LivePrayerSermon 2435. The Everlasting Arms
(No. 2435)
INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S DAY, OCTOBER 20, 1895.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON THURSDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 6, 1887.
"Underneath are the everlasting arms." Deuteronomy 33:27.
This short passage is found in the midst of a mass of gold-sentences containing the richest treasures of the Truth of God.All this spiritual wealth is the heritage of the people of God-not only of His typical people to whom these words were spoken,but to His real people, the true seed of Abraham, those who are the believing children of the Father of all Believers. Ifyou are trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ, you may take these precious words home to yourself-and you may live upon them-youmay eat the fat, drink the sweet and rejoice in all the refreshment that they bring to your spirit!
In the four verses, from the 26th to the 29th, notice how near God is said to be to His people. He is described as being aboveus, arching us over with His Divine Power-"There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rides upon the Heavens to helpyou, and in His excellency on the clouds." Faith can hear the tramp of the celestial cavalry above our heads! We who trustin the Lord are always safe, for the angels of God are looking down upon us from the battlements of Heaven, ready to showthemselves strong on our behalf as soon as their presence is needed by us. Then, our text tells us of God beneath us. As Heis above us in the heavens, so underneath us are the everlasting arms. The next sentence shows us God before us-"and He shallthrust out the enemy from before you; and shall say, Destroy them." And the remaining verses of the chapter represent Himas being all around us, so that we are encompassed with God-not only with His Presence, with which He fills Heaven, earthand all deep places-but with the glorious Presence of His mighty love. He is above, beneath, before, and all around us! Henever forsakes us, for in Him we live, move, and have our being. Let us rejoice, therefore, in our Lord's nearness!
I. Now, coming to our text, I want, as God's Spirit shall help me, to bring to your notice, first, THE QUARTER THAT IS THUSHONORABLY SECURED-Underneath.
"Underneath." Well, in the first place, that is the point of mysterious assault. We look for the attacks of the powers ofdarkness from underneath. They are very remarkable attacks-there are many who are the objects of them, but there are few whofully understand them. There are many of God's children who are often sorely vexed by Satan, yet they do not know that itis the devil who is troubling them. They blame themselves for thoughts that are none of their own, but which come up fromthe infernal Pit like smoke and sparks from that dread lower world. O Friends, if Satan has ever grievously tempted and assailedyou, you will dread beyond expression any repetition of that temptation or assault! Mr. Bunyan well says that a man had bettergo over hedge and ditch-and many miles round about-rather than meet this terrible adversary! He not only works through theworld and through the flesh, but he has modes of personal attack-fiery darts from his own hands-false accusations and foulinsinuations which come only from him. By all these he assails Christians and brings us to a stand so that, sometimes, weknow not what to do! Just underneath us there seems to yawn the awful Pit, out of which Satan rises with his abandoned fallenangels, to do us mischief.
Then comes in this gracious assurance-"Underneath are the everlasting arms." Against this mysterious, because incomprehensiblefoe, whose darts are so painful and deadly, God has been pleased to set a shield. And He puts underneath you, O child of God,His everlasting arms! You may be tempted by Satan, but it shall only be in a measure-God will not let him put forth all hisdiabolical strength! When the Lord suffered Satan to tempt Job, there was always a proviso, which said to the devil as tothe raging sea, "Hitherto shall you come, but no further." The Lord pulled him up short just at the point where he hoped todestroy the good man-and it shall be so with you, also, tried Believer. Underneath you, in your worst attacks from Satan,shall be the everlasting arms of the Lord Himself!
Note a second meaning of this word, "underneath." That is the place of our daily pilgrimage. To the Israelites, "underneath"was the burning sand of the terrible wilderness. Sometimes, "underneath," were the fiery serpents and all manner of evil things,so that their march towards Canaan was a continual trial to them. "But," says God to His people, "though sense sees nothingunderneath but ever-burning sands, let faith see underneath the everlasting arms." Some of you go forth to your daily laborsand you find the place of your service to be a real wilderness, full of trial and everything that is unpleasant to you. Yetlook again, with eyes touched with Heaven's eye-salve and, instead of seeing the bitter poverty, and the grinding toil, andthe daily trial, you will begin to see that God is in it all and, "underneath are the everlasting arms!" You shall go cheerfullyhome to Heaven, borne up by God. He who made you will carry you! He who loves you will bear you all the days of old till youshall come unto the Mountain of God and stand in your lot at the end of the days! I think, therefore, that our text appliesnot only to the point of mysterious assault, but to the place of daily pilgrimage and toil.
