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- •; 5>

\ '•"■

^Vv\

SERMONS

BY THE

REV. THOMAS FRASER,

FORMERLY OF LANARK AND OTHER PLACES,

■^nd left hy him as a Memento of his presence and labours

among- them.

PRINTED BY JOHN LOVELL, ST. NICHOLAS STREET.

1867.

In these Discourses there are no pretensions
to style or originality ; and therefore they are
not adaiJted to the literary or fasliionable,
but chiefly to humble-minded Christians in
plain congregations. To such they are aftec-
tionately commended, with the prayer that the
blessing of God may attend them.

CONTENTS.

SERMON I.

Romans vi. 23.— The wages of sin is death y

SERMON II.

.John iii. 14. — And, as Moses Uftcd up the serpent in the wildernci^s,
even so must the Son of man be Hftedup 20

SERMON III.

Romans v. 8. — Hut (iod commendeth his love towards us, in that while
we were yet sinners, Christ died for us 30

SERMON IV.

Philippians iii. 10. — That I may know the fellowship of his sufferings... 39

SERMON V.

Galatians ii. 20.— I am crucified with Christ ; nevertheless I live, yet
not 1, but Christ liveth in me ; and the life which I live in the flesh
I live by the fivith of the Son of God who loved me and gave him-
self for me 48

SERMON VI.

Same subject continued 59

SERMON VII.

II. Corinthians viii. 9.— Por ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became
poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich 70

SERMON VIII.

John xviii. 11.— The cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not
drink it? 82

CONTENTS.

SERMON IX.

I'AOK

Proverbs xvi. 1. — The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer
of the tongue is from the Lord »;{

SERMON X.

II. Corinthians xiii. 9 — And this, also, we wish, even your perfection. 10 1

SERMON XI.
Revelation xiv. 13. — Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord 118

SERMON XII.

IL Coi'inthians iv, 17.— Our light ailliction, whicii is Init for a moment,
worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.. 130

SERMON XIII.

Acts ii. 31.— And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on the
name of the Lord shall be saved 112

SERMON XIV.

Revelation fith and 7th chapters.— A lecture on the seals IS.'J

SERMON XV.

I. Timothy iii. 2.— Apt to teach ICS

SERMON XVI.

Revelation 8th, 9th and IGtli chapters.— A lecture on the tr ampets and
vials 184

SERMON XVII.

IL Corinthians xiii. ll.— Finally, brethren, farewell Be perfect, be of
good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace and the Cod of love
and peace shall be with you 207

SERMONS

1 -•■■'

SERMON I.

THE I'RESENT AND FUTURE CONSEQUENCES OF S

SIN.

Tho wages of sin is death. -Romans vi. 23.

How different this verdict from those who live and die in sin
Thej judge, in most instances, that it is a very harmless and
innocent thing. Nay, they come to take pleasure in it as a very
.joyous thmg, and even to glory in it, as if it were a very honour-
able thmg. They do so against the most palpable evidence
and conclusive testimony to the contrary. For death, that is
the most appalling and judicial event that can befall us, is the
most conclusive testimony to its evil and demerit. As the
text says, " the wages of sin is death." Death temporal, spiri-
tual and eternal.

We will first speak of death spiritual.
Death spiritual. Ah, how dreadful is this if it could only be
properly apprehended ! The death of the soul,--not that its
constitutional faculties are destroyed, but that they have
become so stupefied and weakened as to become totally insen-
sate to spiritual things. This arises from the departure of
God's Spirit from the soul, and its possession consequently by
him who hath enslaved it to himself. And how lifeless and dark
must that soul become when He departs from it ! This was

THE PRESENT AND FUTURE

very evident in the case of our first parents when they sinned
against Him. They slunk away from His presence when He
came unto them, and endeavoured to excuse themselves on
grounds the most unworthy and untenable. Besides, fear and
the selfish passions come then to be generated, which always
turn against God, and bring such a cloud over the mind that
they can neither see him aright, nor feel aright even when he
appears in mercy before them. Hence we read that the
natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God,
neither can he know them, because they are spiritually
discerned ; also that the god of this world hath blinded the
minds of those who believe not. This, brethren, is the scrip-
tural account of the introduction of sin into the world, which
wise men and philosophers in every age have endeavoured to
account for, but will always be unable on mere philosophical
principles. But view it as a judicial act on the part of God,
and an enslaving act on the part of the devil, and all mystery
vanishes and becomes plain.

The sinner, therefore, now left to himself, because left by
God, and to the master whom he chose to serve, goes on as a
slave from sin to sin till he becomes dead in sin, till by habit
it becomes in him a second nature to sin. And now, dead in
sin, what a race does he run in the career of sin, and what a
fearful amount of wages does he earn in that career ! For
every sin that he commits he draws a check, so to speak, on
the bank of spiritual death, which checks are seldom disho-
noured there, but repaid with increased drawing and ruin.
Let us write for a little, if you please, some of the checks
drawn, some of the instalments paid, that we may have some idea
of their fearful amount, and be prevented, if possible, from

CONSEQUENCES OF SIN.

labit
id in
lat a

For
,k, on

isho-

ruin.

lecks

le idea

from

drawing any more. Every day of anguish, every night of
sorrow, every rebuke of conscience, every pang of remorse
are so many of the checks drawn, of the wages paid, as fearful
omens of what farther is in store. But to be a httle more
particular, look at the ravings and fooleries of that mind left
to itself, Avhere reason is dethroned, and right judgment pro-
scribed ; for we read, and it is true, that the imaginations and
thoughts of the heart are evil, and that continually from our
youth upward. But to be more particular still. Look
at the destruction of every generous impulse, of every kind
feeling on the part of the miser and the slanderer ; look at
the ribald and blasphemous tongue of the profane swearer ;
look at the lost character of the liar ; look at the beastly lust
of the licentious, at the besotted countenance of the drunkard ;
at the corroding dagger in the breast of the seducer ; at the
fearful looking for of judgment that every sinner, notwith-
standing his spiritual death, apprehends ; and what a fearful
amount of wa^ does he reap in his spiritual death here !
what a fearful amount accumulating for his eternal death
hereafter !

But, say some, these are only extreme cases on the part of
our spiritually dead, who are lost to all shame and honour,
but not on the part of our honourable men who are alive to
character and virtue. Well, take it on the part of such who
are so, but who depend on their own virtue for reward, to the
rejection of Christ and his salvation. Let us do so, and we
will see features of spiritual death in them more flagrant and
revolting, though of ditferent hues, than in the more 0[)euly
flagitious and profane. To see a fallen proud sinner valuing
himself on his own character, in preference to the merits of

TUE PRESENT AND FUTURE

Christ ; to see him proudly rejecting these merits, or con-
temptuously neglecting them, to see him treating the Son of
God who would be his Saviour, as if he were umvorthy of notice ;
and I put it to you, if these are not features of character
more infamous and revolting than those in the most degraded
and flagitious, more indicative of spiritual death in the blind-
ness and perversity of their minds than those who are lost to
all decency and honour. So true on the part of all such are
these words, " the light shineth in darkness, but the darkness
comprehcndeth it not. How can ye believe who receive hon-
our one from another, and receive not the honour that eometh
from God only ? This is the condemnation, that light hath
come into the world, but men love darh.ness ratlicr tlian the
light, because their deeds are evil." But notwithstanding all
the character that virtuous men so called may pretend to,
there is evil reigning at the root if it could only be scon, if it
was nothing more than overweening selfishness and nausea-
ting pride disdaining to be dependent on another, even the Son
of God, for merit and salvation.

But, say some again, who cannot resist the fact of sin, of
spiritual death, in some form or other, — " Oh all this is to be
laid to the account of original sin, for which we are not
responsible, but every one only for his own sin, and, therefore,
not to be charged to him." But what is original sin, but a
disposition from the first opposed to holiness, and inclined to
evil, which the Scriptures assure us is enough to exclude
from heaven ? while the fact also is that every one is a sinner,
and shall be answerable for his own sins ; that all previous to
conversion are dead in sins, and, unless quickened by a new
life, shall inevitably perish in their sins. Oh, brethren, this

CONSEQUENCES OP SIN. 1'»

spiritual death which we have all received as our wages, and
which we show in our bhndness, insensibility, peiTersitj,
pride and self-complacency, how we should seek to be saved
from it, for be assured to bo dead in sin in spiritual death, is
indeed to be dead in law for eternal death.

But the wages of sin is, farther, temporal dtath, -temporal
because after a time, to be succeeded by everlasting death.'
Oh, yes, this temporal death in the decomposition and
destruction of our bodies, we have all got to take ; for it is
unreasonable to think God would give us such beautiful bodies
and noble souls to allow them to turn against himself witiiout
destroying them, even though it should seem to mar His own
workmanship. Accordingly, He gave a commission to the
destroyer to execute his sentence on our first parents in para-
dise, dying thou Shalt die. He next stamped his signet on
the whole race, and claimed them as his own. Thence he came
in a deluge of rain on the antideluvians, and swept them
all away. He came down in a fiery blast on the cities of the
plain, and sunk them in the Dead Sea. He comes on the
battle-field, and cuts down by thousands at a time. He comes
to all in the ordinary diseases of life, and sweeps them all
away. He even alighted upon Calvary, and made the Prince
of Life bow his head, but that was rather a heavy blow as in
its reaction it killed himself. Hence we read that through
death he destroyed him that had the power of death, and
also that he brought life and immortality to light. But it is
lamentable to think how the multitude, notwithstanding
these things, prefer to work for sins' wages, shewing that they
love death rather than life. Alas ! they think not that in
sowing the wind they only reap the whirlwind, and that they

THE PRESENT AND FUTURE

are only treasuring up for themselves wrath against the clay
of wrath. The greater number spend their days as if they were
to live for ever, but a touch of the cold hand of death soon
dissipates the delusion. They build, many of them, as if they
were to stand for ever, but death writes decay on their strong-
est superstructures. They find poison in the beverages they
drink, corruption in the air they breathe, thorns on the pillows
they rest upon, and stings in their most lively enjoyments 5
but these beverages, that corruption, these thorns and stings
are death. In the race for life also, which most run, there is
a victory, but that victory is death's. The multitude, oppressed
with burdens, woes and cares, sink into a premature resting-
place, but that resting-place is the grave. Oh ! yes, the
grave is that wide realm into which every sinner must enter,
the impenitent, particularly, with terror in their looks and
despair in their hearts ; for the wages of sin is death.

But not only in usual, but in most unusual and awful ways
does death do his work. In the blast of the ocean, and the
roar of the hurricane, how many thousands does he shipwreck
every year ! In the lightning's flash and the thunder's peal,
how many also ! He is with the terror also by night and
the arrow that flieth by day, with the pestilence that walk-
eth in darkness, and the destruction that wasteth 1 noon-
day. Ee stalks abroad also, arm in arm, with gaunt famine,
reels to and fro with the drunkard in his gait, gloats over the
lusts of the debauchee, as he marks them as his own, and, as
a furious enemy, rushes on imbattled hosts, himself a conqueror
over all. The defiant shout, the groans of the dying, the
last gasp of the dead, are his martial music, holding appa-
rently carnival over all, to which he invites corruption, earth

CONSEQUENCES OF SIN.

and worms. Oh ! death, is he not the high disbursing agent,
paying unto all their wages ? for it is appointed unto all men
once to die, and the wages of sin is death.

This brings me to the next view of death, namely, eternal
death. Oh ! brethren, this is the death of deaths, called in
Scripture the second death. A sinner, in the very sight of
the cross, plunged into eternity, and dead for ever. Who
can describe the woe of those that are cast into hell, that are
thrown into the lake of fire, into the blackness of darkness
for 3ver, where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not
qucAched ? Some idea may be had of it by considering the
different feelings of the mind in diflferent states in this life ;
for, example, have we not in all of us the elements of retri-
bution and of future punishment ? Conscience and memory,
you know, are ever ready to act against us as with scorpion's
stings, in the view of the future.

But to mention some particulars. Have we not all felt
the tortures of some disease which no skill could alleviate »
no time assuage ? What would it be, let me ask you,
to bear them for a lifetime ? What for eternity ? We
have all felt the burnings of remorse which no repentance
could remedy, no hope alleviate. What must they be when
despair kindles them up into a fiercer flame, and conscience
into a keener agony ? We have felt, some of us, grief incon-
solable at the loss of property which can never be regained.
What must it be at the loss of heaven for ever, by those espe-
cially who once lived by the waters of life, but never drank
of the wells of salvation ? We have heard the profanity, the
obscenity, the blasphemy of those who are lost to all self-
respect, and given up to every excess. What must it be on

THE PRESENT AND FUTURE

I :i

the part of those whose tongues are ever venting themselves
in blasplicmics and curses against themselves, and others, for
otFences committed, for mercies despised, for salvation rejected?
We have all felt the pressure of guilt, the emotions of shame,
the sense of condemnation, yet mitigated with the hope that
we might yet be redeemed. But what must they be when
desi)air and remorse shall deepen their intensity, and foretell
agonizingly their perpetuity ? Besides the capacities of the
soul ever increasing (even in this life) to take in more increas-
ing misery, and the powers of endurance keeping pace with
that ca})acity, to bear a heavier load. But what must they
be when they shall be coeval even with eternity, and reach-
ing ever towards infinity itself ? Oh ! brethren, so true is it
the elements of heaven or of hell are in our own bosoms, so
that we may learn from the present what shall be the
Avretchedncss of the future, when all our sins with all their
penalties shall be brought before us, when all our feelings and
all our experiences here shall be aggravated a hundred fold
there, and all our wages which we have earned shall be paid to
the last farthing, for such sins particularly as disbelief of
God's word, contempt of Sabbaths, a resisting of the Spirit,
an anxiety to find fault with the people of God, a post-
ponement of repentance, an invention of excuses for delay,
a loss finally of all moral responsibility — when these, I say,
and all others shall be added up, oh ! then, what wages
shall be paid ! what a terrible reward shall be given ! what an
awful verifying of the words, " the sinner shaii be filled with
his own ways and eat the fruit of his own devices. They
consider not that I remember all their wickedness ; now
their own doings shall beset them about ; their wickedness
is ever before me."

C0NSKQTJEN0R8 OF SIN.

Id
to

And now, my fellow sinners, let me ask yon hiw long
shall sin's workmen bo in receiving their wages, what time
will it take to pay them all up ? Will it be in a year, or a
lifetime, or hundreds of years ? Oh I consider that the wages
here were only temporary, and short-lived, and designed
rather to shew the quality than the amount of the payment.
Consider also that time afforded you, more precious than all
eternity, has been misspent ; that your souls, more precious
than a thousand worlds, have been neglected. Consider that
you have been hurled from a platform of grace, on which an .
arrangement could have been made to meet your liabilities, .
but you would not. Oh ! consider that you spent your days
in negotiating drafts on the treasury of hell, instead of making
deposits in the bank of heaven. Consider, I entreat you, that
these drafts can never be disiionoured there, that tJiore is no
bankruptcy of credit in hell, but all must be paid to the very
last ftirthing. What, I ask you, will hinder their payment ?
what arrest the unceasing demands of justice ? what prevent
even the increase of these demands ? Will the soul cease from
sin ? Is the pit a place of moral discipline where purity can
.be elaborated from the very sink of corruption ? Is it a state
of preparation for heaven ? Is that awful blending, continuous
howl of blasphemies and execrations a fit prelude for the sera-
phi, anthems of the redeemed ? Does the Sabbath's holy light
ey^r penetrate those clouds of darkness which hang over the
blackness of darkness for ever ? Does one rivulet of the water
of life ever enter into that lake of fire ? Are these writhing
forms ever prostrate in prayer ? Does the voice of mercy
ever reach over that impassable gulf ? Is there a Calvary
among the hills of hell, where yet a bleeding Saviour can be

THE PRESENT AND FITTITRE

seen and a veritable atonement offered ? Oli ! I ask you liow
long, and the damned in liell may be imagined asking liow
long, as the immeasurable ages pass away, while a reverbera-
ting answer may also be heard coming over the fiery surges
of hell, "As the tree falleth, so it shall lie. He that is filthy, let
him be filthy still. And the smoke of their torment aseondeth
up hr ever before the throne of God and of the Lamb."

I will not urge this terrible subject farther. In conclusion, I
would ask, is there any sinner after all this, that fools to
repent and believe ? If so, let me tell you thai Jesus is ready
to receive you and give you pardon and salvation. Nay, He
stands ready with open arms to receive you, and in the most
gracious manner to welcome you. Nay, His kind voice of
invitation is always heard," Come untoTne. He that coraeth
linto me, I will in no wise cast out." It is only to look unto
Him who died for you, and to keep looking. And let me tell
you that that look will always beget repentance and taith.
Oh ! therefore, do not stand at a distance' from Him. Do not
especially close your eyes upo. Him. Do not keep looking
merely at yourselves and others. Do aot keep indifferent to
love Divine, nor heedless to Divine exb ortation and expostula-
tion. Do not, I entreat you, be in love with sin. Do not serve
the devil. Do not be a captive of his through your own lusts,
who will only be your pay-master at last. Do not set your
heart on the world in its fashions, votaries and lusts, which
will only be found in the end to be a treacherous enemy.
Disown them, reprobate them all ; say resolutely, I wish above
everything eternal life, and am wiling to sacrifice everything
that I may have it. Well, thoi, listen to Christ when he
says : " Seek ye the Lord while he is to be found ; call upon

CONSEQUENCES OP SIN.

Ilim, while ho is near. Lot the wicked forsake his way and
the unrighteous man his thouglits, and let him return unto tlio
Lord, who will have mercy upon him, and to our God, who
will pardon abundantly." «„t if you do not, but rather choose
to serve sin, and the world, and the devil ; well, hear " the
'vagesofsin is death, indignation and wrath, tribulation and
anguish upon every soul of man that doeth evil. As we sow
we shall reap. He that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh
reap corruption ; for the wages of sin is death."

A number of the above sentiments, and even expressions, were taken
rom a discourse which an American Minister gave in this citv above
two years ago, which so impressed tho author that he made as full an
abstract of thorn afterwards as his memory would recall

SERMON II.

THE NECESSITY OF ClimsT'S CRUCIFIXION.

And, !is Mosos lifted up tlio serpoiit in the wildornoss, cvon so must the
Son of man bo lifted up, Hint whosoever boliovotU in hinj nii^ht not i)erisli,
but might have everlasting Ufo.— John iii. It.

There is no doubt but Nieodeinus would have understood
what our Lord said, if he had had only a simple faith. 'The
figure of being lifted up like the seri)ent, though obscure to
us, would not bo to him, as the cross was a well-known mode
of death in his day, which would readily be suggested by the
cross pole, c(pially well known, on which the serpent was
raised. But he would be puzzled to think how such a man
as the Saviour could bo so lifted up, he being at that time
such an applauded and popular man, whereas, such a death
v/as only for the vilest and meanest men; and fhereforo no
wonder he seemed bewildered and confused not knowing
what to make of it. But had he rightly reasoned from lead-
ing views of. the type, he might also to the Antitype. For
instance, that as the Hebrews wero stung unto death, but
were healed by simply looking to the serpent on the pole, so
also sinners, by looking to Christ on the cross, would much
more readily be so. But his Phca'isaic self-righteous spirit
blinded him, that he saw not these or other things, and in all
likelihood, therefore, would go away as blind as when he came.

THE NECESSITY OF rillllST H CRUCIFIXION.

Nevertheless our Lord assured hiiu in the most positive terms
tlir it was the only way of salvation, and, therefore, to
instruct him in it quoted the type, as what might bo a li^ht
unto him if he only applied it. "As Moses lifted uj) the ser-
pent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man he lifted up,
that whosoever believeth on him might not perish, but might
have everlasting life."

I mean at present to stat. only the agreement that is
))ctween the stung Hebrews in the wilderness and the
whole race of men as stung by that old serpent, the devil,
or, rather, simply the fact that all are stung. But what
is the poison which has been infused into our blood, and
now does it work ! The poison is sin, and it works gen-
erally in the way either of a spiritual inflammation or an
insensate stupefaction. Look at the great multitude among
us. Aie they not in general in a bewilderment of excitement,
not knowing what to tbink or what to do with regard to their
souls! Behold also their staring eye, their prou<l foreliead,
their defiant look, their senseless fling, and arc they not mani-
fest iithor of a universal stupefaction or an excited inflamma-
tion. Ah ! brethren, wo are all stung. Wo have got all
disorganized, one faculty or passion raving against another, or
some one called the ruling passion predominant over the rest ;
or we have all got stupid and insensible as to our spiritual
state. You see this even in death itself, where the rulhig pas-
sion is still strong in it ; or a morbid arathy, a sadder sign, is
exhibited. The truth is, the poiso.. of sin is in ou'- whole
nature though it may be variously exhibited. Yet, ^ do not
choose to say what this poison sin is, or how it got injected
into us, for I do not know, only that every one may know the

Il i I

THE NECESSITY OP CHRIST'S CRUCIFIXION.

lamentable fact, that it is in him, and that it will terminate in
death if not removed. And it is pitiful to see how even on a
death-bed, it will shew itself— some raving in madness and des-
pair as if the fire of hell were already kindled up in them, others
sinking into insensibility and disregard, as if there was no
judgment, no eternity. But, that a spiritual inflammation of
some lust or other, or a prostrate insensibility characterises
the whole in their natural state, is too evident to escape obser-
vation. I hope many of you have gone through that spiri-
tual awakening which the scriptures hold out under the spirit
of burning and of judgment, which, however painful it may
be, is all necessary as a first step to a cure. And, therefore,
we proceed now to the remedy which God hath set before us
in Christ, — as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
" even so must the Son of man be lifted up."

And here the Saviour holds it out as a great necessity,
"Even so must the Son of man be lifted up." But what
kind of a necessity was this ! First, it was a relative
necessity. This is evident from the words Son of man. We
are ready to overlook this, but this lies at the foundation of
this necessity. Man, Avhat is he ! Why, a convicted sinner
condemned to die ; and though the Son of God, as God
could not die, yet he became the Son of man, which made
him obnoxious to death. Hence, th^ A.postle'8 words, " made
of a woman, made under the law." Ah! yes, when he
became the Son of man, he came voluntarily under the law of
death, which hung necessarily, because of sin, over every man.
And so we read, " it is appointed unto all men oijce to die, and
after death the j':dgment, so Christ was once offered to bear
the sins of many." True, Christ as a man was not a sinner.

THE NECESSITY OP CHRIST's CRUCIFIXION.

but the very fact that he became the Son of man compelled
him in all things to become like unto man, sin excepted. "So,"
says the Apostle, " it behoved him to be made like unto his
brethren in all things;" and again being found in fashion
as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto
death."

But, secondly, there was a legal necessity that he should be
lifted up, as it had to be of the nature of an execution. When
public law is violated, public satisfaction must be made. If
it is death, that must be the satisfaction ; it must be something
different from what --e call a fair or a natural death. The
law would fail as much in its penal execution as it had done
in its moral authority, if it were not so ; Accordingly all execu-
tions are public. And though a fastidious and delicate public
cry for privacy, yet it must be so far public as to be done
in the presence of the officers of law. Besides, it is from a
wrong impulse altogether that it is sought to be private. For
merely to save feeling, as they say, or greater wickedness by
the exhibition than would be committed in private, it is
altogether wrong in principle and unfounded in fact. The
majesty and universal obligation of the laAv must be maintained,
and that by a public execution, as the good that is done on
the thousands who only hear of it is far greater than the
G^ il that may be received by any who witness it. But to
set all at rest, the Son of man must be lifted up. The great
lawgiver himself must be his own executioner and that pub-
licly. The great lawgiver himself, to give majesty and
authority to the law, must make its execution as public as its
obligation and violation were. All had sinned in the face of
high heaven, in the view of all Intelligences, and on the broad

THE NECESSITY OF CHRIST's CRUCIFIXION.

scale of eternity itself, and, therefore, to make full satisfaction,
the Son of man must he lifted up in the view of the whole. It is
by so being only that God may be said to be exalted, the law
magnified, and sinners made to fear and even holy angels
confirmed. Thus, even angels desire to look upon it. Thus,
may they reason, as Christ said, " if these things be done
in the green tree, Avhat shall be done in the dry!" If he be
lifted up, what may sinners expect, but to be cast down ! or
rather as Christ himself says, " and I, if I be lifted up, will
draAV all men unto me."

But, thirdly, there was a moral necessity for Chri^^o
to be lifted up, to expose the evil and demerit of sin.
Had he died a mere natural death among his kindred,
it would have had little or no moral effect. It would have
done no more than the deaths we are continually witnessing,
which are soon forgotten. Job has well described the effect
of all such deaths, when he says, " they are destro^^ed from
morning to evening without any regarding it." But not so
Christ's ; see the effiect of a public execution in him, the more '
effect to set forth the evil, and desert of sin. These certainly
are most luridly and fearfully set forth in his execution.
There is hardly a phase of sin but has its counterpart in the
cross ; hardly a demerit of it but has its desert there. The
Son of man, as the Son of God, is lifted up there. What an
act ! what a spectacle ! Surely the great and good God would
not allow such a thing without something great to be served by
it. It is this ; sin must be publicly exposed and punished, that
sinners may be afraid ; and it was more glaringly so than if the
whole multitude of sinners had been so exhibited themselves.
He must be lifted up, and hung upon nails, not as a sinner,

THE NECESSITY OF CHRIST'S CRUCIFIXION.

but the Son of God for sinners. Be sure, sinner, if you con-
tinue in sin you will be liolden with the cords of jour own
sins. He is transfixed. Be sure you Avill be pierced with
the arrows of your own guilt. He is exposed even to nudity.
Be sure you also will be so in all your nakedness and shame.
He is in agony inexpressible. Be sure you will yet have
weeping and <rnashing of teeth. The rage of men and devils
were let loose against Him. Be sure they will be your tor-
mentors in hell. The crown of thorns was fixed on His head
the sceptre put into his hand, and the scarlet robe of royalty
to mock him, but only to flaunt you off, for your pride, your
assumptions, your vanity, your ambition. Oh ! brctliren,
what sights are reflected back upon us from the cross, if we
only had but eyes to see them and hearts to feel from them
namely, the infinite evil and demerit of sin. God hath done
what He could to enlighten and convict us by lifting up his
own Son ; and what a more fearful and afiecting way could he
have taken ! Christ lifted up on the cross for you. Hence you
find all the scriptural writers attributing all their salvation
from sin unto it and its moral influence upon them from their
sin. Hence, says the Apostle, " I am crucified with Christ.
He gave* himself for us that he might redeem us from all
iniquity. He died unto sin once; likewise reckon ye your-
selves to be dead indeed unto sin." Thus the poison of sin is
extracted, the old serpent destroyed, and our souls healed.
Oh ! shew you by your general sobriety, by the orderly work-
ing and harmony of all your powers through the awfully sol-
emnising and melting views of the cross of Christ, tliat you
are saved from your sins, from the poisoned disorder of your
nature, from that inflammation or passion of sin you once had

THE NECESSITY OF CHRIST S CRUCIFIXION.

ill

11 I

or that insensibility to its nature ; and that by being awakened
to a sense of its evil and desert. As God himself says, know
and consider what an evil and bitter thing it was to depart
from the living God.

But, lastly, there was a saving necessity that h^ should
be lifted up to make an atonement for all our sins.
Ah ! what a point this to be fully assured of. How cal-
culated to give peace and joy ; for if an atonement has been
made for all our eins, then what have we to fear from sin !
But of this we must be assui 3d only from the most satisfac-
tory evidence. Well, the atonement by the lifting up was the
effect of contract or covenant, and, therefore, if made fulfilled,
must have been accepted. This is enough to settle the point
at once, particularly when you consider the high contracting
parties to it, God the Father, and God the Son ; God the Father
proposing, God the Son assenting and performing. " When
thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his
seed. By the blood of thy covenant ho sent forth his prison-
ers out of the pit in which is no water. I have made a cove-
nant with my chosen. I have sworn unto David, my servant,
I have given thee for a covenant unto the people." Brethren,
nothing can be surer, because nothing is stronger in law than a
covenant, and if among men, then much more between God
and his Son. Well, it was made, and its condition? fulfilled,
the chief of which was that He should be lifted up, so that
we can now proclaim what the scriptures so often do, that
Christ died for our sins, that he bore our sins in his body on
the tree, and can also say for ourselves we joy in God,
through our Lord Jesus Christ, by Avhom we have now received
the atonement.

THE NECESSITY OP CHRIST S CRUCIFIXION.

But besides the covenant, the lifting up itself to suffer
and die is sure evidence of the atonement. Here our
attention must be confined to the suffering, as it is in this
chiefly that the merit consists. Why, he could not suffer at
all but as a merit, being in himself an innocent person ; not
but that an innocent person may sometimes suffer, but that is
because of an imperfect law or misapplied evidence, but under
a just lawgiver, he could not do so. But as there was suffer-
ing even of the most extreme character, and that under the
just government of God, it behoved that it could only be for
others, and be, therefore, meritorious or sin atoning. Ah !
yes, when lifted up He suffered exquisitely, hanging as he did
upon nails ; He suffered especially in his soul when all our sins
were imputed unto him ; and He suffered from the hiding of
His Father's countenance, all of which made them great beyond
our conception. And as they were for others only, so you
must hold them to be meritorious and atoning. Yes, " he suf-
fered the just for the unjust that he might bring us unto God;
he bare our sins in his own body on the tree. He was
wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniqui-
ties, the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his
stripes we are healed." It would be well for us, brethren, to
enter deeply into His sufferings ; for the more we do so, be
assured we will become the more satisfied that they are
mr-'itorious and sin atoning.

But farther, consider the person who was lifted up. The
Son of God, the God man ; then you must see that it was
as an atonement. Everything here depends on the person
lifted up, and suffering. A mere man, though a holy one,
could effect nothing. He could do nothing as a work of

THE NECESSITY OF CHRIST'S CRUCIFIXION.

merit or supererogation beyond what he needed for himself.
But the God man, as he needed nothing for himself, had
plenty to spare fov others. Everything that lie did and
suffered must have been for others, and fully meritorious.
VVliy, look at it. God to God. It is God the Son to God the
Father, it is the God man for sinful and condemned men.
Such an high Priest became us, Avho is " holy, harmless, unde-
filed, separate from sinners and made higher than the heavens."
No wonder then the merit also, according to these words, and
the blood of Jesus Christ his Son, cleanse th us from all sin.
But all this goes on the footing that it Avas the Son of God
as God that was lifted up. And is it not so ! ^Vhy, what
would have been the worth of a mere human offering ! Could
he be separated from his humanity for one moment either as to
place or time ! Was it not he, therefore, in His Deity that was
offered as well as in His humanity ! Could it have gone
beyond itself to any other ! Is it not because of what the
Apostle says, who, with an eternal spirit, oftered himself with-
out spot unto God, that our consciences are purged from dead
works, or, as what he also says, when he had by himself, as
the Son of God, purged our sins ! Oh ! to think that it was
God himself in our nature that was lifted up ; and have we
not enough to silence every fear, to remove every doubt, to
beget the fullest assurance to help us, to say " hereby perceive
we the love of God, in that he laid down his Ufe for us !" feed
ye the Church of God, which he Ilath purchased with His own
blood.

And now, in the view of the whole, assured that He was
lifted up to make an atonement for our sins, let me beseech
you, therefore, to look up to Him who was lifted up on the

THE NECESSITY OF CHRIST's CRUCIFIXION.

cross for us. Nothing is now left for us but the simple action
of the Hebrews looking to the serpent on the pole ; and we
ought' to be so thankful that so much is left for us. I know
indeed it is not natural for us, not pleasant to do so. Any-
thing but suflfering and death, but shame and agony for such
light-hearted creatures as Ave be ; anything but shameful ex-
posure for such conceited and vain beings as we are. Nothing
but the desperation of the Hebrews will induce us, like them,
as poisoned creatures, as dying and self-condemned sinners, to
look upon Christ on the cross. But you must either look or
perish ; for there is no other way in which any can be saved
but by the cross. And, oh ! if we would but think of it, we
might well look, for there is everything great and good to
look at, Christ the Son of God, the Son of man, a perfect and
good man, lifted upon it for your sins. And for your encour-
agement consider that there is no exception, for, as we read,
" whosoever believeth on him, shall be saved." And, oh ! if
you feel, to look, content not yourselves with one look, but with
looking, in a manner, all the time, night and morning, Sundays
and Saturdays, particularly in the view of death. Then will
you have a precious Saviour, a precious salvation, a blessed
hope, and a glorious heaven. But if you do not, but rather
choose to live and die in your sins, then remember that there
is no other sacrifice for sins, but a " fearful looking for of
judgment and fiery indignation which will devour the adver-

saries.

SERMON III.

GOD'S LOVE TO SINNERS COMMENDED THROUGH THE DEATH OF

CHUIST.

But God commendeth his love towards us, in that while we were yet
sinners, Christ died for us.— llonians v. 8.

Love is that affection of our nature which leads us to
delight in those we love, and, as far as possible, to do them
good. It must always, therefore, have an object to exercise
itself upon. In th« mind of God love is His own infinite
complacency and delight in himself as its object, or, it is
delight in His creatures in so far as they reflect His own
image and attributes. With regard to such, it is evident
that He must love them wioh a great love — even the love
of His whole heart, for taere is no such thing as loving
much or loving little on the part of God ; for those whom He
once loves, He loves unto the end, and when He once
loves, He does so with His whole heart. According to these
words of His, " I have loved thee with an everlasting love ;
therefore, with loving-kindness will I remember thee."

But it is not much of God in himself considered that we
are able to comprehend, but of Him chiefly in His acts
towards us. Thus, for instance, creation was a wonderful
act of Divine goodness ; Providence is no less so. The
daily supply of our wants from the productions of the earth

god'8 love to sinners commended.

is greatly so ; but what are all these to the gift of himself ?
What to His dying for our sins ? Do not these acts come
recommended and enforced as infinite above all other acts ?
for, after having bestowed these, when He bestowed himself,
even to the giving up of life, is there anything greater or
better He could do for us ? Does not the laudatory language of
the text, therefore, come enforced to us with every commen-
dation?" " God commendeth His love unto us in that while
we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."

There are three things which I wish to bring out from these
words— the person who loved, the 7nanner of the love, and
the objects of the love.

First, the person who loved God and Christ, one and the
same. True, God gave Christ, and yet it is God, in our
nature, that was given to us, and, therefore, God that com-
mendeth His love unto us. And what is it, let me ask you,
to have God to love us ? We are pleased if we have the
love of our fellows, our superiors, our governors ; but what a
boon would we consider it to have the love of our king or
([ueen ? But what are all these to the love of God — the eter-
nal, the infinite God, our Creator, our Sovereign ? Surely,
this is a blessing, above all blessings, incalculably superior to
all, and incomprehensively great. Why, if we can compre-
hend the greatness of God, then we may of His love, for the
one is equal to the other ; if we can measure the acts of God
which call forth His greatness, then we may of His love.
But what act specially ? Why, he gave us His Son Christ.
He gave Him to be made of a woman, to be partaker of our
very nature, with all its infirmities and liabilities, and as such
presented Him as His best gift to sinners of mankind. And

aOD 8 LOVE TO SINNERS

what moro could He do ? What farther or hi;];hor could lie
go in this line of action ? lias lie not thereby identified
himself with ua, married himself, so to speak, unto us, and
became as nearly and tenderly related to us as He possilby
could ? Has He not made our interests, in every respect,
His own ; and has He not bound himself thereby to sec that
they are secured as much to us as those of His own Deity ?
Can anything, I ask you, equal this ? Can anything com-
pare with this ? Is it not infinitely above all comparison ?
If so, may He not then commend His love unto us — com-
mend it to our attention, our admiration, our astonishment ?
Well may God now say, " since thou wast precious in my
sight, thou hast been honorable, and I have loved thee and
given a man for thy life." Well may Christ as a man also say,
*' 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 them."

