xviii. 10); in short, let him become a believing servant of
Jehovah. _'Fortress,'_ a symbolical name for a protecting deity, as xvii. 10, Ps. lii. 7 (9)." _Kay:_ "Or, 'Let a man lay hold of My strong refuge;' let him flee to my altar of reconciliation (cf. 1 Kings i. 50)."
[2] "I think I can convey the meaning of this passage so that every one may understand it, by what took place in my own family within these few days. One of my children committed a fault for which I thought it to be my duty to chastise him. I called him to me, explained to him the evil of what he had done, and told him how grieved I was that I must punish him for it. He heard me in silence, then rushed into my arms, and burst into tears. I could sooner have cut off my arm than have then struck him for his fault; he had taken hold of my strength--he had made peace with me."--_Toller._
THE FUTURE PROSPERITY OF ISRAEL.
xxvii. 6. _He shall cause them, &c._[1]
It did not often happen to ancient nations to rise into new vigour after being conquered and removed. Ancient Assyria and Babylon fell, and their influence faded. But it was otherwise with Israel. They had flourished; abused their trust; were punished by being conquered and removed. But they did not perish. From the Babylonian grave they rose. Centuries longer they existed, until their crowning sin. No further need for their national existence. It ceased. But their separate identify as a race continued. The Jew is everywhere. Everywhere he is a witness to the truth of the Bible. And the _influence_ of the Jewish people continues. The influence of the classic writers of Greece and Rome continues. Their study is essential to a liberal education. But only the few enjoy that advantage. The literature of the Jewish race was confined almost entirely to their sacred books. But how wide its influence! Read by the scholar and the peasant, &c. Lifts men's thoughts above the level of this world, and presents a loftier ideal of human character than any of the mere "thinkers" of ancient or modern times.
Nor is it only the perpetuation and influence of a literature. It is the perpetuation of a type of moral life. One who came of Jacob has exerted and is exerting an influence never equalled. Born in a manger, trained in poverty, dying on a cross, He has been and is the fountain of spiritual life to millions. In him they have become a new seed of Jacob (Gal. iii. 29).
The text foretells the stability, the growth, and the diffusion of the Church.
I. ITS STABILITY. _"Take rest."_ This is necessary to _growth._ And _life_ is necessary to _it._ You may plant a stone, or a piece of dried wood, but it can never take root. Why? It wants the mysterious principle called life. Reasons for this. And the roots are the firmest part of the plant. Hence the metaphor--a man is rooted in his position. Fine forest-tree with roots, like arms, many feet on every side. Impossible to dislodge that tree. This is one of the emblems of the stability of the Christian's spiritual position (Col. ii. 7). Thus the stability of the Church, the aggregate of spiritual men, is set forth in the text. It has struck its roots so deep, and spread them so far, that, as hitherto, so in the future, it shall continue. Storms of opposition, persecution, infidelity unable to uproot it. "The gates of hell shall not prevail."
II. ITS GROWTH. Rooting of a tree only valuable in relation to its continued life and growth. Look at it in the individual member of the spiritual Israel. In the living tree in spring the bud breaks forth, then the beautiful blossom--promise of the fruit. So in the Christian life. Gradually it develops by a certain though irregular progression. Nor will this promise of fruitfulness be falsified (Gal. v. 22, 23; Rom. vi. 22; Ps. xcii. 13, 14; H. E. I., 2508-2516, 2538-2544). Multiply this by the number of living members in any Church, and how much of spiritual goodness, and beauty will be in that circle! Not only within it, but in the homes, among the neighbours, over the whole sphere of their influence. Then multiply this by all the Churches. What an amount of moral beauty thus in the world!
III. ITS DIFFUSION. _"And fill the face of the world with fruit."_ This vision was always present to the prophet's eye. Suppose it realised, and the whole world converted. Then the world will be filled with goodness. But it is all in the spiritual succession from Jacob. How much comes of little! So it has ever been; small beginnings, gradual growth, great endings.
Do you say you cannot believe in the world's conversion? Do you believe the harvest comes from the seed? That Jesus multiplied the loaves? Is anything too hard for the Lord?--_J. Rawlinson._
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Note the translation of this verse by Alexander and Delitzsch, in which Kay, Birks, and Cheyne concur.
THE DAY OF THE EAST WIND.
xxvii. 8. _In measure, when Thou sendest it forth, &c._ (_Margin_).
We have often complained of the bitterness and depressing effects of the "east wind." In Bible lands it was scorching and destructive (Job xxi. 18; xxvii. 12; Gen. xli. 6). Israel is represented in this chapter as a vineyard, of which God was the proprietor and guardian (ver. 3). The removal of the people to Babylon seemed to contradict this declaration. They presented the appearance of a vineyard uncared for, forsaken, neglected, and spoiled. The east wind, sweeping over it, marred its beauty and checked its growth, and its desolation seemed complete. The question arises, Does God really mean what He says when He engages to keep His vineyard with continued care? In reply to this question the prophet speaks here. He justifies the ways of God to man, explaining the Divine procedure, and showing the purpose of that afflictive dispensation which He visited upon His beloved vineyard. What a consoling subject, is here presented,--the trials of the godly (1), in their severity, and (2), in their mitigation.
