1. Weapons are formed against him. No Christian need expect aught else. As Israel's experience in the wilderness, so the Christian's in the world.

2. Tongues rise against him. From the days of Cain it has been so, and will be so to the end. So they treated the Lord, and so they will treat His disciples.

II. THY CHRISTIAN'S SECURITY.

1. No weapon shall prosper. The Christian's enemies may be mighty, malignant, crafty, constant; but more mighty, more wise, more watchful, more indefatigable and loving is his protector.

2. Every tongue he shall condemn.

(1)He shall do it himself by well-doing (1 Peter 2:15).

(2)God shall do it for him.

(3)It shall be done sufficiently on earth (Psalm 37:6).

(4)Perfectly in eternity (Job 19:25).See also Zechariah 3. Let Christians see to it that they so live that men speaking evil of them shall do it falsely, and God shall fully vindicate them. Who has this security? and in answer see —

III. THE CHRISTIAN'S CHARACTER. "The servants of the Lord." This security is described as —

IV. THY CHRISTIANS HERITAGE; and this description may teach us —

1. That while the Christian is a servant, he is also a son and heir.

2. That his security is a thing not of merit, but of inheritance. It is a legacy secured to him by the death of Christ. It is the Father's good pleasure to give them the kingdom.

3. We may be sure that a heritage from God is a certain possession. He is "without variableness or shadow of turning."

V. THE CHRISTIAN'S TITLE. Perhaps this last clause had been better translated uniformly with previous one: "And this is their righteousness (justification) from Me. But taking it as we have It, we may interpret it as teaching us

1. That the Christian's justification is of God. It is the righteousness which is of God by faith.

2. That the Christian's sanctification is of God. It is He who worketh in him "to will and to do of God's good pleasure."

3. That boasting is excluded. "What hast thou that thou hast not received?"

4. That security is perfect; for if God justify, who can condemn (Romans 8:34)? and if God sanctify, He will "perfect that which concerneth" us. This clause thus explains as well as ratifies the promise, and, farther, it tells us how we may secure this promise for ourselves. Righteousness we have not by nature, righteousness we cannot attain of ourselves — but righteousness we may receive from God.

(D. Jamison, B. A.)

I. THE FOUNDATION OF THEIR ACCEPTANCE WITH GOD, AND OF ALL THE GLORIOUS PRIVILEGES THAT THEY ENJOY OR ARE ENTITLED TO. It is "a righteousness;" such a righteousness as answers all the demands of the Divine law, a righteousness with which God is well pleased.

II. HOW BELIEVERS BECOME POSSESSED OF THIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, They have it not of themselves. It is not a righteousness wrought out by them or inherent in them, but a righteousness which they have of God. God, in the person of the Father, devised and provided it; God, in the person of the Son, wrought it out for them. It is also through the gracious operation of the Holy Spirit, enabling them to believe the report of the Gospel, and receive Christ exhibited and freely offered to them in it, that they come to be actually possessed of this righteousness.

III. THE INTEREST THAT BELIEVERS HAVE IN THAT RIGHTEOUSNESS WHICH IS THE GROUND OF THEIR JUSTIFICATION. It is called "their righteousness." Though it is not theirs originally or subjectively, it is theirs really. It is theirs by the free gift of God.

IV. THE CERTAINTY OF THE GREAT AND IMPORTANT TRUTH ASSERTED IN THE TEXT, namely, that the righteousness of believers, or that righteousness by which they are justified, and on which their title to everlasting life and all the blessings of salvation is wholly founded, is a righteousness which they have not of themselves, but of God, or by His free gift and gracious imputation. This is what Jehovah Himself declares and attests in the plainest manner: "Their righteousness is of Me, saith the Lord."

(D. Wilson.)

1. A perfect righteousness.

2. A Divine righteousness.

3. A justice-satisfying righteousness.

4. A law-magnifying righteousness.

5. A God-glorifying righteousness.

6. A righteousness that is freely given to the unworthy and the guilty.

7. An everlasting righteousness.

(D. Wilson.)

(F. Sessions.)

(F. Delitzsch, D. D.)

( C. H. Spurgeon.)

(J. Parker, D. D.)

(T. De Flirt Talmage, D. D.)

1. Emptiness.

2. Exquisite sense — a painful sense.

3. Peculiar cares and thoughts. All a man's thoughts, in such a condition, are for water to cool and refresh him (Acts 2:37; Acts 16:30).

4. Impatience (Exodus 17:3).

5. Vehemeney of desire.

6. Diligent endeavour.

7. Constant languishing. Delay doth but increase the thirst the more. Nothing will put an end to spiritual thirst but Jesus Christ.

(O. Sedgwick, B. D.)

(J. H. Jowett, M. A.)

I. There is to be THE DISCIPLINE OF THE EAR. There is to be a determined, resolute effort to listen to God. When I turn over the pages of the New Testament, and the Old Testament as well, I am greatly surprised at the emphasis with which is given the injunction to hear. " Hear, ye deaf. Every page sends out the cry of the herald — Hearken, listen, incline your ear. It is wonderful how often the Master repeated the injunction, "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear." That is not a kind of mild, kindly counsel, but an urgent, strenuous appeal to men and women in imminent peril. As though they were disinclined, or did it lazily and easily. He seems to say, Put work into hearing, make it a business, put some intenseness into it. The voices of the world are so clamorous, so fascinating, so easily enticing, that you are in great danger of being allured unless you set yourself resolutely to attend to God. "Hearken diligently unto Me;" put work into listening to Me, in the Parliament, in the Council House, on the Exchange, in the shop and the warehouse, and in the pulpit. There are many clamorous voices around you, those of Mr. Worldly-Wiseman, Mr. Pliable, Mr. Time-Server, Mr. Love-of-the-World. Then pull yourself together, says the Master and the prophet; engage yourself with such intenseness amidst all the bustling clamour, that you may catch the upward calling of your God.

II. The discipline of the ear is accompanied by THE DISCIPLINE OF THE HEART. Listen and then yield. "Let the wicked forsake his way (and then something infinitely harder), "and the unrighteous man his thoughts." I find it a comparatively easy thing to forsake a way; but I find it almost insuperably difficult to forsake a thought. Hear the Highest and then uncompromisingly obey. You say impossible! Idleness creates the impossible, says Robert South. I think perhaps one of the great needs of our time in personal and national life, is that some nation should resolutely address itself to listen to the voice of God, and when she has resolutely listened and confidently heard, then to resolutely and deliberately attempt the impossible. Let her begin by forsaking her own wicked ways. Let her hearken diligently to the Divine voice and then definitely and unwaveringly follow in pursuit, even though the way lead apparently to an impassable height. Let her return to the Lord, and let there be no longer a democracy, an aristocracy, a plutocracy, but a Theocracy willing gladly to be counselled by Jehovah.

