear that they were either profane or licen tious. He loved them tenderly and they were respect ful to him. His wife seems not to have shown her grievous want of piety during his prosperity. To crown all his enjoyments, the candle of the Lord shined upon his head, and by the light of the divine countenance he walked through darkness. The secret of God was upon his tabernacle, and the Almighty was yet with him. Job xxix. 3-5. It is in God's light that we see light. When he smiles we are blessed. When he gives comfort, who can afflict? All this prosperity begat confidence in its own con tinuance, and led Job to say, "I shall die in my nest and I shall multiply my days as the sand. My root was spread out by the waters, and the dew lay all night upon my branch. My glory was fresh in me, and my bow was renewed in my hand." Job xxix. 18-20. II. Let us consider his afflictions themselves and hispatienceunderthem. A descent from such unusual prosperity awakens very different sentiments from job's trials 'and mercies. 171 those entertained by men, who have long lived in humble circumstances and been unexpectedly raised to greatness. Let this thought be remembered. Job's afflictions commenced with the loss of his wealth, consisting of oxen, and asses, and sheep, and camels, and servants. The intelligence of these losses came upon him by surprise. Poverty is no sin. It may come upon us without any fault of ours. Yet every one knows that it brings sore trials on all, es pecially on those who are not accustomed to it. All this is heightened by the suddenness of its approach. This often produces a shock which few hearts are suffi ciently stout to resist. Many who have stood calm while thrones were falling around them, who have fearlessly stormed the deadly breach, and who have manfully suffered popular rage, have sunk under in tolerable anguish, when their earthly possessions have taken flight and left them destitute and dependent. Whatever bitterness is necessarily connected with such loss was the portion of Job. No sooner had the messengers closed their respective narratives of his losses of property, than another with all the promptness attending the announcement of calamities thus spake : " Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house, and behold there came a great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, 172 JEHOVAH-JIREH. and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead ; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee." Thus his children were carried into eternity on the same day on which he lost all his property. Not a child was left him. His Reuben and his Benjamin, his daughter that was to him as a pet lamb, and she that was in mien as a matron, all died. And then they died so suddenly. No previous sickness gave warning of approaching death. In the morning he had parted with them, not dreaming that he should nevermore see their faces in the land of the living. Nor had he satisfactory evidence that they were prepared for this solemn exchange of worlds. Indeed he had fears to the contrary. As priest of his own house, he had been in the habit of offering sacrifices for them on occasion of their feasts, thinking that they might have sinned and cursed God in their hearts. Job i. 5. But on this occasion Job had not time to offer sacrifice or prayer after the close of the feast. How must this saint of God have followed in imagination the departed spirits of his children. And how must his heart have swollen with anguish when in vain he sought for assurance of their salvation. Yet at the end of all this, Job reve rently " fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, and said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb and naked shall I return thither : the Lord gave, and job's trials and mercies. 173 the Lord hath taken away ; blessed be the name of the Lord." Job i. 20, 21. But neither the malignity of Satan nor the mysteri ous love of God would permit Job's sufferings to end here. Satan obtained permission to afflict him with bodily disease, so that he was covered from the sole of his foot unto his crown with sore boils. This affliction makes a standing posture a rack of torture, a chair a seat of misery, and a couch a " bed of unrest." In the midst of his wretchedness, he " took a potsherd to scrape himself and he sat down in the ashes." In our suffering it is seldom that we cannot find some posture that will not give some relief. But this was not Job's case. Pain followed pain, and thrill suc ceeded thrill until his agony was complete. Hear his dolorous complaint : " When I lie down I say, When shall I arise and the night be gone? My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust ; my skin is broken and become loathsome. When I say, My bed shall comfort me, then thou scarest me with dreams, and terrifiest me through visions. My breath is cor rupt, the graves are ready for me." Job vii. 4, 5, 13, 14, and xvii. 1. From all this weight of suffering Job might have found some relief, had the wife of his bosom possessed a right spirit. But when she saw him thus afflicted, her heart rose in rebellion against God, and instead of 15® 174 JEHOVAH-JIREH. exhorting her husband to faith and patience, she bade him "curse God and die." During his prosperity Job's wife may have given some evidence of piety. If so, how must such an avowal have pierced his soul ; and if not, how afflicting it must have been to behold her, whom he loved so tenderly, venting her wicked ness against God? She nof only manifested hatred to him whom Job adored ; but she became cold and cruel to her husband. He says : " My breath is strange to my wife, though I intreated for the children's sake of my own body." Job xix. 17. The appeal to conjugal affection was fruitless. Pointing to the pledges of their love in their offspring had no effect. Her mar riage vows and all the kindness she had received were forgotten. Her heart was unfeeling. Another source of distress to Job was the conduct of his friends, his servants and his neighbors. To him that is afflicted, pity should be shown. But when those in whom we have trusted hide as it were their faces from us, it is sad indeed. At first Job's friends seemed disposed to sympathize with him, but they soon began to accuse him wrongfully. They aggra vated his sufferings by referring to his former pros perity. Job iv. 2. They dealt deceitfully with him. Job vi. 15. They scorned him. Job xvi. 20. They vexed his soul. Job xix. 2. He says : " They whom I loved are turned against me." Job xix. 19. They JOB'S TRIALS AND MERCIES. ^ 175 charged him with . hypocrisy, Job xx. 5 ; they told him God was punishing him for his injustice and cruelty, Job xxii. 6-9 ; they perverted his language, and upon his speech put a construction which he had never thought of, and a meaning which he abhorred. Job xxxiv. 9 ; xxxv. 2. The great difficulty was that without evidence they believed him guilty; and such people cannot be convinced by evidence. Under these circumstances Job poured forth his complaints. Hear him : God " hath put my brethren far from me and mine acquaintance are verily estranged from me. My kinsfolk have failed, and my familiar friends have forgotten me. They that dwell in mine house and my maids count me for a stranger. I called my servant and he gave me no answer." Job xix. 13-16. So full was the conviction of those around Job that he was a bad man, and so helpless was he, that he was held in the utmost contempt. Even " young children despised him, and when he arose they spake against him." Job xix. 18. The children of the meanest people and of base men, who were viler than the earth sported with him and spat upon him. Job xxx. 1-10. If we feel great pain at even suspicion thrown on our characters, what must Job's anguish have been when old and young, rich and poor, vile and honorable, pious and ungodly united in suspecting, condemning or despising him as a bad man ! Nor had Job any 176 - JEHOVAH-JIREH. means of proving himself innocent. The charges brought against him were general and vague. It was impossible for him to prove a negative. Yet he felt, as all good men do, that a good name is better than great riches and precious ointment. His other trials would have been comparatively light, had his friends been true and kind. But they were unstable and greatly misjudged him. Another source of sorrow was that Job had no sen sible religious comfort. He cries out, "Oh that I were as in months past." Job xxix. 2. At no pe riod of his sufferings does he seem to have had those transporting views of divine things, which many of the martyrs had, and which quenched the violence of fire, and bore the soul away from the consideration of personal pains to rapturous thoughts on Jesus, and heaven, and the crown of imperishable glory. Yea, not only was he tossed with tempest and not com forted, but his soul was filled with great distress. He cries out: "The arrows of the Almighty are within me, the poison whereof drinketh up my spirit: the terrors of God do set themselves in array against me." Job vi. 4. The spirit of a man sustaineth his infirm ity, but a wounded spirit who can bear? Even when alone the terrors of God may be insupportable; but when joined to so many other evils, where is the heart strong enough to bear the dreadful weight? JOB'S TRIALS AND MERCIES. 177 It heightened Job's misery that he had not sweet access to God by prayer. He says, "Oh that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even to his seat! I would order my cause before him. Be hold I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him ; on the left hand, but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself on the right hand that I cannot see him." Job xxiii. 