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Ruth’s Resolution
by Jonathan Edwards
Dated April 1735
Ruth 1:16, "And Ruth said,
Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee:
for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge:
thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God."
THE historical things in this book of Ruth, seem to be inserted in the
canon of the Scripture, especially on two accounts:
First, because Christ was of Ruth’s posterity. The Holy Ghost thought
fit to take particular notice of that marriage of Boaz with Ruth, whence
sprang the Savior of the world. We may often observe it, that the Holy
Spirit who indited the Scriptures, often takes notice of little things,
or minute occurrences, that do but remotely relate to Jesus Christ.
Secondly, because this history seems to be typical of the calling of the
Gentile church, and indeed of the conversion of every believer. Ruth was
not originally of Israel, but was a Moabitess, and alien from the
commonwealth of Israel, but she forsook her own people, and the idols of
the Gentiles, to worship the God of Israel, and to join herself to that
people. Herein she seems to be a type of the Gentile church, and also of
every sincere convert. Ruth was the remote mother of Christ. He came of
her posterity. So the church is Christ’s mother, as she is represented,
Rev. 12 at the beginning. And so also is every true Christian his
mother. Mat. 12:50, “Whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is
in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.” Christ is
what the soul is in travail with, at the new birth. Ruth forsook all her
natural relations, and her own country, the land of her nativity, and
all her former possessions there, for the sake of the God of Israel, as
every true Christian forsakes all for Christ. Psa. 45:10, “Hearken, O
daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own
people, and thy father’s house.”
Naomi was now returning out of the land of Moab, into the land of
Israel, with her two daughters-in-law, Orpah and Ruth, who will
represent to us two sorts of professors of religion. Orpah [represents]
those who indeed make a fair profession, and seem to set out well, but
continue only for a while, and then turn back. Ruth [represents] those
who are sound and sincere, and therefore are stedfast and perservering
in their way. Naomi, in the preceding verses, represents to her
daughters the difficulties of their leaving their own country to go with
her. And in this verse may be observed,
1.The remarkable conduct and behavior of Ruth on this occasion: with
what inflexible resolution she cleaves to Naomi, and follows her. When
Naomi first arose to return from the country of Moab into the land of
Israel, Orpah and Ruth both set out with her, and Naomi exhorts them
both to return. And both wept, and seemed as if they could not bear the
thoughts of leaving her, and appeared as if they were resolved to go
with her. Verse 10, “And they said unto her, Surely we will return with
thee unto thy people.” Then Naomi says to them again, “Turn again, my
daughters, go your way,” etc. And then they were greatly affected again,
and Orpah returned and went back. Now Ruth’s stedfastness in her purpose
had a greater trial, but yet is not overcome: “She clave unto her,”
verse 14. Then Naomi speaks to her again, verse 15, “Behold, thy
sister-in-law is gone back unto her people, and unto her gods; return
thou after thy sister-in-law.” And then she shows her immovable
resolution in the text and following verse.
2. I would particularly observe that wherein the virtuousness of this
her resolution consists, viz. that it was for the sake of the God of
Israel, and that she might be one of his people, that she was thus
resolved to cleave to Naomi: “Thy people shall be my people, and thy God
my God.” It was for God’s sake that she did thus, and therefore her so
doing is afterwards spoken of as a virtuous behavior in her, Ruth
2:11,12, “And Boaz answered and said unto her, It hath fully been showed
me, all that thou hast done unto thy mother-in-law since the death of
thine husband; and how thou has left thy father, and thy mother, and the
land of thy nativity, and art come unto a people which thou knewest not
heretofore. The Lord recompense thy work, and a full reward be given
thee of the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings thou are come to
trust.” She left her father and mother, and the land of her nativity, to
come and trust under the shadow of God’s wings, and she had indeed a
full reward given her, as Boaz wished. For besides immediate spiritual
blessings to her own soul, and eternal rewards in another world, she was
rewarded with plentiful and prosperous outward circumstances in the
family of Boaz. And God raised up David and Solomon of her seed, and
established the crown of Israel (the people that she chose before her
own people) in her posterity; and, which is much more, of her seed he
raised up Jesus Christ, in whom all the families of the earth are
blessed.
