Chapter XXXIV: Part 34

Presumption and fear are the Scylla and Charybdis of the Christian life, and it requires Divine guidance, together with all our own watchfulness, to steer safely between them. On the one hand, many are inclined to indulge in vain confidence, and take to themselves the Christian name and hope when not entitled to them; and on the other, many are fearful and disposed to shrink back from duties and privileges which really belong to them. It demands much wisdom on the part of a pastor so to speak as not to encourage false hopes, nor discourage weak and timid piety, especially in reference to a public profession of religion. My object is, to suit the case of those who are well entitled to hope for the Divine mercy through Christ Jesus, but are disquieting themselves, or are disquieted by the enemy, with needless fears. In meeting their wants I will state, and reply to, the reasoning by which I know that many disturb their own peace.

1. "I cannot indulge the hope that I am a Christian, _because I have never passed through the same religious exercises and experience that others profess to have felt and enjoyed._" It is not necessary to dwell at large upon this difficulty. God has brought many sons to glory, but no two of them have been led thither in precisely the same way, or have been exercised with precisely the same feelings. If, in the main, our experiences correspond with the Word of God in the great points of faith and love, it need not disquiet us though we never heard of another case exactly like our own (H. E. I. 1410-1429).

2. _"If I were truly a child of God, sin would not prevail against me as I find it does."_ Answer:--Sin is never perfectly subdued in our hearts as long as we remain upon earth. Some boast of having attained to sinless perfection, but they seem to be labouring under a sort of hallucination, like that of one in an insane asylum, amid his straw and rags, who fancies himself a king, when he is indeed but a poor pitiable object. "The righteous falleth seven times a day," &c. Read St. Paul's experience in the last part of the 7th of Romans and be encouraged thereby (H. E. I. 329, 1057, 2313, 2861, 4571-4573).

3. "I find that sin not only prevails against me, _but I seem to be worse than when I first strove against it; my heart appears to grow more wicked, my corruptions stronger, and my strength to resist to be less._" Answer:--To _perceive_ more of our sin than usual does not always prove that we are more sinful, but often the reverse, just as when one cleanses a room, though the air is filled with dust floating in the sunbeams, there is no more of it actually than before, and there will soon be less of it as the operation goes on. We do not know the strength of our evil passions until we begin to oppose them. It is also undoubtedly true that when one is making a special effort to lead a Christian life, that then he is especially tempted and hindered, and that the motions of sin are then more violent. And further than this, when any are endeavouring to break away from the dominion of Satan, then he assails them with his most powerful temptations (H. E. I. 1060-1062, 1066-1068, 2524, 2525).

4. Another class of disquieted ones affirm that they cannot hope they are true Christians, _because they seem to love everything else more than God._ But in estimating our love to God compared with our love to earthly things, we are not to conclude that we love that most which most excites our affections. It has been well remarked "that a man may be more moved when he sees a friend that has long been absent, and seem to regard him more for the moment than he does his own wife and children, and yet none would think that the friend was loved the most;" so neither must we conclude because when we are abroad in the world we find our affections vehemently stirred towards its various objects, that therefore they are supreme in our hearts. We should judge of our comparative affection by asking ourselves soberly which of the two objects we should prefer to part with (H. E. I. 3365, 3366, 4188, 4189).

5. _"A person may in appearance be like a Christian, and yet be really destitute of any true piety."_ Answer:--Fear is usually the best remedy against the thing feared, and none are farther from the danger of making a false profession than those who are most afraid of it (H. E. I. 339, 2050-2053).

6. Some again have fears that they are not true Christians, _because they come so far short of the attainments of some eminent Christians of their acquaintance._ We reply that the worst part of the character of those exalted saints may not be known to us, or they may not have our hindrances, or they may have been long in growing up to that state, while we are only, as it were, babes in Christ (H. E. I. 2508-2526).

7. Another class say _that they cannot think any real Christian ever was so tempted and distressed with evil thoughts as they are._ We reply, Job was tempted to curse God, and Christ Himself to worship Satan. We may have very wicked thoughts entering our minds, but if we strive against them and they are painful to us, they are no evidence against us. Christ had thoughts as vile as these suggested to Him, but He remained sinless (H. E. I. 4767-4779).

8. Another class say _that they have doctrinal difficulties, that certain things in the Bible do not appear clear to them,_ and they fear to make any public confession of Christ till these things are made plain. We reply that the best way to solve doctrinal difficulties is to engage in practical duties. Any one perplexed upon points of doctrine should read but little on those points, but engage earnestly in all acts of obedience which the Bible enjoins, praying fervently and humbly to be guided into all truth. One day's labour in the field of charity, or one step onward in the path of known duty, will bring more light into the soul upon disputed points than weeks of speculation and controversy (H. E. I. 590-596, 1797). It would be endless to recount all the ways in which doubts and fears assail us. Their name is legion, and our prayer should be that Christ would command them to come out of the man who is troubled with them, and to enter no more into him.--_W. H. Lewis, D.D.: Plain Sermons for the Christian Year._

THE HEALER AND JOY-GIVER.

