Chapter XI: Part 11

III. Whatever mystery may attach to this declaration, consider how precious it is--1. A God who can be disappointed is precisely the God we need. How else could we be assured of His sympathy with us in the disappointments which so frequently come upon us, and which make up so considerable a part of the experiences of our life? Were God such a being as the philosophers have imagined, we might feel that He understood us, as an anatomist understands exactly how a frog on which he is operating will act when exposed to galvanic shocks, but we could not have had the inexpressible consolation of the assurance of His sympathy. It is only a mother who has been bereaved who can comfort a mother who is weeping over her dead child. 2. A God who is so much interested in us that our failures in virtue inspire Him with profound grief and disappointment, is against precisely the God we need. Of what value to us would be a God who looked upon us with as little emotion as a king may be supposed to do upon the ants who crawl across his path? It is because men do not think of God as He is revealed in our text, that they sin against Him; if they did but realise how He feels about them, it would be impossible for them to transgress as they do. I accept His declaration, that He is disappointed in view of human sin, and I try to measure His disappointment. I find help in this endeavour in this Old Testament parable: how profound would be the disappointment of a husbandman under such circumstances as are supposed! But I find yet more valuable help in the greatest of the New Testament parables. How bitter must have been the disappointment of the father of the Prodigal when he went away into a far country! Such disappointments break the hearts of tens of thousands of fathers and mothers, and brings down their grey hairs with sorrow to the grave; and precisely such disappointment it is, only vaster, deeper, sadder, that fills the heart of our Heavenly Father when His children go astray. It is thus that some of you have grieved Him; it is thus that some of you are grieving Him to-day by your contemptuous disregard of His offers of mercy and forgiveness. Oh, think what it is that you do, and surely your carelessness must give place to profound contrition, and you will resemble the Prodigal in your penitence, as you have done in your ingratitude and your guilt.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] God is to us, and to every creature incomprehensible. If
thou couldst fathom or measure Him, and know His greatness
by a comprehensive knowledge, He were not God. A creature
can comprehend nothing but a creature. You may know God,
but not comprehend Him; as your foot treadeth on the earth,
but doth not cover all the earth. The sea is not a sea if
you can hold it in a spoon. Thou canst not comprehend the
sun which thou seest, and by which thou seest all things
else, nor the sea, or the earth, no, nor a worm, nor a
blade of grass: thy understanding knoweth not all that God
hath put into the least of these; thou art a stranger to
thyself, both body and soul. And thinkest thou, that
perfectly comprehendest nothing, to comprehend God? Stop
then thy over-bold inquiries, and remember that thou art a
shallow, finite worm, and God is infinite. First seek to
comprehend the heaven and earth and whole creation, before
thou think of comprehending Him to whom the whole world is
nothing, or vanity.--_Baxter,_ 1615-1691.

[2] During one part of the trip our party was augmented by a
redif, or soldier of the reserves, who was going home on
leave of absence. He wore the uniform of the Turkish
soldier, but I observed that in the evening he threw over
his shoulders a woman's robe, made of a soft thin kind of
felt, worn by the women in this country, and beautifully
embroidered in colours around the neck and bosom. I had the
curiosity to inquire into the history of this gown, and
could scarcely restrain my indignation at the story I
heard. The soldier said he had got the gown at Saitschar.
After the discovery of the evacuation of the place by the
Servians, he and a party of four or five more entered the
town. In one of the houses they found a Servian family that
had decided to remain in their house, and throw themselves
on the mercy of the Turks. This family consisted of an old
man, a married daughter with two children, and a girl of
fourteen, whose relationship to the rest of the family they
did not take the trouble to inquire into. The husband of
the woman, if she had one, was absent. They began by
fastening all the doors, so that nobody could escape: then
they thoroughly pillaged the house, and took and divided
everything of value among themselves. They were in the
house a day and a night, for it was a rich one apparently,
and it took some time to get everything properly divided
and packed; and besides, they were disposed to be merry and
make a night of it.

I will not enter into the details of what they did during
the night, because there are people who do not apparently
object in the least to the commission of these deeds, who
object to anybody lifting a finger to prevent them, or even
to the expression of any indignation on the subject, but
who are dreadfully shocked at the recital of them; and I
wish to spare the feelings of these sensitive persons.
Suffice it to say that the next morning the question arose
as to what should be done with the two women, the two
children, and the old man. Some of the party were in favour
of letting them go; but the rest were of opinion that it
would be amusing to kill them, and a discussion ensued,
which lasted more than an hour, in the presence of the
weeping, trembling victims, who were wildly begging for
mercy, and among whom, it should be remembered, there was a
mother begging for the lives of her two children. The
narrator said that he, with another of the party, had leant
to the side of mercy, but that the majority were against
them, and that they finally ended the discussion and the
prayers of the victims by falling upon them with their
sabres. I asked him how he had come by the gown, and he
replied that, seeing what the result was going to be, he
had stripped it from the girl while the discussion was in
progress, before she was killed, so that it might not be
blood-stained. He had taken a fancy to it, because it would
just be right for his daughter, who was about the same age;
and his companions, perceiving this, made him pay rather
high for it--fifty piastres. He was a heavy, dull-looking
brute, and it seemed strange to think that he had a
daughter, a pretty, tender, joyous little thing, perhaps,
that would wear this gown with delight. He told the story
in a quiet, phlegmatic manner, and spoke very freely,
looking upon me as an Englishman, and therefore as a
friend.--_Letter in the "Daily News,"_ Nov. 15, 1876.