3, 4, 8, 9. The privilege of prayer in all its sweetness remaining to God's peo ple, they have inexpressible comfort; but when that is gone, what can the soul do? Another aggravation of Job's affliction was, that al though better instructed than his friends, he yet but imperfectly understood the doctrine of providence. This difficulty has been felt in every age. In the patriarchal and Mosaic dispensations it terribly af flicted the righteous. Even under the clear light of the gospel, good men have perplexities from this source. Job had no such clear Scriptures as these: "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten;" "If ye be without chastisement, ye are not sons;" "We must through much tribulation enter the kingdom of God;" "We know that all things work together for good to them who love God." Instead of this clear light Job himself saw God's ways involved in inscrutable mys tery. Job xxxi. 3. Hope of better days on earth seems quite to have H* 178 JEHOVAH-JIREH. departed from him. He says, "I shall no more see good." Job vii. 7. As far forward as his vision ex tended, all was dark and dreary. No- star of pro mise, no ray of joyous expectation illumined the gloom. Former greatness and happiness but showed him how low he had fallen. They gave no pledge of return. All seemed to be irretrievably gone. The great man of Uz became a companion to owls, and his harp was turned into mourning, and his organ into the voice of them that weep. Job xxx. 29, 31. Under this enormous load of suffering Job set a bright example of patience. Not a word of sin ful murmur escaped his lips. Job i. 22. He exhibited not the proud severity of the stoic in refusing to ac knowledge himself afflicted. He had not the iron hardihood of atheism, denying God's hand in his trou bles. Nor did he exhibit the sinful sinking of unbe lief. He submissively acquiesced in what God or dained. He brought no foolish charge against his Maker. He meekly says : "What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?" Job ii. 10. He sought solace in worship and especially in praise. It is not claimed that in all things Job was spotlessly pure, but only that he was in the main and persistently upright. Near the close of the book God himself says, "My servant Job has spoken of me the thing that is right." Job xiii. 7. Job JOB'S TRIALS AND MERCIES. 179 did indeed undertake to reason on matters beyond his knowledge. Job xxxviii. 2. But the general tenor of his feelings was pleasing to God. For a long time he bore the most trying events with a spirit of submission probably never equalled in a mere man. For this cause he is fitly held up to us as one whose example is worthy of imitation. III. Let us consider his history after the heavy hand of God was no longer upon him. On this point the record is brief but highly satisfactory. "The Lord turned the captivity of Job, and gave him twice as much as he had before. Then came there unto him all his brethren, and all his sisters, and all they that had been of his acquaintance before, and did eat bread with him in his house; and they be moaned him, and comforted him over all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him: every man also gave him a piece of money, and every one an earring of gold. So the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses. He had also seven sons and three daughters. . . . And in all the land were no women found so fair as the daughters of Job : and their father gave them inheritance among their brethren. After this Job lived an hundred and forty years, and saw his sons and his sons' sons, even 180 JEHOVAH-JIREH. four generations. So Job died being old and full of days." Job xiii. 10-17. Every foul imputation on his character was wiped away. Every slanderous tongue was silenced. The terrible storm was passed. Only the peaceable fruits of righteousness remained. So bered and chastened he indeed was, but richly laden with the experience of God's goodness. He saw the end of the Lord, that the Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy. CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS. 1. How vain afe all merely earthly possessions! How unstable is popular favor! How uncertain are riches! How soon our pleasures may be followed by pains! When parents rejoice at the birth of a child, they know not how soon they may weep over his dead body without an assurance that his soul is saved. Solo mon thoroughly tried the world. His sober inspired judgment was that all was vanity. - The sooner we reach that conclusion ourselves, the wiser shall we be. 2. Let us always be more afraid of sinning against God than of offending our nearest earthly friends. Job instantly repulsed the wicked assaults of his wife, saying, "Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh." Job ii. 10. To his own disciple, Peter, Jesus was compelled to say: "Get thee behind me, - JOB S TRIALS AND MERCIES. 181 Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou sa- vorest not the things that be of God but those that be of men." Matt. xvi. 23. No human friend ship may for a moment interfere with our fidelity to God. 3. Although God generally chooses the poor as his children, yet he offers mercy to the rich, and receives all such as humbly seek his grace. Job's riches did not debar him from the kingdom of heaven. By rea son of depravity riches tend to alienate the heart from God; yet sovereign grace can remedy that evil. He, who is rich in this world's goods, and also rich in faith and good works, is loudly called to sing the praises of Jehovah. Nothing but almighty power could thus make the camel go through the eye of the needle, or preserve the soul from the burning flames of insatiable covetousness. 4. Weight of character and a high order of talents are by no means confined to the enemies of God. Why should they be ? Piety is wisdom. Who ever stood higher for wisdom in council, for soundness of judgment and for prowess in war than did the man of Uz ? In proportion to the number of consistent pro fessors of religion, there cannot be found any number of men who surpass God's people for calmness of in quiry, soberness of mind and practical wisdom. True 16 182 JEHOVAH-JIREH. religion is worthy of the most earnest and solemn attention. 5. Good men are not always good in proportion to the degree of light which they enjoy. Job is supposed to have lived before the time of Moses, under the obscurity of the patriarchal dispensation ; yet he was a burning and a shining light. He neither saw nor heard many wondrous things well known to us. Yet how far did he and Abraham and Enoch and other ancient worthies excel the great mass of even good men of these latter days. Truly we ought to blush for our short-comings. Guilt is in proportion to light. Surely then we must be very guilty for our sad defi ciencies. 6. When malice, or envy, or suspicion, or evil sur mising exists, no established reputation, no want of evidence of guilt can " tie the gall up in the slander ous tongue." By a long and holy Ufe Job had given incontestible evidence of the purity of his character. His friends could bring no proof of his criminality in anything. Yet they charged him with cruelty, rapa city and hypocrisy. Such wickedness has not yet left the earth. It is no new or rare thing for the best men to be charged with the basest plans, principles or practices. It will be so until grace shall reign through Jesus Christ over all hearts. A propensity to evil thoughts and evil speeches is among the last faults JOB'S TRIALS AND MERCIES. 183 of character from which even good men are de livered. 7. If friends accuse us falsely and act as enemies, let us not forget to pray for them. Job set us the example : Job xiii. 8. Enmities arising between old friends are generally more violent than others. "A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city: and their contentions are like the bars of a castle." Prov. xviii. 19. But we must not yield to passion. We must forgive and seek blessings on those who falsely accuse us and cruelly entreat us. It was not till Job prayed for his accusers that God turned his captivity. Let us never carry a load of malice in our hearts. It is worse than any evil we can suffer at the hand of man. 8. When our characters are assailed, we are at liberty to use Christian measures to remove an evil report. It is then best to leave the whole matter in the hands of God. Lawsuits for character may be lawful and sometimes expedient. But when bad pas sions are excited no character is so unspotted that malice will not spew out its venom against it. We may deny our guilt ; we may call for evidence against us ; we may bring evidence of innocence ; but with men of heated imaginations and strong prejudices, evidence never has its just weight. 9. It is very dangerous to become involved in a 184 JEHOVAH-JIREH. labyrinth of reasoning concerning God, his character and providence. Things which are revealed belong to us and our children. We may safely follow where- ever revelation leads ; but we are no judges of what is proper to be done under the government of God. The attempt to criticise the divine proceedings is always a failure and iniquity. 10. It is important to study the Scriptures and learn all we can concerning the plans and providence of God. Had Job clearly known what we by patient study may learn, it would have removed much of the pungency of his grief. God's word is a light and a lamp. Let us walk by it. 11. What is the grief of each one? Is it poverty, poor health, want of reputation, loss of religious com fort ? Whatever it be, take for an example of suffer ing affliction Job, the narrative of whose trials was written for our comfort. Like him, let each one say of the Almighty, "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him." Job xiii. 15. Never was pious confi dence in the Lord misplaced. Never did any trust in him and was confounded. 12. The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him. The greatest secret God ever reveals to his people is the mystery of redemption. Of this Job was not ignorant. By this he triumphed. His own language is explicit: "I know that my Redeemer job's trials AND MERCIES. 185 liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth : and though after my skin worms de stroy this body yet in my flesh shall I see God : whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold and not another." Job xix. 25-27. 