I. THE SEVERITY OF CHRISTIAN TRIAL. Our seasons of sharp distress and loss are fitly set forth as _"the day of the east wind,"_ biting and piercing, when the heart is joyless and depressed. God, who sends it, means us to feel its keenness. The severity of our trials appears--1. _In the time when they overtake us._ The east wind prevails with us in the early spring. So in our experience of life, when all is full of fair promise, our hopes are blasted. A young and tender faith is often sorely tested. We would push adversity into old age, with youth as a course of uninterrupted joy; but at the most unlikely periods the day of the east wind sweeps over us. 2. _In their violence._ The wind of adversity seems to us cruel and devastating. We speak of a reverse or bereavement as "a sad blow." 3. _In their continuance._ We could tolerate an occasional day of east wind, but when it blows persistently for weeks, we begin to grumble. Afflictions sometimes follow each other in rapid succession. The night of weeping is long and dark, and it seems as if the morning of joy would never break (H. E. I., 52, 53). 4. Because of _the aspect in which God appears to us when we are under them._ He seems to be contending, "debating" with us, to be opposed to us. This gives the keenest poignancy to our griefs. How unworthy, often, is the view we form of God's character in the day of the east wind, charging Him with partiality and injustice. Of all ingredients that embitter the cup of suffering, this is the most bitter, but it is an ingredient which the sufferer puts in with his own hand. As in the time of east winds weak and cheerless people fall into dull, moody fits, the sighing breezes chiming in with the dull music of their own spirits, so in the day of adversity the soul sometimes loses its sense of the Divine Love.
II. THE MITIGATING, ALLEVIATING CIRCUMSTANCES. 1. The day of the east wind is _well timed._ It blows at the right season, in the early spring. It may nip a few opening buds, but if it did not come out then, it would retard vegetation to a fatal extent afterwards. The youth may complain of his hard struggle, but it nurses a manly character. 2. Trial is _limited in its duration._ The east wind does not blow all the year round. These cold blasts usher in the spring. 3. _God moderates its severity._ "In measure" (1 Cor. x. 13). Sorrow is nicely adjusted to the heart on which it falls (H. E. I., 187, 188). 4. The following verse suggests a further alleviation, viz.:--_The gracious purpose accomplished by trial,_ to purge iniquity, and take away sin. God appoints our sorrow for the uprooting of our sin. The physician finds it necessary to adopt sharp measures, but his operation is wise and kind. A proneness to idolatry was Israel's sin, and, to check this, the nation is sent into exile. Though He removed it with "His rough wind in the day of His east wind," the fruit or effect was to uproot a besetting sin (H. E. I., 85-89, 116, 211). 5. Another mitigating circumstance is found in verse 7. _God makes a distinction between His people and the world._ Great as Israel's sufferings were, the judgments which descended on their enemies were far more terrible, not corrective, but destructive (1 Cor. xi. 32). The surly blasts of the east wind may howl and chafe and spend their rage on God's vineyard, but they are only the last remnants of the dreary winter. To those who are in covenant with God every wind that blows is charged with blessing (H. E. I., 108).
CONCLUDING REMARKS. 1. When the east wind of trial begins to blow upon us, let us hasten, not to blame God, but to examine and blame ourselves. Though trials are not always punitive, or even corrective, they are very frequently so; and in our case, as in that of Israel, the reason why the east wind is blowing probably is because there is iniquity in us that needs to be purged away (ver. 8; H. E. I., 114). 2. When the east wind is blowing upon us, instead of murmuring let us recall the mitigating circumstances of which I have reminded you, and let us thank God that He loves us too much to leave us under the power of iniquity (Heb. xii. 5-10; H. E. I., 162-165).--_William Guthrie, M.A._
THE AFFLICTIONS OF GOD'S PEOPLE.
xxvii. 7-9. _Hath He smitten him as He smote his smiter, or was he slain as his slayers were slain? In exact measure, when dismissing her, Thou didst contend with her; He scared her away with His rough blast in the day of the east wind. Therefore on these terms_ [or, hereby] _shall the guilt of Jacob be purged, and this shall be all the fruit of taking away his sin, when he maketh all the altar-stones like lime-stones dashed in pieces, that Ashéras and sun-images rise up no more.--Cheyne._
This is a continuation of the song of the vineyard (vers. 2-6). That song was to be sung after deliverance from disasters which had come upon God's chosen people, as the chastisement of their sins. The prophet here pauses to reflect and to instruct them. His instructions are of exceeding value to us, for God acts on the same principles in every age.
I. GOD'S PEOPLE ARE OFTEN SEVERELY AFFLICTED.
They fail in duty, or they even transgress His commandments. Then they certainly suffer. Utter is the delusion that _they_ may sin with impunity. Unlike human parents, God never spoils His children; He has no foolish fondness for them that would lead Him to be blind to or tolerant of their faults. On the contrary, sin in them is most grievous to Him (H. E. I., 4563-4570), and the chastisement thereof is certain and often severe (Amos iii. 2). Terrible was the punishment which Isaiah foresaw would come upon Israel--deportation to the land of their conquerors. In that calamity what varied and awful sufferings were involved! So it is still! there is severity as well as mercy in the God we serve. Because he loves us, He will not allow us to go on to ruin unchecked. By terrible calamities, if need be, He will arrest us in the path to perdition.
