The Spirit of the Lord.

 

The Spirit of the Lord.

xi. 2. The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him.

This is declared concerning the Messiah. Short as this declaration is, some of the profoundest of all truths are involved in it. It is implied that God is a person, that from Him there goes forth an influence by which the character of other persons is affected, and that all that qualified Jesus of Nazareth to be the Messiah came from God. Let us think of these things. Do not be deterred from doing so by the idea that they are transcendental, far away from our daily life. They need not be so; we shall be very blameworthy if we make them so.

I. God is a person. There are those who would have us put away this faith. In their view, God is merely the great controlling Force behind all other forces, the life of the universe, diffused throughout it, manifesting itself in innumerable forms. As it is the same life in the tree that manifests itself in root, trunk, branch, spray, twig, leaf, blossom, fruit, so all things that exist are not the creations of a personal will, but the manifestations of an impersonal and all-pervading life; all forces, convertible the one into the other, are but varying forms of the one underlying force. Every individual life is but a wave that seems for a moment to be separated from the one universal ocean of life; it leaps up from it, falls back into it, is absorbed by it. True, these waves are often strangely diverse—Nero and St. Paul, John Howard and Napoleon, the Virgin Mary and Lucrezia Borgia; but in that great Unity of which they are all manifestations, there is an all-comprehensive reconciliation, though it may elude our grasp. For Pantheism, many would have us put away the doctrine of a personal God. But this exchange, if it could be forced upon us by some logical necessity (which it is not), would not be a gain, but a tremendous loss. For, 1. There would be a tremendous loss to the heart. A force may be feared, but not loved. To gravitation we owe much, but no one ever professed to love it. A force cannot be loved, because it does not love. Strike out of our life all that comes to us from the confidence that God loves us, and from the responsive love that springs up in our hearts towards Him, and how much is lost! Then there is no longer any assurance amid the mysteries of life, nor consolation in its sorrows. In a word, we are orphaned: we can no longer say, “Our Father, who art in heaven.” There is no longer a Father, knowing us, loving us, causing all good things to work together for our good; there is only a Force, to which it is useless to appeal, against which it is impossible to contend. 2. We should also lose one of the greatest of all helps to a noble life. Not to dwell on the fact that to speak of virtue or vice would then be absurd,—then we should no longer sin, we should merely make mistakes,—consider how much the world owes to the aspiration to be like God which has stirred so many noble souls. Through them the average morality of the world has been marvellously raised; but this would have been impossible but for the stimulus these inspiring souls found in the character of God. That is the first fact of which this text reminds us, that God is a person from whom a spirit—an influence—can go forth affecting the character of other persons.

II. From God such an influence does go forth. The possibility is a glorious fact. That from God a “spirit” should go forth, and that it should do so invisibly, is in accordance with all that we know of the universe which God has made, and which is in some sort a revelation of Him. 1. Nothing in the universe is unrelated. From orb to orb influences go forth by which they are mutually affected. 2. The mightiest influences are invisible. In all this, the material is a counter-fact and revelation of the spiritual. It would be altogether abnormal, if from God there did not go forth an influence operating upon and affecting other persons. It is invisible, but its effects are recognisable. One of them is the activity of conscience, rightly understood. Another is the moral growth and refinement which those in whom it is most conspicuous, most invariably and distinctly attribute to influences exerted upon them by God. Even Socrates did so. This also is a doctrine full of hope and comfort. If we need moral transformation, there streams from God an influence capable of effecting it: to that influence let us submit ourselves, and the transformation shall come to pass; the Spirit of the Lord will rest upon us, and we shall become like Him.

III. To the influence exerted upon Him by the Spirit of the Lord, Jesus of Nazareth owed all that qualified Him to be the Messiah (vers. 2–5). That which was born of the Virgin Mary was a true human child. A sinless child, yet sinless not as the result of the sinlessness of the mother (as Rome teaches), but of the influence of the Spirit of the Lord resting upon Him from the beginning of his earthly life. His was a real humanity—our humanity sanctified. All that was pure, noble, Godlike in Him was “born not of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” How full of comfort and hope is this truth also! To us also is offered the same Spirit. Nothing can be more express than the declarations that we may have it if we will, and that, if we have it, the ultimate result will be that we shall be found partakers of the holiness of God. Let us not be unwisely cast down by the frailty and pollution of our nature; if the Spirit of the Lord rest upon us, the purity and the strength of God will become ours, and at length the Father will say to each of us, as He did of Jesus of Nazareth, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

 

The Righteous Judge.

xi. 3. And He shall not judge after the sight of His eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of His ears.

A glorious difference between our Lord and ourselves. “He knew what was in man,” and needed not the evidence of external signs, which often mislead us. He should deal with the motives of the heart (H. E. I., 3332, 4147). Not by human sight, but by Divine insight, He judged the conduct and character of men. 1. Our judgment is enfeebled by ignorance. We do not see and hear all, and from our imperfect knowledge of facts we draw wrong and often disastrous conclusions (H. E. I., 2997–3005). But Our Lord could go behind the visible works, and detect what often deceived men—e.g., His treatment of pharisaism. 2. Our judgment is enfeebled by prejudice. This is often the result of ignorance. Seeing only certain sides of men, we dislike them, and frame our judgments accordingly—e.g., Nathanael (John i. 46). With no better reason than Nathanael had, we regard many a man as an enemy, or otherwise place him in a false light. But our Lord dealt with none in this way. Seeing men as they really were, no preconceived opinions led Him to unworthy conclusions. 3. Partiality enfeebles and perverts our judgment. Judging by sight and hearing, we approve of one man more than another, because he has certain artful or pleasing methods for winning our favour: flattery, offers of gain, &c. (P. D., 1275, 1281, 1283). But our Lord could not be won in this way (Mark xii. 14; John vi. 15). He was infinitely compassionate, tender, forgiving, but no feeble partiality interfered to prevent most righteous judgment. 4. Our judgment is often perverted by passion. In the pursuit of some unlawful and all-absorbing aim, we become too disturbed to weigh calmly even the evidences we can see and hear. We look at everything in the light of our false affection, and are thereby rendered absolutely incapable of beholding others in their true light, especially if they stand in our way and oppose our progress (P. D., 2060). But the one absorbing and unremittent purpose of Jesus of Nazareth was to do the will of His Heavenly Father, and to finish the work He had given Him to do. Hence He dwelt always on a pure altitude, in whose clear atmosphere He saw men and things as they are. 5. Our natural depravity is also a serious hindrance to our right judging. Our very organs of knowledge, our affections, our conscience, have been perverted. Let a man be ever so disposed to take correct views of men and things, there will be some flaw in his vision, some defect in his hearing. Hence there are times when we cannot accept as final the judgment of the best and holiest of men. But Christ has no secret evil to lead Him wrong.

In view of all this, how fitting it is that Christ should be our judge! How well, too, He is qualified to be the merciful High Priest who we need (Heb. iv. 15, 16). He who tenderly sympathises with us is He who perfectly knows us (H. E. I., 956; P. D., 462).—William Manning.

 

The Universal Diffusion and Redemptive Power of the Knowledge of God.

(Missionary Sermon.)

xi. 9. They shall not hurt nor destroy, &c.

We have here a picture of the golden age. I. The whole earth shall be as Mount Zion. II. Shall be freed from injustice and violence. III. Shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord. 1. Wherein this knowledge consists. 2. To what extent it shall prevail—universal, deep. 3. By what means it is to be diffused.—J. Lyth, D.D.: Homiletical Treasury (p. 18).

“They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord.” It seems clear that in these words the prophet intended to be understood of speaking of the whole earth. He would scarcely, in the same sentence, have used the expressions in question—the holy mountain in the first clause, and the earth in the other—if by these expressions he had not meant the same thing, namely, the whole globe of the earth, when the dwellers thereon should come to be true worshippers, like those who first worshipped at Mount Zion, and who were a type of the greater assembly of worshippers, the holy and universal Church, which in the fulness of time would be established.

I. The prophet grounds the hope of that reformed and purified state of the moral world, described in the beautiful words of the text, upon the increase of religious knowledge which he saw to be coming. “They shall not hurt . . . for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord.” II. These words may be taken as descriptive of the legitimate effect of Christian knowledge. The general scope, aim, and tendency of Gospel principles is such as would produce the change described, were it not counteracted by the tendency within us to what is wrong. III. They are more than this: they are prophetic of the actual results of Christian knowledge. The Gospel will render war impossible. True, so-called “Christian” nations have not yet ceased to wage war with one another, nor so-called “Christian” men to rob and circumvent and ruin each other. Nevertheless, this prophecy shall yet be fulfilled. We see it in the process of fulfilment. The condition of the moral world has been meliorated by Christianity. Wars have not ceased, but their conduct has been mitigated. In their private dealings with each other, men have become more just and trustworthy. Already there are millions of men who would shrink from doing harm of any kind to their fellow-men. Compare Christendom with heathendom, and you will see what mighty changes the Gospel has already wrought. The practice even of Christian men falls short of their knowledge. Nevertheless, the practice and the morals of men are, generally speaking, the best where their knowledge is the most. The prophet’s words are justified by fact, and men forbear one another most, and hurt and destroy least, where knowledge is the greatest. It is a fact that life and property are more safe and secure in the Christian portion of the earth, than in any other portions. And the knowledge of the Lord grows year by year; partly through the labours of missionaries in many places; still more by the rapid growth of the nations that are Christian. The violent and lawless races of the earth are dwindling away. The only races that are increasing are those that fear God, and are willing to respect the rights, the properties, and the lives of their neighbours. Through the medium of this natural increase of peace-loving races, and through the conversion of many among the benighted nations, this prophecy is receiving a gradual, but very appreciable, fulfilment. The world is advancing, with ever-accelerating speed towards knowledge and peace, and this declaration shall yet be literally fulfilled (H. E. I., 979, 1161–1168; P. D., 2465, 2466).

Application.—1. We are permitted to rejoice in the hope of a period when justice and benevolence shall prevail in the world. 2. We are required to contribute towards the realisation of this hope. This we are to do (1) by the purification of our own hearts; by the conquest of every passion and desire that would make us hurtful to our neighbours. (2) By prayer (Matt. vi. 9, 10). (3) By helping to diffuse that “knowledge of the Lord” which is the great peace-maker in the earth.—A. Gibson, M.A.: Sermons on Various Subjects; Second Series (pp. 246–265).

In this and the preceding verses we have a beautiful picture of a state of human society entirely different from anything that has been witnessed since the Fall. The prophet beholds changes in human character so great that he feels he can only symbolise them by transformations in the members of the animal kingdom of the most astonishing kind. Verses 6–8 are symbolical, and are intended to excite within us the liveliest anticipations of the glorious effects that would follow the universal proclamation and acceptation of the gospel. Thus we are led to speak of the nature, the diffusion, and the effect of the knowledge of the Lord.

I. Its exalted nature. By “the knowledge of the Lord” may be meant that of which He is the revealer (2 Chron. xxx. 22), or that of which He is the theme (2 Pet. ii. 20). God can only be revealed by Himself; and He has given us a threefold revelation of Himself—in nature, in providence, and in Holy Scripture. In the latter we have the record of the fullest revelation which He has vouchsafed, that given us in His Son. God is never truly known by man until He is known in Christ. “The knowledge of the Lord” and “the Gospel” are terms of the same meaning.

