people shall never be ashamed. And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed." -JOEL ii. 25-27. These words refer to a twofold restoration. I. The restoration of lost MATERIAL MERCIES. "I will restore you the years that the locust hath eaten," etc. That the Prophet has here in view the plague of locusts described in chapteri., cannot well be doubted. The names, though placed in a different order, are identical with those there specified. "My great army." They are called God's great army, a name still given to them by the Arabs. Though a scourge lasted only one year, yet as they not only destroyed the whole produce of that year, but also what was laid up in store for future years, the calamity was great. The loss of these God promises to recompense or make good by not only furnishing them with an abundance of temporal enjoyments, but affording them a delightful experience of His presence and favour as their Covenant God. This promise amplified in verses 26, 27. Restoration is God's peculiar work. Who can restore the earth but Him? An insect may destroy a giant; but God alone can restore the life of a dying flower. Restoration is God's constant work. From death He brings life to all nature. Spring is the grand annual illustration of it. God restores lost temporal blessings to His people in two ways— First: By giving back the same in kind, as in the case of Job. And, Secondly: By bestowing that which answers the same purpose. II. The restoration of lost RELIGIOUS PRIVILEGES. What are these? "And ye First Worship. shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed." True worship is one of man's greatest and most original privileges of his being. True worship is supreme love for the supremely good. The loss of this has been man's crime and ruin; the restoration of this is his salvation. When men come to praise the Lord as they ought to, they reach the heaven of their being. Secondly: Communion. "And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your God, and none else." Loving fellowship with the Infinite Father is also another privilege which we have lost. The restoration of this is the consummation of blessedness. "In Thy presence is fulness of joy." This last restoration is the most urgent and the most glorious one. The restoration of lost material mercies to a man, community, or country, is a Divine work for which gratitude should be cherished and practically exemplified; but the restoration of lost religious privileges, the true worship of God and true fellowship with Him, is the transcendent restoration. When this is realized, the world's redemption is completed. No. LXIX. Subject: THE GOSPEL AGE. "And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit. And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call." -JOEL ii. 28-32. Peter quotes this passage, but not with literal accuracy. Divine inspiration secures not uniformity of phraseology, but uniformity in facts and principles. We are authorized in regarding the passage as pointing to the Gospel age; or, as Peter says, to the last days. The days of the Messiah are indeed the last days of the world. The passage teaches four things in relation to these last daysthis gospel age as connected I. WITH AN EXTRAORDINARY EFFUSION OF THE SPIRIT. "I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh." Flesh here stands for humanity. Under the gospel dispensation, the influence of the Spirit would be First Universal, not limited to sects-"Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy." Not limited to age-" Your young men shall see visions; your old men shall dream dreams." The redemptive influences of the gospel are like the rolling atmosphere and the shining sun-universal in their aspect. Secondly: Illuminating. It would bring the light of God's thoughts upon the soul. They 66 saw visions and dreamed dreams and prophesied." That is, men under its influence would receive and reflect God's eternal truths. The gospel age is connected II. WITH PRODIGIOUS REVOLUTIONS. "I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke." These words may perhaps be properly regarded as a highly poetic representation of that revolution in governments, churches, and all other human institutions which would inevitably follow the working out of the Divine ideas and spiritual influences of these last days (Isa. xiii. 10; xxxiv. 4). When Christianity enters with all its renovating power the individual soul, what a revolution! What wonders in heaven, what signs on earth, what blood, fire, and vapour of smoke! It is so also when it enters a community, then it shakes the heavens and the earth of social and political life. The gospel age is connected III. WITH A TERRIBLE DAY. Peter calls it a notable day. The primary reference in all probably is to the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus. It was indeed a terrible day. See Josephus; see also first edition of "Genius of the Gospel," page 606. But there is another terrible day still before us, a day of which the destruction of Jeru "Thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left."