The Pulpit Commentary — Isaiah — Volume 2 — Section 88

II. THE WORLD WAS NOT READY FOR CHRIST. They had made no room for him. The inn ~as full. He J?Ust find a place for himself, where he could-some strange place, out m the stable, m the manger. And there was no better room for him in men's hearts. Only_ let the story of his life unfold a little. Only let his hands begin to do deeds of chan ty; only let his lips speak words of spiritual conviction; only let him point out the follies and sins of the age; only let him show that his mission was to the poor, the sorrowing, and the sinning; only let the purity of bis perfect life, like a Divine light, reveal the corruption of bis times;-and then he is the "despised and rejected of men ; " then they hurry him forth out of the synagogue to throw him over the hanging rock; then they lead him forth, bearing his cross, and crncify him between two thieves. How is this? Why does the world want Christ, and yet, when he comes, he finds men so unprepared that they reject instead of receive him? The answer is a very simple one, but a very painful one. Men get to love sin for its own sake. They dislike, indeed, the penalties att.aA::hed to it; they tremble at the consequences of it; but they love the sin and cherish it. They would gladly enough have welcomed a Saviour who would break off those chains of bondage to Rome, which had been fixed on them as a judgrnent for their national sins; but they did cot want to part with their national pride and exclusiveness. Tbey would gladly have welcomed a Christ who could bum up the great book of death, which so surely treasured up for them "wrath against the day of wrath;" but they i1id not want to give up the sins that led to spiritual death-the hypocrisy, the sensuality, the multiplied forms of moral evil, which they loved and sought. Therefore who can wonder that, when Christ came as a Saviour from sin, men were not prepared for him-men refused such a Christ? It is evident that the world, in its unpreparedness, needed the intense, arousing, almost terrible, preaching of John the Baptist. The work given to John was to try and alter the ,•iews of men in respect of Messiah. He preached "Repent;" change your minds; get another view of sin; see the essential evil and hatefulness of it. To all who came he spoke directly and plainly of the particular sins they loved; he demanded the giving up and putting away of individual and social sins as the necessary preparation for Messiah's comin~. This, then, is the one wrong thing-sin loved for its own sake. This was the mountsi n that must be levelled, this the crooked place that must be made straight, this the rou~h place that must be made plain, before the glory of the Saviour from sin "could be revealeii, and all flesh see the salvation of our God." IIL WHAT \VAS TRUE OF THE WORLD IB TRUE OF us. Our souls want Christ. It is sacl, indeed, to be sinners, living without God, and without hope in the world. We have often felt that all was not right with us; dark shadows hung all around us, and all before us. We have looked and longed for the light. When we have thought of God and sin and the future we have cried out, "Oh that I knew where I could find him! I would come even unto his seat." Sin in us wants Christ the Saviour. Con- scious separateness from God wants Christ the Reconciler. Ignorance wants Christ the 'J'eacher. .And Christ wants us. 'J.'hen why is the old fact of the time of his first coming repeated among us to-day? They wanted him, but were offended at him, and cast him out; cruel hands smote him, fierce nails pierced him, scorn howled around him, and a violent death freed him from a world that was not prepared to greet him. 'rhe reason for our rejecting him is the same as theirs. We, too, are unwilling to givo up our sins for Christ. We want a Saviour from punishment, from consequences, from fears, from death from hell; but not a Saviour from sin, from self-confidence, from 1,ridr, from in<le1~ndence of God, from our rebelliousness, our lustings, and our self- iuclu1gences. We want a Saviour who will give u.s a secure title to future bliss; but not one who will take the stony heart away, and give us a heart of flesh; not a Saviour en. t.L. 1-31.J 'l'HE BOOK OF 'fHE PROPHET ISAIAH. Ill