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HUMAN WEARINESS: THE VARIETY OF ITS SOURCES, AND THE ONE SOURCE OF RELIEF FROM IT.

1. 4. The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary.

There are many causes of weariness and sadness; as many as there are sources of cheerfulness and vigour in body and mind.

1. Wounded affections. When the seat of our pleasant emotions and sweet affections becomes filled with bitterness, we cannot wonder that exhaustion of energy should ensue, and the strong man be bowed down! Few who have advanced far in life, but have been thus attacked in the tenderest part of their being; and the power of resistance decreases as youth is left behind. Many, most dear, have vanished from the scene; former friends have perhaps lifted up the heel against us. We do not know, until the blow comes, how heavily we have been leaning on the staff of friendly sympathy. But amidst all our heart-troubles, the voice of the Saviour deeply learned in the sorrows of humanity-is heard saying, "Rest!" "Come unto Me, and I will give you rest." The words are words of authority, and of comfort because of their authority.

2. Disappointment of our desires. All are furnished with larger appetites than they have ability or opportunity for satisfying them. Pleasure! Money! Power! Reputation! Desire outruns our slow and pausing faculties. And this is a great cause of fatigue; we cannot keep up with ourselves, one part of our nature lags behind another. Again, the goal of our desire is ever receding. What an interesting picture does Ecclesiastes give of this universal experience! But in this mood, too, we are met by the Divine Saviour; for Christ would fill the soul with the only object of desire that cannot disappear in its grasp; with the Eternal Himself.

3. Vacancy of mind and the sense of

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monotony. "Nature abhors a vacuum ; the mind cannot endure its own emptiness. Imagine us left alone in a depeopled world, shut up in a room walled with reflecting glass, where nothing but our own image should meet us at every turn,—the very thought is unendurable; and something like this occurs when we fail to obtain diversion from self. But it is Christ's message to tell us of a new self which it is the will of God to impart to us; a new heart in which it will please God to dwell, and with which He can hold fellowship; the soul comes to rest on an Eternal Power that is not ourselves, yet intimately related to us.

4. The load of a guilty conscience. It may be difficult to forgive another; it is more difficult to forgive oneself. How profoundly Christ meets this guilty dejection of the human heart! The power which He claimed on earth to forgive sins is continued, in a declarative sense, in His Church, and sin-laden souls may be warned that in disbelieving the Gospel of forgiveness they tacitly reject Christ's authority; in believing it they rely on the promises of One to whom all things are given by the Father, and they are at rest.

5. Earnest thought and noble endeavour. Not only the bad use of mind and life, but their right and loyal use, brings its own peculiar experience of suffering. Preachers, philanthropists, strenuous labourers in every good cause, exhaust their energies in ministering to others' need; and after exhibiting pictures of cheerfulness and animation in public, sink, when alone, into occasional collapse. Instructive examples of such reaction are given in Bible story, e.g., Elijah. In the finest minds, a fretfulness and dissatisfac

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All around us are multitudes of weary people; weary from many causes -poverty, anxiety, spiritual despond. ency, non-success in Christian labour, delay in the coming of recognised answers to prayer. For all these tried and burdened hearts, Jesus, the reliefbringer, has His word in season. By these words of His, He does not release us from our duties, but helps us to perform them. He teaches us to trust Him, and trust is restful. As the infant drops over on its mother's bosom into soft repose, so faith rests its weary head on Jesus. He giveth His beloved sleep, so that they may wake up

1. 4.

fit

refreshed for their appointed work. It
is not honest work that really wears
any Christian out (a); it is the ague
of worry that consumes strength, fur-
rows the cheek, and brings on decrepi-
tude (H. E. I. 2053, 2057, 2058), and
from this destructive temper Christ
delivers us (H. E. I. 952-961).

There is another weariness most distressing; that which is called ennui, the disgust and despair which result from the discovery that all the socalled "pleasures of the world" cannot satisfy the soul. But even for this Christ has " a word in season" (Matt. xi. 28-30). (3)-Theodore Cuyler, D.D.

(a) That giant of Jesus Christ who drew the Gospel chariot from Jerusalem to Rome, and had the care of all the Churches on his heart, never complained of being tired. The secret was that he never chafed his powers with a moment's worry. He was doing God's work, and he left God to be responsible for the results. He knew whom he believed, and felt perfectly sure that all things worked together for good to them that loved the Lord Jesus.-Cuyler. (B) See the hymn commencing"Oh, comfort to the dreary!"

THE GOSPEL A WORD IN SEASON TO THE WEARY.

The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary.

Our blessed Lord is here represented as speaking of His own office and ministry. How gracious was that office! How full of condescending pity and love to man was that ministry! (John iii. 17; Luke iv. 18, 19.) In our text we have a true account of the tendency of the Gospel. It brings rest and refreshment to those who are seeking rest in the world, but whose hopes must end in disappointment.

I. THE ACTUAL STATE AND WANTS OF MANKIND. On every hand are evidences of the fact that this is a weary world. On our race sin has laid many burdens of care and sorrow. Our fellow-men sorely need to be cheered and strengthened.

