+I. Light comes from God.+--God is light, and He wishes to give light
to His children. "Whatsoever doth make manifest is light"--that which
is made manifest is light. There has been a steady progress in the
mind of the Christian race, and this progress has been in the
direction of light. Has it not been so in our notions of God?--a
gradual discovery that when God is manifested, behold, God is light,
and in Him is no darkness at all--a gradual vindication of His
character from those dark and horrid notions of the Deity which were
borrowed from the pagans and the Jewish rabbis--a gradual return to
the perfect good news of a good God which was preached by St. John
and by St. Paul. The day shall come when all shall be light in the
Lord--when all mankind shall know God from the least unto the
greatest, and, lifting up free foreheads to Him who made them and
redeemed them by His Son, shall in spirit and in truth worship the
Father.
+II. In the case of our fellow-men whatsoever is made manifest is
light.+--How easy it was to have dark thoughts about our fellow-men
simply because we did not know them,--easy to condemn the Negro to
perpetual slavery, when we knew nothing of him but his black face; or
to hang by hundreds the ragged street boys, while we disdained to
inquire into the circumstances which had degraded them; or to treat
madmen as wild beasts, instead of taming them by wise and gentle
sympathy. But with a closer knowledge of our fellow-creatures has
come toleration, pity, sympathy. Man, in proportion as he becomes
manifest to man, is seen, in spite of all defects and sins, to be
hallowed with a light from God who made him.
+III. It has been equally so in the case of the physical
world.+--Nature, being made manifest, is light. Science has taught
men to admire where they used to dread, to rule where they used to
obey, to employ for harmless uses what they were once afraid to
touch, and where they once saw only fiends to see the orderly and
beneficent laws of the All-good and Almighty God. Everywhere, as the
work of nature is unfolded to our eyes, we see beauty, order, mutual
use, the offspring of perfect love as well as perfect wisdom. Let us
teach these things to our children. Tell them to go to the light and
see their heavenly Father's works manifested, and know that they are,
as He is, light.--_C. Kingsley._
Ver. 14. _Moral Stupidity._--How many scarcely think of God from day
to day! It cannot therefore be uncharitable to consider the mass of
the people, compared with the wakefulness their infinite interests
require, as sunk in a profound slumber. Unless this slumber is soon
broken they must sleep the sleep of eternal death.
+I. Search for the cause of this stupidity.+--The proximate cause may
be comprehended in these two words--ignorance and unbelief. The
remote cause is opposition to God and truth. Were not the heart
opposed, no man with the Bible in his hand could remain ignorant of
truths which claim to have so important a bearing on his eternal
destiny. Fortified by sevenfold ignorance, men can no more be
awakened to contemplate their condition with alarm than the pagans of
the wilderness. It is perfectly in character for them to slumber. But
there are men who are respectable for their knowledge of Christian
truth who yet are asleep. The cause with them is unbelief--the want
of a realising sense. Their understanding assents to the awful
verities of religion, but they do not realisingly believe them.
+II. Apply some arguments to remove the evil.+--Consider that these
awful truths are as much realities as though you were now overwhelmed
with a sense of their importance. Neither the ignorance nor the
unbelief of man can change eternal truth. God is as holy, as awful in
majesty, He is as much your Creator, Preserver, and Master, He as
much holds your destinies in His hands, as though you were now lying
at His feet beseeching Him not to cast you down to hell. What would
it avail if all the people should disbelieve that the sun will ever
rise again, or that spring-time and harvest will ever return? Can the
soldier annihilate the enemy by marching up to the battery with his
eyes and ears closed? You have the same means with others: why should
you remain ignorant while they are informed? If your knowledge is
competent and it is unbelief that excludes conviction, then call into
action the powers of a rational soul and cast yourselves for help on
God. If you ever mean to awake, awake now. The longer you sleep the
sounder you sleep. The longer you live without religion the less
likely that you will ever possess it. You are sleeping in the
presence of an offended God. In His hands you lie, and if He but turn
them you slide to rise no more.--_E. D. Griffin._
_The Call of the Gospel to Sinners._
+I. The state in which the Gospel finds mankind.+--A state of sleep
and of death.
