The Pulpit Commentary — Isaiah — Volume 2 — Section 386

Ver. 7.-Sin in tho,tghts. "Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity." I. THE rnroRTANCE OF A MAN'S THOUGHTS. A man is as his thoughts. Thie la the fact and truth on which we may dwell. Anyone who would truly judge his follow-mo.n must know his secrets and judge his thoughts. Therefore man's juclgment of his fellow- man is always imperfect and uncertain. God alone can judge perfectly, because he is the "Discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." There is an impression restmg on the minds of many religious persons that they have no control over the eu~gestione that are made to their minds, and no responsibility for the contents of their thoughts, onlr for the cherishing of the thought and dwelling upon it, and letting it take shape in act10n; or, as the Apostle James puts it, only when "lust is allowed to conceive, and bring forth sin." This, however, is true only within very narrow limits, and it is alto- gether healthier for us to accept a large measure of responsibility, even for the contents of our minds; for (,nly then shall we be likely to watch over what goes in as over what goes out. The importance that attaches to our thoughts may be seen: 1. In our obsenation of men. We misjudge because we cannot read thoughts. 2. In the experi- ences of friendship. We trust our friend more than outsiders can do, because, in some measure, we do know his thoughts. 3. In view of the heart-searching claims of Goel, who desires " truth in the in ward parts." Sin does not consist in mere act; it really lies at the back of the action-in the thought, the intention, and the motive that inspire it. 4. In consideration of the work of Divine redemption; which is really a heart-regeneration, a purifying of the very springs of thought and feeling. It seeks out the fountains and cleanses them. II. THE COh'TROL A JUN MAY HAVE OVER HIS THOUGHTS. 1. He has control over the materials of thought. Thought is really the comparison, selection, and association of the actual contents ,,f our minds, under the guidance of our wills. All that has impressed us during our lives, by the eye, the ear, or the feeling, bas passed into our mental treasury. Then we may take some care as to what goes in. We need not go int.o scenes or read books which will leave behind bad impressions. 2. We have con- trol over the processes of thought. We can deliberately choose to think about evil tbiugs; we can start such thoughts, we can dwell on them, we can follow them on their foul way, we can collect from on.r associations things that match them. And, in a similar way, we can dwell upon and encourage the good. If our will is a renewed and sanctified will, then we shall find it may gain presidency over our thoughts, so that we may choose and follow only that which is good.-R. T. V ers. 15, 16.-Salvation by God thrO'Uf]h man. Thie text contains, in part, the con- fession of social iniquity. "Truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil is accounted mad. There is no judgruent "-that is, no social righteousness, no sense of the "right" manifestly ruling in the common relations of life. God looked down upon this clogene- rate and hopeless condition. He knew how far the evil spread, until the whole people was corrupted. and there was no man able to plead against tho prevailing evil; no days-man to stand np for righteousness aud truth; no intercessor to check the on-coming judgments, and plead for their withdrawal-none such as Moses, or_ as Aaron,_ or as Phinehas. .As no human intercessor could be found among the exiles, God himself wrought salvation; "Lis arm brought salvation unto him." The point suggested is this: Social and moral evils, being but inadequately dealt with by man, demand Divine intervention ; but the Divine operations for redemption from evil are committed to men, as agents, to apply and carry out. I. MAN CANNOT SAVE JIUlil. In every age the experiment has been tried. In every form of the trial it has proved a failure. There have been a great variety of religions in the world; they were all just this-man trying to save man. Great teachers and reformers have appe.ared-they were men trying to save man. There have been philo- sophical, and moral, and educational, and scientific, and ceremonial, and artistic systems, but no one of them was ever anything more than this--man trying to save man. The issue of nineteenth-century humanity schemes will exactly repeat the old story; it has been proved, over and over again, until we wonder that any one should be foolish enough to try a fresh experiment, that man cannot eave man. II. Gon ALONE CAN SA VE Jlili. This is stating the truth again, with an important addition. It is entirely a question between man saving himself, and God saving him, OH, LIX. 1-21.J THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. 399