But this will appear still more when we consider, secondly,
the manner of the love of this God Christ. He died for us —
died for us ! Who can enter into this ? Who can suffici-
ently set it forth in the immensity of the sacrifice, in tl\e love
of the act ? He died by His own act. Can you conceive any-
thing greater than this ? He separated what must have been
most near and dear unto Him — His soul and body. He broke
up all their tender associations and sympathies. He forwent
for a time their reflex actions and communications- He dis-
solved, as it were, for a season their very existence. He did
so upon the cross, Avhere the agony and ignominy of the
sacrifice added inconceivably to the act. Could He have
done more ? I ask you, could He have done greater ? And

COMMENDED TIIROUail THE DEATH OF CHRIST.

what nmst have been the power that effected such a disso-
lution ? Wliat the love that urged Him to it ? CouUi it have
been anythin*.; less than omnipotence ? — could it be anything
less than infinite ? Do not say that it was agony that forced
it, for lie was calm and collected to the last ; nor say, either,
it was exhaustion that produced it, for He was strong even
in death. His loud and piercing cry, which He uttered
beforehand, showed that life was still vigorous, and might have
survived, many hours more ; and His expression, when He
said, it is finished, accompanied with the act, that He bowed
His head and gave up the ghost, declared plainly that it was
all His own, without any compulsion or co-agency whatever.
Could Ho have done more, I ask you again, or greater ?
What can go beyond death ? What can be greater than the
surrender of life by a voluntary all-powerful act ? As He
himself said, " I lay down my life of myself. No man taketh
it from me. I have power to lay it down, and I have power
to take it again. Greater love hath no man than this, that a
man lay down his life for his friends." Doth not He, therefore,
commend His love unto us, as that that was far greater
than in our creation and preservation — nay, in anything in
the whole universe besides ? He died for us ! Havin'^
done all the rest in His goodness and providence, He super-
added this as what was beyond His reach to do more, so that
love here had its greatest bounds, its utmost stretch, its
fullest exit. Well might Solomon say, " Love is strong as
death ; the coals thereof are coals of fire, having an unquench-
able flame. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the
floods drown it : though a man should give all the goods of
his house for love, it would be utterly contemned." Is not the

god's love to sinners

text, therefore, true wlieii it says— does it not como with an
irresiHtiblc power of conviction upon us, " God commcndeth
His love unto us in tliat Clirist died for us." Yes, brethren,
it required Goa himself to commend it, as it was above all
human utterance to do so, and He commended it in the act.
It appeared, even in the mouth of Christ himself, to commend
it as above any human language, and, therefore, makes use of
the very smallest, yet most comprehensive word in our language
to do so, " God 80 loved the world." Yes, it was a so
without a such —an example without a parallel. Brethren,
let us read it in the act ; let us endeavour to comprcliend it
in the act, and we will see that there is a height and depth in
it, a length and a breadth which passeth all understanding.
But this will still farther appear, when we consider,
thirdly, the persons, the objects for whom He died — namely,
sinners. God commendeth His love towards us, in that while
we were yet sinners Christ died for us. This the Apostle
sets forth very strikingly in the way of contrast in the pre-
ceding verses. " Scarcely,'' says ho, " for a righteous man will
one die ; yet, peradventure, for a good man some would even
dare to die ; but God commendeth His love toward us in
that while we Avere yet sinners Christ died for us." Ah ! who
would die for a sinner ? The greater number feel rather
to despise the sinner, and to say, let the law take its course
upon him. The greater number feel glad that he is sepa-
rated from society, and has no longer the power to harm or
molest. In all this there may be justice, but there is no love,
nothing to save the sinner, but everything to make him feel
his desert. Even if it should be that a righteous man were
condemned to die, the greater number would leave him to his

II!:

-^^«

COMMENDED THROUQII THE DEATH OP CHRIST.

fato, yes even though it wore a good man ; pointing out that
there is not the least chance that any would die for a sinner.
There is generally no love, no pity in the heart of any for
such.

" But God commendeth Ills love unto us, in that while we
were yet sinners Christ died for us" — commendeth it as that
which was altogether singular, spcc'^il, and peculiar. He
died for sinners. What must have been in the breast of God
which could have induced Him to such an act ? What could
80 have overruled justice as to have given scope to a love so
extraordinary and peculiar ? What but that He might recom-
mend it unto us as being so singular, so inimitable. Sin-
ners, redeemed sinners alone will try to appreciate it, while
the self-righteous and proud will altogether overlook it.

But let us enter a little more particularly into our character,
that we may see the commendation of His love for sinners.
There is something fearful and appalling in this if we could
enter into it — sinners against God, the eternal, the infinite —
how presumptuous, how daring ; sinners against God, our
Creator— how unnatural, how unkind ; against God our lawgiver,
only requiring us to love Him and one another — how hateful,
how malignant ; against God, our judge— how defying, how
reckless. How all these combined, if we only consider the
original circumstances in which it was committed ; in Para-
dise, where was a profusion of goodness, only next to Heaven
itself, and from a grandeur of nature and state that were next
to God himself (man being in the image and place of God
over the creation), sinners farther combining every ingredient
of sin in our corrupt nature, every act of sin in our fallen
state, every opposition of sin against His nature and cha-

GODS LOVE TO SINNERS

racter, every malignity of sin against His throne and govern-
ment — sinners, farther, in our natural state against Ilis own
Son, whom He generously gave to become our Saviour — sin-
ners that, in the pride and malignity of their hearts, would,
like the Jews, if we hat been in their circumstances, have
cried out, " Crucify him, crucify him" — sinners tliat would,
like them, in the hellish revelry of their souls, have taunted —
nay, oven reprobated him with these words, " He saved
others, himself he cannot save. Pie trusted in God ; let him
deliver him now if he will have nim" — sinners, farther,
that were not content with one sin, or many sins, but with
sinning all the time, sinning also against all manner of entreaty
and expostulation, against every warning and threatening from
their own consciences and the law, even in the face of hell
itself — sinners called, therefore, in the text ungodly, that is
every way unlike to God, and, therefore, farther enemies of
God, fighting even against him with His own weapons, and
turning them into instruments of rebellion against Himself.
Yet for such sinners He died. Why are we nut altogether
confounded and overwhelmed at the thought ? Could we for
a moment have expected such a thing ? Would we not rather
have been ready to say, let such sinners die a thousand
deaths rather than that one should die for them ? Would we
not be ready to think He could not spare such sinners, that
it would not be right to do so, that every principle of law and
justice required their condemnation, and that it Avas not fit
that such sinners should live ? But instead of these, Christ
died for them, even the very One against whom they siimed.
What are we to say for such conduct ? Why, in the first
instance, that Hehath commended His love to them — His

COMMENDED THROUOH THE DEATH OF CHRIST.

love as far above His wrath and justice, that he hath clone
what no other lawgiver would or could do, He not only spared,
but died to save them. By so doing, it would seem that
He passed over all their iniquities, and looked only to their
deliverance — not only passed over their sins and provoca-
tions, but became their propitiation, to satisfy for their sins.
Ah ! it would seem as if the very enormity of their sin,
bespeaking the enormity of their punishment, so moved the
bowels of His compassion as to induce Him to say, you shall
not die— so raised His love as to make Him resolve that,
rather than they should die. He would die for them. Surely
this was goodness, the height of goodness — you would say,
the most illustrious goodness, and that God certainly com-
mendeth His love to us by so doing. In the view of these
things, Avell might John say " Herein is love, not that we
loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the
propitiation for our sins." Herein as if, comparatively, it was
in nothing else, while everything else was also full of it.
" Hereby perceive we the love of God in that he laid down
his life for us." Well may we sing unto him that " loved
us and washed us from our sins in his own blood — to him
lie glory and dominion for ever and ever." Amen. Christ
also hath loved us, and gave Himself for us. " He bare our
sins in His own body on the tree. He was made, sin for us."
To conclude — the subject, is the love of God in Christ.
Brethren, what should we give or do to answer such love ?
Why, to give Him our whole heart and lives. He gave
himself wholly for us to die. Surely we ought to give our
hearts and lives ..into Him, This only will be commensurate
to his, and make a suitable return. To give anything less,

god's love to sinners commended.

is, in a manner, to give nothing, or to show that we have
never sufficiently appreciated His. Oh, therefore, endeavour to
come as near to His as you can ; and with a view to this, be
dwelling much on the magnitude and self-sacrifice of His
love that He died for you. If so, you will soon come to have
such a sense of it as to say, " What shall I render to the
Lord for all His benefits unto me ?" You will be ready to
say, " Here am I ; take my poor heart. I give it to Thee
such as it is. No other God or rival shall ever possess me or
set up their throne there ; but my purpose shall be to love
Thee with my whole heart, and to serve Thee with my whole
life."

Brethren, the God man Christ gave himself and His
kingdom besides. What have you to give corresponding to
them ? Is it not, I ask you, your all ? Anything less will be
nothing commensurate to His. Nay, it will come infinitely
short of it ; but and if you do so, it will be returned manifold
into your bosom, and have an abundant blessing even here.
Nay, I Avould say, deny yourselves, that you may have some-
thing to give. Sell of what you have, that you may bestow
upon the Lord. Remember the case of the rich man in the
parable, and of the young man \Nho went away sorrowing
though he had great possessions. Honour the Lord, there-
fore, with your substance, and with the first-fruits of your
increase. Let your gold and your substance, as He hath
said, be holiness unto the Lord, and in all your benefactions
give evidence that the love of God is in you.

^ki.

SERMON IV.

THE BELIEVER'S DESIRE OF FELLOWSHIP WITH CHRIST IN HIS

SUFFERINGS.

That I may know hira and the fellowship of his sufferings.— Philippians

iii. 10.

It may seem strange, yet so it is, that it was the chief wish
of the Apostle to know Christ in these things. And that he
might be so, he disowned and gave up entirely every other
kind of knowledge. Nay, ho counted all but loss that he
might win Christ. Nor is it difficult to conceive why it
should be so. What arc all others in comparison of Christ ?
Wliat, when we have hira, though we have nothing else ; or
rather when we have him, have we not everything else ? In
having him we have saving knowledge, the most honourable
knowledge, the most satisfying knowledge, the most elevating
and rapturous knowledge. It is the knowledge of the Son of
God which, for supereminency, is called the excellency of the
knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord. It is the knowledge of the
most honourable attribute, namely the righteousness of God
in Him, and knowledge that is to be attained through the
most affecting ways, namely fellowship with Him in His suffer-
ings. Oh that we could say that we had the same wish, then
we will find that it will lead us to make the same renunciations
and also to have the same aspirations, " if," says he, " by any
means I might attain to the resurrection of the dead."

> I

THE BELIEVERS DESIRE OP FELLOWSHIP

I propose to confine your attention chiefly to the fellowship
of liis sufferings, liis suffering for us on tlie cross. Now there
are two views I wish to give you of these, — the shame of
tliem and the agony of them. The shame of them. lie was
exposed, you know, in his nudity as a pubHo spectacle upon
the cross between two thieves as if His -was^the greatest shame.
And did he not suffer, thinkyou, through this exposure ? Had
he not the feelings of delicacy as a man ; had he not the high
feelings of respect for himself as a pure man ; did he not suffer
also from the scorn, and contempt that Avas thus cast upon
him as a dishonoured and despised man ? Bnt whatever
his sufferings were, the eye of a spiritual beholder can discern
sometlnng more than mere shame through tlicm, namely, a
heroic magnanimity to prevent our exposure and yet a prac-
tical aim to convict and to humble us of our nakedness and
shame. And, brethren, do not we need something of this
kind to convict and to humble us, for we vainly think we have
no need of any such things ? In our own estimation we think
we are rich and have need of nothing, and know not that we
are poor and naked. But are we not destitute of everything?
Have we not lost all in Adam, and inherited nothing but evil,
so that nothing is left us but shameless nakedness and want.
But if we will not be convinced, just look at Christ on the
cross. Was that merely accidental, his exposure there ? AVas
it a mere casual appendage of that kind of death, or was it of
piu'pose and design ? Ah 1 if we knew it, there is nothing
accidental in the government of God, much less hi the cross
of Christ, but it was to expose us and set forth our nakedness
and shame. It was to tear to tatters all our filthy rags of
self-righteousness, and to reflect back upon ourselves our own

WITH CHRIST IN HIS SUFFERINGS.

nakedness and shame. Why, just look at Him, and say if
these were not the ends and the effects. Was He, the head
exposed so, and were not Ave also the members? Did he suffer
from such an exposure on our account, and ought not ,7e at
least to seek to have fellowship with Him in his sufferings ?
Oh, brethren ! do not shirk this question, but look at it so, and
take it so. By so doing you will not only have fellowship with
Him in His sufferings but will come to manifest a bocomino;
conformity to Him in them in hanging down our heads in
a spiritual blushing and shame, and as feeling as if we
were rather dashed and abased, than proud and lifted up.
Besides you will be led to exhibit such an assemblage of
virtues of the most agreeable kind which will make you
highly acceptable in His sight; namely, self-renunciation,
self-denial, self-abasement and humility, even such as will
be highly pleasing and acceptable in his sight. Oh,
therefore, keep looking and you will be prevented from
becoming vain and proud. Keep looking, and you will be
reminded how poor and naked you are. Keep looking,
and you will be enabled to put away from you every false
ornament of conceit, of importance, and of arrogance.
Keep looking, and you Avill be clothed Avith humility and
godly shame. Keep looking in order to these, and, as you
may see, you will have fellowship with Him in His suffer-
ings. See all these things beautifully exhibited in the 2nd
chapter of this Epistle, 8rd verse : " Let nothing be done
through strife or vainglory ; but in lowliness of mind let each
esteem other better than himself. Let the same mind be in
you which was also in Christ Jesus."

But another view strikingly reflected by His sufferings

I'M
i,i I

THE believer's DESIRE OP FELLOWSHIP

I! i<i

is the agony of them, — agony not so much arising from his
transfixion by nails, which must have been dreadful enough,
nor yet from the crown of thorns, Avhich must have been bad
enough, nor from the bloody stripes, which must have been
cruel ^ nor even from any terrible sensation which He had of
the wrath of God on His mind, for I do not believe in any such ;
for God is not subject to wrath or passion as we are : and I
believe Christ was never more the Son of his love and delight
than Avhen suffering for us, but his agony in that fearful
struggle which he had from the consciousness of our sins
imputed to him with his determination to expiate them.
Brethren, not a sin which you and I ever committed with all
their aggravations and deserts but what passed through His
mind; and, considering His pure and holy soul, what must
He have felt in the first instance, but righteous indignation
against them, so that between this and at the same time the
ardour of His love embattling with it, now that H e was there as
a sin-offering, and also that submissiveness and calm endur-
ance which he had to maintain to make His offering accept-
able, and you may have some idea of the agonizing struggle
which passed through His mind at this crisis. But consider,
further. His struggle on other accounts, namely, Avith the
author of our sins, and His fell purpose of vengeance against
him according to these words : "And ho saw that there was
no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor ; therefore
his own arm brought salvation unto him, and his righteousness
it sustained him." "According to their deeds accordingly he
will repay fury to his adversaries, recompense to his enemies :"
these, I say, with that cool heroism which also he had to
maintain, to prevent any of his enemies obtaining an advan-

MMfa

WITH CHRIST IN HIS SUFFERINGS.

tage over him, and you may have some idea further of that
awful struggle, that painful travail he had to go through before
he could overcome them. The scripture holds it out under
these expressions : it was the hour and the power of darkness,
the hour of the travail of his soul, when he brought forth
salvation unto victory. Oh how feebly do we enter into these !
how seldom we think of them ! how little fellowship we have
with Him in them ! But, brethren, this is our duty. But can
we have fellowship with Christ in these ? Oh, yes, in tender
sympathy and conformity. Is a person suffering for us to
prevent our suffering, for instance, in the transference of some
painful disease or the endurance of some great operation ; and
are Ave witnessing it, and are we able to keep fromsufferin"-!
Is it possible that we could help weeping and even goin»
so far as to beseech that it might come back on ourselves ?
And shall we witness the agony of Christ our Creator, our
elder brother, our near kinsman and beloved friend, without
feeling," without sympathy even ? Shall he agonize for us ?
shall he agonize himself? shall he ever call upon the sword
of justice to slay him ? shall he, even with his own hand,
thrust it into his vitals, but so far as it had to be done by
others? shall he cry for it, and order it, " Awake, sword,
against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow,
smite the shepherd !" Shall we know all this, and believe all this,
and shall we not also suffer with Him? Shall the prophecy which
was declared with regard to the Jews not be fulfilled with
regard to us, "they shall look upon him Avhom they pierced, and
mourn for him"? Oh, yes, we shall have fellowship with Him
in his sufferings. A keen sympathy, a sensitive disposition, a
brokenness of heart even shall be felt by us, just as we dwell

THE BELIEVERS DESIRE OF FELLOWSHIP

on the agony of His suflferings, just as we remember "that he
bare our sins in his own body on the tree." Nay, a revenge
will be felt by us against them utterly to exterminate them, just
as we consider that he died for them, " the just for the unjust
that he might bring us to God." Well, all this is fellowehip
with Christ in his suflferings and conformity unto them which
will be manifested by corresponding virtues and acts. For
instance, to give an example. At one time when the Missionary
Board was very low, and word sent to the missionaries that
some of them would have to be discontinued ; and at a time
also when they were more than ordinarily successful ; at a
time also when there was much extravagance and pleasure at
home, — Avhat was the answer, think you, which the missionaries
returned to such an intimation? "It comports very ill," say
they, "with fellowship with Christ's suflferings to have so much
to spend on extravagance and pleasure, and so little upon Christ
and his suflfering Church." The return came like a thunder-
clap upon the Churches. It wrought like a charm. Money
came in in abundance ; and the ladies, to shew that they were
not ladies of extravagance, but had fellowship with Christ, tore
the earrings out of their < vrSjand the bracelets from their hands,
and sent them in heaps to the Board till they were literally
loaded therewith. Brethren, there was practical fellowship with
Christ in his suflferings ; and there is no doubt, if we had the
same, we would shew it in a simlii:^' way by giving ourselves
and all that we have to His service. In this fellowship also
there would be no sensuousness, no luxury, no vain shew which
would be altogether unseemly in the view of the cross ; there
would be no selfishness, no interestedness in the view of such
a sightjbut everything noble, self-denying and generous, every-

WITH CHRIST IN HIS SUFFERINGS.

thing shewing that we arc crucified to the world, and the
world to us. Christ crucified, or the Son of God suffering for us,
would teach us such fellowship with His sufferings as to lead
us readily to imitate Him, and to make such sacrifices on the
altar of self-denial and generosity as would shew full confor-
mity to him. Oh, then, let Christ and his sufferings be conti-
nually before your mind. Shrink not from it, however unnatural,
however unpleasant the exercise may be. Turn not away from
it, however delicate your feelings, however sensitive your
minds, however repugnant to your natural taste and desires,
however ready you may be to feast your minds on other
objects as you think more agreeable and attractive. Oh, if
you would but only think of it, and look, you would see a halo
of glory shining through all His shame and agony, such a halo
apprehended by himself as made Him readily endure the
cross and despise the shame. Why, what glory ? The glory
of emptying himself that you might be full ; the glory of
exposing himself, that you might be covered and beautified ;
the glory of receiving a glorious recompense for himself, that
He might have the power of bestowing it upon you, and thus
giving you a happy exchange for all your sufferings in which
you had fellowship with Him here. Therefore look till you
see all the shame covered with glory, all the agony exchanged
for joy, and yourselves beautifully clad and adorned with them.
Oh, therefore give not way to your natural backwardness to
such a sight, much less to your natural forgetfulncss or insen-
sibility, but, with the Apostle Paul, be determined to " know
nothing but Jesus Christ and him crucified." Why, in heaven
itself you will have no other sight than the Lamb sjain, so that
your best preparation for such a sight *^^liere is your beholding

THE believer's DESIRE OP FELLOWSHIP

Christ on his cross here. Bretliren, have your times, I entreat
you also, for cultivating fellowship with Christ, in his sufferings
here. See how careful Christ was to furnish you witli one of
those times in the sacramental occasions as they occur, and in
the daily preaching of the word, which chiefly ought to be the
word of His agony upon the cross. But, in addition to these,
have you your own times as all our forefathers used to have,
for cultivating fellowship with Him by close meditation, by
earnest reading, by fervent prayer, for tender sensibility, for
congenial feeling, '.rims may you be assured that you will
become like to Christ, in heart, in disposition, in outward
conduct, that you will be acceptable to Him, and that He will
reward you with His own crown when you have been ready
enough to suffer with him here. You will feel also, I am sure,
more happiness in these finer and softer feelings of your
nature than you would in the gratification of your own vanity
and pride, and rejoice far more in sympathy with Christ than
with a vain and pleasure going Avorld. My fair friends,
arrayed in beauty and in fashion before me, may I speak to
you without giving any offence, as I mean none ; not that I
dislike dress, for I think there is more foolishness in being
whimsically singular than robed in the height of fashion, but
as those professing fellowship with Christ in his sufferings is
there not such a thing as uniting elegance with plainness and
gentility with simplicity, and thus indicating outwardly the
virtues of the cross and exhibiting the lustre of it instead of
the fashion of this poor vain ostentatious world which passeth
away. I wish to set before you here the example of a family
and congregation with which I was once acquainted in one of
our larger cities. I was struck exceedingly with the plainness

WITH CHRIST IN HIS SUFPERINQS.

and gentility of everything. Though evidently a very

wealthy iamily, I said nothing till I went to their church,

which was considered one of the wealthiest in the city, when

I observed the same thing. When, in the afternoon, I stated ray

observation, and asked an explanation from the lady of the

house,'' Sir" said she," we live in a splendid and worldly city. We

consider it our duty as Christians to shew them an example,

not for the purpose of saving, for what wo save we givo to

the Church, but our conformity unto Christ, our fellowship

with Him in his sufferings." Brethren, what an example !

what an exhibition! what noble self-denial, aims and ends.

But to conclude, as Paul said, " if we suffer with him, we

shall also reign with him ; if we deny him, he also will deny us."

SERMON V.

CRUCIFIXION WITH CHRIST.

I-

I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, «&,c.— Giilatiaiis ii. 20.

Strange tliat in our fallen state we all affect independence,
wilfulness, and determination, while, in fact, we cannot be so.
The most arbitrary must often become the most servile ; the
most independent, the most sneaking ; and the most powerful,
even the most weak ; see it in despotic rulers and political
characters almost of every kind ; see it even in all the rela-
tionships of life, how in general to get along they have to
become humble and condescending, even when they would
affect to be great and important. So strange and contrarily
do we generally act with ourselves and others.

Even in Adam though he had stood, and we in him, and
now suppose we would then have felt consequential and im-
portant, yet not so, for then we wouH have felt as humble
and self-denied as now we do undo*^ .. It would then

be that we would all be lookinjC .^, and acknowledging

our indebtedness to him, and n. us we now suppose, in our
fallen state important and great.

But what of all this to the text ? Why, brethren, we
have a class of Christians that would be arrogant and
dictatorial as if they had all mind and virtue of their own,
and were perfectly independent of all others ; while, as

CRUCIFIXION WITH CHRIST.

professed Christians, they have nothing of their own but
are fully dependent on Christ alone. Tliey have not even
an existence in themselves, but only in Him ; nay, not
even that, for it is Christ that liveth in them. They have
further no acts of their own that they can speak of but
only the acts of Christ ; acts further which they neither
would or could perform ; and what is wonderful, they have
these attributed to them as if they had done them ; nay even
are allowed to speak of them as if they actually had done
them, but of course with none of that proud and arrogant
spirit which they once had, but with that humility, depend-
ence, and gratitude which now become them. Now for
the text, " I am crucified with Christ ; nevertheless I live,
yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life which I live in
the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me
and gave himself for me."

But how can any one be said to be crucified with Christ
when they are not ? Why, in virtue of their union to Him, and
identity with Him, their right also in course to all that He did
for them, and wrought out for them in their room, and stead ?
Hence in the text they are said to be crucified with Him ;
elsewhere to be buried with Him ; nay, even to be raised with
Him , and to sit together with Him in heavenly places. Not
that any of these were done by them, but only by Him, as
then- representative and surety, and in Him, in virtue of
their union with Him, and identity with Him. Oh ! brethren,
I wish we had all a faith that would cover, and take in this
ground, and then how assured we would feel of our salvation;
how happy in Him !

But to speak more particularly to the Apostle's decla-

I' ^

l> I

CRUCIFIXION WITH CHRIST.

r.ation, " I am crucified Avith Christ," I would observe that it
must be spoken of in the hght of the preceding verse, wliere it
is said, " I, through the law, am dead to the law," the law in its
executive and commanding authority, dead unto it eitlier as
to any fears or any hopes I have from it. IIow so ! Because I
am crucified with Christ ; in other words the law has executed
its fullest sentence upon Him in llis crucifixion, and upon me
in Him, so that I am dead to the law as to any fears I have
from it, also having received its fullest demands from His cru
cifixion as to any hopes I have from it, that is of r' .teousness
by the law ; and also next, as I shall endeavour .to shew you if
we are crucified with him, ^s to those sins Avhich avc com-
mitted which brought down crucifixion upon him.

First, we say we are crucified with Christ in having the
full sen- lice of the law executed upon us in Him, and are
therefore dead as to any fear we have from it. Ah ! brethren,
you know our fears by the law of sin and death. Who is free
of them ? Who hath not often been in terror of them ? Who
in general hath not had the spirit of bondage unto fear ?
How many are there who through fear of death are all their
life time subject to bondage ? Yes, so long as sin exists we
will fear, for our consciences tell us as well as the law, that
" the wages of sin is death," and the Apostle tells us that the
" sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law." Ah!
yes, the threatenings and execution of the law against sin
receives awful confirmation from these words : " The soul that
sinneth it shall die. Cursed is every one that continiieth not in
all things that are written in the law to do them."

But what of these ? The law hath taken its course.
It hath done its utmost. It hath executed all its threaten-

III

CRUCIFIXION WITH CHRIST.

ings : and pray what more can it do ? What is your answer,
what ought to be your answer ? It is this, we are crucified
with Christ. We have met the full execution of the law
in Him; and therefore what have we now to fear from
it ? We read of death as the sentence of the law, but
not the manner of the death ; but as no death could be
more ignominious and terrible than crucifixion, we are
warranted to say that we have met the sentence of the law
in its fullest infliction upon Him. But what about hell
and everlasting misery, some of you may be ready to say.
We would answer that hell and everlasting misery are not
essential to the penal sanction of the law, otherwise there
could have been no atonement, no salvation. These arise out
of the nature and consequences of sin itself, which, beinr'
hereditary and constitutional, till it is supplanted by a new
nature of which we read nothing in the Bible, must necessarily
be everlasting. But what the law strictly requires is death.
Dying thou shalt die. And this, we say, has been executed
in all its extent in his crucifixion ; and what more, I ask you
again, can it do ? It can do nothing surely upon a dead per-
son ; and therefore we, who are in Christ, what have we to
fear from it ? But the (question is, are we really crucified with
Christ ? I would answer it, hy asking you, do not you say you
are crucified with Him, which you are when you accept the
punishment of your iniquity in Him in a sympathetic and
believing manner ? Then are you crucified with Him, and
then can say, I am set at liberty from, the sentence of the
law, and from all fear. Just as we look upon Him, whom we

!S in Him on the cross in subjection
liath redeemed us from the curse of

ours(

the law, being made a curse for

us.

|l !•

CRUCIFIXION WITH CHRIST.

i '!

, I

But, secondly, we are crucified with Christ iu having
met in His crucifixion the fullest demands of the law, in the
way of righteousness ; and therefore are dead to the law as
to any hopes we have of righteousness from it by our own
doings or sufferings. This is not as clearly known and
acknowledged as it ought to be ; and yet it is evident that
the law is as righteous in executing its threatenings as in
enforcing its commands ; nay throughout the Bible it is held
out as the crowning part of righteousness, being at once the
upholding and magnifying of the law.

Curious how prone we are to our own self-righteousness,
even though we are getting evidence continually of our want
of it, through innumerable failures and sins. Mark it in the
case of the self-righteous Jews who were so punctilious in le
observance of its smallest ceremonies only that they might
attain righteousness. Mark it in the case of our virtuous and
honourable characters who pride themselves on a name of
perfect justice, of charitable doings, and generous sympathies
as if these met the full demands of the law. See how near
even the Jews came to it in their covering up all their
delinquencies by sacrifice and atonement as if the blood of
brute beasts would compensate for the whole, and answer
for the whole.

But the great error, the great defect in all this is their
overlooking entirely of the past, and their fanciful providing
for the present and the future. Even though they could
have been righteous for the future, what was to stand for the
past ; what righteousness had they for unrighteousness then ?
But the great mistake with all such persons is this, that they
forget or overlook that they are not under a law of life for right-

CRUCIFIXION WITH CHRIST.

eousness in their present state, but under a law of death for
death ; so that if they really want righteousness by the law,
their course ought to be to go to death for death, that they
might meet the law of death, and to do this in such a manner
as not to break any other commandement by so doing. And
even granting that they did go forward to meet the law of
death, and that without violence, what, after all, would it
amount to ; what, after all, would have been the worth of it ?
Why, it would have been nothing better than the death of a
sinner always to continue under the power of death. And
where then under death would have been the life to work out
further righteousness to the law ? Oh ! if we could but see it,
it would be as death under death all over as the wages of sin,
without any hope, any remedy. And what then ? Why, to
exclaim with the Apostle, when thus convinced, " I was ahve
without the law once ; but when the commandement came, sin
revived, and I died ;" and again, " the law which was ordained
unto life I found to oe unto death." Well then, if this is all
that is to be looked for from the law ; if I am to have no hopes
from it, of anything I can do for myself, methinks I hear
you saying, I may as well go to hell at once ; for the longer
I am out of it, the worse it will be for me. No doubt, if you
continue as you are, it will be the worse for you ; still that is not
what you ought in reason to say, whicli is the language only
of proud desperation ; but in reason to say, well, if I can get no
hope from the law, I'll renounce the law, I'll say that the
commandment which was ordained to life I found to be unto
death. I will say with the Apostle here, "I, through the law,
am dead to the law." And, having renounced the law, the
next thing you ought to say is this, or to enquire rather, Is

li.

I';

CRUCIFIXION WITH CHRIST.

■ I

there any hope for me at all in any other way ? Is' there
anything else from which I can have righteousness ? Well,
now, we are brought to the text. Say with the Apostle, " I
am crucified with Christ ? Then you will have righteousness.
How so ? Because it was crowning the final part of His
righteousness, even His obedience unto the death by which
He magnified the law, and made it honourable, by which He
satisfied the justice of God, and made it honourable for Him,
though just to be the justifier of the ungodly who believe in
Jesus.

It is only necessary farther to know that all the former acts
of His life were righteous, as He could not go to the cross as a
sinner to make satisfaction. And were they not all so ? Who
could convince Him of sin, was His own unanswereble challenge
even to his enemies. In every act of obedience he could say,
" thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness." And, satisfied
that he went to the cross as a righteous person, it was only
necessary farther to know that all his deportment on the cross
was righteous, if it was to be the turning crowning part of
his righteousness, for a flaw here would disfigure, and upset
the whole. And who will say that there was any unright-
eousness in Him in it ? Look at His full submission. His mar-
vellous patience. His undisturbed magnanimity, His faithful
endurance to the end, till he could say, " it is finished." Yes,
his obedience, Avhich was unto the death, was finished. His ever-
lasting righteousness, which he now wrought out, Avas finished,
and was unto all, and upon all them that believe ; so that we
have only to say that we are crucified with Him to have that
righteousness which will deliver from hell and bring to heaven,
that that will present us unblameable and unrebukeable

CRUCIFIXION WITH CHRIST.

beforo God at his appearing.* Let us view these as submis-
sion and obedience to the threatening executive part of the
law. Let us have fellowship with Him in his sufferings
by looking only on the cross. Then shall we be able to say,
we have a righteousness that will both satisfy and adorn, a
righteousness that Avill get a ready admission into the fellow-
ship and favour of (^od. Acting, so, we shall be enabled also
to say, as the Apostle says in the 16th verse : " Knowing
that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the
faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ,
that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by
the works of the law ; for by the works of the law shall no
flesh be justified." Acting so, we can repel also the in^l u-
ation or accusation that we frustrate the grace of God. in
rejecting righteousness by the law, and seekin^^ it only by His
obedience unto death, according as he says in the last
verse, " I do not frustrate the grace of God ; for if right-
eousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain,"
pointing out that righteousness can come only by his death.

But, farther, we become crucified Avith Christ when we feel
the moral influence of the cross on our old man as a death or
crucifixion to all sin. We are more or less under the influence of
every object around us, and that as we are interested in those
objects. So the Apostle reasoned when he said : " For in tha^
he died, he died unto sin once, but in that he liveth, helivoth
unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead,
indeed, unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ
our Lord." May he actually assumes it as a fact that we are
dead. Knowing this, says he, that our old man is crucified
with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that hence-

CRUCIFIXION WITH CHRIST.

■vi '

'■

forth Ave should not serve sin. * Nor is it difficult to see and
to feel the moral influence of the cross upon us as the death
of our sin. For instance, in the light of the cross, Christ
hanging thereon, how calculated to kill our levity, our thought-
lessness. Christ giving himself for us such an instance of
pure generosity, how can we, if we look upon it. but feel dead
to all our own selfishness and nearness ? In the light of His
sufferings and agony to all our deadness and insensibility, in
the light of his patience and endurance to all our fretfulness
and peevishiness ; in the light of His shame to all our vain
glpry and ostentation ; in the light of His magnanimity and
heroism to our meanness and cowardice ; In the light of His
great love to our regardlessness and carelessness ; in a word,
in the light simply of his death to our own natural love for life.
Oh ! brethren, such is the power of the cross when we give
ourselves up to its influence that we become like to it, and
it to us; that we become crucified to the world, and the world
to us. But nothing but the cross, remember, will do this,
the cross, in some view or other, suited to our sin. Thus
it is that at every commission, we flee to that view of it, that
will be its antidote and cure, till, in the course of time, it
will come to be our death and crucifixion.

But to be a little more particular on this vital and practical
point, the agony and death of the cross for sin in its moral
influence on our death. The agony for sin ! What an evil
and bitter thing does sin appear to us in this light. His,
agony hanging on rugged nails, every motion making him
writhe, his agony bearing our sins in his own body on the
tree ; what a burden ! what an anguish ! surely, if we estimate
the evil of a thing by the punishment it endures, then, what

CRUCIFIXION WITH CHRIST.

evil like to this which could only be expiated by such
anguish ? What a colour does this agony also give to the
wrath of God ! What a lurid flame does it cast upon hell !
What an example this of sin and suffering ; what a warning to
flee from it ! What a terror ; what a restraint ! Who, in
fact, can venture to sin in sight of the cross ? It is for the
pleasure of it, generally, that any sin ; but if anything can
destroy that pleasure, it is the sight of agony, such agony as
was endured on the cross on its account . We cannot act unbe-
comingly in the view of the agony of others, especially for us ;
much less can we of the Son of God, our Creator, our elder
brother, our Redeemer. The sight of agony may harden some,
but the sight of agony for ourselves, just as we realize it, will
soften and break the hardest heart, and crucify to sin. Let
us only say, we are crucified with Christ, and we are crucified
unto sin. For what more fatal influence can anything have
upon it than death ? When a near relative dies, we feel as if
we would die with him, particularly if he died for us ; but if
there was agony in his death, how we die with him ! There
would be no longer any life, any pleasure in that which
brought to death, especially if it was the death of the cross,
but a hallowed revenge upon it, that it shall die. Believers !
Hve in the view of His crucifixion. His death, for your sins, and
you will become crucified, become dead to sin. Have fellow-
ship with Him in His sufferings, and you will be conformed to
Him in His death. It may be slow, lingering, and agonizing,
like crucifixion in cutting convictions, cruel mortifications,
severe strugglings, painful sense of sin and shame, but not
the less sure unto the death of sin than His crucifixion was
to death.

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CRUCIFIXION WITH CHRIST.

h !

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Brethren, become familiar Avith the cross of Christ, and
endeavour to identify yourselves with it. If you are to be
crucified with Him, surely it ought to be most prominen^^ly and
habitually before your minds. If you only can have right-
eousness by it to justify, how dear ought it to be to you in the
view of the judgment. If only you can have hope by it and
freedom from fear, how you ought to regard it, and live by
it. But how humbling and grieving to think that we will live
hours and days without any due consideration of it. This
shews evidently we do not prize it much, do notfuse it much
for the purposes for which it was set up. Oh ! brethren,
how does Christ, think you, think of his people, who view
it so little, and make use of it so little ? Would not the
reflection come often to His mind, " it would appear as if
I had suffered in vain, seeing that many of my people
hardly think it worthy of a thought, or at least of much
thought, and make apparently very little use of it." Oh !
brethren, do not you give occasion to Him to think so or
to speak so, but be dwelling upon it night and day, and
valuing it above everything for justification and righteousness.
We ought even, like the Apostle, to say : " I am determined
to know nothing but Jesus Christ, and him crucified." It is
the only knowledge worth knowing to know it assuredly in the
light of justice, sin, death, and judgment ; for what will give
righteousness in the view of judgment but it ? Oh ! brethren,
■ you value your hope, if you wish to be free of fear, if you
want good courage in the view of death and heaven, study to
say : " I am crucified with Christ."