From the words thus opened, I observe this for the subject of my present
discourse: — “When those that we have formerly been conversant with, are
turning to God, and joining themselves to his people, it ought to be our
firm resolution, that we will not leave them, but that their people
shall be our people, and their God our God.”
It sometimes happens, that of those who have been conversant one with
another — who have dwelt together as neighbors, and have been often
together as companions, or united in their relation, and have been
together in darkness, bondage, and misery, in the service of Satan —
some are enlightened, and have their minds changed, are made to see the
great evil of sin, and have their hearts turned to God. They are
influenced by the Holy Spirit of God, to leave their company that are on
Satan’s side, and to join themselves with that blessed company that are
with Jesus Christ. They are made willing to forsake the tents of
wickedness, to dwell in the land of uprightness with the people of God.
And sometimes this proves a final parting or separation between them and
those with whom they have been formerly conversant. Though it may be no
parting in outward respects, they may still dwell, and converse one with
another. Yet in other respects, it sets them at a great distance. One is
a child of God, and the other his enemy. One is in a miserable, and the
other in a happy, condition. One is a citizen of the heavenly Zion, the
other is under condemnation to hell. They are no longer together in
those respects wherein they used to be together. They used to be of one
mind to serve sin, and do Satan’s work, now they are of contrary minds.
They used to be together in worldliness and sinful vanity, now they are
of exceeding different dispositions. They are separated as they are in
different kingdoms. The one remains in the kingdom of darkness, the
other is translated into the kingdom of God’s dear Son. And sometimes
they are finally separated in these respects: while one dwells in the
land of Israel, and in the house of God, the other, like Orpah, lives
and dies in the land of Moab.
Now it is lamentable, it is awful being parted so. It is doleful, when
of those who have formerly been together in sin, some turn to God, and
join themselves with his people, that it should prove a parting between
them and their former companions and acquaintance. It should be our firm
and inflexible resolution in such a case, that it shall be no parting,
but that we will follow them, that their people shall be our people, and
their God our God, and that for the following reasons:
I. .Because their God is a glorious God. There is none like him, who is
infinite in glory and excellency. He is the most high God, glorious in
holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders. His name is excellent in
all the earth, and his glory is above the heavens. Among the gods there
is none like unto him. There is none in heaven to be compared to him,
nor are there any among the sons of the mighty that can be likened unto
him. Their God is the fountain of all good, and an inexhaustible
fountain. He is an all-sufficient God, able to protect and defend them,
and do all things for them. He is the King of glory, the Lord strong and
mighty, the Lord mighty in battle: a strong rock, and a high tower.
There is none like the God of Jeshurun, who rideth on the heaven in
their help, and in his excellency on the sky. The eternal God is their
refuge, and underneath are everlasting arms. He is a God who has all
things in his hands, and does whatsoever he pleases. He killeth and
maketh alive; he bringeth down to the grave and bringeth up; he maketh
poor and maketh rich: the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s. Their God
is an infinitely holy God. There is none holy as the Lord. And he is
infinitely good and merciful. Many that others worship and serve as
gods, are cruel beings, spirits that seek the ruin of souls, but this is
a God that delighteth in mercy. His grace is infinite, and endures
forever. He is love itself, and infinite fountain and ocean of it.
Such a God is their God! Such is the excellency of Jacob! Such is the
God of them who have forsaken their sins and are converted! They have
made a wise choice who have chosen this for their God. They have made a
happy exchange indeed, that have exchanged sin, and the world, for such
a God!
They have an excellent and glorious Savior, who is the only-begotten Son
of God: the brightness of his Father’s glory. One in whom God from
eternity had infinite delight; a Savior of infinite love; one that has
shed his own blood, and made his soul an offering for their sins, and
one that is able to save them to the uttermost.
II. Their people are an excellent and happy people. God has renewed
them, and stamped his own image upon them, and made them partakers of
his holiness. They are more excellent than their neighbors, Pro. 12:26.