II. IN THE SEVEREST AFFLICTIONS WHEREWITH GOD VISITS HIS PEOPLE HIS MERCY IS MANIFEST.
Manifest, 1. +In the fact that they befall them here and now.+ How kind in Him, not to stand silently by, and leave them to go on unchecked to ruin! Remember, the sinner has no claim upon the mercy of God in any form. 2. +In the restraint with which they are measured out.+[1] There is no passion or vindictiveness in God's dealings with them that provoke Him to anger. Though His chastisements may seem to burst upon the backslider like a hurricane of east wind, in reality mercy controls and directs the storm. "In exact measure," &c.[2] Because it is so exactly measured out by mercy, (1) _it always falls short of the guilt of the sinner._ Did justice measure it out, so that it should be commensurate with the guilt of the transgressor, it would mean destruction. This is seen in the case of the enemies of God. Persistent ungodliness is visited at length, not with chastisement, but with judgment, _i.e.,_ utter ruin (note the picture of the doom of Babylon in verses 10, 11). So that when God's erring people have been chastened most severely, His prophets can put to them Isaiah's question in verse 7. To it they can only return the answer given in Ps. ciii. 10. (2) _It always falls short of the transgressor's power of endurance_ (H. E. I., 180, 187). When it is ended, he still lives--lives to bless the hand that smote him (Ps. cxix. 71, 75, 67). 3. +In the motive that inspires them all.+ By them God seeks, not the destruction of His erring people, but their deliverance. Israel was held in the degrading bondage of idolatry; the terrible calamites of the captivity were the strokes by which He brake their fetters. When the discipline was over, they hated idolatry in all its forms; all the altar-stones in which they had delighted were "like lime-stones dashed in pieces," and the Ashérahs and sun-images rose in their midst no more. It is the same motive that inspires Him in all His afflictive dealings with His people to-day (H. E. I., 56-59, 66-74). Therefore, if He is visiting us with afflictions,--1. Let us not be rebellious, but submissive (H. E. I., 158). 2. Let us be moved to penitential self-examination (H. E. I., 145-147). 3. Let us give heartfelt thanks to God because He is resolved to make us like Himself (Heb. xii. 10; H. E. I., 162-165).
FOOTNOTES:
[1] See pp. 5 (GOD'S INDICTMENT AGAINST ISRAEL), 20 (GOD'S RELUCTANCE TO PUNISH).
[2] Verse 8, _In measure._ Rather, _with measure by measure:_ Heb. "with _seah-seah,_" a seah, being the third part of an ephah, was a moderate measure. With forbearance and graduated severity, dealing out punishment in carefully adjusted quantities, and at successive times, "not suffering Thy whole displeasure to arise," "correcting with judgment, not in anger" (Jer. x. 24, xxx. 11).--_Kay._
THE DISCIPLINE OF SIN.
xxvii. 9. _By this, therefore, shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged; and this is all the fruit to take away his sin._
The history of God's ancient people is a Divine teaching. He had brought them into special relations to Himself, and had conferred on them special privileges. They were intended to be witnesses for Him in the world. To a large extent they failed. Instead of persistent faithfulness to their mission, they repeatedly fell into idolatrous practices. Punishment came. They repented. But when the impression was gone, they renewed the sin. For centuries this continued, until the captivity. Then they finally renounced idolatry. This was the Divine design in permitting that disaster to befall them. The prophet foretold it with suggestive accuracy. "By this shall the iniquities of Jacob be purged," &c.
Their conduct, and the Divine dealing with them, finds its parallel in the history of the modern Church. The parallel holds--
I. WITH REGARD TO THEIR SIN.
The spiritual Jacob sins. Saintly individuals, here and there, whose conduct is an honour to the gospel; but comparatively limited number. Many who in youth felt strongly have seriously declined from the warmth of their first love. Instead of keeping themselves from the world, they are under its influence; like imperfect swimmers, who get within the power of a wave and find they have neither strength nor skill to cope with it. They listen to the sentiments of the world on matters of religion and morality. By little and little they conform. Like Samson, when shorn of his locks, they become weak as other men. From contentment with imperfection they become reconciled to positive sin. Sometimes they even exceed their teachers. Christian professors who have declined into sinful ways often become worse than those from whom they have taken their lesson.
And does not God hate sin in them as He hates it in others? A man's standing in Christ is nothing, if he is living in wilful sin. It deadens his conscience, interrupts his communion with God, exposes him to the peril of final apostasy and perdition. Read the former as well as the latter part of 1 John i. 7. (H. E. I., 4563-4570.)
II. WITH REGARD TO THE DISCIPLINE OF SIN.
The discipline God sent to the Jewish people was--
1. _Severe._ It seemed hard to be driven from their beautiful city to a foreign land, possibly to be absorbed in its population or held in slavery. Nor had they the consolation of knowing that they had not brought it on themselves. God knows how to regulate the severity of suffering according to all the facts that must be taken into account, and all the ends that are to be served. However severe our sufferings, we are compelled to admit that they are always less than we deserve. But if His strokes are to be felt, they must sometimes be severe.
2. _Punitive._ God punished Jacob for his sin; but He did not cast him off. His disapprobation of sin had been shown in words; now it must be shown by punishment (Hos. xii. 2). The sufferings of God's people are sometimes trials of faith. But they are often punishments. When a parent inflicts punishment, does he mean that he has disowned his child? Does it not spring from and prove the relation between them? God punishes as a father: and because He is a father. But this is different from allowing the penal consequences of sin to fall fully on them. That would be disownment, perdition. He fulfils His word (Ps. lxxxix. 30-37. H. E. I., 56-59, 66-70).
