Job 15:11

¿Son pequeños contigo los consuelos de Dios?

Perdiendo los consuelos divinos

Algunos toman las palabras como un reproche a Job, mostrándole la irracionalidad de la impaciencia o el desaliento, cuán triste fue su caso, mientras tenían los consuelos de Dios a los que recurrir. También pueden tomarse como una reprimenda a Job por las quejas que había expresado bajo sus sufrimientos; como si no hubiera estado debidamente atento a los divinos consuelos. Incluso los siervos de Dios, bajo las aflicciones, pueden perder el sentido de los consuelos divinos y comportarse como si fueran pequeños para ellos.

I. Los consuelos de los que se habla aquí. Se dice que la consolación es de Dios, ya que Él es el padre y la fuente de ella. Todo verdadero consuelo es de Él y proviene de Él.

1. A modo de eminencia. No hay comodidades como las de Dios.

2. Mediante disposición soberana. En y solo de Él se puede tener consuelo. Como nadie puede consolar como Él, nadie sin Él o en oposición a Él. Cristo, que es llamado el consuelo de Israel, salió del Padre.

3. Note la abundancia y variedad de los consuelos de Dios. Él es el Dios de todo consuelo.

4. Los consuelos de Dios implican su poder y eficacia. Ningún problema o angustia puede ser demasiado grande para que los consuelos divinos se sobrepasen.

II. ¿Cuándo se puede decir que estos consuelos son pequeños?

1. Cuando los siervos de Dios estén listos para desmayar bajo su aflicción.

2. Cuando se impacientan bajo la aflicción, si no se liberan rápidamente o tan pronto como lo desean o esperan.

3. Cuando recurren a cualquier otro método para aliviar y librarse de la angustia, que el que Dios ha designado, de esperar en Él y mirarlo.

4. Cuando estén llenos de pensamientos inquietantes y ansiosos, ¿qué será de nosotros si nuestras aflicciones continúan por mucho más tiempo?

III. Los siervos de Dios están sujetos a tales quejas y aflicciones. Esto procede

1. De la aflicción y el peso de la aflicción misma, especialmente de algunos tipos de ella, bajo la cual no es fácil sobrellevarnos o comportarnos como deberíamos.

2. De la debilidad e imperfección de la gracia, y la fuerza de los restos de corrupción. Sus pensamientos se concentran en lo que sufren y parecen estar totalmente absortos en ello. En medio de tanta confusión y aflicción, si piensan en Dios, lo aprehenden como si se hubiera apartado de ellos o se hubiera vuelto contra ellos. Y como su vida está ligada a su amor, la aprensión de su disgusto les hiere en el corazón.

IV. La pecaminosidad de no atender a los consuelos de Dios, o de no tomarlos a la ligera.

1. Los consuelos de Dios son grandes en sí mismos; por eso es una gran afrenta para Él que sean pequeños con nosotros. Los consuelos en Dios, de Él y con Él, son grandes. No hay caso en el que un santo pueda necesitar consuelo, pero se le anima a buscarlo en alguna u otra de las perfecciones de Dios. Él es un Dios de sabiduría infinita, poder omnipotente, bondad infinita y misericordia, presente en todas partes, y esto para su pueblo en forma de gracia; e inmutable en su naturaleza y perfecciones. Los consuelos de Dios están en Su Hijo, y por Su Espíritu y en Su Palabra.

2. La afrenta de despreciarlos puede agravarse por la indignidad de la persona por quien son despreciados.

3. Y agravado aún más por las obligaciones que Su pueblo tiene para con Él, por lo que Él ha hecho por ellos y les ha otorgado. Un siervo de Dios tiene más motivos de consuelo y deleite en él que motivo de tristeza, a causa de lo que sufre. Solicitud--

(1) ¡ Qué maravilla es que haya tales consuelos de Dios!

(2) Tenga cuidado con la culpa de tratar tales consuelos como pequeños.

(3) Deje que Dios tenga la gloria de cualquier consuelo que haya recibido de Él.

(4) En todas tus angustias, toma conciencia de acudir a tu Padre que está en los cielos, como padre y fuente de consuelo.

(5) Espere el consuelo en el tiempo de Dios y presuma de no recetarle; pero sigue orando y mirando hacia arriba. ( D. Wilcox. )

Los consuelos de Dios

I. Mire brevemente los consuelos de Dios. El verdadero consuelo, de todo tipo y grado, proviene de Dios.

1. Hay providencias consoladoras. Hay una providencia especial que atiende a los santos.

2. Las promesas están llenas de consuelo. Estos despliegan los propósitos de la gracia de Dios y se interponen entre el decreto y la ejecución.

3. Hay muchos consuelos experimentales que disfrutan los verdaderos creyentes.

II. ¿Cuándo se puede decir que debemos tomar a la ligera estos consuelos y considerarlos pequeños?

1. Cuando subestimamos las bendiciones de la salvación, colocando las gratificaciones carnales al mismo nivel que ellas, o no dándoles preferencia.

2. Estos consuelos son pequeños para nosotros cuando somos perezosos y negligentes al buscarlos.

3. Cuando no estimamos tanto las bendiciones del Evangelio como para encontrar satisfacción en ellas, en ausencia de todo bien creado, se puede decir que las consideramos pequeñas.

