In some moods we are apt to question the wisdom and right of God to try us. So often we murmur at His dispensations, Why should God lay such an intolerable burden upon me? Why should others be spared their loved ones and mine taken? Why should health and strength, perhaps the gift of sight, be denied me? The first answer to all such questions is, O man, who art thou that replyest against God? It is wicked insubordination for any creature to call in to question the dealings of the great Creator. Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it? Why hast thou made me thus? Romans 9.20 How earnestly each of us need to cry unto God that his grace may silence our rebellious lips and still the tempest within our desperately wicked hearts. But to the humble soul which bows in submission before the sovereign dispensations of the All-Wise God, Scripture affords some light on the problem. This light may not satisfy reason, but it will bring comfort and strength when received in childlike faith and simplicity. In 1 Peter 1.6 we read, wherein, God's salvation, ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations or trials. But the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. Note three things here. First, there is a needs be for the trial of faith. Since God says it, let us accept it. Second, this trying of faith is precious, far more so than of gold. It is precious to God. Compare Psalm 116.15 and will yet be so to us. Third, the present trial has in view the future. Where the trial has been meekly endured and bravely borne, there will be a grand reward at the appearing of our Redeemer. Again in 1 Peter 4, 12 and 13 we are told, Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you, but rejoice inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings, that when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. The same thoughts are expressed here as in the previous passage. There is a needs be for our trials, and therefore we are to think them not strange. We should expect them. And, too, there is again the blessed outlook of being richly recompensed at Christ's return. Then there is the added word that not only should we meet these trials with faith's fortitude, but we should rejoice in them inasmuch as we are permitted to have fellowship in the sufferings of Christ. He too suffered sufficient then for the disciple to be as his master. when he hath tried me. Dear Christian reader, there are no exceptions. God had only one son without sin, but never one without sorrow. Sooner or later, in one form or another, trial, sore and heavy, will be our lot. And sent Timotheus, our brother, to establish you and comfort you concerning your faith. that no man should be moved by these afflictions. For yourselves know that we are appointed there unto 1 Thessalonians 3, 2 and 3. And again it is written, we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. Acts 14.22. It has been so in every age. Abram was tried, tried severely. So too were Joseph, Jacob, Moses, David, Daniel, the apostles, etc. 3. The ultimate issue. I shall come forth as gold. Observe the tense here. Job did not imagine that he was pure gold already. I shall come forth as gold, he declared. He knew full well that there was yet much dross in him. He did not boast that he was already perfect. Far from it. In the final chapter of his book we find him saying, I abhor myself. Chapter 42, 6. And well, he might. And well may we. as we discover that in our flesh there dwelleth no good thing, as we examine ourselves and our ways in the light of God's word, and behold our innumerable failures, as we think of our countless sins, both of omission and commission. Good reason have we for abhorring ourselves. Ah, Christian reader, there is much dross about us. But it will not ever be thus. I shall come forth as gold. Job did not say, When he hath tried me, I may come forth as gold, or I hope to come forth as gold, but with full confidence and positive assurance he declared, I shall come forth as gold. But how did he know this? How can we be sure of the happy issue? Because the divine purpose cannot fail. He which hath begun a good work in us will finish it. Philippians 1.6 How can we be sure of the happy issue? Because the divine promise is sure. The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me. Psalm 138.8 Then be of good cheer, tried and troubled one. The process may be unpleasant and painful, but the issue is charming and sure. I shall come forth as gold. This was said by one who knew affliction and sorrow as few among the sons of men have known them. Yet despite his fiery trials he was optimistic. Let then this triumphant language be ours. I shall come forth as gold is not the language of carnal boasting, but the confidence of one whose mind was stayed upon God. There will be no credit to our account. The glory will all belong to the divine. Refiner James 1 12. For the present there remain two things. First, love is the divine thermometer while we are in the crucible of testing and he shall sit the patience of divine grace, as a refiner and purifier of silver, etc., Malachi 3.3. Second, the Lord himself is with us in the fiery furnace as he was with the three young Hebrews, Daniel 3.25. For the future, this is sure. The most wonderful thing in heaven will not be the golden streets or the golden harps, but golden souls on which is stamped the image of God, predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son. Praise God for such a glorious prospect, such a victorious issue, such a marvelous goal. Chapter 7. Define chastisement. despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him. Hebrews 12 verse 5 It is of first importance that we learn to draw a sharp distinction between divine punishment and divine chastisement, important for maintaining the honor and glory of God and for the peace of mind of the Christian. The distinction is very simple, yet it is often lost sight of. God's people can never by any possibility be punished for their sins, for God has already punished them at the cross. The Lord Jesus, our blessed substitute, suffered the full penalty of all our guilt. Hence it is written, the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanseth us from all sin. Neither the justice nor the love of God will permit him to again exact payment of what Christ discharged to the foe. The difference between punishment and chastisement lies not in the nature of the sufferings of the afflicted. It is most important to bear this in mind. There is a threefold distinction between the two. First, the character in which God acts. In the former, God acts as judge, in the latter, as father. Sentence of punishment is the act of a judge, a penal sentence passed on loathe, charged with guilt. Punishment can never fall upon the child of God in this judicial sense, because his guilt was all transferred to Christ, who his own self bare our sins in his own body, on the tree. But while the believer's sins cannot be punished, while the Christian cannot be condemned, yet he may be chastised. The Christian occupies an entirely different position from the non-Christian. He is a member of the family of God. The relationship which now exists between him and God is that of parent and child, and as a son he