IV.

HEAVEN'S GREATEST BOUNTY, AND THE SINNER'S

RICHEST BANQUET.

ISAIAH XXV. 6.

"And in this mountain shall the Lord of Hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined."

"In this mountain;" the mountain is Zion, or the gospel church consisting of elected persons; “God hath chosen Zion." Zion is the mother church under the New Testament, and her offspring are often called the daughters of Zion, and both are redeemed by the blood of Christ. "Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness." To these the Saviour was sent. Say ye to the daughters of Zion, "Behold, thy King cometh unto thee; he is just and having salvation, lowly, and riding upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass." From this chosen race the Saviour, according to the flesh, sprung. Mary was a chosen vessel; and of Zion it shall be said that he was born in her, and here God made the horn of David to bud,

On mount Calvary Christ was offered, and in the hearts of God's people Christ crucified is revealed. "Behold, I lay for a foundation in Zion

a stone, a precious stone, a sure foundation; he that believeth shall not make haste;" he shall never hasten after another foundation, nor shall he ever be confounded or put to flight before his enemies who trust in this. "I have set my King upon my holy hill of Zion." This hill is the heart and affections of God's people. "The Kingdom of God is within you," saith Christ; and so is the King also. "Believe," saith the Lord, "that I am in you, and you in me." He dwells in the heart by faith.

But who sets him here?" I," saith God, "have set my King upon my holy hill." "God revealed his Son in me," saith Paul; he opens the door of faith to us, and opens our hearts to receive our King, and circumcises them to love him; and he that loveth abideth in God, and God in him: such kiss the son, acknowledge the heir apparent, embrace him as their rightful sovereign, complain of other lords having had dominion over them, and promise loyalty and fidelity to him.

"As well the singers as the players on instruments shall be there." Local Zion had in her worship much instrumental music; the organ, pipe, harp, and viol, were in their feasts. But the melody of gospel Zion is to be vocal, which succeeded the instrumental; "as well the singers as the players on instruments shall be there' These singers are to sing his praises with understanding, making melody with grace in the heart to the Lord. Isaiah, in the spirit of prophecy, heard

these songs among the Gentiles in his day, and bewailed the starving condition of the Jewish nation at their rejection of Christ, and at his departure from them. "From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs, even glory to the righteous; but I said, My leanness, my leanness, wo unto me." This is Zion, and all God's springs are in her.

In this mountain the Lord of Hosts, the God of armies, will make unto all people, to the Gentiles as well as to the Jews, the middle wall of partition being broken down, and the gospel of Christ being preached to the Gentiles: the feast is to be made to all people; and it is to be a feast of fat things. The allusion is to the sacrifices which were offered under the law, which were many, and all of which were types of Christ. We read of burnt-offerings, which pointed out Jesus Christ enduring the flames of divine wrath for us; and of sin offerings, shewing that he should make his soul an offering for sin; of free-will offerings, which pointed out his willingness to suffer; "I lay down my life of myself, and I take it again;" and of peace offerings; he made peace for us by the blood of his cross. These sacrifices were to be of young, tender, fat, and good cattle, not corrupt things, which pointed out the youth, the spotless holiness, and perfect purity, of the Saviour, who was a lamb without blemish, and without spot.

In allusion to these sacrifices, wisdom is repre

sented as killing her beasts, mingling her wine, furnishing her table, and sending out her maidens to invite the guests. Wisdom is a name of Christ; the beasts are the fatted calf and the lamb of God; the table, ministers' hearts furnished with Christ; the maidens, preachers who are espoused, and presented as chaste virgins to Christ, inviting and bringing in the poor, the halt, the lame, and the blind, that the house may be filled with guests.

The Lord of Hosts makes this feast. "A certain man," says Christ, "made a great feast, and bid many." It is a feast of fat things, Go, says the Saviour, and tell them "my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready, come unto the marriage." And, "Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb."

But it is a feast of fat things. Fat things? Yes. These are what no priest under the law was allowed to eat; no, not even the high priest himself. The priests under the law had the hide or skin, and of some offerings they had the heave-shoulder and wave-breast, and of other offerings more; but neither high priest, nor inferior priests, no, nor the person that offered, nor any of the guests that were invited, were ever to have or eat the fat, the fat was the Lord's portion: All the fat is the Lord's, but ye shall eat neither fat nor blood, Lev. iii. 16, 17. "Whosoever eateth of the fat of the beasts, of which men offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord, even the soul that eateth it shall be cut off from his people," Hence the charge,

"Let them not fail to burn the fat." The fat was the Lord's, it was the most delicate and rich, and was to burn upon the altar as a sweet smelling savour; and as a sweet smelling savour Christ offered himself for us. It is in allusion to the fat of these sacrifices, that the feast in my text is called a feast of fat things.

Various were the distributions observed about the sacrifices under the law; some priests had the head and skin; others had the shoulder and breast; others all the flesh that the fork or flesh-hook brought up out of the pot or cauldron. The priests wife and children might eat of the holy things; the person that offered, and the guests that he invited, eat of other parts. So to Hannah, and to Peninnah, Elkanah gave a worthy portion of the yearly sacrifices, but the Lord of Hosts had the fat of them all; hence we may see that under that dispensation none kindled a fire, or shut God's doors for nought. And as it was with the type, so it is with the antitype: Some get the head of christianity, I mean head notions; some the skin, I mean the wolf that puts on the sheep's clothing; thousands and tens of thousands have got a good living by calling themselves his ministers, as the blind watchmen did in Isaiah's days, though they knew not Christ, nor cared at all for him. All kings get their thrones, and princes get principalities, from him; judges also get their courts from him, for all these come by Jesus Christ. "By me kings reign, and princes decree justice; by me princes rule, and