1. _It is a state of insensibility and unconcern with respect to the
concerns of another world._--Busied about trifles, men overlook the
great concerns of eternity. Having their minds darkened, they see no
world but the present, they live as if they were to live here for
ever. And if at any time this false peace is shaken, they try all
means to prevent it from being destroyed, and to lull themselves
again to rest.
2. _How indisposed and unwilling men are to set about the work of
true religion._--Nothing but this religion of which men are so
ignorant, about which they care so little, against which they have
conceived such a dislike, can in the end deliver them from
everlasting shame, sorrow, and punishment. Here is their extreme
misery and danger. They are unconcerned about an object which of all
others ought to concern them most, and are set against the only
remedy which can be of any real service to them. They are every
moment liable to fall into utter perdition; but they are not aware of
their danger, and reject the only hand which is stretched out to save
them.
+II. The duty the Gospel calls on them to discharge.+--To awake out
of sleep and arise from the dead. 1. _Their duty is to consider their
state and danger._ 2. _To break off their sins by repentance._ 3. _To
seek the knowledge and favour of God._
+III. The encouragement the Gospel affords.+--1. _Christ will give
thee knowledge._ He will enlighten thy darkened mind, He will teach
thee by His good Spirit, and will effectually lead thee into all
saving truth.
2. _Christ will give thee peace._--Whatever peace thou mayest have
arising from not knowing and not feeling that thou art a sinner and
daily exposed to the wrath of God, the peace which Christ offers thee
is a peace which will arise from a consciousness that thy sins are
forgiven, and that, although though art a sinner, thou art yet
reconciled to God.
3. _Christ will give thee holiness._--Holiness is our meetness for
heaven. It is that state and disposition of heart which alone can fit
us for seeing and serving God.--_E. Cooper._
_A Summons to Spiritual Light._
+I. A lamentable moral condition.+--_Sleep_ implies a state of
inactivity and security. Men are busily employed about their worldly
concerns; but a lamentable supineness prevails with respect to
spiritual things. The generality do not apprehend their souls to be
in any danger--death, judgment, heaven, and hell do not seem worthy
their notice. God's threatenings against them are denounced without
effect--they are like Jonah, sleeping in the midst of a storm.
_Death_ includes the ideas of impotence and corruption. An inanimate
body cannot perform any of the functions of life. It has within
itself the seeds and the principles of corruption. The soul also,
till quickened from the dead, is in a state of impotence, it is
incapable of spiritual action or discernment. Yet, notwithstanding
this state appears so desperate, we must address to every one that is
under it the command, "Awake." Your inactivity and security involve
you in the deepest guilt; your corruption of heart and life provokes
the majesty of God. Nor is your impotence any excuse for your
disobedience. They who exert their feeble powers may expect Divine
assistance. To convince us that none shall fail who use the appointed
means God enforces His command with--
+II. A promise.+--Sleep and death are states of intellectual
darkness: hence light is promised to those who obey the Divine
mandate. Light in Scripture imparts knowledge (Isa. viii. 20),
holiness (1 John i. 7), comfort (Ps. xcvii. 11), and glory (Col.
i. 12). And all these blessings shall they receive from Christ, the
fountain of light (Mal. iv. 2; John i. 9).
+Lessons.+--1. _Let each one consider the command addressed to
himself--"Awake thou."_ 2. _Let all our powers be called into
action._ 3. _In exerting ourselves let us expect the promised
aid.--Theological Sketch Book._
_The Gospel Call and Promise._
+I. Many of mankind are in a state of deadly sleep.+--In sleep the
animal spirits retire to their source, the nerves are collapsed or
embraced; and as the nerves are the medium of sensation and motion,
the whole system is in a state of insensibility and inactivity. How
exactly resembling this is your spiritual state.
