XIV.

THE PERMANENT HOLINESS RESULTING FROM THE

BELIEF OF THE TRUTH.

"Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir-tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle-tree and it shall be to the LORD for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off."-ISA. LV. 13.

WHEN we enter into a mighty forest of trees, we are impressed with a mingled feeling of grandeur and delight; or, it may be, with a sense of danger and annoyance. The aged oak, the cedar, or the pine-tree, with their spreading boughs and embowering shades, may infuse into our souls the impression of grandeur; whilst the myrtle-tree, the palm, or the olive may instil into our bosoms a sensation of delight. Or, on the other hand, when we behold the thorny thickets and impassable spikes of an Eastern jungle, we are struck with a sense of danger, and are disposed to retire ; or, if we can by any means move on, we strive to

do so, amidst difficulties and annoyance, whilst we are exposed to the irritation that springs from the bramble, the brier, or the nettle, and earnestly wish at times that we were out of the wood. Such is the state of human society in the world in which we live. But God promises to produce a new Eden in this waste howling wilderness: "Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir-tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle-tree: and it shall be to the LORD for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off." The language of figure is undoubtedly here used, and we are very much disposed to accept of the meaning as given by the Chaldee Paraphrast: "Instead of the wicked shall come up the righteous, and instead of sinners shall come up those that fear to sin."

May the Spirit of all grace be with us; may we be as good trees bringing forth good fruit, and not as corrupt trees bringing forth evil fruit; may we be as the trees of the LORD, full of sap, imperishable, and not as briers and thorns, whose end is to be burned; and may the peaceable fruits of righteousness so abound in us that they may,

by Jesus Christ, be unto the glory and praise of God!

"Instead of the thorn shall come up the firtree." Apprehending, then, the words in their spiritual sense, as conveyed to us under a figure, we may safely understand the meaning of the present announcement to be, that instead of the worldling shall come up the godly, instead of the profane shall come up the reverential, instead of the infidel shall come up the believer. Let us shortly attend to these various points.

In the first instance, instead of the worldling shall come forth the godly. The worldly man may aptly be compared to "the thorn," the pious man to "the fir-tree." There is a marked and wonderful difference between them. The thorn is comparatively useless, troublesome, and impracticable in a thicket, and very apt to wound and lacerate the person; "the fir-tree," tall, and strong, and tapering, is useful for architecture, and navigation, and almost all the mechanical arts. The worldly man, like "the thorn," is often troublesome and unprofitable enough, and, not frequently, the waif, the bane, and the pest of

society; whilst sometimes he may be a sort of natural ornament springing up in the midst of a promiscuous population. The godly man, like "the fir-tree," rises up venerable and commanding, giving dignity and honour to the mixed multitude, and towering above the other trees of the forest, as being possessed of the promise of the life that now is, as well as of that which is to come (1 Tim. iv. 8). The thorns and briers are "nigh unto cursing" (Heb. vi. 8), but the godly "receiveth blessing from God" (Heb. vi. 7); and unto God the pious man says, "I am like a green fir-tree. From me is thy fruit found" (Hos. xiv. 8).

Again, instead of the profane shall come up the reverential. The sons of Belial are as thorns, and they are to be thrust away; because they cannot be taken with hands. But the man that shall touch them must be fenced with iron, or the staff of a spear" (2 Sam. xxiii. 6, 7). The curser or profane swearer is only thus to be approached by a man who is doubly mailed, that is, who reverences God's name, and fears an oath. The command of God is, "Thou shalt not for

swear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths" (Matt. v. 33), and the threatening is, that if thou fear not "this glorious and fearful name, the LORD thy God, then the LORD will make thy plagues wonderful" (Deut. xxviii. 58, 59). But the man of piety remembers and obeys that sacred command: "Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain" (Exod. xx. 7).

Once more instead of the infidel shall come up the believer. The infidel is as a tree "whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots" (Jude 12). The believer is as

a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season" (Ps. i. 3). "Ye shall know them by their fruits: Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit" (Matt. vii. 16-18). "Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and