The Pulpit Commentary — Isaiah — Volume 2 — Section 369

" the rest thRt remaineth." Christian p&rents should take heed to this. Dulnese e.nd moroseneSI! are not religion. Literature is none the less Christian that is well illus- trated, and written with e.11 the charm of an attractive style; and the church of God is none the less the house of the Lord and the gate of heaven, that the service is in itself cheerful and bright. There is no memory more poteut for good than the remembra.uce of t.be happy sa1:>baths of our childhood. And service for others helps our joy; to call the 1111bbath a dehgbt, we must be, if possible, givers as well as receivers-like Nehemiah, •• cup-bearer of the King," handing the living wa.ter to others.-W. M. S. Vers. 1-12.-Religion: its semblance, its substance, its reward. I. THE SEMDLANOE fJF RELIGION. It arirues nothing whatever against religion tha.t there is a. grea.t deal of hypocrisy in the world; indeed, the absence would be a more formidable argument than the presence of it. For men imitate that which is most worthy of esteem and if nobody pretended to be religious it would be fair to conclude that religion itself was of very small account. Imitation implies the respect, and indicates the value which is attached to anything which is copied. It speaks well, therefore, for religion' that men more often affect to be religious than they pretend to any other excellency. There may be: 1. Acts '1f devotion. "Seeking God da.ily "-" Approaching him" in the attitude and engagement of" prayer," whether in the secret chamber, the family circle, or in the house of God. 2. Consultation of Ms Word. "Asking of God the ordinances of justice" -the regular and systematic reading of Scripture. 3. Special acts of piety. Like that of fasting, which was not enjoined by Mosaic Law (except on one day in the year); or observing certain p&rLicular days as days of humiliatiou a.nd devotion, or osteutatious deeds of beneficeuce. C',oucerning these outward shows of piety, it bas to be observed: (1) That, begun in insincerity, they may become positively pleasurable to those who practise them. There are many who always go through religious rites with labour and weariness of spirit; bnt there are others who find enjoyment in the ceremonies and services in which they engage. They may be said to delight in them (ver. 2). Love of the artistic, fondness for distinction, or other earthly considerations, may account for this; but it is also an undeniable fact that many who do not please God with their observances do greatly please themselves. (2) That it is the solemn and urgent duty of the minister of Christ to show the utter insufficiency of these things. He is to " cry aloud, and spare µ.ot, to lift up his voice like a trumpet," to show those who pass for God's people that, if they have nothing better to bring to the beart-sea.rching God than hollow phrases, formal services, outward actions which are not anima.ted by inward feeling, they are living in transgression and in sin (ver. 1). He is to insist upon it with utmost earnestness, that only they can worship God acceptably who worship him "in spirit and in truth ; " and that if the semblance of piety be divorced from a holy and useful life (ver. 4), it weighs nothing whatever in the balances of heaven (ver. 5). Those who have the form of piety without the substance may con- sider themselves to be of the number of the faithful (ver. 3); but they are misera.bly mistaken. God decisively and peremptorily rejects such empty forma.lities (ver. 5); na.y, they are positively offensive in his sight (eh. i. 13-15). IL THE SUBSTANCE OJ!' RELIGION. 'fbe teaching of the text is that real piety is to be foand in such fear of God. as will manifest itself in doing hie holy will in all the relations of human life; such reverence for the Supreme as vl'ill constrain men to do what is right and good in all their dealings with their equa.ls and their inferiors; such r,iety as bears the fruits of: L Peaceableness : the exact opposite of strife aad smiting (ver. 4). 2. Justice: loosing the bands of wickedness, letting the oppressed go free, etc. (ver. 6). 3. Kindnes,: feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, etc. (ver. 7); practical recognition of the claims of the suffering humanity which we ca.n pity and can succour (ver. 10). This is "the fast," this is the piety, which God ha.e chosen-that love of God which shows itself in the love of our neighbour (Lev. x. 26, 37; Rom. xii, 20, 21; Jae. i. 27; ii. 14-26). Ill. 'lu BEW.ARD OF RELIGION. It is quite true, profoundly true, that real religion is its own reward. Well does the active servant of Jesus Christ beg to be continued In bis holy work, saying- " And I will 8l!k for no reward, Euep1 to aerve tllee IWL" cu. Lvm. 1-14.J THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. 