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Isaiah Chapter
Sixty-one
Isaiah 61
Chapter Contents
The Messiah
his character and office. (1-3) His promises
of the future blessedness of the church. (4-9) The church praises God for these
mercies. (10
11)
Commentary on Isaiah 61:1-3
(Read Isaiah 61:1-3)
The prophets had the Holy Spirit of God at times
teaching them what to say
and causing them to say it; but Christ had the
Spirit always
without measure
to qualify him
as man
for the work to which
he was appointed. The poor are commonly best disposed to receive the gospel
James 2:5; and it is only likely to profit us
when received with meekness. To such as are poor in spirit
Christ preached
good tidings when he said
Blessed are the meek. Christ's satisfaction is
accepted. By the dominion of sin in us
we are bound under the power of Satan;
but the Son is ready
by his Spirit
to make us free; and then we shall be free
indeed. Sin and Satan were to be destroyed; and Christ triumphed over them on
his cross. But the children of men
who stand out against these offers
shall
be dealt with as enemies. Christ was to be a Comforter
and so he is; he is
sent to comfort all who mourn
and who seek to him
and not to the world
for
comfort. He will do all this for his people
that they may abound in the fruits
of righteousness
as the branches of God's planting. Neither the mercy of God
the atonement of Christ
nor the gospel of grace
profit the self-sufficient
and proud. They must be humbled
and led to know their own character and wants
by the Holy Spirit
that they may see and feel their need of the sinner's
Friend and Saviour. His doctrine contains glad tidings indeed to those who are
humbled before God.
Commentary on Isaiah 61:4-9
(Read Isaiah 61:4-9)
Promises are here made to the Jews returned out of
captivity
which extend to all those who
through grace
are delivered out of
spiritual thraldom. An unholy soul is like a city that is broken down
and has
no walls
like a house in ruins; but by the power of Christ's gospel and grace
it is fitted to be a habitation of God
through the Spirit. When
by the grace
of God
we attain to holy indifference as to the affairs of this world; when
though our hands are employed about them
our hearts are not entangled with
them
but preserved entire for God and his service
then the sons of the alien
are our ploughmen and vine-dressers. Those whom He sets at liberty
he sets to
work. His service is perfect freedom; it is the greatest honour. All believers
are made
to our God
kings and priests; and always ought to conduct themselves
as such. Those who have the Lord for their portion
have reason to say
that
they have worthy portion
and to rejoice in it. In the fulness of heaven's joys
we shall receive more than double for all our services and sufferings. God
desires truth
and therefore hates all injustice. Nor will it justify any man's
robbery to say
it was for burnt-offerings; and that robbery is most hateful
which is under this pretence. Let the children of godly parents be such
that
all may see the fruits of a good education; an answer to the prayers for them
in the fruit of God's blessing.
Commentary on Isaiah 61:10
11
(Read Isaiah 61:10
11)
Those only shall be clothed with the garments of
salvation hereafter
that are covered with the robe of Christ's righteousness
now
and by the sanctification of the Spirit have God's image renewed upon
them. These blessings shall spring forth for ages to come
as the fruits of the
earth. So duly
so constantly
and with such advantage to mankind
will the
Lord God cause righteousness and praise to spring forth. They shall spread far;
the great salvation shall be published and proclaimed
to the ends of the
earth. Let us be earnest in prayer
that the Lord God may cause that
righteousness to spring forth among us
which constitutes the excellence and
glory of the Christian profession.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Isaiah》
Isaiah 61
Verse 1
[1] The
Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach
good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted
to
proclaim liberty to the captives
and the opening of the prison to them that
are bound;
Upon me —
Though the prophet may speak of himself
yet it is principally to be understood
of Christ.
Anointed —
Set me apart
both capacitating him with gifts
and commissioning him with
authority; and yet more
as it is applied to Christ
a power to make all
effectual
from whence he hath also the name of Messiah among the Hebrews
and
of Christ among the Greeks; nay
Christ alone among the prophets hath obtained
this name
Psalms 45:7. The prophet describes first
who
Christ is
and then what are his offices.
Liberty —
This appertains to Christ's kingly office
whereby he proclaims liberty from
the dominion of sin
and from the fear of hell.
Verse 2
[2] To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD
and the day of vengeance of
our God; to comfort all that mourn;
Vengeance — It
being necessary
that where God will deliver his people
he should take
vengeance on their enemies; principally on the enemies of his church
and the
spiritual ones chiefly
Satan
sin
and death.
Verse 3
[3] To
appoint unto them that mourn in Zion
to give unto them beauty for ashes
the
oil of joy for mourning
the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
that they might be called trees of righteousness
the planting of the LORD
that he might be glorified.
Ashes — By
ashes understand whatever is proper for days of mourning
as by beauty whatever
may become times of rejoicing.
Oil of joy — He
calls it oil of joy in allusion to those anointings they were wont to use in
times of joy
gladness for heaviness; and it is called a garment in allusion to
their festival ornaments
for they had garments appropriated to their
conditions
some suitable to times of rejoicing
and some to times of mourning.
Called —
That they may be so.
Trees —
That they shall be firm
solid
and well rooted
being by faith engrafted into
Christ
and bringing forth fruit suitable to the soil wherein they are planted.
Verse 5
[5] And
strangers shall stand and feed your flocks
and the sons of the alien shall be
your plowmen and your vinedressers.
Strangers —
Gentiles
such as are not of the natural race of the Jews
but Gentile
converts. Or
such as shall have no more than an outward profession.
Stand —
Ready to be at thy service.
Flocks —
The churches with the word of God.
Plow-men —
Shall manage the whole work of God's spiritual husbandry.
Verse 6
[6] But ye shall be named the Priests of the LORD: men shall call you the
Ministers of our God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles
and in their
glory shall ye boast yourselves.
The priests —
The whole body of them shall now be as near to God as the priests were
formerly
and shall be a royal priesthood. This is most certainly true of all
the faithful under the gospel.
Verse 7
[7] For
your shame ye shall have double; and for confusion they shall rejoice in their
portion: therefore in their land they shall possess the double: everlasting joy
shall be unto them.
Double —
Honour.
Portion — Of
honour
that God will give them.
Verse 8
[8] For
I the LORD love judgment
I hate robbery for burnt offering; and I will direct
their work in truth
and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.
Love judgment — I
will do them right
for I love justice in myself
and in them that practise it.
Robbery —
All things gotten by injustice
though it be for sacrifice.
Direct — I
will lead them so
that they shall do all things in sincerity.
Everlasting covenant — Though you have broken covenant with me
yet I will renew my ancient covenant
made with your fathers
confirmed with the blood of Christ
and it shall be
everlasting
never to be abrogated.
Verse 9
[9] And
their seed shall be known among the Gentiles
and their offspring among the
people: all that see them shall acknowledge them
that they are the seed which
the LORD hath blessed.
Shall be —
That is
eminently a promise of the increase of the church; such shall be their
prosperity
and multiplying
that they shall be known abroad by their great
increase; or else
the meaning is
the church shall have a seed of the
Gentiles
whereas the church has been confined to one corner of the world
now
it shall remain in one nation alone no more
but shall fill all the nations of
the earth.
Hath blessed —
There shall be such visible characters of God's love to them
and of God's
grace in them.
Verse 10
[10] I
will greatly rejoice in the LORD
my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he
hath clothed me with the garments of salvation
he hath covered me with the
robe of righteousness
as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments
and as a
bride adorneth herself with her jewels.
I will —
This is spoken in the person of the church.
Garments
… —
With salvation as with a garment
and with righteousness as with a robe.
Verse 11
[11] For
as the earth bringeth forth her bud
and as the garden causeth the things that
are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and
praise to spring forth before all the nations.
Righteousness —
His great work of salvation shall break out and appear.
Praise — As
the natural product
and fruit of it.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Isaiah》
61 Chapter 61
Verses 1-8
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me
The Speaker; probably the Servant of Jonah
Who is the speaker here?
The Targum prefaces the passage with the words
“The prophet says
” and
except
a few
all modern expositors make the author of this book of consolation to be
the speaker who
after having (in chap. 55.) let the Church behold the summit
of her glory
now
with grateful look directed to Jehovah and rejoicing in
spirit
extols his grand commission. But this view is objectionable
for the
following reasons--
1. Nowhere has the prophet yet spoken of himself as such in lengthy
utterances
but rather (except in the closing words
“saith my God
in Isaiah 57:21) everywhere studiously kept
himself in the background.
2. On the other hand
whenever another than Jehovah began to speak
and made reference to the work of his calling and his experiences connected
therewith (as in Isaiah 49:1 ff; Isaiah 50:4 ff.) it was in such eases
this self-same Servant of Jehovah of whom and to whom Jehovah speaks (see Isaiah 42:1 ff; Isaiah 52:13 on to end of 53.).
3. All that the person here speaking says of himself is again met
with in the picture of the one unique Servant of Jehovah; he has been endowed
with the Spirit of Jehovah (Isaiah 42:1); Jehovah has sent him
and
with him sent His Spirit (Isaiah 48:16); he has a tongue that has
been taught ofGod
to assist with words him who is wearied (Isaiah 50:4); those whoare almost
despairing and destroyed he goes to spare and save
preserving the broken reed
and expiring wick (Isaiah 42:3); “to open blind eyes
to
lead prisoners out of the prison
those who are sitting in darkness out of the
house of confinement
--this is what
above all
he has to do in word and deed
for his people (Isaiah 42:7; Isaiah 49:9).
4. After the prophet has represented the Servant of Jehovah
of whom
he prophesies
as speaking in such dramatic directness (as in Isaiah 49:1 ff; Isaiah 50:4 ff.
and also 48:16 b.)
one
could not expect that he would now place himself in the foreground and claim
for himself official attributes which he has set down as characteristic
features in the picture of the predicted One
who (as Vitringa well says) not
merely proclaims but dispenses the new and great gifts of God. For these
reasons we (with Nagelsbach
Cheyne
Driver and Orelli) consider that the
Servant of Jehovah is the speaker here. (F. Delitzch
D. D.)
The speaker: probably the prophet himself
The speaker is not introduced by name. Therefore he may be the
prophet himself
or he may be the Servant. The present expositor
while feeling
that the evidence is not conclusive against either of these . . . inclines to
think that there is
on the whole
less objection to its being the prophet who
speaks than to its being the Servant. But it is not a very important question
which is intended
for the Servant was representative of prophecy; and if it be
the prophet who speaks here
he also speaks with the conscience of the whole
function and aim of the prophetic order. That Jesus Christ fulfilled this
programme does not decide the question one way or the other; for a prophet so
representative was as much the antetype and foreshadowing of Christ as the
Servant Himself was. On the whole
then
we must be content to feel about this
passage
what we must have already felt about many others in our prophecy
that
the writer is more anxious to place before us the whole range and ideal of the
prophetic gift than to make clear in whom this ideal is realized; and for the
rest Jesus of Nazareth so plainly fulfilled it
that it becomes
indeed
a very
minor question to ask whom the writer may have intended as its first
application. (Prof. G. A. Smith
D. D.)
The lofty mission and its great results are not too lofty or great
for our prophet
for Jeremiah received his orifice in terms as large. That the
prophet has not yet spoken at such length in his own person is no reason why he
should not do so now
especially as this is an occasion on which he sums up and
enforces the whole range of prophecy. (Prof. G. A. Smith
D. D.)
The Spirit in the Son of man
The fact that Christ’s earthly life became effectual through the
ministry of the Holy Spirit within Him
and not alone through the inherent
virtue and power He brought with Him from His pre-existent state
has become
one of the commonplaces of theology; and yet how little do we realize its true
import
and cultivate that humility and dependence of soul which would
distinguish us if the great truth were ever in view! In spite of our formal
adhesion to this doctrine
it seems still strange to us that one whom we think
of as holy and Divine should be indebted at every stage of His earthly life to
that inward mystic ministry which is so necessary to us because of our
sinfulness. We speak of the Holy Ghost as a Deliverer from inbred corruption
and are ready to assume
quite unwarrantably
that where there is no corruption
in the nature
the stimulating forces and fervours of His benign indwelling are
needless. We are accustomed to look upon this ministry
which perpetuates in
our souls the saving work of the Lord Jesus
as though it were a special
antidote to human depravity only. For the Spirit to abide moment by moment with
Jesus Christ
and work in His humanity
seems like painting the lily
gilding
fine gold
and bleaching the untrampled snow. But that is a mistaken view. When
the universal Church shall have been built up and consecrated to its high uses
it be “by the Spirit that God will dwell in the temple. And the temple of
Christ’s sacred flesh needed this same indwelling presence. The great
Sanctifier blends the essential forces of His personality into this Divinest
type of goodness
to show that goodness in even the only begotten Son is not
self-originated. In the less mature stages of Christ’s expanding humanity
implicit and docile dependence on this inward leading was the test of His
entire acceptability to the Father. (T. G. Selby.)
