even the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the For thither the tribes go up, even the tribes of the Lord, to testify unto Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the Lord - 146 246 It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the And Balaam answered and said unto the servants of Balak, THE FRIENDSHIP OF THE WORLD ENMITY WITH GOD. The friendship of the world is enmity with God: whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God 415 JESUS CHRIST THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE. Whatsoever things were written aforetime, were written for SERMON I. ON ORDINATION. ISAIAH Ixi. 13. The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called Trees of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified. THIS Scene which the prophet unfolds, exhibits almost all the characters that compose the subjects of human misery; we behold the poor, the brokenhearted, the mourner, the captive; and surely this scene will call forth the compassion of the Most High. It is calculated to awaken our liveliest sympathy; and we hear a personage who appears bearing from the Most High a commission of mercy; and thus he unfolds its interesting import: "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to VOL. II. 1 comfort all that mourn; to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called Trees of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified." No doubt can exist with respect to the personage who thus delivers his gracious commission; the evangelical prophet contains the most minute delineations of the character and offices of Jesus Christ; we cannot, therefore, hesitate instantly to refer to him a passage which so well suits the gracious and compassionate character and office of the Saviour of the world. The correctness of this application is established by our Lord himself. Soon after he commenced his ministry, by preaching the Gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease, entering, as was his custom, a synagogue at Nazareth, to unite in the worship there celebrated, he was called to officiate as a reader, and opening the book of the prophet Esaias, which was presented to him, he found the place where this passage was written; and having read it, he expounded it, and proclaimed to the people wondering at the gracious words which proceeded out of his lips, "This day is the Scripture fulfilled in your ears." He thus declared that he was the gracious Personage pointed out in the passage of the evangelical prophet. Applying then this passage to Jesus Christ, we behold, 1. His solemn inauguration to office; and, 2. The gracious functions with which he was invested. |