Wail, O gate! Cry out, O city! Melt away, all you Philistines! For a cloud of smoke comes from the north, and there are no stragglers in its ranks. Sermons
We have here - I. A TRUTH RESPECTING AN INDIVIDUAL DEATH; viz. that we may hope or may fear too much from the death of one man. Philistia was evidently inclined to hope too much from the death of a Jewish king; another was arising (Hezekiah) who would be to his predecessor what a cockatrice was to a serpent - a still more formidable enemy. (2 Kings 18:8). The wicked nation, or the unprincipled party, or the unscrupulous man that indulges a feeling of security because some strong opponent is dead may, probably will, find itself (himself) miserably disappointed. The resources of a righteous providence are not exhausted, though a very pillar of justice be fallen. Or, on the other hand, the righteous may fear too much from the death of a powerful friend. Will not the good cause perish now that the tongue of its most able advocate is silent in death? Christianity did not perish with the departure of Christ or with the death of the apostles. The Father of spirits will not let righteousness expire for want of righteous men, whom he can create and endow and send forth into the world. II. A TEST FOR THE COMMUNITY. IS the nation, is the Church, doing its work, fulfilling its Master's will concerning it? One good, if not faultless, test is found in the answer to the question - Is it carting for its humblest members? If nothing better can be said for the nation than that its monarch is living in magnificence, or that its rulers or nobles are possessed of great wealth and rejoicing in splendid luxury, then is that nation rapidly descending to ruin. If nothing better can be said for the Church than that its hierarchy is powerful or its ministers well sustained, then is that Church a long way from its Lord's ideal. It is when it can be said of the one that "the firstborn (the poorest) of the poor feed, and the needy lie down in safety" (ver. 30), and of the other that "the poor of the people trust in it," or "betake themselves unto it" (ver. 32), - it is then that the end of their existence is answered. The "community" exists for "the common people," and especially the Church exists for the "little ones," the poor, the needy, the unbefriended, the young, the dependent. III. THE SOLUTION OF PROSPERITY. What should be the answer given to the "messengers of the nation" inquiring about the deliverance of Jerusalem? This: "The Lord hath founded Zion" (ver. 32). This is the best account we can give to others, as it is the best we can give to ourselves, of any deliverance or of any prosperity we may be enjoying. To refer it to good fortune is shallow and irreverent. To ascribe it to our own ability or energy, or to that of our friends, is insufficient and, it may be: spiritually harmful. We are safe and wise in attributing it to God (Psalm 87:7; Psalm 89:17; Psalm 115:1; 1 Corinthians 4:7). Our faculties, our resources, our opportunities, are all of him; and from him come the energizing force and the overruling power without which all our efforts must be in vain. The reverent and religious spirit (1) gladly dedicates to the cause of Christ and of his Church all that it can yield, and (2) thankfully refers all prosperity enjoyed to his guiding finger, his protecting power, his life-giving Spirit. - C. The Lord shall give thee rest from thy sorrow. I. SORROW IS THE COMMON LOT. Though nobody is always sorrowful, there is in every life many a time when the mind is sore and the heart bruised. Yet people with a sore heart often sing; they find relief in breathing a hymn of prayerful trust. How beautiful is a good man under affliction! A child is often sore in mind because he is not understood and has not the heart-felt sympathy of those who direct him, Women also are sorrowful. Though a man be (n the most fortunate state of life he will have something to bruise his heart. I have heard of a lady whose husband was the worship of both her mind and heart; and when he was killed in a railway accident, her grief was so terrible that in a moment she seemed ten years older. A short time afterwards, she lost her children, and later on, through the failure of a bank, her fortune disappeared; but she endured these misfortunes with calmness, and her minister once asked, "How is it that you can bear up so well after the loss of your children and your money?" She replied, "In the death of my husband the greatest wound came the first." It is unwise to meet sorrow halfway. But there is one sorrow that we should seek and cultivate; it is the sorrow that we are not more godly. There is another sorrow which is worth having; it is that pain of heart which feels for the man or woman who is wounded in the conflict of life. In the ancient world, sorrow was considered to be God's curse, but the early Christians saw that God meant it as a sacred discipline: and therefore when sorrow came to them, they called it "tribulatio," using the word and image to set forth an elevating truth, namely, the separation of the evil in them from the good. II. Let us notice ONE OR TWO PERSONAL SORROWS IN WHICH SOME OF YOU ARE MORE OR LESS CONCERNED. 