649 lines
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649 lines
37 KiB
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<title>Blue Letter Bible: Text Commentaries</title>
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<h4 style="text-align: center">
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A Sermon<br>
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(No. 93)<br>
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Delivered on Sabbath Morning, August 3rd, 1856, by the<br>
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REV. C. H. SPURGEON<br>
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At New Park Street Chapel, Southwark.<br>
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</h4>
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<p class="scripture">
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"I will be their God."— <a onClick="return mV('Jer', 31, 33);">Jer 31:33</a>
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</p>
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<p class="indent">
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WHAT A glorious covenant the second covenant is! Well might it
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be called "a better covenant, which was established upon better
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promises." Heb. viii. 6. It is so glorious that the very
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thought of it is enough to overwhelm the soul, when it discerns
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the amazing condescension and infinite love of God, in having
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framed a covenant for such unworthy creatures, for such
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glorious purposes, with such disinterested motives. It is
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better than the other covenant, the covenant of works, which
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was made with Adam; or that covenant which is said to have been
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made with Israel, on the day when they came out of Egypt. It is
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better, for it is founded upon a <i>better principle</i>. The
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old covenant was founded on the principle of merit; it was,
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"Serve God and thou shalt be rewarded for it; if thou walkest
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perfectly in the fear of the Lord, God will walk well towards
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thee, and all the blessings of Mount Gerizim shall come upon
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thee, and thou shalt be exceedingly blessed in this world, and
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the world which is to come." But that covenant fell to the
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ground, because, although it was just that man should be
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rewarded for his good works, or punished for his evil ones, yet
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man being sure to sin, and since the fall infallibly tending
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towards iniquity, the covenant was not suitable for his
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happiness, nor could it promote his eternal welfare. But the
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new covenant, is not founded on works at all, it is a covenant
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of pure unmingled grace; you may read it from its first word to
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its last, and there is not a solitary syllable as to anything
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to be done by us. The whole covenant is a covenant, not so much
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between man and his Maker as between Jehovah and man's
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representative, the Lord Jesus Christ. The human side of the
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covenant has been already fulfilled by Jesus, and there remains
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nothing now but the covenant of giving, not the covenant of
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requirements. The whole covenant with regard to us, the people
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of God, now stands thus: "I will give this, I will bestow that;
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I will fulfill this promise; I will grant that favour." But
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there is nothing for us to do; he will work all our works in
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us; and the very graces that are sometimes represented as being
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stipulations of the covenant, are promised to us. He gives us
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faith; he promises to give us the law in our inward parts, and
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to write it on our hearts. It is a glorious covenant, I say,
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because it is founded on simple mercy and unmixed grace; quite
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irrespective of creature-doings, or anything that is to be
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performed by man; and hence this covenant surpasses the other
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in <i>stability</i>. Where there is anything of man, there is
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always a degree of mutability; for creatures, and change, and
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uncertainty always go together. But since this new covenant
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hath now nothing whatever to do with the creature, so far as
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the creature has to do anything, but only so far he is to
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receive: the idea of change is utterly and entirely gone. It is
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God's covenant, and therefore it is an unchanging covenant. If
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there be something which I am to do in the covenant, then is
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the covenant insecure; and although happy as Adam, I may yet
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become miserable as Satan. But if the covenant be all on God's
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part, then if my name be in that covenant, my soul is as secure
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as if I were now walking the golden streets; and if any
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blessing be in the covenant, I am as certain to receive that
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blessing as if I already grasped it in my hands; for the
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promise of God is sure to be followed by fulfilment; the
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promise never faileth; it always bringeth with it the whole of
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that which it is intended to convey, and the moment I receive
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it by faith, I am sure of the blessing itself. Oh! how
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infinitely superior is this covenant to the other in its
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manifest security! It is beyond the risk or hazard of the least
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uncertainty.
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</p>
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<p class="indent">
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But I have been thinking for the last two or three days, that
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the covenant of grace excels the other covenant most
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marvelously in the <i>mighty blessings</i> which it confers.