The Spirit a compensation for the self-emptying of Jesus
The Spirit seems to have been given to compensate for that
renunciation of power involved in the mystery of the incarnation
and as an
earnest of its coming restitution. The wonderful works accomplished by the Son
of Man took their rise
not so much in the superhuman qualities of His
personality as in the power of that Spirit with which He was anointed. Although
there is no clearly developed doctrine of the Spirit in the older portions of
the Old Testament writings
Isaiah at least in his day was made to see that the
Messianic works of healing and deliverance and redemption would flow out of
that anointing by the Spirit which would single out the elect Servant of the
Lord from His fellows. And Peter enforces the same thought in the household of
Cornelius
declaring how that “God anointed Jesus with the Holy Ghost and with
power
who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the
devil.” His own experiences in the Pentecost had taught Peter the secret of his
Master’s power. Perhaps the discovery had come to him through his own recent
mastery over the pride and boastfulness of his nature
and may have helped to
confirm him in his new habits of childlike trust upon another. In the days of
his self-sufficiency it would have been quite impossible for Peter to believe
that He who had been supernaturally revealed as the very Son of God
and
glorified by a strange transfiguration splendour that seemed to make Him the
fellow of the Most High
should need to achieve His mighty
works by leaning
upon another. Could Peter have been told that his Master’s marvellous gifts
were held upon this tenure
he might have looked upon it as an affront to the
Divine dignity of his hero
and have exclaimed
as about the death of shame
“Be it far from Thee
Lord.” Sometimes Christ’s miracles are quoted as proofs
of His Divine nature. They are certainly proofs of His Divine authority
but
they illustrate the energies of this attending Spirit rather than the
attributes of Christ’s own proper personality. Christ cast out devils and
opened prison doors and raised the dead
but it was by the power of the Holy
Ghost alone. The tempter once tried to induce Him to work in His own strength
in the power of His inherent Godhead
so that He might undo and reverse the
self-renouncing humility of His own incarnation
but in vain. All He did was in
loyalty to this inward Guide who made known to Him the will of the Father and
gave Him power for His appointed tasks. Fools that we are
we attempt much in
our own strength
but the Son in His humiliation received back His infinite
forces of life and dominion only through this Divine messenger from the Father.
(T. G.Selby.)
A faithful Gospel ministry
I. THE ANOINTING
OF THE HOLY SPIRIT MAKES A SUCCESSFUL GOSPEL MINISTRY. So it was in Christ’s
ministry.
II. THE
SUBJECT-MATTER OF ALL FAITHFUL PREACHING.
1. A faithful minister preaches good tidings to all distressed
consciences.
2. A faithful pastor comforts mourners in Zion.
3. A faithful watchman preaches a free Saviour to all the world. (R.
M.McCheyne.)
A trite ministry
I. THE TRUE
MINISTRY IS ALWAYS INSPIRED AND DIRECTED BY THE HOLY GHOST. “The Spirit of the
Lord is upon me.”
II. THE TRUE
MINISTRY IS ANIMATED BY THE SUBLIMEST BENEVOLENCE. If you read the statement
given by the prophet
you will find throughout a tone of kindliness
benevolence
sympathy
gentleness
pity
for all human sorrow. Therein may be
known the true ministry of the Gospel.
III. THE TRUE
MINISTRY
WHETHER PUBLIC OR PRIVATE
NEVER SHRINKS FROM ITS MORE AWFUL
FUNCTIONS. Observe this sentence in the midst of the declarations of the text:
“To proclaim the day of vengeance of our God.” (J. Parker
D. D.)
To preach good tidings
unto the meek
Jesus a Preacher of good tidings to the meek
I. THE WORK ITSELF
IN WHICH THE SON OF GOD WAS EMPLOYED
and to which He was called. “To preach
good tidings.”
II. THE SPECIAL
OBJECT OF THIS PART OF THE WORK. “The meek.” In the parallel place
it reads
“poor
” and the one explains the other. By the meek here is meant the poor in
spirit
those who
as being convinced by the law
have seen themselves to be
poor
that they have nothing in which they could stand before God as righteous
but look on themselves as wretched
and miserable
and poor
and blind
and
naked. And it is remarkable that our Saviour’s Sermon on the Mount begins with
good tidings to such persons (Matthew 5:3). Our Lord preached to all
who heard Him promiscuously these good tidings
but in effect they were not
good to any but to the poor in spirit among them. (T. Boston.)
Jesus and the meek
I. CONSIDER THIS
MEEKNESS AND POVERTY
AND SHOW WHO ARE THESE MEEK POOR ONES. This meekness
comprehends in it--
1. A pressing sense of utter emptiness in one’s self (Romans 7:18).
2. A pressing sense of sinfulness.
3. A pressing sense of misery by sin. Like the prodigal
they see
themselves ready to perish with hunger. Debt is a heavy burden to an honest
heart
and filthiness to one that desires to be clean. Their poverty presses
them down.
4. A sense of utter inability to help one’s self. They find the sting
in their conscience
but cannot draw it out; guilt is a burden
but they cannot
throw it off; lusts are strong and uneasy
but they are not able to master
them; and this presses them sore.
5. A sense of the absolute need of a Saviour
and of help from
heaven.
6. A sense as to utter unworthiness of the Lord’s help; they see
nothing which they have to recommend them to the Lord’s help.
7. An earnest desire as to the supply of soul-wants (Matthew 5:6).
8. A hearty contentment in submitting to any method of help which the
Lord prescribes.
II. EXPLAIN THE
GOOD TIDINGS OF THE GOSPEL
AND SHOW THAT THEY ARE GOOD AND WELCOME TIDINGS TO
SUCH PERSONS.
1. Gospel tidings are tidings of a complete salvation.
2. These tidings relate to a redemption
to a ransom paid (Galatians 3:13).
3. To an indemnity
a pardon to criminals who will come to Jesus (Acts 13:38-39).
4. To a glorious Physician of souls
who never fails to cure HIS
patients.
5. These tidings are the tidings of a feast (Isaiah 25:6; Isaiah 55:2; Psalms 22:26).
6. These tidings relate to a treasure (2 Corinthians 4:7).
7. To a marriage
a most happy match for poor sinners (Hosea 2:19-20).
8. To a glorious victory (Isaiah 25:8; Revelation 3:21).
9. To a most desirable peace (Ephesians 2:14).
III. SHOW HOW THIS
GREAT WORK OF PREACHING IS
AND HATH BEEN
PERFORMED BY CHRIST.
1. He performed this work under the Old Testament dispensation
2. He preached
and preaches
under the New Testament dispensation.
To bind up the
broken-hearted
Jesus binds up the broken-hearted
I. INQUIRE WHAT IS
THAT BROKENNESS OF HEART WHICH IS HERE MEANT. The broken-heartedness is of two
kinds.
1. Natural
arising from natural and carnal causes merely
which
worketh 2 Corinthians 7:10). Many who arc
very whole-hearted in respect of sin
complain that their hearts and spirits
are broken by their crosses
afflictions
and ill-usage which they meet with in
the world. Thus Ahab
Haman
and Nabal
their hearts were broken with their
respective crosses.
2. Religious
which arises from religious causes
namely
sin and its
consequences. There is a twofold religious breaking of heart.
II. INQUIRE WHAT IT
IS IN AND ABOUT SIN WHICH BREAKS THE MAN’S HEART
WHO IS THUS EVANGELICALLY
BROKEN-HEARTED. There is--
1. The guilt of sin
by which he is bound over to the wrath of God.
2. The domineering power of sin
or its tyranny
by which he is led
captive to 2:3. The contrariety which is in sin to the holy nature and law of
God.
4. The indwelling of sin
and
its cleaving so close to a person that
he cannot shake it off (Romans 7:24).
5. Sin’s mixing itself with all he does
even with his best duties Romans 7:21).
6. Frequent backslidings (Jeremiah 31:18).
7. Desertions
hiding of the Lord’s face
and interruptions of the
soul’s communion with God (Isaiah 54:6; Lamentations 3:18; Lamentations 3:44).
8. A Christian’s sinfulness
with the bitter fruits springing from
his sin Romans 7:19).
III. SHOW WHAT SORT
OF A HEART A BROKEN HEART IS.
1. It is a contrite or bruised heart (Psalms 51:17). Not only broken in pieces
like a rock
but broken to powder
and so fit to receive any impression. The
heart is now kindly broken and bruised betwixt the upper and nether
mill-stones; the upper mill-stone of the law
a sense of God’s wrath against
sin; and the nether millstone of the Gospel
of Divine love
mercy
and favour
manifested in word and providences.
2. An aching heart (Acts 2:37).
3. A shameful heart (Ezra 9:6; Psalms 40:12).
4. A tender heart (Ezekiel 36:26).
5. A rent heart (Joel 2:13).
6. A pliable heart.
7. A humble heart (Isaiah 57:15).
IV. SHOW HOW THE
LORD CHRIST BINDS UP AND HEALS THE BROKEN-HEARTED. The great Physician uses two
sorts of bands for a broken heart: He binds them up with inner and with outward
bands.
1. With inner bands
which go nearest the sore
the pained broken
heart. And these are two.
2. Outward bands. There are also two.
Jesus and the broken-hearted
I. THERE ARE TWO
KINDS OF BROKEN HEARTS--THE NATURAL AND THE SPIRITUAL. They may be united.
Often they are divided. Every broken heart becomes the subject of Jesus’ care
and is dear to Him
if for no other reason in the world but for this--because
it is unhappy.
II. CHRIST WAS
HIMSELF WELL TRAINED IN THE SCHOOL OF SUFFERING HEARTS
THAT HE MIGHT LEARN TO
BIND THE MOURNERS. All which goes to break men’s hearts He felt. No wonder
then
that the bindings are what they are.
1. Delicate.
2. Very wise.
3. Sure and thorough.
There is no such thing as a half-cure in that treatment. No heart
which has not known a breaking knows
indeed
what strength is. (J. Vaughan
M. A.)
A broken heart
Many things are valuable when whole
which
being broken
are
little worth; but it is otherwise with the human heart. (R. Macculloch.)
To proclaim liberty to the
captives
Jesus proclaims liberty to the captives
I. MEN’S NATURAL
STATE. A state of captivity. They are captives to Satan 2 Timothy 2:26).
II. CHRIST’S WORK
WITH RESPECT TO THEM. To proclaim liberty to them. (T. Boston.)
Liberty for Satan’s captives
I. SINNERS IN
THEIR UNREGENERATE STATE ARE SATAN’S CAPTIVES.
II. JESUS CHRIST
WITH THE EXPRESS CONSENT OF HIS FATHER
HAS ISSUED HIS ROYAL PROCLAMATION OF
LIBERTY TO SATAN’S CAPTIVES. (R. Macculloch.)
The sinner’s captivity
The properties of it. It is--
1. A spiritual captivity
a captivity of the soul.
2. Universal. It extends to all the powers and faculties of the soul
the inner marl.
3. A hard and sore captivity.
4. A perpetual captivity. This conqueror will never quit his
captives
unless they be taken from him by Almighty power.
5. A voluntary captivity
and thus the more hopeless. Though they
were taken in war
and born captives
yet now he is their master by their own
consent and choice
while they choose to serve the devil
and cannot be brought
to give themselves to the Lord. It is a bewitching captivity. (R.
Macculloch.)
The Gospel proclamation
1. It is a jubilee proclamation (Leviticus 25:10).
2. It is a conqueror’s proclamation to captives. Satan warred against
mankind
he carried them all captive into his own kingdom; and there was none
to deliver out of his hand. But King Jesus had engaged him
routed all his
forces
overturned his kingdom
and taken the kingdom to Himself Colossians 2:15; 1 John 3:8). And now being settled
on His throne
His royal proclamation is issued
that Satan’s captives may
again return into the kingdom of God. (R. Macculloch.)
Liberty to the captive.
Our Lord Himself directs us to consider Him as speaking in these
words.
I. THE DEPLORABLE
OBJECTS HE REGARDS. Captives. This slavery--
1. So universal as to our species.
2. Dreadful in its operations upon the individual. Voluntary
and
submitted to as though it were a blessing rather than a curse.
4. Diversified as to the degree of its influence and the manner of
its operations.
5. Cruel in its present effects and inconceivably more wretched in
its final results. Men are guilty as well as enslaved.
II. THE GRACIOUS
DESIGN OF THE OFFICE WHICH HE SUSTAINS. To effect deliverance for the captives.
To this He is consecrated by the Spirit of the Lord.
1. By Him the claims of justice are perfectly satisfied.
2. Christ dissolves or breaks the power which leads us captive.
3. He induces the captive to accept deliverance when it is offered to
him.
4. He renders their deliverance permanent
and prevents them from
being again entangled in the yoke of bondage.
III. THE
CORRESPONDING MANNER IN WHICH HIS GRACIOUS DESIGN IS TO BE MADE KNOWN. By
proclamation.
1. It indicates that His office and its design are to be made
universally known.
2. It is intended to excite universal attention--to create the most
deep and lively interest. It is a proclamation which at once demands and
deserves attention.
3. It shows that deliverance is to be effected in a way perfectly
consistent with the freedom of human agency.
4. It is in such a way as to secure the glory of their deliverance to
Him who thus proclaims it. (Essex Congregational Remembrancer.)
Jesus the Liberator
It is a blessed name of Jesus
and as true as it is blessed--the
Liberator. We can scarcely conceive anything grander
or more delightful
than
to be always going about making everything free. To this end
Christ first
liberated Himself.
