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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Isaiah XXVII].</TITLE>
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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1712)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>I S A I A H.</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XXVII.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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In this chapter the prophet goes on to show,
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I. What great things God would do for his church and people, which
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should now shortly be accomplished in the deliverance of Jerusalem from
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Sennacherib and the destruction of the Assyrian army; but it is
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expressed generally, for the encouragement of the church in after ages,
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with reference to the power and prevalency of her enemies.
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1. That proud oppressors should be reckoned with,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+27:1">ver. 1</A>.
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2. That care should be taken of the church, as of God's vineyard,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+27:2,3">ver. 2, 3</A>.
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3. That God would let fall his controversy with the people, upon their
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return to him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+27:4,5">ver. 4, 5</A>.
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4. That he would greatly multiply and increase them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+27:6">ver. 6</A>.
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5. That, as to their afflictions, the property of them should be
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altered
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+27:7">ver. 7</A>),
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they should be mitigated and moderated
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+27:8">ver. 8</A>),
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and sanctified,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+27:9">ver. 9</A>.
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6. That though the church might be laid waste, and made desolate, for a
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time
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+27:10,11">ver. 10, 11</A>),
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yet it should be restored, and the scattered members should be gathered
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together again,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+27:12,13">ver. 12, 13</A>.
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All this is applicable to the grace of the gospel, and God's promises
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to, and providences concerning, the Christian church, and such as
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belong to it.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Isa27_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa27_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa27_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa27_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa27_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa27_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Doom of Persecutors; The Privilege of Saints.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 718.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 In that day the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> with his sore and great and strong sword
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shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that
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crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that <I>is</I> in the
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sea.
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2 In that day sing ye unto her, A vineyard of red wine.
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3 I the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest
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<I>any</I> hurt it, I will keep it night and day.
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4 Fury <I>is</I> not in me: who would set the briers <I>and</I> thorns
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against me in battle? I would go through them, I would burn them
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together.
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5 Or let him take hold of my strength, <I>that</I> he may make peace
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with me; <I>and</I> he shall make peace with me.
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6 He shall cause them that come of Jacob to take root: Israel
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shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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The prophet is here singing of judgment and mercy,</P>
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<P>
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I. Of judgment upon the enemies of God's church
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+27:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>),
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<I>tribulation to those that trouble it,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Th+1:6">2 Thess. i. 6</A>.
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When the Lord <I>comes out of his place, to punish the inhabitants of
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the earth</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+26:21"><I>ch.</I> xxvi. 21</A>),
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he will be sure to punish <I>leviathan,</I> the <I>dragon that is in
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the sea,</I> every proud oppressing tyrant, that is the terror of the
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mighty, and, like the leviathan, is <I>so fierce that none dares stir
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him up,</I> and <I>his heart as hard as a stone,</I> and <I>when he
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raises up himself the mighty are afraid,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+41:10,24,25">Job xli. 10, 24, 25</A>.
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The church has many enemies, but commonly some one that is more
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formidable than the rest. So Sennacherib was in his day, and
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Nebuchadnezzar in his, and Antiochus in his; so Pharaoh had been
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formerly, and is called <I>leviathan</I> and <I>the dragon,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+51:9,Ps+74:13,14,Eze+29:3"><I>ch.</I> li. 9; Ps. lxxiv. 13, 14; Ezek. xxix. 3</A>.
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The New-Testament church has had its leviathans; we read of a great red
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dragon ready to devour it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+12:3">Rev. xii. 3</A>.
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Those malignant persecuting powers are here compared to the leviathan
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for bulk, and strength, and the mighty bustle they make in the
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world,--to dragons for their rage and fury,--to serpents, <I>piercing
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serpents,</I> penetrating in their counsels, quick in their motions,
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and which, if they once get in their head, will soon wind in their
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whole body,--<I>crossing like a bar</I> (so the margin), standing in
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the way of all their neighbours and obstructing them,--to <I>crooked
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serpents,</I> subtle and insinuating, but perverse and mischievous.
