II.
(Continued from p. 330.)
III. The source of the Prophet’s comfort.
“O Lord”—He is the great source whence flows all comfort to His people. He is most happy in Himself—His happiness is underived. As He is self-existent He is self-happy. All His intelligent creatures He created in a happy condition. They derived their happiness from Him, as they derived their being. He endowed them with a nature capable of rejoicing—Himself being the infinite fountain whose streams did gladden their hearts, and caused the cup of their joy to overflow. They were all perfectly happy in His fellowship and communion; but alas! the bond of communion was broken on the part of some of the angels, and on the part of all men (all men of ordinary generation). The river of God’s joy ceased to flow to them—sin interrupted its happy course—they became miserable. Fallen angels shall be miserable for ever, but multitudes of men shall be comforted; for the Lord is again the source of their comfort. And how is He the source of their comfort? The Lord is the source of the comfort of men, even His elect people, inasmuch as He is the God of their salvation. In no other sense could they look to Him for comfort. Fallen angels can never dare apply to the Lord for the least drop of comfort, and why? Just for the simple but awful reason that He is not the God of their salvation. “For verily He (Christ) took not on Him the nature of angels, but the seed of Abraham.” Oh, let the much-favoured seed of Abraham be comforted, and let them rejoice; for the Lord is the God of their salvation. And how is He the God of their salvation? (1) He is the God of the salvation of His people inasmuch as He provided salvation for them. He invented the glorious scheme of redemption in the counsels of eternity. On the fulness of time God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law. Christ thus came into the world, and wrought out everlasting redemption for His people by the obedience of His life, and the sufferings of His death. “It is finished,” He cried on the cross as He gave up the ghost. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (2) The Lord is the God of the salvation of His people inasmuch as He has chosen them unto salvation. So we read in Ephesians i. 4: “According as He hath chosen us in Him [Christ] before the foundation of the world.” They were no better than other sinners, yet God was pleased to choose them in Christ unto salvation. (3) The Lord is the God of the salvation of His people inasmuch as He made known to them His salvation in the work of the gospel. In the Old Testament dispensation Christ was set forth in types—the sacrificial law was a shadow of Him who was to come, and in the New Testament dispensation we have a clear revelation of the salvation—Christ came as the Son of Man to seek and to save that which was lost. (4) The Lord is the God of the salvation of His people inasmuch as He called them effectually by His Holy Spirit to participate in their salvation. He applied His salvation to them—He saved them. They are in a state of salvation. They are His redeemed people. (5) He is the God of their salvation inasmuch as He will purify them from all sin. “Let Israel hope in the Lord; for with the Lord there is mercy and plenteous redemption. And He shall redeem Israel from all their iniquities.” This is that great source of the comfort of God’s people—“The Lord, the God of their salvation.” To this source they may apply in every time of need, and they shall receive out of His fulness. “Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it” is His own faithful promise.
Having already shown that the Lord is the source of the comfort of His people, and the manner in which He is so, let us now inquire what is in Him to comfort them in whatever circumstances they may be. The fact that He is the God of their salvation is a matter of unspeakable comfort to them. This is the great theme of believers on earth, and will be their great theme in heaven. They meditate thereon with delight, and their meditation breaks forth into praise to the Lord. “My soul doth magnify the Lord—my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.” “Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins, in His own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God, and His Father—to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever, Amen.” The fulness of blessings which is in God for His people is inmeasurable and unsearchable by any finite being. This infinite, and the Apostle tells us that it pleased Him, the Father, that this fulness should dwell in Christ. The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into His hand as the Surety and Covenant-Head of His people. In Him the fulness dwells. Let us notice some of the special blessings comprised in His fulness, and as we do so, Oh, let us pray that we may receive therefrom so that we may be comforted, and rejoice. “Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.”
(1) Then there is in Christ a fulness of Love. We have already noticed that believers who rejoice love God, but the fact of their loving Him is founded upon the great fact that He loved them first. So the Apostle, John, says: “We love Him because He loved us first.” The great love whereby the Father loved His people dwells in Christ, as the Apostle says: “The love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” From God’s love flows the salvation of His people. His love towards them is unchangeable as it is infinite. Their circumstances in this world may, and do change, but God’s love never changes. This is like Himself—”the same yesterday, to-day and for ever.” In all the changes to which they are subject in this world of sin, trouble, disappointment, and sorrow, they are the objects of God’s special and continual love. Hence a great cause for the Prophet in his time of trouble to say: “I will rejoice in the Lord”—hence also a great cause for all God’s children in similar trials to take comfort to themselves, in the Lord, and to rejoice in Him. “Thy love is better than wine.” (2) There is a fulness of life in Christ. “In Him was life.” “I am the way, the truth and the life.” “I am the true bread that came down from heaven which if a man eat thereof he shall never die.” There is a fulness of eternal life in Christ. He gives that life to His people. If the bread that perishes fail then He makes up the loss by giving them a double portion of the true and everlasting bread. No wonder, then, though His people who feed on this bread say: “Although the fields yield no meat, yet will I rejoice in the Lord.” Do we truly hunger for this bread? “Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it,” saith the Lord. The more you eat of this bread of life the more you hunger for it, and the more you hunger for it the more liberally Christ will give to you. “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, but he that believeth not shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.” (3) There is a fulness of the Holy Spirit in Christ. The Father