Jeremiah 50:4-5 In those days, and in that time, said the LORD, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together… I. WHAT WE ARE TO UNDERSTAND BY THIS UNION TO GOD. 1. It must include a renunciation of all created dependencies, and of everything that stands in competition with God. We are not in danger, like Israel of old, of worshipping the hosts of heaven. The world attracts the eye and engages the heart. Its riches and honours have a charm, in which those of heaven are forgotten. Forbidden pleasures make their court in such address, that numbers are devoted to them; and some are idols to themselves, and place a dangerous dependence there. 2. A deliberate and cordial choice of God as our God. 3. A solemn surrender of our. selves, and an entire devotedness to Him. 4. A resolution to abide by the choice and surrender described, and to act as becoming those who stand in a covenant relation to God. II. SUCH CONSIDERATIONS AS PROVE IT TO BE THE DUTY AND INTEREST OF US ALL TO JOIN OURSELVES TO THE LORD IN THIS COVENANT, AND NEVER FORGET IT. 1. God has an absolute right and title to us. 2. There is everything in God that can lay claim to our supreme regards, and invite an union to Himself. All the lustre of the heavens, all the beauty and grandeur in the material world, and all the excellence to be found amidst the various orders of beings in the intelligent creation, is, as it were, but a ray from God, and is lost in the excellence and glory of the Divine nature. 3. "Joining ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant," will insure our safety, our honour, and out, truest happiness in the present life. 4. "Joining ourselves to the Lord," will issue in a blissful union to Him for ever.Improvement — 1. Let us examine ourselves on the subject of this discourse. 2. Let those who have not joined themselves to the Lord be prevailed on to do it immediately. 3. Let those who are joined to the Lord in this covenant, rejoice in it, often renew it, and make it their principal concern through life, to walk worthy of it. 4. We should call on each other, and on all to whom we are related, in the language of the text. "Come, let us join ourselves," &c. Friendship cannot express itself better, than by well-judged attempts to engage the hearts of its objects for God, and to maintain and strengthen their attachment to Him. This is serving the best interests of others: it is gratitude to Him who "has made us to differ"; and carrying on, in our humble sphere, that grand design in which heaven is engaged. (N. Hill.) Parallel Verses KJV: In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping: they shall go, and seek the LORD their God. |
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