II. Its destined diffusion. The figure employed by the prophet brings before us impressively the universality of its diffusion. The imagination is called in to instruct our faith.[1] The world-wide diffusion of the gospel is a matter—1. Of prophetic certainty. Nothing could be more plain than the prophetic declarations concerning this matter. But if any man asks when the promise will be fulfilled, only one answer can be given him (Acts i. 7). 2. Involving Divine agency. Utterly false is the notion that, after creating the universe, God withdrew from it, and left it to go on by its own momentum (John v. 17); and utterly false is the notion that, after giving the gospel to the world, God has left it to make its own way therein. By Divine agency men are raised up to proclaim it (Eph. iv. 11). While they are so engaged Christ Himself is with them (Matt. xxviii. 20); and while they preach, the Holy Spirit strives in the hearts of men to prepare and dispose them to receive the glad tidings (1 Thess. i. 5). When, therefore, we look at the glorious promise of our text, we must not forget that God Himself is working for its accomplishment. This will save us from unbelief and despair concerning it. 3. Involving human instrumentality. Not that this is absolutely necessary. Without human husbandry God could have caused the earth to bring forth food for man and beast, and without human instrumentality He could have saved the world. But it has pleased Him to commit to us the Word of reconciliation. The consequent duty of preaching it must be taken in connection with, and regarded as the condition of, the promise; just as the promise that there shall be a harvest till the end of the world is conditioned by man’s sowing the seed in the appointed season. The promise must not be used as an excuse for indolence, but as a stimulus to industry.

III. Its blessed effect. The Gospel is a harmonising power. It has a transforming efficacy equal to any that would be needed to bring about a literal fulfilment of verses 6–8. Wherever it comes in its saving power it new creates human hearts, and thus dries up the causes of hatred and discord at their fountain. For it is a principle, 1. of righteousness, and 2. of love. Hence it brings peace. For all discord is due to injustice that is prompted by selfishness (James iv. 1). Where righteousness and love combine and rule, there must be peace and security; for the very desire to injure is taken away. The universal prevalence of the gospel necessarily means universal peace (H. E. I., 1120, 1127, 1129).

1. This suggests the answer to the questions, Why Christian nations make war against each other, and why even in Christian churches there are fierce contentions? The answer is, either that those nations or churches are Christian only in name, or that they have only very partially attained to “the knowledge of the Lord.” They are only in infant-class in Christ’s great school; as they learn of Him, their rivalries and hatreds will pass away. 2. The Gospel being so blessed in its effects, it is plain that it is the duty of all good men to extend the knowledge of it.—John Rawlinson.

A remarkable declaration this, especially if the Hebrew prophets were, as some learned sceptics tell us, men of narrow mind, worshipping a merely local god, and hating all men not descended from Jacob. By the noble simile employed by Isaiah two ideas are suggested—1. Universality. mankind is the area to be covered. 2. Ease. All the creeks, bays, channels, and broad highways of the vast ocean are filled in their appointed time. The mighty tide rises, sweeps onward, and the work is done. There was one great flood-tide of gospel-truth in the days of the apostles, and there is a greater still to come. Meanwhile, many difficulties attend the efforts of God’s people to extend the knowledge of His truth; but, in the world’s fulness, great ease will characterise the progress and triumphs of the gospel (Ps. cx. 3; Heb. viii. 11). This declaration suggests two great subjects:—

1. The hope of the world. Shut the Bible, and our outlook on the world and its future is dark and sad. Open it, and let its light shine into our minds, and with the light will come encouragement and hope. 1. If it is true that “the earth . . . the sea,” then God takes an interest in the affairs of the world, and takes an interest in them now. This mighty world is not left to drift into an unknown and perilous future without a steersman to guide it. 2. If God makes such abundant provision for the instruction of men in the knowledge of Himself, then He will be accessible to them when, by that knowledge, they are led to approach Him; and He is accessible to us. 3. Himself opening for men a way of access to Him, we may be sure that when they avail themselves of it He will deal with them in the way of mercy and love; and so He will deal with us. Who can doubt this who looks on the fact of Christ, through whom God has given us the truest knowledge of Himself (2 Cor. iv. 6)? 4. He means to be known to the world, and therefore His gracious offers extend to all, to us.

II. The duty of the church. In view of this declaration, 1. Take enlarged views of your work. Think how much remains to be done. Even if you could suppose that your family, your street, your town, your country were filled with the blessed tide of the knowledge of the Lord, yet think of the earth, and all its myriad claims resting upon the servants of God. 2. Spare no efforts in promoting the cause of Christian missions. In advancing these, you are working in harmony with the great purposes of God, and for an object which is dear to Him—that object for which He has already given His Son! Will you withhold from it the money with which He has entrusted you, and for which you will have to give account at the last day? 3. There are many present difficulties in the prosecution of mission-work, but meanwhile take comfort from the large purposes of God. “Have faith in God.” His plans are vast, but His glorious promises are great as His counsels, and His resources as glorious as His promises. The process of filling the earth with “the knowledge of the Lord” may seem to us to be tedious, the obstacles may be many, the time may be long; if the work were left to us, it would be hopeless; but God will hasten it all in His time.—William Manning.

It is here declared that there is yet to dawn upon the world an era of perfect light, and that that shall be also and therefore an era of perfect love. “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord.”

It is a mystery, but it is a fact, that knowledge is not necessarily a blessing. The devils believe—and therefore know—yet remain devils still (Jas. ii. 19). Many men of unholy life have been men of eminent knowledge (Rom. i. 21). But this is a moral monstrosity, a result of the unnatural condition into which we have been brought by sin; just as in certain forms of disease food becomes poison. Knowledge is one of those forces which naturally tend to elevate and sanctify (H. E. I., 3106); to know God truly is eternal life (John xvii. 3); and the declaration is, that knowledge shall be world-wide, and that by it the world shall be morally revolutionised. Remembrance of two facts will give intelligence and strength to our faith in these glorious predictions. 1. As man’s knowledge of God has grown, the human race has risen. Except in those abnormal cases already referred to, it may be declared that man cannot learn to know God and remain as they were—e.g., wherever the knowledge of the unity of God is restored to man, idolatry becomes impossible; as soon as the knowledge of the spirituality of God really enters the mind, formalism in worship becomes an impossibility. So every truth concerning God, as soon as it is really known, becomes a correcting and converting force. The tendency of this knowledge, as of light, is to quicken and beautify. The way to grow in grace is to grow in the knowledge of Christ (2 Pet. iii. 18). 2. The knowledge of God is a thing that grows, and grows slowly, in the human soul. This is true of all knowledge.[2] But in proportion as it grows, sanctification takes place in the individual life, reformation in the national life.[3] It is the most radical and successful of all revolutionists. It is impossible for us to dream of the changes it will accomplish upon the earth. But this we know, that by it war and every form of violence shall be abolished (text; Isa. ii. 4, &c.)

In this subject there is, 1. A complete justification of all missionary enterprises. They are not visionary schemes foredoomed to failure; they are intensely practical, and shall be triumphantly successful. The time may be far off, but it is advancing, when every man shall know God.[4] The effect of that knowledge will be the destruction of the desire to destroy or injure. 2. An argument for patience. In view of the wrongs that prevail upon the earth, many noble souls find it difficult to exercise it. Of finer taste, of clearer vision, of truer sympathy with God than is common amongst men, the wickedness that triumphs in the world fills them with continual agony. It drives them almost into atheism. They ask, “Can God see these things, and not use His power to bring them to an end? If there were a God, would He not instantly smite the oppressors with destruction?” Let them be patient. God does see; God does feel; God is hastening on the better day by the only means by which it can really be brought in. Another deluge would not cleanse the world from crime; if but eight souls were spared, sin would once more begin to prevail. The era of purity and peace can be ushered in only by the revelation of God to man, and thus it is advancing towards us; thus it is already begun; between Christian and heathen lands there is a real contrast; and ere long there shall be as great a contrast between Christian lands uplifted by a fuller knowledge of God and these lands as they now are. The millennium is not merely a prophetic dream, it shall be a glorious fact. Patience! (H. E. I., 1134, 1135, 1166–1168, 3421–3423; P. D., 2465, 2466). 3. An argument for hopeful Christian effort. We must not merely dream of the millennium, we must labour to hasten its dawn. Work is needful: Sunday-school work, &c. Every one who prays, “Thy kingdom come,” thereby unless he means to mock God, pledges himself to work to hasten its coming, and thus to be a “fellow-labourer with God.” There is need for individual effort, and for united effort. Such effort should always be hopeful. We are not attempting what is impossible; we are working in the line of God’s promises, and with God! Remembering that the sense of our own weakness will not unduly depress us. It does not require a giant’s strength to row with the tide; and a mightier force than that of ocean is bearing us on to a victory that shall fill earth with blessing and heaven with gladness.

 

The Ensign of the Nations.

xi. 10. And in that day there shall be, &c.

I. In the two parts of this verse we have a twofold metaphorical representation of the Redeemer: one expressed, one implied. 1. An ensign of the people = banner or standard, such as is set up as a rallying-point around which, (1) the subjects of a king assemble to do him homage; and (2) the soldiers of an army gather to receive the commands and exhortations of their general. 2. This second use of a standard leads to the second metaphorical representation of the Redeemer, that of a victorious general: “His rest shall be glorious.” We are thus directed to the final result of the uplifting of Christ as an ensign: the great campaign brought to a successful conclusion, the Victor in it rests gloriously, surrounded by the soldiers whom He has led on to triumph, and the people to whom He has given liberty and peace.

II. Consider how these predictions have been fulfilled. 1. By the preaching of the gospel Christ has been lifted up, and as the result men of all nations have sought unto Him, and will seek Him more and more. 2. Having done and suffered all that was necessary ultimately to secure the final victory, He has taken His place at the right hand of the Majesty on high, and rests there gloriously; the glory of His rest arising from the number of the subjects who do Him homage, and of the soldiers who delight to fight His battles, from the triumphs which He has already enabled them to achieve, and from the prosperity and peace of all His people.

We shall make a great mistake if we end by thus admiringly noting how the ancient prophecy has been, and is being, fulfilled in the history of the world. We are among the Gentiles of whom our text speaks: Have we sought unto the glorious Person of whom it speaks? You desire to do so. Do so, then, 1. For right purposes; not merely that you may be delivered from suffering, but that you may be delivered from sin; not merely that you may ultimately gain admission to heaven, but that you may have and now render to Him the homage and the service to which He is entitled. 2. In a right spirit; not vainly dreaming that you have, or can win, any claim upon His regard, but recognising that you can appeal only to His mercy, and that without it you are lost; and making this appeal penitently and believingly. So coming to Him, He will be found of you. He will cause you to share in His rest, by causing you to share in His triumphs; inspired and upheld by Him, you shall trample under foot the world, the flesh, the devil, and the fear of death. Your whole being will be at rest; your understanding no longer harassed by perplexing doubts; your conscience stilled and gladdened by a righteous peace; your affections centred at last around Him who alone is worthy of their supreme love; and this threefold rest, so sweet and blessed now, shall be perfected and perpetuated in heaven.—George Smith, D.D.

The prophet here foresees that the Saviour’s mission and work will so exalt Him in the eyes of the nations, that they will turn to Him as the one object and desire of their souls. (Compare John xii. 32.) This prediction declares that Christ would be a banner to attract men, that He would be the object of universal search, and that men in finding Him would attain to true rest and glory.

I. The banner. 1. A banner is naturally “lifted up;” only thus can its purpose be accomplished (chap. xiii. 2; xviii. 3). Apt image this of Christ. Not merely in His death on Calvary. That exaltation was followed by His being lifted higher still by the preaching of the gospel, by the ministry of the Holy Spirit (John xvi. 14), by the devout lives of all His true followers. 2. A banner has usually some emblem or device representative of some great cause, or expressive of some great truth. (Give instances.) So when “Christ and Him crucified” are uplifted clearly in the view of men, they see God’s hatred of sin, His love of man, and His provision for man’s future happiness and glory.

II. The object of universal search. “To it shall the Gentiles seek.” Search for Christ characterises all races of men (Hag. ii. 7) and all periods of time (Luke x. 24). The search is often prosecuted in ignorance. Men know not for what and for whom their souls yearn; but it is Christ of whom unconsciously they are in quest; and it is towards Him, that by the else insatiable desires of their spiritual nature, they are being led.

