Chapter XXIX: Part 29

IV. But how may we know whether the word behind us is the voice of God, and not merely one of our own fancies, or a suggestion of Satan's? There are several touchstones by which every "word" may and should be tested. 1. The word within is to be compared with the Word without. Every suggestion is to be examined by the rule of Scripture. God never speaks in the conscience contrary to what He speaks there, for He is unchangeable and cannot contradict Himself (Isa. viii. 20). 2. God's "words" are orderly and regular; they keep men within the compass of their callings, and the place in which God has set them. They incite us not to forsake our duty, but to be faithful in it. 3. They are ordinarily mild, gentle, seasonable; they are not ordinarily raptures, but such as leave a man in a right apprehension of what he does, and capable of reflection upon it. 4. They are discernible also from their effects, and the ends to which they tend. All the hints and motions of God's Spirit tend to make us better, and to carry us nearer to Himself in one way or another. Honestly using these tests, we shall learn promptly and surely to discern the voice of God's Spirit when He says to us, "This is the way, walk ye in it."

V. From all this two duties plainly arise. 1. _Thankfulness._ A faithful monitor is a very great advantage; it is so betwixt man and man, and we should bless God that He condescends to be this to us. 2. _Obedience._ To His infallible, loving counsel we should give prompt heed, especially as He not only points out the way, but is always ready to help us to walk in it; and the way in which He would have us go is the only one that leads to true happiness and lasting peace. Disobedience exposes us to manifold dangers, such as (1.) God's future silence; when His counsels are repeatedly rejected, He will cease to speak. What a terrible calamity (1 Sam. xxviii. 5). (2.) Those who hearken not to the voice of God in them are often given up to Satan, and their own corruptions bear away within them (Ps. lxxxi. 11, 12).--_Thomas Horton, D.D.: 100 Select Sermons,_ pp. 298-304.

+I. Our need of the guidance here promised.+ We are ignorant of the way to true happiness, and we have not always daylight. The path is narrow, and is sometimes very intricate. It lies through an enemy's country. Many as wise as we have lost their way, and, after years of sorrow, have perished miserably. We need this guidance in youth, in manhood, in old age, even unto death (P. D., 952, 2388).

+II. Some of the means by which God guides His people.+ The promise in our text suggests a traveller in doubt as to the course he should take, pausing perplexed at cross roads, and in danger of choosing a wrong one, when a friendly voice behind him is heard, saying, "This is the way, walk ye in it." God thus speaks to His people. 1. By His _providences._ Afflictions are often monitions and instructions (H. E. I., 66-70). 2. By His _Word._ It clearly marks the path to heaven. 3. By our _conscience_ (H. E. I., 1291, 1304, 1308-1312). 4. By His _Spirit;_ by Whom conscience is quickened, our understanding cleared of delusions, our attention fixed on the happy career of the righteous, and the disastrous end of the wicked.

+III. What is needed to enable us to profit by this promise.+ 1. A prayerful spirit (ver. 19). 2. A studious eye that will look for the waymarks, especially for the footprints of Jesus. 3. A listening ear. 4. An obedient habit of mind (1 Sam. xv. 22; P. D., 1656). Disregard of the Guiding Voice will involve us in present disaster and misery, and in eternal woe. Heedfulness of it will ensure for us present safety and peace, and eternal blessedness.--_Samuel Thodey._

RIVERS OF WATERS.

xxx. 25, 26. _And there shall be upon every high mountain,
&c._

These are symbolic of the blessings God will confer upon His people when He returns to them in mercy. These are vivid presentations of two characteristics of these blessings, their copiousness and their universality. 1. To express their COPIOUSNESS the prophet speaks not of streams merely, but of rivers; "rivers and streams of water;" and declares that they shall be poured forth, not merely as the light from the sun, but as if the light of seven days were concentrated in one.[1] 2. To express at once their copiousness and their UNIVERSALITY, He declares that the rivers and streams shall run on the hills and mountains, yea, upon _every_ hill and mountain.[2] The idea of universality is involved also in the future of sunlight.[3]

Have these promises been fulfilled? Yes. 1. _When the Gospel was given to the world._ Its messengers were sent forth into every land, and it is a small thing to say that the light it gave was sevenfold that which the most enlightened of the heathen had possessed. 2. _In the experience of every believing soul._ The Gospel reaches many who seem utterly beyond any saving influence; and when it does really reach a man, is received into his heart. It gives him a light of more than sevenfold brightness and value as compared with the best of the lights he before professed--reason and conscience.[4] 3. It is fulfilled in our own day _by the remarkable increase of religious knowledge._ God's Word is being carried into every land, and the children in our daily and Sabbath schools have a fuller acquaintance with Scripture than many men and women of the last generation. There is to be a yet more complete fulfilment of these promises in that glorious era of which we speak as the Millennium.[5]

It rests with ourselves to determine whether the fulfilment of these promises shall be to us a blessing.[6]--_John Packer: Warnings and Consolations,_ pp. 256-271.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] We can conceive of nothing more bright, pervading, and
universal than the light of the sun. At its rising the
whole face of nature is displayed, every object is brought
out to view; the grandest or loveliest features of the
scene are presented to us in all their extent and
magnificence, while the most delicate tints of the smallest
flower are seen in all their softest shades and richest
hues. Still the glorious object in its full splendour, the
sun itself is too dim, too dull, too feeble to represent
the grace and love of our God; it must be multiplied
sevenfold. And even then it but indistinctly shadows forth
the unspeakable mercy of the everlasting God.--_Packer._