must be disciplined for a wrongdoing. Folly is bound up in the hearts of all God's children, and the road is necessary to rebuke, to subdue, to humble. The second distinction between divine punishment and divine chastisement lies in the recipients of each. The objects of the former are his enemies. The subjects of the latter are his children. As the judge of all the earth, God will yet take vengeance on all his foes. As the father of his family, God maintains discipline over all his children. The one is judicial, the other, parental. A third distinction is seen in the design of each. The one is retributive, the other remedial. The one flows from his anger, the other from his love. Divine punishment is never sent for the good of sinners, but for the honoring of God's law and the vindicating of his government. But divine chastisement is sent for the well-being of his children. We have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence. Shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the fathers of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure, but he for our prophet, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Hebrews 12, 9 and 10. The above distinction should at once rebuke the thoughts which are so generally entertained among Christians. When the believer is smarting under the rod, let him not say, God is now punishing me for my sins. That can never be. That is most dishonoring to the blood of Christ. God is correcting thee in love, not smiting in wrath. Nor should the Christian regard the chastening of the Lord as a sort of necessary evil to which he must bow as submissively as possible. No, it proceeds from God's goodness and faithfulness and is one of the greatest blessings for which we have to thank Him. Chastisement evidences our divine sonship. The father of the family does not concern himself with those on the outside, but those within he guides and disciplines to make them conform to his will. Chastisement is designed for our good, to promote our highest interests. Look beyond the rod to the all-wise hand that wields it. The Hebrew Christians to whom this epistle was first addressed were passing through a great fight of afflictions and miserably were they conducting themselves. They were the little remnant out of the Jewish nation who had believed on their Messiah during the days of his public ministry, plus those Jews who had been converted under the preaching of the apostles. It is highly probable that they had expected the Messianic kingdom would at once be set upon earth and that they would be allotted the chief of places of honor in it. But the millennium had not begun, and their own lot became increasingly bitter. They were not only hated by the Gentiles, but ostracized by their unbelieving brethren, and it became a hard matter for them to make even a bare living. Providence held a frowning face. Many who had made a profession of Christianity had gone back to Judaism and were prospering temporally. As the afflictions of the believing Jews increased, they too were sorely tempted to turn their backs upon the new faith. Had they been wrong in embracing Christianity? Was High Heaven displeased because they had identified themselves with Jesus of Nazareth? Did not their suffering go to show that God no longer regarded them with favor? Now it is most instructive and blessed to see how the Apostle met the unbelieving reasoning of their hearts. He appealed to their own scriptures. He reminded them of an exhortation found in Proverbs 3, 11 and 12 and applied it to their case. Notice first the words we place in italics. We have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you. This shows that the exhortations of the Old Testament were not restricted to those who lived under the Old Covenant. They apply with equal force and directness to those of us living under the New Covenant. Let us not forget that all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable. 2 Timothy 3.16 The Old Testament equally as much as the New Testament was written for our learning and admonition. Second, mark the tense of the verb in our opening text. Ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh. The apostle quoted a sentence of the word written one thousand years previously, yet he does not say which hath spoken, but which speaketh. The same principle is illustrated in that sevenfold. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit sayeth, not said unto the churches of Revelation 2 and 3. The Holy Scriptures are a living word in which God is speaking today. Consider now the words ye have forgotten. It was not that these Hebrew Christians were unacquainted with Proverbs 3.11 and 12, but they had let them slip. They had forgotten the fatherhood of God and the relation of Him as His dear children. In consequence, they misinterpreted both the manner and design of God's present dealings with them. They viewed His dispensation not in the light of His love, but regarded them as signs of His displeasure or as proofs of His forgetfulness. Consequently, instead of cheerful submission, there was despondency and despair. Here is a most important lesson for us. We must interpret the mysterious providences of God, not by reason or observation, but by the Word. How often we forget the exhortation which speaketh unto us as unto children. My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him. Unhappily, there is no word in the English language which is capable of doing justice to the Greek term here. Paideia, which is rendered chastening, is only another form of Paideion, which signifies young children, being the tender word that was employed by the Savior in John 21 5. and Hebrews 2.13. One can see at a glance the direct connection which exists between the Lord's disciple and discipline. Equally close in the Greek is the relation between children and chastening. Son training would be better. It has reference to God's education, nurture, and discipline of His children. It is the Father's wise and loving correction which is in view. It is true that much chastisement is the rod in the hand of the Father correcting His erring child. But it is a serious mistake to confine our thoughts to this one aspect of the subject. Chastisement is by no means always the scourging of his refractive sons. Some of the saintliest of God's people, some of the most obedient of his children, have been and are the greatest sufferers. Oftentimes, God's chastenings, instead of being retributive, are corrective. They are sent to empty us of self-sufficiency and self-righteousness. They are given to discover to us hidden transgressions and to teach us the plague of our own heart. Or again, chastisements are sent to strengthen our faith, to raise us to higher levels of experience, to bring us into a condition of usefulness. Still again, divine chastisement is sent as a preventative to keep under pride, to save us from being unduly elated over success in God's service. Let us consider briefly four entirely different examples. David. In his case, the rod was laid upon him for grievous sins, for open wickedness. His fall was occasioned by self-confidence and self-righteousness. If the reader will diligently compare the two songs of David recorded in 2 Samuel 22 and 23, the one