Zion's Waymarks 2
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III. The DIRECTIONS which the Lord gives to his backsliding daughter, "Set up waymarks, make high heaps– set your heart toward the highway, even the way which you went– turn again, O virgin of Israel, turn again to these your cities."
The Lord here assumes that his backsliding daughter, but still the virgin of Israel, has lost her way, but would gladly find it; would return to him, but knows not how to get back into the road. If, therefore, you do not feel that you have lost your way, or have no desire to return to the Lord, these words are not spoken to you. But if you feel that you have indeed lost your way and would gladly find it again, that you might come back to your first love, as saying with the wife spoken of by Hosea, "It was better with me then than now," then these words may be considered as speaking to your conscience, and it is as if the Lord personally said, "Set up waymarks."
A. "Set up waymarks." Let us then look at this direction, and see if we can penetrate into its spiritual meaning. Just see for a moment where the person is to whom the words speak. He is represented as one who has lost his way and trying to find it, but unable; pressed, it may be, with hunger and thirst, and in danger of perishing. Now, how it would rejoice the heart of such a wanderer literally if just as he was sinking upon the sand to rise no more, his eyes caught sight of a distant waymark that just rose above the rest of the plain; if when he strained his eyes into the weary distance to take almost his last look for some indication of the road, he could just see upon the edge of the horizon a pillar or projecting stone, which he knew had been placed there by the side of the road to point out the right path. Would it not put strength into his weary limbs as giving him a sure mark of the right road? And would he not at once turn his steps to reach it that so he might escape from the desert in which he was pent in and all but lost? In this sense he might be said toset up a waymark; not that he himself set it up with his own hands, but with his own eyes; that he set it up in hope and expectation, in joyful anticipation of escape.
Apply this idea spiritually to the experience of the backsliding daughter. There are for her spiritual waymarks; that is, gracious indications of the right track. Of course you are well aware that in eastern countries they have no roads as we have, marked out by hedges and traveled over by a long succession of vehicles. Their ways, for the most part, lie over large plains, wide wildernesses, and dreary deserts, where the track is soon lost and with difficulty recovered, and this is generally pointed out by marks at various distances within sight of each other to guide the traveler.
So in grace there are certain waymarks whereby we may know whether we are in the way or not, and by which, if we get out of the road, we may be enabled to find the way back. But as the direction is given to Zion's backsliding daughter, to set up waymarks, let us see if we can show her what she may set up.
1. The first waymark is to have a clear testimony that God had called her by his grace.The first work of God upon the soul, the entrance of conviction into the heart, the application of the law to the conscience, and the first breaking in of that light which shows us that we are sinners and of that life which makes us feel our lost, ruined, undone state– this is the first waymark of the path of life, and therefore the first to be set up by the virgin of Israel. And bear this in mind that the more striking the beginning, the clearer the waymark. A little pillar, a slab two or three feet high, would be but a poor waymark in the wilderness. The higher, broader, and wider it is the better. Can you set up this waymark or anything like it? Can you look back to any time when the Lord began the work of grace upon your soul– when his word entered into your conscience to give light and life, when you were awakened out of your sleep of death, brought to cry for mercy, and had the Spirit of grace and supplication poured out upon you? Set up that waymark, if you can see it distinctly and clearly. It may be a blessed help to you to bring you back once more into the path from which you have wandered, as showing that you are still a virgin of Israel, though you must confess with shame and sorrow a backsliding daughter.
2. Now look at another waymark– the deliverance that God gave you from a burden of sin upon your conscience; the first manifestation in any measure of his pardoning love to your heart; the first gracious intimation of his mercy to your soul. Can you set up this waymark? Can you look back to any sweet time or blessed season when the Lord was first pleased to break in upon your soul with any intimation of his mercy, with any discovery of his pardoning love, with any application of atoning blood to your conscience? If you can, set it up, set it up; take it with both hands, plant it deeply and firmly in the path. These are the two most blessed waymarks, the two most conspicuous of all the rest. The first work of God upon the soul in the conviction of sin by the law, and the deliverance through a manifestation of pardoning love and mercy through the gospel; these are the two greatest waymarks that any soul can set up.
And if a backsliding daughter can set up these two waymarks, they will bring her back into the path from which she has wandered. But why? Because they give her a sure testimony that she belongs to the Lord. They are closely connected together, and mutually strengthen and support each other. For if the conscience was never convinced of sin, what room is there for a manifestation of mercy? and what is mercy as separated from a conviction of sin? A presumptuous notion.
