Joy in Harvest
(No. 3315)
A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, AUGUST 16, 1912.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"They joy before You according to the joy in harvest." Isaiah 9:3.
[Other Sermons by Mr. Spurgeon upon harvest subjects are as
follows–#2896, Volume 50–HARVEST TIME (the first of his Sermons that
was ever published); #2265, Volume 39–HARVEST JOY (a Sermon upon the
whole of Isaiah 9:3); #1127, Volume 19–HARVEST MEN NEEDED; #1562,
Volume 26– HARVEST PAST, SUMMER ENDED AND MEN UNSAVED; #706, Volume
12–FIELDS WHITE FOR HARVEST; #880, Volume 15– THE FORMER AND THE
LATTER RAIN and #3058, Volume 53–THE JOY OF HARVEST.]
THE other day I was one of a glad company who kept the feast with great
rejoicing, and together we shouted, "Harvest Home." It was a deep
delight to see the rich and poor rejoicing together–and when the
cheerful meal was ended, I was greatly glad to turn one of the tables
into a temporary pulpit–and in the fine large barn be privileged to
preach to an earnest, eager audience, the glorious Gospel of the
ever-blessed God!
My heart was truly merry, in harmony with the happy occasion, and I
shall now try to keep in the same key and talk to you a little upon the
joy in harvest.
Londoners, and other city dwellers are apt to forget that it is harvest
time, or to forget to render special praise to God for it. Living in
these great deserts of dingy bricks we scarcely know what an ear of
corn is like, except as we see it dried and white in the window of a
corn-dealer's shop. Yet let us all remember that there is such a season
as harvest when, by God's goodness, the fruits of the earth are
gathered in for the food of man.
We begin to study our theme by seeing–I. WHAT THE JOY OF HARVEST IS
which is here taken as the simile of the joy of the saints before God.
I am afraid that to the more selfish order of spirits, the joy of
harvest is simply, or chiefly, that of personal gratification at the
increase of wealth. Sometimes the farmer only rejoices because he sees
the reward of his toils and is so much the richer man. I hope that with
many there mingles the second cause of joy, namely, sincere gratitude
to God that an abundant harvest will give bread to the poor and remove
complaining from our streets. There is a lawful joy in harvest, no
doubt, to the man who is enriched by it, for any man who works hard has
a right to rejoice when, at last, he gains his desire and reward. It
would be well, too, if men would always recollect that their last and
greatest harvest will be to them according to their labor. He that sows
to the flesh will of the flesh reap corruption–and only the man that
sows to the spirit will of the spirit reap everlasting life. Many a
young man commences life by sowing what he calls his wild oats, which
he had better never have sown, for they will bring him a terrible
harvest! He expects that from these wild oats he will gather a harvest
of true pleasure, but it cannot be–the truest pleasures of life spring
from the good seed of righteousness–not from the hemlock of sin! As a
man who sows thistles in his furrows must not expect to reap the golden
sheaves of wheat, so he who follows the ways of vice must not expect
happiness. On the contrary, if he sows the wind of evil-doing, he will
reap the whirlwind of remorse and everlasting despair! When a sinner
feels the pangs of conscience, he may well say, "This is what I sowed."
When at last he shall receive the full retribution for his sin, he will
be able to blame no one but himself! Seeing he sowed tares, there was
nothing to be reaped but tares. But, on the other hand, the Christian,
though his salvation is not of works, but of Grace, will have a
gracious and glorious reward given to him by his Master. Even though
sowing in tears, he shall reap in joy. Having put his talents entrusted
to him to use, out to good trading, or at least to interest, he shall
share his Master's joy and hear with delight his Master welcome and
repay with His, "Well done, good and faithful servant." The joy in
harvest rightly consists in part in the reward of earnest labor–may
such be the joy we find in serving our Lord!
The joy in harvest has another element in it, namely, that of gratitude
to God for favors bestowed.
We are singularly dependent on God–far more so than most of us imagine
or remember. When the people of Israel were in the wilderness, they
went forth every morning and gathered the manna. This taught them that
God gave them their daily bread. Now, our manna does not come to us
every morning, but it comes once a year and is preparing all the time.