1. As in Him there was no sin
He never indeed could know the worst
of all bondage--the bondage of the spirit to the flesh. But He did know the
restraints of fear; He did feel the harassing of indecision; He did experience
the irksomeness of the sense of a body too narrow for the largeness of His
soul; and He did go through the contractions of all that is material
and the
mortifying conventionalities of life--for He was hungry
thirsty
weary
sad
and the sport of fools. From all this Christ freed Himself--distinctly
progressively
He freed Himself. Step by step
He led captivity captive. He made for Himself a
spiritual body which
in its own nature
and by the law of its being
soared at
once beyond the trammels of humanity. Therefore He is the Liberator
because He
was once Himself the Prisoner.
2. And all Christ did
and all Christ was
upon this earth--His whole
mission--was essentially either to teach or to give liberty. His preaching was
for the most part
to change the constraint of law into the largeness of love.
Every word He said
in private or in public
proved expansion.
3. When Christ burst through all the tombs--the moral tombs and the
physical tombs in which we all lay buried--and when He went out into life and
glory
He was not Himself alone--He was at that moment the covenanted Head of a
mystical body
and all that body rose with Him. If so be you have union with
Christ
you are risen; bondage is past; you are free. (J. Vaughan
M. A.)
The opening of the prison
to them that are bound
Sinners worse than captives
1. They are also prisoners. Every captive is not a prisoner
but all
natural men
being Satan’s captives
are held prisoners.
2. They are prisoners in chains
bound in the prison.
3. They are blinded too in their prison (compare Luke 4:18). It was a custom much used in
the Eastern nations to put out the eyes of some of their prisoners
adding this
misery to their imprisonment. So the Philistines did with Samson ( 16:21); and. Nebuchadnezzar with
Zedekiah2Ki 25:7). This
in a spiritual sense
is the case of all prisoners in
their natural state. (T. Boston.)
Causes of sinners’ imprisonment
1. As debtors to Divine justice.
2. As malefactors condemned in law (John 3:18). (T. Boston.)
Satan’s bands
1. The band of prejudices.
2. Of ill company.
3. Of earthly-mindedness.
4. Of unbelief.
5. Of slothfulness.
6. Of delays (Acts 24:25).
7. Of delusion (Isaiah 44:20; Revelation 3:17).
8. Of divers lusts (2 Timothy 3:6). (T. Boston.)
Verse 2
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord
The year of Jubilee
It may be profitable to trace out the analogies between the year
of jubilee which rejoiced the hearts of Israel
and that more comprehensive era
of which it was broadly typical
and which was to bring gladness to all peoples
unto the end of the dispensation
when the loving ministry of God is finished.
1. The Jewish jubilee commenced at the close of the day of atonement.
Is not this a very true type of the way in which spiritual blessings are
exclusively introduced to mankind? There can be no jubilee for us
a race of
lost and guilty rebels taken in arms
traitors convicted of treason
unless an
all-prevalent atonement had previously purchased our pardon.
2. There was rest from exhausting labour. By a providential
arrangement similar to that which secured a double supply of manna on the sixth
day
the land had unusual fertility in the sixth year
so that in the seventh
which was the ordinary
and in the fiftieth
which was the special sabbatical
year
there was a suspension of the common duties of husbandry. Both the land
and labourers had rest
and yet the supply did not fail
for there was plenty
in every barn
and there was gladness in every heart. And
in a spiritual sense
is not rest for the weary just what our spirits so fervently require--just what
the Gospel has been itself inspired to provide
3. The next blessing pertaining to the year of jubilee was the
restoration of alienated property. When a man
through misfortune or
extravagance
had contracted liabilities that were beyond his means
and had
sold his possessions to discharge them
if he were not himself able to redeem
them
and if none of his kindred were at once wealthy and willing
these
possessions remained as the property of the creditor until the year of jubilee
and then it was provided by the law that they should return to him who had
parted from them for a season. We
the whole race of us
had a bright
inheritance once--God’s favour
God’s fellowship
God’s image
all were ours by
birth--but
alas! we alienated it by sin. We are not ourselves able to redeem
it. But
through infinite compassion
this our inheritance has not been
suffered to pass out of the family. Christ our kinsman
our elder brother
has paid
down the price
and has rescued this our heritage from the fangs of the harpies
who would fain have usurped it for their own. We had sold our birthright as a
common thing
but it has been redeemed
and it is offered to us without a price
by a love that is surely without parallel. The acceptable year did dawn upon
the world indeed when it witnessed the birth of the Messiah
and that sun
like
that of Gideon
stood still at His bidding
and hasted not to go down until
now.
4. Another blessing which is mentioned in the history is the
restoration of freedom. It seems to have been a custom among the Hebrews
as
among other Eastern nations
for a debtor who had become hopelessly involved to
sell himself to his creditors
in order that by his personal service he might
discharge the debt that he was otherwise unable to pay. Of course
it was
provided that for the amelioration of his condition
and for its termination in
the year of jubilee
the man was not to be a slave
but a hired servant and a
soldier
and he was to remain until the year of jubilee
and then he and his
children should all go out and return unto their possession. All sinners are in
bondage
bound with the chain of their sins
led captive by the devil at his
will. How I delight to proclaim it in your hearing
“The year of jubilee is
come.” If the Son make you free
ye shall be free indeed. (W. M. Punshon.)
No light without a shadow
There is a tremendous alternative before men--acceptation or
vengeance. When we speak of vengeance in this connection
and as a Divine act
it must be understood not in a malignant and revengeful sense
but in a
judicial. It must be regarded as an act of eternal justice. We propose to
interrogate Nature and ask her what she has to tell us of this alternative. We
would greatly prefer to present Christ as the light of the world
but we know
of no light without a shadow. Observe
however
the terms in which the light
and the shadow are expressed in the prophet’s language. It is the “year” of
acceptation
and only the “day” of vengeance. This is a very natural
description. The light always attracts us most: we scarcely think of the
shadow. The idea of hell is in accordance with the laws of nature
and cannot
be eliminated from thought.
I. ANTITHESES
BELONG TO THE FUNDAMENTAL NATURE OF THINGS HENCE
ARE TO BE FOUND EVEN IN
FINALITIES. All positive things involve a corresponding negative; and are
comprehensible only by contrast with their negative. If you paint a picture all
white
you have nothing but a white washed canvas and no picture; it is only by
contrast between lights and shadows that you can give it expression and form.
What is there in the world that has not its corresponding negative? If there is
light there is also darkness; if there is height there is also depth; if there
is joy there is also sorrow; if there is perfection there is also deformity; if
there is beauty there is also ugliness; if there is upward there is also
downward; if there is heat there is also cold; if there is good tilers is also
bad; if there is reward there is also punishment; if there is heaven there is
also hell.
II. ALTERNATIVES
ARE NECESSARY TO MORAL BEINGS. A moral being is one who has power of choice;
and there can be no choice except as between alternatives. Our whole life is a
choosing between alternatives. It would then
indeed
be singular if this
choice was only possible in matters of secondary importance
but eliminated
from matters of the highest importance. If there is no alternative over against
heaven
then heaven is not a matter of choice; if not matter of choice
then it
must be arbitrarily conferred
and
there being no alternative
it must of
necessity be conferred arbitrarily upon good and bad alike.
III. THE LAW OF
CONSEQUENCES REVEALS A HELL. Who can compute the consequences of an act? It may
be but momentary
yet consequences of the most momentous character are entailed
upon the world.
IV. THE LAW OF
GROWTH REVEALS A HELL. Growth is of two kinds: by assimilation of things
without
and by development from within: the first
scientific people call by
involution; the second
by evolution. Sin grows
and grows by this double
process. It assimilates with itself the elements of evil around it. This is the
law of its existence
which forecloses any prospect of remedy from within.
Moreover
sin grows by evolution. Sin propagates
and it propagates nothing but
itself. Hence it cannot become extinct. It must propagate itself in the soul
for ever unless some external power shall eliminate it. It cannot outgrow
itself. The soul
therefore
which is identified with sin
must partake of this
eternal process. That there is an external remedy we will confess: but we can
readily perceive that the growing processes of sin must more and more repel
this remedy. The history of a sinning soul
then
unfolds an ever-diminishing
hope of reclamation.
V. THE EVIDENT
TENDENCY OF CHARACTER TO ASSUME STABILITY IS INDICATIVE OF A HELL. This final
stability is what we call second nature--the outcome and ultimate form of the
plastic powers of the soul. Hence the welfare of the creature demands a limited
probation. Man’s happiness demands that he should be able to work towards an
assured future: but the laws which facilitate stability in goodness must also
facilitate stability in evil. Hence it will be seen why it is that the
ambassadors of God are for ever proclaiming: “Now is the day of salvation
” and
warning you to “seek the Lord while He may be found.” Hence it is we are
telling you that the fittest time for giving yourselves to God is in your
youth.
VI. CONCLUSION.
Nature has told us there is a hell. Thus nature is a school-master to bring us
to Christ. (Southern Pulpit.)
Proclamation of acceptance and vengeance
Notice well the expression
“to proclaim
because a proclamation
is the message of a king
and where the word of a king is there is power. The
Lord Jesus Christ came into the world to announce the will of the King of
kings. Nor let it be forgotten that a proclamation must be treated with
profound respect
not merely by receiving attention to its contents
but by
gaining obedience to its demands. There are three points in the proclamation
worthy of our best attention.
I. JESUS PROCLAIMS
THE ACCEPTABLE YEAR OF THE LORD. There can be very little question that this
relates to the jubilee year. The reason for all the jubilee blessings was found
in the Lord.
II. THE DAY OF
VENGEANCE OF OUR GOD.
1. Whenever there is a day of mercy to those who believe
it is
always a day of responsibility to those who reject it
and if they continue in
that state it is a day of increased wrath to unbelievers.
2. Another meaning of the text comes out in the fact that there is
appointed a day of vengeance for all the enemies of Christ
and this will
happen in that bright future day for which we are looking.
3. However
I consider that the chief meaning of the text lies in
this--that “the day of vengeance of our God” was that day when He made all the
trangressions of His people to meet upon the head of our great Surety.
Look at the instructive type by which this truth was taught to
Israel of old. The year of jubilee began with the day of atonement.
4. The day of vengeance
then
is intimately connected with the year
of acceptance; and mark
they must be so connected experimentally in the heart
of all God’s people by the teaching of the Holy Ghost
for whenever Christ
comes to make us live
the law comes first to kill us.
III. THE COMFORT FOR
MOURNERS DERIVABLE FROM BOTH THESE THINGS. “To comfort all that mourn.” Oh
ye
mourners
what joy is here
joy because this is the year of acceptance
and in
the year of acceptance
or jubilee
men were set free and their lands were
restored without money. No man ever paid a penny of redemption money on the
jubilee morning: every man was free simply because jubilee was proclaimed: no
merit was demanded
no demur was offered
no delay allowed
no dispute
permitted. Jubilee came
and the bondman was free. And now
to-day
whosoever
believeth in Jesus is saved
pardoned
freed
without money
without merit
without preparation
simply because believeth. An equal joy-note rings out from
the other sentence concerning the day of vengeance. I f the day of vengeance
took place when our Lord died
then it is over. (C. H.Spurgeon.)
Preaching God’s judgment on sin
A member of the congregation
at the close of a sermon that lasted
for an hour
and had been preached amid a stillness most painful
nothing heard
but the tones of the preacher
and during the pauses the ticking of the
clock--a sermon on the sad and awful issues of a sinful life
and the glory and
the joy of a life lived in Christ--and
if Dr. Dale intends to preach like that
I shall not come and hear him
for I cannot stand it; it goes through me.” I
spoke to Dr. Dale afterwards about the stillness and said it was simply awful.
“Ah! yes
he said; “but it was more awful to me; it is hard to preach like
that
but it must be done.” (Gee. Barber
in Dr. Dale’s Life.)
To comfort all that mourn
Tears dried
Some seek to comfort by telling us that sorrow is wrong. They say
that we should be brave and not allow our feelings to become so deep. It is
true there may be excessive grief
and so grief may become sinful. But to say
that we must not sorrow is to try to induce us to outrage our nature and to
deprive us of one of the most effectual means whereby God educates and
purifies. Christ is not come to deliver us from suffering
but to enable us to
derive good from the suffering. How does Christ “comfort all that mourn”?
I. BY HIMSELF
BECOMING THE SUFFERER FOR US
TO TAKE AWAY SIN. Christ bore the curse of it for
us
and in doing this He removed the root of our mourning.
II. BY HIS
SYMPATHY. He feels with us and for us
and by oneness with us in sorrow gives
us comfort. Sympathy means suffering along with another. Job spoke of it when
he said
“Did I not weep for him that was in trouble? was not my soul grieved
for the poor?”
III. By showing us
THE ORIGIN AND PURPOSE OF SUFFERING. Nowhere except in God’s revelation in
Christ do we learn how and why affliction and sorrow come upon us. Our Lord
Jesus Christ explains all. And His explanation goes down to the very root of
the matter. Suffering is necessary in order that we enter into the fulness of
God’s love in the gift of His Son. He who has received Christ as his Saviour is
instructed
sanctified
made more meet for the Master’s use
becomes more
heavenly minded
by means of all the affliction through which his Heavenly
Father causes him to pass. To suffer in Christ is to live more deeply. “Love
and sorrow are the two conditions of a profound life.”