1. If you are sore in mind because you have done wrong, let your first thought be one of gratitude, that God can and does forgive your sins. 2. Many good people are sore in mind through a physical or temporal trouble. What is more unpleasant than to hear a cart wheel screeching every time it turns? So, you have in your lot something like a screeching wheel, and every move makes you feel the affliction. But the oil of Divine grace will cure it. III. THE CROWN OF SORROW IS TRUSTING GOD. "In all thy ways acknowledge Him," etc. IV. Let us learn THE OBJECT OF SORROW. It is to teach us to be patient and kindly. If you put roses into a cracked pot of commonest clay, it will breathe forth perfume; and from the most prickly plant, the thorn, we gather the sweetest flowers, So if the peace of God perfume your sorrowing heart, the thorns and briars of your affliction shall make your life bright with the flowers of godliness and charity. Bear your sorrow with true courage and sublime cheerfulness, not only for your own sake, but for our sake who look on you; for we wish to learn the way to bear our pain. () Let me tell you of a man who went home one day, and sitting down in his armchair, put his hand on his brow as if in great trouble. His little child went up to him, saying, "Father, what's the matter?" Looking down upon her with eyes of despair, he replied, "Ah, little Mary, I'm ruined!" She said, "Ruined, father, what's that?" He answered, "Why, my child, I'm like a man in a boat on the sea, and during a storm the boat has upset, and he is east on a desolate island." She climbed on his knee, stroking his face, and after awhile, exclaimed. "Well but, father, you know, you have only lost the boat; you haven't lost yourself, have you?" With tears in his eyes, he said, "Ah, no, thank God! I have only lost the boat; my heart and my life remain!" Then she asked, "Father, what's the name of the island?" He replied, "That is the worst of it Mary." "I don't know." She said, "But, father, I know; yea, I know the name of the island you are on; why, father, it is a nice island!" The wretched man tried to smile, and drawing the dear little face to his breast, said, "Mary, dear, tell me the name of the island!" She replied, "Oh, father, don't you know? you are dull tonight! why, father, the name of the island is God!" The sorrowful man was very, still, and little Mary looking up in his face, put her arms round his neck, saying, "Poor father, what makes you cry? Why don't you go upstairs and tell God about it?" Then he gently lifted the dear child down, and went to tell out his heart's sorrow to God. It is true his business had fallen but a Divine hand upheld him. () () Christians who give up their special religious work because they are in sorrow, may be likened to rusty nails in a bag under the counter of the ironmonger's shop; while the man who keeps on doing his best, believing that God is with him, is a man in a sure place, ready to bear all the weight that is hung on it.()
People Ahaz, Isaiah, Jacob, Lucifer, SaraphPlaces Babylon, Lebanon, Philistia, ZionTopics Alone, Apart, Appointed, Cloud, Cry, Dissolved, Door, Fear, Gate, Gatherings, Howl, Keeps, Line, Melt, Melted, None, North, Nothing, O, Palestina, Philistia, Philistines, Places, Ranks, Smoke, Sorrow, Sounds, Straggler, Town, Troops, Wail, WhollyOutline 1. God's merciful restoration of Israel
3. Their triumphant exultation over Babel
24. God's purpose against Assyria
29. Philistia is threatened
Dictionary of Bible Themes Isaiah 14:31 4842 north
4848 smoke Library The victory of Life (Preached at the Chapel Royal. )
ISAIAH xxxviii. 18, 19. The grave cannot praise thee, death cannot celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth. The living, the living, he shall praise thee. I may seem to have taken a strange text on which to speak,--a mournful, a seemingly hopeless text. Why I have chosen it, I trust that you will see presently; certainly not that I may make you hopeless about death. Meanwhile, let us consider it; for it is in the Bible, and, like all words in the Bible, was written …
Charles Kingsley—The Water of Life and Other SermonsThe Life and Death of Mr. Badman,
Presented to the World in a Familiar Dialogue Between Mr. Wiseman and Mr. Attentive. By John Bunyan ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. The life of Badman is a very interesting description, a true and lively portraiture, of the demoralized classes of the trading community in the reign of King Charles II; a subject which naturally led the author to use expressions familiar among such persons, but which are now either obsolete or considered as vulgar. In fact it is the only work proceeding from the prolific …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3 The First Trumpet.
