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英語原文
In this chapter, I. We are sure to find the grace of Christ, published by himself to a lost world in the everlasting gospel, under the type and figure of Isaiah's province, which was to foretel the deliverance of the Jews out of Babylon, Isa 61:1-3. II. We think we find the glories of the church of Christ, its spiritual glories, described under the type and figure of the Jews' prosperity after their return out of their captivity. 1. It is promised that they decays of the church shall be repaired, Isa 61:4. 2. That those from without shall be made serviceable to the church, Isa 61:5. 3. That the church shall be a royal priesthood, maintained by the riches of the Gentiles, Isa 61:6. 4. That she shall have honour and joy in lieu of all her shame and sorrow, Isa 61:7. 5. That her affairs shall prosper, Isa 61:8. 6. That prosperity shall enjoy these blessings, Isa 61:9. 7. That righteousness and salvation shall be the eternal matter of the church's rejoicing and thanksgiving, Isa 61:10,11. If the Jewish church was ever thus blessed, much more shall the Christian church be so, and all that belong to it.
1-3
The Office of the Messiah (706 BC)
简体中文
弥赛亚的职分（主前706年）
¹ 主耶和华的灵在我身上；因为耶和华用膏膏我，叫我传好信息给谦卑的人，差遣我医好伤心的人，报告被掳的得释放，被囚的出监牢；
² 报告耶和华的恩年，和我们神报仇的日子；安慰一切悲哀的人；
³ 赐华冠与锡安悲哀的人，代替灰尘；喜乐油代替悲哀；赞美衣代替忧伤之灵；使他们称为公义树，是耶和华所栽的，叫他得荣耀。
那位最好的圣经诠释者，无疑已为我们给出了这些经文最好的解释，就是我们的主耶稣自己；他在拿撒勒的会堂里读了这段（也许是当日所定的宣读），并把它完全应用到自己身上，说：「今天这经应验在你们耳中了」（路 4:17,18,21）；他在讲解这段经文时口中出的恩言，蒙一切听见的人所赞赏。正如以赛亚蒙授权、受指引，向巴比伦的犹太人宣告自由；照样，基督作为神的使者，要向失丧的世界宣布更喜乐的禧年。此处告诉我们：
一、他如何得着装备和资格来作这工：「主耶和华的灵在我身上」（赛 61:1）。众先知有神的灵时而感动他们，既指教他们当说的话，也激发他们去说。基督却常有圣灵无限量地住在他身上；但其功效与先知所得相同——作谋略的灵和勇敢的灵（赛 11:1-3）。当他开始执行先知职分时，圣灵如鸽子「降在他身上」（太 3:16）。这在他身上的灵，他也赐给那些奉差遣去传扬同样大喜信息的人；当他赐给他们委任时，便对他们说：「你们受圣灵」，以此批准那委任。
二、他如何受派受膏承担此任：「神的灵在我身上，因为主耶和华用膏膏我。」神召他作的服事，就必装备他去作；「所以」他赐他圣灵，因为他已经借着神圣而庄严的膏抹，把他分别为圣担任这伟大职分——如古时君王和祭司借着受膏而被定归于其职分。因此救赎主被称为「弥赛亚」、「基督」，因为他「被膏抹，胜过他的同伴」。「他差遣我」；我们的主耶稣并非未被差遣；他来自那权柄之源所颁发的委任；「父差了他」，又「给他命令」。这对我们是极大的安慰——无论基督说什么，他都有来自天上的授权；他的教训不是他自己的，乃是那差他来之父的。
三、他所受派受膏的工是什么。
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他要作传道者，要执行先知的职分。他如此喜悦神借他向人所显的善意，以致他亲自作传讲者，使福音的事奉因此得尊荣，圣徒的信心得以坚固、得着勉励。他要「传好信息」（「福音」一词即此意）「给谦卑的人」，就是悔改、谦卑、灵里贫穷的人；对他们而言，救赎主的信息实在是好消息，是纯正的福音，「可信的话，十分可佩服的」。穷人通常最易于接受福音（雅 2:5）；当我们如所当行的那样，以柔顺之心领受，福音就易于使我们得益；基督向这样的人传好信息，当他宣告：「温柔的人有福了。」
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他要作医治者。他受差遣「医好伤心的人」，如为疼痛的肢体缠裹以减轻其苦，如为断骨和流血的伤口包扎，使它们得以接合愈合。凡为罪心碎、在罪疚和震怒的恐惧下真正自卑的人，在基督的福音里得着使他们安息、使他们恐惧止息的良药。只有经历过悔罪之苦的人，才能指望享受属天的兴奋和安慰。
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他要作释放者。他受差遣作先知传讲，作祭司医治，作君王颁布宣告——而且颁布两种：（1）向朋友颁布平安：他要「报告被掳的得释放」（如居鲁士向被掳的犹太人所宣告的），「被囚的出监牢」。我们因罪债被拘押在神的公义之下，是他合法的俘虏，因罪被卖，直到那大债得以偿还；基督让我们知道，他已为那债向神的公义满足了，他的满足已被悦纳，我们若恳求那满足、倚靠它，并在感念他所施恩慈中将我们自己和我们一切所有的都归于他，我们便可借信心取得赦免，享受其中的安慰；对我们而言，「不定罪了」，现在没有、将来也没有。再者，我们因罪在我们里面掌权，被拘在撒但的权下，被卖在罪下；基督让我们知道，他已经胜过撒但，已经「败坏了那掌死权的和他的作为」，并为我们预备了充足的恩典，使我们能脱去罪的轭，松开「颈项上的捆绑」。「子」乐意借他的灵「叫我们自由」；那时我们便「真自由了」——不但脱离被掳的痛苦，更被提升享有公民的一切豁免和尊荣。这就是福音的宣告，如同禧年角声的吹响，宣告那大豁免之年（利 25:9,40），此处称之为「耶和华的恩年」，正是因它指向我们蒙神悦纳之时——这是我们自由的源头；又称为「耶和华的年」，因为它宣告他白白的恩典，归于他自己的荣耀；又是「恩年」，因为它给我们带来大喜的信息，凡认识自己灵魂的容量和需要的人，不能不欣然接受。（2）向仇敌颁布争战。基督宣告「我们神报仇的日子」——他所报的仇，[1.] 是针对罪和撒但、死亡和阴间，以及一切为使我们得释放而必须被毁灭的黑暗权势；这些基督在他的十字架上胜过了——剥夺了它们、削弱了它们、羞辱了它们，并「将它们明示于众」，在其中为它们对神对人所作的一切伤害报了仇（西 2:15）。[2.] 是针对那些顽抗这些善意的人。他们不但要如该当的那样留在被掳之中，更要被当作仇敌对待；我们可在可 16:16 看到福音的总纲：其中「信而受洗的必然得救」一句，向愿意接受的人宣告了「耶和华的恩年」；而另一句「不信的必被定罪」，则宣告了「我们神报仇的日子」——他要向那「不顺从福音的人」所报的仇（帖后 1:8）。