Do you not think that this word, "underneath," also relates to the place of perilous descent! There are times in a man's lifewhen he has to come down. It is not a very easy matter to go down the hill safely. Some persons have proved that it is difficultto grow old gracefully, but to the Christian it ought not to be impossible or unusual to grow old graciously. Still, thereare difficulties about that coming down the hill of life-coming down in a very material sense, perhaps, from competence toreal poverty. Coming down as to your mental powers. Being conscious of losing your former influence over your fellows. Comingdown in general repute, through no fault of your own, but through circumstances of which you are not the master. All thisis very trying to human nature. You know that on the way to Heaven there are many Hill Difficulties-and brave spirits ratherenjoy climbing to the top of them! We like a craggy path, hard and rough, where we can keep on looking upward all the wayeven if we have to scramble on our hands and knees. There is something pleasant in going up in that fashion, but it is whengoing down into the Valley of Humiliation that we are apt to slip. We do not like going down and, as many horses fall at thebottom of the hill, so I believe that many people trip at the end of a trial when they think it is nearly over and they haveno need to look so carefully to their feet.
Well now, dear Friends, if any of you are going down the hill, I think the text comes in very sweetly-"Underneath are theeverlasting arms." You cannot go so low but that God's arms of love are still lower! You get poorer and poorer, but, "underneathare the everlasting arms." You get older and feebler. Your ears are failing, your eyes are growing dim, but, "underneath arethe everlasting arms." By-and-by, unless the Lord speedily returns, you will have to die-and you will come down very low,then-but still it will be true, "underneath are the everlasting arms."
Further, I think that we may use the text as referring to a matter of intense concern. Sometimes we say to one another, "Isour religion real? We trust we love the Lord, but do we really love Him? We think we are reposing in Christ, but are we reallydoing so? We have a measure ofjoy and peace-does it really come through believing in Jesus, or is it a delusion of the fleshor of the devil? We have, so far, come a long way in the heavenly trail, but are we really going towards Heaven, or is itall a mistake?"
It is a good thing, occasionally, Brothers and Sisters, to look underneath. He who never sees what is under him may have greatcause to do so. Examine your foundations-see what your cornerstones are, for if you should be building on the sand, then,in the time of storm, your fine building will be all swept away! It is a grand thing if we can find this text to be true-"Underneathare the everlasting arms." I dig through my experience and, "underneath are the everlasting arms." I question my joys. I examinemyself about my sorrows, but do I come down on the purposes of God, the Immutable faithfulness of the Most High, the eternalTruths of God revealed in Scripture? Do I come down upon the everlasting arms? If so, I am resting where the whole universemay rest-I am resting on a faithful God and I need not be afraid! Do not fear to examine yourself! If you do, there is, perhaps,all the graver need for the testing and trying. Search and look, and go to the bottom of these matters. Happy shall you beif, diving to the very depths, you can say, "Yes, underneath are the everlasting arms."
I shall use this first word of my text in one more way. I think we have, here, the secret of singular discoveries that willyet be made. We do not at present know the reality of things-we judge according to our feelings and by the sight of our eyes-howelse can we judge? But the day will come when things will appear very differently from what they do now.
There is a huge trouble which has mastered us for years-it has seemed, with its dense shadow, to darken our heavenly way fora great length of time-but the day will come when we shall look through that trouble and we shall find that "underneath arethe everlasting arms." Perhaps some of us are in sore perplexity. We cannot understand the Lord's Providential dealings withus. He does not always tell us the reason for His actions-we might not understand it if He did-but we may rest assured thatHe is working out purposes of Infinite Love! He ceases not to care for us even when things appear to be at their very worst.I bear my willing witness to the faithfulness of God! I am not as old as some, but I am old enough to have gone through fireand water, and I am here to testify that I have not been burned by the one, nor drowned by the other! Cannot many of you saythe same? In your sorest trials and in your hottest furnaces, has He not been especially present with you and bestowed greatblessings upon you? 'Tis even so! Then trust Him, you saints, for what His Word assures you is gloriously true-"Underneathare the everlasting arms."
Go deeper down. Look further into the real reason of things than you have been accustomed to do and you shall come on thissolid foundation-that God is working out for you infinite and eternal blessedness by these light afflictions which are butfor a moment.