A SAD CANTICLE.

v. 4-6. _What could have been done more to my vineyard? &c._

There are certain epochs in the history of the Church when on every hand may be seen the saddest indifference. This state of things is not owing to a suspension of Divine gifts, nor to the absence of earnest pastors, nor to the circumstances by which God's people are surrounded. Everything has been done for the vineyard which the wise and gracious husbandman could perform, yet no fruit is produced. The fault lies with the Church itself. Individual members have relapsed into a state of ease and supineness. Faithful warnings have been unheeded; earnest entreaties have been disregarded; mercies have been unnoticed; chastisements have been profitless. At such a time they who sigh and cry for this desolation, turn to the despised or forgotten Lord, and sing their mournful canticle, "My well-beloved," &c. (ver. 1, 2). Then the Lord replies, "Judge, I pray you," &c. (ver. 3-6). It is too true the sorrowful singer admits, and says 'He looked for judgment,' &c. (ver. 7).

Let us consider the _similitude_ under which the Church is represented, the just _complaint_ of the Lord, and the terrible _condemnation_ He pronounces.

+I. The Similitude.+ A vineyard.

This parable is peculiarly interesting on account of the fact that our Lord Jesus uttered one in many respects similar to it (Matt. xxi. 33). The figure of the vineyard is often used in the Old Testament, generally to represent the Church. The vineyard of the parable is represented as being--1. _In a very favourable locality._ 2. _Planted with the choicest vine._ 3. _Carefully fenced and diligently cultivated._ 4. _Having the husbandman living in the midst._ "Built a tower." God is His _own_ watchman on the walls of Zion.

+II. The Complaint.+ "It brought forth wild grapes." Observe the complaint is not based upon the poverty or paucity of the crop, or even upon the absence of a crop altogether, or because of the lateness of the crop. There is an abundant crop; but of what? "wild grapes," _i.e.,_ "poisonous berries," like those the servant of Elisha gathered (2 Kings iv. 39). A crop that could have grown without the husbandman at all. An unnatural production. One calculated to injure, if not to destroy life. The husbandman's design is thwarted; he expected that which would nourish and stimulate life; whereas the opposite is produced. The allegory explains itself. The inconsistencies and follies, the disobedience and idolatry of the Church, are like deadly upas trees in the world; they tend to produce infidelity, _i.e.,_ moral death, among men. The mission of the Church is to proclaim life, by God's Spirit to communicate it; instead of that, a worldly and apostate Church leads men to say and believe, "There is no God." This is unnatural; the proper fruit of the Church is holiness, obedience, and zeal.

+III. The Condemnation.+ (vers. 5, 6).

1. _Observe the mercy of the condemnation._ "It shall be eaten up." The obnoxious growth shall be destroyed. The pride, the ignorance, the idolatry of the Church shall be removed. God will not abandon her, as He does the world, to fill up her measure of iniquity. He must be glorified in His saints, although not now, yet afterward. The patient husbandman will wait for another year, when his choice vine shall yield choice fruit.

2. _Observe the severity of the condemnation._ Her privileges shall not be enjoyed. "The hedge taken away." Direful persecution shall be experienced. "It shall be trodden down." The Spirit's influence shall be withheld. "I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it." It is so with the Jews. That vineyard is desolate now;--the vines are trodden under foot; the rain rains not on them, BUT THEY ARE NOT ROOTED UP. God shall plant another hedge, dwell again in the forsaken tower; and His ancient people shall grow and flourish on the fruitful hill; bringing forth such fruit that the husbandman shall rejoice, and earth and heaven be glad.--_Stems and Twigs,_ vol. i. pp. 246-249.

ON THE ADVANTAGE OF SMALL ALLOTMENTS OF LAND TO THE POOR.

v. 7, 8. _He looked for judgment, but behold oppression;
for righteousness, but behold a cry. Woe unto them that
join house to house, and lay field to field, till there be
no place._

I. The Almighty expects from all His creatures, and especially from those to whom He has given wealth or power, the practice of justice and righteousness. II. The Almighty, instead of finding justice and righteousness among His creatures, discovers oppression on the part of the powerful, and a cry of lamentation and of indignation on the part of the poor: the proof of the oppression, and the cause of the cry is, that no place is left for the poor. There is a strong tendency to the accumulation of property, and especially of land, in the hands of a few; but such accumulations of land in a few hands tends to grave national evils--to luxury on the part of the rich, and to lawlessness on the part of the poor--and, therefore, instead of being promoted, should be discouraged by the legislature. But year by year we have been adding "field to field, and house to house," till we have left the poor no place. Rights of common and rights of pasture have been taken away, and the beer-shop established by law to occupy the time which otherwise would have been employed in healthy toil for a happy family. Little farms, held by working farmers, have been joined together, so that one may live in luxury, where ten families once dwelt in simplicity and plenty. The cottager, in his little field, that once looked so fruitful and trim, cheering the eye and charming the heart, not only of himself, but of beings dear to and dependent upon him, has been driven into some town to add to its misery, its debasement, and its discontent. Let us pray that there may come a time when the gentle in rank shall be gentle in very deed; when the rich shall recognise that they are trustees for God, and shall use their property for the purposes for which He has placed it in their hands; when allotment acts shall remedy the ruin which enclosure acts have wrought; when an enlightened self-love, arising out of the possession of something to love, shall render the demagogue and the inciter to outrage a foreigner to our land, and when our "common Father" shall find that "justice and righteousness" for which He looks.--_R. C. Parkman, B.A., Sermons_ (1843), No. X.

