TI. The resignation of Eli —
[If the tidings were painful to Samuel to deliver, much more must they be so to Eli to hear: even to persons far less interested than he, they were sufficient to make " their ears to tingle." Yet Eli did not set himself against them, though de- livered by a child : on the contrary, he submitted to the divine decree with humble resignation. He knew that God was too wise to err, and too good to inflict punishment without a cause. He knew also that he himself had sinned against the Lord, and well deserved the judgments that had been denounced against him. Hence the language of his heart was, " I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against him^." This shews how we should receive all the denunciations of God's wrath against sin. We should not " puff" at them," or harden ourselves against them, or think unkindly of those who set them before us ; we should not with Pharisaic pride exclaim, " In so saying thou reproachest us :" but whatever God says in his word, by whomsoever it may be delivered, we should " receive it, not as the word of man, bvit as the word of God," precisely as much as if it had been spoken to us by an audible voice from heaven. Eternal judgments indeed we may depre- cate, yea and ought to deprecate, with all our might : and even temporal calamities we may deprecate i7i submission to God : we may entreat him to remove the bitter cup, as fervently as we will, provided we add, " Nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done:" but we must acknowledge the justice of God even in his severest judgments, and be contented that our temporal ha2>pincss should be destroyed, if only " our spirits may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus ^"]
From this subject we may fmlher learn,
1. The importance of exerting our influence for
God—
[Eli had neglected to punish his sons for their great im- pieties : he had reproved them indeed ; but when he found the inefficiency of lenient reproofs, he had neglected to adopt severer measures. This was the sin which excited God's displeasure against him, and occasioned the utter ruin of his whole family. How strongly does this apply to every individual amongst us ! and how urgently does it call upon us to exert our influence, whatever it may be, for God! Let us not say, "Am I my brother's keeper?" If others are bold in the service of the devil, we should be bold in the service of our God : " we must in any wise reprove our brother, and not sufler sin upon him." Our influence is as much a talent as our time, or money, or
e Mic. vii. 9. f 1 Cor. v. 5.
286.1 ELl's ANXIETY FOR THE AUK OF GOD. loo
any thing else ; and we ought to use it for God. We should not be contented to go to heaven alone, but should endeavour to carry all we can along with us.]
2. The comfort of being interested in the Gospel of Christ —
[There were many sins for which the Mosaic dispensation provided no sacrifice: and God himself warned Eli, that " the iniquity of his house should never be purged by sacrifice or offering, to the end of time." But no such declaration is made to us under the Gospel: there is not a word in all the Bible that even hints at the insufficiency of Christ's sacrifice to atone for the greatest guilt, or the doubtfulness of any person's ac- ceptance, provided he plead that sacrifice as the ground of his hopes. We are told indeed, that, " if a man sin wilfully (in rejecting that sacrifice) after he has received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no other sacrifice, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation^: " but to those who penitently trust in that sacrifice there is no ground of de- spondency. Whatever then our sins may have been, let us remember, that the death of Christ was " a propitiation for the sins of the whole world;" that "his blood is able to cleanse us from all sin ;" and that " though our sins be red as crimson, they shall through him be made white as snow." Let this comfort us under every desponding apprehension ; and whilst, with Eli, we commit the entire disposal of all events into the hands of a righteous God, let us cast ourselves with confidence on his promised mercy, and " hold fast the rejoicing of our hope firm unto the end."]