III. La irracionalidad y pecaminosidad de tratar con descuido los consuelos del Evangelio.

1. Estos consuelos no son pequeños en sí mismos y, por lo tanto, no debemos despreciarlos. Ellos sientan las bases para la paz y el consuelo bajo las mayores aflicciones.

2. Hacerlos a la ligera es la forma de privarse de ellos, total o parcialmente.

3. Es despreciar a su Autor. Mejora--

(1) A los que persiguen ansiosamente las riquezas, los honores y los placeres de la vida presente en el descuido de sus almas.

(2) A los insatisfechos con los nombramientos de la Providencia.

(3) Que todos aquellos que, como Ana, son de espíritu apesadumbrado, se esfuercen por recordar sus misericordias anteriores, como un antídoto para el desaliento actual. ( B. Beddome, MA )

Los consuelos de Dios

I. La sustancia y el carácter de las consolaciones de Dios. En su esencia, son verdaderos, sólidos, fuertes, eternos y están enamorados. El carácter de estos consuelos alcanza un nivel tan alto como su sustancia. Los consuelos, para ser efectivos, deben ser apropiados y adecuados. Para nosotros este personaje es reflexivo, contemplativo, comparativo y prospectivo.

II. El método y la manera de transmitir los consuelos de Dios. Dios usa el método de una providencia dominante; de la revelación divina; del Espíritu que permanece. El ministerio de la consolación necesita peculiarmente un corazón tierno, una mente iluminada, una mano amable y una lengua amable. Siempre hay necesidad de un ministerio así en un mundo como el nuestro. La manera de Dios es considerada, concesiva y concluyente.

III. El espíritu de acogida que se da a los consuelos de Dios. Deben ser recibidos con espíritu de fe. El espíritu de alegría será el fruto de esta fe sumisa. El espíritu de oración descubrirá que "la calamidad no es más que la gracia velada de Dios". ( WA Bevan. )

Los consuelos de Dios

1. Dios es el consolador del hombre por el mismo hecho de su existencia. Hay una clase de pasajes en la Biblia que parecen descansar la paz del alma humana en el mero hecho de la existencia de la vida más amplia de Dios. Es porque Dios es el que invita al hombre a estar en paz. Compadezco al hombre que nunca ha estado en su mejor estado de ánimo sentido su vida consolada y reconfortada en su pequeñez por las vidas más grandes que podía mirar, y sabe que ellos también eran hombres, viviendo en la misma humanidad que él, solo viviendo en ella. mucho más en gran medida.

Porque gran parte de nuestra necesidad de consuelo proviene precisamente de esta manera, de la pequeñez de nuestra vida, su mezquindad y cansancio que se transfiere insensiblemente a toda la vida, y nos hace escépticos sobre cualquier cosa grande o por la que valga la pena vivir en la vida; y es nuestro rescate de esta duda debilitante que es la bendición que cae sobre nosotros cuando, dejando atrás nuestra propia insignificancia, dejamos que nuestro corazón descanse con consuelo en el mero hecho de que hay hombres de vida grande, amplia, generosa y saludable. A los hombres les gusta lo más grande que conocemos. No son las personas más activas a las que más les debemos.

2. Luego está la simpatía de este mismo Dios. Se nos da a conocer, no solo que Él es, sino que Él se preocupa por nosotros. No meramente Su vida, sino Su amor, se convierte en un hecho. La verdadera razón por la que el que sufre se regocija en la simpatía de Dios es que, por medio del amor, se le da a conocer completamente esa naturaleza querida y perfecta por la que ha luchado antes. El amor es el medio de traducción.

A través de la simpatía de Dios, conoce a Dios de manera más intensa y cercana, por lo que todos los consuelos del ser de Dios se han vuelto más reales para él. ¿Cómo aprendemos de tal simpatía de Dios? ¿Cómo podemos realmente llegar a creer que Él conoce nuestros problemas individuales y se lamenta por ellos con nosotros? Más que de cualquier argumento abstracto o científico sobre la universalidad de las grandes leyes, creo que es la grandeza del mundo, los millones y millones de almas necesitadas, lo que hace que sea difícil para los hombres creer en el cuidado discriminatorio y el amor personal de Dios. para cada. En tal perplejidad, ¿qué haremos?

(1) Dé juego libre y atrevido a los instintos del corazón que creen que el Creador debe cuidar de las criaturas que ha creado, y que el único cuidado realmente efectivo debe ser el que lleve a cada uno de ellos a Su amor.

2. Abra el corazón a esa misma convicción, que ha quedado profundamente impresa en el corazón de multitudes de hombres en todas partes.

3. Obtenga el gran espíritu de la Biblia. Posea su idea de que no hay una vida que el Dador de vida pierda jamás fuera de Su vista; no uno que peca para que él lo deseche.

3. Dios tiene grandes verdades que trae a los corazones que desea consolar. Les da sus grandes verdades de consuelo. ¿Cuáles son esas verdades? Educación, espiritualidad e inmortalidad: estos parecen ser la suma de todos ellos.