The first trumpet of the seventh seal begins from the final disturbance and overthrow of the Roman idolarchy at the close of the sixth seal; and as it was to bring the first plague on the empire, now beginning to fall, it lays waste the third part of the earth, with a horrible storm of hail mingled with fire and blood; that is, it depopulates the territory and people of the Roman world, (viz. the basis and ground of its universal polity) with a terrible and bloody irruption of the northern nations, …
Joseph Mede—A Key to the Apocalypse The Evil of Sin visible in the Fall of Angels and Men.
1 When the great Builder arch'd the skies, And form'd all nature with a word, The joyful cherubs tun'd his praise, And every bending throne ador'd. 2 High in the midst of all the throng, Satan, a tall archangel, sat, Amongst the morning stars he sung [1] Till sin destroy'd his heavenly state. 3 ['Twas sin that hurl'd him from his throne, Grov'ling in fire the rebel lies: "How art thou sunk in darkness down, "Son of the morning, from the skies!" [2] 4 And thus our two first parents stood Till sin …
Isaac Watts—Hymns and Spiritual Songs Epistle xviii. To John, Bishop.
To John, Bishop. Gregory to John, Bishop of Constantinople [1586] . At the time when your Fraternity was advanced to Sacerdotal dignity, you remember what peace and concord of the churches you found. But, with what daring or with what swelling of pride I know not, you have attempted to seize upon a new name, whereby the hearts of all your brethren might have come to take offence. I wonder exceedingly at this, since I remember how thou wouldest fain have fled from the episcopal office rather than …
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great Epistle xxi. To Constantina Augusta .
To Constantina Augusta [1593] . Gregory to Constantina, &c. Almighty God, who holds in His right hand the heart of your Piety, both protects us through you and prepares for you rewards of eternal remuneration for temporal deeds. For I have learnt from the letters of the deacon Sabinianus my responsalis with what justice your Serenity is interested in the cause of the blessed Prince of the apostles Peter against certain persons who are proudly humble and feignedly kind. And I trust in the bounty …
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great That the Ruler Should Be, through Humility, a Companion of Good Livers, But, through the Zeal of Righteousness, Rigid against the vices of Evildoers.
The ruler should be, through humility, a companion of good livers, and, through the zeal of righteousness, rigid against the vices of evil-doers; so that in nothing he prefer himself to the good, and yet, when the fault of the bad requires it, he be at once conscious of the power of his priority; to the end that, while among his subordinates who live well he waives his rank and accounts them as his equals, he may not fear to execute the laws of rectitude towards the perverse. For, as I remember to …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great The Doctrine of Satan.
I. HIS EXISTENCE AND PERSONALITY. 1. EXISTENCE. 2. PERSONALITY. II. HIS PLACE AND POWER. 1. A MIGHTY ANGEL. 2. PRINCE OF POWER OF THE AIR. 3. GOD OF THIS WORLD. 4. HEAD OF KINGDOM OF DARKNESS. 5. SOVEREIGN OVER DEATH. III. HIS CHARACTER. 1. ADVERSARY. 2. DIABOLOS. 3. WICKED ONE. 4. TEMPTER. IV. OUR ATTITUDE TOWARDS SATAN. 1. LIMITED POWER OF SATAN. 2. RESIST HIM. V. HIS DESTINY. 1. A CONQUERED ENEMY. 2. UNDER ETERNAL CURSE. VI. DEMONS. THE DOCTRINE OF SATAN. Throughout the Scriptures Satan is set …
Rev. William Evans—The Great Doctrines of the Bible The Disciple, -- Master, Some People Say that the Comfort and Joy that Believers Experience...
