Chapter XII: Part 12

[1] The whole force of life and experience goes to prove that
right or wrong-doing, whether in relation to the physical
or the spiritual nature, is sure, in the end, to meet its
appropriate reward or punishment. Penalties are often so
long delayed, that men think they shall escape them; but
some time they are certain to follow. When the whirlwind
sweeps through the forest, at its first breath, or almost
as if the fearful stillness that precedes had crushed it,
the giant tree, with all its boughs, falls crashing to the
ground. But it had been preparing to fall for twenty years.
Twenty years before the water commenced to settle in at
some crotch, and from thence decay began to reach in with
its silent fingers towards the heart of the tree. Every
year the work of death progressed, till at length it stood,
all rottenness, only clasped about by the bark with a
semblance of life and the first gale felled it to the
ground. Now, there are men who, for twenty years, have
shamed the day and wearied the night with their
debaucheries, but who yet seem strong and vigorous, and
exclaim, "You need not talk of penalties. Look at me! I
have revelled in pleasure for twenty years, and I am as
hale and hearty to-day as ever." But in reality they are
full of weakness and decay. They have been preparing to
fall for twenty years, and the first disease strikes them
down in a moment.

Ascending from the physical nature of man to the mind and
character, we find the same laws prevail. People sometimes
say, "Dishonesty is as good as honesty, for aught I see.
There are such and such men who have pursued for years the
most corrupt courses in their business, and yet they
prosper, and are getting rich every day." Wait till you see
their end. Every year how many such men are overtaken with
sudden destruction, and swept for ever out of sight and
remembrance! Many a man has gone on in sin, practising
secret fraud and villanies, yet trusted and honoured, till
at length, in some unsuspected hour, he is detected, and,
denounced by the world, he falls from his high estate as if
a cannon-ball had struck him--for there is no cannon that
can strike more fatally than outraged public sentiment--and
flies over the mountains, or across the sea, to escape the
odium of his life. He believed that his evil course was
building him up in fame and fortune; but financiering is
the devil's forge, and his every act was a blow upon the
anvil, shaping the dagger that should one day strike home
to his heart and make him a suicide. The pea contains the
vine, and the flower, and the pod, in embryo, and, I am
sure, when I plant it, that it will produce them and
nothing else. Now, every action of our lives is embryonic,
and, according as it is right or wrong, it will surely
bring forth sweet flowers of joy, or the poison fruits of
sorrow. Such is the construction of this world, and the
Bible assures us that the next world only carries it
forward. Here and hereafter, "whatsoever a man soweth, that
shall he also reap."--_Beecher._

THE INFLUENCE OF LANGUAGE ON CHARACTER.

v. 20. _Woe to them that call evil good, and good evil;
that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that
put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter._

Only those who have had extensive opportunities of observation, can have any idea of the evil influence of the abuse and misapplication of _words_ in questions of religion and morals, especially among the young.[1] To an almost incredible degree the distinctness of our associations and intellectual perceptions depends upon our correct use of the machinery of words. From long usage, words become at length identified in the mind with the things we have accustomed them to represent. What, then, must be the effect when language is deliberately misapplied for the express purpose of confounding the distinctions of right and wrong! For various reasons, it is more easy to misapply words in relation to morals, than in relation to other subjects. 1. Ethical propositions are to a great degree incapable of absolute proof. 2. In discussing the great topics of morals, very few persons bring a perfectly unbiassed mind to the task. 3. Vice and virtue, though essentially distinct as qualities, are still in many cases nothing more than different modifications of some common subject. The line which separates the use of a thing for its abuse is not always strongly marked; or rather is sufficiently indistinct for those who are determined not to see clearly to afford themselves a plausible justification for the aberration of their choice. But on all these accounts we should be the more careful to use accurate language on all questions of morals, especially in society, where the temptation to speak as others are speaking is so strong. Two things especially lead to that perversion of language which our text condemns. 1. Men "call evil good," _from an almost irresistible desire to cloak and veil their vices._ It is one of ten thousand daily recurring proofs of the strange inconsistencies of human nature, that the same persons whose conscience will not recoil for a moment at the actual commission of deeds of sin and atrocity, and who even appear to defy public opinion in the conduct they are pursuing, will still to the last shrink from the admission of those terms which really characterise their conduct. It is the appellation and not the actual guilt which to them constitutes the disgrace. 2. Men "call good evil," _from a desire to defend themselves from the condemnation passed upon them by the better example of others._ They attempt, in the first place, by palliations and misstatements, to render vice less odious than it really is; and secondly, by attributing to the pious unworthy and corrupt motives, to render unamiable that goodness in others which they want strength of mind and of principle to imitate. From this latter species of wickedness very few stand perfectly clear. Which of us has never felt as a reproach the example of principles better and holier than our own, nor attempted in consequence to restore the equilibrium of our self-respect, not by improving our own practice, but by depreciating and ridiculing that which as Christians it was our duty to admire? Let us be on our guard against disparaging that sincerity of disposition, which strives to regulate its conduct by the unbending Christian standard, by calling it "enthusiasm," "fanaticism," "austerity." Enough difficulty, we know from our own experience, lies in the way of every man's spiritual improvement, without throwing in his path the additional obstacles of ridicule, contempt, and odium, which few minds, even the most religious, have sufficient fortitude to despise. (Matt. xxiii. 13; Mark ix. 42.) Thus, to "call good evil" is to imitate the Pharisees (Mark iii. 22), and comes perilously near committing the sin against the Holy Ghost.--_P. R. Shuttleworth, D.D., Sermons,_ 117-143.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The world is generally governed by words and shows: for men
can swallow the same thing under one name, which they would
abominate and detest under another. The name of king was to
the old Romans odious and insufferable; but in Sulla and
Julius Cæsar they could endure the power and absoluteness
of a king, disguised under the name of dictator.--_South,_
1633-1716.