III. The finding of true rest. “His rest shall be glorious.” 1. The rest we find in Christ is connected with a vital change effected in the heart and life. He does not simply do something for us; He also does a work within us. Every intelligent seeker knows that there can be no rest until the evil that is lodged within us is resisted and cast out (H. E. I., 1324). It is as we enter into the spirit of Christ and share His life, that we enter into rest (Matt. xi. 28–30). 2. Our new relations to God, entered into by faith in Christ Jesus, makes our rest very glorious. God is then known to us by the most precious and endearing names; He is our rock, our shield, &c. Each of these names represents to us some tender aspects of His love, some sweet ministry of His grace.

Are you in search of the highest peace, joy, holiness, rest? Here you may end your quest (1 Cor. i. 30; P. D., 481).—William Manning.

 

The Reconciler of Men.

xi. 10–16. And in that day there shall be, &c.

Several eminent commentators are of opinion that this prophecy will not be fulfilled until the Jews are restored as a nation to their own land. Others believe that the prophet used (it may be unconsciously) transient geographical phrases as symbols of eternal truths. Without entering upon this controversy, which can be settled only by the actual unfolding and accomplishment of God’s plans as to the history of this world, let us think of the fundamental fact of the vision, that in it “the Root of David” was revealed to the prophet as the reconciler of men. His appearing in the world would be the setting up of a standard unto which all men, Gentiles (ver. 10) and Jews (vers. 11, 12), would seek; and before the influence then exerted upon them by Him rivalries and enmities, even though they were as inveterate and malignant as those of Judah and Ephraim (ver. 13), would disappear. No obstacles, even though they should be as immense as the geographical ones which are specified, would hinder their coming together and forming one united and triumphant people under His benignant sway. This is only saying what the prophet has said already (chap. ii. 4; ix. 7), that the kingdom of Christ would be a kingdom of peace. Consider—

I. How marvellously and gloriously this prediction has been fulfilled. To appreciate this, we must recall the condition of the world at the time when “the day” of which our text speaks dawned upon it. Nations were everywhere divided from each other by jealousies and hatreds as virulent as those that divided Ephraim from Judah; there was peace only because they were restrained from active hostility by the strong hand of Roman power. Hatred of other nations was regarded not as a crime, but as a duty.[1] But Christ inaugurated the empire of universal brotherhood and love. Wars have not yet ceased even among nations professing Christianity, but they are no longer openly gloried in by those who wage them; they are apologised for as sad necessities. The apology is often insincere, but the fact that it is made at all is a marvellous tribute to the influence and authority of Christ. Wherever His true followers meet, national distinctions are forgotten, and they feel drawn to each other by a mightier and sweeter bond. As the centuries pass away, the love of Christ becomes more and more the uniting power of the world.

II. How sadly imperfect the fulfilment of this prediction still is! The era of universal peace has not yet dawned. The world is still cursed by wars and rumours of wars. Millions of men are maintained in constant readiness for war. There are bitter contentions among the sections of the Christian Church, these tribes of the modern Israel. Class is divided from class. So-called Christian families are saddened by bitter feuds.

III. The blessedness of the era that shall yet dawn upon the world. The Christian often dreams of it; his dreams are sweet as those which hungry men have of banquets, and shipwrecked sailors drifting helplessly on rafts in the wide ocean have of their native village and of meeting with their loved ones there; and in their waking hours they, too, are apt to be saddened by the fear that their dreams too are as utterly incapable of realisation. But it is not so. They shall all be realised, for the authority of Christ shall yet be universal, real, absolute; and all the listening angels shall not be able to detect one sound of discord rising from the round world, for the whole world shall be full of the peace of Christ (P. D., 2465, 2466, 2676).

IV. Our duty in regard to this prediction. We are not merely to dream dreams of the blessedness of the era that shall yet be ushered in. We are to do something to hasten its dawning. 1. We are to pray for it with yearning hearts. 2. We are to do our utmost, in every possible way, to extend the knowledge of the Gospel throughout the world. The Gospel, not commerce, is the true civiliser and uniter of nations: commerce will prosper on the Gospel triumphs. True, many converts are only nominally Christians, but in many cases that is the first step towards their becoming real Christians, i.e., men who will pray and labour for universal peace. 3. Minor and contributory duties. (1.) The diffusion of knowledge that will tend to bring home to the understandings and hearts of men the hurtfulness of war, and the preparation for war. (2.) The discouragement and overthrow of those statesmen, to whichever party they may belong, whose policy tends to foster national animosities. (3.) The discouragement of all pursuits and things that tend to familiarise men with war and keep alive in them a passion for it, e.g., the volunteer movement; pictures, poems, and newspapers that glorify successful soldiers, as if in them the noblest ideal of manhood were realised. (4.) Careful education of our children in Christian sentiments concerning foreign nations and war. By constant heedfulness of these duties, we shall do something to hasten the dawning of the era of universal peace and blessedness, and we shall not have lived in vain.

 

A New Song for New Hearts.

xii. 1. And in that day thou shalt say, O Lord, &c.

This prophecy is said by some to relate to the invasion by Sennacherib, and the marvellous deliverance therefrom. If so, it is an instance of sanctified affliction, and a lesson to us that whenever we smart under the rod we may look forward to the time when it shall be withdrawn; it is also an admonition to us, that when we escape from trial we should take care to celebrate the event with grateful praise. It is thought by others that the text mainly relates to the latter days, and I think it would be impossible to read the eleventh chapter without feeling such a reference is clear. Both these interpretations are true and instructive; but we shall find out the very soul of the passage, if we consider it as an illustration of what occurs to every one of God’s people when he is brought out of darkness into God’s marvellous light, when he is delivered from the spirit of bondage beneath Divine wrath, and led by the Spirit of adoption into the liberty wherewith Christ makes him free. In regarding the text from this point of view, we shall first observe the prelude of this delightful song, and then listen to the song itself.

I. The prelude of this charming song—“In that day thou shalt say.” Here we have the tuning of the harps, the notes of the music follow after in the succeeding sentences. Note, 1. There is a time for the joyous song here recorded, “In that day”—the day of the manifestation of the Divine power. 2. One word indicates the singer. “Thou shalt say.” One by one we receive eternal life and peace. Religion is an individual matter. The word “thou” is spoken to those brought down into the last degree of despair. Thou broken-hearted sinner, ready to destroy thyself because of the anguish of conscience, in the day of God’s abounding mercy, thou shalt rejoice! 3. The Teacher of the song. “In that day thou shalt say.” Who but the Lord can thus command man’s heart and speech? 4. The tone of the song. “Thou shalt say.” The song is to be an open one, vocally uttered, heard of men. It is not to be a silent feeling, a kind of soft music whose sweetness is spent within the spirit; but in that day thou shalt testify and bear witness what the Lord has done for thee (H. E. I., 3903–3921).

II. The song itself.—1. All of it is concerning the Lord; it is all addressed to Him. “O Lord, I will praise Thee: though Thou wast angry with me, Thine anger is turned away.” When a soul is escaped from the bondage of sin, it resembles the apostles on Mount Tabor—it sees no man but Jesus only. 2. It includes repentant memories. The Hebrew would run something like this, “O Lord, I will praise Thee; Thou wast angry with me.” We do this day praise God because He made us feel His anger. “What, is a sense of anger a cause for praise?” No, not if it stood alone, but because it has driven us to Christ. The song in its deep bass includes plaintive recollections of sin pressing heavily on the spirit. 3. It contains blessed certainties. “Thine anger is turned away.” “Can a man know that? Can he be quite sure he is forgiven?” He can be as sure of pardon as he is of his existence, as infallibly certain as he is of a mathematical proposition. The Scriptures teach that to the sinner who trusts in Jesus there is no condemnation, and every one may know whether he is trusting in Jesus or not (H. E. I., 309, 310, 324–334, 986, 989). 4. It includes holy resolutions. “I will praise Thee”—in secret, in public. For this purpose I will unite with Thy people. I will not be content unless all that I am and all that I have shall praise Thee. 5. It is a song which is peculiar in its characteristics, and appropriate only to the people of God. It is a song of strong faith, and yet of humility. Its spirit is a precious incense made up of many costly ingredients. Humility confesses, “Thou wast angry with me;” gratitude sings, “Thine anger is turned away;” patience cries, “Thou comfortest me,” and holy joy springs up, and saith, “I will praise Thee.” Faith, hope, love—all have their notes here, from the bass of humility up to the highest alto of glorious communion.

By way of practical results from this subject, let me speak, 1. A word of consolation to those who are under God’s anger. God never shut up a soul in the prison of conviction, but sooner or later He released the captive. The worst thing in the world is to go unchastised; to be allowed to sin and eat honey with it, this is the precursor of damnation; but to sin, and to have the wormwood of repentance with it, this is the prelude of being saved. If the Lord has embittered thy sin, He has designs of love towards thee; His anger shall yet be turned away. 2. A word of admonition. Some of you have been forgiven, but are you praising God as you should? (H. E. I., 3903–3911).—C. H. Spurgeon: Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit (vol. xvi. pp. 241–250).

The preceding chapter relates to the reign of the Messiah; the end of it especially to the ingathering of the Jews—a period which will be the spiritual jubilee to the tribes of Israel, and the beginning of the millennium to the world itself. That is the day in which Israel shall say, “O Lord, I will praise thee,” &c. This passage may be applied to every spiritual child of Abraham. Consider—

I. The previous state referred to. “Thou wast angry with me.” Anger in God is not, as it often is in us, a blind, furious passion; but a holy disapprobation of wrong, and a righteous determination to punish it (H. E. I., 2288–2294). 1. Man’s character and conduct, while in his natural state, are such as justly expose him to the Divine anger. What does God survey in the sinner? Ignorance, unbelief, envy, malevolence, impurity, &c. In his conduct, likewise, how much there is that must necessarily be displeasing to God!—ingratitude, disobedience, selfishness, abuse of long-suffering, the rejection of Christ. 2. No intelligent being need be in any doubt as to whether he is, or is not, an object of the Divine anger. The teaching of Scripture is clear (Ps. vii. 11; xxxiv. 16, &c.) This is ratified by the workings of conscience. Let any one do good secretly, and contrast his state of mind with the feelings arising after the commission of secret evil. 3. The Divine anger is of all things to be deprecated. Remember what its effects have been upon impenitent sinners. Think of the old world; of Pharaoh and the Egyptians; of Sodom, &c. View the written in indelible and awful characters in the history of the Israelites. Nothing can resist it, alleviate it, or deliver from it.

II. The delightful change experienced. 1. The Divine displeasure is removed. “Anger turned away.” The cloud blotted out; no longer under condemnation, &c. This necessarily supposes a change in the creature. His enmity and opposition to God have ceased; he has seen the evil of sin; confessed and forsaken it; and believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. A state of unbelief exposes us to the Divine wrath; a state of faith brings upon us His favour. God abhors the high and proud spirit; but He looks in pity on the lowly and contrite. 2. The Divine favour is enjoyed. “Thou comfortest me.” We cannot stand in a neutral state with respect to God. The instant His anger is removed, His favour is enjoyed. Guilt, remorse, the burden of sin, are gone; and in their stead there is a sweet assurance of acceptance with God. This comfort is real, not visionary; suitable, abiding, and inexpressibly precious; it is associated with all good, both in this life and that which is to come; it is the precursor of everlasting felicity.

III. The grateful return presented. “I will praise Thee.” Acceptable praise, 1. Includes the offering of a thankful heart. It must arise from within; it must be the expression of the affections of the soul. Heart gratitude is alone real, and that which God will receive. 2. It must be free and spontaneous. “I will.” Not I ought, or should, but “I will.” 3. It must be constant (Eph. v. 20; 1 Thess. v. 18; Ps. xxxiv. 1).