IV. BY ASSURING
THOSE WHO BELIEVE THAT THEY SHALL BE EVERLASTINGLY WITH HIM TO BEHOLD HIS
GLORY. We learn--
1. That the comfort Christ imparts is effectual. It is not limited or
partial. See how fully this is set forth in the passage with which the text is
connected. What variety of imagery is used to picture to us the fulness and
perfection of the remedy Christ brings for human guilt and misery. The healing
He effects is for our whole nature
for heart
mind and conscience. He
completely redeems and blesses.
2. The comfort Christ gives is enduring. It is no momentary or
temporary assuaging of grief. It will never fail
it will increase in its
influence and power.
3. The comfort Christ bestows is offered to all and is adapted to
all. “To comfort all that mourn.” “All ye that labour
” etc. Whatever burden
whatever sorrow
there is in Him comfort for all. (G. W.Humphreys
B. A.)
Verse 3
To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion
Mourners in Zion
Mourners in Zion may mean either those that mourn for Zion (Isaiah 66:10) or those that mourn in her.
(Prof. J. Skinner
D.D.)
Mourners in Zion
I. THE CHARACTER OF
THOSE PERSONS WHO HAVE A PRESENT INTEREST IN THE MEDIATION OF CHRIST. Such as
“mourn in Zion.” They differ from others--
1. In respect of the spring or principle of their mourning. They
mourn
as others do
in a natural way
for what is contrary to their natures
and is considered hurtful to them. But they likewise mourn for what is most
agreeable to their nature
in its present corrupt state. The corruption of
their nature is itself a principal cause of their mourning
and therefore can
proceed from no principle inherent in corrupt nature. It is the fruit of “the
Spirit of grace and of supplication.”
2. In respect of the object for whom they mourn. Self is always the
reigning principle with unrenewed men. The inhabitant of Zion mourns also for
himself
and while actuated by a principle of self-preservation it must be so:
But he mourns also--
3. In respect of the subject of their grief
or the thing for which
they mourn.
(2) For the filthiness as well as the guilt of sin.
4. In respect of the fruits and effects of their sorrow (2 Corinthians 7:10-11).
II. THE CONDITION
THAT THESE PERSONS ARE IN
FOR THE MOST PART
WHILE IN THE WORLD. They are
covered with “ashes”; employed in “mourning”; and under the prevailing
influence of “the spirit of heaviness.”
1. They are subject to all the ordinary miseries of this life
in
common with other men.
2. They are affected to a great depth of sorrow by many things which
are no affliction to the rest of mankind. They are affected with spiritual as
well as temporal evils; sin
the hiding of God’s face
the low state of the
Church
the divisions among Church members
spiritual judgments
etc.
3. They are subject to many causes of mourning that either fall not
upon others or befall them only in a small degree. They live in a foreign land
while others consider themselves as at home. They run
and agonize
and strain
themselves
in the race that is set before them
while others sit still and are
at ease.
4. They are often subject to groundless discouragements through the
prevalence of temptation and unbelief.
III. THE HAPPY
CONDITION TO WHICH THESE MOURNERS SHALL BE BROUGHT. “Beauty for ashes
” etc.
1. Even while the causes of their mourning continue
they are
supported
encouraged
and comforted in such a manner as to afford them a
happiness superior to what others enjoy in their best times.
2. They shall be completely
though gradually
delivered from all
their mourning
and from all the causes of it.
3. They shall
at length
enjoy all that positive happiness which
their natures are capable of.
4. They shall
at last
be fully sensible of all the happiness of
their condition
and shall express their sense of it in songs of eternal
praise.
IV. THE MANNER IN
WHICH CHRIST WILL BRING ABOUT THIS HAPPY CHANGE.
1. He is commissioned to appoint these things for them. The word
signifies to ordain by a judicial sentence. Christ
as King in Zion
is
invested with the highest authority: God has committed to Him all judgment.
2. He is sent to give unto them what He has thus appointed for them.
(J. Young.)
Beauty for ashes
“Beauty”
“A crest
” any insignia or ornament for the head. (Prof. G. A.
Smith
D. D.)
Beauty for ashes
I. The well-known
fable of the Phoenix is one that has been often truthfully enacted on our
earth. Successive platforms of creation
with all their varied life and
loveliness
have been reduced to ruin
and out of the wreck new life and beauty
have emerged. The earth has reached its present perfection of form through
repeated geological fires. The fair Eden
in the midst of which the history of
the human race begins
was developed from the ashes of previous less lovely
Edens. The soil of the earth is composed of the ashes of substances that have
been oxidized
burned by the slow
soft caresses of the very air that breathed
upon them--and whose gentle smile gave them colour and form. The building of
the world was a process of burning
and its foundations were undoubtedly laid
in flames. Its crust was originally like a burnt cinder. The rocks and the
earths
the sands and the clays
the very seas themselves are
as it were
the
ashes of a long-continued and universal conflagration. But during the long
geological periods
by the silent agency of vegetable life working in unison
with the sunshine
the work of the fire has been partially undone
and a
considerable amount of combustible matter has been slowly rescued from the
wreck of the first conflagration. Whatever now exists on the earth unburnt is
owing to the wonderful co-operation of plant life and solar light. These two
forces have given to us all the beauty which now spreads over the ashes of the
world. Nay
the very ashes of the earth themselves contribute in the most
marvellous manner to its beauty. How much does the scenery of our world owe to
its picturesque rocks
and sandy deserts
and lonely seas
which
as we have
seen
are but the ashes of the primeval fire! What wonderful beauty God has
brought out of water! It is strange to think of water being the ashes of a
conflagration--the snow on the mountain-top
the foam of the waterfall
the
cloud of glory in the heavens
the dewdrop in the eye of the daisy. Without the
intervention of vegetable life at all
God has thus directly
from the objects
themselves
given beauty for ashes. He might have made these ashes of our globe
as repulsive to the sight as the blackened relics of forest and plain
over
which the prairie fire has swept
while
at the same time
they might have
subserved all their ends and uses. But He has
instead
clothed them with
incomparable majesty and loveliness
so that they minister most richly to our
admiration and enjoyment; and some of the noblest conceptions of the human mind
have been borrowed from their varied chambers of imagery.
2. Like the old processes of nature are the new ones that take place
still. Out of the ashes of the local conflagration that has reduced the fields
and forests to one uniform blackened waste comes forth the beauty of greener
fields and forests of species unknown there before. Very strikingly is this
seen on the dry hill-sides of the Sierra Nevada
covered with dense scrub which
is often swept by fire. All the trees in the groves of pine that grow on these
hill-sides
however unequal in size
are of the same age
and the cones which
they produce are persistent
and never discharge their seeds until the tree or
the branch to which they belong dies. Consequently
when one of the groves is
destroyed by fire
the burning of the trees causes the scales of the cones to
open
and the seed which they contain is scattered profusely upon the ground;
and on the bare
blackened site of the old grove a young
green plantation of
similar pines springs forth. This curious adaptation explains the remarkable
circumstance that all the trees of the grove are of the same age. In an equally
remarkable way the fires in the Australian bush
which are so destructive to
the forests of that country
are made the very means of reproducing the
vegetation.
3. Another illustration of the principle may be derived from volcanic
regions. No scenes of earth are lovelier than those which are subjected to the
frequent destructive action of volcanoes. The Bay of Naples is confessedly one
of those spots in which scenic beauty has culminated. And yet this second Eden
is the creation of volcanic fires. No soil is so fertile as crumbling lava and
volcanic ashes. The destroyer of the fields and gardens is thus the renovator
The ashes of the burning that has devastated homestead and vineyard reappear in
the delicate clusters of the grape
and the vivid verdure of the vine-leaves
which embower a new home of happiness on the site.
4. And--a case of extremes meeting--frost has the same effect as
fire. No meadows are greener
no corn-fields more luxuriant
than those which
spread over the soft that has been formed by the attrition of ancient glaciers.
The cedars of Lebanon grow On the moraines left behind by ice-streams that had
sculptured the mountains into their present shape; and over the ranges of the
Sierra Nevada
the coniferous forests
the noblest and most beautiful on earth
are spread in long
curving bands
braided together into lace-like patterns of
charming variety--an arrangement determined by the course of ancient glaciers
upon
whose moraines all the forests of the Nevada are growing
and whose varied
distribution over curves and ridges and high rolling plateaus
the trees have
faithfully followed. Elsewhere throughout the world pine-woods usually grow
not on soil produced by the slow weathering of the atmosphere
but by the
direct mechanical action of glaciers
which crushed and ground it from the
solid rocks of mountain ranges
and in their slow recession at the end of the
glacial period
left it spread out in beds available for tree-growth.
5. Is there not beauty for ashes
when the starchy matter which gives
the grey colour to the lichen is changed by the winter rains into chlorophyl
and the dry
lifeless
parchment-like substance becomes a bright green pliable
rosette
as remarkable for the elegance of its form as for the vividness of its
colour? Does not the corn of wheat
when God
as Ezekiel strikingly says
“calls”
for it and increases it
develop out of the grey ashes that wrap round and
preserve the embers of its life
the long spears of bright verdure which pierce
through: the dark wintry soil up to the sunshine and the blue air of heaven?
All the beauty
of the green fields and woods
springing from the root
or the
seed
or the weed
in produced from the ashes of previous vegetation. Some
plants are found only where something has been burnt. Farmers say that wood
ashes will cause the dormant white clover to spring up; and fields treated in
this manner will suddenly be transfigured with the fragrant bloom. A lovely little
moss
whose seed-vessels
by the twisting and untwisting of their stems
indicate the changes of the weather like a barometer
grows on moors and in
woods in spots where fires have been; and it covers with its bright green
verdure the sites of buildings
marking with its soft
delicate cushions where
the hearthstone had been. From its fondness for growing in such places
it is
known in France by the familiar name of La Charbonniere. After the great
London fire
a species of mustard grew up on every side
covering with its
yellow blossoms the charred ruins and the recently exposed soil strewn with
ashes; and
as if to show some curious affinity between the conflagration of
cities and the mustard tribe
after the more recent burning of Moscow
another
species of the same family made its appearance among the ruins
and is still to
be met with in the neighbourhood of that city. (H. Macmillan
D. D.)
Beauty for ashes: Judaism
Out of the ashes of the burnt-offering all the beauty of the
Hebrew faith emanated. (H. Macmillan
D. D.)
Beauty for ashes: the atonement
How expressive was this type of the atoning death of the Son of
God! The Victim in His case too was reduced to ashes. We see as clearly on the
cross on which was stretched His lifeless body
that the work of atonement was
finished
and that a complete satisfaction had been made to God for human sin
as the priest saw in the ashes on the altar how entirely the sacrifice had met
with the Divine approval and acceptance. As the ashes were laid beside the altar
for a while
so the body of Jesus remained upon the cross some time after
death
exposed to the idle and mocking gaze of the multitude
but most precious
in the sight of Him whose law He had magnified and made honourable by His
obedience unto death. As the ashes
further
were placed on the east side of
the altar
because from that quarter the bright light of the morning sun
arose--a natural symbolism common to nearly all religions
Christians
Mohammedans
and Pagans alike turning to the east in prayer
and laying their
dead and building their sacred shrines in that direction--so the Sun of
Righteousness rose from that point of the compass
and cast back the light of
the glory of the resurrection upon all the incidents and circumstances of His
death. The radiance of the rising sun shone on the ashes beside the Jewish
altar
making it manifest that the lamb had been entirely consumed; the sun
rose upon the morning of the Sabbath after Christ’s crucifixion upon a cross
from which the slain Lamb of God had been taken away
and upon a sepulchre nigh
at hand
wherein had lain the body of Him who was the end of the law for
righteousness. And
lastly
as the Jewish priests carried the ashes of the
sacrifice without the camp into a clean place
so the body of Jesus was laid
outside the city of Jerusalem in a new sepulchre wherein no man had ever before
been laid. His grave was in a garden which was close to Golgotha
where He was
crucified. Truly God gave great beauty for ashes in that garden sepulchre! (H.
