The Snare of the Fowler

Suj«?ly he shall deliver tlico frnm the snare of the fowler.” — Psalm xoL 3

If Mosos wrote this Psalm lie might represent the fowler ag being in his case the king of Egypt, who sought to slay him, or the Amalekites, who pounced upon Israel in the plain, when they liUle expected it. If David penned it, he might have compared Saul to the fowler, for he himself says, he was hunted like a partridge upon the mountains. But we believe, if the verse be applicable to either of those cases, it was intended by the Psalmist not to have a private interpretation, L’ut to be applicable to all time; and we believe it is spoken concerning that arch-enemy of €ouls, the great deceiver, Satan, of whom we just now sang,

” Satan, the fowler, who betrays
Unguarded souls a thousand way a”

“The prince of the power of this world, the spirit which still worketh in the children of disobedience,” is like a fowler, always attempting to destroy us. It was once said by a talented writer, that the old devil was dead, and that there was a new devil now; by which he meant to say, that the devil of old times was a i-ather different devil from the deceiver of these times. We believe that it is the same evi spirit; but there is. a d.fference in his mode of attack. Th devil of live hundred years ago was a black and grimy thing V’ell portrayed in our old pictures of that evil spirit. He was a persecutor, who cast men into the furnace, and put them to death for serving Christ. The devil of this day is a wellspoken gentleman: he does not persecute — he rather attempts to persuade and to beguile. He is not now so much the

TUE SXARK OF THE FO^yLJi:R. 43

fill ions Konianist, so iiuicli as the insinuating unbeliever, atrtempting to overturn our i-eligion, while at the same time ho pretends he would make it more I’ational, and so more triumphant. He would only link worldliness with religion; and so he would really make religion void, under the cover ot’ developing the great ])ower of the gospel, and bringing out secrets which our forefathers had never di.-:covered. Satan is always a fowler. Whatever his tactics may be, his object is still the same — to catch men in his net. Men are here compared to silly, weak birds, that have not skill enough to avoic the snare, and have not strength enouoh to escape fi’om it Satan is the fowler; he has been so and is so still; and if he does not now attack us as the roaring lion, roaring against ug in ])ersecution, he attacks us as the adder, creeping silently along the path, endeavoring to bite our heel with las poisoned fangs, and weaken the power of grace and ruin the life of godliness within us. Our text is a very comforting one to all believers, when they are beset by temptation. “Surely he shall deliver them from the snare of the fowler.”

First, a fero loords concerning the snare of the foioier secondly, the deliverance; and, thirdly, the certainty of it; dwelling upon that word surely, for it seems to be the dia niond wherewith this jjrecious golden promise is embellished, “Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler.”

I. First, then, the snare of the fowler. It is an illustration too suggestive for me thoroughly to unravel. I must leave it for your meditations at home to enumerate the divers ways in which a fowler attempts to take his birds, and then you will have suggested to you the divers means which the evil spirit employs for the destruction of souls. Allow me, however, just to begin, and pass over two or three points connected with the fowler and with the evil one.

1. First, the foiolerls snare is intimately connected toith secrecy. “Surely in vain is the net spread in the sight of any bird.” Therefore the fowler carefully covers up his t’ap; or, if th.e trap itself be uncovered he doth well beguile the bird, so that it is utterly ignorant of his intention to take it in the trap, little thinking that the food laid there for its banqueting js really placed tlicre for its enticement and destruction. The

