BY THE LATE REV. JOHN ROSS, BRUCEFIELD, ONTARIO.
“BEHOLD they shall surely gather together, but not by me: whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake. Behold I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy. No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord” (Is. liv. 15-17). The enemies of the Church shall surely gather together; they will combine, take counsel together, and make common cause against her. They will join their counsels and their forces and make their assaults with united strength and with one mind. In this way they are far more formidable than as individuals or as scattered bands not in communication with each other and not yielding mutual support. In this condition they are comparatively feeble and comparatively inactive. Neither the Church nor themselves know the full strength of their hatred and the power and violence with which they can put it forth. The Lord warns the Church that her enemies shall surely gather together, but not by Him. Whosoever shall gather together against her shall fall for her sake. And when the Lord does not gather together her enemies, they are feeble in all their strength. They assemble and assail her to their own ruin. “Behold I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work, and I have created the waster to destroy.” He has absolute control over the smith, the manufacturer of the destroying instrument and of the waster who uses it; and of the instrument that is made. And no work shall be done by them but what He appoints or permits. His eye is on the manufacturer when he is making it, and on the instrument when it is made, and on him who goes to war with it. His control over them all is perfect and complete. Of every instrument that is formed against His Church He says—”It shall not prosper.” It will break in the hands of him who uses it, or it will miss its mark. The work it was made to do shall remain undone. The person it was made to kill shall remain as much unhurt as if it had never been made. “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper,” saith He who created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire and bringeth forth an instrument for his work. They employ the smith to make the instrument, but it was He who created the smith. He may make the instrument, but it will not prosper. There will be some flaw in it, it will break, it will be found unserviceable, and to have been made in vain. This word of God curseth every instrument made against His Church, His beloved Zion, His people. It is cursed by this word and stripped of power by Him, who has perfect control of all instruments as much so as if they are in no other hands than His own. The needle-gun, the sword, the spear, the bow, the rifle, the cannon, the ships of war, are all in the hand of the Lord as much as if no other hand than His own handled them—absolute control over all instrumentalities—those who make them and those who use them. And when the Church stands fast in His favour, she need not fear them. Let this beget confidence in God, courage and fearless dependence on Him. Let it also beget a spirit of prayer to the Lord whenever we see any instrument threatening us. Whenever we see anything on the part of the world giving just ground of fear, let us go with it to Him who has absolute control over all instruments. He is the one to go to, to call upon. He and none other. He can stop them or cause them to miscarry, or make Himself our hiding place from them. Let us not go to war with them except it be at His own command, in His own way, with His own weapons, and in His own strength. Our strength must be faith in that God who has all control over all things and all instruments, and who has promised to be the hiding-place of His people.
“In suffering, Christ obeyed; and in obeying, He suffered.”—Owen.