[2] _"Rivers and streams of waters."_ But where is their
current? Upon every high mountain and upon every high hill.
Now, there can be no rivers and streams on the summit of
the mountain range, nor upon the high hill top. Rivers and
streams are fed from these lofty elevations; they take
their rise amid these towering heights, but they do not
find a channel there. Thus you see that to typify the
effluence of the Holy Spirit, these flowing waters of the
text are described as being in unusual localities, to
intimate that the blessings will be in such abundance and
profusion as to outrun expectation and surpass all
experience. And this not in some highly favoured regions
only, but the blessing shall be universal, even upon
_every_ high mountain and upon _every_ high hill.--_Packer._

[3] This, like the air, cannot be excluded; it penetrates the
gloomiest caverns, can enter even through a cranny. So
there is no soul out of reach of the all-pervading Spirit.
Those that are inaccessible to man can be reached, and
enriched, and blessed by the mighty energy of the Holy
Ghost.--_Packer._

[4] When we attempt to compare the boasted light of natural
reason with the light which the Spirit alone can impart, it
is not simply that the former is as the light of the moon,
and the latter as the light of the sun; but the one is as
Egyptian darkness, and the other as the splendour of the
meridian sun, without even one small fleecy cloud
intervening. Jesus Christ is the light of life (2 Cor.
iv. 6). All that we can know of God, of His attributes and
perfections, of His plans and purposes, He has revealed
unto us by His Son. To those who are in Christ all is
light, and harmony, and peace; to those who are without
Christ all is gloom, and confusion, and terror. By faith in
Him we see that all God's dealings wear an aspect of mercy,
love, and wisdom. Corrections are inflicted for our profit;
disappointments are sent to wean us from the unsatisfying,
perishing things of time and sense. Surely, in this
respect, the promise in the text is made good to the
believer; he enjoys sevenfold light in his soul compared to
that which he had in the days when he knew not the true God
and Jesus Christ, whom He had sent.--_Packer._

[5] But these mercies will be preceded by the convulsions of
the moral earthquake. The very terms in which the promise
is couched convey the idea of trial and suffering. There is
a breach which the Lord binds up, and there is the stroke
of a wound to be healed, implying previous
violence.--_Packer._

[6] What shall the universality and copiousness of the "rivers
and streams of water" profit us, if we will not drink of
them? In the natural world a man would be nothing
benefited, though the light of the sun was augmented
sevenfold, if he studiously closed and sealed every opening
by which it entered his dwelling, or if he placed an
impervious bandage tightly over his eyes whenever he went
abroad (John xii. 36).--_Packer._

[See also Outlines, RIVERS OF WATER IN A DRY PLACE,
xxxii. 2, and ENRICHING RIVERS, xxxiii. 21.]

THE EARTHLY SONG AND THE HEAVENLY VOICE.

xxx. 29-33. _Ye shall have a song . . . and the Lord shall
cause His glorious voice to be heard, &c._

The fulfilment of this prophecy is recorded in Isa. xxxvii. 36. The Assyrian power, hitherto unopposed in its march of conquest, sustained a severe check when it assailed Jerusalem. The great deliverance is here foretold. Inside the walls there would be song and gladness; outside, swift destruction. "The holy solemnity" was probably the Passover which Hezekiah and his people observed; and the "song" in that case would be the Paschal Hymn, comprising Ps. cxiii.-cxviii. There is a tradition that Sennacherib's army was destroyed on the night of the Passover; and thus while the people were recalling their great national deliverance, a further and somewhat similar Divine interposition was about to be made in their behalf. Mark how grandly, as if in response to the songs and gladness of the Passover night, the voice of Jehovah comes in. It is impossible not to see the connection between the two voices. Songs of praise and gladness have still an echo in heaven, and call forth a Divine response to quell the church's foes. Look, then, at the two voices, the human and the Divine, in relation to each other.

1. _A voice of confidence on man's part responded to by a voice of power on God's part._ It showed no small faith in Hezekiah and his people to observe the Passover in the circumstances. How could the little kingdom of Judah oppose the mighty conqueror? How could Jerusalem standout against the assailants encamped in such numbers around its walls? God was their defence. To Him in this emergency they raised their songs of confidence. Nothing could more appropriately express their faith than the Passover hymn. That night reminded them of the rescue from Egypt, and would inspire them with confidence in God. They were on the eve of another great deliverance, and their song was well fitted to prepare them for it, containing such passages as these, Ps. cxv. 1-11, cxviii. 6-13. Nor was their confidence disappointed. Without any human help, God overthrew their besiegers, but it was the song of faith that called forth the powerful voice of God. When faith appeals to God, the appeal is heard on high (Exod. xiv. 13; Ps. xlvi. 10). Two prisoners once prayed and sang praises to God at midnight. Their testimony for Christ had been silenced, but from the dark dungeon the song of confidence rose to heaven. "And the Lord caused His glorious voice to be heard," an earthquake shook the foundations of the prison, and God gave His two witnesses an opportunity of bringing the Gospel to bear upon hardened hearts. Do you wish to see the arm of the Lord revealed? then sing your song of faith. Does the Church in these days sit powerless, sad, and despairing through the gloomy night of unbelief and prevailing ungodliness? Let her know that man's extremity is God's opportunity. In the darkest night of seeming failure she has her God-given song, and if only she can sing it in spite of all that is black and threatening in her prospects, "the Lord shall cause His glorious voice to be heard, and shall show the lighting down of His arm" in rebuking scepticism and indifference, in softening hard hearts, and in making friends of foes.