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他要作安慰者；他既作传道者、医治者、释放者，便也就是安慰者；他受差遣「安慰一切悲哀的人」——他们既悲哀，便寻求他，而非寻求世界，来寻得安慰。基督不但为他们预备安慰，宣告安慰，更把安慰应用在他们身上；他借他的灵安慰他们。在他里面足以「安慰一切悲哀的人」，无论他们的创伤或忧伤是什么；但这安慰必然临到那些「在锡安悲哀的人」——就是「照着神的意思，按神而忧愁」的人，因他的居所就在锡安——为锡安的灾祸荒凉而悲哀的人，借着圣洁的同情与神一切受苦的百姓同流泪，尽管他们自己并不在患难中；这样的眼泪神有「皮袋」装着（诗 56:8），这样的悲哀者神为他们存留安慰。正如「从锡安所出的福」是属灵的福，照样「在锡安悲哀的人」是圣洁的悲哀者——他们将忧伤带到施恩座前（因为约柜就在锡安），如哈拿那样在耶和华面前倾心吐意。对于这样的人，基督已借他的福音指定，并必借他的灵赐下（赛 61:3）那些不但能在忧伤中扶持他们，更能把忧伤变为赞美诗歌的安慰。他要赐给他们：（1）「华冠代替灰尘」。他们既如大悲哀之时那样坐在灰中，不但要从尘土中被举起，更要显得悦目。当注意，基督徒圣洁的喜乐就是他们的华美，是他们信仰的一大装饰。原文此处有精巧的谐音双关：原文中他以「华美」一词与「灰尘」一词仅一字母之差；他要把他们的忧愁变为喜乐，如同你调换一个字母那样迅速、那样容易；因为他一发言，事便成就。（2）「喜乐油」，使「脸发光」，代替那「使面容失色」、使其失去可爱的「悲哀」。这「喜乐油」是圣徒从基督自己所「被膏胜过他的同伴」的那「喜乐油」而得（来 1:9）。（3）「赞美衣」，如感恩之日所穿的华美衣服，代替那「忧伤（或昏暗、紧缩）之灵」——以公开的喜乐代替隐密的悲哀。他们所保留的「忧伤之灵」只留给自己（锡安的悲哀者「在隐密处哭泣」）；但他们所得补偿的喜乐，却如衣服一般穿在身上，在人眼前可见。当注意，神在哪里赐下喜乐油，就在哪里赐下赞美衣。从神而来的安慰，使人心倾向感恩，并在感恩中心胸宽广。凡我们所享受的喜乐，神都必须得着赞美和荣耀。
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他要作栽培者；因为教会是神的耕田。「所以」他要为他百姓行这一切——医治他们的伤、释放他们脱离捆绑、在他们忧伤中安慰他们——「使他们称为公义树，是耶和华所栽的」，使他们如此，并被承认如此，作神葡萄园的装饰，并「在义果上丰盛」，作「神所栽种」的枝子（赛 60:21）。基督为我们所作的一切，都是为了使我们成为神的子民，并在某方面如活树一般事奉他——「栽于耶和华的殿中」，「发旺在我们神的院里」；这一切都是「叫他得荣耀」——使我们借着真诚的奉献和敬虔的生活来荣耀他（因为「你们多结果子，我父就因此得荣耀」），也使别人因神的恩宠照在他百姓身上、他的恩典照在他们里面，而有机会赞美他，使他在他的圣徒中永远「得荣耀」。
英語原文
The Office of the Messiah (706 BC)
¹ The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
² To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;
³ To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.
He that is the best expositor of scripture has no doubt given us the best exposition of these verses, even our Lord Jesus himself, who read this in the synagogue at Nazareth (perhaps it was the lesson for the day) and applied it entirely to himself, saying, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears (Lu 4:17,18,21); and the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth, in the opening of this text, were admired by all that heard them. As Isaiah was authorized and directed to proclaim liberty to the Jews in Babylon, so was Christ, God's messenger, to publish a more joyful jubilee to a lost world. And here we are told,
I. How he was fitted and qualified for this work: The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, Isa 61:1. The prophets had the Spirit of God moving them at times, both instructing them what to say and exciting them to say it. Christ had the Spirit always resting on him without measure; but to the same intent that the prophets had, as a Spirit of counsel and a Spirit of courage, Isa 11:1-3. When he entered upon the execution of his prophetical office the Spirit, as a dove, descended upon him, Mt 3:16. This Spirit which was upon him he communicated to those whom he sent to proclaim the same glad tidings, saying to them, when he gave them their commission, Receive you the Holy Ghost, thereby ratifying it.
II. How he was appointed and ordained to it: The Spirit of God is upon me, because the Lord God has anointed me. What service God called him to he furnished him for; therefore he gave him his Spirit, because he had by a sacred and solemn unction set him apart to this great office, as kings and priests were of old destined to their offices by anointing. Hence the Redeemer was called the Messiah, the Christ, because he was anointed with the oil of gladness above his fellows. He has sent me; our Lord Jesus did not go unsent; he had a commission from him that is the fountain of power; the Father sent him and gave him commandment. This is a great satisfaction to us, that, whatever Christ said, he had a warrant from heaven for; his doctrine was not his, but his that sent him.
