Real religious revival
"Many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob." Here is the tide of national feeling, no longer on the ebb, but on the flow. God is "to teach them his ways, and they are to walk in his paths;" for they have found out that pleasure gained by sin is peace bartered. Elevation of the truest kind is to be theirs now. This is the image of their uplifted state. They are to go up to the mountain of the Lord's house—the consecrated height of holiness and peace.
I. THERE IS SPONTANEITY OF LIFE. "Come, let us go." It is no mere fashion, or custom, or compulsion of obedience. Life always says, "Come." I read delight here. For what we enjoy we invite others to see. When we ascend to the mountain-top, and see the winding river, like a streak of silver, and the village-dotted plains, we cry "Come!" to others, that they too may delight in the loveliness of the scene. So an earnest Christian not only says "Come!" because of the urgency of the salvation, but also because of the beauty and blessedness of religion. "Oh taste and see," he says, "that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him."
II. THERE IS SACRED FELLOWSHIP. "Let us go up." For religion is intensified in its experiences by mutual faith and joy. The interaction of mind on mind and heart upon heart in a great congregation is wonderful. "Let us go up." And beautiful were those spectacles in Hebrew history, when the pilgrims went to tabernacle or temple. "Thither the tribes go up," The festal caravans met each other from distant parts, as they merged at last into one common road to time-beloved Jerusalem. At the Feasts of Pentecost and Passover, as in the days of our Savior, the interest felt in these upgoings to Jerusalem was both human and Divine. Old friends met again, whilst youths and maidens set eyes for the first time on the city and temple of their fathers. On their way they sang the songs of Zion, till in noblest worship the gathered tribes lifted up their praise to the Lord God of Israel.
III. THERE IS SUBLIME PROPHECY. "Many shall go," Yes, and in these Christian days, Greek and Jew, bond and flee, have been united in one common song of deliverance. Missionary societies have founded Churches and schools on well-nigh every shore. "Many shall corns." Verily, unto Christ shall the gathering of the people be. "All nations shall call him blessed." How verified the words have been! "For out of Zion shall go forth the Law, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem."—W.M.S.
HOMILIES BY W. CLARKSON