WILD GRAPES.

v. 8-23. _Woe unto them that join house to house, &c._

It is important to remember that this whole chapter constitutes one prophecy. Much of the power of its teaching will be lost, if this fact be overlooked. In verses 1-7, we have the astonishing declaration that in "the vineyard of the Lord of hosts" He has discovered, not the excellent fruit He had a right to expect, but "wild grapes." In verses 8-23, some of these "wild grapes" are specified and denounced. Surveying His vineyard the Husbandman beheld--

I. Not the gracious fruit of generosity, but the evil fruits of GREED and PRIDE. He saw men, not content with the possessions which Providence had conferred upon them, nor those which honest industry would enable them to secure, but coveting their neighbour's possessions, and hesitating at no means that would enable them to gratify their desires (Micah ii. 1, 2); beating down their equals, that they themselves might dwell in solitary grandeur (ver. 8). Note, 1. That the aggregation of landed property here denounced was directly contrary to the most explicit Divine ordinances (Num. xxxvi. 7; Lev. xxv. 23, 24).[1] 2. The conduct here denounced has its counterparts to-day--in the matter of land, great landowners buying up all the little farms adjoining their estates, and turning fruitful valleys into deer-runs; in trade, great capitalists subjecting their less wealthy rivals to ruinous competition, &c., &c.[2] 3. That it is not merely particular manifestations of the spirit of greed and pride, but the spirit itself, that provokes the indignation of the bountiful Giver of all good. Covetousness and arrogance are not confined to any particular class. The tenth commandment exists for the poor as well as for the rich.

II. Not the excellent fruit of temperance, but the evil fruit of SENSUAL INDULGENCE (ver. 11, 12). He saw men living for mere pleasure, without any recognition of the "work" which He had wrought for them as a nation, without any acknowledgement of His goodness to them as individuals, without any remembrance of the purpose of their being.[3]

III. Not the excellent fruit of reverence for God's Word, but the evil fruit of SCOFFING. The messengers whom He sent to recall them to duty, they scorned; the warnings which He mercifully sent to them of the judgments impending over them, they turned into merriment. Instead of forsaking their sins, they yoked themselves to them with renewed determination (verses 18, 19).

IV. Not the noble fruit of a recognition of the truth, but the evil fruit of INFIDELITY--that intellectual scepticism which seeks to destroy the very foundations of morality, and which prepares men for vice of all kinds, and hardens them therein, by confounding vice with virtue, and denying man's moral accountability.

V. Not the befitting fruit of humility and desire for Divine guidance, but the evil fruit of SELF-SUFFICIENCY (ver. 21). Clever and successful "men of the world," they resented the idea of their needing counsel and help as an insult. They were their own gods. Trusting in themselves with unfaltering confidence, they excluded from their minds all thought of Him in whom they lived and moved and had their being. Conceiving that they owed all their prosperity to their own wisdom and prudence, how could they give Him thanks? Confident that they would be equal to every emergency of life, how could they lift up to Him one real prayer?

VI. Not the indispensable fruit of righteousness in those who are called to rule, but that evil fruit which always excites His hottest indignation, DENIAL OF JUSTICE TO THE POOR. He saw the judges taking their seats on the judicial bench, not with clear intellects and the love of righteousness enthroned in their hearts, but besotted and brutalised by strong drink; not dispensing justice, but selling their verdict to those who could furnish them most amply with the means of gratifying their sensual lusts (vers. 22, 23). Than the denial of justice there is no more cruel wrong.

These were the "wild grapes" which God saw when He looked down upon His ancient vineyard. Was it any wonder that He brake down the wall thereof, and give it over to destruction? These are the "wild grapes" which He sees brought forth only too abundantly when He looks down upon this land. Is it not a wonder that He spares the nation to which we belong? 1. Let us beseech Him still to spare us, for the sake of the "ten righteous" who dwell among us. 2. Let us recognise that the most urgent duty to which we are called as patriots is the abatement of those iniquities which justly kindle God's indignation against us. 3. Let us as individuals search and see what fruits are being brought forth in the vineyard of our own souls, lest while we are deploring the iniquities of our land and time, and, it may be, are labouring to lessen them, there grow up within us, "wild grapes" which will bring down upon us the Divine condemnation.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Political philosophy has much to say in favour of laws and
institutions, at certain periods of a nation's growth, for
encouraging, or at least permitting, the disposition of its
members to found families, to be maintained by hereditary
possessions in land. Yet, if this disposition be not kept
within bounds, those who are influenced by it will "join
house to house, and field to field, till there be no
place;" till the race of small landholders, yeomen, and
partly independent tenants, is swallowed up by a few rich
despots. To prevent this evil among the Hebrews, Moses
directed as equal a division of the land as possible in the
first instance, among the 600,000 families who originally
formed the nation; and provided against the permanent
alienation of any estate, by giving a right of repurchase
to the seller and his relations, and of repossession
without purchase at the Jubilee. The story of Naboth
illustrates the effect of these laws in forming an order of
sturdy, independent yeomen; but it must also be taken as an
instance of the habitual breach of the same laws by the
rich and powerful (cf. Micah ii.; Neh. v. 1-13; 2 Chron.
xxxvi. 21); as they in like manner disobeyed that
respecting the liberation of slaves at the Jubilee (Jer.
xxxvi. 8-16). In England, where the Norman conquest
accumulated all the land in the hands of a few nobles, the
like accumulation has been opposed--however imperfectly--by
laws in their form exactly opposite to those of Moses; by
the permission to cut off old entails, and the prohibition
to make new ones except for one generation, and by allowing
land to be bought and sold like other
commodities.--_Strachey,_ pp. 65, 66.

