Ver, 1.-The coming Saviour. "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me," etc. 'l'hese words are specially memorable as beillg those which the Saviour read in the syn11gogue at Nazareth. We have had it described to us" with its pillared portico of Grecian architecture, with its seats on one side for the men; on the other, behind a lattice, a.re seated the women, shrouded in their long veils." When tho lesson from tne Pentateuch was over, Jesus ascended the steps of the desk, e.nd the chazzan, or clerk, "drew aside the silk curtain of the paiuted urk, which contained the sacred manuscripts," and from the roll of the Prophet Isniah, either read the lesson for the day, or chose tile portion himself. Wr1 can scarcely read these words here without 422 'l'HE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. [oH. LXI. 1-11. ------ --------- tbinking of him th1we, the whole congregation standing up to listen to him. The words contain- I. THE MESSIANIO GRANDEUR OF CHRIST. Anointed of the Father, No mere prophet or teacher, but thP, Holy One of Israel. This prophecy, written somo seven hundred years before, and thus attested by the Saviour as written concerning himself, gives Di'l"ine testimony to the ancient inspiration. II. THE MESSIANIC WORK OF CHRIST. 1. It was a proclamation. "Good tidings." Tbi~~ of the iron power of Rome; the selfishness of the rich; the pride of the patr1c1an; the helplessness of the slave; the hopelessness of the philosopher. Christ came to the 'Tn,Ulc, not the mighty. 2. It was a consolation. "To bind up the broken- hearted." To heal by the touch of his sympathy, and to save by the power of his cross. 3. It was a deliverance.. "To proclaim liberty to the captives," etc. Sin had wo,•en its silken cords iato iron bands. Men were slaves of lust and habit. The prison was opened; and the fetters which they could not shake off Christ struck from their eouls.-W. :M. S.
Ver. 3.-0omjort and ehe,er. "To appoint unto them that monrn in Zion," etc. There is a triple exchange spoken of in these words, which ought to quicken thought. I. CHARACTER. " Beauty for ashes." The penitent is uplifted from the dust. Instead of standing before God in sad confession, with all the stains of sin upon his heart and the liturgy of woe upon his lips, he has new life. The beauty of the Lord is given to him-there is transformation. II. EMOTION. "The oil of joy for mourning." No longer looking at the dark side of personal history and personal prospect. The very countenance is anointed with fresh oil-a type of what has taken place within the man. Because you cannot force joy, nor csn yon pretend it. Nature sets herself against all forgeries. Such joy as a. godly man experiences can only come from the good treasure of his heart. III. EXPRESSION. "The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness." The outward life is all so different. As God is said to clothe himself with light as with a garment, so the Easterns understood the garment of light to be the expression of the man himself, even as we now look to the habiliments of the mourner as testifying to his grief. 'l'he spirit of heaviness is distressing. It is not a thankful spirit, nor a hopeful spirit, nor an inspiring spirit. But the izarment of praise is like the melody of the temple choir; like the music of the river; like the "lark that sings at heaven's gate." "Awake, psaltery and harp; I myself will awake right early."-W. M. S. Ver. 4.-Restoratiun. "They shall build the old wastes." .All waste is wicked. It is so in war. Even taken at its lowest estimate, tbink of the ruin of glorious temples, and exquisite sculptures, and works of art,-all ground to dust, as Mr. Ruskin says, by mere human rage. Florence, and many of the Southern cities, have been the war-fields of Europe. What waste I 'l'here genius toiled; there multitudes, in sweat of brow, built the aqueduct and decorated the capit.ol; and there, from time to time, the rude hand of the despoiler has come. History has made record of victories and glorified conquerors, and some minstrel has caught the infection and sung the lay of the wasters. What a satire on man! Why smile at the child who builds houses for the sea to smite down? Man builds, and then with the waves of maddened war-lust dashes to pieces his own best ,vorks. So it is. 'l'he history of Europe has been, in this sense, a history of waste, and instead of the glorious works of Phidias to gaze upon, we have broken arms, fractured columns. In devastated districts we dig for relics. 'l'his is only the material side of the waste of war. I say all waste is wicked. And I have to speak of human hearts and lives. Much more precious these than sculptured column or lofty fane. Yes; do not let us forget th2.t the words of Christ refer to life present as well as life to come. "What shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world and I011e his own life?" I. ALL LIVE!! WERE DESIGNED TO HAVE A DIVINE IDEAL IN THEM. We cannot understand the "why" of creation at all apart from that. "Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inven- tions" (Eccles. vii. 29). They have, in fact, invented many ideals for themselves, and have wasted in theae inventions the :fine God-created faculties of their souls. If the OIi. LXI.1-11.J THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. 423