Behind the baker's cart with its daily call is the miller. Behind the
miller is the farmer and behind the farmer is God who makes the earth
to yield her fruits and to multiply them for the sustaining of the
whole race of men! Our supply is as much a Divine gift as if it lay
like a hoar-frost around the camp. If we went out into the field and
gathered food which dropped down directly from the skies, we would
think it a great miracle to admire and wonder at–but is it not quite
as great a marvel that our bread should come up from the earth as that
it should come down from the sky? The one God who bade the heavens let
fall the angels' food in the wilderness bids the dull earth, in its due
season, yield the corn for the millions of mankind! Therefore, whenever
that harvest comes, let us be grateful to God and let us not allow the
season to pass without Psalms and songs of thanksgiving! I believe it
is correct to say that there is never in the world, as a rule, more
than sixteen months' supply of food–that is to say, when the harvest
has been gathered in, there may be sixteen months' future supply–but
at the time of harvest beginning there is not usually enough wheat in
the whole world to last the population more than four or five months.
So that if the harvest did not come, we would be on the verge of
famine. We still live from hand to mouth. Let us pause and bless our
God and let the joy of harvest be the joy of gratitude!
To the Christian it should be great joy, by means of the harvest, to
receive an assurance of God's faithfulness. The Lord has promised that
seedtime and harvest, summer and winter, shall never cease. And when
you see the loaded wagon carrying in the crop you may say to yourself,
"God is true to His promise. Despite the dreary winter and the damp
spring, autumn has come with its golden grain." What a strong comfort
is this! Depend upon it, that as the Lord keeps this promise, He will
keep all the rest! All His promises are, "yes and amen in Christ
Jesus." If He keeps His Covenant with the earth, much more will He keep
His Covenant with His own people whom He has loved with an everlasting
love! Go, Christian, to the Mercy Seat with the promise on your lips
and plead it! Be assured it is not–it cannot be–a dead letter! Let
not unbelief cause you to stammer when you mention the praise before
the Throne of God, but say it boldly– "Fulfill this Word unto Your
servant on which You have caused me to hope." Shame upon us that we so
little believe our God! The world is full of proofs of His goodness.
Every rising sun, every falling shower, every revolving season
certifies His faithfulness. Why do we doubt Him? If we never doubt Him
till we have cause for it, we shall never know distrust again!
Encouraged by the return of harvest, let us resolve in the strength of
the Spirit of God that we will not waver, but will believe in the
Divine Word and rejoice in it!
Once more. To the Christian, in the joy in harvest there must always be
the joy of expectation.
As to the farmer there is an assured harvest for which he waits
patiently and persistently, so there is a glorious spiritual harvest
for all who wait and faithfully long and look for the coming and the
appearing of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ!
The mature Christian, like the ripe ear of corn, hangs down his head
with holy humility. When he was but green and immature in the things of
God, he stood boldly erect and was somewhat boastful. But now that he
has mellowed and ripened and become full of the blessing of the Lord,
he is humbled, thereby, and bows himself down. He is waiting for the
sickle and he dreads it not, for no common reaper shall come to gather
Christ's people to Him but He, Himself, shall reap the harvest of the
world! The Lord leaves the destroying angel to reap the vintage and
cast it into the wine-vat to be trodden with vengeance! But as for the
grain which He, Himself, has sown, He will gather it Himself with His
own golden sickle! We are looking for this. We are growing among the
tares and sometimes we are half-afraid lest the tares should be
stronger than ourselves and choke the wheat–but the separation will
come, by-and-by, and when the corn is well winnowed and stored in the
garner, we shall be gathered there. It is this expectation which even
now makes our hearts throb with joy! We have in the past, too, gone to
the grave with precious sheaves that belonged to our Master and when we
were there, we thought we could almost say, "Lord, if they sleep they
shall do well. Let us die with them." Our joy in harvest is the hope of
being at rest with all the saints and forever with the Lord! A view
even of the shadowy harvests upon earth should make us exceedingly glad
because they are the image and foreshadowing of the eternal harvest
above! So much about the joy in harvest. I hasten onward.
II. Let us continue our theme by looking now at WHAT JOYS THEY ARE
WHICH TO THE BELIEVER ARE AS THE JOY IN HARVEST. It is the joy in
harvest. It is a common notion, a popular delusion, that Christians are
an un-
happy people. It is true that we are tried, but it is false that we are
miserable! With all their trials, Believers have such a compensation in
the love of Christ that they are still a blessed generation and it may
be said of them, "Happy are you, O
Israel."
