GOD'S TESTIMONY AND CHALLENGE.
"The LORDgave, and the LORDhath taken away; blessed be the Name of the LORD."--Job i.21.
In the 8th verse of the 1st chapter, GODHimself bears testimony to His servant: "that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth GOD, and escheweth evil; and in the 2nd chapter and 3rd verse, He repeats the same testimony, adding: "still he holdeth fast his integrity, althoughthou movedst Me against him, to destroy him without cause." Stronger testimony to the life which GOD'Sgrace enabled Job to live can scarcely be imagined. The chastisement that came upon him is declared to have been without cause so far as his life and spirit were concerned. Let us thank GODthat the same grace which enabled Job, so long ago, to live a life that pleased GODand received His repeated commendation, is unchanged; and that by it we may also live lives that will be well-pleasing to Him with whom we have to do.
Satan would very frequently harass the believer in times of sorrow and trial by leading him to think that GODis angry with him--that this is a punishment for some unknown offence, and many of the comforts and consolations that might otherwise beenjoyed may thus be clouded. Do we not rather see from the Word of GODthat He is like a glad father, delighting to be able to encourage a strong healthy son to undertake some athletic feat which will entail arduous effort and careful training, or to stimulate him to prepare for a difficult literary examination by a prolonged and toilsome course of study, knowing he will obtain honours and permanent advantage from his attainments? So, our HEAVENLYFATHER delightsto trust a trustworthy child with a trialin which he can bring great glory to GOD, and through which he will receive permanent enlargement of heart, and blessing for himself and others.
Take the case of Abraham: GODso thoroughly trust him, that He was not afraid to call upon His servant to offer up his well-beloved son. Andhere, in the case of Job, it was not Satan who challenged GODabout Job, but GODwho challenged the arch-enemy, the accuser of the brethren, to find any flaw in his character, or failure in his life. In each case grace triumphed, and in each case patience and fidelity were abundantly rewarded; but more of this anon.
THE UNSEEN HEDGE.
The reply of Satan is noteworthy. He does not need to ask, "Which Job?" or, "Where does he live?" Hehadconsidered GOD'Sservant, and evidently knew all about him. How came it that he was so well acquainted with this faithful man of GOD? It may have come about in this way: those subordinate spirits of evil who are evidently under the control ofSatan had in vain tried ordinary means of temptation with the patriarch. Probably reporting their want of success to some of the principalities and powers of evil, these likewise had essayed their diabolical arts, but had not succeeded in leading Job to swerve from his integrity. Last of all, the great arch-enemy himself had found all his own efforts ineffectual to harass and lead astray GOD'Sbeloved servant. He found a hedge around him, and about his servants, and about his house, and about all that he had on every side--an entrenchment so strong that he had been unable to break through, so high that, going about as a roaring lion, he had been unable to leap over, or to bring disaster within the GOD-protected circle.
How blessed it must have been to dwell so protected! The work ofJob's hands was prospered--his substance increased in the land, and he became the greatest as well as the best of all the men of the East, for in that day GODmanifested His approval largely, though not solely, by the bestowal of temporal blessings.
Is there no analogous spiritual blessing to be enjoyed now-a-days? Thank GOD, there is. Every believer may be as safely kept and as fully blessed, though, perhaps, not in the same way, as Job--may be delivered from the power of the enemy, and preserved in a charmed circle of perfect peace. The conditions are simple, and are given us by the Apostle Paul in the 4th chapter of Philippians, v. 4-7, "Rejoice in the LORDalways ... Let your moderation [your gentleness, or yieldingness] be known unto all men. The LORDis at hand." Notyour power of resistance of evil, and of "maintaining your own rights;" but your spirit of yieldingness, believing that the LORDwill maintain for you all that is really for your good; and that in any case, He is at hand, and will soon abundantly reward fidelity to His command. And lastly, "Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto GOD. And the peace of GOD, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through CHRISTJESUS."
