GOD'S COMMANDMENTS NOT GRIEVOUS.
T must ever be borne in mind, that i is a very g'reat and arduous thin to attaln to heaven. " Many are called, few are chosen.'" " Strait is the g'ate, and narrow is the way." "Many will seek to enter n, and shall hot be able." "If any man corne to Me, and hatc not his father and mother, and wife and children, and brethren and sisters, yea,.and his own life also, hc cannot be My discipleS. '' On the other hand, it is evident to any one who reads the:New Testament wlth attention, that Christ and His Aloostles speal of a religous lile as somethng" easy, pleasant, and comfortable. Thus, in the words I bave takea for my text "." This is the love of God, that we keep His commandments and tIis commandments are not g"rievous." In like manner our Saviour says, " Comc unto Me.... and I will give you rest.... My yoke is easy» and [y burden is light:. "" Solomon, also, n the Old Testament, speaks
9 8 God's Colzzazdzeezts «o/Gricvots. in the sa.me way of haae wisdom:" Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and ail ber pahs re peace. She is trce of lire fo them tha.t lay hold upon her:,nd happy is every one tha.t rct,ineth her..... Wheu thou liest down, thou shalt hOt be afraid: yea, thou slmlt lie down, and thy sleep sha.ll be sweet a.,, Ag'ain, we read in the prophet hlieah: " What doth the Lord requ]re of thee, but to do jusly, and to love merey, and to walk humbly with thy God "?" as if if were little and an easy thin so to do. Now I will attempt fo show how if is that Ihese apparently opposite decl:raIions of Christ and His Irophets tnd Apostles are fiflfilled to us. For if may be objected by inconsiderate persons that we are (if I may so express if) ]zard[ [rea[ed; invited fo corne to Christ and receive His light yoke, promised an easy and h,ppy life, thejoy of, good conscience, the assurance of pardon, and the hope of Heavcn; and then, on the other hand, when we a.ctually corne, as if were, rudely repulsed, tiqghtened, reduced fo despair by severe requisitions and evil forebodings. Such is the objection,not which any C]ïis[ian would bring forward; for we, my brethren, know too much of the love of out:Master and only Saviour in dying" for us, seriously to entertain for an hastant any such complaint. Ve bave af least faith enough for this (and it does hot requh'e: great deal), riz. to believe that Che Son of God, Jesus Christ, is hot "yea. and nay, but in Him is yea. For all the promises of God in Him are ye, a.nd in Him Amen, unto the glory of God by us ." If is for the ve T reason that none of Pov. iii. 17—24. Micah ri. 8. 2 Cor. i. 19, 20.
us ean seriously put the objection, that I allow mvself to state if strongly; to urge if being" in, Christian's judgment absurd, even more tlmn it would be wicked. But thoug'h none of us really feel as an objection fo the Gospel, this difference of view under which the Gospel is presented to us, or even as, diflàculty, still it may be rig'ht (in order to our edit]cation) that we should see how these two views of if are reconcilcd. We must understand how if is botl scvere and indulgent in its comm,nds, and boih arduous and ea.sy in its obedience, in order that we may underst,nd it af all. "His commandments are noi grievous," says the text. How is this?I will g'ive one answer out of several which might be g'iven. Now if must be admited, first of all, as marrer of fact, tlmt they are gïicvous fo the great mass of Christians. I bave no wish to disguise a fact which we do hot need the:Bible iv inform us of, but which common experience aitests. Doubiless even those common elementary duties, of which the prophet speaks, "doing iustly, looping mercy, and walking humbly with our Goal," are o most men 9rievous. Accordingly, men of worldly minds, iïndlng" the true way of lire unpleasant to walk in, bave attempted fo iànd out other and easier roads; and bave been accustomed fo argue, that there must be another way which suïts them better than that which religious men walk in, for the very reason that Scripture decla.res that Christ's commandments are hot grievous. I mean, you will meet with persons who say, " After all if is hot to be supposed that a strict religions lire is so necessary as is told us in ehurch; else how should anv one be saved? nay, and Christ assures us IIis yoke is easy. Doubtless we shall rare well euough, though we are hot so earnest in the oLservance of our duties as we mig'ht be; though we are hot reg'ular in our attendance ai public worship; th»ugh xvc do hot honour Christ's ministcrs and