44 TlIK SNAKE OP fllK FOWLER.

f«’»wlei, a/j.en bo goes after his birds, is very careful lest tlicy Ehould tliscover him. We liear, for instance, that in the taking of wild ducks, in Lincolnshire, a man will hold before his mouth a piece of turf, in order that the smell of his breath may not be perceived by the birds, who are exceedingly wary. The temptations of the world are of this secret sort to a Christian, though not to the wicked man, for the wicked man sins with his eyes wide open; dashing into the net knoA’ing it is a net, laying hold of iniquity with both his hands, even when destruction stareth him in the face. He will coix.mit a sin that he knows is condemned even by the law of the land ’ he will rush into a crime, concerning the guilt of Avluch no doubt can be entertained. Not so the Christian: he is taken by secrecy. “Ah!” says one, “if I thought such-and-such a thing were really wrong; if I were perfectly convinced of its wrongfulness, I would give it up.” It is just there the difiicuity lies. So would the bird say: “If I thought that really were a trap, I would not enter it; if I were perfectly persuaded that net would entangle me, I would not fly to such-and-such a spot; I would not approach there at all, if I were sure it would be my destruction.” How many a professor thej’e is who asks the question, “May I go to this place? May I go to that place?” and some of us answer “No,” and we are called Puritans for it; but let those who have attempted to keep their godliness intact, while they pursued the pleasures of this world, stand up and make the mournful confession, that the healthiness of the two things can never exist together. We must either serve God wholly, or serve the evil one wholly. “If God be God, serve him; if Baal be God serve him.” One, or else the other. Many a man has been entrapped into- sin by Satan; not knowing that it was evil I Some one has hinted to him in business, for instance — “You may very safely do such-and-such a thing; all the shopkeepers in the street have done it; it is not actually dishonest; it improves the article, it really does; and although you can tluis sell an article at a dearer rate than you ought to^ell it, yet yon need not tell the public; and if the article is all the better for it, it is quite fair and safe that you should adulterate it.” And so the good easy man, n(~^ opening both his eyes, I think, but shutting cue of them a little, lest be should see too well to be able to fill his pockets in the dark, is a little taken aside; and by-and-by he is led to discover tlat the act which he has done is the taking of him in the snare of the fowler, for he has been sinning against his God, and his God therefore punishes him for it with many stripes, and laj’s his rod upon him. I do not think that a Christian is so often betrayed iito a sin that is palpable and known, as he is into a sin that is secret. If the devil comes to my door with his horns visible, I will never let him in; but if he comes with his hat on as a respectable gentleman, he is at once admitted. The metaphor may be very quaint, but it is quite true. Many a man has taken in an evil thing, because it has been A’arnished and glossed over, and not apparently an evil; and he has thought. in his heart, there is not much harm in it; so he has let in the little thine, and it has been like the breakinsf forth of water — the first drop has brought after it a torrent. The beginning has been but the beginning of a fearful end. Take care, Christian, of things that are secret; take care of the common doings of the world, which are well enough for them, perhaps. We would not deny them their pleasures, for they have no others; but they are not good for you, for you have a i’mer life — a life of a finer texture and order

than can exist in the haunts of ungodly persons. Remember, you are not to be a judge for others. Some men, especially those who are unconverted, can, without being led into sin, indulge in many gayeties and merriments; but the Christian is like the Englishman, who can not hope to survive long where the jungle fever reigns. The native can live there, but he can not. And so you who are twice-born men will find your piety ruined, by that which, to a worldly man, does not- lead him into greater evil than that which he would naturally commit. You are to have a stricter rule on yourselves than others, and are to be more stern in your piety than the world would have you be; for sin is usually hidden, and the snare is not often made apparent “Siirtly he shall deliver thee from the snare* of the fowler.”

2. In the second place, the snare of the fowler is (jenan’oMy noted for its adaptation. You do not find a fowler suttuiy

I.lie same snare for one bird as for another; he knows hisbiid and he adapts his bait to it. He would bo an unwise fowlei who should go to work with the same machinery to catch the lark that flies on high as the duck that swims along the stream. The fowler is wiser than that: he adapts his snare to the con* dition of the bird which he desires to take. Satan the fowler does just the same. There is one man here; he tempts hira to drunkenness. Perhaps that would naturally be his sin, if left without grace in hi-i heavt; and Satan, knowing it to be his weak point, attempts to overcome him by surfeiting, gluttony, and drunkenness. Another raan is utterly impei-vioua to any temptation to that bestial habit; but, it may be, he is easily taken in another snare — the snai’e of lust; therefore Satan adapts his temptation to the hot blood of the man who naturally would be inclined to live a life of sin. Another one perhaps eschews every lascivious and sensual habit; then Satan comes to him, and adapts his temptation to the shape of pride. The man is naturally a melancholy man, full of solitude Satan gets him, if he can, to wrap himself up in a solitary dignity, to say, “I am holy,” “Lord, I thank thee, I am not as other men are.” Oi if a man is not naturally inclined to a very high degree of pride, Satan takes him with sloth. The man likes an easy life; Satan therefore adapts his bait to him by letting him sit still, fold his arms, and so perish by slothfulness: and mark this, he who sitteth still in the frost, when the snow is on the ground, in the depths of the wild regions of the frozen zone, must as surely perish by his idleness as if ho drove a dagger to his heart. Satan knows that, and so adapts his bait accordingly. O! how often it happens, beloved, that you and I condemn a thing in another person which we allow hi ourselves, jjerhaps without knowing it. We eay of such a one, How jjroud he is! Well, our pride is not exactly of that shape; we have got another shaped pride, but the same article; labeled differently, but the same thing. Satan adapts the pride to each particular case. We are rich: lie does not perhaps tempt us to the pride of riches, but ho tenij)t3 us to the pride of mastershii), and makes us harsh masters to our servants. Or if he does not tempt us to that pride, he perhaps enchants us with the pride cf generosity,