How is it that believers so often fail to enjoy this promised blessing? Is it not that we fail to be anxious fornothing, and to bringeverythingby prayer and supplication with thanksgiving before GOD? We may bring nine difficulties out of ten to Him,and try to manage the tenth ourselves, and that one little difficulty, like a small leak that runs the vessel dry, is fatal to the whole; like a small breach in a city wall, it gives entrance to the power of the foe. But if we fulfil the conditions, He is certainly faithful, and instead of our having to keep our hearts and minds--our affections and thoughts--we shall find them kept for us. The peace, which we can neither make nor keep, will itself, as a garrison, keep and protect us, and the cares and worries will strive to enter in vain.
THE TESTING OF JOB
Reverting to the history of Job: the great accuser, having no fault to find with his character or life, insinuates that it is all the result of selfishness. "Doth Job fear GODfor nought." Indeed, he did not, as Satan well knew! Nor has anyone, before or since, ever feared GODfor nought. There is no service which pays so well as the service of our HEAVENLYMASTER; there is none so royally rewarded. Satan was making a true assertion, but the insinuation he connected with it, that it was for thesakeof this reward that Job served GOD, was not true.
To vindicate the character of Job himself in the sight of the angels of GOD, as well as of the evil spirits, Satan is permitted to test Job, and take away all those treasures for the sake of which alone Satan imagined, or pretended to imagine, that Job was serving GOD. "All that he hath," said GOD, "is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand."
SATAN'S MALIGNITY.
And soon Satan showed the malignity of his character by bringing disaster after disaster upon the devoted man. By his emissaries he incited the Sabeans, and they fell upon the oxen and the asses feeding beside them, slaying the servants with the edge of the sword, suffering one only to escape--and this, not in any pity or sympathy, but that he might bear the message to his unhappy master, telling of the destruction of his property and servants. The evil one appears, also, to have had power to bring the lightning from heaven--by which the sheep, and the servants caring for them, were destroyed. Here, again, one servant only was left, by his message to increase the distress of the afflicted man of GOD.
Working in another direction, the Chaldeans were led to come in three bands and carry off Job's camels, slaying all the servants with the edge of the sword, save the one left to convey the evil tidings. And, as if this were not sufficient, even the very children of Job, his seven sons and three daughters--children of so many prayers--were swept away at one blow, by a terrible hurricane from the wilderness, which smote the four corners of the house so that it fell upon them, leaving only one servant to bear witness of the calamity. One only of all his family--his wife--seems to have been left to Job. But so far from being a spiritual help to him in this hour of sorrow and trial, she lost faith in GOD; and when further calamity came upon him, and he was in sore bodily suffering and affliction,his trial was added to by the words of his despairing wife: "Curse GOD, and die." We see from this, that even she was left to Job through no mercy on the part of the great enemy, but simply to fill the cup of affliction to the full in the hour of his extremity.
GRACE SUFFICIENT.
But He who sent the trial gave also the needful grace, and in the words which we have already quoted, Job replied: "The LORDgave, and the LORDhath taken away; blessed be the Name of the LORD."
Was not Job mistaken? Should he not have said: "The LORDgave, and Satan hath taken away?" No, there was no mistake. The same grace which had enabled him unharmed toreceive blessing from the hand of GOD, enabled him also to discern the hand of GODin the calamities which had befallen him. Even Satan himself did not presume to ask of GODto be allowedhimselfto afflict Job. In the 1st chapter and the 11th verse he says: "Put forthThinehand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse Thee to Thy face;" and in the 2nd chapter and the 5th verse: "Put forthThinehand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse Thee to Thy face." Satan knew thatnone butGODcould touch Job; and when Satan was permitted to afflict him, Job was quite right in recognising the LORDHimself as the doer of these things which He permitted to be done.
Oftentimes shall we be helped and blessed if we bear this in mind--that Satan isservant, and notmaster, andthat he, and wicked men incited by him are only permitted to do that which GODby His determinate counsel and foreknowledge has before determined shall be done. Come joy, or come sorrow, we may always take it from the hand of GOD.
Judas betrayed his Master with a kiss. Our LORDdid not stop short at Judas, not did He even stop at the great enemy who filled the heart of Judas to do this thing; but He said: "the cup whichMy FATHERhath given me, shall I not drink it?" How the tendency to resentment and a wrong feeling would be removed, could we take an injury from the hand of a loving FATHER, instead of looking chiefly at the agent through whom it comes to us! It matters not who is the postman--it is with the writer of the letter that we are concerned: itmatters not who is the messenger--it is with GODthat His children have to do.
