That he should gather together in one, the children of God zoko were scattered abroad....John xi. 52. THESE words are like Sampson's riddle, which some read thus: "Food came from the devourer, and sweetness from that which is violent or fierce."....Judges xiv. 14. Caiaphas the high-priest though a devourer of Jesus, yet holds forth precious food: though violent and fierce against Christ yet he delivers sweet truth. Truth is truth though from the tongue of an enemy: yea, it is a double confirmation of truth. If Christ is preached let us rejoice, though even by bad men and from bad principles. Judas preached: the Holy Ghost causes this wicked high-priest to prophesy of Jesus. By these words the Holy Spirit plainly instructs us in these precious truths: O, that we may receive them in love. 1st. That though the whole world is become guilty before God, yet he has a peculiar chosen number who are here called THE CHILDREN OF GOD: they were not so by nature, but children of wrath even as others: but God "predestinated them unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will."....Eph. i. 5. Simply to believe this is to bow to the will of God: to object to it is to cavil against God's good pleasure as well as his mercy. 2d. These children are all scattered abroad: every one of them is turned to his own way of cursed sin and shameful folly; they delight in their distance from God; they hate the knowledge of God and are at enmity against his law: they say unto God, depart, depart, we desire not the knowledge of thee: they sport themselves in their own delusions; they would fill up the measure of iniquity till their souls drop into hell: but, 3d. They are to be gathered into ONE: O the amazing mercy! O the astonishing grace of this! Christ is this belessed ONE: he like a good shepherd gathers his poor, scattered, lost sheep into himself: "unto him shall the gathering of the people be."....Gen. xlix. 10. "He gathereth the outcasts.".... Isa. Ivi. 8. "For they were given to him of the Father."....John xvii. 12. Now, are you deeply concerned to know what all the world care nothing about, whether you are a child of God or not? Here it is come to a point. Has Christ gathered you? Has he called you by the grace of his word, and by the power of his Spirit to come to him? Have you seen misery and destruction in yourself and mercy and salvation in Christ? Can you say from your heart, Jesus save me or I perish? If so, you are surely gathered by Christ: you are really a child of God by faith in Christ let sin, satan and unbelief ever so much object against Here are two little words worth the study of your whole life, IN ONE: O, ever meditate upon the glory and blessedness of being ONE IN AND WITH CHRIST JESUS. it, doubt not of it. Thou God seest me....Gen, xvi. 13. "WHY sayest thou, O trembling sinner, my way is hid from the Lord and my judgment is passed over from my God?" The Lord here asks thy reason and reproaches thy speech....Isa. xl. 27. Look at Hagar, and be ashamed of the unbelieving surmises of thy heart: she was a dear child of God, yet she is left to suffer sore distresses : her mistress treats her cruelly: she flees to a solitary wilderness : here was no eye to pity, no hand to relieve, no friend to comfort her; and what must add to her sorrow and heighten her distress, she was with child she fled from her station in providence, but the God of providence follows her....the angel of the Lord, rather, the Lord, the angel, the messenger of the covenant, the Lord Jesus the Saviour: he found her, called her by name, enquires the cause of her distress, and bids her return to her mistress. Hagar knew her Saviour; she sets up a memorial of his sympathizing love for her and care over her she called the name of the LORD, who spake unto her, THOU GOD SEEST ME. O, how much is implied in this! In every distress remember this for thy comfort, and in every perplexity think of this for thy support, thou God seest me. Let this be the daily watchword for thy soul. For it implies, 1st. What the church says, “I was in his eyes, as one who found favor, or peace."....Song viii. 10. "Therefore the eyes of the Lord are upon me, and his ears are open unto my prayers.".... i Pet. iii. 12. His loving eyes looked upon me, pitied me when I was polluted in my blood, called me to enjoy his favor and his peace. But, 2d. Am I got into a wilderness of perplexity? Do I find no one who can comfort me? Do I think I have deserted the Lord, and therefore he hath deserted my soul? Still remember, THOU GOD SEEST ME;" sees the sorrows, marks the sighs, and hears the complaints of thy labouring breast with an eye of sympathy, and a heart of love: "Our dear high priest is most tenderly touched with a feeling of our infirmities."