3. _Corrective._ "Purged; and this is all the fruit, to take away his sin." No man's suffering can atone for his sin. That comes another way. The Divine One has atoned. Here repentance, reformation is contemplated. As when the husbandman prosecutes his labours he aims to produce the fruit, so God's design in His people's troubles is to take away their sin. A rough method; but necessary. The wild storm damages but purifies. The vine-dresser cuts off branches that the tree may bear more fruit. The sharp frosts of affliction kill the weeds of sin. The medicine is distasteful, but it attacks and dislodges the disease.
But have afflictions invariably this effect? No. Sometimes received in a rebellious spirit; God not recognised in them; thoughtfulness not encouraged; the heart is hardened; comfort is sought from pernicious sources; the soul is driven further from God and deeper into sin.
But when trouble is sanctified--(1.) _It suggests serious thoughtfulness._ How has it come? From God? Why? Sin. Our moral instincts point to retribution. Perhaps some particular sin. May be an immediate connection of the punishment--with intemperance for instance, or fraudulent business transactions. There will be self-examination. God, responsibility, eternity will be realised. (2.) _It produces self-humiliation._ Confession of sin. Penitential cry for mercy at the cross. Renewed self-dedication. (3.) _It reawakens spiritual life._ It is a reason for the reception of fresh impetus. New earnestness in the culture of holiness; new watchfulness against evil. Like a child corrected.
Then if troubles surround you--(1.) Be conscious of God's hand. Look beyond the secondary causes. (2.) Justify God in His dealing. (3.) Be patient; wait His time. (4.) Study His design in sending the trouble. And unite with Him for the accomplishment of that design (H. E. I., 143-154).--_J. Rawlinson._
THE DOOM OF THE INCORRIGIBLE.
xxvii. 10, 11. _Yet the defenced city, &c._
I. WHAT A WONDERFUL PICTURE! Proud Babylon so utterly overthrown that on its site cattle feed, and women gather dried sticks for firewood. What an astonishing faith that rendered it possible for any one even to conceive of such a national revolution. That faith grew out of a victorious confidence in the righteousness of God as the ruler of the world, and in His faithfulness to His promises. Such a faith we should cultivate when we see iniquity triumphant. Its utter overthrow is sure. II. WHAT AN ASTONISHING DECLARATION! "For it is a people of no understanding; therefore," &c. It appears to be in direct contradiction to our Saviour's prayer, "Father, forgive them, _for they know not what they do._" But in the latter case the ignorance was involuntary; in the former, it was deliberate and persistent. Babylon resisted every effort God made to instruct her, and persisted in her career of defiance of His authority and of outrage on all the claims of man. Such obduracy was at length confronted by Divine justice, and then ensued utter ruin. This is the eternal law of the universe. Therefore, let the impenitent tremble, for persistence in sin forfeits all our claims upon God as our Creator (H. E. I., 4488, 4489).
THE GOSPEL TRUMPET.
xxvii. 13. _And it shall come to pass in that day that the great trumpet, &c._
The Jews had been scattered everywhither--some wandering in Assyria, and some exiled in Egypt; but their coming back, as by the call of a trumpet, is here predicted. The passage is strongly descriptive of the exiled and perishing condition of sinful men, and of their return at the trumpet-call of the Gospel.
I. THE SINNER'S CONDITION. He is--1. An exile. 2. He is ready to perish.
II. THE GOSPEL TRUMPET.
It was not fashioned by man. 1. It is great in its _power._ In a still night you may hear a brazen trumpet two or three miles away; but this is so mighty that it is not only heard from heaven to earth, but it is to arrest the attention of all nations. Men with physical hearing all gone catch the first strain of it. Men buried half a century in crimes have heard it. 2. It is great in its _sweetness._ 3. It is a trumpet of _alarm._ It puts us on our guard against the foes who are advancing to destroy us. 4. It is a trumpet of _recruit._ It summons us to join the standard of the Son of God. 5. It is a trumpet of _retreat._ It warns us against the fool-heartiness of entering into temptation. 6. It is a trumpet of _victory._ It tells of victories achieved, and of others still more glorious yet to be won. 7. It is a trumpet of _awakening._
As chaplain I was a little while in the army. Early every morning we were awakened by a trumpet sounding the réveille. At that sound all the troops arose from the tents, hastened to their places in the line, and answered the roll-call. That done, they went to their morning rations. We who are the soldiers of Christ cannot always be marching and fighting. The evening will come. The shadows will gather, and we must go to the white tents of the grave. There we shall sleep soundly. But the night will pass along, and the first thing we shall hear will be the trumpet-call sounding the réveille of the resurrection; and we shall come up and fall into the long line of light, the trophies of Christian conflict gleaming in the unsetting sun. The roll shall be called, and we shall answer to our names; and then we shall go to the morning repast of heaven (1 Cor. xv. 52-55).--_De Witt Talmage, D.D.: Christian World Pulpit,_ i. 410.