Yea, they are the excellent of the earth, Psa. 16:3. They are lovely in
the sight of the angels, and they have their souls adorned with those
graces that in the sight of God himself are of great price.
The people of God are the most excellent and happy society in the world.
That God whom they have chosen for their God, is their Father. He has
pardoned all their sins, and they are at peace with him, and he has
admitted them to all the privileges of his children. As they have
devoted themselves to God, so he has given himself to them. He is become
their salvation, and their portion: his power and mercy, and all his
attributes are theirs. They are in a safe state, free from all
possibility of perishing. Satan has no power to destroy them. God
carries them on eagle’s wings, far above Satan’s reach, and above the
reach of all the enemies of their souls. God is with them in this world.
They have his gracious presence. God is for them: who then can be
against them? As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so Jehovah is
round about them. God is their shield, and their exceeding great reward,
and their fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.
They have the divine promise and oath, that in the world to come they
shall dwell forever in the glorious presence of God.
It may well be sufficient to induce us to resolve to cleave to those
that forsake their sins and idols to join themselves with this people,
that God is with them, Zec. 8:23, “Thus saith the Lord of hosts, in
those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of
all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him
that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you; for we have heard that God
is with you.” So should persons, as it were, take hold of the skirt of
their neighbors and companions that have turned to God, and resolve that
they will go with them, because God is with them.
III. Happiness is no where else to be had, but in their God, and with
their people. There are that are called gods many, and lords many. Some
make gods of their pleasures; some choose Mammon for their god; some
make gods of their supposed excellencies, or the outward advantages they
have above their neighbors; some choose one thing for their god, and
other another. But men can be happy in no other but the God of Israel.
He is the only fountain of happiness. Other gods cannot help in
calamity. Nor can any of them afford what the poor empty soul stands in
need of. Let men adore those other gods never so much, and call upon
them never so earnestly, and serve them never so diligently. They will
nevertheless remain poor, wretched, unsatisfied, undone creatures. All
other people are miserable, but that people whose God is the Lord. — The
world is divided into two societies: the people of God, the little flock
of Jesus Christ, that company that we read of, Rev. 14:4, “These are
they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins: these are
they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth: these were redeemed
from among men, being the first-fruits unto God, and to the Lamb:” and,
those that belong to the kingdom of darkness, that are without Christ,
being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers from the
covenant of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world. All
that are of this latter company are wretched and undone. They are the
enemies of God, and under his wrath and condemnation. They are the
devil’s slaves, that serve him blindfold, and are befooled and ensnared
by him, and hurried along in the broad way to eternal perdition.
IV. When those that we have formerly been conversant with are turning to
God and to his people, their example ought to influence us. Their
example should be looked upon as the call of God to us, to do as they
have done. God, when he changes the heart of one, calls upon another,
especially does he loudly call on those that have been their friends and
acquaintance. We have been influenced by their examples in evil, and
shall we cease to follow them, when they make the wisest choice that
ever they made, and do the best thing that ever they did? If we have
been companions with them in worldliness, in vanity, in unprofitable and
sinful conversation, it will be a hard case, if there must be a parting
now, because we are not willing to be companions with them in holiness
and true happiness. Men are greatly influenced by seeing one another’s
prosperity in other things. If those whom they have been much conversant
with, grow rich, and obtain any great earthly advantages, it awakens
their ambition, and eager desire after the like prosperity. How much
more should they be influenced, and stirred up to follow them, and be
like them, when they obtain that spiritual and eternal happiness, that
is of infinitely more worth, than all the prosperity and glory of this
world!
