Judges 18:23, 24 And they cried to the children of Dan. And they turned their faces, and said to Micah, What ails you… Micah has at one fell swoop lost gods and ephod and priest. As his chief gains and his fancied importance were derived from this source, he was desolate. I. THOSE WHOSE TRUST IS IN OUTWARD THINGS, AND WHOSE HEART IS BOUND UP IN THEM, ARE EXPOSED TO GRAVE DANGERS AND DISADVANTAGES. The losses of life; the anxieties and dreads; bereavement. The religion of external details, how easily disarranged! The whole "establishment" may be swept away! II. THE SPIRITUALLY-MINDED ARE FREED FROM THESE CARES, AND ALTHOUGH SUFFERING SIMILAR DEPRIVATIONS AND LOSSES, ARE NOT WITHOUT COMFORT. "God is a spirit, and they that worship him," etc. The heart that rests on Christ is secure against all outward perils. Forms, externals, etc. are not essential to true religion. The "means of grace" are not to become an end in themselves, and where the end is reached otherwise they can be dispensed with. - M. Parallel Verses KJV: And they cried unto the children of Dan. And they turned their faces, and said unto Micah, What aileth thee, that thou comest with such a company? |
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