meaning is that this Citie was no way more excellent then the rest but in regard that God had chosen it aboue the rest to be the seate of his Sanctuarie In the next place he saith that they publish good tidings because the Priests and Leuites were there ordeined and instructed according to the rules conteined in the Law that they might be fitted to be leaders of the people and to publish the doctrine of saluation In the meane while this title wherwith God adornes his Church is well to be obserued to the end she may be knowne by some sure and infallible marke That assemblie is not to be reputed the Church where the doctrine of saluation sounds For that assemblie is not to be held for the Church where the heauenlie doctrine of glad tidings is not sounded forth and preached and in this sense the Apostle saith that she is the pillar and ground of truth 1. Tim. 3.15 For albeit God might gouerne vs well enough without the ministrie of man yet he hath imposed this charge vpon his Church into whose hands he hath committed the inestimable treasure of his word for this cause she is called hereafter The mother of all the faithfull Chap. 66.10.11.12 Hence it followes that nothing is more absurd and vniust then to see dumb Idols to boast of the name of the Church The true Church the mother of the faithfull Dumbe idols in the papacie boast in vaine of the title of the Church as they doe in the Papacie We are also aduertised that the Church is not taught of God that she should keepe her knowledge to her selfe but that she should proclaime that to others which she hath learned Moreouer she is inioined to publish this grace freely without any feare that the Prophets might know they were not to speake timerouslie as of a thing doubtfull but as those that were well assured of that truth which they set forth being fullie perswaded that God which was the author of it could not lie but his will was that the witnesses of his grace should come out of Zion to replenish the whole land of Iudeah with gladnes When he addes Behold your God In this sentence he comprehends the summe of our happines which consists in enioying the only presence of our God which brings with it the fulnes of all good things but if we be depriued of it no greater miserie can befall vs. For if we be estranged from God all things must of necessitie turne to our ruine though wee should inioy all the pleasures in the world From this circumstance it is also to be noted that nothing is more contrarie vnto faith then to tie the doctrine which the Prophets publish to the sight of our eies for themselues must needes haue been mute if they had not lifted their mindes farre aboue the world neither durst they otherwise haue bin so bold and constant to draw on others with them to hope for better things in the midst of despaire Surely when the wicked haue their swindge and that iniquitie hath gotten the vpper hand when the poore Church trembles and seemes of all other the most miserable then is the time to lift vp our heads When it is the fittest time to proclaime comfort to the Church and so much the more to fasten our eies vpon the promises and to preach and publish his comfortable presence to such as will behold it by faith Vers 10. Behold the Lord God will come with power and his arme shall rule for him behold his reward is with him and his worke is before him HEe inricheth this short and latter sentence with many words because it needed some exposition and he vseth the word behold againe for the greater certentie that hee might so much the more incourage the faithfull He shewes more fully then of how great vse the presence of God is vnto vs and first he saith he vvill come vvith power which shall not be idle but such as we shall feele to be effectuall Some translate the word Lo Of himselfe which also word for word may bee turned He is mightie or reigning of himselfe Now his meaning is that God is strong enough and needes no man to helpe him The same is repeated vnder the words reward and vvorke for it is vsuall among the Hebrewes to repeate one and the same thing two waies By reward we must not vnderstand a recompence due by merit but the righteousnesse of God by which he protests he will recompence those which call vpon him in truth and with vpright hearts for those that are but meanely read in the Prophets language know that the word Secar imports so much The summe is that God will not come to make shewes onely but will manifest his power and make vs to feele it indeed And thus it would not bee amisse if the word Effect were put in stead of vvork Many expound this more wittily and descant like children vpon vvorke and reward as if vvorke were the merit to which reward must bee giuen but the Prophet had no such meaning In both words he repeates the same thing as I haue said and sets forth the fruit of the Lords comming which the faithfull shall receiue to their exceeding benefit Vers 11. Hee shall feede his flocke like a Shepheard hee shall gather the lambs with his arme and carrie them in his bosome and shall guide them with young BY this verse he shewes what this vvorke of the Lord is for in as much as he workes diuersly and infinite waies the hearer might haue doubted with himselfe what God meant to doe And thus the generall doctrine could not of it selfe haue been sufficient to haue raised vp their hope Now howsoeuer hee stands not to reckon vp all the parts of Gods office yet in these few words he signifies that his determination was to vphold and keepe his Church And therefore he compares him to a shepheard by which word hee sets forth Gods infinite loue towards vs in that hee vouchsafeth to stoope so low as to bee our shepheard Gods loue in this verse Gods power in vers 10. to be ioined together The Prophet hath in other places yea and in the former verse also armed him with a terrible and inuincible power for the defence of his Church which he will also repeat againe afterwards but here he attributes to him a more gracious title to the end the faithful might sweetly repose themselues vnder his protection Moreouer although by the word flocke he meanes the elect people whom he had taken into his custodie we are notwithstanding admonished that hee will be no shepheard but to such as with the modestie and weakenesse of sheepe and lambs are content to follow him The condition of a flocke therefore must bee considered for he will not feede wild beasts God will be no sheepheard to wolues but to such as shew the tractable and meeke nature of lambs but lambs Let vs thererefore cast off all
void of feare as that we should thereby grow carelesse or idle but when we heare that he is neere and that he will assist vs faith must then ouercome all difficulties in the middest of eminent dangers I vvill bring thy seed from the East This place is drawne as we know out of Deut. 30.3.4 For the Prophets are the expositors of Moses and doe gather their doctrine out of his writings See his preface as we haue shewed you from the beginning Thus the Prophet applies this place of Moses then to the circumstance of the time present vnto which in this Sermon he hath a speciall respect Moses had thus foretold The Lord thy God shall cause thy captiues to returns and commands the vanquished to hold their peace Yet in that he bids them heare it is to shew that the only let that keepes men from the knowledge of the truth is The only let that keepes men from the knowledge of the truth that their minds being forestalled with error they scorne to giue eare vnto God For this contempt hinders them from comming to repentance but rather stand proudly to defend the inuention of their owne braine But the Lord was readie to haue taught them if they had had but a patient eare For where could they haue foūd a better Master But their pride and rebellion blinds them so as they can not see the truth and shuts vp their eare from hearkning to the voice of God Are they not iustly left without excuse then seeing they obstinately reiect him and will not lend their eare to his doctrine who offers himselfe in such milde sort to instruct them For if they were in any measure teachable Those that are willing to learne shall soone perceiue that the truth is grounded vpon infallible arguments Isaiah well affirmes that they should be constrained to subscribe to their owne condemnation for in truth all such as shew themselues teachable shall easily vnderstand that the truth of God is grounded vpon infallible arguments and not vpō vncertain opinions which haue their foundation in the ayre Vers 10. You are my witnesses saith the Lord and my seruant whom I haue chosen therefore ye shall know and beleeue me and ye shall vnderstand that I am before me there was no God neither shall there be after me THe Lord hauing prouoked the Gentils to disputation and hauing shewed that all that which they esteemed touching the excellencie of their Idols was meere vanitie and lies now he leaues their assemblie and brings forth his witnesses that men may know that his case is not like that of the false gods He rightly boasts then that the true witnesses take his part for the Iewes had bin taught by reuelations from heauen so farre forth as sufficed to giue them vndoubted assurance of their saluation And yet he priuily taxeth their ingratitude if so be they did not publikely and vnfeinedly protest that they had learned all things requisit for the defence of Gods glorie The truth of the prophesies must neuer be forgotten and thus indeed he also summons them to vow neuer to forget nor conceale the truth of these prophesies by meanes whereof they might be able to shew the certentie of the true religion for it had bin treacherie in them to haue defrauded so good a cause of any defence which they were able to bring vnto it Gods cause must not be left destitute of our defence By the name seruant some vnderstand Isaiah but I had rather vnderstand it of all the Prophets because there is here a change of the number This name then is giuen particularly to the Prophets whom the Lord chose to maintaine his truth and yet I doubt not but in vsing the singular number he had a speciall and chiefe respect vnto Christ Christ the end and accomplishment of all the prophesies who is the end and accomplishment of all the prophesies and it is also very sure that he is the speciall witnes that shall conuince the whole world But yet we must haue regard to the Prophets intention which is to call the Iewes indeed to be the Lords witnesses and to accuse them of ingratitude if they did not franckly professe what they had heard and seene For hauing had so many good lessons taught them from time to time they could not without grosse disloyaltie either doubt or call into question the power and goodnes of God The Church must beare witnes to Gods truth Thus then he shewes that the Church is picked out to beare vvitnes to the truth of God in which sense S. Paul calles her the pillar and ground of truth 1. Tim. 3.15 It is her office then to publish and maintaine it so as it may be receiued of the posteritie frō age to age Not that the Lord stands in need of such an aid but because it is his good pleasure neither to approue nor establish the same among men by any other meanes Isaiah therefore vnder this one word comprehends all the seruants of God who stand bound to defend their Masters quarrell but chiefly the Ministers who ought to be as the Standard-bearers and by their example to shew the way vnto others It is therefore speciallie spoken to them here though in generall he is to be held no faithfull seruant of God who so smothers the knowledge of the truth within him that he dares not auouch it before men Therefore you shall know That the Lord might not seeme to procure to himselfe witnesses of things vnknowne he addes you shall know you shall beleeue you shall vnderstand thus shewing by the order of the words Faith goes before confession that faith precedes or goes before confession If this confession then haue no deeper foundation then in the tip of the tongue and is not laid in the heart it shall be held but vaine and friuolous for the Lord neither allowes nor approues of it And yet there is some difficultie in the order of the words To know To beleeue and To vnderstand Many haue knowledge that are destitute of faith for faith is not alwaies ioined with knowledge for a man will not say that such beleeue because they know faith is often absent where knowledge is present Besides it is doubtfull in what sense vnderstanding which is here added after beliefe is to be taken as if it should differ from knowledge But our Prophet in this place shewes that there is a certaine preparation vnto faith by which God first giues authoritie vnto his word as oft as he sees a necessarie vse of that meanes I grant that faith begins at humilitie which captiues all our reason vnder Gods lore but because we imbrace not the doctrine that is offred with such an assurance as we ought therefore God confirmes it vnto vs by sundrie testimonies and by our owne experience the better to settle vs firmely in this faith In this sense the Euangelist S. Iohn shewes that himselfe and S. Peter
any of that honour which is due vnto God See here an excellent place to conuince such as will needes maintaine superstitions by succession of yeeres as if an old error were to be held for a law Vers 8. Thus saith the Lord As the wine is found in the cluster and one saith Destroy it not for a blessing is in it so will I doe for my seruants sakes that I may not destroy them whole God neuer threatnes so seuerely but he leaues some hope of pardon for the faithfull THe Prophet here moderates his former sentence For otherwise it had been a thing too seuere that the iniquities of the fathers should thus be called to mind to the end the Lord might destroy their children with them Yea this might so haue affrighted the faithfull that it had been enough to haue driuen them from all hope of saluation We ought then you see to stand carefullie vpon our watch and to consider for what cause the Lord is displeased with vs. For his meaning is so to astonish vs as that therewithall hee would draw vs to himselfe and not thereby to throw vs headlong into despaire Hee leaues some hope for the faithfull here then lest they should waxe fainthearted and in proffering them refreshing hee allures them to repentance of which he reaped neither pleasure nor profit He confirmes this by a similitude Simile As if a man minding to plucke vp a vine yet finding some fruitfull branch thereon he spares and reserues it euen so will the Lord take heed how he pulles vp those in whom he finds any sap or vigor In the fifth Chapter he complained that the people was vnprofitable yea worse than that for they brought forth sower fruits Jsaiah retaines the same similitude but he applies it otherwise For howsoeuer the people were like vnto a bastard and barren vine yet there remained some fruitfull branches which the Lord would not suffer to perish But this may be taken two waies either that the Lord will preserue his people for the elects sake or that hauing rooted out the reprobates he will saue the faithfull There is great difference betweene these two interpretations As touching the first wee know that the wicked are sometimes spared for the godlies sake God sometimes spares the wicked for the elects sake whom the Lord will neither destroy nor wrappe vp in one common calamitie with them And this is manifest enough by diuers examples in the holy Scriptures The Lord would haue spared Sodom and Gomorah had there been found but ten righteous persons there Gen. 18.32 All those which were in the ship with S. Paul to the number of 276. persons were giuen him of God and saued from shipwracke that so the power which he shewed in his seruant might be the more euident Act. 27.32 The Lord blessed the house of Potiphar and made him to prosper in all things for Josephs sake who dwelt in his familie Gen. 39.5 Many like examples there be which euery one may collect by himselfe But I rather approue of the other exposition namely that the Lord so punisheth the sinnes of his people that yet notwithstanding he hath respect to his beloued ones and wrappes them not vp all in one and the same ruine Neither is it his meaning onlie that the faithfull shall bee saued but that there shall be a remnant left in the middest of whom God will haue his name called vpon And this is worth the noting For he shewes that the remnant shall be very small in comparison of that great multitude which was then in the land as wee haue seene in Chap. 1.9 Now whereas the faithfull are often punished with the wicked let vs not thinke God doth them any wrong For the Lord will easilie find faults sufficient in euery one of vs to afflict and punish vs. Besides his meaning is to instruct and awaken vs by his rods for being knit The faithfull must not murmur if God sometimes wrap them vp in the same iudgement with the wicked and as it were grafted into the body of a people it is no wonder if we be smitten with the same blowes in regard we are members that haue drawne infection from the same In the meane while God moderates these chastisements lest hee should vtterlie teare vp the chosen plants Vers 9. But I will bring a seed out of Iacob and out of Iudah that shall inherit my mountaine and mine elect shall inherit it and my seruants shall dwell there An explanation of the former sentence THe Prophet explanes the former verse in other words and shewes that the Lord will reserue a seede vnto himselfe which shall call vpon his name We must not iudge of the Churches estate by outward appearance For he hath been wont so to chastise his people that hee hath still continued a Church in which his truth and pure religion might bee kept For which cause also S. Paul calles her the pillar and ground of truth 1. Tim. 3.15 Wee are not to iudge of the Church then by the estate of things here below seeing there is nothing stedfast in this world but by the counsell of God who cannot endure to see her either ouerthrowne or destroyed Let vs carefullie remember this then that so no calamities ruines nor desolations of the Church may astonish vs. He calles those inheriters of the mountaines who being set free from vnder their captiuitie should returne home againe into their countrie Iudeah was full of mountaines as we know Againe hee expounds that which might seeme obscure for hee signifies that the Iewes should returne vnto their first estate and that by right of inheritance they should inioy that land out of which they had been exiled For soone after Iudeah was exceedingly wasted but the Lord protests that it shall not continue so long For the greater confirmation whereof he briefly mentions the couenant by which this land was ordained for them to possesse as their heritage Thus albeit they were a long time retained as prisoners yet this word heritage serued to put some life into them that they might come to an assured cōfidence touching their being repossessed thereof But it is to be noted that this grace is restrained to the elect and true seruants of God lest all indifferentlie should presume to applie the same vnto themselues Vers 10. And Sharon shall bee a sheepfold and the vallie of Achor shall be a resting place for the cattell * Or for of my people that haue sought me BY these figures he meanes nothing else but that the land which was waste shal be againe inhabited For we haue here a secret comparison thus howsoeuer after the banishment of her inhabitants into a farre cuntrie shee should remaine solitarie and empty yet shall shee againe be inhabited and that in such wise as there shall be abundance of flockes and heards of fruitefull pastures and commons and should also furnish them in plentifull manner with all things