III. "WHAT IS THE ISSUE OF THIS OBEDIENCE? Suppose the thirsty nation oppressed, turned herself to listen to Jehovah and began to interpret the voice Divine, and suppose she addressed herself with all the majesty of Divine power to the pursuit of the ideal discerned, what would happen? The issue of-such a demeanour is portrayed for us with wonderful prodigality in the chapter.

1. There is the assured promise of fuller life. "Hear, and your soul shall live." Hitherto life had been a thin existence, a mere surface glittering, a superficial movement. Now there shall be vitality, awakening and stirring in undreamed-of depths. Life shall be no longer confined to the channels of the appetites; life shall no longer be a mere matter of senses and sensations confined to the outer courts and corridors of the life, but you shall begin to live in the innermost self. The unused shall be aroused and exercised;, the unevolved shall be unpacked; benumbed instincts shall be liberated; buried powers of discernment shall come trooping from the grave; new intelligence shall be born, and the sea of iniquity shall ebb, and the sea shall give up its dead. Life shall be no longer scant and scrimpy. You shall delight yourself, not in leanness but in fatness, every tissue of yourself shall be fed, and the outer life shall bear all manner of fruit, and the leaves of the tree shall be for the healing of the nations.

2. Mark the succession, and we get an exceedingly pregnant suggestion. We have got a nation listening, we have got a nation doing, we have got a nation now living, with its powers evolved, and in active exercise. What next? "Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not." What is that'? It means that a true and glorified national life is to be followed by a true and glorified imperialism. "Nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee because of the Lord thy God.' That is the true imperialism — empire by moral and spiritual sovereignty, allurement of dominion by the fascinating radiance of a pure and satisfied life. "Gentiles shall come to the light, and kings to the brightness of the rising." It is empire not merely by the aid of Maxim guns, but by great heartening: Gospels proclaimed by a great redeemed, glorified people. This is to be the shining goal of true national ambition. The mission of the great people, according to this chapter, is to be this: We are to be witnesses to the people, leaders and commanders of the people, witnesses ceaselessly reiterating the truths of the heartening Gospel, proving in the power of our own redemption our fitness to be leaders of the people, going out as path-finders amongst the benighted peoples. "They shall be called" (I want no more glorious title for the country) "the restorer of paths to dwell in."

3. Now, mark further the issue. A true imperialism, I will not say is to be succeeded, but is to be accompanied by a splendid magnanimity. When the nation has hearkened diligently unto God, and follows determinedly in the pursuit of His will, all little-mindedness has to pass away in the great spacious ambitions. The pure and the exalted people are to share the spacious thought of God, and this I take to be the meaning of the word, "My thoughts are not your thoughts." "What are Thy thoughts like?" "As the heavens are higher than the earth. God's thoughts are lofty, spacious, broad; so our thoughts must be comprehensive, full of an all-inclusive sympathy which vibrates to the interest of each, as though each contained the welfare of the other. The truly imperial people are to share this largeness of idea and ideal and all inclusive sympathy. All parochial peddling and sterile individualism shall yield to a pregnant altruism, and mean patriotism is to be supplanted by a generous fructifying cosmopolitanism. The annexation of territory will be regarded as infinitely inferior to the salvation of the world. Influence shall not be measured by mileage, but by magnanimity. Empire will not be computed by so many leagues of earth, but by the multitude of redeemed and liberated souls. And the outskirts of sovereignty will not be contained by bristling guns, but "They shall call her walls salvation and her gates praise."

4. We have an exalted, glorified empire, and according to this prophet, there is to be nothing wavering or uncertain about the moral empire of such a people. For them a help-giving ministry,, will be inevitable. "As the rain cometh down and the snow from heaven, etc. The rain cometh down and the snow from heaven, the bringers of the spring time; and the nation truly imperial, and filled with the living Spirit of the living God, shall be the spring-time maker amongst the children of men, and the creator of gladness and music and song. The prophet himself bursts into song: "The mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands." That is to be the ministry of the nation. "Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree." The thorn with the sharp-piercing, pain-giving spikes: instead of that shall come up the fir tree — from which were made the musical instruments, and especially the framework of the harp; "instead of the thorn, the pain-making thing, shall come up the fir tree," the music-making thing; the glorified people shall move among the scattered peoples, and shall exercise the beautiful ministry of changing the creators of pain into the makers of melody and praise. "Instead of the briar," with its bitter, poisonous sting, "shall come up the myrtle tree, with its glossy leaves, and white flowers and grateful perfume. The redeemed and consecrated nation shall exult in a missionary enterprise which shall change the poisonous enmities and jealousies of the people into the perfume of sweet and gracious sentiments, and the chastened delights of a holy and blameless life. Is not this an ambition worthy of the English people of our own day?

(J. H. Jowett, M. A.)

1. The universality of the offer.

2. The freeness of the gift. "He that hath no money ' — he that is in spiritual bankruptcy.

3. The fulness of the blessings which this salvation contains. They are represented by the three terms, water, wine and milk.

II. THE ENCOURAGEMENTS TO ACCEPT THE INVITATION. These are manifold and various.

1. There is, the contrast between the blessings offered and those for which men are now so laboriously toiling.

2. The character of Him through whom the blessings are to be obtained.

3. The present nearness of God to us and His abundant willingness to pardon.

4. The fact that God's "ways are not our ways, nor His thoughts our thoughts." He pardons like a God.

5. God's Word "shall not return unto Him void. There is profound encouragement in the thought that back of these agencies of the Gospel, which seem so weak as compared with those powers of depravity in the soul with which they must contend, lies the changeless purpose of Him who "worketh all things after the counsel of His own will."

6. The profound interest felt by all holy beings everywhere in the salvation of the sinner. That profound sympathy with man in his efforts for salvation which our Lord so beautifully represents by the joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth, the inspired prophet; here represents by the joy of inanimate nature over this return of the sinner to Him who is the Fountain of life.

7. The beneficent results of the acceptance of this invitation. "Instead of the thorn," etc. Divine grace works a complete transformation in the heart into which it comes. It roots out the thorns and briars of selfishness, of pride, of avarice, of unbelief and every hurtful lust. It implants in their room all the graces that adorn the Christian character.