Application.—Let the text be 1. The test of our state. Can we use it? Is it so with us? Is God our reconciled friend? 2. The test of our spirit and conduct. Do we love and bless God? Is it our delight to do so? 3. Let it be attractive to the convicted, mourning sinner. There is a way to Divine peace, and to real and heavenly comfort. Christ is that way. Come now to God through Him.—Jabez Burns, D.D.: Pulpit Cyclopædia (iii. 221–224).

In this verse we have a representation—I. Of the natural condition of sinful men. An object of Divine anger. 1. The nature of the emotion described; 2. The cause of this anger; 3. How much it is to be feared. Unlike the anger of man it is changeless, and behind it is boundless wisdom and irresistible power. II. Of the change effected in the state of believers by Divine grace. They are blessed, 1. By the removal of the Divine displeasure, effected by the work accomplished for them by the Son of God, and in them by the Holy Spirit. 2. In the enjoyment of Divine consolation. III. Of the adoring thankfulness which the change demands and calls forth. 1. The individual character of the declaration: “Thou shalt say.” 2. The vocal proclamation: Thou “shalt say.” True gratitude is never silent (Ps. lxvi. 16, &c.) 3. The delightful burden of the song.—George Smith, D.D.

In this verse we have three pictures. I. God angry with the sinner. II. God reconciled to the sinner. III. God comforting the sinner.—H. F. Walker.

 

Wells of Salvation.

xii. 3. Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.

Salvation is the great theme of the Bible, and thus it meets man’s great need. Think, I. Of the wells, the sources of salvation. Clearly these are not found in man himself. Salvation originated in the eternal love of God for man; it flows to sinners through the work of Jesus; it is by the influence of the Holy Spirit that the sinner is made willing to partake of it. These truly are wells of salvation; not rills that may dry up; not even rivers, which may fail because the streams from the mountains have failed; but wells, fountains over-flowing, inexhaustible as the nature of God. II. Of the water. A beautiful symbol of a great reality. Excepting the air we breathe, there is no element so widely diffused, nor so essential to life, as water. Imagine a great city, a whole district, a ship’s crew without water.[1] 1. Water revives. How the traveller dying from thirst begins to revive the instant water touches his lips; so the salvation of the gospel imparts new life to the soul; an invigoration, moreover, that shall not pass away (John iv. 14). 2. Water cleanses. So does the salvation of the gospel (Rev. i. 5; Heb. ix. 14; Ezek. xxxvi. 25; Zech. xiii. 1). 3. Water fertilises. The water of salvation enriches and fertilises the spiritual soil, so that the blossoms of hope in the early spring-time of piety, and the matured fruits of holiness in the autumn of life, adorn the garden of the Lord (Isa. lviii. 11; Jer. xxxi. 12; Ps. i. 3; Num. xxiv. 6). III. Of the joy. 1. This can only be experienced by such as draw water out of the wells of salvation. Necessarily it is a matter of experience. There are many things that must be felt to be known, and this is one of them. 2. This joy may be expected in the very act of drawing the water of salvation. If you were to overtake a traveller in a sandy desert dying from thirst, he would begin to enjoy the very moment he became conscious of the touch of the precious fluid. So with the Christian (Rom. xv. 13). And as he may and ought to be constantly drawing from the wells of salvation, his life should always be a happy life (H. E. I. 3037–3051; P. D. 2085).

Our text may be regarded—1. As giving full permission to do that of which it speaks. However unworthy we may be, we may come to the wells of salvation, and draw as much as we need (Rev. xxii. 17; H. E. I., 2331, 2361, 2362, 4086). 2. Nay, as a command. When a sovereign prepares a banquet, and issues his invitations, those invitations have the force of commands. God has graciously provided salvation for your souls in Christ: will you turn away and despise His love?—John Rawlinson.

Salvation—let us not think of it meanly. It has past, present, future aspects. Too often we content ourselves with the past view of it, and that in a selfish way. Twenty or thirty years ago, we “believed” and were “saved,” i.e., got out of harm’s way. What is God’s grace doing for us? Is it making us purer, nobler? And what are our aspirations and prospects? Are we imitators of the great Apostle? (Phil. iii. 13, 14).

This comprehensive and glorious salvation, what is its source? Whence is it to be drawn? From God. “Behold, God is my salvation. . . . Therefore,” &c. The third verse must never be separated in thought from the second, “With Thee is the fountain of life”—with God as revealed to us in Christ. This is the claim of Christ Himself (John vii. 37, 38).[2] He stands over against all the ignorance, the guilt, the pollution, and the deathfulness of man, as the infinite Fulness (1 Cor. i. 30; Col. i. 19; John i. 16; H. E. I., 934–941). As the wells of salvation are in Him; and from Him His people draw the priceless “water” with joy. This is a duty, but it is performed by them as freely and spontaneously as on a summer morning the birds fill the air with music. They do so—1. Because the wells of salvation are free to all, and easily accessible by all. Were it not so, we might fear that we or our friends were excluded therefrom. But God’s salvation, like all His best gifts—air, light, water—is free to all alike (H. E. I., 942, 943, 2331, 2361, 2362). And it is easily accessible; not harder terms are imposed upon us than it is possible and right for us to comply with. (All this is summed up in chap. lv. 1.) 2. Because “the wells of salvation” are inexhaustible. Picture the fainting and despairing condition of a traveller who, in a time of scorching heat, comes to a well, and finds it empty. No such fate awaits the true seeker after God. Other sources of help will deceive and fail us (Jer. ii. 13). 3. Because of the deep satisfaction which is derived therefrom (John iv. 14; H. E. I., 968–971, 1658, 1659, 2738–2837, 4627–4630, 4790). 4. Because the fulness that thus becomes ours is a source of blessing to others (Gen. xii. 2; xxxix. 5; Prov. xviii. 4; Isa. lviii. 11; Ezek. xlvii. 12; Zech. xiv. 8; H. E. I., 1740–1743).[3]

Come to the Well-spring of life. It is open to you all. Whosoever will may come. Jesus stands ready to satisfy your deepest longings.—William Manning.

This chapter should be read in connection with the preceding, which determines its application to the times of Messiah. The peaceful state of the Church in Hezekiah’s time is made the emblem of the peaceful era of the Gospel; as the Israelites who had been carried away in various invasions thus returned to their own country, so the nations should be gathered to the standard of Christ (Isa. xi. 10–16).

I. The sources of consolation which God has opened up to the Church in the revelation of His Son. In a dry and thirsty land like this—in a world where there are so many sorrows arising from sin, and so many difficulties in our way to heaven—we need sources of supply, fountains of consolation. And in the Word of God we have them; “wells of salvation,” not running streams, not brooks, full in spring and dry in summer, but wells! 1. Christ is the great fountain (John vii. 37, 38). When He was lifted up upon the cross, the fountain of grace that is in Him was opened, and healing streams shall never cease to flow from it, till the last weary pilgrim has reached the abodes of blessedness. Do we thirst for the pardon of sin? (Matt. xii. 31). For the favour and friendship of God? (Matt. v. 6). For solid and spiritual happiness? (Isa lv. 1; Rev. xxii. 17). 2. The religion of Christ is a system of consolation and joy; it is the only one that deserves the name; all others work as with unmeaning ceremonies or unfounded expectations. All the parts of Christ’s religion, properly understood and personally enjoyed, promote solid comfort and true joy. Its doctrine (Rom. v. 11). Its promises (Ps. xcvii. 11). Its precepts (Ps. cxix. 54). Its prospects (Rom. v. 2; H. E. I., 4161–4163). 3. God is “the God of comfort.” Christ is “the consolation of Israel.” The Holy Spirit is “the Comforter.” How ample are the sources of comfort and joy mentioned in this chapter! (1.) The removal of a sense of Divine displeasure (ver. 1). (2.) Hope of interest in God’s special favour as our covenant God (ver. 2).

II. What is necessary to our personal appropriation of these comforts and joys.[4] Many persons, who appear to be disciples of Christ, are without the satisfaction which the text promises. They may be safe, but they are not happy (H. E. I., 306–314). The fault is not in the Gospel: the promise is express, the provision is free, the invitation is open. If the Christian would know the joy of which the text speaks, 1. He must learn to set a higher value upon spiritual blessings. It is the order of divine procedure to awaken a high sense of the value of His gifts before He communicates them. Many seem indifferent whether they enjoy the higher blessings of religion or no. The saints in former times were more earnest (Ps. xlii. 1). 2. He must cultivate those graces of religion which are immediately connected with its enjoyments: humility of mind, a teachable spirit, a more spiritual order of affections (Ps. xxv. 9, 14; Col. iii. 2; Phil. iv. 5–7). 3. Especially he must cultivate a prayerful spirit and expectant dependence upon divine illumination. Prayer is the key that opens the treasury of heaven (Ps. xxxiv. 5; cxix. 18). Neglect of the Spirit’s influences is a frequent cause of degeneracy and distress. 4. He must avoid whatever would hinder the life and power of religion: the secret love of sin, undue attachment to the world, prevalence of unholy tempers. It is a matter of perfect impossibility that the comforts of religion can be enjoyed where sin and inconsistency prevail. Is there no sin indulged, no self-dependence, no conformity to the world, no neglect of private duties? (Jer. ii. 17, 18). Heaven is a realm of perfect happiness, because it is the realm of perfect holiness. 5. He must diligently use all the appointed means of grace.

III. Particular seasons when the prophetic promise is fulfilled. Private meditation, public ordinance, trouble, death, entrance into heaven.—Samuel Thodey.

By “the wells of salvation” we may understand “the means of grace.”[5]

I. These wells of salvation have been opened for the supply of human needs; not for God’s benefit, but for ours. What wells are to travellers through a desert, these are to us in our pilgrimage to Zion. II. Men should come to these wells for the purpose of having their needs supplied; not from habit, not that we may set a good example, &c., but that we ourselves may be refreshed and strengthened. III. No frequency in coming to these wells can be in any sense meritorious. Expose the mistake of the Pharisee and the Ritualist. The oftener we avail ourselves of them, the more we increase, not our claims upon God, but our obligations to Him; and the more should increase, not our pride and self-righteousness, but our thankfulness to God for His goodness in providing them. IV. The wells are nothing: the water in them is everything. A dry well, however deep it may be, or whatever historic associations may cluster around it, is worthless; and so are all religious ordinances apart from the Spirit of God. We must ever remember that they are means of grace—channels through which the God of all grace will satisfy the soul’s thirst of those who seek Him in sincerity and truth. V. Nevertheless we are not to stay away from the wells, nor despise them. That is a false spirituality that disparages divine ordinances. We are not to trust in the wells, yet neither are we to refuse to draw water out of them:—1. Because God opened them, and to neglect them it to charge Him with foolishly providing what we do not need. 2. Because it pleases Him to give us water through them; and we are to accept the blessing in whatever way He chooses to impart it to us. Naaman (2 Kings v. 11–13); the blind man (John ix. 6, 7). 3. Because we need refreshment and reinvigoration day by day (Isa. xl. 31; Ps. lxxxiv. 7; H. E. I., 555, 556, 3866–3876). 4. Because our Master in the days of His flesh used the means of grace; no true Christian will seek in this respect to be above his Lord. VI. God has opened wells of salvation; not one, but many; none needlessly. We must use them all. Their benefit lies in their conjunction. For the production of a harvest, the sun and the rain are both needed; the sun alone would make a desert, the rain alone a swamp. No bird can fly with one wing, &c. We must read as well as pray, &c.

Concluding lessons.—1. Why God sometimes leaves the wells dry. His people sometimes come so to delight in the means of grace, that they forget they are only means, and then He withholds His blessings, that they may be taught that He alone can satisfy their souls (Ps. lxxxiv. 2, lxii. 5). 2. Why, when there is water in the wells, some are not quickened and refreshed. (1.) Water revives the living, not the dead. (2.) Some forget to bring their buckets. They have no real desires after God, not true faith in His power and willingness to bless them, and to each of them we may say, “Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the wells are deep” (John iv. 11).