Macmillan
D. D.)
Beauty for ashes: sin and grave
To the sinner who repents and believes in this great atoning
Sacrifice
God gives beauty for ashes. Sin is an infringement of God’s law of
order
through which alone all the brightness and variety of life can be
evolved. It disintegrates
decomposes
reduces to ashes. Its great
characteristic is its wearisome sameness and monotony
a dreary movement
without variety from iniquity to iniquity. It is a defacement and destruction
passing over the soul and life of man
like an earthquake over a city
overthrowing into one common heap of similar ruins all the fair variety of its
architecture; or like a fire through a forest
reducing all the multitudinous
life and variety of vegetation to the same uniform dreary level of black
cinders and grey ashes
on which no dew falls
and oh which the sun itself
shines with a ghastly and mocking smile. Out of this melancholy wreck the grace
of God constructs the fresh and infinite variety of blessedness which belongs
to the converted soul. (H. Macmillan
D. D.)
Perfect through suffering
To the sorrowful God gives beauty for ashes. Sorrow and suffering
play a gracious part in the moral economy of the world. They are all the
furnace in which our evil nature is reduced to ashes. We are laid with the
great Sufferer of our race upon the altar and sham the fellowship of His
sufferings
and like Him are made perfect through suffering. On the most awful
battlefields of life grow the greenest pastures of peace; on the fierce lava
streams that have desolated the heart
bloom the sweetest virtues and flourish
the peaceable fruits of righteousness. (H. Macmillan
D. D.)
Beauty for ashes: death and eternal life
The ashes of the dead speak of the greatest humiliation
the
uttermost loss
highest hopes extinguished
and noblest ideas perished. The
gifts and gains of our civilization have made human life more precious than of
old; the results of science
showing through what long stages and by what
wonderful processes it has reached its present perfection
have greatly exalted
the conception of its importance; the revelation of Divine grace has made known
to us that
for its sake
the Son of God Himself died
and what unspeakable
issues hang upon it; and the experience of every heart that deeply loves
confirms
the truth that in this human life love is by far the greatest and most blessed
thing
“the most Divine flower that Nature
in the long course of her
evolutions
has evoked.” And here
in the ashes of the dead
it has all come to
an end. Other wastes may be repaired. Every spring
the earth rises in fresh
loveliness from the baptism of the autumnal fire. But what shall repair the
waste of human death? To the pagan all was hopeless! Even the Hebrew faith
itself could scarcely imagine that any conscious beauty could ever come from
such ashes; and its helpless cry ascended up to the pitiless heaven
“Wilt Thou
show wonders to the dead?” And
in our days
cruel science comes and
employs all its strength in ruthlessly rolling a great stone to the mouth of
the sepulchre. But the Christian religion assures us that for the ashes of our
dead we shall yet have immortal beauty. (H. Macmillan
D. D.)
Beauty for ashes
I. WHO GIVES THIS
WORD? It comes from Him who said
“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me;” “He hath
sent Me to bind up the broken.hearted.” Now
in a subordinate sense
Christian
ministers have the Spirit of God resting upon them
and they are sent to bind
up the broken-hearted; but they can only do so in the name of Jesus
and in
strength given from Him. This word is not spoken by them
nor by prophets or
apostles either
but by the great Lord and Master of apostles and prophets
and
ministers
even by Jesus Christ Himself. If He declares that He will comfort
us
then we may rest assured we shall be comforted! The stars in His right hand
may fail to penetrate the darkness
but the rising of the Sun of Righteousness
effectually scatters the gloom. If the Consolation of Israel Himself comes
forth for the uplifting of His downcast people
then their doubts and tears may
well fly apace
since His presence is light and peace. But who is this anointed
One who comes to comfort mourners?
1. He is described in the preface to the text as a preacher. Remember
what kind of preacher Jesus was. “Never man spake like this Man.” He was a son
of consolation indeed. It was said of Him
“A bruised reed shall He not break
and the smoking flax shall He not quench.”
2. In addition to His being a preacher
He is described as a
physician. “He hath sent Me to bind up the broken-hearted.” Some hearts want
more than words. The wounds are deep
they are not flesh cuts
but horrible
gashes which lay bare the bone
and threaten ere long to kill unless they be
skilfully closed. It is
therefore
a great joy to know that the generous
Friend who
in the text
promises to deal with the sorrowing
is fully
competent to meet the most frightful cases. Jehovah Rophi is the name of Jesus
of Nazareth. “By His stripes we are healed.”
3. As if this were not enough
our gracious Helper is next described
as a liberator. “He hath sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and the
opening of the prison to them that are bound” There were many downcast persons
in Israel in the olden times--persons who had become bankrupt
and
therefore
had lost their estates
and had even sunk yet further into debt
till they were
obliged to sell their children into slavery
and to become themselves bondsmen.
But the fiftieth year came round
and never was there heard music so sweet in
all Judea’s land as when the silver trumpet was taken down on the jubilee morn
and a loud shrill blast was blown in every city
and hamlet
and village
in
all Israel
from Dan even to Beersheba. It meant: “Israelite
thou art free. If
thou hast sold thyself
go forth without money
for the year of jubilee has
come.” Jesus has come with a similar message.
4. As if this were not all
one other matter is mentioned concerning
our Lord
and He is pictured as being sent as the herald of good tidings of all
sorts to us the sons of men. “To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”
Behold in the person of the incarnate God the sure pledge of Divine
benevolence. “He that spared not His own Son
but delivered Him up for us all
”
etc.
II. TO WHOM IS THIS
WORD SPOKEN? To those who mourn in Zion. They are in Zion; they are the Lord’s
people
but they mourn. To mourn is not always a mark of grace. Nature mourns.
Fallen human nature will have to mourn for ever
except grace shall change it.
But the mourning here meant is a mourning of gracious souls. It assumes various
shapes.
1. It begins in most hearts with lamentation over past sin.
2. True hearts also sorrow over their present imperfections.
3. The Christian mourner laments
also
because he cannot be more
continuously in communion with God. A native of sunny Italy deplores the
absence of heaven’s bright blue
when made to dwell in this land of the fleecy
clouds; and he who has dwelt in unclouded fellowship with the Lord bemoans his
hard lot
if even for awhile he beholds not that face which is as the sun
shining in its strength.
4. The real Christian mourns
again
because he cannot be more
useful.
5. Moreover
like his Lord
he mourns for others. He mourns in Zion
because of the deadness of the Christian Church
its divisions
its errors
its
carelessness towards the souls of sinners. But he mourns most of all for the
unconverted.
III. WHAT IS THAT
WHICH IS SPOKEN in the text to those that mourn? Come
mourning souls
who
mourn in the way described: there is comfort appointed for you
and there is
also comfort given to you. It is the prerogative of King Jesus both to appoint
and to give. Observe the change Christ promises to work for His mourners.
1. Here is beauty given for ashes. In the Hebrew there is a ring in
the words which cannot be conveyed in the English. The ashes that men put upon
their head in the East in the time of sorrow made a grim tiara for the brow of
the mourner; the Lord promises to put all these ashes away
and to substitute
for them a glorious head-dress--a diadem of beauty. Or
if we run away from the
words
and take the inner sense
we may look at it thus:--mourning makes the
face wan and emaciated
and so takes away thebeauty; but Jesus promises that He
will so come and reveal joy to the sorrowing soul that the face shall fill up
again: the eyes that were dull and cloudy shaft sparkle again
and the
countenance
yea
and the whole person
shall be once more radiant with the
beauty which sorrow had so grievously marred.
2. Then
it is added
“He will give the oil of joy for mourning. Here
we have first beauty
and then unction. The Orientals used rich perfumed oils
on their persons--used them largely and lavishly in times of great joy. Now
the Holy Spirit comes upon those who believe in Jesus
and gives them an anointing
of perfume
most precious
more sweet and costly than the nard of Araby. “We
have an unction from the Holy One.
3. Then
it is added
to give still greater fulness to the cheering
promise
that the Lord will give “the garment of praise for the spirit of
heaviness.’ The man is first made beautiful
next he has the anointing
then
afterwards he is arrayed in robes of splendour. “The garment of praise
” what a
dress is this! When a man wraps himself about
as it were
with psalmody
and
lives for ever a chorister
singing not with equal voice
but with the same
earnest heart as they do who day and night keep up the never-ending hymn before
the throne of the infinite! AM
what a life is his
what a man is he!
4. Notice what will be the result of this appointment
“That they
might be called trees of righteousness
” etc. The original is like “oaks of
righteousness
” that is
they shall become strong
firmly rooted
covered with
verdure; they shall be like a well-watered tree for pleasantness. But the very pith
of the text lies “
m
a little word to which you must look. “Ye shall be called
trees of righteousness. There are many mourning saints who are trees of
righteousness
but nobody calls them so; they are so desponding that they give
a doubtful idea to others. Observers ask
“Is this a Christian?” But
O
mourners I if Jesus visits you
and gives you the oil of joy
men shall call
you “trees of righteousness
” they shall see grace in you. I know some
Christian people who
wherever they go
are attractive advertisements of the
Gospel. Nobody could be with them for half-an-hour without saying
Whence do
they gain this calm
this peace
this tranquillity
this holy delight and joy?”
Many have been attracted to the Cross of Christ by the holy pleasantness and cheerful
conversation of those whom Christ has visited with the abundance of His love.
5. The result of all this goes further
“They shall be called trees
of righteousness
the planting of the Lord
” that is to say
where there is joy
imparted
and unction given from the Holy Spirit
instead of despondency
men
will say
“It is God’s work
it is a tree that God has planted
it could not
grow like that if anybody else had planted it; this man is a man of God’s
making
his joy is a joy of God’s giving.”
6. Another word remains
“That He might be glorified.” That is the
great result we drive at
and that is the object even of God Himself
“that He
might be glorified.” For when men see the cheerful Christian
and perceive that
this is God’s work
then they own the power of God. Meanwhile
the saints
comforted by your example
praise and bless God
and all the Church lifts up a
song to the Most High. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Grief transformed
There is a beautiful thing which comes out more distinctly if we
follow the Revised Version
and read it as “to give unto them a garland for
ashes
the oil of joy for mourning
the garment of praise for the spirit of
heaviness. There we have two contrasted pictures suggested
one of a mourner
with grey ashes strewed upon his dishevelled locks
and his spirit clothed in
gloom like a black robe; and to him there comes One who
with gentle hand
smoothes the ashes out of his hair
trains a garland round his brow
anoints
his head with oil
and
stripping off the trappings of woe
casts about him a
bright robe fit for a guest at a festival. That is the miracle that Jesus
Christ can do for every one
and is ready to do for us
if we will let Him. (A.
Maclaren
D. D.)
The Joy-bringer
I. JESUS CHRIST IS
THE JOY-BRINGER TO MEN BECAUSE HE IS THE REDEEMER OF MEN. In the original
application of my text to the deliverance from captivity
this gift of joy
and
change of sorrow into gladness
was no independent and second bestowment
but
was simply the issue of the one that preceded it
viz the gift of liberty to
the captives
and the opening of the prison to them that are bound. The
gladness was a gladness that welled up in the heart of the captives set free
and coming out from the gloom of the Babylonian dungeon into the sunshine of
God’s favour
with their faces set towards Zion “with songs and everlasting joy
upon their heads.” You have only to keep firm hold of this connection between
these two thoughts to come to the crown and centre-point of this great
prophecy
as far as it applies to us
and that is that it is Christ as the
Emancipator
Christ as He who brings us out of the prison and bondage of the
tyranny of sin
who is the great Joy-giver. For there is no real
deep
fundamental and impregnable gladness possible to a man until his relations to
God have been rectified
and until
with the consciousness of forgiveness and
the Divine love nestling warm at his heart
he has turned himself away from his
dread and his sin
and has recognized in his Father God “the gladness of his
joy.” There are many: us who feel that life is sufficiently comfortable without
any kind of reference to God at all. But about all that kind of surface joy
the old words are true
“even in laughter the heart is sorrowful
” and hosts of
us are satisfied with joys which Jesus has no part in brining
simply because
our truest self has never once awakened. When it does you will find out “that
no one can bring real joy who does not take away guilt and sin.
II. JESUS CHRIST
TRANSFORMS SORROW BECAUSE HE TRANSFORMS THE MOURNER. All that this Joy-bringer
and Transmuter of grief into its opposite is represented as doing
is on the
man who feels the sorrow. In regard to the ordinary sorrows of life
He affects
these not so much by an operation upon our circumstances as by an operation
upon ourselves
and transforms sorrow and brings gladness
because He
transforms the man that endures it. The landscape remains the same
the
difference is the colour of the glass through which we look at it. How does He
do it?
1. By giving to the man sources of joy
if he will use them
altogether independent of external circumstances. “Although the fig-tree shall
not blossom
” etc. The paradox of the Christian life is “as sorrowful
yet
always rejoicing.
2. There is another way by which for us
if we will use our
privileges
the sorrows of life may be transmuted
because we
contemplating
them
have come to a changed understanding of their meaning. We shall never
understand life if we class its diverse events simply under the two opposite
categories of good--evil; prosperity--adversity; gains-losses; fulfilled
expectations--disappointed hopes. Put them all together under one
class--discipline and education; means for growth; means for Christlikeness.
When we have found out
what it takes a long while for us to learn
that the
lancet and the bandage are for the same purpose
and that opposite weathers
conspire to the same end
that of the harvest
the sting is out of the sorrow
the poison is wiped off the arrow.
3. Here we may suggest a third way by which a transformation wrought
upon ourselves transforms the aspect of our sorrows
and that is that
possessing independent sources of joy
and having come to learn the educational
aspect of all adversity
we thereby are brought by Jesus Christ Himself to the
position of submission. That is the most potent talisman to transform mourning
into praise. An accepted grief is a conquered grief; a conquered grief will
very soon be a comforted grief; and a comforted grief is a joy.
