The Preacher's Complete Homiletic Commentary on the Books of the Bible, Volume 15 (of 32) The Preacher's Complete Homiletic Commentary on the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, Volume I (part 4 of 6)
I. TO CONFIRMED CHRISTIANS. 1. The Christian man has not always a bright shining sun; he has seasons of darkness and night. The light is sometimes eclipsed. At certain periods clouds and darkness cover the sun. The best of God's saints have their nights. Sometimes it is a night over the whole Church at once. Sometimes the darkness over the soul arises from temporal distresses, sometimes from spiritual discouragements. 2. A Christian man's religion will keep its colour in the night. Men will follow Christ when every one cries Hosanna! Demas and Mr. Hold-the-world, and a great many others, are very pious people in easy times. They will always go with Christ by daylight, and will keep Him company so long as fashion gives religion the doubtful benefit of its patronage; but they will not go with Him in the night. But the best test of a Christian is the night. If he only remained steadfast by daylight, when every coward is bold, where would he be? There would be no beauty in his courage, no glory in his bravery. There is full many a Christian whose piety did not burn much when he was in prosperity; but it will be known in adversity. Grind the diamond a little, and you shall see it glisten. 3. All that the Christian wants in the night is his God. I cannot understand how it is, unless it is to be accounted for by the corruption of our spirit, that when everything goes well with us we are setting our affection first on one object and then on another, and that desire which is as insatiable as death and as deep as hell never rests satisfied. But if you place a Christian in trouble, you will find that he does not want gold then, nor carnal honour; he wants his God. 4. There are times when all the saint can do is to desire. The more evidences a man has of his piety the better. Many witnesses will carry our case better at the bar than a few. But there are seasons when a Christian cannot get any. He will have lost assurance. But there is one witness that very seldom is gagged, even in the night, and that is, "I have desired Thee--I have desired Thee in the night."
II. TO NEWLY AWAKENED SOULS. I will now endeavour to answer three questions. 1. How am I to know that my desires are proofs of a work of grace in my soul? (1.) By their constancy. Many a man when he hears a stirring sermon has a strong desire to be saved, but he goes home and forgets it. A certain measure of constancy is essential to its real value as evidence of a Divine work. (2.) By their efficacy. If they lead you into real "works meet for repentance," then they come from God. Seeking will not do; there must be striving. Not good intentions only, but practical desires that lead you to give up your sins. (3.) By their urgency. You want to be saved some of you, but it must be this day next week. But when the Holy Ghost speak, He says "To-day." Now or never. 2. If I have desired God, why have I not obtained my desires before now? (1.) You have hardly a right to ask the question. Perhaps God has not granted your desire because He designs to show you more of your wickedness, more of the blackness of sin, that your longings may be quickened, that He may display more fully the riches of His grace at the last. (2.) Perhaps it has come already. Some of you are pardoned and do not know it. Do not expect miracles and visions. (3.) Will God grant my desire at last? Verily. His refusal would dishonour His word. You would be the first that ever perished desiring, praying, trusting in Jesus.--C. H. Spurgeon, New Park Street Pulpit, 1859, p. 237.
THE NECESSITY AND PROFITABLENESS OF CHASTISEMENT.
xxvi. 9. When Thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the earth will learn righteousness.
I. It is a lamentable proof of the depravity of our nature, that in general, apart from God's judgments, the wicked will not learn righteousness. 1. The history of the world shows that men will not give heed to the lessons they ought to learn from the beauty of creation, the established laws of nature, and the ordinary blessings of Providence (Rom. i. 20-23). Extraordinary blessings excite only transient emotions of praise and thanksgiving; and too often serve only as occasions for showing greater alienation of heart from God, and for filling up the measure of iniquity (H. E. I., 3997-4014). 2. All this may be abundantly illustrated from the history of our own country. With us times of national prosperity have been times of national profanity. 3. On every hand we find individual proofs of the same sad fact.
II. When such special interferences of Providence take place as in Scripture language are called "judgments," the inhabitants of the earth sometimes learn righteousness. In this respect, signal chastisements are ordinarily more effective than the most bountiful displays of kindness and compassion. 1. Scripture abounds with statements of the need and profitableness of chastisement (Ps. cxix. 67, 71; 2 Chron. xxxiii. 12, &c.) It is intimated that afflictions form an essential part of the discipline of the righteous (Ps. xxxiv. 19; Rev. iii. 19, &c.) Some cross is needful, as long as we live, to keep us in our right place, dependent on our Maker; and hence those who have few outward afflictions to teach them the necessary lessons of humility, generally experience a large allotment of inward trials on that very account; and sometimes both the outward and the inward afflictions are combined for this purpose (2 Cor. xii. 7, 10). 2. Even without the Bible, the fact asserted in our text was so universal and prominent, that it by no means escaped the wiser part of the heathen moralists. A Greek historian has observed, "that fortune never bestows liberally an unmixed happiness on mankind. With all her gifts, there is conjoined some disastrous circumstance, in order to chastise men into a reverence for the gods, whom, in a continual course of prosperity, they are apt to neglect and forget."
CONCLUSION.--1. Few things are more perilous than long-continued prosperity.--Ordinarily its effects on the religious opinions and moral habits of nations and individuals are most lamentable (Deut. xxxi. 20, 29). Let those, then, who are prosperous be especially on their guard (Deut. viii. 10, 11). 2. For "judgments" we should be thankful. They are not displays of vindictiveness, but gracious and compassionate dispensations, intended to warn, that God may not be compelled to destroy. 3. To the lessons of God's "judgments" we should give heed. Prominent among them is this, that "except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain."--Isaac Milner, D.D.: Sermons, vol. i. pp. 1-54.
I. CONSIDER THE AUTHOR OF THOSE JUDGMENTS AND CALAMITIES WITH WHICH THEY ARE VISITED; THE ENDS FOR WHICH THEY ARE SENT; AND THEIR FITNESS TO INSTRUCT US IN RIGHTEOUSNESS.--1. Judgments come from God. His providence rules over all, and all second causes, animate and inanimate, are directed and overruled by Him. This is the decision of reason, and the declaration of revelation (Amos iii. 6; Isa. xlv. 6, 7). Imitate, then, the ancient believers who, whatever were the inferior causes of their affliction, without justifying the instruments, and leaving to God the punishment of the unrighteous, ever looked up to Him who ruleth over all (Gen. xlv. 5, 7; Job i. 21; H. E. I., 139). 2. But why does God visit us with judgments? Not that He delights in the miseries of His creatures (Lam. iii. 33); but that they may be humbled, convinced of their iniquity, and taught righteousness. We often compel Him thus to deal with us. We permit His favours to hide the hand that confers them; and, like Jonah, when the ocean of life is smooth, and the gales of prosperity pleasantly blow, we flee from Him, and slumber in our sin. In the greatness of His compassion, He employs the rough means necessary to arouse us (Ps. lxxviii. 34, 35). 3. There is a fitness in judgments to cause men to awake to righteousness. (1.) They deeply affect us, and lead us to repentance, because they are rarer than mercies. Our attention is most arrested by that which is novel. We gaze more earnestly on the sun, when for a few moments it is in eclipse, than we have done for months while it was steadily pursuing its course through the heavens. We are more roused by a storm for a day, than by serene weeks. It is thus with mercies and judgments. (2.) They powerfully address that passion which has most influence on the greater part of mankind--the passion of fear. They present God in such a character, that even the most stout-hearted sinners tremble to oppose Him. (3.) Because they teach on that most compendious and efficacious mode--by example. On beholding them we feel that the threatenings of God are not a dead letter which need fill us with no dismay. Yet they have not invariably this effect. There are some who can resist judgments as well as mercies (2 Chron. xxviii. 22; Isa. xxii. 12, 13).
II. WHY THE JUDGMENTS OF GOD DO NOT ALWAYS TEACH MEN RIGHTEOUSNESS. Judgments that light upon others are frequently rendered useless. 1. By disbelief of His declarations. 2. By false views of His character (H. E. I., 2180-2184, 2282). 3. By unscriptural views of our own state and condition. 4. By a base inattention to the operations of Providence. 5. By a stupid insensibility to our danger. We tranquilly behold the lightning flashing at a distance, and suppose that it will not hurt us, as though we were of a different nature from those who are consumed by it (Zeph. iii. 6, 7). 6. Because, instead of being humbled and led to think of our sins, we vent our grief only in vain regrets and useless lamentations. We forget who is the Author of these judgments, and so, instead of humbly saying with Job, "Shew me, wherefore Thou contendest with me," we waste our strength in profitless complaints of men and things.--Henry Kollock, D.D., Sermons, pp. 505-512.
THE USE AND ABUSE OF THE JUDGMENTS OF GOD.
xxvi. 9, 10. For when Thy judgments, &c.
I. The judgments of God are frequently in the earth--such as earthquakes, hurricanes, pestilence, commercial disasters. These are not, as the infidel asserts, merely the results of the working of natural causes: these public calamities are the punishment of public sins. Nations are thus punished, because they have no immortality, and therefore, if they are to be judged at all, must be judged here and now. Without these chastisements, which often astonish the hearts of the most insensible, and bring the most incredulous to their right mind, the world would be only a theatre of atheism and crime. That these calamites are strictly "the judgments of God," is the testimony of Scripture (Amos iii. 6; Jer. xxxii. 23, &c.), of the universal conscience, which appeals loudly in terms of calamity,[1] and of reason. Acknowledge a First Cause which directs all things, and we are obliged to confess that public calamities are the judgments of God.
II. God's design in sending His judgments upon the earth is that the inhabitants thereof should learn righteousness--righteousness towards Him, towards their neighbours, and towards themselves. This is His design, and to comply with it is the indispensable duty of those who He afflicts.[2] The natural tendency of these chastisements is to remove the obstacles that ordinarily oppose themselves to our conversion: indolence, thoughtlessness, abuse of God's patience, the hope of long life.[3]
III. God's design in sending judgments upon the earth is often frustrated by the fact that some sinners are so obdurate that neither judgments nor mercies will move them (v. 10). The "favour" here spoken of is a temporal favour, a deliverance from physical misery, a suspension of the judgments which were falling upon the wicked. Such favours, instead of calling forth gratitude, are frequently turned into reasons for sinning (Eccl. viii. 11; Ex. viii. 15). To harden ourselves against the "judgments" of God is a great sin, but to harden ourselves against His "favours" is a still greater sin. Those who commit it leave the Almighty no alternative but to utterly destroy them.--Daniel de Superville: Sermons, pp. 332-361.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] We see that people of every description endeavour to appease Heaven, in time of public calamities, by prayers, incense, sacrifices, and solemn humiliations. And though many of them have been deceived in the object of their worship, and have erred in many of the practises which they adopted as proper to appease the Divinity, their actions set forth the feelings of man's conscience, and prove that it is a general sentiment, that in public calamities we ought to learn righteousness.--Superville.
[2] Judgment that falls upon another should be as a catechism to us by way of instruction; when judgments are abroad in the world, shall not the people learn righteousness? Shall the lion roar and the beasts of the field not tremble? Shall God's hand lie heavily upon us, and we stand by, as idle spectators, nothing at all minding what is done? Shall our very next neighbour's house be on fire, and we look on as men unconcerned in the danger? It cannot be, it must not be. There is, without all doubt, the same combustible stuff--the same, if not greater sins--lodged in our hearts, and the same punishment hovering over our heads; it is, therefore, high time to look about us.--Donne, 1573-1631.
[3] Herodotus informs us, that in a certain temple of Egypt there was a statue of Sennacherib with an inscription, the sense of which was, "Learn to fear the Deity, in looking at me." The judgments of God upon rebellious sinners are monuments which God erects in the world, and which express, in characters which all men should read, "Learn to fear the Deity, in looking at us." A celebrated poet among the ancient Romans, in describing the divers punishments of hell, presents us with a fine sentence, "Learn righteousness by us, and do not despise the gods." It appears by this, that the secrets of man's conscience, and his natural sentiments, lead him to profit by the examples which God exhibits of His justice, whether in this world or the next, and to respect a Supreme Being who knows how to avenge Himself, both now and hereafter.--Superville.
NATIONAL PEACE THE GIFT OF GOD.
(A Thanksgiving Sermon.)
xxvi. 12. Lord, Thou wilt ordain peace for us: for Thou hast wrought all our work in us.
The joyfulness of the occasion. Peace a greater blessing than mere victory; for he that celebrates victory celebrates an event which has been produced by an incalculable measure of human suffering. Let us consider--
+I. What there is in the restoration of peace, generally considered, to excite our gratitude.+ 1. The effusion of human blood is stayed, and all the suffering inescapable from war. 2. The injurious effects of war on human character afford another reason for thanksgiving on the return of peace. War renders men callous to human misery. The sacredness of human life is forgotten. Wars lead to intestine dissensions, and embitter and perpetuate national animosities.
+II. What there is in the particular circumstances of this country to warrant us in considering the blessing as of special and particular value.+ 1. The triumph of which this peace is the result is the triumph of a righteous cause. Peace is often the result of the superiority acquired by the aggressor. The cause of right does not always at once prevail. Unoffending natives are conquered, or obliged to submissions contrary to their rights and interests, and then peace follows; peace dictated, not argued. There is peace, but not the spirit of peace. 2. We have preserved our national honour. Our victory has not been purchased by any alliance of which we have cause to be ashamed. 3. Peace does not find us, as it finds many nations, with our houses desolated and our cities destroyed by fire. 4. It was seasonable. We had put forth our utmost strength. Had we not succeeded at the moment we should have fallen to rise no more as a nation of the first order. 5. It may be considered an indication of the Divine approbation. On this subject we would not be presumptuous, but it may at least be affirmed that the happy change in our affairs, which has ultimately led to peace, followed, and, in some instances, immediately followed, certain acts of national reformation (e.g., the emancipation of the slaves) and acknowledgement of God which, from the condescending assurance of His Word, we know must have been acceptable to Him. 6. It will increase our means of promoting the kingdom of Christ in the world, and thus establish our national prosperity by continuing to us the blessing of God.
+III. The reasons of our thankful acknowledgement of God on this occasion.+ He is the giver of the blessing of peace. Text. This is a most important principle, and if our hearts be not firmly grounded in it, our thanksgiving is a mockery; for why do we thank Him if we ascribe the work to second causes? He that excludes God from the world of providence might as well exclude Him from the world of nature. He who can attribute the events which are daily taking place in society, and especially such events as are connected with the celebration of this day, to mere human agency, is not less an atheist than the man who ascribes the birth and being of the fair system of the universe to chance or the dance of atoms.
CONCLUSION.--The proper expression of our thankfulness for this great blessing will be to do our utmost in the diffusion of the Gospel, that the final reign of the Prince of Peace may commence, and "quietness and assurance for ever" becomes the lot of man.--Richard Watson: Works, vol. ii. pp. 20-40.
HOLINESS ACCOMPLISHED, PEACE ORDAINED.
xxvi. 12. Lord, Thou wilt ordain peace for us: for Thou also hast wrought all our works in us.
Rather, "for us." The Church acknowledges that all her deliverances and successes have been accomplished for her; and on what God has done for her in the past, she rightly bases her expectation as to what God will do for her in the future. He who was able to deliver His people from their bondage in Babylon, would secure peace for them when He had restored them to their own land. But, then, of all the works that God accomplishes for His people, some of the most important are precisely those which He accomplishes in them. So we may profitably meditate on our text as it stands:
I. THE CHRISTIAN'S CONDITION.
1. A Divine work has been accomplished for him. "Thou," &c. Throughout, the New Testament teaches us that the Christian is a man, not who has delivered himself, but who has been delivered; not a hero who broke the chains by which he was bound, but a poor slave of sin who was set free and uplifted to true manhood (Phil. ii. 13; Eph. ii. 10); everything is ascribed to the Spirit--the life, the good works, the comforts of the Christian (John iii. 5; Gal. v. 16, 22; Acts ix. 31). 2. As the operation is Divine, so is it internal in its effects. We should never overlook what God has done for us in His kind and tender providence (Ps. xxiii. 6). But the greatest of all God's works for us is redemption by the blood of the cross. This was accomplished long ago (John xix. 30). Nothing can now be added to it, but you are mistaken if you suppose that His work for you is to supersede His work in you. If your sins are not subdued as well as pardoned, you will never be able to serve and enjoy God. Unless you have a meetness for heaven, as well as a title for it, you will never be at home there. The salvation that is promised and accomplished is internal (John iv. 14; Ezek. xi. 19, 20; Ps. li. 10). 3. The operation is manifold in its influence. "All our works." How much needs to be done in man! Conscience is to be awakened, purified, pacified; the understanding is to be enlightened; the judgment is to be informed; the will is to be subdued; the affections to be spiritualised; the world is to be dethroned in the heart, and holy principles implanted there. There needs the continuing act of a performing God from the hour of the first conviction of sin to the resurrection of the body unto eternal life (Phil. i. 6). 4. His Divine work is acknowledged. "Thou hast wrought," &c. Much remains to be done in us, but much has been accomplished in every believer, and it should be acknowledged. Humility well becomes us, but gratitude becomes us equally (Ps. lxvi. 16).
II. HIS FUTURE EXPECTATION.
"Lord, Thou wilt ordain peace for us." 1. There is an appointment or ordination. To ordain is an act of authority and power. You may wish and promise a thing, but the monarch ordains, and what he ordains is supported by all the resources of the realm, and will be accomplished. Much more shall God's counsel stand and His pleasure be done. 2. What is the blessing He will ordain? "Peace!" Peace temporal (Prov. xvi. 7). Peace spiritual.[1]
III. THE DEPENDENCE OF THE EXPECTATION ON THE CONDITION.
"Thou wilt . . . for Thou hast." The expectations of God's people are based--1. On the experience of God's people in all generations (Ps. xxii. 4). 2. On their own experience of His faithfulness and mercy (Ps. cxvi. 1, 2).[2]--William Jay: Sunday Evening Sermons, &c., pp. 306-312.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] See outlines on verse 3.--This peace of the Christian often fluctuates. It has various degrees. Some have comparatively little of it, arising from constitutional malady, but it commonly increases in death. It is therefore compared to a river which meanders and fertilises as it goes, but becomes wider and deeper as it approximates to the sea; so the peace of God's people generally increases as they get nearer eternity.--Jay.
[2] When a friend has always been kind, we think it base and unworthy not to suppose that he is ready to succour and help. But here we have the advantage: Men may be weak and unable to help, but God is almighty; men may change their mind, but with Him is "no shadow of turning." Remember what God has done, view it as a pledge, a beginning, an earnest foretaste of what He will do. Has He not shown you the evil of sin, the beauty of holiness, and the preciousness of a Saviour? If He had a mind to destroy you, would He have shown you such things as these? Nay, He will ordain everything for your welfare.--Jay.
H. E. I., 2363-2377, 2791.
MAN'S HOLINESS, GOD'S WORKMANSHIP.
xxvi. 12. Thou also hast wrought all our works in us.
It is not all men who could speak these words to God; the wicked and the worldly-minded could not use such language without blasphemy. It is the godly, and they only, who can dare to use the language of our text, and even they must do so with a certain limitation. Nothing that is evil in any of God's people is in any way His work. It is only their good works of which it can be truly said, "God wrought them;" and of these it may be said, God wrought not some only, but all of them.
I. THE DOCTRINE WHICH OUR TEXT CONTAINS. Man is by nature a creature so depraved that he is "unto every good work reprobate." God looks into his heart, and seeing evil motives even in his best performances pronounces "all his righteousnesses 'filthy rags.'" Where things are not done to please God, He is displeased. No matter what show the unregenerate make before their fellow-sinners, God turns away His face from them, and counts them even "dead in trespasses and sins," whilst men, perhaps, are holding them in admiration (Article xiii.; Luke xvi. 15; Rom. viii. 7, 8). When, therefore, a man does begin to please God, it is because God hath "wrought him for this self-same thing" by the mighty working of His power (Eph. ii. 4, 5; Phil. ii. 13). In these passages the earliest beginning of any good work in us is ascribed wholly to the Lord (Article x.) The Holy Spirit is the author of all good in man from first to last. "From Him all holy desires, all good counsels, and all just works do proceed." Repentance is His Work. "Godly sorrow" is no natural emotion (Acts v. 31; xi. 18; 2 Tim. ii. 25). So also is faith (1 Cor. xii. 3). So, again, is all holiness of heart and life (Eph. ii. 10; Prov. xvi. 1; Gal. v. 22, 23). All excellences in man are "fruits of the Spirit." Such is the doctrine of our text. Consider,--
II. THE FEELINGS WHICH GOD'S PEOPLE OUGHT TO ENTERTAIN WHEN THEY REFLECT UPON IT. Is it true that God hath wrought all our works in us? What a ground there is here, then,--1. For +humility.+ Surely "boasting is excluded." Pride is an absurdity (1 Cor. iv. 7; xv. 10.) 2. For +thankfulness.+ Solomon was full of wonder and amazement that God should condescend to come and dwell within his costly temple. Should not the Lord's people be still more gratefully amazed that He should make a temple of their hearts? 3. For +encouragement+ (Phil. i. 6). Let the believer look at the very construction of our text, let him read it in connection with the words which go before, and he will see what a comfortable argument is drawn from it: "Lord, Thou wilt ordain peace for us, for Thou also hast wrought all our works in us." The presence of His grace within our bosoms is a token of the favour which He means to show us. He who put oil into our lamp and set it burning, and then said, "Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven," will never omit to feed the celestial flame.--A. Roberts, M.A.: Plain Sermons, Second Series, vol. i., 21-30.
SPIRITUAL USURPERS RENOUNCED.
xxvi. 13, 14. O Lord our God, other lords beside Thee have had dominion over us, &c.
We have in this language--
I. A PENITENTIAL CONFESSION. "Other lords," &c. Exegetically the point to be determined is whether the "other lords" who "have ruled over us," are the king and people of Babylon or idol gods; the former with coercion, the latter with their own wicked consent? Perhaps both ideas are included and a sad sequence implied. They had wandered of their own wicked will into the service of pagan gods, and now against their will were forced to serve pagan kings. Paganism had led to vice; vice had destroyed all true manliness. Heroism in Jewish history had lived only so long as fidelity to Jehovah had lasted. Piety having decayed, heroism was dead; they could not stand before their invaders. Paganism had enslaved them. This they now feel, and hate paganism, and shun it more thoroughly than ever before.
II. A HOLY RESOLVE, involving, 1. A recognition of Divine claims. It is right that we should consecrate our services to Thee. By Thee created and sustained, it is robbery to carry our services elsewhere. Thou art our Father, and to honour others instead of Thee is unfilial ingratitude. Our King Thou art, and not to serve Thee is sedition. 2. A consciousness of dependence on Divine help. "But by Thee only," &c., i.e., "Only by Thy Divine help can we hope to be faithful to Thee." Here is a renunciation, not only of heathenism, but also of all self-sufficiency. By sad experience they have learnt that without God they can do nothing.
III. A SHOUT OF VICTORY (vers. 14). The struggle against sin may be severe and long. Bad habits not easily overcome. But Divine help gives victory to human endeavours. He who uttered the almost despairing cry, "O wretched man that I am," &c., can now give the victorious shout, "I thank God through our Lord Jesus Christ." There are those who once served mammon, and bowed to ambition; who followed the Moloch of revenge and hate; slaves to drunkenness and nameless vices, who now through Divine grace can say of these bad habits, "They are dead . . . Thou hast visited and destroyed them," &c.--W. Parkes.
Man is a responsible being. To say he is responsible to himself is to say nothing more than that he claims to act according to his own inclination. Responsibility has regard to another. Lordship from without is exercised by every human soul. Good and evil--God and Satan--contend for the dominion. Evil usurps the dominion until an inward revolution occurs. Thus the Jewish people had cast off the authority of Jehovah, and placed themselves under the dominion of other gods. The captivity in Babylon converted them from this folly. They then determined that thenceforward they would only "make mention of," celebrate and honour, give the dominion to the Lord their God. Here is a penitential confession and a good resolution.
I. A PENITENTIAL CONFESSION. "Other lords beside Thee have had dominion over us." The dominion of evil in human souls is: 1. Multiform. It assumes many shapes. The gods the Jewish people served were numerous as the nations under whose influence they fell. So the form of evil most congenial to a man's own nature is sure to assail him (H. E. I., 4679-4683). Not only so; while each has probably his special besetment, each has also multitudinous besetments (H. E. I., 4550, 4551). The penitent sees that his sins pass all power of numeration or recollection; they have become lords and masters (Rom. vi. 16; H. E. I., 4482-4484). 2. Wrongful. "Other lords beside Thee." The language implies that God ought to have had the dominion. Then it must be wrong to give it to others. He is the rightful sovereign on every ground. Nor can he divide His throne with any rival. As it is impossible to serve two masters whose interests are opposed to each other, or to adhere to two claimants of the same crown, so is it to make mention of the name of God and at the same time to submit to the dominion of other lords. But we have attempted this. "Will a man rob God?" Yes. Men who would not wrong each other will defraud God daily without compunction and without shame. To allow the dominion of other lords is a wrong done to God. 3. Voluntary. It has been entirely with our own consent. Those who make this confession mean that they have been blamable for the wrongful dominion of other lords. Freedom is essential to responsibility. We have consented to sin--loved it. Nor does it avail to say we are unable to break from its power. If unable, what has brought our moral nature in to such a state of imbecility? Are not its chains wound round our nature by our own consent? Is not the wretched victim of intemperance responsible for his inability to resist the cup, when that inability is the result of the voluntary indulgence of years? The fetters of the sinner have been forged by himself. The criminality reaches farther back than the present sin; to the sins freely chosen long ago, which have led up to the present power of sin over the will. If the will is in bondage to sin, it was, in the first instance, voluntarily surrendered. Now the penitent sinner sees all this. He comes with lowly submission and penitential confession.
II. A GOOD RESOLUTION. "By Thee only will we make mention of Thy name." The confession of the ransomed Jews meant more than empty words. They had seen their error; they intended a complete change, a radical reformation. Idolatry was for ever renounced.
This is a type of the conversion of a sinner. The confession means not only that he seeks forgiveness, but also--1. Intends reformation--abandonment of all sin, no reservation of any sin, the course of life completely altered. 2. Supposes regeneration. Man can only see the outward change; but what does it represent? Awakening to the danger, sight of the evil of sin. The disposition is different; the heart is changed. Hence the will determines the other way. 3. Proceeds from God. There is a work of the Holy Spirit in conversion. We need His help to fulfil the resolution. "By Thee only."
Have you experienced this change? It is a personal one. Whether you have or not, He is the Lord--your Lord; therefore right that He demands your service. O yield His claim!--J. Rawlinson.
PRAYER IN TROUBLE.
xxvi. 16. "Lord, in trouble," &c.
Every man knows what trouble is; what it is to lie under the chastening hand of God. In the day of trouble, we feel our dependence on external help. Some in adversity seek friends who they neglect in prosperity. Happy is he who, when trouble comes, finds himself surrounded by true friends. Acquire the art of keeping your friends. But there are troubles to which human sympathy and help are inadequate. Times when men's thoughts drift towards God. Trouble reminds us of the unseen, the spiritual, the external. It quickens the spiritual sense by casting the fierce light of eternity on the things of time. Men visit God in trouble by pouring out to Him their prayers.
+I. Some pray in trouble, who are prayerless at other times.+ Multitudes live entirely without prayer. Taught by mothers in infancy. For a considerable part of ripening youth they maintained the habit. But began to neglect, were afraid of ridicule, or fell into sinful indulgence; it would appal them to think how long it is since they poured out one prayer to God. Surprising that with God so near, so many should habitually turn away and never seek His face. But some heavy trouble comes. They pause, recollect themselves, remember the long years of misspent time, pray, promise and vow (H. E. I., 69).
Does this always continue when the trouble has departed? Is not this often the history? The cloud breaks, the sun bursts out again, the man forgets that the sun was ever hid. Ship in storm. Cries, prayers, vows. Ship is saved. Prayers cease; revelry is resumed. How often on the bed of sickness are prayers and promises uttered which are forgotten with returning health. Pharaoh alarmed by the successive plagues. Besought Moses to pray. Hardened his heart again. The children of Israel repeatedly fell into idolatry. Visited with judgments. Cried to the Lord. When punishment was withdrawn returned to the sin. Conviction is not conversion; awakening not repentance. If the heart remains unchanged, a man will only pray as long as he is alarmed (H. E. I., 3877-3879).
+II. Some begin to pray in trouble, and continue to pray afterwards.+ Many have had to thank God for trouble. Borne along the stream of prosperity towards destruction. Some obstruction. It was unwelcome. It compelled examination. It revealed the yawning falls a little way beyond. Just in time to return. Every human soul requires one such grand interruption in its career. Grace of God employs various means for its effectuation. Trouble is one (Hosea v. 15). The soul's deep sin, danger, need, has been revealed. The cry has gone up to heaven. It was the cry of true repentance and humble faith in the Crucified One. Comes from the trouble a new man--a praying man (Manasseh, 2 Chron. xxxiii. 10-13. The prodigal son, Luke xv. 14-21).
+III. Some pray habitually, but especially in trouble.+ Prayer is the special characteristic of a Christian. It is his "vital breath." He cannot fail to establish stated seasons of prayer, both public and private. He endeavours to maintain the spirit of prayer. By its aid the blood of the spiritual life is kept in circulation. An important sense in which he prays "without ceasing" (H. E. I., 3866-3879; P. D., 2839). And every remarkable event is made the occasion of special prayer. Certainly trouble is one of these. Do you not go to God in your sorrows, as a child goes to his father or his mother? Bishop Reynolds says: "A Godly heart is like those flowers which shut when the sun sets, and open again when the sun returns and shines upon them. Hannah prayed silently so long as she was in bitterness of spirit; but as soon as God answered her prayer and filled her heart with joy, presently her mouth was enlarged into a song of thanksgiving." In trouble you pray, 1. for deliverance, in submission to the Divine will. 2. More especially for a sanctified use of trouble; complete submission, faith, purification (Phil. iv. 6, 7).--J. Rawlinson.
NATIONAL REVIVAL.
xxvi. 19. Thy dead men shall live.
+I. This is the language of exultation.+[1] In this part of the chapter the tone changes from sorrow, failure, and abortion to life, prosperity, and joy. "Thy dead, O Zion, shall live again." Thy people have been virtually, civilly, nationally dead, but they shall have a resurrection. Because these dead are God's people, their resurrection from national death is certain. Then, thrilled with confidence in this truth, the prophet gives utterance to the voice of God within him, "Awake and sing, ye that lie buried in dust, awake; come forth from your (figurative) graves, and break out in song as ye come up to the light of day!"
+II. This expectation involves a contrast.+ The resurrection of national life of God's people stands in contrast with the denial of resurrection to the wicked rulers of Babylon (ver. 14). That Chaldean nation went down to its political grave with no hope, no possibility of being raised to national life again. On the contrary, God's people, from being in a state of national death in Babylon, were eventually called into national life.
+III. This declaration suggests a truth which nations ought to learn.+ No nation that seeks God and His righteousness can be permanently kept down. "Righteousness exalteth a nation;" exalteth it from depression into power. It may be brought low, but if the elements of rectitude lie within it, if public justice be a part of its political creed, and respect for the rights of others its unvarying practice, then, though apparently buried in the grave of defeat and degradation, its resurrection shall come. God rules not only amid the armies of heaven, but amongst the inhabitants of the earth, and to every nation maintaining justice, mercy, and truth, though brought ever so low, the voice of history proclaims, "Thy dead men shall live!" The bodies of English martyrs to the Tudor period perished. Under the Stuart dynasty the bones of those English patriots who defied "crowned and mitred tyranny" were dug up and dishonoured. That part of them corruptible and worthless died, but the better part of them has experienced a resurrection. Their principles live to-day. "Thy dead men shall live."--Henry Cowles, D.D.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] This passage proves beyond a question that the idea of a resurrection from the dead was familiar to the prophet and to his first readers, for whose immediate use he wrote. Sensible writers never borrow figures from things unknown, but always from things better known than the facts they would illustrate. As no writer could draw a figure from what was unknown to himself, so, if he sought to teach, he would not draw one from what was unknown to his readers. As Isaiah could not talk about a resurrection if he had never known the idea and the words to express it, so he would not expect to be understood unless his readers were also familiar with it.--Cowles.
GOD'S INVITATION TO SHELTER.
(For a Time of National Distress.)
xxvi. 20. Come, my people, &c.
The history of humanity as a whole, and of nations and communities as a part, is like that of individual man, diversified and varying, made up of hope and fear, of joy and sorrow. There is a "but" in every condition, a crook in every lot. The people of God, however, have alleviations which the world knows not of. They have promises of present comfort and help, hopes of future recompense, and they are invited to make God their Refuge now. This was very much the case with the captive Jews in Babylon. Wars and commotions would rage as a tempest around Babylon, and bring its overthrow. But while the storm raged, the people of God were to be calm and tranquil; were to enter into their places of retirement, and avoid the commotions of war. This passage is a word in season to God's people now.
I. THE PERSONS INVITED. "My people." This was addressed to the Jews, who stood in a peculiar relation to God. It has now a wider range. It may include--1. Those who are His by profession. This includes a large portion of the people of this land. Many of these, however, are out of Christ, and they are specially invited to repair to Him as their complete and only refuge from the storms of conscience and the righteous displeasure of a Holy God. 2. Those who are His by personal consecration. Not only received into the visible Church by an outward profession, but have become living members of that mystical body of which Christ is the Head. In times of danger and distress, when the judgments of God are in the earth, they are invited to repair to Christ. He is a complete refuge from every storm.
II. THE DUTY ENJOINED. 1. The form of the injunction. No terrible threatening, but mild and compassionate invitation. Though our Redeemer and Master has a right to command, yet He more frequently employs the language of invitation. 2. The place of retreat. We may think of many sacred localities to which we may repair in this time of national or individual sorrow. There is the open sanctuary. This to many is a place of refuge and comfort. There is the home. Families may meet and together commune with God. There is the private closet. There we may humble ourselves, mourn our own faults and those of others, and seek God's favour. But after we have thoughts of all these places we must go much further, into a more mysterious and safer sanctuary. These are only the way to the City of Refuge; only the plank by which we may ascend to the Ark; only the door-way into the Temple. Ours must be the language of the Apostle (John vi. 68). 3. The purpose of retirement. For defence. Israel must remain within the blood-sprinkled doors while the destroying angel wields his sword outside. Rahab and her family abide within their dwelling while Jericho is destroyed. Amid the tokens of danger and the coming storm, we are to hide ourselves in the perfections of God, in the merits of Christ. We must enter into the ark, and like Noah expect the Lord to shut us in. When the Hebrews had sprinkled the blood of the Paschal lamb, the command was, "None of you shall go out of his house till the morning." The manslayer could not go within the City of Refuge. Here in Christ, God manifest in the flesh, is safety from every danger, a complete Refuge in every time of need.
CONCLUSION.--The whole of this year has been marked more or less by personal, relative, or national calamity. It opened in storm, and a fine ship, the London, perished. Pestilence among the cattle followed. War broke out and mercantile prosperity waned. Now a painful visitation is among us. God is now calling you to Himself.--George Smith, D.D., August 9, 1866.
CHAMBERS OF SAFETY.
xxvi. 20. Enter into thy chambers, &c.
The religion of Christ, as a religion of consolation, is eminently suited to the condition of men in a sinful, suffering, and dying world. The same Saviour who died to save, lives to bless, saying, "Lo, I am with you always," &c. (Matt. xxviii. 20). The same Holy Spirit sanctifies and comforts. This Scripture suggests, that in the worst of storms God's people have a secure hiding-place.
I. A CONSOLATORY TRUTH IMPLIED. God's people have chambers of security and defence in time of danger. Every perfection of the Divine character, every office of Christ, every Divine promise is a chamber of defence (Prov. xviii. 10).
II. A WELCOME DUTY ENJOINED. "Enter," &c. 1. Who gives the invitation? The Lord Jehovah, with whom is Everlasting Strength. 2. To whom this invitation is given, "My people." Not Babylon, not Egypt, but "my people." 3. What it is to which He calls them. To enter their closets, hold communion with Him, trust themselves to His keeping.
III. THE REASONS FOR THIS RETREAT. 1. Because the calamity anticipated is very great. God comes out of His place to judge the nations, &c. 2. The season of danger is short. "For a little moment." Self-sacrifice and self-restraint for Christ's sake will not last long. 3. Because the blessings promised are very valuable. Present purity and peace, future glory, &c.--Samuel Thodey.
RELIGIOUS RETIREMENT.
xxvi. 20. Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee.
An exhortation to religious retirement. Man was intended for society, but also for contemplation. When devoted to pious purposes, retirement is highly useful to man and most acceptable to God (H. E. I., 3466-3525). It is commended to us both by precept and example (Gen. xxiv. 63; Matt. xiv. 23, &c.) But the retreat which the Scriptures commend is temporary, not total; not that of a monk to his cell, in which he passes his days in barren and unprofitable speculation, but that of men living in the world, who go out of it for a time in order that they may return to it better fitted for the duties which God has assigned them there. That you may be stimulated to this duty, consider its advantages.
+I. Religious retirement takes off the impression that the neighbourhood of evil has a tendency to make upon the mind.+ We need often to escape from it in order that we may see its true character, and renew our strength to resist it.
+II. Religious retirement is favourable for fixing pious purposes in the mind, and strengthening our habits of virtue.+ Dazzled no longer by the false glitter of the world, we open our eyes to the beauties of the better country; stunned no more with the noise of folly, we can listen in silence to the still small voice. At leisure we can reflect by what temptations we were formerly foiled, that we may guard against them in time to come; for seeing the evil day, we can prepare ourselves for its conflicts.
+III. In religious retirement we attain to self-knowledge.+ Here wisdom begins. We can never ascend to the knowledge of Him whom to know is life eternal, without knowing ourselves; and we can never know ourselves without stripping off whatever is artificial about us, without throwing off the veil which we wear before men, and devoting our sacred hours to serious consideration.
+IV. Retirement and meditation will open up a source of new and better entertainment than you meet with in the world+ (Ps. civ. 34).--John Logan: Sermons, vol. ii. pp. 156-164.
GOD'S GOODNESS TO THE CHURCH.
xxvii. 2, 3. In that day sing ye unto her, &c.[1]
The Church a vineyard: a spot set apart: weeds taken out; choice trees planted; supplied with means; fruitful of "red wine," the best (Prov. xxiii. 31).
I. GOD'S CARE OF HIS CHURCH. 1. It is constant, "night and day." 2. It is all-sufficient. "I, the Lord, do keep it"--what Omniscience and Omnipotence guards, none can hurt.
II. GOD'S MINISTRY TO THE CHURCH. Not only does He guard it from external assault, He ministers to its internal necessities. "I will water it." God's influence upon His Church is--1. Adapted to its wants. The vine needs moisture. 2. It is a continued blessing. "Every moment." 3. It is followed by blessed results: Growth, fragrance, beauty, fruitfulness.
Application.--1. How secure is the true Church of God (H. E. I., 1246-1251; 2449). 2. How important to belong to it. 3. How great are its obligations to God. 4. How zealous we ought to be for its extension.--British and Foreign Pulpit, i. 74, 75.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Cowles only follows Alexander in the rendering of these verses. Birks translates: "In that day sing ye unto her. A vineyard of choice wine!" &c. Cheyne: "In that day--a pleasant vineyard--sing ye of it. I, Jehovah, its keeper--moment by moment I water it; lest any should invade it, by night and by day I keep it." Kay: "Sing ye unto her."
A SOLEMN DISCLAIMER.
xxvii. 4, 5. Fury is not in me, &c.
The figurative language in ver. 1 sets forth some powerful and terrible enemies of Israel--cruel, crafty, and bloodthirsty oppressors. But, terrible as they were to Israel, they were no more than "briers and thorns" in the way of Israel's God. He would "march against them and go through them," just as soldiers on their march tread down and crush so frail a barrier as these would be against them. His own people the while should be the object of His special and necessary care (vers. 2, 3). And if they should so offend as to draw down His judgments upon them, still He would not deal with them as adversaries. He would be ready to make peace with them again on their humbling themselves before Him. The solemn disclaimer of our text should be borne in mind by us when we study--
I. GOD'S THREATENINGS AGAINST THE WICKED. Many of these are very terrible, and a certain class of religionists would have us believe that these alarming texts of Holy Scripture are metaphors that mean nothing, and that we dishonour "the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" if we associate His name with anything that savours of wrath, vengeance, and severity. But this is taking a meagre and one-sided view of the Divine Character. In God there is not only love, but also holiness, which "cannot look upon iniquity;" justice, which "will by no means clear the guilty;" and truth, which forewarns and will not fail to punish the transgressors of law and order. Let us not mistake the character of such punishment. A furious man acts on the passionate impulse of the moment. He strikes blindly and without consideration; does many things which, when the excitement is over, he will be sorry for and try to undo. But nothing like this is there with God. His threatenings are not uttered in blind and inconsiderate wrath, but in awful calmness of judgment, and in vindication of His essential and eternal holiness; and thus, too, they will be executed. This it is that will make the judgment-day so awful, and that then will reduce the condemned to despair. The son who sees his father's anger so stirred against him, that vain attempt were it to reason with him, vain to offer a word of explanation or excuse, does well to keep out of his father's way, and hope for a better time to stand before him and ask to be forgiven. But no such hope is there, when the offender sees that his aggrieved parent--not furiously, but "out of very faithfulness"--is about to administer a threatened punishment; ay, and that his heart is heavy, and his eye dim with tears, even while he punishes! And this, allowing for the inevitable weakness of any illustration of such a matter, may serve to convey the idea which I would impress upon you. "The Father of mercies and God of all comfort" will certainly execute His threatenings against impenitent transgressors. Not in passionate haste, and on sudden impulse of which He might afterwards repent, will the Lord make "a way for His anger" against sin.
II. THE DOCTRINE OF THE ATONEMENT. Not a few earnest men becloud and all but explain away this fundamental doctrine, because (they tell us) they cannot endure the thought of sin being punished in the person of the Sinless One. They do not like to hear of the Father's "wrath" being averted and (as it is said) "appeased" by the death of His Son; of God looking out (as it were) for a victim, and fastening upon the One found guiltless as a substitute for the guilty mass! But this mistaken representation arises from attributing to God a passion which in men would be indignation and wrath. But what does our text say? "Fury is not in Me." We may not think of our heavenly Father as an angry Being, furiously raging against those whom the devil has proved too strong for, and not to be appeased till He found a victim on which to wreak His vengeance! But no unwillingness on our part to hear it can alter that which is written (2 Cor. v. 21; 1 Pet. iv. 18; Isa. liii. 5, 6). If we study this great subject aright, we shall find in the Atonement the result of the co-working of the calmest (and therefore most inflexible) justice and the tenderest love.--T. W. Peile, D.D.: Sermons, pp. 101-112.
The text expresses the preference of God for forgiveness rather than for punishment, and the conditions of that forgiveness; but, at the same time, the utter overthrow of all who continue in opposition to His will. It suggests--
+I. A blessed absence in the nature of God.+ "Fury is not in me." Fury seems to be uncontrolled and uncontrollable anger, such as that with which the storm seems to beat upon the dismasted, helpless vessel; such as that which inspires the hungry lion that has been for some hours disappointed of its prey. When a man is so under the influence of anger that no consideration from within or intercession from without can pacify him, he is in a state of fury. But no such state is possible to our God. His anger is always under control, He is always the Lord God, abundant in goodness and truth; and we have also plentiful evidence that, in the height of His displeasure, He is accessible to intercession on behalf of His creatures. See how the Son of God ends His woes against "Scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites," with "O Jerusalem, how often would I have gathered," &c. Recall the effect of Abram's pleading for Sodom, and that of Moses for unbelieving Israel (Num. xiv.) The declaration of the text has been abundantly verified in all ages. Nevertheless,
+II. This blessed absence in the nature of God is compatible with contention with the unrepenting.+ "Who would set the briers," &c. Imagine a father and a son at variance, the father being in the right, and son in the wrong. There are two ways of reconciliation; either the son must comply with the conditions of the father, or the father must lower his standard to the level of the son. But what a wrong would the father do himself, his family, and society, if he were to adopt this course! He ought not, will not. If the son resolves to fight it out, reconciliation is impossible. This is the relative position of God and the ungodly man. God says, "I am Jehovah, I change not." It is a blessed impossibility. But the unrepentant man ought, can, must! If no, the fire of goodness must be set against the briers of wickedness, a contest as hopeless, and of which the issue is as certain, as that of the devouring flame with briers and thorns.
Conclusion.--The absence of fury in God leads Him to prefer pardon to punishment, and to provide means for the former. "Let him take hold of my strength," &c. Men, churches, and nations are lovers of peace in proportion as they are righteous (Ps. lxxii. 3). The preference of God for peace depends upon the very attribute of which the ungodly would rob Him, His righteousness. What is God's strength? How take hold of it? When a man falls overboard at sea, the appointed means of rescue is the life-belt which is thrown to him. Seizing that, he lays hold of the strength of the vessel to save him. When the man-slayer, fleeing from the avenger of blood, entered the city of refuge, he took hold of God's appointed means of shelter. God's strength is His pardoning prerogative, exercises to us through Christ, the "arm" or "strength" of the Lord. See how Moses takes hold of it (Num. xiv. 19). And the prodigal (Luke xv. 21; Rom. v. 1).--Horace Bushnell, D.D.
TAKING HOLD OF GOD'S STRENGTH.
xxvii. 5. Or let him take hold of My strength, &c.[1]
I. IN WHAT GOD'S STRENGTH CONSISTS. First, as we think of Almightiness, that irresistible power which created the world, &c. We are apt to forget those other and higher sources of strength which belong to God (1 Kings xix. 12). Wisdom is strength (Eccles. ix. 15, 16). Truthfulness is strength. Justice is power. Mercy to the weak is often the manifestation of the highest strength. England has often put forth her power; her soldiers have crushed the most appalling rebellions; her guns have sunk the mightiest navies; but history will perhaps record it as the highest display of her power when, under a sense of justice, she withdrew her forces when she might have crushed her foes (as in the late Transvaal war, 1881). Now, this element of mercy, as manifest in the work of Christ, is God's strength (Rom. i. 16; 1 Cor. i. 24). God's fatherly love is the essence of His power (H. E. I., 3206). Christ is the expression of that love. Christ is God's strength. "And let him take hold of My strength."
II. HOW MAY MAN TAKE HOLD OF GOD'S STRENGTH? 1. By submission (Rom. vi. 13; Ps. li. 10). As nothing is so reasonable, so nothing is so wise as submission to God. 2. By prayer. Prayer is the hand of the child stretching itself under that father's protecting power. Prayer takes hold of God's strength. 3. By obedience (1 Pet. i. 14). When Saul of Tarsus, after asking, "Lord what wilt Thou have me to do?" went straightway and did God's will, then there came to him a moral power mightier than he had ever wielded before. 4. By implicit trust in God's mercy.[2]
III. THE RESULT OF THUS TAKING HOLD OF GOD'S STRENGTH. The result is that Divine strength is infused into our minds. We become "strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might." Trust is the medium through which God's power is transmitted to man's weakness (Heb. vi. 19). We can only really know those whom we love and trust (Dan. xi. 32). The most invincible and lasting institution in the world is the Church of Christ, because composed of those who are "partakers of the Divine nature," and whom God has made strong.--William Parkes, F.R.G.S.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Cheyne translates and comments: "Or else. . . . A truly evangelical belief that God is willing to be reconciled even to His enemies. . . . Seize upon my fortress--Let him take sanctuary in the Name of Jehovah (Prov. xviii. 10); in short, let him become a believing servant of Jehovah. 'Fortress,' a symbolical name for a protecting deity, as xvii. 10, Ps. lii. 7 (9)." Kay: "Or, 'Let a man lay hold of My strong refuge;' let him flee to my altar of reconciliation (cf. 1 Kings i. 50)."
[2] "I think I can convey the meaning of this passage so that every one may understand it, by what took place in my own family within these few days. One of my children committed a fault for which I thought it to be my duty to chastise him. I called him to me, explained to him the evil of what he had done, and told him how grieved I was that I must punish him for it. He heard me in silence, then rushed into my arms, and burst into tears. I could sooner have cut off my arm than have then struck him for his fault; he had taken hold of my strength--he had made peace with me."--Toller.
THE FUTURE PROSPERITY OF ISRAEL.
xxvii. 6. He shall cause them, &c.[1]
It did not often happen to ancient nations to rise into new vigour after being conquered and removed. Ancient Assyria and Babylon fell, and their influence faded. But it was otherwise with Israel. They had flourished; abused their trust; were punished by being conquered and removed. But they did not perish. From the Babylonian grave they rose. Centuries longer they existed, until their crowning sin. No further need for their national existence. It ceased. But their separate identify as a race continued. The Jew is everywhere. Everywhere he is a witness to the truth of the Bible. And the influence of the Jewish people continues. The influence of the classic writers of Greece and Rome continues. Their study is essential to a liberal education. But only the few enjoy that advantage. The literature of the Jewish race was confined almost entirely to their sacred books. But how wide its influence! Read by the scholar and the peasant, &c. Lifts men's thoughts above the level of this world, and presents a loftier ideal of human character than any of the mere "thinkers" of ancient or modern times.
Nor is it only the perpetuation and influence of a literature. It is the perpetuation of a type of moral life. One who came of Jacob has exerted and is exerting an influence never equalled. Born in a manger, trained in poverty, dying on a cross, He has been and is the fountain of spiritual life to millions. In him they have become a new seed of Jacob (Gal. iii. 29).
The text foretells the stability, the growth, and the diffusion of the Church.
I. ITS STABILITY. "Take rest." This is necessary to growth. And life is necessary to it. You may plant a stone, or a piece of dried wood, but it can never take root. Why? It wants the mysterious principle called life. Reasons for this. And the roots are the firmest part of the plant. Hence the metaphor--a man is rooted in his position. Fine forest-tree with roots, like arms, many feet on every side. Impossible to dislodge that tree. This is one of the emblems of the stability of the Christian's spiritual position (Col. ii. 7). Thus the stability of the Church, the aggregate of spiritual men, is set forth in the text. It has struck its roots so deep, and spread them so far, that, as hitherto, so in the future, it shall continue. Storms of opposition, persecution, infidelity unable to uproot it. "The gates of hell shall not prevail."
II. ITS GROWTH. Rooting of a tree only valuable in relation to its continued life and growth. Look at it in the individual member of the spiritual Israel. In the living tree in spring the bud breaks forth, then the beautiful blossom--promise of the fruit. So in the Christian life. Gradually it develops by a certain though irregular progression. Nor will this promise of fruitfulness be falsified (Gal. v. 22, 23; Rom. vi. 22; Ps. xcii. 13, 14; H. E. I., 2508-2516, 2538-2544). Multiply this by the number of living members in any Church, and how much of spiritual goodness, and beauty will be in that circle! Not only within it, but in the homes, among the neighbours, over the whole sphere of their influence. Then multiply this by all the Churches. What an amount of moral beauty thus in the world!
III. ITS DIFFUSION. "And fill the face of the world with fruit." This vision was always present to the prophet's eye. Suppose it realised, and the whole world converted. Then the world will be filled with goodness. But it is all in the spiritual succession from Jacob. How much comes of little! So it has ever been; small beginnings, gradual growth, great endings.
Do you say you cannot believe in the world's conversion? Do you believe the harvest comes from the seed? That Jesus multiplied the loaves? Is anything too hard for the Lord?--J. Rawlinson.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Note the translation of this verse by Alexander and Delitzsch, in which Kay, Birks, and Cheyne concur.
THE DAY OF THE EAST WIND.
xxvii. 8. In measure, when Thou sendest it forth, &c. (Margin).
We have often complained of the bitterness and depressing effects of the "east wind." In Bible lands it was scorching and destructive (Job xxi. 18; xxvii. 12; Gen. xli. 6). Israel is represented in this chapter as a vineyard, of which God was the proprietor and guardian (ver. 3). The removal of the people to Babylon seemed to contradict this declaration. They presented the appearance of a vineyard uncared for, forsaken, neglected, and spoiled. The east wind, sweeping over it, marred its beauty and checked its growth, and its desolation seemed complete. The question arises, Does God really mean what He says when He engages to keep His vineyard with continued care? In reply to this question the prophet speaks here. He justifies the ways of God to man, explaining the Divine procedure, and showing the purpose of that afflictive dispensation which He visited upon His beloved vineyard. What a consoling subject, is here presented,--the trials of the godly (1), in their severity, and (2), in their mitigation.
I. THE SEVERITY OF CHRISTIAN TRIAL. Our seasons of sharp distress and loss are fitly set forth as "the day of the east wind," biting and piercing, when the heart is joyless and depressed. God, who sends it, means us to feel its keenness. The severity of our trials appears--1. In the time when they overtake us. The east wind prevails with us in the early spring. So in our experience of life, when all is full of fair promise, our hopes are blasted. A young and tender faith is often sorely tested. We would push adversity into old age, with youth as a course of uninterrupted joy; but at the most unlikely periods the day of the east wind sweeps over us. 2. In their violence. The wind of adversity seems to us cruel and devastating. We speak of a reverse or bereavement as "a sad blow." 3. In their continuance. We could tolerate an occasional day of east wind, but when it blows persistently for weeks, we begin to grumble. Afflictions sometimes follow each other in rapid succession. The night of weeping is long and dark, and it seems as if the morning of joy would never break (H. E. I., 52, 53). 4. Because of the aspect in which God appears to us when we are under them. He seems to be contending, "debating" with us, to be opposed to us. This gives the keenest poignancy to our griefs. How unworthy, often, is the view we form of God's character in the day of the east wind, charging Him with partiality and injustice. Of all ingredients that embitter the cup of suffering, this is the most bitter, but it is an ingredient which the sufferer puts in with his own hand. As in the time of east winds weak and cheerless people fall into dull, moody fits, the sighing breezes chiming in with the dull music of their own spirits, so in the day of adversity the soul sometimes loses its sense of the Divine Love.
II. THE MITIGATING, ALLEVIATING CIRCUMSTANCES. 1. The day of the east wind is well timed. It blows at the right season, in the early spring. It may nip a few opening buds, but if it did not come out then, it would retard vegetation to a fatal extent afterwards. The youth may complain of his hard struggle, but it nurses a manly character. 2. Trial is limited in its duration. The east wind does not blow all the year round. These cold blasts usher in the spring. 3. God moderates its severity. "In measure" (1 Cor. x. 13). Sorrow is nicely adjusted to the heart on which it falls (H. E. I., 187, 188). 4. The following verse suggests a further alleviation, viz.:--The gracious purpose accomplished by trial, to purge iniquity, and take away sin. God appoints our sorrow for the uprooting of our sin. The physician finds it necessary to adopt sharp measures, but his operation is wise and kind. A proneness to idolatry was Israel's sin, and, to check this, the nation is sent into exile. Though He removed it with "His rough wind in the day of His east wind," the fruit or effect was to uproot a besetting sin (H. E. I., 85-89, 116, 211). 5. Another mitigating circumstance is found in verse 7. God makes a distinction between His people and the world. Great as Israel's sufferings were, the judgments which descended on their enemies were far more terrible, not corrective, but destructive (1 Cor. xi. 32). The surly blasts of the east wind may howl and chafe and spend their rage on God's vineyard, but they are only the last remnants of the dreary winter. To those who are in covenant with God every wind that blows is charged with blessing (H. E. I., 108).
CONCLUDING REMARKS. 1. When the east wind of trial begins to blow upon us, let us hasten, not to blame God, but to examine and blame ourselves. Though trials are not always punitive, or even corrective, they are very frequently so; and in our case, as in that of Israel, the reason why the east wind is blowing probably is because there is iniquity in us that needs to be purged away (ver. 8; H. E. I., 114). 2. When the east wind is blowing upon us, instead of murmuring let us recall the mitigating circumstances of which I have reminded you, and let us thank God that He loves us too much to leave us under the power of iniquity (Heb. xii. 5-10; H. E. I., 162-165).--William Guthrie, M.A.
THE AFFLICTIONS OF GOD'S PEOPLE.
xxvii. 7-9. Hath He smitten him as He smote his smiter, or was he slain as his slayers were slain? In exact measure, when dismissing her, Thou didst contend with her; He scared her away with His rough blast in the day of the east wind. Therefore on these terms [or, hereby] shall the guilt of Jacob be purged, and this shall be all the fruit of taking away his sin, when he maketh all the altar-stones like lime-stones dashed in pieces, that Ashéras and sun-images rise up no more.--Cheyne.
This is a continuation of the song of the vineyard (vers. 2-6). That song was to be sung after deliverance from disasters which had come upon God's chosen people, as the chastisement of their sins. The prophet here pauses to reflect and to instruct them. His instructions are of exceeding value to us, for God acts on the same principles in every age.
