Homilist Isaiah 50:10-11 Who is among you that fears the LORD, that obeys the voice of his servant, that walks in darkness, and has no light?… I. THE DARKNESS OF THE TRUE AND THEIR RELIEF. 1. The true have a distinctive principle and conduct. All character is made up of principles and acts. The principle is "fear," not of a crouching serf, but of a loving child — filial reverence; the conduct is, obeying the voice of His Servant — Christ. Here is the true spirit and its true development. Piety may listen to the voice of philosophies, but obeys the voice of Christ. His whole life was a voice. 2. The true have their seasons of darkness — "walketh in darkness." Jacob, Job, Asaph, Jeremiah. The cloud is not spread by a Divine hand over the heart, but rises from the corrupt elements of our moral nature. A dark day is not the sun's fault; he shines in his own great orbit in November as in June; the darkness arises from the vapours of the earth; so with moral gloom — cause not in God, but in us. 3. The true in seasons of darkness have a sure relief — "they trust in the name of the Lord" — in His disposition, and power to help. Christianity a proof of the former, the universe of the latter. II. THE LIGHTS OF THE FALSE AND THEIR RUIN. "Walk in the light of your fire," etc. 1. The false have their lights. Such as general custom, temporal expediency, corrupt religions, pseudo-philosophies lights are their guides and comforts in their relations to both worlds. 2. The false will have their ruin. "This shall ye have at My hand." The "candle of the wicked shall be put out." All their lamps, however luminous, shall be quenched in a midnight, without a ray of moon or star. (Homilist.) Parallel Verses KJV: Who is among you that feareth the LORD, that 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. |
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