Christ's Perfection and Precedence
(No. 2478)
A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, AUGUST 16, 1896.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING,
AUGUST 1, 1869.
"My Beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand." Song
of Solomon 5:10.
THE spouse in this verse styles her Lord, "my Beloved," from which it
is easy for us to gather that it is of the utmost importance that our
heart's affection should be really and truly set upon Christ Jesus, our
Lord. We must trust Him and we must love Him. Christ on the Cross saves
us when He becomes to us Christ in the heart. It is of small service
for us to know of Christ if we do not really trust and love Him. It
will be of little use for us to talk of Him unless our heart is really
welded and knit to Him. Let us, therefore, dear Friends, commence this
evening's meditation with a solemn enquiry made by each one for himself
or herself, "Can I call the Lord Jesus Christ, who was crucified on
Calvary, but who now reigns at the right hand of the Father–can I
truly call Him, 'my Beloved'?" There may be a question raised in your
soul by a natural anxiety lest you should presume, but be not content
until you have solemnly and seriously searched your hearts, to know
whether in very deed and truth an ardent affection burns within your
spirit towards the Lord Jesus. It were better for you that you had
never been born than that you should live and die without love to
Christ. Remember that startling sentence of the Apostle Paul which is
so solemn that I can scarcely quote it without tears, "If any man love
not the Lord Jesus Christ, let Him be Anathema Maranatha," that is,
"let Him be accursed at the coming of the Lord." It will be so with
you, dear Friends, however shining your moral attributes may have been,
however you may have carved your name upon the rock of history–you
will go down to endless misery and shame unless your heart has in it a
vital sense of true religion–a sincere love to the crucified Christ of
Calvary!
If this important personal enquiry has had its due weight upon our
minds, it may lead us to another consideration, namely, that it is a
blessed thing, if we love Christ, to be able to speak about our
affection for Him as a matter of course and a matter of fact–not as a
thing that hangs trembling in the balance, but as an ascertained Truth
of God and certainty. The spouse does not speak of "Him whom I hope to
love, by-and-by," or, of "Him whom I trust I shall one day know," but
she calls Him, without question or qualification, "my Beloved." She is
quite sure about this blessed relationship! She raises no doubts and
she has no fears concerning it. I do not say that if any man has a
doubt about his love to Christ, he need, therefore, necessarily condemn
himself, but I do say that he must never be content to continue in such
a state!
Perhaps they who love the Master best are the very people who will be
the most likely to have such a high opinion of the love which He
deserves that they will often chide themselves that they do not love
Him at all, when they see how little their love is compared with that
perfection of affection which He deserves. We must not affirm that the
question of anxiety is sinful–it is painful–and anxiety, if it is not
Divinely removed, will become sinful, but the anxiety is not so in
itself. Yet, Beloved, I beseech you to press on beyond this stage of
your pilgrim journey. Do not be content to live on hopes, fears,
perhapses and surmises. You would not like to think that, perhaps, you
loved your child, or your husband, or your friend. You would not care
to say, "I hopeI love virtue, I hopeI love honesty"–but it is a baser
thing, still, for us to allow a question to exist as to whether we love
Him who is dearer than our own kindred and who is better than any one
moral excellence, seeing that He is the combination of all excellences!
O Beloved, seek to reach the blessed heights of full assurance, that
each one of you may be able to say of Christ, "This is my Beloved and
this is my Friend–I would as soon doubt my own existence as doubt the
love that burns within my heart towards Him who has bought me with His
precious blood." Sing, as we have often done–
"My Jesus, I love You, I know You are mine,
For You all the follies of sin I resign. My gracious Redeemer, my
Savior are Thou, If ever Iloved You, my Jesus, 'tis now."