2. _A song of gladness and joy in God responded to by a voice of complacent affection._ All the Jewish feasts were occasions of gladness, and the Passover must have been so, when we consider the event it commemorated, the communion with God to which it invited, and the future salvation it foreshadowed. The Paschal Hymn resounds with notes of gladness, _e.g.,_ Ps. cxviii. 14, 15, 24. If our song of joy in God is hearty and sincere, we may expect a corresponding response. If we rejoice in God, He will rejoice over us (Zeph. iii. 17; Isa. xxxi. 4, 5).

3. _A song of self-dedication answered by a voice of recognition._ The song breathes the spirit of consecration to God's service (Ps. cxvi. 12-19). Do we thus consciously and spontaneously lay ourselves on the altar as living sacrifices? If we own God, God will own us. The destruction of Sennacherib's hosts was a proof to all the world that God owned Israel as His peculiar people. You, too, will have the token of Divine ownership. For your sake God will rebuke the devourer. In response to your song of dedication, "the Lord shall cause His glorious voice to be heard," giving success to your efforts and enterprises, blessing you and making you a blessing.

4. _A song of security calling forth a voice of preservation._ Within the walls the people marched in procession "to the mountain of the Lord, to the rock of Israel." That rock of ages was their defence. They felt secure in God's faithful keeping (Ps. cxv. 17, 18, cxviii. 16-18). Have you entered into this element of the Paschal song? You shall hear God's protecting voice, and see the acts of His preserving care. However strong the foes that muster against you, they shall not prevail, for all the Divine resources are engaged for your support (Col. iii. 3).

5. _A song of thanksgiving for past mercies answered by a voice that commanded new mercies._ This element was very prominent in the Passover observance, and it enters largely into the Lord's Supper, called on this account the Eucharist. How can we remember Christ without thankfulness and praise? When He took the bread and the cup He "gave thanks," and He and His disciples sang the Paschal Hymn. What strains of high thanksgiving it contains! It begins with praise (Ps. cxii. 1, 2). It retells the Exodus (Ps. cxiv.) It rises to grateful recognition of God's goodness (Ps. cxvi. 7, 8, 17). When such a song rises from human lips, God will give fresh occasions for thankfulness.

Let the subject teach us the importance of sacred song. Prayer and preaching are Divinely appointed means of grace and instruction, but we cannot dispense with song. God fights for His people, but it is with the accompaniment of tabrets and harps (ver. 32).--_William Guthrie, M.A._

TOPHET ORDAINED OF OLD.

xxx. 33. _For Tophet is ordained of old, &c._

Some of us have often admired the expression, "Knowing the terrors of the Lord, we persuade men;" implying that the law of persuasion should be the law of the Christian pulpit. Some would _alarm_ men, some would bitterly _rail,_ and others _thunder_ at them; as though the human heart could never be prevailed upon to capitulate, but must always be taken by storm. Paul shows us the more excellent way. When he proclaims "the terrors of the Lord," it is "to persuade men;" to persuade them to escape the ruin and to accept the remedy. Observe, he does not hide them, for the truth must be told, sin must be condemned, the wicked must be warned.

+I. Let us examine the local allusion and literal meaning of this verse.+ "This allusion to Tophet is the earliest which appears in the Scriptures. Additional particulars appear in the history of Josiah's reformation (2 Kings xxiii. 10; Jer. vii. 31). The prophet Isaiah here represents Tophet as a place prepared for the burning of the Assyrian king. Made deep and large, with fire and wood in abundance, prepared for the king, and he being thrown into it, the breath of the Lord kindles it into fearful conflagration. This is, of course, a figurative description, Tophet being made the central point in the figure because it was a well-known place, a valley just outside the city, the valley of Hinnom, used for burning all the offal and filth of the city of Jerusalem." Isaiah was commissioned to utter this prophecy of the overthrow and consuming of the Assyrian army, in order to inspirit Hezekiah and the people against the threatened invasion. "Tophet is ordained of old" as that fiery place which would consume the dead bodies of these unjust invaders. Hence the Chaldee paraphrase says, "It was called the valley of the carcases and of the ashes or of the dead bodies for this reason, because the dead bodies of the camp of the Assyrians fell there;" to which Josephus gives testimony when he relates that the place was called the Assyrian camp. What force these recollections would give to our Lord's threatenings of hell to the Jews who saw the smoke of this valley always rising before their eyes (compare Isa. lxvi. 24 with Mark ix. 43-48).