(T. D. Witherspoon, D. D.)

(J. R. Macduff, D. D.)

(J. Trapp.)

II. GOD CALLS THE DISAPPOINTED, the fevered, the men and women who have found the world desolate and dry; whose very wishes give them not their wish, who succeed perhaps, and are all the more unhappy because they know that success also is vanity; whose affection prospers, only to teach them that, after all, there are depths in every heart which resound to no human voice. You may not as yet feel any more than this burning, secret want; but this is enough, if only it leads you to the fountain. Does not the very word "come" imply the leaving of something, as well as approach to something else? And this purchasing is not entirely defined in the words, "Let the wicked man forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts," for much more than sin must be surrendered. St. Paul tells us of the price he himself paid when, having reckoned up his advantages, and how, as touching the righteousness that is by the law, he was blameless, he adds, "What things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ," etc. Yes, for Christ. For it is He who interprets this verse of Himself, though it is plainly spoken of Jehovah. He, on the great day of the feast, stood and cried, "If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink." Here, then, is the one test of earnestness: Will you, at the bidding of your God, renounce what has failed to quench your thirst, for the sake of the waters of life?

(G.A. Chadwick, D.D.)

1. "Every one that thirsteth." That means desire. But it means need also. And what is every man but a great bundle of yearnings and necessities? There are thirsts which infallibly point to their true objects. If a man is hungry, he knows that it is food that he wants. We have social instincts; we need love; we need friendship; we need somebody to lean upon; we thirst for some breast to rest our heads upon, for hands to clasp ours; and we know where the creatures and the objects are that will satisfy these desires. And there are higher thirsts of the spirit, and a man knows where and how to gratify the impulse that drives him to seek aider some forms of knowledge and wisdom. But besides all these there come in a whole set of other thirsts that do not in themselves carry the intimation of the place where they can be. slaked. And so you get men restless, dissatisfied, feeling that there is something wanting, yet not knowing what. You remember the old story in the "Arabian Nights," of the man who had a grand palace, and lived in it quite contentedly, until somebody told him that he needed a roc's egg hanging from. the roof to make it complete, and he did not know where to get that, and was miserable accordingly. We build our houses, we fancy that we are satisfied; and then there comes the stinging thought that it is not all complete yet, and we go groping in the dark, to find out what it is. Do you know what it is that you want? It is God! Nothing else, nothing less. There are dormant thirsts. It is no proof of superiority that a savage has fewer wants than you and I have, for the want is the open mouth into which supply comes. And it is no proof that you have not, deep in your nature, desires which unless they are awakened and settled, you will never be blessed, that these desires are all unconscious to yourselves. And yet there are no desires — that is to say, consciousness of necessities — so dormant but that their being ungratified makes a man restless. You do not want forgiveness, but you will never be happy till you get it. You do not want to be good and true and holy men, but you will never be blessed till you are. You do not want God, but you will be restless till you find Him.

2. "And he that hath no money." Who has any? Notice that the persons represented in our text as penniless are, in the next verse, remonstrated with for spending "money." So then the penniless man had some pence away in some corner of his pocket which he could spend. He had the money that would buy shams, "that which is not bread," but he had no money for the true thing. Which, being translated out of parable into fact, is simply this, that our efforts may win, and do win, for us the lower satisfactions which meet the transitory and superficial necessities, but that no effort of ours can secure for us the loftier blessings which slake the diviner thirsts of immortal souls.

II. IN WHAT IT CONSISTS. They tell an old story about the rejoicings at the coronation of some great king, when there was set up in the market-place a triple fountain, from each of whose three lips flowed a different kind of rare liquor which any man who chose to bring a pitcher might fill from, at his choice. Notice my text, "come ye to the waters"... "buy wine and milk. The great fountain is set up in the market-place of the world, and every man may come; and whichever of this glorious trinity of effluents he needs most, there his lip ,may glue itself and there it may drink, be it "water that refreshes, or "wine that gladdens, or "milk" that nourishes. They are all contained in this one great gift that flows out from the deep heart of God to the thirsty lips of parched humanity. And what does that mean? We may say salvation; or we may use many other words to define the nature of the gifts. I venture to take a shorter one, and say, it means Christ. He is the all-sufficient supply of every thirst of every human soul.

III. HOW DO WE GET THE GIFTS? The paradox of' my text needs little explanation. "Buy without money and without price.' The contradiction on the surface is but intended to make emphatic this blessed truth theft the only conditions are a sense of need and a willingness to take — nothing else and nothing more.

(A. Mallard, D. D.)

I. IT IS EFFICACIOUS. It is "water." The Gospel is to the thirsty soul what the cool refreshing stream is to a thirsty body. It satisfies —

1. The guilty conscience,

2. The longing heart,

3. The worshipping spirit of man. All who have truly received the Gospel give this testimony.

II. IT IS GRATUITOUS. "Without money and without price." Water is one of the freest things in the world. It is a ubiquitous element; it not only floats in the cloud, descends in the showers, and rolls in the rivers, but bubbles up at our feet and oozes out in all the things around us.

III. IT IS UNRESTRICTED. "Ho, every one that thirsteth." The Gospel is not for any type of mind, any class of character, any condition of society, any tribe of men. Like the light of heaven, it is for all.

(Homilist.)

1. It results from the constitution of our nature. We cannot go deeper than nature. We cannot go behind or beyond it, for nature is what has been born (Latin natura), born out of God's thought by God's power. When we speak of nature we must pass in thought from her to her parent God, and find a sufficient answer to all questions and difficulties by saying: "God has so willed it, therefore it is as it is." All the strong basal instincts of human nature must be traced back to the make of our moral being as it was planned by almighty wisdom, and wrought by infinite power. We hunger and thirst, because our physical nature has been so created that it must needs go out of itself for its supplies of nutriment. Similarly, God made our souls for Himself. Deep within us, lie has put necessities and desires, that crave for satisfaction from the Unseen, Eternal, and Divine.

2. It produces pain. There are many sources of pain; but perhaps primarily God has instituted it to compel us to take measures for our health and salvation. The pain of hunger and thirst in designed to force us to take food, without which the body would become exhausted and die. So, in the moral sphere, we should be thankful when we are discontented with ourselves, when in self-abhorrence we cry out for God's unsullied righteousness, when we go about smitten with infinite unrest.