381 ------------------------------ - - - - - - Ilut God offers to us, und even presses on our acceptance, his ample and generous rewards for our genuine and faithful service. These are, under Christ : 1. Spiritw,l illumination (ver. 8); being made to be the children of light and of the day, walking in the light of Divine truth, receiving the communications of the enlightening Spirit. 2. Sound- nas of soul, wholeness of heart anrl character-" health" within (ver. 8). 3. DiviM guidance and protection. (Vera. 8, 11.) 4. Communion with the living and pre~ent Saviour (ver. 9). 5. Fruitfulness; ourselves being as a " watered garden" for beauty and productiveness (ver~ 11); and our work resulting in moral and spiritual restoration (ver. 12).--C. Vera. 13, 14.-The day of sacred rest. The institution of the weekly sabbath is certainly one of the "water-marks" of revelation. It is not possible to conceive of anything more wise and beneficent than this provision for our bodily and spiritual well-being. Who can calculate the material or the moral benefit which it has conferred on the human race? Who can estimate the blessing it will have proved to humanity when time has run its course? Whether we regard it in the lower or in the higher aspect of the question, its value is simply inestimable. We may look at- L THE GROUND OF ITS OBSERVANCE. The Jews had special reasons for honouring the day. Its observance was part of their statute law (Exod, xx. 8-11). But all mankind have reason enough for giving it a conspicuous place in their custom and their commandment. 1. It has its commencement at the very dawn of human history (Gen. ii. 2, 3). 2. It was inculcated in the most solemn form, and enforced by the weightiest sanctions on the Hebrew people; and although it is not, on that account, binding on us as a Divine enactment, yet the fact that it was made of so much consequence in the judgment of the Divine Legislator, and had so large a part in the training of the healthiest and purest people the world has ever known, is a very strong argument in favour of its perpetuity: we may surely elect to continue that which we are not formally bound to adopt. We find a powerful reason for so doing in the text and in similar passages, where we have the significant fact that: 3. It finds a prominent place in pro- phetic utterance. Inasmuch as the prophets were the stroug and even vehement opponents of ceremonialism, and (as in the previous verses of this chapter) made every- thing of the moral and the spiritual, their testimony concerning the sabhath day has peculiar nlue. It points to a Divine intention that it should not pass away with the local, the rudimentary, the temporary, but hold its ground with the abiding and the permanent. 4. It was stated by our Lord to have been "made for man" (Mark ii. 27). 5. In the new form of the" Lord's day," commemorating the crowning work not of creation but of redemption, it was honoured by the apostles of our Lord. We may, therefore, conclude, in the exercise of our reason, that it is the will of Christ that we should observe one day in seven as a day of sacred rest. II. 'fHE TRUE SPIRIT OF OBEDIENCE. 1. The spirit of selj-'f'enuneiation. The Hebrew saint was to "turn away his foot from the sabbath, from doing his plea.sure on God's holy day;" i.e. he was to lay aside his customary labours, and to refrain from ordinary amusements on a day on which God asked for contemplation and worship. As Christians, we come to the conclusion that it is the will of our Saviour that we should give to him our homage, our docility, our sacred zeal; we therefore gladly forego the common engagements and enjoyments of our life, "not doing our own ways," in order that we may do his will and gain his good pleasure. 2. The spirit of devotion. The coroll:uy of tho cheerful renouncement of our own business is the adoption of Gud'~ worship and service as the appropriate engagement of the day. Quitting our home and shunn;ng the mart '1,nd the place of amusement, whither should we go but to the house of the Lord, to the deld of sacred usefulness? And how can we better spend our time or occupy our powers tha.n in the manly, the lofty, the elevating engagements of devotion and sacred service? Then do we reach our highest mark, aud most nearly attain the true standard of our manhood, the richest heritage of our race. Then do we "delight ourselves in the Lord;" then ia God what he was to Abraham, and what he will be to us all when we receive the fulness of our inheritance-our "exceeding great Reward." 3. The spirit of sacred Joy. We shall "call the sabbath a delight," shall find it so, and shall do our best to make it so-to the children, to the employed, to the lonely and tlte conline4iw who Cllll bli visited and ch~er~ in the quiet home, in the sick-chan1bef,  382 'l'HE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. [err. LVIII. 1-14.