3. Now look at another waymark. Has the Lord ever given you any evident answer to prayer?Were you ever in trouble of mind or distress of soul, or under any peculiar temptation, and made it a matter of special prayer, that the Lord would deliver you from it; and did you soon receive from him a blessed answer? I was once lying under a powerful temptation which made me sigh and groan before the Lord. I made it a matter of earnest prayer that he would deliver me from it; and in a day or two a letter came by the post which immediately opened up in a most unexpected manner a deliverance, and that so plainly that I could not but see in it the outstretched hand of God. Answer to prayer is a blessed waymark. Set it up– it will show you at times that you are in the way; for God never hears prayer unless indited by the blessed Spirit in the hearts of his people. It is true that he hears the young ravens that cry unto him and gives the stranger food and clothing– but it is spiritual prayers and spiritual answers of which I am speaking as divine waymarks to show the virgin of Israel that the Lord is her God.
4. But let us look along the edge of the desert to see whether we cannot find another waymark. Have you ever had any manifestations of Jesus to your soul,any views of the King in his beauty, any discovery of him to your heart as the Son of God? If you have, set it up; it is a most blessed waymark. Do we not learn from the pen of holy John that "whoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwells in him and he in God" (1 John 4:15); and does he not say, "He that believes on the Son of God has the witness in himself?" (1 John 5:10.) But how can any one either believe it or confess it unless it has been revealed to his soul by the power of God?
5. But can we not find another waymark? Was any promise ever applied to your soulwith divine power when in trouble or distress? Did the Lord the Spirit ever bring any word home to your heart to relieve and comfort and encourage you under temptation or exercise? If ever he did, set it up; it is a most blessed waymark.
Now these which I have brought forward are distinguished waymarks which seem to tower above the rest; but you know that on a high road all the waymarks need not be of the same conspicuous character. There may be several broad and high in order to distinguish the road with greater clearness, and be more evident guides for the lost traveler; but between them there may be smaller waymarks. So it is in grace. We have set up some of the most conspicuous; now let us look at some of the smaller.
6. Has the Lord ever given you any love to his people?We must not overlook this waymark, for it is one of the Spirit's own giving. "We know," says John, "that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren."
7. Again, has the Lord ever melted your heart under the word of truth, given you a good hope through grace, a sweet intimation of his favor, a prospect of better days? And though you are following the Lord in chains, yet it is with weeping and supplications, and there is an expectation in your soul that he will in due time appear and bless you with pardon and peace. This is a waymark, for it is an opening in the valley of Achor of a door of hope.
8. Do you ever feel any softening of heart into godly sorrow on account of your backslidings, any contrition of spirit or any confession of your sins, so as to long to return to the Lord with a broken heart and weeping eyes? This is a waymark; set it up; it is an indication that you are in the way, for this is "that repentance unto life" which Jesus is "exalted to give" as well as "remission of sins."
B. But let us pass on to another of the Lord's directions to the virgin of Israel– "Make high heaps." In Eastern countries, there being few other means to indicate the road, it was usual at various points to set up not only lofty waymarks, but heaps of stones by the wayside; and it still is the custom to do so, travelers often casting a stone upon the heap to add to its size. Now as the country was often very level, these heaps were sometimes made very high, to distinguish them from other objects. So in grace. The literal "waymarks" seemed to have been hewed pillars, with perhaps characters deeply sculptured upon them; but the "high heaps" were stones simply and crudely piled together without being hewn out with skill and care like the waymarks. As, then, these heaps consisted of stones, put together, we may view them spiritually as indicative of certain favorable marks of grace, not indeed so clear and conspicuous as the "waymarks," but no less signs of the road, from being brought together for that purpose. Thus, there are those among the family of God who have no very conspicuous waymarks, and yet have a number of gracious evidences, which all put together show that they are in the right path.
1. Take, for instance, any conspicuous appearance of Providence in answer to prayer.It has not the clearness of a blessed answer in grace, or a conspicuous deliverance, or a gracious manifestation, or a sweet promise applied to the soul; it does not bear upon its face the clear writing of the blessed Spirit as these "waymarks" do, but is still a heap of stones, and though the stones are not in themselves very large, and are put together confusedly, yet, when together, a good many little evidences may make up a good heap. Thus, if the Lord has appeared to you again and again in providence, you may put all together until you get a heap of them.
