Isaiah 48:17
Thus says the LORD your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: "I am the LORD your God, who teaches you for your benefit, who directs you in the way you should go.
Sermons
The New RevelationE. Johnson Isaiah 48:12-22
God is What He is for His PeopleW. J. Mayers.Isaiah 48:17-18
God, Our Teacher and LeaderW. J. Mayers.Isaiah 48:17-18
It Might have BeenW. Forsyth, M.A.Isaiah 48:17-18
Life an EducationR. H. Story, D.D.Isaiah 48:17-18
Profitable Teaching and Right LeadingJ. Parrish, B.A.Isaiah 48:17-18
The Benefit of AfflictionsN. Emmons, D.D.Isaiah 48:17-18
The I Am's of God and of ManW. J. Mayers.Isaiah 48:17-18
The Soul's GuideIsaiah 48:17-18
True ProfitJ. Vaughan, M.A.Isaiah 48:17-18
Human Freedom and Divine RegretW. Clarkson Isaiah 48:17-19














In these fervent and eloquent words of the prophet we learn -

I. THAT GOD DESIGNS GOOD AND EVEN GREAT THINGS FOR THE OBEDIENT. If Israel had only been obedient to the Divine commandment, it would have rejoiced in:

1. Abounding prosperity. Its peace (prosperity) would have been "as a river," flowing on continuously, without break, night and day, generation after generation. Victory in war and fruitfulness in the field would have been their happy heritage (see Psalm 81:13-16). This is the offer which Christ makes to his obedient disciples (Mark 10:29, 30). Not that prosperity always comes to the Christian disciple in the shape of "increase of corn and wine;" but it does come in one form if not in another - often in the shape of indwelling peace and overflowing joy when the home is of the humblest and the lot of the hardest kind.

2. Advancing rectitude. Its righteousness would have been "as the waves of the sea," coming on and coming in with steady, irresistible flow. Righteousness is an incomparably greater blessing than prosperity: To be a "righteous nation" is to be vastly more than a triumphant or wealthy nation. Christ promises to those who are the true subjects of his kingdom that their blest heritage shall be "righteousness as well as peace and joy in the Holy Ghost;" spiritual rectitude; the heart in its true and loyal attitude towards God, towards man, towards truth and life.

3. Abiding influence. (Ver. 19.)

II. THAT WE ARE LEFT FEARFULLY FREE TO THWART HIS GRACIOUS PURPOSE. Jehovah laments that Israel had forfeited its heritage, had used its freedom to disobey, had cut itself off from his generous design (ver. 18). What God would gladly have bestowed, the foolish nation had resolved to refuse. Such power of choice has the Creator given to his creature, man. And what fearful use has man made of this his freedom! It is not Israel alone that has elected to forego splendid opportunities. What might not Rome have been, and Egypt, and those European lands to which the knowledge of the gospel has been carried! It is not too late to ask - What may not England be? The record of her history is not yet complete; her sands are not yet run; her gate of opportunity is not yet closed. She may yet rise to the height of her privilege, as she may yet sink grievously and fatally beneath it. With the same solemn and awful; freedom every individual soul is invested by its Creator. Every one of us is at liberty to thwart his gracious purpose if we choose; at liberty also to realize it, in all its glorious fulness, if we will.

III. THAT OUR DISOBEDIENCE AND DISINHERITANCE ARE A SOURCE OF DIVINE REGRET. Do we not hear an undertone of deep sorrow in this lament? Our heavenly Father, our Divine Friend, regards the sad abuse of our freedom with a sorrow which is all his own. The human parent who has been deeply disappointed in the character and career of his beloved child is likely to have the truest insight into the grief of God when he witnesses our rejection of his truth and grace. But as "God only knows the love of God," so he only knows the depth and fulness of his grief.

IV. THAT WE MAY RECOVER ALL IF WE LISTEN WHEN GOD SPEAKS AGAIN. The Holy One is our Redeemer: he "teaches us to profit;" he "leads us in the way," etc. (ver. 17). He comes in holy discipline, in fatherly correction, to call us from our folly, to save us from our sin. If we will only know the profitableness of his redeeming truth, we may be restored and reinstated; we may yet wear the robe and the ring of sonship, and sit down at the Father's board. - C.

Thus saith the Lord thy Redeemer.
How beautiful and impressive are the "I am's" of God; so different from the proud and empty boastings clearly discernible in the "I am's" of man. We are never nearer to misleading others and deceiving ourselves, than when we utter sentences beginning with "I am." For, after all, what are we in ourselves that is worth mentioning? When we yield to the constraint of the Bible and conscience, and come to know something of our own hearts, we shall not dare to speak aloud to those about us; but, like Job, our words will be for God, and into His ears we shall whisper, "I am vile." Or, if beneath the influence of the blessed Spirit we come to realise that our nature is changed, then shall we temper our assertion with humility, and, like Paul, say, "By the grace of God, I am what I am." Only on God's lips has the declaration, "I am," its full meaning. This is God's great name.

(W. J. Mayers.)

This grand self-assertion of God will increase in its beauty and power for us when we remember that God is not some powerful monarch, isolating Himself from those around Him, withholding succour from the distressed, guidance from the perplexed, relief from the poor, and living only to gratify Himself. What God is He is for His people — as the sun is light for the earth, or the earth nourishment for the crops, or the crops food for the people. How comforting and helpful is the recollection of what God is! In God's "I am" the sick man finds his medicine, the poor man his riches, the lonely man his company, the sinner his salvation, the wanderer his hope, the wounded heart its balm, the hungry soul its manna, the fearful one his cordial, the dying one his life, and every glorified one his all. We must go out of ourselves to get real blessing for ourselves; and to whom should we go but to Him, described as the "Lord, the Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel"? The heart must have a person to love, to lean on, to live for. No doctrine, no idea, no creed can take the place of the person. The language just quoted describes a character peculiar to the Person of Jesus Christ. He is the true Lord, the Redeemer, the Holy One, supreme in all creation, paramount in redemption, having the pre-eminence in holiness. As Lord He rules, as Redeemer He saves, as Holy One He inspires and guides. He claims to be our Lord and God, and in this high station deigns to address us. Nor would we be slow to recognise His claims, but would have our faith to be the echo of His love, while, with Thomas, each one of us says: "My Lord and my God." It is indeed Divine love which speaks to us in the text, and makes known to us the good will and pleasure of the great "I Am."

(W. J. Mayers.)

"Learn of Me" and "Follow Me" are two most impressive commands of Jesus Christ. I. THERE IS AN IMPORTANT RELATION BETWEEN THESE TWO OFFICES OF OUR DIVINE MASTER. Not every teacher is a leader, not every leader a true teacher. Theory and practice are often divorced. Words and works are not always wedded. But in our Lord there is perfection in both teaching and leading. Does Jesus teach us to "pray and not to faint"? He also leads in this, for He prayed. Does Jesus teach us to glorify God by our "good works"? He "went about doing good." Does our Master teach us to love our enemies and pray for those who despitefully use us? How grandly axe we led by His dying prayer, "Father, forgive them." Are we to "seek first the kingdom of God," according to His teaching? So, indeed, did He, for it was His meat and drink to do His Father's will. Would He have us patient under suffering, calm amid reproach, submissive under affliction, and alway resigned? So, indeed, was He. Let the Garden of Gethsemane bear witness. Let Pilate's hall testify. Let Calvary give answer. He truly "teaches us to profit, and leads us by the way we should go." These are the two great forces which aid us in the formation of the Christian character and the development of the Christian life. The teaching of our Master is sometimes out of the book of affliction and sorrow. He teaches us our folly, and weakness, and sin; and then leads us into His wisdom, and strength, and holiness. He teaches us in the valley of the shadow that He may lead us to the golden height of Divine light and love. He teaches us by the furnace that He may lead us to the palace. He teaches us by the noon-day heat, and then leads us to the sheltering rock. In multitudes of ways does our Lord teach His people, but ever to the end that He may lead them in the way in which they should go. But for His instructions we should be poor followers. If He beckoned to us in silence we should hardly dare to take a step. But He is not silent, for as He goes before us we can hear His voice. The thought of His instruction encourages us, while His leadership emboldens us. II. Let us now spend a little while in THE CONTEMPLATION OF THOSE SWEET WORDS, "WHICH LEADETH THEE." Here, indeed, is found soul-comfort and strength, such as we all need amid our feebleness and the bewilderment around. It will be well for us to read these words in the light of Scripture thoughts and incidents. How they remind us of God leading His people from the thraldom of Egypt. Only let faith's eye be clear, and the leading pillar will ever be discerned. In the Song of Moses we have a beautiful figure to help us in understanding our Lord s leading. There the mention of the eagle's care for her young in fluttering over them as they try to fly, and spreading her wings beneath them to give them confidence, and bearing them on her wings when they are weary, is followed by the declaration, — "So the Lord alone did lead them." As we pass on we come to the beautiful poem of the shepherd-king, and we hear his sweet voice singing, "He leadeth me beside the still waters." And then we find David's son putting into the lips of wisdom the words, "I lead in the way of righteousness." Let us take another example; now from the prophet Isaiah. There we find this precious promise of our God's: "I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known. Is not this what He has done and still does for us? How strengthening, again, is the promise recorded by this same prophet: I will heal him; I will lead him also, and restore comforts unto him; and how soothing the words written for us by Jeremiah: "With favours will I lead them; I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble." III. WHAT SPIRIT SHALL WE MANIFEST IN VIEW OF THIS PRECIOUS TRUTH? Let us take our place by the Psalmist, and with him in a spirit of humility, resignation, trustful. ness, and hope, put up these petitions: Psalm 5:8; Psalm 25:5; Psalm 27:11; Psalm 31:3; Psalm 61:2; Psalm 139:24; Psalm 143:10. Thus shall we on earth have a true foretaste of the unspeakable rest and blessedness of that sinless place where "the Lamb, which is in the midst of the throne, shall lead them, and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes."

(W. J. Mayers.)

I. GOD AS A REDEEMER. The redemption spoken of by Isaiah was temporal in the first place. But he ascends a much higher sphere than that circumscribed by any earthly demand. 1. The captivity of evil; the Babylon of sin. The whole human race is involved in misery as in guilt. The bondage of iniquity is the worst sort of captivity that beings capable of a better life can possibly suffer. 2. The mercy of the Redeemer at work in the city of bondage. (1) The greater because of our helplessness and need. (2) The greater because of our sinfulness and unbelief. (3) Crowned by the maintenance of God's righteousness with the recovery and perfection of our own. The Gospel is not simply a principle of forgiveness, it is that and something more: it is the power to become holy — the happiness and endlessness of a righteous and godly life. II. GOD AS A TEACHER. The Gospel is too generally only regarded and valued as a something which adds to our enjoyment. Few Christians even understand the beneficence of discipline. 1. Look at the Gospel as a teacher. The new birth opens the eyes to a new world; it is followed by a new language. Here is the high school of heaven in which the Spirit of God is the principal Teacher. 2. Learning is never easy. There is no royal road to this learning, any more than to mere secular knowledge. (1) The lessons are harder because we have to unlearn. Satan has had us in his school, where we were as apt to learn as he to teach. (2) The lessons are harder because we are not diligent. The elements always seem most difficult, because they are so near. If a man always sticks at the elements he is ever in difficulties, yet never makes progress. (3) The learning is harder because as yet we are not much better than invalids. 3. Yet all the teaching is profitable. (1) As a correction. Our weakness makes us more humble, and less prone to self-reliance. (2) As a spiritual development. All these things are made to work together for our highest good. III. GOD AS A LEADER. 1. The way God would have us go is not always according to our inclination. (1) The pleasantest way is not necessarily the best. (2) The fact that we are called to walk in an unpleasant path, so far from proving God s desertion may indicate just the reverse. He may be nearer to us in the cloud than in the sunshine. The wilderness with Him in it is the way to Canaan: no other way, however pleasant, can be safe. 2. The knowledge that it is His way should be enough. (1) As a reason. For there can be nothing irrational in following Him who is the source and crown of wisdom. (2) As an incentive. For the voice of His approval should sound both distinctly and pleasantly to our ears.

(J. Parrish, B.A.)

1. Our life is an education; not a mere probation, or trial of what we are to be and to do, but a training of our lives and characters into as great likeness as is possible to the perfect life and character of God, revealed to us in Christ. It is a great truth, helping us to see many things in their true light; above all, helping us to understand the meaning of our life, and its relation to the will of God. The human father is too often but a deceiving type through which to try to understand the Divine Father. Still, even those who have had least to thank their earthly parents for should be able to rise to the idea, however imperfect, of a wise, righteous, unselfish fatherhood, and to picture to themselves a man who should show these qualities in his relation to his children. And thinking of such an one, could you think of him as content that they should simply go their own way, seek their own pleasure, indulge their own whims, let loose their own tempers and desires, and own no authority, and recognise no purpose in life, and believe in no will higher, more experienced, more just than their own? All that is truest and most useful in the discipline and training which an earthly father, who knows his relation to his family and is faithful to it, bestows on his children, is based on something that is eternal in the heavens, that exists as the true rule of fatherhood in the mind of God the Father. Is it not involved in the very idea that God is our Father that there should be in His mind a design for each of us? And is it not inseparable from such a design that there should be much in it that is not naturally easy and pleasant? The pain has been inevitable because the true end of life has been kept in view, above all temporary and petty objects that lie in the way to that end. The end could not be reached by one ignorant, untrained, undisciplined, unaccustomed to obey or to learn. In the training for the higher life it is not all plain and smooth. Least of all is it so at the beginning. This is the meaning of the "strait gate" and the "narrow way" that "lead to life." They are strait and narrow, because they lead to life, because they lead us on to a definite purpose of God for us that is not laid down at random, not shaped by chance, but is the result of love and foresight, and must, like all things that are high and good, be worked out not carelessly and easily, but with patience and thought and toil. 2. If we believe in this Divine purpose of our life, if we believe that the object of it is to train us into more perfect union with our Father, to educate us to fill our place as His children in His family, surely it will be our wisdom to try to learn what it is and to fulfil it. How are we to do this? Not through self-will; of that we may be sure. 3. There are two great errors into which those who are failing of God's plan may have fallen, or be falling. There is the error of being self-confident, impatient of all authority, advice, control, even of such control (a parent's, for instance) as is one of God's own ordinances, one of the abiding bonds of human life, which cannot be broken without the family or the society in which it is broken suffering loss, and at last dissolution. And there is the error of yielding absolutely to some authority (other than a natural authority) to which you submit your own reason and conscience, and for which you resign your own responsibility. We should beware of either of these errors. And lest we fall into them, we should use our reason and our conscience diligently in striving to find out the will of God for us; and if ever it seems hard to find, then there is the refuge of work and of prayer to resort to, until the dawn of light and peace. 4. It is a great thing to trust God; to have faith in Him and in His goodwill and loving purpose for us, really to believe that we are children in His family, and scholars in His school Such faith is the root of strength, hope, patience and courage in human life.

(R. H. Story, D.D.)

(for the New Year): — 1. THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE GUIDE. He is Jehovah — the Lord our strength; the Cause of all existence, and the Fountain and Source of life. Thus He is "mighty to save," and able to conduct His servants through every danger, and deliver them from every foe. He is thy Redeemer, loving thee with an everlasting love. A companion to rescue thee from danger, to take a loving interest in all thy cares and sorrows: One who has "chosen thee in the furnace of affliction," that He may make thee "all glorious within," and imprint on thee His own likeness. He is "the Holy One of Israel," faithful and true, rich, tender, and unfailing in His promises. II. THE METHODS OF GUIDANCE. "Teacheth thee to profit leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go." The methods are various and sometimes peculiar, but always full of wisdom. Nothing is ever wanting on the part of the Teacher: if it is necessary for the pupil's progress, he will have to submit to the discipline of restraint, and to bear the yoke of adversity. 1. God leads us sometimes by unknown paths, by ways we cannot understand. Joseph, Jacob, Daniel, Elijah. The ways of providence need careful watching to see their fitness and beauty. 2. By gentleness. David could say, "Thy gentleness hath made me great," — the Divine condescension had stooped to his frailties and errors. "I will guide thee with Mine eye." Not with bit and bridle, nor with the "hook in thy nose," as Sennacherib. 3. This guidance is continual. The Guide never relaxes His vigilant care. He will "never leave thee," — "even unto death" He is by thy side. Thus guided we are always safe, right, and happy. III. THE RESULTS OF ACCEPTING THIS GUIDANCE (ver. 18). "If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land." God's promises are always to character. 1. Peace — that quiet, restful condition of soul which is the heritage of those from whom all painful emotions and all disturbing influences are removed. 2. Righteousness — as the foundation on which character is built, and the element of which it consists. "Righteousness . . . as the waves of the sea — so wide in its influence as to cover all the interests of life; so deep as to go down to the deepest places of the heart, and permeate the whole life with its power and beauty. And the peace and righteousness united make life fruitful — so that it abounds in goodness, and the soul at all times and in all places is enabled to fulfil life's highest duty.

( J. Edwards.)

These words would be sad from the lips of man, but coming from God they are inexpressibly touching and solemn. They are the cry of a wounded heart. They tell not of the wrath of justice, but of the sorrows of love This may be regarded as implying — I. GRIEF FOR LOST HOPES. Once there was hope and fair promise. God's beautiful ideal might be realised. But that is all gone. God only knows what has been lost. He is, so to speak, alone with His sorrow. II. JUDGMENT FOR NEGLECTED OPPORTUNITIES. God is speaking here in the character of "the Redeemer — the Holy One of Israel." He recalls what He had done, and what might and ought to have been the happy results. But the precious opportunities had been abused. 1. Gracious instruction. "I am the Lord which teacheth thee to profit." 2. Infallible guidance. "Which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go." 3. Holy blessedness. Then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea." But the time is past. The glorious vision has faded away for ever. Neglected opportunities bring sure and terrible retribution. III. EXONERATION FOR NEEDLESS RUIN. Reason, conscience, and the Holy Scriptures combine in testifying that man's ruin is not of chance or fate, far less of God, but exclusively of himself.

(W. Forsyth, M.A.)

I am the Lord thy God, which teacheth thee to profit.
I. AFFLICTIONS MAY BE MADE PROFITABLE TO THE CHILDREN OF GOD. 1. They may be greatly instrumental in turning off their attention from the world. 2. They may turn off their affections as well as their attention from the captivating objects of the world. 3. They may be of much greater benefit to them by raising their affections to God, the source of all good. II. GOD IS ABLE TO MAKE AFFLICTIONS PROFITABLE TO HIS CHILDREN. 1. He is able to bring Himself into the view of His afflicted children. 2. He can place their affections as well as attention upon Himself. III. THIS IS A MATTER OF CONSOLATION TO THEM. Improvement — 1. Since Godmakes use of afflictions to keep His children near to Him, it appears that they are extremely prone to forsake Him. 2. It appears from the manner in which God instructs and benefits His afflicted children, that they may derive the greatest advantage from their severest sufferings. 3. If God chastises His children for good, then those who are suffered to live in uninterrupted prosperity have reason to fear that they do not belong to the household of faith. 4. If God can make afflictions profitable to His children, then we may justly conclude that He can make them profitable to others. 5. It appears that every person may know whether he belongs to His family or not. Afflictions are peculiar trials of the heart, and give men the best opportunity to determine what is in reality the supreme object of their affections. 6. The afflicted ought to be of a teachable spirit under Divine convictions.