reverence His Chureh as much as some men do; though we do hot labour fo know God's will, fo dcny oursclves, and fo lire to IIis g'lory, as entire]y as the strict ]errer of' Scripture enjoins." Some men have gone so far as boldly fo say, " God will hot condemn a man lnerely for taking a littlc pleasurc;" by which they meau, leading" an irreligious and profligate ]ifb. And many there are who virtually maintain that we may lire fo the world, so that we do so decently, and yet lire to God; arguing" that this world's blessins are g'iven us by God, and thereibre may lawhfily be uscd;—that to use lawfully is fo use moderately and thankfully;—that it is wrong" fo take gloomy views, and right to be innocently cheerful, and so on; which is all very truc thus stated, did they not apl01y if unfhirly, and call that use of the world moderate and inwce,t, which the Aloostles would call bein$ coformed to the world, and serving" mammon instead of God. And thus, before showing" you what is meant bv ('hrist's commandments hOt being grievous, I bave said what is »ot meant by if. It is uot meant that Christ dispenses with strict religions obedience; the whole lang'uage of Scripture is against such a notion. "\Vhosoever shall break: one of these least comnmndments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least, in the king'dom of heaven 1.,, '" Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of ail-'." Whatever is meant by Christ's yç, ke being eas35 Christ does not encourage sin. And again, whatever is meant, still I repeat, as a marrer of faet, most men tind it w/, easy. So far must hot be disputed. Now then let us proeeed, in spite of this admission, fo eonsider how IIe fiflfils IIis engagements to us, that IIis ways are wavs of pleasantness. 1. Now, supposing some superior promised 3-ou any gift in a partieular way, and you did hot follow his directions, would ]Ie have broken his promise, or you have voluntarily exeluded yourselves from the advantage? Evidently you would have broug'ht about rouf own loss; you mig'ht, indeed, think his oflèr not worth aeeepting, burdened (as it was) with a emidition annexed to if, still you ec.uld hot in any propriety sav that ]le failed in his engagement. Now when Seripture lromises us that ifs commandments shall be eas.v, if couples the promise with the iajunetion that we should seek God early. " I love them that love Me, and those thnt seek Me ear[y shall find Me ." Ag'ain: "Relnember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth*. " These are Solomon's words; and if" you require out Lord's own authority, attend fo His direction about the ehildren: " Surfer the little ehildren to eolne unto 3Ie, and forbid them hot, for of ««c]I is the kindom of God ." Youth is the time of His eovenant with us, when He first gives us His Spirit;
tïrst ffivinff [len, that we may tlter forthwith begln our returu of obcdience fo tlim; not then ffivin" if that we may de]ay our thank-otlrinfor wenty, tllirty, or fiftv yearsl Now i is obvious tha obedience o God's commandments is ever easy, and almos without effort to those who beg'in fo serve Him ri'oto the begqnning of their days; whcreas those who wait a while, find it ffrievous in proportion to their dclay. For consider how gently God leads us on in out earlv years, and how very gradually IIe opens upon us the eompiieated duties of lire. A child af firs has hardly any thing to do bu to obey his parents; of God he knows jus as much as they are able fo tell him, and he is no equal fo many thoughts either about tlim or about the world. He is almost passive in their ha.nds who gave him lire; and, though he has those latent instinets about good and evil, truth a.nd falsehood, whieh all lnen bave, he does not knov enough, he has no had experience enough ri'oto the contact of external objects, fo elicit into form nnd action those innate principles of conscience, or to make hilnself conscious of the existence of them. And wlfile on the one hand his range of duty ]s verv confined, observe hov he is assisted in performing i. First, he has no bad habits to hinder the suggestions of lfis conscience: indolence, pride, iii-retaper, do hot then act as they aRerwards act, when the mind has accustomed itself fo dsobedence, as stubborn, deep-seated ]mpedimens in the way of duty. To obey requires an effort, of course; but an effort lie the bodily effort o[ the child's rising ffom thc ground, when he bas fallen on it; not the effort of shakillg" Off drowsy sleep; hot the eflbrt (far less) of violent bodilv exertion in a rime of siekness