called "his people." He has always had a people for his name; and to know who they are we need not ascend up into heaven, to examine the divine purposes: we have the book of life in our hands, where they are recorded, though not by name yet by character; and he may run that readeth. They are described as the flock of his heritage." While this expresses them to be sheep, it holds them forth collectively as all one in Christ Jesus; and shows the interest Jehovah has in them. A man may have a flock in his temporary possession, and under his superintendence; but though it be the flock of his care, it is not the flock of his heritage. In the East a person's whole substance often consisted in his flocks and herds; of course he would feel a peculiar concern in them as his own. And the Lord takes pleasure in them that fear him. His portion is his people. And he derives the revenue of his glory from them. They are also said to "dwell solitarily in the wood." There are few around them with whom they can feel congeniality; for we may be alone, though surrounded with company. Yet here is not only solitariness, but unlikeliness of supplies, and exposure to danger. Are not the afflictions of the righteous many? Are they not sometimes perplexed and comfortless? Are they not often timid and alarmed, like sheep and lambs in a wood, when they hear beasts of prey howling about them? See therefore the blessing implored on their behalf: "Feed thy people with thy rod." The "rod" is the symbol and the instrument of the shepherd; and the word "feed," by a common figure of speech that puts a part for the whole, is significant of the discharge of all his office. The meaning therefore is, that the Lord would lead them by his word and Spirit in the way that they should go. That he would heal them when wounded or diseased. That he would restore them when they run astray. That he would guard them from all their perils. And especially that he would provide them repast and repose. We mention these together, because his sheep not only hunger and thirst, but are frequently weary-worn and faint. Hence the inquiry for both: "Tell me where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon." And when the believer realizes the blessings of his salvation, and appropriates the promises, and enjoys the comforts of the Holy Ghost, and feels the refreshment of divine ordinances, and can leave all his cares with the providence of his heavenly Father, he knows what David means, when he says, "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters." But how was the privilege to be dispensed? "In the midst of Carmel let them feed, in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old." Thus nothing less is implored than the richest measure and degree of provisions and indulgences. But are suppliants to be choosers and prescribers? And shall they who are not worthy of the least of all his mercies, not only ask for relief, but the noblest entertainments? Yes; such is the condescension and kindness of Him who giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not. He has said, "Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it." Our Saviour reproves his disciples for the contractedness of their asking; "hitherto ye have asked nothing in my name; ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full." Let us pray therefore as Paul did, not according to our meanness and unworthiness, but "according to the riches of his glory"-When Alexander bestowed a valuable boon, the favoured partaker said, "It is too much for me to receive." But the conqueror of the world replied, "It is not too much for me to give." t' The prayer we have reviewed was very great-But was it answered? Read the very next verse. According to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt will I shew unto him marvellous things." So sure is it that he is a God, hearing prayer. So often does he fulfil the promise, "While they call I will answer, and before they speak I will hear." OCTOBER 26." When he had by himself purged our sins.”—Heb. i. 3. THERE is a cleansing from sin by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost: and we read of the Saviour's cleansing his Church with the washing of water by the word. But here the purification has another import. It was well understood by the Hebrews from their own services-It is to clear from guilt by atonement, or to remove iniquity by expiation, so that it will not be imputed or punished. Without shedding of blood there is no remission; and in him we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins. This is the meaning. And therefore it is spoken of as a thing done already, and accomplished when he died upon the cross. For it is said he accomplished this purging of our sins"By himself." This has a two-fold reference. It distinguishes him from the high priest under the law. He put away sin typically, but it was not by the sacrifice of himself, but of the victims whose blood he shed and carried into the holy place. But Christ washed us from our sins in his own blood; and through the eternal Spirit he offered himself, without spot, to God; and thus purges the conscience from dead works. It also shows us that he was alone in the work, without a partner, without a helper, without a comforter. He trod the winepress alone, and of the people there was none with him. This was even signified by his stipulation in the garden, "If ye seek me, let these go their way:" and also by the conduct of his disciples, "when all forsook him and fled." Here we see the vastness of his love-That he would interpose on the behalf of those who were guilty and deserved to suffer. "Scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love towards us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." "When we were enemies we were reconciled unto God by the death of his Son." And he was under no constraint or mistake. He well knew what his engagement would cost him-yet he was more than willing-yet, dreadful as the scene was, when it drew near, he turned not away his back, he repented not of his undertaking Yea, Le said, I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished! Surely such love passeth knowledge! But we see his greatness as well as his goodness-that he could purge our sins by himself. Think of the millions of sinners saved; think of the myriads of sins with which each of them was charged, and the evil there was in every sin-Yet "the Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all! And he taketh away the sin of the world! And his blood cleanseth from all sin !" This would seem incredible; but it is called "the blood of God," that is, of One who was Divine as well as hunan. No wonder he not only finished transgression, and made an end of sin, but brought in everlasting righteousness; not only satisfied the law, but magnified it, and made it honourable. Hence let us never think of adding any thing to the efficacy of his sacrifice by our doings or sufferings. This was the great point so urged by the Reformers. They differed in many things, but here they were perfectly agreed, and resolved rather to die than to yieldthat nothing should blend with the death of Christ as the foundation of our hope, and the ground of our plea, for acceptance and justification with God. In one thing they have been mistaken. Much of what they said against good works applied only to Popish good works, that is, to abstinences and performances enjoined only by will-worship and the traditions and commandments of men. They honoured what the Scripture means by good works, works done by the grace of God, and according to the rule of his own word-Yet these, even these, much as they valued them for other necessary uses, they excluded in whole, and in part, from that work of which the Saviour said, "It is finished." Let us also beware of diminishing its