One of the first seasons. One of the blessed occasions in which we knew
a joy equal to the joy in harvest–a season which has continued with us
ever since it commenced–was when we found the Saviorand so obtained
salvation. Brothers and Sisters, each of you can recollect for
yourselves the time of the plowing of your souls. I give my witness. My
heart was fallow and covered with weeds, but on a certain day the great
Farmer came and began to plow my soul. Ten black horses were His team
and it was a sharp plow that He used–and the plow made deep furrows.
The Ten Commandments were these black horses and the Justice of God,
like a plow, tore my spirit. I was condemned, undone, destroyed, lost,
helpless, hopeless–I thought Hell was before me! Then there came a
cross-plowing which added to my distress, for when I went to hear the
Gospel, it did not comfort me–it made me wish I had a part in it–but
I feared that such a gift was out of the question! The choicest promise
of God seemed to frown at me and His threats seemed to thunder at me! I
prayed, but found no answer of peace. It was long with me thus. But
after the plowing, came the sowing. God who plowed the heart in mercy,
made it conscious that it needed the Gospel–and then the Gospel seed
was joyfully received! Do you not remember that auspicious day when at
last you began to have some hope? It was very little–like a green
blade that peeps up from the soil–you scarcely knew whether it was
grass or corn, whether it was presumption or true faith. It was a
little hope, but it grew very pleasantly. Alas, a frost of doubt
came–some snow of fears fell! Cold winds of despondency blew on you
and you said, "There can be no hope for me." But what a glorious day
was that when at last the wheat which God had sown ripened and you
could say, "I have looked unto Him and have been lightened! I have laid
my sins on Jesus, where God laid them of old, and they are taken away
and I am saved!" I remember well that day, and so, no doubt, do many of
you. O Sirs, no farmer ever shouted for joy as our hearts shouted when
a precious Christ was ours and we could grasp Him with full assurance
of salvation in Him! Many days have passed since then, but the joy of
it is still fresh with us. And, blessed be God, it is not only the joy
of the first day that we look back upon–it is the joy of every day
since then, more or less, for our joy no man takes from us–we are
still walking in Christ even as we received Him!
Even now all our hope on Him is stayed, all our help from Him we bring
and our joy and peace continue with us because they are based upon an
immovable Foundation! We rejoice in the Lord! Yes, and we will rejoice!
The joy in harvest generally shows itself by the farmer giving a feast
for his friends and neighbors. And usually those who find Christ
express their joy by telling their friends and their neighbors what
great things the Lord has done for them. The Grace of God is
communicative! A man cannot be saved and always hold His tongue about
it–as well look for dumb choirs in Heaven, as for a silent Church on
earth! If a man has been thirsty and has come to the Living Water, the
river of this Water of Life–his first, best impulse will be to cry,
"Ho! Everyone that thirsts!" Have you felt that joy in harvest? The joy
that makes you wish that others could share it with you? If so, I
entreat you, do not repress the gracious impulse to proclaim your
happiness! Speak of Christ to brothers and sisters, to friends and
kinsfolk! And if the language is stammering, the message in itself is
so important that the words in which you utter it will be quite a
secondary matter. Tell it, tell it out far and wide that there is a
Savior! That you have found Him and that His blood can wash away
transgression! Tell it everywhere and so the joy in harvest shall
spread over land and sea and the name of our God shall be glorified!
We have yet another joy which is like the joy in harvest. It is the joy
of answered prayer.
I hope we all know what it is to pray in faith. Some prayers are not
worth the words used in offering them because there is no faith mixed
with them. "With all your sacrifice you shall offer salt," and the salt
of faith is necessary if we would have any of our sacrifices accepted.
Those who are familiar with the Mercy Seat know that prayer is a
reality and that the Doctrine of Divine Answers to Prayer is no
fiction! Sometimes God will delay to answer for wise reasons–then His
children must cry and cry, and cry again. They are in the condition of
the farmers who must wait for the precious fruits of the earth–and
when at last the answer to prayer comes, they are then in the farmer's
position when he receives the harvest. Remember Hannah's wail and
Hannah's prayer? In the bitterness of her soul she cried to God, and
when her child was given to her she called it, "Samuel," meaning,
"Asked of God" for, she said, "For this child I prayed." He was a very
dear child to her because he was a child of prayer. Any mercy that
comes to you in answer to prayer will be your Samuel mercy, your
darling mercy! You will say of it, "For this mercy I prayed," and it
will bring the joy of harvest to your spirit. If the Lord desires to
surprise some of His children, He has only to answer their prayers, for
they would be astonished if an answer came to their petitions! I know
how they speak about answer to prayer. They say, "How remarkable! How
wonderful!" as if it were remarkable that God should be honest and that
the Most High should keep His promise! May we not so dishonor Him by
our doubt! Oh, for more faith to rest upon His Word and we would have
more of these harvest joys!