and long weakness: and the first effort ruade, obedienee on a second trial will be casier than before, till af lellgth it will be casier fo obey than hot to obey. A good habit will be formed, where otllerwise a bad habit would bave been formed. Thus the ehild, we are supposing, would begin to have a eharaeter; no longer influeneed by every temptation to anger, diseontent, fear, and obstinaey, in the saine way as before; but with something of firm prineiple in his heart to repel them in a defensive way, as a shield repels darts. In the mean time the eircle of his duties would enlarge; and, though for a time the issue of his trial would be doubtfill to those who (as the Angels) eould sec if, yet, should 11% as a ehild, eo.sistently pursue this easy course tbr a. few years, it lnav be, his ultimate salvation would be aetualh" seeured, and might be prcdieted by those who eould sec his heart, though he would hot know it himself. Doubtless new trials would eome on him; bM passions, whieh he had hot formed a conception of, would assail him; but a soul thus born of God, in St. John's words, "sinneth not; but he that is begotten of Goal keepeth himself, and that wieked one toueheth him not. '' " His seed remaineth in him: and he eannot sin, because he is born of God ." And so he would grov up fo man's estate, his duties at lenth attaining their full range, and his soul being eompleted in all ifs parts for the due performance of them. This iglt be the blessed condition oF every one of us, did we but follow from infancy what we know to be right; and in Christ's early li[b (if we may dare to speak of Him in connexion with ourselves), it oas fulfilled while He increased day by day sinlessly in wisdom as in stature, and in favour with God and man. But my prcsent object of speaking of this g'radual g'rowth of holincss in the soul, is (not fo show what ve might be, had wc the heart to obey God), but to show how easy obedienee would in that case be fo us; consisting', as if would, in no irksome ceremonies, no painful bodily discipline, but in the free-will offering's of the heart, of the heart which had been gradually, and by very slight occasional efforts, trained fo love what God and our conscience approve. Thus Christ's commandments, viewed as He enjoins /he»t o tt, are hOt g'rievous. They would be g-rievous if put upon us all af once; but they a.re hot heaped on us, according- to His order of dispensing them, which goes upon an harmonious and considerate plan; by little and little, first one duty, then another, then both, and so on. Moreover, they corne upon us, while the safeguard of virtuous principle is forming naturally and gradually in our minds by out very deeds of obedience, and is following" them as their reward. Now, if men will hot take their duties in Christ's order, but are determined fo delay obedience, with the intention of setting about tbeir duty some day or other, and then making up for past rime, is it wonderful that they find if grievous and difiïcult to perform? that they are overwhelmed with the arrears of their g'reat work, that they are entang'led and stumble amid the intricacies of the Divine system which has progressively enlargcd upon them? And is Chris under obligation o sop tlm system, fo recas Ilis providence, o take these men ou of t.heir due place in the Church, to save them ri'oto the whecls that re crushing them, and to put them back again into some simple and more childish state of trial, where (though they cannot bave less to unlearn) they, at least, may for a time bave less to do? . Ail this bein granted, i still may be objected, since (as I have allowed) fhe eommandmcnts of God are grievous fo the geuerality of men, where is the use of saying wha men o«yh fo be, when we know what they are? and how is i fulfilling a promise that Ilis eommandments «all zot be grievous, by inçorming us that they o«[ hot fo be? I is one thing fo say tha the Law is in itself holy, jus, and good, and quite a different thing fo deelare if is not yrieço«« fo sinfifl man. In answering this question, I fully admi that our Saviour spoke of man a« he «, as a sinner, when IIe said His yoke shonld be easy fo him. Certainly, He came no to eall righteous men» bu sinners. Doubtless we are in a very different state ri'oto tha of Adam before his fhll; and doubtless, in spire of this, S. John says that even to fallen man Itis eommandments are no grievous. On the other hand, I grant, that if man eazno[ obey Goa, obedience zt«t be grievous; and I gran too (of course) that man by nature eowt obey