[2] The covetous man is like a spider. As in this, that he does
nothing but lay his nets to catch every fly, gaping only
for a booty of gain. So yet more, in that while he makes
nets for these flies, he consumes his own bowels; so that
which is his life is his death. If there be any creature
miserable, it be he; and yet he is least to be pitied,
because he makes himself miserable. Such as he is I will
account him; and will therefore sweep down his webs, and
hate his poison.--_Hall,_ 1574-1656.

Covetous worldlings will hardly spare the poor some of
their fire to warm them, some of their water to drink, some
of their ground to lodge on, though it were no more hurt to
them than the lighting of a candle at their
torch.--_Adams,_ 1653.

[3] Let us remember that it will be to small purposes to enjoy
these worldly pleasures of sin for a season, and in the end
plunge ourselves into everlasting death;--that the world's
music is but the syren's song, which allures us to make
shipwreck of our souls on the rocks of sin, and while it
tickles the ear it wounds us to the very heart;--that
though the cup which it offers be of gold, and the drink
sweet in taste, yet it is deadly poison in operation; for
they that drink thereof are so lulled asleep in pleasures
and security, that they never awaken out of their spiritual
lethargy; or if they do, yet like Sampson, without strength
to resist the spiritual Philistines, after the world (like
Delilah) has lulled them awhile in her lap of carnal
pleasures.--_Downame,_ 1642.

COVETOUSNESS.

v. 8-10. _Woe unto them that join house to house, &c._

Covetousness is--I. Ruinous to the individual.[1] II. Mischievous to society. III. Offensive to God. IV. Certain to be punished. 1. Here, by disappointment and loss (Prov. iii. 33).[2] 2. Hereafter, by exclusion from heaven (1 Cor. vi. 10; Eph. v. 5).[3]--_J. Lyth, D.D._

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The love of money can never keep good quarter with honesty;
there is a mint of fraud in the worldly breast, and it can
coin lies as fast as utterance.--_Adams,_ 1653.

The avaricious man is like a pig, which seeks its food in
the mud, without caring where it comes from.--_Vianney._

[2] As Moses only saw the land of Canaan, but for his sin was
not permitted to have any share or portion in it, so misers
have, for their miserable covetousness, this punishment by
God inflicted on them, that they shall only see their goods
with eyes, but never enjoy them for their comfort; and that
they shall toil and moil for successor, oftentimes not
knowing who he shall be, and receive no manner of benefit
by their own labour. But as pipes keep none of the water to
themselves that runs through them, but convey it all to
their cisterns, so they are not able to retain any of the
goods which they possess, for their own benefit and
comfort, but only serve as overseers to convey them to
their heirs.--_Downame,_ 1642.

[3] If a man, sick on his bed, burning of a fever, fetching his
breath with straitness and shortness, looking like earth,
says he is well in health, we do not believe him: so if we
see men swelling with pride, flaming with lust, looking
earthy with covetousness, and yet flattering themselves
with hope of salvation, we cannot credit them, all the
world cannot save them.--_Adams,_ 1654.

The covetous is like a camel, with a great hunch on his
back; heaven-gate must be made higher and broader, or he
will hardly get in.--_Adams,_ 1653.

GOD'S CURSE ON THE COVETOUS.

v. 8. _Woe unto them that join house to house, &c._

God's curse is in the habitation of the wicked. 1. Sometimes the curse enters into their hearts, and prevents them from enjoying comfort in their estates, and perplexes them with fears and cares about their possessions.[1] 2. At other times it wastes and consumes them like a moth, or suddenly devours them by fire and sword. 3. In some existences they are suddenly and unexpectedly snatched away from their enjoyments by death.[2]--_Macculloch, Lectures on Isaiah,_ i. 275.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The covetous man pines in plenty, like Tantalus, up to the
chin.--_Adams,_ 1693.

I doubt not many covetous men take a great deal of pleasure
in ruminating upon their wealth, and in recounting what
they have; but they have a great deal of tormenting care
and fear about it; and if they had not, it is very hard to
understand where the reasonable pleasure and happiness lies
of having things to no end. It is, at the best, like that
of some foolish birds, which, they say, take pleasure in
stealing money, that they may hide it; as if it were worth
the while for men to take pains to dig silver out of the
earth, for no other purpose but to melt it down and stamp
it, and bury it there again.--_Tillotson,_ 1630-1694.

[2] What can be more miserable, than for a man to toil and
labour his whole life, and to have no power to enjoy any
fruit of his labours? to bear like an ass a golden burden
all the day, and, without any further use of it, at night,
to have it taken away, reserving nothing to himself but a
galled conscience?--_Downame,_ 1644.

THE MISERIES OF THE DRUNKARD.

v. 11. _Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning,
that they may follow strong drink, &c._

The miseries of the drunkard. +I. Personal,+ ungodly companionship, eclipse of intellect, demoralisation of nature,[1] retribution, here and hereafter. +II. Domestic,+ poverty,[2] dissension, vice, misery.--_J. Lyth, D.D._

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Not in the day of thy drunkenness only dost thou undergo
the harm of drunkenness, but also after that day. And as
when a fever is passed by, the mischievous consequences of
the fever remain, so also when drunkenness is passed, the
disturbance of intoxication is whirling round both soul and
body. And while the wretched body lies paralysed, like the
hull of a vessel after a shipwreck, the soul yet more
miserable than it, even when this is ended, stirs up the
storm, and kindles desire; and when one seems to be sober,
then most of all is he mad, imagining to himself wine and
casks, cups and goblets.