We have another joy in harvest in ourselves when we conquer a
temptation. We know what it is, sometimes, to get under a cloud–sin
within us rises with a darkening force, or an external adversity
beclouds us–and we miss the plain path in which we were accustomed to
walk. A child of God at such times will cry mightily for help, for he
is fearful of himself and of his surroundings. Some of God's people
have been by the week and month together exposed to the double
temptation, from outside and from within, and have cried to God in
bitter anguish.
It has been a very hard struggle. The sinful action has been painted in
very fascinating colors and the siren voice of temptation has almost
enchanted them. But when at last, to change the figure, they have come
through the Valley of the Shadow of Death without having slipped–when,
after all, they have not been destroyed by Apollyon, but have come
forth again into the clear morning light–they know an unspeakable joy
compared with which the joy in harvest is mere childish merriment!
Those know deep joy who have felt bitter sorrows. As the man feels that
he is the stronger for the conflict. As he feels that he has gathered
experience and stronger faith from having passed through the trial, he
lifts up his heart and rejoices, not in himself, but before his God
with the joy in harvest! Brothers and Sisters, Beloved, you know what
that means!
Again, there is such a thing as the joy in harvest when we have been
made useful in God's service. The master-passion of every Christian
should be to be useful in the Master's Kingdom. There should be a
burning zeal within us for the Glory of God. When this is so and the
Christian desiring to be used has laid his plans and set about his
work, he begins to look for the results–but it may be weeks, or years,
before he is privileged to see them.
The true worker is not to be blamed that as yet there are no fruits,
but he is to be blamed if he is content to always be without fruits. A
preacher may preach without seeing conversions flow and who shall blame
him? But if he is happy, or even content, notwithstanding this, who
will justify him? It is ours to break our own hearts if we cannot, by
God's Grace, break other men's hearts! If others will not weep for
their sins, it should be our constant habit to weep for them. When the
heart becomes earnest, warm, zealous–God usually gives a measure of
success–some fifty-fold, some a hundred-fold. When the success comes,
it is the joy in harvest, indeed! I cannot help being egotistical
enough to mention the joy I felt when first I heard that a soul had
found peace through my youthful ministry. I had been preaching in a
village some few Sabbaths with an increasing congregation, but I had
not heard of a conversion. And I thought, "Perhaps I am not called of
God. He does not mean me to preach, for if He did, He would give me
spiritual children." One Sabbath my good deacon said, "Don't be
discouraged. A poor woman was savingly impressed last Sabbath." How
long do you suppose it was before I saw that woman? It was just as long
as it took me to reach her cottage! I was eager to hear from her own
lips whether it was a work of God's Grace or not. I always looked upon
her with interest, though only a poor laborer's wife, till she was
taken away to Heaven, after having lived a holy life. Many since then
have I rejoiced over in the Lord, but that first seal to my ministry
was peculiarly dear to me. It gave me a sip of the joy of harvest! If
somebody had left me a fortune, it would not have caused me one
hundredth part of the delight I had in discovering that a soul had been
led to the Savior! I am sure Christian people who have not known this
joy have missed one of the choicest delights that a Believer can know
this side of Heaven. In fact, when I see souls saved, I do not envy
Gabriel his throne, nor the angels their harps. It will be our Heaven
here to be out of Heaven for a season if we can but thereby bring
others to know the Savior and so add fresh jewels to our Redeemer's
crown!
I will mention yet another delight which is to us as the joy in
harvest, and that is, feelowship width our Lord Jesus Christ. This is
not so much a subject for speech as for musing–for deep experience and
real enjoyment. If we attempt to speak of what communion with Christ
is, we cannot but fall short of declaring it. Solomon, the wisest of
men, when inspired to write of the fellowship of the Church with her
Lord, was compelled to write in allegories and emblems. And though to
the spiritual mind the Song of Songs is always a source of holy
delight, yet to the carnal mind and to the formal Christian, it seems a
mere love song. The natural man discerns not the things that are of
God, for they are spiritual and can only be spiritually seen and known.