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Great and mighty princes, if they oppose the people of God, are in
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God's account as dragons and serpents, the plagues of mankind; and the
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Lord will punish them in due time. They are too big for men to deal
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with and call to an account, and therefore the great God will take the
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matter into his own hands. He has a <I>sore, and great, and strong
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sword,</I> wherewith to do execution upon them when the <I>measure of
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their iniquity is full</I> and their <I>day has come to fall.</I> It is
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emphatically expressed in the original: <I>The Lord with his sword,
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that cruel one, and that great one, and that strong one, shall
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punish</I> this unwieldy, this unruly criminal; and it shall be capital
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punishment: <I>He shall slay the dragon that is in the sea;</I> for the
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wages of his sin is death. This shall not only be a prevention of his
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doing further mischief, as the slaying of a wild beast, but a just
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punishment for the mischief he has done, as the putting of a traitor or
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rebel to death. God has a strong sword for the doing of this, variety
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of judgments sufficient to humble the proudest and break the most
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powerful of his enemies; and he will do it when the day of execution
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comes: <I>In that day</I> he will punish, his day which is coming,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+37:13">Ps. xxxvii. 13</A>.
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This is applicable to the spiritual victories obtained by our Lord
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Jesus over the powers of darkness. He not only disarmed, spoiled, and
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cast out, the prince of this world, but with his strong sword, the
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virtue of his death and the preaching of his gospel, he does and will
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<I>destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil,</I>
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that great leviathan, that old serpent, the dragon. He shall be bound,
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that he may not deceive the nations, and that is a punishment to him
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+20:2,3">Rev. xx. 2, 3</A>);
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and at length, for deceiving the nations, he shall be <I>cast into the
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lake of fire,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+20:10">Rev. xx. 10</A>.</P>
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<P>
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II. Of mercy to the church. In that same day, when God is punishing the
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leviathan, let the church and all her friends be easy and cheerful; let
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those that attend her sing to her for her comfort, sing her asleep with
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these assurances; let it be sung in her assemblies,</P>
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<P>
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1. That she is God's vineyard, and is under his particular care,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+27:2,3"><I>v.</I> 2, 3</A>.
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She is, in God's eye, <I>a vineyard of red wine.</I> The world is as a
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fruitless worthless wilderness; but the church is enclosed as a
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vineyard, a peculiar place, and of value, that has great care taken of
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it and great pains taken with it, and from which precious fruits are
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gathered, wherewith they honour God and man. It is a vineyard of <I>red
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wine,</I> yielding the best and choicest grapes, intimating the
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reformation of the church, that it now brings forth good fruit unto
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God, whereas before it brought forth fruit to itself, or brought forth
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wild grapes,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+5:4"><I>ch.</I> v. 4</A>.
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Now God takes care,
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(1.) Of the safety of this vineyard: <I>I the Lord do keep it.</I> He
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speaks this as glorying in it that he is, and has undertaken to be, the
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keeper of Israel. Those that bring forth fruit to God are and shall be
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always under his protection. He speaks this as assuring us that they
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shall be so: <I>I the Lord,</I> that can do every thing, but cannot lie
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nor deceive, <I>I do keep it; lest any hurt it, I will keep it night
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and day.</I> God's vineyard in this world lies much exposed to injury;
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there are many that would hurt it, would tread it down and lay it waste
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+80:13">Ps. lxxx. 13</A>);
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but God will suffer no real hurt or damage to be done it, but what he
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will bring good out of. He will keep it constantly, night and day, and
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not without need, for the enemies are restless in their designs and
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attempts against it, and, both night and day, seek an opportunity to do
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it a mischief. God will keep it in the night of affliction and
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persecution, and in the day of peace and prosperity, the temptations of
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which are no less dangerous. God's people shall be preserved, not only
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from the <I>pestilence that walketh in darkness,</I> but from the
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<I>destruction that wasteth at noon-day,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+91:6">Ps. xci. 6</A>.