+II. Note some of those solemn and awakening truths suggested by this verse.+ 1. _The same record which provides for the security of the Church, provides for the final overthrow of its enemies._ This was the time of Jacob's extremity; he was saved and his enemies consumed. 2. _In the enjoyment of our highest privileges, we are surrounded by the most solemn terrors._ Tophet lay not only _near,_ but at the very foot of Mount Zion. From the heights of Zion might be seen the smoke, the fire, and the worm in the valley of Tophet! A dreadful thought this! Hell is set full in our view when worshipping in Zion (1 Pet. iv. 17, 18). Bunyan says, "So I saw a man may go by profession to heaven's gate and yet be cast away." Our Lord (Luke xiii. 25). 3. _While no combination of power can shield the wicked, the believer has always a source of safety and a song of joy._--_Samuel Thodey._

THE ONLY COUNSELLOR.

xxxi. 1-3. _Woe to the rebellious children, &c._

These words were spoken by the prophet at a time when the Jewish nation was in great and imminent danger. They were addrest to the rulers of the nation, who were endeavouring to ward off the danger: and their purpose is to rebuke those rulers for the measures they were taking with that view, by entering into alliance with Pharaoh, king of Egypt, in the hope that he would deliver them out of it. But we should make a great mistake if we imagine that there is nothing in them that concerns our duty as individuals. God's reproofs of nations are such as we may all take home to our hearts, ponder, and learn from; for they contain principles of righteousness which, like the sun which shines at once on half the world and ourselves, are intended for the guidance both of nations and of individuals. Of this truth a striking example is afforded by our text. Its object is to rebuke the Jewish rulers for the line of policy which they were taking with the view of defending their country from her enemies. Sennacherib, king of Assyria, was marching against Judah, with the intent of conquering it, and reducing the people to slavery, as Israel had already been conquered and enslaved a few years before by Shalmaneser. The danger was very great. What was King Hezekiah to do? How was Judah to stand against Assyria? If you were to ask any of the politicians who are wise in the wisdom of this world, they would all say, there could be no question about the matter; that the only way of saving Judah was to obtain the alliance and aid of some powerful nation, whose succour might render her more nearly a match for the armies of the invader. This is exactly what the rulers of Judah set about doing. They entered into an alliance with the king of Egypt, with the view of gaining assistance from him, which might enable them to cope with Sennacherib in the field. This is just what a statesman, who plumed himself on his wisdom in these days, would do. Yet it is for doing this very thing that the prophet Isaiah in the text reproves and denounced woe against them. Their conduct, therefore, must have been sinful. Let us try to discover in what their sin lay.

1. They were making use of human means _alone,_ to ward off the danger which threatened. It is not sinful to use such means; the sin lies in fancying they can help us without the blessing of God, and in not seeking _that._ This was what Isaiah denounced, and what we do. When any danger threatens us, we forthwith take counsel--of ourselves, of our friends, forgetting that all our counsel in the first instance ought to be taken of God, by searching His law with the purpose of discerning what He wills us to do, and by praying Him to enlighten our understandings, that we may be enabled to discern His will. So too we are ever seeking to cover ourselves with a covering, to find some protection or other whereby we may be preserved from danger: only the covering we should cover ourselves with is the covering of the Spirit of God. We should make Him our shield and buckler; and then we need not fear what man can do unto us.

Our unwillingness to take counsel of God can only proceed from an evil heart of UNBELIEF,[1] and it is as unwise as it is undutiful. None but God's counsel is infallible, and only His covering is sure. But we choose to have a covering of our own making, and send up mists and clouds to hide the covering of God's Spirit from us, thus "adding sin to sin."

2. Observe, the princes of Judah were not merely taking counsel of man, instead of God, and covering with a covering which was not of the Spirit of God: but the arm they were trusting to was the arm of Egypt. Now Egypt had from the first been the deadly enemy of the Israelites, and of their God. Egypt was the source from which all manner of idolatrous abominations flowed in upon them: out of Egypt they had been called; and they were no longer to hold intercourse with it. Therefore the prophet goes on to forbid their seeking help from Egypt, and to predict that the help of Egypt would end in their confusion. If we are guilty of their sin, we shall not escape their woe. When trials come upon men to-day, they are apt to listen to Satan's assurance that in that particular emergency he can help them better than God can. They listen; they sin, and the one sin leads to other sins; and ere long they are ruined (H. E. I., 173-175).

Still it is woe to those who take counsel of anything earthly! In times of difficulty it is of God alone that we must seek and take counsel. He alone can give us such counsel as will never fail us even in this life: and the wisdom of His counsel, which we now see only through a glass darkly, will become brighter than the sun at noon, when the veil of this world is drawn away from before it.--_Julius_ _Charles Hare, M.A.: Sermons Preacht in Herstmonceaux Church,_ pp. 305-323.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] From that unbelief which loses sight of and forgets the
Ruler and Lawgiver of the world, and which is prone to
worship whatever dazzles the senses and flatters our carnal
nature. What should we say if a child, in a time of doubt
or danger, would not run to ask its parents what to do, but
were to run away from its parents and ask a stranger, or
were to ask its own ignorance, or its own whims, or the
ignorance of its playfellows--yea, were to ask its toys?
Surely such conduct would bespeak a loveless, undutiful
heart and a silliness such as could only be excused during
the faint early dawn of the mind. So is it a proof of a
loveless, undutiful heart not to seek counsel of God; nor
is such conduct less unwise than undutiful. For what do we
want in a counsellor except wisdom and foresight--wisdom to
know the principles and laws of things, and foresight to
discern their consequences? Now, neither of these faculties
can we find in any earthly counsellor, except in a very low
degree. For, not to speak of the numberless accidents which
warp and bias our own judgments and those of our
fellow-men, and lead them awry, even at best man's
understanding, unless so far as it is enlightened from
above by a knowledge of heavenly laws, can only reckon up
what is wont to be, without any insight into what must be;
and his eyes are ever so hoodwinkt by the present that he
cannot even look forward into to-morrow. Whereas everything
that God ordains must be right and true, and must stand
fast for ever, even after heaven and earth have past away.
He knows what we ought to do, _and He will bear us through
in doing it._ Yet we choose rather to be led by the blind
than by the Seeing. . . . Herein the very heathens condemn
us. For they, though they know not the true God, yet
believed there were powers in the heavens far wiser and
longer-sighted than man; and so believing, they acted
accordingly. Rightfully distrusting themselves, they sought
to ascertain the will and purpose of those powers by
searching it out according to the means whereby they
imagined it would be revealed.--_J. C. Hare._

THE SPIRITUALITY OF THE DIVINE NATURE.

xxxi. 3. _The Egyptians are men, and not God; and their
horses flesh, and not spirit._

Among the sins to which the ancient Israelites were addicted, one of the most prevailing was a disposition, in seasons of invasion or calamity, to place confidence in the power of surrounding nations, and to seek the assistance of their sovereigns, instead of trusting in the living God. Egypt, being the largest monarchy in their immediate neighbourhood, was frequently their refuge in times of distress and difficulty. Remonstrance (vers. 1, 2).

In the text an important and infinite disparity between God and man, which rendered the Egyptian monarch infinitely inferior to Him in the qualities which entitle to confidence and trust. The spirituality of the Supreme Being is the contrast.

I. _The spirituality of the Deity is intimately connected with the possession of that infinite, unlimited power which renders Him the proper object of entire confidence._

There is a prejudice in favour of matter and against spirit, as if the former were possessed of greater force than the latter. It arises from our mistaking secondary and remote effects for causes, instead of ascending to God the supreme cause. Thus we think of the elements of nature and of mechanical forces. We have no power of operating on the objects immediately around us but by means of our bodies. But it is mind alone which is the seat of power. The power by which all changes are effected through the instrumentality of the body resides immediately in the mind. It is that mysterious principle called Will. Whatever motions the mind wills instantly take place. This is an illustration of the control which the Deity exercises over the universe. The Divine Being has only to will the most important changes and they are instantly accomplished. It is impossible to give any account of innumerable changes continually taking place in the visible world, without tracing them up to mind.

II. _The spirituality of God stands in close and intimate connection with His Invisibility._

1 Tim. vi. 15, 16. Were He the object of sight, He must be limited. He cannot, therefore, be figured out by any art or skill of man (Acts xvii. 24-29; Deut. iv. 15; Ex. xx. 4, 5). Hence the great impiety of those who have attempted to paint and figure out the persons of the Trinity. The necessary effect of any attempt to represent the Deity to the human senses, by pictures or images, must be to degrade, to an incalculable degree, our conception of Him. Hence images of angels, the Virgin Mary, and saints of inferior character.

III. _The spirituality of God is inseparably connected with His Immensity and Omnipresence_ (Jer. xxiii. 23, 24; Ps. cxxxix. 7-12).

1. It is necessary that matter should have some figure. But figure is circumscribed within a certain outline. To conceive of the Divine Being as material would involve absurdity. 2. If matter were unlimited there would be no possibility of motion. 3. If the Divine Being were material, He would render impossible the co-existence of created beings. Two portions of matter cannot occupy the same space. But the infinite Spirit is present with every part of His creation.

IV. _The spirituality of God enables His infinite Wisdom._

This seems a necessary property of that Being who is present to all His creatures at all times. His infinite acquaintance with His creatures is a necessary consequence of His presence. Every one is as much within His survey at one moment as at another. We judge of men's character by their actions, He by their motives. And His judgment is always according to truth.

V. _The spirituality of God establishes an intimate relation between Him and all His intelligent creatures._

Their dependence on Him is absolute; their subjection to Him constant and incessant; but in a special manner is He the Father of spirits. The body has a tendency to separate us from God, by the dissimilarity of its nature; the soul unites us to Him by those principles and faculties which are congenial to His own. To estrange ourselves from God is to be guilty of a most enormous kind of offence: it is forgetting our proper parent, the author of our existence. To love him, to seek union with Him, is to return to our proper original.

VI. _The spirituality of God renders Him capable of being the satisfying Portion, the Supreme Good, of all intelligent beings._

He is the source and spring of all happiness (Lam. iii. 24, 25; Ps. lxxiii. 25, 26). 1. That which constitutes the felicity of the mind must be something out of it. Whoever retires into his own mind for happiness will be miserable. God is qualified to be the everlasting and inexhaustible spring of happiness. 2. He who can always confer happiness on another being must be superior to that being. To be the source of happiness is the prerogative of God. 3. That in which the happiness of a rational and mental creature consists, must be congenial to the nature of that creature. 4. That which forms the principle of our felicity must be something that is capable of communicating itself to us. God, as He is a Spirit, is capable of communicating Himself to the spirits of His rational creatures. These communications will constitute the felicity of heaven. Even while they continue on earth, it is the privilege of the faithful to enjoy union with the Father of spirits through His Son.

IMPROVEMENT. 1. Let us raise ourselves, in contemplating the Divine Being, above what is sensible, visible, and corporeal. 2. Since God is a Spirit, there must be an everlasting connection established between Him and us, on which will depend our destiny for ever. Hence Jesus Christ has come. What movements are in your minds toward this great object?--_Robert Hall: Works,_ vol. vi., pages 1-32.