We conclude, therefore, that Job wasnotmistaken, and thatweshall not be mistaken if we follow his example, in accepting all GOD'Sprovidential dealings, as from Himself. We may be sure that they will issue in ultimate blessing; because GODis GOD, and, therefore, "all things work together for good" to them that love Him.
DEEPER TRIALS.
Job's trial, however, was not completed, as we have seen, when his property was removed. When the LORDchallenged Satan a second time: "Hast thou considered my servant Job ... ?" Satan has no word of commendation, but a further insinuation:"Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life ... touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse Thee to Thy face." Receiving further permission to afflict him bodily, but with the charge withal to save his life, Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot to his crown.
The pain of his disease, the loathsomeness of his appearance, must have been very great; when his friends came to see him they knew him not. His skin was broken and had become loathsome; his flesh was clothed with worms and clods of dust. Days of vanity and wearisome nights followed in sad succession; his rest at night was scared by dreams and terrified through visions; so that, without ease or respite, strangling would have been a relief to him,and death chosen rather than life. But of death there was no danger, for Satan had been charged not to touch his life.
His kinsfolk failed him, and his familiar friends seem to have forgotten him. Those who dwelt in his house counted him as a stranger, and his servant gave no answer to his call when he entreated help from him. Nay, worse than all, his own wife turned from him, and in his grief he exclaimed: "My breath is strange to my wife, though I entreated for the children's sake of mine own body." No wonder that those who looked on thought that GODHimself had become his enemy.
Yet it was not so. With a tender Father's love GODwas watching all the time; and when the testing had lasted long enough to vindicate the powerof GOD'Sgrace, and to prepare Job himself for fuller blessing, then the afflictions were taken away; and in place of the temporary trial, songs of deliverance were vouchsafed to him.
THE LOVING-KINDNESS OF THE LORD.
Nor was the blessing GODgave to His servant a small one. During this time of affliction, which, perhaps, was not very prolonged, Job learned lessons, which all his life of prosperity had been unable to teach him. The mistakes he made in the hastiness of his spirit were corrected; his knowledge of GODwas deepened and increased; he had learned to know Him better than he could have done in any other way. He exclaimed that he hadheard ofHim previously, by the hearing of the ear, and knew GODby hearsay only; but that nowhis eyesawHim, and that his acquaintance with GODhad become that which was the result of personal knowledge, and not of mere report. All his self-righteousness was gone: he abhorred himself in dust and ashes.
Then, when he prayed for his friends, the LORDremoved the sorrow, restored to him the love and friendship of those who previously were for the time alienated, and blessed the latter end of Job more than the beginning. His sheep, his camels, his oxen, and his asses, were doubled. Again seven sons and three daughters were granted to him, and thus the number of his children also was doubled; for those who were dead were not lost, they had only gone before. And after all this, Job lived 140 years, and saw his children, and grandchildren, to thefourth generation; and finally died, being old and full of days.
May we not well say that if Job's prosperity was blessed prosperity, his adversity, likewise, was blessed adversity? "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning;" and the night of weeping will bear a fruit more rich and permanent than any day of rejoicing could produce. "The evening and the morning were the first day." Light out of darkness is GOD'Sorder, and if sometimes our Heavenly FATHERcan trust us with a trial, it is a sure presage that, if by grace the trial is accepted, He will ere long trust us with a blessing.
In this day, when material causes are so much dwelt upon that there is danger of forgetting the unseen agencies, let us not lose sight of theexistence and reality of our unseen spiritual foes. Many a child of GODknows what it is to have sore conflict with flesh and blood; and yet, as says the Apostle, "We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against ... wicked spirits in heavenly places" (margin). It would be comparatively easy to deal with our visible foes, if the invisible foes were not behind them. With foes so mighty and, apart from GOD'Sprotecting care, so utterly irresistible, we should be helpless indeed if unprotected and unarmed.