4. El hombre quiere sentir a Dios haciendo algo en su vida, mostrando su simpatía por algún acto fuerte. Y entonces ora para que Dios lo ayude, para que haga algo positivo por él. Todo lo que hay de consolador en Dios - ser, simpatía, verdad, poder - Cristo lo ha puesto en la claridad y el esplendor de Su vida. Si quieres consuelo debes acudir a Él. ( Phillips Brooks. )

Los consuelos de Dios

I. A veces el cristiano carece de consuelo por la misma debilidad e imperfección de su naturaleza. Así como la santidad perfecta aseguraría por sí misma la dicha perfecta, existe una conexión necesaria entre la debilidad moral y el goce transitorio e incompleto. Nada podría mostrar más claramente que nuestra naturaleza es caída y corrupta que el simple pero sorprendente hecho de que incluso cuando el amor divino había provisto un Mediador entre Dios y el hombre, el Espíritu Santo debe venir al mundo, no solo para aplicar el remedio, sino para hacernos sentir nuestra necesidad.

II. Otra razón por la que incluso las personas cristianas a veces están deprimidas y abatidas es la separación del compañerismo piadoso. Como el ungüento y el perfume alegran el corazón, así el hombre se alegra por el consejo sabio y oportuno. Incluso San Pablo, héroe como era, tuvo sus períodos de tristeza, mientras seguía su camino cansado, separados de la simpatía cristiana; pero cuando vio a los hermanos, agradeció a Dios y se animó ( Hechos 28:15 ).

III. Neglect of the Divinely appointed means or comfort is another very common reason why Christians enjoy so little of it. God will console us in His own way: in devout meditation, in secret prayer, in public worship, in the diligent study of His Holy Word, and in the humble and frequent reception of “the most comfortable sacrament of the body and blood of Christ.” When providentially hindered from sharing in the public means of grace, the good Lord will make all due allowance for us. He will be with us in this trouble, and we shall see His power and glory, as we have seen Him in the sanctuary.

IV. Once more, “the consolations” of God’s people are sometimes “small,” because they live in wilful neglect of His Holy Spirit. “Are the consolations of God small with thee?” If so, is it not your own fault? The discovery of the source of the evil is a most important step towards its correction and cure. (John N. Norton, D. D.)

Strength impaired

I. The consolations of God are small with thee. You have not that satisfactory conviction of things unseen, which once you enjoyed. The light of heaven does not now shine in your hearts. Thou sittest in darkness. Thou hast just enough light to see how great is thy darkness. What is that thing with thee which causes this inward darkness?

II. This spiritual backsliding may have crept so secretly over thy soul, that you may not have perceived it until now. Inward darkness must be caused by sin. Sin that lies at the root of all declension from God, is neglect of private prayer, or giving way to some inward sin. The consolations of God will be small with us, unless we are constantly stirring up the gift of God which is in us.

III. What is the cure for this? First find out the cause, and this will point to the cure. (R. A. Suckling, M. A.)

Unhappy religion

That there cannot be an effect without a cause is as true in ethics as in physics, in the kingdom of grace as in the kingdom of nature. However complicated a web that system of facts, truths, doctrines, precepts, promises, duties, exercises, experiences, consciousnesses, which we designate religion, may appear in the estimation of some men, they whose spirit this system has searched through, find it to be a much simpler system than is commonly supposed, and that it is based, for the most part, upon uniform and ascertainable laws.

Though its details of operation upon the individual heart and life may vary,--though the path whereby men are led to know God, and to know themselves, by being led to see how thoroughly they are known to God, may not in all instances be the same,--there are certain plain rules which will be found applicable throughout the universe of souls. One of these is, that in the spiritual, as in the natural, life, there is no effect without its cause: that as health and disease have their causes in the natural life, so have prosperity and adversity in the spiritual: that the same laws which would explain the spiritual estate for better or for worse, of those around us, will, if fairly applied, explain ours.

As there is “the same God which worketh all in all,” His work where it is will assuredly exhibit some feature or other whereby it may be recognised as His. Of this truth Eliphaz seems to have been well persuaded. He beheld the afflictions of Job. He set them down for an effect; and was determined, if possible, to convict the patriarch of some moral obliquity as their cause. His mistake was in assuming that it was his mission to ascertain the cause in this particular case, and in believing that his sagacity had not failed in discovering precisely what it was.

There was a cause why Job was thus afflicted; but a cause which may have been, and was, so deeply hidden in the Divine bosom, as at this time to be as inexplicable to the patriarch himself as to his friends. All trouble doth not arise from sin. Much trouble is the consequence of sin; and all sin will, sooner or later, be the source of trouble. .. Eliphaz is here addressing his spiritual patient in a milder tone.

Here he hints that Job’s visitation may have been for some sin known only to himself. “Are the consolations of God small with thee?” he inquires: “is there any secret thing with thee?” All men are punished secretly for what they do openly; and some are punished openly for what they do secretly. Though the interpretations of the text did not apply to the case of the patriarch, they might have been, as they may be, applicable to the cases of others.