I think that one of the master incantations, one of the
most signal deceits, which we practise upon ourselves,
comes from the use of language. There are words that we
learn in childhood which we abandon when we come to
manhood. Generally speaking, our fireside words are old
Saxon words--short, knotty, tough, and imbued with moral
and affectional meanings; but as we grow older these words
are too rude and plain for our use, and so we get Latin
terms and periphrases by which to express many of our
thoughts. When we talk about ourselves we almost invariably
use Latin words, and when we talk about our neighbours we
use Saxon words. And one of the best things a man can do, I
think, is to examine himself in the Saxon tongue. If a man
tells that which is contrary to truth, let him not say, "I
equivocate;" let him say "I lie." _Lie!_ why, it brings the
judgment-day right home to a man's thought. Men do not like
it, but it is exactly the thing that will most effectually
touch the moral sense; and the more the moral sense is
touched the better. If a man has departed from rectitude in
his dealings with another, let him not say "I took
advantage," which is a roundabout, long sentence: let him
say, _"I cheated."_ That is a very direct word. It springs
straight to the conscience, as the arrow flies from the bow
to the centre of the mark. Does it grate harshly on your
ear? Nevertheless, it is better that you should employ it;
and you should come to this determination: "I will call
things that I detect in my conduct by those clear-faced,
rough-tongued words that my enemies use if they wanted to
sting me to the quick."--_Beecher._

THE SIN OF CONFOUNDING GOOD AND EVIL.

v. 20. _Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil._

The conscience of every man testifies that there is an unchangeable difference between good and evil; but each man is prone to think his own vice little or no sin at all. He substitutes other names for his crime, and calls his evil good. +I. Many are self-deceived+ (Prov. xiv. 12). How many think themselves religious, merely because they pay some or much respect to the outward ordinances of religion, while there is no change in their character. How many justify their irreligion, by depicting religion as morose and gloomy. How many commit crimes without one misgiving of conscience, merely because they are varnished over by specious names. How often under the pretence of promoting the honour of true religion, massacres and murders have been sanctified, the torch of persecution brandished round, and the flame of civil discord raised, to light the path to heaven! +II. Many endeavour to deceive others,+ by false representations of sin and duty (Luke xvii. 1, 2).--_George Mathew, M.A., Sermons,_ ii. 101-118.

ON THE PERVERSION OF RIGHT AND WRONG.

v. 20. _Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil._

There is in many a wonderful propensity to perplex the distinctions between right and wrong, and to obscure the boundaries of virtue and vice. Their propensity is both absurd and wicked. It most frequently manifests itself in two ways:--1. _By bestowing soft and gentle names on crimes of real and destructive magnitude._ Thus, infidelity and scepticism have been called "free inquiry," indifference to all religion "a spirit of toleration," duelling "an honourable deed," adultery "gallantry," extravagance "a liberal expenditure," the selfish sensualist "a good-natured man." By the use of such false and misleading terms, we lower the standard of right and wrong, and expose ourselves to the temptation of practising what we have persuaded ourselves is not so very wrong. 2. _By applauding works of genius and imagination of which the real tendency is to inflame the passions, and to weaken moral and religious principle._ The tendency of such works should lead us unhesitatingly to condemn and reject them, whatever may be the literary fascinations of their style. Nothing is more dangerous than a book which imparts to vice the delusive appearance of a virtue. Thus, to confound the distinctions between right and wrong, is to renounce the superiority which man claims over the brute creation--that of being a rational creature, for the brutes are never guilty of anything so irrational as that of calling good evil, and evil good.--_Charles Moore, M.A., Sermons,_ ii. pp. 155-172.

THE SIN OF USING WRONG NAMES.

v. 20. _Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil._

What difference can it make what anything is called!

"What's in a name?
A rose by any other name would smell as sweet."

Yet the Bible pronounces its woe upon those who merely call things by wrong names. Why?

1. _Names are not mere words: they are the representatives of ideas; and hence, they have a force of meaning which makes them powerful instruments._ There are opprobrious epithets that wound more severely than a blow. Slander has slain more than the dagger. The name of a place or person suggests to us all that we know, or have conceived, about it or him. Paul, Jesus--what a power there is in these names! How suggestive are the phrases, "an upright man," "a transparent character!" Because words are representatives of ideas, to use the wrong names is to convey false ideas. 2. _The wrong use of names confounds moral distinctions, and perplexes and misleads men in regard to duty._ Right must not be called wrong, or wrong right. This is to sweep away all the landmarks of duty; or, rather, it is shifting all the buoys and beacons by which we navigate the sea of life, so that instead of warning us of danger, they shall rather draw us upon shoals and rocks. The skill of every successful errorist consists in a dexterous jugglery of names. 3. _By giving decent names to gross sins, the standard of public morals is lowered, and the community is corrupted._ One of the things that blinded America to the evil of slavery was, the term that used to be applied to it--"our domestic institution," &c. Be on your guard, then, against wrong names. Do not try to deceive yourself by means of them. Pure covetousness is sin, even though you do call it economy, &c. Do not try to deceive others (Matt. v. 19; Mark ix. 42).--_S. G. Buckingham, American National Preacher,_ xxv. 269-278.

