xxi. 11, 12. _Watchman, what of the night?_
That there is night in this world few will question. He must be a
bold optimist who thinks everything as it is, is for the best
possible in the best possible of worlds. Darkness still covers the
earth. God's children, who have a glorious light within them, have a
dark night all round about them. Night is the symbol of gloom and
suffering; and it is the season of sin. It is moral night, because
"men loved darkness rather than light." Every true-hearted, earnest
Christian is a watchman: he watches for his own soul, and for the
souls of others; and he longs for the advent of the world's new
morning, when the shadows shall flee away. Regarding the earnest
Christian as the person accosted in the text, what are his thoughts
and fears about the night? What are his hopes about the morning?
1. _When the Christian looks out upon the world, he sees himself
surrounded by the night of unbelief and irreligion, and yet he
beholds streaks of sunny dawn._ There are many things at which if he
looked exclusively he would despair--materialism taught by popular
teachers, atheism the creed of not a few, abounding luxury,
sensuality defiling and degrading all classes of the community. But,
looking beyond these, he sees evidences of Christian truth and hope
such as the world never before witnessed--Sunday-schools, tract
societies, home and foreign missions, various organisations for
Christian labour, generously supported and efficiently maintained;
and, as he looks, he feels that the morning draweth nigh.
II. _When the Christian man looks into his own heart, he sees much
that speaks of the night, but much also that tells of the coming
morning._
III. _The Christless man, as well as the Christian, may well ask,
"What of the night?"_ He may relieve the gloom of his existence by a
few sparks of transient merriment, but soon they will be all
extinguished; and for him there will be no morning!--_W. M. Statham:
Christian World Pulpit,_ iii. 193.
Passing from the historical application of this oracle, we observe
that it may be taken as setting forth the spirit of inquiry first
raised in the soul by the hand of God, the form that inquiry will
take, the answer it will receive, and the direction in which it will
find ultimate satisfaction.
+I. Thoughts on the spirit of religious inquiry.+ The picture before
us is that of a walled city; the middle watch of the night, when the
citizens are asleep. But one anxious spirit cannot sleep; he turns
out into the dark, silent, deserted street, oppressed by a strange
feeling that something is going to happen. He hears the heavy
footfall of the watchman pacing to and fro on the city walls. With
eagerness not to be repressed, he cries, "Watchman," &c. This is
symbolical; it has its counterparts in our own time. 1. _This
restless inquirer is the exception._ The many sleep, only one wakes
and inquires. The danger is common, but only one feels any
apprehension of it. There are multitudes of sinners, few inquirers
concerning the way of salvation. 2. _The spirit of inquiry appears in
an unexpected quarter._ A man of Seir, an Edomite, lifts up eager
questions; the men of Israel sleep. The old, old story. Many lepers
in Israel: Naaman cleansed; ten healed, the Samaritan only returns to
give thanks. The boldest ventures of faith were made by the Gentile
centurion and the Syro-Phœnician woman. Those who pressed into the
kingdom were not Scribes and Pharisees, but publicans and sinners. So
it is still. 3. _The inquiry was well directed._ The appeal was not
to the citizens who were asleep, but to the watchman who was awake.
If you have questions to ask, ask of the man of quick perception,
keen sensibility, high standing, broad and firm basis of hope in
Christ. Not necessarily of the minister, but of the man who is
spiritually wide-awake; he is the true watchman. 4. _The inquiry was
weighty._ What of the night? Is it far spent? When will the day dawn?
What of the foe? Are they quiet in their camp? Or are they
endeavouring to surprise and capture the city? We have all cause to
put questions of corresponding importance. 5. _This inquiry was
earnest._ In some cases the inquiry is listless, is only a matter of
compliment; or it is entered upon reluctantly, as an unpleasant duty.
But this man is in earnest. He calls again and again. He _will_ be
heard; it is a matter of moment to him. He does not know what is
about to happen; the watchman should know--placed high, outlook wide,
senses trained. The inquirer will not submit to be disregarded. Oh,
for more of this earnestness.
