Green Pastures
“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole of man.” — ECCLES. XII. 13.
“Tnis is life eternal, to know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent,” To get this knowledge is to enter into blessedness. Reconciliation to God is like entering the gate of a beautiful avenue, which conducts to a splendid mansion. But that avenue is long, and in some places it skirts the edge of dangerous cliffs; and therefore, to save the traveller from falling over where he would be dashed to pieces, it is fenced all the way by a quick set hedge. That hedge is the commandments. They are planted there that we may do ourselves no harm. But, like a fence of the fragrant briar, they regale the pilgrim who keeps the path, and they only hurt him when he tries to break through. Temperance, justice, truthfulness; purity of speech and behaviour; obedience to parents; mutual affection; sanctification of the Sabbath; the reverent worship of God; — all these are righteous requirements, and in keeping them there is a great reward. Happy he who only knows the precept in the perfume which it sheds, and who, never having kicked against the pricks, has never proved the sharpness of its thorns!
In its huppy influence, religion, or a filial compliance with the will of God, includes “the whole of man,” It is self-contained felicity.
A new heart itself is happiness. The rain as it falls from the firmament is never poisonous; but by the time it filters through strata filled with lead or copper, it may become so pernicious that whosoever drinks of the water dies. The juice of the grape, as it flows from the fermenting vat, is generous wine; but if the wine-skin which receives it is old and musty, or if it be poured into a jar of acidulous pottery, it soon grows sour and vapid. Gifts as they come from God are always good and perfect; but by the time that they have distilled through our murmuring spirits, they assume another character. From the way he speaks of them, you would fancy that the worldling’s joys had all been drawn from Marah; or that, however carefully he had covered over his own cistern, the star Wormwood had dropped into it, and changed the whole to a deadly bitter. The truth is, his mind is its own Marah, and his morose and murmuring nature is the Wormwood which renders acrid to the taste the mercies sent from God. But Christianity is a new creation. The Gospel renovates the soul; and, putting a right spirit in the man, it K 2 makes him a blessed being by making him a RIGHT RECIPIENT. When the water is as clear as was the wrell of Bethlehem; or when the wine flows as rich as the vintage of Lebanon, — all that is needful is a pitcher of ciystal or a goblet of silver, which, by infusing no new element, will preserve its freshness and purity. And when gifts are so good as the Gospel and the promises; — so good as our kindred and friends; — so good as the flowers of the field and the breath of new summer, — it only needs an honest heart which takes them as they come, and which tastes unaltered the goodness of God that is in them. This is what the worldling wants; this new heart is what the God and Father of our Lord Jesus offers to you — to me. The very faculty of joy is the gift of the Holy Ghost. There is a canker in the heart of man which hinders happiness even when the materials are most abundant; and it is mournful to observe how little gladness is felt even when corn and wine most abound. In the midst of affluence still anxious, the munificence of the Creator cannot give contentment to worldlings and worldly professors; but whilst the green pastures re-echo their grumblings, they may see their peevish faces reflected in those still waters to which their kind Shepherd has led them. It needs more than good and perfect gifts to awaken melody and praise: and unless the Spirit of God make it a thankful heart, the providence of God cannot make it a happy existence. But, when the Comforter is come, he gives a new heart and creates a right spirit. He heals the canker of the churl and sweetens the bitterness of the misanthrope; and,, by imparting the faculty of joy, he has often exalted life into a jubilee and made a very humble dwelling ring with hallelujahs. Ever since it wras broken at the fall, the heart of man is a cracked pitcher from which happiness runs out with amazing rapidity; and the finer the fluid — the more subtle the element of joy, — the faster does it trickle through; and often it is not till the last drop is oozing, — it is not till the latest film is regretfully vanishing, that the soul knows it ought to have been happy, and is sorry for not knowing it sooner.* Far otherwise is it with the Christian’s pleasures. He who has made him a new creature, has given him a new capacity of receiving and retaining joy. The new heart does not leak; at least, there is one gladness there which will abide to all eternity, and which, even when it has for a season disappeared, needs nothing but the jolts of sorrow to shake it up again in all its sparkling zest and fragrant exhilaration. The soul into wrhich God has put the gladness can never be empty of all joy; for the “joy of salvation” heals the broken heart, and so long as itself remains it makes it possible for other joys to stay.
*” The sweetness that pleasure has in it
Is always so slow to come forth,
That seldom, alas! till the minute
It dies, do we know half its worth.”
—Moore’s Melodies.
A devout disposition is happiness. It is happiness, whether outward things go well or ill. A comfortable home, fond kindred, health, a successful calling, are sweet mercies when you accept them direct from God, — thus rendering dearer to yourself, at once the Giver and the gifts. But these mercies may, one by one, withdraw. Lover and friend may be put far from you, and your acquaintance may vanish into secret; your house may dilapidate; your industrious efforts may be defeated; and your prosperous state may be exchanged for penury. But “although the fig-tree shall riot blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herds in the stalls; yet you will rejoice in the Lord, and will joy in the God of your salvation.” With shattered constitution you may find yourself confined to your couch or your chamber, and in pain and depression you may miss that presence which would have been a te sunshine in this shady place.” But lonely and languid you can say, “Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. My flesh and my heart faileth; but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.” Public affairs may take a sombre turn, and in the growth of pauperism, or in the wider gulf which sunders the classes there may be prognostics of uproar and anarchy; or in one of those fits of infatuation which occasionally seize society, you may stand aghast at educated men flinging away their human rights and their reason, and surrendering to a grim superstition which puts out their eyes and binds them in the fetters of Babylon;* or under the spurning hoof of some colossal despotism, you may hear human hearts crushing, as the sea-weed crackles under the school-boy’s wanton heel, and in vain sympathy you may burst your own; or, when in volcanic reaction pent-up indignation explodes, and thrones and altars are hurled through mid-heaven, whilst, like grass under lava, civilization is overwhelmed beneath the fiery tide, and, as it spirts into the air, the gory geyser tells where the earth has opened her mouth, and swallowed alive a weltering multitude; — in moments like these, when the most hopeful philanthropy is paralysed, and “men’s hearts fail them for fear,” the believer can sing, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea:” and beyond all the crash and the turmoil, his purer ear can catch the cadence of heavenly harpers, and through all the smoke of burning mountains quenched in boiling seas, his penetrating eye can glimpse the tokens of a bright Epiphany; and from the reeling soil, he lifts up his head, knowing that redemption draweth nigh. Oh, brethren! in those solemn conjunctures which prefigure final judgment; * 2 Kings xxv. 7.
in those awful conflicts where man appears not so much the combatant as the arena; in those Armageddons where man cannot look to man, for the contending powers are Jehovah and Apollyon, — how blessed to have a friend in Omnipotence, and a citadel within the tabernacle of the Most High!
A benevolent disposition is happiness. The first and great commandment is, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy soul; and the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” To keep these two commandments is the whole of man. The two feelings are very different. It is with an adoring complacency that you love the ever-blessed God, desiring that his glory should be advanced, and that his will should be the mind of the universe. It is with an affectionate good- will that you love your fellow- creatures, desiring that they should be happy in loyalty to God. The one love is simply outgoing; the other ascends. The one is kindness; the other is full of worship. The one is filial devotion; the other is fraternal fondness.
When a rose-bud is formed, if the soil is soft and the sky is genial, it is not long before it bursts; for the life within is so abundant that it can no longer contain it all, — but in blossomed brightness and swimming fragrance it must needs let forth its joy, and gladden all the air. And if, when thus ripe, it refused to expand, it would quickly rot at heart, and die. And Christian charity is just piety with its petals fully spread, — developing itself, and making it a happier world. The religion which fancies that it loves God, when it never evinces love to its brother, is not piety, but a poor mildewed theology, — a dogma with a worm in its heart.
Benevolence is blessedness. It is God’s life in the soul, diffusing in kind emotions, and good offices, and friendly intercessions; but, unlike other expenditures, the more it is diffused, the more that life increases of which it is the sign, and to abound in love one towards another, is to abound in hope towards God.
This was Solomon’s calamity. In his auspicious outset he lived for others. To make Jehovah’s temple exceedingly magnificent, and to see his people prosperous, were the great desires of his forthgoing patriotism and piety. But in a mysterious moment he was forsaken by God’s Spirit. To his introverted egotism his own interest became more urgent than all the universe, and the saint and the patriot became a selfist. The lily crept back into its bulb. It said, I am myself the summer. Yon sun shines, because I am to be seen. This air is balm, because it encircles me. I will go down into myself, and what a self-suffering Eden it will be when all my glory is reserved for Solomon! And down it went; but though its disappearance left less of summer in the world, nothing but winter was found below. And it was not till he took another thought, and resolved once more to keep these two commands, that aught of his old glory came again.
Benevolence is blessedness; and if the present age is happier than some that have gone before it, a chief reason is because its heart is kinder. Doubtless, the amount of material comfort is amazingly increased; but this is not enough. Man is not a dormouse; and however warmly he lines his nest, and however snug the pose of orbicular self-complacency into which he rolls himself, he cannot become his own all-in-all. Material comforts multiply; but these alone have not made it a happier age. It is happier because it is kinder. We would rather convert the Turks than kill them. We would rather see France virtuous and God-fearing, than see it subject to Britain. We would rather teach the Jews the Gospel than torture from them their money hoards. This is the age which wishes well to the slave, and has paid a great price for his freedom. This is the age which wishes well to the Heathen, and is paying, if not a great price, yet a greater than was ever paid before, for his Christian civilization. This is the age which wishes well to the poor and the outcast, and which is taking great pains to enlighten his mind and exalt his condition. God forbid that we should boast. Human nature is the same now as ever; but if the Father of mercies has somewhat softened the spirit of this age, let us not forget to bless his holy name. We think he has. We think on the whole that the world is happier, because of late the Lord has made it somewhat kinder. And its happiness will advance in proportion as it learns to realise that object of the advent, — “on earth peace; good-will towards men.”
