Nehemiah 9:26-29

Nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against Thee.

Provocations and punishment

I. How justly we may be charged, as the Jews in the text, with having wrought great provocations. This will be manifest if we consider--

1. To what a prodigious height all kinds of iniquity are raised amongst us. Atheism, infidelity, blasphemy, intemperance, impurity, commercial immorality.

2. What engagements we are under to abstain from all transgressions of the laws of God.

3. That our sins have been committed against the most prevailing attempts of the Spirit of God to restrain and reclaim us from them.

4. That our sins have been committed against many and great mercies.

5. That our sins have been committed against the discipline of God’s rod and those many judgments He hath sent to teach us righteousness.

II. That we have great reason to fear that our great provocations may be punished by God as those of the Jews were. Conclusion: What is the most effectual means to prevent the punishment our great provocations threaten us with? (Lilly Butler.)

And testifiedst against them, that Thou mightest bring them again unto Thy law.

God’s laws

Some years ago I was enjoying a ramble on the Portsdown Hills, a favourite resort of the Portsmouth people, and commanding a delightful view of the sea. They are all open to the public, except a few places which are carefully fenced off. Are these the most luxurious spots, where the grass is softest and the moss most green? No, indeed, these are the broken and precipitous parts, where serious accidents might occur. God’s laws are just like these fences. God’s love has placed fences there to keep us from hurting ourselves. (F. S. Webster.)

Danger signals

In travelling along our great railroads we pass many signal stations. In connection with each of these there is a man appointed, one of whose duties it is to see that the way is clear. If a bridge should be broken, or any obstruction is on the road, he is expected to ring a bell, wave a flag, or make a signal of some kind, so that the driver of any train coming along the road may know in time to stop his train before any harm is done. And the flag the man waves, or the signal he puts out, is the warring given to approaching trains to save them from injury. In the journey that we are pursuing through this life we are sure to meet with many dangers. The Bible is the guide-book which God has given us to use on the journey. And the warnings found in this book are the signals to tell us of the dangers that lie along our path in order that we may avoid them. We cannot be safe in our journey through the world unless we are careful to mind these warnings.