ENGLAND'S CRYING SIN.
xxviii. 1-4. _Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, &c._[1]
Ephraim one of the most important of the tribes. It occupied some of the richest land, about the middle of Palestine. When the ten tribes formed a separate kingdom, Ephraim was the principal tribe in it. Hence the new kingdom was sometimes called Ephraim. Its capital Samaria, here called "the crown of pride." It was a position of great natural strength. Its situation exceedingly beautiful. The sides of the hill on which it was built sloped down to rich valleys, covered with beautiful flowers and fruit-bearing trees. "Glorious beauty." "Fat valleys." No wonder the people were proud of it. When this prophecy was written, it was at the height of its pride. But it was doomed. The glorious beauty was a fading flower. The crown of pride was to be trodden under feet. Samaria was a delicious morsel for the invader, plucked and eaten as soon as seen. Shalmanezer, with the Assyrian host, invaded, overcame, carried the people away, never to return. Unlike Judah in this respect. An unsolved problem to this day, where are the ten tribes? do they still exist, or are they entirely extinct?
It was because of sin. The story of Samaria's idolatry. To tamper with idolatry was to renounce allegiance to Jehovah. But that was not all. Serious moral obliquities came in the wake of idolatry. Among these was intemperance. Had become a crying sin. Was helping to drag the nation down to ruin. "Woe to the crown of pride," &c.
Here is a warning to England. England's crying sin is Samaria's crying sin. God forbid that England should persist in it, so as to bring on herself Samaria's doom! Mark--
I. ITS SINFULNESS. It was treated as sin in the case of Samaria. It is still a sin, as well as a vice and a crime. Keep to the text in pointing out its sinfulness. Drunkards described as "them that are overcome with wine." Not a trifling thing to be overcome. The drunkard allows a thing he loves to overcome him and rob him of that for the safe keeping of which he is responsible to God. He is under obligation to keep himself for God, and he betrays his trust. What is overcome?
1. _Reason._ A great trust. Bound to use it to the best of our ability; therefore to keep it in efficient working order so far as it lies in our power. If you lent a man a tool, or a machine, you would require him to keep it from injury. But strong drink contends with and overcomes reason. You attach no importance to opinions expressed or reasonings attempted by a drunken man. His reason has been overcome by his own consent. He could not have been overcome if he had refused to play with the enemy.
2. _Conscience._ Is not conscience a sacred trust? Sentry at the door of character. Shall the sentry be drugged when the enemy is near? Does not intemperance stupefy the conscience? Many a man who once would have dreaded a sin more than a blow has become regardless of sin, regardless of God. Not only does intoxication deaden the sense of its own criminality; it lowers the moral tone as to everything else. The moral nature becomes enfeebled. Any other temptation more likely to succeed. By little and little comes over the soul a tendency to make light of every kind of sin. Communion with God is broken off. Prayer is dull and comfortless exercise when the excitement of intemperance has become attractive. The religious nature becomes dead or maudlin under the influence of drunkenness. Alas! that men should undermine and disable their noblest faculty! (H. E. I., 4498).
3. _Physical strength._ Are not our bodies also entrusted to us to keep safely for the uses the Maker intends? If the suicide who takes his own life by a single stroke rushes into the presence of his Judge uncalled, must not the man who by negligence, folly, or vice, shortens his life answer for it in the same way? But the drunkard does this by being overcome with wine.
II. ITS PENALTY. There was a worm at the root of the glorious beauty, and fruitfulness, and pride of Ephraim; and therefore it was a fading flower. The worm was their sinfulness. The drunkard may say that he is prosperous to-day; but the worm is at the root.
1. Look at the consequences to himself. The _deteriorated character,_ lowered tastes, lowered company of many a well-educated and splendid young man, and many a beautiful promising boy. _The social degradation._ "Trodden down." Avoided and despised by former associates. _The ruined circumstances._ Gradually downwards, and finally at the depth of poverty. _The Lost Eternity._ "No inheritance." 2. Look at the consequences to his family. Wife unhappy. Children uneducated and untrained. Home impoverished and desolate. There is a skeleton in that house. 3. Look at the consequences to society. Drunkards usually seek society. Their example influences others.
How to cure? How to prevent? 1. _Legislation._ Can the legislature do nothing more than it has done? What of Sunday closing? What of music saloons? What of limitation of the hours? What of diminishing the number of houses? What of abolition of the traffic? 2. _Abstinence._ Urge it on drunkards as their only chance of recovery. On the young as their best security. On Christians as the most effective protest and influential example. 3. _Religion._ Realise the sinfulness of intemperance. Let the grace of God reign over thoughts, appetites, habits.--_J. Rawlinson._
FOOTNOTES:
[1] See pages 116 (THE MISERIES OF THE DRUNKARD) and 127 (DRINK AND ITS WOES).
THE BELIEVER'S DIGNITY AND POWER.
xxviii. 5, 6. _In that day shall the_ LORD _of Hosts be for you a crown, &c._
This sustaining assurance stands in striking antithesis to the solemn threatenings and humbling charges which precede and follow it. It rises like some stately palace amid the ruins of man's humbled pride and broken hopes. This voice comes from heaven in the very hour of earth's desolation and decay. The prominent figure on the prophet's canvas is very unlike the objects grouped around it. On the one side you look into a lovely valley, in the centre of which, on a commanding height, stands Samaria, the capital of the "Ten Tribes," "the crown of pride," "the glorious beauty." But that proud crown is soon to be cast to the ground; that "glorious beauty" is but a garland of fading flowers; that luxuriant valley, whose very "fatness" was made the minister of sensual indulgence, will soon be overswept by the desolating march of the Assyrian invader; that gaudy splendour, the boast of Ephraim's drunkards, is as short-lived as the wreaths which the revellers bind around their brows. The worm of intemperance is gnawing at the root of "the fading flower," and overhead the storm is gathering that will blight its beauty. Turn now to the other side of the central figure, where the kingdom of Judah is introduced (ver. 7). Jerusalem as well as Samaria has her troops of reckless inebriates and her scenes of disgusting intoxication; though her punishment is not so near as that of the northern kingdom, here, too, are seen the marks of sure decline. On both sides, then, the prophet's picture is gloomy and portentous--the earth a scene of drunken revelry, and the black sky streaked with the lightnings of Divine wrath. But out of this sombre background of sottish intemperance and overhanging judgment, of falling crowns and fading wreaths, rises the luminous figure of our text. "In that day" of vanishing glory "shall the Lord of Hosts," &c. In the fulness of its wealth this promise belongs to us; the Lord of Hosts has become to us "a crown of glory."