-ISAIAH XXX. 21. Man is a traveller. He has lost his way. He needs a guide, both to bring him back to and keep him in the right path to the end of the journey. Where is that guide to be found? It is referred to in the text,-"a word behind thee." The following remarks are suggested concerning this guiding word. I. It comes to man from WITHOUT. There are inner guides placed there by our Maker in our constitution. Reason is an inner guide: consience is an inner guide. But both these have failed us. They themselves are lost in the haze of depravity. Hence the need of a guide from without; such a guide as "the word." It comes from God to man, (1) Through NATURE. (2) Through CHRIST. He is "the Word-the true Guide." He comes to man, and says, "Follow Me." Far are we from disparaging the light of conscience or the light of reason, but they are not sufficient. They have failed, and will ever fail, if they are left to themselves. "It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps." We must look outside for our guide. Christ is the guiding pillar. II. It comes to man in EXPLICITNESS. "This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left." There is no indefiniteness here, no vagueness, and no uncertainty; no suggesting a choice between different ways. This is the way, only one. The word reveals the right and the only way, and that way is Christ. "I am the Way"-"Follow Me." III. It comes to man from MYSTERY. "Behind thee." Thou dost not see the speaker. The voice breaks out from the dark past. It comes from "behind." Behind all that is seen and heard, behind all the phenomena of nature, behind the universe, from God Himself, the Mysterious One. It comes from mystery; from Him who dwelleth in the light that no man can approach unto. IV. It comes to man, BUT HE MUST LISTEN. "Thou shalt hear." This hearing is the want. Men's spiritual ears are deaf. The guiding word is everywhere. "There is no speech nor language where His voice is not heard." Open hine ear: listen, and thou shalt catch the guiding directions. No. CXV. Subject: THE CHARACTER AND DESTINY OF THE GODLY. "Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart."-PSALM xcvii. 11. 66 I. The CHARACTER of the godly. They are here represented as "righteous" and "upright." Godliness is rectitude. Some mistake it for ritualism; some for devout sentiment; some for orthodox belief; but it is nothing more, nothing less, than righteousness. It means justice-justice to self; justice to society; justice to the universe; justice to God. II. The DESTINY of the godly. 'Light is sown 'gladness is sown." Who sows it? They themselves sow it. Every righteous thought, every righteous purpose, every righteous act, is a seed that falls into the moral soil of their nature, and must, under the benign influence of heaven, germinate and grow; and the production will be "light and gladness." The light of gladness is a germ in every righteous deed. All men are sowing; every action is a seed that must be reproduced. Some are sowing darkness and misery: others are sowing light and gladness. Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." 66 No. CXVI. Subject: A COMMON EVIL, AND AN UNCOMMON RESULT. Notice, we have here, I. A COMMON EVIL. "Tribulation." All men have learnt from experience the meaning of this word. They need consult no lexicons. Men's tribulations are various. There are bodily tribulations; there are mental tribulations; there are social tribulations. II. AN UNCOMMON RESULT. "Worketh patience." All men have tribulation; but in the case of most it worketh irritation, hostility, conflicting passions. But in the case of the Christly man it worketh patience. What is patience? (1) It does not mean insensibility. Some are praised for their patience who should be denounced for their stoicism. (2) It does not mean weakness. Some are praised for their patience, who lack the capacity of strong feeling. Patience implies exquisite sensibility, and the highest power: the power of reflection and of self-control. "Ye have need of patience, that after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise." No. CXVII, Subject: SPRING :-GOD'S BOUNTIHOOD IN NATURE. "The earth, O Lord, is full of Thy mercy: teach me Thy statutes."PSALM CXIX. 64. ocean. The text leads us to consider God's bountihood in nature. I. IT FILLS THE EARTH. "The earth, O Lord, is full of Thy mercy." At this season of the year wherever you look there is goodness. Goodness streaming from the heavens, flowing in the atmosphere, budding on the earth, sparkling in the river, and bounding in the Goodness is everywhere. It is a ubiquitous presence. It has provided on this earth supplies immeasurably greater than the human population require. "O that men would praise the Lord for His goodness," etc. II. IT ENTAILS MORAL OBLIGATION. "Teach me Thy statutes." The writer felt that all this Divine bountihood on the earth entailed responsibility. But what was the duty? Simply this, a divinely regulated life. And this implies two things. (1) A knowledge of the Divine statutes. Unless we know them they cannot regulate us. (2) An instruction in the Divine statutes. "Teach me.' We cannot discover them by unaided reason; nor shall we learn them rightly from the printed code. We must have God to interpret them to the mind and heart. |