II. THE SUITABLENESS OF THE GOSPEL TO THE EXISTING STATE AND CIRCUMSTANCES OF MANKIND. It has "a word in season," 1. For those who

are weary in the service of sin. 2. For those who are weary under the painful consciousness of their guilt in the sight of God. 3. For those who are weary in striving against sin. 4. For those who are weary under the burden of temporal suffering. 5. For those who are weary under the growing infirmities and inconveniences of old age.

1. Lay hold of its great and precious promises. 2. Pray for all Christ's ministers, that they, like their Master, may be taught how to speak words of cheer and comfort. This is one of the most valuable forms of the learning which it is possible for them to possess. -James Ford, A.M.: Twelve Sermons, pp. 1-22.

Men need religion as they need bells for the common purposes of human life.

The forms of old and effete infidelity, as well as the more subtle and pseudoscientific scepticism of the present age, all fail just where Christianity eminently succeeds-in adaptation to the common wants of men. The opponents of the Gospel, who marshalled their forces a century ago, made no attempt to supply its place as a religion which met the every-day wants of men. They mined the foundations of the building; they thundered at the doors; they battered its walls; but they never tried to erect a better system in its place. That attempt was left to later ages. It was for Rénan and Strauss to try to substitute for Christianity another theory of religion, and to meet the demand which the mother of Hume made of her son, "Give me something to lean on in the place of the faith you have undermined."

But our modern theorists find that it is one thing to destroy, another to build up. Does infidelity give anything on which men can fall back for comfort and support amid the common troubles of life, &c. Does it speak in sweet accents of a rest that remaineth when weariness insupportable creeps over mind and body? We claim for Christianity that it does this very thing. It meets the every-day wants of those who embrace it. It condescends to notice the every-day weariness of tried and troubled souls. a Gospel that speaks to the worn and exhausted spirit. The voice like a bell chiming along the ages is, "The Lord God hath giveu me," &c.

It is

I. THE SPECIAL CLASS TO WHOM THE GOSPEL IS ADDRESSED. Is not amazement awakened when this text tells us that the Gospel is sent to be a message of comfort to the weary? For this Gospel was the fruit of the tears, and blood, and agony of the dear Son of God. Does it not seem a strangely costly sacrifice, when God's dear Son drinks to its dregs the cup of condemnation, that He may speak comfort to him that is weary? The weary are everywhere upon this earth of ours. All feel a sense of oppressive fatigue.

The consciousness of exhaustion is a thing so common, of such almost universal experience, that it seems one of the lesser ills of life, and beneath the notice of the Gospel. But Christ came to give men a religion which should meet their common wants, their everyday necessities. And hence it is a message to the weary, whatever the cause of their weariness be. 1. Toil. Or 2. Trial. Or 3. Sin. (a)

II. THE INSTRUMENT WHICH GOD EMPLOYS TO RELIEVE THE SOUL THAT IS WEARY.

"A man of words" is a term of contempt. We tell people that "deeds, not words," are our test of character. But what a momentous significance for evil or for good one word may have! On yonder hill, outside the walls of Bethany, in the midst of an astonished group, Lazarus stands a living man, though his grave-clothes are still upon him. The dead body on which corruption's work had begun is thrilled with a new life. One word did that. So, when Christ promises salvation, and comfort, and rest to the weary, it is a word through which the priceless blessing comes. The unquestionable meaning of the text is, that the instrument which God uses to give relief to the weary is Christ's word, Christ's Gospel, the message of His love for sinners.

It must be spoken in season. There are, in human experience, chances that exist but for one moment. They come and go like a flash. So are there crises in the history of every human soul.

There are times when the heart seems poised upon a pinnacle. Now a breath may turn it one way or the other; and then a word spoken is a word in season. Bereavement, &c. And for that blessed work our Lord gives you "the tongue of the learned." But no man ever acquired the fruits of ripened knowledge-the harvest of wise words that speak comfort to the weary-without sowing the seed and watching over it with care. He must be learned, not in books of theology and libraries of religious instruction, but learned in the results of a personal experience.

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armour was studded with iron points that
pierced the quivering flesh. The panoply
which gaily flashed back the sunbeams, was all
the while an instrument of self-inflicted tor-
ture to its wearer. There are more men who
wear such armour than we wot of. There are
many who wear a gay countenance, but feel
within the bitterness of death.
For the ap-
petite for sin has palled. The heart has grown
weary and sick of sin, thinking of lost purity,
and broken promises, and departed self-
respect; the very life becomes a burden, and
yet they dare not die. They weary them-
selves to commit sin."-Cheney.

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OUR SAVIOUR'S QUALIFICATIONS FOR THE SUCCESSFUL
ACCOMPLISHMENT OF HIS WORK.

1. 4-9. The Lord hath given me the tongue, &c.

We suppose the prophet Isaiah to say something of himself in these verses, engaging and encouraging himself to go on in his work as a prophet, notwithstanding the many hardships he met with, not doubting that God would stand by him, and strengthen him; but, like David, he speaks of himself as a type of Christ. Through Isaiah it is Christ who speaks to us; and as we hearken to and reflect on His words, we note three characteristics in Him which qualify Him for and secure the success He anticipates.

