September 29

them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands: saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing."

They claim all the partakers of Divine grace. In whatever age and country they live: and whatever distinctions prevail among them, there is no difference here. Here they are of one heart and of one soul—For to them that believe he is precious.

In what degree? This neither the tongue of men or of angels can express. But two things we may affirm. He is universally precious. There are some who may be termed Christ-dividers. They would be made the partakers of Christ, but partially. They like his cross but not his sceptre; his sacrifice but not his service. But a real believer, when he, so to speak, examines Christ all over, acquiesces and delights in the whole of him. He is precious, says he, in his person, precious in his characters, precious in his relations, precious in his offices, precious in his life, precious in his death, precious in his doctrine, precious in his promises, precious in his commands—"Yea, he is altogether lovely." And he is supremely precious. Indeed we do not love him sincerely, unless we love him above all. No other regard becomes his claims. He is the king and the husband of his church; and majesty and marriage allow of no competition of right, or rivalry of attachment. Children are dear, health is dear, life is dear; but they are not to be compared with him. There is no one whose authority sways like his; there is no one whose frown I dread, or whose presence I long for like his. Whom have I in heaven but thee; and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee—

"All my capacious powers can wish, In thee most richly meet; Nor to mine eyes is light so dear, Nor friendship half so sweet."

SEPTEMBER 29.—"Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab; be thou a covert to them from the face of the spoiler: for the extortioner is at an end, the spoiler ceaseth, the oppressors are consumed out of the land."—Isaiah 16:4.

THE Assyrians were going to invade Judea; in consequence of which some of the people would flee for shelter to Moab, a neighbouring country. In the words we have read, God bespeaks protection on their behalf during their exile; and intimates that their distress would be only short, owing to the destruction of the destroyer. There are several things here noticeable and instructive.

We see that Israelites may be "outcasts." They are not outcasts from God, for he does not cast away his people whom he foreknew. Fear may indeed lead them to say, "I am cast out of his sight;" and to ask, "will the Lord cast off for ever, and will he be favourable no more?" But this is their infirmity. What says the promise? "Lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth." But they may be outcasts with regard too thers. Outcasts by national distress; for in this respect

all things come alike to all. Thus it was with the good Shunamite, whose son had been restored to life: Elijah said, "Arise, and go, thou and thine household, and sojourn wheresoever thou canst sojourn: for the Lord hath called for a famine; and it shall also come upon the land seven years." So in the time of the Judges the same calamity prevailed; and "a certain man of Bethlehem-Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons." The want of employment also, as well as of provision, may compel to such a step. We have no pity on idlers: they that will not work should not eat: but it is hard to be willing to work, and be able to get nothing to do. A native country is dear, and a trifling cause will not, and should not induce us to leave it. Duty says, "Dwell in the land" as long as hope says, "Verily, thou shalt be fed:" but necessity has no law. Outcasts by the violence of persecution. Thus when the poor man, born blind, confessed the Saviour, and recommended his Benefactor, the Pharisees, it is said, "cast him out;" they drove him from the assembly and excommunicated him. At the time of Stephen's death "there was a great persecution against the Church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the Apostles." But these, though spared for the time, were also soon dispersed. How many outcasts were there from France upon the infamous revocation of the edict of Nantz? And how many, before the rights of conscience were acknowledged, left this country, and fled to America, carrying liberty and religion with them? And though now persecution is entirely unsanctioned not only by our constitution, but government, and no man can be made legally afraid, even when he calls his neighbour under his vine and under his fig tree, yet hardships are still endured by individuals from the carnal mind, that is enmity against God: and we have known wives that have been abandoned; children that have been disinherited; tradesmen that have been deserted; servants, mechanics, and tenants, that have been dismissed from their places, employment, and farms, because they adhered to their religious convictions. Outcasts by reproach. Where the person is not injured, and individuals are not deprived of their liberty or substance, the name may be cast out as evil. They may be viewed as hypocrites, as enthusiasts, as deranged, as melancholy, and be excluded from parties and circles as unworthy of their company, and fit only for scorn or pity. "Hear the word of the Lord, ye that tremble at his word; Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name's sake, said, Let the Lord be glorified: but he shall appear to your joy." For he that gathereth the outcasts of Israel—

Is not ashamed to own them as his—"My outcasts." Instead of despising them, he is the more ready to confess them when they suffer for his sake, or peculiarly need his favour. And though they may be poor, afflicted, and condemned, yet under every outward disadvantage they are more excellent than their neighbours, and he deems them his peculiar treasure. "When there were but a few men in number; yea, very few, and strangers in it. When they went from one nation to another, from one kingdom to another people; he suffered no man to do them wrong: yea, he reproved

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kings for their sakes; saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm." When they were brickmakers in Egypt, he "gave Egypt for their ransom." When they were captives in Babylon, he gave "Ethiopia and Seba for them." "Since," says he, "thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life." But read the language of the Apostle. "They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth"—Yet adds he, "Of whom the world was not worthy."

He can raise up for them friends even among strangers and enemies. The Moabites were old, and had been often very cruel foes to Israel—yet says God, "Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab; and be thou a covert to them from the face of the spoiler." The people of the world ought to be kind to the people of God, for they owe much to them; they derive many exemptions and many advantages from their influence and prayers. But the world knoweth them not; and from their principles and dispositions we could look only for hatred and opposition. And yet "the earth helped the woman." The servants of God have often been succoured by persons as unlikely to serve them as the ravens were to bring Elijah food in the morning and in the evening. When you wish to carry a measure with your fellow-creatures, put the case into the hands of the Lord of all. Never limit his power or his goodness. He has not only all events, but all hearts under his controul; and he turneth them like rivers of water. The grand thing is to approve ourselves unto him: for when a man's ways please the Lord, he maketh also his enemies to be at peace with him. This Jacob found, after prayer, in meeting Esau. Nehemiah prayed to the God of heaven, and the heathen monarch was induced to favour his wish on the behalf of his country. And at the three annual festivals of the Jews, when all the males were drawn to Jerusalem, and invasion seemed easy and inviting, he suffered none of the surrounding nations even to desire their border.

Finally, it is not long the Lord's sufferers will need assistance or protection. This was the case here; and we know how it was accomplished. The danger was great; the enemy had taken all the strongholds of Judah, and had encamped against Jerusalem itself. But there he was arrested and destroyed. This God foresaw, for he had purposed and promised it; and therefore he speaks of it as done already: "For the extortioner is at an end, the spoiler ceaseth, the oppressors are consumed out of the land." The same may be said of all those that distress or alarm the Christian. He may be delivered from many of his difficulties and afflictions before death. But it is only during life he can want or suffer. How short therefore the season of trial! And much of this is gone already. Every day and hour your salvation is nearer than when you believed. A few more sighs, and all sorrow and sighing shall cease. A few more tears, and all tears shall be wiped from your eyes. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning; a morning obscured by no cloud, and followed by no