A CALL TO THE REVOLTED.

xxxi. 6. _Turn ye unto Him from whom the children of Israel
have deeply revolted._

Had mankind adhered to the Divine idea, no such word as this would have been necessary. Divine communications would have consisted probably of counsels, directions, predictions, progressive revelations of truth. The demand that man turn shows that he has gone astray. All Divine communications suppose the existence of sin and the need of salvation. Happily for us, they show the way in which salvation may be obtained. The parts of the human race are as the whole. The people God distinguished by separating them from the nations, with special connection to Himself, followed the universal tendency to wander from Him. They forsook His law. When trouble came, they sought help anywhere. At the time of this prophecy they were looking to Egypt instead of to the Lord. The prophet remonstrates, and invites them to make a friend of God against Assyria. The text may be addressed to sinners now. Here is--

I. A SERIOUS ACCUSATION.

God was the King of Israel. Departure from His laws was a national revolt. Man's revolt from God consists in--1. +Disaffection.+ When love to the sovereign departs, the way is prepared for any act of hostility circumstances may favour. The disaffection of man to God is inbred. From the original fall man derives a mysterious tendency to depart from God (H. E. I., 3390-3397). Human nature dislikes the Divine holiness; dislike of the Divine holiness is the root from which grow men's evil deeds. So deep is the revolt that man has no desire to return. 2. +Disobedience.+ You may say it is natural to sin, and we cannot be held responsible for it. Do you judge of, and deal with your fellow-man in that way as to their conduct to you? If they injure, defraud you, do you say they have a natural inclination to fraud and wrongdoing, and therefore are not responsible? When a son who has been carefully trained develops tendencies and inclinations to evil, attaches himself to bad companions, &c., do you exonerate him from blame because it is his nature? You say he ought to have resisted the evil inclinations and cultivated such as were good. You are right. But why should there be a difference when the object of the wrongdoing is God? The dislike of God's holiness inherent in human nature develops itself in the indulgence of sinful passions and disobedience to God's commands. Does the fact that it was your nature free you from responsibility? Are you not possessed of reason and conscience? Do not these constitute responsibility? Is not the fact that you decline the help God offers for the subjugation of evil sufficient to throw on you the entire blame of your continued revolt? 3. +Distrust.+ A large part of the revolt of ancient Israel from God consisted in distrust. When man withdraws his love from God and abandons himself to disobedience, he is sure to lose faith. You will soon cease to trust the friend whom you persistently wrong and disregard. Is not this the explanation of much of the unbelief among men? They are unhappy in their severance from God, yet unwilling to return. Then they expunge from their beliefs His declarations concerning sin and its punishment. Truth after truth disappears. Then He disappears. They persuade themselves that there is no need of Him, then that He does not exist. The wish is father to the thought. Because the heart and life have revolted from Him, the intellect labours to sweep Him out of the world which He has made.

II. AN EARNEST CALL.

1. "Turn ye unto Him." From the folly of the intellect; from the perversity of the heart; from the disobedience of the life in which your revolt has manifested itself. God is. He is a living person, with all the feelings of one, as well as a supreme ruler clothed with governmental authority. He is worth turning to. 2. In the Gospel, He invites you to repent, to turn. It is a complete change of your heart and life. You can examine and reflect upon the truth. You can consider the righteousness of His claim. You can consider the motive that is furnished by His offer of a free pardon and a full salvation procured for you by the death of His Son. 3. Do you feel yourself weak? He will help you to turn. 4. Turn from the wrong path to the right one. (1.) Turn to the trust which He encourages. Bring your sin and need to Jesus. (2.) Turn to the obedience He demands. There must be a complete surrender. All sin must be relinquished, even the dearest. Choose the way of holiness. (3.) Turn to the love He deserves. It comes indeed into the heart with submission and faith. 5. Think of the danger of continued revolt; of the wrongfulness of revolt; of the blessedness of return.--_J. Rawlinson._

THE FIERY ORDEAL OF THE CHURCH.

xxxi. 9. _The Lord, whose fire is in Zion, and whose
furnace is in Jerusalem._

There is a variety of purposes for which fire is used. One of them was of old for the sacrifice, the burnt-offering; another was for incense, to keep it always smoking. Furnaces were used by the workers in metals.

I. THE FIRE. "Whose _fire_ is in Zion." Without the sacred fire there would have been no burnt-offering, no clouds of incense; and therefore God commanded that it should be kept ever burning. In this sense, the fire is the emblem of the life Divine, the Holy Spirit's work. May it be for ever burning! Where it burns strongly, what clouds of incense of praise and prayer ascend to heaven!

II. THE FURNACE. "Whose _furnace_ is in Jerusalem." It is there for the purpose of accomplishing God's designs with regard to His people. A furnace is nothing without fuel, and the fuel may be of various kinds. God heats His furnace with different kinds of fuel--sometimes with bodily afflictions, sometimes with losses of various kinds, sometimes with bereavements, sometimes with persecutions, sometimes with all these combined. Oh, the fast importance of viewing every trial of a temporal kind as sent on purpose to constitute a little fuel for God's furnace! God is doing three things with His furnace. He is melting, He is manifesting, He is making useful. 1. He is _melting._ We are so hard and stubborn, so full of dross, that nothing less than the fire will serve (Isa. i. 25). 2. He is _manifesting._ The fire tests both us[1] and our work (1 Cor. iii. 13). In this way God manifests the difference between His people and the false professor, and shows who are His own (Zech. xiii. 9). 3. He is _making useful._ Take a lesson from the very vessels you use at table every day; they would have been of no use at all, had they not passed through the fire.