16 • 186 JEHOVAH-JIREH. CHAPTER XVI. GOD'S PROVIDENCE TOWARDS HIS CHURCH RENDERS UNNECESSARY ALL TORMENTING FEARS RESPECT ING HER SAFETY AND FINAL TRIUMPH. rMIHE fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. -^ Of that kind of fear we cannot have too much. There is also a salutary fear, based in self-distrust, and opposed to pride and carelessness. That is a good quality. Blessed is the man that feareth always. But there is a fear which torments. It disheartens, multiplies difficulties, magnifies obstacles, and refuses available resources. Such fear brings a snare. It begets doubts and despondency. It cries, There is a lion in the way. It weeps when it should rejoice. It sings dirges when paeans are called for. It is in many ways an enemy to our peace and usefulness. It is a grief to our fellows. It is an offence to God. Sometimes such fear possesses the church. She trembles for her own safety. Let us consider the mat ter in order. THE CHURCH SAFE. 187 i. the occasions of this fear are such as these: 1. When the church looks to herself for resources and encouragement. She is "a little flock." "Jacob is small." The people of God are "a remnant." The house of God cannot boast of great numbers. Much as Zion has lengthened her cords beyond her former possessions, she is still but a garden hedged in. Few love her feasts, or delight in her solemnities. Her outward state is humble. Most of her friends are poor. In gathering his family, the Lord refuses none, who sincerely apply for admission; yet gene rally he pours contempt on princes, stains the pride of all glory, takes the beggar from the dunghill and ex alts him to sonship with God. Zion's friends are an afflicted people. "She is black as the tents of Kedar. The sun hath looked upon her." Waters of a full cup are wrung out to her children. Her garments are stained in the blood of her martyrs. She is very feeble. In one text God addresses the church as "thou worm Jacob." Her attainments are low. Faith is weak. Love is languid. Joy spreads but few feasts. Self-denial has taught but few of her hard lessons. Humility furnishes but a scant robe. Zeal, where is it? She is also sadly divided. Her unity is marred. "Her children have been angry with her." They have been unnatural. Ephraim has envied Judah, and Judah has vexed Ephraim. 188 JEHOVAH-JIREH. 2. Another occasion of fear is the apparent inade quacy of the means of the church's defence. Ascension gifts have indeed descended on her pastore and teachers. Still they are not angels but men, men of like passions with others, not vessels used in heaven, but vessels of clay. The cherub in glorious knowledge and the seraph in holy fires appear not in any of our pulpits. When God vouchsafes his presence, divine ordinances are clothed with a blessed efficacy, but if the Spirit offended by our sins withdraws, it is " even as when an hungry man dreameth, and behold he eateth ; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty : or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and behold he drinketh, but he awaketh, and behold he is faint, and his soul hath appetite." In the letter the Gospel no less than the law killeth. In the hands of the new-creating Spirit it is the power of God; otherwise it is foolish ness, a stumbling-block, sounding brass, a tinkling cymbal, and he, who proclaims it, does but beat the air. The weapons of our warfare have no mightiness but through God. 3. Another occasion of fear to the church is found in the number, haughtiness, cunning, fierceness and cruelty of her foes. Their name is legion. The church dwells like the turtle-dove surrounded by birds of prey. Her enemies present whole empires, and those the most populous, in solid masses of wickedness. THE CHURCH SAFE. 189 Their insolence is diabolical. They shoot out the lip. They point the finger of scorn. They deride pious grief. They mocked the dying agonies of her Lord. They ridicule her noblest designs, saying, " If a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall." They exhaust their powers of reproach and ignominy on the saints. They rely on worldly influence. In fury they are like raging waves of the sea, foaming out their thundering menaces. The blood of the faithful they have poured out like water to the dogs of persecution, who have licked it up with greediness. Many a time has persecution " Sat and planned Deliberately and with most musing pains, How to extremest thrill of agony, The flesh, and blood, and souls of holy men, Her victims, might be wrought ; and when she saw New tOTtures, of her laboring fancy born, She leaped for joy, and made great haste to try Their force, well pleased to hear a deeper groan.'' We may live to see such days. Sober writers on pro phecy seem to expect a wasting fury of wicked pas sions before the blaze of Millenial glory. But whether raging or quiet, the enemies of the church are always cunning. With the venom they have also the guile of the serpent — that old serpent, who deceiveth the nations. They lay dark plots. They fill the way to Zion with pits and snares. This is especially true of 190 JEHOVAH-JIREH. the fautors of false doctrine. "Insidiousness seems to be a common character of heresy."* " Damnable here sies" are always brought in " privily." If it were possible false teachers would deceive the very elect. 4. Another occasion for sinful fear in the church is the seeming tardiness of her divine Head in avenging her wrongs and vindicating her cause. Zion forgets that the plans of her King reach from an eternity past to an eternity to come. Forgetting this, the church cries, "O Lord, how long?" "Why art thou unto me as a liar and as waters that fail?" "I look for judg ment, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far from me." For ages the church has cried, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?" How often is the heart made sick by the deferring of hope. Edwards ventured to conjecture that he had seen the dawn of the latter-day glory. Yet he lived to see folly, heresy, fanaticism and persecution mar the glory of that great revival. n. SUCH FEAR IS WITHOUT GOOD CAUSE. The language of God to Zion is clear and unniis- takeable : " Fear not ; be not dismayed ." God gives reasons, good reasons for such encouragement : " I am with thee ; I am thy God ; I will strengthen thee ; I * Milner. THE CHURCH SAFE. 191 will help thee ; I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness." These words are full of com fort. They point us to God's omnipresence. " I am with thee." With his church God goes through the Red sea, through the wilderness, through Jordan, through the wars of Canaan. He goes with Jeremiah into the mire of the dungeon of Malchiah, with Daniel into the lions' den, with the young Hebrews into the burning fiery furnace, with Stephen through the shower of stones, and with John to the island of Patmos. Nor does he confine his presence to great men, or great occasions. To the whole church in all her states and trials he says, " I will never, no never leave thee ; I will never, no never, ho never forsake thee." "When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee ; and through the rivers they shall not overflow thee ; when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned ; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee." In tlijs presence of God there is a blessed concord among the persons of the adorable Trinity. The eternal Father says, " I am with thee." The eternal Son says, " Lo, I am with you always even unto the end of the world." The eternal Spirit by the Son assures us that he will abide with us forever. This presence supposes and implies readiness to hear com plaints, to extend aid, to protect, support and deliver. It gives us at hand vast storehouses of infinite perfec- 192 JEHOVAH-JIREH. tions from which to draw supplies. Let the church stand on this rock and sing : " God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." Look, too, at the power of God promised to help, uphold and strengthen us. Pious men of all ages have stayed themselves on that al mightiness, severed from which the universe would rush headlong into the bot tomless abyss of annihilation, but supported by which all worlds travel, "wheeling unshaken through im mensity." The Lord thus chides and cheers us at once : " I, even I, am he that comforteth you : who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man that shall be made as grass ; and forgettest the Lord thy Maker, that hath stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth ; and hast feared continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy? and where is the fury of the oppres sor? The captive exile hasten eth that he may be loosed, and that he should not die in the pit, nor that his bread should fail." " Hast thou not known ? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his under standing. He giveth power to the faint, and to them that have no might he increaseth strength." Who dare affirm that anything is too hard for God ? He, THE CHURCH SAFE. 193 who humbly relies on the presence and power of God "is the man whom storms can never make Meanly complain ; nor can a flattering gale Make him talk proudly : he hath no desire To read his secret fate : yet unconcerned And calm can meet his unborn destiny In all its charming or its frightful shapes." The Bible abounds in exceeding great and precious promises, inwoven into the covenant, which God has made with his chosen, and which has been the joy of the saints in all ages. That covenant is everlasting. Time, change, tumult, can never set it aside. Abra ham, David, and all the prophets hold their places in heaven by this tenure. This covenant is also sure. There is no flaw in it. It is well ordered. It is the device of God himself, the work of eternal wisdom. This covenant is confirmed by renewals, by fulfil ments, by ordinances, by signs and seals, and by the solemnities of an oath. For, "God willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the im mutability of his counsel confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation." Now, " though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth or addeth thereto." How firm then must be the covenant of God ! 