How is it that the “consolations of God are small” with any of us? How is it that there is so little religious joy in the world? Mind is so constituted as to be affected by trifles. Little sufficeth to elevate many, and as little to depress. This easiness of being pleased is childhood’s happiest attribute. Surely there must be some cause for the cold, joyless, uncomfortable religion, which is so prevalent.

All deep thinkers are deep sufferers--not sufferers, perhaps, in body or estate, but in mind. They suffer because they think. The religious man is of necessity a thoughtful one. How is it that religious joy is so little known? There may be seasons when we cannot rejoice; yea, ought not. It may be necessary for us to be for a season in heaviness; to be deprived of the sensible comforts of faith, hope, and charity; being apt to undervalue them till they have fled.

We do not, however, look to such cases as these. We are thinking of cases where mourning, heaviness, bondage of spirit, mental gloom, spiritual depression, seem to be chronic complaints; when the soul seldom or never rejoiceth. There is a constraint, a distrust, a timidity, a suspicion, in our piety. We are afraid, we know not of what. We are ready to say, “Let us be miserable, that we may be religious.” Ask then, “Is there any secret thing with us,” that will help to explain this enigma of a joyless Christianity? What is possible in this case?

1. Is there any moral obliquity with thee? We do not ask, Have you done wrong; or do you do wrong; but do we cherish any wrongdoing; are we in love with any? Is there any base passion or propensity we will not part with? St. Augustine says, “It is not the act but the habit that justifieth a name,” i.e., he is not a sinner who committeth a sin, but who liveth in the commission of it. Is there then any sin indulged or persisted in?

2. Is there aught that is evil in the state of thy affections? Most of us have some pretence to seriousness.

3. Is there any secret misgiving with thee as to the certainty of Divine truth? Did you ever have a doubt if the religion of Christ were true? Did you ever mistrust your persuasions? One doubt does not make an infidel. The habit of doubting may. They who have ended in disbelieving began by doubting, i.e., by giving place to doubt: by making that scruple their own which was at first their enemy’s.

4. Is there any secret fear of ourselves? Are we in doubt of our own state before God? Are we afraid to trust our principles? If there be none of these “secret” things, what is to hinder the joys of religion from flooding our souls, or the consolations of God from being great with us? It is related of Dr. Francis Xavier that “he was so cheerful as to be accused of being gay.” Why should not we be thus cheerful, gladsome, satisfied? (Alfred Bowen Evans.)

The consolations of God and secret things

This is a beautiful expression, “the consolations of God.” Poor, indeed, are the world’s best consolations. But He who has made us does not wish us to rest in these, but gives Himself to us as the consolation. The Gospel is the grand scheme whereby God becomes ours, and we are His; whereby the consolations of God become the consolations of man. If, then, a Christian is a tried man, he ought to be a joyful man--a man abounding in consolation.

I. Some marks of the state of mind in which the consolations of God are small.

1. It is the one great privilege of the true Christian, to know that his sins are forgiven. It is God’s gracious will, not only that we should be reconciled to Himself through faith in Christ, but that we should be conscious of our reconciliation. It is just the want of this which we take to be the first mark of all those Christians whose consolations are small. It is possible to live in practical forgetfulness that our sins have been forgiven, and this forgetfulness is always a sign of lukewarmness, and of a very low state of Christian feeling and conduct.

2. Again, Jesus is very near His people, according to His own gracious promise. What singleness of aim in life, what encouragement in duty, what steadfastness in conflict, and what hopefulness in work, this consciousness of the presence of Christ would give us. But, alas! is it not just in this that we grievously fail? How many are the hours of our life--how many are the duties which we perform--how many are the works in which we engage, without thinking of our Saviour’s presence and nearness! This may be taken as a second mark. If we live as though Christ were not near, our consolations cannot abound.

3. Not only are great things now given to the true Christian, but still greater things are promised. How pleasant should heaven be to our thoughts. But here also we fail. As our thoughts of heaven, so will our consolation be, little of one, little of the other.

II. Some reasons for this state.

1. Some besetting sin. “Is there any secret thing with thee?” Many things may be given up, but if only one wrong thought or feeling be retained--one bad habit spared--the injury it will do is incalculable. There is something, it seems a little thing, which we spare. The temper is not always controlled; the tongue is not always bridled; unforgiving feelings are not earnestly uprooted at once. Whatever our besetting sin be, if yielded to but a little, it will darken the heart. It will hinder communion with God.

2. Another secret thing is want of faith. Some look too much into their own hearts, too little to Christ. They know but little of the unsearchable riches which are laid up in Him for our daily use and consolation; hence their hands often hang down, and their knees are feeble. They make little progress.

3. Another secret thing is spiritual sloth. There are many who are very active in body and mind, who, nevertheless, are spiritually very slothful. They are slothful in prayer, and in reading the Bible. Every Christian should seek to attain a fresh and lively spirit, a readiness for communion with God, and for every good work. A spirit of sloth and self-indulgence eats as a canker into the spiritual life, and reduces our consolation to the smallest possible degree. If this “secret thing” is allowed in our hearts, it is no wonder that our consolations are small.