I. HE WAS, AND IS, AN ACCEPTABLE PREACHER (ver. 4). He was this because-1. God had given Him "the tongue of the learned." God, who made man's mouth, gave to Moses the tongue of the learned, to speak for the terror and conviction of Pharaoh (Ex. iv. 11, 12). He gave to Christ the tongue of the learned, to speak a word in season for the comfort of those that are weary under the burden of sin (Matt. xi. 28). What a beautiful and precious feature was this in the ministry of our Lord! See what is now the best learning of a minister to know how to comfort troubled consciences, and to speak patiently, properly, and plainly to the various cases of poor souls. Christ was able to do this because-2. God had also, or previously, given Him "the ear of the learned "-the ability to receive instruction. Prophets have as much need of this as of the tongue

of the learned, for they must deliver what they are taught, and no other (Ezek. iii. 17). Christ Himself received, that He might give. None must undertake to be teachers, who have not first been learners (Matt. xiii. 52). Nor is it enough to hear; we must "hear as the learned," hear with all our faculties awake, hear as those who would learn by what we hear, hear and remember.

II. HE WAS, AND IS, A PATIENT SUFFERER (ver. 5, 6). One would have thought that He who was commissioned and qualified to speak comfort to the weary would have met with no difficulty in His work, but universal acceptance; it was, however, quite otherwise. He had both hard work and hard usage to undergo; and here He tells us with what undaunted constancy He went through with it. We have no reason to question but that the prophet Isaiah went on resolutely in the work to which God had called him, though we read not of his undergoing any such hardships as are here (it may be figuratively) described; but we are sure that this prediction was literally fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Note-1. His ready obedience to the call addressed to Him (ver. 5; Ps. xl. 6, 7). 2. His patient endurance of all the suffering His obedience to the call involved (ver. 6). All this Christ underwent for us, and voluntarily, to convince us of His willingness to save us. How much

He still undergoes, to what indignities He still submits, in His efforts to save man!

III. HE WAS, AND IS, A COURAGEOUS CHAMPION (ver. 7-9). All that in these verses was true of Isaiah is still more true of our Saviour. Observe

1. The secret sources of His courage. They are two. (1.) He was assured of Divine support. "The Lord God will help me." (2.) Of this He was assured, because He was assured also of Divine approval. 66 He is near that justifieth me.'

2. The results of His courage. (1.) He was confident of success in His undertaking, "I shall not be confounded. . . . I shall not be ashamed." Note, work for God is work we should not be ashamed of; and hope in God is hope we shall not be ashamed of. (2.) He could bid defiance to all opposers and opposition. "God will "God will

help me: therefore have I set my face like a flint." He had no fear of the slanders of His foes: "He is near that justifieth me." Nor of their swords. "Who will contend with me?" &c. (3.) He could foresee that He and His righteous cause would outlive all opposition. It was His foes who should pass away: Lo, they all shall wax old like a garment; the moth shall eat them up"-a little thing will serve secretly and insensibly to destroy them.

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CONCLUSION.-1. These qualities being in Christ, let us not doubt that absolute and universal victory is before Him (H. E. I. 979). 2. These qualities were in all the world's noblest reformers and benefactors. 3. These qualities must be in us, if we are to do any great work for God and our fellow-men. From Christ Himself let us seek them.-Matthew Henry: Commentary, in loco.

OUR SAVIOUR'S SUBMISSION TO SHAME AND SUFFERING.
1. 6. I gave my back to the smiters, &c.

It was for us that our Lord thus submitted to shame and suffering. May a spirit of tenderness, and thankfulness, and love, be given to us while we remember what He endured on our behalf!

I. OUR LORD'S HUMILIATION WAS VOLUNTARY.

He gave Himself up freely to suffer, the just for the unjust. And while He was upon earth, in pursuance of His designs, He never was at the mercy of His foes (Matt. xxvi. 53). His sufferings were the unavoidable result of His voluntary determination to save us. And they were all foreseen. For the accomplishment of two great purposes, He cheerfully gave His back to the smiters, and His cheeks to them that pulled off the hair. These were the glory of God, and the salvation of sinners.

1. The highest end of His mediation was to display the glory of the Divine character in the strongest light, to afford to all intelligent creatures (Eph. iii. 10) the brightest

manifestation they are capable of receiving of the manifold wisdom of God-His holiness, justice, truth, and love, the stability and excellence of His moral government, all mutually illustrating each other, as combining and shining forth in His person and in His mediatorial work. (a)

2. Inseparably connected with this design, was the complete and everlasting salvation of sinners. For their sakes He endured the cross, despising the shame for us! (P. D. 456, 457, 459).

II. OUR LORD'S HUMILIATION WAS EXTREME.

In the apprehensions of men, insults are aggravated in proportion to the disparity between the person who receives and who offers them. A blow from an equal is an offence, but would be still more deeply resented from an inferior. But if a subject, a servant, a slave, should presume to strike a king, it would be justly deemed an enormous crime. But Jesus, the King of kings, and Lord

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