SERMON VI

PPTTriTTTTTniM XVITFT nnr.!.-.-^

I am crucified with Christ ; nevertheless I Uve, yet not I, but Christ
iiveth ni rae ; and the life which I live in the flesh I live by the faith of the
Son of God that Iiveth in nie.— Galatians ii. 20.

A STRANGE compound kind of life this, dead yet alive, dead
to all sin, after the manner of the crucifixion, but alive unto all
righteousness. Yes. there is now life in him in all holy
feelings and exercises which formerly was not the case, a felt
movement, a sensihle direction, an indication that there is a
principle of life, and not the stillness of death. The Apostle
does not however say what this life is ; but as there can be no
life without its movement, it may be as well to say, confining
ourselves to the context, that this is a renunciation of self,
a death to the law, a sympathy and identity with Christ, and
a dependence on him for all that we need. By these things we
know that we live, and can assuredly say, I know that I am
both crucified and alive at the same time.

Yet, after all, he confesses it is not he that lives but
Christ that Iiveth in him, passing, evidently, from the life
itself unto the Agent of this life. " I Uve, yet not I, but
Christ that Iiveth in me." Strange confession to say we live
and yet do not live, to say that we live, and yet the life
is not our own but another's. True, we live, but how very

CRUCIFIXION WITH CHRIST.

feeble and imperfect often is that life. Nay, how often
and how long may we be said not to live at all ? How many
hours and even days have we no consciousness of life ?
How often when it would seem we do live, we live in mere
habit and form. Nay, is it not the fact that we live only
as we are enabled to live, and that our feeling often
is, that when we would live it is rather to die? As the

•

Apostle frankly confesses, " when I would do good evil is
present with me. wretched man that 1 am, who shall
deliver me from the })ody of this death ?" Thus it is, that
though the principle of life may be in us, yet it is often so
dormant, so paralysed, that we may be said to Uve and not live
at the same time. Often, to confess also as a general truth,
we are not sufficient of our own selves to think anything as
of ourselves, — a confession that for lono; used to sta^ijer me,
and to acknowledge after a while the truth of Christ's saying,
** without me ye can do nothing ;" and, therefore, no wonder
that the Apostle who was ivell taught by Him, acknowledged,
as in the text, " I live, yet not I, but Christ livoth in me."
Wmderful confession, we again say, to make of self-renuncia-
tion, of life, of grateful acknowledgment with a view to Christ,
and yet such a confession as we find great and good men in
every age making. Luther, the great reformer and good
man, who confessed that he needed to pray three hours every
day to get along, used frankly also to confess that he felt too
often hke a mad dog, but that when he read the Bible he felt
tender and pure at the same time. Another good man
acknowledged that when he came from the church he could
not compose his mind for fifteen minutes together to reflect
on what he heard, that is, without wandering or distraction.

CRUCIFIXION WITH CHRIST.

Only, brethren, try the matter, try what you can do without
Clirist, witliout praying to liim, depending upon him, and you
will have to confess to miserable failures aud insufficiency.
I have often tried it, but as often failed. Thus we come to
feel our frailty, to see our dependence and to readily acknow-
ledge with the Apostle, " I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth
in me."

This, I haye no doubt, seems strange to many who, con-
stitutionally, it may be, have strong affections, ardent wills,
industrious perseverance, and vigorous action. Yet many of
these have confessed that they were only constitutional, that
they were exercised when Christ was not the spring or the
spirit of them, and that when they wanted to act purely with
regard to Him, they had to put themselves into His hands
that He would act in them, and enable them to do all in His
name, and by His strength. Thus confessing that they
were nothing, and could do nothing efficiently without Him,
and that when any real life was in them, it was only when
Christ himself was living in them, and acting by them. The
chief peculiar life, be it remembered, that we should assume,
is this, but in many respects so difficult to assume, candid
confession, acknowledged inability, humble dependence,
believing prayer that Christ would work in us, both to will and
to do of his good pleasure ; forms of life, I say, which peculiarly
befit us. And yet as much his as any other, for there is no life
in us of any kind, but what He is pleased to bestow, and
keep up in us. As he says, " Abide in me and I in you.
As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide
in the vine, no more can ye except ye abide in me. As
the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father, so
he that eateth me, even he shall live by me."

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CRUCIFIXION WITH CHRIST.

The question therefore is, how does He do so ? We answer,
by His word, llis presence and spirit. " It' ye uhide in me,"
says He, " and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what
you will and it shall be done unto you. I will dwell in them
and walk in them," &c. To dwell in them, is to show his
life-giving presence ; and to walk in them, his action and pro-
gress, these, being in the soul, tend to stir up its faculties,
and excite its affections to himself, in those great views in
which he presents himself, namely, as our righteousness
and strength. Then it is that when we think of Ilim as
our righteousness, we have a sensible evidence that He
live til in us, and when we trust in His strength, that we
arc made to experience its reality. It is true we cannot
distinguish always between His exercises and our own ; nor
is it necessary that we should, for assuredly such exercises
are not our own, not being natural to us ; much less are
they from the devil, who does all in his power to prevent
them, neither from the Avorld, which has no sympathy with
Him ; so that when the mind is thus exercised upon Him, it is
by himself, who is the spring and strength of our life. True,
he comes occasionally by such powerfiU excitations as that
there is no mistaking his agency, as when he fastens a truth
powerfully upon our minds, or raises a full flow of affection in
our souls ; but it is the same as when he excites our minds ordi-
narily to himself ; it is ever Christ in us, Christ living in us.
Oh, brethren ! I wish you would realize the great truth, Christ
living in you, by His word and spirit, Christ, the Son of God
the Saviour of souls, stirring you up and engaging you upon
himself, Christ your life, by his own life and action within
you. Then you would often court his approach, you would

CRUCIFIXION WITH CHRIST.

lay yourselves open to his ap;ency, you -would often invite it
by your own attempts to mcditute upon Ilini, and by your
prayers that it would be granted sensibly to you. Nay, you
would be encouraged to do so by His own words and promise
to tliat effect. " If a man love me, he will keep my words, and
I will love him, and come unto him and manifest myself unto
him. If a man hear my voice, I will come in to him, and sup
with him, and lie with me."

The Apostle next informs us, what the spring or principle of
this life is which he lives by Christ living in him. It is faith.
" And the life," says he, " which I live in the flesh, I live by
the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself
for me." But, as we can hardly speak of faith as a principle,
without reference to the life of which it is, so we observe in
general that it may be said to be the whole Christian life,
more particularly the life of self-renunciation of his own
righteousness and strength with humble dependence on him
for these. This is evident; for what would be the use of
living by the faith of another, if we still clung to something
of our own. Oh, no, faith and self-confidence are manifest con-
tradictions, so that if we hold to the one, wo must always be .
renouncing the other. Accordingly the believing Christian,
living by Christ is always living out of himself, and therefore
is self-distrustful, self-denied, humble and poor, little in his
own eyes, and living only by faith on the Son of God, for all
that he needs for time and eternity.

Is it righteousness for justification that he wants ? then he
lives on Him by faith for righteousness. Is it strength for
the mortification of sin he wants ? then he lives on Him by
faith for strength. Is it strength for sanctification he wants ?

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CRUCIB'IXION WITH CHRIST.

then he lives on Him by faith for sanctification. Is it the hfe
for universal obedience he wants ? then lie lives on Him by faith
for obedience. And in all these it makes use of Him, as the
Apostle says, " as our wisdom, our righteousness, our sanctifi-
cation and redemption."

But to mention other things no less necessary in their
place. Is it to endure conflict, to resist temptation, to bear
suffering, to press toward the mark, to die triumphantly,
to rejoice in hope of the glory of God, — then it is to live
by faith on Him for one and all of these things. Thus
you see something of the range of faith, the full life of faith
on the Son of God, which, however, we are afraid, is put
forth by very few, the greater number contenting themselves
with a mere faith of salvation, and letting most of the rest
go, as not so necessary or available. But whether on a
limited or extensive range, whether for few or many things,
it is comfortable to think that it is efficacious as far as it
extends, and receives supplies from Christ, as far as it lives
upon him and makes use of Him. For what is faith, brethren,
but applying and receiving ; and what is living by faith, but
on what we receive from him ? It views him evidently as
our fulness for all, and makes use of him for all. Nor does
it do so in vain, for its experience is, that according to their
faith 80 it is ; as Christ says, " if thou believcst with all thine
heart, all things are possible to him that believeth." True,
many of us are not taking in a large scope of faith just
because we have narrow views of Christ and our own wants ;
but as 0'"'' views enlarge and our wants increase, so gene-
rally does our faith, for we soon come to know that we have
no sufficiency of our own, but that Christ must do all in us

CRUCIFIXION WITH CHRIST.

and also all for us. Hence it is that faith comes to be our
sole spring of action, and not only so, but after a while our
sure spring of action, finding by experience that He co-opo-
rates with us, and never fails us, nor forsakes us.

And is it not in itself, in many cases, a sure spring of
action ; for what will more readily prompt to action than
the faith that it is obligatory ? What more readily will give
strength for action than the faith that it will be successful ?
what more readily, pleasure in the action, than the faith
that it will be rewarded and accredited ? Hence we read
that faitli workcth by love, purifieth the heart, and over-
coineth the world, f\iith by the Son of God, who in us and
by us worketh out all and in all by us. A person without
faith is the same as one going to an action without the
will to it ; but with faith hath both the spirit and power
for it, so that in itself it is a sure spring of action. But
for this we have the surest and strongest grounds laid down
in the text ; for it is said He loved us and gave himself
for us, and therefore faith reasons, that if He so loved us
as to give himself for us, what is there not farther that He
will not do for us ? Therefore, it is, that we believe on Him
for all, and that we live by faith on Him for all, as without
Him we can do nothing.

As these are important considerations, we wish to dwell
a little farther upon them. A great many persons are per-
plexing themselves about the grounds and assurances of
faith, as if they were beyond their reach, and could not get
the benefit of them. The error in their case is, they are
looking for these in themselves when they should be looking
for them chiefly in Christ ; they are judging too much

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inw.ardlj and not enough outwardly. If, instead of judging
matters from themselves, they would from Christ, who so
loved them as to give himself for them, then they would
not only get such grounds as would encourage them to
believe, but to believe assuredly for all that they need.
Did He love them, for instance, when they were enemies
opposed and unreconciled to him ; and shall he not love
them more when they are friends, though trembling and
doubting ? Did He so love them as to give himself to death
for them, even death upon the cross ; and shall He not much
more love them when he has resumed life again for them ? If
He gave them all he could in his death, will He not much more
in his life ? These things so approve themselves to our
common sense, and are so congenial to our reason, that we
cannot resist them, cannot gainsay them, and therefore give
us every ground for our faith, which we can loasonably
desire, and every encouragement to believe that if we only
live by the faith of Him, we shall live triumphantly laid
happily. Oh ! therefore, if instead of looking into yourselves
or about yourselves for grounds for encouragement, you
would but look to Him who so loved you as to give himself for
you, then you would have a faith large as the love and great
as the gift — a faith that would assure you all things are yours,
because Christ is yours — a faith that would assure you that if
He died for you. He will live lor you — then also you shall
understand and believe these words, " He that spared not
his own Son but delivered him up for us all, how shall he
not with him also freely give all things ?"

And what now, you may be ready to ask, is it nothing but
faith, fiiith the spring of action for all things ? Yes, my

CRUCIFIXION WITH CHRIST.

brethren, faith now, faith always, faith in life, faith in death.
And what else would you have ? what else can you exercise ?
what else would you exhibit ? You have no works of your
own that you can offer ; you have no good about you that
you can present, no meric of any kind that you can plead,
nothing; about you but wreck and ruin. Well, then, what
is left for you but faith, faith in the merit and ability
of another ? and how thankful you ought to be that this
much is left ; faith in One who has all willingness and
ability, and who will never fail us nor forsake us. There-
is no other we can have faith on, for they are all broken
reeds ; but He has proved himself worthy of it, for He so
loved us as to give himself for us. It is therefore nothing
but faith, for we are constantly in need of mercy and
grace. But what then, you may be ready to say, is to be
made of good works, of good principles, of good affections ?
Oh ! if you have faith you will have these ; but if not, you
will not, for these only come of faith. Oh ! then, be believ-
ing, bo so all the time, and be thankful that you have the
privilege, the ability to believe ; for many sincere Christians,
I assure you, are not able to believe. But many do not like
this, they want something in immediate ])ossession, something
better than faith, namely, vision. Well, I hope some of you
may get something of this, some foretaste, some prclibation,
some perfection even in advance of faith. But I think at
the same time that you will be highly privileged if you can
but keep and exercise faith to the end, if you can but say at
all times, I am believing. I hear a great deal occasionally
about people telling their experience, and how good they
feel, &c., and how strongly they purpose, &c. ; but I will

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CRUCIFIXION WITH CHRIST.

tell you the experience I would like you all to tell — " I am
seeing more and more of Christ, in something or other about
His character and work. I am coming nearer and nearer to
Him in a simpler and fuller faith. I am feehng more and
more encouraged and strengthened to believe on Him. I
feel I could trust him with a thousand of souls, even if I had
them all. I am seeing that he would sooner deny himself
than a humble oelieving soul that trusts in Him." Such is the
experience I would like ; then it would be the preciousness
and work of Christ we would speak about, and nothing of our
own. If so, then I can only exhort you, grow in grace, and
in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Be rooted and
built up in Him, and established in the faith, as ye have been
taught, abounding in Him with thanksgiving.

There are some here who are not living this life of ftiith
upon the Son of God. They are living only upon themselves
and for themselves, and what a poor life that is ; how soon
it will end and come to nothing ! Even though vou were
guilty of no outward sin, nothing that could be charged
against you as a dishonour, yet is there not something awful
in living in the neglect of the Son of God, and not giving
Him your faith. He was crucified for you to save you from
hell, and He would now live for you to bring you to heaven,
and yet you won't give Him your confidence that He might
do so. But how think you does He, your Creator and
Redeemer, consider such conduct ? How does He feel
under it ? How will He act towards you at the last day ?
Will He receive you ; will He consider you his friends ;
will He invite you to come and enter into the kingdom with
Him ? Ah ! if you have neglected Him here, or rather wil-

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fully withheld your confidence, what may you expect, but
that He will reject you hereafter ? If you have robbed Him
of your faith, what may you look for but that He will order
you from Him ; and where then ? — to the devil and his angels
in hell. And oh ! what a state that shall be ! what compa-
nions these shall prove to you ! Be persuaded, I entreat
you, to think of Christ, what He is, what He did for you,
and what He reasonably requires of you. He is, as you
have heard, the Son of God, and became the Son of man that
He might be crucified for you ; and as He is now exalted in
honour as ruler over all. He only requires for your own good
that you believe on Him, that you love and serve Him.
Will you do so, or will you not ? If you do so. He will save
you with an everlasting salvation ; but if you do not, He will
allow you to perish with an everlasting destruction. You
have but a short time to decide the matter, for death is near
at hand, and the judge is at the door. It may require some
trouble, some resolution to decide ; but depend upon it, it is
the only happy and honourable life ; for " them that honour
Him, He will honour ; but they that despise Him shall be
lightly esteemed."

111

SERMON VII.

IIIE GRACE OF CHRIST THROUGH HIS POVERTY THE PROCURING

CAUSE OF OUR RICHES.

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For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was
rich, yet for your sake^< ho became poor, that ye through his i)overty might
be rich. — II. Coritithiiins viii. 1).

There is not a saying in the world more true than it is
common, that example hath more weight than precept-
This is evident, not only from the evidence it gives us of
the sincerity of him who delivers it, but from the force and
weight which it gives to the precept when exhibited in
example. Wheresoever, and by whomsoever example is
exhibited, it speaks more powerfully than even precept itself;
for if men cannot resist the obligation of duty when held out
to them in the light of precept, much less can they resist it
when they see it embodied in example, and consistently
followed out in practice. Accordingly we see example
imitated and followed Avhen precept is neglected ; and how
often does it not, by awakening the most just and glorious
emulation, and by quickening us from the fear of shame, stir
us up to the most laudable and disinterested services ?

As thus example has more weight than precept, ought we
not to expect that those who have been benefited by example,
would in their turn exemplify the same according to their
ability for the good of others ? If a person in the uepths of

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THE GRACE OP CHRIST.

poverty and distress should be visited by another person who
not only supplied all his present need, but raised him above
the fear of future want, how would he not be struck at such
enlarged and disinterested benevolence, and bo under all the
ecstacy of gratitude at such liberality? Moreover the deep
sense ^vhich he had of his poverty with his conferred eleva-
tion above it, would cause him, even in honour of his benefoctor,
to imbibe the same spirit, to imitato the same example, and to
rejoice in relieving the wants of others. But the ca-^e goes
far beyond our conception, and becomes too weighty for our
feelings when we consider that a superior whom we had
offended and whom we might justly consider our enemy, should
so empty himself of all his riches and treasures as voluntarily
to make himself poor that we might be rich. Such an instance
of self-denied and enlarged liberality as this would do some-
thing more than excite our gratitude, it would kindle into
traus[)ort all the higher feelings of our nature; and no
appeal to our generous affections and sympathetic feelings in
behalf of others would be more touching and irresistible than
the remembrance of such unmerited and unbounded liberality
in behalf of ourselves.

Well, then, this was the very exa^mplo and argument
which the Apostle made use of when urging the Corinthians
to liberal contributions on the behalf of others. They had
been partakers of the grace of the gospel, but they had
hitherto failed to support it with their temporal substance.
They had also been behind in their contribution for the saints,
so that the forwardness and liberality of other churches were
set Defore them as a chiding example. Bat the Apostle had
a much more powerful argument in reserve than either the

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THE GRACE OF CnRTST THROUGH HIS POVERTY

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necessities of the saints or the example of other churches ;
and to make it the more effectual he for a moment loses sight
of these, and by barely reminding them of their once spiritual
poverty and distress, which, when properly understood, were
much more overwhelming and depressive than temporal
poverty, but which were completely supplied and ou*-dono by
the riches and the poverty and the liberality of Christ, he
founds an argument upon them for liberal relief to others whose
appeal was too touching to be resisted, and too powerful to
fail of its effect. For, says he, " ye know the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your
sakes he became poor, tliat ye through his poverty might be
rich."

By grace we generally understand favour to the unde-
serving, but here it is favour from the purest and the highest
love. In illustration therefore, farther, of its character, I
observe, that it is unbounded, self-denying, unmericed, efH-
cacious, and enriching.

First, we say that it is unbounded. To be unbounded is
to be beyond all limits and restraints. Now this the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ was, whether we consider it as an
attribute of His nature, or in its manifestations unto us. As
an attribute of His nature it was manifested in all its extent,
so that though holiness and justice stood in the way of its
exercise, it was manifested in such a way as to illustrate
holiness and. to satisfy justice, and therefore was manifested
in all its extent as the reigning attribute of His nature,
without limit, without control. Hence we read of His grace,
of the riches of His grace, of the exceeding riches of His
grace, of His grace being more abundant, and of grace reigning
through righteousness unto eternal life.

THE PROCURING CAUSE OP OUR RICHES.

tning

But it will still farther appear to bo so from its different
manifestations unto us. It is said " though he was rich he
became poor, that we through his poverty might be rich."
Though He was rich in his eternal existence and fulness, He
became poor. He condescended to be made of a woman,
made under the law, and in this state to become poor and
empty, even to the giving up of life itself. Now, if He who
was in possession of all things, condescended for a time to
give up all things, where can any limits be set to His grace ?
It was neither restrained by the fulness of possession on the one
hand, nor dirainislicd in its exercise by the endurance of want
or anguish of suffering on the other, but rather magnified and
increased. The sense of riches on the one hand, coupled
with that of poverty on the other, would but give scope to the
higher exercise of grace, as rejoicing that the impoverished
sons and daughters of humanity would be gloriously enriched
thereby.

Therefore His grace will still farther appear to be so
from the design and effect of His poverty. " He became
poor that we might be rich." To put us in ine way merely
to become rich, would have been a great instance of grace,
but to enrich us wholly by means and at the expense of him-
self would be a clear evidence that His grace was unbounded.
Those riches also, because they are suited to the nature of
the soul, and commensurate with its fullest desires and
capacities, and with the utmost extent of its being, reaching
to eternity, show clearly also its infinite character, and give us
occasion to say, the more we consider it, " Oh, the depth and
the height, the length and the breadth of the love of God in
Christ Jesus, it passeth all understanding. Of his fulness

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74 THE GRACE OP CHRIST TIlROUaH III8 POVERTY

have all wc received and grace for grace. And the grace
of God was exceeding abundant by faith and love which is in
Christ Jesus. And great grace was open to them all."

But, secondly, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
was rich, but became poor, is self-denying grace. Here wo
enter upon a difficult and mysterious subject, how Ho who
was independently and unchangeably rich could become poor,
so diflicult that some emhicnt men have been h^ into the
notion of the pre-existence of Christ's human soul, and they
say that it was it that was made poor, at the time of its
union with the body, and continued to be so till after His
resurrection from the dead. But even granting that the soul
of Christ did live in a prc-existont state, we know of no
poverty to which it was subjected in conseciucnce of its union
with the body. It was always in full possession of the image
of (?od, the full enjoyment of His favour, and could at all
times command the resources of the Deity for miracle work-
ing or divine teaching. Better therefore to allow the diffi-
culty to remain in all its extent than have recource to an
hypothesis which we neither consider scriptural nor reasonable.
But though we cannot show fully how He who was rich
became poor, yet certainly we may bo able to see so much of
it as to show that it was self-denying. Thus, for instance,
though He was rich in His eternal and unchangeable self-
existence, yet when, for the sake of enriching us also, He
united himself to a finite and dependent nature ; who will
not say that this was a great act of grace and that it was self-
denying ? When He was rich also in His original glory and
blessedness, but to enrich us also, united himself to a weak
suffering humanity ; who will not say that this also was self-

THE PROCURING CAUSE OP OUR RICHES.

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deiiying? and finally, when for the sake of enrichinf]; us,
thoii-^h lie was rich as the Creator and proprietor of the
universe, yet chose to deny himself of all and even of life in
our nature, who will not say that as an instance of grace it was
of the purest and most self-denying kind ? Now the question
in all this is, not how he, who was unchangeably rich could
become poor ; but the question is, when there are two distinct
natures yet but one person, how it is possible not to attribute
to the one what is done and submitted to by the other.
Besides, when we consider that it was the divine nature that
engaged and gave all its efficacy and merit to the human,
then we can longer resist perceiving how He who was rich
became poor, but that Ilis act in so doing was of a self-deny-
ing character. This character also is strongly set forth in
these words, " who though he was in the form of God, and
thought it not robbery to be equal with God, yet took upon
him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of
sinful flesh." Here the whole significancy of the ex[)rcssion
rests on these few little words, ''yet took upon him," and they
are words of unfathomable condescension and self-denial. We
may overlook them ; but if a high and wealthy person were to
take to himself a mean and poor one, what a public cry would
be raised against him, particularly by his compeers and rela-
tives ! How he had demeaned himself, dishonoured himsel<^'
cast contempt on all his relations, &c.; but Christ the Son of
God took upon himself our 'ow and fallen humanity, and
gave evidence of his self-deny'-ig grace thereby. And so we
read that he humbled himself and made himself of no reputa-
tion, that he was found in fashion as a man, and was despised
and rejected^of men.

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TIIK QRACE OP CHRIST TIIROnoiI HIS POVERTY

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I{ut, in the last place, I remark, that lli.s grace, as we
read in tho text, was oiirichiii;^ ;4race, onrichiu^ for body
and soul, for time and eternity. Hero wo enter on a delight-
ful suhjoct, one calculated to engage our attention and to
excite our desires. Well, it is His grace alone that maketh
rich and addeth no sorrow. For instance, first, with regard
to every good thing in this life, food, raiment, shelter, protec-
tion. We have these l)y covenant, right and [)romise, and
the blessing of a thankful heart with them. " Thy bread shall
be given the(3, and thy water shall be sure. The young lions
may lack and suffer hunger, but they that seek the Lord
shall not lack any good thing." Therefore the exhortations,
♦' take no thought for the morrow." And again, " be careful
for nothing." But, as some may say, God's people, the most of
them arc poor; but we re[)ly also, that many of them are rich.
As God himself saith, it is He that givoth thee power to get
rich, and as he said of Cyrus of old, and of many others, I
will give thee the treasures of darkness an<l hidden riches of
secret places; and wo believe also that if He would give the
spirit duly to acknowledge and improve, He would give to all his
poor to be rich, especially if all sought first the kingdom of God
and his righteousness, all other things, as He says, would be
added unto them.

But it is of spiritual wealth chiefly that tho grace of
Christ makes us partakers ; spiritual wealth in a rich
understanding, with good faith, love, and hope. A rich
understanding, according to these words, unto all riches of
the full assurance of understanding secured to them by the
teaching of the Spirit and the many treasures of the insi)ired
volume. A good faith on the righteousness and promise of

THE PROrtlRINQ CAUSE OP OUR RICHES.

grace accompanied with a pure love, according to these words,
" the grace of God being exceeding abundant by faith and love
which is in Christ Jesus, and a lively hope in a glorious
future,, according to these he hath begotten us again to a
lively hope through the power f the Holy Ghost." What
wealth, brethren, in these things secured to us only by the
grace of Christ ! wealth compared with the former poverty of
our souls when we were in darkness and unbelief, which is
far above our estimation, and which contrasts most favourably
with all the other wealth of this poor world. A poor Chris-
tian, having his mind enlightened on the grace of God, and
his heart trusting in that grace, is infinitely richer than the
man who is stored with all natural science, but has no faith in
God, or in his Son JesUs Christ. A bright light shineth
within him, which the other wants, a blessed hope particularly
in regard to a glorious immortality which the other has not ;
and not only so, but a prepossession of all that is future in
the way of foretaste.

But his riches are inconceivably higher when we consider
them, especially with regard to persons as well as things.
He has God, he has Christ, he has the Spirit, and with
them the kingdom of heaven at length. We can claim
the offer, the possession of them, on the ground of free
transfer and gift. " I am the Lord thy God ;" others would
shrink from this with repulsion and terror. And could we
enter into it, we would see we could not have a richer, a
higher possession. Does it not secure our right, our enjoyment
also of every other blessing ? Hence, when every other is
promised, do we not find them backed up with this, " for I am
the Lord thy God."

TIIK GRACE OF CIIltlHT TIIROUQH HIS I'OVERTV

il 11

He lias, as you knew also Christ Jcsiis. And what is
this ? Wo {-11 know what it is to have what is very rarely
had in this world, a truly sympathetic and wise and
generous friend. Ah, wo are rich, if avo can say wo have.
But what are any to Christ Jesus ! His ear ever open
to us, His howels ever moved towards us, His hands ever
open to us and full. But our riches in such a friend, in
tluit he is our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and
redemption. Oh, the grace that makes "ich a transfer of
himself, unto us, in these most beneficial and meritorious
qualities. Assuredly if we could take a hold of them, and
ap[)ly them, we would have all and abound. Wo could say
with the Apostle, all things are ours, my beloved is mine, and
I am his. In him I have all and abound. True, it takes
a large faith to take in all this, but no larger than there is
scope for, and no larger than by frecjucnt exercise we »nay come
to attain. Persons complain of weak faith, and na ^v faith ;
but just let them remember that the God-man, Jesus Christ,
is theiis in all His relations and offices, and they will come to
have a faith commensurate with them, and therefore, corre-
spondingly rich and great.

But the grace of Christ makes them rich in the Holy
Ghost. Christ engaged for this person for them, when he
undertook their work, and therefore promised Him when
on earth, and sent Him when He went to heaven. And
thitik, brethren, what it is to have trie Holy (Jhost, to have
another spirit than your own to guide you, to iuHiionce you,
and to comfort you continually, to make you fit to become
an habitaticu for God himsel'' How different this from the
spirit of the evil one, that is m every one by nature, only

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THE PROCURING CAUSE OF OUR RICHES.

to impel to evil and ruin, but the spirit of God, ever to
8>i^;^est to tluit wliicli is good. Those surely arc riches
which are incomparably above all others. lie surely is
rich who has the Holy Ghost. And are we not conscious
that we have Him ? Do we not feel something within
us, always reminding and excit. , and making us feel
uneasy, but as we are in the way of duty ? Do we not feel
something acting with great power at times, swaying and
commandiiig the whole soul in some impulse, suggestion,
imi)ression or sensation, just as the occasion or the influence
may be ? And what is inis but the spirit of God, which liveth
and abideth for over in the souls of believers. To think of it
*hat we have the Holy Ghost, that divine spirit in such spirits
as ours, the greatest gift next to Christ himself, which we
could have, and that we have Him solely through the grace
and promise of Christ, and how great must that grace be !
Christians, how you ought to be looking within you, and
watching the operations of your own spirit ! for these afford
a sufficiently clear and satisfactory evidence whether the
spirit of Christ is in us or not. And how, when we do
ascertain that He is in us, we ought to cherish his presence
and influence, for assuredly He is the greatest gift we could
have, and assuredly the greatest evidence of the gift of
grace which we could have " If ye who are evil give good
gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Heavenly
Father give the holy spirit unto them who ask him." To
sec the grace of Christ here, how much ought we to be
thinking of His words, the greatest proof of grace we can
possibly have. " And I will pray the Father, and he shall
give you another comforter, that ho xnay abide with you

THE GRACE OF CHRIST THROUGH HIS POVERTY

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for ever. Even the spirit of truth, whom the world cannot
receive^ because it seeth him not, neither knowcth him ; but
ye know liim for he dwellcth witli you, and shall be in you."

And now having Christ in you, the new man and hope of
glory, and the spirit of Christ, the Holy Ghost, does it not
introduce you to the full sum of your riches, namely, the
possession of the whole Deity himself in his triune character ?
Brethren, sons of God, heirs of God and joint heirs with
Christ, God the portion of our souls for ever, if you could
enter into it in all His glory, and all His blessedness, you
would see how rich you are, what riches you have, not only in
prospect, but in possession; and oh, to think thct we are to
have all these riches in full possession in heaven at last, and
how great that grace that hath bestowed it.

Brethren, do you know this grace of -^ur Lord Jesus
Christ ? Then it is a knowledge of most special excellence
and interest, suflBcient to command our constant admiration,
gratitude and joy. But the proof of the knowledge of it
is the possession and exercise of the same spirit. Brethren,
Christ is set before us in the exhibition of His spirit. He
is so also as an example. Let it be your highest ambition
to be like Christ. Let it bo your study to have the same
mind in you that was in Him. In addition to admiration,
gratitude and joy for his grace, let graciousness, if possible,
characterize your whole way unto others. Let your speech
be always with grace seasoned with salt, \ind, wise, gentle
and free. Let your heart feel always kind and tender. Let
your manner be courteous and condescending, and your
conduct, as far as you can, charitable and free. It was for
this end that the Apostle made his appeal to the Corinthians

THE PROCUKINQ CAUSE OF OUR RICHES.

in the text : " And if ye do them, you will liave learned of
Christ, you will have known Christ. You will be like to
Christ, you will become rich in Christ." Oh, surely this ou^ht
to be our highest aim and ambition; for we are, as it were, left
in His place to show His spirit as well as to imitate His example.
We are all going to Him, to show our likeness to Him, and to
become fully partakers of His spirit, and we all expect to be
acknowledged and rewarded according to the measure of that
spirit we have had here. Oh, how conspicuous and glorious
will those shine in heaven, who have made the nearest approach
to His spirit and example which he shov/ed on earth. Brethren,
we are here but a little. We have a great deal to attain, a
great deal to show, and many opportunities to show it in our
miserable world. Happy those who can show it in any good
degree whenever they have occasion. They are showing
Christ, His blessed and holy spirit, and religion, and doing
what they can to promote the cause of Christ. Remember,
you have ever the example of Christ befor-? you, and never let
it be said as an appeal against your own selfishness and
uncharitableness, ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
but as an appeal to you rather to possess and to follow it.

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SERMON VITI.

CIIKIST'S DEVOTION TO HIS FATHER'S WILL.

Tlio fuip which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it ? —
John xviii. 11.

TiiK cup — a figurative term to denote the depth and fulness
of the Saviour's sufferings — we mean, chiefly, His soul suffer-
ings. Many, we fear, confine their views to those of His
body, and think not of those of His soul, or, at any rate,
take a very superficial view of them which they designate
under the general name of the Cross. But, that they were
the chief ones, is evident, we think, from His own words, " My
soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death ;" and, also,
from the effect of these on His body in the garden, when it is
said that " His sweat was, as it were, great drops of blood
falling down to the ground." As this only could be from His
soul, we ought, as much as possible, to have some adequate
sense of them ; for, assuredJy, they were the greatest which
He was called on to suffer.

But from what cause, you may be ready to ask, did He
so suffer ? We answer, from the imputation of all our sins.
We seldom enter into thi.s idea ; we feel rather to think of
Him as suffering for sin in the general, or, some say, iu the
abstract, but seldom for the particular sins of individual trans-

Christ's devotion to his father's will.

grcssors. We are ready to say or to think that as Adam's
sin Avas the cause of all the rest, so He suffered for tliis
chiefly as including the rest, and not for particular sins. But
the Scriptures, we think, speak differently. " The Lord laid
on him the iniquity of us all. He was wounded for our trans-
gressions ; he was bruised for our iniquities ; the chastise-
ment of our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are
healed. He bare the sin of many ; he bare our sins in his
own body on the tree." ,

From these passages, it is evident that our sins were im-
puted to Him, and that He suffered from their imputation.
But they were not the less severe on that account, but, per-
haps, greater, as often appears from ourselves when called to
suffer from an imputed charge. How, in general, we rage and
storm, and threaten prosecution to the highest rather than
submit to another's imputation. But our Lord patiently took
and owned it all. He submitted to it, even to the sins of
an innumerable multitude. And what was the suffering, think
you, from such an imputation and assumption ? Wliy, His
pure and righteous soul must have revolted, in the first
instance, from such an imputation, as nothing could be more
distasteful, more hateful to Him than sin, Therefore, when
they appeared before Him in all their sinfulness and desert,
those particularly of a scandalous and aggravated character
and most frequently committed, how must His holy soul have
shrunk from them and been greatly excited and affected !
Think of it, believers ; your oft-repeated sins all laid upon
Him, and all present to His mind at the same time. But as
He willingly took them, and patiently submitted to them, so
He voluntarily bore the suffering which they must have raised

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Christ's devotion to his father's will.

in His innocont soul. But think of the travail of His soul in
so doing — ;)ust indignation with patient resignation and suffer-
ing ; and what must He have felt until He endured them all ?
You have . only to cast your mind into this to see something
of the trava'l of His soul ; but you can have no idea of it, as
you can have none of the multitude and aggravation of your
offences. But love must be brought into view — all-conouer-
ing love — to embattle with our sins and overpower them, to
have some idea farther of His travail ; love that would cry
out for their expiation, seeing He had assumed them,
while justice would cry as loud for their condemnation and
punishment. Oh ! how great must have been that all-con-
quering love that embattled successively with every sin till it
Avas fully met and endured, that continued in its confpiering
and all-absorbing exercise till every sin was expiated, and the
sinner consequently set free. Well, truly might it have been
said, " Love was strong as death ; the ardour of it was harder
than the grave, the coals thereof were coals ot fire, having
an unquenchable flame. Many waters could not quench love,
neither could the floods drown it," &c. Yes, it was greater
even than just indignation, greater to pacify it ; but the strug-
gle, the travail of His soul, the combined suffering before the
victory was accomplished, the soul saved from sin, must have
been inconceivably great.

But think farther of the agent in all this, and you will have
some idea farther of the suffering. It was His Father. " The
cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it ?"
Here we are lost. We can enter somewhat into the indig-
nation of another, and, may be, scorn it, but who can that of
a father, the highest, the tenderest relative we have ? His

Christ's devotion to his father's will.

indigniition, when just, is, of all others, the most dreadful and
poignant, as, the nearer, the tenderer the relation, tlie more
exquisite the feeling. But who can think of it as between
the Divine Father and the Divine human Son ? Needless to
say here that God is love, and that He cannot be susceptible
of passions of any kind, particularly against His own Son.
True ; but God, even His own Father, hates sin with a per-
fect hatred, and therefore, even to His own Son, must
have manifested it in some mysterious manner which the
purely sensitive nature of His Sou could apprehend and feel.
Besides, it was not a time for love, but for high displeasure
and indignation, Avhen sin, by suffering, was to be expiated ;
though we believe, ai the same time, that the Son was never
more an object of the Father's love than when suffering to
satisfy His justice as well as to save His creatures. Yet,
while the jjoignancy was as comini; from the Father, it was,
in some respects, the sweetness "^-'^ • «'^d, therefore, Christ,
the Son, as a most complacent" t. lOving Son^ says, '• The
cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it ?"

But, as may now be conceived of the Father as the great
Agent, how much more of His own Deity as the Son, for,
speaking after the language of men, it stood nearer and more
sensitively to Him than the Father ? His own Deity, I say,
is to be considered as the immediate, if not the chief, agent.
Now, look at His own Deity and humanity, which ^ere most
inseparably and tenderly united ; and yet his own deity is to
be considered as the chief agent. Why ? How ? Why, in
bringing before the mind of the human every sin in the past,
as this the human could not do, being finite ; and every sin in
the future, for neither could it do this for the same reason ;

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Christ's devotion to his father's will.

and every sin of the present, wliicli also it could not, because
of their multitude, and not only so, but also superadding His
own wrath to that of the human when excited, thereby doing
so till the whole were fully apprehended and borne, and thus
expiating them all by a full assumption. Now, in all this, if
we can enter into it, there was the acme of the inUiction, the
agony of the suftering, and the trial of the patience. Here
it is that such expressions as these get their full accomplish-
ment. " Surely, ho hath borne our griefs and vi.rried our
sorrows. Yet we did esteem him, stricken, smitten of
God and afflicted. It pleased the Lon'. to bruise him and to
put him to grief. The waters are come into my soul ; I
sink in deep mire, where there is no standing. I am come
into deep waters where the floods overflow me." And no
wonder, when by His own act, all our sins, past, present, and
to come, were laid upon Him. No wonder, when, under such
a multitude. He sunk and was overwhelmed, and had no stand-
ing. His own act, how wonderful to think of, expressed in
other language as His own, against himself, " Awake ! oh,
sword against my she})hcrd, and against the man that is my
fellow, smite the shepherd." It is Jesus Christ, as to His
Deity, that speaks ; for it is against the man that was His
fellow that such an order was given. Under such an infliction
and from such an order from such an agent. His own Deity,
no wondeV that we hear the piercing cry from the Saviour
himself by the mouth of the Prophet : " Behold and see if
there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, in the day wherein
he afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger." But, of course,
coming from himself, He took it wiD.ingly, as from himself,
though the suffering on that account must have been the more

Christ's devotion to nis father's will.

sliarp and agonizing. Tlie Apostle, doubtless, meant as much
when ho said, " When he had by himself purged our sins."
But, if His own Deity had to be the chief agent in afflicting, it
had to be also in sustaining, for the human nature could not
sufl'er alone — nay, in some mysterious sense, the Deity also ;
for it also had to be offered ; for what would have been the
worth of a mere human offering ? But, while it inflicted and
suffered in bringing all our sins to view, it sustained also.
Hence those wonderful words, " I looked and there was none
to uphold ; and I wondered that there was none to help ;
therefore, mine own arm brought salvation unto me, and my
fury it upheld me." The arm of Omnipotence, with the fury
of Divine vengeance, both concurred to inflict and to sus-
tain the sufferer, so that He was both Hie priest and the victim,
both the sacrificer and the sacrifice, and, therefore, could say,
" I lay down my life of myself; no man taketli it from me. I
have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.
This commandment I have received of my Father."

And now, to complete the sacrifice, to drink the last dregs
of the cup, see Him nailed upon the cross. Here it is, as in a
mirror, that we see the agony and demerit of sin. The hands
that were stretched forth to take the fruit, nailed in token of
utter powerlessness and punishment ; the feet that would
have climbed up the tree of life and taken of the fruit thereof,
by which, as a sinner. He would have lived for ever, the
worst thing unconsciously tliat could have befallen him, nailed,
also an obscure token of which we had in the first threaten-
ing, " He shall bruise thy heel." The tongue that parleyed
with the devil parched and cleaving to the roof of the mouth ;
the head that would have been lifted up in foul ambition to

Christ's devotion to nis fatiikr's will.

f;;

bo equal with God, crowned, in mockery and cruelty, with
thorns : the will that would rebel against God restrained and
subdued only in suflfering ; the heart, the seat of all evil,
extinguished and gone, according as we read, " My heart is
molted like wax in the midst of my bowels." Oh ! what a
complication, what a comi)leteness of suffering ! showing that a
full cup was dealt out to Him, and that, to make satisfaction,
He willingly drank it all to the last dregs.

And now, finally, the length of time that He suffered, which
might, with truth, bo said to be all His life, but at the last,
especially, from the garden to the cross. I have often been
tempted to think, could not a less period have met the sen-
tence of the law, " Dying thou shalt die "? But if every sin
of every individual sinner had to be laid upon Him before it
was expiated, could it have been shorter, considering the fact of
His finite mind ? However speedy the act of succession might
be, yet, considering the multitude of them, the wonder should
rather be that it was so short. Had it been shorter, fewer,
perhaps, in all likelihood, would have been saved ; whereas,
had it been longer, perhaps more might have been. For not
till the last sin of the last person had been laid upon Him,
and fully acknowledged and borne, could He say it Avas
finished.

And now one word more as to time, v/ith a view to our
Saviour's last exclamation, "■ My God, my God, why hast
thou forsaken me ?" This, taken as it is, seems to be a
question of complaint and enquiry, whereas it ought to have
been construed to appear merely as a question of time. " My
God, my God, to what a length hast thou -^aken mo."
This is clearly the rendering of one of the Evangelist's eis ti.

ii.i

Christ's devotion to his father's will.

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to what, an^l often also of the Hebrew word lama, which is
mentioned in the 22nd Psahn, from which the exclamation is
taken, and which there is the idea of time. For though it is
rendered "why hast thou forsaken me?" it is immediately added
in the next verse, " I cry in the day time, but thou hcarest
not, and in the night season, and am not silent," showing that
it was time, the long time, about which the oxclaraation was
made, " To what a length hast thou forsaken me." This was
quite natural and proper, as it would, indeed, appear a long
time from the garden to the last of the cross ; whereas, on the
other supposition, an exclamation of inquiry, " Why hast
thou ?" we would observe that our Lord knew well enough
why, so that He needed not to have asked, and, besides, it
seems to bear the marks of some petulance, and convoys
something of a reflection which, in the circumstance, would
have been sin, and so far would have endangered the merit of
the suffering. But the exclamation, " To what a length hast
thou forsaken me !" how very natural and true in the circum-
stance ! how suited to His feeling, to His experience ! without
conveying the least reflection or complaint.

In conclusion, let me beseech you all to see and get as full
and adequate a view of the Saviour's sufferings as you can
reasonably obtain in this life. This we only can get by
dwelling upon them, and holding them up to our view in all
their complication and magnitude. But how seldom we do
this, and how feebly and briefly we do so whon we dwell upon
them ! It seems to the most of us to be an unpalatable and
ungrateful exercise. We are so light and jovial in our minds
that we are given rather to things that will excite pleasurable
emotions than those that will beget sympathetic ones. But we

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greatly mistake ; for the impressive and the tender are more
to be cultivated than the light and the pleasurable — " if it is
better," as Solomon says, " to go to the house of mourning
than of feasting." But it is best of all to go to the Cross of
Christ to learn the depth and fulness of His sufferings, chiefly
because they were for us, and ought to have been endured
by us. Now, if they were for us, ought not this to be a very
natural consideration to make us know what they were ? This
we do in every other case. Whai is for us, we want to know
all about, especially if it is of value and importance. But can
we estimate the value of His sufferings for us ? Can we
measure them with an eternal redemption and an eternal life ?
If not, let us know them in their greatness and significancy.
Let us familiarise ourselves with all the dreadful apparatus of
the Cross, with all the varied agony of His mind, and with
their reflex action on one another. Thus will our sympathy
with Him be excited, and our natural indifference and hard-
ness be removed. Then, particularly, we will know them in
their value, and feel assured that they are available for our
salvation and glory. Oh, yes, brethren, the fuller our sense
of the awfulness of His sufferings, the stronger will be our
assurance of salvation by them. You, therefore, who are in
doubt and complaining, just look here. The Son of God suf-
fered in soul and body for you ; He suffered for all your sins ;
He suffered to satisfy even Divine justice, so that His suffer-
ings, therefore, must have been great. He suffered also
suitably to engage our hearts in confidence and love to Him ;
for nothing, surely, can be more influential upon us than
suffering, sacrifice, and love — nothing, therefore, which should
make us more conversant with them than the fact that we

Christ's devotion to his father's will.

have eternal life by them. Oh, therefore, look upon Him
whom you pierced ; have fellowship with Him in His suffer-
ings. Behold and see if there was any sorrow like unto His
sorrow. Do so at His table, when His broken body is before
you. Do so in your life, that you may fill up what remains of
the sufferings of Christ in your body. Do so even in your hopes,
as having all your expectation from them. And will not this
be acceptable, think you, most gratifying to our Lord himself?
What do we want so much as sympathy in this world ? What
so pleasing to Christ, even in heaven, as to see sympathy
with Him so congenial, so dutiful ? Says the Apostle, " If we
suffer with him, we shall reign with him ; but if we deny him,
h'd also will deny us."

But, farther, to have fellowship with Christ in His suffer-
ings for sin, you will find the best preventative against its
commission. Sin is such a hateful, painful thing, when we
are once awakened to it, that we feel glad of anything that
will be our protection against it. Among the many things,
we find the sufferings of Christ, morally speaking, the most
efficient. Just as we enter into them, and have a deep sense
of their poignancy and value, just so will we find that we are
kept from sin. The single thought that He suffered for our
sin, when sin presents itself, will mortify us to sin and cause
us to avoid it. We will say that it is enough that He suffered
for the past when we sinned, thoughtlessly, and presumptu-
ously, but He should not also have to suffer for the present
and the future, when it might have been avoided. Besides,
when we remember His great sufferings, we will be ready,
in our grateful sympathy, to say, •' Oh, that He had but suf-
fered less on my acccount ! Oh, that I had but sinned

Christ's devotion to his father's will.

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less, that He might have had less to endure. Oh, that I
could now but reduce their number by my non-commission,
that I might have less to reflect upon equally with regard to
His sufferings and my own on their account !" Thus you see
how this works, and how Peter's words come to be fulfilled,
when we dutifully answer to them : " He bare our sins in his
own body on the tree, that we being dead to sin should live
unto righteousness." The fact when sin is present, that we
remember our Lord knew this, and say (we commit it,) that He
suffered for this, that it all tended to fill up His cup of sor-
row, will go far to restrain us from it, to deaden us to it, to
make us hate it — will go far to make us say, I will not inten-
tionally commit it, to make Him, as it were, suffer for it in
the prospect ; but I will eschew it, that there may be no suf-
fering for it, even in any view. This will be generous,
dutiful conduct, that will be pleasing to the Saviour — this will
show that you wish particularly to have fellowship with Him
in His sufferings that you may be conformed to them in
His death. Therefore, brethren, know you Him more and
more fully and sensibly in these, that you may know them in
their power as your preventative from sin ; " for if we die
with him, we shall live with him.''

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SERMON IX.

THE CHRISTIAN'S PREPARATION FOR THE LORD'S SUPPER.

The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue is
from the Lord.— Proverbs xvi. 1. .

There are none who are acquainted with their own hearts,
and who truly wish that they were better, but must acknow-
ledge the truth of the words of the text. For after all their
endeavours, what really can they do with their own hearts ?
Can they reform them ? Can they prepare them for any
acceptable service ? Can they venture to appear before God,
merely with the presentation of their hearts ? They may put
on long faces, may hang down their heads, may even shed
tears, may speak in a low serious tone, may show, as God him-
self says, much love, but Ah ! the heart — the heart remains the
same, incurably wicked under all. Who can move, who
can wash it from its wickedness ? Who can sanctify it to be a
sweet offering to God in His service ? True, we often meet
with people who have great command of themselves, great
power of will, great influence over their affections, and great
power even over others ; but alas ! as one of the greatest
emperors, and perhaps reformers that ever lived, candidly
confessed, " I can reform my kingdom, but I cannot reform
myself;" and as a greater emperor than he said, *' He that

will

THE CHRISTIAN S PREPARATION

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raleth his own spirit is greater than he that taketh a city,
intimating, however, that such greatness is seldom, if ever,
attained.

Why, brethren, even the people of God, who have the laws
of God written in their hearts, and the Spirit of God dwelling
in them, cannot prepare their own hearts as they would wish,
but after all their watchfulness and keeping have to go to a
higher power, and beg of Him to prepare them for himself.
And could you hear their humble confessions and their (hep
deplorings, and their ardent prayers for grace to prepare and
sanctify them, you would see their estimate of themselves and
their dependence upon another for all, they need and crave.
Blessed bd God that He is all-sufficient and that He is willing
to undertake the work — to prepare. Blessed be God that we
are prepared to say as the Psalmist said, " Thou wilt prepare
their hearts, thou wilt incline thine ear to hear ;" or to say as
in a new declaration in the words of the text, " the prepa-
rations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue is
from the Lord."

This subject, you see, is very large. I will endeavour to
speak of it, with a view to a few of those states of heart which
we ought to have in prospect of the Lord's Supper. First of all,
a pure heart. Here I do not speak of purity as the opposite
of sensuahty, or in the Hght of motive, in which it is often con-
sidered, or in the light even of those mental and moral evils
from which we should all wish to be delivered, namely, pride,
vanity, envy, enmity, wrath, revenge, &c. But I would
speak of it in the light of that entire consecratedness which
we ought to have to an object ; namely, the commemoration
of the deach of Christ. When the whole heart is set on

FOR THE lord's SUPPER.

any one object, vre are pure at any rate with regard to that
object, whether it be good or evil.

And, brethren, I ask you, is there any one object more
deserving of our consecration than this ? Or is there one
more calculated to command our consecration than this,
the death of Christ, of Christ the Son of God, our elder
brother, who should have condemned instead of saved us, of
Christ bearing our sins to take them all away, so that they
might not rise in the judgment against us. If we could con-
ceive of anything more than death, or anything above death,
a death upon the cross that could be done, then we might
think of a higher power of consecration ; but if this is above
our power, then Christ's death comes in for all its ctficiency
in this respect. Why, brethren, we come to eat broken
bread and poured out wine, or rather the broken body and
shed blood of Christ. What an act ! What a doing ! Is
there anything, can there be anything comparable to this !
and can therefore any call be louder than this, to concentrate
the whole soul upon it ! Oh, therefore, away for a season
with all frivolous and random thoughts ; get the mind fixed,
bring it to a point here, get a moral control over yourselves,
to set Christ crucified visibly before you. Get the acquired
ability to keep Ilim present to your mind. Do not trust to your
minister to have a sermon on the subject. Then you will have
clean hands and pure hearts ; you will not lift up your souls
unto vanity. Oh, yes, just as you have a concentrated action
on His death, will you have clean hands.. No impurity of any
kind will attach to them, for that cross which in awful justice
was the end of the law for righteousness, will lead you to
cleanse your hands from all unrighteousness ; and that cross

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THE christian's PREPARATION

which commanded the attention of the whole universe for a
season, will so overawe and settle your minds as to prevent
them from being lifted up unto vanity.

But, oh ! our volatile and fickle minds. Our difficulty to
command them to any given object, however solemn f^nd
interesting ! Well, you feel the difficulty. Pray. God will
help. God will give you the preparation of the heart. Go
to him as the Psalmist did, saying " Thou wilt prepare their
heart. Thou wilt incline thine ear to hear." Just confess
your silly minds without heart. Pray that He may stablish,
strengthen and settle you, that He may give you such an
overawing, solemnizing influence from the cross in its fearful
yet saving aspects, as will command your minds, and then
you will get purity, consecration with a view to it.

There is one happy peculiarity connected with this, namely,
that any one view is sufficient to command us so that the
most narrow, as well as the most enlarged can be occupied.
But let us, as much as possible, take in all, and then we will
have a fuller concentration and faith upon all.

But, secondly, there is the preparation of a believing
heart to feed upon him in that ordinance. Surely, as you say,
we do not need this, for we would never think of commemora-
ting his death if we did not believe on it. Well, I hope not ;
■^but it is one thing to have a believing heart in principle, and
another to have it in exercise. Ah, how often we come
away from that ordinance, little nourished or strengthened,
and just because we have not fed upon Him by faith. But
oughi not that to be our very act, our chief exercise at the
table of the Lord? Are we not called expressly by our
eating bread and drinking wine to see that it is so ?

FOR THE LORD S SUPPER.

And are we going to satisfy ourselves by a mere act of com-
memoration without this exercise, when we are called especially
to feed upon Him ? I call you to this ; I ask you to have the
preparation of heart that will fit you for this. Therefore be
exercising yourselves in order to it. Be now, and in order to
it, believing. Ask what you are to believe ; what you are
to take or eat for your nourishment and growth in grace.

The subject here is large. I must confine it, however, to a
few essentials, to meet the case of every one, weak as well as
strong, believers narrow, as well as full-minded. Well,
you eat bread and drink wine as symboUcal of His broken
body and shed blood. Believe, in the first place, it was
actually broken and shed. Believe this as a fact. Then
think of the great and indisputable necessity that led to this,
the awful justice of God that would not be satisfied merely
with death, but with the breaking up of His body and
soul alike in death. Then you will see that justice was
satisfied, and you will get peace in believing. Think farther
of the satisfaction to God, that satisfaction that merited
something answering to the greatness of the sacrifice, the
greatness of the suffering, namely, His lost favour and love,
and eternal life with Him in heaven, and then you will not
only have peace but joy in believing. But above all, think
of the love of Him who died for you on the cross, that love
that induced Him to do so, that love that verified His own
words, " greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay
down his life for his friends." And you will get so strengthened
and animated, as to say with the Apostle, " the love of Christ
constraineth us, not to live to ourselves, but to hi. hj died
for

us.

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THE CHRISTIAN'S PREPARATION

I proceed no farther on those most common acts of believ-
ing ; but be assured if you go so far, you will not content
yourselves long merely with these, but in a full faith to take
in a large meal, a full repast, as Christ himself commanded,
" eat, friends ; yea, drink abundantly, beloved."

But though we have spoken only of those commonest acts,
alike the duty and the interest of all, yet, brethren, there is
something great on the part of Christ to be spoken of here,
alike to all. Do you eat bread and drink wine, or the body
and blood of Christ ? in other words, do you take Hira in to
yourselves, do you amalgamate Him with your very self ?
do you identify yourselves with Him, and shall ho not
come sensibly into your souls ? Will He keep back from you,
will He hide himself? Will He not fulfil His own words,
" he that eateth me even he shall live by me, he that eateth
my flesh and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me and T in
him." But as this is a matter Avhich belongs to experience, I
need not speak of it to the experienced, for they know it.
But, brethren, believe this, prepare your hearts to receive
this, and you may get more than you desire, more than you
can take in you ; for hath He not said, " according to your faith
so it will be ! "

But this preparation of heart just to believe and eat,
how hard to get ! how difficult to attain ! Brethren,
be seeking it, and after all your own exercises to attain it,
just to be able to feed upon Him, go with your backward,
unbeUeving hearts to God. Pray for faith, for a clear eye just
on the common things we presented, then, we trust, you shall
be enabled to say that the bread which we ate was the
participation of the body of Christ, and the wine which we
drank the participation of the blood of Christ.

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FOR THE lord's SUPPER.

But, thirdly. The preparation which we should all seek
to have is a tender and loving heart. A tender and loving
heart. How suitable this 1 How sweet in itself ! What a
luxury ! I trust we all have it in some degree, but we ought
if possible to have it fully. I had so much of it for several
years after a manifestation of Him on the cross at the Supper
that I conld not speak of it without weeping, without breaking
down, and though long since strengthened, yet the spirit still
remains. Brethren, seek for it. It is a blessed attainment.
It is a great excellency. Oh, can we be without it, can we
look upon Him whom we pierced and not mourn ? Can we hear
His strong crying and tears ? Can we see His bloody sweat ?
Can we behold Him on His knees with His hands stretched to
His Fathci ? Can we behold Him on the cross ? Can we see
the rugged nails through His hands and feet ? Can we enter
into the travail of His soul, into that mighty contest which
He had to maintain ? Can we hear His piercing cry, " my
God, my God ?" &c. Can we behold the actual separation
between His soul and His body ? see Him actually buried
in the sepulchre, without weeping, without even crying, with-
out having something more of a tender and loving heart than
we have yet had ?

Ah ! but the sting of the whole is yet to come, the sword
that has to pierce our hearts. He died for us. He suffered
and agonised for us, earth-born and hell-deserving sinners.
Was it for us, most compassionate Saviour, that thou didst die ?
Was it for us that would have cried out, crucify Him ! crucify
Him ! let Him be crucified ! that Thou didst leave Thy crown
and come to the cross ? Was it for such that were enemies
to Thee and would have dethroned Thee, that Thou didst leave

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THE christian's PREPARATION

Thy kingdom and give up Thy life ? Was Thy love so great
as to encounter death and hell that we might be saved from
hell ? Was it Thou that saidst " behold and see if there be any
sorrow like unto my sorrow," but also said, " I have trodden
the wine-press alone, and of the people there was none with me ;
for I will tread theip in mine anger, and trample them in my
fury, and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments,
and I will stain all my raiment. For the day of vengeance is
in my heart, and the year of my redeemed is me." And
shall we not break down and be overcome, shall we not take
vengeance upon ourselves, and swear that we shall strive
with all tenderness to love Thee with all our heart ? Grant it,
Saviour, for thy name's sake. Amen.

But now, brethren, to turn again to you. Oh, those hard
selfish hearts of ours, which nothing but the hammer of
God, tho fire of His love can soften, labour with them,
bring them to the cross, to the love of Christ, — unto God.
Pray that He may take away the hard and the stony heart,
and give hearts of flesh, give you all the sympathies and
feelings which ought to be in unison with Christ and His love.
Then shall you have tender and loving hearts, and come in
for the benefit of that blessed promise, " If a man love me, he
will keep my words, and my Father will love him ; and we will
come unto him, and make our abode with him."

But, fourthly, I observe that the preparation of heart,
which we should all have for the Lord's Supper, is a devoted
and oath-bound heart to His service and glory. It is so far
devoted as to come forward conscientiously, to commemorate
His death, but I call upon you to be prepared, to have it oath-
bound. This surely is our obligation, this our duty. Hence

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101

ince

we call it a sacrament, a holy sacrament, which means an
oath. Brethren, surely you have nothing less in view than
this. Surely even now you feel oath-bound. Is it necessary to
prove this V Such a great sacrifice for you requires this, such
a love demands it, such an achievement requires it, such a
salvation calls fo/ = Such also, I trust, you are acting out.
You have forsaken all others, professedly to be Christ's. You
have willingly renounced and given up everything to be the
Lord's. Your very faith in Him as your only Saviour bespeaks
this. Your publicly shewing forth His death seals this. But
you coriie to renew your vow, to seal your obligation, to for-
swear every other, to bind yourselves anew by oath unto
Him. Your very act of eating and drinking says that you
have taken Christ for time and eternity, for body and for soul,
and united you to Him in such a manner as involves an eternal
peril should you ever foreswear Him. Brethren, seal the vow,
confirm the oath, by endeavouring to feel your deeper obliga-
tions, to acknowledge your fuller gratitude, to sound your
higher praises, to express your stronger resolutions, to live'
more fully and devotedly unto Him.

You say perhaps you do not make a vow, you do not take an
oath. What ! are not actions stronger than words ; are not
deeds more binding than proclamations ? Who would look
for a vow from one that was saved from death, who inhe-
rits everything by the entire sacrifice of another? Hi?
very life and His very inheritance bespeak His vow, and His
possession of these trumpets it forth as with a voice of
thunder. ' , , - c ,

Brethren, consider these things. Act not rashly ; consider
to what you are committed, and do not act unless you are

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THE christian's PREPARATION

I K

prepared to stand by it and its obligations. And let it not
be a matter of compulsion, but of free will and hearty obli-
gation. And if so, the Lord will come and seal your vow by
His own signet, and endorse your act by His own testimony.
He will so come and manifest himself as to give you to say

" 'Tis done, the great transaction's done.
I am my Lord's, and He is mine."

Brethren, in the view of these things, be renewing, and
sealing, and praying, and you will get such a preparation
of heart as will befit you rather for the ratification than for the
making of the oath Avhich will bind you to the Lord for ever.

Brethren, as the discourse has all along been exhortatory,
I do not press it farther on members, but shall close with an
advice to those who are not. And here I do not speak at this
time to the openly profane and immoral, but to those who
may have some wish to come, but excuse themselves by say-
ing they are not prepared. Well, I believe you, but must
tell you at the same time that as you view it you never can be
prepared. You are seeking it as of yourselves, when you
can only have it from Christ, that is by looking to Him,
and not from yourselves as the efficient cause. You can do
nothing by merely looking to yourselves, or attempt anything
as from yourselves. You may indeed see your baseness,
your corruptions. You may bemoan yourselves even, but to
bring yourselves to any right feeling or principle as against
these is above your power. Therefore, acting as I say, you
will never be prepared ; and saying that you are not prepared,
in the view of your being so af; :!rwards, is like speaking to
the wind. Your preparation is to be had from looking only

FOR THE lord's SUPPER.

103

unto Him and prajing to Him. But that you do not do,
notwithstanding all your pretence of not being prepared,'
and therefore can have no hope of your ever being so.
But, will that f^xcuse you, will that furnish any warrant for
keeping back and disobeying His command! Shall He suffer
and die for such sinners as we are ? And shall we be excused
for not looking to Him ? not feeling aright to Him ? Shall
He so love us as to die for us ? and shall we not remember
His love?

But I rather choose to exhort you, Oh, brethren, turn your
attention to the cross. View the Son of God upon it for your
sins. Think of the love that led Him to die for you ; and
that only asks you to remember Him. And if you do so,
your hard hearts will begin to relent, your feelings to flow,
your foith and love to be excited, and your grateful remem-
brance of such acts to be stirred up. Now, this is all the
preparation that is wanted. This, I may say, that is ready
to your hand. This, if you really wish it, and pray for it.
Oh, therefore, look unto Christ, pray unto Him, and He will
give you the preparation of the heart and the answer of the
tongue which will fit you for eating His Supper.

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SERMON X.

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THE CFRISTIAN'S PERFECTION.

And this, also, we wish, even your perfection- — II Corinthians xiii- 9-

The great aim of the Gospel ministry towards helievers,
ought to be their perfection. This alone is worthy of the
high trust of the ministry, this of the high powers of the
people, this of their high capable attainments, and the high
destiny that is in reserve for them. And, with a view to this,
how single and pure ought to be their aim ! how direct
and decisive their measures, and hoT7 urgent and pointed
their appeals ! But, alas, how have we to bewail on the part
of many, a departure from these things ! There seems to be
little that is direct and close to the heart and the conscience,
little that touches on the great points of the Christian character ;
much on the other hand of the drawing of a vail over their
infirmities and faults, of a varnishing even of attainment, as
if they had already attained all that was attainable. Nay,
what is worse, we have reason to fear that many are more
intent in recommending themselves than their message, and
exhibiting their own attainments than those which they should
urge on their people to attain. Ah ! alas, how many self-
seekers are there, how few who have the wish of the Apostle
in the text!

But it was not so with him. His most simple and earnest

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THE christian's perfection.

105

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■wish was their perfection. And, with a view to this, he set
phiinly before them their faults and imperfections, reasoned
with them on their abuse of privilege and ordinance, set
clearly before them their duty, and pled only as his apology
for this, his wish for their perfection.

Perfection is either [)ersonal or relative, comparative or
absolute. As it is of personal or comparative perfection that
we are to S[)eak, it must necessarily turn on those higher
points of the Christian character, which in some are more .
perfect than in others.

First, then, we say that that Christian may be said, com-
paratively, to be perfect, Avhose mind hath arrived to maturity
on the doctrine of Christ, and who has full faith in that doctrine.
It is with a view to this, that we hear tiie Apostle speaking
when he says : " We speak wisdom to them that are perfect,
even those who, by reason of use, have their senses exercised
to d^ orn good and evil." And, brethren, you are aware that
there is great room lor perfection or imperfection here.
How few have that wisdom, or have attained to that maturity
of mind which is connected with full faith. Hearken to the
doubts which many express in regard to their state. Look
at their anxieties and fears, and we have at once an evidence
of the imjierfection of their minds, of the weakness of their
faith. But there can be no doubt, certainly, that Christ's
work is a perfect work, that His righteousness is perfect, that
His atonement is complete, that, in fact, whatever the Son
of God put His hand to, He did complete. We shrink with
instinctive horror at the idea that any thing that the Son of
God did He left uncertain or incomplete ; and yet how are
we to account for the doubts and fears of believers on the

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THE CHRISTIAN S PERFECTION.

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work of Christ, but that it is incomplete ? They do not
see it fully in its own nature as excellent and meritorious.
They do not see it in its connection with law and justice, and
the character of God, as to see that it hath magnified and
glorified them. They do not see it in its effects as delivering
from hell, and bringing to heaven. The truth is, with regard
to many, they have hardly one distinct conception of its
excellency and character. They may tell you, indeed, with
regard to this one thing, that He died for us ; but as to having
a clear view on what account He did so, or on how many
accounts it is an atonement for sin, they cannot say, and
hence their fears and doubts about it. But in opposition to
all this, there are some who are mature in their minds, see
clearly, and consequently have a full faith. Thus, for instance,
to give a few of their views. They see the Son of God in a
holy human nature, and therefore they see in this the friend-
ship and the love of God for man. They see, also, human
nature honoured and glorified in all this, nay in a certain
sense deified. They see the Son of God under law for them,
and, in His obedience to it, their substitute and surety ; they
see Him also suffering unto death for them even the ignomin-
ious and bitter death of the cross, and their punishment
transferred unto Him, and therefore they see that, in justice,
they must go free. He having made an atonement for all their
sins. They hear the Son himself saying, " God so loved the
world as to give His only beloved son, that whosoever
believeth on Him should not perish, but have everlasting
life." They hear Him also saying : " Come unto me all ye
that labour, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
He that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out." And

II Hi

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107

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in all this, they see there is no room for fear or doubting, but
for the fullest assurance and confidence. They therefore
believe. They therefore walk in the light. And if you wish
to see their highest maturity of mind, their greatest perfection
in this respect, on the work of Christ, with their fullest faith
thereon, you will see it in those wonderful words of the
Apostle which may alike be considered words of challenge
and of triumph : " It is God that justifieth ; who is he that
condemneth ? It is Christ that died, yea, rather that is risen
again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh
intercession for us." Oh ! brethren, I wish you could all talk
so, that you had all that assurance and faith, then you Avould
have little doubt or fear. Yea, you would have full faith, you
would have it with a proportion to the excellency of that work
on which faith rests ; you would be able even to fight the
good fight of faith, and Avard off all the fiery darts of the evil
one. " You would be strong in fiiith giving glory to God. You
would be rooted, and built up in Christ, established in the faith
as ye have been taught, abounding in Him with thanks-
giving." In a word, ye would be perfect men in Christ Jesus.
Secondly, I observe, that that person, comparatively
speaking, may be said to be perfect who has attained in a
good degree to a pure heart and a spiritual mind. Ah !
brethren, there is great room for perfection or imperfection
here. Who can speak much of a pure heart and a spiritual
mind ? Instead of being pure and spiritual, they must acknow-
ledge, even the best, that the flesh lusteth against the spirit,
and the spirit against the flesh, so that they cannot do the
things that they would. For instance, what crowds of vain
* thoughts, foolish imaginations, and childish desires, come into

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THE christian's perfection

I .]■

the mind ; what sinister hypocritical motives and ends ; what
carnal earthly things do we often give way to ! Oh ! brethren,
hide nothing ; let the truth be fully exposed and told. What
times together will these be indulged in ! how little rest/cdnt
do we put upon them ! how little do we feel that they sink us
far beneath the dignity of our nature when we give way to
them ! And when we do seek after purity and spirituality of
mind, how" little of the disposition we have, how unable to
keep it up for any length of time, and how ready is it to be
overpowered or drawn aside by a prevailing earthliness and
carnality ! Why, the truth is, our views of God are so dim,
and our impressions of His glory so light, that we can hardly
see anything of God to command and spirituaHze our minds.

The great claims of our felloAv-men also are so feebly
realized by us, that they are soon cast out through a prevail-
ing selfishness and worldliness, and present things make such
an impression upon us, through the medium of our senses,
that they come to be the all-engrossing matters, corruptin''
otherwise our pure hearts and spiritual minds. Hence those
faithful words, " They who are after the flesh, do mind the
things of the flesh. To be carnally minded is death, but to
be spiritually minded is life and peace."

But though this is the ease Avith the generality, and much,
too much, with the people of God, yet there are some of
them, comparatively speaking, that are perfect as having pure
hearts and spiritual minds. They make it their study to have
such. They can say with the Psalmist, " Oh ! how I hate
vain thoughts." With the Apostle, as they are exhorted by
him, they cleanse themselves from all filthiness of the flesh
and spirit, perfecting hohness in the fear of God. They will

THE christian's PERFECTION.

109

not allow their minds to gad after the trifling and silly things
of this world, as they know these to be their degradation and
dishonour ; but, as having rational and immortal minds, they
wish to exercise them spiritually on God, who is a spirit ; on
His Son, who is spiritual ; and on Ilis spirit, who begets and
promotes spiritual things in them. They wish to be chiefly
engaged about a spiritual salvation and a spiritual life. And,
accordingly, we read of eminent, spiritual men, that they
walk before Gdd, and are perfect, that they walk up and down
in His name, that is traverse in their thoughts of Him from one
attribute to another ; and finally that they dwell in God, and
God in them. Brethren, do you wish to know the general
life of a spiritual man, as having a pure heart toward God ?
Well, when he awakes in the morning, his first thought is of
God who gave him sleep and protection through the night,
and restored him to comfort and favour in the morning.
When he comes to his meals, he thinks of God who feeds him,
and feels thankful for sustenance and refreshment. When
he is about his business, he endeavours to recall his thoughts
often to God, and, if possible, to see him in all his ways. When
he returns at night, it is to bless his household, and to
improve himself and his family by profitable conversation,
reading, meditation, and prayer. When he comes to the
Sabbath-dt./, it is to keep it unto the Lord in the various exer-
cises of worship, and not to find his own pleasure on His holy
day. He has learned to think of time as a wise man, not with a
view to time, but of God who is eternal, with a view to dwell
with Him in eternity. Happy man ! for, as the Lord says,
" Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God ;" as the
Apostle says, " To be spiritually minded is life and peace.

■T"^

lUii!)

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IIH (

.. '

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110

THE christian's PERFECTION.

But, thirdly, I observe, that that person, comparatively, is
perfect "who maintains a scrupulous and tender conscience.
Conscience is the guide and dictator of our actions. If it is
an enlightened conscience, it is a safe guide ; if not, a very
unsafe one. Ah! how often do we hear it said of persons,
they have no conscience, or not a scrupulous and tender one.
How often do we see even among good people diifcrcnt degrees
of scrupulosity and tenderness, some allowing themselves in
one thing which others would not, or standing up for things
which others reject ! No doubt, much is to be referred to the
different degrees of light which different persons have, and
to the more legible indent which some have more than others
of the laws of God on their minds ; but still, perfection is in
progress, and that man, we say, has the most of it, who has
an enlightened, a scrupulous, and tender conscience. An
enlightened conscience, I say, on the spirituality and extent
of God's law with the corresponding impressions of its au-
thority and sanctions. We must feel also that we are under
the eye of God, and that we are to do all to His glory. When
these things are begotten in us, then conscience is enthroned
in the soul, and the whole life controlled by it. 'Ihen, an
exact and critical scrupulosity distinguishes its proceedings
and an overcoming tenderness intrenches its authority. Then,
in its place it guards the authority and laws of God, redeems
the honour of His insulted name, and enforces the claims of
His disputed kingdom. It is very j*>aious and tender because
God is holy, just and good, because it already sees the punish-
ment of sin on fallen angels, and even in the awful sufferings
of His dear Son. It is so jealous and tender as to allow no
sin committed to go uipunished, no duty to be compro-

■ Sii

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11'. :

! :l

I: 1

THE christian's PERFECTION.

Ill

mitted or forgotten, no claims to be overlooked or set aside.
It is so jealous and tender as in all doubtlal cases it will
ponder and pray, and cautiously deliberate before it will act.
Happy is tbat man who condemns not himself in that thing
which he alloweth, and comparatively perfect is he who
keepeth a scrupulous and a tender conscience, preventing
him sanctioning anything, doing anything contrary in the
least to God's mind and law.

We have many illustrious instances of this in the ancient
Saints. Says David, " Search me,0 God ! and try me, and
see if there be any wicked way in me. Thou hast proved my
heart, and visited me in the night, thou hast tried me and
shalt find nothing. I am purposed that my mouth shall not
transgress." So, also the Apostle, " our rejoicing is this, the
testimon;y of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sin-
cerity we have had our conversation in the world." And
again, in this, " we exercise ourselves to have consciences void
of offence towards God and towards men." Finally, that we
could say with the Psalmist : "1 have walked in mine
integrity, I have trusted in the Lord ; therefore I shall not
slide." Surely such are near perfection.

But* fourthly, I observe that that man comparatively is
perfect who is ready to every good word and work. Pitiful
to think how backward many are to the Avork of the Lord,
how small their doings, and how they excuse themselves.
Though we are under the greatest obligations, and soon will
be where no work can be done ; yet how backward we are !
and the most looking to others that they should do the work.

But while we are idle the enemy is busy. While we are
standing still the cause is losing ground. While we are not

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112

THE christian's PERFECTION.

coming up to the help of the Lord, many arc kept prostrate
by the second death. Oli ! sliall we be saved, and not seek
to saveotliers? shall we have grace, and not seek that others
also shall have it ? Have we the gift temporally or spiritually,
and not seek to be stewards of the manifold grace of God?
Above all, shall we be idlers when others are engaged ? shall
we cease to pray when others are at itj or hold back when wo
see others engaged ? If so, we arc not perfect men because
we have left undone what is as incumbent upon us to do as on
others. Oh ! did we but realize the greatness of the work in
one immortal soul Avith the greatness of the prize in the
eternal crown ; could we enter into the sublime luxury of doing
good, then it would be that whatsoever our hands found to do,
we Avould do with our might ; whatever good work it mi^ht be,
or in whatever form, whether by Sabbath-meetings or prayer-
meetings, or Sabbath-school meetings, or charitable meetings,
of any kind, if there was any virtue, any suitableness in them
to the end. The time '■■ coming when we, with the whole
race of men, shall soon be swept away, and an everlasting
distinction made, when all which men so much valued shall
also be swept away, when those who were at ease in Zion
shall have their woe for ever ; but those who improved their
talents and opportunities shall have their reward. Happy
will it be for us if we shall not then be found barren or un-
fruitful, but then shall hear these words : " Well done, good
and faithful servants, enter ye into the joy of your Lord."
Happy will it be for us if it shall then find us as not having
been sticklish or whimsical about any good word or vrork, but
as to whatever was lovely and of good report, it found us think-
ing of these things. It will never repent us when we come

THE christian's rEIlFECTlON.

113

heir

im-
'ood

L-d

to die, when we get to the kingdom of heaven, if wo have
been laborious and faitliful licre, but rather, if tlicre is a pos-
8il>ility of reflection at all, that we have done so little for
Christ and Ilis cause. Oh ! therefore, be not weary in well
doing. " Whatsoever your hands find to do, do it with your
might; bo steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work
of the Lord," knowing that your labour in the Lord shall
not be in vain.

But, lastly, that, comparatively speaking, is a perfect man
who knoweth the right use of his tongue, and who keepeth it
in that use. This was the judgment of the Apostle when he
said : " If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect
man, and able, also to bridle the whole body." And again,
" who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you,
let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meek-
ness of wisdom." Yes, the tongue is the index of the heart.
Just as its tones and words are, so we may expect the heart
to be. If a boisterous, froward, passionate tongue, or, on the
other hand, a discreet modest wise one, it is a sure guide to its
counterpart there. But if we can command our tongue Avhen
provoked, if, instead of reviling, we bless, of cursing, wo pray,
and in general can answer discreetly ; then, indeed, Ave attri-
bute high excellence of character unto , and are not far
from that perfection which we ought all to seek and obtain.
Our Lord evidently sets this standard of perfection before us
on a very high ground. " Bless them that curse you, pray for
them that despitcfully use you and entreat you, that you may
be the children of your Father in heaven ; for he maketh his
rain to descend on the just' and the unjust, and maketh his
sun to rise on the evil and the good. Be ye therefore per-
ff^t, even as your Father who is in heaven is perfect."

III

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114

THE OHRISiIAN'b PERFECTION.

But we are told that the tongue is the glory of man. Oh !
then to use it in our Master's praise and service in speaking
of the things chiefly that concern the King, and not, as is too
often the case, in foolish talking and jesting which are not
convenient, but rather theg iving of thanks. Did wo give no
countenance to the peo[)le of the world in their frothy foolish
conversation, but as a good man once said, " I shall not be
where I cannot have my Master along with me," then would
we shew whoso we arc, and whom we serve, and would,
indeed, glorify God, by our most glorious member the tongue.
" A word fitly spoken, how good it is." To employ our
noblest member for its noblest purpose, how excellent it is !
And to do it wisely and graciously, how becoming it is ! Let
our speech therefore be always " with grace, seasoned with
salt, that it may minister grace unto the hearers."

Brethren, be aiming more and more after perfection. Be
leaving the first principles of the doctrine of Christ, and
going unto perfection. Let us seek by reading, meditation,
and prayer, to have a full view of the doctrine of Christ, that
we may come more and more to have a full faith thereon.
Let us be striving also to pur'fy our hearts in love, and to be
supreme and habitual h\ this affection. Then, indeed, we
shall liave pure hearts and spiritual minds, and have great
delight in God, and He in us. Brethren, seek especially to
have tender consciences. It will be your guard and your
honour, your blessedness and joy. Sin is too great an evil
not to be scrupulous about ; holiness too great a good not
to be jealous of; happiness too precious a jewel to forego by
any indulgence whatever. God is too great, and His laws too
holy to be trifled with in the least, and conscience too exalted

THE CHRISTIAN R PERFECTION.

115

^reat
lyto
your
evil
not
^oby
vstoo
talted

in the soul to be degratlod by any time-service wliatcver.
If you wisli to come up to the highest dignity of your
being, let your consciences bo as the viceroys of God
within you, high and supreme, reguhiting and controlHng
every thought, word, and action ; and hohling everything
accountable to its dictation and authority. And depend upon
it, the more scrupulous an<l tender you are in your conscience,
the more you will bo esteemed by the Lord of the conscience,
and by all conscientious people. Brethren, we may well seek
to be perfect, as it is after such a high model and standard
that we are required to be so. After God and Jesus Christ,
there is an appeal to our ambition, our highest hope and
dignity after. Will you not strive therefore to have the mind
of God himself, to walk even as Christ walked, and, like David,
to be a man after God's own heart. You profess to bo united
to Christ, to be one Avith Ilim, to have His spirit within you,
to live upon His righteousness. Then, surely you ought to
consider it your highest privilege and honour to be like
Him in all things, and to walk Avorthy of the Lord unto all
pleasing. Brethren, we are all in a state of trial and im-
provement. Everything is in progress aroun-^ us. Our
minds are constituted for improvement. It is at once the
law and the excellency of our nature that they are so. God
looks upon us that we improve. Times does so. The scene
of action will soon be removed from us. Death is at the door,
and it will not matter then whet'-er we have been high or low,
rich or poor ; but it will ma,tter everythin,"" that we have
grown in grace, and been faitliftll to the taionts committed
unto us. Then only will we ret?t from our labours, and our
works shall follow us. Then shall we hear the plaudit at

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116

THE CHRIST! AN. S PERFECTION.

last, " Well done, good and faithful servants." Surely, in the
view of these things, you cannot blame us that we earnestly
wish your jjerfection, and that we study to present every man
perfect in Christ Jesus.

But there are some here who are not seeking after perfec-
tion, do not want it, who think they are good enough already,
because they think they are not as bad as otliers, very con-
ceitod and easily put out should we deal a little too phiinly
with them about their state and ways. But you are living in
the neglect of God and of Christ ; you have no submission, no
fear, no faith, no desire for Ilis salvation. But, remember,
there is one above who will yet call you to account for these
things, and Avho will render strict justice unto every one.
How v.ill you answer, think you, when you will be asked :
" Did you love me with all your heart ? Did you accept of my
salvation which I graciously provided for you ? Did you value
my Son, whom I cordially gave unto you ? Did you become
righteous with a view to His righteousness ?" Ah ! then,
how will your foolish conceits, your little proud minds misgive
you ! How you will sink in your own eyes, when you will
see all your imperfections and wickedness, and see nothing
in Chiist, whom you neglected, to cover them! How glad
would you then be to flee from llis presence, and how you
will feel to see yourselves only in the company of those who
were equally imperfect and sinful as yourselves, but only to
upbraid and accuse you !

I can only forewarn and exhort you. Be convinced that you
are unrighteous and lost, liay to lieart that God htfs given
His son to die for you, that He offers His righteousness for
your acceptance. His laws for your rule, and His spirit for

THE christian's PERFECTION. 117

your assistance; that perfection is sot before you also on these
grounds as ^vell as others, and that if you but sincerely seek
it, you shall have it. May God incline you all to seek often
that perfection which will at once be the glory and blessed-
ness of your being. .

SERMON XI

DYING IN THE LORD.

Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord, from henceforth : Yea, saith the
Spirit, that they may rest from their labours, and their works do follow
them- — llevelation xiv- 13.

Death, brethren, is an awful and grievous affair, separating
between the soul and the body, and from all that is visible in
this life. It has no regard to the feelings or wishes of any ;
but remorselessly breaks up every relationship, and ushers, at
once, into the great eternity. It matters not whether we are
prepared or unprepared, whether we are willing or unwilling,
whether we are to be blessed or cursed, when the time
appointed is come, we must die. The decree ath already
gone forth, the execution hath already taken place, that dust
we are, and to the dust we must return. So that there is no
reprieve from this sentence, either to parent or child, hus-
band or wife, brother or sister.

But, though there can be no reprieve from death, yet it is
comfortable to think that to many the bitterness of death is
past, and that from thence their blessedness begins, namely,
those who die in the Lord. And for this, we have the attes-
tation of the Divine Spirit himself, "Yea, saith the Spirit." And
such an attestation, generally, is necessary to the persons
here intended, for they, generally, are afraid of it, and need

DYING IN THE LORD,

119

it 19
[t\\ is

lattcs-
And

|>rsons
need

confirmation. They may try to believe. We may endeavour
to persuade them, bring to their remembrance their past faith
and faithfulness, repeat to them the promises of God, &c.,
but all Avill not do without this Divine testimony. How delight-
ful, then, to think, that it is often given to timid believers, in
some way or other, before they die, to quash their last alarms,
and to give them some sensible assurance before they depart-
They may not hear the Spirit speaking to them, in so many
words, but they recognize the fact of it from some impression,
sensation, conviction or other, tantamount to a voice, encoura-
ging them to say for themselves, "And I heard a voice from
heaven saying unto me, blessed are the dead who die in the
Lord, from henceforth; Yea saikh the Spirit, that they may rest
from their labours, and their works do follow them."

We propose to confine your attention, chiefly to the words,
" Die in the Lord." This is a very comprehensive expression,
requiring some enlargement and experience of mind to enter
into it. It seems to be expressive of a state, rather than an
exercise, and yet not altogether so, for if being in the Lord
is a state, dying in the Lord must have an exercise corre-
sponding to that state. Let us speak for a little, first, of being
in the Lord, and then wo shall be the better able to say what
it is to die in Him.

To be in the Lord, necessarily presupposes that we have
first gone out of ourselves, and away from every other, before
we can be in Him. Ah ! why should any, I would ask, continue
in themselves or in any other, which the gencrahty do ? Wliat
is there, either as a matter of goodness or happiness in our-
selves or others, to induce any to continue in themselves ? Are
we not all depraved ? Do we not often feel wretched ? Have

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120

DYING IN THE LORD.

we not a consciousness also, of a craving for something Avliich
we find not in ourselves or others ? Is not the Psalmist's
account of every man true when he says, " surely, men .of
low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are u lie, to
be laid in the balance they are altogethei aghter than vanity."
What then ? Why, go out of ourselves, and away from others ?
And what farther ? Be in Christ ! And what is that ? We
would say, the exercise of your minds upon Him, with their
settlement upon Him in true faith. Ah ! did we do so, we
would find what a scope for exercise we had, and what a spa-
cious home, so to speak, to live in ! We would find also what
an honourable state we had come into, and how happy and
secure in that state ! Into the Son of God, to become sharers
of his glory and blessedness ! Into the Son of God, and then
to feel secure and safe, as once in Him, no arm could take us
thence ! Into the Son of God, and then to have come to our
soul's rest ! Into the Son of God, and what a life-giving power
for all glory and blessedness we would have in Him ! Oh !
surely, if ye would think of it, ye men of ambition, who wish,
particularly, for the highest and most felicitous relationships,
ye would seek' above everything to be in Him. Says the
Saviour to them and to all, "Abide in me, and I in you. If
ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what
ye will, and it shall be done unto you. The glory which thou
hast given me, I have given them that they may be one,
even as we are one."

And now, as to the exercise, as well as the state, what a
scope for exercise we would have, if we were once in Him by
faith ! To dwell upon boundless merit in his obedience and
death, boundless love in coming from the crown to the Cross,

DYING IN THE LORD.

121

ich

st's
i.of
I, to

their

), we

I spa-

Avhat

y and

uirers

\ then

ako us

to our

power
Oh I
wish,

iiships,
ys the

■,u. If
k what
jh thou
)c one,

what a

Limby

Ice and

Cross,

boundless grace to supply every want, boundless glories to
gratify our highest expectation ; nay, not only so, but to have
an immediate investment in all these, for our present benefit
and joy, and what a scope for our enlarged minds to be
exercised upon ; what a boundless and glorious field ; what a
life-giving power for our highest energies and action ; and
what a glorious model and standard for our imitation and per-
fection !

Oh ! my brethren, you, who are always panting after some-
thing new and wonderful to gratify your desires, turn aside,
and see this great, this wondrous sight, the Lord in human
nature, brightened and irradiated with the Divine — exercise
yourselves to see into the treasures of His inexhaustible com-
plex nature — God-man — to appropriate to yourselves all His
fulness of glory, and to say, " out of his fulness have we all
received, and grace for grace," and to continue to do so till you
can say as your right in faith, " we are glorified in his glory,
and getting perfect in His love." Oh ! had we any idea of
His excellence, who is the chief among ten thousand, assur-
edly we would all be going out of ourselves, and away from
every other, and studying above everything to be in Him, to
exercise ourselves chiefly upon Him, to hve in faith on Him
in the realization and application of all these to ourselves.
Then it would be, when we came to die, that we would feel
able to die in the Lord.

To die in the Lord now, that Ave are brought to it, is simply,
we conceive, to commit our souls to Him, in faith. Now
this, though apparently a simple, I have not found in my long
experience to have been an easy exercise. I have attended
many death-beds in my life-time, but such generally is the

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122

DYING IN THE LORD.

darkness and doubt prevailing that the most I cou^d get
even in favourable cases was this, — I trust in His mercy. I
have a humble hope, but no feeUng of assurance. No
wonder, brethren. The most have lived so little in Him,
during their life, that even as a matter of habit, they feel that
they cannot very readily, very easily die in Him. And when
their neglectful and unprofitable lives come farther into view,
they hesitate, and shrink back, so that they cannot commit
their souls readily into His hands. They would fain live a
while longer, to be able, as they say, to do so. Depend upon
it, it requires much previous living in the Lord, to be able to die
in Him, a near and constant union in the practice of those
words, " whether we live, we live unto the Lord, or whether we
die, we die unto the Lord," to commit our souls fully in faith
into His hands.

Farther, it requires much persuasion of mind, arising from
a full knowledge of His character, whether, after all, He will
save us to die in Him.. We will not commit our wife or child
or property to any one at our death, till we have tried their
friendship and honesty, and are persuaded that they will
accept of them. Much less will we commit our spirits into
the hands of Christ till we can say,

" Jesus, my Lord, I know His name,
His name is all my boast
Nor will He put my soul to shame,

Nor let my hope be lost.
I know that safe with Him remains,
Protected by his power,
^ V. What I've committed to his trust,

.^ \ Till the decisive hour 1"

. Yes, brethren, we must know Him, know Him in His works,

t ll

DYING IN THE LORD.

123

I get

r- I

No
Him,
il that
^yllen
I view,
ommit
live a
d \\]}on
e to die
,f those
sthcrwe
in faith

ing from
He will
i or child
ed their
they will
irita into

[lis works,

as having made fall atonemcntfor our sins; know Him in Ilis pre-
sent work as interceding for us in heaven ; know Him as deter- .
mined to carry out the fuHaccompUshmcnt of His work iti the '
faith and holiness of His people ; know Him in the communica-
tion and sense ofHis love, as the tokens of our acceptance ; know
Him in the gradual communications of the Spirit, as the seals
of our acceptance ; know Him in the first fruits and antopasts
of heaven, as the earnest of our adoption ; know Him, in a
word, in that sensihle union and communion with Him, in His
word and ordinances, which those ordinarily have that are in
the habit of living in Him, and by which they are enabled
often to say, "My beloved is mine, and I am His ;" know Him,
I say, something in all these, which requires, as I have said,
much persuasion and assurance of mind before they are able
to commit their spirits into His hands.

But how much reading, think you, and meditation, and faith,
and prayer, and experimental power is necessary to be had,
before we can come this length. How much even of the pro-
mises of God, to be treasured up in the memory before we can
lean upon them, as God's staff, when walking through the
dark valley. Just make the experiment betimes, which, I
fear, few of us are doing, to see how we could meet death, if
we were now called to die, and how far we could die in the
Lord ; and I doubt many of us would become assured of our
cowardice and shrinking, and would ask eagerly for a little
more time to prepare ourselves to be able to die in Him. Ah !
I ht've often seen it to be so. I have been astonished to find
it so, on the part of some who passed for very lively and
' ealous Christians. And here I would remark that I have
found it so particularly on the part of that class who, leaving

124

DYING IN THE LORD.

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the ordinary way of preaching and praying of sound men
cried out and followed after what they wanted, lively preachers,
warm prayers, enthusiastic leaders, to warm up their hearts
and kindle their imagination ; otherwise, they could give them
no countenance, no support. Ah ! I have visited such at the
time of their death, I have had some trouble Avith such, some
pains, before I got a foundation again laid in their souls, for
faith and hope. Their warm feelings had chilled with the
cold hand of sickness and death. Their heat, their enthu-
siasm had entirely subsided; ' their good frames had gone,' as
they said. The darkness of their minds only presented itself,
the feebleness of their faith and hope was now felt. Ah !
say they, " sir, I do not see Him, I am afraid that all my past
experience of religion was a mere delusion." How I have
heard such, and how I could have told them if I durst, that it
was just so. But how rather had I to begin the A B C of
religion with them again, to try to get them back to the
simple foundation of the Gospel, and to simple faith on it.
*' What," said I, " do you not see Christ as the Son of God, and
the Son of man ? Do you not see Him as the substitute and
surety for sinners ? Do you not see Him in I£is death, are
you not trusting in these, and in nothing else ? Do you not
see him in His invitation 'Come unto me,' and in His promises,
He that cometh unto me, I will in nowise cast out ? Do you not
see him in His fulness, as having room enough for you, and for
me, and every believing sinner ?" "Oh ! yes," they would say ;
but then reverting to the former delusion, they would also
answer, "Iwaslookingfor the evidence." "The evidence," said
I, "is that to be your saviour, your dependence, your all ?" " Oh !
no, but it was so comforting to have it." "And would you put it

DYING IN THE TiORD,

125

in the place of Christ, or be more comforted with that than
with [lim, with that, that at the best, is so imperfect iu this
life ?"

But very different those, brethren, who have been living in
the Lord, and steadily though it may be slowly, keeping on
their life in Him. They have always been ready to read and
to hear about Him. It was not so much the preacher as the
Saviour that they wanted ; not so much the manner, as the
spirit of prayer they wanted ; not so much the frame, the
feeling, the enthusiasm, as the substantial food, the real Ufe.
They, therefore, grew in grace, and in the knowledge of our
Lord and Saviour, and gradually were coming nearer unto
Him, and living more fully in Him, and thus acquiring an
increased facility and ability to die in Him, when their lime
came.

And now shall I tell you what the closing sentiments
and faith of such are when they come to die ? Well, listen
and remember, and learn. It is true, methinks I hear them
saying, that I was a condemned sinner, for from the time of
my conversion I always condemned myself; but what of that ?
Jesus, the Son of God, was condemned on my behalf, and
therefore, condemned sin in the flesh for me. It is true that
I have been a great sinner during my life, and that I often
sinned during my conversion ; but what of that ? I always
repented of these sins, and after a while was not conscious
of wilfully allowing sin in me. It is true that I was much
given to misbelieving, and that even now I have but
a small faith to what I ought to have ; but it is equally
true that I am not saved for my faith, but for that on
which it rests, and that I shall not be tried either for the

Ill'

126

DYING IN THE LORD.

weakness or the strength of my faith, but for its reaUty
and sincerity. It is true that I have always failed in the
matter of duty, and come far short in its performance ; but
it is equally true- that my Lord and righteousness did not
fail, and that by His obedience, I shall be made righteous ;
and nob only so, but that Ho presents his righteousness in
my l)ehalf, and prays for the acceptance of my weakest
performance. It is true I have not loved Him as I ought, or
grown in it as I ought ; but it is equally true that I am
conscious of its purity and supremacy, and that I long for
the time M-hni I shall love Him with my whole heart, and
soul, and mind. It is true that I am unstable and change-
able, often up and down, in darkness and light, in joy
and sorrow, in faith and doubt ; but it is as true, my
Saviour changeth not ; that He is always the same, that He
rests in his love, rejoices over me with joy, and that His
promises are like himself unchangeable. It is true that I
have many enemies and accusers, and the chief of them
my own conscience ; but what of that ? for I know also that
the accuser of the brethren, who accuseth them night and
day, shall be cast out, and that every tongue that is lifted
up against me in judgment. He will condemn ; and, there-
fore, what have I to fear, but everything to hope for and
enjoy ? My answer, likewise, is always ready, "It is God
that justifieth ; who is he that condemneth ? It is Chrisfc
that (Tied, yea, rather that is risen again, who is even at
the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for
us. I will, therefore, commit my spirit into his hands, for
I know whom I have believed, and that he is able to keep
what I have committed unto him against that day." But

DYING IN THE LORD.

127

finally, I would ohscrve, it is true that I am but a worm
and no man, and that it may be considered presumptuous in
mo to hope, and believe in this manner ; but it is equally true
that I know that I have a priceless and immortal soul, that I
am saved with blood divine, that I have the stamp of God's
image in my soul, and that I shall make up a part of the
riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints ; and, there-
fore, prcsum{)tuou3 as it may be thought, I will endeavour to
rise up to the dignity and value of my soul, to my high hopes
in Christ, and put these forth with an exalted faith, even at
the last.

Such, brethren, more or less, is what I have heard from
dying Christians, and what I have often read of, in regard to
others ; and let me tell you they will be all needed when we
come to die, for it is the last, the trying hour, when the enemy
will do his worst, when either victory or defeat will be the
consequence, and for which we ought to be learning to sing
our dying song long before we would wish to do so in death.

And now, brethren, to bring these remarks to a close, let
me call upon you to lay to heart that death is at the door of
every one of us, and know not how soon he may enter. He
is coming to one and another continually, and reminding all
that he may come next for them. Oh ! brethren, ho ,v solemn
to think that before another Sabbath, some of us may be num-
bered with the dead, and have our place fixed in eternity.
Then, it will be that we will either be with God and Christ,
and good spirits and people, or with the devil and wicked
persons in hell. How solemn and responsible our existence
here ! How thrilling anji fearful our condition hereafter !
Brethren, where are you ? Are you in Christ or out of Him ?

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128

DTINO IN THE LORD.

Aro you living in Him or foryonrfclvoa ? Depend upon it,
wo shall have to answer these (lucstions at last, and that wo
shall have to take the issues of the judgment, according to
the answer. How awful to think that there are some here
who shall have, however unwillingly, to answer, " I have not
sought, nor did I care to be in Him, as I was contented with
myself, and others like myself." While there are others who
shall be ready to say, "I strove to cleave unto Him to abide, in
Him, and to live the life of faith on Him." Then, my brethren,
the sentences will follow according as our answers have been :
*'Come,ye blessed, inherit the kingdom ;" or "depart ye cursed,
and go away into everlasting punishment." How blessed !
How awful !

Brethren, I can only warn you, I can only exhort you, you
the people of God, let mo exhort you to keep in Christ. There
is no safety but in Him, no satisfaction, no comfort, but from
Him. See, therefore, as the Psalmist says, " As the eyes of
servants look unto the hands of their masters, and the eyes
of a maiden to the hand of her mistress," so, say you also,
" our eyes wait upon the Lord our God until that He have
mercy upon us." If we were wise, we would be looking unto
Him ever in some view of His relation, of His character to
us. We would be making Him our very life, our very existence
here, as we hope, to have Him for our eternal life hereafter.
Whether we are or not. His eye is upon us night and day, for
our good ; nor will He cease to do so till He bring us safely
to himself. Therefore, keep you ever looking unto Him,
praying unto Him, and waiting for His second coming, to
take you to himself. Thus, while you live, you will live
unto the Lord, and when you come to die, you will die unto
the Lord.

DTINO IN THE LOUD.

129

But unto you, who do not, but live unto yourselves, Christ
will come, but while it will be to be glorified in his saints and ad-
mired m all them that believe, it will be also to take ven-^eanco
on them that know not God, and that obeyed not His gospel,
that did not think Ilim worthy of a look, that did not own Ilim'
for their head that they might bo in Him as His members

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SERMON XII.

AN EXCEEDING AND ETERNAL WEIGHT OF GLORY.

For our light affliction, whirh is but for a moment, worketh out for us a far
more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. II Corinthians iv. l?-

You arc all aware of the afflictions to which we are liable
from the cradle to the grave, so that I need not mention them ;
and, indeed, if tliey are but light and momentary, as the
Apostle says, they are not worth mentioning. Passing over
these, we might enlarge upon their practical design and
tendency. But, reserving this for the conclusion, we would
come to speak principally of the glory which afflictions are
said to work out for us. " lliey work out for us a far more
exceeding and eternal weight of glory."

Glory signifies something that is pre-eminent in excellence,

which we will speak of with regard to place, dignity, and
possession.

Place, which generally is called heaven, which signifies
above. This, brethren, is quite congenial to us, for far dif-
ferent from all other creatures, we are made erect, to look
upwards aad forwards. And, accordingly, our Creator, to
act suitably to His workmanship, hath destined heaven above
us, as our everlasting home. Accordingly, we read of a third
heaven far above the present system, of a temple that is
above, and of a house not made with hands, eternal in the

AN EXCEEDING AND ETERNAL WEIOHT OP GLOBY. 131

nifies
dif-
look
or, to
above
third
;hat 19
111 tlie

heavons, as the future locality of the blessed. And is not this
glorious, as far above the earth, the sun, moon, and stars, the
highest heavens that we knoAV of?

True, we read of a new heaven and of a new earth
wherein dwcllcth righteousness, as if this earth were to bo the
final abode of the righteous, and it may be ; but, as it is
coupled with the new heaven, they would seem to be inter-
changeable terms or places, as if each were at the option of
the blessed to inhabit or to interchange. But Christ ascended
into heaven and lives there, and where He is, there shall also
His servants be. Therefore, Christians, lift up yonv heads as
your redemption draweth nigh ; and when ye come to ascend,
and to ascend up far above all heavens, to where Christ
dwcllcth, then you will know that you are going truly to a
glorious place, worthy alike of your Redeemer and of your
own, your native dignity, which He hath redeemed.

But not only as to a place above the highest of all other
places, but as to the light and splendour of that place.

This also is qiiite congenial to us, as Solomon says, " Truly
the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is to behold the
sun." But what idea can be formed of that glorious light,
which, in its corruscations, lightens up all heaven and makes it
shine ? We may, indeed, from considering the sun upwards to
every luminous body downwards ; we may, from the figurative
descriptions given of the place itself, its pearly gates, its
golden streets, its light like unto a precious stone, clear as
crystal ; we may, from what we know of the effects of spirit
upon ourselves. They will lighten up our countenance with
a heavenly glow, and make even our eyes flash fire ; we
may, from considering the higher effects of a higher order of

t '.

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132 AN EXOEEDINQ AND ETERNAL WEIGHT OP GLORY.

spirits than our own, just to mention one case — a mighty
angel seen descending from heaven, when the whole earth
was lightened with his glory. But what are all these to the
Father of lights, who dwelleth in the light that is inaces"
sible and full of glory, that cannot be approached for the
fulness of that glory ? What are all these to the glorious
appearing of Christ himself, which irradiates and gloriPes all
heaven, giving reason to say that there is no need of the sun
to shine in it, or of the moon to enlighten it, for the glory of
God doth lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof ? But
■we can know nothing, we can say nothing, even from these
that are comparable unto it, but only that it must be incon-
ceivably resplendent and glorious.

Now, Christians, to be admitted into such a place as this,
to be permitted to walk in the light of it, to be assured aLo
that there is no night there, to bo told, also, that they shall
see God as He is, and behold His face in glory, and see also
angels and spirits there, and radiate upon and from each other
all the rays of the Divine glory ; is not this, I ask you,
glory, a glory emblazoned into one luminous halo, and
infinitely exceeding any glory which ever they saw in this
world ?

But not only, as we read, there is glory, but a weight of
glory. This is expressive of the abundance and pressure of
it. But here, also, we can say nothing beyond what has been
experienced of its effects in this world. For instance, when
an angel appeared from heaven, whose countenance was like
lightning, and his raiment white as snow, it is said that the
keepers did shake and became as dead men. When Paul,
also, and his company were journeying to Damascus, it is

AN EXCEEDING AND ETERNAL WEIGHT OF GLORY. 133

of
>een
len
ike
the
*aul,
it ia

said that they all fell to the earth from the bright light which
surrounded them — which was above the brightness of the sun,
and by which he was struck blind. Also, the beloved disciple,
when his glorious Master appeared before him, it is said that
he fell at llis feet as dead. But how this is, we cannot say ;
but that we feel it to be so is sure, just as it is often felt that
a sudden flash of lightning will strike us blind, or produce
immediate decomposition, so the glory of the heavenly world,
when allowed suddenly to fall on us, may well be called a
weight of glory for the effects which it produces.

This leads us to remark that we will require other bodies
than those we now have to bear up under this weight. This,
the Scriptures tell us, we shall have, even bodies like to the
glorious body of Christ himself. The Apostle hath given us
the particulars of this body in glowing terms, after having
stated that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of
God, he says, " It is sown a natural body, and it is raised
a spiritual body. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power.
It is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory."

It is little, however, beyond the fact of these that we can
say of them ; for, as we know nothing of spirit, what can we
say of spiritual bodies ? Some say that they are the same
for substance, with our present bodies, but different in quali-
ties ; but how they are so, or even can be so, we leave those
to explain who have mae the assertion. But, to have spi-
ritual bodies, or bodies that are like to spirit in quality, agile,
subtle, capable of transporting themselves, with the rapidity
of thought, from place to place (you read that the living crea-
tures, in Ezekiel's vision, went and returned like a flash of
lightning), and there seeing the glory of God in every part

: *

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V-

. ■

III

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111

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134 AN EXCEEDING AND ETERNAL WEIGHT OP GLORY.

of the visible creation ; and what a glory in thi3, compared
with our present sluggish and heavy bodies, which -jau hardly
go from place to place without danger or fatigue.

But they are said, also, to be raised in glory. This follows
from their constitution being spiritual, for it seems to be inse-
parable from spirit that they should be luminous or glorious ; so
our Saviour says " they shall shine as the sun in the firmament,
and as the stars,for ever and ever." Brethren,do we realize that
we are so to shine, and to reflect the glory of our light upon
one another ? Then, surely, wo may be well satislied with
our bodies here, however different in comeliness from others,
and rejoice exceedingly, however vile in themselves, that they
are yet to be changed into the likeness of Christ's glorious
body.

But they are also said to be powerful bodies. We can as
little enter into this as the others, only that we instinctively
apply power to spirit, as we often say with regard to some
who have weak bodies but strong spirits, what a spirit they
have ! as we feel that it is spirit that gives power, and
as Ave read of spirits that they excel in strength, and of
some spirits even that they are mighty. And, being glorious,
also, receiving and giving out the rays of the Divine glory,
wo judge they must just be as powerful as they are glorious.
We know, indeed, that they must be so to be capable to bear
up under the weight of the Divine glory, and to be able to do
so, not as here, for the space of threescore or fourscore years,
but for all eternity. Here, brethren, is the measurement of
their strength, to be manifested in a life of perpetual youth and
vigour, which, as compared with its short period here, and with
God's eternity hereafter, may be said to be as the strength of

AN EXCEEDING AND ETERNAL WEIGHT OF GLORY. 135

God himself. How powerful, therefore, must they bo ! what
a glory awaits us in that eternal weight of glory which they
shall be able fully to sustain ! what a glory contrasted with the
dishonour that attaches to their short-lived and feeble bodies
here on account of sin !

Brethren, how we should be looking at our change, at the
perfect glorification of our bodies in heaven, at their eternal
existence with God and Christ and holy angels, at their super-
natural eternal strength and endurance.

But, farther, there is the glory also bf dignity and pos-
session. We put them together, as it is as impossible to speak
of one more than another, and as one grand idea runs through
the whole. They are held out to us under different names,
as a throne, a crown, a kingdom, a mansion, an inheritance
that fadeth not away. What an assemblage of things taken
from those that arc considered the most eminent and glorious
in this life ! Who would liave thought that those who are con-
sidered the most servile, the most straitened, the most O})-
pressed here, as the bulk of God's people generally are, should
be the most exalted, the most honoured, and the most rich in
heaven ? I speak of them not as distinguished from others,
who are rich and great, as many of God's people are, but
as distinguished from their own former state. And, oh ! to
think of it — a throne, a crown, a kingdom, and a mansion —
a glory, certainly, that, for eminence, is unsurpassed,
and as impossible to be described as to be conceived.
What can be said of that dignity that hath a throne and
a crown ? — what of that kingdom that hath a sceptre and
a palm ? — what of those riches which have an inheritance and
a universe ? We may think of them, we may try to speak

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136 AN EXCEEDING AND ETERNAL WEIGIIT OP GLORY.

of them, but it is vain ; "for eye hath not seen, nor ear heard,
nor hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive what God
hath laid up for them that love Him." We read, indeed, of
principalities and powers among the angels, of elders among
the redeemed, which imply authority and rule. We read,
also, of kings and priests as the universal titles of the blessed ;
also that the palm of victory is in their hands, and the shout
of triumph in their mouths, and many other things ; but who
can speak of tlie glory of these things, or of the things them-
selves, as emblazoning that glory ? We may, indeed, with
their contrasts on earth, as, for instance, with their poverty,
their degradation, their dishonour here ; but if the Apostle,
who was in heaven, and saw all the glory and heard uspeak-
able words, which it was not possible for a man to utter,
how shall Ave, with our common talents and poor language,
be able to do so ?

You, the people of God, who are fighting to get the
victory of faith, who have barely bread and water to live
upon, who have not where sometimes to lay your head,
who are generally despised as the low born and trash of the
earth, console yourselves. There is a time coming, not far
distant, when glory, honour, and immortahty await you,
when you shall reign as kings and priests, and that, in
proportion as you were kept down here ; if you deported
yourself suitably in your situation, you shall be exalted here-
after. For, as the Saviour saith, " To him that overcometh
shall I grant to sit with me on my throne, even as I also
overcame, and am set down with my Father on his throne. I
appoint unto you a kingdom, even as my Father hath
appointed me, that ye may sit on thrones." And again,

AN EXCEEDING AND ETERNAL WEIGHT OP GLORY. 137

the
|o live
head,
f the
lot far
you,
,t, in
lorted
here-
imeth
also
lie. I
hath
,gain.

He that overcometh shall inherit all things." Happy
people — glory, glory for them, even an eternal weight of
glory !

But, brethren, we have yet to come to the acme, the climax
of all these things. Not only an eternal weight of glory,
but a far more exceeding, &c. All that has been said is as
nothing which remains yet to be said, if we only could say
anything worthy upon it. But if we could not speak of the
others, how shall we of this ? for what can exceed an eternal
weight of glory ? But what that far more exceeding thing
is, is not stated. We may observe that the expression in the
original is very different from our translation. It could not
be rendered, hideed, in our tongue, " Katha Huperbol<5n
eis Huperbole." According to a hyperbole, in or above
a hyperbole. This will not, you know, read at all in
our tongue. Accordingly, our lexicographers translate it
exceeded exceedingly. But this is little better, if as
good, as our present translation — a far more exceeding. But
to speak to the original, a hyperbole, as many of you know,
is the highest style of figure to set off the highest style of
thought ; but as there was no figure in creation, even amid
all its grandeur, that could answer to the Apostle's idea of
the heavenly glory, he contents himself by expressing him-
self under the character of a figure, a hyperbole ; and to give
emphasis to the expression, he redoubles it under the same
expression, a hyperbole, in or above a hyperbole. We would
remark that we met, some years ago, with a translation that
we think comes as near to the original as any we have read.
It is an eternal weight of glory exceeded by an excess — by an
excess above everything else in the presence and commu-

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138 AN EXCEEDINO AND ETERNAL WEIGHT OF GLORY.

nication of the triune God himself. In comparison of this,
everything else, with regard to ourselves and place, comes
infinitely short of God the portion and inheritance of His
peoples' soul, according as we often sing and say, " Whom
have 1 in heaven but thee, and there is none upon earth
that I 'desire besides thee" ? Yes, brethren, it is God
himself, in His infinite glory and blessedness which makes up
this excess that infinitely exceeds everything else.