the saluation of the Church in the middest of the ruine of it when as the wrath of God being once kindled doth begin to consume all things round about then are the bare and naked promises very hardly thought to bee sufficient for vs to rest and stay our selues vpon For this cause the Lord would haue this speciall vision conioyned in stead of a confirmation with the consolation which was proposed heretofore the more assuredly to confirme our faith that the Church should not perish no not in all the calamities that could possiblie befall it Thus I doubt not but this vision hath affinitie with that which we haue seene in the 26. and 27. verses of the former chapter And by this we may know what was the vse and end of visions For in as much as the bare doctrine is of no sufficient authority at all with vs therefore the Lord addeth visions by which he seales vp in vs the trueth of his word Seeing then that this vision is ioyned with the former promise from thence we gather a very profitable doctrine to wit that all the visions which the Lord reuealed to his Prophets in times past ought to be ioyned with the promises and to be as seales annexed vnto them Herein also we haue greatly to magnifie and extoll from time to time the wonderfull goodnes of God who is not contented to giue vs his word alone but doth also vouchsafe to set the view of the things promised euen as it were before our eyes Now he addes a confirmation because the restauration of the Church is a thing of wonderfull importance which also ought necessarily to be knowne For what shall become of the trueth of God what shall become of faith if there be no Church And if there be no Church it would follow that God were a lier and that all which his word containes were false But euen as he shewes by memorable signes that it is he alone who without the aide of men and by meanes vnknowne conserues his Church so here now by an excellent prophesie he promiseth to doe the like The vse of this prophesie then is double for in as much as Isaiah and others after him were without ceasing to terrifie and feare this people so full of obstinate malice til such time as they should be carried away captiues the Temple burnt and the citie destroyed it was very needfull in regard of the faithfull that such rigour should be asswaged by some consolation of hope Moreouer in regard that they should languish long in captiuitie and that after their returne many calamities would breake in vpon them to shake their minds and in the end should bee wrapped and as it were ouerwhelmed with a sea of an horrible ruine and almost a desperate confusion if they had not bin comforted against so many terrors they would haue perished an hundred times But the promise of the restauration of the Church did comfort and strengthen those who were alreadie fallen to the end that at the least the calling vpon the name of God which against al dangers is the onely and chiefe remedie might haue it force amongst them The word some translate The thing because the signification of this word is generall but it is rather to be taken for decree or ordinance Isaiah saith then that this was reuealed to him by a speciall vision Vers 2. It shall bee in the last daies that the mountaine of the house of the Lord shall be prepared in the topâ—e of the mountaines and shall be exalted aboue the hilles and all nations shall flow vnto it WHen he makes mention of the terme or full end of daies let vs remember that he speaks of the kingdome of Christ We must also vnderstand the reason why he calles this kingdome so Vntill this time all things did hang in suspence to the end the people should not rest in the estate of that time which was but a shadow but in the Redeemer who was to declare vnto them the substance After Christ came then if wee will compare that time with ours we are indeede come to the verie terme of those daies But it was needfull that the fathers which liued then should with armes stretched forth endeuour to come vnto Christ And because the restauration of all things depended vpon his comming it was for good cause that they are commanded to enlarge their hope euen vnto that day For it was alwaies profitable vnto them to know that the estate of the Church should bee more perfect vnder our Lord Iesus Christ especially seeing they were held vnder shadowes and figures and yet in the meane while were subiect to diuers changes Also the Lord did terrifie them many waies of set purpose that hee might hold them in suspence But the circumstance of this prophesie had a particular respect for they might haue very well haue fainted in the space of foure hundred yeers or thereabouts if this fulnes of time should not haue come in their minds wherein the Church should be restored to her perfection Therefore as the Church was euer and anon almost ouerwhelmed with diuers tempests so euery one of the faithfull laid fast hold in these dangers vpon this sentence as vpon a board or planck to bring them saffe to the hauen In the meane while we must note that the perfection of daies did so begin at the first comming of Christ that it runnes on still with a continuall course vntill hee appeares the second time againe for our saluation Shal be prepared This vision in appearance might almost haue seemed rediculous not only because Zion was a little hill of no great height as if comparison had bin made of a heape of dust with great mountaines but also in regard that a little before he had foretold her ruine How could one haue then beleeued that Zion which had lost all her dignitie should againe bee thus honoured with so great an excellencie that she should turne the eies of all the Gentiles to the beholding of her beautie yet is shee so aduanced notwithstanding as if shee should bee mounted higher then the Mount Olympus Let the Gentiles bragge of their mountaines as long as they will yet shall they be nothing in comparison of this little hill saith the Prophet although it be low and small in appearance To naturall reason indeede this is verie vnlike What shall Zion hang in the cloudes And therefore no question but the wicked scorned this promise Wee know well enough that impietie hath alwaies ouerflowed her bankes against God Yea the circumstance which I haue touched alreadie was enough at the first push to haue ouerthrowne this prophesie How is it then that this little hil could be so soone exalted being fallen after the desâ—ruction of the Temple into vtter dishonour But doubtlesse Isaiah foretold not these things in vaine For in the end this little hill was truely exalted aboue the mountaines because that from thence the voyce of the Lord was heard which sounded
hee hath reiected and cast off his people This place is worthy our obseruation in the meditation whereof wee ought continually to be much encouraged yea if so be the Lord proceede so farre as that he hath turned his face away from his people and should reiect those who make profession of his name yet for all this must wee wait vpon him with inuincible patience This is the only remedie wee haue The word waiting hath great emphasis in it as if hee should say Yet notwithstanding will not I turne away from the Lord I will still perseuere in faith He yet augments the matter when he addes So I will wait Seeing our faith is wont to stagger and faint when offences doe happen It is greeuously shaken when we see our selues forsaken of our companions and that the sworne enemies of the Church doe proudly vsurpe the title of it for offences for the most part doe cause vs to turne away from God filling vs with such perplexed thoughts that we are ready to call the truth of his word into question This consolation then is very necessary as well in the calamities wherewith the Church is oppressed as in the troubles wherewith shee is tossed by the disloyaltie of others Vers 18. Behold I and the children whom the Lord hath giuen mee are as signes and wonders in Israel by the Lord of hostes which dwelleth in Mount Zion HEere the Prophet not onely testifies that hee will wait in patience but also shewes what his constancie is proposing himselfe with his disciples and those which remained with him to open view As though hee should say Although others recoile yet Lord behold I am readie to doe thee seruice and I also bring those with mee whom thou hast vouchsafed to saue miraculously by my labours Hee shewes an inuincible manfulnesse then and protests that he will continue in the faith and obedience of the Lord although all should reuolt By Children hee vnderstands seruants and ministers following therin the vsual custome as well of the Hebrew tongue as of the Latine Now he speakes of the Disciples whom he mentioned before Whence it appeareth what their dutie is who would bee reputed the true disciples of the Lord to wit that they protest with Isaiah to be teachable and readie to hearken and that they be readie to obey as soone as the Lord shall speake The teachers also ought to bring their disciples with them and not to send them alone before them they ought to march in the first ranke and to shew them the way by their example as was said in the second Chapter verse 3. otherwise they should haue no authoritie in teaching The Apostle in the Epistle to the Hebrewes Heb. 2.13 applies this place to Iesus Christ and from thence drawes an admonition which ought to serue vs as a sharpe spurre to the end wee should not thinke to follow Isaiah alone for our leader and Doctor but Christ himselfe and to bee so much the more encouraged to run our course with greater alacritie Which the Lord hath giuen me The Prophet shewes heere of whom it is that we hold our faith to wit of God and of his free election For Isaiah preached to all publikely admonishing euery one and soliciting all without exception to draw neere vnto the Lord but the word profited those onely which God had giuen him By the word Giuen hee meaneth those whom God drew inwardly by the secret instinct of his holie Spirit for otherwise the externall voyce should haue sounded in the eares of the people in vaine and thus it is said that the elect are giuen to Christ of God his Father Ioh. 6.37 Whereby we perceiue that the promptnesse of faith depends not vpon the will of man but that some few among many doe beleeue because as S. Luke saith they were ordained before vnto life Act. 13.48 Now God is wont to call them whom he hath predestinate and sealeth vp the testimonie of their adoption effectually in them to the end they may giue themselues to teachablenesse and obedience Such a thing is the gift then whereof Isaiah speakes in this place But this agrees fitly vnto Christ to whom the Father offereth and giueth Disciples as it is said in Iohn No man commeth vnto me except my Father draw him Iohn 6.44 Whence it followes that he is appointed our gardian to preserue vs vnder his protection vnto the end and therefore he saith That none of those whom the Father hath giuen him shall perish Ioh. 17.12 Ioh. 10.20 Signes and wonder◠Some referre this to miracles amisse for the sense is farre otherwise namely That all the faithfull shall not onely be hated but also bee had in execration so as they shall be esteemed monsters and that not amongst strangers and open enemies but euen in Israel it selfe whereof wee haue experience at this day The Papists on the one side abhorre vs more then Turkes or Iewes nay more then dogges and swine Now although this be odious yet must wee not be much astonied thereat for this prophesie of necessitie must euen now bee fulfilled The Prophet found it by experience amongst his owne people as all those haue likewise done which haue followed his doctrine But wee finde not onely this hatred towards vs in the Papists alone but euen in those who would seeme to haue profited most in the Church and the greater part of these abhor vs mocke vs and esteeme vs as very monsters onely because we trouble our selues so much and are so carefull for the saluation of the Church of Gods honour and of life eternall But yet let vs not bee afraid to put our selues into dangers to incurre hatreds enuies taunts banishments want hunger nakednesse and last of all death it selfe for all this To them indeede they are monstrous things for how cā they taste of these soueraign good things with any relish whilest they pamper themselues and are so carefull for their quiet and ease But to the end their flouts may not astonish vs we must arme our selues with this exhortation of the Prophet Now to the end hee might shew how vaine and friuolous the conspiracie of the wicked is hee stoutly triumphs ouer the pride of the whole world by placing the Lord of hostes as opposite against them as if he should say I passe nothing at all that men abhorre and detest me seeing I am assured that God is on my side When hee also addes that the Lord dwelleth in mount Zion these words carry great weight For though the people were couered vnder an infinite heape of vices and wickednesse yet they gloried as if they onely were holy to the Lord and in abusing his promises they condemned the true seruants of God which reproued them On the contrarie that the Prophets might pluck this pride vain confidence away frō them they testified that they were the Ministers of the onely true God whom this people notwithstanding falsly bragged to worship in Mount Zion Now