 

The Duty of Gladness.

xii. 6. Cry out and shout, &c.

Two things are here observable:—1. The person addressed, “thou inhabitant of Zion,”[1] i.e., one who is no longer a stranger and foreigner, but a fellow-citizen with the saints (Eph. ii. 12, 19) 2. The admonition given, “Cry out and shout.” Consider—

I. The truth on which the admonition is founded. “Great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.” This includes—1. His character, “the Holy One of Israel.” The holiness of God has shown forth in all that He has done in heaven and on earth (Ps. cxlv. 17); in heaven it is the theme of the songs of the most exalted intelligences (Isa. vi. 3); on earth it inspires bad men with dread and dislike (Isa. xxx. 11), and good men with thankfulness and hope (Ps. xxx. 4; Heb. xii. 10; H. E. I., 2275, 2843). 2. His greatness. “Great”—in duration, wisdom, power, dominion, and resources. All these render Him terrible as an enemy, desirable as a friend.[2] 3. His residence. “In the midst of thee.” But is not God everywhere? Yes, but not everywhere in the same character; not in heaven as in earth, &c. Wherever His presence is spoken of in a way of promise or privilege, it is to be distinguished from His attribute of omnipresence, for it has then in it something peculiarly beneficial and saving (Deut. iv. 7; Ps. xxxiv. 18). God’s presence in the midst of His people is the guarantee of their safety and the source of their joy. Let them adore the condescension He shows in dwelling in their midst.

II. The stirring exhortation. 1. Religion is animated. “Cry out and shout,” &c. What is here required cannot be merely the exclamation, separate from suitable dispositions and sentiments, as is the case with some. Noise is in itself worth nothing. On the other hand, where there are these feelings, it is permissible, yea, praiseworthy, to give free and exultant expression to them (Rev. v. 12). Some disparage such expressions as enthusiasm, but there is nothing that should call forth enthusiasm like the Gospel. Religion calls for not only feeling and sentiment, but for the highest degree of feeling and sentiment.[3] 2. Religion, rational as well as animated. Why is the inhabitant of Zion to cry aloud and shout? “For great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.” This more than justified him, for from hence the Church can infer safety, assistance, consolation, honour. Thus God is with His people, and this is grace: soon they shall be with Him, and that is glory.—William Jay: Sunday Evening Sermons and Thursday Evening Lectures, pp. 297–305.

 

The Day of the Lord.

xiii. 6. Howl ye, for the day of the Lord is at hand.

Sad and unnatural is the condition of those to whom the coming of “the day of the Lord” is a cause for dismay. But this is the condition of the wicked. They can think of God prevailing and asserting Himself only with dread. Dread must take possession of them whenever they think of the future, for the profoundest and most ineradicable instincts of their nature assure them that the “day of the Lord”—a day of judgment and retribution—must come.

Thus far all is plain. But when we read and think about what is to take place on “the day of the Lord” (vers. 7, 8, 15, 16, 18), astonishment takes possession of us, and we feel disposed to call it “the day of the devil.” How can a day like this be called “the day of the Lord”? Note—1. That all the cruelties here described were inflicted by men. 2. That these men were moved to inflict these cruelties by their own passions; that they acted as free agents, and without any thought of fulfilling a Divine purpose. 3. That the supreme passion by which they were moved was the passion of revenge—of revenge for cruelties equally frightful inflicted by the sufferers of that day. Nothing can exceed in horror the picture which the Babylonians themselves drew of the enormities perpetrated by them on conquered nations. 4. That, consequently, the Babylonians were reaping as they had sown. The day that was coming upon them was a day of retribution, and in this sense emphatically “a day of the Lord.” As a matter of fact, retribution is one of the laws under which we live (H. E. I., 4609, 4611, 4612), and it is a Divine law, a law worthy of God. It is an ordinance of mercy, for the tendency of it is to restrain men from sin. By their knowledge of its existence and the certainty of its operation (P. D., 2995), wicked men are undoubtedly greatly restrained from wickedness. Were it not for the days when it is manifestly seen in operation, when great transgressors are overwhelmed with great sufferings, atheism would prevail; a reign of terror and of restrained cruelty would begin, and every day would be a day of the devil. 5. This day, with all its horrors, was an essential preliminary to the accomplishment of God’s purposes of mercy in regard to His people. For them it was emphatically “a day of the Lord,” for it was the day of their deliverance from bondage, a day of exultant thanksgiving that the power of their relentless oppressors was for ever broken (chap. xiv. 1–6). In the history of our race there have been many such days, e.g., the French Revolution of 1789, the American Civil War; days when the worst passions of humanity were manifested without restraint; but days when the wisdom of God was displayed in bringing good out of evil, in punishing the iniquities of the past, in ushering in a brighter and better era of freedom and justice.

The record of such “days of the Lord” should be eminently instructive to us. 1. They should teach us the true characters of those statesmen who use national power for purposes of unrighteous national aggrandisement. They are patriots but traitors, rendering inevitable a bitter harvest of national shame and sorrow. 2. They show the folly of supposing that the great power of any nation justifies it in the hope that it may safely deal unjustly with other and weaker nations. Guilty nations set in operation forces mightier and surer in their operation than any they can command—those forming the instrumentality by which God governs the earth, and in spite of human passions, maintains the existence and carrying forward the development of the human race; these, combining, bring on a “day of the Lord,” in which, by the overthrow of the haughtiest wrongdoers, His existence and authority, and the folly of the practical atheism to which great nations are prone, are demonstrated (P. D., 2544).

 

The Doom of the Children of Babylon.

xiii. 16. Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes.

Consider this terrible declaration—

I. As it regards man. 1. As a revelation of the degradation of which he is capable. History may be said to be a manifold revelation to this effect; the Bible alone gives hope for man, by disclosing his capabilities of development and exaltation. 2. As a remindal that no earthly empire is in and of itself secure against utter overthrow. 3. As a remindal that what are called national disasters, are made up of sufferings endured by a vast number of individuals.

II. As it regards God. So considered, it should be remembered—1. That His permission of such things is, when viewed comprehensively, only part of the great mystery of the permission of evil. 2. That this is an instance of the working of one of the great natural laws by which God governs the universe—the law of retribution. 3. That in the heart of this terrible prediction there is a bright ray of hope. When you see a surgeon performing a terrible operation on a patient, you are sure that he is confident that the patient will be restored to health. So when we look at the world as it is, we are certified that there is a better world to be. God would never have permitted the world to be, if He did not see how out of this present misery He could educe eternal and triumphant blessedness. Towards that better future God is leading on the world (H. E. I., 3421–3423). The revulsion of feeling with which we read this prediction is one proof of it; there was a time when such incidents in the prosecution of a war would have been regarded as a matter of course. That it should not be so now marks an advance, and is a prophecy of further advances.

 

The Love of Money.

xiii. 17. The Medes . . . shall not regard silver; and as for gold, they shall not delight in it.

I. One of the most universal and powerful of all passions is the love of money. Consider—1. How wide-spread is this passion. The instant men rise above utter barbarism, it manifests itself. Paradoxical as it may sound, it is one of the first signs that civilisation has begun. In every civilised land, and among all classes, it constantly manifests itself.[1] It is one of the inspiring and moulding forces that are always at work. 2. How powerful it is in its operation! It leads them to face appalling dangers. It persuades them to endure distressing privations. It betrays them into the basest crimes. Up to a certain point, it may be said to be a useful servant; it works to promote our welfare, by overbalancing other tendencies that would degrade and ruin us; but when once that limit is overpassed, it transforms itself into a tyrannical master. Like many an Eastern tyrant, it destroys all other lawful passions that might dispute with it the throne (H. E. I., 400, 402).

II. But this passion, powerful as it is, may be controlled and conquered. “The Medes . . . shall not regard silver; and as for gold, they shall not delight in it.” This means, not that they should be exempt from the influence of this worldwide passion, but that in thee it would be temporarily overborne by another more powerful passion—the passion for revenge. For years the dominion of Babylon over them had been maintained by the most relentless rigour and frightful cruelties; and when the hour for successful revolt came, the one thought of the Medes would be—Revenge! That one intense longing would consume all others; the men on whom it had laid hold would forget their thirst for riches.

This really is only an instance and illustration of what Dr. Chalmers used to call “the explosive power of a new affection.” Many other affections come up to the human heart, and expel avarice; e.g., love of wife or children, ambition, vanity, &c. We see, therefore, that the love of money can be conquered, and as reasonable men always in danger of being overcome by it, we should ask by what passion or principle it can be conquered most nobly. That principle and that passion is the love of Christ. Of those who are truly possessed by it, it may be truly said that they do not regard silver; and as for gold, they do not delight in it. They may have much money, and by their splendid genius for business may be constantly gaining much more; but they possess it, it does not possess them; they are its masters. By the use of it they are ennobled. Let us pray that our hearts may be garrisoned by this more powerful and noble passion; then all the assaults of avarice upon them shall be made in vain. We shall meet them as Christ Himself met the offer of all the wealth and glory of the world; and the result will be, that we shall possess the true riches which will be valuable in the eternal world (Matt. iv. 8–10, vi. 19–21).

 

Spare the Children.

(Sunday-School Anniversary Sermon.)

xiii. 18. Their eye shall not spare children.

This declaration is made concerning the Medes, by whom the power of Babylon was destined to be broken. So thoroughly bent will they be upon their mission of revenge, that they will not be turned away from it by any appeals to their avarice (ver. 17) or to their pity (text). The helplessness of infancy and the innocence of youth, which are naturally so impressive and persuasive, will not avail to stay them in their devastating career.

We should display a singular ignorance of the world in which we live, if we were therefore to pronounce the Medes exceptional monsters of iniquity. Alas! there are many imitators of their relentless cruelty. In our own land children are not spared in relation to evils even more terrible than war. Youth is always beset by dangers, even when it is most carefully guarded; but when it is specially under the influence of wicked men, it is often ruthlessly sacrificed. Wide-spread is the spirit of evil which knows not how to pity it. Examples of its existence and operations are to be found—1. In houses where the most hurtful principles and vicious practices are continually set before children. From their youth up they are not spared from the most disastrous influences (H. E. I., 775–779). 2. In business, where often the most sacred interests of childhood are sacrificed for the sake of gain. Their health, by inflicting upon them excessive labour. Even their morality, by fiends who tempt them into haunts of vice. Compared with these incarnations of diabolical cruelty, the Medes were merciful.

The season of childhood appeals to our concern and should awake our compassion—1. By its helplessness. It has to lean upon others. 2. By its ignorance. It has had no time to learn (H. E. I., 780). 3. By its inexperience. Unless it is aided by the guidance of mature wisdom, it must almost necessarily go astray. 4. By its peculiar susceptibility to every kind of moral influence. To these appeals let us give reverent, cheerful, and thoughtful heed. Let us not be content to shudder at this prediction concerning the Medes, or at such historical records as that of the slaughter of the children of Bethlehem (Matt. ii.); let us make the children the objects of our care. 1. Let us spare our own children, from all unreasonable demands upon them, from the mischiefs that will inevitably come upon them if we do not carefully train them in the way they should go. 2. Let us spare the children of the poor from the evils of ignorance. These evils are terrible and far-reaching. Not to rescue them from these evils when we have the power to do so, is to doom them to them. In the Sunday-school we have a means to rescue which we cannot neglect without sin.—William Manning.

 

Sodom and Gomorrah.

xiii. 19. And Babylon, the glory of the kingdoms, &c.