Weneedto put on the whole armor of GOD, and to be not ignorant of Satan's devices. Let us not, on the other hand, lose sight of the precious truth that GODalone is Almighty; that GODis our Helper, our Protector, and our Shield, as well as our exceeding great Reward. "If GODbe for us,who can be against us?" Let us always be on His side, seeking to carry out His purposes; then the power of GODwill always be with us, and we shall be made more than conquerors through Him that loved us.
Coming to the King.
"And King Solomon gave unto the Queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked, beside that which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty."--1 Kings x. 13.
The beautiful history recorded in the chapter from which the above words are quoted is deeply instructive to those who have learned to recognise CHRISTin the Scriptures. The reference to this narrative by our LORDHimself was surely designed to draw our attention to it, and gives it an added interest. The blessings, too, received by the Queen of Sheba were of no ordinary kind. She was not only pleased with her reception, andwith what she saw, but all her difficulties were removed, all her petitions were granted, all her desire was fulfilled. She was satisfied--so satisfied that, with glad and thankful heart, she turned and went away to her own country to fulfil the duties which, in the providence of GOD, devolved upon her.
If we may learn from this narrative how to approach the Antitype of King Solomon, and to receive from Him blessings as much greater than those received by the Queen of Sheba as CHRISTis greater than Solomon, we shall not meditate without profit on this portion of Scripture.
In many respects we resemble the Queen of Sheba. Though of royal birth, she was doubtless, like the bride in the Song of Solomon, black, because the sun had looked upon her. Thepost which she was called to occupy was no easy one; in her own life, and in her duty towards others, she found many hard questions to which she saw no solution. She heard of one reigning in the power of the LORD, whose wisdom exceeded that of the wisest of men, and who, if any one could, might afford her the help that she needed. She felt sure that the reports that she heard of his wisdom and of his acts were exaggerated; yet, even allowing for this, she was prepared to take a long and difficult journey that she might see his face and prove for herself how far her difficulties could be solved by him. And she came not empty-handed; she came not only to receive, but also to give, "with a very great train, with camels that bare spices, and very much gold, and precious stones," not because she thought Solomonpoor and needy, but because she knew of his magnificence she sought to bring gifts worthy of his royal dignity, and so coming she was not disappointed.
Her long journey accomplished, she reached Jerusalem, and was granted the audience with the great king which her soul craved. She not only unburdened her camels, she unburdened her own heart, and found that her difficult questions were no difficulty to him. "Solomon told her all her questions: there was not any thing hid from the king, which he told her not." And so gracious was he that, without restraint, "she communed with him ofallthat was in her heart." Surely this utter opening of the heart implies a great deal. To none but the true Solomon can we give such confidence, but to Him we may lay bare the innermost recesses of our souls, and bringthe questions, difficult, perplexing, or sad, which we could breathe into no human ear.
We know what came of the questionings, in the case of the Queen of Sheba, as to whether Solomon really could be all that some enthusiasts had reported. When she had seen his wisdom, and the house that he had built, his state and his magnificence, and his ascent by which he went up into the house of the LORD, there was no more spirit in her; and she said to the king, "It was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom. Howbeit I believed not the words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it; and, behold, the half was not told me: thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame which I heard. Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants, which stand continuallybefore thee, and that hear thy wisdom. Blessed be the LORDthy GOD, which delighteth in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel: because the LORDloved Israel for ever, therefore made He thee king, to do judgment and justice."
Was there not the true spirit of prophecy in these words? Solomon has passed away, and all his magnificence; the pleasant land is to this day desolate under the power of the Turk; but the LORDhas loved Israel for ever, and soon a King shall reign in Mount Zion "before His ancients gloriously." But meanwhile this KING, all unseen to human sense, is reigning, and to those who come to Him in no sordid spirit, but gladly consecrating the wealth of their heart's affection and the most worthy gifts they possess--to those who feel enriched by His acceptanceof their gifts, and find pleasure in bestowing on Him for His service the best they can offer--to such there is still given the opening of heart and opening of eye to behold the KINGin His beauty, and to find all needed present solution of every hard question.