I. GOD'S PEOPLE ARE OFTEN SEVERELY AFFLICTED.
They fail in duty, or they even transgress His commandments. Then they certainly suffer. Utter is the delusion that they may sin with impunity. Unlike human parents, God never spoils His children; He has no foolish fondness for them that would lead Him to be blind to or tolerant of their faults. On the contrary, sin in them is most grievous to Him (H. E. I., 4563-4570), and the chastisement thereof is certain and often severe (Amos iii. 2). Terrible was the punishment which Isaiah foresaw would come upon Israel--deportation to the land of their conquerors. In that calamity what varied and awful sufferings were involved! So it is still! there is severity as well as mercy in the God we serve. Because he loves us, He will not allow us to go on to ruin unchecked. By terrible calamities, if need be, He will arrest us in the path to perdition.
II. IN THE SEVEREST AFFLICTIONS WHEREWITH GOD VISITS HIS PEOPLE HIS MERCY IS MANIFEST.
Manifest, 1. +In the fact that they befall them here and now.+ How kind in Him, not to stand silently by, and leave them to go on unchecked to ruin! Remember, the sinner has no claim upon the mercy of God in any form. 2. +In the restraint with which they are measured out.+[1] There is no passion or vindictiveness in God's dealings with them that provoke Him to anger. Though His chastisements may seem to burst upon the backslider like a hurricane of east wind, in reality mercy controls and directs the storm. "In exact measure," &c.[2] Because it is so exactly measured out by mercy, (1) it always falls short of the guilt of the sinner. Did justice measure it out, so that it should be commensurate with the guilt of the transgressor, it would mean destruction. This is seen in the case of the enemies of God. Persistent ungodliness is visited at length, not with chastisement, but with judgment, i.e., utter ruin (note the picture of the doom of Babylon in verses 10, 11). So that when God's erring people have been chastened most severely, His prophets can put to them Isaiah's question in verse 7. To it they can only return the answer given in Ps. ciii. 10. (2) It always falls short of the transgressor's power of endurance (H. E. I., 180, 187). When it is ended, he still lives--lives to bless the hand that smote him (Ps. cxix. 71, 75, 67). 3. +In the motive that inspires them all.+ By them God seeks, not the destruction of His erring people, but their deliverance. Israel was held in the degrading bondage of idolatry; the terrible calamites of the captivity were the strokes by which He brake their fetters. When the discipline was over, they hated idolatry in all its forms; all the altar-stones in which they had delighted were "like lime-stones dashed in pieces," and the Ashérahs and sun-images rose in their midst no more. It is the same motive that inspires Him in all His afflictive dealings with His people to-day (H. E. I., 56-59, 66-74). Therefore, if He is visiting us with afflictions,--1. Let us not be rebellious, but submissive (H. E. I., 158). 2. Let us be moved to penitential self-examination (H. E. I., 145-147). 3. Let us give heartfelt thanks to God because He is resolved to make us like Himself (Heb. xii. 10; H. E. I., 162-165).
FOOTNOTES:
[1] See pp. 5 (GOD'S INDICTMENT AGAINST ISRAEL), 20 (GOD'S RELUCTANCE TO PUNISH).
[2] Verse 8, In measure. Rather, with measure by measure: Heb. "with seah-seah," a seah, being the third part of an ephah, was a moderate measure. With forbearance and graduated severity, dealing out punishment in carefully adjusted quantities, and at successive times, "not suffering Thy whole displeasure to arise," "correcting with judgment, not in anger" (Jer. x. 24, xxx. 11).--Kay.
THE DISCIPLINE OF SIN.
xxvii. 9. By this, therefore, shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged; and this is all the fruit to take away his sin.
The history of God's ancient people is a Divine teaching. He had brought them into special relations to Himself, and had conferred on them special privileges. They were intended to be witnesses for Him in the world. To a large extent they failed. Instead of persistent faithfulness to their mission, they repeatedly fell into idolatrous practices. Punishment came. They repented. But when the impression was gone, they renewed the sin. For centuries this continued, until the captivity. Then they finally renounced idolatry. This was the Divine design in permitting that disaster to befall them. The prophet foretold it with suggestive accuracy. "By this shall the iniquities of Jacob be purged," &c.
Their conduct, and the Divine dealing with them, finds its parallel in the history of the modern Church. The parallel holds--
I. WITH REGARD TO THEIR SIN.
The spiritual Jacob sins. Saintly individuals, here and there, whose conduct is an honour to the gospel; but comparatively limited number. Many who in youth felt strongly have seriously declined from the warmth of their first love. Instead of keeping themselves from the world, they are under its influence; like imperfect swimmers, who get within the power of a wave and find they have neither strength nor skill to cope with it. They listen to the sentiments of the world on matters of religion and morality. By little and little they conform. Like Samson, when shorn of his locks, they become weak as other men. From contentment with imperfection they become reconciled to positive sin. Sometimes they even exceed their teachers. Christian professors who have declined into sinful ways often become worse than those from whom they have taken their lesson.
And does not God hate sin in them as He hates it in others? A man's standing in Christ is nothing, if he is living in wilful sin. It deadens his conscience, interrupts his communion with God, exposes him to the peril of final apostasy and perdition. Read the former as well as the latter part of 1 John i. 7. (H. E. I., 4563-4570.)
II. WITH REGARD TO THE DISCIPLINE OF SIN.
The discipline God sent to the Jewish people was--
1. Severe. It seemed hard to be driven from their beautiful city to a foreign land, possibly to be absorbed in its population or held in slavery. Nor had they the consolation of knowing that they had not brought it on themselves. God knows how to regulate the severity of suffering according to all the facts that must be taken into account, and all the ends that are to be served. However severe our sufferings, we are compelled to admit that they are always less than we deserve. But if His strokes are to be felt, they must sometimes be severe.
2. Punitive. God punished Jacob for his sin; but He did not cast him off. His disapprobation of sin had been shown in words; now it must be shown by punishment (Hos. xii. 2). The sufferings of God's people are sometimes trials of faith. But they are often punishments. When a parent inflicts punishment, does he mean that he has disowned his child? Does it not spring from and prove the relation between them? God punishes as a father: and because He is a father. But this is different from allowing the penal consequences of sin to fall fully on them. That would be disownment, perdition. He fulfils His word (Ps. lxxxix. 30-37. H. E. I., 56-59, 66-70).
3. Corrective. "Purged; and this is all the fruit, to take away his sin." No man's suffering can atone for his sin. That comes another way. The Divine One has atoned. Here repentance, reformation is contemplated. As when the husbandman prosecutes his labours he aims to produce the fruit, so God's design in His people's troubles is to take away their sin. A rough method; but necessary. The wild storm damages but purifies. The vine-dresser cuts off branches that the tree may bear more fruit. The sharp frosts of affliction kill the weeds of sin. The medicine is distasteful, but it attacks and dislodges the disease.
But have afflictions invariably this effect? No. Sometimes received in a rebellious spirit; God not recognised in them; thoughtfulness not encouraged; the heart is hardened; comfort is sought from pernicious sources; the soul is driven further from God and deeper into sin.
But when trouble is sanctified--(1.) It suggests serious thoughtfulness. How has it come? From God? Why? Sin. Our moral instincts point to retribution. Perhaps some particular sin. May be an immediate connection of the punishment--with intemperance for instance, or fraudulent business transactions. There will be self-examination. God, responsibility, eternity will be realised. (2.) It produces self-humiliation. Confession of sin. Penitential cry for mercy at the cross. Renewed self-dedication. (3.) It reawakens spiritual life. It is a reason for the reception of fresh impetus. New earnestness in the culture of holiness; new watchfulness against evil. Like a child corrected.
Then if troubles surround you--(1.) Be conscious of God's hand. Look beyond the secondary causes. (2.) Justify God in His dealing. (3.) Be patient; wait His time. (4.) Study His design in sending the trouble. And unite with Him for the accomplishment of that design (H. E. I., 143-154).--J. Rawlinson.
THE DOOM OF THE INCORRIGIBLE.
xxvii. 10, 11. Yet the defenced city, &c.
I. WHAT A WONDERFUL PICTURE! Proud Babylon so utterly overthrown that on its site cattle feed, and women gather dried sticks for firewood. What an astonishing faith that rendered it possible for any one even to conceive of such a national revolution. That faith grew out of a victorious confidence in the righteousness of God as the ruler of the world, and in His faithfulness to His promises. Such a faith we should cultivate when we see iniquity triumphant. Its utter overthrow is sure. II. WHAT AN ASTONISHING DECLARATION! "For it is a people of no understanding; therefore," &c. It appears to be in direct contradiction to our Saviour's prayer, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." But in the latter case the ignorance was involuntary; in the former, it was deliberate and persistent. Babylon resisted every effort God made to instruct her, and persisted in her career of defiance of His authority and of outrage on all the claims of man. Such obduracy was at length confronted by Divine justice, and then ensued utter ruin. This is the eternal law of the universe. Therefore, let the impenitent tremble, for persistence in sin forfeits all our claims upon God as our Creator (H. E. I., 4488, 4489).
THE GOSPEL TRUMPET.
xxvii. 13. And it shall come to pass in that day that the great trumpet, &c.
The Jews had been scattered everywhither--some wandering in Assyria, and some exiled in Egypt; but their coming back, as by the call of a trumpet, is here predicted. The passage is strongly descriptive of the exiled and perishing condition of sinful men, and of their return at the trumpet-call of the Gospel.
I. THE SINNER'S CONDITION. He is--1. An exile. 2. He is ready to perish.
II. THE GOSPEL TRUMPET.
It was not fashioned by man. 1. It is great in its power. In a still night you may hear a brazen trumpet two or three miles away; but this is so mighty that it is not only heard from heaven to earth, but it is to arrest the attention of all nations. Men with physical hearing all gone catch the first strain of it. Men buried half a century in crimes have heard it. 2. It is great in its sweetness. 3. It is a trumpet of alarm. It puts us on our guard against the foes who are advancing to destroy us. 4. It is a trumpet of recruit. It summons us to join the standard of the Son of God. 5. It is a trumpet of retreat. It warns us against the fool-heartiness of entering into temptation. 6. It is a trumpet of victory. It tells of victories achieved, and of others still more glorious yet to be won. 7. It is a trumpet of awakening.
As chaplain I was a little while in the army. Early every morning we were awakened by a trumpet sounding the réveille. At that sound all the troops arose from the tents, hastened to their places in the line, and answered the roll-call. That done, they went to their morning rations. We who are the soldiers of Christ cannot always be marching and fighting. The evening will come. The shadows will gather, and we must go to the white tents of the grave. There we shall sleep soundly. But the night will pass along, and the first thing we shall hear will be the trumpet-call sounding the réveille of the resurrection; and we shall come up and fall into the long line of light, the trophies of Christian conflict gleaming in the unsetting sun. The roll shall be called, and we shall answer to our names; and then we shall go to the morning repast of heaven (1 Cor. xv. 52-55).--De Witt Talmage, D.D.: Christian World Pulpit, i. 410.
ENGLAND'S CRYING SIN.
xxviii. 1-4. Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, &c.[1]
Ephraim one of the most important of the tribes. It occupied some of the richest land, about the middle of Palestine. When the ten tribes formed a separate kingdom, Ephraim was the principal tribe in it. Hence the new kingdom was sometimes called Ephraim. Its capital Samaria, here called "the crown of pride." It was a position of great natural strength. Its situation exceedingly beautiful. The sides of the hill on which it was built sloped down to rich valleys, covered with beautiful flowers and fruit-bearing trees. "Glorious beauty." "Fat valleys." No wonder the people were proud of it. When this prophecy was written, it was at the height of its pride. But it was doomed. The glorious beauty was a fading flower. The crown of pride was to be trodden under feet. Samaria was a delicious morsel for the invader, plucked and eaten as soon as seen. Shalmanezer, with the Assyrian host, invaded, overcame, carried the people away, never to return. Unlike Judah in this respect. An unsolved problem to this day, where are the ten tribes? do they still exist, or are they entirely extinct?
It was because of sin. The story of Samaria's idolatry. To tamper with idolatry was to renounce allegiance to Jehovah. But that was not all. Serious moral obliquities came in the wake of idolatry. Among these was intemperance. Had become a crying sin. Was helping to drag the nation down to ruin. "Woe to the crown of pride," &c.
Here is a warning to England. England's crying sin is Samaria's crying sin. God forbid that England should persist in it, so as to bring on herself Samaria's doom! Mark--
I. ITS SINFULNESS. It was treated as sin in the case of Samaria. It is still a sin, as well as a vice and a crime. Keep to the text in pointing out its sinfulness. Drunkards described as "them that are overcome with wine." Not a trifling thing to be overcome. The drunkard allows a thing he loves to overcome him and rob him of that for the safe keeping of which he is responsible to God. He is under obligation to keep himself for God, and he betrays his trust. What is overcome?
1. Reason. A great trust. Bound to use it to the best of our ability; therefore to keep it in efficient working order so far as it lies in our power. If you lent a man a tool, or a machine, you would require him to keep it from injury. But strong drink contends with and overcomes reason. You attach no importance to opinions expressed or reasonings attempted by a drunken man. His reason has been overcome by his own consent. He could not have been overcome if he had refused to play with the enemy.
2. Conscience. Is not conscience a sacred trust? Sentry at the door of character. Shall the sentry be drugged when the enemy is near? Does not intemperance stupefy the conscience? Many a man who once would have dreaded a sin more than a blow has become regardless of sin, regardless of God. Not only does intoxication deaden the sense of its own criminality; it lowers the moral tone as to everything else. The moral nature becomes enfeebled. Any other temptation more likely to succeed. By little and little comes over the soul a tendency to make light of every kind of sin. Communion with God is broken off. Prayer is dull and comfortless exercise when the excitement of intemperance has become attractive. The religious nature becomes dead or maudlin under the influence of drunkenness. Alas! that men should undermine and disable their noblest faculty! (H. E. I., 4498).
3. Physical strength. Are not our bodies also entrusted to us to keep safely for the uses the Maker intends? If the suicide who takes his own life by a single stroke rushes into the presence of his Judge uncalled, must not the man who by negligence, folly, or vice, shortens his life answer for it in the same way? But the drunkard does this by being overcome with wine.
II. ITS PENALTY. There was a worm at the root of the glorious beauty, and fruitfulness, and pride of Ephraim; and therefore it was a fading flower. The worm was their sinfulness. The drunkard may say that he is prosperous to-day; but the worm is at the root.
1. Look at the consequences to himself. The deteriorated character, lowered tastes, lowered company of many a well-educated and splendid young man, and many a beautiful promising boy. The social degradation. "Trodden down." Avoided and despised by former associates. The ruined circumstances. Gradually downwards, and finally at the depth of poverty. The Lost Eternity. "No inheritance." 2. Look at the consequences to his family. Wife unhappy. Children uneducated and untrained. Home impoverished and desolate. There is a skeleton in that house. 3. Look at the consequences to society. Drunkards usually seek society. Their example influences others.
How to cure? How to prevent? 1. Legislation. Can the legislature do nothing more than it has done? What of Sunday closing? What of music saloons? What of limitation of the hours? What of diminishing the number of houses? What of abolition of the traffic? 2. Abstinence. Urge it on drunkards as their only chance of recovery. On the young as their best security. On Christians as the most effective protest and influential example. 3. Religion. Realise the sinfulness of intemperance. Let the grace of God reign over thoughts, appetites, habits.--J. Rawlinson.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] See pages 116 (THE MISERIES OF THE DRUNKARD) and 127 (DRINK AND ITS WOES).
THE BELIEVER'S DIGNITY AND POWER.
xxviii. 5, 6. In that day shall the LORD of Hosts be for you a crown, &c.
This sustaining assurance stands in striking antithesis to the solemn threatenings and humbling charges which precede and follow it. It rises like some stately palace amid the ruins of man's humbled pride and broken hopes. This voice comes from heaven in the very hour of earth's desolation and decay. The prominent figure on the prophet's canvas is very unlike the objects grouped around it. On the one side you look into a lovely valley, in the centre of which, on a commanding height, stands Samaria, the capital of the "Ten Tribes," "the crown of pride," "the glorious beauty." But that proud crown is soon to be cast to the ground; that "glorious beauty" is but a garland of fading flowers; that luxuriant valley, whose very "fatness" was made the minister of sensual indulgence, will soon be overswept by the desolating march of the Assyrian invader; that gaudy splendour, the boast of Ephraim's drunkards, is as short-lived as the wreaths which the revellers bind around their brows. The worm of intemperance is gnawing at the root of "the fading flower," and overhead the storm is gathering that will blight its beauty. Turn now to the other side of the central figure, where the kingdom of Judah is introduced (ver. 7). Jerusalem as well as Samaria has her troops of reckless inebriates and her scenes of disgusting intoxication; though her punishment is not so near as that of the northern kingdom, here, too, are seen the marks of sure decline. On both sides, then, the prophet's picture is gloomy and portentous--the earth a scene of drunken revelry, and the black sky streaked with the lightnings of Divine wrath. But out of this sombre background of sottish intemperance and overhanging judgment, of falling crowns and fading wreaths, rises the luminous figure of our text. "In that day" of vanishing glory "shall the Lord of Hosts," &c. In the fulness of its wealth this promise belongs to us; the Lord of Hosts has become to us "a crown of glory."
I. THE BELIEVER'S DIGNITY. Let us not tone down the grandeur of the promise. Christ is the crown with which the believer is invested. He is an heir of God, a partaker of the Divine nature. Let us see what is implied in this representation, bearing in mind the crown to which it stands in contrast. 1. It is a crown of honour without insecurity. Man is like a discrowned and exiled king (Lam. v. 16). But God has taken means to restore him his lost dignity (1 Cor. i. 30). The crown of original righteousness which sin has torn from our brows and trampled in the dust has been replaced by the righteousness of Christ. How complete and glorious is His work in our behalf, to what dignity does He raise us! This crown cannot be placed on our head without inspiring us with a sense of honour, a feeling of recovered power, of joy and hope and security. There may be a crowned head without a kingly heart. A young prince may mount the throne incapable of discharging its duties, or, perhaps, trembling lest his new dignity should make him a mark for the bullet of the assassin; but the Christian's honour cometh from God, and, along with the restored kingship, kingly qualities are imparted, so that no man can take his crown. 2. This is a crown in which we may boast without pride. Samaria was a crown of pride to the Ephraimites, and because they gloried in it, it was soon to be overturned. But while this crown of carnal confidence was thus to be swept away, God becomes to His people a more glorious crown in which they might boast without pride. When anything short of God is made our confidence it fosters vainglory, but with God as our crown all self-sufficiency is excluded. 3. It is a crown of joy without degradation. As it does not foster pride, so neither does it allow its wearer to descend to low indulgence. Reference is probably made to the wreath of flowers worn by drunken revellers on festive occasions. Under the plea of festive mirth they wallowed in the mire of sensuality. How soon their garlands would fall in disorder from their heads, or fall with their heads as they lay in senseless intoxication. The believer's "diadem of beauty" points to purity and self-control (Ps. iv. 7). 4. It is an unfading crown. This point in the contrast is equally obvious. And is not "the fading flower" an emblem of all our earthly joys?
"All that sweet was made, but to be lost when sweetest."
This world's fairest chaplets will soon wither on our brows; its honours, possessions, and hopes are evanescent; but the Lord will be our everlasting crown, our God will be our eternal glory (H. E. I., 4975-4989).
II. THE BELIEVER'S POWER.
In ver. 6 we have all the elements of personal power, social well-being, and national greatness (Acts i. 8; Eph. v. 18). The indwelling Spirit confers three benefits. 1. A clear head. "A spirit of judgment." Solomon asked this blessing. It does not fall to many of us to sit on the bench, but what is good for the judge is a precious gift for all. When the Spirit pours His light upon the mind, the eyes of our understanding are enlightened. A clear intellect, a sound mind, an unwarped, unprejudiced judgment, is needed in all walks of life. How appropriate is this part of the promise! How could justice be rightly administered in such a state of society as that described by the prophet? If there is one thing that saps the morals, and muddles the understanding, it is intemperance. Men in positions of responsibility need all their wits about them. 2. A brave heart is promised "to them who turn the tide of battle to the gate." The soldier as well as the judge is to participate in the gifts of God's spirit. We have a spiritual warfare to wage (Eph. iv. 12), and we are pledged to conquer the world for Christ. Beware lest we render ourselves unfit for military service by luxurious habits, and sinful indulgence. The drunkards of Ephraim could do nothing to oppose the invaders of their country. We need the Spirit to fire our hearts with courage and enterprise. Without His influence we shall prove poltroons. 3. A strong arm. Self-denial is a source of moral courage and of spiritual strength. Far from us be the dissoluteness which enfeebles our powers, both of mind and body.
Such, then, are the contents of this precious promise. Oh, that we were all invested with this crown of holiness, dignity, and beauty. How many are content with the gilded coronets and fading chaplets of the world. You remember the scene in the "Pilgrim's Progress," part ii., which has been made the subject of a painting by Sir Noel Paton--the man raking straw while one held a glittering crown over his head. Make Christ your boast. The crown of pride shall be hurled to the ground, the garlanded revellers shall sink in their own corruption, the honours which men so eagerly seek are as a fading flower, but the crown shall sparkle for ever on the believer's head (Dan. xii. 3; Ps. xc. 17).--William Guthrie, M.A.
God has said He would discrown Ephraim, remove his beauty, and strain his pride. This was done when Samaria was overthrown by the Assyrians. "In that day" He would do to the "residue of His people"--apparently the kingdom of Judah--what is said in our present text. It was done in the reign of Hezekiah, when the true worship was re-established, reformation effected, and the nation defended against its enemies.
The text may be regarded, however, as a description of the splendour of the regenerated world.
I. THE PERSONS INTERESTED.
"The residue of His people: him that sitteth in judgment: and them that turn the battle to the gate." All classes. Brave defenders; governors and administrators of justice, and the great mass of the people. Hence we observe that the blessing of the Gospel is needed by and suited to every class and every man. If there be a man anywhere who does not need it, it is either because--(1), he has no soul to save; or (2), he has not sinned; or (3), he is sufficient in himself to remove sin and its consequences from himself. But none of these can be said of any man.
II. THE BLESSING PROMISED.
It consists in that which the Lord will be to the regenerated world. 1. Honour. Men mistake the things that constitute the true honour and dignity of human nature. Sounding titles; enormous wealth; personal beauty; commanding intellect; undisputed power. They are all insufficient and insecure, like fading flowers. God is the true crown of glory to man. When the soul returns from its wanderings to God and is re-united to Him through Christ, the crown is placed upon his head (Jer. ix. 23, 24). 2. Wisdom. Both in barbarous and civilised countries, man without the Gospel is ignorant of the character of God, and of the way to approach Him (1 Cor. i. 21). He gropes about in the darkness, if he desire to find Him at all. But Christ is made of God to us "wisdom," as well as "righteousness, sanctification, and redemption." In Him the Divine character is closely seen in the fulness, harmony, and glory of its attributes. In Him also we learn how man can be reconciled to God, and the way to eternal life. 3. Strength. Not physical, nor intellectual power, however valuable in the regions proper to them. But moral power; the power of the human will; the most important power of all. This alone possesses the terrible capacity of resisting the Almighty. The most powerful animals act as they have been created to act. All mechanical forces act according to their laws. But man, possessed of will, is possessed of a power that can either defy or obey the authority of Omnipotence. When the Gospel comes to the human heart, it constrains the will into a mighty force for good. God and man combine to overthrow the empire of evil in the heart and in the world. "The Lord of hosts is for strength to them that turn the battle to the gate."
III. THE TIME INDICATED.
"In that day." Christ came "in the fulness of time." There are reasons and circumstances specially favourable to the advancement of the kingdom of Christ. There is a time in the purpose of Jehovah when all nations shall walk in the light. We may mark the circumstances which are usually indicative of the further spread of the Gospel. 1. When there is a time of special revival, reformation, and earnestness in the Church. As in time of Hezekiah. 2. When God stirs up His people to exert themselves for the world's salvation, it is a sign that the world's salvation is coming on apace. "When God enters the chamber, and awakens His children, and bids them rise, it is a sign that the morning has come." 3. When the church longs, waits, prays for the success of the work, the time is likely to have come. "As soon as Zion travailed she brought forth her children." Let the Church of Christ really desire, believe in, pray for the world's conversion, and God will open the windows of heaven and pour down the blessing. Have you been sufficiently interested in the world's salvation? As individuals? Are we sufficiently interested in our own?--J. Rawlinson.
EARLY RELIGIOUS TRAINING.
(Sunday School Anniversary Sermon.)
xxviii. 9, 10. Whom shall He teach knowledge? &c.
Whether we regard these verses as the language of the drunkards of Ephraim, deriding the Lord's messengers for the plainness and urgency of their unwelcome instructions, or as the language of the prophet himself affirming interrogatively the spiritual ignorance and imbecility of the people, with their prophets and priests, they suggest the importance of earnestly instructing the young in the knowledge of our relations to God and eternity. We may turn to them more hopefully than to the old. Youth is the time for learning. In the first ten years of life are laid the foundations of the social and religious character which every man carries to the grave. Therefore we should not leave them to be laid haphazard, but should do our utmost to bring it to pass that they shall be such that on them can be built the structure of a holy life. To accomplish this we must instruct them in the revealed will of God. 1. The youth learns nothing good until he is taught. Though wise to do evil, to do good he has no knowledge. 2. The young mind is susceptible of deep and enduring impressions (H. E. I., 775, 776, 786). 3. Scriptural knowledge is not only of surpassing value, but is more easily imparted to the young than most of that human knowledge for which the opening powers are often severely taxed. If difficulties arise from immaturity and levity of mind, they are more than balanced by freedom from the prejudices of age, and the perplexing cares of life; by their docility and instinctive desire to penetrate the unknown; by the eagerness with which they seize upon the explanations of facts in nature and providence, or on similitudes and allegories; and by their unsuspecting confidence in the ability of their appointed teachers. Their natural aversion to God is but partially developed, and waits the coming of riper years to mature its strong resistance to the Divine claims. 4. The weightiest obligations rest on parents to give their children religious instruction (H. E. I., 803-806). When parents are unable to do so personally, through defect of ability, or the urgency of paramount duties, it is their privilege to do so through the kind offices of others. 5. A failure in the discharge of parental obligations to children imposes on others who fear God the duty of teaching the knowledge. They are immortal; for them Christ died. Of the fulness and glory of the results of a faithful performance of this duty no adequate conception can be formed by us on this side of heaven.--R. S. Storrs, D.D., American National Preacher, xix. 121-141.
THE POWER OF LITTLES.
xxviii. 10. Here a little and there a little.
The application of this text is first of all to the impressions produced by the Word of God and the efficacy of constant religious instruction. But it is in this same way, by little and little, that all great and lasting impressions are made and the mightiest results accomplished.
+I. The processes of nature.+--Mighty and sudden changes are not the rule, but gradual and prepared ones. The seasons, the months, day into night, night into day--how gradual and imperceptible the transitions. The germination of seed, &c. +II. The formation of character.+--Little by little every man's character is formed (H. E. I., 709-711, 1836-1851) or spoiled (H. E. I., 4521-4523, 4720-4725). All the steps, successively, that lead either to heaven or hell are small, one by one, except in great crimes, and even then there has been a gradual preparation for them (H. E. I., 428, 429). So conversion, that great change of the soul, is prepared for imperceptibly (H. E. I., 1462). From minute and commonplace thoughts, words, actions, results character for eternity! +III. Christian service.+--Called not to acts of heroism, but to a faithful discharge of commonplace duties (H. E. I., 4149). +IV. Christian work.+--It is by little and little that, in such a world as this, we must do the greater part of the good that we ever accomplish (H. E. I., 1725). +V. The training of children.+--Heavenly habits are to be formed in them by the influence upon them of daily, familiar, minute, but ever-recurring examples set before them (H. E. I., 777-779, 790, 802). +VI. Preparation for heaven.+--Try to gain a little for God, a little for heaven, a little more of grace every day. Do this in little things and you will accomplish great things. Here a little and there a little will carry you on from step to step, from grace to glory (H. E. I., 2512, 2537).--G. B. Cheever, D.D.: American National Preacher, xxvi. 145-152.
THE SURE FOUNDATION.
xxviii. 16. Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Behold! I lay in Zion a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner-stone for a firm foundation; he that believeth shall not be in haste.--Birks.[1]
I. Who this foundation is. II. Where this foundation is laid. III. The Author of this foundation. IV. The character of this foundation. V. The safety of those who build upon it.--R. Bingham, M.A.: Sermons, p. 202.
I. God's foundation for the eternal salvation of sinners. II. Its properties and excellences. III. The blessedness of those who build upon it.--W. Hancock, B.D.: Sermons, pp. 1-16.
The person and salvation of Jesus Christ are frequently spoken of under the image here presented, the most obvious and expressive image of security, that of a foundation. Our Saviour expressly appropriates to Himself (Psalm cxviii. 22). The same architectural idea appears in Eph. ii. 20; 1 Pet. ii. 4-8.
+I. The grand object which God proposed to Himself in all His dispensations to man,+ viz., the laying of a foundation in which the hope of a repenting sinner might rest, with regard to God and Eternity. We trace this object, 1. In the primal promise (Gen. iii. 15). 2. In the mysterious rite of sacrifice Divinely appointed from the beginning to prefigure "the Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world." 3. In the whole system of the Mosaic law, "The schoolmaster to bring us to Christ." 4. More and more distinctly announced in the Psalms and Prophecies. The foundation proclaimed by Jehovah in the text is the chief end of all He has done and revealed to mankind; the central point in which all the lines of His providence and His word meet and terminate. Nature supplies the scene, providence the scaffolding, revelation the plan, and that mighty spiritual edifice of which this is the foundation.
+II. This foundation was needed.+ None will dispute this point. So sensible are men that they need a foundation for hope towards God, that every one is disposed to lay his own. Every one feels that without some restitution made to a holy God sin cannot be pardoned nor the sinner saved. The question is, How shall a proper foundation be laid? where shall an adequate restitution be found? The most important question in the universe to be answered and at the same time the most difficult! (1 Sam. ii. 25). Only three kinds of restitution on the part of man are imaginable--penitence, good works, voluntary sufferings; but none of these, nor all put together, can be deemed satisfactory in the case before us. 1. Penitence is no foundation of the soul before God; the most sorrowful remembrance of sin cannot repair it (H. E. I., 4225-4228). 2. Neither are good works, to which the same insufficiency attaches; they are always required, and therefore can never possess a superfluity or redundancy of merit (H. E. I., 375, 1950). And this applies to the best works; but what are ours in the sight of God? 3. The only remaining kind of restitution is by voluntary sufferings: this, by its very definition, is absurd and vain, for if any sufferings are required they become part of our duty; but to invent penances of our own is no part of our duty, and must be contradictory rather than satisfactory to the Divine law. Penitence, good works, voluntary sufferings, may be methods of procuring for us the priestly absolution of a poor sinful man like ourselves; but they will not secure for us the Divine acceptance.
III. Observe, it is in the midst of the false foundations, the "baseless fabrics" of sinners, that God in our text introduces His own, +the only true and solid foundation.+ All who build their hope on any other will be compelled at last to say, "We have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood we have hid ourselves." See 1 Cor. iii. 10. The wonderful way in which this stone was laid; how a person of the Godhead assumed our human nature, He who was in the form of God took the form of a servant, He became "Jehovah our righteousness." See 2 Cor. v. 19. He who laid the foundation of the heavens and the earth alone could lay this foundation in Zion!
+VI. The excellent qualities of this foundation.+ It is represented--1. As "a tried stone:" a foundation which has resisted the strongest attempts to shake it,--that has stood the trial of unnumbered enemies and friends. It has been proved in the fiery trial of Divine justice, and the sins of the whole world have tried its strength to sustain an overwhelming weight. The storms of persecution have raged against it in vain, still it stands uninjured (Heb. xiii. 8)! In every respect "a tried stone;" tried by God, by Satan, by man; tried in life, in death, in eternity; tried by all the saints in all their trials; and never tried in vain! 2. As "a corner-stone." The corner-stone unites both sides of an edifice; and St. Paul represents Christ as Him in whom the whole building, fitly compacted, rises a spiritual habitation of God (Eph. ii. 19-22). 3. As "precious;" precious in respect to the Saviour's Person as the only begotten Son of God; in respect to His sacrifice; a foundation composed not of corruptible things (1 Peter i. 18, 19). 4. As "a sure foundation:" not an imaginary one like every other, but one real and substantial! In the Hebrew the word is reduplicated for the greater emphasis, "A foundation, a foundation!" Not a transitory but an eternal one. We are dying men; we sojourn in a world of vanity and death; what we want is a "sure foundation." Behold in Christ this grand desideratum!
+V. The happiness of him who rests on this foundation.+ "He that believeth shall not make haste;" he shall not be thrown into disquietude and agitation of spirit. Never has the strength of this foundation been so well appreciated as when it was most tried, most needed. When our flesh and our heart fail, then is the time to find in God the rock of our heart, in Christ the foundation of our soul!
CONCLUSION.--But then we must possess the character defined in the text; "he that believeth," is he that amidst the wreck of nature shall be saved on this foundation. We must see to it that we have that faith which is known by its fruits, which keeps the commandments, purifies the heart, works by love, overcomes the world, resists the devil, rejoices in Christ.--Robert Hall: Fifty Sermons, pp 68-86.
+I. God's foundation for the stability of His Church.+ 1. This foundation was planned in the eternal counsels of Jehovah (1 Pet. i. 20; Luke xi. 50; Rev. xiii. 8). 2. This foundation was actually laid in the incarnation and sufferings of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. v. 21; Gal. iii. 13; 1 Pet. ii. 22). 3. This foundation is proclaimed in the preaching of the Gospel (Luke xxiv. 47; Acts xiii. 38, 39).
+II. The peculiar qualities by which this foundation is distinguished.+ 1. It is a stone, denoting strength. 2. It is a living stone. Possessing life in Himself, He is able to communicate it (John i. 4, v. 26; Rom. viii. 2). 3. A tried stone. The Father tried it, earth tried it, hell tried it. 4. A precious corner-stone. Corner-stones are generally placed for three purposes for (a.) union; for (b.) beauty; for (c.) direction or example. 5. A sure foundation.
+III. The safety and blessedness of all those who depend upon this foundation.+--J. Sherman: British Pulpit, ii. 185-193.
Whatever subordinate reference there may be in these words to the Jews, the principle reference is to the Messiah. For this view we have apostolic authority. St. Paul says: "As it is written." Where? In our text. "Whosoever believeth in Him shall not be ashamed." And St. Peter quotes from Isaiah the same text.
+I. The Emblem of the Lord Jesus.+ "A stone." Whether we consider Him "a stone" for solidity, or for strength, or for duration, He is all these; for whatever changes may take place among men, with Him "there is no variableness nor shadow of turning." Peter calls Him--1. A "living stone," meaning that He has life in Himself, that He procures and dispenses it to others. So Paul (Col. iii. 4). 2. He is a tried stone. Everything in regard to Him was tried in the days of His flesh: His wisdom, His meekness, His love. 3. He is a precious stone. Precious to God the Father, to angels, to Christians (1 Pet. ii. 7). 4. A precious corner-stone. The corner-stone stands to unite. He unites in His person deity and manhood. We see in Him united the Old and New Testament dispensations. He unites Jews and Gentiles (Eph. ii. 14).
+II. His destination.+ "Behold I lay in Zion," &c. 1. Who lays this foundation? GOD. 2. Where does He lay this foundation? "In Zion." Jesus was a Jew, of the family of David. To the woman at the well He said, "Salvation is of the Jews." See Ps. cx. 2; and Isa. ii. 2, 3, xxv. 6.
+III. How well He answers the purpose and end.+ "A sure foundation." He is a sure foundation for all. Myriads have trusted in Him, and to the whole world it may be said (Isa. xxvi. 4).
+IV. The blessedness of those who make use of it.+ "He that believeth shall not make haste." This declaration is not opposed to diligence; now, for "the King's business requireth haste." No (Ps. cxix. 60). But--1. To impatience (see chap. v. 19). "Blessed are they that wait on Him." 2. To confusion. Terror will overwhelm the godless (Rev. i. 7). But believers (1 John ii. 28).
+V. Observe the ushering in of the whole scene.+ "Behold." Angels pause before the great work of redemption, and "desire to look unto these things." "Herein is His love made manifest." Behold He "hath commended His love, that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us." Be not of those who "Behold and wonder and perish;" but let the command inspire you with gratitude, admiration, obedience, and zeal. "Hear, and your souls shall live."--William Jay: Sunday Evening Discourses, pp. 18-25.
+I. The prominent idea of the text.+ Christ a foundation-stone. 1. The Builder is Jehovah Himself. He drew the plan of the spiritual building, determined the materials of which it should be constructed, the stone on which it should rest, and then with His own hand laid that foundation. 2. The Site of the building was "Zion." This is generally explained as referring to the Church. But is not the Church the building? Is there not an incongruity in saying, I lay in the Church a foundation-stone on which the Church is to be built? Is there any reason why the passage might not be understood literally as referring to Jerusalem? Is there not a very appropriate sense in which it was true that the foundation on which the Church rests was laid in Jerusalem? Was it not there that the Son of God offered up Himself as a sacrifice, and made atonement for man? Was it not there that the Holy Spirit descended and gave effect to the finished work of redemption? Was it not there the gospel was first preached by the apostles? And was not all this in accordance with the pre-arrangements of God's plan? As Zechariah's fountain was to be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and as Ezekiel's waters were to flow forth from the temple, so Isaiah's foundation-stone was laid in Jerusalem. 3. The building to be reared on this stone was to be composed of Christian men of all ages and all nations. They are being collected now; they will all as lively stones by gathered in, fitly framed together, and built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner-stone.
+II. The qualities attributed to this foundation-stone.+ 1. A tried stone. 2. A precious corner-stone. How shall we estimate its worth? By its intrinsic value? Precious beyond all price. By its scarceness? No other stone like it in the universe. By the importance of the service it renders in the building? Precious to the Builder, to the holy angels, to the redeemed before the throne, to believers on earth. 3. A sure foundation. Firm, solid, safe.
+III. The import of the promise annexed.+[2] 1. Shall not make haste, or be in haste. 2. Shall not be put to shame (Rom. ix. 33, x. 11, &c.)
CONCLUSION.--If not on the foundation, get on it. If on it, keep on it. Be not content to build on it yourself, but try to induce others to do so.--John Corbin.
+I. Sinful, dying man needs a foundation on which he may securely rest his immortal hopes.+ Every man who studies his own nature and destiny as immortal and accountable instinctively feels that he needs something to give him support under the trials of life, and peace and hope as he is about to enter upon the invisible world. This feeling may exert no decisive influence over his conduct; it may be counteracted by other influences; but it is in him; and he cannot get rid of it.
+II. Such a foundation is laid for him in Zion.+ This foundation is our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Pet. ii. 4-6). It is described 1. as a stone, indicating the solidity and durableness of that on which we are invited to rest our immortal interests. In rearing a building of any importance, we deem it essential that the foundation be laid in the most enduring materials. How much more should we look for this when we build for eternity! 2. As a tried stone. It has been tested in every possible way, and in the severest manner, and therefore justly claims our full and unhesitating confidence.[3] Other grounds of hope have been resorted to by men--philosophy, infidelity, self-righteousness--but they have always failed in the day of trial. But a countless multitude, as they have risen from earth to heaven, have testified to the perfect safety of trusting in Christ. Hence it is called 3. a precious stone. How precious none can know but such as have made trial of it in their times of need--the sinner, burdened with a sense of guilt, and sinking in despair; the believer, rejoicing in hope, and looking forward to heaven as his eternal home; the dying Christian, as he closes his eyes on this world, in joyful hope of another and a better; the redeemed in glory, as they cast their crowns at His feet. Ask them what they think of Christ. 4. As a corner-stone. The principal weight of an edifice rests on the corners; and hence, in building, the largest and firmest blocks are selected and placed there as best adapted to unite and support the whole structure. This is the idea intended to be expressed when Christ is spoken of as a corner-stone. It is He who, by His truth, His grace, and His spirit, converts and sustains the whole living temple (Eph. ii. 20-22). 5. As summing up the whole--a sure foundation. Hence it is said, "He that believeth shall not make haste."[4] The specific idea is that of a man on whose house the tempest beats, and who apprehends that the foundation is insecure, or feels it to be giving way beneath him, and therefore makes haste to flee from his dwelling to seek a more safe position. The foundation laid in Zion is so firm and secure that if a man trusts himself on it, he shall have no cause of alarm, however the storms may beat, and the waves dash and foam around him. Amid the wreck of matter and the crash of dissolving worlds, he shall not be confounded, but shall come forth at last unharmed and victorious over all, and find in his Judge a friend, and in the kingdom of His Father and God an everlasting home.
+III. It is the duty and privilege of all to build their hopes on this foundation without delay.+
--Joel Hawes, D.D.: Sermons, pp. 307-317.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] "He that buildeth shall not make haste." The apostles Paul and Peter, in citing this passage, quote from the Septuagint, and accordingly they render it _"he that believeth shall not be ashamed"_ (Rom. ix. 33), or "confounded" (1 Pet. ii. 6). The Hebrew word properly signified "to make haste," and hence, according to one lexicographer, "to hurry hither and thither as persons in confusion." The apparent discrepancy between the text as given by Isaiah in the Old Testament and as quoted by the apostles in the New vanishes at once when we consider the nature of the future employed. Conceive the situation of a man who has "built his house upon the sand." The rains descend, the floods beat upon that house, the foundations begin to give way, the house totters to its fall, and the frightened inmate, terrified and bewildered, "makes haste" to escape to a place of safety. Another has built his house upon the rock. Upon this also the rains descend and the floods beat, but its firm foundations remain unmoved because it is founded upon a rock, and its happy inmate, so far from being obliged to "make haste" to escape, in conscious security may smile at the storm. "He that believeth shall not make haste"--"shall not be confounded"--"shall not be ashamed" of his hope.--_John Dowling, D.D._
[2] A. V. "Shall not make haste." See translations by Alexander and Delitzsch. Kay and Birks, _"Shall not be in haste."_ Cheyne, "He that hath faith shall not give way." The text reading does not suit the connection; it seems to have arisen out of a confusion of the letters mem and kheth. Sept., Tay., Pesh., feeling that something was wrong, render freely "Shall not be put to shame?" But as to the connection see preceding extract from Dowling.
[3] If you had a bridge to cross which had stood for centuries and over which thousands of people had passed every day with entire safety, you would feel no hesitation in making that of it yourself. So is Christ set before you--a tested foundation of hope.--Hawes.
[4] See note 1 above.
OUR TRUST AND OUR TEST.
xxviii. 16. A tried stone.
This phrase may be more literally rendered "a stone for proof," and so rendered admits of two interpretations. The commonly received opinion, that it means a stone which has been tried and found sufficient is probably correct, and is more in harmony with the context; but Calvin understands by it a stone which was to be the test or standard of comparison for others. However this may be, we have inspired authority for saying that the stone is no other than our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Pet. ii. 6); and we may profitably consider Him in these two aspects, as our Trust and our Test.
I. HE IS OUR TRUST, because He has been tried. "Tried in the days of His humanity by all the vehemence of temptations, and the weight of afflictions, yet, like gold from the furnace, rendered more shining and illustrious by the fiery scrutiny."--(Hervey.) [For further amplifications, see the other outlines on this text.--R.A.B.]
II. HE IS OUR TEST. In Him we have the true touchstone of character. All men naturally divide themselves into good or bad, saved or lost, by their acceptance or rejection of Him. By this touch-stone strange discoveries have been made in every age. The Pharisees and Scribes had a high character for piety until this trying stone was applied to them, and then it appeared what they were--the most inveterate enemies of God on earth. The reception which men gave to Jesus Christ is the great criterion of their character, as Simeon predicted (Luke ii. 34). This is the supreme test by which God is trying you, and by which your eternal destiny will be determined.--Samuel Davies, A.M., Sermons, ii. 29-33.
A TESTED SAVIOUR.
xxviii. 16. A tried stone.
This is perhaps an allusion to the custom of builders who are about to lay the foundation for some massive structure. Before they raise the edifice they test the character of the substratum on which they think of building. Is not our blessed Lord in every way a tried, a tested, an approved Saviour! I. Did not the Father try Him and find Him faithful in every way?--in His willingness, His obedience, His love? II. Did not Satan try Him and find Him upright? Tried by temptations addressed to His natural appetite, to pride, and to ambition. III. Was He not tried by wicked and unbelieving men? By Pharisees, Sadducees, and Herodians in His own day, and by sceptics in ours. IV. By the afflicted, the poor, the destitute in His own day and in ours? and in each case only to bring out more clearly the marvellousness of His resources. V. By the contrite and broken-hearted? VI. By believers in every generation? And what has been their unanimous testimony? Is it not that they found Him more than equal to all their wants and able to do for them all that they could ask or think? Could so many millions of witnesses, in other respects trustworthy, be mistaken on this point? VII. HAVE YOU TRIED HIM?--R. Bingham, M.A.: Sermons, pp. 208-215.
FALSE REFUGES.
xxviii. 17. And the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies.
Numerous are the stratagems of Satan to ruin souls. In some he effects this by hurrying them on in the broad way of open transgression; in others, by rendering them the victims of some peculiar constitutional sin--pride, avarice, &c.; in others, by inciting a spirit of disbelief of the truth (Ps. xiv. 1); in others, by inducing inattention to the things of the soul. But our text leads us to contemplate the false refuges to which he causes others to betake themselves.
+I. Sinners often feel the necessity of a refuge.+ This arises sometimes from--1. An internal sense of guilt. Unless in cases of utter obduracy, transgression and remorse are ever wedded together. Even pagans have these pangs of guilty torture. Under these, men sigh for peace, long for rest, and earnestly desire a refuge. 2. The calamitous events of life. Sudden adversity, domestic bereavement, visiting the open grave of some friend, bodily indisposition, mental disquietude, &c. 3. The supposed nearness of death. Men who mock at religion in health, quail at the approach of death. Voltaire trembled in a storm, anxious then to have deliverance, to obtain a refuge. 4. Under the alarming influence of the preached word. When the truth has flashed across the mind and startled the conscience. Thus Felix, and thus thousands. How lamentable that these impressions and convictions are often so fleeting; but still more so, when the convicted sinner flees to sources of false security.
+II. Sinners frequently betake themselves to refuges of lies.+ Of these notice--1. Partial reformation of life. Giving up the grosser sins of which they have been guilty, intemperance, profanity, fraud, &c. When the whole body is diseased, the amputation of one member is fruitless. 2. A general regard to Christian morality, to the outward acts of obedience, and the decencies of society. 3. An outward profession of religion. Punctual regard to public worship, a proper regard to ordinances, a name among the people of God. 4. A prominent and public sectarian spirit. Rigid adherence to party, sect, and creed; violent anathematising all others; great ardour in the public events of the Church to which they belong. "Come, see my zeal," &c. 5. Distinguished generosity. Liberality to the poor, works of beneficence, co-operation with the compassionate and benevolent. All these things are good in their legitimate sphere and extent, but they are all often only refuges of lies; they may engage a man's anxious attention, while the root of the matter has yet no place in his heart (1 Cor. xiii. 1-3; Matt. vii. 22, 23). 6. A still more commonly frequent refuge of lies: a general reliance on the mercy of God. A kind of self-confident persuasion that God is good, that He will not punish, an indefinite resting on His clemency, forgetting His righteousness, purity, truth, &c.
+III. Such refuges of lies will be ultimately swept away.+ They will be so--1. In a dying hour. Then the mental vision often becomes peculiarly acute, the moral sense keen and distinct, and the honesty of the spirit throws off the tinsel mask, which is now manifestly worse than useless. How poor and worthless is self-righteousness, in all its possible extent, to a spirit just stepping into the presence of the holy God. A queen of England, although professing to be "Defender of the Faith," and having bishops at her control, felt this, and died in circumstances of unutterable alarm. 2. In the morning of the resurrection. Then all classes and distinctions will be reduced to two. None but the righteous will have a part in the first resurrection. Others will rise with shame, confusion, and horror to everlasting contempt. 3. In the decisions of the judgment. God will judge all men in righteousness. The wicked and the righteous will be separated (Matt. xxv. 32, 33); no pretence, disguise, plea, stratagem, importunity, or effort, will avail. All refuges of lies will be swept away.
APPLICATION.--1. Warn against these destructive schemes and wiles of Satan. 2. Exhibit the one only refuge, Jesus Christ, who delivers from the wrath to come. 3. Urge instant faith in Him. "Count all things but loss," &c. All who believe in Him are secure for both worlds. To this Refuge let all repair, earnestly, and now.--Jabez Burns, D.D.: Pulpit Cyclopædia, iii. 153-156.
THE SHORT BED AND THE NARROW COVERING.
xxviii. 20. For the bed is shorter, &c.
Of all the striking images made use of in this chapter, none was so likely to catch the ear, and impress itself on the memory, and become a seed of useful reflection, as that embodied in this proverbial saying. Epigrams have done much to guide popular movements. Lord Bacon speaks of them as "the edge-tools which cut and penetrate the knots of business and affairs." The adage before us is homely, but forcible and expressive. To a fastidious taste and a false refinement it may appear undignified; but where one has to deal with reckless folly and obstinacy, he selects what best serves his purpose of exposing it. Lifted out of the occasions which gave the birth, these pithy and sententious sayings admit of manifold applications. They refute error, and make truth visible.
I. Apply this aphorism to the shifts of diplomacy. This is the use which the prophet makes of it. No words could better expose the folly of the Egyptian alliance. The "scornful" politicians of Jerusalem "had not only secured themselves by a treaty with that personification of death and hell, the Assyrian, but they had outwitted him; for what chance could a mere barbarian soldier have against the deep-laid policy of an old, long-civilised state? They were in communication with Egypt and Ethiopia, and at the proper time would bring the armies of Tirhakah to free them from the power of Sennacherib." This was the plausible but imprudent and deceitful scheme which the prophet denounced; and all such measures will in due time land their short-sighted and dishonest authors in the short bed with the narrow covering.
II. Apply it to the dishonesties of trade and the reckless extravagance of living. The rash speculator and the careless spendthrift will soon find out its truth. If they do not live within their means, and regulate dress and diet according to their income, they will soon find themselves in the short bed, vainly seeking warmth and comfort under a scanty covering. How much society has suffered from reckless speculation! Many a promising youth has foolishly squandered his means, and has grown so enormously in his luxurious habits, that he has no room to stretch himself on the short bed of his income. Visions of sequestration disturb his repose; pinching poverty hinders his comfort.
III. The same imprudent miscalculation is seen in the plans of worldly-minded men. Their purpose is to make a fortune, and then retire to enjoy it. They imagine that thus they shall have constructed an ample bed with abundant covering, in which they may comfortably spend the evening of life's day. But they have made their bed without measuring its occupant at his full height. Providing for the body, but neglecting the soul, they are cribbed and confined within the narrow boundaries of time, and it will be well for them if they discover their mistake when the chill frosts of old age seize upon their uncovered limbs.
IV. Apply it to the expedients by which men seek spiritual rest. There are many short beds on which they seek repose, and narrow coverings in which they try to wrap themselves. What apologies do they find for their sin!--how earnestly they work out a righteousness of their own in which to find shelter, forgetting that "all have sinned and come short," and "the one thing" they lack is a fatal defect! They will soon shiver with cold under this insufficient covering. Nothing but the saving work of Christ can answer man's need as a sinful creature. Here is both room and warmth (Matt. xi. 28). As the fond mother lays her child to sleep, so will He provide for our comfort (Isa. lxvi. 13). The word "hap" is dear to a Scotch ear, expressing "the care with which the bed-clothes are laid upon the little forms, and carefully tucked in about the round sleeping cheeks." Seek rest in Christ. He will support you in sickness and sooth you in pain; and when laid down on your last bed, rejoicing in the fulness and all-sufficiency of His grace, you will fall asleep in Him. A common proverb runs, "He has made his bed, and now he must lie on it," sometimes harshly used, yet expressing a solemn truth (Gal. vi. 7; Isa. l. 11).--William Guthrie, M.A.
An end is proposed to be accomplished; the first consideration will be the suitability and sufficiency of means. The kingdom of Judah was trusting in inadequate defences against the Assyrians, whose approach was feared. False gods. Words of false prophets. Alliance with Egypt. Warned against all these. True defence in faithful adherence to God as covenant God. If they continued to look elsewhere they would find themselves in the position of a man in a bed too short for him, or with a covering too narrow to wrap himself. Instead of comfort and rest, weariness, discomfort, unrest. The bed does not answer its end. It is inadequate.
This thought is capable of another application. Men's religious beliefs and practices may be inadequate. A religion for man must be true in itself, be evidenced as true, be adapted to and sufficient for his religious necessities, capacities, and susceptibilities. Otherwise, it is inadequate.
Point out the inadequacy of some religious ideas that are in vogue.
+I. Scepticism is inadequate.+ There is not only the unbelief that denies the truth of Christianity, but the more subtle unbelief which refuses to affirm while it does not exactly deny. It says we know nothing, and may act on the assumption that there is nothing--as to God, Christ, a future state. Now we might show that there is sufficient evidence, but at present only show that this theory is not adequate to the demands of human nature. It is a fair inference from the almost universal experience of mankind that the doctrines of God, conscience, responsibility, prayer, a future state of existence, are congenial to human nature. Education does not account for them, although it may give them shape. Without them human nature is short of something which it needs. It is adapted to them. Without them its deepest needs are inadequately supplied.
The religion of the Bible supplies the need of man in all these respects. It reveals the Divine Being and character. It tells of a Father on whom, in his helplessness, man may call. It guides his conscience so that it may fitly guide him. It acquaints us with the nature of the life to come.
+II. Self-righteousness is inadequate.+ There are necessities which did not exist in man's original constitution, self-created necessities. The state of sinfulness is a second nature, superinduced on the original nature. Overlooking this, many imagine the Divine favour can be won and the religious life prosecuted by obedience to God and kindness to man. They proceed on the supposition that it is only necessary to continue such a course from any given commencement. If the sinful part is recognised, it is assumed that it will be condoned in consideration of the new service. It is assumed that the long-standing debt of former sin will be gradually paid by goodness in excess of ordinary demands, or that God, in some unknown way, will remit it.
This bed is too short. This covering too narrow. The religion for a fallen creature must deal seriously with the state of sin, guilt, condemnation. The question meets you at the outset. If every farthing of your present income is absolutely required to meet your barest necessities, how can you out of it pay back debts? Does not the law require a perfect obedience? Do you at present render more than it requires? Do you ever, with your best endeavour, come up to the law?
It is hopelessly inadequate. The religion for man must provide a free forgiveness; one also honourable to God. It is not in our power. It is in God. And He has made such a provision. The Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is that provision. His obedience, death, righteousness. Freely given without works to the believing sinner. This is the only adequate ground. This bed is long enough. This covering wide enough.
+III. Ceremonialism is inadequate.+ Human nature is impure. It needs cleansing as well as pardon. Some imagine this is accomplished by sacramental grace, through baptism, which is supposed to regenerate; and the mysterious influence of the consecrated bread and wine. All this is inadequate. No outward rite can effect an inward and spiritual change. There must be a new nature. There must be a love of holiness and a living growth into holiness. There must be a new birth. There must be the conviction of sinfulness; the acceptance of Christ; the surrender to the authority of Christ. For this the Gospel provision is adequate. There is the word of God which proclaims the mercy and offers the inducement. There is the Holy Spirit which changes the heart.
Be not satisfied with inadequate religion. Remember the solemn importance of possessing an adequate religion.--J. Rawlinson.
IRRELIGIOUS MOCKERY.
xxviii. 22. Now, therefore, be ye not mockers, lest your bands be made strong.
The sense of the ludicrous is excited by words, ideas, images, or objects in which unexpected resemblances are seen in things previously considered incongruous, or in which incongruity is perceived where complete resemblance was supposed. The perception of the ludicrous varies. Where it exists in connection with the ability to convey the ludicrous idea in language, it is called wit. It is one of God's gifts. There is no reason why it should not be exercised. The evil is in untimeliness and excess. It is dispiriting and sad to be with people who are always and only see the dismal side of everything. It is equally pitiable to observe people who are ever in search of something laughable. The latter is a present-day danger. We have publications whose aim is to present the ludicrous side of everything. The popular taste encourages such writing. Even grand themes are not exempt for this kind of treatment. Some mock deliberately that they may injure; others thoughtlessly for the amusement of the moment. Of all wit it is the most gratuitous the easiest, the most mischievous and dangerous.
I. THE OBJECTS BY WHICH IT IS EXCITED.
Religious persons; their peculiarities, especially their foibles. Christian ministers as to their style and manner. In their impatience of the warnings addressed to them by the prophet, the people of Judah mocked his teaching as characterised by the repetition that is only suitable to children (9-13). Some find food for mockery in the doctrines of the Gospel. Others in the demand of holiness (Prov. xiv. 9). Others in the observances of worship. Others find the language of Scripture the most convenient point to their jests.