3. It is universal. As we have never met man or woman incapable of hunger or thirst, so there is no human soul which is not capable of possessing God, and does not need Him for a complete life. Often the spiritual appetite is dormant. The invalid, who has long suffered under the pressure of a wasting illness, may have no appetite, but at any moment it may awake. Thus with the hunger of the soul for God.

II. THE NURTURE OF SPIRITUAL APPETITE.

III. THE CERTAIN GRATIFICATION OF THIS APPETITE. God never sends mouths, the old proverb says, but He sends with them the food to fill them. Young lions never seek that which His hand does not open to give. The fish, and the fly at which it snatches; the bird, and the berries on the hawthorn bush; the babe, and the milk stored in its mother's breast, are perfectly adapted to each other. Whatever you and I have longed for in our best and holiest moments may have its consummation and bliss, because God has prepared for our perfect satisfaction.

(Lira of Faith.)

III. THE FORCE OF THE INVITATION OFFERED. What is it to corals? coming signifies believing. Observe how this invitation is reiterated. It corrals in with a shout; then it is plainly stated — then it is repeated — and a third time it is urged.

1. Let the extent of the call induce you to come.

2. Let the freeness of the supply induce you to come.

3. Let the sufficiency of the provision induce you to come.

4. Let the impossibility of finding redemption elsewhere induce you to come.Conclusion:

1. Some of you have heard in a spirit of levity.

2. Some in a spirit of neglect.

3. Some in a spirit of doubt and despondency.

(J. Parsons.)

II. EVERY THIRSTY SINNER MAY AND OUGHT TO COME TO THEM.

(O. Sedgwick, B. D.)

1. All their sins and Christ's merits.

2. All their distresses and Christ's compassions,

3. All their wants and Christ's fulness.

4. All their unworthiness and Christ's fresness.

5. Their desires and Christ's invitations.

6. Their thirstings and the promises of Christ.

7. Their own weakness and Christ's strength.

8. Satan's objections and Christ's answers.

(O. Sedgwick, B. D.)

I. WHEN I BUY, I DESIRE. And I desire what I must fetch from without. Were I entirely self-supporting, had I everything I, need "within myself," as the saying is, I should never go to any market. Isaiah's words for "buy" means to buy provisions. Lost in the desert, parched by thirst, gnawed by hunger, duped by the mirage, ready to perish — that is the standing biblical picture of a sinful man when he realizes his soul's needs. It is he who is urged to come to the waters, and to buy wine and milk. "But I have no heart, no desire for these things: what am I to do?" That is the great trouble; indifference or downright indolence of soul the most common obstacle. But God's appeal is, "Come now, and let us reason together." He sets forth the alternatives as to a reasonable being. Water, wine, milk, good, fatness, life, covenant-mercy — all these are freely offered instead of starvation and death. How unreasonable you must be if anything on earth can keep you from what you know to be your highest good!

II. WHEN I BUY, I CHOOSE The essence of a bargain is an act of choice. Choose I the Bible keeps that word ever ringing in our ears. And so does profane literature. Hercules, the greatest hero of heathendom, was made by his deliberate choice of virtue and rejection of vice. Pythagoras put this great truth into one of the most popular of object-lessons. He compared life to the letter y. The parting of the ways is symbolized by the two limbs of the letter. A man must go forward; and he must go left or right; he must walk in the way of evil or in the way of good. This choosing is the biggest thing you can do in this world. When I buy I consent to the price. Buying is simply avowed consent in action. "Come buy... without money and without price." By this double phrase the prophet assails the deep-seated self-righteousness of the heat. And he assails it wit's its own favourite ideas and phrases. You will buy. Well, then, let him buy who has no money, and let him buy without money and without price. Buying has a legal suggestion; but buying without money more than neutralizes every such suggestion. The most capacious mind, the liveliest imagination, could not suggest a more effective way of setting forth the utter freeness of Gods grace.

III. WHAT I BUY, I OWN. The Gospel is here staten in the language of the market-place, so that all may perfectly understand it. All just laws and our moral instincts make me the undoubted possessor of that which I have fairly bought and paid for. It is my very own. This buying is all you need. The goods are yours in offer; and they are yours in full possession n you accept them.

IV. WHAT I BUY, I USE. Unused milk and flesh are of no value to me. The bread of life, which Christ is and offers, is ours only in so far as we appropriate and assimilate it. "Buy and eat. The buying is useless without the eating. Eating is the most vital, personal, and experimental thing in the world. The bread eaten becomes part and parcel of myself.

(Monthly Visitor.)

1. The blessings offered.(1) "Waters." Men need cleansing and refreshing. The word is "waters," not water. Some waters are good for domestic purposes only, others for medicinal purposes, and others again for purposes of cleansing. Thus, the water that may be suitable for one purpose may be unsuitable for other purposes. Not so the blessings of the Gospel; not so Christ, who is the Gospel. He meets all the needs of the soul. He pleases the imagination, satisfies the affections, calms the conscience, purifies the heart.(2) "Wine." Christ is like wine, in that He gladdens the heart. He is unlike wine in this — while we may have too much wine, we can never have too much of Christ.(3) "Milk." Milk is nourishing food; milk is natural food. A taste for milk is possibly the only taste we have by nature. All our other likings are more or less acquired. But, we refuse Christ, because what we popularly can a state of nature, is not a state of nature. To live naturally we must feed naturally. He only, so lives who feeds on Christ.

2. The terms propounded.(1) We must "thirst" for Christ. We shall be blessed as soon as we wish to be. We are welcome to Christ when He is welcome to us.(2) We must come to Christ.

II. THE GLORIOUS RESULTS which accrue from compliance with these conditions. Men are invited to buy, etc., so, of those who comply it may be said —

1. They "buy" soul-food, i.e. they appropriate as verily their own the blessings purchased by Christ.

2. They "eat," i.e. they have experimental knowledge of Christianity.

3. Their soul "delights itself in fatness." The more of Christ men have, the more they desire

III. THE LORD'S GRACIOUS EXPOSTULATION. It is an appeal to their reason and their experience. God knows what man is, and what he feels. It is as if God had said: "I know your case entirely; you are toiling for happiness and toiling in vain, and you know it. You are always pursuing some ideal good, with which, when you get it, you are satiated. Why go on thus, when peace and rest may be had? The argument used by God teaches that sin is —

1. Costly. "Wherefore do ye spend money, etc. Sin is costly." —

(1)A pecuniary sense.