(N. Emmons, D.D.)

It is not only the commercial world which has to make its calculations of profit and loss. All life is made up of profit and loss. If there is not profit, there is loss; if there is not loss, there is profit. 1. I understand the text to mean, not that God teaches us in a profitable way, but that He instructs us how to get the profit in all things; that He gives that faculty, the power to take the good and refuse the evil. 2. Consider how God does "teach to profit." (1) The first thing which God will probably teach, and which we must receive, is a general confidence that there is profit, however imperceptible it may be at the time to us, in the thing which He is sending to us. (2) This faith given, the next thing that God puts into our hearts is to seek that good; eternal profit, profit both to ourselves and to Him, in that He is glorified in His own work. We are to look for that profit, not on the surface, but in certain deeper, hidden meanings and intentions which lie underneath. Into those deeper meanings God will lead and admit you. But not without three things: a reverent acceptance of His teaching, hard work, and a good life.

(J. Vaughan, M.A.)

People
Babylonians, Isaiah, Jacob
Places
Babylon, Chaldea
Topics
Best, Cause, Causing, Directs, Goest, Guiding, Holy, Leadeth, Leads, Profit, Redeemer, Says, Shouldest, Shouldst, Takes, Teaches, Teacheth, Teaching, Thus, Tread
Outline
1. God, to convince the people of their foreknown obstinance, revealed his prophecies
9. He saves them for his own sake
12. He exhorts them to obedience, because of his power and providence
16. He laments their backwardness
20. He powerfully delivers his people out of Babylon

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Isaiah 48:17

     1315   God, as redeemer
     4020   life, of faith
     6722   redemption, OT
     8231   discipline, divine
     8412   decisions

Isaiah 48:16-17

     3140   Holy Spirit, teacher

Isaiah 48:17-18

     8128   guidance, receiving
     8351   teachableness

Isaiah 48:17-19

     4360   sand

Library
A River of Peace and Waves of Righteousness
'Oh that thou hadst hearkened to My commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea.'-- ISAIAH xlviii. 18. I. The Wonderful Thought of God here. This is an exclamation of disappointment; of thwarted love. The good which He purposed has been missed by man's fault, and He regards the faulty Israel with sorrow and pity as a would-be benefactor balked of a kind intention might do. O Jerusalem! 'how often would I have gathered thee.' 'If thou hadst known
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

God's People in the Furnace
And the first observation I shall make will be this: all persons in the furnace of affliction are not chosen. The text says, "I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction," and it implies that there may be, and there doubtless are, some in the furnace who are not chosen. How many persons there are who suppose that because they are tried, afflicted, and tempted, therefore they are the children of God, whereas they are no such thing. It is a great truth that every child of God is afflicted; but
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 1: 1855

Mercy's Master Motive
We shall now use the text as an illustration of divine love in other cases, for from one deed of grace we may learn all. As God dealt with his people Israel after the flesh, in the same manner he dealeth with his people Israel after the spirit; and his mercies towards his saints are to be seen as in a mirror in his wondrous lovingkindness towards the seed of Abraham. I shall take the text to illustrate--first, the conversion of the sinner; and secondly, the reclaiming of the backslider; and I pray,
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 18: 1872

"Thou Shall Keep Him in Perfect Peace, Whose Mind is Stayed on Thee, Because He Trusteth in Thee. "
Isaiah xxvi. 3.--"Thou shall keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee." Christ hath left us his peace, as the great and comprehensive legacy, "My peace I leave you," John xiv. 27. And this was not peace in the world that he enjoyed; you know what his life was, a continual warfare; but a peace above the world, that passeth understanding. "In the world you shall have trouble, but in me you shall have peace," saith Christ,--a peace that shall make trouble
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Peace in the Soul
Peace I leave with you: my peace I give unto you.--ST. JOHN 14:27. Peace is one of the great words of the Holy Scriptures. It is woven through the Old Testament and the New like a golden thread. It inheres and abides in the character of God,-- "The central peace subsisting at the heart Of endless agitation." It is the deepest and most universal desire of man, whose prayer in all ages has been, "Grant us Thy Peace, O Lord." It is the reward of the righteous, the blessing of the good, the crown
Henry Van Dyke—What Peace Means

After the Scripture.
"In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God created He him."--Gen. v. 1. In the preceding pages we have shown that the translation, "in Our image," actually means, "after Our image." To make anything in an image is no language; it is unthinkable, logically untrue. We now proceed to show how it should be translated, and give our reason for it. We begin with citing some passages from the Old Testament in which occurs the preposition "B" which, in Gen. i. 27, stands before image, where
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

Man's Chief End
Q-I: WHAT IS THE CHIEF END OF MAN? A: Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever. Here are two ends of life specified. 1: The glorifying of God. 2: The enjoying of God. I. The glorifying of God, I Pet 4:4: That God in all things may be glorified.' The glory of God is a silver thread which must run through all our actions. I Cor 10:01. Whether therefore ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.' Everything works to some end in things natural and artificial;
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

Christ's Prophetic Office
'The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet,' &c. Deut 18:85. Having spoken of the person of Christ, we are next to speak of the offices of Christ. These are Prophetic, Priestly, and Regal. 'The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet.' Enunciatur hic locus de Christo. It is spoken of Christ.' There are several names given to Christ as a Prophet. He is called the Counsellor' in Isa 9:9. In uno Christo Angelus foederis completur [The Messenger of the Covenant appears in Christ alone].
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

Gifts Received for the Rebellious
Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive: Thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also, that the LORD God might dwell among them. W hen Joseph exchanged a prison for the chief honour and government of Egypt, the advantage of his exaltation was felt by those who little deserved it (Genesis 45:4, 5) . His brethren hated him, and had conspired to kill him. And though he was preserved from death, they were permitted to sell him for a bond-servant. He owed his servitude,
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2

"Thou Shall Keep Him in Perfect Peace, Whose Mind is Stayed on Thee, Because He Trusteth in Thee. "
Isaiah xxvi. 3.--"Thou shall keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee." All men love to have privileges above others. Every one is upon the design and search after some well-being, since Adam lost that which was true happiness. We all agree upon the general notion of it, but presently men divide in the following of particulars. Here all men are united in seeking after some good; something to satisfy their souls, and satiate their desires. Nay, but they
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Extent of Atonement.
VI. For whose benefit the atonement was intended. 1. God does all things for himself; that is, he consults his own glory and happiness, as the supreme and most influential reason for all his conduct. This is wise and right in him, because his own glory and happiness are infinitely the greatest good in and to the universe. He made the atonement to satisfy himself. "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
Charles Grandison Finney—Systematic Theology

Blasphemous Accusations of the Jews.
(Galilee.) ^A Matt. XII. 22-37; ^B Mark III. 19-30; ^C Luke XI. 14-23. ^b 19 And he cometh into a house. [Whose house is not stated.] 20 And the multitude cometh together again [as on a previous occasion--Mark ii. 1], so that they could not so much as eat bread. [They could not sit down to a regular meal. A wonderful picture of the intense importunity of people and the corresponding eagerness of Jesus, who was as willing to do as they were to have done.] 21 And when his friends heard it, they went
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Isaiah
CHAPTERS I-XXXIX Isaiah is the most regal of the prophets. His words and thoughts are those of a man whose eyes had seen the King, vi. 5. The times in which he lived were big with political problems, which he met as a statesman who saw the large meaning of events, and as a prophet who read a divine purpose in history. Unlike his younger contemporary Micah, he was, in all probability, an aristocrat; and during his long ministry (740-701 B.C., possibly, but not probably later) he bore testimony, as
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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