The Disciple,--Master, some people say that the comfort and joy that believers experience are simply the outcome of their own thoughts and ideas. Is this true? The Master,--1. That comfort and abiding peace which believers have within themselves is due to My presence in their hearts, and to the life-giving influence of the fullness of the Holy Spirit. As for those who say that this spiritual joy is the result only of the thoughts of the heart, they are like a foolish man who was blind from his birth, …
Sadhu Sundar Singh—At The Master's Feet The Power of God
The next attribute is God's power. Job 9:19. If I speak of strength, lo, he is strong.' In this chapter is a magnificent description of God's power. Lo, he is strong.' The Hebrew word for strong signifies a conquering, prevailing strength. He is strong.' The superlative degree is intended here; viz., He is most strong. He is called El-shaddai, God almighty. Gen 17:7. His almightiness lies in this, that he can do whatever is feasible. Divines distinguish between authority and power. God has both. …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity Sargon of Assyria (722-705 B. C. )
SARGON AS A WARRIOR AND AS A BUILDER. The origin of Sargon II.: the revolt of Babylon, Merodach-baladan and Elam--The kingdom of Elam from the time of the first Babylonian empire; the conquest's of Shutruh-nalkunta I.; the princes of Malamir--The first encounter of Assyria and Elam, the battle of Durilu (721 B.C.)--Revolt of Syria, Iaubidi of Hamath and Hannon of Gaza--Bocchoris and the XXIVth Egyptian dynasty; the first encounter of Assyria with Egypt, the battle of Raphia (720 B.C.). Urartu …
G. Maspero—History Of Egypt, Chaldaea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, V 7 Use to be Made of the Doctrine of Providence.
Sections. 1. Summary of the doctrine of Divine Providence. 1. It embraces the future and the past. 2. It works by means, without means, and against means. 3. Mankind, and particularly the Church, the object of special care. 4. The mode of administration usually secret, but always just. This last point more fully considered. 2. The profane denial that the world is governed by the secret counsel of God, refuted by passages of Scripture. Salutary counsel. 3. This doctrine, as to the secret counsel of …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion The Holy War,
MADE BY SHADDAI UPON DIABOLUS, FOR THE REGAINING OF THE METROPOLIS OF THE WORLD; OR, THE LOSING AND TAKING AGAIN OF THE TOWN OF MANSOUL. THE AUTHOR OF 'THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS.' 'I have used similitudes.'--Hosea 12:10. London: Printed for Dorman Newman, at the King's Arms in the Poultry; and Benjamin Alsop, at the Angel and Bible in the Poultry, 1682. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. Bunyan's account of the Holy War is indeed an extraordinary book, manifesting a degree of genius, research, and spiritual …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3 Covenanting According to the Purposes of God.
Since every revealed purpose of God, implying that obedience to his law will be given, is a demand of that obedience, the announcement of his Covenant, as in his sovereignty decreed, claims, not less effectively than an explicit law, the fulfilment of its duties. A representation of a system of things pre-determined in order that the obligations of the Covenant might be discharged; various exhibitions of the Covenant as ordained; and a description of the children of the Covenant as predestinated …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting Opposition to Messiah in Vain
He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall have them in derision. T he extent and efficacy [effects] of the depravity of mankind cannot be fully estimated by the conduct of heathens destitute of divine revelation. We may say of the Gospel, in one sense, what the Apostle says of the Law, It entered that sin might abound (Romans 5:20) . It afforded occasion for displaying the alienation of the heart of man from the blessed God, in the strongest light. The sensuality, oppression and …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2 Isaiah
CHAPTERS I-XXXIX Isaiah is the most regal of the prophets. His words and thoughts are those of a man whose eyes had seen the King, vi. 5. The times in which he lived were big with political problems, which he met as a statesman who saw the large meaning of events, and as a prophet who read a divine purpose in history. Unlike his younger contemporary Micah, he was, in all probability, an aristocrat; and during his long ministry (740-701 B.C., possibly, but not probably later) he bore testimony, as …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links Isaiah 14:31 NIV
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