written near the beginning of his life, the other near the end, he will be struck by the great difference of spirit manifested by the writer in each. Read 2 Samuel 22, 22-25, and you will not be surprised that God suffered him to have such a fall. Then turn to chapter 23 and mark the blessed change. At the beginning of verse 5, there is a heartbroken confession of failure. In verses 10-12, There is a God-glorifying confession attributing victory unto the Lord. The severe scourging of David was not in vain. Probably he tasted of every kind of suffering which falls to man's lot. Family bereavements, loss of property, grievous bodily afflictions came fast, one on top of another. But God's end in it all was that Job should benefit therefrom and be a greater partaker of his holiness. There was not a little of self-satisfaction and self-righteousness in Job at the beginning, but at the end, when he was brought face to face with the thrice holy one, he abhorred himself. Chapter 42, verse 6. In David's case, the chastisement was retributive in Job's corrective. Abraham In him we see an illustration of an entirely different aspect of chastening. Most of the trials to which he was subjected were neither because of open sins nor for the correction of inward faults. Rather, they were sent for the development of spiritual graces. Abraham was sorely tried in various ways but it was in order that faith might be strengthened and that patience might have its perfect work in him. Abraham was weaned from the things of this world that he might enjoy closer fellowship with Jehovah and become the friend of God. Paul and lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations. There was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. 2 Corinthians 12.7 This thorn was sent not because of failure and sin, but as a preventative against pride. Note the rest both at the beginning and end of the verse. The result of this thorn was that the beloved apostle was made more conscious of his weakness. Thus, chastisement has for one of its main objects the breaking down in self-sufficiency, the bringing us to the end of ourselves. Now in view of these widely different aspects, chastenings which are retributive, corrective, educative, and preventative, how incompetent are we to diagnose? And how great is the folly of pronouncing a judgment concerning others? Let us not conclude when we see a fellow Christian under the rod of God that he is necessarily being taken to task. For his sins in our next meditation we shall, the Lord willing, consider the spirit in which divine chastisements are to be received. Chapter 8 Receiving Divine Chastisement My son despised not the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him. Hebrews 12, 5 Not all chastisement is sanctified to the recipients of it. Some are hardened thereby, others are crushed beneath it. Much depends on the spirit in which afflictions are received. There is no virtue in trials and troubles in themselves. It is only as they are blessed by God that the Christian is prophesied thereby. As Hebrews 12, 11 informs us, it is those who are exercised under God's rod that bring forth the peaceable fruit of righteousness. A sensitive conscience and a tender heart are the needed adjuncts. In our text, the Christian is warned against two entirely different dangers. Despise not, despair not. These are two extremes against which it is ever necessary to keep a sharp look out. Just as every truth or scripture has its balancing counterpart, so has every evil its opposite. On the one hand, there is a haughty spirit which laughs at the rod, a stubborn will which refuses to be humbled thereby. On the other hand, there is a fainting which utterly sinks beneath it and gives way to despair. Sturgeon said, the way of righteousness is a difficult path between two mountains of error and the great secret of the Christian life is to wind his way along the narrow valley. One, despising the rod. There are a number of ways in which Christians may despise God's chastenings. We mention four of them. A. By callousness. To be spherical is the policy of carnal wisdom. Make the best of a bad job. The man of the world knows no better plan than to grit his teeth and brave things out. Having no divine comforter, counselor, or physician, he has to fall back on his own poor resources. It is inexpressibly sad when we see a child of God conducting himself as does a child of the devil. For a Christian to defy adversity is to despise chastisement instead of hardening himself to endure stoically. There should be a melting of the heart. by complaining. This is what the Hebrews did in the wilderness and there are still many murmurers in Israel's camp. A little sickness and we become so cross that our friends are afraid to come near us. A few days in bed and we fret and fume like a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke. We peevishly ask, why this affliction? What have I done to deserve it? We look around with envious eyes and are discontented because others are carrying a lighter load. Beware, my reader, it goes hard with murmurers. God always chastises twice if we are not humbled by the first. Remind yourself of how much dross there yet is among the gold. View the corruptions of your own heart, and marvel that God has not smitten you twice as severely. My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord. See, by criticisms, How often we question the usefulness of chastisement. As Christians we seem to have a little more spiritual good sense than we had natural wisdom as children. As boys we thought that the rod was the least necessary thing in the home. It is so with the children of God. When things go as we like them, when some unexpected temporal blessing is bestowed, we have no difficulty in ascribing all to a kind of providence. But when our plans are thwarted, when losses are ours. It is very different. Yet, is it not written, I form the light and create darkness? I make peace and create evil? I, the Lord, do all these things. Isaiah 45, 7. How often is the thing formed ready to complain? Why hast thou made me thus? We say, I cannot see how this can possibly profit my soul. If I had better health, I could attend the house of prayer more frequently. If I had been spared those losses in business, I would have more money for the Lord's work. What good can possibly come of this calamity? Like Jacob, we exclaim, all these things are against me. What is this but to despise, Zarath? Shall thy ignorance challenge God's wisdom? Shall thy short-sightedness arraign omniscience? D. Thy carelessness. So many fail to mend their ways. The exhortation of our text is much needed by all of us. There are many who have despised the Lord, and in consequence they have not profited thereby. Many a Christian has been corrected by God, but in vain. Sickness, reverses, bereavements have come, but they have not been sanctified by prayerful self-examination. O brethren and sisters, take heed! If God be chastening thee, consider your ways. Haggai 1.5. Ponder the path of thy feet. Proverbs 4.26. Be assured that there is some reason for the chastening. Many a Christian would not have been chastised half so severely had he diligently inquired the cause of it. 2. SAINTING UNDER IT Having been