III. JESUS GIVES JOY
AFTER SORROW. Jesus Christ
even here and now
gives these blessed results of
our sorrows
if they are taken to the right place
and borne in the right
fashion. For it is they “that mourn in Zion that He thus blesses. There are
some of us
I fear
whose only resource in trouble is to fling ourselves into
some work
or some dissipation. And there are some of us whose only resource
for deliverance from our sorrows is that
after the wound has bled all it can
it stops bleeding
and that grief simply dies by lapse of time
and for want of
fuel. An affliction wasted is the worst of all waste. But if we carry our grief
into the sanctuary
then
here and now
it will change its aspect
and be a
solemn joy. I say nothing about the ultimate result
where every sorrow rightly
borne shall be represented in the future life by some stage in grace or glory
where every tear shall be crystallized
if I might so say
into a flashing
diamond
which flings off the reflection of the Divine light
where “there
shall be no sorrow nor sighing
nor any more pain
” for the former things are
passed away. When the lesson has been learnt
God burns the rod. But there is
another sadder transformation of joy into its opposite. I saw a few days ago
on a hill-top
a black circle among the grass and heather. There had been a
bonfire there on Coronation night
and it had all died down
and that was the
end--a hideous ring of scorched barrenness amidst the verdure. Take care that
your gladnesses do not die down like that
but that they are pure
and being
pure are undying. Separation from Christ makes joy shallow
and makes it
certain that at last
instead of a garland
shall be ashes on the head
and
that
instead of a festal robe
the spirit shall be wrapped in a garment of
heaviness. (A. Maclaren
D. D.)
.
Trees of Righteousness
Trees of righteousness
Notice some points of comparison which this figure suggests when
used to represent the redeemed.
I. THEY ARE TREES.
This indicates--
1. That they have life. They are not inanimate objects.
2. That they have dependent life. They are planted in the ground-
Their fertility depends on the soil. Those planted in Christ shall be fruitful.
3. That they have a life of growth. Spiritual life is a development.
II. THEY ARE GOODLY
TREES. “Trees of righteousness.” Not poisonous or useless objects. The object
of trees is--
1. To afford shelter. They shade from the heat and the storm.
2. To adorn the world. They are the beauty of earth
its crown and
delight.
3. To give fruit. They are the profit and sustenance of the sower.
Trees of righteousness are all this in the spiritual world. (Homilist.)
Trees of righteousness
The imagery in the text
taken from trees
is very frequently used
in the Bible (Psalms 1:3; Psalms 92:12; Jeremiah 17:8;Hosea 14:5-7; John 15:1-27.; Revelation 22:2).
I. IN WHAT RESPECT
DO TREES REPRESENT CHRISTIANS II. Trees contribute largely to keep the
atmosphere pure and healthful. When human beings
and indeed all animals
breathe out
there is given off a gas which is injurious and destructive to
animal life. But this deleterious air is needful to the life and growth of
plants; so trees and vegetation eagerly appropriate the air which is hurtful to
us. At the same time the leaves of trees give off oxygen
which tends to purify
the air
and render it fit for us to breathe. When the air around us has passed
through an extent of leaf surface it is pure and invigorating There is a moral
atmosphere
and the presence of Christian people in that moral atmosphere
contributes to make it pure.
2. Trees supply many articles which are most useful in commerce--such
as food
clothing
medicine. These things
as products in which men trade
tend
to the enrichment and general benefit of society. Trees yield timber
with
which our houses are built and our furniture is made. Palms yield edible
fruits
and a great quantity of oil. And so
like these trees
true Christians
contribute in many ways to benefit society at large. Look around on our own
country
and notice the immense number of charitable institutions
etc. To what
do they owe their existence? Unquestionably to the power of Christian love.
3. Trees are objects of great beauty. Scripture and poetry recognize
the beauty of trees
and every one who has any eye to enjoy the charm of the
country will readily admit that trees are objects of indescribable beauty. So
there is a beauty
a charm
in the graces of Christian character as seen in
purity of life
a loving
self-denying spirit which lays out its powers for the
good of others (1 Corinthians 13:4-8; Philippians 4:8).
4. Trees are endowed with great strength. There are grand old oaks
which have stood for more than a thousand years. A friend told me that an
engineer in his employ saw a cedar in Algiers which must have been more than
two thousand years old. A writer in the Times gives the following
calculation as to the age of the Mammoth pine of California. He says
“A friend
has sent me two specimens of the wood of the Wellingtonea gigantea. Of
the timber sent there are two pieces: one a specimen of the older
or
heart-wood; the other a specimen of the more recent
or sap-wood.” He then goes
into a careful and elaborate calculation as to the age of the tree
and on the
lowest estimate
he makes out that the tree was five thousand five hundred and
forty-four years old. This long duration suggests how many storms and dangers
the grand old tree has had to weather. So true Christians are possessed of
great strength. Think of the many temptations
the many severe trials
through
which such believers have had to pass!
II. THE PLANTING OF
THESE TREES. They are not self-planted. They are not of man’s planting. “The
planting of the Lord.”
1. Their nature in its fruit-bearing power and in its beauty and
strength is given to them by the Lord. How did they become “trees of
righteousness?” Not by any serf-originated choice or act of their own. The
Gentiles are spoken of by Paul as being “cut out of the wild olive tree
which
is wild by nature
and grafted contrary to nature into the good olive tree.”
Here the scion of the wild olive is represented as grafted on the stock of the
productive oil-bearing one; and they are called on to remember that they derive
their life and nourishment from the root of the stock
which
being holy
makes
the branches holy (Romans 11:16; Romans 11:18). All their life and
sufficiency are from Christ alone.
2. The culture
as well as the nature
of these trees is of the Lord.
“My Father is the Husbandman.” “Every branch in Me that beareth not fruit He
taketh away
and every branch that beareth fruit He purgeth it
that it may
bring forth more fruit.”
III. THE GREAT
DESIGN AND END OF OUR BEING MADE TREES OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. “That He might be
glorified.”
1. The glory of the Lord and our spiritual welfare go together. The
beauty of the flower
the fruitfulness Of the tree
are the glory of the
gardener.
2. The glory of the Lord is the highest end which any created being
can serve. This was the grand end Christ kept before Himself
and accomplished:
“I have glorified Thee on the earth.” This in the deepest desire of every saint
in his holiest moments: “that God in all things maybe glorified.” (G. W.
Humphreys
B. A.)
Trees of righteousness
The passage takes in the whole family of God. Observe--
I. WHY THEY ARE
CALLED TREES OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.
1. A tree is the beauty of the landscape. The Church of God is the
beauty of the world.
2. A tree is remarkable for its strength. And there is that in the
believer that gives one the conviction of strength. Where is his strength? He
is united to Christ--“Rooted in Him.”
3. A tree is fruitful (Philippians 1:9-11; John 15:5).
II. THEY ARE
DESCRIBED AS “THE PLANTING OF THE LORD.” There are some trees that are not of
His planting
and yet they seem for a time to be good trees. There is a good
deal of outward acquaintance with Divine things
a good deal of outward change;
yet
after all
it is not a tree of the Lord’s right hand planting. It is a
solemn truth--“Every plant which My heavenly Father hath not planted
shall be
rooted up.” It may look well for a time; it may be fair and promising to the
outward eye; but not being rooted in Christ
not bringing forth fruit
it shall
be destroyed. But these are trees of “the Lord’s planting.” He chose them for
His own. And with His own hand He transplants them out of the “waste howling
wilderness
and plants them in His own garden. All the “trees of righteousness”
are transplants. The end for which the Lord did it was that they might be
”
trees of righteousness.’
III. THE GREAT END.
“That He might be glorified. It shall be His Glory when they exhibit the beauty
of a consistent profession. He shall be glorified especially by their
fruitfulness. Concluding remarks: If you are trees of the Lord
do not be
surprised if He should take His knife. You must be exposed to storms. (J. H.
Evans
M. A.)
Trees of righteousness
I. HEN AS TREES.
1. As all trees have roots
so have all men. These roots are the
principles which lie at the foundation of their character. These principles
perform the same functions in the moral organism of a man as the root does in
the material organism of a tree. The peculiar business of a tree-root is to
collect the necessary food for sustaining the living body of the tree; and for
this purpose it seems to be endowed with a kind of instinct which enables it to
attract only those substances which correspond to the nature of the tree and
will contribute to its growth
and to repel those which are different and would
accordingly prove hurtful. Similarly
the principles which underlie human
character are virtually the food-finders and life-sustainers of the soul
groping about among the scenes and circumstances and events by which they are
surrounded
for such moral or immoral entertainment as is demanded by the
nature of the being with which they are connected.
2. As all trees grow by assimilation from within
so do all men. You
cannot build a tree
as you can build a house or construct a ship
by
mechanical additions from without. The tree must build itself
by a delicate
machinery of its own. In the same way does human nature grow by assimilation
from within.
3. As all trees put forth leaves
so do all men. They put forth the
leaves of an outward profession
not necessarily in words
but tacitly in
external behaviour. A man without a profession is an impossibility. If there be
vitality in a tree the annual approach of spring will make it bud and put forth
tender sprouts; and so if there be vitality in a soul it will as surely clothe
itself in a garment of speech and action. And as the leaves assume a shape and
tint corresponding to the nature of the tree
so do the words and deeds of men
contract a character from their souls.
4. As all trees produce fruit of some kind or other
so do all men.
There is an endless variety among the fruits of the earth
but there are no
trees that have not fruit of some kind; and there are no souls that are not
continually producing fruit
whether of sin unto death
or of obedience unto
righteousness.
II. SAINTS AS
TREES.
1. The saints as trees differ from the rest of men as to the kind of
fruit they produce. They are “trees of righteousness
lit oaks of
righteousness
a phrase susceptible of different renderings
though the obvious
one is perhaps as good as any
“oaks that bear the fruits of righteousness.”
Saints are instruments of holy service “created in Christ Jesus unto good
works.” They produce good works by the very same necessity as an oak bears
acorns--a necessity of nature. “The fruit of the Spirit is love
joy
peace
”
etc.
2. Saints as trees differ from the rest of men as to the special
training or culture they receive. They are “the planting of the Lord.” Other
trees grow wild on the open common of an unprotected and sin-accursed world
enjoying no other culture than the laws of nature and the winds and rains of
heaven are able to impart; but these have been uprooted from the sterile soil
in which they grew and planted in the garden of the Church--uprooted by the skilful
hand of the Great Husbandman of souls
and planted beside the gentle streams of
grace that proceed from the throne of God
in some quiet and secluded corner
where they are carefully trained and tended.
3. Saints as trees differ from the rest of men as to the ultimate end
for which they grow. Other trees have no end to serve beyond bearing their
appropriate fruits
but these have a special view to the honour and reputation
of the Husbandman who planted them; being “the planting of the Lord that He may
be glorified.” So does Christ say of saints
“Herein is My Father glorified
that ye bear much fruit.” (W. Jones.)
Tongues in trees
1. One thing which strikes us in connection with trees is their very
small beginnings
e.g the oak. The trees of righteousness are small in their
beginnings. Faith
as exercised at first
is only as a grain of mustard seed.
Grace
as first experienced in the heart
is a very tender plant. Look at Paul
and Wesley
and Whitefield
and many others
who illustrate the perfection that
is attainable here. And see what perfection these trees of righteousness may
attain hereafter.
2. Trees are slow and progressive in their growth. The concentric
circles that may be seen within certain kinds of trees
have come there by the
annual addition of one; and in full-grown ones there may be counted as many as
a hundred or more. Hence an idea may be gathered of the gradualness of
development in tree life. The trees of righteousness are often similarly slow
and progressive in their growth. We should not be discouraged because we do not
reach perfection at once. Walking is a favourite Scriptural mode of describing
the progress of a godly life. The believer is represented first as a babe
then
as passing through a state of youthhood
and then as having reached the
maturity of manhood in Christ Jesus.
3. Great varieties distinguish trees. Among the well-known kinds are
the strong and kinglike oak
the lofty and aspiring pine
the graceful and
lovely beech
the timid and trembling aspen
the unsocial thorn
the dependent
ivy
and many others. There are equally great varieties within the sphere of
religious life. Moses’ nature was equable
Elijah’s stern
and inflexible
Isaiah’s buoyant
Jeremiah’s plaintive
Peter’s impulsive
and John’s amiable.
And what varieties are met with in the sphere of modern religious life! We may
be reminded
in relation to this fact
that we should not trouble ourselves
because we are not like somebody else.
4. Observe in trees a dependence on external conditions for their
growth and development. In all the stages of vegetable life the influences of
the soil and of the atmosphere are necessary to a full and healthy growth. The
trees of righteousness require certain outward conditions for their growth and
development. Their spiritual vitality is not self-originated and underived. We
should therefore not neglect communion with Him who is “the fountain of life
and of grace
” by the means which are intended to secure us these benefits.
5. Notice also the different effects upon trees of the sun’s powerful
influence at certain seasons of the year
and of the diminution of that
influence at other seasons. When the sun comes forth “as a bridegroom from his
chamber
” and “rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race
” as he does in the vernal
season of the year
how beautifully the trees begin to exhibit signs of
returning life! How they put forth shoots! How they cover themselves with
foliage! And how
by and by
they are laden with fruits! But when his influence
is partially withdrawn or modified
as in the autumnal season
how quickly
there appear the tints which are sure signs of decay. God’s people are
similarly affected by the Sun of Righteousness. When they enjoy His radiant and
genial beams
as they never fail to do when they do not interpose their own
unbelief
how admirable is the effect! But when the Sun of Righteousness
withdraws Himself
or hides His face from His people through their
unfaithfulness
then there ensues a period of decay
and even death.
