Helps for the Pulpit Judges 5:31 So let all your enemies perish, O LORD: but let them that love him be as the sun when he goes forth in his might… I. THE CHARACTER OF GOD'S PEOPLE: "They love Him." 1. This love has been implanted in their hearts by the Holy Spirit. Formerly they hated Him and His service. 2. Their love is sincere. It must be so if the Spirit has created it in the heart (Ephesians 6:24). The love of many, however, is merely professional. 3. This love is supreme: "Whom have I in heaven but Thee?" etc. 4. This love is practical. It dwells in the heart and shows itself in the life. 5. It is self-denying. II. THE SIMILITUDE BY WHICH THE CHARACTER OF GOD'S PEOPLE IS ILLUSTRATED. 1. The sun receives its light from the creative energy of God (Psalm 136:8). So Christians have derived their light from God Himself (2 Corinthians 4:6). 2. Christians resemble the sun in beauty: "Truly light is sweet, And a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun." So Christians are beautiful in their individual spiritual character — in their associated character. 3. The sun is a visible object; it excites attention and inspires admiration. The course of Christians is not hidden; they are lights of the world, cities set on a hill, living epistles (Matthew 5:16). 4. The Christian resembles the sun in usefulness. What a dark world this would be if the natural sun were to cease its shining? What would the world be without Christianity? (1) As the rising sun dispels clouds and darkness, so the believer rises above the changes and calamities of life — he dispels the mists and darkness of prejudice; proves that religion does not tend to licentiousness, that it is not a system of melancholy. (2) Like the sun, the Christian spreads the most salutary and delightful effects around. The sun is the great spirit of the world, in the light of which all things are made to rejoice. So the life of the Christian and the benevolent efforts of the Church, in conjunction with Divine power, are calculated to make the desert blossom as the rose, etc. (Isaiah 35:1, 2). (3) The influence of the sun is very extensive, reaching to every creature. The charity of Christians would save the whole world. 5. The light of the sun is irresistible. Who can say to it, "Hitherto shalt thou come"? etc. No one can stop the work of the Church, for it is God's work (Isaiah 55:11). O Christians, like the sun, shine more and more unto the perfect day. They grow in grace, in knowledge, purity, peace, joy, till their course terminates in the meridian noontide splendour of heaven. (Helps for the Pulpit.) Parallel Verses KJV: So let all thine enemies perish, O LORD: but let them that love him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might. And the land had rest forty years. |
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