Discipline

I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn Thou me, and I shall be turned; for Thou art the Lord my God. — Jer. xxxi. 18.

There are cliastisemeiits in life wliicli cannot be classed amongst great afflictions. There are little checks daily disappointments irritations defeats and annoyances, — shadows which chequer what else would be a sunny way, — things which in themselves cannot be treated with dignity, yet they tease and wear the heart.

I. Human life is established upon a disciplinary BASIS. There is a yoke everywhere — in sin, in repentance, in grace. No man can have everything just as he wants it. Man is made to feel that there is somebody in the world besides himself. He conceives a plan, and is laughed at for his pains; he tells his dream, and men suspect his vanity; he points out his high tower, and whilst his finger is lifted the mocking wind hurls the boasted masonry to the ground. So we are jostled, pulled back, and mortified. We are made to feel that our very life is a vapour, and that every respiration is but a compromise with death. We should ask ourselves the ‘meaning of these things. Discipline touches the whole scheme: (boy at schoolp going from home, bodily afiliction, oversights and miscalculations, losses, etc.).

II. The value op discipline depends upon its eight ACCEPTANCE. We may become desperate under it: “as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke.^^ Men may mourn, complain, rebel; they start arguments against God; they justify themselves; they become lost in secondary agencies and incomplete details. Then, there is a better way: Ephraim bemoaned himself, repented before God, and said,” Turn Thou me, and I shall be turned.-’^ In this state of mind see (1) self-renunciation; (2) devout and joyful confidence in God’s sovereignty and graciousness.

Application: — (1) There is a yoke in sin. The way of transgressors is hard.’’ (2) There is a yoke in goodness. It is often difficult to be upright, noble, holy. God helps the true yoke-bearer: “My yoke is easy,” etc. We must bear a yoke; say, shall it be the bad yoke, or the yoke of Jesus Christ?