reign in the oonsoience and &bow itself in The renderin~ of the Authorized Version, the life. Externally there may be persecu- "for thy sake, ' is quite indefensible. tion, tumult, ware, fightinge; but internally, Ver. 16.-Behold, I have oreated, etc. in esch heart, there will be a "peace that The Church is encouraged to feo.r no do.nger passes a.II understanding" (Phil. iv. 7). by being reminded that all power to do hurt God "keeps in perfect peace" those" whose is from God. Whether it be the smith that minds a.re stayed on him" (eh. xxvi. 3). forges a weapon, or the waster the.t destroya Vn. H.-In righteonsness &halt thou be and lays waste whole countries, or o.ny other established; mther, through righteoUBneu. worker of woe to man, o.11 are equBlly brought "There is no peace, se.ith my God, to the into beint', and sustained in life, by God. wicked" (eh. xlviii. 22); and conversely, None oo.n do e. hurt tho.t God does not allow. where righteousness abounds, peace prevails, The smith that bloweth the ooels. In and the nation •· is estaHished." Thou shalt e.notent times the smith worked his metal be far from oppression; rather, be thou far iuto shape by the help of o. blow-pipe, which from anxie.ty (Delitzsch). Thou shalt not he blew himself (see Rosellini, • Monumenti fear; rather, thou 11eedut not fear. There Civili,' pl. 51, fig 4, and pl. 52, fig. 4). For is no danger-nothing to he afraid of. his work ; or, for its work: i.e. destruction. "They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my The waster; i.e. the conquering king, such holy mountain" (eh. xi. 9). So long a.s thou as Tiglath-Pileser, Sargon, Senn110herib, a.rt "established through righteousness," Nebuchadnezzar, Uyrus. there shall no harm happen unto thee. Ver. 17.-No wea.pon , .. every tongue. Ver. 15.-Behold, they shall surely gather Whether weapons are used ago.inst Israel, or together, etc.; ni.ther, behold, should they whether she is atte.cked, as in Sennacherib's gather themselves together; i.e. should enemies time, by "the tongue that epeaketh proud collect and threaten thee with harm, he things" (eh. xxxvi. 4~20; xxxvii. 10-13), ll.BSured that the attack is not by me-not the result will be the same. She will my doing-anii that, therefore, it will come triumph over her enemies, and oondemn io nought. All those who gather together them or put them to oho.me. Her security against thee shall fa.ll-i.e. stumble and be is her righteousness, which she derives from overthrown-through striking against thee. Jehovah (comp. eh. xlv. 24, 25).
HOMILETICS. Vers. l-6.-77&e relation of the Church to God that of a wife to her husband. The analogy set forth by the prophet in the first six verses of this chapter is one to which equal prominence is given in the Old Testament and the New. It forms the basis of one entire book of the Old Scriptures-the Canticles, or Song of Solomon. It pervades the whole teaching of the prophets, which declares apostasy from God to be "adultery" (ch. lviL 3-5; Jer. iii. 9; v. 7; xiii. 27; xxiii.10-14; Ezek. xvi. 32-36; xxiii. 37; Hoe. iii. 1; iv. 12-14, etc.). It is asserted repeatedly with the utmost plainness (ver. 5; Jer. iii. 14; mi. 32; Hos. ii. 16-20). In the New Testament, it is hinted at in the Gospels (Matt. xxv. 1-10), taught plainly in the Epistles (2 Cur. xi. 2; Eph. v. 23-32), and made pa1i of the imagery of the Revelation of St. John (xxi. 2, 9; :xxii 17). The only difference is that, in the Old Testament, the" husband" is, vaguely, Jehovah or God; in the New he is, definitely, the Second Person of the Trinity, Christ. The relationship involves, on the part of God: 1. Love. "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the Ch11;ch" (Eph. v. 25). 2. Tender guardianship 8:nd care. "The Lord nourisheth and chensheth the Church " (Eph. v. 29). 3. Exertwn of a purifying and elevating influence. Christ" loved the Church, and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the waHhing of water by the Word, that he might present it to himself a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish" (Eph. v. 25-27). 4. Ever- lasting kindness-kindness that" shall not depart," or be withdrawn, for ever (eh. !iv. 8, 10). On the part of the Church there are involved corresponding duties; as: 1. Love (1 John iv. 16-21). 2. Reverence (Eph. v. 33). 3. Subjection. "As the Church is 1ubject unto Christ, ,o let the wives be to their own husbands in everything" (Eph. v. 24). 4. Never-ending fidelity. The desire of the Church should be towards her Lord, u hie is towards her (Cant. vii. 10), incessantly. Ver. 17.-Man'e righteoumeas i, of God. Whatever there is in man of goodness, en. LIV, 1-17.J THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. 3li
virtue, sound or rigM feeling, high aspiration, spiritual strength, come8 to him from the Almighty, from whence descends "every good gift an<l cver_y perfect gift" (Jas. i.17). Original righteousness was from God (Gen. i. 27, 31). When man fell, and "cor- rupted his way," recovery was impossible, unless God both devised a method by which it should be possible, and also superintende<l the working of his own method, and at each step mnde it effectual. The righteousness of the servants of God is a double righteousness, imputed and infused; but both come equally from the perfectly "righteous Servant" (eh. !iii. 11), who alone" justifies many." I. IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS 1s OF Goo. Imputed righteousness is the righteousness of God; for it is the righteousness of Christ, who is God. Christ is made to us" wiadom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption" (1 Cor. i. 30). The righteous- ness which is properly his, and which is a perfect righteousness, is, through our mystic union with hiw, imputed to us, as if it were ours, an<l so becomes ours, and justifies us. It is also" of God," since it is imputed to us by God. God the Fa1her condescends to look upon us as so bound up in his Son that he passes on to us the merits of his Son, and, as it were, makes them ours. II. INFUSED RIGHTEOUSNESS 1B OF GoD. Infused righteousness is the work of the Holy Spirit, who "sanctities us, and all the elect people of God." It admits of infinite degrees, and in this life is always imperfect. The true Christian is always making progress in it, adding grace to grace, going on from strength to strength, perlecting holiness in the fear of God. But every step is made by God's help. Without him man canldo nothing. Every virtue that we have is also a grace-a grace from the Divine point of view, a virtue from the human; with struggle and effort acquired by man, yet given to him by God. Imputed righteousness is that which justifies us; infused righteousness is the.t which sanctifies us. The one is a gift to us; the other is a gift in us. But both alike are the gift of God (see Rom. iii. 21-26; v. 15-19; 1 Cor. iv. 7; xv, 10; Gal. v. 22, 23 ; Eph. v. 9, etc.).