II. Now, secondly, let us note THE MANNER IN WHICH THIS QUARTER IS SECURED-"Underneath are the everlasting arms."
The everlasting arms are there and that means, first of all, that God Himself is close to us, guaranteeing the eternal safetyof all those who trust in Him. Of course, where any of his elect arms are, there He is, and God is not divided from His ownarms. This is our joy and comfort that God is with us! What strength it gives to faith to believe that God is present! Eventhe false prophet, Mohammed, had a strong faith in god-in Allah-and when he fled for the first time and hid in a cave withonly one friend, his companion said to him, "Our pursuers are after us and there are only two of us." "Stop," exclaimed Mohammed,"there are three, for Allah is here!" It was the utterance of a brave and grand faith- would that his whole career had beenin harmony with it! Wherever there are two of God's people, there is Another with them, for God is there. We do not countHim in as we ought to do, yet, if we were wise, we would put ourselves down as only ciphers and say, "Nobody is there tillHE is there! He is the one true, personal Numeral that multiplies all these ciphers indefinitely."
Mr. Wesley said, as he died, "The best of all is, God is with us." And that is the best of all, is it not? Underneath is God,Himself. He who made the heavens and the earth cannot forsake those who do not forsake Him. If you love Him. If you trustin Him, He might as soon cease to be, as fail anyone who is relying upon Him. This is the glory of Jehovah, that while thegods of the heathen are worthless idols, our God hears prayer and answers the cry of His people! Try Him and see if it isnot so. Blessed are they who trust in Jehovah, for they shall find in the living God help in every time of need, and sufficientstrength for every day of trial! So, then, we see that what might appear to us as the dark abyss, the dreary, mysterious underworld,is all guarded by Jehovah, Himself-"Underneath are the everlasting arms."
Our text also means that the Lord's Immutable Purpose is being fulfilled. Where God's arms are, He is at work, and He is atwork accomplishing His purposes of Grace. The text speaks of everlasting arms-that is a strength that never fails and neverturns aside from the purpose to which it has bound itself. O child of God, down deep where you cannot see it, the Divine Powerof the Eternal Godhead is always at work for you! The arms of God are busy on your behalf! He has made them bare to show Himselfstrong in your defense! You can be sure of this! God has a purpose of love to all who believe in Him-and that purpose of loveshall stand fast to all eternity! Whatever changes there may be in the appearance of this world and in the great universeof which it forms a part, there shall be no change in the Infinite resolve of God to bless His people and preserve them tothe end. Why, Believer, be of good comfort, and say to yourself, "At the bottom of everything that happens to me, there isthe Immutable Purpose of God and God, Himself, working it out!"
Beside the Lord's Immutable Purpose and His Infinite Power by which God is at work for you at all times, our text means thatHis inexhaustible patience is waiting its time. "Underneath are the everlasting arms" bearing up your load, sustaining itwith long endurance while He keeps on working for you-invisible, yet always active on your behalf. Do you expect to see yourGod on this side Heaven? If so, you will be disappointed! Are you willing to walk by faith and not by sight? If so, you shallhave a double blessing, for, "Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed." Oh, that the Holy Spirit of Godwould bring you to this point! Having trusted God in the Person of His dear Son. Having laid the whole weight of your eternalinterests upon Him whom God has revealed to be your Savior, you may leave them there in perfect safety, without a moment'scare or anxiety! God's everlasting arms must carry out God's eternal purposes. Not one of His promises can fall to the ground,for, "God is not a man, that He should lie; neither the son of man, that He should repent: has He said and shall He not doit? Or has He spoken and shall He not make it good?" It is God Himself who undertakes to bear you up, and bear you through-thereforerest assured that He will do it!
III. I must not speak longer upon that matter, for I must say just a little upon the third point. THERE ARE TIMES WHEN THISTEXT IS VERY PRECIOUS TO BELIEVERS-"Underneath are the everlasting arms."
