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1994-03-01
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25852
#10-16 When the gospel should be publicly preached, the Gentiles
would seek Christ Jesus as their Lord and Saviour, and find rest
of soul. When God's time is come for the deliverance of his
people, mountains of opposition shall become plains before him.
God can soon turn gloomy days into glorious ones. And while we
expect the Lord to gather his ancient people, and bring them
home to his church, also to bring in the fulness of the
Gentiles, when all will be united in holy love, let us tread the
highway of holiness he has made for his redeemed. Let us wait
for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life,
looking to him to prepare our way through death, that river
which separates this world from the eternal world.
25859
* This is a hymn of praise suited to the times of the Messiah.
- The song of praise in this chapter is suitable for the return
of the outcasts of Israel from their long captivity, but it is
especially suitable to the case of a sinner, when he first finds
peace and joy in believing; to that of a believer, when his
peace is renewed after corrections for backslidings; and to that
of the whole company of the redeemed, when they meet before the
throne of God in heaven. The promise is sure, and the blessings
contained in it are very rich; and the benefits enjoyed through
Jesus Christ, call for the most enlarged thanksgivings. By Jesus
Christ, the Root of Jesse, the Divine anger against mankind was
turned away, for he is our Peace. Those to whom God is
reconciled, he comforts. They are taught to triumph in God and
their interest in him. I will trust him to prepare me for his
salvation, and preserve me to it. I will trust him with all my
concerns, not doubting but he will make all to work for good.
Faith in God is a sovereign remedy against tormenting fears.
Many Christians have God for their strength, who have him not
for their song; they walk in darkness: but those who have God
for their strength ought to make him their song; that is, give
him the glory of it, and take to themselves the comfort of it.
This salvation is from the love of God the Father, it comes to
us through God the Son, it is applied by the new-creating power
of God the Spirit. When this is seen by faith, the trembling
sinner learns to hope in God, and is delivered from fear. The
purifying and sanctifying influences of the Holy Ghost often are
denoted under the emblem of springing water. This work flows
through the mediation of Christ, and is conveyed to our souls by
means of God's ordinances. Blessed be God, we have wells of
salvation opened on every side, and may draw from them the
waters of life and consolation. In the second part of this
gospel song, ver. #4-6|, believers encourage one another to praise
God, and seek to draw others to join them in it. No difference
of opinions about the times and seasons, and other such matters,
ought to divide the hearts of Christians. Let it be our care
that we may be placed amongst those to whom he will say, Come,
ye blessed of my Father, receive the kingdom prepared for you
from the beginning of the world.
25865
* The armies of God's wrath. (1-5) The conquest of Babylon.
(6-18) Its final desolation. (19-22)
#1-5 The threatenings of God's word press heavily upon the
wicked, and are a sore burden, too heavy for them to bear. The
persons brought together to lay Babylon waste, are called God's
sanctified or appointed ones; designed for this service, and
made able to do it. They are called God's mighty ones, because
they had their might from God, and were now to use it for him.
They come from afar. God can make those a scourge and ruin to
his enemies, who are farthest off, and therefore least dreaded.
25870
#6-18 We have here the terrible desolation of Babylon by the
Medes and Persians. Those who in the day of their peace were
proud, and haughty, and terrible, are quite dispirited when
trouble comes. Their faces shall be scorched with the flame. All
comfort and hope shall fail. The stars of heaven shall not give
their light, the sun shall be darkened. Such expressions are
often employed by the prophets, to describe the convulsions of
governments. God will visit them for their iniquity,
particularly the sin of pride, which brings men low. There shall
be a general scene of horror. Those who join themselves to
Babylon, must expect to share her plagues, #Re 18:4|. All that
men have, they would give for their lives, but no man's riches
shall be the ransom of his life. Pause here and wonder that men
should be thus cruel and inhuman, and see how corrupt the nature
of man is become. And that little infants thus suffer, which
shows that there is an original guilt, by which life is
forfeited as soon as it is begun. The day of the Lord will,
indeed, be terrible with wrath and fierce anger, far beyond all
here stated. Nor will there be any place for the sinner to flee
to, or attempt an escape. But few act as though they believed
these things.
25883
#19-22 Babylon was a noble city; yet it should be wholly
destroyed. None shall dwell there. It shall be a haunt for wild
beasts. All this is fulfilled. The fate of this proud city is a
proof of the truth of the Bible, and an emblem of the
approaching ruin of the New Testament Babylon; a warning to
sinners to flee from the wrath to come, and it encourages
believers to expect victory over every enemy of their souls, and
of the church of God. The whole world changes and is liable to
decay. Wherefore let us give diligence to obtain a kingdom which
cannot be moved; and in this hope let us hold fast that grace
whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly
fear.
25887
* The destruction of Babylon, and the death of its proud
monarch. (1-23) Assurance of the destruction of Assyria. (24-27)
The destruction of the Philistines. (28-32)
#1-23 The whole plan of Divine Providence is arranged with a
view to the good of the people of God. A settlement in the land
of promise is of God's mercy. Let the church receive those whom
God receives. God's people, wherever their lot is cast, should
endeavour to recommend religion by a right and winning
conversation. Those that would not be reconciled to them, should
be humbled by them. This may be applied to the success of the
gospel, when those were brought to obey it who had opposed it.
God himself undertakes to work a blessed change. They shall have
rest from their sorrow and fear, the sense of their present
burdens, and the dread of worse. Babylon abounded in riches. The
king of Babylon having the absolute command of so much wealth,
by the help of it ruled the nations. This refers especially to
the people of the Jews; and it filled up the measure of the king
of Babylon's sins. Tyrants sacrifice their true interest to
their lusts and passions. It is gracious ambition to covet to be
like the Most Holy, for he has said, Be ye holy, for I am holy;
but it is sinful ambition to aim to be like the Most High, for
he has said, He who exalts himself shall be abased. The devil
thus drew our first parents to sin. Utter ruin should be brought
upon him. Those that will not cease to sin, God will make to
cease. He should be slain, and go down to the grave; this is the
common fate of tyrants. True glory, that is, true grace, will go
up with the soul to heaven, but vain pomp will go down with the
body to the grave; there is an end of it. To be denied burial,
if for righteousness' sake, may be rejoiced in, #Mt 5:12|. But
if the just punishment of sin, it denotes that impenitent
sinners shall rise to everlasting shame and contempt. Many
triumphs should be in his fall. God will reckon with those that
disturb the peace of mankind. The receiving the king of Babylon
into the regions of the dead, shows there is a world of spirits,
to which the souls of men remove at death. And that souls have
converse with each other, though we have none with them; and
that death and hell will be death and hell indeed, to all who
fall unholy, from the height of this world's pomps, and the
fulness of its pleasures. Learn from all this, that the seed of
evil-doers shall never be renowned. The royal city is to be
ruined and forsaken. Thus the utter destruction of the New
Testament Babylon is illustrated, #Re 18:2|. When a people will
not be made clean with the besom of reformation, what can they
expect but to be swept off the face of the earth with the besom
of destruction?