(2)A mental sense.

(3)A moral sense.

(4)A spiritual sense. It costs money, health, mental quiet, character, heaven.

2. Laborious.

(1)Men labour to accomplish their evil purposes.

(2)Men labour to conceal their evil deeds, etc.

3. Unsatisfying.

(J. S. Swan.)

1. The persons invited.

2. The matter of the invitation. Jesus Christ is an only good, and He is an universal good. "Waters; bread; milk; wine."

3. The manner of the invitation.

(1)Earnest. "Ho!"

(2)Serious. "Come, come, come; buy, buy."

(3)General. "Every one."

(4)Gracious. "Buy wine and milk, without money and without price."There is much good to be had, and at a very easy rate. Jesus Christ, and the things of Christ, are above price and without price.

II. A COMPLAINING EXPOSTULATION. "Wherefore," etc. Here we have charged on sinners —

1. Their neglect.

2. Their folly.

III. A RENEWED SOLICITATION OR ENTREATY. How patient is God, even to sinners who neglect the offers of His grace! This renewed entreaty is —

1. Very vehement. "Hearken diligently; incline your ears; hear."

2. Very persuasive.

3. Very satisfactory. "I will make an everlasting covenant with you," etc.I will give My bond for it; all this shall be as surely made good as the mercies which I performed to My servant, David.

(O. Sedgwick, B. D.)

(Sunday School Chronicle.)

I. A DESCRIPTION OF THE BUYER. It is the portrait of a poor, penniless, broken-down creature reduced to the extremity of want: "He that hath no money. Of course, by this is meant the man who literally has no money. Having nothing, you may yet possess all things. But we understand the reference of the text to be mainly spiritual, and so the portrait here is that of a man who has no spiritual money, no gold of goodness, no silver of sanctity.

1. His fancied stock of natural innocence is spent.

2. He thought that he had accumulated some little savings of good works; but his imaginary righteousness turns out to be counterfeit.

3. He is in a still worse plight, for he is also too poor to get anything; the procuring power is gone, for he has "no money " that is to say, nothing wherewith he can procure those good things which are necessary to salvation and eternal life.

4. Moreover, his stock with which to trade is gone. Money makes money, and he that has a little to begin with may soon have more; but this man, having no stock to start with, cannot hope to be rich towards God in and by himself. No money!

(1)Then, he cannot pay his old debts. His sins rise up before him, but he cannot make amends for them.

(2)Moreover, he cannot meet his present expenses.

(3)He cannot face the future.

(4)The only hope for a man who has no money must he outside himself.

II. THE SELECTION OF THE BUYER. It is a strange choice, and it leads to a singular invitation, "He that hath no money; come, buy, and eat." What is the reason?

1. These need mercy most.

2. This character is chosen because he is such a one as will exhibit in his own person the power of Divine grace.

3. The Lord Jesus delights to make evident the freeness of His grace.

4. He is the kind of man that will listen. A wretched sinner jumps at mercy like a hungry fish leaping at the bait.

5. Such an empty, penniless soul, when he does get mercy, will prize it and praise it. He that has been shut up in the dark for years values the light of the sun. He that has been a prisoner for months, how happy he is when the prison doors are opened, and he is at liberty again! Let a man once get Christ, who has bitterly known and felt his need of Him, and he will prize Him beyond all things.

III. THE INVITATION. The man who has no money is to come, buy, and eat. It looks odd to tell a penniless man to come and buy, does it not? and yet what other word could be used? Come and buy, has a meaning of its own not to be otherwise expressed. In buying there are three or four stages.

1. Desiring to have the thing which is exhibited.

2. This means next, to agree to terms.

3. When the terms are carried out, the buyer appropriates the goods to himself.

4. But the text says, "Buy, and eat, as much as to say, make it yours in the most complete sense. If a man buys a loaf of bread it is his: but if he eats it, then all the lawyers in the world cannot dispute him out of it — he has it by a possession which is not only nine points of the law, but all the law. Christ fed upon IS ours beyond all question.

IV. By way of ASSURANCE, to show that this is all real and true, and no make-believe.

1. It is not God's way to mock men. He hath Himself declared, " I said not unto the seed of Jacob, seek ye My face in vain."

2. God is under no necessity to sell His benefits. He is not impoverished: He is so rich that none can add anything to His wealth.

3. There is no adequate price that we could bring to God for His mercy.

4. Remember that Jesus must be meant for sinners, for if sinners had not existed there never would have been a saviour.

5. It must be true that God will give these blessings to men who have no merits, and will bestow them as gifts, because Jesus Himself is a gift.

6. Beside that, Christ is all.

7. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is blessedly free from all clogging conditions, because all supposed conditions are supplied in Christ Jesus.

( C. H. Spurgeon.)

(W. Cleaves, M. A.)

(W. Cleaves, M. A.)

2. The enjoyment of it is limited by their coming to Christ and buying of Him.

3. Upon their coming to Christ all that good doth certainly come to them.

(O. Sedgwick, B. D.)

1. Will go to the market.

2. Doth like the wares which are to be bought.

3. Will come up to the price at which they are to be bought.

4. Will watch the time, and take the time of buying.

5. Is willing to sell that he may compass the things he is very desirous to buy (Genesis 47:17-19; Matthew 13:44).There are three "alls" which a poor sinner is willing to sell that he may have Christ.

(1)All his sinful lusts and his former sinful courses of life.

(2)All his worldly estimations and advantages (Hebrews 11:24-26).

(3)All his serf. His serf-wisdom, his serf-will, his serf-righteousness, his self-sufficiencies and his serf-confidence, his self-seekings and his self-advantages (Philippians 3:8).

(O. Sedgwick, B. D.)

1. Your hearts will be much endeared to Christ for what He hath sold unto you.

2. You will spend what you have bought of Christ, upon Christ.

3. You will so like the bargain that Christ shall have your custom as long as you live.

4. You will not sell what you have bought.

(O. Sedgwick, B. D.)

I.THE EXCELLENCE OF THE WARES.

II.THE NECESSITY OF THE PURCHASE.

III.THE GOODNESS OF THE SELLER.

IV.THE EASINESS OF THE PRICE.

V.THE OPPORTUNITY OF THE MARKET.

VI.THE BENEFIT OF THE BARGAIN.

VII.THE LOSS BY NEGLECT.

(O. Sedgwick, B. D.)