1. _You are insensible._--Your eyes and ears are closed; and you have
no proper sense of pleasure or of pain.
2. _You are in a state of security._--You have no fear of evil, no
apprehension of danger, and consequently no concern for your safety.
3. _You are in a state of inactivity._--You are not inquiring,
labouring, wrestling. When the body is locked in slumber, thought
roves at random and produces gay dreams of fancied happiness. Thus
many are dreaming their lives away. (1) In this sleep many are as
void of sense and motion as if they were actually dead. (2) In common
sleep a person after due repose spontaneously awakes, renewed in
vigour. But from this sleep, unless God should awake you, you will
never awake till the heavens be no more. (3) It is a sleep unto
death. Like one who has taken a large quantity of opium, unless you
are awakened by some external cause, you will insensibly sink into
the second death, the death which never dies.
+II. God is using means to awaken them.+--While you are asleep,
light, however bright and clear, shines upon you in vain. Till
warning has waked attention, instruction and illumination will be
lost upon you. 1. _God calls you to awake_ from your dreams of
fancied happiness, and reflect upon the vanity of the objects by
which you are deluded. 2. _Struggle to shake off the dull slumber_
which weighs you down. 3. _Consider your misery and danger._
4. _Rouse all that is within you to activity._ God calls you--(1) By
the language of His law. (2) By the severe dispensations of His
providence. (3) By the strivings of His Spirit. (4) By the voice of
the Gospel.
+III. God will give light to all who awake at His call.+--It is the
peculiar property of light to make manifest (ver. 13). Christ will
give you light. 1. He shall make manifest to yourself your character
and your situation. 2. You shall behold the light of life. 3. He
shall reveal to you the God of pardoning love. 4. He shall chase the
darkness of sin from your soul, and you shall walk in the light of
holiness. 5. He shall put an end to your mourning.
+Learn.+--1. _The deceitfulness and destructive character of sin._
2. _How fully God provides for your salvation._ 3. _Hear the voice of
God.--E. Hare._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 15-18.
_Christian Wisdom_--
+I. Cautiously regulates the outward life.+--"See that ye walk
circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise" (ver. 15). The Christian
needs not only spiritual fervour and enthusiasm, but also
prudence--sanctified common sense. It is possible to do a right thing
in a wrong way, or in such a way as to cause more mischief than
benefit. There is a severity of virtue that repels, and rouses
resentment; and there is a parade of Christian liberty that shocks
the sensitive. The truth lies between two extremes, and Christian
wisdom is seen in maintaining the truth and avoiding extremes. "I
wisdom dwell with prudence." Mr. Edward Everett Hale is generally
credited as the author of the following motto for Christian workers:
"Look up, and not down;
Look out, and not in;
Look forward, and not back;
Lend a hand."
Success in soul-winning is only given to skill, earnestness,
sympathy, perseverance, tact. Men are saved, not in masses, but by
careful study and well-directed effort. It is said that such is the
eccentric flight of the snipe when they rise from the earth that it
completely puzzles the sportsman, and some who are capital shots at
other birds are utterly baffled here. Eccentricity seems to be their
special quality, and this can only be mastered by incessant practice
with the gun. But the eccentricity of souls is beyond this, and he
had need be a very spiritual Nimrod--a mighty hunter before the
Lord--who would capture them for Christ. "He that winneth souls is
wise."
+II. Teaches how to make the best use of present
opportunity.+--1. _Observing the value of time amid the prevalence of
evil._ "Redeeming the time, because the days are evil" (ver. 16).