I. THE BELIEVER'S DIGNITY. Let us not tone down the grandeur of the promise. Christ is the crown with which the believer is invested. He is an heir of God, a partaker of the Divine nature. Let us see what is implied in this representation, bearing in mind the crown to which it stands in contrast. 1. It is a crown of _honour without insecurity._ Man is like a discrowned and exiled king (Lam. v. 16). But God has taken means to restore him his lost dignity (1 Cor. i. 30). The crown of original righteousness which sin has torn from our brows and trampled in the dust has been replaced by the righteousness of Christ. How complete and glorious is His work in our behalf, to what dignity does He raise us! This crown cannot be placed on our head without inspiring us with a sense of honour, a feeling of recovered power, of joy and hope and security. There may be a crowned head without a kingly heart. A young prince may mount the throne incapable of discharging its duties, or, perhaps, trembling lest his new dignity should make him a mark for the bullet of the assassin; but the Christian's honour cometh from God, and, along with the restored kingship, kingly qualities are imparted, so that no man can take his crown. 2. This is a crown in which we may _boast without pride._ Samaria was a crown of pride to the Ephraimites, and because they gloried in it, it was soon to be overturned. But while this crown of carnal confidence was thus to be swept away, God becomes to His people a more glorious crown in which they might boast without pride. When anything short of God is made our confidence it fosters vainglory, but with God as our crown all self-sufficiency is excluded. 3. It is a crown of _joy without degradation._ As it does not foster pride, so neither does it allow its wearer to descend to low indulgence. Reference is probably made to the wreath of flowers worn by drunken revellers on festive occasions. Under the plea of festive mirth they wallowed in the mire of sensuality. How soon their garlands would fall in disorder _from_ their heads, or fall _with_ their heads as they lay in senseless intoxication. The believer's "diadem of beauty" points to purity and self-control (Ps. iv. 7). 4. It is an _unfading_ crown. This point in the contrast is equally obvious. And is not "the fading flower" an emblem of all our earthly joys?
"All that sweet was made, but to be lost when sweetest."
This world's fairest chaplets will soon wither on our brows; its honours, possessions, and hopes are evanescent; but the Lord will be our everlasting crown, our God will be our eternal glory (H. E. I., 4975-4989).
II. THE BELIEVER'S POWER.
In ver. 6 we have all the elements of personal power, social well-being, and national greatness (Acts i. 8; Eph. v. 18). The indwelling Spirit confers three benefits. 1. _A clear head._ "A spirit of judgment." Solomon asked this blessing. It does not fall to many of us to sit on the bench, but what is good for the judge is a precious gift for all. When the Spirit pours His light upon the mind, the eyes of our understanding are enlightened. A clear intellect, a sound mind, an unwarped, unprejudiced judgment, is needed in all walks of life. How appropriate is this part of the promise! How could justice be rightly administered in such a state of society as that described by the prophet? If there is one thing that saps the morals, and muddles the understanding, it is intemperance. Men in positions of responsibility need all their wits about them. 2. _A brave heart_ is promised "to them who turn the tide of battle to the gate." The soldier as well as the judge is to participate in the gifts of God's spirit. We have a spiritual warfare to wage (Eph. iv. 12), and we are pledged to conquer the world for Christ. Beware lest we render ourselves unfit for military service by luxurious habits, and sinful indulgence. The drunkards of Ephraim could do nothing to oppose the invaders of their country. We need the Spirit to fire our hearts with courage and enterprise. Without His influence we shall prove poltroons. 3. _A strong arm._ Self-denial is a source of moral courage and of spiritual strength. Far from us be the dissoluteness which enfeebles our powers, both of mind and body.
Such, then, are the contents of this precious promise. Oh, that we were all invested with this crown of holiness, dignity, and beauty. How many are content with the gilded coronets and fading chaplets of the world. You remember the scene in the "Pilgrim's Progress," part ii., which has been made the subject of a painting by Sir Noel Paton--the man raking straw while one held a glittering crown over his head. Make Christ your boast. The crown of pride shall be hurled to the ground, the garlanded revellers shall sink in their own corruption, the honours which men so eagerly seek are as a fading flower, but the crown shall sparkle for ever on the believer's head (Dan. xii. 3; Ps. xc. 17).--_William Guthrie, M.A._
God has said He would discrown Ephraim, remove his beauty, and strain his pride. This was done when Samaria was overthrown by the Assyrians. "In that day" He would do to the "residue of His people"--apparently the kingdom of Judah--what is said in our present text. It was done in the reign of Hezekiah, when the true worship was re-established, reformation effected, and the nation defended against its enemies.