1. Losses. It is no gain to lose a soul, yet it is an exceeding gain for a soul to lose some things — the dominion of sin, the love of sin, a condemning conscience, our corrupt vices, etc.

2. Yourselves. We never come to enjoy ourselves until we come to enjoy Christ.

3. Your own souls — they are safe and secured for ever.

4. All. All the purchase of Christ, all the good of all the offers of Christ, all the fruits of the Spirit of Christ, all the promises of God in Christ, all the revealings of the ordinances of Christ, all the immunities and privileges of Christ, all the hopes by Christ. You gain all the good which concerns soul and body in this life, and all the good which concerns them in the life to come.

(O. Sedgwick, B. D.)

I.THE WISEST MERCHANTS.

II.THE SUREST POSSESSORS.

(O. Sedgwick, B. D.)

(J. Trapp.)

(R. Jones, M. A.)

II. Having thus exhibited the article, my next business is to BRING THE BIDDERS UP TO THE AUCTION BOX AND SELL IT. My difficulty is to bring you down to my price. Here comes some one up to the sacred desk, transformed for the moment into an auction-box, and he cries, "I want to buy." What will you give for it? He holds out his hands, and he has such a handful; he has to lift up his very lap with more, for he can hardly hold all his good works. He has Ave-Marius and Paternosters without number, and all kinds of crossings with holy water, and bendings of the knee, and prostrations before the altar, and reverence of the host, and attending at the mass, and so on. And so, Sir Romanist, you are coming to get salvation are you? and you have brought all this with you. lava sorry for thee, but thou must go away from the box with all thy performances, for it is without money and without price, and until thou art prepared to come empty-handed thou canst never have it. Then another comes up and says, "I am glad you have served the Romanist like, that" I hate the Church of Rome; I am a true Protestant, and desire to be saved. What have you brought, sir? "Oh I have brought no Ave-Marias, no Paternosters. But I say the collect every Sunday; I am very attentive to my prayers. I got to church almost as soon as the doors are open," or "I go to chapel three times on the Sabbath and I attend the prayer-meetings; and beside that, I pay everybody twenty shillings in the pound; I would not like to hurt anybody; I am always liberal, and assist the poor when! can. I may make a little slip just now and then. Still, if I am mot saved I do not know who will be. I am as good as my neighbours, and I think I certainly ought to be saved, for I have very few sins, and what few there are do not hurt other people; they hurt me more than any one else. Besides, they are mere trifles." I will send you away; there is no salvation for you, for it is "without money and without price;" and as long as you bring these fine good works of yours, you cannot have it. Mark, I do not find any fault with them, they are good enough in their place, but they won't do here, but they won't do at the judgment bar of God. Suppose I see a man building a house, and he were fool enough to lay the foundation with chimney-pots. If I should say, "My dear man, I do not like these chimney-pots to be put into the foundation, ' you would not say I found fault with the chimney-pots, but that I found fault with the man for putting them in the wrong place. So with good works and ceremonies; they will not do for a foundation. The foundation must be built of more solid stuff. But see another man. He is a long way off, and he says, "Sir, I am afraid to come; I could not come and make a bid for the salvation. Sir, I've got no larnin', I'm no scholard, I can't read a book, I wish I could. My children go to Sunday-school; I wish there was such a thing in my time; I can't read, and it's no use my hoping to go to heaven. I goes to church sometimes, but oh dear I it's no good; the man uses such long words I can't understand 'em, and I goes to chapel sometimes, but I can't make it out." It wants no scholarship to go to heaven. Now, I see a man come up to the stall, and he says, "Well, I will have salvation, sir; I have made in my will provisions for the building of a church or two, and a few almshouses; I always devote a part of my substance to the cause of God; I always receive the poor, and such-like; I have a pretty good share of money, and I take care not to hoard it up; I am generous and liberal. Won't that carry me to heaven?" Well, I like you very much, and I wish there were more of your sort. But if you bring these things as your hope of heaven, I must undeceive you. You cannot buy heaven with gold. Why, they pave the streets up there with it. Wealth makes distinction on earth, but no distinction at the Cross of Christ. You must all come alike to the footstool of Jesus, or else not come at all. I knew a minister who told me he was once sent for to the dying bed of a woman who was very well to do in the world, and she said, "Mr. Baxter, do you think when I get to heaven Betsy my servant will be there?" "Well," he said, "I don't know much about you, but Betsy will be there; for if I know any one who is a pious girl, it is she." "Well," said the lady, "don't you think there will be a little distinction? for I never could find it in my heart to sit down with a girl of that sort; she has no taste, no education, and I could not endure it. I think there ought to be a little difference." "Ah I you need not trouble yourself, madam," he said, "there will be a great distinction between you and Betsy, if you die in the temper in which you now are; but the distinction will be on the wrong side; for you see her in Abraham's bosom, but you yourself will be cast out. As long as you have such pride in your heart, yon can never enter into the kingdom of heaven." The highway is as much for the poor man as the rich man; so is the kingdom of heaven — "without money and without price."

III. I have to use A FEW ARGUMENTS with you.

1. I would speak to you who never think about these things at all.

2. I have now the pleasing task of addressing men of another character. You do feel your need of a Saviour. Remember, Christ died for you.

( C. H. Spurgeon.)

( C. H. Spurgeon.)

1. Because of man's relation to God, and his wrong judgment of Him. Man thinks that God is a hard master.

2. No doubt, also, the condition of man under the fall makes it more difficult for him to comprehend that the gifts of God are "without money and without price," for he finds that he is doomed to toil for almost everything he needs.

3. Again man recollects the general rule of men towards each other, for in this world what is to be had for nothing except that which is worth nothing?

4. Another matter helps man into this difficulty, namely, his natural pride. He does not like to be a pauper before God.

5. Once more, all religions that ever have been in the world of man's making teach that the gifts of God are to be purchased or merited. Though I have thus shown grounds for our surprise, yet if men would think a little they might not be quite so unbelievingly amazed as they are; for, after all, the best blessings we have come to us freely. What price have you paid for your lives? and yet they are very precious. What price do you pay for the air you breathe? What price does a man pay for the sunlight? Life and air and light come to us "without money and without price." And our faculties, too — who pays for eyesight? The ear which hears the song of the bird at dawn, what price is given for it? The senses are freely bestowed on us by God, and so is the sleep which rests them. It is clear then that some of the best blessings we possess come to us by the way of free gift; and come to the undeserving, too, for the dew shall sparkle to-morrow upon the grass in the miser's field, and the rain shall fall in due season upon the rising corn of the wretch who blasphemes his God.