If we have reached that stage in our journey heavenwards, it will be
well if we go on a step further. Loving our Lord and Savior in our
heart and being assured of that love in our inmost conscience after
earnest heart-searching, it will be well if we have the courage to
never hesitate in the avowal of that love. Our love to Christ is so
sacred a passion that it is not to be talked of in all companies. We
must not cast our pearls before swine, but, on the other hand, it is so
ennobling a passion that we need never blush to acknowledge it in any
company. If we are ever ashamed of loving Christ, we have good reason
to be ashamed of such shameful shame! When you have heard His dear name
reviled, did you ever start for fear lest you should be called upon to
share His reproach? Did you ever sit silent when you ought to have
spoken because Christ was being blasphemed? Did you ever try to make it
out to yourself that it was a prudent retirement that shunned the
conflict when, in very truth, it was a hatefulcowardice that turned its
back upon the Crucified in the hour of His need? I fear that the charge
might be brought against the most of us! If so, let us humbly confess
it on our knees, alone, and blush before the Presence of our blessed
Master. Remember what we sang just now?–
"Jesus! And shall it ever be?
A mortal man ashamed of Thee!
Ashamed of You, whom angels praise,
Whose glories shine thro' endless days?
Ashamed of Jesus? Sooner far
Let evening blush to own a star!
He sheds the beams of light Divine
O'er this benighted soul of mine.
Ashamed of Jesus? Just as soon
Let midnight be ashamed of noon!
'Tis midnight with my soul, till He,
Bright Morning Star, bid darkness flee.
Ashamed of Jesus? That dear Friend
On whom my hopes of Heaven depend!
No! When I blush, be this my shame,
That I no more revere His name." What can there be to be ashamed of in
loving Him whom angels love, whom God loves, whom all holy spirits
love? What? Not love Him? If He were not, in Himself, God, yet has He
been so good to me that I must love Him! It is an old proverb that we
must speak of friends as we find them, and praise the bridge that
carries us over the stream. And here is One in whom we have found such
goodness, such kindness, such gentleness and such disinterested
affection–One who has done such wonders for us that if we do not love
Him and boldly declare that we love Him–we have good reason to be
ashamed of ourselves and to hide our heads in confusion forever and
ever!
Young people, you who have lately come to love Christ, do not begin as
some of your fathers did, in that halfhearted fashion which has
continued with them until this day. Alas, there are some professing
Christians who have grown gray and yet have scarcely ever dared to
speak the name of Christ in company! Yes, some of them have even been
ashamed, up to this moment, to be baptized and to come to the Lord's
Table. They say that they love Christ and I hope they do, yet up to
this hour Baptism has been a cross too heavy for them to bear! And the
Lord's Supper has seemed to them to be an ordeal instead of a means of
blessing! Play the man, young Christian! Be not ashamed to acknowledge
your Lord! If ever there was unfurled in this world a banner which
deserved the utmost allegiance of human hearts, it is the blood-stained
banner of the Cross! And if ever there was a Leader who deserved that
men should speak His praises, not–
"With 'bated breath, and whispering humbleness," but with manly
enthusiasm, that Leader is the Christ of God who loved you and gave
Himself for you! Yes, utter it in the face of a scoffing world! Stand
to it in the teeth of a ribald infidel generation! Declare it before
the crowd of gainsayers who will mock you to scorn as you pronounce it,
"This is my Beloved–the Christ that died, the Christ that always lives
at the right hand of God–this is my Beloved, and I am not ashamed to
avow Him."
Suppose that we have come as far as this–and I believe that many of us
have come so far–it will be our bounden duty to go a step further.
Loving Jesus, knowing that we love Him and boldly confessing our love
to Him, let us, next, so study His Person and His Character that we
shall be able to give a reason for the love that is in us to any who
make the enquiry, "What is your Beloved more than another Beloved?" You
observe that the spouse not only calls Him, "my Beloved," but she
describes the complexion of His Countenance and the details relating to
His whole Person. She has a word of praise for all His features and all
His members! She knows Him so well that she speaks of Him with a tongue
like the pen of a ready writer. So, Beloved, let us study Christ as we
come, again, to this Communion Table! You who love and fear Him,
neglect not your Bibles. Neglect not that fellowship which, like the
light of a candle, shines upon the page of the Bible.