17 I 194 JEHOVAH-JIREH. This covenant is not encumbered with any causal or meritorious conditions. We are to look and live, to take and eat, to receive Christ and his grace, and be saved forever. No money, no merit is required of us. This covenant is ample in its provisions. It secures the promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. It secures bread and water, food and raiment, justification and sanctification, faith, repent ance, hope, love, joy, meekness, patience, gentleness, peace, experience, victory and an exceeding and eternal weight of glory. It makes death a blessing. It pro nounces the believer heir of all things. It converts ills into mercies. This covenant is sealed in the blood of the Son of God. " This is the new testament in my blood," says he. The execution of this covenant is conducted under "the ministration of the Spirit." He gives us the anointing that abideth, the unction that teacheth all things. This covenant is never to be forgotten. God never forgets it, nor will he let his people forget it. This covenant is ordained in the hands of a Media tor, Jesus, who is " the Messenger of the covenant," " God's elect, in whom his soul delighteth," the God- man, the Surety of all his people. The exceeding fitness of our Saviour to administer this covenant is THE CHURCH SAFE. 195 often declared in Scripture. First, "He thought it not robbery to be equal with God." His eternal power and Godhead are never questioned in heaven. As a days-man he is able to lay his hand upon God. Secondly, finding those to be redeemed in human nature, he took part of the same. He became bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh. He assumed our whole nature, its sinfulness excepted. He was tempted in all points like as we are. He carried our sorrows. He shook hands with grief and made affliction his bosom companion. With tastes exquisitely refined and with sensibilities the keenest, he lived and died poor, subsisting chiefly on the charities of a few hum ble females, he hungered, he thirsted, he toiled, he wept, he prayed, he died, and even in his mysterious agony, he showed his power and grace by saving a thief, and his filial piety and natural, affection by making the most fitting provision for his aged mother. Even after his resurrection he gave many infallible proofs that he was still truly a man. Thirdly, Christ was pre-eminently prepared for his work by being gloriously anointed by the Holy Ghost. "He received the Spirit not by measure." All fulness of grace, and truth, and wisdom dwelt in him. Fourthly, in conse quence of what he was and did and suffered, he is highly exalted. His name is above every name. The universe is subsidized to him. He summons the stars 196 JEHOVAH-JIREH. to fight his battles, and they obey him. His angels at his command confound his foes and save his people. " By him kings reign, and princes decree justice. By him princes rule, and nobles, even all the judges of the earth." Over good and bad, angels and men he sways his sceptre. It was he, who struck the oracles dumb. Even his birth sent confusion into the heathen tem ples. The most famous seat of such worship was at Delphos. When the oracle there was asked why he so seldom gave responses now, the answer was, " There is a Hebrew boy, who is king of the gods, who has commanded me to leave this house, and be gone to hell, and therefore you are to expect no more answers." O yes, the Hebrew boy is the Father of eternity, the Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God. Devils were subject unto him. Pharaoh, Cyrus, Sennacherib, Herod, Nero, every tyrant and every persecutor did but " accomplish his whole work on Mount Zion." If convulsions shake heaven and earth, if thrones and empires crumble to dust, if rivers of blood are poured out, if famine and pestilence devastate the land, if there be " upon the earth distress of nations with perplexity; the sea and the waves thereof roaring: men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things, which are coming on the earth," still we sing, " O Zion, thy God reigneth." On the other hand to his people he is the Prince of peace. To THE CHURCH SAFE. 197 them he is as " the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds ; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain." Thou worm Jacob, he helps thee, he upholds thee, he strengthens thee. He makes "the feeble among his saints to be as David, and the house of David to be as God, as the angel of the Lord." "When the poor and needy seek water and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, he opens rivers in high places and fountains in the midst of the valleys. He makes the wilderness a pool of water and the dry land springs of water." His compassions are infinite, his power almighty, his wisdom unerring. Before his incarnation he was afflicted in all their affliction, and since his ascension he has once come down within the hearing of men to assure us that he and his people are one, saying to the enraged blas phemer, "Why persecutest thou me?" His church is graven on the palms of his hands. In the midst of cares and business the husband may forget the wife of his youth; but the bridegroom of the church has " betrothed her unto him forever, yea he has betrothed her unto him in righteousness, and in judgment and in loving-kindness, and in mercies. He has even betrothed her unto him in faithfulness." And all this provision of mercy, of a covenant with a Surety, was made in mere love and pity. So that we may in- 17 * 198 JEHOVAH-JIREH. trepidly reason, If " God spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him freely give us all things?" Such reasoning is conclusive — unanswerable. It shuts us up to hope. It forbids all harassing fears. It brands dismay with guilt and infamy. If these things are so, then every pious man ought to be far more concerned to derive benefit from afflic tions, than to get rid of them. We are always guilty when we do not gather the peaceable fruit of righteous ness from our chastisements. From adversity the church should derive the following benefits : 1. She should learn the meaning of many portions of Scripture. The Psalms and many of the sacred writings are best studied in the day of darkness, trial, bereavement. Whatever leads us correctly to under stand God's word is useful to us. 2. Trials lead to prayer. How seldom has strong crying with tears ascended to God, except from the hearts of believers borne down with an awful weight of sorrow. At prayer in the whale's belly Jonah is safer and nearer deliverance than asleep on the ship. 3. In sanctified affliction we acquire increased con fidence in God. We find that we are as safe and can be as quiet when haled before judges, when loaded with chains and reproaches, when stripped of earthly THE CHURCH SAFE. 199 stays and props, as when abounding in plenty, and having outward peace and prosperity. 4. " The path of duty is the path of safety." Daniel in the lion's den, Paul in carrying his cause to Rome, and Luther in burning the pope's bull, were perfectly safe because they were following the leadings of Providence. God will defend all, who work righteousness and trust in the Lord. A man is not hurt, till his soul is hurt; and his soul is not hurt, till his conscience is defiled; and his conscience is not defiled, till it is polluted with sin. Nothing can harm us, as long as we are follow ers of that which is good. 5. The triumph of the wicked is short, and all car nal boasting is vain. The greatest of all victories is that which one obtains over his own evil heart. " Re joice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth : lest the Lord see it, and it displease him, and he turn away his wrath from him." At all times beware of carnal exultation. 6. God will take care of his interests on earth. He Avill promote the purity and protect the innocence of his church. "All is not lost that is brought into dan ger." "In the mount it shall be seen." "Man's ex tremity is God's opportunity." "When things get to the worst, they begin to grow better." "When the bricks are doubled, then comes Moses." 7. Whoever risks anything for the truth, and cause, 200 JEHOVAH-JIREH. and people of God, shall ultimately suffer damage in nothing. " He that loseth his life shall find it." He, who piously leads a life of self-denial, has a con tinual feast. 8. Let us judge nothing before the time. We are of yesterday and know nothing. Though the Lord cause grief, he will have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies, for he does not afflict wil lingly nor grieve the children of men. 9. If we see the oppression of the poor, and the vio lent perverting of judgment and justice in the earth, we should not marvel at the matter; for he that is higher than the highest regardeth, and there be higher than they. Ecc. v. 8. Nor let us be greedy of the things that perish. "As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not, so he that getteth riches, and not by right, shall lose them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool." Jer. xvii. 11. 10. All the trials the church undergoes are tests, and show God's people what is in their hearts. So we read of Hezekiah. " In the business of the ambas sadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent unto him to inquire of the wonder that was done in the land, God left him, to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart." 2 Chr. xxxii. 31. 11. God so arranges and blesses the trials of his people, as commonly to make them the means of THE CHURCH SAFE. 201 strengthening their love to the church. He, who does not love Zion, does not love her King. He, who does not prefer Jerusalem above his chief joy, is not prepared for glory. Whatever leads us to "walk about Zion, go round about her, tell the towers thereof, mark well her bulwarks, and consider her palaces," is good for us, and refreshes us. 12. Some trials in each age of the church are neces sary to keep alive the principles of personal and reli gious liberty. The world is always cruel and tyran nizing. Every generation has to fight the battle of freedom of thought, and freedom of worship. The world is always encroaching. 13. Let us often inquire, Wherefore, O Lord, dost thou contend with us? There is always a cause — a need be— for our afflictions. Blessed is he who knows his calling, his business, his opportunity, and the end God has in view in dealing with him. 14. By the review and remembrance of past trials, let the church gather strength for future conflicts. Often do saints sing: " When we review our dismal fears, 'Tis hard to think they've vanished so; With God we left our flowing tears, He makes our joys like rivers flow." " Zion enjoys her monarch's love, Secure against a threatening hour; Nor can her firm foundation move, Built on his truth, and armed with power." I* 202 JEHOVAH-JIREH. CHAPTER XVII. GOD'S PROVIDENCE OVER NATIONS. IN general men think far too little of God's provi dence over nations. In great perplexity, when evidently the power of man is wholly inadequate to re move or avert evils, then indeed the thoughtful say, In God alone is our help. If divine interposition is required in anything, surely it is essential in the go vernment of nations. The interests at stake are vast and momentous. Property, liberty, reputation and life, with all the rights and blessings connected with them, are powerfully protected or ruinously destroyed by political institutions. An invasion of rights re specting either of these has often called forth the greatest powers of argument and eloquence, even when but one man had committed or suffered an aggression. But in the government of nations the rights of thou sands, generally of millions, are at stake. If conscious integrity under slander, violence or chains may, from its dark cells, lift up its supplicating eye to the Father of spirits, and hope that he will make bare his arm, PROVIDENCE OVER NATIONS. 