"Search the Scriptures," is one of the most sweeping of all the injunctions laid by God upon the sons of men; and it is the simple truth, that our eternal portion hinges on the rank which we assign to the Word of the living God. A growing relish for it, is a growing ripeness for heaven; distaste for it, is the surest proof that the soul is dead in sin, or still immersed in the darkness which only He who is the Light can dissipate.

But we have next presented to us the message which came to the prophet Jonah: "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness has come up before me.' Here is the path of duty plainly pointed out. The thing to be done " Go to Nineveh;" and the strange reason of the command-"the wickedness of that city has come up before me". '—are made equally clear. The prophet could not misinterpret the words, though he might choose to disobey them. He could not for a moment, or a breath, be ignorant of what his duty was, though he might have no inclination to perform it. The Master's order, and the servant's conscience, are brought into immediate contact; and, whatever shall be the result, there is no room left for a moment's faltering, a moment's doubt, or even a moment's inquiry. The Creator had spoken, and the creature's only open path was either at once to obey, or resolutely to rebel.

But, before studying the conduct of Jonah here, let us rather consider the circumstances in which this command was given. And, as far as we know, Jonah was most probably the only prophet in Israel when he was ordered away to Nineveh. Such was the corruption which prevailed, and so completely had man taken the place of God, that we are told of none but Jonah who

20

PRIVILEGE NEGLECTED,

were left to plead the cause of righteousness and truth in the land; yet mark it well-for there is a lesson in it— that solitary prophet must leave the land of Israel and pass away to do God's work within a heathen city. Just as in the days of the Redeemer, the Jerusalem of Jonah's day knew not the time of its merciful visitation, and it was about to be left, without one warning voice, to sink into deeper darkness still. As in the days of the apostles, the Jews rejected the counsel of God, even till he sent his servants to the Gentiles; so here Israel is abandoned; its solitary candlestick is removed out of its place, and souls are left without a warning and a guide —they loved darkness more than light, and the darkness is permitted to settle densely upon them.

And all this is only a special instance of a general truth. "To him that hath, more shall be given; but from him that hath not, shall be taken away even that which he seemeth to have;" for when privilege does not lead to profit, it is oftentimes withdrawn. A youth, when entering upon life, has sometimes felt a stirring in his soul, as if the eternity to come should receive his first attention. It seemed as if he would take his place among those who are decidedly for God, and who walk in the narrow way. But the engrossments of the world grow; his soul is drawn into the fatal vortex; and, instead of seeking the one thing needful, he becomes more and more worldly, even till old age perhaps overtakes him, indifferent and dead to the things of the Spirit. For a while there was hope, but it dwindled away; and, at last, the soul was left undisturbed in its worldliness by a single compunction, as Israel was left in its corruption without a single prophet to rebuke or to

AND THEREFORE WITHDRAWN.

21

Or some

guide it, when Jonah was sent to Nineveh. one has been visited with sickness and trial. Under the softening and separating effect of that visitation, it appeared for a time as if that soul would relax its grasp of the world-would choose Christ for its portion, and heaven for its home. But gradually the warnings grew less heeded. God's voice in them was less heard-and now the soul is let alone; it is, like Israel, left to its idols and corruptions, when Jonah, its solitary prophet, was ordered away to a heathen land. What Jerusalem would not tolerate, Nineveh may welcome; and Jerusalem is, therefore, left undisturbed in its sin; so that here, we repeat, we have an instance of a pervasive general truth. The Word of God is neglected in one land-it is transferred to another. It is rejected by one soul-it is imparted to another. Chorazin and Bethsaida repel the Saviour and decline his salvation; but there are some among the Gentiles, in the borders of Tyre and Sidon, who rejoice in his light. The godless are thus undesignedly turned into missionaries of Christ—that is, they become the occasion of sending his truth to those who will welcome and walk in its light.

66

But still another remark is suggested to us here. The wickedness of Nineveh, extreme as it was, did not prevent the prophet from being ordered thither; nay, that very wickedness is assigned as a reason why Jonah should go-" their wickedness is come up before me." The iniquity of Israel might be a reason why Jonah should be withdrawn; for that was committed against light, against warnings, and against God's recorded mind. But Nineveh sat in heathen darkness. Gods which were no gods were worshipped there, and

22

THE GOSPEL AND ITS GRACE.

the God of mercy would therefore shed some rays of light among them, that they might turn from their wickedness and live. Hence the commission given to Jonah, founded on the fact that that wickedness was great, and that it cried to heaven, even as the blood of Abel did.

Now, this again finely embodies a general principle, as displayed in the system of grace. For, to whom is the gospel of the grace of God addressed? Whose well-being, whose everlasting life had Jehovah in view, when he sent his Son to suffer and to die? Though men are slow of heart to believe it, they were the guilty, the lost, the condemned. It is to such that pardon is freely offered. For them, salvation and heaven are freely prepared, for "in due time Christ died for the ungodly." It was when we lay polluted, and dying in sin, that God in Christ said "live." The sovereign peculiarity of the gospel thus comes here into view; for the glory of the grace of God is illustrated by the mission to Nineveh-the sending of Jonah to that great city amid all its wickedness, is in spirit the same as the sending of the Saviour to die for the ungodly here. And it is at this point that the hopes of sinners begin, for it is down to this low level that the mercy of God has come. Were we sent, were any minister of Jesus appointed to proclaim his gospel only to the penitent, as those who know not the gospel think should be done-in other words, had Jonah not been sent to Nineveh till Nineveh had of its own accord repented-death without hope had been the doom of all the sons and daughters of the fallen Adam dwelling there. But when men are sent to beckon sinners, as

A GREAT CITY AND GREAT CRIME.

23

sinners, to Christ, when the deepest consciousness of sin may just make it plainer that I am one of those whom Jesus came to seek, then that is good news to our world indeed. That message believed, may well call forth the hosanna" Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." The day-star may now arise in our hearts, for the brightest ray of the glory of heaven has shined into the soul of man.

But the words" Nineveh, that great city," here suggest a crowd of observations to the meditative mind. We may have occasion hereafter to advert to the magnitude of its dimensions; in the meantime, let us dwell on the magnitude of its wickedness. The myriads assembled there cheered each other in guilt; and at last, even in a grossly degenerate age, that place was singled out as the scene of a special display of the mercy of Jehovah. Now, the leading idea here is a great city and great crime in it-myriads of human beings assembled together, and myriads of sins committed by them, entering, without ceasing, into the ears of the holy God-an aggregate of corruption like that which prompted the flood, or which buried Sodom and Gomorrah in their grave of fire.

And need we travel far to find a parallel to this, in the age or land in which we live? Nay, lift up your eyes and see, for, behold, what happened at Nineveh happens also here. In the city of our home, for instance, though containing only about a fifth part of the number of Nineveh, men who like not to retain the knowledge of God in their hearts can cast off his fear, and rush without a check upon every form of crime. Go to some of the streets of our crowded cities, and what is it