Some of you are studying earthly sciences. Perhaps you give your minds
to the classics, or you delight to master the mysteries of mathematics.
But oh, take care that this most excellent science, the science of
Christ Crucified, is not made to take a second place with you! Always
put this science first–try to understand the Glory of your Lord's
Person– without beginning of days or end of years! Search into the
purity of His Character in all that He was, here below, from His birth
to His death. Be conversant with Christ in all His sacred offices.
Think much of His precious blood and of all the holy mysteries that
cluster around His Cross. Trace Him from Bethlehem to Gabbatha, and
then from Gabbatha follow Him in His Resurrection and Ascension along
the star-spangled way up to the Throne of His Glory. And let your soul
hopefully linger in the full belief of His Second Coming, and in all
the Glory that shall surely follow the day of His august appearing.
Study Christ! Study Christ so as to be able to tell others of Him and
be not slow to communicate to those of an enquiring mind that which you
have, yourself, heard, seen and handled of the Word of Life–for so the
spouse does in the chapter before us.
This much must suffice by way of introduction, or rather, by way of
practical exhortation to such of you as are enlisted beneath Christ's
royal banner of love.
Now let us proceed to consider the general description of the
Bridegroom given by His spouse in this verse. First, she says, "my
Beloved is white and ruddy." These words set forth His charming
complexion. Secondly, the spouse calls her Beloved, "the chiefest among
ten thousand," and so she describes His personal precedence.
I. First, then, the spouse says, "my Beloved is white and ruddy." And
so she sets HIS CHARMING COMPLEXION.
It seems to me that the spouse intends, by these words, to call
attention to two chief characteristics of her Lord's most blessed
Person. Had not Solomon often seen the snow-white lambs–the emblems of
purity–brought up to the Temple to be offered in sacrifice? "So," said
he, "my Beloved is white." Had he not also seen the uplifted knife in
the priest's hand–and then seen the ruby stream as it flowed down at
the foot of the altar till the white lamb was stained crimson in its
own blood? So he puts the two together, the white–the immaculate
purity. And the red–the sacrificial blood-shedding. And these two
things, whether they are meant in the text or not, are certainly the
two essentials of the Christian faith concerning the Person of Christ!
And he is no Christian and, indeed, cannot be a Christian who has not
well learned and joyously received the two Truths of God which the
white and the red here set forth.
Our Lord is, first of all, in Himself, white. That is, He has
immaculate perfection of Character. As God, in Him is Light and no
darkness at all–perfect purity without a trace of sin. He is very God
of very God, the Holy One of Israel. In His Godhead, Jesus Christ is
perfection itself. As to His Manhood, the term, whiteness, well
describes Him who was born without natural corruption, or taint of
hereditary depravity–"that holy Thing"–the Christ of God who became
Incarnate, yet without sin. Does not this word, "white" describe Him,
also, in His actual life? There was never any sin in Christ. You may
challenge every Word of His and you shall find it pure. You may thrust
it into the furnace heated seven times hotter than it is known to be
heated, yet shall it come forth as it went in, for no dross shall be
found in it! As to Christ's actions, they are matchless and perfect in
every respect! The two great objectives of His life were the Glory of
God and the good of man. So pure, indeed, is the Character of Christ,
that even those who have hated His religion and have read the writings
of the four Evangelists with no design but to find some ground for
mocking–have, nevertheless, been cowed before the majesty of the
perfect life of Christ!
In fact, it is today as it was of old, when the officers were sent to
take Him prisoner–they went back without Him, for they said, "Never
man spoke like this Man." There is no spot in Him! He is the Lamb of
God without blemish, the perfect Christ, and, therefore, we love Him.
