The Pulpit Commentary — Isaiah — Volume 2 — Section 104

for them. The v,•ay they speak to servants is detestable. They complain ir the physician does not come at once-if they are not the first considered by others. Don't they pay? Terrible neglect; they are not helped. Money does not satisfy their indebted- ness. Let us see whom they he\p-if they are swift to speak the generous word, to perform the brave and noble deed. 'I here are, however, some lives-and they .must be dread histories-which are spent in fashionable gossip and superficial pleasure-seelting, with no care for others .. W ~ see, the~, (1) there must be mutuality; (2) there must be energy. Not the help winch is mere gift, perhaps easy and costless, but the help which costs service and sacrifice. II. HELP IS TO BEGIN AT THE NEAREST POINT. "His neighbour "-the nearest person to him. The gospel teaching is to begin at Jerusalem. Home, for instance, is to be a scene of help. There are occasions every day in which we can help each other's comfort, growth, education, freedom from anxiety, and increase in the pleasure of life as life. A man's character is judged of in his home, his Church, his village, his town, his neigh- bourhood. The eloquent assailer of public wrongs may be other than a patriot at home. l. This is the help which only he can render; being the neighbour, he is the nearest. 2. This does not bind him by religious "views" or party spirit. He is to help in the great temple of humanity as well as the temple of the Lord God. "Behold, the rn.licrnacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them." There are charities, I fo,d, which, not content with being Christian, wish to know what people's "views" are! \Vhat an atmosphere! No. Christ did not ask who were ~amaritans, Syro- pbmnicians, Greeks, or Jews. "He went about doing good." Ill. HELP IS To BE INSPIRATIONAL, That is to say, it is not to assist laziness or to excuse mere incompetence. "Every one said to his brother, Be of good courage." I. Oourage; for fear is weakness. Those who expect failure court failure. I am won<lerstruck at Stanley's courage at the Falls, especially after Pocock was dead. It is marvellous! Think of that poor native who rushed from the presence of the dreadful roarin;1; river into tbe wilderness. 2. Courage; fur God is your Helper. Man is weak I Yes ; but read tbe tenth v, rse: "Fear thou not; for I am with thee : be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee." That is an inspira- tion indeed-God in Christ working in us and with us. He who gave himself for us, now working in and with us. What courage this inspires! "In me is thine help found." "Woe to them tuat go down to Egypt for help I" We shall find all worldli- ness to be weakness in the end. 3. Courage; for no work is so hard as it looks. There are creative times. What is the dreamer worth when difficult duties have to be done? 4. Oourage; for cowards make rowards. Live with persons constantly afraid of fire, of midnight marauders, of infection, of disease, and you will become nervous yourself. If children grow up amid the timorous, they become timorous. But born in the fishing-cove on the beach, how they pull out the boat into the wild sea! accustomed to scenes of courage, they learn courage. Never dispirit others. Say not, "'l'his sum will never be raised. These schools can never be built. This class will never prosper." But say rather, " Be of good courage." 5. Courage; for hindrances will flee before faith. Say to the mountaiu, "Be thou cast into the sea." Strange that it should obey thee! But it does, for it was a mountain of the mind. Courage is not quixotic; it is founded on faith-on the Word, and cross, and throne of the Lord Jesus Christ. Mutual help is what we want. Not the sentimental grievance from some that they are not the subjects of perennial attention and ever-dclic~te consideration, but the help which is the spirit of all Christian lifo, because it was the law of his life "who came, not to be ministered unto, but to mi1,ister."-W. M. S. Ver. 18.- Water in the wildemess. "I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water." The pl,a,ce of the fountain is the key-note of this sermon, We are not surprised to find a fountain in the grove or the garden-there, amidst its diamond spray the birds brighten their plumage. But here the caravan halts, whilst men and women fall on their breasts and drink in the living nectar-the sweet water that never harms. We have to meditate upon this subject, however, in its highest aspects. We see not all of life. In nature we come upon unexpected spots of verdure in sterile places; in human life we come upon a true friend in the thorny experiences of adversity. Best of all we have here-in this world, which in so many aspects is a 011. XLI, 1-29.] THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. 107