III. What the work was to which he was appointed and ordained.
1. He was to be a preacher, was to execute the office of a prophet. So well pleased was he with the good-will God showed towards men through him that he would himself be the preacher of it, that an honour might thereby be put upon the ministry of the gospel and the faith of the saints might be confirmed and encouraged. He must preach good tidings (so gospel signified) to the meek, to the penitent, and humble, and poor in spirit; to them the tidings of a Redeemer will be indeed good tidings, pure gospel, faithful sayings, and worthy of all acceptation. The poor are commonly best disposed to receive the gospel (Jam 2:5), and it is likely to profit us when it is received with meekness, as it ought to be; to such Christ preached good tidings when he said, Blessed are the meek.
2. He was to be a healer. He was sent to bind up the broken-hearted, as pained limbs are rolled to give them ease, as broken bones and bleeding wounds are bound up, that they may knit and close again. Those whose hearts are broken for sin, who are truly humbled under the sense of guilt and dread of wrath, are furnished in the gospel of Christ with that which will make them easy and silence their fears. Those only who have experienced the pains of a penitential contrition may expect the pleasure of divine cordials and consolations.
3. He was to be a deliverer. He was sent as a prophet to preach, as a priest to heal, and as a king to issue out proclamations and those of two kinds:—(1.) Proclamations of peace to his friends: He shall proclaim liberty to the captives (as Cyrus did to the Jews in captivity) and the opening of the prison to those that were bound. Whereas, by the guilt of sin, we are bound over to the justice of God, are his lawful captives, sold for sin till payment be made of that great debt, Christ lets us know that he has made satisfaction to divine justice for that debt, that his satisfaction is accepted, and if we will plead that, and depend upon it, and make over ourselves and all we have to him, in a grateful sense of the kindness he has done us, we may by faith sue out our pardon and take the comfort of it; there is, and shall be, no condemnation to us. And whereas, by the dominion of sin in us, we are bound under the power of Satan, sold under sin, Christ lets us know that he has conquered Satan, has destroyed him that had the power of death and his works, and provided for us grace sufficient to enable us to shake off the yoke of sin and to loose ourselves from those bands of our neck. The Son is ready by his Spirit to make us free; and then we shall be free indeed, not only discharged from the miseries of captivity, but advanced to all the immunities and dignities of citizens. This is the gospel proclamation, and it is like the blowing of the jubilee-trumpet, which proclaimed the great year of release (Le 25:9,40), in allusion to which it is here called the acceptable year of the Lord, the time of our acceptance with God, which is the origin of our liberties; or it is called the year of the Lord because it publishes his free grace, to his own glory, and an acceptable year because it brings glad tidings to us, and what cannot but be very acceptable to those who know the capacities and necessities of their own souls. (2.) Proclamations of war against his enemies. Christ proclaims the day of vengeance of our God, the vengeance he takes, [1.] On sin and Satan, death and hell, and all the powers of darkness, that were to be destroyed in order to our deliverances; these Christ triumphed over in his cross, having spoiled and weakened them, shamed them, and made a show of them openly, therein taking vengeance on them for all the injury they had done both to God and man, Col 2:15. [2.] On those of the children of men that stand it out against those fair offers. They shall not only be left, as they deserve, in their captivity, but be dealt with as enemies; we have the gospel summed up, Mk 16:16, where that part of it, He that believes shall be saved, proclaims the acceptable year of the Lord to those that will accept of it; but the other part, He that believes not shall be damned, proclaims the day of vengeance of our God, that vengeance which he will take on those that obey not the gospel of Jesus Christ, 2Th 1:8.
4. He was to be a comforter, and so he is as preacher, healer, and deliverer; he is sent to comfort all who mourn, and who, mourning, seek to him, and not to the world, for comfort. Christ not only provides comfort for them, and proclaims it, but he applies it to them; he does by his Spirit comfort them. There is enough in him to comfort all who mourn, whatever their sore or sorrow is; but this comfort is sure to those who mourn in Zion, who sorrow after a godly sort, according to God, for his residence is in Zion,—who mourn because of Zion's calamities and desolations, and mingle their tears by a holy sympathy with those of all God's suffering people, though they themselves are not in trouble; such tears God has a bottle for (Ps 56:8), such mourners he has comfort in store for. As blessings out of Zion are spiritual blessings, so mourners in Zion are holy mourners, such as carry their sorrows to the throne of grace (for in Zion was the mercy-seat) and pour them out as Hannah did before the Lord. To such as these Christ has appointed by his gospel, and will give by his Spirit (Isa 61:3), those consolations which will not only support them under their sorrows, but turn them into songs of praise. He will give them, (1.) Beauty for ashes. Whereas they lay in ashes, as was usual in times of great mourning, they shall not only be raised out of their dust, but made to look pleasant. Note, The holy cheerfulness of Christians is their beauty and a great ornament to their profession. Here is an elegant paronomasia in the original: He will give them pheer—beauty, for epher—ashes; he will turn their sorrow into joy as quickly and as easily as you can transpose a letter; for he speaks, and it is done. (2.) The oil of joy, which make the face to shine, instead of mourning, which disfigures the countenance and makes it unlovely. this oil of joy the saints have from that oil of gladness with which Christ himself was anointed above his fellows, Heb 1:9. (3.) The garments of praise, such beautiful garments as were worn on thanksgiving-days, instead of the spirit of heaviness, dimness, or contraction—open joys for secret mournings. The spirit of heaviness they keep to themselves (Zion's mourners weep in secret); but the joy they are recompensed with they are clothed with as with a garment in the eye of others. Observe, Where God gives the oil of joy he gives the garment of praise. Those comforts which come from God dispose the heart to, and enlarge the heart in, thanksgivings to God. Whatever we have the joy of God must have the praise and glory of.
