await them in that day; for that period shall be distinguished by, I. Frequent ordinances At the first establishment of the Christian Church, the people" continued daily in the temple with one accord, and brake bread together from house to house, eating their meat with gladness and singleness of heart.” Thus also will it be in that blessed day, when apostolic piety shall again prevail throughout the Church: there will be no "famine of the word," but frequent ordinances in every place: [In public, ministers will then "give themselves wholly to their work:" they will be "instant in season and out of season:" they will live only to fulfil their ministry, and will “count their lives dear to them" for no other end. The people too will be as eager to receive instruction, as the ministers to convey it. As many followed our blessed Lord for days together to hear his word, and forgot, as it were, the very wants of nature through the insatiableness of their appetites for spiritual food; so, methinks, in that day the people will, as it were, "dwell in the house of the Lord, that they may flourish in the courts of our God." Then also will social ordinances abound. Friends, when they. meet together, will then seek to edify each other in faith and love. In families, all will look for the returning seasons of divine worship, as much as for their regular meals. Parents will "command their children to fear the Lord;" and masters will universally adopt the resolution of Joshua, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." In private, too, men will delight in approaching to their God, and in pouring out their souls before the throne of grace. "At morning, and at evening, and at noon-day will they pray," as David did in the times of old; yea, they will be ready to say with him, "Seven times a day will I praise thee, because of thy righteous judgments." Thus in the public, social, and private ordinances there will be such a rapid succession, that the "plowman will overtake the reaper; and he that treadeth out the grapes, the sower." Not that temporal things will be neglected: men will "not be the more slothful in business, because they are fervent in spirit;" but they will carry the fear and love of God into every thing, so that they will "be in the fear of the Lord all the day long." "The fire on their altar will never go out."] From this state of things there will arise, II. Numerous converts [Now ministers may fish all the day, and take scarcely any thing; but then the Lord will direct them where and how to cast their nets; which they shall scarcely be able to drag to land, by reason of the numbers that they shall catch. The days of Pentecost shall be revived. From a small handful of corn shall spring up a crop waving like the trees of Lebanon, and standing as close upon the ground as piles of grass upon the earth. Fresh converts shall be continually hastening forward, as "doves flying to their windows;" yea rather, they shall be like a majestic river "flowing together to the goodness of the Lord," and that too, not as in an ordinary course, but upward, "even to the mountain of the Lord's house that shall be established on the top of the mountains." The church itself shall be perfectly astonished at the increase; which will be so vast and so rapid, that places shall be wanting for their reception. In a word, "the fields will be always white ready to the harvest;" and one crop will not be gathered in, before another is ripe for the sickle."] Nor will Christianity be a mere profession then; for all who embrace it shall be distinguished for, III. Exalted virtues- [All will then "live, not unto themselves, but unto their God; even to Him who died for them, and rose again." The fruit which individuals will then bear will not be thirty or sixtyfold, but an hundred-fold. It will appear as if all the most eminent saints that have ever lived had risen again; on which account it is called, "The first resurrection"." So subdued will be all the evil passions of men in that day, that "instead of the thorn will grow up the fir-tree, and instead of the brier will grow up the myrtle-treei:" "for brass there will be gold; for iron, silver; for wood, brass; and for stones, iron." It will be truly the reign of Christ upon earth: nothing but his will will be done; and it will be done on earth, in good measure, as it is done in heaven. Godliness will then be, not an act, but a habit; so that one act of piety will be only as a prelude to another; "the very mountains dropping with sweet wine, and the hills melting" into rivers of wine.] Resulting from this state of piety, there will be, IV. Abundant consolations [This is doubtless intimated in our text, as in the parallel passage in the Prophet Joel'. Truly "God will then comfort Zion; he will comfort all her waste places; he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord: joy and gladness will be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody." The world at this time is only a vale of tears: but then "there will be new heavens and a new earth: yea, God will make all things new"." What will be the state of men's minds at that time, may be gathered from the description given of it by the Prophet Isaiah Blessed and glorious state! "the peace of all will flow down as a river," and the joy of all be unspeakable and glorifiedP———" God