II. THE MOTIVES IN WHICH IT ORIGINATES.
Many do it from mere inconsiderateness. It is sometimes indulged in from the wish to please. Mockery of religious persons and things is so palatable to many that there is great temptation to it. More frequently it originates in the rooted hostility of the carnal mind against all earnest religion. Mockery is the most annoying form of attack; it is most keenly felt; it is most difficult to answer. It serves the purpose when argument fails. One grinning Voltaire may do more execution than many reasoning Humes. Many a time since the days of Nehemiah have Sanballat and his Samaritans mocked the builders of the wall of Jerusalem.
III. THE DANGERS WHICH IT INVOLVES.
1. To those who hear it. They become less susceptible of religious impression. If the head of a family habitually refer to religious persons and subjects in a mocking and disrespectful manner, his children will probably grow up with a dislike of religion.
2. To those who indulge in it. They lose their own respect for religion, if they had any, by associating it with the ideas of a low and ludicrous nature. They lose the elevating mental influence of having their minds in earnest contact with its grand truths. They lose the spiritual improvement which might have been the result of such contact.
3. And the warning of the text points to direct punishment. The "consumption determined." It points to the bands of captivity which would be more strong because of their unbelieving mockery. The mocker is preparing strong bands of distress for his conscience, if the day should ever come when he is awakened to a sense of sin and an earnest desire for salvation. How bitterly will he repent the injury his levities did to his own mind and the mind of others. Still more saddening is the thought that the mocker is likely so to harden his heart into insensibility to serious impression, that even on the bed of death, and with the solemnities of eternity before him, it will be impossible to awaken serious concern.
Follow the mocking soul to the bar of God where it must answer for its mockeries, and for all the state of mind which rendered it possible to mock. +There will be no mockery in hell!+
Do not brave these bands. Young men, do not sit in the seat of the scorner. Do not be among the mockers. Let the mocker hear the solemn warning of the text, and repent and seek mercy through the cross, and relinquish his folly.--J. Rawlinson.
THE PARABLE OF THE HUSBANDMAN.
xxviii. 24, 25. Doth the ploughman plough all day to sow? &c.[1]
Means adapted to the end must be used if any end is to be accomplished. The physician knows this. So does the general. So does the manufacturer. So does the farmer. He is not always ploughing. Nor always sowing. Nor always threshing. Nor does he treat every kind of produce in the same way. And God employs various methods in dealing with men. He aims to turn them from evil, and He adapts His methods. The teaching of the text may be applied to the Divine dealing with men generally.
+I. God intended to open a way of salvation.+ Man needs salvation because he is a sinner. Can conceive a state of things in which he would not need it, as of one who needs no physician. If he had continued holy and obedient. But that is not his case. He is a sinner, characterised by impurity, and exposed to perdition.--Now God, in His pitying love, would save us. How shall He proceed? Shall He, by His arbitrary will, sweep away the facts? Such a procedure would be entirely inconsistent with the existence of moral government and the rectitude of the Divine character. 1. One part of the case to be dealt with was the condemned state of man under the Divine law. Forgiveness could not righteously be given without some satisfaction. Man could not make it. God in Christ, in His whole personality and work, has made the satisfaction. The method adopted is exactly adapted to the nature of the case. 2. But the other part of the case was also to be dealt with. Sinfulness is deep-seated in man's nature. He loves it. Until he is changed, he is not even inclined to sue for mercy, still less to escape from sin. The Lord Jesus Christ was sent to turn us from our iniquities. How does He do this? (1.) By moral motive. The law was inadequate. He introduces a new motive. Not only the mercy, but the fact that it has been procured at such a cost, that the love was equal to such a sacrifice. It appeals directly to the heart, as well as to the judgment, for a condemnation of sin. (2.) By spiritual influence. The influence of the Holy Spirit strives with those to whom the gospel is preached, with a view to the overcoming their indifference, reluctance, and sin.--The method is adapted, in both its sides, to the end in view. It only requires the sinner's consent. Hence--
+II. God intended the way of salvation to be made known to men.+ If consent to it and faith in it is requisite to participation of its blessings, it must be understood--1. The information might have been imparted in a separate revelation by the Holy Spirit to every man. Would supersede all evidence, and all exercise of human faculty. Would not be adapted to man as a reasonable being. 2. Angelic ministry might have been employed. Open to similar objection. Would have made miracle the rule instead of the exception. It would have changed the order of nature. 3. The method adopted is the simple arrangement that those who are acquainted with it, believe it, consent to it, make the Gospel known. A method exactly adopted to the nature of the case. According to the constitution of human nature, the Gospel thus approaches it for the purpose of gaining the understanding, the heart, and the will. Bear in mind the power of sympathy between human beings. He who has received a truth desires to impart it. He who has experienced the salvation pities those who need it as he did. He who speaks from his own experience speaks with tenderness, and earnestness, and influence. The sick heed the recommendation of a physician by those whom he has cured. On this principle of adaptation the Lord Jesus instituted the living ministry of apostles, evangelists, pastors, parents, all Christians. He inspired some to put on permanent record the truth as He revealed it, as a standard of appeal. They are to study it. They are to use the same principle of adaptation. There is youth, age, different measure of instruction, different classes, spheres, circumstances.
+III. God intended to train those whom He saved.+ Believers are already saved, because pardoned and sanctified. But they require training into riper holiness, greater usefulness, greater fitness for the future heaven. Therefore the Saviour instituted such means as are adapted to secure these ends. Church fellowship, public worship, pastoral teaching, Christian habits of watchfulness, thoughtfulness, prayer. All these are adapted to the training of the spiritual plant.
Are you in sympathy with God's end? In yourselves? In the world? Then adapt yourselves to its realisation.--J. Rawlinson.
In these verses there are three kinds of seed mentioned; fitches, cummin, and corn. The fitches and cummin were small seeds like the caraway or chickpea. When these smaller herbs had to be threshed, this was done by hand; but when the corn had to be threshed, that was thrown on the floor, and men would fasten horses or oxen to a cart with iron-dented wheels; that cart would be drawn round the threshing-floor, and so the work would be accomplished. And so the idea expressed is different kinds of threshing for different products.
+I. We must all go through some kind of threshing process.+ The fact that you are devoting your life to honourable and noble purposes will not win you any escape. Wilberforce, the Christian Emancipator, was in his day derisively called "Doctor Cantwell." Thomas Babington Macaulay, the advocate of all that was good long before he became the most conspicuous historian of his day, was caricatured in one of the Quarterly Reviews as "Bubble-tongued Macaulay." Norman McLeod, the great friend of the Scotch poor, was industriously maligned in all quarters. As the small wits of London took after John Wesley, the father of Methodism. If such men could not escape the maligning of the world, neither can you expect to get rid of the sharp, keen stroke of the tribulum. All who will live godly in Christ Jesus must suffer persecution. +II. It is not compliment to us if we escape great trial.+ There are men who suppose they are the Lord's favourites, simply because their barns are full, and their bank account is flush, and there are no funerals in the house. It may be because they are fitches and cummin, while down at the end of the lane, the poor widow may be the Lord's corn. You are little pounded, because you are little worth, and she bruised and ground, because she is the best part of the harvest. By carefulness of the threshing, you may always conclude the value of the grain. (H. E. I., 186-196, 3692-3695). +III. God proportions our trials to what we can bear.+ The rod for the cummin, the staff for the fitches, the iron wheel for the corn. (H. E. I., 179-188, 3674-3695). +IV. God continues trials until we let go.+ As soon as the farmer sees that the straw has let go the grain, he stops the threshing. We hold on to this world with its pleasures, riches, and emoluments, as though for ever. God comes along with some threshing trouble, and beats us loose. Oh, let go! Depend upon it that God will keep upon you the staff, or the rod, or the iron wheel until you do let go. +V. Christian sorrow is going to have a sure terminus.+ "Bread corn is bruised, because He will not be ever threshing it." So much of us as is wheat will be separated from so much of us as is chaff, and there will be no more need of pounding. "He will not ever be threshing it." Blessed be God for that! (Rev. xxi. 4).--T. De Witt Talmage, D.D.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] In this parable the mystery of the Divine Providence is laid open, its secret disclosed. _All ploughing is for sowing; all threshing is intended for the preservation of the grain._ When God chastens us, it is not that He means to destroy us, but because He has set His heart on saving us, because He has appointed us to life and not to death. He works with discrimination. He employs various methods, sends sorrows of all sorts and sizes, that He may adapt Himself to every man's needs, and to all our varieties of place, time, and circumstances. Just as the husbandman varies his treatment of the soil, and allots to each kind of seed a soil and place suitable to its kind; just as, after the harvest has been gathered in, he employs only such instruments as are best adapted for separating the different kinds of grain from the straw and the chaff. With like wisdom and discretion God deals with us, assigning to each of us our proper station and lot, and, when we sin against Him, adapting His judgments to our several needs. The sorrows, losses, bereavements which befall us are but as the sharp edge of the share, or the keen teeth of the harrow, and are intended to prepare us to receive the good seed, and to bring forth much fruit. Or again, they are like the stroke of the flail, or the keen pressure of the sledge, or the ponderous oppression of the waggon-wheel, or the swift rattle of the horses' hoofs; and are designed to separate the chaff from the grain, the worthless from the worthy, the evil from the good in us, that we may be made meet for the garner of God. "Cure sin and you cure sorry," say the reason and conscience of the world: _and the sorrow comes that the sin may be cured,_ adds the prophet; the very miseries that spring from evil are intended to eradicate the evil from which they spring. The weeds call for the plough; and the plough comes at their call; but it comes and cuts up the weeds and the ground to which they have taken root, only that the seeds of wholesome herbs and the herbs of grace may be sown in the furrows. The chaff calls for the flail, and the flail is sent, but sent only to beat out the nourishing grain. Would that this conception were as assured, and as familiar to us as to the old Hebrew prophets! For, sooner or later, we shall all have to endure sorrows, which rend our hearts as the ploughshare rends the ground, or which bruise our hearts as the flail bruises the corn.--S. Cox, D.D.: Expositor, vol. i. pp. 89-98.
A FEAST FOR FAITH.
xxviii. 29. This also cometh forth from the Lord of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working.
The sentiment of the text is that the art, and science, and skill of man are the gifts of God. The prophet instances only agriculture, but the same principle applies to all the arts and manufactures, and in a higher degree still to those sublimer sciences which elevate the human mind, and make us acquainted with the majestic and mysterious powers of nature. The drift of the writer of the text is this, if God thus instructs man in wisdom, how wise must He be Himself! If the mere rays which come from Him convey to us so much light that we are perfectly astonished at what man can do, what must be the infinite wisdom in counsel and the excellence of working which are to be discovered in God Himself! There are two things which shall occupy our attention. The first is, the vision of God which the text presents to us; and the second is, the lesson which such a vision is calculated to teach us.
+I. The vision of God which is presented to us in the text.+ The great principle of the text is that God has a plan, and that this plan is wonderful in itself, and is found to be excellent when it is carried out. This is illustrated 1. in nature. All creation is full of traces of design. "He weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance." Nothing was made without the most accurate calculation. The stars seem cast about on the floor of heaven as men might fling at random gold-dust from their hands; yet there is not a single star whose place might be altered without mischief to the whole arrangement. In the meanest animal and minutest insect there are the most admirable contrivances to suit its habits and make its condition happy. And apparent irregularity is only undiscovered order. 2. From providence. The great providential operations of God are all the results of His foredetermined purpose and decree. All through human history every lover of the Lord will see that the awful wheels of providence have worked with excellent regularity. Empires have fallen, but the truth has risen. Dynasties have perished, but immortal principles have conquered. 3. Your own personal experience of that providence goes to prove this with equal clearness. How often have you seen that God overrules all things for your good! (H. E. I. 4015-4022). 4. The wonderful planning of the excellent Worker is seen in the great economy of Redemption. How marvellous that God, the Mighty Maker, should appear in human flesh and become a man, that so fallen, sinful, miserable man might be lifted up and become the son of God! When I see this great sight these words of Isaiah's ring with a bell-like music in my ears, "He is wonderful in counsel." 5. Then turning from Redemption itself, look at the Gospel. That Gospel is just the reverse of what human wisdom would advise. It is not "do and live," but "believe and live." 6. Then I might speak of God's plan and God's work in inward experience. The experience of every Christian is in some respects different from that of another, but it is always the result of God's plan. 7. Another illustration will be found in the use of instrumentality. It is a wonderful design of God to use one man in the conversion of another. The one is benefited while the other is blessed. 8. The grandest, illustration of all will be when, at last, God's counsels shall be perfectly fulfilled. Man shall burst forth into one mighty song, "Hallelujah! Hallelujah! the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth!" (Rev. xix. 6).
+II. Some of the lessons from it.+--1. To the unconverted: seeing His counsel is so wondrous, I would to God you would agree to it! 2. To the people of God: I want you to agree to this in your own particular case. 3. Brother workers, let us have a well-formed plan, and let it be God's plan. 4. When we know God's plan we must remember to carry it out. 5. When you are resolved to carry out God's plan, joyfully expect singular assistance.--C. H. Spurgeon.
ARIEL.
xxix. 1. Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt.
The word "Ariel" properly means "the Lion of God," and is elsewhere used of the great brazen altar on which the sacred fire blazed, and which might be said to devour as a lion the sacrifices presented on it to God. In our text, however, "Ariel" is used as a name for Jerusalem. The fact that David had dwelt in it is mentioned, not by way of historical reference, but as aggravating the guiltiness of the city, and as in some way proving that it might expect to be visited with more than common vengeance. In what way is the fact that Jerusalem could be described as "the city where David dwelt" a justification of the woes which the prophet was about to denounce against it? The answer is easy: We are answerable to God for every blessing received at His hands, so that we cannot possess a single privilege which will not, if neglected or abused, be brought against us as a charge and heighten our condemnation. This is as true of communities as of individuals: and the fact that Jerusalem had profited so little, morally and spiritually, from David's residence in it was a clear aggravation of its guilt.--1. +David had dwelt in Jerusalem as a king.+ As such, his authority and his example might have been expected to have made a deep impression on the religious life of the people. Consider how powerful is the example of men in exalted stations.--2. +David had dwelt in Jerusalem as a poet.+ Consider how powerful is the influence of song on national character, and how truly David's psalms were national songs. As every English child is taught loyalty by the notes of "God save the Queen," every Jewish child was instructed in piety by the well-known strains of the sweet singer of Israel. Surely if anything could have kept religion alive in Jerusalem, it would have been this writing it into the poetry this weaving it into the music of the nation. It was like taking possession of the strings of a nation's heart, and providing that their vibrations should respond only to truth.--3. +The memory of David had long been a blessing to Jerusalem.+ For his sake evil had been averted from it (2 Kings xix. 34). To pronounce a woe upon the Jerusalem or the city where David had dwelt was to tell the Jews that the conservative influence of that monarch's piety would no longer be of any avail for them; that even as children, though long spared in recompense by the righteousness of their fathers, may reach a point at which they have filled the measure of their guilt, and at which, therefore, they can receive no further favour as the offspring of those whom God hath loved; so their iniquity had reached such a height that forbearance, long manifested for the sake of the most pious of kings, was at length wearied out, and there remained no further place for intercession.
The principle involved in this passage is applicable alike to communities and individuals. 1. It is made the charge against Jerusalem that it was the city where David had dwelt--the plain inference from this being that it was a great aggravation of the national wickedness that so righteous a prince, so zealous a supporter of true religion as David, had sat for years upon the throne of Judah. By parity of reasoning, if there have been raised up in our own country men mighty in the exhibiting and establishing truth, and if in the lapse of time we grow indifferent to the truth, and perhaps even half inclined to the errors which were exposed and expelled, will it not be made a matter of accusation against us that ours is the land in which those worthies dwelt? Suppose, for example, we were to undervalue the Reformation, suppose we were to think lightly of the errors of Popery, then might our text be regarded as denouncing special woe on ourselves--woe to England--to England, the country where Wickliffe, and Cranmer, and Ridley dwelt! For is it not to be questioned that we shall have much to answer for it, after God had raised up Reformers, and they, with incalculable labour and at incalculable cost, had cleansed our Church from the abominations of Popery, we should in any measure let go the truth and make alliance or truce with the tenets or practices of Rome. This same principle is applicable 2. to many a parish in which some devoted minister of Christ has laboured, and 3. to many a household in which the example and teaching of godly parents have been set at naught.--H. Melvill, B.D.: Sermons Preached during the Latter Years of his Life, vol. i. pp. 125-140.
DREAMING.
xxix. 7, 8. Shall be as a dream of a night vision, &c.
The reference in these two verses is to the threatened attack on Jerusalem by the Assyrian invasion in the reign of Hezekiah. They take us to the time the invader had taken all the other fortified places in the kingdom; and now his general, Rabshakeh, was encamped before the capital, with the confident expectation of easily taking it. It would seem as if, the requisite preparations having been made, that immense army had retired to rest, with the intention of making the assault on the next day. We can imagine them in their dreams picturing to themselves the scenes of the approaching capture, the shouting, the onset, the slaughter, the devastation, the prisoners, the booty, the triumph, the glory--scenes, however, these which they were destined never to witness! For, in the dead of night, the Destroying Angel went forth, and in the morning nothing remained of 185,000 of them but their lifeless corpses. So ended their dreams!
Even as the army of Sennacherib was dreaming of a conquest which had no real existence, so are there multitudes of persons now dreaming that they are accomplishing the great object of their existence who are no more doing so than if they lay wrapped in the slumbers of the night. I propose to speak of such persons under three heads of PLEASURE, WORK, RELIGION.
I. PLEASURE. I am not condemning pleasure. Pleasure has its place in every human life, just as truly as work and religion. I am speaking of a life devoted to pleasure. Nor do I speak of the grosser pleasures--these shock us at once, others delude us--but of those whose great aim in life is to please themselves: who, in respect to any proposed course of action, never think of asking, "Is it my duty?" But what is there to show that such a life is only a dream-like substitute for real life? 1. It leaves our best faculties unused. Can it be believed that God made us "a little lower than the angels" that we might spend our lives in pursuits which hardly require the faculties of a man? 2. A life of pleasure is a selfish life. Where pleasure is the habitual object of pursuit there must be selfishness. Wherever pleasure is the great object of life, the interest of others will be held in low esteem. 3. A life of pleasure also exposes to temptation. 4. It unfits men for another world. We shall never be ready for heaven if we never think seriously about it; and pleasure pre-eminently withdraws our thoughts from that world (H. E. I., 5059).
II. Another form of the dream is the impression that WORK, i.e., secular occupation, is the great business of life. Work is not to be spoken of without respect. 1. The Bible praises work. "Six days shalt thou labour." 2. It keeps us from dependence on others. 3. It benefits those dependent upon us. 4. It is good as enabling a man to help his neighbours. 5. Good as giving a man influence by means of the wealth it produces. 6. Good as keeping us out of much evil. Intemperance is usually the vice of the idle. So of other vices. But still it has its dangerous side. It shuts out the other world by the undue prominence it gives to this. It diminishes our sympathy with the suffering, and makes us unconcerned about the kingdom of Christ. Noble as work is when compared with idleness, it is not the great business of life. God did not endow us with intellect, heart, and spirit, with relations to Himself, to our fellows, and to immortality, that we might spend our lives in a practical denial of them all. A life of mere work is a dream as truly as a life of pleasure.
III. Another thing which men are apt to consider the great business of life is RELIGION. In many cases "religion" is little more than amusement; in others superstition; in others mere sentiment. There is a "religion" which is merely an affair of the intellect; another where it is hereditary, where a man follows a form of religion because his fathers did so before him. It is forgotten that religion is a life. Religious knowledge, beliefs, feelings, exercises are but the scaffolding and not the building; means to an end, not the end itself. The great end of life is not to be religious, but to be good. True religion has two sides: it first puts us right with God and then with our fellow-men. We love God first, and only then do we love man and work for his good.
The prophet tells us how the dreams of these Assyrians vanished. Even such will be the disappointment of those who are dreaming away the grand possibilities of the present life.--B. P. Pratten, B.A.: Christian World Pulpit, vol. iii. pp. 187-191.
AWAKENED FROM THE DREAM.
xxix. 8. It shall be even as when an hungry man dreameth, and behold he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty.
This passage describes the disappointment of the Assyrians, whose imagination had feasted on the conquest of Jerusalem. The simile is striking. A man in extreme hunger or thirst will dream that his craving is satisfied. He awakes to feel the privation more acutely. The text may be applied to the case of a man disappointed with the world, awakened to a sense of its emptiness, concerned for his soul. There is a sense of sin, danger, need. On the day of Pentecost the awakened cried, "What shall we do?" Thus the Philippian Jailor. We will address this state of mind--
+I. In words of sympathy.+ The awakened solicitude is justified by--1. the value of the soul; 2. the fact of sin; 3. the reality of danger; 4. the provision of the gospel; 5. the call of God; 6. the unsatisfactoriness of neglect; 7. the flight of time.
+II. In words of caution.+ 1. Beware of relapsing into indifference (H. E. I., 1479-1490). Many are awakened and anxious, but it does not endure. Herod heard John gladly and did many things. Transient impressions are like Ephraim's goodness (Hos. vi. 4). Some are excitable but fickle. When the charm of novelty departs, their enthusiasm departs. Religion experiences similar treatment. Nor is it from yourself alone that you are exposed to this peril. You will meet with those who will endeavour to repress your earnestness. They will commend a moderate attention to religion, but will counsel you to wait until you are older, &c. A quiet, sober, decent attention to religious duties is well enough, but they cannot see the necessity for making religion the primary concern. Beware of such advisers. This is a matter in which earnestness is demanded. Keep fresh and vigorous in your mind the considerations by which you were first awakened. Salvation is either the supremely important thing the gospel declares, or it is nothing. Is the sick man too anxious for health, too attentive to the physician's directions? When the starving man has dreamed of food, does any one repress his eagerness for the reality when, on awaking, he finds it was only a dream? Beware lest either unsympathising friends or your own weakness administer the opiate that will send you back into the slumber of indifference from which you have been awakened. 2. Beware of assuming that you are converted because you are awakened. Awakening is not conversion. Conviction is not conversion; it does not necessarily end up in it. Pharaoh said, "I have sinned." It is a hopeful circumstance; a step on the road; attention called to the disease; disappearance of the dream. The awakened on the day of Pentecost were directed respecting conversion. 3. Beware of finding comfort anywhere else than in the gospel. Performance of religious duties; prayers; peaceful feeling, you know not why; impression that you are forgiven. It is untempered mortar; it will not bind the walls. Nothing less than faith in Jesus.
+III. In words of counsel.+ Comply at once with the call of the Gospel. Christ's work is all-sufficient. Faith and repentance is submission at both points. The call is--1. Gracious. 2. Immediate. Do not delay; do not wait for the Spirit nor anything else. You are a man, not a machine. You must obey the Gospel. The Spirit is working with the Gospel.--John Rawlinson.
THE FUTILITY OF FIGHTING AGAINST MOUNT ZION.
(Missionary Sermon.)
xxix. 8. So shall the multitude of the nations be that fight against Mount Zion.
Nothing tends to inspirit exertion in any great enterprise so much as the certain prospect of success. Hope is the spur of action, the very life of enterprise. Hence to encourage the fearful and animate the brave in the culture of their own piety, and especially in their efforts to extend the kingdom of the Redeemer, there are given in God's Word the amplest promises of Divine help and assurances of ultimate success. But for "the sure word of prophecy," the servants of God would long since have trembled for the ark of the Lord, and have despaired of the salvation of the race. But delays to us are not delays with God. Long ago He has declared, "Yet have I set my King on my holy hill of Zion." "But we see not as yet all things put under Him." The foot of His Providence falls too soft for mortal ear to mark. While He walks on the great ocean of human affairs as Jesus walked on the Galilean sea, His footsteps leave no traces behind. But yet He never stands still. "My father worketh hitherto." His progress is certain. In reference to the spread of His Gospel it may be said, "In such an hour as ye think not the Son of man shall come." At His approach all opposition is fruitless, all resistance vain. Every obstacle shall vanish, as a dream is forgotten when the dreamer awaketh.
This passage suggests--
+I. The number and might of the enemies of the Gospel.+ It is always unwise to underrate the forces of the enemy. Injury has been done to the cause of missions by this action. Good men in the ardour of their zeal seemed to speak as though heathendom was to be won by one new crusade, and that the walls of Satan's kingdom would fall flat at a single blast of their rams' horns. But Scripture takes opposite ground, and intimates that there must be a continuous and persistent struggle. Our great General does not conquer in a single campaign; He goes forth "conquering and to conquer." These numerous and powerful enemies of Christ's kingdom arise from our own corrupt nature; from the peculiar circumstances of the heathen world; from every class of society, and are perpetually set in motion by the powers of darkness. Though they are "the multitude of all the nations," they have one prince, "the prince of the powers of darkness." To prevent our forming exaggerated pictures of success, let us remember: 1. That the original enmity of the human heart is always and everywhere the same. Every sinful passion of the human heart starts up an armed enemy against Christ and His truth. If at home after centuries of Christian work, the obstacles to the gospel are so great, how much more formidable must they be in pagan lands! 2. The power of Satan is at all times the same. And if here he rules supreme in the children of disobedience, what must his power be in those heathen lands where he is so strongly entrenched in superstition, idolatry and prejudices, crimes and passions of men confederated with him since Adam fell! 3. The world at large, in its spirit and pursuits, is decidedly hostile. Even in our own country, how few can be looked upon as the genuine disciples of Christ, the true soldiers of the Cross! How mighty the forces sent out even here against the Lord and against His anointed! This part of the earth is still in the hands of the wicked.
+II. The utter futility and certain overthrow of their projects.+ 1. Their schemes are all fallacious and visionary. "It shall be as when a hungry man dreameth." What more delusive than a dream! 2. Their disappointment is certain. The history of the past is against them. Past history has verified the words of the Master, "And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" (Matt. xvi. 18). The prophecy of the covenant of grace, the very progress of civilisation, but more than all the very existence of God, is against them. "The Lord reigneth; let the earth rejoice" (Ps. xcvii. 1).
+III. The glory that shall rise from thence to Zion's King+ (Ps. lxxii. 10, 11, 15). His wisdom will baffle all their designs, His power crush every hostile force, and His kingdom rise on the ruin of their dark confederacies (1 Cor. xv. 25).--Samuel Thodey.
LIP-SERVICE INSTEAD OF HEART-WORSHIP.
xxix. 13, 14. Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people drew near to Me with their mouth, &c.
The charge against the people is clear; it is that of a heartless religion, formal and full of hypocrisy. "Their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men." That is, their religion is a mechanical following of human directions, instead of the spontaneous uprising of a heart inspired with the fear and love of God.
+I. The charge against the Jews in Isaiah's day.+ It is twofold--the removal of the heart and the substitution of a lip-service. The removal of the heart. God demands the service of the heart (Prov. xxiii. 26; Jer. xxix. 13). The Psalmist felt how reasonable was this demand when he said, "I will praise Thee, O Lord, with the whole heart" (Ps. ix. 1). A man may do some things with a slack hand and yet be blameless, but to steer an Atlantic steamer in a storm, he needs the whole force of both hands. Unless our whole soul be in God's service, our worship will be thrown back upon us with the withering words, "Who hath demanded this at your hands?" This worthless thing! "Bring no more vain oblations." How strikingly our Lord put this principle of supremacy (Luke xiv. 26): "In every man's heart I must be supreme, or therein I cannot dwell." Infidels must ignorantly misread this passage. One of their counts against Christianity is that it frowns on family joys; while every day's facts prove that the truest Christian is the best husband, father, &c. God being first in a man's heart, that heart is humanised, its generosity enlarged, so as to take in, not only the family, but "all mankind." But some, after having given their hearts to the Lord, withdraw them from His service (Matt. xiii. 22; 2 Tim. iv. 10).
+II. This charge has been true in every generation.+ The heart's weakness and the world's force are ever the same. This evil existed in our Lord's day (Matt. xv. 8, 9). For long years before the Reformation whole nations of Christendom presented to God a mere formal worship. And to-day, of how many congregations may the words of Ezekiel be said! (Ezek. xxxiii. 31).
+III. The worthless substitution presented to God.+ "And with their lips do honour Me." The instinct of worship is so strong within the soul that men everywhere worship something. It may be the hideous fetish of the African or the artistic statue of the refined Greek, but something the Greek and the barbarian must have. When that young mother, in the days of Solomon, arose in the morning and found a dead child by her side instead of her own living one, how severe must have been the shock! Had there been no child by her side, no dead substitute, she might have thought that her own child lived somewhere and might sometime be found. But that dead substitute at first nearly killed her by despair. It is bad to withdraw a living heart from the Lord, but to substitute a dead one is first to rob God and then wickedly insult Him (H. E. I., 5066-5070).
+IV. The threat+ (ver. 14). The threat is that of cherished expectations bitterly disappointed. In times of extremity, full of confidence in the wisdom of their leaders, they shall seek light and leading, and behold nothing but darkness and folly. How often have the leaders of a nation been stricken with folly, and, like a blinded steersman, have driven the ship to destruction! "The wisdom of their wise men shall perish." Disappointment! It is only another expression about the foolish man disappointed in his false security, his house resting on the sand, and of those who "make lies their refuge, and under falsehood hide themselves." The threat is that "the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding-place." Though men may not admit that their worship is mere lip-service, and their neighbours not see their hypocrisy, yet to the eye of God
"The painted hypocrites are known Through the disguise they wear."
--William Parkes, F.R.G.S.
Two conditions under which religion is in a declining state. 1. When the ordinances of Divine worship are generally neglected. 2. When the attendance on worship, however large, does not represent a religious state of mind, but is simply an outward performance. The latter was the state into which religion had fallen in Judea. The religious observances of the people were not inspired by knowledge of God's Word, but by human authority. The text--
+I. Describes a great privilege.+ "This people draw near me." God speaks after the manner of men. When we desire to speak closely to a friend we get near him. This is coming close to God (Ps. lxxiii. 28; Heb. x. 22; Heb. vii. 19; James iv. 8). Is it not a wonder that the Almighty permits us to draw nigh to Him? Men make it difficult for their inferiors to obtain access; but the Infinite and Eternal One makes Himself accessible to His creatures. Not only so; He has made a way for creatures stained by sin. The Lord Jesus Christ stands between God and man by virtue of His atoning death and interceding life. The guilty, condemned, utterly impure, have only to renounce their sinfulness and avail themselves of this new and living way. If there is truthfulness and sincerity, they will be welcome. In the sanctuary, in meeting for prayer, in the family, in the closet, in the round of daily duty, we may draw near to God. Do you know anything of the blessedness of this privilege? Enjoyment, comfort, purity, fitness for intercourse with men, for the battle of life, for the work of the world, do they not all come through this privilege?
+II. Points out a serious abuse+ (ver. 13). Their sin was not the abandonment of worship. That is a measure of ungodliness not reached without a long process. Unsettled faith, indifference to spiritual blessings, habits of sinful indulgence, conduct to it. What multitudes have reduced themselves to this predicament? But it was not their case. They had not relinquished the ordinances of worship; they observed them. But there was a twofold defect: the heart was absent and the motive was wrong. 1. Something was present that ought to have been absent. "Their fear toward Me is taught by the precept of men." Their piety was only out of respect for some human authority. Our Lord quoted this part of the text in His exposure of externalism as exemplified by the Pharisees of His time (Matt. xv. 9). Human authority in religion is here distinctly denounced. One man may hand the Word of God to another, but no man must impose his notions of religion on another by his mere authority. A man's religious service must be the result of his personal conviction. If he is religious because some one else is, or because it is respectable, or because it may promote his worldly interest, or because it is recognised and imposed by the authority of the state, it is not really the honour and worship of God at all, but of man. 2. Something was absent that ought to have been present. "But have removed their heart far from Me." God must be worshipped with the heart. Apart from the outward expression of inward reality, the movement of the lips and the utterance of the mouth are nothing. Real worship is the consent of the understanding, will, affections, to the homage which is paid by the lips. Without this they are mockery, as when one who stands in the king's presence is alienated from his allegiance.
+III. Utters a solemn warning+ (ver. 14). Their religion was only the counsel of man. It was unavailing for its purpose, and would come to nothing (1 Cor. i. 19). Such worship is: 1. Unacceptable. God is not deceived. Realise the terribleness of being rejected. He says, "It is not the kind of worship I require." After all your wisdom (Isa. i. 11-15). 2. Unsuccessful. The prayers offered only by the lips are not heard. No answer comes, no blessing descends. This comes of the policy which followed the precepts of men. 3. Unstable. After such religion reaction may be expected. There is no inward life to sustain the outward exercises. Does not the test point to that deeper spiritual blindness which follows the attempt to put the wisdom of man in the place of the wisdom of God?
In religion and at its worship take care: 1. That there is sincerity. See that the heart is right with God. "Ye must be born again." 2. That there is simplicity. Let there be no superfluous externalism in worship; only what is necessary to the suitable expression of the heart's worship. 3. That there is earnestness.
And if a merely formal worship is rejected, what is the predicament of those who do not even offer that, but who live without any acknowledgement of God?--John Rawlinson.
THE JOY OF THE MEEK.
xxix. 19. _The meek also shall increase their joy in the Lord._
I. THE PERSONS HERE DESCRIBED.
Meekness does not mean timidity (2 Tim. i. 7); not the craven spirit of the coward, but the quiet power of the strong man (Prov. xxviii. 1). It does not mean the absence of courage, but the absence of that ignorant and arrogant self-sufficiency which Peter showed when he said, "Though all men forsake Thee, yet will not I." It is that calmness of spirit which grows not out of reliance on self, but out of reliance on God. It is recorded of one whose courage at times had flashed up like a consuming fire, "Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth." His meekness was not feebleness, but a calm strength; quiet endurance in the doing of duty under difficulties. He was not provoked by the wrong-headedness or irritated by the ingratitude of the nation he wished to serve, but he quietly bore their stubbornness, and persisted in doing them good against their will. Hence a quiet doing and a quiet bearing of the will of God is one consistent in this quality of the mind "meekness." It does not mean that equableness of disposition which comes from nature, so much as that calmness of spirit which comes from grace. It is one of the fruits of the Spirit (Gal. v. 23). This quality of mind in God's people is shown: 1. In their intercourse with God. In His presence they manifest "a humble, lowly, and contrite heart." Theirs is not the spirit of the Pharisee, but the lowly contrition of the publican. Not "Stand by, for I am holier than thou," but "I am not worthy," &c. In a ready acceptance of the doctrines of grace and salvation through a Saviour crucified. Not like the Pharisees, who scorned the Saviour "as a root out of a dry ground," but like those few elect souls, just and devout, who "were waiting for the consolation of Israel." Christianity is a discipline of humility. In making men Christ-like it makes them meek. Jesus was meek and lowly, and He promises to those like Himself rest of soul. 2. In their submission to the allotments of Providence (Job xiv. 14, xiii. 15; Micah vii. 9; Lev. x. 3; 1 Sam. iii. 18; H. E. I. 157, 158, &c.) 3. In their deportment before their fellow-men. They do not arrogate to themselves that superiority which despises and neglects others, but obey the apostolic injunctions (1 Pet. ii. 17, iii. 8).
II. THE BLESSINGS GOD CONFERS UPON THEM.
1. He saves them. Often in outward troubles they become the charge and care of His providence (Zeph. ii. 3). How wonderfully was Moses saved from the strivings and rebellions of the people! Leaving his vindication in the hands of the Great Judge, God took up his cause; and when the whole camp was against him, God delivered him. How wonderfully was Joseph delivered from the pit and the prison, and Jeremiah in the siege! But always are they saved from soul-destruction. "Saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation." 2. He beautifies them. "He will beautify the meek with salvation." By the robe of righteousness, the inward adorning of the soul in every virtue, by the special manifestation of His mercy when most needed (chap. lxi. 3), by giving them that esteem and commanding influence which often attracts and impresses their fellow-men. 3. He makes it appear that He delights in them. "The Lord taketh pleasure in His people."
III. THEIR GRATEFUL RESPONSE.
"The poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel." They rejoice in His salvation; they praise Him in voice, and heart, and life (Isa. lxi. 10).--Samuel Thodey.
RELIGIOUS JOY.
xxix. 19. The meek shall increase their joy.
It is commonly said that while religion is man's duty and his interest, it is not productive of enjoyment. Yet the Bible is full of joyful expressions, and of exhortations to joy. It even meets the sorrows of humanity and brings joy out of them. Its association of joy with conditions not joyful is remarkable (Matt. v. 3-5). Observe the contrasts in our passage (vers. 18, 19). Circumstances are mentioned which amount to the removal of all alarm (ver. 20). From the outward fact, the faith of the persons here described ruses to the hand that accomplished it.
Our subject is religious joy.
I. THE SOURCE WHENCE IT IS DERIVED.
"The Lord. The Holy One of Israel." We rejoice in what we have desired, hoped for, and obtained. This does not exclude enjoyment of the blessings of the present life. They are closely associated with it. They suggest it. We ask whence they come. The habit of regarding earthly advantage as gifts from the hand of God keeps the Divine character before us as that of a Being to be regarded with pleasure.
Thus, if we ascend to the spiritual region and contemplate the salvation of man, it includes the compassionate love of God, which gave His Son to impoverishment, suffering, and death; full forgiveness of sin; the various influences of the Divine Spirit; the elevated spiritual privileges and hopes bestowed on fallen men. All this came from the grace of God; it originated in His nature. "God is love." But the God whose nature can be read in this way is not a God to repel, but attract; not a god of whom to stand in terrified awe, but a God in whom to rejoice.
And this result emerges if we take a more direct look at the Divine character. We are supplied with verbal asservations as well as historical illustrations. We read of the Almighty, the All-wise, the All-righteous, the All-holy, as well as the All-loving. Power, even with justice, would fail to produce joy. But a God of power, and love, and holiness can be a delight, because He can be loved.
But no object of delight can be considered apart from its subject. Nothing is universally delightful. Before you can enjoy anything you must have sympathy with it, a taste for it. There are people who cannot enjoy the finest concert. There must be the heart that is capable of joy in the Holy One of Israel, the heart of "the meek, the poor among men;" the heart changed by the grace of God.
II. THE ELEMENTS OF WHICH IT CONSISTS.
We know our feelings better by experience than by analysis. We can imagine a father so utterly unsatisfactory in his character and conduct that his own children are ashamed to mention his name. We can imagine one whose kindness, whose faultless conduct, whose commanding intellect render them proud of his name. They think of him with pleasure. Thus the poor among men rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
If you attempt to examine, you will find that your joy in God is compounded of several other feelings, which, like tributary streams, swell with the river of your pleasure. 1. Gratitude. For experience of the Divine goodness. It expresses itself in thanks and songs. You think with pleasure of one for whom you are grateful. 2. Affection. Love is closely akin to gratitude. And God has taken away all cause of alienation. The love of God in Christ possesses the heart. Love delights in its object (Rom. v. 11). 3. Confidence. We trust Him entirely. In present distresses or future fears. If distrust crosses our minds, we dismiss it as inconsistent with the truth of which we have satisfied ourselves. Now if there is perfect confidence in Him on whom we depend, we cannot fail to rejoice in Him. 4. Approbation. We find the Holy One of Israel a Being in whom we can be infinitely satisfied. At no point, in no respect, could we desire Him to be different from what He is. Nor is it the admiration sometimes expressed for characters there is no desire to imitate. Christians earnestly desire likeness to God. Putting all these together, there must be joy in the Lord.
III. THE AUGMENTATION WHICH IT RECEIVES.
"The meek shall increase their joy in the Lord." Earthly joy is short-lived. The objects from which it proceeds are liable to change and perish. Many of these, even if they continue, fall. They become flat by satiety and continuity. We outgrow them as a child outgrows his toys. But Christian joy is permanent and tends to increase, because its object remains the same for ever, while His fulness is ever unfolding itself. Knowing and experiencing more of God, there is more joy in Him. Thus there is a constant increase--in the present world, and in the world to come.
Would you enjoy this privilege? Then make it possible. Possess the character. Ye must be born again. Do not indulge sin. Keep Christ in your thoughts. Thus you will be superior to earthly enjoyments.--John Rawlinson.
THE ORIGIN AND THE END OF SIN.
xxx. 1-3. Woe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, that take counsel, but not of Me, &c.
The policy inculcated by the Divine Ruler on the Jewish nation was a policy of isolation. Now, this would be a self-destructive policy. But the circumstances of that nation were peculiar. It was not a missionary to the world, but it was a witness. When it formed alliances with surrounding nations, its witness became indistinct. It often dropped its testimony and adopted the idolatries against which its protest should have been uniform. This prophecy is against the alliance with Egypt. Assyria was about to invade that country. It was feared she would take Judea on the way. Now, the Lord was its defence; there was therefore no need to seek assistance from any other power whatsoever. It was a rebellious and unbelieving spirit that sought this alliance. The politicians sought a covering from the impending storm; but they did not seek it by Divine counsel. They were adding another sin to the number against them. It would be shame and confusion at the end. Egypt would be unwilling or unable to help.
Human nature is ever the same. Here is a representation of the way in which sinners act, and of its consequences.
+I. All sin proceeds from neglect and defiance of God's counsel.+
1. It is implied that God has counselled or may be consulted respecting human conduct. By the prophet He had declared against the alliance with Egypt. In the written word we have His will. It does not deal with our modern life and circumstances in detail. Impossible. But we have what is better; principles of action which we are to apply to circumstances. No one ever long in a moral difficulty, if he honestly apply these principles. Every act which is of the nature of evil is forbidden. Many sinful acts are forbidden by name. We have the example of the Son of God. We have the most inspiring motives; gratitude, love, hope, fear. A revolution of our nature in the direction of God's holiness is demanded. The ministry of the Word expounds and enforces these great principles. Men do not sin for want of counsel from God.
2. Our text charges men with acting on other counsel than the Divine. The charge is twofold. (1.) Neglect of the counsel they ought to have sought. Sincere desire to be right would apply to the Divine Word in relation to all the conduct of life. How many adopt and act upon the principle that it shall guide everything? Is not its authority discounted? When tempted to the questionable or sinful, but advantageous, how many, with steady clearness of moral vision, look straight at God's counsel? As to the ministry of the Word, one part of the function of which is to keep men's moral perceptions clear, how many absent themselves from it entirely! (2.) Seeking the counsel they ought not to have sought. They sought counsel of their own inclinations. It was a foregone conclusion. They wished to go down into Egypt. If they consulted, it was, as often happens, with those inclined in the same way. Men are secretly conscious of alienation from God, which instinctively dislikes His recommendations. Man's moral nature is unhinged; and he turns from God anywhither. The maxims of the world, the opinions of associates, considerations of worldly interest, conspire to the rejection of His counsel. Micaiah must be imprisoned if he prophesy evil, although it be true.
+II. Sin is cumulative and growing.+
"That they may add sin to sin." Sin is rarely single (H. E. I., 4507-4509). A rope is twined from many threads. The Jewish people committed one sin by forsaking the counsel of God, another in trusting to the help of Egypt. Some substances have an affinity for each other. So have moral elements. Sins have a fearfully attractive and accumulative power. The youth wanders from the house of God. Conscience is stifled. Amusement is sought. Loose companions are cultivated. Restraint is gradually thrown off. Fraud is necessary. Fraud requires falsehood. One falsehood requires another. Sin is added to sin. Soon as a sin is committed it drops the seed of another, and so onward in terrible progression. Add grain of sand to grain until it becomes a mountain. Money is scraped together by care and labour, but sins rush to each other with mutual attraction. If you could have foreseen the growth of your own sins, surely you would have refrained. Count the sins of your life. They are added up in God's book.
+III. Every sin contains the germ of its own punishment.+
"Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt your confusion." Sin makes promises which it fails to perform. You are disappointed. This is part of the punishment. Punishment is often appropriate, growing out of the sin. Sometimes this is palpable, as in the case of sensual lusts. Oftener subtle. Punishment accumulates, as sin does. There is a treasuring up of wrath (H. E. I., 4603-4614). Will you continue to accumulate it? or will you pause, cease? You must repent. Do not hug your chains. You must cry for mercy. You must yield. You must repair to the cross.--John Rawlinson.
STRENGTH IN QUIETNESS.[1]
xxx. 7. Their strength is to sit still.
There is a sense in which "sitting still" is not our strength, but our destruction. To sit still in sin and unbelief is the practice and the ruin of the unconverted. To such men, exhortations of a precisely opposite character must be addressed. There is a sense too in which there is to be no "sitting still" even for the righteous (Phil. ii. 12, 13; 2 Pet. i. 5-10; Heb. iv. 11). To understand our text, we must acquaint ourselves with the circumstances which gave occasion to it. The Israelites were under the special protection and guardianship of God. Many and great were the deliverances which He wrought for them. Yet, when in difficulty and danger, they thought more of man's arm than of His. Now threatened by the Assyrians, where did they turn for help? To Egypt--to that very people who had once so cruelly oppressed their forefathers! To make sure of having it, they sent to Egypt large sums of money. It was in rebuke of such foolish ingratitude to God that our text was written. "Their strength," said the Lord, "is to sit still,"--to forbear, that is, from sending off for help to man, and to "sit still" quietly at home, relying on the help of God. This was their strength, for let them but do this and then they had a stronger with them than all that were against them.
To-day the believer in Christ Jesus is often tempted to a sin very similar to that of Israel, and to him this admonition is equally applicable and important. In a more especial manner than Israel of old he is hidden under the shadow of his Lord. And yet he also is strongly tempted, in more ways than one, to make flesh his arm, whilst his heart departeth from the Lord. He is often tempted thus to do in reference--+I. To the everlasting salvation of his soul.+ Satan tempts him to look off to other confidences, as if Christ were insufficient; to look out for something in himself, which he may boast of and depend upon. But in Christ there is everything the sinner wants (Col. ii. 10; 1 Cor. i. 30). +II. To temporal difficulties and dangers.+ The Christian is authorised to use all proper means for his deliverance. It would be tempting God, not trusting Him, to neglect those remedies or those precautions which He has placed within our power, and expect to be delivered by a miracle (H. E. I., 169, 170). Yet he must, in a sense, "sit still." He must place his whole dependence on his God, and not on any plans which his own prudence may suggest to him; nor must he resort to any means of safety or deliverance which would be inconsistent with the rule of duty laid down for him in Scripture (H. E. I., 171-178). Asa, 2 Chron. xiv. 11; Jehoshaphat, 2 Chron. xx. 12; Hezekiah, 2 Chron. xxxii. 7, 8. Let these worthies of old teach us what a blessed thing it is, in times of difficulty and of danger, to wait calmly upon God; using means, indeed, such as God may put within our reach, yet not abusing them by making them our staff. +III. To seasons of affliction.+ Then it is most eminently true that the believer's strength is to "sit still." How is he to do so? By submitting himself patiently and humbly to the chastening rod without a murmuring word upon his lips, or a murmuring thought within his heart; by acknowledging the faithfulness and wisdom of the dispensation; and by waiting the Lord's time for the removal of it. Job, Job i. 21; Eli, 1 Sam. iii. 18; David, Ps. xxxix. 9. Not to "sit still" under the chastening rod will only make our case the worse; but he who waits upon God has a way of comfort and deliverance opened to him (Isa. xli. 10, xxvi. 3). +IV. To time of provocation.+ He is affronted and injured. Shall he turn himself about to see how he may revenge himself? No; his strength is to "sit still," to forbear for recompensing evil with evil, and to commit his cause patiently and calmly to his God. David did so in more instances than one; and the Lord took up the quarrel of His servant, avenged him of his adversaries, and set him up on high above them (Rom. xii. 19-26).
In regard to all these things we must "sit still" in faith, in hope, in resignation to the blessed will of God. For the grace that is needed to enable us to do so, let us have recourse to Him who can teach us "quietness and confidence," to the Spirit who gives faith and consolation, who can make the soul to rest in Christ, and say to all its troubled feelings, "Peace, be still!"--Arthur Roberts, M.A.: Plain Sermons, Second Series, vol. i. pp. 31-39.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] See also CHRISTIAN QUIETNESS, verse 15.
DISLIKE TO MINISTERIAL FIDELITY.
xxx. 9-11. This is a rebellious people, &c.
Many wish to be deceived. They have made truth their enemy and shrink from the light, desiring present relief and peace, even at the expense of future happiness. Many a man does not like to be told the truth about his business or his health. The Jews did not like to be told the truth about their national prospects. The incessant reference of the prophets to the holiness of God was offensive to them, and they tried to silence their faithful monitors. Faithful ministers of Christ meet with the same reception from many of their hearers. These cannot bear to have their consciences roused, their fears alarmed, and their minds rendered uneasy.
I. THE TRUTHS WHICH ARE USUALLY OBNOXIOUS TO SUCH PERSONS. The spirituality and unbending strictness of the Divine law, the deep depravity of human nature, the exceeding sinfulness of man's conduct, the universal necessity of regeneration, the inefficacy of works for justification, the indispensable obligation to a separation from the world, the holiness of God, His irreconcilable hatred to all sin, and His irrevocable purpose to punish it, and the awfulness and interminableness of the doom of the impenitent. Such subjects call up the enmity of the carnal mind. They distress those who are wrongfully at ease in Zion, and they demand that the preacher shall leave them, and discourse on more pleasing themes.
II. THE CAUSE OF THE DISLIKE OF MINISTERIAL FIDELITY. 1. Unbelief. Multitudes who admit in gross the authority of the Bible deny it in detail. Its unpalatable truths are rejected. 2. The refinements of modern society and taste. It is allowed that the curses of a violated law may be uttered in barns or churches for the poor, and may fall on the rude ears of the multitude, but the doctrine and style of preaching to the congregations of rank and fashion must be smooth and soft. 3. Wounded pride. Persons of outwardly blameless life hate the doctrine which disturbs their self-complacency, and revile the man who attempts to sink them in their own esteem. 4. Painful forebodings of future misery. Resolutely cleaving to their sins, they do not like to be reminded of the doom to which they are hastening.
III. THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THIS DISLIKE OF MINISTERIAL FIDELITY. 1. It is foolish. Is it wise in the victim of vice to ask the physician to tell him that he is in good health, and is carrying on a harmless course of indulgence, &c., &c.? No concealment of the situation of the sinner can alter his condition in the sight of God or change the relation in which he stands to eternity. 2. It is sinful. (1.) In its origin. It springs from a determination to go on in sin. (2.) In its nature. It is a love of falsehood, a desire to confound the distinction between sin and holiness. Nor is this all; in aiming to suppress the voice of warning, he acts the part of that infatuated and cruel wretch who would bribe the sentinel to be silent when the foe is about to rush into the camp, or would seduce the watchman to be quiet when the fire had broken out at midnight and was raging through the city. The attempt to induce the preacher to utter "smooth things," is an attempt to induce him to destroy himself and to contribute to the destruction of them that hear him. (3.) In its consequences. Notwithstanding the most faithful warnings, they are hurried on by it to ruin. Like infatuated Balaams, they force a passage to destruction. 3. It is dangerous. It leads men to close their ears to what it concerns them especially to know. It is only by a faithful disclosure of their situation that they can escape, but they will not hear it.
APPLICATION. 1. To ministers. (1.) The guilt of ministers who do not discharge the duties of their office with uncompromising fidelity is indescribable. They are mere pulpit agents of the devil, receiving the wages of the sanctuary while they do his work; keeping all still and quiet among his slaves, preventing all attempts to throw off his hateful yoke by flattering them with the idea that they are the servants of God. (2.) The conversion of sinners should be the chief object of every minister of Christ. They constitute the majority of every congregation; they will soon be beyond the reach of salvation. (3.) The conversion of the impenitent must be sought by suitable means. What may be called the alarming style of preaching is most adapted to convert the impenitent. Not gross and revolting descriptions of eternal torment; these are offensive and disgusting, and generally defeat their purpose, especially when done in a harsh, unfeeling manner. But a minister's habitual preaching should be so discriminating as to leave no unconverted sinner at a loss with whom to class himself, whether with believers or with unbelievers; and it should not unfrequently contain those allusions to and descriptions of the wrath of God which, like the distant rumblings of the gathering and approaching storm, should drive men to the refuge provided by infinite mercy in the cross of Christ. (4.) It is at our peril that we soften down the terror of the Lord to please any man; we must not shun to declare the whole counsel of God; we must stand clear of the blood of the rich as well as of the poor. Did Paul regard the feelings of Felix? 2. To professing Christians. (1.) Many would have the preacher confine himself to words of comfort, and object to everything searching and practical as legal. Upon their principles, all parts of God's Word but the promises are unnecessary; they are useless to believers, for they are above them by privilege; useless to sinners, for they are below them in respect to obligation. What is this but a requesting that the Holy One of Israel may cease from before His people? (2.) Inconsistent professors are likewise anxious that the preacher should confine himself to consolatory topics. Hypocrites! he gives you that which belongs to you. Consolation would be to you a deadly poison, a fatal opiate. (3.) Sometimes even those who have only the ordinary imperfections of even the best men wish to hear less of the alarming parts of Divine truth. But have you no concern for the salvation of others? Besides, who can tell but what you dislike may be necessary for keeping you awake? (4.) Let those who cannot bear to hear the descriptions of future punishment think with themselves how they shall be able to endure it.--John Angell James, Sermons, ii. 181-214.
CHRISTIAN QUIETNESS.[1]
xxx. 15. In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength.
The principle of our text is, that "strength," safety, success, happiness, is the fruit of self-control and of reliance upon God.
I. It requires little observation to perceive that this is so in outward things (Eccles. ii. 11). Look out upon life, and see who, in the long run, are the most successful. Is it the stirring and excitable, those who are most conspicuous in its busy competitions? No: it is for the most part the tranquil and retiring; those who make no display, and have the least reliance upon their own powers. The surest gains and the most certain advancement usually attend those who go on quietly and steadily, without grasping at what is beyond their reach, or wasting their energies in unnecessary exertion. The godly who, when they cannot engage on fair terms in the rivalry of the world, keep aloof from it, preserving peace with men, and exercising faith in God, are provided for, and not unfrequently even raised to conspicuous prosperity. In "quietness and confidence" in God's providential care "is their strength."
II. Still more important is the application of this sacred principle to what goes on in the Christian's soul. We can further the great work of our sanctification only by acting upon it. Excitement and self-dependence can do nothing. The work which has been begun by Divine mercy must be carried out by Divine agency. We are to take heed not to throw any obstacles in the way by our rashness or despondency. If under a feeling of importance of the work we have to do, we act about doing it in any way of our own, we only invite disappointment, and peril the object we have in view. Only in a dutiful and patient waiting upon God can we obtain a blessing. Not all the will-worship which was ever contrived by human ingenuity can bring us nearer heaven.
III. These words should be our guide in every difficulty and emergency of the spiritual life. They bid us give place to no anxiety or alarm. Those who act upon them cannot be fanatics, nor will they despair. They will not seek what God sees fit to deny, nor even to attain to what is excellent by equivocal means. No real strength is to be got by ferment and agitation. We may not do evil that good may come; we may not distrust God's power and willingness to help us; we may not seek help from Egypt.
IV. These words should be our guide in view of the changes and excitements of our times. Because of them many are filled with unreasonable fears. But are we to lose our patience and steadfastness because irreligious speculators and worldly religionists are in an uproar? No; let them follow their own course; let us act upon the principle of our text. Truth is safe; the Church is founded upon a Rock; nothing can harm it, but our attempting to defend it with carnal weapons. Our weapons are the Word of God and prayer. In the use even of them, we must take heed what spirit we are of, that we use them not in a worldly or angry spirit. Let God do His own work. Let us not venture to step beyond ours. It is not our work to keep the world in order. With the eye of our faith fixed upon Him who with unerring wisdom and omnipotent might controls all the changes and developments of human affairs, let us quietly pursue the duties which He has assigned us, and we shall be safe, and strong, and blessed.--J. G. Dowling, M.A.: Sermons, pp. 55-75.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] See also STRENGTH IN QUIETNESS, verse 7.
THE VANITY OF EARTHLY HELP IN TIME OF TRIAL, AND THE PROFIT OF PATIENT WAITING.
xxx. 15, 16. For thus saith the Lord God, &c.
The history of the Jews a striking proof of human depravity. That people at once the most favoured by God, and the most obstinate in rebellion against God. Ever hankering after some new idol, and falling into some new sin. Burden of the prophets was to reprove their pride and hardness. Isaiah no exception. In this chapter there is a solemn warning, the last remonstrance previous to Sennacherib and his army coming upon them.
First, the insufficiency of all human dependencies. Chronic failing of the Jews was dependence on the arm of flesh. In national difficulties they went to Egypt for horses, or turned to Assyria for help, thinking that these would insure defence. But these devices always failed. God, from the first, placed His people in such circumstances that they could not fail to see that it was not human might which delivered them. Illustrate this by the Exodus, Gideon, David and Goliath. In all this instruction for us, God is jealous of His honour. He brings to nought the works of the wise who ignore Him, and crowns with success the efforts of the weak and foolish who trust Him.
These words were especially addressed to the Ancient Church, and consequently their teaching is for God's people now. We are too apt to be discouraged when earthly powers are arrayed against us, and to be elated when they are for us, in both cases placing our chief dependence on them. To do this is to lose sight of the true dignity and glory of the Church of God. The Church is the Spouse of Christ; she is gifted and dowried by Him; and does not depend for success upon the State, or any form of human help. The first preachers of Christianity were poor and unlearned men, owing all their success to the power of the Holy Ghost. We must rely upon the same force.
