and fulnese; (2) wrought upon by kindly, helpful, winning influences, in the home 01 in the Ohurch; (3) affected by the direct and immediate influences of his Divine Spirit, Thus ha~ God chosen and called us to himself. II. THE LIFE TO WHIOH WIii HAVE BEEN CALLED, A life of holy service. "Thon, Israel, art my servant." We are not called merely to enjoyment or to privilege; we are summoned to Go<l'a presence and kingdom-" called to his foot" (ver. 2), in O'l"der fhat we may serve. Our Christian life is that most honou,ruble, most elevating, most useful, one of service. It is the life (1) of sacred worship; (2) of cheerful obedience; (3) of active helpfulness. III. THE IN'l'I.MATE AND HONOURABLE RELATIONSHIP IN wmcH WE ARE INVITED TO STAND, "The seed of Abraham my friend." Bei:old, what manner of love and of condescension i8 this, that we should be called the f1·iends or God! Ail that Abraham was to God it is c11rtain that we may be,-we who are brought nigh by Jesu8 Christ. And what his disciples were to him, we also are invited to be (see John xv. 14, 15). We are God'8 friends, inasmuch as: l. We have a profound sympathy with him in the principles be holds and in the work in which he is engaged. 2. We are trusted by him to do what is right and worthy, and are entrusted by him with that which is hi:h and arduous. 3. We are admitted to his near presence, and are invited to constant fellow- ship with him. 4, We are the objects of his love and his good pleasure.-C. Vers. 10-14.-God our Strength. Israel in captivity, hoping for return from exile, but fearing lest its enemies should prevail and the desire of its heart be defeated, might well delight in such reassuring words as these. In the battle and burden of our life we also gladly welcome them to our hearts. I. SouaoEs OF DISQUIETUDE, 1. The strength of the fO'l"cu which are against us. "All they that were incensed against thee;" "they that strive with thee;" "they that war against thee," We may say as Paul said," There are many adversaries." There are the evil tendencies of our own nature not yet extirpated; there are the vicious, the ungodly, the half-hearted men, who act injuriously upon us; and there are the "principnlities and powers" of the evil spiritual world. 2. The weight of the burden of responsibility laid upon us. We are God's servants, his children, bis spokesmen, bis representatives. He is our God (ver. 10), and we owe to him the faithful discharge of varied and weighty obligations. 3. Our personal feeblemss. "Thou worm ,Jacob; " "Ye men [mortals] oflsrael." Who is sufficient for all these thii,gs? With our bodily weakness, our mental poverty and our spiritual failures, with the limitations of our humanity, we look forward to the work which we have to do, to the sufferings we shall be called to bear, to the battle we shall have to fight, with serious Rpprehension. We are inclined to give way to "fear," to allow ourselves even to "be dismayed." II. Oua STAY IN Goo. 1. His sympathizing presence. "I am with thee." The presence of a frirmd or of a parent in the time of trouble is, in itself and independently of any expectation of help, a reassuring thongbt. That God our Divine Father, that Christ our unfailing Brother and Friend is with us, is by our side, with purest interest and tender sympathy in his heart,-this is a strength aud a stay to our trembliug hearts. 2. Bis strengthening aid. "I am thy God: I will strengthen thee," etc. God helps bis people (1) by making their difficulties to disappear, so that "they that are against them are as nothing;" e.g. the drowning of the Egyptian host, and the slaughter of the army of Sennacherib ; or, and more often, (2) by imparting courage and strength to overcome them. He" holds our right hand;" he inspires us with skill and energy to act, with fortitude to endure, with patience to persist, with victorious strength. He "always causeth us to triumph." 3. His faithful, redeeming word. When be is not actually interposing on our behalf we may rest on bis sure promise. He bas assured us of our ultimato triumph, not only for ourselves, but for the cause of truth and righteonsness in which we are engaged. On this word we may absolutely build. (1) It is a Divine word; "he is our God" (vcrs. 10, 13). (2) It is the word of one whose faithfulness cannot fail; it comes from him whose hand is "the right band of his righteousness." (3) It is the word of One whose compassion is well proved. He is "the Lord, our Redeemer,"-C.
Vere. 16, 16.-The triumph of the troth. I. THE llOUNTArnous OBBTAOL~s TBAT 110 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH, [oH, xLr. 1-29,
HA VE TO llE OVERCOME. These are not kingdoms, military forces, or fortifications, but things which are far mightier than they----error, prejudice, passion, pride habit of life mRterialism, self-will. These are high hills, massive mountains in the way of th~ world's 1Yel!are. II. Trrn 11\"STRUMENT llY WRICH TIIEY ARE TO llE SURMOUNTED. This is none other thnn a lfrin_q Chw·ch. "I will make thee," etc. The Israel which is to" thresh" these mou_nta~ns is "the Israel of God," the Church of J csus Christ; not, indeed, any one o,:ganizat1on so called or calling itself by that name, but the whole" host of God's elect -the unnumbered multitude of souls that, under everv sky accept hie truth trugt in his N arne, love his appearing, toil in his vineyard. • ' ' II~. THE TRIUMPH ~F THE TRU'l'H, This is twofold. 1. The disappearance of all that 1s evil, the scattering of the chaff (ver. 16). 2. The exaltation of Christ: "'l'hou shalt glor.v in the Holy One of Israel." Jn the day of redemption men will glory in no one and in nothing but in the Lord that redeemed them; they will enthrone him in their hearts and in the world. • IV. THE PRIZE OF VICTORY. "And thou shalt rejoice in the Lord." The Church will not be filled vcith a perilous complacency; it will rejoice in the Lord its God- in the honour in vchich he is universally held; in the love with which all hearts are filled toward him; in the service which every human life is paying him. These ingredients will fill to the brim its pure cup of joy.-C.