• Vere. 21, 22.---Joy after ,orrow. In highly figurative language the prophet apostro- phizes, the very soil of Judah, the very cattle of the field. By poetic imagining he transfers the joy of the people to the objects, inanimate and animate, by which they are surrounded. General mercies awaken general joy. ·I. •'ram ll'AVOUB OJI' GOD BAN'IBBEB FEAB. ll natural ce.lamitiee have power to excite alarm and foreboding, much more is this the case with the dieplesaure of the Ruler and Judge of· 11,ll. Men do indeed adopt varioUB devices to silence the voice of fear, to persuade themselves that all will be well with them. But there is no true remedy for painful foreboding except the aeeurance of Divine reconciliation and acceptance. lL 'l'HE Jl'AVOUB OF Oon OBEATEB OLADNEBB. When the locusts were ewept away, the scourge removed, and when the earth resumed Its garb of fertility and uttered its promises of fruitfulness, a universal rejoicing took the pll\Ce of mourning, distress, and alarm; .And in the spiritual realm, when the grace and love of God are realized, it ill felt that the bleesing of God maketh rich, and he addetb no sorrow. .And the inspired admonitions are felt to be congenial:" Rejoioe ill the Lord al way;" "Rejoice cver- more."-T. Ver. 28.-Showetrs o/blee,mg. In Palestine the hopes of the people for an abundant harvest were always connected with the appointed eeaeoo11 of refre11hing and vivifying rain. 'rhis is in Scripture an emblem of spiritual effusions enriching and fertilizing the Church of God. J. SHOWERS OJI' BLEBIJINO 00KB J'BOM AJIOVE. IJ, SHOWERS OJI' BLEBBil'IG FALL IN 'JIBEIR APPOil'ITJ:D BEASON. 1u., BnowEne OJI' BLESSING BEBPOHD TO Till!l PAITH AND BNTR!lATIEff OJI' Goo's Dli:RlTAOE. IV. S11ow1ms OF DLEBBING OBEATE FEB'l'ILITY AND AJIUNDANOB:. 1'1:iB BOOK OF JOEL. [on. u. 1-82,
V. Suow1rns or Bl,BIBIJIIG AWAKD THE VOICE, Tltl: BONG, 01' TJIUl[BOIVING AND or JOY. AM'1,10ATl?N· There ie nothing arbitrary ln the bel!towal of Hpirltual bleeeing. The cle_w_~ and ram_e from haaven ~re beRtowed ln accordance with Divine wladom. And ~pmtual mcrc,cs arc 88S11red m rceponec to fallh and prayer. And God ha.a Hid " l'r~vc me now, and 1!8C if I will not open the windoW1 of heaven, and pour you out~ blessmg."-T.
Ver. 27.-The God of lerail. No doubt the Iese enlightened among the JeW1 me.y have cherished auperetitious views regarding Jehovah and have regarded him 88 their tutelary Dei_ty, j~t 88 ne_ighbouring_ nations thought of Baal or Ashtorcth, But tho devout and mt,elhgent believed both ID the universe.I Lordship of Jehovah and in his IIJlCCial interest in and care for hia chosen nation Israel. Thus we as' Christiane hold)ng the Supreme to ~ God over all the earth, yet consider him :.0 be in a very upcc,al senec the God of hlR own Church, purchased with the precio1111 blood of his Son l. 'I'nE EVIDENCE WBICB OONVINCEB 08 THAT THE LoBD 18 OUB Goo. 1. As in th~ c11.11e of Israel, BO in our 0888, God ia known by his delivering mercy. He who ea.ved the Jews from IOCW1ts and from armies, delivers u11 Crom the bondage of ein and death. 2. And, as Jehovah crowned the national life of Israel with plenty and prosperity, eo hlU! be made all proviaion for our spiritual well-being and happiness, in the gift of hle Son e.nd in the diapeuation of his Spirit. Il. THE OOllfBEQC"El!!CES OF 0UB OONVIOTI0N THAT THE LOBO 18 OUB Goo. "My people.," says the Lord, " ahall never be ashamed; " i.e. because: 1. They she.II never be disregarded; their prayers shall always be heard with favour. 2. 'l'hey shall never be diaappointed ; the expectations which the Lord awakens he will fulfil. a. They shall never be foraa.ken; for he says, "I will never leave thee."-T. Vera. 28, 29.-The outpouring of the Spirit. We have the authority of St. Peter for applyini:,; this prediction to the Meesianic dispensation. Joel's mind W88 lifted up by the happy prospect in the immediate future for his c,,,mtrymen, and, as was so often tLe case, his prophetic gaze pierced the dense mists of futurity, and he beheld "the wonder that should be." L Tm: PERIOD OF THE GIFT. It is not intended to teach that the beetO'\ye.l of the Holy Spirit was deferred, and re11erved for the Messianic age. Yet no believer in the New Testament can doubt that the Day of Pentecost witnessed an unprecedented out- pouring of Divine energy e.nd grace, in itself the herald and the promise of a conatant perem,ial effusion of blessing upon all the Church of the ascended Redeemer. II. Tm: NATURE OF THE GIFT. It was an invisible, impalpable gra.ce; ite operation took ]Jlace in.spiritnal natures. The:Spirit of God bestowed those special gifts of inepira- tiou, of faith, of healings, of tongues, which were peculiar to the first age of the Church. The same Spirit conferred the gifts of tea.ching and administration, which have tended to the edification and increase of the body of Christ. But tho choicest and richest of spiritual gifts have ever been those of character and principle, of disposition and hal.,it, which have made the Church the true repreaentative upon earth of its ascended Lord. Of tbeHe gifts the chief is love. III. THE ABtlli'O.&NCE OY THE GIFT. 'l'he promise is not of scanty drops, bt1t of copious showers. The great Giver deli1hts to give generously, royallv. e.loriously. IV. THE RECIPIENTS oF THE GIFTS. The most marvellous part of this magnificent prophecy is the language in which is described the comprebensiveneBB of the Church of the Lord Jesus. I. .Among these recipients of spiritual gra.ce are men and women. "Your sons and your daughter,." In Ghri.et Jesus there i1 neither male nor female. 2. Old and young are alike included among the eeers of visions and the dreamers of dreams; for upon every enlightened aoul shall stream the light which is not of this world, and wLich reveals eternal realities. a. Upon bond and upon free the graces of the Spirit are sbed without disLinction. 8ervant8 and handmaids are participators in tbc S1,irit; for all are fre,e in Cbriat Je1UB. 4. To make thia universality explicit, it is expre1111ly ea.id that the outpouring shall be UJ>OD "all flesh," i.e. upon all humanity. Beyond a prospect like this, the vision of inspued prophets could not extend ; tho graoo of the iofiuit.e Giver cuuld not be vuter and more comprehenaive.-T, Oll, II, 1-82,] THE BOOK OF JOEL, 41