+II. Thoughts on the answer.+ 1. _The answer comes through the
watchman._ Human lips start inquiries and through human lips the
answer comes. One heart is filled with fear; another heart filled
with faith must be its helper. Let those to whom the answer has been
entrusted give it promptly, clearly, joyfully. 2. _The answer
declares God's methods with men._ God has two great methods: one has
its image in the _morning,_ the other in the _night._ Let _morning_
set forth compassion, tender mercy, loving gifts; _night,_ judgment,
awful anger, heavy inflictions. If the morning be neglected or
resisted, then the night will certainly fall upon you. Note the order
in which these methods are employed. 1. _Morning,_ fresh, clear,
dewy, bracing, beautiful, comes first. So in the history of the
world, of the Church, of the individual. First the morning of youth!
prize it highly, use it wisely. Upon the sinner comes first the
morning of mercy, of invitation, of entreaty and promise. Alas that
he should despise and neglect it! 2. But the _night_ comes
afterwards! True, the night of death comes to all, but there is an
infinite distance between death _in_ Christ and death _out of_
Christ. He who dies _in_ Christ, passes into the eternal day; he who
dies _out of_ Christ, is cast into "the outer darkness!"
"Inquire"--seek to know the way of salvation. _"Return"_--as the
prodigal from the far country. _"Come"_--blessed word! "Come"
penitently, believingly, NOW!--_J. R. Wood._
"Night" is suggestive of anxious, perplexed, critical states; _e.g.,_
travellers in the desert, voyagers on the ocean, sufferers in the
sick-chamber. Very naturally do we transfer such thoughts as these to
our spiritual experiences (Ps. cxxx. 1, 8). Our text may be taken as
suggestive of the World's Cry and the World's Hope in all ages.
I. THE WORLD'S CRY. _"What of the night?"_ This is--1. _The cry of a
soul awakened to its guilt._ The very purpose of conviction is to
show the sinner his wandering, downward, benighted state. Hence the
terror which first views of guilt usually cause. The flash which in
the midnight hour shows the traveller the path of safety, also shows
him the dreadful precipice which yawns at his feet. When the sinner
is aroused from his sinful career, he is bewildered by the many
voices of hope and fear, of warning and promise, which greet his ear;
he is oppressed with anxiety to know how such a night of danger and
heart-searching will end. 2. _The cry of a soul struggling with its
doubts._ The night of mystery often burdens the hearts of true
believers, as Job and David found when they struggled with the great
problems of life. Life is a new thing to each of us, and many of the
same problems perplex us still: _e.g.,_ the existence of moral evil,
the infinite goodness of God, the truth of Divine revelation. These
sometimes press upon us with unusual weight, and shroud us in thick
darkness. 3. _The cry of the Church in its hours of anxiety and
peril._ These have been frequent, and have been due to many causes:
_e.g.,_ persecution from without, indifference within, general
ungodliness and unholy living, tides of scepticism. The watchmen of
the Church have to keep an earnest and anxious vigil when such nights
as these settle upon her. 4. _The cry of humanity itself._ There are
times when not merely a few men are oppressed by the burdens of their
time, but when men in the mass become awake to them. The world
betrays its keen sense of disease by the strong remedies it employs.
Against wide-spread ignorance, it opposes vast educational schemes;
for deep-rooted vices, it contrives various measures of reformation;
under a sense of the terrible ravages of the war-spirit, it yearns
for international peace. Nations, as well as individuals, have trying
experiences of the terrors of social and moral night.
II. THE WORLD'S HOPE. _"The morning cometh."_ In the midst of all the
world's darkness we may cherish this blessed hope (H. E. I.,
3421-3423). But whence is it derived? Solely from the fact that God
in Christ is reconciling the world unto Himself. It is along the
track of Divine revelation that we look for the bright rays of the
morning. There is hope for our race because of what Christ is--the
Revealer of God, the Saviour of sinners, the Head of the Church, the
Restorer of humanity. The way, then, to help on the dawning of that
day we all long to see, is to live _in_ Him, to live _for_ Him. Life
derived from Him, and spent for Him, will be truly blessed in itself,
and will be a means of blessing others.--_William Manning._