Isaiah 60:8 Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows? I. WHO ARE THEY THAT THEY SHOULD BE SO MANY? The answer to that inquiry is another question: Why should they not be many? 1. There are a great many sinners in the world; why should not a great number be converted? When many souls are brought to Christ, they are only relatively many. Usually, alas! they are relatively small. 2. Has not Christ brought into the world a great redemption? 3. Why should they not come ill crowds when the spirit of God is quite able to lead them to come? 4. Heaven is very great, and the preparations which grace has made are very large. II. WHO ARE THEY THAT THEY SHOULD FLY? 1. They fly to Christ, because they are driven, and cannot help flying to Him. 2. They may well fly, because they are in danger. 3. Besides, these flying sinners have strong desires within them. I sometimes see a man throw a pigeon up into the air, that it may find its way home. It usually wheels about for a little while, as though it were uncertain which direction it should take; but, presently, its quick eye catches sight of some familiar landmark, and by instinct it knows which is its way home, and then, away it goes. So is it with a soul that the Spirit of God has once quickened. It longs for Christ. It may hesitate, and look about to find the way it is to go to find Him; but at last, it says within itself, There He is, and away it goes, like the doves to their windows. 4. They may well fly, because they have such a short time in which to reach the Saviour. III. WHY DO THEY FLY AS DOVES, that is, in a covey, so that they look like a moving cloud? 1. Because they are all in one common danger. They are too much taken up with the solemnities of their condition before God to have time or wish for contention; and, therefore, they do not quarrel and fight, as a number of hawks might do, but they fly together in one band. 2. Because they are seeking one common refuge. IV. WHO ARE THEY THAT THEY SHOULD FLY THIS WAY? I mean, what makes them fly to Christ? What makes them fly to His Church? 1. Because they are seeking safety, and there is no safety for them except in Christ. 2. They also need rest, and a dovecot is a place of rest to a dove. 3. You like to come where God's people assemble because your food is there. 4. Our companions are there. 5. Some of us fly there because our young are there. ( C. H. Spurgeon.) Parallel Verses KJV: Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows?WEB: "Who are these who fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows? |
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