THE FATHER’S ELECT SERVANT (_Missionary Sermon._) Isaiah 42:1; Isaiah 42:4. _Behold My Servant, &c._ These words belong to one of the most impressive portions of the prophetic Scriptures, and unquestionably relate to the character and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. This might be argued with suffic... [ Continue Reading ]
THE SERVANT OF THE LORD Isaiah 42:1. _Behold My servant, &c._ It is difficult for us who have history, with all its definiteness, to realise the inestimable value of prophecy, notwithstanding its vagueness, to God’s ancient people. But try to put yourself in their place. It was very difficult for t... [ Continue Reading ]
THE ONENESS OF GOD IN REVELATION AND IN NATURE Isaiah 42:5. _Thus saith God the Lord, &c._ Isaiah 42:5 is a description of God; Isaiah 42:6, a declaration of His purposes. The sentiment is that the God of nature is the God also of redemption. Assuming the truth of the identity of the Author of na... [ Continue Reading ]
THE PHILOSOPHY OF PROMISE Isaiah 42:9. _Behold, the former things are come to pass, &c._ One may observe, in reading Scripture, the general principle that God usually gives a promise of that which He means to bestow. Before Christ came the Father was continually speaking of His coming. Love meets... [ Continue Reading ]
GOD’S TERRIBLENESS AND GENTLENESS Isaiah 42:14. _I will destroy and devour at once, &c._ The measure of greatness is the measure of terribleness; constructiveness is the beneficent side of destructiveness. The fire that warms will, if abused, reduce the palace to ashes; the river which gladdens the... [ Continue Reading ]
BLIND IN THE SUNLIGHT Isaiah 42:18. _Hear, ye deaf, and look, ye blind, &c._ Thus the Lord expostulates with His ancient people, and thus He has reason to expostulate with us. We succeed them, both in religious privileges and in the abuse of those privileges. Where does the light of the Gospel shin... [ Continue Reading ]
SIN A SPOILER Isaiah 42:22. _But this is a people robbed and spoiled_. When the unsuspecting traveller is waylaid, overcome by superior force and plundered; when a house is broken into and all its valuables carried off; when a country is overrun by hostile armies, devastated and pillaged, we cry ou... [ Continue Reading ]
THE SUBJECTION OF THE JEWS AN ADMONITION TO THE WORLD Isaiah 42:23. _Who among you will give ear to this? &c._ I. _The desolation brought upon the Jews_. Terrible. Sent upon them by God. Defeated after their rejection of the Messiah. It continues to this day. II. _The justice of the sentence that... [ Continue Reading ]