xxxv. 5, 6. _Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
&c._

This beautiful prophecy is not exhausted by the first fulfilment of the promise which immediately precedes. However great the political deliverance, it did not include the literal giving of sight to the blind or hearing to the deaf. Nor is it only poetic imagery. It points to something in the time of the Messiah, to whose manifestation the scheme of Old Testament history and prophecy is subordinate. We find in this text--

I. THE BLESSINGS CHRIST IMPARTS.

1. We find in the life of Christ a literal fulfilment of the text, which compels us to regard it as fulfilled in Him (Matt. xx. 30-34; Mark vii. 32-35; John v. 5-9, &c.) Now these are historical facts. Useless to say they are miracles, therefore incredible, because a miracle is impossible. Who taught you that a miracle is impossible? You are assuming what you are bound to prove. The testimony of the writers of this history is worth as much as that of any other historical writers (H. E. I. 3527-3529). Many things have occurred in the world the like of which we have never seen. Moreover, the power of God must be taken into account in deciding whether a thing is possible or not. Is it not astounding presumption for a man to measure Divine power by his own; to say, because neither himself nor any other man at present can work a miracle, therefore God cannot and never has? After all the argument, the fact remains. 2. We find that the coming of Christ is identified with improvements in the general character and condition of mankind, such as may be shadowed forth in these physical blessings. Where Christianity comes, the intellectual, moral, and material standard rises. Savage peoples become civilised; civilised nations reach a higher plane. The influence of personal Christianity commonly improves the social position of the individual. 3. But beyond this we find that the coming of Christ is identified with the bestowment of spiritual blessings and the effectuation of spiritual changes as remarkable as the miracles it wrought in the physical region. The spiritual disease of sin, analogous to the physical diseases it has caused, is cured by the Gospel. Take a case. One thoroughly imbued with hatred to Christ. Not content with simple indifference to Him, or rejection of His claims, he throws all the energy of an unusually energetic nature into the active measures that were adopted for the suppression of His cause. But the saving power of Christ finds him in a way unexpected and unusual. He surrenders on the spot, and finds himself under the command of Christ to do whatsoever He wills. He becomes a missionary of the cross. He is sent to the Gentiles "to open their eyes, to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God." And this case is a type of multitudes whose spiritual diseases have been healed, some of them the most virulent and malignant. It is a work within their souls, which the power of God alone can effect. It is a change of the heart's deepest principles and affections under the influence of spiritual considerations only. It is a moral revolution. The blind eyes are opened to the glory of Christ's truth. The deaf ear listens to His voice. The dumb tongue is eloquent of His salvation, and sings His praise. And the lame man gladly walks in the way of His commandments.

II. THE JOY HE CREATES.

Gladness runs through the text. Leaping and singing are expressions of joy. The blessings of salvation find the soul in the condition of a traveller in the sandy desert, weary, footsore, lame, and silent, who unexpectedly finds a springing well, and begins to talk, and sing, and leap for joy. Joy arises in the heart--1. _From the supply of a conscious need._ Imagine the joy of those whom Christ healed, when the blind saw the light and became interested in the objects around him, when the deaf heard the sound of the human voice, when the dumb was able to make himself understood, when the lame recovered the use of his limbs. What joy was brought into many a home! And when He comes to the heart with His forgiving, cleansing, healing love, what gladness He brings! It is the beginning of days. It is the enjoyment of life. Christians have sources of happiness of which the world knows nothing. "Ye rejoice with joy unspeakable, and full of glory" (H. E. I. 3041). 2. _From the manifestation of a compassionate Saviour._ His healing miracles illustrate His character. Beneficence, tender sympathy with human suffering, love to man marked His steps. It brought Him down from heaven. It nailed Him to the cross. And He is still the same. He is personally interested in His people (H. E. I. 952-957). He is the object of Divine love, and therefore joy. 3. _From the satisfaction of settled faith._ Faith connects the soul with Him. But it is often assailed. It needs support even where it exists. The disciples sometimes wavered, then some new confirmation was afforded. John the Baptist in prison doubted, therefore received the message (Matt. xi. 4-6). Jesus uses His miracles in evidence. Nor must we surrender their evidential power. And there is the confirmatory evidence of expression. This is always fresh.

1. This subject calls for grateful love. Give evidence of your cure by getting the spirit of Christ's compassionate love, and by using His instruments for the cure of others. 2. You too are still in the power of the disease; come to Him for healing.--_J. Rawlinson._

THE CURSE DONE AWAY.

xxxv. 5, 6. _The eyes of the blind shall be opened, &c._

The years of fulfilment linger, and faith is weak and faint. The picture of hopeless helplessness is painted in the context (vers. 3, 4). If we fail, God's promise cannot (vers. 1, 2). The transformation of the desert, the planting of Eden there, and the coming of God with vengeance and recompense are one. They signify one vast display of gracious power. It is no abstract salvation that we wait and hope for, but a Saviour. The text describes the blessings of Messiah's kingdom.

+I. "Is not this poetry?"+ Yes, but is poetry the opposite of truth? Have not prophets ever been poets? Is not poetry the sweetest or strongest or sublimest expression of man's noblest conceptions of truth? This poem of Isaiah is an expression of God's realities. The poetry, the prophecy has its answering reality in history. The age of Christ spake back to it, and both speak on to us. Nothing shall be wanting to complete the scene. The glorious in nature shall but typify the more glorious in man's body, mind, morals, and spiritual satisfaction and joy.

+II. Spiritual and physical evil are intimately connected.+ 1. They are cause and effect. The physical is the sign of the spiritual. Something _radical_ was wrong before the wrong things could come. The doctrine is philosophic as well as biblical. 2. It is not meant that any and every special personal affliction is the result of any given or particular personal transgression. A man is not blind because he or his parents are sinners, but _because of sin._ We are living in a violated order.

+III. The cessation of physical evil can only follow the cure of evil that is spiritual.+ God's life, God's health, God's gladness must be poured into the dumb before his tongue can sing. The spirit of the blind must be thrilled with a heavenly vision before his eye can open on the outer world. God must come and save before the cripple can bound as the deer. 1. Man's sin must be cured, then his sorrow. The miracles of healing in the Gospels teach us this. We can never overlook the moral element in them. It was when Christ saw _faith_ that He said, "Thy sins be forgiven thee" (Matt. ix. 2). 2. Health and soundness could not be given to mankind by a mere miracle-power apart from spiritual considerations. No mere almightiness could effect it. Pentecostal gifts, if repeated, would probably produce similar signs and wonders; still miracles can never be more than periodic and intermittent. The progressive life of the Spirit of God must achieve in the race what they in the individual only foretoken. Physical healing must keep pace with moral. The body must protest against sin. 3. Any philanthropy springing from other hope lacks truth and wisdom, and must fail. It proceeds upon a mistaken conception of human nature. It only deals with symptoms. All true philanthropy must begin at the Cross. The Cross is the sign that God has come for vengeance and for recompense.

CONCLUSION.--_Learn counsel and courage._ 1. Counsel as to life's mysteries, burdens, sufferings, and sorrows. 2. Courage to endure them, and strive with them in manful faith and hope. (1.) Broken health, pains, malformations, insanities, idiocies, and all bodily and mental degeneracies and anomalies are the dreadful issue of spiritual depravity and alienation from the life of God. (2.) Sin's destined Victor is in the combat, and with His own shield and spear will take the throne. The world in which He reigns will be a world where evil is not, but good is all in all.--_William Hubbard: Christian World Pulpit,_ xvi. 232.

BEAUTIFUL VISIONS EXCHANGED FOR REALITIES.

xxxv. 7. _And the parched ground shall become a pool._

Read for "parched ground" _mirage,_[1] and it suggests the inquiry, what would be the feelings of a wearied traveller if the mirage he was vainly pursuing should suddenly become a pool? It would be new life to him; if the vision became a reality, it would be enough. But it is not only the traveller in southern deserts beneath the burning sky that sees visions of beauty floating before his gaze. Countless thousands thirst for something better and nobler than they have. So it has been from the beginning; and 2500 years ago the prophet declared that in the days of the Messiah the soul's desires should be satisfied, that that which had been only a vision should become a reality, the mirage should become a pool.

+I. Past prediction has become actual fact:+ in Christ ideal visions have become realities.

1. In bygone days some nobler souls dreamed dreams of a perfect human character. The "Phædo" of Plato is an illustration of this. But the dream remained a dream until Jesus of Nazareth lived among men. In Him all excellences that were scattered were localised, focused, centralised; and in Him we see of what nobleness our nature is capable. 2. The yearning of some is for truth, pure truth, stripped of all human accretions and confusions. How earnestly search has been made for it! In this search philosophy and theology have been traversed and ransacked. But it is to be found only in Christ. He Himself declared, not vainly, "I am the truth." In Him are "hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." 3. In others, conscience is the most active faculty. Sin is to them a burden and a torment. They yearn for peace of conscience. No suffering seems to them too great if this can be attained. But they never find it until they seek it in Christ. Coming to Him, they are filled with "the peace of God, which passeth all understanding." The vision has become a reality; the reality goes beyond the vision. 4. There are others led on by visions of a strong virtue and a noble life. They struggle against their passions and the allurements of the world. But alas! how numerous and lamentable are their defects! They never learn the secret of victory until they come to Christ; but when they have done this, presently they find that with truth they can say, "I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me." 5. Happiness. Who has not had visions of it? Who has not sought it? But, alas! the confession to which we are all brought is that of Solomon: "Vanity of vanities! all is vanity!" And yet even this thirst is satisfied in Christ--profoundly, exultantly satisfied. In Him we find a happiness that breaks forth in song, and triumphs over the pains and sorrows of this mortal life. The mirage has become a pool.

+II. Actual fact is present prediction;+ in Christ ideal vision will become realities. The soul still thirsts--1. For perfect purity; 2. For perfect rest from the carking cares of earth, and infinite calm in Jesus' love; 3. For the perfect communion of saints. In vision John saw all this in the new Jerusalem; and to all who are Christ's indeed they shall all become realities (1 Cor. ii. 9).

1. Let those to whom the prediction of our text has been fulfilled tell the glad news to others. 2. All for those who have had these visions all their lives, but up to this moment have been utterly disappointed, (1) let them learn from the experience of others, who tell them they never knew truth and happiness until they sought them in Christ; (2) let them listen to the voice of rest; (3) let them be sure that until they do come to Christ, the parched ground will never become a pool. The soul needs more than the vision, however bright and beautiful it may be; it needs the reality, and the reality can be found only in Christ.--_Clement Clemance, D.D._

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The word _sharab,_ "parched ground," A.V., more exactly
"looming sand-waste," refers to the mirage, of which it is
the Arabic name. The vain shadows of the world, which
deceive and never satisfy, are to be replaced by the
enduring joys of the kingdom of God.--_Birks._

Some years ago we were riding over a desert in intense and
almost distressing heat. We could but lie still and endure
it. We turned our eyes to the south, and, lo! in the
horizon there suddenly appeared a beautiful lake, which
appeared studded with islands of palms! But it was only
appearance, there was no water; and had we been perishing
from thirst, the beautiful vision would but have mocked our
need.--_Clemance._

No one can imagine, without actual experience, the delight
and eager expectation (when the vision first is seen), or
the intense and bitter disappointment which the appearance
of a mirage occasions to travellers, specially when their
supply of water is spent.

"Still the same burning sun! No cloud in heaven!
The hot air quivers, and the sultry mist
Floats o'er the desert, with a show
Of distant waters mocking their distress."--_Kitto._

The word _sharab,_ here rendered "parched ground," is the
same that in Isaiah xlix. 10 is translated _heat:_ "They
shall hunger no more, they shall thirst no more; the
_sharab,_ nor the sun, shall never smite them more."

The primary sense of _sharab,_ giving the key to both
applications, is the dazzling, vibrating, noonday heat.
Thence it is here taken as a name for its effect, of the
mirage in the desert caused by the intense meridian
rarefaction and refraction. It is a well-known delusive
appearance, arising from the motions of the heated
atmosphere, taking great varieties of form, but especially
suggesting pictures of grove and fountain scenery--lakes,
rivers, green valleys, waving trees, cool and sequestered
shades, with every image most grateful to the imagination
of the wearied traveller. These often seem so vivid as to
be mistaken for realities.

The very common use of the same word (_sarab_) by the
Arabian poets, in this mirage sense, makes certain the real
meaning here. It gives it, too, a glorious significance of
which our translation, though etymologically correct, and,
to a certain extent, quite plausible, falls far short. It
should be rendered: "The mirage shall become a lake (a
_real_ lake, not a mere mockery of one), and the thirsty
land springs of water." For the expressive meaning of the
word rendered "thirsty-land," see Deut. viii. 15--"that
great and terrible wilderness." So Gesenius, very happily:
_Et desertum aquœ speciem referens commutabitur in
lacum--in veram aquam._ (And the desert having the
_appearance_ of water shall be changed into a lake--_into
true water._)

The spiritual idea which the passage, thus interpreted,
suggests is most striking, whilst at the same time
commending itself as having a solid basis, and far removed
from the character of an arbitrary sentimentalism. It has a
substantial philological support, and comes so directly
from the peculiar word employed, that we are compelled to
regard it as entering into the prophet's conception.

The primary reference is to the exiles returning from
captivity, passing through the land of drought, the valley
of Baca (Ps. lxxxiv. 6), and refreshing themselves at "the
wells of salvation;" but there is a glow and a glory in the
language, as in so many other parts of the Scriptures, that
carries it far beyond this, though the Rationalist, if he
chooses, may rest in the lower sense, and maintain it on
undeniable exegetical grounds. The spiritually-minded
reader finds something more--something which alone comes up
to the splendour of the style, and without which the
hyperbole, beautiful as it is, would seem tumid and
extravagant. It is a _mounting sense,_ as we may call it,
rather than a _"double"_ or enigmatical representation. The
lower is the basis, undoubtedly, but we cannot rest in it.
As elsewhere, in the Prophets and in the Psalms, the
earthly salvation is described in terms and figures
powerfully suggestive of higher spiritual realities. The
exegesis, therefore, that comes from this is not arbitrary.
To the mind in spiritual harmony, it seems to be the only
one that truly satisfies the emotional glow and fervour of
the language. The mirage of this world in the highest
reality it can claim--still more the mirage our "vain
imaginations" create in it--is worse than the dry desert
itself; its delusions, when discovered, produce more pain;
the disappointment intensifies the thirst. Hence the
exceeding impressiveness of the prophet's figure when
rightly understood. The unreal shall vanish; truth,
substance, eternal reality shall take the place of all that
is false. Man shall cease "walking in a vain show"
(_betselem_), an image, a shadow (Ps. xxxix. 6). This
mirage of time shall become a fountain of _real_ water, of
"_living water,_ springing up to everlasting life." "With
joy shall ye draw water from the wells of salvation" (Isa.
xii. 3).

"The shadows are gone, truth has come." Mohammed seems to
have, in some way, caught a spark from the prophetic
inspiration, when he represents the righteous saying this,
as they lift up their hands in the morning of the
resurrection. In the Arabic, as in the Hebrew, the power
comes from the graphic mode which both languages possess,
in so high a degree, of picturing the future in the
present, and even in the past. "Joy and triumph _are_
overtaking them, sorrow and sighing _have fled_ away." This
is not the land of reality. The idea comes down from the
pilgrim language of the patriarchs, who so pathetically
declared themselves to be but "travellers and sojourners
upon the earth." They were looking for "the better
country," the _real_ home, the "city which hath
foundations," firm and everlasting. Something of the same
idea, and from the same early source, perhaps, may be
traced in the most ancient Arabian poets who lived before
the days of Mohammed. From them he most probably borrowed
the striking similar figure we find in the Koran (Sura
xxiv. 29), entitled "Light." It has the same word
(_sharab_), and, in other respects is immediately
suggestive of the passage in Isaiah: "As for the
unbelieving, their works are like the _sarab,_ the mirage
of the plain. The thirsty traveller thinks there is water
there; but lo, he comes and finds it nothing." The latter
parts remind us of the description in Job vi. 17, which may
be cited, too, as one of the examples of its Arabian
imagery. It is a picture of the thirsty traveller sustained
by the hope of finding the refreshing wady stream; but
instead of the imagined reality, nothing meets the eye but
dried-up bed whose waters have vanished, "gone up to
_tohu,_" the formless void, as the Hebrew so graphically
expresses it

"What time they shrink deserted of their springs,
As quenched in heat they vanish from their place;
'Tis then their wonted ways are turned aside:
Their streams are lost, gone up in emptiness.
The caravans of Tema look for them;
The companies of Sheba hope in vain;
Confounded are they where they once did trust;
They reach the spot and stand in helpless maze."

Another very striking passage, where the same word is used,
may be found in the Koran (Sura lxxviii. 20): "When the
hills are set in motion, and become like the _sarab_"--the
vanishing mirage. It is a description of the day of
judgment, when the world will be found to have been a
_sarab,_ a departing dream. Or it may represent its
exceeding transitoriness, like that other name _ajalun,_
the _rolling, hastening, passing_ world, which the Koran
and the early Arabian poets give to this present mundane
system as compared with the reality of Paradise. Hence the
word _sarab_ becomes a common or proverbial expression,
_pro re evanida,_ for anything light, transient, and
unsubstantial. There is a beautiful allusion to it in the
very ancient poem of Lebid (_Moallaka de Lebid, De Sacy's
ed.,_ p. 294). See also the account of the phenomenon as
given by Diodorus Siculus, lib. iii. ch. 50. It differs,
however, from the picture usually presented by the Arabian
poets, in that the appearances are those of animals and
wild beasts, rather than of rivers and fountains. The
particular kind of phantoms, however, would depend very
much on the kind of imagination possessed by the
travellers, and the circumstances by which it was excited.
It is, in any way, an apt representation of a delusive
world, whether in its images of terror or of attraction.
That the word is thus frequently used in the Arabic, and
that it corresponds well to its ancient Hebrew etymology,
is sufficient to warrant us in thus interpreting the idea
the prophet so impressively sets forth.--_Taylor Lewis._

THE EXILES' RETURN.

xxxv. 8-10. _And an highway shall be there, &c._

The chapter of which these words are a part testifies of Christ. The prophet, while foretelling it in the return of the Jews from their captivity in Babylon, is enabled to look forward to a more spiritual and much greater deliverance. With the eye of faith he sees the kingdom of the Messiah established in the earth, and beholds Him open a new and blessed road by which a multitude of the enslaved and perishing escape from their miseries and are led to His kingdom. This prophecy calls upon us to consider--1. The travellers of whom it speaks; 2. The way along which they are journeying; 3. The home to which it is leading them.--_Charles Bradley: Sermons,_ vol. ii. pp. 127, 128.

Whatever primary reference this prophecy might have to the return of the tribes from captivity, it is evident that all its interesting and beautiful descriptions can only be fully realised in the blessedness and glory of the Gospel dispensation. Consider it as spiritually referring to the Gospel way of salvation.

I. THE WAY ITSELF.

A religious course is often spoken of as a way (Prov. xv. 21; Jer. xxi. 8; Matt. vii. 14). The way of which our text speaks is described--1. _As a highway._ It is not a secluded private path, but a public highway opened by the authority of the King of kings; a way designed for the general accommodation of the human race, and leading to the metropolis of the universe. 2. _It is a holy way._ 3. _It is a plain way._ Not a way requiring extensive philosophical knowledge or deep metaphysical research to comprehend it. All the Gospel requirements and duties are plain. 4. _It is a safe way._[1] Satan may try to allure us from it, but he cannot interrupt us while walking in it.

II. THE CHARACTER OF ITS TRAVELLERS.

"The redeemed," &c. 1. _Once they were slaves._ Slaves of sin and Satan. 2. _They have been redeemed._ By the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Redeemed to God; redeemed from sin, the power of Satan, and the wrath to come. 3. _They are now the Lord's freemen._ Now sons, members of the Divine family; sharers of the Divine goodness and peace; and they bear a holy resemblance to their Elder Brother.

III. HOW THEY TRAVEL ALONG IT.

"They shall return and come to Zion with songs." 1. They sing the praises of their great Deliverer (Rev. i. 5, 6). 2. They sing on account of the deliverance itself. 3. They sing on account of the joys of their present experience. 4. They sing on account of their glorious prospects.

IV. THE BLESSEDNESS TO WHICH IT LEADS THEM.

1. They shall be crowned with joy. 2. They shall possess a perfect fulness of felicity. 3. Their felicity shall be uninterrupted and eternal.--_Jabez Burns, D.D.: Four Hundred Sketches and Skeletons of Sermons,_ vol. ii. pp. 160-163.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] This is important in our own country, where there are no
ferocious animals lying in wait to destroy; but it was
peculiarly important in Judæa and the countries adjoining
it. Many parts of these are said to have been infested with
beasts of prey, which frequently rushed from their places
of concealment upon the passing traveller, and rendered
even the public roads exceedingly dangerous. Hence the
prophet says of the way to heaven through Christ, that "no
lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast go up thereon;
it shall not be found there." Not that we are to conclude
that the redeemed have no foes to combat, and no
difficulties to surmount in their course. Like the
Israelites returning from Babylon, they have to pass
through an enemy's country in their journey to Zion. But He
who has redeemed them accompanies them in their pilgrimage;
and though they are called to struggle and fight, He gives
them the victory, and renders their path as safe as though
there were no dangers near it, nor any to hurt and
destroy.--_Bradley._

THE ROAD TO THE CITY.

xxxv. 8-10. _And a highway shall be there, &c._

Human life is a journey--a journey to the grave. The Christian life is a journey--a journey to a better country. Abraham journeyed to the land of Canaan; Israel in the wilderness; their descendants on the return from Babylon (Ezra viii. 31). If you would reach your destination, it is necessary to know and traverse the way.

+I. It is a way easily known.+ Some are difficult to find. They are crossed and intersected so often, and so imperfectly supplied with guiding-posts, that mistakes are almost inevitable. This is a way in which "the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err." Serious mistake is almost impossible. You have a directory so clear that reference to it settles every question. God's Word is the guide of life. He may read who runs. It is true there are no difficulties in the ascertainment of the way of life. The road the child travels to his home is quite plain and easy, yet he may be ignorant of the means by which it was made, the materials of which it is constructed, the sources whence they were obtained, the engineering appliances by which they were bound together, the quarters from which the cost was defrayed. At present he has no information, or it is beyond his comprehension. Thus in the Bible there are many things difficult and beyond the present knowledge of the student. They diminish with advancing knowledge and thought. And even if they remain, they do not affect the matters on which certainty is necessary. The way of forgiveness through the Saviour's death is written with the clearness of a sunbeam. The rule of life in its application to all circumstances is so clearly laid down that all cases in the court of conscience find an easy settlement; where there is a disposition to follow it, no practical difficulty exists. It is like the pillar of cloud and fire which infallibly guided the children of Israel in the wilderness.

+II. It is a purified way.+ "The unclean shall not pass over it." It is a holy way. The text fastens attention on those who traverse the road as giving it its character. They are holy persons in the company of holy persons. What is holiness? It is separation, setting apart, purity, always with reference to God. 1. Its meaning is not covered by morality. That term is ordinarily met by the performance of the duties that arise between man and man. 2. Nor is the meaning of the term "holy" covered by humanity. We hear much of what is called "the religion of humanity," which means a benevolent desire for the well-being of mankind. Like morality, it is to be commended as far as it goes. It is, indeed, a step in advance of morality. It is a man's worldly interest to practise its virtues. Humanity rises higher. It looks beyond self. In proportion as a man looks out from himself to the well-being of others, he is ennobled. Holiness includes them both, but they do not necessarily include holiness. They terminate in man, whereas holiness is in immediate relation to God. It is the separation of a man's nature from all sin against God, and is consecration to Him. God brings a sinner under the power of His grace, and a saint emerges. The love of God in Christ, which pardons him, so influences his nature that he comes into sympathy with God, and desires to be like Him. He makes the Divine will the rule of his life. He is born anew. He is holy in heart. His growing practical obedience to the Divine authority is his walk in the way of holiness. Those who have not experienced such a change cannot walk in it. They tire. Holiness of heart precedes holiness of life (H. E. I. 2813-2817).

+III. It is a pleasant way.+ There are pilgrim songs. The walk through the country may be so pleasant that nothing is thought of its difficulty or its fatigue. The way of holiness is rendered pleasant by congenial companions, by Divine thoughts, by heavenly communings. There are difficulties. The way is sometimes steep; here and there are formidable obstructions. There are temptations to weariness and abandonment of the way. Yet the difficulties are not insurmountable. They disappear before the traveller's sanctified determination. The ability of anything to give pleasure depends on our feeling in relation to it. Especially in things of a moral nature. The regenerated nature of a Christian makes every step of his progress a source of pleasure. Christians are the happiest of men, partly because happiness is not sought as their main end (H. E. I. 1080-1084, 4161-4163).