SELF-CONCEIT.

v. 21. _Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and
prudent in their own sight._

Self-conceit. +I. Its signs:+ dogmatism; contempt of others; scepticism. +II. Its causes:+ ignorance,[1] vanity. +III. Its folly:+ it makes a man ridiculous; leads him into error. +IV. Its offensiveness to God;+ in spirit--principle--action. +V.+ Its certain humiliation.--_J. Lyth, D.D._

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The truest characters of ignorance
Are vanity, and pride, and arrogance;
As blind men used to bear their noses higher
Than those that have their eyes and sight entire.
--_Butler._

By ignorance is pride increased;
Those most assume who know the least;
Their own self-balance gives them weight,
But every other finds them light.--_Gay._

INTELLECTUAL PRIDE.

v. 21. _Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and
prudent in their own sight._

Woe to the intellectually proud. I. To the self-conceited +sceptic,+ who sits in judgment upon the Word of God, and condemns it.[1] II. To the self-conceited +enthusiast,+ who substitutes his own fancies for Divine truth. III. To the self-conceited +Pharisee,+ who trusts in his own works. IV. To the self-conceited +sinner,+ who despises instruction. V. Woe! for they shall all perish.--_J. Lyth, D.D._

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The denial of anything does not falsify it. If a man has
swallowed poison, his adopting an opinion that it cannot
kill him, contributes nothing to his safety; and it is
awful to stand and see his conviction and his death
arriving together. Your denying a resurrection, will not
hide you for ever in the grave. Your disbelieving a day of
retribution, will not keep you from appearing before God.
"Their judgment," says the apostle, "now of a long time
lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not:" while
they reason, it rolls on; every argument brings it one
distance nearer.--_Jay._

THE WOE OF THE DRUNKARD.

v. 22. _Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and
men of strength to mingle strong drink._

There are certain vices which the customs of certain countries seem to place only in the number of human infirmities; and yet, if we look at their effects, we shall see that really they are as black as those sins which God and man visits with the severest punishments. +I. The drunkard's excuses,+ by which he endeavours to defend or palliate his crime. 1. _Good fellowship._ But can friendship be founded on vice? especially on a vice which notoriously impairs the memory and the sense of obligation, leads to the betrayal of secrets, and stirs up strife and contention? Instead of promoting conversation it destroys it by destroying the very capability of communicating rational and agreeable thoughts. The drunkard may make his company merry, but they laugh at, not with, him, and merely because they are delighted with the sight of one even sillier than themselves. 2. _"It drowns care."_ But the drunkard's care must arise either from his ill state of health, the unfortunate posture of his worldly affairs, or the stings of his guilty conscience; and, in either case, his temporary oblivion is purchased at the cost of an aggravation of the evils which cause him to desire it. To drink to drown remorse is especially absurd, for all that the drunkard can expect from this course is the benefit of travelling some part of the road to eternal misery with his eyes covered. 3. The drunkard has other excuses: he says that he is so exposed to company and business, that he cannot avoid drinking to excess, or that he is of so easy and flexible a temper, that he cannot resist the importunities of his friends, as he calls them. Thus he is for softening his vice into a sort of virtue, and calling that good nature, which his creditor calls villany, and his family cruelty. +II. The drunkard's woe.+ This is made up of the miserable effects, as well temporal as spiritual, of his favourite vice. 1. Poverty. 2. Contempt. 3. Ill-health. 4. An untimely death. Consider, too, the spiritual evils that spring from and punish the vice of drunkenness. 1. The understanding is depraved and darkened. 2. The will is enfeebled and dethroned. 3. The passions are inflamed and rendered ungovernable. 4. Regard for men and reverence for God are destroyed. Drunkenness travels with a whole train of other vices, and requires the whole width of the broad way to give it room. Where its journey is to end, we know; so that if the guilt and misery which attend it here, be not enough, there, at least, the drunkard, having opened his eyes and recovered the use of his reason, will perceive the truth of the text.--_Skelton, in Clapham's Selected Sermons,_ ii. 384-392.

THE WOE OF THE DRUNKARD.

v. 22. _Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and
men of strength to mingle strong drink._

Woe to the drunkard. I. To his reputation.[1] II. To his interests. III. To his health. IV. To his family. V. To his soul.[2]--_J. Lyth, D.D._

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Some of you glory in your shame, that you have drunk down
your companions, and carried it away,--the honour of a
sponge or a tub, which can drink up or hold liquor as well
as you.--_Baxter,_ 1615-1691.

[2] We recommend wine for the excellency of it; but if it could
speak, as it can take away speech, it would complain, that
by our abuse both the excellencies are lost; for the
excellent man doth so spoil the excellent wine, until the
excellent wine hath spoiled the excellent man. Or, that a
man should take pleasure in that which makes him no man;
that he should let a thief in at his mouth to steal away
his wit; that for a little throat-indulgence, he should
kill in himself both the first Adam, his reason, and even
the second Adam, his regeneration, and so commit two
murders at once.--_Adams,_ 1653.