warned against despising the rod, now we are admonished not to give way to despair under it. There are at least three ways in which the Christian may faint beneath the Lord's rebukes. A. When he gives up all exertion. This is done when we sink down in despondency. The smitten one concludes that it is more than he can possibly endure. His heart fails him, darkness swallows him up. The sun of hope is eclipsed and the voice of thanksgiving is silent. To faint means rendering ourselves unfit for the discharge of our duties. When a person faints, he is rendered motionless. How many Christians are ready to completely give up the fight when adversity enters their life? How many are rendered quite inert when trouble comes? Their ways, how many by their attitudes say, God's hand is heavy upon me, I can do nothing? O beloved, sorrow not, even as others which have no hope for Thessalonians 4.13, faint not when thou art rebuked of him. Go to the Lord about it, recognize his hand in it, remember thine afflictions are among thee, all things. which work together for good. B. When he questions his sonship. There are not a few Christians who, when the rod descends upon them, conclude that they are not sons of God. After all, they forget that it is written, many are the afflictions of the righteous, Psalm 34, 19, and that we must through much tribulation enter the kingdom of God, Acts 14, 22. One says, but if I were his child, I should not be in this poverty, misery, pain. Listen to verse 8. But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Learn then to look upon trials as proofs of God's love, purging, pruning, purifying thee. The father of the family does not concern himself much about those on the outside of his household. It is they who are within whom he guards and guides, nurtures and conforms to his will. So it is with God. See when he despairs. Some indulge the fancy that they will never get out of their trouble. One says, I have prayed and prayed, but the clouds have not lifted. Then comfort yourself with this reflection. It is always the darkest hour that precedes the dawn. Therefore faint not when thou art rebuked of him. But says another, I have pleaded his promise and things are no better. I thought he delivered those who called upon him. I have called and he has not answered, and I fear he never will. What, child of God, speak of thy father thus? You say he will never leave off smiting, because he has smitten so long. Rather say, he has now smitten so long, I must soon be delivered. Despise not, faint not, may divine grace preserve both writer and reader from either sinful extremes. Chapter 9 God's inheritance, for the Lord's portion is his people. Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. Deuteronomy 32.9 This verse brings before us a most blessed and wonderful line of truth, so wonderful that no human mind could possibly have invented it. It speaks of the mighty God having an inheritance, and it tells us that this inheritance is in his own people. God refused to take this world for his inheritance. It will yet be burnt off. Nor did heaven, peopled with angels, satisfy his heart. In eternity past, Jehovah said, by way of anticipation, My delights were with the sons of men. Proverbs 8 31 This is by no means the only scripture which teaches that God's inheritance is in his saints. In Psalm 145-4 we read, For the Lord hath chosen Jacob unto himself, and Israel for his peculiar treasure. In Malachi 3.17 the Lord speaks of his people as his special treasure, see margin, so special that the highest manifestations of his love are made to them, the richest gifts of his hands. are bestowed on them. The mansions on high are prepared and reserved for them. The same wondrous truth is taught in the New Testament. In Ephesians 1 we behold the Apostle Paul praying that God would give unto his people the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. The eyes of their understanding being enlightened that they might know what is the hope of his calling and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints. Verse 18. This is a truly amazing expression. Not only do the saints obtain an inheritance in God, but he also secures an inheritance in them. How overwhelming the thought that the great God should deem himself the richer because of our faith, our love and worship. Surely this is one of the most marvelous truths revealed in Holy Writ, that God should pick up poor sinners and make them His inheritance. Yet, so it is. But what need has God of us? How can we possibly enrich Him? Does He not have everything, wisdom, power, grace, and glory? All true. Yet there is something that he needs, yes, needs, namely vessels. Just as the sun needs the earth to shine upon, so God needs vessels to fill. Vessels through which his glory may be reflected. Vessels on which the riches of his grace may be lavished. Mark that God's people are not only called his portion, his special treasure, but also his inheritance. This suggests three things. First, an inheritance is obtained through death. So God's inheritance is secured to him through the death of his beloved son. Second, an inheritance denotes perpetuity. To a man and his heirs forever are the terms often used. Third, an inheritance is for possession. It is something which is entered into, lived upon, enjoyed. Let us now consider five things about God's inheritance. 1. God purposed to have such an inheritance. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, and the people whom he has chosen for his own inheritance. Psalm 33, 12. The nation here is identical with the holy nation, the chosen generation, royal priesthood, peculiar people of 1 Peter 2, 9. This favored people was chosen by God to be His inheritance. It was not an afterthought with Him, but decreed by Him in eternity past. Ere the foundation of the world, God fixed His heart upon having them for Himself. 2. God has purchased His people for an inheritance. In Ephesians 1.14 we are told that the Holy Spirit is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession unto the praise of his glory. So again in Acts 20.28 we read of the church of God which he hath purchased with his own blood. God has not only redeemed his people from bondage and death but for himself. 3. God comes and dwells in the midst of his inheritance, for the Lord will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance. Psalm 94 14. A clear proof that these scriptures are not referring to the nation of Israel after the flesh. Just as Jehovah tabernacled in the midst of the redeemed Hebrews, so he now indwells his church, both collectively and individually. Know ye not that ye, plural, are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? 1 Corinthians 3.16. Know ye not that your body, singular, is the temple of the Holy Spirit? 1 Corinthians 6, 19. 