II. THE NECESSITY OF THE FACT mentioned in our text.

1. From the character of the Donor. It is God that gives. Would you have Him sell His pardons?

2. Because of the value of the boon. As one has well said, "it is without price because it is priceless."

3. From the extremity of human destitution. The blessings of grace must be given "without money and without price," for we have no money or price to bring.

III. THE SALUTARY INFLUENCE. OF THIS FACT. If it be "without money and without price," what then?

1. That enables us to preach the gospel to every creature.

2. This fact has the salutary effect of excluding all pride. If it be "without money and without price," you rich people have not a halfpennyworth of advantage above the poorest of the poor in this matter.

3. It forbids despair.

4. It inspires with gratitude, and that gratitude becomes the basis of holiness.

5. It engenders in the soul the generous virtues. The man who is saved for nothing feels first with regard to his fellow-men that he must deal lovingly with them. Has God forgiven me? Then I can freely forgive those who have trespassed against me. He longs to see others saved, and therefore he lays himself out to bring them to Jesus Christ. If he had bought his salvation I dare say he might be proud of it, and wish to keep it to himself Then the free gifts of grace, working by the power and energy of the Holy Spirit, create in us the generous virtues towards God.

6. I cannot think of anything that will make more devout worshippers in heaven than this.

( C. H. Spurgeon.)

(J. Trapp.)

1. This gracious way of a sinner's full enjoyment of Christ stands not in opposition to praying, attendance upon the ministry of the "Word, or believing.

2. This is to be understood in an opposition to the price and value of our works. You can lay down nothing that hath merit or recompense in it; that hath answerable value, or any value in it.

(O. Sedgwick, B. D.)

1. The sinner's insufficiency.

2. His unworthiness.

3. The inconsistency of any other way of trading with Christ (Romans 4:4; Romans 11:6).

4. The invaluableness of the commodities.

5. The quality of the contract. "Ask." "Believe."

6. The work of the Seller.

(1)He is to find all that poor sinners need.

(2)Upon His own proper costs and charge.

(3)He is to give all to them.

(O. Sedgwick, B. D.)

(Christian Budget.)

(Christian Budget.)

(Christian Budget.)

(A. Maclaran, D. D.)

     5360   justice, God
     5942   security
     6233   rejection, experience
     7160   servants of the Lord

Isaiah 54:1-17

     6659   freedom, acts in OT

Isaiah 54:16-17

     4345   metalworkers
     5612   weapons

The Saint's Heritage and Watchword
NOTE: This is taken from an early published edition of the original sermon. The version that appears in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, vol. 50, was slightly edited by the publishers. For edition we have restored in most places the text of the earlier published edition, while retaining a few of the editorial refinements of the Met Tab edition. "No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 50: 1904

How to Make Use of Christ as the Life when the Soul is Dead as to Duty.
Sometimes the believer will be under such a distemper, as that he will be as unfit and unable for discharging of any commanded duty, as dead men, or one in a swoon, is to work or go a journey. And it were good to know how Christ should be made use of as the Life, to the end the diseased soul may be delivered from this. For this cause we shall consider those four things: 1. See what are the several steps and degrees of this distemper. 2. Consider whence it cometh, or what are the causes or occasions …
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life

Manner of Covenanting.
Previous to an examination of the manner of engaging in the exercise of Covenanting, the consideration of God's procedure towards his people while performing the service seems to claim regard. Of the manner in which the great Supreme as God acts, as well as of Himself, our knowledge is limited. Yet though even of the effects on creatures of His doings we know little, we have reason to rejoice that, in His word He has informed us, and in His providence illustrated by that word, he has given us to …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting

And He had Also this Favour Granted Him. ...
66. And he had also this favour granted him. For as he was sitting alone on the mountain, if ever he was in perplexity in his meditations, this was revealed to him by Providence in prayer. And the happy man, as it is written, was taught of God [1112] . After this, when he once had a discussion with certain men who had come to him concerning the state of the soul and of what nature its place will be after this life, the following night one from above called him, saying, Antony, rise, go out and look.' …
Athanasius—Select Works and Letters or Athanasius

Early Battles
Six months of joyous service amongst the Welsh miners was cut short by a telegram announcing to the sisters the serious illness of Mrs. Lee. Taking the news to their Divisional Commander, they were instructed to Headquarters. It was found that the illness was due to shock. The income from investments of the little estate left by Mr. Lee had dwindled; it now had disappeared altogether. Captain Lucy faced the matter with her usual practical decision. 'Mother, darling, there are two ways out. Either …
Minnie L. Carpenter—The Angel Adjutant of "Twice Born Men"

The Testimony of the Spirit Necessary to Give Full Authority to Scripture. The Impiety of Pretending that the Credibility of Scripture Depends on the Judgment Of
1. The authority of Scripture derived not from men, but from the Spirit of God. Objection, That Scripture depends on the decision of the Church. Refutation, I. The truth of God would thus be subjected to the will of man. II. It is insulting to the Holy Spirit. III. It establishes a tyranny in the Church. IV. It forms a mass of errors. V. It subverts conscience. VI. It exposes our faith to the scoffs of the profane. 2. Another reply to the objection drawn from the words of the Apostle Paul. Solution …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion

How the Poor and the Rich Should be Admonished.
(Admonition 3.) Differently to be admonished are the poor and the rich: for to the former we ought to offer the solace of comfort against tribulation, but in the latter to induce fear as against elation. For to the poor one it is said by the Lord through the prophet, Fear not, for thou shalt not be confounded (Isai. liv. 4). And not long after, soothing her, He says, O thou poor little one, tossed with tempest (Ibid. 11). And again He comforts her, saying, I have chosen thee in the furnace of …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

Infant Baptism.
"Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God."--John iii. 5. None can be saved, unless the blood of Christ, the Immaculate Lamb of God, be imputed to him; and it is His gracious will that it should be imputed to as, one by one, by means of outward and visible signs, or what are called Sacraments. These visible rites represent to us the heavenly truth, and convey what they represent. The baptismal washing betokens the cleansing of the soul from sin; …
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VII

The Scriptures Reveal Eternal Life through Jesus Christ
John v. 39--"Search the scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me." Eph. ii. 20--"And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets." As in darkness there is need of a lantern without and the light of the eyes within--for neither can we see in darkness without some lamp though we have never so good eyes, nor yet see without eyes, though in never so clear a sunshine--so there is absolute need for the guiding of our feet in the dangerous …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