will cause them universally and without ceasing to triumph in Christ;" and to live as on the very confines of heaven itself."] IMPROVEMENT Let us inquire, 1. Whence it is that we are comparatively in so low a state? [It is manifest that religion, though perhaps flourishing in comparison of what it was a century ago, is still but at a low ebb. If we look at the ordinances, public, private, and social, they are far from being attended with that life and power that they were in the apostolic age. And whence is this? Are we straitened in our God? No: " we are straitened in our own bowels;" we do not pant after the life and power of godliness, as the first converts did: and we have not, because we ask not." O that we were more earnest and constant in prayer, forgetting all that we have received, and pressing forward for higher attainments!---] 66 2. How we may attain a greater measure of that prosperity which the saints will enjoy in the latter day? [We must all begin with our own hearts. If all would labour for higher attainments in their own souls, the whole Church of God would revive and flourish But an at tention to others also is most desirable. The walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt with incredible celerity, because all, women as well as men, "repaired before their own doors:" and if we laboured, all of us in our own more immediate neighbourhood, what might we not effect! If only we "had a mind to the work," ," "the work of the Lord should prosper in our hands," and the kingdom of Christ "should come with power" in the midst of us.] m Isai. li. 3. See also xxxv. 1, 2. o Isai. xii. 3-6. P Isai. xxxv. 6, 10. Neh. iii. 10, 12, 23, 28, 29. n Rev. xxi. 1, 5. q 2 Cor. ii. 14. OBADIA H. MCXCVII. BLESSED EFFECTS OF THE GOSPEL IN THE LATTER DAYS. Obad. 17. Upon Mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions. IT is curious to observe throughout the prophetic writings, that the richest promises relating to the Christian Church follow, and, I had almost said, arise out of, denunciations of vengeance against the enemies of God: the design of God being to display thereby, in a more abundant measure, the riches of his grace towards his chosen people. The great scope of Obadiah's prophecy is to warn the Edomites of the destruction that awaited them. But, regarding them as representing all the Church's enemies, by whatever name they are designated, he proceeds to declare, that the Church shall triumph over them, and, through the power and grace of Christ, be established in the full enjoyment of all her privileges. The time to which he looks forward for the accomplishment of these things is the latter day, when the Jews shall be restored to their own land, and be, in their national capacity, an emblem of the success that shall be given to the Christian Church throughout the world. In elucidation of the prophecy, we shall consider, I. The deliverance here spoken of It certainly, in its primary and literal sense, refers to the contest which shall take place, between the Jews at the time of their restoration, and their enemies who will oppose their settlement in the land of Canaan. But the spiritual sense is that which was most prominent in the writer's mind. The deliverance is certainly that which the Lord Jesus Christ had undertaken to accomplish for his Church and people. This has already come to Zion [The Lord Jesus Christ has come according to all that was foretold concerning him; and has entered the lists against the enemies of his Church, and has triumphed over them. By his death he overcame him who had the power of death, that is, the devil:" and having "spoiled principalities and powers, and triumphed over them openly upon the cross," he, in his ascension, "led captivity itself captive;" and has left his people to fight only with a vanquished enemy. By his atoning blood he has delivered his people out of the hands of justice, which demanded the execution of the sentence denounced against them by the law. Having "found, and offered, a ransom for them," he has authoritatively said, "Deliver them from going down into the pit" of hell. By his allpowerful grace, too, he has communicated this deliverance to thousands and tens of thousands, whom he has turned from darkness unto light, and from the power of Satan unto God. To millions of prisoners he has said, Go forth, and shew yourselves; and they have broken their bonds, and come forth to light and liberty.] It is also experienced yet daily [How many witnesses are there in this place, and wherever the Gospel is preached with fidelity, who can set their seal to this blessed truth! Many can say, 'I was once a slave to sin, and led captive by the devil at his will: but now "the Son of God has made me free; and I am free indeed:" he has brought my soul out of prison, and set my feet at liberty. Nor am I any more "in bondage to the fear of death" and judgment; for "I know whom I have believed, and that He is able to keep that which I have committed to him' But it will be yet more largely experienced in the latter days [Zion shall then lengthen her cords and strengthen her stakes; and all the nations of the earth shall flow unto her, as the centre of their union, and the treasury of their bliss. Then shall "Satan indeed fall from heaven like lightning:" a Compare Joel ii. 32. with Rom. x. 13. and xi. 26. |