2. Or again, have you ever had any particular blessingin hearing the preached word, or in secret prayer, when you have been upon your knees? Has the Scripture ever been opened up to you with any life and power? Or has there ever been any discovery of the suitability of Jesus, or any sweetness enjoyed in his name, "as the ointment poured forth," which you have tasted, felt, and handled for yourself? You may take all these stones and put them together, the more you have got the better, and pile them up, and it may be you will find them to be a weighty heap.
Look at this heap in the light of the Spirit. View this good time of hearing, and that sweet season in prayer; that remarkable occasion when a word came with power, unction, and savor to your heart. Call to mind again this glimpse of Christ, or this gleam of mercy, or this ray of hope, or this sweet encouragement, or this token for good, or this comforting testimony. There has been this brokenness of heart; this humility of mind; this weeping over your sins; this self-loathing and self-abhorrence; this hatred of sin, this love of holiness; this separation from the world; this spirituality of mind; this spirit of prayer. Put together all these as so many stones upon stones until you get a high heap of them.
But why is the virgin of Israel directed to set up these waymarks, and make these high heaps, except that by these means she may be led clearly to see not only the way that leads to Zion, but how to guide her feet back into it? But what if you have no such waymarks, no such high heaps? Where, then, is there any indication that you are in the way, or even desirous to be in the way? Consider these things, and the Lord impress them with his own power upon your conscience.
C. But the Lord still goes on with his directions to his backsliding daughter– "Set your heart towards the highway, even the way which you went."There is a way that leads to Zion, of which we read, "A highway shall be there and a way, and it shall be called the way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it." (Isaiah. 35:8.) In this way of happiness and holiness the virgin daughter of Israel once walked, when she came up from the wilderness leaning upon her beloved; but, alas! in leaving her first love she declined from it; she has got out of the road, lost sight of it, and strayed away into the wilderness.
Now the Lord says to her, as she is longing to return, "Set your heart towards the highway, even the way which you went." Let your affections flow out towards that strait and narrow path in which you once walked, when your eyes as well as your feet were set upon Jesus; for is not he "the way" as well as the truth and the life? When you were walking in him as the way unto God, you were not gadding about after every vain imagination of your carnal heart. Now "set your heart towards the highway, even the way which you went." Is not Jesus the highway to God, for no man comes to the Father but by him? (John 14:6.) Your heart was then set toward the highway, for it was fixed upon him.
Was it not well with you in those days? Look back, then, to that happy season, when you were prayerful, spiritually-minded, tender in conscience, watchful in spirit, circumspect in life, full of love and affection to the people of God, with sin subdued, the flesh crucified, and the world under your feet, and all because your heart was fully and firmly fixed upon the Lord of life and glory. Though it was a very strait and narrow way, for there was no room for sin, the flesh, and the world to walk with you in it, O what a good way it was to be found in! How it brought you out of the world; and what a blessed path it was, though bodily sickness, providential trials, sore afflictions, or hot persecution might have attended it!
Now, if you would get back to that spot, the first thing to do is to set your heart toward it, that, sick of sin, the world, and yourself, you may desire once more to walk in that strait and narrow path. There it is, though you had forgotten it. "But how shall I find it?" says the soul. "Set up waymarks, make high heaps," the Lord answers. Look at his dealings with your soul in times past; and as you get encouragement from them it will revive your hope, strengthen your faith, and draw out your love. Jesus, as the way, is worthy of all your affections. Set your heart, therefore, toward him, for in finding him you will find the highway, even the way which you went in days gone by. If your heart is really and truly toward it, your eyes will soon discover it and your feet will quickly find it.
For why is your way now so dark and obscure? Because the old veil of darkness has come back over your heart. But if you turn to the Lord with all your heart, the veil shall once more be taken away. (2 Cor. 3:16.)
Are you not weary of your sins? Are you not willing to suffer almost anything and everything sooner than be deceived in what regards your eternal peace? Do you not desire to be found at last in the path of life, and die under the sweet smiles of God? Then set your heart toward the highway, even the way which you went in days of old, when, in all the tenderness, purity, and warmth of virgin love, you cleaved to the Lord with full purpose of heart, and all your delight was to serve, please, and obey him.