THE SNARli OF TIIK FOVI.ER. 47

A id we arc apt to boast of our kindness aiul of what we hnvr, i(iven away. He will always adapt his trap to his man, ;ind his bait to his bird. He will not tempt you all with the same tem])tation he would tempt me with; nor me with the temptation with which iie would naturally assail another. “The snare of the fowler.” A cunning enemy we have to deal with, he knows our weak points; he has been dealing with men fci these last six thousand years; he knows all about them. Ho is possessed of a gigantic intellect; though he be a fallen spirit and lie is easily able to discover where our sore places are, and there it is he immediately attacks lis. If we be like Achille.s, and cannot be wounded anywhere but in our heel, then at the heel lie will send his dart, and nowhere else. He will find out our easily besetting sin, and there, if he can, he will attempt to work our ruin and our destruction. Let us bless God that it is written, “Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler.”

3. In the next place, the foiolers snare is freavently co?^- nected loith pleasure P^’ofit’, and advantage. In the bird’a case it is for the seed scattered on the ground that he iiies to the snare. It is some tempting bait which allures him to his death. And usually Satan, the fowler, uses a temptation wherewith to beguile us. “O!” says one, “I can not give up suchi-and-sach a thing, it is so pleasant. Sir, you never knew the charms of such-and-such a pursuit, otherwise you could never advise rne to relinquish it.” Yes, my friend, but it is just the sweetness of it to you that makes it the mora dangerous. Satan never sells his poisons naked; he alwaya gilds them before he vends them. He knows very well that :nen will buy them and swallow them, if he does but gild them beforehand. Take cai-e of pleasures; mind what you are at when you are at them. Many of them are innocent and healthful, but many of them are destructive. It is said that where the mot:t beautiful cacti grow, there the most venomous serpents are to be found at the root of every plant. And it is so with sin. Your fairest pleasures w’Jl harbor your grossest sins. Take care; take care of your pleasures. Cietpatra’s asp was introduced in a basket of flowers; so are OUT sins often brought to us in the flowers of our pleasures.

»8 THi: SXAlvE OF THE FOWLKK.

Hatan offers to the dnuikai-d the sweetness of the intoxicating cup, which rejoices liim/when his brain is rioting in frohc, and when )iis soul is lifted up within him. He offers to tliP h’lStful man the scenes and pleasures of carnal mirth, and meriv.ment, and delight, and so ho leadeth him astray with the bait, ♦“•oncealing the hook which afterwards shall jjain him. Ho gives to you and to rne, each of us. the offer of our peculiar joy; he tickleth us with pleasures, that lie may lay hold upon us, and so have us in his j)Ower. I would have every Christian be especially on his guard against the very thing that is most pleasing to his human nature. I would not have him avoid every thing that pleases him, but I would have him be on his guard against it. Just like Job, when his sons had been feasting in their houses. He did not forbid thera doing it, but he said, “I will offer a sacrifice, lest my sons should have sinned iri their hearts, and should have cursed God foolishly.” He was more careful over them at the time of their feasting than at any other season. -Let us be the same. Let us remember that the snare of the fowler is generally connected with some pretended pleasure or profit, but that (Satan’s end is not our pleasing, but our destruction.