4. God beautifies his inheritance. Just as a man who has inherited a house or an estate takes possession of it and then makes improvements, so God is now fitting his people for himself. He who has begun a good work within his own is now performing it until the day of Jesus Christ, Philippians 1, 6. He is now conforming us to the image of his Son. Each Christian can say with the psalmist, The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me, Psalm 138, 8. Nor will God be satisfied until we have been glorified. The Lord Jesus Christ shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. Philippians 3.21 When he shall appear, we shall be like him. 1 John 3.2 5. And what of the future? God will yet possess, live upon, enjoy his inheritance. In the unending ages yet to be, God will make known the riches of his glory, on the vessels of his mercy. Romans 9, 23. the glory which God shall ever live upon, as upon an inheritance shall rise out of his people. What a marvelous statement is that which is found at the close of Ephesians 2, where the saints are likened unto a building, fitly framed together, which groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord, of whom it is said, in whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. Wonderful and glorious is the picture presented before us in Revelation 21. And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away, and there was no more sea. And I, John, saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride, adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will rest in his love. He will joy over thee with singing, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. Verses 1 through 3. What a marvelous statement is that in Zephaniah 3.17. The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty. He will save, He will rejoice over thee with joy. He will rest in His love. He will joy over thee with singing. The great God will yet say, I am satisfied, here will I rest. This is mine inheritance that I will live upon forever, even the glory which I have bestowed on redeemed sinners. Surely we have to say with the psalmist, such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It is high, I cannot attain unto it. Psalm 139.6. May divine grace enable us to walk worthy of the vocation wherewith we are called. Chapter 10. God securing his inheritance. He found him in a desert land and in the waste howling wilderness. He led him about. He instructed him. He kept him as the apple of his eye. Deuteronomy 32.10 In the previous verse we have the amazing statement that the Lord's portion is his people and that there may be no misunderstanding. The same truth is expressed in another form. Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. Here in our text we learn something of the pains which God takes to secure his heritage. There are four things to be noted and feasted upon. One, Jehovah finding his people. He found him in a desert land. It needs hardly to be said that the word found necessarily implies a search. Here then we have presented to our view the amazing spectacle of a seeking God. Sin came in between the creature and the creator, causing alienation and separation. Not only so, but as the result of the fall, every human being enters this world with a mind that is enmity against God. Consequently, there is none that seeketh after God. Therefore, God, in his marvelous condescension and grace, becomes the seeker. The word found not only implies a search, but when we consider the sinful character and unworthiness of the objects of his search, it also tells of the love of the seeker. The great God becomes the seeker because he set his heart upon those whom he marked out to be the recipients of his sovereign favors. God had set his heart upon Abraham, and therefore did he seek and find him amid the heathen idolators in Ur of Chaldea. God set his heart upon Jacob, and therefore did he seek out and find him as a fugitive from his brother's vengeance, when he lay asleep on the bare earth. So too it was, because he had loved Moses with an everlasting love, that the Lord sought out and found him in Midian, at the backside of the desert. Equally true is this with every real Christian living in the world today. I was found of them that sought me not. I was manifest unto them that asked not after me. Romans 10 20. Has God found you? To help you answer this question, ponder the remainder of the first clause of our text. He found him in a desert land and in the waste, howling wilderness. Is that how this world appears unto you? Do you find everything under the sun only vanity and vexation of spirit? Are you made to groan daily at what you witness on every hand? Do you find that the world furnishes nothing to satisfy the heart? Yea, nothing to even minister to it? Is the world really a waste, howling wilderness to you? Let a second test be applied. When God truly finds one of his own, he reveals himself. He imparts to the soul a realization of His sovereign majesty, His awesome power, His ineffable holiness, His wondrous mercy. Has He thus made Himself known unto you? Has He given you in any measure a vision of His divine glory, His sovereign grace, His wondrous love? Has He? This is life eternal. that they might know thee, the one true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. John 17, 3. Here is a third test. If God has revealed himself, he has given you a sight of yourself, for in his light we see light. A most humbling, painful and never-to-be-forgotten experience this is. When God was revealed to Abraham, he said, I am but dust and ashes. Genesis 18, 27. When he was revealed to Isaiah, the prophet said, Woe is me, for I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips. Isaiah 6, 5. When God revealed himself to Job, he said, I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes. Job 42.6 Note, not merely I abhor my wicked ways, but my vile self. Is this your experience, my reader? Have you discovered your depravity and lost condition? Have you found there is not a single good thing in you? Have you seen yourself to be fit for and deserving only of hell? Have you truly? Then that is good evidence, yea, it is proof positive that the Lord God has found you. 2. Jehovah leading his people, he led him about. The finding is not the end, but only the beginning of God's dealings with his own. Having found him, he remains never more to leave him. Now that he has found his wandering child, he teaches him to walk in the narrow way. There is a beautiful word on God leading in Hosea 11.3. I taught Ephraim also to go, taking them by their arms, just as a fond mother takes her little one whose feet are yet too weak and untrained to walk alone. So the Lord takes His people by their arms and leads them in the path of righteousness for His namesake. Such is His promise, He will keep the feet of His saints. 