Write the vision, and make it plain.
Teaching must be plain
Think of that railway excursion train as it hurries onwards with impetuous speed! A vast crowd is collected there, and how various and complicated are the interests of each! A rapid impulse bears forward the whole; that impulse resides in every member of the group; one single bystander directs and controls it all. In an unexpected moment a shock, as of a thunderbolt, crushes them together; in the twinkling of an eye the elements of destruction are terribly let loose; each hapless one becomes an instrument of injury or death to his neighbour. What pain can paint the terror, the agony, the anguish of such a scene! They will be remembered for long, long years in mutilated forms, in shaken nerves, in bereaved or orphaned homes; the records will make multitudes shudder by their firesides, or will haunt them in their slumbers. Such have been the effects of one false or mistaken signal! Let us who are ministers of the Gospel remember what interests we hold, and by how much the soul is more precious than the body Let us beware! There are in the age in which we live, spiritual impulses innumerable, strange, impetuous. And we are the signalmen! (J. G. Miall.)
The voice of the old pulpit
I. The old pulpit’s apology for speaking. I am old. My outward appearance has been diversified at different times and places. I have a variety of experiences. My great influence is acknowledged by a large majority in every age and clime.
II. The old pulpit’s complaints and boastings.
1. My complaints--
(1) I complain because some very ungodly characters have taken the liberty of ascending my steps.
(2) Because some look at me as a mere workshop to make a living in.
(3) Because I have been compelled to serve as a stage to exhibit men, and not Christ.
(4) Because I have been too long used as a place of refuge for blind bigotry and prejudice.
(5) Because many who have stood on my floor did not do my work with all their might.
(6) Because there is not more attention paid me.
2. My boastings--
(1) In the multitude of my sons.
(2) Of the fame of my sons.
(3) In the greatness and glory of my themes.
(4) In the extent of my influence in the world.
(5) In the preservation of my life in spite of numerous and powerful enemies.
(6) That I am the great favourite of heaven. (J. Roberts.)
The simplicity and freeness of the Gospel salvation
The vision was to be written upon tables, and made plain, that every one who read it might run. He who gave the vision commanded that it should be made plain upon tables, that the way of escape might be at once learned by those that were in peril, and that without a moment’s delay they might run in that way and be delivered. What was the danger with which the people were threatened, and from which this vision was to indicate the way of escape? It is usually thought to be an anticipated invasion of the Chaldeans. It seems to me the danger is that to which all men as sinners are exposed; and that the way of escape indicated is that which is revealed to us by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I regard the prophet as here commissioned to announce to his countrymen, and ultimately, through the volume of inspiration, to the world at large, the folly, sin, and danger of rebellion against God, and forgetfulness of Him; and having thus warned them of the evil and peril of their ways, to urge upon them the importance of running in that way which has been opened for their escape. In favour of this interpretation the following considerations may be adduced--
1. Look at the circumstances in which the prophet tells us this com mission was delivered to him.
2. In Habakkuk 2:4 is a passage three times quoted by the apostle Paul, as applicable to the salvation of the Gospel--to the enjoyment of eternal life.
3. Peter (Acts 10:43) tells Cornelius that all the prophets preached the doctrine of salvation by faith through Christ.
4. The interpretation proposed seems to give greater unity and appropriateness to the prophet’s subsequent declarations. The commission, then, which the prophet received from God was a commission to declare plainly and faithfully to men their guilt and danger as sinners against God, and to point them to that salvation in connection with which God has revealed Himself to them, that they may escape the calamities to which their iniquity has exposed them. It is plain, then, that in order to ascertain correctly the way of salvation we must go to the written records of God’s will, and read. (W. Lindsay Alexander, D. D.)