Have you realized it that you are heirs of God and joint
heirs with Christ ? — that God, even God, is your God, and
that you have a right to all the glory that is treasured up in
Him ? — that, therefore, there is an excess always exceeding,
an overflowing continually overflowing itself — that all the
riches of eternity, in an infinitely boundless nature, is yours,
ever flowing into your minds, giving you a living even in God
himself, and a capacity to enjoy all that is in God ? Then
will you have some apprehension to know what it is, as the
Saviour says, " To be all perfect in one" — that is, in God,
in God who is infinitely above every other, and, therefore,
preparing you to enter into the Apostle's words, " We shall
then S'"' face to face, and know even as we are known." We
shall, also, see that this is what will bo giving new strength
and development to all our powers, and even adding to their
number ; for can we be living in the infinite and always making
some approach I'uto it, and yet not always expanding and
coming fulloi' into it ? Oh, to have these words of Christ
ever fulfilling unto us, " And the glory which thou hast given
me I have given them, that they may be one, even as we are
one ; I in them and thou in me, that they may be made per-
fect in one, and that the world may know that thou hast sent
me, and hast loved them as thou hast loved me."

AN EXCEEDING AND ETERNAL WEIGHT OF GLORY. 139

Surely, brethren, this must come up to the highest of our
ambition, as nothing can possibly exceed this, and, therefore,
did wo realize it as we might in this world, might keep us in
the highest ecstacies of expectancy and delight. In paradise
our sinful ambition once was to be as gods, knowing good and
evil ; but now the sin, the curse is turned into a reality and
blessing, for we are told that " wo shall see face to face, and
know as we are known."

^ When this shall be realized, then, surely, we shall be ever
singing, as I have read, in one of our common songs of the
multitude in heaven :

"Around the throne of God in heaven

Ten thousiind, thousand stand,
Whose sins are all by Christ forgiven,
A holy happy band,

Singing glory, glory, glory !
Singing glory, glory, glory !"

And here, as in the former case, I would observe, a great
change must come upon our minds to fit them to take in all
that glory ; and so, as I have said, we shall not only have
our powers greatly enlarged, but greatly multiplied. Can
this- be otherwise than so ? Even phrenologists have dis-
covered in us many more faculties than have ever yet been
called into exercise, just because we had no suitable objects
to call them forth. But when we get to heaven, there will be
room enough for their fullest display, and objects enough to
call them all forth ; so that we will be all light, having no
part of us dark or dormant. And do we not read of the
representatives of the redeemed, " that they are full of eyes
within?" And what k that but that they are all eye, ail

140 AN EXCEEDING AND ETERNAL WEIGHT OP GLORY.

M
■1

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f

judgment, all understanding ? Do we not read, also, of
others, " tlia*- they are all eye," without showmg, as our
Saviour says, " that there is no part dark, hut we are as when
the bright shining of a candle giveth us light" ? And does not
this throw a wonderful significancy on the Apostle's words :
" We no longer see through a glass darkly, but then face to
face, no longer see in part, but then we shall know, even as we
are known" ? In the Prophet's words, also, " Thy sun shall
no more go down, neither shall thy moon withdraw itself, for
the Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and thy God thy
glory." Here, as our Saviour says, " is the perfection of our
being all perfect in one." Here the excess, which exceeds
everything, the fulness of our happiness, as the Psalmist says,
" In thy presence is fulness of joy, at thy right hand there
are pleasures for evermore ; I shall behold thy fiice in right-
eousness ; I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy
likeness."

Brethren, to have done, let our afflictions work out for us
this weight of glory exceeded by an excess. We have all
our afflictions, as you know, and it is necessary that we
should have them. The Lord takes away from us our rela-
tives, brings us occasionally into adversity, and visits us with
affliction and sorrow. But what of it, if we should only be
taught not to look too much at them, or too much at the
things that are seen, but at the things that are unseen ?
Oh, why should we be looking at objects that are so dim and
short-lived, and not at those which are unseen and eternal ?
Surely these are incomparably the best things ; surely they
will stand in our stead when all earthly things shall leave us.
Are they not to be had, also, by simply looking at them ? and

AN EXCEEDING AND ETERNAL WEIOnT OP GLORY. 141

ooul.l any tiling bo more cheap and easy than this ? But, alas '
they are despised or undervalued by the generality, and the
short-lived empty gew-gaws of this life, preferred before
them. But the time will come when they shall be seen in all
their value, and the others in all their insignificance. A few
years, at the most, and we shall all be cither in heaven or in
hell ! Oh, what a time that will be, when we shall either bo
singing glory, glory ! or crying out sorrow, sorrow ! Look, I
beseech you, upwards, forwards, at things which are unseen
and eternal. Have your hearts in heaven, where Christ and
all your best kindred arc. Have your conversation there
also. Have a respect unto the recompense of reward; Lay
not up for yourselves treasures on earth, but treasures in
heaven. Bo looking daily for the coming of the Son of man.
And if you do so, it will bo without sin for your salvation. It
will be to glorify you with himself when He coraeth in glory.
But if not; if you rather choose to look at things which are
seen and temporal, it will be to take vengeance on you,
who preferred these to Him, and who despised Him, and His.
salvation, and His glory.

SEKMON XIII.

SALVATION FKOM I'KESKNT AND FUTUKE EVIL BY TRAYEU.

And it shall come to pass that wliosoever sluill rail on the name of the Lord

Hhall bo saved. — Acts ii. 111.

Provision abundantly has been made by God to save his
people from every danger. This consists princij)ally in the names
and promises of God, of which we have a plentiful variety
in his word. Thus to Abraham he made His name known as
God Almighty ; to Moses, when he would send him to deliver
his people, as the I Am, to Joshua, as the God that would never
fail hira or forsnke him ; and to David as the rock, the tower,
the refuge, the God of salvation, &c.

But it is evident that this provision or security in these
names intimates to us a duty which instrumentally may be
called our salvation r ' ^ — that is prayer. And so the great
stress of the tex^ ' upon this ; " Whosoever shall call

on the name ijord." To assure and quicken us, it

is connected ai&o with a promise, a promise expressed in
absolute and strong words — " shall be saved." Thus we have
the three things mentioned in the text : prayer, the name of
God, and a promise, to keep up our courage and to be our
security against every danger.

As the text is a deduction from the former verses, we

^^,

SALVATION FROM PRESENT AND FUTURE EVIL.

143

call
us, it
m1 in
have
ime of
>c our

cs, we

must read it in their connection to see from wliat tlan^jjera
■we are delivored, 19th and 20th. " I will shew wonders
in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath, blood and
fire and vapour of smoke. The sun shall be turned into
darkness and the moon into blood fcefore that terrible day of
the Lord come;" and then the text, "whosoever shallcall on the
name of the Lord shall be saved. These words evidently
refer to that period of disaster which befel the Jews in the
destruction of their city and polity when Jerusalem was
destroyed by the Komans. This is evident from this other
programme of the prophecy, 17th and 18th verses : "And it
shall come to pass in the last days, saith the Lord, I will pour
out of my spirit upon all flesh ; and your sons and your
daughters shall prophecy," &c., a prophecy which was fulfilled
only in the immediate times following our Lord, and is never
mentioned in connection with any other future prophecy of
destruction so far as we know.

But we propose to apply the text in its fullest sense to
every kind of danger ; and to the security which the people
of God have against these if they only call upon His name.
These are many ; and as many think we are living in the last
times, which peculiarly may be called times of danger, we may
in the first instance aipply it to them. The prophet Joel, from
which the quotation, was taken, evidently refers to these in the
succeeding chapter as far raiore disastrous and imminent than
those which befel the Jews. Says ho, Joel 8, ix., " Pro-
claim ye this among the Gentiles. Prepare war ; wake up the
mighty men ; let all the menof war draw near, let them come
up. Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks
into spears ; let the weak say, I am strong. Assemble your

144

SALVATION FROM PRESENT

selves, and come all ye heathen, and gather yourselves
togctlier round about ; thither cause thy mighty ones to come
down, Lord. Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to
the valley of Jchosaphat, for there will I sit to judge all

■ the heathen round about. Put ye in the sickle for the
harvest is ripe ; come, get you down, for the press is full, the
fats overflow, for their wickedness is great. Multitudes,
multitudes in the valley of dec' 'on, for the day of the Lord
is near in the vallev of decision. The sun and the moon shall

' be darken d and the stars shall Avithdraw their shining.
The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from

• Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth shall shake, but the
Lord will be the hope of his people and the strength of the
children of Israel."

Brethren, are we living as many think, on the eve of these
times ; are the signs portentous with a view to them ? how we
OL.ght to be concerned and awake ! "Well the text tells us at
onco our duty and preservation ! " Whosoever shall call
upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."

Call upon the name of the Lord. But this, we fear, is
too much neglected, and therefore too often unsuccessful.
We may have called upon the Lord, but have we called
upon the name of the Lord ? If not, we ha^'o prayed wiihout
our plea, without our hope ; for the name of the J^ord alone,
as you often read, is our strong tower and rtuk of defence.
This name is held out in many and diflferent views according
to the various lights in which He may be presented, and the
various situations in which we may be placed. In addition
to those already mentioned, we may add the following : The
Lord our God ; the Saviour in the time of trouble ; the brother

AND FUTURE EVIL BY PRAYER.

145

', 18

essful.
called
idiout
alone,

cfcnce.
)rding

md the
ddition
The

brother

who was born for adversity ; our Father and our friend, who
•will never leave us nor forsake us. • .

But it is evident that much must bt left to a wise discretion
in regard to the name that may be most suita])le, as, for
instance, in the case of Jacob Avhen confronted with his
murderous brother Esau, he prayed so to speak on the family
name. Oh God of my father Abraham and Isaac, and as
much as if he had said of me, also, the promised seed, deliver
me I pray thee from my brother Esau. But to mention
a few more particular names. Are we in danger from
war ? — let us call upon his name as the Lord of Hosts, the
Lord mighty in battle. Are we in danger from pestilence ? —
let us use his name as the Saviour in the time of trouble. Are
we in poverty, as our Father and provider ? Are we forlorn
and desolate, as the Lord that will take us up when our father
and our mother forsake us ?

But lot us remember, when we thus pray on His name and
promise, that we do it in faith ; for it is this that gives honour
to His name and promise, and pledges Him as it were for their
fulfilment. As he himself hath said, what will He not do for
His great na Tie's sake? And for encouragement, farther, let us
know as we are told that there is no exception in regard to
those who do so, for the text says "Whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved ;" whosoever — it matters
not what he may be, what he has been, if only he is but sincere,
but prayerful and believing now, he shall be saved. We have
the promise from the mouth of God himself, and what surer
can we have? "Hath he spoken, and shall he not do it ; hath he
said it, and shall he not bring it to pass?" As Joshua said at
the end of the war, " No one good thing hath failed ; all hath

146

SALVATION PROJt. PRESENT

ii i

como to pass." Oh yes, he must accomphsh the desire of them
that fear Ilim, of them that call upon Him in truth. His ear is
ever open to their cry, liis hand extended for their deUver-
ance. He cannot overlook, He cannot turn aside their petitions.
His bowels are moved towards them. His repentings a,re
kindled together. The heart of a father feels for all his
children in distress, and the ear of a friend is ever open to
their cry, particularly when they plead upor. his name. It
requires an act of parliament for any to change their name,
but as God cannot change, therefore it must remain as a suc-
cessful plea for all his people as their pledged deliverance
from every danger. Just let us plead in faith the name that
is most suitable, and we will have to si' ^ and say it endureth
for ever, and it is his memorial to all generations.

And have we not evidence of the truth of the promise
continually ? Have we not in our own experienca ; have we
not from the acknowledgements of others ? What is our own
testimony, but that we have always been preserved ? what of
others, but their preservation also? Are not the Scriptures also
full of such testimonies? I set before you only one because it
seems to me to cover the whole ground of danger and to meet
every want. Job v. 19 : " He shall deliver thee in six
troubles ; yea in seven there shall no evil touch thee. In
famine he shall redeem thee from death, and in war from the
power of the sword. Thou slialt be hid from the scourge of
the tongue, neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it
Cometh. At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh, neither
shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth. For thou
shalt be in league with the beasts of the field, and the beasts
of the field shall bo at peace with thee. And thou shalt know

AND FUTURE EVIL BY PRAYER.

147

that thy tabernacle shall be in peace, and shalt visit thy
habitation, and shalt not sin." And all this as "what they had
observed merely from the providence of God, as they say, in
the last verse, "Lo this ; we have searched it, so it is, hear it,
and know thou it for thy good."

Does not this cover the whole ground of exposure, of danger,
and of want ? and if these ancients had so much merely from
observation, how much more ought we to have from our own
also, and also from Scripture ? Listen to some of the declara-
tions and assurances Avhicli the Scriptures farther give us, and
also to their exhortations on that point. " Trust in the Lord
with all thine heart, and lean not to thine own understanding.
Seek the Lord and his strength. Seek his face evermore.
He is the Lord our God ; his judgments are in all the earth.
Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee ; thou wilt have a desire
to the -"ork of thine own hand. In the day of my trouble I
will call upon thee, for thou wilt answer me. Then shalt thou
call, and the Lord shall answer. Thou shalt cry, and he shall
say, here ami. Trust in him at all times, ye people, pour ou^
your heart before him. He only is my rock and salvation ;
he is my defence, I shall not be moved. He shall call upon
me, and I will answer him ; I will be with him in trouble I will
deliver him and honour him. There is no difference between
the Jew and the Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich unto
all that call upon him." And, finally, the text, " Whosoever
phall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."

Finally, we would apply the text to the troubles coming,
just as Peter did to the trouble then, and as Christ and the
other Apostles often did, speaking of the destruction of Jeru.
sakm, and the Jews, to excite the people to prayer and faith.

1 ;• ' <^r

148

SALVATION FROM PRESENT

h m

These, as many fear, are impending and sure, and tliey are

more dreadful fromprophecy than any that have yet occurred.

We have read the prophecy of Joel already in regard to it,

and need not again. But are not things, I ask you, brethren,

alarming and threatening? Are not the foundations of the earth

but of course ; and man set apparently against his brother man

everywhere ? Are we not kept in trepidation even in our own

border ? Who knows how soon it may come upon us, and

what the end may be. We ought therefore to be forwarned

, and also forearmed, and the words of the text continually

urged as our duty and protection. Says God also elsewhere,

"Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy

doors about thee ; hide thyself, as it were, for a little moment,

until the indignation be overpast; for behold the Lord cometh

out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their

iniquity ; the earth also shall disclose her blood, and no more

cover her slain." If we were wise we would seek to hide

ourselves, for it is feared there is great wrath coming over all

the land, and if we did so according to the text we might

have hope that we will be saved ; and not only so, but might be

able to say, like the Psalmist, "God is our refuge and strength,

a very present help in trouble ; therefore will we not fear

though the earth be removed, though the mountains be carried

into the midst of the sea, though the waters roar and be

troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. ' '

It is the promise also, " Thou wilt keep him in perfect ^leace

whose mind is stayed on thee, because ho trusteth in thee."

I only farther observe, as an encouragement, that, whereas
in all former troubles the righteous generally suffered in com-
mon with the wicked, in this last it is thought they will all be

AND FUTURE EVIL BY PRAYER.

149

cngtli,
fear
arried
iiid be
treof."
leace
lice."
icreas
n com-
l all be

saved. But this, as I have said, is only as an encouragement
the more readily to pray that they may be saved. For the
promise is as much to them in the view of those coming as in
the past, and therefore should especially be acted upon in the
view of their approach. " Trust in the Lord at all times, pour
out your hearts before him, he will be a refuge for us. Whoso
shall call upon the name," &c.

But, secondly, we must call upon the name of the Lord for
spiritual salvation as well as temporal. This is no less as
clearly intimated to us from the scope of the passage as well
as the other, and therefore must be acted upon ; spiritual sal-
vation from sin and misery. From sin the gr"^test evil which
could have befallen us, and which makes the chief element of
our misery in hell. Sin as consi i;ng in our entire estrange-
ment from God, and our complete absorption in ourselves in
all that ist selfish, sensual and devilish. Hence our life is a
continual fight against God and a continued opposition to his
authority and laws. Thus we become prepared for a final
separation from Ilim, and a shutting up to our own personal
reflections, which, from the remembrance of the past and the
forebodings of the future, produce nothing but remorse and
despair. God and the sinner being separated for ever, he has
nothing to feed upon but his own total exclusiveness, his own
sense of loss and of wrath, his own sense of sin and desert.
Hence these words : "The sinner shall be filled with his own
ways, and shall eat the fruit of his own devices. The
wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that
forget God. Tribulation and anguish upon every soul of
man that doeth evil."

But, blessed be God, we are not left without a promise, for

■If.

II f

150

SALVATION FROM PRESENT

we read that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord
shall Ije saved ; the name of the Lord which we have as suit-
able for our spiritual salvation as for our temporal ; His name
that he is our righteousness and strength ; our righteousness to
save us from wrath, and our strength to save us from sin.
Hence we read, "This is the name whereby he shall be called,
the Lord our Righteousness;" and again, "Li the Lord have we
righteousness and strength." I do not enter at large into the
ways in Avhich He is so, but only that by His obedience unto
death he became our righteousness, and by his spirit our
Saviour from sin.

It is only for us therefore to call upon His name as our
righteousness and strength, that we may be saved, for it is
evident we can do nothing for ourselves if left to ourselves.
No merit of ours, no strength of ours can save us either from
misery or sin, so that it is only as we call upon His name that
we can be saved.

Brethren, are you calling upon his name as the Lord your
righteousness and strength ? then you have the promise that
you shall be saved. But mind, you must allow them to have
their full scope and exercise upon you ; you must make them
your only plea, your only dependence and hope. Mind,
further, you must have renounced all your own righteousness
and strength, and found them only to bo perfect rags and
weakness to save you either from sin or misery. But if you
thus do so and pray, nothing will be more sure to you than
this promise, nothing which you shall experience more satis-
factorily in your happy peace of mind and in your gradual
deliverance from sin. Your praying views also of the right-
eousness of your Lord will serve as a guide and stimulus

||m

AND FUTURE EVIL BY PRATER.

151

timulus

also to all manner of righteousness, while Ilis strength also,
which you will daily invoke, will be experienced by you as
your strength against sin. Need I mention other passages
than those I have already quoted to assure you of these things?
"Trust in the Lord at all times; pour out your heart before him.
God is a refuge for us. Ask, and yc shall receive ; seek, and
ye shall find ; knock, and it shall be ononed unto you. All
things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believe that ye
receive them, and ye shall have them. Whatsoever ye shall
ask in my name, I will do it. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved."

In fine, brethren, shall I exhort you to prayer ? I am afraid
I need to, for I doubt there is little genuine prayer. God's
complaint may as well be made now as before. " There is none
that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take
hold of thee, therefore thou hast hid thy face from us."

But why should we not pray ? Why not pray even with-
out ceasing ? Is there not every necessity, every urgency
for it ? Are we not invited, encouraged to do so ? Are we
not welcomed in the act ? Is there not every difference as
regards our heavenly Father, our merciful Saviour, from all
others even our nearest, our dearest. Ah ! we seldom go to
them with confidence, with freedom. We fear a frown, a
repulse, a denial ; a noble-minded person would rather almost
starve than beg. But not so God our Father, Christ our
Saviour. Only draw near to them, and they will draw near
to us. Only go in sincerity without hypocrisy in the heart,
and they will hear. But that's the evil — wc do not pray really
from the heart. We really do not want the blessings we
pretend to ask. We keep, it may be, praying, praying con-

152

SALVATION FROM PRESENT AND FUTURE EVIL.

tinually, and yet confess we do not receive, and are at the
same time contented though we do not. We pray also in
such a general Avay, the most of us, that it is hard to say
whether we are praying or talking, whether tantalizing or
invoking the Deity. But such prayers, if not a mockery, are
at least a delusion, a nonentity. When we pray, let it be
seen that we pray, and that by se-^ing specifically what we
pray for. Let this be the case especially with regard to sin.
Let us pray against it, naming our particular sins as well
as afflictions that we want to be saved from. It may be our
selfishness that we may have generosity. It may be our
sensuaUty that we may have purity ; our earthliness that we
may heavenliness ; our pride that we may have humility ; our
temper that we may have meekness ; our general darkness and
deadness that we may have light and life, and we will not need
to pray long in vain. We will ever be experiencing a present
salvation, and in the end an everlasting one. May we all
therefore be enabled to continue in prayer as we ought, calling
upon Him especially hi the time of trouble, waiting patiently
yet hopefully for salvation ; and then we shall be enabled to
set our seal to the promise by saying, " Whosoever calleth
upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Amen and Amen.

SERMON XIV.

THE HISTOKY OF THE SEVEN SEALS,

len.

And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard as it wag
the noise, of thnnUor, one of the four beasts saying Come and see. And I
saw, and behold a white horse, and he tliat sat on him had a bowi and a
crown was given unto him, and he went forth conquering and to conquer.
— Revelations xi. 1. 2.

This book with the seven seals, we only say in thfe general
contains an account of the chief counsels and purposes of the
Deity, which none but the Lamb could open as being a party
to these counsels. The Lamb, it is said, opened one of the
seals, and a noise as of thunder was made by one of the four
beasts or lives, saying, Come and see. This life, the first of
the four, is mentioned in chapter 4th, verse 7. And the
first life was like a lion, not in form, but in character,
which appears from the third, which is said not to be Uke a
man, but as having a face as a man, which shows with regard
to the others, that it was a mere likeness to quality and not
to form that was intended. The life that spake here, and in
the 4th chapter, 8th verse, is said farther, in common with
the rest, to have six wings, and to be full of eyes within,
which shews their full knowledge for their particular depart-
ments, with their full powers of despatch for their accomplish-
ment.

But, strange that among the heavenly powers or agents
one should be distinguished for one particular quality, and
another for another, just as what we see in this life, thus shewing

' 1

■ 1

1 1

1 i

1 11

154

THE HISTORY OF THE SEVEN SEALS,

that each takes with hhnsclf his own constitutional character,
and is, therefore, selected for the particular service for which
he is more particularly adapted. Therefore, this first life
was like a lion, the king of beasts, as the dispensation he was
to introduce and superintend was of a particularly' lion-like
and heroic character. His strength is indicated by his
great voice, which was, as it were, thunder calculated to strike
and command attention. It may be observed that this and
the other lives were evidently redeemed spirits, for they are
represented in the 8th, 9th and 10th versos as singing the
song of the redeemed unto the Lamb.

The character of the dispensation answering to his likeness
is mentioned in the next verse. Verse 2nd : " And I saw,
and behold a white horse, and he that sat on him had a bow,
and a crown was given unto Him, and he went forth conc^uer-
iug and to conquer." A white horse — the symbol of purity,
and victory. It is not said who sat upon him ; but from the
fact of a crown being given unto him, we may readily judge.
A bow also was given unto him, the instrument of attack in
the east, but the symbol of conviction and self-condemnation
in the Spirit. " Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the
king's enemies." And, it is said, he went forth conquering
and to conquer.

This, all agree, represents the Gospel dispensation under the
lion of the tribe of Judah, who went on conquering till he
completely conquered under Constantine the Roman emperor,
who, by the representative voice of the nation, at Constan-
tinople, declared the religion of Christ to be henceforth the
religion of the empire, in the year 324. ' » •" " "

Christianity before this had to contend with every foe, civil

THE niSTORY OF THE EVEN SEALSi

155

ler the
kill he
iperor,
)nstan-
[th the

le, civil

and religious ; had to go through the ordeal of ten general per-
secutions. Yet in spite of all, it went forth conquering, sub-
duing tlie people under it, and converting them, till under
Constantino it finally conquered. The heathen temples were
shut, their priests proscribe \ and every house was dedicated
to the worship of Jesus ; a remarkable event which only
occurred once, and has never occurred since, and will not till
the millennial day comes in a splendid certainty and universal
victory.

We have another dispensation described under verses 3rd and
4th, namely universal and exterminating war. " And when he
had opened the second seal, I heard the second life say, come
and see. And there went out another horse that was red,
and power was given to him, that sat thereon, to take peace
from the earth, and that they should kill one another, and
there was given unto him a great sword." The second life
was said to be like a calf, or rather as it should be, a young
bull ; the emblem of strength and of attack when excited. Can
such constitutional qualities be among the heavenly inhabi-
tant ! Can one, especially as a leader among these, be there ?
Oh ! yes, we see them among ourselves, and recognize among
them sterling characters of excellence. Who has not heard
of the Iron Duke ? and yet he was Christian. Who docs not
see that such constitutional qualities are connected with other
pre-eminent excellences, for great objects ? A commander of
an army, to be successful, must have such. An overthrower
of a nation and kingdom must have such powers of strength
and attack ; and such may be among the spirits of heaven as
well as earth. There is one here to introduce and carry out
a tremendous dispensation of war, and carnage. A red horse,

156

THE HISTORY OF THE SEVEN SEALS

tho symbol of war. A great sword given to him. Wo take
this to be the next dispensation that succeeded the triumph
of the Gospel under Constantino and his successors, and wliich
after a one hundred years' peace ended at length in tlie complete
subversion and extinction of the Roman empire in 470.

The guilt of the Roman nation was great as a persecutor.
Its punishment now must be e(iually great in its extinction.
One horde of barbarians after another came down on the
Roman capital and empire, from Alaric to Genscric, under
the Goths, the Huns, and the Vandals, from the year 395 to
476, till they were completely subverted. But the burnings,
the sacking, the massacres of all orders and ages from the
highest to the lowest, from the oldest to the youngest, dur-
ing that long period are above all description. Literally, as
the text says, peace was taken from the earth, and they killed
one another.

The next dispensation that follows is, we think, that of
darkness and persecution under the man of sin. Verses 5th and
6th : " And, when he had opened the third seal, I heard the
third life say, come and see, and I looked, and beheld, and
lo ! a black horse, and he that sat on him had a pair of balances,
or rather a yoke in his hand. And I heard a voice in the
midst of the four lives say, a measure of wheat for a penny,
and three measures of barley for a penny, and see thou hurt
not the wine and the oil." This third life had a face as a man,
shewing sagacity and wisdom. This is more conceivable as
an agent in heaven, than the others, and even there might be
equally rare with the others. This points out clearly that
the dispensation that was to be next introduced was to be
chietly by the power of mind, though one of darkness, super-

THE niSTOUY OP THE SEVEN SEALS.

157

I man,
ible as
iiht be
that
to be
super-

stition and death. A black horse the emblem of in;norance —
" darkness hath covered our hearts and gross darkness the
peoi)le," and he that sat on him had a yoke in his hand.
There is only one word in the original so translated instead
of the four, in our translation " zeuges," a yoke ; and who does
not know of the yoke, in this dispensation of darkness ; in
their numerous impositions, exactions, penances, mortifications,
subjection of soul and body alike, to its system ?

In this dispensation the holders of the faith shall be few,
shewing a famine of the people of God. The wheat and barley,
emblems of the people of God, rare and valuable, as every one
knows during the dark ages. A measure of one and three
measures of the other for a day's wage, and yet a bare suffi-
ciency for a day's sustenance for one person ; a state of things
which in the greatest extremity is hardly conceivable, but as
applied to the people of God, as expressive of their quali*"y and
rarity, quite conceivable. " Gather the wheat inlo my barn,"
is a figure quite familiar to all, and so of the barley, expressive
of a lower standing of Christians, scarce and valuable in that
age.

" See thou hurt not the oil and the wine." A warning of
a solemn character made in a very particular way, from the
midst of the four lives, by some voice different from the rest,
but which voice may be known ; a warning indicating persecu-
tion on a particular class, represented by the oil and the wine,
and tantamount to the fact, that it is foreseen to be when
warned against not to be. The oil and the wine evidently
representing the ministers of the sanctuary who had chiefl.y
to do with these in their office and sacrifices, and who were
known to be chiefly selected and liabje to persecution. Only

It;

^^l:

1 1

158

THE HISTORY OP THE SEVEN SEALS.

get the priest hurt, or removed, and the people would soon
scatter. But as the crime was the greater as against them,
so the warning Avas the more cxphcit and solemn, given
as it was in such a way. Now this dispensation of darkness,
of oppression and persecution, was introduced by one who had
a face as a man. On the leader and leader's part, it was to
be introduced, and kept up chiefly by the power of mind, the
manly qualities of mind in preference to the mere beastly
qualities of the others. And who does not know that this
is particularly characteristic of the powers of darkness ? It
requires, as is known, the highest power of mind, to keep up
the system of darkness and superstition that prevail. In
the prophecies of Daniel, this same power is said to have the
eye of a man.

This dispensation was introduced in the year 533, when
Justinian, the Roraan emperor, set up the Pope of Rome
tobe head over all Christendom with power to have all Churches
and persons under his control, and is to last 1260 days (or
years), or forty-two months, or a time, times and a half, which
amount to the same number,-and is to be accomplished in 1793,
"which was the fact, as the Romish Church was then oftcctually
broken in France, and the year following the Pope dragged d
prisoner from Rome ; and though he was replaced after a
number of years, by the Holy Alliance, yet is allowed only
TO exist by sufierance, having no power to persecute, as his
time apprehended by every one is near at hand.

The next dispensation that is here introduced, is an awful
one, and is contained in the 7th and 8th verses : "And when
he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth
life say, come and see. • And I beheld, and lo ! a pale hoi*se,

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159

awful
1 -when
tburth
howe,

and he that sat on him was death, and Hell followed with
him, and power was given unto them, or rather him, over
the fourth part of the earth, to kill with the sword, and with
hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth."
The fourth life was like a flying eagle, the emblem of rapidity
and conquest, a dispensation, therefore, characterised by these:
a pale horse, a dispensation of spiritual ghastliness ; Death,
his rider, an entire extinction of spiritual life ; Hell, following
him ; the place of the damned attending. In this dispensa-
tion destructive war over a fourth part of the earth. What dis-
pensation, as immediately following the papal one, could more
fully answer to this, than that which goes under the name of
the French revolution ? — a revolution, in which the civil
government was overthrown, the king slain, the nobles and
priests massacred, all religion proscribed, death called a
perpetual sleep, the Sabbath abolished, a strumpet set up in
the great cathedral, as the God of nature, to be worshipped.
Surely, all this was paleness and death to the life, as indica-
ting nothing, but the ghastliness and extinction of all spiritual
life, of all human and God-like virtue, and as inevitably
followed by hell, and misery. The figures are so striking:
and so answering to the time, that it is difficult to see how
they could be misunderstood or misapplied.

This dispensation was said also to be of a foreign as well
as domestic warlike character over the fourth part of the
earth ; and was it not just so ? Was not Europe, the fourth
part of the earth, then invaded and conquered by that power
called Napoleon? This dispensation lasted but a short time,
twenty-two years, eleven under the republican, and eleven un-
der the imperial. And is it not' arkable how suitably it was

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; ; Wit

marked by the symbol of a flying eagle, marking the rapidity
of march and conquest, which was the fact ; and remarkable,
also, as being the motto on the standards of these revolutionary
armies. It ended with the battle of Waterloo, in 1815 : a com-
pound of infidelity, of immorality, usurpation, slaughter and
death.

The next dispensation is that of resignation and peace to
the souls of the martyred dead. It is contained in the 9th,
10th, and 11th verses : " And, when he had opened the tenth
seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain
for the word of God, and for the testimony Avhich they held.
And they cried with a loud voice, saying, how long Lord,
holy and true, dost thou not judge, and avenge our blood on
them that dwell on the earth. And white robes were given
unto every one of them, and it was said unto them, that they
should rest yet for a little season until their fellow-servants
also, and their brethren, that should be killed as they were,
should be fulfilled." Here, it is remarkable that no agent
should be mentioned as introducing this dispensation nor the
two following, which shews, we think, that God has become
his own agent, that he is himself to bring speedily to a close
all further dispensations, and that the present system of things
is rapidly coming to an end.

We have come to that period, when the persecutions of the
pagan and papal world had ceased, for there has been none
since the Romish power was broken up, in 1793; and though
that power was replaced in 1815, it was intimated to it by
the allied sovereigns, that persecution should cease ; and, there-
fore, the martyred deceased are very naturally introduced
asking for vengeance, as supposi?i.^ that their time for it had

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161

r the
none
ough

here-
uced
had

now come round. They are told, however, that there is yet
to be another, and they must have patience till that time,
"when it will be fully granted. And this is what is generally
believed, when the last struggle for power and place will be
finally made. As much as this is intimated in the text, and
in other places, particularly in the 19th chapter of this book,
19th and 20th verses, where we find the beast associated with
other kings to make war against the Lamb and his people ;
but when he is finally destroyed. But in the meantime,
white robes are given unto every one of them, emblems of
victory, and of peace, that they may be able to rest quietly
till that time, and enjoy themselves in the certain anticipation
of it. Here also, we have sure evidence that the spirits of
the departed are alive and well, and that they take a certain
interest in a future retribution.

We are introduced next to one of the most awful and
ruinous dispensations that ever occurred in the history of man,
verses 12th and 13th, to the 17th, namely, what is generally
called the last universal war, verse 12th : "And, I beheld
when he had opened the sixth seal, and lo! there was a great
earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair,
and the moon became as blood, and the stars of heaven fell
unto the earth," &c. A great earthquake, a great shaking,
an overturning of the kingdoms, in which sun, moon, and
stars, indicative of the whole reigning sovereignty of the
earth, are to be extinguished and prostrated by blood and
war. When all these are coupled together as making up the
whole system, it is to shew the ruin of the whole ; when only
one, then a single kingdom or power only. The sun, the
chief sovereignty, the moon, the lesser, and the stars, the

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chief officers of state. Verse 14th : " And the heaven departed
as a scroll when it is rolled together, and every mountain and
island were moved out of their places." Everything, that is
ahove others, everything that seems stable and fixed, whether
with regard to persons, or institutions, places, or things literal,
or figurative, seem here intended as to be all removed, and set
aside. The event must declare and prove the full meaning
of those words, so sweeping and universal are they. But the
next verses will shed some light — verses, 15th, 16th and
17th : " And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and
the mighty men, and every bond man, and every free man,
hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains,
and said to the mountains and rocks, fall on us, and hide ua
from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the
wrath of the Lamb." These words make plain, what is included
in sun, moon, and stars, heaven, mountains, &c., every tiling
that seems exalted and fixed, and declares their dreadful con-
sternation and ruin, when their downfall comes. But it is
declared chiefly at a particular circumstance, namely, the
coming, the presence, the wrath of the Lamb. This is no new
thing, no recent fancy. It has always more or less been en-
tertained, and very much so at the present time. The scrip-
tures also are full and express upon that point, as may be
seen from the 38th and 39th chapters of Ezekiel, but espe-
cially from the last chapter of Zechariah, and the last of
Isaiah, from the 15th verse ; and from Daniel 7th and 22nd,
and also from the 24th of Matthew, 29th verse. He is to be
seen at any rate, for the cry is to be hid from the "face of
him, that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the
Lamb." Ah ! his face ^nd wrath a'u last, to take judgment

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163

upon all his adversaries, the great and mighty of the earth ; how
terrible in war it will be when they are all committed against
one another ! We do not say when this will be, but have we
not alarming prognostications of it at present ! "What has
been, and is now the continent of America ! Wliat has been
India, of late ! What China jnst now ! AMiat even Britain !
What Europe, but a volcano ! Wliat when the Rush shall
invade Judea ! — at the last then, Christ shall come, then the
end shall be. .