Christ calles the office of teaching The keyes of the Kingdome of heauen Mat. 16.19 those therefore that wearie themselues to finde out some secret and hidden mysterie in this place which is so plaine and manifest shew themselues but too sottish and ridiculous seeing there is no neede at all of any such deuices Why so Because the Ministers open heauen by the preaching of the word and bring men to Christ who is the onely way He takes the keyes in this place therefore for the gouernment of the Kings house in regard the chiefe trust of it was committed to Eliakim in his time Vers 23. And I will fasten him as a naile in a sure place and he shall bee for the throne of glorie to his fathers house WEe must supply a particle of similitude here and therefore I haue put this word As in the text By faithfull he means a sure and firme place for this word is deriued of the word Trueth which is alwaies accompanied with stedfastnesse and assurance And for that cause the Hebrewes take Truth for a thing sure and certaine The Prophet vseth an elegant similitude out of which the faithfull Magistrates who are but a few ought to gather a singular consolation For thus they may conclude with themselues that they are not onely raised by the Lord to this degree of honour but that they are confirmed and fastened in it as if they were fixed thereunto by his immediate hand And to say the trueth looke where the feare of God beares sway there must needes be stedfastnesse For the power and thrones of Kings is established by iustice as Salomon saith Pro. 16.16 Neither doth it serue to comfort Princes onely to the end they may bee able to passe thorow all dangers with a resolute mind but also that they may execute their office constantly and without distraction so as they neede not quaile nor faint for anie cause nor to feare any danger But alas how few are there that taste this doctrine truely All are almost like Ieroboam thinking that religion ought to stoope to them which they like and allow of no further then they see it to be for their benefit nay they sticke not at all to disguise and alter it at their pleasure as for God and his true religion they set the care thereof in the last place What wonder is it then that they are alwaies in feare of themselues in their affaires bâ—ing neuer at peace and quiet for they seldome or neuer set any time apart to thinke vpon him from whom proceedes all strength and power The cause of treasons Thence come treasons thence arise cruelties auarice violence and all manner of fraudes and oppressions wherein Princes now ouerflowe more impudently then anie other Yet are there some in whom wee may perceiue that which is said heere touching Eliakim the Lord keepes maintaines and blesseth the duties of equitie and iustice wherewith he hath adorned them If God seem to blesse tyrants in suffering them to florish for a time much more such as are nursing fathers to his Church For if he suffer the very tyrants to raigne for a time in regard they obserue some forme of gouernement how much more will he blesse Princes when with a good and vpright heart they maintaine trueth and equitie and promote Gods true worship and seruice He that is the perpetuall maintainer of iustice will hee not defend and establish such a Prince more and more Vers 24. And they shall hang vpon him all the glorie of his fathers house euen of the nephewes and posteritie of small vessels from the vessels of the cups euen to all the instruments of musicke THis is as much as if hee said that Eliakim shall discharge his dutie in good sort so as he shall not deale negligently in it Whence we gather Princes are not aduanced to liue idly Dominion an heauie burden if men performe their duties that God aduanceth not Princes vnto honour to the end they should bee idle and giue the reines to their lustes and affections For dominion and authoritie is a burden of great waight and labour if so be men performe their duties as they ought to doe farre from the practise of these dumbe idolles who thinke God hath lifted them vp into the seate of honour to no other end but to fare deliciously and to wallow themselues at their ease in all manner of pleasures But if a Prince will execute his office aright hee must prepare himselfe to vndergo much turmoile Neither must we thinke that this similitude of the naile should not sute well in regard of gouernment for hereby is signified Gouernment a burden full of businesse a burthen full of businesses and troubles I also know well enough that similitudes agree not alwaies in euery thing but in the speciall drift whereat they aime Now in that hee speakes of the house of his father doubtlesse Eliakim was of the royall blood And therefore by successours I not onely vnderstand his next kinsfolkes but the whole familie of Dauid He then shall haue the charge of all that shall bee in the Kings house When he addes the childrens children he therewithall teacheth that this gouernement shall be of long continuance so as it shall not last one mans life onely but it shall be extended to those that shall come a long time after Princes should not onely care for the welfare of the Church for their owne times but for the posteritie after them For good Princes not onely profit the Church and Commonwealth for their owne time but those also which come after them to whom they leaue such wholesome lawes ordinances statutes and markes of good and iust gouernment that the successors dare not albeit they be wicked breake out into all licenciousnesse at the first yea they are compelled in despight of them to retaine something that is good for modesties sake This hee shewes shall come to passe in Eliakim whose gouernment shall be so vpright that his very successors shall feele some fruit of it From the smalest vessels Vnder a figure he shewes that iustice shall be administred with equitie and the right aduanced and it is as much as if he had said that Eliakim shall not onely deale well with the great ones but that he shall haue respect to the meanest also But because this is very rare in a Prince he is much more worthy of praise then if he should onely fauour the rich and mightie For the rich haue meanes enough to keepe themselues froÌ„ hurt but the weakest are put to the walles as they say and the poore are a pray and spoile to others and who is it almost that will defend the innocencie of their cause By vessels the Hebrewes vnderstand all manner of instruments and this signification extends very far When he mentioÌ„s * Or bâ—gpipes instruments of musicke he explaines that which he had said in a word for this serues to the exposition of the
best defence that we can imagine I reiect not their aduice who say we should reade Hee hath set walles and bulwarkes for saluation but in regard the Prophets wordes being simply vnderstood containe in them a more ample and stable doctrine what neede is there to wrest in a constrained exposition when the true and naturall sense runnes very well to wit that Gods protection is more sufficient then all defences according as it is said Psal 63. Thy goodnesse Lord is better then life for as Dauid there confesseth that he rests in greater seuritie vnder the shadow of Gods wings then if hee were furnished with all the succours the world could afford him so in like manner Isaiah saith in this place that there shall bee iust occasion of securitie when God shall vndertake the safegard of his people Now in as much as this promise extends it selfe to the whole course of our redemption we must here obserue also that hee is at this day the protector of his Church and that his defence therefore who keepes it is stronger then if it were compassed about with humane helpes Gods sole protection of his Church stronger thē all humane helpes If we therefore meane to rest safely let vs dwell in the Church And albeit we be destituted of outward munitions yet let vs content our selues with the Lord and his vndoubted saluation which is farre more excellent then all worldly fortresses Vers 2. Open yee the gates that the righteous nation that keepeth the trueth may enter in NO doubt but many despised this song when Isaiah first published it for in his time Ierusalem was full of bad companions and the number of the godly were very few But after the Prophets death they were chastised for their impietie for then they had some inckling that the Prophet had not foretold these things in vaine For whilest the wicked are in prosperitie they feare nothing and beare themselues in hand that they cannot be tamed And thus the Iewes thought they could neuer be driuen out of Iudea nor led captiues nay they imagined they should dwell there euer It was needfull therefore that all occasion of swelling pride should be taken away from them hereunto tend the Prophets words when he saith that the inhabitants of the new Citie shall be vnlike the first for they shall bee faithfull and iust Moreouer this promise might haue seemed ridiculous because those which were banished and led into captiuitie had no matter at all to rejoyce of Therefore after the destruction of the Temple and the Citie and the ouerthrow of all estates they might obiect where are those gates which he commands vs to open or where are those people that should enter in at them And yet notwithstanding God is alwaies as good as his word howsoeuer our passiōs boile within vs. What course we are to take when the Church is in a confused state Chap. 25.1 we see these things came to passe neither was there any thing foretold which the Lord did not performe and accomplish Wee ought therefore to set these antient histories before our eyes to arme our selues with the examples contained in them and in the middest of this confused estate in which we now see the Church to be to hope notwithstanding that the Lord will restore it When the Prophet mentions the iust nation that keepes the trueth hee not onely shewes as I haue said heeretofore who they are to whom this promise appertaines but therewithall the fruit of that should come by this chastisement for the Church being once purged from her filthinesses her righteousnesse and holinesse should shine so much the more right For when the Prophet wrote this song the wicked reigned and the good were verie thin sowen and those also were mingled amongst the multitude as the wheat in the chaffe It was needfull therefore that this great troope who had neither religion nor any feare of God should bee cut off to the end the Lord might gather in the remnant of his Church See now how the Lord recompenced this ruine of Ierusalem For whereas her citizens were before defiled with impietie now they were consecrated anew vnto God else it had been to little purpose for them to haue recouered a florishing outward estate if newnes of life pietie and vprightnes had not also florished amongst them Now as the Prophet in these words sets forth the grace of God so he also exhorts these redeemed people therewithall to giue themselues to integritie of life In a word he testifies that these promises shall stand hypocrits in no stead for the gates shall not be set open for them but only for the iust and holy I grant the Church hath alwaies been like the corne-floore The Church hath alwaies been like the corne floore Math. 3.12 wherein there is chaffe mingled amongst the good corne or rather the wheat is couered with chaffe yet it is not to be doubted but the Church was purged in better measure then it was before when the Iewes returned home out of captiuitie For it could not be but those which came back againe were led with a good and zealous affection in regard the iorney was long and tedious as also that they were subiect to many inconueniences and dangers in the way In the meane while many of their nation chose rather to continue in bondage then to goe home thinking their estate who remained in Babylon much more quiet and peaceable then theirs who returned into Iudea It must needs be some seed of godlines then which forced them to come and take the inioying of those promises that were made to their fathers But albeit the Church was then stained with many imperfections yet this which the Prophet here affirmes was true in part for the most of the of-scouring which were mingled with them before came not back againe and those that remained had somewhat profited vnder Gods corrections Some distinguish this sentence thus The iust nation before God and the vpright before men But I take it more simplie to wit After the Prophet hath mentioned the righteous nation he by and by shewes that this iustice consists in the integritie of that heart which is without fraud or guile for nothing is more contrarie to iustice then hypocrisie Now albeit the man can not be found who hath so well profited as to keepe iustice in euery respect perfectlie yet we may say that Gods children who aspire vnto this vprightnes with their whole hearts are notwithstanding keepers of it They that aspire to vprightnes of heart are keepers of iustice Vnlesse any had rather vnderstand it thus that true iustice is here set forth vnder one of the parts by the figure Synecdoche to wit when men walke simplie and plainelie one with another hauing first of all abandoned all naughtie and wicked practises Obiect But if any vpon this place should go about to stablish the doctrine of merits Ans we shall easily answere them for the Prophet speakes
And thus they were not restrained by any feare or awe of God because they esteemed of religion but as a fable He also comprehends other wickednesses in adding that they rose betimes to doe euill for he speakes not of the Caldeans or Assyrians but of such as would bee held to be of the number of the faithfull and boasted that they were the children of Abraham Vers 21. Which made a man to sinne in the word and tooke him in a snare which reproued them in the gate made the iust to fall without cause WE haue told you heretofore with whom the Prophet had to deale namelie with hypocrites and prophane contemners who esteemed all the reprehensions threatnings of the Prophet but as wind and had forged to themselues a god of their owne deuising For such who only sought libertie to liue as they listed in their lusts and wicked courses were vtterlie vnable to beare the sharp reprofes of the Prophets neither would they bee touched nor repressed by their good willes For which cause they were diligent in noting and obseruing their words either to snarle at them or to wrest something or other to their purpose Neither do I doubt but he here taxeth the wicked who were offended at the plainnes of the Prophets and with their sharp and vehement rebukes as if they meant to bring the necks of the people princes and priests vnder their girdles Thence it is that these calumniations and false accusations are raised vp against the faithfull seruants of God at this day thence is it also that such doubtfull and curious questions are propounded vnto them euen as nets and snares to put the innocent in hazard of their liues or else to plunge them into some imminent danger And we see that the Scribes and Pharises did the like euen to Iesus Christ himselfe Math. 21.23 and 22.17 Iohn 8.6 The last member of the verse which is added by way of exposition shewes that this is not to be vnderstood of slanders and other cunning deuises in generall by which the subtle are wont to intrap the simple for the Prophet rather more plainly condemnes the wicked conspiracies by which the vnbeleeuers indeuor to exempt themselues from all reprehensions and censures Now in regard that their assemblies were kept openlie for giuing sentence in iudgement and that the gates were alwaies replenished with people the Prophets tooke opportunitie from thence to reproue all sorts so as they spared not the Iudges themselues For the matters of life and death at that time were in the hands of such wicked and godles wretches that it was needfull to rebuke them very sharplie But in stead of making any good vse of these admonitions to come to amendment of life they became so much the worse and raged against the Prophets and laid snares to catch them for as Amos saith They hated him that reproued in the gate and abhorred him that spake vprightlie Amos 5.10 This appertaines to all and especiallie to Iudges and rulers in Common-wealths who are the most impatient and wil by no meanes abide the least reproofe They loue to reigne as Kings and would be so esteemed of others also albeit they be worse indeed then the meanest good subiect The expositors agree not in the exposition of the verb Iekoshun which signifies to spread nets for some take it to chide others to do wrong as if the Prophet accused the malepertnes of those who gaue ouer themselues to violence and by meanes thereof banished such out of their presence as should any way touch thē in their reputations But as I hope the readers will approue of that reading which I haue followed He also saith that the iust was ouerthrowne without cause for they did what they could by craft and wicked practises to bring the iust into hatred as if they had been the only wicked men in the world but after they haue borne their scoffes and reproach for a while their enemies at length shall come to destruction Vers 20. For this is the Consolation which the Lord giues the faithfull to wit that he will not suffer the wicked to scape so scot-free but they also shall snart for it and in the end shall be suppressed howsoeuer for a time they had the world at will Let patience haue her perfect worke But we must haue patience to wait for the accomplishment of these and the like promises Vers 22. Therefore saith the Lord vnto the house of Iaacob euen he that redeemed Abraham Iaacob shall not now be confounded neither now shall his face be pale THis is the conclusion of the former sentence for he comforts the people to the end they should not despaire in this poore and wofull estate into which they should be brought It is also needfull to note the time vnto which these things ought to be referred to wit to the time of the captiuitie when the Temple was ouerthrowne the sacrifices abolished so as it seemed religion was whollie rooted out and all hope of deliuerance taken frō them There was great cause therefore why the hearts of the people should be susteined and vpheld by these prophesies to the end that the wrack and ruine of all things being come vpon them they might haue this planck as it were to saue themselues from Ship-wrack vpon which if they kept themselues firmely they might by meanes thereof come safe to the shore By this let vs be warned also to imbrace the like promises by faith and when all things shall seeme desperate yet let vs rest vpon them with our whole hearts Now he speakes of the house of Iaacob in which we are to note that the vertue of Gods word is perpetuall and of such efficacie that it brings forth fruit as long as there is a people in the world which adores and stands in awe of him For there are alwaies some whom God reserues because he will not suffer the race of the faithfull to perish Doubtlesse there is an end and thy hope shall not be cut off Prou. 23.18 None that trust in him shall be confounded Psal 34.22 Hath the Lord spoken it then let vs beleeue him and doubtlesse the time wil come in which we shal reape the fruit of our faith For as his truth is firme and stable in it selfe so if we rest constantlie vpon him wee shall neuer be destitute of comfort It is not without cause also that he addes that God who now promiseth to be mercifull vnto Iaacob saith that he redeemed Abraham for he therein brings the people to the beginning of the Church that cōsidering Gods power which from time to time was manifested by so many famous examples they might haue no occasion at all to call his truth into question If so be then they gloried in that they were the children of Abraham Abrahams deliuerances they were also therewithall to thinke from what place the Lord did first deliuer him to wit from the seruice of idols which he and