God teaches this lesson of dependence on Himself, not only to the Church as a whole, but to individual members. Hence He sends personal affliction, domestic trials; brings men into circumstances where human aid is of no avail. They can do nothing for themselves; nothing can be done for them. Trust in God is their only resource.
This leads to the second thought, the profit of patient waiting on the Lord. "Their strength is to sit still." "In returning and rest shall ye be saved." In returning from endeavours to obtain help from earthly sources. God suffers us to lean on the aid of man that we may realise its futility. Faith finds its best exercise in trial; it is also strengthened and confirmed by affliction. In such conditions, too, faith produces its richest and rarest fruit. Faith must evidence itself by works. Days of sorrow and chambers of sickness bear witness to the heroism of the believer. There are no heroes like those who suffer calmly and in secret. Many such will at the last be exalted higher than even martyrs and confessors.
The secret of patient waiting is trust in God's promises. Our waiting must be on the Lord. Such waiting disciplines and chastens us. Evil tempers are subdued. Attachment to the world is destroyed. God's Word becomes our daily bread; His presence as the breath of our life; and gradually the character is perfected, and made meet for the inheritance of the saints in light.--Rev. S. Robins, M.A., Dale: Miscellaneous Sermons, p. 415.
DIVINE SALVATION REJECTED.
xxx. 15-17. For thus saith the Lord God, &c.
The subject treated is the proposition to seek help from Egypt against the Assyrians. Here is the Divine remonstrance. It illustrates the Gospel, its treatment, and the retribution that will follow.
I. THE GRACIOUS ASSURANCE.
"In returning and rest shall ye be saved, in quietness and confidence shall be your strength." God was the defender of His people. Their strength was to trust in Him. It is so still. He is the only Saviour. A Divine salvation is--1. Needed. As much as when Sennacherib spread his hosts before Jerusalem; as much as when the children of Israel in the wilderness needed the manna, without which they must have perished, &c; for man is sinful; and because sinful helpless. 2. Proclaimed (Isa. xlv. 22; Acts xiii. 38, 39). God pitied the world, and sent His son. Jesus died and rose again. His death satisfied for sin. Therefore He is able to save to the uttermost. And willing. In the ministry of the gospel He invites every sinner to come to Him. 3. Conditioned. "Return--rest." There must be a complete change from sin; from wrong confidence to simple faith. Many examples in the Old Testament show that believing reliance on God was a surer way to deliverance than the power of man. Apostolic preaching points to faith as the link of connection between the sinner and the Saviour. The salvation is by faith, that it may be free.
II. THE FOOLISH DETERMINATION.
Ver. 16. They had no faith. They looked to human helpers. It is the tendency of man. And thus the gospel is set aside. 1. By negligence. Because of prevailing unbelief spiritual blessings are undervalued. Sin is loved. There is little moral earnestness. Acceptance of the Gospel is postponed as if it were some disagreeable duty. 2. By contempt. The horses on which they said they would ride point to Egypt as their strength. It was contempt of God's help. Thus their fathers had turned to the golden calf. Thus some turn to money, some to earthly pleasures, some to the Church, some to the priest for salvation. Anywhere rather than to the Saviour Himself. 3. By self-confidence. Ceremonies of religion are performed; prayers offered; obedience rendered; alms given with a view to propitiate the Divine favour and obtain salvation as a debt. It rejects the truth of the Bible. It proceeds from ungodliness, pride, and unbelief.
III. THE DREADFUL CONSEQUENCE.
Ver. 17. All your confidence will break down. You will be utterly ruined. It will be as when a great power collapses. So shall it be with sinners (Ps. lii.; Jer. xvii. 5, 6). So with sinners who reject the Gospel. There will be--1. Complete failure. You will be left in your original helplessness; at the mercy of the enemy: at the mercy of your sins. 2. Signal punishment. For the criminality is most aggravated. You will have insulted God by flinging back His offered hand. Mark the means by which punishment will come. By the very things you have trusted. Mark the manner in which punishment will come. It will be utter ruin. Mark the end your punishment will serve. It will be a beacon to warn others against your fate. Instead of trusting in any other help, fly to Jesus. Believe in Him. He gives the weary rest. You shall be saved, now and for ever.--J. Rawlinson.
WAITING, DIVINE AND HUMAN.
xxx. 18. Therefore will the Lord wait.[1]
A promise clear and precious in itself may gain in force and value when it is viewed in its surroundings. The diamond may be sparkling and brilliant, but we prefer it in its setting. The rose by itself is lovely, but we would rather have it with the green leaves around it. We have an instance in the first chapter of this book, where, after exposing the hypocrisy, formality, and wickedness of the people in the most withering words, God suddenly exchanges the stern tone of threatening for the sweet accents of mercy, Come now, and let us reason together. Another example is found in Matt. xi., where our Lord, after pronouncing His solemn woes, and asserting the Divine sovereignty, in the very next sentence utters His tender invitation, Come unto Me. The still small voice of mercy is all the sweeter and more welcome because of the thunders by which it is preceded. The same rapid transition may be observed in the passage before us. Cast your eye over the preceding context, and you find the saddest picture ever drawn of human perversity. What a heavy indictment (vers. 9, 10). How terrible that sentence pronounced (vers. 13, 14, 17). Is it at once carried into execution? No. Therefore will the Lord wait. Wait for whom--for the humble, the repentant, the submissive? No; for the sinful, the trifling, the scoffing. This mingling of grace and truth is very striking. As the play of the lightning is more brilliant during the darkness of the night, so God's mercy shines out more gloriously through the murky night of man's sin. As the colours of the rainbow are most vivid when it rests on some black cloud or frowning cliff, so heaven's grace is seen to best advantage on the background of human guilt.
I. GOD'S WAITING FOR MAN. 1. His waiting is real and earnest. It is waiting--it is not a passive loitering; but carries with it the idea of earnest expectation and desire. And so while God waits, He plies you with warm entreaties and loving invitations, with stern threatenings and glowing promises; He seeks to win you by the shadow as well as the sunshine which He throws alternately across your path. "God waiting?" you ask. Why does He wait? Can He not subdue sinners by His power and compel them to serve His purpose, as the potter moulds the plastic clay? You forget that you are a free agent. Spirit is not matter. God will not shatter the door closed against Him, and if He is to enter it must be with your consent. It is true that the Lord opens the heart, but a forced submission would be no submission at all. God's waiting, then, is real; it is no figure of speech; and when we think of it, is He not far greater in His marvellous patience than in ruling countless worlds?
2. God waits as a God of grace, "that He may be gracious unto you." Grace is free, unpurchased favour, conferred independently of anything in us, or anything we can do (H. E. I., 2303; P. D. 1524).
3. God waits as a God of law. "The Lord is a God of judgment." There must not only be grace, but truth as well. God can only forgive sin in consistency with His justice. In our ignorance we think of pardon as the removal of a grudge, the overlooking of an insult, but this loose view keeps justice out of sight. Would you accept a pardon which would degrade the character of God, represent Him as a lawless being conniving at the very sin He forgives, shake the foundations of His throne, and subvert the interests of truth and holiness in the universe? Sin is no such light thing lightly forgiven. Only through the sacrifice of Christ can remission of sin be righteously bestowed. "The Lord is a God of judgment."
4. This waiting is God's highest exaltation. "He will be exalted that He may have mercy upon you." In showing mercy to the sinful, God's glory is made great, and the sin which is so hateful and deplorable has furnished occasion for the rich display of His mercy. War is a great evil, but where would be the courage of the soldier, and the heroic deeds which have been enshrined in song, if there had been no war? And so, had sin never existed in the world, we could never have witnessed those marvellous exhibitions of God's mercy that fill us with wonder and praise. Where sin abounded grace much more abounded.
II. MAN WAITING FOR GOD. "Blessed are all they that wait for Him." We have seen how He waits for us to be gracious unto us, to be exalted in having mercy upon us, and we should wait in humble faith to receive these priceless blessings, bringing our empty vessels that they may be filled. The blessedness of so waiting is set forth in numerous passages of Scripture. What entire satisfaction and peace do they enjoy who take this attitude of soul described as waiting on the Lord! In waiting for man we are often disappointed and deceived, but how can we ever exhaust the Divine mercy and goodness? O happy soul that waits for God, and rejoicing in the plenitude of His goodness sings,
"I must have all things and abound Since God is God to me."
If God had not first waited for us, we never would have waited for Him. He took the initiative. Why should any of us keep God waiting longer? Are your sins too great? Have you been proud and rebellious? It is precisely to such the promise is made. God is waiting now to be gracious, but the day of grace will soon be past.--William Guthrie, M.A.
Amidst the severest threatenings of Divine punishment of sin we find assurances of Divine willingness to exercise mercy. Here is still the question of the alliance with Egypt. In the foregoing verses the prophet points out its real weakness and danger. In the text he assures the people of the Divine readiness to forgive and restore if they will return to God as their true confidence and defence.
This truth is brought out more fully when the light of the Gospel is thrown upon it. Man is sinful. Some scarcely see this, because they have never examined the law. Some admit the truth of universal depravity, but lose themselves in the crowd. Some have a sense of sin which causes anxiety, from which they see no escape. Others find rest and comfort on inadequate and delusive grounds. Now we need not merely peace. That solicitude is put to rest does not prove that a man is safe. He may sleep when his house is burning. He may have taken what he considered precautionary measures without informing himself as to the measures that were necessary, or even in disregard of competent advice on the subject. We should find peace in God's way. Consider the text in the light of the Gospel. It is full of encouragement, but it implies a caution.
+I. It intimates that there is a provision on account of which God can exercise grace.+ 1. It is not His arbitrary will which pardons sin without regard to anything beyond His own pleasure in the happiness of His creatures. He considers the whole race. If He exercise mercy toward one without an adequate satisfaction, why not toward all? But this would amount to condonation of all sin--would annihilate the distinction between the consequences of good and evil. If God is gracious, it must be in such a way as that no injustice is done.
2. Well then, you say, we must reform; there must be a repentance. And this is true when properly understood. But it is not true if it means that God may be gracious to men on the ground of their repentance and reformation. The analogy between an earthly father and God as a Father is often drawn so as to overlook the fact that He is a moral governor, and that public justice is concerned in His transactions with men. A father may forgive his child's offence on his repentance, because it is a matter purely between themselves. When the offender repents, the demands of the case are met. But an offence against public law is different. A thief or a murderer confesses his guilt, professes repentance and determination never to repeat his crime; is the law satisfied? Would any one say he ought to be forgiven? Now, sin is not only an offence against God, but against public law, for which repentance is no satisfaction (H. E. I., 4225-4228).
3. Nor is present obedience a ground to rest upon for the obliteration of past sins. The best obedience of the best fails to satisfy the present. "How can I tell when I have done enough?" asked Dr. Johnson on his dying bed. And even if you did enough to satisfy the present demands of the law, how could that avail for the removal of previous criminality? Something more satisfactory than human expedients is required (H. E. I., 375, 376).
4. That something is found in the Gospel, in the gracious provision God has made for the exercise of mercy without infringing on the rectitude of His government. It is in the gift of His Son. The love of God sent the Son of God in human flesh to obey and suffer. On the ground of His vicarious offering as the atoning sacrifice, pardon and peace may be obtained. With it justice is fully satisfied.
+II. The text intimates that God is desirous to exercise grace.+
It is not simply willingness. He is profoundly desirous of this result. "He wishes all men to be saved." "He is not willing that any should perish." This truth may be gathered:
1. For His revealed nature. He does not delight in the infliction of punishment, even when it is required by the ends of justice. His tender love longs to see the sinner avail himself of the opportunity that is afforded, and seek the offered grace (Exod. xxxiv. 5-7).
2. From the provision of the Gospel. There was no obligation on Him to provide this grace. It was His love. It was provided at a cost that was the best possible guarantee of sincerity. Having made such a provision at such expense, will He be indifferent to the issue?
3. From the invitations of the Gospel. The way of salvation is proclaimed as a royal messenger of grace to all mankind. It is not a cold statement of the fact that a channel of grace has been opened. It is accompanied by calls and invitations. Will God mock them by invitations of which He does not desire their acceptance?
4. From the attitude which He here represents Himself as having assumed, He waits for sinners that He may be gracious. He is like the father of the prodigal son, who doubtless waited long and anxiously for the prodigal's return because he wanted to forgive him (H. E. I., 2328-2340).
And this is the answer to the question, For what is He waiting? Why cannot He be gracious at once?
+III. The text implies that grace can only be exercised when its conditions are accepted.+
Should He bestow it on all? In their sins? The case stands thus: God has done His part in providing mercy; there is a part for man. What is it? To consent. To confess the sin with conviction, humility, sorrow. To accept the mercy by sending up the believing cry. To surrender to God as the rebel submits to his prince and returns to his allegiance (H. E. I., 240).
This is what He waits for. When it occurs He is gracious. And how long will He wait? Not for ever. He is in the attitude of one who has determined to wait a given time, during which the opportunity is afforded. "Seek ye the Lord while He may be found." Why should you not? Why so unwilling?
Let not the love of sin nor deadness to spiritual things hold you back. Refusal to seek His grace is determined resistance of His authority and His love (H. E. I., 4247, 4248).--J. Rawlinson.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] In these outlines the Authorised Version has been followed, but the translations in which Delitzsch, Kay, and Cheyne substantially agree is noteworthy and worthy of study. "And therefore--because your sins require this chastisement--the Lord will wait, in resolute self-withdrawal, looking for the time when your penitence will permit Him to be again _gracious unto you: and therefore will He be exalted,_ in judicial severity (ch. v. 16; Ps. xlvi. 10), that ('when He seeth thy power is gone,' Deut. xxxii. 36) He may have mercy on thee (Deut. xxx. 3)."--Kay.
"And therefore will Jehovah long till He can be gracious unto you, and therefore will He wait in stillness [or, be on high] till He can have compassion upon you, for Jehovah is a God of righteousness; happy are all those that long for Him!"--Cheyne.
Mr. Birks thus comments: "Vers. 18-26. These verses, from the whole context, refer to the Assyrian deliverance. The connection is direct and forcible, though some have thought it obscure. However severe God's discipline, its design was gracious. His dealings are full of wisdom, like our Lord's absence during the sickness of Lazarus, to make the blessing afterwards more glorious and Divine. There is, on His part, no slackness or indifference, but the calm waiting of an ever-patient love. Even in the hour of judgment God will be exalted, not to crush His people with the terrors of His majesty, but only 'that He may have mercy' upon them. He knows how to temper their afflictions, that they may yield the peaceable fruits of righteousness. Since He waits in patient love to show the favour at the last, they also are bound to wait, in faith and patience, until the blessing shall come."
WAITING FOR THE LORD.
xxx. 18. Blessed are all they that wait for Him.
+I. What is meant by waiting upon the Lord?+ Not that sitting still and biding our time, like a man waiting for a coach. Not that we are to sit in quiet, idle supineness, expecting the Lord to come and fill our souls with joy and peace, as He used to fill the tabernacle with His glory. Yet, because they cannot convert their own souls, and sanctify their own hearts, thousands rashly conclude that they must quietly wait until the Lord work a miracle for them and save them. The Bible declares our helplessness in order that we may be stirred up to seek help from God (Eph. v. 14; Phil. ii. 12, 13; 2 Pet. ii. 10). What do we mean when we engage a servant to wait upon us? Not that he is to compose himself to sleep until we signify that we want him; but that he should attend upon us, hold himself in readiness to do our bidding, make himself acquainted with our rules and conform to them, and with our wishes, and do his best to obey them with all readiness, cheerfulness, and faithfulness. So when the Lord bids us "wait for Him," He means that we should diligently seek His face, inquire into His laws, keep His statutes, and walk in His ordinances, expecting to receive, in His own good time, the blessings which He has promised to those who "wait upon Him."
+II. How are we to wait for the Lord?+ 1. We must wait upon God with the heart: we must be in earnest. We have no respect for the attentions and fair speeches of our fellow-men when we have reason to believe them mere idle compliments: will God accept from us what we have scorn to receive from one another? (Jer. xiii. 13). 2. We must wait entirely upon God, whether we are in search of peace, strength or happiness (Ps. lxii. 1-5). 3. We must wait upon the Lord patiently and perseveringly. He is the rewarder of all them "that diligently seek Him;" but He has never pledged Himself either to the time when, or the mode in which, He will answer our prayers. He may put our sincerity to the test by keeping us waiting for some time; but we shall never wait in vain (Ps. xl. 1). Remember how long Abraham had to wait for the fulfilment of the promise of a seed; but in the end, through faith and patience, he inherited the promise (Gal. vi. 9).--E. Crow, M.A.: Plain Sermons, pp. 120-136.
Change and uncertainty mark all things here. The wisest plans often baffled, the fairest prospects blighted. But the truths and blessings of the Gospel are not subject to this law or uncertainty. God's schemes are never frustrated; His promises never broken.
I. THAT DEVOUT EXERCISE OF MIND HERE COMMENDED. "Waiting for God." 1. His people wait in the exercise of earnest and believing prayer. They seek Him in the means of His own appointment; by that sort of diligent seeking which is opposed to that of the slothful (Prov. xiii. 4). 2. His people wait in holy expectation of blessings in providence and grace. It is the patient waiting for the performance of the promise in the exercise of faith. It implies a knowledge of God,--a confidence in Him,--a rest in His promises, as of a child in a father; a servant in a master (Ps. cxxii. 1, 2). 3. They wait for the clearing up of perplexities in the Divine Government. Oftentimes in their own history and in the history of others, God's providence bears a mysterious and perplexing aspect. But the believing soul says, "All will come right at last. What we know not now we shall know hereafter." (H. E. I., 4043-4048).
II. THE BLESSEDNESS OF SUCH WAITING FOR GOD. 1. The very exercise of prayer, faith, and patience is a culture of the soul. In such culture there lies "Blessedness." 2. Theirs shall be the blessedness of satisfaction. Disappointment meets man in every walk of life, but those who trust in the Lord's Justice, Wisdom, and Goodness shall never "be ashamed."--Samuel Thodey.
I. God's appearances on account of His people are sometimes delayed. 1. In answering prayer. 2. In relieving them in their afflictions. 3. In explaining Himself in regard to their afflictions. 4. In affording the joys of His salvation and the comfort of the Holy Ghost. II. Your duty in the meantime: it is to wait for Him calmly, patiently, expectantly. III. The blessedness that will attend the exercise of waiting for Him.--William Jay: Sunday Evening Sermons, pp. 319-324.
GOD'S READINESS TO LISTEN TO THE NEEDY.
xxx. 19. He will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry.
+I. There are persons before me for whom this gracious assurance is particularly suitable.+ It is most comforting--
1. To all afflicted people. You are depressed; things have gone amiss; you do not prosper in business, or you are sickening in body, or a dear one lies at home pining away. In your straits possibly you may be ready to try some wrong way of helping yourself out of your difficulties. Yield not to Satan. There is help in God for you now. The Lord is not now visiting you in wrath; there is kindness in His severity. By yielding yourself to God, and trusting Him in this your evil plight, you will obtain deliverance (ver. 15).
2. To those who are troubled on account of sin. In order to escape from sin and punishment, the very first thing with you is to come back to your God whom you have offended, since He alone can pardon you. There must be a turning of the face in repentance, and a looking of the eye by faith unto God in Christ Jesus, or you will die in your sins (H. E. I., 1479-1484). The natural tendency of your heart, even when under a sense of sin, will be to keep from the Lord. Alas! you will look at your sin again and again till you are ready to pine away in despair, but you will not look to Christ Jesus and be saved. Possibly you may conclude that there is no hope for you in better things, and that therefore you had better enjoy such pleasures as may be found in sin, and take your swing while you may. Do not believe this lie of Satan. There is hope; you are in the land of mercy still. You need do nothing to make the Lord propitious, He is love already; you need not undergo penance, nor pass through grievous anguish of spirit in order to render God more merciful, for His grace aboundeth. Therefore we say to you, go to Him and test Him, for He will be gracious to the voice of your cry.
3. To backsliders filled with their own ways, who are alarmed and distressed at their grievous departures from God. You may well be grieved, for you have done much dishonour to the name of God amongst the ungodly; you have pierced His saints with many sorrows. If you were cast off for ever as a traitor and left to die as a son of perdition, what could be said but that you were reaping the fruit of your own ways? Yet the text rings in your ears at this time like a clear silver bell, and its one note is grace. "He will be very gracious unto thee" (Jer. iii. 14; H. E. I., 424).
4. To all believers in Christ who are at all exercised in heart; and we are all in that condition at times. Even when by full assurance we can read our title clear to-day, we become anxious as to the morrow. If trials multiply, how will faith be able to stand? When the days of weakness arrive, what shall we do in our old age? Behind all stands the skeleton form of death. "What shall we do in the swellings of Jordan?" We recollect how we ran with the footmen in our former trials, and they wearied us, and we ask ourselves, "How shall we contend with horsemen?" When standing, as we shall, on the brink of eternity, will our religion thus prove a reality, or will our hope dissolve like a dream? Such questions torment our souls. Let all such fears vanish. In child-like confidence come to God, and go no more from Him. Let this verse smile on you, and beckon you to your Father's heart.
+II. The assurance here given is very firmly based.+ It rests--1. On the plain promise of God as given in the text, and in many similar declarations scattered all over the Scriptures. 2. On the gracious nature of God. It is His nature to be gracious. Judgment is His strange work, but He delighteth in mercy. Nothing pleases Him more than to pass by transgression, iniquity, and sin when we lie humble and penitent before Him. 3. On the prevalence of prayer. This we know, an experience of eight-and-twenty years has proved that God heareth prayer; therefore we say to you, go to Him and test Him, for He will be gracious to the voice of your cry.
+III. The well-confirmed assurance of the text should be practically accepted at once.+ 1. Let us renounce at once all earth-born confidence. What is your confidence? Your wealth? Your strong common-sense? Your stalwart frame? What are you relying on? Will it support you in death? Will it stand you in good stead in eternity? It will not if it be anything short of the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Let us flee from all creature-confidence as from a filthy thing, for it is base to the last degree to be trusting in another creature and putting that creature into the place of the Creator. 2. Refuse despair. 3. Try now the power of prayer and child-like confidence in God.--C. H. Spurgeon: Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, vol. xxiv. pp. 337-348.
THE BREAD OF ADVERSITY.
xxx. 20, 21. And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, &c.[1]
I. DIFFICULTIES SUPPOSED.
"The Bread of Adversity" was a proverbial expression among the Jews (1 Kings xxii. 27; Ps. lxxx. 5). The Lord gives: He who gave the cup of salvation gives the cup of affliction. He who gives the bread of life gives also the bread of adversity (Heb. xii. 6). Recollect that the Lord who gives you the bread of adversity gave His own Son no better fare, no richer diet.
II. CONSOLATIONS PROMISED.
"Yet shall not thy teachers be removed," &c. He will compensate temporal troubles by spiritual blessings. Numbers have found that as tribulation abounded, consolation abounded by Christ (2 Cor. i. 5). Such consolations are threefold. 1. A free access to God's throne. "He will be very gracious to thee at the voice of thy cry." Prayer relieves distress. 2. A faithful administration of God's word and ordinances. Religious instruction shall be continued, "thy teachers shall not be removed." 3. A gracious direction of God's providence.
III. INSTRUCTIONS SUGGESTED.
1. Guard against whatever may endanger Christian privileges. Neglect of prayer; absence of love; seductions of the world. 2. Recollect what is needful to give this promise full effect--the influence of the Spirit. Pray for and expect a baptism of the Holy Ghost. 3. Commend to others the consolations you receive. Visit the sick; remember the widow and the fatherless. In comforting others, your own bread of adversity shall be made sweet.--Samuel Thodey.
I. A CALAMITY ANTICIPATED.
Affliction may be continuous and severe. Bread and water are the prominent things in the sustenance of life. Day by day reserved. Few, if any, are entirely exempt from affliction. Periods of difficulty and privation, when weeks and months of consuming anxiety are experienced. Losses which seriously incommode and cripple their business. Troubles in the family, sometimes from the conduct of those most loved. Bereavements which rend the heart. Sickness, accident, consuming disease, and excruciating pain wear life slowly away.
The godly are not exempted. The infected atmosphere may poison the saint as well as the sinner. If a good man falls over a precipice he will be killed. "The same hurricane may equally swamp the vessel which is filled with pirates and that which is filled by a band of devoted missionaries." If a Christian neglect his business, or conduct it on unsound principles, he must expect insolvency. He may conduct it with perfect commercial wisdom and care and yet be overtaken by disasters from causes beyond his control.
But it does not happen by chance. There is no such thing as fate. We recognise the hand of the Lord. "Though the Lord give you the bread of affliction and the water of adversity." In this truth is help for believers perplexed by the mystery of sorrow. It throws their thoughts on God. And they have such confidence in Him that is a resting-place. We do not know, we never can know, the evils He prevents. When He permits or sends trouble we may rest assured that there is a sufficient reason (Lam. iii. 33).
What are the reasons?[2] We may mistake their application, but they are such as these: 1. It is sometimes punitive. God has established a connection between sin and suffering. The former always works towards the latter. The chain of connection may be so subtle, and may extend so far back, that we cannot follow it. Yet such a chain there is. When affliction comes, it is useful to trace the chain, and ascertain, if we can, wherefore the Lord is contending with us. 2. It is sometimes corrective. He deals with us as men deal with their children (Heb. xii. 5-11). It is not that He may vent His anger, but recall them to their better selves. He means it as the refiner means the fire into which he casts the gold (Ps. cxix. 67). 3. It is sometimes auxiliary. The means to an end. The dark way into light. It is necessary to some advantage which could not be reached without it. Joseph's slavery and imprisonment were the steps to his subsequent greatness. Jesus reached the crown by the cross. Perhaps you can illustrate from your own experience.
Meantime, here is
II. AN ANTIDOTE PROMISED.
Their teachers had been removed. The prophets were persecuted (verses 9, 10). Jeremiah, Zedekiah, under Jezebel's persecution. Obadiah had hid a hundred in caves. Persecution usually fastens on the teachers as most prominent. Thus Apostles. Thus the Nonconforming clergy in England. Thus the missionaries were driven from Madagascar. But the promise here in that they shall regain their liberty. And this will be not only a relief to themselves, but an antidote to the people's calamities. It will secure: 1. Instruction. "Thy teachers." Truth is the basis of everything in experience or practice. It is their business carefully to unfold and apply the truth.[3] 2. Consolation. Christian ordinances are consolatory. There are truths that bear on troubles. The views of the Divine character and of the course of Providence exhibited in the Gospel sustain and comfort. 3. Direction. There is danger of turning to right or left. So many allurements, from ignorance, misguidance, temptation. By the ministry you hear the voice which points out the way, invites steadfastness, warns against divergence.
God provides guidance in the journey to the better land. Value the ministry of the Word. Attend it. Follow its teaching.--J. Rawlinson.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] The Authorised Version, upon which these outlines are founded, is supported by Mr. Cheyne, who translates: _"And though the Lord give you bread in short measure and water in scant quantity,"_ &c. But Delitzsch, Kay, and Birks render the first clause: "And the Lord will give you bread in your adversity and water in your affliction." Mr. Birks adds: "These words form part of a promise, not its limitation. Here they are assured that, although besieged, they will not be given over to famine. The path of duty will be made plain by God's prophets, and speedy deliverance be given."
[2] H. E. I., 56-115.
[3] The Christian Church requires a teaching ministry. Not only must the Gospel be proclaimed to the world, the Church must be trained into knowledge, experience, holiness, activity. Individual study of Scripture is largely useful. But regularly recurring religious services, of which careful instruction is a part, are universally necessary. Godly men must be released from secular business, trained, set apart to the study and ministry of the Word. The living voice of the preacher helps, guides, confirms, and gives greater practical influence to the private reading of Christians. Even under the old dispensation, large use was made of this method. There were schools of the prophets. A few were so eminent that they have left their words behind them. But there were many whose names have not survived their time. Jesus trained His disciples for their future work. After His Ascension, He gave various gifts to men for the work of the ministry. He continues them. While one could wish that all the Lord's people were prophets, and that He would put His Spirit upon them, so that they would work to the full extent of their ability for the world's salvation, it remains true that the strength of the Church is an able, well-instructed, godly, and earnest ministry.
Among the blessings here promised to the ancient Church is the restoration of the silenced teachers to their work after its period of discipline.--Rawlinson.
THE GUIDING VOICE.
xxx. 21. And thou shalt hear a voice behind thee, &c.
This may be a promise to God's people of the continuance of the services of the ministry, or of the additional blessings of spiritual suggestions to guide them in the path of duty.
I. It may be continuance of the promise in the preceding verse: "Thy teachers shall not be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers, and thine ears shall hear a word behind thee." The Word of God proclaimed by faithful ministers follows men. Sometimes, as they listen to it, they reject it, but it pursues them, and gives them no rest until they obey it. When they are bent on a wrong course, it haunts them until they are recalled to duty. Or it stimulates them to the performance of duties they are neglecting or performing sluggishly. Thus understood, we may see that in this promise God compares Himself as it were to a shepherd, who puts his sheep before him; or to a schoolmaster who will have his scholars in sight, that so he may the better keep them in order.
Thus understood, we see our duty. It is to give reverent heed to the Word of God as proclaimed to us by His ministers. Food, however choice, is no blessing to us unless it be eaten and digested; and the Word of God is no blessing to us, except there be an ear to hearken to it, a spiritual taste to relish it, and a heart to close and comply with it. Well is it with those who imitate Lydia (Acts xvi. 14). But neglect of God's Word shuts against us even the throne of grace (Prov. xxviii. 9). To those who disregard what they know to be the voice of God, there comes a time when they discover that the greatest of all calamities is to have their voice disregarded by Him (Prov. i. 24-26).
II. But the promise may be that of an additional blessing, the inward motions and suggestions of the Holy Spirit. His voice may be called "a word behind us," because--1. Of its secresy (Job iv. 12). 2. Because it follows us always, as constantly as our shadow. Parallels to this promise we find in 1 John ii. 20, 27; John xiv. 26, xvi. 13.
III. This voice His people hear when they are about to wander, or have wandered from the way of righteousness. From that way it is easy to depart; but God loves His people, and cannot abide to see them miscarry, and therefore He counsels them. "This is the way, walk ye in it," is sometimes a word of correction and reformation, in case of error; sometimes a word of instruction and direction, in case of ignorance; sometimes a word of strengthening and confirmation, in case of unsettledness.
In all these respects God's people hear the "word behind them," sometimes giving them very gracious hints concerning the affairs of this present life, but more frequently concerning the spiritual life. Those who wait upon God shall not lack counsels concerning the manner in which they are to serve Him. He answers the prayers of His people (Ps. xxv. 4, 5; lxxxvi. 11; cxliii. 8).
What a great comfort and encouragement we have here! If we really desire to serve God amid all the labyrinths and uncertainties of this present life, we shall be safe, for He will guide us.
IV. But how may we know whether the word behind us is the voice of God, and not merely one of our own fancies, or a suggestion of Satan's? There are several touchstones by which every "word" may and should be tested. 1. The word within is to be compared with the Word without. Every suggestion is to be examined by the rule of Scripture. God never speaks in the conscience contrary to what He speaks there, for He is unchangeable and cannot contradict Himself (Isa. viii. 20). 2. God's "words" are orderly and regular; they keep men within the compass of their callings, and the place in which God has set them. They incite us not to forsake our duty, but to be faithful in it. 3. They are ordinarily mild, gentle, seasonable; they are not ordinarily raptures, but such as leave a man in a right apprehension of what he does, and capable of reflection upon it. 4. They are discernible also from their effects, and the ends to which they tend. All the hints and motions of God's Spirit tend to make us better, and to carry us nearer to Himself in one way or another. Honestly using these tests, we shall learn promptly and surely to discern the voice of God's Spirit when He says to us, "This is the way, walk ye in it."
V. From all this two duties plainly arise. 1. Thankfulness. A faithful monitor is a very great advantage; it is so betwixt man and man, and we should bless God that He condescends to be this to us. 2. Obedience. To His infallible, loving counsel we should give prompt heed, especially as He not only points out the way, but is always ready to help us to walk in it; and the way in which He would have us go is the only one that leads to true happiness and lasting peace. Disobedience exposes us to manifold dangers, such as (1.) God's future silence; when His counsels are repeatedly rejected, He will cease to speak. What a terrible calamity (1 Sam. xxviii. 5). (2.) Those who hearken not to the voice of God in them are often given up to Satan, and their own corruptions bear away within them (Ps. lxxxi. 11, 12).--Thomas Horton, D.D.: 100 Select Sermons, pp. 298-304.
+I. Our need of the guidance here promised.+ We are ignorant of the way to true happiness, and we have not always daylight. The path is narrow, and is sometimes very intricate. It lies through an enemy's country. Many as wise as we have lost their way, and, after years of sorrow, have perished miserably. We need this guidance in youth, in manhood, in old age, even unto death (P. D., 952, 2388).
+II. Some of the means by which God guides His people.+ The promise in our text suggests a traveller in doubt as to the course he should take, pausing perplexed at cross roads, and in danger of choosing a wrong one, when a friendly voice behind him is heard, saying, "This is the way, walk ye in it." God thus speaks to His people. 1. By His providences. Afflictions are often monitions and instructions (H. E. I., 66-70). 2. By His Word. It clearly marks the path to heaven. 3. By our conscience (H. E. I., 1291, 1304, 1308-1312). 4. By His Spirit; by Whom conscience is quickened, our understanding cleared of delusions, our attention fixed on the happy career of the righteous, and the disastrous end of the wicked.
+III. What is needed to enable us to profit by this promise.+ 1. A prayerful spirit (ver. 19). 2. A studious eye that will look for the waymarks, especially for the footprints of Jesus. 3. A listening ear. 4. An obedient habit of mind (1 Sam. xv. 22; P. D., 1656). Disregard of the Guiding Voice will involve us in present disaster and misery, and in eternal woe. Heedfulness of it will ensure for us present safety and peace, and eternal blessedness.--Samuel Thodey.
RIVERS OF WATERS.
xxx. 25, 26. _And there shall be upon every high mountain, &c._
These are symbolic of the blessings God will confer upon His people when He returns to them in mercy. These are vivid presentations of two characteristics of these blessings, their copiousness and their universality. 1. To express their COPIOUSNESS the prophet speaks not of streams merely, but of rivers; "rivers and streams of water;" and declares that they shall be poured forth, not merely as the light from the sun, but as if the light of seven days were concentrated in one.[1] 2. To express at once their copiousness and their UNIVERSALITY, He declares that the rivers and streams shall run on the hills and mountains, yea, upon every hill and mountain.[2] The idea of universality is involved also in the future of sunlight.[3]
Have these promises been fulfilled? Yes. 1. When the Gospel was given to the world. Its messengers were sent forth into every land, and it is a small thing to say that the light it gave was sevenfold that which the most enlightened of the heathen had possessed. 2. In the experience of every believing soul. The Gospel reaches many who seem utterly beyond any saving influence; and when it does really reach a man, is received into his heart. It gives him a light of more than sevenfold brightness and value as compared with the best of the lights he before professed--reason and conscience.[4] 3. It is fulfilled in our own day by the remarkable increase of religious knowledge. God's Word is being carried into every land, and the children in our daily and Sabbath schools have a fuller acquaintance with Scripture than many men and women of the last generation. There is to be a yet more complete fulfilment of these promises in that glorious era of which we speak as the Millennium.[5]
It rests with ourselves to determine whether the fulfilment of these promises shall be to us a blessing.[6]--John Packer: Warnings and Consolations, pp. 256-271.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] We can conceive of nothing more bright, pervading, and universal than the light of the sun. At its rising the whole face of nature is displayed, every object is brought out to view; the grandest or loveliest features of the scene are presented to us in all their extent and magnificence, while the most delicate tints of the smallest flower are seen in all their softest shades and richest hues. Still the glorious object in its full splendour, the sun itself is too dim, too dull, too feeble to represent the grace and love of our God; it must be multiplied sevenfold. And even then it but indistinctly shadows forth the unspeakable mercy of the everlasting God.--Packer.
[2] "Rivers and streams of waters." But where is their current? Upon every high mountain and upon every high hill. Now, there can be no rivers and streams on the summit of the mountain range, nor upon the high hill top. Rivers and streams are fed from these lofty elevations; they take their rise amid these towering heights, but they do not find a channel there. Thus you see that to typify the effluence of the Holy Spirit, these flowing waters of the text are described as being in unusual localities, to intimate that the blessings will be in such abundance and profusion as to outrun expectation and surpass all experience. And this not in some highly favoured regions only, but the blessing shall be universal, even upon every high mountain and upon every high hill.--Packer.
[3] This, like the air, cannot be excluded; it penetrates the gloomiest caverns, can enter even through a cranny. So there is no soul out of reach of the all-pervading Spirit. Those that are inaccessible to man can be reached, and enriched, and blessed by the mighty energy of the Holy Ghost.--Packer.
[4] When we attempt to compare the boasted light of natural reason with the light which the Spirit alone can impart, it is not simply that the former is as the light of the moon, and the latter as the light of the sun; but the one is as Egyptian darkness, and the other as the splendour of the meridian sun, without even one small fleecy cloud intervening. Jesus Christ is the light of life (2 Cor. iv. 6). All that we can know of God, of His attributes and perfections, of His plans and purposes, He has revealed unto us by His Son. To those who are in Christ all is light, and harmony, and peace; to those who are without Christ all is gloom, and confusion, and terror. By faith in Him we see that all God's dealings wear an aspect of mercy, love, and wisdom. Corrections are inflicted for our profit; disappointments are sent to wean us from the unsatisfying, perishing things of time and sense. Surely, in this respect, the promise in the text is made good to the believer; he enjoys sevenfold light in his soul compared to that which he had in the days when he knew not the true God and Jesus Christ, whom He had sent.--Packer.
[5] But these mercies will be preceded by the convulsions of the moral earthquake. The very terms in which the promise is couched convey the idea of trial and suffering. There is a breach which the Lord binds up, and there is the stroke of a wound to be healed, implying previous violence.--Packer.
[6] What shall the universality and copiousness of the "rivers and streams of water" profit us, if we will not drink of them? In the natural world a man would be nothing benefited, though the light of the sun was augmented sevenfold, if he studiously closed and sealed every opening by which it entered his dwelling, or if he placed an impervious bandage tightly over his eyes whenever he went abroad (John xii. 36).--Packer.
[See also Outlines, RIVERS OF WATER IN A DRY PLACE, xxxii. 2, and ENRICHING RIVERS, xxxiii. 21.]
THE EARTHLY SONG AND THE HEAVENLY VOICE.
xxx. 29-33. Ye shall have a song . . . and the Lord shall cause His glorious voice to be heard, &c.
The fulfilment of this prophecy is recorded in Isa. xxxvii. 36. The Assyrian power, hitherto unopposed in its march of conquest, sustained a severe check when it assailed Jerusalem. The great deliverance is here foretold. Inside the walls there would be song and gladness; outside, swift destruction. "The holy solemnity" was probably the Passover which Hezekiah and his people observed; and the "song" in that case would be the Paschal Hymn, comprising Ps. cxiii.-cxviii. There is a tradition that Sennacherib's army was destroyed on the night of the Passover; and thus while the people were recalling their great national deliverance, a further and somewhat similar Divine interposition was about to be made in their behalf. Mark how grandly, as if in response to the songs and gladness of the Passover night, the voice of Jehovah comes in. It is impossible not to see the connection between the two voices. Songs of praise and gladness have still an echo in heaven, and call forth a Divine response to quell the church's foes. Look, then, at the two voices, the human and the Divine, in relation to each other.
1. A voice of confidence on man's part responded to by a voice of power on God's part. It showed no small faith in Hezekiah and his people to observe the Passover in the circumstances. How could the little kingdom of Judah oppose the mighty conqueror? How could Jerusalem standout against the assailants encamped in such numbers around its walls? God was their defence. To Him in this emergency they raised their songs of confidence. Nothing could more appropriately express their faith than the Passover hymn. That night reminded them of the rescue from Egypt, and would inspire them with confidence in God. They were on the eve of another great deliverance, and their song was well fitted to prepare them for it, containing such passages as these, Ps. cxv. 1-11, cxviii. 6-13. Nor was their confidence disappointed. Without any human help, God overthrew their besiegers, but it was the song of faith that called forth the powerful voice of God. When faith appeals to God, the appeal is heard on high (Exod. xiv. 13; Ps. xlvi. 10). Two prisoners once prayed and sang praises to God at midnight. Their testimony for Christ had been silenced, but from the dark dungeon the song of confidence rose to heaven. "And the Lord caused His glorious voice to be heard," an earthquake shook the foundations of the prison, and God gave His two witnesses an opportunity of bringing the Gospel to bear upon hardened hearts. Do you wish to see the arm of the Lord revealed? then sing your song of faith. Does the Church in these days sit powerless, sad, and despairing through the gloomy night of unbelief and prevailing ungodliness? Let her know that man's extremity is God's opportunity. In the darkest night of seeming failure she has her God-given song, and if only she can sing it in spite of all that is black and threatening in her prospects, "the Lord shall cause His glorious voice to be heard, and shall show the lighting down of His arm" in rebuking scepticism and indifference, in softening hard hearts, and in making friends of foes.
2. A song of gladness and joy in God responded to by a voice of complacent affection. All the Jewish feasts were occasions of gladness, and the Passover must have been so, when we consider the event it commemorated, the communion with God to which it invited, and the future salvation it foreshadowed. The Paschal Hymn resounds with notes of gladness, e.g., Ps. cxviii. 14, 15, 24. If our song of joy in God is hearty and sincere, we may expect a corresponding response. If we rejoice in God, He will rejoice over us (Zeph. iii. 17; Isa. xxxi. 4, 5).
3. A song of self-dedication answered by a voice of recognition. The song breathes the spirit of consecration to God's service (Ps. cxvi. 12-19). Do we thus consciously and spontaneously lay ourselves on the altar as living sacrifices? If we own God, God will own us. The destruction of Sennacherib's hosts was a proof to all the world that God owned Israel as His peculiar people. You, too, will have the token of Divine ownership. For your sake God will rebuke the devourer. In response to your song of dedication, "the Lord shall cause His glorious voice to be heard," giving success to your efforts and enterprises, blessing you and making you a blessing.
4. A song of security calling forth a voice of preservation. Within the walls the people marched in procession "to the mountain of the Lord, to the rock of Israel." That rock of ages was their defence. They felt secure in God's faithful keeping (Ps. cxv. 17, 18, cxviii. 16-18). Have you entered into this element of the Paschal song? You shall hear God's protecting voice, and see the acts of His preserving care. However strong the foes that muster against you, they shall not prevail, for all the Divine resources are engaged for your support (Col. iii. 3).
5. A song of thanksgiving for past mercies answered by a voice that commanded new mercies. This element was very prominent in the Passover observance, and it enters largely into the Lord's Supper, called on this account the Eucharist. How can we remember Christ without thankfulness and praise? When He took the bread and the cup He "gave thanks," and He and His disciples sang the Paschal Hymn. What strains of high thanksgiving it contains! It begins with praise (Ps. cxii. 1, 2). It retells the Exodus (Ps. cxiv.) It rises to grateful recognition of God's goodness (Ps. cxvi. 7, 8, 17). When such a song rises from human lips, God will give fresh occasions for thankfulness.
Let the subject teach us the importance of sacred song. Prayer and preaching are Divinely appointed means of grace and instruction, but we cannot dispense with song. God fights for His people, but it is with the accompaniment of tabrets and harps (ver. 32).--William Guthrie, M.A.
TOPHET ORDAINED OF OLD.
xxx. 33. For Tophet is ordained of old, &c.
Some of us have often admired the expression, "Knowing the terrors of the Lord, we persuade men;" implying that the law of persuasion should be the law of the Christian pulpit. Some would alarm men, some would bitterly rail, and others thunder at them; as though the human heart could never be prevailed upon to capitulate, but must always be taken by storm. Paul shows us the more excellent way. When he proclaims "the terrors of the Lord," it is "to persuade men;" to persuade them to escape the ruin and to accept the remedy. Observe, he does not hide them, for the truth must be told, sin must be condemned, the wicked must be warned.
+I. Let us examine the local allusion and literal meaning of this verse.+ "This allusion to Tophet is the earliest which appears in the Scriptures. Additional particulars appear in the history of Josiah's reformation (2 Kings xxiii. 10; Jer. vii. 31). The prophet Isaiah here represents Tophet as a place prepared for the burning of the Assyrian king. Made deep and large, with fire and wood in abundance, prepared for the king, and he being thrown into it, the breath of the Lord kindles it into fearful conflagration. This is, of course, a figurative description, Tophet being made the central point in the figure because it was a well-known place, a valley just outside the city, the valley of Hinnom, used for burning all the offal and filth of the city of Jerusalem." Isaiah was commissioned to utter this prophecy of the overthrow and consuming of the Assyrian army, in order to inspirit Hezekiah and the people against the threatened invasion. "Tophet is ordained of old" as that fiery place which would consume the dead bodies of these unjust invaders. Hence the Chaldee paraphrase says, "It was called the valley of the carcases and of the ashes or of the dead bodies for this reason, because the dead bodies of the camp of the Assyrians fell there;" to which Josephus gives testimony when he relates that the place was called the Assyrian camp. What force these recollections would give to our Lord's threatenings of hell to the Jews who saw the smoke of this valley always rising before their eyes (compare Isa. lxvi. 24 with Mark ix. 43-48).
+II. Note some of those solemn and awakening truths suggested by this verse.+ 1. The same record which provides for the security of the Church, provides for the final overthrow of its enemies. This was the time of Jacob's extremity; he was saved and his enemies consumed. 2. In the enjoyment of our highest privileges, we are surrounded by the most solemn terrors. Tophet lay not only near, but at the very foot of Mount Zion. From the heights of Zion might be seen the smoke, the fire, and the worm in the valley of Tophet! A dreadful thought this! Hell is set full in our view when worshipping in Zion (1 Pet. iv. 17, 18). Bunyan says, "So I saw a man may go by profession to heaven's gate and yet be cast away." Our Lord (Luke xiii. 25). 3. While no combination of power can shield the wicked, the believer has always a source of safety and a song of joy.--Samuel Thodey.
THE ONLY COUNSELLOR.
xxxi. 1-3. Woe to the rebellious children, &c.
These words were spoken by the prophet at a time when the Jewish nation was in great and imminent danger. They were addrest to the rulers of the nation, who were endeavouring to ward off the danger: and their purpose is to rebuke those rulers for the measures they were taking with that view, by entering into alliance with Pharaoh, king of Egypt, in the hope that he would deliver them out of it. But we should make a great mistake if we imagine that there is nothing in them that concerns our duty as individuals. God's reproofs of nations are such as we may all take home to our hearts, ponder, and learn from; for they contain principles of righteousness which, like the sun which shines at once on half the world and ourselves, are intended for the guidance both of nations and of individuals. Of this truth a striking example is afforded by our text. Its object is to rebuke the Jewish rulers for the line of policy which they were taking with the view of defending their country from her enemies. Sennacherib, king of Assyria, was marching against Judah, with the intent of conquering it, and reducing the people to slavery, as Israel had already been conquered and enslaved a few years before by Shalmaneser. The danger was very great. What was King Hezekiah to do? How was Judah to stand against Assyria? If you were to ask any of the politicians who are wise in the wisdom of this world, they would all say, there could be no question about the matter; that the only way of saving Judah was to obtain the alliance and aid of some powerful nation, whose succour might render her more nearly a match for the armies of the invader. This is exactly what the rulers of Judah set about doing. They entered into an alliance with the king of Egypt, with the view of gaining assistance from him, which might enable them to cope with Sennacherib in the field. This is just what a statesman, who plumed himself on his wisdom in these days, would do. Yet it is for doing this very thing that the prophet Isaiah in the text reproves and denounced woe against them. Their conduct, therefore, must have been sinful. Let us try to discover in what their sin lay.
1. They were making use of human means alone, to ward off the danger which threatened. It is not sinful to use such means; the sin lies in fancying they can help us without the blessing of God, and in not seeking that. This was what Isaiah denounced, and what we do. When any danger threatens us, we forthwith take counsel--of ourselves, of our friends, forgetting that all our counsel in the first instance ought to be taken of God, by searching His law with the purpose of discerning what He wills us to do, and by praying Him to enlighten our understandings, that we may be enabled to discern His will. So too we are ever seeking to cover ourselves with a covering, to find some protection or other whereby we may be preserved from danger: only the covering we should cover ourselves with is the covering of the Spirit of God. We should make Him our shield and buckler; and then we need not fear what man can do unto us.
Our unwillingness to take counsel of God can only proceed from an evil heart of UNBELIEF,[1] and it is as unwise as it is undutiful. None but God's counsel is infallible, and only His covering is sure. But we choose to have a covering of our own making, and send up mists and clouds to hide the covering of God's Spirit from us, thus "adding sin to sin."
2. Observe, the princes of Judah were not merely taking counsel of man, instead of God, and covering with a covering which was not of the Spirit of God: but the arm they were trusting to was the arm of Egypt. Now Egypt had from the first been the deadly enemy of the Israelites, and of their God. Egypt was the source from which all manner of idolatrous abominations flowed in upon them: out of Egypt they had been called; and they were no longer to hold intercourse with it. Therefore the prophet goes on to forbid their seeking help from Egypt, and to predict that the help of Egypt would end in their confusion. If we are guilty of their sin, we shall not escape their woe. When trials come upon men to-day, they are apt to listen to Satan's assurance that in that particular emergency he can help them better than God can. They listen; they sin, and the one sin leads to other sins; and ere long they are ruined (H. E. I., 173-175).
Still it is woe to those who take counsel of anything earthly! In times of difficulty it is of God alone that we must seek and take counsel. He alone can give us such counsel as will never fail us even in this life: and the wisdom of His counsel, which we now see only through a glass darkly, will become brighter than the sun at noon, when the veil of this world is drawn away from before it.--Julius Charles Hare, M.A.: Sermons Preacht in Herstmonceaux Church, pp. 305-323.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] From that unbelief which loses sight of and forgets the Ruler and Lawgiver of the world, and which is prone to worship whatever dazzles the senses and flatters our carnal nature. What should we say if a child, in a time of doubt or danger, would not run to ask its parents what to do, but were to run away from its parents and ask a stranger, or were to ask its own ignorance, or its own whims, or the ignorance of its playfellows--yea, were to ask its toys? Surely such conduct would bespeak a loveless, undutiful heart and a silliness such as could only be excused during the faint early dawn of the mind. So is it a proof of a loveless, undutiful heart not to seek counsel of God; nor is such conduct less unwise than undutiful. For what do we want in a counsellor except wisdom and foresight--wisdom to know the principles and laws of things, and foresight to discern their consequences? Now, neither of these faculties can we find in any earthly counsellor, except in a very low degree. For, not to speak of the numberless accidents which warp and bias our own judgments and those of our fellow-men, and lead them awry, even at best man's understanding, unless so far as it is enlightened from above by a knowledge of heavenly laws, can only reckon up what is wont to be, without any insight into what must be; and his eyes are ever so hoodwinkt by the present that he cannot even look forward into to-morrow. Whereas everything that God ordains must be right and true, and must stand fast for ever, even after heaven and earth have past away. He knows what we ought to do, _and He will bear us through in doing it._ Yet we choose rather to be led by the blind than by the Seeing. . . . Herein the very heathens condemn us. For they, though they know not the true God, yet believed there were powers in the heavens far wiser and longer-sighted than man; and so believing, they acted accordingly. Rightfully distrusting themselves, they sought to ascertain the will and purpose of those powers by searching it out according to the means whereby they imagined it would be revealed.--J. C. Hare.
THE SPIRITUALITY OF THE DIVINE NATURE.
xxxi. 3. The Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit.
Among the sins to which the ancient Israelites were addicted, one of the most prevailing was a disposition, in seasons of invasion or calamity, to place confidence in the power of surrounding nations, and to seek the assistance of their sovereigns, instead of trusting in the living God. Egypt, being the largest monarchy in their immediate neighbourhood, was frequently their refuge in times of distress and difficulty. Remonstrance (vers. 1, 2).
In the text an important and infinite disparity between God and man, which rendered the Egyptian monarch infinitely inferior to Him in the qualities which entitle to confidence and trust. The spirituality of the Supreme Being is the contrast.
I. The spirituality of the Deity is intimately connected with the possession of that infinite, unlimited power which renders Him the proper object of entire confidence.
There is a prejudice in favour of matter and against spirit, as if the former were possessed of greater force than the latter. It arises from our mistaking secondary and remote effects for causes, instead of ascending to God the supreme cause. Thus we think of the elements of nature and of mechanical forces. We have no power of operating on the objects immediately around us but by means of our bodies. But it is mind alone which is the seat of power. The power by which all changes are effected through the instrumentality of the body resides immediately in the mind. It is that mysterious principle called Will. Whatever motions the mind wills instantly take place. This is an illustration of the control which the Deity exercises over the universe. The Divine Being has only to will the most important changes and they are instantly accomplished. It is impossible to give any account of innumerable changes continually taking place in the visible world, without tracing them up to mind.
II. The spirituality of God stands in close and intimate connection with His Invisibility.
1 Tim. vi. 15, 16. Were He the object of sight, He must be limited. He cannot, therefore, be figured out by any art or skill of man (Acts xvii. 24-29; Deut. iv. 15; Ex. xx. 4, 5). Hence the great impiety of those who have attempted to paint and figure out the persons of the Trinity. The necessary effect of any attempt to represent the Deity to the human senses, by pictures or images, must be to degrade, to an incalculable degree, our conception of Him. Hence images of angels, the Virgin Mary, and saints of inferior character.
III. The spirituality of God is inseparably connected with His Immensity and Omnipresence (Jer. xxiii. 23, 24; Ps. cxxxix. 7-12).
1. It is necessary that matter should have some figure. But figure is circumscribed within a certain outline. To conceive of the Divine Being as material would involve absurdity. 2. If matter were unlimited there would be no possibility of motion. 3. If the Divine Being were material, He would render impossible the co-existence of created beings. Two portions of matter cannot occupy the same space. But the infinite Spirit is present with every part of His creation.
IV. The spirituality of God enables His infinite Wisdom.
This seems a necessary property of that Being who is present to all His creatures at all times. His infinite acquaintance with His creatures is a necessary consequence of His presence. Every one is as much within His survey at one moment as at another. We judge of men's character by their actions, He by their motives. And His judgment is always according to truth.
V. The spirituality of God establishes an intimate relation between Him and all His intelligent creatures.
Their dependence on Him is absolute; their subjection to Him constant and incessant; but in a special manner is He the Father of spirits. The body has a tendency to separate us from God, by the dissimilarity of its nature; the soul unites us to Him by those principles and faculties which are congenial to His own. To estrange ourselves from God is to be guilty of a most enormous kind of offence: it is forgetting our proper parent, the author of our existence. To love him, to seek union with Him, is to return to our proper original.
VI. The spirituality of God renders Him capable of being the satisfying Portion, the Supreme Good, of all intelligent beings.
He is the source and spring of all happiness (Lam. iii. 24, 25; Ps. lxxiii. 25, 26). 1. That which constitutes the felicity of the mind must be something out of it. Whoever retires into his own mind for happiness will be miserable. God is qualified to be the everlasting and inexhaustible spring of happiness. 2. He who can always confer happiness on another being must be superior to that being. To be the source of happiness is the prerogative of God. 3. That in which the happiness of a rational and mental creature consists, must be congenial to the nature of that creature. 4. That which forms the principle of our felicity must be something that is capable of communicating itself to us. God, as He is a Spirit, is capable of communicating Himself to the spirits of His rational creatures. These communications will constitute the felicity of heaven. Even while they continue on earth, it is the privilege of the faithful to enjoy union with the Father of spirits through His Son.
IMPROVEMENT. 1. Let us raise ourselves, in contemplating the Divine Being, above what is sensible, visible, and corporeal. 2. Since God is a Spirit, there must be an everlasting connection established between Him and us, on which will depend our destiny for ever. Hence Jesus Christ has come. What movements are in your minds toward this great object?--Robert Hall: Works, vol. vi., pages 1-32.
A CALL TO THE REVOLTED.
xxxi. 6. Turn ye unto Him from whom the children of Israel have deeply revolted.