virtue. We really take from its all-sufficiency when we feel and talk as if it was not by itself fully adequate to all the purposes of a sinner's relief. O thou of little faith! wherefore dost thou doubt? This sacrifice has satisfied Divine justice; why should it not satisfy thy conscience? why art thou afraid to rely upon a complete, an infinite propitiation for sin? So far as the East is from the West, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. Think of this, and joy in God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. That atonement, when we trust in it and plead it, renders us dearer to God than even a state of innocency could have done-It is an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour. Think of this and let it give you boldness and access with confidence in your approaches to God. Think of this and let it support you under all your trials. All may be rough under foot, but all is calm and clear over head. Men may frown, but God smiles. He may chastise, but he cannot condemn; and the correction is in love to your souls, and designed for your profit. Here is the tree for the healing of the waters of Marah. And you, poor convinced sinner, you diminish its value unless you find in it enough to encourage even you, and even in sight of all your desert! We blame you, not for believing that sin is exceeding sinful, or feeling that the load of it is a burden too heavy for you to bear. You ought to ask, "How shall I come before the Lord, and bow before the high God?" And it is well to be convinced that you have no sacrifice of your own to offer. But there is hope in Israel concerning this thing. Surely he hath horne our grief, and carried our sorrow. We are made nigh by the blood of Christ. Be not faithless, but believing. "Should worlds conspire to drive me thence If 1 must perish, there to die." OCTOBER 27.—“ And as they followed, they were afraid.”—Mark, x. 32. In these men we see a representation of Christians-Following; tut afraid. The one showing their constant character; the other their frequent experience. They are followers of Christ. They follow him under various allusions. They follow him as sheep follow the shepherd that is leading them to pasture. It is to nimself he refers when he says, "When he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers." They follow him as beggars follow a benefactor from whom they are seeking and expecting alms and relief. They follow him as travellers follow a guide who shows them the way. They follow him as soldiers follow a commander who leads them to warfare and victory. They follow him as servants follow their master to receive and execute his orders. More frequently they are said to follow him as disciples follow their teacher, whose doctrine they profess, and whose example they imitate. For he is not only their instructer, but their model; to him they are to be conformed. He goes before them in doing and suffering-"If any man," says he," will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me." And who is he that requires us to be humble and tender? He who was meek and lowly in heart. Who is he that requires us to be condescending? He who came not to be ministered unto, but to minister; he who washed the disciples' feet. Who is he that requires us to be liberal? He who was rich, and for our sakes became poor. Do we suffer? He suffered for us, leaving us an example that we should follow his steps. In this view we are to consider him, lest we be wearied and faint in our minds. When ready to despond or repine, let us look before us, and see him bearing a heavier burden, bearing it for us, and bearing it without a murmur and without a groan. But while they follow, they may be afraid. Let us arrange the fears of his followers in three classes. First, there are those fears which are commendable. For they are enjoined to pass the time of" their "sojourning here in fear;" and God himself says, "Happy is the man that feareth always." Such is the fear of caution and vigilance which they are to maintain, as opposed to the carelessness, heedlessness, and rashness of those who expose themselves to temptation, and feast themselves without fear. Such is the fear of diffidence, which keeps us from trusting in our own hearts, and depending upon own resources and resolutions, either as to duty or tria.s. Such is that fear of the Lord, in which David resolved to worship towards his holy temple, and which he connects with God's forgiving mercy. It is a fear of offending him, and grieving his Holy Spirit. The first Christians walked in the fear of the Lord; and we may judge what the nature of it was, and learn that there was nothing debasing or distressing in it, for it was united with "tne comforts of the Holy Ghost." Secondly, those which are censurable. Such is the fear of man that bringeth a snare, and which led Nicodemus to come to him by night, and Peter to deny him thrice. The righteous should be bold as a lion. His cause is good, and his defence is sure-" For he hath said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee." So that we may boldly say, "The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me." Such is a slavish fear of God, who ought to be always viewed as our father and our friend. He will not reject us for our infirmities, but spare us as a man that spareth his own son that serveth him. We are excepted in the Beloved, however unworthy, and are complete in him, however defective. are redeemed," says Zechariah, "that being delivered we might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our lives." "We Thirdly, those which are neutral-for we know not how to commend or censure them. They are constitutional rather than moral. They arise from the state of the animal spirits; and depend on a disordered bodily frame. Much of the apprehension of death, and many of those feelings which they call temptations of Satan, and doubts, and fears, are often physical effects. They should endeavour to distinguish things that differ, and have a juster view of their state than to be affected in their conclusions by a variation in the weather, or in their animal economy. Yet how much are such persons as these entitled to our sympathy and prayers! We are sometimes much tried in dealing with them, but they refuse to be comforted, because they cannot at present take comfort, and their very religion produces a kind of unbelief-They tremble at the thought of presumption. Yet at the very time these tremblers, like 66 Fearing" in Bunyan, often fear nothing else but coming short at last. They are willing to follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth; and, like Caleb, to follow him fully. And when others decline, and the Saviour says to them, will ye also go away? the answer rushes up from every feeling of their soul, "Lord, to whom should we go but unto thee? thou hast the words of eternal life." Am I addressing such a one?, Art thou sighing, "If I am a follower at all, I seem only like Peter, to follow him afar off. At best I come in like one of Gideon's followers, pursuing, yet faint, and ready to halt." Or with the disciples before us, and "they were amazed," and " as they followed they were afraid." Yet I dare not go back: I cannot turn aside-he is all my salvation and all my desire no joy can be compared with serving and pleasing bin. Well he knows your frame. Your desire is before him, and your groaning is not hid from him. You may write bitter things against yourselves but this is what he writes: "Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." Behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it, for thou hast a little strength, and has not denied my name." Wait on the Lord, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land "Where doubts and fears shall never come." And we shall be quietness and assurance for ever." |