ii. 5. _O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the
light of the Lord._
There are many lights shining upon the paths of men in this world.
There are the lights of science and philosophy; they beam out from
the human mind, and are kindled by eager research and investigation.
These have been advancing in splendour and in value, age by age, and
will, no doubt, continue to do so to the end of time. Men walk in
these lights, and vainly imagine that they have found the sun of the
soul. They seek no higher illumination. They are mistaken. The lights
of science are but little service to the moral nature; they cannot
chase away its darkness, or open up to it a vision of destiny. The
True Light cometh down from above, and is Divine in its origin. It is
bright. It is beauteous. It is sufficient for the guidance of the
soul. Wise men will walk in it. "O house of Jacob," &c.
+I. The walk of the soul.+ "Let us walk." 1. _The moral walk of the
soul is a necessity._ The soul of man is endowed with certain
convictions and activities which render inaction an impossibility. It
must walk either in one direction or another; either toward moral
purity or moral evil; either to Christ or to Satan. The moral
sensibilities with which it is gifted, the laws under which it is
placed, the influences to which it is subject and the prospects that
are stretched out before the soul, render moral progress a necessity
of being. 2. _The moral walk of the soul is educational._ Men gain
knowledge in this world by travel. In this way they augment their
mental stores. And the soul gains knowledge, strengthens its
capabilities, and deepens its experience, by walking forth into the
great moral universe in which it lives. Only the souls that have
walked in the paths of truth and life know what things are, and they
only are able to guide others. 3. _The moral walk of the soul is
healthful._ Those who are inactive are always physically weak. The
soul that never takes moral exercise, that never gets out into the
broad acres of truth, and that never climbs the great mountains of
God, will ever be sickly. If the soul is to be strong, equal to the
duties of life, and to the demands of being, it must not indolently
repose in its own quiet hiding-place. It must go forth to meet the
External. 4. _The moral walk of the soul is often perilous._ The
traveller has often to walk through dark places, along difficult
paths, and near the deep precipice. He is in a strange country. And
so in the walk of the soul. It is in a land of which it knows but
little. It has to pass through the dark mystery of truth, to traverse
the windings of intricate problems, and to find its way, through
perplexing circumstances, to the throne of God.
+II. The light of the Lord.+ "In the light of the Lord." The soul of
man was not constituted to walk in darkness. It was created with keen
moral vision; but, alas! its eye is dimmed by sin, and is but seldom
open to the light of heaven. 1. _This light is Divine in its origin._
It does not come from the orb in the heavens. It comes from beyond
the clouds--from the Sun of Righteousness, whose rays are never lost
in night. It is not the light of the finite, but of the Infinite. It
is perennial and pure. It is unparalleled in beauty. It is unique in
lustre. It is life-giving in its influence. The soul can walk in no
better radiance. 2. _This light is clear in its revelation._ But for
the sun we should know nothing of this world. And but for the light
of the Lord we should be entirely ignorant of the moral world, in
which the soul lives and has its being. This light which shines for
the Spirit of God from the Bible, and from the enlightened
conscience, reveals the existence of God, the spirituality of His
nature, the purity of His character, and the devotion of which He is
worthy. It reveals the soul to itself, and bends it in humility, but
in joy, as it unfolds the forgiving mercy of the Cross. But for this
light of the Lord we should be ignorant of the things of the moral
universe. It illuminates the soul in its walk to the great and
unknown future. 3. _This light is cheering in its influence._ The
light of the sun is cheering to man, and is ever welcome to him. So
the light of the Lord is cheering to the pure soul; it enlivens its
energies, and lends new beauty to its visions. 4. _This light is
abiding in its duration._ The light of the Lord will never go down
from the pure soul, but will only brighten through death into the
perfect day.--By what light do we walk? "Come ye," now, gladly,
devoutly, "and let us walk in the light of the Lord."--_J. S. Exell._