Religion: its semblance, its substance, its reward.
I. THE SEMBLANCE OF RELIGION. It argues nothing whatever against religion that there is a great deal of hypocrisy in the world; indeed, the absence would be a more formidable argument than the presence of it. For men imitate that which is most worthy of esteem, and if nobody-pretended to be religious it would be fair to conclude that religion itself was of very small account. Imitation implies the respect, and indicates the value, which is attached to anything which is copied. It speaks well, therefore, for religion that men more often affect to be religious than they pretend to any other excellency. There may be:
1. Acts of devotion. "Seeking God daily"—"Approaching him" in the attitude and engagement of "prayer," whether in the secret chamber, the family circle, or in the house of God.
2. Consultation of his Word. "Asking of God the ordinances of justice"—the regular and systematic reading of Scripture.
3. Special acts of piety. Like that of fasting, which was not enjoined by Mosaic Law (except on one day in the year); or observing certain particular days as days of humiliation and devotion, or ostentatious deeds of beneficence. Concerning these outward shows of piety, it has to be observed:
II. THE SUBSTANCE OF RELIGION. The teaching of the text is that real piety is to be found in such fear of God as will manifest itself in doing his holy will in all the relations of human life; such reverence for the Supreme as will constrain men to do what is right and good in all their dealings with their equals and their inferiors; such piety as bears the fruits of:
1. Peaceableness: the exact opposite of strife and smiting (verse 4).
2. Justice: loosing the bands of wickedness, letting the oppressed go free, etc. (verse 6).
3. Kindness: feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, etc. (verse 7); practical recognition of the claims of the suffering humanity which we can pity and can succour (verse 10). This is "the fast," this is the piety, which God has chosen—that love of God which shows itself in the love of our neighbour (Le Acts 10:25, Acts 10:37; Romans 12:20, Romans 12:21; James 1:27; James 2:14-26).
III. THE REWARD OF RELIGION. It is quite true, profoundly true, that real religion is its own reward. Well does the active servant of Jesus Christ beg to be continued in his holy work, saying-
"And I will ask for no reward,
Except to serve thee still."
But God offers to us, and even presses on our acceptance, his ample and generous rewards for our genuine and faithful service. These are, under Christ:
1. Spiritual illumination (verse 8); being made to be the children of light and of the day, walking in the light of Divine truth, receiving the communications of the enlightening Spirit.
2. Soundness of soul, wholeness of heart and character—"health" within (verse 8).
3. Divine guidance and protection. (Verses 8, 11.)
4. Communion with the living and present Saviour (verse 9).
5. Fruitfulness; ourselves being as a "watered garden" for beauty and productiveness (verse 11); and our work resulting in moral and spiritual restoration (verse 12).—C.
The day of sacred rest.
The institution of the weekly sabbath is certainly one of the "water-marks" of revelation. It is not possible to conceive of anything more wise and beneficent than this provision for our bodily and spiritual well-being. Who can calculate the material or the moral benefit which it has conferred on the human race? Who can estimate the blessing it will have proved to humanity when time has run its course? Whether we regard it in the lower or in the higher aspect of the question, its value is simply inestimable. We may look at—
I. THE GROUND OF ITS OBSERVANCE. The Jews had special reasons for honouring the day. Its observance was part of their statute law (Exodus 20:8-11). But all mankind have reason enough for giving it a conspicuous place in their custom and their commandment.
1. It has its commencement at the very dawn of human history (Genesis 2:2, Genesis 2:3).
2. It was inculcated in the most solemn form, and enforced by the weightiest sanctions on the Hebrew people; and although it is not, on that account, binding on us as a Divine enactment, yet the fact that it was made of so much consequence in the judgment of the Divine Legislator, and had so large a part in the training of the healthiest and purest people the world has ever known, is a very strong argument in favour of its perpetuity: we may surely elect to continue that which we are not formally bound to adopt. We find a powerful reason for so doing in the text anal in similar passages, where we have the significant fact that:
3. It finds a prominent place in prophetic utterance. Inasmuch as the prophets were the strong and even vehement opponents of ceremonialism, and (as in the previous verses of this chapter) made everything of the moral and the spiritual, their testimony concerning the sabbath day has peculiar value. It points to a Divine intention that it should not pass away with the local, the rudimentary, the temporary, but hold its ground with the abiding and the permanent.
4. It was stated by our Lord to have been "made for man" (Mark 2:27).
5. In the new form of the "Lord's day," commemorating the crowning work not of creation but of redemption, it was honoured by the apostles of our Lord. We may, therefore, conclude, in the exercise of our reason, that it is the will of Christ that we should observe one day in seven as a day of sacred rest.
II. THE TRUE SPIRIT OF OBEDIENCE.
1. The spirit of self-renunciation. The Hebrew saint was to "turn away his foot from the sabbath, from doing his pleasure on God's holy day;" i.e. he was to lay aside his customary labours, and to refrain from ordinary amusements on a day on which God asked for contemplation and worship. As Christians, we come to the conclusion that it is the will of our Saviour that we should give to him our homage, our docility, our sacred zeal; we therefore gladly forego the common engagements and enjoyments of our life, "not doing our own ways," in order that we may do his will and gain his good pleasure.
2. The spirit of devotion. The corollary of the cheerful renouncement of our own business is the adoption of God's worship and service as the appropriate engagement of the day. Quitting our home and shunning the mart and the place of amusement, whither should we go but to the house of the Lord, to the field of sacred usefulness? And how can we better spend our time or occupy our powers than in the manly, the lofty, the elevating engagements of devotion and sacred service? Then do we reach our highest mark, and most nearly attain the true standard of our manhood, the richest heritage of our race. Then do we "delight ourselves in the Lord;" then is God what he was to Abraham, and what he will be to us all when we receive the fulness of our inheritance—our "exceeding great Reward."
3. The spirit of sacred joy. We shall "call the sabbath a delight," shall find it so, and shall do our best to make it so—to the children, to the employed, to the lonely and the confined, who can be visited and cheered in the quiet home, in the sick-chamber.
III. ITS LARGE REWARD.
1. In immediate spiritual enjoyment; in the gladness of heart with which the worship of God is anticipated (Psalms 122:1); in the joy of holy fellowship and sacred song; in the happiness of domestic piety.
2. In the continuous spiritual blessedness to which it leads; for a true use of Christian privileges ends in the reconciliation of the soul to God, and in the possession of his abiding favour, in the lifelong friendship of Jesus Christ; there is daily, continual "delight in the Lord."
3. In the realization of the kindest promises of God. To Israel was offered the excellency of "riding on the high places of the earth," and being "fed with the heritage of Jacob." To us, if we truly seek God's face until we find his favour, is offered
HOMILIES BY R. TUCK