5. He was to be a planter; for the church is God's husbandry. Therefore he will do all this for his people, will cure their wounds, release them out of bondage, and comfort them in their sorrows, that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that they may be such and be acknowledged to be such, that they may be ornaments to God's vineyard and may be fruitful in the fruits of righteousness, as the branches of God's planting, Isa 60:21. All that Christ does for us is to make us God's people, and some way serviceable to him as living trees, planted in the house of the Lord, and flourishing in the courts of our God; and all this that he may be glorified—that we may be brought to glorify him by a sincere devotion and an exemplary conversation (for herein is our Father glorified, that we bring forth much fruit), that others also may take occasion from God's favour shining on his people, and his grace shining in them, to praise him, and that he may be for ever glorified in his saints.
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The Office of the Messiah; The Prosperity of the Church (706 BC)
简体中文
弥赛亚的职分；教会的兴盛（公元前706年）
⁴ 他们必修造已久的荒场，建立先前凄凉之处，重修荒废城邑，就是历代荒凉之处。 ⁵ 那时，外人必起来牧放你们的羊群，外邦人必作你们耕田的、理葡萄园的。 ⁶ 你们倒要称为耶和华的祭司；人必称你们为我们神的仆役。你们必吃用列国的财物，因他们的荣耀自夸。 ⁷ 你们必得加倍的好处，代替所受的羞辱；他们必为自己的分欢呼；因此在境内必得双倍；他们永久的喜乐必归与他们。 ⁸ 因为我耶和华喜爱公平，恨恶抢夺为燔祭；我要凭诚实施行报应，与他们立永约。 ⁹ 他们的后裔必在列国中被人认识，他们的子孙必在众民中被认出；凡看见他们的，必认他们是耶和华所赐福的后裔。
这里向如今从被掳中归回、又在自己的地上重新定居的犹太人作出了应许，这些应许要延伸到福音的教会和一切因恩典脱离属灵奴役的信徒；因为它们能作属灵的应用。
一、应许他们的房屋必得重建（赛61:4），他们的城邑必从长久躺卧其中的废墟中被兴起，并再次为他们修整妥当：「他们必修造已久的荒场」；「已久的荒场」必被建造，「荒废城邑」必被「重修」，「先前凄凉之处」，甚至「历代荒凉之处」——那本以为永远不能修补的——必被「建立」。基督教在世界中的建立，修补了自然宗教的衰残，重建了那多年来成为人类羞耻的敬虔与诚实两方面的荒凉。一个未成圣的灵魂，如同「破损的城，没有墙垣」，如同废墟中的房屋；但借着基督福音和恩典的大能，它被修补，被重新整顿，适合作神借着圣灵居住的所在。而「他们」——那些从被掳中得释放的人——要作这事；因为我们从为奴之家被领出来，为的是要事奉神，既要建立我们自己归荣耀于他，又要帮助在地上建立他的教会。
二、那些不久前还自己作仆人、为欺压者作工、任凭他们摆布的人，如今必有仆人为他们作工、听他们差遣；这仆人不是他们的弟兄（他们都是主所释放的自由人），而是「外人，和外邦人的子孙」，他们要「看他们的羊，耕他们的田，料理他们的园子」——这是亚伯、该隐和亚当从前的职业：「外人必起来牧放你们的羊群」（赛61:5）。当我们靠着神的恩典，对这世界的一切事务达到一种圣洁的超然，虽然「买卖，却像不占有」——虽然我们的手在其中忙碌，我们的心却不被缠累，而是完全保留归给神和他的事奉——那时「外邦人就作了我们耕田的、理葡萄园的」。
三、他们不但要从被掳中得释放，更要被高升、受尊重地使用（赛61:6）：「当外人『牧放你们的羊群』之时，你们却要『守着圣所的职责』；你们不再作督工的奴仆，『你们倒要称为耶和华的祭司』，这是一个崇高而圣洁的呼召。」祭司是与君王同列的，在希伯来文中两者名称相同。「你们必作我们神的仆役」，正如利未人那样。注意，神所释放的人，他必使用他们；他「救他们脱离仇敌的手」，为要「事奉他」（路1:74,75；诗116:16）。而他的事奉乃是完全的自由，更是最大的尊荣。当神领以色列人出埃及时，他拣选他们归他作「祭司的国度」（出19:6）。福音的教会也是「有君尊的祭司」（彼前2:9）。一切信徒都蒙恩成为我们神的君王和祭司；他们当在敬拜和一生的为人中如此自处，额上写着「归耶和华为圣」，使众人「称他们为耶和华的祭司」。
四、外邦归信者的财富和尊荣必归给教会的益处和声誉（赛61:6）。「外邦人」必被带入教会。那些本是外人的，必成为「与圣徒同国的人」；他们要把自己一切所有的带来，献于神的荣耀、用于他的事奉；而祭司——主的仆役——必因此而得益。看见外邦人服事神国度的利益，这对一切敬虔的基督徒来说，必是极大的坚固和振奋，也是安慰和勉励。 1. 他们必「吃用列国的财物」，不是他们自己以暴力夺取的，而是公正体面地献上的，正如「带到坛前的礼物」，祭司和他们的家人就靠着这些舒适度日。这里没有说：「你们要『积攒列国的财物』，将之囤积起来」，而是说：「你们要『吃』它们」；因为财富中最好的，莫过于使用它、用它行善。 2. 他们「因他们的荣耀自夸」。外邦归信者在归信之前所有的一切尊荣——无论他们的贵族身份、产业、学问、德行，或所担任的信任和权柄的职位——都必归给他们所加入的教会以增其声誉；而他们归信之后所有的荣耀——他们圣洁的热心和严谨的为人、他们的功用、他们忍耐的受苦，以及神的恩典在他们身上所成就那蒙福改变的一切彰显——都必大大归给神的荣耀，所以一切敬虔的人都必引以为荣。