The anticipated destruction of Babylon is here compared to that of Sodom and Gomorrah, because of its completeness, and because of the hopelessness of any return to that city to its former glory (vers. 20–22). The fate of Sodom and Gomorrah should be pondered, not merely because it is here used as a symbol of the fate of Babylon, but also because of the solemn lessons it affords in relation to sin. That memorable overthrow occurred—I. As a Divine vengeance upon long-continued and unmitigated wickedness (Gen. xviii. 20, 21). II. Notwithstanding the influence of a good man in their midst (2 Pet. ii. 7, 8). A man like Lot, even though he perhaps suffered injury to his own character, could not live among people like the Sodomites without being a witness for better things and a testimony against their crimes. III. Notwithstanding the fervent intercessions on their behalf of an eminently godly man (Gen. xviii. 23, &c.). IV. The overthrow came at last without any suspicion on the part of their guilty inhabitants that their doom was so near (Prov. xxix. 1).

But why dwell upon a fate so awful, and that occurred so long ago? Because it is a solemn warning to men to-day. Listen to our Saviour’s teaching on this point (Matt. xi. 20–24). From this we learn that the fate of those who reject Christ will be more severe even than that which befell those guilty cities—1. Because of clearer light against which they sinned. It cannot be in any way a trivial thing to possess the Gospel (2 Cor. ii. 16). 2. Because of the more abundant opportunities of salvation which were afforded them. 3. Because of the more abundant and excellent examples set before them. 4. Because of the multiplied examples of warning to which they should have given heed.—William Manning.

 

The Joy of Salvation.

xiv. 3, 4. And it shall come to pass in the day, &c.

In these verses is described the feeling of relief and joy of Israel in view of release from the Babylonish captivity. So profound will be their sense of God’s deliverance and favour, that they will look with contempt even upon the imperious and exacting Babylon, whose glory will be smitten, whose strength will be destroyed.

This is an experience known to men in their spiritual seekings and findings of God. Blessed is that “rest” which follows many a season of sorrow, and fear, and hard bondage wherein men are made to serve. Consider—

I. Some joyful deliverances, of which we may be said to have here a type. Every soul engaged in a true search after God can recall such experiences: first there was the “sorrow,” then the “joy;” first the “fear,” then the confidence; first the “bondage,” and then the rescue and the liberty. E.g., 1. The time of spiritual conversion. That is often preceded by deep conviction, anguish, and gloom. Alarming are those awakenings whose first mission is to show us our guilt and danger. Then we feel the grievousness of the bondage of sin. It is a time of exile, want, servitude. What a glorious day is that in which the Lord gives us rest for our sorrow and fear, by removing from us the terrors of the law, and leading us into the liberty of the Gospel! This is the deliverance to which our Saviour calls us (Matt. xi. 28). 2. The light which comes after a period of great mental conflict and doubt respecting Divine things also illustrates our subject. Honest and reverent doubt, which intercepts a true seeker after God, is no sin. To creatures who have everything to learn, doubt is but a part of the process of learning; all original research, all independent inquiry, has more or less of it. But doubt may become a hard master, a ruthless tyrant; that which comes from mere prying curiosity, idle speculation, empty cavilling, is certain to do so; in this case doubt, instead of being a pathway, becomes a prison (H. E. I., 4867, 4868). But doubt in any case is a source of unhappiness; it should lead, not to scepticism (H. E. I., 4867, 4868; P. D., 910), but to prayer (P. D., 915, 916). Those whose prayers for deliverance from it have been answered, know how blessed is that day when the Lord gives them “rest.” 3. The period of victory which follows a season of severe temptation is another illustration. In most virtues weak, there are sides of our character specially exposed to assault. The sin which most easily besets us proves our oppressor, our tyrant (H. E. I., 4482–4484, 4497–4499). Recall the conflicts you have often had, how often sin has wellnigh proved fatal to you. What a gracious day was that when the Lord came to your help, and gave you rest from your enemy! 4. The heavenly life hereafter will be a still better realisation of the thought before us. To many of God’s people the general character of their earthly life is so mysterious, burdensome, and sad, that it all seems a bondage to them. To such, death will come as the day of the Lord to give them “rest” (H. E. I., 220, 1623–1628).

II. The real insignificance of our foes, which in the day of our deliverance will be made plain to us, and which should be apprehended by our faith even now (ver. 4). 1. Greater is He that is in than all that can be against us, and therefore, if we be faithful, our victory is sure (1 John iv. 4; Rom. viii. 37; H. E. I., 934, 2368, 2791). 2. By Him even our very foes and oppressors shall be made to help us. In the case of Israel, their masters were to become their servants, their oppressors their subjects (ver. 2). It is so in the spiritual life; our very sorrows, fears, nay, our sins, may be made to serve great ends; a vanquished fear, a defeated sin, will leave us stronger to meet the next. Let us so live and strive, by the grace of God, that, having triumphed over every evil habit, every ignoble doubt, every besetting sin, we may be able to say at last, “How hath the oppressor ceased!”—William Manning.

 

The Grave and Its Mysteries.

xiv. 9–12. Hell from beneath is moved for thee, &c.

I. There is an invisible world (H. E. I., 2173–2175). II. Its inhabitants stand in a mysterious relation to this. III. Are conscious of passing events. IV. Despise all earthly distinctions. V. Await the coming of their fellows. VI. Receive them according to their moral character.—J. Lyth, D.D.: Homiletical Treasury, part i. p. 20.

 

The Contrasts of Death.

xiv. 11. Thy pomp is brought down to the grave.

We are perpetually reminded of the shortness and uncertainty of life (H. E. I., 1561). But these truths, so elementary, so familiar, so important, and so much forgotten, are most vividly brought before our minds when a prince is laid low. Then we see that only one thing is important, because only one thing is permanent, and that is character, by which our whole future is determined. Happy is he, whether peasant or prince, whose is the character of the regenerate, who possesses a good hope through grace; wretched is he, whether slave or monarch, who lives and dies without it. Reflect—

I. On the death of the wicked. Always solemn, but especially so when it is that of a wicked man who was prosperous. Everything succeeded with him; he had everything his heart wished for. But death came; broke up a whole system of being and comforts, without furnishing any equivalent for it; and introduced him to eternal perdition. Death obscures the glory of the prosperous transgressors, robs them of that in which they delighted, reduces their wealth to poverty, their honours to eternal shame, their happiness to eternal misery. What a transition—from the vanities of earth to the realities and retributions of the eternal world! from the flattery of their dependants to the presence of the Judge of all! You who are living only for earthly things, think of these things. (H. E. I., 1567–1569; P. D., 684, 741).

II. The death of the righteous. 1. The hour of terror, of consummate terror, to the wicked, is to the Christian the hour of peace, of hope, of joy. This arises from his union with Christ, the Conqueror of death. What will make a deathbed easy?—a broken league with sin, a good hope through grace, a lively faith in Christ (H. E. I., 1590–1593). 2. The hour that terminates the prosperous worldling’s glory, introduces the Christian to an eternal weight of glory (P. D., 669, 694, 757). 3. The hour that brings the sinner to the second death commences the perfectness of the Christian’s life (H. E. I., 1595–1600; P. D., 711).—Samuel Thodey.

 

The Conqueror Conquered.

xiv. 11. Thy pomp is brought down to the grave.

One of the most effectual means of comforting the Church in times of oppression, is by predicting the downfall of her enemies. Here Babylon is doomed; her monarch, whose conquests had been so far-reaching, whose power had proved so irresistible, is represented as having met with a mightier than himself; as descending to the abode of the dead; as leaving behind him a body which, instead of being honoured with a royal funeral, has no other covering than the dust and the worms; and as being himself insulted by the astonished mockery of the meanest of those who had preceded him into the invisible world. His removal from the world has been as the cessation of a devastating hurricane, and the whole earth rejoices thereat; it re-echoes with songs of gladness that the dreaded victor has himself been vanquished. Well may the world rejoice that its crowned scourges are not immortal!

I. Let us recall some familiar truths concerning this conqueror of conquerors. 1. He assaults all ranks and all ages (H. E. I., 1536, 1557; P. D., 677, 700, 707, 751, 752). The world is an unwalled cemetery. Much of the dust we tread on once lived. What is the history of the world but the history of the reign of death? From Abel to the infant who died a moment ago, death has executed his commission without a single pause; sometimes in quiet forms, dust mingling with its native dust; sometimes on a grander scale, by battles, earthquakes, &c. There are a thousand doors out of life; they all stand open; and through some of them death will lead us all; for, like the great Being whose servant he is, with him there is “no respect of persons.”[1] 2. He is not arrested in his career from any respect for the places of men, however heroic and useful they may be. How powerful man often appears in his collective grandeur, binding the ocean in chains, controlling the elements, numbering the stars, building great cities which look like temples erected to Time and destined to outlast his reign, founding empires, and spreading himself out by commerce and enterprise to distant islands and continents; and he has always still greater projects behind. But while man plants, death receives his commission; the ground sinks beneath him, his power suddenly collapses. Few histories would be more instructive or impressive than that of the unfinished projects of men of might and genius, e.g., Cæsar and his proposed digest of law, Cuvier and his proposed compendium of science (Ps. cxlvi. 4; H. E. I., 3266, 3273). 3. He determines all character. Passing to and fro, he finds character everywhere in the course of formation; suddenly he brings the process to an end, and with their character precisely in the state in which he found it, those whom he strikes down go into the eternal world. A certain fact, a solemn consideration this!

II. Let me remind you of the strange insensibility of mankind to the existence and operations of this power, from which none of us can escape, and which may so unexpectedly bring all our plans and purposes to an end. Few men give any practical heed to the fact that they are mortal (H. E. I., 1557–1565; P. D., 69). The conduct of mankind in neglecting the concerns of immortality reverses all the elements of wisdom. Men bury themselves in the concerns of time, and forget that their consciences will have an awful resurrection in another world. This insensibility is the more unpardonable since God uses so many means to arouse and to instruct us. Reflect on the momentous character of life, its shortness, its grand purpose, its solemn issues; look to the grand vision beyond the shades of death.

III. In order that we may be delivered from this prevalent insensibility, let us recall some of the advantages arising from a frequent contemplation of, and a Scriptural preparation for, the approach of death. 1. Preparation for death quite changes its aspect. To a Christian it would be a dreadful thing not to die; his would be the case of a child who was never to come of age, of an exile who was never to go home (H. E. I., 1571–1578; P. D. 667, 669, 747). 2. Preparation for death exalts the character of life. It dispels much of the gloom of life; the bright prospect at the end irradiates all the intervening way. 3. In preparing for death we become imbued with the temper and the tastes of heaven (H. E. I., 1566, 2731–2737).—Samuel Thodey.

 

The Seed of Evildoers.

xiv. 20. The seed of evildoers shall never be renowned.

I. This is the verdict of the Scriptures. They abound in evidence that confirms it. Whatever may be the resources of wicked men, true glory does not lie in their path, and nought that they can do will avail to secure honourable memory for their wickedness. On the contrary, their name and deeds will be attended with disaster and covered with shame. And this in spite—1. Of the wealth which may be connected with evil-doing (Job xxi. 7–21; Ps. iii. 5–7, &c.); or, 2. The power it may have (Ps. lxxiii. 3–8, 18–20), even if it be a confederated power (Prov. xi. 21); or, 3. The ingenuity with which it may conduct its work (Ps xxxvi. 2–4; Micah ii. 1–3). These are but a few of the declarations of the Bible on this subject.

II. This is also the verdict of human experience. As a matter of fact, we see that a wicked course of life is regarded as a shame. It is held up as a beacon to be avoided, whilst the career of the good is held up as a model to be followed. History is full of examples of men whose names are held in universal detestation, notwithstanding their connection with ingenuity, wealth, and power. Each of us knows how well the fact is proved by myriads of examples in social life. A persistently wicked course is known to be a blighted one, and any attempt to invest it with glory or renown is felt to be wrong. We recoil even from the thought that it should be possible for such a course to command the homage of men.

