J. 111> ,110RGETS ESPECIALLY THOSE BENEFITS WHICH ARE CONSTANT AND CONTINUOUS, (a) Temporal benefits, Life, strength, health, intellect, the power to act, the capacity to eujny, the ability to think, speak, write, are God's gifts, bestowed lavishly on tho human race, and in civilised countries possessed in some measure by almost every .:nrmber of the community. And, for the most part, they are possessed continuously, At any moment any one of them might be withdrawn; but, as it pleases God to make them consfant, they are scarcely viewed Rs gifts Rt all. 'l.'he Church would ha Ye men thank God, at least twice a day, for their "creation, preservation, nnd all the blessings of this life." l3ut how few perform this duty! Creation, preservation, daily sustenance, even health, are t.aken as matters of course, which come to us natu- rally ; not considered to be, as they are, precious gifts bestowed upon us by God. (b) Spiritual benefits. .Atonement, redemption, reconciliation, effected for us once for all by our Lord's death upon the Cross; and pardon, assisting grace, spiritual strength, given us continually, are equally ignored and forgotten. At any rate, the lively sense of them is wanting. Few say, with David, const.antly, "Bless the Lord, 0 my soul, 11-nd all that is within me bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, 0 my soul, and forget not all his benefits ; who forgiveth all thine iniquities ; who hcaleth all thy diseases ; who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with loving-kindness a.nd tender mercies·; who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's" (Ps. ciii. 1-5). II. HE FORGETS EVEN EXTRAORDINARY MERCIES. .A ma.n escapes with life from an accident that might have been fatal ; recovers from an illness in which his life was despaired of; is awakened suddenly to a sense of religion when he had long gone on in coldness a.nd utter deadness ; and he thinks at first that nothing ca.n ever take the thought of the blessing which he has received out of his remembrance. He is ready to exclaim, ten times a day, " Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will tell you what he hath done for my soul ! " But soou all fades away and grows dim ; the vivid remembrav.ce passes from him; he thinks less and less of what seems now a distant time; he neglects to speak of it, even to his children. Instead of " telling in the ears of his son, and of his son's son, what things God wrought for him in the old time," he does not so much as think of them. Very offensive to God must be this forgetfulness. He works his works of mercy and of power for the very purpose " that men may tell of them and have them in remembrance," may " teach them to their sons and their sons' sons," may keep them "as tokens 1,1pon their hands, and as frontlets between their eyes," may " tell them to the following generation." ill PERPETUAL REMEMBRANCE OF EXTRAORDINARY MERCIEB IB BEST SECURED BY THE OBSERVANCE OF ANNIVERSARIES. God instituted the Passover, and other Jewish feasts, that the memory of his great mercies to his people in Egypt and the wildernes~ should not pass away (Ex. xii. 24---27). So the Christian Church has observed Christ- mas Day, Good Friday, Ascension Day. Such occasions are properly called "com- memorations." .And individuals may well follow the Church, by commemorating import.ant events in their own lives, so they do it-{l) Gratefully ; (2) Prayerfully; and (3) Unostentatiously. Vers. 3-6.-God's umg-sutfering towards the wicked has a limit. "How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself?" (ver. 3). "The goodness of God endureth yet daily." His forbearance and long-swfer?lg are wonderful Yet they have a limit. God will not proceed to jud,,<FID.ent-- L UNTIL THE SIN1''ER HA.8 RAD FULL OPPORT1Th"'ITY FOR REPENTANCE, Pharaoh had been first warned (eh. v. 3), then shown a sign (eh. vii. 10-12); after this, punished by seven distinct p~~es,. each of which was well calculated to strik~ terror into the soul, and thereby to strr 1t to repentance. He had been told by his own ma.cicians that one of them, at any rate, could be ascribed to nothing but " the finger of God" (eh. viii. 19). He had been impressed, alarmed, humbled so far as to make confession of sin ( eh. ix. 27), and to promise three several times that he would let the Israelites Jepart from Egypt (eh. viii. 8, 28; eh. ix. 28). But all had been of no avail. No sooner was a plague removed at his humble entreaty than he resumed all his old pride and arrogance, retracted his promise, and showed himself as stiff-necke<l 1111 OJI, X, 1-20,] THE BOOK OF EXODUS. 227
at tho first. 'l'ho timo during which his trial had bated, and God's patience enrlnred, must hava baan moro than a yoar-surely ample opportunity! If. UNTIL IT IS MANIFEST THAT THERE IS NO HOPE THAT HE WILT, REPENT. "What could hava been clone moro in my vineyard, that I have not done to it?" God ask, in Isaiah (v. 4). And what more could he have done to turn Pharaoh from his evil ways, that he ho.d not done on this occasion? Exhortations, warnings, miracles, light plagues, heavy plagues, had all been tried, and no real, permanent impression ma,lc. 'l'he worst of all was, that when somo kind of impression was made, no good result ensued. Fear-abject, servile, cowardly fear-was the dominant 'feeling aroused ; and even thi, did not last, but disappeared the moment that the plague was removed. Pharaoh was thus constantly "sinning yet more" ( eh. ix. 34). Instea.d of improving uncler the chastening hand of God, he was continually growing worse. His heart was becoming harder. His reformation was more hopeless. 111. UNTIL GoD's PURPOSES m ALLOWING THE RESISTAKCE OF ms WILL llY THE BINNER ARE ACCOMPLISHED. God intended that through Pharaoh's resistance to his will, and the final· failure of his resistance, his own name should be glorifiecl ancl "declared throughout all the earth" (eh. ix. 16). It required a period of some length- a tolerably prolonged contest-to rivet the attention both of the Egyptians generally, and of the surrounding nations. After somewhat more than a year this result had been attained. There was, consequently, no need of further delay; and the last three pla,,a1ies, which followed rapidly the one upon the other, were of the nature of judgments.