V. Our resolutions to cleave to and follow those that are turning to
God, and joining themselves to his people, ought to be fixed and strong,
because of the great difficulty of it. If we will cleave to them, and
have their God for our God, and their people for our people, we must
mortify and deny all our lusts, and cross every evil appetite and
inclination, and forever part with all sin. But our lusts are many and
violent. Sin is naturally exceeding dear to us. To part with it is
compared to plucking out our right eyes. Men may refrain from wonted
ways of sin for a little while, and may deny their lusts in a partial
degree, with less difficulty; but it is heart-rending work, finally to
part with all sin, and to give our dearest lusts a bill of divorce,
utterly to send them away. But this we must do, if we would follow those
that are truly turning to God. Yea, we must not only forsake sin, but
must, in a sense, forsake all the world, Luke 14:33, “Whosoever he be of
you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.” That
is, he must forsake all in his heart, and must come to a thorough
disposition and readiness actually to quit all for God, and the glorious
spiritual privileges of his people, whenever the case may require it,
and that without any prospect of anything of the like nature, or any
worldly thing whatsoever, to make amends for it — all to go into a
strange country, a land that has hitherto been unseen, like Abraham, who
being called of god, “went out of his own country, and from his kindred,
and from his father’s house, for a land that God should show him, not
knowing whither he went.”
Thus, it was a hard thing for Ruth to forsake her native country, her
father and mother, her kindred and acquaintance, and all the pleasant
things she had in the land of Moab, to dwell in the land of Israel,
where she never had been. Naomi told her of the difficulties once and
again. They were too hard for her sister Orpah. The consideration of
them turned her back after she was set out. Her resolution was not firm
enough to overcome them. But so firmly resolved was Ruth, that she brake
through all. She was stedfast in it, that let the difficulty be what it
would, she would not leave her mother-in-law. So persons had need to be
very firm in their resolution to conquer the difficulties that are in
the way of cleaving to them who are indeed turning from sin to God.
Our cleaving to them, and having their God for our God, and their people
for our people, depends on our resolution and choice, and that in two
respects.
1.The firmness of resolution in using means in order to it, is the way
to have means effectual. There are means appointed in order to our
becoming some of the true Israel, and having their God for our God. The
thorough use of these means is the way to have success, but not a slack
or slighty use of them. And that we may be thorough, there is need of
strength of resolution, a firm and inflexible disposition and bent of
mind to be universal in the use of means, and to do what we do with our
might, and to persevere in it. Mat. 11:12, “The kingdom of heaven
suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.”
2. A choosing of their God, and their people, with a full determination,
and with the whole soul, is the condition of an union with them. God
gives every man his choice in this matter: as Orpah and Ruth had their
choice, whether they would go with Naomi into the land of Israel, or
stay in the land of Moab. A natural man may choose deliverance from
hell, but no man does ever heartily choose God and Christ, and the
spiritual benefits that Christ has purchased, and the happiness of God’s
people, till he is converted. On the contrary, he is averse to them. He
has no relish of them; and is wholly ignorant of their inestimable worth
and value.
Many carnal men seem to choose these things, but do it not really, as
Orpah seemed at first to choose to forsake Moab to go into the land of
Israel. But when Naomi came to set before her the difficulty of it, she
went back, and thereby showed that she was not fully determined in her
choice, and that her whole soul was not in it as Ruth’s was.
APPLICATION
The use that I shall make of what has been said, is to move sinners to
this resolution, with respect to those amongst us that have lately
turned to God, and joined themselves to the flock of Christ. Through the
abundant mercy and grace of God to us in this place, it may be said of
many of you that are in a Christless condition, that you have lately
been left by those that were formerly with you in such a state. Some of
those with whom you have formerly been conversant, have lately forsaken
a life of sin and the service of Satan, and have turned to God, and fled
to Christ, and joined themselves to that blessed company that are with
him. They formerly were with you in sin and in misery, but now they are
with you no more in that state or manner of life. They are changed, and
have fled from wrath to come. They have chosen a life of holiness here,
and the enjoyment of God hereafter. They were formerly your associates
in bondage, and were with you in Satan’s business, but now you have
their company no longer in these things. Many of you have seen those you
live with, under the same roof, turning from being any longer with you
in sin, to be with the people of Jesus Christ. Some of you that are
husbands, have had your wives; some of you that are wives, have had your
husbands; some of you that are children, have had your parents; and
parents have had your children; many of you have had your brothers and
sisters; and many your near neighbors, and acquaintance and special
friends; many of you that are young have had your companions: I say,
many of you have had those that you have been thus concerned with,
leaving you, forsaking that doleful life and wretched state in which you
still continue. God, of his good pleasure and wonderful grace, has
lately caused in this place multitudes to forsake their old abodes in
the land of Moab, and under the gods of Moab, and go into the land of
Israel, to put their trust under the wings of the Lord God of Israel.
