Vers. 6-9.-Privilege, reputation, hope. We have here- I. AN OPEN PRIVILEGE to be eagerly employed. "Ye shall be named the Prieste of the Lord." Under the Law the priesthood was limited to one family of one tribe; the rest of the nation had rights and duties outside and inferior. 'l'l,ere stand, indeed, the ancient words, "Ye shall he unto me a kingdom of priests," but this promise finds no complete fulfilment in the history of Israel. It is realized only in the kingdom of Christ. Under him the whole community is a "holy priesthood," a "royal priesthood." Christ "has made us (all) kings and priests unto God." It is opeu to every one of us to draw nigh unto God in closest spiritual communion; to intercede with him i11. earnest, believing prayer; to present unto him "spiritual sacrifices" of ohedicnce, of resignation, of consecration. The way is open now into the holiest of all, and they please God most who approach him most frequently, and offer lo him most continually the sacrifice which comes from clean hands and a pure and loving heart. II. AN ENVIABLE REPUTATION to be greatly coveted. "Men shall call you the Ministers [servants] of our God." What is it that we would have men say about us? By what do we most desire to be distinguished and remembered? By our bodily strength or muscular skill? By our intellectual powers? By our possessions? These things "profit a little;" they "have their reward" in momentary satisfaction, in pleasurti that lives awhile and dies. But they are not significant of the best and worthiest, of that which endures amid the wreck and passage of the things which perish. The one reputation worth possessing is that of being a true "servant of God." It is worth wbile doing much and endeavouring much, if need be, that the thing which our contemporaries shall associate with our name, e.nd by which those who survive us shall distinguish us from others, is our faithful and devoted service of the Divine Master. So let us Ii ve that the first thought which will arise in men's minds concerning us is that we are servants of our God. IlL AN INV.6.LtJABLE HOPE to be devoutly cherished. "All the.t see them [thei1 426 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. [cu. LXI. 1-11.
oft'sprin~] shn.11 acknowledge them, thnt they n.re the seed which the Lord bath blessed." What are our deepest solicitudes concerniug our children? That they will rise, will he enriched, will be honoured of men? These might prove curses rather thau blessings. The wise parent will hope, will Jive anu strive, will pray that his <"hildren may be such in spirit, in character, in behaviour, that all who see them will feel about them that the blessing of God is in. their heart and upon their head.-C.
Vers. 10, 11.- Wise e.xultation. I. OUR CAPACITY OF EXULTATION. Our huma11 spirit is capable of great emotion. Our feeling may siuk to great depths of sorrow 01 may ri~e to great heights of joy. We ha,;,e no language which will express the deg:ee11 of spi1itual dist1ns and agony which are possible to the stricken and despairing, or which ml! measure the degrees of joy and ecsta.sy possible to the blessed and the 'l"ictorious. II. OuR TEMl'TATI0N in this matter. The warning of the prophet of the Lord (Jer. ix. 24) proves that in other lands and other times than ours the wise (learned) man bas been tempted to glory in his wisdom, the rich man in his wealth, the mighty man in bis power and prowess. But such glorification is our weakness and our folly; it is not built on truth; it conducts to complacency; it ends in disappointment, if not in shame. UL Oun WISDOM. This is to rejoice in God, to "glory in this, that we understand and know him," and are ranked among bis people. We cannot go too far in our delight in him. 1. His character provides a ~ource of spiritual satisfaction absolutely inexhaustible. We say everything in one word as to his sufficiency when we say that he is "our God." 2. He ha.& done greatest things for us. He bas (1) wrought for us the greatest of all deliverances-salvation; and (2) bestowed on us the greatest of all blessings--r(ghteousness, inward and spiritual rectitude. 3. He stands pledged to accomplish that in which we shall greatly triumph (ver. 11). .As the well-cultivated garden has in it living forces which will show themselves in fairest flowers and richest fruits, so has the Lord our God in him.self all the wisdom, grace, and power which will be manifest m righteousness and praise, springing forth in the sight of all the nations.-C. Ver. 1.-Me,siah's mission to the troubled. Those more especially addressed by Messiah are called the" meek," the" broken-hearted," the "captives," and the" bound." It at once comes to mind that precisely such persons were addressed in the sermon on the mount; and it may be remarked. as distinguishing Christ from all ordinary human teachers, who have their own personal gain and success to consider, that he never sought out the great, the rich, or the learned, but gave his best to the heart-sore, the body-smitten, aud the life-humbled. Our Lord makes a very striking reference to this passage in his sermon at Nazareth (Luke iv. 18). Before entering on the proper sub- ject of this homily, it may be well to note that the only credentials which our Lord cared to present were the manifest signs and proofs that the Spirit of God was upon him. .And what better credentials would any true-hearted man wish to offer? Material figures of moral conditions may be found in the depressed, afflicted, almost despairing state of the captives in Babylon. I. MEssUH's MISSION TO THE MEEK. This term is used in several senses in Scripture. Sometimes it stands for the humble, who think Jowly things concerning themselves. Sometimes it stands for the disinterested, who nre willing to give up their own things for the sake of others. Here it stands for crushed and hopeless ones, who have lost all spirit, and think there is no light, no cheer, in this life for them. The battle with sin oometimes leaves men hard, and then it is of little use to bring "good tidings." But sometimes it makes men mP,ek, soft, impressible, and to them Messiah comes with "good tidings;" for them is born a Saviour. II. MEssI.A.B's MISSION TO THE BR0KEN·HEARTED. Thie term best expresses the state of conviction and penitence. It is the sign of that supreme grief which a man knows when he 11ee11 himsilf as he is, and as God regards him. To such a man Messiah comes with the message of a fre.e and fuli forgiveness, which is a binding up, a healing; the joy of acceptance and welcome of love. Ill. ME88IA.B's lll88ION TO TBB O.APl'f17'1B. Those between whose olromnetances and oII. LXI. 1-11.J THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. 427