,-.-,ll.,.wmu, W.B .IU'IMI_'i;'. THE srn,.~R WJllqJ Tij)!l OB~BT~,;Ml!lN:T,.18 ~ENT, . Go~ ~ways ~ends cba.•t_isemen!s _that ~n ht.ve a reveali!)g PQ.W~r• ,1'!9«l.,biw,~ ~v(~e'n,• ~la.t19n,' ~!> p11rticul11r sins. National sms are shown up by nat1ona1 calamities, bodhy siris by bodi~y sufferings. This point· ma~ gain large an4, \l'.t.rioue illu~rati!)n1 as. in ~e,ul, Dand, .Ahab, Jonah, etc. We glorify God when we _let the chastisement show us the sin-act as the revealer to reveal the bad self. ill. WH&N WE DETERMINE TO PUT THE SIN AWAY. For chastisement then is shown to be effective; it reaches its end: God is seen not to have wrought in vain. Correotio.v is "for our profit., that we may be partakers of his righteousness." . • IV. "HEN ~-E COKE OUT OF THE CHASTISEMENT PURIFIED, RU]l[IILBD, BUBHISSIVE ~N_D ODEPIENT. Our Father is glorified when we arc made children. indeed. Bea.utifullf 1s 1t said of the Lord Jesus that," though he were a Son, yet learne4, he obedience. by the things which he suffered." Glorifying God by the spirit of sonship, which he kept all through the burning of the dreadful refining 'fires of Calvary.. , Trust,. submission, clinging love, patient waiting,-these stiUglorify Go_d in the fires,:..._lt, '1'.~ Ver. 20,---:~ bu.rd~n o,f earth,'s_transgressWT1,S. • •iArid the tra~tr~lisioi:l ther~of slii!Jl be hea,y UIJ?D it." Sin on ro~n is of~n, fig~d as ,a burde~. !~~_nyan'.s pic{ure of Graceless ~1th the loa? on h_1s ~ack 1s fam1har e~o~'h. to be. 1,1nderstood bY, all; P~ophets picture God's rrnpend1cg_Judgmentras a buid.~_re,~~y.to __f.~l,and;<ir(l~,h .. W,e Will here l!lke the ~rm &S referring to the, transgrll!'51,cw's!ftlier, t~IW-;,,W -t~~::?tf~~t jndgments.,. . ~ ,.. _ . . . ,.: ,·. , ., •. , • ,· _I. Tn~ BURD~N _THAT CRUSHES MEN. It is tra~gi-~~·w1i1bh i's,~f~i~fy..ihts..:.. wilful, szn. "Sm 1s a burden to the whole creation; _1t 1s a heavy burden, a b_urden under which it groans now and will sink at last.. Sin is the ruin of states and king- doms and families; they fall under the weight c;,f that talent of lead ' 1 (Zech. v. 7, 8). Illustrative cases may be given of the crushing .of health, position, success, friendship, family, by the burden of wilful sin. Pressed down by it, humanity. cdes as did St. Paul, "0 wretched man that I am I who shall deliver me from the .body 'of:this death?" . . •••. lL DELIVERANCE FROM THIS BURDEN IB BEYOND HA.N's POWER. •All kinds of purely human forces have been tried-self-struggles, strong will, education, philosophy, religious systems, legal enactments, watching of one another, refinements of art, etc.; but none have succeeded yet in doing away with the sin of the individual, and so none have even reached the fringe of the world's misery. Have we any better_reason to hope for the success of the modern panacea of scientific knowledge, than our fatpers had of the nostrums they tried? Before God intervened, there was "no eye to pity, and no arm to save." For "sin" man bas never been able, to find·" balm iri Gilead;" ·there is no adequate "physician" there. , • IIL MAN's HELPLE~"Ess SHOULD MAKE HIM CRY MIGHTILY UNTO GoD. 11 Thou ~nst save, and thou o.lone." Yet precisely in this men fail. 'fhey will die rather than turn to God for pardon and life. _.An_d why? Because they do not "know arid believe the love which God bath unto them." False and unw:orthy notions of the God of love, and Father of Jesus, have long prevailed, and they keep men sway fro!!' God. So our work is to pree.ch the gospel of the grace of God, which alone can lift the burden of transgression that now presses so heavily, so crushiugly, on men's shoulde~s, that· they "fall, and cannot rise again.''-ll. T.
Ver. 23.-The Lorr£s kingdom is the doing of the La,;d's 'Ufl,1l. "For the Lord of hosts shall reign.'' L A KINGDOM I8 SIMPLY THE REIGN' AND RULE OF A WILL. That 'is the proper meaning of the word "kingdom ; " it is the "dorn " or rule of a king. There are several ways in which men may be gathered together into ordercrl communiti.es. The form ol th{; kingdom is the most common. We only in part realize what a ,kingdom is in our own land and times, becauee the relation between the will of our sovereign _and th11 people is not direct, but is maintained through a constitution, which involves representa- tive and responsible governme.nt. For the scriptural idea of a kingdom we must refer to the kingdoms established in those Eastern climes, where Bible heroes livecj. and the Bible itself wae written. There a kingdom is the rule· of one man'11. will, .. The judg- c.1;1. x:x:v, 1-12.J THE BOOK OF THE PROPIIET ISAJA H. 399
ments1 wishes, and com)Jlands of one man influence the spirit, conduct, and even cfuoices of a whole people. Properly a kingdom is a number of persons agreeing to accept t]11) will of one,of their number as their rule and guide. The kingdom grows out of the family idea; and the family rule ill the fatherly will. So the kingdom of God is no merely outward thing; it is the reign of God's will. The subjects of it are precisely those who choose his will, obey him, recognize bis kingly rights. ' II. IF WE KNOW THE WJLI, OF GoD, WE KNOW THE SPIRIT OF BIB KINGDOM. we can judge of any kingdom fairly if we can gain a fair knowlerlge of its king. Of God '\te know this-bis will is that of a Father, a heavenly Father, a holy Father. God J'.!light have put forth bis power and forced the obedience of bis creatures. He does not. He appeals to our motives and feelings as reasonable moral beings. He wants no kingdom of slaves ; he wants the love and allegiance of free men. His is a spiritual kingdom. To accept the will of some men is hard ; but God touches our feelings, -wakens our confidence,· commands our reverence, ancl so to us bis will seems most b"eauliful, ever right, ever wise, ever gracious. And we know the spirit of his kingdom --it is the obedience which love renders . • III. IF WE CHEERFULLY ACCEPT THE WILL OF GOD, WE REALIZE THE COMTh'G OF ins KINGDOM, Prophecy indeed makes pictures of the setting up of a king in Jerusalem i_n tbe latter days; but prophecy is fulfilled, over and over again, when hearts yield to G,od.; when families, communities, apd nations accept his will and reign. God wants to secure the voluntary choice of his will as the rule of life. Wherever that is gained his kingdom is set up.-R. T.