Isai. i. 10 — 17. Hear the toord of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the laro of our God, ye people of Gomorrha, : To tvhatj)urpose is the 7nultitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the Lord : I am full of the hurnt-ojferings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts ; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he-goats. When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts? Bring no more vai7i oblations: incense is aji abomination unto
858.1 'IHE ONLY SERVICE PLEASING TO GOD. iCrj
me ; the new moons and sahhaths, the calling of assemblies, , I cannot aioay with : it is iniquity, even the solenm meeting. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth : they are a trouble unto me ; I am weary to bear them. And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you : yea, ichen ye make many prayers, I will not hear : your hands are full of blood. Wash you, make you clean ; put aivay the evil of your doings from, before mine eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do well: seek judgment ; relieve the oppressed; judge the fatherless ; plead for the ividotv.
THOUGH tenderness and compassion are essential requisites for a Christian minister, yet is fidelity also indispensable for a due discharge of his duties. If even a young minister, like Timothy, was to " reprove and rebuke with all authority," it must become every servant of God, especially when dealing with hypo- critical professors or hardened sinners, to " use great plainness of speech." It is true, a minister in this day has not the same license as was given to the prophets of old : we should not altogether think him justified in calling his audience " Rulers of Sodom, and people of Gomorrha :" but, when speaking in Jehovah's name, we must expostulate with all, even with the greatest of men, and declare to them, as the prophet does, t/ie only xiKuj in which theij can please and serve God. With this view the prophet used the language in our text ; and in prosecution of the same end, we shall now declare,
I. The inadequacy of ritual observances —
The Jews were prone to rest in a compliance witli the ceremonial law : and our text is, as it were by anticipation, an answer to their self-justifying remarks. They are supposed to have said, ' How can you justly complain of us ? We have served God with the most commendable zeal : we have offered him sacrifices — yea many — and of the best kind — and in the appointed manner — and with great reverence — and we have abounded in spiritual services also, no less than in carnal rites.' But, in answer to all this, God indignantly replies, that, instead of being pleased with these services, he lothed and abhorred