And like as in a storm when the raging of the water has
ceased, the loss by reason of the storm remains; so
likewise here too. For as there of our freight, so here to
is there a casting away of nearly all our good things.
Whether it be temperance, or modesty, or understanding, or
meekness, or humility, which the drunkenness finds there,
it casts all away into the sea of iniquity.

But in what follows there is no more any likeness. Since
there, indeed, upon the casting out the vessel is
lightened, but here it is weighed down the more. For in its
former place of wealth it takes on board sand, and salt
water, and all the accumulated filth of drunkenness, enough
to sink the vessel at once, with the mariners and the
pilot.--_Chrysostom,_ 347-407.

[2] Thieves cannot steal land, unless they be Westminster Hall
thieves, crafty contenders that eat out a true title with a
false evidence; but the drunkard robs himself of his lands.
Now he dissolves an acre, and then an acre, into the pot,
till he hath ground all his ground at the malt-quern, and
run all his patrimony through his throat. Thus he makes
himself the living tomb of his forefathers, of posterity.
He needs not trouble his sick mind with a will, nor
distrust the fidelity of executors. He drowns all his
substance at the ale-fat, and though he devours much, is
the leaner every way. Drunkenness is a costly sin. It is
like gunpowder, many a man is blown up by it. He throws his
house so long out as windows, till at last his house throws
him out of doors. This is a tippler's progress: from luxury
to beggary; from beggary to thievery; from the tavern to
Tyburn; from the alehouse to the gallows.--_Adams,_ 1653.

NATIONAL UNGODLINESS.

v. 11-17. _Woe unto him that rise up early in the morning,
that they may follow strong drink, &c._

National ungodliness. +I. Its phases,+ dissipation, drunkenness, forgetfulness of God. +II. Its punishment,+ captivity, famine, pestilence, humiliation. +III. The certainty of its visitation,+ God must be vindicated, His people must be delivered.[1]--_J. Lyth, D.D._

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The individual culprit may sometimes
Unpunished to his after-reckoning go:
Not thus collective man; for public crimes
Draw on their proper punishment below.
When nations go astray, from age to age
The effects remain, a fatal heritage.

Bear witness, Egypt, thy huge monuments,
Of priestly fraud and tyranny austere!
Bear witness thou, whose only name presents
All holy feelings to religion dear--
In earth's dark circlet once the precious gem
Of living light--O fallen Jerusalem!
--_Southey._

SENSUALITY.

v. 11, 12. _Woe unto them that rise up early in the
morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue
until night, till wine inflame them! And the harp, and the
viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts;
but they regard not the work of the Lord, neither consider
the operation of His hands._

Sensuality. I. Its features. II. Its follies. III. Its inconsideration.[1] IV. Its punishment.--_J. Lyth, D.D._

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Of men out of hell, none more to be pitied than he who
hangs over its mouth, and yet is without fear. What good
does physic poured down a dead man's throat? If he cannot
be chafed to some sense of his condition, all applications
are hopeless; and if sharp affliction, which is the
strongest physic, leaves the sinner senseless, there is
little prospect that anything else will do him
good.--_Gurnall,_ 1617-1679.

Oh, what a sight it is to see a man go merry and laughing
towards damnation, and make a jest of his own undoing! to
see him at the brink of hell, and will not believe it; like
a madman boasting of his wit, or a drunken man boasting of
his sobriety; or as the swine is delighted when the butcher
is shaving his throat to cut it; or as the fatted lambs are
skipping in the pasture, that to-morrow must be killed and
eaten; or as the bird sits singing when the gun is levelled
to kill him; or as the greedy fish run, striving which
shall catch the bait, that must presently be snatched out
of their element, and lie dying on the bank.--_Baxter,_
1615-1691.

EARTHLY AMUSEMENT.

v. 12. _The harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and
wine are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of
the Lord, neither consider the operation of His hands._

Earthly amusement. I. Its ordinary features. II. Its mischievous tendency.[1] III. Its consequent sinfulness.--_J. Lyth, D.D._

FOOTNOTES:

[1] If you have glutted yourself with worldly pleasures, it is
no wonder that you should find an unsavoury taste in
spiritual delights. Doves that are already filled find
cherries bitter.--_Francis de Sales._

FESTIVITY AND FORGETFULNESS.

v. 12. _The harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and
wine are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of
the Lord, neither consider the operation of His hands._

+I. Prosperity ought to lead to praise.+ We should have expected that when a man was able to spread a feast, and God had caused his "cup to run over" with bounties, his heart would have overflowed with gratitude to the Giver of all good. II. As a matter of fact, +prosperity is hostile to the spiritual life.+ Experience teaches that in proportion as men prosper, they seek luxury, invent pleasures, and give up allegiance to God;[1] and as soon as men yield to the passions of the flesh, and pursue the fashions of the world, all adequate sense or knowledge of the operations of a Supreme Being is gone; all serious views of life are set aside; and the end of such a career is banished from view.[2] +III. To permit the pleasures of life to absorb our attention is degrading to the nature entrusted to us by God. IV. It is destructive of the happiness which thus is mistakenly sought.+ In the hearts of the guests at a feast there is often anything but festivity. Many vacant minds and languid hearts are there; some who are in reality fleeing from themselves, and drowning rising reflections in fresh engagements of pleasure.[3] Could you see those hearts as God sees them, if you are a Christian, you would be thankful that you are excluded from the festivity.