_Conclusion._ The trials of God's people tend (1) To exercise and develop their spiritual excellence; (2.) To demonstrate the Divine love and faithfulness; (3.) To prepare them for the enjoyment of Himself at last.[2]--_Joseph Irons: Thursday Penny Pulpit,_ vol. vii. 109-120.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Upon one occasion, like the prophet Jeremiah, I visited the
potter's house. I admired the ingenuity and the beauty of
his work on the wheels. But after a little while, I found
there was really no reliance to be put on the results of
his labour and ingenuity. When put into the furnace, some
of the vessels were marred and rendered good for nothing;
they cracked and went to pieces. Did not the potter shape
them aright? Did he not make them of the same clay? Did he
not take the same pains with them? Then what was the
defect? They would not stand fire.--_Irons._

[2] H. E. I., 116-142.

THE PRECIOUSNESS OF CHRIST.

xxxii. 2. _A man shall be as an hiding place, &c._

These figures all coincide in setting forth one great and blessed truth--the truth that _in Christ there is suitable and complete relief under every circumstance of distress:_ in distress arising--1. from _temporal sufferings;_ 2. from _conviction of sin;_ 3. from _strong temptation;_ 4. from the _near approach of death._--_John Watt, B.D.: Sermons,_ pp. 92-108.

Jesus Christ--I. The refuge from all dangers; II. The fruition of all desires; III. The rest and refreshment in all trials.--_A. Maclaren, B.A.: Sermons, Third Series,_ p. 135.

This prediction, uttered in the days of Ahaz, had a primary reference to Hezekiah, and to the relief from wicked magistrates which would be experienced in his reign. But its ultimate reference was to the Lord Jesus Christ. Here are three separate figures, very striking to an Eastern ear, which admit of distinct illustration:--+I. "A hiding-place from the wind and a covert from the tempest."+[1] This is but one figure, for the latter clause, as is common in Eastern poetry, is only the echo of the former. Jesus is found to be the best hiding-place and covert:--1. From the winds and tempests of _affliction._ 2. From the tempest of _an agitated conscience._ 3. He is the only hiding-place for the tempest of _Divine wrath._ +II. "As rivers of water in a dry place,"+--that is, Jesus conveys satisfaction and refreshment to those who can find them nowhere else. He alone satisfies the heart's thirst--1. for _happiness;_ 2. for _consolation;_ 3. for _reconciliation with God._ +III. "As the shadow of a great rock in a weary land."+[2] Such a retreat does our Redeemer afford to those who are fainting under the labours and discouragements of this wearisome life (Isa. 1-4, Jer. xxxi. 25). 1. Let us thank God for such a Saviour--the very Saviour we need. 2. Let us abide in Him--we always need Him.--_E. Griffin, D.D.: Fifty-nine Plain Practical Sermons,_ pp. 261-270.

1. _There underlies this prophecy a very sad, a very true conception of human life._ The three promises imply three diverse aspects of man's need and misery. The "covert" and the "hiding-place" imply tempest and storm and danger; the "rivers of water" imply drought and thirst; the "shadow of a great rock" implies lassitude and languor, fatigue and weariness. Sad this is, but how true! Do we not need a "covert" from the tempests of adverse circumstances, of temptations, of God's anger kindled by our sins!

II. _There shines through these words a mysterious hope_--the hope that one of ourselves shall deliver us from all this evil in life. "A _man,_" &c. Such an expectation seems to be right in the teeth of all experience, and far too high pitched even to be fulfilled. It appears to demand in him who should bring it to pass powers which are more than human, and which must in some inexplicable way be wide as the range of humanity and enduring as the succession of the ages. All experience seems to teach that no human arm or heart can be to another soul what these words promise, and what we need.

III. _This mysterious hope is fulfilled in Jesus Christ._ That which seemed impossible is real. The forebodings of experience have not fathomed the powers of Divine Love. There _is_ a man, our brother, bone of our bone, and flesh of our flesh, who can be to all human souls the adequate object of their perfect trust, the abiding home of their deepest love, the unfailing supply for their profoundest wants. Behind His protection they are safe, by His grace they are satisfied, beneath His shelter they have rest.--_A. Maclaren, B.A.: Sermons, Third Series,_ pp. 136-147.

I. We have here AN INSTRUMENT OF CONSOLATION.[3] +1. It was an instrument of consolation to those who first heard it.+ The prophecy in which it occurs was given in the time of Ahaz, when justice was perverted, and the government, which should have been for the protection of the people, was organised for their oppression. Terrible are the sufferings of men at such a time, and precious was the hope which this prophecy held out of "a man"--a ruler--who should be a defence and blessing to the poor of the nation. +2. It was an instrument of consolation to devout men in all the centuries which intervened between its utterance and the coming of Christ.+ In due time Hezekiah ascended the throne, and in him this prophecy had a partial fulfilment. But he passed away, and Israel needed such "a man" as much as ever. Devout men learned to look for him in the Messiah for whom they and their fathers had waited. In the midst of national and personal humiliation and sufferings, they were sustained and cheered by the hope of His advent. 3. In due time He appeared. Whether in Him this prophecy was completely or only partially fulfilled, let any reader of the Gospels testify. +And since the days when Christ went about Judæa, solacing human woes, and ministering to human necessities, this declaration has been still more full of consolation to generation after generation down to our own day.+ It has taught men to whom to flee in their distresses, and fleeing to Him they have found that it was with no vain hope that it had cheered them. When you think what it has been to men ever since it was uttered, can you help looking upon it with love?

