able cold, and a garden without water is a mere desert of sand. Then shall the strong, the mighty, and the unjust ruler become tow, and his idols, the work of his hands, a spark; they shall both burn together, and no man shall quench them.-Strachey. (7) The interpretation of verse 31 on which the above outline is based is that of Calvin and the earlier Protestant commentators. That which in modern days has been almost universally adopted, is given in the preceding extract from Strachey, and the homiletic use to which it may be put is indicated in the next outline: "The tow and the spark." We are persuaded, however, that the earlier interpretation is that which is most in harmony with the scope of the whole passage. All the ancient versions treat as an abstract, meaning strength, and Dr. Alexander admits that "this agrees well with its form, resembling that of an infinitive or verbal noun." Latterly it has become the fashion to translate it "strong man," but the harmony of the whole passage is best maintained by rendering it "their strength," that is, that which the idolaters have regarded as their "strength," the deity in whose protection they have trusted. (8) O sirs! do wicked men purchase their present pleasures at so dear a rate as eternal torments, and do we envy their enjoyment of them so short a time? Would any envy a man going to execution because he saw him in a prison nobly feasted, and nobly attended, and bravely courted? or because he saw him go up the ladder with a gold chain about his neck, and a scarlet gown upon his back? or because he saw him walk to execution through pleasant fields. or delightsome gardens? or because there went before him drums beating, colours flying, and trumpets sounding &c. Surely no! Oh, no should we envy the grandeur of the men of the world, for every step they take is but a step to an eternal execution.-Brooks, 1628-1680. more What reason have we to envy the wicked in their riches and prosperity? If a man be standing firmly on a river's bank, and sees another gliding gaily but inevitably down to a tremendous precipice below, shall he be envious of the pleasant sail that intervenes before the dread catastrophe? Shall be stand and envy him, and wish to exchange places with him? Oh no, but let him rather cry aloud, and warn him of his danger. Let him hasten to the rescue; throw out his arms with right good-will, and if it may be, save a soul from death.Nason. THE TOW AND THE SPARK. i. 31. And the strong shall be as tow, and the maker of it as a spark, and they shall both burn together, and none shall quench them. For the phrases "and the maker of it," the margin reads, " and his work." So Alexander and Henderson. This reading renders the passage intelligible in meaning and terrible in import. It then in simple, vivid manner sets forth the reciprocal influence of the sinner and his sin. The man in committing sin degrades and enfeebles himself, and then the sin he has committed reacts upon his degraded and enfeebled nature to kindle in it the fire of its corruption. It is worth observing that these terrible words of warning are not levelled (1) against low and vile people. The term "strong" precludes that opinion. They are spoken against those who have been, or are still, esteemed, exalted, and powerful,-presumably against the princes, the judges, the counsellors of the nation (vers. 2326). Nor are they spoken (2) against the avowedly irreligious. The people addressed performed a multitude of sacrifices (ver. 11), were punctilious in their attendance on the house of God, &c. (vers. 12-14), were full of apparent devotion (ver. 15). Nor (3) do they refer to the grosser forms of sin. These would of course come under the same condemnation. But spiritual sins, though more refined to our perception, are more fatal even than sensual sins. It is pre-eminently a spiritual sin in root, however sensual in fruit, that is here arrived at. It is all summed up in the one evil, "forsaking the Lord" (ver. 28). It is important to bear these considerations in mind if we would obtain personal and profitable application of these words. Consider I. The radical change sin works in the constitution of the sinner. Sin is lawlessness, an outbreak of self-will (1 John iii. 4). It is conscious wrongdoing (James iv. 17). And sin, the prophet says in effect, has a disintegrating, deteriorating, degrading in fluence upon the man's nature who yields to it. "The strong shall be as tow." Tow is the coarse, broken part of flax or hemp-waste, refuse. Used here in contrast to that which is strong. Used also as pattern of what is inflammable. 1. Sin lowers the tone and tenor of our nature. Man's nature is originally a very high nature. "A little lower than the angels" (Ps. viii. 5); a little lower than Divinity (see Alexander and Thrupp in loc.) Originally a king with all highest forms of existence grouped around his throne (Ps. viii. 6-8). He falls by sin. How low To level of beasts that perish? (Ps. xlix. 20). Lower than that (Isa. i. 3). To level of trees and shrubs? Lower than that. See, that heap of coarse and tangled refuse was a plant once, a living thing. Now it is cut down, dried, dead; choicest parts gone, wasted! "Tow"-that is the symbol of the sinful man. The height from which he has fallen measures the degradation incurred. To that which is by nature "tow," it is no degradation to be as 66 99 tow.' But for that which is "strong" to become as "tow" -for the highest of God's creations to become as the lowest-this is disgraceful, dreadful. 