How base a price dost thou set upon thy Saviour and
salvation, that will not forbear so much as a cup of drink
for them? The smallness of the thing showeth the smallness
of thy love to God, and the smallness of thy regard to His
Word and to thy soul. Is that loving God as God, when thou
lovest a cup of drink better? Art thou not ashamed of thy
hypocrisy, when thou sayest thou lovest God above all, when
thou lovest Him not so well as thy wine and ale? Surely he
that loveth Him not above ale, loveth Him not above all!
Thy choice showeth what thou loveth best, more certainly
than thy tongue doth. It is the dish that a man greedily
eateth of that he loveth, and not that which he commendeth
but will not meddle with. God trieth men's love to Him, by
their keeping His commandments. It was the aggravation of
the first sin, that they would not deny so small a thing as
the forbidden fruit, in obedience to God! And so it is of
thine, that wilt not leave a forbidden cup for Him! O
miserable wretch! dost thou not know thou canst not be
Christ's disciple, if thou forsake not all for Him, and
hate not even thy life in comparison of Him, and wouldst
not rather die than forsake Him! And art thou like to lay
down thy life for Him that wilt not leave a cup of drink
for Him? Canst thou burn at a stake for Him, that canst not
leave an alehouse, or vain company, or excess for Him? What
a sentence of condemnation dost thou pass upon
thyself!--_Baxter,_ 1615-1691.

DRINK AND ITS WOES.

v. 22. _Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and
men of strength to mingle strong drink._

Human depravity and iniquity have existed in all ages and countries. The vices flowing therefrom have been much the same--selfishness, pride, sensualism, oppression, drunkenness. Alcohol acting directly on the brain, the seat of the mind, tends not only to derange, but to enfeeble and pervert, and produces moral obliquity, moral infatuation, and intensified delusion. All sorts of deceits are the consequence. Observe--I. THE CHARACTERS INTRODUCED (ver. 22). Observe also verses 11 and 12. In the last verses there is reference to confirmed drunkards, daily, early, and late; the sensual debauchees--their ignorance, want of thought and reflection. In the text, notorious drinkers, bold, impudent wager-layers, boasters, &c., and those who have got the victory over the usual drinks, and now make them stronger to meet the cravings of appetite and to keep up the excitement. Observe, this is the great peril of moderate drinking. It creates the appetite, it increases the appetite; last of all, it gives the appetite the control, and the man or woman becomes the slave and the victim.

II. THE INFATUATION PORTRAYED--by 1. _Giving false names to things_ (ver. 20). Call (1) evil good: drinks (poisons) are called beverages; evil things made by men are called God's good creatures. And so they call (2) good evil; despise the really good and safe; pour contempt on water and safe fluids, and treat them as evil or worthless. How drinks have secured the most alluring titles--strong cordials, dew, &c., generous. Not only false names, but 2. _False qualities_ (ver. 20), "Bitter for sweet." Now intoxicating drinks are not sweet or palatable to the natural taste; they blister the mouth of children; do burn the delicate nerves of the stomach; the tongue and lips have to be trained, drilled, hardened. Observe, they call sweet bitter; things really so are treated as insipid. Ask the spirit-drinker to taste milk or tea, or water, and see how his poisoned taste revolts, &c.

Then there is presented to us--3. _Infatuated results._ Put darkness for light; men plead and say these drinks--(1) Brighten the intellect. How false! See the bloated faces, the diseased eyes, the sensual expression, the stupid look, the stupor. The light is artificial, momentary, false--no better than the effects of certain gases or deadly stimulants, as opium, Indian hemp, &c. But they refer to men, to Burns, Pitt, Sheridan, and other drinking wits. But they were intellectually great in spite, &c. Look at Milton, Sir Isaac Newton; look at the inspired prophets--the seraphic Isaiah, the writer of the text. (2) They who drink say their drinks lighten the heart, give social joyousness. Right; but is it not sensual, spurious, evanescent, ends in darkness? So they put light for darkness. The calm, equable sobriety of soul they called dulness, darkness. But this is real, abiding, and rational. So, both in name and quality, and in effects, they call "evil good," &c.

III. THE WOES DENOUNCED. 1. _There is the woe of physical consequence._ The seed and the harvest, the poisons and their effects, fire, deranged stomach, plague, diseased liver, excited heart, fevered brain, all tending to a host of maladies, shortened life, and an early grave. There is--2. _Woe of a distracted mind._ Reason beclouded; reflection, perception, all marred. The guiding star eclipsed, the light obscured with darkness. There is the--3. _Woe of moral defects._ The man is vitiated, made worse and worse; his affections, his desires, his conscience, his heart, the whole soul. There is--4. _The woe of perverted powers._ Gifts, talents, &c., all poisoned; influence deadly; the man a curse--a curse to all. 5. _The woe of God's malediction._ God's woe, His displeasure, His threatening, His curse; this is written in both volumes of the Scriptures--in frightful representation, in declared eternal condemnation.