4. In the next place, sometimes the foider very wisely emvloys the force of example. We all know the influence of tho decoy-duck, in erudeavoring to brmg others into the snare. How very often Satan, the fowler, employs a decoy to lead God’s people into sin! You get with a iiian; you think Iiim to be a true Cln-istian; you have some respect for his character; he is a high professor, can talk religion by the yard, and can give you any quantity of theology you like to ask for. Yqw ses him commit a sin; ten to one but you will do the same, if you have much respect for him; and so he will lead you on. And mark, Satan is very careful in the men whom ho chooses to be decoys. He never employs a wicked man to be a decoy for a good man. It is very seldom, when Satan would decoy a Cijristian into a snare, that he makes use of an open reprobate. No; lie makes use of a man who is pretendedly religious, and who looks to be of the same quality aa yourself, and therefore entices you astray. Let a bad mau DBQet me in the street, and ask me to commit sin! The devii

THE B^’A!^E O’.i’ TIIK FO’WT.KK. 4g

knows better tnan to set him at any such work j.s that, bocause he knows I should pass by directly. If he Alants his errand well done, he sends one to me whom I call brother; and so through the brotherhood of y)rofession I am apt to give him credence and pay him respect; and then if he goeth astray, the force of example is very powerful, and so I may easily be led into the net too. Take care of your best friends; oe careful of your companions. Choose the best you can; then follow them no further than they follow Christ. Let your course be entirely independent of every one else. Say with Joshua, let others do what they will, “As for me and my house we will serve the Lord.”

5. Note, once more, that sometimes the foxoler xolien he faileth to take his bird by deceit and craft, loill go a hawking after it — will send his hawk into the air, to bring down his prey. It often happens, when the devil can not ruin a man by getting him to commit a sin, he attempts to slander him; ho sends a. hawk after him, and tries to bring him down by slandering his good name. I will give you a piece of advice. I know a good minister, now in venerable old age, who was once most villainously lied against and slandered by a man who had hated him only for the truth’s sake. The good man was grieved; he threatened the slanderer with a lawsuit, unless he apologized. He did apologize. The slander was printed in the papers in a public apology; and you know what was the consequence. The slander was more believed than if he had said nothing about it. And I have learned this lesson — to do with the slanderous hawk what the little buds do, just fly up. The hawk can not do them any hurt while they can keep above him — it is only when they come down that he can injure them. It is only when by mounting he gets above the ‘^>irds, that the hawk comes sweeping down upon them, and destroys them. If any slander you, do not come down to them; let them slander on. Say, as David said concerning Shimei, “If the Lord hath given him commandment to curse, let him curse;” and if the sons of Zeruiah say, “Let us go and take this dead dog’s head,” you say, “Nay, let him curse;” and in that way you will live down slander. If some of ua turned aside to notice every bit of a sparrow that began so TUE SNAKE OF TJIE FOWLER,

chirping ut ns, we should hare nothing to do but to ansMe”? them. If I were to fight yeople on every doctrine I preach, I should do nothing else but just amuse the devil, and indulgo the combative principles of certain religionists who like nothing better than quarreling. By the grace of God, say what you please against me, I will never answer you, but go straight on. All shall end well, if the character be but kept clean; tl e more dirt that is thrown on it by slander, the more it shall glisten, and the more brightly it shall shine. Have you never felt your lingers itch sometimes to be at a man who slanders you? 1 have. I have sometimes thought, “I can not hold my tongue now; I must answer that fellow;” but I have asked of God grace to imitate Jesus, who, “when he was reviled reviled not again,” and by his strength let them go straight on The surest way in the world to get rid of a slander is just to let it alone and say nothing about it, for if you prosecute the rascal who utters it, or if you threaten him with an action, and he has to apologize, you will be no better olf — some fools will still believe it. Let it alone — let it keep as it is; and so God will help you to fulfill by your wisdom his own promise, “Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler.”

And now, ere I close this point, let me observe once more, the fowler, when he is determined to take his birds, uses all these arts at once, yerhaps, and besets the bird on every side. So, you will remember, beloved, it is with you. Satan sviU rot leave a stone unturned to ruin your soul for ever.

“Amidst a thousand snarea I stand,
Upheld and guarded by thy hand.”

Master Quarles says,

The close pursuer’s busy hands do plant
Snares in thy substance; snares attend thy want;
Snares in thy credit; snares in thy disgrace;
Suares in thy high estate; snares in thy base:
Snares tuck thy bed; and snares surround thy boai d;
Snares watch thy thoughts; and snares attach thy ^ord
Snares in thy quiet; snares in thy commotion;
Snares in thy diet; snares in thy devotion;
Snares lurk in thy resolves, snares in thy doubt
Snares lie within thy heart, and snares without;
Suares are above thy head, and snares btncath;
‘Snares in tliv sicWnrs?;, snnren arc in tli r death.”

