0364. NOTICE TO FLIT.

NOTICE TO FLIT.

"Arise ye, and depart, for this is not your rest; because it is polluted it shall destroy you, even with a sore destruction" (Mic_2:10).

The good land given them by the Lord had ceased to be a place of rest for them because of their sin. There is no peace saith my God to the wicked.

I. The Nature of the Call. It is twofold. It is a call-

1. To Arise. "Arise ye." 1. Arise from the dead (Eph_5:14). From among the dead in trespasses and sin. 2. Arise and go to your father (Luk_15:18). Be reconciled to God. 3. Arise and worship (Jer_31:6). 4. Arise and shine (Isa_60:1).

2. To Depart. To depart from all iniquity. "Come out from among them, and be ye separate" (Isa_52:11). "Ye cannot serve God and mammon."

II. The Reasons given.

1. Because this is not your rest. There is a great danger of seeking rest in a condition of heart that is not pleasing to God. Refuge of lies. It would have been the prodigal’s doom if he had found rest in the far country. That an unsaved state is not a state of rest is attested by many proofs. The hunger of the heart has never been satisfied.

2. Because it is polluted. Sin has poisoned the spring of every worldly pleasure. The whole land and kingdom of the godless is blighted with the polluting breath of sin. The outward life, like the city of Jericho, may be pleasant, but the waters of the inner life are naught.

3. Because it is destructive. "It shall destroy you." To abide out of Christ is to abide in the Sodom of destruction. Flee for your life, tarry not in all the plain. Like Bunyan’s Pilgrim, stop your ears to the evil entreaties of men and devils, and make for the narrow gate. Arise ye, and depart, or this condition of life will destroy you. "I flee to Thee to hide me." "Come unto Me, and ye shall find rest" (Mat_11:28).

Autor: James Smith