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This vineyard shall be well fenced.
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(2.) Of the fruitfulness of this vineyard: <I>I will water it every
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moment,</I> and yet it shall not be overwatered. The still and silent
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dews of God's grace and blessing shall continually descend upon it,
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that it may bring forth much fruit. We need the constant and continual
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waterings of the divine grace; for, if that be at any time withdrawn,
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we wither, and come to nothing. God waters his vineyard by the ministry
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of the word by his servants the prophets, whose doctrine shall drop as
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the dew. Paul plants, and Apollos waters, but God gives the increase;
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for without him the watchman wakes and the husbandman waters in
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vain.</P>
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<P>
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2. That, though sometimes he contends with his people, yet, upon their
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submission, he will be reconciled to them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+27:4,5"><I>v.</I> 4, 5</A>.
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<I>Fury is not in him</I> towards his vineyard; though he meets with
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many things in it that are offensive to him, yet he does not seek
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advantages against it, nor is extreme to mark what is amiss in it. It
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is true if he find in it briers and thorns instead of vines, and they
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be set in battle against him (as indeed that in the vineyard which is
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not for him is against him), he will tread them down and burn them; but
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otherwise, "If I am angry with my people, they know what course to
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take; let them humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and so
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<I>take hold of my strength</I> with a sincere desire to make their
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peace with me, and I will soon be reconciled to them, and all shall be
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well." God sees the sins of his people and is displeased with them;
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but, upon their repentance, he turns away his wrath. This may very well
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be construed as a summary of the doctrine of the gospel, with which the
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church is to be watered every moment.
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(1.) Here is a quarrel supposed between God and man; for here is a
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battle fought, and peace to be made. It is an old quarrel, ever since
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sin first entered. It is, on God's part, a righteous quarrel, but, on
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man's part, most unrighteous.
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(2.) Here is a gracious invitation given us to make up this quarrel,
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and to get these matters in variance accommodated: "Let him that is
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desirous to be at peace with God take hold of his strength, of his
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strong arm, which is lifted up against the sinner to strike him dead;
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and let him by supplication keep back the stroke. Let him wrestle with
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me, as Jacob did, resolving not to let me go without a blessing; and he
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shall be <I>Israel--a prince with God.</I>" Pardoning mercy is called
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the power of our Lord; let him take hold of that. Christ is the <I>arm
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of the Lord,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+53:1"><I>ch.</I> liii. 1</A>.
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Christ <I>crucified is the power of God</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+1:24">1 Cor. i. 24</A>);
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let him by a lively faith take hold of him, as a man that is sinking
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catches hold of a bough, or cord, or plank, that is within his reach,
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or as the malefactor took hold of the horns of the altar, believing
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that there is no other name by which he can be saved, by which he can
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be reconciled.
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(3.) Here is a threefold cord of arguments to persuade us to do this.
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[1.] Time and space are given us to do it in; for <I>fury is not in
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God;</I> he does not carry it towards us as great men carry it towards
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their inferiors, when the one is in a fault and the other in a fury.
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Men in a fury will not take time for consideration; it is, with them,
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but a word and a blow. Furious men are soon angry, and implacable when
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they are angry; a little thing provokes them, and no little thing will
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pacify them. But it is not so with God; he considers our frame, is slow
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to anger, does not stir up all his wrath, nor always chide.
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[2.] It is in vain to think of contesting with him. If we persist in
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our quarrel with him, and think to make our part good, it is but like
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setting briers and thorns before a consuming fire, which will be so far
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from giving check to the progress of it that they will but make it burn
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the more outrageously. We are not an equal match for Omnipotence.
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<I>Woe unto him</I> therefore <I>that strives with his Maker!</I> He
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knows not the power of his anger.
