07.02. Volume 2 cont'd
The rich man called to him, ’Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because
It is a grievous fact that many an ungodly sinner walks in a flowery path to perdition—and goes merrily to his eternal ruin. It is, on the contrary, as certain that many a godly Christian travels by a rough and toilsome road to heaven—and ascends to glory amid many tears. Our Divine Lord has set forth this in the most solemn of his parables—the rich man and Lazarus. If we looked only at the outward and earthly condition of these two men, we would say one is the type of all that is felicitous; while the other is the type of all that is miserable.
But who that looks upon their eternal abode, would not a thousand times rather be Lazarus with his poverty, sores, and beggary, feeding at the rich man’s gate upon the crumbs which fell from his table—than the wealthy possessor of the mansion, with his purple and fine linen and daily luxurious living! Look up at the one who has dropped all his poverty, borne by angels to Abraham’s bosom! And then look down upon the other, stripped of his splendid garments, deprived of his luxurious living, and from the midst of his torment begging for a drop of water to cool his parched tongue—and there see the end and outcome of ’sanctified poverty’ and of ’unsanctified wealth’.
Heaven will consist of . . .the moral perfection of the soul, perfect knowledge, perfect holiness, perfect love, perfect likeness to Christ, perfection of the body in . . .incorruptibility, immortality, glory, and spirituality; the presence of God in the full manifestation of His glory, the beatific vision of Christ, the fellowship of angels and all the redeemed, the joint worship of the heavenly multitudes, the perfect service of Christ, without . . .interruption, imperfection, or cessation,
complete freedom from . . .pain, toil, hunger, thirst, anxiety, fear, sorrow, and death!
Such is the substance of heavenly felicity. Take any one of them by itself—and each is a heaven! Add them altogether—and
How pure! How elevated! How felicitous!
Glance at the good which
How sorrows crucify him to the world—and the world to him; sometimes gently drawing him away from the world—at others forcing him out as by a violent wrench!
How trials mortify his pride and cure his vanity!
How afflictions restore him from his backslidings and bring him again to God from whom he has departed. How they revive his lukewarm religion and quicken him in prayer. How they make him feel that religion is after all his great concern.
Yes, there is more learned sometimes in one great affliction, than from a thousand sermons, or a library of books!
It is highly incumbent upon Christians, to take care against a worldly spirit. They are in extreme peril of losing the power of godliness from their hearts, and joining the number of those, of whom it is said, in the expressive language of Paul, that "they mind earthly things!"
Such earthlings look upon the possession of wealth as "the one thing needful." Wealth is their chief object of pursuit, the chief source of happiness. Nothing modifies or mitigates their desire for riches. They are of the earth, earthly!
Now certainly a Christian is, or ought to be, of another spirit than this! He should be industrious, frugal, and persevering in his attention to the concerns of this world. But still there should be in his mind, an ultimate and supreme regard for the possession of everlasting life. He ought not to be slothful in business; but then he must be fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. He should be seen to unite the ’diligent worker’ and ’sincere Christian’—and to be busy for both worlds.
The men of this world should be constrained to say of him, "This man is as attentive to business, and as diligent in it as we are; but we can perceive in all he does, an inflexible regard to morality, and an invariable reference to piety. We can discover no lack of diligence or prudence; but it is perfectly evident, that his heart and highest hope are in heaven. He is neither so elated in prosperity, nor so depressed in adversity, as we are.
What a testimony!
Who can obtain a higher one?
Who should seek less?
The Christian also looks to the end of afflictions! The end may sometimes come in this world. In reference to this, the utmost that the believer can be sure of is—that they will end in God’s time. They may last for his whole life. The sickness which afflicts his body may be unto death! The loss which he has sustained in his property may be irreparable, and poverty may go down with him to the grave! The trial which beclouds and distresses his spirits may be his lot for life! But on the other hand, they may not! God may be bringing him "through fire and through water to bring him out into a wealthy place." But the
Christian leaves this in the hand of God, and endeavors to maintain a hope which shall save him from despondency—checked at the same time by a reverence that guards him from unwarranted presumption.
But if the end of the trial should not come in this world—it will come in the next world—when they will not only forever cease, but leave an eternal blessing behind! "I reckon that the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us!" "Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory!" Four things are set forth in these passages.
1. Our afflictions will have a termination! This is sweet. They are to end—they are not to last forever!
2. Our afflictions are not to end like those of the brute creation—in the grave merely—but in heaven!
3. Heaven is so glorious, that the first view of its scenes, and the first moment of its enjoyment, shall make amends for the longest life of the most protracted and intense sufferings!
4. The sufferings of our earthly pilgrimage will enhance and increase the felicities of heaven! Their submissive endurance; the graces which they call into exercise; the sanctification which they promote; the heavenly temper which they cultivate, will be the means of ripening the spirit, and making it fit for its eternal inheritance!
Every tear that is shed; every groan that is heaved; every loss that is sustained; every moment of suffering that is endured; every disappointment that is experienced, which is borne with patience, with resignation, with unwearied holiness—will not only be followed with millions of ages of ineffable
felicity—but will prepare the soul for its enjoyment, and add something to its weight and its luster!
There appears to me to be, at the present moment, a most criminal neglect, on the part of Christian parents, of the pious education of their children.
That Christian who would carry on a system of pious education with success, should enforce it with all the commanding influence of a holy example. Let your children see all the "beauties of holiness" reflected from your character, and the grand outline of godly virtue filled up with all the delicate touches and
varied coloring of the Christian graces.
Let your children have this conviction in their hearts, "
It is dreadful—but not uncommon for children to employ themselves in contrasting the appearance which their parents make . . .at the Lord’s table—and at their own table; in the house of God—and at home!