2. Sin, depraving and degrading the type and tenor of our nature, enfeebles our powers of resistance to the assaults of external evil. Sin is weakness as well as wickedness; weakness as the result of wickedness. The "strong" becomes as "tow," becomes weak. Hard to tell which is the worse to bear, the paroxysms of remorse, or the paralysis of power which the habit of sin engenders (a). To feel that when some "temptation comes and calmly states itself before us" we are helplessly a prey to it, is terrible indeed. The first sin of any kind greatly facilitates a second commission of the same (8); and every repetition increases that facility till the ease of doing it almost amounts to a practical inability to abstain from doing it (7). Sin gets dominion over us. Men are "sold under sin." 3. Sin imparts to us an increased susceptibility to evil-makes us more inflammable. And Satan's "fiery darts" striking, inflame us (8). Some counsellors advise young people to indulge in a certain measure of sin as a remedy for its enkindling impulses; they call it "sowing their wild oats." A figure is sometimes the best vail for a fact. One would think that "sowing" would of itself suggest reproduction and multiplied reproduction (Gal. vi. 7, 8) If you wish your nature to become hopelessly inflammable, utterly uncontrollable, give way to the indulgence of its hot impulses while you are young. II. The way in which the sinner and his sin co-operate for their common destruction. We all know the influence of coming into contact with the instruments, the companions, the locality even, of a former sin. They stir up in us the memories, the emotions, the impulse to the same transgression. So the sinner goes about the world setting new snares for his feet at every turn as he sins. The relation of sin to the sinner and to his sinful deed is like that of a lamp placed between two mirrors, which reflect and rereflect the light, till both the mirrors seem full of lamps. Sin is ever multiplying itself between the sinner and his sinful deed. And the issue is irremediable ruin. "They shall both burn together, and none shall quench them." And the moral is, that if we would keep out of hell, we must keep out of sin.-W. Roberts, B.A. (a) One of the affecting features in a life of vice is the longing, wistful outlooks given by the wretches who struggle with unbridled passions towards virtues which are no longer within their reach. Men in the tide of vice are sometimes like the poor creatures swept down the stream of mighty rivers, who see people safe on shore, and trees and flowers, as they go quickly past, and all things that are desirable gleam upon them a moment to heighten their trouble, and to aggravate their swift-coming destruction.-Beecher. (8) A brand that has been once in the fire easily catches the second time.-Flavel, 16301696. Every commission of sin imprints upon the soul further disposition and proneness to sin; as the second, third, and fourth degrees of heat are more easily introduced than the first. Every Drinking both quenches the present thirst and one is both a preparative and a step to the next. provokes it for the future. When the soul is Deaten from its first station, and the mounds and earthworks of virtue are once broken down, it becomes quite another thing from what it was before. In one single eating of the forbidden fruit, when the act is gone, yet the relish remains; and the remembrance of the first is an easy allurement to the second. One visit is enough to begin an acquaintance; and this point is gained by it, that when the visitant comes again, he is no more a stranger.—South, 1633-1716. (7) Sin is like the descent of a hill, where every step we take increases the difficulty of our return. Sin, in its habits, becomes stronger every day-the heart grows harder, the conscience grows duller, the distance between God and the soul grows greater, and like a rock hurled from a mountain's top, the further we descend we go down, and down, and down, with greater and greater rapidity.— Guthrie. (8) It is in our own bosom that the power of temptation is found. Temptation is but a spark; and if a spark fall upon ice, if it fall upon snow, if it fall upon water, what is the harm of a spark? But if it fall upon powder -the powder is yours, the spark only is the devil's-Beecher. The power of temptation is in proportion to the nature of the soul tempted. A thoughtless miner takes an uncovered light into the mine where there is but little gas, there is but a wavering and flickering of a transient flame,-hardly flame, indeed; but where there is an accumulation of gas, the uncovered light occasions an explosion which shivers the rocks and brings swift destruction upon all who are in the mine. In both cases it was the same mine, the same miner, but the condition of the air was different. So is it with the fiery darts of the wicked one; they are shot into all human hearts, and just in proportion to the materials, so to speak, which are to be found there, will be the success or failure of the enemy.