ISA. LIII. 1.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 205
away his wif(^ and she go from him, and become another man's, shall he return to her again ? But thou hast played the harlot with many lovers ; yet return unto me again, saith the Lord.'
Use 1. Is by way of information. It informeth us of divers truths ; as —
1. That the paucity or fewness of followers is no disgrace to a thing or doctrine. The world foUoweth the multitude, as if the way to- religion were like that to a town, where there is the greatest track : Luke xii. 32, ' Fear not, little flock,' fiiKpov irol^iviov. Christ's flock is a little flock. The world usually casteth that prejudice. There may he hut one Micaiah against four hundred false prophets.
2. It informeth us that the number of believers is not as large as the number of professors : 2 Thes. iii. 2, ' All men have not faith.'
3. That it is a very difficult thing to believe, and therefore so few attain it.
Use 2. Is by way of examination. If but few are won to believe this report, examine yourselves — Are you of the number ? Are you of the number of those that are won by the preaching of the word to be- Heve in Christ ? I will name a few effects: —
1. If so, you will find this persuasion melting you : Zech. xii. 10, ' I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jeru- salem, the Spirit of grace and supplication : and they shall look upon him whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his first-born.' God and the soul come together just as Saul and David: 1 Sam. xxiv. 16, ' Saul lift up his voice and wept; Is this thy voice, my son David ?' Thus the soul, Oh ! didst thou love me so, 0 Lord my God ?
2. You will find it teaching you a way to resist sin. You could not tell how to prevail against it before, now you have a cutting argument against it: Titus ii. 11, 12, ' The grace of God, that bringeth salvation, hath appeared to all men ; teaching us, that denying all ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world.' Now you are taught to gainsay sin.
3. You will find it quickening you to good : 2 Cor. v. 14, ' The love of Christ constraineth us.' Such melting commands and commanding entreaties have a powerful influence to that eftect : ' I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me : and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.'
I shall now come to the second point, namely —
II. That the gospel, or the report concerning Jesus Christ, is the arm and power of God. Though it be our report, yet it is the arm of the Lord. There is some controversy, as I hinted before, about what is meant by the arm of the Lord ; some applying it to Christ, some to the word. I rather incline to the latter; but it is good to observe, that what is spoken of Christ, the same is spoken also of the word. Christ is called ' the power of God,' 1 Cor. i. 24 ; and the gospel is called 'the power of God,' 1 Cor. i. 18 ; Eom. i. 16 ; because in the word Christ is made known, and his excellencies are displayed.
204 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 1.
And what is spoken of the word is spoken of faith. Christ is revealed to the heart by the word, and so he is likewise by faith.
But in what respect is the gospel the arm and power of God ?
I answer : —
1. In respect of the sense and meaning of it, which is to be regarded above the bare sound of the letters and syllables. Many make a charm of the word of God, by applying some sentences of it to drive away diseases in a way of exorcism and conjuration, or by coming to it in a customary way, as if the mere hearing or reading of it were sufficient ; as if salvation were to be had by the bare hearing of it : John v. 39, ' Search the scriptures,' saith our Saviour, ' for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me.' AoKetTe iv avTaU ^(07]v aloivLov, ' ye think ye have ;' this is not barely a command, but a reproof, otherwise Christ would have said 'ye shall' He speaketh it to the Pharisees and hypocrites that had rejected him.
2. In regard it manifests the power of God. There are instances of God's eternal power in the creatures, Eom. i. 20, but the great and mighty instances of liis power are discovered in the word. God showeth his strength every day, but in the gospel he holdeth forth ' the man whom he hath made strong for himself,' Ps, Ixxx. 15, the branch or Son, meaning Christ — though he is there speaking of the church's afflic- tions : ' The vineyard which thy right hand hath planted, and the branch that thou makest strong for thyself.'