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I. "IS NOT MY WORD LIKE A HAMMER THAT BREAKETH THE ROCK IN PIECES, SAITH THE LORD? "I place this simile before the other, because it is in the order of human procedure, when a mass of ore is to be submitted to the fire, that its metal may be extracted, to beat it small with hammers, then to carry it to the kiln, and finally to the furnace. Take the case of one whom the Word of salvation hath never influenced, who is alienated from God, and with no other principle of affection, or of action, than his own unsanctified reason, or his own unrenewed desires. Here, then, is the rock. But let the law of God speak to his soul in its power; let it show him the perfection of the Lawgiver, the spiritual character of the law, the withering curse pronounced against "every one that continueth not," &c.; let it moreover display his utter inability to do the will of the Being who chargeth even His angels with folly, by letting him into the secrets of his own fallen nature, and proving that he is carnal, sold under sin. And what will be the consequence? The rock, hard it may have been as the nether millstone, will be bruised and beaten to pieces.

II. But after the mighty and terrible agency of the law, MAY WE HOPE THAT THE GOSPEL CALL OF LOVE WILL BE EQUALLY EFFECTUAL? We surely may. "Is not My Word like as a fire? saith the Lord."

1. Fire hath a penetrating nature, and finds its way into every part of the substance that may be submitted to its action. And surely thus doth the Gospel of our redemption.

2. Is it the nature of fire to enlighten? Even so doth the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It removes the delusion which overspreads the mind of man until it shines into him, and he learns, by the light which it reveals, that "other foundation can no man lay, save that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." It exhibits the Divinity of His character, the freeness of His love, the riches of His salvation, the peace that flows into the heart when His kingdom is embraced and submitted to; the holy nature of His law; the sanctifying work of His Spirit; the brightness and grandeur of those hopes which it enkindles, and the duties to which it binds the obedient children of the love of Jesus.

3. Is it the property of fire to warm every object to which it may be applied? And shall we deny a similar power to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, when communicated to the heart by faith and in sincerity?

4. Hath the fire a purifying energy? So hath the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The refiner's flame may be fierce, the trial of a child of God beneath the discipline of the Gospel may be severe, but it will have an effect the most salutary and gracious. It will separate the gold from the dross. It will consume the one, and make the other meet to be employed even in the noblest uses.

5. Fire hath a property to comfort. And shall we deny this quality to the mercies of the everlasting Gospel, when faith embraces them, and makes them her own? It is that provision which a gracious God hath sent to sustain us in the way to heaven, as the corn ,was given by Joseph to his brethren, for their sustenance through the wilderness that lay between Canaan and Egypt, whither he had invited them.

(R. P. Buddicom.)

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KJV: Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?

WEB: Isn't my word like fire? says Yahweh; and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?