of all things that none can take them vnto himselfe without manifest blasphemie Who it is that rightly deserues to bee called God How Isaiah frames his argument against Idols Whence we gather that these things are so proper to the Diuinitie that he indeed rightly deserues to be called God who knowes and can doe all things Thus the Prophet reasons then If the Idols whom you adore be Gods they must be able to know and doe all things but they haue no power to doe any thing at all neither in prosperitie nor aduersitie neither do they know that which is past present or to come therefore they be no Gods Quest But here ariseth a difficult question for in prophane histories there are many predictions which the Idolaters receiued from their gods for which cause it might seeme that Apollo Iupiter and others knew of things to come and therefore they were Gods First I answere Ans that if we consider what the oracles were which these Idols gaue forth wee shall finde there was either obscuritie or great ambiguitie in them all Oracles giuen forth of Idols ambiguous Pyrrhus Croesus As that which was giuen to Pyrrhus Thy men ouercome shall the Romans And to Cressus after he hath passed Hâ—lys Crsoeus shal ouerthrow many kingdoms How the euent will shew that touching the first we must vnderstand it thus The Romans shall ouercome thy men And for the second After Croesus hath passed Halys he shall ouerthrow many kingdomes not other mens but his owne Thus Satan at that time vexed the minds of men by these intangled ambiguities that he might alwaies leaue them hanging in suspence that gaue themselues to be directed by such impostures But besides this that is to be noted which Paul saith 2. Thess 2.9 That the efficacie of error is giuen vnto Satan that he might blind the vnbeleeuers who delight in his delusions When they aske counsell then of this father of lies it is no maruell though they be dedeceiued vnder a colour of truth but in the meane while it is a iust punishment of God vpon them for their ingratitude We reade that a lying spirit was let loose by meanes of the false Prophets the better to blind Ahab who pleased himselfe in such beguilings 1. King 22.21 It was good reason also that the prophane nations who had forsaken the true God should bee intangled in the snares of error and so drawne headlong into perdition Thus then it is a fond dispute whereabout Saint Augustine labors so much S. Austen to wit how the diuels may bee partakers of this prescience which the good Angels haue for the cause hereof must not be sought out in nature So in times past when God gaue the bridle to false Prophets he by their fallacies auenged himselfe vpon the peoples wickednesse not that such imposters had any great gift of knowledge but being fitted for this purpose they did according to the licence giuen vnto them As touching God himselfe albeit his foreknowledge be hid and that it bee a bottomlesse depth yet is it manifest enough to those whom he hath chosen so as they may discern him from the troope of false gods Not that hee foretold all things by his Prophets for mens curiositie in that behalfe is insatiable neither is it expedient they should know all things but he hath concealed nothing from them that is fit to bee knowne for by many excellent prophecies hee hath foreshewen that he hath a speciall care of his Church as Amos saith Is there any secret thing which the Lord will not reueale to his seruants the Prophets Amos 3.7 The Iewes haue wickedly and vnworthily abused this prerogatiue in that they haue set their fond predictions to sale among strange nations But the truth of God hath alwaies so shined in the prophecies that all men to whom God hath giuen wisdome may cleerly perceiue that the God of Israel was and is the onely God The God of Israel the only God Verily it was no more possible for the idols to beguile the faithful which were instructed in the schoole of God then at high noone to perswade one of a perfect sight that blacke were white so farre was it off for them then to get any credit by their foreknowledge and yet least of al by their power neither of which it was any way lawfull to ascribe vnto them seeing it appeared by continuall prophecies that one God onely ruled and governed all things both aduerse and prosperous The Assyrian thaÌ„ked his idols for his victories which he obtained but God had long before instructed the Iews of that which should happen yea and had made it euident in all mens sight that hee armed this wretch to execute his own iudgements Read Chap. 10. Now to doe euill Euill taken for corrections is not taken heere to commit any outrage which is a thing far from the nature of God but it signifies to correct and send aduersities which indeed ought to bee attributed to Gods prouidence and neither to fortune nor idols And this is often met withall in the Scriptures as in Amos 3.6 Is there euill in the Citie and the Lord hath not done it Ieremiah also accuseth the people in that they knew not that God was the author both of euill and good Lament 3.38 The Lord then punisheth the sinnes of the people by warres plague famin pouertie sicknesses and other the like euils and will be knowne to be the efficient from whom all of them proceed Now Isaiah alleageth not all the examples and arguments by which he was able to haue distinguished the true God froÌ„ idols for that would haue taken vp much time but he now contents himselfe to proue it briefly and yet plainly for he hath not yet ended his argument Vers 24. Behold yee are of no value and your making is of nought man hath chosen an abomination by them NOw he scornes the idols that he might confirme the faithfull in the confidence and obedience of God seeing by this comparison that idolaters are miserably blinded and beguiled The word making ought heere to be taken in the passiue signification as if he should say It is a vaine imagination or inuention of nought But it seemes he speakes improperly Obiect in calling the idols things of nothing for are they not made of gold siluer brasse Ans vvood stone or such like matter The solution is easie for Isaiah considered not the matter but the qualitie that is to say the opinion of diuinitie which men gaue vnto them For the superstitious doe not simplie worship the wood brasse or mettall but the maiestie of God Idolaters tie a diuine maiestie to their stocks and stones which they fondly and blasphemously tie to the corruptible idol so as in effect heere is nothing but a vaine imagination To which purpose Paul saith that an idol is nothing 1. Cor. 8.4 For what can that be or what name shall be giuen to a worke of vanitie An
lippes ye know were to preserue knowledge and at their mouth men were to seeke it Mal. 2.7 The Prophet therefore complaines that those who should bee lights and guides to others were themselues as blinde as the rest Some refer the word seruant to Isaiah others to Christ and thinke that both were condemned of blindnesse But this comes nothing neere the Prophets drift for his meaning is by way of comparison to amplifie the former complaint made touching the blindnesse of the Iewes Their fault was much greater then that of other nations but the Priests were yet in the greatest fault of all who were their leaders and guides Let vs know then that by how much the more wee come neere vnto God and the higher hee shall haue aduanced vs in dignitie aboue others the lesse shall our excuse be To the same purpose he calles them perfect which indeede should haue been so for hee puts them in minde by this reproch of that perfection from whence they were fallen by so vnworthy a reuolt and thereby had shamefully prophaned that holy and glorious name of their God For seeing he gaue them a perfect rule of righteousnesse to direct them both in life and doctrine it should haue been their parts not to haue swarued an haires bredth from it Vers 20. Seeing many things but thou keepest them not opening the eares but he heareth not NOw himselfe expounds what this blinding is which he mentioned before and he shewes it to be twofold Thus we may perceiue well enough that he speaks only of the Iewes who wilfully and maliciously had choked the heauenly light The fault will bee double then when they shall appeare before Gods iudgement seat if wee shut our eies before the cleere light and stop our eares whilest he vouchsafes to teach vs by his word I grant the prophane nations are iustly left without excuse but the Iewes and others to whom the Lord so many waies manifested himselfe shall bee worthy of a double condemnation in that they would neither see nor heare God Let vs feare this iudgement then What vse we are to make of the former doctrin who haue so many worthy lights and examples shining before our eies for there is a blinding espied at this day in many and as great an hardening as was among the Iewes but the one shall bee no more excused then the other Vers 12. The Lord is willing for his righteousnesse sake that he may magnifie the Law and exalt it THat he might amplifie the offence of the Iewes hee now shewes that it was not Gods fault that they were depriued of good daies Hee said before that the miseries and calamities which they indured were the punishments of their wilfull obstinate blindnesse Now to fill vp the measure of their iniquitie he addes that by their obstinacie they had reiected all reliefe This place is diuersly expounded Some reade This verse diuersly expounded See more in the sequell The Lord would haue it so others He is gracious But I haue translated The Lord is vvilling that is to say is inclined to deliuer his people to magnifie his law and to exalt his iustice And thus God yeeldes the reason why he is ready to succour the vnworthy to wit because he is willing that his glory may be aduanced in their saluation that his iustice by this meanes may also appeare and that his law might florish in her perfect strength Now in that the Iewes were in such a distressed estate it was because they wittingly loued darknesse rather then light and to heape sorrowes vpon their owne heads rather then to obey God for had not this come betweene it was his onely desire to haue inriched them and to haue aduanced them Some expound it thus The Lord is as willing to magnifie his law and to shew his iustice in chastising the Iewes as hee was to threaten them by it and thus they refer the word righteousnesse to the punishments and plagues wherewith this people were visited of God Others translate For my righteousnesse sake and so refer it to Christ but they deceiue themselues in the word Tsidko for doubtlesse the Prophet speakes of righteousnesse minding to shew that the Lord was willing to exalt the truth of his promises and the signes of his righteousnesse in the conseruation of the Iewes if they had not shewed themselues vnworthy of so great a benefit by their owne vnthankfulnesse others thinke that the Lord is heere excused in regard it seemed hee suffered his truth to faile when his chosen people were exposed to so manie calamities and that the Prophet meant to preuent this slander by telling them that they were not thus scattered made a pray because the Lord tooke any delight therein but because he respected his iustice aboue all things The sense according to Master Caluins iudgement But for my part I expound it simply in this sense that the Lord to exalt his Law vvas readie to doe his people good that his glory and iustice might shine therein but that the people depriued themselues of such a blessing and thus made their case desperate by their owne obstinacie The cause why the Lord adornes his Church with so many fauors From hence also wee may gather for what cause the Lord adornes his Church with so many of his fauours euen that hee might magnifie his law and bring men to the seruice of his Maiestie that so his truth might shine more and more When the Prophet saith that the Lord is vvilling it is euident that he findes no cause out of himselfe but yet he expresseth it further in adding for his righteousnesse sake for he excludes all that men bring of their owne neither can hee be moued to doe good but because he is iust Adde also that no dignitie or worthinesse is to be found in any man but there was a speciall reason of this in respect of the Iewes whom hee had vouchsafed to adopt among the rest Vers 22. But this people is robbed and spoiled and shall be all snared in dungeons and they shall be hid in prison houses they shall be for a pray and none shall deliuer a spoile and none shall say Restore NOw Isaiah shewes that the people are miserable and appointed to destruction by their owne folly because they reiected God who otherwise was readie to haue succoured them but they like desperate persons reiected all remedies and sought their owne ouerthrow He so excuseth the Lord then that he vehemently reproues the people who vnkindly did cast off the Lord and turned his grace into wantonnes And yet as I haue said alreadie this is not said so much to iustifie God as bitterlie to complaine of this nation who had sworne to procure their owne ruine seeing they wilfully threw themselues into sundrie calamities If we see the Church scattered and deformed at this day let vs blame our sinnes The cause of the Churches deformitie for we thereby would not suffer
yet may wee refer this sentence vnto it because hee handles the doctrine of the Churches restauration RegeneratioÌ„ a principall part of the Churches restauration whereof regeneration is a principall part for God thereby repaires his image in his elect chosen people We might insist longer vpon this matter and lay it out more fully but we must first labour to attaine the Prophets meaning and shew the plaine and natiue sense of his words Vers 5. One shall say I am the Lords another shall bee called by the name of Iakob and another shall subscribe with his hand vnto the Lord and name himselfe by the name of Israel Hitherto the Prophet hath spoken vnder borrowed speeches now he sets forth the thing plainly HItherunto the Prophet hath spoken by similitudes but now he deliuers his mind plainly and without any figures shewing what these buds and hearbs bee whereof hee hath spoken to wit that the Lord will gather his people out of all nations and will bring them into his Church which were far off before also that he would restore and augment the same which in a manner seemed to bee brought to nothing for all should runne vnto it out of all quarters of the world and should craue that they might bee inrolled among the faithfull according to that which is said in Psal 87. Behold Philistia Tyre and Ethiopia there vvas â—e borne Which place of the Psalme howsoeuer it hath seemed to be obscured by the ignorance of the expositors yet it serues to giue light to this prophecie For we know the number of those which returned from the captiuity were very few the faithfull therefore had cause to bee astonished and to blush for shame much more cause had they to be hindered from comprehending the glorious and wonderfull worke of their redemption which was so highly extolled by the Prophets The author of this Psalme therefore labours to preuent this astonishment and giues them to vnderstand that the Babylonians and Egyptians shall also become members of the Church that the Ethiopians Tyrians and all such as were strangers should come and be incorporated into the number of Gods chosen As if he should say Ierusalem is now desolate indeed yet will God not onely gather together his banished but will also call from euery part of the vvorld and make them one body which now are sundered in such sort that they shall reioice that God hath made them Citizens with the Saints and shall no lesse appertaine to the body of the elect then if they had issued forth of the same Now for as much as wee are wont to take their names who are to be inrolled in bookes the Prophet hauing respect vnto this custome vseth these phrases of speech One shall subscribe with his hand vnto the Lord and shall name himselfe by the name of Israel another shall protest I am the Lords and shall call himselfe by the name of Iacob By which words the Prophet signifies that this shall bee a new and extraordinarie worke when hee which before was a meere stranger froÌ„ God should now