五、他们在自己的心中必得着充足的安慰和满足（赛61:7）。犹太人无疑在被掳归回之后如此蒙恩；他们仿佛置身于一个新的世界，如今才知道怎样珍视他们的自由和产业，其中的福乐是持续新鲜、生发茂盛的。那些基督所领入神儿女荣耀自由中的人，更是如此喜乐，尤其是当他们作儿子的特权在身体复活中得着完全时。 1. 「他们必为自己的分欢呼」；他们不但要重新得回自己的分，而且（这是神进一步的恩赐）他们必得着其中的安慰，也有一颗在其中喜乐的心（传3:13）。虽然归回犹太人的房屋和他们的圣殿一样，远不及被掳之前的，但他们仍要知足，并为此感恩。这是「在境内」自己的分，是「他们自己的地」，是圣地，是以马内利之地，所以他们要因之喜乐，因为他们近来才经历过「在异邦作寄居的」是何滋味。那以神和天为分的人，有理由说自己有美好的分，并要在其中喜乐。 2. 「永久的喜乐必归与他们」，就是他们百姓喜乐的状态，这必持久，比被掳的时间长久得多。然而犹太民族的那喜乐被大大冲淡，常常被打断，又如此快地终结，所以我们必须在这应许的应验中，寻求信徒在神里面所得的属灵喜乐，以及他们在天上所盼望的永远喜乐。 3. 这对他们将是双倍的报偿，更不止双倍，报答他们在被掳之地所受的一切羞辱和烦恼：「『你们必得加倍的好处』，代替所受的羞辱，在『你们境内』你们『必得双倍』的财富，过于你们所失落的；神赐福其上，你们在其中所得的安慰，必丰丰富富地补偿你们所受的一切损失。你们必不仅被承认为神的『众子』，更被承认为他的『长子』（出4:22），因此有权得双倍的份。」正如他们被掳时的苦难如此之大，以致在其中他们被说成是为他们一切的罪「受了加倍」的报应（赛40:2）；照样他们归回时的喜乐也必如此之大，以致在其中他们必为一切的羞辱「受加倍」的报偿。前者可应用于基督满足之工的丰满——在其中神为我们一切的罪「受了加倍」的报偿；后者可应用于天上喜乐的丰满——在其中我们必为我们一切的服事和受苦受不止「加倍」的报偿。约伯的遭遇说明了这一点：当神「使约伯从被掳中归回」之时，赐给他的「比他从前所有的加倍」。
六、神必作他们信实的引导者，并与他们立约作他们的神（赛61:8）：「我要凭诚实施行报应。」神以他的护理，照他真理的道，为他们安排万事至善。他必按真政策的法则，引导他们进入真正兴旺之路。他以他的恩典引导好人的善工走正路，就是引到幸福的真道；他引导他们以真诚去行，这样就蒙他悦纳。神「所喜爱的是内里诚实」；我们若凭诚实行我们的工，他必「与我们立永约」；因为对那些「在他面前行事」、为人「正直」的人，他必诚然作「全足的神」。如今，作为这应许和前一应许——神必为他们所受的羞辱报以「加倍」——的理由，本节上半部分的那句话就说进来了：「我耶和华喜爱公平。」他喜爱人与人之间施行公义——无论是官长与百姓之间，还是邻舍与邻舍之间——所以他恨恶一切不义；当他的百姓受欺压者、受逼迫者苦待之时，他不喜悦，不但因为这是对他的百姓而作，更因为这是不义，违背了公义的永恒法则。人若不行公义，他必乐于亲自施行审判，为受屈的人伸冤，刑罚行恶的人。神为他百姓所受的委屈辩护，不但因为他为他们发热心，更因为他为公义发热心。为说明这一点，又加上：他「恨恶抢夺为燔祭」。他恨恶不义，即使在他自己的百姓中——他们以燔祭中所献的尊荣他——也是如此；他更恨恶不义，当这是针对他自己的百姓时，他更是如此；他若恨恶为献给他的燔祭而行的抢夺，就必更恨恶为献给偶像的燔祭而行的抢夺，更当他的百姓不但被夺去产业，他更被夺去当献的祭。有一个真理大大归荣耀于神，那就是礼仪的供奉永不能赎道德诫命的违犯；任何人的抢夺也不能以「这是为燔祭」，或「这是礼物（各耳板）」为借口而得以称义。「听命胜于献祭」，「行公义、好怜爱胜过千千的公羊」；不，那以这借口为掩饰的抢夺最是神所恨恶，因为它使公义的神作不义的庇护者。有人以此作为犹太人被弃绝、外邦人被带入的理由（赛61:6），因为他们的道德如此败坏，他们虽然献上薄荷和茴香的十分之一，却把「公义和怜悯」当作无关紧要（太23:23）；而「神喜爱公义」，并坚持这一点，他既恨恶「为燔祭而行的抢夺」，也恨恶「为抢夺而献的燔祭」——正如法利赛人所作的：他们作长篇祷告，为要更堂而皇之地吞没寡妇的家产。也有人如此读这话：「我恨恶以不义所得的掠物」，即神的百姓的仇敌对他们的不义掠夺；神恨恶这事，所以必为此与他们算账。
七、神必把福分留给他们的后裔（赛61:9）：「他们的后裔」（就是如今那些为耶和华所赐福之人本身的儿女，或他们在信仰上的继承者，即教会的后裔）必「被算为归耶和华的一代」（诗22:30）。 1. 他们必脱颖而出，使邻舍留意他们：「他们的后裔必在列国中被人认识」，以他们为人的庄重、严肃、谦卑和喜乐——尤其是以那叫众人认出他们是基督门徒的弟兄之爱——与人有别。他们如此与人有别，神必使他们得尊荣，使他们成为他们世代的祝福和他荣耀的工具，并赐给他们他喜悦的明显记号，使他们杰出，并使周围的人尊敬他们。愿敬虔父母的儿女如此为人，以致被人认出他们就是这样的儿女，使一切观察他们的人都看见良好教育的果子，并看见为他们所献之祷告的应允；这样他们就可以指望神使他们被人认识，借着他向他们所应许的成就——「正直人的后代必要蒙福」。 2. 神必因此得荣耀，因为众人必将此归因于神的赐福；凡看见他们的，必看见神在他们身上如此多的恩典和他对他们的喜悦，以致「认他们是耶和华所赐福的后裔」，也是他所赐福的后裔——这话包括两者。请看为神所赐福是何意义。无论何人身上显出什么善，都必须被留意为神赐福的果子，他也必在其中得荣耀。
英語原文
The Office of the Messiah; The Prosperity of the Church (706 BC)
⁴ And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations.
⁵ And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your ploughmen and your vinedressers.
⁶ But ye shall be named the Priests of the LORD: men shall call you the Ministers of our God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves.
⁷ For your shame ye shall have double; and for confusion they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess the double: everlasting joy shall be unto them.
⁸ For I the LORD love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offering; and I will direct their work in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.
⁹ And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people: all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the LORD hath blessed.
Promises are here made to the Jews now returned out of captivity, and settled again in their own land, which are to be extended to the gospel church, and all believers, who through grace are delivered out of spiritual thraldom; for they are capable of being spiritually applied.
I. It is promised that their houses shall be rebuilt (Isa 61:4), that their cities shall be raised out of the ruins in which they had long lain, and be fitted up for their use again: They shall build the old wastes; the old wastes shall be built, the waste cities shall be repaired, the former desolations, even the desolations of many generations, which it was feared would never be repaired, shall be raised up. The setting up of Christianity in the world repaired the decays of natural religion and raised up those desolations both of piety and honesty which had been for many generations the reproach of mankind. An unsanctified soul is like a city that is broken down and has no walls, like a house in ruins; but by the power of Christ's gospel and grace it is repaired, it is put in order again, and fitted to be a habitation of God through the Spirit. And they shall do this, those that are released out of captivity; for we are brought out of the house of bondage that we may serve God, both in building up ourselves to his glory and in helping to build up his church on earth.
II. Those that were so lately servants themselves, working for their oppressors and lying at their mercy, shall now have servants to do their work for them and be at their command, not of their brethren (they are all the Lord's freemen), but of the strangers, and the sons of the alien, who shall keep their sheep, till their ground, and dress their gardens, the ancient employments of Abel, Cain, and Adam: Strangers shall feed your flocks, Isa 61:5. When, by the grace of God, we attain to a holy indifference as to all the affairs of this world, buying as though we possessed not—when, though our hands are employed about them, our hearts are not entangled with them, but reserved entire for God and his service—then the sons of the alien are our ploughmen and vine-dressers.
III. They shall not only be released out of their captivity, but highly preferred and honourably employed (Isa 61:6): "While the strangers are keeping your flocks, you shall be keeping the charge of the sanctuary; instead of being slaves to your task-masters, you shall be named the priests of the Lord, a high and holy calling." Priests were princes' peers, and in Hebrew were called by the same name. You shall be the ministers of our God, as the Levites were. Note, Those whom God sets at liberty he sets to work; he delivers them out of the hands of their enemies that they may serve him, Lu 1:74,75, Ps 116:16. But his service is perfect freedom, nay, it is the greatest honour. When God brought Israel out of Egypt he took them to be to him a kingdom of priests, Ex 19:6. And the gospel church is a royal priesthood, 1Pe 2:9. All believers are made to our God kings and priests; and they ought to conduct themselves as such in their devotions and in their whole conversation, with holiness to the Lord written upon their foreheads, that men may call them the priests of the Lord.
IV. The wealth and honour of the Gentile converts shall redound to the benefit and credit of the church, Isa 61:6. The Gentiles shall be brought into the church. Those that were strangers shall become fellow-citizens with the saints; and with themselves they shall bring all they have, to be devoted to the glory of God and used in his service; and the priests, the Lord's ministers, shall have the advantage of it. It will be a great strengthening and quickening, as well as a comfort and encouragement, to all good Christians, to see the Gentiles serving the interests of God's kingdom. 1. They shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, not which they have themselves seized by violence, but which are fairly and honourably presented to them, as gifts brought to the altar, which the priests and their families lived comfortably upon. It is not said, "You shall hoard the riches of the Gentiles, and treasure them," but, "You shall eat them;" for there is nothing better in riches than to use them and to do good with them. 2. They shall boast themselves in their glory. Whatever was the honour of the Gentiles converts before their conversion—their nobility, estates, learning, virtue, or places of trust and power—it shall all turn to the reputation of the church to which they have joined themselves; and whatever is their glory after their conversion—their holy zeal and strictness of conversation, their usefulness, their patient suffering, and all the displays of that blessed change which divine grace has made in them—shall be very much for the glory of God and therefore all good men shall glory in it.
V. They shall have abundance of comfort and satisfaction in their own bosoms, Isa 61:7. The Jews no doubt were thus privileged after their return; they were in a new world, and now knew how to value their liberty and property, the pleasures of which were continually fresh and blooming. Much more do all those rejoice whom Christ has brought into the glorious liberty of God's children, especially when the privileges of their adoption shall be completed in the resurrection of the body. 1. They shall rejoice in their portion; they shall not only have their own again, but (which is a further gift of God) they shall have the comfort of it, and a heart to rejoice in it, Ec 3:13. Though the houses of the returned Jews, as well as their temple, be much inferior to what they were before the captivity, yet they shall be well pleased with them and thankful for them. It is a portion in their land, their own land, the holy land, Immanuel's land, and therefore they shall rejoice in it, having so lately known what it was to be strangers in a strange land. Those that have God and heaven for their portion have reason to say that they have a worthy portion and to rejoice in it. 2. Everlasting joy shall be unto them, that is, a joyful state of their people, which shall last long, much longer than the captivity had lasted. Yet that joy of the Jewish nation was so much allayed, so often interrupted, and so soon brought to an end, that we must look for the accomplishment of this promise in the spiritual joy which believers have in God and the eternal joy they hope for in heaven. 3. This shall be a double recompence to them, and more than double, for all the reproach and vexation they have lain under in the land of their captivity: "For your shame you shall have double honour, and in your land you shall possess double wealth, to what you lost; the blessing of God upon it, and the comfort you shall have in it, shall make an abundant reparation for all the damages you have received. You shall be owned not only as God's sons, but as his first-born (Ex 4:22), and therefore entitled to a double portion." As the miseries of their captivity were so great that in them they are said to have received double for all their sins (Isa 40:2), so the joys of their return shall be so great that in them they shall receive double for all their shame. The former is applicable to the fulness of Christ's satisfaction, in which God received double for all our sins; the latter to the fulness of heaven's joys, in which we shall receive more than double for all our services and sufferings. Job's case illustrates this: when God turned again his captivity, he gave him twice as much as he had before.
VI. God will be their faithful guide and a God in covenant with them (Isa 61:8): I will direct their work in truth. God by his providence will order their affairs for the best, according to the word of his truth. He will guide them in the ways of true prosperity, by the rules of true policy. He will by his grace direct the works of good people in the right way, the true way that leads to happiness; he will direct them to be done in sincerity and then they are pleasing to him. God desires truth in the inward parts; and, if we do our works in truth, he will make an everlasting covenant with us; for to those that walk before him and are upright he will certainly be a God all-sufficient. Now, as a reason both of this and of the foregoing promise, that God will recompense to them double for their shame, those words come in, in the former part of the verse, I the Lord love judgment. He loves that judgment should be done among men, both between magistrates and subjects and between neighbour and neighbour, and therefore he hates all injustice; and, when wrongs are done to his people by their oppressors and persecutors, he is displeased with them, not only because they are done to his people, but because they are wrongs, and against the eternal rules of equity. If men do not do justice, he loves to do judgment himself in giving redress to those that suffer wrong and punishing those that do wrong. God pleads his people's injured cause, not only because he is jealous for them, but because he is jealous for justice. To illustrate this, it is added that he hates robbery for burnt-offering. He hates injustice even in his own people, who honour him with what they have in their burnt-offerings, much more does he hate it when it is against his own people; if he hates robbery when it is for burnt-offerings to himself, much more when it is for burnt-offerings to idols, and when not only his people are robbed of their estates, but he is robbed of his offerings. It is a truth much to the honour of God that ritual services will never atone for the violation of moral precepts, nor will it justify any man's robbery to say, "It was for burnt-offerings," or Corban—It is a gift. Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, to do justly and love mercy better than thousands of rams; nay, that robbery is most of all hateful to God which is covered with this pretence, for it makes the righteous God to be the patron of unrighteousness. Some make this a reason of the rejection of the Jews upon the bringing in of the Gentiles (Isa 61:6), because they were so corrupt in their morals, and, while they tithed mint and cummin, made nothing of judgment and mercy (Mt 23:23), whereas God loves judgment and insists upon that, and he hates both robbery for burnt offerings and burnt-offerings for robbery too, as that of the Pharisees, who made long prayers that they might the more plausibly devour widows' houses. Others read these words thus: I hate rapine by iniquity, that is, the spoil which the enemies of God's people had unjustly made of them; God hated this, and therefore would reckon with them for it.
VII. God will entail a blessing upon their posterity after them (Isa 61:9): Their seed (the children of those persons themselves that are now the blessed of the Lord, or their successors in profession, the church's seed) shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation, Ps 22:30. 1. They shall signalize themselves and make their neighbours to take notice of them: They shall be known among the Gentiles, shall distinguish themselves by the gravity, seriousness, humility, and cheerfulness of their conversation, especially by that brotherly love by which all men shall know them to be Christ's disciples. And, they thus distinguishing themselves, God shall dignify them, by making them the blessings of their age and instruments of his glory, and by giving them remarkable tokens of his favour, which shall make them eminent and gain them respect from all about them. Let the children of godly parents love in such a manner that they may be known to be such, that all who observe them may see in them the fruits of a good education, and an answer to the prayers that were put up for them; and then they may expect that God will make them known, by the fulfilling of that promise to them, that the generation of the upright shall be blessed. 2. God shall have the glory of this, for every one shall attribute it to the blessing of God; all that see them shall see so much of the grace of God in them, and his favour towards them, that they shall acknowledge them to be the seed which the Lord has blessed and doth bless, for it includes both. See what it is to be blessed of God. Whatever good appears in any it must be taken notice of as the fruit of God's blessing and he must be glorified in it.
10-11
The Prosperity of the Church (706 BC)
简体中文
教会的兴盛（主前706年）
¹⁰ 我因耶和华大大欢喜，我的心靠神快乐；因他以拯救为衣给我穿上，以公义为袍给我披上，好像新郎戴上华冠，又像新妇佩戴妆饰。 ¹¹ 田地怎样使百谷发芽，园子怎样使所种的发生；主耶和华必照样使公义和赞美在万民中发出。