Had mankind adhered to the Divine idea, no such word as this would have been necessary. Divine communications would have consisted probably of counsels, directions, predictions, progressive revelations of truth. The demand that man turn shows that he has gone astray. All Divine communications suppose the existence of sin and the need of salvation. Happily for us, they show the way in which salvation may be obtained. The parts of the human race are as the whole. The people God distinguished by separating them from the nations, with special connection to Himself, followed the universal tendency to wander from Him. They forsook His law. When trouble came, they sought help anywhere. At the time of this prophecy they were looking to Egypt instead of to the Lord. The prophet remonstrates, and invites them to make a friend of God against Assyria. The text may be addressed to sinners now. Here is--
I. A SERIOUS ACCUSATION.
God was the King of Israel. Departure from His laws was a national revolt. Man's revolt from God consists in--1. +Disaffection.+ When love to the sovereign departs, the way is prepared for any act of hostility circumstances may favour. The disaffection of man to God is inbred. From the original fall man derives a mysterious tendency to depart from God (H. E. I., 3390-3397). Human nature dislikes the Divine holiness; dislike of the Divine holiness is the root from which grow men's evil deeds. So deep is the revolt that man has no desire to return. 2. +Disobedience.+ You may say it is natural to sin, and we cannot be held responsible for it. Do you judge of, and deal with your fellow-man in that way as to their conduct to you? If they injure, defraud you, do you say they have a natural inclination to fraud and wrongdoing, and therefore are not responsible? When a son who has been carefully trained develops tendencies and inclinations to evil, attaches himself to bad companions, &c., do you exonerate him from blame because it is his nature? You say he ought to have resisted the evil inclinations and cultivated such as were good. You are right. But why should there be a difference when the object of the wrongdoing is God? The dislike of God's holiness inherent in human nature develops itself in the indulgence of sinful passions and disobedience to God's commands. Does the fact that it was your nature free you from responsibility? Are you not possessed of reason and conscience? Do not these constitute responsibility? Is not the fact that you decline the help God offers for the subjugation of evil sufficient to throw on you the entire blame of your continued revolt? 3. +Distrust.+ A large part of the revolt of ancient Israel from God consisted in distrust. When man withdraws his love from God and abandons himself to disobedience, he is sure to lose faith. You will soon cease to trust the friend whom you persistently wrong and disregard. Is not this the explanation of much of the unbelief among men? They are unhappy in their severance from God, yet unwilling to return. Then they expunge from their beliefs His declarations concerning sin and its punishment. Truth after truth disappears. Then He disappears. They persuade themselves that there is no need of Him, then that He does not exist. The wish is father to the thought. Because the heart and life have revolted from Him, the intellect labours to sweep Him out of the world which He has made.
II. AN EARNEST CALL.
1. "Turn ye unto Him." From the folly of the intellect; from the perversity of the heart; from the disobedience of the life in which your revolt has manifested itself. God is. He is a living person, with all the feelings of one, as well as a supreme ruler clothed with governmental authority. He is worth turning to. 2. In the Gospel, He invites you to repent, to turn. It is a complete change of your heart and life. You can examine and reflect upon the truth. You can consider the righteousness of His claim. You can consider the motive that is furnished by His offer of a free pardon and a full salvation procured for you by the death of His Son. 3. Do you feel yourself weak? He will help you to turn. 4. Turn from the wrong path to the right one. (1.) Turn to the trust which He encourages. Bring your sin and need to Jesus. (2.) Turn to the obedience He demands. There must be a complete surrender. All sin must be relinquished, even the dearest. Choose the way of holiness. (3.) Turn to the love He deserves. It comes indeed into the heart with submission and faith. 5. Think of the danger of continued revolt; of the wrongfulness of revolt; of the blessedness of return.--J. Rawlinson.
THE FIERY ORDEAL OF THE CHURCH.
xxxi. 9. The Lord, whose fire is in Zion, and whose furnace is in Jerusalem.
There is a variety of purposes for which fire is used. One of them was of old for the sacrifice, the burnt-offering; another was for incense, to keep it always smoking. Furnaces were used by the workers in metals.
I. THE FIRE. "Whose fire is in Zion." Without the sacred fire there would have been no burnt-offering, no clouds of incense; and therefore God commanded that it should be kept ever burning. In this sense, the fire is the emblem of the life Divine, the Holy Spirit's work. May it be for ever burning! Where it burns strongly, what clouds of incense of praise and prayer ascend to heaven!
II. THE FURNACE. "Whose furnace is in Jerusalem." It is there for the purpose of accomplishing God's designs with regard to His people. A furnace is nothing without fuel, and the fuel may be of various kinds. God heats His furnace with different kinds of fuel--sometimes with bodily afflictions, sometimes with losses of various kinds, sometimes with bereavements, sometimes with persecutions, sometimes with all these combined. Oh, the fast importance of viewing every trial of a temporal kind as sent on purpose to constitute a little fuel for God's furnace! God is doing three things with His furnace. He is melting, He is manifesting, He is making useful. 1. He is melting. We are so hard and stubborn, so full of dross, that nothing less than the fire will serve (Isa. i. 25). 2. He is manifesting. The fire tests both us[1] and our work (1 Cor. iii. 13). In this way God manifests the difference between His people and the false professor, and shows who are His own (Zech. xiii. 9). 3. He is making useful. Take a lesson from the very vessels you use at table every day; they would have been of no use at all, had they not passed through the fire.
Conclusion. The trials of God's people tend (1) To exercise and develop their spiritual excellence; (2.) To demonstrate the Divine love and faithfulness; (3.) To prepare them for the enjoyment of Himself at last.[2]--Joseph Irons: Thursday Penny Pulpit, vol. vii. 109-120.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Upon one occasion, like the prophet Jeremiah, I visited the potter's house. I admired the ingenuity and the beauty of his work on the wheels. But after a little while, I found there was really no reliance to be put on the results of his labour and ingenuity. When put into the furnace, some of the vessels were marred and rendered good for nothing; they cracked and went to pieces. Did not the potter shape them aright? Did he not make them of the same clay? Did he not take the same pains with them? Then what was the defect? They would not stand fire.--Irons.
[2] H. E. I., 116-142.
THE PRECIOUSNESS OF CHRIST.
xxxii. 2. A man shall be as an hiding place, &c.
These figures all coincide in setting forth one great and blessed truth--the truth that in Christ there is suitable and complete relief under every circumstance of distress: in distress arising--1. from temporal sufferings; 2. from conviction of sin; 3. from strong temptation; 4. from the near approach of death.--John Watt, B.D.: Sermons, pp. 92-108.
Jesus Christ--I. The refuge from all dangers; II. The fruition of all desires; III. The rest and refreshment in all trials.--A. Maclaren, B.A.: Sermons, Third Series, p. 135.
This prediction, uttered in the days of Ahaz, had a primary reference to Hezekiah, and to the relief from wicked magistrates which would be experienced in his reign. But its ultimate reference was to the Lord Jesus Christ. Here are three separate figures, very striking to an Eastern ear, which admit of distinct illustration:--+I. "A hiding-place from the wind and a covert from the tempest."+[1] This is but one figure, for the latter clause, as is common in Eastern poetry, is only the echo of the former. Jesus is found to be the best hiding-place and covert:--1. From the winds and tempests of affliction. 2. From the tempest of an agitated conscience. 3. He is the only hiding-place for the tempest of Divine wrath. +II. "As rivers of water in a dry place,"+--that is, Jesus conveys satisfaction and refreshment to those who can find them nowhere else. He alone satisfies the heart's thirst--1. for happiness; 2. for consolation; 3. for reconciliation with God. +III. "As the shadow of a great rock in a weary land."+[2] Such a retreat does our Redeemer afford to those who are fainting under the labours and discouragements of this wearisome life (Isa. 1-4, Jer. xxxi. 25). 1. Let us thank God for such a Saviour--the very Saviour we need. 2. Let us abide in Him--we always need Him.--E. Griffin, D.D.: Fifty-nine Plain Practical Sermons, pp. 261-270.
1. There underlies this prophecy a very sad, a very true conception of human life. The three promises imply three diverse aspects of man's need and misery. The "covert" and the "hiding-place" imply tempest and storm and danger; the "rivers of water" imply drought and thirst; the "shadow of a great rock" implies lassitude and languor, fatigue and weariness. Sad this is, but how true! Do we not need a "covert" from the tempests of adverse circumstances, of temptations, of God's anger kindled by our sins!
II. There shines through these words a mysterious hope--the hope that one of ourselves shall deliver us from all this evil in life. "A man," &c. Such an expectation seems to be right in the teeth of all experience, and far too high pitched even to be fulfilled. It appears to demand in him who should bring it to pass powers which are more than human, and which must in some inexplicable way be wide as the range of humanity and enduring as the succession of the ages. All experience seems to teach that no human arm or heart can be to another soul what these words promise, and what we need.
III. This mysterious hope is fulfilled in Jesus Christ. That which seemed impossible is real. The forebodings of experience have not fathomed the powers of Divine Love. There is a man, our brother, bone of our bone, and flesh of our flesh, who can be to all human souls the adequate object of their perfect trust, the abiding home of their deepest love, the unfailing supply for their profoundest wants. Behind His protection they are safe, by His grace they are satisfied, beneath His shelter they have rest.--A. Maclaren, B.A.: Sermons, Third Series, pp. 136-147.
I. We have here AN INSTRUMENT OF CONSOLATION.[3] +1. It was an instrument of consolation to those who first heard it.+ The prophecy in which it occurs was given in the time of Ahaz, when justice was perverted, and the government, which should have been for the protection of the people, was organised for their oppression. Terrible are the sufferings of men at such a time, and precious was the hope which this prophecy held out of "a man"--a ruler--who should be a defence and blessing to the poor of the nation. +2. It was an instrument of consolation to devout men in all the centuries which intervened between its utterance and the coming of Christ.+ In due time Hezekiah ascended the throne, and in him this prophecy had a partial fulfilment. But he passed away, and Israel needed such "a man" as much as ever. Devout men learned to look for him in the Messiah for whom they and their fathers had waited. In the midst of national and personal humiliation and sufferings, they were sustained and cheered by the hope of His advent. 3. In due time He appeared. Whether in Him this prophecy was completely or only partially fulfilled, let any reader of the Gospels testify. +And since the days when Christ went about Judæa, solacing human woes, and ministering to human necessities, this declaration has been still more full of consolation to generation after generation down to our own day.+ It has taught men to whom to flee in their distresses, and fleeing to Him they have found that it was with no vain hope that it had cheered them. When you think what it has been to men ever since it was uttered, can you help looking upon it with love?
II. OF THIS INSTRUMENT OF CONSOLATION ALL MEN HAVE NEED. There are some portions of Scripture which have only a limited interest, because they are for special classes (e.g., kings, subjects, parents, children, &c.); but this is a portion for every one. The needs of which it speaks will be felt by all men; and all men, at some time or other, will long for the blessings which it promises. Hence--+1. It should be stored up in the memory of the young.+[4] +2. The aged should count it one of their chief treasures.+[5]
III. TO THE PRESENT AND PERMANENT VALUE OF THIS INSTRUMENT OF CONSOLATION THERE ARE MILLIONS OF LIVING WITNESSES. The declarations of our text are very beautiful, but the important question is, Are they true? Is Christ to His people all that He is here said to be? 1. Our text says that +Christ is a refuge for His people.+ "As a hiding-place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest." Remember what kind of storms sometimes sweep across the Eastern deserts. [See outline: THE CHRISTIAN'S REFUGE, section I.] As you have pursued the pilgrimage of human life, have any such storms burst upon you?--the storm of adversity? of persecution? of an awakened conscience? of temptations? The worst storms are those which rage within a man! In such storms where did you find shelter? what did you find Christ to be to you? 2. Our text says that +Christ will satisfy the thirst of His people.+ Picture the scene at Rephidim. To the multitudes who had almost died of thirst, how welcome were the streams that burst from the smitten rock! All men thirst for happiness; the distressed for consolation, the penitent for reconciliation with God. In these respects, has Christ been to you "as rivers of water in a dry place?" 3. Our text says that +Christ will give rest to His people.+[6]
IV. Every truth is a call to duty. TO WHAT DUTIES DOES OUR TEXT CALL US? If we have had a personal experience of the truth of its declarations, it says--1. PRAISE GOD. Would not a storm-driven traveller give thanks for "a covert," the thirst-consumed for "rivers of water," the faint and weary for "the shadow of a great rock?" Let us remember what Christ has been to us, and give "thanks unto God for His unspeakable gift!" 2. TAKE COURAGE. Usually as years increase troubles multiply: but what Christ has been to you in the past, He will be in the future--an all-sufficient Saviour! 3. To those who have not yet had a personal experience of the truth of its declarations, my text says, COME TO JESUS. Its promises are invitations. Is not a well of water in itself an invitation to a thirsty man? You need all that the text promises; and in the experience of millions of men living now, you have abundant evidence that its promises are worthy of your trust. Familiarise yourself with the "hiding-place" before the tempests of life burst upon you, that in the day of storm you may know whither to flee. Blessed are they who have made the Man of whom our text speaks their friend. According to His word (Matt. xxviii.), He is with them "always," "as a hiding-place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land."
FOOTNOTES:
[1] We arose with the sun, and went out to saddle our dromedaries, when we found to our great surprise that their heads were buried in the sand; and it was not possible for us to draw them out. We called the Bedouins of the tribe to our aid, who informed us that the instinct of the camels led them to conceal their heads thus, in order to escape the simoom; that their doing so was an infallible presage of that terrible tempest of the desert, which would not be long in breaking loose; and that we could not proceed on the journey without meeting a certain death. The camels, who perceive the approach of this fearful storm two or three hours before it bursts, turn themselves to the side opposed to the wind, and dig into the sand. It is impossible to make them stir from that position either to eat or drink during the whole tempest, were it to last for several days. Providence has endowed them with this instinct of preservation, which never deceives them. When we learned with what we were threatened, we partook the general consternation, and hastened to take all the precautions which they pointed out to us. It is not sufficient to put the horses under shelter; it is requisite also to cover their heads and stop up their ears, otherwise they will be suffocated by the whirlwinds of fine impalpable sand, which the storm sweeps furiously before it. The men collect under their tents, block up the crevices with the greatest care, and provide a supply of water, which they keep within reach; they then lie down on the ground, their heads covered with the mashlas, and thus remain all the time that the tornado continues.
The camp was thrown into the greatest bustle, each bent on providing safety for his cattle, and afterwards withdrawing precipitately under his tent. We had scarcely got our beautiful Negde mares under cover ere the tempest burst. Impetuous blasts of wind buried clouds of red and burning sand in eddies, and overthrew all upon whom their fury fell; or, heaping up hills, they buried all that had strength to resist being carried away. If, at this period, any part of the body be exposed, the flesh is scorched as if a hot iron had touched it. The water, which was intended to cool us, began to boil, and the temperature of the tent exceeded that of a Turkish bath. The hurricane blew in all its fury for six hours, and gradually subsided during six more; an hour longer, and I believe we had all been stifled. When we ventured to leave the tents, a frightful spectacle presented itself; five children, two women, and a man were lying dead on the still burning sand, and several Bedouins had their faces blackened and entirely calcined, as if by a blast from a fiery furnace. When the wind of the simoom strikes an unfortunate wretch on the head, the blood gushes in streams from his mouth and nostrils, his face swells, becomes black, and he shortly dies of suffocation.--Lamartine: Travels in the East, p. 213.
"A hiding-place from the wind, a covert from the tempest." Soon Red Sea and all were lost in a sand-storm, which lasted the whole day. Imagine all distant objects entirely lost to view,--the sheets of sand fleeting along the surface of the desert like streams of water; tempest of sand, driving in your face like sleet. Imagine the caravan toiling against this--the Bedouins each with his shawl thrown completely over his head, half of the riders sitting backwards,--the camels, meantime, thus virtually left without guidance, though, from time to time, throwing their long necks sideways to avoid the blast, yet moving straight onwards with a painful sense of duty truly edifying to behold. . . . Through the tempest, this roaring and driving tempest, which sometimes made me think that this must be the real meaning of 'a howling wilderness,' we rode on the whole day.--Dean Stanley: Sinai and Palestine, pp. 68, 69.
[2] I was reading, a day or two ago, one of our last books of travels in the wilderness of the Exodus, in which the writer told how, after toiling for hours under a scorching sun, over the hot white marly flat, seeing nothing but a beetle or two on the way, and finding no shelter anywhere from the pitiless beating of the sunshine, the three travellers came at last to a little Retem bush only a few feet high, and flung themselves down and tried to hide at least their heads from those 'sunbeams like swords,' even beneath its ragged shade. And my text tells of a great rock, with blue dimness in its shadow, with haply a fern or two in the moist places of its crevices, where there is rest and a man can lie down and be cool, while all outside is burning sun, and burning sand, and dancing mirage.--_A. Maclaren._
[3] When I was at Nuremberg, among the scenes of interest, I visited the tower where are preserved some of the instruments of torture which were used both by the Inquisition and the Municipality in the Middle Ages. As one looked at them, the heart grew sick at the thought of the pain which by means of them had been inflicted upon countless victims; and as instruments by which human beings had been tortured, they were hateful. On the other hand, when one thinks what this verse has been to countless human souls, what consolation and courage it has ministered to those who were sick at heart in many generations, it is impossible not to look upon it with love.
[4] It is one of a large number of passages which I like to think of as Scripture's lamps. Starting at mid-day from a railway terminus, you wonder to see that the lamps in the carriages are lighted; but very soon the train plunges into a tunnel, and you perceive that they were not lighted a moment too soon. So with these lamps of Scripture: get them hung up in your soul at the outset of your journey in life. Sooner than you think you will find yourself in some dark tunnel of trial. It will be too late then to think of furnishing yourself with them. Blessed are those then in whom they are brightly shining!
[5] It is not to be expected that the young will fully appreciate it. They have not had the experience necessary to enable them to do so. At the outset of a voyage, passengers are apt to think most about those things in a ship which are comparatively unimportant--the size of their berths, the elegant decorations of the cabin, &c.; but before it is ended, especially if the voyage is a stormy one, they come to think more about the staunchness of the vessel, the strength of the rigging, the seamanship of the captain rather than of his fitness or unfitness for a drawing-room. So in dealing with the Bible: at the outset of life, we are apt to give our whole attention to things comparatively unimportant, such as the possibility of reconciling the first chapter of Genesis with the teaching of modern science, &c.; but, by and by, trouble teaches us to value the Scriptures as our only sure guide amidst life's moral perplexities, as our only true comforter amidst life's sorrows. It is trouble that teaches us that the promises are "precious promises;" and therefore I may fairly expect that the promise of our text will be prized by the aged.
[6] One day--one of the most beautiful and happy days I have ever known--I and some friends visited the Valley of Rocks, at Lynton, in North Devon. We had selected for our dining-place the shaded side of one of the largest of the rocks which have made that valley famous. Just as we were finishing our repast, an aged gentleman approached us, and asked to be permitted to share our resting-place. "I should not have intruded upon you," he said, "but I am very weary." Instantly my text recurred to my memory, and I saw somewhat of its power and beauty: "As the shadow of a great rock in a weary land." In such a land, on such a day, how welcome is the sight of a great rock! How sweet and refreshing to rest in its cooling shade! Amid the toils and troubles of life we often need rest and refreshment. _Have you found them in Christ?_ Are the declarations of our text true?
THE CHRISTIAN'S REFUGE.
(For Christmas Day.)
xxxii. 2. A man shall be as an hiding place, &c.
This is a very remarkable prophecy and promise, and at first sight most strikingly at variance with almost every other declaration of the Word of God, e.g., Isa. ii. 22; Ps. clxvi. 3; lxii. 8, 9; Jer. xvii. 5. "A man shall be as an hiding place from the wind!" A poor, weak, helpless mortal, unable to protect himself from the wind and tempest, shall he be our refuge? Shall God's own Word command us to leave the living Fountain, and betake ourselves in our necessities to the broken cisterns of earth? Strange inconsistency, astonishing contradiction to every other portion of God's Word? But who is this Man? He of whom it is also written (Zech. xiii. 7; Phil. ii. 6); and who is thus spoken of by the Spirit of God Himself, when predicting the event of this day (Isa. ix. 6). It is the Lord Jesus Christ, then, who reveals Himself in the words before us under two striking similitudes; the first of which regards His people's safety, and the second their consolations.
+I. As regards their safety:+ "hiding place from the wind, covert from the tempest." Picture to yourself one of those scenes which Eastern travellers paint, when they describe the passage of a caravan across some dreary desert, where, throughout the long day's journey, there is no house, no rock, no tree to afford a moment's shade or shelter. The wind suddenly rises, the lightning glares, and in the distance are beheld gigantic columns of sand, raised and kept together in such vast masses by the whirlwind that drives them towards the poor bewildered travellers, who behold in them at once their destruction and their grave. In vain do they attempt to fly; as vain were all thoughts of resistance. Before the shortest prayer is finished, that multitude that was just now full of life and animation, is hushed in silence; every heart has ceased to beat; the simoom of the desert has passed over them, and the place they occupied is scarcely to be distinguished from the surrounding plain. This is no flight of the imagination, but a simple statement of a fact of not unfrequent occurrence. Now imagine in such a scene with what feelings these alarmed and flying travellers would greet "a hiding-place" and "a covert." If a rock of adamant, a barrier which neither sand, nor wind, nor tempest could beat down or overleap, should suddenly spring up between them and those swiftly advancing columns of death, what would be their feelings of joy, their thoughts of gratitude, their language of praise! Who can imagine the heartfelt cry of thanksgiving to God which would arise from that vast multitude at so complete, so merciful, so unhoped-for a deliverance? With such feelings should we "behold the Man" of whom I speak to-day. We stood in as great a danger. Our sins had raised a tempest of the wrath of God, against which the whole created host of heaven would in vain have attempted to erect a barrier. But our Lord has wrought a deliverance for us as much needed, as unexpected, as complete. He has interposed between us and the mighty "wind," the appalling "tempest," which justly threatened our destruction. Let us who have found shelter in Christ rejoice in Him, and be glad this day because of the quietness we enjoy. Let those who are still outside the great "Hiding-Place," the wondrous "Covert" which God's mercy has provided, remember that an unapplied Saviour is no Saviour. Their peril has been in no sense lessened by His advent. In the gladness of this day they can have no share.
+II. His people's consolation.+ "As rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land." Before we had symbols of safety; here we have symbols of consolation. 1. God's people often feel that this world is a dry and barren place and thirst for consolation and succour. That which they thirst for, they may find in Christ. He is not merely a river, but (so abundant are His consolations) "rivers of water" to them that are fainting under the trials, anxieties, or distresses of the world. But it is not enough that the river is running at your feet; you must know it is there, you must drink of its waters, or they will not assuage your thirst. In Hagar sitting down in utter hopelessness and helplessness, when near her there was an abundant supply of water for herself and her child (Gen. xxi. 15-19), we have an emblem of too many distressed and sorrowful Christians. "Rivers of water" are flowing past you: arise, and drink! (Rev. xxii. 17). 2. God's people are often faint and weary as they pursue their earthly pilgrimage. But during every stage of it they may "renew their strength," and so be enabled to persevere until at length "they stand in Zion before God," for Christ is "as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land." Don't be satisfied with just coming within the range of the shadow of the Rock; there are in the Rock recesses where you may find a complete shelter and a sweeter rest. Enter into them. Cultivate a closer fellowship with Christ. So in every stage of your journey you shall have not only strength, but joy (Isaiah xxxv. 10).--H. Blunt, A.M.: Posthumous Sermons, pp. 23-42.
The "Man" here referred to is the Divine Redeemer--the one theme of the Bible. "Hiding-place" and "covert" express substantially the same idea--shelter, defence, safety, deliverance from both actual and impending evil. Jesus Christ in this broad and comprehensive sense is the Refuge of His people. Fleeing to Him, men find protection, &c.
+I. Christ is a refuge in the day of earthly disappointment.+ Human life full of disappointments. Few of our anticipations of good realised. Our fondest and most sacredly cherished hopes blighted. The world deceives men: it is not what it seems to be, it does not satisfy the desires it awakens. The god of this world is the master spirit of lying and deception, and he so manages the shifting scenes as to keep up the deception until the last. So with (a) the man of business, (b) those who aspire to earthly honour, fame, power, (c) the student, (d) the pleasure-seeker. To these children of disappointment, Christ is a refuge; He has Himself felt the ills of life (Heb. iv. 15, 16). There is a "hiding-place" where the fury of life's storms never comes; the God of mercy offers eternal life in the Gospel. Forsaken, disheartened, disappointed men may still be accepted of Christ, and find peace and rest in Him.
+II. Christ is a Refuge in time of affliction.+ This is a world of sorrow and suffering; men turn from it in disgust and anguish to seek relief elsewhere, or to weep life away in sadness and darkness. Now Christ alone is available in just such an hour. When the world turns its back upon us, there is a Friend who sticketh closer than a brother--one born for adversity--a shield and a deliverer in the day of affliction. We may not be able to explain the philosophy of the thing, but the soul that looks to Christ is so sustained as to rejoice in the tribulation, and the heaviest burden is lightened and made a blessing.
+III. Christ is a Refuge in the day of trial.+ It pleases the Lord to make full proof of His people. He puts their love, fidelity, and integrity to the test. God tries (a) our faith, (b) hope, (c) patience, (d) principles. And in His day of fiery trial our only safety is in the "hiding-place" of Divine mercy--we need the "covert" of the Almighty wings. None but Christ is able to give the soul confidence in such days and hours.
+IV. Christ is a Refuge in the day of fear.+ Sin is darkness, and hence wherever there is sin there is gloom and fear. The wicked man is a slave to fear, and even the Christian at times suffers greatly because of it. The remedy for this gloomy experience is in Christ; and there is a power in the Gospel to lift the soul into a region of perpetual sunshine. In Christian experience, peace, joy, and hope are the ministering angels (Hab. iii. 17, 18).
+V. Christ is a Refuge from the torments of an accusing conscience.+ The day of self-convicted guilt always a day of memorable experiences. Conscience upbraids, justice demands satisfaction; the soul is ready to sink into hell. Whose arm can save you in such an hour? where shall he seek refuge? in that hour none but Christ can save.
+VI. Christ is a Refuge in the day of final wrath.+ The wrath to come--the just, final, and eternal wrath of God--a reality, a fixed fact in thought and experience. Jesus Christ is a refuge from this impending evil. The Cross lifted up on Calvary has received the thunder; God and the believer in Jesus Christ are reconciled. What, then, have they to fear whose life is hid in Christ? Death cannot harm, the judgment-day need not terrify.
Glorious Refuge! it never fails--is never shut against the penitent soul--has never been shaken--and will yet resist the fire and deluge of the great day of wrath. This is the Ark, and they are eternally safe who are therein.--J. M. Sherwood: National Preacher, 1859, p. 217.
RIVERS OF WATER IN A DRY PLACE.
xxxii. 2. As rivers of water in a dry place.
The surface sense of this passage may refer to Hezekiah and to other good kings who were a means of great blessing to the declining kingdom of Judah; but its declarations are too full of meaning to be applied solely or primarily to any mere man. They are never fully understood until they are applied to Christ, the true King of righteousness, who confers the highest blessings upon His people. In Him there is a fulness and variety of blessing such as the varied metaphors of this passage fail to set forth. He is the true Man of whom Isaiah speaks; the man in whom the fulness of the Godhead dwells bodily, and who therefore can be, and is, "as rivers of water in a dry place."
I. THE METAPHOR. This implies, 1. Great excellence of blessing. How valuable is a river to the land through which it flows! So Christ is the source and the sustenance of the fertility, fruitfulness, and beauty of His people. 2. Abundance of blessing. Think of the vast floods that flow through the Amazon, the Ganges, the Indus, the Orinoco. So in Christ there is grace sufficient for all mankind. 3. Freshness of blessing.[1] 4. Freeness of blessing. Though individuals may claim peculiar rights in rivers, all creatures drink of them freely, the dog as well as the swan. So may all, however vile, partake of the grace that is in Christ. 5. Constancy of blessing. Pools and cisterns dry up, but the river goes on for ever. So it is with Jesus; the grace to pardon and the power to heal are not spasmodic powers in Him, they abide in Him unabated for evermore.
II. A SPECIAL EXCELLENCE which the text mentions. "Rivers of water in a dry place." Only the residents in a tropical country can fully appreciate that phrase. But Christ came to such a place when He came to our race. So He does when with His salvation He visits the individual soul. Were it not for Him, the souls, even of His people under the influence of wealth or of poverty, of the cares or of the pleasures of life, would be always dry. But He refreshes, sustains, and fertilises those who otherwise would utterly faint and fail.
III. PRACTICAL LESSONS. 1. See the goings out of God's heart to man, and man's way of communing with God. God's heart is an infinite ocean of goodness, and it flows forth to us through Jesus Christ, not in streams and driblets, but in rivers of grace and mercy. These streams we cannot purchase or merit, we have only to receive them; when we drink of the stream, we partake of God. 2. See what a misery it is that men should be perishing and dying of soul thirst when there are these rivers so near. Some have never heard of them; therefore help to the utmost the Missionary Society. Others who have heard of them are smitten with a strange insanity that leads them to turn away from them. 3. Let us learn where, if we are suffering from spiritual drought and barrenness, the blame lies. It cannot lie in Christ. 4. If Christ is ready to be to us as rivers, drink of Him, all of you.[2] Live near Him. Live in Him.[3]--C. H. Spurgeon: Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, No. 1243.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] In a river we see not only excellence and abundance, but freshness. A pool is the same thing over again, and gradually it becomes a stagnant pond, breeding corrupt life and pestilential gases. A river is always the same, yet never the same; it is ever in its place, yet always moving on. Filled to the brim with living water, even as in ages long gone by, and yet flowing fresh from the spring, it is an ancient novelty. We call our own beautiful river, "Father Thames," yet he wears no furrows on his brows, but leaps in all the freshness of youth. You shall live by the banks of a river for years, and yet each morning its stream shall be as fresh as though its fountain had been unsealed but an hour ago when the birds began to awake the morning and the sun to sip the dews. Is it not so with our Lord Jesus Christ? Is He not evermore as bright and fresh as when first you met with Him?--Spurgeon.
[2] Is Christ a river? then drink of Him, all of you. To be carried along on the surface of Christianity, like a man in a boat, is not enough, you must drink or die. Many are influenced by the externals of religion, but Christ is not in them; they are on the water, but the water is not in them; and if they continue as they are they will be lost. A man may be in a boat on a river and yet die of thirst if he refuses to drink; and so you may be carried along and excited by a revival, but unless you receive the Lord Jesus into your soul by faith, you will perish after all.--Spurgeon.
[3] If Christ be like a river, let us be like the fishes, _live in it._ The fish is an ancient Christian emblem for Jesus and His people. I sat under a beech-tree some months ago in the New Forest; I gazed up into it, measured it, and marked the architecture of its branches, but suddenly I saw a little squirrel leap from bough to bough, and I thought, "After all, this beech-tree is far more to you than me, for you live in it. It delights me, it instructs me, and it affords me shade, but you live in it and upon it." So we know something about rivers, and they are very useful to us, but to the fish the river is its element, its life, its all. So, my brethren, let us not merely read about Christ, and think of Him, and speak of Him, but let us live on Him, and in Him, as the squirrel in the tree and the fish in the river. Live by Him, and live for Him: you will do both if you live in Him.--Spurgeon.
[See also Outlines, RIVERS OF WATERS, xxx. 25, 26, and ENRICHING RIVERS, xxxiii. 21.]
COMFORT IN CHRIST.
xxxii. 2. As the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.
This chapter begins with a prophecy of the Messiah, and of the happiness which the godly should enjoy under His reign (ver. 1). True as well as beautiful are its descriptions of Christ.
+I. To the children of God this world is often "a weary land."+ 1. Because of the labours they have to undergo. This is a laborious world (Eccles. i. 8). Employment is in itself a blessing; it was provided for man in Eden; but every day the sun sets upon millions who are faint and weary, who are overwrought, and for whom there will be no sufficient rest until they lie down in the grave. To God's children it is a special cause of weariness that they are compelled to devote so much time in labouring for "the meat which perisheth," and that they have so little time for meditation and for communion with God. 2. Because of the troubles to which they are exposed (Job v. 7). Troubles attend every stage and condition of life. They are national, domestic, personal. The pains and evils of life commonly increase as its length is protracted. And there is nothing more wearisome than troubles. Many who can endure labour cannot endure trouble. This makes the heart stoop, and weakens the mind as well as the body. A troublesome world must be a wearisome world. 3. Because of the perplexities by which they are harassed. This is a dark world. What is past, what is present, as well as what is to come, lies involved in darkness. Life is full of mystery. Strange and unexpected events are constantly happening, which disappoint the hopes and frustrate the designs of the wisest. Providence often baffles the interpretation and tries the faith even of the most devout. Wickedness is often triumphant, and virtue trampled under foot. Good men are often tired of living in a world which subjects them to continual anxiety and suspense. 4. Because of the sin by which they are surrounded. The moral atmosphere in which they live is uncongenial. The practices and principles with which they are daily brought into contact fill them with disgust, with indignation, and with grief (2 Pet. ii. 7, 8; Ps. cxix. 139, 156, 158; Acts xvii. 16; Ezek. ix. 4).
+II. Whensoever God's children are weary of the world, they may find comfort in Christ.+ They may always find comfort. 1. In the compassion of Christ. He knows what it is to be faint and weary. He knows the heart of a pilgrim and stranger. And He has the tenderest compassion for His friends in distress or want. He is as pitiful to-day as He was when He tabernacled on earth. He feels all that His followers feel (Acts ix. 2; Heb. iv. 14-16). 2. In the intercession of Christ. As He prayed for Peter (Luke xii. 32) and for all His disciples before His crucifixion (John xvii.), so He still makes intercession for His followers according to their necessities. And His intercession is always prevalent (John xi. 42). 3. In the strength of Christ. Weakness is the cause of weariness, and the weary may always find the strength they want in Christ (Phil. iv. 13; 2 Cor. xii. 7-10). 4. In the government of Christ. He has promised to give them peace even in this world (John xiv. 27; xvi. 33; xiv. 2, 3). These are great and precious promises, because they are sure promises.
APPLICATION.--Since the friends of Christ, when they are weary of the world, may always find comfort in Him--1. They should not regard the things which make them weary of it as curses but as blessings. It is a good thing to have our hold of the world loosened. It is a good thing to be driven to Christ. All their trials and sufferings are suited to prepare them to enjoy more peace and rest in Christ, than they could otherwise enjoy. When a man finds a covert in a great storm, he finds more pleasure in it than he does on a fine fair day. So Christians enjoy more real satisfaction and happiness in adversity than in prosperity, because while prosperity leads them to the enjoyment of the world, adversity leads to the enjoyment of Christ. 2. They enjoy more happiness even in this life than sinners do. Sinners often seem happier than saints, but theirs is a loud and transient mirth, whereas God's people have a deep and lasting joy. Autumn is oftener a pleasanter season than spring, but it deepens into the gloom and vigour of winter; whereas after the storms of March and the rain of April come the bright joyous days of summer. The life of the sinner is at best an autumn life, with autumn prospects, but the life of God's children is a spring life. And even here and now they (and they only) are filled with that peace of God which passeth all understanding, affords joy in sorrow, and gives rest to the weary. 3. They ought never to be heard murmuring or complaining under any troubles or afflictions in which they may be involved. This world is full of murmuring; and when God's people complain, it is highly offensive to God (Ps. cvi. 25, 26). But why should they complain? (Heb. xii. 11). And they have a present refuge, even Christ, in whom they may find "strong consolation." 4. They ought never to be found depressed with anxiety as to the future (Phil. iv. 6, 7).--Dr. Emmons: Works, vol. iii. 352-365.
CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.
xxxii. 8. But the liberal deviseth liberal things; and by liberal things shall he stand.
This prophecy relates to the time when the kingdom of Judah would relinquish its foolish dependence on Egypt. The king would reign in righteousness. Men and things would be called by their true names. Selfish injustice to the poor would contrast with considerate helpfulness. When generosity begins to be exercised on a large scale, the standard is raised. The raising of the standard tends to the general enlargement of the scale of benevolence.
Our subject is Christian liberality.
I. THE QUALITIES BY WHICH IT IS DISTINGUISHED.
1. Sympathy. It is the opposite of the disposition to act on the assumption that a man's own interest and happiness is the main end of his existence. It is the disposition that looks out to others, imagines their case, feels for them, desires their happiness. Difference of race, nationality, church, opinion sinks to nothing in its presence. It asks, What is the need? Neither temporal nor spiritual need exhausts it. Spiritual need is the chief. It desires the salvation of all men. And when compassion for men's souls is tenderest, compassion for their temporal sufferings is usually also tenderest. The heart is often larger than the purse; but the purse-strings will not be closed. Our hospitals and other institutions for the relief of suffering and distress owe their origin and support mainly to Christian sympathy.
2. Ingenuity. "Deviseth liberal things." Many contribute to benevolent objects when solicited, but never originate anything in such a direction. There should be a thoughtful, holy solicitude to know what is needed, and how much of it we are able to do. Those act a useful part who discover for themselves and suggest to others suitable and feasible methods of usefulness. There should also be conscientious thoughtfulness as to the proportion to be established between what God gives to us and what we give to Him in return. As Jacob (Gen. xxviii. 20-22).
3. Action. Liberality does not terminate in feeling and thought (James ii. 15, 16; 1 John iii. 17, 18). It does not devise methods of usefulness and leave them to be carried out by others. The good Samaritan did not look at the man who had been robbed and half-killed on the road and pass on (Luke x. 33, 37). The woman who brought the alabaster box of ointment and anointed the feet of Jesus showed her love to Him more than if she had spoken a thousand endearing words.
4. Willingness. No selfish churl strikes out new plans of usefulness. Such as exists he unwillingly helps, if he helps them at all. According to the Christian idea, no amount of mere giving which does not come from the willing heart is accepted as liberality. The voluntary principle is alone recognised as the principle of liberality. And voluntaryism means willinghood (2 Cor. viii. 12).
5. Continuance. Not by one generous act, nor by such an act occasionally, can the title of liberality be won. Excitable persons impulsively promise, but reflection brings them to their true selves; and they either break the promise or fulfil it grudgingly. Some undertake Christian work; for a time do it; perhaps do it well; but after a time weary of its inconvenience, sacrifice, and slow results. Now the liberal man "stands by" his liberal things. The other reading is, "adheres" to them. Continuance in the race reaches the goal.
II. THE SOIL IN WHICH IT IS NOURISHED.
It is engendered and thrives in the soil of Christianity. For it is in accordance with--1. Its Spirit. It is the spirit of love. The man who drinks most into the spirit of Christianity will be most likely to feel such benevolent interest in humanity as will take practical shapes. It tends to the overthrow of selfishness. It fosters the spirit of self-sacrifice. 2. Its Precepts. We are commanded to stretch forth the helping hand to those in need. We are to extend the kingdom of Christ. Gifts and offerings in some form are demanded by the two great dispensations; by the Gospel no less than by the Law. He who lives for himself, giving forth nothing, or giving with grudging hand, has yet to learn the first principles of Christian obedience. 3. Its Examples. The newly formed Church in Jerusalem. Contributions throughout the churches afterwards for impoverished Christians there. Above all the example of Christ.
Do not suppose that liberality obtains no recognition. 1. It becomes a source of pleasure. Let any one put this to the test. And the pleasure is in proportion to the sacrifice it costs (Acts xx. 35). 2. It is returned in blessing (Prov. iii. 9, 10). We cannot explain how this comes about, because we cannot explain the way of God's Providence. Everything is in His hands. Can bless or blast your affairs. It certainly brings spiritual blessing. Exercises, develops, improves faith, love, self-denial. The indwelling Spirit of God is manifested in larger measure. Conscience approves. 3. It will obtain the final recognition. It is all recorded. Nothing forgotten, however little. "Cup of cold water." "Ye have done it unto Me." Let us strive for that commendation of Jesus, and for His commendation now, such as that He gave to the widow who gave her mites, and to the woman who did what she could.--J. Rawlinson.
A CALL TO THE CARELESS.
xxxii. 11. Be troubled, ye careless ones.[1]
+I. Who are the careless ones in our own day?+ 1. Those who neglect the Bible. Its main object is to arouse the attention of sinners. Claims and deserves attention. That man is indifferent to the welfare of his country who never examines the principles of its constitution, the character of its laws, &c. So he who neglects the Bible can never be regarded as a serious man. He is careless on the most momentous of all subjects. 2. Those who neglect prayer. All who have any proper feeling towards God must regard this as a solemn duty. Nature teaches its necessity and importance, the Scriptures enjoin it with great earnestness (Luke xviii. 1; 1 Thess. v. 17). 3. Those who neglect the Sabbath. This "made for man," appointed for his convenience and spiritual good. An institution of unspeakable importance as regards eternity--in fact, no religion without it. 4. Those who neglect the institutions of the sanctuary. Those anxious to know "what they must do to be saved" always prize the preaching of the Gospel. On the other hand, as the interest in religion declines, so will be our indifference to the means of grace. See you one who makes his attendance on God's house a matter of convenience, who avails himself of any trifling excuse to be absent, &c., there is a careless one. So also with those who are so absorbed in the pursuits of this life, so as to have neither leisure nor disposition to attend the place of prayer. 5. In a word, those are careless ones who live in impenitence and unbelief. Repentance and faith in Christ. The great interest of the soul cannot be secured without these, and no man can be said to take heed to the things that belong to his peace, without obeying Christ's commands concerning them.
+II. Why such ought to be troubled.+ Those who are indifferent are disposed to remain so--carelessness perpetuates itself. Still there are reasons why such should be troubled. 1. The fact that you are careless is a ground of alarm. Carelessness, an evidence of our ignorance of the true condition of the soul in the sight of God. Something truly frightful in false security where the danger is real and great. With such this fancied security is the most alarming symptom. The sinner suffering from a disease which no human skill can remove--in danger of eternal death. How fearful then the indifference, how appalling the apathy of such! 2. This indifference indicates a state of mind in which every blessing will be abused, and every warning neglected. A habit of body that would render everything received for nourishment or for medicine useless would be dreadful; what, then, of that moral disease which perverts every gift and makes the diversified means which God employs accomplish nothing for our good? 3. You ought to be troubled when you reflect what it is you are careless about, viz., your salvation. The man who is indifferent about his health, or regardless of his temporal interest, is unwise; what, then, of one who hazards the salvation of his soul by neglect? Salvation is offered in Christ--indifference is unbelief. Why so eager after the acquisition of wealth, and indifferent about the true riches? 4. Another cause of alarm is the exposure of your present position. Neglect of the Gospel ensures destruction (Heb. ii. 3). This apathy a crime for which no amiableness or morality can atone. 5. No more powerful means will be employed to awaken you to the concerns of your soul. God disclaims any responsibility for your loss (Isa. v. 4; Matt. xxiii. 37). Ministers have preached, Christian friends have entreated, the Holy Spirit has been sent down, and still you are careless. The very heathen will rise up in judgment. If one rising from the dead would not make those hear who had Moses and the prophets, what shall awaken those who have Christ and the apostles? 6. This carelessness is induced, it is not natural. A long process of hardening the heart is gone through before such a state of apathy is reached. But once ours, it has all the force of habit, and is not easily broken up (Matt. xi. 21). This indifference is voluntary (Acts xxiv. 25). Felix might have taken a different course. No iron necessity binds men to the fatal course they take, but a perverse will and an unbelieving heart. 7. This carelessness is a state of mind that provokes God to withdraw His Spirit. Deeply criminal. No apathy in heaven, there ought to be none on earth. Must it not offend God, to say that He has failed to reveal Himself in a way to interest His creatures? And yet men can be interested in a novel while the Gospel is neglected. Under the old dispensation He said, "My people would not hearken to My voice, so I gave them up to their hearts' lust." What of those who then reject the Son? 8. This indifference will ultimately be broken up, and will aggravate condemnation a thousandfold. Though retribution sleep, it must come and will not tarry. The Jews were spared forty years after the Saviour had wept over their doomed city. So with the sinner; there comes a time when he can be indifferent no longer; the realities of judgment and eternity produce a conviction which will go on deepening for ever. How it will embitter the soul then to dwell upon this carelessness of the past. Recollection itself a source of misery (Luke xvi. 25). What words can express the anguish of a soul thus reminded of lost opportunities, &c.
Throw off this lethargy. From this moment seek the Lord with your whole heart, and call upon Him while He is near. Why run the desperate hazard of having to do all this on a dying bed?--Mark Tucker, D.D.: National Preacher, vol. vii. p. 138.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] See outlines on chap. i. 3, p. 7-12 (THOUGHTLESSNESS through RELIGIOUS CONSIDERATION).
THE ESSENTIAL CONDITION OF MISSIONARY SUCCESS.
xxxii. 13-15. Upon the land of my people, &c.
This chapter commences with a prophecy of the appearance and the kingdom of Christ. But instead of finishing the painting of that beautiful scene, with what might be anticipated as the effect of this appearance, Isaiah proceeds, in our text, to paint a scene of great desolation and barrenness. So, when our Saviour came, the effect of His appearance was by no means such as might have been expected; after gathering a few out of the Jewish nation and thus planting the first Christian Church, He retired from the nation, on account of its impenitence and unbelief; and the land is still abandoned to desolation and barrenness. That barrenness, and the spiritual barrenness and blindness of that despised people, will continue until the arrival of the important event predicted in the last verse.
Though the immediate bearing of these words is upon the state and prospects of the Jewish people, yet they may be considered as assigning the reason why the nations of the earth continue in so wretched a state, with respect to things spiritual and Divine, as they now exhibit; and as directing our expectations, and regulating our confidence, respecting the final termination of this state of things. The momentous truth taught in this passage is, that the ultimate success of missions depends upon the communication of the Spirit.
That the Spirit of God is afforded at present to the Church is evident from its existence; for, since the Church is entirely a spiritual structure, raised and preserved by that Divine Spirit, if it had been utterly withdrawn the Church would have been annihilated. But the especial time here announced has not yet arrived; the Spirit is not "poured from on high" in that plenitude and variety of gifts which may reasonably be expected.
I. That the success of missions depends on the outpouring of the Spirit of God, appears to be manifest, 1. From the Scriptures (text: chap. xli. 19, 20; Zech. iv. 6, xii. 10; Joel ii. 28-32, with Acts ii. 16-18; Ezek. xxxix. 29). 2. From the record concerning the Great Captain of our salvation, He did not enter upon His work until He was anointed by the Spirit of God (Luke iv. 18, 19). 3. From the experience of the apostles. Until the effusion of the Spirit from on high, on the day of Pentecost, they were not qualified for their work in the nations to which they were sent. 4. From the testimony of the apostles. All their successes they attributed to a Divine agency (Acts xi. 21, xiv. 27, xvi. 14; 1 Cor. iii. 5-7, &c.). 5. From the testimony of those who have had the greatest success in preaching the Gospel in heathen as well as in Christian lands.[1] 6. From the records of their most eminent successes.[2] 7. From the nature of the work to be accomplished. Considering the state of men, it is impossible to suppose that anything less than a Divine power can change the heart.[3]
II. There are two reasons why we are in danger of forgetting our dependence on the Spirit of God. 1. We cannot arrange the time and manner in which the Divine agency will be exerted; and we are called upon to exert ourselves in much the same way as though there were no such doctrine existing in our creed, and no such expectation existing in our minds. Consequently, even while strenuously attending to our duty, we are very apt to lose sight of that mysterious Divine agency on which the success of all our efforts must depend, and to direct our attention exclusively to the apparatus we are setting in motion. 2. This is an invisible power, and is manifest to us only in its effects; whereas our own actions and plans are objects of distinct observation. It is one thing to believe that there is an agency of the Spirit, and quite another thing to have a deep and practical persuasion of it, and to regulate all our actions and expectations in dependence on it.
III. Some practical results which should follow from our belief that the success of missions depends on the agency of the Divine Spirit. 1. In attempting the work of the evangelisation of the heathen, we ought to renounce all expectations of success founded on our own strength or resources. 2. In connection with every attempt for the conversion of the heathen, there should be earnest prayer. In every period of the world, a spirit of prayer for this great object has been the precursor of real success. 3. In the manner in which we prosecute this work, we should be exceedingly careful not to grieve the Spirit of God. There must be nothing in our conduct or temper opposed to the simplicity and purity of the Christian dispensation. Our mission must not be made the instrument of ostentation and gratification, or of amusing the public by a display of gaudy eloquence. All rivalry between different societies that has not for its end the knowledge and service of God, is offensive in His sight. Let us guard against the least disposition to depreciate or hide in silence the success of others; which shall lead us to look coolly on the most splendid acts of missionary labour, unless they emanate from ourselves, or bring honour to our party. 4. Our dependence for the men and the means wherewith to carry on this great work, must rest absolutely and exclusively on God. Whensoever He puts forth the influence of His Spirit, some of His servants will devote themselves to the work, and others of them will gladly contribute to it of their wealth (Isa. lx. 5-7). 5. The doctrine of the text teaches us to regulate our confidence with respect to the success of every particular mission, at the same time that it animates that confidence in regard to the final success of the success itself. 6. If success in any field of effort does not reward our toil, instead of charging God with any arbitrarily withholding of the help of His Spirit, let us examine the instruments wherewith we are endeavouring to effect so great and important a charge, and see if there be not in them something unworthy of the enterprise, and keeps back the needed blessing. 7. However success may seem to delay, let us acquiesce, without repining, in the dispensations of God; and let us point our views forward to a future period, that will certainly come, when the Spirit will be poured out from on high, and when the Redeemer will take to Him His great power, and reign universally in the hearts of men.--Robert Hall: Works, vol. vi. pp. 158-180.
As regards the final and universal triumphs of the Gospel, believers cannot entertain a doubt. Glorious things are spoken of Zion, &c. We are explicitly assured that the kingdoms of this world shall one day become the kingdoms of Christ.
But what is to secure this? Our hope hangs on one thing--the promise of the Spirit. Every past conquest has been the effect of union and communion with the Comforter; and our own ability for the enterprises of the future must be derived from the same source. The chapter begins with a cheering account of the approach of a brighter day following a season of gloom and depression, which is to be terminated finally and only by the pouring out of the Spirit from on high. So always. Large as are our resources, we were never more dependent on help from heaven than now. Without special Divine aid we can do nothing.
I. The Spirit of God must be with us, or we shall not use the right means for converting the world. Our work is a vast one, but we are not left in uncertainty as to the way in which it is to be accomplished. The Gospel made for man. Sending the knowledge of Christ abroad through the nations is the appointed method of saving men. 1. More faith is needed in God's instrumentality. The cause may seem unequal to the effect, but a Divine unseen agency accompanies it, and difficulties must pass away. 2. No part of our business to make experiments for the relief of human woe or guilt; or dig channels for our compassion other than those in which the Saviour's flowed. Calvary our sole expedient, &c. 3. We need to keep to the means by which all this is accomplished without deviation or faltering. A downward tendency in the best of men, even when engaged in the holiest of work, which nothing but a constantly exerted influence from God can effectually counteract. Charters, subscriptions, pledges will not do it. 4. Must not lay our strength out on extraneous matter. Our true service only performed while relying on Divine aid.
II. Unless the Holy Spirit be with us, we shall never prosecute our work with proper energy. An enterprise like ours cannot be expected to flourish unless it takes fast hold on the hearts and sympathies of its friends. It is a cause of too much import to be carried on lukewarmly. One of the main purposes of the Church, her own self-extension. How shall we get up to this state of feeling, this standard of action? Never! until we have more of the Spirit of God.
Again, half our strength has to be expended in trying to keep our enterprise up to the lines already reached. We seem at times to be merely stationary, and this side by side often with great secular prosperity. Why this falling off? And that as contrasting with the success of primitive believers? They seem to have carried with them a never-failing assurance, that where they planted and watered, God would give the increase. The Church can never come up to this standard until the Spirit is more copiously poured upon us from on high. We are shut up to this single resource.
III. That the Spirit must be given us, or we shall never see our efforts crowned with success. Something in a simple dependence on Divine help which imparts to our labours a character so earnest and decided as betokens a favourable result. We work best ourselves when we feel that God is working in us and by us. Nothing so nerves the arm and strengthens the heart as confidence in Him. So Luther, Whitfield, Paul wrought. Nothing else will keep zeal alive in the Church.
Hence arises 1. Our encouragement. Faith in the efficacy of the Gospel preached under the influence of the Holy Ghost is to be the mainspring of all our efforts. The Spirit is to take of the things of Christ and show them to men. We can only be straitened on that side. 2. Our duty. All converging to a single point--prayer.--David Magie, D.D.: National Preacher, vol. xxi. p. 221.
Let it be supposed that the invader and the conqueror have been in our land. Cultivation has disappeared, impoverishment and neglect reign over its once fertile and well-cared-for fields. The city, formerly the centre of life and activity, depopulated and desolated. Its factories dilapidated, its exchange a ruin, its streets overgrown with grass. Such was the ruin the prophet saw about to befall his country. How long would it continue? Until God should pour His Spirit upon the people, so as to turn them from their iniquities. When the moral scene changed, the material scene would also. Prosperity would return. The city would again be populated; the country resume its beauty and fertility; the wilderness would be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest.
It is a picture of the world's moral desolation without the Gospel; of the time when the power of the Gospel shall be displayed; and of the happy state of the world in that day of its power. These topics are presented in the text; the necessity, the certainty, and the condition of the world's salvation.
I. ITS NECESSITY. It is a fallen world. Scepticism at present criticises the Christian representation of the moral state of human nature as too low, while its standard is too high. Whatever may be said of the latter part of the indictment, the former part must be denied. The alienation of the human heart from God; its aversion to His holiness; the depth of its pollution, as evinced in the crimes and vices which disfigure the face of society, and are too patent to be refined away. With all the restraining influences around us, we have enough at our hand to justify the representation that man is morally fallen and desolated. Add to this the idolatry, with its attendant cruelty and impurity, prevalent over so large a population of the human family. And to this the extreme and manifold wickedness of men in history. The Christian representation of the state of human nature is fully justified. There is universal sin. There is need of mercy, change, conversion. Not merely the adoption, by large masses of men, for various reasons, of new religious names and forms. It is a personal conversion. Men need the change one by one.
II. ITS CERTAINTY. We should despair of the world's conversion if our vision were limited to its existing state. We should pronounce it as hopeless as the attempt to tear up the everlasting mountains from their roots, or to drive the ocean from its bed. But we are not thus limited. We are not at liberty thus to limit our vision. In the Word of God we find it declared that the redeeming dominion of Christ shall be co-extensive with the globe. Plain statements sometimes, utterly inexplicable except in this way. Including these in our vision, we have nothing to do with the difficulties, but only with the great duty of their destruction.
Include in the vision the words of Christ. His declarations and commands before leaving the world contemplate the universal diffusion of His salvation. And we must include His work. The expenditure will bear some relation to the result. It cost the death of the incarnate Son of God. That the event is long delayed proves nothing when we remember how long the world had to wait for His coming.
III. ITS CONDITION. The moral desolation will continue until the Spirit be poured upon us from on high. The Gospel only saves as the Spirit makes it efficacious. The human heart and will are opposed to the entrance of the truth. Not only evidence but influence is required. It is essentially a spiritual work, and only the Holy Spirit is equal to it. It is a work in hearts opposed to God, and His power can alone produce the willingness which is the very essence of the saving change. Every time we pray for the conversion of sinners and for the coming of God's kingdom, we practically acknowledge the necessity of the Spirit's work. The universal necessity is the necessity of the individual case. The world's conversion is pictured out in the conversion of every sinner. The power of the Spirit is the security for the fulfilment of the Word (Joel ii. 28-32; Acts ii. 17-21; Ezek. xxxvii. 1-14; John iii. 6-8; 1 Cor. ii. 4, 5, iii. 6, 7).
From the text, then, we may learn two or three lessons relative to the work of Christ's Church in the world.
1. That all such work should be conducted in humble dependence on the Holy Spirit. Such dependence does not supersede labour, any more than the consciousness that the sun and the air and other mysterious influences of nature are necessary, supersedes the husbandman's labour.
2. That it should be conducted in a spirit of prayer for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Whatever God promises to His Church, it is warranted to ask in prayer. Prayer is the condition, on the Church's part, on which the promise is suspended. In that wonderful passage of Ezekiel where the Spirit is promised in His cleansing and renewing power, the condition is expressly named (Ezek. xxxvi. 37). While the hundred and twenty disciples were gathered together praying, the Holy Ghost fell upon them. How often does the great missionary apostle ask those who have been brought to Christ to pray for him in his continued work among those who have not.
3. That all Christian effort should be conducted, therefore, in expectation of the outpouring of the Spirit. Do we not dishonour Him, when we fail to believe in the Spirit's work as a living reality--when we do not expect prayerful work for Christ to be followed by proportionate success! "Until the Spirt be poured upon us from on high," all is desolation; when the Spirit shall be poured upon us from on high, all shall be beauty.--John Rawlinson.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Brainerd, Schwartz, and Eliot, and those who in every age have had the most success in turning men to righteousness, have been the first to declare that they were nothing. They, of all men, most ardently implored, and most entirely depended upon, the agency we are now contemplating; and their success appears to have been more in proportion to their earnest solicitude in seeking this blessing, than to any other cause.--Hall.
