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Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to bo entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the uppnr left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The follcwing diegrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tab'eaux, etc., peuvent Atre filmte A des taux de reduction diff^rents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour Atre reproduit en un seul ciichA, ii est fiimA A partir de I'engle supArieur ga jche, de gauche A drolte, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images nAcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la m6thode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 yynifw^ wmij^ ■■! Ir .1 l.g U>M.I.» »l 'H^ 'I I i ■--:;• H,w:- -K* SERMON PREACHED BEFO&E THE PRESBYTERY OF TORONTO, ^ CW FEBRUARY 7, 1837, ' BV PREVIOUS APPOINTMENT OF •IS ^iVD PUBLISHED AT THEIR REQUEST. I ..:..} "k >^ * "- BY THE REV. JAMES GEORGE, MWrSTBR or SCARBOROUOM. I SoroRtot rUNTlD BY W. J. COATES. 188X «.(, Th'^ author of this Discourse knows his brethren of the Presbytery of Toronto too well, to suppose that they stand in need of being instructed in the great matters of the Christian faith. On these, he believes the Ministers of the Synod of Canada, as a body, are of one heart and one mind, — men, who not only hold the truth, but hold it in its fulness and purity. All this most joyfully admitted ; and still the author conceives that, being appointed to preach before the Presbytery, it was his duty to aim at stirring up, in hi&owxi mind, and in the minds of his brethren, a more ardent sense of the awful responsibility under which ministers are placed to preach the gospel, and to preach that gos- pel aright. Such being the author's motive for the train of thought which he has pursued m the follow- ing sermon, he will not insult his co-presbyters, by offering any apology for the close and plain manner in which he addressed them. The author is well aware that imperfections may be discovered in this discourse Such as it is, however, he now presents it to the public, earnestly praying that our Lord may make it, in some measure, beneficial to the edifica- tion of His Body — the Church. ScAHBORouoH, Miirch 1, 1837, r l»M«Mi«WI" ir 3S ' Mi-- ii*J'.' ■I A SERMON. •m 1 COR. I. S3. — " We preach Christ crucified.** Thi oppoiition of little and malignant minds, if erer manifested Against nigh moral and intellectual worth. At Corinth, Paul appears to have felt this in all the various ways by which it annoys the honest and able supporter of truth. The Jews, and the judaizing teachers of Christianity, as well as the heathen philosophers, were all the open or invidious enemies of tho religion of Christ ; and, of course, the enemies of him who was one of its most able and zealous defenders. In his epistles to th8 Church at Corinth, the Apostle frequently alludes to this opposition, in a way the most feeling and delicate, and some- times also in terms the most severe. The greater part of this opposition, the Apostle might have escaped, and ootained in its stead no inconsiderable portion of temporary fame, had he only been willing to sacrifice the peculiarities of the Christian religion. But, while no one was more ready than this great man, to give up non-essentials, for the sake of preserving ** the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace,** yet no one was more unbending than he, when the surrender demanded, threatened the safety of even the remotest out- work of the Christian faith. Obviously averse, as the Apostle was, to all discussions merely polemieal; — an ardent lover of peace, — and greatly pained when he had to lift the rod to chastise the Christian delinquent, he nevertheless was ready, the moment his Master's honor wat endangered, or souls put in peril, to hazard all that men hold dear on earth. Endowed with a splendid intellect, and that keenness of moral sense, which discerns the remotest appear- ance of evil, he saw at once the nature of every assault that wns made on the truth : and at once did he face the assailant, with that blunt and sturdy courage, which is found to exist only in minds in a high state of spiritual health. Hence the insinuations of those who affirmed, that were Christianity to appear with pomp, and stripped of certain of its doctrines, it would not then give offence to the Academy, and might find easy access into the synagogue — were met, at once, by the declarations, " We seek not to please men :*' and " let him who preacheth another gospel, even were he an angel from heaven, be accursad." A crucified Saviour we must preaek I I ID all plainness, eren ihould thii be to the Jevti a stumbling block, and to the Greek* foolishness. And what the Apostle thus avowed, he fully practised. Wherever he 'went, and to whomsoever he spoke, he preached ** Christ crucified." Nor was this doctrine brought up occa- sionally, coldly discussed, and quickly dismissed. With him it was the grand theme ; — the central — the attracting truth. If he leaves it for a moment, it is but to show how far its influence extends, or to bring in some remote truths for its illustration. All his admirable rhetoric — all his sound logic — all his know- ledge as a Jew, are laid under contribution, to throw light on " the cross of Christ." Would we, my brethren, wish, above all things, when we come to give in our account, to be able to say, like the Apostle, we " have fouffht the good fight, we have kept the faith :" Oh let us, like him, fully and resolutely ** preach Christ crucified," for this is " the power of God, and tne wisdom of God," unto salvation. That this resolution may take a fast hold of our minds, and may be carried fully out in our pulpit labors ; I shall, relying on Divine assistance, endeavour first to explain briefly the matter contained in the text : — and next, I shall offer a few remarks on the manner in which the doctrine of the text ought to be preached. 1. The Matter contained in the ^?xt, is the way of Salva- tion through Jesus Christ, The expression " Christ crucified," like many similar expressions, must be regarded as a generic phrase. ** The death of Christ," and " the cross of Christ," are expressions of the same import. They all embrace not one, but many truths. Indeed, they imply frequently, the whole of what was done by the Saviour as Mediator, when he made a " propitiation for sin." If this be correct, then the phrase " Christ crucified," implies not merely his suflTerings, in making the atonement to Divine Justice, but also his active obedience to all the claims of the Divine law. In all languages that have reached maturity, and especi- ally when language is employed by such a concise and vigor- ous writer as Paul, a single expression, and not unfrequently a single term is made to denote a whole system of truths. Thus, in the 17th and 18th verses of this chapter, the word "cross," is plainly employed for the whole of the Mediator's work. By not knowing, or over-looking the fact, that a single term is often a symbol for a whole class of truths, men mil into serious errors ; or if they escape the pollution of error, they s«e truth but very imperfectly. This mode of presenting truth, of which our text is an example, combine* at once the \ 1 1 e e N It I* » ic t," ot 10 le le in |ve ici- or- tly hs. ord «le fall ror, ting th© I udvantagCH of the absttract and the concrete. The mind graipt in inais, what is presented to the eye, but in a sin^zlu expres- sion. Thus it is, that the phrase *' Christ crucified," bring^j at once before the mind of the intelligent Christian, all that hit Saviour did in making peace betwixt heaven and earth. Still, it is readily granted, that the Saviour's death on the cross, was a grand — shall we not say the grandest — part in the work of redemption. It is plainly thatt from which, much that he has done and is still doing, must acquire all its virtue and ellicicncy. Whether the enemies of religion, with whom the Apostle had to do, examined the scheme of redemption with care, may be more than doubted. If thoy did, we may be sure they found nothing in it nearly so oflensive as that which is its chief glory —the death of the Saviour on the cross. A few remarks on the way in which this cardinal truth in the Christian religion may be supposed to have affected the minds of these persons, may not be thought out of place. The notions which both the Jews and the Greeks held regarding the character of one entitled to the high appellation of Saviour, were among the few sentiments which they held in common. Both firmly believed that he only was worthy of this honorable character, who had trodden in the dust the enemies of his country, and had procured for men great tern- Doral prosperity. Hence the Jews saw nothing in a crucified Messiah, but the quenching of the last ray of the forlorn bono to which the nation had clung. While the Greeks, under the full influence of a hardening intellectual pride, and dazzled with the glory of military achievements, around which their poets and orators had thrown all the gorgeous coloring, which a finished language and a warm fancy could furnish, saw nothing in a crucified Saviour, except what was mean and absurd. — The doctrine of the cross produced in the mind of the Jew, intense hatred — in the mind of the Greek, utter loathing.