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Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la m6thode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 ' r ^ , > ' r > I c THE LAMB OF GOD. r> BY J. M. CRAMP, D.D., ^ut/wr of^'^ Text- Book of Popery, « Baptist History,' PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR, BY YATES & ALEXANDER, SYMONDS INN, CHANCERY LANE, LONDON. 187I. WOLFYILLE, N.S. }> I s^ V y 9t 5X6333 (y c/ TO MY FRIENDS. In other works, historical and con- troversial, I have endeavoured to set forth, clearly and impartially, the course of events, and to defend truth. It is hoped that some benefit has been derived therefrom by in- quiring and thoughtful readers. I am now in the seventy-fifth year of my age, and cannot expect to render much more service to the Church of God. " The days of the years of my pilgrimage " are draw- ing to a close. This little book, containing the substance of several sermons, is de- signed as a final testimony on behalf imx^ •3S^»Ete3E= r^^SiSas"*,-* c»r ii 10 »Nllin|iif(UoN. '*llluu.ll.,.(iu,..,„.| urChvH, A. It lyi"tm.,i.„t|n,m|orliriJ(|nu... whirl. i')»Nm.,N„|'wrlil„^f,s ar.i «|| ih„ ,,,g„ '""""*"t'"'«'NJ'''.„l .1 ,.s,UHt I.I «'•!" m.yll.l..^ Uy ,M,|,||.|,|„H- I, i„ llt^), He traversed "all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the Gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people; and his fame spread throughout all Syria; and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them'' (Matt. iv. 22,y 24). He never turned away an applicant. In short. He " loved the Lord His God with all His heart, and with all His soul, and with all His mind, and with all His strength, and He loved his neighbour as Himself" (Mark xii, ^o. ^iV U^ . — r lO THE LAMB OF GOD. could appeal to His bitterest enemies and say, " Which of you convinceth me of sin?" (John viii. 46). He could dare the scrutiny of the devil ; " The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me" (John xiv. 30). He went to the very end of the law, and did not neglect " a jot or a tittle." He " knew no sin " (2 Cor. V. 21). But He knew sorrow. He saw it, and sympathized with the sufferers. He felt it— felt it more keenly than others, because His sensibilities were more delicate ; and pain, as he en- dured it, was terribly acute. The dulness of His disciples and the carnality of their religion vexed Him. The unbelieving obstinacy of the teaching and ruling classes grieved Him to the heart. When He wept at the grave of Lazarus, it (( BEHOLD THE LAMB." II was a natural outburst of feeling, such a gushing forth of tenderness as warm friendship not uncommonly produces. But the tears which He shed on Mount Olivet, when He looked down on the unbelieving city, betokened deep-seated anguish, a surging tumult of emotions, excited by His view of the peril of sinners, and His holy hatred of their sin. Far more intense was the agony in Gethsemane. Who can conceive of a thousandth part of that horror ? The " power of darkness " was let loose upon Him ; pangs incon- ceivable were passed through ; His soul was " exceeding sorrowful, even unto death," " and His body was so affected that His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground " (Matt. xxvi. ^^ ; Luke xxii. aa\, Sn o-r^pf ixrqc ■ I f ! 12 THE LAMB OF GOD. the pressure that the humanity sunk under it, and an angel was sent from heaven to " strengthen " Him (Lulce xxii. 43). The mockings and brutalities of the judgment-hall fol- lowed. Yet this was more bearable than was the burden that crushed His soul when " it pleased the Lord to bruise Him," and He was " made sin for us" (Isa. liii. lo; 2 Cor. v. 21). Then He felt the power of the curse : « the pains of hell gat hold upon Him ;" and the bitterness of His distress wrung from Him the exclamation, "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me ? " That scene cannot be described. It -.was not meant to be. Darkness covered it. Both the physical and the mental torture elude conception. The conflict was unutterable. The earth shook, and even the heavens were veiled in blackness, wheii the Lamb of God was slain. Martyrs in after times went trium- phantly to the scaffold or the stake, and never looked so joyous as when they " resisted unto blood." But the Son of God was abandoned and sorely " put to grief.'' We cannot fathom it. " Thought is poor, and poor expression." This we know, however, that the Lord's sufferings were not disciplinary, for He " did no sin." They were not punitive, for there was nothing to punish. We know also that they were volun- tarily endured. "I lay down my life, that I might take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father" (John x. 17, 18). Even when he was sinking in death the majesty of Divine love displayed itself. He held His soul in His own ii power, and yielded it up to His Heavenly Father. "And there dwelt about Him still, About His drooping head and fainting limbs, A sense of power, as thoiigh He chose to die, ^ Yet might have shaken off the load of death Without an effort."— Milman. Why, then, did the Lamb of God suffer and die ; suffer so cruelly, and die such a shameful death ? We find the answer in the Baptist's announce- ment. It is confirmed by many other passages of Scripture. Jesus " loved the church, aad gave Him- self for it." He was " set forth to be a propitiation, through faith in His blood.'' His soul was made " an offering for sin." Having as- "BEHOLD THE LAMB." 15 sumedthe sinner's place, He endured the inflictions of the law which the sinner had violated. He was ** made sin for us," that is, treated as a sin- ner on our account. "He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities : the chastisement of our peace was upon Him ; and with His stripes we are healed " (Ephes. v., 25 ; Rom. iii. 25 ; Isa. liii. 5). Had he been merely a man, how- ever good, even to blamelessness, those sufferings would not have been meritorious. No creature of God can do or endure more than His holy law requires. Merit, therefore, is impossible. But "the Lamb of God " was not a mere creature, or created being. He who suffered on the cross was " Immanuel, God with us." " God manifest in the flesh " i6 THE LAMB OF GOD. (Isa. vii. 14; Matt. i. 23 ; i Tim. iii. 16). He "came forth from the Father," and '' was made flesh ;" and " though He was rich, yet for our sakes He became poor, that we through His poverty might be rich " (John xvi. 28, i. 14; 2 Cor. viii. 9). His acts were of infinite value. As man, he owed obedience to the law. As God, he honoured the law by obeying it. His death was not the criminal's, rightly demanded by the law ; it was the death of the Divine surety. He " bare our sins in His own body on the tree'' (i Peter ii. 24). Oceans of blood were shed under the Mosaic institute, yet "could not take away sin ;" but Christ was "once offered to bear the sins of many," and now we say, " If the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the (( BEHOLD THE LAMB." 17 unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the Eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" (Heb. ix. 13, 14, 28). It was God's plan— God's ap- pointment—God's gift. The death of the Saviour did not dispostj the Heavenly Father to mercy. Dr. Watts was utterly mistaken when he penned these lines : — " Rich were the drops of Jesus' blood, Which calmed his frowning face ; Which sprinkled o'er the burning throne, And turned the wrath to grace." Very different are the statements of Holy Writ. " God so loved the world, Ihat he gave His only be- i8 THE LAMB OF GOD. ■ gotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." " Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins'' (John iii. i6; i John iv. lo). The world could not be saved illegally, so to speak. The charter of redemption must be based on pure, changeless equity. The problem of the ages was solved when Jesus died. God's love provided the sacrifice. The death of the heavenly Lamb was of * untold efficacy. It honoured and satisfied the law. It declared God's righteousness : He is now "just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus" (Rom. iii. 26). There are no limits. There can- not be, in the very nature of the case. The deity of the Lord Jesus gives immeasurable value to His sacrifice. If the salvation of one sinner required no less, the salva- tion of all sinners would require no more. The " Lamb of God . . . taketh away the sin of the world/* that is, the redemption He has accomplished is sufficient for the salvation of the world. But it does not follow that all the world will be saved. Christ is " a propitiation through faith in His blood" (Rom. iii. 25). His atone- ment is efficacious to those only who believe, and to all such ; as none are ruined by Adam's sin but those who have made it their own by actual transgression, so none are saved by the death of the Lamb but those who believe and thereby make that death the sole ground of their hope towards God. " It is of faith, that ■ 20 THE LAMB OF GOD. Ill it might be by grace " (Romans iv. 1 6). Dear reader, — let us rejoice in Divine love. God says, " Come now, and let us reason together; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow ; though th^y be red like crimson, they shall be as woor' (Isa. i. i8). Let us believe God. Let us meet Him on Calvary, and be at peace. " My faith would lay her hand On that dear head of thine : White like a penitent I stand, And there confess my sin." "Behold the Lamb of God!" Here is a sight worth looking at. See God " in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself" (2 Cor. v. 19). Hear His own blessed voice — " Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth'' (Isa. xlx. 22), Weigh well the terms of this pro- clamation. It does not permit, but invites. And the invitation is di- rect. No preparation is needed. You cannot qualify yourselves for mercy, or acquire a fitness for grace. Jesus says, Come — come at once — come just as you are — and " him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out" (John vi. 37). "Compliance with His will your lot ensures ; Accept it only, and the boon is yours. And sure it is as kind to smile and give, As with a frown to say, Do this, and live. Love is not pedlar's trumpery, bought and sold ; He will give freely, or he will withhold ; His soul abhors a mercenary thought, And him as deeply who abhors it not ; He stipulates indeed, but merelv this. 22 THE LAMB OF GOD. That man will freely take an unbought bliss, Will trust him for a faithful generous part, Nor set a price upon a willing heart." COWPER. 11 ;i i ii CHAPTER II. (( THE TWELVE APOSTLES OF THE LAMB. )i The work is done. Jesus has ob- tained "the joy set before him" (Heb. xii. 2). He has "ascended on high ; '' He has " led captivity captive ; '' " He has received gifts for men" (Psalm Ixviii. 18). The exalted ones in heaven admire and adore, and angels sing, " Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing" (Rev. v. 12). The rule of the world is placed in His hands. "Angels, and autho- rities, and powers " are " made sub- ject to Him," and He is "head over ill 24 THE LAMB OF GOD. all ihings to the Church" (i Pet. iii. 22 ; Ephes. i. 22), He com- menced His government while yet on earth, by an act of Divine bene- volence, issuing a commission to His Apostles to " go into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature'' (Mark xvi. 15). He carries it on in heaven on the same principle, and continually " sends forth labourers into His harvest" (Matt. ix. 38). ' This is God's plan of action. The death of His beloved Son has re- moved all obstacles, and opened thr w^ay for the pardon and reconcile- ment of the rebellious. But this is not all. A remedy is only available when it is taken or applied. " By the commandment of the everlasting God " the Gospel is to be " made known among all nations for the (( THE TWELVE APOSTLES; 25 Obedience Of faith- (Rom. xvi. 26). ■^or this purpose the "twelve Apostles of the Lamb " were directed to bear the message of mercy to their fellow men in all countries. They were prepared for the great enterprise by the special gifts of the Holy Spirit. The "King of kings- intrusted his ambassadors to beseech men, **in Christ's stead,- to be " reconciled to God - (2 Cor. V. 20). "The twelve Apostles of the Lamb.- This phrase is susceptible of a twofold illustration. Section l,~The connecHon of the Apostles with the Saviour, The completion of the work of redemption is implied. The " Lamb ^f God - is now presented to our notice, not as sufFenno- Knf renng, cl6 26 THE LAMB OF GOD. reigning, and sending forth His messengers to announce the fact, and call upon men to submit to him. " By one offering," says the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews, " He hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified** (Heb. x. 14). This thought is frequently brought before us in the Epistle. The sufficiency of Christ's sacrifice — " once for all '' — is the golden thread that enriches and beautifies that portion of the Divine volume. The Romish novelty of the mass — the pretended offering up of Christ every time the Lord's Supper is celebrated, even in its mutilated form, the wine being withheld — was not then invented. Believers did not go to a priest to offer for them the sacrifice afresh. They rejoiced in the finished work. Yes ; it is finished. No man can (t THE TWELVE APOSTLES. f > 27 add to it. No man can take away from it. No man can repeat it. The believer of the nineteenth century stands on the same founda- tion as the believer of the first. But, as has been observed, it was not enough that Jesus died, and that in this way a provision was made for the salvation of men. How is it to be accomplished ? There was a necessity for some arrangement whereby the designs of mercy might be carried into effect. "Faith Cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.'^ ''How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed ? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher ? And how shall they preach except they be sent?" (Rom. x, i4--i7\ 28 THE LAMB OF GOD. The Apostles were "sent." The Lamb sent them. And why did He send them ? Not to excite admiration — not to set before men a bright and holy example, by imitat- ing which they might save their own souls — not to direct the sinner to work out his salvation by painful deeds of merit ; but to bring him to the cross, and urge him to cast off his burden there. " So I saw in my dream," says Bunyan, " that just as Christian came up with the cross, his burden loosed from off his shoulders, and fell from off his back, and began to tumble, and so continued to do, till it came to the mouth of the sepulcher, where it fell in, and I saw it no more. Then was Christian glad and lightsome, and said with a merry heart, * He hath given me \ "THE TWELVE APOSTLES." 29 rest by His sorrow ; and life by His death.' Then he stood still a while to look and wonder ; for it was very surprising to him that the sight of the cross should thus ease him of his burden. He looked, therefore, and looked again, even till the springs that were in his head sent the waters down his cheeks. Now, as he stood looking and weep- ing, behold three shining ones came to him, and saluted him with ' Peace be to thee : ' so the first said to him ' Thy sins be forgiven.' The second stripped him of his rags, and clothed him with change of raiment. The third also set a mark in his forehead, and gave him a roll with a seal upon it, which he bid him look on as he ran, and that he should give It in at the Celestial Gate ; so they went their way. Then Christian 30 THE LAMB OF GOD. gave three leaps for joy, and went on singing." * Jesus did not shed His blood in vain. It was foretold that he should " see of the travail of his soul, and be satisfied" (Isa. liii, ii). That prophecy has been in course of ful- filment ever since the day of Pente- cost. Then the "Apostles of the Lamb" entered on their great undertaking. Their mission was to turn men " from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God" (Acts xxvi. i8). And how? Not by eloquence — not by art — not by terror — not by philosophy. " The Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom ; but we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling-block, and unto the * Pilgrim*s Progress, p. 39 (Hanserd Knoliys Society's Edition). N \, N (( THE TWELVE APOSTLES." 