III. This truth gives us great hope for the future of our world. If it were possible for wrongdoing to gain for itself imperishable renown, we might tremble for the safety of those principles of righteousness and truth which have always been regarded as the main support and stay of good men. Reckless folly and wild presumption would become exalted and enthroned, and we might well shudder at the possibility that, under the attractions of successful wickedness, men would rush in masses and bow down to Evil, declaring it to be their Good. This abandoned idolatry, this deep depravity, is now reached only in isolated cases, and such are regarded even by godless men as deplorable and hopeless. It is a hopeful fact that evildoers have to carry on much of their work in the dark, for it is a sure token that, as the light widens and deepens, the works of darkness must fall; their covering will be removed, and their shelter will be gone.

IV. This truth is also one of encouragement to every individual Christian in his efforts after a Christ-like life. Evil-doing does not fail for want of effort; its attempts are bold, its struggles are determined. Yet it is doomed always to wear the name of dishonour and shame; a wicked man will never get glory for his wickedness. But Christian life is in itself true and real honour; its glory is as a shining light, shining more and more unto the perfect day. The Christian is a son of God, and no higher dignity than this is conceivable (H. E. I., 1073–1076); he is traversing a path which will for ever lead him on to scenes of new splendour and blessedness. Seeing that this is our high calling and destiny, let us neither fear nor envy the seed of evildoers, however strong or secure they may be, but with greater persistency than ever let us “hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.”—William Manning.

This is—1. Matter of observation; 2. The natural effects of bad training and example (H. E. I., 777–779); 3. The judicial appointment of God (H. E. I., 824).—J. Lyth, D.D.: Homiletical Treasury, part i. p. 21.

 

A Memorable Answer.

xiv. 32. What shall one answer? &c.

Translators and interpreters differ as to whether the answer in this verse was intended to be given by or to the messengers of the nations; as to the nations whose messengers are here spoken of; and as to the time when they came on their errand. Adopting the view which represents them as coming to Jerusalem to congratulate Hezekiah after the marvellous deliverance of that city from the Assyrians (chap. xxxvii. 36–38), we remind you—

I. That the wonders of God’s love to His Church often surprise strangers as well as friends. For the deliverances wrought for her are often—1. Surprisingly seasonable, e.g., the overthrow of the Egyptian host in the Red Sea, when everything seemed to favour Pharaoh and to be against Israel (Exod. xv. 13–15); the deliverance of Jerusalem from Sennacherib. 2. Astonishing because brought about by unlikely means. Who could have anticipated the manner of the deliverance of Jerusalem on this occasion? [Give other examples.] 3. Astonishing because vouchsafed in spite of great provocations and unworthiness. Every such deliverance is a work of grace as well as of power.

II. In such times of deliverance friends and enemies alike wonder at the secure foundations on which the Church is built. The literal Zion was a marvel of architecture (Ps. xlviii. 13), and in this respect it was a worthy symbol of the Church.[1] 1. The strength and stability of the spiritual Zion is guaranteed by the character and resources of the Builder: “The Lord hath founded Zion.” 2. Therefore we should not fear the might of any of the adversaries that come up against her (H. E. I., 1246–1251).

III. The stability and security of Zion are sources of delighted satisfaction to the humblest of her inhabitants: “The poor of His people shall trust in it.” They know they are under the guardianship of One who is “mighty to save,” and who encircles the least as well as the greatest in arms of His love. Their consciousness of poverty and weakness leads them to rest in Him with an undivided trust, and they thus attain unconsciously to the blessedness of those who trust is in God only, the peace which rests on the only foundation that cannot be moved.—Samuel Thodey.

Mark what the text affirms, “The Lord hath founded Zion;” this is the guarantee of His love and of her stability: “the poor of His people shall trust in it,” or, as the margin has it, “shall betake themselves unto it:” this is the one purpose of Her Divine mission upon earth—the care, the teaching, the education, the guidance of the poor.

I. The security of the Church. 1. The strongest, most fundamental title to protection is creation. Even among ourselves no one frames an object in order to destroy it; he who makes, makes that he may preserve. Thus is creation in itself a presumptive title to protection; and it is abundantly plain that the strength of such a bond will ever increase with the cost of the object produced. In one sense the whole material universe cost its Creator nothing, for its production was to Him a thing of infinite ease; but this cannot be said of the Church. He spoke to bid the one, He died to make the other exist. When He beholds His Church, He sees in it the monument of His own inexpressible sorrow; He feels this offspring of His Divine agonies drawn closer to His eternal heart by the thought of all it cost to give her being. 2. In this Church of His is His own honour pledged. He hath not covenanted with the world that now is to immortalise it; but He has passed His own word for the perpetuity of His Church (Matt. xvi. 18; Isa. lx. 20, 21). 3. The Church, in its ultimate perfection, is set forth as the very reward of all the sorrows of its Lord. To “see of the travail of His soul and be satisfied” is His destined crown; this “joy set before Him” was that which enabled Him to “endure the cross, despising the shame.” (See also Eph. v. 25–27.) Shall He be defrauded of His recompense? 4. There is more than creation to bind the Church to Christ, more than promise, more than reward; there is communion, oneness, identification. A man may desert his child; he cannot desert himself. Even though the Redeemer could forget His espoused bride; even though He could deny His plighted promise; yea, though He could abandon His own reward, He cannot abandon His own body (1 Cor. xii. 27; Eph. i. 23, v. 30). With such a union there can be no separation; if Christ be immortal, the Church is so; when He dies she shall perish, but not till then.

II. The mission of the Church. “The poor of His people shall trust in it.” The Church of Christ is one vast institute for the benefit of the poor. The poor were the special objects of Christ’s solicitude and tenderness, and they have been, and should be, the special objects of the Church’s care. Even in her worst days she has had an open hand for the poor. She should ever follow the example of her Lord in caring for their temporal needs. But it is in the doctrine she preaches, and the way she preaches it, that the Church is indeed the poor man’s consoler.[2]—William Archer Butler, M.A.,: Sermons, Doctrinal and Practical, Second Series, pp. 227–237.

 

God’s Outcasts.

xvi. 4. Let Mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab.

I. In the most deserted condition of His people, God acknowledges them as His own. “Mine outcasts.” Sennacherib thought them his; but though forsaken by all the world, God claims them as His own, and avows His interest in them. Men pursue an opposite course; when individuals sink in the social scale, the kindly warmth of friendship is chilled, and the bond of intercourse broken (H. E. I., 23, 24, 2152–2157; P. D., 1422). But God is a friend who sticketh closer than any brother.[1] True, they sometimes esteem themselves outcasts even from Him (Ps. xlii. 2), and still more frequently are thought to be so by the ungodly (Ps. xlii. 3); but in this the ungodly make a mistake, which in their case is natural, and God’s people should never wrong Him by suspecting Him of fickleness (chap. xlix. 15).

II. God provides a refuge for His people when and where it might be least expected. “With thee, Moab.” Moab was not a neutral, but a hostile state, one of Israel’s most inveterate foes, always on the outlook for opportunities to display its hostility. Strange, therefore, that Moab should be selected as a protector for Jehovah’s outcasts; strange, but not unexampled. God often raises up friends for His people in unexpected quarters, supplies their needs by unexpected means, or turns their foes into friends (Prov. xvi. 7). Esau’s heart was suddenly changed; Joseph found favour in the eyes of the keeper of the prison; Elijah was fed by ravens; the hungry lions forbore to touch Daniel, &c.[2]

III. God would have His people to be only sojourners in Moab. His outcasts were merely to dwell there; they were not to be incorporated with the Moabitish nation; they were not to adopt either the social customs or the religious beliefs of that people. In like manner He would have His people remember always that in this world they are only sojourners (1 Pet. ii. 11; H. E. I., 5026–5065).

IV. God is preparing to bring His outcast and scattered people home. He hath prepared for them a city, and He will bring them to the city He hath prepared for them (John xiv. 1–3). Let them recognise, rejoice in, and live in harmony with this gracious purpose (Phil. iii. 17–21).—Samuel Thodey.

 

Fruitless Supplications.[1]

xvi. 12. He shall come to his sanctuary to pray; but he shall not prevail.

In the profoundly affecting picture which the prophet draws of the calamities coming on the Moabites, he represents them as at length, every other means of relief being exhausted, coming with sad and weary hearts to their sanctuary to call upon their god for deliverance. Their supplications were destined to fail, for they were presented to that which had no power to hear or save (Ps. cxv. 4–8). This line in this dark picture reminds us of two facts in the life of the men of our own time, who see clearly the folly of idolatry.

I. In times of sorrow they are often seen in the sanctuary. Many who at other times lead openly irreligious lives are then seen using the forms of devotion. This is natural (H. E. I., 3718); it is not wrong; that which is wrong is the infrequency with which the sanctuary is visited and prayer offered by them (H. E. I., 3878, 3879). It is natural and fitting that in time of trouble man should seek God in the sanctuary, for the sanctuary is the place—1. Of special promise (Exod. xx. 24; Deut. xii. 5; 1 Kings ix. 3; Matt. xviii. 20). 2. Of special means. Everything there tends to the production and increase of a devotional spirit (H. E. I., 5078). 3. Of special memory—of memories of help obtained, of sorrows solaced in former times.

II. But all this makes more remarkable the other fact of which these words may well remind us, that many of the supplications that are offered in the sanctuary are offered in vain. We know that this is a fact: how is it to be explained? In such ways as these—1. Many of the suppliants have little or no faith, and faith is the essential condition of blessing (H. E. I., 3827–3830). 2. Many of the suppliants are not really in earnest, and lukewarmness is an offence to the Divine Being (H. E. I., 3814, 3815, 3831–3838). 3. Many of the suppliants are not really penitent. Their prayers are mere calls for help in time of distress, and God has nowhere promised to help the impenitent and rebellious (H. E. I., 3846, 3858; P. D., 3595).

To point out the causes of the weakness and failure of such prayers is also to point out the remedies that must be applied if the suppliants would have their prayers “prevail.”—William Manning.

In times of trouble, men—1. Feel their need of help. 2. Generally have recourse to fallacious sources (H. E. I., 172–175). 3. Meet with disappointment, because God is forgotten or unknown.—J. Lyth, D.D.: Homiletical Treasury, part i. p. 23.

 

Diminutions and Changes of Life.

xvii. 5–7. And it shall be as when the harvestman, &c.

God’s visitations of judgment are the subject of the prophet’s burdens (ver. 1). So the text. Adversities and sorrows set in. Blessings gone, except a few. “Two or three berries,” &c.

I. The various illustrations of the text. 1. In the adverse changes of life. Many who were rich and prosperous are now poor. All gone, except two or three berries. Some so through their own folly, &c.; others by the allotment of Providence, sickness, &c. (H. E. I., 4403–4406, 4975–4986). 2. In the failure of bodily health and vigour. Once strong and robust, &c.; now left but a few berries, &c. 3. In the bereavements of kindred and friends. Once a crowd of them—parents, brothers, sisters, children—but they have gone, one after another. 4. In the powers and capacities for useful activity. Once active, useful, but now frailty and weakness have superseded. This is distressing to the sensitive, &c. Pushed aside by another generation. 5. It will apply to times and seasons of probation. How wise was old Barzillai! (2 Sam. xix. 31). The indications of age, &c. (Eccl. xii. 1). Few years left, &c., or even days.

II. The uses we should make of the subject. 1. It should impress us with the vanity of earthly things. All fleeting, all retiring; like the seasons, like streams. 2. The folly of earthly-mindedness. How extreme! Grasping shadows, resting on the moving wave, building castles in the air, &c. 3. The necessity of wisely using our opportunities. For the best ends. Working while it is day—now, while we have light and life. 4. Seeking a fitness for the world of the future (Heb. x. 34; xi. 13–16). 5. Believing and devotional confidence in God.