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[3.] This is the only way, and it is a sure way, to reconciliation:
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"Let him take this course to make peace with me, <I>and he shall make
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peace;</I> and thereby good, all good, shall come unto him." God is
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willing to be reconciled to us if we be but willing to be reconciled to
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him.</P>
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<P>
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3. That the church of God in the world shall be a growing body, and
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come at length to be a great body
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+27:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>):
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<I>In times to come</I> (so some read it), <I>in after-times,</I> when
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these calamities are overpast, or in the days of the gospel, the latter
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days, <I>he shall cause Jacob to take root,</I> deeper root than ever
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yet; for the gospel church shall be more firmly fixed than ever the
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Jewish church was, and shall spread further. Or, <I>He shall cause
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those of Jacob</I> that come back out of their captivity, or (as we
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read it) <I>those that come of Jacob, to take root downward, and bear
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fruit upward,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+37:31"><I>ch.</I> xxxvii. 31</A>.
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They shall be established in a prosperous state, and then they shall
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<I>blossom and bud,</I> and give hopeful prospects of a great increase;
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and so it shall prove, for <I>they shall fill the face of the world
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with fruit.</I> Many shall be brought into the church, proselytes shall
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be numerous, some out of all the nations about that shall be to the God
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of Israel for a name and a praise; and the converts shall be fruitful
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in the fruits of righteousness. The preaching of the gospel <I>brought
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forth fruit in all the world</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Col+1:6">Col. i. 6</A>),
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fruit that remains,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+15:16">John xv. 16</A>.</P>
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<A NAME="Isa27_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa27_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa27_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa27_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa27_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa27_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa27_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Correction and Compassion.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 718.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>7 Hath he smitten him, as he smote those that smote him? <I>or</I>
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is he slain according to the slaughter of them that are slain by
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him?
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8 In measure, when it shooteth forth, thou wilt debate with it:
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he stayeth his rough wind in the day of the east wind.
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9 By this therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged; and
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this <I>is</I> all the fruit to take away his sin; when he maketh all
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the stones of the altar as chalkstones that are beaten in sunder,
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the groves and images shall not stand up.
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10 Yet the defenced city <I>shall be</I> desolate, <I>and</I> the
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habitation forsaken, and left like a wilderness: there shall the
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calf feed, and there shall he lie down, and consume the branches
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thereof.
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11 When the boughs thereof are withered, they shall be broken
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off: the women come, <I>and</I> set them on fire: for it <I>is</I> a people
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of no understanding: therefore he that made them will not have
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mercy on them, and he that formed them will show them no favour.
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12 And it shall come to pass in that day, <I>that</I> the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> shall
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beat off from the channel of the river unto the stream of Egypt,
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and ye shall be gathered one by one, O ye children of Israel.
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13 And it shall come to pass in that day, <I>that</I> the great
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trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to
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perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of
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Egypt, and shall worship the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> in the holy mount at Jerusalem.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here is the prophet again singing of mercy and judgment, not, as
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before, judgment to the enemies and mercy to the church, but judgment
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to the church and mercy mixed with that judgment.</P>
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<P>
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I. Here is judgment threatened even to Jacob and Israel. <I>They shall
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blossom and bud</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+27:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>),
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but,
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1. They shall be <I>smitten</I> and <I>slain</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+27:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>),
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some of them shall. If God find any thing amiss among them, he will lay
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them under the tokens of his displeasure for it. Judgment shall begin
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at the house of God, and those whom God has known of all the families
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of the earth he will punish in the first place.
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2. Jerusalem, their <I>defenced city, shall be desolate,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+27:10,11"><I>v.</I> 10, 11</A>.
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"God having tried a variety of methods with them for their reformation,
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which, as to many, have proved ineffectual, he will for a time lay
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their country waste," which was accomplished when Jerusalem was
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destroyed by the Chaldeans; then that <I>habitation</I> was for a long
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time <I>forsaken.</I> If less judgments do not do the work, God will
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send greater; for <I>when he judges he will overcome.</I> Jerusalem had
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been a defenced city, not so much by art or nature as by grace and the
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divine protection; but, when God was provoked to withdraw, her defence
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departed from her, and then she was left like a wilderness. "And in the
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pleasant gardens of Jerusalem cattle shall feed, shall lie down there,
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and there shall be none to disturb them or drive them away; there they
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shall be <I>levant and couchant,</I> and they shall eat the tender
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branches of the fruit-trees," which perhaps further signifies that the
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people should become an easy prey to their enemies. "<I>When the boughs
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thereof are withered</I> as they grow upon the tree, being blasted by
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winds and frosts and not pruned, <I>they shall be broken off</I> for
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fuel, and <I>the women</I> and children shall <I>come and set them on
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fire.</I> There shall be a total destruction, for the very trees shall
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be destroyed." And this is a figure of the deplorable state of the
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vineyard
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+27:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>)
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when it <I>brought forth wild grapes</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+5:2"><I>ch.</I> v. 2</A>);
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and our Saviour seems to refer to this when he says of the branches of
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the vine which <I>abide not in him</I> that they are <I>cast forth and
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withered, and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they
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are burned</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+15:6">John xv. 6</A>),
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which was in a particular manner fulfilled in the unbelieving Jews. The
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similitude is explained in the following words, <I>It is a people of no
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understanding,</I> brutish and sottish, and destitute of the knowledge
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of God, and that have no relish or savour of divine things, like a
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withered branch that has no sap in it; and this is at the bottom of all
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those sins for which God left them desolate, their idolatry first and
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afterwards their infidelity. Wicked people, however in other things
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they may be wits and politicians, in their greatest concerns are of no
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understanding; and their ignorance, being wilful, shall not only not be
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their excuse, but it shall be the ground of their condemnation; for
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therefore <I>he that made them,</I> that gave them their being, <I>will
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not have mercy on them,</I> nor save them from the ruin they bring upon
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themselves; and <I>he that formed them</I> into a people, formed them
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for himself, to show forth his praise, seeing they do not answer the
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end of their formation, but hate to be reformed, to be new-formed, will
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reject them, and <I>show them no favour;</I> and then they are undone:
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for, if he that made us by his power do not make us happy in his
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favour, we had better never have been made. Sinners flatter themselves
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with hopes of impunity, at least that they shall not be dealt with so
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severely as their ministers tell them, because God is merciful and
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because he is their Maker. But here we see how weak and insufficient
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those pleas will be; for, if they be of no understanding, he that made
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them, though he made them, and hates nothing that he has made, and
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though he has mercy in store for those who so far understand their
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interests as to apply to him for it, yet on them he will have no mercy,
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and will show them no favour.</P>
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<P>
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II. Here is a great deal of mercy mixed with this judgment; for there
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are good people mixed with those that are corrupt and degenerate, <I>a
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remnant according to the election of grace,</I> on whom God will have
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mercy and to whom he will show favour: and these promises seem to point
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at all the calamities of the church, for which God would graciously
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provide these allays.</P>
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<P>
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1. Though they shall be smitten and slain, yet not to that degree, and
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in that manner, in which their enemies shall be smitten and slain,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+27:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
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God has <I>smitten Jacob,</I> and he is slain. Many of those <I>that
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understand among the people shall fall by the sword and by flame many
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days,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+11:33">Dan. xi. 33</A>.
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But it shall not be as those are smitten and slain,
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(1.) Who smote him formerly, who were the rod of God's anger and the
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staff in his hand, which he made us of for the correction of his
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people, and to whose turn it shall come to be reckoned with even for
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that: the child is spared, but the rod is burnt.
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(2.) Who shall afterwards be slain by him, when he shall get the
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dominion, and repay them in their own coin, or slain for his sake in
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the pleading of his cause. God's people and God's enemies are here
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represented,
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[1.] As struggling with each other; so the seed of the woman and the
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seed of the serpent have been, are, and will be. In this contest there
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are slain on both sides. God makes use of wicked men, not only to
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smite, but to slay his people; for they are his sword,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+17:13">Ps. xvii. 13</A>.