— Neither saw the glorious principles which it involved, nor the glorious results which it would produce to creatures destined to live for ever. Against the blameless life of Christ, and the pure morality which he taught, neither Jews nor Greeks could, with any show of decency, take exception. But at the cross — the shameful death of the cross— a Saviour dying on the cross — the minds of both were filled with frightful virulence. This virulence, the Apostle saw and felt, but tries not to soothe it down by removing out of sight the obnoxious doctrine. His only apology is — if apology it may be called— that " the foolishness of God," as they thought in this matter, " was wiser than men." And whatever construction bigotry or pride might put on a crucified Saviour, the Apostles saw in Him, the world's I: \r ipapaiH^ bat and only hope. And therefore in the midst of hatred und scorn, they boldly preached the doctrine of the text. — What they preached was the great salvation. But to return. I remark that Jesus Christ, ns man's sub- •titute, had to bear the penalty which man had incurred 6y breaking the Divine law. To every law a penalty is annexed. In the moral gov- ernment of God, we may suppose this principle to hold univer- lally, and in all cases to be strikingly visible. For if there be no penalty annexed, it is not law but advice. But, to take the principle on general grounds, we observe y?rsi, that the law ii unrighteous, and i"< justly allowed to give way, when the pen- alty is not exacted : and this is a common way by which bad laws have been rendered nullities. Or next, the law may be good in the highest sense, but the lawgiver may want integrity or power to exact the penalty when it is violated. Now all this may be true. — It has been so in a thousand Instances, aa it regards laws emanating from men, and managed by men. But it were nothing short of blasphemy to affirm, that either of these suppositions could be true, of a law emanatins^ from inhnite wisdom, and supported by a holy and omnipotent God. To deny to God the right to place his creature man, under a law, with a penalty annexed ; or to call in question, his right to exact the penalty, or what is more frequently the case, to suppose that He might pardon the offender, witnout any satis- faction to justice, involves such gross and impious notions of Deity, which, if not absolutely atheistical, certainly lead to conclusions not much less abhorrent to reason and piety. To man a law was given, and the penalty annexed to that law was death, " In the day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die." ♦* The soul that sinneth, it shall die." Death then was the pen- alty. What this term implies, I shall not stop at present to inquire, further than merely to remark, that if it be true, that the term life, as employed frequently by the inspired writers, implies happiness, in the highest and best sense, it must follow* that the term death, which in this, and many other places, is the antithesis of life, must imply misery in the fullest sense of the word. We may not even surmise the full extent of that condition of complex and perfect wretchedness, into which sin had brought man. All the ills which men endure from sin in this world ; yea, and were it possible to form an idea of the suflerings of the damned for many ages, still all this would give but a very imperfect conception of what an eternity of such misery must be. Yet this will be nothing more than the pei*- alty of sin. God smites as a just judge. Nr-> a stroke is given from caprice or tyranny. !|II1 Did till? liOrJ Jt•^'un hcrnr f.ho penalty of sin due tw his pi<»ople ? No qiKJstioii to iri'-n so awfuliy iaipoitant as thin ! And t\w IJil)!<' ii.is solved no (|ii(',stion nion; completely tlmr^ it has solved this. lndi:ed the whol(;ot rcvclafion may he retjarded as II ^'ratid douv)nslrntion of this truth. All that ligUKJ, and reasoninLjS and appeals to facts as employed hy I'rophets and Apostles, and Christ himself can tench, coml/mo in tcMching iho precious truth, that the Saviour made an atonomijnt for sin,--- that he bore the penalty vvhieli man had ineurrcd. Now, cer- tain circumstances, or modes of suflerin'^ in the penalty peculiar to mere (creatures apart; ntul we may with safety aflirm, that all that the redeemed would have had to hear, had tUa penalty fallen on them, the Saviour as their suhstitutc hore, when Jehovah laid on him theii- iniquities— when he bore tli(;ir stripes — " bore their sins in his own body on the tree." These, and miny other passages, teach most plainly, a perfect substitution of Christ for his people. The satisfaction given by Him, was not therefore a |)artial, but perfect satisfaction. Nor is it a whit less difficult for me to conceive, of pardon being granted for partial satisfaction, than it is to conceive of its being granted where no satisfaction has been given. Justice has no degrees. It is perfect, and so are all its demands. It is sometimes asked, by way of a refuting argument, how could the Saviour in a few hours, bear the penalty due to our sins ? It was but his humanity that suffered. True. But why sliould it be forgot- ten, that his suffering humanity was supported by the omnipo- tency of his Divinity. And who sliall tell what suffering such a person — I si\y person not nature— nvdy be capable of enduring without sinking under it. But it is a mistake to confine the atonement part of the Mediatorial work, to the hours of deep woe in Gethsemane, and on Calvary. It is true, these were emphatically the hours of darkness. But I take it, that every pang which He felt, as the man of sorrows, from the manger until " he bowed his head and gave up the ghost," was part of the dreadful penalty. The Saviour's suflunings might not be — as they certainly were not— precisely the siime in kind^ as those sufferings which sinners would have had to endure, and yet they might be equal in degree. This is a point that needs to be well understood, and well remembered. This admitted, and then the sufferings of Christ may, and ought to be viewed, as a perfect satisfaction. Such did Divine justice demands- such did man need, and this the Saviour gave. It is not my intention to enlarge on the sufferings of Christ. The tongue of man, i.'or angel, may not tell the full extent of these sufferings. Indeed, there possibly was much in what the Saviour endured, when He bore the penalty of sin, of which w 10 .!■« BO c»««t*t(l riii:i(.l can form any just conception. Yet enough is known, or niay be inferred, to warrant the conclusion, that the penalty to Him was deepest woe. Oh ! his prayer in the gar- den, and his complaint on the cross, place this beyond all doubt. What less than bitterest suffering could be His, while His spotless soul was exposed to the fierce malice of devils, and •when hell had mustered all its forces around him, and while every assailable point in his nature was pierced ? The Throne was hid I He saw not his Father's face ! The loss of the Divine %vor, to such a personage, at such a time, must have been terribly felt. But this was not all. The sword of Jeho- vah had awoke against "tho Shepherd of his people," for now the wrath of a Holy God was manifested against sin, in the substitute of sinners. These were elements in the penalty of sin, — these the Saviour endured. The cup which he had to drink was man's due, and would have been to man immeasu- rable woe. The Saviour drank it, and was able to do so, Just because He was Emanuel. But the Redeemer not only bore the penalty due to sin, He also kept the Divine law* Man, as a creature, was bound to give to the Creator perfect obedience. When a law is broken, and the penalty endured, it cannot be supposed that this shall free from obedi- ence, unless we conclude that suflering not only balances the offence, but at* the same time procures exemption from all authority. This were to endanger the very foundations of justice. In the punishment of the offender, it is true, the righ- teousness of a law may be seen, still it will be more clearly seen when it is fully obeyed. Perfect obedience not only gives H practicable demonstration of what the law is, it also shows the benefit which it is capable of securinff Tor those who faith- fully keep it. The Saviour, as man's substitute, kept the law perfectly. And two grand ends were accomplished by what he di4j First. The obedience of the Redeemer, by imputation, becomes a perfect righteousness for his people. And next, it could not fail but give to all intelligent creatures, the most , luminous? illustration of the wisdom, goodness and justice of the Divine law. Hence, would appear, in a manner the most striking, the righteousness of the requirements, the beneficial tendency of each, while disobedience would be seen to be wholly without excuse, and in the highest sense deserving pun- ; ishment. Man, by the fall, h id become incapable of keeping the law of God perfectly. But this inability, could furnish no reason why obedience should not be required. What man could not do, the Saviour as his substitute did for him. For 11 God laid help on one who was niighty— mighty not only to bear the penally of the law, but to Tulfil all its requircnionts. "He vvai made under the law." Nor is it diHieult to sec that the active obedience of the Saviour was just as necessary to the great ends of God's moral government, in saving men, as was his passive obedience unto death. For what he did in both respects, met, in the most proper and efficacious sense, the two claims which law and justice had against man. The first as an accountable creature ;* the latter as an offender. He was indeed our Davsman, — the Saviour that we needed. He not only " made his soul a sin offering," he also " fulfilled all righ- teousness," " he magnified the law," " he made it honorable." And thus it becomes consistent alike with ihc justice as it is with the and ?n(;ra/ of God, not merely to pardon the sinner, but 10 accept him as righteousness in his sight. There can, " therefore, be no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus." The penalty hath been borne, and in this lies the grand reason for pardon. The law, by our sub- stitute, hath been perfectly obeyed, and this, in connection with his sufferings, is the sure foundation for the sinner's acceptance by a just and a holy God. Hence, " Christ is made unto us righteousness as well as redemption." Taking the view that has been ^ivcn as correct, it \till appear, that the Saviour is to the smner all that he needs. Does the sinner need pardon ? Christ " has borne his sins in his own body on the tree.'* Does he need a righteousness that will bear the scrutiny of a just God ? Christ is the righteous- ness of the law to all them who beliqve. Does the sinner want grace to fit him for serving and enjoying God ? Christ hath ])urchascd the gift of the Holy Ghost ; and this, with the truth which he hath revealed, implies all that is needful for sanctifi- cation. Does he want a home beyond the grave .^ Christ hath gone to prepare mansions for his people, and he wil) come again and receive them to himself. In fine, the full, the finished work of Christ, which is the matter of our text, is the sole ground of the sinner's hope, — is the ti'easure out of which he must draw for all that he needs — for justification, for sanctification, and for glory. And may we not exclaim with holy joy, in Christ we are complete, — in Him we are safe, and in due time shall be made perfectly happy. "Oh! the heighth, the depth, the breadth, and the length, of| the Jove of God in Christ !" No wonder that * Not freeing him from the law as a rule of life,— to teach this, is t» teach the dark impieties of Antinomianisiii, — but freeing; man from the law -ae a covenant of worka waa Athat the Saviour did. 1 2 iftfi the doctrine of "Christ crucified," viewing it as embracing all the benefits which redeemed men do now enjoy, or ever shall possess, and all the devclopeinents of the Divine glory which It gives, should be the great matter of the Apostle's preaching. But what made it so supremely important then that this doc- trine should be fully announced, makes it equally so now..— God is still the same holy and just Being. Man is still the same guilty and helpless creature. Jesus Chiist is still " able to save the uttermost all that come unto God by him." The doctrine of the text, is still in the highest sense, to man the gospel. And woe be unto us, if we preach not this gospel. I need hardly say, that on a subject so rich in matter, I have aimed at nothing more than to bring into view a few of its more prominent points ; and now I proceed in the— • II. Place, to make a few remarks on the manner in which the doctrine of the text ought to be preached ; and 1 would observe, ft First, That the doctrine of " Christ crucified," ought to be preached in all its parts. It is the fault not of powerful, but of subtle, and, I should Bay, of weak minds, to multiply divisions in a subject, so that its dignity is lost in an endless array of separate particles. In order to avoid this, it is not necessary either to examine ©r discuss the work of redemption, with an utter disregard to those natural divisions in which it is laid down by Divine wisdom in the volume of inspiration. To see the divisions of a subject distinctly, is to see the system, of which these are parts, as a whole, in completeness, in grandeur. I need hardly remark, that the scheme of redemption is made up of a number of grand truths, each capable of being distinctly examined by itself, and yet each an essential part of the system. Every Minister of Christ is well aware, that the Divinity of our Lord — the union of the Divine and human natures — the reason for this union — the passive obedience, as well as the fulfilment of the law by the Redeemer, — his intercession for his Church, and his dominion over it, — the nature and condition of fallen man, — the character of Gpd as perfectly holj^ and just, — the nature of the Divine law,— the work of the Spirit, and the connection of this with the atonement and intercession of the Saviour, are, with many similar truths, essential elements in the scheme of redemption., I will not say, that obscure views on certain of these doctrines to v/hich I have referred, shall render faith in a crucified Saviour absolutely impossible. But assuredly the preacher who has but a feeble apprehension of any one of Af,' m /!! 13 these grand elements oi' salvation, will come to the discussion of this great subject under prodigious disadvantages. Of no system of InUhs can it be said with more certainty than of this, that an accurate knowledge of the parts is indispensable to a just conception of the system as a whole. What we do not know, we cannot teach ; and what is seen obscurely, will be uttered imperfectly. But even should we admit, that all the essential elements, ?\nd kindred truths of the scheme of redemption lie fully within the scope of the preacher's understanding, still he may lack the wisdom for discerning the relation and proportion which these have to one another ; and this unhappy state of mind will show itself in a sort of excess, as well ^