APPLICATION.--Learn--1. The horrors associated with strong drink; 2. The advantages of absolute temperance; 3. The value of these associations; 4. The encouragement for labours--staying curses, bringing down blessings; 5. The necessity of immediate decision; 6. The solemn importance of earnest prayer for the Divine benediction; 7. Let us avoid exaggerated conclusions. This is not the only evil; temperance not the only good. To all we say, "One thing is needful;" "Except ye be converted," &c.--_Jabez Burns, D.D., LL.D., Sketches of Temperance Sermons._

THE DOOM OF DESPISERS.

v. 24. _Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and
the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as
rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because
they have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts, and
despised the word of the Holy One of Israel._

Shut God out of the heart, and _this_ is what it comes to at last. In Jewish history, we have a commentary on the judgments announced in the text, written in fire and blood. We have here--+I. God's merciful approaches to the soul.+ 1. God begins with _law._ In the present day there is a nervous dread of law, as if it were the offspring of severity rather than of grace.[1] But law checks, rectifies, and blesses in innumerable ways (Ps. xix. 7-11; cxix. 105, &c). 2. To His law, He adds His _word;_ His "word" of persuasion, exhortation, promise, and especially the great "word" of the Gospel. +II. God's merciful approaches rejected.+ "They have cast away the law," &c. Man meets God's law with resistance, His love with contempt. +III. God's merciful approaches giving place to indignation and wrath.+ "Therefore as the fire devoureth," &c. Law being resisted, and love despised, things cannot be as they were before; one of two things must happen--there must be either pardon or punishment. If pardon be rejected, only punishment remains. The images under which this is set forth in the text are most alarming. They show--1. _That at last God's anger strikes at the root of our being_--at the very substance of our life. The wrath of man at the worst rages only on the surface, but God strikes at the root (Luke xii. 4; Matt. x. 28). 2. _God's anger smites the blossom of our being._ All that constitutes the show, promise, and pride of our life, is scattered like dust. 3. _When God smites in anger, He smites suddenly and swiftly,_ "as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff." 4. _When God smites in anger, man can offer no resistance._ What power to resist a hurricane has a tree whose roots are not only rotten, but "rottenness"? How can the stubble withstand the fire, or the chaff defend itself against tongues of flame?--_J. R. Wood._

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The spring of the law is love. With its "Thou shalt not do
this," and "Thou shalt not do that," the law presents
rather an ungracious aspect. We like ill to be bidden, but
worse to be forbidden. But does love never forbid? A
mother, does she never forbid her child; but, on the
contrary, indulge every caprice and grant all his wishes?
How disastrous the fate, and brief the life, of a child
denied nothing, indulged in everything, allowed to play
with fire, or fire-arms; to devour the painted but
poisonous fruit--to bathe where the tide runs like a
racehorse or the river rushes roaring into the black,
swirling pool. And he who frets against the restraints of
God's holy law because it forbids this and the other thing,
is no wiser than the infant who weeps, and screams, and
struggles, and perhaps beats the kind bosom that nurses it,
because its mother has snatched a knife from its foolish
hands.--_Guthrie._

THE DOOM OF IMPENITENT ISRAEL.

v. 24-30. _Therefore as the fire devoureth, &c._

In this threatening, fulfilled in the utter destruction of Israel by Assyria, we find illustrations of the following facts.--I. That _the Lord is a God of judgment as well as of mercy_.[1] The mercy of God has been exemplified in His long forbearance with sinful Israel: His justice was manifested in the utter destruction that came upon Israel when it was seen that that forbearance had been shown in vain. God is still as He revealed Himself in His Word and in His actual dealings with His people. It is utterly vain for us to frame for ourselves an ideal God in whose character the sternest justice has no place. II. That _we can sustain no relation to God which will render it safe for us to break His commandments, or exempt us from the consequences of wrong-doing_ (ver. 25. Compare ver. 5; Amos iii. 2). III. That _all the forces of the universe are at God's disposal for the execution of His purposes._ Appalling is the variety of the scourges and swords that lie ready to His hand for the chastisement of the rebellious,[2] and for the destruction of the incorrigible! IV. That _in addressing Himself to the work of judgment, God is moved by the highest moral considerations._ "Because they have cast away the _law_ of the Lord of hosts, and despised the _word_ of the Holy One of Israel; _therefore_ is the anger of the Lord kindled against His people." In His wrath, as well as in His love, He is holy: in neither is there any caprice. V. That _consequently God will not pause in His work of judgment out of any weak regard to the mere sufferings of wrong-doers._ It is against sin that His anger burns, and while sin endures the fires of His wrath will continue to flame. Eternal punishment! For impenitent transgressors there is woe upon woe, and no severity of suffering that they may endure abates the anger of the Lord against them. There is no such thing as salvation by personal suffering. See how all this is expressed in our text from beginning to end.

GENERAL CONCLUSION.--"It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." The history of the Jews since Israel's day is a terrible comment on this declaration.

PARTICULAR CONCLUSIONS.--1. As sinners, let us bestir ourselves to avert the consequences of our transgressions by a timely and genuine repentance (ch. lv. 6, 7; Hosea xiv. 1-4, &c.) 2. Having obtained mercy, let us be in the fear of the Lord all the day long (John v. 14). 3. For our guidance in life, let us keep constantly before us the Biblical presentation of God, as a God of justice and mercy;--of justice, that we may be restrained from transgression; of mercy, that there may grow up in our hearts that love for Him which will cause us to find our highest joy in doing His will.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] See my _Homiletic Encyclopædia of Illustrations in
Theology and Morals,_ Nos. 2288-2301.