6. Trees arc useful. This is not merely the case with such trees as
provide us with delicious fruit
or furnish us with materials for the
manufacture of articles of clothing
or supply us with certain medicines
or
yield us timber for the construction of our dwellings
it is the ease with all
trees. A writer
who is an authority
tells us
“Every tree in nature makes
itself felt in the good it does the air.” The trees of righteousness arc
useful. This is the case with all. We may not have the commanding abilities of
some
nor occupy the positions of influence of others; but all who are living
truly Christian lives
however hidden from public gaze
are helping to purify
the moral atmosphere of society
and of the world. And this is usefulness that
receives Divine approval. (J. A. Rimmer.)
The forests and orchards of God
I. THE SUGGESTIVE
DESCRIPTION OF THE CHARACTER OF GOD’S PEOPLE AND OF THEIR RELATION TO HIM.
“Trees.”
II. THE MANNER IN
WHICH THIS CHARACTER IS TO BECOME THE POSSESSION OF MEN. “The planting of the
Lord.” God is His own gardener
and those who would know the blessedness of
being “God’s husbandry” are to be in all things submitted to God’s hand.
1. God chooses the position in which His trees are to be planted.
2. He hides the roots in life-giving soil.
3. He visits our life with the renewing power of His own life. “As
the rain cometh down and watereth the earth and maketh it bring forth and bud
”
so is the operation of the Holy Spirit upon the inner life of those who “ask
the Father” that it may be so.
III. THE GREAT
PURPOSE WHICH THIS CHARACTER IS TO SERVE. “That He might be glorified.”
Christians are called to increase the honour of the Divine name.
1. In the spiritual condition of their” own life. Trees of
righteousness must exhibit
the beauty
and symmetry of a rightly-formed and
healthily-developed spiritual life..
2. This character has to be shown as the most truly living thing the
world contains.. If you erect a building and fill it with industrious or noisy
people
and by the side
of it plant a few elm trees
you will find that
“life’s little day ebbs out” from within the house
that even the building
crumbles towards decay
and that the trees
living and increasing in force of
life
will run their roots beneath and through the foundations until they have
warped the whole structure and brought it to its overthrow. One has standing
room for its lifeless form on the earth
the other lives
and therefore
overcomes. And the Christian has to show the world that though it may erect the
sturdiest structures out of itself
there is a mightier presence in the
character of godliness which by roots of living union gathers its power from
Christ
and which will overthrow resistance and establish itself with the calm
irresistibleness of eternal life planted and watched over by the almighty and
unchangeable God.
3. Trees of righteousness must cause men to taste the fruit of
righteousness and to live under its shadow. We all love shadow. None would like
to be deprived of its beauty or of its refreshment. And even to think afar off
of some fruit-trees is to experience real pleasure. Oh! for the spirit of
Christ to dwell in us so richly that to have our society would be like walking
beneath thickly overhanging trees in the noontide heat
or roaming at will in a
well watered garden
and would cause men to give ungrudging testimony that
Christian character was earth’s true similitude of heaven. (W. H. Jackson.)
“Trees of righteousness
Keeping to the natural figure under which the thing of God in man
are described
these must be trees of beauty and symmetry
developed equally on
all sides
with timber
twig
and foliage answering to the ideal in a mind
which knows what a perfect tree would be. (W. H. Jackson.)
Verse 4
And they shall build the old wastes
Building the old wastes
There are many wastes in the world
and there are all sorts of
them.
But of all sad and melancholy waste places
there is none so melancholy
so
terrible
so desperate as a waste soul--a soul in which there is no sense of
right and wrong in the tribunal of conscience; a soul where there is no
distinct
manly
nobly inspiring purpose for spending and occupying life; a
soul in which the mind is not instructed or Fed with useful knowledge
but
which lies fallow; a soul where the heart is a cage of unclean birds.
I. As to THE
METHODS of building up these waste places. Let us honestly confess that there
are many of them
and none of them to be despised; and each is to be put in its
proper order
and none can be dispensed with--one comes first
another second
and another third. There are in this earth of ours whole nations which may be
called waste places.
1. The first thing to be done with the waste place of a great nation
is to bring civilization into it; then the soil of the heart is prepared for
better things to come.
2. Then many of our missionaries have to form a language: there are
many words missing in the people’s dialect
without which they could not
understand the truths of the Gospel. Then when a man is educated
he finds his
imagination filled with new ideas; he feels he has taken his place in the great
society of mankind
and is ready to listen to the truths which a little while
before he trampled under his feet.
3. Another great means of building waste places is commerce and
trade.
4. Good government is necessary. No man can receive the greatest and
loftiest truths when they are living in a constant state of danger.
5. Preach the Gospel of Christ.
II. THE INSTRUMENTS.
Whom does God use to build up the waste places?
1. His Sou is the great Builder (Luke 4:18
etc.).
2. Then as His representative
and
so to speak
in His place
His
minister
His ambassador
His mouthpiece
HIS witness
the Church of God. Her
great mission is to preach the Word of God
and administer the sacraments of
Christ. Then there are other ways. The Church must try to enter into all the
needs
and difficulties
and wants of those to whom she ministers. (A.
W.Thorold
D. D.)
Social needs: religious duties
Our work is a work of restoration. This message is infinitely
varied in its tone. If we are indeed to build the “old wastes
” we must
see what has made them wastes; and we shall find that there have been three
great enemies that have done this--disease and ignorance and sin.
I. We must bring a
message of good news to THE BODY. We must recognize its needs--its need of pure
air
and wholesome food
and healthy homes; and
also
its craving
especially
in the days of youth
for leisure and amusement
and even excitement. We must
meet these cravings
not with the forbidding frown of the Puritan
as though
they were in themselves sinful
nor yet with the easy-going smile of the good-natured
Epicurean
as though they were the all in all of human happiness
but with
sympathy and good sense and forethought
in the belief that they represent one
part of the Father’s will for His human children.
II. We must to the
full recognize the rights of THE MIND. A Gospel that has no message of good
news to the intellect of man is but a mutilated Gospel. Literature
art
science
music
have not
indeed
the last word to say on man’s relation to
God
but they have a mighty and a lovely word to say; and it ought to be the
joy of all Christ’s truest ministers
lay and clerical
to help in conveying
such words to the ear and to the heart even of the poorest and dullest. Public
libraries and museums
cheap concerts and cheap magazines
arc among the truest
weapons of those who would in our day destroy the works of the devil.
III. Chiefly must we
come face to face with sin
not only with a message against sin; we must have a
message of good tidings also to HUMAN SOULS. And when I say “good tidings
” I do
not necessarily mean agreeable and attractive tidings. When Jesus said
“Repent
ye and believe the Gospel
” the call to repent
though hardly attractive
was
in itself a Gospel. We cannot build the waste places in England
in morals and
social customs
in ways of thinking and talking and feeling
unless we very
plainly denounce what is unchristian in contemporary life. The message of the
Gospel is not only a soothing message of forgiveness to the sinner who is
troubled in mind
nor a tender message of companionship to the lonely and the
bereaved
nor a consoling message of eventual justice to the wronged and the
overborne. But there is also the voice which convinces the world of sin
the
voice which says to society
irrespective of class
to rich as well as to poor
to poor as well as to rich: “In this and that you are wholly wrong; you are
wrong in your expenditure of time
wrong in your expenditure of money
wrong in
your estimate of the true prizes of life
wrong in your worship of comfort
wrong in your class isolation; wrong
many of you
in your very conception of
religion.” We have
if we are indeed witnesses of our Master
a message of good
tidings to all alike
to all classes
to the rich and to the poor
to the
highly cultivated and-to the ignorant. (H. M. Butler
D. D.)
Antiquities revived
I. THE ANTIQUITIES
THAT ARE LAID WASTE.
1. Vital godliness.
2. Apostolic doctrine. The sovereignty of God
substitution
sanctity
etc.
3. Loyalty to Jesus.
4. The unity of the Spirit.
II. THE PROMISE OF
THE SPECIAL REVIVALS THAT TO TAKE PLACE. “They shall build
” etc. (J. Irons.)
Verse 6
But ye shall be named the Priests of the Lord
Israel’s priesthood among the nations
The meaning is simply that in relation to the Gentiles
Israel
shall enjoy a position of priesthood analogous to the relation between priests
and laymen.
It was Israel’s calling to be a “kingdom of priests” (Exodus 19:6)
and in the latter days this
destiny will be fulfilled in their mediatorial relation to the outer world.
Although prophecy in general accords a position of supremacy to Israelites in
the future kingdom of God
the distinction is
perhaps
nowhere so definitely
formulated as here. (Prof. J. Skinner
D. D.)
New Testament privileges expressed in Old Testament phraseology
Regarding the position assigned to the Hebrew nation after it has
become the teacher of other peoples and the leader of their worship
as here
declared
we can form no conception that will harmonize with the spirit of New
Testament liberty and the abolition of all dividing-walls between the
nations
--the prophet predicts New Testament matters in Old Testament fashion.
(F. Delitzsch
D. D.)
God’s priesthood v man’s priestcraft
When Christ came
all earthly priesthoods were abolished
and of
all members of His kingdom it was to be said
“Ye shall be named the priests of
the Lord.”
I. HOW IS THE
OFFICE OF THE PRIESTHOOD ENTERED? Aaron and his sons are the types of Christ’s
high priesthood and the priesthood of all believers. The Holy Ghost has most
clearly taught by this type the order of entrance into spiritual priesthood.
1. The priests become so by virtue of their union with the high
priest (Exodus 28:1). And the call of Christ unto
His high priesthood also includes the call of all His sons into their spiritual
priesthood.
2. In the consecration of Aaron’s sons to the priesthood there was
also blood sprinkling. Christ’s high priesthood rests on an accomplished
sacrifice. What does my priesthood rest on? On blood
too.
3. The anointing gives the qualification for priesthood (1 John 2:20; 1 John 2:27).
4. The qualification of garments (Exodus 28:4; Exodus 28:40).
II. THE PRIVILEGES
AND DUTIES APPERTAINING TO THIS PRIESTHOOD.
1. To offer up spiritual sacrifices (1 Peter 2:5). Our bodies (Romans 12:1); our prayers; our praise;
our intercessions.
2. It was the priest’s duty and privilege to maintain the service of
the sanctuary. Every believer
being a priest
has equal right with every other
believer to engage in maintaining the service of the sanctuary. (A. G.
Brown.)
Verse 7
Everlasting joy shall be unto them
The everlasting joy
We pore with intense earnestness over the words which picture the
joys of the future.
Everlasting joy. What are its springs?
I. THE INWARD
HARMONY
THE PERFECT ORDER OF THE BEING
THE CONCERT OF EVERY FACULTY AND FORCE
IN THE FULFILMENT OF THE WILL OF GOD. That is the peace of God--the perfect
peace. The redeemed man is the governed man; the man who has re-found the King
who can evoke his loyal passions
and control and direct his manifold powers.
This rule
the rule of his true King
has been lost to him through sin. This
supreme
complete control of his being heaven will restore. An unsphered planet
could be won back to the harmony of its sister planets only by the attraction
of their common sun. The King has appeared and claimed His own. We know little
of heaven’s occupations
the aspect of its homes
the modes of its speech
the
forms of its life. We know only that the God-man is there
and reigns. He whom
we can love with intensest passion
and serve with exulting joy
will meet us
on its threshold
will sweep the flood of His attractions round every limb and
organ of our being
and thrill us in one intense moment with the sense that we
are one
that we are blessed.
II. THE FULL VISION
OF THE GLORY OF GOD IN THE CREATION
the beholding of all that God has meant
and sin has marred
in the constitution of the worlds.
III. THE COMMUNION
OF THE BLESSED--the joy of fellowship when the struggle and toil are ended for
ever--the companionship of the elect and beloved--intercourse with the elder
spirits who are before the throne. (J. R. Brown
B. A.)
Verse 9
And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles
A blessed seed
The children of these persons themselves
that are now the blessed
of the Lord
or their successors in profession
the Church’s seed
shall be
“accounted to the Lord for a generation” (Psalms 22:30).
1. They shall signalize themselves
and make their neighbours to take
notice of them. They shall distinguish themselves by the gravity
seriousness
humility
and cheerfulness of their conversation
especially by that brotherly
love by which all men shall know them to be Christ’s disciples; and they thus
distinguishing themselves
God shall dignify them by making then the blessings
of their age
and instruments of His glory; and by giving to remarkable tokens
of His favour
which shall make them eminent
and go them respect from all
about them.
2. God shall have the glory of this
for eve:.” one shall attribute
it to the blessing of God. (M. Henry.)
The life-testimony of the Christian missionary
The glorious fulfilment of this promise in its original and proper
sense may be seen already in the influence exerted by the eloquent example of
the missionary on the most ignorant and corrupted heathen
without waiting for
the future restoration of the Jews to the land of their fathers. (J. A.