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What does the covenant of grace convey? I had thought this
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morning of preaching a sermon upon "The covenant of grace; what
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are the blessings it gives to God's children?" But when I began
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to think of it, there was so much in the covenant, that if I
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had only read a catalogue of the great and glorious blessings,
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wrapped up within its folds, I should have needed to occupy
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nearly the whole of the day in making a few simple observations
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upon each of them. Consider the great things God has given in
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the covenant. He sums them up by saying he hath given "all
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things." He has given you eternal life in Christ Jesus; yea, he
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has given Christ Jesus to be yours; he has made Christ heir of
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all things, and he has made you joint-heir with him; and hence
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he has given you everything. Were I to sum up that mighty masks
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of unutterable treasure which God has conveyed to every elect
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soul by that glorious covenant, time would fail me. I therefore
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commence with one great blessing conveyed to us by the
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covenant, and then on other Sabbaths I will, by Divine
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permission, consider separately, one by one, sundry other
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things which the covenant conveys.
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</p>
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<p class="indent">
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We commence then by the first thing, which is enough to startle
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us by its immense value; in fact, unless it had been written in
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God's Word, we never could have dreamed that such a blessing
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could have been ours. God himself, by the covenant becomes the
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believer's own portion and inheritance. "I will be their God."
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</p>
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<p class="indent">
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And now we shall begin with this subject in this way. We shall
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show you first that this is a <i>special blessing</i>. God is
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the special possession of the elect, whose names are in the
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covenant. Secondly, for a moment or two we shall speak of this
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as being an <i>exceedingly precious blessing</i>, "I will be
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their God." Thirdly, we shall dwell upon <i>the security of
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this blessing</i>, "I <i>will</i> be their God." And fourthly
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we shall endeavour to stir you up to <i>make good use of this
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blessing</i>, so freely and liberally conveyed to you by the
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eternal covenant of grace; "I will be their God."
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</p>
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<p class="indent">
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Stop just one moment and think it over before we start. In the
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covenant of grace God himself conveys himself to you and
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becomes yours. Understand it: <i>God</i>—all that is meant
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by that word—eternity, infinity, omnipotence, omniscience,
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perfect justice, infallible rectitude, immutable love—all
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that is meant by God—Creator, Guardian, Preserver,
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Governor, Judge,—all that that great word "GOD" can mean,
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all of goodness and of love, all of bounty and of
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grace—all that, this covenant gives you, to be your
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absolute property as much as anything you can call your own. "I
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will be their God." We say, pause over that thought. If I
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should not preach at all, there is enough in that, if opened up
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and applied by the all-glorious Spirit, to excite your you
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during the whole of the Sabbath-day. "I will be their God."
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</p>
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<p style="text-align: center">
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"My God!—how cheerful is the sound!<br>
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How pleasant to repeat!<br>
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Well may that heart with pleasure bound,<br>
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Where God hath fixed his seat."
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</p>
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<p class="indent">
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I. How is GOD ESPECIALLY THE GOD OF HIS OWN CHILDREN? For God
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is the God of all men, of all creatures; he is the God of the
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worm, of the flying eagle, of the star, and of the cloud; he is
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God everywhere. How then is he more my God and your God than he
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is God of all created things? We answer, that in some things
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God is the God of all his creatures; but even there, there is a
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special relationship existing between himself and his chosen
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creatures, whom he has loved with an everlasting love. And in
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the next place, there are certain relationships in which God
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does not exist towards the rest of his creatures, but only
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towards his own children.
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</p>
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<p class="indent">
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I. First then, God is the God of all his creatures, seeing that
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<i>he has the right to decree</i> to do with them as he
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pleases. He is the Creator of us all: he is the potter, and
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hath power over the clay, to make of the same lump, one vessel
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to honor and another to dishonor. However men may sin against
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God, he is still their God in that sense—that their
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destiny is immovably in his hand; that he can do with them
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exactly as he chooses; however they may resent his will, or
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spurn his good pleasure, yet he can make the wrath of man to
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praise him, and the remainder of that wrath he can restrain. He
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is the God of all creatures, absolutely so in the matter of
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predestination, seeing that he is their Creator, and has an
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absolute right to do with them as he wills. But here again he
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has a special regard to his children, and he is <i>their</i>
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God even in that sense; for to them, while he exercises the
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same sovereignty, he exercises it in the way of grace and grace
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only. He makes them the vessels of mercy, who shall be to his
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honor for ever; he chooses them out of the ruins of the fall,
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and makes them heirs of everlasting life, while he suffers the
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rest of the world to continue in sin, and to consummate their
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guilt by well-deserved punishment, and thus, while his
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relationship is the same, so far as his sovereignty is
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concerned and his right of decree, there is something special
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in its loving aspect towards his people; and in that sense he
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is <i>their</i> God.