reioice that hee was adopted of him Shâ—ll be called signifies heere as much as wee vsually say To bee called by anothers name as in the fourth Chapter where it is spoken of the women which desired husbands onely to take away their rebuke and shame We will eat our owne bread and will weare our owne garments onely let vs bee called by thy name Now howsoeuer Isaiah seemes to make distinction heere betweene such as in expresse termes professe themselues to be Gods people and those which desired to bee called by the name of Iaakob yet the two members are to be referred both to the one and to the other for to be Gods child and to bee of Israel are things conioined with an inseparable band Why so Because God will be Father to none but such as haue the Church for their mother God wils that all his children should acknowledge the Church for their mother And yet vve also note that there are no true Citizens of the Church but such as subiect themselues vnder the Lords dominion If the Prophet had omitted this word Lord and had onely mentioned Iakob and Israel yet we must haue risen from thence to the fountaine of Iakob of vvhom all things in heauen and in earth are named But to take away all ambiguitie he repeates this order twice to wit that those onely are to bee accounted the children of Iakob which submit themselues to God By this we may easily see the Prophets drift The Prophets drift for he shews that the church no sooner feeles the want of Gods blessing vers 3. but by little and little she falles to ruin and withers away on the coÌ„trary when the Spirit is shed abroad vpon her she by by recouers new strength and force not onely in regard of obtaining her first beautie and glory but contrary to all hope shee attaines wonderfull increases We are also to note that the Prophet speakes not heere of the order of nature as if the new children of the Church were borne so for no man gets such a dignitie by his owne industry but when those which were strangers before shall be regenerated then the Prophet saith they shal come and giue in their names to testifie that they are indeed the children of God A change farre surmounting all humane reason We see here therefore a description of a change which farre surmounts nature and all reason of flesh and blood to wit when out of the cursed race of Adam there issues a spiritual Israel Some thinke that Isaiah notes heere how small the number of the faithfull shall be when it is said one shall say and another shall be called and the third shall subscribe but this coniecture wants ground and the very scope of the text easily confutes their error As I thinke therefore wee haue rather to gather that the Church shall come in by troopes out of diuers nations far remote one from the other in regard that God will bring home strangers vnder his dominion and so touch their hearts that they shall glory not in words onely but in truth that they are of the number of his people Hence also wee may obserue that true faith cannot be in the heart but it will forthwith breake out into a voluntarie and franke confession True faith in the heart will manifest it selfe by a voluntarie confession Psal 116.10 2. Cor. 4.13 Rom. 10.10 Act. 4.20 which may be gathered from these foure distinct members one shall say I am the Lords another shall be called by the name of Iakob the third shall subscribe vvith his hand and the fourth shall call himselfe by the name of Israel For the very truth is that Gods seruants ought not to be mute or silent but both by words and deeds to testifie what is in their hearts seeing they professe to obey him and reioyce in his name the whole course
things needefull for their returne Not for price that is to say for nothing It is no ordinarie matter for a Conqueror to let loose his prisoners For hee either puts them to their Ransome or imposeth vpon them some very hard conditions But Cyrus did none of these things Whence it followed that such a deliuerance happened not by the will of man but by the speciall decree of God The word Captiuitie is heere taken for Captiues because it is a noune Collectiue Vers 14. Thus saith the Lord The labour of Egypt and the merchandise of Ethiopia and of the Sebeans men of stature shall come vnto thee and they shall bee thine they shall follow thee and shall goe in chaines they shall fall downe before thee and make supplication vnto thee saying * Or onely Surely God is in thee and there is none other God besides HEe speakes againe of the restauration A note of true conuersion when we worship that God which is acknowledged in the Church which was afterwards effected by the permission of Cyrus but wee must remember what I haue said often before to wit that these promises doe stretch themselues further off for they comprehend vnder them all the time which ranne out betweene the returne vntill Christs appearing And if the readers doe ponder this well and shall seriously weigh the Prophets forme of speaking heere will be found nothing superfluous nor excessiue Now Isaiah alludes to that cost and charges which Cyrus was at in furnishing the Iewes with necessaries to rebuild and adorne the Temple withall For then was fulfilled that which hee saith touching the labour of Egypt and the merchandise of Ethiopia vvhich should come vnto the Iewes for these two Countries were tributaries and subiect to the kings of Persia Of these tributes the Temple of Ierusalem was restored which restauration was but a beginning of that which was accomplished by Christ Neither was this seruice of strāge nations to Gods people ought else but a forerunner of that obediēce which diuers Countries were afterward to yeeld to the Church of God after Christ was manifested to the world Moreouer vnder the name of Egypt and Ethiopia and the Sabeans which now florished he also compriseth all other nations as if he should say You are now oppressed vnder the tyranny of strangers but the time shall come that they shall serue you This promise was not fulfilled the first day it was made but then only when Christ came into the world to subdue hautie and stubborne hearts vnder his obedience which were incorrigible before for afterwards they meekly gaue their necks to beare his sweet yoke and yet the Lord deliuered his people out of Babylon that he might preserue a Church vnto himselfe till Christes comming vnder whose dominion all nations were to be subdued It is no maruell then if the Prophet speaking of the returne of the Iewes bends his speech towards the marke of the Lords decree The Text. so making but one deliuerance as it were of both They shall goe in chains and shall fall downe before thee Where he saith that the Israelites shall get the conquest ouer all nations it depends vpon that mutuall coniunction which is betweene the head and the members for in regard the only Sonne of God hath so vnited the faithful vnto himselfe that they and he make but one therefore often that which belongs to him is attributed vnto the Church which is his body and his fulnes Ephes 1.23 In this sense it is said that the Church gouerns not to darken the glorie of her head by an ambitious superioritie The Church gouerns not to darken the glorie of her head by an hautie superioritie or to attribute vnto her selfe a proper empire as if she had something separate from her head but in regard the preaching of the Gospell which is committed vnto her is the spirituall scepter by which Christ manifests his power And in this sort none can humble himselfe nor fall downe before Christ but he submits himselfe also to the Church because the obedience of faith and the doctrine of the Church are things vnited and yet so that Christ notwithstanding which is her head may reigne alone and may exercise his power without the help of a second See 1. Cor. 14.25 Surely God is in thee The Prophet shewes what they shall say which by way of honor shall make supplication to the Church to wit they shall confesse that God is in her of a truth Some translate the word Ak Only which I reiect not but confesse that it fitlie expresseth the Prophets meaning yet it wil not agree amisse to expound it affirmatiuely Surely God is in thee Now hee shewes how strange Nations shall be subiected to the Iewes to wit in acknowledging that there is no other God but him whom the Iewes worship If it be obiected Obiect that this appertaines not at all to the Iewes who are now cut off from the Church I answere Ans The Gospell notwithstanding came from them into all the world and thus we acknowledge Ierusalem to be the fountaine from whence this pure doctrine of life issued Iohn 4.22 In old time the Iewes only knew the true God and none had the true worship but they others being giuen to impostures worshipped their owne inuentions in which respect Christ speaking to the woman of Samaria said We know what we worship Iohn 4.22 It is rightly said here then that God is in thee because other nations knew not God But because there is heere a close opposition I willinglie receiue the particle Only so as it serues as a testimonie of the sound conuersion of the Gentiles who contenting themselues with one only God shall vtterlie forsake their Idols The summe is The summe of this verse that those who swelled with pride before and despised the Church with a scornefull eie should now subiect themselues vnto her after they were taught what Gods true sanctuarie was yet so as hath bin said that God shall not therefore giue ouer his principalitie though he thus aduanceth his Church And here we may behold a signe of true conuersion to wit when we worship not a god of our owne forging but such a one as is acknowledged in the Church This excellent title also which is giuen to the Church is not to be omitted God is in thee for God is in the middes of it because he hath chosen his dwelling there as in Psal 46. If wee bee Gods people and do submit our selues to that doctrine of saluation which he sets before vs then may we resolue vpon it that he will assist vs because he neuer failes those that seeke him This therefore is a perpetuall promise and ought not to be restrained only to those times Vers 15. Verily thou ô God hidest thy selfe O God the sauiour of Israel NOw Isaiah breakes forth into an exclamatiō shewing God will for a time hide himselfe before he manifests his glorie
yet they breake not off their course which experience might well haue taught vs. For there is not one of vs but we had long since been vtterly rooted out by the secret and open practises of our enemies had not the Lord been our defence And truly I cannot but wonder that any one Minister of the Gospell should stand safe A miracle that a faithfull Minister should stand in the midst of so many so great dangers But the cause is the Lord keepes them vnder the shadow of his hand and hides them as shafts in his quiuer that they should hot be hurt nor destroied of their enemies Vers 3. And he said vnto me Thou art my seruant Israel for I will be glorious in thee THis verse must be ioined with the former This verse depends vpoÌ„ the former For heereby it appeares that he speakes not of one man but of the whole people which the expositors haue not considered for this place neither ought to be restrained to Christs person nor yet referred to Israel onely But we must heere obserue the course of the Scriptures When the body of the Church is mentioned then Christ is placed in the middle as it were who vnder him comprehends the children of God Wee heare what Saint Paul saith The promises were made to Abraham and to his seede He saith not to his seedes as speaking of many and to thy seed which is Christ Gal. 3.16 For he comprehends not the multitude of children which came of Abraham according to the flesh seeing all were not partakers of this blessing Ishmael was reiected Ishmael reiected Esâ—u reprobated Gal. 4.30 Esau was hated Mal. 1.3 and many others were cut off When the people were deliuered from vnder the captiuitie of Babylon the number of those which returned were very smal for the greatest part reiected this excellent benefit of God Where was this seede then Euen in Christ who is the head and vnder him containes the rest of the members for in him by an inseparable band is the whole seed assembled and knit together in one And in the same sense that Isaiah hath noted out Christ vnder the name of Israel so also hath he comprehended the whole body as the members vnder the head Which is no new thing For when Paul speakes of that vnion which is betweene Christ and the Church The vnion which is between Christ and his Church hauing set it forth vnder the similitude of a mans body he addes euen so is Christ 1. Cor. 12.12 And in this place the name of Christ is attributed vnto Israel that is to say to the whole companie of the faithfull which are vnited to Christ as the members to the head Afterwards the Lord giues this title to the Church which is the spouse of Christ as the wife is dignified with the name and title of her husband Now he calles Israel his seruant that is to say his handmaid the Church for shee is the pillar and ground of truth because hee hath committed his word vnto her as a pledge to keepe that by her ministerie it may be published thorowout the world 1. Tim. 3.15 In the latter part of the verse hee shewes what the end of this ministry is and why those that preach the Gospell are called thereunto of God to wit that they make his glory by all meanes to shine cleere in respect of themselues and to aduance it also among others Which Christ teacheth in the Gospell saying Father glorifie thy Sonne that thy Sonne also may glorifie thee Iohn 17.1 But doth not God shew vs a singular fauour when he appoints vs base and vile wretches to be procurers of glory vnto him Oh! let this quicken vs vp to obey him carefully and to imploy our selues faithfully in his seruice And yet the Prophet meant to expresse somewhat more namely that howsoeuer Satan and his imps lay all the plots they can yet Gods power shall ouerthrow them all so as Christ shall triumph notwithstanding gloriouslie and God his maiestie shall shine most bright in his Gospell still Vers 4. And I said I haue labored in vaine I haue spent my strength in vaine and for nothing but my iudgement is with the Lord and my worke with my God THe Prophet addes a grieuous complaint heere A bitter complaint in the name of the Church yet so as he begins at the head as we haue said before Christ then with his members complaines that he hath in a manner vtterly lost his labour for after hee hath greatly praised and commended the efficacie of that word which issueth out of his mouth vers 2. now he shewes that it hath done little or no good notwithstanding so as this glory which God requires to shine in the ministrie of his word appeares very little For Christ saith he hath laboured in vaine because men wil not repent Why this coÌ„plaint is addâ—d nor turne to God by the preaching of the heauenly doctrine It was to great purpose that the Prophet added this First to teach vs that this fruit whereof he spake shall not alwaies appeare in the eies of men for otherwise we should be readie to call the truth of Gods word into question and would also be brought to doubt whether this doctrine which is reiected of so many with such impudencie were the word of God or no. Secondlie that we might bend all our forces with inuincible constancie to performe our duties and to commend the successe of all our labours vnto the blessing of God who will not suffer it to be fruitlesse in the end And thus the Prophet meant to meete with a dangerous temptation that by the rebellions of men we should not faint in the middle of our course And truly Christ so begins heere vvith a complaint that he yet comforts himselfe by and by knowing that nothing shall be able to direct him from the performance of his charge And the text would be somewhat plainer if wee reade it thus Although my trauaile be in vaine and that I haue spent my selfe vvithout fruit yet it sufficeth that my vvorke is approued of my God Vnto which appertaines that which is added but my iudgement is before the Lord. Albeit then the fruit of our labours appeare not before vs An incouragement for Ministers yet must it content vs that they are done before that God whom we serue and to whom our seruice is agreeable For Christ exhorts and incourageth the faithfull Ministers to fight valiantly vntil they haue ouercome this temptation so as setting light by the malice of men they cheerfully goe on still in their calling without suffering discontentments or carelesnesse to hinder their course If the Lord haue a purpose then to try our faith and patience so farre as that it shall seeme we labour in vaine yet must wee satisfie our selues with the testimonie of a good conscience But if this consolation take no place in vs then is it certaine that we are not
