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The Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity.

MORNING SERVICE.-First Lesson: Jer. xxxv.

Verses 18, 19.-" And Jeremiah said unto the house of the Rechabites, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Because ye have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts, and done according unto all that he hath commanded you: Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before me for ever."

THE first we read of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, is in the Second Book of Kings, where he went out to meet Jehu, and joined with him in the destruction of the house of Ahab, King of Israel. The Rechabites were the descendants of Jethro, Moses's father-in-law, who is called the Kenite in the Book of Judges. We may conclude that in compliance with the invitation of Moses (Numbers x. 29-32) those people united themselves to the Israelites in the wilderness, went up with them into the land of Canaan, and finally settled down among the tribe of Judah. They had no portion allotted to them in the division of the land, but lived in tents and supported services as they could render to the proprietors of the soil. In one of the parables of Balaam he speaks of the Kenites as dwelling in strong places amongst the rocks, and should be wasted when Assur, or the Assyrians, should take them away captive. The history of the Kenites, or as they are here called Rechabites, represents them as being a pious, God-fearing people. There were some persons among them who stood forth prominently at different times; such as

themselves by such

Jael, the wife of Heber, Rechab, and Jonadab. At what time and for what purpose Jonadab the command to his posgave terity to drink no wine, to build no houses, and to plant no vineyards is not recorded in Scripture. Some suppose that it was to preserve the custom which their ancestors practised in the land of Midian, where they confined themselves to the life of shepherds, dwelling in tents, and tending their flocks, which were removed from one place to the other where they could obtain pasturage; instead of cultivating the soil and planting vines they were satisfied with such sustenance as those flocks could yield. Others think that having no inheritance in the land, they were commanded by their father to live upon their respective employments, and not expect to enjoy the same luxuries as those who possessed lands and revenues. Others think that he wished thereby to inure them to hardships, as, by a prophetic spirit, he foresaw the calamities that should in future befal the people amongst whom they inhabited. However, those people are here held up as an example worthy of imitation; not so much in their abstinence from drinking wine, as in obedience to their father's command. The contrast is here drawn between their conduct and that of the Jews in Jeremiah's time. "Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Go and tell the men of Judah," &c. (ver. 13, 14). The Rechabites devotedly obeyed the command of a man, the Jews impiously disobeyed the command of God, therefore, whilst the former are praised, the latter are condemned.

In calling attention to the subject we would regard the one as a chart and the other as a beacon; the one directs us to safety, the other warns us of danger; the conduct of the one we should imitate, the conduct of the other we should avoid. We shall now direct you chiefly to the chart, but at the same time not losing sight of the beacon.

Our text suggests two things. First, the commendation expressed; and, secondly, the benefit awarded.

I. We have the commendation expressed. "Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Because ye have obeyed

the command of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts, and done according unto all that he hath commanded you." Observe, the commendation comes from the highest source. It is a privilege to be commended by man, when that man is of a character and position worthy of respect; and when we feel conscious that our conduct is worthy of commendation; but when God commends it is a privilege above anything that can be conferred by man, inasmuch as His approval of conduct establishes a consciousness of welldoing, and an interest in substantial benefits. The Divine commendation is not merely confined to the praise of the immediate individual, but it extends to the encouragement of others. Thus, when he commended Noah, and Abraham, and Moses, and Job, and David, they were held forth as examples for others to follow. When our Saviour commended the Centurion, the Samaritan, the Syrophenician woman, and the poor widow of the two mites, it was for imitation of His disciples of every age.

God's commendation of the obedience of the Rechabites was founded on three reasons. First, because it was actuated by a principle of filial respect; secondly, it was observed in the face of difficulties; and thirdly, it resisted the greatest temptation.

1. It was actuated by a principle of filial respect. They did not abstain from drinking wine, from building houses, and from planting vineyards because they were convinced of any moral evil connected with either simply considered in itself, but because Jonadab, the son of Rechab, their father, had commanded it. This feeling of love to their father's memory, and respect to their father's command regulated their whole lives and conduct, so that in no circumstance did they swerve from their obedience. The root of all good as well as of all evil is in the heart. The motive which actuates the act constitutes its virtues; it is this God observes, this He appreciates, He desires truth in the inward parts. The least thing done from a sincere desire to please Him out of regard to His name and His word, is infinitely more highly valued than the

most brilliant action in the absence of such filial regard. It was this that made the prayer of the poor publican in the Temple so much more acceptable than that of the proud Pharisee, and it is this that renders the unpretending tear of the insignificant Christian of far greater worth than the most costly offering of the ostentatious worshipper. Those who possess this principle do not question the why and the wherefore of His commands. They may not see any great moral evil in some forbidden sins, nor any peculiar virtue in some prescribed duties. Some may ask, What harm could there be in Adam and Eve eating the fruit of the tree which was in the midst of the garden? or what virtue can there be in exercising faith in the Son of God? what harm can there be in the indulgence of what they may esteem an innocent pleasure? or what virtue can there be in an act of self-denial? this is not the question with the believer; our Father has commanded it, and our respect for Him compels us to obey. This was the feeling of St. Paul when he "conferred not with flesh and blood," but immediately obeyed the Divine calling; and this was the feeling of the holy martyrs and confessors when they counted not their lives dear to them, but cheerfully gave them up in the service of God.

2. The Rechabites obeyed in the face of difficulties. It was not a slight deprivation to dwell in fragile tents during the cold and storms of winter when they might have been sheltered by strong and weather-tight houses; it was not a small sacrifice to abstain from wine in a country so productive of the article; it was no little trial to live differently from all their neighbours when they were probably ridiculed for their exclusiveness. No deprivation however influenced their conduct, they would obey the command of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, their father, in the midst of all difficulties. There is a religion of convenience which appears fair and promising during the sunshine of prosperity, when the world smiles, and circumstances are favourable; but it shrinks from contact with difficulties, and cannot endure the deprivation of ease and comfort. Such a religion is like a beautiful yacht, well pro

portioned, neatly rigged, and ornamentally painted, and completely fitted out for the smooth surface of an inland lake; but if she attempted the broad Atlantic, to contend with the surging waves, the raging storm, and the driving hurricane, the consequence would be distressing shipwreck. The multitudes followed Christ in admiring crowds whilst they expected Him to become king to save them from the degrading subjection to a foreign yoke, and to promote them to positions of preferment and honour in the world; but when they learnt that He had not "where to lay his head," that His kingdom was not of this world, and that nothing could be looked for but poverty, destitution, and persecutions, they all forsook him and fled, except the few in whose hearts were planted the principles of the Rechabites, preferring to endure the greatest deprivations rather than disobey His command. They, like Himself, "endured the cross, despised the shame," and “reckoned that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory which shall be (hereafter) revealed." Brethren, is your religion of such a nature that you consider no sacrifice too great to make in obedience to the command of God your Father?

3. The obedience of the Rechabites resisted the strongest temptation, a temptation shaped in the most insinuating form, and backed by the most influential authority. The greatness of this temptation will not appear except you consider the mode, and the place in which, as well as the person by whom it was presented. To abstain from wine on any ordinary occasion would have been no sacrifice to those people, they had never been accustomed to it, they knew nothing experimentally of its flavour, nor of its effects; but being taken into the House of God, by His own prophet, for whom, doubtless, they entertained the profoundest reverence, and there in the secrecy of the chamber of "a man of God" invited to partake of an abundance sufficient to satisfy the most craving appetite, was a trial which required the energy of a stedfast principle and a powerful resolution to resist. It was this, above all other things, which made them the