203 and plead its cause, though the person of but one, and he an humble member of society, be involved ; can we believe that the destinies of a mighty people associated in a body politic are forgotten before God? If the gentle shepherd, the distressed mariner, the dying pri soner, the orphan boy, or the defenceless widow may venture to repose confidence in Jehovah; surely may a nation expect that their common and unspeakable interests will not be forgotten before God? These thoughts derive no small force from the abso lute incapacity of nations to protect themselves, or to preserve their own existence. There are but few men in the world possessed of any considerable wisdom in the management of political affairs. The eloquent, the brave, the learned are often wholly unfit for times of trial in the regulation of states and empires. We have the highest authority for saying : " Great men are not always wise." The affairs of nations are so complicated, the interests involved are so conflicting, the passions of men are so turbulent, and a passage through difficul ties is often so narrow and so intricate, that learning gives no safe precedents, eloquence is powerless in the presence of fierce opposition, courage is as useless as it would be in attacking a tornado, and age and public services are forgotten, despised or envied. In such times there is need of wisdom in all the departments of government — a wisdom too that has seldom been 204 JEHOVAH-JIREH. attained by mortals. The shrewdest men the world has ever seen have often felt themselves embarrassed and sometimes confounded. Moreover, the really wise men in any nation, being a very small minority in fact, are often so in the adoption of measures. They see one after another of the only safe plans, which they recommend, rejected until they despair of success. Their foresight is called fancy; their prudence is es teemed timidity; their moderation is set down to the account of lukewarmness; and their timely courage is called rashness. Every people on earth, at least every free people, have at times been like a vessel dis masted, her rudder bands broken, herself driven before the winds, and at the mercy of the waves. No pilot but one that has omniscience is adequate to stand at the helm and guide her safely through the storm. A pure despotism is the simplest form of govern ment in the world. In it the will of one man decides everything. The moment men depart one step towards constitutional freedom, the government becomes com plex. The more freedom, the more difficult it is to understand and adjust the balances of the Constitution and the laws under it. Hence the necessity of trans cendent wisdom in rulers. But if great men are not always wise, neither are wise men always honest, dis interested and patriotic. Ahithophel was a traitor. Richelieu was bold, intriguing and fond of war. He PROVIDENCE OVER NATIONS. 205 wasted Savoy, Pignerol and Casal. He sent Mary de Medicis, his great benefactress, to end her days in exile. He agitated all surrounding kingdoms with dissen sions and insurrections. He had great abilities but great ambition and very few virtues. Talleyrand fell with every tottering dynasty and rose with its suc cessor. His very wisdom was the scourge of the nation which he ruled. Pitt was a great statesman, but his wars cost England nearly a million of millions of pounds sterling, besides precious lives innumerable, and the loss of more private virtue than the glory of all the kingdoms of the world is worth. Men who might understand what ought to be done for a nation's good are often vain, cruel and sordidly selfish. When wisdom degenerates into cunning, and political acts are cautiously constructed to secure the elevation of their authors, their very gifts are a curse. Their long and loud professions of love of country deceive none but the unwary. When any one dares to oppose their nefarious schemes, they cry out, "Art thou he that troubleth Israel ?" They often pander to the sins of the nation. Their appeals are to the worst passions of the human breast. Their practice is never better than their principles. Sometimes they are wine-bibbers. and drunkards ; sometimes they are lewd and profane ; sometimes, gamblers and duellists. They deride God's is 206 JEHOVAH-JIREH. name ; they despise his Sabbaths ; they scorn his wor ship ; they reject his word. Some have thought that, because in the United States, Christianity has outlived the ten thousand malignant blows aimed at her sacred standard and her standard bearers by the army of infidels that arose just after the French Revolution, therefore pure religion is here in no danger. But is this not a mistake ? In the eyes of a majority of this nation, it is no longer a reproach to be a professed Christian. For years some great men have been courting various religious denomi nations in order to secure their votes. Hence new dangers threaten both the body politic and the church of God. Already hypocrisy and phariseeism are by some deemed advantageous in political contests. The world is not without a solemn lesson on this subject. It may not be resolved by any legislature, as once it was by Parliament, that " no person shall be employed but such as the House is satisfied of his real godliness." Yet oftentimes public opinion is more powerful than any statute. Let ambitious men be once persuaded that an assumption of the Christian's name and garb will advance their interests, and if we do not find them with " plain dress and lank hair," " talking through their noses and showing the whites of their eyes," we shall at least find them flattering the vanity of the silly or superstitious, and desecrating the high func- PROVIDENCE OVER NATIONS. 207 tions of their stations to sectarian fanaticism, and putting their hands upon the holy things of a religion, which hurls its most awful anathemas against a vain show of piety; but says imperatively to each one, " My son, give me thy heart." Surely then there is need for the insteppings of Je hovah to guide and govern nations; nations generally; each nation in particular. Truly God is their only hope. If he withdraw his arm they sink. If he remove his protecting shield, they fall before their enemies. If he take his strong and quieting hand off the hearts of the people, their passions heated as in a furnace burst forth, and free institutions like stubble perish before the consuming fire. It is therefore no less the part of wisdom than of piety to acknowledge the absolute dependence of every nation upon the all-wise governance and nurturing care of Jehovah for the perpetuity of its blessings. Sober men in every age and country have publicly and privately confessed how the Lord alone did make, and save, and keep them a people. Many a time does the peace of every land hang by a thread, and faction, or violence, or treachery stand ready with their weapons to cut it. Without God's good providence too, nations would soon perish from famine or pestilence. Very easily can God arm even a feeble folk to set at defiance for years together the skill of the most 208 JEHOVAH-JIREH. powerful governments. At one time in this century four of the mightiest nations on earth for years found their arms and prowess held at bay by comparatively contemptible tribes ; Russia by the Circassians ; Eng land by the Afghans ; France by the Algerines ; and America by the Seminoles. Each of these powerful states expended scores of millions of money and wasted many precious lives, while God was teaching them that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, but that God is Judge of all. These views are fully sustained by Scripture. If- the weakness and wickedness of men show that nations cannot be preserved by human power and wisdom, revelation teaches the same. It is not convenient to present all the passages of Holy Writ which establish this truth. The following are some of them. God claims to be the Father and Founder of nations. To Ishmael he said: "I will make of thee a nation." To Abraham he said : " I will make of thee a strong na tion." Very often in the Scriptures does he claim to have founded and preserved the Jewish nation. Again it is said : " He shall judge among the nations," and "The Lord is governor among the nations." God is often said to have scattered nations, to have cast out nations, to have divided to the nations their inheri tance, to increase nations, to enlarge them, and to sub due them. Nor is Jehovah burdened with this mighty PROVIDENCE OVER NATIONS. 