We love those who possess true excellence and, therefore, we must love
Christ, for He has every excellence in perfection! If there were no
Atonement–if we did not regard our Lord Jesus as our Savior–still
every true heart ought to love Him and to be won to Him. There are such
charms in His Character that if our souls were not besotted by the love
of sin, we must worship and adore this glorious Son of God who is the
brightness of the Father's Glory, and the express image of His Person!
He is so white and pure that we oughtto love Him!
Next we come to the blood-shedding–the sacrificial Character of Christ
Alas, that this glorious doctrine of the atoning Sacrifice should ever
be cast into the background, as it so often is, for the blood-shedding
of Christ is the very essence of Christianity! In the fullness of time,
Jesus Christ, born of a woman, came into this world as the Substitute
for sinners. The vengeance of God against sin was poured out upon Him.
He suffered death that those who trust Him might not die–the Lamb of
God was slain in their place that He might render satisfaction to the
injured honor and broken Law of God. This is the chief reason, after
all, why Christ's people love Him–because in His precious blood they
see the pardon of all their sins, they see the lifting of themselves up
into the life of God–they see the open way of access to the Father,
they see the gates of Heaven opened to all Believers!
Beloved, there are some in these days who cry up the glorified Christ
and I will cry Him up with them, nor shall they find a word too strong
for His praise! Yet they would have men trust in the glorified
Christ–they preach the doctrine of the Second Advent as though it were
the chiefteaching of Holy Scripture–and they seem to look to the
Second Coming of Christ rather than to the first! But let Paul's words
be always our motto, "We preach Christ Crucified, to the Jews a
stumbling block, and to the Greeks, foolishness, but to them which are
called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God, and the wisdom
of God." With that same Apostle let us cry, "God forbid that I should
glory, save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." His Throne is
glorious and His Glory shall speak for itself, but the despised and
crucified Christ is the source of the sinner's salvation–and this
Truth of God is to be preached and held up as the first and cardinal
doctrine of our holy faith!
Brothers and Sisters, let us thus look at Jesus, "white" in His
spotless innocence, "ruddy" in His sacrificial suffering. Let us view
Him as the one sinless Being and also as the chief of martyrs–the One
in whom was no sin–yet upon whom the Lord did cause to meet the
iniquity of all His people, with all the suffering it deserved and all
the vengeance and wrath of Almighty God that were rightly due to the
transgressors! I must not detain you longer upon this part of the
subject, but I cannot pass from it without asking the question–Do we
all love this precious One in whom there is all excellence and in whom
there is also this matchless suffering, this sin-atoning grief? Oh, if
your heart is truly set on Christ, you have a portion so rich that you
need not envy even the angels, for–
"Never did angels taste above, Redeeming Grace and dying love."
If this is your lot, you are happy, thrice happy, though poor, sick and
unknown! If Christ is, indeed, your Beloved, you are married to One who
is the equal of the Eternal God! If your heart embraces Christ and
Christ is really yours, you have more than the world can ever compass!
You have more than Heaven, itself, could give if Christ were withdrawn
from its courts of Glory. Be happy, then! Be joyous in your Lord! Let
your heart go up to Him and rest in Him. And when you come to the
Communion Table, let it be with your eyes and your heart fixed on your
Beloved, who is "white and ruddy."
But, my dear Hearer, if you have not Christ, oh, how I wish you had
Him–and you may have Him this very night! Many of you are strangers to
me. At this time of the year, when so many of our regular hearers take
their vacation at the seaside, or in the country, there is room for
more strangers. Well, dear Friends, we are strangers to one another,
but I hope many of you are not strangers to the Master! Or, if you are,
possibly the Lord brought you here that you might meet with Him and
that He might meet with you. It would be a blessed Sabbath, indeed, to
your soul if now you could say, "This perfect Man, I must love Him.
This suffering Substitute, I must trust Him. God has laid Him in Zion
as a foundation and a chief cornerstone–I will come and build all my
hopes for time and for eternity upon Him and His great atoning
Sacrifice."