APPLICATION.--1. _To the rich and prosperous._ Be on your guard. In your prosperity there is a deadly peril. Remember that while innocent enjoyment is lawful, there are other duties of more importance--duties of mind and soul, of influence and responsibility; duties toward the men of our generation, and towards God to whom we are accountable. 2. _To the poor._ Murmur not that prosperity has been denied you. Wealth might have been your eternal ruin. Envy not the momentary flash of worldly pomp: soon the deluded soul must be summoned into the solitude of the chamber of death; nothing to console the vacant mind; nothing to cheer the throbbing heart; the rolling eye looks in vain for rest, but the life of vanity closes, and conscience pierces the departing soul with this declaration, "Thou art weighed in the balances and art found wanting."--_B. Thompson, Church Sermons by Eminent Clergymen,_ i. 395-400.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Nothing shall more effectually betray the heart into a love
of sin and a loathing of holiness, than an ill-managed
prosperity. It is like some meats, the more luscious, so
much the more dangerous. Prosperity and ease upon an
unsanctified, impure heart, is like the sunbeams upon a
dunghill; it raises many filthy, noisome exhalations. The
same soldiers who, in hard service, are in perfect
subjection to their leaders, in peace and luxury are apt to
rebel; (and the passions, which in adversity are easily
controlled, in prosperity are apt to break loose). That
corrupt affection which has lain, as it were, dead and
frozen in the midst of distracting business, or under
adversity, when the sun of prosperity has shined upon it,
then, like a snake, it presently recovers its former
strength and venom. Vice must be caressed and smiled upon
that it may thrive and sting. It is starved by poverty, it
droops under the frowns of fortune, and pines away upon
bread and water; but when the channels of plenty run high,
and every appetite is plied with abundance and variety, so
that _satisfaction_ is but a mean word to express its
enjoyment, then the inbred corruption of the heart shows
itself pampered and insolent, too unruly for discipline,
and too big for correction.--_South,_ 1633-1716.

[2] It is a hard thing for princes to remember death. They have
no leisure to think of it, but chip into the earth before
they beware, like a man who walks over a field covered with
snow, and sees not his way, but when he thinks to run on,
suddenly falls into a pit: even so they who have all things
at will, and swim in pleasure, which as a snow covers their
way and dazzles their sight, while they think to live on,
and rejoice still, suddenly rush upon death, and make
shipwreck in a calm sea.--_Henry Smith,_ 1593.

[3] Colonel Gardiner relates that when he was considered by his
gay military companions to be one of the most handsome and
highly favoured officers of his day, he has seen a dog
enter the mess-room, prowling for food, and looked at the
creature with envy, inwardly groaning and exclaiming, "Oh,
that I were that dog!" Since his time thousands have felt
the same iron enter their souls, although looked upon by
their comrades as men enjoying life in rich
abundance.--_Holderness._

THE EVILS OF IGNORANCE.

(_Sunday School or Bible Society Sermon._)

v. 13-15. _Therefore my people are gone away into
captivity, because they have no knowledge, &c._

Isaiah speaks of the future as if it were already present. He traces the terrible disasters about to befall his countrymen to their true cause--their ignorance of God,--in their case a wilful ignorance (Hosea iv. 6), which had betrayed them into courses of conduct ruinous in themselves, and certain to bring down the judgments of the Almighty. The history of mankind justifies us in laying down two propositions: +I. That ignorance is a terrible evil.+ To be in ignorance of the great facts of God's universe, of the great laws by which He governs it, is to be in a condition of constant peril. We are as men who wander in darkness over the great mountains; every step may be taking us further from the right path, the next step may hurl us over some unsuspected precipice. Remember what calamities--political, commercial, social--have been due solely to ignorance. [Illustrate by examples.][1] +II. That the most terrible of all kinds of ignorance is ignorance of God Himself.+ 1. _Much sin is due to ignorance._[2] Not _all_ sin, for there are many transgressions committed against full light--the worst form of iniquity. But concerning multitudes of sinners we may pray, as did Our Lord for His executioners, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." The most appalling of all sins was committed in ignorance (1 Cor. ii. 8). Did men truly _know_ God, they would fear, love, and gladly serve Him. For lack of a true knowledge of God, men who desired to serve Him have perpetrated the most frightful crimes (John xvi. 2; Acts xxvi. 9). 2. _Sins committed in ignorance entail terrible disasters._ That unavoidable ignorance is a palliation of the guilt of transgression is clearly the teaching of the New Testament (Luke xxiii. 34; 1 Tim. i. 13), as it had been previously of the Old (Num. xv. 28; Deut. xix. 4, &c.); and it will affect their condition in the eternal world (Luke xii. 47, 48). But here and now it does nothing to exempt men from the natural consequences of their transgressions. The man who swallows a poison by mistake is killed by it as surely as the deliberate suicide, &c.

In view of these solemn truths, of which all human history is one prolonged corroboration,--1. _We should constantly endeavour to grow in knowledge._ "More light!" should be our constant prayer. Every means of acquainting ourselves with God and His will we should diligently use. Let us beware of the temptation indolently to rest in a voluntary ignorance. Voluntary ignorance is no palliation, but a tremendous aggravation of iniquity.[3] 2. _Let us diligently impart to our fellow-men such knowledge as we have already acquired._ Benevolence should move us to do this. We can confer upon our fellow-men no greater or more needed blessing. Self-interest should impel us to the same course. In teaching we learn. In labouring to cause others to see, we ourselves for the first time attain to clear vision. Knowledge is like the bread with which the five thousand were fed; it multiplies as it is dispensed, and when the feast is over, those who carried it to others themselves possess more than they did when the feast began. 3. _Every organisation which exists for the diffusion of knowledge should have our sympathy and support both as patriots and Christians._ This is true even of secular knowledge, but especially of that knowledge which is able to make men "wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus."[4]

FOOTNOTES:

[1] As blindness is the deformity of the face, so is ignorance
the deformity of the soul. As the want of fleshly eyes
spoils the beauty of the face, so the want of spiritual
eyes spoils the beauty of the soul. A man without knowledge
is as a workman without his hands, as a painter without his
eyes, as a traveller without his legs, or as a ship without
sails, or a bird without wings, or like a body without a
soul.--_Brooks,_ 1680.

[2] Ignorance opens the door for Satan to enter in with his
troops of lusts; where the watch is blind, the city is soon
taken.--_Gurnall,_ 1617-1679.

[3] He that knew not his Lord's will, because he wilfully
rejected the means of coming to the knowledge of it,
deserves to be beaten with as many stripes as if he had
known it and would not. He that will not take notice of the
king's proclamation, or will stop his ears when it is read,
and afterwards offends against it, does equally deserve
punishment with those who have read it, and heard it, and
disobey it; because he was as grossly faulty in not knowing
it; and there is no reason that any man's gross fault
should be his excuse.--_Tillotson,_ 1630-1694.

[4] Oh, for the coming of that glorious time
When, prizing knowledge as her noblest wealth
And best protection, this imperial realm,
While she exacts allegiance, shall admit
An obligation, on her part, to teach
Them who are born to serve her and obey;
Binding herself by stature to secure
For all the children whom her soil maintains
The rudiments of letters, and inform
The mind with moral and religious truth,
Both understood and practised,--so that none,
However destitute, be left to droop
By culture unsustained; or run
Into a wild disorder; or be forced
To drudge through a weary life without the help
Of intellectual implements and tools;
A savage horde among the civilised;
A servile band among the lordly free.
--_Wordsworth._

DEATH AND THE GRAVE.

(_For Easter Sunday._)

v. 14, 15. _Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, &c._

In these terms of appalling sublimity Isaiah warns his countrymen of the calamities that were about to come upon them, on account of the innumerable transgressions into which they had been betrayed by their wilful ignorance of God. Therefore they should be carried away into captivity (ver. 13), and therefore also the sword, famine, and pestilence would conspire to fill the "under-world" with inhabitants. That "under-world" is represented as preparing itself for their reception, as a ravenous beast opens wide its jaws to devour its prey (+Text+). A prediction which, to the prosperous, wealthy, and powerful nation over which Uzziah ruled, doubtless seemed the most extravagant raving of fanaticism, but which was fulfilled nevertheless.

It is of the "under-world" that Isaiah speaks. "Therefore the under-world opens its jaws wide, and stretches open its mouth immeasurably wide; and the glory of Jerusalem descends, and its tumult, and noise, and those who rejoice within it. There are mean men bowed down, and lords humbled, and the eyes of lofty men are humbled."--_Delitsch._ Our translation "hell" must not lead us to think merely of the place where the wicked are tormented; it is of conquests about to be achieved by death and the grave that Isaiah warned the men of his time. His prediction suggests a topic of which men of all times will do well to think, and that again another topic peculiarly suited to this day. Let us bethink ourselves--

I. Of THE CONQUESTS OF DEATH AND THE GRAVE. +1. These conquests have been effected in all ages.+ Generation after generation of mankind has been swept away by these grim and ancient warriors. During successive centuries men have gained wonderful power over the forces of nature, but they have acquired no real increase of ability to withstand these dread destroyers. All that science can do is in a few cases for a very short time to defer their victory. The "Elixir of Life" has been sought for in vain.--If in feebleness of mankind we had not sufficient proof of our fallen condition, certainly we should find it in the fact, that so many men have allied themselves with these foes of our race. All nations have conferred their brightest honours on those who have been the most successful ministers of death. Warrior and hero have been regarded as synonymous terms. In no respect is modern science more industrious, earnest or successful, than in the search for the means by which human life may be destroyed most easily on the largest scale. +2. They have been characterised by a solemn impartiality.+ With them there has been no respect of persons. (1.) _Meanness is no security against them._ Poverty and lowliness are not without their compensations, as the poorer Jews discovered, when they saw the nobles and men of wealth, whom they had been accustomed to envy, carried away miserable captives, while they themselves were left behind (2 Kings xxiv. 14-16, &c). There are those whom human conquerors will not stoop to molest. But death and the grave have no such fastidiousness. They prey on the mean as well as the mighty. (2.) _Might is no defence against them._ Rank and wealth can accomplish much, but they cannot overawe or bribe death.[1] Death works like a reaper in the dark, cutting down the tall ears of corn as well as the grass that struggles for existence between them, the fair flowers as well as the noisome weeds. +3. They have been characterised by a terrible unexpectedness.+ They are certain, but they cannot be foreseen. While they proceed with all the steadiness of gravitation, it is as impossible to foretell _where_ they will be next accomplished, as it is to predict from which part of the heavens the next flash of lightning will burst forth, on which spot of earth the destructive fire will fall. Hence the wisdom of living in continual preparedness for the great change which will come to us all.[2]

II. This survey of the conquests of death and the grave should remind us that there is another side to this solemn theme, and therefore I proceed to remind you, secondly, of THE CONQUERORS OF DEATH AND THE GRAVE. Through how many centuries did men live without any conception that these conquerors of our race might themselves be subjugated! Two astonishing events, indeed, occurred--the translation of Enoch and the rapture of Elijah--but their significance could not be fully understood at the time of their occurrence. The data for their complete interpretation had not then been furnished. But when that supreme event which we commemorate to-day occurred, these and many other mysteries were solved. When the Son of man, who had been crucified, emerged from the tomb, proclamation was made to the universe that the ancient power of death and the grave was broken. It was seen that it is possible to pass through them unharmed, and to return to the activities of life, not with diminished, but with increased, vigour. And He who demonstrated this astonishing truth has pledged Himself to accomplish for all who trust in Him a victory similar to His own. By faith in this pledge, countless millions have been enabled to triumph in spirit over Death at the very moment when he seemed to be numbering them also among his victims (1 Cor. xv. 55-57).

+1. The victory of Christ's followers over death and the grave is real.+ There seems to be one event unto all (Eccles. ix. 2, 3). But it is not so. Death is not the conqueror of Christ's servant; he is God's servant, sent to conduct them to the rest prepared for them. The grave is not their prison, but a quiet resting-place from which presently the mortal body shall come forth immortal to greet the eternal morning.

+2. The victory of Christ's followers over death and the grave will ere long be manifest+ (1 Thess. iv. 14-16, &c.) In the doctrine of the resurrection, there is much that is mysterious and inexplicable, but _this_ is certain, that the seeming victory of death and the grave over Christ's followers shall be utterly reversed; as not a hoof belonging to God's ancient people was left behind in Egypt, so NOTHING that belongs to a single follower of Christ upon which death and the grave have seized shall remain in their power (Hos. xiii. 14). The resurrection will be more than a ransom. It will be a development (1 Cor. xv. 37, 38, 42, 44). In view of these truths, let us to-day keep Easter with thankful and joyful hearts.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Look how easily Jehu stamped Jezebel in pieces, and
Tamerlane's troops of horse the Turkish footmen; or as the
sturdy steed dashes out the little whappet's brains, so
easily does Death, with the least kick and spurn of his
heel, the halest complexion, the stoutest
constitution,--triumphing like an emperor over all sorts of
people; treading on the necks of kings and princes, as
Joshua over them in the cave; insulting in the terms of
Rabshakeh: "Where is Hamath? the kings of Arphad, Ivah, and
Sepharvaim? Elam, Meshech, and Tubal, whose fear was upon
the living, are they not descended into the grave? made
their beds in the slimy valley, and laid their swords under
their heads? Hath wisdom delivered, strength rescued, or
wealth rescued any out my fingers?"--_Ward,_ 1577-1639.

Oh, eloquent, just, and mighty Death! whom none could
advise, thou hast persuaded; what none hath dared, thou
hast done; and whom all the world hath flattered, thou
alone hast cast out of the world and despised. Thou hast
drawn together all the far-stretched greatness, all the
pride, cruelty, and ambition of man, and covered it all
with those two narrow words, _Hic jacet._--_Sir Walter
Raleigh._

[2] We put far away the evil day, and therefore we are not duly
impressed by the thought. But fourscore years and soon cut
off, and we fly away; and how uncertain is our reaching
that lonely verge of life, where the flowery meadows and
the golden corn-fields slope gradually down into the bars
and stony beach that fringes the eternal sea. The coast of
death to most is an abrupt precipice; we are cut off in the
midst of our days.--_Macmillan._

Why should a man defer that which ought to be the
occupation of a life, which ought to command all his powers
in all their vigour--why should a man defer that to the
last few abrupt moments, to his departure from time to
eternity? When a man is going to any distant part of the
globe--say to America--what preparation there is! How much
it is talked about! It is a long, a distant, an eventful
journey. The man talks about it; his friends prepare in
every conceivable way. Oh, what infatuation and stupidity,
what folly it is for a man to make no preparation for this
distant voyage--the voyage to eternity!--_Beaumont._

CORDS OF VANITY.

v. 18. _Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of
vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope._

"'Sin' in the last clause is parallel with iniquity in the first--a noun and not a verb. Both are said to be _'drawn.'_ The style of sinning here contemplated is fully given in the next verse."--_Cowles._

"They were proud in their unbelief; but this unbelief was like a halter with which, like beasts of burden they were harnessed to sin, which they went on drawing further and further, in utter ignorance of the waggon behind them."--_Delitsch._

"Cart ropes, you know, are composed of several small cords firmly twisted together, which serve to connect the beasts of burden with the draught they pull after them. These represent a complication of means closely united, whereby the people here described continue to join themselves to the most wearisome of all burdens. They consist of false reasonings, foolish pretexts, and corrupt maxims, by which obstinate transgressors become firmly united to their sins, and persist in dragging after them their iniquities. Of this sort the following are a few specimens: God is merciful, and His goodness will not suffer any of His creatures to be completely and everlastingly miserable. Others, as well as they, are transgressors. Repentance will be time enough upon a deathbed, or in old age. The greatest of sinners often pass unpunished. A future state of retribution is uncertain. Unite these, and such like cords, and, I suppose, you have the cart ropes, whereby the persons mentioned draw after them much sin and iniquity. All these pretexts, however, are light as vanity."--_Macculloch._

SCEPTICISM.

v. 19. _That say, Let Him make speed and hasten His work,
that we may see it: and let the counsel of the Holy One of
Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it._

Scepticism, I. Denies the judgments of God. II. Draws an argument from their delay.[1] III. Impiously scoffs at the Divine counsels. IV. Defies God to do His worst.--_J. Lyth, D.D._

FOOTNOTES: