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shall walk in the light of Him, whom your soul loveth. Then shall your sorrow be turned into joy. Then shall you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.—He that. goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with them.

SERMON XVII.

CONSOLATION TO THE AFFLICTED.

ISAIAH, L. 10.

Who is among you that feareth the Lord, and obeyeth the voice of his servant; that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord, and staý upon his God.

WHILE the Holy Scriptures denounce vengeance on every obstinate and impenitent sinner; they abound with the richest consolations to persons of an opposite character. It appears indeed to be one constant and leading object of the sacred writers not to make the heart of the righteous sad, but to keep alive in them a cheering recollection of the important truth, that the Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, as well as to reserve the unjust to the day of judgement to be punished. Hence it generally occurs, that in those sages, where divine wrath is proclaimed against incorrigible transgressors, some gra

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cious promise, some encouraging exhortation is introduced for the comfort and support of the true servants of God.

The text affords an illustration of this remark. In the preceding verses Isaiah had been foretelling the aweful judgements which God would assuredly inflict upon the Jews for their rejection, first of his prophets, and afterwards of his Son. Lo, they all shall wax old as a garment: the moth shall eat them up. But was the whole nation to be indiscriminately involved in destruction? No. There was a remnant, there always would be a remnant, distinguished by their piety and zeal; and to such persons the predicted vengeance did not attach. Though for a season they might appear to be involved in the general ruin, yet let them not be cast down, neither let them be afraid. The Lord with the temptation would make a way of escape, that they might be able to bear it. Let this assurance comfort their hearts, and sustain their drooping spirits. Such is the purport of the consolatory address in the text: Who is among you that feareth the Lord, and obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God.

But this consolatory address is not to be confined to the Jews, or to the times of Isaiah

or of Christ. It is equally applicable to all nations and ages. The Consolation to be derived from it belongs to every person, whose case accords with that described in the text.

Every person among us, who feareth the Lord and obeyeth the voice of his servant, may with confidence be exhorted under every affliction to trust in the name of the Lord, and to stay upon his God. In making this extended use of the passage, I shall proceed,

I. To give a general statement of the case described, and of the Consolation provided for it.

II. To lead those, who are concerned, to make a particular application of the subject to themselves.

I. The case described is one which possesses the strongest claim to commiseration and relief. It is the case of piety under affliction, and that affliction not of an ordinary kind and measure, but peculiar both in its nature and degree.-Who is among you that feareth the Lord, and obeyeth the voice of his servant? These words designate the piety of the person, whose case is described. He feareth the Lord. He lives under a conviction, deeply impressed, and permanently operating on his soul, of the presence, the majesty, and the holiness of the Almighty. He obeyeth the voice of his servant. Under whatever dispensation

of the covenant of grace the pious man may have his lot assigned; whether God speaks unto him by Moses and the prophets, or by Christ and his apostles; he listens with reverence, and strives to render the obedience of faith. It is his desire to be holy as God is holy, and to walk in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. Such is genuine piety. But is even such piety exempt from suffering on earth? The text implies,

experience proves, the contrary. Though Godliness has promise of the life that now is, as well as of that which is to come, yet facts demonstrate, that this promise includes not an exemption from present anxiety and trouble. The case under review represents, as has been already stated, exemplary piety united with singular affliction. The person addressed is describe.l, while fearing the Lord, and obeying the voice of his servant, as at the same time walking in darkness, and seeing no light. These expressions are clearly figurative; but there can be no difficulty in ascertaining their appropriate meaning. They evidently denote a state of perplexity and distress, in which no prospect of deliverance presents itself. And it is this latter circumstance which constitutes

the peculiarity of the case. Where a probability exists, that at the arrival of some limited period, and by the application of some spe

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