4. One more secret thing is, guilt upon the conscience. It is essential to a close walk with God, never to allow the guilt of sin to rankle in the conscience, for this is always followed by estrangement of heart from God. Any delay in confessing sin, and casting it upon Jesus, is injurious, and tends to hinder communion with God. The consolations of the Spirit are suspended, and the heart sinks into a low state.

Such are some of the secret things which hinder the consolations of God. May God enable us by His grace to guard against them, that our consolations may abound, and our joy may be full. (George Wagner.)

Why is there no more enjoyment of religion

The consolations of God are not small in themselves: “her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.” They are not small in their design and intended benefit: “light is sown for the righteous and gladness for the upright in heart”--sown as seed that it may bring forth a harvest of joy to the soul. To the experience of the faithful Christian they are not small, for in every age not a few have been able, with the Psalmist, from their own experience to say, “In the multitude of my thoughts within me Thy comforts delight my soul.

” And yet, alas! it is but too true that many a Christian knows the full value of this joy rather from the want of it than from its possession, having at some time had the taste which leads him to ask, “Where is the blessedness that once I knew?” rather than now having the clear and steady and habitual enjoyment of God and His service, which is the true sunshine and health of the soul. And if we do not find full enjoyment in religion we must look for the reasons in ourselves.

I. The absence of bodily health. An imperfect, morbid, or deranged state of health impairs our happiness from every source. So intimate is the connection between the soul and body that a weak or depressed state of the former not unfrequently arises from the latter, so that even the faithful Christian may not, at times, find enjoyment in religion because he does not find enjoyment in anything--because the same cloud comes over, at the same time, both his temporal and his spiritual horizon.

In such cases the absence of enjoyment is not justly a matter of self-condemnation, and the evil is not a thing to be repented of but regretted, and the remedy is to be sought not in greater fidelity in duty, but rather from the skill of the physician. It is said of the eminent and eminently spiritual Archibald Alexander, that when once asked “if he always enjoyed the full assurance of faith,” he replied, “Well--yes--almost always, unless the east wind is blowing.

” And an eminent divine of wide experience as a pastor has said, that “of twenty persons of hopeful piety who came to him in religious despondency, eighteen had more need of the physician than of the Divine.” And more than two hundred years ago, good old Richard Baxter preached and published, in his practical and sharply logical way, on “the cure of melancholy and overmuch sorrow by faith and physic,” laying greatest stress on the “physic”; and though his medical prescriptions might excite the smile of the modern physician, yet the treatise, as a whole, is worthy of a place among our religious classics.

The truth is, there are not a few troubles that cannot be cured by the Bible and hymn book or by mere spiritual counsel, that may be cured by rest, and exercise, and diet, and the fresh air of heaven. Another reason why many do not find enjoyment in religion is--

II. That they seek it for its own sake, and as in itself an end, rather than as only an incidental result of fidelity in duty. There are not a few who, either thoughtlessly or selfishly, seek for happiness in religion when they should be seeking only for duty--spiritual epicures, aiming at their own comfort when they should be seeking, as the great thing, to be holy and useful. They forget that they were not brought into the family of Christ merely to enjoy themselves, but to obey and serve Him, and that His direction is not, “Seek first your own comfort and enjoyment in My service,” but, “Seek first My kingdom and its righteousness,” in your own hearts, and in the hearts and lives of others, and then your joy, with all other needed things, shall be added thereto.

They forget that happiness, when sought directly and for its own sake, in any sphere, flies from us; but that when we are occupied With the means to it, then it comes of itself, and that in religion the means to it is fidelity in duty. Another reason why some do not find more enjoyment in religion is--

III. That they do not practically regard the common occupations of life as a means of grace. They regard the Sabbath and its services and private devotion as intended to draw them nearer to God, and to aid them to enjoyment in religion, and believe that if not misimproved they will actually do it. But the common occupations and employments of life they practically regard as antagonistic to these ends and tending in the opposite direction.

The former they seem to think are a stream bearing them on to God; the latter a stream bearing them away from Him. The Sabbath they practically regard as the antidote to the week, and the week to be counterbalanced by the Sabbath--the piety gained on the Sabbath to be used up and exhausted in the week, and the week in turn to be furnished afresh from the Sabbath. Such, however, is not the teaching of the Bible, though it is, alas! too much the practical belief of multitudes who ought to know better, and who to know better need only to think as to what God has taught.

For it is impossible that He should command two things that cross and are inconsistent with each other; and having bidden us to be diligent in business and at the same time fervent in spirit--in the sweat of our brow to earn our bread, and yet to pray without ceasing, it cannot be that He would not have both tend to the same end. The arrangements of His providence, as well as the teachings of His Word, show that the means of grace are not to be limited to the forms of public and private worship, and that the Sabbath is not the only day that God claims, while six days are to be given up to worldliness of thought and aim and spirit.