Application:—Christ is ever the same. In all His offices, work, and graciousness, He is without a shadow of turning.—Jabez Burns, D.D.: 150 Sketches of Sermons, pp. 296, 297.

This striking passage depicts the process of God’s judgments upon Israel. We may take it as suggestive—

I. Of the sweeping destructiveness of calamities in human life (ver. 5). How often has the picture been realised!—1. In the history of nations. The process of the depopulation and misery with which Israel was threatened, may be imagined from the view given in chap. iii. 1–8. Modern parallels may easily be found, the wars of the Roses, the plague of London, &c. 2. In the social calamities of families. One after another is broken up, one relationship after another is severed, until only an “outmost” branch is left as a remnant. Widow, orphans, friendless. Such are those who remain to tell the tale. 3. In the physical calamities of individuals. 4. In the degradation of the soul through the deceitfulness of sin. In some extreme cases, what a sad understanding of character and destruction of capacity do we behold.

II. Of the hopefulness of human life even when it is at its worst (ver. 6). Though the reaper has made sure work, yet enough remains to give hope. There is here true gospel, suggesting such thoughts as these:—1. Begin at the point of your ability, however low it may be. Every man is rightly expected to make use of whatever power he has. If it is only sight, or only hearing, or only one hand, one talent out of ten, he must use it. The loss of the other nine will not excuse his neglect of the one he has. 2. Beginning thus low down, yet in earnest, we have the assurance of improvement and progress. We have abundant illustration of this in the history of the “remnant” that was left in Israel (2 Chron. xxx. 11; xxxiv. 6, 9, &c.). We see here an encouragement for every sinner who will awake, though late, to the true purposes of life. Redemption is the favourite work of God. He is on the side of feeble, struggling men, and delights to encourage and help “the remnant” which is spared (H. E. I., 934–941, 956, 958, 2368, 4790–4792; P. D., 474). The very purpose for which Christ came into the world was to help the struggling, to save the lost. Those who have been brought down to the extremity and need and the verge of despair may find friendship and help in Him (H. E. I., 928, 929).—William Manning.

 

Sanctified Affliction.

xvii. 7, 8. At that day shall a man look, &c.

In the prophecies of terror to guilty nations there is always some provision of comfort for God’s faithful and penitent people. His prophets were commissioned to minister hope to His friends, while they foretold misery to His enemies. In the text Isaiah, predicting the overthrow of the ten tribes, furnishes consolation to the faithful remnant who had not yielded to the prevalent idolatry (ver. 6), and declares that the judgments he announced would result in the conversion of many who had been ensnared by it. We are thus led to consider the designs of God in the afflictions of His people.

I. To recall their wandering hearts to Himself. “At that day shall a man look to his Maker” (H. E. I., 56–59, 66–70). This is the result of sanctified affliction. Whenever it is seen, it shows that the processes of grace have been combined with the trials of providence, and that the health of the spirit has been restored by the Physician of souls. Otherwise affliction hardens, and the man goes back with greater eagerness to worldliness or iniquity, as the retreating wave presently rolls back upon the beach with greater velocity than before (H. E. I., 223–228). But not so if the healing influence has been sought and found. Then “a man will look to his maker”—1. With a suppliant eye, to find in Him sources of consolation and a rock of defence such as the world cannot furnish (Ps. cxxiii. 1, 2; Jonah ii. 1). 2. With a penitent eye (Luke xxii. 62; Zech. xii. 10). 3. With a confiding and believing eye (chap. viii. 17). 4. With a rejoicing eye (Rom. v. 11; Hab. iii. 18).

II. To raise their estimate of the holiness of the Divine character and the rectitude of the Divine dispensations. “Shall have respect unto the Holy One of Israel.” Sin begins with a diminished sense of God’s holiness, and conversion is marked by a renewed impression of it (Ps. li. 4).

III. To separate them from all sinful and idolatrous dependencies. “He shall not look,” &c. The sin of the ten tribes was idolatry (2 Kings xvii. 16), but here it is foretold that it shall be brought to an end. Those who had been guilty of this folly and this sin would not even look at the altars and the images they had fashioned with such care. So God aims by his afflictive providences to separate His people from everything in which they put an exaggerated and unworthy trust (H. E. I., 110, 111).

IV. To endear the mercy that mingles with the trials. This appears—1. In the moderate degree in which God’s people are corrected, compared with the final and exterminating judgments which fall upon the wicked. Damascus was to be utterly destroyed (ver. 1), but a remnant was to be left to Israel (ver. 5; see also chap. xxvii. 7–9). God’s people always see that He has afflicted them less than they deserve (Lam. iii. 22).[1] 2. In the alleviations of their trials (H. E. I., 117–121). 3. In the triumphant issue of the whole. They are delivered from the idolatry by which they were degraded (H. E. I., 116).—Samuel Thodey.

 

Forgetfulness of God.

xvii. 10, 11. Because thou hast forgotten, &c.

I. It is possible to forget the God of our salvation. 1. The majority of men habitually forget Him. He very seldom holds a real and commanding place in the hearts of any of us. We are all prone to have our hearts wholly filled with the cares or pleasures of life. Even if our aims be in themselves lawful, we seldom recognise God in framing or prosecuting them. Hence the shock which the thought of God’s nearness gives us in times of calamity, sickness, or expected death. The very shock shows that we are open to the prophet’s charge. 2. This forgetfulness of God, to which we are all so prone, should be recognised to be a state of peril and guilt. Who is so near to us as God? who so essential to us? who has so many claims upon our grateful and continued remembrance? To be forgetful of Him is a sin of which we should think with shame.

II. This forgetfulness of God leads to false trusts. The throne of our heart cannot remain vacant; if God be not there, unworthy objects will surely take His place. The “pleasant plants” and foreign shoots (or “strange slips”) here represent the pursuit of lust and idolatry, and that fatal reliance on human help which is so often denounced (chap. ii. 22; Jer. xvii. 5). The sin denounced by the prophet has not become obsolete. All round about us are men who have forgotten God, and are seeking and putting their trust in pleasure, pomp, money, or knowledge. There is a pursuit of knowledge, even a “science” falsely so called that deliberately excludes God from its range, and pronounces Him unknowable! These are the things for which men live, to which they devote all they are and have, from which they look for the happiness for which their hearts crave; these are their gods! Forgetfulness of God necessarily leads to idolatry in some form or other; desires and tendencies, in themselves right when under right control, become occasions of guilt; God is shifted from the centre of operations, and the trust of men itself inevitably on unworthy objects (H. E. I., 39).

III. These false trusts lead to bitter disappointments. “The harvest shall be a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow.” At the very time when abundance of fruit was expected, nothing awaits the anxious toiler but disappointment and failure. Mildew, or blight, or drought, or fire has done its deadly work, and nothing is left but rotting masses, heaps of useless and decaying vegetation. What a sad picture! barrenness and dearth where there should be life and plenty! Yet this is a true picture of the fate of many who have persisted in their rejection of God, and in their clinging to false hopes. A life dedicated to fashion, pleasure, money-getting, or worldly ambition, necessarily ends in a reaping-time of blighted hopes, of darkened prospects, of remorse and despair (H. E. I., 246–248, 5021–5025; P. D., 138, 162, 255, 3592). 1. This result of a godless life will be found even in those cases where all the good that was striven after has been realised; the heart is still left unsatisfied (Eccl. i. 12–ii. 17). 2. “Desperate sorrow” is the natural result of discovering that the time for securing a profitable harvest is gone (Jer. viii. 20; P. D., 2254).

Earnestly consider God’s claims upon you; renounce all false trusts; sow for that harvest in which there can be no real disappointment (Gal. vi. 7). Redeem the time that yet remains; to the worst of us a gracious promise is still held out (Mal. iii. 7; Ps. cxvi. 7).—William Manning.

 

The Punishment of the Wicked.

xvii. 12. Woe to the multitude, &c.

These verses appear to have no connection with the prophecies that precede or follow them, but they seem to indicate the character and result of the great invasion of Sennacherib. As a description of that event, they are most beautiful and graphic, sufficient to create terror in the most thoughtless and boastful sinners. For they remind them of the ease with which the overthrow of the rebellious is effected when God visits them in the midst of their pride and self-confidence. In regard to the punishment here depicted, think—I. Of the striking contrasts which the day of visitation reveals respecting the conduct and the position of the wicked. Verse 12 shows us the vast and varied host in fancied security; we have a magnificent picture of a state of might, pomp, vainglory, self-confidence; but ere we reach the end of verse 13, we see it scattered! Even while it gloried in its strength, the storm that was to scatter it had already gathered over it. We see the same contrast in everyday life; wicked men secure, strong, boastful—the next moment utterly cast down (Ps. lxxiii. 18–20); or, by the near approach of death, transformed into the subjects of pitiable despair (P. D., 684). II. Of the restless execution of the sentence of doom. In pursuit of their wicked schemes, sinners are often led to a daring defiance of all who threaten their progress, even of God Himself; e.g., Pharaoh (Exod. v. 2), Sennacherib (2 Kings xviii. 17, &c.). But how sharp is the rebuke which God administers; with what terrible energy are His decrees executed! The profane boasters become as chaff, as gossamer before the whirlwind (H. E. I., 2298). III. Of the swiftness with which the sentence of doom is executed (ver. 14). The morning dawns upon their noise and pomp, but fast as the beams of light does their judgment overtake them; trouble comes at the eventide, and by the next morning they are not (P. D., 3413). It is true that the punishment of the wicked often seems to be delayed (Eccl. viii. 11); but—1. Sin and punishment are inseparable (H. E. I., 4603–4610); and, 2. Whenever the punishment comes it is sudden. Such is the blinding and delusive power of cherished sin that its penalty always finds the sinner unprepared to receive it; it is always a surprise and a shock to him.

1. Nations and armies cannot successfully evade the penalties of their sins; how much less can the individual sinner do so! 2. The certainty of the punishment of all unrepented sin should lead us seriously to reflect upon the attitude we are assuming before God. 3. The subject should lead to repentance, but not to despair (Ps. cxxx. 7; John iii. 16, 17).—William Manning.

 

An Altar and a Saviour for Egypt.

xix. 18–20. In that day shall five cities, &c.

I. God is able to raise up monuments and trophies of His grace in the most unlikely places (vers. 18, 19). For the historical fulfilments of these predictions, see the ordinary commentaries. They should teach us not to despair of the progress of religion in the most unlikely places, the most unlikely times, among the most unlikely persons. The grace of God is able to subdue the hardest hearts, to enlighten the darkest minds, to convert the most guilty natures, to cast out Satan where his power seems strongest and his interest most secure. Despair not of your own salvation (H. E. I., 2376), of the salvation of those dear to you, of the final triumph of the cause of truth (H. E. I., 979, 1166–1168). But recollect that all that has been done has been done by the use of appropriate means: the altar to God in Egypt was built by human hands, the Ark was not built by miracle but by means; all the triumphs we anticipate are to be achieved by the diffusion of Divine truth, by the prayers and efforts of the Church. What effort are you making?

II. God often overrules the trials of life to produce a spirit of prayer, and to bring men to Himself. “They shall cry unto the Lord because of their oppressors.”[1]

III. It is God’s prerogative to raise up a Saviour (ver. 20). Whatever comforts or deliverances you have had through the medium of creatures, the hand of God is to be pre-eminently acknowledged in them all. Spiritually we need a great Saviour, and God has provided one equal to the emergency of the case. Our guilt is very great, our danger very threatening, our enemies very powerful, our ruin very awful, but help is laid on One that is mighty. The greatness of Christ as a Saviour appears from the essential dignity of His nature (Heb. i. 1), from the certain efficacy of His atonement (Heb. vii. 25), from the countless number of the redeemed (Rev. vii. 9), from the completeness of the salvation He imparts (1 Cor. i. 30).—Samuel Thodey.