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</p>
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<p class="indent">
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Again: he is the God of all his creatures, in the sense that
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<i>he has a right to command obedience of all</i>. He is the
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God of every man that was ever born into this earth, in the
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sense that they are bound to obey him. God can command the
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homage of all his creatures, because he is their Creator,
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Governor, and Preserver; and all men are, by the fact of their
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creation, so placed in subjection to him, that they cannot
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escape the obligation of submission to his laws. But even here
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there is something special in regard to the child of God.
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Though God is the ruler of all men, yet his rule is special
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towards his children; for he lays aside the sword of his
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rulership, and in his hand he grasps the rod for his child, not
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the sword of punitive vengeance. While he gives the world a law
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upon stone, he gives to his child a law in his heart. God is my
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governor and yours, but if you are unregenerate, he is your
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governor in a different sense from what he is mine. He has ten
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times as much claim to my obedience as he has to yours. Seeing
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that he has done more for me, I am bound to do more for him;
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seeing that he has loved me more, I am bound to love him more.
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But should I disobey, the vengeance on my head shall not fall
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so heavily as on yours, if you are out of Christ; for that
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vengeance incurred by me has already fallen upon Christ, my
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substitute, and only the chastisement shall remain for me; so
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that there again you see where the relationship to all men is
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universal, there is something special in it in reference to
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God's children.
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</p>
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<p class="indent">
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Again: God has a universal power over all his creatures <i>in
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the character of a Judge</i>. He will "judge the world in
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righteousness <i>and his people with equity</i>." He will judge
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all men with equity it is true; but, as if his people were not
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of the world, it is added afterwards, "his people with equity."
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God is the God of all creatures, we repeat, in the sense that
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he is their Judge; he will summon them all before his bar, and
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condemn or acquit them all, but even there, there is something
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peculiar with regard to his children, for to them the
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condemnation sentence shall never come, but only the acquittal.
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While he is Judge of all, he especially is <i>their</i> judge;
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because he is the judge whom they love to reverence, the judge
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whom they long to approach, because they know his lips will
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confirm that which their hearts have already felt—the
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sentence of their full acquittal through the merits of their
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glorious Saviour. Our loving God is the Judge who shall acquit
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our souls, and in that respect we can say he is <i>our</i> God.
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So, then, whether as Sovereign, or as Governor enforcing law,
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or as Judge punishing sin; although God is in some sense the
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God of all men, yet in this matter there is something special
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towards his people, so that they can say, "He is our God, even
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in those relationships."
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</p>
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<p class="indent">
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2. But now, beloved, there are points to which the rest of
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God's creatures cannot come; and here the great pith of the
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matter lies; here the very soul of this glorious promise
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dwells. God is our God in a sense, with which the unregenerate,
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the unconverted, the unholy, can have no acquaintance, in which
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they have no share whatever. We have just considered other
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points with regards to what God is to man generally; let us now
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consider what he is to us, as he is to none other.
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</p>
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<p class="indent">
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First, then, God is my God, seeing that he is <i>the God of my
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election</i>. If I be his child, then has he loved me from
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before all worlds, and his infinite mind has been exercised
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with plans for my salvation. If he be my God, he has seen me
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when I have wandered far from him, and when I have rebelled,
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his mind has determined when I shall be arrested—when I
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shall be turned from the error of my ways. He has been
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providing for me the means of grace, he has applied those means
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of grace in due time, but his everlasting purpose has been the
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basis and the foundation of it all; and thus he is my God, as
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he is the God of none else beside his own children. My
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glorious, gracious God in eternal election; for he thought of
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me and chose me from before the foundation of the world, that I
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should be without blame before him in love. Looking back, then,
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I see election's God, and election's God is my God if I be in
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election. But if I fear not God, neither regard him, then he is
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another man's God and not mine. If I have no claim and
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participation in election, then I am compelled to look upon him
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as being in that sense the God of a great body of men whom he
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has chosen, but not my God. If I can look back and see my name
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in life's fair book set down, then indeed he is my God in
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election.