Do we not often give to a poor CHRISTrather than to a rich one? Are we not sometimes unwilling to give until we know His work to be in straits, and sometimes its very existence imperilled? Are not our hearts oft times more moved by the recital of human needs than by CHRIST'Sclaim for the prosecution of the one work for which He has left His Church on earth? A famine in India, a flood in China, is more potent to bring temporal relief than the continual famine of the bread of life and of the increasing floods of heathen ungodliness. It iswell, it is CHRIST-like, to minister temporal relief to suffering humanity, but shall the deep longings and thirstings of His soul, and the impressiveness of His last command ere He ascended on high, be less urgent? How many of the parents who refuse to let son or daughter go into the mission-field would refuse the Queen of England were she to confer the honour of a mission on their beloved children? Do we recognize the majesty of the King of Glory, and the immortal honor that appertains to His service? To those who do, the glad exclamations of the Queen of Sheba afford well-suited expressions: Happy are Thy subjects, happy are Thy servants which stand continually before Thee and hear Thy wisdom.
To the Queen of Sheba, however, more was given than to those happysubjects or to those servants who served the king in their own land. To her was given, as an eye-witness of the majesty of the king, as a glad participant of his bounty, to return to the far-off land, and to testify to those to whom, if they had heard at all, the half had not been told. Not as she came did she return, with a longing, yearning, unsatisfied heart, with duties to discharge for which she had not the wisdom;--with a royal dignity indeed, but one which brought not rest to her own spirit. Now she hadseenthe king, nowallher desire was met; and the glorious king, after thus marvelously satisfying her, had further overwhelmed her with unthought-of gifts of his own royal bounty!
Do we know much of this, beloved friends? Has CHRISTbecome to us such a living bright reality that no postof duty shall be irksome, that as His witnesses we can return to the quiet home side, or to the distant service among the heathen, with hearts more than glad, more than satisfied; and most glad, most satisfied, when most sad and most stripped, it may be, of earthly friends and treasures? Let us put all our treasures into His hand; then He will never need to take them from us on account of heart idolatry; and if in wisdom and love He remove them for a time, He will leave no vacuum, but Himself will fill the void, Himself wipe away the tear.
There is yet more for us than it was possible to give to the Queen of Sheba. King Solomon had to send her away, he could not go with her; while, though we have to leave the conference or convention, or the early hour of holy closet communion with ourLORD, for the ordinary duties of daily life, our Solomon goes with us, nay, dwells in us, to meet each fresh need and to solve each fresh perplexity as it arises. We have His word, "I will never leave thee, never fail thee, never forsake thee." Satisfied and filled to begin with, we have the SATISFIER, the FILLER, with us and in us. When He says, "Whom shall We send and who will go for Us?" He means to send us on no lonely errand, but on one which will give to Him a better opportunity of revealing Himself, and to us of "finding out the greatness of His loving heart." Who will not answer Him, "Here am I, send me;" or, "Here are mine, send them"?
A Full Reward.
"It hath fully been shewed me, all that thou hast done ... and how thou hast left they father and thy mother, and the land of thy nativity, and art come unto a people which thou knewest not heretofore. The LORDrecompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the LORDGODof Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust" (Ruth ii. 11, 12).
In this interesting narrative we have another instance of the way in which the HOLYGHOSTteaches by typical lives. We have dwelt on some precious lessons taught us ofourKINGby the account of the coming of the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon. There we were specially taught how our hard questions are to besolved, and our hearts to be fully satisfied. Here a still higher lesson is give us: How to serve so as to obtain "a full reward," while as to the nature of that full reward no little light is given us.
To us these lessons are of special interest, as bearing on missions to foreign nations, and perhaps they somewhat explain why He who delights to bless, and is able to bless the obedient soul, said so emphatically, "Go, teach all nations;" "Goye into all the world." The service of GODis a delightful privilege anywhere. Those who stay at home, however, need to become strangers and pilgrims there. This is not always easy to do in the present day; and many fail, and forget their true position. To those who are permitted to labour in foreign lands, there is a lessened dangerin this respect; and hence many obtain a fuller joy in present service, and look forward to a fuller reward by-and-by, than they anticipated ere they left all for JESUS' sake.
Ruth was by nature a "stranger to the commonwealth of Israel," but by marriage with an Israelite was brought amongst that people. On the death of her husband, she still clave to her mother-in-law and to her GOD, the GODof Israel. She so esteemed her privileged position that for it she left her native land and all its enjoyments; left parents, relatives and friends, and all those attractions that led Orpah to return to Moab. To her it was better to be the companion of her mother-in-law, poor and desolate as she was, than to enjoy for a season what in Moab might have been hers.
