Caution against fear.
"Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard." We are often afraid of whispers; we often suffer severely through words. It is not surprising. Words are winged, and fly across oceans. Words are penetrating, and enter into the secret places of the heart. Words are indestructible, and, once uttered, who but God can restrain their power?
I. THESE WERE WORDS AGAINST GOD. Alas! there have been many such in every age. This is part of the perils of moral government, which leaves the creature "free." But God has set in order a universe of men, and not of machines, and he is too wise not to have ordered all things wisely and well. Man is evidently a being born to the perils which beset all freedom. Thus he can speak against the Most High. "I am equal to the sad occasion," says in effect Jehovah to Isaiah. "The servants of the King of Assyria have blasphemed me, but I will send a blast upon them." No more solemn thought can occupy our minds than the consideration how every day blasphemous, false, and base words are spoken against our Father in heaven.
II. THESE WORDS ARE OFTEN DESIGNED TO HURT HIS CHILDREN. "Fear them not," says God; "they cannot hurt you." We are thankful for this revelation of the impotence of evil. If your character is falsely traduced, God can "bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday." If your influence is injured for a time, God has so ordered the world that evil men reveal their true character. They are not good, and they know it; "and they that be otherwise cannot be hid." Let not the friends of God tremble in the presence of infidel insinuation or sceptical scorn. God's nature has been revealed. His wonderful works attest his power and goodness. Christ and the cross are the revelation of his love.
III. THESE WORDS ARE SURE TO BE HEARD. We cannot at times help the entrance of evil, but we can help the entertainment of it. We must treat all the evil surmises of wicked men with the disdain that they deserve. We can, as Solomon suggests, "turn from it and pass away." Besides, just as there is in love what Dr. Chalmers calls "the expulsive power of a new affection," so there is in love to God a power to banish all that old love of the world which makes men mingle with the irreverent and undevout. The syren voice of evil whisperings will have no charm for us when we hide God's Word in our heart. The great lesson is not to be afraid of the wickedness of the wicked, or to make their words of account by taking too great note of them. Many malignant words would have perished at their birth if they had not been made much of by argument and reply. The best answer is to trust in God and do the right.—W.M.S.