[2] Look at the history of those who have been the most successful missionaries to the heathen, and see whether you cannot trace certain results for which you cannot account on any other hypothesis than that most momentous one of a Divine influence, at certain periods, accompanying their labours. In the history of Brainerd and Eliot, and others, you perceive that for a considerable time there seem to have been the same efforts employed, the same doctrines taught, the same earnest and zealous prayers, and the same watchfulness over their own hearts, and yet no saving effect produced on others: all still remained barren; no desirable movement of the heart was excited; and this continued for a long period. Such was the state of things when Brainerd first undertook the mission to the Indians; but, after a considerable time, while he was propounding only the same doctrines, and using only the same means, the Spirit of God put forth its energy, and Divine communication was imparted at one season "like a rushing, mighty wind," at others "like the dew and the rain from heaven," softening and thus opening the heart which had resisted the entrance of sacred truth, and causing the tear of genuine penitence to steal down the cheek. Nobody could doubt that there was some one greater than a missionary there;--that the Spirit of God had changed the barren soil to sacred ground, and had wetted it, "like Gideon's fleece, with the dews of heaven." And so it is, my brethren, that every person who has had any long acquaintance with the Christian ministry, is aware that there are certain periods of barrenness and certain periods for bearing fruit. The same talents, whether great or small, may be brought into action; but there shall be some seasons in which efforts, in no way special, shall be crowned with extraordinary success.--Hall.
[3] Were it the design of God merely to build a foundation already laid, or to repair a dilapidated edifice, one might talk of the efficacy of human suasion; but when that which is to be done is to create a new principle, to pour new life into the soul, to give "a new heart," to plant new seeds in a soil where all has been barrenness and desolation, to turn waters into new channels, to effect a total change of heart and character,--what can accomplish all this but an almighty power? Human suasion can operate only on principles which already exist. When Demosthenes, with his powerful eloquence, excited the Athenians to combat, he only called into action, by a skilful grouping of motives, and an appropriate exercise of his genius, principles already existing, but which had lain dormant. He created nothing new; he transformed them not into new creatures, but only roused and stimulated those principles which had animated the bosoms of nations in resisting tyranny in every age. But when the apostles went forth to preach faith in Christ, they proposed to make a change in the mind and heart of man to which there was no natural tendency; they required a creature "dead in trespasses and sins" to awake to Christ; they proposed to convert him into a devoted servant, a subject most loyal, affectionate, and ardent; and how was it possible that mere human art or force could accomplish such changes as these?
The Gospel is the instrument of God, and wonderfully fitted by Him for His work; but even it is nothing more than an instrument; and when it is successful and baffles every human effort exerted against it, it is because it is wielded by an omnipotent arm.--Hall.
H. E. I., 1400-1405, 3432-3442, 4106-4113.
THE MORAL WILDERNESS TRANSFORMED.
xxxii. 15. Until the Spirit be poured upon us, &c.
This chapter contains three distinct and important topics: the great and inestimable blessings resulting from the reign of Christ; a denunciation of the Divine judgments on an ungrateful and rebellious people, and especially on the supine and careless women of Judea; and an assurance of more auspicious days.
I. The mind of man resembles a moral wilderness. This was not the case originally. In paradise all was moral attraction and glory. But, in consequence of man's apostasy from God, his powers have been withered, and his Divine beauty has been defaced. The mind of man is a moral wilderness--1. As it is a seat of sterility and desolation. 2. As, till it is transformed, it is of little use, because its best powers are not consecrated to God. 3. As it is the soil where noxious and destructive plants exist and flourish.
II. The means appointed for the cultivation of the mind of man are to be diligently employed, because, 1. These means are unfolded to us in the Gospel. 2. God requires us to employ them. 3. The Divine sanction and encouragement have been given to those who have diligently used them (H. E. I., 3424-3465).
III. The best and most powerful means will be unavailing without the agency and influence of the Spirit.
IV. But with the influence of the Holy Spirit, a great moral transformation will be effected. 1. There will be a scene of cultivation; the wilderness will be converted into a fruitful field; enclosed, cleansed, irrigated, carefully tilled; presenting a beautiful appearance to the eye, and refreshed with the dews and rains of heaven. 2. There will be a scene of fertility; as a field, it will be rich in the variety and luxuriance of its produce; all the graces of the Holy Spirit will be fully and beautifully exemplified. 3. There will be a scene of grandeur. The fruitful field will be counted for a forest. A fine forest is a majestic and striking feature in a landscape. There is dignity, magnitude, elevation; all these moral characteristics are found in the mind on which the Spirit has been poured out. The saints will grow in grace, and increase with all the increase of God.
V. Learn from this subject. 1. The importance of honouring the Spirit by reverence, worship, obedience, confidence. 2. The necessity of waiting for the Spirit. Though He tarry, yet we are perseveringly to wait. 3. The duty of praying for the Spirit, and of expressing unfeigned gratitude for every communication of His grace.--G. Clayton: The Pulpit, vol. xvii. p. 190.
PEACE THE WORK OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.
xxxii. 17. The work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever.
A large part of the book of Isaiah is taken up in setting forth the glories and the blessedness of Christ's kingdom. Sometimes this is done by grand images drawn from all that is brightest in the outward world (xxx. 26). Sometimes the great change to be wrought in mankind is spoken of under the figure of a like change in the beasts of the field (xi. 6-9). Again, in other places, as in the text and the adjoining verses, the description puts on more of a moral and spiritual character, and declares how God will be glorified in the hearts and lives of men (vers. 15-17). On reading these descriptions of a time when the world is to be full of peace and blessedness, we can hardly help wishing we were in such a world. But that time is not yet come. Many places may we find, where all seem to be bent on hurting and destroying one another. But the sun himself, with his all-piercing eye, though he beholds every dwelling of man, cannot see a single village which is the abode of peace and quietness and assurance for ever. Nor has he in all his journeys ever seen such a state of things. Did the prophet, then, see falsely? Was the vision which he saw a lying vision? Not so. If the "work," the effect, is wanting, it is that the cause is wanting. Did righteousness prevail upon the earth, there peace would also prevail. Wherever we find anything like true righteousness, and according to the degree of the likeness, we also find peace. Whatsoever is done to promote righteousness will also promote peace.
"The work of righteousness shall be peace." The words have a sweet sound; but when we think of the whole meaning that lies wrapt up in them, they may well strike us with awe. For while they declare that righteousness shall produce peace, they at the same time imply that nothing but righteousness shall or can. How, then, can peace ever abide upon earth, or dwell in the heart of man?
Another disturbing recollection is, that when it has pleased the all-righteous God to show forth His righteousness, as in the days of Noah, the work of that righteousness was not peace, but horror, and desolation, and destruction. Even when the ministers and executors of earthly righteousness pass through a land, they do not bring peace to the culprits who they visit. How, then, can the perfect righteousness of God bring peace to the sinful race of man? There is but one way, a way purposed by God in the counsels of His unfathomable wisdom, the way whereby He vouchsafes to bestow His own righteousness upon man, to the end that He may make man partaker of His peace.
Here some may object, that righteousness, with its sternness and terrors, does not seem to be, of all virtues and graces, the one best fitted to be the parent of peace. Rather, they may say, is peace the work of mercy; for that mercy alone can produce peace, at least in sinners; wherefore we are wont to pray God to grant us pardon and peace. This is true. Unless mercy be shown to sinners, they can never enjoy peace. Yet, unless mercy go along with righteousness, mercy cannot produce peace. If mercy allowed the sinners to abide in their sins, they would still be under the sentence which declares that there is no peace to the wicked.[1] Christ will never give peace alone. He will only give it along with righteousness,--first righteousness and then peace. Unless He had been the Lord our Righteousness, He could not have been the Prince of Peace. Therefore they who will not receive His righteousness, cannot receive His peace. To them He brings no peace, but a sword.
But although the course of this world has never been answerable to the magnificent visions of ancient prophecy, still in some measure the prophecies have been fulfilled. To the godly, to all who believe in Christ and love Him, to all who desire to serve and obey Him, He has indeed brought peace; and even amid the endless tumults and troubles and jarrings of the world, they feel that He has done so. They feel that He has set them at peace with God, by making them partakers of that righteousness, of which peace is the work. Moreover, there is hardly one of our Lord's commandments which does not tend, in proportion as we obey it, to fill our hearts with peace, which does not dry up one source or another of disquieting, harassing care.[2]
We may now perceive why there is so little peace in the world. It is because there is so little righteousness. The effect cannot exist without the cause. The one simple commandment, "Love thy neighbour as thyself," were it followed through all the branching duties into which it spreads, would turn the earth into a garden of peace.
"For the wicked," God has said, "there is no peace." But light is sown for the righteous, the light of joy and peace. The true disciple of Christ, he who has sought to be clothed in Christ's righteousness, will always enjoy peace, even here on earth. He will enjoy it in every condition of life. In riches, in poverty, in health, in sickness, in every outward circumstance of life, in the hour of death, the godly, and they alone, enjoy peace: in the day of judgment they, and they alone, will enjoy peace. And the peace they will have enjoyed till then will only have been a poor faint foretaste of the peace into which they will then enter, of the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, and in the full enjoyment of which they will live thenceforward through eternity.--Julius Charles Hare, M.A.: Sermons Preacht in Herstmonceux Church, pp. 325-346.
The Bible is the revelation of a gracious remedy for evil. Points out rightful claims of the Divine government. Charges the human race with disregard of these claims. Man is guilty of unrighteousness. There is universal sin. It is in man's nature. It constitutes a moral disqualification for return. God's remedial plan comprehends the provision of pardoning mercy, and of regenerating mercy. The former is found in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, which constitutes a righteous ground on which the penal consequences of sin may be remitted. The latter, in this no less wonderful work of the Holy Spirit by which the sinner's disposition undergoes a change that makes him a new creature in Christ Jesus. Let it be supposed that this is the universal experience: instead of unrighteousness, the righteousness that springs from such contact with Christ by His Spirit universally prevails. It is a change of which we do not despair. We are taught to expect it. Thus the text will be universally fulfilled.
I. INTERNATIONALLY.
One of the most awful facts of human history is the extent to which war has marked its track. In the causes of all wars unrighteousness is found. But if the supposition we have made were a reality, wars would become impossible. Nations and their rulers would repress the desire to possess themselves of what is not their own. If different interests induced different opinions between them wise and righteous arbitration would prevent their imbruing their hands in each other's blood. There would be "quietness and security for ever" (Isa. ii. 4, xi. 6-9).
II. SOCIALLY.
1. Would the scenes witnessed in our streets, and the revelations of police courts continue, if all men were characterised by the righteousness contemplated in our text? Because men are unrighteous, they encroach upon each other. The religion of Christ can be ill spared. Where its influence prevails, society is better, happier, more peaceful, more secure than elsewhere.
2. Think of the family. In the home all exhibit their true selves. Selfishness and injustice may render it a place of incessant strife. But our Christian homes, even where allowance has been made for infirmities and peculiarities, are usually pervaded by an atmosphere of peace and love. The influences that surround them produce mutual forbearance and studiousness of others, restrain the harder and develop the softer passions. Just in the measure in which the subduing influences of Christian character prevail will our homes be secure from strife and discomfort.
3. Think of the Church. There are divisions in the Church, it is said. But there is less alienation of heart than is commonly supposed. The common Christian's sentiments override the separated denominations. So within the churches. Not many, in proportion to the whole, are divided. Animosity, as arising from difference of opinion, is restrained by Christian love. And if all were perfectly Christian, there would be none.
III. PERSONALLY.
1. There is peace with God. Because there is reconciliation in Christ.
2. There is peace within. The storms of distress and fear raised by the sense of sin are allayed by the cross. The discomfort of unsettled life-purposes is terminated by a decision with which the soul is satisfied. Its peace is enhanced by converse with heaven.
It is abiding peace. The peace in all aspects continues as long as the righteousness. The holiness of heaven, and therefore its peaceful rest, will continue for ever.
Have we this righteousness? Have we it in heart, in sympathy, in life? If not, we are on the side of unrighteousness. We are insecure. We need to be born again. O seek to possess and extend it.--J. Rawlinson.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] We may see this in human things. When a parent does not uphold order and law in his family, there will be no peace in that family. When a government does not uphold order and law in a nation, there will be no peace in that nation. They are to be upheld mercifully indeed; but still they are to be upheld. Now in man both are imperfect, both his righteousness and his mercy; and therefore they are ever jarring. Sometimes he will lean to the one, sometimes to the other; and so neither produces the work of peace. But in God both are at one: neither shall hinder, neither can give way to the other. Sooner shall the heavens split, like a breaking wave, into foam, and melt away, than the slightest shadow of anything that is not perfectly righteous shall pass over the righteousness of God. Accordingly it could only be when perfect mercy and perfect truth met together, that righteousness and mercy could kiss each other. And thus alone shall any ever enjoy perfect peace, when they have received the full forgiveness of their sins from the perfect mercy of God, and are clothed in the perfect righteousness of Christ. Even in heaven there can be no peace, except it be the work of righteousness.--Hare.
[2] When He teaches us that the eye of God is ever watching over us, and the hand of God ever providing over us,--when He commands us to pray to God with confidence as to our heavenly Father, and to make all our wants and wishes known to Him,--hereby, if we give heed to His bidding, He at once hushes all those never-ending, still-beginning anxieties, which are the thorns and thistles planted by the curse in the human heart. When He teaches us to love our neighbours, and to forgive, nay, to love our enemies, He roots up all the cause which destroy peace and breed quarrels between man and man. Every passion that we subdue is so much gain to our peace; for every passion is a peacebreaker. Covetousness, ambition, lust, drunkenness, vanity, pride are peacebreakers. All these passions set us at variance with neighbours; all of them set us at variance with ourselves. Whereas, contentment, temperance, sobriety, chastity, modesty, meekness are peacemakers.--Hare.
THE PEACEFUL HABITATION.
xxxii. 18. And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation.[1]
No doubt "the peaceable habitation" is found in moral dispositions created within by Divine grace. Here is, 1st. The Chamber of Holiness. Oh, the sweet tranquillity of a holy life! 2. Here is the hallowed Chamber of Resignation to the Divine will. If the soul is, by Divine grace, able to be still in the midst of temptation, it will also be still in the midst of personal trial. 3. Here is Trust in God's providence. This is the observatory, and like all observatories, it is high and clear. Other observatories boast that from them you may see the stars in the day-time; but from this, you may see the sun in the night-time.--E. Paxton Hood: Dark Sayings on a Harp, pp. 361-368.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] See CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST, xxxiii. 20.
SPIRITUAL HUSBANDRY.
xxxii. 20. Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth thither the feet of the ox and the ass.
Two explanations of this description of agricultural life. The first refers it to the practice of literally sowing on the waters. In some parts of the East, particularly in the sowing of rice, the time chosen is when the rivers overflow their banks. Cattle are turned into the wet land to tread it and prepare it for the seed, which is then cast upon the water. It subsides into the ground and yields a quick harvest. If this is the allusion, the corresponding passage will be Eccles. xi. 1. The other explanation refers it to the sowing of seed in soil that is well watered by its proximity to some river, and to such a state of security that the oxen and asses may be turned upon the land to feed at large, without fences to limit their excursions. Either way the general idea is the same. It is the close of the beautiful description of peaceful prosperity after the return from captivity. The land would be cultivated in security, the harvests gathered in peace; a splendid contrast to the desolation of a country which has been the seat of war.
We apply the text to the privilege of labouring for the production of a moral harvest in human souls by the teaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Here is--
I. AN ANALOGY BETWEEN THE MATERIAL AND THE SPIRITUAL HUSBANDRY. Our present subject is not our own spiritual culture, although that is of supreme importance and the primary qualification for the cultivation of other souls. We are always sowing seed, and the fruit of which is in our character and destiny, in time and eternity (Gal. vi. 7, 8).
The analogy between the moral and material husbandry is very obvious (1 Cor. iii. 6-9, ix. 10, 11; James iii. 18; Matt. xiii. 3-32). This is the great work committed to the Church. We are to tell the story of God's love; to make known the ruin; to proclaim the salvation; to persuade men.
Now, this supposes several things:--1. Opportunity. By the restoration of Israel to their own land, they would have the opportunity of which they had been long deprived. There have been times when endeavours to teach God's Word was prohibited. In some lands it is so still. There are persons who will not hear. There are classes and circles, higher and lower, which are inaccessible to you. None of us is responsible for sowing the seed when there is no opportunity. But in so far as opportunity exists, or can be made, it behoves all to avail themselves of it to the full extent of their power. Mothers have the opportunity with their children. Sunday-school teachers. Doors opening in heathen lands. 2. Capacity. To sow a field requires some knowledge of the kind of work. City men would make sorry work. So the spiritual sowing requires some capacity. Two mistakes may be made. There is the mistake of those who think any kind of work will do; and of those who estimate the requirements so highly and their own power so humbly that they never venture anything. The latter deterrent operates largely. It falls in with the love of ease. It is sometimes said that the extension of popular education demands a higher class of Sunday-school teachers, for instance, than sufficed some time ago. Many Christians think their own education inadequate. It is a mistake. If we cannot realise our ideal, let us do our best. Besides, experience does not show that boys and girls are ahead of teachers of average intelligence. And spiritual earnestness is a greater qualification than even intellectual endowment. Capacity for Christian work, like any other, perhaps more than any other, increases by exercise. 3. Interest. He who would succeed must be interested in his work. He who dislikes it or is indifferent to its results will not do it well. Commonly what was undertaken merely as an occupation, or for advantage, becomes a pleasure. The various labours of the husbandman interest him. And this is essential to the spiritual sower. There must be a disposition for the work. It presents attractions only to such as are in sympathy with its great ends. There must be a sincere belief of the truth, thorough conviction of its necessity to man, and a benevolent desire for the widest dissemination of its blessings. Working in this spirit, your interest in it will constantly deepen. By the prospect of harvest you will be animated. With the heart in the work and the love of Christ in the heart, the sowing time will be full of spiritual interest. 4. Diligence. "All waters." This suggests earnestness, energy, promptitude. Throw all your energy into this work. The husbandman watches everything that bears on his husbandry. Business men spare no pains in working out their arrangements. We must be equally diligent.
II. THE BLESSEDNESS OF BEING ENGAGED IN THE SPIRITUAL HUSBANDRY.
1. In the work itself. It becomes a pleasure. Knowledge and experience of the truth increase by communication, as seed by being sown. Spiritual enjoyment is deepened. Christian character grows. Many can say the sowing days are the happiest. 2. In the consciousness of usefulness. It is not labour in vain. Assured that we shall reap if we faint not. Already there are signs. Evil is prevented. One and another are being trained to goodness. The future career of those among whom you sow will be influenced in the most valuable way. Some will have their passage to the grave helped. The future world will be brightened to them, as well as the present. 3. In the Master's approbation. As the work goes on, the consciousness of this is a blessedness. And when this world is left behind, His "well done."
Address--1. Those who are sowing, with words of encouragement. 2. Those who ought to be, with words of exhortation.--J. Rawlinson.
THE USE OF OPPORTUNITIES.
xxxii. 20. _Blessed are they that sow beside all waters, &c._
I. We may use the language of the text as a warning against the neglect of the least opportunity of usefulness to others. The prophet pronounces a blessing upon those who are prepared to scatter seed, not only where there is a probable prospect of a rich harvest, but upon whatsoever soil God shall bring them in contact with. It is not only by the waters that are sweet and sparkling that the sowing is to be carried on, but beside the floods that seem likely to overwhelm. We are to maintain a lively sense of our obligation to do good unto all men as we have opportunity. Even those who are alive to the reality of the effect which one man's life and conversation may have upon another, nay, who are desirous to be useful to their brethren in Christ, are under a great temptation to be ruled by predilections for or against particular persons, and to regard some as too proud, too insincere, too thoughtless to reward their labour. Or their affections are so absorbed in one or two individuals, united with them by blood or friendship, that they are rendered comparatively indifferent about the influence they may exert upon others. But whether we choose or no, our power for good or evil extends over all who come within our shadow, and we should neglect no opportunity to make it a power for good (H. E. I. 1857-65, 4596).
II. We should not neglect any opportunity of securing benefit for ourselves. Every period of existence is to be spent under God. Swift and resistless the waters of life glide on. But beside them all, the Christian sows his good seed. Equally in youth, middle age, and in advancing years, whatsoever his hand finds to do, he does it heartily, as unto the Lord; and in each he reaps a harvest according to his sowing in that which preceded it. Blessed through eternity will he be who sowed wisely and liberally beside all the waters of life.--J. R. Woodford, M.A.: Sermons preached in Bristol, pp. 228-243.
It should be the ambition of us all to be useful. The difference between one man who lives a useful, and another who lives a useless life, is simply this--the one improves his opportunities for doing good and making others happy, while he ministers to his own well-being; and the other lives only for himself, and reaps the barren harvest of his selfishness. Life comes but once to each of us, and blessed are they who, bearing this over in mind, are careful to "sow beside all waters."
I. Those who wish to be useful should never forget the many favourable opportunities for sowing seed on the clear and untroubled waters of childhood. II. Another opportunity for scattering precious seed is on the troubled waters of strife (Matt. v. 9). III. Another, on the stagnant and muddy waters of doubt and unbelief. It often happens that the Christian is obliged to listen to the vapid and senseless discourse of those who seek to bring the religion of the Son of God into contempt, and if he would be prepared for such occasions of seed-sowing, he ought to be a diligent student of the Word of God, and of such works as will give him a right understanding of it. IV. There will be times when words of comfort may be spoken to bewildered souls about to embark on "the narrow sea" which divides this world from the next.--John N. Newton: Golden Truths, pp. 73-81.
PROVIDENCE.
xxxiii. 1. Woe to thee that spoilest, &c.
Dr. Geikie says: As a nation the Assyrians are branded as treacherous, untruthful, and lawless (Nah. iii. 1; Jonah iii. 8). No treaty could bind them; might was right; and when interest seemed to demand it, they "regarded no man" (xxxiii. 8). Their pride was that of a race which looked on all others as their natural inferiors (Zeph. ii. 15; Ezek. xxxi. 10, 11; Isa. x. 7-14, xxxvii. 24-28).[1]
The text brings before us the doctrine of an overruling Providence.
We see an overruling Providence at work--1. In meting out punishment to the wicked (H. E. I. 4604, 4612). 2. In accomplishing a just retribution. The Assyrian is paid back by the Babylonian (Rev. xiii. 10); Jacob's treachery is returned to him in his son's deceit (1 Tim. v. 24; P. D. 2995). 3. In bringing good out of evil. Wicked men overreach themselves; the devil is outwitted. The short-sighted vengeance of man becomes an instrument of perfecting the higher nature of the people of God, whom they oppress; the fire of man's wrath is transformed into the refining fire of Divine purification (Mal. iii. 3).--J. Macrae Simcock.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Some time before the return of the Assyrians, Hezekiah had sought to deprecate the wrath of Sennacherib, of which terrible rumours had reached him from Lachish. For this end he had sent ambassadors, in the hope that they might possibly convince the great king that no treachery was intended, and save the country from a second invasion, or possibly even obtain favourable terms for Lachish itself. The embassy had found him at the city, which was soon after taken by storm, and delivered to the tender mercies of the soldiery. A slab from his palace at Nineveh, now in the British Museum, shows him in state "receiving plunder of the town of Lachish." He sits on a throne before his tent, two arrows in one hand and his bow in the other, while prisoners are being brought before him, an officer, attended by a guard, stating the facts respecting them. Two eunuchs stand with feather flaps to wave over him for coolness, and to keep away the flies. Two horses, ready for his use, are behind, soldiers with tall lances attending them. The front rank of prisoners before him kneel to implore mercy, and behind them is a long file of their unfortunate companions. Some whose fate has already been decided have been led a short way off and killed; others may be spared as slaves. A chariot with two horses stands near--perhaps that of Sennacherib--and numerous fruit-trees over the whole slab show the fruitfulness of the country. A strong force of horse and foot on the right of the picture guards the king.--Giekie.
THE SAINT'S ATTITUDE IN THE TIME OF TROUBLE.
xxxiii. 2. O Lord, be gracious unto us; we have waited for Thee: be Thou their arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble.
Like its predecessor, this prophecy belongs to the time of distress and fear incident on the threatened Assyrian invasion. Dependence on Egypt had failed. So had Hezekiah's present to the invader. He had accepted the present, but had still pressed on. The south of Judah was covered with his soldiers. Isaiah lifts up this prayer for his country. An example to Christians to interest themselves in the politics of their country, and to include them in their prayers. We have never known the terrible presence of an invader; but there is always occasion for appeal to the Divine Governor and Helper. It is no mark of spirituality of mind to exclude national affairs from thought, as belonging to a sphere that has nothing to do with God or with prayer.
The prophet's eye saw, in the immediate future, the frustration of the invader's plans. The God of Israel would interpose. The invasion was unjust; the negotiations had been conducted deceitfully by the enemy; ruin would fall on his head (ver. 1). But the certainty of deliverance was no reason for the relaxation of effort, or for abstinence from prayer. God's promise is the encouragement and directory of prayer. Therefore he cries, "O Lord, be gracious unto us." &c.
The prayer of the text is applicable to any time of trouble in the personal experience of any Christian. It is a time that may come to any one. It should enter into our calculations about the future, however exempt from it at present. It should be prepared for, as for old age, or death. We never know when it hangs over us, nor in what form. To all it comes occasionally; to some frequently; to some constantly; to some severely. Often from quarters whence least expected. Things and persons most precious to us are sometimes the occasion of bitterest grief. The common lot. We can only really prepare for it by the possession of resource which it cannot diminish. This is one of the points at which Christians have so largely the advantage over others. God is always with them, and always accessible.
Our text represents the saint's attitude in "the time of trouble." He cries to God and waits and waits as he cries.
I. HE CRIES TO GOD.
How precious to have a friend so interested in you that anything you say about your trouble will find an interested listener. It is a relief to speak to such a friend. Many of God's people find this relief every day. Many a trouble can be told to none but Him who keeps every secret and sympathises with every distress (P. D. 462, 463).
What do we need in the time of trouble? It is all in this prayer: GOD HIMSELF. Each petition resolves itself into something that God is, and is to us.
1. His Graciousness. The root of everything must be the Divine disposition. He might be malevolent, unpitying, unmerciful. There might be a cause of separation sufficient to prevent any favourable access to Him. In the case of multitudes there is such a cause. Many live without God, ignore Him, disregard His authority, yet in the time of trouble imagine they may fly to Him, in the face of His Word, which says until sin is abandoned there can be no friendship with Him. He has provided a gracious way of reconciliation. The first step we must take is the coming to Him through the Saviour for the mercy that obliterates all past transgressions. In many cases the time of trouble is sent as the means of leading us to the Saviour. To be assured of His gracious disposition while He permits the trouble, goes far towards the comfort of the troubled heart. He loves you although you are under discipline. The sun shines in full splendour although it is hidden behind a cloud. We may wait patiently for the trouble to pass away, so long as we can confidently ask the Lord to be gracious unto us.
2. His Strength. "Be Thou their arm every morning." The time of trouble reveals our weakness. Mental energy, courage, bodily power often succumb under the pressure of heavy trouble. We realise the value of a strength beyond our own. It is better to pass through "the time of trouble" with God for our arm every morning, than to be exempt from trouble and left without Him. Paul groaned under the pain of his thorn in the flesh and besought the Lord thrice to take it away. But Christ's assurance, "My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness," together with his experience of its sufficiency, made him glory in his infirmity. We need the arm of God for defence against the enemy; to lean upon for the work that may be necessary to our extrication from trouble.
3. His Salvation. From some troubles salvation cannot be in the shape of restoration of the previously existing state of things. The young man loses his precious wife and child; and in their grave it seems that every interest for him is buried. They cannot be restored. But God's salvation can come to him in the form of a richer spiritual experience, a deeper acquaintance with His Word and Way, a completer consecration to His service, and a larger inflowing of Divine consolation than he could have known without it. But there are some troubles from which salvation comes by their cessation: sicknesses, and business reverses. They are severe while they continue. But deliverance comes. In some cases greater prosperity is realised than formerly, to which, in God's wonder-working Providence, the trouble was necessary. Joseph in Egypt. Job. The trouble may have been severe temptation. If saved, you are the stronger for it. Cry to God in trouble. Let it be the time of special prayer.
II. HE WAITS ON GOD.
"We have waited for Thee." This ever accompanies true prayer. The believer looks for the blessing he has asked. It implies, 1. Faith. That God hears. Faith has a very close relation to prayer. 2. Expectation. There may be degrees of confidence, but there must be more or less of expectancy. The sailor's mother watches at the window for the ship in which her son is coming. 3. Patience. Wait God's time. Until His end is accomplished. Thus let the Church wait for the coming of Christ, which will be full salvation.
May we know by experience the blessedness of knowing God in time of trouble! Blessed is the people that is in such a case. Come and enjoy this blessedness. Decide for the Lord Jesus Christ. The world is insufficient. Renounce it.--J. Rawlinson.
THE IMPORTANCE OF RELIGIOUS KNOWLEDGE.
(Sunday School Anniversary.)
xxxiii. 6. And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation.
Primarily these words seem to have been spoken of Hezekiah, of the happiness and security which the Jews experienced under his reign,--a reign which was evidently blessed of God to their good; but, like many other predictions, it has a larger application. It refers to the kingdom of the Messiah; to the blessings resulting from the reign of Christ over His redeemed people (chap. xxxii. 1, 2). The declaration is, that in the time of the Messiah there should be a diffusion of knowledge so wide and efficacious that society should be rendered stable and tranquil by it; that this wisdom and knowledge should produce salvation, or deliverance from temporal and spiritual calamities; and that this salvation should be a strong one. This has been already in part fulfilled; but only in part. Christianity introduced religious light; and that light became the parent of every other kind of useful and excellent knowledge. So little opposition is there between Christianity and true science, that all the most important discoveries of a scientific nature, all the knowledge whence nations derive power and refinement, have occurred in Christian nations, and Christian nations only. It is now generally agreed that it is only from the diffusion of wisdom and knowledge that we can expect settled and tranquil times. But we must remember that there is no real connection between mere scientific knowledge and moral influence. The proposition which I shall endeavour to establish is, that no moral influence is exerted, except by the truths revealed to us in the Scriptures; and that whatever effects are produced by knowledge of any other kind, those effects do not constitute a real moral improvement, either of society or of individuals.
I. I APPEAL TO THE AUTHORITY OF SCRIPTURE. The Bible is favourable to knowledge. Every Jewish parent was commanded to teach his children diligently the laws and statutes which God had given, and the historical circumstances with which they were connected; that so they might be, in the sight of all nations, a wise and understanding people. The New Testament likewise commands all believers diligently to study the facts and doctrines of their faith. Neither the Mosaic nor the Christian religion was founded in ignorance. But throughout the Old Testament, where any moral influence is ascribed to wisdom, it is the true knowledge of God that is to be understood, and that only. So in the New Testament, so far from finding any intimation that mere knowledge, of any and every kind, is sufficient to exert a moral influence on the heart and mind, we find passages in which it is represented as operating to the hindrance of salvation (Matt. xi. 25; 1 Cor. i. 21; Col. ii. 8).
II. I APPEAL TO REASON. Reason shows--1. That religious knowledge tends to produce moral results. This is the natural effects of the truths it presents to the mind, and of the standard of duty which it holds up before us. 2. That all kinds of knowledge which exert no power upon the conscience must leave the life unreformed. He who expects a moral result from mere worldly knowledge, looks for an effect without a cause; as well might he expect a man to become a skilful botanist by studying astronomy. To improve the morals you must give moral instruction; and this is what no branch of science even professes to do. We take nothing from the just value of science by confining it to its proper objects. One science only can improve your morals, even that Divine philosophy which describes, with authority, the manner of life to which God, your Sovereign and Judge, requires you to conform.
III. I APPEAL TO EXPERIENCE. Reason shows that between religious knowledge and morality there is a connection, and that between morality and any other knowledge there is no connection whatever.[1] And this is also the testimony of experience in all times and countries.[2]
CONCLUSION.--1. Morality must have a religious base. Man must be taught not only what is right, but why it is right; and he must be shown that he is bound to do it. The term "duty" refers not merely to the action which is to be done, but to the obligations to do it. Take away the morality of the Bible from that which God has connected it, and you make it powerless. Moral influence and power come only from the whole truth of God 2. The whole truth of God is used by the Holy Spirit as an instrument to effect moral reformations, and that truth only. We have here another most important reason for looking for the advancement of morality from the diffusion of such truth only.[3] 3. Religious truth benefits only those who make it their earnest study. It does not operate necessarily. The Bible must be diligently read, with much prayer that its teachings may be applied to your conscience; that they may be in you a good seed sown in good ground. 4. The duty of parents is thus made plain. 5. We see also the true aim and the extreme value of Sunday schools.--Richard Watson: Works, vol. ix. pp. 458-471.
+I. What constitutes "stability of times?"+ 1. Civil order and subjection to law. 2. A regular flow of commerce, and employment for the general orders of men. 3. Freedom from war, defensive or aggressive.
+II. What influences has the "wisdom and knowledge" of Christianity on "the stability of times?"+ 1. The principles and rules of Christianity are those of practical "wisdom and knowledge," and, must, if acted on, give "stability of times." Look at its instructions in relation to civil government (Rom. xiii. 1, 2, 6, 7; 1 Tim. ii. 1-3); to the domestic and social duties of life (Col. iii. 18-iv. 1; 1 Tim. vi. 1); to integrity, industry, and love of our fellow-men (Rom. xiii. 8-10; 1 Thess. iv. 2). Universal conformity to such precepts would produce universal harmony, industry, and confidence. With equal clearness it denounces oppression, insubordination, and war. Were those injunctions and prohibitions heeded, a new era of settled prosperity would begin (H. E. I. 1124-1132, 1134). 2. Christianity gives "stability of times" by the intellectual wisdom and knowledge it imparts. What a contrast in this respect between Christian and heathen nations! Christianity promotes intellectual strength by the grandeur of the subjects which it brings before the mind, by the freedom it enjoins in the exercise of every right, and by the rules it gives for the government of nations and the guidance of individuals. And its instructions are those of wisdom and mental strength. Moreover it enlarges the conceptions of those who receive it, by leading them to strive to promote the welfare of the whole world. 3. By its sanctifying influence. The real causes of peace and permanent prosperity are moral; and the very tendency of Christianity is to promote civil order, integrity, industry, and benevolent conduct (H. E. I. 4164-4166). 4. By leading men to that obedience to the laws of God which brings down upon them His blessing.
From all this it follows, 1. That it is the wisdom of every nation that has the knowledge of Christianity to retain and improve it, and to guard against its corruption and abuse. Whatever diminishes its purity weakens its practical influence. 2. That we should gratefully acknowledge how much we owe to God for "the wisdom and knowledge" which He has imparted to us. Let us trace our prosperity to its true cause. 3. That national ruin will be the result, if we reject "the wisdom and knowledge" God has vouchsafed to us. 4. That every one who seeks for himself the "wisdom and knowledge" of the Bible is a patriot. He adds, in his own personal religion, to the stability and wealth of the nation. 5. That true patriotism will lead us to value and support those institutions which exist for the diffusion of the Gospel in our own and other lands.--John Johnson, M.A.: Sermons, vol. ii. pp. 156-177.
+I. Wisdom and knowledge both resemble and differ from each other, and should be carefully distinguished.+ Many have great knowledge and no wisdom. Some have wisdom and little knowledge. Wisdom is knowledge digested and turned to account; knowledge is the food changed into chyle and blood, and sent through the system. Knowledge is often a mere chaotic mass; wisdom is that mass reduced to order. Knowledge may remain inactive in the memory and understanding; wisdom is the same turned to practice and incarnated in life. Many men possess great knowledge, but hold it in unrighteousness; hold it along with folly, indolence, and a host of other counterbalancing elements. The wise man may err like others; but his general conduct and the general course of his mind are well regulated. "Wisdom is profitable to direct." Knowledge puffeth up; but wisdom is too calm and moderate, too wide in its views, and too sober in its spirit to be often found in alliance with undue self-esteem. The man of knowledge resembles Dr. Kippis, of whom Hall said that he put so many books in his head that his brains could not move. In a mind like Burke's, the more books that were heaped upon the fiery and fertile brain the better; it turned them into flame (H. E. I. 3091, 3092, 3112-3120).
+II. Knowledge and wisdom, when combined, give stability to persons, states, and churches.+
1. To individual character. Knowledge is being increased at a wonderful ratio. The learned man of a century ago would now be thought a sciolist. But there have been many drawbacks; many incapable of grasping all kinds of knowledge are not incapable of pretending that they have grasped them; hence the desire of intermeddling with all knowledge becomes pre-eminent folly, and hence generally the preference given to man of showy attainments, glib talk, and immodest assurance, above those of solid strength and genuine insight. And it is the same, too often, in the Church. In reference to this, let the words of the wise man be pondered: "With all thy getting, get understanding." Even though our knowledge be less wide, let it be accurate. Let us ballast knowledge with common-sense; let our piety be manly; let our attitude be that of calm but constant progress. And let our motto be, "The greatest of these is charity." Such a combination of knowledge and wisdom would give, as nothing else can, stability to individual character (H. E. I. 3075-3078).
2. In reference to states and kingdoms. Here, too, knowledge must meet with wisdom ere genuine stability can be secured. This was manifested in the last French and German war. Indeed, the whole history of France shows the evil of knowledge being separated from wisdom. We see this in its brilliant, but rash and dangerous science; in its literature--splendid in form, inferior in substance; in its raging love for display and thirst for war; in its popular idols--Henry IV., Mirabeau, Voltaire, and Napoleon--all men as full of ability as they were destitute of true wisdom.
3. The Church. The whole Bible has been taken to pieces. All the conceivable knowledge on the subject has been amassed. Now, here comes in the place for the exercise of wisdom. Let us not leap to conclusions; let us rather ask: "Where does wisdom dwell, and where is the place of understanding?" There is at present a divorce between knowledge and wisdom in spiritual matters; and seldom were manly morality and true religion in a feebler condition than in some quarters. There are noise and sound enough and to spare; but there is a lack of stability,--no progress at once in piety and intelligence (H. E. I. 3153-3155). Out of that gulf into which one-sidedness has plunged us, all-sidedness, broad charity, and wisdom can alone deliver us. Let us pray that these may abound, and introduce a period when wisdom and knowledge, walking hand in hand, shall be the stability of a better and nobler era!--George Gilfillan: The Study and the Pulpit, New Series, vol. vi. pp. 9-11.
These were the words of comfort by which Hezekiah was prepared to meet the invasion of the conquering Assyrians. In other times Judah fled for protection into the arms of Egypt. They thereby incurred God's displeasure, and were invariably overtaken by the calamities from which they sought refuge. Hezekiah put his trust in Jehovah, and was not disappointed.
The text contains, at the same time, a general principle, viz., that wisdom (or practical religion) and knowledge are the best elements of the stability of any people. As patriots let us carefully consider it.
+I. Christianity promotes wisdom and knowledge.+
1. Christianity promotes wisdom. (1.) The God whom the Bible reveals is the fit object of reverence and love. It reveals the Divine attributes in forms the most fitted to fill the soul with solemn awe and reverence. It ascribes to Him eternal and unchangeable love, and reveals that love in forms of ineffable grace and mercy. It does not efface any of the more awful attributes of Godhead, or merge them in a perverted view of the parental relation; nor does it degrade His more amiable attributes into the tenderness, or rather weakness, which loses sight of the criminal's guilt in the consideration of his misery--the world's conception of the Divine! That character, however, is not enough to rekindle the flame of piety in a fallen world (James ii. 19). But (2.) Christianity provides, in the great facts through which it conveys the knowledge of God, the means of reducing men to contrition and restoring them to hope. The Gospel is adapted to convert the soul. How? In its adaptation the element of hope occupies no mean place. Any scheme of regeneration must contain a provision of mercy. By its mode of opening the door of hope; it impresses sinfulness on the mind; it moves to repentance, and inspires obedience on the ground of conscious obligation to Divine grace. The tendency of the doctrine of the cross is no doubtful matter (Rom. i. 16).
2. Christianity promotes knowledge. It points out the only true way to the knowledge of God; but further it promotes general knowledge. (1.) Revealing God, it makes known the highest truths; and, making known the highest truths, it promotes and facilitates inquiry into every other. The uncovered heavens reflect their light on all earthly things. (2.) By the healing power which it applies to the heart and conscience, it fits the soul for vigorous and healthful action. The Christian can have no reason to dread the advances of knowledge--he may tremble for the temporary evils resulting from philosophy, falsely so called.[4]
+II. By promoting wisdom and knowledge, Christianity establishes a people.+
1. It purifies and elevates society. (1.) It is an acknowledged fact that the Gospel makes man unfit for a state of slavery. It may teach submission to the bond, but it will create a moral influence whose fire will melt his chains. (2.) The Gospel civilises the savage. It produces dissatisfaction with his abjectness, and creates the desire and imparts the means of rising in the scale of intelligence.
2. If Christianity thus elevates, how much more will it establish! If it imparts life, how much more will it maintain it! But what are the means of the stability of a nation? (1.) Religion. This is the foundation of all others. An irreligious and wicked nation has the elements of misery and dissolution within itself; a righteous nation, like a righteous individual, may be afflicted, but, as in the one case, so in the other, "all things work together for good." Knowledge has an indirect influence. Galileo could sacrifice truth and honour to escape imprisonment; the tale of Bacon's moral weaknesses is a humbling page of human history; but the diffusion of knowledge tends to correct a taste for low and sensual habits. (2.) Virtue. Religion produces the best morals; here the connection is direct and immediate. The Gospel provides an authoritative principle--wanting elsewhere--which responds to its moral precepts, and renders it a matter of moral necessity to give a ready and cheerful obedience. (3.) Freedom. The foundation of this is in the virtue which Christianity creates and promotes. If the ark of God were in danger, we might well tremble for the ark of liberty; religious degeneracy endangers the existence of freedom. (4.) Good order. This follows, as the natural and necessary consequence from the promotion of virtue and freedom.
CONCLUSION.--British society, with all its boasted civilisation, is only in a state of childhood; it speaks as a child and it acts as a child. We expect better days, not as the result of a natural and inherent tendency to progress and improvement, but as the result of the operation of Divine principles implanted in the midst of us, under the blessing of a favourable Providence. That we may put forth our strength to accomplish this change, we must have an adequate impression of existing evils and of our obligation to apply a remedy. Christianity is the lever by which we can raise man (Eph. v. 14).--John Kennedy, D.D.: Weekly Christian Teacher, vol. iii. pp. 769-764, 777-781.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] What connection is there between the knowledge of mechanics and morality? What moral duty have you impressed on the conscience when you have taught a man to make a table? So with the knowledge of numbers, or of language, whether ancient or modern. In none of these sciences is there any principle that can connect itself with moral feeling.--Watson.
[2] The Gospel was first preached, beyond the limits of the Jewish church, to a very refined, but to a very immoral people. Even with what they had learned from tradition, the wisest among them--I may not even except Socrates--could contemplate with perfect indifference, and even practise, the most abominable vices. The same results are found in our own day. Wherever infidelity prevails, we witness the decay and destruction of moral principle. We find, perhaps, some exceptions in Christian countries; but let us see how they are produced, and we shall find that they prove the rule. They proceed from awe of public opinion; from a feeling of shame with regard to personal honour and character. But what provides that standard whose elevated purity men thus practically acknowledge, even while they reject its source? It is this book, it is the faithful preaching of the Gospel, which so keeps up the standard of public opinion that even infidels are obliged to acknowledge its authority. Even among our peasants who have been carefully instructed in religious truth--men without a single ray of science--we find the practice of all the Christian virtues; whilst, too often, we see the brightest beams of human philosophy gliding and giving splendour to baseness and corruption.--Watson.
[3] Along with the truth of God there goes an accompanying influence. The words that are spoken to you are "spirit and life:" this is because the illuminations of the Holy Ghost go along with them. We may not overlook the fallen state of man; he is dead in trespasses and sins. The very law is weak through the flesh; it gives direction, but it cannot give life. The Spirit must convince man of sin and righteousness; and if He be removed, the Agent is taken away by whom only our moral renovation can be effected. Now, this blessed, this mighty Spirit only works on our hearts in connection with His own revealed truth; it is not with human science that He works for the amendment of our principles and tempers.--Watson.
[4] I fear it is incontrovertible that what is denominated poetic literature, the great school in which taste acquires its laws and refined perceptions, and in which are formed, much more than under any higher, austerer discipline, the moral sentiments, is, for the far greater part, hostile to the religion of Christ; partly by introducing insensibly a certain order of opinions unconsonant, or, at least, not identical with the principles of that religion, and still more by training the feelings to a habit alien from its spirit. And in this assertion I do not refer to writers palpably irreligious, who have laboured and intended to seduce the passions into vice, or the judgment into the rejection of Divine truth, but to the general community of those elegant and ingenious authors who are read and admired by the Christian world, held essential to a liberal education, and to the progressive accomplishment of the mind in subsequent life, and studied often without an apprehension, or even a thought, of their injuring the views and temper of spirits advancing, with the New Testament for their chief instructor and guide, into another world.--John Foster.
GOD AVENGING HIS OWN ELECT.
xxxiii. 7-12. Behold, their valiant ones shall cry without, &c.
I. A PICTURE OF DESOLATION.
The picture has two distinct points of interest--1. Man (ver. 7). Desolation receives nowhere so strong and pathetic expression as in the strong cries and tears of a man. The purer and nobler the man, so much the more affecting is it to hear his despairing cry and look upon his tears. The child cannot bear to see his father weep, because his father is to him the ideal man. Eliakim's grief, on returning from the interview with Rabshakeh, would be more grievous to Hezekiah than Shebna's. Peter's repentant tears were bitter; but by the cry of the Christ, "Eloi! lama sabathani?" and His tears at the grave of Lazarus, we are much more affected. 2. Nature (vers. 8, 9). The world is partly bright and beautiful, because noble men of God dwell in it; Nature reflects and interprets man. The Assyrian invader weighed heavily on Jewish hearts (xxxvi. 22, xxxvii. 1) and the Jewish land.
II. THE REDRESSER OF WRONG.
"Now will I rise, saith the Lord," &c. 1. God rules the world in the interests of His people. "Now will I rise." Democrats are fond of saying, "The Queen may reign, but she does not govern;" but the reins of government are firmly held by the great I AM. 2. God's interposition comes at the right moment: "Now will I rise." Man's extremity is often God's opportunity; because not until his case is desperate, will he cast himself unreservedly upon God. So man often retards the arrival of the right moment. Meanwhile the innocent (comparatively) suffer for the guilty; the good for the bad, the just for the unjust. If it is the teaching of Scripture that God's people are "the salt of the earth," preserving it from destruction, it is no less the doctrine of the Bible that untold sorrows are to the righteous because they dwell on the earth with the wicked. The Isaiahs and Hezekiahs of the world feel something of the weight of the world's sin. But there is always a "thus far and no farther." "Now will I rise, saith the Lord."
III. THE DESOLATOR DESOLATED.
Cf. Luke xviii. 8; Isa. xlii. 1. The greater wickedness is employed by God to be the scourge of the less, until its own time comes to be scattered as chaff, and destroyed as fire destroys (vers. 11, 12). To one whose "eyes are in his head," it is sad to hear the ambassador of Sennacherib saying, "The Lord said unto me, Go up against this land and destroy it." In the midst of this judgment of God--in which the righteous suffer most--meted out instrumentally by wicked hands, we do well to remember the words of Christ: "Knowest thou not, said Pilate to Him, that I have power to release thee? Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against Me, except it were given thee from above."
Note that where the avenging is pictured in this passage, the two sides spoken of in the former part of it--men and nature--are summed up in the terrible destruction of the human. So terrible is this, that a burning world is lost sight of! The first picture of desolation is as nothing to the second; and the woe is seen to reach its intensity in this regard.--J. Macrae Simcock.
A BLESSED LIFE.
xxxiii. 15-17. He that walketh righteously, &c.
This is a gleam of bright sunshine after a heavy storm. It describes a truly happy, holy life, such as we may all attain, and may all well desire to be ours.
1. It is a gracious life. This is not especially mentioned here. We have only what is outward and visible described. But this always implies an inward hidden life. When we see such a great, green, spreading, fruitful tree of righteousness as this, we may always assuredly conclude that, deep in the heart out of sight, there must be a great, strong, living Lebanon-root of faith and love (Tit. ii. 12). This is the secret or source of all that follows (H. E. I. 2840, 2841, 4092-4095).
2. It is an upright life. "He that walketh righteously." A man's "walk" is his whole conduct in all the positions and relations in which he stands. All that this man does is conformed to the law of God and the example of Christ (Luke i. 6). "He speaketh uprightly." Most important (Jas. iii. 2, i. 26; P. D. 3384, 3394). "He despiseth the gain of oppressions." He will not take advantage of his neighbour's distress; will not be hard upon him when his back is at the wall; will not abuse his ignorance or simplicity by charging more than a commodity is worth. "He shaketh his hands from holding of bribes." He abhors such temptations. Judas, from an awakened conscience, horror-struck at what he had done, cast the blood-money which he had received on the ground; but this man, from a clear, enlightened conscience, at peace with God, casts from him all that would offend the Lord. "He stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood." There is a killing of character by slander and insinuation, but he will have none of it (P. D. 3108). "He shutteth his eyes from seeing evil." He is like God; he cannot look upon sin. He hates it; can find no amusement in it; knows its tendency and its fearful end. Through the unguarded eye comes ruin (Josh. vii. 21; 2 Sam. xi. 2). Pictures and descriptions of evil often destroy. Have we not here a beautiful, noble character? and yet this is what believing in Christ and walking in His footsteps will always produce. But there must be the root, Christ dwelling in the heart by faith, else the outward life, however fair and seemly, will be only a make-believe, a wretched caricature, that will break down in the time of trial, and be rejected in the day of the Lord.
3. It is a heavenly life. "He shall dwell on high." His heart is set on things above (Eph. ii. 5, 6; Col. iii. 1-3; Phil. iii. 20). He has already come to Zion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem; he really dwells on high (H. E. I. 2766-2779).
4. It is a safe life. His real all is above, beyond the reach of chance and change. He is still beset by foes, but he is safe. "His place of defence is the munitions of rocks" (Ps. xviii. 2, 3, &c.)
5. It is a well-supplied life. "His bread shall be given him, his water shall be sure" (Ps. xxxiv. 10). But man needs more than bread to eat and raiment to put on; like the Master, the servant has meat to eat of which the world knows not (Ps. iv. 6, 7, liii. 5, 6). He has growing light, increasing life, fuller assurance, and fresh Ebenezers from day to day.
6. It is a hopeful life. "Thine eyes shall see the King in His beauty." There is a blessed beginning of the fulfilment of this promise now (John xiv. 21-23; H. E. I. 974, 975). "They shall behold the land that is very far off." To Christ's friends things to come are revealed by the Holy Ghost. They see Jesus, already crowned with glory and honour, and fairer than the sons of men. Like the patriarchs, they see the city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Like Moses, they gaze the landscape over and gird their loins; they take courage and press on (H. E. I. 2771-2779).
Such a life leads to a blessed death. The two go together. We cannot have the one without the other. Balaam thought he could, but it was in vain. Such a life prepares for a happy meeting with the Lord, if He should come while we are still present on the earth (Matt. xxiv. 46).--John Milne: Gatherings from a Ministry, pp. 325-331.
THE BLESSEDNESS OF THE SERVANT OF GOD.
xxxiii. 16. He shall dwell on high: his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks; bread shall be given him, his water shall be sure.
This is part of the answer to the question proposed in ver. 14. The overthrow of Asshur has been predicted; but the judgment of Asshur is a lesson for Israel as well as for the heathens. For the sinners in Jerusalem, there is no abiding in the presence of the Almighty. They must repent. "God is a consuming fire." His furnace was in Jerusalem. Therefore they inquire, "Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?"
The prophet answers their question in ver. 15. It is the description of a God-fearing man from the Old Testament point of view. Because of the predominating religion of his heart, he avoids the sins of his times. A Christian, in like manner, renounces sin, and, so far as the world's principles and practices are sinful, sets himself against the world. Instead of being afraid of the Divine anger, as sinners and hypocrites are, he dwells in blessed security, with God for his Friend (ver. 16). Three things distinguish him from the unbelieving world: elevation, provision, and security.
I. ELEVATION. "He shall dwell on high." Leaving out of view the temporal advantages that sometimes accrue from true religion as being only incidental, let us look at the elevation it secures with regard to--1. Thought. Christianity directs the mind to the most elevated themes, fosters the habit of thought upon them, and through them refines and elevates the mind itself. When a man is converted he generally becomes interested in topics beyond the requirements of daily life. Mind is awakened. Mental activity is required. In any number of uneducated men, some Christians and some not, the Christian section will probably be the more intelligent and thoughtful. If an educated man is converted, the influence is equally marked. His previous attainments remain, and his mind receives a new impetus from the world of spiritual thought now discovered. He thinks of God, Christ, redemption, holy influences on men from on high, the invisible, heaven, eternity. The mind cannot fail to be uplifted by contact with such themes as these. 2. Character. Doubtless much excellence exists among men apart for personal religion. The civil, social, and commercial virtues are often exemplified by men who make no pretension to religion. Even in these respects the best man without it would be better with it. But we must rise higher. Men never rise above their ideal. The ideal of a man without religion does not rise above his obligations to man; but the ideal of a man in Christ is to be like Christ. It comprehends all dispositions, sympathies, duties that either look Godward or manward. It is not yet realised; but the entertaining and striving towards it will lift him to a loftier moral attitude than if his ideal were lower; when all allowance has been made for human imperfection, it remains true that the Christian is, "the highest style of man." 3. Relationship. Believers are closely connected with Christ, their Saviour, their Head, their Elder Brother. They are "united to Him," "in Him." Terms are employed that give the idea, not, indeed, of personal identity, but of such close relationship that whatever concerns Him concerns them, and whatever glorification He attains they are to share. Through Him they are "the children of God," and heirs of the celestial inheritance. Is it possible for relationship to be loftier? 4. Companionship. The man is known by his chosen associates. The young man that keeps low company makes it plain that his tastes are low. Fine natures can only enjoy congenial society. When a man becomes a Christian, he seeks the society of Christians. And not only are his human companionships superior to those he previously courted, he enjoys a Divine companionship which is the supremest dignity. "Our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ." Is it not dwelling "on high" to have free access at all times to the King of kings? 5. Influence. God has made us kings of men. The time is coming when the principles we hold shall, by our means, pervade the mass of humanity. Already, in a thousand quiet ways, in families, in schools, in churches, in populations, the influence of individual Christian men is felt to be good and gracious as far as it extends. Christian fathers and mothers will live in the recollection of their children and their children's children when the memory of the wicked shall rot (H. E. I. 1089-1095). 6. Destiny. He is to be crowned and enthroned in the abiding glory. "He shall dwell on high" (H. E. I. 1073-1076, 1106, 1112-1119).
II. PROVISION. "Bread shall be given him, his water shall be sure." His wants shall be supplied in his elevation. All necessary temporal supplies and spiritual provision. Christ the bread of life.
III. SECURITY. "His place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks." There is an enemy who would gladly attack and overcome him; but he has retired to a place of perfect safety. Inaccessible to the adversary. Will endeavour to dislodge you by various means; such as: 1. Temptation, which assumes many forms. Grows out of everything. Keep before you the lofty ideal; constant effort, watchfulness, government of thought and desires, Divine aid. 2. Trouble. It becomes temptation. It tries faith. Cry to God. 3. Death. It is the last enemy. Christ, our defence, will triumph.
What a privilege to be a Christian! For what would you exchange it? Not the world's sins, pleasures, possessions.--J. Rawlinson.
THE PROSPECT OF THE GODLY.
xxxiii. 17. Thine eyes shall see the King in His beauty; they shall behold the land that is very far off.
The literal application of this prophecy is generally supposed to have reference to the deliverance of the Jews from the Assyrian army. They would then have the joy of seeing Hezekiah in his goodly apparel, and, freed from the presence of the invader, would be left at liberty to enjoy their own pleasant and goodly land. The deliverance was accomplished (2 Chron. xxxii. 21). But there is another application of the text--to the beatific vision of the King of kings in the heavenly land. Let us then consider--
I. THE GLORIOUS PROSPECT BEFORE THE CHILDREN OF GOD. "Thine eyes," &c. The prospect respects--1. The vision of Christ. Christ is king. Of Him Melchisedec, David, and Solomon were types (Ps. ii. 6, &c.; John xviii. 36; Heb. ii. 9; Rev. i. 5; 1 Tim. vi. 10). Patriarchs and prophets saw Him in human form. The Jews saw Him in His humiliation, as "a man of sorrows," &c. The apostles and disciples saw Him in His risen glory. John saw Him in the vision of Patmos (Rev. i. 13, &c.). Hereafter all His people shall see Him "in His beauty," in all His regal splendour and magnificence. They shall see Him clearly, fully, eternally. 2. The vision of heaven. "The land," &c. Of heaven Canaan was a type. It was a land of beauty and abundance; of freedom, after the slavery of Egypt; of triumph, after warfare; of rest, after the toils of the desert. Its crowning distinction was the Temple, which God filled with His presence and glory. But heaven is all temple.