You are black, poor sinner, but then, He is white! And His white shall
stand in the place of your black. You are black, but then He is ruddy.
And His crimson blood shall wash away every speck and stain of your
sin! All you have to do is simply to look to Him by faith, for there is
life in a look at Him! Only trust Him, Trembler! Only trust Him, guilty
Sinner! Only trust Him and that simple trust shall bring you life,
health, perfection, Heaven, God Himself! God grant that it may be!
II. Now, passing on to the remaining words of the text, notice that the
spouse says of her Beloved that He is, "the chiefest among ten
thousand." These words set forth HIS PERSONAL PRECEDENCE.
"The chiefest among ten thousand." Is it not incorrect to say, "the
chiefest"? I care not if it is and I would not like to see the word
altered into "chief." Human words, at best, are such poor things that
they stagger under the mighty burden of the perfections of Christ! We
seem to need some of those huge pillars and pedestals that we sometimes
see outside massive piles of architecture, that we may bear up the
ponderous Truth of our text! We must have such words as "chiefest," for
common language does not suffice in such a case as this! I suppose
that, in Heaven, they have done with our poor imperfect speech and know
how to speak of Christ as He deserves. Anyhow, we believe with good
John Berridge–
"Living tongues are dumb at best, We must die to speak of Christ."
He is the chiefest among ten thousand and it so happens that this word,
"chiefest," may mean any one of three or four things. First, take it as
it stands–"Chiefest"–that is to say, Christ is higher, better,
lovelier, more excellent, than any who are round about Him. If you
shall bring ten thousand angels, He is the chiefest Angel, the
Messenger of the Covenant. If you shall bring ten thousand friends, He
is the chiefest Friend, the "Friend that sticks closer than a brother."
If you shall bring ten thousand physicians, He is the best Physician,
for He heals all diseases. If you find ten thousand shepherds, He is
the Good Shepherd, the Great Shepherd, the Chief Shepherd. If you find
one, two, a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand, all excellent, they must
all give way when He appears, as the stars are forgotten when the sun
arises in his strength. Christ is the chiefest, the best, the highest
of all beings! Whatever excellences there may be in others, they are
all eclipsed by the surpassing excellences that are found in Him!
Christ is the chief among ten thousand; that is to say, He is the Head,
the Ruler, the Prince, the King, the Lord over all. There He stands,
with His feet like most fine gold, and all around Him are the chariots
of God that are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels, and there is
not one who lifts his head as high even as his Lord's feet! And among
all the cherubic and seraphic host there is not one who would not count
it his highest Heaven to fly at Christ's command to the meanest
cottage, or even to a dunghill whereon Lazarus lies with the dogs
licking his sores! Christ is King of all the angels and, here below,
too, there are ten thousand forces and powers continually at work, for
God has His hosts and armaments on earth as well as in Heaven–but
Christ is Lord High Admiral of all the seas, the great
Commander-in-Chief of all the battalions, the mighty King who rules
over all!
And when He comes into His Church, we know that He is Chief there. Who
dares look at Him and claim equality with Him? I tremble at the thought
of that dreadful blasphemy which might well have condemned England to
the lowest Hell for daring to call an earthly monarch, "the head of the
Church." It cannot be! It is sheer impiety for man or angel to ever
dare to steal that title of Christ! He, alone, is King in the midst of
Zion! He is the one and only Head of the Church! It was a brave deed of
Cameron and his comrades to lift up their voices against this infamy
when first it sought to spread itself in Scotland. And it is ill on our
part that we have not lifted up our voices more loudly against it in
this, our land! A man or a woman, head of the Church? No, never! Let
Christ and Christ, alone, wear the crown He bought with His own blood!
He alone is King and let Him always be so proclaimed and acknowledged!
