ordering your paths and developing your conclusions, to make your paths straight, and your conclusions glorious. "Fear not, for I am with thee; be not dismayed, for I am thy God; I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. Behold, all they that are incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded; they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with thee shall perish. For I the Lord will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee. Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. Behold, I will make thee a new threshing instrument having teeth; and thou shalt thresh the mountains and beat them small, and make the hills as chaff. Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them, and thou shalt rejoice in the Lord, and glory in the Holy One of Israel." Such, brethren, is the promise which Jesus gives. His divine power shall accompany his obedient Church, and, though weak in herself, she shall be strong in him to do his will. 3. With the assurance of our Lord's everlasting sympathy, and of the effectual help of his omnipotence, there is included also the pledge of his perpetual presence by his Spirit, to enlighten and guide, and comfort and bless his people. We are not to think of Jesus simply as our infinite Friend far distant in the heavens, remembering us there, where he sits in glory on his throne, and caring for us, and deeply concerned for our cause; nor are we to think of him simply as ruling and reigning for our good, overlooking the affairs of his kingdom, and ordering all things, with however wise and gracious a reference to our advantage, or with whatever infallible certainty of compassing his ends. We are to understand that by his Spirit, his presence with us is a real presence; that he is with us in very deed, a God at hand and not afar off, ready with all-sufficient grace to sustain us in every emergency; to whom we may go in every hour of trial, in every danger and every distress, in all our perplexities and our fears, just the same as if he were personally with us and we beheld him with our eyes. “If ye love me, keep my commandments, and I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever, even the Spirit of Truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him; but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you." It is in no figure, my brethren, that Jesus says to us, “Lo, I am with you," but he speaks plainly. It is even so. The Lord is with his people. 4. Is it not, also, somewhat in the way of warning that Jesus speaks? Is there not a caution in his words? Do we not see a finger of faithful admonition lifted towards us when he says, "All power is given unto me. Go ye, therefore, and disciple all nations, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you alway?" Are we not reminded that our labor is to be performed under the cease less inspection of his eye? Does he not seem to be telling us of that solemn office which appertains to him as the searcher of hearts, and the trier of reins? Does he not seem to be purposely directing our thoughts to that day when he will judge his servants, and render to every one according to his works? O, my soul, receive and O, my soul, be Jesus is with thee, "And lo, I am with you." the comfort of this assurance; not unmindful of the warning. in the faithful remembrance and unfailing sympathies of his infinite heart. Jesus is with thee, by his all-conquering and sustaining power. Jesus is with thee, by his comforting and guiding Spirit; and Jesus is with thee, also, by his searching and trying eye. As thy Master, he is with thee, to think on thee and to care for thee; to help thee and to uphold thee; to instruct thee and to bless thee; and, in the end, to judge thee and to reward thee. IV. Let us consider, very briefly, in conclusion, the practical influence which these words of Jesus should have upon our minds, and— 1. As it respects our judgment of the sum of Christian duty here upon the earth. Ten thousand duties demand our attention and our diligence; everywhere there is labor to be performed; labor on ourselves, and labor on other men; labor in the church, and labor in the world, and labor in our own families. But the one end of all labors-the sum of all duties-is to speed on the conquest of the world for Christ. Nothing is duty which does not tend to this. Nothing is great, or glorious, or good, which does not serve directly or indirectly to hasten it. He is no disciple of Jesus, who is not living for it. He is no disciple of Jesus, with whom all things else are not subordinated to it. This is the end comprehending all ends at which we are to aim. It is the end for which Jesus reigns on his mediatorial throne, and for which he is ceaslessly directing all the energies of his kingdom; and it is the end to which should be directed all the energies of his church on earth. We must look upon the world as a revolted empire of God's dominions, and upon the Church of Christ as an army organized and established within its borders for the re-subjection of it to its rightful Lord. In this view, a thousand things are, indeed, imperative on the Church, not directly tending to the accomplishment of her great object. She must care for herself and for her camp. She must nurturc herself, and husband her resources. She must strengthen and make sure the positions she has already taken, and multiply, in every direction, the arms and sinews of her war. She must train her soldiers, and raise up and prepare the men who are to be leaders of her host; but she must do all these things solely with reference to her greater efficiency as an army of aggression and conquest. She must never look upon herself as doing her proper work, as fulfilling her proper mission, except when she is casting forward her bands of fighting men, and taking possession of new ground in her great Commander's name. She is doing nothing, in fact, when she is not advancing her arms against the foe; nothing, when she is not spreading herself out on the enemy's territory, and subduing and annexing it; nothing, when she is not "enlarging the place of her tent, and stretching forth the curtains of her habitations." The cry of the host must be forever, Onward! They that lead must cry it to them that follow; and they that follow must cry it to them that lead; and from front to rear, from rear to front, cry must meet cry, Onward! onward! until the last enemy has been met, and the last foot of earth has been subjected. : 2. In the second place, courage, my brethren! courage! Think who is on our side. Think who it is that says, "And lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." "The Lord of hosts is with us: the God of Jacob is our refuge." And hear ye the word of the Lord: "Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the heathen; I will be exalted in the earth." "O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph : For the shields of the earth belong unto God; he is greatly exalted." There is no fear but we shall conquer in this war, for" if the Lord be for us, who can be against us?" Let "The kings of the earth set themselves, And the rulers take counsel together Against the Lord, and against his Anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, And cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh. The Lord shall have them in derision." |