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SERMONS.

SERMONS,

CHIEFLY Ul'ON

CHAPTER XVII. OF ST. JOHN'S GOSPEL ;

PREACHED IN

THE PARISH CHURCH OF ST. PAUL,

HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA.

B¥

WILLIAM COGSWELL, M.A.

CURATE OP ST. PAJl's,
AND CHAPLAIN TO THE LORD BISHOP OF NOVA SCOTIA.

LONDON :
J. HATCHARD AND SON, 187, PICCADILLY.

183D.

LONDON:

I'lUNTBD UY IDOTSON AND PALMRR,

SAVOY STKEBT.

TO Tu;.;

HONORABLE HENRY II. COGSWELL,

MliMUKll OF IIKU MAJESI'Y'b COUNCIL KOU TllK I'ROVIM.E OF NOVA .SCllTI.A ,

&0. &C.

THIS VOLUME OF SERMONS,

I'REACIIED TO THE CONGREGATION

uF WHICH HE HAS so long been a MEMUEU,

WITH SENTIMENTS OF LIVELY GRATITUDE,

AND

WITH I'EELINGS OF THE WARMEST FILIAL LOVE,

AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED
UY

THE AUTHOR.

1 o1 6'

i- ^

i I

PREFACE.

However trite such an apology may be, the
Autlior of tlie following- Discourses cannot but
plead it for Inmscif, that they would not have
been intruded upon the public notice, had it
not been for the earnest advice and request of
several friends, to whose judgment he defers. To
the expression of their opinion, that the pub-
lication of this volume was calculated to pro-
mote the glory of God in the edification of souls,
he felt bound to yield ; as he trusts such a mo-
tive would have more weight with him, than any
liopo of promoting his own interest, or any pros-
pect of gaining for himself a name.

He is not, however, unwilling to acknowlege
the existence of a secret hope, that, at a time
when the attention of the British public has been

VJJl

rilKFACE.

favorably drawn towards colonial contrihu.^ions
of other descriptions to the British press, some
feeling of the same kind might gain an access for
the plain truths of the Gospel to persons, -.vho,
under other circumstances, would turn away from
them. The fact that these Discourses were
preached by a native colonist in a colonial puli)it
might gain for them an interest which would not
otherwise be felt 'in theui ; and who can tell the
blessing, which, through the Lord's grace, may
ensue from the perusal of the humbling and
searching doctrines of the cross, by whatever
motive an attention to them might be at first in-
duced ?

Yet, while for these reasons indulging the
hope that his humble volume may not be with-
out some circulation, nor, through the Lord's
mercy, without some fruit, among British readers,
the author, of course, looks with the fondest and
most intense anxiety to the reception which his
Discourses may meet with among those in whose
hearing they were delivered, and for whose edifi-
cation they were composed. Grateful as he is
for the kind interest in his undertaking which
was manifested on the part of the flock to whom
it has been his privilege to minister the word of
life, and for the su])port which enables Irin,

PREFACE.

without risk oF pociiniury loss, thus to solicit u
more extensive attention, he feels that the i)urpose
dearest to his heart will be but little answered,
unless, by this means, the truths which he has
felt it a duty and a privilege to proclaim, become
more familiar to their minds, and, through the
grace of God, more impressed upon their hearts,
than could be expected from the mere delivery of
those truths in the course of ordinary teaching.
That tlie Lord of all grace would graciously bring
this to pass, by His blessing upon the present
humble means, is the author's earnest prayer,
and would be his abundant reward.

The Discourses contained in this volume have
been principally delivered within the last twelve
months. Tiie series upon the seventeenth chapter
of St. John was preached upon the Sundays after
Trinity of the year 1838 : and it was chiefly
with regard to them that the desire was expressed
on the part of the author's friends that they
should be committed to the press. Thinkino-
however, that that scries, being, from tlie very
nature of the subject, confined in a great mea-
sure to the deep, things of God and the mysteries
of the believers experience, did not give a fair
specimen of the general character of his tcachino-
the author has added a number of occasional

rUEFACE.

sermons, ^n which he trusts something will be
found suited to tlie case of all the varieties which
compose a congregation.

Before closing these prefatory remarks, the
author is constrained to beg the indulgence of
his readers for many deficiencies of style and
composition which a more careful revision might
have enabled him to supply or correct. While
he was engaged in the active duties of his paro-
chial ministrations, such a revision was imprac-
ticable ; and the opportunity which was looked
forward to, during the enjoyment of a short
sojourn in England, has, in the good providence
of God, been so broken in upon by the visitation
of severe sickness, and deep domestic affliction,
that he is compelled, in order to complete the'
volume during his limited stay, to place his
Discourses in the publishers hands, just as they
were composed and delivered without any refer-
ence to publication. For any errors of a more
serious nature, should such appear, he feels that
he is entitled to no indulgence, as the welfare
of the souls entrusted to him is dependent upon
the soundness of the matter set before them ; and
he hesitates not to avosv his conviction, that they
inculcate nothing " ;,s essential to salvation,
which is not contained in the Scriptures, or may

PREFACE.

be proved thereby," and that thejt proclaim
the doctrines of tliat Church, of which he is happy
to profess himself a member and a minister,
and concerning which he rejoices to express his
confidence, that it is " built upon the foundation
of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ him-
self being the chief corner-stone."

Such as they are, the author would humbly
place them in the Lord's hands, with lively gra-
titude for any measure of usefulness which has
been permitted to attend them in their delivery,
and with earnest prayer that the name of the
Lord Jesus may be magnified. His kingdom
furthered, and the souls for which He shed PL's
blood edified by tliis poor attempt of one of the
weakest of His servants to set Him forth crucified
for sinners.

CONTENTS.

SERMON I.

THE NIGHT FAR SPENT; THE DAY AT HAND.

Preached on the first Sunday in Advent, 1838.

Romans xiii. If?.— The night is far spent ; the day is at
hand ; let us therefore cast ofF the works of darkness, and
let us put on the armor of light. . . Page 1

SERMON II.

THE SCRIPTUnES WRITTEN FOR OUU LEARNING.

Preaclied on the second Sunday in Advent, 1838.

Romans xv. 4. — Whatsoever things were written aforetime,
were written for our learning ; that we through patience
and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. . H)

XIV

CONTENTS.

SERMON III.

MINISTERS AND STEWARDS.
Preached on the third Sunday in Advent, 1B38.

1 Corinthians iv. 1 — Let a man so account of us, as of
tlie ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of

God.

SERxMON IV.

THF LORD AT HAND.
Treached on the fourth Sunday in Advent, 1838,
Phimppians iv. 5.— The Lord is at hand.

fcl f

SERMON V.

THE LORD JESU3 AT PRAYER.
Preached on the first Sunday after Trinity.
St. John xvii. 1, 2.— These words spake Jesus, and lifted
up His eyes to heaven, and said, Father, tlie hour is come :
glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify Thee ; as
Thou hast given Him power over all flesh, that He should
give eternal life to as many as Thou hast given Him. 75

SERMON VL

the FATHER r.LQRIFYING THE "SON,

St. John xvii. 1, S,-Jesus lifted up His eyes to heaven, and
said, Father, the hour is come ; glorily thy Son, that thy
Son also may glorify Thee ; as Thou hast given Him
power over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to
as many as Thou hast given Him. - . . \)(i

CONTENTS. XV

SEPMON VII.

ETERNAL LIFE.

St. John xvii. 3.--And this is life eternal, that they might
know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou

hast sent. ... , ,^

• • • • • lib

SERMON Vlir.

Christ's mediatorial glory the reward of his work.

St. John xvii. 4, 5.-1 have glorified Thee on the earth ; I
have finished the work which Thou gavest me to do. And
now, O Father, glorify Thou me with thine own self, with
the glory which I l)ad with Thee before the world was.

135

SERMON IX.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LORD's PEOPLE.

St. John xvii. 6.— I have manifested Thy Name unto the
men which Thou gavest me out of the world : Thine they
were, and Thou gavest tliem me ; and they have kept
'^^^^y^ord J55

SERMON X.

NECESSARY FEATURES OF A SAVING FAITH.

St. John xvii 7, 8.— Now they have known, that all things
whatsoever Thou hast given mo arc of Thee : For 1 have
given unto them the words which Thou gavest me, and
they have received them, and have known surely that I
came out from Thee, and they have believed that Thou
didst send me. ... i-i

XVI

CONTENTS.

SERMON XI.

CHRIST INTEIUEDES FOR IPS PEOPLE.

St. John xvii. 9, 10.— I pray for tliem : I r,-ay not for the
M'orld, but for tlicm which Thou hast given nic ; for they
arc thine ; and all mi. arc thine, and tliinc arc mine ; and
I am glorified in them, . . . • . jog

SERMON XII.

THE savior's sympathy WITH HIS PEOPLE.

St. John xvii. 11 — And now I am no more in tlie world,
but these are in the world, and I come to Thee. Holy
Father, keep througli thine own name those whom Thou
hast given me, that they may be one, as we are. 213

SERMON XIII.

the son of PERDITION.

St. John xvii. 12.— While I was with them in the world, I
kept them in thy name : those that Tliou gavest me I
have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdi-
tion ; that the Scripture might be fulfilled. . 232

!«'

SERMON XIV.
Christ's joy fulfilled in his people.

St. John xvii. 13._And now come I to thee : and these
things I speak in the world, tliat they might have my joy
fulfilled in themselves. o.^O

CONTENTS.

SERiVION XV.

XVIl

chhist's I'eopli: not of the world.
St. John xvii. 14, 15, 16.-I have given them Tl.y word ;
and the world hath hated tliem, because they are not of
the world, even as I an, not of the world. I pray not that
hou shouldest take them out of the world, but that Thou
sl'-ouldcst keep then from the evil. They arc not of the
world, even as I am not of the world. . . . yfjH

SERMON XVI.

THK WOUD or GOD THE MEANS OF SANCTIFICATION.

''^V'"' !"!''■ '^•-^^"^^'0' them through Thy truth:

• 287

SERIVION XVII.

Thy word is truth.

CHRIST SENOrNG HIS DISCIPLES.

St. John xvii. 18._As Thou hast sent me into the world,
even so have I also sent them into the world. . . 305

SERMON XVIII.
the savior sanctifying himself.

St. .foHN xvii. 19.-And for their sakes I sanctify myself,
that they also might be sanctified through the truth.

323
SERMON XIX.

CHRIST PHAYFTH FOR ALL THAT SHALL BELIEVE.

St. John xvii. 20. 21._Neither pray I for these alone, but
for them also that shall believe on me through their word:
that they all may be one ; as Thou, Father, art in me, and
I in Thee, that they also may be one in us ; that the world
may believe that Thou hast sent me. . . .342

XVlll

CONTENTS.

SERMON XX.

THE GLORY GIVEN TO THE LORD'S PEOPLE.

St. John xvii. 22, 23._And the glory wi.ich Thou gavest
me, 1 have given them, that tliey may be one, even as
we are one ; I in them, and Thou in me, tliat they may
be made perfect in o 2 ; and tliat tlie world may know
that Thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as Thou
hast loved me qq2

SERMON XXI.

the savior's WILL IN BEHALF OF HIS PEOPLE.

St. John xvii. 24.— Father, I will that they also, whom
TIiou hast given me, be with me where I am ; that they
may behold my glory, which Thou hast given me : for
Thou lovedst me before the foundation of t'e world. 381

SERMON XXII.

CONCLUDING PETITIONS.

Sr. John xvii. 25, 26 — O righteous Father, the world
hath not known Thee ; but I have known Tliee, and these
have known that Thou has sent me. And I have declared
unto them Thy name, and will declare it, that the "love
wherewith Thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in
tl"-^'" 401

SERMON XXIII.

THE BRAZEN SERPENT.

St. John iii. 14, 15 — As Moses lifted up the serpent in the
wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up;
that whosoever bclievetii in Hiui sliould not i)cris!i, Lut
have eternal life ^j<j

CONTENTS.

SERMON XXIV.

CHIIIST CUUCIFIED.

1 CoK. i. ti3.— We preach Christ crucified.

XIX

437

SERMON XXV.

CHRIST RISEN FROM THE DEAD.

EzEK. xxxvli. 3. -And he said unto mo, Son of man, can
these bones live ? And I answered, O Lord God, Thou
'^"""''^st 457

SERMON XXVI.

THE SPIRIT BLOWING UPON THE GARDEN.

Song of Solomon, iv. 16.~Awake, O north wind, and
come, thou south : blow upon my garden, that llie sj)iccs
thereof may flow out ^^g

•i

SERMON I.

If IE NIGHT FAR SPENT; THE DAY AT HAND.

Romans xiii. 12.

The night is far spent ; the day is at hand: let
us therefore cast ojf the works of darkness, and
let us put on the armor of light.

There is no season, among those which our
church lias selected from the various eras of
the gos.-l dispensation, and commended to the
special reverence and observation of iier members,
whose recurrence is calculated to fill the mind of
the Christian with more joyous and delightful
contemplations, than the season of Advent, at
which we have now arrived. Amid the gloom
and desolation which now mark the features of
nature's erewhile charming face, there is a glow
of sunshine shed over the soul, as it turns its
spiritual contemplations to the holy and mo-
mentous circumstances, which mark this period

* Tin; NIOIIT I Alt SI'KNT ;

of tlio rov()lvin«r year, and cliiiiii tlio spirit's
adoration of Ilim, who carne at such a period *"
dispcrso the darkness of heathenism, i(h)hitry,
if^iiorance, and superstition, and to hrinn- " h'fe
and iinniortahty to linht throinrli the (iospcl."*

It is a matter of comparatively small import-
ance, whether the period appointed for the cele-
hration of any of tlie great events to which our
('hiirch delights to call her children's attention
and regard, can be clearly })rovcd to be the very
time and season at which those events occurred ;
so that there be only a general consent to the ob-
servance of those particular times throughout the
whole body of the Christian world. But it is
surely a delightful thing to know and feel, that
whether this be the precise period of the Saviors
coming in the flesh or not, there is no part of
the world, to whioh the light of the glorious
(lospel has been spread, in which the minds of
our fellow Christians are not at tliis time holding
followshij) with us in meditating upon the pre-
cious tidings of His advent; and either rejoicing
in the remembrance of that blessed event, in
whose celebration we shall ere long be called to
join, or turning their thoughts onward with
mingled awe, and reverence, and joy, to the anti-
ci})ation of His glorious coming amid the attend-
ant hosts of heaven, who once came in the humi-

* 2 Tim. i. 10.

10 spirit's
|)(Mi()(l ♦'»
idolatry,

•irifj;- " life
lospcl."*

11 iniport-
' tlio celc-
kvliicli our

attention
D the very
occurred ;

to tiie ob-
ighout tlie

But it is

fee], that
ic Savior's
10 part of
e glorious
! minds of
le holding'
a the pre-
r rejoicing

event, in

2 called to
Mxrd with

3 the anti-
he attend-
the humi-

TIIE DAY AT HAND. 3

liation and lowliness of suffering flesh, to work
out the predetermined rcdenij)tion of His people.
Various are indeed the clitnes, throughout which
tiie worshippers of tlie lowly Jesus arc now on*
spread : and various the feelings, and disposi-
tions, and habits, and occupations, which dis-
tinguish them one from another in this world of
uncertainty and change ; but, wherever true fol-
lowers of the Lord Jesus Cli.ist are found,
whether amid the frozen climates of the northern
world, or under the sunny influences of southern
skies, one feeling binds them to one another in a
bond, which no varieties of clime, no intervals of
space, can sever ; and calls forth from all their
hearts, at this same period, one song of praise
and adoration, at the tidings in which they have
a common interest, that the Predicted of the pro-
phets, the Antitype of ceremonies, the Completion
of sacrifices, the " Consolation of Israel," * and the
" Desire of all nations," f has come into the
world.

But how may we most profitably contemplate
this event of so general interest? is a question
whirh the mind of the Christian will anxiously
put to Itself. Alas ! that it should be a question
m which all who call themselves Christians are
not equally interested ! Can we but fear, that
there are many who hear the oft-repeated tidings

* Luke ii. l'5.

t I^aggai ii. 7.

13 •-'

[(

^ TIIK NIGHT FAll SPKNT ;

of the Savior's coming, with someth'ng perliaps
of pleasure, on account of some undefined idea
that It ,s an event which has effected great things
for the world; but without any questioning of
their own individual interest in it, or any earnest
desire to make it a matter of profitable consider-
ation ? Can we but fear that tl.re are many
who, through want of that consideration, by which
tlieir own true state miglit be ascertained, are
making that event a mntter of gratulation and of
joy, which, as being unimproved by them, does
but mngnify their present danger, and increase
the horrors of that condemnation under which
they lie. Is not this the case with you, my fel-
low-sinners, who, though ye have so often heard of
Christ as a Savior, have never real Iv "come to
Him that ye might have life ?" * Ls not your
danger even greater than it would luxve been
had Christ never come, since, though " light is
come into the world," ye " love darkness rather
than light," t and prefer the ways of worldliness
and selfishness, and sin, to " the path which is as
the shining light ?" t Is not your condemnation
even more aggravated, because the way of
escape, the refuge from the wrath to come is
made so plain to you, and the anxious love of
God in the gift of His beloved Son so pressed
upon you, that ye cannot continue in unconver-

*.Iohnv.40. tibid.iii. I!). :Prov.iv. 18.

■ti

THE DAY AT HAND. 5

sioii and unbelief, without wilful negligence, and
obstinacy, and rebellion, and ingratitude? O
awake! dear fellow sinners, *' awake to righteous-
ness, and sin not : for some have not tlie know-
ledge of God " or of Christ. - I speak this to
your shame."*

But to those who desire the profitable contem-
plation of the events, which, at this season, are
specially commended to our regard, a safe direc-
tion may. we hope, be given, in taking the words
which form part of the Epistle, and are the basis
of the Collect, which this day have been to us
respectively a guide for our petitions, and a por-
tion of our Church's message to us in the name
of the Lord, ^i^he contemplation of that night in
which the whole aspect of the world, with the ex-
ception of some dim glimmerings about the region
of Judea, was enveloped, and of the dawning of
the blessed morn of gospel light, when He, who
was from all eternity the Light of life, arose with
cheering beams ui)on the earth, may lead us each
to the remembrance, that " the night " with us " is
far spent, the day at hand ;" and to the duty of
casting off all the works of our darkened state,
and walking as children of the light. May the
blessed Spirit of the Most High, to whom the
work of dispersing the darkness of the soul, and
enlightening the spirit with the saving know-
ledge of Christ Jesus, appertains, be graciously
* ! Cor. XV. -Ji.

THE NIGHT FAR SPENT;

present : may He cause the light of the glo-
rious Gospel to pour its cheering, healing, sanc-
tifying beams into our hearts, that all the
shadows may flee away, the beasts and unclean
birds, which prowl and hover round them be
dispersed, and the glorious hope of everlasting
day sustain, and animate, and comfort us.

We would apply the apostle's words to the
present state of believers, not as observable in
one age or another, but in every age ; and draw,
from the truths thus predicated concerning their
state, the lessons which his exhortation would
convey.

First, let us observe the comparison of the be-
liever's present state of existence to the time of
night ; secondly, that of his anticipated existence
to the light of day ; and, thirdly, consider the
duties which the truth of these comparisons en-
joms upon Christians.

I. And, first, " the night is far spent."-Our
state of existence in the present world may well
be so described, seeing it is a time of darkness,
and danger, and gloom.

Such it is in a peculiar manner to those who
are yet in an unconverted state. True, there
are many among these, who may be reckoned as
the wise of this v orld : those whose minds have
been enlightened with tlie rays of literature and

THE DAY AT HAND. 7

of science, or who are abundantly endowed with
tliat worldly wisdom, which knows how to take
advantage of every means of advancing their in-
terests in the gains, the honors, the pleasures
of this passing scene. But upon their souls there
resteth the thick darkness of ignorance of God,
of themselves, of Christ, of eternity. Around
their present state there hang the mists of
ignorance, and the darkness of a condition of
enmity with God, and exposure to His curse ;
upon their future prospects there lowers the
gloom of an unknown eternity, the darkness
of the countenance of a frowning God, a rejected
Savior, an exulting enemy. They are called
Christians : they have, perhaps, all the title to
that name, which an outward participation in
Christian ordinances can give: but their souls
have never been enlightened by the grace of
God, nor the blessefl influences of His Holy
Spirit.

Yet, notwithstanding the light which has been
poured by the Sun of righteousness into the souls
of the converted children of God, their state may
be also still described as the night, while they
remain in the present tabernacle. It is so be-
cause of the darkness that still remains upon
them. O ! were it not that there is still so much
of the darkness of unregenerate nature adhering
to believers in Jesus, could it be that there would

THE NIGHT FAR SPENT ;

be SO much of inconsistency in their course, so
lany differences between those who should have
tiie same love and community of fcehng one
with another, that the members wf the same
body have ? Could it be, that there would be
still so many departures among Christians from
the simplicity of a Gospel conversation, so much
stumbling- in their walk, such low conceptions,
as we too frequently meet with, concerning God,
and Christ, and the heavenly kingdom ? Would
the motives of the Gospel to diligence, and self-
denial, and love : would its appeals to their
charity, and brotherly kindness, and sympathy :
would its claims upon their complete devotion of
themselves, body, soul, and spirit, to the Lord
who bought them with a price,* so frequently
fail of stirring up all their affections, and en-
gaging their whole hearts, were it not for the
darkness that still remains, clouding their per-
ceptions, and obscuring their views of " the truth
as it is in Jesus ?"t The light, which the Lord
Jesus gives, is so beclouded by the mists of their
remaining ignorance and corruption, that, com-
pared with that state to which thev are hasten-
ing, they are still, as it were, in a state of
night.

The present state of the believer's existence
may also be described as the night, because it
* 1 Cor. vi.20. I Eph. iv. 21.

THE DAY AT HAND. 9

is a dying state. Their souls are here but the
tenants of frail perishable tabernacles, which
have nothing of an enduring nature about them,
but are put up for the night's sojourn, to be
taken down as soon as the journey is proceeded
on towards the heavenly kingdom. Many in-
deed are the comforts and the blessings, with
which their gracious Lord sweetens the tempo-
rary sojourn of the souls of his children in the
frail tabernacles witli which they are connected •
but which of those comforts or blessings would
the soul take up with, as a substitute for the
happiness of its home eternal in the heavens "*
Many are the ties of kindred and affection which
twine around the spirit, and, when enjoyea with
submission to the will of God, sweeten and c!>eer
Its path : but dacay and death are stamped upon
those very ties, and embitter every one of tliem,
which, not being based upon the love of God'
and fastened " to tliat within the veil," * shall
be dissolved, as the frail body sinks into its
dust. One tie alone will survive,-that which
binds souls in an union with Christ and with one
another : and far sweeter is that tie indeed, when
It unites in Christian bonds those that are dear
to each other in tiie flesh as well as in the
spirit: but to all other ties, the soul that
cares for peace with God must sit loose, for

* licb. vi. 1<J.

THE NIGHT FAR SPENT

[

i !

the hour tliat hears the cry, " The Bridegroom
Cometh,"* must dissolve them all. And while un-
certainty, and dissolution, and decay, and death,
mark this period of existence, is it not truly
spoken of as the night that passeth away, and
flits before the dawning of the morning's beams ?

II. Yes ! the night passeth away : it is already
" far spent : the day is at hand." But shall tlie
dawning of eternity bring light and gladness and
the genial warmth of day to all that have passed
the dark night of a weary sojourn in this wilder-
ness of sin ? Alas ! to many it will bring light
indeed, but a light tliat will only render more
visible the darkness of their despair. To those,
of whom we have already spoken as being in the
night of ignorance and the darkness of an uncon-
verted state, and whom the step of death sur-
prises in their state of sin, eternity will give a
fearful light indeed. It will reveal to them with
awful clearness the truth of those solemn warn-
ings to which they would not hearken, the reality
of those dread consequences of transgression,
which here they made light of, as matter but for
children's fears, and the certainty of that awful
curse which is denounced, not alone against the
profligate and abandoned, but against " every soul

of man that doeth evil.**|
* Matt. XXV. G.

It will shed a liuht

t Rom. ii. U.

f i

TJIE DAY AT HAND.

that will admit of no self-deception, and allow of
no concealment ; that will unmask hypocrisy, and
lay bare, in all the hideous hues of its defor-
mity, every secret sin that has been indulged :
and that will pour in upon the soul a knowlege
of the dreadful nature of those awful woes, the
desolation and the darkness and despair, in which
every unconverted soul must pass its limitless
duration, unpitied and unwept. O that poor
sinners, instead of waiting for the revelations of
that awful hour, would take God's word for it,
and fly while yet there is room for refuge from
the wrath to come !

But to believers in Jesus, how different is the day
that Cometh ! The state of being, on which the dawn-
ing of eternity will usher them, may be truly de-
scribed as the day, because then will be fulfilled to
them the Savior's promise, " What I do thou know-
est not now, but thou shalt know hereafter."* The
believer in Jesus is comforted in the midst of his
present darkness concerning the reasons for many
of the Lord's dealings with him, by the belief
that there is "a needs be" for them all; that,
whether privation, or penury, or pain, or bereave-
ment, or any otiier affliction, be measured out to
him, " it Cometh not forth of the dust,"t hut
from the hand of a Father that ordereth all things
wisely, and doeth all things well. But when
* Joliii xiii. 7. I jyi, V (3

F i

THE NIGHT FAR SPENT;

tlje day dawns, wc have the cheering beh"ef that
the wliy and wherefore of all tiiese things will
be made clear to him, and that, in perceiving the
wisdom and the goodness, the tenderness and
the love, that ministered to liim every drop of his
earthly cup of trials, he will be constrained, in
grateful adoration, to join the song of Moses and
the Lamb, " Great and marvellous are thy works,
Lord God Almighty : just and true are thy ways,
thou King of saints.'* *

" The day is at hand ;" and, when it cometh,
will pour in a llood of light, that will cause the
shadows to flee away, and beasts of the field to
betake them to their dens. To what can the
temptations, the corruptions, the spiritual as-
saults, by which their souls are beset while in this
sinful state, be better compared than to prowlino-
beasts which threaten to devour them? And
what believer in Jesus is there that does not
know the force and fury of assaults like these ?
But when the sun ariseth, they get them away
together : and the ransomed spirit, freed from its
corruptions, and depravity, from the carnal affec-
tions, and polluting imaginations of its present
sojourn, shall walk at liberty for ever in the
sun-light of the Lord's favor.

Yes ! " the day is at hand !" the day of glory ;
when believers shall no more " see througli a glass

* Kcv. XV. (J.

THE DAY AT HAND.

darkly, but face to face ;" when they "shall know,"
not merely in part, but "even as they are known.''*
Even the most precious glimpses of heavenly
light, with which tlie soul 19 favored in its
present state, come to it through the mists of its
earthliness, and the shadows of the corruption
of that perishable body, which a fuller revelation
of the glory of the Lord would wither and de-
stroy. But then no veil of a polluted flesh shall
hide the Lord's glory from their siglit : no carnal
senses shall intervene to cloud the soul's per-
ceptions of its glorious Lord. The day of ever-
lasting light shall dawn upon the soul, and it
shall enjoy, without fear of interruption or decay,
the presence of the Lord, in that city which " hatli
no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine
in it :"t but of which " the Lord himself is the
everlasting light, and her God her glory." jr

III. What then are the important lessons
which such considerations as these are calculated
to enforce upon the hearts of them that believe ?
" Let us," saith the Apostle, " cast off the works
of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light."
The temptations, the corruptions, the defilements,
which attach to these polluted tabernacles, and
of the full extent of which they only are aware
that are enlightened by the Spirit of God, will
^ I Cor. xiii. \il. t Rev. xxi 23. ^ Isaj. Ix. 19.

THE NIGHT FAR SPENT ;

remain, as the trials of the beh'ever, so long as he
continues in the flesh. He has no reason to
expect that he shall be freed from them till *• this
corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and
this mortal shall have put on immortality."* But
what then ? Must the believer therefore yield
to his corruptions, and consent to bear, as he can,
his connexion with those defilements from which
he cannot escape ? — That were to prove himself
no Christian, no soldier of the cross. No ! but
rather will he struggle, till his last breath, against
the corruptions of his carnal nature, and strive
against every remnant of the old man which
still adheres to him. " The armor of light " which
is provided for his equipment may be summarily
described by the one term, faith. By this he
puts on Christ as " his breastplate of righteous-
ness ;" by this he applies the word of God as " the
sword of the Spirit ;" with this he binds the truth
of God as a girdle about his loins ; with this he
fastens " the preparation of the Gospel" t as
sandals upon his feet. By faith he holds up the
promises and assurances, the hopes and prospects
of the Gospel, as a shield against every fiery
assault ; and bringing before his mind the things
not seen, which his faith dwells upon as his
]3ortion in eternal day, he gathers strength for the
conflict witli his corruptions, knowing that their

* ICor. XV. 54. -f Eph. vi. 13-17.

THE DAY AT HANI).

power to annoy him is but for a little while, and
that it is he only « that overcometh " who " shall
inherit all thinjrs." *

^ And is it thus, dear friends and bre .iren in
Christ Jesus, that the thought how far the
night is spent, and the hope of a glorious day's
approach, cheers you for the onset against your
corruptions, and animates you in your assauh
upon all remains of worldliness, ill temper,
selfishness, uncharitableness, and the accompany-
ing host of ills to which ye once were willing
slaves? Is it thus that the faith which " is the
evidence of things not seen"t points the weapons
of your prayer, and meditation, and firm resolve
against everything that defiles you, against every
inconsistency that marks you, every sinful
imagination that pollutes you, every idle word
that shames you, every ungodly deed to which
the enemy would tempt you? O beware of
sloth : beware of boasting because ye have girded
on your harness, as if ye were now putting it oflf::!:
beware of thinking, that, because ye have entered
upon the christian warfare, the battle is already
fought, the victory won. Ye have enlisted under
the Captain of your salvation; and in His
strength ye must go against all the corruptions
of your sinful flesh, all the temptations of a
wicked world, and all the craft and malice of

•Rev.xxi.7. t IIeb.xi. 1. t I Kingsxx. Jl.

TIIR NIoriT FAFl SPRNT ;

the (lovil. O "put on the armor of h'ght;"
" take unto you the whole armor of God :" " figlit
the good fight of faith : lay hoM on eternal life."*
Who among you, dear friends and brethren,
has the best-grounded anticipations of the longest
life ? Even to the youngest, the most vigorous,
the healthiest, can we but say, in comparing the
present brief existence with eternity, that " tlie
night is far spent, the day is at hand." The night
of your brief sojourn in tiiis wilderness is almost
over ; the dawning of a lengthened day, whose
sun shall never set, will soon be here. Of what,
then, my younger fiiends and brethren, shall that
dawning be the harbinger to you ? Shall its rays
but light up the regions of despair, in which
ye must for ever weep and wail ; or shall they
shine upon your ransomed spirits in their en-
trance into joys unfading and eternal ? Dear
friends and brethren, tliere is but the alternative :
O let not the consideration which portion shall
be yours be treated as a matter in which ye have
slight concern. Have ye " put off the old man
with his deeds, and put on the new man ?" f Have
ye come out and been separated from the world,
and joined yourselves to Christ? Are ye en-
gaged in a continual warfare against the world,
the flesh, and the devil, and steadily bearing the
cross of Christ ? Say, dear brethren, yea, or nay !

* 1 Tim. vi. 12.

t Col. iii. 0, 10.

TIIK DAY AT HAND.

Surely these arc questions admitting of a plain
reply. O answer them as in the sight of God, and
in the rememhrance of the eternity that ap-
proaches, and deceive not yourselves ; if it be not
yoa, if ye have not thus " put on the Lord Jesus
Christ," * dream not of happiness, dream not of
heaven; eternity must have far other things
in store for those that are not in Him.

And, my more aged friends who have passed
your midnight watch, and to whom the time of
cock-crowing, at which ye have arrived, announces
the speedy coming of eternal day, O how is it
with you? Suffer me, I beseech you, in the
earnestness of affection, to seize you as it were by
the skirt, as ye press the limits of the eternal
world, and urge upon you the awakening (juestion,
whither go ye? and what is your preparation,
what your fitness, for the eternity that is before
you? Your " night is far spent: the day is at
hand :" have ye « cast off' the works of darkness ;"
and are ye wielding " the armor of light "against
the enemies of God and of your souls ? " The
hoary head is a crown of glory, if it be found in
the way of righteousness :"|- but O, is it not a
badge of aggravated shame, if found in scenes of
worldliness, and wickedness, and sin ? But beware
of judging yourselves safe, because with your in-
creasing years ye have lost your relish for many
" Kom. xiii. 14. f p,ov. xvi. 91.

NIGHT FAR SPENT; DAY AT HAND.

of the follies and the sins in which ye once took
delight; and look to it, whether ye have in truth
become little children in Christ Jesus, wh. thcr
ye have « put on the Lord Jesus Christ,"* as your
"righteousness andstrength,"'|- yourpattern of life,
and your hope of .;]ory. Thus only can ye safely
wait m composure and in peace for the coming
of eternity ; thus only shall ye greet the dawning
of Its light, as the opening doorway of unfading
bliss. " Until the day break, and the shadows
flee away, get you, with the Church of old, to the
mountain of myrrh and the hill of frankin-
cense :»:{: " watch ye " in prayer and supplication,
m intercession and thanksgiving, « for ye know
not at what hour the Son of man cometh ; and
whether he cometh at evening, or at midnioht,
or at cock-crowing, or in the morning, blessed
are those servants whom, when he cometh, he
findeth watching. "§

* Pom. xiii. 14. t Isa.xlv.24. j Cant. ii. 17.
§ Mark xiii. 3.5. Luke xii. ,37, 38.

I '

ND.

once took
3 in trutli

vvlh tlier
* as your
irnof'life,
ye safely
i coming-
dawning
unfading-
shadows
Id, to the
frankin-
(lication,
ye know
th ; and
lidniglit,

blessed
leth, he

. ii. 17.

SERMON II,

THE SCRIPTURES WRITTEN FOR OUR
LEARNING.

Romans xv. 4.

Whatsoever things were written aforetime, ivere
written for our learning ; that tvc through
patience and comfort of the Scriptures might
have hope.

How cheerless, how dreary, how desolate, would
be man's sojourn in this wilderness of sorrow, were
it not for the pervading influence of the almost
•mdying principle of hope ! Amid the unnum-
bered ills that flesh is heir to, since the first
pair's transgression brought death into the world
and all our woes, how would our fallen nature
sink, and droop, and die, wer^ it not for the
cheering beam of this sustaining principle,
which keeps alive, even under circumstances

c 2

f.« I

u <

THE SCRIPTURES WRITTEN

which well-nigh involve impossibility of relief,
the expectation of some favourable turn, some
change for the better from the circumstances
of trial, or sutlering, or woe, under which we
may lie. In the seeming death of every human
source of happiness, how seldom does hope die :
m the apparent failure of every opening by
which consolation can be administered to a
wounded heart, how rarely is the avenue closed
up, by which hope may draw near, and pour the
sweet whisper of its consolation into the weary
spirit ! The darknt s of the gloomiest dungeon
is illumined with its gentle ray; the sores, which
the galling fetters of the slave have made, are
soothed by the mitigating application of its
balm ; the bitterness of penury's cheerless cup is
softened by the admixture even of the least drop
of this cordial; the anguish of the bed of suffer-
ing is appeased by the consolation with which
hope cheers the spirit; the pains of separation,
by which those dear to one another in the flesh
are tried, are lulled by the prospects of re-union
which hope opens upon the tearful eye; and,
even when the hope of a re-union ami(' earthly
joys has perished, and the deadly stroke of the
last enemy hath severed the ties which bound
hearts to one another beyond the possibility of
their repair on this side of eternity, still is the
most troubled spirit and most wounded heart

of relief,
rn, some
mstances
'hich we
Y human
I ope die :
riing by
:d to a
le closed
pour the
e weary
lungeoii
5, which
ide, are

of its
s cup is
ist drop
' sufFer-

which
iration,
le flesh
i-union
; and,
earthly

of the

bound

ility of

is the

heart

rOR OUR LEARNING.

consoled by the hope of meeting beyond the
grave.

What more, then, is needed to complete the pic-
ture of the fearful woes which await the spirits of
the lost in the dread portion of their eternal dwell-
ing-place, than the terrific announcement that
thither Hope never comes. This surely is theclimax
even of hell's torments, that there reigns the
blackness of despair ; that the anguish of the un-
redeemed, as they writhe beneath the torture of
the undying worm, and quiver in the endless
agony of quenchless flames, is unmitigated by one
ray of hope ; that the indestructible destruction,
to which *' they that know not God, nor obey the
Gospel of His Son," * are doomed, admits not the
glimmering hope even of annihilation ; but that
for ever, and for ever, and for ever, the smoke of
the flames of their torture must arise without
hope of intermission, without prospect of a
change.! O were it not for this, it seems as if
the fury even of Almighty wrath could be en-
dured. Awful as must be the stroke of His ire,
the hope that even after ages of endurance some
mitigation might be administered, the thought
of the possiuility of annihilation beneath "its
weight, and, still more, the dimmest, faintest, pros-
pect of its being succeeded by joy, would sustain
the spirit under it. But no ! all is blackness ;
* -i Thcss. i. 8. t Kev. xiv, II.

'i 1

THE SCUIPTUIIES WRITTEN

S !

all is cheerless desolation ; all is dark despair.
Dear friends and brethren, the present is the
only season in which hope can have existence ;
amid the clouds of this horizon only can its
rainbow-hues be seen ; no ray from the light of
the Eternal's face shall shed such hues upon the
weepings, and wailings, and woes of the drear
region of the lost. Will ye not, then, plant your
hopes, now in the season of their growth, upon
that soil in which they may spring up into
liowers meet to be transplanted to the garden of
the Lord above ; will ye not seek for them the dews
of heaven, and the gentle showers of the Spirit's
grace, that they may grow, and flourish, and be
fruitful in your lives, till the day when the hopes
that are so planted in Christ, and watered by
Ilim, shall be absorbed in the enjoyment of His
presence for ever ?

Even in the midst of the uncertainty and chano-e
which mark every thingearthly, hope still survives,
still animates and cheers the spirit; and even
though hope after hope has withered beneath the
chill of disappointment, still doth some prospect of
brighter days enlighten the gloom of the despond-
ing heart. And if this be so, what then must be
the hope, which is based, not upon the uncertain-
ties of time and chance, which are the shadowy
ground of .so many hopes, but upon the unchang-
ing laithfulness of the Eternal God : what must

FOR OUR I EARNING.

desp.iir,

t is the

:isteiice ;

can its

light of

ipon the

le drear

int your

th, upon

up into

arden of

the dews

k?pirit s

and be

le hopes

2red by

of His

cliange
urvives,
id even
3ath the
spect of
espond-
nust be
certain-
liadowy
icliang-
it must

that hope be, whicli looketh for its consumma-
tion, not amid the possible events of this present
scene, but to the glorious advent of our Lord
Jesus Christ amid the clouds of heaven, when he
shall come to receive His own people to Himself,
that where He is, there they may be also.* If the
dimness and uncertainty, which must be mingled
with every hope of earthly things, allow of its
pouring such rays of consolation into the heart ;
if the pains, the privations, the woes, beneatli
which frail man is bending, are soothed by the
shadowy hope of respite or relief in the present
time ; what must be the consolation of an assured
hope ; what must be the comfort of a hope to
which there is no fear of disappointment, m pos-
sibility of failure ? A hope which rises above the
present scene, and fills the sufferer's heart and
mouth with words like those of Job; " Though
He slay me, yet will I trust in Him;"t a Irope
that stretches beyond the compass of present joys,
and in the midst of the destroyer's strokes,
amid the severing of the sweetest earthly ties, and
the blight of the most promising prospects of hap-
piness, fixes its unfailing gaze upon the world of
glory ; a hope that dies not with the failure of
every earthly spring of comfort, but, finding fresh
springs continually in the Lord, lives upon the
sure promise of " an inheritance incorruptible, and

* John xiv. a. t Job. xiii. 15.

THE SCRIPTURES WRITTEN

UMdefilcd, and that fadeth not away :"* this hope
it is which " makcth not ashamed ;"t this hope it
IS, which is a priceless blessing to the weary pil-
grim's soul ; this hope it is, by which, to use the
strong language of the apostle, " we are even
saved,":}: as it is " a helmet of salvation"^ about
the believer's head, a sinew of strength to the arm
which wields the Spirit's sword, a cordial, amid
ail his wounds, to his else fainting heart.

And is not this the hope of which the Holy
Spirit speaketh by the mouth of the apostle in
the words of the text ? Was it not to administer
this hope to His weak, and tried, and tempted
children in tliis wilderness of their trial state, that
the Lord graciously inspired the hearts and
guided the pens of those " holy men of old '' who
spoke and wrote " as they were moved by the Holy
Ghost ?"|| Surely it was not to supply food for the
critic's appetite, and to draw f'-om the most un-
willing examiner of its style his forced admira-
tion of the beauty and sublimity, the vastness and
the richness of the conception and the language
of His holy book ; it was not alone to show to
man the weakness of his comprehension, and to
humble the pride of the loftiest intellect by the
unsearchable nature of the mysteries which it
contains, and which make it to the natural eye a

1 Pet. i. 4. t Koiii.

§ Kph. vi. 17.

j Horn. viii. 21.
I' 2 Pet. i. 21.

FOR OUR LEARNING.

sealed book ; but it was to minister to the wants
of His own children, to supply a light for the in-
struction of their ignorance, to afford a guide for
their stumbling steps, and to sustain their iliint-
ing spirits by its glorious hopes, that the ever gra-
cious " Father of mercies, and God of all com-
fort," hath placed in the hands of sinful men the
blessed revelation of His will. Here, then, has
every child of God cause to ascribe fresh honors,
every day and hour of his existence, to the name
of God ; and to proclaim him indeed a " blessed
God, who hath caused all Holy Scripture to be
written for our learning, that we, through patience
and comfort of the Scripture, might have hope."
And here has every believer in the Lord con-
tinual cause, in the remembrance of his respon-
sibility for the use of a gift so precious in itself, and
so graciously imparted, to pray for grace so " to
read, to mark, to learn, and inwardly to digest"
this blessed word, that it may avail to the "nou-
rishment of his soul in " the blessed hope of ever-
lasting life."*

Dear friends and brethren, be such our prayer
whenever we take the sacred volume into our
hands, or listen to its words : and let the same
petition for the Lord's precious grace ascend now
from our hearts, that our present consideration
may be profitable to our souls, and lead those of
* Collect I'oi' second .Siiiulay in Advent.

THE SCRIPTURES WRITTEN

you who Iicai- not, to embrace, a.,d tl.ose wl,o
Imve adopted, to hold fast, the blessed Iiope of
eveilastiug life, which is given us in Christ
Jesus our Lord.

With this petition, let us proceed briefly to
consider, first, the great subject of the Holy
Scriptures: seconjly, the spirit in whicli they
are to be received; and, thirdly, tlie lessons which
tliey inculcate as the spring and the sustenance
of that " hope " which " maketh not ashamed."

I. And, first, as to the great subject of the
Holy Scriptures.-^The Apostle spoke in the text
of those things which " were written aforetime:"
of those portions of the sacred volume, which were
described as the law, the prophets, and the
psalms. But of whatever part he spoke, whether
of that volume which was closed when the vision
of prophecy was sealed in the death of Malachi,
or of that precious portion of the sacred book, to
which the Epistles written by himself, under the
lull inspiration of the Holy Ghost, are so large a
contribution, the great subject of one portion and
the other is « jesus christ the righteous." To
make Him known in all the varied characters
which He sustains in His great work of media-
tion ; to reveal Him as the Messenger of the
Covenant ; to set Him forth as the salvation and

FOR OUIl LKAKNING.

strength of His people, is the one great object of
the Blessed Bible, from the first intimation of
creative power, in which the Word was the
Almighty agent, down to the last prayer of the
aged disciple for the speedy coming of the Lord
with which it closes.— Contemplate the wondrous
scene of the world's creation, as day by day the
chaos in which the universe first lay was arranged,
enlightened, vivified, and stamped with the
wondrous evidences of an Almighty hand ; and
there we find Jesus, the Eternal Word, calling
all things into being for the glory of His own
name.* Contemplate the history of those, who,
in the world's first days, and after its face had
been renewed from the desolation of the flood,
lived by faith upon the earth ; and we find he
Lord, the Angel Jehovah, the blessed Jesus, walk-
ing with Enoch, warning Noah of the deluge,
revealing to Abraham His purposes against
Sodom, and blessing him with the promise of
His own coming in the flesh as one of Abraham's
descendants, appearing in vision unto Isaac,
wrestling with Jacob, and, from the bush of flame,
commissioning Moses for his great emprize. Enter
the palace of Israel's greatest King : and view
him, in the hours of his truest greatness, as he
strings Iiis harp to the praises of the King of
Kings; and listen to the notes of melody in

* (icn, i. Col. i. IG.

THE SCUrPTURKS WRITTEN

h \

which the sweet singer records tlie acts of God,
reveals His promises, or adores His grace ; and
shall we not find Christ the burden of his song,
and hear him tell of the pierced Jiands and
vvounded feet, the parted garments and the
draught of vinegar and gall, the broken fetters
otthe grave, and the triumphant ascension* to th-
height of heaven, which belong to no other
liistory than that of the Man Christ Jesus. View
the prophets of the Lord, as, in the rapture of
ghostly inspiration, they pour out the rapid tide
ot prediction, and promise, and threatening, and
woe; and surely we find their very spirit to be
the testimony of Jesus ; t we find His name the
charm of all their promises, and the spell which
binds the fury of their threatenings, and makes
the thunders of the rage they vent fall harmless
at the feet of every one who is sheltered in that
name. Enter the precincts of that holy place
which the Lord chose among the people of the
Jews to place His name there : pass through the
curtains of that wondrous tent, on which there
rests the pillar of the cloud ; or enter the stately
courts of that glorious house, in which, in after
^ps kings, priests, and prophets united to adore
the God of Abraham ; stand by the brazen altar
as the bleeding limbs of slaughtered bullocks

* Ps. xxii. 16 ; Ixix. 21 ; xvi. 10 ; Ixviii. 18.
t Hev. xix. 10.

von oil II LF.AUNING,

arc consumed : watclj the curliiio- volumes of the
perfumed smoke that rises from tlie altar of in-
cense: look at the brazen laver in which all that
minister must bathe their limbs each time they
draw near to execute their holy office: contemplate,
through the nowtorn veil, the mercy-seat shadowed
by the wings of cherubim, and the chosen spot on
whicli the pillar of the cloud was wont to rest,
and see it sprinkled with atoning blood each
time the minister of God draws near to present
the supplications of the people ; and do not these
varied appointments of the law speak loudly
of the name of Jesus, and proclaim the atoning-
virtue and the purifying power of the water and
the blood shed by the Lamb of God. From all
these varied pages of the Book of the Old Testa-
ment, gather the different instructions they sug-
gest ; and say, is it not their one object to predict,
to typify, to announce Him, who, in the plainer
pages of the New, is set forth as the Eternal
Word, which, in due time, " was made flesh and
dwelt among us,"* and died, the sacrifice for His
people's sins, and rose, the first-fruits of that
blessed company, that shall at His second coming
rise to reign with Him for ever.

n. That the precious revelation of Christ
Jesus, which it is the object of the Holy Scrip-

* John i. 14.

THE SCIUPTURES WRITTEN

turcs from tlioir first page to their Inst to make,
may be profitable to us, in wliat spirit, let us
inquire, as we proposed in the second place to
do, in what spirit must that revelation be re-
ceived ? We need look no further than the text
to find a guide in our inquiry : for the Apostle,
in telling us that all these things " were written
for our learning," implies, as strongly as he can,
that they must be received in a teachable spirit.
This spirit of teachableness seems to contain
within itself those great requisites to a profitable
perusal of the Word of God, without which it
will be read or heard in vain, viz. that hvmility
which bows to the authority of the blessed Author
of the Book, ih'di faith wliich credits everything
which it is convinced He says, and that anxiety
to he instructed, which they only have that are
in earnest about their souls. How contrary is
this teachable spirit to the pride and carelessness
and obstinacy of the natural heart? Whence
can it come, but from the transforming power
of the Holy Spirit, who Himself dictated the
words of the Holy Book, and who alone can im-
part an interest in its truths, or give an insight
into the things that it reveals ? Have ye, dear
friends and brethren, that Spirit of the Lord,
which is so graciously offered to all that ask in
the name of Jesus, and whose fruits are that
humility, that foith, that anxiety— in short, that

FOR OUR LEARNING.

teachableness, without which yo read or hoar
in vain ? To what, but to the want of ^ teach-
able spirit, can we attribute the many errors in
doctrine and in practice, which are so rife in
these our days. There are those who say they
cannot even find in the Word of God sufficient
testimony of the divinity of Christ. Why?
Because of the inadequacy of the evidence, or of
their own spirit in seeking it? Whence did any
notion to the contrary of the Eternal Godhead
of the Savior enter their minds ? Did they learn
it from the Word of God ? No ! but having
admitted the foul suggestion of the tempter, they
sit down to the Word of God with prejudice upon
their minds, and desiring rather to exalt the
pride of their own reasonings than to learn simply
of the Lord. And from what other cause arise
the many practical errors of the worldly and
unconverted ? Is it not, that they form notions
of their own concerning the nature, the attri-
butes, the requirements of the Lord, and then
apply to the Bible to confirm those notions, and
to establish them in their ignorance? Is it
possible, they ask, to conceive such and such
things of God : can we conceive Him willing to
let thousands of His creatures perish for ever:
can we imagine Him to demand of them an
obedience which they cannot render ? and they
consider the whole Word of God under the colour

THK SrHIPTUllES WRITTKN

of tlicse prejudices, — and what wonder is it that
they continue i<^norant, self-willed, ungodly !
Dear friends and brethren, it is not thus that ye
can profitably read or hear the things written in
the Book of God. O pray to God for grace
to enable you to bring a humble, teachable spirit
to His word ; to come to it, not for tlie confir-
mation of your own opinions, but to learn of
Ilim ; for in such a spirit only can ye so read it,
as to derive from it that " patience and comfort"
which minister to the " hope" that " maketh not
ashamed."

III. And by what lessons let us, thirdly, ask,
do the Holy Scriptures inculcate the patience
and the consolation they are designed to im-
press ? They sui)ply examples for patience, and
doctrine for consolation. They minister truth
for our comfort, and set forth the patterns of
those who lived according to the truth, for our
guidance in our walk. How abundant, indeed,
is the Blessed Word in examples of sufterino-
affliction and of patience : liow rich in instances
of those who were sustained in tlie pressure of
every earthly woe, by the bright hope of that
"city which hath foundations, whose builder and
maker is God."* What a noble catalogue of those
blessed men, whose hopes so bore them up amid

* Heb. xi. 10.

II ' ' ■•

i ,.

I'Oll OUIl LKAUNING,

tlieir trials, and cheered tliein amid privations,
and perils, and pains, such as are rarely per-
mitted to try the faith and test the confidence of
the Lord's people, is given hy the Apostle in his
letter to the Hehrewp !* And to what end ? That
believers in every age, being " compassed about
with such a cloud of witnesses" to the faithfulness of
God, the preciousness of Christ, and the power of
that hope which He imparts, might " run with
patience the race that is set before them."t What
believer now is called upon to " resist unto blood,
striving against sin ?" And if the sustaining power
of the dimmer hope which kei)t the gaze of
patriarchs and proi)hets fixed upon that eternal
home, to which, in the few and evil days of their
tried pilgrimage, they were continually tending,
could so enable them to count all present afflictions
light, through their hope of the unseen realities
of eternity ; surely much more should they, wlio
have the surer foundation of the Gospel revela-
tion on which to ground their hopes, patiently
abide alway in the Lord's ways, and wait ilis
will and time for their full fruition of the glories
He has prepared for them.

And if the Word of God is abundant in ex-
amples of those who walked by faith in Christ,
as patterns for the patience of the Christian now ;
O ! is it not rich, also, in the comfort which its
* Chap. xi. I Heb. xii. 1.

■:, ,-■ ,^

aan,;,i«.jr.a

THE SCUIl'TURES WRITTEN

doctrines minister to the believing soul ? True !
those doctrines tell man of his fall : they tell
him of his helplessness and misery : they tell
him of his pollution, his loatlisomeness, his cor-
ruption : and thus would strike from him every
prop of comfort, every ground of hope in himself:
but they tell him also of Christ Jesus : they tell
him, that " He who knew no sin,"* was made sin
for him : that the Lord punished Jesus, as if he
had been a sinner, in order that He might freely
remit the punishment of every one that believes :
and tliat he exacted from Jesus a full and sinless
obedience to His laws, in order tliat He might of
mere grace accept the sinner, without works, sin-
ful, polluted as he is, simply on the ground of
the righteousness of Christ. Is there not food for
comfort to the sinner's soul, that trembles at the
thought of his wickedness, and is convinced of
the impossibility of his ever doing one thing that
is not sinful, in the announcement that the Lord
hath laid upon Christ the iniquities of them that
believe, and in the assurance, " I have blotted
out as a thick cloud thy transgressions, and as a
cloud thy sins ; return mito me, for I have re-
deemed thee ?"t Is tiiere not food for consolation
to the troubled spirit in the truth, that, though its
own " righteousnesses are filthy rags,";j: Jesus and
His righteousness are the spotless dress, in which

* -2 Cor. V. 21. t Isa. xliv. '>± \ Isa. Ixiv. G.

' ~ L.

roR oyri learning.

it may meet tlie eye of the King, wlieii He
Cometh in to see His guests.

And these things, dear friends and brethren,
are in the Bible, tliat neglected book. Tliese
encouraging patterns of patience, these cheering
grounds of comfort, are in the Holy Word. Nay,
more; for this very gracious purpose were the
Holy Scriptures written, that in thus supplying
comfort to the spirit, and examples for the walk,
they might impart and keep alive the hope of
glory, cherished by every lowly follower of the
Lamb of God. And yet this is the book, dear
friends and brethren, which so many of you
neglect, so many use but as a thing of form ; and
even those, who know most of its value, are so far
from regarding with the love and gratitude it
calls for.

Suffer me, then, dear friends, affectionately to
remonsti-ate with you who neglect the word of
God. Ye profess to have a hope of heaven ; and
yet neglect that book which is the only charter
of a well-based hope. Ye would pretend at least
to be offended, if told that ye had no love for
God ; and yet when God has been at the ])ains
of committing His wishes to writing, of con-
tinuing through successive ages the records of
His people's lives, and preserving th.em through
every kind of peril down to the present time, His
book, if ye possess it, lies by you disregarded, its

1^
i

.3G

THE SCRIPTURES WRITTEN

trutlis neglected, its threatenings flighted, its pro-
mises abused, the Savior it reveals unknown. O !
judge ye yourselves, brethren, does this look like
love for God ; or is it such conduct as gives evi-
dence of any real hope of heaven ? Dear friends,
i would urge you by your fears to take heed of
the Lord's word ; for it is that word " which shall
judge you at the last day."* I would appeal to
your gratitude ; for when God has so graciously
and at so much cost presented you with a revela-
tion of the word of life, are ye not ashamed so to
slight His gift ? I would piead with you by the
value of your souls; for what can all your hopes
of happiness be woitli, tliat are not based upon
the Lord's own word ? I would urge on you even
your present interests ; for where will you find a
counsellor, a guide, a companion, a comforter, a
friend, such as the Word of God ? By your fears,
by your gratitude, by your sense of shame ; by
your present interests, by your everlasting pros-
pects, O, I beseech you, brethren, neglect not the
book of God !

Yet what is your case improved, my poor fel-
low sinners, who make a point of reading a cer-
tain portion of the Bible as a thing of form, but
without any spiritual perception of its meaning,
or any lively interest in its truths ? Now, dear
friends and brethren, have ye, in your formal

* John xii. 48.

I ^

F '

FOR OUU LEARNING.

reading of the word of God, ever found it to be
" the power of God to your salvation ?"* Have ye
ever experienced its power in strengthening you
amid temptation, in counselling you amid per-
plexities, in guiding you amid dangers, in com-
forting you amid troubles, in giving you the
victory over your sins? Has it ever been really
precious to you as a counsellor, valuable as a
guide, cheering as a companion, comforting as a
friend ? Have ye ever seen yourselves painted in
it, learnt your own character in its pages, as lost
guilty creatures, seen Christ in it as your Savior,
found of Him the pardon of your sins, and learnt
of Him the way of holiness. If not, to what
profit is it that ye bring to God the mere formal
offering of a stated perusal of His word ? Yet I
would not discourage your reading that blessed
book, even for form's sake; but charge you not
to rest on that : but earnestly to seek the grace of
God's Holy Spirit to apply it to your hearts, and
write it out in your lives. O ! pray for grace to
make the testimonies of the Lord your delight
and counsellors, His word the joy and rejoicing
of your hearts, His counsels a guide unto your
feet, and His statutes your songs in this house of
your pilgrimage if

Once more. There are those of vou, dear
brethren, blessed be God for it ! who know .ome-
* Rom. i. IG. t Ps. cxix.L>4,.54; Jor.xv. 16.

^:i

SCRIPTURES WRITTEN FOR OUR LEARNING.

thing of the value of the blessed Bible, who have
experienced its consolations, have proved its faith-
fulness, and tasted its power in " making you wise
unto salvation through faith in Christ Jesus."* But,
dear brethren, do you treat it with that reverence,
tliat diligence, that earnestness, which become
you in the use of such a precious boon ? And do
ye bring always to it that humble and teachable
spirit, which seeks only the knowledge of what
the Lord says, desiring only to act according to
his will ? Dear brethren, in these days of divi-
sion, of variety, of false doctrine, what safe ground
can ye have for your hopes but the simple word
of God ? To that word bring every statement of
trutli, every doctrine, every precept, to be tried ;
" if we speak not according to that word, it is be-
cause there is no light in us."t Come to that word
continually for a pattern for patience, food 'or
your comfort, and strength to your hopes ; and
fear not to build upon the word of the promise
and the oath of God an assured hope, and to de-
rive from them " a strong consolation" in havino-
" fled for refuge to lay liold upon the hope set be-
fore you in the Gospel. ":j:

. im. III.

\ii.

t Isa. viii. 20.

X llfb. vi. 18.

SERMON III.

MINISTERS AND STEWARDS.

1 Corinthians iv. 1.

Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers
of Clir'ist, and stewards of the mysteries of
God.

3et be-

It is not easy to estimate the mercy of the Lord
in having- committed His " treasure to earthen
vessels," and entrusted " the ministry of reconcilia-
tion " to an embassage of sinners. It might at first
sight indeed be thought, that it had been more
worthy of the greatness and majesty of God, and
a more striking proof of His love to man, if He
had sent a commission of angels to bear to dying-
men from age to age the precious tidings of salva-
tion by Christ Jesus. It may be, too, that the
souls of those who know but little of " the plague

MINISTERS AND STEWAIIUS.

of their own heart?,"* and whose desire to hear tlie
preaching- of the Gospel is little more than that
of which the prophet speaks, as a desire to be
pleased with " the song of one that hath a pleasant
voice, and can play well npon an instrument ;"t it
may be, that these would rather, that tlie harp,
whose notes are charged with the songs of Zion,
were strung by angels' hands ; and that they think
the sweet persuasiveness of an angel's voice
would lead them, even though it were against
their will, to paths of self-denial, of holiness, and
peace.

But would ye estimate aright the mercy of the
Lord's appointment, in having rather called on
dying sinners to bear to their fellow-sinners the
message of salvation, go to the restless couch of
some awakened sinner, that writeth bitter things
against himself; go to the closet of some poor
tempted creature, whose soul is well-nigh over-
wlielmed with the fiery darts of Satan ; go to
the chamber of some afflicted one, whose heart is
bleeding over the rent ties of kindred and affec-
tion : and, sweet as then might be an angel's
voice, say, is there not even greater sweet-
ness in the sympathies of one, who has been tlie
object of the same assaults, and has been borne by
the sufficiency and strength of his God above
them all. Go, listen to the bitter self-accusations
* 1 Kings viii. 38. f Ezck. xxxiii. 32.

MINISTERS AND STEWARDS.

of a sinner that has been aroused to see the evil
of his ways, and who, in liis affrighted view of his
transgressions against the law of God, his neglect
of warnings, tiie Jiardness of his heart, cries out,
that, whoever else may find mercy, there can be
none for him; and when you hear a fellow
sinner tell him, tliat Ms heart was once as liard,
his neglect as awful, his sins as black as his, and
see liim point to the Cross of Jesus, as a remedy
whose sufficiency he hath himself experienced,
will you not find a sweetness in the message,
which could not be in that of one, who, having
never sinned, could never have known the bitter-
ness of a remorseful conscience, nor found the
liealing virtue of a Savior's blood ? Go, listen
to the tale of spiritual griefs, the record of temp-
tations, the catalogue of fiery assaults, by which
some fellow-sinner is permitted of the Lord to be
buffeted of Satan ; hear him mourn his unbelief,
groan over the pollutions of a sinful flesh, and cry
out through the fierceness of the struggle between
" the law of the Spirit of life," and " tlie law of
sin that is in his members ;"* and say, what could
an angel know of trials such as these ; and wliat
such force could there be in his suggestions of
consolation, as in those of one who can say to
him, ' Here, take this sword of the Spirit, I have
proved tlie keenness of its edge, and the temper

* Kom. vii. :>4 ; vlii. -2.

MINISTERS AND STEWARDS.

of its blade, and know it to be " mighty through
God to the pulh'ng down of strong hohls," and to
the conquest of Satan ; uplift this shield of faith,
it has sheltered me from many an assault, and
turned off harmless from my heart the hottest
weapons of the Devil's rage.' Go, listen to the
sobbings of the bursting heart, which mourns the
bitterness of its bereavement in all the hopeless-
ness of woe ; and say whether there is not a
comfort in the sympathy of one whose heart has
bled from the same wound ; whether there be not
a consolation in the message of one, whose heart
is elevated by the same sweet hopes, that he sug-
gests to them, of meeting his lost ones near tlie
throne of God, which the simple " weep not " of
an angel's voice, however sweet its tones, could not
supply. It is not merely an honor to them-
selves, the highest with which a creature can
be clothed, to be sent as the " ambassadors" of the
King of kings, as " ministers of reconciliation,"* as
messengers of grace ; surely it is mercy, also, to
those to whom these tidings come, that the
ministers of God are *' men subject to like pas-
sions," men of like weaknesses, of like respon-
sibilities, of like trials, of like hopes, with
themselves, and are commissioned to set forth
that which themselves have known, and felt,
and tasted of the word of life.

* 2 Cor. V. 18, i^H.

MINISTERS AND STEWARDS.

It appears to have been tliouglit desirable by
tlie Cliurch of our affections, to call the attention
of her children occasionally to the consideration
of the cares and duties of the ministerial office,
and to put petitions into their mouths, and to
direct appeals to their hearts, in behalf of those
which are " over them in the Lord."* And who
was more anxious to avoid, who more diligent to
guard against, the awful mistake of preaching
himself, instead of Christ Jesus his Lord,!" than the
Apostle Paul ? Yet which of all the sacred writers
so frequently presses upon his converts the due
consideration of the office of those who watch for
their souls ; and so continually and so urgently
calls upon them to remember him and his fellow
workers in their prayers, as the same great
Apostle ? Speaking as he was " moved by the
Holy Ghost," he hath left on record in the sacred
word some of the most solemn exhibitions of the
important relationship existing between ministers
and people, and some of the most touching
appeals to the sympathies and prayers of those
whom he addressed, which that blessed book
contains. We may hope, then, dearly beloved,
to have the sanction of the Holy Spirit of God,
as well as of the Church which desires to recog-
nise His influences and His guidance in all her
services, in inviting your attention this day to
* I Tlicss- V. 12. -]- 2 Cor. iv. 5.

MINISIEIIS AND STEWARDS.

some of tho important considerations involved
in the injunction of tlio text. Of ourselves, as
men, we would speak as little as the connexion
between an individual and the office he sustains
will allow ; it is of the office which we have, the
charge we have to keep, the message we are to
convey, the duties to sustain, that we would
desire chiefly to discourse. May the blessed
Spirit of the Lord be now present with us, and
enable ine so to speak, and you so to hear, as
may tend to our mutual improvement in know-
ledge, in affection, and in grace.

" Let a man," then, yea, let each of you, dear
friends and brethren, " so account of us, as of tlie
ministers of Christ, and stew aids of the mysteries
of God :" and, in so accounting of us, let him
think of om frailty. There are those who seem
to expect the ministers of Gud to be perfect men ;
who note every imperfection, magnify every
failing, dwell upon every inconsistency, as if
they forgot tljat ministers are but sinful men,
and as if every weakness of theirs were a sanction
for all their own carelessness and worldlincss and
pride. And most true it doubtless is, that they,
to whom the message of salvation is entrusted,
should have experienced the power of religion
in their own hearts, should have known the
awful evil of a state of sin, from which they call
upon their fellow-sinners to escape, and have felt

MIN'ISTKIIS AND STKWARDS.

the transforining power of a lively faith, worliing
in tlioni by love, and niakino- thoni new creatures
in Christ Jesus.* But a converted state is not
a perfect state. The power of faitli in Christ
does not annihilate the corruptions of a sinful
nature, nor, though it destroys the power of sin
in the heart, does it at once release the believer
from the workings of his sinful propensities, or
the struggles of his remaining corruption. What
are the ministers of Christ in this respect but as
other believers in Christ ? And thougli indeed
every inconsistency and every sin of every be-
liever inflicts a wound upon the body of Christ,
burdens his own conscience, and endangers
his peace, yet what excuse will all the incon-
sistencies of all the ministers of God, thouo-h
concentrated into one mass of sin, afford to any
sinner for refusing the message of the Gospel ;
how will they avert from him the consequences
of his own ungodliness, or justify his rejection
of tlie Savior, on whom he was invited to believe ?
In accounting of us *' as the ministers of Christ
and stewards of the mysteries of God," let a man
also think of our temptations. I would speak
here only of the temptations which are connected
with our office. And must we not number among
the first of these the temptation " to please men"f
rather than God, to " say unto our lipnrers smooth
* Gal. V. 6; vi. 15= I Gal. i. 10.

MINISTERS AND STEWARDS.

. m

i
I

things, to prophesy deceits,"* rather than set before
them in its true colors a picture of their real
state ? " The preaching- of the cross is unto them
that perish foolishness :"t and "the truth as it is in
Jesus is unwelcome to the carnal heart. The
accursed state of every unbelieving sinner :.[: the
hatefulness of the world and of all worldliness in
the sight of God : § the natural depravity and
desperate wickedness of every heart of man :|| the
absolute necessity of the heart being changed by
the powerful operation of the Holy Ghost, and
the solemn impossibility of any one's entering
the Lord's kingdom, except he be converted and
become as a little child :% these are truths which
the hearts of those we address like not to have
pressed upon them ; truths which arouse their
opposition and provoke their pride. What then
must be the minister's temptation to soften these
hard sayings, to qualify these unpalatable truths ;
and rather to consult his own ease, and to lay to
the souls of his hearers the soft and soothing
unction of the Lord's tenderness to their imper-
fections, and their own sufficient godUness ?

Yet, in accounting of us " as the ministers of
Christ," let a man think also, on the other hand,
of our rcsponsihilitlcs. What can exceed the

* Isa. XXX. 10. t 1 Cor. i. IK.

§ James iv. 4. 1 John ii. la.

f Ezek. xxxvi. 2G, 27. Matt, xviii. 3. Jolin iii. .5

X John iii. 18.
II Jcr. xvii. 9.

AllNISTEKS AND STEWARDS.

the

awfulness of those woes denounced against him,
who, being set as the Lord's watchman, blows
not the trumpet of ahirm in the ears of dying
sinners ?* What can surpass the fearful fate held
up in terror over those " that handle the Word of
God deceitfully,"! that " heal the hurt of the
daughter of the Lord's people slightly, ^aying,
Peace, Peace, when there is no peace By

their own souls must they answer for the souls
of those to whom they are sent ; by their own
hopes of salvation must they plainly, faithfully,
affectionately, earnestly, set forth to their fellow
sinners the corruption and depravity of their
natures, and plead with them, as they love their
souls, to " fly for refuge to lay hold on tlie hope
set before them"§ in the Gospel. O ! who can con-
template these responsibilities, and lightly think
scorn of the earnestness, the frequency, the con-
stancy, with which the ministers of Christ would
warn the unconverted of their lost estate, and
urge them to the remedy in the blood of Clirist ?
Nay, who can think rightly of these things, and
not wonder that any, who have such woes upon
their souls, can be so cold, so slothful, so dis-
passioned, in urging their fellow sinners to fly for
their lives to Christ ?

But from this view of that part of the minis-

* Ezek. xxxiii. 2 — 8.
I Jcr. viii. 11.

t 2 Cor. iv. 2.
§ Ilcb. VI. 18.

■H

MINISTERS AND STEWARDS.

terial character, which is calculated, one would
hope, to engage the sympathies of their flocks,
let us turn and briefly consider that, which
involves the duties of their people. " Let a
man so account of us, as ministers of Christ
and stewards of the mysteries of God ;" and
in so accounting of us, let him think of the
commission which we bear, and the name in
which we come. As ministers of Christ, they
" who are over you in the Lord" come to you,
dear brethren, in the name of the Lord ; they
approach you as His ambassadors : they bear
to you His message. Yes, " we are ambassadors
for Christ : and, as though God did beseech you
by us, we pray you, in Christ's stead, be ye re-
conciled unto God."* When sending his disciples
abroad into the world, and charging them, as
they went, to preach the Gospel of the kingdom,
the Savior of the world added this solemn sanc-
tion to enforce their message : " He that heareth
you, heareth me : and he that despiseth you,
despiseth me : and he that despiseth me, despiseth
Him that sent me."i- However deep, then, their
sense of their own vile unworthiness to be en-
trusted with such great grace, the ministers of
Christ are bound " to magnify their oflice :":j: not
by claiming for themselves, who bear it, any out-
ward privileges or respect; but by charging
* 2 Cor. V. 20. f Lukcx. 16. + Rom. xi. 13.

*i^S^!

MINISTERS AND STEWARDS.

tlieir Iiearers to remember, that they come to
them in the Lord's name, and that it is at the
peril of their souls that they reject their message,
or refuse their call. And though it is required
of men who hold such a ministry, that they be
found faithful, yet they are bound to esteem it
" a very small thing how they should be judged,"
concerning their faithfulness, " of man's j'udg-
ment:"* and to remember that it is " to their
Master they must stand or fall."t As ministers
of Christ, then, they are sent to press upon their
fellow-sinners the importance and necessity of
taking heed to their ways : they are sent to urge
upon their notice the things that concern their
peace, and are commissioned especially to set forth
Christ Jesus and Him crucified, with all the im-
portant truths connected with that wondrous
revelation, and all the solemn consequen.es
dependent upon His admission into the heart
They are sent to tell you that it was your sins
that crucified Christ : that the blood those sins
have made to flow, is the only stream that can
\vash their guilt away : and that the application
of that blood to the soul, by faith, not only de-
livers it from condemnation, but " purges the
conscience also from dead works to serve the
living God.":]: Th- y are commissioned then to

* 1 Cor. iv. 2, 3. f Horn, ^iy, 4

t Heb. ix. 14.

MINISTERS AND STEWARDS.

urge their fellow-sinners to fly to the blood of
Christ for cleansing, and through Him to come
and be reconciled to the Father ; and whether
the graciousness or the importance, the simplicity
or the solemnity of this commission be con-
sidered, who can contemplate without trembling
the fearful peril of those who will not hear ?

Once more, however, iu accounting of us " as
ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries
of God," let a man think of the nature of the charge
with ivhich we are so stated to he invested. The
things of which we are to speak, and in which
we are to minister, are called " the mysteries of
God ;" they are those things, which, plain as
they are to the simplest faith, are so sealed up
from the natural heart, that it " receiveth not the
things of the Spirit of God, neither can it know
them, because they are spiritually discerned." *
To a heart yet in the darkness of its natural
ignorance, the eloquence of an angel could not
explain them: nor could the might of an arch-
angel apply them to a soul yet in the perverseness
of an unregenerate state. " The excellency of the
power" of making these things known to the
sinner's soul, must be " all of God ;" f that His
may be all the glory. His may be all the praise. To
the uninitiated they must be mysteries still : while
to those wlio have tlie simple principle of faith,
* 1 Cor. ii. 14, -j. 2 Cor. iv. 7.

"«,V

MINISTERS AND STEWARDS. 51

whicli is - the gift of God "* by the operation of
His Spirit, the secret of the Lord is made plain.
AVhen, then, tlie ministers of Christ appear to
their fellow-sinners to be stewards of mysteries,
to come to them with a message which they
cannot receive, to speak to them of things which
they cannot understand, will their want of com-
prehension be a sufficient excuse to them for
turning away from the commandments delivered
unto them ? O no ! indeed : but rather should
It bring them, in a confession of their ignorance,
and a sense of their blindness, to Him whose'
power alone can open the blind eyes, whose light
alone can illumine a dark heart, whose Spirit
alone can teach the things that be of God.

Suffer me now, dear brethren, to dwell a little
upon this point ; and from the consideration of
the duties and responsibilities of the ministerial
office, to turn and enforce upon you the duties
which relatively devolve upon you. And let
me first warn you, dear friends and brethren,
of a mistake too generally made, in supposing
that there will be a different rule of judgment,
as regards the ordinary course and tenor of their
lives, for the minister and his people. For his
conduct as a watchman, the minister of God
has indeed an account to render : but his conduct
as a man must be tried by the same rule to

* Eph. ii. 8.

E 2

52*

MINISTERS AND STEWARDS.

L</

which his people must be brouglit. Yet do we
not often hear tiiat there is a degree of strictness
and propriety, perhaps even of severity of life,
becoming a minister, which is not all necessary
for his flock ; and find them condemning things
in him, which they deem no harm in themselves?
But, d(!ar brethren, is there one heaven for tiie
minister, and another for the people ; or is that
faith in Christ by which the soul is justified, one
thing in him and another in them; or is that
" holiness, without which no man shall see the
Lord," * one thing in a minister's life, and a dif-
ferent thing in the lives of others? O surely
not ! At the solemn hour of the Lord's coming
to judgment, before the same bar must we all
stand ; and not by our relative duties, our various
trials, or our different feelings, shall we be
tried, but by the one question of universal ap-
plication, What think ye of Christ ? Are ye in
Him by faith, dear friends and brethren ; have
ye fled as guilty sinners to his cross, and been
washed from your pollution in his blood ? By
this question must our souls be proved : by this
must 7/e be acquitted or condemned. O ! beware,
lest the rule, which ye can so easily lay down
for a minister's life, prove a scale of condemnation
to yourselves.

Again : let me urge upon you, dear friends
* lid., xii. 14.

MINISTERS AND STEWARDS.

and brethren, a duty, wliich the consideration of
the frailty, the temptations, and the respon-
sibilities of the ministers of Christ should com-
mend to you, and press you to pray for us.
It is not alone your regard for an apostolic pre-
cept : it is not alone the love with which the
apostle charges you to esteem those that are set
over you,* which should lead you to pray far
tliem : a regard for your own souls, and a desire
that their message may be m;i.le instrumental
to your good, should engage your petitions in
their behalf. 'Tis vain, we suppose, to ask that
those who pray not for themselves sliould pray
for us : and yet for these is such an intercession
of all most necessary. Unless the Lord bless
our ministry to your conversion, and apply our
message in " turning the hearts of the disobedient
to the wisdom of the just," f what must become of
your souls ? When the message of your ministers
seems unintelligible ; when we seem to forget
the gentleness of Christ in the earnestness °of
our appeals; or to lose the simplicity of our
message in the flowers wherewith we strive to
deck it for attraction, dear friends, do ye pray
for us? When our hearts seem cold, our
ministrations languid, our message spiritless,
and our applications wide, dear brethren in
Christ Jcsu.s do ye pray for us? How often,
'1 Thcss. V. 12,13. t Lukci. 17.

MINISTERS AND STKWAItDS.

I- /'

when yc wonder at the inefficiency of the ministry
of the word, miglit ye find a reason for it by
asking, Do ye pray for us ?

Yet again : let me charge you, by a solemn
sense of the high commission which we bear,
and the sacred name in which we come, to "take
heed how ye hear." * When ye mingle up the
man with his message, it may be easy for you to
find excuses for negligence, aversion, or hostility
to the truth he bears. But O ! remember that
the word which the ministers of Christ, on the
peril of their souls, address to you, is the word
of Christ ; and that if ye despise it, ye " despise
not man, but God, who trieth the hearts." f Is
it not then, dear friends and brethren, at the
peril of 7jour souls, that ye hear or reject the
message which we bring? It is a solemn
thought, O ! that it might impart a solemnity to
the feelings of your hearts, that no one sermon
that ye hear leaves your souls in the same state
in which it found you. It has increased your
responsibility, and added a score to the account
which ye must one day give. O take ye heed
that it do not harden, instead of edifying, your
souls. Beware lest Satan come and take away
the word out of your hearts, as soon as sown.
Beware lest the heat of ti-ial, or the thorns of care,
choke or blight its beams in you, by whom the
* Luke viii. 18. t 1 TJicss. iv. 8.

*^*^-"N, ,

take

MINISTERS AND STEWARDS.

show of a profession has been made. And pray
that He, from whom is " the preparation of the
heart,"* may make you ready to receive the
word, and cause it to spring up and grow, and
bring forth fruit an hundredfold.!

And, finally, let me press these considerations
upon you, dear brethren, by the solemn remem-
brance of that account to which we are hastening.
He who sent his messenger before His face
when first He came, has charged us to prepare
His way against His coming again to judge the
world. The hour of His advent is at hand : and
then, dear brethren, we who have preached and
you who hear must appear together under dif-'
ferent circumstances. Yes I should this be the
last time of our addressing you, still, brethren,
you and your ministers must meet again. And
shall it be " with joy, and not with grief ? "X Shall
you be there to charge us with unfaithfulness,
or we to testify of the hardness of your hearts ;
or shall we have you for our "joy and crown of
rejoicing in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ
at His coming ?"§ The Lord grant ye may be
His " in the day that He shall make up his
jewels ;"|| and «' not unto us, O Lord, not unto us,
but unto thy name shall the praise be given.

* Prov. xvi. I.
t Hcb. xiii. 17.

t Matt. xiii. 18—23.
§ 1 Tht'ss. ii. 1 9.
Mai. lii. 17.

iil

'!!

MINISTERS AND STEWARDS.

for thy loving-mercy and .,-• diy tf uth's sake." *
Yes, to thy name, O blessed Jesus, who art " Head
over all tilings to the Church," f shall all the
glory and the praise be given, while, from age to
age throughout eternity, ten thousand times ten
thousand and thousands of thousands sing the
unceasing song, - Worthy is the Lamb that was
slain." I

*Ps.cxv. I. tEph.i.22. tHev.v. 12.

sake." *
"Head
all the
1 age to
nes ten
ing the
lat was

12.

SERMON IV.

THE LORD AT HAND.

Philippians iv. 5.
The Lord is at hand.

Various have been the feelings, which, according
to the different periods of the world, and the dif-
ferent states of the people to whom it was made,
the announcement of the apostle in the text hath
called up in the hearts of sinners. And vari-
ous have been the degrees in which, accordingly
as it was received in faith or not, that solemn
assurance hath influenced the conduct, aftected
the conversation, aroused the fears, or elevated the
hopes, of those to whom it came. Believe it ; —
and who can go on living to himself and to the
world, " walking in the ways of liis own heart,

THE LORD AT HAND.

and in the sight of his own eyes ?" * Beh'cve it in
the Jieart ;-and vho can help being led by it to
the examination of his ways, and being either
terrified at the judgment which awaits him, or
cheered by the prospect of - the glories that are to
be revealed in him ?" f Doubt it ;-and who can
wonder at the carelessness and worldliness, the
selfishness and sin, that prevail among those who
question the truth of the announcement ? Deny
it,-~if any can from sincere conviction deny it •—
and what check is left upon iniquity? what
restriction upon sin remains? what motive for
virtue would survive? what principle of self-
denial and self-consecration to the Lord could
hnd a harbor in the breast ? To the day. of
whose approach the assurance of the text is a
harbinger, the lively believer in Jesus looks for-
ward as the fulfilment of his hopes, and the con-
summation of his glory and his joy ; and, living in
expectation, has his " conversation in heaven " t
as he walks amid the trials and the gloom of
earth ; and to the same hour, however the remem-
brance of it may be hushed by noisy mirth, or
drowned in pleasure's stream, the man of the
world cannot but look forward with apprehen-
sion, while, through some undefined dread of its
approach, he lays some restrictions upon his plea-
sures, and puts some check upon his sins, whicJi
* Ecclcs. xi. U. t Uom. viii. 18. ; Phil. iii. 20.

\l^

THE LORD AT HAND.

an assurance, if lie could admit ;% that mis pro-
mise of a coming Lord was vain, v .uiu matter to
the winds.

The signification of the text, ho"ovcr, is not
limited to a connexion with that solemn event,
to which the believer looks forward with hope,
and the worldling with dread, as the consumma-
tion of this world's existence, — the coming of the
Lord to " be glorified in them that believe," and to
" be avenged of them that know not God :" * its
meaning may be more fully evolved by consider-
ing it, first, with reference to an event now past,
but still a matter of continually recurring and
most joyful remembrance throughout the Chris-
tian world ; by contemplating it, secondly, as a
truth of daily and hourly fulfilment, and of ever
present consolation to the Christian's heart ; and
by viewing it, thirdly, as still prophetic, directing
our eyes onward to the solemn day, when the
King shall come again from the far country to
take an account of his servants.^ Let us contem-
plate it, dear friends and brethren, in its reference
to a past event, to a present truth, and to a day
yet to us future, but how long to be so " no man
knoweth, but the Father only;"' ^ and may He,
before whose view the past, the jjresent, and the
i'uture are all at the same time outspread, be with

* 2Tliess. i.8, 10. f Matt. xxv. 14—30.

X Matt. .\xiv. :3G.

THE LORD AT IIAxVD.

US as our guide, our instructor, our sanctifier, our
friend ! May He bring the past to our remem-
brance, and feed us upon the precious truths the
past supplies ; may He himself fulfil the present
meaning of the apostle's words, by being near at
hand to every one of us now met in His holy
name : may He fill the future with bright hopes
and glorious expectations to every soul among
us, by making every one of us a believer in His *
word.

1. What emotions did such words as those of
the apostle once awaken in the hearts of the
Lord's faithful ones, that looked for the "Light of
the Gentiles, and the Consolation of Israel t"
Faintly had a ray of hope once glimmered in the
thick darkness, that overspread the state of those
whose innocence was lost, in whom the image of
Jehovah was defaced, and on whom death, with
Its sickly heraldry of ills, and its horrid train of
darkness and despair, had been denounced • as
the promise of a seed, so powerful that He should
bruise the serpent's head, was whispered amid tlic
curses by which that enemy of God and man
was bound, and the power of his rago restrained
to an assault upon his conqueror's heel.* Softly
did its light expand, and more and more brightly
did It kindle on the path of tlie weary ^nlgiinis

* Gen. iii. 15.

li 1

THE LORD AT HAND.

through what was once a garden, until tlie sin of
man planted thorns and thistles in the soil, and
made the place of his descendants' sojourn a wide
wilderness ; as promise after promise, type, pro-
phecy, and figure, were vouchsafed to cheer the
eye of faith with the prospect of a Mighty One,
who sliould turn tlie wilderness again into a
garden and make the desert blossom as a rose ;*
who should disarm the nettles of their sting,
should turn the very thorns of earth into kind
monitors to men of the unsatisfactoriness of this
fleeting resting-place, and make the very dreari-
ness of the world a motive to the toil-worn pil-
grim to press more eagerly towards that home,
whose light now gilds the mountain tops, by
which liis present horizon is defined. When once
the promise of a Savior took a definite shape ;
when once, in the progress of revolving years,
the dimness of merely typical announcement was
succeeded by the tangible promise, " In thy seed
shall all the kingdoms of the earth be blessed ;" j
when once the light of prophecy poured its glow-
ing dawn upon the night in which man's wisdom
lay obscured, and the " Branch that should grow
unto David,":j; and the King tliat should sit for ever
upon his tlirone,§ the servant of servants whom
man should despise, || yet " He whom tiie Lord

•J .1

* Isa. XXXV. 1
i Jer. xxiii. .5.

t (Jen. xii. ;J.
§ Isa. ix. 7 II lb. xlix. 7.

THE LORD AT HAND.

should uphold, even His elect in whom His soul
delighted,"* the "man of sorrows," f "yet the
Lord our righteousness,".]: was announced in terms
of distinctness, scarce surpassed in the records of
the propliecies' fulfilment : then with what eager-
ness did the eyes of prophets and of kings peer
through the mists by which futurity was hid;
and watch every symptom, every sign, from'
wliich they could in any degree gather that the
Lord so promised was at hand. Little can we
judge from the feelings of any cold-hearted
Christians, who, in the full enjoyment of the gift,
so little recognise the wondrous, the astounding
mercy of the Giver : little can we judge, from
the feelings which glow in the warmest of our
hearts, of the intensity of their eagerness, and
the almost agony of their expectation, who, sur-
rounded as they were by a world of darkness,
and mocked by the unbelief of many who had
the same promises as themselves to build their
hopes upon, yet waited for the signs of their De-
liverer's approach, and watciied for the first
symptoms of His coming, as " they that wa^ * for
the morning."§ But enter the temple at Jeru-
salem, whose faded glories, when compared with
that which Solomon had built, had filled the
hearts of those ransomed from Babylonish thrall

* Isa. xli. 1 .
X Jer. xxiii. G.

f lb. liii. 3.
§ Ps. c\xx. G.

THE LORD AT HAND.

with sadness,* but of which a promise had been
given, that He should come again into it, whose
presence should fill it with a glory to which the
temple of Solomon was a stranger ; f enter it by
the side of an aged man, whose place of comfort
and delight is the sanctuary of the Lord, and
whose spirit, w^earied with a toilsome pilgrimage,
waits but the fulfilment of the promise that his
Lord should come, before it should be liberated
from its tabernacle, and soar to the presence of
the God he loved. Catch, if you can, a sympa-
thetic thrill from the emotions of his aged heart,
as he sees a lowly pair, attired in the trappings
of earth's meanness, and bringing a pauper's pre-
sent in their hands, draw near to present their
little one with thankfulness to God ; and as, in
an ecstasy well-nigh too much for his tottering
frame, he takes the babe, around whose brow no
halo gathers to mark him to the common gaze as
aught but a pauper's child, and lifts his eyes in
gratitude to God, because they had now seen the
Lord's salvation.:}: And as the song of praise,
poured from old Simeon's lips, strikes upon the
ear, and his ecstatic tribute of rejoicing, because
the *' Light of the Gentiles and tbt Ory of Israel"
was come, thrills through the heart, can you but
ask, Is it the sight of Christ, now so long set forth

* Ezra iii. 12. f Mm. iii. 1 ; Hag.ii. 7, 9.

THE LORD AT HAND.

Jtl

before our ej^es, is it the thought of a Savior now
come into the world, of whom and His salvation
our ears have so often heard, and our hearts been
so little moved by the sound, is it this that so aei-
tates the old man's frame, and pours over his
peaceful spirit such a tide of praise, and grati-
tude, and joy ? Yes, even thus, dear friends and
brethren, did the thought, that the promised
Savior was at hand, arouse the feelings, animate
the hopes, enlarge the hearts of the saints and
faithful ones of bygone days, to whom the Gospel
that was preached to them spoke but of a coming
Christ, and ministered but the food of expecta-
tion by its promises of a seed of Abraham in which
" the families of the earth should be blessed."
And is it not then shame to us, yea, doth it not
prove their faith to be but a name, who can think
with so little emotion, and dwell with so little
gratitude and joy, upon tlie actual coming in the
flesh of Him whose " name was called Jesus, be-
cause He should save his people from their sins ?"*
He whose coming was so long announced, and
for whom, when now proclaimed as at hand, the
eyes of the Lord's faithful ones so fondly watched,
is preached to us as come. May we not judge,
by the emotions which the tidings of His coming
call up in our hearts, whetlier our faith be of any
such character as theirs, on whose darker dispen-

*Matt. i. 21.

THE LOUD AT IIANO.

sation we look back witli pity ; and whether the
light, that has spread its healing- beams on the
whole surface of the moral world, has ever yet
shined into our hearts,* enlightening us with the
true knowledge of our own corruption, and re-
vealing to us the sweetness and the sufficiency of
Christ ?

II. The truth of the assurance that " the Lord
was at hand," we now look back upon as proved
by the experience of the past. The Lord, so long
announced as being at hand, is come ; the pro-
mised " seed of the woman," the child of Abra-
ham, the "Branch out of the root of Jesse," f
yea, even " the light of the world," ;{: " the Lord
our righteousness," § " the King of kings and
Lord of lords," II has 'assumed the veil of suf-
fering flesh, and come into the world. And
from the hour that the work He came to do
was finished ; from the time, that, having com-
pleted the willing task of a vicarious obedience
even unto death, and having triumphed over the
subjugated powers of death and hell, the Lord
the Christ returned to the bosom of the Father:
even from that day to this, and from this to the
last moment that shall be marked upon earth's
chronicles, is it an ever-present, ever-consolino-

* 2 Cor. iv. fi. f Isai.xi. J. J John viii. 12.

§ Jer. xxiii. 6. (| Rev. xlx. 16.

THE LORD AT HAND.

truth to the heart of the believer in Christ Jesus,
that the Lord is at hand." How near He may be
to the period of His second advent, is still as much
among « the secret things which belong only to the
Lord our God,"* as it was when angels met the
upturned gaze of his amazed disciples, and cheered
tiieir waitmg hearts with the assurance, that He
whose departure they had watched, " should come
again as they had seen Him go."t But that He is
every moment at hand, as the stay and support,
the comfort and the counsellor, the brother and
t^ie fnend of all, that as sinners have fled to
His cross and have believed on Him for life
IS a truth, whose faithfulness is every moment
tested, whose certainty is every day and every
hour approved by all that live by faith in Jesus.
Mark the true follower of the lowly Lamb, as, in
his weary pilgrimage to the better country, he is
surrounded by trials, beset with temptations, as-
sailed by annoyances, wearied by provocations
and well-nigh overcome by sin ; and what is the
sustaining principle, what the stay and comfort of
his soul, but the sweet faith, that " the Lord is at
hand ■/' that He who " died for him, and who is
risen again, yea, who is even at the right hand of
Cxod, " IS at his right hand too, the ever ready help
the shield, the succor of His people. Follow the'
possessor of a lively faith in Jesus, as, withdrawn
* Deut. xxix. 29. ^ Actsi. 10, II.

THE LORD AT HAND.

'ist Jesus,
le may be

as much
tily to the

met the
I cheered

that He
lid come
lat He is
support,
her and

fled to
for life,
noment
1 every
1 Jesus.
, as, in
y, he is
)ns, as-
:ations,
t is the
ifortof
d is at
who is
and of
r help,
w the
Irawn

191

from the haunt of business, or the scene of his
daily toil, by the stroke which has laid him low
upon a bed of sickness or of pain, he feels the
smart of the Lord's rod, and bows to the chas-
tisement with which a Father's love corrects him ;
and what is it that cheers him on his bed of
languishing, what that mingles the note of praise
with the groans his pain calls forth, but the
sweet confidence that his " Lord is at hand ;" that
He who suffered without sin, and bled, and
agonised, and died for his transgTessions,~that
He who by this painful experience has learnt the
weight of every human woe, is close at hand ?
What is it but His arm that soothes his achino-
head,— what but His love that smoothes the
pillow for his weary brow, and makes the bed on
which his anguished form reclines, softer than
couch of down. Or go with the faithful follower
of Jesus, as, separated from the toils and cares of
daily life, he devotes to the Lord's worship and
His praise the day that He hath claimed of the
seven for Himself: go with him, as he bows
in lowly adoration of the Lord, or hears His
word proclaimed in the courts of the Lord's
house, or as, surrounded by the children and the
servants of his family, he reads the word, or leads
their petitions to the Lord ; or as, in tlie moments
of a retirement which the cares of daily life have
taught him how to prize, he reads, and meditates,

F 2

THE LORD AT HAND.

and prays; and what is it that makes this day of
all the week thehest to him, but the helief that his
Lord ,3 on th.sday peeuliarly "at hand;" and
that wherever he has joined with two or three to
cal upon the Lord, there his Redeemer has been
"> the mulst, the unslumbering, the wutel,f„l, the

ej-er ready help of all that seek him faithfullv .
Or follow once more the steps of the true diseiple
of the Lord, as, on some privileged oeeasion, he
draws near the table of his Lord, and eon.es with
those who have tasted that the Lord is graeious
to feed upon the remembrance of His dying love •

and what is it that then calls forth the steetes;
emotmns of his soul,-what that deepens the

contr,t,on of his heart,-what that pour' ove

a stream of joy hut the remembrance that his
Lord ,s peculiarly " at hand ; that He comes

bidr.i:"/-T""'' """"■ " ' '>"'S S-i-. a"d
b.d> , le fain ,„g, weary, wavering, doubting dis-
c-pie, reach forth his hand and thrust it into His
s.de and put his finger into the print of the nails
and benot iauhless, but believing;". a„d .Jl'

te heart „, the lively believer with the assurance
hat He who was slain in weakness now liveth
by the power of God,"t and " because He livs
H.S people shall live also."J- O, know ye not'
dear fnends and brethren, all of you; are any of

* •'''''" "■'• ■"■ t 2 Cor. xiii. 4.

t John xiv. 19.

THE LORD AT HAND.

6i)

tin's day of
ief that his
md;" and
>r three to
I* has been
tchfal, the
aithfully ?
le disciple
asion, he
nies with
gracious,
ing love ;

sweetest
pens the
'S over it
that his
e comes
ior, and
ing dis-
into His
le nails,
J cheers
surance
V liveth
fe lives,
ye not,

any of

you ignorant of the comforts and tlie joys that
spring from the knowledge that " the Lord is at
hand ;" seemeth it strange to any of you to speak
of peace amid the trials of life, and of joy amid ite
pains, to speak of the Lord's sabbath as a day
of delights, and of His worship as the richest feast
the soul can know ? O where then is your fiiith ?
What can ye have of godliness but the form,
what of religion but the name, if the Lord ye
j)rofess to believe in be unknown to you as a
comforter and a friend, and your footsteps be
strangers to the pleasantness and peace, which
mark His paths ? Strangers to Jesus, O ! seek
His presence and His blessing now, while He is a
God at hand that vvaiteth to be gracious to all
tliat seek Him. Friends of Jesus, O ! cultivate
His friendship, and dwell upon His love ; for He
is " a brother born for adversity ;" " a friend that
loveth at all times ;" yea, " a friend that sticketh
closer than a brother."

HL To those who know the friendship and the
love of Jesus, and who find, amid all the trials
of their earthly pilgrimage, that the assurance
that " the Lord is at hand" is a comfort and a stay
to them; to these the announcement of the text,
when viewed in a prophetic light, must be an
elevating motive to diligence, to watchfulness, to
prayerfulness, and praise. Look at the first

THE LORD AT IIANl',

[f m i

Christians, at those who under the teaching of
the apostles were brought out of darkness into the
marvellous light of the children of God, and see
how eagerly they looked out for the corning of
the Lord, and what a motive it was to them for
self-denial, for diligence, and prayer. Scarcely
did the faithful ones of olden time desire more
eagerly to see tlie day of their Lord's advent in the
«esh, than these looked out for the promise of His
second coming to gather his people to Himself.
And did not the apostles urge, impress, and
minister to this state of anxious expectation •
diu not they, in writing, not for one age alone,'
but for generations yet unborn, press upon their
hearers the assurance that the Lord was at hand •
and even whle they cautioned them against
calculating upon t/>e hour of His comino-, and
m the eagerness of their expectation, negLting
the necessary cares and duties of their trial state
did they not reiterate the promise that the Lord
was coming, and press those who loved the Lord
to -look for and haste unto the coming of the day
of Christ?"* And to what but the sickly, luke.
™n, half-hearted state of the professed believers
of the present day can it be attributed, that there
IS among them so little watchfulness, so little
expectation, so little hasting unto the coming of
this great event ? True, its fulfilment has been

* 2 Pet. iii. 12.

THE LOUD AT HAND.

eaching of
ss into the
1, and see
corning of

tliem for

Scarcely
iire more
ent in tlie
ise of His

Himself.
ess, and
ectation ;
ge alone,
3on their
at hand ;

against
ig, and,
glccting
al state,
he Lord
he Lord
the day
Y, luke-
clievers
it there
) little
ning of
s been

long delayed ; and, that the worldly should by
this fact be led to greater carelessness and almost
mockery of the hopes of those that are looking
for their Lord, does not seem wonderful; but
is it not the very character of faith to give a
substance to the hopes of them that believe,* and
to " endure, as seeing that which is invisible ?"(" It
may be, that, wlien Noah laid the first timbers of
the ark, and announced, as his reason for so
doing, his expectation of a flood to sweep the
world of its inhabitants, some of those who
heard and saw him were transiently impressed.
But when a century had passed, and still there
were no more symptoms of a deluge than when
the keel of the enormous ark was laid, we
scarcely wonder, that the passing impressions of
those who believed not the Lord soon wore away,
and that they who first showed the most alarm
were, as if to regain their character for courage,
the loudest in their mockery of the old man's
fears, " The Lord is at hand ;" and when the
world shall just be in the same state as it was
when the flood overtook the ungodly of that age :
when all things shall be proceeding just in their
ordinary course — the man of business surrounded
by his cares, the man of pleasure in tlie full
pursuit of his enjoyments ; when men shall be
eating and drinking, buying and selling, plant-
* Ilcl), xi I. f Ilcb. xi. 27.

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THE LORD AT HAND.

2 a«d bu,!d,ng, carrying and giv;„g iu „ar-
■ag, even then the Son of Man shall come;

tie eai th ? Where shall He find the Noahs of
>"s age, that have prepared an ark for the saving
of te house,, and, safel, housed in Jesus, .r!
wa t,ng ,n solemn and anxious expectation for

tlatlrrr'""^' O sur^y there is need
that the Lord revive His work in this respect

a^ong us; sural, there is reason for the prj^
tut He would ra,se up His power, and co ne

would arouse those that profess to believe in Him
trom the,r present state of carelessness and ease
d seer them from the world, and mark tl L,'

en bT h' -"^ r^"""""^ '"^« —"

« watch ulness. of spirituality, which should

hnd»"LV.°"''"',''^'""''''''"''-'^-disat
hand Let the ungodly mock, let the unbelieving
doubt, let the worldly care not, but let the be
"■ever rejo.ce, that the Lord is at hand.

"How long, ye simple ones, will ye love sim-
P icty and the scorners delight in their scoruino-r
How long, ye careless ones, will ye go „„'„,
your thoughtlessness, and ye worldly conso 1
yourselves n, your unbelief? Are ye determined

* Hcb. xi. 7.

THE LORD AT HAND.

to admit no other evidence that the Lord is at
hand, but that which burst upon the careless
ones of Noah's days, when " the flood came and
swept them all away ?" Will ye receive no other
warning that the Lord is coming, but that which
the fearful notes of the archangel's trump shall
pour on your affrighted ears, when the day of
grace shall have been spent, and the hour of
judgment come? O! dear friends and fellow-
sinners, not so ! Behold the Lord standeth at
the door and knocks ; He knocks by every varied
dispensation of His providence : He knocks by
every evidence ye have that this is a dying
world : He knocks by the solemn knell of every
closing year: He knocks by the strivings of His
Spirit, which tells you in your moments of re-
flection that all is not well with you : He pleads
with you to open your hearts to Him, and He
will come in, and make His abode with you.*
He is now at hand, a waiting, pleading, gracious
Savior : He pleads with you to come to Him :
He waiteth to be gracious. O come, for He is
at hand also " a revenger to execute wrath upon
all that do iniquity."

But, dear brethren in Christ Jesus, " rejoice in
the Lord alway, and again I say rejoice: for
the Lord is at hand." Amid all your trials, your
temptations, your M'eaknesses, your wants, the
Lord is now at hand, and bids you " be careful for
* Kcv. iii. i>0.

rll

THE LORD AT HAND.

nothing, but in everything by prayer and suppli-
cation with thanksgiving, let your requests be
made known unto Him," for He is at hand to
succor and to bless you. Amid all the lets and
hindrances of your prayers, and all the coldness
and unworthiness of your praise, still rejoice in
the Lord: for it is - by grace ye are sa.ed:"* and
the Lord of grace is at hand to help and to
deliver you. Amid all the corruptions of this
mortal tabernacle, amid all the temptations of
the world and the flesh, and all the fiery assaults
of he Devil, still rejoice in the Lord: these

shall last but for a little while; and the Lord
IS at hand, to set you free from all your corrup-
tions, and to present you pure and spotless to the
Father, to redeem you from all iniquity, and
to admit you to the glories of His heavenly
house, where no sin shall ever enter, no temp-
tat^n ever assail, nor any trace of iniquity defile
O ! weary, mourning, downcast, struggling-
toilworn Christian, look up: the Lord Is at
hand. The enemy is but permitted to try you
for a season : and even now he hath no power
against you : resist him with the precious faith
that your Lord is at hand, and look onward to
His coming as the close of all your toils, and the
consummation of your most glorious hopes. And
" the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God,
and into the patient waiting for Christ."

* Eph. ii. .).

SERMON V.

THE LORD JESUS AT PRAYER.

St. John xvii. 1, 2.

These words spake Jesus, and lifted up His eyes to
heaven, and said. Father, the hour is come :
glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify
Thee ; as Thou hast given Him power over all
flesh, that He shoidd give eternal life to as
many as Thou hast given, Him.

The scene, and its attendant circumstances, wliich
are brought before the mind's eye by the words
I have now read to you, may be spoken of as
of the most interesting character of all that are
contained in the word of God. It was on that
dark and doleful night, when the powers of dark-
ness were about to be let loose in all their fury
against the meek Redeemer : when the treachery

mrn^

THE LORD JESUS AT PRAYER.

I* I

of one of His familiar friends whom He had
trusted, the malice of those enemies whom His
meekness and His holiness had incensed against
Him, and the fiendish rage of the arch-enemy,
who, baffled as he liad been in his many assaults
upon Jesus, was now preparing one last, des-
perate thrust, were all concentrating their
forces, and aiming, in one deadly blow, at His
destruction. It was on that solemn night when
the soul of the Lord Jesus was "exceeding
sorrowfid, even unto death:"* when all the
shrinkings, with which the human nature which
he had assumed, recoiled from torture and from
wrath, seemed to be working in His breast; and
the anticipations of that bitter hour, in which He
should tread alone the winepress of Almighty ven-
geance,t was agitating His bosom. All the sen-
sibilities of the man appeared to be now in their
liveliest and tenderest exercise in Him who in
His humiliation was as completely human, as,
in the right of His eternal station. He was essen-
tially and entirely divine. Yes, it seems as if in
tliis hour all the various mental trials beneath
which any of our fallen race can be bowed down,
were experienced by Him, who, a. our Represen-
tative and Surety, endured them all for us, and
who having Himself " suffered being tempted,'\j:

* Matt. xxvi. 38.

"^ Isa. Ixiii. 3.

t Heb, ii. 18.

THE LORD JESUS AT PRAYER.

and having been " in all points tempted like as
we are, yet without sin,"* knows how to sym-
pathise with and to succour those that are
tempted. The sad trial we have alluded to, and
of which we cannot but suppose the Savior to
have experienced all the bitterness which any
man could have experienced from it; that is,
the treachery of his companion, the anticipated
denial of all knowlege of His name by one
who had ever been foremost in professions of
attachment, the coming separation from those
to whom He had endeared himself, and upon
whom the liveliest affections of His human
nature, as well as the everlasting love of His
divine nature, were set : the knowlege, too, of
the aggravated circumstrmces of insult and op-
pression, the refined preparations of bodily
torture, and the full outpouring of Divine
wrath, under which His frail and worn-out frame
should ere long expire ;— all these things were at
work at the same moment, harrowing up the
feelings of the Redeemer's soul. It is at the
time that these feelings have been, in some
measure, finding vent in His last sweet converse
with His chosen ones, when He has been un-
bosoming Himself to them more fully than on
any former occasion, and giving them more
ample instructions concerning the treatment they

• Heb. iv. 15.

mmm

THE LORD JESUS AT PRAYER.

should meet with at the world's hands, and the
peace that He would leave with them ; at the
time that after celebrating His last supper with
His chosen ones, and giving- them every proof
which tenderness could dictate of His love for
them. He lifted up His eyes to heaven in prayer
for them, and committed them in supplication
to His Father's care,— that we are permitted in the
text to be present and gaze upon the scene pre-
sented to us.

There were other portions of the Redeemer's
history, which are, it may be, of deeper im-
portance in the work which He came to ac-
complish. The dark hour that lowered upon
His entrance into the world, when He came an
outcast and despised one into a world, which
could provide him only a manger for His cradle,
and some straw for his lowly bed : the moment
at which, in His expiring agony. He exclaimed,
" It is finished," and bowed His head and gave
up the ghost : the early morn, at which the body
that had lain its appointed time in the new tomb
was raised arnid the homage of His heavenly
attendants, and the quakings of His affrighted
guard : these, or either of these moments, may be
said to be fraught with a deeper importance to
the great work of man's redemption ; but none,
I think, to be invested with an intenser interest
than the last scene we have been contemplating.

THE LORD JESUS AT PRAYER.

as having taken place in an upper room at Jeru-
salem. It has all the interest which we
generally attach to the moments of the familiar
intercourse of those whom we admire and vene-
rate with their chosen friends. It has all the
interest which is assigned to the dying com-
munications of the great and good with those on
whom their affections have been placed. It has
all the interest which belongs to the private and
confidential revelations of their most important
secrets to those in whom they have reposed their
trust. And besides these, it has an interest, all
its own, arising from the characters of those
who are present : from the consideration that it
is the Lord of life and glory, the eternal Jeho-
vah, the everlasting God, that thus in lowly guise
and humblest form of fallen humanity is holding
affectionate and instructive converse with his at-
tached followers. This is an interest with which
the whole period, the hour or more, which hath
passed since Judas left the board, is invested;
but the moment at which the text places us as it
were in the midst, is one of still increasing in-
tensity. The communications of His love to them
are over. His assurances of the tribulation they
should have in the world, and of their interest in
all the victories He should achieve,* have been
given. His warnings, His admonitions. His con-
solations, His promises, His parting remem-

* John xvi. 33.

Till': LOUD JKSUS AT IMIAYER.

brances, have been given. He hath said all that
aifection could dictate, or prudence suggest ; all
that the foreknowlege of their trials called for, or
their yet small attainments in knowlege and in
grace would bear.* And having spoken these
words, " He lifted up His eyes to heaven." He
pours out his soul in ardent, earnest, fervent prayer.
He turns from converse with his disciples to en-
joy communion with His heavenly Father. He
lays the contending emotions of His agitated
bosom open to Him who careth for Him. He
pours out the affectionate longings of His heart
in behalf of those whom He loved, into the ear
of Him who had given them unto Him.f And
looking forward, b^eyond the little band now met
around Him, te the millions that should through
their instrumentality be gathered into His fold,
He " who calleth those things which be not as
though they were,":): gathers them into one com-
pany in His petitions, and lays them in supplica-
tion before His Father's throne.

There is not a richer gem in the casket of pre-
cious things, which the Lord, in giving us His
precious Bible, has entrr.3ted us with, than is seen
in the few verses which record the Savior's prayer
on this occasion. Whether we regard the love
stronger than death that prompted its peti-
tions, or the richness of the revelations of divine
truth that it contains, it is worthy of our most

• John xvi. 1,2. ^ John xvii 6. t Horn. iv. 17.

•^i

Tirr, LORD JESUS AT IMlAYr.Il.

f<{

art'ectioiiate, our most grateful, our most prayerful
meditatious. Or whether we regard the depth of
the solemn mysteries which are involved in it ; or
the vast, we may say, the infinite, comprehensive-
ness, with which it stretches from the eternal
counsels of Almii2;hty love to the final consumma-
tion of the Redeemer's glory, it demands our most
reverent, most humble, and most spiritual coti
templations. It is too rich a treasury to leave
untouched, without an atiempt by prayer and
meditation to draw out some of its riches : it is
too peculiarly sacred a deposit to touch with un-
hallowed hand, or to tliink of handling, or even
gazing upon, without earnest supplication for that
blessed Spirit's presence, who alone searchetli for
us the deep^ljpigs of God,* and ij^^vealeth them
to His people.

Often, dear brethren, have I wished to invite
your consideration to this solemn portion of
Holy Writ, but have shrunk from it with fear,
lest "a man of unclean lips"t should desecrate
rather than improve it to your souls' benefit;
nor do I now, brethren, in wishing to enter
upoi^R consideration, pretend to one more quali-
fication fjr making it profitable, than a somewhat
deeper sense of utter insufficiency, and of de-
pendance upon the power, the teaching, and the
presence of that blessed Spirit, who takes of the
* 1 Cor. ii. 10. f Isa. vi. 5.

, (

ih'

THE LOUD JESUS AT PRAYER.

presence of that blessed Spirit, who takes of th?
things of Jesus, and shows tiicrn to the soul,* and
speaks with and in them that speak in the name
of Jesus.t O let me entreat you, brethren, to
join in a prayer, that the promised presence of
the Holy Spirit may be with him who speaks, and
with you that hear; that He may take the matter
mto His hand, and apply the words of Jesus, so
that He, being held up, may draw you all unto
Him ;l that we both one and all may, in dwelling
upon the words of Jesus, imbibe His spirit, and
enter into the enjoyment of that communion
with His heavenly Father, which He has made as
much the privilege of those that believe on Him,
as it was His own.

The services of our Church have led us
rapidly through the consideration of the different
most striking points in the great p^an of salva-
tion, by celebrating the different circumstances of
the Savior's life and death. His resurrection and
ascension, and consequent outpouring of the Holy
Spirit. She has finished this her course of in-
struction by inviting our aUention, as on the Inst
Lord's day, to the contemplation of the mysteri-
ous Trinity of persons in the Oneness of the God-
head, all bearing :.ome gracious part in redeeming
the sinner's soul. She now aff^ords, as it were, a
resting-place, upon which to stand and look back
* Jolmxvi. 14. t Matt. X. 20. | John xii. 32.

THE LORD JESUS AT I'KAYEH.

ujjoii the vast and wondrous field through which
she hath led us, and to review the steps of our
progress, and to make experimental apjjlications
of different portions of the history, whicli, as we
proceeded, we may have too slightly touched
upon. It is my desire, my brethren, to occupy a
portion at least of this ground with reflections
drawn from that mine of truth presented for our
search in the Savior's prayer ; and if, indeed, in
the variety of subjects comprised in its petitions,
we find ourselves engaged until we are drawn
again to watch the symptoms of His blessed ad-
vent, we may surely hope, that, tiirough the Lord's
blessing, our meditations will not have been in
vain in the Lord.

The time which remains for the present prose-
cution of our subject, may be sufficiently, and, we
trust, profitably, occupied in considering, first,
the Lord Jesus at prayer : secondly, the manner
of His approach to the Father : and, thirdly, the
privilege which His people have of coming in the
same way to God.

L We may venture to repeat the remark,
that, while other parts of the Lord's history may
appear fraught with an actually deeper impor-
tance in the great plan of redemption, yet He on
no occasion is presented to us in a more interest-
ing light, than when engaged in prayer. Several
of the most striking occasions of the kind are spe-

G 'i

i' \

THE LOUD JESUS AT PRAYEIl.

cially recorded, as when " He continued all night
in prayer to God,"* and wlien, in the retirements
of Gethsernane, He poured out the anguish of His
soul, " with strong crying and tears ;"t but the
mention of these occasions seems to lead us not to
view these as extraordinary instances of devotion,
so much as specimens of the manner in which He
prized and used the privilege of communication
with His heavenly Father. We sometimes heai'
expressions of surprise, that the Lord Jesus, having
"all the fulness of the Godhead ";{: dwelling in
Him, and consequently no need of any fresh sup-
plies of that grace of which the very fulness was
treasured up in Himself, should have been so
much engaged in prayer and supplication. But
surely such surprise must indicate an ignorance,
on the part of him that expresses it, of the very
nature, not only of the 'Redeemer's prayer, hut of
prayer hi general. It is, in its sweetest and most
privileged enjoyment, not the mere expression of
the soul's wants, but the entrance of a child into
His Father's presence, to enjoy His converse, to
be lighted by His smiles, to hear His voice, and
to become conformed to His will. It is the very
element in which the soul of a child of God has
its healthy existence, and is peculiarly, therefore,
the atmosphere, in which the beloved and eternal
Son of the Most High God, in that separation
wliicii, for the sake of guilty sinners, he willingly
* Luke vi. IS. f Ileb. v. 7. t <-"ol. ii. 9.

THE LORD JESUS AT PRAYER.

endured, would find His sweetest and most cheer-
ing moments of life. So far, then, from its being
surprising, that the Lord Jesus Himself should
have felt the necessity of prayer, and spent so
much of His time in the employment, we may
rather conclude, that, though each other moment
of His life was cheered by the thought that He
was " doing the will of Him that sent Him and
finishing His work,"* yet He only had, as it
were, the full enjoyment of His Sonship, when He
was engaged in communion with His heavenly
Father in prayer. He needed not, indeed, to
work a miracle, to turn stones into bread, or to
ride upon the wings of the wind, in order to prove
His being the Son of God ; but if He had left off
prayer, and ceased from the communications of
His soul with His heavenly Father, we say not
that His wants had been unsupplied, or His rights
as the Son of God impaired, but He surely would
have lost the sweetest evidence of His Sonship,
and have surrendered the highest enjoyment
which could cheer Him amid " the travail of His
soul" in sinners' stead. There would have been,
in such a case, an interruption of the intercourse,
which, while on earth, He still maintained with
Him with whom He was one : a failure, as it were,
of the very atmosphei'e, in which, as the Son of
(iod, and at the same time tlie Son of man, He
lived, and moved, and had His being.

* John iv. .'34.

8()

THE LOUD JESUS AT PllAYER.

Contemplate, then, the Lord Jesus at prayer,
and instead of perceiving Him to be then in any pe-
cidiar circumstances of humiliation, we shall find
in Him, at such a time, the sweetest evidence, and
the richest enjoyment, of the privileges of His
heavenly nature. Then, surely, while most
completely human, does He show himself also
most truly divine, when, from amidst the trials and
the crosses of His tempted and persecuted career,
He lifts the eye and sends the voice to heaven,
and pours out the soul in confiding and unhesitat-
ing communications with His heavenly Father.
Stand beside Him, as, having heard the request of
some Gentiles that they might sjc Him, He lifts
His voice in praise and prayer, and saith, " Father,
glorify thy name;"* behold Him as, by the side
of Lazarus' grave, he blesses God that " He heard
Him," and expresses , His assurance that His
Father " heard Him always ;"t draw near to Him,
as, amid His chosen ones, to whom He has just
been revealing the secrets of His soul. He turns
His eyes to heaven, and utters the petitions we
are now about to consider ; j: and once more
hearken, where, amid the noise of liammer and of
nails, and tearing sinews, and gushing wounds,
a gentle childlike voice is heard, " Father, forgive
them, for they know not what they do :"§ and say

* John xii, as.
t Ibid. xvii. I.

t Ibid. xi. 41, 42.
§ Lake xxiii. 34.

THE LORD JESUS AT PRAYER.

!-l

if ever He appeared more truly divine, if ever,
throughout the seasons of humiliation, and while
exposed to common gaze. He seemed more to rise
above the infirmities of the lowly nature he had
assumed, and to manifest Himself the Son of
God, than in His seasons of communion with His
Father. O yes ! when He stood amid the tumult
of the raging seas, and with a voice of power
bade the waves be still, * or when He trode that
treacherous element with unhesitating and un-
sinking step ;t when He leaned over the couch of
the diseased, and breathed freshness and health
into their sinking frames ;X or when He burst the
bonds in which the evil spirits held their wretched
captives, and ordered the devils back to their foul
abode ;§ when He took the sleeping damsel by
the hand, saying, Maid, arise, || or touched the
bier, and the young man of Nain sat up alive,^ or
called in a loud voice, and Lazarus came forth
from his corruption in renewed vigour and life ;**
then, indeed. He proved Himself to tiie surround-
ing crowd most evidently to be divine : but the
sweetest enjoyment, and most delightful evidence,
which His own spirit had, of His being the Son
of God, was that which He experienced when His
whole soul went up in loving and confiding aspira-

* Mark iv. 39. t Matt. xiv. 25. % Ibid. iv. '23, 24.

§ Mark i. 34. || Luke viii. 54. f Ibid. vii. 15.

** John xi. 43, 44.

=v,

-if

TliE LOUD JESUS AT PRAYER.

tioiis to His Fatlier, and with bended knee, and
lifted hand, and upraised eye, and heaving breast,
lie claimed the Lord God as His Father, and met
the full communications of the Eternal Spirit,
bearing testimony with His Spirit, that He was
indeed the Son of God.

n. But from considering prayer as tiius the very
element in which the Lord Jesus lived, let ns
turn and contemplate fur a few moments, more
closely, the manner (^f His approach to God.
We shall perceive that in all cases He dre.v near
in the very spirit of a son, and addressed God in
all cases as His " Father." Whether He would
send up the tribute of praise to God for all that
He had wrought,* or bend in moments of deepest
l)rivation and dittress before the Lord ; whether,
in the depth of His heart's feelings at the foretaste
He had of the fruit of the travail of His soul, in
seeing the Gentiles come to Him,-(- or in the un-
utterable anguish in whi(;h He contemplated the
full, the brimming cup of wrath that was prepared
for Him, ;{: he cried to God ; in each and every
case, He came to the Lord as His " Father." This
consideration is more important and more pro-
fitable, from our remembering that the chief
temptations of the great enemy aimed at jiro-
ducing i„ Him a doubt of His being the Son of

* Jolin xi. 41 ; Matt. \i. -25.
1 .John xii. L>7, 1'8. I .AI:,tt. xxvi. IVJ.

THE LOUD JESUS AT PRAYEll.

God ;* and that his suggestions would not have
had the nature of temptation at all, if there had
not been a necessity for the exercise of faith on
the part of the Lord Jesus, in order to His keep-
ing before His view the reality of His Sonship.
The Lord Jesus did not show His perfect sinless-
ness by His freedom from temptation to doubt
His oneness with the Father, but by the manner
in which He continually met such suggestions,
by the way in which He detected the cloven foot
of every such temptation, and, in tlie midst of
every discouragement and every trial, still drew
near to God unhesitatingly and confidingly,
" crying, Abba, Father."*

HL This view, my dear brethren, of the Lord
Jesus drawing near to His heavenly Father in
prayer, interesting as it is, possesses not merely the
same interest, which the contemplation of those
wondrous acts, which are for our admiration, not
for our imitation, excites, but is peculiarly im-
portant, as giving us a practical view of tlie
privilege which the people of the Lord Jesus
are permitted to enjoy in the exercise of prayer.
For this (which was the third point proposed to
your consideration) is the instruction to be ga-
tliered from the example of Jesus, that every
child of God lias the same privilege of access
through Jesus, f and the same title to look

* Matt. iv. (). I Gal. iv.(j. | Epii. ii. 18.

< ■'.

THE LORD JESUS AT PRAYER.

up to God as a Father for the Lord Jesus'
sake, as He himself had on His own account
and as His own right. The prayer of the be-
liever in Jesus may be, and, while the soul
is in a state of spiritual vigor, will be, cha-
racterised by the saiue childlike spirit, and a
means of the same enjoyment, in the kind,
though not in the measure, of communion with
God, as it was in the case of the Lord Jesus
himself. We have spoken of prayer, as being,
as it were, the very element in which Jesus lived
in communion with His Father. So is it to the
genuine believer in Christ the very atmosphere
in which alone his soul can live, and be in health
and vigor. Restraining prayer, he checks, as it
were, by his own negligence, the communications
of grace for which the Lord " will be inquired
of;"* and his spirits languish, and his hands
hang down, and his feet lose their speed, in
running in the way of God's commandments.
Restraining prayer, he closes, as it were, with
his own hand the armory of God ; yea, he drops
the weapon with which he was armed, and pre-
sents himself nerveless and unguarded to the
assaults of his enemy. Restraining prayer, he
stops, as it were, the supplies of food on which
alone his soul could be nourished ; and the word
of God, and the ordinances of His house, and

* Ezek. xxxvi. 37.

THE LORD JESUS AT PRAYER.

the preaching of His truth, are innutritious, and
he starveth, and is at the point to die. If he
have not supplies of strength from God, how can
he encounter the trials, the self-denial, the tempta-
tions, and the cross of the Christian warfare?
Yea, if he have not communion with God, what
evidence hus he of his even being a believer, or
child of God ? The Lord Jesus had other evi-
dences of His Sonship ; but what evidence has
any believer in him of being in Him a child of
God, but that which is afforded by coming to Him,
and living upon Him, and holding communion
with Him, telling Him of every occasion of
thankfulness, and every subject of distress which
occurs in this life, and deriving from His smile
not merely enjoyment, but that which " is better
than the life itself?"* For this childlike confi-
dence in coming to the Lord, though of right
belonging only to Jesus, has by Him been made
the privilege also of all that believe in Him.
He was from all eternity the Son of God : not so
with them ; they are sons, not by right, but by
adoption : but " because they are thus sons,"
sons on whom the Lord hath set His love in
Jesus, therefore doth the Lord "send forth the
Spirit of His Son into their hearts, crying, Abba,
Father." t They too are privileged to come as
the Lord Jesus came ; and in every trial, and in

* Ps. Ixiii. n.

t Gal. iv. G,

i •(

THR LORD JESL'S AT PRAYER.

every discouragement, and in every distress, to
look up to God as a Father, and communicate
with Him as a Friend. Wiiile they are in the
lively exercise of this privilege, the enemy has
no power against them ; he may tempt them,
but he cannot overthrow them : it is only when
he can insinuate a doubt of this privilege of
adoption, and so draw them away from their
strengtii, that he can succeed against them ; and
only while he can keep them afraid to come in
the exercise of this privilege to God as His ac-
cepted children in Christ Jesus, that he can keep
them in a low, and lukewarm, and worldly, and
unfruitful state. The spirit of adoption is theirs,
whether they will use it, whether they will .njoy
it, or not : and if believers in Jesus will come to
God as slaves rather than as sons, it is not be-
cause they are straitened in God, but in tiieir
own souls. For God hath not given any believer
in Jesus " the spirit of bondage again to fear :"
but He has given them " the spirit of adoption,
whereby they cry, Abba, Father."*

Dear brethren m the Lord Jesus, this privilege
belongs to you, whosoever of you hath in earnest
fled as a sinner to Jesus, and taken Him as " all
your salvation and all your desire."! Notwith-
standing all your corruptions, in the midst of all
your infirmities, yea, as the remedy of all your
* Rom. viii. 15. t 2 Sam. xxiii. 25.

f r

,/' 1

THE LOUD JESUS AT I'llAYEIl.

i)3

shortcomings and your sins, ye are invited to
come as children to your heavenly Father, and to
use the privilege of adoption in pleading with
Him for all ye need. And remember, that it is
only as ye freely and confidingly use this privilege,
it is only as ye come constantly and "boldly
unto the throne of grace,"* that ye can walk at
liberty, with comfort, and in peace. Ye may
give other evidences to others, in the fruitfulness of
your lives, by which they may discover, as those
who witnessed the works of Jesus did of Him,
that ye are the children of God : but ye can only
have the comfort of this knowlege in your own
souls, by your maintaining communion with God
through the Spirit. Whatever others may think
of you, ye can surely find no comfort in your-
selves by thinking of any good deeds that ye
have done : if ye do find comfort thus, it is a
false and treacherous one : but in looking out of
yourselves, and coming to the Father upon the
warrant of Jesus' righteousness, and of the co-
venant which is sealed with His blood, ye may
find unfiiiling comfort and continual peace. Do
not then, dear brethren, so reverse the matter, as to
wait for some fruitfulness in yourselves, some
freedom from sin, or warmth of affection, as your
warrant to come to the Father ; but come to Him,
through faith in Jesus, for the very supplies ve

* Heb. iv. 16.

THE LORD JESUS AT PRAYER.

I «

need to produce such a state in you. O I aim at
keeping alive the spirit of adoption, by tlie faith-
ful view of Jesus, and of His work in your be-
half; for be assured it is only as ye are in the
lively exercise of such communion with God,
that ye can have peace in your own souls, or
strength to run in the way of tlie Lord's com-
mandments.

But what reflections shall the view of the Lord
Jesus at pra^ -r suggest to you, my brethren, who,
yet ignorant of Jesus as a Savior, are ignorant of
the privilege of communion with God ? Some of
you, it may be feared, know not what prayer is,
even in the form, are not afraid to lay your heads
upon the pillow, without having even asked the pro-
tection of the Lord, and are not ashamed to come
forth from your chamber, morning after morning,
in health and strength, without having even
thanked the Author of your safety. O, my bre-
thren ! what sign have ye of life, what evidence
have ye of fitness for heaven, what ground to
hope for it more than the beasts that perish.?
Yea, the very " ox knoweth his owner, and the
ass his master's crib ;" but ye do " not know,''
neither do ye " consider." * O, dear brethren,
awake, arouse you from this awful state, lest ye
awake in hell ! There are others of you who do
go through the form : who acknowlege your duty

* Isa. i. 3.

THE LORD JESUS AT PRAYER.

*»

to pray, and so draw near to God with tlie lips ; but
who never have thought of prayer as a privilege,
nor brought your hearts to Him as a real enjoy-
ment. Nay, ye do not even lament that ye find
prayer no pleasure; but are satisfied with the
form, and contented with the earnestness of your
petitions. O, dear brethren, what is your case,
but that of those who have " a form of godliness,
but deny the power thereof, "* and what will the
form avail without the power? Ye have never
known " the Spirit of God bearing witness with
your spirits, that ye are children of God, "f
have never known " the life of Jesus in your
mortal flesh, ":j: have never had communion with
the Lord as a Father and a Friend. How then can
ye have any fitness for His presence, or any
thought of enjoyment in His kingdom ? O, dear
brethren, arouse you from this slumbering, this
fatal, stele of deadly formality : seek the Spirit
of the Lord, which He hath promised to all that
ask ; § and come by Him, come through Jesus, ||
and claim access for His sake to the Father. If
For, O ! remember, *' that if any man have not
the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His."**

* 2 Tim. iii. 5. t Rom. viii. 16

I 1 Con iv. 11. § Luke xi. 13.

II John xiv. 6. ^ Eph. ii. 18.

** Rom. viii. 9.

Tir-"

[• P

SERMON Vr.

TIIK. FATUIuIl (JLORIFVING TIIK SON.

John xvii. 1, 2.

Jesus lifted up /as ei/es to heacen, and said, Father,
the hour is come ; glorify thy Son, that thy
Son also may ylorify 21iee ; as llmi hast given
him power over all flesh, that he should
give eternal life to as many as Thou hast given
him.

The great work wliich the Lord Jesus had to do,
was uow drawing- near its completion. Tiie
great trial of strength was now api)roaching, in
which the Lord was about to enter single-lianded
upon His great contest against the confederate
powers of death and hell, and by dying to van-
quish death, by entering into the grave to burst
its dark domain, and in being bruised in the

■\

TIIK FATIIKR OLOIUFYrNO THK SON.

liccl, to crush at the same time the head* of the
great serpent, that assailed Him. Behold the
blessed Jesus, and see the calmness, and compo-
sure, and confidence, with which He contem-
plates the coming of this concluding conflict.
We shall look in vain, if we desire to see in Him
any of that vainglorious triumph, in which the
imagination of the worldly loves to deck its
heroes in the prospect of the approach of their
last great struggle. We shall look in vain, if we
would sec in Jesus any of that vaunted indiffer-
ence to suffering and to death, in which they that
labour for an earthly laurel pride themselves, and
to which their ignorance of that world which is
beyond the grave, and of that judgment at which
both small and great must soon appear, principallv
contributes. This spirit of the world found no
harbor in the bosom of the blessed Jesus.
He was keenly alive to all the intensity of the
sufferings that were in store for Him ; and He
tried not to conceal from His disciples the an-
guish of spirit, with which He looked upon the
full cup of torture and wrath which He soon must
drink. But even while expressing to them the
sorrows of His heart, and warning them of the
tremendous nature of the agonies that were be-
fore Him, lie discoursed to them with as much
composure of " the decease: which he should ac-
* Gen. iii. 15.

if^^

THE FATHER GLORIFYING THE SON.

complish at Jerusalem," as He had manifested,
when on Mount Tabor He had held glorious
conference with Moses and Elias ;* and gave them
His parting admonitions with as much ten-
derness and calmness, as if it were they only tliat
needed strengthening, they only that r'^eded com-
fort. No ! there was nothing in Him of tliat
foolhardiness which braves danger, only because
it is ignorant of the extent and nature of tlie
danger : but while there was all the tenderness
and weakness of the man, all the sensibility of
suffering, all the shrinking from shame, all the
consciousness of th-^ vastness of His peril, which
could exist in the gentlest and most susceptible
of human minds, there was the serenity, the
calmness, the submission, the peace, which
proved Him, even at these the weakest moments
of His humanity, possessed of a spirit nothing-
less than divine. See v^e not this spirit mani-
fested at the moment, when, having finished the
instructions and the consolation which His in-
terest in His chosen ones prompted Him to ad-
minister, He turned to Kis heavenly Father with
this recognition of His approaching sufferings,
" Father, the hour is come" ? O ! when we
think of the anguish, the torture, and the ven-
geance, that were poured out upon Him in the
hour to which He was looking forward, and re-

♦ Luke ix. 31.

THE FATHER GLORIFYING THE SON.

member that there was not one pang in prepara-
tion, not one insult in reserve, not one ingredient
in the cup of wrath, of which, and of whose
bitterness, He was not fully aware ; does it not
seem a spirit more than human, which calmly
listens to that silent tread of the coming moments,
whose echo, voiceless as it was to human ear,
announced to His, who was divine, the an-
guish that was approaching ? Does it not seem a
spirit more than human, indeed, which, knowing
the anguish of body, and the suffering of mind
that were before Him, yea, and even knowing
that the vengeance of His Father against sin was
to form a part of the torment, calmly witnesses
its coming, and announces His knowlege of its
approach, " Father, the hour is come" ?

Many a time, before the arrival of this hour, had
the Savior been in circumstances of peril ; many
a time had it seemed as though He was about to
fall a sacrifice to the people's rage. Eagerly had
they more than once grasped the ready means of
execution which lay around their feet, and seized
the stones that they might imbrue them in the
blood of His lacerated body ;* madly had the
citizens of His own city of Nazareth even hurried
Him to the brow of the precipitous descent on
which their city was built, that they might cast
Him headlong down ;t but tlioir rage was power-
* John viii. .)9 ; x. .31. f Luke iv. -29.

H 2

100 THE FATHER GLORIFYING THE SON.

less, tlieir fury vain. " His hour was not yet
come."* The work which was given Him to do
was not then finished. The cup of the people's
iniquity was not then full ; the amount of suf-
fering which He must endure not then complete :
the whole measure of the obedience which He
must render not yet made up : He passed then
unharmed through the very midst of those bent
on His destruction, and went His way.f But now
He saw that the work was at its close ; that tlic
will of the Father had been nearly fulfilled ; that
the obedience which He was working out for
others wanted but the closing act of His deatli
to make it complete. He saw that His hour was
come ; that the time of His suffering was at hand ;
that the period appointed for His leaving the
world and returning to His Father:): was drawing-
nigh. And in that prospect He calmly commits
Himself into the hands of Him, to whom while
on earth He had " learned obedience,"^ and sur-
renders Himself to the execution of His will,
whose "determinate counsel"|| it was not to
spare His own Son, but to give Him up in sin-
ners' stead.

There was a difference between the circum-
stances of Jesus, and those of His believing j)eo-

* John viii. 20. f Luke iv. 30.

X Joliii xvi. L>8. § Hub. V, 8.

II Acts ii. -J'.l.

TliE FATHER GLORIFYING THE SON.

101

the

pie, as to the knowlcge which they may have of
the approacli of their appointed hour. But
tliere is no difference in the actual fact of their
times being just as much in the hand of the
Lord,* as was the hour of Jesus' anguish. How
sweet to them that believe must be, then, the as-
surance, that "no evil can befal them,"! and
that " no mpn can set on them to hurt them,":]:
without the knowlege and permission of their
Father. Not theirs indeed to lift their eyes to
heaven, and say, Father, the hour is come ; but it
is theirs to know that " the very hairs of their
head are all numbered,"^ and that all the com-
bined powers of death and hell can no more
hurt them till the time of their departure cometh,
and then can no more separate them from the
love of God, II than they could injure Jesus, the
Almighty Lord himself. Yes, it is theirs, their
privilege by the purchase of Jesus' blood, to lift
their eyes to heaven, and to see heaven opened,
and Jesus "standing at the right hand of God"^ to
succor and defend them ; and in every season of
peril to say, " Father, my times are in Thy hand ;
do with me even as Thou wilt. If to abide in the
flesh is still needful for me, Thy will be done :
if to depart and be with Christ is now appointed

* Ps. xxxi. 15; Job vii. 1 ; xiv. 5.
f Ps. xci. 10. ; Acts xviii. 10.

() Matt. X. ;)(>. II Uom. viii. 38, U9. •[ Acts vii. 56.

nil

4' «
11 __

102 IHE FATIlEll GLORIFYING THE SON.

for n J, O ! this is tar better. To me, O Lord, to
live is Christ, and to die is gain."* Yes ! dear
brethren in the Lord Jesus, it is your privilege
thus to live. It is your right, as Christians, thus
to live hour by hour up to the strength of God,
and as children to coniniit yourselves to Him.
It is your privilege thus to know that all tilings
are appointed for you while you live ; and to view
death as a friendly messenger that calls you to
your Father. O live up to these privileges.
Aim at realising continually the faithfulness of
Him who hath purchased them for you. So may
your dying hours be not marked with worldly
vainglory, or any pecuHar triumph, but stamped
with the calmness, and serenity, and joy, and
peace, that become a child falling asleep in its
fond parent's arms.

How fondly doth the memory of those that
liave been bereaved of a loved one, who has
gone home before them, delight to dwell upon the
circumstances of the dying hours, to remember
each expression of tenderness, and to recal
each word which spoke of faith in Jesus, and the
sure and certain hope of the inheritance that
fadeth not away ! And with what peculiar fond-
ness have the minds of those, that "love the Lord
Jesus Christ in sincerity,"!' ever delighted to
dwell upon the last expressions of His aficction
* riiil. i. 21—24. f Eph. vi. 24.

THE FATHER GLORIFYING THE SON.

103

for His chosen ones, and to trace the confidence
in God, the submission to His will, the desire of
His glory, which mingled with the hearty self-
devotion to the great work which He had under-
taken, and the overflowings of His love for the
church which He was about to " purchase with His
own blood,"* which breathe throughout that last
affecting prayer, which, while yet in the midst of
His disciples. He addressed to God. Sweet is it,
moreover, to dv/ell upon that expression of the
inmost feelings of His soul to God, not only on
account of the tenderness and love which beam
forth from it, but also as it is a rare pattern of
the intercession, whicli, as the Advocate of His
people, He unceasingly maintains in their bel alf
at the right hand of God. His pleadings I'.v
them ceased not witii His dying breath, but He
" that died " is risen again, and is at the right
hand of God," and there " He ever liveth, making
intercession for them."t This is the great
ground of their security ; this is the great w^arrant
of their safety ; " they have an Advocate with the
Fatlier, Jesus Christ the righteous, and He is the
propitiation for their sins." :j:

The petition, with wrhich the prayer of the
Lord Jesus is commenced, appears to express His
desire in one word for the accomplislmient of all

* Acts XX. 28.

+ Rom. viii. 34 ; lleb. vii. 35.
I 1 John ii. 1, 2.

104

THE FATHER GLORIFYING THE SON.

tliat the Lord had purposed in the grcj^t plan of
redemption. It expresses the one great object
which was had in view in the original proposal of
the scheme of salvation in the eternal counsels of
the Triune Jehovah ; it expresses the object which
is kept steadily in view throughout the whole his-
tory of this world, from itscreation to its finalscene;
it expresses the object whose fulfilment will form
the good pleasure of God, and the joy of men and
angels through eternity,— to wit, the purpose of
God to glorify His Son Jesus. " Father," saith
the blessed Savior, " the hour is come; glorify
Thy Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee ;
as thou hast given Him power over all flesh, that
He should give eternal life to as many as Thou
hast given Him," Let us endeavour, my brethren,
in considering these words of the Lord Jesus, to
contemplate them in this threefold view, as re-
gards the purpose of God from eternity, the de-
velopment of that purpose in time, and the full
accomplishment of it in an eternity yet to come.
And may the good Sjjirit of the Lord, whose
office it peculiarly is to glorify Jesus,* be pre-
sent witli us, and bless our meditations upon so
important a subject to the profit of our souls.

L Our Lord Jesus in this petition shews,
that the purpose of tlie Lord fo glorify Him

* John xvi. 14,

i :

THE FATHER GLORIFYING THE SON. 105

existed from all eternity, when He declares,
that the Father Iiad "given Him power over
all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as
many as the Father had given Him." What
tributes of praise and honor may be gathered
in to the revenues of Jesus, as the King of glory,
from the hosts of worlds that sprang at His
almighty word into existence, we know not, as
it concerneth us not to know; but as regards
the world in which we dwell, we do know, on
the authority of the word of God, that the great
purpose for which it was called into being, for
which it was peopled with our once happy, but
now fallen, race, and for which it was permitted
that sin and death should find an entrance into
it, was, that Jesus might be glorified in gather-
ing an elect people out of it, saving them from
the universal ruin, and bringing thein to glory.
For thus are the people of the Lord spoken of,
as being chosen of God in Christ before the foun-
dation of the world.* Thus is the Lamb of
God spoken of, as " the Lamb slain from the
foundation of the world." f And thus the Lord's
children are heirs of a kingdom " prepared for
them from the foundation of the world.":|: Yes,
even before the foundations of the world were
laid, were all the members of tlie body of Jesus

* Epli. i. 4. f Ucv. xiii. 8.

I Matt. XXV. 34.

lofi

THE FATHER GLORIFYING THE SON.

written in His book;* and before one of them
was called into being, before even the world was
framed on which they were to be called, and
separated, and " conformed to the image" of
their Lord, were their names " written in the
Lamb's book of life,"t and their souis given to
Jesus, as the bright jewels of that mediatorial
crown, which it is His peculiar glory to wear
ujjon His honored brow. Thus was it from all
eternity the purpose of the Lord to glorify His
Son Jesus ; for this end did He give Him power
over all flesh, that, gathering His own from
amid the successive generations that should
come upon the earth. He should bestow on them
the most precious gift of eternal life amid the
glories of His kingdom.

IL While, however, we venture not but witii
cautious and awe-struck step upon the myste-
rious ground of the eternal counsels of the Lord
of Hosts, we turn with confidence, and with joy,
to trace the development in iimc of the Lord's
gracious purpose, and find, in every page of the
Woid of God, in every dealing of the Lord's
providence, in every measure of His grace, evi-
dences of one consistent design to glorify Christ.
In this great purpose we perceive both the other
persons of the blessed Trinity to have embarked
* Ps. xxxix. IG. t liev. xxi. 27.

THE lATHEll GLOIlIl'YiNG THE SON. ! 07

their own glory. For '« it hath pleased tlio
Father that in Ilim," His Son Jesus, " all fulne*ss
should dwell, by Ilim to reconcile all things to
Himself'."* It hatli pleased iiim to " put all
things under His feet,"i- and to command " tiiat
all men sliould Iionor the Son, even as they
honor the Father.":[: And it is the special
office of tlie Holy Spirit to glorify Jesus ;§ this is
the peculiar work upon wliich all His agency
is employed, in all His operations in this portion
of creation. Upon this great work of glorifying
Jesus, the angels of God, too, are continually and
delightedly attendant; for at His birth they
joined their lofty chorus, " Glory to God in the
highest, and on earth jjcace, good-will towards
men, "II througliout His ministry on earth they
were continually His attendants, sustaining and
ministering unto Him in His hours of depres-
sion,t[ and adding all the glory of their heavenly
state to those portions of His hic:,ory in which
He manifested Himself their God and King, as
in His resurrection,** and His ascension into
heaven ;ii- and still day after day they rejoice ami
are glad, as each sinner is gathered into the
fold of Jesus/H- and every fresh jewel added to

* Col. ii. 9.

I John V. 23

II Luke ii. 14.
** Matt, xxviii. -2.

t Eph. i. 22.
§ John xvi. 14.
f Matt. iv. 1 1 ; Luke xxii. 4;3.
I Acts; i. 10. ti Luke xv. 10.

108

Tin; FATHER glorifying Tin: son.

K: I

!>■ ,i

u r

tlio Rc'(lccm(!r's crown, 'riicvcryciunnios of Jesus,
also, are caused by tlic Lord to miuistor to His
f;lory ; for tlioiigh tlicy moan not so, neither do
their hearts think so,* the Lord turns their very
fierceness to [lis praise, and makes tlieir very
wrath to praise His name. And, again, throughout
the whole work of the conversion of sinners, from
the commencement to the close ; throughout the
whole course by which the Lord's j)eoj)le are led
from tlie darkness of the shadow of death to the
full enjoyment of the light of heaven, the same
blessed purpose is predominant, that Jesus may
be glorified. It is the light of His blessed Gospel
shining into their hearts that first enlightens
them. I It is the abundant merit of His atonement
that satisfies them of their pardon : it is the
s]iotless robe of His righteousness thai" clothes
and covers them ; it is His wisdom whici\ shines
in them. His grace which quckens them, His
love which constrains them, His sanctification
which makes them holy. His ransom which re-
deems them.j- The grand design of all their
ti'ials, while they are in this state of pilgrimage, is
to bring every thought into captivity to Jesus, to
wean their aflections from everything to Jesus, to
lead them to renounce every ground of trust, every

* Isa. X. 7. -j- 2 Cor. iv. 6.

■j- John V. -21 ; Horn. iii. 22 -25 ; I Cor. i. SO ; 2 Cor. v.
14, 21.

THE FATIIRIl fiLOIUFYING TIIP: SON. 109

object of desire, every centre of affection, but
Jesus, and to make tliem in all things conform-
able to tlie image of Jesus. The terrors of the
law, the sweet tidings of tlie Gospel; every
blessing, every trial ; every dealing of ])rovidcnce,
whether smiling or (hirk ; every dispensation of
grace, whether cheering, or seemingly severe ;
every temptation, every suffering, every calamity,
every bereavement, in " working together for
good to those tliat love God,"* works also .w tht;
glory of Jesus in their souls' salvation. Yes!
this was the object of the Redeemer's prayer, tliat
God the Father would thus glorify the Son, tliat
the Son also might glorify Him.

III. Looking onwards beyond the present
scene, and contemplating with tlie eye of that
faith, which is " the evidence of things not
seen, "I the vast and wondrous concerns of eter-
nity, we find, that, in what has been revealed to
us of the glories of the heavenly world, the same
design is still manifested to glorify Jesus. Amid
the courts of heaven, this is the voice which
rises from ten thousand times ten thousand and
thousands of thousands of the angelic hosts,
" Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive
power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength,
and honour, and glory, and blessing;";}: and
* Rom. viii. :>8. -]- Heb. xi. I. i \icy, y. lo

THE FATflF.R OLOIUFYrVO TIIF, SON'.

m V*

;ia.

these the notes in whieh every creature in heaven
and in eartli, and under the earth, and in the sea,
and all that are in them, join chorus with the
angels* song, " IMessing, and honour, and glory,
and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the
throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever."*
Behold a multitude whom no man can number,
out of every kindred, and nation, and tongne, and
})eople, stand before the throne, and before the
LLimb, clothed with white robes, and palms in
their hands ; and hear them ascribe " Salvation
to our God that sitteth upon the throne, and unto
the Lamb."t These while on earth had " washed
tiieir robes, and made them white in the blood
of the Lamb :" when the time of their earthly
probation was over, they had lain down in the
dust; but now their bodies had been raised,
made like unto Christ's glorious body, and,
united to their souls which had before been made
like Him, they ascribe the glory to Him by
whose blood they have been redeemed, by whose
Spirit sanctified, by whose grace saved. Yea,
thus is the Father himself glorified by the honor
put upon Jesus ; for He " hath highly exalted
Him, and hath 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
in earth, and things under the earth, and that
* Rev. V. 13. f Rev. vii. 10.

THE FATIIEIl (iLOUIPYING TIIF, SON. Ill

every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is
Lord, to the glory of God tho Father."*

From this brief and doFcient contemplation
of 80 glorious a subject, suffer me, dear brethren,
to turn, and to apply to your own souls flie
momentous questions which its consideration
suggests. Ye perceive tl at the great design of
God, both in time and in eternity, is to glorify
Christ Jesus. How important, then, the incpiiry
of every individual soul that hears me, How art
thou contributing to the glory of Jesus : what
part dost thou bear in glorifying Christ ? J3efore
applying the question more distinctly to dift'erent
classes, let me press on you, as a motive to in-
creased solenmity, the assurance that if Clirist be
not glorified by you. He will be glorified in
you : that if ye glorify Him not as His servants,
His brethren. His friends, He will be glorified
in you by " taking vengeance upon them that
know not God, and obey not His Gospel,"! and
by casting into outer darkness those that would
not have Him to reign over them.

With the remembrance of this awful truth, O !
let me ask of you, dear friends and fellow sinners,
and let me entreat you to ask of yourselves,
How are ye glorifying Christ, ye wliose hearts
are unchanged, whose aflTections are set upon the
* Phil. ii. 9—11. -t L>Tlicss. i. 8.

112 THE FATHER GLOUIFYING THE SON.

world, whose desires are bent upon your own
indulgence, your own pleasure, your own ease ?
Suppose that ye are guilty of no immorality,
and in your intercourso with the world keep
strictly within the bounds of propriety and de-
corum; granted that ye have never done any-
thing that the world calls wrong, nay, are even
such as the world in all respects approves ; yet
in wliat are ye glorifying Christ, what are ye
doing for His praise ? Alas I brethren, by yoi-.r
love of the world ye show yourselves to be at
enmity with Jesus :* by your following of its
ways, ye are denying the Holy One and the Just,
and crucifying the Lord of glory, f " No man
can serve two masters,":[" least of all two such as
Jesus and the world : ye are loving the world ;
and there can be no other alternative, but that
ye are at enmity with Christ. O ! think then,
dear friends, how awful must be your state.
What must be your condition, should the Lord
arise to take vengeance ? But yet there is time.
The Lord hath glorified His Son Jesus by exalt-
ing Him " as a Prince and Savior, to give you
repentance and the remission of sins :"§ only,
then, do ye even now glorify Him by coming
to Him for pardon and a changed heart, and
then shall ye share His glories for ever.

* James iv. 4 ; I John ii. 1.5. -}- Acta iii. 14 ; 1 Cor. ii. M.
t Matt. vi. 24. § Acts v. 31.

Ii .

THE FATHEIl GLOHIFYING THE SON. 1 13

And how are ye glorifying the Lord Jesus,
who, having been made to see something of the
importance of eternity and the awful nature of
the judgment-seat of Christ, are trusting to your
own morality, your own religious duties, your
own formal services, your own best endeavours
for acceptance with God ? How are ye glorifying
Christ ? Why, ye are robbing Him of all His
glory to put it upon yourselves. Ye are making
an idol of your own works, and bowing down to
the work of your own hands. Yea ! the self-
righteous setteth up another Savior, and places
a rival upon the throne of Jesus. And how think
ye, brethren, that tlie Lord Jesus will bear a
rivalry such as this ? O ! " He hath trodden the
winepress alone ;"* and He will stain His gar-
ments in the blood of all that would usur]) His
glory, and claim the honour of His work.
Tremble, then, brethren, at the thought of your
awful state, ye who are trusting to yourselves
hat ye are good enough, and placing your own
morality or righteous- esses in the stead of Christ.
O " cast your idols to the moles and to the bats ;
and go into the cleft of the Rock,"t and hide your-
selves in Jesus ; dear brethren, " look to Him and
be saved ;'':j: ''give glory to Him as the Lord
your God ;"§ for " beside Him there is noSavior."||

* Isa. Ixiii. 3. t Isa. ii. 20, 21.

§ Jer. xiii. 16.

t Isa. xlv. 22.
Isu. xliii. 1 1.

1 14 THE FATHER GLORIFYING THE SON.