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</p>
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<p class="indent">
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Furthermore, the Christian can call God his God, from the fact
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of his <i>justification</i>. A sinner can call God—God,
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but he must always put in an adjective, and speak of God as an
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angry God, an incensed God, or an offended God. But the
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Christian can say, "my God," without putting in any adjective
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except it be a sweet one wherewithal to extol him; for now we
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who were sometime afar off are made nigh by the blood of
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Christ; we who were enemies to God by wicked works are his
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friends; and looking up to him, we can say, "my God;" for he is
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my friend, and I am his friend. Enoch could say, "my God," for
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he walked with him. Adam could not say, "my God," when he hid
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himself beneath the trees of the garden. So that while I, a
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sinner, run from God, I cannot call him mine; but when I have
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peace with God, and am brought nigh to him, then indeed is he
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my God and my friend.
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</p>
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<p class="indent">
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Again: he is the believer's God by <i>adoption</i>, and in that
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the sinner hath no part. I have heard people represent God as
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the Father of the whole universe. It surprises me that any
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reader of the Bible should so talk. Paul once quoted a heathen
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poet, who said that we are his offspring; and it is true in
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some sense that we are, as having been created by him. But in
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the high sense in which the term "childhood" is used in the
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Scripture to express the holy relationship of a regenerate
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child towards his Father, in that sense none can say, "Our
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father," but those who have the "Abba Father" printed on their
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hearts by the spirit of adoption. Well, by the spirit of
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adoption, God becomes my God, as he is not the God of others.
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The Christian has a special claim to God, because God is his
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Father, as he is not the Father of any else save his brethren.
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Ay, beloved, these three things are quite enough to show you,
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that God is in a special sense the God of his own people; but I
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must leave that to your own thoughts, which will suggest twenty
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different ways in which God is special the God of his own
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children, more than he is of the rest of his creatures. "God,"
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say the wicked; but "<i>my</i> God," say God's children. If
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then God be so specially your God, let your clothing be
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according to your feeding. Be clothed with the sun; put on the
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Lord Jesus. The king's daughter is (and so let all the king's
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sons be) all glorious within; let their clothing be of wrought
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gold. Be clothed with humility, put on love, bowels of
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compassion, gentleness, meekness; put on the garments of
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salvation. Let your company and converse be according to your
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clothing. Live amongst the excellent, amongst the generation of
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the just; get you up to the general assembly and church of the
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first-born, to that innumerable company of angels, and the
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spirits of the just men made perfect. Live in the courts of the
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great King; behold his face, wait at his throne, bear his name,
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shew forth his virtues, set forth his praises, advance his
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honour, uphold his interest; let vile persons and vile ways be
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contemned in your eyes: be of more noble spirits than to be
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companions with them. Regard not their societies, nor their
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scorns; their flatteries or their frowns; rejoice not with
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their joys, fear not their fear, care not their care, feed not
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on their danties; get you up from among them, to your country,
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your city, where no unclean thing can enter or annoy. Live by
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faith in the power of the Spirit, in the beauty of holiness, in
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the hope of the Gospel, in the joy of your God, in the
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magnificence, and yet the humility of the children of the great
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King.
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</p>
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<p class="indent">
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II. Now, for a moment, let us consider THE EXCEEDING
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PRECIOUSNESS OF THIS GREAT MERCY, "I will be their God." I
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conceive that God, himself, could say no more than that. I do
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not think if the Infinite were to stretch his powers, and
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magnify his grace by some stupendous promise which could outdo
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every other, I do not believe that it could exceed in glory
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this promise, "I will be their God." Oh! Christian, do but
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consider what it is to have God to be thine own; consider what
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it is, compared with anything else.
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</p>
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<p style="text-align: center">
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"Jacob's portion is the Lord;<br>
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What can Jacob more require?<br>
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What can heaven more afford—<br>
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Or a creature more desire?"
