Page:PracticalCommentaryOnHolyScripture.djvu/353

 He was  wounded  for  our  iniquities; He  was  bruised  for  our  sins, and by  His  bruises  we  are  healed. The Lord  hath  laid  on  Him the iniquity  of  us  all. He was  offered  because  it  was  His  own will, and  He  opened  not  His  mouth. He shall  be  led  as  a sheep to the  slaughter,  and  shall  be  dumb  as  a lamb  before  his  shearer." Regarding  His  future  glory,  the  prophet  says:  “The  Gentiles  shall beseech  Him,  and  His  sepulchre  shall  be  glorious.”  Isaias  was prophesying  for  about  fifty  years.  It  is  said  that  he,  while  yet alive,  was  sawn  in  two  by  order  of  the  impious  king  Manasses.

The Omniscience  of  God.  God  sees  the  future  as  if  it  were  actually present, and  He  revealed  the  life  of  the  Redeemer  so  clearly  to  Isaias, that the  prophet  was  able  to  describe  it  as  if  he  had  seen  it  in  person.

The Holiness  of  God.  He  loves  only  that  which  is  good,  and detests evil. He wishes  man  to  be  good  in  thought,  word  and  deed. “Wash yourselves,  be  clean,  take  away  the  evil  of  your  devices  from my eyes;  cease  to  do  perversely.”

The Mercy  of  God.  He  is  quite  ready  to  pardon  if  only  the  sinner will be  converted. “Then (when  you  are  converted),  come  and  accuse me. If your  sins  be  as  scarlet,  they  shall  be  made  as  white  as snow  &amp;c.”

True conversion  consists,  as  the  words  of  Isaias  show,  in  a complete change of  heart  and  life. The sinner  must  renounce  all  bad  thoughts and sinful  deeds,  and  must  do  what  is  right. He must  hate  the  sins which he  has  hitherto  loved,  and  must  worship  the  God  whom  he  has hitherto despised  and  offended.

Even the  most  grievous  sins  can  be  remitted, if  only  the  sinner  be truly  penitent. “If your  sins  be  as  scarlet,  they  shall  be  made  as  white as snow;  and  if  they  be  red  as  crimson,  they  shall  be  as  white  as wool.”  Therefore,  not  even  the  greatest  of  sinners  should  despair  of God’s  mercy. If he  does,  he  sins  against  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  is  in danger  of  being  lost  eternally.

The testimony  of  the  prophets  helps  and  confirms  our  faith. The prophecies of  Isaias  and  the  other  prophets  were  written  by  the  inspiration of  God,  and  have  to  his  day  been  preserved  in  the  Holy