II. THE CERTAINTY OF ITS REALISATION. "Thine eyes shall," &c. 1. This was contemplated by Christ in our redemption. He designed our emancipation from the dominion of sin, our deliverance from this present evil world, and also our elevation to His glorious kingdom (Heb. ii. 10; John xvii. 24). 2. This is repeatedly the subject of the Divine promises (Luke xxii. 29, xii. 32; John xiv. 2, 3, &c.). 3. To this tends the work of grace in all its influence on the soul. See what our calling is (1 Pet. v. 10); to what we are begotten (1 Pet. i. 3, 4); why we are sanctified (Rev. iii. 4). 4. A goodly number are now enjoying the fulfilment of these promises (Rev. vii. 9, 14). 5. The glory and joy of Christ would not be complete without the eternal salvation of His people (Isa. liii. 11).
III. THE PREPARATION NECESSARY FOR ITS ENJOYMENT. Nothing is necessary in the way of merit, price, or self-righteousness. But if we would see the King, we must make Him the object of our believing, affectionate regard now. If we would see "the land," &c., we must seek and labour for its attainment (Heb. xi. 16, iv. 10).--Jabez Burns, D.D.: Pulpit Cyclopædia, vol. ii. pp. 154-157).
THE BEAUTY OF CHRIST'S CHARACTER.
xxxiii. 17. Thine eyes shall see the King in His beauty.
There is a difference between the worthiness and the beauty of a character. A poetic beauty adorns the worth of Christ's character.
WHAT ARE THE ELEMENTS OF THE SUPREMELY BEAUTIFUL CHARACTER OF CHRIST?
+I. Sensibility.+ This is a word to be preferred to sensitiveness, for it includes sensitiveness; it has the passive quality of sensitiveness with activity of soul in addition exercised upon the impressions received. The more perfect the manhood, the more perfect is this sensibility. The total absence of it is the essence of vulgarity. The presence of it in its several degrees endows its possessor, according to the proportion of it, with what Chaucer meant by "gentilness." 1. It does not seem wrong to say that there was in Christ the sensibility to natural beauty. He also, like us, wished and sought that Nature should send "its own deep quiet to restore His heart." We find His common teaching employed about the vineyard and the wandering sheep, the whitening corn and the living well, the summer rain and the wintry flood and storm. 2. Still higher in Him was an intense sensibility to human feeling. He saw Nathaniel coming to Him, and in a moment frankly granted the meed of praise (John i. 47); when the malefactor on the cross appealed to Him, Christ saw at once that the fountain of a noble life had begun to flow (Luke xxiii. 43). It was the same with bodies of men as with men; He wove into one instrument of work the various characters of the Apostles; day by day He held together vast multitudes by feeling their hearts within His own; He shamed and confuted His enemies by an instinct of their objections and their whispers; men, women, and children ran to Him, as a child to its mother.
How did the sensibility of Christ become active?--1. As sympathy with Nature. There are many who never employ either intellect or imagination on the impressions which they receive. Remaining passive, they only permit the tide of the world's beauty to flow in and out of their mind; they do nothing with it. In Wordsworth, each feeling took form as a poem. As Christ walked silently along, He lifted up His eyes and saw the fields whitening already to harvest; and immediately He seized on the impression and expressed it in words. It marks a beautiful character to be so rapidly and delicately impressed; but the beauty becomes vital beauty when, through sympathy with and love of what is felt, one becomes himself creative of new thought. Sometimes such sympathy is shown through the imagination, as when Christ, seeing the cornfield by the shore of the lake while He was teaching, looked on the whole career of the field, and combined impressions taken up by the imagination into the Parable of the Sower. Sensibility becoming sympathy is discriminating. Praise without distinctiveness is wearisome. We find perfect discrimination in the illustrations Christ drew from Nature. How exquisite the passage beginning, "Consider the lilies!" This distinctiveness appears still more in the choice of places for certain moods of mind,--the temptation in the wilderness, the hill-side for prayer. In all this, Christ recognises natural religion as His own, and bids us believe in its beauty, and add it to the spiritual. 2. As sympathy with human feeling. Examples on this are numerous. His tenderness stayed Him on the wayside to satisfy the mother's heart and bless the children; touched by the widow's weeping, He gave her back her son. "Jesus wept" even at the moment when He was about to give back the lost, because those He loved were weeping. How discriminating the sympathy which gave to Martha and Mary their several meed of praise! How unspeakably beautiful the words, "Woman, behold thy son!" Friend, "behold thy mother!"
This, then, is loveliness of character.
Remember, we have no right to boast of our sensibility to the feelings of others; nay, it is hateful in us till we lift it into the beauty of sympathising action. Remember, too, its wise discrimination. Christ, while feeling with all the world, sanctified distinctiveness in friendship and love.
+II. Simplicity.+ Milton tells us that poetry must be "simple." The beautiful character must also possess this quality. But by simplicity is not meant here the simplicity of Christ's teaching. What is meant is the quality in His character which corresponds to that which we call simplicity in poetry; and that which is simplicity in art is purity in a perfect character. The beauty of Christ's purity was first in this, that those who saw it saw in it the glory of moral victory. His purity was not the beauty of innocence in a child; it was purity which had been subject to the storm, which had known evil and overcome it. And from this purity, so tried and victorious, arose two other elements of moral beauty--perfect justice and perfect mercy. Innocence cannot be just, nor is the untempted saint fit to judge; but Christ is able to be just and yet merciful, because He is entirely pure.
+III. Passion,+ defined as the power of intense feeling capable of perfect expression. Milton tells us that poetry must be "passionate." We may transfer it directly to character as an element of beauty. It was intense feeling of the weakness and sin of man, and intense joy in His Father's power to redeem, that produced the story of the "Prodigal Son." "Come unto Me, all ye who are weary and heavy laden; and I will give you rest." How that goes home! How deep the passion which generalised that want into a single sentence! It is a beauty of character, whether seen in words or action, which passes into and assumes the diadem of sublimity. Christ's words to the Pharisees have all the marks of indignation and none of the marks of anger. Passion and energy limited by temperance imply repose of character. Activity in repose, calm in the heart of passion, these things are of the essence of beauty. And in Him in whom we have found the King in His beauty, this peacefulness was profound. This is the final touch of beauty, which gathers into itself and harmonises all the others, and hence no words are so beautiful as those in which Christ bestows it as His dying legacy on men, "Peace I leave with you," and repeats it as His resurrection gift, "Peace be unto you." All moral and spiritual loveliness lies in knowing what He meant when He said, "Come unto Me . . . and I will give you rest."--Rev. Stopford A. Brooks, M.A.: Christ in Modern Life (Three Sermons, pp. 89-131).
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST.
xxxiii. 20. Look upon Zion, &c.
It is probable that when this prophecy was delivered the city of Jerusalem was threatened with an immediate siege; but Jehovah engages to defend it from the attacks of its enemies, the Assyrians, and to render it at once quiet and secure. But yet the text appears to have a direct reference to the privileges and stability of the Gospel Church, for Jerusalem, after this period, was never long preserved from hostile invasions; therefore our attention is turned from it to that glorious city against which the gates of hell shall never prevail. (See THE DUTY OF GLADNESS, pp. 228, 229.)
I. The Church of Christ is "the city of our solemnities." Jerusalem was thus described because of the solemn assemblies that were there held, the solemn feasts that were there celebrated, and the solemn sacrifices that were there offered. And it is in the Church that individual believers come together, and unite in the enjoyment of Divine grace, and in the presentation of "sacrifices" with which "God is well pleased" (Heb. xiii. 15, 16).[1]
II. The Church of Christ is "a quiet habitation."[2] All genuine believers dwell in it, and peace is at once the bequest of Christ (John xiv. 27) and the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. v. 22).
III. The Church of Christ is "a tabernacle that shall not be taken down." "A tabernacle" in contrast with the superior glories of the New Jerusalem in heaven. A tabernacle, because it may often change its place, as in fact it has already done. But it shall never be "taken down" in the sense of being destroyed (H. E. I. 1246-1251).
IV. Such a contemplation of Zion as our text calls for will awaken--1. In angels complacency and delight; 2. In sinners astonishment at its wondrous preservation, in spite of all their efforts to destroy it, and desire to share in its privileges; and 3. In Christians wonder, love, and praise.--Thomas Spencer: Twenty-one Sermons, pp. 196-206.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] As the earth's loftiest peaks rise not in their snows on some isolated hill that stands like a lonely pyramid on a level plain, but where the mountains, as in the Alps, or Andes, or Himalayan range, are grouped and massed together, so the saint's most heavenly happiness is not attained in solitude, nor even amid domestic scenes, but where religious life exists in its social character.--Guthrie.
[2] See THE PEACEFUL HABITATION, chap. xxxii. 18, page 368.
ENRICHING RIVERS.
xxxiii. 21. But there the glorious Lord shall be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams; wherein shall go no galley with any oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby.
The prophet here speaks for the encouragement of God's Church; and he appears to overstep the boundaries of time, and gives a glimpse of the blessedness and safety of the Church triumphant. In our interpretation let us take a large view, and refer, as the course of thought may require, both to the Church militant and the Church triumphant. And let it be deeply impressed on the mind that the promises of God can be realised only by those who belong to the true Israel.
I. THE ATTRACTIVE TITLE PROCLAIMED. "The glorious Lord." God is glorious in His own perfections, and as the source of all the glory and beauty in this and every other world. Our knowledge of God is gathered from His manifestations in nature and revelation. How resplendent in glory is the Being thus revealed to us! Especially we may say, with immediate reference to our subject, He is glorious in the vastness of His resources. In the summer the streams of the Holy Land were either entirely dried up, and converted into hot lanes of glaring sands, or reduced to narrow streamlets. But no summer's heat can dry up the broad streams of Divine love and mercy. God is glorious in the abundant nature of His supplies, and in His willingness to make ample provision for His Church.
II. THE BLESSED COMPARISON INSTITUTED. "The glorious Lord shall be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams." That is, all that such rivers and streams are to a country, God would be to His people. 1. Broad rivers and streams give beauty to the landscape. All beauty is from God, and it is a revelation of Him; but especially is it true that He is the source of all the moral beauty of His people. 2. Broad rivers give fertility and prosperity. In such a highly cultivated country as England, where great droughts are unknown, we have no opportunity of properly observing the fertilising influence of a broad river. But remember what the Nile is to Egypt. So does God enrich and fertilise the soul, causing it to bring forth "the fruits of righteousness." 3. Broad rivers afford protection. Babylon had its Euphrates, which was a source of power. "Hundred-gated Thebes," celebrated by Homer, also had its river. Almost all great modern cities are built upon the banks of rivers. But Jerusalem had no great river running through it. In fact, it was badly supplied with water. Large cisterns were constructed in which to catch and preserve the rain that came down plentifully in its season. The prophet makes use of this fact for the encouragement of the Church. The glorious Lord will be unto it as broad rivers and streams. He is the sure defence of His people.
III. THE DISTINCTIVE MARK OF DIVINE BLESSINGS HERE SYMBOLISED. "Wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby." Earthly blessings have attendant evils; heavenly blessings alone are pure and perfect. Rivers may prove a source of weakness as well as strength to a nation.[1] But along the broad rivers of Divine blessing no foe shall advance to assail God's people. The presence of God at once confers blessings and averts evils.--W. Burrows, B.A.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Rivers are highly important as the outlets and inlets of commercial enterprise; but the merchant ship, though richly laden, may carry the seeds of physical and moral disease, and inflict untold injury. Rivers give security to the cities built on their banks, but they may also prove the means of destruction. Cyrus made use of the Euphrates when besieging Babylon, and thus captured the city. The strength of Babylon became its weakness. The same river that bears on its tidal waves the merchant ship laden with the precious produce of distant lands may also bring the war-ship laden with the instruments of destruction and death. But the city of our solemnities is secure. No mischief can come to us along the broad river of Almighty grace.--Burrows.
[See also outlines, Rivers of Waters, xxx. 25, 26, and Rivers of Water in a Dry Place, xxxii. 2.]
A CONTROLLING FACT.
xxxiii. 22. The Lord is our Judge.
An immense step has been taken in the moral development of any one who has been led to say this with the understanding, with a vivid perception of the truth of this declaration.
+I. It is a fact that God is our Judge.+ The Bible teaches us--1. That God is continually present with us, intimately acquainted with our real characters, the witness of all our actions, words, and thoughts (Prov. v. 21, xv. 3; Job xxxi. 4; Ps. xi. 4, cxxi. 1-7). Thus He is qualified for being in an eminent sense our judge. 2. That the God who is perfectly acquainted with all our dispositions and actions cannot behold any one of them with indifference. He observes them on purpose to estimate their real nature; He necessarily approves or disapproves of them. It is this that renders His knowledge of them important. He not only is pure from all moral evil, but He holds it in abomination; He not only is perfect in all moral goodness, but He loves goodness (Hab. i. 12, 13; Jer. ix. 24; Ps. v. 4-6, xi. 7, xxxvii. 23). 3. That this omniscient and holy God is our proper and righteous Governor. This brings His approbation and disapprobation home to us; it implies that they will be attended with the weightiest consequences. All that men can do often is merely to esteem or to blame us. If they have authority over us, or are able to promote or obstruct our interest, their opinion of our character assumes a new importance (Prov. xix. 12). Honour or dishonour in the eye of the All-perfect Being is for its own sake deeply affecting to every ingenuous mind; but to the soul of every man not dead to thought it must, on account of its inevitable and infinite consequence, appear of infinite importance. God is the Sovereign and the moral Governor of mankind, and His approbation will be followed by a great reward, His disapprobation by a dreadful punishment (Ps. xlvii. 2, 8; Jer. xvii. 10; Eccl. iii. 17, xii. 14). Our conscience testifies that this should be the case. And our redemption by Jesus Christ, which displays the marvellous grace and compassion of God, displays at the same time, in the most striking manner, the inevitable sanctity of His government of mankind. While it provides for the pardon of sin, the blood of Christ, shed for the expiation of sin, testifies how odious, how deserving of punishment it is in the sight of God. While it secures mercy to the penitent, it seals the condemnation and the misery of every sinner.
+II. A recognition of the fact that God is our Judge will necessarily exert a controlling influence upon us.+ We are greatly influenced by the judgment passed upon our character and conduct by our fellow-men, especially if they are discerning and virtuous, and still more if their good or bad opinion is likely to be of advantage or disadvantage to us. What, then, must be the effect upon any man who really wakes up to the fact that we are under the scrutiny of One who alone can justly estimate our character, and whose estimation of it is of infinite importance to us! To be approved and beloved, or to be disapproved and hated by the Ruler of the universe! It is in one of these conditions that each of us stands to-day. Disapprobation from God is the extremity of disgrace and misery; approbation of Him is the summit of honour and happiness: the former is the natural object of fear, sorrow, and shame, exciting to circumspect avoidance of it; the latter of ardent desire, elevating hope, and rapturous joy, conspiring to animate us in eager pursuit of it.
1. The unpardoned man cannot remember that "the Lord is our Judge" without fear. Thoughts of His nearness, His omniscience, His omnipotence, and His hatred of all sin fill him with alarm. Along with this fear there springs up within him sorrow. The sinner who has become conscious of the discriminating eye of perfect sanctity marking all his paths, mourns for his sins and is troubled. His spirit is broken, his heart is contrite. He sorrows to repentance (2 Cor. vii. 9). To the sorrow is added shame. Whatever brings a stain upon our character in the estimation of our fellow-men naturally produces shame and humiliation. To be detected in what is base confounds most men, even though no further inconvenience is apprehended. To be lost to shame is the last sign of degeneracy; but to deserve blame from God is the deepest ignominy; it must cover with confusion every man who has any sense of God (Dan. ix. 8; Luke xviii. 13).
2. The fear, sorrow, and humiliation which arise in sinful men immediately they remember the holy government which God exercises over them continually, influence those also who are conscious that for Christ's sake He has forgiven them. They cause them to proceed through life with unremitted caution; to exercise steady care in avoiding every transgression and every omission displeasing to God. They constrain them to walk humbly with Him, and produce in them that modesty, diffidence, lowliness, and sober-mindedness which adorn their character. But these are not the only results of their constant remembrance that "the Lord is our Judge." (1.) Recognising that His approbation is the sublimest honour, they are inspired with an ardent desire to secure it. That desire gives a direction to their whole conduct (Ps. iv. 6; Col. i. 10; 2 Cor. v. 9). (2.) Conscious that, through Christ, they are the happy objects of God's favour, the hope of its continuance throughout eternity produces within them a triumphant joy (Rom. viii. 16, 17; Prov. x. 28). The all-penetrating eye of God, so terrible to the sinner, is become to the man who feels himself approved in His sight the encouraging, the exhilarating eye of his Father and Friend. This renders duty delightful, comforts in sorrow, takes away all fear in death.
CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS.--1. A remembrance that "the Lord is our Judge" will deliver us from bondage to the opinions of our fellow-men. While naturally desirous of their approval, every corrupt fashion presuming to authorise what God disapproves or to explode what He approves will be counted but the silly caprice of fools. If every sensible man prefers the esteem of a few able judges to the applauses of an ignorant multitude, he must be as destitute of good sense as of religion who can hesitate in preferring honour from God to the good opinion of the whole universe. 2. All the present pleasures and advantages which sin can offer will be unable to seduce the man who preserves a lively sense of the Heavenly Judge, for they bear no proportion either to the happiness which accompanies His approbation, or to the misery which arises from His wrath (Matt. xvi. 26, 27). All the losses, troubles, and perils to which virtue can expose him will not have power to terrify him from the love and practice of it (Rom. viii. 18). Conscious that he is observed by God, animated by the sense of his acting his part before so august a Presence, he will exert all the powers of his soul to act it well. In the exertion he will feel a noble expansion of heart, and triumph in the hope of being approved and rewarded, and his hope shall not be disappointed, for its largest promises shall be surpassed by the greatness of his reward.--Alexander Gerard, D.D.: Sermons, vol. ii. pp. 239-274.
THE ATONEMENT; OR, SALVATION CONSISTENT WITH THE REGAL AND JUDICIAL CHARACTER OF GOD.[1]
xxxiii. 22. For the Lord is our Judge; the Lord is our Lawgiver, &c.
There are here two propositions, the one affirming that Jehovah sustains a certain relationship to us, the other declaring that in that relationship, and therefore in a manner perfectly consistent with it, He will save us. The same thing substantially is repeatedly asserted in the Scriptures. The very prophet in whose writings these words occur elsewhere speaks thus in God's name: "There is no God else beside me, a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside" (xlv. 21); "I bring near my righteousness, my salvation shall not tarry" (xlvi. 13); "My righteousness is near, my salvation is gone forth" (li. 5). All this has been translated into New Testament language in that remarkable utterance of Paul's, "Christ Jesus, whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness, that He might be just, and the justifier of him who believeth in Jesus" (Rom. iii. 25, 26).
Let us endeavour to unfold the harmony of salvation with the law, the justice, and the royalty of God.
+I. Let us look at the relationship indicated by the three terms Judge, Lawgiver, and King.+ We say relationship, for although the words are three, the thing is substantially one, each term giving us only a modification of the same idea. The judge is the king on the bench, the lawgiver is the king writing the statute-book, and the king is the judge and lawgiver on the throne of government. The three things so run into each other that it is difficult to keep them distinct, each of the three terms brings before us one distinct phasis of the governmental relationship which God sustains towards us. The judge is set to see that the guilty shall not escape, and that the innocent shall not be punished; the lawgiver has to secure that the majesty of the law is upheld, and its authority recognised; and the king has to take care that the best interests of his subjects as a whole are not interfered with but advanced. Now it is here affirmed that Jehovah stands to us in this threefold relation, and that as a judge He saves us criminals, as a lawgiver He forgives us law-breakers, as a king He pardons us rebels.
We are not denying that God is willing and anxious to show Himself as a father, even to sinners. Our affirmation is, that now, when man has sinned, if God is to be to him precisely as He was before, if the liberty of God's Son is to be enjoyed by him, then some means must be taken to secure that in all this no dishonour shall be put upon the law of God, no blot be made upon His judicial character, and no peril result to His throne or the interests of His holy subjects.
+II. The means by which God the Judge, Lawgiver, and King saves man.+ If we take the Scriptures for our guide, the answer will not be difficult to discover, for we are there uniformly taught that God seeks to save us through a substitute. At first this principle was revealed through animal sacrifices, then through the more definite offerings of the Mosaic institute, and then through the still more definite teachings of the inspired prophets. The high priest laid his hand upon the head of his victim, confessed over it all his iniquities and all the sins of all the people, and it was to bear their iniquity. But in the remarkable oracle contained in Isaiah liii. the very same phraseology is used in reference to the expected Messiah; for we are there told that God "hath laid upon Him the iniquity of us all," that "He was wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities," and that "He shall bear our iniquities." To this corresponds the language of the New Testament; for when John the Baptist pointed out the Messiah, he said, "Behold the Lamb of God that taketh (beareth) away the sins of the world;" and Jesus Himself declared that "the Son of man came to give His life a ransom for many," and that "the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep." And in perfect harmony with all this are the utterances of the Apostles. It seems perfectly clear that the principle of substitution is the very thread round which all the other declarations of the Scripture crystallise. The Bible, from its beginning to its close, is "dipped in blood;" the atoning death of Christ is the foundation on which its whole system rests, and if that be rejected, the whole book must go with it as a dead and worthless thing.
+III. Is this arrangement in harmony with the regal and judicial character of God?+ Gathering up the scattered statements of the Word of God into one systematic treatment of this subject, it seems clear that the following things need to be secured in order that substitution may harmonise with and subserve the ends of justice:--1. That the substitute shall be himself free from all taint of sin, and be a voluntary victim. Christ was "holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners" as He was God-Man, and did not need to put Himself under the law except He had chosen to be the sinner's friend. He is thus qualified to be our substitute. And there was no compulsion. "Lo, I come! I delight to do Thy will, O my God." 2. That the sacrifice he offers be of such value as to preserve the majesty of the law, and cover the case of those for whom it was designed. The sacrifice offered must be something which the person making it can call his own property; and it must be something which is in itself adequate to the end contemplated. This is precisely what we have in the case of Christ. He could say His life was His own, for He was God as well as man. Again, it was such a sacrifice as met the case, for it was offered in the person of a Divine Man. As God-man, He infinitely transcends all other men, and therefore, when standing as a substitute, His personal dignity and worth give infinite value to His substitution. 3. That the persons set free thereby should be so changed in character that their after conduct shall not in any way interfere with or interrupt the happiness of God's other holy children and subjects. This is secured in connection with Christ's work; for when, by the eye of faith, the love of Jesus is seen as manifested on the cross, its power is such that it constrains the sinner to live to Him who loved him and gave Himself for him. The criminal who is pardoned through faith in the substitution of Christ is also reformed, and no detriment results from his deliverance to the other citizens of Jehovah's empire. 4. That the substitute himself have such compensation given him, that in the end he shall not lose, but rather gain, through the sacrifice He has made. Even although a substitute should willingly offer himself, it would be injustice to allow him to suffer if no adequate return could be made for it. Christ received as the reward of His sufferings that which is by Himself admitted and declared to be a thoroughly satisfactory recompense for the sacrifice he made. As He sees of the travail of His soul, He is satisfied. 5. That the substitute be accepted by both parties. That He is accepted by God is evident from the resurrection of Christ from the dead, His ascension into heaven, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit; and He becomes accepted by the sinner when he believes in Jesus. Christ is not my substitute until I accept Him as such.
Two remarks in conclusion:--1. It follows that Jesus Christ is an all-sufficient Saviour. His work is such that any sinner choosing to avail himself of it may be saved through it. 2. It also follows that Jesus Christ is the only Saviour; for if these requirements needed to be satisfied, who is there that can meet them but Himself?--W. M. Taylor, D.D.: Life Truths, pp. 1-20.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] See H. E. I., 374-399.
THE DISABLED SHIP.
(A Sermon to Seamen.)
xxxiii. 23. Thy tacklings are loosed, &c.
Seas, rivers, and ships have for ages afforded the world the mainstay of commerce. Not only so; the imagery of many of our best books would have been very much the poorer had not visions and dreams of the sea been present to the writers. Isaiah makes good use of these. In ver. 21 he says, "The glorious Lord will be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams," &c. Jerusalem was badly off, compared with Babylon and other cities, in that it had neither sea nor river, but only a small rivulet. Large and deep rivers near great towns have their advantages and disadvantages in time of war. The prophet here says that God would be to Jerusalem a place of broad rivers and streams, wherein no ship of war should be allowed to approach to injure His people. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in seas or war-ships. (ver. 22).
Jerusalem, at the time, was in danger from a great power, and in the text that power, Assyria, is compared to a ship whose "tacklings are loosed," &c. A sad plight surely for a ship to be in! But not only great powers like Assyria are, in reality, in a bad way, as abettors of wickedness, but individuals also, like the disabled vessel spoken of by the prophet; for, 1. A wicked man is like a ship whose tacklings are loosed. The tackle of a ship is of immense service in many ways; but a ship whose tackle has got loosed from her masts is not fit for a voyage. No seaman would dream of sailing in such a ship. Every rope must be in its right place and securely fixed. But how many men are out on the voyage of life, with the gear of mind and heart all loose! In fine weather, even, they make no real headway; in storms they are in peril of being cast away. They are at the mercy of every wind that blows; for, 2. A wicked man is like a ship whose masts will not stand upright. The tackle of a ship is of service in strengthening its masts. But men are out voyaging on the sea of life: they would fain stand upright, but they cannot; for their thoughts and feelings are not made use of to sustain them in an upright life; they sway under the blast; the crash of ruin is always impending. 3. A wicked man is like a ship without sails. On a mast, unstrengthened by good tackle, it is worse than useless to attempt to spread a sail. But without sails to catch the heaven-sent breezes, how shall the distant haven be reached? Even men of some moral ballast are at best like poor toilers at the oars. The port is a long way off, and they need sails--wings filled with spiritual energies--to carry them onward over miles of sea day by day. 4. A wicked man is like a dismantled ship which plunderers attack. "Then is the prey of a great spoil divided; the lame take the prey." How poor sailors are plundered by the weakest of mankind and womankind!
CONCLUSION.--Sin, iniquity, that is in-equity, is at the root of the godless man's loose thoughts and passions, tottering steps and wingless spirit. The ship wants a thorough overhauling; nay, it wants remaking (John iii. 3).
We should be homeward-bound for the kingdom of God; but it is vain to dream of reaching port as an unseaworthy vessel.--J. Macrae Simcock.
NO SICKNESS THERE.
xxxiii. 24. And the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick.
In a besieged city, from watching, anxiety, and scarcity of food, there is usually considerable sickness. When an epidemic disease is prevalent, sickness becomes the general experience. There is in any large population always a considerable amount of sickness, more or less serious. Nor is it confined to the city. In the country it is much the same. At the best it is only somewhat less. Medical men are everywhere required. Sanitary arrangements, temperate habits, and medical skill may diminish the extent and alleviate the severity of sickness, but they cannot uproot it. When, therefore, we read of a city in which there shall be no sickness, our thoughts turn from earth to heaven. The text is a beautifully poetic representation of the termination of the conscious weakness that rested on Jerusalem while the Assyrian army lay before it. But there is a sense in which the words may be literally understood. We believe in "the holy city, the new Jerusalem." Let us meditate on that new condition of our life.
+I. Sickness is weakness.+ We give the name to all states of the body other than sound and perfect health. How numerous! Our condition here is one of constant liability to it. At every period of life we are exposed to it. It may be borne to us by the air we breathe; taken with the food we eat and the water we drink; received by contact with our fellows; lurk secretly in some part of our body unsuspected; develop itself from the slight cold, the result of carelessness, or in spite of the utmost thoughtfulness; it may attack the youth as well as the old man, those who boast the fulness of their strength as well as those who know themselves to be less firmly built. But it always supposes weakness. Under the name of weakness it holds its victim with a firm grasp. While he persuades himself that he has conquered, it secretly spreads through every vein, and eventually lays him prostrate. The strongest man becomes powerless when sickness holds him in its grasp. As he is too weak to throw off the weakness, he is too weak to perform the tasks which at other times he performs with perfect ease. The student, the mechanic, the merchant. Visit some sick-bed and your confidence of perpetual strength will depart. Sickness is humiliating because it is weakening. It is often attended with pain. Pain increases weakness. In the grasp of pain the sufferer may be held for days, with no power of resistance, no prospect of relief.
Have you not sometimes thought what a contrast it would be if you could be entirely free from sickness and from liability to it? We may indulge the thought. That will be the condition of the resurrection body in the celestial city. It will be fashioned like to the body of Christ's glory (1 Cor. xv. 42-44). As Christ on the cross endured the last sickness and pain He was ever to know, so shall all His followers rise, as He did, to a life from which sickness and pain are for ever excluded. Are you one with Him? Then in pain, weariness, languor, sickness, let all impatience be subdued as you remember that it is only a little longer. "Neither shall there be any more pain."
+II. Sickness is sorrow.+ Sorrow because of lost time and business, fear that the end of life is near, the leaving behind not only all pleasant earthly things and persons, but especially those dependent on the patient's life, to whom his loss may be ruin. Not to the patient only is it a time of sorrow. Enter the house. All is gloom. Rooms darkened. The family tread softly and speak under their breath, as if every sound would not only disturb the sufferer, but be out of harmony with their own feelings. It is the little one that has come home sick from school (2 Kings iv. 19). His mother takes him on her knee. Soon she perceives the signs of one of the sicknesses that are the terror of childhood. Medical aid is procured. The sickness deepens. Every one watches with aching heart, for the child is a universal favourite. And if he is taken, oh, what distress! Or it is the young man who has grown to maturity. He is active in business. His father, under the burden of advancing years, is gradually devolving responsibility on him, that he may himself enjoy a few years' rest after a life of hard and anxious work. But sickness comes. It passes by those you would expect it to strike. It singles out the young and strong. Gradually that fine young man wastes away. Day and night the mother, whose advancing years and infirmities demand the attention, watches over him with a breaking heart. All is done that strong affection can inspire. It is vain. Oh! what sorrow through these months! And when the end comes, what tongue can describe the agony?
We wonder if it will ever cease to be true that "man was made to mourn." Thank God we can entertain the prospect of the complete cessation of sorrow. "Neither sorrow." "Sorrow and sighing shall flee away." "God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." For "the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick."
+III. Sickness is the prelude to death.+ It usually precedes. Any sickness may end in it. Death changes everything; the body different; the soul different. But there shall be no more death. There will be the perpetuated life of paradise regained; for there will be the tree of life; there will be the resurrection body (1 Cor. xv. 53, 54).
+IV. Sickness, sorrow, and death are the fruit of sin.+ Does not Scripture thus trace them? There was no sickness before sin. Sin was the seed. The heavenly city is free from sin. There is perfect holiness. It is the completion of the redeeming work of Christ from sin, sorrow, death. The seed which bears sickness is taken out of the soil.
Shall we dwell in that city of immortal health? Are we travelling towards it? If not, we cannot reach it. Jesus is the way. Come to Him (Rev. xxi. 27). It is a prepared place for a prepared people.--J. Rawlinson.
RECOVERY FROM SICKNESS.
(Sermon to the Young.)
xxxiii. 24. And the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick.
Our sun-dial is not that of Hezekiah: its shadow has no backward movement; the last enemy must soon challenge the traveller to pay the tax imposed on his pilgrimage. When all the pains and illnesses of the flesh are over, there remaineth a place purchased, prepared, and furnished for the children of God, and in which "the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick." Where is this healthy spot? Not in any place in this country; not in the world of which our land is so favoured a portion. To be able always to say, "I am not sick," is one of the privileges of heaven alone.
I. THE EVILS AND DISAGREEABLES OF SICKNESS.
Sickness is certainly not a pleasant thing--necessary, profitable, if you please, but not pleasant. It cannot be pleasant; for it is the punishment for sin. Angels are never sick, because they are of that world of which the inhabitant shall not say, "I am sick." Sickness helps to crumble us into death; diseases are Death's servants. Death sends them out in their different liveries as his couriers and forerunners; they apprise sinners that their Master is coming into their country, passing by that way, will perhaps "stand at their door and knock," warning each to be ready to leave all and follow death, as Peter said he and his fellow-apostles had done for Christ (H. E. I. 1561).
1. Bodily pain often accompanies sickness. This is sometimes felt in so grievous and dreadful a degree that the sufferer wishes and prays for death to be relieved of his agonies. When David was tried in this way he said, "The pains of hell gat hold upon me"--a strong expression, meaning very excruciating pains. Who can tell but those who have felt them what sufferings belong to the burning fever, the tormenting headache, &c.? The curious machine is out of order; the wheels grind and grate against each other; "the harp with a thousand strings is out of tune and full of discords." The very means taken for recovery often, for a time at least, increase pain and suffering. We admire the wisdom which God has given to man to discover the healing virtues concealed in Nature's works. But most of these, excellent in their effects, are nauseous to the taste. It seems as if Providence had ordained this on purpose that everything should conspire in sickness to make it a suffering, uncomfortable time, in order the more deeply to impress on us the salutary lessons it is intended to teach us.
2. The interruption it causes to the active duties of life. Health is the one thing needful, not only to the enjoyment of life, but to the vigorous and successful discharge of the duties.
3. One might mention a third evil, viz., the trouble one gives in sickness to those around us, only you might be ready to cry out, "We cannot allow this to be either a trouble or an evil; what sister or affectionate brother would think this a trouble?" But often the sufferer feels it keenly.
II. THE PROFITS AND ADVANTAGES OF SICKNESS.
Begin by thanking Jesus Christ that sickness it not a punishment and nothing else--not a certainty and foretaste of hell. His sacrifice has taken away its sting; it bears the peaceable fruits of righteousness to them that are exercised thereby. It withdraws us from the world. We follow too hotly and incessantly the things of the world. Some years ago a satire was written upon us called "The World Without Souls," and the author, without exaggerating, nearly proved that most of us live as if we thought this was really to be the case.
CONCLUSION.--So improve the sickness of earth as to make it the path to the health of heaven. In health often look back to the time of sickness; consider what were then your feelings, your fears, your good resolutions. Have you kept your word? Have you done your part? Is the Great Physician paid? He seeks not gold, but the coin of gratitude, love, and obedience. Every sickness should urge us to secure the country without pain; to win the new heavens and the new earth in which Christ's redeemed people shall be crowned with unfading youth and unbroken health.--George Clark, M.A.: Sermons, pp. 59-68.
THE CONTROVERSY OF ZION.
xxxiv. 8. For it is the day of the Lord's vengeance, &c.
The Lord has always been mindful of His Church. He is pledged to her defence against the world, and against the world-spirit which often intrudes within her pale. Chapter xxxiv. contains a description of the effects of the Divine vengeance in the typical case of Edom; chapter xxxv. describes the flourishing state of the Church consequent upon the execution of the Divine judgments.
+I. There is a parallel between God's dealings with individuals and society.+ Such a parallel may be presumed to exist, inasmuch as any society is made up of individuals; and God cares equally for the single and the corporate life. Taking the mass of men, evil dispositions lead to evil deeds, and these to habits, before they are turned to the service of God. God intervenes in the way of judgment; times of judgment are appointed them, foreshadowing a future day of the Lord's vengeance. 1. Individual judgments. God's controversy with Jacob at Peniel, when Jacob's thigh was put out of joint, was but the climax of the Divine vengeance in respect of his sinful past, and became the turning-point of his life. Not only are bad men changed in this way, but good men are made better (xxxviii. 12-14; Lam. iii. 3-21; Job x. 16-20; H. E. I. 56-59, 66-70, 116). God strikes, that human nature may be laid bare in its depths, and a thorough work of regeneration accomplished, proceeding from within outward. Afflictions do not always soften; but they do so often enough to form a large part of the method of the Divine vengeance. 2. Social and national judgments. Jacob became Israel, and Israel the Church of God, the representative of God on earth, even as Edom, of which Esau, the godless, was the ancestor, is regarded in Scripture as the representative of the world-power. Edom was emphatically the troubler of Israel. Its judgments--prophetic of greater in the future--were sent by the Defender of Zion--(1.) To make manifest its sin; (2.) To show the theocratic character of Israel.
But the Edom, or world-spirit, was in Israel herself; hence the judgments of the Church. The idea of the theocracy was interfered with when Israel wished a king, like the other nations (1 Sam. viii. 6, 7). That could only be entertained by Jehovah if kings had their right to rule direct from Himself. And so He raised up David and David's line (1 Sam. xvi. 1-13; Gen. xlix. 8). Hence the institution and perpetuation of the prophetic line--Samuel, Isaiah, Ezekiel, &c.--to assert and maintain the idea of the theocracy.
With a grander display of the Divine power this tale has been re-told under the Christian dispensation. Social and national crises are still brought about, in the wise judgment of God, first, to make manifest the sins of communities and nations; and, second, to direct men to the Church of Christ. In times of the Church's unfaithfulness, apostles, truly apostolic men, reformers, &c., interfere.
+II. Antagonism between the Church and the world must end in the defeat and subjugation of the world.+ Jehovah is the defender of the cause of Zion through the ages. He has espoused the cause of holiness against ungodliness. His people may be dispersed, but the Church does not die out. From the lowest ebb it returns to the flow. The blood of its martyrs becomes seed. Its opponents turn ever feebler. This is seen in their more spasmodic efforts. Its benign influence has extended far; ever larger numbers are being brought under its yoke. The world fights every inch of the ground; but--
+III. The great day is surely coming.+ There must come a complete manifestation of the Church's inherent glory. 1. This manifestation will take place by displays of Divine vengeance on the enemies of Zion. This method of the ancient time has not become obsolete. 2. The manifestation will not be short-lived, but continue, so that destruction may be succeeded by a realised state of salvation. 3. Last of all, there shall be seen the triumph of the Church, when Church and world shall be conterminous, and fulness of blessing be enjoyed. (Chapter xxxv. still awaits its largest fulfilment.)
CONCLUSION.--1. We have a Gospel of terror to preach to the world--a Gospel of terror, for the Divine vengeance is informed by the greatest heart of love. Is the Church, as some say, becoming less powerful in our time? Let the question at least provoke searchings of heart. God still sends judgments upon unfaithful Churches. 2. Remember, in times of darkness and trial, that the Lord has the deepest interest in His Church. It cannot disappear from the world; but be alive to removing from it causes of weakness. 3. Let us encourage one another in the hope of a time when the Church's glory shall be fully manifested, when the time of recompense for the long controversy of Zion shall arrive. Let us work in the Church so as to help to bring about the glad time coming.--J. Macrae Simcock.
A CALL TO STUDY.
xxxiv. 16. _Seek ye out of the Book of the Lord, and read, &c._
On the supposition that a Divine revelation is given to man, its most convenient method will be that of a permanent written record, thus available for the use of successive generations. Disparagement of a book revelation proceeds from misconception of its nature and ends. Out of its existence flows the universal right to its perusal, unless it is restricted in terms. Not only the right, but the duty. By personal study every one should know it (John v. 39). Our Lord appealed to the conscience of the people, combined with their knowledge of the Word of God.
The duty is here urged in reference to the prediction of the downfall of Idumea. It was to become a desolation. Those into whose hands the prophecy falls are to search and read in the Book of the Lord, and compare the event. Nothing shall fail. Everything said shall find its mate, its corresponding fact; for God's Spirit is the Author of the prediction. Idumea to-day is its confirmation.
We use the text in order to urge the study of Scripture as a Christian duty--
I. BECAUSE THE BOOK IS DIVINE.
2 Tim. iii. 16; 2 Pet. i. 21. It is the Book of the Lord. The Bible is a collection of the records of Divine revelations made at various times, but bearing on its great design. The inducement to read a book often depends on the author. We believe him to be endowed with literary skill, or an authority on the subject of the book. And if God is, in some way, through the various writers, the Author of the Book, the authorship is an important reason for reading it (H. E. I. 522, 523). Consider who and what He is, and the solemn relations in which He stands to us (H. E. I. 561). Its subjects will be worthy of Him and important to us. It will be authoritative. From the uncertainties of human thought we find in the Lord's Book a safe resting-place.
II. BECAUSE THE BOOK IS INTERESTING.
In its form, apart from its subject-matter. Some form it must have. It might have been in the form of didactic statement only, without illustrative facts or poetic beauties. It would not have been read with interest. Or it might have been in the catechetical form. However useful this method in fastening definite notions in carefully chosen words, it would have failed to be a book to which men and women would return with delight as they return to the Bible after the period of youth has passed away. It is made interesting by the varied forms in which truth is communicated. It is poetic, historical, biographical. Its teaching is usually so connected with events and persons as to present points of interest always fresh. The man finds a solution of the profoundest problems of time and eternity. The child finds in its narratives of persons and events a charm that never fails. To its interesting form is owing, in a large degree, its hold on those who read it from day to day (H. E. I. 607-609, 3860).
III. BECAUSE THE BOOK IS INSTRUCTIVE.
It contains a large amount of information, not only with regard to the Jewish nation, but also other nations of the ancient world. But this is not its main design. It is subordinate to the revelation of man as a sinner and of God as a Saviour. God's character, man's relation to Him, human duty, the future state, are all instructively treated; but they all find their place in relation to God's great plan for man's recovery, through the mediation of Christ, from misery and sin. And is not this the most important of all instruction? What would all history be, all science, all philosophy, if no voice from Heaven was heard respecting the most vital of all questions? Do you desire instruction respecting salvation? Search and read in the Book of the Lord.
IV. BECAUSE THE BOOK IS DIRECTIVE.
Is not the course of human life like that of a vessel exposed to the winds that may drive her leagues out of her proper course? Does not man need careful guidance? Conscience is the captain, but conscience untaught and unguided will manage the ship uncertainly and erroneously (H. E. I. 1299-1307). The Book of the Lord is the directory for the conscience. No position demanding moral action can ever occur in which adherence to its direction will not issue safely. How pure its principles! How righteous its commands! How wise its directions! They touch our life at every point.
V. BECAUSE THE BOOK IS CONSOLATORY.
Sorrows are incident to human life. There are present troubles. Some are heart-breaking. We need help and comfort. The world does not contain it. Here is the balm that can heal every wound.
And there is the future. The prospect of death and eternity. Without the Book of the Lord men are uncertain and hopeless. It sheds clear light on both. How many in the prospect, are delivered from fear and filled with hope! What comfort it affords under the bereaving stroke!
For all these reasons "seek ye out the Book of the Lord." Bring every question to it. Read it daily, thoughtfully, for yourself, for others. In your youth. In your active manhood. In your old age.--J. Rawlinson.
THE BOOK THAT WILL ENDURE TESTING.
xxxiv. 16. _Seek ye out of the Book of the Lord, and read, &c._
We may be sure that God would not give a revelation without affixing His seal to it; otherwise it would be useless, there being no evidence of its Divine origin. Supposing a revelation given, what would constitute a satisfactory proof of its Divinity? Evidently it must be some sign not capable of being counterfeited, some unmistakable indication that GOD has spoken to us. This might be given by some exertion of Divine power or some manifestation of Divine knowledge. As such, miracles and prophecy would furnish indubitable proof that a revelation was from God, and those which attest the Bible are its proper seals. Along with the internal evidence and the argument drawn from the success of the Gospel, they are so many buttresses supporting the edifice of revealed truth; but each is a distinct and sufficient support by itself. The Scriptures themselves appeal to the evidence of fulfilled prophecy in support of their reception as the Word of God, and one of the most pointed of these appeals is that before us. In this chapter Isaiah predicts the desolations that were to come on the chief city of Edom. Placing himself forward in time amid the scenes he predicts, he challenges any one to compare the predictions in the Book of the Lord with the actual condition of the city; he is confident that "the Book" will bear that test, and will come out of it triumphantly.
+I. Read the prophecy before us in the light of its fulfilment.+ The apologetic value of prophecy has often been discredited. Attempts have been made to explain it on natural grounds, as a sagacious forecast, a shrewd prognostication. But what natural sagacity could have foreseen that Edom, so powerful and prosperous in Isaiah's time, would become a desolate waste? It has been well remarked that prophecy possesses as a proof of Divine revelation some advantages that are peculiar. Its fulfilment may fall under our own observation, or may be conveyed to us by living witnesses. The evidence from miracles can never be stronger than it was at first; but that of prophecy is increasing, and will go on increasing until the whole scheme of perdition is fulfilled. It is the accomplishment, and not the mere publication of a prophecy, which supplies a proof of the Divine origin of the Bible; and this evidence is constantly accumulating. The prophets themselves did not understand some of their oracles (1 Pet. i. 11, 12). They were like documents written in colourless ink, to which some chemical preparation must be applied to make their characters legible. Their meaning could be seen only in their fulfilment. But all the prophetic writings are not thus obscure; many are clear and definite; more like the details of a historical narrative than the visions of prophecy. Nothing can be plainer than the description here given of the state to which Edom would be reduced. The wards of this lock are too intricate to be opened by any key which we choose to apply to it; but the fitting key has been found. "The whole," says Alexander, "is a magnificent prophetic picture, the fidelity of which, is notoriously attested by its desolation for a course of ages." The chief city in the region of Mount Seir was Selah or Petra, the Rock City. It was long unknown till it was discovered by Robinson, and since then it has been visited by successive travellers. It lay embedded among the hills. So nestled was it in its rocks "that it could only be approached by two narrow defiles. Dwellings cut out of the solid stone line the face of the cliffs, and the central space indicates that a large city once stood upon it." Malachi speaks of its utter desolation (Mal. i. 2, 3), but afterwards it recovered for a time. Its condition for centuries as described by unbiassed witnesses is a standing evidence of the truth of the prophetic Word.
+II. We may test "the Book" in other fields.+ As a tourist verifies his guide-book and finds it trustworthy at every step, so in many regions do we find the prophetic Word made sure (2 Pet. i. 19-21). Babylon, Tyre, and the fortunes of the Jewish people, all bear witness to the truth of the prophecies. But especially in the career of our Lord and Saviour do we meet with remarkable fulfilments of Scripture. What could be more minute than some of the prophecies concerning Him? His miracles, His submission to unmerited suffering, His riding upon an ass, His being pierced, His being sold for thirty pieces of silver which should be applied for the purchase of the Potter's Field, the lots cast on His vesture, and the vinegar given Him to drink, were all the subject of definite prediction.
+III. The Bible will bear testing in its declarations concerning human nature.+ No book so unveils us to ourselves. We feel its truth in what it says about our noble origin, our lamentable fall, our sinfulness, and the strife within us between the flesh and the spirit. Because it tells us all that ever we did, we feel that it must be Divine.
+IV. From all this two sound and important conclusions follow+:--1. We may put equal confidence in its declarations concerning God. Nothing but Divine knowledge and insight can so disclose the future and the hidden; and if we have found the Bible reliable when it tells us of earthly things, may we not believe it when it tells us of heavenly things? 2. We may be sure that its prophecies concerning the future of Christ's kingdom and the destiny of the human race will in like manner be fulfilled to the letter (Ps. lxxii. 11, 17; Rom. viii. 19-23). So many of the prophecies of God's Word have already been accomplished, that we should feel confident that those not yet fulfilled are surely marching on to their fulfilment. The prospects of success in the mission field are brighter in our day than ever they were. The Church is taking an interest in the enterprise quite unknown to former generations, and openings have been made into lands before closed alike against commerce and Christianity. But even if our hopes of success were less cheering, we would not despair. With so many Bible predictions behind us in the past now become history, we cannot but be encouraged to look for the fulfilment of those glowing prophecies concerning the future coming of the Redeemer's kingdom which stand on the inspired page. Let us never lose sight of those grand predictions; let us cherish a hopeful and expectant spirit, and in the confidence of success descend to the spiritual harvest of the world (H. E. I. 1166-1168).--William Guthrie, M.A.
THE CERTAINTY OF GOD'S JUDGMENTS.
xxxiv. 16, 17. _Seek ye out of the Book of the Lord, &c._
The text occurs midway between a series of predicted judgments pronounced on Edom as the representative of the wicked world, and another series of blessings foretold concerning the Church of God, but it is evidently retrospective.
While a minute verification of these predictions of vengeance might form a solid, convicting argument for the validity of trust in the Bible as the rule of faith and practice, there is another and more general way of regarding the text. Search into a certain book is enjoined because it is the Book of JEHOVAH.
Human faith finds its ultimate basis in God Himself. The certainty of the Divine judgments may therefore be inferred from--
I. THE NATURE OF THE DIVINE BEING.
If the Bible be not merely a revelation from God, but a revelation of God, too much attention cannot be paid to those aspects of the Divine nature afforded by it which man may apprehend although he cannot comprehend them. "Canst thou by searching find out God?" &c. No; but enough may be learned of God to make us sure that it is madness to disobey Him or trifle with His commands. 1. The long-hidden Name of God. Proper names were made very expressive among the Jews. The name JEHOVAH was sacred above all others; they treated it with a superstitious reverence, not daring to pronounce it, &c. Doubtless they referred with awe to the time and circumstances of the communication to Moses (Exod. vi. 1, 2). And so may we in thinking of the Divine judgments. JEHOVAH, it is said, "remembered His covenant," and was about to redeem the Israelites from their bondage in Egypt "with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments" (Exod. vi. 1-8). JEHOVAH: what does the Name mean? Being--unconditioned, absolute, immutable, eternal Being. If, then, God changes not, but is JEHOVAH, to sin against Him is inevitably to call down judgment; for JEHOVAH'S will must be done on earth as it is in heaven. 2. Some of the attributes by the use of which we try to compass the Divine nature. (1.) God is just. But sin, in all its forms, is a crying injustice, and affronts God so that the Divine majesty must assert itself in punishment. (2.) God is good. But sin, as selfishness, is radically opposed to goodness in God, who has might, as well as right, on His side, and, therefore, pursues selfishness to its last resort. (3.) God is holy. Separateness from all sin distinguishes Him in the midst of His relations to man. How, then, can sinners go unpunished? (H. E. I. 2281, 2282, 4478-4479, 4603-4610).
II. THE CHARACTER OF DIVINE LAW.
Law is a transcript of the Divine nature; the Divine character or handwriting making Him known to us; the far-reaching hand of the Eternal. God reveals Himself in its sanctions, reward, and punishment. To obey is to reap reward; to disobey is to be laid hold of instantly by the outraged majesty of law. There is no human way of escape. Visible judgment may be deferred, but the Divine law is cognisant of all transgression. In the matter of the first sin, the formerly existing potentiality of punishment became an actuality. The character of the Divine law may be seen--1. In the physical world. The designer of a ship or bridge diverges from mathematical truth only to produce disaster. 2. In Providence. 3. In the Word of God.
APPLICATION.--If the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? 1. The Divine judgments cannot be evaded. "God is love;" but what love! God is "a consuming fire;" not sentimentally weak; not given to winking at transgression. 2. God's grace magnifies His name and law. He condemned Christ as the Sin-Bearer to death. Thank God! the sinner may be pardoned, but the impenitent are surely handed over to punishment.--J. Macrae Simcock.
TRANSFORMATION.
xxxv. 1, 2, 7. The wilderness and the solitary place, &c.
Chapters xxxiv., xxxv., form one prediction, first announcing the doom of Edom, and then taking us into a new sphere where all is light, beauty, and gladness; a prediction which had a fulfilment in the return of the Jews from the captivity of Babylon to Jerusalem, which they set above their chiefest joy. But the prophecy is one of those in which the so-called secondary meaning is, in truth, the primary; the spiritual takes precedence to the natural, and the fulfilment is to be looked for, not in a remnant of Israel returning to the land of their fathers, but in these grand Gospel times, in which humanity, cursed and bloated by sin, is blessed, saved, and dignified by the influences that stream from the Cross of Calvary.
+I. The end condition of the localities on which the Gospel is intended to operate.+
How suggestive the descriptive symbols: a "wilderness," a "solitary place," "parched ground," a "habitation of dragons." The desolation turns mainly on the absence of water. No other similes could so vividly depict moral barrenness and death. The unregenerate heart is desolate, weary, solitary. Moreover, it is "a habitation of dragons," a foul serpent-brood of uncontrolled passions.
This true of the world as well as of the individual. Think of the great unreclaimed wastes of heathendom. Can civilisation renew them? It has been tried and found wanting.[1] Only the Water of Life, gushing from the smitten Rock, can give moral life.
+II. The effects produced by the kingdom of Jesus.+[2]
Even we can appreciate the value of water and the beauty of its effects. But to Orientals water is a matter of life and death. Hence as an emblem it is employed to bring before the mind the blessed and joy-giving results of the kingdom of Christ. Note these results as they are brought before us in our text. 1. Gladness. "The wilderness and the solitary place," &c. Music of Nature after copious rains following on scorching heat. This an emblem of the joy brought to human hearts by the Gospel. The wilderness state one of sorrow; the river of the water of life running through the heart makes it glad. This is seen in cases where sin and terror are cast out of the heart by the love of God. How this result has been manifested in modern times in nations converted from idolatry to Christianity (H. E. I. 1134). 2. Fertility. "It shall blossom," &c. The desert is barren. The Gospel changes moral wilderness into fruitful gardens; the individual, the nation. 3. Beauty. Think first of a part of the earth's surface parched, desert, and barren, and then of it as a garden covered with the fairest flowers. The first and most striking impression made upon the mind by such a transformation would not be so much that of fertility as of surpassing beauty. So with this moral transformation. Contrast the state of a country before with its condition after having received the Gospel (H. E. I. 1126, 1127). Look at the annals of missionary effort: Madagascar, Samoa, the Fiji Islands, &c. The same change occurs in individual character. 4. Glory and majesty. "The glory of Lebanon," &c. Symbols of all that is glorious and majestic. To live by the power of Jesus the secret of a noble life. Alliance with heaven raises men to regal dignity. The Gospel elevates the character and dignifies the pursuits of men. Our lower pursuits are ennobled by a Christian aim, whilst the higher life has the very glory of God resting on it. 5. A vision that extends into the Holy of Holies. "They shall see the glory of Jehovah," &c. Only in Christ can we see this. He is the glory of God. The Shekinah is seen above the blood-besprinkled mercy-seat.--John Key in the Modern Scottish Pulpit, vol. i. pp. 133-143.
This chapter is an anticipation of the great prophecy of the restoration (xl.-lxvi.) The firm confidence in God, the boundless hopefulness, the glowing visions of the future, the vigour and joyousness that spread so broad a splendour over that famous Scripture are here in a brief compendium. It has been assigned to the state of Judah under Hezekiah, to the return from the exile, to the Christian dispensation, to a future condition of Palestine, to some future state of the Church or of the world, as well as to some other occasions. Two plain facts are before us--1. At no period of Jewish history was there any approach to a perfect realisation of the magnificent promises of this and allied predictions. 2. God has already given to us so substantial a foretaste of the blessings here promised, that we may rest assured that the one satisfying fulfilment of the prophecy will be in the triumph of the kingdom of heaven through the power of the Gospel of Christ.
Let us look at the picture in the light of its glowing fulfilment.
I. THE OLD SCENE OF THE GARDEN.
We are not independent of things around us. Christianity has a transforming influence over our earthly surroundings. It is the most beneficent factor in material civilisation, the truest patron of art, science, literature, commerce (H. E. I., 1124-1131, 1134). But behind this lies a deeper truth. By transforming our hearts the Gospel changes all things to us. This transforming influence is shown in various relations. 1. The wilderness of old bad things is cleared, and gives place to new and better things. The axe must come before the plough. 2. The solitary place and the desert. It is not all weeds and bushes. The task of fertilising the desert with irrigation not less difficult than that of clearing the wilderness. (1.) So there are souls that seem to have lost all soil for spiritual life. (2.) Then there are deserts of ruin, the remains of old withered hopes and joys and loves.
II. THE NEW CHARACTERISTICS OF THE GARDEN.
1. Life. This is the first and most important thing. Christ, the one Saviour of society, was the greatest of iconoclasts. But He was also the greatest founder, originator, constructor. He sows seed, gives increase, brings life. 2. Beauty. The desert blossoms as the rose. The garden is not to be solely utilitarian. The Church is the bride of Christ, and as such she is to be adorned with every grace. 3. Gladness. Life and beauty bring joy. The Church not a prison-house of melancholy devotion. 4. Varied accessories. The garden will not only produce its own seedlings, but plants from all quarters are to be carried into it. Lebanon gives her cedars; Sharon her far-famed rose. Christians are heirs of all things. "All things are yours."
In conclusion, observe two important points:--1. This wonderful transformation will be brought about by the power of God (ver. 4). We have tried long enough to reform the world by merely human agency. The Hebrew prophets promised Divine help. Christ fulfils that promise. He comes with life-giving power. See Him in faith and obedience. 2. All this is a picture of the future. Christ has done much for the weary world. But the old promises are as yet fulfilled in but a small part. The Hebrews set the golden age not in the past, but in the future. We too must assume their attitude of faith, and hope, and patience (H. E. I. 3421). Are we ready to cry, "Why tarry the wheels of His chariot?" Let us remember that God has all eternity to work with. Meanwhile, let us do what we can to convert our little corner of the vast wilderness into some beginning of the garden of the Lord.--W. F. Adeny, M.A.: Clerical World, i. 231.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] The civilisation of Greece and Rome did not affect anything in the way for changing spiritual death into spiritual life. The utmost which it succeeded in effecting was to cover the frightful corruption of death with a more beautiful funeral pall--to hide the naked hideousness of sin behind a veil spangled with silver, and gold, and precious stones. But death was there none the less, and sin of such a kind that the foulest impurities of the most degraded heathen could not exceed the impurities of Athens and of Rome. The old lesson is being taught us, if we would but learn it, in our own day. It is not civilisation that can change the moral desolation of France, of Spain, of Austria. It is not civilisation, as understood by men of science and doctrinaire philosophers, that can change the moral wilderness existing in our large cities, and in much of our rural population. It will only do what it did in Greece; it will merely cover the ghastliness of death with a more decent covering.--Kay.
