Let your thoughts fix on this bow in the cloud, and it shall give you peace. It is written, "Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out." But soon even this will be withdrawn. It beams with richest mercy on earth, but is lost amid the blackness of darkness in hell! Long Melford. J. BURGESS. OBEDIENCE TO GOD. "O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments: then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea."-ISAIAH xlviii. 18. THESE very important words clearly show that the ever-blessed God is deeply interested in the happiness of men. They do not suffer because God delights in their sufferings, but because they are sinners, and deserve what they suffer. "Wherefore should a living man complain? a man for the punishment of his sins?" The Jews were not sent into captivity in Babylon because God delighted to afflict them, but because they were disobedient to His just commands. He made known His will to them by inspired men, and encouraged them to be obedient, and warned them of the consequences of rebellion, but they refused to listen to His voice, and were justly punished for their sins. And so it is now. The eternal God makes known His laws to men, and encourages them to obey by great promises of good; but many refuse to yield to His authority, and therefore must suffer the consequences of their own wickedness. They sin voluntarily, therefore are guilty. They sin against good instruction, solemn warning, and the faithful admonitions of their conscience. They prefer their own will to the will of God. Now, would it be right for God not to punish disobedience? Would it be right for an earthly king never to punish crime? God is the supreme Ruler, and must have respect to His laws. "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" But God is a merciful Benefactor as well as a just Judge, and He seeks to bless His subjects. The text shows His great compassion towards us, His tender interest in our welfare, His sincere desire for our real happiness. The eternal God has given commandments to men for the regulation of their hearts and lives. He has a perfect right to give laws to men and to angels, for He made them, therefore must have a right to rule them. He taught Adam in Paradise his duty to obey His will. And He taught the Jews at Horeb that He was their King, and that it was their duty to be obedient to His will. And He taught the same truth by the Great Teacher, and commands men to hear Him. The Holy Scriptures contain His laws, they publish His will to the world, they call upon men to be obedient. He has commanded men to receive His Son as their Teacher, Saviour, and King, to love one another, to remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy, to improve their talents, to pray for the blessings He is disposed to give, &c. These commandments are published in the written Word, proclaimed by the living voice, and they are all reasonable, just, and good. Love to God will prompt us cheerfully to obey them. These commands are binding upon all classes of men, and in all places where they are made known, and will be so until the end of time. And they are written by the Holy Spirit upon the renewed heart of the godly. Obedience to the commands of God would secure true happiness. Hearken to the words of the Almighty on this subject: "O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments: then had thy peace been as a river." Here we are taught that obedience to God is productive of peace. This is seen in the moral effects of obedience. He who obeys God is holy, and holiness saves from many evils, and secures many blessings. This gives us a calm conscience, inspires hope, and fits us for communion with God. Peace with this glorious Being is the precious fruit of justification. There can be no true peace for us as sinners, until we are reconciled to God, until sin is forgiven, and we are acquitted at the bar of God. The condemned criminal cannot be happy. He dreads the execution of the sentence out against him. Hence the awakened sinner is full of alarm when he sees and feels his danger, and can find no effectual relief but in that salvation provided in the Saviour of the world. There is hope in Him. He has made peace for us by the blood of His cross. Col i. 20. The Gospel requires faith in Him. The Christian obeys, and believes the Gospel report concerning Christ; the result is peace. This flows from a sense of pardon and acceptance with God, and from the hope of eternal life.-Rom. v. 1. But peace of mind also flows from sanctification. There can be no true peace in the soul while sin reigns within. This awakens fear of the wrath of God, and fear hath torment. God requires men to apply to Jesus for salvation; the Christian obeys, the result is internal renovation.-Matt. i. 21. Now he has tranquillity of mind, arising from faith in God, love to His moral character, and meek submission to His will. "The effect of righteousness is quietness and assurance for ever." And there is a sweet peace of mind which flows from confidence in the care of Divine Providence. Hence it is said, "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed upon thee." His care can supply our wants, save us from the evils we dread, guide us in the right way to a city of habitation. How happy may he be who is interested in the care of so wise, so kind, and so powerful a Being. Religion inspires hope, and hope maketh not ashamed. Rom. v. 5. Hope gives us peace in affliction, in temptation, and in death. The obedient walk with God, and walking with God promotes knowledge, holiness, confidence, and thus must promote the happiness of the soul. The way to be happy is to be obedient. God can make His friends happy. He is the true source of happiness. This was the belief of David; hence his prayer, Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us. 66 Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased. I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety." This peace, flowing from the cultivation of true religion, shall be abundant like a river: "Great peace have they which love thy law." God is able to give us, not only peace, but great peace. He is an infinite fountain of good, from whence happiness flows in abundance like a river, to all who seek their happiness in Him. He can give us peace in seasons of the greatest affliction. This peace shall be pure like a river, for it flows from a pure fountain, and makes us pure. This is not impure, like the false peace of the wicked.