God. observe» nothing has here been said, nor by St. John in the tex, of man as by nature born in sin; but of man as a ehild OEyrace» as Christ's purchased possession, who goes boEore us with His merey, purs the blessing first, and then adds the eommand; regenerates us, and [best bids us obey. Crist bids us do nothing that we eannot do. He repairs the fault of our nature, even before if manifests itself in act. He eleanses us fi'om original sin, and reseues us ri-oto the wrath of God by the saerament of baptism. He gives us the gift of" His Spirit, and then He says, "What doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love merey, and to walk humbly with thy God?" and is t]ds grievous? When, then, men allege their bad nature as an excuse tbr thelr dislibe of God's eomlnandments, if, indeed, they are heathens, let them be heard, and an answer may be given fo them even as sueh. But vit.h heathens we are hot now eoneerned. These men make their eomplaint as C]trisliats, and as Cristians they are most unreasonal»le in making it; God having provided a remedy for their natural ineapaeity in the git't of His Spirit. Hear St. Paul's words; "If through the oenee of one many be dead, mueh more the graee of God, and the gift by graee, whieh is by one man, Jesus Crist, hath abounded unto lnany..... Where sin abounded, graee did mueh more abound: that as sin hath reig'ned unto death, even so lnigqat graee reign througq righteousness unto eternal lire, by Jesus Christ our Lord .» And there are persons, let if never be forgotten, who bave so followed God's leading" providence from their youth up, that to theln His eommandments hot only are hot g'rievous, but never have been: and that there are sueh, is the eondemnation of all who are hot such.
Go:t's Conzuzazdu«czz[« zo! Gricz,ots. 0 7 They have been broug'ht up ¢'ili the nurlure and admonition of the Lord J;'" and they now live in the love nnd "the peaee of God, whieh passeth all understanding-'." Sueh are they whom out Sa.viour speaks of, as "just persons, which need no repentanee ." that they will give that aeeount of tlemselves, for t.hey are full well eonscious in their own hearts of sins innumerable, and habitual infirmity. Still, in spire of stumblins and falls iii their spiritual course, they have on the whole persevered. As ehildren they served God on the whole; they disobeyed, but fley reeovered their lost ground; they sought God and were aeeepted. Perhaps their young faith ave way fbr finie altogether; but even then thev eontrived with ]ieen repentanee, and strong disgust af sin, and earnest pra3-ers, fo make up for lost lime, and keep paee with the course oF God's providence. Thus they have waU«ed with God, hot indeed step by step with IIim; never belote IIiln, often loitering, stumbling, fidling to sleep; yet in turn starting and "maki»y baste fo keep Ilis eommandments," "running, and prolongin hot the rime." Thus they proeeed, hot, however, of themselves, but as upheld by IIis rig'ht hand, and g'uiding their steps by IIis Word; and thoug'h they have nothing" fo boast ot and know their own unworthiness, still they are witnesses of Christ to men, as showing" what man ect,, beeome, and what all Christians oug'ht fo be; and af the last day, bein round meet for the inheritmee of the saints in lig'ht, they "eondemn the world," as Noah did, and become "heirs of the righteousness whieh is by faith," aeeording to the saying , "This is the vietory t.hat overeometh the world, even our fitith 1.,, And now to what do the remarks I have been makin tend, but to this?to humble every one of us. For, however fhithfully we have obeyed God, and however early we beg'an to do so, surely we mig'ht have begun sooncr than we did, and mig.ht bave served IIim more heartily. We eannot but be eonseious of this. Individuals among" us may be more or less g, uilty, as the case may be; btt the best and worst anaong" us here assemblcd, may well unite themselves together so far as this, to eonfess they have "erred and stra3,ed ri'mn God's ways like lost sheep," "bave fbllowed too m«eh the deviees and desires of their own hearts," have "no health" in themselves as being" "miserable offenders." Some of us may be nearer Heaven, some fhrther from if some may have a good hope of salvation, and others, (God fbrbid! but if may be), others o present hope. Still let us unite now as one body in eonfessing" (fo the better part of us sueh eonfession will be the more weleome, and fo the worst if is the niore needful), in eonfessing" OUl'selves sinners, deserving" God's ang'er, and havinff no hope exeept "aeeording" fo His promises deelared unto mankind in Christ Jcsus our Lord." He who first regenerated us and then gave His eommandments, and fhen was so ung'ratefhlly deserted by us, IIe ag'ain if is tha.t must pardon and quieken us after out aeeunmlated guilt, if we are fo be pardoned. Let us then trace baek