-Dr Parker. ISAIAH'S VISION OF THE LAST DAYS. ii. 1-5. The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw, &c. 1. The marvellous power of the ancient prophets in giving embodiment and figure to the Word of God. It was a "word" that Isaiah saw; not that he heard, but that shaped itself before his vision, and made him glad, as if a new star had arisen to guide him. 2. Isaiah speaks with magnificent confidence as to the summing up of earthly dispensations. Casting his eye overall the uproar and tumults of intervening time, he sees a heavenly repose settling on the engagements and destinies of mankind. Herein is the peculiar power of the old prophets, viz., that they did not confine their attention within a brief and inadequate period, but projected their minds over historic spaces within which, so to speak, God had room to disclose somewhat of the proportions and significance of His plans. The whole year can never be judged from any one season. The prophets seemed to see things in their wholeness, and this made them calm in the midst of transitory confusion and distress. 3. The house of the Lord is to be exalted above all rivalry. The strength of the hills is to be a pedestal for the sanctuary. At the last right shall be uppermost, and holiness supreme. In the "last days" the house of the Lord shall exert a universal fascination; nation shall challenge nation to go up in holy and triumphant procession to the heights of Zion; and the voice of other allurements shall be lost in the infinite charm of the invitation. 4. Nor is this to be the indulgence of a mere sentiment; it will be the expression of a desire to be spiritually right, and thus to be spiritually secure: "He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths." Lawless sentiment is to have no place in spiritual discipline. We are not called to a high revel, but to a pure and tender obedience to an unchangeable law. 5. The house of the Lord is to be a centre of judgment and rebuke towards people who are living in impiety and political corruption. The consequence of this judgment, if properly received, will be the establishment and perpetuation of righteous peace. When the nations are right with God, they will be right with each other. Merely negative peace may be disturbed, but the peace which comes by righteousness will be its own guarantee of completeness and continuity. 6. All these blissful anticipations should constrain towards present obedience, and be fruitful of present joy. So the prophet thought when he exclaimed, O house of Jacob, come ye, &c. Those who have great prospects should even now show themselves to be the heirs of glory. Christian joy is not all future. Even now, though we have to complain of so much of cloud and storm, there is a light that is distinctively divine, and under its benign rays we ought to walk until the fuller glory is revealed.— Joseph Parker, D.D. THE LATTER-DAY GLORY. ii. 2-5. And it shall come to pass in the last days, &c. Theme: The Glory of the Latter Days. "The last days," when men shall no longer need to offer the prayer, "Thy kingdom come." The glory of the latter days will consist-I. In the exaltation of the Lord's house above all other institutions (ver. 2). Now the Exchange, the Senate, the University, &c., are the great "mountains" of society; then the sanctuary will be supreme. In other words, religion will be the ruling force in society, dominating and directing all the others. This is the truth set forth by the figure of the upraising of Mount Zion above all the other mountains, "so as to be visible in all directions." II. In universal submission to the authority of God (ver. 3). Not by the Jews only (as in Isaiah's time), but by "all nations" («), and not (as now) by some individuals merely, but by "all nations," will this authority be recog nised and obeyed. Sin will be the excep tion, righteousness the rule. And so, as a consequence of this-III. In universal peace among men (ver. 4) (8). All contentions necessarily cease when men know and do the will of God. James iii. 14-iv. 1. Love towards man always results from genuine love towards God. A contemplation of their glorious. future is calculated-1. To sustain us amid the sins and sorrows of our time. When we look at the condition of the world as it is, we are tempted to despair. But there is a better day to come. In the widening diffusion of Christian truth, and in the growing power of Christian principle, even now we may see at least streaks of light which tell that the dawn is near. 2. To animate us in our efforts to regenerate society. These efforts are not in vain, though they sometimes seem so. We are working in the line of victory (1 Cor. xv. 58). 3. The blessings of the future we can make our We own now. "O house of Jacob, come ye, (a) What words are these! What ideas! What radiances of glory and hope for the longafflicted Church! Nations abolishing war and crimes, to cultivate righteousness and peace! nations emerging from ignorance and idolatry, to join themselves to the Church, and to walk in the light of the Lord! How marvellous that words like these should proceed from the Hebrew prophets that men of the most confined education with regard to the Gentiles should thus lose the glory of Israel in the overflowing glory of the converted world! Can we ask for clearer proof that those holy men were purely the organs of the Holy Ghost, and transported in the spirit to publish the righteousness of God to every nation and language of the earth ?