Luke 1:17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children… Let us try the wisdom of the religious choice by the happiness which follows. I. There is a content and satisfaction in the mind, from the very consciousness and remembrance of our having listened to the voice from heaven. II. I next observe, that the gospel brings happiness to every sincere believer, by giving him the blessing of peace in the assurance of pardon. III. The wisdom of the just, however it may be called in question, however reviled, by unconverted or ungodly men, who cannot possibly appreciate or understand it, is manifested through the whole course of the believer's life. "He that walketh uprightly, walketh surely." "The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble: " they are continually encompassed with evil, without ascertaining the cause or the cure. "But the path of the just is as the shining light, which shineth more and more unto the perfect day." IV. But the wisdom of the just is not to be fully known on this side the grave There will come a day, when it will appear even to the slowest of belief, without a shadow and without a doubt. "When the Lord comes to make up His jewels," the preciousness of those jewels, and the joy of being gathered amongst them, will be perfectly manifest, both to friends and foes; to the one, by their admission into His heavenly kingdom; to the other, by their being cast away. (J. Slade, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. |
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