209 charge; for all nations are before him as nothing and vanity, a drop of the bucket and the dust of the balance. "When he giveth quietness, who then can make trouble? and when he hideth his face, who then can behold it? whether it be done against a nation, or against a man only." God has often threatened to punish nations, to be avenged on them, yea, to cast into hell the nations that forget God. These are but a small part of the solemn texts of Scripture on this subject. They are enough to show that God's provi dence over nations is universal and particular. They also show that there is cause of fear for every nation on earth. The Lord is their governor and they have rebelled against him. They have been exceedingly ungrateful. What prosperous nation hath not waxed fat and kicked against the Lord? How do pride, and vanity, and covetousness, and evil speaking, and pro faneness, and drunkenness, and hatred between the rich and poor, and contempt of authority, and violence, and bloodshedding stain the escutcheon of every na tion ! How is the permanency of every good govern ment endangered by office seekers ! " Unnumber'd suppliants crowd preferment's gate, Athirst for wealth, and burning to be great; Delusive fortune hears the incessant call, They mount, they shine, evaporate and fall. On every stage the foes of peace attend, Hate dogs their flight, and insult marks their end." 18 * 210 JEHOVAH-JIREH. When God afflicts any nation let its inhabitants reverently bow before him and humbly submit to his chastisements. Let good men pray and trust in the providence of God. He can deliver them and their nation out of all their troubles. It is his memorial in every GENERATION THAT HE HEARETH PRAYER. Let men praise Jehovah for all his wonderful acts towards their respective nations in days that are past. We have many model Psalms on this subject. It is the Lord that giveth salvation unto kings and deliver eth his servants from the hurtful sword. It is he that makes our sons as plants, grown up in their youth, and our daughters as corner-stones, polished after the similitude of a palace. It is he that makes our gar ners to be full, affording all manner of store; that makes our sheep bring forth thousands, and ten thou sands in our streets; that makes our oxen strong to labor, that gives peace which none can disturb, so that there is no breaking in, nor going out, and no com plaining in our streets. We should guard against becoming violent partisans in the state, to which we belong. Where the real in terests of a country are at stake let good men risk all except a good conscience in their defence. But let not good men associate with lewd fellows of the baser sort PROVIDENCE OVER NATIONS. 211 in their howlings against law and order. "Beware of dogs." Let God's people be very careful how they partici pate in a revolution. This may not be done when griev ances are few or light, or when there is any milder method of redress, or when it is the favorite measure merely of the lawless and profligate portion of society, or when the good to be gained bears no proportion to the evil to be removed. In such cases it seems to be the duty of the suffering patiently to submit, humbly using such remonstrance, memorial or petition as is generally permitted. Should these be forbidden, let the pious man carry his case to God. Thus did God's people in Babylon. Daniel, once in great authority there, although a captive, was, under Belshazzar, driven from court. The most venerable man in the kingdom, he was still slighted and forgotten. Wickedness reigned and raged over all the land. The sorrows of the faithful were multiplied. By the prophecies Daniel knew that this state of things could not last long. Yet for the time cruelty triumphed, and he gave himself to fasting and prayer. He and his countrymen seem to have been denied even the right of memorial, until the iniquity of the government was full. Then the arm of Omnipotence was made bare. In one night Belshazzar was slain; Cyrus became master of Babylon; the revolution was completed; 212 JEHOVAH-JIREH. God's people Avere bidden to rebuild their city; and Israel were as those that dreamed, so marvellous was their deliverance. The character of agitator is anti- christian. The character of patriot seeking by just means the general welfare and the public good is emi nently commendable. Let not good men be overmuch distressed by the false charge of being seditious and disturbers of the public peace. This slander is old and has often been repeated. Ahab brought the charge against Elijah, 1 Kings xviii. 17. Haman repeated it against all the Jews, whose only offence was that one man among them, venerable for age, piety and patriotism, would not truckle to a tyrant. Good Jeremiah too, the weeping prophet, the lover of Israel, was charged with treason. One high in authority said, " Thou fallest away to the Chaldeans." Jer. xxxvii. 13. The hum ble, godly prophet Amos was foully charged with a conspiracy against the king. Amos vii. 10. In the days of our Lord, the Jews greatly hated Ceesar. Yet when our Saviour reproved their abominable secret sins, they said to Pilate, " If thou let this man go, thou art not Csesar's friend : whosoever maketh him self a king speaketh against Cesar." Of the apostles it was said, " They that have turned the world upside down have come hither also." " These all do contrary PROVIDENCE OVER NATIONS. 213 to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus." All these charges were grossly calumnious ; but they are repeated against the same kind of people from age to age. The world never understands Christian char acter. With it gospel humility is meanness, faith in the testimony of God is fanaticism, firmness is dogged stubborness. When Pliny the younger, as governor of a distant province, wrote to the Emperor Trajan an account of the Christians, he said : " I asked them if they were Christians ; if they confessed, I asked them again, threatening punishment. If they persisted, I commanded them to be executed : for I did not at all doubt but, whatever their confession was, their stub bornness and inflexible obstinacy ought to be pun ished." In another part of the same letter this pro consul seems to have some relentings, but what can be done with men, who have no magnanimity? Many refuse to draw any distinction between the ravings of fanaticism, and the purest and most humble piety. Mobs have often pronounced themselves patriotic ; but is there no difference between a mob and a band of patriots? And is there no difference between the enlightened, humble, unswerving piety of a true Christian, and the wild, lawless radicalism, which sometimes rises up, not from religion, but from the bottomless pit, and assumes the garb of piety to screen 214 JEHOVAH-JIREH. or to sanctify its abominations ? The natural enmity of the human heart against holiness, the envy of wicked men against the righteous, whose brighter lives and higher hopes cast a pall of sadness over their character and destiny, and the solemn testimony which good men in every age feel compelled to bear against the reigning vices and darling sins of men sufficiently account for the uniformity and bitterness with which the charge of sedition, conspiracy and disloyalty are made against the best men of every age. Indeed it is wonderful how true piety has always secured good conduct in subjects and citizens, and made them blessings to the land they inhabited. It was so in Babylon, where the church of God was in cruel bondage. It was so in the Roman empire during those three hundred years when Persecution walked The earth, from age to age, and drank the blood Of saints, with horrid relish drank the blood Of God's peculiar children — and was drunk ; And in her drunkenness dreamed of doing good. The supplicating hand of innocence, That made the tiger mild, and in his wrath The lion pause — the groans of suffering most Severe, were taught to her : she laughed at groans : No music pleased her more; and no repast So sweet to her as blood of men redeemed By blood of Christ. For centuries, had the Christians chosen to retire PROVIDENCE OVER NATIONS. 215 from the empire, their very absence, as Tertullian says, would have been terrible vengeance to their per secutors. How long and patiently too did the Vau- dois and their pious neighbors bless the very lands that persecuted them ! So too in England and Scot land the voice of railing and slander poured its utmost cruelty on the heads of the pious Puritans and Cove nanters, men of whom the world was not worthy. The greatest historian of England and the greatest novelist of Scotland have laid out their strength to bring into disrepute these godly men, whose memory is blessed. With all his adoration for the house of Stuart, Hume is obliged to confess that these men were preeminent in the cardinal virtues, and that the principles of liberty inwoven in the British Constitu tion were mainly through their agency and sufferings. And after all Sir Walter Scott's sneers, one cannot but feel that those whom he ridicules will by God be adjudged to have filled their place in church and state far better than the men who caricature their conduct. An eminent writer, a zealous minister of the church of England, says : " Many, no doubt, who obtained an undue ascendancy among the Puritans in the turbulent days of Charles the First, and even before that time, were factious, ambitious hypocrites ; but I must think that the tree of liberty, sober and legitimate liberty, civil and religious, under the shadow of which, we, in 216 JEHOVAH-JIREH. the establishment as well as others, repose in peace, and the fruit of which we gather, was planted by the Puritans, and watered, if not by their blood, at least by their tears and sorrows. Yet it is the modern fashion to feed delightfully on the fruit, and then revile, if not curse, those who planted and watered it." How often have the best men been cast out of church establish ments, and then charged with the sin of schism. How often have they been fined, imprisoned, hunted like partridges on the mountains, or pursued like beasts in the wilderness, and yet have been complained of as troublesome. They have been driven from home to dwell in caves, they have suffered hunger, and shame, and nakedness, and perils by wild beasts and savage men ; and yet when their patience has been worn out, and they have availed themselves of the power given them by providence for their protection and defence ; they have been accused and condemned for not loving a government, which gave them no protection, secured to them no immunities, but poured the vials of its wrath with a terrible indiscriminateness on the gray head of ninety years, and on the infant of days ; yea, even butchered the unborn babe and crushed existence in embryo. NATIONAL JUDGMENTS. 