A SERMO N. ISAIAH XXX. 28. AND HIS BREATH, AS AN OVERFLOWING STREAM, SHALL REACH TO THE MIDST OF THE NECK, TO SIFT THE NATIONS WITH THE SIEVE OF VANITY: AND THERE SHALL BE A BRIDLE IN THE JAWS OF THE PEOPLE, CAUSING THEM TO ERR. THE HE prophet, in the preceding verfes, is predicting Jerufalem's deftruction, and the abundance of God's grace and fpirit upon the little hills of Zion, both among the believing Jews and Gentiles, at that time; verfe 25. He next prophefies of the fuperabounding light which, in gospel days, fhould exceed that of the former difpenfation; that if the church of God was called the moon then, it should now be called the fun; and that, if there were children of the day in that ftate, the light fhould be as the light of feven days in this;-verse 26. A 2 He then then proceeds to Chrift, calling him the name of the Lord,-in allufion to God's charge to Mofes, Offend him not, for my name is in him; and because the name of the Lord, proclaimed before Mofes, The Lord, the Lord God, gracious and merciful, flow to anger, abundout in goodness and in truth, pardoning iniquity, tranfgreffion, and fin, was now, in a moft wonderful manner, to be verified, to be made known, and to be experienced and enjoyed by all the elect of God. But, as this name of the Lord was fadly provoked for forty years together by the unbelieving Jews in the wilderness, fo it would be provoked again by thofe who refufe to hear his voice, and harden their hearts against him, as in the provocation, when their fathers tempted him, proved him, and faw his works forty years. And fo likewife it would be with the unbelieving Gentiles, against whom, as well as againit the Jews, he would come burning with anger; and thofe, who fet themfelves against him, fhould find and feel the burden of his indignation; for his word as a fire fhall kindle in them, and at laft deftroy them; and my text informs you how. ·And his breath, us an overflowing stream, fhall reach to the midst of the neck, to fift the nations with the fieve of vanity and there fhall be a bridle in the jaws of the people, caufing them to err. In this work I will endeavour to give you my thoughts in the following order: 1. What I understand by the Lord's breath, 2. Why compared to a stream. 3. The neck which this ftream reaches to. 4. The fieve of vanity ufed among the nations; and 5. The bridle in the jaws of finners, which shall make them to err. The first account that we have of the breath of the Lord is in Gen. ii. 7. God breathed into his noftrils the breath of life, and man became a living foul. A living foul was infufed into Adam's body, which animated it, actuated it, influenced it, and poffeffed it; and man was pronounced good; for God made man upright, yea, in the image of God created he him. But, alas! Adam finned, and all that was good left him, and evil found him: life left him, and the fentence of death entered into him: Sin entered, and death by fin; and fo death paffed upon all, for all have finned. But God promises to the house of Ifrael that he will breathe upon them once more. Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye fball live. Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon thefe flain, that they may live; for I will put my Spirit into you, and ye shall live; and ye fhall know that I the Lord have spoken it. The New Teftament will inform us of the going forth of this breath of the Lord among the nations. As my Father bath fent me, even fo fend I you. And, when he had faid this, he breathed on them, and faith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whofefoever fins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whofefoever fins ye retain, they are retained. John xx. 22, 23. This is the going forth of the breath of the Lord into the nations; for they were to go into all nations, and to preach the gospel to every creature; and the Spirit of the Lord was to fpeak in them, and these effects were to follow-fome men's fins were to be remitted, and the fins of others were to be retained; thofe that believe are to be faved, and thofe that believe not are to be damned. Hence the fervants of the Lord are a fweet favour of God in them that are saved, and in them that perish; for Chrift by his Spirit fpeaks in his fervants; and hence it is faid that with the rod of his mouth be fmites the earth (and heals it again), and with the breath of his lips he flays the wicked: and these things are done by the words which are in the mouth of every minifter of the Spirit; and thus life and death are in the power of the tongue: for fome are quickened by the Spirit, and others are left twice dead, plucked up by the roots. I come now to treat of the fream to which the Lord's breath is compared. The Holy Spirit's well known emblems are thofe of breath, wind, fire, and water; two of which are mentioned in my text; the last of which is that of an overflowing ftream, which carries all before it; for he fits, qualifies, and fends the preacher; directs him where to go, and where not; and furnishes him with matter and manner; and always works with and by the word. Some fouls he enters into, and abides with; and they are faved by the washing of regeneration, and by the renewing of the Holy Ghoft: while thofe those who refift him, and oppose themselves to him, and endeavour to counteract his work, and ridicule and abuse his power, influence, and operations, he leaves dried, blafted, and withered, under the rebukes and reproofs of heaven, which kindle in them, as fit fuel for everlasting burnings. Tophet is ordained of old; yea, for the king it is prepared; he bath made it deep and large: the pile thereof is fire and much wood; and the breath of the Lord, like a ftream of brimftone, doth kind'e it. Ifai. xxx. 33.-Under the wrath and curfe of God the gofpel finds fuch finners, and under the fame it leaves them; when hardness of heart, defperate wickedness, or a fearful looking-for of judgment, is fure to follow, to find out, and, fooner or later, to confume these adverfaries. This ftream reaches to the midst of the neck, which is what I come next to describe. The neck is that part of the human body which unites the head and the body together; and to this the fcriptures often allude; for instance, Chrift is called the bead, as he is the head of influence, from whom all grace flows; and the covenant bead, who represents the whole church; and the church is his body. Now ye are the body of Christ, faith Paul, and members in particular: and again, the bufband is the head of the wife, even as Chrift is the head of the church. But then what can the neck be, that unites this glorious head to this mystical body? I think this neck must be the covenant of grace; for God the Father firft chofe that human nature, which the Word A 4 |