This sacrifice was so real that Naomi,much as she loved her daughter-in-law, and desolate as she would be without her, felt she could not wish it for her own sake merely; but when Ruth said, "Thypeople shall bymypeople, andthyGODmyGOD," she had no further doubt to suggest, and no further obstacle to put in her way. If companionship with one of GOD'Spoor servants is so precious, what shall we say to Him who exhorts us, "Go! ... and, lo,Iam with you"? Is He not saying: The good SHEPHERDmust seek the wandering sheep until He find them. Go ye, too, and seek them, and in so doing you shall find My companionship ensured? Shall we decline this fellowship with Him, and leave Him, so far as we are concerned, to seek them alone?
We next find Ruth toiling in the burning sun as a gleaner, and there shemeets for the first time the lord of the harvest. The beauty of the narrative of Boaz saluting his reapers with, "Thy LORDbe with you," and their reply, "The LORDbless thee," must delight every reader. And poor Ruth, too though not a reaper--only a gleaner--is made most welcome, and encouraged to remain in the fields of Boaz until all the reaping is done. With touching simplicity and humility the grateful gleaner replies, "Why haveIfound grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge ofme, seeing I am a stranger?" Then the lord of the harvest responds in the words we have quoted at the head of the paper, "It hath fully been showed me, all that thou hast done," etc.
Let us then turn from Boaz to the true LORDof the Harvest. Does He meetusthere, toiling in the heat of thesummer's sun? Knowing fully allwehave done, does that knowledge bring joy toHisheart? and is it a joy tousto know that He knows all? Our risen and glorious LORD, so wonderfully described in Rev. i, still walks in the midst of the golden candlesticks. Can He say to us, "I know thy works," with no word of rebuke? or do we feel the blush of shame as the eye as "a flame of fire" rests upon us? "And now, little children, abide in Him; that, when He shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before Him at His coming."
Let us all leave the fatherland of the world, and at least become strangers and pilgrims in it. Let us all toil in some way or other in the great harvest-field, and if we may lawfully do so, let us not be slow to obey the command to "go, teachall nations." Where the need is greatest let us be found gladly obeying the MASTER'Scommand. For it isinthe harvest-field, it is among the reapers, that we shall find Him.
There is no Christian service in which faith must not be in lively exercise. At home, abroad, connected with this branch of GOD'Swork or that, without faith it is impossible to please Him. Paul may plant, Apollos water; GODonly gives the increase. Every true minister of GOD, every true missionary, every true Sunday-school teacher and Christian worker is a faith-worker. But in the foreign field workers are peculiarly cast on GOD. There are special dangers and difficulties, special weaknesses and needs that bring GODvery near--nearer than most of the workers realised Him to be while they remained at home. Andto those who have gone out without human guarantee of support, who do not know when the next help may reach them, not its amount, there is an additional link with the great loving heart of our FATHERand our GODthat is unspeakably precious and welcome.
May we not say that in ever position of life when we are weak in ourselves, our friends, our circumstances, then are we strongest in Him? And when in our great needs, for ourselves or for the souls around us, we lay hold on GODand say, "My soul, wait thou ONLY upon GOD; for my expectation is from Him," whatrestandsecurityand certainty come into the waiting soul. And ah! When labouring in this spirit how words like those of our heavenly Boaz come home to the heart. "The LORDrecompense thy work, and afullreward begiven thee of the LORDGODof Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust." Happy toiler in China! Happy toiler at Home! If it is sometimes dark, the shadow is but the shadow of His wing, under which thou art abiding, under which thou art come to trust.
We will not prolong this meditation. He who comforted and blessed the lonely gleaner while the harvest lasted, became her husband when the harvest toil was past. It wasthusthe LORDrecompensedherwork. Israel was not blessed apart from her, for David the deliverer, and Solomon the glory of Israel, were born of the seed which Boaz had through her. Soon shall come the glorious day of the espousals of CHRISTand His Church. With her He will come to deliver Israel and to judge the world and even the angels.Ruthlittle knew the honour and happinessawaiting her when she left all for GODand His people.Weknow the purposes of GOD'Sgrace and the glories in store for us. What manner of men, then, should we be; and how earnest and faithful in the little time which awaits us before we are called to our reward, and to meet Him in the air? WhenHesays, Go! Shall we reply, No? When He asks us to continue in His harvest till the reaping is over, shall we say Him, Nay?