THE SNAKK OF TUB v. WLER.

lliere is not a place beneath which a believer walks Ih.at free from snares. Behind every tree there is the Indian with his barbed arrow; behind every bnsh there is the lion seeking to devour; under every piece of grass there lieth the adder Everywhere they are. Let us be careful; let us gird (ourselves with the might of God’s omnipotence, and then shall his Holy Spirit keep us, so that we shall tread on the lion and tlse adder, the young lion and the dragon shall we tramp.e under our feet, and we shall be “delivered from the snare of the fowler.”

II. Now we pass to the second point — the deltveranoe God delivers his people from the snare of the fowler. Two thoughts here: from — out of. First, he delivers them froin the snare — does not let them get in it; secondly, when they do get in it, he delivers them out of it. The first promise ia the most precious to some of us; the second is the best to others.

He shall deliver thee from the snai-e. How does lie do that?

Very often by trouble. Trouble is often the means whereby God delivers us from snares. You have all heard the old ptory of the celebrated painter who wlas painting in St. Paul’s, and who, looking at his work, went gradually back, inch by inch, to get a view of it, so that he might see the excellence of its proportions, until his feet were just on the edge of the platform upon which he stood; and he would have fallen down and been dashed in pieces upon the pavement beneath, but iust at that moment a workman who stood there, desirous to save his life, and not knowing how to do it, hit upon an expedient which proved to be a very wise one. Instead of shouting out to his master, “Sir, you are in danger,” which would most certainly have sent him backwanl, lie took up a brush, and dipping it in a pot of i)aint, dashed it at the picture. The sood man rushed forward in anger to chastise him; but when it was explained, he clearly saw that he had acted wisely Just so with God. You and I have often painted a fine picture, and wo have been walkiinj: backward admirins: it, God knows that our backsliding will soon end in our destruction and he, by a sad providence, blasts our jTospect, takes away b2 THE SNAltE OF THE FOWLER.

our oluld from is, buries our wife, removes some da-ling object of our pleasures; and we rush forward and say, “Lord, whj, is this?” — utterly uuoonscious that if it had not been foi trouble we might have been dashed in pieces, and our lives would have been ended in destruction. I doubt not, many of you have been saved from ruin by your sorrows, your griefs, your troubles, your woes, your losses, and your crosses. All tlieibe have been the breaking of the net that set you free from the snare of the fowler.

At other times God keeps his people from the sin of the fowler y giving them great spiritual strength, a spirit of greiov iourage / so that when they are tem])ted to do evil they say, with decision, “How can I do this great wickedness and gin against God?” O! that was a noble escape of Joseph, when his mistress laid hold of his garment; that was a noble escape of his, when his soul escaped like a bird out of the snare of the fowler; and I doubt not there are many here who have done deeds almost as noble as that of Joseph, who have had grace within their hearts, so that they have turned away their eyes from beholding folly, and when they have been tempted to evil they have put their foot upon it, and said, “I can not, I can not; I am a child of God; I can not and I must not;” und though the thing was pleasing to themselves yet they abjured it. You remember the case of Mr. Standlast in Bunyan’a Pilgrim’s Progress. Madame Bubble had greatly enticed poor Mr. Standfast with her offers. He says,” There was one in very pleasant attire, but old, who presented herself to me, and offered me three th.ings, to wit, her body, her purse, and her bed. Now the truth is, I was both weary and sleepy: I aiti also as poor as an owlet, and that perhaps the witch knew. Well, I repulsed her once and again, but she put by my repulses and smiled. Then I began to be angry; but she mattrred tha’ nothing at all. Then she made ofters again, and sail if I would be ruled by her, she would make me great an*] happy; for, said she, I am the mistress of the world, and men are made happy by me. Then I asked her her name, and she told me it was Madame Bubble. This set me farther from her; but she still followed me with enticements. Then I belock me, as you saw, to my knees, and with hands liftod up, an<3

THE SNAKE OF THi; FOWLER. 63

cries, I jiTiyed to him that had said he would help. So just as you canle up the gentlewoman went licr way. Then I continued to give thanks for this my great deliverance; for I verily believe she intended no good, but rather sought to make stop of me in my journey.” Thus God delivers his peojjle from the jnaros of the fowler, by giving them the spirit of prayer aa well as the spirit of courage, so that they call upon God in the day of trouble, and he delivers them.