....Heb. iv. 15. Therefore he searches after and follows us with this tender and compassionate call: "Return again to me."....Jer. iii. 1. "Come unto ME ye weary and heavy laden I will give rest and refreshment to your souls."....Matt. x. 23. 3d. Is there sorrow in our hearts for the folly of our ways, and this cry in our souls; O, that it was with me as in months that are past? This is because the Lord sees us in mercy, comes after us in love, and hath not given us up in wrath: and what says he? I have seen his ways, and I will....what? Damn him: O no! O the riches of grace: "I will heal him."....Isa. Ivii. 18. Lastly, if THOU GOD SEEST ME, O may I always live as seeing thee by the eye of faith: live in thy service, walk in thy fear unto thy glory. Filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ unto the glory and praise of God....Phil. i. 11. He who sees not himself stript of righteousness, his eyes were never yet opened, nor his heart convinced of sin by the Spirit of God: he who imagines he has got an inherent righteousness of his own in which he can stand before God, and answer all the demands of his holy law, deceives his own soul: he who seeks to be made righteous, to be justified in God's sight, and to obtain a title to heaven in any other way than by the righteousness of Christ, rejects Christ and disbelieves the scripture: he who does not delight in the fruits of righteousness and desire to abound in them and to be filled with them, is a stranger to our righteous Saviour and destitute of the power of our most holy faith. Mind, 1st. THE FRUITS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS: why do we not always speak in scripture phrases and use words which the Holy Ghost teaches? It is much easier to understand this phrase, the fruits of righteousness, than that of inherent righteousness: many people use it, but they neither know themselves, nor can they explain to others what they mean by it. These school terms have brought no honor to the plain, simple gospel of Christ, but have puzzled and misled simple hearts. Pray mind how exceeding cautious Paul is in his phrase.... Rom. vi. 16. Whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto.... What! life? The former antithesis seems to require it should be UNTO LIFE; but Paul well knew what a legal, self-righteous spirit is in us and how it works by pride; therefore he cautiously avoids electing it he says, of "obedience unto righteousness, not unto life;" this is the obedience of faith: hence springs the fruits of righteousness. 2d. These are BY JESUS CHRIST, as he is THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS: all the fruits of righteousness flow from our vital union to him, and communication from him through faith. Sd. The end of them; they are not to satisfy God's justice, obtain his mercy, or procure his favor: nor to fulfil his law, in in order to get life thereby. If we think so, we shall be puft up in our minds, reject our Saviour's righteousness, do despite to the Spirit of grace who glorifies him, and turn the eye of faith from him to trust in our good fruits: but they are unto THE GLORY AND PRAISE OF GOD. To the glory of God who has justified us freely, and will give us the kingdom of his own good pleasure. O Christian! here is the heavenly spring of all holy zeal, fervent obedience, and abounding in all fruits of righteousness. Pray, study and strive that you may excel, abound in them, and be filled with them. For," says our Lord, "herein is my Father glorified that ye bear much fruit."....John xv. 8. The rod of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous, lest the righteous put forth their hands unto iniquity....Psalm cxxv. 3. How shall we draw the line between the righteous and the wicked? How shall we distinguish them, seeing they are both alike the subjects of a wicked nature, derived from Adam the sinner, their father? The Holy Ghost does this: he sets a mark upon the righteous, by which they are essentially distinguished from the wicked, in the first verse of this psalm: THEY TRUST IN THE LORD. The wicked trust in themselves that they are righteous, trust in their own power to make and keep themselves so, and hope for God's favor and heaven, because they are so: they trust in their own wisdom to guide them through life, and to their own goodness to make them happy in death. The righteous are