II. HIS Th'"TITTTIVE PERCEPTION OF THE '.BEST AND HIGHEST. In "him was the spirit of wisdom and understanding." He distinguished at once the false from the true, the glit.t.ering show from the genuine good, the passing pleasnre from the abiding joy, the fictitious gain from the invaluable heritage, the vanity of cnrthly honours from tho blessedness of the Divine favour. Christ saw all things on which he looked in their actual and e.ssential nature, and in their true proportions. Hcnce- III. His '.EXCELLEN0Y AS OUR GUIDE. In him was "the spiri~ of counsel" (seo Homily \ln • Chief counsels of Christ,' eh. ix. ·6). IV. HIS KNOWLEDGE OF THE DrvINE AND OF TIIE FUTURE. Fallen, degenerate mnn, with conscience defiled and reason depraved, could know nothing certainly of these two supreme subjects: he wanted, urgently and imperatively, one who had" the spirit of knowledge" in him, and could tell him distinctly and finallv, not what he .guessed or what he hoped, but what he knew. This Jesus did. He revealed the Divine Father unto men (Matt. xi. 27 ; John i. 18 ; x. 15). And he made known to us the truth a.s to '.the future; he brought life and immortality out into the light (John v. 28, 29; xi. 25, 26; 2 Tim. i. 10). V. His PROFOUND KNOWLEDGE OF THE HUMAN HEART. He judged men, "not by tho outward appearance," not" by the sight of his eyes or the hearing of his ears," but by looking down through the coverlet of the flesh, through the armoury of speech, into the secret chambers of the soul. He not only 'Saw through the fig tree, but through the flesh, and knew Nathanael's simplicity of spirit. "He knew what was in man," and knows now, discerning the hollowness of some men's pretensions, appreciating· the excellency beneath some men's doubts and diffidences. VI. H1s ABSOLUTE IMPARTIALITY. (Ver. 4.) He had one measure for the rich and the poor, for the mighty and the meek; he showed unvarying kindness towards the humblest, and he showed a constant readiness to receive those who were enriched with worldly wealth, or endowed with social honour. 'l'he testimony of his enemies waa true enough; he "regarded not the person of men" (Mark xii. 14). Such' is the genius of his gospel-" the common salvation" (see 1 Cor. iii. 11; Gal. iii. 28; v. 6; Epb. vi. 8). VII. Hrs RIGOROUS BIGllTEOUSNESS. (Vers. 4, 5.) Christ, in his righteousness, demanded the spiritual service of all men, and he condemned all that withheld it. •He showed bim,elf the determined enemy of evil. 1. He denounced it in scathing terms when he was with us (see Matt. xxiii.). 2. He announces himself as the Judge of all, who will punish the impenitent according to their deeds (see Matt. xxv.). i VIII. Hrs FAITHFU~"ESS. (Ver. 5.) "Having loved his·own, he loved them to the end." He "never leaves nor forsakes" those who serve him. Throughout our· fidelity to him his Jove to us is constant; in the time of our slackness or departure he visits us in his faithfulness with his kind correction, in order to attach us to himself, or to call us back to his side ; in the hour of our suffering he makes good his presence of Divine support; when everything earthly fails us, the faithful Promiser will folfil his word, and receive us to himself, that we may dwell in his glory.-C. Vers. 6---9.-77ie intensive and eztensive power of the gospel. L THE INTENSIVE POWER OF DIVINE TRUTH. More power ill needful (1) to act on any living thing than on lifeless, inert matter; (2) to act on a sentient creature than on life without sensa- tion; (3) to act on intelligence and will (on man) than on the irrational and irre- sponsible animal; (4) on man sunk into the lowest moral condition (with seared conscience, mastering passions and habits fixed in vice) than on one who .has not yet chosen his course, or who has been trained in the ways of virtue. The very highest instance of power with which we are familiar is that spiritual influence which transforms those who have gone furthest away from God, from truth, and from righteousness-those who are to the moral world what the tiger, the lion, or the asp is to the animal world. The gospel of Jesus Christ has this power. With such wonderful intensity does it work on those on whom its truth is brought to bear,: that it redeems and renews the worst, so changing them in life and in spirit that it may be said of them that the wolf dwells with the lamb, etc.; so transformed do they become, under iLs benignant influence, that the most innocent and helpless have nothing to fear, though they be placed completely within their power (ver. 8). 1. Individual instancea OIJ, .U, 1-16,] THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. 211
a:t,<mnd of the conversion of notorious drunkards, of savage prize-figh tcrs, of shameless courtesans, of ribald atheists, of those who were abandoned by all, and who abandoned themselves to hopeless sin, of men who were the terror of their tribe or c,f their district, etc. Therefore we need not and we should not despair of those who are living umongst us, and 1vho are at present a long way off from truth and righteo11snc,s. The gospel of Christ can change the very nature of thtse-can tame the most fer,,cious, can raj~e the most-fallen, can liberate the most enBlaved, can make bca11ti1ul the most deformed of tho children of men; it can du so by the power of the truth and of the Spirit of God, 2. Families, societies, communities have undergone as complete a transformation. 11. THE EXTENSIVE RANGE OF TIIE GOSPEL OF CHRIST. (Ver. 9.) What a vast void would- there be if the waters were withdrawn! Into what profound <l pths should we 0
look down I What mighty stretches of sand and clay and rock would be disclosed! What lengths and breadths are covered, what depths are now filled up Ly the abounding waters of the sea! As containing the element of life to millions of living creatures, as ·supplying _a highway for the nations of the earth, and as providing scope for the ambitipn, courage, aud enterprise of man, what a grand sufficiency do we see iu the waters of the ocean! So shall it prove to be with Divine truth. _There shall be seen to be a sufficiency, in the gospel of the Saviour, to cover the entire earth, to meet the wants of the whole population of the globe. No land so remote, uo clime so rigorously cold or scorchingly hot, uo interior so impenetrable, no barbarism so rude, no prejutiice so inveterate, but tbat the gospel of Christ shall cover it with its benignant power. 1. Let us rejoice iu the earnest of its fulfilment; great things have been already done towards the realization of thiH glorious estate. 2. Let us resolve to have our share iu its execution (1) as a Church, ·and (2) as individual souls, to each of whom God has committed soi-ne word to be spoken, some work to be done.-C.