The text may be regarded, however, as a description of the splendour of the regenerated world.
I. THE PERSONS INTERESTED.
"The residue of His people: him that sitteth in judgment: and them that turn the battle to the gate." All classes. Brave defenders; governors and administrators of justice, and the great mass of the people. Hence we observe that the blessing of the Gospel is needed by and suited to every class and every man. If there be a man anywhere who does not need it, it is either because--(1), he has no soul to save; or (2), he has not sinned; or (3), he is sufficient in himself to remove sin and its consequences from himself. But none of these can be said of any man.
II. THE BLESSING PROMISED.
It consists in that which the Lord will be to the regenerated world. 1. _Honour._ Men mistake the things that constitute the true honour and dignity of human nature. Sounding titles; enormous wealth; personal beauty; commanding intellect; undisputed power. They are all insufficient and insecure, like fading flowers. God is the true crown of glory to man. When the soul returns from its wanderings to God and is re-united to Him through Christ, the crown is placed upon his head (Jer. ix. 23, 24). 2. _Wisdom._ Both in barbarous and civilised countries, man without the Gospel is ignorant of the character of God, and of the way to approach Him (1 Cor. i. 21). He gropes about in the darkness, if he desire to find Him at all. But Christ is made of God to us "wisdom," as well as "righteousness, sanctification, and redemption." In Him the Divine character is closely seen in the fulness, harmony, and glory of its attributes. In Him also we learn how man can be reconciled to God, and the way to eternal life. 3. _Strength._ Not physical, nor intellectual power, however valuable in the regions proper to them. But moral power; the power of the human will; the most important power of all. This alone possesses the terrible capacity of resisting the Almighty. The most powerful animals act as they have been created to act. All mechanical forces act according to their laws. But man, possessed of will, is possessed of a power that can either defy or obey the authority of Omnipotence. When the Gospel comes to the human heart, it constrains the will into a mighty force for good. God and man combine to overthrow the empire of evil in the heart and in the world. "The Lord of hosts is for strength to them that turn the battle to the gate."
III. THE TIME INDICATED.
"In that day." Christ came "in the fulness of time." There are reasons and circumstances specially favourable to the advancement of the kingdom of Christ. There is a time in the purpose of Jehovah when all nations shall walk in the light. We may mark the circumstances which are usually indicative of the further spread of the Gospel. 1. When there is a time of special revival, reformation, and earnestness in the Church. As in time of Hezekiah. 2. When God stirs up His people to exert themselves for the world's salvation, it is a sign that the world's salvation is coming on apace. "When God enters the chamber, and awakens His children, and bids them rise, it is a sign that the morning has come." 3. When the church longs, waits, prays for the success of the work, the time is likely to have come. "As soon as Zion travailed she brought forth her children." Let the Church of Christ really desire, believe in, pray for the world's conversion, and God will open the windows of heaven and pour down the blessing. Have you been sufficiently interested in the world's salvation? As individuals? Are we sufficiently interested in our own?--_J. Rawlinson._
EARLY RELIGIOUS TRAINING.
(_Sunday School Anniversary Sermon._)
xxviii. 9, 10. _Whom shall He teach knowledge? &c._
Whether we regard these verses as the language of the drunkards of Ephraim, deriding the Lord's messengers for the plainness and urgency of their unwelcome instructions, or as the language of the prophet himself affirming interrogatively the spiritual ignorance and imbecility of the people, with their prophets and priests, they suggest the importance of earnestly instructing the young in the knowledge of our relations to God and eternity. We may turn to them more hopefully than to the old. Youth is the time for learning. In the first ten years of life are laid the foundations of the social and religious character which every man carries to the grave. Therefore we should not leave them to be laid haphazard, but should do our utmost to bring it to pass that they shall be such that on them can be built the structure of a holy life. To accomplish this we must instruct them in the revealed will of God. 1. The youth learns nothing good until he is taught. Though wise to do evil, to do good he has no knowledge. 2. The young mind is susceptible of deep and enduring impressions (H. E. I., 775, 776, 786). 3. Scriptural knowledge is not only of surpassing value, but is more easily imparted to the young than most of that human knowledge for which the opening powers are often severely taxed. If difficulties arise from immaturity and levity of mind, they are more than balanced by freedom from the prejudices of age, and the perplexing cares of life; by their docility and instinctive desire to penetrate the unknown; by the eagerness with which they seize upon the explanations of facts in nature and providence, or on similitudes and allegories; and by their unsuspecting confidence in the ability of their appointed teachers. Their natural aversion to God is but partially developed, and waits the coming of riper years to mature its strong resistance to the Divine claims. 4. The weightiest obligations rest on parents to give their children religious instruction (H. E. I., 803-806). When parents are unable to do so personally, through defect of ability, or the urgency of paramount duties, it is their privilege to do so through the kind offices of others. 5. A failure in the discharge of parental obligations to children imposes on others who fear God the duty of teaching the knowledge. They are immortal; for them Christ died. Of the fulness and glory of the results of a faithful performance of this duty no adequate conception can be formed by us on this side of heaven.--_R. S. Storrs, D.D., American National Preacher,_ xix. 121-141.
THE POWER OF LITTLES.
xxviii. 10. _Here a little and there a little._
The application of this text is first of all to the impressions produced by the Word of God and the efficacy of constant religious instruction. But it is in this same way, by little and little, that all great and lasting impressions are made and the mightiest results accomplished.