And let the inquiry be pressed also upon you,
dear brethren in the Lord Jesus, who have come
out and separated yourselves from the world and
joined yourselves to Christ, How are ye glorify-
ing Jesus, what are ye doing for tlie glory of
Christ ? O ! remember that the religion of Jesus
is eminently practical ; that while on the one
hand it will have none of your works as joint
grounds of justification, but stamps " all your
righteousnesses" as " filthy rags ;"* on the other
hand, herein are Jesus and " the Father glorified,
that ye bear much fruit. "f Jesus in all things
glorified His Father, " doing always the things
that pleased Him ;":]: in this hath He left you
an example that ye should follow His steps. "§
Rest not satisfied, then, with mere profession ;
for profession is not principle; but " give dili-
gence to make your calling and election sure."||
" Fight the good fight of faith ; lay hold on
eternal life ;"^ and aim by the simplicity of your
dependance upon Jesus, by the consistency of
your walk with Jesus, by the constancy of your
hope in Jesus, and by the earnestness with which
ye watch for His coming, to glorify Him. Yea,
remember " ye are not your own, for ye have
been bought with a price : wherefore glorify Him

* Isa. Ixiv. G.
J John viii. 29.
11 '2 Pet. i. Ifi.

f John XV. 8.
§ 1 Pet. ii. 21.
^f 1 Tim. vi. 12.

THE FATHER GLORIFYING THE SON. 115

that bought you in your body and your spirit,
which are His."*

Dear brethren, when the Lord " shall come to
be glorified in His saints and admired in all tliem
that believe," " may our God count you worthy
of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of
His goodness, and the work of faith with power,
that the name of the Lord Jesus Christ may
be glorifir^l in you, and ye in Hini, according
to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus
Christ, "t

* 1 Cor. vi. 20.

t 2 Thess. i. 10—12.

I 2

SERMON VTI.

ETERNAL LIFE.

John xvii. 3.

And this is life eternal, that they might knoio
thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom
thou hast sent.

There is a degree of solemnity connected with
tlie confessions and declarations of persons lying
upon a bed of death, by which few can fail of
being at least for the moment impressed. We are
far indeed from subscribing to the sentiment, that
though men may live fools, yet fools tliey cannot
die : for continual experience shows, that in too
many cases the deathbed exhibits only an ex-
change of one folly for another. Too fre-
quently we find carelessness succeeded by
a})athy, worldliness by self-justification, and the
most perfect self-indulgence by an imperturbable

i. !

ETERNAL LIFE.

117

self-com|)Iacency. These instances are melan-
choly, botli from their number, and from the
hopelessness of opening eyes which arc so
blinded, and of reachi.ig- hearts which " have not
understanding to say. Is there not a lie in my
right liand?"* and still more melancholy, per-
haps, from their not being exceptions to the ob-
servation with which I set out, from the injurious
tendency, 1 mean, which they have upon those
who witness them.

Yet, on tlie other hand, numerous are the
cases, and extensive the influence which those
cases have, in which both tliose that have lived
careless and worldly lives have borne u dying-
testimony to the vanity of all tlicy have pursued,
and the worthlessness of all that the world can
offer, and those that have loved the Lord, and
served Him, and followed Him, have left their
solemn seal " that God is true," f have attested
His faithfulness, and been supported by His
strength, and even triumphed in His all-suffi-
ciency, in the full view of that eternity which was
before them.

The church of God hath long felt the import-
ance of gathering the testimonies, which the
deathbeds of avowed infidels have given, to the
falsehood of all tlieir doctrines, the vanity of all
their objections to the truth of God, and the
* Lsa. xliv. 20. f John iii. 33.

118

ETERNAL LIFE.

Ui)

wretchedness with whicli they have been compelled
to admit that eternity is an awful reality, God a
holy and an awful judge, and the hell tliat already
gnawed their spirits an awful foretaste of that pit
that yawned for them. But there is far more in-
fidelity than that which declares itself the daring
opposer of God and of His truth, and blasphemer
of His name. There is the sadly prevailing in-
fidelity of those, who, " though they know God,
yet glorify Him not as God,"* though they are
called by the name of Christ, yet love and serve
the world, though they acknowledge the Holy
Spirit, yet live according to the flesli : and it is a
solemn thing to witness the deathbeds of many
such, and hear them call their friends, their com-
panions, their dearest relatives, to witness that
the way in which they have lived is not the way
to die. Who can but be impiessed with the
solemnity of the scene, and touched with the
awfulness of the soul's concerns, where some dying
one is breathing out his soul, and, as he witnesses
the coming of his last moments, turns to those
dear to him with the awful admonition : "Live
not, oh, live not, as I have lived. I have loved
the world, and now the world sinks under me ; I
have had my portion in this life, and now the
terrors of eternity surround me : I have neglected
God wJiile I might have sough'., and served, and

* Horn. i. 21,

ETERNAL LIFE.

119

known Him as a friend : now I must meet Him
as a lioly Judge ! O live not without God, lest
you die without hope."

A solemnity equally impressive, but of how
far sweeter and more soothing a character, per-
vades the scene where a dying Christian lies.
We look not indeed for triumph, nor for rap-
ture there : but can the heart, even of the
most thoughtless, fail of being touched at see-
ing or hearing some weak fellow-being like
themselves, looking over the edge of eternity
with calmness and composure, and calling
upon those around, "O taste and see how
gracious the Lord is!* Not one thing hath
failed of all that He hath promised.f I bear my
dying testimony that the Lord is faithful ; ;}: that
His ways are ways of pleasantness, and all His
paths are peace ;§ and that my light afflictions,
which are but for a moment, || are not worthy to
be compared with the glory that shall be re-
vealed, ^Tf of which I have a sure and certain hope,
through the blood of the everlasting covenant
shed for my sins. O ! seek peace in Jesus : He is
the Way, the Truth, a^id the Life :** give to Him
each moment as it flies ; for never will you regret

* Ps. xxxiv. 8.
+ 2 Thess. iii. 3.
II 2 Cor. iv. 17.

t Josh, xxiii. 14.
§ Prov. iii. 17.
f Rom. viii. 18.

** .lolui xiv. G.

120

ETKIINAL LIFE.

one moment tliiit you give to Him." While
living, they might often have borne the same
testimony, and urged the same admonitions, but
been met with the look of indifference, tlie smile
of contempt, or the reply of unbelief: but who
can refuse a listening ear to the warning of a
dying voice, who can turn carelessly away from
the pleadings of a fellow-sinner just entering on
the joys, to which this parting testimony would
allure their steps?

And if one word of Jesus can be supposed to
be more important than another : if one declara-
tion of Him who is tlie Trutli itself can be fraught
with deeper interest or invested witli greater so-
lemnity than another, surely such an increased
interest will attach to His dying testimony, to
His parting declarations. His dying words are
left us; His deathbed declarations, as it were., are
set before us : and this is the summing up
of all His teachings and of all His truth, this
t'^e concluding assertion, with M'hich, in the
intercourse of His soul with God, and in the pre-
sence of His beloved attendants. He puts tlie finish
to His doctrines, "This is eternal life, tliat they
might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus
Christ whom thou hast sent." The testi-
monies of believers, even in the solemn circum-
stances of dissolution, even with the light of
eternity breaking ujxm thcni, were but fallible

ETERNAL LIFE.

l'2l

testimonies : there is a possibility that they miglit
be mistaken. But this is tlie declaration of Him
who is infallible, of Him who knew from all
eternity the mind of God, and whose words are
the revelation of the will of God ; this is an as-
surance, in which, while there is no possibility of
mistake, there is all i>he importance of a dying
testimony, that " this is eternal life, to know
Him the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom
He hath sent." And O, my dear brethren, if
eternal life be worth our care, and His testimony
to its nature, whose gift alone it is, be worthy our
consideration, let us entreat the present blessing
and teaching of the Holy Spirit, that the way
may be made plain before our face, and our scds
quickened to walk in it till we attain its full en-
joyment in the glories of heaven.

A thousand wavs have been devised.

bretliren, each bearing more or less resemblance
to the true one, by which vain man, who would
rather take any way than tlie one which God ap-
j)oints, hopes to arrive as successfully as any of
his fellows at the heavenly kingdom. Amid all
the varieties of human character and conduct, iiow
few should we find that would not profess a hope,
though it may be they cannot furnish one reason
for the hope, that they sliall go to heaven at last !
But this, on the authority of the dying Jesus, is
the only successful way, this is alouc " eternal

122

ETERNAL LIFE.

life, to know God, and His Son Jesus Christ."
How important then tlic incpiiry, What is this
knowlego of God ?

I. In attempting a repl}^ to the inquiry, we
perceive, first, that it is the knowlege of God as
the only true God, as distinguished from all those
vain objects of worship, whom gods the heathen
falsely call. This, of course, lies at the very root
of everything like true religion. The knowlege
of the Eternal Jehovah, as the only self-existent
and true God, the Creator of the Universe, the
Authorof our being, the Maker, the Monarch, the
Preserver of all things, is the very first step in
enlightened piety. He that cometh to God must
at least believe that He is ;* that He existeth from
eternity to eternity ; and that He is the very and
eternal God. We have nothing to do with the
question of the possibility of eternal life being
bestowed upon chose that have never heard of the
true God, but have lived up to the natural light
they had : for, as was well replied to one who
made an inquiry of the kind, " if, through the
grace of God, we should attain, ourselves, to the
heavenly kingdom, we shall either find them
there, or a good reason why they are not." But
of this we cannot doubt, nor hesitate one mo-
ment in professing our belief, that whosoever

* Uvlh xi. (i.

ETEUNAL LIFE.

123

would be saved, that is, whosoever, liaving heard
of the salvation of the Gospel, asks, " What must
I do to be saved "? * must first of all believe in the
Lord God of Hosts as the only living and true
God, beside whom there is no God, beside whom
there is no Savior. i-

II. This, however, is but a small part, the
first step, indeed, of Christian faith ; nay, it is a
belief which may exist without any reference to
Christ ; so that the second point of our considera-
tion will suggest to us the first part of that know-
lege which is to eternal life, the knowlege of
God, as revealed, in the harmony of all His attri-
butes, in His Son Christ Jesus. The clearer and
more accurate the knowlege which any sinner
had of God, apart from Jesus Christ whom He
hath sent, the greater would be the difRculties in
the way, the greater would be the obstacles to the
attainment of eternal life. A clear view of the
holiness, the justice, the purity, the truth, to-
gether with the power and eternity of God, would
present an awful gulf in the way of the sinner's
ever passing from hence to His kingdom ; and to
a mind at all enlightened, even the infinite mercy
of God, that general refuge of carelessness, un-
godliness, self-righteousness, and worldliness,
would present no counterpoise suflicient to over-

* Acts xvi. 30.

t Isa. xliii. 1 1.

124

ETKUNAI, HIE.

1' I

balance tJKj demands of His justice and His
truth. The more clearly any one saw the true
features of the character of God, as viewed apart
from Christ, the more clearly would He see that
*' He will in no wise clear the guilty,"* and that
nothing- else could be the sinner's portion but
misery and -ternal death. It is only as God is
seen in Christ that the knowledge of Him is
eternal life. " To know the true God and Jesus
Christ whom He hath sent," is to see those very
attributes of God, which were seemingly most
oj)posite, all reconciled in Christ. It is to see the
justice of God, not giving up one j)article of its
demands against the sinner, but claiming and
receiving full satisfaction for all the offences which
have been committed, by ])ouring out all its
vengeance upon Christ, the sinner's substitute.
It is to see the mercy of God, not setting aside
His justice, or altering one declaration of eternal
truth, but offering Jesus, the only, the well-be-
loved Son of God, to satisfy the demands of
justice in the sinner's stea ', to bear the curse in
the place of him upon whom it was denounced,
to die as the substitute of the soul that had
sinned. It is to see " mercy and truth meet to-
gether " upon the hill of Calvary ; to see " righte-
ousness and peace kiss each other "f as reconciled
beneath the cross, on which the blessed body of
* E::. xxxiv. 7. t Ps. Ixxxv. 10.

ETEIINAL LTFi:.

125

the Redeemer liang?!. This, my brctlircn, is the
first point of a gospel faith—of faith which i«
unto salvation— of faith through which the soul
is justified. A belief that God hath given His
Sou to die for sinners, that He " hath laid upon
Him all the iniquities of all "* His people, that
He hath given Him as their substitute and surety,
and in Him freely '• given them eternal life," ( a])-
pears to be alone that faith, through which the
sinner is accepted, and admitted to an interest in
that inheritance, which is the purchase of Jesus'
blood for all His people.

HI. The mere belief, however, even of these
wondrous truths, may be merely speculative. It
sometimes is so, that these precious truths are
admitted with the understanding as generally
correct, without being personally applied. That
knowlege, then, which is " eternal life," we may
further remark, is the knowlege of God as our
God, our Father, and our Friend, as reconciled to
us in Christ Jesus, having forgiven our iniquities,
and cast our sins into the depths of the sea,. J: and
now loving us as His children,§ and pledging
Himself to preserve us to glory. || The natural
reason exclaims, at hearing such language as
this, " O what presumption is here !" But foith

* Isa. liii. 6. f l John v. 11.

§ Gal. iii. 26.

t Mic. vii. 19.
2 Tim. iv. 18.

126

ETERNAL LIFE,

l(i

says, " If it were not for the word of G .d, it were
presumption indeed ; but His word is the ground
of it, His own revelation the warrant for it. " And
indeed, dear brethren, so far from such a belief
as this being an evidence of presumption, it can
only be found to exist, in its genuine features, in
those whose views of themselves are of the most
abasing nature, whose souls are most bowed
down by a deep and overwhelming sense of their
own corruption, and who sec no glimmer of
hope, no ray of comfort anywhere, but in flying
for refuge to the hope set before them in the
Gospel.* And if we admit as true the declarations
of the word of God, as regards the effect pro-
duced by the atonement of Jesus, then surely such
a faith as looks up to God as a Father, claims
Him as a Friend, depends upon Him as an un-
failing Benefactor, and looks to Him as the faith-
ful giver of all that He hath promised in Christ
Jesus, even to eternal life, is merely the applica-
tion of those declarations to one's own soul, is
merely the taking God at His word, and believ-
ing that what He hath promised. He intended
also to make good. And surely there is greater
presumption in doubting God's word, in acting
towards Him with coldness and reserve, and in ad-
mitting just so much of his declarations as ac-
cords with our own notions, than there is in trust-

* Hob. vi. 18.

ETERNAL LIFE.

127

ing Him to the full extent of all that He hath
said, and taking to ourselves the full comfort of
all that he hath promised. Yes, brethren, how-
ever we may decide this point, this is the mes-
sage which God delivers, that " He hath been in
Christ reconciling the world unto Himself, not
imputing their trespasses unto them ;" * this the
entreaty which He addresses to sinners, that they
will come and " be reconciled to Him," since
" He hath made Him to be sin for them who
knew no sin, that they might be made the righ-
teousness of God in Him ;"t this the record which
He delivers to believers, " that He hath given
unto us eternal life, and this life is in His Son ;" J
this the privilege which He assures them of, that
He " hath not given them the spirit of bondage
again to fear, but hath given them the spirit of
adoption, whereby they cry, Abba, Father.§ That
knowlege of Him, then, which is unto eternal
life, is the belief in Him as thus revealed in
Christ Jesus. It is the belief, by which the
sinner looks up to Him, as having blotted out his
sins with the blood of His Son Jesus ; by which,
while knowing and feeling his own corruption, he
yet glorifies that grace, by which he hath been
freely accejjted in the beloved Jesus ; || by which
he can even look to God himself as being en-

*2Cor. V. 19.
t 1 Jolin V. 1 I.

t lb. 20, 21.

§Rom. viii. 15. II Eph. i. 6.

li'8

ETERNAL LIFE.

gaged to free him from his corruptions, to save
him from liis sins, and to make liim meet for
that inheritance which He hath provided for him
in His eternal kingdom.*

IV. One further and most important parti-
cular in describing that knowlege of God which
is *' eternal life," remains to be considered ; which
is that knowlege of Him and of His Son Christ
Jesus, by which the believer walks with them and
has fellowship with them through the Holy Spirit.
This was the beautiful description of those saints
of old, " of whom we have this testimony that
they pleased God," f that they " walked with
God." " Enoch walked with God, and was
not, for God took him.";}: " Noah walked with
God."§ Abraham walked with God.|| This is
St. Paul's description of the life of the believer ;
" We have our conversation in heaven." ^ " We
are dead, and our life is hid with Christ in
God."** " I am crucified with Christ, never-
theless 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." ft And tiiis the

* Jer. xxxi. 33, 34 ; Matt. i. 21 ; Col. i. 12.

t Heb. xi. 5. § Gen. v. 24. + Ibid. vi. 9.

II Gen. xviii. f Phil. iii. 20. ** Col. iii. 3.
tl Gal. ii. 20.

ETERNAL LIFE.

129

motive of the beloved disciple, in declaring to his
fellow-sinners that which he had heard, and seen,
and handled, and tasted of the word of lifei
" that ye," as he saith, " may have fellowship
with us; and truly our fellowship is with the
Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ."* This
knowlege of God it is which peculiarly distin-
guishes a living and active, from a mere spccu-
lative and dead faith. This it is, which not only
assures to the soul of the believer his interest in
Christ and His salvation, but forms also his
racetness for the enjoyment of His kingdom. It
IS that knowlege of God, through the commu-
nion of the Holy Spirit, by which the soul is
conformed to the image of God, and through
which, as it daily increases in clearness and
strength, the believer, " beholding as in a glass
the glory of the Lord, is changed into the same
image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit
of the Lord." f Nothing else is necessary to pro-
duce conformity to God, than a thorough know-
lodge of Him as He is in Christ Jesus, communi-
cated by the Holy Spirit. The great character-
istic of the unconverted is, that " they have no
knowlege ;" " they know not God ;» He - is not
in all their thoughts." J: But " God, who com-
manded the light to shine out of darkness, hath

* ' ^«'^" '• ^- t 2 Cor. iii. 18.

X I's. .\iv. 4 ; 2 TliLss. i. 8 ; Ps. X. 4.

130

ETERNAL LIFE.

> s

UJr-f

shinecl into the hearts " of believers, "to give them
the light of the knowlege of the glory of God in
the face of Jesus Christ." =* This knowlege of God
recognises Him as the Supreme Disposer of all
events, who numbers the very hairs of the heads of
His people, and causes all things to "work together
for good to them that love Him." f This know-
lege of God recognises Him as supremely wise in
all His arrangements, supremely loving in all
His dispensations, and infinitely powerful to carry
all His purposes into effect ; and it leads the soul
into acquiescence with His will, submission to His
dealings, and confidence in His promises. This
knowlege of God in Christ perceives Him to be
the centre of all true happiness, the source of all
enjoyment, the fountain of all bliss ; and it leads
the believer to find his joy in God, to seek his
pleasures in Jesus, and to delight in communion
with Him in prayer and praise. This knowlege
of God in Christ, sees Him as the true object of
every desire and affection of the heart, the right-
ful Lord of all that His creatures are or have, and
as liaving an especial claim on those wliom He
hath " bought with a price;" and leads the be-
liever to give himself to the Lord," to "present
his body a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to
God in Christ," and to " glorify Him in his

* S2 Cor. iv. G.

t Matt. X. 30; Horn. viii. :i8.

ETERNAL LIFE.

131

body and his spirit, which are His."* The faith,
of which we have spoken, is the evidence of our
interest in eternal life; but tliis knowlege is
eternal life itself. It is heaven begun on earth ;
It is the blessedness of eternity springing- up in
time; it is eternal life commenced in the soul.
Now we know but in part indeed; but that
knowlege is a foretaste and a pledge of what the
bcHever shall enjoy, when he shall know even as
he is known."!

Behold, then, dear friends and brethren, the
way of life set before you in Christ Jesus.
" This," upon His own dying testimony, " is
eternal life, to know the true God, and His Son
Jesus Christ." O ! then, - that the soul be with-
out this knowlege, surely it is not good ;"-{: surely
it is dangerous ; surely it is fetal. And yet, dear
fellow sinners, do I not address many among you
who are yet without this knowlege, ignorant of
God, as ye are ignorant of your own souls? Let
me entreat such of you to consider this awful
fact, that, when the Lord Jesus shall come to judg-
ment, the objects of His flaming vengeance will
be those " that /mow rot God, and obey not the
Gospel of His Son."§ The inquiry at that
awful hour will not be, " Into what depths of ini-
(puty have you fallen ; or with what degree of
* Rom xii. 1 ; I Cor. vi. 20.

t Prov. xix.2.

t 1 Cor. xiii. 12.
§ 2 Thess. i. 8.
K 2

132

liTEIiNAL LIFE.

ft .

innocence have you enjoyed tlie world?" Search
will not then he made, how much hetter ye may
have been than some others, or what palliation ye
can offer for your transgressions. But this will be
the great inquiry, " Have ye known God; have
ye known Him in Christ Jesus; known Him
as a reconciled Father; known Him in walking
with Him, serving Him, following Him ?" O ! my
poor unconverted fellow-sinners, whose hearts are
yet in the darkness of ignorance, in the blindness
of your natural condition, awake from your fatal
slumbers. Ye know not God as a friend now ;
how will ye acquaint yourselves with Him when
He enteroth into judgment? Ye know Him not
so as to find your delight in Him, now that He
pleads with you in love, and " waiteth to be gra-
cious ;" how then do you expect to ivnow Him
in eternity, but as an angry and avenging God '
The Lord .lesus is set before you, as the only way
to the knowlege of God. It is in Him alone that
God is revealed to you ; by Him alone can any
of you come to the Father.* He is set forth be-
fore you, crucified by your sins. He is exhibited
to you, the Atonement of your transgressions.
He is proposed to you, the way of peace with God.
O! as ye would have eternal life, come to Jesus for
it ; for " as Moses lifted up the serpent in the
wilderness, so has the Son of man been lifted up,

* Joliii xiv. G.

ETERNAL LIFE.

133

that wliosoever belioveth in Him sliould not
perish, but have eternal life."*

And, dear brethren in the Lord Jc :'us, what a
motive doth the declaration of our Lord in the
text propose to you, for seeking continual ad
vancement in the knovvlege of Him, whom truly
to know is everlasting life ! Without some know-
lege of God in Christ, ye could have no title at
all to eternal life; but, dear brethren, will ye
rest satisfied witli such a measure of knowlege as
will merely ensure your safety ? All that is need-
fid for the peace, the happiness, the security, the
comfort of your souls, is comprised in the know-
lege of God and Christ Jesus. And when this
knowlege is to be had for the asking, O ! will ye
be contented short of the full measure of it that is
offered you ? What is it that produces indistinct-
ness in your views, and indecision in your con-
duct ? What but the want of the knowlege of
God. What is it that produces your fear of the
world, your want of self-denial, your shrinking
from shame for Jesu's sake, and your many in-
consistencies in your daily walk: What but
the want of the knowlege of God in Christ
Jesus. What is it that keeps you in such a
low and sapless state, with so little of the com-
fort, the liberty, the spirituality of God's chil-
dren ? What but the low attainments with

* John iii. 14, 15.

134

ETERNAL LIFE.

which ye satisfy yourselves in the knowlege of
God? Dear brethren, let not the measure,
with which tlie world of mere professors are con-
tented, satisfy you ; but " forgetting- the things
tliat are behind," reach forward, press onward,
" that ye may know Christ, and the power of
His resurrection, and the fellowship of His suffer-
ings, being made conformable to His death, if
that ye may attain unto the resurrection of the
dead."*

M '

* Phil. iii. 10, 13.

135

iwlege of
measure,

are con-
16 things

onward,
power of
is siifFer-
deatli, if
n of the

SERMON VIII.

CHRIST'S MEDIATORIAL GLORY THE REWARD
OF HIS WORK.

St. John xvii. 4, 5.

/ have glorified Thee on earth ; I have finished
the work which Thou gavest me to do And
now, O Father, glorifg Thou me with thine
own self, icith the glory which I had with Thee
before the world was.

As the hour of His departure out of tliis world to
the Father drew nigh, in His closing act of com-
munion with His heavenly Father before His pas-
sion, our Savior briefly reviewed the course He
had fulfilled in His short and tried career upon
the earth. Recalling to His mind that great pur-
pose which was proposed in the eternal councils
of the Triune Godhead, and the wondrous design

136 Christ's mediatorial glory

which was Imd in view in His taking upon Him
the flesl, and nature of man, he now, as the close
of His earthly trials was approaching, declared
that purpose to have been fulfilled, that design
to have been accomplished. And surely, if the
soul of the Divine Redeemer was "exceeding sor-
rovful, even unto death,"* in the prospect of the
Clip of anguish that was yet in store for Him,
there was something to cheer and support Him in
the reflection, that the glory of the Father, which
was so precious to Him, had been exhibited in
all that He had yet accomplished or endured,
aiid would be still more displayed in the sufferings
He now anticipated; that the will of the Father
which He expressly came to do,t had been ful^
hlled; and the work which he had undertaken
was but waiting for the closing act of His death
of anguish and of shame, to make up its com-
])lete accomplishment.

Yes, surely to Jesus alone belonged all tlie con-
solation, which vain man in ignorance of himself
would endeavour sometimes to appropriate, all
the comfort, which is to be drawn from the retro-
spect of a life, spent singly and entirely, without
one feilure, without one exception, to the glory
and the praise of God, and from the anticipation
of a crown which was the due and well-earned

* Mark xiv. 34.

t John vi. 38; Heb. x. 7.
I 2 Tim. iv. 8.

THE RKWARD OF HIS WORK.

137

reward of a well-finished and completed work.
His true disciples and faitliful followers may share
some portion of this consolation, in ascribing en-
tirely to tlie grace of God, tlirougli tlieir union
with Jesus, the success of their combat against the
enemies of God and their souls, and of their
manifestation of the name of Jesus to the world
as their only refuge and only righteousness, and
in looking forward to the «' crown of righteous-
ness," which is the sure, though entirely gra-
tuitous, meed, the purchase of Jesu's blood, of all
that are in Him, and " love His appearing.* But
how vain, how deceitful, how flital, the comfort
too frequently based by self-righteous man upon
what he calls the review of a well spent life ; by
which he means too generally a life characterised
by the virtues of integrity and honesty, distin-
guished by his having never, as he says, done
harm to any one, but checkered by what he deems
the little sins of selfishness, neglect of God's
word. His sabbaths. His house, His name, and the
absence of all interest in Jesus and His salvation.
None but Jesus could ever look back with well-
grounded satisfaction at the whole course of his
life ; for of the children of men, " there is none that
doeth good, no, not one." f None Init Jesus
could ever mention his righteousness before God,
with well -founded confidence; for "all the righ-
* -2 Tim. iv. 8. f iJoin. iii. 10.

I I

138

CHRIST S MKDIATOltlAL (;LOKY

teousnesscs " of tlie cliildren of men ai-e but " as
filthy rags." *

The consideration of these reflections of the
Lord Jesus at tlie close of Mis career, and of the
prayer with which He accompanies them, may,
through the Lord's grace, be profitable to our
souls. May He, in His great mercy, pour out
the same spirit of prayer upon us, that we may
be enabled, by His Spirit, to enter into His mean-
ing, and to derive those instructions which His
words arc calculated to impart.

L And, first, let our minds be drawn to
the contemplation of the original station and
character of the blessed Jesus, which is pre-
sented to us in the Lord's petition, that the
Father would " glorify Him with the glory
which He had had with Fim before the world
was." " Jn the beginning," that is, at the very
furthest period of bygone ages, which our minds
are at all capable of conceiving, before any
being or any thing in creation had been called
into existence, even then " the Word was, and
the Word was with God, and the Word was
God." t It is to this divine Word, that is, to the
blessed Jesus, that the Father is rei)resented, on
the authority of the Holy Ghost, as addressing
these momentous words, " Thy throne, O God,
* Isii. Ixiv. G. t .lolin i, I.

THE UEWAIIU OF HIS WORK.

130

is for ever and ever ; a sceptre of righteousness is
the sceptre of Tliy kino-dom ;" " and " Thou,
Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundations
of the earth, and the heavens are the works ol'
Thy hands : they shall perish, but Thou re-
mainest : and they all shall wax old as doth a
garment, and as a vesture shalt Thou fold them
up, and they shall be changed ; but Thou art the
same, and Thy years shall not fail."* We may
gaze indeed upon the lowly man, now bending
in meekness and devotion before the Father, and
surrounded by a few outcasts from the world,
unlearned, poor, despised men; and, if we judge
merely by the eye of sense, we see nothing-
there to indicate, that He is the Eternal God, the
Creator of the universe, the Lord of all. But with
the eye of faith, we see " Him, of whom Moses in
the law and the prophets did write,"! as "the
Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince
of peace:":): "the Lord, or Jehovah, our Righteous-
ness ;"§ the God, " beside whom there is no
Savior ;"!| " the Man, that is Jehovah's fellow,"5[
Him "whose goings forth have been from of old,
from everlasting." ** With the eye of faith we
see Him, who, by His own testimony, '* came

* Ps xlv. (5, 7 ; cii. 25—27 ; Ileb. i. 8—12.
f John i. 45. \ Isa. ix. 6.

§ Jer. xxiii. 6. || Isa. xliii. 11.

f Zech. xiii. 7. ** Mic. v. 2.

140

CHRIST S MEDIATORIAL GLORY

down from heaven,"* where He was from all
pternity "in the bosom of the Father,"t and
was "one with the Father;":]: who, "before
Abraliam was," was the great " I AM ;"§ who
had " all power in heaven and in earth ;"'||
" who had power to lay down His life and take
it again ;"1[ " who was in the Father and the
Father in Him," " so that he that saw Him, saw
the Father."** With the eye of faith, we see
Him, who, on the testimony of Evangelists and
Apostles, was " God over all blessed for ever ;"tt
" their Lord and their God :":j::j: who had been
from eternity " in the form of God, and thonght
it not robbery to be equal with God ;"§§ " who
had made all things, and without whom was
not anything made that was made ;"|||| "who
was the true God and eternal Hfe,"trf " the Be-
ginning and the Ending, the First and the
Last,"*** "the King of Kings, and Lord of
Lords. "tit This was the glory, to which the
blessed Jesus was now contemplating a return :
this the glory which He had with the Father be-

: >

* John iii. 13.
:|: John X. 30.
II Matt, xxviii. 18.
** John xiv. 9, 10.
XX John XX. -28.
\H\ John i. '■].
*** Hfv. i. S, II.

f John i. 18.
§ Johnviii..')8; Ex. iii. 14.
5[ Johnx. 18.
•j-j- Iloni. ix. 5.
§^ Phil. ii. 6.
ff 1 John V. 20.

•!•! Ih. xix. i(i.

Tin: RKWAllD OF HIS WORK.

141

fore the worlds were made, and to the possession
of which He v/as now looking forward, as the
close and compensation of His mediatorial
work.

n. From this, the glory of His everlasting
godhead, the splendour of His heavenly s' ion.
He had humbled himself, had taken upo. .im
" the form of a servant ;"* and in that assumed
form had been going through a training in
obedience, and been accomplishing a great work
which had been appointed for Him to do. O !
how, dear brethren, can we appreciate the con-
descension thus displayed! What shall we
render to the Lord for this His amazing love !
The text brings Him before our minds, as He is
looking back upon the course through which He
had passed, and suggests to us, secondly, the
consideration of the manner in which He had
executed His appointed duty, and of the nature
of the work which He had now so nearly
finished. " I have glorified Thee, O Father,
upon the earth ; I have finished tlie work which
Thou gavest me to do."

We have the testimony of the Lord Jesus, on
several occasions during Histried career, that " He

sought not His own glory, but the glory of Him that
sent Him."t He had laid aside His own glory : had

* I'l''l- ''• 7. t Johnvii. 18; viii. 20.

14"2 Christ's mediatorial glory

left it in the heavenly courts, whore he had en-
joyed it from all eternity with the Father, and
was bent now simply upon glorifying His Fa-
ther's name. The wondrous acts of healing
which he wrought ;* tlie benevolent displays of
His omnipotence in feeding thousands of the
hungry,! and setting the captives of the devil
free from their dread possession;:}: the amazing
exhibition of His power and grace combined, in
restoring to his weeping mother the young man
of Nain,§ and calling forth the now putrid La-
zarus in renovated vigor from the grave :||
these things, though done in His own name, and
by His own inherent power, were made occasions
of glorifying His Father, the God of Israel.lf
Far from seeking His own exaltation by these
wondrous acts, He shrunk and hid himself away
from those, in whose hearts He perceived a desire
to take Him and make Him tlieir King.** Yet
these, the miraculous acts of His divhiity, were
not the principal means by which He glorified
His Father on the earth ; they were not the chief
part of the work which He was finishing. Tljey
were not more wonderful, tliey did not tend more
to the glory of God, than those daily and

* Lukev.2G;xiii.l7;xviii.43.
t Luke viii. 39.
il Jolin xi. 41.

*«

t John vi. l4.
§ Luke vii. IG.
!f Matt. XV. 31.

•lolin vi, 1.5.

THE REWARD OF HIS WORK.

143

hourly miracles by wliich the Lord's presence and
power have been displayed from the creation to
the present hour. The raising a diseased body
from its couch of pain was not more wonderful
tlian that continual exercise of power and good-
ness, by which the bodies of His millions of crea-
tures are kept in health and vigor ; the feedino-
of five thousand upon a few loaves was not more
miraculous, than is the continued bounty which
pours forth from tlie lap of Providence the sus-
tenance of myriads ; the raising a dead body
from its tomb is no greater proof of Omni-
potence, than is tliat daily, hourly, momentary
outgoing from the essence of divinity, through
which each successive generation begins to
breathe, and live, and move, and have its being.
These things were not peculiarly the work of
Jesus upon earth ; they were the work in which
He had from all eternity been engaged ; the acts
of creating, sustaining, preserving power, in
wliich He had for ever been employed.* Tliey
were, then, but the credentials of P^is mission ;
the testimonies, not of His assumed inferiority,
but of His eternal equality with the Father ; the
acts by which He exhibited liimself, not as
" learning the obed;ence"i- of the man, but as
possessing the full power of God. Tlie work
which He came to do, was tlie great work of com-

* Col. i. IG, 17. Hcb. i. 2, ;3. I lb. V.8.

144

CIIKIST S MEDIATORIAL GLORY

li, I

plete obedience to the will of His heavenly
Father,* of an unsinning and perfectly faultless
observance of the commands contained in the
law,t of a thorough fulfilment of all the righ-
teousness, which the holiness of God demanded,
and the creature owed ;;{: of the accomplishment,
in short, of all that man should have done in
order to his attainment of the promise of eter-
nal life,§ of the endurance of all that man should
liave suffered, as a transgressor of the law against
whose infraction a curse had been denounced. ||

In the early years of the life of the Lord Jesus
upon earth, when His anxious parents, who had
missed Him from their company, found Him, after
diligent search, in one of the courts of the Tem-
ple at Jerusalem, this was His reply to the gentle
reproof of his fond mother, " How is it that
ye sought me ; wist ye not that I must be
about my Father's business ?" And wliat was
the business He had been engaged in ? llf.
had been sitting among other pupils at the
feet of the doctors of the law, meekly receiv-
ing instruction in that very word, of which He
liimself was the author.^ When, on another
occasion, the Lord's disciples urged him to take

* Heb. X. 7, 9, 10. t I Pet. ii. 24 ; 1 John liL o.

I 2 Cor. v.2\. § Horn. x. 5 ; Gal. iii. 12.

I Gal. iii. 13; Isa. iiii. 5, G, 11. ^ Luke ii. 42 — 49.

THE REWARD OF HIS WORK.

145

eavenly
faultless

in the
le righ-
Tianded,
shment,
clone in
of eter-
1 should

against
iced. II
fid Jesus
who had
im, after
he Tem-
le gentle

it that
must be
hat was
in ? H-
i at the
y receiv-
i^hich He

another
I to take

ihn iii. o.
ii. 12.
4:>— 49.

food, his reply was, " My meat is to do the will
of Him that sent me, and to finish His work."
We look back to find how He had been en-
gaged, and perceive, that the preceding hour
liad been spent, not in any outward display of
miraculous power, but in convincing a poor
guilty creature of her sins, and leading her to the
knowlege of the Christ.* And this, throughout
His life, was the business on which He showed that
He had come : this the great work He had in
hand, this the duty, on whose performance He was
bent, and by which He glorified the Father, even
the obedience in every respect of His Father's
will, the fulfilment of the commands of His law,
the sinless and unfailing compliance with all His
wishes. By this He "magnified the law, and
made it honorable ;"t by this He "brought in
everlasting righteousness;":]: by this He provided
an obedience, which might be accepted from
Him who owed it not on His own account, as if it
had been rendered by those whom the Father Iiad
given Him as His people.§ In the near approach
of His final sufferings, in the certain anticipa-
tion of that dying moment in which He should
cry with a loud voice, " It is finished,'' || and give
up the ghost, He spoke as if he had already

* John iv. 31—34.
I n;in. ix. -21.

t Isa.xlii. '21.

^ Honi. iv. L>;3 — f?.5

10.

.lolin xix. 150.

iiij

^ i

m\.

,:l

f? i

§ ■

14G

fllRIST S MEDIATOIIIAT, OI.OUY

completed it ; as if the work were already finished,
to which the closing stroke was just about to be
put,— a work by which a Morld's iniquities should
be atoned,_a work, which guilty sinners might
take hold of, and offer to God as if they had done
it,— a work, on whose account, they, that should
by faith bo interested in it, should be esteemed as
righteous as if they hid never sinned, nay more,
as righteous as if they had obeyed the law as
perfectly as Christ himself did,*

III. The blessed Jesus, in looking forward to
the painful and ignominious close of His sinless
work, looked onward also to the glory on which
He should afterwards enter. He was sustained in
the prospect of" enduring the cross" by the con-
templation of " the joy that was set before Him."t
Consider briefly, then, dear fi-iends, in the third
place, the manner in which, as the text shows us.
He put himself in subjection to the Father, and
meekly prayed for, as the reward of His obedience,
that glory which was His own inherent right,
and in which He had from all eternity dwelt
with the Father. " Now, O Father, glorify Thou
me with thine own self, with the glory which I
had with Tlieu before the world was." He had
put himself in the stead of man : and, not until
He had done all that was necessary for man, did
* l^f"i'- ^ 4. j. Heb. xii. 2.

THE REWAIUJ OF HIS WORK.

147

He think of a return to His heavenly state. He
had undertaken the sinner's case ; and not until
He had completed the vicarious work on which
He entered in their behalf, did He look forward
to the glorious recompense. And then, as though
He had been but man, He placed Himself in His
Father's hands j He submitted all His claims to
Him ; He brought His work to Him, as it were,
to be ti'ied and approved ; and scMght, as a sup-
pliant, that when approved, as He knew it must
be, and completed, as He saw it soon would be,
He should receive the recompense that was its
due, in the glory that had been His for ever.
And, infinite as had been the glory in which He
had for ever dwelt, there was a crown, now beam-
ing through the darkness of his coming woes,
which never yet had decked His brow ; there was
a glorious crown before Him, which He had never
worn, whose splendors should replace the thorns
by which ere long his temples should be pierced.
The mediatorial crown was now in prospect, and
glittering before His eyes ; a crown, before which
angels and principalities and powers should bow
down,* whose circlet should proclaim the van-
quishing of Satan and his rebel hosts, f whose
jewels should be the millions of redeemed souls.ij:
This was the joy that was set before His eyes,

* Phil. ii. 9, 10 ; Eph. i. 20—22.
t Mai. iii. 17.

t Heb. ii. 14.

1^ -t^

^1/

m i

3 V

148

CIIIIISTS MEDIATOUIAT, GLORY

tliis tlie glory which should bo the recompense of
His obedience, this the crown of rejoicing which
should outweigh the anguish He endured. For
this He supplicates : ,br this He bends before the
throne of God : for this He submits His claims,
and, in the fulfilment of His obedience, leaves it in
tlie hands of God to award the recompense that
was His due.

The contemplation of .lesus, in the circum-
stances in which the text places Him before us,
must not, however, be a mere matter of curiosity.
Rather let it suggest to us, by way of application,
several most deeply Important and practical
truths. And the first that suggests itself is that
which arises from the reflections just made, that,
as the Lord Jesus claimed not the glory until He
had completed a sinless and spotless work, so
none can have any claim or title to eternal life,
but those that have like Him rendered a com-
plete and unsinning obedience to every precei)t
and command of the law of God. If heaven be
looked for as a reward ; if the glory of J- us be
thought of as the recompense of what has been
done, it can only be so claimed by those that
have entitled themselves to heaven, as Jesus did,
by an unfailing fulfilment of all the righteousness
of the law. They that stand upon their own
obedience in any measure, can find nothing in

^ -

i-W^-fMllj-??!'

THK UEVVAUI) OF HIS WOUK.

the word of God to warrant the idea tliat the Lord
will accept sincerity instead of perfection, that He
will admit their best endeavours in the room of
uiisinning obedience, or that He will relax any
one demand of the law,* in judging of their pre-
tensions to eternal life. The self-righteousness
of those that bear the name of Protestant consists
not in supposing that they can claim heaven on
the ground of their being perfect, or of their good
deeds overbalancing their evil ones, but in ima-
gining that the demands of the law have been
mitigated, and that God will for Christ's sake
accept their poor endeavours to do the best they
can. But O ! be assured ; while yet there is time
to seek another refuge, be assured, ye who are
trusting in any vain self-righteous notion such as
this, that in no such way can ye be justified. f If
yourselves are to have any part in the work, ye
nmst have the whole, for Jesus will not share Plis
work with you ; and your whole work, all your
best endeavours, your sincerity, your prayers,
would be found at last to be nothing but sin.
O ! away then, poor fellow-sinners, from such
" refuges of lies ;";{: away from such false depen-
dauces as the " filthy rags"§ of your own good-

* Jam. ii. 10.
I Isa. xxviii. 17.

t Gal. ii. IG.
§ lb. Ixiv. G.

150

CHRIST S MEDIATORIAL GLORY

ness; and betake you to the finished work of
Jesus as your only hope.

A second consideration of deep importance
suggested by the text is this, that tlie work whicli
Jesus took in hand He has completely finished.
He undertook the redemption of sinner^ ; that is,
He undertook to pay down the full price of their
deliverance from condemnation and the curse,
and to provide for them a complete obedience,
which should be accepted on the behalf of worth-
less and polluted sinners, as if they had rendered
it themselves. This work He undertook and
finished by himself alone, and the honor of it He
will not share, His glory He will not give to
another. He hath "trodden alone the winepress "
of divine wrath : He hath fulfilled alone the
righteousness of the law for sinners. Yes ! He
hath finished the work ; and now, poor sinners,
whosoever of you " are weary and heavy laden,"
whosoever of you, in fact, admit the propriety of
the appellation « sinners," come to Him, and by
faith make His work your own. Ye are sinners ;
He hath finished the atonement for your sins.*
Ye are under condemnation ; He hatli made an
end of condemnation to them that believe in Him,
for He hatli borne all your condemnation for
you.f Ye are full of pollution ; Jesus hath coni-
* Heb. ix. 26. , Rom. viii. 1.

TIIK lUiWAUlJ Ol' HIS WORK.

151

plctod aa obedience to tlie liiw, whicli is yours it"
ye will but have it,* Ye are continually sin-
ning: Jesus hath " brought in everlasting righte-
ousness," in which they that believe in Him are
justified, sanctified, and saved. t Come then,
dear fellow-sinners, come and trust to this finished
work of Christ; renounce yourselves; renounce
the thought of making yourselves better ; re-
nounce the idea of recommending yourselves to
Jesus; simply come as sinners, for " sinners He
came to save,":}; and it is they who " believe on
Him that justifieth the ungodly," whose " faith
is counted to them for righteousness. "§

Another important truth suggested by the
text is this, that as Jesus is the pattern as
well as the atonement of His people, therefore as
He glorified His Father upon earth, so must they
who would share His glory be " conformed to His
image," and follow Him, glorifying God. " If
any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none
of His." II The sheep of Jesus "hear His voice,
and know it, and follow Him."5[ What then
must be the result of this trutli to those of you,
beloved, who are yet living in conformity to tiie
world, in uncon version, '* without God in the

* Rom. iv. 2S, 24.

t Hob, X. 14

t 1 Tim. i. 15.

^ Rom. iv. 5.

jl Rom. viii. 9.

f .John X. 4.

I '

l'5*v^ (llllisrs MEDIATOIMAL (;i,()|IY

world?"* Ve will profess a hope of going' to
lioavo!!, that is, of dmring the glory of Jcsns in
Ills heavenly kingdom. Yet how can this be,
whde, BO far from being conformed to Mis image
liore, ye are living "at enmity " witli llim, fol-
lowmg the world, and not Christ, walking after
the ways of your own ],earts, and not after the
will of God ? Dear friends, the way which Jesus
opened through His own blood to heaven, lies
not in such a track as this. " Strait is the
gate, and narrow is the way that leadeth unto
life, and few there be that find it."-| But O,
"strive to enter in at that strait gate;":|: come
and join yourselves to Jesus. He does not pro-
mise, indeed, to give you the pleasures of the
world, and heaven too : but He does promise to
give you double for all that ye give up, to give
you ''peace which passeth understanding" in
your life. His presence and blessing in your hour
of death, and then the glories of His throne in an
eternity of bliss. Come then, poor sinners, and
take Jesus for your portion, and in Him all things
that ye need.

One more suggestion the text seems to offer to
our notice, which is, that while salvation is of
mere grace through faith in Jesus, it is only to

* Epii. ii. 12.

t Matt. vii. i4.

I Luke xiii. 24.

THE UKWAiii) or his work,

153

tlioso that are "faitliful unto rlc'th," tuat He
liath j)romisc(] *' the crown of ft/": Dear
bretlircn in Clirist Jesus, my fi^ilow- .-L-istians,
how important is the consideration r.f uAs truth
to you ! It injplies no doubt whether they tliat
arc truly Christ's shall be preserved unto the end;
but it urges you to continual examination, by thj
evidence which your hearts and lives afford,
whether ye are in a state of grace, whether ye
are tr.dy in Christ. Alas ! that there should be
so many professed followers of the Lamb, wliose
course makes it doubtful to themselves and others
whether they have any interest in His work or
not ! O ! let it not be so with you, my dearly be-
loved ; but " as ye have received Christ Jesus
the Lord, so walk ye in Him, rooted and built up
in Him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have
been taught. "f Yea, we entreat you, brethren !
that " as ye have heard of us how ye ought to
walk and to please God, so ye would abound
more and more.":|: O - be not conformed to
tlie world ;"§ nor cease your watch over your
wicked and deceitful hearts; but live near to
Jesus ; keep close to Him ; yea, live as much as
possible in the very atmosphere which Jesus
breathed on the occasion of tiie text ; for so only
will ye be enabled to take up in any measure the

* '^^'^- ''• !•»• I Col. ii. G, 7.

t ITlicss. iv. 1. § Horn. xii. 2.

M- i

J 54

CIIUISTS MEDIATOlUAr. GI,01tY,

words of Jesus, and, tlirougli the abounclirig
grace of God, to say with Paul, *' I liave fought
a good fight, I have finished my course, I have
kept the faith : lienceforth there is hiid u]j for
me a crown of righteousness, which tlie l.ord, the
Righteous Judge, shall give me at that day."*

' * 2 Tim. iv. 7,8.

II ^

155

SERMON IX.

CI I AliAC'I'KRISTICS OF THE LORD'S PEOPLfc).

St. John xvii. 6.

/ have manifested Thy Name unto the men ivhich
Thou (jaccst me out of the nwrld : Thine thcij
ivere, and Thou gavcsi them me ; and they
hare kept Thi/ tvo?'d.

Thi: Lord Jesus Christ, making use of the
mouth of tlie prophet Isaiaii centuries before the
time of His own appearance upon earth, thus
gives utterance to the reflections suggested by the
contemplation of the fruit, or rather the seeming
fruitlessness, of His work. " I said, I have
labored in vain, I have spent my strength for
nought, and in vain : yet surely my judgment is
with the Lord, iind my work with my (lod."*

>• isa. xiix. 4.

150

CHAUACTElllSl ICS OF

{(4

This doclaratiou of the Lord, through the in-
spired medium of His holy prophet's communi-
cations to Israel, prepares us for Avhat would
otherwise be wholly inexplicable to us, the compa-
rative fruitlessness of our Savior's personal labours
among the people to whom He came. We per-
ceive Him, indeed, in the prosecution of His ex-
tended career of benevolence and love, attended
at times by thousands ; but we hear those thou-
sands charged, by Him who knew their hearts,
with seeking Him, not from any conviction of
His character, or love for His cause, but simply
for the selfish reason that they had eaten of the
loaves which His miraculous power had made so
abundant for their supply.* We follow Him
into scenes, into which they who had a love for
His person, or a persuasion of His truth, would
alone accompany Him, and we find but few in-
deed, and those the unlearned and despised of the
earth, evincing their attachment to Him.'l" The
whole number of those, both male and female,
that, after three years of His ministry, wei'e
gathered together at Jerusalem to wait in c j-
tinued prayer and supj)lication for the promised
outpouring of the Holy Spirit, was but one hun-
dred and twenty ; {: whereas the fruit of an
half hour's preaching of one of this number, after

.lulm \i. i'(i,

Malt, xw i. y(), Ovc. ; .')' — 75,

X Aclsi. lo.

THE lord's I'KOPLR.

157

the Spirit, which had dwelt witliout measure in
Jesus,* had been given in measure to His follower,
was an ingathering of about three thousand souls
into the granary of Christ. f

In a humble search into the visible causes of
this difference, we may perceive one to be, that
the Savior during the course of His own ministry
could but predict the atonement, which sliould
be made ; while this apostle could point to tlie
cross as already erected, and direct the eyes of
sinners to it as an altar upon which had been
actually offered the bleeding Lamb that beareth
the sins of the world. It is " the preaching of
the cross," which is " the power of God unto
salvation ;";{: Je?us could but prophesy of His suf-
ferings upon the accursed tree, while the apostles
could urge upon their hearers the view of the
anguish He had endured, and point them to the
satisfaction which His woes had made to the jus-
tice which required tiie sinner's death. How un-
reasonable, then, are the objections which so many
make to tlie undue preference, as they deem it, of
the Epistles above the Gospels as the ground-
work of instruction. From the rcvy nature of the
case, the writings of the apostles mi; t be more
full of " Christ crucified" tlian those of tlie Evan-
gelists, who give the recor.l o^ His life hcfore His
crucifixion; and tlie doctrinal statements con-

Jolin iii. :)4.

I Acts ii. 41.

X 1 c:()i-,

i. is.

158

CHARACTERISTICS OF

(

,,.

tained in tlie Epistles must be more express and
clear, in referring simply to a crucified Savior,
and to the effects of His sufferings and death, than
could be those given in the narratives of the
Savior's life, and in the accounts of discourses,
whose general object was so to apply the law as
to prepare the way for the Gospel.

We may find another reason for the fact we
have alluded to, in the gracious purpose of the
Lord to commit His treasure to " earthen vessels,"
and to make poor, lost, but redeemed sinners, His
honored instruments of bearing to their fellow-
sinners the glad tidings of salvation through His
blood. If any peculiarly powerful effects had
attended the Savior's own ministry, then mio-ht
His followers have been tempted to make His
success either a cloak for indolence, or a Qround
of despondency. But now the weakest may find
encouragement to hope, that as it was nothing in
the instrument, which gave any peculiar eflScacy
to a preached Gospel in the early days of its ex-
hibition, but, on the contrary, the most success-
ful preachers of " the truth as it is in Jesus" were
those unworthy ones, of whom one had denied
his Master,* ':he other " persecuted Him even
unto strange cities ;"(• so now the same operation
of the Spirit, which made their words eft'ectual,
can give effect to his, who, however unworthily,
* Matu xxvi. 69— 73. f Acts xxvi. 11.

THE LOUD S PEOl'LR.

15 J)

liolds up the same Savior, and preaches the same
cross. This, dear brethren, is our encourage-
ment, this our only hope of success. The Gospel
of Jesus is entrusted to the weakest and vilest of
sinful creatures, and was from the first hour of its
preaching ; but through the mighty power of the
Spirit it was effectual then ; and the weapons of
our warfare," though wielded by such carnal and
polluted hands, " are not tliemselves carnal, but
mighty," we trust, " through the power of God,
to the pulling down of strongholds,"'* to the
wounding of the consciences of the impenitent and
ungodly, and to the comfort and establishment of
weary souls.

While, however, the apparent fruits of our
Savior's personal ministry upon tlie earth were
so few, in those few " He saw" of the travail of
His soul, and was satisfied." f He appeared to
liave bestowed upon those few^ loved ones tlie
affections wliich comprised within their divine
embrace the whole body of His believing people
to tlie end of time. 1 he few disciples that sur-
rounded Him, as, on the affecting occasion to
which on the several last sabbaths we have re-
ferred, He poured out His soul in communion
with the Father, seemed to have been made ob-
jects of the whole of that boundless love, which
* 2 Cor. X, 4. I Isa. liii. 1|.

lib

160

CHAIIACTEIUSTTCS OF

they, as " vessels chosen for tlic Master's use," *
were to communicate and extend through the re-
motest members of tliat body on which His ever-
lasting love had been set. He recognises in their
attachment to Himself, and in that preparation
for their future work, through whicli He had been
bringing them, a portion of the work which the
Father had given Him to finish ; and He brings
them as the sheaf of the first-fruits of His
toil, and waves them before the Lord,t as an
earnest of the harvest, which, according to the
good pleasure of the eternal Jehovah, should in
due time be gathered into tlie garner of heaven.
" I have manifested Thy iiame," He saith, " unto
the men which Thou gavest me out of the world ;
Thine they were, and Thou gavest them me ; and
they have kept Thy word." " Thus," would He
say, "have I finished Thy work. I have glorified
Thee, not by the mere exhibition of the bright-
ness of Thy glory which dwelt bodily within
me in the eyes of an ungodly world ; but by re-
vealing Thee as ' a just God and a Savior,' to
those whom Thou hast chosen for thyself. I have
gathered to Myself the few dispersed ones of Thy
flock, whom Thou hast given me, and I have glo-
rified Thee in manifesting Thy love and grace to
them, and in teaching, guiding, influencing
them, that they should keep Thy word."

* 2 Tim. n -21.

■\ Lev. xxiii 10.

THE LORD S PEOPLE.

161

There are many precious and solemn truths,
dear friends, contained in tliese words of our now
glorious Lord. They announce to us the pre-
cious truth, that the glory of the Lord, instead of
requiring for its full display the destruction of all
those that had transgressed against Him, is rather
promoted by the salvation from wrath and ruin of
all that honor His beloved Son, and by making
poor sinners themselves partakers of that glory,
which hath been put into the hands of the Lord
Jesus for all that believe in Him. They suggest
to us particularly the following considerations;
first, that the people of God wei-e given to the
Lord Jesus to be redeemed by Him, by the sove-
reign exercise of the Father's electing love;
secondly, that they, as they came at different
periods upon this scene of trial, are taught of the
Lord, influenced by His grace, and sealed by His
Spirit ; and, thirdly, that, while elect in the
sovereign purpose of God, they are elect unto
obedience,*— they " keep His word." May the
Lord Jesus in mercy manifest Himself now to
us, subduing the enmity of every natural heart
here present, and " bringing every thought into
captivity to the obedience of Christ."!

L And, first, dear brethren, we would remark,
that the doctrine of the sovereign electing love of
* 1 Peter i. 2. f 2 Cor. x. 5.

162

CHAUACTEIUSTICS OF

God, as displayed in choosing a people to show
forth His praise, although frequently spoken of as
drawn only from the Epistles, and even then
without good foundation, is, if possible, even
more distinctly stated on several occasions in the
words of our blessed Lord himself. It is hard to
assign any definite meaning to language, if the
declarations of our Lord, both in the prayer from
which the text is selected, and in His various dis-
courses to the Jews, can have any other meaning
than that the Lord hatli given to Christ a pecu-
liar people, chosen out of the world, none of
whom could have come to Christ except the
Father had drawn them,* but for every one of
whom, as chosen in Him, and given to Him, there
is unfailingly laid up the gift of eternal life.
The Father hath given to Jesus " power over all
flesh, that He should give eternal life," not to all
flesh, " but to as many as the Father had given
Him."t " Tliine they were," saith the Lord
Jesus in the text with reference to His chosen
disciples ; '* thine they were, and Thou gavest
them me." " Thine they were ;" and so are all
mankind, so is every member of the fallen human
family, as well as everyone of the countless crea-
tures, that, from the heights of heaven to the depths
of hell, from the most glorious intelligence to the
most senseless atom, hath derived its being from
* John vi. -44. t Ibid. '2.

THE lord's people.

163

His Almighty Word. ♦« Thine they were :" but
they have not all been given to Christ in the
sense in which the Lord's people have been
given : for, if they were so, every one must have
eternal life, or else the will of God the Father
and of God the Son be set at nought. For '« this
is the Father's will," saith the blessed Jesus,
" that of all whom He hath given me I should
lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last
day."* " Father, / will," saith the same blessed
Savior, " tliat they whom Thou hast given me
be with me, where I am : that they may behold
my glory, which Thou hast given me."t

We know, and it is a pain and grief to know,
that this precious doctrine of the sovereign
exercise of the Lord's electing love is abused by
many sinners, to purposes of licentiousness ; by
some, who make a pretended belief in their
election of God a cloke for every sin ; by others,
who charge their own iniquities upon the injus-
tice of such a choice on God's part, as if He
were even the cause and author of their sin : but
we know also that " the carnal mind is enmity
against God,":}: and it merely takes hold of this
as the readiest excuse it can find for its iniqui-
ties, which it would just as determinedly pursue
if it had never heard one word upon the subject

*Johnvi.3. t Verse 24.

t Kom. viii, 7.

k[0-

164

CHARACTERISTirS OF

ill

of God's electing love. The charging of such
consequences as these upon that precious truth
may not deter us from the continuiid exhibition
of the same doctrine as the Lord Jesus set forth,
and His apostles after Him continually pro-
claimed, even though we could trace no benefits
resulting from its proclamation ; but oh I how
much more should we shrink from keeping back
a part of the counsel of God, which comes with
such a deeply humbling, and withal so richly
comforting, an effect to the hearts of those, who
receivo it as the word of God reveals it, and who
deligliL lo trace all their comforts, all their
serenity, all their peace, all their salvation, from
the very first thought of godliness that was put
into their minds to their entrance on the possession
of their glorious inheritance, all to the utterly
undeserved, the free, the sovereign exercise of
the Lord's distinguishing grace and favour, by
whom they were loved even from the foundation
of the world !

II. But we proceed to consider, secondly, the
manner in which those who were given to Jesus,
and redeemed by His precious blood, are made
acquainted with the Lord's gracious purposes
towards them, and brought out and separated
from the world, and manifested as the children
of God. " I have manifested Thy Name," saith

THE LORD S PEOPLE.

165

the Lord Jesus to the Father, " unto the men
whom Thou gavest me." Tlie name of God is
frequently, we may say generally, put in Scrip-
ture for all the attributes and perfections of
God's character. It is by the manifestation of
the character of God, it is by the sinner's being
made acquainted with God, that he is brought
out of his sinful state, and placed in that con-
dition which the Scriptures speak of as eternal
life, even that eternal life which the believer in
.Jesus has in possession, as an earnest of future
glory, while yet in this scene of trial. To ac-
quaint oneself with God is to be at peace.*
But who shall reveal God to us in such a way
as to give peace, but Christ Jesus? Who shall
give the sinner any view of God which can tend
to his well-grounded hope of life eternal, which
can give him present peace, or open to him a
prospect of eternal glory, but Christ Jesus ? It
is only as He manifests the Name of God to the
soul, it is only as God is revealed in Christ, that
the view can quicken, sustain, comfort, or save
the soul. It is in Christ Jesus, and in Him
alone, that the Lord God can be revealed to us
as " a just God, and yet a Savior;")- and it is
only as this view of God is received and appre-
ciated by the sinner's soul, that he can have any
comfort or any peace in the remembrance of
* Jobxxii, -Jl. -f- Zech. ix. 9.

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23 WEST MAIN STREtT

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166

CHARACTERISTICS OF

God. There may be a delusive peice produced
by false views of the Lord's mercy or His love :
there may be a deceitful and treacherous peace,
which the sinner, ignorant of God, careless of
His will, not having Him in his thoughts, nor
remembering the judgment at which he must
appear, may for a time enjoy. But there can be
no solid, no substantial peace, such as will stand
the shock of calamity, endure the rage of per-
secution, sustain the presence of tribulation, and
bear the trial of the day of judgment, but that
which is found in the manifestation of God by
Christ Jesus to the soul.

That which the Lord Jesus did for His imme-
diate disciples, the same He does for all that the
Father hath given Him. As they come suc-
cessively upon this scene of trial, and as the
Lord's time of drawing each of their souls to
Christ draws nigh, the Lord Jesus, by some act
of providence or some word of grace, reveals to
them the Name of God, as the infinitely just, the
pure, the holy God, who has an utter abhorrence
of sin, and in whose sight nothing that is un-
clean can stand. Some views of this kind may
often be produced by the sudden awakenings of
natural conscience ; but the work of Jesus in
producing them is distinguished, when the hatcful-
ness of iniquity is peculiarly seen in the remem-
brance of the humiliation, the anguish, and the

THE lord's people.

167

death, which it eitlier became, necessary for Jesus

to endure on account of sin, or else to leave

those, whom tlie Father had given Him, to

perish. These views of the holiness, and the

awful justice of God, the Lord Jesus, the good

physician, leaves different lengths of time to

work in the hearts of sinners, according as He

seeth best for them ; and, in His own good time,

reveals the Name of God, as in Him a Savior, as

having been satisfied on their behalf with what

Jesus hath done and suffered for them, and as

being now reconciled in Christ Jesus, to all that

do but in simplicity and sincerity accept Him as

their Savior and their way of peace.

Thus had the Lord Jesus manifested the Name
of God to his immediate disciples, as " requiring
truth in the inward parts,"* and " in no wise
clearing the guilty :"t and yet as " so loving
the world as to give His only-begotten Son, tha*t
whosoever believeth in Him should not perish,
but have everlasting life.",j: Thus does He still
manifest the Name of God to His people, showing
Him to them in all the awfulness of His hatred
against sin, and yet revealing Himself to them as
having borne their sins, as having " made re-
conciliation for their iniquity,"^ as having blotted
out their sins witii His own blood, so that God

* Ps. li (i.
I John iii. IG.

"I" Exod. xxxiv. 7.
§ Dun. ix. 24.

'^^''''''^''^'^^mimmmmmmmmmm

rlli

168

CIIAllACTEllISTICS OF

" remembers tliein no more."* The soul, " to
whom it is given to believe in Jesus,"! sees God
thus manifasted in Him ; as the irreconcilcable
hater of iniquity, and a God of wrath against
all that do not believe in Jesus : but as love, all
love, to him that clings to Jesus, that lionors
llini by coming to Him, and simply and unre-
servedly laying all the burden of his sins upon
Him. They that thus believe are the Lord's
people, those whom He hath given to Christ; for
it is the Lord Jesus, and He only, that thus
manifests the Name of the Lord, to those, and
those only, whom the Father hath given Him.

HL " God hath not" ch(^sen them, however,

to ungodliness, nor " called them unto unclean-

ness, but unto holiness :"! and tiiis, which the

Lord Jesus declared concerning the immediate

objects of His fond regard, is true also of all to

whom the Lord Jesus has revealed himself, that,

since they have been called, " they have kept the

word" of the Lord. While nothing can exceed

the clearness and fulness, vi^ith which the free-

uess of salvation of mere grace, through faith,

independently of works, is set forth in the word

of God ;§ nothing can, on the other hand, exceed

the distinctness, with which the blasphemy of

* Heb. viii. Ii>. f Pliil. i. ;29.

t 1 Thess. iv. 7. § Honi. iii. 24 ; iv. 5 ; Eph. ii. 8, 9.

THE lohd's people.

169

the Antinomian is, both by precept and example,
everywhere condemned in the word of God. The
faith through which the soul is justified, while it
utterly rejects works of any kind as joint grounds
of justification, yet invariably produces, as evi-
dences of its own genuineness, fruits of love.
TJiat very law of God, which writes nothing but
condemnation against every one that has not
" fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set
before him in the Gospel," is itself written, yea,
bound by cords of love, upon the heart of every
one that has received in Jesus the pardon of
every transgression, the remission of every sin.
Every attempt to keej) the word of the Lord,
which is made by any one tliat has not been'
accepted in Christ Jesus, is, and must be, a
failure: it is self-righteous in motive, folse in
principle, and full of sin in practice. They, and
they only, who can perceive how God has loved
them by " giving them eternal life, which life
is in His Son,"* can truly love Him ; they only,
that have known the value of salvation to their
own souls by experiencing its preciousness, can
truly love their neighbors as themselves; and
they only, tben, can manifest that " love, which is
the fulfilling of the law."t To them the word
of God is precious, for it tells them of tlie love
of God for them in Christ Jesus ; and they keep
* ' •'»'"> ^'- "' t Rom. xiii. 10.

170

CHARACTERISTICS OF

it in their hearts, that they should not sin against
so loving and so gracious a God. To them the
word of God is precious, for it is the only warrant
of their faith, the only charter of their hopes ;
and they keep it treasured up in their minds,
lest at any time the enemy get an advantage
of them, and spoil them of their confidence.
To them the word of God is precious, for it
affords them the only true standard of conduct,
the only unfailing rule of life ; and, through the
grace of God, they keep it in their lives, endea-
vouring, through love to Jesus, to be in all things
conformed to His holy will. Never can thet/
succeed in keeping the word of God, who attempt
on this ground to gain the favor of God : for
they, while professing to keep it, violate its whole
principle at ouce ; but those, to whom the Lord
Jesus has revealed the Father by the Spirit, as
their reconciled Father and Friend, are made
" willing in the day of His power"* to receive
His precepts and obey His word, and render,
because they are saved, that obedience, which the
very attempt to render, in order to he saved,
would nullify and pollute.

It is not for you, nor for me, dear brethren
and fellow sinners, to pry into the counsels of the
Lord, and ascertain to whieli of you all the Lord
entertains purposes of mercy and of <>race. But

* Fs. ex. -'}.

ili-

THE LORD S PEOPLE.

171

it'

of this we are awfully certain, for it is the counsel
of the Lord that makes it known, that as surely
as there ai*e a heaven and a hell, so surely are
all you who hear me either '* vessels of wrath,
being fitted to destruction," or " vessels of mercy,
prepared unto glory."* Dear friends ! the alter-
native is an awful one : and it requires no
searching into any hidden purpose of the Lord
to decide on which side ye, at present at least,
are, for this is His revealed purpose that " he
that believeth in Jesus shall be saved : but he
that believeth not shall be damned."t The
Bible affords no sanction to that disguised in-
fidelity, which, under the false guise of charity,
would blunt the edge of the most solemn declara-
tions of the Lord : but announces thus the solemn
alternative, " He that believeth on the Son hath
everlasting life : and he that believeth not the
Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God
abideth on him."| O then, dear brethren, " ex-
amine," I entreat you, with seriousness and
solemnity, " whether ye be in the faith,"§
whether ye are what the Scripture would call
believers, or are still of the worldly, the unre-
geuerate, the unbelieving.

O ye, my poor fellow sinners, whose con-
sciences tell you that ye are among the worldly,

* Horn. ix. 22, 23. f Mark xvi 16.

: Jolm iii. 36. § 2 Cor. xiii. 3.

172

CHARACTERISTICS OF

i' * I

II I

and the unbelieving, that ye have not received
Jesus into your hearts, nor followed Him in
your lives, behold, I set Him forth this day
before you, crucified as He is by your sins.
Behold Him in the anguished hour of His antici-
pation of the cup of wrath ; behold Him, bend-
ing and tottering beneath the weight of the
accursed tree ; behold Him stretched in agony
upon it, suspended by the bleeding hands and
feet, while down His face there creep the clotting
blood-gouts from His brow : and see what your
sin hath done : see what the worldliness and
unbehef ye make so little of have caused. Dear
friends, behold " the Lamb of God that beareth
the world's sins,"* bleeding for yours : yes, even
for yours, ye worldly, ye self-righteous, ye moral,
ye profane, ye careless, ye formal ; and O ! let
Him who hath been lifted up draw you to Him
as your only Savior, your only righteousness.
We can speak to you but of one way of peace,
one way of holiness, one way to heaven,— and that
is Christ Jesus ; O ! believe in Him, and ye shall
have life.

Dear brethren in the Lord Jesus ! we call upon
you solemnly to remember tiiat the Savior hath
manifested the Name of the Lord to those that
have been given Him. Have ye found this
Name '' a strong tower into which ye run and

* Jolin i. 29.

THE lord's people.

173

are safe,"* safe from the power of temptation,
safe from the dominion of your evil lusts ? His
people are given to Him out of the world : are
ye proved to be His by having come out, and
being really separate from " the world that lieth
in the Wicked One ?"t His people keep His
word : is it written upon your hearts, and copied
out into your lives, through the power of the
Spirit enlightening, guiding, quickening, sancti-
fying you. Dear brethren ! if ye are the sheep
of Jesus, ye " shall never perish, nor shall any
pluck you out of His hand :»:{; but remember,
that the only evidence, by which ye can ascertain
your being His, is your living from moment to
moment upon Him, honoring His Name, keeping
His word. He is your only strength, as well as
your only righteousness : and it is only as ye
live near to Him, and are kept in the lively
exercise of faith in Him, as your Savior of mere
grace, that ye can haye any strength in keeping
his word. To the Lord Jesus the whole work
belongs; to Him, then, O! give all the praise :
and then when He shall come to receive to Him-
self those that the Father hath given Him, shall
ye join in the ascription of praise and glory and
thanksgiving to Him that sitteth upon the throne,
and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.

* Prov. xviii. 10. f 1 John v. 19.

I John X. 28.

174

NECESSARY FEATURES OF

SER MON

NECESSARF FEATURES OF A SAVING FAITH.

John xvii. 7, 8.

Now they have known, that all things whatsoever
thou hast given me are of Thee : For I have
given unto them the words which Thou gavest me,
and they have received them, and have known
surely that I came out from Thee, and they have
believed that Thou didst send me.

It is very sweet, and at the same time very pro-
fitable, to the believer in Christ Jesus, to trace
all the privileges and the comforts which he
enjoys up to the source I'rom which they flow,
the sovereign love of God. It is profitable ; for
it cannot but be humbling to the soul to acknow-
lege and to feel from what a state of complete
corruption and utter worthlessness the free and

A SAVING FAITH.

176

sovereign grace of the Lord hath raised it, and to
what utterly undeserved mercy and grace it is
indebted for the very first thought of anxiety
about its eternal welfare, and for ev(;ry subse-
quent step of progress which it has made towards
a state of meetness for the heavenly inheritance.
And it is surely sweet to the believer's spirit, to
know and feel, that, as it was an utterly unde-
served love which was set upon him from all
eternity,* and having chosen him, called and
quickened him " even when he was dead in
trespasses and sins,"t so the same love assures
him of deliverance amid all the trials and temp-
tations by which his path of probation is assailed,
and of preservation through all dangers unto the
final enjoyment of the heavenly kingdom.:};

The apostles of our Lord and Savior, in ad-
dressing the various bodies of Christians, who,
through the grace of the Lord Jesus, had been
led to believe on Him through their word, de-
light to lead them, in the first place, to an as-
cription of praise and blessing to the God of
grace, because He had, in His sovereign pleasure,
chosen them to the enjoyment of those privileges
and blessings in which they now rejoiced. They
thus follow the example of their Lord himself,
who, in the first mention which He makes of His

* Eph. i. 4. t lb. ii. 1.

X 2 Tim. iv. 18.

(
F *

' .<■

176

NliCLSSAIlY FKATUllKS OK

disciples in tlio affecting prayer contained in tin;
chapter of my text, ascribes their Iiaving followed
Him, their union with Him, and their keeping of
His word, all to the sovereign grace of God, by
which they, having of right belonged to God,
were given by Him to Jesus as His people.
This we observed in the consideration of the verse
immediately preceding those of my text, which
led us on the last sabbath to dwell upon the
sovereignty of the Lord's good pleasure, in giving
tc the Lord Jesus the people whom He should
redeem by His blood, and make partakers of His
glory through His Spirit.*

The words of the Savior, which we then con-
sidered, seemed to be exactly equivalent to the
concise definition which an apostle gives of the
condition and character of true Christians, when
he speaks of them as being " elect "nto obedi-
ence."t This description of them, however,
while it sets before us the source of all the be-
liever's blessings, his " election of God," and
also the effect, and, at the same time, the evi-
dence of that election, his obedience or *' keeping
the w^ord," yet does not convey to us the neces-
sary intimation of the means through which he
becomes assured c^ the love of God towards his
soul, of the channel through which the grace
of God is conveyed to him, and of the principle
* Ver. 6. f 1 Pet. i. 2.

A SAVING F.MTir.

177

throiig-l, which one tiiat is naturally averse from
God, and at enmity witli His will, is brought
into so different a state as to keep the word in
the love of it. But doth the Savior, on so solemn
an occasion as that on which we have lately
been considering Him, and in which we still
find Him in the text, omit to drop the necessary
instruction on so important a point ? Or do His
apostles, in stating with so much gratitude and
praise the privileged condition of His people,
neglect to mention so momentous a matter as
that of the means through which these privileges
become assured to them, and they become
partakers of the blessings wJiich the Lord hath
prepared for them ? Surely far otherwise. For
thus dcth the Apostle Paul fill up the outline
which he had before so briefly given : " We are
bound to give thanks alway to God for you,
brethren beloved of the Lord, because God bath'
from the beginning chosen you to salvation,
through sanctification of the Spirit antf belief of
the truth, whereunto He called you by our Gospel,
to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus'
Christ."* And thus doth our Lord Jesus Him-
self, after having acknowleged the gift which
the Father had made Him, of a people to be
saved by His blood, proceed to describe the
evidences, by which it appeared that those who
* '2 Thess. ii. 13, 14.

178

NECESSARY FEATURES OF

now surrounded Him were of that number ; " Now
they have known, that all thing-s whatsoever
'I'hou hast given me are of Thee. For I have
given unto them the words that thou gavest
me ; and they have received them, and have
known surely that I came out from Thee, and
they have believed that Thou didst send me."

Faith in Jesus, then, appears thus to be the
great principle of life in the true Christian : the
principle, by which his soul is assured of the
gracious purposes which the Lord has enter-
tained towards him : by which he is brought into
tlie actual enjoyment of the blessings, which,
independently of himself, the Lord hath freely
provided for Him in Christ: and by which,
being made '* a new creature" through the
operation of the Holy Spirit, he performs those
works of obedience and love, " which God hath
before prepared for him to walk in,"* " unto the
praise of the glory of that grace by which he is
made accepted in the Beloved."t If it be a
correct view of Scripture, which traces the
believer's salvation entirely to the sovereign
exercise of the grace of God,— and we would
desire, brethren, to have that view tested by the
word of God,— then faith in Christ cannot be
correctly spoken of as a condition of salvation :
for the performance of a condition implies an
* Eph, ii. 10. f ih i. (}.

A SAVING I'AITH.

179

obligation to bestow a reward after it is per-
formed, and the salvation of the believer would
then be a matter " not of grace, but of debt."
On the contrary, the bestowal of faith itself upon
the sinner is one act of that unmerited grace,
through which, and through wiiich alone"^ any
one can be saved,* that the praise and glory
may be all the Lord's. It is, however, as neces-
sary to the salvation of the sinner, as if it were
the one condition on whicii alone that salvation
depended, since it is the way which the Lord him-
self hath appointed, and which He hath deter-
mined to honor, of conveying to the soul a
sense of its interest in that finished work of
Jesus which has been accepted in its behalf:
of keeping it in the enjoyment of that love, which
has provided, and will accomplish, its salvation :
and of bringing it unto complete conformity
to Him, in being made like whom consists all
the true felicity of earth, all tlie unspeakable
enjoyment of the kingdom of heaven. To fliith,
as tiie Lord's appointed way, are assigned all the
various acts which make up the wliole condition
and cliaracter of the people of the Lord. It is
through faith, as applying the Savior's rigiiteous-
ness to the soul, tliat the sinner is justified.t It
is through faith, appropriating the promises,
that the believer is sanctified.;!; It is by iaith

■j\>l\. u.

Roiii.

i Acts xxvi. 18.

X Q

180

NKCESSARY FEATUFtES OF

that the believer walks with God,* lives upon
Christ Jesus, t and has communion with the
Holy Spirit.:!: How important then, my brethren,
the consideration of the nature of this saving faith !
The words of the Lord Jesus himself, with
reference to those believing ones whom He saw
around Him on the occasion with which the text
is connected, may be expected to give us all the
necessary descriptions of a true believer, and to
supply us all the requisite intimations of the
nature of genuine faith. And indeed, dear
brethren, we need not go beyond them to find
what faith is, and to perceive, by the effects
which are there described, the practical workings
of that principle in the heart. Let us then entreat
the promised blessing and teaching of the Holy
Spirit, that, through His gracious influence, we
may not only discover what faith is, but may
be enabled to exercise it " to the saving of our
souls."

Whatever degree of darkness may have ex-
isted in the conceptions which the Lord's chosen
disciples entertained concerning the nature of
their Redeemer's kingdom, whatever the incon-
sistencies of their daily conduct in their disput-
ings for supremacy, and whatever the weak-

* Gen. V. 24 ; Heb. xi. .5, 6. f Qal. ii. 20.

1 I John iii. 2-'}, 24,

A SAVING FAITH.

181

iiesGes into which tliey were coiitinuully betrayed :
yet it is evident that the Lord speaks of them as
believers in Him, as having that faith, throug-h
which their sonls were justified, and by which they
were proved to be of the number of those whom
the Father liad given to Clirist. Tlie indistinct-
ness of their views of the Lord's kingdom was
the effect of ignorance ratjjer than unbelief, and
only proved tlieir need of " adding to faith know-
lege ;"* tlieir inconsistencies were the result of
that corruption, which, as St. Paul and the
article of our Church testify, " remaineth even
iu them that are regenerated ;"t their weaknesses
the consequence of their connexion with that
frail and decaying tabernacle in which they still
abode, and of unwatchfulness against the temp-
tations of the enemy; not of indifference towards
the Lord in whom they believed. With all their
weaknesses, and all their inconsistencies, they
were still believers : believers often giving pain
to the heart of the Lord they loved : often giving
occasion to the careless and worldly to draw an
excuse from them for their own pride or passion,
often destroying, but for the Lord's overruling in-
Huence, the work which, for His sake, "was
nearest their hearts :-but still believers. Dearly
beloved, let this observation of their character
botli make you siuw in condemning others on

* :.' Pet. i.

t Koni. vii. ; Article ix.

182

NECESSARY FEATURES OF

F
It ,| t

account of inconsistencies in their conduct, as
if they therefore could not be Christians ; and
increase your watchfulness over yourselves, lest,
though your salvation might not be forfeited,
ye should pain the heart of Jesus, " grieve the
Holy Spirit,"* wound the body of Christ, which
is His Church, and "give occasion to His
enemies to blaspheme."!

Perceiving, however, that the beloved disciples
of the Lord were, at the time at which He speaks^
of them, believers in Him, let us proceed to con-
sider briefly some of the particulars by which
their faith is described, in order to our ascertaining
what the absolutely necessary features of a true
faith are.

I. And let us observe, in the first plp/'e, that a
true faith is concerned in having correct views of
the person and character of the Lord Jesus
Clirist. " They have known," saith the Lord in
the text," " that all things whatsoever thou hast
given me are of Thee ; they have believed tliat
Thou didst send me." If it be the very first
part of faith wiiicli has any trace of genuine-
ness at all, to believe in the existence of God, it
is surely the first part of Christian faith to
believe what is revealed to us concerning Christ.
Of the existence of God there are many
evidences besides those which are contained
* Ei)li. iv. yo. t - ■^iiiii Nii. I !.

A SAVING FAITH.

183

in the Word of God, such that even the un-
tutored lieathen will be convicted by their own
conscience of wilful ignorance of Him, whoso
glory the heavens display, and wliose handiwork
the firmament sets forth.* But concerning Christ
we have no evidence but that which is contained
in the Word of God. Neither could the imagina-
tion of man have conceived the idea of such a
being, neither could his invention have suggested
such a character, nor his wisdom have discovered
such a plan, as that which is revealed in Christ
Jesus. To the written word and its testimony
must be the only resort for discovering anything
concerning Christ.

On the very same ground may be urged tJie
necessity of receiving all the testimony which
that record gives concerning Him and His sal-
vation. The arbitration of reason cannot be
fairly or correctly exercised, except upon matters
which are in some measure within the limits of
reason to discover. The faith of tlie Chris-
tian is something above reason. Jts very exer-
cise involves the supposition of the insufficiency
of reason to discover, or to sit in Judgment upon,
the truths which it receives : and, deposing rea-
son from its place of pride, fiu"th sim})ly takes
revelation as its guide, and humbly bows to all
the discoveiies which the written record of reve-
lation makes. Unable, then, to know anvthing of

•^ lioni. i. 20.

184

NKCESSAIIY FEATUUi:s OI'

Clirist f'rcm any other source, the soul of tlie hc-
liever receives in simplicity all that is testified
of Him in His word. It admits the trutii,
wliich it could have nowhere else discovered,
and which, if sense and reason alone were
listened to, would bo deemed an impossibility,
that the Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior of sinners,
is " God and man ; God, of the substance of His
Fatlier begotten before the worlds : and man, of
the substance of His mother born in the world ;
perfect God and perfect man, of a reasonable'
soul and human flesh subsisting; who altluugh
He be God and man, yet He is not tsvo, but one
Clirist."* It receives, as jiart of this belief, the
truth, tliat thougli this blessed Jesi.s was from all
eternity " equal,"! jca, " one" with the Father,^
yet He- voluntarily submitted to an inferiority
to Him, and placed Himself, as it were, in His
hands, to be sent by Him on the work of redemp-
tion ; and was sent as the " one Mediator between
Cod and man, "§ the only " daysman betwixt
them, that might lay his hand upon them
both.-|! And so it may be said of all true be-
hevers in Jesus, as it was said by Him of His
immediate followers, " they have known that all
things which Thou hast given me are of Thee ;

* Atliiuiasiiii) Creed.

I Joiiii X. yo.

I, Job ix. ;J;>.

i I'liil. ii. 6.
i^ I Till!, ii. 6.

"7\

A SAVING FAITH.

185

they have believed that Thou didst send me."
The things of which we have spoken : the union
of the divine and human natures in their fullest
perfection in Jesus, and His bearing, in that union
of natures, the office of Mediator between God
and man, are so clearly revealed in the word of
God : thiit a belief of them appears to form the
very first point of Christian faith. A man may
believe many things contained in the word of
God; lie may exercise faith in many of the
wondrous facts, and the momentous truths, re-
vealed in its pages ; but he, who withholds his
assent from these things concerning Christ, can-
not be said to have the faith of a Christian.

II. This belief in what the word of God re-
veals concerning the person and character of the
Lord Jesus Christ being laid down as an abso-
lutely essential feature of a true Christian faith,
let us, secondly, observe, that a true faith not
only receives this testimony, but receives also
"the record that God gave concerning His
Son." This record refers not merely to the
person of Jesus, but to the nature of His ivork-
It not only testifies the amazing dignity of His
person, who was " the brightness of the Father's
glory and the express image of His person, and
ui)hekl all things by the word of His i)ower,"* but

* Ilcb. i. 3.

186

NECESSARY FEATURES OP

declares also the object for which He laid aside
the glories of His eternal station, and states the
full accomplishment of that purpose in the com-
pletion of the work which was given Him
to do. " I have given unto them," saith the
blessed Savior, " the words which Thou gavest
me ; and they have received them." Now this
is the record which God hath given concerning
His Son, and which Jesus, having received from
the Father, giveth unto them that believe, " that
God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is
in His Son. He that hath the Son hath life ;
and he that hath not the Son of God hath not
life."* This the Lord Jesus had in effect con-
tinually declared to His disciples : this hau been
the continual burden of His message to them ;
and in such a measure had they received and
believed it, that when asked by our Lord, after
the desertion of many of His professed followers,
whether they " also would go away," one of them,
more ready than the rest, answered in behalf of
all, " Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the
words of eternal life.^f A true faith in Christ
implicitly receives this testimony concerning
Jesus and His work ; and the soul of him who
exercises such a belief receives, on the warrant of
God's word, the assurance of the forgiveness of his

* ! John V. J I, 1:>.

John vi. as.

A SAVING FAITH.

187

sins through the blood of Jesus,* of the accept-
ance of liis person for the sake of the righteous-
ness of Jesus,t of his sharing with Jesus in tlie
kindness and love wherewith the Father reg .rdetli
Him,:]: and of his destined enjoyment of the ful- ,
ness of that glory, which Christ Jesus had with j
the Father before the worlds were made.§ If the
mere natural sense and reason suggest impossibi-
lities in the way of a belief in the mystery of the
holy incarnation of the Son of God, still more
does it seem to enlist the opposition of the natural
heart, with all its prejudices and all its pride,
against the reception of this testimony of the
Lord. On the one hand, the unwillingness of
man to acknowlege the depth of corruption and
state of helplessness, which are implied in the
necessity of such a provision for his salvation ;
on the other hand, the fears of the self-righteous
and formal, lest the provision of such a free sal-
vation of mere grace, without works, should en-
courage the workings of licentiousness and
loosen the obligations of morality, are engaged
to resist the reception of a truth so simple and so
beautiful as this, " He that believeth on the Son
of God hath everlasting life."|| But faith, the
Christian's faith, the fruit of that Spirit whose
" weapons are mighty, through God, to the cast-

* Col. i. 14. t Eph. i. G. I Verse 23, 2(i.

Z...- § Verses 22, 24. || John iii. .%.

188

NECESSARY FEATURES OF

ing down of iiMuginatlous, the pulling down of
strongholds, and the bringing into captivity every
thought to the obedience of Christ;"* this faith
receives the record, and trusts the word. The
believer takes the testimony of the Lord, as
greater than that of man ; and finding, in His
book,afirnj foundation of promises and assurances,
given on the word of the Lord, " confirmed with'
His oath,"t and sealed with His Son's blood, he
builds on hem the peace of his soul; trusling
that though he has sinned, Jesus " has borne his
sins;";|; though he was accursed, Jesus has been
"made a curse" for him;§ though he has been
rebellious, Jesus hath " made peace" for him;
though he has been " an enemy," Jesus " hath
reconciled" him to the Father ;|| though he has
been, and is, in himself, so full of corruption,
that there " dwelleth no good thing"^ in him,
yet he has in Jesus, through union with Him, " a
robe of righteousness,"** in which even the search-
ing eye of the law of God can detect no blemish,
nor discern a spot.

Sucl), my dearly beloved, appears to be the
most limited combination of ingredients which
is suiiicient to make up anything like a

'* 2Cor. X. 4, 5. f Heb. vi. 17.

X 1 Pet. ii.24. § GjI. iii. 13.

II Col. i. 20,21. f Rom. vii. 18.

** Isa. Ixi. 10 ; Rom. iii. 22 ; viii. 33, 34.

A SAVING FAITH.

189

definition of a Christian's faith. There may be
varieties in the manner in whicli these great
truths will fasten and maintain their hold upon
the mind, and differences in the measure of as-
surance with which they are received ; but there
surely can be no true Christian fkith which does
not receive the testimony that the word
of God gives concerning the person and charac-
ter of the "one Mediator between God and man,"
the God-man Christ Jesus, * and believe « the
record which God hath given of His Son,"
to wit, that -God hath given to us eternal
hfe, and this life is in His Son."t And yet
while thus necessary as the ingredients of the
simplest faith : the reception of these truths or
rather of this, for it is but one, truth, appears to
constitute the whole belief to which the most ad-
vanced Christian has attained, and by which he
lives. Through the belief of this truth, the soul
IS justified. Through this belief the soul is «anc
tified. By this belief God is honored, and
Christ exalted ; and the life which " the believer
in Christ" now lives in the flesh, he lives by the
faith" of the simple truths thus announced, that
Christ " loved him and gave himself for him "t
Suffer me, then, dear brethren, to ask, Have ye
this faith in the Lord Jesus Christ ?

*lTim.ii.5. tlJohnv. 11. j Gal. ii. 20.

190

NECESSARY rEATUHES OP

It is, 1 trust, evident, tiuit the faith which is
the mark of a true disciple of Jesus, who is " ac-
cepted in the Beloved,"* is something, simple
though it be, far different from the mere profes-
sion of the Name of Jesus, and from that nomi-
nal adherence to Him, on which men claim to be
called Christians. It is the distinct personal
reception of the record given of Christ, the
personal application by each sinner to himself of
the testimony that the Lord Jesus " bare his
sins in His own body on the tree," that he that
believeth in Him, " being dead to sins, should
live unto righteousness."! Have ye, then,
dearly beloved, such a faith as this? I ask not,
Have ye been born in Christian lands, baptized
into the Christian profession, educated in
Christian principles ? These things are well in
their place and proportion ; but, instead of sav-
ing you, they do but increase your responsibility
and your danger, if ye are without that '- one
thing" which yet " is needful.":]: Have ye, as
sinners, fled to Jesus, and heard His blood,
"which speaketh better things than that of
Abel,"§ speaking pardon and peace to your souls ?
Have ye, in your enmity, heard the invitation of

* Eph. i. G.
1 Luke X. 42.

I 1 I'et. ii. 24.
5; lieb. xii. i>4.

A S.WIVO FAITH.

1J)1

ac-

t
1

Josus, and come and been reconciled to Cfod by
Him ? Have ye, while dead, " jieard the voice of
the Son of Man," and been (iiiiekened, and
lived?* Have ye thus spiritually applied fl^e
blood of Jesus to your souls for yolir pardon and
cleansing, and received through Him the assur-
ance of your forgiveness, and the evidence of
your salvation? O ! if ye have not, be persualed,
dear brethren, at least to ask yourselves this ques-
tion, To whom will ye go, to whom are ye going,
for the peace ye need ? Jesus alone " hath the
words of eternal life."t What can ye be pro-
fited by the world ye love, the flesh ye indulge,
the devil ye serve, in that day when eterntty
shall stare you in the face? To which of them
will ye then go for strength and consolation ? i
forsake them, and go to Jesus; for He alone
" hath the words of eternal life."

Remember this also, and cling to Him, ye who
have known anything of peace in Jesus through
faith. While ye ascribe all your blessings
to the sovereignty of God, remember that
It IS only through faith in Jesus that ye have re-
ceived, or can keep, the enjoyment of them.
Amid either the blandishments, then, or the
frowns of the world: the temptations of the flesh :
or the assaults of the devil : turn but the eye of a
simple faith to Jesus ■ and listen to the record
" -^oh" "■' 25. t Jolin vi. (i8.

192

NECESSARY FEATURES OF FAITH.

given you concerning Him. Live, dear brethren,
in the continual, the watchful remembrance of
this solemn truth, " Jesus loved you, and gave
Himself for you."*

* Gal. ii. 20.

i;iM&

rethren,
•ance of
id gave

SERMON xr.

CHRIST INTERCEDES FOR HIS PEOPLE.

St. John xvii. 9, 10.

Iprm/ for them : I pray not for the world, but
Pr them which Thou hast given me ; for they are
thine; and all mine are thine, and thine are
mine ; and I am cjlorified in them.

In contemplating the Lord Jesus, while em-
ployed in the outpourings of His soul before God,
m observing His tried career and ministry on
earth, the attention and interest of Christians are
drawn towards Him, not only on account of the
delightful and instructive light in which He is at
such moments presented to their regard, but also,
and more especially, because His prayers on earth
give an outline, as it were, of that advocacy
and intercession, wl.ich Ho unceasingly keeps up

194 CHRIST INTERCEDES FOR HIS PEOPLE.

at the right hand of God. Tlie warrant for the
awakened sinner's confidence of forgiveness and
acceptance with God is this, that Jesus " is ahle
to save them to the uttermost that come unto
God by Him, seeing He ever Hveth to make in-
tercession for them."* The authority for the
believer's boldness and importunity in coming to
the throne of grace is the same ; for having as
'* an high priest," interceding for him, not one
•' who cannot be touched with a feeling of our
infirmities," but one "who was in all points
tempted like as we are, yet without sin," therefore
doth he " come boldly to the throne of grace,
that he may obtain mercy, and find grace to
help in time of need."t The ground of the
Christian's assurance that nothing shall ever
separate him from the love of God is this also,
that " Christ who died, and is risen again from
the dead, is at the right hand of God, where he
also maketh intercession for us.":]: Yea, and the
grand means of recovering the believer who has
at any time fallen into sin : the grand motive,
by which to appeal to the heart of the backslider,
urging his return to Godj and the great consi-
deration, by which there is a hope of warming the
cold affections of those wlio liave grown indolent
and lukewarm in the service of God is this, that
" if any man sin, he has an Advocate with the
* Heb. vii. 25. f Heb. iv. 15, 16. | Rom. viii. 34.

v\...

CIIIIIST INTERCEDES FOR HIS PEOPLE. 195

Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, who is also
the propitiation for iiis sins."*

The consideration, then, of the advocacy and
intercession of Jesus seems necessary in order to
our obtaining a full view of His completeness as
a Savior. It is not that we would presume to
suppose any deficiency in the work, which the
Lord Jesus himself, at the close of His agonies
upon the accursed tree, pronounced to be
" finished ;"— that work we rejoice in believing
to be a complete, a perfect work, to which
nothing can without peril be added, from which
nothing can without danger be diminished :— but
the all-sufliciency and completeness of Christ is
seen in His being the priest as well as the sacri-
fice, in His being Himself the person appointed
to present this oflTering of Himself to God as a
complete atonement for the sins of His people,
and in His continually oflTering up the incense
of His own intercession, as the medium through
which alone the persons, the prayers, and the
services of tliose who have believed in Him unto
salvation can be regarded with acceptance by
God. The view of His advocacy with the Father
is precious, not as adding anything to the com-
pleteness of the work of atonement, which was
already in every respect perfect; but as suggest-
ing to us the delightful refiection, that Jesus,

* 1 John ii. I, :ii,

o Q

rii-'

196 CHRIST INTERCEDES FOR HIS PEOPLE.

ha ing finished a work of righteousness for the
sii aer, does not thenceforth cease His interest
m him. He does not leave the sinner to apply
that work to himself, but is " the Author and
the Finisher" of that faith through whicli the
sinner is made partaker of the benefits of that
work. He does not leave the believer to maintain
his own interest in that great salvation, but un-
ceasingly watclies over him, prays for him tliat
his faith may not foil, and intercedes for his
recovery, whenever, through the power of temp-
tation and his own unwatchfulness, he has fallen
into sin. If the Lord Jesus, after having finished
the work of atonement for man's sin upon the
cross, had then left man to do the rest: yea,
if He had left him simply to find In's own way
to the cross, or even to accept, of his own in-
clination, tlie oflfers of salvation made him, how
helpless still, how hopeless, had been the poor
sinner's state ! So deep is the corruption and
depravity of the heart of man, so utter its alien-
ation from God and from His will, that the most
gracious oflfers of salvation, and the clearest re-
presentations of the completeness of tliat work
by wliich salvation has been effected, would have
failed of influencing one single dinner, and of
drawing out one emotion of gratitude and love
from his heart, if the Lord Jesus were not still
present by His Spirit, subduing the corrui)t

CHRIST INTERCEDES FOR HIS PEOPLE. 197

enmity of the soul to God, and opening the heart
to attend to the things that are spoken.* And
so complete is the weakness, so utter the help-
lessness even of the believer in Jesus, as far as
he himself is concerned, and so continual his
proneness to depart from God, that all the pre-
ciousness of the work of Jesus, and all the com-
fort and the peace he has experienced in resting
upon it, would not be sufficient to keep him
close to Jesus, if it were not that He himself
keeps up a continual interest in those whom
the Father hath given Him, and knowing how
" Satan desireth to have them that he may
sift them as wheat," prays and intercedes for
them '' that their faith fail not."t

So important apart, then, does the advoct.'y
and intercession of the Lord Jesus bear in the
view of His completeness and all-sufficiency as
a Savior, that any view of Him, while in the
exercise of His ministry upon earth, which can
throw any light upon that portion of His precious
character, must surely be full of interest and
importance to the believer's soul. And how can
he look upon the Savior, as he bends in lowly
supplication before His Father's throne, and pours
out before Him the overflowings of His lovino-
heart's affections towards the disciples whom He
had ciiosen ; how can he listen to the fervent
intercession, which, now that He is about to be
* Actsxvi. 14. t Luke xsii. 31, 32.

108 CnUIST INTERCEDES FOR HIS PEOPLE.

taken from tliem, He presents on their beluilf
to His God and tlieir God, without deriving
from the consideration the comforting assu-
rance, that His earnest pleadings on behalf
of those who were surrounding Him on this so-
lemn occasion upon earth, are but a pattern,
and, as it were, an earnest, of the intercession
which he continually keeps up on behalf of
His disciples now that He is at the right hand
of God, where He is gone " to appear in the
presence of God for them."* There was not a
miracle performed by the Almighty power of
" God manifest in the flesh."t during the time
of His sojourn in this lowly tabernacle, which
was not designed, not alone for the generation
among whom He walked, but to convey instruc-
tion and encouragement, to teach sin-diseased
souls the efficacy of His word, and to encourage
the vilest to come, and those that had known
His salvation to bring their sin-sick relatives
and friends by faith to Him, even to the latest
time. There is not a discourse delivered by the
blessed Jesus while He taught on earth, which
is not designed to testify to all believers in Him,
to the latest time, that there is the same sufficiency
in Him for the guidance and instruction, the sus-
tenance and peace of His |)eoplo, now that He is at
the right hand of God, as was found in Him while
He bore with all the ignorance and weakness of
* 'I.'b, ix. 24. t I Tim. iii IG.

CHIIIST INTERCEDES FOR IIIS PEOPLE. 199

His disciples, and patiently instructed, and gently
I'^d, and tenderly rebuked, and fondly cheered
and sustained them as they followed Him. And,
surely, on the same principle of the unchange-
able character of Jesus, of His being " the same
yesterday, and to-day, and for ever,"* we may
be confident, that the petitions witii which Jesus
approached the Father's throne while upon earth,
in behalf of those who were so dear to Him as
the gift of His Father to Him, and who were
exposed to so many trials, and difficulties, and
temptations in their course, are designed to show
us the nature of the intercession which He ever
maketh at the right hand of God in behalf of
those that are now dear to Him on the same
ground as His immediate disciples were, as being
the Father's gift, and who are exposed to the
same trials from a treacherous heart and lustful
flesh, from an opposing or alluring world, and
from the vile seductions and suggestions of the
devil, as they were. Yes, blessed be the name
of the Lord Jesus, the same affectionate earnest-
ness, the same lively interest in the welfare of
His chosen ones, the same comprehensive view of
their best interests, and the same desire for their
present peace and everlasting blessedness, which
marked His supplications for them in the days
of His flesh, still, we may rest assured, charac-

" Ik'b. xiii. 8.

200

CHlilST INTEIICEDES lOIl HIS PEOPLE.

terise His advocacy witli God, now tliat, as the
one Mediator between God and man, the great
High Priest of His people. He bears their names
upon His breast, and presents His blood as their
atonement, and the incense of His intercession
for their continual preservation.

The few petitions at the commencement of the
chapter of the text seem to refer to the support
which He needed and anticipated for Himself
in His approaching conflict with the mahce
of disappointed, and prejudiced, and infuriated
men, and the rancor of the combined powers
of darkness, who, hopeless though they were of
conquering the lowly man, in whom " the ful-
ness of the Godhead"^ dwelt, yet would take
a malicious satisfaction in adding their fullest
possible contribution to the brimming cup of
His distress and woe. The whole of the remain-
ing supplications, from the verse of my text to
the conclusion of the chapter, are devoted to the
expression of His fond desires in their behalf for
whom His blood was to be shed, and who were
yet to form the glory of His mediatorial crown,
•' in that day when He shall make up His
jewels."t The varied aspects, then, in which
He presents them before God, and the several
particulars of His supplication in their behalf,
will form the subject of the remaining discourses

* ^"'•''•^- t Mal.iii. 17.

jhalf.

CHlllST INTERCEDES FOR HIS PEOPLE, 201

of the present series; and let me, dear brethren,
entreat your earnest petitions to the " God of
our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory," that
He will pour out upon you and me " the Spirit
of wisdom and revelation in the knowlege of
Him, the eyes of our understanding being en-
lightened, that we may know what is the hope
of His calling, and what the riches of the glory
of His inheritance in the saints,'' and that we
" may be able to comprehend, with all saints,
what is the breadtii, and length, and depth,
and height, and to know the love of Christ,
which passeth knowlege, that we mr.y be filled
with all the fulness of God."*

Let our present attention be directed, dearly
beloved, to the consideration of the subjects of our
dear Savior's gracious intercession on this occa-
sion, and to a brief suggestion or two arising
from this view ; and also to the contemplation of
the solemn distinction wiiicli the Lord himself
nmkes between those for whom He prays, and
those for whom He prayeth not. And O ! may
these considerations be undertaken, through the
blessing of the Lord the Spirit, with a deep and
impressive remembrance how vast is the import-
ance of knowing what our state is now, before we
are fixed m that condition by a sentence of which
there is no revocation, from which there can be

* Kpli. ii. 17, 18; iv. 18, If).

I..V

ill
(■-■

1 1

■» .

202

(IIUIST INTKHCi'DES FOR HIS PEOPLE.

»o appeal. - 1 pray fur tlieni," saitli tl.c Lord
Jesus : " 1 pray not for the world ; but for
those that Thou Iiast given me; I'or tliey are
thiiio."

I. We may observe tlieii, dear brethren, in the
first ])hice, that thos(>, for whom tlie Lord Jesus
intercedes, are His own peculiar people, thos(;
who have been given to Him l)y the Fatlier. Our
lust consideration of the manner in which the
Lords speaks of those whom the Father hath given
Him has shown us, that the evidence by which
they may know themselves, and may be known
by others, as His people, is a simple, confiding,
child-like faith in Jesus ; that while the purpose
of God's elrction is hidden in the Lord's own
counsels, yet that the existence of that purpose
towards any sinner is shown by his b-lieving the
record which God hath given of His Sou. The
sinner needs no other evidence of the Lord's
gracious purposes towards him, no other autho..
rity for ai)plying to himself the promises made in
Christ Jesus to the people of God, than his be-
lieving them; for such is the a])propriating
nature of a simple faith in God's word, that it
gives to Him that exercises it a covenant right
and title, as it were, to everything in the Word
of God which he believes. This^ith in Jesus,
which gives the soul its interest in the finished

CnillST INTEUCEDKS FOR HIS PEOPLE,' 203

work of Ills salvation, and tliroiigh which the
sinner is "justified from all thinfrg,"* admits him
also to an interest in the continual intercessiGii of
Jesus. It is for believers, and for them alone,
that the Lord Jesus intercedes with the Father ;
for those that have from all eternity been g.ven
to Him, and whom, tiiough not yet having even
come u])on tiie scene of time, He who " calleth
things which be not as though they were,"t sees
actually before Him and around Him as His peo-
l)le, the members of His body, whose names were
all written in His book.

But may it not be asked, how it could be neces-
sary for Jesus to pray for those, whom He knew as
His people, and of whom, from His being partner
in the eternal councils of the Godhead, He must
have known that as " His sheep " they " should
never perish, neither should any pluck them out of
His hand ?":(: Yet even those that ask this que^.tio^
must acknowlcge, as part of the attributes of His
divinity, that Jesus must have foreknown the
eternal safety of His disciples ; that He must at
least have forcknoicn it, even if He had not pre-
determined it; and we need then make no other re-
lily to those that ask how it was necessary for Jesus
to pray for their salvation, than this, that Jesus,
knowing them as the Father's gift to Him, did
pray for them. " 1 pray for then]," He saitli to
* Acts xiii. 09. -1 Ko.n. iv. 17. % John x. 28.

204

CIIIIIST INTEHCRDES FOll HIS PEOPLE.

tlio Fallkr, " (or they arc; tliiue." There are
those [»oor misguided creatures, who carry the
spirit of this objection so far as to insist, that
because " our heavenly Father knoweth what
things we have need of, before we ask Ilini,"*
therefore there is no necessity for our troublino-
IJini with our petitions. How woefully hath
Satan blinded their hearts, that they cannot see
that our Savior makes tln"s very knowlege
which God has of their wants, the very reason
and ground for diligence and importunity in ask-
ing. '« Y^our heavenly Father," saith the Lord
Jesus, " knoweth what things ye have need of,
before ye ask Ilini : after this manner therefore
pray ye."

But there are those who with better feeling,
and from conscientious difiicultics, ask, What
can be the use of prayer, or what spirit or energy
can there be in prayer, if we believe that God
has chosen Ilis people, and has determined to
make " all things work together for good to them
that love Him ?"t Yet is it not a sufficient re])ly
to this question, that Jesus foreknew both all tliut
He should himself endure, and all that should
betal His disciples; yet He " offered up prayers
and suj })lications with stnmg crying and tears" t
for Himself, and earnestly interct-ded with the
Lord for his chosen people. The Lord hath dis-

* .Matt. vi. i^.

■j Koni. viii. '2^.

llcb.

CHRIST INTERCEmCS FOR HIS I'COI'LK. ^05

tinctly roveulcd Ills purpose of lioariiig and
answering the prayers of Hi. people; ; and, that
there may be no inconsisteney between their
prayers and His purposes, He gives His Holy
Spirit to teaeli them what to pray for as they
ought, and He niaketh intercession in them ac-
cording to the will of God.* The Lord "knowcth
what things we have nee ' of, before we ask ;"
He knoweth, also, what things He designs to
grant; He suggests, by His Spirit, to the minds of
His people, the things for which they should pray ;
and does it make prayer an unmeaning duty,
does it destroy the energy and spirit of prayer,
to be convinced that the Lord hath so arranged,
that " whatsoever" a believer in Him " asketh
according to His will, He heareth him ?"t Surely
that is not truly a spirit of prayer, which can
desire anything contrary to the will of God : and
that believer in Jesus would acknowlege the
fullest answer had been given to his prayer,
who should perceive no other result from his
petitions than the disposition and the habit of sub-
mitting his every re(iuest to the will of God, and
of having, in fact, no will but His. The know-
lege which the Lord Jesus had, that His disciples
belonged to God, formed, as it were, the very
ground of His requests on their behalf; and the
assurance which believers have, that all their

* Rom. viii. 20,27. -j- 1 John v. 14.

.'OG

CHRIST INTERCEDES FOR IIIS PEOPLE.

^ -a

times and all their concerns arc arranged by the
Lord, and that He has already determined to
make " all things work together for their good,"
instead of diminishing the fervor of their prayers,
is their stronger moti^ o for coming with boldness,
and perseverance, to entreat of Him the fulfil-
ment of His gracious purposes towards them.

The ground, then, on which the Savior presents
his disciples in supplication before God, and on
which believers themselves may be confident of
the success of His intercession in their behalf, is tlie
everlasting love of God towards them ; but in
order both to humble the sinner more, and, at the
same time, to increase his confidence in the ad-
vocacy of the Savior, the Lord Jesus adds, as
another ground of his supplications, the declara-
tion that "He is glorified in them." The glory
of Jesus is above all things dear to the Father. No
other motive need be urged to draw forth the
richest blessings from His hand, than the con-
sideration that Jesus is glorified by them. And
as the glory of Jesus is inseparably connected with
the present well-being and future salvation of
His people, therefore may they confidently trust,
that there is nothino; which the Lord Jesus asks
for them, in order to the promotion of His glory
in them, which the Father can withhold. Did the
intercession of Moses prevail with God, when He
entreated him not to destroy His sinning people.

CHRIST INTERCEDES FOR HIS PEOPLE.

207

lest the adversaries of His name should rejoice,
and deny His power, and calumniate His good-
ness;* and shall not the intercession of Jesus
prevail for the deliverance and salvation of His
saints, when their destruction would so spoil the
beauty of His mediatorial crown, and give the
devil and his fiendish hosts such cause for exul-
tation at robbing Christ of His sheep? It was
not, indeed, for the sake of anything in rebellious
Israel that the Lord spared them, and dealt so
tenderly with them, but "for His holy name's
sake, that it should not be polluted ;"t and it is
not for the sake of anything in His sinful children,
that the Lord deals so graciously with them, for
they are nothing but corruption, " there dwelleth
no good thing "J in them ; but because their de-
liverance glorifies Jesus : because He is honored
by their salvation, and the crown of His king-
dom is brightened and made precious by the
number of redeemed guilty ones, that are brought
" from the bondage of corruption into the glorious
liberty of the children of God." §

II. These, then, are they for whom the Savior
prays. His own believing people ; and these are
the grounds on which tliey may be confident that

* Num. xiv. II — 21.

Iloni. vii. lb.

f Ezek. XX. 9, 14.
§ lb. viii.2(.

208

CHRIST INTERCEDES FOR HIS PEOPLE.

His intercession on their behalf prevails, becau^se
tlie Father himself loveth them, and hath jriven
them to Jesus, and the glory of Jesus is itself in-
volved in their salvation and eternal glory.

How awfully solemn is the reflection which the
text suggests to us, that there are some for whom
the Savior did not pray, some for whom He did
not intercede. " I pray not," He saith, " for the
world." Is not then the question a deeply im-
portant one, what is meant here by " the world ?"

It is clear, that the Lord Jesus, on the present
occasion, speaks of all mankind as the world,
save those only that believed in Him ; — and that
the great distinction, therefore, between His
people and the world, is that living faith in Him,
producing union with Him, and the following of
Him in the heart and life, which was manifested
by His faithful few. St. John, however, the be-
loved disciple, who records our Savior's words on
this occasion, gives us, in liis general epistle, an
express definition of what the world is. '* All"
he says, "that is in the world, the lust of the
flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is
not of the Father, but is of the world." -nd,
" If any man love the worhl, the love of the Fatiier
is not in him."* We say not, my friends, — the
Scrij)tures do not authorise us to say, — that
* 1 John ii. ir>, IG.

CHRIST INTERCEDES FOR JUS PEOPLE. 209

those that arc in this state must remain so, and
die in their sins : on the contrary, all* the people
of God have been at some time in the world, and
Iiave been drawn out of it, and separated from
it; but, so long as they continue in this worldly
state, they are enemies of God, and are not
partakers of the benefits of Christ's interces-
sion. The Lord Jesus, indeed, couhl discover
His own people, even througli tlie dark covering
of enmity and sin whicli marked their present
conduct towards Him ; for even Paul, the furious
persecutor of Jesus for so long a period of his life,
declares of himself, that, though so lately called by
the grace of God, yet he was " separated even
from the womb."* But the word of God pro-
nounces upon man's present state according to
the evidence the life affords, and declares that
the friends of the world are the enemies of God ;t
and those who are yet in a worldly and uncon-
verted state are not even prayed for by Him, who
is the great Advocate and Intercessor for sinners
that have come to Him.

O ! then, dear friends, and fellow-sinners,
who yet are of the world, let me entreat you to
reflect with solemnity upon your awful state.
Often do those seem to you to speak with un-
necessary harshness of your condition, who
tell you of the curse of God under whicli
* t^a'- '• '•''• 1 James iv. 4.

■I

■i:

210 CHRIST INTERCEDES FOR KIS PEOPLE.

you lie, wlio speak to you of the hatefulness
of the world in the sight of God, and charge
you with your alienation from God and enmity
against Him, in order that you may be led away
from the world to God : but O ! what has ever
been said to you which can present to you such
an awful picture of your state, as these words of
Jesus, " I pray not for the world "? While ye
are still worldly, ye are not even the objects of
the Redeemer's prayers ; as ye are without any
evidence of being Christ's, so are ye without
any interest in His petitions. What, then, poor
sinners, must be your state, if Jesus does not take
your part ; what must be your state, if ye have
no Savior ! O awake, arouse you, and think of
your condition. There yet is time for you to
come out of the world, and join yourselves to
Jesus ; — if there were not, we should not call upon
you, as we would not add to your woes "the sa-
vor unto death " of neglected warnings ; — but
thereyet is room in Jesus for you : O ! come out then
and be separate from the world, and take Christ
Jesus as your all in all. Dear friends, if ye heed
not these warnings, and come not to Jesus now,
but should " die in your sins," then, O ! remem-
ber the fearful truth from His own lips, that
" where He is, thither ye cannot come."* If ye
have no interest in Jesus now, ye can have no

* John viii. 21.

CHRIST INTERCEDES FOR HIS PEOPLE. 211

heaven with Jesus hereafter ; and while ye are of
the world, ye can have no interest in Jesus. He
does not even pray for you.

If anything were wanted to enhance the value
of your privileges, dear brethren, " to whom it
has been given to believe in Christ," surely the
consideration of the awful condition from which
ye have been rescued, will serve to set off the
preciousness of the privileges with which ye have
been invested. Ye have been gathered out of a
world, which is at enmity with Jesus ; ye have
been placed, through faith, among the number of
those who are in Jesus reconciled to God, and
made the objects of His love and fond regard for
Jesus' sake, and are now even so much connected
with the glory of Christ, that He is glorified in
your being kept amid temptation, delivered from
your enemies, and preserved unto the heavenly
kingdom. Will not the bare mention of these
privileges serve to quicken and animate you, dear
fellow-Christians, and lead you to desire to live
more near to Jesus ? " He ever liveth to make
intercession for you;" and the love wherewith
"the Father himself lovetli you," and the glory
of Jesus, which will be great in your salvation,
are a pledge to you, that His intercession shall
prevail.* O ! then, dear brethren, live more by
faith upon Jesus ; commit your cause, and all that
* John xvi. 26, 27.

p 2

212 CHRIST INTERCEDES FOR HIS PEOPLE.

concerns you, simply into his hands ; for " He is
faithful that promised,"* and " ye know in
whom ye believe, that he is able to keep that
which ye commit unto Him against the great
day."t Dear brethren, who believe in Jesus, ye
are of those for whom the Lord Jesus prays : O !
then, keep up your communication with Him by
earnest supplication ; wait upon Him for all ye
need, for He is glorified in supplying you ; yea,
" our God shall supply all your need, according
to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus ;";{: yea,
" He will deliver you from all evil, and preserve
you unto His heavenly kingdom." §

• Heb. X. 23. f 2Tim. i. J2.

t Phil.iv. 19. § 2Tim iv. 18.

SERMON XII.

THE SAVIOR'S SYMPATHY WITH HIS PEOPLE.

St. John xvii. 11.

And 7101V I am no more in the world, but these are
in the world, and I come to Thee. Holy
Father, keep, through thine own name, those
whom Thou hast given me, that they may he
one, as we are.

The Lord Jesus was contemplating a return from
the trials of this earthly pilgrimage, to the joys and
glories of His heavenly home. He was now looking
forward to the full fruition of His glorious godhead
ia the presence and communion of the Father. He
had "finished the work which had been given Him
to do. He had wrought out the work of reconci-
liation, had acconijjlished the way of salvation for
His i)eoplc ; and He was now about to enter upon

214

THE savior's sympathy

ml'

the reward of His spotless work, and to be ])iit in
fnll possession of tliat glory which He had with
the Father before the world was made, whose
beams were brightened, if we can conceive what
is infinite to be increased, by the honors of His
mediatorial work. And in the prospect of those
approaching glories, in the contemplation of those
coming joys, which, even tiiouo-h the way to
them lay through the agonies and torture of
the cross, He thought and spake of, as if absorb-
ing all His thoughts, and even now cheering His
spirit by the foretaste which He had of them,
could there be anything to detain His affections
upon earth ; could there be anything to check
the full tide of " joy unspeakable," at the thought
of His return to His Father's home ? Looking
back to the few years He had spent in the ac-
complishment of His great work upon the earth,
what was there to meet His memory's gaze, but
one dark picture of contempt and scorn, persecu-
tion, penury, and wrong ? What could He look
back upon, but the perversion of His most be-
nevolent actions, the misconstruction of His
most gracious designs, the rejection of His kind-
est instructions, the misrepresentation of His
tenderest words, and the wilful misunderstanding
of the whole purpose of His mission ? What
could He remember, but the persecution of un-
provoked enemies, the neglect of pretended

WITH HIS PEOPLE.

215

friends ; the taunts of kinsmen according to the
flesh, and the bitter malice of those whose pride
His meekness reproved, whose prejudices His
humility assailed ? What could He trace, but
days of weariness and painfulness, and nights of
watching, and fasting, and houseless wandering,
in which He had been indebted for the supply of
His wants to the mere refuse of that bounty with
which His hand had clothed the earth, and filled
the storehouses of those that despised Him, and
had rarely known other shelter than the dark
canopy which His own hand had spread over the
earth, whose dews descended on His weary head,
and chilled His aching limbs ? And what spot
was there in such a picture on which His eye
could fix one lingering look, when invited rather
to look onward to the glory that was to be re-
vealed in Him ? True it was, indeed, that all
had not tracked His steps with the same enmity,
all had not burned towards Him with the same
hate, nor manifested the same blackness of in-
gratitude. There had been a few given to Him
by the Father, with whom He had occasionally
held sweet conversation upon the mysteries of the
kingdom of God ; to whom He had made known
the gracious purposes of His coming, and laid
bare many of the secrets of His heart. But what
was there even in these to draw one feeling of His
heart to earth, in the so near prospect of His

210

THE savior's sympathy

■ I

heavenly glory ? His intercourse even with tliem
had been one of continual trial. He had been
compelled incessantly to labor to overcome their
prejudices, to instruct their ignorance, to check
their ambition, to reprove their worldliness, to
correct their misunderstanding, to chide their
unbelief; He had been obliged to bear with their
continual frowardness, to raise them from con-
tinual falls, to support them amid frequent
temptations, to endure even their contradictions
and rebukes, and, looking forward a little mo-
ment, to contemplate their denial of Him, and
abandonment of Him to His enemies. Yet amid
all this He loved them. Little as they deserved
His love. He of His own good pleasure had set
His love upon them. And even in the near ap-
proach of His glorification, or rather, in the near
termination of His earthly sufferings, and in the
view of the opening door-way to His eternal
dwelling-place, these few disciples, perverse
though they had been, slow of heart to believe,
and cold of heart to return His affection, yet
still beloved with a boundless love, formed a
bright spot on which His memory loved to linger,
a chain which still bound His heart to the scene
of His so many trials, privations, and dangers.

'Tis surely sweet, in contemplating '* the Hioji
Priest of our profession,* who is now j)assed into

* llcl). iii. 1.

WITH HIS PEOPLE.

217

tlio heavens" to appear in the presence of God
for His people, to view Him thus yielding to the
tender sensibilities of that human nature which
He assumed for their salvation, and in which He
now " standeth at the right hand of God." 'Tis
surely sweet to view Him thus, as man, yearning
witli liveliest affection over the associates of His
tried career, whom, from the midst of the people
that the Father had given Him, He had chosen as
the eye-witnesses of His miracles, the depositories
of His doctrine, and the companions of His most
familiar intercourse upon earth. May we not
deliglit to gather from this view an indication of
the interest with which He still regards His tried
and tempted ones, of the sympathy with which
He enters into all their sorrows, the tenderness
with which He bears with all their weaknesses,
the love with which He takes them in his arms,
and lays them continually at the Father's feet in
earnest supplication for them ? Dear friends and
brethren, do ye want a friend ? O I is not here
" a brother born for adversity," " a friend that
sticketh closer than a brother?"*

Yes ! though the review of the treatment He
had met with on the earth presented such a
scene of well-nigh unmitigated and unmingled
woe, and thougli the prospect of the glory that
awaited Him was one of sucli attractive splenilor,

* IVov. Nvii, 17 ; xviii, iM.

■ 4
',1

V i

218

THE SAVIOR S SYMPATHY

such uiiiiiixi'tl delight, still do \\w feelings of His
heart linger in fond anxiety about the loved ones
He was leaving on the earth, and vent themselves
in earnest supplication to the Father who had
given them to Him. The point at which we have
arrived, in the consideration of the solemn prayer
with which His tender communion with His dis-
ciples upon earth was closed, presents the Savior
to us thus yearning over His chosen ones, con-
templating their further stay in the world, by
which He had been so tried, and committing
them to the gracious keeping of His Holy Father.
May the Lord God the Holy Spirit enable us to
draw from this contemplation something profit-
able to our souls, and glorify Jesus in us by re-
vealing to us more and more of the tenderness of
His sympathies, the value of His love, the pre-
ciousness of His salvation !

I would invite you, dear brethren, to consider,
first, how Jesus was leaving His disciples, — " in
the world ;" secondly, to whose keeping He com-
mitted them,— His " Holy father's;" thirdly, the
end of His petitions for them,— their oneness with
the Father and the Son. May the Spirit of
Jesus teach me wliat to say to you on each of these
points !

I. " And now," saith the blessed Jesus, " I
am no more in the world . but these arc in the

WITH HIS I'KOI'LE.

2ia

world ; and I come to Thcc." It was not alone
the thouglit of leaving His beloved disciules,
which tonchcd the heart, and excited the tender
feelings of the Savior towards them, in so pecu-
liar a manner, at the present time. He knew,
tliat, when a few short years were over, they
sliould be witli Him for ever, sharing the glories
of His kingdom, yea, sitting with Him upon His
throne.* But it was the thought, where those
years, short to Him who is eternal, but lono-
enough to those who were to spend them upon
earth, were to be passed ; it was the thought of
their continued exposure to the trials which He
was about to be delivered from, of the privation,
the penury, the temptation, and the persecution,
which they must endure in the world, that now
called forth His tenderest sympathy towards them.
He was leaving them in the world, whose mali-
cious hatred of Him, on no other account than
the holiness of His character. He had so bitterly
experienced, and which. He well knew, would
hate His image, as reflected in His chosen ones,
with the same hatred with which it hated Him.
He was leaving them to the same misconstruc-
tion of their motives, the same cavilling at their
instructions, the same mistaking of their words,
the same hatred of their persons, the same oppo-
sition to their principles and their cause, as He
* Luke xxii. :i9, ao.

THE SAVIOR S SYMPATHY

liad Iliniscif experienced. lie was leaving tliem
to be tried by the same poverty of circu-nstances,
the same temptations of tlie devil, the same
neglect and hatred of their kinsfolk and acquaint-
ances, the same determined persecution of those
who would think that, in killing them, they were
doing God service,* which had formed so large
a portion of that cup of bitterness which He him-
self had drunk. He, to whom the Spirit was
given without measure, f had " suffered, being
tempted; ":]: He had groaned in spirit at the
blindness and unbelief which He had encoun-
tered :"§ He had been " exceeding sorrowful
even unto death," || at the anticipation of the
coming anguisli that was in store for Him;
what then must He feel and fear for those
whom He was leaving to the same tempta-
tions, and for whom He foresaw the same trials,
the same bitterness of anguish, the same excess
of woe ?

Whatever was the depth of His feeling, vnIuiI;.
ever the intensity of afibctionate interest with
which He regarded those whom He was thus
leaving in the world,— and who can attempt to de-
scribe those feelings without injuring them in the;
description ?~we may be sure of this, that He

* Juliii xvi. '1
I lid), ii. IS.

f John iii. ;}4.
§ .Idliii xi. ;3i', ;JS.
Malt. \x\i. JJt*.

WITH HIS TEOPLE.

221

lias not lost a particle of Ilis interest in those that
believe in Ilim. Still they are " in the world,"
exposed to all the trials, temptations, and dangers
to which the more immediate followers of Jesus
were exposed. Still they are a tried and tempted,
and, in some cases, a persecuted people; they
have been called npon to come out and be sepa-
rate from the world, even while living in it, and,
while doing so, are exposed to misrepresenta-
tions, cavils, reproaches, and tribulation, just in
proportion to the closeness of their conformity to
Jesus, and the firmness and consistency of their
devotedness to His name. Fightings without,
and fears within;* the rancor of the devil, the
seducing lusts of the flesh, and the opposition of
the world, still surround, oppose, and endanger
them. And, surely, He who died for them, and
lives again, and is at the right hand of God, re-
gards them with the same tender interest winch
He has ever felt in His believing people. He
knows that they are "in the world;" and He
feels for them in all the trials, and sympathiocs
with them in all the temptations, and succors
them in all the dangers, to which, while in the
world, they are exposed.

H. The Lord Jesus was leaving His disciples,
with the full knowledge of alf the trials and

* 2 Cor. vii. 5.

THE SAVlOU's SYMPATIIY

■■

the difficulties to wliich their stay in the world
would cx])ose them. But He leaves them not
alone, any more than He was left alone when
they abandoned Ilim. " I am not alone," He
saith, "but I and the Father that sent me;"*
and to the same giacious Father doth lie en-
trust His loved ones. "Holy Father, keep,
through thine own name, those whom Thou hast

given me.

The title, by which our Savior thus addresses
the Father, while committing His disciples to His
care, is well worthy of our attentive remark. He
(•alls Him " Holy Father ;" and we may gather
from His mention of this attribute of God, that
He considered His holiness to be now engaged,
as much as His love or mercy, in preserving
those that honor His beloved Son. And how
could this have been, but for the work which
.lesus had now so nearly finished ? Surely it is
the holiness of God, which makes it so impos-
sible for Jlim even to look upon sin. It is the
holiness of God which makes it absolutely neces-
sary for Him to keep His declared purpose of
punishing transgression, and which gives the
sinner such awful reason to expect the full mea-
sure of that wrath which He had denounced
against inicjuity. The Holy Father cannot be
reconciled to trangression ; neither can He
* John xvi. S-2.

WJTII HIS PEOrLE.

223

permit "any evil to dwell with Him."* But
when He hatli punislied the transgressions of
sinners, in punishing His beloved Son ; when He
hath poured out his wrath against sin, by treating
Him as a sinner who knew no sin ;(• then even
His holiness becomes engaged to take no more
vengeance upon those whose sins have been
punished in Jesus, but to accept and bless, to
love and to keep tliose, whose transgressions have
been atoned for by His blood. Yes, even that
Holy God, who can in no wise be reconciled to
iniquity, who can " in no wise clear the guilty,"
13 bound by His very holiness to spare those,
whose guilt IiPs been washed away by the blood
of a sufficient substitute, whose iniquity has been
borne away to a land not known, on the head of
His own beloved Son.;]: The very mercy and
love of God, infinite as they are, and delightful
as it is to dwell upon them, would not have
formed a sufficient security for the believer's
safety, unless the holiness of God had also been
satisfied, and enlisted with His other attributes in
His salvation. But the Lord Jesus, knowing that
He had now " finished the transgression, and
made an end of sins, and made reconciliation for
iniquity, and brought in ever lasting righteous-

* Ps. V. 4. I o Cor. V. 21.

I Sec Lev. xvi. 21, 22.

• f

224

THE SAVIOR S SYMPATHY

iff

...

' I

ness,"* could appeal to tlic holiness of God for
the salvation of those who had been given Ilim,
and engage the awful justice of God itself on the
side of the sinner that believeth in Him.

And, but for the work of Jesus, and the indi-
vidual application of that work to His own soul,
what sinner could ever " give thanks at the re-
membrance of the holiness of God?"'!' Tlic
worldling, the careless, the unbelieving, will
speak of the goodness and mercy of the Lord, and
think that they can trust to a merciful God not
to punish them as they deserve ; but they cannot
think of the holiness of God without apprehen-
sion and alarm. They can trust to His mercy to
prevail over His holiness and truth ; but His
holiness itself is, in fact, a ground of terror to
their souls. But, blessed be the name of the
Lord Jesus Christ, the believer in Him, who
simply and heartily receives the record which
God hath given concerning Him, can rejoice at the
remembrance of His holiness, and find His name,
as the "Holy" God, a staff' and shield to him.
" God is holy," may the believer in Jesus now
say, " and therefore will He faithfully perform
all that He hath promised. He hath covenanted
to forgive mine iniquities, and to remember my
sins no more. He hath covenanted to give me a

* Dan. ix 24.

"1 Ps. XXX. 4.

WITH HIS PEOPLE.

225

new heart, and put a right spirit within me, to.
put His laws in my heart, and write them in my
inward parts: He hath covenanted to be my
God, and to make me one of His people ; * and
though I see in myself nothing but the most ab-
ject unworthiness of any such grace, yet, seeing
the Lord my God is holy, I believe that what He
hath promised He surely will make good." Thus
doth the Father keep through His name those
whom He hath given to Christ ; thus doth He
answer the prayer of Jesus in their behalf, and
preserve them by His holiness, and pledge to them
His justice and His purity itself, as a guarantee
for their salvation.

ni. How different, however, was the object of
Jesus' prayer on their behalf, from that low stan-
dard with which professing believers are but too
ready to be satisfied ! They are too easily con-
tented with such a state, as they think gives them
a hope of safety, and too readily acknowlege,
that, so as they are saved, they care not much
about anything beyond this. But Jesus prays to
the Father, not only that His disciples may be
kept, but " that they may be one, as He and
the Father are one."

How large, how vast, a measure of christian at-
tainment is involved in the petition, that believers

* ITel). viii. 10—12.

226

THE savior's sympathy

I!) (I

should be one, as God the Father and the Son are
one. Consider, dear brethren, the objects expressed
in this petition. It asks, that beh'evers should have
no will but God's. " I came down from heaven,"
saith the blessed Jesus, " not to do mine own will,
but the will of the Father that sent me."* " I
do nothing of myself," saith He again ; " but as
my Father hath taught me, I speak these things:
and He that sent me is with me : the Father hath
not left me alone ; for I do always those things
that please Him."t And if believers truly had
" fellowship with the Father and the Son,":]: would
not such be their case too ? Would it not be the
object of their lives, too, to do, not their own will,
but His who hath sent them here, and to do al-
ways such things as please Him? Yes, even
such a conformity to the will of God as this doth
Jesus pray for in behalf of His disciples, anu
hath taught themselves continually to seek, in
asking that the will of God may be done on
earth, as it is done in heaven.§

And what doth the Lord Jesus ask for His peo-
ple, as regards their conduct to one another?
Still « that they may be one, as God the Father
and the Son are one." Wliat continual stress
doth He lay upon the mutual love and unity

• John vi. 38.
t 1 John i. 3.

t John viii. 28, 29.
§ Matt. vi. 10.

ii-li.

'-n

WITH HIS PECPLE,

227

of His disciples witli one another. " By this
shall all men know that ye are my disciples,'
He saith, " if ye have love one towards another."*
And how are they to love one another ? Even
as the blessed Jesus loves those for whom He shed
His blood.t Oh, if there were more of this
spirit among Christians, what a foretaste in-
deed of heaven miglit they enjoy on earth? How
would the Father be honored, "how would Jesus
be glorified, how would the Spirit bear comfort-
ing witness with their spirits that they are God's
children, and feed them on the rich pastures of
His grace !

Such conformity as this to the will of God, such
love and union with one another, doth the Lord
Jesus pray for, for His people : O ! that He would
so stir up the hearts of Christians, that they would
pray and strive for these things more earnestly
for themselves ! We talk of being satisfied with
mere safety ; but what safety can there be, except
in conformity to the will of Jesus? It is not such
conformity, indeed, that makes their salvation :
but their being saved would surely produce such
conformity ; and though it is the covenant of
God, sealed with Jesus' blood, which makes the
believer safe, that covenant pledges also such
grace as would make him like Jesus. And
O ! who shall dare to plead with Jesus His pro-

John xiii. 8.5.

t Jolin XV, \), ]•>.
Q 'J

11 J

♦228

THE SAVIOR S SYMPATHY

raises of forgiveness while habitually neglecting
His promises of grace ?

We have been privileged to enter in sonic
measure, I trust, into the feelings of the blessed
Savior, as He thought of leaving His disciples to
the cruelties of an unbelieving world, and com-
mitted them for safe keeping into His Father's
care. And are not the feelings of Jesus in some
faint measure shared by every one of His true
disciples, when they too are drawing near the
close of their pilgrimage, and each moment ex-
pecting their summons to their Father's house?
While weeping friends and relatives surround
their couch, may they not take up the words of
Jesus, and say, Weep not for us, but weep for
yourselves and for your children.* And, surely,
if at such an hour their hearts, in the midst of
joyful hope, linger with fond anxiety about those
dear ones whom they are leaving to all the trials
and temptations, from which they are almost de-
livered, they may look up to Jesus, confident of
His sympathy, and commit those dear to them to
Him in prayerful hope. Who would not wish
to live so as thus to die ? Who would not wish so
to " pass the time of his sojourning here," that
when he lies upon his bed of death, and friends
and relations cannot but weep their loss, his only
subject of anxiety, his only cause of grief, may
be the thought of the evils through which those

* Luke xxiii. 28.

WITH HIS PEOPLE.

229

dea'r to him must pass, before they can be landed
on the heavenly shore.

Dear Christian brethren; would ye thus die as
Jesus died? Then must ye live as Jesus lived.
He hath not only given Himself a sacrifice for
your sins ; He hatli also " left you an example
that ye should follow His steps."* And more
than this ; as " He knows your frame, and re-
membereth that ye are but dust,"t and as
He knows the power of temptation, and the
force of the world's hatred and opposition. He is
still at the right hand of God pleading for your
souls, and giving forth out of His own fulness
to all that come as empty vessels to be filled.
Only live by faith continually upon Him, and
then will ye daily become more like Him, till ye
see him as He is. Well doth He know indeed
the trials and temptations to which ye are ex-
posed; for what can ye have to encounter, by
which He was not assailed 1^ -And knowing
them, He has committed you for safe keeping to
His Fatlier's care, and " none is able to pluck
you out of the Father's hand."§ Yet, while the
holiness of the Father is a pledge to you, dear
brethren, of His faithfulness to His engagements,
and the truth of His word, forget not also the as-
surance it conveys of the necessity of holiness in

* I Pet. ii. 21.
I Heb. iv. 15.

t Ps. ciii. 14.
§ Jolin X. 29.

230

THE savior's sympathy

tliosc tliat would dwell with Iliiii. Wliereforc
" gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and
hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought
to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obe-
dient children, not fashioning yourselves accord-
ing to the former lusts in your ignorance : but as
He ' hich hath called you is holy, so be ye holy
in all manner of conversation; because it is
written, Be ye holy, for I am holy."*

But, if " without holiness no man shall see
the Lord," I" what must be your case, my poor
fellow sinners, who are so far from holiness, that
ye are following the ways of that world which
hateth holiness, walking after your own hearts,
which are enmity against God, living in sin
by which Jesus was crucified ? Much as ye
may console yourselves by thinking of the mercy
of God, yet O ! remember that it is an infinitely
holy God with whom ye have to do, with whom
no evil can dwell, and whose kingdom, except ye
be born again, ye can in no wise enter.;}: Be
j)ersuaded then, dear friends, to give yourselves to
Jesus, in whom alone the holiness and mercy of
God are reconciled, and through whom alone ye
can have life or peace. Surely the anxiety of
Jesus, at leaving His disciples in the world, may
show you in what a state of wickedness and

* I IVt. i. 13— Ki. t Heb. xii. 14.

i Jolin iii. 3.

and

WITH HIS PEOPLE.

231

enmity it lies. O ! come out, then, and be se-
parate from it, wliilo tlie Lord .Jesus stands ready
to receive you; and then, though ye may en-
counter trial, and even persecution, at its hands,
yet, when a few years at most are past, and ye are
going the way whence ye sliall not return,* ye
shall deem all your light afflictions unworthy to
be mentioned in the prospect of the glory that
shall be revealed in you.f

* Job xvi. U'J.

f Rom. viii, 18.

S?3l>

SERMON XIII.

Tin: SON OF rEllDiriON.

iH i

I'"' 1

St. John xvii. 12.

While I teas with them in the world, I hept

them hi Thy name : those that Thou gavest me

I have kept, and none of them is lost hut the

son of perdition ; that the Scripture might be

fulfilled.

•' Like as a fatlier pitieth Ijis own cliildren,
even so is tlie Lord merciful unto tliem that fear
Him."* And what but the tender feelings of a
parent, yearning over the loved ones whom God
has given him, and, in the anticipation of the
many trials for his little ones tlirough which
he has himself been brought, committing them,

* Ps. ciii. 13.

THE SON OF I'KUDITION.

233

■ 4
s

'tept

the

en,
ear
Fa

rod

the
ich

us his own guardianship is about to be withdrawn,
to tlie care and keeping of his heavenly Fa-
ther, can give us any conception of the feelings
which filled the heart of Jesus as He contemplated
his separation from His chosen ones? With
the tender solicitude of a fond parent, he had
traced each symptom of their dispositions, had
watched the gradual progress of their minds, as
they opened day by day to the reception of the
truth, Jiad checked their frowardness, had met
their prejudices, had controlled their ambition,
had engaged their love. The very weakness and
frowardness, which had rendered necessary the
utmost watchfulness and care, lest the enemy
should get an advantage of them, and lure or
entrap them to their fall, had served also to
endear them the more to His heart, to call
forth its more tender sympatliies in their behalf,
and to increase the fond anxiety with which He
would contemplate His removal from them.
" While He had been with them in the world, he
had indeed kept them" from the evil, kept them
" in the Name " of the Lord. The care which
He had exercised over them had so far been suc-
cessful. His ready hand had been outstretched to
deliver ti.em from peril. His wisdom had been
exerted to guard them from the snares, laid to
entrap them as well as Himself. His love had
been ever ready tenderly to overrule, to check,

234

THE SON OF PERDITION.

and to subdue their mutual strivings witli one
another, their ebullitions of temper, their irre-
gularities of feeling. His aptness to teach had
been continually in exercise in exhibiting to
them the evils of their hearts, and illustrating to
them the necessity of their complete humiliation,
their entire, their thorough change. And His
watchfulness for the Father's glory had been in-
cessantly in occupation, as He led their minds
away from Himself to the Father that sent Him,
kept down the imaginations of His temporal
sovereignty, and led them to the gradual, the
very slow perception, that His object was not
an earthly throne, but the establishment of the
Father's glory, and His own dominion in the
hearts and souls of His spiritual people.

His care had so far been successful. He had
kept His disciples in the Name of the Father. The
hatred or the allurements of the world, and the
malice of the devil, had been unable to pluck
them out of His hand. Yet the experience
which He had had of the difficulty of keeping
them; His knowlege of their Lailty, of their
frowardness, of their ignorance, and their pre-
judices, could not but excite an anxiety, lest
they who had needed so much watchfulness, and
been guarded with so much care, should, when
that care was withdrawn, be seduced into danger,
or tempted into sin.

THE SON OF PERDITION.

235

In committing them, however, into the gra-
cious keeping of His Holy Father, we repeat, the
Lord Jesus was enabled to say, that, notwith-
standing all the difficulties of the undertaking, not-
withstanding all the obstacles presented by the state
of the disciples themselves, and notwithstanding
all the malice and hatred of the arch-e emy cf
souls. He had, through His Almighty p( r. His
wisdom, and His love, succeeded in keeping them
in the Name of the Father. He had kept all that
had been given Him. He had preserved and sus-
tained all that the Father had bestowed upon Him.

But in looking round upon His little flock,
He saw a vacant seat. A place, which had
till now been occupied by one of His twelve
followers, was now deserted. And must He then,
in commending to the Father's care the souls
of those whom He had chosen and given to the
Son ; must He, in remembering this false one's
absence, lament before the Father, that one of
His sheep had perished ; that the evil of the
heart, and the malice of the devil, had been too
strong for Him who is Almighty, and had robbed
the Savior of one of the jewels of His crown ?
Oh no ! not so indeed ! There was indeed a
vacant place ; there was indeed a seat unoccu-
pied ; there was indeed an absent one, who had,
to outward sight, been one of the Lord's chosen

•i

236

Tff

THE SON OF PERDITION.

ones, but he had never been a child of God but
"the son of perdition." Never had he been' one
of those given by the Father as a precious gift
to Christ, as His peculiar people ; but had been
outwardly numbered among His followers, an
awful instance of the corruption and depravity
ol the human heart, and of the utter insufficiency
of the greatest gifts, and highest privileges, to
convert or keep a soul, which the Fatlier hath
not chosen, the Son redeemed, nor the Spirit
sanctified. A sad exception is indeed apparent
in the Savior's words ; " those whom thou gavest
me," saith He to the Father, « I have kept, and
not one of them is lost; but" there is one lost
of those who have been with me, one of those
who have followed with me ; yet He has only
returned to his own place : for he is - a son of
perdition."

^ The lesson taught us by this sad exception
in the number of the immediate personal follow-
ers of the Son of God, is indeed of a far more
pamful, but scarcely less necessary or less pro-
fitable nature than that on which we have hitherto
dwelt,-tlie serenity, the comfort, and the peace
of His faithful disciples. The very considera-
tion, indeed, of this lesson itself involves some
of the most precious views of the security of
believers : for though we find, indeed, a triitor

THE SON OF PERDITION.

237

among the immediate disciples of the Lord, we
find him expressly excepted from the number
of those given to the Savior, and described in
terms which mark him as having been, from the
first, all that the full development of the hidden
evils of his heart proved him to be.

We would desire to approach the considera-
tion of the case of this wretched man, whose
painful treachery and awful fall are set forth to us
as a warning that we should shun his steps, with
a spirit of deep solemnity ; and I would entreat
the Lord, and beseech you, brethren, to join
the prayer, that He will so bless our meditations
upon the subject, that, being convinced of tlie
depravity of our own natures, and of the mere
grace that maketh any one of us to differ from
this "son of perdition," we may be humbled as
regards ourselves, and drawn to prize more
highly, and to cling more closely to, those pro-
mises, which in Christ Jesus are Yea, and Amen,
to the glory of the Father.*

L Let me invite you to consider, dear brethren,
In the first place, what Judas was, that the
examination of his outward privileges and pro.
fession may giv . all professors warning, and
lead them to inquire what they have more than

* 2 Cor. i. 20.

238

THE SON OF PERDITION.

the profession of the Name of Christ. We liavc
no other account of the calhng '-f Judas, tlian
that which tliree evangelists give us of his being
numbered among the twelve. We have no
account of his individual call to follow Jesus :
but we see that he was outwardly at least a
professor of attachment to His name and cause.
We know not from what line of life he had been
withdrawn, from what course of sin he had been
called away to follow Jesus : but this we know,
that he was baptized unto His name, and pro-
fessed himself His disciple, and outwardly fol-
lowed His steps. He was thus far, then, similarly
circumstanced with the nominally Christian
world of the present day, whose Christianity
consists in having been baptized, in having been
taught some of the Gospel truths, and gone,
when others went, to worship in a christian
house of prayer.

Yet Judas was more than this. He had not
been merely numbered among the crowd, that
were attracted by the miracles, and pleased with
the words, of Jesus : he had not merely been one
of those that had come for instruction to Christ,
and had sat at His feet to hear His words : he
had been admitted to the private teachings of
the Savior, when He made known to the few the
mysteries of the kingdom of God, of which others

THE SON OF PERDITION.

239

heard but in parables. Yet more than this, he
had been endowed with the power of working
miracles : he had shared in the delegated powers
of the commission " to preach, and to have power
to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils;"*
and had been one of those that with exultation
had returned to Jesus, and " told Him all things,
that they had done and taught."! And what a
warning is he, then, to those who bear now the
same commission to preach the name of Jesus,
and to assail the kingdom of Satan with weapons
" mighty through God to the pulling down of his
strong holds !" Through the power of the Name
they preach, the souls of sinners may be freed
from the chains with which Satan binds them :
but O ! how sad their case, if their own spirits
have not been rescued from their bondage, their
souls not built upon the foundation of the Lord,
their "names "not " written in heaven!"

But the measure of the wretched Judas's privi-
leges stopped not here. He was not alone endued
with honors of so high a character as these ;
but was admitted to the secret communion of the
Savior with His loved ones, when, in the pros-
pect of those woes, to which the treason of this
wretched man was about to deliver Him up, He
broke the bread and poured out the wine with
• Mark iii. 14, 15. f Mark vi. 30.

■}

240

THE SON OF PERDITION.

His disciples, teaching them, and all that after-
wards should love Him, thus to " show forth His
death " as a sacrifice for sinners, " till He him-
self should come again." * Yes, even on this
solemn occasion was Judas present ; even of this
blessed and most solemn feast was he permitted
to partake; and while his covetous heart was
meditating the betrayal of his Master, he tasted
of the symbols of those sufferings, for which his
own treachery was preparing the way, and of
which, determined though they were by God,
yet the guilt lay upon his soul. As He who
knew the heart forbade not Judas to partake
this feast, so neither can they who cannot see the
heart forbid the approach of those, who hide their
enmity under the profession of love to Christ ; but
O ! what an awful lesson should the case of Judas
teach all, who draw near to taste the sacred me-
morials of a Savior's dying love, in showing them
that they may be partakers even of such a feast
as this, and yet be, after all, but children of per-
dition !

H. Thus highly privileged was the wretched
Judas, partaker apparently of every advantage
which the most favored of his fellow disciples
enjoyed, admitted to the same opportunities of

* 1 Cor. xi. 2fi.

THE SON OF PERDITION.

241

instructions, endowed with the same wonder-work-
ing powers, and broiiglit into the same intimate
comni union with tlie Savior, which the others
had. Sucli he had been ; but turn we, secondly,
to the sad contrast of what he thus had been with
what lie had not been.

Tliougli outwardly called, and placed among-
the Lord's disciples, and, as His follower, a i)ro-
fessor of His religion, yet it is evident that he
had not been a believer. His case in this re-
spect presents a view of the distinction between
that belief which the nominally Christian world
has, and that faith through which the soul is
justified and " at peace with God." * The fact of
Judas being a follower of Christ shows that he
believed many things concerning Him. Doubt-
less he ackno,vleged to the full extent, as a matter
of history, the claims of Jesus to be the Messiah ;
he recognised the fulfilment in Him of the pro-
phecies which spake of the coming Christ, " who
should be ruler in Israel ;"i- and acknowleged
that the Spirit which dwelt in Him, through
which He did so many mighty works, and " spake
as never man spake," was the eternal Spirit of the
Lord of Hosts. But he had not that faith, which
applied to his soul the merits of the Savior ; he
believed with the understanding, but he believed
not with the heart ; his faith was merely an his-

I:;

Hii:

242

THE SON OF PERDITION.

torical faith, uninfluential, powerless, dead.
While professing a belief in Jesus, and even join-
ing with the lips in tl at full confession, by which
the ardent Peter acknowleged Him to be "the
Christ, the Son of the living God,"* he yet knew
not Jesus as a Savior, nor had that faith in him
whicli is unto salvation. And will not ye be
■warned by his case, my dear friends, whose belief
is nothing more than the acknowlegement of cer-
tain truths which ye have learned in the cate-
chism ; but who are without that living faith,
which worketh by the love of Jesus, t which
clothes the sinner with the righteousness of
Jesus, :{: and brings the soul into a living spiritual
union with Him.§ What will it profit you,
though ye say ye have faith, if your faith have
not those fruits, by which a genuine living faith
is known ? ||

Yet ye may say, ye have these fruits. Let as
then further observe, in considering what Judas
had not been, that, though outwardly moral in
his conduct, he had not been at peace with God,
had not been delivered from the carnal mvid, nor
become in truth a servant of Jesus. Though so
little is said in the word of God concerning Judas,
yet we may easily perceive that there could have

* John vi. G9.
1 Kom. iil. 22.

t Gal. V. 6.

§ John xiv. 23, 24.

James ii. 14.

THE SON OF PERDITION.

243

you,

have

been no glaring inconsistency between his pro-
fession and his conduct. A measure of confi-
dence was unanimously reposed in him, as he
was the treasurer of the little funds of their so-
ciety : and so little had any suspicion attached to
his character, that the eleven could not under-
stand the application of the Savior's words to
him, when urging him to be speedy in the ac-
complishment of the evil designs of his heart.*
As far, then, as outward morality went, and the
apparent propi-iety of his conduct, there was no
inconsistency between his profession and his
practice : but his heart was still unchanged, it
was still at enmity with God, and in bondage to
sin. And can the mere observance of however
strict morality and decency of conduct be all the
evidence, then, that is necessary to prove the
genuineness of faith ? Nay, surely these have
been found in those who had never heard of Jesus;
but the faith which is in Him "purifies the
heart," " worketh by love " to God, His word,
His sabbaths, His house. His people ; withdraws
the aflfections from the world, and centres them
in Jesus ;t subdues the pride, corrects the tem-
pers, keeps a watch over the tongue, and makes
every false way, and every idle word, and every
unholy thought, a loathsome thing to the soul of

* John xiii. 29.

f Col. iii. 2.

II 2

• ...

•244

THE SON OF PERDITION.

the believer. Judge thrn, donr friends, not by
mere outward deccmcy, but by these inward and
spiritual tests, whether ye have indeed that faith
which justifies the soul.

But, to come to more minute particvdars, we
observe, that though Judas had been possessed of
high religious privileges ; though he had been in
profession a Christian, and, in outward conduct,
not an inconsistent one ; though he had so much
faitli as to have power over the devils ; yet he had
not resisted the devil in his own heart ; he had
not combated, nor mortified his besetting sin.
We need look no deeper for a motive to that dark
and dreadfal act of treachery, which closed his
connexion with the followers of Jesus, than to the
influence of the prevailing sin of his heart, the
sin of covetousness. This was the seed, the
treachery was the fruit ; and awful as was his
treason, awful in every aspect in which we can
regard it, it was but the natural fruit of un-
checked covetousness, of the unmortified " love of
money, the root of all evil."* And what could
all his professions amount to, what all his privi-
leges avail, what all his outward moralities
advantage him, when there was a secret sin wil-
fully indulged, a secret lust unchecked, a hidden
evil raging uncontrolled ? Yoa, and what will
* 1 Tim. vi. 10.

THE SON OF PERDITION.

245

the highest amount of profession avail any one
now, while the heart is still in bondage to some
cherished sin, still tender to some favorite passion,
though every other be cut ofF? O ! let this ques-
tion be one of solemn impressiveness with those
who are professors of something more than the
world cares for, professors of a living faith and
lively hope in Jesus. He that in truth enlists
with Him, as the captain of His salvation, de-
clares war against every passion, every sin, every
propensity to evil, though it may have been
dear to him as a right hand, or cherished as
a right eye.* He can hold no terms with sin,
with any sin, with any one sin : and though,
the more he sees and knows of himself, the more
full of sin he knows himself to be, yet he wages
an exterminating warfare against all his cor-
ruptions, never to lay down the arms of faith
and prayer, till victory is declared. Be the sin
what it may, my brethren, be it covetousness, or
lust, or drunkenness, or excess ; be it pride, or
malice, or envy, or hatred, or revenge; be it
strife, or slander, or falsehood, or evil speak-
ing ; if it be willingly indulged, if it be che-
rished, if it be secretly hugged to the heart,
it is a worm at the root of the must flou-
rishing professions, which will cause them all to
* Matt. V. 29, 30.

' f

246

THE SON OF PERDITION.

witlicr and decay at the heat of temptation, or
the fire of trial.

ir^

III. Yet there are one or two suggestions,
arising from the melancholy case of Judas, whose
consideration, by way of application, may be pro-
fitable to our souls. Consider, then, dear friends,
that, though Judas is called the son of perdition,
he is by this description simply spoken of as one
left to himself, and to the evil workings of his own
natural heart. From the time that Adam fell,
every one of his descendants is by nature a child of
perdition, and there is nothing but the sovereign
grace of God giving any of them to Jesus, which
makes them to differ from their fellow-sinners.
Yet observe, that Judas was so far from being de-
creed to perdition, or kept away from believing in
Jesus, that, on the contrary, he had every privi-
lege, every advantage,— but the freedom of his
corrupt will chose the evil and refused the good.
There are but too many — are there none of you, my
poor fellow-sinners, among the number?— who are
ready to charge your own obstinacy, and world-
liness, and sin upon God, as if ye were willing to
return to God, but He prevented you ? O ! be-
ware, how ye thus make God the author of your
sins. The Lord has provided you an atonement
in the blood of Jesus ; He has furnished you with

THE SON OF PERDITION.

247

means of grace, and given you opi orturitics of
coming to Him through Jesus. Li y-- 111 not
return, if ye refuse to hearken, if yr will still
go on in worldliness and sin, sure' ' )rv blood
must be upon your own heads. How awful is
this thought ! Dear friends and fellow-sinners,
spend not your precious time in calculating
whether ye can come or not ; but come : " ho !
every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters,
and he that hath no money ; come ye, buy and
eat, yea, come, buy wine and milk without money
and without price."*"

Consider again, dear friends, from Judas' case,
into what awful depths the indulgence of a single
secret sin may plunge the soul. Judas was
covetous; through covetousness he betrayed his
Master ; and, in the bitterness of unavailing re-
morse, became his own murderer. And are ye
quite sure, my fellow-sinners, that such may not
yet be your case ? Oh, ** let him that thinketh
he standeth take heed lest he fall."f Yet, indeed,
what else are ye doing daily, whosoever of you,
while professing the name of Jesus, are yet cherish-
ing any known sin ? Are ye not thus betraying
Jesus ; are ye not thus crucifying Him afresh ;
are ye not thus murdering your own souls ? Ye
may not so expose yourselves, as Judas did, to the
execrations of the world, as the open traitors, the
* Isa. Iv. 1. t 1 Cor. x. 12.

•248

THE SON OF PERDITION.

inurderoTs of your Lord : but, if left to yourselves,
what can ye be, if ye go on in indulged sin, what
can ye be, but children of perdition ? O ! guard
then, dear brethren, each avenue of your heart,
watch every motion, check every trace of sin ;
for " behold how great a matter a little fire
kindleth."*

Yet, once more, consider, that though there is
so much in the case of Judas to cause the mere
professor to tremble, and to load every one to
search out the hidden evils of his heart, yet there
is nothing in his fall to lead the humble believer,
the single-hearted follower of Jesus, to doubt the
security and final preservation of every child of
God. None of those that were given to Jesus
was lost ; he only perished who was the " son of
perdition." Fear not, dear brethren in the Lord
Jesus, to trust sim])ly , unreservedly, to Jesus. Do
ye know His voice ; do ye follow Him as your
shepherd ? Then be assured, " His sheep shall
never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of
His hand."t Only remember that your security
is not of yourselves, but only in the grace and
promises of Jesus. Lie, then, in Jiumility at His
feet ; cling in simplicity to His cross ; for " they
that trust in Him shall want no manner of thing
that is good :":j: and " the foundation of God

* .Taines iii. 5. .| Jolm x :>M.

,' Vs. xxxiv. 10.

if '>

THE SON OF I'ERDITION.

249

selves,
, vvliat
guard
heart,
P sin ;
e fire

still staiideth sure, having this seal, The Lord
knoweth them that are His; and, Let every one
that nameth the name of Christ depart from
iniquity."*

* 2Tini. ii. 19.

lere is

mere
ne to

there
iever,
bt the
did of
Jesus
on of

Lord
. Do

your

shall
3ut of
Mirity

and
t His
' they
thing

God

250

SERMON XIV.

t'lIRTSrS JOY FULFILLED IN HIS PEOPLE.

St. John xvii. 13.

A7id noiv come I to thee : and these things I speak
in the world, that they might have my joy ful-
fiUed in themselves.

The mention of their Lord's intended departure
out of this world to tlie Father, and the thouo-ht
of their own desolate condition when He should
be withdrawn from them, were calculated ^ im-
press tlie disciples with melancholy and giooni.
The intercourse which they had been permitted
to enjoy with one so full of tenderness, of grace,
and love, as the Lord Jesus, could scarce have
failed of exciting in their bosoms an ardent and
grateful affection for His person. The tears, tl
of natural sorrow, shed at the thought of separa

t •

CHRIST S JOY FULFILLED.

251

tion from one dearly loved, must doubtless have
flowed freely from the eyes of those who now
heard Him speaking of His departure, and pre-
paring, as it were, for the close of His earthly
communion with them.

But there were causes, deeper than their mere
feelings of personal friendship and grateful at-
tachment, which, it may be supposed, were work-
ing together iv their bosoms to produce mingled
sensations of apprehension and distress at the
contemplation of their Lord's decease. Not
merely would they apprehend in such an event
the death of alt their fondly-cherished hopes of
temporal advancement, but they must have been
indeed ignoran*, of themselves, not to have dis-
covered their own incompetency to meet the
various trials, to which their being taken know-
lege of as having been with Jesus* v.ould expose
tliem, and not to have felt that those very dis-
positions, which were so great a cause of an.x"^tv
to their beloved Lord, — their frowardness, their
prejudices, and their pride,— disqualified them
sadly for self-guidance, self-direction, and self-
keeping.

While, then, die heart of the Loid Jesus him-
self was supported, in the anticipation of His
coming conflict, by the vu v, which His eye,
l)iercing through the daiK clouds tliat hung im-

* Acts iv. 1.3.

iSP

u. ■

i !

252

CmtlSl's JOV FULFILLED

"•cdmte y aro„,„l Him, could take of that bright
heaven beyond, ia which Ho should bo ".kri-
fied wuh the glory which He had had with the
Father before the world was," and should share
H,s glories with those whom He was now leaving
>n such a perilous condition,_a«V prospect^
hounded as it was by the limits of their present
lior.zon, seemed to present nothing but one view
of wretchedness, desolateness, and woe. A se-
vered friendship, shattered connexions, broken
ties of depeadance and affection, oatward hatred,
mutual jealousies, and inward fears, were all
that with the eye of sense they could look upon
as the eonsequeaces of their Lord's decease.
Strong, then, must have been the consolations
suggested to a spirit of faith, which, mingling
with such topics of distress as these, could give a
eoloriag of joy to the pictare, on which the eye
of the disciples was restiag at such an hour as
this Deep must have been the well-spring „f
comfort, which could supply them a draught of
eonsolatioa, aad even of peace and joy, when the
eup presented to their lips was brimming with
the apparently anmiagled distresses of these
pamtul moments.

Yet it is of joy that the Savior speaks, as being
even now ,n preparation for His cliosen ones; of a
joy, which, uatouched by the maay causes of <lis-
tress which now were gathering roua.l tlieia, and

-1

IN HIS PEOPLE.

253

ilori-

unaffectcd by the scenes of woe through which
tliey must prepare to pass, should be the strength
of their hearts in tlie midst of all their trials, and
gladden their eye, and cheer their spirit, in the
very midst of circumstances and of scenes most
calculated to depress them. " And now," saith
He to the Father, " I come to Thee :'' it was not
by any concealment of their anticipated separa-
tion, that He would infuse a momentary conso-
lation into their hearts, to leave a tenfold bit-
terness when the event itself should break upon
them ; " I come," He saith, " to Thee;" but, in
the full view of my departure hence, and at the
same time that I set before my disciples the full
knowlegeof my separation from them, " I speak
these things in the world, that they may have my
joy fulfilled in themselves."

With the true nature, then, of that " joy of
the Lord," which is the Christian's strenath *
and which exists and is fulfilled in them even in
the midst of such causes of sorrow and distress,
as were accumulated upon the heads of the dis-
ciples of the Savior at the time we are contem-
plating them, we surely cannot easily over-esti-
mate the importance of being acquainted. Sor-
rows of a similar kind, though scarcely having
reason for as deep intensity as theirs, still darken
the sky, and lower over the path of the weary pil-
* Nell. viii. 10.

254

CHRIST S JOY FULFILLED

t I

grim through this wilderness of sin. The anguish
of separation from those we dearly love, and
highly prize ; the bitterness of the world's rancor,
or ridicule, or revenge ; the painful consciousness
of inward weakness, corruption, and defilement ;
these, though not generally accumulated, as they
were in the disciples' case, in the same moment's
grief, are still ingredients in the cup of sorrow,
which every follower of Jesus drinks on his
journey through this vale of tears. And is not,
then, the promise sweet of a peace which sorrows
such as these cannot destroy ? Is not the pros-
pect cheering, afforded by the thought that there
is a joy laid up in Jesus for His people, which,
far from being annihilated by troubles such as
these, is even fulfilled, and brought into fullest
exercise, amid scenes of woe ?

Dear brethren, let us contemplate its nature,
its grounds, and its effects, and pray the Lord,
*' the God of hope, to fill us with all joy and
peace in believing, that we may abound in hope,
through the power of the Holy Ghost."*

I. We would observe, that, in our Savior's
prayer, He says that He has spoken these things
in the world, that His disciples might have His
joy fulfilled in themselves ; and we would from
hence derive the remark, that, in the first place,

* Horn. XV. 13.

IN HIS PEOPLE.

255

tlic joy of wliich wo are to consider the nature, is
Christ's joy, and so is only to be shared by those
who are in union with Christ. None can be par-
takers of this true Christian joy, but those that are
truly Christians, in the full spiritual meaning
of the word ; those, that is, that have believed in
Him " unto justification of life,"* and that " live
by the faith of the Son of God, who loved them
and gave Himself for them."f This union be-
tween the Lord Jesus and His true followers
is illustrated by Himself under the figure of
the union between the vine and its branches :
and, having declared to His disciples, that such
was the relationship to Him, and the living con-
nexion with Him, into which, through the abound-
ing grace of God, they had been brought. He
saitli unto them, " These things have I spoken
unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and
that your joy might be full.":}:

This joy, then, is to be had only in a living
union with Christ through faith in Him, and is
to be enjoyed only by those, who are truly con-
verted persons, and have been made " new crea-
tures " in Christ Jesus. It is a fruit ' that will
not grow in nature's barren soil ;' a feeling, which,
in its genuine character as a fruit of the Spirit,
must be utterly a stranger to the hearts of those

* Rom. V. 18. t Gal. ii. 20.

1 John XV. 1 — 1 1.

Christ's joy fcilfilled

■!.■

fli

tliat " liave not the Spirit of Clirist," and so
are « none of His." * TJiere may be, indeed,
and continually is, in the hearts of the worldly
and unconverted, a something which they cail
joy ; but this joy of the world, e(|ually with " the
sorrow of the world, worketh death." This joy is
not Christ's joy ; for it is possessed without any
reference to Him ; and the remembrance of His
presence, and the anticipation of His coming, put
it quickly to flight. It is not the joy, wliich the
world cannot give nor take away, and with which
" the stranger intermeddleth not ;"t for it is en-
tirely the growth of the world, and is dependent
upon its breath ; it lives only while the world is
bright, withers before the breath of disappro-
bation or the neglect of the world, and sickens
and dies at the approach of trouble, beneath the
touch of sickness, and at the very sound of the
step of death. But not so with Christ's joy,
which He bestoweth upon those that are truly
His. This, partaking of the very nature of its
heavenly source, is most stedfast in the hour
of trouble, is most graceful in the midst of
terrors, and ' shines brightest in affliction's night.'
Instead of being dissipated by the neglect, and
destroyed by the hatred, of the world, it pours
Its oi! aiid wine into the very wounds their strokes
have made. Instead of being annihilated by

* Hoiii. viii. 9.

I'lOV. xiv. I(f.

IN HIS PEOPLE.

257

bereavement, privation, or distress, it comes in
witli greater promptitude to supply the very defi-
ciences, which those cahimities have made. In-
stead of being banished by the approacli of sick-
ness or of death, it lifts up the head, and lights the
eye, and sheds its halo round the dying face, and,
by its sunset glories, gives earnest of that happier
morn, when " those that sleep in Jesus " shall
awake and rise to reign with Him in everlasting
day.

Such, dearly beloved, is the joy of Christ ; the
joy which is treasured up in Him for all His peo-
ple ; the joy, which all that are united to Him
are privileged to share, though, through the
weakness of their faith, too many of His people
know not its delights, till, by the approach of trou-
ble, or the rod of fatherly correction, they are
brought more closely into communion, as well as
union, with their Lord.

H. Let us, then, secondly, inquire into the
grounds of this joy of Christ, which the believer
in Him is privileged to indulge, in living upon
Him. We shall find, that, as the joy, which the
Savior Himself experienced in the midst of the
imheard-of trials of His humiliation, arose from
a continued sense of oneness with the Father, and
a constant remembrance of the love wherewith the
Father had loved Him before tlie foundation of

258

chiiist's joy fulfilled

the world, so the Cliristiau's joy arises from, and
is connected witli, the sense of his adoption in
Christ, the enjoyment of communion with Him,
and the sure and certain hope of glory in His
kingdom.

1. It is grounded tlien, first, upon the belief of
his adoption in Christ Jesus into the family of
God. Let me briefly remind you here, dear
brethren, lest I " make those hearts sad, which
God hath not made sad,"* that we are consider-
ing now, not the mere question of the Christian's
safe, but that of his " joy and peace in believ-
ing."! Everyone that exercises a simple faith
in Jesus Christ, is through that faith justified on
account of the work of Christ, and so brought
into a state of peace with God.J, Many, doubt-
less, exercise that faith, and so are in a state of
salvation, who are yet without the comfort and
the joy, which is their privilege. But the joy,
which more favored Christians possess, is built
upon the same foundation, the work of Christ,
but arises from the livelier exercise of fkith,'
through which, not alone the sufiiciency of the
work of Christ, but their own interest in that
work, is believed and rested upon. It is grounded,
we repeat, upon the belief of their adoption into'
the family of God, and the sense of their accept-
* Ezek. xiii. 2-2. ^. Ron,. ^^^ ,3

J Rom. V. 1.

IN HIS IT.Ol'LE.

259

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ption in
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ancc in the Beloved. Carnal reason, and the
ignorance of the worldly, cry out against such a
belief as this, as if it were presumption. But the
believer, seeing that it would be indeed presump-
tion if he had no good warrant for it, yet looking
to the scriptural authority for such a belief, finds
in God's word such promises, such declarations,
such assurances, as, being in Christ Jesus " Yea
and Amen,"* are to him an abundant ground for
theindulgence of such confidence. Unless Christian
joy be itself presumption, there surely can be no
presumption in taking hold of those things,
which alone can produce joy. The believer in
Jesus sees himself to be a vile and utterly loath-
some thing, a thing which God cannot look
upon ; and how then can he have any joy in the
presence of God, but by looking away from him-
self, and clinging to the promises of his accept-
ance in Christ Jesus, with whom the Father is
well pleased, and for whose sake He is well
pleased with all that believe in Him ? The Chris-
tian takes these promises home to himself; and
believing, that though in himself he is vile, loath-
some, and abominable, yet that of mere grace the
Lord hath loved him, hath given His Son for him,
hath thus redeemed him, hath washed him from
his sins, and accepted him as one of His chil-
dren, he joys, not in himself, but in the Lord ;

* 2 Cor. i 20.

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260

Christ's joy fulfilled

he rejoices in Christ Jesus, and puts no confidence
in the flesh.

2. This joy is maintained in the believer
secondly, in the same way that it was kept up iri
the Lord Jesus Himself, in communion with
Ood. Amid all the trials of His ministry, our
blessed Lord's resort for comfort and for joy was
to the exercise of prayer and holv intercourse
with God. And thus only can the believer's
sense of acceptance with God, which is the ground
oi h,s joy, be kept up ; even by the continual in-
tercourse of the soul with God in prayer and
praise, in the word and sacraments, in public and
m private devotion. As God is the only fountain
of joy, and Christ the only treasure-house in
which the Lord's precious gifts are laid up for His
people, it is only in communion with God and with
His Son that true joys are to be found. ♦' That
which we have seen and heard," saith the be-
loved disciple, " declare we unto you, that ye also
may have fellowship with us ; and truly our fel-
lowsh.p is with the Father and with His Son
Jesus Christ ; and these things write we unto
you, that your joy may be full."*

3. This joy in theLord, arisingfrom a confidence
of acceptance in Christ Jesus, is connected, thirdly
with the hope to which that con^-ir^ence gives rise'
the sure and certain hope of glory in His kingdom.'

* 1 John i. 3, 4.

IN HIS PEOPLE.

2t)l

The firmness and stability of this hope, and
consequently tlie joy that is connected with
it, depend upon the unfailing nature of tiie
promises of God. If it were possible for one of
the promises of God to fail ; if it were possible
for one declaration or assurance, which God
has given, to be false ; if it were possible for one
of those whom God gave to Christ to be lost,
for one of His sheep to perish ; then there
must be an end of all sure and certain hope,
and of course an end of all joy. If it were
possible for one of Christ's sheep to perish, there
could be no certainty in hope, no assurance of
faith, until faith was lost in sight, and hope in
actual enjoyment : for it would be possible for a
believer to fall away fatally even in his dying
hour, and the dread of this must keep his hope
always languid, his faith always trembling, his
joy always vain. But what things were they of
which the Savior in our text says, that He has
spoken to His disciples, in order that His joy
may be fulfilled in them ? Surely it is that God
had given them to Him, — that He kept them,
while He was with them, so that none of them
was lost, — and that, when about to leave them. He
committed them for safe keeping to His heavenly
Father. These things,— the consideration of
God's everlasting love to them, of His having
given them to Christ, and of His being engaged

262

CHRIST S JOY FULFILLED

now by His own holiness and truth to keep them
m His name ; these things were the grounds of
tlie apostles' joy, even in the midst of such sor-
rows as assailed them ; and these things are still
the ground of the believer's joy, through the sure
and certain hope which they produce of that " in-
heritance, incorruptible, undefiled, and that
fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for him."*

HI. But while it has been observed, that, in
speaking of Christian joy, we do not mean that
there can be no salvation without it, we would, on
the other hand, remark, in the third place, the
great importance of this joy in the production of
a consistent and decided Christian walk, by ob-
serving its effects on those to whom it is given.
On this point we would merely amplify a little
the words of Nehemiah already quoted, which
declare that " the joy of the Lord is your
strength."!

This christian joy is the strength of the be-
liever in the hour of temptation. How completely
must theChristian be the sportof the many enemies
that assail his peace, if he cannot rejoice in God
as his all-sufficient Protector, as his Almighty
Friend ! His soul, without this steadying principle,
is driven about by every suggestion of the enemy,
and perplexed, cast down, and in despair at eveiy

* 1 Pet. i. 4. f Nell. viii. 10.

IN HIS PEOPLE.

263

rising of corruption within him. But when,
looking out of himself, he can rejoice in the
Lord, this joy ■ iipports him in the conviction that
" greater is He that is in him " than all that can
be against him,* and fills him with peace in the
assurance, that though " in the world he has tri-
bulation," yet He who is His portion " has over-
come the world."t

The joy of the Lord is the Christian's strength
against the charms or frowns of the world. Not
only doth it support him under the sense of the
world's hatred, ridicule, or rage, and shield him in
the hour of its contempt, its persecutior . r its ca-
lumny ; but it is to him also a mail of proof against
its fascinations, its pleasures, and its joys. When
the smiles of the world, and the blandishments of
its delights, would seduce him by the offer of
present pleasure, while hiding the thorn of fu-
ture pain, he is enabled, even on the ground of
mere present gratification, to reject its allure-
ments, having already a joy such as the world
cannot give,'! and one which passeth not away
with the fashion of the world, but is imperishable,
increasing, and eternal. Who would choose the
pleasures of the world, that is really possessed of
the Christian's joy ?

This joy is the Christian's strength in the hour,

* 1 John iv. 4

t John xvi. 33.

Ibid. xiv. 27.

'm^mmmmm

264

Christ's joy fulfilled

ii i ■«

for which the world makes no provision, the hour
of sickness and approaching death. Look at tlic
miserable being- whose joy has been all of the
world's growth, and has flourished only in its
smiles; and see how the very honors and pleasures,
on which tlie world has fed his vanity, combine to
aggravate his misery, as he thinks that he must
leave the scene of his ambition, and hasten to a
bar which he has little thought of, the judgment
seat of Christ. But this, the worldling's antepast
of woe, contrasts sadly with the joy and peace
which strengthen and support the dying Christian.
Amid his groanings, as his body writhes upon a
bed of pain, amid the faintings of dissolving na-
ture, amid the sorrows of separation from his
dearly loved one •, there breathes the sweet assur-
ance, '* I reckon that the sufferings of this pre-
sent time are not worthy to be compared with
the glory that is to be revealed in me;"* and,
in the very moment of departing life, although no
rapture may swell liis spirit, no triumph flush h'
paling brow, yet this is the confidence of his
soul, «' O death, where is thy sting, O grave
where is thy victory ? Thanks be to God, who
giveth me the victory, through my dear Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ."f

Such, dear friends and breihren, are the effects
of Christian joy— such are the blessings which it
* Rom. viii. 18. i i Cor. xv. 33, 37.

IN HIS PEOPI-E.

265

is the purchased privilege of every believer to share,
but which they only truly experience, who re-
joice in the Lord. I need not, then, dear
brethren, urge upon you who know this joy, the
cultivation of that communion with the Lord,
by which it is to be maintained. For, surely, if
ye should for a moment lose this blessedness and
joy, these would be left an ' aching void,' which
nothing but the Lord could fill, and which would
allow you no rest until the Lord " restored to
you the joy of his salvation."* Yes, if ye truly
know the Lord's joy, ye have known what nothing
else can compensate you for, nothing else can
counterfeit, nothing else supply.

But, dear brethren, who, though ye believe in
Jesus, yet are without the joy of faith, let me en-
treat you, for the sakfi of your own comfort and
of your own consistency, to aim at this joy in the
Lord. It has been said, that the command to
" rejoice in the Lord "f is as express a charge as
that ye should believe in Him. For want of this joy,
the suggestions of the devil, the corruptions of the
flesh, the frowns or the fascinations of the world,
have power over you to keep you wavering and
unsettled. For want of this joy, the trials of life
and the prospect of death press more heavily
upon 3'ou, than there is need they should. And
ye have not this joy, because ye dwell too much
* Ps. li. 12. t Phil. iv. 4.

266

CHRIST S JOY FULFILLED

upon yourselves, and brood too much over your
own selfishness and corruption, to the disparage-
ment of the Lord's sufficiency, of His assurances
tliat He loves you for His own sake, not for any
thing in you,* and of His promise to " subdue
your corruptions, and cast your iniquities into the
depths of the sea."t Remember, dear brethren,
ye are urged torejoice, not in yourselves, in your
graces, your attainments, but in the Lord, in His
love, in His plenteous redemption, in His faith-
fulness and truth, in His righteousness and sal-
vation. O ! look out of yourselves then, and look
to the Lord. Meditate upon His free and so-
vereign love for you in Christ Jesus, until the
meditation warms your hearts, and sheds a sacred
joy throughout your spirits. "Rejoice in the
Lord always, and again I say rejoice. Be care-
ful for nothing : but in everything by prayer
and supplication with thanksgiving let your
requests be made known unto God; and the
peace of God, which passeth all understanding,
shall keep your hearts and minds in Christ
Jesus." ;]:

But let me entreat you, my poor fellow-sinners,
whose hearts are set upon the world, to contrast
the largest measure of your happiness with even
the feeble picture I have set before you of the

* Deut. ix. 5 ; Ezek. xxxvi. 22, 32.
X Phil. iv. 4—7.

t Mic. vii. 19.

IN HIS PEOPLE.

267

joy that is in Christ ; and say, Can ye deliberately
prefer the joys of this life to that which is so
sweetly cheering even in the present scene, but
has its full and glorious consummation in eter-
nity ? No, ye could not be so mad as to make a
deliberate choice like this ; but think ye, that
" the joy of the Lord " is to be found amid the
follies and the falsehoods of the world ? Be as-
sured that it is not, and O ! come to the proper
source and spring of joy, Christ Jesus. *' We
beseech you to turn from these vanities and serve
the living God ;"* come unto Him through His
Son Jesus Christ ; and, as surely as the Lord is
true. He will "give you rest"t here, and bring
you to that presence where is '* the fulness of
joy," and to " His right hand, where are plea-
sures for evermore.":]:

* Acts xiv. 15.

t Matt, xi, 28.

I Ps. xvi. 11.

268

SERMON XV.

CIJRIST'S PEOPLE NOT OF TIJE WOKIJ).

St. John xvii. 14, 15, 16.

/ have given them Thy word : and the world hath
hated them, because they are not of the world,
even as I am not of the ivorld. I pray not that
Thou shouldest take them out of the world, but
that Thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
They are not of the ivorld, even as I am not of
the world.

In the multitude of the sorrows which the dis-
ciples of tlie Lord Jesus had in their hearts in the
anticipation of His separation from them, His
comforts refreshed their souls.* While dwelliuo-
upon the watchful care which they had needed
during His stay among them, recalling to mind

* Ps. xciv. 19.

Christ's people not of the world. 2fi9

the tenderness of the ties by which tliey were
bound upon His heart, and committing their
souls to the keeping of His Holy Father, He was
able to suggest topics of consolation, and to lay
the foundations of a solid peace and joy, even
amid the tears that flowed at the thought of His
departure. The attempt was not made, however,
which the heart of man under similar circum-
stances would have suggested, to hide from them
any portion of the hatred and the persecutions
and the rage that were in store for them. No
false tenderness suggested the idea of concealing
from them the evils that were before them, be-
cause the presence of those evils, when they
came, would be severe enough ; no mistaken
kindness kept out of sight the coming difficulties
of their course, to be aggravated, when they
should arise, by the thought that the full cost of
their Lord's service had been hidden from them.
When first the Lord had sent His chosen ones
abroad into the world, with the charge, that, as
they went on their mission of benevolence and
delegated power, they should preach, saying,
*' The kingdom of heaven is at hand," He had
revealed to them the full extent of the troubles
that awaited them. " Behold," He saith, " I
send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves."
" Beware of men, for they shall deliver you up
to the councils, and they will scourge you in the

' I

270

cnnrsT s people

I ( >

1 V

l''i

I <

synagogues." " ^'e shall be hated of all men
for my name's sake."* And now that He is
about to take a final leave of them, and to send
them abroad into the world to proclaim His
Name, He hides not from them any portion of
that reward of ingratitude, opposition, and
hatred, with which th^ world would re(iuite their
disinterested labors of love, nor conceals from
them one ingredient in that cuj) of woe, and
trouble, and distress, which, in their mission of
salvation, they must expect to drink. The joy,
by which He sustains their spirits, consisted not,
as we have lately seen, in an exemption from
trouble, in a deliverance from temptations, in a
freedom from persecution, hatred, and scorn;
but was, on the contrary, designed to shine the
brighter in its contrast with the very troubles,
in the midst of which it should be displayed,
and to cheer and animate them in proportion
to the fierceness of the assaults, which their many
enemies from within and from without should
make upon their souls. It was, then, even a
preparation for t'lis joy, to acquaint them with
the nature of the troubles, in the midst of which
His presence should sustain them, and to put
them on their guard against the assaults, which
they themselves should be indeed too weak to
meet, and against which their only breastplate was
* Matt. X. 16, 17, 22.

NOT OF THE WORLD.

271

His righteousness, their only shield His strength,
their only weapon the sword of His Spirit. Ho
dwells, therefore, in their hearing, and while
praying to the Father for them, upon the hatred
with which the world had already hated them,
and with which it would continue to pursue
them for His Name's sake ; and takes care to
show them, also, that it was not even the ohject
of His prayer for them, that they should be
taken out of the world, exempted from its trials,
delivered from its temptations, and concealed from
its rage, but that they should be kept unharmed
in the midst of its allurements or its enmity, and
preserved unsj)otted from the defilement of its
contact, the pollution of its company, and the
dominion of its pride.

If the contemplation of the joys which the
Lord Jesus bestowed, even in the present life,
upon those that surrounded Him as His true
disciples during His sojourn upon earth, and of
the unspeakable glories in Hie life to come, to
which He turned their anxious gaze, and on
which He bade them dwell as beino- " reserved
in heaven for them," be interesting to Christians
of every age, as partakers of the same grace,
sharers of the same joy, and heirs of the same
glorious portion, which the immediate followers
of Jesus have enjoyed ; equally must it concern
them, equally doth it concern us, dear brethren

■^

!//

272

CHRIST S PEOPLE

and friends, to know the trials which were set
before them, as the inseparable accompaniments
of a consistent service of Jesus, and to consider
the treatment, to which no peculiar circumstances
of theirs, but that Spirit of Christ which must
animate all true Christians, even as it animated
them, exposed them, and still exposes all wlio
walk in their steps, at the hands of an ungodly
and wicked world. Suffer me, then, dear bre-
thren, to i^ropose for your consideration this day
the important declarations of our Lord with
regard to the hatred which the world entertains
towards the true disciples and followers of Christ,
and the causes by which that hatred is ex-
cited ; and the nature of the prayer which He
offers in their behalf, in reference to this portion
of the trials which should come upon them for
His Name's sake. And let us beseech the Lord,
the God of all grace, to pour upon us the rich
grace of His Holy Spirit, to teach, to guide, to
instruct us, and so to reveal Jesus to us, that the
hearts of the worldly may be convinced "of sin
and of righteousness and of judgment," and the
souls of those that believe in Him made joyful
in His salvation.

L Let your attention be engaged, dear friends
and brethren, in the first place, upon the fact
which our Lord announces with regard to His

N'OT OF TIIF. WORLD.

273

disciples. " The world hath hated them." As
relates to the apostles themselves, the whole of
the New Testament is one history of the hatred
with which the world pursued, first, the Lord
Jesus himself, and, after His removal, those of
whom " they took knowledge that they had been
with Jesus."* Although the Lord Jesus, having
gone to the Father, fulfilled His promise of en-
abling them to do even greater works than He
had done ;t and altiiough He had, by the pre-
sence of His Holy Spirit, blessed their preaching
of His Name to the accomplishment of more
wondrous things in' one short hour, than the
whole of His ministrations had effected ; yet
we find, that, as regards the vast majority
of those who heard or witnessed these things,
their enmity was great in proportion to the un-
reasonableness of it, and their opposition more
and more deadly, as tlie proofs of the truth of
that doctrine which they opposed were more and
more clear. The record of the Acts of tlie Apos-
tles is one testimony of the persecution, the rage,
the blind and maddened fury, with which the
world opposed those, whose wondrous efforts
in the service of their Lord were so blessed by
Him to the salvation of those that " were or-
dained to eternal life :":j: and their Epistles

* Acts iv. 13.

f John xiv. 12.

I Acts xiii. 48.

I •

---TfJUf^ %- ■>»•*«

274

CHRIST S PEOPLE

corroborate the melancholy statements, and give
additional testimony concerning the many forms
in which the enmity of the world appeared, and
the various disguises of hypocritical profession,
pretended friendship, and false brotherhood,
under which this enmity was masked.

But is this hatred, with which the world re-
garded Christ and His disciples, a thing of by-
gone days ; hath it no being but in history, no
existence but in the records of long past events ?
Was the enmity, of which we speak, indulged
against the apostles personally, and aroused by
anything peculiar in their •circumstances, their
manners, or their mode of life ; — or was its
rancor excited by their doctrine and their cause,
and displayed against that holiness, that separa-
tion from the world, that newness of heart and
life, which must be in every age the same in
those that are truly Christ's ? We will con-
sider, presently, the causes of this enmity, and,
in the mean time, remark, that wheresoever the
true follower of Jesus is found, there is still
found the enmity of the carnal heart, the hatred
of the world, against him, his doctrines, and his
life, because the weapons of the warfare are
changed, the warfare itself has not subsided.
Because the enmity of the heart is somewhat
restrained in its outNvard display, we cannot
thence conclude that the enmity itself has ceased.

NOT OP THE WORLD.

275

Although the sword of persecution is for the
present sheathed, and fresh fagots are no longer
heaped upon the pile, on which the follower of
Christ may give a dying testimony to the peace
and joy which Jesus gives, and realise the pro-
mise, that in passing through the fire He will be
with him ;* yet the sneer of the scoffer, and the
ridicule of the profane, the jest of the careless,
and the contempt of the secure, the officious
caution against overmuch righteousness, and the
pretended dread, which false brethren suggest,
of going too far ; all these things prove the ex-
istence still of the same spirit which once un-
sheathed the sword, and kindled persecution's
flame. The readiness with which the world
indulge a rumor to the prejudice of a follower
of Christ, the uncharitableness with which they
malign his motives, and misconstrue all his acts,
the exultation with which they circulate the
tidings of the fall of one, who once was thought
to run well; — do not these things exist; and,
existing, do they not prove, that the world still
hateth those that follow Christ, even as it hated
Him ? Consider well, poor fellow-sinners, in
whose hearts this enmity exists, what it is ye do.
Those, towards whom those feelings are indulged,
are grieved by them more for your sakes than
their own, for they have Christ's joy fulfilled

* Isa. xliii. 2.

T 2

Ir-

276

CHRIST S PEOPLE

in themselves, even in the midst of trials such
as these ; but they remember this solemn assur-
ance, " He that desjDiseth you, despiseth me :
and he that despiseth me, despiseth Him tliat
sent me."* Remember, then, that enmity
against the followers of Jesus is enmity against
Christ; and where is your Christianity, what
is your religion, what your hope of heaven,
while ye are at enmity with Chrisi ''

II. That we may observe better whether this
enmity still exists, let us consider whether
the causes of it still exist ; and examine, secondly,
tlie grounds which our Savior announces for His
anticipating this hatred in the case of His im-
mediate followers. " I have given them Thy
word," He saith ; "and the world hath hated
them, because they are not of the world, even as
I am not of the world."

One cause, then, of the world's hatred is that
for which the Lord Jesus, when on earth, poured
out the overflowings of a grateful heart: "I
thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
because Thou hast hid these things from the
wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto
babes."t And does not this cause still exist ? Is
it not still true, that '* not many wise men after
the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble,
* Luke X. 16. f Matt. xi. 25.

NOT OF THE WORLD.

277

are called ; but God hath chosen the foolish
things of the world to confound the wise,"* and
the Lord Jesus hath made discoveries of His word
to tlie young, the simple, the comparatively-
ignorant, such as the world by all its wisdom
cannot even comprehend? Is it not this that
excites the hatred of the world, that some simple
creature, unable to compete either in talent or in
acquirements with the worldly-wise, can yet give
" a reason of the hope that is in him,"t and tind
a richness, a beauty, a sufficiency in the word of
God, which they, with all their criticism and all
their wisdom, cannot discover ? Is it not this
that excites the hatred of the world, that some
poor disciple, " poor in this world, but rich in
faith and an heir of the kingdom, ":j: despises the
allurements by which they are attracted, and by
his conduct stamps their pursuit of honor, of
pleasures, or of wealth, as the ambition of fools?
Bent upon the pursuit of their own ways, and
skilful in "calling evil good, and good evil," the
worldly cannot but dislike those to whom a so
much " more excellent way" has been discovered,
and condemn them as enthusiasts, or ridicule
them as foolish, to whom Jesus has given His
word, and thus imparted what is " dearer to them

* I Cor. i. 20, i>7.

+ I Pet. iii. 15.

r11

X .laincs ii. 5.

. ii

278

CHRIST 8 PEOPLE

than gold, yea, than much fine gold, sweeter also
than honey and the honey-comb."*

Another reason for the world's hatred of those
that were the immediate disdples of Christ was,
that they were not of the world, even as Christ
himself was not of the world. Yes, He repeats,
" they are not of the world, even as I am not of
the world." While in the world, they were not
of it. Their spirit, their temper, their pursuits,
their affections, their hopes, their prospects, all
were different from those of the world. And as,
in the case of the Lord Jesus Himself, it was not
so much the disappointment of their hopes of a
temporal prince, and their contempt for the cir-
cumstances of poverty in which He appeared,
which excited the rage of the Pharisees and Sad-
ducees against Him, as it was the condemnation
of their worldliness, their licentiousness, their
self-righteousness, which the holiness of His
conduct and the purity of His life and the spi-
rituality of His religion passed upon them : so,
in the case of the apostles, the lowliness of their
origin, and their poverty, and their ignorance,
would have been amply compensated by the
miraculous powers of utterance and of action
they were privileged to exert, were it not that
their holiness of heart and life gave no quarter

* Ps. xix. 10.

NOT OF THE WORLD.

279

to the pride, and pomp, and prejudices, and evil
propensities, of those who could not but recog-
nise their power. And does not this cause for
the world's hatred, — the holiness and purity of
life and separation from the world, of those that
follow Christ, still exist ? Confessed it must be,
alas ! that it does not exist to the same extent as
the profession of true religion does, and that
owing to the number of those who avow them-
selves believers, and yet love the world, the line
of distinction between believers and the world is
not so well defined as once it was ; yet, in all true
Christians, this separation from the world and
holiness of life and conformity to Christ are
still found, and the same cause exists for the
hatred of the world. By the spirituality of the
true Christian's walk and his watchfulness over
the inward motions of sin, the Pharisee of the
present day, whose self-righteous trust is in his
morality and his religious observances, is con-
demned of formalism, of self-sufficiency, of pride,
and of the other evils of a mere outside religion,
and hates him whose holy walk is such a continual
reproof. By the simplicity and sincerity of the
true Christian's daily conduct, and his reference to
eternity in all he does, the Sadducee of the
present day, who, though he does not deny the
resurrection and the judgment to come, lives as
if they were but dreams, is condemned of his

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280

CHRIST S PEOPLE

worldliness, his carelessness, liis sin, and ill
disguises, by the sneer of his contempt or the
laugh of affected mirth, the hatred which rankles
in his heart against him wiio has wisely chosen
eternity rather than time, and walks in the en-
joyment of communion with God and the peace-
ful prospect of an inheritance that fadeth not
away. The world will give any other reason,
and gladly seize any other pretext for their
hatred, than the holiness of believers' lives ,
they will affect to suspect them of hypocrisy, or
to condemn them, not for their religion, but for
its extravagance, or to be horrified by their un-
charitable condemnation of all who think or act
differently from themselves ; b o their real dis-
like is of that " holiness, without which none can
see the Lord,"* of that strait and narrow way
in which they see that Christians are walking,
and which alone, they are told, leadeth to eter-
nal life.t

III. But, in proceeding to our third consi-
deration, we would ask, Does the Lord Jesus,
foreseeing the enmity of the world against His
followers, pray that they may be taken out of
the world ; does He, by His prayer for His disci-
ples, lead them to suppose it to be their duty to
remove from all intercourse with the world, and
to separate themselves from all the duties and the
* Hfb. xii. 14. I >ratt. \ii. 11.

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NOT OF THE WOULD.

281

cares of life ? "I pray not," He saith, "that
Thou shouldst take tiiem out of the world, but
that Thou sliouldst keep them from the evil." As
He gives them no promise of exemption from the
trials and troubles of life, so neither does He
pray for them, that they should be kept from
such intercourse with it, as should try their
spirits, and prove their love for their Master, and
work in them patience, and conformity to Christ,
but from all such worldly pursuits and practices,
as manifest the evil spirit of neglect of God, dis-
regard of eternity, and tlie mere indulgence of
selfishness, sensuality, or pride.

The prayer, then, of tlie Lord Jesus in behalf
of His disciples may teach believers in Him of
every age two lessons ; that it is not their duty,
because they are followers of Christ, and so have
renounced the world for His sake, to give up their
worldly calling, and to abandon the duties of
life; and, secondly, that it is their duty, while in
the world, to be not of the world, but to manifest,
in all their intercourse with the world, whose they
are and whom they serve, what their true treasure
is, and where their heart is. So far from the
following of Christ being inconsistent with the
duties of life, its beauty is seen in the influ-
ence which it sheds over every duty in which the
Christian is engaged. The real follower of Jesus
will be the best parent, the tenderest consort, the

)

282

CHRIST S PEOPLE

, I

V ,f

most dutiful and affectionate child ; he will be
the most upright merchant, the most faithful ad-
vocate, the most dil'gent physician, the best dis-
ciplined soldier, the most trusty servant ; yea,
as has been truly remarked, the real Christian, if
he be but a shoeblack, will aim at being the best
in the parish. True Christianity is no refuge for
sloth, no cover for dishonesty, no shelter for un-
faithfulness, no pretext for disobedience, no screen
for pride, but, on the contrary, makes the very
trials, and temptations, and troubles, to which the
Christian's life in the world is exposed, occasions
for manifesting the new principles of a converted
heart, for showing the value of a firm trust in an
all-sufficient Savior, and for proving that strength,
which " is made perfect in the weakness "* of the
believer. The Christian's life, so far from being
exempted from the trials which other men have,
is peculiarly surrounded with them ; His master
does not even pray that He may be exempted
from them, but that in the midst of them he may
be preserved from evil, kept from falling, and
strengthened to walk in holiness and peace.
While in the world, then, the Christian is not of
the world; and, while engaged in such inter-
course with it as the Lord appoints for the trial
of his soul, he will, if consistent, be separated
from all that is essentially of the world— worldly

* 2 Cor. xii. 9.

NOT OF THE WORLD.

283

in principle, or in practice, worldly as to the
manner of its pursuit, or the mode of its enjoy-
ment. What part, then, will the true Christian
bear in the selfish pursuit of gain, what part in
the indulgence of a vain ambition, what part in
the sensualities of worldly festivity, what part in
the abominations of worldly pleasure ? These
are no parts of his necessary intercourse with the
world, these are no trials of the Lord's appoint-
ment, these are no temptations in which iie can
expect the sustaining presence of the Lord ; but
they are snares of Satan's fabrication to beguile
unwary souls, devices to which the world keeps
its votaries enslaved in the persuasion of their
innocence, and by which it entraps them to their
ruin. It is the part of pure and undefiled religion
to keep Christians unspotted by these defilements of
the world :* and the prayer of Jesus for His
people is, that they may be preserved from the
evils of its selfishness, its sensuality, its vanity,
its ambition, and its pride.

Ye see then, dear Christian brethren, — ye see
your calling. Ye are called of the Lord to such
a consistent and holy walk, such a separation
from the world, such a following of Christ, as is
likely to provoke the enmity of the world. Ye
are called to " follow peace with all men,"t yea,
" as much as lieth in you, to live peaceably with
* James i. 27. f Hob. xii. 14.

284

CIlIllST S J'KOlMJi

all men;"* but ye are led to expect, that the
more holy and consistent your walk, the greater
will be the hatred with which the world will re-
gard you. Yea, the Lord Jesus assured His dis-
ciples, that this very hatred and persecution of
the world should " turn unto them for a testi-
mony")" of tlieir faitlifulness to His service, and
conformity to His image. Have ye any such
testimony to your faithfulness to the Lord ? Or
may it not rather be feared, that, with too many
who ' call themselves Christians,' the world sees no
reason to be displeased, as it discerns in their
lukewarm, and com})romising, and inconsistent
conduct, a proof, that, whatever may be tlieir pro-
fession, their hearts are still in the world. Dear
friends, if I address any such, as, while they pro-
fess to be Christians, yet live according to the
principles, or join in the convivialities of the
world, O ! continue not to expose the profession of
religion to rebuke : but if ye will not follow the
Lord truly, renounce the profession of His name.
Range yourselves on the side of the master ye
prefer, and whom in reality ye serve ; ye are
neither benefiting religion, nor doing your own
souls any service, by such insincere professions ;
! then, "choose this day whom ye will serve,"
and avow at once your real master.

But, dear brethren, whosoever of you really love
* Rom. xii. 18, f Luke xxi. 13.

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NOT OF Tin: WOllLU.

285

tl I c Lord Judge ye whetlier tluit love should not i)ro-
duce in you a more decided separation from every
thing that partakes of the evil spirit of tiuit world
which crucified your Lord. Can it be said of you
that ye are not of the world, even as Christ was
not of the world ; that ye resemble IJim in your se-
paration from the vanities, your aversion to the
principles, your hatred of the sins, of the world ?
Are ye distinct, as He was, in all your conduct and
your conversation, from the ways of the " world
that lieth in wickedness ?"* I urge you not, dear
brethren, to court the hatred of the world ; there
will be no need of that, if ye walk as Christ
walked ; but ! for His sake, for your so il's
sake, for the church's sake, for the world's sake,
.aim at a consistent, a self-denying, anrJ a holy
walk. Ye may then be more exposed to
tribulation ; but it will be tribulation in whicii
ye will have the Lord's presence to support you,
and in which His peace shall sustain you, His joy
be fulfilled in your souls.

I have urged Christians to consistency of con-
duct for the world's sake ; for, indeed, poor fel-
low.sinners, who are yet of the world, it adds
much to the difficulty of reaching your hearts,
when you can point to professors and spy, If
these are true Christians, we do not see but
we may be as safe as they. But, dear friends,

• 1 John V. 19.

i.:

is .;

I <■

286 Christ's PEorLE not of the world.

aim not at justifying yourselves by a com-
parison with any frail fellow-sinner, whatever hi i
profession ; but compare yourselves with the re-
quirements of the word of God. Have ye ever
been born again ? Do ye give any evidence of
being new creatures ? Are ye living for time or
for eternity ? Are ye living by faith upon Christ,
feeding upon Him, and growing like Him?
Have ye ever known yourselves to be guilty, and
polluted, and hell-deserving creatures, and as
such fled for refuge to the cross of Christ, and, by
the influence of the Holy Spirit, been turned from
the love of sin to the love of holiness, " from the
power of Satan unto God ?»* O ! judge yo-^r-
selves, dear friends, by such tests; and "deceive
not yourselves, for God is not mocked ; whatso-
ever a man soweth, that shall he also reap ;" if ye
sow to the world or the flesh, ye must unfailingly
reap corruption ; but if ye sow to the Spirit, then,
and then only, shall ye reap life everlasting.f

* Acts xxvi. 18.

f Gal. vi. 7, 8.

'287

SERMON XVI.

THE WORD OF GOD THE MEANS OF SANCTI-

FICATION.

St. John xvii. 17.

Sanctify them through Thy truth : Thy word is

truth.

In a previous part of His petitions in behalf of
His chosen disciples, whom He was now about to
leave amid the troubles, the prejudices, and the
hatred of a sinful world, the Lord Jesus had ex-
pressed in general terms His committal of them
to the keeping of His Holy Father, and His de-
sire for them that they might be preserved amid
the evils to which they were exposed. As He
proceeded, however, in the outpouring of His re-
quests in their behalf, He referred more particularly
to the dangers to which He knew they were ob-

■4 '■'.

I
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, 1 I.:

111

ii'

^♦w«

III

H .

288

THE WORD OF GOD

i' 1

il t

noxious, and offers up a special supplication wiMi
reference to each of their perils.

While He thus affords us a delightful evidence
of the minute interest He takes in the welfare of
His followers, what an example does He also
give us of the manner in which His disciples are
encouraged to bring to Him all their requests in
behalf of themselves or those dear to them ! It is
no presumption in tliem to express, with submis-
sion to the will of God, every desire which they
have with regard to the spiritual and eternal wel-
fare of those whom they love in the flesh or in
the Spirit, even though they are fully assured that
" their heavenly Father knoweth what things
tiiey have need of before they ask Him."* On
the contrary, the example of the Lord Jesus him-
self teaches them, not only to express their ge-
neral sense of the difficulties and trials to which
they are exposed, but also to set before the Lord
every particular peril which they feel or fear, and
to entreat His special guardianship and interpo-
sition on their behalf.

Amono- the evils which the Lord Jesus feared
with regard to His disciples, we have seen that a
prominent one was their exposure to the hatred
and opposition of an ungodly world. He saw,
that, in their attempts to proclaim Him as the
Savior of the world, they would encounter oppo-

* Matt. vi. 8.

THE WEANS OF SANCTIFICATION.

289

sition, arouse prejudices, provoke persecution, and
be exposed to imprisonment and to deatli for
His name's sake. And we have heard His pe-
titions in their belialf with reference to this peril,
have listened to His statement of the reasons why
the enmity of the world would be so excited against
them, and have heard His entreaties for them, not
that they should be taken out of the world, not
that they should be exempted from its troubles,
and delivered from its hatred, but that they
should be preserved amidst them all, and kept in
safety in the midst of all the dangers, to which, so
long as they were in the world, they should be
exposed.

The experience which the Savior had also had
of the evils of His disciples' own hearts, of the
pride, the doubtings, the mutual jealousies, the
prevarications, which had been manifested among
them, caused Him also to know, that, great as
were their perils from without, their dangers from
within were of an imminent nature. These
form the subject, then, of a further petition in
their behalf ; and, comprising all that was neces-
sary with regard to their spiritual state in one
most significant and comprehensive word, He
prays that the Father would "sanctify them
through His truth," that, through His holy word,
which is the revelation of His truth to man, He
would lead them on in a course of progressive

■ u

290

THE WORD OF GOD

holiness, giving them daily victories over their sin-
ful natures, and advancing them in their spiritual
growth, till they should attain " the full measure
cf the stature of the fulness of Christ Jesus."*

Before proceeding to the consideration of this
petition, as it is contained in the text, I would
remark, that our Lord's petitions thus expressed
for His followers point out two objects to be
attained in the stay of His disciples in this scene
of trial. It is the gracious will of the Lord to
make use of the humble instrumentality of
"earthen vessels" in bearing witness to His
Name among all people. Every believer is, as
it were, " a city set upon an hill,"t and thus
cannot but bear a testimony to die world. The
Lord desires that his testimony should be such,
that " they, seeing his good works, may glorify
his Father which is in heaven.":}: To every one,
on whom the Lord has bestowed grace to receive
Christ Jesus, He has, as it were, committed a
portion of His own honor, to be watched, and
guarded, and magnified, and has given him a
charo-e, whatever his station in Hfe may be, to
bear witness, in the midst of a sinful world, to
the loving-kindness, the faithfulness, and truth
of his heavenly Master, and to the prcciousness
of those things " which the Lord hath prepared

* Eph. iv. 13.

f Matt. V. 14.

t Ibid. IG.

THE MEANS OF SANCTIFICATION.

291

for them that love Him."* What believer in
Jesus, then, can be weaiy of glorifying his Master
npon earth, though it may be in a most painful
way of suffering and trial, that he may be called
upon to magnify His Name ?

Believers in Jesus, then, though they are, so
soon as they believe, justified from all their
offences, and so in a saved state, yet are kept
in a state of trial, tliat the Lord may make use
of them in leading others to salvation, and so
in furthering His own kingdom and increasing
His own glory. But the Lord's gracious design
with regard to them is, further, that their own
souls may be purified, and improved, and made
fit for His kingdom. For though, immediately
on their becoming believers, or ratht> in order
to their becoming believers, they are presented
by the Lord with that precious gift of faith,
which, through the operation of the Holy Spirit,
is a sanctifying as well as a justifying principle,
and so a sinner, who, like the thief upon the
cross, turns his dying eye with faith to Jesus,
has a principle of sanctification within him,
which only needs opportunity to bring forth
fruits of holiness and meetness for the Lord's
kingdom ; yet, in the general way, it is evidently
the Lord's gracious purpose, that the faith of the
heart should be manifested in the life, and that

* I (.'or. ii. 9.

V 2

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292

THE WORD OF GOD

U \

the justified soul should be brought through a
process of sanctification, and, through " growing
in grace and in the knowlege of our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ,"* should increase in holiness,
and fitness to dwell with Jesus where He is.
What believer in Jesus, then, shall ever be able
to say that this object has been attained, until
the Lord himself so decides? What humble
follower of Christ shall ever deem, that any
process of trial or of suffering, through which
the Lord sees fit to bring him in order to his
being sanctified, is more than is necessary to
" purge away his dross and take away all his
tin,"t to cleanse him from his corruptions, and to
make him holy ?

Surely a remembrance that it is the gracious
purpose of the Lord, in all His dispensations
with the believer, to give him an occasion of
bearing witness for the Lord before the world,
and. to promote his own edification and iiuliness,
should reconcile him lo all that the Lord appoints
for him. It should lead him to see a " needs
be " in everything that the Lord sends him, and
cause him to rejoice even in tribulation, as
working patience, experience, and hope in his
own soul, and as giving otliers occasion to glory
in his belialf on account of the use which the
Lord makes of him for their instruction.

* 2 Peter iii. 18, • f Isa. i. 25.

THE MEANS OF SANCTIFICATION.

293

It is the petition of the Lord Jesus liimself in
behalf of His disciples, — a petition, which, while
standing as Intercessor at the right hand of God,
He still presents unceasingly for them that
believe in Him, — that they may be sanctified
through the truth. Thiee considerations are
suggested by this petition ; first, upon the nature
of sanctification, secondly, upon the author of
sanctification, and thirdly, upon the means of
sanctification ; and may the Lord God the Holy
Spirit pour out His gracious influences upon
your hearts, that each one of you may be " sanc-
tified wholly, and that your whole bodies, and
souls, and spirits, may be preserved blameless
unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."*

I. In considering then, first, the nature of
sanctification, we may remark, that two things are
evidently necessary for a fallen and guilty sinner,
such as every child of Adam is without exception,
in order to his being qualified to stand in the pre-
sence of the pure and holy God, and to Hve witli
Him for ever. It is necessary, first of all, that
his guilt should be removed, that the curse due
to his iniquity should be taken off him, that the
sentence of condemnation which had proceeded
against him should be in some way annulled.
This has been done, in behalf of all tiiat believe,
* 1 Thcss. V. 23.

I ■— ■ ■WW" ■^■" m tv

I ^\ [

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I !

294

THE WOllD OF GOU

by the Lord Jesus, who himself bare their curse,
and suffered their sentence for tliem. But this
is not all. It is not enough that they should
be suffered to escape condemnation ; for if they
remained guilty and corrupt still, though they
might escape punishment, they could not enjoy
any happiness in heaven. A corrupt and im-
pure and unholy sinner, if, on being delivered
from condemnation, he could be admitted into
heaven, would find the presence of the infinitely
Holy God an irksomeness, a burden. It is
necessary for him, then, not only to be acquitted
from guilt, but to be made obedient and holy,
or else his admission to a place of infinite holiness
and purity would be the sorest punishment that
could be inflicted upon him. It is needful, there-
fore, not only on account of the glory of God,
but also for the happiness of any sinful creature
that should be admitted to the presence of God,
that the creature should be made holy as well
as be acquitted from his guilt ; that ho should
be made obedient to the will of God, so as to
take dehght in doing what He desires, and to
find pleasure in mortifying his own sinful pro-
pensities, in crucifying his polluted self, and in
livino- to the dorv of God. In order to this,
there must be a change, not only in his condition
as an accursed creature, but also in his nature
as a corrupt and sinful one. He must not only

THE MEANS OF SANCTIFICATION.

'295

be delivered from the curse of his transgressions,
but be freed also from the power, and dominion,
and love of sin, and be taught to love holiness,
and be restored in scmfi measure to that image
of God in which the new-born man first came
forth from his Creator's hands. The commence-
ment of this change is in Scripture designated
as his death unto sin, and his new birth unto
righteousness ; a new birth which is represented
to us by the ordinance of baptism, but which
surely nothing but wilful blindness to facts of
every day's experience can lead any one to
suppose to be necessarilt/ connected with baptism.
This new birth unto righteousness, which may
be termed also his conversion, is the commence-
ment of a complete change from his natural love
of sin, of the world, of the flesh, to the love of
holiness, and the love of God. The progress of
that change in his daily mortification of himself,
the crucifixion of his flesh and its affections and
desires, the increasing hatred of every evil thing,
and in the love of the Lord's word, the conformity
to His holy will, the obedience to His command-
ments, is his sanctification.

Sanctification, then, is a gradually progressive
work. Commencing at the time, when, througii
the Lord's grace, the sinner is awakened to
know and feel his guiltiness, and to fly for re-
fuge to the Lord Jesus, and to believe in

. Iv

296

IIIE WORD OF OOl)

ii'

( i

Him unto justification of life, it proceeds in
him from day to day, as each day he is led to
see more and more of the evil of sin, to hate
and abhor himself more and more on account
of his guilt, to fight manfully against liis cor-
ruptions, and to gain daily some victory over
tlie deceits of his heart, the lusts of his flesh,
the pollutions of his imagination, the perversions
of his will. It is not a work, remember, by
which any sini;er can recommend himself to
Cod, for it is not commenced until the sinner is
through faith in Jesus accepted in the beloved.
But it is a work proceeding from day to day in
the soul of him that has come by faith to Christ,
and been " saved from wrath through Him."*
It is proceeding at the time that the believer
sees in himself nothing but what is loathsome,
abominable, vile ; for it is a part of this very
work to sliow him the utt^.r hatefulness of ini-
quity, and to cause him to " loathe himself for
all his abominations."t Its progress is seen in
his not merely lamenting the evils which he
thus perceives in himself, but also in his main-
taining unceasing conflict with them, and daily
striving in the strength of the Lord to overcome
them. Its fruit is seen in the meekness and
humility of his outward deportment and his
inward spirit, in his patience under the pressure

* R

om. V

Ezek. xxKvi. SI.

t I

Tin; MEANS OF SANCTIFICATION,

2!)7

of the Lord's hand, and under the evils which
the world may lieap upon him, in his love of
God and of His Son Christ Jesus, and in his
ardent love for his fellow-creatures, especially
such a love as longs for their salvation. And
its consummation will be seen in that day, and
not before that day, " when this corruptible body
shall have put on incorruption,"* and the soul, in
its re-union with it, shall have, as a companion,
a body '* made like to Christ's glorious body,
according to the working whereby He is able to
subdue all things to Himself."t

, I

n. But is this work of sanctification the fruit
of man's own efforts ? Is it the result of a con-
test of his own strength against the evils which
are in his nature?—'* Can the Ethiopian change
his skin and the leopard his spots ? Then might
they also do good that are accustomed to do
evil."+ No ! We shall perceive, secondly, that
the only author of the sanctification of the soul
is the Lord God. " Who can bring a clean
thing out of an unclean ? Not one."§ As surely
as the waters are bitter which proceed from a
bitter fountain, so surely must everything which
proceeds from the impure source of man's pol-
luted heart partake of its unrleanness and pol-

* 1 Cor. XV. r)4. t Pliil. iii, 20.

1 ,Jcr. xiii. 2;. § Job xiv. 4.

11^

.^ii

298

THE WORD 01 GOD

liitioii. What efforts, then, made by a sinner's
own sinful heart can tend to his purification or
sanctification ? Surely none.

But the Lord, knowing the corruption and
depravity of man, has taken the matter into His
own hands. Having graciously formed purposes
of love towards those sinners whom He proposed
to bring in Christ to glory, He " works in them
to will and to do of His good pleasure,"* and,
having given them through Jesus the remission
of their sins. He covenants to give them also,
through Christ, a new heart and a right spirit,
and to make them conformable to the holy
image of Jesus-t From Him alone all holy de-
sires, all good counsels, and all just works pro-
ceed. It is His will that believers in Jesus should
be sanctified, j: and it is His work to " make them
meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the
saints inlight."§ If man could, at any stage of
his progress, contribute any portion towards his
own salvation, then his salvation would, to such
an extent, be not a matter of grace but of debt ;
he would, at least, be partaker with the Lord in
the work of his salvation, and would conse-
quently be entitled to be a sharer also in the
glory. But will God suffer this? Will He en-
dure any competition with Him in the honor

* Phil. ii. 13. t Ezek. xxxvi. 25—28.

t I Thess. iv. 3. § Col. i. 12.

TFIE MEANS 01' SANCTIFICATION.

29i)

due to His Name in bringing His cliildren to
glory ?* Away, the tliought ! Blessed be His
Name that such is not His plan. Let poor sin-
ners, who know not themselves, talk about man's
contributing his portion towards his own salva-
tion : to those that truly know their own state as
sinners, the demand of anything from them would
be only a reason for despair. Blessed be God !
He has provided, in His Son Christ Jesus, a holi-
ness as well as justification for the sinner, which
it is His own gracious operation, through the
Spirit, to work in the sinner's soul ; and it is He,
who, having produced the first desire of holiness,
brings that desire to good effect, nor ceases His
gracious operations till He has brought the soul
in safety to His heavenly kindom.f

HI. Yet, though the work of the sanctification
of the believer is, from first to last, all of tlie
Lord, He has graciously condescended to appoint
certain means for carrying it into effect. Though,
as " the wind bloweth where it listeth, and we
hear the sound thereof, but cannot tell whence
it Cometh nor whither it goeth, so also the
Holy Spirit,":|: which Person of the blessed
Trinity is the great Agent in sanctification,
*' quickeneth"§ whom He will, working upon

* Isa. Ix. 21 ; Ixi. 3.
I John iii. 8.

t Phil. i. G.
§ John vi. G3.

ii'ia'TTgw

300

THE WORD OF GOD

1*1

them at what time and by what means He pleases;
yet we shall generally find, as we proposed, thirdly,
to consider, that the great means of sanctifica-
tion is the word of the truth of God. " Sanctify
tliem," prayb the Lord Jesus for His disciples,
" sanctify them througli Tliy truth ; Thy word is
truth." Whatever the means may be which the
Lord makes use of for awakening the sinner from
his fiital slumber, and arousing him to a sense of
the value of his soul and the preciousness of the
Savior, the effect, which the successful applica-
tion of those means lias, we may say universall}^
u})on the awakened sinner, is to bring him to the
word of God. Has he been previously an ut-
terly careless, and worldly, and profane person ?
he is at such a time aroused to feel how criminal
his neglect of the word of God has been, and,
knowing that it is the message of God to His
fallen creatures, he earnestly seeks to derive from
it that instruction in which the children of
any Sabbath-school surpass him. Or if, until
the time of his awakening, he has been in the
habit, for duty or for form's sake, of reading a
certain portion of the word each day, he is at
such a time convinced of the unprofitableness of
his past perusal of it, and led to a diligent, an
earnest, an almost incessant reading of the word
of God, that lie may find something on which
his soul may rest, something on which he may

I. i

THE MEANS OV SANCTIFICATION.

301

build a hope of acceptance witli the Lord against
whom lie had offended. And although in this,
as in every other case, the mere perusal of the
words of God's Holy Book has no quickening
power, yet, when the Lord the Sanctifier applies
it, how searching, how convincing, how hum-
bling, how sanctifying doth it become? The
spiritual application of the commandments con-
tained in the word brings home to the soul a
deeper and deeper sense of its own guilt and
corruption, and causes it more and more to hate
sin, and to loathe its sinful self, and to " crucify
the flesh with its affections and lusts.'** And
the "exceeding great and precious promises,"
which the Lord hath given, that " by them be-
lievers may become partakers of the Divine na-
ture, escaping the corruption wliich is in the
world through lust ;"t these promises, when
brought home by the Spirit,— what a quickening,
comforting, strengtliening, animating, reviving
influence they have ! By the precept and the
promise, applied by the Spirit, the soul is
humbled at the view of its own utter deficiencies,
and its entire alienation from the measure of its
duty ; and is, also, comforted by the view of a
Savior who is "all in all," and stirred up so
to " take hold of His strength as to walk in
peace'^ with God, in consistency, in sanctifica-
* Gal. V. 24. f 2 Pet. i. 4. :j: Isa. xxvii. 5.

302

THE WORD OF (iOD

tion. The word of the truth of God proposes to
the believer a rule of renewed life ; it suggests
to him motives, and promises him strength, to
walk according to that rule ; and it holds out to
him such sure and certain hopes of an inherit-
ance above, as quicken and cheer him on his way,
and sustain him in his conflict with the world
and the flesh and the devil, and enable him to
count all the trials of his pilgrimage light indeed,
when " compared with tlie glory that is to be re-
vealed."*

Dear friends and brethren, it is that much-neg-
lected book, the Bible, of which such precious
things are spoken ; which is that word of truth
that the Savior speaks of as the great means of
sanctification to His people, and which has been
to the Lord's people of every age so great a minis-
ter of comfort, of encouragement, of peace, of
strength, so great a treasury of consolation, sanc-
tification, and enjoyment. Are ye among those
who neglect it entirely ; or those, who, making-
it a Sunday book, read then, for form's sake, an
occasional chapter in it ; or those, who, as a thing
of duty, read through a certain portion every day,
but without light and without enjoyment ; or
those wlio " delight in the law of God after the
inward man,"| and " search the Scriptures, be-

M 9.

f ft'

* lloin. viii. 18.

f Ibid. vii. 22.

( i

THE MEANS OF SANCTIFICATION.

303

cause they testify of Jesus?"* Under one
or other of the former of these classes, may it
not be feared, dear friends, that too many of you
must be ranged ? But, dearly beloved, if the
word of God be neglected by you, or if its perusal
be merely a thing of custom and of form, or of
burdensome service, what evidence have ye of
being sanctified, and so of being made meet, or
of being in progress of meetness, for heaven ? It
is a part of the character of those, whom the
Lord honors, but the world reproaches, with the
title of " saints,^^ to love the word of God, to
make it their rule of life, to seek from it con-
tinually their instruction, their consolation, and
their strength. And if ye love not the Lord's word,
ho vv can ye pretend to think ye love tlie Lord ;
and if ye love not the Lord, what must be the
present condition, what the future prospects, of
your souls ? O ! " seek ye out, then, the book
of the Lord, and read;"t and pray the Lord to
enlighten you with the knowlege of its mysteries,
that ye may find it " profitable for doctrine, for
reproof, for correction, for instruction in righte-
ousness." :j:

And, dear brethren in the Lord Jesus, to whom
the word of the Lord is a precious treasure, O !
cherish it more and more dearly as one of the

♦ John V. 39. -j- Isa. xxxiv. IG.

t 2 Tim. iii, IG.

2 ' '

-:vfST^

tJ5S?*ICiBMMI

304

THE WORD OF GOD.

Lord's appointed means of sanctifying your souls.
While ye give the word of the Lord its due
place, as only a means of grace, yet O ! remember
what an important means it is ; and, seeking con-
tinuall}'^ the light and blessing of the Spirit,
ponder deeply upon its precious truths. Aim at
having, not its letter only, but its spirit engraven
upon your hearts, that, becoming more and more
acquainted with Jesus now, as He is revealed in
His word, ye may be the better able to prize the
hoped-for time, when ye shall no more see
" through a glass darkly," but " face to face,"
when ye hall no more ** know in part," but
" shall know Jesus even as ye are known."*

* 1 Cor. xiii. 12.

fJ|

f' n

305

SERMON XVII.

CHRIST SENDING HIS DISCIPLES.

St. John xvii. 18.

As Thou hast sent me into the world, even so have
I also sent them into the world.

In every aspect in which we contemplate the bless-
ed Lord Jesus, we behold the great " mystery of
godliness" set forth, God manifest in the flesh.*
The combination, in the same wondrous person,
of the deepest humiliation of which this fallen
nature is susceptible, with the most glorious at-
tributes which mark the nature and character of
the eternal Jehovah, while it is beyond our com-
prehension, and entirely without the range of the
most exalted faculties to explain, is yet made so
clear to a simple faitli, that the very fool as re-
* 1 Tim.iii. 16. .

i I

ri? Tr

306

CHRIST SRVDTNO HIS DISCIPLES.

''I

i a

gards the wisdom of tlic world licsitatcs not to
perceive and acknowlegc it.

The attitude, in which our Savior is presented
to us in the chapter of the text, as a lowly sup-
pliant before the Almighty Father's throne, ex-
hibits to us, in the most engaging light that we
can possibly behold, the humiliation which for
sinners' sakes the Lord Jesus assumed. And, at
the same time, the language which He uses, in
the expression of His requests to the Father, be-
tokens so thorough a sense of His equality of
right with the Father, and such a consciousness
of His own inherent glory, then veiled, indeed,
in the lowly garb of poor humanity, that we can-
not but perceive, that, if this lowly man now
bending before the throne of grace be not really
and truly God, He must be the most arrogant
petitioner that ever bent the knee of seeming-
adoration before the Most High God. Yes, of all
the difficulties which surround the confessedly
mysterious doctrine of the incarnation of the
eternal God, the greatest bears no proportion to
the difficultyin which thei/ave shut up, who, deny-
ing the full divinity of Christ, have to account
for the assertions of His equality with the Father,
and the glorious displays of inherent Omnipo-
tence, which mark His conduct, and character-
ise His language throughout His ministry on
earth. If He were not really and truly God, as

■omi.wi u.Lj I

■ 111 mnm » '»-».

CHRIST SENDING HIS DISCIPLES. 307

well as lowly man, the jealousy of the eternal
Jehovah, who will not give His glory to another,*
and His concern for the honor of His name, were
interested in blasting His pretensions to the pos-
session of eternal divinity ; whereas, on the con-
trary, we find, that every testimony which the
Father could give to the glory of the Son, and
every means by whiclx He could show His desire
that " all men should honor the Son, even as
they honor the Father,"! were abundantly vouch-
safed. O! then, be it ours, dear brethren,
while we rejoice in the humiliation of Jesus, for
the sake of the glorious things it hath effected for
us, and because of the assurance we so have that
He knoweth how to sympathise with and to
succor all our weaknesses and wants ; be it ours
to acknowlege, and to glorify, and to rejoice in,
and to serve Him, as " over all, God blessed for
ever!":j:

We may perceive this combination of the lowli-
ness of the man with the consciousness of the power
and authority of God, in the declaration which,
in continuation of His supplications to His Father,
the Lord Jesus makes in the verse of the text. " As
Thou hast sent me into the world," He saith, in
the acknowlegement of His assumed inferiority
to the Father, when He took upon Him the

* Jsa. xlii.8. t John V. 23.

t Rom. ix. 5,

X 2

: ''■!

'^^

308

CIIIUST SENDING HIS DISCIPLES.

office of Redeemer and Mediator for man ;
" even so," continues He, " have I," with the
same authority, and with the same design in
view, "sent them into the worhl." He liad
spoken of the treatment which they should meet
with at the hands of an ungodly world, and had
prayed His Holy Father to preserve them amid
the many evils vv'hich should come about them
while in the discharge of their duty as messengers
from Him. He had declared, too, that the great
reason of the world's enmity against them would
be their resemblance to Him ; and that tlie very
reasons, which made Him an object for the
world's hatred, persecution, and scorn, would
bring down upon them also the same outpourings
of contempt, and opposition, and rage, and cru-
elty, which were vented upon Him ' Yet,' con-
tinues He, ' as my mission has been undertaken
in fulfilment of the most gracious purposes of
divine love towards guilty man, and the rage ex-
cited against me has been aroused by the meek
and lowly submission of my will to the Father's,
and my declaration of His will to save sinners
through me ; even so, the rage, with which a sin-
ful world will track the steps of these my followers,
will be excited, not by any wanton provoca-
tion on their part, but by their walking in my
steps, and carrying out, in the same spirit, the
same design which brought me down from hea-

CHRIST SENDING HIS DISCIPLES.

309

veil. For " as Thou, Father, liast sent me into
the world, even so have I sent them into the
world." They go not on a self-authorised cru-
sade against the prejudices, the follies, the ini-
quities of a lost world ; but they go because I
have sent them, and for the same end, not to
condemn the world, but to lead them to salva-
tion.'

In considering, then, with a view to our pre-
sent edification, the words of our Lord Jesus In
the text, let us, dear brethren and friends, con-
template briefly, in the first place, the nature, ob-
ject, and fulfilment of the blessed Savior's own
mission, and then trace the resemblance between
Him and those whom He sends as His ambas-
sadors to a lost world. And let us entreat the
presence and blessing of that Holy Spirit, which
dwelt without measure in the Son of God, and
hath been freely promised to all that ask it in
His name, that through His teaching we may be
enabled to comprehend and profit by the truths
our Lord declares.

L In contemplating, then, the nature of the
Savior's own mission, we perceive God the Father
exercising an authority over the Son, to which
He voluntarily submitted Himself in love for the
souls of dying sinners. We find God the Son,
though " from all eternity in the form of God,

310

CHRIST SENDING HIS DISCIPLES.

and thinking it no robbery to be equal with God,
yet humbling Himself,"* placing Himself as an
inferior before the Father, receiving from Him a
commission to go on tlie errand of His love to a
perishing world, and yielding Himself to a full
and implicit compliance with the will of the
Father in everything which He should demand.
In the fulness of time, we find this plan, which
had been conceived and determined before the
foundation of the world, carried into effect ; and
are called upon to believe and " testify, that the
Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the
world."t Independently, then, of His own in-
herent divinity, we perceive the Lord Jesus coming
upon a mission of love on the authority and by
the command of God the Father, bearing His
message to lost sinners, and from Him inviting
them to come to the way of reconciliation and
peace which He hath provided. He comes not
as God, but as the representative of God, and the
Mediator between God and man ; and whosoever
honoreth Him, honoreth the Father, and whoso-
ever despiseth and rejecteth Him, despiseth the
Father that sent Him..j: The object of His mis-
sion is, not to execute the Father's wrath ajrainst
transgressors, but to communicate to them the
provision of a gracious way by which His anger

» riiil. ii. 6, 8. t 1 John iv. 14.

X John V. 23 ; XV. 23.

CHRIST SENDING HIS DISCIPLES.

311

is turned away, and His hand is stretched out to
leceivc and welcome all tiiat are but willing- to
cast their ini(|uitics away, and come and be re-
conciled to Him. In the accomplishment of His
mission He places Himself in the gap between
God and the souls of si.mers ; He interposes His
own head between the wrath of (iod and the
transgressors that deserved that wrath, so that its
full fury fell upon Him ; and He points those,
who ask how it is that a willingness to be recon-
ciled is all that is necessary on the part of those
who have been so guilty, so rebellious, so un-
grateful, to the view of His own obedience unto
death, as having taken away all the impediments
in the path of sinners, and opened to them a free
way of access even to the Father's throne.

n. On the authority, then, and by the com-
mand of God the Father, had the Lord Jesus been
sent into the world. His message had He an-
nounced, His will had He proclaimed to sinners,
and in compliance with His good pleasure had
He opened a way of reconciliation for lost rebels
and transgressors, and invited them to come with
boldness, and find peace with Him. Our present
attention is called merely to the view of Christ as
the Mediator between God and man, the gieat
Apostle from God to sinners; and not to the con-
templation of that woi'k, by wiiich the justice of

•T12 cmilST SENDING HIS DISCIPLES.

God was satisfied, by wliicli sin was expiated, and
reconciilntion for iniquity ettectcd. It is only
when we view Him as the messenger of His own
salvation, and as tlie representative and ambassa-
dor of God in proclaiming His will to man, that
a resemblance is to be traced between Him and
those whom He hath sent to bear His message to
a dying world. Let us proceed to the contempla-
tion of this resemblance, and consider in what
respects it is true, that as the Father liath sent
the Son, so hath He also sent His servants and
disciples into the world.

1. Consider, then, dear brethren, in the first
place, the authority on which the ministers of the
Lord are sent to their fellow-sinners. For in
this respect has our Savior himself traced the re-
semblance between His mission and theirs, in
stating as distinctly as He had with reference to
Himself, that whosoever despiseth them dcspiseth
Him, even as whosoever despiseth Him despiseth
Him that sent Him. Great and wonderful as is
the grace of the Lord Jesus in entrusting such a
"treasure to earthen vessels,"* and in giving
such a commission to poor sinners to bear to their
fellow-sinners the message of salvation through
the blood and righteousness of Christ, yet this
the word of God makes plain, that those who
are sent according to the will of God upon the

* 2 Cor. iv. 7.

CHRIST SENDING HIS DISCIPLES.

313

ministry of reconciliation, go into the world on
the same warrant and authority as He had, to set
forth the will, of the Lord to their perishing fel-
low-creatures. As the Lord Jesus came on the
authority of God, as His representative and am-
bassador to a lost world, so hath tiie Lord Jesus
sent His disciples as His representatives and am-
bassadors. He had commanded them to speak in
His name, and with His authority to declare to
men their lost and perishing condition, the
enmity that is between them and God, and the
irreconcilable hatred of the Lord against un-
godliness, and worldliness, and sin ; and from
Him to point them to the sacrifice that has been
made for their expiation, and the way that has
been opened for their pardon, their peace, their
sanctification, their admission to the presence of
God in heaven. Such was the authority with
which the immediate disciples of the Lord Jesus
were sent into the world. They were sent by the
Lord himself, who, exercising now His own inhe-
rent power and authority, chose from among
those whom the Father had given Him persons
whom He through His grace would qualify, and
by His warrant authorise, to go into the world,
and speak to sinners in His name. And such is
the authority, on which those whom the Lord
calls from among the sinners of the world, and
to whom He commits the ministry of reconcilia-

:n4

(^IimST SMNDINC. IMS niSl'U'LKS,

«i<'n, aiv i^till s,>ni to ,„vi,oh fo i|„>ir IMIow-sin-
lUM's 'MosusCMirisI and »,„n cnicirnMl/" \\ I,,!,,
riion, dear iVi.Mids iuid hn-tlnvn, thos,<, to whom
thoinossnotM.rtl.r Lord is (M.trustod, l.av.> cans,,
to limuhio thonisclvos in tlnMr sonsr ,>!' d,v|) im-
wortl.inoss of such om.t y;vncv, tl.oy a.v (xxnul
also to inngnity llu'ir oHin., uc.t iiidir,! by ,-Iaiin.
in.ii- lor it anytldnn- of this \unUs houori hut hy
proflainiino- to tlioir roUow-siinuMs tho sin anil
(lanovr (h(>y aiv in. if th(«y n.'ohrt, prncrt, or
dospiso the nicssauv whii'lj thoy hiin.;-. For now,
brt'fhriMi, " wo ar(> ambassadors lor Christ."*
WV como 10 you in Mis uamo, ujumi Ilisautho-
rity, with His mt>ssa_ov ; wo spt«ak to yon notour
own words, but tlio word of tho Lord ; ;i, tho
word whioh wo s|)oak unto you is not ours, but
His that sont us. Wliih!, thou, tho rosponsibility
is an awful one whioh lios u|)()u us, botii from
our vows to tho Lord, and our obligations to our
Churoh. to tloolaro to you nolhino- as of noo(>ssitv
to salvation but what is ooutaiiuul in tho Holy
Soripturo,| think yo. doar brothrou and follow-
sinniMs. that no oblipition rosts ui)on you to hoar
our words without oavil and without |)roiiidioo.
and at loast to " soaroh tho Soripturos daily and
tliliuoutly, vvhotluM- tlu>so thiuos aro si) .'"{ j-\,r
C) ! if tho nu\ssano which wt< dirhiro unto you bo

♦ '.H\)r. V. '.'(). ^ Aiticlo vi.

i Ai-is wii. II.

riimST SKNDINii Ills DISCMM.KS. :i\ri

Inic, wliiil must l)(> f,li(. staU; of mniiy of tlio souls
who li.«ar iu«> ? Tluit, nu>ssag-,« wo (lochiiv uiit(»
.yo.i ill tli(> uauu> ofM,,. L„n| .- ^yliat will luromo
ol'youjfyo «lo not al li>asf, oxaiiiiu,., not I,y y(,„|.
own reason, and your „wn r.-c'Iiuns, |,„t i,y the
wonlofCJod, wlu-tlu'iMve havo His authority so
to s|)»'ak to you or not (

'2. Ivt m consider, seeondly, in order to aid
yon in this examination, what tlu^ ,>/,J,rf, is of the
mission oFthe Lord's amhassadors to their fellow-
sinners. "As th(. l-ather hath .ent ine," saith
tile J-ord .lesus to His diseijdes, "even so send i
you."* As the Lord .lesus was s(>nt to proidaini
to man the will of the Lord, that wliosoev(«r, seein-
tli(! Son, believ»"d on Him, should not perisli^
but hav(> everlastinn- hfo, | so it is the ohjcxit of
their mission, whom th(> Lord .lesus sends'as His
iinibassadors, to proelaim to men their lost and
ruined state, and to "pray them in Christ's stead
to be reeoneiled (o (lod.",]. A twofold object,
tlH'n, is had in view in the miitistry of {.'race
which is committeil to the Lord's ambassadors.
Jt is their duty to show man what ho is, ami to
show him, also, what (>hrist is.

How, then, is the object of their mission to be
gained by their showiuo- to lost men what f/m/
arc ? 'J1ie messaov which is entrusted to them is

* .''>l">xx. -Jl. ., II,. vi. ;{H, .1(1.

I -' Cor. V. 20.

316

CHRIST SENDING HIS DISCIPLES.

a message addressed fo sinners : and their great
object, that of pointing ont a way of salvation,
can iiave little success, until those whom they
address are convinced that they are in suclia lost
state as to need salvation, and their proclamation
of pardon and remission of sins can gai„ but few
cars, except among those who are convinced that
tliey are sinners. How, then, I repeat, can the
object of their mission be effected, but by setting
before men, in every light in which tlieir atten-
tion may be caught, the exceeding sinfulness of
sin, and the fearful degree to which every sinner,
yet unregen(U'ate, is stained and polluted by the
sins of his natuiv and his practice. For this pur-
pose there is put into the hands of the ambassa-
dors of Christ tlie fearful message of the law;
and, in imitation of their Lord himself, are they
bound to set before their fellow-sinners the
si)iritual nature of the law's demands, the cer-
tainty that every child of Adam has, in thought
at least, if not in word and action, broken at Itnist
one, if not all, of the commamlments, and the
solemn denunciation of (Jod's curse against
eveiy one, who, tiiough he should have kept the
whole law besides, should yet olibid in any one
point.*

There are some, indeed, who speak of preach-
ing Mich as this, as if it were of (piite a difierent

* JiHwca ii. JO.

cinusT si:ni>ino mis disciplks.

317

spirit from that in wliicli the Savior of the world
llinisolf was sent. I^lu^y look upon tli(> Lord
Josus as He is j)ourin<>- oil aiitl wino into souw.
wounded spirit, as llo is raisinn; (Voni the ground
some fallen sinner, as He is indulging- in swcset
communion with Mis faithful f(;w ; and speak as
if they tliouglit a denuneiation of the evil of sin
was never uttered hy Him, as if a woe against
transgression never passed His lips. How
sweet would it he to the soids of the Lord's
niinisters, if they were only eaHed upon to admi-
nister to trouhled spirits, to hind up the hroken-
Ijearted, to eomfort the feehh-nn'mhMl, and to
lend a helping hand to those that are cast down !
Yet while tlu; large i)ortion of those whom tiiey
address consists of the worldly, the careless, the
self-righteous, the formal, of those who hav(; no-
tiiing of Christianity hut the profession, nothing
of rciligion hut the name, im'ngled with those who
trust to themselves that they are rigiiteous, with
those who ar(^ grounding their hoi)es of acce[jtance
upon their own imperfect servicers, and those, who,
I>rofessing to trust in Christ alone, are mingling
up their own poor endeavours among the grounds
of their consolation ; while such form the large
proportion of those to whom in nominally Chris-
tJan lands the messengers of the Lord are sent,
surely they go in the same sinrit in which He went,

318

CHRIST SENDINfi IlIS DISCIPLES.

when tliey declare the impossibility of such per-
sons entering tlie kingdom of God, except they
be converted and become new creatures in Christ
Jesus, and proclaim the irreconcilable hatred with
which the Lord looketh upon sin, and the solemn
curse which He has denounced against transgres-
sion. Such is the deceitful and self-trusting
nature of the human heart, that it will still strive
to shelter itself within its " refuges of lies," until
convinced, by the application of the word of God,
that it is sinful, polluted, vile, accursed. By
every means, then, which the word of God sup-
plies them, are the Lord's messengers bound to
aim at convincing those, who are yet sitting in
darkness and the shadow of death, of the danger
in which they lie, their exposure to the curse of
God, their hopelessness of any remedy through
tlieir own endeavours, and their need of flying to
that refuge from the wrath to come, which is
provided them of the Lord.

Until there has been some measure of success in
showing fallen men what they are in the sight of
God, there can be but little hope of showing them
the sufficiency of Christ. They might perhaps
admire a glowing picture of the riches that are
in Him, might weep in sympathy at the contem-
plation of His woes, or join in execration of their
fiendish rage who nailed Him to the tree : but
they could not welcome Him to their hearts, nor

1 1

CHRIST SENDING HIS DISCIPLES. 319

rleem that a light burden and an easy yoke,*
which He invites them to take up. But when,
through any means tlie Lord has pleased to bless,'
the souls of sinners have been awakened to a
sense of sin, and their spirits broken by the
thought of their iniquities, then is it the precious
office, the delightful duty, of those whom the
Lord hath sent, to bind up those broken hearts,
and to speak to them of peace through the aton-
ing blood and righteousness of Christ. In the
pursuit of this object of their mission, they are
bound to tell convinced sinners of the sacrifice
that has been offered in their stead, and to invite
them simply to believe that their iniquities have
been laid upon Christ, whom, as He knew no sin,
the Lord "hath made to be sin for them, that they
may be made the righteousness of God in Him."t
In the spirit of Him that sent them, they are
bound to bid all such as are athirst to come and
drink,:|: and to set before them the preciousness
of that stream, of which " whosoever drinketh
shall never thirst, but shall have in him a well
of water springing up and flowing on to ever-
lasting lifc."§ They are bound to invite " all
that are weary and heavy laden" to come to the
Lord Jesus, that they may have rest,|| and to speak

* Matt. xi. 29, 30.
+ Jolm vii. 37.

Matt. xi. 28.

t 2 Cor. V. 21.
§ John iv. 14.

'1 fl

320

CHRIST SENDING HIS DISCIPLES.

to them of that rest from anxious fears of con-
demnation, that rest from the disquiets of a
vanity-stricken world, that rest from tlie terrors of
conscience, that rest in the cahn contemplation
of an approaching eternity, which are treasured
up in Jesus, and in Him alone, for all that live by
faith upon Him.

Thus, then, as the Lord Jesus was sent of the
Father, did He send His Apostles, and still sends
His ambassadors, to testify to sinners of their
lost and ruined state, their desperate condition by
nature and by practice, and to point out to them
the way of reconciliation and of peace with God.
With His authority they go, and after His exam-
ple are they bound, as they go, to address their
fellow-sinners as in a lost and perishing condition,
and to entreat and plead with them to come
through Him and be reconciled i.nto God.
Again, then, dear friends and brethren, would I
entreat you to consider, and to examine by the
word of God, the charges which are made by the
Lord's ministers upon the guilty and accursed
nature of every unregenerate child of Adam. And
if that word itself assures you in what a stat*^ ot
enmity against God the carnal or unconverted
mind is living,* and how incompatible the friend-
ship of the world is with the love of God,t con-
sider also the solemn duty of those who " watch

* Koin. viii. 7.

1 James iv. 4.

"~^

.J]

CHRIST SENJING HIS DISCIPLES.

321

for your souls," to lay before you the awful dangers
of your condition, and to set in order before your
view the many features by which the aspect of the
world and the existence of the carnal mind are
recognised in all of you wlio do not believe.
What pleasure, tliink ye, can it give the ministers
of God to speak to you of your state of sin and
danger, save that afforded by the hope of so
convincing you of sin as to lead your self-despair-
ing souls to Him, who died to save you from
sin ? Yet, whether ye will hear or whether ye
will forbear, it will, we trust, be our steady pur-
pose, as it is clearly the design of the Lord in
sending us, to aim at bringing home to you a
sense of the sinfulness and fully of a worldly life,
of the guilt and danger of a course of sin, and of
the awful woes denounced against a state of mere
formalism and self-righteousness, in the hope of
leading you to Him, " who came into the world
to save sinners,"* and " to redeem them from all
iniquity, and to purify to Himself a peculiar peo-
ple, zealous of good works."!

Be ye also prevailed upon, dear friends and
brethren, wlio are convinced of your state as sin-
ners, to consider well the nature of that message
which we bear to you concerning Christ crucified,
and to welcome to your hearts so simple yet so
abundant a way of peace. What message is so
* 1 Tim. i. 15. | Titus ii. 14.

■ M

I '

i i- U t

322

Ef Tf» *' ■ : I

CIIUrST SENDING HIS DISCIPLES.

calculated to bind up a heart that is bruised by a
sense of sin, as the announcement of a Substitute,
v/ho has borne the punishment of sin, and freely
imputes His righteousness to all wlio believe ?
What message so adapted to calm the troubles of
a tossed spirit, as the ])roclamation of a Savior, who
" liatli borne the griefs and carried tiie sorrows"*
of His people, and who opens to the view a haven
of eternal rest, where no trouble enters, and no
sorrow comes, to cheer the heart amid its woes,
which are all administered by a Father's hand,
and by Him caused " to work together for the
good of those that love Him."t O ! open, then,
the door of your hearts to Him who standeth
there and knocks. Live daily, live hourly by faith
in Him, who was sent of the Father, and now
sends us, to tell you, that " this is the will of
God, that whosoever seeth the Son and believeth
on Him, shall have everlasting life, and be raised
up at the last day.":j:

* Isa. liii. 4,

t Kom. viii. 28.

t John vi. 40.

323

SERMON XVIII.

THE SAVIOR SANCTIFYING HIMSELF.

St. John xvii. 19.

And for their sakes I sanctify myself that they
also might be sanctified through the truth.

How wonderful appears to us the consideration
of the privileged condition to which believers
in Christ Jesus are admitted, and of the impor-
tant reference to their well-being and honor
and eternal glorification, which is kept in view
in all the dealings of the Lord with this lower
world. While, indeed, the great purpose of the
Lord God Almighty in the creation and con-
tinuance of this universe is manifestly to glorify
His Son Jesus Christ, and to give all honor to
Him in heaven above, and in the earth beneath,
and in things that are under the earth ; yet s

Y 2

324 THK SAVIOR sanctifyin(; himself.

intimately is tlie honor of the Lord Jesus con-
nected with the honor that is given to the mem-
hers of His hody, His true church and peoph^
that the Holy Ghost declares to helievers in
Jesus, hy the mouth of an apostle, that " all
things are for their saJtes, that the abundant
grace might, through the thanksgiving of many,
redound to the glory of God."* While they',
like their divine Master and Head, are despised
and rejected of men, and by the world little
accounted of, yet is it for their sakes that the
Lord so patiently endures, and bears so long
with the ungodliness and provocations of a wicked
world. He forbids the angels, the ministers
of His wrath, from plucking up the tares out of
His field, lest they should pluck up the wheat
also with them; lest, in executing vengeance
against the ungodly, tbey should destroy also
some of those, who, though known by the Lord
as His own, are not yet so grown into the like-
ness of Jesus as to be distinguished by any eye
but His. For tlieir sakes, then, are the thunders
of the Lord withheld, and for their sakes, too,
are His mercies manifested, and the wonders of
His grace displayed. It is in doing good to
them, and in causing all things to work toge-
ther for their good, that the Lord " maketh His
sun to rise upon the evil and the good, and

* 2 Cor. iv. 15.

.' M

THE SAVIOR SANCTll'YlNG HIMSELF. 325

sends His rain upon the just and on the unjust."
Thus they are " the salt of tlie earth :"* tlie season-
ing, which, as it were, enables the Lord to endure
upon His taste that world, which would be other-
wise so entirely loathsome and abominable, that
He could not but cast it with abhorrence out of
His mouth.

How much do believers in Christ Jesus lose,
because, through dread of the world's scoffs and
their great enemy's charges of presumption, they
fear to dwell upon the great and wondroiis privi-
leges with which, as brethren and sisters of
Christ Jesus, members of His body, joint heirs
with Him of glory, they are invested ! Dear
brethren, it is not humility that is shown by this
fear, so much as it is shame and unbelief. If,
in dwelling upon these privileges of the Chris-
tian, believers were claiming anything for them-
selves, as a mark of their own virtue, or a recom-
pense of their goodness, it would be indeed the
part of Christian humility to disclaim every such
})retension, even with abhorrence ; but when it
is all of grace, the purchase of Jesu's blood, the
promise of God through Him and for His sake
to all that believe in Him, then surely is it the
duty of believers to magnify that grace, and to
glorify their Master by dwelling upon all that
He has done and suffered for them, and claiming,

* Matt. V. VS.

326

THE SAVIOR SANCTIFYINO IIIMSriLF.

as the fruits of His doings, and the purchase of
His work, all the privileges and honors and
blessings which belong to them in Ilim. This
sense of their privileges in Christ is quite con-
sistent, and, indeed, can only be safely enjoyed
in company with the deepest, and lowliest", and
most abhorrent view of their own vileness and
corruption and unworthiness ; but mingled with
this self-abasing view, and connected with the
completest loathing of themselves as vile, polluted
sinners, 01 what joy and peace and thanksgiving
and praise become those, who in Christ Jesus are
children of God, Iieirs of His glory, inheritors of a
kmgdom that cannot be moved ! Let the world,
then, rejoice in their honors, their pleasures'
their privileges : but let Christians rejoice in
their Lord, and delight in dwelling upon the
many precious earnests and pledges which they
have of that inheritance which is reserved in
heaven for them.

Can Christians withhold their pity for the
world, in seeing them go on in mad devotion
to the passing enjoyments of the present scene,
without having God in all their thoughts, and
can they help rejoicing in the precious things
which belong to them as believers in Christ,
when, having just heard the Savior say, "I pray
i^ot for the world," they hear Him, turning to
those whom the FatJier luid given Him and who

THE SAVIOR SANCTIFYING HIMSELF. 327

believctl on His Name, announce that " for their
sakes He sanctified Himself, that they also might
be sanctified through the truth"? While the state
of the world is pitiable indeed, a thing to weep
over and lament, as our Lord wept over Jeru-
salem, because they know not the things that
belong to their peace, nor attend to the day of
their visitation :* how much, on the other hand,
is the privileged condition of those, whom the
Father hath, according to the good pleasure
of His will, chosen in Christ to be conformed
to His image and to be made partakers of His
glory, a thing to wonder at and admire, and for
which to ascribe all " praise tj the glory of His
grace, wherein He hath made them accepted in
the beloved."! " For their sakes," saith the
Lord Jesus, in continuation of that att'ecting
prayer which He was pouring out of a full heart,
when about to be separated, as to the flesh, from
His disciples ; " for their sakes I sanctify my-
self, that they also may be sanctified through
the truth." He had prayed for their sanctifica-
tion, that they, having been given to Him by
the Father, might be made meet to enjoy His
company and to delight in His presence for
evermore, which could only be through their
being made holy ; and now He declares, that it
is for this purpose, in order to effect this gracious
* Luke xix. 41—44. f Eph. i. 6.

328

THE SAVIOIl SANCTIFYING HIMSELF.

design in their behalf, even '« that they might
be sanctified through the truth," that He was
HOW sanctifying Himself as their great High
Priest, their Mediator, tlie propitiation for their
sins.

The considerations involved in this declaration
of our Lord Jesus appear to be of the deepest
possible importance, and to have a most exten-
sive bearing upon the great work of the sanc-
tification of the believer in Christ Jesus, and of
his preparation for the enjoyment of that glory
that is to be revealed. May the Lord Jesus be
present with us by His Hoiy Spirit, enlightening,
guidiiig, teaching, sanctifying us; may He by
His Spiiit reveal to us the deep things that are
contained in the words of the text for our use,
and build us up in taith and the love of Him,'
to His glory and our good for ever.

Tlie text suggests to us the consideration of
the three following topics : first. What is meant
by our Lord's sanctifying Himself: secondly,
for whoso sakes He doth so sanctify Himself,'
and, thirdly, the gracious purpose that is thus to
be effected in them. May our meditations upon
them be profitable to our souls.

L Let us first consider our Lord's meaning,
wlien He says .that for His people's sake He'
sanctifictii Himself.

THE SAVIOR SANCTIFYING HIMSELF. 329

This term cannot, evidently, be applied to
the Lord Jesus in the same sense in which it
is used with regard to all those that believe in
Him. Tiie sanctification of the believer is tiie
making holy of that which was before unclean,
unholy, vile ; for such is the natural condition
of all those, who, in the Lo:- "s good time, are
brought out of their state of s ^-Idliness and sin,
and justified, and sanctified, and glorified. But
among tliose that were of old called to be the
Lord's servants, and justified, and sanctified as
His people, through faith in Him, there were
some who were in a peculiar manner consecrated,
and set apart, and sanctified for ministering in
the Lord's sanctuary. It appears to be this
sanctification to the priestly oflftce that the Lord
Jesus has in view on the present occasion. No
need had He indeed of that sanctification, which,
as a change from sin to holiness, is so necessary
for His people : but He had need of that con-
secration to the priestly oflSce, wliich He had
Himself prescribed as necessary in the case of
those, who, as figures of that which was to come,
executed the office of High Priest in that taber-
nacle made with hands, which was the figure
of the true tabernacle, " whither the forerunner
is now for us entered, even Jesus, made an
High Priest for ever after the order of Melchi-

330

THE SAVIOR SANCTIFYING HIMSELF.

sedec."* Having- superseded tlio order of Aaron
by His own coming to be that High Priest wliom
Aaron typified, He yet condescended, in fulfilling
all righteousness, to submit to the same proces^
of sanctification to His office, as had been ap-
pointed in Aaron's case. Of His vast superi-
ority in many respects to Aaron, and of His equal
suitableness in tiiose particulars, in which His
divine nature might appear to disqualify Him,
we have a beautiful account indeed given us
by the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews.
It might seem as if His being- the eternal God
Nvould be against His being able to sym])athise
with the weak, and to " have compassion on
the ignorant, and them that are out of the way ;"
but by His dwelling in the flesh, and the ex-
perience which He then had of weaknesses,
temptations, and wants. He hath learnt indeed
how to sympathise with, and how '♦ to succour
them that are tempted."t I" this respect He
was fully equal to the most tried and tempted
man, that could have been ai)i)ointed to the
priestly office ; and, in every other respect, how
vastly, how infinitely superior !

In the sanctification, however, or consecra-
tion of the high priest to his holy office,
three things appear to have been particularly re'
quisite. He was to be sanctified by the washing
* ^^^I'- vi. -'i*. t iieb. ii. 18; V. :>.

THE SAVIOR SANCTIFYING HIMSELF. 331

of water, by tlie anointing of oil, and by being
sprinkled witli tbe blood of tlie sacrifice.* Two
of tliese processes of sanctification the Lord Jesus
had already passed through ; and lie was now
patiently awaiting tlie time, when, tlie last being
completed, He should go into the Holy jilace not
made with hands, " there to a])pear in the pre-
sence of God for His peopIe."'|- He had been
sanctified by the washing of water, when, before
entering upon His ministry. He had gone down
to Jordan where John was baptizing, [; and in ful-
filling all righteousness had desired him to pour
ujion His head that limpid stream, which could
not indeed wash away, or represent the washing
away, of any sin from Him, " in whom was no
sin,"§ but which was the first put of His conse-
cration to that jiriestly ofiice on which He was
about to enter. We may observe in passing,
how different was the baptism which the Lord
Jesus received at the hands of John, from that
which He himself instituted for His disci])les, and
may infer that no more weight can be attached to
the agt! at whicli Jesus was baptized, and the
mode of His baptism, as an exainj)le for His fol-
lowers now, than should be given to the circum-
stances attending Aaron's washing, when first ho
was set apart to minister in the Jewish j)riest-

* Exod. xxix. 1—21. I IKI). ix. L>4.

t Matt, iii, Ui. ^ i .j„|,„ jii. 5.

Hllilliiil

332

THE SAVIOR SANCTIFYING HIMSELF.

hood. Our Lord ]iad been sanctified by the
anointing with oil, or, ratlier, with that wliich the
oil represented, when, as He came up from the
water of baptism, « the heavens were opened,
and the Spirit of God descended in bodily shape,'
like a dove, and lighted upon Him."* And He
was now waiting for the remaining process of
His sanctification. His being sprinkled with the
blood of the sacrifice, until the time when He
should himself be offered up, as the one great
sacrifice for sins; after which, sprinkled with His
own blood, He should enter upon His great
priestly work of sanctifying His people, as they
draw near with their ofierings to the mercv-seat
of God. t

Such, dear friends and brethren, appears to be
our Savior's meaning in saying that He sanctified
Himself for His people. He had in view the
priestly office, which He should sustain in be-
half of His discij)les so long as one remained to
be purified and sanctified, and until, having com-
pleted the sanctification of those whom He had
bought with His blood, and gathered them all
into His kingdom, " He should present them to
Himself a glorious church, not having spot, or
wrinkle, or any such thing. ":j:

* Matt. iii. Hi. f llcb. ix. IJ, 12.

I Epli. y. 27.

THE SAVIOR SANCTIFYING HIMSELF.

333

II. We are thus led, secondly, to consider, for
ivhosesakes the Lord Jesus thus sanctified Himself
to perform, in the high and holy place above,
the great office of High Priest. In the verse of
our text, He saith that it is for the sake of His
disciples. His faithful followers, who had been
given to Him by the Father, and had believed in
His name. They then composed His church
upon earth, and may be considered as standing
in the same relationship to Him as His church
should occii})y till the end of time. It is, then,
for the sake of His church, as distinguished from
the world, for the sake of believers in Him, as
distinguished from those that know Him not nor
obey His gospel, that the Lord Jesus sanctified
Himself, and now exercises the priestly office.

Without referring particularly to the sovereign
exercise of electing love, whereby sinners are
given to Christ and made believers in Him, this
is surely evident in the word of God, that the
Lord Jesus appears at the right hand of God, as
the surety, the representative, the forerunner, —
not of those, who, through their sins and unbelief,
shall never enter the Lord's kingdom, but— of
those, and of those onl}^, who either are, or shall
be, believers in Him, and so the children of God.
The Scriptures make it plain that Christ Jesus
"died for all."* They make it equally plain

* 2 Cor. V. 15 ; 1 Tim. ii. 6.

334

TUV. SAVIOII S.\NrTIFYIV(; MIAISKLF.

tliat all arc not saved; that all "will not conio
to Christ, that tluy may iiavo life."* And, if
iiothino- further were revealed, it would surely
follow necessarily, that the Lord Jesus is now
iinnisterino- at the right hand of God in behalf
of those who do come to llini, and not of those
who do not. Jle surely cannot sprinkle with His
Wood the oHeiings of tliose who bring no oilering
to the Lord. Jle cannot sun-ly ])resent upon the
incense of His intercession the prayers of those
who nud^e no suj)plication to Him. He surely
cannot introduce witli accei)tance at the mercy-
seat of Cod those that will not draw nigh to that
mercy-seat for comnumion with Him who sitteth
above the cherubim. No ! the priesthood, the
advocacy, the intercession of Jesus are exercised
in behalf of those who honor Him as their Priest,
and who have come by faith to that {)recious sacri-
Hce, which He hath offered for the sins of thewliole
world. This, then, is a chief and glorious one,
indeed, among the privileges to which we liave
alluded, as belonging to believers in Christ Jesus.
For their sak's the Lord Jesus sanctifieth Him-
self ; for tfieir so/ws He exerciseth the office of
High Priest; in their behalf He standeth daily
ministering; as their surety He appeareth con-
tinually before God. It was in the view of the
important office which He should sustain for

* John V. 40.

TIIK SAVIOll SANCTlFYfNCi IIIMSILF. 335

them, that the Lord Jesus saiictiluti Ilimsolf.
For them Ho fulfilled all rif>hteoiisness, in goiuj^
down to the waters of baptism to receive that
cereuionial separation to the i)riesthood whieh lie
hath Himself appointed. For their sakes was He
anointed with the fresh oil of the Holy Spirit's
grace, and, as their representative and head, re-
ceived that blessed atlcstation from the Father,
"This is my belov'd Son, in whom I am well
j)leased."* For their sakes, too, was He sprinkled
with the precious blood of His own atoning sacri-
fice, which needeth not, like the sacrifices of bulls
and of goats, to be contiiuially repeated, but
which " by its one offering hath perfected for
ever them that are sanctified."t ^"d, liaving
done so much in their behalf, will He suffer them
now to fall out of His hand ? Nay, " who is he
that condemneth ; when it is Christ that died, or
rather who is risen again, who is ever at the right
hand of God, and who also maketh intercession
for them ?":|:

III. Our thoughts are directed, then, in the
thn-d place, to the consideration of the gracious
purpose the Lord is continually cfiecting, by
the office He sustaineth in behalf of His peo-
ple that believe in Him. " For their sakes He

• Matt. iii. 17.

t Heb. X. 14.

I liom. viii. M.

33G THE SAVIOR SANCTIFYING HIMSELF.

sanctifietli Himself, that they also may be sancti-
fied througli the truth." He sanctified Himself,
then, as the Migh Priest, in order that, through
the word of His truth, they also might be sancti-
fied as His church and people. As by His death
He justified the souls of them that believe in Him,
and reconciled them to the Father, so by His life.
His risen and exalted and glorious life, at the
right hand of God, doth He save and sanctify
them. " For if," as St. Paul saith to the Roman
believers, " if, when we were enemies, we were
reconciled unto God by the death of His Son,
much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved
by His life."* For not only have believers in
Jesus a powerful and prevailing Advocate with
the Father, continually ministering, and pleading
for them at the right hand of God, the same glo-
rious Person has undertaken also to work in them
all things that pertain to life and godliness, and
to make them meet for the inheritance which He
has purchased for them with His blood. The
first act of His High Priesthood, in behalf of His
immediate disciples, was the pouiing out upon
them the promised gift of His eternal Spirit. |
And this He does, and has done, continually,
since that period to the present time, giving to
them that believe in Him the seal of " the Spirit
of promise, as an earnest of the inheritance" re-
* Rom. V. 10. t Acts ii.

THE SAVIOR SANCTIFIKTII IIIMSF.LF. 337

served for them.* And by this precious gift of the
Spirit, bestowed freely upon them tiiat believe by
Him in whom they believe, are tlie souls of tlie
Lord's children quickened, revived, animated,
sanctified. It is by the Spirit they are taught to
pray, and instructed to offer the petitions which
the Lord designs to answer ; for the Spirit, know-
ing the will of God, suggests petitions to believers'
hearts according to His will.f It is by the Spirit
that they are fed upon the word of the Lord, and
taught to apply those great and precious promises
to their souls, by which they " become partakers
of the diviue nature, escaping the corruption that
is iu the world, through lutt.";]: It is by the
Spirit working in them in due season, that there
are communicated to them and wrought in them
those graces of humility, meekness, patience,
gentleness, and Jove, which, as fruits of the Spirit,
mark the character of the true follower of the
Lamb.§ And, amid all their weaknesses and all
their wants, and all their remaining corruptions,
are they, by the Spirit, brought into " fellowship
with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ,"
and kept, according to the measure in which
their faith is exercised, in the enjoyment of com-
munion with them. In the exercise of His priestly
office, the Lord Jesus meets them as they bring
* Eph. i. 13, 14. f Rom. viii. 26, 27.

t 2 Pet. i. 4. § Gal. V. 22, 23.

338

THE SAVrOll SASrcriFIIiTII IIIMSKLF.

their broken heart.. an<l troubled spirits unto Ilim ;
He sprinkles tlicm with ills blood ; He presents
them, acceptable for His sake to tlie Father, He
meets them, as, with groanings over their un-
worthiness, and cries for forgiveness, and supj)li-
cations for more grace, they draw nigh to the
Father; He bears their petitions ui)on the censer
of His own intercession, and makes them accept-
able unto God. He meets them, as they bring
tlie freewill-offerings of their hearts, and lay at
the Lord's feet themselves, their time, their
talents, and their substance ; He takes their of-
ferings, unworthy as they are, and stained with
the corruptions of the sinners that present them,
and, offering them up with the incense of His
own advocacy, He causes them to come up as a
sweet savor before their Lord. He meets them, as,
even in their holiest things and their most spiri-
tual services, they detect corruption ; He watches
them, as they discover and lament their distrac-
tions in prayer, their wanderings in the perusal
of His word, their selfishness and coldness and
remaining worldliness in everything they do;
He bears the iniquity of their holy things,
sprinkles them from the uncleanness of their
solemn services, and, putting over them the robe
of His own rigliteousness, presents them in that
garment with acceptance before God.

In order thus to sanctify them, did the Lord

i 4\

THE SAVIOR SANCTIFIKTH HIMSELF. 339

Jesus sanctify Himself as the High Priest of His
people. And thus is He continually made the
sanctification of His people, as well as their re
ileniption and their riohteousness.*

What lessons of instruction, then, do these con
siderations sui^-j^est ?

Do they not speak to you, dear brethren
and sisters in the Lord Jesus, of the wonderful
grace of Him who is entered as your Forerunner
into the holy place above, and of the great and
gloricus privileges, with which, as believers in
Him, ye are invested ? Do they not propose to
you a cheering view of the sufficiency and suit-
ableness of your Great High Priest, and encou-
rage you to make use of His offices, not alone for
your comfort, but for your progress in holiness ?
Into His hands, as the High Priest, have all
things been committed for you ; all graces that
ye can need are deposited with Him for you,
and out of His fulness are ye invited to come
continually and be supplied. While by His
death ye have been justified from your of-
fences, ye are continually in need of Almighty
strength to save you from your corruptions, to
preserve you amid temptations, to rescue you from
dangers, to raise you from downfalls, and to
give you victory over the world and the flesh.
Such help as this is laid " upon One that is

* 1 Cor.i. 30.

z 2

340 THE SAVIOR SANCTIFIETII HIMSELF.

mighty/' even upon the Almiglity Jesns, tlie
Higl) Priest of His people. O ! live, then, by
faith upon Him, and in Him ye shall find the
help that is just suited to your need.

Do not these considerations address a word of
comfort to those of you, my brethren, who are in
any measure cast down ? Before His sanctifica-
tion to His high office was completed, the Lord
Jesus became acquainted by ex])crience with every
sorrow that can tear the heart, or oppress the
soul of man. In having Him, then, to fly to for
succor and support, "ye have not an High Priest
who cannot be touched with a feeling of your
infirmities, but one who was in all points tempted
like as ye are, yet without sin," and who, " having
Himself suffered being tempted, is able also to
succor them that are tempted." O I " lift up,
then, the hands that hang down, and the feeble
knees ;" let your every sorrow draw you more
closely to Jesus, as a fellow sufferer, and a sym-
pathising friend ; and ye shall find rest and com-
fort for your souls in Him.

And do not these considerations speak a word
to those of you, dear friends, who know not
Jesus, nor are partakers of His grace, with re-
gard to the precious tilings ye lose by not coming
to Him ? Ye cannot, indeed, while ignorant of
Jesus, enter even into the comprehension of all
those things which are treasured up in Jesus for His

THE SAVIOR SANCTIPIE II HIMSELF. 341

saints ; but ye can un' eigtnad tlie value of a sense
of forgiveness, and oi {^fu- , and joy, and free-
dom from the fear of deifli and judgment. Ye
are without these bl- pr.wrs now; ye know that
ye have them not ; but tlie Lord Jesus has them
in store for all that come to Him. He, as
High I'riest, continually ministcreth these very
things, in supplying the need of His people ; will
ye not come to Him, dear brethren, that ye may
have life, and peace, and heaven? Yea, come, before
these things are hid from your eyes ; come, while
yet the Lord rcmaineth in tlie exercise of His
priestly office ; lest, if ye delay. He come as a
Judge, and appoint your portion with the unbe-
lievers in the lake that burneth." " Knowing
these terrors, we persuade you," dear brethren ;
yea, as though standing in Christ's place, " we
beseech you to be reconciled to God :" that so,
" being reconciled, ye may be saved through Hi
life."

.^'wm

''Midi

'M2

SERMON XIX.

CHRIST PRAYETH FOR ALL THAT SFIALL
BELIEVPI

St. John xvii. 20, 21.

Neither pray I for these alone, hut for them also
that shall believe on me thromjh their word:
that they all may be 07ie ; as Thou, Father,
art in me, and I in Thee, that they also may
he one in us ; that the world may believe that
Thou hast sent me.

How vast, how compreliensive, how infinite, was
tlie love of souls wliich wanned the heart of the
Divine Redeemer of mankind ! The same heart,
wliich was alive to all the tenderest sensibilities
of friendship and affection for the few companions
of His tried and persecuted walk on earth, glowed
with a love as ardent, and overflowed with as

CIlIllST PIlAYETIl Foil ALL liELIEVEUS. 343

tender a sympathy, for the remotest descendant of
fallen Adam, that, through the grace of God the
Father, should be drawn to Him. Its infinite
embrace extended far beyond the few favored
ones of one chosen nation, that had as yet been
made the objects of His fond regard, and reach-
ing fiir as the East is from the West, and compre-
hending aj'res in its range, from that creation's
morn " on wliich the morning stars sang to-
gether, and all the sons of God shouted for
joy,"* down to the liour when an archangel's
voice shall issue the announcement that " time
shall be no longer,"! it gathered together in
its fold " a multitude which no man can num-
ber":}: out of every nation under heaven, and
pressed with equal fondness to the Redeemer's
bosom the faithful ones of every generation, that
shall have contributed its portion to the flock of
Christ.

Behold this evidenced at that affecting mo-
ment, when, near the close of His humiliation
upon earth, the Savior poured the voice of sup-
plication for His people into that ear which always
Jieard Him, and was well pleased with His re-
quests. He had no need, at such an hour of in-
tercession, to look back upon the patriarchs and
prophets, the kings and the paupers, that, in gene-

* Job xxxviii. 7.

t Rev. X. 6.

1 Ht'v. vii, 9.

344

CHIUST I'HAVKTH FOR ALL

mrions now goue by, had walked by faith in the
Messiah yet to come. No need had He to pray
for them ; for they, having " confessed that they
were strangers and pilgrims upon earth," had
reached the Iieavenly " city, which hath foun-
dations, whose Builder and Maker is God."*
The " earthly house of their tabernacle being
dissolved," they had entered upon the possession
of "the building of God, the house not made
with hands, eternal in the heavcns."t Neither
sin noi- sorrow could now reach them ; neither
temptation nor trial could now endanger their
peace; no enemy from without, no traitor with-
in, could now assail their union with Christ and
with one another, nor atiect their enjoyment of
that kingdom, in which all is love and light and
praise and blessedness. There was no need,
then, now that they were safely housed in their
eternal home, to pray for their deliverance from
evil, their preservation from the world, their sanc-
tification through the truth, their union with their
Lord, their fellowship with one ' nother in love.
But the Lord's view was onwaiu ; and, glancing
down a long futurity, it marked His own amid
the thousands that should have their being uj)on
the earth on which He at the moment stood, and
passed them in review before His loving and com-
passionate gaze. For them He saw the need of
* Htb. xi. 10. ly. -j- i> Cor. V. I.

THAT SHALL BELIEVE.

345

j)raycr. As clearly as lie could distinguish the
souls of His chosen ones, ere yet they had come
into being upon earth ; as distinctly as He could
have called them all by their names, which were
already written in His book : so clearly did He
see also the dangers that should surround them ;
so distinctly could He trace the trials that should
assail their peace. He saw that the assaults upon
the faith and patience of His followers, and the
dangers, both from within and from without, that
beset their path, would not be, in any peculiar
measure, the portion of the few that had person-
ally attended Him on earth; but that while fallen
human nature should remain the same, so long as
" :he carnal mind should be enmity against God,"*
and '* the friends of the world be the enemies
of God," t so long should the profession of His
name in truth be accompanied with a cross, and
the devoted follower of Jesus be a mark for the
world's contempt and enmity, and an especial
object of the devil's rage. But not more watch-
ful was His eye in discerning the dangers that
threatened them, than was His heart in earnest
in pleading for tl r'r preservation amid the evils
tliat lowered over then i>ath. Knowing th*? pre-
vailing power of His intercession with the Father,
He used it i?ov/ for them. " I pray not," He
saith, " for these alone " that now surround me,
* Kom. viii. 7. f James i v. 4.

346

CIIUIST rUAYETH FOR ALL

and whom I am SGiiding into the midst of an un-
godly world ; but foreseeing tlie same dangers
and the same necessities awaiting all my disci-
ples to the latest time, " I pray for them all that
shall believe on me through the word " which
these mine apostles shall publish concerning
me, " that they all may be one, as Tiiou, Father,
:irt in me, and I in Thee, that they also may be
one in us ; that the world may believe that Thou
hast sent me."

Were it not for tliesc words of our blessed

Lord, w^e might have been left to suppose, that

the earnest intercession, with which He had now

been approaching the throne of His Eternal

Father, was an especial legacy to His own chosen

Apostles, which it were presumption in any after

believers to touch, and nothing less than robbery

to appropriate. But, having these precious

words before them, believers of every age have

their warrant to taste, to feed upon, the sweet and

gracious things, which he that eateth of shall

never hunger, and he that drinketh of shall never

thirst. If there be anything peculiarly enga<>in"'

to the believer's heart, in witnessing the sup-

I)lications of the lo.vly Jesus at the Father's

throne ; anything in a peculiar manner drawing

out the Christian's soul, and leading him to wish

an interest in the Savior's employments at that

solemn hour ; here is his warrant to perceive his

THAT SHALL ULLIEVE

347

wish indulged, and to conclude liiniself present
at that very moment before the Redeemer's view.
And if there be anything in the Savior's requests
at that momentous time, which the tried and
tempted follower of Jesus would desire especially
to have beiitowed on himself; if there were any
petition He then expressed, whose fulfilment the
believer of the present, or of any age, would feel
peculiarly precious to his soul; here is his authority
to believe, that the Savior's prayer was offered up
for him, and that there is no petition contained in
that prayer, in which lie may not claim an in-
terest, of which he may not appropriate the pre-
ciousness to himself.

The important petition, to which, in the con-
sideration of our Savior's last prayer, we have
now come, aad which is contained in the verses of
the text, suggests to us, according to its natural
divisions, the following subjects of consideration:
first, who they are, whom our Lord includes in
His petitions for His Apostles ; secondly, the par-
ticular prayer He otters in their behalf; and,
thirdly, the special aim He has in view in the ex-
pression of this desire for them. May His own
Holy Spirit be poured out upon us all, engaging
your attention to the subject, and blessing His
words, which may be spoken, to the edification,
the establishment, the comfort of believers'
souls.

348

CIIKIST PUAYETH FOR ALL

I. We have, as it were, traced the glance of the
Redeemer's eye, and imagined it fastening its
fond and anxious gaze upon all those whom He
discovered as His own, and recognised as having
their names written in His book, ere yet they had
come upon this scene of tlieir probation, or were
found any where but in the counsels of the Lord.
" Known unto God are all His works from the
beginning of the world ;*" and "in His book
were all His members written, which day by day
were fashioned, when as yet there was none of
them.f But in speaking of these before the
world, He speaks of them by the character by
which they shall be known in the world, as they
come successively upon this passing scene. He
designates them, not by any secret sign by which
they miglit have been known to Him as His own,
but by that active and living principle, which,
being given to them by Him by whom they were
given to Christ, should, by its effect upon their
lives and conversation, make it manifest " whose
they are, and whom they serve." He includes,
then, in His petitions to the Father, not alone
those that surrounded Him as He prayed, but
•' all that should believe in him through their
word." He speaks of believers in Him, as thus
near to His heart, and, in speaking of them,
gives us in a few words the character by which

Acts XV. 18.

t I's. cxxxix. 16.

THAT SHALL BELIEVE.

349

they shall be known as His to the latest time
Is not this character worthy of our attentive ob-
servation, dearly beloved, that we may ascertain
whether we were near the Redeemer's heart as
He spoke in supplication to the Father, whether
we were borne upon His petitions then, whether
our hallelujahs shall swell the chorus of His
praise, " when He shall come to be glorified in
His saints, and admired in all them that be-
lieve ?"* He speaks of His own, as those that
shall believe in Him through His Apostles'
word.

There are some in the nominally Christian
world,— and of that only need we at present
speak, — who have imbibed with their education
certain ideas and notions of religion, but who
have never thought the subject worth so
much pains, as to bring these ideas to the test
of the word of God, and to examine whether
they agree with the Apostles' doctrine, or not.
Surely we must painfully fear, that these are not
believers in Jesus through their word.

There are some, who, though they make the
word of God somewhat more a subject of per-
usal and consideration, yet, instead of comino-
as ignorant creatures to derive all their knowlege
from that word, have rather formed their own
opinion of what is proper or improper to be-
* 2 Thess. i. 10.

350

CHRIST I'nAYETII FOR ALL

lieve, and eitlier pass by, as unimportant, or neg-
lect, as hard to be understood, whatever they can-
not bring into their service to support the notions
they have formed. Surely we must in sadness
question tlieir cliaracter as believers in Jesus.

We find that the Apostles, one and all, de-
liver such a message, and proclaim such a word,
that it may be said of them all, as St. Paul said
of himself and his fellow-workers, " Tliey preacii
Christ crucified ;"* and we have good reason to
conclude that this doctrine of a crucified Christ
is the only one which is "the power of God unto
salvation I" to any soul. What, then, are the
great truths comi)riscd in this proclamation of
Ciirist crucified ? There is, first, the necessity for
His crucifixion ; which is, tlie utter depravity
and total alienation of man from God, which
make him a lost creature, without one shadow of
righteousness, one particle of goodness, one trace
of holiness remaining in him, and which have
called down upon him the just curse of God,
and His awful sentence of everlasting wrath.
There is, secondly, the cjf'ect of His crucifixion ;
which is this, that He, finding men under the
curse of God, and already sentenced to everlast-
ing wrath, came and placed Himself in their
stead, was made a curse for them, endured the
sentence for them, and, by sufltring their pun-

* I Cor. i. 23. f Rom. i. 16.

THAT SHALL DKLIKVE.

351

isliment, blotted out their guilt; so that vvhilo
" he that believcth not is condemned already," *
and under the curse, " he that believeth is justi-
fied!" fiom all his offences, and counted as
righteous, through the imputation to him of the
righteousness of Jesus, as if he had never sinned.
There is, thirdly, the example of His crucifixion :
which is this, that as Jesus was crucified, died,
and was buried, yet, having risen again, now
liveth at the right hand of God, so the believer
in Jesus, through the Spirit's power, dies to the
world, crucifies the flesh, and renounces the
devil, and, being quickened by the power of the
same Spirit, lives, in imitation of Jesus, and by
faith in Him, a new and holy and spiritual life, in
which "old things are passed away, and all
things are become new," and he is manifested to
be " a new creature" in Christ Jesus.j; These,
dearly beloved, are the truths proclaimed by the
Apostle's words ; O ! search the Scriptures, and
see if they arc not; and they that believe this
word are those that give evidence that they be-
long to Christ, are those for whom He prayed.
O! comforting and delightful thought! Every
one, who thus believes, may feel assured that he
was included in the Savior's prayer on this touch-
ing occasion, and is warranted to look with con-

* John iii. 18. f Acts xiii. 39.

X 2 Cor. V. 17.

352

CIiniST PRAYETi; FOR ALL

fidcnce for the answer to His requests at tlic
hands of the Fatlier, who is well pleased with
His beloved Son, and " hath never denied Him
the request of his lips." However poor, however
humble, however unlearned, despised, or forlorn
he may be, every true believer may reflect, that
he was remembered in prayer by Him whom
God always heareth, and borne upon His heart
at the very hour when He was finisiiing that
wondrous work, by which his soul's iniquities
have been atoned.

n. If, however, it be comforting to reflect,
as every believer may, upon his being remem-
bered in prayer upon this occasion by the great
Intercessor, so is it important for him to consider,
as we proposed to do under the second head of
this discourse, the nature of the petitions which
the Lord Jesus then offered in behalf of His
people. ** I pray," He saith, " that they all
may be one ; as Thou, Father, art in me, and
I in Thee, that they also may be one in us."

Great and manifold as were the dangers, by
wliich the Savior of the world saw tiie path of
His disciples to be beset. He feared not that any
or all of them could have the effect of causing
any of His sheep to perish, or plucking out of
His hand any whom the Fatlier had given Him.*
* John X. 28,29.

THAT SHALL BELIEVE.

353

Did lie fear, when He saw Satan dcsirino- to
Iiave Peter, that he iniglit sift him as wheat ;
did He fear that all his malice and his cunning
could succeed in finally destroying that dis-
ciple's soul ? Nay, He bids him strengthen his
lirethren, as soon as he should be converted, or
recovered,* with as much confidence as if He
were addressing him after his recovery, rather
than before his fall. But He perceived the
dreadful, the overwhelming nature of the trial
through which he should be brought, and He
prays that he nuiy be supported under it. So
now, He fears not for the safety of His people ;
but knowing the weakness of their natures, and
the malice, the subtlety, and the strength of
the enemies that shall assail them. His prayers
are directed to their preservation amid the evils
that should beset them, and to their establish-
ment in such conduct as should glorify His
name. As well, then, for the peace of their own
souls, and for their advantage in resisting the
enemies of their salvation, as for the glory of
His own name. He prays for them that they
may be united in Him, and have fellowship with
Him and with the Father, and that they may be
in love one with another.

The unity which He prays for, tlien, in behalf
of all that should believe in Him, is a oneness
* Luke xxii. 3 J, 32.

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CHRIST PllAYETH FOR ALL

with God tlic Fatlier and His Eternal Son,
similar in some respects to that union which
subsists between the Father and the Son. He
declares, indeed, with regard to all that believe
in Him, that " they are members of His body,
of His flesh, and of His bones :"* that they are
indissolubly united to Him in bonds of the
closest, tenderest union. He prays, then, that
they may be kept in the enjoyment of this
union ; that they may have the blessed conscious-
ness that they are of God ; and that they may
know Him, as their sure resort in case of danger,
their sure comfort in time of perplexity or dis-
tress, their unfailing strength in every season
of weakness, of temptation, or of suffering. He
prays for the bestowment upon them of that gift
of the Holy Spirit, which should cherish in their
hearts "the spirit of adoption, crying, Abba,
Father;" which should fill them with the love
of God in Christ His Son ; which should feed
them upon the promises, conform them to the
precepts, animate them vith the hopes, and
support them with the consolations, which abound
in the blessed word. What comfort did the
Lord Jesus find in drawing near to His Father,
at every moment of distress ; what strength did
He receive, by perpetual communication from
Him, for the work which He had undertaken ;

* Eph. V. 30.

TITAT SHALL BELIEVE.

355

what steadiness of purpose and of act did He
manifest in « doing always tiie things that were
pleasing to His Father ;"* and what continual
support did He experience by a reference to His
will in all His sufferings, His perils, and His
pams! Even the same comfort, the same
strength, the same consistency, the same support,
He prays may be richly experienced by all His
followers.

And He prays, also, that they may be united
as brethren one with another. He contemplates
them as members of one family, children of the
same Father, followers of the same Savior, tra-
vellers through the same wilderness, sharers
in the same perils, and trials, and wants, and
heirs of the same home. What sight so painful
even to a worldly eye, as that of children of one
family at variance and enmity ! What con-
templation, then, so distressing to the eye of
Him, who is ' the author of peace and lover of
concord,' as that of His redeemed ones, the cjiil-
dren of His family, pursuing different interests,
and embittering each other's path by miscon-
ceptions, jealousies, and angry recriminations !
Against an issue such as this, how fervently did
the Redeemer pray ! O ! who can think he had
an interest in that prayer, and yet indulge such
feelings as these towards any fellow pilgrims

* Jolm viii. '29.

A 2

■

356

CHRIST PRAYETH FOR ALL

towards the same home ? With what an intevisity
of love did God the Father regard His well-
beloved Son ! With what exquisite delight does
He rejoice in Him, and in everything that glo-
rifies Him ! Even thus does the Lord Jesus
pray that His disciples may love and delight in
one another, seeking, not their own, but one
another's wealth, and " by love serving one
another."*

HI. Were believers thus united to God and
to one another in Him, what a phalanx of defence
would they form against the assaults of the great
enemy of their souls ! But, in praying for such
union among them, the Lord Jesus appears to
have had a special reference to the effect to be
produced upon the world ; proposing as His
aim, in this petition for them, — which we pro-
posed, thirdly, to consider, — " that the world
might believe that God the Father had sent
Him." Of the immediate followers of Jesus,
and of those that believed on Him through their
word, it is early recorded, that " the whole mul-
titude of them that believed were of one heart
and of one soul :" and the effect of this their
unity was such, that, while " they had favour
with all the common people,"! even their ene-
mies among the great " took knowlege of them
* Gal. V. 13. t Acts ii. 42—47 ; iv. 32.

THAT SHALL BELIEVE.

357

that tliey had been with Jesus,"* and tremblingly
wondered " whereunto this thing might grow."t
And such was the observation excited in the
world by the 'larmony and affection in which
the early Christians lived, that a heathen, igno-
rant of their bond of union, and deeming their
principles foolishness, could not but exclaim,
when witnessing the practical effect upon their
lives, ' See ho'v these Christians love one ano-
ther !' The day, in which the testimony of
miracles can be brought to prove the divinity
of the Savior's mission, has long past ; but from
the effect produced, wherever the cause has been
in lively exercise, we may conclude that no
stronger miracle were needed to prove the claims
of the religion of Jesus upon all men's regards,
than the existence of that union and fellowship
among all who profess His name, for which the
Lord Jesus prayed. As far as human judgment
can pronounce, what so great bar is there to
the universal acknowlegement of the claims of
the religion of Jesus upon all the affections and
desires of the heart, as is raised by the unchris-
tian differences and unkindly spirit, which too
often manifest themselves among the professors
of a vital interest in Jesus ? And how fearful
is the thought that such differences put a word
of excuse into the mouths of those that reject

* Acts iv. 13. I- Acts V. 24.

358

timiST PRAYKTII FOR A LI.

tlje Savior, and enable tliem to say, ' I was tokl
that tlie religion of Jesus, if true, was a religion
of peace and unity and love ; that, though it
counted on the hatred and opposition of those
that rejected it, it professed to bind those that
received it, as members of one body and chil-
dren of one house : but I found that its professors
were distant, divided, at variance; how then
could I but conclude it false, and reject its claims
to my regard?' But while unchristian difier-
ences among professing believers thus give a
cloke to the ungodly, and shame the name of
Christ, iiow easily can we conceive of the effect
which would be produced in the world by the
exhibition of true Christian principles of unity
and love ! Doubtless as Christ was hated in
the world, so would many still hate the approxi-
mation to His image which His followers would
manifest; but in their hatred they would be
left without excuse, while, on the other hand,
to the " afHicted, tossed with tempest, and not
comforted," to the *' weary and heavy-laden,"
to the careworn and anxious, to every one that
could find no rest among the troubled waters of
a dreary world, what a haven of peace, what
a shelter of hope, what a resting-place of joy,
would their lives and conversation invitingly
present, to lure tlie wearv one to the bosom of
Christ !

THAT SHALL BELIEVE.

359

Scarcely can this subjcset need any other ap-
plication, than tliat whicli the mere discussion of
its topics must have suggested to every attentive
hearer, on the importance of cultivating a true
Christian spirit of unity and love. Yet, my
dearly beloved brethren and sisters in the Lord
Jesus, suffer me yet further to impress upon you
the necessity of " following peace with all men,"
as well as " holiness, without which no man can
see the Lord,"* and to " beseech you, that ye
walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are
called, with all lowliness and meekness, with long
suffering, forbearing one another in love, en-
deavouring to keep the unity of the spirit in the
bond of peace."! How much might be effected
towards bringing about the result our Savior
prayed for, if only each one of you, " as much as
lieth in you, would live peaceably with all men !":|:
not making any terms indeed with the world,
nor seeking peace with those with whom ye can-
not be at peace without betraying your Master ;
but taking care to " give no offence in anything,"'
and lay no stumbling-block in any one's path,
but, "following after the things which make for
peace, and things whereby one may edify
another."^ The success of the Gospel, as regards
the community in wliich ye live, is in a manner

* Hcb. xii. 14.
+ lloni. xii. 18.

t Epli. iv, ' — 3,
Si lb xiv. 19.

360

CHIUST PRAYETH FOR ALL

h ? 1

placed in your hands; for, though none can
" call upon Him of whom they have not heard,
or any hear without a preaclier, or any preach
except they be sent,"* yet, who will believe that
" as the Father hath sent Christ into the world,
so He hath sent us,"t if the truths we preach have
not the effect upon those who profess to receive
them, which the preaching of Christ crucified
had upon those that first heard the tidings. " If
there be, therefore, any consolation in Christ, if
any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the
Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, fulfil ye our joy,
that ye be likeminded, having the same love,'
being of one accord, of one mind," " that ye may
be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, with-
out rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and per-
verse generation, among whom shine ye as lights
in tha world, holding forth the word of life, that
we may rey'oice in the day of Christ that we
have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.":j:
And suffer yet again the word of exhortation,
dearly beloved, who yet are ignorant of Jesus and
His salvation, while I remind you once more that
the Lord Jesus prayed only for believers in Him,
and entreat you and plead with you to flee to
Him for refuge from the wrath to come. Will
ye not even come to Him, that ye may have life ?

Uom, X. 14, 15.

t Phil. ii. 1, 2, 15, 16.

t John XX. 21.

THAT SHALL BELIEVE.

301

The door is still open, the narrow way still lies
before you, and this simple way-mark still invites
you, '« Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and ye
shall be saved."* Believe on Him, then, not
with tiiat heartless nominal f tith ye already pro-
fess, for it is " with the heart that man believeth
unto righteousness;! but look unto Him, as guilty
sinners to an Almighty Savior ; bring your poor
sinful hearts to Him, and cast yourselves at the
foot of His cross ; for the blood that trickles from
Him, as He hangs suspended there, " cleanseth
from all sin.":j:

* Actsxvi. 31. f Rom.x. 10.

i 1 Jolin i. 7.

362

SERMON XX.

THE GLORY GIVEN TO THE LORDS PEOPLE.

St. John xvii. 22, 23.

A?id the glory which Thou gavest me, I have
given them, that they may he one, even as we are
one ; I in them, and Thou in me, that they may
be made perfect in one ; and that the world may
know that Thou hast sent me, and hast loved
them, as Thou hast loved me.

The more we meditate upon the privileges of be-
lievers in Christ Jesus, the more cause have we
for admiration and praise of that wonderful grace
of the Lord God, which has chosen poor vile
worms of the dust, and lifted them out of the
mire, and set them in His own family, yea, among
tile princes of Ills people. Well is it for those

THi: GLOIIY (ilVEN TO THE LOIID's PEOPLE. 303

who believe, that the privileges of their condition
are set forth in the word of God in terms, which,
exalted as they are, are yet as distinct as language
can supply. With all the authority which that
blessed Word affords tliem, they do not escape
the charge of presumption from the world, when
they apply to themselves, and rest upon, the
gracious declarations of the word of God concern-
ing the privileged condition of His children; and
what may we well suppose the charges of the
world would be, and what the force with which
the great enemy of their souls would back those
charges, if there were anything indistinct, any-
thing doubtful, in the statements of Scriptun-,
with reference to the condition in which they
are placed before God, and the feelings with
which He regards them for Jesus' sake.

It is not, indeed, to be wondered at, that the
world should charge those with presumption, who
apply to themselves, with whatever humility and
sense of unworthiness, the gracious declarations
of the Lord concerning His people. There are
few persons, however worldly, that will not pro-
fess to have for themselves a hope of going to
heaven at last ; and yet they cannot but see and
know, that their own knowlege of the tilings of
(jod, and their own reasons for the hope they
profess, come so very far short of tiiose which the

30*4

THE CI.OUY (ilVKN TO

|4 / i rS

lit

weakest believer, who has been taiigbt of C,oi\ and
converted by His Spirit, can give, that their only
alternative is, either to give np as utterly vain
the hopes they profess to have of their own sal-
vation, or to charge all that have any liveliiir
hopes and more satisfactory assurance of their
safety in Christ Jesus, with arrogance and pre-
sumption. But, though they will not make one
sacrifice for the sake of heaven, nor give one evi-
dence of their considering ili- attainnuMit of its
joys the one thing desirable and needful, yet the
M'orld like not to acknowlege that they " have
their portion in this life," and care not for hea-
ven ; and, consequently, how can they but sus-
pect those who i)rofess a lively interest in Christ,
of presumjjtion as regards their hopes, of enthu-
siasm as regards their enjoyments in religion, and
of needless over-iighteousness as regards their
walk and conversation.

As yet, still less can we wonder at t/ie ivorhCs
scepticism in these respects, when wc find with
Iiow many doubtings, and how much hesitation,
believers in Jesus themselves take hold of the
great and precious things jjrovided in Christ
Jesus for them, and in Him freely covenanted to
them. Too often do we even find them trembling
with apprehension lest they should be too bold
in taking lo themselves the comfort of the Lord's

TFIR FOUd's Pr.OlM.K. nOr>

promises aiul in rnjoyin^r M,e ,,,.,100 and nssii-
ramvoriiopowliicli aro bancd upon His nnclmn-
i?in^- character, and tlio faithfulness of I lis word ;
whereas they luivi- more reason to fear lest their
'loiihtinns and hesitation and uidx'lief are ch's-
^nmovuiir (iod, whii(! they ar.. producing- diseoni-
fort to th.>ir souls. Only K>t it he continually
kept in view hy holievers in Jesus, that all the
condort whieh tiiey derive IVoui tiuunselves, from
the view oftheir own (hiticvs, th(>ir own nraecs, their
own performances, is unsafe and dehisive; but tliat
tlie experience of the f.dness that is in Jesus,
the comforts that Mow from Him, the peace that is
found in resting? upon llim, the joy tiiat is(h.riv<Ml
fi'om the knowK'Mc of ilim, niv. uUmo sale ami
cnchirino-; and they necid not fear h(;in^- pr..-
8um])tuous in taking to tliemselves the fuirenjoy-
iiient which they ean derive; Irom union 'and
communion with Ilin.. The vr.imm, why l)eli(.vrrs
are so timid and aj)prehensive ahout enjoying
th(. privil(;oes witli which the l.ord liaK endowed
llischihlren,is, that, through the remains of th.^ir
carnal nature, they listen to the suggestions of
sense, rather than the teachings of faith. Vov
true it is, indeed, that the privileges whieh tla;
Lord bestows upon them are of a most wouderlul
nature, causing the beloved aposth; him.s-lf to
exclaim, - jJchold, what immuer of love the

iaih-

3()G

THE GLORY GIVKX TO

Father hath bestowed u])on us !"* — so wonderful,
that mere reason could never reconcile them witli
the truths of man's depravity and corruption and
unworthiness ; yet tliey are assured to the be-
liever by a "covenant so ordered in all things
and sure,"t that a true and lively faith receives
and enjoys them as the purchase of Jesus' blood,
and, for His sake, a free gift of God to all that
believe in Him.

In the course of ou' meditations upon the chap-
ter of my text, many of these privileges of th(>
Lord's peo])le have been considered ; but the Lord
appears, as it were, to have gathered together, in
the verses of the text, the most astonishina- war-
ticulars which can be conceived, as making up the
privileged condition of children of God. What,
indeed, can be conceived more wonderful, as
being said of a creature, than this, — that he is
invested with the same glory which the Lord
Jesus, the eternal Son of the most high God, hath
Himself received of the Father, and is a sharer in
the same love wherewith the Father loved His
only-begotten Son before the foundation of the
world ? What more exalted dignity can even be
imagined, than that of being one with the Father
and His eternal Son, and having the enjoyment
of fellowship with them through the ever-blessed

1 John iii. I.

f 2 Sam. xxiii. 5,

THE LORD S PEOPLE.

3G7

Spirit ? What angcl, what arcliangel, is partaker
of sucli a glory, such a (lignity, as this ? Even
in tlie same breath, in which, in a sense of deep
unworthiness, the sinner is compelled to exclaim,
" Lord, what is man, that thou art mindful of
liim ? and the son of man, that thou so regardest
him ?"* he is privileged also to declare that the
Lord "hath made him a little lower than the
angels, that He might crown him with glory and
]ionor,"t and exalt him to a station, through
his union witii Christ Jesus, far above the most
exalted spirit which the breath of the Lord hath
called into being. O ! would to God that the
contemplation of the privileges which belong to
the condition of the meanest believer in Jesus, of
the lowliest being whom the Lord hath chosen
and by His Spirit called and accepted in Christ
Jesus, might but be instrumental in leading those
among you, dear brethren, who believe, to live
more according to your privileges, more in the
enjoyment of that glory which the Lord vouch-
safes to His children, and, consequently, more
according to the pattern of holiness, consistency,
self-denial, and love, which the Lord Jesus hath
set before you ! ! that the same view of the
privileges of believers in Christ would lead those
of you who believe not, but are yet of the world,
not to charge those with presumi)tion that desire
* ^''^- ^'''- -^- t II). o.

308

THE GLOIIY GIVEN TO

to live in union witli Christ, but to desire for
yourselves those great things which are spoken of
the Lord's people, those wonderful things, of
wliich the Lord Jesus is the depository for all that
believe in Him ! May the Lord God the Holy
Spirit bless our meditations upon these subjects
to this blessed end ; may He so open your hearts
to receive the things spoken, and so sanctify them
through the hearing of the truth, tiiat the worldly
may be made to thirst for the precious stream of
Gospel privileges, and Gospel blessings, and the
hearts of believers animated and their souls
quickened in feeding upon the sure mevcies cove-
nanted in Christ Jesus!

L In proceeding, then, to contemplate the
privileges of believers, as they are com})rehen-
sively set forth in the expressions of our Lord in
the text, we find that He has given to those that
believe in Him the same glory which He hath
received of the Father. It can hardly be neces-
sary to remark, that the Lord Jesus has not com-
municated to His people — what He could not com-
municate, — His own inherent and essential glory,
as from all eternity the Lord Jehovah. That
glory must be incommunicable ; for it is not
presumptuously limiting the power of the Al-
miglity God to say, that He could not create one
equal to Himself, nor call into existence a being

THE LORIJ S PEOPLE.

369

wlio sliouki have had no beginning-. The glory,
then, which the Lord Jesus speaks of having
communicated to His immediate followers, and of
giving to all that shall believe on Him through
their word, must be that glory which He h-Ith
himself received of the Father, as the Mediator
between God and man, in that nature which He
assumed in order to undertake the mediatorial
office. As He speaks, too, of having already
given that glory to His disciples, while they were
yet in the flesh, and not merely of having it in
store for them as a future inheritance in His
kingdom, we may conclude that He speaks of
that glory which was in Him as Mediator, while
He was in the lowly form of His humiliation
upon earth. It is not, then, anything either at-
tractive or overpowering to the eyes of the world ;
it is not a glory which dazzles the sight of those
to whom it is given, with any splendor or dignity
in man's esteem. If is the glory of being the
children of God, of bearing His image in the
world, of exhibiting His truth before their fellow
men, of encountering for His sake the opposition
of the world, and of counting all the afflictions
of the present life unworthy to be compared with
the glory that is to be revealed.

1. It is the glory of being children of God.
This glory Jesus had indeed from all eternity,
though we cannot comprehend or conceive how

B II

■—■ gawa ss r .■«»'>

•:

N ff ■

370

THE GLORY GIVEN TO

He was from eternit}'^ the Son of God. But this
is also a glory which was es|)ccially bestowed
upon Iliui by the Father, while He was in the
exercise of His ministry upon earth, as we find
from the several acknowlegements of Him by the
voice from heaven, as " the beloved Son in whom
the Father was well pleased." " This honor, also,
liave all His saints."* Upon all that believe in
Him hath the Father bestowed, and the So»> con-
fiimed, this amazing honor, that "they should be
called the sons of God."t The sons of fallen
Adam as to their natural descent, and sharers in
liis curse, and partakers of his corruption, they
are yet, by the free grace and amazing love of the
F'athcr, who hath chosen them in Christ, brought
out of this state of condemnation and ruin, and
placed among the children of His family, sharers
in His favor, partakers of His holiness.

2. Yes ! the glory which the Lord Jesus
has given His people, is also the glory of bear-
ing the image of God in the world. Whatever
the inconsistencies, and worldliness, and continued
sin of many ' who profess and call themselves
Christians,' those that are really the Lord's peo-
ple, true Christians, are made new creatures in
Christ Jesus ; they are changed from tlieir natu-
ral state of idolatry and willing iniquity ; they
** put off the old man with his deeds, and put on
* Ps. cxlix. 9. f 1 John iii. I.

THE LOIID's I'EOI'Li:.

371

tlio now man, which after (^od is iviiowed in
righteousness and true holiness."* Tin's glory
•^esus gives thein, for it is all of His grace; they
no more produce this image in themselves, than
tliey could originally have created themselves, or
than a dead body could restore itself to life. It
is the gift of the Lord to His people ; the w(n-k of
linn who worketh all their works in those that
believe in Him.

3. The glory which is given them, thou, is
also the glory of exhibiting the Lord's truth and
laithfulness in the sight of their fellow sinners. It
was the delight of Jesus, not only to " do always
the things that pleased the Father," but to exlii-
bit also the truth and faithfulness of the Father
in sustaining, succoring, and comforting Him
continually. It is the glorious privilege of be-
lievers in Jesus to exhibit, in the same manner,
the Lord's faithfulness to them, and, by inviting
their follow sinners to " come ar.d hear wha*t
tilings the Lord hath done for them," to allure
them to taste and see for tliemselves how gracious
He is.t What a treasure hatli the Lord thus
committed to "earthen vessels ;" what honor hath
Ho thus put ui)on faUen man ! He hath made
them, as it were, the keepers of His honor, the
gnardians of His name, and commanded them so
to " let their light shine before men, tliat they,

* E,,h. iv. i>2, i>4. H's.xxxiv.8; Ixvi. IG. "'

u ii2

'ji I

372

THE GLORY GIVEN TO

seeing their light, may glorify the Fountain of
light, their Father which is in heaven."*

4, And as the glory of Jesus was such, that
a blinded world, not knowing Ilim, despised and
rejected Him, so hath lie given such glory to
His people that " tlie world knoweth them not be-
cause it knew Him not,"t and, not knowing them,
hateth them, even as it hated Him. Little is
there, indeed, in this part of their privileges, of
what the world esteems glory ; little is there of
blessedness, in the world's esteem, in persecution
for Christ's sake; but the Lord enumerates it
among the privileges to which He directs the eye
of His disciples, " Y^e shall be hated of all men for
my Name's sake.";}: And it is indeed an honor,
which the true Christian knows how to value,
to be, by the Spirit of the Lord, so changed into
the same image which Jesus bore, as to encoun-
ter for His sake the same treatment which He
had met with from the world.

5. Yet it is their greater glory, bestowed upon
them by the Lord Jesus, to count, not only trials of
this kind, but all the afflictions which are sent
them here, as " unwortliy to be compared with the
glory that is to be revealed. "§ For as the Lord
Jesus "endured the cross, despising the shame,"||
in the prospect of the glory that was before Him,

* Matt. V. 16. f 1 John iii. L l Luke xxi. 17.

§ Rom. viii. 18. |! Ileb. xii. 2.

TIIK LOUd's PEOl'LE.

373

so does He give unto them, " to vvliom it is given
on His belialf; not only to believe, but also to
suffer for His sake,"* tlie glorious privilege of
esteeming ail the sufferings of the present life to

he "light afflietious
tl

seeing they work out for
»em a far more exceeding and eternal weight of
glory."t A.'ul is it not a glory ])(!euliar to the
true Christian, to be enabled Lo rejoice in tribu-
hition ? The mere worldling may bear with
fortitude the evils of his lot, and endure with
submission the sufferings which, whether he be
impatient or not, he cannot avert until it pleases
the Lord to remove them : but it is the ])rivilege
of the Christian to '' glory in infirmities,";|: be-
cause the power of Christ may be displayed in
them, and to rejoice ir tribidations, as so many
touches of a father's love.

In these particulars, common, though in dif-
ferent degrees, to all true Christians, hath the
Lord Jesus given to His disciples the glory which
He had received of the Father. We speak not
now of what He has in reserve for them in that
home above, to which He has gone " to prepare
a place for tliem."§ These things of which we
speak are their present portion ; they make up
tiie glory which He hath given to His people

* riiil. i. 29.
; 2 Cor. xii. i).

-|- 2 Cor. iv. 1 7.
§ Joliii xiv. 2.

374

THE GLORY GIVEN TO

liere, as an earnest and a foretaste of what is be-
fore them.

II. This glory the Lord Jesus appears to have'
bestowed upon His disciples for two gracious pur-
poses ; viz. for purposes of the most amazing love
towards themselves, and of conviction and testi-
mony before the world. The purposes of His
love towards believers themselves come first to be
considered. " The glory that thou gavest me I
have given them," saith the Lord Jesus, " that
they may be one, even as we are one ; I in them,
and thou in me, that they also may be made
perfect in one."

We may perceive, by the manner in w' ich our
Savior dwelt upon them, how near to His heart
these purposes of His love towards His followers
were, and how essential He considered it to their
peace and welfare, that they should be assured
of their union with Him, and that they should
walk in unity and love one towards another.
Several times, and in various words, does He re-
present this as a great object of His petitions for
them, that they may be one, even as He and the
Father are one. And this oneness, of which He
speaks. He represents as being a consequence of
their being partakers of that glory which He had
given them. It was a consequence, indeed, of
their being invested with the privilege of children

THE LORD'S PEOPLE.

375

of God. For as He, the eternal Son of God, was
one with the Father, so also they, as children of
God, were, through His great grace, admitted into
union with Him, whose children they were be-
come, whose " Spirit was sent forth into their
hearts, crying Abba, Father."* This glory, hav-
ing been designed for them from all eternity, the
Lord Jesus declares that He has already given
them. For " as many as receive Him, to them
gives He power to become the sons of God, even
to them that believe on His Name."t Yet He
foresaw how slow believers would be in taking
home to themselves this precious privilege, how
backward they would bein receiving and applying
to themselves the assurances of their union with
Christ, and in living in the enjoyment of it.
Therefore how earnestly does He pray that they
may be kept in the enjoyment of this union, and
that as He and the Father are one, so "they
also may be made perfect in one." The closer
this union between Christ and His people, the
more constant would, of course, be the communi-
cation of His grace to them, and the greater
would be, in consequence, their resemblance to
His image, the more confident their reliance upon
His faithfulness, the more cheerful their acqui-
escence in His will, and the more endenring and
delightful their prospect of being with Him to
spend an eternity in His kingdom.

* Gal. iv. 6.

t .Toll

n h

]•)

I '

376

Tin; GLORY GIVKN TO

As a living fruit and blessed evidence of this
union between the Lord Jesus and His believing
followers, He had in view for them also an affec-
tionate union one with another. Of this union
also He proposes as a pattern that which subsists
between Himself and the Father. How perfect
must that union be! What diifercnce of purpose
or of operation, what variance of intention or of
action, can be imagined to exist between God the
Father an*, the Son ? Surely it were blasphemy
to suggest the thought of any possibility of dif-
ference between them. And is such the united -
ness of purpose, of feeling, and of action, among
those who are disciples and followers of the lowly
Jesus ? Such the Lord Jesus prayed it might be ;
and, if it be not, what nmst be our inference ?
Must we conclude, tliat the prayer of the Lord
Jesus has in this respect been unheard and unat-
tended to? Or must we not rather fear, that
whatever profession may be made by those call-
ing themselves Christians, they fail in one great
evidence of their being really the Lord's children,
when living in violation of the unity of the
Sjjirit, and in practical neglect of the bond of
[)eace ?

HI It was not only, however, on account of
the comfort to be enjoyed by believers themselves
in the knowlege cjid experience of this unity of

Tin; LOUD S PEOPLE.

377

spirit, that tlie Lord Jesus so earnestly desired it
for them ; but, also, on account of the efiecta
which such union among them would produce
upon the world. He foresaw that the existence
of communion with God and with one another
among believers would have an important influ-
ence upon the world's belief, both with regard to
the reality of His mission, and the trutli of their
own claims to an interest in the Father's love.
He spoke of their oneness with Him and with one
another, as tending to produce in the world a be-
lief that the Father had sent Him, and that He
had loved them as He had loved Him. As we
have already observed, in considering a former
verse of this chapter, the lives of those that be-
lieve, their character for meekness and gentle-
ness and peace and love, would form tlie strongest
standing evidence, which, in the absence of mira-
cles, co-Id be afforded, of the truth of His mis-
sion, whose doctrines professed to exert a trans-
forming efficacy upon the heart of sinners, and to
be the harbingers not only of " Glory to God
in the highest, but also of peace on earth, and
good will towards and amongst men." And how
important an evidence would be aflbrded, by the
united and harmonious and peaceful and holy
lives of believers in Jesus, of their having been
loved by the Father with an everlasting love !
From what could a union between God and any

378

THE GLORY GIVEN TO

I '

of our fallen race proceed, but from the Lord's
own gracious purposes towards them? From
what could any holiness of heart and life, any
spirit of true Christian love and charity in any
poor sinners be derived, but from the fr^te grace
and utterly undeserved love of Him from whom
alone any holy desire or good counsel can pro-
ceed? The greater, then, the love and unity
among Christians, so much the greater is the evi-
dence of their having been the objects of the
Father's love, of that love with which He regarded
His beloved Son, and which for His sake He hath
freely placed upon all whom He hath given to
the Son. The greater the unity of spirit, and
the stronger the bond of peace among Christians,
so much the stronger evidence do they aflbrd of
their being one with Him in whom the Father
delighteth, and of their sharing that glory, as
children of God, which the Father had bestowed
upon Christ. To such an extent as this hath the
Lord Jesus connected His glory with the unity
and love of His people ; to such an extent hath
He placed His honor in their keeping.

Surely, then, dear brethren and sisters in the
Lord Jesus, ye will see of how great importance
to the honor of your Lord, of how great advan-
tage to the interests of your own souls, is the
living up to your privileges as brethren of Christ
Jesus, sharers of His glory here, and co-heirs

THE lord's PEOI'LE.

379

with Ilim of the glory that is to be revealed.
Think not, dear brethren, I beseech you, that the
honor of your Lord is promoted, any more than
the comfort of your own souls is increased, by
that appearance of humility, which holds you
back from appropriating to yourselves the pro-
mises and privileges of the Gospel, because of
your unworthiness. But think of the love where-
witli the Lord regarded you when you were
enemies, in giving His Son to die for you, and
bringing you to the knowJcge of His name. Aim
nt a constant and unwavering sense of the love
of God towards you in Christ Jesus, not for
your sakes, but for His Son's sake ; for it is only
from a persuasion of God's love for you in Christ
that a course of decided and consistent holiness
can proceed. This is the glory which the Lord
Jesus as Mediator hath received from the Father
for you, even your adoption in Him, and admis-
sion in Him and for His sake to the Father's
favor; O ! aim at living in tiiis glory now, that
your own souls may be furthered in the conquest
of sin, your love and unity with your fellow
Chvistians promoted, and the cause of your Re-
deemer, which should be dear to your hearts, ad-
vanced and honored.

Lear fronds and brethren, however different
from the world's honor is that glory which Jesus
gives His people, O ! is it not more worthy your

• f^

* L

;J80

GLOIIY GIVEN TO THE LOUd's PEOPLE.

ambition, more wortliy your pursuit, than tlie
fleeting, fading honors or pleasures of tliis i)assing
scene ? Surely " all flesh is grass, and all tlie
glory of man as the flower of grass : the grass
withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away :"*
hut " he that doetli the will of the Lord abideth
for ever. "t O! then, be wise, and 'seek that
honor which conieth from God only.":|: It may
not have as many worldly attractions, nor be at-
tended with as much seenjing gladness ; but the
" fruit of it is peace, and the eflect of it quietness
and assurance for ever."§

* Isa. xl. G, 7.
t John V. 44.

f 1 Joiin ii. ]7.
§ Isa. xxxii. 17.

ii.

grass

381

SERMON XXL

TFFE SAVIOR'S WILL IN BEHALF OF HIS
PEOI'LE.

St. John xvii. 24.

Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast
given me, he with me ivhcre I am ; that thei/
may behold my (jlory, whieh Thou hast yivcn
me ; for Thou lovedst me before the foundation
of the world.

The Lord Jesus was now bringing tlic expres-
sion of His anxious desires in behalf of His dis-
ciples to a close. He :iad asked for them, in the
previous petitions of His last loving supplication
in their behalf, everything that was necessary for
their own peace and comfort and enjoyment,
everything that was needed to make them effi-

382

THE SAVIOR S WILL

cient witnesses for Him in the midst of a world
that knew Him not. Wliat more was needed for
tlieir own peace, than the assurance of the Fa-
ther's love for them in Christ His Son ? What
more was needed for their own comfort, than the
knowlege that they were committed to the keep-
ing of the Holy God, whose dispensations, though
they might not be able to discern their object
now, would assuredly work togetiier for the
good of those that love Him ? What more was
needed for their own enjoyment, than the convic-
tion of their union, and the fruition of communion
and fellowship, witli the Father and the Son, in
whom they shall all be one, even as the Father
and the Son are one ? What more was needed
for their own holiness and consistency and meet-
ness for the Lord's service here, and for His king-
dom hereafter, than their sanctification through
the word of the truth of God ? And, as regarded
their duty of bearing witness for Jesus in the
midst of an ungodly world, what more was
needed to make their testimony credible and
eftectual, than their exhibiting the fruits of their
conviction of the truth in their own lives, in their
unity and fellowship one with another, in their
love for tlie name of Jesus, and their readiness, if
called upon, to seal their testimony with their
blood ? All this the Lord Jesus had prayed for
in their behalf, and, in asking these things for

I _•

IN BEHALF OF HIS PEOPLE.

383

them, had besought what would form tlie sweetest
enjoyment even of the life that now is, and would
sustain, and cheer, and comfort them in the midst
of all the trials through whicii the proclamation
of the name of Jesus and the bearing of His cross
would lead them.

But, while we are assured that the present
comforts and supports, which the true follower of
Jesus has, are far, far superior to all the joys and
pleasures which the worldly in their little span of
fading vanities possess ; yet it is their reference
to eternity which gives them this superiority.
The peace, which the believer has in the assur-
ance of the love of God, is sweet peculiarly from
the conviction, that it is a love which dies'not as
this mortal tabernacle sinks into its dust, but lasts
beyond the present life, and is engaged to bring
the souls of His people to the enjoyment of His
own blessedness in heaven. The comfort and
support, which the believer in Jesus has in the
midst of the ordinary trials of life, or of persecu-
tion for Christ's sake, is derived, not from any
present enjoyment of suffering, but from a faith-
ful contemplation of the glory that is to be re-
vealed, in the hope of which he endures " as see-
ing Him who is invisible,"* and counts all pre-
sent afflictions light, because he is assured that,
under the Lord's refining hand, they are " work-

* Ilcb. xi. 27.

: 21 fi-
ll 'ftp

384

THE SAVIORS WILL

in- out for Him a far more exceeding, even an
et< rnal weight of glory."* Though " godliness
hath the promise of the life that now is,"f a pro-
mise which is richly fulfilled to the Christian in
the comforts and supports he enjoys throughout
his pilgrimage ; yet doubtless, we hesitate not to
confess it, it is the promise of the life that is to
come, which forms the sweetest ingredient in the
cup of Christian blessings, which gives the love-
liest charm to the Christian's walk through the
desert of the world, and imparts the greatest
brightness to his eye, as it looks upward and on-
ward through the fires of affliction, and amid the
waves of woe. And did not He know this, who
" was in all points tempted like as we are, yet
without sin?":j: Did not He know this, who
" hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows," §
yet " endured the cross, despising the shame," ||
having respect unto the recompense of His work,
the glory to which He should soon be exalted ?
Yes, surely He knew it ; and therefore, after
having prayed for His disciples, and entreated
for them everything that was needful for them in
their earthly course. He cheers their spirits and
animates their hopes by the expression, which
the text contains, of His will in their behalf;

* 2 Cor. iv. 17.
I Heb. iv. 15.

-}- 1 Tim. iv. 8.
§ Isa. liii. 4.

Heb.

xu. 'J.

IX BEHALF OF HIS PEOPLE.

385

pointing them onward to the glory to which He
was about to return, and holding up to them the
enlivening and amazing expectation of sharing
that glory with Him in His Father's house. How
refreshing, how strengthening, how animating
must indeed have been the hope, which such ex"-
pressions of our Savior were calculated to awaken
in the hearts of thcie that surrounded Him as He
prayed !

Yet the comfort which was thus conveyed,
was not designed for them alone; the hopes',
the certainties, which faith gathers from the'
words of Jesus, were not for their exclu-
sive benefit. They fed upon them, and found
them a satisfying portion ; but there is a place
provided at the rich repast for all that the Fath.^r
hath given to the Son. To them all, even to all
that shall believe on Jesus through the word
which His disciples have spoken, godliness hath
the same promise as regards the life that now is ;
and it has the same assured hopes, grounded upon
the faithful word of Him who is the truth, of
being with Him for ever, beholding His glory,
sharing His love, and feasting upon His perfec-
tions. We may surely trust, then, brethren, that
it will be profitable to our souls to consider, as
the words of the text may suggest, the grounds
of this hope, the sharers of this hope, and the na-
ture of this hope, with the view of engaging by

c c

.t Mi

38G

THE savior's will

its sweetness the hearts of those, wlio as yet
are " witliout hope, as they are \\ ithout God in
the world,"* of exciting- to dihgcnce those wlio
are slothful in the way, and of stahlishing and
strengthening those that are weak and laint in their
resistance to the enemy's assaults. May He, who
alone can hless the word, make it thus profitable,
and plant the motives to diligence and perse-
verance and zeal, which such a hope suggests, deep
in the hearts of those who hear it spoken of !

I. We are to consider, first, the grounds of this
hope. And what such foundation can there he
for any hope, that cheers the bosom of the pil-
grim througli this weary wilderness, as that
on which the believer's confidence of eternal
glory rests ? " Father, I luili;' saith the blessed
Savior, *' that those whom thou hast given me,
be with me where I am." Surely, when we
know the prevailing power of the prayer of
Jesus, we should have thought there was abun-
dant ground for all His people's hopes, if He had
but offered such a petition in their behalf : if He
liad but said, " Father, my last, my dying prayer
is this, that these my followers shall share my
glory." He had already checked the appre-
hensions of His little flock, by telling them
that it was " the Father's good pleasure to give
them the kingdom."! ^i"l, if He Iiad but

* Eph. ii. 12. f Luke xii. 32.

?! •

: i
il <

IN iii;ii.vr,F OF Ills PRori.i:.

3R7

uttoml now His last rc(|nost, tliat this His
Father's will towards them should be fidlillcd,
w.u) would not have thought the warrant ample'
for indulging the fondest, largest hoi)es of future
«Iory ? IJut the foundation of the believei-'s con-
fidence is even firmer still. We find the Savior
now, rising, as it were, above the hunnliation of
His suffering lot, and, in language becoming
His original and eternal etiuality with the Father,
saying, " Father, / luUl that tliese be with me
where I am." It were impossible, indeed, that
the Son could will or desire anything contrary
to the Father's will: but does it not make a
sweet addition to the grounds of the believer's
hopes, to know, that whatever the Father willeth,
the same willeth the Son also : and that He
who hath performed the work of redemption,
He who hath made the atonement for sinners
• and suflered in their stead, hath expressed His
will for those for wliom He suffered, that, as
He has borne their shame, so they shall share His
glory.

Let those that doubt the believer's right to
indulge an assured hope of glory in the heavenly
kingdom, compare with these grounds of his
assurance any warrant, which they may have,
for any hope of present things they cherish.
Surely he would be thought to wrong his frieiul,
who should doubt an assurance given imder cir-

c c 2

fi i|

388

TIIK SAVIOR S WILL

f '

ciuiTi^tancos nt all siicli as those in wliicli our
Lord was placed, and refuse to credit tlu; ex[)res-
sion of his intentions to bestow on hiui any gift,
or leave him any boniest. Surely his d()id)ts
would be little less than treasonabh;, who should
cherish them with regard to any expression of
his Sovereign's good pleasure in his behalf.
And, yet, are all the grounds of confidence,
which a reliance upon the firmest, warmest
friendship can supply; are all the warrants,
which the gracious expression of the royal will
affords, at all to be compared with those, which
the truth of " Him who cannot lie," the love of
Him who is " a friend that cleaveth closer than
a brother,'* the will of Him, who, lowly as was
His outward form, was " King of kings and
Lord of lords," supply? Nay! fear not, dear
brethren who believe in Jesus ; fear not to take
home to yourselves all the comforts which this-
glorious hope affords ; for it is built upon siu^h
a foundation, as the worldly would be glad to
have to rest their fleeting expectations on. Fear
not, though devils rage, though men despise,
and the corruptions of your own vile hearts
appear to make the hope presumptuous; for not
only " is it the Father's good pleasure to give
you the kingdom;" but He, also, who expe-
rienced the devil's rage, met the contradiction
of sinners against himself, and suftered for your

i-i

IN in:iiAi,i' OF MIS i'koi'm;.

;kS})

sins, lius oxprcssod His orations will, lliiit yo Ih'
vvitli lliiu whcro lie is. It was notliiuo- in you
tli:it proiliiciid this ox|)ivs.sion of His will; and
notliino- ill yon (.jm alter His decision. For J lis
own Name's sake, He sot His love n|)on His
|>(>o|)le ; of His own boundless love He <»av(;
lliinself for them, and, en; He linished the work
for them, anuouneed His will, that they should
be with Him for ever; and from tlu; same nn-
fuilinj;- and muhanfriuM- lov,> may ye. draw your
assurance, that He will keep you in ail the perils
of your way, and " preserve you to His hciavenly
kinndom."* "Father, I will," He saith ; O!
how can we dwijil enough upon the precious
words, " 1 will, that they, whom thou hast given
me, be with me where 1 am."

II. Yet while there are numy who consider
that this assurance; is attainable, the; point of
importance with them is, who are they that are
warranted to indulne it ? I'rocecd w(!, tlien,
to the second [)oint of our proposed consi<lera-
tion, viz. Who are the sharers of the hop(! built
upon the sure word of .lesus?

In the text the Savior speaks of them as those

whom the Father had given Him ; and, in the

final revelation made to the beloved apostle,

those who alone shall enter into the I'^terntd City,

* ii Tim. iv. 18.

390

TIIF- savior's WIM.

^rt

and dwell for ever with the Lord, are descrihed
as they " MJiicli are written in the Lamb's book
of life."* Could we but cateli a glimpse, then,
of the names written there, we should feel as
certain, who among ourselves shall enter the
heavenly kingdom, and who, among the multi-
tudes now living, or yet to come upon this scene
of trial, shall attain that blessed portion, as
though we saw them already numbered among
" the spirits of the just made perfect. "f But
who can lay his hand u])on that book, or, with
adventurous gaze, discover what the names are
which are there? Its characters are secret; its
contents arc hidden from every eye but His who
gave them to the Son;-but not so the marks
by which, as those whose names are written in
the book, tliey may be distinguished as they
walk on earth.

Those marks are both of a negative and posi-
tive kind.

First, there shall not enter into that kingdom
any that are not born again, any that arj" un-
converted, any that arc unbelieving, and im-
penitent. "There shall not enter there any-
thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh
abomination, or maketh a lie." There shall
not enter there any one that doeth according to
" the works of the flesh, which are maniLt,

* Hcv. xxi. i>7. [- Hob. xii i>a.

■ 1

: 1

v^i

1"^

- s^

J.vt

IN ni;iiAi,K OF HIS im;oi'le.

391

tlicy

and are those, adultery, roniieatioii, mic.leaiiness,
lasciviousness, idolatry, vvitclicraft, hatred, vari-
ance, einidations, wrath, strife, seditions, lieresies,
envyinjra, murders, drunkenness, r(!veliiu};s, and
such like : of the which we tell you aoain, that
they that do such tilings shall not inherit the
kingdom of CJod."* Vain, then, and delusive,
nay, dangerous, nay, fatal, must be any hope <>f
heaven, which is indulged at the same time that
the soul is in such a state as this, or in the in-
dulged practice of any one of these ini<pnties; —
among which, observe, my brethren, the aposth;
classes cnvyings and variance and revelling.s,
in the same rank with murders, drunkenness,
and adultery. Well may we cry, with an aged
saint of the last age, to be delivered from that
sort of assurance, which is not disturbed by the
indulgence of sin.

Secondly, the apostle saluted some of his
converts with the declaration, that Ik; knew
" their election of God." How did he know it?
Had he seen that book that shall be brought
forth at the great day, " which is the book of
life ?" (• Or did he ground his knowlene uuon
th(>ir participation in outward privileges, t]w\r
having been bai)tized, and borne the name of
Christ, while others had not yet heard of Him?
Nay, but he knew it, because he called to mind
* (Jal. V. 19_:>I. I |{,,,. X,,. ,^,.

392

Tin: savior's will

•' tlit'ir work of* faith, and labor of love, ami
patience of hope in the Lord Jesus Christ."*
These, then, are tiiey that shall enter the Lord's
kingdom; those who have that which alone
availet'i in Christ Jesus, even " faith which
workcth by love."t They alone shall enter there,
who " have put ofl" the old man with his deeds,
and have put on the new man, which is renewed
in knowlege after the image of llim that created
Jiiin.":[- As " the Lord knoweth them that are
His," so may they be known on earth, as those
that "dcprrt from inicpiity/'^j Those, whom
the Lord has given to Jesus as His people, He
undertakes to ])repare by His grace, and to make
them fit for His kingdom, and for that purpose
has placed them in this scene of discipline and
probation: and they alone, then, are rightly
sharers in an assured hope of glory, in whom
the work of the Lord's grace is carried on, who
have the Spirit of God dwelling in them, and
producing in them that taith in Jesus, which
worketh by love, and working in tliem timt sepa-
ration from the world, that hatred of sin, that
abandonment of ini(piity, that conformity to the
will of God, which are the certain features of
the new creation. Tliey, then, that " have truly
fled for refuge to the hope set before tliem in

* I Thess. i. ti.
I (Jul iii. {», 10.

I Gal. V. 6.
^ 2 Tim. ii. 19.

* ii

IN HEIIALF OF HIS PEOPLE.

393

tlio (lospel,"* f ntl, tliroii»li faith in Josiis, nm
contending against their corruptions, fighting
against tiieir sins, separating themselves, from
tlie world, and giving themselves up to God ;
tiiese are they, who, though they may continually
find " ini(iuities to prevail against them,"t and
can sometimes scarcely find a point in which,
in their own judgment, they resemble Christ,
yet are warranted to indulge and cherish and
enjoy a sure and certain hope, fi^ll of immor-
tality.

III. And O ! what a hope is this ! how ele-
vating ! how glorious ! Let us consider, thirdly,
dear friends and brethren, some of the particu-
lars in the nature of this hope.

Two only particulars will we dwell upon.

1. It is the hoj)e of being with .Jesus where He
is. " Father, I will," saith the Savior, " that they
be with me where I am." And where Jesus is,
what sin, what sorrow, what suffering can ever
come ? Or what fear of separation can ever in-
trude thither to cause a pang to those who love
Him, and who love one another for His sake ?
Huw are the faintinjr spirits of those, that are
weary and groaning under the burden of the
corruptions by which this sinful tabernacle is de-
* Ilcb. vi. IS. .|. py. ixv. s.

394

TIIK savior's will

. ; ■ I

■;i

filed, borne up by tlie expectation of being- ore
long- with Jesus, where sin can never come, temp-
tations never enter, and trials are no more? And
what a sweetness is imparted even to the cup of
sorrow, wliicli runnoth over with the tears that
flo,*^ at tlie separation of those dear to one anotlier
upon earth, by tlie precious, tlie consoling hope
of being ere long together for ever with the Lord?
Doth the heart of a believer in Christ Jesus
mourn his separation, through the dealings of the
Lord's providence, from any that are dear to him
iu the flesh and spirit, as tliey are borne to distant
lands according to the Lord's will ; and, know-
ing the uncertainty of present things, doth a pang
shoot through the spirit, as he thinks it may bo
that they meet no more on earth ? O ! surely
there is consolation in the words of Jesus, " Father,
I will, that those whom Thou hast given me be'
with me where I am." Doth a believer in Jesus
watch with tearful eye the departure of some loved
fellow-pilgrim upon that last journey from which
there is no return, and feel unable to repress the
thought how great his loss is, at the same time
that his beloved one's gain is so groat ; yet, surely
"he sorrows not as those that hav(Miohopo;" but
a light is sown amid the darkness of His grief by
these consoling words, " Father, I will that thoy
whom Thou hast given me be with me where I

IN IJRHM.P OF HIS I'KOIT.K

3})r)

am." Surely tliis is a liopc as Tull ofcoiisoliition,
as the poor prospects of the world are lull of
despair.

2. But it is not only the hoj)e of being with Jesus
wlicre He is, and spending- an eternity with Jlini
and His people, that is so reviving; it is,
secondly, the hope of beholding His glory. If it
be the Christian's delight to glorify the Lord Jesus
upon earth ; if the glory of the Savior be n(>ar
His people's hearts, even amid tlw; corruptions of
their earthly natures,— what will be tluMr joy on
beholding [lim in the full splendor of His eternal
majesty, and seeing Him, witii the nature in
which He was so Innnblcd, raised to the highest
pitch of heavenly dignity, angels and princi-
I)alities and powers being placed beneath His
feet ! Vet the Christian, in his state of blessed-
ness, shall be not merely a lu'ivihiged sp(>ctator
of the glory of his Lord ; for in beholding, he is
himself admitted to a share in. His exaltation.
"It does not yet appear," saith the beloved
a])ostle, " what we shall be; but we know, that,
when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for
we shall see Him as He is."* Even in the i)re-
sent life, the believer, " beholding as in a glass
the glory of the Lord, is (changed into tiie same
image from glory to glory ;" f and when he shall
be privileged io see, not through a glass darkly,"

* 1 Joliri iii.

I -J Cor. iii. IS.

:ii)G

riiK sAviou's wir.r.

Init -Imv (o Wivcr* suivly lio sluill I),, clianocl
<'oin|)l,«t,.Iy ,•„(,,» iho Manu< -lory wl,i,.|, ![,•„ Savior
w.'ars, and sliaiv xvitJi llim Ilis nlorions oxalfa-
"•»"• No sin, iImmi, sl.all ho liav,., iudcv.l, (,»
«'as(. him down, no sorn.w (o distress, no trials »„
i«"iH)y him thnv: lor ///m-, " th,«ro shall hr m>
"Mm- curse; hut tho tln-ou,- of (i,.d „„d of Mic
•-"'Ml) shall h,. in it; au.l Ilis servants shall servo
"'■'"; and thoy shall soo Ilis laoo, and Ilis
":>"«o shall ho in thoir lorohoads, an,l thoy shall
ivi.un lor ,>vor and ,.vor." | This glorious hopo
ivv.vos tho holiovor's oonraov on his toil-worn
way, and anin.atos him amid all his trials, and
<|niokons him amid all his disooura-omonts, and
stronothons him amid all his shortoominn-s, and
iH-ars him up amid all tho onomios of his soul :
'or 'tis hut a littli> whilo, and ho shall ()o de-
liviMvd from all his oorrnptions, and IVom all his
ioos, and sharo his Savior's niory in tho hoavonly
kino-dom.

IVar hrothron in tho Lord .li>sus, your hoarts
must bo indood suri'liarotnl with oaro, and your
spirits clooo-od i„^l^.^.,l ^vjth sin, if tho oonttunpla-
tion of this j>lorious hopo, built on tho dyino- de-
claration of your faithful Lord, fails to (>nlliv ■,
and to animate and to ohoor your souls. Think of
the warrant for this hope,— the unfailino- will of
your beloved Lord, "Father, I will;" ihiuk of

* 1 Cor. xiii. I-.>. t lU'V. xxii. ;}-a

IN Iir.IIAI.K OK HIS I'l'.OlM,!.;.

397

tlio nature oCtliis lio[)(', — a sliaro in tlu; glories of
the Lord that bought yon ; aufl, if yo have any
8cri|)tiiral reason to inchilge this hopc! for yonr-
solvcH,— as ye liave if ye are " in Christ,"— shall
it not comfort yon in trials, shall it not cheer yon
in distresses, shall it not raise yon above the little
ann()yanc(!S of the i)res(!nt life, shall it not sepa-
rate the ties that bind yon to the world, shall it
not nuilu! yon watchfid and earn(!st in h)okin<^
for tlu! comino- of yonr Lord? O I if beliiiver.s
Wi're really feedinjr „,„)n this lioju;, how dillerent
vvonld their lives and (H)nv(!rsatiou In;! J low
innch greater would be their singleness of heart
in serving the Lord, how rnneh greater their de-
cision in separating from the world, how nnu-h
more ueeid(Hl their crucifixion of themselves, how
much more liv(!ly tluiir love; to one another I
J)e5ir brethrc!!!, O! cherisii this hope, for it is a
" hope that makcth not ashamed,"* a hoi)e that
shall not disappoint you ; for it is built nj)on that
"tried foinulation ^' which is "laid in Zion,")-
the Lord Jesus.

Arc there any here, that arc among the tried
and tempted, the downcast and the weary ])il-
grims to\\,a-d Zion, " that fear the Lord, yet walk
in darkness, and have no light ?":j: Dear brethren,
still hope in the Lord. " Why arc your souls

* Itoni. V. 5. f isa. xxviii. IG.

t Isa. 1. 10.

3})8

THE SAVIOR s wrij.

cast down, and why arc they disquieted witliin
you ? Hope still in God !"* Tliouoh the enemy
besot you with temptations, and your own sinful
hearts raise up a host of evils against you, your
only safety is in hoi)e : for "ye are saved by
hope ;" f- and the helmet with which you are to
ai-ni your head against those assaults upon your
foith, is " the hope of salvation.";]; " Put on,
then," not the helmet alone, but '* the whole
armor of God, that ye may be able to stand
against the wiles of the devil." § " Lift up your
heads, for your redemption drawetli nigh;"|l
*' there remaineth a rest for the people of God."1[
" Lay aside, then, every weight, and the sin" of
unbelief " which doth so easily beset you, and run
with patience the race that is set before you, look-
ing unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of your
faith."**

Yet, may it not be feared, that there are some
here, whose hopes, such as they are, we are
bound to discourage, and whom we must consider
as in reality " having no hope, as they are with-
out God in the world."-|- 1- Dear friends, if ye
have not tlie marks by which they are known,
whom the Father hath given to the Son, what
right have ye to any of the comfort which the

* Ps. xlii. II.
; 1 Tliess. V. 8.
I! Lulie xxi. "l^i.
** Ilcb. xii. 1,2.

t Rom. viii. 24.

§ Ej)Ii. vi. 11.
If I lob. iv. 9.
U Eph. ii. 12.

IN BEHALF O^ HIS PEOPLE.

399

word of Josus is calculated to afford, " Father,
I will that they whom thou hast given me be
with me where I am." Even in those hopes
of heaven which ye profess to have, ask your-
selves, if the tliought of being with Jesus has
any j)articular charm, or if ye think of or care
for heaven on any other groTuid than as a
mere refuge from hell ? And what wonder is it,
that such a vague hope as that has no effect
upon your lives, and is insufficient to induce you
to give up the world, and bear the cross of
Jesus ? But, dear friends, if ye would have a
solid and well-grounded hope of salvation, O !
seek it in Jesus ; if ye would have such a hope,
as will comfort you in trouble, cheer you in dis-
tress, lighten your every burden, ease your every
woe, support you in the hour of death, and give
you boldness in the day of judgment, seek it, not
by resting upon your outward privileges, not by
trying to persuade yourselves that ye were born
again at baj)tism, and are so made heirs of
God, but by seeking the baptism of the Spirit ;
for it is only His grace, which, shed abroad in the
heart, can give "the hope that maketh not
ashamed." Come, as guilty ones, to the blood of
Jesus ; wash and be clean. Let your hopes be
planted upon Calvary, and nourished with the
Pentecostal dews of the Holy Spirit's grace : and
then shall no storm blast them, no scorch-

400 THE savior's will for his people.

ing rays of trial wither them, no frosts from the
world's chilling breath destroy them ; but they
shall expand into the fulness of enjoyment in the
Paradise of God.

401

SERMON XXII.

CONCLUDING PETITIONS.

♦ i

St. John xvii. 25, 26.

O righteous Father, the world hath not known
Thee ; hut I have known Thee, and these have
known that Thou hast sent me. And I have
declared unto them Thy name, and will de-
clare it; that the love wherewith Thou hast
loved me may he in them, and I in them.

We have now arrived at the conclusion of that
truly solemn and affecting prayer, which the
Savior offered up for His chosen ones shortly
before His passion. Everything needful for
them in time and through eternity had now
been entreated for them. Every request, which

i ^

£i

M n

402

CONCLUDING PETITIONS.

was calculated to give them confidence and com-
fort upon earth, and to inspire them with a glorious
hope of happiness in heaven, liad now been uttered
in their hearing. And now the Savior seems to
linger with a fond anxiety upon the subject of
His petitions. He seems, as it were, unwilling to
conclude His requests. He dwells again upon
the confidence which He has in the Father to
guide and sustain and keep His disciples; and
recals again to His mind, and repeats for their
consolation, the tender and gracious purposes to-
wards them, which brought Him down from
His exaltation, and which would still be kept
unceasingly in view by Him, when raised
again to the Father's right hand, and invested
with new dignity, and surrounded with new
glory, as the recompense of His mediatorial
work.

The verses, then, which have just been read to
you, seem, as it were, a recapitulation of the
subject, which liad just been calling forth such
fond and earnest communion with His heavenly
Father. They appear to be a sort of summing
up of the requests which He has just been ut-
tering ; and thus present us, at one view, with
what is most important, if we may so speak,
among those petitions, of which every word
was full of divine love, every expression charged
with an eternal import.

CONCLUDING PETITIONS.

403

In Jringing, then, to a close this series of
discourses upon so amazingly important and pre-
cious a portion of the Divine word, I would de-
sire, my dearly beloved brethren and friends, to
take the Lord Jesus himself as my guide, and
to follow His words, in briefly recapitulating
to you those points, which have principally been
suggested in the course of our considerations
upon so divine a subject. May He, whose pre-
sence has, I trust, been sought throughout,
deign graciously to manifest Himself to us now,
and to reveal to our souls the precious things con-
tained in this Scripture for our use, and to
convince, to edify, to instruct, to comfort, and to
bless us, according to our need.

In this recapitulation, our meditations may,
I trust, be profitably engaged upon these three
points, with which some subordinate considera-
tions may be connected: viz. first, the charac-
ter under which the great God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ is addressed; secondly, the
character of the persons for whom tliese sup-
plications are presented : and, thirdly, the nature
of the requests that have been made in their
behalf. Surely, dear friends and brethren, these
are important topics, and worthy of your at-
tentive and aflPectionate regard ; and if the re-
petition, which may be necessary, of truths
whose importance is so infinite, be wearisome to

dd2

vi?t

404

CONCLUDING PETITIONS.

you now, O! remember how great risk you
would run of being weary of the employments
of lieaven, wl»ere « they rest not day nor night,
saying. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty,
which was, and is, and is to come."*

I. Let me, then, beg your attention, dear
brethren, while we consider, first, the character,
under which the eternal God has been l.ere ad-
dressed by His well-beloved Son. " O righte-
ous Father!" saith the blessed Jesus, when com-
mitting His disciples to His care. That infinite
and inflexible righteousness is an attribute of
the eternal God must be evident to all, who have
any scriptural notions of the character of God at
all. It were not necessary, then, to dwell upon
this attribute of God for the purpose of p:'ov-
iug its existence: or as if the ascription of this
character to the Almighty were calculated at
all to excite surprise. It is not indeed surpris-
ing or extraordinary, that the Lord God is
righteous : but is it not so, that this attribute
should be appealed to, when the Lord is address-
ed on the behalf of guilty sinners ? Is it not
this very attribute of God, which awakes the sin-
ner's fears, which places such an awful barrier
between his soul and heaven, which demands
such fearful vengeance upon him and his ini-

* Rev. iv. 8.

CONCLUDING I'KTITIONS.

405

quities ? Is it not because the Lord is a riglite-
oiis God, that there is such an irreconcilable
enmity between Him and sin ? And as He has
80 solemnly declared, that " the soul that sin-
neth it shall die,"* is it not His perfect ri*rhte-
ousness, which precludes the possibility of His
changing t!ie sentence He has passed, and re-
mitting the punishment He has denounced ?
Yes, surely so it is ; and is it not, then, strange
that this very attribute should be appealed to
as the ground of the sinner's confidence, and
the foundation of the sinner's peace ?

It is strange indeed; but, blessed be the
Name of the Lord, since that gracious purpose
has been carried into effect, by which " mercy
and truth have met together, righteousness and
peace have kissed each other,"] it is no less true,
that it is the inflexible righteousness of God
which gives the believer in Jesus, sinner though
he be, all his comfort and all his strength. The
righteousness which demanded the sinner's con-
demnation has been satisfied by the condem-
nation of Jesus to a sinner's death in sinners'
stead. The barrier which was placed between
the guilty sinner and the righteous God hath
been removed by that sacrifice, upon whose head
the sins of His people have been laid. In the
immediate prospect of those sufferings, by which

* Ezek. xviii. 4.

-l" Psalm Ixxxv. 10.

406

CONCLUDING PETITIONS.

this wondrous atonement was to be completctl,
Ho to whom u'l time, past, present, and to come]
was at the same moment visible, addressed the
Father, as though His justice were already satis-
fied, and His righteousness engaged on the sin-
ner's side. For that righteousness of God, which
made it so necessary that sin should be punished,
made it equally necessary, if we may so speak,
that those sins, which were once punished in the
person of the sinner's surety, should be punished
no more for ever. That righteousness, which
would have bound the Almighty to bestow life
upon man, as the promised reward of his obedi-
ence, if he had never sinned, is now equally
bound,— with reverence we speak it,— to bestow
this promise of life upon those, who have rendered
that obedience, not indeed in their own persons,
but by the vicarious fulfilment of the law, which'
their surety hath wrought out. While, then, it
is mercy, amazing mercy, on the part of the
Eternal, which provided such a way of redemp-
tion for the sinner, yet, praised be His Name,
since that plan hath Ijen accomplished, it is not
His mercy alone, but His justice, His holiness, and
His truth, which give confidence and comfort to
every sinner that truly believeth in Jesus. That
righteousness, which was once his terror, is now
his confidence ; for it assures him, that He, who
hath punished his sins already in Jesus, has no

CONCLUDING nCTITIONS.

407

more vengeance to execute upon him, and will
remember his sins no more. That holiness
of God, which once dashed all his liojus of
heaven, as it made it impossible that he could
enter there without being also holy as God is
holy, now forms a theme of his thankfulness
and joy ; as it encourages him in the confi-
dence, that the Lord liath made Jesus unto him
holiness as well as justification, and that He
will Himself carry on the work of "forming
Christ in him, as his sure hope of glory."*
In the words, then, of the Redeemer himself,
may every redeemed soul address the Eternal
as his " righteous Father," and cling to His
infinite righteousness, as well as His parental
love, as being engaged, now that He has de-
livered him from condemnation, to " keep him
from every evil, and to preserve Him unto His
heavenly kingdom. "f

r H

n. From this view of the character under
which the gracious Father is addressed by the
sinners' surety in their behalf, let us turn, se-
condly, to consider the character of the persons
for whom the supplications contained in this
chapter have been presented by Him whom the
Father always heareth, and to whom " He hath
not denied the request of His lips."

* Gal. iv. 19 ; Col. i. 27.

t 2 Tim. iv. 18.

■i ^.

408

CONCLUDING PETITIONS.

Without roforrinrr, again, to that eternal pur-
pose of God, wiiich gave this people to His
blessed Son, hut simply taking for cur guide tiie
means of distinguishing them whieh are affbrded
by the text, we perceive that their character is
contrasted with that of the world. And to aid
ill our discovery of the diseiples of Jesus, we
would observe, first, what is said concerning the
world. - O righteous Father," saith the blessed
Jesus, « the world hath not known Thee."

And is this ignorance of God so great a sin ?
O I how diH'crent an estimate of sin, then, is
for.ned by the world from that which God him-
self forms ! Are not the world ready to plead
this very ignorance, as, in some sort, an excuse^
for their sin? Yet the Holy Spirit, by th
mouth of His apostle Paul, gives this description
of those upon whom the fearful vengeance of the
last great day will be outpoured ; that they are
"those that know not God, and obey not the
Gospel of His Son."* Wc find in the Scriptures,
while describing the enemies of God and of His
Gospel, no awful list of black enormities, such as
the world themselves condemn, as stamj)ing uni-
versally their character, and forming thcronly
ground of exclusion from His kingdom : but,
though we see such works of the flesh, iiuleed^
as are of an abandoned nature, condemned to
* 2Tliess. i. 8.

CONCLUDING PETITIONS.

409

rnal pur-
e to His

guido tlie
! attbrtled
■iracter is
(I to aid
csus, we
tiiiig the
i blessed

t a sin ?
tlieii, is
)d liiiii-
to plead
excuse
by til.
orij)tion
e of the
hey are
lot the
iptures,
of His
such as
ig iini-
e only
: but,
iideed,
led to

certain vengeance, yet the general features of
their character, who are not among the people of
God, are that ignorance of God, that indifference
to His service, that [)reference of any other object
of affection and regard above the Lord that made
tliein, that carelessness concerning His presence,
that love of themselves, which the world think so
little of as sins, but which all mark a people,
whose hearts are gone after their idols, and whose
understanding and affections are alienated from
the Lord. They know not God, as a God of such
infinite purity and holiness, that He haieth the
very imagination of evil, and holdeth the very
thought of sin in utter abomination. They know
Hiin not, as a God of such inflexible justice, that
He will not alter the thing that is gone oat of
His mouth, but will infallibly condemn every
unbelieving, unrepentant, unconverted sinner,
though, in the world's eye, he may be everything
that is amiable, affectionate, and, in their scale,
good. They know Him not as a Father recon-
ciled in Christ Jesus; for having never fled to
Christ as an atonement, nor been washed with
His blood, nor sanctified by His spirit, they can-
not know God as He is revealcfl in His Son,
They know not God, so as to see their own
abominable vileness in His sight ; they know Him
not, so as to find themselves guilty and con-
demned before Him ; they know Him not, so as

4]0

CONCLUDING PETITIONS.

to love Him above all things for the mercies He
has provided them in Christ Jesus; they know
Him not, so as to trust in Him, that, though He
sees in them nothing but pollution, He yet looks
upon them as acceptable for the sake of His dear
^on. They may, indeed, have speculatively
known something of Him, as thus revealed ; but
hey know Him not, as the supreme object of
their hearts' affections; they know Him not, so
as to love Him above all things, to hate every-
thing which He hateth, and to seek, above all
things, a conformity to His will.

The character of the disciples of Jesus, on the
other hand, is marked by their knowing Jesus,
as the Sent of God. In their ignorance of God
the ^^ ,rld had rejected Jesus, because, through
such their ignorance, they recognised Him not as
the brightness of God's glory and the express
image of His person,"* and as having "all the
folness of the Godhead dwelling bodily within
Him. t To the eye of the natural man, indeed,
there .s m Him « no form nor comeliness, nor
when they see Him, is there any beauty in Him,
for which they should desire Him.''^ And as
iiothmg but the grace of the Holy Spirit can dis-
sipate this darkness of the natural mind, and
enable the sinner to see in Jesus the glory of the

*^-^''^'^' fCol.ii.9.

I Isu. liii. 2.

CONCLUDING PETITIONS.

411

Father,* this is well giycii as an evidence of a
converted state, viz. the disposition and the power
to receive Jesus, and to glorify Him, as the only
way by which a sinner can come to God, the only
means througli which he can know anything of
God. Tlie people of God have no otlier means
of knowing God than such as are freely proposed
to all the world. We claim for them no new, nor
special revelation. They only know God tlirough
the same means, by wiiich others might know
Him, if they would but come to Jesus that they
may have life ; for all their knowlege of Him is
derived, not from any deep reasonings or scientific
researches, ,«uch as only a small portion of the
world are capable of carrying on, but simply from
beholding Jesus, as " He is set forth evidently
before tlieir eyes, crucified for them ;" from per-
ceiving Him to be " the way, the truth, and the
life," and to have all the precious attributes of
God, that we are at all capable of forming any
idea of, centered in Himself. " The world hath
not known Tiiee," saith the blessed Jesus; "but
I have known Thee, and these have known tliat
Thou liast sent me ; and I have declared unto
them Thy name, and will declare it."

The children of God, then, as distinct from the
children of the world, are they, who, being by tiie

* John xvi. 8, 14, 15.

412

CONCLUDING rETITIONS.

Spirit of God aroused from tlicir natural state of
darkness, and rescued from the region of the
shadow of death, liave been taught by tlie same
Spirit to receive Jesus, as the Sent of God, and
as the only revelation of Himself which God hatli
thought lit to make to man. From llim, the
blessed Jesus, they have learnt the name of God,
which He hath declared unto them, and have
found, that it is in Jesus alone that He is set
forth, as " the Lord God merciful and gracious,
long-suffering, and full of compassion, keei)in^
mercy for thousands, and forgiving iniquity"^
transgression, and sin."* 7'hrough Him alone!
then, they look up to God as a Father, and be-
come acquainted witii Him as a friend. Through
Him alone they look upon the Lord as " blotting
out their transgressions for His own sake, and
remembering their sins no more."t Through Him
alone, then, they find tliemselves in the enjoy-
ment of peace with God, and, knowing that His
name is Love, are enabled to receive all His dis-
pensations as visits of love, and to commit all their
matters to Him as to a loving parent ; and, " lov-
ing Him because He first loved them,";j: they
aim, from love to Him, at avoiding everything
that grieves Him, and doing all such things as"^
for Jesus' sake, are well pleasing in His sight.

* Ex. xxxiv. G, 7.

I John iv, 19,

t Isa. xliii. 25.

CONCLUDING I'ETITIONS.

413

Their leadinoj feature, then, as we have before
seen, is " faitli vvhicli worketh by love ;"— faith,
wliich is the utmost amount of knowh^gc of which
while in the body they are capable, producing
love to God, love to one another, love to all
mankind.

III. For these His disciples, who are thus
distinguished from the world, hath the Lord
Jesjis now been pouring forth His earnest suppli-
catiims. The substance of those supplications,
which we proposed, thirdly, to review, may be
perceived in our Savior's declaration of the j)ur-
[)ose for which He had made known to them
the name of the Lord, even " that the love with
which the Father had loved Him might be in
them, and He Himself in them." All that was
desirable for them, in time and in eternity, was
surely comprised in the petition and the purpose,
that the Father should love them, even as Ho
loved Him. The love of the Father for His
beloved Son had not, indeed, ]i reserved Him
from many trials of His earthly pilgrimage ;
nay, it had even exposed Him to them, in order
that " the Capfuin of salvation should be made
perfect through sufferings."* And the love, with
wliich the Father loveth His people for His Son's
sake, is not pledged to exempt them at all from

* Heb. ii. 10.

414

CONCLUDING PETITIONS.

rials, privations, and woes : it may even appor-
tion to them a larger share of them than to
other men, in order that they may be refined,
assilyeris refined, and purified as gold that is
tried m the furnace. But the Savior was borne
up amid all His trials, and sustained amid all
His woes by the cheering testimony of the
1-athers love, acknowleging Him by a voice
from heaven, as - the beloved Son in whom the
Father was well pleased." And what more can
the believer want, either for his comfort, or his
edification, or his strength, or his peace; what
more can he need for his succour in adversity
or his joy in prosperity, for his supply in poverty
or his chief good in wealth, for his support in
dangers, or his staff amid the trials of his daily
walk, than the assurance that the Father is well
pleased with Jesus that dwells in Him, and looks
upon him as, for Jesus' sake, accepted and be-
loved ? And what more glorious, more invitino-
prospect can allure the mind, than that on
which the eye of the believer rests in looking
forward to eternity, and in being permitted to
think of the love of God as then filling him
without measure, and of the blessed Jesus as
dwelling in him, manifesting Himself to him -
no more « through a glass darkly," but " face' to
face, "-and forming the light and life of the hea-
ven m which He dwells ? And all this hath the

CONCLUDING PETITIONS.

415

Lord Jesus now been requesting in behalf of His
disciples. All that the love of the Father
could do for Jesus, He hath now entreated to
have done for them. Having placed Himself
in their stead as a sacrifice for tiieir sins, He
would admit them to a full participation of His
place in the Father's regard, and prays, that,
through His dwelling in them, they, being ac-
counted righteous even as He is righteous, may
be loved, even as He is loved, be one with the
Father, even as He and the Father are one, be
in unity with one another, after the same pattern,
be daily meetened for the Father's presence,
through sanctification of the Spirit, and, finally,
be brought to the unveiled contemplation of
His glory, and the perfect resemblance of His
image, in the heavenly kingdom. What more
than this could even Jesus ask? What more
than this could even the Father of all good
bestow ? Surely to be made like Jesus, to share
His love, and to be made partakers of His glory,

is a higher honor than the highest angel shares

an honor which the Lord bestows on them alone,
whom, of His wondrous grace. He makes His
children in Christ Jesus.

Such, dear friends and brethren, appear to
be, in brief, the principal subjects of consider-
ation, upon which, while discoursing upon this
chapter, our meditations have been engaged.

416

CONCLUDING PETITIONS.

They suggest also a few words of application
to the two great classes of hearers, of whom this
or any mixed congregation may be supposed to
be made up.

For are there not, alas ! too many here, who
must be classed with the world, who know not
God, nor obey His Gospel, who are yet uncon-
verted, impenitent, unbelieving ? My poor fellow
sinners, the same words, which are so full of
comfort and joy to the Lord's people, carry their
condemnation with them to your souls. For
while ye feel so little interest in the Lord's pro-
mises, and have so little enjoyment of His word,
and show so little love for His service ; while
the very petitions, which form the delight
of the Lord's servants, are so uninteresting to
you, what portion can ye claim in Jesus, or what
well-grounded hope can ye indulge of His glory ?
As ye know not Jesus by any personal applica-
tion to Him, as ye know not God, as a reconciled
Father in Christ Jesus, as ye know not the
Spirit of God by any testimony borne by Him
to your spirits of your being the children of God,
do ye not by this ignorance show, that ye are
yet in the world and of the world, and of that
class, of whom the Lord hath said such fearful
things? But O ! dearly beloved, awake, and
arouse you from this state of danc,er, Know
ye not yet, that " the friendship of the world

■yi

CONCLUDING PETITIONS.

417

is enmity with God ;" and that there can be no
real peace to those who are at enmity with
Him ? O ! " come out then, and be ye separate,
saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing ;
and I will receive you, and will be a Father
unto you ; and ye shall be my sons and daugh-
ters, saith the Lord Almighty."*

And how can we sufficiently urge you, dear
brethren and sisters in the Lord Jesus, to live
up to the privileges, which are set before you
in this our Savior's prayer in your behalf? " The
Lord hath chosen you to Himself to be a pecu-
liar people above all the people of the earth ;"t
how should ye glorify Him for this act of His
sovereign grace, by living to Him, by separating
yourselves from all worldliness and sin, and re-
joicing always in the Lord your God ! Ye have
been committed by the Savior to the special
care and keeping of His holy Father, whose
righteousness and truth are now engaged for
your safety and peace. How continually, then,
should ye " give thanks at the remembrance
of His holiness,":]: and joyfully acknowlege that
*' in the Lord Jehovah ye have righteousness
and strength." § The Lord hath prayed for you,
that ye may be sanctified through the truth.
How then should ye prize, and dwell upon, and

* 2 Cor. vi. 17, 18. f Deut. vii. 6.

t Ps. xcvii. 12. §Isa. xlv. 24.

E E

418

CONCLUDING PETITIONS.

love that word, wliicli is the Lord's appointed
means for so gracious an end ! The Lord liath
prayed tliat ye may be one witli Him and with
one another, as He and the Father are on. .
How, tlien, should ye " endeavour to keep the
unity of the spirit in the bond of peace !" And
He hath, finally, expressed His will, that ye be
with Him where He is, sharing His glory, and
contemplating His perfections. O! then, how
should ye be *♦ looking for and hasting unto His
coming," and, amid all your trials and difficul-
ties, looking forward to the glorious end of them
all, when He who is gone before to prepare a
place for you, " shall come again to receive you
to Himself, that where He is, ye may be also."
Dear brethren, live upon Christ ; ye cannot ex-
haust the fulness that is in Him : draw con-
tinually from Him, and ye shall find peace and
joy, such as the world knows nothing of, such
as the world cannot give, and such as the world
cannot take away.

410

appointed
Lord liath
and with
are on^ .
keep the
>!" And
lat ye be
;h)ry, and
len, how
unto His
difRcul-
'. of them
repare a
ceive you
be also."
nnot ex-
raw con-
3ace and
of, such
he world

SERMON XXIII.

THE BRAZEN SERPEN'J'.

St. John iii. 14, 15.

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wil-
derness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted
up : that whosoever helieveth in Him should not
perish, hut have eternal life.

The Holy Scriptures employ various modes of
setting forth before the eyes of sinners the fulness
and freeness and all-sufficiency of the salvation
that is by Jesus Christ. By the various sacri-
fices, which they announce as of the Lord's ap-
pointment, but which are evidently insufficient
of themselves to take away sin, we are taught
the solemn truth, that " without shedding of
blood there is no remission"* of sins; and are

* Heb. ix 22.

E E 2

lei'if i

420

TIIK UKAZKN SEIU'ENT.

pointed to the one great sacrifice once offered
upon Calvary, wiiicii liatli atoned for a world's
transgressions. By tile various ceremonies of
ablution, and other purifyinn- ordinances, we
are taught the uncleanness and corruj)tion of our
nature, and of everything tiiat proceeds from us,
and our need of continual wasiiiug in that pre-
cious stream which flows unceasingly from the
" fountain opened for sin and uncleanness in the
house of David."* And by various tyi)es, which
abound in the Old Testament, and are desinned
to prefigure various qualities of the dispensation
of grace, we are referred either to the comi)lete-
ncss of the substitution of Christ in the place
of guilty sinners, or to the simplicity of the
manner in which His healing virtues are applied
to the cure of sin-struck souls, or to the richness
of the })rovision which is made in Christ for all
that look unto Him for salvation.

Of the mode of teaching by types, the text
aflTords us an instance ; and if tlie success of any
mode of instruction be good evidence of its sim-
plicity and suitableness, we may conclude, that
no figure which the Scriptures supply is better
calculated to set forth the simple way of salva-
tion, the character of the persons for whom it is
designed, and the nature of the benefits which it
confers, than that of the brazen serpent. Many,

* Zech. xiii. 1.

THE UIIAZEN SEUl'ENT.

421

indeed, have been the cases, in which poor sin-
ners, who iiad been spending their strength for
nought, in a vain endeavour to eh;anse them-
selves by their prayers, their n pentanee, and
tlieir tears, liave been led by the consideration of
the text to see the simplicity of tiie Lord's way,
and, as the Lord invites by His [)rophet, to "look
unto Mini that they may be saved."* And many
indeed have been the cases in which poor despond-
mg creatures, that had been writing bitter thinos
agaiust themselves, and deeming themselves too
vile to be forgiven, have been led of the Lord's
grace, in the consideration of the same words, to
see the sufficiency of the remedy proposed for tlieir
healing, and to apply its preciousness to their own
salvation.

May the Lord, in the riches of His mercy and
grace, be present here this day, and bless the con-
temj)lation of the subject before us to the spiri-
tual instruction of some poor sinner here I May
the Lord the Spirit take this mutter into His own
hand, and draw the eyes of sinners to the pre-
cious Saviour, and reveal to them His beauty, His
sufficiency, His grace !

Let us consider, dear friends and brethren, first,
the circumstances in the history of the Jews, in
which th' elevating of the brazen serpent oc-
curred ; and then endeavor to apply to our spi-

* Isa. xlv. 22.

I I WW yjP—WW-^WMM

422

THE BRAZEN SERPENT.

ritual instruction tlie view of the disease and of
the remedy which is so presented to us.

And first, then, it is necessary to introduce you
into the camp of the Israelites, the chosen, the
highly favored people of God, as they are in a
temporary rest upon their journeyings from Egypt
to the land of promise. * The pillar of cloud is rest-
ing upon the tabernacle, in token that it is the
Lord's will that here they should halt a while. 'Tis
but a short time since King Arad the Canaanite,
in a weak attempt to stop the way of the Lord's
chosen, had been defeated by the armies of Is-
rael, and both himself and his people, his cities
and his fields, been utterly laid waste. One enemy
after another has been cut down before them, as
they go in the name of the Lord on their ap-
pointed way ; and every want wliicli has befallen
them in their pilgrimage has been constantly
supplied, even though the windows of heaven
must be opened to pour down bread for them, and
the flinty rock be smitten to supply them with a
living stream to slake their thirst. What sounds,
then, shall salute our eais, as we approach tlieir
halting place ? Shall the notes of praise, the
psalm of thanksgiving, and the voice of melody,
invite our chorus in the celebration of His won-
drous love, whose tender mercies are over all His
works, and who has shown Himself so surpass-
* Numb, xxi. 1 — 9.

THE BRAZEN SERPENT.

423

se and of
duce vou

osen, the
are in a
m Egypt
id is rest-
it is the
bile. 'Tis
anaanite,
le Lord's
es of Is-
bis cities
;ie enemy
them, as
their ap-
i befallen
Dnstantly
f heaven
lem, and
fn with a
t sounds,
ich their
tiise, the
melody,
lis won-
r all His
surpass-

'"g^y gracious to this people, notwithstanding all
their impatience, their provocations, and their
hardness of heart ? Shall we see them rejoicing
in the Lord their strength, and glorying in the
God of their salvation, and preparing, in His
might, to go forward wherever the pillar of the
cloud shall lead the way, confident that no want
shall be left unheeded, and no enemy j nitted
to do them harm ? — Alas ! our eye must ^t, our
ear must dwell, on other sights, en other sounds
than these. With all the wonders of the Lord's
power on their behalf, and all the rich displays of
His beneficence fresh in their minds, they have
been murmuring against Him ; and He, long suf-
fering and gracious still, but designing to teach
them by a rod the lessons they would not receive
from such continued mercy, hath sent among them
fiery serpents; — and the wounded, the dying, and
the dead, in all the varieties of agonised contor-
tions, of livid apathy, and of rapid putrescence,
are lying in masses around.

The fearful progress of the destroying angel
hath alarmed the hearts of tliis murmuring and
rebellious host ; it hath extorted from their lips a
cry for mercy, and brought them to the feet of
the very Moses against whom they had been
wroth, to beg his intercession with the Lord that
this plague should be removed. And, even " be-
fore they call, the Lord hath answered ; and while

424

THE BRAZEN SERPENT.

tliey arc yet speaking, He hatli heard."* In
conipliaiice with His gracious bidding, a serpent
of brass, the image of those fiery ones by which
the people liave been bitten, liath been made, and
set up on tile most elevated ground, from wJiich
it may be seen by all the people ; and this an-
nouncement runs through all the host, " Look
here, and live: look, ye diseased, ser|jent-bitten,
dying Israelites, look hither: turn but your eye
to the brazen figure erected here among you ;
only look, and ye shall be made whole." This
message, proclaimed by herald's voice, is sounded
again and again in the ears of those that are suf-
fering, as friends and relations bend around them,
and point them to the ofi'ered cure.

And how is this message heeded? — Let us
linger a while about the melancholy scene, and go
from group to group to observe its eilects. The
poison is not so rapid as the cure, and, even
though we should be bitten, the remedy is in
sight. Here then is a group of anxious ones sur-
rounding a person who has been bitten, and
through whose blood the venom hath quickly
s])read. He seems to be upon the very edge of
death ; but his dying eye is turned towards the
direction in which they point; the film which
almost clouds his view removes ; the brightness
of his eye, the returning color of his cheek, the

* Isa. Ixv. 24.

THE BRAZEN SEIll'KNT.

425

restored vigor of liis liinhs, proclaini him cured.
And here another lies as helpless, and as near the
ed<re of eternity ; around him are anxious ones,
endeavouring- to direct him to the remedy for his
pains; hut in a voice scarce articulate he re-
plies : ♦ Let me alone : all the physicians have
applied their remedies in vain ; what good will
looking at a hrazen figure do ? O let me die !'
Finding remonstrance vain, they endeavor hy a
gentle force to turn him, so that, if he hut opes
his eye, the hrazen serpent may meet his view ; —
but hark ! that rattle !— he is dead. Turn we to
another group; the fiery serpents are still execut-
ing their fearful errand ; and, see, even now they
are writhing round the vigorous frame of some
athhstic youth. The cry is raised to him, ' Look
to the brazen serjjent !' but, as if he heard them
not, lie struggles to release himself from the re})-
tile's clammy coils ; and, m the vain contest of his

strength with them, he sinks bitten,— writhing,

dying,— dead. And, see, another has been bitten,
but has not observed the assault. He saw not
when the reptile fixed its fang upon him, and
hun-ied by upon its deadly work. He heeds not,
then, the call to look to the brazen serjx'nt; he
believes them not when they tell him ho is bitten ;
he walks along ts if secure from an attack. But
ere long the poison spreads ; and, even wluni tlie
boast of security is upon his tongue, he sinks in

*y /

426

THE BRAZEN SEllPENT.

anguish upon the cold ground. Not far from
tliis, a group more interesting still calls for a mo-
ment's gaze. A mother lies surrounded by her
little ones, among whom the destroyer hath made
sad havoc. They have been bitten all ; one lies
beside her dead ; the message had not reached
her ear before the poison had performed its work
on him ; but she is trying for the rest to turn
their eyes towards the pole. These little ones
have no reasonings to oppose, no strength with
which to combat their assailants ; they look where
their mother points ; — and her beating heart is
gladdened by the flush of health, that instantly
warms their cheek. But as we return to leave the
camp, we pass again the group at which we first
beheld the dying man restored ; again we find
him the object of the serpent's assault ; he hath
been bitten again ; but though the venom is
spreading rapidly through his frame, his past ex-
perience has taught him where to look ; he looks
again : and though he should be bitten fifty times,
if he should look as often at the seri)ent of brass,
the Lord's appointed remedy, he should each time
be healed.

But having left a scene, in which man's
misery and helplessness, and perverseness withal,
and the Lord's mercy and goodness and love
have been so displayed, let us turn, and endeavor
to derive that spiritual instruction from it, which

THE BRAZEN SERPENT.

427

the Lord's own reference to it proves tliat it is
calculated to afford. What shall we find typified
to us by this scene in Israel's camp ? — First, the
disease under which man is labouring ; secondly,
the remedy which is provided for his healing ;
thirdly, the manner in which the offers of this re-
medy are received, and its efficiency when it is
applied. May the Lord Jesus further the attempt
so to hold Him up to view, that sinners may be
led to look to Him and live.

L And, first, how exactly are represented to
us, in this seen'?, the origin, the nature, and the
extent of the disease, by which the spiritual con-
dition of the whole of Adam's fallen race is
affected ! It was the fiery assault of the old ser-
pent, the devil, which sapped the soul's health
of the first pair in Eden, and infused a poison
into their blood, whose taint has been communi-
cated to the veins of every one of their descend-
ants to the latest time. The adversary, the devil,
is the author and origin of the soul's ruin; the
father of lies, the instigator of pride, the sup-
porter of idolatry, and of the many evils which,
since the fall, must be called natural to us,
though they are no part of our nature as God
made it, but as the devil hath deformed it. Tlie
poison of sin, which his assault infused into our
nature, has spread throughout it ; so that, in the

PWD*«Hiil»

428

THE BRAZEN SERPENT.

State in which ever}' one of our fallen race is born
into the world, and continues until he is made a
new creature in Christ Jesus, the understanding
is blinded, the will perverted, the affections mis-
placed,— in short, "the whole head is sick, and the
whole heart faint,"* yea, " deceitful a])ove all
things, and desperately wicked."! The differ-
ences which are perceptible in children and in
men, as to the capacities of the mind, and the
qualities of the heart, so far as they are merely
natural differences, make no change as to their
universal condition as fallen, corrupt, sinful, and
accursed creatures in the sight of a pure and
holy God. There are differences of disposition in
the different beings of our race, perceptible to all
eyes; some are amiable, some are morose; some
generous, others niggardly ; some take a pleasure
in wounding others' feelings ; and others, from
a natural tenderness, would not set their foot
upon a worm : but these diff'erences indicate no
change in the universal condition of mankind as
sinners, who " have gone astray like lost sheep,
and have turned every one to his own way.":{:
Who is there, that, whatever his amiability, or his
supposed excellence may be, can pretend that he
hath never sinned ? — and if he hatli committed
but one sin, " he is guilty of the whole law:"§

* Isa. i. 5.
I Isa. li!i. 6.

-}- Jer. xvii. 9.
§ James ii. 10.

THE BRAZEN SERPENT.

429

his whole spirit, is defiled ; his whole soul ic-
cursed. There is nothing lie can do, nothing
that any of us, wliile in a natural state, can
do, that is not defiled vvitii sin. Tiiis disease
spreads as fearfully over tiic whole nature, as the
venom of the serpent, when communicated to the
blood, is diffused over the v\hole s\stem. In the
sight of a holy God, everything that 3omes
from an unchanged heart must be unclean ;
the very prayers and praises, the very tears,
the very righteousnesses of a fallen sinner
are the filthiest rags before Him.* Sucli, dear
friends and brethren, is the universality of this
disease, that I can be under no possibility of mis-
take in supposing myself to be now addressing a
congregation of sinners ; of persons in whom sin
is either still raging, or who, having already
fled to the remedy, have been healed. No dif-
ferences among you, but that of a thorough
change of heart, can make any exceptions to
this sweeping charge. Dear friends, ye are my
fellow-sinners ; and, whatever ye may be in the
view of man, can be nothing in the sight of God,
but sinful and polluted creatures. You brought
this disease into the world with you ; it showed
itself in the first openings of your mind, in the
first lispings of your tongue: it has grown
with your growth, and strengthened witli your
strength ; and, unless the only remedy has been

* Isa. Ixiv. 6.

430

THE BRAZEN SERPENT.

r 11

applied, it is still raging within you, and urging
you with fearful haste to your destruction.

II. But, dear friends, there is a remedy pro-
vided : for "as Moses lifted up the serpent in
the wilderness, even so hath the Son of Man been
lifted up, that whosoever believeth in Him should
not perish, but have eternal life." Yes, it is our
privilege to speak of this remedy in such a way
as even the Lord Himself could not. He could
but say, " The Son of Man must be lifted up :"
it is ours to tell you, that the Son of Man has
been lifted up, and to announce to you, as the
blessed consequence of this fact, that whosoever
looketh to Him shall not perish, but have ever-
lasting life.

In considering this remedy, we need not enter
minutely into the points of resemblance between
the brazen serpent and Christ crucified : but may
proceed to consider simply the nature and the
sufficiency of the direction to look unto Jesus and
be saved. The Lord having left man for a mo-
ment to himself, even when he was in a state of
innocence and without any natural biaa to evil,
such as all his descendants have, the consequence
was, that he yielded to the first temptation, and fell.
And if man, while in innocence, could not keep
himself so; still less can his guilty descendants
do anything to make themselves better, and to

,..j!^-^^

THE BRAZEN SERPENT.

431

restore themselves to innocence. Any plan which
should leave anything for man to do towards his
own cure must be ineffectual ; for so fallen, so
corrupt, so polluted is man, tliat he can do no-
thing- but sin. In this his state of wretchedness,
of pollution, of vile corruption, the Lord had
pity upon him ; He did not tantalize him by of-
fering merely to help him, for help would not
suffice : man was utterly lost, and he must be
totally restored by some power above his own.
The Lord, then, of mere mercy, gave His Son as
the substitute of sinners. He poured out upon
His head the wrath which He entertained against
man's sin. He exacted from Him all the obedi-
ence to His holy laws, which man should have
paid if he would have eternal life. He made
him thus completely a substitute for man ; and
now sends the message to guilty sinners, that
they may look to Him and be saved. They are
guilty, polluted, accursed: the Lord bids them
look to Jesus, and see, that, when He liung upon
the tree, He was made a curse for them, He
suffered their punishment instead of them, He
endured in their place the wrath due to them.
Yes, they are bidden to look to Jesus, and see,
that His suffering for them is just the same as if
they had already suffered : justice is satisfied
concerning them, and they are set free.

They are, moreover, bound to keep the whole

i
If

••sr

I!'

432

THE BRAZEN SERPENT.

t\ i

1 y
fi

{ .

law of God, in every on( of its oommands : yet
tliey find, that, instead of obeying it, tliey arc
continually sinning aj^ainst it : — the Lord bids
them look to Jesus, and see Ilim obeying tiie law
of God instead of them, doing their duty for
them, and complying with all God'- commands
more perfectly than they could have done, even
if they had continued innocent. Yes, the Lord
invites sinners to believe, that, all that the Lord
Jesus did and suflered. He did and suffered in
their j)lace, as their surety and substitute : and
they that believe this in truth are considered as
righteous, as if they had obeyed the law as per-
fectly as Christ did.

]Now sucii, dear fellow sinners, is the remedy
provided for the healing of your souls. The lift-
ing up of Jesus upon the cross was the completion
of that vicarious work which He undertook to
perform in your stead. He has finished this
work : only come by faith, — by a faith as simple,
as was the looking at the brazen serpent,— look
unto Jesus as thus your substitute, and ye are
saved. Ye may then look up to God as at peace
with you, may calculate upon His love for you
here, and look forward to His heaven as your
home hereafter.

There would have been no virtue in looking at
the brazen serpent, if the Lord had not appointed
it as the w ay of healing : so there is no merit in

TiiK uiiAZKN si:i{fi:nt.

433

faitli; but the Lord, liuvinjr givonllis Son as the
substitute for simuM's, haa apimiiited faith as the
way of j)iittiiin- llim on. Otily, then, believe in
Ilim; and tiiat faith makes lliiii yours, an<i };ives
you an interest in all He has done and suiler(!(l for
you, and makes you one with Him, so that I lis
suffering's are the punishment of your sins: His
righteousness is your obedience : and " Hk is
made of (jod unto you wisdom, and riiihteous-
ness, and saiictification, and redemj)tion."*

ni, ButO! "who hath believed our rei)ort?"f
may the uiessenger of the Lord still cry : for
even thouo-h the Lord's salvation is so complete
as this, still does there seem to be no beauty in it
that men shoidd desire it. What are the effects
our message has upon your hearts, dear friends?

See, here is one, that does not care for it at all.
Though a guilty sinner, he refuses to acknowletre
liimself such ; he heeds not warning ; he cares not
for advice ; he slights our invitations to the Sa-
vior. But ah ! stop, poor sinner, stop and think.
The disease is in your blood ; your soul is sinful ;
your nature is corrupt ; you are |)erisliing. 'Inhere
is a remedy, one only remedy; O ! look lo Jesus,
and you shall be saved.

Behold another here, who cannot but know
that he is a sinner : we are all sinners, and of
* 1 Cor. i. 30. ^ Isa. liii. 1.

F F

434

Tllli URAZKN SKIU'F.NT.

course lie is one ; but then lie is not so far gone,
but be can do sonietbing* for biniself. Like the
poor serpent-bitten Israelite, he will struggle to
disentiingle himself froui the coils of sin; be will
do his best to free himself from its defiling touch.
But let me remind you, poor fellow sinner, that
the best you can do is nothing but sin ; that sin
covers you, fills you, defiles you in every way.
But simply look to Jesus; cast your own " filthy
rags" away, and believe what Christ has done for
you; look unto llim, and I)e saved. In Ilim
there is a full remission of sins for you ; in Him
there is free })ardon for you ; in Him there is
holiuess provided for you. Only accept the Lord's
ofiers made vou in such love ; " believe in Jesus,
and you shall be saved."*

Behold here another who is weary, burdened,
dying, under the burden of sin ; and who, like
another of the bitten Israelites, feels himself to be
in so miserable a condition that he thinks there
can be no hope for him. He thinks that his sins
have been too great to be forgiven ; he fears that
his iniquities have been too deep to be washed
out ; he deems the corruption of his heart and
soul too great to be cleansed. But here we have
the very case for which the salvation of Jesus is
adapted. Yea, j)oor sinner ! whoever thou art,
that art " weary and heavy-laden," f who
* Actsxvi. 31. t iMatt. xi. 28.

THL HKAZENT SKUI'HN i".

4;j5

kiiovvGst tliou art a sinner, a poor* guilty sinner,
and tremblingly askest " what t' m Diust do to
be saved,"— to thee is the tnes&age . ,,i, "Look
unto Jesus, and be saved." Bruir^ "our burden,
whatever it may be, and lay it upon Clirist ; for
" God hath made lliin to be sin for you, who
knew no sin, that ye muy be made the righteous-
ness of God iu Him."* Behold Ilim, the infinite
Jehovah, bearing the burden of your sins ; and
can your sins be so blaek that the blood of Jesus
cannot wash them out ? Behold Ilim, the all-per-
fect God, obeying the law for you; and what de-
mand can the law make against you, which lie
has not answered for you? U look unto Ilim,
then, and be saved.

And is there another here, that, haviiig once
joined himself to Christ, and taken His yoke
upon him, has again fallen into sin ? And doth
such a one mourn and lament, as if there were no
more forgiveness for him ? My poor fellow sin-
ner, to thee too is the message sent. Look unto
Jesus, and be saved. There is but the one remedy
for the unregenerate and for the backslider; and,
though the serpent bite you again and again, still
is the same remedy provided. Only look to
Jesus, and you shall be saved. Yet trifle not with
such love as this; for remember, that, thouoh
yon have a promise that " those that come to

* 2 Cor. V. 21.

F F 2

436

THE lillAZEN SERPENT.

Jesus He will in no wise cast out,"* yet lie that
trifles with convictions has no promise that they
shall be renewed.

O ! then, dear friends and brethren, while the
sufficiency of Jesus is so ample, yet remember
that "now," perhaps noiu only, " is the accepted
time : now," and, it may he, now alone, " is the
day of salvation. t

* John vi. 37. 2 Cor vi. 2.

437

lie that
liat they

hile tlie

member

icce[)ted

" is the

SERMON XXIV.

CHRIST CRUCIFIED.

1 CoilINTIilANS i. 23.

Wc preach Chist crucified.*

Yes, brethren ! we recal your minds this day
to the espeeial remembrance of the comple-
tion of that mystery of mysteries, which was, as
on this day, finished on Calvary. We invite
your especial attention to that miracle of mira-
cles, which was this day exhibited to the world, —
the surrender, by the Lord of life and glory, of
that life which He passed upon earth for our
sakes, upon the ignominious tree.

Tliis is not, indeed, the subject of our message
to you on this day alone ; nor is it only, we trust,
upon special occasions such as these, that we

* Preached on Good Friday, 1838.

it-

■ ■' I ' l W Wii ■ > mi.\ I

438

CHRIST CllUCJllKD.

I!'.

invite you to draw near and gaze upon the won-
drous sight of the expiring agonies of tlie Son
of man, and contemplate the trutlis connected
with that wondrous scene. An invitation sucli
as this would have but little influence, and come
with little weight to your souls, unless it gave
the general tone to all our ministrations among
you : unless we entered, in some small nieasure at
least, into the apostle's determination " not to
know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and
Him crucified."* Yet who can doubt the wis-
dom and propriety of taking special occasions of
meditating more deeply than usual upon eacli
particular transaction, as it occurred, in the his-
tory of that redemption this day completed ; who
can forbear to indulge the hope that an especial
a])proach to the contemplation of the dying
agonies of the Lord Jesus, and the solemn en •
gagemcnt of all our thoughts and feelings upon
the closing scene of His pei'secuted career on
earth, may, thi'ough the promised blessing of
God's Holy Spirit, have an influence in quicken-
ing our desires, drawing out our afie ions, and,
impressing our souls?

O ! 'tis a solemn sight to which your con-
temjdations are this day invited. Who can stand
beside the dying bed, on which lies stretched
some fellow-being in his mortal pangs, and, even

* I Cor. ii. :>.

,fc^.«^.

CHRIST CRUCIFIED.

439

though his body's pain be soothed by all that
tenderness and affection can supply, and his soul
liglited up by all the glorious hopes the Gospel
can suggest, not feel tiiat it is a solemn tiling to
witness the last flickering of life's expiring flame,
and to think upon the amazing change that a
few short moments are about to make in the
eternal condition of the departing spirit? Who
can stand, where a fellow-being, hurried by his
passions and instigated by the devil to the com-
mission of some fearful crime, is paying the
penalty which his country's laws demand, and,
in the forfeiture of his life for the life he had
violently taken, is expiring upon the gibbet, and
not feel, that, however his judgment may assent
to the sad necessity for such a scene, his sym-
pathy with the sufferer is aroused, and his
thoughts occupied with the solemnity of so trying
an event 1 ^\'ho, then, could have stood beside
the stake, where bled, or was consumed in flames,
some martyr to the truths on which his soul was
nourished and sustained, and not have felt that it
was in truth a solemn scene ; that however inucli
there may have been tc excite the feelings and
inflame the mind in the cont'ajj iT'tion of such
injured piety, there was more in the meekness of
the suft'erer, in the rich support by which his
soul was upheld in this '. i ;. ;ng hour, and in the
animating prospect which caught and fixed his

|l,. 11

itk' 'I

u i

440

ClIIllST CllUClllED.

dying gaze, to impress tlie spirit, and solemnize
tiie mind, and turn the eyes of tlie soul inward
upon itself to examine its own foundations, and
search into the grounds of its own supj)()rt ?

And is it not a scene embodying all tiiese im-
pressive circumstances, on which ye are now
called to gaze ? Draw near, and see tiie last
agonies of a fellow-being. Behold the death-
paled countenance; watch the last hLavingsof
the panting breast; gaze on the last convulsive
motions of the gradually stiffening limbs ; listen to
the rattling respiration of the thickening breath.
'J'heic is a mortal struggling with his last
enemy ; u fellow-being drawing his last breath.
But not amid the sympathies of weeping friends,
not in the la]) of comfort or of ease, is he, whose
mortal agonies we view, expiring; no, he is dy-
ing beneath the executioner's hands, he is liana-
mg, a mournful spectacle, upon u cross, and,
alas ! an almost solitary case of such barbarity,
his very ])angs of death are made a mockery, his
dying exclamations treated with contempt. And
is it, then, some daring wretch, i)re-eminent in
guilt, and obdurate even upon the verge of
eternity, that we are called upon to witness in his
dying throes ? Oh ! no, 'tis one as perfect in in-
nocence, as his enemies arc exquisite in torture :
'tis one, who, though his hand had never done
one deed of kindness, h;id pioved himself by

CIJIUST CRUCIFIED.

441

^s-

his words to be divine, for " never spake a w«n as
he did;"* 'tis one, whose words were not more
numerous than the acts of his beneficence, for
*'he went about doing good;"t 'tis one, ujjon
whose fame even calumny can fix no blot ; whose
life was unsullied, whose words were truth, whose
conduct grace, whose actions love; 'tis one, whose
only crime is his humility ; whose only fault the
incomprehensible holiness of His life ; whose
only accusation, his announcing himself the
King, whose throne is in the heavens, whose
" kingdom not of this world ;":|: this is He, whose
death, amid the severest tortures that man's ma-
lice could inflict, we are solemnly called upon to
Avitness. We proclaim to you such an execution
on this day ; we announce to you a crucifixion,
and call on you to come, and, though your eyes
may shrink, your hearts may fail, your feelings
be harrowed up at the fearful sight, still bid you
gaze, still look upon the anguished, tortured,
murdered Being, that hangs in uncomj)laining
agony upon the trre. Behold, behold Him ! for
'tis no comman man who there expires; those
are no common woes to which He bows. 'Tis not
alone on injured innocence we bid you look ;
'tis not alone on persecuted meekness wo would
bend your eye ; 'tis not alone on tortured virtue

* John vii. 46. -[- Acts x. 3«.

:J; Jolin xviii. 30.

4 iff

:'i

442

CHRIST CUUCIFIED.

we would fix your gaze. Oh no ! " we preach to
you Cpiiust crucied;" and, in that great an-
nouncement, tell you of much more than this.
We proclaim to you, that He, who is expirino*
upon Calvary, is the Creator of the world, who,
having laid His power aside, has stooped to the
meanest condition of our fallen nature, to die for its
recovery from the fall, to sufler for its redemption
to glory and to bliss. We tell you not alone,
then, of innocence thus tortured, but of the pu-
rity, the holiness, the perfection of God, as
stamping every word and act of Him against
whom such I'ury is now raging. We tell you not
alone of some expiring martyr to the truth, who,
amid all his firmness to his principles, might by
someindiscretionhave provoked, by some weakness
liave increased, the excitement against him ; but
we speak to you of Him who is " the truth" it-
self,* in whom no guile was found, who neither
strove nor cried,! but as a lamb was dumb be-
fore the snjiters;.j: and announce to you the God,
v.'hose name, whose character, and whose mission
was love, as dying in the midst of such barbarities
and tortures as make our natures shrink. Need
we add, then, that we tell you of one who suffered
not for Himself, for He had no fault, no sin, to
suffer for; but who is bearing the weight of
others' guilt, and bending beneath the oppressive

* John xiv. 6. f Matt. xii. 19.

1 IsH. liii, 7.

{JURIST CUUCIFIEO.

443

burden of otliers' transgressions. He is sufferin"-
not for Himself, but for tlie iniquities of those
very wretches that are exulting in His dying
throes. He is expiring, not as the consequence
of His own sin, but in punishment for the sins of
those who are mocking Him in His agonies, and
glorying in His griefs. O ! if the contempla-
tion of a dying scene, of a scene in which the
life of a fellow being becomes forl'eit to his coun-
try's laws, of a scene in which innocence and
truth and meekness and love are martyred be-
neath the hands of ignorance and superstition,
be sad and solemn ; what feelings shall take pos-
session of your breasts, my brethren, as ye gaze
on Nature's Lord expiring on a cross in His own
world, and laying down, beneath the murderous
hands of creatures He had formed, the life He
had assumed for their salvation ! The sun with-
draws his shining from a scene so awful ; the
convulsive heavings of Nature's bosom testify her
sympathy with her anguished Lord ; the burst-
ing graves, the rending rocks, the waking dead,
combine in giving testimony to His character,
whose frame is sinking under its accumulated
load ; and what hearts can ye have, brethren,
whose souls are so deeply interested in all that
transpired at Golgotha, if your feelings are not
solemnized, and your affections drawn out, by
the contemplatioii of the dying Jesus !

444

CHRIST CRUCIFIED,

Dear brethren, " we preach to you Christ cru-
cified ;" but we would not longer dwell upon the
mere facts and circumstances attending that cru-
cifixion, than may be conducive to a deep
solemnity and seriousness of spirit, in approach-
ing the consideration of the momentous and vital
truths connected with that stupendous event.
With the particulars of that solemn transaction,
whose occurrence on Mount Calvary is a matter
of the world's history, your minds must be fami-
liar enough. But though the truths connected
with it may have been again and again presented
to you, still do we need to press them yet
again and again upon your hearts, and to pray
for the accompanying power of the Holy Spirit
to apply and to sanctify them. O ! may that
blessed Spirit be present now in all the fulness of
His gracious influences, and enable me so to
preach Christ crucified, and you so to receive
Him, that He may be " the power of God"*
this day to every soul that hears me.

"We preach Christ crucified;" and, as the
first truth most impressively taught by the con-
templation of His cross, we preach to you the
corruption, the depravity, the utterly lost condi-
tion of your sinful natures. This truth is, indeed,
most intimately connected with the cross of

* 1 Cor. i. 24. ' '

CHRIST CUUCIFIKD.

445

Christ; for it is, as it were, the very foundation
of that necessity wiiicli existed for the liumilia-
tion of Jesus, and for His death upon the cross.
Vast was the love of God for sinnen; ; but infi-
nite also His love for His own dearly beloved
Son : and do we say too mucii in dechirinf^ that
if any less sacrifice than that of His own dear Son
would have sufficed, the Eternal Son of God would
never have been delivered up into the hands of
wicked men, and crucified and slain ? If men had
been merely sinful, but with so much goodness,
so much moral principle left, that they only
wanted a little guidance to set them ri"ht, and
to bring them safe to heaven, there surely had
been no necessity for Jesus to have come and died.
But if He came to seek and save that which was
lost, then those for whom He came, must have
been, without Him, in a lost condition.

But we need not resort to argument to prove
what the word of God continually and positively
asserts. It sets Adam before you, after his dis-
obedience, as a fallen, guilty creature, subject
to the curse of God, and deserving everlasting
death. It tells you that his children were be-
gotten in liis image ;* not in the image of God
in which he was made, but in his own fallen,
polluted, accursed image. It tells you, at several
subsequent periods of the history of his descend-

* Gen. V. 3.

i. \ !|

446

CIIIUST CUIJCIFIRU.

ants, that " all flesh was corrupt before God,''*
that " the wickedness of man was great, and
that every iniajj^ination of the thou<j;lits of his
lieart was only evil, and that continually."! It
tells you, in general terms, applicable to tlie state
of man at every period of the world, that " tlic
heart is deceitful above all things, and despe-
rately wicked :";|: that " the ciirnal mind is
enmity against (Jod;"^ that fallen and nnre-
generate men are the " children of wratli," the
" children of disobedience, "|| the " children of
the '^'vil."5[ This is the state of fallen man ;
the natural condition of every nnregenerate
sinner. When, then, we preach to you " Christ
crucified,'' my brethren, we must tell yon tliis as
a preliminary truth, — a truth, not to be barely
acknowleged and passed by, but to be understood
and felt by every one of you that would be
saved, — that ye are by nature })oor lost sinners ;
that ye are under the curse and condemnation of
the law of God ; that ye are vile, wretched, and
unclean in the eyes of that pure and holy Being
with whom ye have to do. We tell you of your
utterly lost and ruined and desperate condition ;
that ye are born in sin, the children of wrath ;
that as soon as ye begin to discern your right

* Gen. vi. 11, 12.

I Jer. xvii. 9.

II Epli. ii. 2, 3.

-f- Gen. vi. 5; viii. 21.
§ Rom. viii. 7.
f I .John iii. 10.

CIllUST CIIUCIFIEI).

447

liand from your loft, yc begin to sin ; and that,
from your very infancy up to this hour, " ye
have been in great tr(!S|)ass," sinning ami sinning
still. We tell you, not only that your souls are
guilty, but that your natures are unclean ; that
your continual tendency is to iuiipiity ; that
your continual practice is ung(jdliness ; that your
whole lives are a jjrovocatiou of the wrath, a
trial of tiie forlxiarance and louu-suHeriu"' of
(iod. Yes, we tell you this in preaching Christ
crucified; for every drop of blood that issues
from His pores, and trickles beneath tlu; thorny
crown, and gushes where the nails have torn
His blessed hands and feet, proclaiuis this to
you : every agony that shoots through His lowly
form, and every cry that issues from His j)arched
lips, proclaims this to you : the darkness that
shrouds the whole land, and the bitter exclama-
tion, which, in the darkness of His soul, He
uttered near the close of His terrific anuuish,
proclaim this truth to you. For why, O ! why
all this, but because ye were lost, because your
sins were of so black a die, that nothing but
that blood could wash you, because your souls
were so defiled, that nothing but that tricklin<>-
stream could cleanse you from your pollution?
And do ye think, my brethren, that it was love
which prompted Jesus to endure all this for you ?
Then is it love, which tells you that ye must

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(716) 872-4503

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448

CIIUIST CRUCIFIED,

be lost without an interest in Him ; then is it
love, which would press upon you, so that ye may
be unable to escape from it, the acknowlegement
how vile, how polluted, how condemned you
are ; then is it love, which aims, by line upon
line and precept upon precept, to convince you
of your guilt, your wretchedness and woe. O !
may the Spirit of love apply the message, and
convince you of your sinfulness, your corrujjtion,
and your curse !

For we do not charge upon you this your lost
and perishing condition that we may drive you
to despair, but " we preach to you Christ cru-
cified" as the great remedy provided of the Lord
for your deliverance and salvation. We would,
indeed, lead you, if we could, to despair of sal-
vation by any plan that ye can devise, or any-
thing that ye can do: but only, that in this
your desperate condition ye might be more
ready to grasp at the hope set before you in the
Gospel. " We preach to you Christ crucified,"
as the great ordinance of God for the deliverance
of accursed sinners from their condemnation,
and the rescue of hell-deserving transgressors
from the consequences of their sin. Sin must
be punished; it is a law of the unchangeable
Jehovah, who cannot lie nor repent, that " the
soul that sinneth, it shall die :"* your sins must
* lizek. xviii. 4

CHiillST CRUCIFIED.

449

be punished : nor is there one soul before me
that can escape the vengeance due to sin. But,
in proclaiming to you " Christ crucified," we
would tell you that the vengeance due to sin
was poured out upon Him ; that " the Lord
hath laid upon Him the iniquity of us all."*
Ye are accursed, but Jesus " was made a curse
for you :"t ye are polluted, but « the Lord
hath made Him to be sin for you, who knew no
sin, that ye might be made the righteousness
of God in Him.":], We point you to Christ
crucified, and invite you, brethren, in tlie name
of Jesus, to come, and bring all the burden of
your sins, and lay it upon Him. How vast has
been the flood of evil imaginations and ungodly
thoughts, that has defiled your minds ! Behold,
for this, the thorny spikes were driven into the
Redeemer's head. How vast the sins your hands
have done, how numerous your transgressions
by-things left undone ! Behold, for these, the
blessed hands, that never before were stretched
out but in mercy, are extended on the accursed
tree, and pierced with the nails. How many a
time your feet have sped in violation of the
Lord's Sabbaths, in defiance of His word ! Be-
hold, for this, those blessed feet, whicli went
about only to do good, are mangled and bleed-
* 'f*"- '"'• 6. t Gal. iii. la.

t 2Cor. V. 21.

G G

r4l

450

CHRIST CRUCIFIED.

ing, and fastened to ilie cross. But, above all,
how vast the mass of evil that hatli been engen-
dered in your hearts, but never perhaps proceeded
to the outward act. For this, behold the iieart
of Jesus pierced through with many sorrows ;
behold it broken by tiie treachery of one dis-
ciph, the denial of another, the desertion of them
all : behold it pierced by the soldier's spear, and
giving out blood and water for your cleansing
from your guilt. " We preach to you Christ
crucified," my poor fellow sinners, as thus a
sacrifice to divine justice in your stead ; as thus
your Substitute in bearing the curse ye merited,
in suffering the vengeance ye deserved. " We
preach to you through Him, then, the remission
of your sins ;" and invite you, yea, entreat, yea,
implore you to come, all vile and sinful and
polluted and accursed as ye are in yourselves,
and lay your sins upon the head of this scape-
goat, that He may bear them away to a land not
inliabited, to be remembered no more against
you for ever.* Only believe this record which
God giveth you concerning His Son ; for " he
that believeth hath everlasting life, and shall
not come into condemnation, but is passed from
death unto life."t

"Christ crucified" the apostle declares to
have been the whole sum and substance of his

* Lev. xvi. 22.

t .John V. 24.

CHRIST CRUCIFIED.

451

preaching ; and it will in truth be found, that,
wherever Christ crucified is preached, it is " the
power of God" to the production, not only of peace
to the sinner's soul, but of holiness in the heart
and life. In proclaiming to you, my brethren,
your own utter sinfulness, and siiowing you the
impossibility of your doing one thing pleasing to
God, and urging you to come and accei)t the
forgiveness of your sins as a gift of mere grace
in Christ Jesus, do we disparage or deny the
necessity of holiness of life ? Nay, God forbid !
On the contrary, we desire to bring you to the
only way m which ye can be holy, and we preach
to you " Christ crucified " as that only way. We
set before you " Christ crucified*' as purchasing
for you a free forgiveness by His precious blood ;
as urging you to come and be reconciled to God
by Him, and pointing you to His bleeding
wounds, His mangled body. His afflicted spirit,
as all endured for you. Will not the considera-
tion of such love as this lead those who accept
the offers of Jesus, and receive His grace, to
aim at glorifying Him in their lives and con-
versation ? We desire, my brethren, as we love
your souls, to have you moral, and decent, and
pure, and holy, and devoted servants of the Lord.
Shall we aim at this by telling you that drunken-
ness is a sin, and lying is a sin, and adultery is
a sin, and evil speaking is a sin; and by cn-

G G 2

i U

452

CHRIST CRUCIFIED.

treating you not to be drunkards, nor liars, nor
adulterers, nor blasphemers ? Alas ! our labour
would be in vain ; for who would not tell us that
ye know these things already? But we would
point to the agonies of Jesus, to show you that
your depravity and sin lie deeper far within you
than these outward acts ; and we tell you that
that blood alone can wash your hearts clean,
and make you pure in your inward parts. " We
preach to you Christ crucified," as the only way
of life ; we invite you to the rich fountain of His
blood, for it " cleanses from all sin ;"* and it is
only when your hearts are sprinkled with His
blood by the Holy Spirit, that thev can be
cleansed from all their filthiness, and made new
and clean and holy hearts. This is the testi-
mony of the eminent servants of God in every
age ; Dr. Chalmers in moral Scotland, and the
missionaries among the heathen of the South
Sea Islands, give the same testimony : ' If you
preach mere morality, and tell your people they
must i; be vicious, nor drunkards, nor profane,
your words will be but sounding brass ; but preach
to them Christ crucified ; tell them of a bleed-
ing, dying Savior; proclaim to them the Son
of God coming down from heaven, and dying
beneath their curse : for this is " the power o^f
God unto salvation to every one that believeth ;"

* 1 Jolin i. 7.

i-Wm

CHRIST CRUCIFIED.

453

tFiis, to nominal Chr:

the benighted

nstians, as
heathen, is the only sound that strikes off the
fetters of iniquity, and sets the ransomed prison-
ers free.'

And now, dear brethren, that we may see and
know whether Jesus has been preached to you
to any purpose, or whether it is yet in vain,
suffer me to ask you two questions.

First, what think ye of yourselves ? Do ye think
that ye are tolerably gooa and moral persons, and
that ye have no great reason to be afraid, should
ye die to-night ? Then hath " Christ crucified"
been preached to you in vain; ye are yet in
your sins, under the condemnation and the
curse of God. But do ye know that ye arc
sinners, but trust not so great sinners as some
others are ; not so great but that God can easily
forgive you? Still, then, in vain " hath Christ
been set forth crucified" among you; ye have
never come to Him. Do ye go furthei", and in
some measure feel that ye are sinners ; but trust
to tlie mercy of God, and try by your prayers
and best endeavours to make yourselves accept-
able to Christ, tliat He may save you ? Still are
ye ignorant of " Christ crucified ;" and without
the hopes His righteousness inspires. But do
ye see and feel yourselves to be nothing but sin :
do ye loathe yourselves, hate and abhor not only
your sins, but yourselves as sinners ; are ye

■m

454

CHRIST CRUCIFIED.

mourning your own vile abasement and corrup-
tion, and detesting your own vileness? Pause,
brethren, before you answer. Tliis is a great
deal to say ; it may not be said lightly ! Ask
again, do ye really loathe, yea, loathe yourselves
as corrupt and vile, and abhor yourselves, lying
low in dust and ashes ? Then only can we con-
fidently say to you, that " Christ crucified" has
been " the power of God" to you. If Christ
crucified have come to your hearts, ye will see
so much vileness and pollution there, that ye
will know indeed, that, if ever ye are saved, it
will be of the merest grace ; and ye will hate
yourselves as so unlike Christ, abhor your sins
as having murdered Christ, and, loathing your
uucleanness and filthiness and corruption, bring
it for cleansing to the blood of Christ. How
many of you think, that, for such good and moral
people as ye are, ye make great confessions in
acknowleging yourselves to be sinners; how
many more think that the very confession of
sin has some merit in it, and gives you some
claim for pardon ; but O ! if ye have truly seen
Christ crucified, and seen yourselves in the light
of His cross, ye will have seen enough to make
you wonder ye are not in hell, and to cause
you to cry out in horror of your guilt.

Yet, brethren, another question must be asked
you ; What think ye of Christ? Do ye think of

CHRIST eilUCIFIED.

455

Him, as one who has done and suffered so much,
merely to make up your deficiencies and supply
your lack of service? Then hath He been
preached to you in vain : ye are trusting to your-
selves, and " have not submitted to the righteous-
ness of God."* But have ye, at the same time
that ye loathe your own abominations, and are
disgusted with your own vileness, yet taken hold
of Jesus as a Savior, and laid all your iniquities
upon Him, and trusted the promise of the Lord
for your full and free forgiveness ? Do you think
of Jesus and His blood, as having washed you from
your guilt, and saved you from condemnation ;
and as being the only fountain to which ye can
apply for daily cleansing, and continual sanctifi-
cation ? Do ye think of Christ crucified as your
example as well as your atonement, and aim
and strive and pray to be conformed to His image
here, that ye may share His glories for ever? Then,
djar brethren, hath Jesus Christ the crucified
not been set forth in vain.

Once more, then, my fellow-sinners, I would
preach to you " Christ crucified." O ! come
and gaze upon His cross, and see what a
horrible thing sin is, which nailed him to the
tree. O ! come and gaze upon His cross, and
see what an awful thing the Lord's justice is, and
think with what a God ye have to do ! O ! come

* Kom. X. 3.

'mrm

45G

CHRIST CRUCIFIED.

and goze upon His cross, and see how the Lord
hath loved your souls; and pray that the sight of
the dying Jesus may fill you with abhorrence of
your sins which pierced Ilim, and may draw you
to that precious stream of His blood in which
alone ye can be made clean. - We preach to you
Christ crucified :" O! may the Lord grant that
It be not m vain ; but that ye may all die with
Hmi from sin, for which He died, and rise again
with Him to the glories of His kingdom. Even
so, O Lord, Amen.

457

SERMON XXV.

CimrST RISEN FROM THE DEAD.

EzEKiEL xxxvii. 3.

And he said unto me, Son of man, can these
bones live? And I answered, O Lord God,
Thou knoioest.*

The captive Jews had now for some years been
pining under tlieir captivity in Babylonish lands.
Some twenty or thirty years liad passed over
their heads, and, as the time appointed of the
Lord for tlieir restoration was yet far distant
there appeared of course no signs of their deliver-
ance. By the waters of Babylon, then, they sat
down continually, and wept in the remembrance
of Zion,t the city of the living God ; and even

* Preached on Easter Day, 1838.
t Ps. exxxvii. 1.

lAH

« nmsr iusi-.n |.|,o,m i,,,; ,„ ^„

•I"' «'.»)st .«n.-.Mnnf.|i.^- i.n.inih,.s. wl,i,.|, ,,|„, |,onl
'» """'•••y HMir to ll.n.. |,y il... ni.MKi, of Hi,
l"*<.pl..-..s. D.ilnl of rlMvnr.K- H.nr H,,inrs, a.nl
«'""""»mp: (h.ir h„,,rs. Tl.ry .hvnu.l M„.,n-
Hrlvr. polilin.llv «N'u.l. .hHlpn. by iho ..y.M.r
Hrnso, Insfra.l of rui,|,. ,i„.y nuild' .lis.vn, no
HViiiptoins „f u ,VH,.u.. rn.in tUrlr Im.Mln^v
""•' •''«>' only n.Mr.l (o (iM-i,- ,„isrn<.. |,y ,v'
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<''^'"- «'Ht.'. In (Lis tin..-,, slat,. ..f ,lrspo,Hl..n..y
'^"•' <'«:i«''-t'«.n, lla. ,„•..,,!„.(, wIm, juu| |„v„ l„n.s..ir
""H.n^- M ,. lirsf, nipliv,.s ranir,! (.» MnNylon, was
<av<..v.l nitlula. vision of ll„. I.vxl, an.i rl.a.p.l
I*'*'""""""'''''<^' '•.""<' '!<«• l-«'n|-s a|.piin,l,i„„ of
It, U. tlu. luMisi. of Israel. " Tla> hand d" Ms,,
l-onl was npcn liini, and ranird him onf, in Mic
Spirit of M,r |.,„,|, ,„„i ,,.j ,„•„, ,,„^y,, j,, ^^ ^.^„^,^

timt was Inll oriKHM's, an,l ransnl l.im to pass l,y
tlii'in ronn.l alM.ut ; and, l,..j,oM, tI„.ro wn<, v.^-y
ii.any in tlio open valN-y. and lo ! iliry w,.|v vny
<'''y." Till! ivsloraiion of jj,,. |,o„,m. „|- |^,.,,,.,
'Voni their stale oj' l.on.lan,. an.l p.dili.-al d,.ath
foidd snrcly not hav,. h.vn n.or.. hop,.I,.ss, ll.an
the idea of restoring these dry bones to vi^„r and
to life. They had h.vn hlaneh.Ml hy Hnn and
wind, and were as !'..irrowIess within, as they
were skinless without. They w.Te seatter,;(l in
oonlnsion over the whole plain, and what power
conld lit then, in Iheir phiees, and hind, and

•fe^i**^;'

( IIIIINI' ItlNKN CltOM nil. iH;AI>.

•U'A)

«|ni«'k«'ii, iiimI iiivi^onitr ihi'iii ( Tliirt ijucm-
lioii in mldn'MHrd Jo ihr pniplirl. liitiiMrir, " Son ol"
mail, (Mill ihcKn hoiKH livp ?" lie wiilknl " liy
111 Ui, iiikI iioI hy wi^^lii."* li,, n'(|iiiic(l imt, (,o
Imvo I'vt'ry «|iirNli(iii (Iml wim |irii|ioHni lo liin h*..
lirl' iiiiuir j'lriir |(» his rotiiinrliriiMioit ; \mt in hii-
niilily and lcarliuld«>n«>HH nplird, " () Lord (iod,
TIkhi kiKiwrnt." 'riicn whm lir rlmrp'd f,c» piu-
|tlu'My unto iIichc lioncH, iind to iinnoiiiin> lo llii'iii
ill tin- nani«> oC llic l.oid, I Iml. lie woiiM
i'rHl(n«« llinn lo l.iicir )daccH, imd rovitr liuiiii with
Miiitfw and (IrHli tind hRIii, and Itrnitlir upon tlicni,
and liny .HJiould live. A^ain, let tlir doiihtcr
vi«(w thr proplict'H i'aitli, yen, the ohn/itmrui' liiitl'.
No r»-iisoiiinj«- waH tla-iv in liin mind uh to tln!
iinpoM,4il»ilii,y of ihcsi! dry lioncH licarin}^ IIIh
iin!ssa(;(', 1)1,1 He |)roplu>Hi('d uh In; wan i-om-
inandi'd; and, "an la- pn»plicHi(!d, lln-n; wan a iioiHi'
and ii sliukin^;' of tlic dry Imhich," wliil" tiny
won; in (pa-st, aH it wrrc, vmiU one of IiIh IcIIovv;
"and tlir Immh-h caiiH- l,of.;(!tli(;r, hour to JiIh Imwio."
Still, however, was then; " no hreatli in tlujin :"
then; v/vw. the goodly lorniH of thon.sandH Htreteh-
ed helon! the proplict'H view, in all the Hyininetry
and coiniileteueHH of thc! hninan IVaiiM! ; hut they
laid no lil'o. 'riien tin; prophet, aH In; waH coin-
inand(Ml, invokcid the Sjiirit to *' hreatla; upon
thuHu HJuin, that they niinhr, live, and tlaty lived,

*2Cur. V. 7.

i'i

460

CHHIST RISEN FROM THE DEAD.

ind stood upon their feet, a great army." Tlius
was represented to tlie house of Israel their res-
toration to all the enjoyments of their former po-
itical existence ; thus were they shown, that, sap-
less and bloodless and vigorless as were they
now, the word of the Lord should raise them
trom their low estate, and place them yet again
m their own land, with all their privileges, their
proi)erty, and their power.

We would go, under the guidance of the Spirit
of the Lord, into a garden, hard by the capital of
that land, to which the Lord, in faithfulness to
His own woid and according to His own good
time, restored His captive and complaining peo-
pfe. This garden lies upon the slope of that
very hill, on the summit of which has just been
enacted one of the most fearful tragedies that the
world ever saw. The meek, the benevolent, the
merciful, the gracious, the holy, the godlike Jesus
the Son of God and Son of man, hath there'
breathed out His life amid the fiercest tortures
and m circumstances of the deepest shame, that
could have been heaped upon the vilest malefac-
tor. But tliough He was " numbered with the
transgressors,"* rich and honorable men bear His
.ifeless body to ifs burial. They bring it to
this garden ; for there, in one of its retirements,
IS a new tomb, hewn by a rich man out of the
* Isa. liii. 9, 12.

CHRIST RISEN FROM THE DEAD.

461

rock for liis own family vault, but never yet made
a receptacle for the corruptible part of any that
have sunk beneatl) Adam's curse. We see
not there, indeed, " very many bones, and very
dry ;" but we see the corpse of one so emaciated
by continual woe, that we may " tell all his
bones;"* and we behold it laid, with all the re-
verence and honor that aftection could render to
the departed clay of one that had been beloved,
in this new tomb. We recognise the counte-
nance, all scarred and woe-worn as it is, of one,
on whom the hoi)es and expectations of His friends
and followers had been fixed, as a Deliverer of the
people from the bondage into which they again
had sunk, as " a Repairer of the breach" made
by the Roman power u\Km their j)rivileges as a
nation, as a " Restorer of paths" in which they
might "dwell"* at ease, none making them
afraid.

But how have these expectations sunk, how
have the hopes they built upon Ilim been disaj)-
pointed ! For doth any ask, Can those bones live?
Can this poor marred and mangled corpse rise
up in freshness and in vigor, and yet accomj)lish
his followers' expectations, and His peo})le's hopes?
We fear, that scarcely could the sobbing hearts
of those that mourn their murdered Lord find
faith enough to answer even, " O Lord God, Thou

* Ps. xxii. 17.

462

CHRIST RISEN FROM THE DEAD.

knowest." Nay, even though in frequent conver-
sations He had told them wliat His sufferings
should be, had assured them that He was to be
delivered up into the power of His enemies, and
buffeted ; and tortured and slain, but on the third
day should rise again ; even though everything
He had predicted of His sufferings had turned
out most minutely true, and the circumstances
which attended His closing hours had stamped
Him no common sufferer, scarcely was there
faith enough in the heaving bosoms of His de-
jected followers to suggest the hope that His
prediction should be accomplished. Did the
captive Israelites mourn their ejection from their
holy land in hopelessness of restoration to its
corn-crowned valleys, and its vine-clad hills?
O ! to the full as hopelessly, nay, with far
deeper despondency, did the followers of the
lowly Jesus bend over His fallen form, and bury
with Him, in the new tomb to which His body is
consigned, all the fond expectations they had
loved to cherish. But, blessed be the Lord, how is
the anxious eagerness of the women, that hasten
to the tomb ere yet the morning's dawn can light
their steps, rewarded ! for as, amazed that the
huge stone which had been placed at the only en-
trance of the sepulchre is rolled away, they bend
and look within the tomb, they hear an angel's
voice proclaim, that the Jesus, whom they seek,

CHRIST RISEN FROM THE DEAD-

463

is risen from the dead.* The Spirit of the Lord
can take us by the hand, and place us where no
living form was found but those of the guard
that were to keep intruders off, and shield the
tomb from the attempts of those that would steal
the body from its rest ; and can show us how
those bones, that were but lately laid in sorrow
in the grave, have been reanimated. An angel
hath descended from the courts above, and struck
the guards, that never shrank from human foe,
with trembling and affright, and rolled the stone
they were to guard from the entrance of the se-
pulchre. But was it the angel's touch that re-
stored the lifeless body to its vigor ? Oh no !
Not such the sight we view. There is no voice
to call the departed spirit back, as once a voice
had called a putrid corpse in freshness and
in vigor to the living world again. f There was
no touch to communicate the principle of life to
those nerveless limbs, as once an outstretched
hand had raised the ruler's daughter from the
bed on which her soulless tabernacle was lying.;):
But, as though the body were but roused from
sleep, the Spirit, the Eternal Spirit, " by which
He had offered himself without spot to God,"§ re-
animates the form that lies before us. Those
bones, then, live. Yea, the bands of death could

* Matt.xxviii.5, 6. f John xi. 43, 44.

t Matt. ix. 25. § Heb. ix. 14.

464

CHRIST RISEN FROM THE DEAD.

not restrain them ; " it was not possible tliey
should be holden"* by the fetters of the tomb ;
for the fulness of the Godhead imparts a life and
glory to them, and the Spirit of the Eternal
breathes within them.

And are these the very bones, is this the very
frame, now walking forth in godlike power and
dignity, which lately we perceived committed in
such sorrow to the tomb ? Yes ! even though
she Spirit of the Lord had not, by His written
word, placed us at the v?ry moment of His reani-
mation beside the sepulchre, yet may we hear the
risen Jesus assure His doubting followers, by the
testimony of their own senses, that it is the very
same. Glorious as that body has become, in-
habited no longer in such circumstances of mean-
ness as had attended it, before it had passed
through the refining process of the grave, but
made fit to be carried into heaven to the ri<>'ht
hand of God, still doth it wear the scars, still
bear the honored wounds, which the wantonness
and malice of His enemies had made. For see
Him, that He may strengthen His disciples' faith,
sharing with them that food which His incor-
ruptible body no longer needed ; yea, hear Him
kindly bid them handle Him, and see that it was
the very Jesus they had known and loved, and
not His spirit only, as His sudden appearance

* Acts ii. 24.

CHRIST RISEN FROM THE DEAD. 4G5

among them had led them to fear, but His very
flesh and blood.* And liear Him again, Jiow, in
condescension to the ahuost presumptuous deter-
mination of the doubting Thomas, He bids him
reach liis finger and put it into tlie print of the
nails by wliich His blessed hands were fastened
to the tree, and reach his hand and thrust it into
the wound the spear had made,t and which, had
any life remained, would have completed the
murderous work begun upon the cross. Yes. the
same body, the same flesh and bones, in whicli
the work of suffering for sinners was completed,
have been carried to the hepveus above; and'
there these very wounds, wliich pleaded with the
unbelief of His disciples, plead with the eternal
Father's love for mercy and for grace to all that
seek Him. Blessed be God. again with thank-
fulness we cry, those bones can live ; those bones
do live. It is the Son of man, that walked with His
chosen followers for forty days, comforting, teacii-
ing, guiding, sanctifying them. It is the Son of
man, that hath been caught up in the clouds of
heaven, and gone to His glorious station by the
throne of God. It is the Son of man, that ere
long shall come, attended with the pomp and
majesty of heaven, to judge the world. It is
the Son of man, to whom believers shall be at
that day made coaipletely like, and with whom,
* Luke xxiv. 39, 40-42. f John xx. 27.

H H

466

CHRIST RISEN FROM THE DEAD.

as His brethren and sisters, they shall share
for ever the glorious mansions of His Father's
house.

But we turn from the contemplation of the
glorious scene, which ushered in the morning of
this day, in the garden near where Jesus had been
crucified, and trace the progress of the common
enemy, whom Jesus conquered for His people,
and from whom He withdrevv the sting, while He
left him the semblance, of dominion over our
race. We place ourselves now beside the wretched
pallet or the pillowed couch, on which may lie
the soulless clay of any that like Jesus hath com-
mended his spirit, by faith, into his Father's
hands ; and not a shadow now obscures the hope,
the confidence, with wdiich our souls reply to
the inquiry, Can these bones live ? Darkness
still rests, indeed, despondency still broods
over the lifeless forms of those that have lived
for themselves alone, that have made the world
their idol, and self their God ; that have borne,
indeed, the name of Jesus, but never believed His
testimony, never been converted by His Spirit,
never been saved by His grace. Their bones shall
rise, but not in Him who is " the resurrec-
tion and the life ;"* their bodies shall indeed be
restored to life, but only to live in endless death,
to be consumed in indestructible destruction. But,

* John xi. 23.

CHRIST RISEN FROM THE DEAD. 467

as we know that our Redeemer liveth, so surely
do we know, that, though tlie worms destroy this
body, yet in their flesh shall they that live in
Him see God.* Yea, as we have witnessed by
faith the restoration of the lifeless form of Jesus
to vigor and to strength, and seen it, no longer
like corruptible clay, but glorious and incorrup-
tible; so surely do we know, that He "shall
change the vile bodies " of His people, and bring
them from the dust « fashioned like unto His own
glorious body, according to the working where-
by He is able to subdue all things to Him-
self."t No darkness is there here, for thus the
word of Him, whom we have seen awaking by
His own inherent power from the dead, assures
His followers, " Because I live, ye sliall live also.";]:
No doubting need be here, for thus hath the
Spirit of the Lord commissioned an apostle to de-
clare to men, " If the Spirit of Him that raised
up Jesus from tlie dead dwell in you, He that
raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken
your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in
you."§ No despondency is here; for thus again
the Spirit of the Lord bids those that mourn their
separation from some loved follower of the Lamb
" not to sorrow as others which have no hope ;

* Job xix. 25, 26.
:): John xiv. 19.

t Phil. iii. 21.
§ Rom. viii. 11.

H II 2

468

CHRIST RISEN FROM THE DEAD.

for those that sleep in Jesus will God bring with
Him."*

O ! what a change, then, hath the event we
this day celebrate produced in the feelings, with
which the bereaved mourner bends beside the
lifeless form but just now tenanted by a spirit he
had loved ! Before that glorious period, the only
answer which even faith seemed able to give to
the inquiry if these bones can live, was, " O Lord
God, Thou knowest." But now the very tears
which natural sorrow sheds at the separation of
two kindred hearts, that are kindred in Jesus too,
are lighted with a rainbow-hue, as the ' sure and
certain hope of the glorious resurrection to
eternal life' reflects its light upon them. The very
sobs that heave the bosom of the bereaved mourner
are calmed by the same voice, that once cheered
the sorrows of a weeping mother, as He ad-
dressed a lifeless corpse, " Young man, I say
unto thee, arise,"! ^^d now saith to all that
mourn, " Weep not," " I am the resurrection and
the life.":}: They that believe in Him do not taste
death, they fall asleep ;§ and doth a parent weep
with anguish as she gazes upon the glowing
cheek of her sleeping infant, or a friend sob with
agony at seeing one he loves lying in momentary

• 1 Thess. Iv. 13, 14.
I John xi. f:0.

+ Luke vii. 14.

§ John viii. 51; Acts vii. 60.

ith

CHUIST RISEN FROM THE DEAD.

469

rest, from which he shall rise invigorated and re-
freshed ? No more should the soul of the true
believer really mourn that sleep in which some
cherished one lies down, pillowed by Jesus* love,
to wake again to glory and to life on the resur-
rection morn. O ! if believers in the Lord but
realised the faithfulness of God; did they but re-
alise the truth that Jesus hath withdrawn the p*ine'
from death, and left it only as the gate v .y
through which this corruptible frame must pass,
before it can be fitted to enter in incorruption
upon heavenly bliss ; did they but make the Lord
their all in all, and bring by faith before their
eyes the glories of that kingdom to which they
hope to come ; did they but share the spirit of
their Lord who " pleased not Himself,"* but
sought in everything His Father's will, they
would be ashamed of the selfishness of sorrowino-
because those they love have entered upon joy,
and would rejoice themselves in the thought of
the nearness of that home to which the ' grave
and gate of death ' shall let them pass.

The melancholy stillness, then, which hangs
about the spot, where dust receives its kindred
dust and the bones of the departed, are ever and
again turned up to show how little of these pam-
pered frames withstands the progress of a few
years' decay, is broken by the soothing notes

* Rom. XV. 3.

J!i

470

CnniST RISEN FROM THE DEAD.

tliat swell the echoes of siicli hallowed spots,
telling us of " the resurrection and the life."
The very monnings of the leafless trees, now
waiting for the gentle breath of spring to deck
their branches with their vernal dress, bear on
ilieir sound the sweet assurance, that the clay
deposited beneath their shade has been but for a
few short moments stripped, to be reclotlied in the
first spring-time of the eternal year with beauty,
and with glory, and witii joy. The very sad-
ness that comes o'er tlie njind, as, wandering
amid tlie tombs, we count the conquests death
hath gained upon our race, hath something of
joy mingled with it, from the tiiought how short
is the enjoyment even of its only-seeming tri-
umph, liow soon those very frames now lying in
an undistinguished mass beneath his yoke shall
burst his bonds, and rise unshackled to a never-
ending life.

This is the scene of one > Ictory sin hath gained
upon our race ; but we turn with sadder con-
templation to gaze upon the valley of great
" darkness and the shadow of death," where lie
the moral ruins of the race sin hath subdued.
We see what sin has effected upon the bodies of
those fallen ones that were bound by its yoke :
but the sight is softened by the thought how soon
those bodies shall be released from the chain its
offspring death has cast around them. But we

-A

CHRIST RISEN FROM THE DEAD,

471

gaze upon a plain where lie tlie many wrecks of
that bright image once like God himself; we
gaze upon the many souls that are in bondage,
worse than the Babylonisli beneath wliicii the
Hebrews groaned ; and even tliough the covenant
and promise of the Lord a e with us, even though
the word of His salvation and the proffers of
His grace are set before us, do we not ask,
vith something of doubt as to the answer,
« an these bones live ? We know, even though
the remembrance doth but faintly influence our
lives, tiiat every one of us shall die, sliall lay oor
bodies in the dust, and sleep till the great wak-
ing of the resurrection morn ; but we are told
as surely, that every one tjiat comes into the
world is spiritually dead, and in the natural state a
moral ruin, polluted, corrupt, lifeless, yea, dead.
We look abroad upon the world, then, and be-
hold a multitude of souls all destined for a state
of endless bliss or woe, lying in helplessness, in
wretchedness, in ignorance, in darkness, and in
death. The sleep of bodily death is not more
sound than is the spiritual slumber of uncon-
verted souls. The ruin of the dissolved and
scattered fragments of the tabernacles that were
tenanted a thousand years ago is not more com-
plete, more desperate, than is the moral ruin of
the soul that is yet in its state of ignorance and
sin. What shall we say, then, to the question.

472 CIIllIST IlISEN FKOM THE DEAD.

<-'an these bones live ? How sluill we answer
tlioinqniry, Can these polluted souls, now 'Mead
"1 iivsj)as.H's and sins,"* be (iniekencd to serve
the Lord in holiness and truth, to " walk with
'iiin in newness of life f here, and share with
Him the <> lories of that lieavcm to whieh " Jiothing
that dc'lileth can enter in ? '|: We hear the Sa-
vior say, that " ex(;ept a man be born atrain, lie
cannot see the kingdom of God."§ We hear the
Spirit proelaiming by an apostle's mouth, that
"without holiness no man shall see the Lord."||
Do we not, then, with Nicodemus, ask. How these
things cn7i be ? Were we to judge by sight, and
not by faith, we should scarcely fine! it in our
liearts even to say, " O Lord God, Thou knowest."
So deej) appears the slumber in which souls are
lying, so complete the spiritual death in which
the world is bound, so vain, as to the vast ma-
jority, appear the means applied to rouse them
from their state, so rare the instance of a soul
awakened from its death in sin and clothed with
the life of righteousness in Jesus, that wo are
almost tempted doubtingly to ask ourselves, Can
these dead live ? But, thanks be to God, faith
still ivniics, They cua. The hour has come,
when ever and anon some of thcje dead ones hear

• Eph. ii. 1.
J Rev. xxi, 27.

Heb. xii. 14.

+ Rom. vi. 4.
§ Jolin iii. 3.

CinilST UlSKN FROM THE DEAD. 47.J

tlie voice of the Son of man, and, liearinjr, live.*
The very seeiic, which we have viewed this day in
the garden near to Calvary, is an assurance that
they can ; for, as tiie Lord was raised from tfic
dead, so are His people from time to time, as they
appear upon this scene of trial, "quickened to-
getiier with Ilim." ( " For as the Father raisetli
up the dead and (pnckenetli tiiem, even so tiie
Son quickeneth whom He will.";j; No angel's
toucjj, no voice of terror, no outward ordinances,
can effbct tiie work ; tiiese are but as the staff,
which Eiisha bade his servant lay upon the face
of the Shunammite's dead child; tiiere is no voice,
nor any answer ; the dead is not awaked. § It is
" iiot by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit,
saith the Lord of liosts."|| There is ever and
anon a shaking of tlie dry bones. The shimbers
of the spii-ituaJly dead are every now and then
awaked. 'Jlie scales fall from the eyes. The
soul is roused to see and know its state. T]>e
heart is bowed down by a sense of sin, and
touciied with the loving-kindness of the Lord in
giving up His own dear Son for sinners. Tiie
affections are drawn to Jesus ; and the sinner, res-
cued from the bondage of his sins, and breathed
upon by the Spirit of the Lord, walks in true

* John V. 25.
t John V. 21.

Zccli. iv. G.

t Col. ii. 13.
§ 2 Kings iv. yi.

:;(

'U,

474

CIIIUST RISEN FROM THE DEAD.

liberty, seeking- the Lord's commands. * He
comes and lays his sins upon the Lord Jesus ;
take lome the promises of His word ; and, be-
lieving, has the eternal life which God hath given
him in His Son.f

Oh ! not more hopeless, brethren, as far as
human means appeared to warrant hope, was the
prophet's task of calling the scattered and dry bones
to which he spake into the freshness of restored
life, than is, on human grounds, the duty of call-
ing upon the many, alas ! so many, among you,
yet dead in sins, that ye should arise and live.
But as the prophet was commanded, so he pro-
phesied ; and, as the Lord hath charged us, so
would we say to you, Hear, O ye dead, the word
of the living God ! Yea, " whether ye will hear,
or whether ye will forbear,''^' thus must we say
to you, " Thus saith the Lord God." We have
not to explain the propriety of calling upon the
dry bones to live, of bidding the spiritually dead
arise and walk. But this we have to tell you,
brethren, that every unconverted soul among you
is as dead as the mangled form but lately taken
from the cross and placed in the new tomb at
Calvary. And we call upon you " to awake and
arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you
light." § We proclaim to you the now risen, the

* Ps. cxix. 45.
I Kzck. ii. 4 — 7,

t IJohn V. 11.
§ Eph. V. 14.

I-

CHRIST illSEN FROM THE DEAD. 475

ascended, the glorified Jesus as the only way of
salvation, the only way of life, and call upon you
to look unto Him and be saved, to look to Him
and live. While ye refuse to hearken, what con-
solation can the considerations we this day dwell
upon afford you ? What property, what interest
have ye in the resurrection unto life? What
comfort doth the thoug-lit of a risen Jesus give
you, when it but assures you that He whom your
sins have crucified shall come to judge you?
What consolation have ye in the thougirt of the
resurrection of the dead, when ye can but con-
template it as a day of terror to your souls, a day
of everlasting separation fi-om those you have
loved, or of commenced woe with the companions
of your unconversion in the dark regions of de-
spair? Brethren, the resurrection of Jesus must
remind you of your own future rising from the
grave : O ! let it remind you, too, that ye must be
raised from the death of sin unto the life of
righteousness, through the powerful operation of
the Spirit of the Lord upon your hearts, or else
your resurrection from the dead will be but the
commencement of the death that never dies.
And ! from such an issue may tiie Lord deliver
you !

But O ! what glorious hopes may the contem-
plation of Jesus' resurrection enkindle in 7/our
hearts, my brethren, in wlioni " tiie Spirit of Him

j .h

476

CHRIST RISEN FROM THE DEAD.

that raised Jesus from the dead " inhabits ! The
same Spirit shall surely quicken these mortal
bodies, and raise them from the dust of death in
all the glory of eternal youth. Now doth the
Spirit of the Lord that dwells within you keep up
an unceasing struggle with the lustings of a
polluted flesh ; but then shall the flesh and spirit
be as one. The corruptions of the mortal taber-
nacle being all left in its dust, the pollutions of
the flesh all cast off" as an unclean thing, yea,
and its very righteousnesses thrown out " as
filthy rags ; " the renewed body, made like
Christ's " glorious body," shall dwell with Him
for ever. His resurrection is a pledge to you that
" because He lives ye shall live also;" and O!
be it remembered that it is a pattern, too, of the
true believer's resurrection to newness of life. " If
any man be in Christ, he is a new creature ;"*
and they only who have His Spirit dwelling in
them while here, have any pledge or " earnest of
the inheritance" of glory.f O ! glorify the Lord
then, brethren, for His great grace in plucking
you as brands from the burning, in raising
you with Himself from the dead ; and when ye
look around upon the unconverted world, and
think upon the slumbering condition of so many
that " have a name to live ;" and when ye hear
the question " Can these bones live ?" let the
* 2 Cor. V. 17. t Eph. i. 14,

CHRIST RISEN FROM THE DEAD.

477

remembrance of the depths of sin and death, from
which your souls were roused, quicken you in the
prayer " that the Spirit of the Lord may come
from the four winds, and breathe upon these slain
that they may live."

.'»*

iH^mm^im

478

SERMON XXVI.

THE SPIRIT BLOWING UPON THE GARDEN.

Song of Solomon, iv. 16.

Awake, O north wind ; and come, thou south !
hloio iipon mif garden, that the spicei, thereof
may flow out*

In the sublime and mystical allegory, contained
in this Book of Canticles, — for whose preservation
the Lord's people have had continual cause to
bless the Lord, the giver of every good and per-
fect gift, — the union of the Lord Jesus with His
believing people, and the varied experiences of
the Church during this her state of trial, before
she is finally brought into the house of her Lord
to be with Him for ever, are beautifully set forth.
* Preached on Whitsunday, 1838.

THE SPIRIT BLOWING UPON THE GARDEN. 479

This book has itself been ever considered as a
good test, by which the state of the soul may be
discovered : for, while the worldly and unregene-
rate can scarcely see in it, any more than in Him
of whom it speaks, any beauty that they should
desire it,* and, when they do peruse it, too fre-
quently turn it into an excitement of sinful feel-
ings, it is only when the soul of the believer is in
a state of lively and experimental comm.union
with the beloved Jesus, when it can truly adopt
the confident exclamation of the spouse in this
blessed book, "My beloved is mine, and I am
His,"'(- that it can truly enter into and enjoy the
mysteries which it contains.

The remark, however, which has thus been
applied to the Book of Canticles, is indeed
as sadly true of every portion of the Book of
God, of which that allegory forms a portion.
What is the word of God, but a book of mys-
teries to the carnal and unrcgcnerate mind; a
book bearing upon its every page, either that
great " mystery of godliness, God manifest in the
flesh,":]: or that as inexplicable secret, the mys-
tery of the believer's •' life, which is hid with
Christ in God."§ And, as regards the souls of
believers themselves, how quickly doth any neg-
lect of prayer and communion with God deprive

* Isa. liii. 2. f Cant. ii. 16.

t 1 Tim. iii. IG. § Col. iii. 3.

•i

480

THE SPIRIT BLOWING

ii .

them of the pleasure they felt in reading and
hearing the word, and blunt the edge of their ap-
petite for the spiritual food tuat it contains, and
dim the spiritual perception and discernment
with which they apply its truths. How quickly
doth the loss of any measure of that assured hope,
which, while walking closely with the Lord, they
build upon His gracious promises, diminish their
closeness of application of those very promises,
and affect their interest in that very word, whicii
is itself appointed as the means of their res-
toration.

While, however, thus general in its application
to the whole word of God, this remark has of
course a peculiar reference to those portions of
it which are of a more experimental nature,
which dwell more than others upon the intimate
union which is between the Lord Jesus and His
people, and upon the souPs exercises of faith in
Him, in whom all its fresh springs are found.
From this feature, so peculiarly belonging to
the Song of Solomon, result the peculiar difficul-
ties which attend its spiritual comprehension,
and the bars to its enjoyment by the mind yet
unregenerate, or which, having known the sweet-
ness of the Lord, has turned aside at all to " the
weak and beggarly elements"* of self- righteous-
ness or worldliness, whereunto it is in bondage.

* Gal. iv. 9.

...\

UPON THE GARDEN.

481

The great, the only aid to its comprehension is
the outpouring of the Spirit of the Lord, to which
our minds are at this season particularly drawn,
and to which we hope to be able to perceive'
the application of that portion of it, which has
been selected as the subject for this day's medi-
tation. May the Lord be present with us, and
enable us, in contemplating the subject of the
text, to draw from it some spiritual' food, some
mstruction in righteousness, and some growth
in grace.

Among the many sweet figures, in which the
Lord Jesus appears to represent the delight
which He has in the Church as His spouse. His
bride, and the acceptance with which He regards
her, not for her own sake, for " she is black,"*
but for the sake of '' the comeliness which He
hath put upon her,"t He speaks of her, in ihe
portion of the Song which is in immediate con-
nexion with my text, as a garden, filled with
precious plants, fruitful trees, and odorous shrubs.
Let us contemplate the Church for a moment
under this representation, before proceeding to
the consideration of the call which the Lord
addresses to the wind to come and blow upon
His garden.

The Lord describes His Church as " a garden
inclosed;" a choice portion of the earth, which,
* C^"t- '• ^' t Ezek. xvi. 14.

I I

lit

r ^1

••••►■•""i**^

482

THE SPIUIT BLOWING

teiBi":ffi

though presenting no natural superiorities to
the rest of the world, tlie Lord in His own sove-
reign pleasure hath set His love upon, and sepa-
rated it from the rest of the eartli, and inclosed
it for His own pleasure and glory. The vine-
yard of the house of Israel was in some respects
a type of this garden of the Lord. " The Lord
did not set His love upon that people of the Jews,
because they were more in number than any
people, for they were the fewest of all people ;"*
neither for their righteousness' sake did He re-
gard them, for they had been stiffnecked and
rebellious from the day that He knew them ;t
but simply " because He had a favour to them,
and because He would perform the oath which
He swarc unto their fathers, to Abraham, to
Isaac, and to Jacob.":|: He made them, then, His
own peculiar people ; bore with all their provo-
cations, and dealt mercifully with all their weak-
nesses ; blessing them above all the nations of
the earth, from whom He had separated them,
and coming and delighting to dwell among
them. So of His own free and sovereign grace,
and that He might perform the covenant made
with 'he great Surety of the redeemed, hath He
given the Lord Jesus a people, not chosen for
any natural advantages, nor because of any

* Deut. vii. 7. t lb. ix. 5, 6.

t lb. vii. 8.

%y.

UrON THE GARDEN.

483

.w*

fitness

but

superior

simply because He had a ftivour to them?
hath separated this people from the world
inclosed them in His church. Tiie peopxu ux
the Lord are separated from the principles and
practices of the world, shut up as a sealed foun-
tarn from the common intercourse of the world,
and consecrated to tlie service of the Lord'
They act upon different principles, from aifferent
motives, for different ends, from those upon
which the worldly act ; and, consequently, while
consistent with their profession, and in the
ively exercise of their graces, can no more
have fellowship with the world, than " the temple
of the Lord with idols," or « Christ with Belial "*
There is but one door to this inclosure, within
which the garden of the Lord is contained ; and
that door is the Lord Jesus.f By Him alone
can any enter in; and He is a gate so strait that
tew can find it, a door so narrow that the carnal
mmd, theunregenerate soul, cannot pass through. t
And while the inclosure is a line of separation
between the Lord's people and the world, it is
also a line of defence to the garden of the Lord
which, though as contemptible in appearance to
the eye of sense as the first wall which encom-
passed the city ^.hat was afterwards the mistress

* -2 Cor. vi. 15, 16.

t Matt. vii. 14.

t John X. 9.

484

THE SPIIIIT BLOWING

of the world, 3'^ct is proof against tlie assaults
of men, and all the fury of the fiendish hosts.
Tlie chariots of the Lord are stationed round it,
the heavenly hosts encamp ahout its walls : yea,
" the eyes of the Lord himself run to and fro
throughout the whole earth, to show Himself
strong in behalf of those whose heart is perfect
towards Him."*

Let us look at what the Lord has revealed
to us concerning the garden, which is thus in-
closed ; let us contemplate the fruits wliicli
grow there, the trees and plants that flourish
within its walls. Let us remember, dear bre-
thren, before contemplating them, that all the
plants and flowers there are of the Lord, " the
trees of the Lord's planting, that He may be
glorified. "t How many a murmur of discon-
tent even among the Lord's people, — for alas !
there still remaineth in them the old Adam —
would be checked, if this were continually re-
membered. Would the lowly shrub, that occupies
a place unnoticed and unknown but to Him who
planted it, repine because it was not the stately
tree loaded with pleasant fruits, if it remem-
bered that it was all of the Lord's planting, in
order tliat Himself might be glorified. It may
be, that, in contemplating the trees and plants
of this inclosure, we may perceive how the Lord's
* 2 Chron. xvi. 9. ..... f Isa. Ixi. 3.

UPON TIIK C;A>lDr,N.

485

glory is as mucli displayed in tiie Immblost plant
along the soil, as in the loftiest tree
its head on higli, and spreads its

creeps
rears

that
that
branches to the sun and wind.

" Thy plants," saith the Lord to His garden,
" are an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant
fruits." These arc they among the Lord's peo-
ple, to whom it is given to manifest their living
union with God by the abundance of their good
works. These arc they whom the Lord has
blessed with an abundance of this world's goods,
and still more blessed by giving them a disposi-
tion to consecrate all their wealth to Him, and
to act simply as the Lord's stewards, whose duty
it is to provide for His poor, and to minister to
the necessities of those whom the Lord hatli dif-
ferently circumstanced. They are those, who,
if they have not wealth, have activity and energy
of body, or powers of mind, and who diligently
employ those powers in pursuits which aim at
the glory of God, and the good of their fellow-
creatures. There too we find '^ the camphire,"
or cypress, " the spikenard and the saffron."
These are those lowly ones that deem themselves
but cumberers of the ground ; that, kept by the
providence of God on beds of sickness, or with-
held by the same hand from scenes of active use-
fulness, yet bow in humble submission to the
dispensations which keep them in retirement.

486
and

THE SPIRIT BIOWING

joice in the pfood which others do. These
are they, tlia*^^ walk perhaps in a sorrowful and
mourning state, hut yet look nowhere but to the
Lord Jesus for strength and consolation, and
desire nothing so much as to have no will but
the Lord's. These are they who hide their heads
in deep humiliation, or bend them low in mourn-
ing self-abasement; who, unlike the pomegra-
nate, have no fruit perceptible to the eye of se"se,
but who emit the sweet odour of a humble,
patient, and bruised spirit to the Lord. There
too are " the calamus and cinnamon, with all
trees of frankincense." These are the believers
who are peculiarly men of prayer ; who turn
every event into a matter of supplication ; who
live peculiarly in communion with the Lord,
praying for themselves, interceding for their
neighbours, their kinsfolk, their friends ; pouring
out their souls in unceasing supplication for the
church at large, for the benighted heathen, and
for the darker souls of those, who, though sitting
in the midst of light, are " yet without hope,
and without God in the world." There too are
•' the myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices ;"
those that have been chief in the church by the
testimony which they have sealed with their
blood; those, that, if not actually martyred,
have in the martyr's spirit not counted their lives
dear to themselves, so that they might finish

UrON THE GARDEN.

487

'se.

their course with joy. Yes, these arc they that
have been called the seed of the church ; those
whom the Lord hath peculiarly honored, and
who have peculiarly honored Ilim, by the clear-
ness and consistency of their testimony, which
the fire of trial, and the bruisino- as in a mortar
of persecution, have but rendered more fragrant
and more costly.

Gaze we amid tliis shrubbery of the Lord, and
in the midst we see " the fountain of living
waters, and streams from Lebanon." The cease-
less play of this refreshing fount keeps all the
plants in freshness and in bloom ; — from this
perennial stream, the Lord's people of ev^ry
shade and every measure of faith derive their
daily supplies of strength. Through this means
the Lord watereth them every moment ; by tlie
pure streams from the fountain of Divine truth,
the Word of God, He instructs, revives, invigo-
rates, nourishes their souls ; by tliis He
strengthens them against the heat of temptation;
by this He shelters them from the blast of trial ;
by this He revives them in the faintings of
tribulation ; by this He cheers them in tlie season
of affliction ; and through its sparkling dew,
the glowing beams of the setting sun spread
a glory and a joy, while others weep, around their
dying beds.

Tills is the garden upon which the Lord looks

mmmm

«|

^>*\

488

THE SPIRIT BLOWING

with a peculiar pleasure, as being all His own
work. He hath chosen the spot. He hath pur-
chased it for His own, at the cost of His own
blood. He hath planted the hedge, and built
the wall about it. He hath set the trees, and
transplanted the shrubs, and sown the spicy-
herbs that grow within it. He hath set the foun-
tain in the midst of it ; and from His own holy
mountain, the Lebanon of His holiness, flow
down the streams that keep it in perpetual supply.
And shall He leave anything undone which may
tend to the fruitfulness of this garden, or to its
being in every respect such a garden of delights
as He can take His pleasure in ? O surely not !
His voice was heard amid the courts of heaven,
when, centuries ago, according to our calculation,
He called upon His Holy Spirit to go forth ; yea,
when He poured that blessed Comforter forth
upon the lowly, and to earthly eye the undis-
tinguished, plants of His chosen garden. His
voice is heard continually calling upon the north
wind to awake, and the southern breeze to come
and blow upon His garden, that its spices may
be exhaled, and wafted in sweet gales, to the
delight of Him whose pleasure is in this chosen
spot.

Yes, such a call as this we this day comme-
morate, my brethren ; the day on which, accord-
ing to His promise, He poured out His holy

UPON THE GARDEN.

489

Spirit upon His chosen few, when " suddenly
noise was heard as of a rushing
which filled all the house where

ing mighty wind,

they

^ were sit-
ting ; and there appeared to them cloven tongues
like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them ;
and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost,
and began to speak with other tongues, as the
Spirit gave them utterance."* And in the cele-
bration of this day, we commemorate an event,
which is not of past occurrence only ; which is
not, like the Savior's sacrifice, and His rising from
the dead, a thing never to recur; but an event
which is an emblem and a promise of what is
continually occurring in the Church of God.
Continually after the first outpouring, was the
Holy Spirit shed upon those who were ad-
mitted into the fellowship of Christ's people. And
daily, even to this day, are believers " sealed
with the Holy Spii-it of promise, which is the
earnest of their inheritance, until the final re-
demption of the purchased possession, to the
praise of His glory." f As there are different
plants in the garden of the Lord, so are there
diflPerent administrations in the divers ages of the
Church ; but they arc all the operation of the same
Lord the Spirit, " who divideth to every man
severally as He will.":|: It is wrong, indeed.

Acts ii. -'—4.

\. 1 Cor. xii. 11,

+ Eph. i. ly, 14.

490

THE SPIRIT BLOWING

to say that the miraculous operations of the
Spirit have ceased ; for everything is mira-
culous which is supernatural, and all the work-
ings of the Spirit are just as supernatural now, as
in tiie days when it enabled the apostles to speak
with tongues, and are only adapted to the altered
circumstances and different wants of the Church
in different ages. For the conversion of a soul is
as great a miracle, as the raising a lifeless body
from the tomb ; and tlie feeding five thousand men
upon five loaves is not one whit more wonderful
than enabling a soul to feetl upon Jesus, to eat
His flesh and drink His blood, and, though still
corrupt and sinful, to become one with llim who
is the eternal God.

But turn we awhile, and listen to the call
which tho Lord addresses to the winds, calling
upon them to " awake, and blow upon His gar-
den." We need scarcely point out what is meant
by the figurative leference to the wind. It is
throughout the Scriptures the chosen emblem of
the Holy Spirit's operations; for as "the wind
bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearost the
sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it conieth,
nor whither it goeth; so is every one that is born
of the Spirit."* In the call which the Lord ad-
dresses to the winds, we shall find a reference to

* .lolui iii. fS.

t "»

. V

UPON THE GARDEN.

491

the principal operations wliich the Holy Spirit
undertakes in the great plan of salvation.

" Awake, O north wind !" is His call : and by
what figure could He better represent the search-
ing and convincing operations of the Spirit ? The
Spirit of the Lord is a Spirit of power and of
might. It is His influence which gives such
energy to the word, that it becomes " as a fire,
and as a hammer which breaketh the rock in
pieces."* It is His power which makes " the
weapons of our warfare mighty to the pulling
down of strongholds, to the casting down of ima-
ginations, and every high thought that exalteth
Itself against God, and to the bringing every
thought into captivity to he obedience of Christ."t
It is His office, « when He cometh, to reprove
the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of
judgment.":]: It is He who ".searchcth all things,
yea, the deep things of God;"§ who layeth bare
the innermost recesses of a deceitful heart, ex-
poses the most secret workings of inbred corrup-
tion, detects the various " refuges of lies," in
which, but for His preventing grace, the souls of
the dearest people of the Lord in their remaining
self-righteousness would be prone to shelter them-
selves, and brings home by gradual process the

* Jcr. xxiii. 29.
t Jolin xvi. .S.

t 2 Cor. X. 4, ;>.
§ I Cur. ii. 10.

492

THE SIMIUT 15L0W1NG

conviction, wliich, though easily professed, is not
so soon admitted and acted upon, tliat the soul
of the believer is in itself so wortliless and so vile,
that nothing but the grace of God could keep
it for one moment out of hell. The Eearch-
ing influences of tlie north wind of the Spirit
bring out some of the sweetest spices of tlie
garden of the Lord : they foster that humility
and lowliness of mind, that " meek and quiet
spirit, which is in the sight of the Lord of great
price."* No christian grace is of so sweet an
odor to the Lord as that of genuine humility ;
no sacrifice presented by the great High Priest,
and made acceptable at the mercy-seat sprinkled
with propitiatory blood, sends up so sweet a fra-
grance, so precious a savor to the Lord, as that
of a contrite and humbled spirit. No spirit so
much honors Jesus, for none so simply rests its
all upon Him, and takes Him at His word : and,
consequently, none so pleasing to the Lord, for
above all things He delights in tlie honor of His
Son Jesus.

Again, the Lord calls upon the " south wind "
to arise and " come and blow upon His garden ;"
and by this figure represents the soothing and
comforting influences of the Spirit. The southern
breeze, — unlike our own, which bears upon its
winu's the chilly moisture of Atlantic fogs, —

* 1 Pet. iii. 4.

UPON THE GARDEN.

493

came laden vvitli the warm air of spicy Arabia,
and flapped from its gentle wings the refresh-
ing gales of a perpetual summer. What so like
the gentle operations of that Holy Spirit, whose
name is "the Comforter?"* This gracious Spirit
it was, by which even the Lord Jesus was
anointed to His mediatorial work of comforting
the cast down, of binding up the broken-hearted,
of preaciiing deliverance to the captives, and glad
tidings of salvation to the poor.t The same Spirit
it is which breathes upon the ministers of Jesus,
anointing them to their work ; teaching them
" how to speak a word in season to him that is
weary,":j: to suggest the consolations of the Gospel
to the afflicted soul, to cheer the trembling to a
bold approach to the mercy-seat of the Lord,
and to point every troubled one to Him, who, as
" a man," is " a hiding-place from the wind, a
covert from the storm, as rivers of water in a dry
place, and as the shadow of a great Rock in a
weary land."§ These consolations of the Spirit, or,
rather, which the Spirit receives from Jesus and
shows unto the soul, bring out from the plants of
the Lord the spices of a cheerful acquiescence in
the will of God, and conformity to His purposes.
These bring from the bereaved mourner this
fragrant exclamation, " The Lord gave, nnd the

* Jolin xiv.
1 Isa. 1. 4.

t Isa. Ixi. I, 2.
§ Isa. xxxii. '2.

494

THE SPIIUT nLOWING

Lord hath taken away ; blessed be the name of
the Lord." These draw forth from him who is
stricken in his possessions, tlie spic}-^ acknowlege-
ment, *' Good is the word of the Lord concerning
me." These call forth from the tried and afflicted
sufferer the gentle acquiescence, "It is the
Lord, let Him do what seemeth Him good."
These bring from the tried, and tempted, and
cast down mourner in Zion, the savory expres-
sion of his hope, " Though He slay me, yet will
I trust in Him." How much is all this, when
coming from the heart, beyond the reach of the
costliest offering that nature can bring ! How
truly are these the work of the Spirit, the spices
which His breathings alone can exhale from the
trees and shrubs cf the Lord's planting !

Such, dear brethren, is the Lord's care of His
garden ; such the tenderness with which He car-
ries on the whole work of its cultivation, and pro-
duces, by the breathing of His Spirit, every
refreshing grace, in which, as His own work, He
takes delight.

There are some, indeed, who consider the words
of the text the answer of the Church, in which
she calls upon the Spirit to draw out her graces,
that Her Beloved may find pleasure in her.
Be it so, dear brethren, and let me urge upon
you, my fellow-Christians, trees of the Lord's
planting, to call upon the Spirit to come and

UPON THE GAUDEN.

495

blow upon your garden, that its spices may flow
out. Never surely did ye need such a call more
than now. Never was it more needful to call
upon the Lord tlie Spirit to revive His work.
The graces of the Christian seem to be now
almost at their lowest ebb. It is difficult to dis-
tinguish the Christian from the world. Is it
not so, dear brethren ? ! tlien, let the grace
we this day celebrate, encourage and animate you
to come, and supplicate a large outpouring of
the Spi.it upon your souls. Call upon the
*' north wind" to come, and search out for you
the hidden evils, the secret sins, the omissions
and commissions, whereby ye have transgressed,
and to bring you low in penitence and contrition
at the feet of Jesus. Call upon the " south
wind" to come, and breathe the spirit of adop-
tion into your hearts, who are yet sighing and
groaning in the Spirit of bondage. Let me be-
seech you, brethren, to set apart stated seasons
for special supplication for the outpouring of the
Spirit. He is the great Agent of Jesus in the
whole work of the soul's conversion. O ! then,
plead that He may be largely poured out upon
you, and upon all the Lord's people. Plead the
Lord's own covenant with Him, for He hath pro-
mised to give you the Holy Spirit.* He him-
self delights in the gift. Only " open your
* Ezek. xxxvi. 27. Luke xi. 13.

jtJ^^^

490

THE SPIRIT BLOWING

mouths wide, and He will .ill them."* Yea, how
know ye but He will open the windows of heaven,
and pour down grace upon you ? Only come,
plead for the gift ; for His own sake the Lord
gives it ; only have faith in asking, and ye shall
receive.

Yet let the contemplation of the garden of the
Lord, and of the variety of the plants that grew
therein, suggest a reflection which may be pro-
fitable to those believers that unduly tax them-
selves with their uselessness, and therefore doubt
their interest in Jesus. There seem to have been
some in the Apostles' days, that reasoned, that
because they were not the eye nor the hand,
therefore they were not of the body.f There
may be some now who think that, because they
are not pomegranates laden with fruits which
every eye may see, therefore they are not plants
in the Lord's garden. But, brethren, the trees
there are not all pomegranates. The lowly
spikenard, though so rich in fragrance, is so con-
temptible a plant, that it would be passed by a
thousand times unnoticed as the vulgarest weed,
and only emits its odor when bruised or
trampled on. And yet this is as much of the
Lord's planting, and as choice in His sight, as the
stately and fruit-bearing tree. Tlie only fruit ye
may have to offer, brethren, may be the balmy
* Ps. Ixxxi. 10. f 1 Cor. xii.

UPON THE GARDEN.

497

sigh of deepest penitence, the fragrant tears of
lowliest self-abasement, which accompanied and
gave its value to the spikenard offering of the
woman that was a sinner.* The only offering
which ye can bring may be the prayer of sub-
mission, which rises amid the groanings of a bed
of anguish, or the frankincense of a tearful in-
tercession for those who persecute, or annoy.
Remember that the Lord seeth not as man seeth ;
and he who builds an hospital or endows a
charity is not as rich a contributor to the Lord's
treasury of precious things, as she who cast in
her two mites, wliich were all shp had,t or he,
who, breathing out an intercession for his mur-
derers, fell asleep beneath the stones they hurled
at him. J Only call upon the Spirit to revive
the graces He has given you, to keep them in
perpetual fragrance to the glory of the Lord : that
" your beloved may come into His garden and
eat His pleasant fruits."

* Luke vii. 37, 38. f Mark xii. 42—44.

I Acts vii. 60.

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