Vers. 1, 2.-The beneficent mission. These words are undeniably Messianic; that is their secondary, if not their primary, import. Of the mission of Christ they remind us- I. THAT JEsus CHRIST WAS SENT OF GoD. Our Lord not only stated but insisted that he came forth from God. He constantly took up the position here asserted," the Lord hath anointed me" (John iv. 34; v. 19, 30; viii. 28; ix. 4; xii. 49). IL THAT HE WAS FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT OF GoD. "The Spirit of the Lord Goel" was upon him, and dwelt in him as in no other child of man. God gave not the Spirit "by measure" unto him (John iii 34; xiv. 10, etc.). III. THAT HE WAS CHARGED WITH .A :MISSION OF DIVINE BENEFICENCE. "Anointed to preach good tidings." Well might the human world have expected that a special messenger from heaven would come with ill tidings on his lips; would come to announce wrath, penalty, destruction; would pass through town and village with such a" burden" as that of Jonah to the thousands of Nineveh (Jonah iii. 4). But the coming of Christ was the advent of grace; he came to promise peace, to publish salvation. The thoughts and ways of the Supreme are not as ours; they are immeasurably magnanimous. IV. THAT THE BENEFICENCE OF CHRIST WAS BPIBITUAL AND PROFOUND. He came to effect something more and better than the overthrow of a tyrannical government and the establishment of an earthly kingdom, than the removal of abounding poverty and the supply of material prosperity, than the introduction of any visible and transient good. He came: 1. To =fer spiritual freedom on those who were in bondage. "'l'o proclaim liberty to the captives; " to open the prison-doors and emancipate human souls from the threldom of sin, of vice, of error, of folly, and to lead them into the glorious liberty of the children of God-the liberty of truth and lighteousness. 2. To =vey comfort to the sorrowful. "To bind up the broken-hearted;" to comfort all that mourn. He came to furnish us with those facts and principles which can light up the dark shadows of deepest affliction with rays of peace and hope. (See next homily.) V. THAT EVEN THE LIGHT OF DIVINE BENEFICENCE 0ASTB A SHADOW Oll' CONDEMNA- TION. The day of deliverance to the righteous is a "day of vengeance" or retribution to the guilty. The brightest light of truth must fling the darkest shadow of respon- sibility and condemnation. The comer-stone of salvation to the penitent and believing must prove a stumbling-block to the impenitent and the unbelieving.-0. Ver. 3.-0hrist 01J,r Oom.forter. We think of our Lord as of our Divine Friend ; e.nd there is no way in which any one can show himself so true a friend as in the time of trouble. Well says the old adage," A friend in need is a friend indeed." vu. LXI, 1-11.J THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. 425
I. Oun UR0ENT NEED OF BIB DIVINE succoun. "Them that mourn in Zion." In virtue of his relation to us as our Saviour, Jesus Christ delivers ns from the power and bondage of sin, and eo from the remorse which attends its presence and constitutes a principal part of its penalty. But there are other things from which he does not profess to save his people in this world; these are sujflffing and sorrow. His very best disciples may inherit a bodily constitution which bas in it the seeds of feebleness and pain, and which may develop these evils in their acutest form; or they may be the victims of some terrible accident or of human cruelty; or they may be called on to pass through trying straits, or to bear bitter disappointment, or to endure grievous losses and long-continued loneliness. There is no mark on the lintel of their doors to tell the angel of sorrow to pass by. He enters every home; he has a message for every heart, and the children of the kingdom hear his voice, and feel the touch of his band, even as do the citizens of the worldly kingdom. II. THE BUFFICIENOY OF OUB SAVIOUR'S BUCC()tJB. Christ saves us in suffering and sorrow, though he does not here deliver us from it. Such is the transforming power of bis mighty touch, that he converts it into another thing; under his hand it changes its aspect and is something else; the disfiguring ashes become a diadem of beauty; instead of the signs of mourning there is seen the anointing with the oil of joy ; divested of the spirit of heaviness, the soul is clothed in the blessed garment of praise. The power of the wonderful Worker (eh. ix. 6) has transfigured everything-has turned the curse into a blessing. And how? 1. By a sense of his gracious presence. The sorrowing spirit rejoices to feel that its Lord is near-is nearer than closest relative, than dearest friend. 2. By a consciousness of his tender pity. The known and felt compassion, the assured sympathy of the Lord of love, fills the heart with peace. 3. By the direct, sustaining influences of his Holy Spirit. 4. By the assurance that he is seeking our highest good; that things are not happening by accident or mistake; that the gracious and wise Lord of all hearts and lives is working out an issue, dark and arar off, perhaps, but kind and good, righteous and beneficent; that he is planting and nourishing "trees of righteousness," and that these can only be grown with drenching rains and searching winds as well as with sweet sunshine and balmy airs. 5. By the promise of unshadowed blessedness a little further on.-C.