Under the Shepherd's Care.
A NEW YEAR'S ADDRESS.
"For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls."--1 Peter ii. 25.
"Ye were as sheep going astray." This is evidently addressed to believers. We were like sheep, blindly, willfully following an unwise leader. Not only were we following ourselves, but we in our turn have led others astray. This is true of all of us:"All we like sheep have gone astray;"all equally foolish,"we have turned every one to his own way."Our first though has been, "I like this," or "I don't like that"; never thinking what the LORDwouldprefer, we have just followed our own inclinations. So terribly astray were we that nothing less than the life-blood of our good SHEPHERDcould atone for our sin, and save us from its power and its penalty. In Isaiah liii., we learn the substitutionary character of the death of CHRISTunmistakably, as also in the verse before our text. The GODof the Bible is a GODwho punishes sin, and cannot pardon without atonement. The substitution of the innocent victim for the guilty offerer is so clearly taught from Genesis to Revelation, that he must be blind indeed who does not see it. Praise GODour KINSMAN-REDEEMERhas paid our debt; and "with His stripes we are healed."
II. "BUT ARE NOW RETURNED UNTO THESHEPHERD ANDBISHOP OF YOUR SOULS." Far astray as wewere, by His grace we have been brought back again, and now we are "returned"--some of us scarcely returning so much as being carried to the fold by our loving SHEPHERD. And it is so blessed to realize that now we are not without a MASTER, a LEADER, a HEAD. We were intended to be followers. We always do follow; but, alas! We did not follow the right MASTER. Now the right MASTERhas found us; and instead of following our own foolish lead, wewantto follow His wise lead. And it is most restful to realize that we are not left to live a life at the mercy of circumstances, or to walk in our own wisdom. We can never foresee the future; we never fully understand the present. How dangerous would be our position were we left alone! But as believers we have been brought back; we "are now returnedunto the SHEPHERDand BISHOPof our souls."
III. How blessed it is to havesucha SHEPHERD, BISHOP, OVERSEER, One who is continually watching over us in order to provide and lead, to sustain and deliver, to meet and supply our every need! All is found in CHRISTJESUS; in His presence, in His power, in His love may we more and more rest!
I have frequently thought of words I had the privilege of hearing some years ago from Professor Charteris at a united Communion service for students in Edinburgh. He said that there had been one life on earth of steady, uninterrupted development from the cradle to the Cross; but that there had only been one such life, for the true Christian life always began where the life of CHRISTended,at theCross;and that its true development istowards the cradle, until the child of GODin the child-like simplicity of faith can rest in the omnipotent arms of infinite WISDOMand LOVE. Is not this the growth and development we long for, in order that we may be among those to whom GODwill reveal the things which are hidden from the wise and prudent? The more we rest on this fact,--that we do not know the way we are going, but that we have a GUIDEwho does know; that we do not know how to accomplish our service, but that He never leaves us to devise our own service;--the more restful does our life become. Then we find we have just to do this--to look to our SAVIOURto be filled with His perfections; not to be fretting and fuming as to how the divine life shall manifest itself, but to leave the life towork spontaneously through us. A heavy bunch of grapes on a tender shoot would break it; but let the shoot abide in the vine it will grow stronger, and as the fruit develops, the strength of the branch will increase also, and the life left to its own natural and healthy development will in due time be brought to perfection
As we look forward to the months of this year, we know not where the close will find us; whether here or in the eternal Home. We know not what burdens, perplexities, or difficulties it may bring; but we know Him, whose we are, and whom we serve. HE knows all; this suffices for us.
