Works (Vol 4) - Newton - II - Sermon II (The consolation)

Required reading
The Works (Vol 4) of John Newton (Available from Amazon or free here) - Read Sermon II (The consolation).

My summary
This week's sermon is on Isaiah 40:3-5: 'The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.  Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:  And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.'

Newton gives us three leading ideas respecting the Messiah's appearance that are suggested by this 'sublime representation':
(i) the state of the world at his coming - 'a wilderness';
(ii) the preparation of his way - 'Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low';
(iii) the manner and effects of his manifestation - 'and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it'.

What grabbed me
I appreciated Newton's description of the world as a wilderness: 'The world in which we sojourn for a season, does not appear to us in this unpleasing view at first. The spirit, and the things of it, are congenial to our depraved inclinations ; and especially in early life, our inexperienced hearts form high expectations from it ; and we rather hope to find it a paradise than a wilderness. But when the convincing power of the Holy Spirit opens the eyes of the understanding, we awake as from a dream ; the enchantment by which we were deluded is broken, and we then begin to judge rightly of the world ; that it is a wearisome wilderness indeed, and that our only important concern with it is to get happily out of it. In a spiritual view, a wilderness is a significant emblem of the state of mankind, both Jews and Heathens, at that period which the apostle calls the fulness of time, when God sent forth his Son.'

Contrary to popular belief, the world is indeed a desert.

Next week's reading
Read Sermon III (The shaking of the heavens and the earth).

Now it's your turn
Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.