[2] As for example, _conscience,_ the awakening of which Henry
Smith has thus depicted:--"There is a warning conscience
and a gnawing conscience. The warning comes before sin; the
gnawing conscience follows after sin. The warning
conscience is often lulled asleep, but the gnawing
conscience wakes her again. If there be any hell in this
world, they who feel the worm of conscience gnawing on
their hearts may truly say that they have felt the torments
of hell. Who can express that man's horror but himself?
Nay, what horrors are those which he cannot express
himself! Sorrows are met in his soul as at a feast; and
fear, thought, and anguish divide the soul between them.
All the furies of hell leap upon his heart like a stage.
Thought calls to Fear; Fear whistles to Horror; Horror
beckons to Despair, and says, Come, and help me to torment
this sinner. One says that she comes from this sin, and
another says that she comes from that sin. So he goes
through a thousand deaths, and cannot die. Irons are laid
upon his body like a prisoner. All his lights are put out
at once. He has no soul fit to be comforted. Thus he lives
as it were upon the rack, and says that he bears the world
upon his shoulders, and that no man suffers that which he
suffers. So let him lie, says God, without ease, until he
confess and repent and call for mercy."

CORDS AND CART-ROPES.

v. 18. _Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of
vanity, and sin as it were with a cart-rope._[1]

There is a certain oddity and grotesqueness in these words as they stand. It disappears as soon as we perceive that we have here an instance of Hebrew parallelism. (Compare chap. i. 18.) _"Sin"_ is a noun, not a verb, and is a synonym for iniquity; to sin men yoke themselves as it were with "cords of vanity" or as with "a cart-rope." _"Cords of vanity"_ are such as have no substance in them, that will not stand any real strain; "a cart-rope" will stand an immense strain. Where, then, is the propriety of describing that by which the sinner binds himself to his sin by such opposite terms? In this, that in the first clause these bands are regarded from the point of view of a sound judgment, in the second from the point of view of the sinner's experience. Subjected to a real examination they are seen to be of no strength at all, and yet they suffice to bind the sinner to his sin as thoroughly as if they were strong as "a cart-rope."

What are these "cords of vanity"? They are false ideas--of God, of truth, of duty. This is plain from verse 19, which is an _explanation_ of this one. There we have an illustrative case. Certain men are represented as bound to their iniquity by the false idea that God will not fulfil His threatenings against iniquity.

Our text furnishes the solution of a mystery which often perplexes us in daily life. We see men cleaving to ruinous iniquities, and cleaving to them in spite of the remonstrances and entreaties of their friends and of God's servants. We who have felt "the powers of the world to come" wonder that men do not repent and believe, and so escape from "the wrath to come." Here is the explanation: they are bound to their ungodly practices as it were with a cart-rope; and yet they are just enslaved by what, when rightly tested, are only cords of vanity. They are like a horse tied to a post by a bridle-rein: it could snap the rein in an instant, but it does not attempt to do so because it has no suspicion of the weakness of the rein. Look at some of the "cords of vanity" by which men are bound to their iniquities; the exposure of their essential weakness may excite some who are not fettered and bound to make an effort to attain to moral freedom.

I. One prevalent "cord of vanity" is _unbelief in God's threatenings against iniquity._ That God has threatened to do certain terrible things to impenitent sinners is admitted, but there lurks in the sinner's heart the idea that God is like certain foolish parents who threaten their children with punishments which they are much too good-natured ever to inflict. But whence did you derive this idea of God? Certainly not from _His Word._ He there distinctly forewarns us, that, though He is merciful and gracious, He will "by no means clear the guilty" (Ex. xxxiv. 7). Not from any intelligent examination of _His dealings in providence._ There neglect or infraction of law is invariably followed by punishment. If a whole nation were to neglect to sow its fields, would God be too good-natured to permit it to starve? But if God invariably punishes men for their infractions of His material laws, what reason can we have for hoping that He will not fulfil His threatenings against those who despise His spiritual ordinances? And why should we hope this? What reverence could we have for, what trust could we repose in, a God who did not fulfil His threatenings? How could we then trust in His promises? Surely this is a "cord of vanity!" and yet how many are bound by it as if it were "a cart-rope"!

II. Another cord is the reflection, _"We are no worse than others."_ Men compare themselves with others, perhaps even more iniquitous than themselves, and so arrive at the conclusion that they are not in any great danger. They do this even in temporal things,--_e.g.,_ in the matter of drainage. The authorities of a country village or town will listen with the most complete indifference to the warnings of a Government inspector, that they are inviting an outbreak of fever or cholera; and the ground of their indifference is that they know of other villages or towns as badly drained as their own. But does _that_ afford them any protection against the dangers of which they are warned? Men act as foolishly in spiritual matters. Because there are so many sinners they close their eyes to their own dangers or sins. Will God be either unable or afraid to punish transgressors because they are so numerous? Surely this also is a "cord of vanity;" and yet thousands are bound by it to their eternal destruction!

