Selected Sermons of Jonathan Edwards Part 4

Secondly, Because this history seems to be typical of the calling of the Gentile church, and indeed of the conversion of every believer. Ruth was not originally of Israel, but was a Moabitess, an alien from the commonwealth of Israel: but she forsook her own people, and the idols of the Gentiles, to wors.h.i.+p the G.o.d of Israel, and to join herself to that people. Herein she seems to be a type of the Gentile church, and also of every sincere convert. Ruth was the mother of Christ; he came of her posterity: so the church is Christ's mother, as she is represented, Rev.

xii., at the beginning. And so also is every true Christian his mother: Matt. xii. 50, "Whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother." Christ is what the soul of every one of the elect is in travail with in the new birth.

Ruth forsook all her natural relations and her own country, the land of her nativity, and all her former possessions there, for the sake of the G.o.d of Israel; as every true Christian forsakes all for Christ. Psalm xlv.

10, "Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, and thy father's house."

Naomi was now returning out of the land of Moab into the land of Israel with her two daughters in law, Orpah and Ruth; who will represent to us two sorts of professors of religion: Orpah, that sort that indeed make a fair profession, and seem to set out well, but dure but for a while, and then turn back; Ruth, that sort that are sound and sincere, and therefore are steadfast and persevering in the way that they have set out in. Naomi in the preceding verses represents to these her daughters the difficulties of their leaving their own country to go with her. And in this verse may be observed,

1. The remarkable conduct and behavior of Ruth on this occasion; with what inflexible resolution she cleaves to Naomi and follows her. When Naomi first arose to return from the country of Moab into the land of Israel, Orpah and Ruth both set out with her; and Naomi exhorts them both to return. And they both of them wept, and seemed as if they could not bear the thoughts of leaving her, and appeared as if they were resolved to go with her: verse 10, "And they said unto her, Surely we will return with thee unto thy people." Then Naomi says to them again, "Turn again, my daughters, go your way," &c. And then they were greatly affected again, and Orpah returned and went back. Now Ruth's steadfastness in her purpose had a greater trial, but yet is not overcome: "She clave unto her," verse 14. Then Naomi speaks to her again, verse 15, "Behold, thy sister in law is gone back unto her people, and unto her G.o.ds: return thou after thy sister in law." And then she shows her immovable resolution in the text and following verse.

2. I would particularly observe that wherein the virtuousness of this her resolution consists, viz., that it was for the sake of the G.o.d of Israel, and that she might be one of his people, that she was thus resolved to cleave to Naomi: "Thy people shall be my people, and thy G.o.d my G.o.d." It was for G.o.d's sake that she did thus; and therefore her so doing is afterwards spoken of as a virtuous behavior in her, chap. ii. 11, 12: "And Boaz answered and said unto her, It hath fully been showed me, all that thou hast done unto thy mother in law since the death of thine husband: and how thou hast left thy father, and thy mother, and the land of thy nativity, and art come unto a people which thou knewest not heretofore.

The Lord recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the Lord G.o.d of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust." She left her father and mother, and the land of her nativity, to come and trust under the shadow of G.o.d's wings: and she had indeed a full reward given her, as Boaz wished; for besides immediate spiritual blessings to her own soul and eternal rewards in another world, she was rewarded with plentiful and prosperous outward circ.u.mstances in the family of Boaz. And G.o.d raised up David and Solomon of her seed, and established the crown of Israel (the people that she chose before her own people) in her posterity; and--which is much more--of her seed he raised up Jesus Christ, in whom all the families of the earth are blessed.

From the words thus opened, I observe this for the subject of my present discourse:

_When those that we have formerly been conversant with, are turning to G.o.d, and joining themselves to his people, it ought to be our firm resolution, that we will not leave them; but that their people shall be our people, and their G.o.d our G.o.d._

It sometimes happens, that of those who have been conversant one with another, that have dwelt together as neighbors, and have been often together as companions, or have been united in near relation, and have been together in darkness, bondage and misery in the service of Satan, some are enlightened, and have their minds changed, are made to see the great evil of sin, and have their hearts turned to G.o.d, and are influenced by the Holy Spirit of G.o.d to leave their company that are on Satan's side to go and join themselves with that blessed company that are with Jesus Christ; they are made willing to forsake the tents of wickedness, to dwell in the land of uprightness with the people of G.o.d.

And sometimes this proves a final parting or separation between them and those that they have been formerly conversant with. Though it may be no parting in outward respects, they may still dwell together and may converse one with another; yet in other respects, it sets them at a great distance one from another: one is a child of G.o.d, and the other the enemy of G.o.d; one is in a miserable, and the other in a happy condition; one is a citizen of the heavenly Zion, the other is under condemnation to h.e.l.l.

They are no longer together in those respects wherein they used to be together. They used to be of one mind to serve sin and do Satan's work; now they are of contrary minds. They used to be together in worldliness and sinful vanity; now they are of exceeding different dispositions. They are separated as they are in different kingdoms; the one remains in the kingdom of darkness, the other is translated into the kingdom of G.o.d's dear Son. And sometimes they are finally separated in these respects; while one dwells in the land of Israel, and in the house of G.o.d, the other, like Orpah, lives and dies in the land of Moab.

Now 'tis lamentable when it is thus. 'Tis awful being parted so. 'Tis doleful, when of those that have formerly been together in sin, some turn to G.o.d, and join themselves with his people, that it should prove a parting between them and their former companions and acquaintance. It should be our firm and inflexible resolution in such a case that it shall be no parting, but that we will follow them, that their people shall be our people, and their G.o.d our G.o.d; and that for the following reasons:

I. Because their _G.o.d_ is a glorious G.o.d. There is none like him, who is infinite in glory and excellency. He is the most high G.o.d, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders. His name is excellent in all the earth, and his glory is above the earth and the heavens. Among the G.o.ds there is none like unto him; there is none in heaven to be compared to him, nor are there any among the sons of the mighty that can be likened unto him. Their G.o.d is the fountain of all good, and an inexhaustible fountain; he is an all-sufficient G.o.d, able to protect and defend them, and do all things for them. He is the King of glory, the Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle: a strong rock, and a high tower. There is none like the G.o.d of Jeshurun, who rideth on the heaven in their help, and in his excellency on the sky. The eternal G.o.d is their refuge, and underneath are everlasting arms. He is a G.o.d that hath all things in his hands, and does whatsoever he pleases: he killeth and maketh alive; he bringeth down to the grave and bringeth up; he maketh poor and maketh rich: the pillars of the earth are the Lord's. Their G.o.d is an infinitely holy G.o.d; there is none holy as the Lord. And he is infinitely good and merciful. Many that others wors.h.i.+p and serve as G.o.ds are cruel beings, spirits that seek the ruin of souls; but this is a G.o.d that delighteth in mercy; his grace is infinite and endures forever. He is love itself, an infinite fountain and ocean of it.

Such a G.o.d is their G.o.d! Such is the excellency of Jacob! Such is the G.o.d of them who have forsaken their sins and are converted! They have made a wise choice who have chosen this for their G.o.d. They have made a happy exchange indeed, that have exchanged sin and the world for such a G.o.d!

They have an excellent and glorious Saviour, who is the only-begotten Son of G.o.d; the brightness of his Father's glory; one in whom G.o.d from eternity had infinite delight; a Saviour of infinite love; one that has shed his own blood and made his soul an offering for their sins, and one that is able to save them to the uttermost.

II. Their _people_ are an excellent and happy people. G.o.d has renewed them, and instamped his own image upon them, and made them partakers of his holiness. They are more excellent than their neighbors, Prov. xii. 26.

Yea, they are the excellent of the earth, Psalm xvi. 3. They are lovely in the sight of the angels; and they have their souls adorned with those graces that in the sight of G.o.d himself are of great price.

The people of G.o.d are the most excellent and happy society in the world.

That G.o.d whom they have chosen for their G.o.d is their Father; he has pardoned all their sins, and they are st peace with him; and he has admitted them to all the privileges of his children. As they have devoted themselves to G.o.d, so G.o.d has given himself to them. He is become their salvation and their portion: his power and mercy and all his attributes are theirs. They are in a safe state, free from all possibility of peris.h.i.+ng: Satan has no power to destroy them. G.o.d carries them on eagle's wings, far above Satan's reach, and above the reach of all the enemies of their souls. G.o.d is with them in this world; they have his gracious presence. G.o.d is for them; who then can be against them? As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so Jehovah is round about them. G.o.d is their s.h.i.+eld and their exceeding great reward; and their fellows.h.i.+p is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And they have the divine promise and oath that in the world to come they shall dwell forever in the glorious presence of G.o.d.

It may well be sufficient to induce us to resolve to cleave to those that forsake their sins and idols to join themselves with this people, that G.o.d is with them, Zech. viii. 23: "Thus saith the Lord of hosts; In those days it shall come to pa.s.s, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that G.o.d is with you." So should persons as it were take hold of the skirt of their neighbors and companions that have turned to G.o.d, and resolve that they will go with them, because G.o.d is with them.

III. _Happiness_ is nowhere else to be had, but in their G.o.d, and with their people. There are that are called G.o.ds many, and lords many. Some make G.o.ds of their pleasures; some choose Mammon for their G.o.d; some make G.o.ds of their own supposed excellencies, or the outward advantages they have above their neighbors: some choose one thing for their G.o.d, and others another. But men can be happy in no other G.o.d but the G.o.d of Israel: he is the only fountain of happiness. Other G.o.ds can't help in calamity; nor can any of them afford what the poor empty soul stands in need of. Let men adore those other G.o.ds never so much, and call upon them never so earnestly, and serve them never so diligently, they will nevertheless remain poor, wretched, unsatisfied, undone creatures. All other people are miserable, but that people whose G.o.d is the Lord.--The world is divided into two societies. There are the people of G.o.d, the little flock of Jesus Christ, that company that we read of, Rev. xiv. 4.

"These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins.

These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto G.o.d and to the Lamb."

And there are those that belong to the kingdom of darkness, that are without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers from the covenant of promise, having no hope, and without G.o.d in the world. All that are of this latter company are wretched and undone; they are the enemies of G.o.d, and under his wrath and condemnation. They are the devil's slaves, that serve him blindfold, and are befooled and ensnared by him, and hurried along in the broad way to eternal perdition.

IV. When those that we have formerly been conversant with are turning to G.o.d, and to his people, their _example_ ought to influence us. Their example should be looked upon as the call of G.o.d to us to do as they have done. G.o.d, when he changes the heart of one, calls upon another; especially does he loudly call on those that have been their friends and acquaintance. We have been influenced by their examples in evil; and shall we cease to follow them when they make the wisest choice that ever they made, and do the best thing that ever they did? If we have been companions with them in worldliness, in vanity, in unprofitable and sinful conversation, it will be a hard case, if there must be a parting now, because we be not willing to be companions with them in holiness and true happiness. Men are greatly influenced by seeing one another's prosperity in other things. If those whom they have been much conversant with grow rich, and obtain any great earthly advantages, it awakens their ambition and eager desire after the like prosperity. How much more should they be influenced, and stirred up to follow them, and be like them, when they obtain that spiritual and eternal happiness that is of infinitely more worth than all the prosperity and glory of this world!

V. Our resolutions to cleave to and follow those that are turning to G.o.d, and joining themselves to his people, ought to be _fixed_ and _strong_, because of the great difficulty of it. If we will cleave to them, and have their G.o.d for our G.o.d, and their people for our people, we must mortify and deny all our l.u.s.ts, and cross every evil appet.i.te and inclination, and forever part with all sin. But our l.u.s.ts are many and violent. Sin is naturally exceeding dear to us; to part with it is compared to plucking out our right eyes. Men may refrain from wonted ways of sin for a little while, and may deny their l.u.s.ts in a partial degree, with less difficulty; but 'tis heart-rending work, finally to part with all sin, and to give our dearest l.u.s.ts a bill of divorce, utterly to send them away. But this we must do, if we would follow those that are truly turning to G.o.d. Yea, we must not only forsake sin, but must, in a sense, forsake all the world: Luke xiv. 33, "Whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all he hath, he cannot be my disciple." That is, he must forsake all in his heart, and must come to a thorough disposition and readiness actually to quit all for G.o.d and the glorious spiritual privileges of his people, whenever the case may require it; and that without any prospect of any thing of the like nature, or any worldly thing whatsoever, to make amends for it; and all to go into a strange country, a land that has. .h.i.therto been unseen; like Abraham, who being called of G.o.d, "went out of his own country, and from his kindred, and from his father's house, for a land that G.o.d should show him, not knowing whither he went."

Thus it was a hard thing for Ruth to forsake her native country and her father and mother, her kindred and acquaintance, and all the pleasant things she had in the land of Moab, to dwell in the land of Israel, where she never had been. Naomi told her of the difficulties once and again.

They were too hard for her sister Orpah; the consideration of them turned her back after she was set out. Her resolution was not firm enough to overcome them. But so firmly resolved was Ruth, that she broke through all; she was steadfast in it, that, let the difficulty be what it would, she would not leave her mother in law. So persons had need to be very firm in their resolution to conquer the difficulties that are in the way of cleaving to them who are indeed turning from sin to G.o.d.

Our cleaving to them, and having their G.o.d for our G.o.d and their people for our people, depends on our resolution and choice; and that in two respects.

1. The firmness of resolution in using means in order to it, is _the way to have means effectual_. There are means appointed in order to our becoming some of the true Israel and having their G.o.d for our G.o.d; and the thorough use of these means is the way to have success; but not a slack or slighty use of them. And that we may be thorough, there is need of strength of resolution, a firm and inflexible disposition and bent of mind to be universal in the use of means, and to do what we do with our might, and to persevere in it. Matt. xi. 12, "The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force."

2. A choosing of their G.o.d and their people, with a full determination and with the whole soul, is _the condition of an union with them_. G.o.d gives every man his choice in this matter: as Orpah and Ruth had their choice, whether they would go with Naomi into the land of Israel, or stay in the land of Moab. A natural man may choose deliverance from h.e.l.l; but no man doth ever heartily choose G.o.d and Christ, and the spiritual benefits that Christ has purchased, and the happiness of G.o.d's people, till he is converted. On the contrary, he is averse to them; he has no relish of them; and is wholly ignorant of the inestimable worth and value of them.

Many carnal men do seem to choose these things, but do it not really: as Orpah seemed at first to choose to forsake Moab to go into the land of Israel. But when Naomi came to set before her the difficulty of it, she went back; and thereby showed that she was not fully determined in her choice, and that her whole soul was not in it as Ruth's was.

APPLICATION

The use that I shall make of what has been said is to move sinners to this resolution, with respect to those amongst us that have lately turned to G.o.d, and joined themselves to the flock of Christ. Through the abundant mercy and grace of G.o.d to us in this place, it may be said of many of you that are in a Christless condition, that you have lately been left by those that were formerly with you in such a state. There are those that you have formerly been conversant with that have lately forsaken a life of sin and the service of Satan, and have turned to G.o.d, and fled to Christ, and joined themselves to that blessed company that are with him. They formerly were with you in sin and in misery; but now they are with you no more in that state or manner of life. They are changed, and have fled from the wrath to come; they have chosen a life of holiness here and the enjoyment of G.o.d hereafter. They were formerly your a.s.sociates in bondage, and were with you in Satan's business; but now you have their company no longer in these things. Many of you have seen those you live with, under the same roof, turning from being any longer with you in sin, to be with the people of Jesus Christ. Some of you that are husbands have had your wives; and some of you that are wives have had your husbands; some of you that are children have had your parents; and parents have had your children; many of you have had your brothers and sisters; and many your near neighbors and acquaintance and special friends; many of you that are young have had your companions: I say, many of you have had those that you have been thus concerned with, leaving you, forsaking that doleful life and wretched state that you still continue in. G.o.d, of his good pleasure and wonderful grace, hath lately caused it to be so in this place that mult.i.tudes have been forsaking their old abodes in the land of Moab, and under the G.o.ds of Moab, and going into the land of Israel, to put their trust under the wings of the Lord G.o.d of Israel. Though you and they have been nearly related, and have dwelt together, or have been often together and intimately acquainted one with another, they have been taken and you hitherto left. O let it not be the foundation of a final parting! But earnestly follow them; be firm in your resolution in this matter. Don't do as Orpah did, who, though at first she made as though she would follow Naomi, yet when she had the difficulty of it set before her went back: but say as Ruth, "I will not leave thee; but where thou goest, I will go: thy people shall be my people, and thy G.o.d my G.o.d." Say as she said, and do as she did. Consider the excellency of their G.o.d and their Saviour, and the happiness of their people, the blessed state that they are in, and the doleful state that you are in.

You who are old sinners, who have lived long in the service of Satan, have lately seen some that were with you, that have travelled with you in the paths of sin these many years, that with you enjoyed great means and advantages, that have had calls and warnings with you, and have with you pa.s.sed through remarkable times of the pouring out of G.o.d's Spirit in this place, and have hardened their hearts and stood it out with you, and with you have grown old in sin; I say, you have seen some of them turning to G.o.d, i.e., you have seen those evidences of it in them, whence you may rationally judge that it is so. O let it not be a final parting! You have been thus long together in sin, and under condemnation; let it be your firm resolution, that, if possible, you will be with them still, now they are in a holy and happy state, and that you will follow them into the holy and pleasant land.

You that tell of your having been seeking salvation for many years, though, without doubt, in a poor dull way, in comparison of what you ought to have done, have seen some that have been with you in that respect, that were old sinners and old seekers, as you are, obtaining mercy. G.o.d has lately roused them from their dulness, and caused them to alter their hand, and put them on more thorough endeavors; and they have now, after so long a time, heard G.o.d's voice, and have fled for refuge to the Rock of Ages. Let this awaken earnestness and resolution in you. Resolve that you will not leave them.

You that are in your youth, how many have you seen of your age and standing that have of late hopefully chosen G.o.d for their G.o.d and Christ for their Saviour! You have followed them in sin, and have perhaps followed them into vain company; and will you not now follow them to Christ?

And you that are children, there have lately been some of your sort that have repented of their sins, and have loved the Lord Jesus Christ, and trusted in him, and are become G.o.d's children, as we have reason to hope: let it stir you up to resolve to your utmost to seek and cry to G.o.d, that you may have the like change made in your hearts, that their people may be your people, and their G.o.d your G.o.d.

You that are great sinners, that have made yourselves distinguis.h.i.+ngly guilty by the wicked practices you have lived in, there are some of your sort that have lately (as we have reason to hope) had their hearts broken for sin, and have forsaken it, and trusted in the blood of Christ for the pardon of it, and have chosen a holy life, and have betaken themselves to the ways of wisdom: let it excite and encourage you resolutely to cleave to them and earnestly to follow them.

Let the following things be here considered:--

1. That your soul is as precious as theirs. It is immortal as theirs is; and stands in as much need of happiness, and can as ill bear eternal misery. You were born in the same miserable condition that they were, having the same wrath of G.o.d abiding on you. You must stand before the same Judge; who will be as strict in judgment with you as with them; and your own righteousness will stand you in no more stead before him than theirs; and therefore you stand in as absolute necessity of a Saviour as they. Carnal confidences can no more answer your end than theirs; nor can this world or its enjoyments serve to make you happy without G.o.d and Christ more than them. When the bridegroom comes, the foolish virgins stand in as much need of oil as the wise, Matt. xxv. at the beginning.

2. Unless you follow them in their turning to G.o.d, their conversion will be a foundation of an eternal separation between you and them. You will be in different interests and in exceeding different states, as long as you live; they the children of G.o.d, and you the children of Satan; and you will be parted in another world; when you come to die, there will be a vast separation made between you: Luke xvi. 26, "And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pa.s.s from hence to you, cannot; neither can they pa.s.s to us, that would come from thence." And you will be parted at the day of judgment. You will be parted at Christ's first appearance in the clouds of heaven. While they are caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, to be ever with the Lord, you will remain below, confined to this cursed ground, that is kept in store, reserved unto fire, against the day of judgment and perdition of unG.o.dly men. You will appear separated from them while you stand before the great judgment-seat, they being at the right hand, while you are set at the left: Matt. xxv. 32, 33, "And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left." And you shall then appear in exceeding different circ.u.mstances. While you stand with devils, in the image and deformity of devils, and in ineffable horror and amazement, they shall appear in glory, sitting upon thrones, as a.s.sessors with Christ, and as such pa.s.sing judgment upon you, 1 Cor. vi. 2. And what shame and confusion will then cover you, when so many of your contemporaries, your equals, your neighbors, relations and companions, shall be honored, and openly acknowledged and confessed by the glorious Judge of the universe and Redeemer of saints, and shall be seen by you sitting with him in such glory, and you shall appear to have neglected your salvation, and not to have improved your opportunities, and rejected the Lord Jesus Christ, the same person that will then appear as your great Judge, and you shall be the subjects of wrath, and, as it were, trodden down in eternal contempt and disgrace! Dan. xii. 2, "Some shall rise to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt." And what a wide separation will the sentence then pa.s.sed and executed make between you and them! When you shall be sent away out of the presence of the Judge with indignation and abhorrence, as cursed and loathsome creatures, and they shall be sweetly accosted and invited into his glory as his dear friends and the blessed of his Father! When you, with all that vast throng of wicked and accursed men and devils, shall descend with loud lamentings and horrid shrieks into that dreadful gulf of fire and brimstone, and shall be swallowed up in that great and everlasting furnace, while they shall joyfully, and with sweet songs of glory and praise, ascend with Christ, and all that beauteous and blessed company of saints and angels, into eternal felicity, in the glorious presence of G.o.d, and the sweet embraces of his love; and you and they shall spend eternity in such a separation and immensely different circ.u.mstances! And that however you have been intimately acquainted and nearly related, closely united and mutually conversant here in this world; and how much soever you have taken delight in each other's company! Shall it be so after you have been together a great while, each of you in undoing yourselves, enhancing your guilt, and heaping up wrath, that their so wisely changing their minds and their course, and choosing such happiness for themselves, should now at length be the beginning of such an exceeding and everlasting separation between you and them? How awful will it be to be parted so!

3. Consider the great encouragement that G.o.d gives you, earnestly to strive for the same blessing that others have obtained. There is great encouragement in the word of G.o.d to sinners to seek salvation, in the revelation we have of the abundant provision made for the salvation even of the chief of sinners, and in the appointment of so many means to be used with and by sinners, in order to their salvation; and by the blessing which G.o.d in his word connects with the means of his appointment. There is hence great encouragement for all, at all times, that will be thorough in using of these means. But now G.o.d gives extraordinary encouragement in his providence, by pouring out his Spirit so remarkably amongst us, and bringing savingly home to himself all sorts, young and old, rich and poor, wise and unwise, sober and vicious, old self-righteous seekers and profligate livers: no sort are exempt. There is now at this day amongst us the loudest call and the greatest encouragement and the widest door open to sinners, to escape out of a state of sin and condemnation that perhaps G.o.d ever granted in New England. Who is there that has an immortal soul so sottish as not to improve such an opportunity, and that won't bestir himself with all his might now? How unreasonable is negligence, and how exceeding unseasonable is discouragement, at such a day as this! Will you be so stupid as to neglect your soul now? Will any mortal amongst us be so unreasonable as to lag behind, or look back in discouragement when G.o.d opens such a door? Let every single person be thoroughly awake! Let every one encourage himself now to press forward, and fly for his life!