Alexander.)
The seed which the Lord
hath blessed
The blessed seed
I. THERE IS A SEED
OR RACE WHICH THE LORD HATH BLESSED. Elsewhere it is described as “the Israel
of God (Galatians 6:16). But it is neither
co-extensive with
nor confined to
the descendants of Jacob (Romans 9:6 - Galatians 3:28; Galatians 4:28; Ephesians 3:6; Philippians 3:3). This seed God hath
blessed abundantly.
1. With peace.
2. With purity.
3. With strength.
4. With hope.
5. With joy.
6. With that which is the source of the peace and hope and joy--an
assurance of HIS love.
II. THERE ARE
OUTWARD SIGNS BY WHICH THOSE WHO BELONG TO THE SEED WHICH THE LORD HATH BLESSED
MAY BE INFALLIBLY KNOWN. God has distinguished HIS ancient people by certain
physical characteristics which have survived through many generations and have
proved indestructible by all changes of climate and condition
so that wherever
any of them are found we may say with confidence
these are the children of
Abraham. And there are certain marks by which all who belong to God’s spiritual
Israel are as clearly marked off from their fellow-men. Such as--
1. Love for Christ.
2. Unworldiness.
3. Consistency. (J. Harris
M. A.)
Verse 10
I will greatly rejoice in the Lord
The garments of salvation
I.
Here
is a GLAD RESOLVE. “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord
my soul shall be joyful
in my God.
1. Where there is a will there is generally a way
and sad though you
be
something is gained if you will resolve to rejoice.
2. It is always “in the Lord” that we must rejoice. Friends are
dying
helps are failing
hopes are being blasted. Rejoice in the Lord.
3. I further admire this resolve because we are by it determining to
rejoice “greatly” in the Lord. If He is worth rejoicing in at all
He is worth
rejoicing in greatly.
4. We are bidden to rejoice as to our inmost souls. “My soul” shall
be joyful in my God. Soul-joy is the soul of joy
and there is no other joy
worth the having.
5. The joy is in a personal God. “My soul shall be joyful in my God.”
I think the secret lies just there. It is one thing to rejoice in God
the God
of nature
the God of providence
or
for that matter
the God of grace; but it
is quite another thing to rejoice in “my God.”
II. There are RIGHT
GOOD REASONS
the best of reasons
for this glad resolve. “He hath clothed me
with the garments of salvation
He hath covered me with the robe of
righteousness.”
1. “He hath” done it. We may well say “I will
” if we can already say
“He hath.” It is because “He hath” that we will.
2. “He hath clothed me.”
3. “He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation.” This is an
effectual way of saying
“He hath saved me.”
He hath clothed me with
the garments of salvation
Dressed for eternity
I. THE SACRED
DRESS. “The garments of salvation.”
1. Garments are used as a covering. Is a garment for the body more
needed than one for the soul? Which of us could stand in the presence of an
angel without sinking to the ground in very shame? I draw your attention to the
glory of God’s garments of salvation--they completely cover all your iniquity
and blot out all your sin.
2. A garment is used to beautify
to adorn. The garment of salvation
is an adornment
for it reveals God in you to your neighbours. What can be more
beautiful than a man or woman or child who tries to bless another! That is the
life of the angels; the life of God--ministering unto others.
3. Garments are used also as a sign one’s condition or occupation.
Monarchs
priests
judges
and officers of state wear robes to indicate their
real or implied superiority. Shakespere says
“the apparel oft proclaims the
man.” You can generally tell something about a man’s character and calling from
his clothing. The world judges of Christian people by the garments of their
conduct.
II. THE GIVER OF
THE GARMENTS.
III. THE PERSONAL
APPROPRIATING. “He hath clothed me.” Where is salvation? In Christ
and Christ
is in and for us. (W. Birch.)
Verse 11
For as the earth bringeth forth her bud
God’s Word as seed
The Word in the mouth of the servant of Jehovah is the seed out of
which great things are developed before all the world.
The ground and soil of this development is mankind
the garden enclosed in it
is the Church
and the great things themselves are righteousness as the present
inner nature of His Church
and renown as its present outward manifestation.
The impulsive force of the seed is Jehovah
but the bearer of the seed is the
Servant of Jehovah
and the fact that it is possible to scatter the seed of a
future so full of grace and glory is the ground of His festive rejoicing. (F.
Delitzsch
D. D.)
Certainty in redemption as in nature
As surely as the seed germinates in the earth
so surely will
Jehovah bring to pass the great redemption here promised through the
self-fulfilling power of His Word (cf. Isaiah 55:10; Isaiah 42:9; Isaiah 43:19; Isaiah 58:8). (Prof. J. Skinner
D. D.)
The springing forth of righteousness
It is a great act that God performs before our eyes during the
spring and summer.
I. It is a
MANIFESTATION that we see. A mystery hidden during the winter months is being
revealed. As Nature hides and then reveals
“So the Lord will cause
righteousness and praise to spring forth.”
1. It is a great manifestation of power that we see. We more readily
associate God’s power with vast convulsions; but this is the continuously
working and gentle power of the Most High. Mark the consummate case with which
all is done. Yet not a sheath is split
not a flower starts from the earth
but
it is moved to do so by some power.
2. Is not this putting forth of leaves a great manifestation of mind?
Suppose we discard the word “design ‘ and accept the word “adaptation
” do we
escape from the suggestion of mental action? It is not possible to describe the
facts as they appear to us without using language that implies adjustment by
means of mind.
3. It is something more than mind that is manifested in the beauty of
nature. Beauty is only visible to reason
indeed to the higher kind of reason.
Your horse sees nothing of the beauty of the landscape; your dog despises your
flowers. The images of all these things are reflected on their eyes as on
yours
but they produce no emotion. So that in nature
it seems
special
provision is made for the peculiar gratification of the higher mind of man.
Surely it must be reason that thus addresses itself to reason
and if reason
then benevolence.
II. The prophet
sees in this THE PARABLE OF ANOTHER MANIFESTATION--a great moral and spiritual
manifestation. “So the Lord God
” etc. It is pathetic that he should maintain
this faith through the “winter of his discontent.” All spiritual influences are
treasured up
and there is a conservation of spiritual force as of natural. But
the preparation is long
as the winter that precedes the spring. How great the
joy of knowing that we may help to provide or strengthen the forces of the
world’s true vernal hour.
III. Remember that
WE SHALL BE MANIFESTED (2 Corinthians 5:10). Forces arc
gathering within us. When we “awake
may our surprise
even in respect to
ourselves
be like that with which we look upon the new heavens and the new
earth! (A. H. Vine.)
The reign of righteousness
I. THE GOSPEL IS
THE DISPENSATION OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. The love it reveals is a just love; the love
it requires is a just love. It is a righteous system on two accounts.
1. It defends the rights of man. It takes nothing from him but his
sin.
2. The Gospel also reveals a righteousness which God has provided for
man as a guilty and lost sinner. It shows that God can save transgressors
without transgressing Himself the eternal laws and the general interests of His
government. To show this is its peculiar use. The chief object of the Gospel is
not to prove that there is love in God
but to show the nature and extent of
that love. Natural religion preaches the benevolence of God; revealed religion
preaches the justice of His benevolence. The creation proves the existence of
God’s perfections; the cross of Christ harmonizes them.
II. THE SPIRIT OF
GOD ALONE CAN RENDER THIS SYSTEM OPERATIVE AND EFFICIENT IN THE WORLD. “The
Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.”
The process by which this is to be accomplished is figuratively described in
the text: “As the earth bringeth forth her bud
and as the garden causes the
things that are sown in it to spring forth
” so the Lord God will make the
Gospel effectual to the salvation of men. The process is Divine
vivifying
progressive
and beautiful. (Caleb Morris.)
Spring
I. THE ONCOMING OF
SPRING TEACHES THAT THERE IS A GOD. There is an invisible Creator
a reflection
of whose thoughts and a product of whose power are all these magic spring
wonders.
II. Another lesson
which spring particularly teaches is that THERE ARE ALLOTTED SEASONS FOR
CERTAIN TASKS. Our Saviour thus on several occasions speaks of “times and
seasons” ordained by God. And the Psalmist refers to this same arrangement when
he says
: “The Lord appointeth the moon for seasons
the sun knoweth his going
down. In nature
therefore
spring holds an ordered place. As summer is for
ripening and autumn for reaping
so is this season for planting. It is the season
for beginnings
the time for casting in the seed. Just such an order there is
in the vineyard of grace. There is a spring-time of the Gospel
when all the
conditions are favourable to making secure our eternal interests. Let every one
heed this period. For it is most critical. It is his accepted time; it it his
day of salvation. Ordinarily
the spring season is your youth. But in some
cases it
doubtless owing to unfavourable early circumstances
comes later.
III. ANOTHER LESSON
OF SPRING WE LEARN ALONE FROM INSPIRATION. It is that taught by the prophet in
the text: “For as the earth bringeth forth her bud
” etc. That is
as
Christians look upon nature putting on her flowery spring attire
and as they
see a universal bursting forth of life
activity and joy
they are to behold in
this a sign and a pledge of the progress
triumph and universal prevalence of
the kingdom of God.
IV. SPRING
MOREOVER
TEACHES THE DIVINE ORIGIN AND POWER OF BEAUTY. Does it not fulfil
that Scripture which says “He hath made everything beautiful in his time”? And
we learn therefrom that beauty is Divine. That we live not for blind utility
and stern necessities alone.
V. SPRING IS AN
EMBLEM OF IMMORTALITY. This rejuvenation coming out of the icy tomb of winter
shows us that Nature does not die--she only sleeps. Emerson puts this argument
thus: “The soul does not age with the body. On the borders of the grave the
wise man looks forward with equal elasticity of mind and hope. For it is the
nature of intelligent beings to be for ever new to life.” (J. B.
Remensnyder
D. D.)
Spring
The teaching is that there is a spiritual spring-time appointed of
God
and it will surely come. As certainly as spring comes to the earth
physically
so surely will it come to the Church spiritually.
I. CONTEMPLATE
THIS TRUTH IN REFERENCE TO THE BROAD FIELD OF THE WORLD. Let our meditations
range through history and into prophecy.
1. This leads us to expect that there may be in God’s work
and in
our work for God
a period of unrequited labour. The analogy between the
processes of nature and God’s work in the Church holds good not only as to the
revivals of spring
but as to the depressing incidents of winter. We must not
always reckon to see nations converted the moment the Gospel is preached to
them
and especially where new ground has been broken up James 5:7). While the seed is under the
ground a thousand adversaries present themselves
all apparently in array
against its ever rising from the earth. When we survey the condition of affairs
apart from faith in God
it may even seem to us that
our cause is hopeless.
2. Our text excites the hope of a sacred spring-time. God’s Gospel
cannot perish. That which is sown in the garden springs up because there is
vitality in it. Even so the truth of God is an incorruptible seed
which liveth
and abideth for ever. Life in garden seeds may be destroyed; under certain
influences the life-germ may perish
but the living truth of God is immortal
and unconquerable (1 Peter 1:24-25). But seed springs
up
not only because of its own vitality
but because of its surrounding
circumstances. So we may rest assured that Godwill make all things propitious
in His providence to the growth of His own truth. But the corn comes not up out
of the earth because it is vital
or because of its surroundings merely
for
as we believe
there is the actual power of God at work throughout nature. And
it is because God is at work in His Gospel--mysteriously at work
it is true
but certainly at work
for the Spirit of the living God which was given at
Pentecost has never gone back to heaven--that we expect the Gospel to flourish.
If at any time our mind should grow desponding concerning the progress of the
Gospel
it ought to encourage us to remember that the Gospel will conquer
not
because it looks as if it would
but because God has declared and decreed that
it shall do so. The disheartening circumstances of the winter may have been
all of them
promotive of the success of the spring. Remember what sowing has
already gone before. Christ sowed the earth with His own self. Remember
too
who is the Husbandman of this field. Moreover
there is the Spirit Himself
as
well as the Father and the Son
and He has designed to dwell in the midst of
the Church.
II. CONTEMPLATE
THIS TRUTH IN REFERENCE TO THE GARDEN COMMITTED TO YOUR OWN PERSONAL CULTURE.
As God’s people you have all something to do for Him; I want you to do it in
the best possible manner; but you will not do so unless you are of good heart.
Be not impatient with regard to the result of what you are doing. Exercise
faith as to results.
III. CONTEMPLATE THIS
SAME TRUTH IN REFERENCE TO THE BELIEVER’S SPIRITUAL STATE. Do you not sometimes
fall into a wintry condition? There are times when we feel as if we had no life
at all. In such times as these we cannot make any change in ourselves. What we
cannot do
God can do. Spring comes from yonder sun
and so must our revival in
religion
and our restored joy and peace
come from God.
IV. CONTEMPLATE ALL
THIS IN REFERENCE TO THOSE WHO ARE NEWLY AWAKENED. Those very desires of yours
show that there is some good seed sown in you. It is winter-time with you; may
that winter do you good. Your only hope of anything better than what you arc
passing through lies in Christ. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》