And it is safe as it is pleasant. All pleasant paths are not safe. Some pleasant ones are extremely perilous. The Lord of the way has cleared it of dangers. "He will keep the feet of His saints." "No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon."

+IV. It is a completed way.+ Some roads lead to nothing. They abruptly terminate, and you must retrace your steps. This is continued to the destination. "They shall come to Zion." As the Jews reached the earthly Jerusalem we shall arrive in heaven. The holy city is a fit termination of the holy way.

Are you in the way? Keep in it. Turn not aside. Advance toward your destination. Anticipate arrival.

Are you not in the way? Consider whither you are going. Renounce the world. Enter the road. Do not say it is hard. Do not say you cannot encounter the difficulties. God will help.--_J. Rawlinson._

There are a thousand wrong roads, but only one right one. 1. The road of the text is _the King's highway._ It spans all the chasms of human wretchedness; it tunnels all the mountains of earthly difficulty; it is wide and strong enough to hold all the millions of the human race. The King sent His Son to build the road. He put head, and hand, and heart to it, and after it was completed cried, "It is finished." 2. It is spoken of as a _clean road._ "The unclean shall not pass over it" (Prov. xiv. 12; Heb. xii. 14). 3. _A plain road._ "The wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein." The pardon is plain. The peace is plain (1 Tim. i. 15). If you are saved, it will be as a little child (Matt. xviii. 3). 4. _A safe road._ "No lion shall be there," &c. His soul is safe. His reputation is safe (Ps. cxxv. 2). 5. _A pleasant road._ God gives a bond of indemnity against all evil to every man that treads it (Rom. viii. 28; Matt. vi. 26, 28; Prov. iii. 33; 1 Cor. x. 13). He enables him to be glad with a great joy (Ps. xxvii. 1; Rev. vii. 14, 16, 17; Exod. xv. 1). 6. _What is its terminus?_ "The ransomed of the Lord shall come to Zion." Zion is the King's palace, a mountain fastness, impregnable. Heaven is the fastness of the universe. And Jesus is there!--_T. De Witt Talmage, D.D.: Christian Age,_ vol. ix. pp. 3-5.

THE HAPPINESS OF HEAVEN.

xxxv. 10. _And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, &c._

"Zion," literally speaking, was the proper name of the city where David dwelt (2 Sam. v. 7). But the name was also given to the ancient Jewish polity in church and state (Ps. cii. 13, 16), to the Gospel Church, with all the spiritual blessings of the Christian dispensation (Isa. xxviii. 16; 1 Pet. ii. 6, 7); and also to the Church in glory, or the heavenly state of final and complete happiness with God and Christ for ever (Heb. xii. 22, &c.) We may therefore regard this text as revealing _the general features of the happiness of heaven._

+I. To whom does the hope of heaven belong?+ To "the ransomed of the Lord," whom He has delivered from bondage and is bringing back from exile (H. E. I. 2730, 2829-2832).

+II. How do those who attain to heaven come there?+ Triumphantly, "with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads." This is said perhaps with allusion to the ovations of victorious chiefs, or to troops coming home from hard-fought fields and the privations even of a successful campaign, crowned with garlands and waving palms, singing some martial air, and approaching their homes and families with shouts of gratitude.

+III. What do the redeemed realise when they reach heaven?+ "They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away." In heaven--1. There will be _an entire cessation of every occasion of grief_ (H. E. I. 1629; P. D. 1753, 1767). 2. _There will no longer be any possibility of falling._ What a blessed peace will spring from this fact! In this world the sincerest believers, like pilots steering into port through narrow and winding channels beset with sunken rocks and hidden shoals, must work out daily their own salvation with fear and trembling (1 Cor. ix. 27). But in heaven the spirits of the just are "made perfect," and, like God Himself, "cannot be tempted of evil." 3. _We shall meet again with our long-lost loved ones, never more to part_ (Rev. vii. 15-17; P. D. 2996-2998). 4. _The companionship of saints and angels._ The best and purest friendships here are often marred by the blots and blemishes of good men; but there will be no jarring in the exalted fellowships of heaven. 5. _The possession of Christ and the beatific vision of God for ever_ (1 Pet. i. 8; Isa. xxxiii. 7).--_R. Bingham, M.A.: Sermons,_ pp. 128-149.

THE BANISHMENT OF SORROW.

xxxv. 10. _And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, &c._

+I.+ "They shall obtain joy and gladness," &c.--+this is undoubtedly the distinctive and ineradicable hope of human nature.+ Is that hope a glorious, and perhaps in its effects a beneficent, delusion never to be realised? Or is it the earnest of a reality far greater than its highest imagination can conceive? The question receives contradictory answers from the two conflicting voices within the soul, as from time to time one or other gains a temporary predominance. But the Christian revelation allows no doubt on this matter for a moment, and yet it does not bid us shut our eyes to the darker phases of actual life. The picture drawn in this chapter deals with every sphere of human life. It begins with the outward: it tells how the "desert shall rejoice," &c.; it turns, then, to the lower nature of man himself--"the eyes of the blind shall be opened," &c.; lastly, it speaks to the spirit of man: the light of God shows a "highway through the desert of life" on which "the redeemed can walk" safely; and at the end there is a heavenly Zion of perfection, to which the "ransomed of the Lord shall come with songs," &c.

