September 19

"Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord." Hosea 6:3.

WHETHER we consider these words as an excitation and an encouragement addressed by the godly to each other, or to their own souls, they remind us of an important aim, a necessary duty, and an assured privilege.

The aim is, "to know the Lord." For the soul to be without knowledge it is not good. All the operations of the Spirit are begun and carried on in the renewing of the mind. Nothing can be moral or religious in our dispositions and actions that is not founded in knowledge, because it must be destitute of principle and motive; and the Lord looketh at the heart. Real repentance must arise from proper views of the evil of sin, in connection with the cross of Christ. "They shall look upon him whom they have pierced, and shall mourn for him." Even faith is impossible without knowledge: "For how can they believe in him of whom they have not heard?" "This," says the Saviour, "is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." This declaration not only decides the importance of this knowledge, but also the nature of it. It is not a philosophical knowledge of God as an almighty being, the maker and upholder of all things; or even a knowledge of him as holy in all his ways, and righteous in all his works. Such views of him alone, must, on the mind of a sinner, gender dread and aversion. The grand thing in the restoration of a fallen and guilty creature is, to know that He is reconcilable: that He is willing, even now, to become our friend; and has already given undeniable proof that he is waiting to be gracious, and is exalted to have mercy upon him. And all this is only to be seen in the only begotten of the Father, who has declared him. God in nature, is God above me; God in providence, is God beyond me; God in law, is God against me; but God in Christ, is God for me and with me. Neither is this knowledge of him a merely speculative acquaintance with him, such as men may possess who behold and wonder and perish. There is a great difference between the decisions of the judgment, and the bias of the will; between the convictions of the conscience, and the submission and acquiescence of the heart. "With the heart man believeth unto righteousness." "I will give them a heart to know me." "He hath shined in our heart, to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."

Connected with this, there is a necessary duty. It is, "to follow on" to know the Lord.

This takes in the practice of what we already know. To what purpose would it be for God to afford the light they have not, to those who neglect the light they have? It would only increase their sin and their condemnation. "Whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance; but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath." And we see this constantly exemplified. When men love not to retain God in their knowledge, it is their interest to see things less clearly; and so they part with one truth after another as it becomes troublesome, till God gives them up to strong delusion to believe a lie. While those who do his will, know of the doctrine; advancing towards the light, they get more into its shining; and as far as they have already attained, walking by the same rule, and minding the same thing, if in any thing else they be otherwise minded, God reveals even this unto them.

It also includes diligence in the use of appointed means; such as reading the Scriptures, and hearing the word preached, and meditation, and "walking with wise men;" and above all, prayer to the Father of lights, according to the promise, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him." "If thou crest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; if thou seekest her as silver, and scarchest for her as for hid treasure; then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God."

It must also mean perseverance in this course. "Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors." Here is not only watching, but waiting. Some run well, and are hindered. But we are to run with patience the race that is set before us; and by patient continuance in well-doing, to seek for glory, honor, and immortality.

Nor shall this be in vain. "Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord." The privilege is as sure as the word of God, confirmed by his faithfulness, and all history, and all experience, can make it. And if probability will actuate a man to engage in an enterprise, and continue in a series of exertions and sacrifices, how much more should actual certainty? Let therefore this full assurance of hope excite and influence us in two cases.

The first is with regard to ourselves. The way of the Lord is strength to the upright. Keep his way, and your path shall be as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. Your perplexities shall be solved, your doubts removed, your fears subdued. Crooked things shall be made straight, and rough places plain. You shall know more of him in his word, providence, and grace; and more of him as the strength of your heart, and your portion for ever.

The second regards others. Be not impatient if they cannot embrace all your religious views at once, and are amazed at some parts of your experience. In grace, as well as in nature, there must be infancy before manhood. Though now their acquaintance with divine things be small, and they only see men as trees walking, the Enlightener will put his hand a second time to the work, and they shall see every thing

Morn Exer

29 plainly. If their heart be broken off from sin and the world, and they are asking the way to Zion with their faces thitherward, they shall not err therein. "Who hath despised the day of small things?"