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</p>
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<p class="indent">
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<i>Compare this portion with the lot of thy fellow-men</i>!
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Some of them have their portion in the field, they are rich and
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increased in goods, and their yellow harvests are even now
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ripening in the sun; but what are harvests compared with thy
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God, the God of harvests? Or, what are granaries compared with
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him who is thy husbandman, and feeds thee with the bread of
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heaven? Some have their portion in the city; their wealth is
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superabundant, and in constant streams it flows to them, until
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they become a very reservoir of gold; but what is gold compared
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with thy God? Thou couldst not live on it; thy spiritual life
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could not be sustained by it. Apply it to thy aching head, and
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would it afford thee any ease? Put it on a troubled conscience,
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and could thy gold allay its pangs? Put it on thy desponding
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heart, and see if it could stay a solitary groan, or give thee
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one grief the less? But thou hast God, and in Him thou hast
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more than gold or riches e'er could buy, more than heaps of
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brilliant ore could ever purchase thee. Some have their portion
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in this world, in that which most men love, applause and fame;
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but ask thyself, is not thy God more to thee than that? What,
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if a thousand trumpets should blow thy praise, and if a myriad
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clarions should be loud with thine applause; what would it all
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be to thee if thou hadst lost thy God? Would this allay the
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turmoils of a soul ill at ease with itself? Would this prepare
|
|
thee to pass the Jordan, and to breast those stormy waves which
|
|
ere long must be forded by every man, when he is called from
|
|
this world to lands unknown? Would a puff of wind serve thee
|
|
then, or the clapping of the hands of thy fellow-creatures
|
|
bless thee on thy dying bed? No, there are griefs here with
|
|
which men cannot intermeddle, and there are griefs to come with
|
|
which men cannot interfere to alleviate the pangs, and pains,
|
|
and agonies, and dying strife. But when thou hast this—"I
|
|
will be thy God"—thou hast as much as all other men can
|
|
have put together; for this is all they have, and more. How
|
|
little ought we to estimate the treasures of this world
|
|
compared with God, when we consider that God frequently gives
|
|
the most riches to the worst of his creatures! As Luther said,
|
|
God gives food to his children, and husks to his swine; and who
|
|
are the swine that get the husks? It is not often that God's
|
|
people get the riches of this world, and that does but prove
|
|
that riches are little worth, else God would give them to us.
|
|
Abraham gave the sons of Keturah a portion and sent them away;
|
|
let me be Isaac and have my Father, and the world may take all
|
|
the rest. Oh! Christian, ask for nothing in this world, but
|
|
that thou mayest live on this, and that thou mayest die on
|
|
this, "I will be their God." This exceedeth all the world
|
|
besides.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p class="indent">
|
|
But <i>compare this with what thou requirest, Christian</i>.
|
|
What does thou require? Is there not here all that thou dost
|
|
require? To make thee happy thou wantest something that shall
|
|
satisfy thee; and come I ask thee, is not this enough? Will not
|
|
this fill thy pitcher to its very brim, aye, till it runs over?
|
|
If thou canst put this promise inside thy cup, will not thou be
|
|
forced to say, with David, "My cup runneth over; I have more
|
|
than heart can wish?" When this is fulfilled, "I am thy God,"
|
|
let thy cup be ever so empty of earthly things, suppose thou
|
|
hast not one solitary drop of creature joy, yet is not this
|
|
enough to fill it until thy unsteady hand cannot hold the cup
|
|
by reason of its fulness? I ask thee if thou art not complete
|
|
when God is thine. Dost thou want anything but God? If thou
|
|
thinkest thou dost, it were well for thee still to want; for
|
|
all thou wantest save God, is but to gratify thy lust. Oh!
|
|
Christian, is not this enough to satisfy thee if all else
|
|
should fail?
