Читать книгу Plain Parochial Sermons, preached in the Parish Church of Bolton-le-Moors онлайн

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“Wherefore, he saith;” there is no particular passage in the Old Testament, in which these words of the text are found; but they seem to allude to several expressions of similar import, in the prophecy of Isaiah. In the 26th chapter, there is a passage which describes the deliverance of God’s people from a state of degradation, both political and spiritual, under the figure of a resurrection from the dead: “Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust; for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.” [8] And again, in the 52nd chapter: “Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the Holy city; for henceforth there shall no more come in to thee the uncircumcised and the unclean; shake thyself from the dust; arise and sit down, O Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion: for thus saith the Lord, ye have sold yourselves for nought; and ye shall be redeemed without money:” [9a] a powerful call upon the Jewish people to cast away their transgressions, through which they had been brought into a state of grievous captivity, and to throw themselves on the Lord’s mercy, and return to the Lord’s service, that He might break their bonds asunder, and visit them with His salvation. One more passage there is, to which the Apostle clearly alludes, in the opening of the 60th chapter: “Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.” [9b] Here the prophet foretels the glorious dawn of gospel light, and calls upon the Church to arise and behold it, shining from afar; to behold it with the eye of faith; to look forward to that Saviour, that great “fountain for sin and uncleanness,” which the law and the prophets did all with one voice proclaim. The prophet adds, “And the gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.” The first coming of the gentile world was visible in the footsteps of the wise men, who came “from the east to Jerusalem,” [10] to worship the infant Jesus: and ever since our Lord’s return to the heavens, the gospel has been preached to all nations; and accepted, more or less, by the kings and potentates of the earth.