-Sutcliffe. I would urge the thoughtful consideration of these verses (2-9) on any one who is perplexed by the confident assertion of writers who prefer vague declamation to close investigation and reasoning, that the Hebrew prophets were actuated by a bitter hatred of foreigners. He will, I think, discover (from this and such like study) that they were possessed by views and hopes of a philanthropy which even our own times have not been able to extend they longed for fellowship with all men, under the only conditions in which fellowship is possible; they desired an universal communion of virtue, humanity, and goodness, and could not be content to have a general licence of vice, brutality, and wickedness instead; and they advocated what they saw, and what all history has proved, to be the only way of avoiding the one and securing the other. Strachey. (8) This verse shows that there will come a time when men shall have found out that they are men and not brutes, and when they shall settle matters, not by the force of their animal powers, but by the force of superior intelli gence.-James Wells. THE FUTURE TRIUMPHS OF THE GOSPEL. ii. 2. And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and all nations shall flow unto it. This poetic imagery delineates the final and universal prevalence of religion. Christianity is a temple majestic and conspicuous, and all nations crowd its courts in united adoration. There are many interesting indications that this prophecy is soon to be fulfilled, such as-I. The political aspect of the globe. The vast political changes that have taken place during the last four centuries in Europe, Asia, Africa, and America have all been favourable to the extension of Christianity. The area of Christian knowledge and influence has been steadily extending (a). II. The progress of civilisation and of the arts. A few years ago it required the painful labour of years to copy a Bible, and the wealth of a prince to purchase one now the art of printing scatters the Word of God like autumn leaves, and it is found in the humblest dwelling. Then none could read but the learned few; now knowledge is becoming like the sunlight, everywhere diffused. War has long been one of the greatest obstacles in the way of human improvement; now various causes are operating to render it less frequent, such as (1) the rapid extension of piety, carrying with it the principles of peace; (2) the extension of enlightened views of national policy; (3) the transference of power from kings and nobles to the people, the victims of war, who will become its powerful opponents; (4) the invention of terrible engines of destruction, which will tend to deter nations from plunging into war. Slavery, too, is rapidly disappearing from the earth. The wonderful facilities of intercommunication which now exist are weakening and effacing national prejudices. All these causes are hastening on the promised millennium. III. The present state of the sciences. This statement seems to be contradicted by the attitude of many students of science towards Christianity. But we must remember that all the sciences in their infancy have been arrayed as hostile to scriptural truth-astronomy, geology, physiology, chronology; but one by one each of these sciences, as it developed and attained maturity, has passed over to the side of Christianity, and has powerfully helped to build up what it feebly and impotently laboured to destroy. That which hath been is that which shall be. In science the cause of revealed truth will continue to find one of her most ready and efficient helpers. IV. The past achievements of Christianity foreshadow its eventful and perfect triumph. The hostility of earth has marshalled every possible power, in every possible combination, against Christianity-the persecution of political power, the arguments of philosophy, satire, learning, poetry, wealth -and all in vain. The past triumphs of the religion of Christ show that it possesses an inherent energy which must inevitably make it triumphan over the world. The mighty influence which swept away the gods of Greece. and Rome will not be baffled by the mud-idols of India. V. The triumphant advances Christianity is now making indicate its universal extension. Application.- What are you doing to hasten this certain and glorious triumph-J. S. C. Abbott, American National Preacher, xvii. 169-176. (a) All the might of the world is now on the side of Christianity. Those barbarous, inchoate powers which still cling to heathenism are already trembling before the advancing strides of the Christian nations; Christian just enough to rouse all their energies and to make them intensely ambitious, and on the alert to increase their own dominion, without having learned Christianity's highest lesson, the lesson of love. Even that heathenism which seems to have some power is only waiting for its time of decay. In vast, undisturbed forests, whose interlacing branches exclude the light, mois |