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p class="indent">
|
|
But thou wantest more than quiet satisfaction; thou desirest,
|
|
sometimes, rapturous delight. Come, soul, is there not enough
|
|
here to delight thee? Put this promise to thy lips; didst e'er
|
|
drink wine one-half so sweet as this, "I will be their God?"
|
|
Didst ever harp or viol sound half so sweetly as this, "I will
|
|
be their God?" Not all the music blown from sweet instruments,
|
|
or drawn from living strings, could ever give such melody as
|
|
this sweet promise, "I will be their God." Oh! here is a very
|
|
sea of bliss, a very ocean of delight; come, bathe thy spirit
|
|
in it; thou mayest swim, ay, to eternity, and never find a
|
|
shore; thou may'st dive to the very infinite and never find the
|
|
bottom, "<i>I will be their God</i>." Oh! if this does not make
|
|
thine eyes sparkle, if this make not thy foot dance for joy,
|
|
and thy heart beat high with bliss, then assuredly thy soul is
|
|
not in a healthy state.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p class="indent">
|
|
But then thou wantest something more than present delights,
|
|
something concerning which thou mayest exercise hope; and what
|
|
more dost thou ever hope to get than the fulfilment of this
|
|
great promise, "I will be their God?" Oh! hope, thou art a
|
|
great-handed thing; thou layest hold of mighty things, which
|
|
even faith hath not power to grasp; but though large thine hand
|
|
may be, this fills it, so that thou canst carry nothing else. I
|
|
protest, before God, I have not a hope beyond this promise.
|
|
"O," say you, "you have a hope of heaven." Ay, I have a hope of
|
|
heaven, but this is heaven—"I will be their God." What is
|
|
heaven, but to be with God, to dwell with him, to realize that
|
|
God is mine, and I am his? I say I have not a hope beyond that;
|
|
there is not a promise beyond that; for all promises are
|
|
couched in this, all hopes are included in this, "I will be
|
|
their God." This is the master-piece of all promises; it is the
|
|
top-stone of all the great and precious things, which God has
|
|
provided for his children, "I will be their God." If we could
|
|
really grasp it, if it could be applied to our soul and we
|
|
could understand it, we might clap our hands and say, "Oh! the
|
|
glory, oh! the glory, oh! the glory of that promise!" it makes
|
|
a heaven below, and it must make a heaven above, for nothing
|
|
else will be wanted but that, "I will be their God."
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p class="indent">
|
|
III. Now, for a moment, dwell on the CERTAINTY OF THIS PROMISE;
|
|
it does not say, "I <i>may</i> be their God;" but "I
|
|
<i>will</i> be their God." There is a sinner who says he won't
|
|
have God for his God. He will have God to be his preserver, to
|
|
take care of him, and keep him from accident. He does not
|
|
object to having God to feed him, to give him his bread, and
|
|
water, and raiment; nor does he mind making God somewhat of a
|
|
showthing, that he may take out on Sunday, and bow before it,
|
|
but he will not have God for his <i>God</i>; he will not take
|
|
him to be his all. He makes his belly his God, gold his God,
|
|
the world his God. How then is this promise to be fulfilled?
|
|
There is one of God's chosen people there; he does not know
|
|
that he is chosen yet, and he says he will not have God; how
|
|
then is this promise to be carried out? "Oh!" say some, "if the
|
|
man wont have God, then, of course, God cannot get him;" and we
|
|
have heard it preached, and we read it frequently, that
|
|
salvation entirely depends upon man's will—that if man
|
|
stands out and resists God's Holy Spirit, the creature can be
|
|
the conqueror of the Creator, and finite power can overcome the
|
|
infinite. Frequently I take up a book and I read, "Oh! sinner,
|
|
be willing, for unless thou art, God cannot save thee;" and
|
|
sometimes we are asked, "How is it that such an one is not
|
|
saved?" And the answer is, "He is not willing to be; God strove
|
|
with him, but he would not be saved." Ay, but suppose he had
|
|
striven with him, as he did with those who <i>are</i> saved,
|
|
would he have been saved then? "No, he would have resisted."