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But, when the cup of trembling comes to be put into their hand, it will
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be much worse with them than ever it was with God's people in their
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greatest straits. The seed of the woman has only his heel bruised, but
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the serpent has his head crushed and broken. Note, Though God's
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persecuted people may be great losers, and great sufferers, for a
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while, yet those that oppress them will prove to be greater losers and
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greater sufferers at last, here or hereafter; for God will render
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double to them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+18:6">Rev. xviii. 6</A>.
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[2.] As sharing together in the calamities of this present time. They
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are both smitten, both slain, and both by the hand of God; for there is
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<I>one event to the righteous and to the wicked.</I> But is Jacob
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smitten as his enemies are? No, by no means; to him the property is
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altered, and it becomes quite another thing. Note, However it may seem
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to us, there is really a vast difference between the afflictions and
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deaths of good people and the afflictions and deaths of wicked
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people.</P>
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<P>
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2. Though God will debate with them, yet it shall be in measure, and
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the affliction shall be mitigated, moderated, and proportioned to their
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strength, not to their deserts,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+27:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
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He will deal out afflictions to them as the wise physician prescribes
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medicines to his patients, just such a quantity of each ingredient, or
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orders how much blood shall be taken when a vein is opened: thus God
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orders the troubles of his people, not <I>suffering them to be tempted
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above what they are able,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+10:13">1 Cor. x. 13</A>.
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He measures out their afflictions by a little at a time, that they may
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not be pressed above measure; for he knows their frame, and corrects in
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judgment, and does not stir up all his wrath. When the affliction is
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shooting forth, when he is sending it out and giving it its commission,
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then he debates in measure, and not in extremity. He considers what we
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can bear when he begins to correct; and when he proceeds in his
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controversy, so that it is the <I>day of his east-wind,</I> which is
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not only blustering and noisy, but blasting and noxious, yet he stays
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his rough wind, checks it, and sets bounds to it, does not suffer it to
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blow so hard as was feared; when he is winnowing his corn, it is with a
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gentle gale, that shall only blow away the chaff, but not the good
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corn. God has the winds at his command, and every affliction under his
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check. <I>Hitherto it shall go, but no further.</I> Let us not despair
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when things are at the worst; be the winds ever so rough, ever so high,
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God can say unto them, <I>Peace, be still.</I></P>
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<P>
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3. Though God will afflict them, yet he will make their afflictions to
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work for the good of their souls, and correct them as the father does
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the child, to drive out the foolishness that is bound up in their
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hearts
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+27:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>):
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<I>By this therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged.</I> This is
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the design of the affliction, to this it is adapted as a proper means,
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and, by the grace of God working with it, it shall have this blessed
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effect. It shall mortify the habits of sin; by this those defilements
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of the soul shall be purged away. It shall break them off from the
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practice of sin: <I>This is all the fruit,</I> this is it that God
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intends, this is all the harm it will do them, <I>to take away their
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sin,</I> than which they could not have a greater kindness done them,
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though it be at the expense of an affliction. Therefore, because the
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affliction is mitigated and moderated, and the rough wind stayed,
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therefore we may conclude that he designs their reformation, not their
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destruction; and, because he deals thus gently with us, we should
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therefore study to answer his ends in afflicting us. The particular sin
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which the affliction was intended to cure them of was the sin of
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idolatry, the sin which did most easily beset that people and to which
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they were strangely addicted. <I>Ephraim is joined to idols.</I> But by
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the captivity in Babylon they were not only weaned from this sin, but
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set against it. <I>Ephraim shall say, What have I do to any more with
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idols?</I> Jacob has his sin taken away, his beloved sin, <I>when he
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makes all the stones of the altar,</I> of his idolatrous altar, the
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stones of which were precious and sacred to him, <I>as chalk-stones
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that are beaten asunder;</I> he not only has them in contempt, and
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values them no more than chalk-stones, but he conceives an indignation
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at them, and, in a holy revenge, beats them asunder as easily as
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chalk-stones are broken to pieces. <I>The groves and the images shall
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not</I> stand before this penitent, but they shall be thrown down too,
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never to be set up again. This was according to the law for the
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demolishing and destroying of all the monuments of idolatry
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+7:5">Deut. vii. 5</A>);
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and according to this promise, since the captivity in Babylon, no
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people in the world have such a rooted aversion to idols and idolatry
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as the people of the Jews. Note, The design of affliction is to
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separate between us and sin, especially that which has been <I>our own
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iniquity;</I> and then it appears that the affliction has done us good
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when we keep at a distance from the occasions of sin, and use all
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needful precaution that we may not only not relapse into it, but not so
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much as be tempted to it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+119:67">Ps. cxix. 67</A>.</P>
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<P>
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4. Though Jerusalem shall be desolate and forsaken for a time, yet
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there will come a day when its scattered friends shall resort to it
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again out of all the countries whither they were dispersed
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+27:12,13"><I>v.</I> 12, 13</A>);
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though the body of the nation is abandoned as a people of no
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understanding, yet those that are indeed children of Israel shall be
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gathered together again, as the sheep of the flock when the shepherds
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that scattered them are reckoned with,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+34:10-19">Ezek. xxxiv. 10-19</A>.