yet hee commands them not to cast away their confidence because their certaine and full redemption is in his hands and yet they were heerein to looke farre aboue the reach of humane reason This therefore is a very excellent place We must not cease to belieue though God for a time deferre his promise out of which we may gather how carefully we ought to beleeue God when he speakes albeit he doe no forthwith accomplish that which hee hath promised but suffers vs to languish vnder afflictions a long time Some translate the word Veze Contemned others Contemptible which I approoue of But this augments the miserie of the people when the Prophet calles them despised * Or in himselfe in soule for many are despised of others who notwithstanding are worthy of honour in regard of the graces wherewith they be indued or being puffed vp with pride cease not with an higher contempt to treade vnder their feete the contempt of others But Isaiah affirmes that the Iewes are not more despised and contemptible in the eies of others then they are in their owne Thus then hee notes out an exceeding ignominie and low estate therewithall comprehending the affliction of the Spirit to teach them that God shall come in fit time to succour them when they shall be throughly humbled I see no reason why some haue changed the number in the word nation seeing the Prophet vseth the singular number Goi it being certaine that he addresseth his speech to the posteritie of Abraham Afterwards he cals them seruants of rulers as if he should say that mightie tyrants oppressed them for by the word Moschelim he meanes those that haue so much force and power that it is an hard matâ—er to escape their hands When he saith that Kings shall see he speaks in high and glorious termes of the deliuerie of his people but in the meane while hee is contented they should bee tried in the furnace to proue their faith and patience for where were the triall of faith if God should forthwith giue that which he hath promised as we said before In the word Princes there is a repetition much vsed among the Hebrewes But we will speake it thus shortly Kings and Princes shall see they shall arise and bow downe By the verbe To bow downe he expounds what he meant by arising for wee rise vp to giue honour The summe is that the greatest Princes of the world shall bee awakened to confesse that the restauration of the Church is an excellent worke of God and worthy of respect and reuerence Because the holy one of Israel who hath chosen thee is faithfull See the cause of this great astonishment touching the honour which Princes shall performe to God to wit because they shall acknowledge his faithfulnesse and constancie in his promises God would not be held to be faithful by a bare imagination but from good experience For the Lord would not be acknowledged faithfull from a bare and naked imagination but from experience it selfe to wit in the preseruation and protection of his people whom hee hath adopted Hence therefore let vs learne not to iudge of Gods promises by our present estate but by his truth and faithfulnesse so as when we perceiue nothing but death and the graue to compasse vs round yet wee may remember this sentence by which the Lord calles vs to him euen the vile and contemptible 2. Cor. 7.6 Hence also wee are to consider how glorious and admirable a worke the deliuerance of the Church is in that it constraines Kings be they neuer so proud thinking nothing be it neuer so excellent worthy to behold them to behold to admire yea and to honour and reuerence the Lord whether they will or no. This new and extraordinary worke then is heere greatly recommended vnto vs in this behalfe For not to mention ancient histories by what meanes hath God deliuered vs out of that wofull tyrannie of Antichrist Truly wee were as those that dreame as the Psalmist saith Psal 126.1 especially if wee doe but seriously consider of the thing it selfe for the Lord hath wrought a miracle in bringing vs to doe homage vnto Christ In the end of the verse the Prophet repeates that which he touched before to wit that this people were set a part to bee the Lords But in election we must seeke the beginning of sanctification for the people were the holy inheritance because God had vouchsafed of his meere grace to chuse them Isaiah then means that secret will of God from whence sanctification flowes that Israel might not thinke they were chosen for their own deserts As if he had said The Lord which hath elected thee shewes that thou art so indeed by the effects As wee ought then to acknowledge Gods faithfulnes and truth in our saluation so must we attribute this saluation only to our free election And yet it behoues euery one that will partake in so great a benefit Neither truth nor saluation out of he Church to be a portion of the true Israel that is to say of the Church out of which there is neither truth nor saluation to be found Vers 8. This saith the Lord in an acceptable time haue I heard thee and in a day of saluation haue I succored thee and will preserue thee and giue thee for a couenant of the people that thou mayst raise vp the earth and obteine the inheritance of the desolute heritage FRom this verse we may yet more clearely gather that which we haue handled in the beginning of this Chapter to wit that the Prophet so speakes of the whole body of the Church that he begins at the head thereof And this as I haue said ought to be well obserued for the expositors haue bauked it and yet without it we shall not be able to make these verses to cohere S. Paul plainly shewes this in applying this very sentence to the whole Church 2. Cor. 6.2 But yet that which followes I vvill giue thee for a couenant of the people sutes to none but Christ only How shal we make these things agree then To wit if we shall consider that Christ is not so much his owne as ours Christ not so much his owne as ours For he was not borne neither died be nor rose againe for himselfe He was sent for the saluation of his people He seeks nothing at our hands for he stands in neede of nothing Thus then God makes his promises to the whole Church and Christ who is as it were the suretie or pledge betweene both receiues these promises and procures nothing to himselfe by them but altogether for the Churches behoofe for whose saluation he was sent He speakes not then of Christ as singling him out by himselfe but as of one that is ioined and made one with his Church for euer It is an inestimable fauor then which the father shewes vs when he heares his sonne for our sakes yea that he directs his speech to
so all generally and euery one particularly might imbrace these promises When hee commands them to lift vp their eies it is to shew that the cause which moues vs to faint is in that we doe not so diligentlie obserue the work of the Lord as we ought but suffer out eies to bee couered as it were with a vaile by reason whereof wee cannot see three paces before vs. Thence also it comes that we can hardly coÌ„ceiue any hope but are euer and anon plunged into despaire when the least troubles arise Now if this bee said of the whole Church let euery man examine his owne heart Vse to vs. and see how subiect he is to this vice and let him euer stirre vp yea awaken his spirits to behold the workes of the Lord and to rest himselfe vpon his promises with his whole heart In that he saith the children of the church shall be gathered the meaning is to bee one bodie with Christ and as one fold vnder one shepheard we must be gathered into one lap of the Church For Christ holds none other to be in the number of his sheepe but such as are ioined into one body by the vnitie of one faith Christ â—â—lds none for his sheepe but such as are made one with him by faith Iohn 10.16 Whosoeuer then vvould bee accounted among Gods children let him be a childe of the Church for as many as are separate from her shall alwaies bee held as strangers before God As a garment or ornament The Prophet shewes wherein the chiefe ornament of the Church consists Wherein the chiefest ornament of the Church consists to wit in hauing many children gathered into her lap by forth and gouerned by the Spirit of God Behold the true beautie behold the glorie of the Church which otherwise is deformed and ill fauoured yea torne and rent in pieces if she be destituted of these ornaments Heereby we see that the Papists haue great skill in discerning of the right ornaments of the Churchâ— for they please themselues in nothing but crucifixes With what ornaments the Church of Rome deckes her selfe paintings images stately buildings gold precious stones and glorious vestments that is to say in bables and puppets fit for little children But the true dignitie and glorie of the Church is all inward Psal 45.13 because it consists in the gifts and graces of the holy Ghost in a word it consists in faith and in good workes Faith and good workes the beauty of the Church Whence it followes that she is then clothed with royall robes when people being knit together by faith doe assemble into her lap and worship God in spirit and in truth Now that this promise might haue the greater weight the Lord addes an oath that he might drawes to credit the same to the end that when the Church as we thinke is at the very pits brinke we should then wait and expect her restauration Which doctrine if euer there were neede of it it is now much more For whither soeuer we turne our eies what see wee else but horrible desolations The vse to vs. What are we to doe then Let vs deliuer our soules from despaire by staying our selues vpon this oath As I liue And let not our small number dismay vs though for that cause the world despiseth and disgraceth vs. No the Lord we doubt not hath his elect scattered heere and there whom at the length he will assuredly gather into his Church Let vs plucke vp our spirits then and lift vp our eies by a true faith that wee may not onely extend our hopes to one age but to many Vers 19. For thy desolations and waste places and thy land destroied shall surely be now narrow for theÌ„ that shal dwel in it and they that deuoure thee shall be farre away HE confirmes that which went before A confirmation of the former sentence but in other words to wit that the change by him promised is in Gods hand who will cause his Church which hath a long time lien desolate and vvaste to be suddenly inhabited againe and that in such wise as the land shall not be large enough to containe so manie inhabitants He vseth a similitude of a Citie broken downe whose walles and buildings are reedified vnto which also the people flow in such troopes that the bounds thereof must be inlarged because the first circuits are too narrow for them all And thus he not onely speakes of the peoples returne from Babylon but also of that restauration wrought by Christ when the Church was not onely spread thorowout Iudea but also thorowout all the quarters of the world Moreouer he addes that succours shall be in a readinesse to defend the Church against her enemies which would molest her with outrages and iniuries These shall not be able to hurt her Why so God will driue them farre away not that the Church had euer any perfect rest in this world The Church attaines not a full rest in this world or could be exempt from all violence of enemies but howsoeuer it be God who still supports the infirmities of his seruants hath alwaies resisted the wicked repressed or vtterly defeated their plots that so the kingdome of Satan might neuer waxe great by the ruines of the Church Vers 20. The children of thy barrennes shall say againe in thine eares The place is strait for mee giue places to me that I may dwell ISaiah goes on with the same argument The same argument still prosecuted and vnder another figure promiseth the Churches restauration Now he compares her to a widow or rather to a wife that is barren to set forth the miserable and desolate condition of this people who were oppressed vnder so many euils that the memory of that nation was in a maner extinct for they were mingled among the Chaldeans who held them prisoners so as they were almost incorporated into one body with them Wee are not to maruell then if he coÌ„pares the church as a barren vvife for shee conceiued no more children in her wombe In former time the Iewes florished but now their kingdome was torne in sunder their power vtterly ouerthrowne and their name in a manner buried in obliuion when they were led into captiuitie Hee promiseth then that the Church shall come forth of these sinkes and that she who now sits solitarie shall returne to her first estate Which is signified by the word againe â—â— for thereby he assures them that God was able to render them that againe which in former time he had bestowed vpoÌ„ them though now for a season he had depriued them thereof Whereas many take children of barrennes for orphelins me thinks it sutes not with the text because widowhood and barrennes is referred rather to the person of the Church And therefore by way of amplification he calles them so who beyond all hope were giuen to her that was a widow and barren Giue place That is to say
for my sake giue way Not that it is seemely for the faithfull to driue their brethren out of the place wherein they dwell but the Prophet borrowed a phrase of speech which is commonly vsed to signifie that no incoÌ„moditie whatsoeuer shall hinder many from desiring to be receiued and that place may be giuen them This came to passe when the Lord gathered an infinite number of soules from all parts of the world For in a moment and aboue mans reason the Church which was emptie before was replenished her bounds vvere enlarged and extended farre and neere Vers 21. Then shalt thou say in thine heart Who hath begotten me these seeing I am barren and desolate a captiue and a wanderer to and fro And who hath nourished them Behold I was left alone Whence are these The Church brought in admiring her extraordinarie exaltation BY these words he shewes that the restauration of the Church whereof he now speakes shall be admirable and therefore he brings her in wondring yea astonished that she is exalted by so extraordinarie and vnexpected a maner And to say the truth this is no superfluous description For the children of God and of the Church are not made new creatures by the will of flesh and blood but by the secret vertue of the holy Ghost neither are they borne into this world as we see men dayly haue a new of-spring to replenish common-wealths for naturallie we haue no part in the kingdome of God If any man then will but consider of this new and vnaccustomed change and then by what meanes the Church was multiplied and nourished a loÌ„g time in her poore estate he shall be constreined to admire and vvondâ—â— thereat Now he shewes that this shall be no fained admiratioÌ„ in which arte flatterers haue great skill but it shall proceed from a true affection of the heart Why so Because there shall be iust occasion to vvonder in regard the Lord hath so long and in so many dangers not only preserued his Church but hath made it multiplie into a new generation vnhoped for For who would haue imagined that when the Iewes were in the most contemptible condition that might be couered ouer as it were with miseries and reproches that any one of the Gentiles vvould haue desired societie vvith such Moreouer there was no likelihood that mens minds could feele so sudden an alteration as to ioine themselues to such a religion as themselues both hated and despised before nay more then that the wall of separation then stood which shut out all strangers and vncircumcised ones from entring into the Church of God But he addes the reason of so great an astonishment to wit that she was barren before and therefore was vtterlie destituted of children For the word of God which is the spirituall seed wherewith the children of the Church were begotten ceased the sacrifices also were broken off in a word whatsoeuer serued to maintaine a state in perfection was abolished Besides the Church is called barren not because God euer forsakes her but in regard his gracious presence doth not alwaies appeare We saw a wofull spectacle of this barrennes A wofull spectacle of the Churches barrennes seene in our times when the Lord to punish mens ingratitude tooke from vs his blessed truth and suffred vs to walke and erre in darknes then we might well say that shee was a widow and barren indeed when she was left quite destitute of children Hence also we may perceiue how foolish the Papists are in that they will alwaies haue Christ so to dispose of his Church that she must neuer know the state of widowhood nor barrennes For howsoeuer the Lord at no time vtterlie reiects his Church yet he often withdrawes from her the signes of his presence because of the worlds vnthankfulnes VVho hath nourished these Those who are banished and often remoue their habitation can not well nourish nor bring vp children So when the law and doctrine of godlines sounds no more in the Temples spirituall nourishment must needs faile But the Lord who stands in no need of humane helps begets vnto himselfe children after an extraordinarie maner by the incredible vertue of his holy Spirit and these he nourisheth how and in what place it pleaseth him Now to accomplish this prophesie he hath contrarie to all hope raised vp nurses so as the Church admires not vvithout cause at the fostering and bringing vp of her children When we reade this prophesie we are admonished not to vex our selues aboue measure if at any time we see the Church lest like a widow Vse Neither so farre to giue way to distrust as to thinke that God who is all sufficient can not in a moment renue and restore her to a perfect estate though for the present we see no likelihood nor appearance at all of it Vers 22. Thus saith the Lord Behold I will lift vp mine hand to the Gentiles and set vp my standard to the people and they shall bring thy sonnes in their armes and thy daughters shall be carried vpon their shoulders ISaiah coÌ„firmes that which he said erewhile to wit A confirmation added to the Churches admiration that the Lord would cause the Church which a long time was a widow and barren to bring forth an innumerable of spring so as her selfe should be constrained to admire at her owne fruitfulnes And this he doth to remoue all scruples and doubtings which peraduenture might arise in their minds But the Lord pronounceth that he will not only giue children to his Church among the Iews as in former time but among the Gentiles also and yet he shewes that this generation shal be spirituall to wit by the grace of adoption To which purpose appertaines the similitude of the standard for thereby he incourageth the faithfull to hope for a new kinde of generation far different from that which we see in the common course of nature It was necessarie then that the Lord should set vp his standard and to discouer his secret power by the preaching of the Gospell that among so many sorts of languages and differing dispositions he might bring children to the Church and to be made one with her in the same faith euen as brethren gather together into the lap of their mother Those are deceiued who by the metaphor of the hand and standard thinke the preaching of the Gospell is only signified separating it from the efficacie of the holy Ghost for both must be conioined together The preaching of the Gospell and the efficacie of the holy Ghost must goe together The vertue of the holy Ghost must in no wise be separated I say from the preaching of the Gospell witnes 2. Cor. 3.6 We must run therefore to this hand of God and to this standard when we see the Church oppressed vnder the tyrannie of the wicked For albeit they be euer plotting all sorts of mischiefe vtterlie to ouerturne it yet is Gods hand stronger then all