217 CHAPTER XVIII. PROVIDENCE PUNISHES NATIONS FOR THEIR SINS. /~^i OD'S providence is over both persons and na- ^^ tions. In this world retribution to persons is imperfect, for they will be dealt with hereafter. But nations exist here only. Whatever rewards or punish ments they receive must be temporal. In thrift, and peace, and honor they have their reward in this world for their justice, temperance and industry. Here too they are punished for their iniquities. Sins are national, either by their prevalence among a people, or by being sanctioned by national authority. When the law-making power of a country decrees un righteousness and frames wickedness by a law; when its executive power is wielded for cruelty, or favorit ism; when the judges of a land are corrupt, and justify the guilty and condemn the innocent, then a fearful reckoning is not far off. So when iniquity abounds in the members of a nation, its punishment is near. The offences, which bring ruin on nations, are pride, luxury, idleness, oppression, extortion, cruelty, cove- 19 K 218 JEHOVAH-JIREH. tousness, profaneness, hardness of heart, ingratitude, or any of the sins forbidden in God's word. But the Scriptures make it very clear that nothing is more offensive to God than the rejection of his Gos pel by a people. The 60th chapter of Isaiah contains a prophecy respecting the peaceful and powerful triumph of righteousness, concluding with the declara tion that casting off the authority of Christ shall be followed by awful woes: "The nation and kingdom, that will not serve thee, shall perish." "The charac ter of nations and men," says Dr. Spring, " is decided by the Gospel. As they fall in with it, or fall out with it, they are saved or lost." This is a weighty matter. Let us consider it well. These remarks are obviously just: 1. It is of God's mere sovereign kindness that ever the Gospel has been preached, or mercy offered to any people. The glad tidings of salvation are the more gladsome, because we had no title to such a blessing. 2. The sending of the gospel to one nation and not to another is not owing to the superior merit of the favored people over others. "Not for your sakes do I this, saith the Lord, be it known unto you : be ye ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel." Ezek. xxxvi. 32. Where is the nation who when they first heard of salvation were not sunk down in many and great sins? NATIONAL JUDGMENTS. 219 3. The continuance of the gospel among any people is an act of prolonged sovereign goodness. He, who kindly gave, may justly take away. All people have sinned enough to warrant God in withdrawing all his mercies. 4. Great favors impose great obligations. The greater the mercy, the greater the responsibility. The Gospel is the greatest blessing ever bestowed on man. Therefore nothing equally obliges a people to receive the gift with gratitude and to make a right use of it. Nations reject the Gospel By an avowed and general renunciation of its claims and authority, after being made acquainted with them. In every land some refuse the yoke of Christ. Sometimes many do it secretly. But when the hostility is bold and aversion rises to the point of malignity, and opposition builds up adverse systems, and all this with the clear light shining, a nation has reached an appalling crisis. So it was with the Jews. Paul and Barnabas said to them, "Seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles." Acts xiii. 46. Let us carefully look at this matter: I. Sometimes this rejection is accompanied by anti- christian legislation. Such was one law of the Jewish rulers, that if any should confess Christ he should be put out of the synagogue. Such was much of the 220 JEHOVAH-JIREH. legislation of revolutionary France, incorporating into its edicts the very spirit of Voltaire's infidelity. Sometimes a people go further and cruelly persecute all who oppose their wicked course. Ignorantly yet rashly to shed innocent blood is a blemish on a human government, or a stigma on a benevolent man. Popu lar violence roused by some atrocity may rashly and wickedly mete out a too terrible doom. Or a pusil lanimous judge, overawed by popular clamor, may perjure himself, and deliver to death one who hardly deserves scourging. But when in the spirit of Cain or of Nero, a people hunt down, imprison and murder the friends of God's truth, their case becomes fearful be yond expression. In his History of Redemption, Edwards says: "We read in Scripture of scarce any destruction of nations but that one main reason given for it is, their enmity and injuries against God's church, and doubtless this was one main reason of the destruction of all nations by the flood." The case is, if possible, yet more alarming when the rancorous zeal of persecutors makes them seek to hin der the spread of saving truth among those who are not joined with them by social or political ties. Thus the cry of the infidels of the last century was : " We must set fire to the four corners of Europe," intending the destruction of all religion. So the Jews not only killed the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and NATIONAL JUDGMENTS. 221 persecuted the Christians, but they became " contrary to all men," says Paul, " forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved, to fill up their sin alway: for the wrath is come upon them to the utter most." 1 Thes. ii. 16. This was the drop that filled their cup of trembling to the full. II. Men sometimes reject the Gospel by making a hypocritical profession of it. Which of the prophets has not lifted up his voice like a trumpet to warn men against this sin ? Jesus Christ, in whose lips the law of kindness sat, yet uttered the most fearful denuncia tions against hypocrites. For false professions, Ana nias and Sapphira fell dead by the awful judgment of God. A hypocritical profession of the Gospel is more offensive than a hypocritical profession under any pre ceding dispensation, because it is committed against clearer light. The real cause of a hypocritical pro fession of religion is found in the desperate wickedness and deceitfulness of the human heart. But the occa sions to it are principally two : First the legislation of a country, holding out to professors of some peculiar form of religion baits in the way of profit, trust or honor. Carnal men in large numbers will submit to the drudgery of religious rites rather than forego political preferment. Shaftesbury, Collins and Gib bon, bold infidels as they were, were willing to receive the Lord's Supper in the church of England, rather 19* 222 JEHOVAH-JIREH. than be shut out of Parliament. Secondly. Sometimes public sentiment becomes powerful in favor of a reli gious profession, and in some way makes temporal prosperity dependent on a connection with the church. There is hardly a state where some one sect is not a kind of pet with ungodly men in power. The sect most favored is commonly the one that commands the most votes, or one whose public ministrations are but seldom honored by pungent convictions of sin, or clear conversions to God. Those who sew pillows to all armholes are the teachers for the men of this world. " If a man walking in the spirit and falsehood do lie, saying, I will prophesy unto thee of wine and of strong drink ; he shall even be the prophet of this people." Micah ii. 11. This public opinion, perverted, is potent for mischief. It knows no limits. It has no checks as every written law has. It can make hypocrites faster than the apostles made converts. Nor will any true-hearted professor of religion feel the less abhor rence to the adulation offered by cunning men because it may be directed to his own denomination. III. A general formality without any practical embracing of Christianity, a readiness to rest upon forms, and rites, and ceremonies, is no less a rejection of the Gospel. Outward privilege cannot take the place of inward grace. With formalists, profession is everything, principle is nothing. "A pale cast of NATIONAL JUDGMENTS. 223 thought sicklies over all their religious enterprises and turns all their good purposes awry." Ceremony takes the place of holy living. Fruitfulness gives way to a pragmatical zeal. The receptacles in the temples of religion are full of anise, mint, rue and cummin ; but justice, faith and mercy are stricken from the roll of necessary morals. A staid sobriety and a studied ur banity take the place of genuine solemnity and Chris tian kindness. A puling sensibility is substituted for a warm-hearted charity. The Gospel is professed but its genius is not understood. Some of its doctrines are taught, but it is never dreamed that they require holiness. Baptismal regeneration supplants the re newal of the Holy Ghost. Men reach the fearful con clusion that religion consists in forms. Such a community, destitute of fervent love may soon be filled with fanatics, contemplative and philo sophical, or vulgar and boisterous, or fierce and law less, holding to the bloodiest codes and worst maxims of devils, doing evil that good may come, offended at nothing so much as hesitancy in receiving their wicked dogmas, or resisting their sovereign sway. You might as soon find figs on thistles as meekness, gentleness, goodness, charity, pity or patience in them. They have the Gospel, without the humility it requires. They hear God's word, but they do it not. They are like the "earth, which drinketh in the rain that 224 JEHOVAH-JIREH. cometh oft upon it, which yet bringeth forth thorns and briars, and which is rejected, and nigh unto curs ing, whose end is to be burned." Heb. vi. 7, 8. To such a people Jesus said : " The kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof." Matt. xxi. 43. Those who thus treat the Gospel bring on them selves incalculable evils. The Scriptures say "they shall perish." This perdition is spiritual and temporal. Their souls perish, and with them their dignity, their good institutions, their outward prosperity. Left to themselves, men "grope for the wall at noon-day." " They sit in darkness, yea, in the region and shadow of death." " Their understanding is darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them." " Where no vision is, the people perish." No principle of moral conduct is sufficiently clear to the natural mind, nor invested with adequate authority to control the heart and life, if one is left without a revelation from God. And if one rejects the Gospel, nothing can establish its claim to a divine original. Without God's word, reason herself is be nighted. The very light that is in men is darkness. They know not God. They know not Jesus Christ. They have not so much as heard whether there be a Holy Ghost. " He, that hath not Christ, hath neither beginning of good nor shall have end of misery. O NATIONAL JUDGMENTS. 