Though you and they have been nearly related, and have dwelt together,
or have been often together and intimately acquainted, they have been
taken, and you hitherto left! O let it not be the foundation of a final
parting! But earnestly follow them. Be firm in your resolution in this
matter. Do not as Orpah did, who though at first she made as though she
would follow Naomi, yet when she had the difficulty set before her, went
back. But say as Ruth, “I will not leave thee; but where thou goest, I
will go: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God.” Say as she
said, and do as she did. Consider the excellency of their God, and their
Savior, and the happiness of their people, the blessed state that they
are in, and the doleful state you are in.
You are old sinners, who have lived long in the service of Satan, have
lately seen some that have traveled with you in the paths of sin these
many years, turning to God. They with you enjoyed great means and
advantages, had calls and warnings with you, and with you passed through
remarkable times of the pouring out of God’s Spirit in this place, and
hardened their hearts and stood it out with you, and with you have grown
old in sin. Yet you have seen some of them turning to God, i.e. you have
seen those evidences of it in them, whence you may rationally judge that
it is so. O! let it not be a final parting! You have been thus long
together in sin, and under condemnation. Let it be your firm resolution,
that if possible, you will be with them still, now they are in a holy
and happy state, and that you will follow them into the holy and
pleasant land. — You that tell of your having been seeking salvation for
many years (though, without doubt, in a poor dull way, in comparison of
what you ought to have done), have seen some old sinners and old
seekers, as you are, obtaining mercy. God has lately roused them from
their dullness, and caused them to alter their hand, and put them on
more thorough endeavors. They have now, after so long a time, heard
God’s voice, and have fled for refuge to the rock of ages. Let this
awaken earnestness and resolution in you. Resolve that you will not
leave them.
You who are in your youth how many have you seen of your age and
standing, that have of late hopefully chosen God for their God, and
Christ for their Savior! You have followed them in sin, and have perhaps
followed them into vain company. Will you not now follow them to Christ?
— And you who are children, know that there have lately been some of
your sort who have repented of their sins, loved the Lord Jesus Christ,
and trusted in him, and are become God’s children, as we have reason to
hope. Let it stir you up to resolve to your utmost to seek and cry to
God, that you may have the like change made in your hearts, that their
people may be your people, and their God your God.
You who are great sinners, who have made yourselves distinguishingly
guilty by the wicked practices you have lived in, know that there are
some of your sort who have lately (as we have reason to hope) had their
hearts broken for sin, and have forsaken it, and trusted in the blood of
Christ for the pardon of it. They have chosen a holy life, and have
betaken themselves to the ways of wisdom: let it excite and encourage
you resolutely to cleave to them, and earnestly to follow them.
Let the following things be considered:
1. That your soul is as precious as theirs. It is immortal as theirs is,
and stands in as much need of happiness, and can as ill bear eternal
misery. You was born in the same miserable condition that they were,
having the same wrath of God abiding on you. You must stand before the
same Judge, who will be as strict in judgment with you as with them.
Your own righteousness will stand you in no more stead before him than
theirs, and therefore you stand in as absolute necessity of a Savior as
they. Carnal confidences can no more answer your end than theirs, nor
can this world or its enjoyments serve to make you happy without God and
Christ more than them. When the bridegroom comes, the foolish virgins
stand in as much need of oil as the wise, Mat. 25 at the beginning.
2. Unless you follow them in their turning to God, their conversion will
be a foundation of an eternal separation between you and them. You will
be in different interests, and in exceeding different states, as long as
you live. They the children of God, and you the children of Satan, and
you will be parted in another world; when you come to die, there will be
a vast separation made between you. Luke 16:26, “And besides all this,
between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would
pass from hence to you, cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would
come from thence.” And you will be parted at the day of judgment. You
will be parted at Christ’s first appearance in the clouds of heaven.