In matters of religion, we need not Caesar's favor and we fear not
Caesar's frown. Christ is the one Head of His Church–and His true
Church is free from both the control and the patronage of the
State–and so she shall be wherever true hearts beat loyally to Christ,
and wherever true lips speak His praises! He is "the chiefest among ten
thousand." If there are ten thousand bishops, He is the Bishop of
souls! If there are ten thousand fathers, He is "the Everlasting
Father." If there are ten thousand teachers, yet shall they not be
called Rabbis, for One is our Teacher and Rabbi, even Christ! And at
His feet the reverent Church adoringly bows, hailing Him, and Him
alone, as Head and Master, "the chiefest among ten thousand."
According to the Septuagint, the text has another meaning. Our Lord, in
Scripture, is called the Chosen One, the Elect of God. As the Psalmist
puts it, speaking by prophecy, "I have exalted One chosen out of the
people." Christ is chosen out of ten thousand as the Mediator to stand
between God and men. Whoever else might have been employed by God for
this service–and we are not able to think of any other–yet first of
all was Christ chosen of God. And today we may call Him the Chosen One
because He isthe Chosen of His Church. If the question were put to us
and a poll were demanded upon it–"Of all the Church of Christ, who
shall be Head and Lord? Who shall be Master? Who shall be Teacher? Who
shall be the Beloved?"–would not all of us hold up our hands for
Him–yes, hands and hearts as well! And we would even lay down our
heads on the block if it were necessary to secure His election! Every
one of us would, with a burst of acclamation, unconstrained except by
His own charms, elect Him to be the Head and Lord in the midst of Zion!
I put to you, dear Hearer, a more personal question–Have you chosen
Him? If not, will you, by His Grace, put your hand on your heart, now,
and say, "Now have I chosen Him because He has first chosen me"? I pray
you at once to make a choice of Him, for if you do, you will never
regret it. I have stood by a great many deathbeds, but there is one
scene I never saw, and never expect to see–and that is a child of God
repenting that He ever loved Christ Jesus! May you be able to say what
we have often sung!–
"'Tis done! The great transaction's done! I am my Lord's, and He is
mine!
He drew me and I followed on,
Charmed to confess the voice Divine.
High Heaven, that heard the solemn vow,
That vow renewed shall daily hear
Till in life's latest hour I bow
And bless in death a bond so dear." May Christ be the chosen of your
heart! God grant that no soul here may refuse admission to the Prince
of Peace!
Lastly, according to the margin of our Bible, the text bears this
meaning and probably should be thus read, "He is the Standard-Bearer
among ten thousand." The, "ten thousand," we may consider to be the
warriors of God enlisted to fight His battles against error and sin.
Who is the Standard-Bearer of God's militant host below? The only
answer is that, "Christ is the Standard-Bearer among ten thousand." For
a standard-bearer, there was need of a select man with good strong arms
who could firmly grasp the pole that held aloft the standard–a man
resolute of heart, who, having once taken charge of the flag, would
sooner die than loose his hold of the colors. It needed for a
standard-bearer one who was courageous, one who would not be alarmed by
the din and strife of battle and turn his back, but who would go at the
head of the host, carrying the banner into the very thick of the fray
to lead on the militant band till they had put all their foes to the
rout. The standard-bearer should be a stronger man than all the rest of
the host, for–
"If the standard-bearer falls,
As fall full wel he may," what mischief would come to the host and what
confusion to this hearts of all the warriors!
Now, our Lord Jesus Christ has come into this world and set up a
standard because of the Truth of God and well does He handle it, firmly
does He grasp it. When on the Cross, the battle thickened round
Him–all the hosts of Hell and all the bands of cruel ones on earth
sought to strike Him and to seize the Standard–but He bore it still
aloft through all the dreadful fray! And this day, though He is now in
Heaven, yet by His blessed Spirit that Standard is still unfurled to
the breeze. In the order of His Providence, it seems to me that Christ
is always bearing that Standard a little farther and a little farther
on–and if Christians would but keep nearer to Christ and be more like
He is, the victories of His Church would be daily fresh and new!