31 Greeks foolishness ; but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God " (i Cor. i! 22—24). The greatest revolution the world had ever seen was to be effected by means which the world deemed powerless, and its would-be wise men despised. "I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me " (John xii. ^2). " Let us suppose the problem had been given, to find a method of bringing men to embrace a new religion. B"ow different would have been the schemes of the wise and learned from that which is here ex- pressed by our blessed Saviour ! I hear the votary of natural reason, the adorer of human learning and intellect, exclaim, ^ Let your new religion be invested with the charac- 32 THE LAMB OF GOD. ters of deep philosophy ; let it appeal to the dialectics of the logician, and the subtleties of human science — thus will it make its way in the world.' Ah no ! * /, if I he lifted upy will draw all men unto me.' " I hear another exclaim, * Adorn it with the splendid diction of Greece and Rome ; introduce it to the notice of mankind in the trappings of an overpowering eloquence ; clothe it with the thunders of a Demosthenes, or the golden periods of a TuUy, so will you attract crowds and invite disciples ! Ah no ! ^ I,' if I be lifted upy will draw all men unto me.* " I hear still another, the admirer of earthly splendour, exclaim, * De- corate your new religion with the splendour of rank, the refinements of eloquence, the magnificence of royalty ; let it charm the eye and captivate the heart by its external pomp, and so shall it become popular, so shall it win universal suffrage and approbation/ Still wrong ; the ways of God are not as our ways, nor His thoughts as our thoughts ; He needed nothing splendid, or eloquent, or philosophical; the cross of Christ was enough ; ^ /, if I be lifted up: " * "Apostles of the Lamb." How He cared for them ! How tenderly did He watch over them! Peter was in prison, and expected to be led forth to execution on the morrow. It did not trouble him, for he, too, had a " desire to depart, and to be with Christ - (Phil. i. 23). But the Lord had more work for him to do, and twenty years or more of suffer- ing to endure ere he should be at Christian Observer, Dec. 181 8, p. 777. 34 THE LAMB OF GOD. rest ; and so He " sent His angel " to deliver His servant. Paul was "pressed in spirit" at Corinth, and sore set upon by envious and cruel Jews. The Lord knew it, and " spake to him by night in a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peade, for I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee, for I have much people in this city '* (Acts xviii. 9, lo). John rose in melancholy mood on that memorable Lord's Day morning, thinking of his brethren, with whom he had gone to the house of God in company, and longing for the renewal of the " times of refreshing." Perhaps he was musing on the Lord's promise. "Lo, I am with you alway," and wondering at the mystery of the dispensation by which the promise seemed to be in abeyance, as to him- ^). In managing this matter, large- ness of heart is required as well as skill and discernment. We should be as careful not to frown down modest talent as to check forward- ness. Above all, we should seek for tokens of the Lord's will. If the Master has called any one to the work, woe be to the minister or the Church that shall stand in his way. Eliab sneered at the "pride and naughtiness of heart " of the shep- herd boy who had come down, as he said, " to see the battle '' (i Sam. xvii. 2^). But David killed the giant. What became of Eliab does not appear. CHAPTER III. THE LAMB AND THE SEALED BOOK. In the fifth chapter of the Book of the Revelation, God is represented as sitting on the throne of His glory. He is attended by the re- presentatives of the whole universe of being. His Church is there, in the persons of symbolical creatures, each embodying some aspect of spiritual humanity. All adore and praise. All are satisfied with God as He is. All are happy in His service. In His right hand the Divine Being holds a sealed book. It is a book of Hebrew make. A sheet of parchment, written ou both sides, in columns of suitable width, is rolled 50 THE LAMB OF GOD, hi li I round a wooden cylinder, and a seal attached to it, which keeps it fast. Another is then rolled round that, and also sealed; and so on, till seven sheets have been used in the same manner, and each separately- fastened. It is now " a book,'* and it ,is " sealed with seven seals.'* But it cannot be read till the seals are broken, and only one seal can be broken at a time. When the outer seal has been detached, the outside sheet may be unrolled and read, all the remainder being still unclosed, and therefore unknown. Thus the book can only be read sheet by sheet, as the seals are unloosed. The context leads us to conclude that on this mysterious roll of a book are inscribed the purposes of God respecting the course of events by which the world's history is to be diversified. All are recorded there, but nothing can be known of the record till some one is found "worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof/' Proclama- tion is made. The most intense interest is excited ; but for a while blank disappointment sits on all faces. « No man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon.^' Sadness is felt among the angelic hosts. Heaven itself seems to be in mourning, and the apostolic seer sympathises with the sorrow. " I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon. '^ That interval of sus- pense was mercifully shortened. A celestial messenger announces glad tidings. "One of the elders saith m If i unto me, "Weep not: behold the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof." The Apostle turns to behold, and lo ! not a lion, but a lamb, comes upon the scene — " a lamb as it had been slain"— that is to say, fresh from the slaughter, with all the marks of death by shed- ding of the blood. He approaches the throne, and takes the book. All heaven is in ecstacy. "When he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints : and they sung a new song, saying. Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast re- t t deemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation ; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests : and we shall reign on the earth/' What a testimony is here to the worth of the Saviour's atonement ' That wonderful death, which some wish us to regard as only an ex- ample of submission and perfect obedience, is far otherwise viewed by our Heavenly Father. To Him it was " an offering and a sacrifice," and so acceptable was it in his sight, that unspeakable " glory and honour" were the reward. " Where- fore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which IS above every name; that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven and things inearth a-nri i-Ui*^^r. i-.-.i J ,....^, v^iiiigo uuucrine earth; 54 THE LAMB OF GOD, and that every tongue should con- fess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father '^ (Phil, ii. 9 — 1 1). That exaltation embraces all created beings and things. The Church and the world are included in Christ's kingdom. \ The Lord Jesus governs, controls, directs all human affairs. He knows the divine counsels, and executes them. The sealed book is in His hand ; every seal is opened at the right time. Events succeed each other, according to the destined order, with the utmost precision. In the Old Testament, it was Provi- dence ; in the New, it is Christ. Of the mode of the Lord's interference we know nothing. Man wills : he acts freely. Human consciousness testifies to this fact. But God also wills, and Hzs will is sure to be ac- AND THE SEALED BOOK. 55 complished. The kings of the earth do not "think so," or "mean so" (Isa. X. 7) : nevertheless, the Lord is "in one mind, and who can turn Him ? And what His soul desireth, even that He doeth" (Job. xxiii 13)! Our purposes may be crossed, be- cause we could not provide against contingencies or foresee the future. God's purposes cannot fail, for he " dcclareth the end from the begin- ning" (Isa. xlvi. 10). How it is that man is so influenced as to be- come an instrument for the develop- ment and execution of Christ's plans, he still remaining free, and having no sympathy with those plans, we cannot tell. Yet the fact is not to be denied. " The wrath of man shall praise thee : the remainder of wrath Shalt thou restrain" (Psalm Ixxvi. 10). It is wonderful — it i.*; mvQf^. nous ; yet not more wonderful and mysterious than that there is a God " of whom, and through whom, and to whom are all things" (Rom. XI. 36). ^ " Where reason fails, With all her powers, There faith prevails, ' And love adores." This supervision and rule of the isaviour will continue till the end of time. The sealed book comprehends the history of all ages. The seventh seal introduces the seven trumpets : the seventh trumpet, the seven vials ; and when the seventh vial shall be poured out, a voice will be heard out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done" rl'fi-'^^- The curtain will be uplifted for the exhibition of the last scene of the great drama. Then I AND THE SEALED BOOK. 57 Christ will have ** put down all rule, and all authority and power ** (i Cor. XV. 24) ; and when the final sentences of the last day have been pronounced the universal shout will be raised, '' Alleluia, for the Lord God omni- potent reigneth " (Rev. xix. 6). Attempts to chronologise are per- fectly useless. Schemes upon schemes have been invented in suc- cessive centuries, and have vanished into thin air. ** It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in His own power - (Acts i. 7). Let it suffice to rejoice in the assurance that the Lord Jesus is carrying on the govern- ment with ever-watchful care and love, and that He cannot be thwarted. Under whatever seal we may now be living, or whatever trumpet may be issuing its notes, or whatever vial the angel may be in the act of pour- ing out, it matters not. Enough for us to know that our blessed Lord does not slumber ; ** His eternal thought moves on, His undisturbed affairs ;" and every year furnishes some fresh illustration of the wisdom and good- ness of His rule. It will be profitable to select sorAe instances which may serve to illus- trate these remarks. j The rise of the Emperor Const/n- tme may be adduced. Christiaitity seemed to be on the verge of r^in. By the Diocletian persecution, /the fiercest that had been endured by the church, vast numbers had l^een swept away, places of worship had been pulled down, bibles burned, Christian ministers tortured to death' i AND THE SEALEI BOOK. 59 and pagans everywhejre^ndulged the hope of the complette triumph of Idolatry. But "theJLamb- had opened one of the s^als, and the reign of Constantino introduced a new order of things/ If is not neces- sary to inquire wl^ther Ms professed conversion was genuine Aor to sanc- tion all the nieasures h^ adopted for the establishment an(l\pread of Christianity. He was Qhriist^s in- strument, employed to /rescue the Church from the fangs of/ th(^ enemy. The religious arrangement^ of the empire were hencefortl^ of a very different kind. True> manifold evils found their way into outward Christianity, and its civil establish- ment begat corruption. All this was foreseen. It was the Lord's will that His church should be subjected to various forms of trial, that human 6o THE LAMB OF GOD, ingenuity should exhaust itself in efforts to improve the divine system, and that after lengthened and diver- sified experiments men should be forced to the conclusion that the cause of God must be administered by its own laws, without addition or change. No other course is right or safe. Let us now look at the period of the Crusades. Setting aside the theories of philosophers and histo- rians respecting those events, and judging only by results, may we not infer that it w^as the will of Christ that Europe should emerge from the thick darkness which had covered her, and that this was to be largely effected by the importation of know- ledge from the East, through the in- direct influence of crusading expe- ditions ? If, on the other hand, it be AND THE SEALED BOOK. 6 1 affirmed that the crusade against the Albigenses at a later period, was one unmingled outbreak of demon-like fanaticism and cruelty, causing hor- rible devastation, an inquirer may be permitted to ask whether this also, terrible as it was, was not part of the Lord's plan ? For it is a fact that multitudes of those Albigenses escaped, and,being scattered abroad, preached the word throughout Europe, in secluded nooks and mountain recesses, where true reli- gion lay hid, till the time of the manifestation, in the sixteenth cen- tury. And what shall we say of the Reformation ? Was it not the Spirit of Jesus, enlightening, rousing, sanc- tifying, restoring, bringing to view long-hidden truths, and laying bare errors, follies, and evils which had 62 THE LAMB OF GOD, supplanted the Gospel, and ruined millions of souls? Was it not by ti*e power and skill of " the Lamb of God " that Charles V. and Philip II. were baffled and thwarted at every point, and that Henry VIII. became an unwilling instrument of rdform ? The settlement of North America was another of those striking events in which the interposition of the Head of the Church was manifestly seen. The Stuart kings of England sought only their own selfish ends, and hoped to play a successful game of despotism when they so harrassed the servants of the Lord that they were fain to leave home and country, and settle in desolate wilds, that they might have " freedom to wor- ship God." But the Saviour had high and glorious purposes to ac- AND THE SEALED BOOK. 63 complish. He designed North America to be the refuge for the oppressed, the stronghold of truth and liberty, the light-houses of the world. His designs have been in course of development for two hundred and fifty years, and there is yet a splendid future to be un- folded. Nor is it to be overlooked that the remarkable spread of the English- speaking races in all parts of the world is accomplishing vast and beneficial changes. Issuing origi- nally from that small island on the western coast of Europe, they have covered a large portion of North America ; they have taken posses- sion of the East and West Indies ; they have peopled Australia; they have brought South Africa under the Dower of civ'ili^^^^^*^ -^^^ nx.^:^ 04 THE LAMB OF GOD, tianity ; their language is spoken even in the islands of the Pacific, and is now become the medium of communication between man and man in countries the most remote from the centres of knowledge. These and similar events are re- garded as signs of progress, and hailed as tokens of the advancement of the age. And so they are. But that is not all. They are parts of Christ's great plan of empire— the empire of truth and holiness. During the last eighteen hundred years the Saviour has been open- ing the seals. The process is still going on. Yes; it is going on. In the stream of knowledge, as it flows in these days, widening, deepening, and fertilizing, there is a strong under-current of Atheism. Pseudo- philosophers show themselves to be the descendants of the ancient " fool " who " said in his heart there is no God " (Psalms xiv. i). They have only one way of ex- plaining the phenomena of the uni- verse. They refer everything to law— rigid, unalterable law— and reason about it so learnedly, and, as they imagine, so conclusively, that the hands of the Almighty are tied ; He who " measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, and meted out heaven with the span " (Isa. xl. 12), is bound by stern de- crees of fate; the supernatural is eliminated; miracles are fabulous; man and philosophy are all in all ; with this variation in the tone of sentiment, that God is in every- thing, and everything is God— which is, "by interpretation," " there is no God/' So the sinner wor.ld have it ! Even Christians are sometimes tempted to say, "Where is the promise of His coming ?*' They look at the state of the world, and see three-fourths of mankind doing the will of the evil one. They watch the progress of missions, mournfully musing on the slowness of the movement. They compare professed Christianity with the original picture, as drawn by the Apostles, and confess that the want of resemblance is painfully evident. They lament that so large a portion of the literature of the day, that part especially which commands the attention of the young, is un- christian. They listen to the scoffs of the infidel, and note the anta- gonism of some of the renowned votaries of science to the claims of revelation. They now and then hear sermons in which there is very little of Christ, and grace, and holi- ness. And then they look upward and exclaim, half distrustfully, " How long, O Lord, how long ? '' Courage! courage, ye sorrowful ones ! The Lord has not forgotten Zion. The vessel may seem to be in troubled waters — "Loud roaring, the billows now nigh overwhelm ; But skilful the pilot who sits at the helm." We are apt to forget that some trains of events require much more time for their development than others, and that '' one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day'' (2 Pet. iii. 8). The seals do not repre- 68 THE LAMB OF GOD, sent perids of the same length. If the roll covered by one seal may be read in a hundred years, it may take a thousand to read the next. God's chronology differs from ours. When we imagine that a series of changes is approaching its end, it is just possible that it is only at the beginning. " My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord" (Isa. Iv. 8). But Jesus reigns, notwithstanding hindrances, and reverses, and tem- porary defeats, the great cause is marcliing on. The Church will re- quire to be purified and revived to a vast extent, in order to fit it for the grand victory yet to come. That also shall be done. Then the great battle will be fought. After that the Lord will come " to be glorified AND THE SEALED BOOK. 69 in His saints, and to be admired in all them that believe " (2 Thess. i. 10). We will trust and hope. The Church is safe. And every believ- ing soul is safe. Those who are in Christ become like Him, and they shall reign with Him hereafter. The season of trial may be severe, but it is sure to be short. " Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory *' (2 Cor. iv. 17). Let us learn, then, to think of the Saviour as continually engaged for us. And let us bear in mind that though the existence of evil is a dark enigma, it has furnished us with the means and opportunity of contemplating the Divine govern- ment in forms 'and aspects which would have been otherwise hidden 70 THE LAMB OF GOD. from US. We know much more of God than we should have known if there had been no resistance to Him. His power, His wisdom, His good- ness, long-suffering and truth have been 'placed before us in the chequered history of the Church, ^n ever fresh and varied points of view. Every new manifestation of sin has occasioned a counter-mani- festation of the Divine wisdom. But for the rebellion there would have been no redemption, and with- out the redemption, how little should we have seen of God's ways ! Now, we behold His all-sufficiency. We adore Him who is " wonderful in counsel and excellent in work- ing," and we rejoice that He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think" (Isa. xxviii. 29 ; Ephes. iii. 20.) CHAPTER IV. THE LAMB LEADING THE FLOCK. " I BEHELD, and, lo, a great multi- tude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands, and cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. " And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, saying. Amen : Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen^ " And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they ? And I said unto him. Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me. These are they which ' came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple : and He that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more ; neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of LEADING THE FLOCK. 73 '"i waters : and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes" (Rev. vii. 9— 17). This is a glorious vision. Here, on earth, the Church passes through ''great tribulation," and, like her Lord, is generally "despised and rejected of men " (Isa. liii. 3). She has to fight her way through hosts of foes, who are bent on her de- struction, nor could she have sur- vived their attacks had not the Cap- tain of salvation been always at hand to strengthen and protect her. Although her armies are continually dying in the field, they quickly reappear, in safety and bliss ; and after successive generations have passed away, the close of the con- flict will be celebrated at the meet- ing of the " general assembly and Church of the first-born" (Heb. 3 xii. 2^). The happiness of that triumphant state is briefly glanced at in the passage which has been quoted. It is rest, satisfaction, all wants supplied, the springs of sor- row dried up, fellowship with God and with one another enjoyed, never more to b^ interrupted. The pecu- liar feature of the blessedness of the glorified is, that " the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them into living fountains of waters." Will this be literally verified? Will the Redeemer Himself, in His exalted human nature, His "glo- rious body" (Phil. ii. 2i), guide His people while they survey the scenery of heaven ? Shall we hear from His own lips the story of the salvation ? And shall we follow him from one bright spot to another, listening y"^'. *'■' with intense interest to details which will throw new light on the mys- teries of Gethsemane and Calvary ? What teachings will those be ? Will not our hearts "burn within us," as discoveries succeed one another, with ever-increasing brightness ? And if, in this world, "beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, we are changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord'^ (2 Cor. iii. 18), how much more wonderful will be the effect, how much more complete the transformation, when we shall " see Him as He is " (i John iii. 2). Or, it may be that angels and eminent saints will be deputed by " the Lamb " for this purpose. The former are subjected to His power and control. They are His <* holy angels" (Matt. xxv. 31; 2 Thess. ^■^., i-*^%. V-' 76 THE LAMB OF GOD !• 7). And as they are " ministering- spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salva- tion" (Heb. i. ,4), it maybe that their ministry will be continued, and that after having attended the saints during their pilgrimage on earth they will be commissioned to introduce them to the glories of heaven. Then they will tell us of the creation, and how they felt as successive worlds burst upon their view, when "the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy " (Job. xxxviii. 7 J. They will describe their state of suspense and anxiety, when un- told centuries rolled along, and the earth was so slowly developed into a dwelling-place for intelligent beings. They will inform us how they watched the manifestations of 1 1 'J ■i God during the patriarchal and Mosaic dispensations, wonderins? when and how " the desire of all nations;' fHag. ii. 7) ^ould come. They will recite the history of that night when they hovered over tlie plain of Bethlehem, and fiist sang the song of redemption, re-produced by millions of voices in all following ages. They will relate their various experiences as they became better acquainted with the great delive- rance, and learned more fully to appreciate the wisdom and love of God; and they will communicate such knowledge, and give such answers to inquiries as shall enable the redeemed to enjoy their new abode, and fit them the better for Its peculiar duties and engae-e- ments. ^ The saints of past ages may be Mi 1 i^' M j*1,l!PSg.i>,'i« 7^ THE LAMB OF GOD supposed to be similarly occupied, as accessions are constantly made to the heavenly society. Abraham will never be wear}^ of recounting the trials of his faith. Moses will give new touches to the history of the deliverance, and tell the tale (as yet untold here) of the forty years' wandering in the wilderness. Daniel will describe his feelings during the night that he spent in the lion's den. Paul will give an extended commentary on 2 Cor. xi. 2:^—28^ a commentary long looked fur by the Church. John will exhibit Chris- tianity in its earliest struggles with error and superstition in Asia Minor, after the other Apostles had entered into rest. By whatever means and instru- mentalities he may choose to em- ploy, the Lord will lead his people \! gS- auataffgy- .^jmi-mv to 'Miving fountains of waters/' where they will be ineffably re- freshed. The Church will behold the glory of God— in Himself, in His perfections, in His providence, and in His watchful, fatherly care, as manifoldly displayed in individual experience as well as in the general progress of the cause ; and as she beholds she will admire, adore, and love. The religion of heaven is marked by humility and intense fervour. If of the believer on earth it is said, "The more Thy glories strike mine eyes, The humbler I shall lie," much more may it be affirmed of the saints in bliss : they " cast their crowns before the throne, saying. Thou art worthy, O Lord " (Rev. iv. 10, 1 1). All they see, all they enjoy. ( ' I ( ! I all the light that is cast on the government and grace of God, ex- cite gratitude and gladness ; while, as the prospect becomes wider, and their faculties enlarge with the view, the sense of the incompre- hensible deepens. The nearer they are to the Most High, the farther off ' they seem to be. The emphatic words of Scripture acquire new meanings. Christ is God's " unspeakable " gift ; his love '^passeth knowledge," his riches are "unsearchable" [2 Cor. ix. 15; Ephes. iii. 8, 19). ^ With such experience, how glo- rious will be the communion of saints ! What blissful interchanges of thought and feeling ! " There on a green and flowery mount, Our weary souls shall sit, And with transporting joy recount The labours of our feet." JL LEADING THE FLOCK. 8l the We shall become acquainted with those who were saved from the lowest depths of depravity and vice, and we shall listen to them with infinite delight while they re- late the manner in which they were rescued from the bondage of sin, and brought into the "glorious liberty of the children of God" (Rom. viii. 2i). The Manassehs of the former dispensation, the Sauls and the Augustines of the present, and such servants of God as John Bunyan and John Newton, of mo- dern times, will narrate their con- versions, and tell how " marvellous " was the light into which they were brought, and what ecstasy of joy pervaded their souls when they were enabled to say of Jesus, re- spectively, " He loved me, and gave tiimself for me " (Gal. ii. 20). 82 TJIE ].AMJi OF GOD We shall l(virn much niurr than could have been known on earth of th(^ diversified methods of mercy and pov/er by which the Saviour has carried on His work from age to age. The secret history of the Church will be unveiled to us, solv- ing many an enigma, untying many ^a hard knot, and removing many a difficulty that had baffled the skill of successive; inquirers. " The crooked will be made straight, and the rough places plain." There will be at length a just and impartial esti- mate of character. Some who have been called saints, and worshipped, will be seen to have been great sin- ners. Transactions, which at the time were thought to be barely defensible, will be viewed in con- nection with the motives from which they sprung, and pronounced Chris- s LEAD INC. THE FLOCK. «J tian, Events that seemed so darkly mysterious as to defy all attempts understand them, will be eontem- plated in their relations to the best interests of man, and in their b(-ar- ings on personal holiness and the advancement of the welfare of the Church. Many a Christian who went sorrowing to the grave on ac- count of some heart-rending be- reavement will rejoice in witnessing the blessed results in the conversion of loved ones who remained, whose union with him in heaven he had scarcely dared to hope for. Many a pastor, whose want of success had weighed him down with grief, will welcome to glory those whom his last labours on earth had roused to thoughtfulness and prayer. Many a martyr will hear with grateful satis- faction of he progress of truth in « Hi 4^'f!^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) /. fe* 1.0 Hf I.I 128 IIM M 1.8 1.25 1.4 1.6 ■^ 6" — ► V] <^ /^ ^c- >' *• y PhotDgTciphic Sciences Corporation 4^ 4^ :\ ^^ w o \ '■1 >"' "' *^ /?► 6^^^ <.^ '^ 23 WESY MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 l716^ e/2-4503 the country which rejected his testi- mony, and will receive into the " everlasting habitations " some who had mocked his dying agonies, or even procured his death, but were pierced to the heart by his patience and stedfastness. It is said that the Lord Jesus will 'come the second time, " to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in all them that be- lieve ^ (2 Thess. i. lo). These are peculiar and emphatic words. The saints are "conformed to the image" of their Lord (Rom. viii. 29), and whatever in them is excel- lent is therefore admirable ; yet not they, but Christ " in them " will be " admired " at the last day. Every one of them had said, while in the church below, " by the grace of God I am what I am" (i Cor. xv. 10). 'a The glory of that grace will appear in the infinite variety of character, talent, and power, taken possession of by the Lord, and used for His service. It will be seen that as the Divine origin of Christianity is proved by its adaptation to the state of man in all countries, under all forms of government, and in eveiy condition of society, so the glory of the Saviour will be confessed when it shall appear that in carry- ing on the affairs of His kingdom all kinds of qualifications were em- ployed. The sanctifying, ennobling influences of grace were exercised under the most unpromising circum- stances, men who would have been rejected by earthly employers were found, when "joined to the Lord,'' prepared for the highest duties, and fitted for agencies involving respon- 86 THE LAMB OF GOD sibilities of the most serious cha- racter. Opposite qualities were con- secrated and subdued to the Re- deemer's will. The fearful and the impetuous ; the dull and the acute ; the lamb-like and the lion-hearted ; the cautious and the daring; the pien of contracted views and the bold thinkers, all, all have been enlisted into the service, and all have found their proper places and their appointed work. And Christ will be " admired "' in all ; in the " sons of thunder/' and in the " sons of consolation;" in Chrysostom, the "golden-mouthed," and in .he Vaudois barb ; in John de Wycliflfe, the Bible translator, and in the weavers and husbandmen who were converted to God by means of that Bible ; in Melancthon, the learned professor ; and in Menno Simon, LEADING THE FLOCK. 87 the plain and sturdy Baptist ; in the lawn-sleeved bishop, and in the tinker of Bedford. There, " there is neither Greek nor Jew, circum- cision nor uncircumcision, Bar- barian, Scythian, bond nor free ; but Christ is all and in all " (Col. • • • \ m. 2). Still more admirable will be the union and harmony of the glorified. In the presence of " the Lamb " all bickerings will cease, all differences will vanish away. We may not be able to conceive of the nature of the process by which jarring minds will be welded into one; but of the reality of its blessed results we cannot doubt. The Saviour's last prayer will receive its full illustra- tion in the completeness of the answer. All will *'be one," and they will not wish to be otherwise, Ml 88 THE LAMB OF GOD for the spirit of the sect will be dead. Jerome and Vigilantius will walk side by side, being of " one heart and one soul/' Luther and Zwingli will substitute sweet com- munion for bitter dispute. Wesley and Toplady will hold holy fellow- , ship together. The din of contro- versy is hushed for ever. At last the disputants understand one another, for in the light of God they <^ see light " (Psalm xxxvi. 9), and are no longer deceived by the distortions incident to earth's foggy atmosphere. And it is " the Lamb " that leads them. Whatever increase of know- ledge, whatever depth of emotion, whatever thrilling delights may characterise the heavenly state, all is traced to one source. The re- demption in Christ Jesus is the food ^» of the souls of the blessed. At every turn the cross rises to view and reminds them of their obliga- tions. And as, while they were on earth, each one " mourned apart,'' absorbed in the contemplation of His personal guilt, so, in glory, amid the general acclamations, and the enthusiasm of the great triumph, every believer will be penetrated with wonder at his own share in the blessedness. Here he sung : — "Jesus sought me when a stranger, Wandering from the fold of God ; He to save my soul from danger, Interposed His precious blood." There, while his voice will be lost in the mighty thunderings of the victory-shout, his heart will be melted at the thought of his un- worthiness, and he will be ready to exclaim. Why me, Lord ? Why me ? 90 THE LAMB OF GOD It is one theme. Will that one theme suffice ? Will there not be a longing for variety ? Ah no ! There are no limits to " the power and the wisdom of God/' as displayed in " Christ crucified." The more deeply they are studied in their connection < with the great salvation, the more wonderful will they appear. Every event in the history of the Church, every variety of Christian experi- ence, all the diversities of talent and acquisition, and their application to Gospel labour, together with the innumerable forms of suffering which call for divine aid, furnish fresh and ever-varying illustrations of the grace of the Lord Jesus. The more saints in heaven, as they become fully acquainted with these things, will be smitten with astonishment. New glories will shine upon them LEADING THE FLOCK. 91 perpetually. Contemplating the love of the Lord in its innumer- able aspects, they will strive to comprehend '' what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height.*' (Ephes. iii. 18), and will acknowledge the impossibility of the attainment. There will be no sameness, no cloy- ing. The impulses of gratitude and love will be re-quickened at every step of their progress ; and, as the Divine leader conducts them along the heavenly plains, bringing under their view new instances of the " power and wisdom,'' they will be filled with "joy unspeakable and full of glory" (i Peter i. 8). Brethren in Christ ! Let us rejoice that we are even now under the guidance of " the Lamb." Ere He left them, Christ promised His dis- ciples that He would be with them 9-2 THE LAMB OF GOD. " ahvay, even unto the end of the world " (Matt, xxviii. 20). We are taught that '' we have a great High Priest that is passed unto the heavens," and are, therefore, en- couraged to " come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain 'mercy, and find grace to help in time of need" (Heb. iv. 14—16). We are reminded that He " is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeingHe ever liveth to make intercession for them " (Heb. vii. 25). He is continually engaged on our behalf. This is not merely a doctrine to be believed— an integral part of our theology. It is a fact to be realised in all its fulness of mean- ing — yesus acting for us in heaven. Are we acting for Him ? That, and nothing less, is personal Chris- tianity. CHAPTER V. THE BRIDE, THE LAMB'S WH^^E : THE NEW JERUSALEM. The blessings bestowed by divine grace upon believers are illustrated in the Scriptures by figures derived from the nearest relationships. Our Lord said, " Whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother " (Matt. xii. 50). The Apostle John thus expressed his admiration of divine love ; " Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God" fi Tohn ni. ij. iiven the marriage relation is selected, as furnishing apt and striking views of the union consti- 94 THE LAMB OF GOD. tuted between God and pardoned sinners. It is not enough that they are forgiven, justified, assimilated to the Saviour, placed under a course of training for the "inheritance,'* which is "reserved'* for them (i Pet. i. 4, 5). They are members < of a spiritual body which stands in the closest fellowship with the Redeemer. So the Church sung in old times, " I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God ; for He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation. He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh Himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels" (Isa. Ix. 10). And Paul, describing the gracious act, says, " Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself for it ; that He THE NEW JERUSALEM. 95 might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by 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 " (Ephes. v. 25—27). The song of Solomon has been generally considered as susceptible of a spiri- tual interpretation of the same kind. Many excellent divines, however, strongly demur to that view. Be that as it may, the marriage relation is employed to represent the union between Christ and His Church. Virtually, it exists already. But as all that is done on earth is only pre- paratory, it may be more scriptural and safer to state that the earthly condition of the Church is that of betrothal ; the actual marriage will be consummated in heaven. This •'. rr V--r^. ', •^., ■-i.-v5- ) II 111 ; IMI 96 THE LAMB OF GOD. accords iven in seems to be the meaning of the passage just quoted ; and with the representation Rev. xix. 7—9 : '' Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to Him : for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made her- self ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white : for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And He saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb." Another figure is introduced in the twenty-first chapter ot the same book. The glorified church is likened to a city. It is God's city— the metropolis of His empire—the place of His s bode. Jerusalem was the city which the Lord chose, " that His name might be there " (2 Chron. vi. 6). In the symbolical prophecy of Ezekiel, in which the arrange- ments and divisions of the city are minutely detailed, the description closes in these significant words, "The name of the city from that day shall be, the Lord is there" (Ezek. xlviii. 35). Now, the literal Jerusalem typified the "Jerusalem which is above/' And whereas " the holy city, new Jerusalem," is represented a " coming down from God out of L iven " (Rev. xxi. 2), that statement is intended, as some think, to convey the idea that the earth, purified by the general con- flagration, will become the central vSpot, the dwelling-place of God with His people. We need not dogmatise on such a point. Wherever God dwells — I I that is, especially manifests His glory to His servants — there is heaven, whether it is here, or in Jupiter, or in Neptune, or one of the remotest stars. God's presence will make any place heaven. Wher- ever it may be, holiness will be characteristic of the place and the people. "There shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomi- nation, or maketh a lie'* (Rev. xxi. 2 7). "Righteousness dwelleth'' in the " new heavens and the new earth'' (i Pet. iii. 13). " The bride, the Lamb's wife," will not have " spot or wrinkle." Heaven will be safety and rest, and joy, and holiness interwoven with all. " O glorious hour ! O blest abode ! I shall be near and like my God, And flesh and sin no more control The saci'ed pleasures of my soul." THE NEW JERUSALEM. 99 If, by God's grace, we reach heaven, we will be perfectly holy. Into the "Jerusalem above'' nothing " that defileth " shall enter. Not even a thought. One of the Psalm-writers said, " I hate vain thoughts ; " and David prayed thus — " Let the words of my rriouth, and the meditation of my heart, be ac- ceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my Redeemer" (Psalm cxix. 113; xix. 14). Here is the difference between a mere professor and a genuine Christian. The former is careful enough of his words. He is scrupulously exact. No rude or impolite expressions will issue from his lips. He will not utter a word that savours of unsoundness, either in faith or morals. But his thoughts are his own ; and as a man " think- eth in his heart, so is he" fProv' xxiii. 7) ; what he is is known only to God, who " searcheth the hearts '' (Rom. viii. 27), but whose power and prerogative in this respect are little regarded by outside Christians. Conversion affects a mighty change. The promise of the new covenant is \ fulfilled in the bestowment of the ** heart of flesh " (Ezek. xxxvi. 26) — a tender, a sensitive, watchful, and anxious state of mind — a holy jealousy — a fear to sin — an abhor- rence of spiritual vagrancy. Per- haps it cannot be better expressed than in the words of quaint Thomas Fuller, the Church historian, who, when he appeared before the " Tri- ers " in Oliver CromwelFs days, and was asked for che evidence of his being in a state of grace, replied, that " he could appeal to God that he made conscience of his very N THE NEW JERUSALEM. loi thoughts ; " with which answer his examiners were satisfied. But " vain thoughts" and vagrant affections will strive to get a lodgment. Un- holy influences are ever at work. "We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places " (Ephes. vi. 12). In what way the ministers of evil gain access to us, and how their suggestions are to be distinguished from the workings of our own imperfectly sanctified ima- ginations, we may find it difficult to decide. But the facts are clear. We are conscious of weakness, of wandering, of worldly affections, of inability to restrain the roring tendencies ; and we lift up our souls to God, adopting the prayers of I02 THE LAMB OF GOD. I Ml ancient saints — "Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity" — " Unite my heart to fear Thy name" — " My soul cleaveth unto the dust ; quicken Thou me according to Thy word " (Psalm Ixxxvi. 1 1 ; cxix. 25, 37)- Who does not long for a better state ? And since that better state involves the exclusion of every- thing " that defileth," the sanctifi- cation then to be attained will reach the inmost thoughts and affec- tions. There the emancipated spirit will be steady " as the needle to the pole." In a higher, nobler sense, the saint will exclaim, " My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed" (Psalm Ivii. 7). Nothing will be seen, nothing will be heard, nothing known, tending to direct the mind from heavenly thoughts f THE NEW JERUSALEM. 103 and aspirations. The eye will no longer sorrowfully " affect the heart " (Lam. iii. 50). The " Bride, the Lamb's wife," will be "all- glorious within.*' And what shall we say of wordSy by which intelligent beings hold intercourse with each other ? " I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue '' (Psalm xxxix. i). A religious in- quirer asked a good man one day for a lesson, who gave him this text : a month afterwards, as he passed by again, he was asked if he did not want another lesson, "No," he replied: "I have not learned that yet." The Apostle James has drawn a frightful picture of human delinquency. "The tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity : so is the tono'ue amono- cix^v rwe^rn- I04 THE LAMB OF GOD. bers, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature ; and it is set on fire of hell '* (James iii. 6). God's people have need to be continually on their guard in this matter. There is much sin committed, even among those who are called by "that worthy name'' (James ii. 7). Sometimes, by not speaking at all — as when we refrain from reproving sin, or from bearing our testimony in favour of truth and holiness — sometimes in speaking too little — indulging in reserve, restraining freedom of utterance, and checking the outflow of brotherly speech ; sometimes in redundance — such as "foolish talking and jesting" (Ephes. V. 4)--complaining words— the utterings of suspicion, or of de- preciation of character, almost ]/ THE NEW JERUSALEM. 1 05 amounting to calumny — and thousand varieties of sins of the tongue, committed every day and every hour, Lord's days not ex- cepted„ We can scarcely wonder at the Psalmist's passionate excla- mation, " Oh that I had wings like a dove ! for then would I fly away, and be at rest. Lo, then would I wander far off, and remain in the wilderness'' (Psalm Iv. 6, 7). And we all have need to remember the apostolic exhortation, " Let your speech be always with grace, sea- soned with salt, that you may know how ye ought to answer every man. (Col. iv. 6). There will not be an idle word in heaven. No harsh or unkind utterances will be heard there. Nothing will be said which the speakers should be unwillinp- that God should hear. " Whisperings '* will be as unknown as " swellings " and " tumults." Brethren will be transparent to each other, and there will be such frankness, and brotherly love, and confidence, that none will be afraid of listeners. For the associations will be per- fect. We are in mixed company now, and we breathe an impure atmosphere. It is a plague-smitten world. All are infected. Some are under cure, but many more refuse to take the remedies, and slander or revile the physician. Evil sur- rounds us in manifold forms — allur- ing — deception — beckoning us to destruction. Some have thought to avoid the danger by abandoning social duties and pleasures, and immuring themselves in unnatural solitude. But God has made us THE NEW JERUSALEM. 107 men and women, and he wills us to fulfil the purposes of our being, which monks and nuns do not. Their withdrawmen/ from the sympathies and activities of life is unchristian ; not a line in the New Testament commendp or justifies it ; nor does it ensure ] safety, as all history shows. The soul of the ascetic is a prey to the tempter as really as the soul of nim who lives in the world, althougll the forms of temptation in the twb cases vary, being cunningly adaipted to their respective peculiarities of character and state. Our LordVforesaw the peril. " I pray not,*' he\said, " that thou shouldest take theni out of the world, but that thou shoiildest keep them from the evil '' (JohAxvii. 15). His disciples are "not\of the world,'' but they are exposed to the •mimm iHMMMMiMNM evil. Yet it is not his pleasure that they should ** go out of the world." They must remain — each one "abiding- in his calling" — "with God " (i Cor. vii. 24), which expres- sion necessarily implies that the calling must be a lawful one. There is a testimony to be borne — a protest to be maintained — a fight to be fought. While the Christian retains his position as a member of society, and aims to be a pattern of industry and uprightness, he must not be " unequally yoked with un- believers " (2 Cor. vi. 14). His duties take him to the store or the farm, his delights are in the family. And it is in the Christian family, in the communion of saints, that he seeks and finds an effectual preser- vation from the evil that is in the world. Nevertheless the exposure \ is perilous ; the " stranger and sojourner" is in danger of settling- down as if i)t home; and the air of the enchanted ground produces a spiritual drowsiness, which, if it be not resisted and shaken off, may be followed by disastrous conse- quences. The cautions of the Bible on this head are numerous and pointed. Is it not delightful to expect '* a better country, that is, a heavenly ?'' We shall meet with no sinners there, nor any doubtful people- none but " the spirits of just men made perfect " (Heb. xii. 23). The nrOlowship will be unrestrained and complete. All will be friends and brothers. There will be no lost time, no useless meetings, no un- profitable intercourse. They will always be gathered together in the II no THE LAMB OF GOD. name of the Master, and He will always be in the midst of them. And how will they be employed ? One sentence expresses the whole — " His servants shall serve Him '' (Rev. xxii. 3). What manner of service it will be, we are but par- tially informed. Fuller information would have been useless, because in our present state we can know but little, and that little imperfectly, of the mode of living in heaven. But it is evident that the service of praise will largely occupy the souls of the blessed. They celebrate the power, wisdom, and goodness of the great Creator (Rev. iv. 11). As they contemplate his various dispensa- tions of mercy and judgment, all subserving the purposes of redemp- tion, they '* sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the s ong of \ le will m. )loyed ? ^hole — Him" ner of it par- mation ause in ow but ctly, of . But dee of e souls ite the > of the Ls they pensa- nt, all jdemp- Moses, >ong of the Lamb " (Rev. xv. 3, 4). At the sound of the seventh trumpet they fall on their faces and worship God (Rev. xi. 17). When the beloved disciple saw in vision the close of the great conflict, "I heard," he says, "as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the- voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying. Alle- luia, for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth " (Rev. xix. 6). These re- presentations can only be under- stood in connection with the belief that the leading events of the his- tory of the Church on earth are known by the Church in heaven. The songs of the angels (they are Christ's "holy angels"), as they rejoice over conversions and victo- ries, excite sympathising gladness among the redeemed ones, and the 1* ' \ 112 THE LAMB OF GOD. arches of heaven re-echo the uni- versal shout. But this is not all. There will be service, in the true meaning of the word, although we are at present unacquainted with the forms which it will assume. On what errands of love we may be sent — what ex- ploring tours may be undertaken, in quest of manifestations of God, hitherto unknown — what duties, novel and glorious, will be dis- charged, bringing us into closer fel- lowship with the Lord, and unveil- ing ourselves to ourselves, in a manner which would not have taken place on earth, — all this is as yet but conjecture. " The day will de- clare it.'' Piety, here on earth, is the subor- dination of all things to God — God in Christ. Its special aspect is thus described :— " Whatsoever, ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him " (Col. iii . 1 7) . This piety will be perfected m heaven. It will not be fitful and impulsive, now weak, now strong, as It too often is here. It will not resemble the intermitting spring, bubbling up violently at intervals' and then unseen and unheard. It will be a steady stream, always flowing, ever full. And Christ is the fountain, Christ IS the light, the true "Sun of righteousness." Speaking of the new Jerusalem, John says, " I saw no temple therein ; for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it ; and the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it ; for the glorv of an^ ^ V =S3i ^Uiii N, !|i N 114 THE LAMB OF GOD. did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof (Rev. xxi. 22^ 23). The beauty of holiness in which " the bride, the Lamb's wife," ap- pears, is the " comeliness '* which the Lord Himself has put upon her (Ezek. xvi. 14), for He ** beautifies the meek with salvation" (Psalm cxlix. 4). There will be mutual complacency. Jesus will take plea- sure in the Church. The Church will be penetrated with admiration and love. All hearts will be satisfied. All faces will be aglow with delight. ** * For ever with the Lord ! * Amen ! so let it be ! Life from the dead is in that word ; 'Tis immortality. Here in the body pent, Absent on earth we roam ; And nightly pitch our moving tent A day's march nearer home." James Montgomery. \ CHAPTER VI. THE WRATH OF THE LAMB. It is the opening of the sixth seal, thus runs the narrative: — "And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake ; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig-tree casteth her un- timely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven de- parted as a scroll when it is rolled together ; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich m 1 \ r r 1 , '( Ii Il6 THE LAMB OF GOD. 1 i: 1 ^ 1 ; 1 men, and the chief captains, and I i the mighty men, and every bond- t ! man, and every free man, hid them- | , selves in the dens and in the rocks 1 of the mountains ; and said to the 1 mountains and the rocks. Fall on 1 us, and hide us from the face of Him , that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb : for the \ great day of His wrath is come ; and who shall be able to stand?'* (Rev. vi. 12, 17.) We will not inquire into the chronology. Whatever event may be referred to, and whenever it may : take place, there will be a terrible conviction that it is the fruit of " the > wrath of the Lamb." Some may wish to persuade themselves and others that it is a chance that has happened; some may blame the rulers for real or supposed neglect, j * THE WRATH OF THE LAMB. 1 1 7 to which the calamity as they imagine, is to be ascribed; some may be vexed at this or that which was done, or omitted to be done, and may suppose that if it had been otherwise, the storm might have been averted. But such explana- tions will not meet the case, nor be admitted by the sufferers at large. They will feel, they will be made to feel, that they are enduring the punishment of sin, and they will trace all to " the wrath of the Lamb.*' But wrath does not indicate pas- sion—unbridled, causeless anger- mere violence of feeling. God^s anger is ever righteous anger— - anger which it would be unrighteous in Him not to feel. It is the anger of the King, whose commands are n'ji v.-^v.^cii — i.iiu tuig-er 01 me judge, PI' ii8 THE LAMB OF GOD. who punishes violations of law. All mercy is undeserved bestow- ment on God's part ; the infliction of punishment is an act of justice. Several of our Lord's parables give intimations of it. The hus- bandmen who slew the son of the lord of the vineyard will be " de- stroyed." Those who insulted the king by whom they had been in- vited to the wedding are doomed to destruction. " Those, mine enemies/' the " nobleman " is re- presented as saying, " which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me" (Luke xix. 27). In the over- throw of Jerusalem, and the dis- persion of the Jews, Christ came to judgment on that nation. Many a time since then He has come, though unseen by men, and employed the conquerors of the world in execut- ing holy vengeance. He will con- tinue to do so, for " He must reign till He hath put all enemies under His feet'^ (i Cor. ^v. 25). Then, at His second visible coming. He will be " revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ '' (2 Thess. i. 7, 8). And now, what shall we say of " the wracii .e Lamb ? " It will hi Jl-gromided, *The merciful, loving Jesus cannot be angry without cause. Those who are " incensed against Him '' (Isa. xlv. 24) have no reason for their opposition, no excuse for their re- sistance. The persecutors of all ct^> ., ^ -'^oaxi, i ctpcii, cina jrrotestant 1>-^ N (would that we had no Protestant persecutions to confess and deplore !) have been instigated by sheer malice. Christ's people did them no harm, but sought their best, their highest good. Nero, Decius, Dio- cletian, Julian, and other heathen 'rulers, will be ** ashamed " and con- founded when they see Him on the throne, and receive the final sentence, dooming them to irre- vocable woe, from the despised Ga- lilaean. Such men as Pope Inno- cent III., Alva, Francis I., Dominic, and the infamous herd of Spanish and Roman inquisitors, will be "ashamed'' when they see their victims on the right-hand, shining in glory and bliss, and hear the righteous Judge utter the awful word, "Depart!" Jeffreys, whose fierce invectives and cruel iude-- ments struck terror into the hearts of so many, will be "ashamed" when the truth bursts upon him, and the "Lord of life " appears as the friend of those whom he trampled on without mercy. And unbelievers of all ages, and classes, and varieties, from the God-defying ones, who spent their lives in poisoning the public mind to those who "believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness" (2 Thess. ii. 12), will be "ashamed" when they discover (though too late) that sin is " no trifle," and that " it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God " (Heb. x. 31). There will be no excuse for them. "When they knew God, they glorified him not as God" (Rom. i. 21). Oppo -^nnities for knowing the will of tl> . Lord were i^ i 'I 122 THE LAMB OF GOD. enjoyed by all, in a greater or less degree. The works of God revealed "His eternal power and godhead " to those who had not the written word, while those to whom the revelation was given had full means of instruc- tion. They will be justly punished ^for misimprovement and neglect, although not in the same propor- tion. As there will be degrees in glory, so there will be also degrees in suffering. He who misused ten talents will endure a severer punish- ment than he who was entrusted with only one. Everyone will " re- ceive the things done in his body " (2 Cor. V. 10). The awards of the last day will be infinitely varied and confessedly equitable. " As many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law X shall be judged by the law " (Rom. 11. 12). "The wrath of the Lamb" will be iniparttaL Here, vile men some- times escape punishment. The proof of crime may be defective ; or a legal quibble averts judgment ; or powerful influence is exerted on the criminal's side; or hard swearing robs the jail of an inmate, perhaps the gallows of a just prey. But when Jesus shall "sit upon the throne of His glory,'' no such mis- adventures will occur. There will be no favouritism there; no mis- taken decision; no error in judg- ment ; no innocent sufferer ; no escape for the condemned ; no delay of punishment; and no appeal. "Lord, Lord," they will say, "have we not prophesied in Thy name? and in Thy name have cast out 124' THE LAMB OF GOD. devils? and in Thy name done many wonderful works ? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you : depart from me, ye that work iniquity'' (Matt. vii. 22, 21). And the sentence will be executed at once. " These shall go away into everlasting punishment " (Matt, xxv. 46). " The wrath of the Lamb " will be trresisttble, " Who shall be able to stand ? '' " Whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken ; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.*' (Matt. xxi. 44.) There will be no possibility of rescue. Men may find shelter from a storm ; but the earthquake spreads desolation from which none can flee, and the volcano vomits forth irretrievable ruin; so, when the Lord's wrath is "kindled but a THE WRATH OF THE LAMB. 12 q little" (Psalm ii. 12), sinners may comfort themselves with dreams of avoidance or cessation; but the announcement of the final award crushes all hope. They cry to " the mountains and the rocks " in vain. '' The wrath of the Lamb " will be everlasting. " The smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever'' (Rev. xiv. n). If there is a heaven, there is also a hell: if there is no hell, there is no heaven. The duration of each is the same, as our Lord Himself expressly de- clares, using the same word to cha- racterise both, as Dean Alford rightly translates the text — *^And these shall go away into eternal punishment ; but the righteous into eternal life." Punishment is neither propitiatory nor purifying. The Nev7 Testament knows of no nur- gatory. And even those who hold that fable regard purgatory rather as a place for payment than for purification. According to them, the criminal may satisfy the law by suiFering; but that is all. He does not become a better man ; so that if their vain hope could be realised, he would still be utterly unfit for heaven, and would be a lonely, miserable man among the saints of God. When the prophet saw in vision the fifth vial poured out " upon the seat of the beast," inflict- ing sore punishment, that punish- ment had no improving effect. "And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast ; and his kingdom was full of darkness ; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, and blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and ^ y^ i s^ r THE WRATH OF THE LAMB. 127 their sores, and repented not of their deeds'' (Rev. xvi. lo, u). Some endeavour to evade the force of these considerations by maintaining that the wicked will not be punished at all. They will simply cease to be. They will be annihilated. And it is alleged that the words used in the New Testa- ment on this subject — such as *^ perish," "destroy," always mean to put out of existence; so that when a wicked man "perishes," he goes into annihilation. He exists no longer. It is undoubtedly true that the ordinary meaning of the Greek word used [aTroXkvfjLL) is to "kill," to "destroy." But such words are often used in secondary senses and with divers application: Sometimes the iS. 1 o 4-^ K,KJ death. " Ilerod will seek the young child to destroy him" (Matt. ii. 13). "The flood came, and destroyed them air' (Luke xvii. 27). ** He also perished" (Acts v. 37). Now, death is not destruction. The man who dies does not literally perish. ^His soul lives on. His body falls a prey to corruption, but it will live again. Sometimes a thing is said to perish when it is rendered perma- nently unfit for its accustomed use. So it is affirmed of the bottles that "burst" and are "marred," that they "perish" (Matt. ix. 17; Mark ii. 22 ; Luke v. 37). Sometimes the idea of defeat is presented, as when a man is baffled or overcome. "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise" (i Cor. i. 19). Sometimes the word imports danger, loss, injury, ruin. "Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died" (Rom. xiv. 15). " Through thy knowledge shall thy weak brother perish, for whom Christ died?- (i Cor. viii. u.) That " weak " Christian was grieved and stumbled, not annihilated, when he was "destroyed" by the incon- siderate conduct of his brother. The " destruction and perdition " threat- ened to those who "will be rich" (i Tim. vi. 9), refer to the state of ruin— spiritual, and sometimes tem- poral—into which such men often fall, even in this life. " The world that then was," says Peter (2 Pet. iii. 6), " being overflowed with water, perished;" but it was not anni- hilated. What, then, is the destruction of the soul ? What takes place when the sinner " perishes ?'' Does he cease to exist ? Is he annihilated ? Far from it. " Eternal life '' is the everlasting enjoyment of God's favour in the world of purity— the holy happiness of the never-dying soul. It is promised to the believer that he shall not " perish/' but have "everlasting life.'' To "perish" is the opposite to that "everlast- ing life," that is, it is the ex- perience of the righteous anger of God against sin, in the unutterable miseries of the world of punish- ment. The phrase "everlasting destruction," used in 2 Thess. i. 9, is obviously equivalent to "indigna- tion and wrath, tribulation and anguish " (Rom. ii. 8, 9), with the addition of the idea of endlessness. Once more. It is evident that the inspired writers always speak , f • 7> THE WRATH OF THE LAMB. 13 1 of future punishment in terms that indicate the most poignant dis- tress—intolerable pain. Whatever figures are employed, whatever re- presentations are given, that punish- ment is something that will he/eU, What else can be the meaning of such expressions as " weeping and gnashing of teeth '' — " tribulation and anguish "—" torment ? " Who does not see that they are totally- inconsistent with the notion of an- nihilation ? " The wrath of the Lamb " will be jusi^. It will be just to the ungodly themselves. They dig their own grave. They commit moral suicide ; or, to change the mode of repre- sentation, the law takes its natural course. Having deserved punish- ment by their transgressions, and rejected God's mercy, nothing but 132 THE LAMB OF GOD. justice remains, for there is "no more sacrifice for sins" (Heb. x. 26). The trial of the tree has been complete, and the issue is, "Cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground ? " (Luke xiii. 7). We must come, then, to the con- ^ elusion, that when the wicked is "driven away in his wickedness" he enters into a state of endless woe. It is his own doing, and the con- sciousness that it is so, strikes dag- gers into his soul. Men of God strove to pluck him "as a brand from the burning," but he refused their help and rushed on to de- struction. We may weep over the ruin, and be stirred up to more earnest effort for the deliverance of others ; but we m.ay not sympathise with those who shrink from the truth of Scripture on this subject, . I because of its supposed incon- sistency with the goodness and mercy of God. It is not befitting or reverent to indulge in objections founded on presumed benevolent feelings. It is not genuine bene- volence which murmurs at the Di- vine justice, or would hinder its exercise. "A God all mercy is a God unjust.^' Our views of the evil of sin are vastly imperfect. We are utterly unable to conceive of its deserts, and we ought to shudder at the thought of charging God with harshness for punishing impenitent offenders, or thinking of him as cruel because he suffers them to continue in their misery. In such a case, pity or benevolence is out of place. We have no right to look with tenderness on those whom ^ God's law has rio-hteou^i^^ demned for their rebellion, nor to harbour thoughts which would tend to a subversion of His throne. His justice must be vindicated. He is "a God of truth and without ini- quity'' (Deut. xxxii. 4). It is ours to bow with submission to His holy ?will, and to exclaim, with the pa- triarch Abraham, "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right ? "— and with the redeemed in glory, " Even so. Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are Thy judgments " (Rev. xvi. 7).. It will be just to God's people. Thus it is written :—-" How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost Thou not judge and avenge our blood on tnem that dwell on the earth ?" (Rev. vi. 10). "And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying. Alleluia ; Salva- THE WRATH OF THE LAMB. 135 tion, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God : for true and righteous are His judg- ments : for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand" (Rev. xix. i, 2). ^^t is a righteous thing with God,*' said Paul, " to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you " (2 Thess. i. 6). There will be a fearful retri- bution. God will vindicate his ser- vants, and they will rejoice, not with the vengeful feelings of sinful hu- manity, but with the satisfaction of the holy at the destruction of the foes of godliness. It will be just to the universe, A heavy cloud has long hung over the government of the great God. Many a one has exclaimed, " How u6 THE LAMB OF GOD. A. long shall the wicked triumph?" (Psalm xciv. 3). Many a godless man has defied his Maker, ascribed His forbearance to weakness, and braved His threatenings. But God will vindicate Himself as well as His people. The acts of His govern- 'ment will be explained and justified, to the entire satisfaction of all right- minded subjects. It is necessary that it should be so. Wrong is done to a law-abiding community where a criminal is not punished. But in God's government the seeming delay is not the denial of justice. " The wrath of the Lamb " is not dreaded, because the outpouring is long with- held : but when once it arises the effects will be tremendous, and there will be " no remedy.'* Mcxi and brethren ! put not far from you the evil day. ** Awake to THE WRATH OF THE LAMB. 137 righteousness, and sin not" (i Cor. XV. 34). " Seek ye the Lord while He may be found, call ye upon Him while He is near" (Isa. Iv. 6). He is near now. And now, all-gracious and loving, Jesus delivers us " from the wrath to come" (i Thess. i. 10). Hewarns, counsels, invites, promises. May we be softened and subdued by His mercy ! CHAPTER VII. THE LAMB'S BOOK OF LIFE. The subject of 'the last chapter was unspeakably solemn. What more awful theme than " the wrath of the Lamb?" What sadder spectacle than that of a human being whose character and life are such as to impel us to the conclu- sion that in a few years, at most, the "wrath'' will inevitably fall upon him ? Blessed be God, there are others, and they will be found at the last day to be "a great multitude, a number which no man could num- ber" (Rev. vii. 9), Whose final lot will be very different. They are *\written in the Lamb's book of # 4 \s\ 140 THE LAMB OF GOD. life" (Rev. xxi. 27), and they will live for ever with him. The sacred writer had been de- scribing the heavenly state under the figure of a city. Keeping that representation in' view, the " book of life " is the register of the citizens. ^ The names of all who are entitled to the rights and privileges of citizen- ship are enrolled there. Citizenship on earth was either hereditary, or obtained on the ful- filment of certain conditions, or purchased, or bestowed as a reward for some worthy or heroic deed. But in none of these ways could any of the sons of men lay claim to heaven. "All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God " (Rom.iii. 22), and deliverance from the penalty thus incurred is not of our own procuring, in whole or in THE LAMB'S BOOK OF LIFE. 14 1 part. The Romish Church has in- vented nice distinctions. She talks of the grace of condignity and the grace of congruity, and would fain persuade us that the works of some make them worthy of divine favour, and that others, whose attainments are not so high, can at any rate ac- quire di fitness for mercy. This is not the theology of the Bible. " O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in Me is thine help " (Hos. xiii. 9). "By grace are ye saved " (Ephes. ii. 8). The heavenly citizenship is in- deed connected with birth ; but it is the new birth. Our Lord said, *' Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God "' (John iii. 3). That a great change is here intimated, and that its ulterior developments are remark- able, and of great importance, will be generally acknowledged. It will be profitable to inquire further into this matter. Scripture employs very striking figfures in the illustration of spiritual subjects. Thus, for in- , stance, it states that sinners are " dead in trespasses and sins," the same persons being spoken of immediately afterwards as living and acting ; " wherein in time past ye walked, according to the course of this world " (Ephes. ii. i, 2). Life in sin is moral death, the absence of all spiritual vitality and vigour, that IS, of love to God ; and it imports legal death, the exposure of the transgressor to the condemnatory sentence of the law, which sentence can only be cancelled by the blood of Jesus. This takes place when THE LAMB'S BOOK OF LIFE. 143 the sinner believes on the Saviour, receiving and resting on His atone- ment. " Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved" (Acts xvi. 31). "He hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him *' (2 Cor. V. 21). The soul comes into agreement with God. This, dear reader, is an essential thing. The new birth is not a mere change of opinion— the assumption of another name— the union with a new party. You may renounce error, and become orthodox — you may leave a corrupt church, and join a pure one— and remain unrenewed, after all. But have you come into agreement with God ? In effecting this change there is no uniformity of method, for the Holy Spirit accomplishes the great work in an infinite variety of ways. Sometimes there are deep pungent convictions penetrating and pierc- ing the soul, and driving it to the very verge of despair; sometimes there are gentle drawings, and such a gradual transformation, that the moment and the manner of the spiritual passage into life are alto- gether hidden. The question is not, how is the soul born again ? but, has the birth taken place? Now, by whatever method it may have pleased God to renew us, the result is substantially the same. We ac- knowledge His justice in the con- demnation of the sinner. We "mourn apart" for our iniquity. We frame no excuses for our re- bellion, nor do we shelter ourselves undeK any "refuge of lies." We THE LAMB'S BOOK OF LIFE. 1 45 do not ** /bout D establish our own righteousness'' (Rom. x. 3). We confess that as sin separates from God, and deprives the sinner of His favour, it is impossible to regain that favour by subsequent obedience, however pure, and how- ever protracted. We flee from self, and sin, and all human confidences, to " the blood of the Lamb," and adopt Cowper's beautifully plain and vigorous expressions : — " There is a fountain filled with blood, Drawn from Immanuel's veins ; And sinners plunged beneath that flood, Lose all their guilty stains. The dying thief rejoiced to see That fountain in his day ; And there have I,* though vile as he. Washed all my sins away." * So Cowper wrote. Not, " O may I there " — as the hymns-books have it. J 'I i 146 THE LAMB OF GOD. And now we are safe. " He that hath the Son hath life'' (i John V. 12). He is reconciled. God looks upon us in Christ. The finished work, on which we rely, is our own. We are Christ's, and therefore mem- bers of the family, children of God, citizens of heaven. Yet let us not think that this is all, or that, if there is nothing more, the evidence or our personal Chris- tianity is sufficiently clear and con- vincing. The " faith of assurance," of which some persons speak, must produce its proper effects, without which it may prove to be a delusion. While, therefore, we hold and de- clare the safety of the soul that be- lieves in Jesus, that safety being founded on the Lord's finished work, it is of the greatest importance to bear in mind that the safety, if THE LAMB'S BOOK OF LIFE. 147 real, is twofold. We are not only delivered from the punishment of sin, but also from its power. True faith purifies the heart (Acts xv. 9). The love of Christ implanted there cannot co-exist with the love of sin. We experience what Dr. Chal- mers called "the expulsive power of a new affection.'' If "joined unto the Lord," we are " one spirit " (i Cor. vi. 17). We naturally ask, on all occasions of doubt or diffi- culty, "What would the Saviour say? How would He act?" We desire to have " the mind which was also in Christ Jesus" (Phil. ii. 5). This is the godliness of the Gospel. " If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature" (2 Cor. v. 17). "We all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are chane'ed into tVjA Qam*:^ i*mar«-^" 148 THE LAMB OF GOD. (2 Cor. iir. 18). This was God's pur- pose : His people are predestinated "to be conformed to the image of His Son," and they "follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth'* (Rom. viii. 29 ; Rev. xiv. 4). John Newton pithily observes, that "Christ has * taken our nature into heaven, to represent tcs, and has left us on earth, with His nature to represent Every genuine Christian is anxi- ous to be known as '' Jesus Christ's man.'' He knows that interest in Christ is to be manifested by likeness to Him. As nothing " that defileth" will enter the heavenly city, so it is equally true that Christian life here is a progressive preparation for that state. We are under training for residence in the King's palace. The process of sanctification is going on THE LAMB'S BOOK OF LIFE. 149 continually; by the truth, better and better understood— by the ordi- nances of Christian fellowship-bv the sorrows of the pilgrim age. " Our hearts are fastened to the earth By strong and endless ties ; But every sorrow cuts a string, And summons us to rise." The old divines used to speak of a M/e to heaven, and of meeMess for It. Both are necessary. They are not to be confounded ; neither must they be separated. Theoretical anti- nomians have blunderingly severed them from each other; and practical antinomianism has sometimes fol- lowed ; but no honest Christian wi'l be satisfied without "the answer of a good conscience toward God" (i Pet. iii. 21), and the outward tes- — -^J ot a iioiy iiie. ".Blessed are they that do His command- ments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city" (Rev. xxii. 14). There is a various reading of that text, which is , adopted by Dean Alford, on the authority of the oldest manuscripts. His version is, "Blessed are they that wash their robes,'' &c. The two readings express the whole truth. Believers have "washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb" (Rev. vii. 14), and all who have so " washed " are prepared and zealous to "do the commandments" of the Lord. Truth is understood, believed, felt, mani- fested. The Lord's prayer for his people is heard ; they are " kept from the evil." The inheritance is "reserved" for the redeemed, and THE LAMB'S BOOK OF LIFE. 151 they are "kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation" (iPet.i.5). There is another element, which must not be lost sight of. It is per- severance. Some seem to begin well, and are hindered. In too many instances the fervour of the "first love" abates, so that it be- comes a matter of doubt whether it was really love, and not rather a kind of animal excitement, an im- pulse produced by sympathy. But it is said of the just man that his path " is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day" (Prov. iv. 18), and the faith of God's elect is described as believing "to the saving of the soul " (Heb. X. 39). The Lord Jesus speaks of the " well of water spring- ing up unto everlasting life " (John . 152 THE LAMB OF GOD. iv. 14). The order is, repentance, faith, holiness, heaven. What shall we say, then, of those who seemingly "witnessed a good confession,'' but have fallen into a cold, worldly state, so that, though they have " a name " to live, they appear to be "dead ?'' (Rev. iii. i). ^Just this, that either they never knew the grace of God, and must be treated accordingly, or that they have backslidden. If the latter, they may expect the rod. "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten; be zealous therefore, and repent'' (Rev. iii. 19). "He re- storeth my soul ; He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake" (Psalm xxiii. 3). Yet let no one presume. If this reasoni?jg be indulged in — " I was converted to God, and he who began J THE LAMB'S BOOK OF LIFE. 153 the good work will carry it on " — while at the same time the in- dividual is living a careless, godless life — it is most probable that he is deceiving hiiiiself™ He never was converted. "I would not give a straw/' said the venerable John Newton, " for that assurance which sin will not damp.'' There is very great danger that such a case as has been referred to will resemble that described by the prophet : " Be- hold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye hcive kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand ; ye shall lie down in sorrow " (Isa. 1. 11). Those who are "written in the Lamb's book of life" will enter the city. What is implied in that statement ? 154 THE LAMB OF GOD. -11; fl! If it be asserted that the name was continued on the citizen's list because no act was committed which would incur the penalty of erasure, another question arises— How was it that no such act was committed ? A hymn-writer says : — ^ " Trust Him : He will not deceive us, Though we falsely of Him deem ; He will never, never leave us. Nor will let us quite leave Him." It is sometimes asserted, that " the child of God may fall foully, but not finally,'' and the cases of David and Peter are cited in illus- tration. This may be admitted. But the fallen man, wMk he is in a fallen state^ has no reason to con- clude that he is a child of God. His imagined experience may be a delusion. Though he professed to THE LAMB'S BOOK OF LIFE. 1 55 love God, it may be that it was only profession, and that he is an un- regenerate being tifl this hour. Whatever may be the decision on that point, his immediate duty is repentance, and till there are signs of repentance no further conclusion can be arrived at. Then the trans- gressor, if unreconciled before, finds mercy, and is admitted into the family ; if previously there had been valid evidence of sonship, he is for- given and restoied. " I acknow- ledged my sin unto Thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord ; and Thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin " (Psalm xxxii. 5). Take which view you will — either that certain persons have " kept the faith,'" and maintained an unsullied 15^ THE LAMB OF GOD. profession — or, that having at any time wandered into sin, they have been brought to repentance and re- admitted to their first position — so that their names continue in " the Lamb's book of life''— we ask again, What does that statement , imply ? It implies the almighty grace of God. The " living God " is the source of all life. If we who were once " dead in trespasses and sins," now " live unto God," it is because God himself has " quickened " us. If we, who were formerly willing slaves of the wicked one, now as willingly serve the Lord, the Apostle's explanation is that He " worketh in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure " (Phil. ii. 13), which harmonises with the ancient prophecy that Messiah's I THE LAMB'S BOOK OF LIFE. 1 57 people should be "willing in the day of His power " (Psalm ex. 3). The acts are ours : we " will/' and we " do." It is equally true that God "worketh in us both to will and to do." While he mightily in- fluences us, we are conscious of free agency in the whole matter. There is grace — and there is power — and there is the exercise of the will — free, yet wrought upon. It is a knot which we cannot untie. But the facts are indubitably certain. Perhaps it is one of the theological puzzles which will be explained when "we see light." Meanwhile every Christian all the world over, Calvinist or Arminian,will subscribe the apostolic declarations — " Not I, but the grace of God which was with me " (i Cor. xv. 10) ; " By grace are ye saved, though faith; and that / 158 THE LAMB OF GOD. not of yourselves ; it is the gift of God : not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Chrf.st Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them'* (Ephes.4i. 8 — lo). , Further, it exhibits tlia sove- reignty of Divine love. God Him- self constitutes men citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem, and inscribes their names in " the book of life.*' He is not bound to save any, and He saves whom He will. The saved have no merit: the lost have no just complaint. And inasmuch as it is ** the Lamb's book of life," that expression intimates that the Son of God was a party to the whole transaction. He " loved the Church, and gave Himself for it." Once more — we learn the faithful-. THE LAMB'S BOOK OF LIFE. 1 59 ness of the Lord to His promises. "All things are possible with God/' said one of the early Fathers, " ex- cept to lie." Paul speaks of the " hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the ivorld began " (Tit. i. 2). The names were placed in the book — believers in their successive generations, v/ere made living members of Christ's mystical body — and at the last day the Saviour- Judge will issue the in- vitation, " Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom pre- pared for you from the foundation of the world " (Matt. xxv. 34). Then will the Lord's words be fully under- stood — " I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all ; w i^ and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one'* (John x. 28 — 30). There was reason, therefore, for the triumphant language of the Apostle — "I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor |)rincipalities,nor powers, northings present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord " (Rom. viii- 38, 39). Finally, the union between Christ and His people is set forth. They are His, by the Father's gift— His, because they are " purchased with His own blood" (Acts xx. 28)— His, through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, whose gracious in- fluences are the consummation of THE LAMB'S BOOK OF LIFE. l6l « ^ the redemption-work on earth, stamping the Lord's own likeness on the soul. And being His, He will not lose them. The great purpose must be accomplished, and the Church shall be " presented to Himself '' (Ephes. v. 27). He can- not rest till all is done. " I will come again, and receive you unto Myself : that where I am, there ye may be also" (John xiv. 3). " Father, I will "—thus He breathed out His Divine desire — " 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" (John xvii. 24). That glory will be fully revealed at " the marriage supper of the Lamb " (Rev. xix. 9). Then will all the members be in their places. Not one will be missing. The eccentric but good Rowland Hill had been preaching for the Rev. George Clayton. It was a summer evening, and the sun had ju3t set. After the congregation had retired, the oM man walked down the half-dark aisle to the door, repeating, as he went, the following lines : — "And when I'm to die, Receive me, I'll cry ; For Jesus has loved me, I cannot tell wiiy. But this I can find, We two are so joined. That He'll not be in heaven, and leave me behind." iK How wonderful the words uttered by our Lord, expressive of the union between Him a.nd His Heavenly Father! "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work" — THE lamb's book OF LIFE. 163 } % )J "as the Father hath life in Him- self; so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself — "as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee " (John v. 17, 26 ; xvii. 21). No priest, no prophet, ever spoke in this manner. They would not have dared to do it. It would have been the nearest approach to blasphemy that could be imagined. But when we think of " the Word,'' who was " with God," and " was God," all is natural. What would have been profane presumption in others, was the lawful utterance of Divine, though incomprehensible relation- ship. It was language peculiar to the Father and the Lon. No merely human lips could use it. Incompre- hensible it is, doubtless ; but that is no bar to belief. Were there more /lear^ in our religion we should not 164 THE LAMB OF GOD. allow ourselves to be perplexed by doubts and misgivings which too often rob the Christian of peace. Love would hush all to silence. '*Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in Thee " (Isa. xxvi. 3). ' It is a " book of lifer Is there life in our souls— the life of faith— of love—of satisfaction with God in Christ ? That is the grand inquiry. Begin there. Do not go back to the counsels of eternity, and ask if your names were written then and there. Begin at God's beginning, here. Has he breathed on your soul, and said, " Live ? " Is Christ " in you ? '' Is He your trust? Is He "pre- cious ? '' Then, you are " in Christ.^' And he says, " Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear ^^ \. THE lamb's book OF LIFE. 165 fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can ye, except ye abide in me." " All that the Father giveth me shall come to me ; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent me. . . And this the will of Him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, may have everlasting life : and I will raise him up at the last day " (John XV. 4 ; vi. 37, 38,40). *. I .^ii':,'- CHAPTER VIII. THE LAMB SLAIN FROM THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD. " Slain from the foundation of the world/' This is explained by I Peter i. 19, 20. "The precious blood of Christ . . . who verily was foreordained before the founda- tion of the world/' That which God has determined to do is certain to be done. Hence, the predictions of the prophets sometimes assume thesftyle of history, and "holy men of God who spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost'' re- corded as facts many events which would not take place till the lapse of centuries, or which have not yet taken place. ► r i68 THE LAMB OF GOD. It is said of God that He " de- clareth the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done " (Isa. xlvi. lo). There is a Divine plan, of which human history is the development. Foreknowledge is equivalent to foreappointment. God " workoth all things after the counsel of His own wiir* (Ephes. i. ii). He can never be taken by surprise. There is no shifting policy, no change of measures, in His administration. Provision is made for contingencies, but which are not contingencies to Ilim, "The Lord bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought ; He maketh the devices of the people of none effect. The counsel of the Lord standeth for ever, the thoughts of His heart to all genera- tions '* (Psalm xxxiii. 10, 1 1). God has no afterthoughts. Whether, in the present state of our knowledge, we can reconcile this with the free- dom of the human will, is another question, into the discussion of which it is needless to enter, since the only issue would be that we should find " no end, in wandering mazes lost,'* God purposes; man acts. God's purposes are never thwarted ; man is baffled every day. God says, '' My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure " (Isa. xlvi. lo) ; man is often compelled to say, " My purposes are broken off, even the thoughts of my heart" (Job xvii. ii). We ought to be very careful how we think and speak on this subject. It is easier to make mistakes than to rectify them . The followi ng remarks are taken from a lecture on theology : 170 THE LAMB OF GOD. " It is peculiarly important, in re- gard to these points, to bear in mind that they are truths of pure revela- tion, or rather facts in the Divine government. The question is not, what we may think it fit or right for God to do— but, what God has actually done. "The opposing theories have their peculiar difficulties and mys- teries. It is our duty to adopt those views which agree best with the general tenor of New Testament representations, without slavish ad- herence to the phraseology of human systems. " Truths may appear to be incon- gruous or irreconcilable, which are not so in reality. We are but in the infancy of thought and religion. " Just conceptions of the state of man, as a fallen being, will be found THE LAMB SLAIN. 171 to be intimately connected with clear and scriptural views of sal- vation. Imperfect or erroneous thoughts of sin lie at the foundation of the objections usually brought against predestination and election. ** That all may be saved who will, is plainly asserted in the Word of God. But fallen man is obstinately disinclined to the submission which the Gospel requires. Who will venture to affirm that God is bound to remove that disinclination ? Must not the removal, i^ accomplished, be altogether of grace ? That granted, will it not follow, that what God has done he purposed before- hand to do ? '' The death of the Lord Jesus was planned from eternit **Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to ill i i 172 THE LAMB OF GOD. our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began " (2 Tim. i. 9). " The fellow- ship of the mystery which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ. . . The eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord " (Ephes. iii. 9, 11). The fall of our first parents did not disappoint God. It was fore- seen ; yea, more, it formed part of the divine arrangement, the result of which will be the greater mani- festation of the divine glory — the wisdom, the righteousness, the love of the Most High. "What is man,'' said the royal Psalmist, " that Thou art mindful of him ? And the son of man, that THE LAMB SLAIN. 173 Thou visitest him " (Psalm viii. 4). Why should God devise and execute the plan of redemption ? It was not because there was any necessity for such an interposillon. He might have secured His own honour in some other way ; nor was He under any obligation to save sinners. Statements are sometimes made which are hardly consistent with the reverence due to the Supreme Being, and imply strange forgetfulness, or even ignorance, on the part of those by whom they are uttered. They would have us believe that God would be unrighteous if he did not show mercy. They merge all His attributes in love. But to the adoption of their scheme the intro- duction of evil is an insuperable bar- rier; for, although it will be ulti- mately overruled for good, suffering ;' meanwhile ensues, in innumerable ways and forms ; and how does that suffering harmonise with love ? God is holy; not the one or the other separately, but all combined. There may seem, sometimes, to be collision and inter-clashing ; but it is rather imaginary than real. In the misty ' state of our moral atmosphere our view is confused and confined : when the clouds are dispersed we shall see the full-orbed glory. "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judg- ments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? Or who hath been His counsellor ? Or who hath first given to Him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again ? For of Him, and through Him, and to s** THE LAMB SLAIN. 175 Him, are all things; to whom be glory for ever. Amen'' (Rom. xi. 33—36). The existence of evil is a terrible fact. We cannot get rid of it. It is here; and it clings to us. Would that men viewed it in its proper light! Would that religious men and re- ligious thinkers regarded it with deep seriousness and aversion, as "an evil thing and a bitter" (Jer. ii. 1 9) ! There would be less crude theology and more humble godliness if the enormity of sin were discerned and felt, as the Bible represents it. It is only in the light that beams from the cross of Christ that the great abomination is seen in all its horrid reality. " From the foundation of the world.'* We cannot penetrate into divine councils, nor pretend to describe 176 THE LAMB OF GOD. the manner in which the compact (so to speak) between the Father and the Son was formed. It is enough for us to know that the accomplishment of the designs of everlasting love was committed to the Divine Son, to be effected by , His mediatorial work ; that the en- tire scheme of redemption was framed and adjusted, in all its parts, from eternity; and that the arrangements of the world-affairs of the Church's history were ordered in reference to it : that is, it was in the mind of God all the time, and the course of events was shaped accordingly. The institution of sacrifices was one of the earliest indications of the mind of God. It was the embodi- ment of the general principle, which seems to have been admitted in almost every part of the world, that "without shedding of blood is no remission " (Heb. ix 22), When Abel " offered unto God a more ex- cellent sacrifice than Cain" fHeb. xi. 4) ; when Noah commenced the new life of the world by the sacri- ficial act; when Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as they traversed the plains and hills of Palestine, the future heritage of their race, erected altars at all their stopping-places ; it was not merely an expression of thanksgiving for mercies, but a de- claration of their acceptance of God's method of salvation, by atone- ment for sin. However limited and obscure their conceptions (and that was unavoidable), it is not to be supposed that they who " confessed that they were strangers and pil- grims on the earth,'' and desired B IMAGE EVALUATrON TEST TARGET (MT-3) ^\% h '^ C/s % ^ 7. '^^ 1.0 I.I IS IIIM ||M 2.0 1.8 1.25 U 1 1.6 — li T= « 6" ► V] * ¥ '>>^ ^ ^ J % 7 % Photographic Sciences Corporation -^•v ^ it may be prudent to speak THE LAMB SLAIN. 