+I. The processes of nature.+--Mighty and sudden changes are not the rule, but gradual and prepared ones. The seasons, the months, day into night, night into day--how gradual and imperceptible the transitions. The germination of seed, &c. +II. The formation of character.+--Little by little every man's character is _formed_ (H. E. I., 709-711, 1836-1851) or _spoiled_ (H. E. I., 4521-4523, 4720-4725). All the steps, successively, that lead either to heaven or hell are small, one by one, except in great crimes, and even then there has been a gradual preparation for them (H. E. I., 428, 429). So conversion, that great change of the soul, is prepared for imperceptibly (H. E. I., 1462). From minute and commonplace thoughts, words, actions, results character for eternity! +III. Christian service.+--Called not to acts of heroism, but to a faithful discharge of commonplace duties (H. E. I., 4149). +IV. Christian work.+--It is by little and little that, in such a world as this, we must do the greater part of the good that we ever accomplish (H. E. I., 1725). +V. The training of children.+--Heavenly habits are to be formed in them by the influence upon them of daily, familiar, minute, but ever-recurring examples set before them (H. E. I., 777-779, 790, 802). +VI. Preparation for heaven.+--Try to gain a little for God, a little for heaven, a little more of grace _every_ day. Do this in _little_ things and you will accomplish _great_ things. Here a little and there a little will carry you on from step to step, from grace to glory (H. E. I., 2512, 2537).--_G. B. Cheever, D.D.: American National Preacher,_ xxvi. 145-152.
THE SURE FOUNDATION.
xxviii. 16. _Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Behold! I lay in Zion a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner-stone for a firm foundation; he that believeth shall not be in haste.--Birks._[1]
I. Who this foundation is. II. Where this foundation is laid. III. The Author of this foundation. IV. The character of this foundation. V. The safety of those who build upon it.--_R. Bingham, M.A.: Sermons,_ p. 202.
I. God's foundation for the eternal salvation of sinners. II. Its properties and excellences. III. The blessedness of those who build upon it.--_W. Hancock, B.D.: Sermons,_ pp. 1-16.
The person and salvation of Jesus Christ are frequently spoken of under the image here presented, the most obvious and expressive image of security, that of a foundation. Our Saviour expressly appropriates to Himself (Psalm cxviii. 22). The same architectural idea appears in Eph. ii. 20; 1 Pet. ii. 4-8.
+I. The grand object which God proposed to Himself in all His dispensations to man,+ viz., the laying of a foundation in which the hope of a repenting sinner might rest, with regard to God and Eternity. We trace this object, 1. In the primal promise (Gen. iii. 15). 2. In the mysterious rite of sacrifice Divinely appointed from the beginning to prefigure "the Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world." 3. In the whole system of the Mosaic law, "The schoolmaster to bring us to Christ." 4. More and more distinctly announced in the Psalms and Prophecies. The foundation proclaimed by Jehovah in the text is the chief end of all He has done and revealed to mankind; the central point in which all the lines of His providence and His word meet and terminate. Nature supplies the scene, providence the scaffolding, revelation the plan, and that mighty spiritual edifice of which this is the foundation.
+II. This foundation was needed.+ None will dispute this point. So sensible are men that they need a foundation for hope towards God, that every one is disposed to lay his own. Every one feels that without some restitution made to a holy God sin cannot be pardoned nor the sinner saved. The question is, How shall a proper foundation be laid? where shall an adequate restitution be found? The most important question in the universe to be answered and at the same time the most difficult! (1 Sam. ii. 25). Only three kinds of restitution on the part of man are imaginable--penitence, good works, voluntary sufferings; but none of these, nor all put together, can be deemed satisfactory in the case before us. 1. _Penitence_ is no foundation of the soul before God; the most sorrowful remembrance of sin cannot repair it (H. E. I., 4225-4228). 2. Neither are _good works,_ to which the same insufficiency attaches; they are always required, and therefore can never possess a superfluity or redundancy of merit (H. E. I., 375, 1950). And this applies to the best works; but what are ours in the sight of God? 3. The only remaining kind of restitution is by _voluntary sufferings:_ this, by its very definition, is absurd and vain, for if any sufferings are required they become part of our duty; but to invent penances of our own is no part of our duty, and must be contradictory rather than satisfactory to the Divine law. Penitence, good works, voluntary sufferings, may be methods of procuring for us the priestly absolution of a poor sinful man like ourselves; but they will not secure for us the Divine acceptance.
III. Observe, it is in the midst of the false foundations, the "baseless fabrics" of sinners, that God in our text introduces His own, +the only true and solid foundation.+ All who build their hope on any other will be compelled at last to say, "We have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood we have hid ourselves." See 1 Cor. iii. 10. The wonderful way in which this stone was laid; how a person of the Godhead assumed our human nature, He who was in the form of God took the form of a servant, He became "Jehovah our righteousness." See 2 Cor. v. 19. He who laid the foundation of the heavens and the earth alone could lay this foundation in Zion!
+VI. The excellent qualities of this foundation.+ It is represented--1. As _"a tried stone:"_ a foundation which has resisted the strongest attempts to shake it,--that has stood the trial of unnumbered enemies and friends. It has been proved in the fiery trial of Divine justice, and the sins of the whole world have tried its strength to sustain an overwhelming weight. The storms of persecution have raged against it in vain, still it stands uninjured (Heb.