One of these times is, I think, when we are very sick and very feeble. The pillows have been fluffed up for you and made assoft as they can be. And the bed, which is so apt to grow hard, has been tenderly smoothed by kind fingers, yet you sink backas if you were about to die of exhaustion! Sink back, then! Be not afraid, for, "underneath are the everlasting arms." Perhapsthere comes a faintness over you and you seem to be sinking, sinking-you know not where-still, "underneath are the everlastingarms!" You try to rise, but you cannot. You would clutch at something by which you think you might get back to activity, butyou fall back into the same state of weary languor and pain. Well, but still, "underneath are the everlasting arms!" It isdelightful to feel that our feebleness encroaches upon Omnipotence-that just when there is nothing left to us-then God comesin with all His fullness and bears us up! He is always faithful and full of compassion-He does not afflict willingly, or grievethe children of men-so, when He must grieve them, it is then that He displays His special power to strengthen and sustainthem. Go home to your bed, if so it must be with you. If there are wearisome months of sickness and disease awaiting you,go home and carry this text with you-"Underneath are the everlasting arms."
Is not this Word of God very sweet, too, when burdened with sore troubles, or oppressed with heavy labors? You feel that youneed double strength and you say, "I cannot keep on any longer. There is too much for mortal powers to endure, I cannot bearup under these repeated trials. The last time I felt thus, I thought that I had no strength left, and now this feeling comesover me again-what shall I do? I am thrown down, I am crushed as though men were riding over my head! I seem to be cast outlike the mire in the streets." Yes, but still, "underneath are the everlasting arms." We sang, just now-
"As your day, your strength shall be." Is that truth or fiction? Ask God's people as to their past experience and they willset to their seal that God is true! And you, too, shall find it true. Oh, how wondrously God's saints have been borne up underpersecution-and cheerful and glad under oppression! The sweetest songs that ever were heard on earth were sung behind prisonbars! Perhaps I shall not be wrong when I say that the most wonderful joys that ever were felt by mortal hearts have beenfelt by men and women who, on the morrow, were to be burned at the stake-but whose very souls have danced within them becauseof the unspeakable delight which the Presence of God has given them!
I think it was Socrates who said, "Philosophers could be merry without music." I take the statement from his mouth and alterit, and say, Christians can be happy without happy circumstances! They can, sometimes, like nightingales, sing best in darknights. Their joy is not mere outward mirth. Sorrows fall upon them, yet, from the deep that lies underneath wells up yetmore exceeding joy! Yes, "underneath are the everlasting arms," and when we can no longer stand, it is a blessed thing tolean or fall back on them!
I have already told you that another time when this text is very sweet is when you are going down hill. And some of you maybe going down hill pretty fast just now. Never mind-"Underneath are the everlasting arms." When you come down the hill ofold age, you know what lies at the bottom. Why, then, go up again, higher than you ever went before, renewing your youth andbeing forever with the Well-Beloved!
So, dear Friends, I may change the application of my text, "Underneath are the everlasting arms," and pass it on to thosewho are all trembling and shaking. Some of you, perhaps, know what I mean. That young man has begun to preach a little, buthe says, "I fear that I shall break down." Dear Brother, if you get a message from God to tell, then tell it, and do not beafraid, for, "underneath are the everlasting arms." You are seeking to gather a few young people together and you are tryingto bless them, but you feel your own weakness so much that you say, "I know I shall make a failure of it." Do not say so,for, "underneath are the everlasting arms!" He who helps us when we go down, down, down, is equally ready to do so when weare going up in His service! When our ardent zeal is bearing us forward to do something more for the Lord than we are quiteequal to, then, "underneath are the everlasting arms." And if you are seeking greater holiness, daring to indulge a loftierjoy-if you are trying to sing some of those hymns which, a few months ago, you thought were pitched in too high a key foryou-be bold and daring! Your wing feathers will grow by your very attempt to fly! The possibilities of Grace are boundless-leaveyourself to them. Be not always weak and trembling. God help you to become as a David, and you who are as David, to becomeas an angel of the Lord!
Once more, the hour will come when everything will begin to melt away beneath your feet. Earthly comforts will fail you, friendswill be unable to help you-they can wipe the clammy sweat from your brow and moisten your lips with a drop of water-but theycannot go with you on the great voyage upon which you are about to be launched. When heart and flesh fail, then may the Lordspeak to you the sweet words before us, "Underneath are the everlasting arms!" It will be a sinking to the flesh, but a risingto the spirit! Underneath dying saints there is the living God! Be not afraid, therefore, even to die, for, to the Christian,"to die is gain." I remember, at a funeral, when we laid the body of one of God's saints in the grave, a dear minister prayed,"Lord, we thank You that though our dear friend has come so low as to be in his grave, he cannot go any lower, for, 'underneathare the everlasting arms,' and in due time You will bring him up, again, in those everlasting arms, raised in the likenessof his Lord."