Our trade or profession or calling, the right ordering of our property or farm or merchandise, our family and household cares, each may be a means of access to God and of aiding us to enjoy Him, just as truly the gate of heaven to the soul as the sanctuary itself. The labourer toiling at his task, the mother diligently training up her children or taking the oversight of her household, the merchant in his counting house, the professional man in his office, or the servant in his daily duties, each may not only find a sphere for the exercise and growth of his graces--for patience, and gentleness, and contentment, and charity, and self-denial, but through these for that joy in God which every good and faithful servant of Christ should expect and may find. Another reason why some find so little enjoyment of religion is--

IV. From the want of symmetry and proportion in their Christian character. In the human body the full enjoyment of health is never known except where the various parts are proportioned and sound in themselves, and their various functions are rightfully performed. Let a limb be out of joint, or a bone broken, or a vital part diseased, or a nerve in a disordered state, and the whole system will measurably suffer, and the fun and childlike and buoyant feeling of perfect health can never be known.

There may be, and there is life, and there may not be positive and greatly painful sickness, but the process or progress of living is not of itself a joy as it is to those in absolutely perfect health. And so it is with the religious life--with the spiritual vitality--with the enjoyment or want of enjoyment in religion. The disproportion of Christian character, the want of symmetry in the Christian graces, the undue development or prominence of some one virtue or class of virtues, with the corresponding depression of their opposites, this, to the soul, is like the disordered nerve, or broken bone, or chronic inflammation to the body.

It is only when the true symmetry of Christian character is kept up, when the active and passive virtues are equally cherished, when piety toward God is proportioned to benevolence to man, when principle keeps pace with emotion, and hope with fear, and reverence with love, and knowledge with faith, and trust with obedience, and self-control within with active performance without, and devotion and action go hand in hand--only thus, when every chord of the soul is perfect and in tune, that the full harmony of the strain tells of that joy in the spirit of which it is at the same time the offspring and evidence.

A disproportioned Christian character necessarily loses much of the joy of religion, just as the instrument out of tune makes discordant music, or the body in sickness feels not the full joy of health. Still another reason why some find so little enjoyment in religion is--

V. Because they have not clear views of the gospel ground of reliance for the Christian--of the full and strong and broad foundation it lays for hope, and thus, of course, for joy. It is hard for a sinner, even though he is a penitent and forgiven sinner, to realise the glorious fulness of the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Too often for our hope, and thus for our joy, we are prone to look to Christ as one who is to work with us to make up our deficiencies, rather than as one who is a complete and perfect and all-sufficient Saviour, Himself doing the entire work, and bestowing freely, on us its full benefit and blessing.

“The labour of a lifetime,” says Dr. Chalmers, “seeking to establish a merit of our own, will but widen our distance from peace,” and so from joy; “and nothing will send this blessed visitant to our bosoms but a firm and simple reliance on the declarations of the Gospel.” As God spared not His own but has freely given Him up for us all, surely with Him He will freely give us all things. Still another reason why many do not more enjoy religion is--

VI. That they are not active in doing good. They look on religion rather as a profession than as a progress, as something they received in conversion, and which is to bear them safely on to heaven, rather than as a spirit to be cherished, and a character to be improved--a principle of duty and effort to be carried out in doing good in imitation of Christ. No truth is more plainly stated by inspiration, or more fully sustained by experience, than that it is more blessed to give than to receive.

As to do good with wealth or influence is the way to enjoy wealth or influence, so to do good as a Christian is the way to find enjoyment as a Christian. “Assurance,” says President Edwards, “is not to be obtained so much by self-examination as by action”; and the assertion is equally true of the joy that flows from assurance, and is increased by every effort to do good to others. Doubt and depression often come from inactivity.

John, active and earnest in the desert, needs no proof that the Messiah has come, but when shut up in prison, inactive and depressed, he seems to have become morbid and doubtful, and sends to inquire if Jesus is indeed the Christ. When Dr. Marshman was a young man and at home, he often had doubts and fears as to his spiritual state, but when after thirty years’ missionary work in India, William Jay said to him, “Well, Doctor, how now about your doubts and fears?” his reply was, “I have had no time for them; I have been too busy preaching Christ to the heathen.

” And Howard, the philanthropist, tells us that his rule for shaking off trouble of any kind was, “Set about doing good; put on your hat and go and visit the sick and poor in your neighbourhood; inquire as to their wants and minister to them; seek out the desolate and oppressed, and tell them of the consolations of religion. I have often tried it,” he adds, “and have always found it the best medicine for a heavy heart.

” This is the true spirit of benevolence, which is always the spirit of enjoyment. This will leave no time for doubt and despondency, and will call forth those sympathies of our nature which are the sure sources of happiness, giving us that evidence of piety which is found in doing good, and which cannot but minister to our joy. One more, and a general reason why many do not find the full enjoyment of religion, may be found--

VII. In neglect and unfaithfulness as to duty. It is that in some form our iniquity separates between us and God, and shuts out the light of His countenance from us--that our sins, either positive or negative, either of commission or omission, hide His face from the soul. One, it may be, is lukewarm and vacillating and changeable, having too little religion to enjoy God, and too much to find enjoyment in the world.

With another the private indulgence of some desire, or the pursuit of some object inconsistent with the known will of God, is like the worm to the gourd of the prophet, a cause not visible, but real, ,withering the refreshing shade over his head by secretly gnawing at the root. Or the source of the evil may be not only the sin committed, but the duty neglected. (Tryon Edwards, D. D.)