179 with modest reserve. Much more has been written on that theme than is warranted by sound prin- ciples of interpretation. But none can hesitate to believe that King David was divinely constituted a typical forerunner, as well as the direct ancestor, of our Lord and Saviour. He ruled over God's earthly people as Jesus rules the Church ; and prophecy, in depicting the future glories of that Church, employs very remarkable language, applicable only to Christ, the spi- ritual David. " I will make an ever- lasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people" (Isa. Iv. 3, 4). ^^Jhey shall serve the Lord their God, and David their King, whom I will raise i8o THE LAMB OF GOD. up unto them'' (Jer. xxx. 9). "I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David ; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. And I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them" (Ezek. xxxiv. 22, 23 ; xxxvii. 24). *' Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the Lord their God, and David their king; and shall fear the Lord and His goodness in the latter days " (Hos. vi. 5). "The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy" (Rev. xix. 10). While those inspired servants of Jehovah were raised up, in succes- sive ages, as preachers of righteous- ness and reprovers of sin ; and while they foretold the doom of powerful monarchies and states (history has THE LAMB SLAIN. I8i faithfully interpreted their predic- tions), there was one theme which employed them all. From Moses to Malachi, they bore testimony to God's designs, and directed the attention of their readers to Him who was to be revealed in " fulness of time " ; the prophet, who should be " counted worthy of more glory than Moses " (Heb. iii. 3) ; the priest, "after the order of Melchizedek" (Psalm ex. 4) ; the king, who should "reign in righteousness" (Isa. xxxii. i); the "Prince of peace" (Isa. ix. 6) ; the " mighty God," and yet the . " man of sorrows " (Isa. liii. 3) ; the " Lord our Fdghteous- ness" (Jer. xxiii. 6); the babe of Bethlehem, whose "goings forth have been of old, from everla,sting" (Micah V. 2); the Conqueror, who should " have dominion from sea to 6 l82 THE LAMB OF GOD. sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth" (Psalm Ixxii. 8) ; the sufferer, whose every footstep would be marked by tears and blood, but who should " see of the travail of his soul, and be satisfied'* (Isa. liii. 1 1). Yea, " to Him give all the prophets witness, that through His name whosoever believ=^th in Him shall receive remission of sins" (Acts X. 43). And how wonderfully did the providence of God prepare for his coming! Jacob's words were ful- filled, for "the sceptre" had not " departed from Judah," (Gen. xlix. 10.) Notwithstanding disastrous wars and unheard of calamities, the Jews were preserved as a nation, and the line of David kept unbroken till " David's greater son" appeared. Forty years after his death they were scattered to the four winds of heaven, and they still wander through the world, mingling with all people, but amalgamating with none, and Jerusalem is "trodden down of the Gentiles," and will be so, " until the time of the Gentiles be fulfilled,'^ (Luke xxi. 24.) " The law made nothing perfect '' (Heb. viii. 19). It was not a failure ; though it did not accomplish the purpose which its fond friends assigned to it. It was neither in- tended nor adapted to save souls. Those who were saved under the law, were not saved by the law, but by the grace of God as revealed in the promise to Abraham and ful- filled in Christ, in whose redemption work we see the divine " righteous- ness for the remission of sins that are past,' (Rom. iii. 25), The law 6* 1 84 THE LAMB OF GOD. showed the helplessness of fallen man, and the hopelessness of all his attempts to save himself, and it led the way to the "better hope/' It was " our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ,'^ (Gal iii. 24). Philosophy had failed altogether. There were " great swelling words,'' and subtle reasonings, and fine-spun theories, but there was no power. " The world by wisdom knew not God,'' (i Cor. i. 21.) Socrates, and Plato, and Aristotie, had won the world's admiration, but they could not convert it. Men grew worse under their treatment (Rom. i. 1 8-3 2 .) They were " physicians of no value," Job. xiii. 4.) But let us hear the voice of the Seer, " rapt into future times," " Be- hold my servant, whom I uphold ; mine elect, in whom my soul de- )> lighteth : I have put my spirit upon him he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not cry nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench ; he shall bring forth judgment unto truth. He shall not fail nor be discouraged till he have set judgment in the earth ; and the isles shall wait for his law," (Isaiah xlii. 1—4.) So it is. **The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world," is loved and honoured in all civilized lands, and among the filthiest and fiercest barbarians. And "all kings shall fall down before him; all nations shall serve him," (Psalm Ixxii. 11.) That is God's plan. He has been work- ing it out amidst the revolutions of empires and the rise and fall of dy- i86 THE LAMB OF GOD. nasties, and even by^means of them; and he will not cease till there shall be given '^to the Lord Jesus "do- minion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations,jand lan- guages should serve him ; His do- minion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed" (Dan. vii. 14). We are brought, then, to this conclusion, that the death of Christ is the central fact, embodying the central truth of Christianity. In the religion of the New Testament, every thing looks back to it — springs from it. Christ is "all, and in all" (Col. iii. 11). See it in the doctrines. Election: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual bles- sings in heavenly places in Christ ; according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love" (Ephes. i. 3, 4 ; i Pet. i. 2). Justi- fication:— ''Oi him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption " (i Cor. i. 30); we are "justified by his blood" (Rom. v. 9). Sanctifi- cation: — "How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit, offered himself with- out spot to God, purge your con- science from dead works to serve the living God" (Heb. ix. 1 4) ? Adoption ; — "When the fulness of time was come God sent forth his son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the i88 THE LAMB OF GOD. law, that we might receive the adoption of sons/' "As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name/' (Gal. iv. 4,5; John i. 12). Perseverance: " Wherefore he is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them," (Heb. vii. 25). Heaven: — "So shall we ever be v^ith the Lord." I Thess. iv. 7). See it in experience. One text will suffice : " I am crucified with Christ : nevertheless I live ; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me ; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me " (Gal. ii. 20). See it in practice. What are the THE LAMB SLAIN. 189 motives? " None of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to him- self. For whether we live, we live unto the Lord ; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord ; whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that He might be Lord both of the dead and living'' (Rom. xiv. 7—9; i Cor. vi. 20; 2 Cor. V. 14, 15). Whence comes the strength? "Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him" (i Thess. V. 10); "My grace is sufficient for thee; for my strength is made perfect in weak- ness " (2 Cor. xii. 9) ; "I can do all things through Christ which streng- theneth me" (Phil. iv. 13). Oh, the grandeur of redemption ! It is THE fact in God's history— His I go THE LAMB OF GOD. i own wonderful expedient for the manifestation of His glory, and the reconcilement of both worlds. Here, all the attributes of Jehovah are concentrated and displayed. Hence will flow rich streams of happiness and purity among the innumerable hosts of the glorified, for ever and ever ; happiness ever growing, purity becoming continually more exalted ; such as " eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of men " (t Cor. ii. 9 ; without intermission, and without end. And let the believer meditate on the glory of the Redeemer. God the Father honours Him. The voice from heaven declared it at His baptism. His ascension in our nature, when He was " received up into glory ; " ratified the declaration. V / ' , He is " crowned with glory and honour '' (Heb. ii. 9 ; Ephes. i. 20—23; Phil. ii. 9— 11). The Church on earth honours Him. He is her Head and Lord. No power or authority but His is ov/ned in things spiritual. All His plans and projects must coincide with His will and promote His glory. The Church in heaven honour Him. It is their employment. It constitutes their highest bliss. There they behold His glory, and join the angelic host in singing ;nVorthy is the Lamb that was slain ! " It is one and the same song, for ever and ever. But there is no cloying of the spiritual appetite. The love of Christ will be viewed hy them under such numerous aspects, and will receive illustrations 1^2 THE LAMB OF GOD. SO fresh, and varying, and multi- plied, that it will afford matter for thought and devotion during endless ages, and still " unsearchable riches'* (Ephes. iii. 8). " Jesus, my Saviour and my God, Thy wondrous love reveal ; Let angels spread Thy name abroad. And men thy glories tell. " Let all with sweet and cheerful voice, Harmonious anthems raise ; Be thou the spring of all their joys. The life of all their praise. *' Be thou exalted in the heavens, i\nd o^er this earthly ball ; Let creatures into nothing sink, And Christ be all in all." Beddome. And Jesus honours his people. Hehonours them here with tokens of His favour. Whatever excellence THE LAMB SLAIN. 193 \ dwells in them, it is the reflected glory of Christ. And with what honour does He bedeck them in heaven ! Despised by their fellow- men, they are "kings and priests*' unto God, and in His dwelling- place above they will " shine forth as the sun" (Matt. xiii. 43). They w^ill share in the glory of the Great King. " To Him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in His throne" (Rev. iii. 21). This will be the honour of all "His saints." CONCLUSION. Dear Reader, Your attention has been called in this little book to the grace and the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. You have been invited to contemplate His atoning sacrifice, whereby God is " just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus " (Rom. iii. 26). You have seen the exercise of His power and authority in the mission of His Apostles, who still, by their writings, teach the Church. You have meditated on the Lord's control over all events, in the world and in the Churoh, and have been exhorted to derive comfort from the fact that Jesus reigns. You have 1 196 THE LAMB OF GOD. viewed the glory of that heavenly state, where the presence of the Saviour gladdens all hearts, and perpetual advances are made in knowledge and bliss, by means which He has Himself ordained and appointed. You have \ beheld afar off the spotless purity of "the bride, the Lamb's wife." You have listened to the thunder- tones of " the wrath of the Lamb.'' You have inquired into the proofs of citizenship in the heavenly Jeru- salem, and have noted the blessed- ness of those whose names are written in the Lamb's "book of life." And you have been reminded that all these wonderful transactions were planned beforehand, and fully provided for "from the foundation of the world." And now, "What think ye of CONCLUSION. 197 Christ?" Perhaps you a:e con- vinced that the statements which have been made are well-founded, and that the atonement of Christ, His kingly rule, and other repre- sentations of His power and ma- jesty, are Bible truths. So far, well. But this is not all. In the year 181 7, the late Robert Haldane, Esq., visited Geneva, and was the instrument of a revival of evangelical religion in that ancient city. His labours were re- markably blessed to the theologi- cal students, among others to Merle d'Aubign^, now the far-famed his- torian of the Reformation. Mr. D'Aubign6 had "heard of him as the English or Scotch gentleman who spoke so much about the Bible, a thing which seemed very strange to him and the other students, to / A 198 THE LAMB OF GOD. whom the Bible was a shut book. He afterwards met Mr. Haldane at a private house, along- with some other friends, and heard him read from an English Bible a chapter from the Epistle to the Romans, concerning the natural corruption of man, a doctrine in regard to which ' he had never before received any instruction. He was astonished to hear of men being corrupt by- nature; but, clearly convinced by the passages read to him, he said to Mr. Haldane, " Now, I do indeed see this doctrine in the Bible.'' '' Yes,'' replied the good man, " but do you see it tn your hearts " * That question was an arrow which pierced his soul ; the wound was healed by the blood of Christ, which '* cleanseth from all sin." * Works iii. 358. CONCLUSION. 199 Something more is necessary than clearness of conception, and admis- sion of the truth of Bible doctrines. " With the heart man believeth unto righteousness " (Rom. x. 10). " The knowledge of Jesus Christ," said Richard Cecil, ** is a wonderful mystery. Some men think they preach Christ gloriously, because they name Him every two minutes in their sermons. But that is not preaching Christ. To understand, and enter into, and open his various offices and characters — the glories of his person and work — his rela- tion to us, and ours to Him, and to God the Father, and God the Spirit through Him — this is the knowledge of Christ. The Divines of the pre- sent day are stunted dwarfs in this knowledge, compared with the great men of the last age. To know Jesus 200 THE LAMB OF GOD. Christ for ourselves, is to make him a Consolation, Delight, Strength, Righteousnes, Companion, and End/'* - How is it with you ? Can you affirm all this of yourselves ? Is the Lord Jesus your Consolation, De- light, Strength, Righteousness, Com- 'panion, and End'' — your "all in all?" Nothing else will serve as valid evidence of a state of godli- ness, that is, of a safe state. "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature" (2 Cor. v. 17). And "the kingdom of God is not meat and drink ; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost" (Rom.xiv. 17). "What is the world ? A wildering maze, Where sin has track'dten thousand ways^ Her vic tims to ensnare ; * Memories of Robert and J. A. Hal- dane, Chap, xviii. ;; y All broad, and winding, and aslope, All tempting with perfidious hope. All ending in despair. • *' Millions of pilgrims throng those roads, Bearing their baubles, or their loads, Down to eternal night ; One humble path, that never bends. Narrow, and rough, and steep, ascends From darkness into light. ** Is there a Guide to show that path ? The Bible : He alone who hath The Bible need not stray. Yet he who hath, and will not give, That heavenly Guide to all that live. Himself shall lose the way." James Montgomery. —