I have been looking at a few passages which bring out the care of our LORDfor His people:--
(1) 2 Tim. ii. 19,"The foundation of GODstandeth sure, having this seal,The LORDknoweth them that are His."--The LORDknows every one of His own. We may not know them. We may make mistakes if we judge of others. Some may be His, and we may be unaware of it. The LORDknows them that are His. This is a safe foundation. We, too, know in our souls whether the LORDis indwelling us, whether His peace fills us, sustains and blesses us.
(2) Nahum i. 7,"The LORDis good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knoweth them that trust in Him."--He has a special knowledge of those who put their trust in Him. Though our trust at times is very poor, yet, if there be any trust at all in Him, we can say, "Help thou mine unbelief." He knows we want to trust Him better.
(3) Psalm ciii. 14, "He knoweth ourframe; He remembereth that we are dust."--Our SHEPHERDknows our weakness. He never lays more upon us than we are able to bear.
(4) Psalm i. 6,"The LORDknoweth the way of the righteous."--There may be difficulties in our path; we do not foresee them, but He knows them; and when He puts forth His sheep He does not leave them to meet difficulties as best they can, but He goes before them.
(5) Job said (xxiii. 10)"He knoweth the way that I take."--Job did not understand the way the LORDwas leading him. He was bewildered by the LORD's dealings with him; but he had this comfort, "He knoweth the way that I take." So when we cannot understand GOD'Sdealings with us we may rest on the same truth.
(6) Psalm xliv. 21,"He knoweth thesecrets of the heart."--We are often brought into circumstances of trial and misunderstanding. People imagine that this or that discipline is the fruit of this or that sin. The LORDknoweth the secrets of the heart. If we are unjustly accused or suspected, if it is asserted that we have forgotten the name of our GOD, GODknows the secrets of our hearts. Sometimes we have trials which we cannot put into prayer; the LORDknows the secrets of our heart. There are things that affect us, and yet we cannot understand how it is that we are so affected by them. "He knoweth the secrets of the heart."
(7) 2 Peter ii. 9,"The LORDknoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished."--Sometimes we are involved in trialbecause of our connection with others. GODknew how to punish the old world and save Noah--how to punish Sodom and save Lot.
(8) Then we have many needs. We are like children, we need to be helped continually, and our SAVIOURreminds us (Matt. vi. 8, 32) that our "heavenly FATHERknoweth what things" we "have need of"; and that if we are only concerned to seek "first the Kingdom of GOD, and His righteousness," "all these things shall be added unto" us. So that we have no need to be anxious about to-morrow. It is quite sufficient that we have a SHEPHERD, OVERSEER, FRIENDwho undertakes to provide for it all.
Nay, as he told us in Psalm lxxxiv. 11, He himself is a "sun" to give us light in all times of darkness, and a "shield" to protect us in danger. The "grace"that we need for His service now, and the "glory" that shall soon crown it, are all in Him, and all for us; for, "No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly." Not, from them that walk perfectly, or sinlessly--no on does that; not, from them that are blameless--though we all should be that; but if we are honestly and uprightly seeking to serve Him, no good thing will he withhold. What a rich promise this is!
IV. In conclusion: Are we all enjoying this precious truth? Are we all able to take this passage to ourselves and say, "I was a sheep going astray, but I am returned"? Can we all feel it is true for ourselves? If there be one who cannot do so, the SHEPHERD, the BISHOP, is really present, though unseen; He is here ready to receive those who will return now. "Come unto Me," isHis word. If there is one burdened with sin, He is ready to pardon. If there is one burdened with care, He is present to receive your care. The LORDJESUSis waiting: waiting to take every burden away, to accept every deposit, to fulfil every trust we confide in Him. He will be faithful to keep that which we commit to Him. We can entrust to Him the keeping of our hearts, the ordering of our lives, the care of our children, the converts whom GODhas given us, the word to which He has called us. We may trust Him to keep us, in employments in which we are brought into contact with the ungodly; yes, whatever we commit to Him, He is able to keep.
If we have come to Him, with what blessedness may we go forward into this year. We have not passed thisway heretofore. We know not what burdens the LORDhas for us to bear, or what blessings in store. We need not be afraid, if He gives great blessing that He will let us become puffed up; or that great difficulties will be too much for us while trusting in Him. That which was never meant for our strength will be met by His strength. May we be a docile flock, willing to be cared for by Him, and every blessing will then be ours!