We should soon see this world conquered for Christ if we kept step with
the Divine Standard-Bearer. He is bearing that Standard in front of
some of you into that alley at the back of the house where you
live–dare you follow Him and go and win some spoil for Him? Christ's
banner is uplifted in many parts of London tonight–dare you follow it?
Dare you stand in the streets and in the by-ways to tell of Heaven's
accomplished salvation, and of Christ's finished work that saves from
death and Hell? The nations of the earth need the Gospel! Christ is
opening the gates of brass to our missionaries–are there no young men
here who will follow Christ's banner as it gleams afar? Have I no young
John Williams here? Is there no young man here who will be a Robert
Moffat or a William Knibb? There is the Standard-Bearer– Christ is not
in the background! Oh, why should we be so slow to follow Him? We are
not straitened in Him, but in ourselves! God give us to be worthy
followers of so glorious a Standard-Bearer as Christ Jesus our Lord!
Lift up your eyes to Heaven and see Him, there, bearing the Standard at
the right hand of God! The troops are marshalling! The bugle sounds for
some of us! Gray-heads, are you ready? Young men and maidens, are you
ready? If the trumpet sounds in your ears tonight, are you ready to
rally round that Standard and to sing the praises of Him who has called
you? He is coming soon and then, when the Standard-Bearer is here,
shall we have a share in His triumph? Shall we rise to shame and
confusion of face, or shall we rise to participate in the splendor of
His universal reign? God grant that we may all love and trust the
Divine Standard-Bearer and that we may all be found among His faithful
soldiers forever-more!
The Lord be with you, Beloved, for His dear Son's sake! Amen.
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: ISAIAH61.
Verse 1. The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me. You know who it is that
speaks these words, our Lord Jesus, Himself.
1, 2. Because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the
meek; He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty
to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance
of our God; to comfort all that mourn. The Divine Messiah comes to
usher in the true Jubilee–the blessed day in which the poor shall have
the Gospel preached to them and in which the broken-hearted shall find
their brokenness healed. He comes to bring the captive ones back from
the Babylon of sin and to deliver from prison all those who, because of
their transgressions, are bound with fetters. In a word, He comes to
proclaim that now is the accepted time, now is the day of Grace, now is
the year of Jubilee. As for the adversaries of His people, to them it
shall be "the day of vengeance of our God," for the Lord will deal out
to them, measure for measure, as they have dealt to His oppressed and
persecuted people.
3. To appoint to them that mourn in Zion, to give to them beauty–Or,
"a coronet"–
3. For ashes, the oil ofjoy for mourning, the garment ofpraise for the
spirit ofheaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness,
the planting of the LORD, that He might be glorified. When Jesus comes,
He brings all things with Him, for He is all things to His people and
they find their all in Him. There is no sorrow at His coming to those
who receive Him–it is gladness–gladness repeated and gladness
multiplied. Not only does joy come in one form, but in many, as the
verses of this chapter so sweetly remind us! And that which comes is
permanent, making those that receive it to be like long-standing trees,
for they shall outlive their sorrows and prove that they were planted
by God for His own Glory.
4. And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former
desolations and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of
many generations. Truly, God's living Church today shall do all this!
The Jewish Church became a waste and God's Glory seemed to be trodden
under the foot of His foes, but the true children of the promise–they
who are counted for the seed, even as many as believe, who are thus the
seed of believing Abraham–shall build up all these wastes and happy
shall they be in such joyous service!
5. 6. And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of
the alien shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers. But you shall be
named the Priests of the LORD: men shall call you the Ministers of our
God: you shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall
you boast yourselves. Because of the sin of His people, the aliens and
the foreigners trample upon them. But if you and I are truly of the
holy seed, having living faith in Christ, we shall look upon the whole
race of men as enduring all their care and toil on our behalf. They
shall be our plowmen and our vinedressers, but we shall be the
ministers of God, the priests of the Lord, making use of every new
invention–traveling by steam, speaking by telephone–using everything
for God's Glory, letting men invent all they can and we, ourselves,
turning all things to account for the honor and Glory of our God. I
know that there is another fulfillment of this test for God's ancient
people, but this is also a fulfillment of it to us who are His
spiritual people, His real children, born according to the promise.