And I have noticed one more very singular thing. Sometimes I, myself, have been saved from the snare of the fowler (I can not tell you how exactly), in this way. I have felt that if the temptation had come a week before, my mind A’as in that peculiar condition, that I should almost inevitably have been led away by it; but when it came, the mind, by passing through some process, had become in such a condition that the temptation was no temptation at all. We were just brought to such a state, that v. hat might have ruined us before, wo would not then look at. “No,” we have said, “if you had offered me this some time ago it might have been accepted; but now God has, by some mysterious influence of his Spirit, turned my heart in another direction, and it is not even a temptation to me at all — not worthy of a moment’s thought.” So God delivers his people from the snare of the fowler.

But the second thought was, that God delivers his people even when they get into the snare. Alas! my hearer, you and I knoAV something about the net; Ave haA’e been inside it, A-e have; Ave have not only seen it spread, Ave have been in its folds. We know something about the cage, for Ave have, unfoitunately, been in the cage ourselves, even since Ave have known the Lord. The fowler’s hand has been upon our neck it has only been the sovereign grace of God that has prevented him from utterly destroying us. What a blessed thing it is, that if the believer shall, in an evil hour, come into the net, yet God will bring him out of it! Poor Christian and Hope ful got into the fowler’s net when they entered into the castle of Giant Despair; but the key of promise picked the lock, and they escaped. They were in the fowler’s net, too, when Flatterer cast a net over them, and left them in the lane; but there came one who, after he had l)eatcn thei:. full sore, took

64 THE SXAUE OF XUE ^O^VLEB.

the ncl ofl”, fiiul then they went on their way, better men than they wei-e before they were in the nat. ,1 know one who ia in the net now. Some bird, one of God’s own ones too, has been taken in the sn.are, and is now groaning and crying out, because, alas! alas! he has sinned. I have a person here, a good man, a professor of religion, and a truly worthy one! but alas! he has sinned, and at this hour the tears are in his r.ycs, and he is say”ing,

“The tumult of mj thoughts
‘Doth but increase my woe;
My spirit languishes, my heart
Is desolate and low.

“Turn, turn thee to my soul;
‘Bring thy salvation near;
Wnen will thy hand release my feet
Out of the deadly snare?”

O backslider, be cast down, but do not despair; God will restore thee yet. Wanderer thougji thou hast been, hear what he says! “Return, O backsliding children; I will have mercy upon you.” But you say you can not return. Then here is still a promise — “Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler.” Thou shalt yet be brought out from all the evil into which thou hast fallen, and though thou shalt never cease to repent thy ways even to thy dying day, yet he that hath loved thee will not cast thee away; he will receive thee; he will admit thee into his dwelling-place, and will even now restore thee to the number of his people and give thee joy and gladness, that the bones which he has broken may rejoice.” Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of t),e fowler.’

There have been very remarkable instances of God deliver-Aig his people out of the snare of the fowler, as the following illustration will show:

“A young lady, who belonged to a church in the city of New York, married a young man who was not a Christian. He was a merchant, engaged hi a lucrative business, and the golden stream of wealth flowed in upon him till he had amassed a large forture. He accordingly retired from business, and went into tLa country. He purchased a splendid

THE SNaUK of TUE FOWLKR. 6C

.’»,,M(lence; line trees waved their luxuriant fuliagc around it; fiere was a lake fiiled with fish, and there 8 garden full of rare slirubbery and Hewers. Their house was foshionably and ex- ])en;5ively furnished; and they seemed to possess all of earth that mortal could desire. Thus prospered, and plied with an interchange of civilities among her gay and fiishionable neighbors, the piety of the lady declined, and hev heart became wedded to the world. And it is not to be wondered at, that her three children, as they grew up, imbibed her spii’it and copied her example. ‘A severe disease,’ it is said, ’ demands fi severe remedy;’ and that God soon applied. One morning Intelligence came that her little sor had fallen into the fishi»ke, and was drowned. The mother’s heart was pierced with the affliction, and she wept and murmured against the providence of God. Soon afterwards, her only daughter, a blooming girl of sixteen, was taken sick of a fever and died. It seemed then as if the mother’s heart would have broken. put this new stroke of the rod of a chastening Fathtr seemed but to increase her displeasure against his will. The only re-Tiiaining child, her eldest son, who had come home from college to attend his sister’s funeral, went out into the iields soon afterwards, for the purpose of lumting. In getting over a fence, he put his gun over first to assist himself in springing to the ground, when it accidentally discharged itself and killed him! What then were that mother’s feelings? In the extravagance of her grief, she fell down, tore her hair, and raved like a maniac against the providence of God. The father, whose grief was already almost insupportable, when he looked upon the shocking spectacle, and heard her frenzied ravings, could endure his misery no longer. The iron entered into his soul and he fell a speedy victim to his accumulated afflictions. From the wife and mother, her husband and all her children were now taken away. Reason returned, and she was led to reflection. She saw her dreadful backsliding, her pride, her rebellion; and she wept with the tears of a deep repentance. Feace was restored to her soul. Then could she lift up her hands to heaven, excijiiming, ‘I thank thee, 0 Father! — the Lord hath given, the Lord hath taken Hwav, and blessed be the name of the Lord.’ Thus did hor