From his Commission to Reside Abroad in 1820 to his Removal to Germany in 1822
In 1822 John Yeardley went to reside in Germany. As his residence abroad constituted one of the most remarkable turns in his life, and exercised a powerful influence on the rest of his career, we shall develop as fully as we are able the motives by which he was induced to leave his native country. By means of his Diary we can trace the early appearance and growth, if not the origin, of the strong Christian sympathy he ever afterwards manifested with seeking souls in the nations on the continent of …
John Yeardley—Memoir and Diary of John Yeardley, Minister of the Gospel

How the Impudent and Bashful are to be Admonished.
(Admonition 8). Differently to be admonished are the impudent and the bashful. For those nothing but hard rebuke restrains from the vice of impudence; while these for the most part a modest exhortation disposes to amendment. Those do not know that they are in fault, unless they be rebuked even by many; to these it usually suffices for their conversion that the teacher at least gently reminds them of their evil deeds. For those one best corrects who reprehends them by direct invective; but to …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

Messiah the Son of God
For to which of the angels said He at any time, Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee? T hough every part of a revelation from God must of course be equally true, there may be a considerable difference even among truths proposed by the same authority, with respect to their immediate importance. There are fundamental truths, the knowledge of which are essentially necessary to our peace and holiness: and there are others of a secondary nature, which, though very useful in their proper connection, …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2

The Promises of the Christian Home.
"The promise is unto you, and to your children." ACTS II., 39. "Parent who plantedst in the joy of love, Yet hast not gather'd fruit,--save rankling thorns, Or Sodom's bitter apples,--hast thou read Heaven's promise to the seeker? Thou may'st bring Those o'er whose cradle thou didst watch with pride, And lay them at thy Savior's feet, for lo! His shadow falling on the wayward soul, May give it holy health. And when thou kneel'st Low at the pavement of sweet Mercy's gate, Beseeching for thine erring …
Samuel Philips—The Christian Home

Perseverance of the Saints Proved.
The following considerations, taken together, seem to me to establish the truth of the doctrine in question beyond reasonable doubt. 1. God has from eternity resolved upon the salvation of all the elect. This we have seen. No one of this number will ever be lost. These are given to Christ from eternity, as a seed to serve him. The conversion, perseverance, and final salvation of the elect, we have seen to be secured. Their conversion, perseverance, and salvation, are secured by means of the grace …
Charles Grandison Finney—Systematic Theology

The Ascension of Messiah to Glory
Lift up your head, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory. T he institutions of the Levitical law were a "shadow" or "sketch" of good things to come. They exhibited a faint and general outline …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2

The Great Crisis in Popular Feeling - the Last Discourses in the Synagogue of Capernaum - Christ the Bread of Life - Will Ye Also Go
THE narrative now returns to those who, on the previous evening, had, after the miraculous meal, been sent away' to their homes. We remember, that this had been after an abortive attempt on their part to take Jesus by force and make Him their Messiah-King. We can understand that the effectual resistance of Jesus to their purpose not only weakened, but in great measure neutralised, the effect of the miracle which they had witnessed. In fact, we look upon this check as the first turning of the tide …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

The Person Sanctified.
"The putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh."--Col. ii. 11. Sanctification embraces the whole man, body and soul, with all the parts, members, and functions that belong to each respectively. It embraces his person and, all of his person. This is why sanctification progresses from the hour of regeneration all through life, and can be completed only in and through death. St. Paul prays for the church of Thessalonica: "The God of peace sanctify you wholly, and may your whole spirit and soul …
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

The Prophecy of Obadiah.
We need not enter into details regarding the question as to the time when the prophet wrote. By a thorough argumentation, Caspari has proved, that he occupies his right position in the Canon, and hence belongs to the earliest age of written prophecy, i.e., to the time of Jeroboam II. and Uzziah. As bearing conclusively against those who would assign to him a far later date, viz., the time of the exile, there is not only the indirect testimony borne by the place which this prophecy occupies in …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

Why all Things Work for Good
1. The grand reason why all things work for good, is the near and dear interest which God has in His people. The Lord has made a covenant with them. "They shall be my people, and I will be their God" (Jer. xxxii. 38). By virtue of this compact, all things do, and must work, for good to them. "I am God, even thy God" (Psalm l. 7). This word, Thy God,' is the sweetest word in the Bible, it implies the best relations; and it is impossible there should be these relations between God and His people, and …
Thomas Watson—A Divine Cordial

Sin Charged Upon the Surety
All we like sheep have gone astray: we have turned every one to his own way, and the LORD hath laid upon Him the iniquity of us all. C omparisons, in the Scripture, are frequently to be understood with great limitation: perhaps, out of many circumstances, only one is justly applicable to the case. Thus, when our Lord says, Behold, I come as a thief (Revelation 16:15) , --common sense will fix the resemblance to a single point, that He will come suddenly, and unexpectedly. So when wandering sinners …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1

Discourse on Spiritual Food and True Discipleship. Peter's Confession.
(at the Synagogue in Capernaum.) ^D John VI. 22-71. ^d 22 On the morrow [the morrow after Jesus fed the five thousand] the multitude that stood on the other side of the sea [on the east side, opposite Capernaum] saw that there was no other boat there, save one, and that Jesus went not with his disciples into the boat, but that his disciples went away alone 23 (howbeit there came boats from Tiberias nigh unto the place where they ate the bread after that the Lord had given thanks): 24 when the multitude …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Covenanting Enforced by the Grant of Covenant Signs and Seals.
To declare emphatically that the people of God are a covenant people, various signs were in sovereignty vouchsafed. The lights in the firmament of heaven were appointed to be for signs, affording direction to the mariner, the husbandman, and others. Miracles wrought on memorable occasions, were constituted signs or tokens of God's universal government. The gracious grant of covenant signs was made in order to proclaim the truth of the existence of God's covenant with his people, to urge the performance …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting

The Unchangeableness of God
The next attribute is God's unchangeableness. I am Jehovah, I change not.' Mal 3:3. I. God is unchangeable in his nature. II. In his decree. I. Unchangeable in his nature. 1. There is no eclipse of his brightness. 2. No period put to his being. [1] No eclipse of his brightness. His essence shines with a fixed lustre. With whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.' James 1:17. Thou art the same.' Psa 102:27. All created things are full of vicissitudes. Princes and emperors are subject to …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity