There is no cluster to eat THE UNREVIVED CHURCH The picture before the eye of the prophet is that of famine in the midst of plenty, want in time of harvest, sterility amid summer fruits, soul fasting and wretchedness in a season of external prosperity and fulness. The time of ingathering is at hand... [ Continue Reading ]
_The good man is perished out of the earth _ THE WAIL OF A TRUE PATRIOT OVER THE MORAL CORRUPTION OF HIS COUNTRY He bemoans-- I. The departure of excellence from his country. “The good man is perished out of the earth.” Probably they had emigrated to distant lands, perhaps they had gone into eter... [ Continue Reading ]
_That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, the prince asketh, and the Judge asketh, for a reward _ SUCCESS IN SIN: HOW IT COMES, AND WHAT IT IS This is a picture, given at a stroke, of a proficient in sin in the highest state of sinful activity. He is doing evil “earnestly,” systematically,... [ Continue Reading ]
_I will look unto the Lord (taken with _Isaiah 66:2_) _ THE TWO LOOKS Man is a creature requiring help. Where is he to look? I. Man’s look. 1. Personal--“I.” Whatever it may cost, whoever else will not, I will. 2. Reliance--“unto.” In weakness, confusion, difficulty I will look unto the Lord.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy; when I fail, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me _ THE REJOICING FOE REBUKED I. The rejoicing foe. At the moment of conversion, the soul enters upon a conflict which continues until his dying day. The bugle that calls him... [ Continue Reading ]
_I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against Him _ THE BELIEVER, CONSCIOUS OF GOD’S DISPLEASURE, CONFESSING HIS SIN This is the language of the Church of the living God. It is a sincere and upright acknowledgment of her own fault. She saw God in the dealing and conduct... [ Continue Reading ]
_In the day that thy walls are to be built _ THE GOOD TIME COMING I. It will be a time for rebuilding the ruined. “In the day that thy walls are to be built.” The walls of Jerusalem are referred to--the walls of fortification, protection, these are to be rebuilt. There is, however, a more importan... [ Continue Reading ]
_For the fruit of their doings _ MAN’S RUIN THE FRUIT OF HIS OWN CONDUCT Assuming it to be a fact that man’s ruin is evermore the fruit of his own conduct, three things must follow-- I. That his misery will be identified with remorse. Morally it is impossible for a man to ascribe his ruin to his... [ Continue Reading ]
_Feed Thy people with Thy rod, the flock of Thine heritage, which dwell solitarily in the wood, in the midst of Carmel: let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old _ CHRIST’S PASTORAL CARE The prophet gives an account of the state of the professing, visible Church, which he looks upo... [ Continue Reading ]
_Who is a God like unto Thee, that pardoneth iniquity?_ THE GRACE OF GOD TO SINNERS Micah and Isaiah were contemporaries. They lived in the same land, they lived in the same city; they ministered, we may say, to the same congregation, and they preached the same Gospel. They were very unlike in some... [ Continue Reading ]
_And Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea _ GOD PUTTING AWAY THE INIQUITY OF HIS PEOPLE The mercies and promises of the Old Testament were but the outline of the glory thereafter to be revealed. The latter portion of this chapter abounds with assurances of Jerusalem’s restorati... [ Continue Reading ]