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Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul clich6, il est film6 & partir de Tangle supdrieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images n^cessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mdthode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 • • «. J* LECTURES ON TRB EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE, TO THE EPHESIANS, CHAPTER !. EXrOSITORY AND PRACTICAL, « BY REV. WILLIAM ALVES, A. M., UIKISTEB OF THE GOSPEL, ST. JOHN. K. B. -^: ST. JOHN, N. B. J. 4 A. McMillan, is prince william street. 1867. J. k A. McMillan, Printers, 78 Prince William Street. 1 t u / .-- ■■' Jdb .'< . ^ 33 6^/ ii PREFACE The following Lectures are not presented to the public as containing either a complete or a minute exposition of this remarkable portion of Scripture — the First chapter of Ephe- sians ; but, simply, as setting forth and illustrating, in a plain ' and easy manner, for readers in general, the leading and fun- damental doctrines of the Gospel therein contained. We have endeavoured to keep in view the practical application of every subject which we have discussed, and trust that our readers will not fail to lay such application to heart, and that they may receive grace to enable them to ' profit withal.' AVe do not expect that, in every point, 'we have succeeded in exactly representing the views of the Inspired Apostle ; but, the general system or scheme of Scriptural doctrine which underlies or pervades these Lectures, we are prepared to defend — as the only foundation on which a sinner can build for eter- nity — as, in short, the Gospel of our salvation. On minute points of interpretation there are differences be- tween the most eminent recent critics, such as Hodge, Eadie, Alford, EUicott, — but it is remarkable how nearly they all co- incide in their views of the most important doctrines in this chapter. , » The Lectures are printed as they were originally delivered, with the exception of a few unimportant corrections. CONTENTS. t • PAGE. Lecture I. (Introductory) The Ori !8 Origin of the Church. * that citadel of* ancient art, science, and religion. As Paul surveyed the customs of the people, and contemplated their chief occupations, as he looked on that temple whose immense size and splendid decorations made it one of the seven won- ders of the world, as he fixed his eyes on that monster image of the great goddess,* which, it was believed, fell down from Jupiter, how must the former feeling have come back to him, that was stirred up in him at Athens ' when he saw the city vholly given to idolatry.' Paul could not, however, on the occasion of his first visit to Ephesus, prolong his stay ; so after reasoning with the Jews in their synagogue he hastened to Jerusalem, leaving Aquila and Priscilla on the field of labour which he had thus opened up, and promising to return again if God willed. These faithful witnesses were soon after joined by Apollos, a native of Alexandria, '' an eloqueat man and mighty in the Scriptures. This man was instructed in the way of the Lord, and being fervent in the spirit he spake and taught dili- gently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John. And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue, whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard they took him unto them and expounded unto him the way of God more per- fectly." It is said of Apollos that, when he went to Achaia, " he mightily convinced the Jews and that publicly, shewing by the Scriptures that Jesus was Christ." LTnder the influ- ence of such a man, guided by the sober and enlightened wisdom of Aquila and Priscilla, the cause of Christ would be ♦Act! 19. 35. Pauls labours. S doubtless well sustained in the abHence of the Apostle. VVheo Paul returned from Jcrnsalcni he found* certain disciples who had been baptized unto John's baptism, but who had not re- ceived the Holy (ihost i. e., in his special f;iftfl, and who said that they had not so much as heard wlu-ther there was any Holy Ghost. Paul explained to them the nature of John's baptism as being a baptism of repeutaneo, and also of faith iu Christ Jesus about to come. The number of the men was about twelve. Whether Paul rebaptized them may be queB- tioned.f but he certainly communicated to them the special gifts of th(^ Tloly (ihost, so that they spake with tongues and prophesied. We may suppose that there were other believers besides these twelve, by this time, if we allow that A({uila and Priscilla, as well as ApoUos. had been blessed to any extent in their lab(jurs. At all events these twelve incn might repre- sent a church, including a corresponding number of women and children of from forty to fifty souls. With such a nucleus was the church of Ephesus commenced. Tnder the care of the Apostle, • God bearing witness both with signs and won- ders, and with divers miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will,']; this infant church was mightily advanced, during his sojourn with it, which extended to a period of at least two years and three months. For the first three months he went to the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews; but being opposed and hindered he withdrew to the school of one Tyrannus, with the disciples, and continued to dispute daily, and as we may safely conclude, to exercise all •A0UI9I-7. t Set Appsndix A. tHeUu. 4. Pauls labours. * f I the functions of his apostolic an' ministerial office, for the remaining period of two years.* Ho taught them both pub- licly and privately. He kept back nothing, but declared U) them the whole counsel of God. Ho must have ordained elders or bishops, that is, overseers, among them. He, in short, preached to them tlie whole gospel in its fulness and purity, and forewarned them against the intrusion or uprising of false and injurious teachers. From the narrative, we gather that his labours were crowned with success, and that a large and flourishing church was formed in Ephes .: in that space of time. From this as a centre, also, the light of the gospel shone far and wide ; * so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.' It was here that several incidents of a memorable character befell', the Apostle. Here ' God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul.* Here the Spirit of God triumphed over the spirit of evil, giving evidence of Paul's apostolic character to the confusion of certain vagabond Jews who were Exorcists. 'Jesus I know,' said the evil spirit, 'and Paul I know, but who are ye?' and 'many of them which used curious arts brought their books together and burned them before all men ' to the value of fifty thousand (pieces) of silver. Here the &mous uproar took place at the instigatio of Demetrius and other craftsmen whose occupation was to make ' silver shrines for Diana,' because through the gospel their ' craft was in danger,' and this brought the Apostle and the church itself f Acts iXi. 8. *!kc. ,' I. Timothy left at Ephesus, 5 into deep waters; but it was overrujed for its still greater uonfirmation and enlargement. After this affair the Apostle left "Kphcsus, but not without making provision, as you might expect he would, for the support and futherance of the gospci. When he went into Macedonia he ' besought Timothy to abide still at Ephesus.'* After spending a short time in visiting the churches in Mace- donia, and as he was on his way to Jerusalem, Paul sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church to meet him at Miletus, a seaport town about forty miles south from Ephesus, and in importance next to Ephesus in th^e times and places. There he delivered to them a fervent charge ' to take heed unto themselves, and to all the flock over the which the Holy Ghost had made them overseers, to feed the arch of God, which he had purchased with his own blood.'f In his address he predicts that false teachers would soon arise among them, not sparing the flock. The Apostle, after his leaving Ephesus, gave Timothy a special charge to watch over the church tnere; and from the epistles to Timothy we learn many things which are of considerable importance in its history. We find that the prediction of Paul, with respect to the rise of false teachers, came true, in spite of his using the pre- caution to leave Timothy to charge some that they teach no other doctrine. In the book of Revelation, in the address to the angel of the church of Ephesus, mention is made of the Nicolaitanes, a sect of which we know little, except that their deeds were hateful to the Lord, as they were also to the ♦1 Tim. i. 3. tAots zz. 28. t^ Duration of the Church. Ephesian church. Though the church is,. there,»^ reproved for departing from its first love, and warned to repent, yet on the whole, it is commended for its works and patience and fidelity. The Ajtostlo John is, according to early tradition, said to i.ave had Ephesus as the seat of his labours, towards the close of his life. Thus important, every way, was the early church of Ephe- sus. It was established in the very citadel and stronghold of the empire of Diana, 'whom all Asia and the world wor- shipped.' It was the centre from which the gospel radiated all round in these parts. It soon became numerically strong. Planted by Paul, watered by ApoUos, nurtured and guarded by Timothy, and finally honoured by the presence of the ven- erable John, this vineyard, over and above all, had received the increase from God. and is, therefore, the first mentioned, and probably the most important of the seven churches of Asia, whose names are written in the Apocalypse. ^ How long exactly, this church continued to flourish and exist it were difficult to determine. We are informed by history that two most important councils of the Universal Church, one in A. D. 431, and the other in A. D. 449, to decide the doctrine as to the person and .natures of Christ, were held at Ephesus; and from this we conclude that the church may have remained in existence for some time after the last of these dates. But at length it vanished, and now the traveller scarcely knows where to fix the site of ancient Ephesus. City and church and all have disappeared, and Date, Address, and t bat for certain ruins which are identified with the 'theatre' into which ' all the people rushed,' on the occasion of Deme- trius's uproar, it might be doubted by some whether the whole history is not an ancieht myth. The church had deteri- orated — it had forsaken its first love — its faithful ones had been gathered into glory, and the candlestick was finally removed. As Paul, however, lay a prisoner at Rome, five years after his first visit to Ephesus, what stirring associations would crowd on his memory, and how would he embrace an oppor- tunity of writing to the church that owned him as its father, and which had not as yet disgraced its connection. This epistle, then, it is thought, on good evidence, wai« written from Rome, between 59 and 61, A. D., at a period of the Apostle's imprisonment, when the severity of his bonds was somewhat relaxed, when he enjoyed the liberty of preach- ing the gospel, and when he even entertained the hope of being soon released. All this may be gathered from a com- parison of certain passages in the Acts of the Apostles and in Paul's own writings. Though addressed to Christians at Ephesus, and principally intended for Gentile converts, yet this epistle seems to have been designed, as it is adapted, for general use in the existing churches of Christ ; and, of course, as containing a revelation and exposition of Divine truth, from the pen of an Apostle, it must hold a permanent place among the authoritative rec- ords of Christianity. Its general scope, plainly, is to impart to a flourishing community of believers, the iiighest and most enlarged views M s Scope of the Epistle. of the blessing of redemption, as well as to stir them up to adorn their profession, by a faithful and zealous discharge of their duty in the diflferent relationships of life, and to prepare them for the inheritance of the Saints in Glory. The first two verses contain the Apostle's salutation, and to this, let us, for the remainder of this lecture, confine your at- tention. He begins by setting forth his name and office, to engage at once our respectful attention, and our reverent submission to what he is about to declare. " Paul an Apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God." [. We have here to enquire, particularly and definitely, what was included in the apostolic office to which Paul lays claim. The original appointment and commission of the twelve apostles is thus related by the Evangelist Mark: "And Jesus goeth up into u mountain and called to him whom he would, and they came to him j and he ordained twelve that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach, and to have power to heal sickness, and to cast out devils."* In Luke's gospel this remarkable transaction is thus described: '"And he called his disciples, and o. them he chose twelve; whom also he named Apostles."f From these and other passages ia the Gospels, we learn the follow- ing facts as to the apostolic office during Christ's ministry on earth. (1.) Jesus himself chose or selected the twelve from among his disciples. They had a direct and immediate call. (2.) It was He who gave them the distinctive name Apostles. *Mark iii. 13. tLuke vi. 13. The Apostolic Office. 9 (3.) He ordained them for these duties, viz : to be vfLu him and attend upon him; to preach the Kingdom of God, or that the Kingdom of Heaven was at hand, in other wcrds, to introduce the Gospel ; and lastly, to heal the sick and cast out devils. (4.) Their endowments, wherewith he gifted them for their work, were, first, authority founded on their commission ; second, power to heal sickness and cast out devils; and third, Providential support by the way. When our Saviour was about to leave the world, and as- cend visibly to Heaven, he renewed his commission to them all, except Judas, (whose place was afterwards filled up by the Divine call alighting on Matthias);* and he gave them the assurance of an additional special endowment in the full gift of the Holy Ghost — the Comforter — who should ' teach them all things, and bring all things to their remembrance, whatsoever he had said unto them. (See John xiv. 26; XV. 26-27; xvi. 7. Acts i. 1-9.) That assurance was ful- filled, when, on the day of Pentecost, the Spirit, most sig- nificantly and most beautifully emblemed by ' the mighty rushing wind,' and ' the cloven tongues, like as of fire,' descended upon each of them, and ' they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.'f One thing included in the Apostolic office was to bear witness of the resurrection of Christ, (See Acts i. 22 ; ii. 32.) so that no one could well undertake its duties who had it not in his power to give evidence as to that fact, with- •Acta i. 23-26.— Comp. Lev. xvi. 8. tActa ii. 1-14. 10 Pauls Credentials. out which, indeed, Christianity were, as a religion, vain, and to be rejected.* On that fact the hope of all believers in every age of the church depends.f Paul could bear testi- mony to this fact, for on his way to Damascus, on the occa- sion of his conversicu, he beheld the rise a and exalted Re- deemer and he:^rd his voice.| Hence, in dealing with the Corinthians, he says : ' Am I not an Apostle ? Am I not free ? Have I not seen Jesus Christ Our Lord ? ' But this was not a distinctive mark, for Our Lord ' was seen of above five hundred brethren at once,' and by women as well as men. It was, however, an essential requisite, and Paul was not wanting in it ; for, he says, ' last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.* But that which was absolutely and essentially distinctive of the apostolic oflSce, was a commission from Christ to de- clare by inspiration of the Holy Ghost, and consequently in- fallibly the Gospel of the Grace of God. In this lay the apostolic character. Apostles were enabled to give proof that they possessed this commission by the power they had of working miracles, and of conferring miraculous gifts on whom- soever they laid their hands. By the ' laying on of their hands' they could confer special gifts of the Holy Ghost. The essential gift was infallible inspiration consequent on the commission of Christ j and to this, therefore, the distinctive peculiarity of the apostolic office is to be ascribed.§ Now Paul had the most complete warrant for asserting this •commission. Never was there a more wondrous display of *1 Cor. XT. 14. tl Pet. i. 3. lActa zxvi. 16. gSee Appendix B. m EpistU binding on all. 11 Divine power than that which converted Saul into Paul — ' the blasphemer, the injurious, the persecutor,' into ' the chosen vessel to bear the name of Christ before the Gentiles and Kings and the Children of Israel.' At his conversion he received his commission, direct from Heaven, from the mouth of the Master, written not with pen and ink, but by the Holy Ghost. This he was everywhere able to establish, first to the satisfaction of the other Apostles who added the seal of their ordination ^^' and afterwards wherever he went. By the gifts of the Holy Ghost, and by the power of God resting on him, he was able to attest his apostleship in every place. Writing to the Romans, he says : " for I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ hath not wrought by me, to make the Gentiles obedient, by word and deed, through mighty signs and wonders by the power of the Spirit of God.""!' Again to the Corinthians, he says : " truly the signs of an Apostle were wrought among you in all pa- tience, in signs and wonders, and mighty deeds."| Paul, an Apostle of Jesus Christ, then, infallibly guided by the Holy Ghost, speaks to the Ephesians, in this, his epistle, with Divine authority. The truths he declares or unfolds are the doctrines of Christ. The words he uses are not the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth. These truths of Chris*, these words of the Holy Ghost, are holy oracles. They form part of the Word of God to man, which liveth and abideth for ever. They bind us, in their application to us, as much as they •Acts xiii. tRom. xt. 18. % 2 Cor. xii. 12. 1» *^By the will of Godr (lid the Ephesians, We are brought into contact with the mind and will of God. By this Goapel wc ahall be judged. It must prove either a savour of life unto life to us, or a savour of death unto death. With what reverence ought we to bow before the Word of God ! Let us remember that the things of God are hid from the wise and prudent, and re- vealed unto babes; and let us prayerfully commit ourselves to the Divine guidance of the Holy Spirit, speaking to us by his inspired Apostle ! , Paul an Apostle of Jesus Christ 'by the will of Qod.' II. The principal idea contained in this clause is seen in the introduction of his Epistle to the Galatians, where it is ex- pressed in full : ' Paul an Apostle, not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead.' The idea may be said to include two things, principally : First, that he derived his commission and authority directly from God. He had not been chosen by men, nor even appointed as Matthias was, but was chosen and set apart immediately by God, as is evidci^t from the narrative. Second, that he obtained his qualifications for his office in an extraordinary manner. He had not qualified him- self, any more than he had chosen his office. Nor was it by a course of training on the part of other apostles. On the contrary he appears, almost suddenly, endowed with gifts and graces, with knowledge and power, fitting him for his high vocation. There is a peculiar emphasis, however, in Paul's saying, ' by the will of God.' It wl^ in spite of himself, so to speak, Practical application. m and contrary to the natural course of things. Moses wao called forth to deliver his people from bondage 'by the will of God/ but then he was, heart and soul, anxious for that deliverance. David was raised up to the throne ' by the will of God,' but he was a man after God's own heart. The other Apostles were called 'by the will of God,' but they were chosen from among those who were disciples. In the case of Paul we see the will of God casting ordinary rules to the winds, and, in contravention of the natural course of things, making him an Apostle. He was as one born out of due course. He was miraculously called. He was miraculously endowed. In respect of these things there was a specialty in Paul's case, which gives a peculiar emphasis to the words ' by the will of God.' The Apostle, therefore, might speak with a full conscious- ness of his commission and authority from God. He had been appointed to his apostleship by a signal and glorious exercise of the will of God. His call was clear and emphatic. He was deeply impressed with the responsibility of exercising his apostolic office. He felt " woe is unto me if I preach not the Gospel. Necessity is laid upon me." He had nothing to boast of in himself It was ' the will of God.' And in their separate spheres may not all true believers, all who by grace are called and chosen and faithful, feel the binding, constraining influence of the ' will of God.' If for your special work or duty you have any evidence of a divine call, then are you not bound to regard yourselves the servants of God? £ftch of ^0U| va tbat easei flut/ wj^ * \>j the grace ^W" H PraiJtical application. of God 1 am what I am; by" the will of God I am engaged in my special vocation. Although I may not have authority infallibly to bind the consciences .ind instruct the hearts of others, yet I have authority for doing my duty and fulfilling a trust, in my own sphere, — I am the Lord's servant. What- soever, therefore, I do by word or deed, I do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks unto God and tlie Father by him.' This were an animating thought — an inspiring feel- iuj,. Oh that each of us would act on this principle, at all times ! To the Saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus. III. The most of the epistles of the New Testament are ad- dressed to believers, to the Saints and the faithful in Christ Jesus. These expressions are not to be taken in a loose manner, as if descriptive merely of outward calling and outward mem- bership in the church. They imply an effectual work of grace already begun. The term Saints was indeed applied to the Israelites, to denote their outward ceremonial and covenant relationship to God. They were separated, and so in that sense ' Holy,' or ' Saints.' But in the New Testament the word means ' cleansed,' or purified, and it includes two things : (1.) deliverance from the guilt of siu by means of the atone- ment of Christ and inward purification from the power of sin, and (2) consecration to the services and glory of God. The Saints at Ephesus were reconciled by the blood of Christ — they had experienced the ' washing of regeneration and re- newing of thfe HcilycGhQgt'. .They w^re, ^moreover, a peculiar Who are Saints. 16 people — separated from the world — consecrrited to God. They are also styled ' faithful/ The expression here means just ' full of faith,* or exercising faith in a steadfast and perseve- ring manner. Those whom he calls faithful he also calls Saints. He who ■ is a believer is also a Saint, and no one else. It is ' in Christ ^ that they are said to be Saints and faithful. This expresses the union subsisting between them as members, and Christ as the head. It is only ' in Christ' that any become ' Saints j' but let us notice how this is brought about. It is just sim- ply by believing. There is no othv;r way to us intelligible, by which union with Christ is effected. This is where the. mystery of salvation comes in contact with human means and personal duty. Believers realize their union with Christ, whether in its priviliges or fruits, only by faith. Thus, when we ask you whether the appellation here given by the Apostle to the Ephesians would apply to yourselves — when we inquire ' are you Saints, or faithful, or in Christ ; * it will resolve itself into the practical inquiry, ' are you look- ing to Jesus for your salvation, are you trusting to him, are you submitting to the righteousness of God in him V If so, then you are Saints already, and you will become more and more practically and manifestly Saints. You are reconciled, you are renewed, you are God's people. Much may yet have to be done; you may only have entered on your course; but, blessed be God ! ' in Christ,' includes everything. He is the Alpha, and will be the Omega, of your salvation. n t> ;:i 76 Christ's Lordship. Qraoe be to you and peace from Ood our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.— Verse 2nd. IV. Paul prays for ' grace and peace ' to his readers, and in this prayer he comprehends all blessings. The ' grace/ or free unmerited favour of God, is the source of all real good to fallen man. It was this which prompted the plan of salva- tion. It is this which confers its actual enjoyment. ' Peace/ according to the usage of the word, means well-being in gen- eral. It includes peace of conscience, peace at home and abroad, in sickness and health, in life and in death. These all embracing gifts Paul asks from ' God the Father, and from Our Lord Jesus Christ.' He recognized both with equal reverence and gratitude. Christ was as much an ob- ject of worship as the Father. lie looked up to liis Master as God, and in him he found grace and peace himself, which he desires, therefore, for those in whom he felt so deep and sacred an interest. God is styled ' Our Father,' not simply because He is our Creator, or because He is the Father of spirits, but chiefly because he has adopted us by his spirit into a new and per- manent relationship; and we become his children by and through the grace of the new covenant. Again Jesus Christ is Our Lord, although in a more familiar view, our elder bro- ther. Both things consist and harmonize ; such is the mar- vellous wisdom displayed in the plan of our recovery. ' Lord ' denotes possession or property. In this sense ' Jesus is made of God both Lord and Christ.'* He is the Lord — ^the Lord of •Acts iL 86. Submission to Christ. 17 Lord Jesuii rs, and in e,' or free 1 good to of salva- ' Peace,' ig in gen- lomc and ,h. 10 Father, both witli ch an ob- lis Master lelf, whicli deep and He is our ►ut chiefly IV and per- n by and isus Christ elder bro- s the mar- j. 'Lord' us is made he Lord of Lords — the Lord God. He has dominion aasigned to hlni — even the Divine right of dominion — that at his name every knee should bow, and every tongue confess that he is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Although ho made himself a servant — was made under the law — yet being exalted he was made ' Lord of All.' Ho was not merely man, and a flufferer for the redemption of his church, but he was also God, even the mighty God and the ]*rincc of Peace. Hence having Divine perfection, infinite goodness and infinite power. he possesses a complete right to the universal sovereignty of heaven and earth j and this right, after triumphantly finishing his work of humiliation for sinners, is openly brought for- ward, — this claim is fully asserted. No one, it is said, can call Jesus Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.* It is a confession which, when genuine, implies a recognition of the Divine Sovereignty as wielded by Jesus. and of the Divine glory and goodness, as they shine forth in his person and work. It is a confession which, when gen- uine, implies an acquiescence in this sovereignty, and a per- sonal submission to his rule in and over the mind. Blessed, surely, is His empire, for it is that of truth and love ! The Kingdom of God is righteousness and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. This is Christ's Kingdom. These two 'requisites' can be supplied by no human tifort. It is not 'in man' to see the divine excellence of Jesus Christ. Seeking ' great things ' for themselves, most are discontented with the 'things of Christ's kingdom.' It is not 'in man' t ^ 'Cor. 1 xii. 3. o i U\i 18 Submission to Christ, submit to tho 'Lordship* of Christ, without a new 'nature. The spirit of selfishness is utterly opposed to the spirit of the gospel. Submission to Christ is, on the contrary, the surest means to happiness, whether in our personal, domestic, or so- cial capacity. Do you thus — intelligently, sincerely, and practically— call Jesus Lord ? Then are you within the Kingdom of Grace, and the Peace of God shall reign in your hearts. — Amen. LECTURE II. El'HESIANS. CHAP. l.-a. " Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us w!th all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ." The Epistle to the Ephesiaus is one of the most sublime portions of God's Word. The subjects introduced in it are on the highest elevation of revealed knowledge; yet, as we shall sec, the application of the loftiest of them is level with the relations in which man stands on earth, with the care** belonging to his present lot, and with the deepest jispirations and demands of his spiritual nature. The language, too, in which these transcendent doctrines is set forth is beautifully striking, — forming, as it were, 'apples of gold in pictures of silver.' And, as gold is capable of being beaten out to an almost indefinite extent, so it has happened that numerous volumes of human writing have been evolved out of single topics or lexts contained in this epistle. Every word breathes of a pure and heavenly atmosphere ; and the intelligent, H! w The Church's Doxology. though humble, Christian needs no other evidence of the Apostolic, that is the Divine origin of this Scripture, than what lies conspicuous on its face. ' It reveals itself as the work of the Holy Ghost, as clearly as the stars declare their maker to be God.' On entering this field of Scriptural study we have not to pass through any dry and barren track ere we come to rich and nourishing pasture ; or, to vary the figure in ref- erence to our present subject of discourse, no sooner have we set foot within this recess of the Temple of Divine Truth than wo hear the praises of God lifted high by the voice of Faith and Love, as the Apostle, in name of the Church, exclaims ' Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.' I. We have, here, a Doxology — most illustrious of the perfections of God — in which all can unite, both men and angels. The praise which the Apostle expresses in our text is. we have reason to believe and as far as we know, the very highest eulogy which can be rendered to Jehovah. It ex- tola the grace and mercy which prompted and carried out the work of salvation — God's most honourable work ; and. as it ofiers up blessing for blessing, and casts the crowns which his unmerited love bestows at the foot of his Sover- eign Throne, it must surely be the most acceptable praise of which we can form any conception. As God created all things for his own pleasure, and as ^^^ Nature's Praise, 21 he governs all things according to the counsel of his own will, so we can understand how that there is no spot in this universe which does not, in some way, contribute praises to his name. The Psalmist in the 148th Psalm calls upon all the crear tures of God to praise his name, 'for it is excellent.' In a certain sense th^-y do so by the very terms of their exist- ence. Nature, in all its departments, obeys the primitive laws assigned to itj and, saving for the blight of sin, under which the whole creation groaneth, God might still look down on the works of his hands and pronounce them all to be ' very good.' The swallow builds the same sort of nest as at the first, the flowers throw upwards the same beauteous tints, and the stars move on in the same courses. Without speech or language, or voice of articulate, conscious praise, all nature resounds with one harmonious anthem, celebra- ting the Wisdom, the P<-wer, and the Goodness of its Al- mighty Creator. But surely higher than this rises the praise — conscious, intelligent, and hearty — which God's own re- deemed can offer when they ' bless the God and Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ.' When we come to consider how it stands in the moral and spiritual world, embracing all who arc rational and vol- untary agents under God, there are three states which pre- sent themselves to view, in which such boing-s exist, and in each of them God in a certain sense is glorified. In that gloomy region of dark despair, which is the abode of evil angels, and of lost souls, a deep and awful note of I ITT I :l ll m\ iSiS Evil made to Praise. praise may be heard, reluctantly drawn out by an inflexible law and a tormenting conscience, as each miserable tenant confesses the justice of his doom. There is no escaping the presence of dod. ' If T make my bed in Hell behold thou art there. ' ' The darkness hidcth not from Thee.' The thought of this subject is too dismal and too mysterious for us to fathom. Yet the Scripture assures us that from the waste howling abyss of misery God does recover a certain '.evenue of praise.* His glorious justice, as well as Sovereign power, are there displayed and acknowledged; and whilst in Heaven the angels say, 'Holy, Holy, Holy,* the wicked must ever reply, ' Righteous, Righteous, Righteous,' is the Lord God of Hosts. Oh how different is that praise and how much less pleasing to God, than the joyful and heartfelt 'blessincr' of each redeemed sinner! In the state on earth wo contemplate a mixed and per- plexing condition, in which it were difficult for us to say, from our own knowledge, whether there is more good or evil. But over all God presides, the Sovereign king, who by his all-controlling hand directs at once the falling of a sparrow and the affairs of nations. ' Is there evil in the city,' — is there war, famine, pestilence, — ' and the Lord hath not done it?' ' He hath made all things for himself, yea even the wicked for the day of evil ; ' and out of evil God makes good to arise, and compels the very wrath of man to praise him. God's Providence is most wise and holy and powerful, and all nations and all individuals that ever existed and all. events ♦Rom. ix. 17. Angelic Praise, SS that ever happened shall, in the day of the Lord, proclaim the righteousness of his rule, ' Great and marvellous are Thy works. Lord God Almighty, just and true arc all Thy ways, Thou King of Saints. Who shall not fear Thee, Lord, and glorify Thy name? for Thou only art holy ; for all nations shall come and worship before Thee; for Thy judgments are made mani- fest.'* But higher than this is the blessing of our text ! Ascend we now into Heaven and contemplate the Holy Angels — those Sons of God who remained in the house when others forsook it — those 'morning stars' that sang together and shouted for joy when the Almighty laid the foundation of the earth and spread out the Heaven as a curtain ! These all praise the wonders of creative power and admire the goodness of Him who is the ' Father of lights with whom is no variable, ness or shadow of turning.' Their service is surely sublime, their adoration most exalted and their joys most complete. But high, and doubtless, most acceptable to God as their praise is, higher still and more acceptable is that of the Redeemed Church. The angels, as they never sinned, never needed sal- vation ; as they never deserved wrath, so they cannot be the objects of mercy strictly so called. They are represented as ' desiring to look unto these things ; ' and when they would strike their harps to the noblest and most glorifying song in Heaven, they must even borrow the new song of the ransomed — the song not of Creation, with all its display of skill and goodness, but that of Redemption with its far more amazing display of mercy and grace. In the vision which John saw of • Rey. XV. 3-4. (^1 H The Song of He 111 Heaven and its occupants,* recorded in the Apocalypse, those who stood immediately around and next to the Throne were the representatives of the Church — the four beasts or living creatures and the four and twenty elders — and around these were the angels. The position of these heavenly worshippers is thus remarkable and significant. Not less so is their praise, both for its matter and manner. First of all, the Elders and the living creatures — the Church in glory — sings a new song ' Worthy art thou . . for thou wast slain and hast re- deemed us to God by thy blood, out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation, and hast uiade us uuto our God kings and priests; and we shall reign on the earth.' Then the angels that stood around (as if in an attitude according with their oflS.ee under the gospel, for ' are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation ?) in number ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands take up the strain, saying with a loud voice ' Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wis- dom and strength and honour and glory and blessing.' Then, last of all, comes a universal burst ' from every creature which is in heaven and on earth and under the earth,' as if all the uni- verse of God were stirred to its heart, and, vibrating with a thrill of sacred devotion, had reached the utmost height of praise and worship, whilst it adores a Redeeming God and exclaims ' Blessing and honour and glorj; and power be unto him that sitteth upon the Throne and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.' * UoT. iT» and t ,, Out relation to God ^5 36, those )ne were r living nd these shippers r praise, } Elders ;s a new hast re- Ired and our God rhen the ?ith their ig spirits Ivation ?) usands of ' Worthy ; and wis- ,' Then, ) which is I the uni- ig with a height of God and be unto ) for e?er i\ Is not that the identical praise which is expressed in our text ? Is not the Apostle teaching us here, the new song of Heaven ? Oh that, from a sense of God's mercy to us, from a felt relish in the service, and with clean hands and a pure heart, we could take our place in this recess of the temple, and say with him, 'Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ ' ! II. Let me ask you, in the second place, to observe carefully the Title under which the Apostle blesses God, viz., 'The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.' This is an expression of frequent occurrence and of most important signification, in the writings of the New Testament. It is :i favourite express- ion with Paul. Besides our text we may instance in Bom. xv. 5, where he says ' Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be like-minded one toward another according to Christ Jesus ; G. That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ ;' and in Eph. V. 20, where he says ' Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.' It is evidently, in the reckoning of the Apostle, a matter of prime importance, that when we attempt to praise or glorify or give thanks to God, the relation which he bears to our Lord and Saviour should be recognized and felt. That relation consists in His being at once tlie God and the Father of Jesus Christ; and as believers recognize in Jesus Christ at once their Lord and their elder Brother^ as well as Redeemer, the m Through Jesus Christ. i! ! way of approach is safely and securely laid and they may * draw nigh with true hearts and in full assurance of faith/ The importance of thus recognizing the relation of God to our Saviour may be gathered from the fact that when about to leave this earth, after his resurrection, Jesus himself thus in- structed and comforted his disciples — addressing Mary Magda- lene, he thus charged her ' Go to my brethren and say unto them I ascend unto my Father and your Father j and to my God and your God/ This truth — ^^this beautiful, sublime, and comforting thought He left with his Church as the elder bro- ther's parting legacy. The disciple — the true believer — stands to Christ in the relation of at once a faithful subject and a younger brother. This relation in each case is indissoluble, and brings together into one all the members of the family. But God above is the God and Father of Jesus Christ. This relation is also indis- soluble. He is God's Christ. He is the Father's Eternal Son. Must not the two relations form a necessary third equally indissoluble ? and thus believers — disciples — rejoice in God even the Supreme as at once their God and their Father ? Or shall we say that this relationship into which believers are brought to God the Father is substantially and truly identical with that in which Jesus Christ stands ? At all events He is the link or bond by which 'many sons and daughters' are brought unto God and established in ' the house.'* A nearer and more familiar relationship to Chris c is sup- posed to be first formed ; a higher and more august is at the ^See Appendix.— ilc^optton. )*■ Access with Hope. 97 8amc time secured. We are not called on to deal with God, in the first instance, as the absolute Jehovah or to approach to him in any case in our own right or name. But coming to Christ, as sinners yet in faith, and then through him to God — our prayers, our praises, our whole service ascends to his Father and to ours, to his God and to ours. That this is not a men idea or one that has no practical significance might be shewn from the most familiar experiences in life. Do you not consider that the relatives of those who are related to you are from this very circumstance rendered accessible at all times and more particularly when any emer- gency arises, and you need their help? Nay suppose you could claim with the Sovereign a connection of only a very distant sort, through some one intermediate between you with whom you are more nearly connected, and that you desired for some purpose to engage the Sovereign's interest in your behalf, would not the fact of such a connection at once embolden you in your errand and form a prevailing motive on the part of the Sovereign to admit you into his presence and grant your request ? In like manner to illustrate things divine by things human, when you are animated with the Spirit of praise or the spirit of prayer — when you either come with your offering to God or would secure from God the desire of your hearts — then the fact that He is the God and Father of your Lord Jesus Christ must both encourage you and must move towards you the Divine regards and render you acceptable. Your prayers, your praises, are accepted in the Beloved. ' There is one God S8 Grounds of Praise. Ml and one Mediator between God and man — the man Christ Jesus.' ' By him, therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.' III. In the third place, I would direct your attention to the reason why the Apostle blesses God. ' Who hath blessed us.' This is the language of believing persuasion, if not of realized experience. The Apostle rejoices in the fact that he and all the household of faith have already been made the objects of God's favour and grace, and the recipients of His loving Fath- erly gifts. It is not by simply contemplating the character of God in itself, or the manifestation of his love in Christ, or the ample provision of blessings held forth in the Gospel, that the eulogy of our text is drawn forth. This is all that the Angels can attain to in their praise of God. There is an additional element in the case of redeemed sinners, which gives unction and fervour to their acknowledgments. There is the praise of gratitude superadded to the praise of admiration ; and where these two are combined, as in the case of such as have ' tasted and known ' that God is gracious, there the feelings of dutiful worship will be most animated as well as most sincere. The praise of our text comes from minds persuaded of the grace of God, from hearts already blessed of God. It comes from souls justified and renewed. It swells higher and higher as the consciousness of Jehovah's goodness and' grace increases. Some confidence or assurance is necessary to this praise. The stronger the confidence, the more fervent the praise. If you have enjoyed some sure persuasion of an interest in the salva- Grounds of Praise. S9 tion of Christ, if you have in some degree reaped the blessed fruits of his death and atonement, if you can lay your hand ou this and the other evidence of your calling and election, you will then most readily and heartily join with the Apostle, for then you can truly say, ' Blessed be God who hath blessed us.' On the contrary if still you know not but that the wrath of God abides upon you for your sins, and that you are still under the curse, instead of venturing to praise God you will feel only the movements of distrust. It is only when you have passed from darkness to light and from under the curse to be under the blessing, that you have reason for yourself to bless God. There is indeed abundant reason and ground for admir- ing and praising God as ' declared ' in the Gospel in the person and work of J]mmanuel. The manifestation of God's love in Christ to sinners, even whilst still sinners, the reconciliation effected by the sacrifice of His Son, the free and unconditional offer of all the blessings of redemption to the lost and perish- ing, are surely fitted in themselves to draw the wondering gaze of all, and especially present aspects of God's character, which we would think every trembling and despairing sinner might rejoice to behold. The very sight of God's love in Christ, and a glimpse into the storehouse of his blessing, is the first thing that leads to such a frame of mind as will beget true praise. If there be any who cannot yet bless God because he hatJi blessed them, let them gaze on the cross of Christ ; let them contemplate there the glory of God's nature and more particu- larly His mercy ; let them reflect that if they are only willing and believing, they shall taste and see that God is good, and so A totality of blessing. let them open wide the door of their hearts that they may re- ceive out of the fulness of Christ grace for grace, then are they in a position to join at once in such praise as (lie Apostle hero utters in the name of the Saints .iiid faithful at Ephesus. Let them advance in the exercises of faith and holiness and they will more and more bo impelled to such praise. ' Then shall we know if we follow on to know the Lord; his going forth is prepared an the morning ; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.'* IV. In the fourth place the Apostle describes the nature and extent of the blessing for which he praises God. The ex- pression ' with all spiritual blessings ' would be butter trans- lated ' with all spiritual blessing ' — the word being in the singular in the original. The idea is a comprehensive one; it being evidently intended not merely to indicate a diversity or multiplicity of blessings which as believers we receive from God, but also to denote the totality of such blessings in a single word. It is ' the blessing' of the covenant of Grace in all its parts — salvation from its origin to its consuumiation,for which Paul here blesses God, in the name of each true believer. The various privileges, honours, and possessions of a spiritual nature which God confers on us in Christ, all hang together — one is not without the rest — and all together make up one blessing. He who has received a part may be sure of the whole. He who is conscious of one Grace of the Spirit, no matter which it may be in the order of things, may rest satis- fied that God has blessed him with ' all spiritual blessing,' and *Ho8. vi. 3. The nature of Uhe blessing.' 31 that in due course, sooner or later he will experience the abundant goodness of God in every particular belonging to his eternal salvation. There are two senses in which the term ' spiritual ' may be understood, as descriptive of the nature of the blessing. It may either be taken aa referring to that department of our being wjiich is undoubtedly chiefly aff'octed by tlie blessings of salvation, namely our spirit or soul; or it may be taken as re- ferring to the source or origin of these blessings, namely that Holy Spirit of ijod, who takes of the things that are Christ's and bestows them on us. In the former of these senses the blessings of salvation would be extolled on the ground that they do not principally or mainly refer to the body and its necessities and wants which are of a lower and more earthly character, but to the soul or spirit which is the nobler part of us and whose wants and necessities are of a vastly higher order. This is indeed true. The blessings which the gospel brings to us are such as affect our understanding, our conscience, our affections and our will. They are intended and fitted to bless our souls, in all these different modes in which they live and have their being. Are we intelligent and reasoning spirits ? The Gospel brings to us light and truth on the most important of all subjects, setting us right in our judgments in regard to God and ourselves, pointing out to us what are our highest obligations and our noblest pursuits in life. Are we endowed with conscience ? — with a faculty of discerning between good and evil — with a moral sense, which acts the part of a judge I within us, and visits us either with approbation or disapproba- Si Work of the Spirit. til tion, accusing or excusing, praising or blaming ? The GoBpel brings peace to our souls ' through the blood of Christ/ and in place of an evil, tormenting, dead conscience, gives us ' a good conscience,* and one, too, that is void of ofifence both toward God and toward man. Are we beings possessed of desires, emo- tions, aflFections ? Do our spirits within us stir with loves and hates, with joys and sorrows, hopes and fears ? The Gospel directs our hearts, purifying us from selfishness and sin, set- ting our affections on just and proper objects, and regulating all our passions according to wisdom and truth. And thus, in short, as moral and spiritual beings, God may be said to bless us with spiritual l)lcssing when we are induced and en- abled to use our powers and faculties of. soul or mind for those high and holy purposes for which they were originally made in the imago of God, and ibr which we are ' created anew in Christ Jesus.' But the word spiritual generally describes that which is pro- duced by the Spirit of God. ' That which is born of the flesh is flesh, that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit.' It leads our minds to that blessed Divine agent as the author of a gra- cious work in the soul of each redeemed sinner, when he comes and takes up his abode there and produces all the peaceable fruits of righteousness to the praise and glory of God. In this view, which is the true meaning of the passage, we are not called on to make any distinction between our souls and bodies, as if the blessings of salvation affected the former only, and not at all the latter. The ' blessing ' is spiritual because it comes from, and is applied by, the Holy Spirit of God ; and Embraces our ichole naiire. 33 wc ar«* blcHScd just as wc are and in wlmtcvor way wo livo and move and liavo our being. Wo arc brought body as well a« soul under the blessing. Wc are justified, sanctified, glorified, soul, body and spirit. The body participates in the redemp- tion of Christ. Tt also will at last beeome a spiritual body — adapted to and fitted for the (ixercises of a perfected soul. Even new it is the temple of the Holy Ghost ;* and, as affect-. cd directly or indirectly by his indwelling presence, it is les8 or more a spiritual body. Everything is liere included, whether it relate to that nobler and higher part — the soul, or to tliat gross and earthly tabernacle — the body, provided only it come from the Spirit of God, whose nature is holy and whose work must, also, be holy. lu the succeeding portion of the chapter the Apostle speci- fies in detail the chief things included in this general descrip- tion 'all spiritual blessing.' These things we shall have occasion to dwell upon as we proceed in our exposition. Meanwhile, let us ask, what can be so desirable as to have aright to such all comprehending blessedness? ]?y the gos- pel, received and obeyed, you are certainly invested with a title ' to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away.' ' All things are your's and ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's.' All good now — all glory hereafter ! How important is it to have grace begun and to be able to say ' he hath blessed us ! ' V. Let me, now, briefly explain the phrase ' in heavenly places.' D •1 Cor. vi. 19. SJi, In the heavenlks.' I cannot, dwell on all the different interpretations which have been assigned to this expression — some referring it to the nature of the blessing — some to the heaven of glory — some to the visible Church on earth, &c. You will observe that the word 'places' is not in the original, which has induced some to translate the word by the general phrase ' in the liea- venlies.' I like this translation, as it seems to me the best that can be hit upon to bring out the idea of the Apostle and the mind of the Spirit. The adjective here used occurs in six passages in the New Testament, besides this epistle, and the exact phrase of our text occurs in four other places in this epistle. The idea of locality will not suit the most of these places, and the idea of ' things ' would be tautological. The idea that will suit all the passages and which is required by the exigencies of any one of them, is that which ought to be preferred. Now that idea is the conception of a condition, state, character, relationship, different from any other, heaven- ly and divine, in its origin and end. If you direct attention to cli. ii., G, you will see at once that ' the hcavcnlies ' exist on earth. It is there said by the Apostle, with reference to the present state of himself and other believers, ' and hath raised us up together and made us to sit together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus.' It is plain that he there speaks of a privilege which pertains to believers on earth. If you consider the passage, ch. yi., 12, where be- lievers are said to wrestle against spiritual wickedness in ' high places,' that is, in ' the hcavcnlies,' you will see that the term cannot mean ' the heaven of absolute holiness and perfection/ A condition, not a locality. S6 , to Dhat iced \ieii- best 3 and in six id the n this t' these The ired by it to be [\dition, ihcaven- for there no evil can enter. Thus locality is excjuded feom the idea. The notion that ' in the hcuvenlies ' means in hea- venly things is out of the (juestion, since the Apostle has be- fo e expressed this by the phrase 'with all .spiritual blessiog.' There remains, therefore, the view wtj have adopted, that 'in the heavenlies' means that Divinely appointed condition or state into which all God's people art; brouj;ht, in which they are now, and shall be for ever. The word ' heaven ' is not confined to the abode of the glo- rified saints, although there is such a place^ which by way of pre-eminence is called 'heaven.' In regard to its essential characteristics it cannot be said of heaven 'lo here or lo therej' it consists of ' righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.' Believers are exhorted to have 'their conversation in heaven.' They arc said to be citizens of luuiven.* The King- dom of God is come down to the earth, and He dwells with men. He will afterwards receive his people into glory. In this sense, then, we would understand the words. 'In heavenly places,' or rather 'in the heavenlies,' just relates to that state into which believers are brought by the gospel. It may have some inclusive reference to the church on earth, or to the loc:'' abode of believers at last ; but the idea is wider and more spiritual than that of any visible association or oom- munity of professing Christians, and than that of any location whatsoever in any part of the universe. It is not, we should say, the visible church which is denoted by ' the heavenlies,' but rather the invisible church. It is not time, but eternitir; "Phil. Hi. 10. iinii'i"- 36 To be Hn Christ' necessary. not a place, but a condition ; not simply an outward blessed sphere of existence, but along with that the spiritual presence and enjoyment of God. In the state denoted by the expres- sion, believers are brought into communion with the whole family of God's redeemed, they are associated with the wholo 'cloud of witnesses' belonging to the Old Testament, they are affiliated with the whole brotherhood of the New Testa- ment, they are united with the whole company of God's people living in their time or who shall afterwards live. Time and place are out of reckoning. 'In the heavenlies' denotes that state, condition, region, where the rays of God's love shine — where the streams of Christ's sacrifice flow — and where the fruits of God's spirit are produced. Of this blessed reality Christ is the efficient cause. The enjoyment of 'the heaven- lies/ nay even the possibility of this enjoyment, depends on Jiis vicarious interposition between God and man. So the Apostle teaches when he shews VI. In the last place, the Person in whom we are blessed. * In Christ Jesus.' Let this be the practical application of our present lecture, to urge on you the necessity of being united to Christ by faith. Out of Christ, away from God, aloof from the Spirit! In Christ, blessed of God, the abode of the Spirit ! Trusting to Christ you are ' in Christ.' Disbelieving his gospel, refu- sing to submit to his righteousness, or consenting not to be ' debtor to grace ' you are out of Christ. ' In him ' by faith you become related to him by the best, the truest, the most spiritual, and the most enduring of relationships. He is your In Christ. S7 ice rea- lole tiole ihey 3sta- ;oplo ! and I that me — ■e the reality eaven- on /lis postle elder brother, and through him God is your God and Father. Out of him, by unbelief, you are still in your sins — under the curse — exposed to Hell and everlasting wrath In him you are blessed of God, the Su^ erne God, the Father Almighty, and that 'with all spiritual blessing* in ' the heavenlies,' Out of him you are miserable in life, and in death without hope, and, worst of all, exposed to the final sentence of justice: *■ Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.' Ne fiat Deus! [ssed. lecture, Irist by 1 Spirit! (rusting b, refu- It to be )y faith le most 1 18 your mwmm0Ei m I I LECTURE III EPHESIANS. CHAP. I.-4. "According as he hath chosen us in h!m, before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love. In the previous verse the Apostle, in the name of all be- lievers, blesses God for 'all spiritual bbssing, in the heavenlies in Christ.' In this he teaches us to trace that blessing, in its entirety, to the fountain head, to the electing love of God, which is indeed the first part of the blessing itself, but beyond or higher than which we cannot go. ' According' says he ' as lie hath chosen us.' The Israelites of old redeemed from Egypt's bondage and securely settled in Canaan — that ' pleasant land, that goodly heritage of the hosts of nations '* — were taught beforehand by Moses to ascribe the blessedness of their lot neither to their number nor to their righteousness, but to the mere love and mercy of God, ' because the Lord loved them, and because ho *.Ter. iii. 19. .r^^ •i Election, 39 its as land )dly by Iheir land ho would keep the oath which he had sworn unto their fathers.* Now 'the heavenlies' is the true, the spiritual Canaan, of which the other was only a worldly type. It is the ' invisible church ' of all ages, the region where the favour of God shines as the light of his countenance, where the streams of the river of the water of life flow, and where the fruits of the Holy Spirit are produced. And just as Israel, in the possession of the promised land, could trace that gift, with all its blessings, to nothing else, in justice, but Godts free choice of them to be his peculiar people, so the church of God, and each redeemed sinner therein, must in all truth as well as humility, ascribe the blessings of salvation, in whole and part, to God's electing love. Following the example of the inspired Apostle, than whom there can be no better or higher in such a matter, each believer in the enjoyment of spiritual mercies, is led to con- template the original purposes of a Sovereign God, not with the common feelings of aversion and distrust, but with the feelings of comfort and satisfaction. In endeavouring to set before you the truth contained in this text, in dependence on the blessing of God's Spirit, I would direct your attention to I. What the Apostle here assigns as the cause, origin, or fountain of all spiritual blessing in the heavenlies, ' according as he hath chosen us.' II. How this cause comes into being and operation; 'in him/ i. e., *n Christ. III. When, viz: 'before the foundation of the world.' t I ■ ■ *D«Mit. vii. 7-8: ix. 4 4,0 Election. ill IV. Why^ or for what end, viz : ' that we should be holj and without blame before him in love.' I. First, then, let us consider the cause, fountain, origin of the blessings of salvation, ^according as he hath chosen us.* The blessings which we enjoy, the Apostle affirms, are in consequence of God's having chosen us, that we might become partakers of thcni in all their extent and fulness. To this source alone are they to bo traced. The expression used scarcely needs explanation j but to ex- hibit as clearly as possible its impart, let us turn to the scene where the twelve were ordained by our Lord. That was sure- ly a most important stop for the interests of his church, for which he was to lay down his life; and, in keeping with its momentous character we find it recorded that on the occasion of it, the Redeemer ' went out into a mountain to pray, and continuod all night in prayer to God.'* Behold the man, in whom dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead, after thus pre- paring himself, full of t!ic TToly Ghost above measure, and still wet witii the dews of the niorniig, proceed to exercise the Divine prerogative. Gathering around him his disciples — those who had become his followers and who hung on his lips for instruction — and exercising an unquestioned and unques- tionable right, whilst he has his eye on the ends he wishes to accomplish and tha best means for attaining them, we read ' of them he chose twelve whom also he named Apostles.' Who does not perceive that the choosing was just a selecting, of the few from among the many for the special purpose contemplated. *Mark iii. 13. Luke vi. 12. The question stated. 41 Ips Ito lof tl& Thus is the meaning of the word exhibited in the caise of the twelve. But Paul does not here refer to that act, as if he had said ' according as he hath chosen us Apostles,' for it is clear that he speaks in the name of all believers, not only the Ephe- sians, but others also in every country and age. Conceive the church of God, gathered out of every kindred and people and nation and tongue, composed of such as have believed in Christ and walked in his footsteps, to be assembled together, and along side of this goodly company, the whole world of unbelieving and impenitent sinners, just as they shall be at the last day, the one part on the right hand and the other part on the left, the question suggested and at the same time answered by the Apostle is ' whence or how the unspeak- able privilege which belongs to the former of these assemblies'? How comes it that the church of God's ' saints and faithful * thus stands distinguished from the ungodly world, in the blessings it enjoys, the favours reserved for it, and the eternal glory it shall inherit ? Now, 1st. It is a matter of fact concerning which this ques- tion is raised. Whatever may be the solution of the question, or difficulties connected with it, there is no denying or con- cealing the fact itself, that there has been, is and will be, a distinction among men — a difference — a separation — as respects their state and character before God, and their ultimate des- tiny. It is not more a fact, in particular, that there was an Abel and a Cain, that there was an ark to save eight souls, when the rest of mankind perished in the waters of the flood, that there was a Canaan and an Israel to inhabit it, while the » 'IT' 42 Testing cases. rest of the nations were lefl in heathenish darknecs, that in the days of Christ and his Apostles, some of the Jews believed, but the rest were blinded, and that at last, for its rejection of Messiah, the nation was scattered, than it is, in general, that there has always been, and will always be, a true church of God, the members of which, fully known only to God, are bless- ed 'with all spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ/ The fact itself is there and can be denied by none without not only shutting the Bible, but also every other faithful, though it may be uninspired, account of the human race. Now, 2nd. This fact cannot be accounted for by any re- ference to individual or personal distinctions of character or worthiness. That there are such distinctions or differences is at once admitted. Men are not born alike, nor are they nurtured in the same school. One may be, by nature fierce as the wild beast of the forest j another gentle as the lamb. One may be taught the arts of vice ; another the lessons of honesty and virtue. But to attempt accounting for the grand spiritual distinction between Christ's Church and the ungodly world, by pointing to these natural and acquired differences of charac- ter, would be as irrational as it would be unscriptural. If there were any truth in such an account of the matter, it would not fail in any case. But it will be seen at once to be insuffici- ent in the most obvious instances. That woman in the gospel, who had been 'a great sinner' so that it might be said 'seven devils had possession of her' you see at length enjoying the sunshine of a Saviour's countenance ; but that youth, who to A subterfuge. 4S lOt ici- U [en Ihe ito an originally good disposition, had added an unexceptionable behaviour, so that when Jesus looked on him in the apprecia- tion of natural excellence, he ' loved him,' is denied the bless- ings of the kingdom of heaven, when nigh unto it, and the last you see of him is when he ' goes away sorrowful.' Following Saul in his high-headed and strong-handed career, as he pro- ceeds to Damascus, you might expect that for his violent rage against Christ and the Church he would have been left to bite his nails in despair for ever ; but, instead, you find him on his way suddenly invested in the inheritance of the Saints. And what shall become of those whom he describes* as having been at Corinth, of the worst and vilest of mankind — fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, effeminate, abusers of themselves with mankind, thieves, covetous, drunkards, rcvilers, extortioners ? * Such ' persons, he declares, were ' washed, were .sanctified, were justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.' But it has been said that the blessings of salvation are given to those who repent and believe j and that therefore, faith and repentance form the proper and only cause of any diiference among men, beyond which we must not inquire. Who does not see the futility of this representation ? Nay more, who does not see that this is a detraction from the revealed truth of God, and as such a pernicious view of the matter ? It is like attempting to explain the growth of a tree by pointing to its leaves or its fruit. It is as if you were to trace a river to its source by sailing down its stream. Repentance is itself a *lCor. vi.9. u The true cause. spiritual blessing, and so is faith. They are the gifts of Christ — the fruits of his Spirit. God says, 'I will pour out the spirit of grace, and supplications, . . and they shall luok upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn.** Christ is ' exalted a Prince and a Saviour to t/ive repentance.' f He is, also, both ' the author and finisher of our faith. '| Where is boasting then ? It is excluded. In the case of every true Christian it may be asked ' who maketh thee to differ and what is there which thou hast not received.' 3. We reach the only reasonable account of the matter when we adopt the Scriptural explanation and ascribe 'all spiritual blessing in the heavenlies ' as enjoyed by God's peo- ple to his free-electing love, ' according as he hath chosen us.* If you wished to explore the true source of some majestic river, which in its course beautifies and blesses the earth, as it flows through thousands of miles to the great ocean, you would not pause at some expanding lake which it fills and empties, nor ascend the route of some acceding tributary which helps to swell its volume, but keeping by the main channel, and leaving behind you the verdant plain and the smiling hamlet and the sleeping lake, you ascend high up the moun- tain steep, and there hidden in the cleft of the rock you dis- cover the little bubbling spring that marks the origin and fountain and true rising place of that noble stream. So, taught and guided by God's word — our only guide and teacher in such matters — when you would trace to its true fountain the stream of spiritual blessing which blesses you ' in the hea- *Zech. xii. 10. t Acta v. 31. tHeb. xi. 2. * Chosen in Christ.' 4S venlies,* you pause not at any works or deeds of yours, you point not to any superiority natural or acquired over others, you fix not even on ' faith * and ' repentance/ (as if these all did not need to be accounted for ! ) but, in all humility, yet with all thankfulness, you rest in the electing love of God, as the original and actual cause of all. You hear Paul saying, and you must echo the acknowledgement, ' according as he hath chosen us,' whilst with John you gaze on that ' pure river of water of life,* clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.' II. We come now to consider the second thing in our text> viz : How this electing love of God — the cause or fountain of salvation — comes into being and operation, ' hath chosen tis in him,' i. c., in Christ. The Apostle does not forget to ascribe honour to his Divine Redeemer, in the second instance, whilst, in the first, he as- signs to God-over-all the prime moving cause. The blessings wherewith God hath blessed and beautified the bride, which is the church, are laid out for her, and actually enjoyed by her, in her connection or union with her head or bridegroom, which is Christ. It is a poor and miserable interpretation to put upon the words before us, to say that God hath chosen us because we are in Christ — thus making our actual union with Christ by faith the cause of his electing love. According to this view, God chooses sinners who themselves have first chosen Christ, and so by faith are ' in him.' We have seen already that faith Rer. zxii. 1. Si 46 * Chosen in CkrisC cannot be the eauHC of God's choosing us, lor it is his own gift; neither, therefore, can the union, of which faith is the instrument or means, between the sinner and Christ, bo its cause. It is, besides, contrary to tho whole scope of the pass- age afterwards, which represents oioction as being 'according to the good pleasure of his will,' and 'according to his good plea- sure, which he purposed in himself.' We must endeavour to take hold of the Scriptural view of this matter. Approaching the subject reverently, and in sub- mission to divine truth, let us inquire how, or in what sense, we are said to be ' chosen in Christ.' The purpose of God to save sinners of mankind could not take effect without the in- tervention of a lledeemer or Mediator. This purpose being conceived, to the honour of God's grace and love, it at once comes into being and operation in the second person of the Godhead, who is constituted Head and llcpresentutivc of the church that is to be recovered and brought back into eternal glory. As Head or Representative Christ becomes the elect or chosen of God, of whom God declares : ' Behold my servant whom I uphold, mine elect in whom my soul delighteth ;* and who himself, after having fulfilled his work to the full, shall say to his Father : ' Behold I and the children thou has given me.' You must consider, then, that a virtual or representative union was formed by God, between sinners of mankind and Christ, when he purposed their salvation. A covenant was entered into between God, of the one part, and Christ consti- tuted the head of the church and its representative, of the ^Chosen in Christ. 47 Ihe other part. In terms of this covenant Christ was to do the will of God; i. c., fulfil the reciuirementH of law, suffer its penalty and perform its duties, in room and stead of his peo- ple; and God, on his part, was to confer on them his spirit, work holiness in their natures, and at last receive them into eternal mansions. * This, which is the true Scriptural view of the matter, shews that there was a real, but at the same time virtual, representative and federal union established between Christ and those to be redeemed, when God chose them and purposed their salvation. This union is antecedent to their actual and vital union by faith, and is evidently its source. " God gave a people to Christ in the covenant of redemption. Those included in this covenant, and because they are inclu- ded in it — in other words, because they are ' in Christ ' as their head and representative,*" receive 'all spiritual blessings in heavenly places.' Thus are we chosen in Christ ; and that we may illustrate the matter as nearly as we can by a Scriptural instance we point you to that other representation which was the source of our rejection and ruin. When our first father sinned and was driven from paradise, the whole race that was to come out of his loins sinned and fell in him. It might be said of this melancholy ruin, that 'in Adam' we were all rejected and cast forth from blessedness. He was the actual head and represen- tative of the whole family, and by his ruin we were all driven forth. But another and far diflfereut headship now comes into view. It turns out that there is a second Adam — the Lord * Hodge. f. ! 48 From Eternity. from heaven — and multitudes whom no man can number have been chosen in II im unto Eternal Life who were all dead in the first Adam. When God looked at the first Adam after his sia, his countenance was dark, and his curse was dreadful, as lie doomed and drove out not him alone, or personally, but literally ' all in him ! ' When God looked on the second Adam he saw the shield of his salvation and the rod of hia strength and prepared new blessings for his chosen whom he had chosen in him. III. In the third place we are here taught when the elec- tion took place viz., '• before the foundation of the world* This surely must be allowed to carry us far back, beyond the operation of human merit or agency. This, however, is the invariable representation of the matter. In the case where only two individuals are in the first instance concerned, Jacob and Esau, we are thus instructed by the Apostle in Rom. ix. 10,* ' When Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac, (for the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God, accordir^j to election might stand not of works, but of him that calleth) it was said unto her, the elder shall serve the younger, as it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.' But the statement of our text lifts our minds aloft, beyond the youth of hoary time, to where there was naught to mark its pro- gress or record its age. The expression ' before the foundation of the world ' is of frequent occurrence. That is a beautiful and sublime refer- *Roai. ix. 10-13. From Eieryiity, Jfi) of ier- ence which is made to Christ in the Book of Proverbs under the designation of Wisdom. ' The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was.' 'Then I was by him, as one brought up with him; and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him ; re- joicing in the habitable part of his earth ; and my delights were with the sons of men.'* As head and surety for his church, it was then that he was chosen ; for we arc said to be redeemed 'with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot : who verily was foreordain- ed before the foundation of the world.'f To us finite beings the changes and succession of created things and events mark the progress of time ; but to God, who is infinite, tlicre is no such thing as time, with its advance and career over one scene and then another. ' He lives in an eternal Xow ; ' and hence this election is not a thing of time, and was before all time. Thus is Christ, the head and representative t)f his people, said to be ' the lamb slain from the foundation of the world ' — for such was the purpose and plan of God, who sees the end from the beginning, and unto whom all his works are ' known from the beginning of the world.' Again we find the expression used in a passage in our Lord's intercessory prayer, which bears closely on the pre- sent topic of discourse. ' Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am ; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me : for thou lovedst *Prov. viii. 22-Sl. tl Pet. i. 20. 60 Inferences, me before the foundation of the world/* And, in fine, we have the same truth set forth in that sublime account of the jud[,Tnent day, in which our Saviour reveals the final issues, and the will of God in its ultimate decisions. ' Then shall the King say unto them on the right hand : Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.'f Before ' the ages ' began to run their course, ere ever the foundation of the world was laid, or any works of man were >ione at .all — in that boundless eternity which had no beginning, and will have no end — God, the Supreme Intelligence and the Sovereign King, chose his Son for us, and chose us in him, that we, through him, might obtain everlasting life. Such is the acknowledgment which the inspired Apostle would put in the mouth of every true Christian. 1st. There is no room, then, for chance, uncertainty, or hazard. God's plans arc complete, and his purposes definite. Doubtless he has chosen, on the whole, the greatest good of the universe as his object ; and, in ' the election unto grace,' only displays a part of his glorious and all-comprehending plan. But is not the certainty of the salvation of some, infin- itely better, than leaving the matter in the hands of fallen men to incur the absolute certainty of the damnation of all. 2nd. Again we are taught in this not only God's wisdom, but also his sovereignty. This, at least, is a precious truth — t^ -t the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth. What comfort, otherwise, would there be in contemplating a scene where sin •John xvii. 24. fJMat. xxt. 34. The end designed. 51 in- |rt, I'm abounds and agents of darkness are abroad on the earth? But since God reigns, Sovereign over all, we know that all shall re- sult in the triumphant victory of good over evil, in the end; and all enemies shall be put under his feet. Ts it any draw- back to the satisfaction with which we contcu»plate God's sovereignty, that we ourselves are actually at his disposal — are as the clay in the hands of the potter ? Would any pur- chase 'the right or liberty absolute' to liishion his own course and his own destiny, by dethroning God and introducing eternal chaos? Surely not, on a deliberate view of the matter ! Far better the humble and confiding iaith of God's own chil- dren, who in their very faith and submission, with the fruits of these, have an evidence of their own calling and election. IV. This suggests to us the fourth topic in our text, viz : My, or for what end God hath chosen ns in him before the foundation of the world — ' that we should be holy and icitlhout blame before him in love' It is an old saying: 'God does not find, but makes men holy.' It is evident, indeed, that none are chosen because they are holy or blameless, but some arc^ chosen in order that they may become so. ' According to God's mercy he hath saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost.' ' Christ gave himself for his church that he might sanctify and cleanse it, by the washing of water through the word; that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish.' This being the end of God's election of sinners of mankind, as far as they .5^ Practical Tests. arc personally concerned — that they might become holy and without hlim^Q — this being the end, also, of the death of Christ, it may be at once seen how utterly hopeless is the case of every one apart from God's purpose and Christ's jitoncment. ' Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots ? Then may ye also do good that are accus- tomed to do evil.' ' Who can bring a clean thing out of Jin unclean? Not one.' We are here taught, also, in what, perfection of character consists, viz., in love. When love is perfected then have we become holy and without blame. Love is the fulfilling of the law. Love to God in the supreme, and to our neighbour as ourselves, is the essence and end alike of all moral good. He that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him j for 'God is love.' This excellence of personal character, which is the end of God's electing love, as well as of Christ's sacrifice, forms the only evidence we can obtain of our having been chosen in Christ. Many would fain open the ' book of life,' which, for the present God alone can open, and read the secret things belonging to him. They ought instead, to look into their own hearts and consider their own life. Is it a holy life ? Have they loving hearts — that love the God of the Bible, the God of Holiness and truth, as well as mercy and grace — that love others, even enemies and the unworthy, as well as friends and benefactors ? Or is the heart hateful and hating, impure, gross, and sensual in its desires, envious, malicious, and selfish in its feelings ? By these tests an approach may .( Believe and Live! 68 las 5> be made to the knowledge of one's self and an estimate of our real state before God. • Let not this subject become distracting or distasteful to any. It is a sure mark of a rebellious spirit to kick at God's truth. There is no one called on to believe in his own rejection. On the contrary, it is wisest to take the more hopeful view of the matter, and rather to believe in one's election, if so be only that this encourages to the diligent use of means, and the prayerful waiting on God. The command of the Gospel, 'Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shall be saved,' may become in your case, O sinner ! like the primeval command, ' Let there be light, and there was light/ the very word of the Almighty, by virtue of which he shall make you to ' pass from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God.' LECTURE IV. EPHESIANS. CHAP. I.-5-6. " Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children, by Jesus Christ, to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, "jTo the praise of the glory of his grace wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved." INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. As we proceed in the interpretation of this Epistle, wc are met, verse after verse, by the same doctrine of Election or Predestination, in different aspects or bearings; and it may be well for us at this stage of our progress, to make one or two observations of a general kind, applicable to the whole subject. From the frequency with which the doctrine is introduced by the Apostle here, as well as from its frequency elsewhere in the Holy Scriptures, every intelligent inquirer will readily per- ceive its importance and value ; and every serious and reflect- ing individual will feel that to pass it over in a superficial manner, or t-o regard it with suspicion or fear, would be to A Class specified. 55 \ detract from the ' whole counsel of God,' and to hide our eyes from the light of heaven. Now there are two classes of per- sons, who seem to occupy a false and dangerous position with respect to this doctrine, although they differ very widely from each other in the views they have adopted. In making a few introductory remarks to this lecture, wo shall specify these two classes and endeavour to point out their error and danger. The^rs^ of these classes of persons embraces all those who treat the doctrine or doctrines in question, as if they were entirely of a speculative nature, and who make them the topics of their discussions and controversies with others. These high and mysterious truths are quite common-pluce affairs in their mouths, and their minds being occupied with the arguments, scriptural or rational, by which they are established, they, no doubt, feel all the emotions of satisfaction and delight, as they succeed in skilfully fencing off the assaults of error or scepti- cism and dc'ing valiant battle in the cause of orthodoxy. The sublime height to which the subject raises the mind, as it con- templates things pertaining to the secret will and providence of God, his supreme sovereignty and his glory, so exalts their conception and idea of their own powers of understanding, and the excellency of their knowledge, that they are ever ready to engage themselves in such speculations, and to pry further and further into this deep and inscrutable territory. It may, at the same time, be observed of such persons, how little the am- bitious efforts of their minds have to do with their personal character or with their conduct in life, by way of effecting any real improvemenf. On the contrary, they seem to expend all 56 Speculation dangerous. their religious conccrninent in iiicrely speculating or theorizing; and an far as relates to their habits and practice, they arc still left to the influence of their natural impulses or tendencies. They hold, it may be, the truth, but they hold it only intellect- ually. A strange infatuation ha« seized on them. They are fascinated by the demonstrations of logical evidence, and de- lighted with the clear and irrefragable conclusions to which they are brought by a rigid chain of proof. It is sad to con- template the case of those who whilst abandoned to the power of lust, and enslaved by their own sins, have apparently no other outlet for their thoughts on religion than to engage in high controversy concerning the most sublime mysteries of revelation. It is plain that their knowledge of the truth, or in other words, their orthodoxy, and their apparent zeal in its behalf, does nothing towards the amelioration of their charac- ter. Intellectually they are fascinated or spell bound as by a powerful charm, in intruding into those high and mighty themes which relate to God's unfathomable purposes and secret counsels ; but, morally or practically, they arc still as much fascinated or charmed by the love of pleasure, and, instead of really submitting themselves to God, they are heady and high-minded, 'the servants of sin,' and the slaves of Satan. In short there is a presumptuous tendency to deal with these sacred themes as mere matters of speculation — and in this there is often a sad proof of our apostacy and alienation from God. Milton has seized on a true feature of fallen intel- lect, whether of man or angel, and presented one of the saddest, sorest spectacles that eye can look on or heart conceive, when Another Class. 67 ID r in that region which he speaks of as "a dungeon horrible, that on all sides round as one great furnace, flamed; yet from those flames no light, but rather darkness visible," he describes the occupation of fallen angels, in the following lines : *' Others apart sat, on a hill retired, " In thoughts more elevate, and reasoned high *' Of Providence, fore-knowledge, will and fate ; "Fix'd fate, free-will, fore-knowledge absolute; "And found no end, in wandering mazes lost; "Of good and evil much they argued, then "Of happiness; and final misery, "Passion, and apathy, and glory, and shame, " Vain wisdom all, and false philosophy 1 " Yet, with a pleasing sorcery could chain . "Pain for a while or anguish, and excite " Fallacious hope; or arm the obdurate breast " With stubborn patience, as with triple steel." The second class of persons that we here specify consists of those who have an entire aversion and dislike to the subject, and who either discard it altogether from their creed, or shun the contemplation of it at all times. These seem to occupy an opposite position and to stand in the reverse attitude from the former class. Whilst others intrude with irreverent and fami- liar tread on the region of high speculation concerning the decrees of God and his sovereign purposes, without becoming practically either wiser or better; they a. A approaching these matters at all, and seem to be painfully aifected by any allusion to the subject, however remote or indirect. Several causes may beget this frame or attitude of mind towards the doctrine of predestination. In the first place, an imperfect knowledge of the doc- trine itself, as presented in Scripture, leaves it exposed, in their minds, to certain objections which they cannot get S8 Prevalent objections. % over, and conso(|uently tliey are disposed to turn away from it altogether. Among these we may mention the objection, that it renders fruitless and useless any efforts which they may put forth for their own salvation or the avoidance of evil. They suppose that their fate is sealed or fixed, irrespective of and without reference entirely to any endeavours of their own or anything which they themselves are or may become through the use of means. Now the truth of the matter is that the value and necessity of means are never properly or fully seen except in connection with that certainty and definiteness which the doctrine in question implies. This, however, these persons cannot understand from their limited and imperfect notions on the subject. Again, it is supposed or felt by some that this doctrine makes God the author of evil, and presents him in a repulsive aspect, which they cannot endure to contemplate. But the Scripture is most emphatic in denying the truth of this objection, even as offered to the doctrine itself, when presented to our faith; and in perfect accordance with the representations there made, its most strenuous defenders shew that no such conclusion follows from it, by any necessary consequence. These and other objections do not lie against this doctrine in the estimate of any one who has studied the subject fully, in the light of Holy Scripture. Hence, whilst it is stated in the "Westminster Confession of Faith," that 'God, from all eternity, did- by the most wise and holy counsel of his will, freely and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass,* it is added, ' yet so, as thereby neither is God the author of sin, nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures, nor is the The real difficulty. 59 liberty or contingency of (. Oal. iv., 4. r Adoption. 6r> le 3t " It doth not yet appear what we shall be' ' The half hath not yet been told us' coueurnhi<^ the dignity and blesscdnc^ss of heaven. In connection with the adoption of children, wo must not forget this meaner part of us, the body — for whilst the spirit becomes flishioned anew after the image of God, and partakes of the divine nature, and of the divine glory, tlu; body shall also undergo a transformation. ' It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.' Tt also shall stand fortli at hist ' without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing.' It shall be fashioned anew by the hand of Cod, when he collects the dust of his Saints and prepares a tabernacle of beauty and immortal youth out of the remains of this earthly housi;. And this is no unworthy object of hope, even to God's people. ' Kveii we ourselves,' says the Apostle, -which have the first fruits of the Spirit groan within ourselves waiting fjr the (ulfrptlon,^ to wit, the redemption of our body.' Then at last, clothed with new robes of light — partakers of the divine nature and dwelling in a heavenly body — united with Christ as their head and elder brother — admitted into the presence of the King — they shall reitlizi' in tlioso pU^jisnrcs which are at Ilis right hand for evermore, the full prlvilcg*- of the Adoption of Children. The expression ' to hiinsi//' denotes the uotw and close relationship implied in adoption, dod adopts us to himself — he grasps us by the hand — he presses us to his bosom — lie surrounds us with his favour as with everlasting arms. Sudi is the nature of the rtil.'itionship into whi
  • > E Appcndi .X— .d 'loptioii . 66 Predestination. I I adoptioij. Oil ! that we could realize it, and were suitably affected by it ! How would we desire to love and serve God who hatli so loved us. II. The second thing to be observed from the words before us^ is that God hsiih predestinated its ^m/othe adoption of children. Now this predestination stands connected with the election spoken of in the previous verse. In respect of the purpose or design of God, it is not to be distinguished from that election — as if the one preceded the other, in the order of time. When he elected or chose us in his love, he also predestinated us in his wisdom and power, and when he predestinated us he also in love chose us. But the term Election has respect more to the affection of the Divine Heart, so to speak ; where- as the term Predestination has respect more to the plan and purpose of the Divine IMind. It leads us to consider a certain definite end, purposed, determined, and secured — which in the present case, is the adoption of children to Himself. Thus the blessings of salvation, and the final dignity, glory, and blessedness of the redeenied are fixed and certain. They are not liable to the accidents of chance, the uncertainties of ignorance, or the risks of contingency. These things may ap- pertain to the creature, but cannot to the Creator. Infinite wisdom, and infinite power, can infallibly carry out the designs of infinite Sovereignty; and he who hath chosen us out of love, can easily, in his ►Sovereign wisdom and p. bring us into the possession of all that infinite love would nave us to enjoy. Here, and here only, lies the security of every believer in Christ. Trusting in Christ, he has, or may have, a sure The good pleasure of His will. m to er hope of Eternal Life, Whence this confidence ? Because he knows that God has given him this f'aitli, and that he who hath bc«j;un a good work will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ. By his faith he knows his calling. By his calling he kvows his predestination. By his predestination he is assured of his final glorification. ' P\)r whom he did foreknow he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Sun, that he might be the first-born of many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestniate them he also called ; and whom he called them he also justified, and whom he justified them he also glorified.'* III. The third thing observable in our text is the ground of this predestination, viz., ' According to the s.'* This connects the purposes of God with our calling and duty. Jesus Christ is presented to us in the gospel as ' the way, the truth, and the life.' 'By him, if ;iny come unto the Father, he shall in no wise be cast out.' ' As many as received him to them gave he powe.- that they might become the sons of God.' 'We are all the children of God through faith in Jesus Christ.' Hence the necessity/ of faith. There is no impiety in i^nying that God could not save sinners without an atonement; for *lleb. ii. 10. :: r'l 1 1 il ','■ ■i 1 1 _ ':') 1 !|1 1 l-'ir w Faith ar.ailing. this, on the coutniry, is just saying that he is infinitely righte- ous. And so, in like manner, we may say that God cannot aave them witiiout faith on their part. This act or action of theirs is necessary, for, without it, the state implied is one of rebellion and distrust. Therefore He works faith in us, and we must act faitli in Jesus Christ, in order to our own salvation. Hence also, the certainft/ of faith attaining all the blessings of adoption. If Clod has constituted a certain mode of carry- ing out liis purposes — if this mode be indeed and in truth the only mode applica' in our case — ^then when we fall in with it we becouKi fellow workers with God, and are making sure of our calling and election. Hence, whosoever believes is or may become assured of his own salvation, and at all events is in reality safe. 'They that trust in the Lord shall be like Mount Zion, wliich can never be removed.' V. The fifth observation we make from the words before us is, that the final end which God hath proposed in the salvation of the Church, is ' the praise of the glory of his gracc.^ 'He hath predestinated us unto the adoption of children, ... to the praise of the glory of his grace.' How frequently, or rather how invariably is the same object set forth in the Scriptures as the chief or highest end which God has secured by redeeming sinners and conferring on them all the blessings of salvation I God can accomplish no higher or better end than the mani- festation of his own glory. Since, in and of himself, he is in- finitely and eternally blessed, therefore it was an act of pure goodness on the part of God to create a race of intelligent The great end. 71 He .to beings, who being endowed with freedom of will, niight in the right excreisc of their powers and faculties find their happiness in contemplating his glory and sharing his favour. This free- dom having been abused by all, in departing from the true object of delight and satisfaction, it becomes an act of grace on the part of God to renew to any, the favours of his love and friend- ship. Contemplating sinners lying in their guilt and pollutioti and misery, God found tho highest motive for extending to them his goodness entirely in himself 'I, even T, am he that blottcth out thy transgressions for mine own name's sake.'* 'Thus saith the Lord God, I do not this for your sake, house of Israel, but for mine own holy name's sake, which ye have profaned.' f In the 2nd ch. of this Epistle and v. 7, the same view is presented as in our text. ' That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace, in his kindness toward us through Jesus Christ.* And to exclude all and every consideration that might be supposed to arise on account of any worthiness in the sinner, Paul says in I. Cor. i. 27, 29, ' But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world, to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are; that no flesh should glory in his presence.' In the nature of things it must be so, for what motive can God find in his creatures, who is himself the original fountain of all things? or how can He gain any accession of happiness igent *Is. xliii. 2;'). tEz. xxxvi. 22. 72 The display of Grace. ' 1 !!l who is iiifinitoly and eternally blessed, in the absolute perfec- tion of his own being'/* 'Our goodness extendeth not to God.' ' (?an a man be profitable unto God as he that is wise may be profitable unto himself? Is it any pleiiaure to the Almighty that thou art righteous; or is it any gain to him that thou makest thy ways perfect?' It is implied in the very term 'grace,' as here used, that there is an (Mitire absence of any worth or merit in the sinner inviting the regards of God or prompting his mercy. Ill like niiinner, it is not from any thing foreseen of a praise- worthy charact(!r, whether as wrought in or as performed by the sinner when put in a state of salvation, that this grace is exercised. This also is shut out by the very nature of grace, as Paul clearly and fully teaches in llom. ix. ii. and xi. 5, 6. l?ut the manifestation of the grace of God is the simple prime end of all his gracious dealings. Tt finds its chief end in itself There is the entire absence of every thing selfish in the exercise of pure love. And thus with God the free un- merited bestowment of his favour in saving his people, presents to them, and to all beholders the most wondrous and praise- worthy object of contemplation and devout admiration which the universe contains To rejoice in this — to be occupied in exploring the height and depth and length and breadth of this grace — to engage in the praise of it to all eternity — whilst at the same time reaping the fruits of it — must l)e the eonsu?n- mation of blessedness. We cannot now fully nr completely realize the excellence and praiseworthy character of God's grace. Wc cannot comprc- Human Love. 7li Ax in lis at ni- ud rc- hend what the Apontlo here culls 'the glory of his grace' — and it is only by the aids of comparatively unworthy illuHtratlons or examples from human sources thai, many are able to obtain the faintest glimpse of it, as it is in reality. Picture to your- self that sorrowful dwelling where 'tlie pestilence that walketh in darkness' hath paused to slake its cruel thirst and glut its hungry maw on some one or (jthcr of the hapless inmates. YoM enter that house as the raging and foul-mouthed fiend is still glorying in his least, and the wretched victim is writliing in all the agony of helpless suffering, and things seem flist ad- vancing to a mortal crisis. From the crown of the head to the soles of the feet, scabs, blotches, and putrifying sores attest the unrelenting cruelty of the low-bred monster. You stand appalled, a cold sweat passes over you, and every sense you have bids you make a speedy retreat from the presence of a power which you cannot control, and which in the freakishness of its will may arrest yourself. JJut see ! who is this that now ap- proaches that loathsome bed, aiid lays a gentle luuid on the breast of the sufferer;' \Vho can this be, that so fearlessly handles and adjusts each racking limb, and lifts the feverish head to a softer and easier posture, and ceases not to adminis- ter the ever hopeful remedy ? It is the mother! Avhose heart strings are entwined around a son — a daughter — ^just entered on the spring time of life, and whose love and care will be fully rewarded in the restoration which she aims at accomplishing.. A higher and more wonderliil, because a more uncommon ex- ample of benevolence, is to be found in the ease of that philan- thropist who spent the manhood of his days, and his means 74 Ilwnian philanthropfj. \\U and faculties, in exploriu^ the luiHurius of iinprisotied criiiiinailH nod in eudcavourinf^ to ameliorate their condition. Not t^) relieve the sufferinjjjH of his own — not to bestow the Hyinpathy and aid of social friendship, nor to lend a helpinj; hand to wi- fortunate worth — that man exerted himself to miti»»ate the iofliotcd miseries of the guilty whom ho knew not, and to 1cb«- «n the sorrows of the wicked whom his heart loathed. N«r clid ho satisfy himself with a distant observation of their con- dition, and such information as he might obtain from others. He penetrated into the heart of the worst dungeons, and exposed himself, for the time being, to all the disagreeable and dangerous effects of polluted and pestilential air which the cul- prits had to cndurcj constantly. Thus he visited the worst scenes of crime and misery on the continent of Kurope. Bttt this itself was not enough for his purpose. Not only as a visitor for a time, but in one case, and that the most trying to his benevolence, he became an actual inmate of a house from whidi all would be glad at once to flee as far as possible. For two months did he dwell, himself a prisoner by his own choice, in the plague hospital or lazaretto at Venice, that there he might experience the sufferings and sorrows in his own flesh, which he would relieve to others by the skill and resources of his practical wisdom In such service did he live and die. And ■when the wondering gaze of a nation was fixed on an example of •such unwonted philanthropy, and a monument to the mem- ory of him who had effected so many improvements for the benefit of the wretched, was proposed, his peremptory refusal of any such honour confirmed his claim to be regarded as act- I 1^ 2^he glory of Grace. 75 ing from motives of the most [luri! and (lisinterested kind. How Christ like, in u measure I llow like God himself! But yet withal how much inferior must tlie purest and noblest philanthropy of mail to man be in comparisotj of God's! The benevolence of that benefactor, whom we have here adduced, was after all but like the faintest streak of early morn com- pared with the full blaze of the mid-day sun, or as a drop in the bucket compared with tlu! boundless ocean. Those miser- able suifercrs, whom he did so much to relieve, however worth- less or guilty, had, to say the least, done him no injury. They had not been his personal enemies — nor liad they done any damage to his personal estate. Nor was it in his power to con- fer mor«i than partial and temporal relief, and that, in a great measure as aflfecting only the body. ]Jut in God's philan- thropy we recognize the mercy of an insulted Sovereign and Law giver — the goodness of u dishonoured Creator — the love of the Father of lights, from whom cometh down every good and perfect gift. We see man as the tenant of a moral lazar house, spiritually diseased in all his parts, helpless through his ami daring rebellion ! We behold God stooping over him with in- finitely more than a mother's tenderness, or the strength of any human benevolence ! Man he lifts by his grace, to the posi- tion and privilege of a son, and crowns him with everlasting kindness and infinite mercy! This is the glory of the grace of God. Oh, that by submitting ourselves to the grace of the gospel, we may be 'to the praise of the glory of his grajoe.' Then shall his whole design in sending his sou into the world, be accomplished in our case, ' to our eternal happiness.' f! LECTURE V. El'HESIANS. CHAP. I -7. In whom we have redemption, through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace. In the previous two verses the Apostle set before us the first and prime blessing, included under the general expression, * all spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ/ for which he blesses God, in the third verse, in the name of the whole church. That blessing is God's electing love, to which, as to a fountain, all others ;ire to be traced, and \, .iich issues at length in the glorious adoption and ingathering of his children in heaven. AVe were taken by the Apostle to the top of an exceeding high mountain, where he shewed us the kingdom of grace and the glory thereof, as he pointed out to us, at once, the origin of all our mercies under the gospel, and the final destiny of all believers. We are now, in this verse, introduced to the third distinct blessing, which he specifies, viz. : redemp- tion through the blood of Chj'ist. This exhibits the love of Redemption. 77 d (Jod in the progress of its purposes, accoinplishin<:; what is needful in order to its final destination. Here we have to con- sider a blessing which more immediately concerns our present condition, Jind in which we may warrantably feel, at least in the first instance, a more immediate interest. In truth the former blessing of election can only be rightly or comfortably contemplated, in the order of experimental religion, after wc have duly apprehended and heartily entertained the blessing of redemption, which is now brought before our minds in the text. When the Israelites were still in the house of bondngc, and groaning under their cruel taskmasters, and whilst yet no prospect of deliverance appeared, it would have been but a poor consolation to pride themselves on their connection with Abrar- ham; and, on the other hand, it would have been idle folly to occupy their minds in questionings and disputings concerning the reality of the covenant which God had made with their fathers. Hut how would the case be altered after their re- demption was realized; and, beyond the Red Sea, where their oppressors lay buried, how might they joyfully sing of the Lord's purposed mercies, and of their interest in the special favour of Jehovah !* It has always been reckoned a prerogative of sovereignty to open the prisons of the land at special times to certain prison- ers, as a token of royal clemency, and a benign example of the goodness of supreme powfjr. In view of such acts of royal pardon having been once and again performed, but in igno- rance of both the time and the objects of the next exercise of * Ex. .XV. ' .P 78 Matter of praise. i! such clemency, you can conceive a set of prisoners to be en«- gaged, but most usclesBly and perplexingly, in specula*i«g concerning the matter, under all its aspects, and the likelincss or unlikeliness of their own escape. Some miglit dispute th« existence of such a prerogative a« pertaining to the sovereign, and others would call in question its justice, or rail at the fa- voritism manifested by it. Any reasonings, however, which they might indulge in must in every case leave them where they are, still groping with their hands around the walls of their darkened cells. How differently will the released cap^ tives think and speak of that gracious act of Sovereignty, in consequence of which they now find themselves free citizens of the commonwealth, breathing freely the air of heaven ! It was in this order that the Apostle, doubtless, was led to think and speak of God's electing love. He had been redeenr- ed himself, and now rejoicing in the liberty wherewith Christ maketh free, he can comfortably reflect on Grod's sovereign purposes, and refer all the blessings of his emancipation to God's electing love. And there is nothing of which we are more ce»'tain, than that, whilst the slaves of sin and Satan cannot help looking with jealousy and fear and distrust on the Sovereignty of God, there is not one true believer, or one who has been delivered from the chains of darkness and evil, who will not join with the Apostle in this ascription of praise to the original grace of God. I. With these views let us proceed to consider more fully the blessing of ' Redemption.' ' In whom tve hwve redemption . . . the forgiveness o/sins.' 'Whai Hedempiion includes. 79 The expression ' redemption ' has direct and innnediatc ref- eveuoe to our ruined and wretched condition in consecjuence of the fall J and it is used to sif^nify our entire deliverance from aU- the evils involved or implied in our being sinners against God under his righteous and holy law. Tt is a term which comprehends our complete omancipation from sin and its con- sequences. Thus, in Rom. iii., 2-1, we arc said to be 'justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.* The same view of redemption is given in Col. i., 14, where nearly the same words are used an in our text. In Tit. ii., 14, Christ is said to have given hhnself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify us unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works. Lastly, we are said 'to wait for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our bodies,' Rom. viii. 23, referring to the deliv- erance of our bodies from death and the grave, and corres- ponding to that in Ilosea xiii., 14, ' I will ransom them from the power of the grave j I will redeem them from death : death, I will be thy plagues; grave, T will be thy destruction.' Numerous parallel passages might be quoted where the same idea occurs, though not precisely the same word. We have selected the representatives of three classes of texts, exhibit- ing three aspects of ' Redemption ' as it is actually bestowed, corresponding to three suspects of ruined man. In the First place, and most important of all, he is a guilty being because he is a sinner. He has not simply injured him- self and defaced his glory, but he has insulted his Maker and 80 What Hcdemption includes. .11 dishonoured his work, by sinning wjaimt Ifini. Ho is lying under the awful displeasure of the Sovereign, whose curse has actually heen pronounced. But 'Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us.'* Secondly, Man, through sin, has become habituated to sin He is enslaved by a dominant power within, from which he cannot escape. One vice may be exchanged for another. Viler and grosser habits may be removed or supplanted by others more subtle and refined. Hut let man turn in whatever direc- tion he pleases, he is only driven about by divers lusts and pleasures. Tie is dead in trespasses and sins. He is incarcer- ated in a prison house of sinful vices and habits, and held fast by legal chains of spiritual wickedness. Now, from this act- ual slavery, wo are redeemed by Christ, in consequence of his atonement, and by virtue of his gracious spirit. 'Ye are not under the law, but under grace j sin, therefore, shall not have dominion over you.' -f Thirdly. Wo must consider all the outward and physical evils which sin has brought into the world, of which death may bo said to be the climax. From all these, however sad and melancholy, ' redemption * effects a substantial deliver- ance now, whilst we have to battle against them, and a complete and glorious riddance at last, in our recovery from the grave. Thus as sin, in a sense, is its own punishment, in the spiritual death which is involved in it, so by a happy and triumphant transmutation death is made to be its own death and dc- •Gal.iii.ir?. tRom. vi.14. Forgiveness of Sins. SJ f^ravc. struction, as it issues at length in the spiritual life, even as regards the body itself, of God's redeemed children.''' Redemption thus includes deliverance (1.) from the guilt of sin, (2.) from the power of sin or from the habit and practice of it, and (3.) from physical evil, and death itself at last. But the Apostle here brings into view only the Hrst of these blessings J for he makes lledemption equivalent to the forgiveness of sins. ' Tn whom we liave redemption through his blood — the forgiveness of sins.' It is not that the forgiveness of sins includes all that is implied in reden)ption. or exhausts its meaning any more than the redemption of the body in llom. viii. 27, expresses all that is included in adop- tion. But the forgiveness of sins is that part of redemption to which he wishes to direct our attention in this verse and in this connection. And for very good reasons he does so j for is it not plain that deliverance from guilt is the prime part of redemption, from which all else follows by necessary conse- quence ? The first thing to be effected in the case of sinners under a Sovereig;i God and a righteous law, is to remove their guilt, that they may stand free from all blame-worthiness, and become exempt from the curse. But. this effected, the rest may be expected certainly and surely to follow, from the same grace and mercy which have already been brought into exercise. "When by a generous act of clemency the Sovereign has for- given the crimes of certain prisoners that have been, in the course of justice, consigned to the dungeons, and confirmed *Rom. viii. 23. 82 Forgiveness the first thing. m his intention by a public proclamation of the royal pardon, it will follow, as a matter of course, that steps will be taken to break asunder the manacles and chains by which the captives have been held fast and the prison doors will be thrown open, to allow of their escape. Tft like manner, when God by an act of his grace forgives sinners their guilt, and frees them from condemnation, it is but due to Himself, and a necessary consequence of his sentence of pardon, that they shall become actually free from the bondage of sin and delivered from its enslaving power. In other words, if redemption from the guilt into which we have been brought is achieved for us, this will imply redemption in its other as- pects, or deliverance from sin and evil in all the ways In which we are naturally subject to them. Hence the importance of ' the forgiveness of sins;' for upon this all depends. You may spend your time and labour — your prayers and pains — altogether for no purpose, as far as reforming your lives is concerned, unless you start from the liberty which 'pardon' secures. You will be like prisoners vainly endeavouring to break their fetters or force a way through barriers which the strong arm of the law has raised to confine them. Be assured you lie under the curse of God's law, and that it is vain and hopeless for you to attempt any thing good so long a: the very penalties of law are sealing and confirming your condemnation. You may be at once persuaded that no human efibrts can satisfy the demands of the Divine Justice. The one thing needful for you in the first instance is the forgiveness of your sins, and your deliverance from the curse of God's law. To be pardoned, Practical inquiry. 83 it sinner, ought to be with you the first and most urgent of your desires. For how, otlierwise, shall you escape ? Sin haa dominion over you. ' The strength of sin is the law.' Law will mercilessly land you in everlasting perdition. Are you pardoned then ? Have your sins Ijceu forgiven 'i Are you seeking this at the footstool of the mercy seat? (3h, what an awful thing to feel 'my sins are still unforgiveni' Yet this must be the state of many. But a still more awful thing is to be careless and heedless while that is the case. Yet many seem scarcely to feel that they are sinners, and thus have no concep- tion of redemption. Again, you see persons, day after day, repeating the same sins, notwithstanding their effects, and, held captive, infatuated to such an extent as actually to justify their sinning, or extenuate its enormity — or comparing themselves with others — flattering themselves that they are not so bad as some, and have a better chance at last. What slavery ! what misery ! But why is this ? Is it simply because they have become habituated to sinning ? Is their bondage merely moral, the effect of their own constant willing that which is wrong and evil? No! That is not all. Why this sinful habit? Whence this constant willing ? How come they thus to be habituated to sin? Because they are under the curse — by na- ture guilty — condemned and banished from God's favour. They are legally, i. e. by God's holy, just, and righteous law, the captives of sin and the vassals of Satan. Now, it is only God who can break this bondage. He only can exert a Sovereign's prerogative, for he only is Sovereign. And, blessed be God, he hath exerted it in and by his 84^ Fulness of Forgiveness. \m !l lii li 1 ' Son — for wo have redemption tlirougli his blood — the forgive- ness of sins. We might here expatiate at length on the fulness and com- pleteness of this redemption which consists in the ' forgiveness of sins/ did our space only permit ; fjr a more precious sub- ject cannot surely engage our thoughts. Grant that you feel yourselves to be ' sinners ' in the largest and fullest sense of the term ; grant that you know your natural or persoiud posi- tion before God as sinners; grant that you arc concerned above all things as to the place you shall occupy before the Judge at the last day ; then surely no discovery could be made to you more opportunely or more exactly suitable to your case than that you have redemption in Christ — the forgiveness of sins. And let me inform you that the entire removal of all guilt whatsoever, original as well as actual, is included in this divine act of amnesty. If it be true, and the Scripture makes it sure, that ' in Adam all died,' and that death hath passed upon all, for that all have sinned in him; then how blessed the corresponding and graciously appointed representation, in virtue of which 'all in Christ' are made alive! Are our sins great? This redemption has been accomplished for many of the very greatest sinners. ' It is a faithful saying, and worthy of all accep- tation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief ' If your sins should be as scarlet they shall be white as snow ; if they be red like crimson they shall be as wool.* Are they numerous, and oft repeated ? Oh, sad to think that they are more than the hairs of our head, or the sand on the sea shore ! Oh miserable, that we should so often have re- Fulness of Forgiveness. 86 ve- om- aess sub- feel se of posi- bovc udgc :\e to c case less of of all in this uiakes passed cd tlie virtue reat? lie very accep- Uicrs, of cy shall all be as to think sand on have re- gt turned, as 'the dog to his vomit, or as the sow that was wasliod, to her wallowin"^ in the niiro I' But the redemption of Clirist is sufficient to cover all. Tlnouuh this means the encourage- ment of Isaiah receives all its urgency and weight. ' Let the wicked return unto the Lord, for he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon;' or as it is more cxpressi^'ely in the margin, ' i'or ho will multiply to par- don.'* And it is the gospel covenant that Jeremiah describes, when ho introduces God promising thus : 'I will cause the cap- tivity of Judah, and the captivity of fsracl, to return, and will build them, as at the first. And T will cleanse them from all their ini(|uity, whereby they have sinned against me; audi will pardon all their ini(j[uities, whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against me.'f ' The forgiveness of sins' is just a way of expressing the idea that all guilt whatsoever is removed; so that the sinner stands before God, in the eye of his law, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. In the completeness of this forgiveness, we recognize its highest excellence ; for did but one sin remain against the sinner, that alone were sufficient to condeuni him. As by one sin man originally fell ; so, if but one were to abide unforgiven, he could not be raised up again. But blessed be God! 'the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanseth us from all sin, 'I II. In the second place, in connection with this redemption, our text brings before us the ransom by which it was eifected, In whom we have redemption ' throvgli his hlood.' ♦Isaiah Iv. 7. i- Jer. xxxiii. 7-8. Jl John i. 7. 86 The Rarn^om. The redemption of siiiiiers is iilvvays spoken of as accom- plished by uieans of paying a ransom or satisfaction ; and so far as forgiveness is concerned, that is more immediately con- nected with the sufferings of Christ. Now, ' the blood of Christ' is just a brief expression, denoting all his atoning suf- ferings, both of soul and body. The reason why the expression ' the blood of Christ ' is adopted by the inspired writers to rep- resent the whole sufferings of Christ is, we suppose, in order that all the sacrificial types of the Old Testament may be seen to have had their fulfilment in him. ' We arc not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, but with the pre- cious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and with- out spot.'* ' He is the lamb of Cod that taketh away the sin of the world. 'f Now the blood is the life of the animal. Its whole life is in its blood. Shed its blood you end its life. Therefore, the sacrifice of the animal, by shedding its blood, i. c., by offering its whole life, was a fit type of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. And so, by a figure, the blood of Christ denotes the whole and entire sacrifice of himself as man — soul and body — in short his life, which he rendered for the purpose of redemption. Thus he himself speaks : ' The son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.'| Again he says : ' I lay down my life for the sheep.'ll He declared in instituting the supper that his body was broken for us, and his blood shed for the remission of sins. His work accomplished, his atonement finished, his servants *1 Pet. i. 18-19. tJohni. 29. tMatt.xx.28. iiJohnx.l5. The Ransom necessary. 87 1 HO con- 1 of 8Uf- ssion I rep- nrdcv ; seen 3cmed ic pre- with- ;hc sin I. Its its life, blood, ificc of denotes oul and rpose of an came Ids life' y life for that his iiission of servants .15. afterwards invariably fix our attention on his death as the ex- pression of all his sufferings, and the cause of our deliverance. Thus, (i. Peter iii., 18) 'Christ hath suffered once for sins, be- ing put to death in the flesh;' and Paul thus, (Ro. v. 10) 'We were reconciled to God by the death of his son ;' and (Col i. 20-22) ' He hath reconciled you in the body of his flesh through death.' (Ileb. ix. 15) 'That by means of death for the re- demption of the transgressions that wore under the first testa- ment, they which are called might receive the promise of eter- nal inheritance.' All the miseries and sorrows of him who was the man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; his pains in the flesh; his agonies in the spirit; his bloody sweat ; his ignominious suf- ferings on the cross ; his torment of soul on the cross, in his separation from his God; the separation of his soul and body on the cross in death — are all as it were summed up in the shed- ding of his blood — the piercing of liis side — which gave evi- dence of his death, and terminated and closed the whole of his sacrificial work. You will observe then that a groat and mysterious and awful work of suffering had to be gone through, sinner, in order to thy redemption, that your sins might be forgiven, it is not by a simple exercise of power that you are delivered ; for though all things are possible with God, it is not possible for him to set aside his own justice or deny his own law. But to meet the ends of Sovereign authority, and at the same time redeem sinners 'he spared not his own Son, but delivered him up unto the deatli for us all.' IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I 1.25 UitW |50 "■^" H: u^ 1.4 2.5 ■- Ilia M 1.6 V] 72 /a f % > y /^ '5^^^^ % ^^ <^ i 88 The Ransom valid. It is not by a system of moral recovery ; it is not merely by truth, that you arc redeemed. A prior difficulty must be sur- mounted, and that could only be accomplished by the surrender of his well beloved. ]Jut we are redeemed by blood — by the sufferings of Jesus Christ — by his atonin<^ sacrifice. 1. This wondrous plan is God's own device or method. It cn'iginated in Him — in His love and wisdom. He said ' save from going down to the pit; I have found a ransom.' * As Isaac went up the mountain with his father Abraham, bearing the wood on his shoulders, whilst his father carried the fire, he said in the simplicity of his heart, 'Behold the fire and the wood; but where is the lamb for the burnt oflfering ?*•}• We may say, in all truth — behold the fire of divine justice, ready to burst forth ! behold also our sins, like fuel to feed the fire! Where is a substitute to bear our punishment? God will provide a lamb said the Patriarch to his son. ' God has provided a substitute for us,' says the Gospel message to all. 'Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world I ' 2. The sacrifice was offered tip freely by Christ. He gave himself. He had power to lay down his life, and he had power to take it up again. But he said, ' Lo ! I come. I delight to do thy will, my God.'J ' Christ also hath loved us, and gave himself for us an ofiering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour.' || 3. The offering was accepted hy God as a full satisfaction for the *Jobxxxiii.24. tGen. xxii.7. tHeb.x.7. IIEph.v.2. How we obtain JRcdcmption. S9 e sur- render Jesus od. It 1 'save braliam, Tied the fire and "ering ?'t 3 justice, i feed the tt? Ood God has to all. of the igc ns He gave had power delight to d us, and God for a tion for the k.v.2. . sins of his people. ' Being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name.'* Had his obedience unto death not been perfect, he would not thus have b'^en exalted. " But he was made perfect through sufferings. God accepted both him and his oflfcring. Thus is God satisfied with the ransom. Thus may the prisoners go free. Then redemption has been purchased and secured by God's acceptance of the ransom. 'What the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Sou in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin condemned sin in the flesh.'* Sin is condemned. It has no longer any manner of right over be- lievers either to condemn them or to reign over them. They are free from the law of sin and death. glorious redemption I O wondrous recovery ! How may we become interested in this so great salvation ? III. Our text, in the third place, answers this question, and shews us how we become partakers of the redemption purchased by Christ. ' In whom,' says the Apostle, ' we have redemption.* We believers have redemption. It is our actual possession in Christ. We come to it by being in him. This brings this all important subject to bear upon each individual in a practical manner. There is no doubt that Christ actually re- deemed all his own poople, so that none of them can be lost. The atonement was a definite transaction. Christ just repre- sented those who were chosen of God and predestinated to the * Phil. ii. 8-9. tRom. viii.3. I 90 Faith in Christ. I M ) adoption of children. Whom else did he represent? For whom besides did he pay a ransom ? Shall we impute folly, or uncertainty, or injustice to God? It is impossible that God should act so unwisely as to send his Son to save any who may ' yet be lost. He is a rock — his work is perfect. It is horrible to suppose that Christ suffered and died for the sins of any who shall suffer eternally in hell. God did not devise, and Christ did not procure a mere possibility of salvation — a mere chance of deliverance, as if that would be of any benefit to sin- ners, dead in trespasses and sins j but actual deliverance, actual redemption, actual forgiveness of sins. Those in Christ, repre- sented by him, united vitally to him, have this redemption. Now this is au all important view of the matter. You must not separate between Christ and his work. It is not by con- templating a fact, or a transaction that took place eighteen hundred years ago j it is not by knowing and believing a doc- trine concerning the death of Christ j it is not by coldly think- ing of an event wonderful in itself and imparting interest and importance to every other sacred event recorded in Scripture ; it is not in any such way as this, that you come to have redemption — the forgiveness of sins for yourself. But, looking up to a risen and, exalted Redeemer, and by faith becoming united to him, you embrace Him in his person, offices, and work, as your present Saviour, able to save to the uttermost all who come to God by him. He can give you the benefit of all that he did on earth, and so wash you from your guilt, and deliver you from evil. Time — the exact time — when he ac- complished your redemption is out of the reckoning. For that In his person, as well as work. 91 For ]y, or tGod .0 may orrible of any 36, and -a mere b to sin- (5, actual t, repre- ition. fou must ,t by con- eigbteen tng a doc- Uy think- ierest and Scriptiire ; e to bave ttt, looking becoming offices, and uttermost le b'>nefit of r guilt, and yhen be ac- I'or tbat matter, the atonement might yet have to be made and the same inquiry might interest us, as the prophets of old, who searched what and what manner of time, the sufferings of Christ should be endured. The important thing is to know Christ, and though the event that took place at Calvary were yet in the fiiture, still, if like the Patriarch we have assurance and faith to say ' I know that my Redeemer liveth,' it were enough. Suppose that the enemies of our country had marshalled their forces and prepared themselves for an invasion of our sovereign's dominions, — that they had mustered all their strength and called up all their ancient hostility to bring de- gradation and misery upon ourselves and our children, — it is possible to conceive, that oven in such a case the minds of all might rest in quietness, and little anxiety would be felt on the subject. For, in addition to other resources, it might please the God of Providence to raise up and bring forward a General of such skill and prowess, of such experience and indomitable energy, that success might safely be counted on as the certain result of an actual struggle. And as the courageous and patriotic place themselves under his command, and wait for his instructions, and implicitly follow his leadership, they feel assu- red of victory. He is their strength and hope, and as they point to him in all the confidence of loving trust, they say, there is our deliverance from the impending foe ! But what leader of armies or general of soldiers is to be trusted and obeyed and relied on like our Emmanuel, of whom God says in Isaiah iv, 4, ' Behold I have given him for a wit- ness to the people, a leader and a commander to the people V pnsBn- 9!2 The Captain of our Salvation, Now it is by putting yourself under this exalted Prince and '• iour ; by trusting in him j by submitting to his rule ; by following his directions; that you obtain an interest in his victory over sin aud du ^h and all. your spiritual foes. 'In him you have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sin ;' Look then to him, take him now as yours, and be you his. To him go! who was dead, but is alive for evermore, and who has the keys of hell and of death ! — Amen. LECTURE VI. EPHESIANS. CHAP. I.-8-9. According to the riches of his grace, wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence ; having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure, -which he hath purposed in himself. The inspired Apostle is teaching us, in these verses, to form worthy conceptions of the greatness and glory of the grace of God, in the redemption of sinners by Jesus Christ. How far above all human merit that grace stands in his estimate, is evi- dent from the favorite expression he employs, in the seventh verse and elsewhere, ' the riches of liis grace.' It is absolutely priceless in its nature. It passes human knowledge, and all we can say of it is that it is Divine ; and, like God himself, it cannot be found out, or found out unto perfection. Such views of the grace of God, as the Apostle presents, are understood and realized only by those who, in a manner like him, have been struck to the ground by a sense of guilt and u i H Riches of Grace. impotency, and have learned to regard themselves as ' the chief of sinners.* But the self-righteous and the self-sufl5cient re- main in darkness, though ' they walk in the light of their own fire, and compass themselves with sparks of their own kindling.'* I. From the words before us, the first observation we would make is that the grace of God in redemption is abundant grace — ' Wherein he hath abounded toward us.' The term here used corresponds exactly with the idea ex- pressed by the previous phrase, ' the riches of his grace.' God 18 ' rich in mercy ' and ' gieat in love.'f By the abundant grace of God, and by that alone are sinners saved. There is a very confused notion in the minds of many, as to what constitutes ordinary riches among men. It is very com- monly supposed that a man is rich who possesses a large sum of money, or whose income is above the usual or common in- come of most. You are very apt to imagine that the individual whose revenue exceeds your own, in any considerable degr'^e, is on that account rich or wealthy, without for a moment re- flecting on his necessary or actual expenditure arising from his circumstances or position in life. But this is a very improper and inconsiderate way of viewing the matter. Riches or wealth is a relative thing, having relation to the individual's actual wants and necessities, amid which he is placed. It is, in fact, that which is over and above, or which superabounds or over- flows, after all actual wants have been supplied. Riches, in any case, is just surplusage, or the excess of what a man pos- sesses or obtains above his natural necessary or actual expen- • Isaiah 1.11. tCh.11-4. (.J »u; Hicfies of Grace. 9S chief t TC- r own ing.'* i^ould indant dea ex- ' God )undaiit ny, as ^ ery com- arge siim mmon in- individual le degr'^e, loinent re- from liis ^ improper s or wealth aaVs actual 18, in ft^ct, ids or over- niches, in a man pos- jtual expen- i;n-u> ditnre; and degrees of riches among men depend upon the comparative amounts of that excess, and not upon tlie abstract sums of money which they possess irrespective of the neces- sities of their circumstances. Nothing can be plainer iharv this, and yet it is a principle often little considered or attended to in the practical iiflfairs of this life. When a man's means correspond exactly, neither more nor less, with his wants and. necessities arising from his position and circumstances, he must be regarded as neither poor nor rich. When his means fall short of these wants, however much he may pass through his hands, he is poor. And when his means are greater than his wants he is rich, just in the proportion in which the one ex- ceeds the other. Riches, in short, means superabundance, and to be rich in any respect whatsoever, is to possess or display an excess in that respect, over and above what is necessary or natural. Now these remarks may tend to enable us to perceive the appropriateness of the Apostle's language in describing the grace of God. He says that God abounds in grace toward us. He speaks of the riches of his grace. He says God is rich in grace. Our redemption is a proof of superabounding grace ; and the Apostle would have us to realize it in its exceeding riches, as it alights upon us, and confers upon us its blessings. Let us, then, consider for a moment in what sense the grace, by which we are saved, is properly called abundant grace. It must be obvious, at first sight, that there is a vast difference between beings who are perfectly holy and such as are fallen and sinful, in their claims on the regard of God. Toward the 06 Riches of Grace. 1 ! angels that have kept their estate, who arc pure and perfect in their nature and actions, toward our first parents before sin entered into the world, God might, and of necessity would, ex- ercise a natural and spontaneous love, delighting as he does, and must do, in the goodness which consists of perfect moral integrity and righteousness. The fruits of that love, in bis gifts and kindness towards such spotless beings, might still be appropriately called by the name of grace, for under no cir- cumstances can the creature bring the Creator into debt. But the exercise of this grace, in all the gifts and bounties of its liberality, however free and unpurchased, even in such a case, would doubtless be as necessary as it would be natural to God. He could not deny himself — he could not avoid loving and blessing those who stood before him lovely and excellent in all the beauty of their original perfection. The love of God {or, because of its freeness and the absolute dependance of the creature on the Creator, the grace of God) could look round on myriads of such beings and find a natural and necessary outlet for its treasures of blessing. Each in his place becomes a regular recipient of the goodness of God's grace — a constant dependant on the resources of his love. And it might have been supposed that here the Divine love or grace would have stayed itself. Within the circle or sphere enclosing all the unfallen, the holy, the good — his own true and faithful sub- jects — we might reasonably have expected that he would have lavished all the store of blessing which was available for the purposes of his love or grace. "We might have conceived the limit to his goodness to be fixed within the channel of its Riches of Grace. 97 5t in [) siu I, ex- docs, moral n bis till be [10 cir- But i of its a case, to God. ing and llent in of Ood ;c of tbe ,k round necessary becomes constant igbt bave lould bave ig all tbe Ltbfttl sub- ould bave >le for tbe iceived tbe ,nel of its natural, original and necessary outflow, towards beings of un- fallcn character and of perfect integrity. IJut no! (lod's grace far exceeds these original and natural boundaries. Its wealth is not to be measured even by the innumerable demands made upon it of a kind to which it naturally and necessarily responds. It hatli also compassed and secured the redemption of shiners of mankind, as the sand on the shore innumerable. God hath shewn that he has a riches and a wealth of grace, which we could not have dreamed of, and which still wo cannot estimate arigbt. He hath abounded or superabounded in grace toward us, by Jesus Christ. From the greatness of the sticrifice which the grace of God made in order to our redemption, even the sacrifice of his own Son , we obtain a grand demonstration of the abundance of that grace, or its overflowing riches. In its original exercise — within the scope of those demands on its treasures, whicb unsullied excel- lence makes there is no need for any sucli sacrifice, but, on the contrary, it seems nothing but natural and every way easy and cheap, so to speak, for God to love and bless the lovely and tbe perfect. But, as it often liappcns that the prodigal son in a family costs his parents far more than all the rest in reclaim- ing him to the ways of decency and propriety, which they never forsook, and the strength of the parental love is tried and proved not so much by the ordiiuiry exercise of it to the decent and well ordered children of the household, as by its measures of an extraordinary kind in such an exceptional case as that referred to ; so, in the redemption of lost sinners, we behold not merely grace, but riches of grace, in the amazing length to 98 Jiiches of Grace, which it has {^onc, to reclaim the wandciers and bring them back to glory. In thiH. he hath surely given proof of an abun- dant grace, which is nowhere else to be met with in his vast dominions. But of the greatness of that sacrifice, as illustrating the abundance of God's grace we shall not farther speak at present. What we desire to impress upon you is that we owe our salvation not to that love of God, which, however deep and infinite and inexhaustible in itself, found its natural outlet towards unfallcn beings, but to the overflowings of God's love or grace, by which it becomes abundance or riches ^f grace. You have read or heard that the land of Egypt owes all its fertility and consequent wealth to that magnificent river, the Nile, which annually overflows its banks and covers the entire breadth of the country, not only watering but enriching its soil, and rendering it in the highest degree productive. Egypt were otherwise a barren tract of arid sand. But, as it is, and with that extraordinary provision, it has often been spoken of as the granary of the world. That which makes Egypt what it is, in respect of its productiveness, is the Nile, by its peri- odic inundations. "The Nile is Egypt" — for were that won- derful river to keep within its usual banks, and to confine itself to its natural channel, however deep and ample its waters there might be, the country would return to des 'ation, and Egypt would be no more thought or spoken of than the wild wastes of the African deserts. Now what that noble river, the Nile, is to Egypt, the grace of God is to the household of faith. Had that grace kept to the cliannel to 'vhich we might reasonably have supposed it n ri- l8t OR at iwe md tlet love II its , the ntirc ig its ^:gypt L and con of t, what 8 peri- Lt won- e itself fS there Egypt wastes le grace kept to llichcs of Grace. 09 naturally confined, had it been only »uch li»vc ».s would pursuo its courHC of blessing to the objects in which it could tuko complacent delight, had thert! been no overflowing or Huporai- bundance or riches about the grace of (lod, tlu'ii in»lnners should for ever have remained in I'.at state of wretchedness and desolation into which our .sins have brought us. However infinite God's love in itself, however unfathomable in its re- sources, however bounteous toward holy beings, it still depends on its having exceeded the apparently natural bounds and the ordinary chajinel, that iro have seen salvation and are made blessed with all spiritual blessing in the heavenlics. IJut thanks to the abundance of grace — ' the parched ground has becitme a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water.'* ' For the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him fn the hand of him that was stronger than he. Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the Lord, for vhcat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock and of the herd; and their soul shall be as a watered garden : and they shall not sorrow any more at all."f II. In the second place our text speaks of the revelation or manifestation of this abundant grace in and through the gospel — ' Abounded toward us in all icmlom and prudence, hav- ing made known unto us the mystery of his uill.' These words refer, in general, to the outward revelation of his grace which God hath made in the gospel, and also to thu inward discovery or apprehension of that grace which God effects in the minds and hearts of believers. )po8e dit *l8aiah xxxv. ' tJer. xx\i. 11-12. :A''i 100 The mystery made knoivn. The gospel contains the wisdom of God unto salvation — that wisdom which the world cannot reach — and which, in the ful- ness of its disclosures, was hid from ages, even until God spoke to us y his Son. God hath been pleased to enlighten the