有人认为这是先知代表耶路撒冷所唱的喜乐赞美之歌，庆贺上文应许成就、其境遇喜乐地改变；也有人认为这是基督代表新约教会在福音恩典中夸胜之言。我们可以兼采二者，前者作为后者的预表。此处教导我们当以圣洁的喜乐、为神的尊荣而欢乐，1. 在这善工的开始——教会「以公义与拯救为衣穿上」之时（赛61:10）。「我因耶和华大大欢喜。」凡在神里喜乐的人，都有大大喜乐的因由；当我们以神为我们喜乐的喜乐之时，不必怕喜乐过大而失度。第一首福音之歌正是这样开始的：「我心尊主为大，我灵以神我的救主为乐」（路1:46-47）。这喜乐有正当的因由，也有一切理由使它归结于神；因为拯救与公义已经成就、已经引进，教会已经穿上它们。神为犹太人所成就的拯救，他显出为他们辩护的公义，以及他们中间所显出的归正，使他们一切智者眼中看来如此荣耀，仿佛他们穿上了朝服或婚嫁的礼服。基督已经以永远的救恩（那才是真正伟大的）给他的教会穿上——他借给她穿上称义与成圣两样的义而成就这事。「细麻衣就是圣徒所行的义」（启19:8）。当留意这两样如何并提：那些、也唯有那些如今以公义之袍为遮盖的人，将来才得穿上救恩之衣；那衣裳是丰富华美的服饰，如同祭司的圣衣（原文之意即如此）——「新郎」佩上「华冕」之时所穿戴的。太阳本身的光辉也被比作这些。诗19:5：「他如新郎」出洞房，装饰齐整。神恩典在那些以基督之义蒙神悦纳、并借成圣之灵重新得着神形像之人里面的美，正是如此；他们如新妇般装饰齐整，许配给神，被接入与他所立的约；他们如祭司般装饰齐整，受雇事奉神，被接入与他的相交。2. 在这善工的进展与延续之中（赛61:11）。这不像夸胜之日，眼下虽然荣耀，却很快过去。不；教会所穿的公义与拯救，乃是耐久之衣——它们正是如此被称为（赛23:18）。教会当因耶稣基督给她穿上的公义与拯救而自乐之时，她想到这些无可估量的福分将既为后世萌发，又向远方广布，便喜乐。（1）它们必为后来的世代萌发，如同地上的出产年年发生，代代不绝。「田地」——连那敞开公用之地——「怎样使百谷发芽」，就是岁首回转时的嫩草；「园子」——那围起来的园子——「怎样使所种的发生」当其季节；照样确实、照样恒久、照样有力、并对人类这样有益，「主耶和华必照样使公义和赞美发出」——这是借恩典之约的效力，正如在前一事上借护理之约的效力。当看所应许的福分是什么——「公义与赞美」（因为那些以公义为衣的人「宣扬」那给他们穿上公义之人的「美德」）；这些要在神圣恩典之甘露的影响下萌发。虽然教会有时是冬天，那时这些福分似乎枯萎、不再显现，然而它们的根本已立定，春日必到——那时借着临近的公义日头复苏的光辉，它们必再发旺。（2）它们必广布远方，「在万民中发出」；那大拯救必向全天下颁布宣告，「地极的人都必看见」。
英語原文
The Prosperity of the Church (706 BC)
¹⁰ I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.
¹¹ For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.
Some make this the song of joy and praise to be sung by the prophet in the name of Jerusalem, congratulating her on the happy change of her circumstances in the accomplishment of the foregoing promises; others make it to be spoken by Christ in the name of the New-Testament church triumphing in gospel grace. We may take in both, the former as a type of the latter. We are here taught to rejoice with holy joy, to God's honour, 1. In the beginning of this good work, the clothing of the church with righteousness and salvation, Isa 61:10. Upon this account I will greatly rejoice in the Lord. Those that rejoice in God have cause to rejoice greatly, and we need not fear running into an extreme in the greatness of our joy when we make God the gladness of our joy. The first gospel song begins like this, My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour, Lu 1:46,47. There is just matter for this joy, and all the reason in the world why it should terminate in God; for salvation and righteousness are wrought out and brought in, and the church is clothed with them. The salvation God wrought for the Jews, and that righteousness of his in which he appeared for them, and that reformation which appeared among them, made them look as glorious in the eyes of all wise men as if they had been clothed in robes of state or nuptial garments. Christ has clothed his church with an eternal salvation (and that is truly great) by clothing it with the righteousness both of justification and sanctification. The clean linen is the righteousness of saints, Re 19:8. Observe how these two are put together; those, and those only, shall be clothed with the garments of salvation hereafter that are covered with the robe of righteousness now: and those garments are rich and splendid clothing, like the priestly garments (for so the word signifies) with which the bridegroom decks himself. The brightness of the sun itself is compared to them. Ps 19:5, He is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, completely dressed. Such is the beauty of God's grace in those that are clothed with the robe of righteousness, that by the righteousness of Christ are recommended to God's favour and by the sanctification of the Spirit have God's image renewed upon them; they are decked as a bride to be espoused to God, and taken into covenant with him; they are decked as a priest to be employed for God, and taken into communion with him. 2. In the progress and continuance of this good work, Isa 61:11. It is not like a day of triumph, which is glorious for the present, but is soon over. No; the righteousness and salvation with which the church is clothed are durable clothing; so they are said to be, Isa 23:18. The church, when she is pleasing herself with the righteousness and salvation that Jesus Christ has clothed her with, rejoices to think that these inestimable blessings shall both spring for future ages and spread to distant regions. (1.) They shall spring forth for ages to come, as the fruits of the earth which are produced very year, from generation to generation. As the earth, even that which lies common, brings forth her bud, the tender grass at the return of the year, and as the garden enclosed causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth in their season, so duly, so constantly, so powerfully, and with such advantage to mankind will the Lord God cause righteousness and praise to spring forth, by virtue of the covenant of grace, as, in the former case, by virtue of the covenant of providence. See what the promised blessings are—righteousness and praise (for those that are clothed with righteousness show forth the praises of him that clothed them); these shall spring forth under the influence of the dew of divine grace. Though it may sometimes be winter with the church, when those blessings seem to wither and do not appear, yet the root of them is fixed, a spring-time will come, when through the reviving beams of the approaching Sun of righteousness they shall flourish again. (2.) They shall spread far, and spring forth before all the nations; the great salvation shall be published and proclaimed to all the world and the ends of the earth shall see it.
在本章中：一、我们必能看见基督的恩典——就是他借着以赛亚的职分为预表和比方，向失丧的世界在永远的福音中所宣告的；以赛亚的职分原是预言犹太人将脱离巴比伦得释放（赛61:1-3）。二、我们认为这里也可见到基督教会的荣耀——她属灵的荣耀——借着犹太人从被掳归回后的兴盛为预表和比方来描述。1. 应许教会的衰败必得着修补（赛61:4）。2. 外人必被使用来服事教会（赛61:5）。3. 教会必作有君尊的祭司，由外邦人的财富来供养（赛61:6）。4. 她必有尊荣与喜乐，以代替她一切羞辱与悲哀（赛61:7）。5. 她的事必亨通（赛61:8）。6. 她的后裔必享受这些福气（赛61:9）。7. 公义与救恩必成为教会永远欢喜感恩的内容（赛61:10,11）。犹太教会若曾如此蒙福，基督教会就必更加如此，凡属于她的人也必如此。