But oh, the bliss of knowing that Christ is yours and of entering into
nearness of communion with Him! To thrust your hands into His side and
your finger into the print of the nails–these are
not everyday joys! But when such near and dear communing come to us on
our high days and holy days, they make our souls like the chariots of
Amminadib, or, if you will, they cause us to tread the world beneath
our feet–and all that the world calls good or great! Our condition
matters little or nothing to us if Christ is with us! He is our God,
our Comfort, and our All–and we rejoice before Him as with "the joy in
harvest." I have no time to enlarge further, for I want to close with
one other intensely practical word. It is this–
III. SHALL WE NOT DESIRE MORE AND MORE THIS "JOY IN HARVEST?" Many of
God's people are just now anxiously desiring a harvest which would
bring to us an intense delight. Of late, divers persons have
communicated to me in many ways the strong emotion they feel of deep
pity for the souls of men. Others of us have felt a mysterious impulse
to pray more than we ever have and to be more anxious than we ever
were, that Christ would save poor perishing sinners. We shall not be
satisfied until there is a thorough awakening in this land! We did not
raise the feeling in our own minds, but we do not desire to repress it!
We do not believe it can be repressed! And others will feel, too, the
same heavenly affection and will sigh and cry to God day and night
until the blessing comes! This is the sowing, this is the plowing, this
is the harrowing–may it go on to harvesting! I long to hear my
Brothers and Sisters universally saying, "We are full of anguish! We
are in agony till souls are saved." The cry of Rachel, "Give me
children, or I die," is the cry of your minister this day–and the
longing of thousands more besides! As that desire grows in intensity, a
revival is surely approaching! We must have spiritual children born to
Christ, or our hearts will break for the longing that we have for their
salvation! Oh, for more of these longings, yearnings, cravings,
travailing! If we plead till the harvest of revival comes, we shall
partake in the joy of it!
Who will have the most joy? Those who have been the most concerned
about it! You who do not pray in private, nor come out to Prayer
Meetings will not have the joy when the blessing comes and the Church
is increased. You had no share in the sowing, therefore you will have
little share in the reaping. You who never speak to others about their
souls, who take no share in Sunday school or mission work, but simply
eat the fat and drink the sweet shall have none of the joy in harvest,
for you do not put your hands to the work of the Lord! And who would
wish that idlers should be happy? Rather in our zeal and jealousy we
feel inclined to say "Curse you, Meroz! Curse you bitterly, the
inhabitants thereof, because they came not up to the help of the Lord,
to the help of the Lord against the mighty."
If you come to the help of the Lord by His own Divine Spirit, you shall
share in the joy in harvest. Perhaps none will have more of that joy
than those who shall have the privilege of seeing their own dear ones
brought to God. Some of you have children who are a trial to you
whenever you think of them–let them be such a trial to you that they
drive you to incessant prayer for them! And if the blessing comes, why
would it not drop on them?
If a revival comes, why should not your daughter be converted? And that
wild boy of yours be brought in? Or even your gray-headed father who
has been unbelieving and skeptical–why should not the Grace of God
come to him? And oh, what a joy in harvest you will have then! What
bliss will thrill through your spirit when you see those who are yours
by ties of blood united to Christ your Lord!
Pray much for them with earnest faith and you shall yet have the joy in
harvest in your own house–a shout of "harvest home" in your own
family!
But possibly you, my Hearer, have not much to do with such joy, for you
are, yourself, unsaved. Yet it is a grand thing for an unconverted
person to be under a ministry that God blesses and with a people that
constantly pray for conversions.
It is a happy thing for you, young man, to have a Christian mother! It
is a great gift for you, O unconverted woman, that you have a godly
sister! These make us hopeful for you. While your relations are
prayerful, we are hopeful for you. May the Lord Jesus be yet yours.
But, ah, if you remain unbelieving, however rich a blessing comes to
others, it will leave you none the better for it! "If you are willing
and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land." But there are some
who may cry in piteous accents, "The harvest is past, the summer is
ended, and we are not saved!" It has been remarked that those who pass
through a season of revival and remain unconverted are more hardened
and unimpressed than before. I believe it to be so and I therefore pray
the Divine Spirit to come with such energy that none of you may escape
His power! May you be led to pray–
"Pass me not, O mighty Spirit! You can make the blind to see.
Witness of Jesus'merit, Speak the word of power to me. Even me!
Have I long in an been sleeping, Long been slighting, grieving Thee?
Has the world my heart been keeping? Oh forgive and rescue me! Even
me."