7. For your shame you shall have double; and for confusion they shall
rejoice in their portion. That is a sweet state of heart for any of us
to be in–to rejoice in our portion! Oh, what a wonderful portion we
have to rejoice in! How blessed is the lot of God's chosen people!
However small a part of our portion may be visible to the eyes here
below, yet we can sing–
"All things are ours, the gift of God,
The purchase of a Savior's blood! While the good Spirit shows us how To
use and to improve them too."
Instead of confusion such as once was the lot of the righteous, "they
shall rejoice in their portion."
7. Therefore in their land they shall possess the double: everlasting
joy shall be to them. Here is another choice expression–"everlasting
joy." Theirs is not a transient joy like the mirth of fools, which is
as the crackling of thorns under a pot, but, "everlasting joy shall be
to them."
8. For I the LORD love judgment, Ihate robbery for burned offering; and
I will direct their work in truth, and I will make an everlasting
covenant with them. That is why they have everlasting joy. There would
be no everlasting joy if it were not for the Everlasting Covenant!
Those gentlemen who want to cut that word, "everlasting," out of our
Bibles will find that it will be a very long while before we shall
agree to be rid of it! No, we shall neverconsent to give it up! We
shall always rejoice that we have God's everlastinglove and an
Everlasting Covenant and, therefore, that we shall have everlastingjoy!
9. And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles. They shall be
discerned and distinguished. Just as surely as you may know a Jew
anywhere in the world, today, so shall men know the people of God.
Though they wear no peculiar garb, yet their speech shall betray them.
There shall be a something about them which shall bear testimony to the
fact that "they are the seed which the Lord has blessed." "Their seed
shall be known among the Gentiles."–
9, 10. And their offspring among the people: all that see them shall
acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the LORD has blessed. I
will greatly rejoice–Not a little, for He is a great God, so, "I will
greatly rejoice" in Him. "The Lord has done great things for us." Let
us, therefore, greatly rejoice in Him. "I will greatly rejoice"–
10. In the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God. Not only shall my
lips be full ofjoy, but my inmost nature, the very essence of my
being–"my soul shall be joyful in my God." "In my God." That is a
stage higher than saying, "I will greatly rejoice in the Lord." We do
greatly rejoice in the Lord, but our very soulis joyful when we can,
each one, call Him, "myGod." That is a possession that the richest
among you may well envy if you do not have it.
10. For He has clothed me with the garment of salvation, He has covered
me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with
ornaments, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. The loveliest
sight in the world is one of God's people. We sometimes sing, and sadly
sing, concerning this earth–
"Where everyprospect pleases, And only man is vile."
But there is another side to that picture, for when the "man" is a true
child of God, we can say–
"Though every prospect pleases, Yet man outshines them all!"
Well did the Psalmist sing, "You have made him a little lower than the
angels, and have crowned him with glory and honor." Angels do homage to
the renewed man, for the promise is, "They shall bear you up in their
hands, lest you dash your foot against a stone." You who are children
of God need not wish to change places, even, with an archangel, for you
are brother to Him who sits upon the Throne of God! You wear a nature
that is akin to that of the Only-Begotten! Indeed, it is the same
nature as His! Glory, then, in this great Truth of God–that you are
covered with the robe of righteousness, decked with ornaments like a
bridegroom, and adorned with jewels like a bride!
11. For as the earth brings forth her bud, and as the garden causes the
things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord GOD will cause
righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations. They
are sown in the earth at present, but, as the seeds come up in the
springtime beneath the genial showers and the shining of the sun, so
righteousness and praise shall, in due time, come up in a golden
harvest on every hill and valley of this poor sinful world! Hasten it,
O Lord, hasten it in Your own good time! Amen.