-Rev. xx. 1. And it is abiding. This will flow on for ever, like the constant flow of a river. And it tends to promote our usefulness. This peace promotes gratitude, and gratitude prompts us to live to the glory of our gracious Benefactor. God blesses us, and then we become a blessing to others. This peace is progressive; it often increases as we get nearer eternal home. Then see the blessedness of the obedient. The way to promote the happiness of the world is to try and promote obedience to the will of God. Our The language of the text shows that God earnestly desires men to be brought into the possession of true happiness. He is happy Himself, and wishes others to be happy; but this is impossible unless they hearken to Him, and are obedient to His will, and seek their happiness in Himself. That God desires men to be happy is clear from the means He employs to promote it. These are truly wonderful, they have been long continued, and are very numerous. This is seen in the glorious work of the Saviour. Man cannot be restored to true happiness unless he is restored to true holiness. When perfectly holy, he will be perfectly happy. Now the benevolent design of the work of Christ is the removal of sin. Matt. i. 21. He saves His people from this by His atonement, teaching, and gracious influence. The gift of Christ, therefore, shows that God is interested in your happiness. He has at a vast cost made provision for your eternal salvation. Man cannot be happy unless he is saved, and there is no salvation apart from Christ. His work gives us an encouraging view of the deep interest God takes in the welfare of man. This is also seen in the institution of the Christian ministry, which seeks to bring sinners into a state of reconciliation with God. And this is seen in the work of the Holy Spirit, the promises He has made, the home He has prepared, the constitution of the Christian church, and even in the design of our trials, for they are intended to check evil, and to promote our sanctification, and thus to increase our happiness.-Rom. viii. 28. Then what confidence is justly due to God, and what love and reverence. He seeks to make millions happy, and happy for ever. And this He has been doing for ages, and He contrives to employ means for this benevolent purpose, notwithstanding all the wickedness of men. Surely this glorious Being must have powerful claims to our gratitude, affection, and homage. The kindness of men will affect us, and ought not the kindness of God? The subject should encourage us to persevere in religion, for this is the way to increase our happiness. Are you obedient? H. H. THE FATAL MISTAKE. 66 The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved."JER. viii. 20. FELLOW-SINNER, have you ever seriously, solemnly, as in the sight of God, pondered these words? What have you been sowing during your past life? Every hour you You may have lived has had an influence on your eternal state. not have thought so; you may still think that all the actions you have committed are gone into oblivion, forgotten, passed over, never to be recalled to your remembrance. It is a great mistake, for they have gone before you to judgment, as dark witnesses to appear against you, if you die impenitent, unforgiven. The wages of sin is death, and this is eternal in duration. Every sin you have committed, subjects you to the penalty of death, for the soul that sinneth shall die, and perish eternally. It is an awful thing to die impenitent, unprepared, and then to fall into the hands of the living God. If the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?-1 Peter iv. 18. A mistake once made cannot be rectified in eternity. The seed you now sow will spring up, and bear fruit either for good or evil. We are incessantly pleasing or displeasing God, according to the spirit which influences our inward feelings, motives, and daily actions. The hidden sins of the heart will all come to light. Not one will be missing, when the righteous Judge shall summon you to His bar to give an account of your stewardship. Every hour you spend sends up its record on high. There is no escape from the all-seeing eye of God. Have you ever thought seriously on this searching investigation, unceasingly going on? To trifle with sin is the forerunner of endless woe. It lays the foundation of everlasting ruin. An impenitent sinner, who hardens his heart against conviction, light, and truth, and perseveres in a course of folly, sensual pleasure, and self-gratification, writes his own condemnation. Wilfully to neglect the invitations of the Gospel to believe in Jesus, and to accept salvation through faith in His atoning blood, is to reject the offer of mercy, and rush headlong into danger. To resist conscience is a sin of the deepest dye. Delays are dangerous. Many are lost for ever, because they have not accepted the offer of mercy to-day. They have been blinded by the delusion and deceitfulness of the present life. They are bartering their souls for some earthly good, for some fleeting gain. They are eagerly following the bent of their inclinations, and dreaming of future pleasure or aggrandisement. imThey are mersed in business, with thoughts and desires engrossed on an earthly portion, as if there was no moral respon sibility, no account to be rendered hereafter of the stewardship. Strange infatuation, that the soul-so capable of the highest enjoyments, and destined for immortality-should thus be under the withering influence of some passing earthly object! How many make the fatal mistake for want of reflection? To think in earnest on the past and future, in reference to the great salvation, is the first step towards the kingdom of heaven. The want of deep reflection on the vast interests at stake is one great cause for the loss of the soul. Many are ruined because they will not give heed to the reproofs of conscience, to faithful admonition, to a searching, inquiry of the truth in order to realise their real condition in the sight of God. The Bible is to them a sealed book, the revelation of God treated as a tale, the threatenings unheeded, the promises despised, and the future, with all its fearful realities, treated as a fiction. Yet, amid all apparent unconcern for the soul's salvation, there is often a deep uneasiness, a secret trembling, a fear of passing suddenly into the next world, a dread of death, the appearing before the tribunal of the righteous Judge. There are fearful misgivings and forebodings of the coming judgment. The voice of conscience is strong and powerful, and proclaims, as with thunder, "There is a hereafter, when the past will be brought in solemn review, when the secrets of every heart will be made known, when nothing will be concealed, when motives of action will be weighed in a just balance, and all will be brought to light." Fellow-sinner, will you not now แ hear the voice of Him who speaks, That fountain in his day, Washed all my sins away." This is the language of every pardoned sinner, and He will surely welcome every penitent and return |