Time is a section cut out of the great circle of eternity, and
defines for us the limits in which the work of life must be done. It
is a precious gift bestowed by the beneficent hand of God--a gift
involving grave responsibility; and we must render a strict account
of the use we make of every swing of the pendulum. It is doled out to
us in minute fragments. One single year is made up of 31,536,000
seconds. Every tick of the clock records the ever-lessening
opportunities of life. Time is in perpetual motion. Like a strong,
ever-flowing river, it is bearing away everything into the boundless
ocean of eternity. We never know the value of time till we know the
value of the fragments into which it is broken up. To make the most
of a single hour we must make the most of every minute of which it is
composed. The most dangerous moments of a man's life are those when
time hangs heavily on his hands. He who has nothing to do but kill
time is in danger of being killed himself. It is a miracle of Divine
goodness if he is preserved from serious folly, or something worse;
and such miracles rarely occur. The man who has learnt the value of
time can learn any lesson this world may have to teach him. Time is
the opportunity for the exercise of Christian wisdom, and should be
the more sedulously used "when the days are evil"--when evil is in
power. Oh for wisdom to number our days, to grasp the meaning of
present opportunity! Here come the moments that can never be had
again; some few may yet be filled with imperishable good. Let us
apply our hearts--all our powers--unto wisdom.
2. _Having the good sense to recognise the Divine will._--"Wherefore
be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is"
(ver. 17). We must read and interpret the signs of the times in the
light of God's purpose. A close and deep study of the Divine mind
will reveal to us the significance of the passing opportunity, and
aid us in making the wisest use of it. Our biggest schemes are doomed
to failure if they are not in accordance with the will of God. The
noblest tasks are reserved for those who have the keenest spiritual
insight and are most in harmony with the Divine purpose.
+III. Avoids the folly and waste of intemperance.+--"Be not drunk
with wine, wherein is excess" (ver. 18). The Asian Christians were a
social, light-hearted people, fond of convivial feasts. Wine was
their danger; and even in the celebration of the Lord's Supper they
ran into excess, and degraded the holy ordinance. There were
doubtless converted drunkards among them; and the warning of the text
was specially needed. Intemperance is not only a folly and a waste;
it is a degradation and a sin. It is the excessive indulgence of a
craving that at bottom may be in itself good, if wisely regulated--a
craving for an intenser life. "One finds traces," says Monod, "of the
primitive greatness of our nature even in its most deplorable errors.
Just as impurity proceeds at the bottom from an abuse of the craving
for love, so drunkenness betrays a certain demand for ardour and
enthusiasm which in itself is natural and even noble. Man loves to
feel himself alive; he would fain live twice his life at once; and he
would rather draw excitement from horrible things than have no
excitement at all." When the physicians told Theotimus that except he
abstained from drunkenness and licentiousness he would lose his eyes,
his heart was so wedded to his sins that he answered, "Then farewell,
sweet light."
+IV. Seeks to be under the complete control of the Divine
Spirit.+--"But be filled with the Spirit" (ver. 18). The excitement
of drunkenness must be supplanted by a holier and more elevating
stimulus: the cup that intoxicates exchanged for the new wine of the
Spirit. The general adoption of this principle will be the grandest
triumph of temperance. The cure of drunkenness will not be
accomplished simply by the removal of temptation, unless a relish for
higher things is created and springs of holier pleasure are opened in
the hearts of men. A lower impulse is conquered and expelled by the
introduction of a higher. Anachonis, the philosopher, being asked by
what means a man might best guard against the vice of drunkenness,
answered, "By bearing constantly in his view the loathsome, indecent
behaviour of such as are intoxicated." Upon this principle was
founded the custom of the Lacedæmonians of exposing their drunken
slaves to their children, who by that means conceived an early
aversion to a vice which makes men appear so monstrous and
irrational. There is no excess in drinking copious draughts of the
Spirit. Christian wisdom opens the soul to the ever-flowing tide of
His influence, and strives to be animated and filled with His
all-controlling power.
+Lessons.+--1. _Wisdom is the best use of knowledge._
2. _Christianity opens the purest sources of knowledge._ 3. _"Get
wisdom, and with all thy getting get understanding"_ (Prov. iv. 7).
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._