II. OF THIS INSTRUMENT OF CONSOLATION ALL MEN HAVE NEED. There are some portions of Scripture which have only a limited interest, because they are for special classes (_e.g.,_ kings, subjects, parents, children, &c.); but this is a portion for every one. The needs of which it speaks will be felt by all men; and all men, at some time or other, will long for the blessings which it promises. Hence--+1. It should be stored up in the memory of the young.+[4] +2. The aged should count it one of their chief treasures.+[5]

III. TO THE PRESENT AND PERMANENT VALUE OF THIS INSTRUMENT OF CONSOLATION THERE ARE MILLIONS OF LIVING WITNESSES. The declarations of our text are very beautiful, but the important question is, Are they _true? Is Christ to His people all that He is here said to be?_ 1. Our text says that +Christ is a refuge for His people.+ "As a hiding-place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest." Remember what kind of storms sometimes sweep across the Eastern deserts. [See outline: THE CHRISTIAN'S REFUGE, section I.] As you have pursued the pilgrimage of human life, have any such storms burst upon you?--the storm of adversity? of persecution? of an awakened conscience? of temptations? The worst storms are those which rage _within_ a man! In such storms where did you find shelter? what did you find Christ to be to _you?_ 2. Our text says that +Christ will satisfy the thirst of His people.+ Picture the scene at Rephidim. To the multitudes who had almost died of thirst, how welcome were the streams that burst from the smitten rock! All men thirst for _happiness;_ the distressed for _consolation,_ the penitent for _reconciliation with God._ In these respects, has Christ been to _you_ "as rivers of water in a dry place?" 3. Our text says that +Christ will give rest to His people.+[6]

IV. Every truth is a call to duty. TO WHAT DUTIES DOES OUR TEXT CALL US? If we have had a personal experience of the truth of its declarations, it says--1. PRAISE GOD. Would not a storm-driven traveller give thanks for "a covert," the thirst-consumed for "rivers of water," the faint and weary for "the shadow of a great rock?" Let us remember what Christ has been to us, and give "thanks unto God for His unspeakable gift!" 2. TAKE COURAGE. Usually as years increase troubles multiply: but what Christ has been to you in the past, He will be in the future--an all-sufficient Saviour! 3. To those who have not yet had a personal experience of the truth of its declarations, my text says, COME TO JESUS. Its promises are invitations. Is not a well of water in itself an invitation to a thirsty man? You need all that the text promises; and in the experience of millions of men living _now,_ you have abundant evidence that its promises are worthy of your trust. Familiarise yourself with the "hiding-place" _before_ the tempests of life burst upon you, that in the day of storm you may know whither to flee. Blessed are they who have made the Man of whom our text speaks their friend. According to His word (Matt. xxviii.), He is with them "always," "as a hiding-place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land."

FOOTNOTES:

[1] We arose with the sun, and went out to saddle our
dromedaries, when we found to our great surprise that their
heads were buried in the sand; and it was not possible for
us to draw them out. We called the Bedouins of the tribe to
our aid, who informed us that the instinct of the camels
led them to conceal their heads thus, in order to escape
the simoom; that their doing so was an infallible presage
of that terrible tempest of the desert, which would not be
long in breaking loose; and that we could not proceed on
the journey without meeting a certain death. The camels,
who perceive the approach of this fearful storm two or
three hours before it bursts, turn themselves to the side
opposed to the wind, and dig into the sand. It is
impossible to make them stir from that position either to
eat or drink during the whole tempest, were it to last for
several days. Providence has endowed them with this
instinct of preservation, which never deceives them. When
we learned with what we were threatened, we partook the
general consternation, and hastened to take all the
precautions which they pointed out to us. It is not
sufficient to put the horses under shelter; it is requisite
also to cover their heads and stop up their ears, otherwise
they will be suffocated by the whirlwinds of fine
impalpable sand, which the storm sweeps furiously before
it. The men collect under their tents, block up the
crevices with the greatest care, and provide a supply of
water, which they keep within reach; they then lie down on
the ground, their heads covered with the mashlas, and thus
remain all the time that the tornado continues.

The camp was thrown into the greatest bustle, each bent on
providing safety for his cattle, and afterwards withdrawing
precipitately under his tent. We had scarcely got our
beautiful Negde mares under cover ere the tempest burst.
Impetuous blasts of wind buried clouds of red and burning
sand in eddies, and overthrew all upon whom their fury
fell; or, heaping up hills, they buried all that had
strength to resist being carried away. If, at this period,
any part of the body be exposed, the flesh is scorched as
if a hot iron had touched it. The water, which was intended
to cool us, began to boil, and the temperature of the tent
exceeded that of a Turkish bath. The hurricane blew in all
its fury for six hours, and gradually subsided during six
more; an hour longer, and I believe we had all been
stifled. When we ventured to leave the tents, a frightful
spectacle presented itself; five children, two women, and a
man were lying dead on the still burning sand, and several
Bedouins had their faces blackened and entirely calcined,
as if by a blast from a fiery furnace. When the wind of the
simoom strikes an unfortunate wretch on the head, the blood
gushes in streams from his mouth and nostrils, his face
swells, becomes black, and he shortly dies of
suffocation.--_Lamartine: Travels in the East,_ p. 213.