1 Samuel 2 9 There is a threefold leading of the Lord. Evangelical The Lord Jesus declared, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. John 14 6 But again He said, No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him." John 6, 44. Here then is how God leads. He leads the poor sinner to Christ. Have you, my reader, been brought to the Savior? Is Christ your only hope? Are you trusting in the sufficiency of His precious blood? If so, What cause have you to praise God, for having led you to His blessed Son? Doctrinal The Lord Jesus declared, When He, the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide you into all the truth. John 16, 13 We are not capable of discovering or entering into the truth of ourselves. Therefore do we have to be guided into it. As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Romans 8, 14. It is He who makes us to lie down in the green pastures of Scripture, and who leads us beside the still waters of His promises. How thankful we ought to be for every ray of light which has been granted us from the lamp of God's Word. Thou in thy manifold many mercies forsookest them not in the wilderness. The pillar of the cloud departed not from them by day to lead them in the way, neither the pillar of fire by night to show them light and the way wherein they should go. Nehemiah 9.19 Just as Jehovah led Israel of old, so today he leads us, step by step, through this wilderness world. What a mercy this is! The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and he delighteth in his way. Psalm 37, 23. Yes, every detail of our lives is regulated by the Most High. All my times are in thy hand, all events at thy command. All must come and last and end, as doth please our heavenly friend. Three, God instructing his people. He instructed him, so he does us. It was to instruct us that God in his great mercy gave us the scriptures. He has not left us to grope our way in darkness, but has provided us with a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. Nor are we left to our own unaided powers in the study of the word. We are supplied with an infallible instructor. The Holy Spirit is our teacher. Ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. The anointing ye have received of Him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you." 1 John 2, 20 and 27. Right views of God's truth. are not an intellectual attainment, but a blessing bestowed upon us by God. It is written, a man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven. John 3, 27. No matter how legibly a letter may be written, if the recipient be blind, he cannot read it. So we are told, the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 1 Corinthians 2.14 And spiritual discernment is imparted only by the Holy Spirit. He instructed him. How patiently God bears with our dullness, how graciously He repeats line upon line and precept upon precept. Yet slow as we are, He perseveres with us, for He has promised to perfect that which concerns us. Psalm 138.8 Has he instructed you, my reader? Has he taught you the total depravity of man and the utter inability of the sinner to deliver himself? Has He taught you the humbling truth? Ye must be born again, and that regeneration is the sole work of God, man having no part or hand in it. John 1, 13. Has He revealed to you the infinite value and sufficiency of the atoning sacrifice of Christ, that His blood cleanses from all sin? than what cause you have to be thankful for such divine instruction. Four, God preserving his people. He kept him as the apple of his eye. A religion of conditions, contingencies, and uncertainties is not Christianity. Its technical name is Arminianism, and Arminianism is a daughter of Rome. It is that God-dishonoring, scripture-repudiating, soul-destroying system of potpourri whose father is the devil, which prates about human merit, creature ability, works of supererogation, and a lot more blasphemous rubbish, and lives at the blinded dukes in the fogs and bogs of uncertainty. Christianity deals with certainties which originated in the purpose and love of an unchanging God who, when he begins a good work, always completes it. For the Lord loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints. They are preserved forever. Psalm 37, 28. How blessed is this! Did Jehovah forsake Noah when he got drunk? No, indeed. Did he forsake Abraham when he lied to Abimelech? No, indeed. Did he forsake Moses for smiting the rock in anger? No, indeed, as his appearance on the Mount of Transfiguration abundantly proves. Did he forsake David when he committed those sins which ever since had given occasion for the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme? No, indeed. He led him to repentance, caused him to confess his awful wickedness, and then sent one of his servants to say, The Lord hath put away thy sins. The Lord is thy keeper. The Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. The Lord shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil. He shall preserve thy soul. The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth and even forevermore. Psalm 121, 5-8. Here are the covenant verities of our faithful God. Here are the infallible shalls of the triune Jehovah. Here are the sure promises of Him who cannot lie. Note there were no ifs or peradventures, but the unconditional and unqualified declarations of the Most High. No circumstances can ever place the believer beyond the reach of divine preservation. No change can alter or affect this divine certainty. Wealth may ensnare, poverty may stress, Satan may tempt, inward corruptions may annoy, but nothing can ever destroy or lead to the destruction of a single sheep of Christ. Nay, all these things only serve to display more manifestly and more gloriously the preserving hand of our God. We are kept by the power of God's true faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. 1 Peter 1 5. The rage of heathen monarchs, with their den of lions and fiery furnace, may be employed to try the faith of God's elect, but destroy them, harm them, they cannot. O brethren in Christ, What cause we have to praise the finding, instructing, and preserving triune Jehovah? Chapter 11, Mourning. Blessed are they that mourn. Matthew 5, 4. Mourning is hateful and irksome to poor human nature. From suffering and sadness our spirits instinctively shrink. By nature we seek the society of the cheerful and joyous. Our text presents an anomaly to the unregenerate, yet is it sweet music to the ears of God's elect. If blessed, why do they mourn? If they mourn, how can they be blessed? Only the child of God has the key to this paradox. The more we ponder our text, the more we are constrained to exclaim, Never man spake like this man. Blessed, happy, are they that mourn Is at complete variance with the world's logic. Men have in all places and in all ages Deemed the prosperous and the gay the happy ones, But Christ pronounces happy Those who are poor in spirit and who mourn. Now it is obvious that it is not every species of mourning that is here referred to. There is a sorrow of the world which worketh death. The mourning to which Christ promises comfort must be restricted to that which is spiritual. The mourning which is blessed is the result of a realization of God's holiness and goodness which issues in a sense of our own wickedness. the depravity of our natures, the enormity and guilt of our conduct, and the sorrowing over our sins with a godly sorrow. We intimated in our last that the eight beatitudes are arranged in four pairs. Proof of this will be furnished as we proceed. The first of the series is the blessing which Christ pronounced upon those who are poor in spirit, which we took to mean they who have been awakened to a sense of their own nothingness and emptiness. Now the transition from such poverty to mourning is easy to follow. In fact, it follows so closely that it is rather its companion. The mourning which is here referred to is manifestly more than that of believement, affliction, or loss. It is mourning for sin. It is mourning over the felt destitution