The Pulpit Commentary — Isaiah — Volume 2 — Section 473

1md of the conrts of the house of the Lord, a.nd of all the chambers round e.bout e.nd of the treasuries __ ?f the house of God, and of the treas1)ri,es of the dedice.ted things" (1 Chron. xxv111. 11, 12). On the return from the capt1v1ty he required the Isrnclite11 to "go up into the mountain, and bring the woocl, and build the house," and declared that he would" take pleasure in it and be glorified" (Hag. i. 8). Under Christianity the first church w~ the'.' upper room" where" all continued with one accord with prayer and supphcation, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren" (A.ct.s i. 13, H). Churches arc human, not Divine, necessities; but God has been pleased to give them bis sanction, as needed by man. Without them worship would decay, if not disappear; for men cannot live in the rare atmosphere of mere spiritualism. Vers. 10-14.-The bless•dness of the restored Church. The restored Church is to Isaiah the Church that will endure from tbe return of the captives to the end of the world. The later Jewish period and the entire Christian period are with him blended into one, and present themselves to him as constituting a sinale phase of the Church's life. Here he speaks to encourage the exiles, and dwells esp~cially, though not exclu- sively, on the immediate blessings. I. THE CHURCH WILL TEACH HER CHILDREN SOUND DOCTRB:'E. This is the special object of the existence of a Church, which claims to have a revealed "deposit" com- mitted to it by God, and bas, as the first end and aim of its being, to communicate this revelation to all who come within the sphere of its teaching. Doctrine is the milk on which the Church nourishes her children, and the restored Church will teach a doctrine which may well "satisfy" and which will be full of "consolation" (ver. 11). II. THE CHURCH WILL BE GLORIOUS, AND WILL IMPART TO HER CHILDREN OF HER GLORY. '!'hough the Church is frequently, if not even continually, oppressed and down- trodden by the world, yet a glory attaches to her, whereof no persecution, no contempt, no contumely, can altogether deprive her. She is, whatever the world may think or say," the holy Catholic Church," with Christ as her Founder, with Christ as her Lord and Master, with Christ as her King, the oldest and most venerable society in the W estem world at any rate, and one in which membership cannot but ever be a high honour. IIL THE CauncH WILL ENJOY, BY Goo's BLESSING, MUCH OUTWARD AND INWARD PEACE. Peace "·as our Lord's legacy to his Church: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto you" (John xiv. 2i); and notwithstanding the facts of external persecutions, and internal quarrels and schisms, which occupy so large a space in Church histories, and so brge a share in the iboughts of most Christians, it is nevertheless true that, on the whole, peace bas flowed over the Church "like a river," and has flowed into the hearts of the bulk of her true members like an abounding stream. "There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked" (eh. lvii. 21); but in the soul of the true Christian is a "peace that passeth all understanding," that wells up continually as from an bexhaustible fountain, and spreads around him an atmosphere of happiness. JV. TBB CHURCH WILL DERIVE HONOUR FROM THE COMl1'G IN OF THE GENTILES, Further and further, as time goes on, does the light of Christianity shine, and more and more are the dark places of the earth illuminated. Long since did the Gentiles begin to come to the Church's light, awl "kings to the brightness of her rising" (eh. lx. 3). But the process is not yet complete. Not a year passes but the gospel is carried into some new region by faithful and true missionaries, and the Lord adds to the Church fresh souls whom be wills to be saved. The iucomiog of the Gentiles does not now bring her wealth or worldly honour; but it is yet more for the true honour or the Church than it was when she converted the court and camp and people of the Cresars. For now her efforts bring her no worldly gain. She bas to go out into the highways and hedges-the wild lands of savage tribes or the yet wilder courts and allies of great towns-and to bring in the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind, the downtrodden, and the ignorant, and the criminal, and the houselesR; t~ civilize e.nd train them, and frequeutly to feed them and clothe them; thus followmg the com- mands of her blessed Master, and preparing for herself the high honour of hearing one day the glorious words, "Well done, good and faithful servant: enter thou into the ioy of thy Lord.n OH. LXVI. 1-24.J THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. 491