|
|
Nay, we answer, it is not in man's will, it is not of the will
|
|
of the flesh, nor of blood, but of the power of God; and we
|
|
never can entertain such an absurd idea as, that man can
|
|
conquer Omnipotence, that the might of man is greater than the
|
|
might of God. We believe, indeed, that certain usual influences
|
|
of the Holy Spirit may be overcome; we believe that there are
|
|
general operations of the Spirit in many men's hearts which are
|
|
resisted and rejected, but the effectual working of the Holy
|
|
Ghost with the determination to save, could not be resisted,
|
|
unless you suppose God overcome by his creatures, and the
|
|
purpose of Deity frustrated by the will of man, which were to
|
|
suppose something akin to blasphemy. Beloved, God has power to
|
|
fulfil the promise, "I will be their God." "Oh!" cries the
|
|
sinner, "I will not have thee for a God." "Wilt thou not?" says
|
|
he, and he gives him over to the hand of Moses; Moses takes him
|
|
a little and applies the club of the law, drags him to Sinai,
|
|
where the mountain totters over his head, the lightnings flash,
|
|
and thunders bellow, and then the sinner cries, "O God, save
|
|
me!" "Ah! I thought thou wouldst not have me for a God?" "O
|
|
Lord, thou shalt be my God." says the poor trembling sinner, "I
|
|
have put away my ornaments from me; O Lord, what wilt thou do
|
|
unto me? Save me! I will give myself to thee. Oh! take me!"
|
|
"Ay," says the Lord, "I knew it; I said that I will be their
|
|
God; and I have made thee willing in the day of my power." "I
|
|
will be their God, and they shall be my people."
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p class="indent">
|
|
IV. Now, lastly, I said we would conclude, by URGING YOU TO
|
|
MAKE USE OF GOD, if he be yours. It is strange that spiritual
|
|
blessings are our only possessions that we do not employ. We
|
|
get a great spiritual blessing, and we let the rust get on it
|
|
for many a day. There is the mercy seat, for instance. Ah, my
|
|
friends, if you had the cash box as full of riches as that
|
|
mercy seat is, you would go often to it; as often as your
|
|
necessities require. But you do not go to the mercy seat half
|
|
so often as you need to go. Most precious things God has given
|
|
to us, but we never over-use them. The truth is, they cannot be
|
|
over-used; we cannot wear a promise thread-bare; we can never
|
|
burn out the incense of grace; we can never use up the infinite
|
|
treasures of God's loving kindness. But if <i>the blessings</i>
|
|
God gives us are not used, perhaps <i>God</i> is the least used
|
|
of all. Though he is our God, we apply ourselves less to him,
|
|
than to any of his creatures, or any of his mercies, which he
|
|
bestows upon us. Look at the poor heathen; they use their gods,
|
|
though they be no gods. They put up a piece of wood or stone,
|
|
and call it God; and how they use it! They want rain: the
|
|
people assemble and ask for rain, in the firm but foolish hope
|
|
that their god can give it. There is a battle, and their god is
|
|
lifted up; he is brought out from the house, where he usually
|
|
dwells, that he may go before them, and lead them on to
|
|
victory. But how seldom do we ask counsel at the hands of the
|
|
Lord! How often do we go about our business without asking his
|
|
guidance! In our troubles how constantly do we strive to bear
|
|
our burdens, instead of casting them upon the Lord, that he may
|
|
sustain us! And this is not because we may not, for the Lord
|
|
seems to say, "I am thine, soul, come and make use of me as
|
|
thou wilt; thou mayest freely come to my store, and the oftener
|
|
the better welcome." Have thou not a God lying by thee to no
|
|
purpose; let not thy God be as other gods, serving only for a
|
|
show: have not a name only that thou hast a God. Since he
|
|
allows thee, having such a friend, use him daily. My God shall
|
|
supply all your wants: never want whilst thou hast a God, never
|
|
fear or faint whilst thou hast a God; go to thy treasure and
|
|
take whatever thou needest; there is bread, and clothes, and
|
|
health, and life, and all that thou needest. O Christian, learn
|
|
the divine skill to make God all things, to make bread of thy
|
|
God, and water, and health, and friends, and ease; he can
|
|
supply thee with all these; or what is better, he can be
|
|
instead of all these, thy food, thy clothing, thy friend, thy
|
|
life of thee. All this he hath said to thee in this one word, I
|
|