56 rnE SNARE OF TilE FOWLKR.

si’Hictions yield the peaceable fruit oi righteousnecis, and hei htavenly Father chasten her, ’ not for his pleasure, but for her profit, that she might become partaker of his holiness.’”

So God delivered her soul out of the snare of the folder She started afresh in the ways of righteousness, serving God with diligence and zeal, and growing up in his fear. By trouble and trial, by some means or another, God will surely deliver his people out of the snare of the fowler, even when they are in it.

Ill, And now, to conclude, I am to dwell for a moment or two upon that word “surely.” The assurance of every truth of Scripture is just the beauty of it. If it were not sure, it were not precious; and it is precious just because it is sure.

Now, it says, “surely he shall deliver thee.” Why? First, because he has promised to do it; and God’s promises are bonds that never yet were dishonored. If he hath said he will, he will. Secondly, because Christ Jesus hath taken ai: oath that he will do it. In ages long gone by Christ Jesus became the shepherd of the sheep, and the surety of them too. “If any of them perish,” said he, “at my hand, thou shalt require it;” and, therefore, because Christ is responsible, because he is the heavenly sponsor for all God’s people, they must be kept: for otherwise Christ’s bond were forfeited, and his oath were null and void. They must be kept, again, because otherwise the union that there is between all of them and Christ would not be a real one. Christ and his church are one — one body; but if any of the members of ray body were cut oft”, I should be maimed, and if Christ coalJ lose one of his children he would be a maimed Christ. “Wa are his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all.” If, »hen, the whole church were not gathered in, Christ would be an incomplete Christ, seeing he would want his fulhicss. They must all be saved, for God the Father has determined that they shall be; nay, the Son has sworn they shall be; and God the Holy Spirit vouches for it they shall be. None of God’s people shall be cast away, or else the Bible is not true. The whole stability of the covenant rests. their final perseverance The whole covenant of “:rat 1 U /U this —

THE SNAUIi: OF THE FOWLKK. 0*1

“Ho shall present our soulSj
Uubleinished and compieto,
Before the glory of his face,
“With joys divinely great.”

And there fo ‘e they must be preserved out of the snare o cna fowler, because otherwise the covenant woukl Jbe null and void. If one shouki perish the oath would be broken; if one should be cast away the covenant woukl be void; and therefore they must be kept secure.

•’ His honor is engaged to save
The meanest of his sheep;
All that his heavenly Father gave,
His hands securely keep.”

1 have no time to enlarge upon that subject, which is big with glory, and might afibrd a topic for many discourses. I. now close up by saying, Men and brethren, is this promise yours? “Surely he shall deliver thee.” Are you the men? “How can I tell?” you say. Do you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? Do you, as a guilty sinner, cast yourself wholly on the blood and righteousness of the immaculate Redeemer? I do not ask you whether you are a Wesleyan, a Churchman, a Baptist, an Independent, or a Presbyterian; my only question is, Are you born again? Have you passed from death unto life? Are you “a new creature in Christ Jesus?” Is all your trust put in the Lord Jesus Christ? Has his life become your model, and does his Spirit dwell in your mortal body? If so, peace be unto you: this promise is yours. You may have been the woi-st of men; but if you have faith in Christ those sins are all forgiven, and you may take this promise to be yours for ever. But if you are self-righteous, self-sufficient, ungodly, careless, worldly, there is DO such promise for you; you are in the snare, you shall be there, and you shall perish, unless you repent; for it is written, “Except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish.” May God save you from perishing, by giving you an interest in the blood of Christ; and to the Fat’ler, the Son, and the Holy cJhost, bo glory for ever and evei’.