of our spiritual state, and over the iniquities that have separated between us and God. Mourning over the very morality in which we have boasted, and the self-righteousness in which we have trusted. Sorrow for rebellion against God, and hostility to His will. and such a mourning always goes side by side with conscious poverty of spirit. Dr.Person A striking illustration and exemplification of the spirit upon which the Savior here pronounced his benediction is to be found in Luke 18. There a vivid contrast is presented to our view. First we are shown a self-righteous Pharisee looking up toward God and saying, God, I thank Thee that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week. I give tithes of all that I possess. This may have been all true as he looked at it, yet this man went down to his house in a state of condemnation. His fine garments were rags, his white robes were filthy, though he knew it not. Then we are shown the publican, standing afar off, who in the language of the psalmist was so troubled by his iniquities that he was not able to look up. Psalm 40, 12. He dared not so much as lift up his eyes to heaven, but smote upon his breast, conscious of the fountain of corruption within, and cried, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. And that man went down to his house justified because he was poor in spirit and mourned for sin. Here then are the first birthmarks of the children of God, and he who has never come to be poor in spirit, and has never known what it is to really mourn for sin, though he belong to a church and be an office-bearer in it, has never entered nor seen the kingdom of God. How thankful the Christian reader ought to be that the great God condescends to dwell in the humble and contrite heart. Where can we find anything in all the Old Testament more precious than that? That He in whose sight the heavens are not clean? Who cannot find in any temple that man ever builded for Him? However magnificent a proper dwelling place has said Isaiah 66-2 and Isaiah 57-15. Blessed are they that mourn. Though the primary reference be to that initial mourning, usually termed conviction of sin, it is by no means to be limited to this. Mourning is ever a characteristic of the normal Christian state. There is much that the believer has to mourn over. The plague of his own heart makes him cry, O wretched man that I am! The unbelief which doth so easily beset us, and the sins which we commit, that are more in number than the hairs of our head, are a continual grief. The barrenness and unprofitableness of our lives make us sigh and cry. our propensity to wander from Christ, our lack of communion with Him, the shallowness of our love for Him, cause us to hang our harps upon the willows. But this is not all. The hypocritical religion prevailing on every hand, having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof. The awful dishonor done to the truth of God by the false doctrines taught in countless pulpits. The divisions among the Lord's people, the strife between brethren, occasioned continual sorrow of heart. The awful wickedness in the world, men despising Christ, the untold sufferings around make us groan within ourselves. The closer the Christian lives to God, the more will he mourn over all that dishonors him. With the psalmist he will say, Psalm 119.53, with Jeremiah, Jeremiah 13 17, Jeremiah 14 17, and with Ezekiel. In chapter 9 verse 4. They shall be comforted. This refers first of all to the removal of the conscious guilt which burdens the conscience. It finds its fulfillment in the spirit's application of the gospel of God's grace to the one whom he has convicted of his dire need of a savior. It issues in a sense of free and full forgiveness through the merits of the atoning blood of Christ. This divine comfort is the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, filling the heart of the one who is now assured that he is accepted in the beloved. God wounds before healing, abases before he exalts. First there is a revelation of his justice and holiness, then the making known of his mercy and grace. they shall be comforted, also receives a constant fulfillment in the experience of the Christian. Though he mourns his excuseless failures and confesses them to God, yet he is comforted by the assurance that the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanses him from all sin. though he groans over the dishonor done to God on every side. Yet is he comforted by the knowledge that the day is rapidly approaching when Satan shall be removed from these scenes and when the Lord Jesus shall sit upon the throne of His glory and rule in righteousness and peace. Though the chastening hand of the Lord is often laid upon him, and though no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grieveth, nevertheless he is consoled by the realization that this is all working out for him a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. Like the apostle, the believer who is in communion with his Lord can say, as the sorrowful, yet always rejoicing, he may often be called upon to drink of the bitter waters of Merah, but God has planted nearby a tree to sweeten them. Yes, Mourning Christians are comforted even now by the Divine Comforter, by the ministrations of His servants, by encouraging words from fellow Christians, and when these are not to hand, by the precious promises of the Word being brought home in power to His memory and heart. They shall be comforted. The best wine is reserved for the last. Sorrow may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. During the long night of his absence, the saints of God have been called to fellowship with him, who was the man of sorrows. But, blessed be God, it is written, if we suffer with Him, we shall also be glorified together. What comfort and joy will be ours when shall dawn the morning without clouds? Then shall sorrow and sighing flee away, Isaiah 35 10. Then shall be fulfilled the saying, Revelation 21 3. Chapter 12 Hungering Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled Matthew 5 verse 6 In the first three Beatitudes we are called upon to witness the heart exercises of one who has been awakened by the Spirit of God. First there is a sense of need, a realization of my nothingness and emptiness. Second, there is a judging of self, a consciousness of my guilt and sorrowing over my lost condition. Third, there is an end of seeking to justify myself before God, an abandonment of all pretenses to personal merit, a taking of my place in the dust before God. Here in the fourth, the eye of the soul is turned away from self to another. There is a longing after that which I know I have not got, and which I am conscious I urgently need. There has been much needless quibbling as to the precise import of the word righteousness in our present text. The best way to ascertain its significance is to go back to the Old Testament scriptures where this term is used and then turn on these, the four light furnished by the New Testament epistles. Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness. Let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together. I, the Lord, have created it. Isaiah 45, 8. The first half of this verse refers in figurative language to the advent of Christ to this earth, the second half to his resurrection when he was raised again for our justification. Hearken unto me, ye self-hearted that are far from righteousness. I will bring near my righteousness. It shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not tarry. And I will place salvation in Zion for Israel my glory. Isaiah 46, 12-14. My righteousness is near, my salvation is gone forth, and mine arms shall judge the people. The isles shall wait upon me, and on mine arms shall they trust. Isaiah 51 5 Thus saith the Lord, Keep ye judgment, and do justice, for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed. Isaiah 56, 1. I will greatly rejoice in the Lord. My soul shall be joyful in my God, for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation. He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness. Isaiah 61, 10. These passages make it clear that God's righteousness is synonymous with God's salvation. The above scriptures are unfolded in the epistle to the Romans, where the gospel receives its fullest exposition. See Romans 1, 1. In Romans 1, chapter 16 and 17, we are told, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith. In chapter 3 verses 22 and 24 we read, Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe. For there is no difference, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. In chapter 5, verse 19, the blessed declaration is made, For as by one man's disobedience many were made legally constituted sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made legally constituted righteous. While in chapter 10 verse 4 we learn, Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. The sinner is destitute of righteousness, for there is none righteous, no, not one. God has therefore provided in Christ a perfect righteousness for each and all of his people. This righteousness, this satisfying of all the demands of God's holy law against us, was wrought out by our substitute and futility. This righteousness is now imputed, legally placed to the account of the believing sinner. Just as the sins of God's people were all transferred to Christ, so His righteousness is placed upon them. See 2 Corinthians 5.21. Such is a brief summary of the teaching of Scripture on this vital and blessed subject of righteousness. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness. hungering and thirsting express a vehement desire of which the soul is acutely conscious. First the Holy Spirit brings before the heart the holy requirements of God. He reveals to us his perfect standard which he can never lower. He reminds us that Accept your righteousness, exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter the kingdom of heaven. Second, the trembling soul, conscious of its own abject poverty, realizing his utter inability to measure up to God's requirements, sees no help in self. This is a painful discovery, which causes him to mourn and groan. Have you done so? Third, the Holy Spirit now creates in the heart a deep hunger and thirst which causes the convicted sinner to look for relief and seek a supply outside of himself. The eye is now directed to Christ, the Lord, our righteousness. Jeremiah 23, 6. Like the previous ones, this fourth beatitude begins in the unconverted, but is perpetuated in the saved sinner. There is a repeated exercise of this grace felt at varying intervals. The one who longed to be saved by Christ now yearns to be made like Him. looked at in its widest aspect, this hungering and thirsting refers to that panting of the renewed heart after God. Psalm 42, 1, that yearning for a closer with him, that longing for more perfect conformity to the image of his son. It tells of those inspirations of the new nature for divine blessing, which alone can strengthen, sustain, and satisfy. Our text presents such a paradox that it is evident no carnal mind ever invented it. Can one who has been brought into vital union with Him, who is the bread of life, and in whom all fullness dwells, be found still hungering and thirsting? Yes. Such is the experience of the renewed heart. Mark carefully the tense of the verb. It is not blessed are they which have, but blessed are they which do hunger and thirst. Do you, dear reader, Or are you content with your attainments and satisfied with your condition? Hungering and thirsting after righteousness has ever been the experience of God's saints? See Psalm 82, 4, Philippians 3, 8, and 14, etc. They shall be filled. Like the first part of our text, this also has a double fulfillment, an initial, and a continuous. When God creates a hunger and a thirst in the soul, it is that He may satisfy them. When the poor sinner is made to feel his need of Christ, it is that he may be drawn to and led to embrace Him. Like the prodigal who came to the father as a penitent, the believing sinner now feeds on the one figured by the fatted cat. He is made to exclaim, Surely in the Lord have I righteousness. They shall be filled. not with wine wherein is excess, but filled with the Spirit, filled with the peace of God that passeth all understanding, filled with divine blessing to which no sorrow is added, filled with praise and thanksgiving unto Him who has wrought all our works in us. filled with that which this poor world can neither give nor take away, filled by the goodness and the mercy of God till their cup run up over. And yet all that is enjoyed now is but a little foretaste of what God has prepared for them that love Him. In the day to come we shall be filled with divine holiness, for we shall be like him. 1 John 3, 2. Then shall we be done with sin forever. Then shall we hunger no more, neither thirst any more. Revelation 7, 16. Chapter 13, Heart Purity. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Matthew 5, 8. This is another of the Beatitudes which have been grossly perverted by the enemies of the Lord. Enemies who have, like their predecessors the Pharisees, posed as the champions of the truth and boasted of a superior sanctity to that confessed by the true people of God. All through this Christian era there have been poor deluded souls who have claimed an entire purification of the old man or who have insisted that God has so completely renewed them that the carnal nature has been eradicated and in consequence that they not only commit no sins but have no sinful desires or thoughts. But God tells us, if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 1 John 1 18. Of course, such people appeal to the scriptures in support of their vain delusion, applying to experience verses which describe the legal benefits of the atonement. The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin, does not mean that our hearts have been washed from the corrupting defilement of evil, but that the sacrifice of Christ has availed for the judicial blotting out of sins. Old things are cast away. Behold, all things are become new. 2 Corinthians 5.17 refers not to our state in this world, but to the Christians standing before God. That purity of heart does not mean sinlessness of life is clear from the inspired record of the history of all of God's saints. Noah got drunk. Abraham equivocated. Moses disobeyed God. Job cursed the day of his birth. Elijah fled in terror from Jezebel. Peter denied Christ.