am thy God; and hereupon thou mayest say, as a heaven-born
|
|
saint once did, "I have no husband, and yet I am no widow, my
|
|
Maker is my husband. I have no father or friend, and yet I am
|
|
neither fatherless nor friendless; my God is both my father and
|
|
my friend. I have no child, but is not he better to me than ten
|
|
children? I have no house, but yet I have a home, I have made
|
|
the Most High my habitation. I am left alone, but yet I am not
|
|
alone, my God is good company for me; with him I can walk, with
|
|
him I can take sweet counsel, find sweet repose; at my lying
|
|
down, at my rising up, whilst I am in the house, or as I walk
|
|
by the way, my God is ever with me; with him I ravel, I dwell,
|
|
I lodge, I live, and shall live for ever." Oh! child of God,
|
|
let me urge thee to make use of thy God. Make use of him in
|
|
prayer; I beseech thee, go to him often, because he is
|
|
<i>thy</i> God. If he were another man's God, thou mightest
|
|
weary him; but he is <i>thy</i> God. If he were my God and not
|
|
thine, thou wouldst have no right to approach him, but he is
|
|
<i>thy</i> God; he has made himself over to thee, if we may use
|
|
such an expression, (and we think we may) he has become the
|
|
positive property of all his children, so that all he has, and
|
|
all he is, is theirs. O child, wilt thou let thy treasury lie
|
|
idle, when thou wantest it? No; go and draw from it by prayer.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p style="text-align: center">
|
|
"To him in every trouble flee,<br>
|
|
Thy best, thy only friend."
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
Fly to him, tell him all thy wants. Use him constantly by
|
|
faith, at all times. Oh! I beseech thee, if some dark
|
|
providence has come over thee, use thy God as a sun, for he is
|
|
a sun. If some strong enemy has come out against thee, use thy
|
|
God for a shield, for he is a shield to protect thee. If thou
|
|
hast lost thy way in the mazes of life, use him as a guide, for
|
|
the great Jehovah will direct thee. If thou art in storms, use
|
|
him for the God who stilleth the raging of the sea, and saith
|
|
unto the waves, "Be still." If thou art a poor thing, knowing
|
|
not which way to turn, use him for a shepherd, for the Lord is
|
|
thy Shepherd, and thou shalt not want. Whate'er thou art,
|
|
where'er thou art, remember God is just what thou wantest, and
|
|
he is just where thou wantest. I beseech thee, then, make use
|
|
of thy God; do not forget him in thy trouble, but flee to him
|
|
in the midst of thy distresses, and cry,
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p style="text-align: center">
|
|
"When all created streams are dried,<br>
|
|
Thy fulness is the same;<br>
|
|
May I with this be satisfied,<br>
|
|
And glory in thy name!
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p style="text-align: center">
|
|
No good in creatures can be found<br>
|
|
But may be found in thee;<br>
|
|
I must have all things and abound,<br>
|
|
While God is God to me."
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p class="indent">
|
|
Lastly, Christian, let me urge thee again to use God to be thy
|
|
delight this day. If thou hast trial, or if thou art free from
|
|
it, I beseech thee make God thy delight; go from this house of
|
|
prayer and be happy this day in the Lord. Remember it is a
|
|
commandment, "Rejoice in the Lord, always, and again I say,
|
|
rejoice." Do not be content to be moderately happy; seek to
|
|
soar to the heights of bliss and to enjoy a heaven below; get
|
|
near to God, and you will get near to heaven. It is not as it
|
|
is with the sun here, the higher you go the colder you find it,
|
|
because on the mountain there is nothing to reflect the rays of
|
|
the sun; but with God, the nearer you go to him the brighter he
|
|
will shine upon you, and when there are no other creatures to
|
|
reflect his goodness, his light will be all the brighter. Go to
|
|
God continually, importunately, confidently; "delight thyself
|
|
also in the Lord and he shall bring it to pass;" "commit thy
|
|
way unto the Lord, and he shall "guide thee by his counsel, and
|
|
afterwards receive thee to glory."
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p class="indent">
|
|
Here is the first thing of the covenant; the second is like
|
|
unto it. We will consider that another Sabbath-day. And now may
|
|
God dismiss you with his blessing. Amen.
|
|
</p>
|
|
</div></div>
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