Small consolations

Stars not valued in daytime but at night. So with friends in adversity. Many kinds of friends. Some real but unsafe. Some wanting in tenderness. Thus with Job’s three friends. Turn from Job to ourselves. If I ask, Are you all free from trouble? none say “Yes,” absolutely. Seneca said, “The happiest man in the world is the man who thinks himself so.” As to true happiness, the Christian is the only really happy man, but even he has his bitterness.

I. We need consolation.

1. If we look at our dwelling place. Our dwelling is the world. God made it. Well, what He made cannot create sorrow. No. Change, sin entered. “In the world ye shall have tribulation.”

2. If we look at our afflictions, personal, domestic. Dark dispensations of providence, death.

3. If we look at our enemies. Life a warfare. Satan “goeth about.”

4. If we look at our experience. So changeable. We are now on the mountain, next week in the valley. Need not be so.

II. That consolation may be obtained from God. All earthly sources fall.

1. In His name. Ideas of God overwhelming. There is His justice, etc. These not His name but His attributes. What is His name? “I am that I am,” unchangeable. “The Lord, the Lord God merciful and gracious,” etc.

2. In His nature. His love infinite. Unbounded gift of His Son.

3. In His relationship. Creator, Preserver, Redeemer. He is our Father.

4. Promises. “As thy day,” etc. How variable it is! As thy day, etc.

III. That if small consolations, there are reasons for it. Reason not with God. What makes them small?

1. State of health.

2. Neglect of means.

3. Depending on other sources.

4. Neglecting Christ as the meritorious cause, and the Spirit as the instrumental cause of peace. (Homiletic Magazine.)

Consolation abundant but unrealised

We have heard of persons in Australia who walked habitually over nuggets of gold. We have heard of a bridge being built with what seemed common stones, but it contained masses of golden ore. Men do not know their wealth. Is it not a pity that you should be poor in comfort, and yet have all this gold of consolation at your feet? (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Insidious influences destroying spiritual joy

In the Harlem district of New York came the report of a disease-smitten residence, the occupants of which gave symptoms of arsenical poisoning. At first it was supposed that someone living in the house was secretly administering the poison to the other inmates through their food. But chemical tests of various dishes at various times, even examination of the drinking water, elicited nothing wrong. Once or twice a domestic was arrested on suspicion, but almost as soon released.

The trouble grew more alarming, and with the growing alarm grew the mystery. At last a prominent chemist of the city, who had been quietly studying the newspaper and other accounts given, called at the house, and requested permission to personally inspect it. This was readily granted. Almost the first thing he did upon gaining entrance was to carefully examine, not the sanitary appointments, which were known to be correct, but the paper on the walls.

He minutely examined all the paper on every wall in the place, and upon leaving without disclosing his suspicions, took with him several sections of the wallpaper in the bedrooms and dining room. These he subjected to a careful examination in his laboratory, with the result, as he had suspected, that every sample of wallpaper contained large quantities of pure arsenic, used in the production of the various colours.

This poison was particularly plentiful in the composition of the pink papers, one Sample of which had enough arsenic on a square foot of it to destroy the life of an adult. The discovery caused at the time much excitement, and many persons tore down their wallpapers, some without cause, and substituted other styles of decoration. So is it often that the soul’s life is threatened and dangerously affected by some secret, hidden, mysterious cause as insidious, yet all-pervading and powerful, as the filling of the Harlem lot or the arsenically prepared colours in the wallpaper. “Is there any secret thing with thee?” is in such a case a timely question, which may find a saving answer. (G. V. Reichel.)

Concerning the consolations of God

These are the words of Eliphaz, one of those three friends of Job who blundered dreadfully over his case. Their words are not to be despised; for they were men in the front rank for knowledge and experience. If we are indeed believers in the Gospel, and are living near to God, our consolation should be exceeding great. Passing through a troubled world, we have need of consolations; but these are abundantly provided.

I. Our first question follows the interpretation given by most authorities: “Do you regard the consolations of God as small?” “Are the consolations of God too small for thee?”

1. I would ask you, first, Do you think religion makes men unhappy? Have you poisoned your mind with that invention of the enemy? Have you made yourself believe that godliness consists in morbid self-condemnation, despondency, apprehension, and dread?

2. Is not your verdict different from that of those who have tried godliness for themselves? Do you not know that many, for the joy they have found in the love of Christ, have renounced all sinful pleasures, and utterly despised them? Have you not also remarked, in many afflicted Christians, a peace which you yourself do not know? Have you not observed their patience under adversity?

3. Will you follow me a while as I ask you, Upon consideration, will you not amend your judgment? Do you think that the All-sufficient cannot provide consolation equal to the affliction? See again these consolations of God deal with the source of sorrow. Whence came the curse, but from the sin of man? Jesus has come to save His people from their sins. Comfort which left us under the power of evil would be dangerous comfort; but comfort which takes away both the guilt and the power of sin is glorious indeed.

Remember, too, that the consolations of God reveal to us a reason for the sorrow when it is allowed to remain. There is a needs-be that we are in heaviness. Another reflection sweetly cheers the heart of the tried one during his tribulation, namely, that he has a comrade in it. We are not passing through the waters alone. If the Son of God be with us, surely there is an end of every sort of fear.

