then shall "the prince of this world be utterly cast out." Then shall Dagon fall before the ark in every quarter of the universe: and all the slaves of sin and Satan be brought "into the glorious liberty of the sons of God." Then shall the jubilee trumpet sound in every place: "the preaching of deliverance to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound," will then be accompanied with such power from on high, that it shall be to all, what the trumpet of the archangel shall be in the day of judgment, an effectual call, "as life from the dead;" so that all flesh shall see the salvation of God."] With this deliverance will be seen, II. Its never-failing attendant In no place under heaven, but in Zion, is holiness found. The semblance of it may be seen in many places; its reality nowhere. Let us understand what holiness is [It is not a conformity to external rights, nor a practice of mere heathen virtues; but a real conformity of heart and life to the revealed will of God. It is the image of God upon the soul; and an exhibition of it in the whole of our spirit and conduct. It is "the mind that was in Christ Jesus," and a "walking in all things as he walked” — -] This, from the time that deliverance is vouchsafed to Zion, shall be found there [It was the great design of our Deliverer to produce it in his Church: he " gave himself for us, to redeem us from all miquity:" and "he is called Jesus," not so much because he saves his people from destruction, as "because he saves them from their sins." Holiness is the characteristic mark whereby the people whom he has delivered are to be distinguished: they are "purified unto Christ, a peculiar people zealous of good works." Whoever professes to have experienced his deliverance, without being truly and universally "righteous, even as Christ himself is righteous," is declared by God himself to be "a liar." Believers are "his epistles" to the world, that they who will not look into the book of revelation, may see in them a living exhibition of his will. In every department of the divine life, the heavenliness of their minds, the sweetness of their spirit, and the blamelessness of their lives, they "shine as lights in a dark world:" the effulgence indeed is not equally bright in all: there are stars of a 1 John ii. 4. and iii. 3, 6-10. greater, and of a lesser magnitude; but in all it is manifest, both from the uniformity and continuance of their splendour, that they are upheld in their orbits by the power of God, and irradiated with the beams of the Sun of Righteousness: in a word, holiness is an essential part of the deliverance itself; and therefore must exist in every member of the Church of Christ. Deliverance, in this view, is most desirable: yet is its value greatly enhanced by,] III. Its ultimate effect Here the reference to the restoration of the Jews, especially as connected with the destruction of all their enemies, is more marked: "The House of Jacob shall possess their possessions;" every tribe having the portion peculiarly allotted to them. That they will vanquish all who oppose them, and finally be established in the quiet possession of their own land, is so plain, that it cannot reasonably admit a doubt But there is yet a higher sense in which the prophecy shall be fulfilled. The land of Canaan was typical of a far nobler inheritance, which all the House of Jacob shall possess. Believers" do now enter into rest" [Our blessed Lord promised rest unto all who should come to him weary and heavy-laden with their sins: and this rest he now bestows: and the Canaan which the Israelites entered into, is but a shadow of it. That "land indeed flowed with milk and honey:" but who can tell what delicious repasts are provided for the soul that believes in Christ? Who but He who possesses "the white stone, can tell the name that is written on it??" Who can adequately inform us what the peace of God is, or what "the joy of faith?" The one, we are told, passeth understanding; and the other is altogether unutterable. These, with a multitude of other blessings, are even now the believer's portion; and he so enters into the possession of them, as to be able to defy all his enemies to rob him of the enjoyment of them? It was not the power of their enemies, but the greatness of their sins, that expelled the Jewish people from their land: nor shall any enemy be able to prevail against us, if only we are faithful to ourselves. And, happily for us, that stability is ensured to us by God himself, who "will not suffer us to be tempted above that we are able; d ver. 18-20. e See Jer. xxx. 3, 10, 18, 19. and xlvi. 27. Zech. xii. 6-9. but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that we may be able to bear it."] But the full possession of it is reserved for another world [There is an inheritance prepared for them from the foundation of the world: and in due time they shall enjoy it in all its fulness. The believer may now look forward to it with assured confidence. Here he is a minor only; and therefore, though the heir, he differs but little from a servant: he has so