The Pulpit Commentary — Isaiah — Volume 1 — Section 483

relstions-in its relation to God, to those to whom it la under obligation, to its own chsracter. II. lTs TWO PRINCIPAL MANIFESTATIONS. 1. Blindness. "Tho spirit of deep sleep"~ the closing or covering of the eyes (ver. 10). Tho last, or nearly the 111st, effeot of sin is to take away t.he faoulty of spiritual insight; so that a man cannot seo those tbinl:s which " human soul ought to recognize at once, the recognition of which is indispeQr sable to its very life; Yiz. the presence, the claims, the power of God; the excellenoy of bis service; the unworthiness and insufficiency of sensual gratifications and worldly nm bitions ; the deathfulness of sin, etc. But to the spiritually incapable these things are as if they were not. Such souls are as unconscious of these realities as is a man in a deep sleep, or as is one whose eyes are covered,of the objects which are before him. 2. Error. "They stagger, but not with strong drink" (ver. 9). As a man under the influence of stimulants cannot" walk straight," but staggers from sido to side or wanders out of his way altogether, so men who are robbed of their rightful powers by sin fail to walk straight on in the path of rectitude : they deviate into (1) fal,se notions about God and man, about life and destiny; and into (2) evil habits, intq sad departures from purity, from uprightness, from truth, from wisdom. : , ill. ITS COMPLETENESS. L It extends to the highest,-,he has covered the eyes <>f "your rukrs" (ver. 10); to those who lead and who, being blind themselv11s, wUl certainly mislead (Matt. xv. 14); to those whose social influence is strong and, in this case, mo;;t pernicious. 2. It includes the specialists-the privileged, those who profess-to have peculiar access to truth: "The seers bath he covered." Woe to the-land, t_o, the Church, whose religious teachers are unable to see the directing finger of God, and_are giving way to dreams of their own imagination I 3. It embraces those iTJ,sf:r'¼cted in, other things. It is not only the unlearned that cannot read at all, but the lea('.Iled men also, who a.re blind to the truths of God (vers. 11, 12). Here, in nature, in providenc_e, in Scripture is a glorious, three-volumed work, the full work of God; here are sacred truths which enlarge the mind and elevate the soul, which .beautify and _ennoble life; prepare for death., and fit for immortal blessedness. But, with powers diminished, depraved, or destroyed by sin, they who can learn other lessons and read other secret~ a.re as undiscerning as the most illiterate. boor in presence of a language of which be does not k □ ow the alphabet, as helpless as the finished scholar in presenee of a roll the se.aJ. of which be cannot break! . , IV. !Ts ED'LAN.ATION. How can we account for this depravation of man's spiritual powers? It is the fitting penalty of sin; it comes in the righteo11B judgrnents of Q-od: "The Lord bath poured out npon you," etc. (ver. 10). It is the retribution attached to a guilty non-use or misuse of spiritual faculty; it is a" woe" that. is always working: "From him that hath not "-does not use, or abuses his talents-" shall be taken away even that which be ha.th" (Matt. xx:v. 29).--0, • Vere. 13-17.-The Church which God condemns. Here is- I. A CHURCH co:iniEMNED OF Goo. It has four characteristics of. which the Lord complains. 1. Unspiritual worship. "This people draw near me with their mouth," etc. (ver. 13). 'fhe service of the lip without the homage of the heart is an unaccept- able sacrifice to God (see Ps. 1.; lxxviii. 36, 37; eh. i.; Ezek. xxxiii. 31 ; Matt. x1•, 8, 9; John iv. 24-). To take sacred words into the lips with nothing of their meaning in the mind, to assume the attitude without cherishing the spirit of devotion, is not to propitiate but to offend the Holy One. 2. Unauthorized doctrine. " 'l'heir fear towar4 me is taught," etc.-rendered in the New Testament, "teaching for doctrines the com- mandments of men" (Matt. xv. 9). 'l'bis was an early departure from the will of Cbr.i~t (see CoL ii lS--22; 'l'itus i. 14; Acts xx. 30). The Church has always been in dapgcr from men who have represented, first to their own minds and then to the minds c,f others, their own reason.inge or imaginations as if they were the pure truth of God. So the mind and will of Christ have been grievously and mischievously perverted. 3. l~ble uachers. "The wisdom of their wise shall perish," etc. (ver.14). A Church fa.lien under the rebuke of its Lord is usually one that bas wholly unsuitable and incompetent teachers-men who have lost their way, who have failed. to discover or have abandoned heavenly wisdom, who cannot declare the way of life. 4. Unenlightened member,. (Ver. 15.) & cleatitute of the very rudiments of religion as to ask such a ea. xnx. l-24,J THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. 183