The lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations. - 2 Peter 2:9.
WE have here to consider a gracious assurance, and we observe that “the Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations” in three ways. The First is, By exemption; that is, by preventing them. This may not seem so easily inferred; but the connection of the words leads to this: Peter is speaking of exemption from sufferings, and shows us how in this way the Lord knows how to deliver his people. Thus, he speaks of Lot being delivered from the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah. Thus, he speaks of Noah as being exempted when the flood came upon the world of the ungodly. Thus, he placed a difference between the Egyptians and the Israelites, and, while the former were enveloped in darkness, the other had light in all their dwellings. And so in the prophecies of Ezekiel we see how God ordered a mark to be set on the foreheads of the men that sighed for the abominations that were done in the land; and what an order was given to the men who had a weapon,-not to approach any man upon whom was the mark! In public and private calamities God knows how to deliver his people; and with regard to any trial he knows how to screen them, and will do so if it be for their profit. Thus he says, by Isaiah, “Come, my people, enter into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee; hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until these calamities be overpast.”
Secondly, By preservation; not only by exempting them from trials, but in preserving them. Observe in this instance that while the afflictions are not removed, but allowed to continue, his people are kept from the evil of them; and there are many in a state of suffering that can only be preserved by the grace of God. Thus, we may despise the chastening of the Lord, or we may faint in the day of adversity. We may envy others who have not the same trials; we may charge God foolishly, or with being unkind; we may murmur or complain; we may sometimes be ready to look up and curse God to his face.
Now, what a mercy is it in our afflictions to be preserved from all this! It is, therefore, mentioned as a kind of moral wonder with regard to Job, “In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.” What a blessing is it to have realized in our experience the language of Elihu, “He delivereth the poor in his afflictions,” when he does not deliver him out of them! But then there is another way in which he knows how to deliver the godly. This was the case with Job and David, and many others, who could even say, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted” by emancipating them from their sufferings. The apostle therefore tells the Corinthians that “nothing had befallen them but that which was common to man, and that with the temptation God would make a way of escape, so that they might be able to bear it.” We see how often he has delivered his people, according to the instances recorded in Scripture. He knew how to deliver Job and Moses, and the three Hebrew children and Daniel. Many of these deliverances, indeed, were miraculous, and we are not now to look for miracles; but he who performed them is the living God, “the same yesterday, today, and forever.” He could do now as formerly, and
“Sooner all nature shall change,
Than one of his promises fail.”
Well, this deliverance is twofold,-partial here: from how many afflictions and trials has God already delivered us! but now “the clouds return after the rain.” “Deep calleth unto deep:” as long as we are here we may look for sorrows of some kind or other, but at death the deliverance will be complete. Death is a blessed thing with regard to Christians: it is from all sorrow, and to all joy,-it is from all evil, and to all good,-that death conducts them.
Soon nothing will remain of all the sufferings of the godly but a remembrance of the hand that sustained him under them and that freed him from them. He will then be able exultingly to sing, “Thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling;” and then will be fulfilled the promise, “Sing, O daughter of Zion, shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all thy heart, O daughter of Jerusalem. The Lord hath taken away thy judgments, he hath cast out thine enemy: the king of Israel, even the Lord, is in the midst of thee; thou shalt not see evil any more.”
Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near. - Isaiah 55:6.
WE may consider these words as a security from presumption, as well as an antidote to despair. They plainly hint that, though God is to be found, he is not always to be found. The awful decision of Solomon may be here appealed to: “They shall call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me;” “for that they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord.”
How is this intimation to be understood? First and principally, it regards the difference between time and eternity. The one is compared in the Scriptures to a way, and the other to an end; the one to seed time, the other to harvest; and the Apostle says, “God is not mocked! Whatsoever a man soweth shall he also reap; for he that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.” It is upon this principle Solomon says, “Whatsoever thine hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might, for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave whither thou goest.”
There is no throne of grace in hell. But there is an inferior illustration of this principle to be found even with regards the present life itself. In this view, what a period is youth! Then the body enjoys its health and strength, the mind its activity and sprightliness, the memory its retention, the affections their tenderness, the conscience its sensibility. Note for the most part, they are free from the cares which, if they live, will embarrass, and the troubles which will vex them in their future life. Everything, therefore, unites to call upon them to “remember now their Creator,” and to “seek the Lord” “in the days of their youth.” Hence God says, “they that seek me early shall find me.”
So shall others seek him; but there must be an emphasis in the promise; and the meaning is, that if others attain the same things, they will not attain to them in the same measure and degree, while there are many things which they never can attain if they seek him later, for there are many honours, many pleasures, many opportunities for usefulness, which are peculiar to those who seek and serve the Lord in their youth. What a period, in this view, is the Sabbath. How many have sought and found the Lord then-a day for the soul, a day for eternity, a day for God: a day in which we are drawn back from the world’s concerns, and have an opportunity more expressly to wait upon God. Much has been said, and much improperly said, of a day of grace. And though while there is life there is hope, for
“Life is the time to serve the Lord,
The time to ensure the great reward,
And while the lamp holds out to burn,
The vilest sinner may return,”
yet it must be allowed that there are periods of a more propitious nature than others, when the attention is excited, the heart softened, and the conscience roused. Such is the season of affliction. Then not only the word of God, but the providence of God, says, “Call upon me in the day of trouble.” This is the design of the trouble, as it is also the tendency of it. We naturally seek assistance when we are in straits and difficulties. God therefore says, “I will go and return to my place till they acknowledge me and seek me, for in their affliction they will seek me early.”
Lastly, There are some who have sought and found the Lord in the highest and most exalted manner; all, indeed, who really seek him find him here; but not according to David, when he said, “As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake up in thy likeness.” Oh, there are many who have realised this. They sought him here on earth, and now they serve him in heaven, and they see his face, and they wear his name upon their foreheads.