[2] See outlines on pp. 364, 365 (THE MORAL WILDERNESS TRANSFORMED and PEACE THE WORK OF RIGHTEOUSNESS).
ENCOURAGEMENT FOR THE TIMID.
xxxv. 3, 4. Strengthen ye the weak hands, &c.
The Christian ministry addresses itself to men of various character in various states. It must be adapted to all. Sometimes warning and denunciation, sometimes tenderness, but always love. The text is addressed to the officers and leading men of Jerusalem in a time of general alarm. The prophet declares that the power of the enemy shall be broken, and that instead of desolation there shall be gladness. The timid and weak were to be encouraged. God's strength is made perfect in man's weakness.
I. THE PERSONS TO WHOM THIS ENCOURAGING MESSAGE IS ADDRESSED.
"The weak hands,"--"the feeble knees,"--"them that are of a fearful heart." Timidity has paralysed them. After a desolating war the nation might thus lose heart. A timid woman who sees insuperable difficulty always in the way. A man in a storm at sea lies lamenting that he ventured on the waters. Some characters shrink from every touch. They are well-intentioned, but their faint hearts bar every effort; and they pass through life purposing and projecting, but never accomplishing anything (H. E. I. 2053, 2054).
This timid and feeble disposition may be manifested in spiritual as well as in other things. For instance--1. In relation to Christian experience. It is the privilege of believers in Christ to know their salvation. But many fail to attain it. They do not doubt His sufficiency, but their own interest in it. They fear their sins are not forgiven, their spiritual experience not genuine. Sometimes this is the result of a tendency to view every subject in its darker aspects. Sometimes it is the result of disease. Sometimes of unwatchfulness, negligence, and sin. Sometimes of defective conceptions of the Gospel. Sometimes of a microscopic self-scrutiny which exposes failings and defects with severe faithfulness. The victim of such fears is like one who wishes to reach the city but is never sure that he is in the right way. 2. In relation to Christian enterprise. Christians are not converted merely for their own safety. There is a work to do. Sinful habits, dispositions, tempers to be overcome. The dark mass of humanity to be brightened. The Gospel is to be carried to the destitute. This work requires the gifts and opportunities in the hands of Christians. But the weak and faint-hearted tremble at every undertaking. To them the missionary enterprise is a hopeless expenditure of money and life. The time for useful labour in the Church never arrives. If it is commenced, it is abandoned when difficulties present themselves. These weak brethren do nothing themselves and repress the plans and efforts of bolder and more enterprising Christians (H. E. I. 2057, 2058). Among your fears let there be the fear lest by your fears you should hinder the cause of Christ!
II. ITS NATURE AND IMPORT.
It is intended to strengthen and confirm the feeble. God's messengers are to speak words by which faith and courage be reanimated. They contain--
1. An assurance of deliverance. The deliverance of the Jewish people included the punishment of their enemies. God saves in a way suitable to each case. If your own resources are inadequate, the Divine resources are equal to the emergency. He will save you from your spiritual fears. Has He not sent His Son? Has not Jesus died and risen again? Does He not intercede? Does not His Spirit work? His willingness to save is equal to His ability. What wondrous love to man in the work of redemption! Do you fear that you will be eventually rejected, or that you will fail in the service to which He calls you? (John vi. 37; Matt. xxviii. 20). The message is addressed to your faith. It reminds you of God's power and grace in Christ. It casts you on the all-sufficiency of God.
2. A rebuke of fear. "Fear not." Hope is the opposite of fear and the accompaniment of courage. The fear of the unaccustomed sailor is dissipated when the captain announces that the storm is passing away. The little child alone in a dark room is afraid, although she knows not why. But the mother comes and says there is nothing to fear; there is no fear where she is. So let God's presence and promise drive away all fear respecting our spiritual condition and our Christian work (P. D. 1248, 1257, 1258).
3. An incitement to labour. "Be strong." When God's work calls, we must neither yield to fear nor indolence. The father leads his child to the post of duty where his life-work must be done. He sees something of the complicated work of the manufactory, and fears that he will never be equal to it. His father says, "Be a man; face your work, and strength for it will come." So God says, "Be strong." Here is work in the Church and the world. You are weak. Use the strength He gives. It will grow by use. "Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus" (1 Tim. ii. 1). "Strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might" (Eph vi. 10).
Thus God sends the message of encouragement. Weak hands are strengthened. Feeble knees are confirmed. Fearful hearts are rendered courageous. And His encouragement is necessary to comfort in the Christian life, performance of duty, endurance of suffering and reproach. And it helps to recommend the Gospel.--J. Rawlinson.
Presumption and fear are the Scylla and Charybdis of the Christian life, and it requires Divine guidance, together with all our own watchfulness, to steer safely between them. On the one hand, many are inclined to indulge in vain confidence, and take to themselves the Christian name and hope when not entitled to them; and on the other, many are fearful and disposed to shrink back from duties and privileges which really belong to them. It demands much wisdom on the part of a pastor so to speak as not to encourage false hopes, nor discourage weak and timid piety, especially in reference to a public profession of religion. My object is, to suit the case of those who are well entitled to hope for the Divine mercy through Christ Jesus, but are disquieting themselves, or are disquieted by the enemy, with needless fears. In meeting their wants I will state, and reply to, the reasoning by which I know that many disturb their own peace.
1. "I cannot indulge the hope that I am a Christian, because I have never passed through the same religious exercises and experience that others profess to have felt and enjoyed." It is not necessary to dwell at large upon this difficulty. God has brought many sons to glory, but no two of them have been led thither in precisely the same way, or have been exercised with precisely the same feelings. If, in the main, our experiences correspond with the Word of God in the great points of faith and love, it need not disquiet us though we never heard of another case exactly like our own (H. E. I. 1410-1429).
2. "If I were truly a child of God, sin would not prevail against me as I find it does." Answer:--Sin is never perfectly subdued in our hearts as long as we remain upon earth. Some boast of having attained to sinless perfection, but they seem to be labouring under a sort of hallucination, like that of one in an insane asylum, amid his straw and rags, who fancies himself a king, when he is indeed but a poor pitiable object. "The righteous falleth seven times a day," &c. Read St. Paul's experience in the last part of the 7th of Romans and be encouraged thereby (H. E. I. 329, 1057, 2313, 2861, 4571-4573).
3. "I find that sin not only prevails against me, but I seem to be worse than when I first strove against it; my heart appears to grow more wicked, my corruptions stronger, and my strength to resist to be less." Answer:--To perceive more of our sin than usual does not always prove that we are more sinful, but often the reverse, just as when one cleanses a room, though the air is filled with dust floating in the sunbeams, there is no more of it actually than before, and there will soon be less of it as the operation goes on. We do not know the strength of our evil passions until we begin to oppose them. It is also undoubtedly true that when one is making a special effort to lead a Christian life, that then he is especially tempted and hindered, and that the motions of sin are then more violent. And further than this, when any are endeavouring to break away from the dominion of Satan, then he assails them with his most powerful temptations (H. E. I. 1060-1062, 1066-1068, 2524, 2525).
4. Another class of disquieted ones affirm that they cannot hope they are true Christians, because they seem to love everything else more than God. But in estimating our love to God compared with our love to earthly things, we are not to conclude that we love that most which most excites our affections. It has been well remarked "that a man may be more moved when he sees a friend that has long been absent, and seem to regard him more for the moment than he does his own wife and children, and yet none would think that the friend was loved the most;" so neither must we conclude because when we are abroad in the world we find our affections vehemently stirred towards its various objects, that therefore they are supreme in our hearts. We should judge of our comparative affection by asking ourselves soberly which of the two objects we should prefer to part with (H. E. I. 3365, 3366, 4188, 4189).
5. "A person may in appearance be like a Christian, and yet be really destitute of any true piety." Answer:--Fear is usually the best remedy against the thing feared, and none are farther from the danger of making a false profession than those who are most afraid of it (H. E. I. 339, 2050-2053).
6. Some again have fears that they are not true Christians, because they come so far short of the attainments of some eminent Christians of their acquaintance. We reply that the worst part of the character of those exalted saints may not be known to us, or they may not have our hindrances, or they may have been long in growing up to that state, while we are only, as it were, babes in Christ (H. E. I. 2508-2526).
7. Another class say that they cannot think any real Christian ever was so tempted and distressed with evil thoughts as they are. We reply, Job was tempted to curse God, and Christ Himself to worship Satan. We may have very wicked thoughts entering our minds, but if we strive against them and they are painful to us, they are no evidence against us. Christ had thoughts as vile as these suggested to Him, but He remained sinless (H. E. I. 4767-4779).
8. Another class say that they have doctrinal difficulties, that certain things in the Bible do not appear clear to them, and they fear to make any public confession of Christ till these things are made plain. We reply that the best way to solve doctrinal difficulties is to engage in practical duties. Any one perplexed upon points of doctrine should read but little on those points, but engage earnestly in all acts of obedience which the Bible enjoins, praying fervently and humbly to be guided into all truth. One day's labour in the field of charity, or one step onward in the path of known duty, will bring more light into the soul upon disputed points than weeks of speculation and controversy (H. E. I. 590-596, 1797). It would be endless to recount all the ways in which doubts and fears assail us. Their name is legion, and our prayer should be that Christ would command them to come out of the man who is troubled with them, and to enter no more into him.--W. H. Lewis, D.D.: Plain Sermons for the Christian Year.
THE HEALER AND JOY-GIVER.
xxxv. 5, 6. _Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, &c._
This beautiful prophecy is not exhausted by the first fulfilment of the promise which immediately precedes. However great the political deliverance, it did not include the literal giving of sight to the blind or hearing to the deaf. Nor is it only poetic imagery. It points to something in the time of the Messiah, to whose manifestation the scheme of Old Testament history and prophecy is subordinate. We find in this text--
I. THE BLESSINGS CHRIST IMPARTS.
1. We find in the life of Christ a literal fulfilment of the text, which compels us to regard it as fulfilled in Him (Matt. xx. 30-34; Mark vii. 32-35; John v. 5-9, &c.) Now these are historical facts. Useless to say they are miracles, therefore incredible, because a miracle is impossible. Who taught you that a miracle is impossible? You are assuming what you are bound to prove. The testimony of the writers of this history is worth as much as that of any other historical writers (H. E. I. 3527-3529). Many things have occurred in the world the like of which we have never seen. Moreover, the power of God must be taken into account in deciding whether a thing is possible or not. Is it not astounding presumption for a man to measure Divine power by his own; to say, because neither himself nor any other man at present can work a miracle, therefore God cannot and never has? After all the argument, the fact remains. 2. We find that the coming of Christ is identified with improvements in the general character and condition of mankind, such as may be shadowed forth in these physical blessings. Where Christianity comes, the intellectual, moral, and material standard rises. Savage peoples become civilised; civilised nations reach a higher plane. The influence of personal Christianity commonly improves the social position of the individual. 3. But beyond this we find that the coming of Christ is identified with the bestowment of spiritual blessings and the effectuation of spiritual changes as remarkable as the miracles it wrought in the physical region. The spiritual disease of sin, analogous to the physical diseases it has caused, is cured by the Gospel. Take a case. One thoroughly imbued with hatred to Christ. Not content with simple indifference to Him, or rejection of His claims, he throws all the energy of an unusually energetic nature into the active measures that were adopted for the suppression of His cause. But the saving power of Christ finds him in a way unexpected and unusual. He surrenders on the spot, and finds himself under the command of Christ to do whatsoever He wills. He becomes a missionary of the cross. He is sent to the Gentiles "to open their eyes, to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God." And this case is a type of multitudes whose spiritual diseases have been healed, some of them the most virulent and malignant. It is a work within their souls, which the power of God alone can effect. It is a change of the heart's deepest principles and affections under the influence of spiritual considerations only. It is a moral revolution. The blind eyes are opened to the glory of Christ's truth. The deaf ear listens to His voice. The dumb tongue is eloquent of His salvation, and sings His praise. And the lame man gladly walks in the way of His commandments.
II. THE JOY HE CREATES.
Gladness runs through the text. Leaping and singing are expressions of joy. The blessings of salvation find the soul in the condition of a traveller in the sandy desert, weary, footsore, lame, and silent, who unexpectedly finds a springing well, and begins to talk, and sing, and leap for joy. Joy arises in the heart--1. From the supply of a conscious need. Imagine the joy of those whom Christ healed, when the blind saw the light and became interested in the objects around him, when the deaf heard the sound of the human voice, when the dumb was able to make himself understood, when the lame recovered the use of his limbs. What joy was brought into many a home! And when He comes to the heart with His forgiving, cleansing, healing love, what gladness He brings! It is the beginning of days. It is the enjoyment of life. Christians have sources of happiness of which the world knows nothing. "Ye rejoice with joy unspeakable, and full of glory" (H. E. I. 3041). 2. From the manifestation of a compassionate Saviour. His healing miracles illustrate His character. Beneficence, tender sympathy with human suffering, love to man marked His steps. It brought Him down from heaven. It nailed Him to the cross. And He is still the same. He is personally interested in His people (H. E. I. 952-957). He is the object of Divine love, and therefore joy. 3. From the satisfaction of settled faith. Faith connects the soul with Him. But it is often assailed. It needs support even where it exists. The disciples sometimes wavered, then some new confirmation was afforded. John the Baptist in prison doubted, therefore received the message (Matt. xi. 4-6). Jesus uses His miracles in evidence. Nor must we surrender their evidential power. And there is the confirmatory evidence of expression. This is always fresh.
1. This subject calls for grateful love. Give evidence of your cure by getting the spirit of Christ's compassionate love, and by using His instruments for the cure of others. 2. You too are still in the power of the disease; come to Him for healing.--J. Rawlinson.
THE CURSE DONE AWAY.
xxxv. 5, 6. The eyes of the blind shall be opened, &c.
The years of fulfilment linger, and faith is weak and faint. The picture of hopeless helplessness is painted in the context (vers. 3, 4). If we fail, God's promise cannot (vers. 1, 2). The transformation of the desert, the planting of Eden there, and the coming of God with vengeance and recompense are one. They signify one vast display of gracious power. It is no abstract salvation that we wait and hope for, but a Saviour. The text describes the blessings of Messiah's kingdom.
+I. "Is not this poetry?"+ Yes, but is poetry the opposite of truth? Have not prophets ever been poets? Is not poetry the sweetest or strongest or sublimest expression of man's noblest conceptions of truth? This poem of Isaiah is an expression of God's realities. The poetry, the prophecy has its answering reality in history. The age of Christ spake back to it, and both speak on to us. Nothing shall be wanting to complete the scene. The glorious in nature shall but typify the more glorious in man's body, mind, morals, and spiritual satisfaction and joy.
+II. Spiritual and physical evil are intimately connected.+ 1. They are cause and effect. The physical is the sign of the spiritual. Something radical was wrong before the wrong things could come. The doctrine is philosophic as well as biblical. 2. It is not meant that any and every special personal affliction is the result of any given or particular personal transgression. A man is not blind because he or his parents are sinners, but because of sin. We are living in a violated order.
+III. The cessation of physical evil can only follow the cure of evil that is spiritual.+ God's life, God's health, God's gladness must be poured into the dumb before his tongue can sing. The spirit of the blind must be thrilled with a heavenly vision before his eye can open on the outer world. God must come and save before the cripple can bound as the deer. 1. Man's sin must be cured, then his sorrow. The miracles of healing in the Gospels teach us this. We can never overlook the moral element in them. It was when Christ saw faith that He said, "Thy sins be forgiven thee" (Matt. ix. 2). 2. Health and soundness could not be given to mankind by a mere miracle-power apart from spiritual considerations. No mere almightiness could effect it. Pentecostal gifts, if repeated, would probably produce similar signs and wonders; still miracles can never be more than periodic and intermittent. The progressive life of the Spirit of God must achieve in the race what they in the individual only foretoken. Physical healing must keep pace with moral. The body must protest against sin. 3. Any philanthropy springing from other hope lacks truth and wisdom, and must fail. It proceeds upon a mistaken conception of human nature. It only deals with symptoms. All true philanthropy must begin at the Cross. The Cross is the sign that God has come for vengeance and for recompense.
CONCLUSION.--Learn counsel and courage. 1. Counsel as to life's mysteries, burdens, sufferings, and sorrows. 2. Courage to endure them, and strive with them in manful faith and hope. (1.) Broken health, pains, malformations, insanities, idiocies, and all bodily and mental degeneracies and anomalies are the dreadful issue of spiritual depravity and alienation from the life of God. (2.) Sin's destined Victor is in the combat, and with His own shield and spear will take the throne. The world in which He reigns will be a world where evil is not, but good is all in all.--William Hubbard: Christian World Pulpit, xvi. 232.
BEAUTIFUL VISIONS EXCHANGED FOR REALITIES.
xxxv. 7. And the parched ground shall become a pool.
Read for "parched ground" mirage,[1] and it suggests the inquiry, what would be the feelings of a wearied traveller if the mirage he was vainly pursuing should suddenly become a pool? It would be new life to him; if the vision became a reality, it would be enough. But it is not only the traveller in southern deserts beneath the burning sky that sees visions of beauty floating before his gaze. Countless thousands thirst for something better and nobler than they have. So it has been from the beginning; and 2500 years ago the prophet declared that in the days of the Messiah the soul's desires should be satisfied, that that which had been only a vision should become a reality, the mirage should become a pool.
+I. Past prediction has become actual fact:+ in Christ ideal visions have become realities.
1. In bygone days some nobler souls dreamed dreams of a perfect human character. The "Phædo" of Plato is an illustration of this. But the dream remained a dream until Jesus of Nazareth lived among men. In Him all excellences that were scattered were localised, focused, centralised; and in Him we see of what nobleness our nature is capable. 2. The yearning of some is for truth, pure truth, stripped of all human accretions and confusions. How earnestly search has been made for it! In this search philosophy and theology have been traversed and ransacked. But it is to be found only in Christ. He Himself declared, not vainly, "I am the truth." In Him are "hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." 3. In others, conscience is the most active faculty. Sin is to them a burden and a torment. They yearn for peace of conscience. No suffering seems to them too great if this can be attained. But they never find it until they seek it in Christ. Coming to Him, they are filled with "the peace of God, which passeth all understanding." The vision has become a reality; the reality goes beyond the vision. 4. There are others led on by visions of a strong virtue and a noble life. They struggle against their passions and the allurements of the world. But alas! how numerous and lamentable are their defects! They never learn the secret of victory until they come to Christ; but when they have done this, presently they find that with truth they can say, "I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me." 5. Happiness. Who has not had visions of it? Who has not sought it? But, alas! the confession to which we are all brought is that of Solomon: "Vanity of vanities! all is vanity!" And yet even this thirst is satisfied in Christ--profoundly, exultantly satisfied. In Him we find a happiness that breaks forth in song, and triumphs over the pains and sorrows of this mortal life. The mirage has become a pool.
+II. Actual fact is present prediction;+ in Christ ideal vision will become realities. The soul still thirsts--1. For perfect purity; 2. For perfect rest from the carking cares of earth, and infinite calm in Jesus' love; 3. For the perfect communion of saints. In vision John saw all this in the new Jerusalem; and to all who are Christ's indeed they shall all become realities (1 Cor. ii. 9).
1. Let those to whom the prediction of our text has been fulfilled tell the glad news to others. 2. All for those who have had these visions all their lives, but up to this moment have been utterly disappointed, (1) let them learn from the experience of others, who tell them they never knew truth and happiness until they sought them in Christ; (2) let them listen to the voice of rest; (3) let them be sure that until they do come to Christ, the parched ground will never become a pool. The soul needs more than the vision, however bright and beautiful it may be; it needs the reality, and the reality can be found only in Christ.--Clement Clemance, D.D.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] The word sharab, "parched ground," A.V., more exactly "looming sand-waste," refers to the mirage, of which it is the Arabic name. The vain shadows of the world, which deceive and never satisfy, are to be replaced by the enduring joys of the kingdom of God.--Birks.
Some years ago we were riding over a desert in intense and almost distressing heat. We could but lie still and endure it. We turned our eyes to the south, and, lo! in the horizon there suddenly appeared a beautiful lake, which appeared studded with islands of palms! But it was only appearance, there was no water; and had we been perishing from thirst, the beautiful vision would but have mocked our need.--Clemance.
No one can imagine, without actual experience, the delight and eager expectation (when the vision first is seen), or the intense and bitter disappointment which the appearance of a mirage occasions to travellers, specially when their supply of water is spent.
"Still the same burning sun! No cloud in heaven! The hot air quivers, and the sultry mist Floats o'er the desert, with a show Of distant waters mocking their distress."--Kitto.
The word sharab, here rendered "parched ground," is the same that in Isaiah xlix. 10 is translated heat: "They shall hunger no more, they shall thirst no more; the sharab, nor the sun, shall never smite them more."
The primary sense of sharab, giving the key to both applications, is the dazzling, vibrating, noonday heat. Thence it is here taken as a name for its effect, of the mirage in the desert caused by the intense meridian rarefaction and refraction. It is a well-known delusive appearance, arising from the motions of the heated atmosphere, taking great varieties of form, but especially suggesting pictures of grove and fountain scenery--lakes, rivers, green valleys, waving trees, cool and sequestered shades, with every image most grateful to the imagination of the wearied traveller. These often seem so vivid as to be mistaken for realities.
The very common use of the same word (sarab) by the Arabian poets, in this mirage sense, makes certain the real meaning here. It gives it, too, a glorious significance of which our translation, though etymologically correct, and, to a certain extent, quite plausible, falls far short. It should be rendered: "The mirage shall become a lake (a real lake, not a mere mockery of one), and the thirsty land springs of water." For the expressive meaning of the word rendered "thirsty-land," see Deut. viii. 15--"that great and terrible wilderness." So Gesenius, very happily: Et desertum aquœ speciem referens commutabitur in lacum--in veram aquam. (And the desert having the appearance of water shall be changed into a lake--into true water.)
The spiritual idea which the passage, thus interpreted, suggests is most striking, whilst at the same time commending itself as having a solid basis, and far removed from the character of an arbitrary sentimentalism. It has a substantial philological support, and comes so directly from the peculiar word employed, that we are compelled to regard it as entering into the prophet's conception.
The primary reference is to the exiles returning from captivity, passing through the land of drought, the valley of Baca (Ps. lxxxiv. 6), and refreshing themselves at "the wells of salvation;" but there is a glow and a glory in the language, as in so many other parts of the Scriptures, that carries it far beyond this, though the Rationalist, if he chooses, may rest in the lower sense, and maintain it on undeniable exegetical grounds. The spiritually-minded reader finds something more--something which alone comes up to the splendour of the style, and without which the hyperbole, beautiful as it is, would seem tumid and extravagant. It is a mounting sense, as we may call it, rather than a "double" or enigmatical representation. The lower is the basis, undoubtedly, but we cannot rest in it. As elsewhere, in the Prophets and in the Psalms, the earthly salvation is described in terms and figures powerfully suggestive of higher spiritual realities. The exegesis, therefore, that comes from this is not arbitrary. To the mind in spiritual harmony, it seems to be the only one that truly satisfies the emotional glow and fervour of the language. The mirage of this world in the highest reality it can claim--still more the mirage our "vain imaginations" create in it--is worse than the dry desert itself; its delusions, when discovered, produce more pain; the disappointment intensifies the thirst. Hence the exceeding impressiveness of the prophet's figure when rightly understood. The unreal shall vanish; truth, substance, eternal reality shall take the place of all that is false. Man shall cease "walking in a vain show" (betselem), an image, a shadow (Ps. xxxix. 6). This mirage of time shall become a fountain of real water, of "living water, springing up to everlasting life." "With joy shall ye draw water from the wells of salvation" (Isa. xii. 3).
"The shadows are gone, truth has come." Mohammed seems to have, in some way, caught a spark from the prophetic inspiration, when he represents the righteous saying this, as they lift up their hands in the morning of the resurrection. In the Arabic, as in the Hebrew, the power comes from the graphic mode which both languages possess, in so high a degree, of picturing the future in the present, and even in the past. "Joy and triumph are overtaking them, sorrow and sighing have fled away." This is not the land of reality. The idea comes down from the pilgrim language of the patriarchs, who so pathetically declared themselves to be but "travellers and sojourners upon the earth." They were looking for "the better country," the real home, the "city which hath foundations," firm and everlasting. Something of the same idea, and from the same early source, perhaps, may be traced in the most ancient Arabian poets who lived before the days of Mohammed. From them he most probably borrowed the striking similar figure we find in the Koran (Sura xxiv. 29), entitled "Light." It has the same word (sharab), and, in other respects is immediately suggestive of the passage in Isaiah: "As for the unbelieving, their works are like the sarab, the mirage of the plain. The thirsty traveller thinks there is water there; but lo, he comes and finds it nothing." The latter parts remind us of the description in Job vi. 17, which may be cited, too, as one of the examples of its Arabian imagery. It is a picture of the thirsty traveller sustained by the hope of finding the refreshing wady stream; but instead of the imagined reality, nothing meets the eye but dried-up bed whose waters have vanished, "gone up to tohu," the formless void, as the Hebrew so graphically expresses it
"What time they shrink deserted of their springs, As quenched in heat they vanish from their place; 'Tis then their wonted ways are turned aside: Their streams are lost, gone up in emptiness. The caravans of Tema look for them; The companies of Sheba hope in vain; Confounded are they where they once did trust; They reach the spot and stand in helpless maze."
Another very striking passage, where the same word is used, may be found in the Koran (Sura lxxviii. 20): "When the hills are set in motion, and become like the sarab"--the vanishing mirage. It is a description of the day of judgment, when the world will be found to have been a sarab, a departing dream. Or it may represent its exceeding transitoriness, like that other name ajalun, the rolling, hastening, passing world, which the Koran and the early Arabian poets give to this present mundane system as compared with the reality of Paradise. Hence the word sarab becomes a common or proverbial expression, pro re evanida, for anything light, transient, and unsubstantial. There is a beautiful allusion to it in the very ancient poem of Lebid (Moallaka de Lebid, De Sacy's ed., p. 294). See also the account of the phenomenon as given by Diodorus Siculus, lib. iii. ch. 50. It differs, however, from the picture usually presented by the Arabian poets, in that the appearances are those of animals and wild beasts, rather than of rivers and fountains. The particular kind of phantoms, however, would depend very much on the kind of imagination possessed by the travellers, and the circumstances by which it was excited. It is, in any way, an apt representation of a delusive world, whether in its images of terror or of attraction. That the word is thus frequently used in the Arabic, and that it corresponds well to its ancient Hebrew etymology, is sufficient to warrant us in thus interpreting the idea the prophet so impressively sets forth.--Taylor Lewis.
THE EXILES' RETURN.
xxxv. 8-10. And an highway shall be there, &c.
The chapter of which these words are a part testifies of Christ. The prophet, while foretelling it in the return of the Jews from their captivity in Babylon, is enabled to look forward to a more spiritual and much greater deliverance. With the eye of faith he sees the kingdom of the Messiah established in the earth, and beholds Him open a new and blessed road by which a multitude of the enslaved and perishing escape from their miseries and are led to His kingdom. This prophecy calls upon us to consider--1. The travellers of whom it speaks; 2. The way along which they are journeying; 3. The home to which it is leading them.--Charles Bradley: Sermons, vol. ii. pp. 127, 128.
Whatever primary reference this prophecy might have to the return of the tribes from captivity, it is evident that all its interesting and beautiful descriptions can only be fully realised in the blessedness and glory of the Gospel dispensation. Consider it as spiritually referring to the Gospel way of salvation.
I. THE WAY ITSELF.
A religious course is often spoken of as a way (Prov. xv. 21; Jer. xxi. 8; Matt. vii. 14). The way of which our text speaks is described--1. As a highway. It is not a secluded private path, but a public highway opened by the authority of the King of kings; a way designed for the general accommodation of the human race, and leading to the metropolis of the universe. 2. It is a holy way. 3. It is a plain way. Not a way requiring extensive philosophical knowledge or deep metaphysical research to comprehend it. All the Gospel requirements and duties are plain. 4. It is a safe way.[1] Satan may try to allure us from it, but he cannot interrupt us while walking in it.
II. THE CHARACTER OF ITS TRAVELLERS.
"The redeemed," &c. 1. Once they were slaves. Slaves of sin and Satan. 2. They have been redeemed. By the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Redeemed to God; redeemed from sin, the power of Satan, and the wrath to come. 3. They are now the Lord's freemen. Now sons, members of the Divine family; sharers of the Divine goodness and peace; and they bear a holy resemblance to their Elder Brother.
III. HOW THEY TRAVEL ALONG IT.
"They shall return and come to Zion with songs." 1. They sing the praises of their great Deliverer (Rev. i. 5, 6). 2. They sing on account of the deliverance itself. 3. They sing on account of the joys of their present experience. 4. They sing on account of their glorious prospects.
IV. THE BLESSEDNESS TO WHICH IT LEADS THEM.
1. They shall be crowned with joy. 2. They shall possess a perfect fulness of felicity. 3. Their felicity shall be uninterrupted and eternal.--Jabez Burns, D.D.: Four Hundred Sketches and Skeletons of Sermons, vol. ii. pp. 160-163.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] This is important in our own country, where there are no ferocious animals lying in wait to destroy; but it was peculiarly important in Judæa and the countries adjoining it. Many parts of these are said to have been infested with beasts of prey, which frequently rushed from their places of concealment upon the passing traveller, and rendered even the public roads exceedingly dangerous. Hence the prophet says of the way to heaven through Christ, that "no lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast go up thereon; it shall not be found there." Not that we are to conclude that the redeemed have no foes to combat, and no difficulties to surmount in their course. Like the Israelites returning from Babylon, they have to pass through an enemy's country in their journey to Zion. But He who has redeemed them accompanies them in their pilgrimage; and though they are called to struggle and fight, He gives them the victory, and renders their path as safe as though there were no dangers near it, nor any to hurt and destroy.--Bradley.
THE ROAD TO THE CITY.
xxxv. 8-10. And a highway shall be there, &c.
Human life is a journey--a journey to the grave. The Christian life is a journey--a journey to a better country. Abraham journeyed to the land of Canaan; Israel in the wilderness; their descendants on the return from Babylon (Ezra viii. 31). If you would reach your destination, it is necessary to know and traverse the way.
+I. It is a way easily known.+ Some are difficult to find. They are crossed and intersected so often, and so imperfectly supplied with guiding-posts, that mistakes are almost inevitable. This is a way in which "the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err." Serious mistake is almost impossible. You have a directory so clear that reference to it settles every question. God's Word is the guide of life. He may read who runs. It is true there are no difficulties in the ascertainment of the way of life. The road the child travels to his home is quite plain and easy, yet he may be ignorant of the means by which it was made, the materials of which it is constructed, the sources whence they were obtained, the engineering appliances by which they were bound together, the quarters from which the cost was defrayed. At present he has no information, or it is beyond his comprehension. Thus in the Bible there are many things difficult and beyond the present knowledge of the student. They diminish with advancing knowledge and thought. And even if they remain, they do not affect the matters on which certainty is necessary. The way of forgiveness through the Saviour's death is written with the clearness of a sunbeam. The rule of life in its application to all circumstances is so clearly laid down that all cases in the court of conscience find an easy settlement; where there is a disposition to follow it, no practical difficulty exists. It is like the pillar of cloud and fire which infallibly guided the children of Israel in the wilderness.
+II. It is a purified way.+ "The unclean shall not pass over it." It is a holy way. The text fastens attention on those who traverse the road as giving it its character. They are holy persons in the company of holy persons. What is holiness? It is separation, setting apart, purity, always with reference to God. 1. Its meaning is not covered by morality. That term is ordinarily met by the performance of the duties that arise between man and man. 2. Nor is the meaning of the term "holy" covered by humanity. We hear much of what is called "the religion of humanity," which means a benevolent desire for the well-being of mankind. Like morality, it is to be commended as far as it goes. It is, indeed, a step in advance of morality. It is a man's worldly interest to practise its virtues. Humanity rises higher. It looks beyond self. In proportion as a man looks out from himself to the well-being of others, he is ennobled. Holiness includes them both, but they do not necessarily include holiness. They terminate in man, whereas holiness is in immediate relation to God. It is the separation of a man's nature from all sin against God, and is consecration to Him. God brings a sinner under the power of His grace, and a saint emerges. The love of God in Christ, which pardons him, so influences his nature that he comes into sympathy with God, and desires to be like Him. He makes the Divine will the rule of his life. He is born anew. He is holy in heart. His growing practical obedience to the Divine authority is his walk in the way of holiness. Those who have not experienced such a change cannot walk in it. They tire. Holiness of heart precedes holiness of life (H. E. I. 2813-2817).
+III. It is a pleasant way.+ There are pilgrim songs. The walk through the country may be so pleasant that nothing is thought of its difficulty or its fatigue. The way of holiness is rendered pleasant by congenial companions, by Divine thoughts, by heavenly communings. There are difficulties. The way is sometimes steep; here and there are formidable obstructions. There are temptations to weariness and abandonment of the way. Yet the difficulties are not insurmountable. They disappear before the traveller's sanctified determination. The ability of anything to give pleasure depends on our feeling in relation to it. Especially in things of a moral nature. The regenerated nature of a Christian makes every step of his progress a source of pleasure. Christians are the happiest of men, partly because happiness is not sought as their main end (H. E. I. 1080-1084, 4161-4163).
And it is safe as it is pleasant. All pleasant paths are not safe. Some pleasant ones are extremely perilous. The Lord of the way has cleared it of dangers. "He will keep the feet of His saints." "No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon."
+IV. It is a completed way.+ Some roads lead to nothing. They abruptly terminate, and you must retrace your steps. This is continued to the destination. "They shall come to Zion." As the Jews reached the earthly Jerusalem we shall arrive in heaven. The holy city is a fit termination of the holy way.
Are you in the way? Keep in it. Turn not aside. Advance toward your destination. Anticipate arrival.
Are you not in the way? Consider whither you are going. Renounce the world. Enter the road. Do not say it is hard. Do not say you cannot encounter the difficulties. God will help.--J. Rawlinson.
There are a thousand wrong roads, but only one right one. 1. The road of the text is the King's highway. It spans all the chasms of human wretchedness; it tunnels all the mountains of earthly difficulty; it is wide and strong enough to hold all the millions of the human race. The King sent His Son to build the road. He put head, and hand, and heart to it, and after it was completed cried, "It is finished." 2. It is spoken of as a clean road. "The unclean shall not pass over it" (Prov. xiv. 12; Heb. xii. 14). 3. A plain road. "The wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein." The pardon is plain. The peace is plain (1 Tim. i. 15). If you are saved, it will be as a little child (Matt. xviii. 3). 4. A safe road. "No lion shall be there," &c. His soul is safe. His reputation is safe (Ps. cxxv. 2). 5. A pleasant road. God gives a bond of indemnity against all evil to every man that treads it (Rom. viii. 28; Matt. vi. 26, 28; Prov. iii. 33; 1 Cor. x. 13). He enables him to be glad with a great joy (Ps. xxvii. 1; Rev. vii. 14, 16, 17; Exod. xv. 1). 6. What is its terminus? "The ransomed of the Lord shall come to Zion." Zion is the King's palace, a mountain fastness, impregnable. Heaven is the fastness of the universe. And Jesus is there!--T. De Witt Talmage, D.D.: Christian Age, vol. ix. pp. 3-5.
THE HAPPINESS OF HEAVEN.
xxxv. 10. And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, &c.
"Zion," literally speaking, was the proper name of the city where David dwelt (2 Sam. v. 7). But the name was also given to the ancient Jewish polity in church and state (Ps. cii. 13, 16), to the Gospel Church, with all the spiritual blessings of the Christian dispensation (Isa. xxviii. 16; 1 Pet. ii. 6, 7); and also to the Church in glory, or the heavenly state of final and complete happiness with God and Christ for ever (Heb. xii. 22, &c.) We may therefore regard this text as revealing the general features of the happiness of heaven.
+I. To whom does the hope of heaven belong?+ To "the ransomed of the Lord," whom He has delivered from bondage and is bringing back from exile (H. E. I. 2730, 2829-2832).
+II. How do those who attain to heaven come there?+ Triumphantly, "with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads." This is said perhaps with allusion to the ovations of victorious chiefs, or to troops coming home from hard-fought fields and the privations even of a successful campaign, crowned with garlands and waving palms, singing some martial air, and approaching their homes and families with shouts of gratitude.
+III. What do the redeemed realise when they reach heaven?+ "They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away." In heaven--1. There will be an entire cessation of every occasion of grief (H. E. I. 1629; P. D. 1753, 1767). 2. There will no longer be any possibility of falling. What a blessed peace will spring from this fact! In this world the sincerest believers, like pilots steering into port through narrow and winding channels beset with sunken rocks and hidden shoals, must work out daily their own salvation with fear and trembling (1 Cor. ix. 27). But in heaven the spirits of the just are "made perfect," and, like God Himself, "cannot be tempted of evil." 3. We shall meet again with our long-lost loved ones, never more to part (Rev. vii. 15-17; P. D. 2996-2998). 4. The companionship of saints and angels. The best and purest friendships here are often marred by the blots and blemishes of good men; but there will be no jarring in the exalted fellowships of heaven. 5. The possession of Christ and the beatific vision of God for ever (1 Pet. i. 8; Isa. xxxiii. 7).--R. Bingham, M.A.: Sermons, pp. 128-149.
THE BANISHMENT OF SORROW.
xxxv. 10. And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, &c.
+I.+ "They shall obtain joy and gladness," &c.--+this is undoubtedly the distinctive and ineradicable hope of human nature.+ Is that hope a glorious, and perhaps in its effects a beneficent, delusion never to be realised? Or is it the earnest of a reality far greater than its highest imagination can conceive? The question receives contradictory answers from the two conflicting voices within the soul, as from time to time one or other gains a temporary predominance. But the Christian revelation allows no doubt on this matter for a moment, and yet it does not bid us shut our eyes to the darker phases of actual life. The picture drawn in this chapter deals with every sphere of human life. It begins with the outward: it tells how the "desert shall rejoice," &c.; it turns, then, to the lower nature of man himself--"the eyes of the blind shall be opened," &c.; lastly, it speaks to the spirit of man: the light of God shows a "highway through the desert of life" on which "the redeemed can walk" safely; and at the end there is a heavenly Zion of perfection, to which the "ransomed of the Lord shall come with songs," &c.
+II. When did the prophet look to see his vision fulfilled?+ He may well have thought first of the all but present deliverance from the gigantic power of Assyria by the redeeming arm of the Lord. Some such shadow of fulfilment there may have been, in the last gleam of unclouded prosperity which ever fell upon Judah, before its sun set in the great captivity: such shadows of fulfilment may have been felt in the history of man again and again. Isaiah unquestionably looked on to the kingdom of the Messiah as the one ideal of a perfect manifestation of God and a perfect exaltation of man. Such fulfilment Christ claimed for Himself; but it is in the actual manifestation of the kingdom of Christ on earth that the prophetic picture is realised in its fulness.
+III. If the kingdom of Christ is what it proclaims itself to be, it must necessarily be, as on the Mount He proclaimed it, a kingdom of blessing.+ What are the two great sources of the sorrow which broods over life? 1. Over our bodily life, and the world of nature which subserves it, there is the blight of pain and suffering. 2. Spiritual evil--the blindness, weakness, sin of man himself. How does the Gospel profess to face and scatter both? By the revelation of the Cross it hallows doubly the law of suffering and death, by overruling it to good for ourselves, and by making it a condition and a means of helping the redemption of others. The Gospel deals still more decisively with the burden of sin: in this lies the essence of its redemption. "God is in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself. . . . We pray you, in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God." This is its first message; but it is not all; "Sin," it goes on to say, "shall not have dominion over you." "Ye are sanctified in Christ Jesus."
+IV. But is that promise actually realised?+ We answer boldly, Yes. It must be remembered that by the very nature of the case the kingdom of Christ is seen by us, as yet, only to the first stages of its conflict against the powers of evil. What it can offer, as yet, is a true but only imperfect earnest of the future. In all the three phases of this prophecy, Christ asserted its power to bless the whole world. He held the reins of the forces of nature; lifted the burden of disease and resisted death; brought in the new life of His grace. He had joy, like no other joy, amid His continuous conflict with evil; and to those who were His, He gave peace in proportion as they entered into His spirit. The last conflict was but for a moment, the chill of dreariness before the dawn. "Then," amidst some fear, and awe, and perplexity, "were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord." It is, thank God! a matter of daily Christian experience, that, just in proportion as we are really Christ's, the promise is realised again and again to us. There is joy in nature, and a deeper joy and peace in communion with God. Sometimes we feel that these things are the only reality in a fleeting and unsubstantial world around us. But this reality is yet imperfect; sorrow and sighing are rather kept at bay than driven away; but we have a sure and certain hope of a perfect future. Without the realisation of His peace in the present, without the sure and certain hope of the future, one hardly sees how man can care to live; one dares not think how he can die.--Canon Barry, D.D.: Christian Age, vol. xx. pp. 81-83.
MODERN RABSHAKEHS, AND THEIR ATTEMPTS TO TERRIFY GOD'S PEOPLE INTO A HUMBLE SURRENDER.
xxxvi. 4. What confidence is this wherein thou trustest?
Sennacherib is surprised at the attitude of resistance taken by Hezekiah, and sends an embassy to dissuade him from his mad project. When they appear outside the walls, some officers of Hezekiah's court come out to confer with them, and Rabshakeh opens upon them with the taunting question, "What confidence," &c. The proud king of Assyria had another end beyond that of conquest. His aim was to show that Jehovah was on a level with the gods of the nations. This was, therefore, a religious war. Every country he subdued was another god overcome, and if only Jerusalem were taken, his triumph would be complete. The situation here described is an image of the Christian faith assailed by modern unbelief. The forces of infidelity have become bold and insolent. The Bible is subjected to the hostile criticism of men who would rejoice to see it overthrown. Unbelief is marshalling her forces against the citadel of revealed truth. She has on her side some prominent leaders of modern thought, and employs both press and lecture-room for accomplishing her destructive designs. If she can only get the Christian faith out of the way, the world will be her own. Our modern Rabshakehs are hurling against us the taunting question, "What confidence," &c.
+I. What is this confidence of ours which is so assailed?+
The question implies that we have a confidence. Our opponents admit it, though to them it is inexplicable. They are forced to bear testimony to a strange but courageous faith by which we are supported in life and death. Jerusalem had nothing to rest on but God's presence and promise. Their king had encouraged them with the noble words of 2 Chron. xxxii. 7, 8. Here is the secret of the confidence which so surprised the Assyrian king; and on the same ground do we take our stand against the opposing hosts of unbelief. God's presence and faithfulness are the bulwarks behind which we may safely entrench ourselves. We have believed God's Word and have taken shelter in Christ (Phil. iii. 3). On His exalted throne He is directing the Church's energies, restraining her enemies, and giving success to her enterprises.
+II. What assaults are made upon our confidence?+
They correspond to those by which Rabshakeh tried to subvert Hezekiah's confidence. He puts the question in a contemptuous tone, and then proceeds to answer it, and to show that the confidence cherished had no solid basis. 1. He points to the slenderness of Hezekiah's resources (ver. 5, 6, 8, 9). "The Egyptians can no more be relied on than the frail reeds that grow on the banks of their Nile. No help can come from abroad; and see how weak you are in yourselves. If you can find riders, I will supply 2000 horses." How could such a puny kingdom withstand the power of Assyria with its magnificent military equipment? So unbelief tries to undermine faith, not knowing that God's strength is perfected in human weakness. Cardinal Cajetan tried to browbeat Luther,--"Do you think that your electors will take up arms for you? I tell you, no; and where then will you be?" The brave answer was, "Then, as now, in the hands of God." 2. Rabshakeh tries to close the door of Divine help (ver. 7). "How can you expect support from a God whose worship you have suppressed?" But this was a needful reform, for these rural places of worship had degenerated into scenes of idolatry. So the enemies of the faith in our day try to make capital out of the changes and reforms that have taken place. They point to our ecclesiastical divisions and theological controversies as an argument against us. "How can that be true about which there is so much diversity of opinion? How can Divine help be expected to defend the Christian faith, when there are so many sects and parties, disestablishment agitations, and ecclesiastical rivalries?" We answer that there is a unity among all who love the Lord Jesus, and however much we may deplore the need of change and reform, we are not to be deterred from effecting them by any fear of God's displeasure. It can never offend God to maintain His truth and worship in all their purity (H. E. I. 1372-1374). 3. Another reason for surrender is urged in ver. 10, where the Assyrian claims to be commissioned by God to destroy the land. This was only a piece of bluster intended to alarm Jerusalem. It has its counterpart in our day in those men of science, who come to us in the name of God with the truths they have discovered, and throw them in our face as inconsistent with faith in the Scriptures. But there can be no real disagreement between science and revelation. We are not going to open our gates to arrogant scientists who claim that their department embraces everything; to materialists who tell us that our heaven is six feet below the ground. Let science keep to its legitimate sphere. It was a good remark made by Professor Ball to a lady who put to him some questions about comets, to each of which he replied, "I do not know." "Then," she said, "may I ask what is the use of your science?" "To let me know, madam," he replied, "that I cannot know some things" (H. E. I. 538, 539). 4. Rabshakeh presses a surrender in view of the hardships the people would have to endure. He threatens them with famine and thirst, and (vers. 16, 17) promises them ease and plenty if they will but suppress the sentiment of patriotism, abandon their confidence, and give up their city into his hands. This is an old and well-used device to make the believer cower in the face of trials and privations. But the men of faith are proof against such selfish considerations. They will fight the Lord's battles at whatever cost; for however hard their outward lot may be, they have inward joys which more than counterbalance the loss of all things. 5. The last argument which Rabshakeh employed is this (vers. 18-20): Other gods were unable to defend their worshippers against the victorious march, and why should the Lord be able to defend Jerusalem? This was his last thrust, and was intended to bring home to the people the utter baselessness of their confidence. This reasoning is not unlike the patronising tone in which infidels speak of the Christian religion, as one of the many superstitions, all well enough for their day, but now effete, or destined to perish before the advance of intelligence; as one of those venerable systems, all of which are not losing their hold on the intellect and heart.
+III. Why should we still hold to our Christian confidence in spite of these attempts to overthrow it?+
The agnosticism and infidelity which in our time are so loud and pretentious are only systems of negation; they have no substitute for that which they endeavour to destroy. If we allow them to rob us of our faith, we are spiritually bankrupt, for these destructive agencies have nothing to satisfy the heart and conscience. Never let us lower our flag for all their threats and boastful arrogance. Perhaps the best way to deal with them is that which was followed by Hezekiah's officers (ver. 21; Matt. vii. 6).
+IV. What will be the end of all the assaults made upon the Christian faith?+
We know what came of the boastful insolence of Rabshakeh. Not only did he fail to unhinge the confidence of Hezekiah, but he brought upon himself confusion and defeat. God answered his blasphemies; God employs the hostile efforts of unbelief to confirm us in our confidence. What our enemies intend for the subversion of the truth only places it on a more solid basis. Christianity can never suffer from the most rigid investigation, for this only reveals its immovable strength. We throw back on our opponents their own question, "What confidence have you, what light in the dark lonesome hour of death?" Or, the strange "credulity of unbelief," which accepts the most glaring fallacies, whose reason is clouded by a proud and insolent defiance of God! We have nothing to fear, then, from the boastful Rabshakehs of our day. The assaults to which our faith is now subjected are nothing new. Old weapons are refurbished, old stratagems resorted to; but it has survived attacks as clever as those now made upon it (H. E. I. 1165).
CONCLUSION.--Let me put to you the question in a different tone with all affection and anxiety for your spiritual welfare. It is good to have our position assailed that we may see its strength (H. E. I. 1136-1139). Is yours a confidence that can resist the thrusts and subtle reasonings and plausible solicitations of the world? The best answer you can give to the insolence of unbelief is to hold your peace, and go quietly forward in resolute faith and persistent well-doing, giving not the answer of the lip, but of the life--a life nourished, strengthened, and beautified by faith in Christ.--William Guthrie, M.A.
IN WHOM ART THOU TRUSTING?
xxxvi. 5. . . . Now on whom dost thou trust?
The question is important in ordinary life, but it is overwhelmingly so in spiritual things.
I. A LITTLE BUNDLE OF ANSWERS.
1. "I do not know that I have thought about the matter; I have left the matter of dying, and of eternity, and of judgment out of my consideration." How foolish! There are more gates to death than you dream of. Have not you walked with dying men? Suppose you were sure of a long life, why delay being happy? Christ says of the rich man in hell, "He lift up his eyes." He might and should have done so before, but he said, "Tell my brethren." 2. "I thank God I am about as good as most people." Company in being ruined will not decrease, but rather increase the catastrophe. You are trusting in yourself. But is conscience quiet? Only the absolutely perfect man can be saved by his own works. 3. "I trust in my priest." Has any priest grace to spare for you? You are, or may be, as much a priest as any man can be; Christians are "a royal priesthood." 4. "Well, God is merciful." You are trusting in the mercy of God; but, as you state it, you are trusting in what you will never find. If you go to God out of Christ, you will find Him to be a consuming fire; instead of mercy you shall receive justice (H. E. I. 2315-2317, 2349-2350). 5. "Well, I do not say that I can trust to my works, but I am a good-hearted man." There is much truth in the saying, "If it is bad at the top, it is worse at the bottom; and if it is not good on the surface, it will never pay for getting at it" (Jer. xvii. 9; H. E. I. 2669-2680).
II. THE CHRISTIAN'S ANSWER.
I trust a triune God--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I trust to the Father's choosing me; to the Son, as my Redeemer, Intercessor, my resurrection, and life; to the Holy Spirit, to save me from my inbred sins, to sanctify me wholly.
To some men this does not look like a real trust. "We cannot see God; how do we know all this about the Trinity?" Cannot you trust in a thousand things you have never seen or heard? You have never seen electricity nor gravity. Those that have trusted in God find Him to be as real as if they could see Him. "Can we prove that God interferes to help His people?" Yes, He hears prayer. A Christian is sometimes asked whether he has a right to trust God. He has God's promise to help him. "Is He worthy to be trusted?" He has proved Himself faithful and true. The Christian commends God to others in saying that he feels he can rest upon Him for the future.
III. SOME WORDS OF ADVICE TO THOSE WHO ARE TRUSTING.
1. Drive out all unbelief. With such a God to trust to, let us trust with all our might. It is an insult to Him to doubt Him. The devil calls God a liar, but it is hard if a man's own child is to think ill of his father. We are verily guilty in speaking hard things of our God. 2. Seek the Holy Spirit's help. We have often said we would not doubt again, yet we have. Let us ask to be strengthened. We often forget that the Author of our faith must be the Finisher of it also. 3. Try to bring others to trust where we have trusted (John i. 40-42, 45). 4. Love Him who thus gives Himself to be trusted by us. The sister graces ever live together. Show your love. 5. We must prove our faith by our works. Let us do more for God. "No day without a deed." Cease working and you will soon cease believing.--C. H. Spurgeon: Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, vol. xi. pp. 469-480.
HEZEKIAH'S PRUDENT SILENCE.
xxxvi. 21. But they held their peace, &c.
Dr. Geikie says of Hezekiah, "Ready for war when necessary, and alike brave and skilful in its conduct, he was more inclined to the gentle arts of peace." Among these "gentle arts" should be reckoned his cultivated gift of prudence. Prudence is undervalued by some, as not taking rank among the higher virtues, and even sometimes decried as essentially selfish. But prudence guards the life of the highest virtue, and thus becomes of almost equal importance with it. Prudence is short for "providence;" "the provident man," as the phrase is used, shows prudence in one direction, and is praised for it. Greater praise is surely due to the all-round prudent man. Prudence in man is, in one aspect, but the counterpart of providence in God, and those who are given to esteem it lightly are not pious, like Hezekiah, but already doubters of, and disbelievers in, the general and special providence of God, or likely to become so (P. D. 2914).
It is prudent to be silent--1. When the judgment, based upon the knowledge of available facts, dictates silence as sound policy. Silence may, and often does, imply something quite different from a wisely calculated policy; it may indicate abject fear, cowardice, indifference. All silence is not "golden;" sometimes the basest metal goes to its composition. The order to be silent, whether addressed by Hezekiah to his ambassadors, or to the people generally, or to both, may be conjectured to have sprung from the king's desperate case. But even if we leave out this element, enough remains to justify the command, "Answer him not." It may be presumed that the messenger of the "great king," "dressed in a little brief authority," conducted himself as Hezekiah foresaw he would, outdoing Sennacherib himself in blasphemy and all impiety. "A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself." Hezekiah did this in the most literal sense, and his command to all concerned was to hide the spirit of their mind behind a veil of silence. Such prudence, then, is more than foresight, it is foresight connecting itself with a certain course of action as the wisest or best possible in certain given circumstances (P. D. 3086, 3089). How rare is such prudence! Not from evil intent, but through want of thought, do many persist in running their heads against adamant. Available knowledge is neglected, and judgment, where there is any in such a case, is adrift and mistaken.
2. When the deepest feelings are agitated so as to be beyond immediate control. Hezekiah's ambassadors obeyed their orders until Rabshakeh uttered words the effect of which upon the people there was good reason to dread (ver. 10); then they broke in, carried on a great wave of impulse (ver. 11); but only to make the blasphemer more arrogantly insolent. Feeling, like fire, is a good servant but a bad master; it is blind, and blindly seeks its own objects. Only in the most highly educated moral natures can it ever be expected to flow in proper channels; but in none should it be intrusted with the reins of government. "I will keep my mouth with a bridle," said the Psalmist, "while the wicked is before me" (cf. James i. 19, 20, 26).
3. When wise counsel is at hand (xxxvii. 1, 2). "Hezekiah went into the house of the Lord;" "and he sent Eliakim unto Isaiah the prophet." There is a kind of piety which disdains human aid, because each man may go direct to God. This may not have wrought so much harm in the world as the Romish doctrine of mediators, but it is equally mistaken. Blessed is the man who knows of a prophet--a brother-man of spiritual insight, moral integrity, and Christian courtesy--before whom he can lay his case! Thrice blessed he who, knowing such an one, can hold his peace until he has sought and obtained the Heaven-provided help! God may well hold us insincere if we go to Him and neglect His servants' aid.
CONCLUSION.--Let us hear and understand the words of the preacher: "There is a time to keep silence," as well as "a time to speak." We are lacking in silence and reserve. Silence is a glorious temple, but in it there are few worshippers. Be it ours to wait and worship there!
The worshippers find the very walls translucent, the rays of heaven descend in unbroken brightness there. Silence is the birthplace of the world's progress, and from the rays of truth that flash into it are born the grand visions of the prophets of God, and kingly purposes too; and from these are forged the weapons with which men shall sweep away the hindrances to all wisdom.--J. Macrae Simcock.
A FOOLISH KING AND A WISE ONE.
xxxvii. 1. And it came to pass, &c.
The message to which our text refers was sent by a foolish king to a wise one. Look at them both.
I. THE FOOLISH KING.
Sennacherib. Ignorant of God, he fell into various follies. 1. Pride and arrogance. Unaware that he was but an instrument in the hand of God (chap. x. 5-7), he imagined that his triumphs were due entirely to his military genius and the power under his control. Blind as to the true nature of his past career, he looked into the future with boastful confidence; he had no doubt that he would go on conquering and to conquer. His proud survey of the past and this arrogant outlook into the future are follies repeated by many men much smaller than Sennacherib. But every wise man will remember that he owes all his past successes to God (Deut. viii. 10-18), and that all his future is absolutely in the hand of God (James iv. 13-15). 2. Blasphemous undervaluing of the power of God (vers. 18-20). He therefore imagines that God's people are in his hand. On this account he presents to them a curious reason why they should surrender (chap. xxxvi. 16, 17). He promises them a quiet possession of their own vines, which they possessed already but for his disturbance; and in the same breath he adds, "Until I come and take you away;" and then, to soften that sentence, he promises to take them to a land like their own. He promises them no more, after all, than they had already on the safe tenure of their own laws. The reason for surrender was either a mockery of men whom he believed incapable of resisting him, or an indication of the mental weakness into which pride was betraying him. Ere long there was a terrible demonstration of his folly (ch. xxxvii. 36, P. D. 3413), an appalling fulfilment of the prediction concerning him (ch. x. 12-19).
II. THE WISE KING.