stript of their own righteousness: they are convinced of sin: they are poor, hopeless, desperate, and in a forlorn and wretched condition as to themselves. (Do you see somewhat of your own picture here?) They trust in the Lord Jesus for righteousness to justify and entitle them to heaven; to cleanse them from sin; for wisdom to guide; power to support; grace to sanctify; and love to bring them to glory. Now these two sorts of persons are back to back; the face of one is towards heaven, the other towards hell. They are of two seeds, there is enmity put between them: the wicked have always a rod for the back of the righteous. Ay, and they would lay it on with both hands and always. keep it upon their backs too. Though for wise and gracious ends the Lord permits this for a season, yet he will not suffer it to rest there long. Wicked Saul was a scourge to righteous David, so was blaspheming Senacherib to good Hezekiah; and says the church, "Thou caused men to ride over our heads. .Psalm lxvi. 12. Yet David came to the throne. Hezekiah and his people were unhurt by the Assyrians: and the church says, "We went through fire and water, but thou broughtest us into the wealthy place." Here is a reason why our Lord will not suffer the rod of the wicked to rest on the righteous: "Lest he put forth his hand unto iniquity." We never suffer judgment, but mercy is in it: our troubles are dealt to us by the hand of love: mercy is mixt with them all. The Lord knows the righteous is but frail: he remembers he is but dust, and liable to sin: he is wise to prevent this. When oppression and trials from the wicked bring us low and make us cry to the Lord, then we honor his grace and his power, his truth and his love, by the affiance of our heart: "He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him, he also will hear their cry and will save them."....Psalm cxlv. 19. .... Now abideth faith, hope and charity, these three, but the greatest of these is charity....1 Cor. xiii. 13. It is a pity it was not rendered LOVE instead of charity, all through this chapter: it certainly would have been a means of preventing much error. Consider, 1st. The abiding of LOVE: it springs from faith and hope, and has no existence in the heart without them. We have no more love to God than a beast, yea, than a devil has, till we believe his love to us and hope in his promises made us in Christ Jesus. We love him.... Why? merely because of the glories and perfections of his nature is he the object of our supreme love? No; but "rather because he first loved us."....1 John iv. 19. How has God manifested his love to us? In this: "Because that God sent his only begotten Son, into the world that we might live through him."....ver. 9. But our hearts are strangers to this love till we believe in Jesus and hope in his salvation: then the effect of love is produced from its original cause, the love of God; then we live in love and walk in love, because we live a life of faith on the love of God. 2d. But why is love greater than faith and hope? 1st. Because it is the greatest proof of their existence. How can you prove you believe and hope in Christ without love? This is the love of God that we keep his commandments. Suppose you were called to be a martyr for Christ: you believe you can do all things through Christ's strengthening you; you hope he will strengthen you; but if you so love him as to suffer for him, you prove your faith and hope. 2d. LovE is the perfection, the rich and ripe fruit of faith and hope. Love is the very nature of God in the soul; for GOD IS LOVE. Love makes our souls cheerful in the service of God and one another. What is life, even the life of faith and hope without love? 3d. Love will live and sing when faith shall be lost in sight and hope in fruition. Love includeth faith and hope; "for love believeth all things, hopeth all things, beareth all things, endureth all things: it never faileth.".... I Cor. xiii. 7, 8. O my Lord, my love, glory to thee that I do believe and hope in thee. Crown, O crown these blessed graces with more heavenly love. Love is of thee, and from thee. O, so shed thy love abroad in my heart by the Holy Ghost, that I may not only be a believing, hoping, but loving disciple of thine; that my soul may burn with a flame of love divine to thee and to my brethren: then shall I assuredly live in the suburbs of glory, above the deceits of sin, satan and the world; for love is of God....1 John iv. 7. Lord, hast thou blest my soul with love, Then make me watchful every hour, To live and walk in love: M. |