That is true of all Believers! Therefore let this text come sweetly home to your heart-"Underneath are the everlasting arms."
I must conclude with this remark. There are some here who are net yet saved. I would illustrate the way of salvation to youby this text. You are hoping to save yourself. You are depending upon something that you have done, or that you have felt.I want you to let all that go, to give up every hope you have that comes out of yourself. "Oh," you say, "but I shall fall."Yes, you will, and that falling shall be your salvation, for, "underneath are the everlasting arms." There you are, up atthat window, and the flames are raging behind you so that you cannot escape-but one stands below. He is strong enough to catchyou in his arms and he says, "Drop into my arms! Do not hesitate!" Jesus Christ never yet allowed any soul to be injured thatdropped into His arms. Let go, man, let go! Let go everything and drop into the arms of Jesus! That is the saving thing-tolet everything else go and trust only to Jesus, depending wholly upon Him who lived, and died, and rose again-and is the ever-livingSavior of sinners. Drop into His arms! They are everlasting arms, as strong to save, now, as they were 1,800 years ago! Dropinto His arms. God help you to do so, for His name's sake! Amen.
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: DEUTERONOMY 8.
Verse 1. All the commandments which I command you this day shall you observe to do, that you may live, and multiply, and goin and possess the land which the LORD swore unto your fathers. Every word, here, seems emphatic. Like the children of Israel,we are to observe all the commandments of the Lord our God-not merely some of them, picking and choosing as we please. Itis a very ill conscience which regards some of God's statutes and pays no attention to others! In fact, the very act of makinga selection as to what commands we will observe is gross disobedience. "All the commandments which I command you this dayshall you observe to do."
Notice that we are not only to do as we are bidden, but to do it with carefulness-"you shall observe to do." God would nothave a thoughtless, careless, blind service! We must bow our mind and heart as well as our will to His service. Remember,also, that it is not sufficient to "observe" the commandments so as to note what they are, but we are to "observe to do" them.That observation which does not end in right practice is like a promising blossom upon a tree which never knits and which,therefore, produces no fruit. Further notice that to walk in the ways of God is for our own benefit as well as for His Glory-"Thatyou may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the Lord swore unto your fathers."
There are, doubtless, many good things which we miss because we are not careful in our walking. I am sure that the happiestlife will be found to be that which is most carefully conducted upon the principles of holy obedience to God's commands. Thereare certain blessings which God will not give to us while we are disobedient to Him. Many a father feels that he cannot indulgehis child as he would wish to indulge him when he finds the child negligent as to his father's will. So, if we please God,God will please us, but, if we walk contrary to Him, He will walk contrary to us. Let me read this most instructive verseagain, that it may be further impressed upon your memories and your hearts-"All the commandments which I command you thisday shall you observe to do, that you may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the Lord swore unto yourfathers." To help you in obeying these commands, it is added-
2. And you shall remember all the way which the LORD your God led you these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you,and to prove you, to know what was in your hearts whether you would keep His commandments, or no. Look back and derive fromyour past experience a motive for more careful obedience in the future. He does not read his own life aright who does notsee in it abundant causes for gratitude-and how can gratitude express itself better than by a cheerful, hearty obedience inthe present and the future?
3. And He humbled you, and suffered you to hunger, and fed you with manna, These two sentences come very closely together-"Sufferedyou to hunger, and fed you with manna." I suppose we are not fit to eat heavenly bread till first of all we begin to hungerfor it. God loves to give to men who will eat with an appetite-"He suffered you to hunger, and fed you with manna."
3. Which you knew not, neither did your fathers know. It was a new kind of food and even in the day when they ate it, theydid not fully know what it was. They saw that it came by a miracle and it remained a mystery and, I think we can say thatthough we have fed upon the Bread of Heaven, some of us, for well-near 40 years, yet we hardly know, nor dare to think thatwe know, what it is made of, nor can we tell all the sweetness that is in it. We know the love of Christ, but it still passesour knowledge. It is true of us, as of Israel in the wilderness, "He humbled you, and suffered you to hunger, and fed youwith manna, which you knew not, neither did your fathers know."