While they are caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, to
be ever with the Lord, you will remain below, confined to this cursed
ground, that is kept in store, reserved unto fire, against the day of
judgment, and perdition of ungodly men. You will appear separated from
them, while you stand before the great judgment-seat, they being at the
right hand, while you are set at the left. Mat. 25:32, 33, “And before
him shall be gathered all nations; and he shall separate them one from
another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats; and he shall
set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.” And you
shall then appear in exceeding different circumstances: while you stand
with devils, in the image and deformity of devils, and in ineffable
horror and amazement, they shall appear in glory, sitting on thrones, as
assessors with Christ, and as such passing judgment upon you, 1 Cor.
6:2. And what shame and confusion will then cover you, when so many of
your contemporaries, your equals, your neighbors, relations, and
companions, shall be honored, and openly acknowledged, and confessed by
the glorious Judge of the universe, and Redeemer of saints, and shall be
seen by you sitting with him in such glory. You shall appear to have
neglected your salvation, and not to have improved your opportunities,
and rejected the Lord Jesus Christ, the same person that will then
appear as your great Judge, and you shall be the subjects of wrath, and
as it were, trodden down in eternal contempt and disgrace. Dan. 12:2,
“Some shall rise to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting
contempt.” And what a wide separation will the sentence then passed and
executed make between you and them! When you shall be sent away out of
the presence of the Judge with indignation and abhorrence, as cursed and
loathsome creatures they shall be sweetly accosted and invited into his
glory as his dear friends, and the blessed of his Father! When you, with
all that vast throng of wicked and accursed men and devils, shall
descend with loud lamentings and horrid shrieks, into that dreadful gulf
of fire and brimstone, and shall be swallowed up in that great and
everlasting furnace, they shall joyfully, and with sweet songs of glory
and praise, ascend with Christ, and all that beauteous and blessed
company of saints and angels, into eternal felicity, in the glorious
presence of God, and the sweet embraces of his love. You and they shall
spend eternity in such a separation, and immensely different
circumstances! You have been intimately acquainted and nearly related,
closely united and mutually conversant in this world, and you have taken
delight in each other’s company! And shall it be — after you have been
together a great while, each of you in undoing yourselves, enhancing
your guilt, and heaping up wrath — that their so wisely changing their
minds and their course, and choosing such happiness for themselves,
should now at length be the beginning of such an exceeding and
everlasting separation between you and them? How awful will it be to be
parted so!
3. Consider the great encouragement that God gives you, earnestly to
strive for the same blessing that others have obtained. There is great
encouragement in the Word of God to sinners to seek salvation, in the
revelation we have of the abundant provision made for the salvation even
of the chief of sinners, and in the appointment of so many means to be
used with and by sinners, in order to their salvation, and by the
blessing which God in his Word connects with the means of his
appointment. There is hence great encouragement for all, at all times,
that will be thorough in using of these means. But now God gives
extraordinary encouragement in his providence, by pouring out his Spirit
so remarkably amongst us, and bringing savingly home to himself all
sorts, young and old, rich and poor, wise and unwise, sober and vicious,
old self-righteous seekers, and profligate livers: no sort are exempt.
There is at this day amongst us the loudest call, and the greatest
encouragement, and the widest door opened to sinners, to escape out of a
state of sin and condemnation, that perhaps God ever granted in New
England. Who is there that has an immortal soul, so sottish as not to
improve such an opportunity, and that will not bestir himself with all
his might? How unreasonable is negligence, and how exceeding
unreasonable is negligence, and how exceeding unreasonable is
discouragement, at such a day as this! Will you be so stupid as to
neglect your soul now? Will any mortal amongst us be so unreasonable as
to lag behind, or look back in discouragement, when God opens such a
door? Let every person be thoroughly awake! Let everyone encourage
himself now to press forward, and fly for his life!