225 blessed Jesus, how much better were it not to be than to be without thee." A soul that has no God is worse than the new-born babe without a parent. The worst spiritual calamities for time and eternity await those, who for their sins are deprived of the Gospel. But there is a temporal perdition, awaiting a people, who, to their other sins have added the rejection of the Gospel. The language of Scripture is awful: "Who hath hardened himself against God and prospered ?" "The nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish." A most heavy vengeance will fall on those who having heard the Gospel, count themselves unworthy of eternal life. So said God to the ancient Jews : " You only of all the families of the earth have I known, therefore will I visit upon you all your iniquities." Amos iii. 2. With them the long-suffer ing of God waited many years, but it did not wait always. The calamities which finally overtook them might be weighed against the miseries of the world for any ten centuries of its existence. Any adequate description of the destruction of their temple and city would be too long for this work. First came Titus with his Roman legions, themselves heathen, proud and fierce, with the Roman eagle, the chosen emblem of prophecy for desolation. A trench was cast about their Jerusalem. Then seditions arose in the city itself, compared by Josephus to wild beasts K* 226 JEHOVAH-JIREH. grown mad, and for want of food eating their own flesh. Thus the city had fierce heathen foes without, and fiercer domestic foes within. Famine with all its horrors wasted the unhappy people until the human mind can hardly bear the recital. Heaps of slaugh tered men and streams of human gore were found around the altar of God. A dreadful pestilence was the natural offspring of these things. In short, every outward calamity with which man is commonly visited fell upon this people from without; while all the in tolerable fires of frenzy, envy and malice raged within. This state of things was only diversified by new and deeper scenes of horror, mingled with occasional and delusive hopes, springing up only to be disappointed, until at last the city fell, and the ploughshare of ruin was driven over its walls and through its streets by a soldiery fierce and brutalized by the nature of the long- continued contest between the besiegers and the be sieged. Tacitus says 600,000 souls thus miserably perished. Josephus puts the number at 1,100,000. In that day was fulfilled the prophecy of our Saviour : "Then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be." Matt. xxiv. 21. No man can read Josephus' account of those awful scenes without saying this prophecy was fulfilled. Following the overthrow of the holy city came a NATIONAL JUDGMENTS. 227 saddening series of calamities to Jews everywhere. Long had they spoken of Gentile dogs; but for cen turies, he who killed his neighbor's dog committed. as grave an offence as he who killed a Jew. That favored people became a by-word and a hissing. God also cast off the body of the nation from his saving mercies and left them in their sins, hardened in unbelief. "Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them, which fell, severity; but to ward us, goodness, if we continue in his goodness; otherwise we also shall be cut off." Let us not think we may treat the Gospel as we please and yet be safe. The admonition of God to us is : "Be not high-minded but fear : for if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee." If this reason ing teaches anything, it is that God may abandon and forsake a Gentile people having the Gospel, for far less provocation than led him to deliver the Jews over to destruction. For long generations God showed and expressed peculiar tenderness to the seed of Abraham. Even in their deep revolt from him, God said: "How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I de liver thee, Israel? How shall I make thee as Ad- mah? how shall I set thee as Zeboim? Mine heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together." Hos. xi. 8. Let Gentile churches and 228 JEHOVAH-JIREH. nations take timely warning from the awful fall of the Jews. How instructive too is the history of the seven churches of Asia, addressed in Revelation and warned to beware lest their candle-stick be removed. Ephe- sus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Phila delphia and Laodicea stand like seven awful beacons having inscribed on them : BEWARE ! ! ! Beware how you slight the Gospel ! Beware how you leave your first love! Beware how you embrace the doc trine of Balaam! Beware of that woman Jezebel and her adulteries! Beware how you defile your gar ments! Beware how you let any man take your crown! Beware how you become neither cold nor hot! The worst judgments are spiritual judgments. The sorest plagues are plagues of the heart. War, famine and pestilence are God's scourges for the nations gene rally. But the withholding of the influences of the Spirit, the closing of the day of grace, and the with drawal of a pure gospel are the plagues reserved for sinners of the deepest dye. They are fearful tokens of God's fiercest displeasure. REMARKS. 1. Let the people of every land study their national history. Its pages are full of interest. God is in NATIONAL JUDGMENTS. 229 history. Let the people of America be no exception to this call. 2. Let us not trust in man to preserve us. The diviners are often mad, and the seers are blind. God alone knows enough, and loves enough, and is strong enough to protect any people. 3. Let us all beware of a morbid excitability of temper. " The mock heroic falsetto of stupid tragedy" will create a thirst for the horrible, till at last our people will gloat over scenes of carnage. 4. What shall be the future character of the busy millions of America, who already begin to compass sea and land ? is one of the questions properly called sub lime. Shall they be rude ? The sternest virtue may be clad in camel's hair. Shall they be refined ? The most debasing vices and the most atrocious crimes have often been arrayed in purple and fine linen. Shall they have but little wealth ? God hath chosen the poor of this world rich in faith. Shall they be free ? Freedom is a boon worth all it ever cost. Still Joseph in chains was a man, whose presence made others feel "how awful goodness is." Daniel in Babylon was as sublime a character, as if he had never left the hills of Judea, and the waters of Siloah. Paul dates several of his epistles from under the throne of Nero. But when we ask, Shall this nation be virtu ous ? shall its people know and do the will of God ? 20 230 JEHOVAH-JIREH. shall they meekly wear the yoke of Immanuel and welcome the offers of redeeming mercy? we ask the gravest questions. "Blessed is that people, whose God is the Lord." All nations shall call such a land blessed, God himself shall smile upon it, and in every evening and morning hymn shall be sung " The taber nacle of God is with men." When every land shall truly receive Messiah, it shall be said : " One song employs all nations, and all day, Worthy the Lamb for he was slain for us. The dwellers in the vales and on the rocks Shout to each other, and the mountain tops, From distant mountains, catch the flying joy, Till nation after nation taught the strain Earth rolls the rapturous Hosanna round." But if any people learn habitually to slight offered mercy their future course will open an Iliad of calami ties, appalling to the stoutest heart. The prophetic roll of such a country's history is written within and without with lamentations, and mourning, and woe. 5. Let each man remember his own awful responsi bility to God. The way that nations rise in worth, or sink in ruin, is by the individuals, who compose them, walking humbly with God, or renouncing their por tion in Jacob. Aggregated masses are the sum of the good or ill inwoven into the character of their compo nent parts. The union of good men is right, and it is NATIONAL JUDGMENTS. 231 strength. Let every man rule his own heart. He is the best patriot, who walks most according to the moral law and the example of Christ, and who most fervently implores the blessing of heaven on his people and country. " Blessed is the nation, whose God is the Lord." ' " Righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a re proach to any people." 6. People of America ! Beware how you trifle with sin, how you make light of God's authority, and revel in iniquity. In ages long gone by, there flourished on this continent a powerful race of men. In the ruins of their cities and fortifications, we see monu ments of their prodigious energy and resources. But they are all passed away. No living man has any knowledge of their rise and fall. After them, came the red man, commonly called the Indian. Two cen turies ago there were millions of these people where now are but thousands. Many powerful tribes have wholly disappeared. Others are rapidly melting away. It looks as if God would make a full end of them. Their nationality has generally perished. And shall the myriads, that now swarm on these shores, follow in the footsteps of these old transgressors, and alike fade away under the desolating power of evil, by the curse of Jehovah, or in internecine strife ? O Lord, 232 JEHOVAH-JIREH. thou knowest. O Lord, have mercy, and grant to us all unfeigned repentance. But some are hopeless cases. Nothing moves them. God chastises them, but they make their hearts harder than adamant. He invites them by mingled words of entreaty and of authority, but they pass heedlessly along. A word enters more into a wise man, than seven stripes into them. Though they should be brayed with a pestle in a mortar, their foolishness will not depart from them. In their case we fear the worst. "When they cry, Peace and safety; then lo, sudden destruction cometh upon them." Yet no signs of devouring wrath now strike their or our senses. Earthquakes, it is said, are preceded by an unusual stillness in nature. Hell follows close on uninter rupted carnal security. God calls the whole nation to repentance. The voice of mercy is loud and tender and persuasive. Will not all, individually, turn and live ? Will you renounce every evil way, and believe in Christ ? This year you may die. How can you appear at God's tribunal without an interest in Christ ? Be persuaded to lay hold on eternal life. If the nation repents, it will be by each man bewailing his sins, believing in Christ, and so fleeing from the wrath to come. " God NOW COMMANDETH ALL MEN EVERYWHERE TO RE PENT." Obey, and Live. NATIONAL JUDGMENTS. 233 WE GIVE THEE THANKS, O LORD GOD ALMIGHTY, WHICH ART, AND WAST, AND ART TO COME ; BECAUSE THOU HAST TAKEN TO THEE THY GREAT POWER, AND HAST REIGNED. THE END. YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 3 9002 08540 0753 '^^'/tyufj'-X ',Vi4¥j;;;/:?n«'!>''i'/'Jv:.;,',S wwmm "I ! . i 3?;"; M ft?;*'; ' ' ¦iW.',;;iCt.....» < '''' "'"?; sis.