3. That He might make you know that man does not live by bread only, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of theLORD does man live. It is a grand thing to be delivered from materialism, to be freed from the notion that the outward meansare absolutely essential for the accomplishment of the Divine Purpose. If God had so willed it, we could have lived on air-ifthe air had been sanctified by the Word of God and prayer for such a use! The Lord has, however, chosen to feed us upon bread-yetour highest life, our real life, does not live on bread, but it lives on the Word which proceeds out of the mouth of God!This is one of the passages with which our Lord fought Satan in the desert and overcame him. Happy is that servant of Godwho will arm himself with this same Truth and feel, "I am not to be provided for merely by money, or by anything else thatis visible. God will somehow provide for me and I can leave all care about the means, if the means fail, and get away to theGod of the means and lean, not on what I see, but on that arm which is invisible! That which you can see may fail you, forit is, like yourself, a shadow. But He whom you cannot see will never fail you. The strongest sinew in an arm of flesh willcrack, but the eternal arm never fails and never is shortened! Lean on that arm and you shall never be ashamed, nor confounded,world without end! It takes 40 years to teach some people that lesson, but some, alas, have not learned it even at the endof 80 years!
4. Your raiment waxed not old upon you, neither did your feet swell these forty years. See how God not only cares for Hispeople's food, but for their raiment, also. We may, therefore, well take heed to Paul's injunction-"Having food and raimentlet us be therewith content." Whether it was by a miracle that the Israelites' raiment did not wear out, or whether it cameto pass, in the order of Providence, that they were able to get fresh clothing when it did wear out, does not matter at all-itmade no difference to them how it was arranged, for it was equal kindness on the part of God who provided for them. "Neitherdid your feet swell." We call the Arab, sometimes, "The pilgrim of the weary feet," but the Israelites' feet were not weary.They traversed a stony wilderness, yet God kept them in such health and strength that their feet swelled not even after 40years of journeying! You and I often get worn out in 40 hours-forty days are as long as we can hope to go. But God enabledHis ancient people to go on for 40 years and still their feet swelled not. Dr. Watts sweetly sang-
"Mere mortal power shall fade and die, And youthful vigor cease. But we that wait upon the Lord Shall feel our strength increase!The saints shall mount on eagles' wings, And taste the promised bliss, Till their unwearied feet arrive Where perfect pleasureis."
5. You shall also consider in your heart that, as a man chastens his son, so the LORD your God chastens you. We sometimesthink that we could do without the Lord's chastening. If He will give us food and raiment and keep our feet from swelling,we will not crave the rod. No, but though we do not ask for it, the rod is one of the choicest blessings of the Covenant-andif we are the Lord's children, we shall not go without it! To come under Divine discipline is one of the greatest mercieswe can ever have. Many of us, who are now men and women, thank God for earthly parents who have corrected us. We wonder whatwe would have been if there had been no discipline in our father's house. So, truly, is it with all of us who are God's children-inyears to come we shall prize the chastisement which now makes us grieve. Even now it is well if, by faith, we can apply toour own heart this text-"as a man chastens his son, so the Lord your God chastens you."
6, 7. Therefore you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, and to fear Him. For the LORD yourGod brings you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, offountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills. Thereare changes in our condition. Israel was not always in the wilderness-the chosen people were brought into a good land, intoa place of rest from their weary wandering. So it may happen to you and to me that even in temporal circumstances, God maywork a great change for us-and especially will He do this in spiritual matters. After a time of wilderness traveling, we whohave believed enter into rest-we come to understand the Gospel-and he who understands the Gospel is not, any longer, in thewilderness! In a certain sense, he has come into the land of promise where he already enjoys Covenant mercies. It is truethat the Canaanite is still in that land and we have to drive him out, but it is a good land to which God has brought us,"a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills." The Lord makes us drink of theriver of His good pleasure. He satisfies us with the cooling streams of His Covenant love.
8. A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of olive oil, and honey. I will not gointo a spiritualizing of all this, but I know that you who have come to believe in Christ and have entered, by faith, intoHis rest, know what sweet things God has provided for you-not merely bare necessities, but choice delights. He gives you toeat of the sweetnesses. He gives you the fatnesses-the wines on the lees, well-refined, and the fat things full of marrow.I trust that there are many here who know the blessed experience of joy and peace in believing. You have entered into a fairregion. You have passed through the belt of storms. You have come where the trade winds blow heavenward, Your sails are filled,your vessel skips along before the breeze. You are making good progress towards the Fair Havens of eternal happiness!