There has just been one hindrance to all this, for some
years past, namely, what is called the Holy Alliance of the
four great powers of the earth. Therefore, the next chapter,
1st verse, intimates as much : " And after these things, I saw
four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, that
the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on
any tree." Not after these things, as they happened, but
these things as they were seen without the order of their
occurrence. But their occurrence is mentioned in the 3fd
verse, in the prohibition given to them, not to hurt the earth,
sea, nor trees, till a certain thing shall be aecomplished, point-
ing out that the hurting of all these by their hands is the
same with what he had seen about the kings and mighty men,
&c., in the former verses. Four angels on the four corners
of the earth, the four potentates, Britain, Austria, Prussia,
and Russia, styled the Holy Alliance, to hold the four winds
that there be no hurt from war, from any quarter ; hold, in
other words, to preserve the peace of Europe. Have we
not been under this influence these fifty years ! • -<

Their object was to preserve peace, but God's object was
to protect His missionaries in preaching the Gospel. 2nd verse :

]• ■ ' ■vr'

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THE HISTORY OP THE SEVEN SEALS.

"And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the
seal of the living God, and he cried with a loud voice to the
four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the
sea, saying. Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor
the trees, till we have scaled the servants of our God in
their foreheads." But for this prohibition persecution would
have raged as the Gospel was preached ; but for this, not only
every protection would have been taken away, but every
hindrance presented to its progress. But trees, as well as
the earth and sea — trees, men of righteousness, were not to be
hurt till the servants of God should be sealed, marked by
conversion, and set apart to God. And have not our mission-
aries and ministers had an unprecedented liberty and protec-
tion these years back through the prevalence of this holy
alliance for peace ? But when the servants of God shall be
sealed, then it will be given to them to hurt the earth, sea,
and trees alike, either by being united for these ends, or
by being broken up, and set against each other, which is
more Hkely.

During this period of protection and peace, the number of
the sealed among all the different tribes of the earth is given
in verses 4th, oth, Gth, 7tli, and 8th. We make no remarks
upon these, because they are plain, but never, we would say,
have missionary operations been more extensively and efficiently
carried on to make up this number, whether an exact or
merely a definite number, than during this period of peace.
Or if you wish to confine the words literally to the Jews,
never was more done for them than now, dnd as many sealed,
it is said, during the last fifty years, as during the years of
Christendom besides. And if the exact or definite number

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165

given

are now nearly, if not wholly made up, how solemn to think
that we are on the eve of the last universal war, when it will
be given to these four to hurt the earth and the sea !

After this war shall be fought out, then we are next intro-
duced to the innumerable multitude of the redeemed, that after-
wards appear from every nation. When they appear before the
throne of God, and the Lamb, how they are engaged worship-
piiig God and the Lamb, along with all the angels of heaven !
how they are clothed with white robt , &c., whence they
came, out of great tribulation, and then their blissful reward ;
they shall hunger no more neither thirst any more, — all of
which relates plainly to what is called their happy millennial
state ; for it is still all under the sixth seal to be fulfilled on
earth, and which things are so plain, and so frequently refer-
red to by other Scriptures, that we think it unnecessary to
make any remarks upon them. We only make one remark
with a view to another remark, namely, they stood before the
throne, and before the Lamb, pointing out that the Lamb
was present with them, and, therefore, on earth, during
their happy millennial state. Now though this is not a popu-
lar idea, it has always had many advocates, and it must be
granted, that the Scriptures often assert snch a thing. Just
one passage among many ; Revelations xxi. 1, 2, 3 : "And I
saw a new heaven ; and a new earth ; for the first heaven and
the first earth were passed away, and there was no more sea.
And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, descending
from God, out of heaven, prepared as a bride adoraed for her
husband. And, I heard a great voice out of heaven saying,
Behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell
with them, and they shall be his people ;" and at 22nd chapter

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THE HISTORY OP THE SEVEN SEALS,

3rd and 4th verses : " And there shall bo no more curse, but
the throne of God, and of the Lamb, shall be in it, and his
servants shall serve him. And they shall see his face,
and his name shall be in their foreheads." They shall see His
face : of course, He is there. But as the passage is thought
by many, and with good reason, to refer to the new Jerusalem
state, the state beyond the millennial one, we must refer to
other passages which we have alre'ady done, at the close of
the preceding chapter in proof of this. We have now come
to the close of this world, and of the Church's dispensation,
and have seeii that they end in a glorious climax. Nothing
more can be considered as to be done, or revealed ; and there-
fore we read in another place, at the sounding of the seventh last
trumpet, that it is finished, the mystery of God ; in the govern-
ment of the Church and of the world, is finished, nothing more to
be done on earth, whatever may be done in heaven. And ac-
cordingly under the seventh seal, nothing farther is added, but
as it were a short breathing time before other announcements
are made under the trumpets and seals. " And when he had
opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for the
space of half an hour."

Thus, have we given our views on these seals. They are
different, we confess, from the general ones. Most commen-
tators consider them all as fulfilled during the first four cen-
turies, and consider them as extending no farther than Con-
stantino's victories and revolutions in Chui'ch and State. But
however important these may be, we consider them as com-
ing far beneath these prophecies in grandeur and fact. We
think also that the book so solemnly sealed and written, could
not be with a view merely to a few centuries first, but to all as

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167

containing all the great and important events during all the
centuries of the Church, as in fact a great index map or chart
detailing the chief things, and leaving the Jesser intermediate
details to be afterwards mentioned. So we think of the book
of seals. We do not pretend to any originality in what we
have advanced. These views have been the result only of "
some reading, and comparing one author with another. Yet
we are thoroughly convinced of their soundness and applica-
tion. We have presented them to our different congregations
for the last forty years, and they have been accepted and asked
for publication. We have ventured to give them in our own
words, as we have been often asked by our people to do so,
and we do so the more readily as we think they come far
nearer and plainer to the text than others in general that
have been advanced. And we only ask they may be care-
fully read and considered. As such we commend them to
God, and look for His blessing on them only in so far as they
are scriptural.

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SERMON XV.

QUALIFIED MINISTERS FOK TUE ^JOSPEL.

Apt to teach — Tir.K-'I:;"

Apt to teach, or adapted, or qualified, to teach. Of all
offices held for the teaching of mankind, we believe there are
none which require more competent qualifications than the
mhiisterial. It has to do with such exalted subjects, and
grapple with such darkness and prejudice, that talents and
attainments of no ordinary nature are required of him.
Hence, the good sense of mankind has always insisted on a
qualified ministry. Hence, the early establishment and the
long continuance of the school of the prophets. Hence, the
care that our Lord Jesus was at, for nearly four years, to get
his disciples well qualified for the Apostleship. Hence, the
propriety of the charge of Paul to Timothy in regard to a
succession of ministers, " The things which thou hast heard
of me before many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful
men who shall be able to teach others also." In a word, that
which concentrates every other qualification in this, as a para-
mount one, the injunction of the text, apt to teach.

To be apt or quahfied to teach, implies evidently, in the
first place, that we be well instructed ourselves in those mnt-
ters we teach to others. These are many and important, but
yet not equally so, nor ahlie necessary. Considering the

QUALIFIED MINISTERS FOR THE GOSPEL.

169

)ara-

the

mat'

but

the

standing of our people in general, wo hold that it is much
better to bo thoroughly acquainted with a few than ordin-
arily with all, and to feel aways at home in a masterly manner
upon these, than feeble with all. And you can readily enough
anticipate me in those few essential things which, I insist,
should be thoroughly attained. Tliey arc the corruption of
man, the need of a Saviour, the fulness of the atonement, the
riches of grace, the nature of faith and of regeneration, with
the obligation and fulness of Gospel obedience. Oh ! tliat we
were only thoroughly versant with these, that we knew every
idea connected with them, and that we saw them clearly in
their fulness and harmony, and what enlightened and qualified
men would we bo ! what stars in the gospel firmament, what
teachers shewing clearly, aptness to teach. And yet, bre-
thren, I wish to derogate nothing from the Christian ministry,
though, with all respect, I venture the saying that I have
never yet heard in the whole course of my ministry what
might be called a simple and direct, yet rich discourse with a
reference to the common sense of mankind, apart from all
system, on either the fulness of the atonement or the simple
nature of faith and regeneration. Oh ! when I recollect my
own enquiries when a youth in regard to faith, the sermons
I read and heard about it, the conversations I had with
the believing on the subject, the difiiculty I had with terms
of a figurative character to denote it, before 1 v. je to know
that it was nothirg more than simple trust in the righteousness,
and death, and fulness and promise of Christ for salvation,
I feel still grieved at the view of my anxieties, and liumjjled
that there was so little of plain direct instruction. And how
mortifying still the declaration which we are obhged so often

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QUALIFIED MINISTERS FOR THE GOSPEL.

to hear, because there is so much occasion for i*. Oh ! it
was a very able, a very excellent discourse, but without point,
witiiout application. This, however, would not be the case,
hatl we the faculty of speaking close to the man as he is, for it
would then take hold of him, and prevent him from putting
it away from him to others, or giving it the indefinite char-
acter which it pleases too many to give.

My brethren, without the least dictation, for I am certain
I have none of it, let mo beseech you to be thoroughly
ac(juainted with the few leading subjects of the gospel, and
to make them your study, your preaching and your strength.
Oh ! let us see to it that we are masters at home on these
great subjects, tliat we are able to take a deep and extensive
view of them, and thusflasii light and conviction on all around
us. Oh ! let us, as far as possible, bo far above merely giving
an intelk ?tual treat in a scientific and abstract manner ; but
while there are so niany proud, conceited, and pleasurable,
yet dictatorial and fastidious sinners among us, let us shew
our capability to humble them, to convince them, to strip
them of their arrogancy, and send them, as convicts and
condemned to their dependence on the cross ; nor fear the
charge that v.'e are always hammering at the same thing, as
if we knew no other, if only we are more clear and convincing
and decisive on these points. One of the most acceptable
preachers in London has invariably but one subject, namely,
faith in Jesus, but from the increasing interest and applica-
tion witli which he manages it, his hearers are obliged to say
that his last sermon on the subject was the best of the whole.
One of the most popular and powerful ministers of Scotland
was one who invariably had but one kind of appUcation to

QUALIPIRD MINISTERS FOR THE 008PEL.

171

ig, as

sinners and saints, whatever his sermon otherwise liad been.
Need I mention my own experience and practice ? I believe
few men liave written more largely and variously on the sub-
jects of religion but now avail themselves as little of them ;
sermons in scores and fifties for years past lie unperusod,
and just because ey are too general and diffuse, without
point and application. And the longer I live, and the more
closely I enter into the work the more I confess my mind
is narrowing and closing only on subjects that are chiefly
fundamental and personal. My brethren, if we are real
Christians, we will necessarily, though it may be slowly, come
to this. We will find that our own life in the advancement of
it, is connected with a very few elementary principles, and
that our edification is best promoted by a constant recurrence
to those few. We will find also, if we associate with the
people of God, that their relish of subjects and edification
from them are chiefly from those of the Gospel, those that tell
upon the heart and the conscience, which are as few in their
number as special in their kind. Brethren, to have done ; if
we would be qualified to teach, and willing to confine our-
selves to essential things, let us see that we be thoroughly
acquainted with them, and therefore apt to teach others, them.
And, in order to these, let us give attendance to reading,
to doctrine, that we stir up the gift that is in us, that we
meditate upon these things, that we- give ourselves wholly
unto them, that our profiting may appear unto all.

In the second place to be apt, or to be qualified to teach,
is to be capable in some degree of accomplishing the ends of
our teaching. No teacher is considered qualified if he cannot
teach, much less if he cannot accomplish the ends of his

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QUALIFIED MINISTERS FOR THE GOSPEL.

teaching. Not, when we say so, that we take the work out
of God's ' ^nds, or do not look for a blessing, but only as we
mean in the light of an adapted instrument to a particular end.
God works by means, by worthy and appropriate means, and
as much so we believe in the ministry as in any other thing.
It is therefore with all boldness to be asserted that those only
are qualified to teach, who are capable, as instiniments under
God, of advancing the ends of their teaching. These at
present we would briefly consider under these three, namely,
attention, impression, and t ^nsformation.

First, attention. Ah ! it is no easy thing to gain to keep
the attention of an audience for an hour together. And yet
it is in vain to think to teach them without their attention. If
the mind is absent, it avails not that the eye is fixed. If the
mind is not commanded, our words are mere sound and not
sense. But surely there is power to gain the mind, there is
a capability to enchain the attention tliere is a way to com-
municate thought to the soul. ITy jthren, you arc awaro
of it. It is, after all, a very easy and a very effectual way.
It is only to speak sense in a natural and easy manner. But
thQ difficulty is so to have it, as to speak it naturally and
easily. Unless we ourselves see the truth clearly, and have
it ready in words fit to be expressed, we are rot fit to teach ;
we will oily darken counsel by words without knowledge, we
■will only rave like fools or rant like madmen. And oh !
hovf humbling, how mortifying to hear the truth murdered in
the mouth of a rampant and furious declaimer, and the desk
degrad(3d by an immodest and blustering fanatic ! how insult-
ing and repulsive the violence done to a sober and enquiring
mind often by the scattered nonsense of a crack-brained fool!

QUALIFIED MINISTERS FOR THE GOSPEL.

173

However much such persons may take by a certain class of
people, wc must hold them as unqualified to teach, as they do
violence to all the constitutional susceptibilities ofournature,
and stand in revolting aspect to all our sympathies.

Brethren, show your aptness to teach by your capability
of holding the atter. " n, by a natural and easy communication.
For this purpose be well read and conversant with the truth
which you are to teacli ; study it and digest it in your own
minds. And be concerned only to tell it as you would talk
it to another. Let your communication be natural, free and
easy. Then will you gain the attention of mind, and be
successful in communicating thought. Then, farther, will it
appear that you are polished shafts in God's quiver, that you
are accomplished servants in His house, workmen that need
not be ashamed, apt to teach.

All this no doubt implies labour and study, forethought and
possession, and discountenances that rash and audacious
conduct which too many shew in rushing presumptuously into
the pulpit unprepared, as if we were warranted to speak
any thing and any way as it may occur to us. Ah ! the awful
guilt on our heads when we do so ! No wonder wo distract
and weaken the attention, and render abortive all our
attempts to gain it Avhcn we do so. Brethren, bo concerned
to prepare ou^^elves to teach, and we shall be able so to
command the attention aj to give instruction.

Secondly, another end to be accomplished by our teaching
to shew our aptness for it, ia impression. It is a great thing
to gain the attention, but it is so only as it is subservient to
impression. Wo all know unless the truth is impressed upon
the heart it is unavailing, and therefore unless this is eflfected

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1 f

by the teacher, his qualification for office is questionable ag
he falls short of his end. Ar.d ah ! were we all to be judged
by this rule, how incompetent would many of us appear !
But surely no incompetency can be charged upon the truth
itself to effect its end, but only our manner of handling it. If
ever truth was of a heart-stirring and impressive nature,
surely it is the truth of God. with regard to salvation,
through the love and the sacrifice of the Son of God. But
the most awakening and important truths can be murdered
by a bungling and incompetent teacher, by the disconformity
that there often is between the spirit and the letter of his
ministration. This points out +o us the secret of our failure,
and from the evil teaches us the remedy. We all know
that to impress others, we must be impressed ourselves, to
engage others, we must ou-selves be engaged ; to make others
weep, to shed ourselves tht rirst tear. We assert, therefore,
that no man is qualified to teach, but an impressive and
engaged teacher. ! therefore that we only felt the weight
of truth ourselves, that we only sought to feel it, that with a
view to the condemned and miserable state of man, we only
felt compassionate and earnest ; with a view to his slavery to
sin and Satan, we felt hostile and warlike ; that with a view
to his redemption by Christ, we felt anxious and believing
with a view to the love of Christ, we felt animated and lively ;
and finally with a view to the claims of Christ, we felt dutiful
and zealous ; and then wha<^ competent teachers we would be !
how capable of making an impression, and getting a hold
equally of the heart as of the head in every answerable '
impression and emotion !

Oh ! brethren, let us not fall short of our office ; let us seek

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175

seek

to be impressive and influential. And for this end let us
preach the truth which we have prepared for others first to
ourselves ; let us feel the influence, the efiect of it upon our-
selves ; let us pray over the whole ; let us have the suscepti-
bility of having this impression, and that impression, according
to the nature of the truth delivered; and then, indeed, we
could come forth as men feeling the burden of truth, and
ready to impart our own souls in the delivery of it. Then,
indeed, would our mouth be as a sharp sword ; and we could
stand and feed in the strength of the Lord God, and in the
majesty of the name of the mighty God of Jacob. Ah ! how
then would sinners quail, if not melt, before us, and saints be
greatly edified and comforted. ! when I read of some
ministers studying their sermons on their knees, and of others
being two hours in their closet before they would go to the
pulpit, I cease to wonder at their success, and only wonder
at myself and others, that we should be tolerated at all to
enter into the pulpit. Brethren, let us have the ambition of
being qualified teachers. Let us seek that the mantle of Elijah
may rest npon us, that we may be impressive and efficient
teachers. Let us be ashamed that with such an office, and
with such power, and wifli such susceptibilities, and with such
an instrument we should yet be so heartless, so insipid. If
we would only awake to the work in any measure suited to
its greatness, and enter into it with any spirit suited to its
importance, we would soon shew our comparative competency
and efficiency for the work, and again render the ministry, as
it once was, authoritative and weighty. Let us therefore (luit
us like men and be strong, let us reprove, rebuke, and exhort
with all long-sufibring and authority. Let us be an example

176

QUALIFIED MINISTERS FOR THE GOSPEL.

of the believers in word and conversation, in charity, in spirit,
in faith, in purity. In a word, let the spirit of glory and of
God rest upon us, then we will shew our aptness to teach.

The last end to be effected by our teaching, if competent
for it, was transformation. This is the great and final end of
all ; if we fail in it or succeed'in it, that is to be the great
test of our competency or incompetency. Ah ! how tremen-
dous the evidence ! how fearful the result ! Are we not ready
to tremble on the very threshold of the trial ? Have we the
courage to venture an examination here ? What if we should
be convicted and found wanting ? But we must venture an
examination, and risk a trial. My brethren, what have we
accomplished during our past lives ; what even during the
past year ? Have Ave enlightened many ? Have we been the
instrument of transforming, of converting many ? What if it
should be found that wo have been of few or none ? I tremble
for myself, I tremble for you. Doubtless there is inefficiency,
there is incompetency somewhere, or why should avc be com-
pelled to say, " I have laboured in vain, I have spent my
strength for nought." But the truth is, we have not laboured
in the right way, we have not spent our strength in the right
direction. We have been labouring for things rather than for
persons ; for doctrines than for souls. Wo have also come
short of the great point of labour, and spent our strength in
disport of it ; when it ought to have been reserved for the last
great effort in our applications. Pray who of us have made
it the burden of our ministry to call sinners to repoutance ;
who of us have so brought ourselves up to this work as to
exhaust our whole strength and energy upon it. Ah ! I am
going to make no apology who I boldly yet humbly say, we

.^-"BBOi

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QUALIFIED MINISTERS VOA THE GOSPEL.

177

to
am
we

hav.e kept back from it ; we have had a shrinking timid policy
in regard to it, we have been afraid to call sinners right up to
repentance as if we were making them our production, or as
if we were taking the work out of God's hand. Nay, the
greater number of us have stopped short at the very point
where we ought to have commenced, leaving only a feeble
ipfercnce or two for sinners or for saints after a doctrinal dis-
cussion, when the whole burden of our subject ought to have
been on the application. It is certain we cannot accomplish
much by this kind of work ; we cannot have the credit of being
skilful and able teachers. Oh! my brethren, why should
we stop short in the great matter of application ? why should
we be afraid of coming right up to the great point, calling sin-
ners to repentance, and throwing our whole energy into this
business as if even the whole accopaplishment of it depended
upon ourselves. ? Has not God said, that His word shall not
return to Him void ? Has He not commanded us in the prophet
in these words : " Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto
them, ye, dry bones, hear the word of the Lord ; has he
not said, if the prophets had caused my people to hear my
words, then they should have caused my people every one of
them to have turned from their iniquity. Has he not said,
ask of me concerning my sons, and as concerning the work of
my hands command ye me." In fine, has not our Lord said,
" Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel unto every
creature, and lo ! I am with you always even unto the end of
the world. Amen ?" In a word, has He not said, " according
to your faith so be it ?" Surely these sayings are calculated to
bring us up fully to the point of duty, and to give us a spirit
of com'age and fidelity in the performance of it. Oh ! there-

■■' p

178

QUALIFIED MINISTEaS FOR THE GOSPEL.

fore, let not our hands be slack, nor our hearts be feeble in
this business. While there are hardened and proud sinners
among us, let us enter fully into their case, let us deal *
freely with them as to their guilt, let us fearlessly denounce
them as to their condition, let us unhesitatingly and boldly
call thorn to repentance, and let us fasten the whole burden
of their impenitence and unbelief on themselves. At the
dame time, to encourage our faith, and to stimulate our
ardour, let us all the while be looking up to God that He
would concur with us, and make his word as a fire and a
hammer to break the hard hcait in pieces. Then I believe we
would see souls breaking dowi., and humbly and willingly
coming forward, and asking what they shall do to be saved,
and ready to receive the word of faith from our hands, and
become new creatures in Christ Jesus.

Brethren, the circumstances of the times require that we
should be forward and engaged, for there is a spirit of enter-
prise, and of bold daring in all the sections of the Church
around us. Every denomination seems to be awake and
active while we content ourselves Avith blaming, and being
at ease. Every one ehews the spirit of going forward and
making invasions upon the enemy, and calling upon sinners as
captives to emancipate themselves, and as sinners to come to
Christ. Many of them are making successful efforts, we
wish to believe, in these things. They may not be doing it
by preaching sovereignty, election, perseverance, for they
know that these are not the weapons to accomplish this war-
fare. They may be doing it rather by preaching general
atonement and free will, which are partly true and partly
false, just as they are viewed ; but they do it, we believe,

QUALIFIED MINISTERS FOR THE GOSPEL.

179

they

13 war-

tueral

partly

elieve,

"with a view to the direct points of faith and repentance, and
God who alone can separate the true from the false blesses
them, we have reason to believe with a view to them.

We have a people also that are not read and informed
enough to care much about doctrine, that are too proud, and
consequential to be subdued by doctrine, but at the same time
are feeling and susceptible, if we only speak to them in the
right spirit, and urge suitably upon them their immediate
interest. But we have a people who, because they cannot
get these things as they wish from us, even though they are
our own people, and have all their predilections with us, are
willing to go off to others where they are served as they wish,
and become incorporated with them. Oh ! shall we not catch
the spirit of our age ? Shall we not be wise and condescend-
ing to accommodate ourselves to the uncontrollable circum-
stances of our situation ? Shall we not with all our orthodoxy
and all our bulwarks of defence yet strive not to conceal, but
to manifest our orth . n^ ^uch a manner as finally will
best bring it out, ana establish it in the real conversion and
sanctificatioii of sinners ? Ah, I know the difficulty of the
case ; I feel it and labour under it to this very day ; I know
the power of long habit, of ancient prejudice, and particularly
of the early biasses of our education. Oh ! would to God if
instead of our didactic and polemic theology and our critical
acumen and attainment, now the pride of our schools, a new
era of education was introduced among us. namely to take
a young man, a student, converted, and teach him the
Scriptures as they are, and particularly this, how to deal with
a sinner in the diflferont stages of his iniquity ; a.n enquirer to
bring him into the faith of Christ, and a believer iji the dif-

'I*
i ■

tso

QUALIFIED MINISTERS FOR THE GOSPEL.

fercnt stages of hissanctification ; then what other men would
we have for the Gospel ministry, what champions for the field
of battle. But long experience has to teach what we cannot
get from the schools, and many disappointments and morti-
fications have we to bear till wo get now weapons put into our
hands, which wo never thought of before, and the power from
experience to wield those weapons. It is well if we are only
willing to learn from disappointment, and to enter upon a
new course which observation and experience tell us is alone
available, and efficient. ■ •

My brethren, let me call upon you to be girded for the
work, and to have your oyes open within and around you. We
are in an enemy's country, in a land of sin, death, and misery.
Thousands around us are in the broad road to destruction.
Thousands are in the bonds of sin and the devil. Eternity is
just at the door. Even now the glory of heaven and the
flashes of hell blaze before our eye. The great Saviour waits to
be gracious. He stands with outstretched hands ready to
receive every penitent. His command to every one of us
also is, preach the Gospel, compel them to come in, stand
between the porch and the altar, and pray, " Save, Lord,
thy people." My brethren, let us be up and be doing. Let
us feel the burden of our great charge, our great embassy.
Let us remember that the blood of souls is in our hands. Let
us have the urgency and energy of the Apostle when he
said, '' We are ambassadors for God, we pray you in Christ
that ye be reconciUed to God." Let us have his tender per-
suasiveness also when He said, " I beseech you by the mercies
of God that ye present your bodies a Uving sacrifice, holy,
acceptably to God, which is your reasonable service." To have

■hM

QUALIFIED MINISTERS FOR THE OOSPEL,

181

done, lotus preach tho Gospel, be instant in season and out of
season, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Take
heed to ourselves and to the doctrine ; continue in them ; for
in doing this, we shall both save ourselves and them that
hear us.

I must say a few words also to elders and professors, and
impenitent sinners, before I close. You, who are the elders,
you have also a great charge in common with the ministers,
which is to rule tho flock, to superintend your respective
divisions, to warn, to reprove, and to encourage, and to see
that tho people are walking in the faith ani order of the
Gospel. You are also required to be fellow helpers with the
minister, and to strengthen his hands, and encourage his heart
in the work of the Lord. You may not have any temporal
reward for your labours heic, but, oh ! if you will only enter
into the honour of being pillars in God's Church, and what it
will be to be elders in the new Jerusalem hereafter, you Avill
not gudge to spend, and be spent for Christ and his Churchy
when you know it will come with a great increase to you
hereafter. See therefore that you are elders who rule well,
that you may be accounted Avorthy of all honour.

And to you still farther in common with all professors,
remember that, with the minister, you are all called upon to
teach, and therefore ought to be ready to this good work.
As you have opportunity therefore, teach and admonish in all
wisdom and in all fear. Never come in contact with a sinner
without throwing some hght on his guilty and necessitous
condition, and pointing to the Saviour. Never spend a day
or a week in your own family, or with your kindred, without
calling their attention to spiritual things. Oh ! if elders and

i ■

182

QUALIFIED MINISTERS FOR THE QOSPEL.

mciiibers were only engaged, if tliey had any sense of the
greatness of the work which they miglit do, any sense of
obHgation to that work, how would we see light breaking in
in the midst of darkness, and the night of sin, in many
instances succeeded by day. Remember that the Saviour
expects it of you, that even the world expects it of you, and
that you are only in your true character as you make your
liglit to shine, your good deeds to be seen, and your conver-
sation to be heard. Arise therefore, every one of you, and
shine, for the glory of God hath arisen upon you. Every one
of you in your place strive to be teachers, and let your speech
be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know
how to answer every man. Let no corrupt communication
proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use
of edifying that it may minister grace to the hearers.

But there are those among you that are ignorant and
backward, sitting in the region of darkness and shadow of
death, and need to be brought into the light of life. You are
sinners, but know not the evil of sin. You are in condem-
nation, but know not that you are damned. You are in need
of a Saviour, but are ignorant of Him, and will not come
unto the light that you may be taught of Him. But the time
is coming when you will be convinced of these, but it may
be too late ; nay, even when you will repent of these, if
reproach and remorse can be called repentance.

I was, you will say, at one time within reach of the light,
but I would not enter into it. I was once urged to come to
God and to Christ, but I would not. I rather chose to con-
tinue in the darkness of my situation, in the love of myself
and the world, and now I have ^^o world, no God, no Saviour,

* fill

11 m

QUALIFIED MINISTERS FOR TUE GOSPEL.

183

no heaven. I am deprived for ever of all these, and cast
out and left here a solitary and a wretched creature to bo
conscious only of my loss and misery. But there is hope of
you, if you only wish for hope ; God, even God, whom you
have offended, hath given His own Son to die for you, and
even now is caUing upon you to come to Him that you may
be saved. Hear then His voice, I beseech you : " Look
unto me, and be ye saved. Come unto me, and I will give
you rest. He that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast
out." If you come by trusting on Him, He will save you,
but if you do not. He will condemn you. . I have set lifo
and death before you, and addressed the call to every indi-
vidual. God grant that it may not make up a part of your
aggravated condemnation that you did not comply with it.
But may He give unto us all to come unto the light of life,
as the Saviour says, " whosoever believeth in me shall not
abide in darkness, but shall have the light of life." Amen
and Amen.

This discourse was preached to two different rresbytories and propoBed in one
of them for publication; but it got lost in tiie office and therefore never appeared;
it is now, with others, published in the hope that it may be acceptable ard useful!

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SERMON XVI.

-Vi

A LECTURE ON THE TKUMPEfS AND VIALS.

The first angel sounded, and there
fcUowed hail and fire, mingled with
blood, and they were cast upon the
eorth ; and the third part of trees
was burnt up, and all green grass was
burnt up.— Rev. viii. 7.

And the first went and poured out
his vial upon the earth, and there
fell a noisome and grievous sore upon
the men which had the mark of the
beast, and upon them that worship-
ped his image. — Eev. xvi. 2.

We put them together, side by side, the trumpets and the
vials, as, with the exception of this and the fifth, they evi-
dently relate to the same things, and throw mutual light on
each other. Even with regard to the first and fifth, though
diflferent, yet as they took place, as we shall show, at the same
period of time, we put them together, and only farther say
that what comes under the trumpet relates particularly to
civil things, while that under the vial or vase, the vessel used
in the Church, to religious. This, we think, is the reason of
distinction, while evidently referring to the same things and the
same time. Verse 7th : " The first angel sounded, and there
followed hail and fire, mingled with blood, and they were cast
upon the earth, and the third part of trees was burnt up, and
all green grass was burnt up." With regard to this trumpet
sound, it is almost impossible to say to what it relates as
distinguished from others, it being so general in its terms and
80 indefinite as to time. But as it ia not so much so with

A LECTURE ON THE TRUMPETS AND VIALS.

185

I ,

cly to
[ used
son of
L\(l the
there
3 cast
), and
[umpet
i^tes as
Ins and
with

regard to the vial, as though there is nothing definite Avith
regard to time, yet if we take the sore in a strictly literal
sense, as we intend to do, it may give us some light even as
to that. But by looking into the introduction of each, we
may get something still more direct for our guidance, and
then, in the light of history, sufficient information in regard to
both. The introduction to the vial, particularly, will be our
clearest guide. This we have in chapter xv. 2, where it is
said, " I saw, as it were, a sea of glass, mingled with fire,
and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over
his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his
name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.
And they sing the song of Moses and the song of the
Lamb." Now the introduction stands in immediate con-
nection with the vial, so that if we only know the meaning
of the words, we may get to the time and the meaning
also.

The beast is evidently the man of sin. The image of the
beast, the second beast alluded to (chap, xv., 11), something
that is the exact likeness of the first beast ; the mark, some insig-
nia to mark its votaries ; and the number of his name, his age,
or duration. With regard to this last, there is something
very significant about it, as in the 13th verse wisdom is men-
tioned as in connection with it, " Let him that hath under-
standing count the number of the beast," and as it is alluded
to also in another place (chap. xv. 2).

These expressions, " the number of the beast, a number of
man, and the number of his name," have given rise to a great
amount of speculation, and, we think, to much mistake and
misapplication. It has been supposed to relate chiefly to the

l;'-'.'

<Xi

;

186

A LECTURE ON THE TRUIVJPETS AND VIALS,

numerical force of letters in a person's name, and this has
led to look for a word or name in which this number is con-
tained. And, accordingly, thej have fixed on the word
Lateinos, a Latin man, which contains this number, as many
other words, as is well known, do. But this word is not the
name of the beast, but simply his nationality, and is, there-
fore, no more his name than of any other man in the Latin
kingdom. The name of the beast is, that he is the head of
all Christendom, the vicar of Christ, or the Lord God, the
Pope ; but it would be difficult, I am afraid, to get the number
666 in any of these names, showing evidently that it is not
from a number that a name is to be taken, but from a name a
number. The expression evidently means, we think, a mere
calculation with regard to time. And with this comports an
exact translation of the text — not as we have it, the number
of a man, but simply as it ought to be, a number of man that is,
a man's number ; of any man apart from the beast, a different
man. The whole comes simply to this, " Let him that hath
understanding count the number of the beast, for it is a
number of man, and his number is 666." Count the number
of the beast from the time he was made the beast till he
became QQQ, and then you get at the idea intended by the
expression. Justinian gave him his name as the head of all
Christendom in the year 533. Then count his number 666
from that time, a,nd we are brought to 1199. And with a
view to this, let the wisdom of the text be exercised ; for there
was certainly no Avisdom in counting the amount of the
numerical letters in any given name — a thing which was quite
common among the Greeks — or in discovering any name hav-
ing this number ; but there was great scope for wisdom after
counting the number and coming to 1199, to consider about

-m

A LECTURE ON THE TRUMPETS AND VIALS,

187

that 1199. What of it ? What about it? What is to be

•

observed from it ? Well, we answer if the persons who lived
at that time had but the wisdom to observe, they would have
seen something ; and if we, who live in this remote period,
would but have looked to history then, we would have observed
something also. But, in all likelihood, the people then, no
more than the people now, did observe anything, as there
was not wisdom enough in them to do so ; while it is equally
true, as the Psalmist says, " He that is wise will observe
these things." But if wisdom had been exercised, it would
have observed the rise of the second beast, who turned out to
be the exact image of the first, namely in his assumption and
exercise of absolute and irresponsible power in prosecuting,
judging, and condemning the saints. (See verse 12, chap,
xiii.) " And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast
before him." Dominic, a fiery, bloody-minded man, was
appointed by the Pope to go with another one and enquire after
these heretics, as they were called, the Albigenses and Wal-
denses, who lived at the foot of the Alps — a people secluded
by themselves originally, as was thought, from Bohemia, but
directly, as some think, from the Apostles, who always held
to the simple scriptural doctrines of the Bible, and, therefore,
had the audacity to protest against the Pope and his whole
system. This came like a thunder clap upon Rome, who now
held the whole earth under his control, and, therefore, directed
this Dominic to go and enquire, so that from this act he got
the name, for the first, of Inquisitor ; and if he found them,
as reported, to endeavour, in the first instance, to convert
them ; but, if failing that, to persecute them. They set
out on their object ; but after doing their best among the
people, they returned with this report — that even their

ffi'

188

A lECTUHE ON THE TRUMPETS AND "VIALS.

youths of twelve years of age were able to answer all their
arguments from the Bible, and, therefore, other arguments
than those must be used. Accordingly, war was immediately
inaugurated, which continued with various successes and
reverses for thirty years, but ended in the destruction of a
million of lives, their almost total annihilation. Yet, as a
Church, they conquered in the triumph of their faith, having
sealed their testimony with their blood.

We are now prepared to refer again to the introduction, to
give us light in regard to this vial. The introduction speaks
of those who had obtained a victory over the beast, and his
image, and the number of his name, even over those that had
been appointed in the year 1199 to go out and convert
them ; and it is introduced not so much to speak of the vic-
tory as to sing the song of Moses and the Lamb in the view
of the judgments that were to follow that victory. The
judgment is foretold in the vial under consideration.

" And the first went and poured out his vial upon the
earth, and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the
men who had the mark of the beast, and who worshipped
his image." Very soon after the slaughter of the Albigenses,
a noisome and grievous sore, in the form of what was called the
black death, or the sweating sickness, came over the whole
land, which cut off, it is said, two-thirds of the population,
and left many places a complete grave — a sore coming so
soon that could not but be acknowledged as a Divine in-
fliction. . . ' , . 1

And if praise by the victorious was given in the view of the
judgment, so in the corresponding introduction we find prayer
offered for judgment ; and the judgment, as predicted under
the trumpet, gets a clear fulfilment in the light of history at

•^

A LECTURE ON THE TRUMPETS AND VIALS.

189

the same time. (See the prayer and the judgment again in
chapter viii. 1st verse.) Now that the Albigcnsian Church
was all but exterminated ; and thePope, vainly imagining that
he was sitting securely on a universal throne, was tempted to
issue a decree by ^Yhich he subjected all kings and kingdoms
to his authority and sway. The French king, against whom
this was specially directed, endeavoured to take the Pope
captive, which so aflFected him that he died in three days.
The next that was elected had to fix his residence in France
for seventy-two years, styled in contempt the Babylonish
captivity ; after which two were elected, the one to reside in
Rome, the other in France in Avignon, which lasted for other
fifty-one years ; when these and a third were deposed by the
Council of Constance in 1414, all of which were sufficiently
humiliating to the grand Popedom. But all this does not
reach the meaning of the trumpet, " hail, fire, blood, and
desolation." Rome, the capital, in the absence of its head,
became the parent and fomenter of tumults, cabals, and civil
war, in which a great part of Europe became involved by
seditions and suffering. Besides, the contemporary Popes
assailed each other with excommunications, maledictions, and
plots, so that the calamities of those times were indescribable,
as in all these Pontifical factions immense loss of life and of
property was involved. The Ghibelines, a most factious set
in Italy, most hostile to the Popedom, invaded and laid waste
the Papal territories, and occasioned the revolt of many
cities, which was only one of the many occurrences which took
place during those times. France itself, which finally gave
their aid to exterminate the Albigenses, was most severely
punished ; as in her wars with England during this time she
was all but ruined in the celebrated battles of the Black

190

A LECTURE ON THE TRUMPETS AND VIALS.

