Bible Heaven/Bible Heaven.iso/online/mhcc18/v20450

Text File | 1994-03-01 | 6KB | 103 lines

20452
 * The reading and expounding the law. (1-8) The people called
 upon to be joyful. (9-12) The feast of tabernacles, The joy of
 the people. (13-18)

 #1-8 Sacrifices were to be offered only at the door of the
 temple; but praying and preaching were, and are, services of
 religion, as acceptably performed in one place as in another.
 Masters of families should bring their families with them to the
 public worship of God. Women and children have souls to save,
 and are therefore to acquaint themselves with the word of God,
 and to attend on the means of grace. Little ones, as they come
 to reason, must be trained up in religion. Ministers when they
 go to the pulpit, should take their Bibles with them; Ezra did
 so. Thence they must fetch their knowledge; according to that
 rule they must speak, and must show that they do so. Reading the
 Scriptures in religious assemblies is an ordinance of God,
 whereby he is honoured, and his church edified. Those who hear
 the word, should understand it, else it is to them but an empty
 sound of words. It is therefore required of teachers that they
 explain the word, and give the sense of it. Reading is good, and
 preaching is good, but expounding makes reading the better
 understood, and preaching the more convincing. It has pleased
 God in almost every age of the church to raise up, not only
 those who have preached the gospel, but also those who have
 given their views of Divine truth in writing; and though many
 who have attempted to explain Scripture, have darkened counsel
 by words without knowledge, yet the labours of others are of
 excellent use. All that we hear must, however, be brought to the
 test of Scripture. They heard readily, and minded every word.
 The word of God demands attention. If through carelessness we
 let much slip in hearing, there is danger that through
 forgetfulness we shall let all slip after hearing.

20460
 #9-12 It was a good sign that their hearts were tender, when
 they heard the words of the law. The people were to send
 portions to those for whom nothing was prepared. It is the duty
 of a religious feast, as well as of a religious fast, to draw
 out the soul to the hungry; God's bounty should make us
 bountiful. We must not only give to those that offer themselves,
 but send to those out of sight. Their strength consisted in joy
 in the Lord. The better we understand God's word, the more
 comfort we find in it; the darkness of trouble arises from the
 darkness of ignorance.

20464
 #13-18 They found written in the law about the feast of
 tabernacles. Those who diligently search the Scriptures, find
 things written there which they have forgotten. This feast of
 tabernacles was a representation of the believer's tabernacle
 state in this world, and a type of the holy joy of the gospel
 church. The conversion of the nations to the faith of Christ, is
 foretold under the figure of this feast, #Zec 14:16|. True
 religion will render us strangers and pilgrims upon earth. We
 read and hear the word acceptably and profitably, when we do
 according to what is written therein; when what appears to be
 our duty is revived, after it has been neglected. They minded
 the substance; else the ceremony had been of no use. They did
 it, rejoicing in God and his goodness. These are the means which
 the Spirit of God crowns with success, in bringing the hearts of
 sinners to tremble and to become humbled before God. But those
 are enemies to their own growth in holiness, who always indulge
 sorrow, even for sin, and put away from them the consolations
 tendered by the word and Spirit of God.
20470
 * A solemn fast. (1-3) Prayer and confession of sin. (4-38)

 #1-3 The word will direct and quicken prayer, for by it the
 Spirit helps our infirmities in prayer. The careful study of
 God's word will more and more discover to us our own sinfulness,
 and the plenteousness of his salvation; thus it calls us to
 mourn for sin, and to rejoice in him. Every discovery of the
 truth of God, should render us more unwearied in attendance on
 his sacred word, and on his worship.

20473
 #4-38 The summary of their prayers we have here upon record.
 Much more, no doubt, was said. Whatever ability we have to do
 any thing in the way of duty, we are to serve and glorify God
 according to the utmost of it. When confessing our sins, it is
 good to notice the mercies of God, that we may be the more
 humbled and ashamed. The dealings of the Lord showed his
 goodness and long-suffering, and the hardness of their hearts.
 The testimony of the prophets was the testimony of the Spirit in
 the prophets, and it was the Spirit of Christ in them. They
 spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, and what they said
 is to be received accordingly. The result was, wonder at the
 Lord's mercies, and the feeling that sin had brought them to
 their present state, from which nothing but unmerited love could
 rescue them. And is not their conduct a specimen of human
 nature? Let us study the history of our land, and our own
 history. Let us recollect our advantages from childhood, and ask
 what were our first returns? Let us frequently do so, that we
 may be kept humble, thankful, and watchful. Let all remember
 that pride and obstinacy are sins which ruin the soul. But it is
 often as hard to persuade the broken-hearted to hope, as
 formerly it was to bring them to fear. Is this thy case? Behold
 this sweet promise, A God ready to pardon! Instead of keeping
 away from God under a sense of unworthiness, let us come boldly
 to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace
 to help in time of need. He is a God ready to pardon.