gave unto Him the Spirit without measure. He was anointed with the oil of gladness above His fellows. The Spirit is in a special manner the “Comforter” of God’s people. They receive the Spirit out of Christ’s fulness. He is in them a well of water springing up into everlasting life, and comforting their souls in the time of distress and sorrow. He takes of all the things of Christ’s, and shows these great and glorious things to them. When He does so—breathing upon their souls with His quickening and refreshing influences—they can in the midst of worldly troubles and discomforts say with David: “Thou hast put gladness in my heart more than in the time that their corn and wine increased.” “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” (4) There is a fulness of merit in Christ. “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain.” That merit is imputed to God’s believing people; and, therefore, there is not to them, even now, any condemnation. They are accepted in Christ the Beloved and by whatever judgment God may visit the earth for the iniquity of its inhabitants they shall escape unpunished if God wills it. As the Israelites escaped the doom of the first-born of the Egyptians who had been slain by the Destroying Angel so shall they escape the punishment of sin (God beholds them sprinkled with the blood of His own Lamb). Not only so, but they shall have everlasting life, yea, all blessings temporal and spiritual for the sake of the merit of Christ. What ground of comfort! What cause for rejoicing! “Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous; for praise is comely for the upright.” (5) There is a fulness of sympathy in Christ. In all their affliction He was afflicted—therefore He is touched with the feeling of their infirmities. He was afflicted with poverty—uneasiness and discomfort. He was afflicted and oppressed with sin—for sin not His own. He trembled at God’s judgment. The Prophet says: “Rottenness entered into my bones” when he heard the voice of God, but Christ says: (when the Father spoke: “Awake, O sword . . . smite the Shepherd”) “All my bones are out of joint—my heart is melted within me like wax—I am poured out like water.” He was afflicted with temptation, enmity of men and devils, persecution, and the hiding of His Father’s countenance. “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” To this great Sympathiser the Prophet looked when he said: “I will rejoice in the Lord.” (6) There is a fulness of power in Christ. He is not only able and willing to sympathise with His people but also able and willing to succour and help them in every time of need: “Why sayest thou O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over from my God? Hast thou not known, hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? There is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might He increaseth strength.” Christ travelleth in the greatness of His strength—mighty to save. His people lean upon His almighty arm. They are kept by His power through faith unto salvation.
In conclusion, mark (1) the uncertainty of all things here below. To-day we may be in the height of affluence, to-morrow in the depth of poverty. In a moment all our earthly comforts may be snatched from us, or we may be removed far hence from them. Tonight our soul may be required of us. Are we prepared to appear as naked spirits before the bar of the great and terrible God? (2) Behold the great evil of sin—the cause of all miseries—temporal and eternal. Hate it—turn from it, and seek deliverance from it. Note (3) the immutable righteousness of God—His hatred of sin; and that though hand join in hand the wicked shall not go unpunished. (4) Behold the marvellous Love of God in revealing Himself as the God of salvation to a lost world. “Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, and goodwill toward men.” He is the God of salvation. As such He invites sinners to Him from one end of the earth to the other that He might bless them with His salvation: “Look unto me all ye ends of the earth, and be ye saved, for I am God, and there is no Saviour besides me.” Oh, do we look to God by faith in Christ—do we accept of His free salvation? We are by nature lost—we need the salvation which He has prepared before the face of all men. Nothing can satisfy our immortal souls till we come to Christ, and receive Him as our portion. Oh, ye that seek your happiness in the world—in its uncertain riches, in its pleasures, vanities, and sins—”Why do we spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? Hearken diligently unto me,” God says, “and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.” Oh, incline your ear to this gracious invitation—harden not your hearts. Tremble at your ruined condition—cry to God: “Lord save, we perish.” How terrible to fall into the hands of God refusing this salvation! Better that you had never been born than to appear at His judgment-seat unconverted. If you do so appear before Him you will dread His presence. “Rocks, fall on us, and mountain hide us from the presence of Him that sitteth upon the throne” shall be your hopeless prayer! Turn now, and live. “Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out.”
Finally, ye that are God’s much favoured ones, rejoice, “Again, I say, rejoice.” But rejoice with trembling. You are nothing the worse of trembling—nothing the worse, but the better, for it prepares you for rejoicing. “But to this man, says the Lord, will I look, even to him that is poor, and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.” Ye tremble, and ye rejoice. Ye trembled when God’s Spirit convinced you of your lost and undone condition, but ye rejoiced in the gracious arms of your Saviour, who plucked you as brands out of the burning. Ye tremble still at the deep-rooted sinfulness of your depraved and deceitful hearts, at your great shortcomings—coldness, deadness, but ye rejoice when Christ pours on you the oil of gladness to calm down the raging sea of your corruption, saying: “Peace, be still.” Ye rejoice that ye are perfect in Him—the source and object of your rejoicing—your all in all. Ye tremble and rejoice on your way to heaven when you shall receive fulness of joy—pleasures for evermore. All your rejoicings on earth are but small foretastes of the fulness in heaven—a few drops out of the great ocean above—the earnest of your glorious inheritance. Meanwhile, “Seek that your joy may be full.” Show forth your gratitude to God by serving Him with your soul, body, and spirit. Soon all your tremblings shall cease—all your tears shall be dried up: “For the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with song and everlasting joy upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” Then you will sing with indescribable raptures of joy unspeakable and full of glory the blessed song you have through grace learned on earth: “Though the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet will I rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation”—World without end, Amen.