Ezekiel 13:23

REFLECTIONS

READER! what a mercy is it, in our day, that amidst all the false prophets and heresies; which have come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord hath lifted up, and doth continue to lift up, a standard against them; so that if any precious child of God is at a loss to know the truth, amidst the multitude of pretenders to it, there is a promise, which, if duly attended to and regarded, cannot fail to preserve from error. Though the Lord give you (saith one of the Prophets) the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner anymore; but thine eyes shall see thy teachers, and thine ears shall hear a word behind thee saying, this is the way, walk ye in it when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left. And, as if this was not enough, there is another absolute promise made by the Lord to all the children of Christ, namely, that they shall all be taught of God. Here therefore the Lord engages for them, that they shall be kept from false prophets, and be brought under true teachers; and the Lord Jesus makes this a standing testimony or mark, that all that are truly taught of God come to him. Reader! I beseech you, let this be your improvement and mine from the perusal of this chapter. Do we dread lying prophets? Are we earnest to discover the chaff from the wheat? Is it a momentous concern to know the truth, that the truth may make, us free? What then are we taught of Christ? What do the present prophets, I mean the preachers of the present generation, tell us of Jesus? Do they hold Him up as the Scriptures reveal Him, the way and the truth and the life? Do they delight to speak of the glories of His person, and of the everlasting and eternal merit and efficacy of His blood and righteousness, as God the Holy Ghost delights to glorify him? If so, these are the true Prophets, because they lead, as the star guided the wise men, unto Christ; and hereby know we, saith the Apostle, the spirit of truth from the spirit of error.