+II. When did the prophet look to see his vision fulfilled?+ He may well have thought first of the all but present deliverance from the gigantic power of Assyria by the redeeming arm of the Lord. Some such shadow of fulfilment there may have been, in the last gleam of unclouded prosperity which ever fell upon Judah, before its sun set in the great captivity: such shadows of fulfilment may have been felt in the history of man again and again. Isaiah unquestionably looked on to the kingdom of the Messiah as the one ideal of a perfect manifestation of God and a perfect exaltation of man. Such fulfilment Christ claimed for Himself; but it is in the actual manifestation of the kingdom of Christ on earth that the prophetic picture is realised in its fulness.

+III. If the kingdom of Christ is what it proclaims itself to be, it must necessarily be, as on the Mount He proclaimed it, a kingdom of blessing.+ What are the two great sources of the sorrow which broods over life? 1. Over our bodily life, and the world of nature which subserves it, there is _the blight of pain and suffering._ 2. _Spiritual evil_--the blindness, weakness, sin of man himself. How does the Gospel profess to face and scatter both? By the revelation of the Cross it hallows doubly the law of suffering and death, by overruling it to good for ourselves, and by making it a condition and a means of helping the redemption of others. The Gospel deals still more decisively with the burden of sin: in this lies the essence of its redemption. "God is in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself. . . . We pray you, in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God." This is its first message; but it is not all; "Sin," it goes on to say, "shall not have dominion over you." "Ye are sanctified in Christ Jesus."

+IV. But is that promise actually realised?+ We answer boldly, Yes. It must be remembered that by the very nature of the case the kingdom of Christ is seen by us, as yet, only to the first stages of its conflict against the powers of evil. What it can offer, as yet, is a true but only imperfect earnest of the future. In all the three phases of this prophecy, Christ asserted its power to bless the whole world. He held the reins of the forces of nature; lifted the burden of disease and resisted death; brought in the new life of His grace. He had joy, like no other joy, amid His continuous conflict with evil; and to those who were His, He gave peace in proportion as they entered into His spirit. The last conflict was but for a moment, the chill of dreariness before the dawn. "Then," amidst some fear, and awe, and perplexity, "were the disciples _glad_ when they saw the Lord." It is, thank God! a matter of daily Christian experience, that, just in proportion as we are really Christ's, the promise is realised again and again to us. There is joy in nature, and a deeper joy and peace in communion with God. Sometimes we feel that these things are the only reality in a fleeting and unsubstantial world around us. But this reality is yet imperfect; sorrow and sighing are rather kept at bay than driven away; but we have a sure and certain hope of a perfect future. Without the realisation of His peace in the present, without the sure and certain hope of the future, one hardly sees how man can care to live; one dares not think how he can die.--_Canon Barry, D.D.: Christian Age,_ vol. xx. pp. 81-83.

MODERN RABSHAKEHS, AND THEIR ATTEMPTS TO TERRIFY GOD'S PEOPLE INTO A HUMBLE SURRENDER.

xxxvi. 4. _What confidence is this wherein thou trustest?_

Sennacherib is surprised at the attitude of resistance taken by Hezekiah, and sends an embassy to dissuade him from his mad project. When they appear outside the walls, some officers of Hezekiah's court come out to confer with them, and Rabshakeh opens upon them with the taunting question, _"What confidence," &c._ The proud king of Assyria had another end beyond that of conquest. His aim was to show that Jehovah was on a level with the gods of the nations. This was, therefore, a religious war. Every country he subdued was another god overcome, and if only Jerusalem were taken, his triumph would be complete. _The situation here described is an image of the Christian faith assailed by modern unbelief._ The forces of infidelity have become bold and insolent. The Bible is subjected to the hostile criticism of men who would rejoice to see it overthrown. Unbelief is marshalling her forces against the citadel of revealed truth. She has on her side some prominent leaders of modern thought, and employs both press and lecture-room for accomplishing her destructive designs. If she can only get the Christian faith out of the way, the world will be her own. Our modern Rabshakehs are hurling against us the taunting question, _"What confidence," &c._

+I. What is this confidence of ours which is so assailed?+

The question implies that we _have_ a confidence. Our opponents admit it, though to them it is inexplicable. They are forced to bear testimony to a strange but courageous faith by which we are supported in life and death. Jerusalem had nothing to rest on but God's presence and promise. Their king had encouraged them with the noble words of 2 Chron. xxxii. 7, 8. Here is the secret of the confidence which so surprised the Assyrian king; and on the same ground do we take our stand against the opposing hosts of unbelief. God's presence and faithfulness are the bulwarks behind which we may safely entrench ourselves. We have believed God's Word and have taken shelter in Christ (Phil. iii. 3). On His exalted throne He is directing the Church's energies, restraining her enemies, and giving success to her enterprises.

+II. What assaults are made upon our confidence?+