Oh, for earnest, importunate prayer from all Believers throughout the
world! If our Churches could be stirred up to incessant vehement crying
to God, so as to give Him no rest till He makes Zion a praise in the
earth, we might expect to see God's Kingdom come and the power of Satan
fall! As many of you as love Christ, I charge you by His dear name to
be much in prayer! As many of you as love the Church of God and desire
her prosperity, I beseech you to keep not back in this time of
supplication! The Lord grant that you may be led to plead till the
harvest joy is granted!
Do you remember my saying one Sabbath, "The Lord deal so with you as
you deal with His work this month"? I feel as if it will be so with
many of you–that the Lord will deal so with you as you shall deal with
His Church. If you scatter little, you shall have little! If you pray
little, you shall have little favor. But if you have zeal and faith and
plead much and work much for the Lord–good measure shaken together,
pressed down and running over–shall the Lord return into your own
hearts and lives! If you water others with trickling drops, you shall
receive only drops in return. But if the Spirit helps you to pour out
rivers of Living Water, then floods of heavenly Grace shall flood in
your spirit!
God bring in the unconverted and lead them to a simple trust in
Jesus–then shall they,also, know the joy in harvest! We ask it for His
name's sake. Amen!
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: ISAIAH9:1-7.
The last verses of the 8th Chapter picture a horrible state of
wretchedness and despair–"And they shall pass through it, hard-pressed
and hungry: and it shall come to pass that when they shall be hungry,
they shall fret themselves and curse their king and their God, and look
upward. And they shall look unto the earth and behold trouble and
darkness, gloom of anguish, and they shall be driven to darkness." But
see what a change awaits them!
Verse 1. Nevertheless the gloom shall not be such as was in her
vexation when at the first He lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and
the land of Naphtali. And afterward did more grievously afflict her by
the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nation. Read the
fine translation of the Revised Version–"But there shall be no gloom
to her that was in anguish." What a marvelous light from the midst of a
dreadful darkness! It is an astounding change, such as only God with us
could work. Many of you know nothing about the miseries described in
those verses, but there are some who have traversed that terrible
wilderness–and I am going to speak to them. I know where you are. You
are being driven as captives into the land of despair. And for the last
few months you have been tramping along a painful road, "hard-pressed
and hungry." You are sorely put to it and your soul finds no food of
comfort, but is ready to faint and die. You fret yourself. Your heart
is wearing away with care, grief and hopelessness. In the bitterness of
your soul you are ready to curse the day of your birth! The captive
Israelites cursed their king who had led them into their defeat and
bondage. In the fury of their agony, they even cursed God and longed to
die! It may be that your heart is in such a ferment of grief that you
know not what you think, but are like a man at his wit's end.
For such as you there shines this star of the first magnitude–Jesus
has appeared to save and He is God and Man in one Person–Man that He
may feel our woes, God that He may help us out of them! No minister can
save you, no priest can save you–you know this right well. But here is
One who is able to save to the uttermost, for He is God as well as Man!
The great God is good at a dead lift! When everything else has failed,
the lever of Omnipotence can lift a world of sin! Jesus is almighty to
save! That which in itself is impossibility, is possible with God. Sin
which nothing else can remove is blotted out by the blood of Immanuel!
Immanuel, our Savior, is God With Us–and God With Us means difficulty
removed and a perfect work accomplished!
2. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they
that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them has the light
shined. Jesus came to Galilee of the Gentiles and made that country
glorious, which had been brought into contempt. That corner of
Palestine had very often borne the brunt of invasion and had felt more
than any other region the edge of the keen Assyrian sword. They were at
first troubled when the Assyrian was bought off with a thousand talents
of silver, but they were more heavily afflicted when Tilgath-Pilneser
carried them all away to Assyria, for which see the 15th Chapter of the
Second Book of the Kings. It was a wretched land, with a mixed
population, despised by the purer race of Jews–but that very country
became glorious with the Presence of the Incarnate God! Even so, at
this day His gracious Presence is the dawn of our joy!
3. You have multiplied the nation, and not increased the joy: they joy
before You according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when
they divide the spoil.The Revised Version reads, "You have increased
their joy." If Christ comes to you, my dear Hearer, as God With Us,
then shall your joy be great, for you shall joy as with the joy of
harvest, and as those rejoice that divide the spoil! Is it not so? Many
of us can bear our witness that there is no joy like that which Jesus
brings!