much of the inheritance as is suited to his condition, and sufficient for his necessities: but in the last day he will have the very same possession of his inheritance that Christ himself has: his vision of Jehovah will be most bright; his communion with him most intimate; his communications from him most abundant: and he will know that eternity itself will be the duration of his bliss." He shall be a pillar in the temple of his God, and shall go no more out."] 1. Those who oppose the Church of God [As in their journey to the land of Canaan, the Edomites and other nations opposed the progress of the Children of Israel; and as in the latter days there will be a confederacy of many people to prevent their re-establishment in their former inheritance; so now at this time, and indeed in every age, the men of this world "have evil will at Zion," and exert themselves in every way to obstruct the progress of all who are going thitherward. But what success had their enemies against Israel of old? or what shall they have in the day spoken of in our text? Verily the strongest of them will be only "like sheep before a lion, who will go through, and tread them down, and tear in pieces; and none shall deliver them"." Thus shall it be with those who now oppose and persecute the Church of God. We say not that the people of God will be the instruments of God's vengeance; for that they cannot be, seeing that "the weapons of their warfare are not carnal:" but this we say, that "no weapon formed against God's people shall prosper;" and that all who seek their ruin shall be put to shame: they "fight against God:" they "kick against the pricks" and in due time a suitable recompence shall be given them. God, when denouncing his judgments against Edom, reminds them of particular evils, which, however gratifying they were to their malignant spirits at the time, they should not have committed: thus also will he bring to the remembrance of his enemies all the evils they have committed, and h Mic. v. 8. especially the treatment they have shewn to his Church and people and then they will find, that it would have been "better to have had a millstone tied round about their necks, and to have been cast into the sea, than to have offended one of his little ones." The Lord grant, that men may no longer make Christ a stone of stumbling, lest "it fall upon them, and crush them to powder!"] 2. Those who are looking for redemption in Jerusalem But our [It may be that some are discouraged, because they have not yet experienced deliverance to the extent they wish: they seem to themselves as if their long and willing captivity to sin and Satan precluded them from the hope of mercy: and they are ready to say with Israel of old," Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, and the lawful captive delivered?" answer is, like that of the prophet, "Yes; thus saith the Lord, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children." Be not afraid: though you are but as a worm, yet shall you thresh the mountains:" and the weaker you feel yourselves to be, the stronger in reality you are, because God has pledged himself to "perfect his own strength in your weakness." Expect then deliverance, with all its attendant benefits and rest assured, that none shall pluck you out of the hands of your great Deliverer. God has sworn, that " he will plant you in the heavenly land, assuredly with his whole heart, and with his whole soul:" and "what he hath promised, he is able also to perform." Faithful is He that hath called you; who also will do it."] 66 1 Isai. xlix. 25, 26. 66 * Isai. xli. 14, 15. JONAH. MCXCVIII. JONAH REPROVED BY THE MARINERS. Jonah i. 6. So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not. PERHAPS in all the sacred records there is not to be found a more strange and inconsistent character than the Prophet Jonah. That he was on the whole a good man, we have every reason to believe: but his spirit was on many occasions so contrary to what we might have expected to find in a prophet of the Lord, that, if we did not know from our own hearts what is in man, we should not have conceived it possible that such contrarieties could be combined in the same character. The very first we hear of him is, that he so conducted himself as to bring upon himself a severe and just rebuke from a heathen mariner. Having received from God a commission to go to Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian empire, and there to proclaim the indignation of God against them for their impieties, he fled to Joppa, and from thence took ship for Tarshish, hoping that he should thus avoid the necessity that was laid upon him of delivering a message so replete with pain to them, and of danger to himself. But the Lord sent a storm to arrest him in his impious course: and so violent was the storm, that all hope of saving the ship by human efforts was taken away, and no resource remained to the mariners but prayer to God. Whilst all the crew were crying to the gods which they worshipped, Jonah was indifferent and unconcerned, and had fallen fast asleep in |