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Now observe concerning these scattered Israelites,
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(1.) Whence they shall be fetched: <I>The Lord shall beat them off</I>
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as fruit from the tree, or beat them out as corn out of the ear. He
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shall find them out, and separate them from those among whom they
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dwelt, and with whom they seemed to be incorporated, <I>from the
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channel of the river</I> Euphrates north-east, <I>unto</I> Nile, <I>the
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stream of Egypt,</I> which lay south-west--those that were driven into
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the land of Assyria, and were captives there in the land of their
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enemies, where they were ready to perish for want of necessaries, and
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ready to despair of deliverance--and those that were <I>outcasts in the
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land of Egypt,</I> whither many of those that were left behind, after
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the captivity in Babylon, went, contrary to God's express command
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+43:6,7">Jer. xliii. 6, 7</A>),
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and there lived as outcasts: God has mercy in store for them all, and
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will make it to appear that, though they are cast out, they are not
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cast off.
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(2.) In what manner they shall be brought back: "<I>You shall be
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gathered one by one,</I> not in multitudes, not in troops forcing your
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way; but silently, and as it were by stealth, dropping in, first one,
|
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and then another." This intimates that the remnant that shall be saved
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consists but of few, and those saved with difficulty, and so as by
|
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fire, scarcely saved; they shall not come for company, but as God shall
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stir up every man's spirit.
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(3.) By what means they shall be gathered together: <I>The great
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trumpet shall be blown, and</I> then <I>they shall come.</I> Cyrus's
|
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proclamation of liberty to the captives is this great trumpet, which
|
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awakened the Jews that were asleep in their thraldom to bestir
|
|
themselves; it was like the sounding of the jubilee-trumpet, which
|
|
published the year of release. This is applicable both to the preaching
|
|
of the gospel, by which sinners are gathered in to the grace of God,
|
|
such as were outcasts and ready to perish (those that were afar off are
|
|
made nigh; the gospel proclaims the acceptable year of the Lord), and
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also to the archangel's trumpet at the last day, by which saints shall
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be gathered to the glory of God, that lay as outcasts in their graves.
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(4.) For what end they shall be gathered together: <I>To worship the
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Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem.</I> When the captives rallied
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again, and returned to their own land, the chief thing they had their
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eye upon, and the first thing they applied themselves to, was the
|
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worship of God. The holy temple was in ruins, but they had the holy
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mount, <I>the place of the altar,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+13:4">Gen. xiii. 4</A>.
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Liberty to worship God is the most valuable and desirable liberty; and,
|
|
after restraints and dispersions, a free access to his house should be
|
|
more welcome to us than a free access to our own houses. Those that are
|
|
gathered by the sounding of the gospel trumpet are brought in to
|
|
worship God and added to the church; and the great trumpet of all will
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gather the saints together, <I>to serve God day and night in his
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temple.</I></P>
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