4. Consider how earnestly desirous they that have obtained are that you should follow them, and that their people should be your people, and their G.o.d your G.o.d. They desire that you should partake of that great good that G.o.d has given them, and that unspeakable and eternal blessedness that he has promised them. They wish and long for it. If you do not go with them, and are not still of their company, it won't be for want of their willingness, but your own. That of Moses to Hobab is the language of every true saint of your acquaintance to you, Numb. x. 29, "We are journeying unto the place of which the Lord said, I will give it you: come thou with us, and we will do thee good: for the Lord hath spoken good concerning Israel." As Moses, when on his journey through the wilderness, following the pillar of cloud and fire, invited Hobab, that he had been acquainted with and nearly allied to out of the land of Midian, where Moses had formerly dwelt with him, to go with him and his people to Canaan, to partake with them in the good that G.o.d had promised them; so do those of your friends and acquaintance invite you, out of a land of darkness and wickedness, where they have formerly been with you, to go with them to the heavenly Canaan. The company of saints, the true church of Christ, invite you. The lovely bride calls you to the marriage supper. She hath authority to invite guests to her own wedding; and you ought to look on her invitation and desire as the call of Christ the bridegroom; for it is the voice of his Spirit in her: Rev. xxii. 17, "The Spirit and the bride say, Come." Where seems to be a reference to what had been said, chap. xix.

7-9, "The marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb." 'Tis with respect to this her marriage supper that she, from the motion of the Spirit of the Lamb in her, says, Come. So that you are invited on all hands; all conspire to call you. G.o.d the Father invites you: this is the King that has made a marriage for his Son; and he sends forth his servants, the ministers of the gospel, to invite the guests. And the Son himself invites you: 'tis he that speaks, Rev. xvii.

17, "And let him that heareth say, Come; and let him that is athirst, come; and whosoever will, let him come." He tells us who he is in the foregoing verse, "I Jesus, the root and offspring of David, the bright and morning star." And G.o.d's ministers invite you, and all the church invites you; and there will be joy in the presence of the angels of G.o.d that hour that you accept the invitation.

5. Consider what a doleful company that will be that be left after this extraordinary time of mercy is over. We have reason to think that there will be a number left. We read that when Ezekiel's healing waters increased so abundantly, and the healing effect of them was so very general; yet there were certain places, where the water came, that never were healed: Ezek. xlvii. 9-11, "And it shall come to pa.s.s, that every thing that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live: and there shall be a very great mult.i.tude of fish, because these waters shall come thither: for they shall be healed; and every thing shall live whither the river cometh. And it shall come to pa.s.s, that the fishers shall stand upon it from En-gedi even unto En-eglaim; they shall be a place to spread forth nets; their fish shall be according to their kinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many. But the miry places thereof and the marshes thereof shall not be healed; they shall be given to salt." And even in the apostles' times, when there was such wonderful success of the gospel, yet wherever they came, there were some that did not believe: Acts xiii. 48, "And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord; and as many as were ordained to eternal life, believed." And chap. xxviii. 24, "And some believed, and some believed not." So we have no reason to expect but there will be some left amongst us. 'Tis to be hoped it will be a small company. But what a doleful company will it be! How darkly and awfully will it look upon them!

If you shall be of that company, how well may your friends and relations lament over you, and bemoan your dark and dangerous circ.u.mstances! If you would not be one of them, make haste, delay not and look not behind you.

Shall all sorts obtain, shall every one press into the kingdom of G.o.d, while you stay loitering behind in a doleful undone condition? Shall every one take heaven, while you remain with no other portion but this world?

Now take up that resolution, that if it be possible you will cleave to them that have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before them.

Count the cost of a thorough, violent, and perpetual pursuit of salvation, and forsake all, as Ruth forsook her own country and all her pleasant enjoyments in it. Don't do as Orpah did; who set out, and then was discouraged, and went back: but hold out with Ruth through all discouragement and opposition. When you consider others that have chosen the better part, let that resolution be ever firm with you: "Where thou goest, I will go; where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy G.o.d my G.o.d."

IV

THE MANY MANSIONS

JOHN xiv. 2.--In my Father's house are many mansions.