III. _"We shall be able to shake ourselves loose from our evil habits by and by."_ They imagine that they can repent and reform at any time, and they are firmly resolved to do so before death. Perhaps there could not be found a single sinner who does not secretly cherish in his breast wicked Balaam's desire, "Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!" But this idea that men can repent and reform at any time is a delusion. As men continue in sin (1) _The power to reform decays._ (2) _The desire to reform dies out._ The love of sin takes entire possession of the man. It enwraps him as ivy unchecked will enwrap a tree; at first with no more strength than a child's finger, in the end with the strength of a thousand giants. It is the oldest sinners who cling to their vices most desperately, who are bound by them as by cart-ropes. (3) _The opportunities for reform rapidly diminish and often end unexpectedly_ (Prov. xxix. 1; 1 Thess. v. 3).

Inquire by what cords of vanity _you_ are bound. Break them! (Dan. iv. 27.) Look to Jesus, who came into the world for the very purpose of setting at liberty them that are bound.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] See Notes on CORDS OF VANITY, pp. 121, 122.

THE PROPHET'S CALL.

vi. 1-12. _In the year that King Uzziah died, &c._

We have here the history of Isaiah's call to his great life-work. Perhaps in a modern biography this chapter would have been placed first. But there was wisdom in placing it where it stands; it was well to give some insight into the real character of the men along who Isaiah was called to labour, for thus we are enabled more easily to understand the nature of the mission on which he was sent.[1] Studying this chapter as a history of the prophet's call, I learn--

+I. That a threefold spiritual preparation is needed for effective service of God.+[2] It is generally admitted that some kind of preparation is needed, _e.g.,_ for the ministry of the Gospel; but it is not generally recognised that a merely professional preparation is of no avail whatever. A man may pass through the whole routine of college life, both literary and theological, and yet not be a prophet of the Lord. Such preparation is not merely not enough, it is not even essential. "Schools of the prophets" may exist without sending forth a single prophet, and God calls many prophets who have never been inside a school door. This is true of every kind and form of God's service, _e.g.,_ the Sunday-school, the home, Christian literature. In every case a threefold spiritual preparation is necessary. Without it we may pretend to be God's servants; but the disguise will always be imperfect, and we shall always be betraying what we really are. Even the old blind Isaacs whom we deceive will not be sure about us: we may have on Esau's garments, but we shall never perfectly imitate Esau's voice. What, then, is this preparation? 1. _A vision of God._ Before we can serve God effectively, we must to some extent see Him as He is. In all departments of human activity, knowledge of the person served is essential to perfect service. Those who have never seen an earthly king cannot serve him as those who are in daily intercourse with him; their loyalty is at the most a sentiment, not a constraining power. The biographies of God's most eminent servants in all ages make it plain that the first and indispensable state in preparation for His service is a vision of God Himself--a revelation of His majesty and holiness (vers. 1-4). 2. What a man needs before he can effectively serve God is _a vision of himself._ The great hindrance of such service is self-satisfaction and self-sufficiency. But when a man really sees God as He is, he straightway sees himself as he is (ver. 5). Job's experience (Job xlii. 5, 6) Peter's experience (Luke v. 8). He sees himself to be utterly unfit and unable to serve God, and so attains to the second indispensable qualification for such service (Eph. iii. 8; 1 Cor. xv. 9, &c.) 3. The third thing which a man needs before he can effectively serve God is _participation in God's salvation._ This is a rule that needs to be stated with wisdom. As a matter of fact, God has used the ministry of unconverted men. Such men may be guide-posts, though not guides. How much better to be a guide! How much more useful is a guide! But we cannot thus serve our generation unless we have been made a partaker of God's salvation. By a sanctifying process,--a process involving in some cases terrible pain (vers. 6, 7),--we must have been made "separate from sinners."

+II. Those who have undergone this preparation will devote themselves unreservedly to God's service.+ 1. _There will spring up spontaneously within them a desire to serve God._ They will not need to be pressed into this service; they will volunteer (ver. 8). 2. _They will not be deterred by the difficulty or painfulness of the service to which they are called._ It was a hard and distasteful service that was demanded of Isaiah--to prophesy to an unbelieving and scoffing generation (ch. v. 18, 19); to enter upon a ministry that would leave men worse than it found them (vers. 9, 10). Nor was this ministry to be brief; it was to be prolonged through many years (vers. 11, 12). Note: in sending Isaiah on such a ministry there was nothing inconsistent with the Divine righteousness or goodness. God's truth must be proclaimed, whether men will heed or reject it; and the inevitable effect of such proclamation of the truth is to render those who reject it more stupid and wicked than they were before (2 Cor. ii. 16; John ix. 39). But, painful as it was, Isaiah did not shrink from it. Nor do any who have passed through such a preparation as his. They do not ask concerning a work or duty, "Is it easy?" "Is it pleasant?" but, "Does God call me to it?" Paul: (Acts xxi. 13).

+III. There is great encouragement for those who have unreservedly devoted themselves to the service of God.+ 1. _What God demands from them is not success, but faithfulness._ He did not require Isaiah to convert his fellow-countrymen, but to prophesy to them faithfully. There his responsibility began and ended. So is it with preachers, teachers, and priests to-day. Men measure by success, but God by faithfulness. What a difference is the result, _e.g.,_ in such a case as that of Carey, who laboured for years without making one convert! or in such a case as Isaiah's! 2. _No faithful servant of God will ever labour without some success._ Isaiah was not to toil altogether in vain. There was to be a wide-spread apostacy of his countrymen, but not a universal apostacy; a small remnant would still cleave to the Lord (ver. 13); and doubtless Isaiah's ministry did much to keep them in the paths of righteousness. So is it with us; much of our seed may be wasted, but not all of it (Ps. cxxvi. 6; 1 Cor. xv. 58).

FOOTNOTES:

[1] This vision evidently contains the designation of Isaiah to
his work as a prophet. It does not follow that he may not
himself have put his book together in the form, or nearly
in the form, in which we have received it. The early
chapters as they describe the state of the people, not at
one particular moment but through a course of years,
announcing the punishments which must follow from that
state with the blessings which could come out of them, are
a living index to the subsequent prophecies and history.
The place which they occupy, supposing it was assigned by
Isaiah, cannot hinder us from accepting his own express
words as a proof, that the year in which King Uzziah dies
was the critical year of his life, that which explained to
him why he was sent into the world and what task he had to
perform in it.--_F. D. Maurice._

[2] Once for all must he who was to be a prophet have become
absolutely certain of the true relation of the world and
Jehovah,--must have beheld, as in a distinct form, the
sublime and holy character of Jehovah, and felt that he was
directed by Him alone; once for all must he have recognised
the Divine power of truth against the whole world, and
himself as living and moving in it alone; once for all must
he have entered, with the effectual energy and act of his
whole inner being, into the counsels of God, and found
himself for ever bound by them, and endowed by these bonds
with true power and freedom:--this was the first condition
and the true beginning of all the work of the prophet, the
holy consecration and the inner call, without which none
can become a true prophet.--_Ewald._

THE TRINITY IN UNITY.

(_For Trinity Sunday._)

vi. 1-3. _In the year that King Uzziah died, &c._

_Scene_ of this sublime vision, the Temple; _time,_ "the year that King Uzziah died." Why is this fact mentioned? Uzziah had profaned the Temple (2 Chron. xxvi. 16-21); his son and successor was Jotham, the only king of the house of Judah whose character has not one dishonouring blot; was it not appropriate that, when the disobedient king was removed, and a king had succeeded him, there should have been this glorious revelation of the King of kings--not merely as a preparation of the prophet for his mission, but as an encouragement to the monarch to persevere in his loyalty towards God and His truth?

That which was granted to the Prophet was _a vision of the Triune God._ Proofs: ver. 3, which shows the plurality of persons in the Divine unity; John xii. 41, where it is asserted that that which the prophet saw was the glory of Christ; Acts xxviii. 25, where it is asserted that the voice which the prophet heard was the voice of the Holy Ghost; ver. 3, the threefold repetition of "holy." I purpose, therefore, to make some observations on this important subject of the Trinity.

+I. The doctrine of the Trinity has been believed by the Church of Christ in all ages.+ This is at least a presumption that it is taught in Scripture, successive generations of devout men could scarcely have been mistaken on such a vital point.

+II. This doctrine of the Trinity underlies the whole Bible, and is inextricably interwoven with its fabric and structure.+ The Old Testament testifies to the Divine unity, as contrasted with the polytheism which prevailed among heathen nations; the Gospels record the manifestation of the Incarnate Son of God; the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles set forth the work of the Third Person in the Church. There is direct testimony to this doctrine, such as Matt. xxviii. 19, 2 Cor. xiii. 14. But just as circumstantial evidence when it is clear and complete is even more satisfactory and decisive than the very best direct testimony, still more valuable is the indirect testimony to this doctrine underlying the whole Bible; like a threefold cord, it runs through the whole book, and binds the whole of Divine revelation together.

+III. The doctrine of the Trinity, while it is clearly taught in Scripture, is mysterious and inexplicable.+ We can no more comprehend it with the unaided human understanding than by uplifting the fingers we can touch the starry firmament.[1] This is no reason for refusing to accept it,[2] we accept many other facts which we cannot explain (we cannot explain even the familiar fact of _sight_), but it is a reason for not insisting dogmatically that other men should accept our explanation of it.

As we cannot stay to consider the effect of the vision upon the mind of the prophet, I shall conclude with just three words of practical application of the doctrine itself. 1. _It is bound up with our duty to God._ We are bound to accept it, because He has revealed it; and accepting it, we are bound to yield to Father, Son and Holy Ghost the homage and love of our souls. 2. _It is bound up with our hope of salvation._ If it is not true that the Everlasting Son came forth from the bosom of the Father, and took upon Him to deliver man; and if it is not true that the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father and the Son raises men from the death of sin to the life of righteousness, and restamps upon their souls the lost lineaments of our Maker's image, what foundation is there left for our hope of everlasting life? 3. _It is bound up with the fulness of the Gospel blessings._ These are all summed upon the Apostolic benediction, 2 Cor. xiii. 14. If _these_ be ours, we "have all and abound."--_R. W. Forrest_ (_Christian World Pulpit,_ i. 492).

FOOTNOTES:

[1] See Article: THE TRINITY, in my _Homiletic Encyclopædia of
Illustrations,_ and section 1501 in my _Dictionary of
Poetical Illustrations._

[2] See above.

REVELATIONS OF GOD.

vi. 1-5. _In the year that King Uzziah died I saw, &c._[1]