4. For You ha ve broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his
shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian. Your enemy
shall be defeated, "as in the day of Midian." Gideon was, in his dream,
likened to a barley cake which struck the tent of Midian, so that it
lay along. He and his few heroes, with their pitchers and their
trumpets, stood and shouted, "The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!" and
Midian melted away before them. So shall it be with our sins, doubts
and fears if we believe in Jesus, the Incarnate God–they shall vanish
like the mists of the morning! The Lord Jesus will break the yoke of
our burden and the rod of our oppressor, as in the day of Midian! Be of
good courage, you that are in bondage to fierce sad cruel
adversaries–for in the name of Jesus, who is God With Us–you shall
destroy them!
5. For every warrior's sandal from the noisy battle, and garments
rolled in blood will be used for burning and fuel of fire.When Jesus
comes, you shall have eternal peace, for His battle is the end of
battles. "All the armor of the armed man in the tumult, and the
garments rolled in blood, shall even be for burning, for fuel of fire."
This is the rendering of the Revision and it is good. The Prince of
Peace wars against war and destroys it. What a glorious day is that in
which the Lord breaks the bow and cuts the spear in sunder, and burns
the chariot in the fire! I think I see it now. My sins, which were the
weapons of my foes, the Lord pile in heaps. What mountains of prey! But
look! He brings the fire-brand of His love from the altar of His
Sacrifice and He sets fire to the gigantic pile! Look how they blaze!
They are utterly consumed forever!
6. For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given: and the
government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called
Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The
Prince of Peace. Now is it that the Lord Jesus becomes glorious in our
eyes! And He whose name is Immanuel is now crowned in our heart with
many crowns and honored with many titles. What a list of glories we
have here! What a burst of song it makes when we sing of the
Messiah–"His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty
God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace!" Each work sounds
like a salvo of artillery. It is all very well to hear players on
instruments and sweet singers rehearse these words–but to believethem
and realize them in your own soul is far better! When every fear, every
hope and every power and every passion of our nature fills the
orchestra of our heart–and all unite in one inward song unto the
glorious Immanuel–what music it is!
7. Ofthe increase of His government andpeace there shall be no end,
upon the throne ofDavid, and upon His Kingdom, to order it, and to
establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even
forever. The zeal ofthe LORD of Hosts will perform this. If Christ is
your Savior He must be your King–
"But know, nor ofthe terms complain,
Where Jesus comes He comes to reign!
To reign, and with no partial sway–
Lusts must be slain that disobey." The moment we really believe in
Jesus as our Salvation, we fall before Him and call Him Master and
Lord. We serve when He saves. He has redeemed us unto Himself and we
acknowledge that we are His. A generous man once bought a slave girl.
She was put upon the brook for auction and he pitied her and purchased
her. But when he had bought her, he said to her, "I have bought you to
set you free. Here are your papers, you are a free woman." The grateful
creature fell at his
feet and cried, "I will never leave you! If you have made me free, I
will be your servant as long as you live and serve you better than any
slave could do." This is how we feel towards Jesus. He sets us free
from the dominion of Satan and then, as we need a Ruler, we say, "And
the government shall be upon His shoulder." We are glad to be ruled by
"Immanuel, God With Us." This also is a door of hope to us! That Jesus
shall be the monarch of our hearts is our exceeding joy. To us He shall
always be "Wonderful." When we think of Him, or speak about Him, it
shall be with reverent awe. When we need advice and comfort, we will
fly to Him, for He shall be our Counselor. When we need strength, we
will look to Him as our Mighty God. Born-again by His Spirit, we will
be His children and He shall be The Everlasting Father! Full of joy and
rest, we will call Him Prince of Peace!
Are you willing to have Christ to govern you? Will you spend your lives
in praising Him? You are willing to have Christ to pardon you, but we
cannot divide Him and, therefore, you must also have Him to sanctify
you! You must not take the crown from His head, but accept Him as the
Monarch of your soul! If you would have His hand to help you, you must
obey the scepter which it grasps. Blessed Immanuel, we are right glad
to obey You! In You our darkness ends, and from the shadow of death we
rise to the Light of Life! It is salvation to be obedient to You. It is
the end of gloom to her who was in anguish to bow herself before You!
May God the Holy Spirit take of the things of Christ and show them unto
us, and then we shall all cry–
"Go worship at Immnanuel's feet!
See in His face what wonders meet!
Earth is too narrow to express
His worth, His Grace, His righteousness!"