ISA. LIII. 9.] THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 367
voiir one another, take heed ye be not consumed one of another.' You learn it of the wolf or the okl dragon, not of the Lamb, The apostle iiseth such a word as iraplieth such bitterness as is brutish. Then in practice, by oppression, invading of another's right and property. There was no such thing in Christ. He would not intrench upon the magistrate's office : John viii. 11, ' Neither do I condemn thee ; go and sin no more.' Not in respect of guilt, for he saith, ' Sin no more.' But the meaning is, he would not meddle with her punishment ; it was none of his office, and therefore he would not in the least manner encroach upon another's right. Learn of Christ, who did no violence. [2.] There was no deceit found in his mouth. Take heed also of that. Be like Christ. It is said of Nathanael, John i. 47, ' Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile.' Why an Israelite indeed ?. Because, like old Israel, like old Jacob ; for it is said of him, Gen. xxv. 27, ' Jacob was a plain man, and dwelt in tents,' So here ; we are Christians indeed when without guile, when we are like Christ, for no deceit was found in him. There is deceit in heart, which the scripture calleth guile of spirit : Ps. xxxii. 2, ' Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.' Take heed of this deceitful heart. We must take heed we drive not on a self-design in all our respects to God and men ; and when we pretend to zeal in worship, that it is not to serve ourselves of it. Eev. xiv. 5, it is said of the Lamb's fol- lowers, that ' in their mouth was found no guile ; ' they are without fault before the throne of God, Heb. iv. 12. Wait upon the word, for that is ' a divider between soul and spirit, and of the joints and mar- row, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intention of the heart ; ' that is, between fairness of pretences, and vileness of affection and base- ness of intents. And there is deceit in the mouth when men dis- semble for advantage. You did not learn this of Jesus Christ. As Doeg glavered upon David, to tell Saul of it : Ps. cxx.3, ' What shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue ? ' Though he told the truth, yet he flattered with David, that he might observe his carriage, and relate it to Saul : Ps. Hi. 4, ' Thou lovest all devouring words, 0 thou deceitful tongue.' Then for practice, many give out specious pretences, as if they were what indeed they are not. Be what you would be ac- counted to be. It is hypocrisy that overacts to the world. AVe know counterfeit gold because it looketh so yellow : 2 Sam. xv. 6, Absalom stole hearts of the men of Israel by flattery, and fair but false pre- tences. But we should eye our pattern. That is true religion, to imi- tate him whom we worship.
368 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 10.
THE TENTH VERSE.
Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him ; he haih put him to grief: tvhcn thou shall make his soid an offering for sm, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
The prophet is still dealing with the Jews' scandals. Unbelief will easily take up any pretence to justify itself. And therefore when there was so much ground for their prejudice against Christ, as such mean- ness and so many sufferings, these vain pleas could not easily be' removed out of their minds ; and that is the reason why he speaketh to it again in this verse, that he might further discover their folly, because they would suffer their thoughts to stay in the outward ap- pearance of things, not considering how God bringeth about many times his greatest designs in a riddle and mystery, and wraps up the good and salvation of his people under a veil of contradictious. God the Father is the wronged party, and he that hath to do with pardon : Rom. iii. 26, He is ' the justifier of them that believe in Jesus.' The prophet telleth them in this verse that Christ should live by dying, gain by his bruises and sufferings ; that which was likely to disaffect the world against him, should draw tliem into his obedience. Where the work of the Lord seemed to miscarry, there it should prosper in his hands. Tlie great expectation was that the Lord should bruise the head of the serpent ; yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Christ. Look to the design of God, and you shall see sufferings are not mat- ter of scandal, but admiration. It is no good rule to measure the in- tents of God by the looks and face of things. Whilst you look only to the outward meanness and sufferings of Christ, you overlook the design of God in him. ' It pleased the Lord to bruise him ; he hath put him to grief,' &c. The words contain divers arguments and de- fences against the scnndals taken up against Christ by the Jews.