Gd's Co»»zalzdll«cl«ts «ot Griczo«ts. Io 9 in memory (as far,as we ean) out early years; what we were when rive years old, when ten, when fifteen, when twenty! what out state would have been as far as we ean guess it, h,ad God taken us fo out aeeount af any ae belote the present. I will hot ask how if would go with us, were we now taken we will suppose the best. Let eaeh of us (I say) refleet upon his own most gross and persevering neleet of God af various seasons of his pasg lire. IIow eonsiderate IIe bas been fo us! IIow did He shield tas from temptation! how did He open His will gradually upon us,,as we might be able to bear it! how has tIe done all things well, so that the spiritual work mighg g'o on ealmly, safely, surely! IIow did IIe lead us on, duty by duty, as il' step by step upwards, by the easy rounds of that ladder whose top reaehes fo Heaven? Yet how did we thrust ourselves into telnptation! how did we refuse fo eome fo IIim that we mig'ht have lire! how did we daringly sin ag'ainst lig'ht! And what was the eonsequenee? tha out work grew beyond out streng'th; or rather tha out strength grew less as out dnties inereased; till af length we gave up obedienee in despair. Ane yet then He still tarried and was mereiful unto us; He tUl'ned and looked upon us to bring us into repentance; and we for a while were moved. -et, even then our wayward hearts could hot keep up fo their own resolves: letting go again the heurt which Christ gave them, as if ruade of stone, and hot ot' living flesh. What could bave been done more fo Hi» vineyard, that He bath hot done in if ? « 0 My peop_le
(IIe seems fo say fo us), wha.t ha,ve I done unto thee? and wherein have I wea.ried thee? testify agalnst Me. I broug.ht thee up out of the land of Egypt., and redeemed thee out or" the house of servants;.... what doth the Lord require of thee, but justice, merey, and humbleness of mind ?" He hath showed us wha.t is good. He bas borne and earried us in IIis bosom, "lest af any rime we shonld dash out fiot against a. stone L" IIe shed IIis Holy 8pirit upon us tha.t we might love IIim. And" is the love of God, that we keep His eomnmndments, and His eommnndments are hOt grievons." Vhy, then, have they been grievous fo us? Why have we erred ri-oto His ways, and hardened onr hearts flore ttis fear? ¥hy do we this day stand aslmmed, yea, even eonfounded, beeause we bear the reproaeh of onr youth? Let us then turn to the Lord, while yet we mat. Difflenlt if will be in proportion to the dista.nee we bave departed from IIim. 8inee every one mig-ht have done more than he has done, every one bas suflbred losses he never ean make up. We have ruade His eommands grievous fo us: we must bear if; let us not attempt fo explain them a.way beeause tlrey are grievous. We never ean wash out the stains of sin. God may forgive, but the sin has hnd ifs work, and ifs memento is set up in the soul. God sees if there. Earnest obedienee and prayer will gradually remove if. Still, what miserable loss of rime is if, in our brief life, to be merely undoing (as bas beeome neeessary) the evil whieh we bave done, imtead of going" on to perfection! If by God's gra¢-e we shall be able in a measure to sanctify ourselves in spire Of our former sins, yet hov much more shottld we have attained, had we always been enzaged in IIis servîce! These are bltter and humblin thoug;hts, but thev are zood thoughts if they lead us to repentance. And this leads me to one more observation, with whieh I conclude. If «ny one who hears me is at present moved by wha.t I have said, and feels the remorse and shame of, [,ad conscience, and forms any sudden g'ood resolution, let him take heed to follov if up af once by aeti».q ««po if. I earnestly beseech him to do. For this reason;— because il' he does hot, he is beginning a habit of inattention and insensibility. God moves us in order fo nmke the beginning" of duty eas#. If we do not attend, He ceases to more us. Any of you, my brethren, who will hot take advantage of this considerate providence, if vott will not turn to God now with a warm heart, you will hereafter be obllg'ed fo do so (if you do so af all) witl a cold ]eart.;—whlch is rnuch barder. God keep you from this!