ought to conceiue of such an idolatrous and barbarous reuerence let them learne it from Saint Peter S. Peter whose seat they brag to hold for hee would not suffer Cornelius the Centurion to doe him such reuerence Act. 10.26 Let them also learne it from Saint Paul S. Paul what to doe in this case who rent his garments and reiected this honour with great detestation Act. 14.14 Is any thing more absurd then to say that the Sonne of God in stead of ordaining a Minister of the Gospell should consecrate a prophane King The Pope a prophane King exercising a Persian-like pompous state vtterly insupportable But let vs remember that whilest the Church is a pilgrime in this world that shee may bee humbled and that shee may bee conformed to Christ her head shee is subiect to the crosse And if her enemies giue her any rest The Churches chiefest gloâ—y consists in humilitie yet you shall perceiue that her chiefest glory and beautie consists in modestie Whence it followes that shee is stripped of her ornaments when shee is decked with a prophane arrogancie The Prophet then by these words vnderstands nothing else but that adoration by which Princes humble themselues before God and that obedience which they yeeld to his word in the Church for we must carefully beare in mind what hath been said before to wit that the honour which is done to the Church must neuer be separated from her head The honour done to the church must neuer be separated from her head For this honour and seruice appertaines vnto Christ and if it be in any sort attributed to the Church it is in such wise that it alwaies remaines intirely to her onely head Adde also that Kings doe not submit themselues to the true religion that they should beare the yokes of men but that they might submit themselues to the doctrine of Christ Who euer he be then that reiects the Ministers of the church and refuseth to beare the yoke which God imposeth vpon all his seruants by her hand Hee is no child of God that will not beare the yoke which he imposeth vpon him by the Churches hand such a one hath no communion with Christ neither can hee be the child of God For those that vvait for me c. I take the word Ascher for a particle of rendring a reason for the words runne on so in a line that those who diuide them doe much darken the Prophets meaning For by this argument he proues that it is good reason Kings and Princes should cheerefully bow vnder Gods gouernment and need neuer be squemish to humble themselues before the Church because God will not permit any that wait for him to be ashamed As if he should say This shall be no slauish but an honourable and an amiable subiection No slauish but an honorable subiection to humble our selues before the Church Now he ioines his truth with our saluation as if he should say Let me be held neither for God nor true of my vvord if I accomplish not that which I haue promised Hence we gather an inestimable fruit For as it is impossible that God should lie or repent so is it necessarie that the stablenes of our saluation which the Prophet drawes from the truth of God himselfe should euer remaine stedfast without being moued or shaken Vers 24. Shall the pray be taken from the mightie O the iust captiuitie deliuered 25. But thus saith the Lord Euen the captiuitie of the mightie shall bee taken away and the pray of the tyrant shall be deliuered for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee and I will saue thy children HAuing answered an obiection in the former verse God testifieth in these verses that he will oppose his power against the power of such as tyrannize ouer his Church be they visible or inuisible aduersaries which might arise in the minds of the faithfull now hee confirmes this solution yet better For it seemed a thing incredible that the Iewes should euer be deliuered from vnder the hands of so mightie an enemie who held them prisoners by the law of armeâ— and had iustly subdued them vnder bondage He addes this interrogation then as it were iâ— the person of all the common people who as it is likely had this speech rife in their mouthes to which he makes answer as wee shall see anon But first we must obserue the similitude in that the Church is called the pray of the mightie and the iust captiuitie that is to say lawfull For he is called a iust possessor which hath gotten it lawfully as in a iust war he that takes the spoile is the iust possessor of it Such was the condition of this ancient people whilest they were in exile for they lost both their Countrie and libertie together and the vanquishert vvill onelie was a law But yet we are diligently to obserue this similitude to wit that the Church should be oppressed by the tyrannie of Princes made a pray to the throte of wolues and yet notwithstanding shee should be esteemed good purchase yea esteemed a iust captiuitie What is more vniust But thus were our fathers handled and are we better or more worthy then they But let them boast as long as they list of their iust captiuitie and let them glory at their pleasure in this vaine title the Lord pronounceth them abominable cut-throtes and theeues in affirming that he will bee auenged of them and plucke the pray out of their teeth for God vseth not to ouerthrow iust poscessors Whence it followes that the dominion which they vsurped ouer Gods people was an vniust tyrannie and plaine robberie Neither could their weapons nor munitions hinder the Lord from taking from them that which they vnlawfully detained And this promise stands in force not onely against tyrants and visible enemies but also against the tyranny of Satan from which we are now deliuered by the admirable power of God I grant Satan is a powerfull aduersarie but the Lord which is stronger then he will bind him and take away his weapons and cast downe his strong holds that he may restore vs vnto liberty Mat. 12.29 Haue wee tried the power of God then in this behalfe The greater reason haue we to relie vpon his deliuerance still 2. Cor. 1.10 as oft as our enemies tread vs vnder their feete and tyrannize ouer vs with cruelties Now when he saith he will contend for our sakes first he therein brings vs to the consideration of his power that wee should not iudge of things either by common reason not yet by the strength of mans arme Wee must not look then vpon that which we are able to doe or to the meanes which we haue in a readinesse but commit the whole sum of our affaires vnto the good will of God who vouchsafes both to care for vs and to defend vs. And not onely so but assures vs that he is furnished with strong
but rather a generall reuolt For by this verse hee giues vs to vnderstand that they were so corrupted that there was not one dram of faith integritie feare or conscience in them For what is it to lie against God but wickedly to depart away from him as if they plaid the flat rebels He not onely reprocheth them then with the breach of one or two commandements of the law but saith that they renounced God and reuolted from him lest they should come at his call In the next place he saith that they were giuen to forge vvicked matters and that they were wholly stained with falsehood For it is much more detestable to vtter false matters out of the heart then to be suddenly ouertaken vvith a lie yea or to deceiue vpon the instant In the meane while these rebukes no doubt cut the very hearts of the Iewes who were readie to brast with pride taking themselues to be exceeding holy men But hypocrisie must bee thus dealt withall because a plaine admonition in such a case would haue done little good By this example then al Pastors when they see the Church of God corrupt and men to please themselues in themselues to lie rotting in their dung thus must they oppose themselues and â—rie sharply and shrillie against the same Vers 14. Therefore iudgement is turned backward and iustice standeth a far off for truth is fallen in the * Or place street and equitie cannot enter THose are deceiued who thinke he returns to his first speech in vers 9 The former discourse still p osecuted in this and in verse 15. as if he now spake of the punishments which the people had felt from Gods hand For he still prosecutes his former discourse and discouers the corrupt diseases of the people to testifie vnto all that they were iustly punished But this verse we must thus distinguish froÌ„ the ninth where he said That iudgement vvas gone farre off For in that place hee pronounced that the Iewes were depriued of Gods helpe in regard they had made themselues vnworthie that hee should be any longer a defender of their cause But here he saith that iudgement vvas turned backward because they had ouerturned all iustice and equitie amongst themselues They receiued then a recompence according to their deserts when Gods iustice stood a farre off and appeared not for their helpe seeing they had banisht iudgement and iustice farre away from them For we doe but lose our time to expect that from God which wee haue denied vnto others and haue cast behind our backes In the place That is to say in the publike assemblie For his meaning is to speake of those places where they held their courts And thus hee signifies that corruptions had not onely seazed vpon some priuate persons but that the whole estate of the people was so depraued that there was nothing sound amongst them If any vices raigne among the common people there may some good order be taken to remedie the same as long as iustice hath place Where iudgement seates are corrupted theâ—e the contagion of sinne is vniuersally ouerspread but if the iudgement seates themselues be ouerturned or corrupted then it must needes be that all things are infected with an vniuersall contagion Hee also bewrayes their vnbridled libertie in that they were not ashamed to doe euill in publicke places and that they neither fled from the light nor from the eies of men Vers 15. Yea truth faileth and hee that refraineth himselfe from euill maketh himselfe a pray and when the Lord saw it it displeased him that there was no iudgement BY this it sufficiently appeares A confirmation and amplification of the former sentence that Jsaiah spake not in the former verse of the punishments which the people sustained For he prosecutes the very same discourse with the former and shewes that the people had no cause to complaine of the rigor of their chastisments seeing they had so grosely offended and prouoked the Lord. Hee confirmes his former speech then namely that truth was fallen iustice had no more place and here he amplifies the same further in adding that he which refrained himselfe from euill made himselfe a pray The most of the expositors among the Hebrewes reade this part of the verse with a breath thus Truth is fallen and was made a pray in refraining it selfe from euill But I see no reason why they haue accepted of this sense Saint Ieroms S. Ierom. exposition which I also haue followed is much better and more agreeable This phrase of speech is very frequent in Scriptures as wee see in Iob 1.1 of whom it is said that he was an vpright and iust man fearing God and eschewing euill Salomon also saith Prou. 14.16 That a foole rageth but the wise man feareth and departeth from euill Well the Prophets meaning is that all honest courses were so hated and abhorred that the small remnant of the faithfull could not liue in safetie As if he should say Whosoeuer meane in these times to haue societie with men must of necessitie be as wicked as they according to the old prouerbe Prouerbe Hee must howle amongst vvolues but he that will refraine from euill shall be deuoured of the wolues like a poore sheepe Truly hee heere expresseth the height of impietie The height of iniquitie for he shewes that truth vvas so falâ—en that no honest man durst conuerse amongst them Why so Because whosoeuer refrained himselfe from euill did by and by fall into the iawes of Lions And the Lord savv it This tends to the consolation A consolatioÌ„ of this people for his meaning is that notwithstanding this peoples obstinacie wich in a manner seemed irremissible yet God would tender their welfare And howsoeuer for a time he had seuerely punished them yet would he at last thinke vpon his couenant so as in curing their euils hee would restore vnto them incredible comfort He speakes heere of the time to come and promiseth that a day will come after all these calamities that God would send some reliefe to the remnant of his inheritance for the Iewes had been left destitute of all hope if the Lord had not added this consolation Take a view heere then after what sort men are wont to plunge themselues into contrarie vices Are they reproued then either they grow stubburne or being surprized with terrors they fall into despaire We are therefore carefully to obserue our Prophets course which he heere takes for in the first place it was needfull that the Iewes should be sharply rebuked that so being touched and humbled by repeÌ„tance they might cease to murmure or repine against God In the second place he promiseth them a moderation of their chastisements with hope of deliuerance that they should not faint but wait for the Lords helpe who neuer suffers his Church to perish for he so corrects his chosen for a time that hee will neither forsake nor vtterly consume them If