4. Consider how earnestly desirous they that have obtained are that you
should follow them, and that their people should be your people, and
their God your God. They desire that you should partake of that great
good which God has given them, and that unspeakable and eternal
blessedness which he has promised them. They wish and long it. If you do
not go with them, and are not still of their company, it will not be for
want of their willingness, but your own. That of Moses to Hobab is the
language of every true saint of your acquaintance to you. Num. 10:29,
“We are journeying unto the place of which the Lord said, I will give it
you: come thou with us, and we will do thee good; for the Lord hath
spoken good concerning Israel.” As Moses, when on his journey through
the wilderness, following the pillar of cloud and fire, invited Hobab —
with whom he had been acquainted in the land of Midian, where Moses had
formerly dwelt with him — to go with him and his people to Canaan, to
partake with them in the good that God had promised them, so do those of
your friends and acquaintance invite you: out of a land of darkness and
wickedness, where they have formerly been with you, to go with them to
the heavenly Canaan. The company of saints, the true church of Christ,
invite you. The lovely bride calls you to the marriage supper. She has
authority to invite guests to her own wedding, and you ought to look on
her invitation and desire, as the call of Christ the bridegroom. For it
is the voice of his Spirit in her, Rev. 22:17, “The Spirit and bride
say, Come.” Where seems to be a reference to what has been said, chap.
19:7-9, “The marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made
herself ready. And to her was granted, that she should be arrayed in
fine linen, clean and white; for the fine linen is the righteousness of
saints. And he saith unto me, Write, blessed are they which are called
to the marriage-supper of the Lamb.” It is with respect to this her
marriage-supper that she, from the motion of the Spirit of the Lamb in
her, says, Come. So that you are invited on all hands. All conspire to
call you, [and] God the Father invites you. This is the King who has
made a marriage for his Son, and he sends forth his servants, the
ministers of the gospel, to invite the guests. And the Son himself
invites you: it is he that speaks, Rev. 22:17, “And let him that heareth
say, Come; and let him that is athirst, come; and whosoever will, let
him come.” He tells us who he is in the foregoing verse, “I Jesus, the
root and offspring of David, the bright and morning star.” And God’s
ministers invite you, and all the church invites you; and there will be
joy in the presence of the angels of God that hour that you accept the
invitation.
5. Consider what a doleful company will be left after this extraordinary
time of mercy is over. We have reason to think that there will be a
number left. We read that when Ezekiel’s healing waters increased so
abundantly, and the healing effect of them was so very general. Yet
there were certain places, where the waters came, that never were
healed. Eze. 47:9-11, “And it shall come to pass, that everything that
liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live.
And there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters
shall come thither: for they shall be healed, and everything shall live
whither the river cometh. And it shall come to pass, that the fishers
shall stand upon it, from En-gedi even unto En-eglaim; they shall be a
place to spread forth nets: there fish shall be according to their
kinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many. But the miry places
thereof, and the marishes thereof, shall not be healed, they shall be
given to salt.” And even in the apostles times, when there was such
wonderful success of the gospel wherever they came, there were some that
did not believe. Acts 13:48, “And when the Gentiles heard this, they
were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were
ordained to eternal life, believed.” And chap. 28:24, “And some
believed, and some believed not.” So we have no reason to expect but
there will be some left amongst us. It is to be hoped it will be but a
small company, but what a doleful company will it be! How darkly and
awfully will it look upon them! If you shall be of that company, how
well may your friends and relations lament over you, and bemoan your
dark and dangerous circumstances! If you would not be one of them, make
haste, delay not, and look not behind you. Shall all sorts obtain, shall
everyone press into the kingdom of God, while you stay loitering behind
in a doleful undone condition? Shall everyone take heaven, while you
remain with no other portion but this world? Now take up that
resolution, that if it be possible you will cleave to them that have
fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before them. Count the cost
of a thorough, violent, and perpetual pursuit of salvation, and forsake
all, as Ruth forsook her own country, and all her pleasant enjoyments in
it. Do not do as Orpah did; who set out, and then was discouraged, and
went back. But hold out with Ruth through all discouragement and
opposition. When you consider others that have chosen the better part,
let that resolution be ever firm with you: “Where thou goest, I will go;
where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy
God my God.”
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