Malevolence is misery. It is the mind of Satan. He is the great enemy, — an outcast from all joy, and an opponent of all goodness and all blessedness. His mind is enmity against God; enmity against angels fallen and unfallen; enmity against man both redeemed and reprobate; and, because thus hateful and hating, utterly unhappy. And the carnal mind is so far Satanic because it is enmity against God; just as the misanthrope is so far Satanic because he is enmity against his fellows. On the other hand, benevolence is happiness. It is the mind of God, whose tender mercies are over all his works, and who joys in the joy of his creation. And hence it comes to pass that some who have never tasted the full blessedness of piety, have enjoyed many sweet satisfactions in the exercise of benevolence. “Oh, world,” says the Emperor Antoninus, “all things are suitable to me which are suitable to thee. Nothing is too early or too late for me which is seasonable for thee. All is fruit to me which thy seasons bring forth. Shall any man say, 0 beloved city of Cecrops! and wilt not thou say, O beloved city of God” “And you, my brothers,” exclaimed the German Richter, after he had spent some years in severely satirizing men and manners: — seized with
LECTURE XXI.
a sudden compunction, or rather yielding to a genial visitation, — “And you, my brothers, I will love you more. I will create for you more joy. I will no longer turn my comic powers to torment you; but fantasy and wit shall be united to find consolation and cheerfulness for the most limited of life’s relations.” * He kept his word. Moroseness and moodiness fled away, and from that period onward there are few lives not saintly, on which care’s shadow has lain so lightly. But if there be such a solace in mere benevolence; if there be such a Divine delightsomeness in drying tears and diffusing happiness; if some have passed a very pleasant life who were only kind-hearted without being Christian; — how incomparably more blessed are those who unite the two, — whose brotherly kindness is the fruit of faith, and whose charity is a devout benevolence! the John who, basking in the rays of uncreated love, returns into the midst of our mortality with a glow which ever since has raised the temperature of time! the Paul who, catching the spirit of his Master, is the daily medium through which heaven’s kindness finds its way to the heart of our humanity, and whose very soul, like a libation on a sacrifice, goes up a sweet savour to God, and leaves on earth a grateful memory!
Such is true religion. The Gospel is grace abounding, and vital Christianity is that Gospel met by an abundant gratitude. It is that truth discovered * Richter’s Autobiography, vol. ii., 196.
which converts into a lover of his Creator and his brethren, the man who was an unholy and unthankful self-seeker. That wanderer who, along vistas of vanity was ever arriving at blanker vexation, it transfers into the way of peace; and turning his face God-ward, it sets him on the path which shines more and more unto the perfect day.
Seek then, my brethren, loving thoughts of God. Pray for them. Cherish them. Strive to realize his true character. Look not at the distortions drawn by the lurid fancy of superstition; look not at the dark pictures sketched by your own guilty conscience. But look at the Bible revelation. Look at Immanuel. Behold the brightness of the Father’s glory — behold the Word incarnate, full of grace and truth. Surrender to the manifestation. Let your aspect towards Jehovah be the reciprocal of his aspect towards you. Look towards Jesus, and with the pleasant countenance wherewith he views his beloved Son, he will behold you, 0 looking transgressor! I should rather say, 0 justified believer! And by praise, and bright obedience, and cheerful trust, seek to augment your love to your heavenly Father. When happy thoughts come into your mind, let the thought of God come with them; and when you go into beautiful or attractive scenes, let the reconciled Presence go with you; till at last earth is suffused with heaven, and with the immortal morning spread upon the mountains death is done away and the dark valley superseded.
And seek, as a fruit of the Spirit, love. As a Christian principle cultivate a broad benevolence, and by and by you will come to feel it as a delightful and spontaneous instinct. Having, in virtue of your redeemed relation, “a covenant with the beasts of the field and with the creeping things of the ground,” you will come to share the creature-ward complacency of that kind Creator whose tender mercies are over all his works, and perhaps may realize the description writh which you have sometimes been charmed: —
“In the silence of his face I read
His overflowing spirit. Birds and beasts,
And the mute fish that glances in the stream,
And harmless reptile coiling in the sun,
And gorgeous insect moving in the air,
The fowl domestic, and the household dog — In his capacious mind he loved them all.
Rich in love
And sweet humanity, he was, himself,
To the degree that he desired, beloved.” *
But even this creature-ward kindliness will profit you little unless it be combined with that sublime love towards your immortal fellows which constitutes Christian charity. Love man as man. Fallen and sinful, he is still your brother. Pity the sinner even whilst you abhor the sin; and, in order to deepen and purify your compassion, let it assume a practical form. Ask yourself, What am I doing to make it a * Wordsworth’s “Excursion,” book 2.
holier and so a happier world? And if you find that you are doing nothing in this Divine direction, be not surprised that there is still a crook in your lot and a discomfort in your spirit. Existence will only run smooth when you learn to be a fellow-worker with God. And love the believing brethren. Rejoice in their increase. Rejoice in their prosperity. Glorify the grace of God in them, and be so heartily solicitous for their progress and improvement as really to help them forward. And loving without dissimulation, you will soon find yourself the centre of much affection in return, and whatever joy you diffuse you will find it all returning with increase into your own bosom.
April 20, 1851.