Not all men who have been imprisoned were paying for crimes. David Davies tells of an ancestor of his who was once imprisoned for righteousness' sake. When that strong man entered jail not a nerve quivered, and not a look of sorrow was seen upon his face. Again, when he was released and met his friends, he bore up heroically; the joy of deliverance did not break him down.

But when he entered his home, and when the little child on the mother's knee, that a month or so before had known it's father, did not know him, but turned away from him, the strong man wept as a child. He burst into tears and sobs.

The grief of God is that often his own children do not know him. Listen to the poignant words of the Lord from the book of Isaiah: "I have nourished and brought up children, And they have rebelled against Me; The ox knows its owner And the donkey its master's crib; But Israel does not know, My people do not consider." Isaiah 1:2,3.

When children of God are charged with base ingratitude, it is a crime of the highest nature. Seneca says, "He is ungrateful who denies that he has received a kindness which has been bestowed upon him; he is ungrateful who conceals it: he is ungrateful who makes no return for it: most ungrateful of all is he who forgets it."

God has been gracious to us. As a Father he has reared and brought us up. He has created and established us. All the instances of God's favor to us aggravate our treacherous departures from him and show that we sometimes behave worse than the ox and ass which are not only brute creatures, but of the dullest sort. Matthew Henry writes, 'Me ox has such a sense of duty as to know his owner and to serve him, to submit to his yoke and to draw in it; the donkey has such a sense of interest as to know his master's crib, or manger where he is fed, and to abide by it; he will go to that of himself if he be turned loose. A fine pass man has come to when he is shamed even in knowledge and understanding by these silly animals, and is not only sent to school to them, but set in a form below them."

The motto "noblesse oblige" — nobility has its obligations — is true. When the Lord elevates a man as he has us, we ought to feel a special obligation to serve him. When we do not, it ought to be easy for us to understand the grief of God.

Members Directory

Take Note!
All ladies’ events have been cancelled for the summer and will resume in September.

Don’t Forget the Prayer Meeting in classroom #3 today at 5:30 p.m.