Besides, “the consolations of God” lie also in the direction of compensations. You have the rod; yes, but this is the small drawback to heavenly sonship, if drawback indeed it be. Would you not far rather be of the seed of the woman, and have your heel bruised? Besides, there is the consolation that you are on your journey home, and that every moment you are coming closer to the eternal rest.

II. Have these consolations been small in their effect upon you? Have these consolations, though great in themselves, been small in their influence upon you?

1. I will begin my examination by putting to one disciple this question: Have you never very much rejoiced in God? Have you always possessed a little, but a very little, joy? Why is this? Whence comes it? Is it ignorance? Do you not know enough of the great doctrines of the Gospel, and of the vast privileges of the redeemed? Is it listlessness? Have you never felt desirous to know the best of the Christian life? But it may be, that you once did joy and rejoice?

2. Well, then, is it of late that you have lost these splendid consolations, and come down to feel them small with you? Is it that you have more business, and have grown more worldly? Do you reply to me that you do use the means of grace?

3. Do the outward means fail to bring you the consolation they once did? Are you as much in prayer as ever? and is prayer less refreshing than it used to be? I may come near to your experience if I ask--

4. Do you revive occasionally and then relapse?

5. Does the cause of your greater grief lie in a trial to which you do not fully submit?

6. It may be that while you are thus without the enjoyment of Divine consolation, Satan is tempting you to look to other things for comfort.

III. Since the consolations of God appear so small to you, have you anything better to put in their place? Perhaps this is what Eliphaz meant when he said, “Is there any secret thing with thee?” If God’s Gospel fails you, what will you do?

1. Have you found out a new religion with brighter hopes?

2. Are you hoping to find comfort in the world?

3. Or, do you conclude that you are strong-minded enough to bear all the difficulties and trials of life without consolation?

4. Do you say that what can’t be cured must be endured, and you will keep as you are? This is a poor resolve for a man to come to. If there is better to be had, why not seek it?

IV. If it be so, that you have hitherto found heavenly consolations to have small effect with you, and yet have nothing better to put in their place, is there not a cause for your failure? Will you not endeavour to find it out?

1. Is there not some sin indulged?

2. Next, may there not have been some duty neglected?

3. Again, may there not be some idol in your heart?

4. But, if you do not enjoy the consolations of God, do you not think it is because you do not think enough of God?

5. If any of you have not the joy of the Lord which you once possessed, is it not possible that when you used to have it you grew proud?

6. Have you begun to distrust? Do you really doubt your God? (C. H. Spurgeon.)

“God’s consolations”

It must be admitted that there is a tendency to forget, or at least to underestimate God’s consolations.

I. Now, first let me tell you what it is that prompts this enquiry.

1. You really must excuse me for asking you if the mercies of God seem trivial to you, for some of you look as if they were. If I judged by your countenance I should suppose that you had scarcely any of them, and that they were wonderfully paltry and powerless.

2. I ask the question of others, because I am bound to say they speak as if the consolations of God were small. You get into conversation with them for half an hour, and the season is none too long for them to recite the story of their griefs. Some go further than to omit the mention of their mercies; they complain against God, and murmur at their Master.

3. I ask the question of others, because I find that they act as if the consolations of God were small with them. Acts are the outcome of thoughts, the concrete forms of imaginings and emotions. Is not Jehovah enough for Israel? Does not His covenant stand, whatever else fails? Why dost thou draw the blinds, when the sun would fain shine right into thy soul, and make thee glad again?

4. There are others who pray as if the consolations of God were small with them. Some people’s prayers are nothing but a long and dismal list of wants, and woes, and weariness.

5. Some there are who sing as if the mercies of God were few, and scarcely worthy of their notice. Some do not sing at all.

II. I should like to recount the consolations of God. Here is Jesus. “Behold the Man.” “Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift.” Then we have His Spirit, the Comforter, a reservoir of consolations. In this blessed book are twenty thousand promises, “yea,” all in Christ Jesus, and in Him, “Amen.” Ours is the privilege of prayer. Amongst the other consolations do not forget the whispers of God’s love. They have been unmistakable. Thank God also for peace of mind and rest of conscience.

III. Shall I try next to describe the consolations of God?

1. They are Divine.

2. They are abounding, too.

3. His consolations are abiding.

4. And they are strong.

IV. What do you suppose are the results of a proper appreciation of God’s consolations.

1. If we appraise them at their real value we shall be forgetful of the past. Forgetting the things which are behind, we shall press forward to those that are before.

2. If you properly appreciate God’s consolations, you will be grateful for the present, you will raise a stone of help each day, and pour oil, the oil of gratitude upon it; you will be trustful for the future.

V. Let me mention some few aids to proper appreciation of God’s consolations. Will you remember what you used to be? Will you consider also what you must have come to, if God had not come to your rescue and relief? Consolation! How can it be small with me when it was condemnation that I deserved? Moreover, reflect what you still are. “Above all, recollect how great the condescension on God’s part to comfort and console.” (T. Spurgeon.)