D. But the Lord gives his backsliding daughter another direction. "Turn again, O virgin of Israel, turn again to these your cities." By "cities" we may here understand places of fixed abode as opposed to wandering in the wilderness. Zion's cities, here called "your cities," may, then, be viewed as places where the virgin of Israel had found salvation and rest. Thus we read, "We have a strong city; salvation God will appoint for walls and bulwarks" (Isaiah. 26:1); and thus the ancient worthies are spoken of as "looking for a city which has foundations whose builder and maker is God." (Heb. 11:10.) In these cities the virgin of Israel had found a sure habitation, and therefore the Lord says to her, "Turn again to these your cities;" that is, viewed spiritually and experimentally, seek once more that rest and peace, that sure shelter which you had when you could rest within those walls and bulwarks which God has appointed for salvation, and where you were secure from the perils of the wilderness. Turn again to those your cities, for the gates are still open that "the righteous nation which keeps the truth may enter in;" and if you keep the truth firmly and warmly in your heart, those gates will again be opened unto you.
IV. Now for our last point, the STRONG FOUNDATION upon which those directions rest. The soul might say, "Lord, how can I do all this? how can I find my way back, for have I not wandered so far as to preclude all hope of return?" "No!" he answers; "The Lord has created a new thing in the earth; a woman shall compass a man." Here we have a clear intimation of that miraculous incarnation of the Son of God which was to take place at the appointed time, and which is the strong, the only foundation on which salvation, with all salvation's blessings, rests. Salvation from death and hell, the full pardon of sin, the righteousness which perfectly justifies, the super-aboundings of the free, sovereign grace of God, all stand on this one foundation, that the Son of God has become man and that not by natural generation, but by a supernatural and miraculous way, here intimated by the expression, "The Lord has created a new thing in the earth." This is a delicate foreshadowing of the miraculous conception of the pure humanity of the Son of God in the womb of the Virgin Mary. In that sense it was true that "a woman should compass a man," for when a pure virgin compassed in her womb the sacred manhood of the Lord Jesus Christ and embraced him in her arms when brought forth, she "compassed a man" as conceiving and bringing forth a perfect man by the sole influence and operation of the perfect Spirit.
Now is not this the stone, the tried stone, the precious corner stone which God has laid in Zion for a sure foundation? An incarnate God, the Son of God in our nature, his eternal Deity in union with his humanity, in which he suffered, bled, died, rose again, ascended up on high, and is glorified at the right hand of the Father– is not this the foundation of the whole salvation of the Church? And as it is the foundation of all salvation from sin, so it is the foundation of all restoration from spiritual declension. This, therefore, is the foundation of all the directions and admonitions of God to his backsliding daughter when he bids her set up her waymarks, make her high heaps, and speaks as in her ears, "Turn again, O virgin of Israel, turn again to these your cities. How long will you go about, O you backsliding daughter?" You are a virgin of Israel, though a backsliding daughter; and because the Lord has created this new thing, this mighty miracle in the earth, therefore mercy can once more reach your soul; therefore grace can still superabound over the aboundings of sin.
See what a door of hope this opens in the valley of Achor, and what assurance it gives, that souls are pardoned and blessed by the sole virtue of the atoning blood of the Son of God. Do you see the connection between the incarnation of the Son of God and pardoned sin; between atoning blood and the healing of all backslidings? Is it not a beautiful connection? How blessed it is to see and feel that because the Lord has created this new thing upon the earth in the incarnation of his dear Son; that because "to us a child is born, unto us a Son is given," that "the government shall be upon his shoulder, and that of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end." (Isaiah. 9:6, 7.)
Therefore, O virgin of Israel, "Set up waymarks, make high heaps– set your heart toward the highway, even the way which you went." There is hope for you, help for you, mercy for you, grace for you– and why all this? Because the Son of God has become flesh for you; because mercy, grace, and peace flow through the channel of a Savior's blood, and God can be just, infinitely, inflexibly just, and yet the justifier of him which believes in Jesus.
Thus there is a blessed reason why the virgin of Israel, though a backsliding daughter, may yet set up her waymarks and make her high heaps, and set her heart towards the highway; for there is mercy for her in a bleeding Lamb; there is salvation for her through the blood-shedding, obedience, and death of the Son of God. There is no reason then why any sensible sinner should sit down in despair; there is no cause why any poor backsliding child of God should say, "There is no hope, therefore after my idols will I go." There is room to return for every poor wanderer; there is mercy in the bosom of God; there is salvation in the blood of Christ; and there is grace super-abounding over the aboundings of sin in the pierced side and bleeding wounds of a once suffering but now glorified Immanuel.
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