_Now will I sing to my well-beloved_
HOPES CONCERNING THE VINEYARD
The Lord’s hopes and disappointment with His vineyard.
(_A. B. Davidson, LL. D._)
TRUTH TO BE PRESENTED IN VARIED FORM
Aaron’s bells must be wisely rung. Sometimes the treble of mercy
sounds well, at other times the tenor of jud... [ Continue Reading ]
_It brought forth wild grapes_
WILD GRAPES
The history of the Jewish nation is written for our warning, and the
lessons taught by this parable are sadly needed by the England of
today.
There is not one word of this description of the vineyard at its best
which is not true of this highly favoured l... [ Continue Reading ]
_Judge, I pray you, betwixt Me and My vineyard_
THE UNFRUITFUL VINEYARD
I. The way in which the inspired penman is guided to put the question
in the text seems to lead us to ONE OF WE SUBTLEST WEAKNESSES OF HUMAN
NATURE,--I mean the power which men possess of perceiving general
truth without at th... [ Continue Reading ]
_What could have been done more to My vineyard that I have not done in
it?_
HUMAN RESPONSIBILITY AND DIVINE GRACE
I. In any attempt at the interpretation of the story and the
exhibition of its moral and religions uses, its NATIONAL APPLICATION
should be considered first. (Isaiah 5:7_._)
1. There... [ Continue Reading ]
_Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field_
THE SELFISH LANDOWNER
Selfishness, or the making self the centre to which all things are to
tend, is the great sin in all ages and peoples.
As soon as national institutions have awakened the sense of
personality and the feeling of s... [ Continue Reading ]
_Many houses shall be desolate, even great and fair, without
inhabitant_
EMPTY HOUSES
(To children):--Empty houses! We all know what they look like.
From afar we can see the bills in the windows--“This house to
let,” or “To be let,” or, still more curtly, “To let”; and
when we come nearer, the bl... [ Continue Reading ]
_Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow
strong drink_
THE FRUITS OF DRUNKENNESS
I. In reference to THE INDIVIDUAL HIMSELF, who is its victim. It may,
perhaps, be made a question by some, When may a man be regarded as
intoxicated, and what may be the number of offences... [ Continue Reading ]
_They regard not the work of the Lord_
THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD
A neglect of God, and a disregard of His wonder-working providence,
constitutes the character of man under the influence of his natural
corruption of heart.
It formed the character of the Jewish Church, notwithstanding its
outward privi... [ Continue Reading ]
_My people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge_
A SERMON FOR TRINITY SUNDAY
1_._
“My people.” The Almighty has a people of His own; a people with
special privileges and a special work to do. In the Old Testament and
the New this is clearly written. “My people,” says Isaiah; “M... [ Continue Reading ]
_Hell hath enlarged herself. .. the Lord of hosts shall be exalted in
Judgment_
THE GRAVE
“Hell,” here, stands not for future punishment.
The word “Sheol” in Hebrew, “Hades” in Greek, and “Hell”
in this verse, represent the place of the dead--the grave. This place
of the dead is spoken of in the... [ Continue Reading ]
_Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity._
FRIVOLITY AND PROFANITY
Frivolity, he says, is the herald and handmaid of guilt. The cords are
cords of vanity bound about us in mere thoughtlessness in the
unguarded hours of recreation, in the giddy whirl of society, when
talk is gay and fr... [ Continue Reading ]
_Woe unto them that call evil good and good evil_
WOE UNTO THEM THAT CALL EVIL GOOD AND GOOD EVIL
There is a customary mode of talking, in which familiar formulas of
praise and censure, as to moral objects, are employed as if by rote,
revolving the admission of important principles, and recognisin... [ Continue Reading ]
_Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes_
A FALSE ESTIMATE OF HUMAN WISDOM
The sin reproved (as Calvin well observes) is not mere frivolous
self-conceit, but that delusive estimate of human wisdom which may
co-exist with modesty of manners and a high degree of real
intellectual merit, but wh... [ Continue Reading ]
_Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine. .. which justify the
wicked for reward_
WINE-LOVING LAWYERS AND JUDGES
Among the men whom Isaiah denounces as the corrupters and destroyers
of the society of which they are the leaders, are the unjust lawyers
and judges: he mentions as characteristic o... [ Continue Reading ]
_Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble_
SIN BRINGS JUDGMENT IN ITS TRAIN
Let not those expect to live easily that live thus wickedly, for the
righteous God wilt take vengeance.
Observe--
I. HOW COMPLETE this ruin will be, and how necessarily and unavoidably
it will follow upon their sins. T... [ Continue Reading ]
_Therefore is the anger of the Lord kindled against His people_
THE PROPHECY EXPLAINED
Jehovah is about to bring foreign armies as the instruments of His
judgment; the vision of the worst of human calamities--the invasion of
a rich, civilised, luxurious nation by overwhelming hordes of
barbarians-... [ Continue Reading ]