9. A land wherein you shall eat bread without scarceness, you shall not lack anything in it; a land whose stones are iron,and out of whose hills you may dig brass. There are deep things hidden away in the Gospel treasuries. Silver and gold theremay be none, but then, iron and copper are much more useful things-and the most useful things we shall ever need in this lifelie hidden beneath the surface of the Gospel! If we know how to dig deep, we shall be abundantly rewarded by the treasureswhich we shall discover. Well now, if your experience has thus changed. If you have left the fiery serpents and the howlingwilderness behind you and have come into a place of peace and enjoyment, what follows?
10. When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land which He has given you. Hepermits you to eat-not to satiety, but you may eat and be full-only not so full but that you can always bless His name! Donot be afraid of holy joy! Eat and be full of it, only let it never take your heart away from Him who gives you the joy. Onthe contrary, bless your God for the good land which He has given you. It is said that in the olden times, pious Jews alwaysblessed God before they ate, and always blessed God after they ate. They blessed God for the fragrance of the flower wheneverthey smelt it. Whenever they drank a cup of water, they blessed the Lord who gave them drink out of the rock in the desert.Oh, that we were always full of praises of God! Then it would not hurt us to be full of meat. But if we get full of meat andare empty of praises, this is mischievous, indeed!
11. Beware that you forget not the LORD your God, in not keeping His commandments, and His judgments, and His statutes, whichI command you this day. That would be practical atheism-not keeping the commandments of God is one of the most vivid waysof forgetting Him!
12-14. Lest when you have eaten and are full, and have built goodly houses, and dwelt therein; and when your herds and yourflocks multiply, and your silver and your gold is multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; then your heart is liftedup and you forget the LORD your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. The otherday a friend asked me this question, "From where does God get His princes?" And the answer I gave was, "He often picks themoff dunghills." Oh, but they sometimes forget the dunghills where they grew and think themselves wonderfully important individuals!Then there is a time of pulling down for them. We cannot eat and be full without having the temptation of getting our heartlifted up! It is a great blessing to have the heart lifted up in one way, that is, in God's way-but to be lifted up by bread,to be lifted up by silver, to be lifted up by flocks and herds is such a bad way of being lifted up that evil and sorrow mustcome of it! See, the Lord does not forbid His people to build a house, or to eat and to enjoy what He gives them. But He doescharge them not to forget the God who gave them these mercies, nor to forget where they used to be in slavery-"Beware thatyou forget not the Lord your God which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage."
16. Who led you through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, wherethere was no water; who brought you forth water out of the rock offlint. I cannot but pause as I remember my own passage through"that great and terrible wilderness, where there was no water." When a soul is under conviction of sin, "fiery serpents, andscorpions, and drought" are very feeble images of the pains and miseries that come of guilt unfor-given! "Where there wasno water." Oh, what would we not have given, then, to have understood a little of that Gospel which, perhaps, we now despise?Oh, what would we not have given, then, just to have moistened our burning lips with the Living Water of the precious Wordin which, possibly, now we see no refreshing? May God have mercy upon us for our forgetfulness of His great mercy! Let us,with deep gratitude, think of Him again-"Who led you through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents,and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water; who brought you forth water out of the rock of flint." "More likely,"says one, "to bring fire rather than water out of a rock of flint." And it did seem as if the Cross of the curse must havecursed us, yet it blessed us! The Lord brought forth Living Water out of that Rock which was smitten for guilty man!
16, 17. Who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers knew not, that He might humble you, and that He mightprove you, to do you good at your latter end; and you said in your heart, My power and the might of my hand have gotten methis wealth. We must not say this about either temporal or spiritual wealth! If we have grown in Grace and have become useful,and are spiritually a blessing to others, we must not take any credit for it-or else down we shall go before long! God didnot enrich you that you might set up for a god in opposition to Him. Christ did not love you that you might make yourselfa rival to Him. Oh, that must not be! We must never say in our heart, "My power and the might of my hand have gotten me thiswealth."
18,19. But you shall remember the LORD your God: for it is He that gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish HisCovenant which He swore unto your fathers, as it is this day. And it shall be, if you do at all forget the LORD your God,and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish.If you live like sinners, you will die like sinners! "Where, then, is the perseverance of the saints?" asks one. Why, in this,that they shall not live like sinners! God's Grace will not let them go wandering after idols to worship and to serve them!He will keep us faithful to Himself, but if we will wander after idol gods, it proves that we are not the Lord's true Israel,and we must expect to be served as others have been who have turned aside to worship idols-
20. As the nations which the LORD destroys before your face, so shall you perish; because you would not be obedient unto thevoice of the LORD your God.