know the reason of thy deliuerance it hath proceeded from my meere good will not for thy merits or a iumbling together of secondarie causes Calamities then fall not out by chance Neither is the Lord angrie without cause Neither yet is he euer so angrie but he leaues way for his mercie Vers 11. Therefore thy gates shall be open continually neither day nor night shall they be shut that men may bring vnto thee the riches of the Gentiles and * Or and their Kings led that their kings may be brought THis verse is ill expounded of the most Interpreters For they thinke the Prophet meant to say that the Church shall be in safetie vnder the fidelitie and protection of God Why so Because open doores shew that danger is fare off But me thinkes the Prophet expounds himselfe namely that the gates shall be open that riches may be brought into the citie from all parts And in as much as they are wont to beare their burthens by day the day saith he shall not suffice in regard of the continuall resort of such as shall bring precious treasures thither Wherefore carriages shall not cease in so much that the gates must be kept open day and night Where he saith that the Church shal haue the riches of the Gentiles What is meant by the riches of the Gentiles it is not to be referred to temporall commodities but to the obedience which all the world shall yeeld vnto God in his Church to which he giues that which is offered vnto him in regard he hath nothing which is not hers And their kings led I had rather retaine the participle which the Prophet vseth then to follow them who change it into a verbe for they ouerthrow his meaning in regard that he expressely addeth this because the pride of kings is such Kings naturally vnwilling to submit their neckes to Gods yoke that they will not willingly suffer themselues to bee led Nay on the contrarie standing too much vpon their owne power they wax intemperate and in stead of being led whither they ought they carrie away with them al others as with a violent flood He shewes then that notwithstanding their naturall and vntamed rebellion they shall submit themselues to God and his Church Vers 12. For the nation and the kingdome that will not serue thee shall perish and those nations shall bee vtterly destroyed A confirmation of the former doctrine THe Prophet stands much vpon the confirmation of the hearts of Gods children to assure them that they should behold the restauration of the Church one day as hee hath now described it out vnto them These thinge were altogether incredible and howsoeuer we our selues are sufficiently confirmed by the euents of these things which are manifested in all mens sight yet if wee were not gouerned by the spirit of Christ hardly should wee conceiue them in our mindes He shewes then that there is no cause at all wherefore the Iewes should doubt of the restauration of the Temple because the Gentiles should come to aide them with all their power But Isaiah regarded something more high in this place then the building of the visible Temple For his meaning is to speake of that obedience which Kings Nobles and the commons should yeelde vnto the Church when they should aduance as much as in them lay the puritie of doctrine Yea hee passeth yet further in pronouncing that the kingdomes and nations which vvill not serue the Church shall perish If such as helpe not the Church are condemned with this fearefull and terrible sentence If such as serue not the Church shall perish how shall they eâ—câ—pe that persecute her what shall we say of those tyrants who set themselues furiously against her and labour with might and maine to worke her ouerthrow If the slothfull and carelesse shall not escape vnpunished ought not the wicked to wait for some horrible vengeance seeing they striue to hinder and ouerthrow the worke of the Lord He repeates that now in the plurall number which he said before in the singular to shew that if the whole world were guiltie yet they should wholly perish For the multitude cannot free those from perishing And those nations c. that estrange themselues from God neither shall the wicked be excused if they hinder one another from comming to saluation or if they incourage one another to commit iniquitie Now it is said as we haue seene before that Kings and nations serue the Church not in regard that shee exerciseth any dominion of her selfe but because God hath giuen and committed the scepter of his word by which hee rules vnto her custodie Vers 13. The glory of Lebanon shall come vnto thee the firre tree the elme and the box tree together to beautifie the place of my sanctuarie for I will glorifie the place of my feete ISaiah vseth yet another similitude which hee brought in when hee compared the Church to a building or Citie For he recites such things as are necessarie to build withall to wit the firre tree the pine tree and the box tree all which grew in Lebanon a forrest that abounded with goodly and excellent trees His meaning is then that whatsoeuer was faire and exquisite in this forrest should be brought vnto the Church But we must refer the truth of these figures to Gods spirituall worship for he adornes his Church with the title of the sanctuarie because himselfe dwels in the midst thereof notwithstanding hee hath alwaies respect to the Temple and to the customes of those times He sets before vs then a paterne of the Temple that stood in Ierusalem that vnder the image thereof we might consider of the spirituall Temple whereof wee are the matter and the liuing stones Eph. 2.21 1. Pet. 2.5 By the place of his feete he signifies that hee so dwelles in the Temple that yet his Maiestie is not inclosed therein for he is not contained within so narrow limits There is nothing but his feete then that is to say his lowest and meanest part thereby teaching vs to aspire vp vnto heauen and not to rest fixed in these externall signes which instruct vs according to our slender capacitie According to which it is said in Psal 99.5 Worship the footstoole of his feete for he is holy Also We will enter into his Tabernacle and worship before his footstoole Psal 132.7 Not that Gods essence is diuided into pieces Gods essence not parted into pieces part in heauen and part in earth but in regard that by such helpes hee raiseth vp his seruant as it were from his feete to his head Vers 14. The sonnes also of them that afflicted thee shall come and bow vnto thee and all they that despised thee shall fall downe at the soles of thy feete and they shall call thee The Citie of the Lord Zion of the holy one of Israel HE prosecutes the same argument still For he shewes how wonderfull this worke of redemption
their seed shall be knowne among the Gentiles â—nd their buds among the people All that see them shall know them that they are the seede whom the Lord hath blessed An amplification touching the enlargement of the Church THe Prophet discourseth here more clearely touching the aduancement and growth of the Church which was then shut vp within a narrow scantling and in an out corner of the world and were afterwards much diminished and lopped as wee haue seene in the first and tenth Chapters Isaiah then speakes of the Church which after so many diminishings shall spread againe ouer the whole world and that in such wise as she shall bee viewed of all nations And yet this fell not out no not vnder the reigne of Salomon whilest the Iewes flourished in greatest abundance of riches and glorie 1. King 10.21.27 now this seemed incredible This is the cause also why the Prophets insist so much in perswading the Iewes repeating it ouer againe and againe to wit that they should not measure this restauration according to their carnall sense nor to outward appearances Quest Now it may be asked wheÌ„ these things came to passe I answer Ans as I haue often done that they began to be accomplished when the people came home into their countrie for then and afterwards in succession of time they tasted many waies of Gods fauour towards them Yet in regard there were but a few small sparkles of these things to bee discerned in those times therefore the perfect beautie of them shined in Christ vnder whose kingdome these things were whollie accomplished For then religion was as it were buried Abrahams posteritie began to sprout in respect that strangers were by faith ingrafted into the bodie of the elect people And thus the barbarous nations came to know that the Iewes were the blessed seed of God namely when they vnited themselues vnto them in the same confession of faith Neither was this only accomplished once but is euery day more and more fulfilled Whereas the Iewes were first preferred and obtained the chiefe place in Gods couenant it must be attributed vnto Gods free mercie as S. Paul teacheth in Rom. 3.2 For hauing there shewed that they differ in nothing by nature from the Gentiles and that hee hath subiected them to the same condemnation with them he therewithall shewes that they had this excellent priuiledge to be the first vnto whome the word and promises of God were giuen But that all these things proceeded meerelie from Gods free grace and not from their merits or deserts Vers 10. I will greatly reioyce in the Lord and my soule shall be ioyfull in my God for hee hath clothed me with the garments of saluation and couered mee with the robe of righteousnesse he hath decked mee like a bridegrome and as a bride tireth her selfe with Iewels THe Prophet here brings in the Church giuing of thankes vnto God the better to perswade them of the truth of that which he hath said heretofore And it is a liuely description as it were wherein he paints out the thing done in a table and placeth it before their eies that hee might remooue all scruples For naturally wee are inclined to distrust and withall so inconstant that wee will rather giue credit vnto mens dreames then to the word of God But touching this kind of confirmation wee haue discoursed both in Chap. 12.1 and 26.1 as also in other places For he hath clothed me To what men are naturally inclined Surely these things were yet very farre off But it was necessarie they should be seene and comprehended by faith Yea it is very needfull that wee lift vp our eies to heauen when the Prophet preacheth to vs the doctrine of righteousnes and saluation There is nothing visible here and much lesse can we apprehend so great a felicitie seeing all things are still bending towards a dissolution But in regard that euen at this day such a beauty as this appeares not in the Church which for the most part on the contrarie is vnder the horror of the crosse and therefore contemptible to all the world it is needfull here that faith should come betweene which comprehends celestiall and inuisible things Justice is ioyned with saluation in regard the one cannot be separated from the other These similitudes of garments robes are well enough knowne and it is as much as if the Church should haue said that iustice and saluation were giuen her together Seeing it is the Lord then who distributes these benefits let vs conclude in our selues that it is onelie he of whom we must aske them and none but he from whom we must expect them In these words he hath decked me there is a figuratiue kind of speech which they think to be taken from the Priests garments for which cause some haue descanted here vpon the priesthood of Christ But as I thinke the Prophet meant not to speake so subtilly in vsing the similitudes of the bride bridegroome The Church was in miserable plight before and euery one contemned her as a vvise diuorced from her husband But he hauing receiued her into fauour againe shee shines vvith vvonderfull beautie And the place in Hosea 2.20 answers vnto this Such an ornament was giuen at the comming of Christ and we also receiue it daily when the Lord clothes vs with righteousnesse and saluation But all these things shall bee fully accomplished at Christs last comming as we haue often said Vers 11. For as the earth bringeth forth her bud and as the garden causeth to grow that which is sowne in it so the Lord will cause righteousnesse to grow and praise before all the heathen THe Prophet confirmes the former promises by another goodly similitude for he brings the Iewes to the ordinarie power of God which shines in his creatures Wee see that the earth brings forth her bud euerie yeere the gardens grow greene after they haue beene sowen vvith seedes to be short the grasse and plants which in winter seemed as good as dead doe reuiue againe in the spring time and recouer new strength Now these are infallible testimonies of Gods power and of the good will which hee beares vs. Seeing these things then come thus ordinarily to passe should men doubt thereof Hath hee giuen this vertue and power vnto the earth and will he not much more manifest the same for the deliuerance of his people Will not hee cause the elect seede to bud and bring forth which as he hath promised shall alwaies remaine in the world Before all the Gentiles Hee shewes againe that the bounds of the Church shall no more bee so narrow as they were because the Lord will cause her to replenish the whole world Afterwards he mentions righteousnesse which was fully reuealed at such time as the Lord redeemed his people but Gods righteousnesse did then especially appeare when Christ was manifested vnto the world Not that he concealed it till that time but in regard men attained not
6. 10. 29. 10 11. and 42. 19. 21 Blood taken for inhumanitie 59. 3 Bloods for murther 35. 15 Bloods of the earth what 26. 21 Booke taken for the Law it selfe 34. 16 How the books of the Prophets were gathered 30. 8 Booke of life what 4. 3 Reprobates not written in it 4. 3 To render into their bosome what 65. 6 Brags of the wicked 59. 4 Proud bragging of the Iewes 57. 4. 65. 15 Brags of Papists 1. 30. and 29. 14. and 36. 19. and 45. 20. and 49. 21. and 62. 5 Branch put for the strongest 9. 14 Bread and wine taken for ordinary food 33. 16 Not bread but Gods blessing that nourisheth 3. 1 Gentiles become brethren of the Iewes 66. 20 Brethren falsly so called 66. 5 The hurt that comes by taking bribes 1. 23. 5. 23 Burden what is signifies 13. 1. and 14. 28 Buriall a signe of the last resurrection 14. 18 The care of buriall not to be condemned 22. 17 Whether the depriuation of buriall is to bee esteemed a curse of God 14. 8. See more of this in 14. 20. and 22. 17. C CAines repentance 26. 11 Why Isaiah laments the calamity of the church 15. 4. and 16. 9. and 21. 3 Why we are called into the Church 56. 7 Calling of Christ what 49. 1 Calling of God cannot be disanulled 63. 19 What efficacie is in Gods calling 11. 12 Calling of the Gentiles foretold 2. 3 4. and 11. 10. and 12. 5. and 14. 1 2. and 19. 22 23. and 25. 7. and 26. 15. and 42. 4. 6. 11. and 45. 22 23 25. and 49. 6. 12. 21. and 52. 8. 15. and 54. 5. and 55. 4 5. and 56. 3. 7. and 60. 9. and 65. 2. and 66. 19 20. The certaintie of our calling 65. 2 The end of our calling 43. 21. and 55. 5. and 56. 6. and 60. 21. and 61. 3. and 63. 8. The calling of the Gentiles admirable to the Apostles 56. 3 Isaiahs calling confirmed the second time 6. 1 No man ought to take vpon him the office of teaching vnlesse he be called 61. 1 God hath neuer been called vpon as a Father in the Church otherwise then by Christ 63. 16. and 65. 24. To call what it signifies 44. 5 To be called of God 43. 1 Canaan a pledge of adoption to Abrahams posteritie 14. 1 Captiuitie in Babylon a kind of diuorce 50. 1. 54. 5 Why compared to a deluge 54. 9 Why to darknesse and death 9. 2 Carmel a fruitfull soile 10. 18. 33. 15. The cause from whence all Gods benefits proceed 63. 9 Ceremonies must not bee separate from the word 1. 11 Not simply required in respect of themselues 1. 11 Why ceremonies were instituted 1. 13 Why reiected 1. 11 Why necessary 1. 11 Of themselues considered apart vaine and friuolous 66. 2 Vse of ceremonies 1. 11 Abolishing of ceremonies 2. 3 Vaine ceremonies established in the Papacie in stead of sacraments 20. 2 Ceremonies of the Law obolished and how 66. 23 Chapters ill diuided 4. 1. 14. and 10. 33. and 14. 28. and 24. 17. and 46. 1. and 53. 1. and 58. 1. and 64. 1. Chaldea signified by the word Desert and why 21. 1 Chaldeans seuere cruell compared to the Egyptians 5. 29. 52. 4 Chamos an Idoll of the Moabites 15. 2 No change in God 14. 17 Change of kingdomes comes of God 19. 1. and 22. 21. 41. 4. 51. 6. Change of the number vsed among the Hebrewes 23. 6 A change of the person 42. 24 Charra a citie 37. 12 Chariots had a double vse of old 22. 6 Why the chastisement of the wicked is deferred 10. 13. 13 6. 18. 5. 26. 1. 28. 24. 25. 63. 4. 65. 6. 56. 66. 18. Vnto vs a child is borne 9. 6 In what sense the Church is said to bring forth a man child 66. 7 In what sense the word child is taken 3. 4 A child vnthankfull to his father a double monster 1. 2 All the children of the Church taught of God 54. 13 Why God giues children 38 9 Children not punished for their fathers offences 14. 21. 43. 27. 65. 7 Christ God eternall 2. 4. 6. 1. 10. 8. 14. 9. 7. 25. 9. True man 7. 15. 11. 2. 42. 1. 53. 11. Wonderfull 9. 6 Why worshipped in the Church 60. 14 Altar of the faithfull 56. 7 Soule of the Law 29. 11 Author of peace 57. 19 Onely author of righteousnesse 53. 11 Head of the Church 54. 1 Head of the faithfull 25. 9 Counseller 9. 6 Why called Dauid and the sonne of Dauid 37. 35. and 45. 1. Why called Immanuel 7. 14. 8. 10 Iudge of the whole world 32. 6 Light of the faithfull 42. 6 Mediator betweene God and man 8. 10. 19. 20. 37. 35. 49. 8. 53. 12. 63. 17. 65. 24. Physitian of soules 53. 4 Why sent of God 42. 7 Exposed to the wickeds reproches 53. 9 Father of eternitie and why 9. 6 Cornen stone 28. 16 A tried stone ibid. A stone to stumble at and why 8. 14. 15. 28. 16 The first borne of euery creature 37. 28 Prince of peace 9. 6 Promised to all the world 11. 1. 2. 4. 42. 6. and 55. 5 Promised to be borne of the virgin Mary 7. 14 Where to be sought 16. 5 Onely redeemer 35. 10 Onely and most sure refuge of the faithfull in trouble 32. 2 King of Gods people 52. 13 King eternall 9. 7 Hee onely raignes where his Gospell is preached 11. 4 The end of all the Prophets and promises 29. 11. 42. 1 The Sauiour of his Church 62. 11 Gods seruant and how 42. 1. 43. 10. 53. 11. 55. 5 Sonne of righteousnesse 25. 7. 60. 3 Spouse of the Church 62. 5 The protector of the poore 11. 4. 16. 5 The way the truth and life and how 49. 6 He ouercame in the midst of death 53. 8. 12 Iustified as he is man 53. 1 Brought in speaking 49. 1 Alwaies the gouernor of his Church 63. 16 Wherein his dominion consists 92. 2 He raignes not for himselfe but for his 11. 6 Why silent before Pilat 53. 3 His comming foretold 9. 6 7 He came in a contemptible estate 42. 2 The Papists brag of his name falsly 55. 4 We are none of Christs vnlesse we be giuen to vprightnesse 7. 8 The nature of Christs kingdome 11. 4 All things subiected vnder him 14. 2. 45. 23. All haue need of him 53 The name Christ attributed to Israel 49 3 Difference betweene Christ and other men 9. 6. and 11. 3 Difference betweene Christ and the Kings of the earth 42 2. 49. 2 Christ must be the matter and end of our ioy 9. 6 Called Sonne by way of excellencie ibid. His two natures in one person noted 7. 14 Christ had no father on earth ibid. Whence it is that we are called Christians 11. 2 A note to discerne true