Let us turn from this humiliating contemplation, to consider,
II. The state to which they are brought by the Gospel —
Beautiful is the description given by the prophet of the change that is wrought by the Gospel of Christ. The souls of men assume altogether a new aspect. In them is found,
The beauty of the rose —
[Where there was but lately no appearance of life, now there arise a holy desire after God, a delight in heavenly exer- cises, a love to all the people of the Lord, and an ambition to resemble God in righteousness and true holiness. First, but a blossom appears ; but gradually the rising foliage bursts from its confinement, and expands itself to the eyes of all, diffusing fragrance all around it. The believer, blessed in himself, makes the very place of his residence a blessing ; according to that description given of him by the Prophet Ezekiel ; " I will make them, and the places round about my hill, a blessing ; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season ; there shall be showers of blessings0." Thus by the power of his Gospel " the Lord comforts Zion ; he comforts all her ivaste places ; he makes her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord : joy and gladness are found therein, thanksgiving and the voice of melody d."]
The stability of the cedar —
[The woods of Lebanon were proverbially grand: its cedars and its pines grew up to heaven, and defied all the storms with which they could be assailed. This was " the glory of Lebanon :" and this glory shall be given to all who are " rooted and grounded in the Lord." Weak as the beginnings of grace are in the be- liever's soul, he shall " shoot forth his roots as Lebanon," and become " a tree of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorifiede." Storms and tempests will beat upon him ; but they shall only cause him to take deeper root, and to evince more clearly, in the sight of all men, that " God's strength is perfected in his people's weakness f." In like manner shall the Church at large be kept ; and " the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."]
The fruitfulness of the richest pastures — [Carmel and Sharon wei'e famous for their pasturage and flocks : such excellency shall be seen wherever the Gospel
c Ezek. xxxiv. 26. d Isai. li. 3.
e Isai. lxi. 3. f 2 Cor. xii. 9.