Prince against her, particularly Creasy, Poitiers, and Agin-
court, which robbed her of her king, and nobles, and pea-
santry, and which produced such exhaustion and desolation
as -will meet the language of the text, " There followed hail
and fire, mingled with blood ; and the third part Oi trees was
burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up." .

And the second angel sounded, and,
as it were, a great mountain, burn-
ing with fire, was cast into the sea,
and the third part of tlie sea became
blood- And the third part of the
creatures which were in the sea and
had life died ; and the third part of
the ships were destroyed. — Verse 8-

And the second angel poured
out his vial upon the sen, and it
became as the blood of a dead man,
and every living soul died on the
sea.— Chap. xvi. v. 3.

This trumpet and vial, taken as they are, we think, are
quite plain, though we think also have been grievously mis-
applied. They are simply a great destruction of ships and
men upon the sea. We know of nothing that answers so
plainly and fully to them as what is known in history as the
destruction of the Spanish Armada in 1588. England being,
in a great measure, the great Protestant country, Philip
King of Spain, stung with disappointment in being refused by
Elizabeth, and burning with indignation at the Protestant reli-
gion, and instigated by the Pope, who promised to bear much
of the expense, prepared a powerful armament of ships,
one hundred and thirty or more, and manned them with
nearly 9,000 men and 20,000 soldiers, and nearly 3,000
cannon, and hoping to be seconded with nearly 41,000 men
on the coast, set sail to invade and conquer England, and
bring it back to the Holy See. It is said they extended in a
circuitous form seven miles. It is said that with all the tor-
menting apparatus of the Inquisition on board, they had a
mock trial to convict and punish Protestant England. But

A liECTURE ON THE TRUMPETS AND VIALS.

191

when they set sail, everything went against them. The very
next day they were met by a violent tempest, which obliged
them to return to port to refit for a month — that afterwards,
when they got into the channel, were attacked five different
times with the Queen's fleet — that the first day they cap-
tured the Spanish galleon, which had the Admiral and all the
treasure ; the next that they sent fire-ships among them,
which, favoured both by wind and tide, went right among
them, producing great consternation and confusion, com-
pelling them to raise anchor and flee as they could — that,
pursued and attacked by the Queen's fleet, they had to return
by the Orkneys, the wind being against them to take the
direct course ; and that the northern storms at that season
wrecked so many of their ships that only some fifty-two
returned to Spain ; thus showing the wrath of God against the
whole combination, and the protecting favour of God to our
beloved land. The strength of Spain, the great bulwark of
the Cathohc faith, was exhausted by the struggle, and from
that time has continued to decline. It is said that the Pope,

on application, refused to make any compensation for the loss.

And the third angel poured out
his vial upon the rivers and foun-
tains of waters, and they became
blood- And I heard the angel of the
waters say, Thou art righteous, oh,
Lord, whicU art and wast, and shalt
be, because thou hast judged thus ;
for they have shed the bloo<' of saints
and prophets, and thou hast given
them blood to drink, for they are
worthy. And I heard another out
i ii; of the altar say, Even so, Lord God

Almighty, tr, in' righteous are
thy judgments. Chap, xvi- verso 4-

This trumpet and vial seems to cover much ground, but in
general is plain. A star, either the angel of a church, or a

And the third angel sounded, and
there fell a great fire from heaven,
burning, as it were, a lamp, and it
fell upon the third part of the rivers
and upon the fountains of waters.
And the name of the star is called
wormwood ; and the third part of
the waters became wormwood, and
many men died of the waters because
they were made bitter. — Verse 9.

ii;i

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192

A LECTURE ON THE TRUMPETS AND VIALS.

church itself; burning, as it wore, a lamp, a bright shining
minister or church ; a star fallen made prostrate through some
power ; a star fallen on the rivers and fountains of waters,
either on some hilly country, or on the centres of population ;
a star in the fall producing wormwood and bitterness —
namely, sorrow and anguish through blood shed by perse-
cution ; for it is the blood of saints and prophets — blood,
however, that has been revenged in victory, for thou hast given
them blood to drink ; blood in vanquishment, therefore, that
God gives the glory, for true and righteous arc His judgments.
In a word, it has been a religious persecuting war, which,
though successful sometimes in prostrating the Church,
resulted in victory on the part of the assailed. Where are we
to look for this war ?— in some mountain country as the foun-
tains of the waters, or in some centres of population ? Why,
in both, if we find them.

After the punishment of Rome and France in the fourteenth
century, we read of the punishment and defeat of other per-
secuting powers in the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth
centuries. In the sixteenth century, Charles, the Emperor of
Germany, turned his arms against the Protestant faith, and
produced much suffering. At length Maurice, one of the
Protestant Princes, came down upon him ; and, in 1552, so
terrified him that he was glad finally to make terms of peace
■with him in 1555, by which full protection and liberty were
secured to the Protestants in that kingdom in all time after.
The Emperor of the French, also, from the year 1533 to the
close of the century, turned many times against them in furi-
ous battles, as often as six or seven different times, in all of
which they compelled him to agree upon terms of peace, but

A LECTURF ON THE TRUMPETS AND VIALS,

193

•I

>2, so

which were all basely violated ; in the midst of which the Bar-
tholomew massacre took place in 1572, which took off, it is
said, 70,000 men throughout the kingdom ; but in 1598 was
followed with the edict of Nantz, which, for nearly a century,
gave them liberty and protection. The Emperor of Austria
turned also against the Protestant ruler of Bohemia, and
Hungary, in 1618, conquered him, despoiled him, fought many
battles, till, in 1630, the great Gustavus Adolphus, the Pro-
testant Swedish King, espoused their cause and became their
captain general, and, with his leaders, conquered continually
the Imperial forces, till, after a thirty years' war, he com-
pelled even the Royal family to flee for safety from the
capital itself. In all thes,e kingdoms, which symbolically
may be called rivers and fountains, of waters as the great
centres of population, the Protestants often and eventually
triumphed and conquered, compelling their persecutors to
give them peace and liberty. Or if you take the fountains
of water in a more literal sense as referring to a hill country,
then we are led next to the country of the Cevenes, in the
south of France, to which many of the Huguenots fled after the
Bartholomew massacre, and thought to enjoy their Protestant-
ism unobserved ; but even there the armies of Louis followed
them — even 20,000 — and thought to subdue them, during the
first years of the eighteenth century ; but even there they com-
pelled Louis to come to terms of peace with them, and grant
them freedom. • • ' .-: ' ". i •= "

It was a war for several years. The instances of heroism
and adventure both on the part of males and females are
altogether extraordinary, so that Louis, even in his own
dominions, is compelled, at length, to terms of peace.

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194

A LECTURE ON THE TRUMPETS AND VIALE.

It would bo most gratifying to read the history of that war, to
see what pious resolutions will accomplish against such ter-
rible odds, when determined under God, to conquer or die.
The angel of the waters that superintended and carried on
the war might well give the glory to God, who, in justice,
gave the victory, or who, for blood, gave them, as we read,
blood to drink.

And the fourth angel sounded, and
the third part of the sun was smitten,
and the third part of the moon and
the tliird part of the»stars, so as the
third part of them was darkened,
and tlio day shone not for a third of
it, and the night hkewise — Chap,
viii. verse 12-

And tho fourth angel poured out
his vial i ii the sun, and power
was given ..utohirato scorch men
with fire- And men were scorched
with great heat, and blasphemed the
name of God, which hath power
over these plagues, and they re-
pented not to give him glory.— Chap,
xvi. verse 8.

These two, we think, are very plain, and illustrate each
other. A third part of the political horizon in its objects are
darkened, and the agent that does so is the Sun. This
receives its plain and fullest explanation in the wars of Louis
XIV. in the last half of the seventeenth century, and who had
for his motto or emblem the Sun. Suffice it to say that he
was almost master of Europe, ravaged in war all its coun-
tries, made and unmade kings at nleasure, made and unmade
treaties at pleasure, and was absolutely despotic in spirit and
action — a great persecutor as well as warrior, and, there-
fore, evoked the edict of Nantz in 1675, and made 600,000
flee the kingdom. The kingdoms, however, had all, more or
less, been guilty of persecution, and, therefore, must now
receive a sweeping and universal punishment. They got it
till Marlborough and Eugene took the field against him, and
obliged him, after twenty years of success, to disgorge all, so

I m

A LECTURE ON THE TRUMPETS AND VIALS.

195

that the last years of his life were as miserable as his first
"were successful. But it was all lost on the guilty nations ; for
we read that " they blasphemed, and repented not to give him
glory," Europe as bad at the last as at the first of his
reign.

Wo come now to the fifth trumpet and vial. But before
we do so, we would observe that they are declared to bo the
first of the three last woes that are to come upon the earth.
Verse 13, chap. viii. : " And I heard an angel flying
through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice. Woe,
woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth, by reason of the other
voices of the trumpet of the three angels which are yet to
sound."

We must be near, therefore, we should think, the end
of time. Chap. ix. verse 1 : " And the fifth angel
sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth,
and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit." Verse
2, " And he opened the bottomless pit, and there arose a
smoke out of the pit as the smoke of a great furnace, and
the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of
the pit."

We unhesitatingly say that this relates as the next great
event after Louis XIV., who died 1715, to the French revo-
lution, which occurred in 1792. The star here that fell from
heaven, the chief officer of the Church then, but not a snining
star, Gobet, the Archbishop of Paris, who fell from his high
office and station when he and his fellow-Bishops, in the great
Cathedral of Paris, abjured their functions, by declaring all re-
ligion to be an imposture — a great fall surely. Literally, then,
also, a key was given to him to open the bottomless pit, and

t:- I

196

A LECTURE ON THE TRUMPETS AND VIALS.

there would come out of it a smoke, a cloud of darkness, not
only in the want of all Bible li^ht, but in hideous doctrines,
which they forthwith proclaimed — no Sabbath, no God, but
the god of nature in a strumpet, no judgment, but death an
eternal sleep ;" which smoke might well be said to be as the
smoke of a great furnace, because of the fire — the heated
and violent enthusiasm — with which it would bo attended ;
extreme darkness or ignorance often the most ostentatious
and heated. " And the sun and air were darkened by reason
of the smoke of the pit." The king, the great luminary m
the p(jlitical kingdom, and the air, or that all in which ho
lived is extinguished by it, slain.

Verse 3 — " And there came out of the smoke locusts upon
the earth, and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of
the earth lii.ve power." In the death of the king and
the want of all leaders under him, the people, as a
multitude, like the locusts without leaders, would come forth
out of this smoke of darkness, this want of all Bible light, this
abeyance of all religion in all the fulness of their depravity,
having power as scorpions only for evil. A disorderly mul-
titude in the fulness of darkness and corruption are the most
to be dreaded of anything for evil.

Verse 4. — " And it was commanded them that they should
not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing,
neither any tree, but only those men who have not the seal of
God on their foreheads." The people of God are to be
safe. The products of the earth not touched.

Verso 5. — " And to them it was given that they should not
kill them, but that they shoulc' be tormented five months, and
their torment was as the torment of a scorpion when he
striketh a man."

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A LECTURE ON THE TRUMPETS AND VIALS. 197

Verso 6.—" And in those days shall men seelc death, and
shall not find it, and shall desire to die, and death shall flee
from them."

The rei-n of terror, under a lawless mob, without king,
without government, only crying out for liberty, lawless
liberty, avenging themselves upon all not of their class and
creed— that is, on everything aristocratic and independ-
ent, whether priest or noble, all who were not as enthusiastic
as they for lawless liberty and authority, making themselves
so inimical and fatal to all such as were within their scorpion
power, as would make death itself more preferable than life.

This power they should have for a limited period— five
months— the utmost time of a locust's life, the utmost time it
could live itself.

Verse 7.—" And the shapes of the locusts were like unto
horses prepared for battle, and on their heads were, as it
were, crowns hke gold, and their faces were, as it were, the
faces of men."

Verse 8.—" And they had hair as the hair of women ; and
their teeth were as the teeth of lions." A new scene ; they
are no longer like mere locusts, a multitudinous yet compact
body, though without light, without leaders; but a most
gorgeously arrayed and attractive company, bearing all the
marks of civilized soldiership, with the ferociousness of trained
horsemen, no longer merely to torment, but in order for battle.

Verse 9.—" And they had breastplates, as it were, breast-
plates of iron, and the sound of their wings was as the sound of

chariots ofraany horses running to battle," cuirassiers for for-
eign fight. . . •

, Verse 10.— "And they had tails like unto scorpions, and

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198

A LECTURE ON THE TRUMPETS AND VIALS.

there were stings in their tails, and their power was to hurt
men five months." -• •• -^ " ' •' •' • '

Artillery, bomb shells, fiery trains attached to bombs to
make them explode for all miseries, are truly stings in their
tails. In this foreign war, evidently the same length of time
as in the former case, five months, the utmost length of locust
life, and the same period as the former.

Verse 11. — " And they had a king over them, which is the
angel of the bottomless pit, whose name, in the Hebrew
tongue, is Abaddon, but, in the Greek tongues, hath his name
ApoUyon." In their highly organised and imposing state, they
have a king over them of corresponding power and purpose, a
destroyer. Apollyon — a Greek word, which, when standing by
itself, without a vowel either at the beginning or end, accord-
ing to the Greek pronounced with a consonant — therefore,
Napoleon. Who can be at a loss after this ? A destroyer,
as the word signifies, and who was so, far above any conqueror
on record— at least of six million, as some say — others of ten
million of men.

There is, we think, the history of the French revlution.
Its period of time was the same in each ; its full locust life
eleven years, twenty-two in both, which, we think, was the
only idea intended, and not an exact period of days and years
symboKcally under five months. This is the first of the three
woes, and a woe it was above all others that came on the
earth.

The corresponding vial will go to confirm all this as having
its accomplishment literally in the same period of time.

Chap. xvi. 10. — " And the fifth angel poured out his vial
on the seat (literally) on the throne of the beast, and his

A LECTURE ON THE TRUMPETS AND VIALS.

199

ution.
1st life
ls the
years
three
)n the

laving

B3 vial
i\d his

kingdom was full of darkness, and they gnawed their tongues
for pain, and blasphemed the God of heaven because of their
pains and sores, and repented not of their deeds."

In the year after the revolution, Bonaparte invaded Kome,
but was bought off at a great price ; but, in the year follow-
ing, his general made the Pope a captive, and turned his
kingdom into a republic, so that it was full of darkness, giving
no light of what it once was, and continued so, both the beast
and the kingdom, till restored by the Holy Alliance. ' " i
- Wc come now to the sixth trumpet and vial, chap. ix. v.
13, " And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from
the four horns of the golden altar, which is before God, say-
ing to the sixth angel, which had the trumpet, Loose the four
angels which are bound in the great river, Euphrates.
And the four angels Avere loosed which were prepared for an
hour, or rather for the hour, and the day, and the month,
\- A the year, for to slay the third part of men." ' '••

The corresponding vial is substantially the same, chap. xvi.
verse 12, " And the seventh angel poured out his vial on
the great river Euphrates, and the water thereof was dried
up, that the way of the kings of the East migh.t be pre-
pared."

We remark here that as Babylon, throughout this book, is
the mystical Babylon of Rome, so may the Euphrates here,
which was the defence and wealth of Babylon be also mys-
tical, of what was the defence and wealth of the Babylon here
intended. We consider the Babylon here intended to be
Paris, in France, and the Euphrates to be what may be con-
sidered the defence of that city — perhaps the impassable
Alp

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200

A LECTURE ON THE TRUMPETS AND VIALS.

There were four angels that heretofore were bound by some
difficulty — that is, they could not act together ; and so it was
with the powers in regard to Napoleon. They could only act
by couplets, or, at the most, triplets, against him ; while ^' y
knew, at the same time, that the union of the ^">ur was neces-
sary for the deliverance of Europe. Well, the time came now
when they could unite ; for, as we read, they were prepared
for the very hour and day to do so. Accordirigly, England,
Prussia, Austria, and Russia, now unite and proclaim war
against him, and proscribe him, namely, Napoleon. They
are no longer bound by some Euphrates ; but whatever was
the defence of France, and Paris, was so no longer ; Paris is
invaded, and kept for some years, and Napoleon is sent to
Helena. Such we conceive to be the meaning of the emblem.
The Euphrates, literally, cannot be thought to be ever dried
up. The kings of the East, these four that came against him as
may be seen by a map, as much from this earth as any other.

All this appears conclusive from the 11th chapter, the
14th verse, where the second woe is said to be past after
what is said to take place in the preceding verses. The
witnesses slain at the end of the 1260 days. They are
raised after three days and a half. The same hour, or era
of time, there was a great earthquake, and seven thousand
men killed, and then the second woe is past. Now, the beast,
as we have already said, was raised by Justinian, in 553. The
1260 days were up, therefore, at the commencement of the
French revolution ; at which time they killed the two witnesses
by proscribing all rehgion, in the National Council, declaring
it an imposture but which they revoked in the same Council,
precisely in three years and a half afterwards, by ordering all

A LECTURE ON THE TRUMPETS AND VIALS. 201

churches to be opened at the sound of bells, which hour, or
era of time, a great earthquake or revolution occurred in the
overthrow of the Napoleon dynastj-after the slaughter of
seven thousand, the emblem of a great multitude, at which
time also, when all was done, the second woe was said to be
past. ■ . ' ...

Now, the question is, who accomplished all this ? Was it not
the four powers who conquered Napoleon, overset the infidel
kingdom bj great slaughter, and thus accomplished the second
woe ? The four angels are evidently, therefore, the four
brought forward in this illustration, and in their work as done,
the second last woe is also past.

This explodes, we confess, the long cherished theory of the
Saracenic and Ottoman invasions, which, they say, occurred
the first, in 606, but which lasted much longer certainly than
five months ; and the Ottoman invasion, under the Turks,
which commenced in the eleventh century, and still lasts. The
mistake, we conceive farther, is, that they reckon years for
the continuance of this last power, the Ottomans, from an
erroneous translation, which is from an indefinite instead of a
definite article. Instead of an hour, a day, a month, and a
year, it ought to be prepared for the hour, the day, &c.— that
is, a particular period of time, and not a length of time,
which even they cannot bring out exactly.
- We are now brought to the last trumpet and the last vial.

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202 A LECTURE ON THE TRUMPETS AND VIALS.

Chap, xi., verse 15th., and chap, xvii., verse 16.

And the seventh angel sounded,
and there were great voices in
heaven, saying. The kingdoms of
this world are become the kingdoms
of our Lord and of his Christ, and he
shall reign for ever and ever. And
the four and twenty elders which sat
before God on their seats fell upon
their faces and worshipped God,
saying. We give thee thanks, Oh
Lord God Almighty, which art, and
wast, and art to come, because thou
hast taken to thee thy great power,
and hast reigned. And the nations
were angry, and thy wrath is come,
and the time of the dead that thoy
should be judged, and that thou
shouldst give reward unto thy ser-
vants the Prophets, and to the saints,
and them that fear thy name, small
and great, and shouldst destroy
them that destroy the earth. And
the temple of God was opened in
heaven, and there was seen in his
temple the ark of his testament, and
there were lightnings, and voices,
and thunderings, and an earthquake,
and great hail.

We would observe that, in our opinion, these only remain
to be accomplished, the others having been. We do not
dwell upon the things themselves, as \ consider them suffi-
ciently plain in the declaration, only a clause in the 18th
verse, very ready to be overlooked ; a clause expressive
plainly of the first literal resurrection of the saints when this
trumpet shall be sounded. And the time of the dead that
they should be judged — that is, in the reward that He would
then give to His servants, the Prophets, and to the saints, &c.
Without dwelling upon it, we just mention a few other pas-
sages in proof of it. Read particularly the 20th chapter of

And the seventh angel poured out
his vial into the uir, and there caino
a great voice out of ♦he temple of
heaven, from the throne, saying It is
done. And there were voices, and
thunders, and lightnings, and there
was a great earthquake, such as was
not since men were upon the earth,
so mighty an earthquake and so
great. And the great city was
divided into three parts, and th"^
cities of the nations fell, and great
Babylon came in remembrance
before God, to give unto her the cup
of the fierceness of his wrath. And
every island fled away, and the
mountains were not found. And
there fell upon men a great hail out
of heaven, every stone about the
weight of a talent, and men blas-
phemed God because of the plague
of the hail, for the plague thereof
was exceeding great.

A LECTURE ON THE TRUMPETS AND VIALS.

203

this book, from the 4th verse to the 8th ; and if these Jo not
convince, we know of no language that could do so. Read
also the Apostle's words, " the dead in Christ shall rise first.
If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the
dead" — that is the first, for there is no use of greatly wanting
the other, for all shall have it. " We groan waiting for
the adoption" — to wit, the redemption of our body. If it is
only the last redemption at the general judgment, th'^re is no
need for groaning for that, for that is sure to all. Isaiah 25th
and 8th ; " He will swallow up death in victory ;" that is as
we read from the 6th, 7th, and 9th verses, as well as the
8th, at the commencement of the millenium, when Christ, as
we learn from other paragraphs, will come. Also Isaiah
26th and 19th : " Thy dead men shall live, my dead body
shall arise. Awake and sing ye that dwell in dust, for thy
dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the
dead," at the commencement, as we read in the next
two verses of the last great war, when we are told Christ
shall come. The last part of the 29th verse, " The earth also
then shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her
slain." That noted passage also in Daniel, generally over-
looked or misapphed, 12th chap. 2nd verse. We give it as it
ought strictly to be rendered : " Many from out of the sleep-
ers in the dust of the earth shall awake, these to everlasting
life ; those to shame and everlasting contempt."

As this is an important verse, we must decipher it. We
have no words in the original answering to those " of them
that sleep ;" but one word in the genitive plural, with the
prefix m from out of the sleepers ; also all alla^ the adjective
pronouns, not sowe, some ; but, when placed in juxtaposition,

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204

A LECTURE ON THE TRUMPETS AND VIALS.

these^ those, to distinguish the classes — the one "who awakes,
and the other -who is allowed to sleep on ; a most conclusive
passage, therefore, for the first resurrection of the saints, as
the Jews, as a nation, believed, and as Daniel himself was
notified of for himself in these words, at iho close of the
chapter, last verse, " But go thou thy way till the end be,
for thou shalt rest and stand in thy lot at the end of the
days."

Christians, in the view of this great Bible truth, lift up your
heads as your redemption draweth nigh, and be not ashamed
of this blessed occurrence, as too many are ; this glorious
truth, because of its apparent nearness and awfulness.

We enter not into the other points of the predictions, as
they arc plain enough, except the one under the vial, verse
19, chap. 16th, " And the great city was divided into three
parts." May not this be, as appears from present indications,
the Romish, the French, and the other party who is for
liberty, however they may bo denominated. But the event,
when accomplished, will make this and the other points suffi-
ciently plain in all their awfulness, and grandeur, and felicity.
Oh that the present generation were but prepared for that
time when God's wrath shall come ; when the lightnings and
thunders, &c., and great hail shall take place, and great
Babylon come in remembrance before God, then they may
hope to be saved in the day of His anger. • . .'i

Many ask how near are we to the fulfilment of this last
trumpet and vial ; as from the signs, which are sufficiently
portentous, they apprehend, and that justly, very near ?
Daniel tells us, in his 12th chapter, 11th and 12th verses,
" And from the tir that the abomination that maketh deso-

A LECTURE ON THE TRUMPETS AND VIALS.

205

late is set up, &c. Blessed is he that waiteth and cometh to
the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days." Add
this number to 533, and you have 1868 ; hut a y» ar must be
taken away, and you have '67. Ah ! so near ! How solemn,
how awful to think so ! How little the world think so ; but
not more than they would do thousands of years hence. How
little the religious world think so, especially those who have
young famiUes, much business md good returns. But Scrip-
ture dates will stand, however much we may postdate or mis-
calculate.

There have been many mistakes, we grant ; but if wc are
right in this calculation, it is in common with great numbers at
the present time, who also make it. But, whether Christ's
coming visibly to accomplish the things under this trumpet
and vial is as near as this or farther off, the duty is the same
— namely, as Peter says, " Looking for and waiting unto the
coming of the day of God. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that
ye look for such things, be diligent, that ye may be found of
him in peace, without spot and blemish." Jesus' appearing is
a holy and just one, and how we should be diligent, willingly
and preparedly, to meet Him in His true character. Many of
as shall meet with Him even before then, and all of us at a
short time at longest. But many of us also may live to see
Him coming in the clouds to take possession of His kingdom,
as in the trumpet, to take to himself His great power to reign,
to overthrow, and destroy all that are opposed to Him ; but,
at the same time, to raise His own dead and to reward His
saints. Oh ! how happy shall we be if we shall be able to
stand such a sight at that day — if we shall feel to welcome
His coming, and to be rewarded by Him. I can only repeat

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A LECTURE ON THE TRUMPETS AND VIALS.

Peter's exhortation, that you may realize those things,
" Be diligent that you may be found of him in peace, without
spot and blemish." Be found of Him in peace by renewing
your peace with Him every day at the foot of the cross, and
by carefully avoiding everything that would renew a quarrel
between you ; and, therefore, seeing to it that you keep your-
selves without spot and blemish. Oh ! to be blameless, to have
consciences void of offence towards God and towards man ! then
shall we not care how soon Christ comes — then shall we daily
rejoice in the prospect of His near coming, and be ready
for it.

Brethren, be talking of these things to one another, parti-
cularly to your children, and much of the dread of that near
day shall pass away on their account — much of the joy of
hope shall rather come to be experienced by you, that you all
expect to be so soon together with the Lord, where death
divided friends shall part no more. May God grant it to us
all, and that by k jping us looking out and prepared for the
last trumpet and vial, and then we shall feel secure and happy
here, and abundantly happy hereafter. Seek righteousness ;
seek meekness. It may be ye shall be hid in the day of the
Lord's anger.

. :-\ -fc

■I ..[

SEEMON XVIi.

THE APOSTLE'S FINAL EXHOBTATIONS.

— — ^— *

Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one
mind, live in peace ; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.—
II Corinthians, xiii. 2.

There is something, brethren, in the nature of man that
leads him, in the event of a final separation from his bretV cen,
to wish them well with all his heart, and to give to them the
best of his advice ;— that is, the general sympathy of his
nature excited at the dissolution of those associations which
rendered life agreeable, besides the interest which he feels
in their felicity. From the conjoint operation of these two
principles, his heart goes out towards them in the most
benevolent regards; nor can he feel satisfied till he has
expressed these with a spirit that will bear some proportion
to their purity and ardour.

It was thus evidently with the Apostle, in regard to the
Corinthians. Now, that he had given to them all the direc-
tions and exhortations which he judged to be necessary, the
whole ardour of his soul seemed to be excited when he was
drawing to a conclusion, and taking his leave of them,
perh'^.ps for ever. It is impossible to conceive of words more
expressive of the warmth of his aflFection, and the intensity of
his interest for them, than those of the text, "Finally,

■11

208

THE APOSTLE 8 FINAL EXU0RTATI0N8.

bretlii'cn, farewell: be perfect, bo of j^ood comfort, be of one
miiul, live in peace ; and the God of love and peace shall bo
with you."

I hope, my brethren, that it is from the same spirit, though
far short,! acknowledge, as to the intensity of it, that I venture,
at the close of these discourses, to address you from the same
words. And, in speaking from them, what I intend is to call
your attention to the various parts of the Apostle's exhortation
and then to his farewell.

I. In the first place, then, he exhorts them to be perfect.
To be perfect, is to bo complete in the things that are
required of us. Now, these, with regard to the Christian, may
refer either to his knowledge or character, or both. That it
refers to his knowledge, is evident from this same Apostle, in
his first Epistle to the Corinthians, the second chapter and
6th verse, where he says, " Wo speak wisdom to them that
are perfect;" that is, to those whose knowledge is complete,
or whose powers of understanding are so vigorous and
spiritual, compared with those of whom he also speaks, that
they " are weak and carnal," that it may be said to be
complete. It does* not, howe\ er, refer exclusively to know-
ledge, but also to character, as is evident, by taking a view
of the context that precedes the text. Says the Apostle at
the 9th verse, *' and this also, we wish even your perfection ;"
which wish, when compared with what he says in the 7th
verse, where he prays that he may " do no evil" but " do
that which is honest;" and when compared farther .with what
he says in the firsi: part of the 9th verse, evidently refers unto
character. As, then, the perfection here spoken of refers to
these two things, let us consider it, for a little, in reference
to each.

THE APOSTLE S PINAL EXHORTATIONS.

209

Ist, Bo perfect, or complete in knowledge. But -what, you
may be ready to ask, is that knowledge which we are recjuired
to have, and bo complete in ? Why, of those things particu-
larly which concern our Christian system, the Christian's
standing, and the Christian's character. We ought to acquaint
ourselves, particularly, with the fall and depravity of man, —
his helplossnc ^ and condemnation ; — with the constitution of
Christ's pcrsori as God-man ; — His condescension, humiliation,
sufferings, and death, — His resurrection and glory,.— His inter-
cession and reign in our behalf. We ought to acquaint our-
selves, also, with the right of interest which sinners have iu
his death, — the security, fulness, and joy of the believers
standing in Him, and with the glory and felic'ty they expect
from llim. We ought to accjuaint ourselves, also, with the
general lineaments of the Christian character, the general
duties of the Christian life, the general principles from which
the Christian acts, with his great and pressing obligations to
duty. With all these, as entering essentially into the
Christian's system, the Christian's standing, and the Christian's
character, we ought to be acquainted ; thrt is, we should know
them not only in their nature and evidence, but in their rela-
tion to one another, as constituting one harmonious whole.
Nay, not only so, but, according to the idea in the text, we
should know them perfectly, or completely ; we should
endeavour to know the uttermost that can be known of each
of these : wo should \now them in such a manner, as to have
a lively representation of them in oi jtiinds, as to be able, if
possible, at a glance, to take a clear and minute survey of
each ; to see them, also, in their native beauty, their relative
harmony, and blessed effects ; and so as that we may be able

210

THE APOSTI.i S FINAL EXHORTATIONS.

1 >

,•>!!■

at all times, to speak of them, a* all times to apply them, and,
at all times, to derive that strength and comfort from them
which they are calculated to give. This, my brethren, we
conceive, is to know them perfectly, or completely ; this, we
conceive, is to have attained that measure, with regard to
knowledge, which makes us perfect men in Christ Jesus.

jBut, alas ! how few are there who have attained this
length ! how few even among ministering Christians, can say,
in the language of the Apostle, ••' those, who seemed to be
somewhat in appearance, added nothing to me ! " But, on
the other hand, hoAv many are there, of whom it may be said
that they are still " babes in understanding " — that they
cannot be spoken to as to spiritual — and that, " when for the
time they ought to be teachers, they have need that one teach
them, which be the first principles of the oracles of God."

But, without dwelling upon such, let me call upon you, my
brethren, to be perfect, or complete in knowledge. And, for
this end, give attention, I entreat you, to reading, to medita-
tion, to godly converse, to prayer, and attendance upon the
ordinances. Let the Bible be frequently and earnestly read
by you. Content not yourselves with having a general idea
of its general contents, but with being particularly informed
on its particular <"">ntents with regard to salvation. Endea-
vour to know what is the meaning of every particular important
passage ; and, when you have attained it, embody it so much
with your own sentiments and feehngs, as that you may at
all times easily command it. Let your meditations also bo
habitually exercised about the things you have attained, as
well as those that you are in the act of attaining. • They are
the most suited to your spiritual powers. They are the most

THE apostle's FINAL EXHORTATIONf?.

211

capable of enlarging, purifying, elevating, and quicken-
ing your minds. They alone are capable of. repaying
the exercise of your faculties, and furnishing you with com-
fort in the evil day. Oh ! therefore, meditate upon them,
and show, by yojir avidity for information, how consistently
you act with yourselves and your best interests. Engage
frequently, I entreat you also, in godly converse : it will
sharpen your faculties ; it will recal and strengthen your
recollections ; it will clear up your ideas ; it will facilitate your
exp' )ssions ; — besides the comfort which you will have from
mutual communication, the love which will be increased and
warmed between you, and the deeper interest you will take
in one another. Above all, pray for the Spirit of Light to be
granted to you, and that, as is usually the case, by giving a
bias to your minds towards divine things, by enlarging, deep-
ening, and invigorating your powers, and by causing you to
perceive one idea after another, and coming to one conclusion
after another, till you shall be enriched unto all wisdom and
spiritual understanding. Finally, my brethren, be regular in
your attendance on divine ordinances ; as, though you may
receive nothing new, you shall, at all events, receive what will
bo profitable and pleasant ; you shall have also your old ideas
revived, your past recollections recovered, your present
impressions deepened, and your whole soul so invigorated and
quickened, as to add yet higher attainments to your know-
ledge. In the words of the Saviour, then, let me still farther
call upon you to " search the Scriptures ; for in them ye
thhik ye have eternal life ; " in those of the Psalmist, as imi-
tating his example, " commune with your own hearts : " in
those of God, as descriptive of the exercise of the fearers of

S?I«P

■ 11

21!

THE APOSTLES FINAL EXHORTATIONS,

the Lord, "speak often one to another:" m those of the
Psahnist, pray " that God may open your eyes, that you may
behold the wondrous things of his law :" and in those, finally,
of the Apostle, "forget not the assembling of yourselves
together, as the manner of some is, but exhorting one
another." And if you do so, you will soon become perfect,
or complete in knowledge ; or, your progress here will
resemble that of the morning light, which shineth brighter
and brighter to the perfect day.

But, perhaps, you may be ready to ask. Why should we be
so much urged to be perfect in knowledge ? What obligation
are we under to be perfect here ? Why, I would observe,
every obligation arising from the Word of God, with Avhich
you are favoured, — your own powers, your relation to God,
to Christ, to your fellow-men, and to eternity, and your own
interest. If God hath given you His word, which is of the
most plain and essential import to your souls, and powers of
mind to be chiefly conversant on that word, how think you,
can you be excused if you do not acquaint yourselves with it?
How is it that you do not see your obligations to be com-
pletely informed therein ? If also you have a relation to God,
as accountable creatures, — to Christ, as redeemed, — to man
as your brother, — and to eternity, as your final destiny ; how
is it that you do not see your obligation to be fully informed
on all these ? that you may know your duty to them — ^your
interest in them — and your prospects from them. But, lastly,
your own interest, I would observe, and which, perhaps, may
weigh with many as the greatest argument, is your obligation
to this attainment, — your own interest, I say, with regard to
salvation, character, and joy. How, think you, without the

THE apostle's FINAL EXHORTATIONS.

213

; one

rfect,

will

com-

God,

man

how

)rmed

-your

knowledge of yourselves, in relation to law, can you come to
the knowledge of your sinful and condemned state, and your
need of salvation ? How, think you, unless you be sufficiently
acquainted with the character and work of Christ as your
Saviour, can you come to the knowledge of your right to be
saved by Him, and your interest in His death ? How, think
•you, unless you be sufficiently acquainted with the perfection
of His work on earth, and the prevalency of His intercession in
heaven, besides the guard which He is exercising over you,
can you come to the knowledge of your abiding security in
him, and your infallible possession of heaven at length ? How,
think you, unless you be pufficiently informed in the laws and
prohibitions, the promises and threatenings of His Word, can
you know to detect every evil suggestion, and resist every
fiery dart of the enemy ? — can you answer every unbelieving
suggestion, and quiet every groundless alarm? — can you
maintain your souls tranquil, nay, even joyful, in every state ?
— and can you know, in fine, to perform every duty, and to
exercise every hope, with a due regard to the various
situations in which you may be placed ? You cannot ; so
that you may see what is your interest as connected with your
knowledge, — it is, that it is the foundation of every grace, of
every duty, of religous comfort, and eternal life. ,

From the consideration, therefore, that it is your interest
to be perfect in knowledge, see, from the obligations which
arise from this, as well as the others which we mentioned,
that you make it your study to be perfect here, — see, in the
use of the means which we have already mentioned, that
you " leave the first principles of the oracles of God, and go
on to perfection," that you be not children in understanding,

T?^

i"''^

hi:

•

214

THE APOSTLE S FINAL EXHORTATIONS.

but that in understanding you be men ; and that, with a view
to these, you imitate the Apostle in your conduct, when he
says, " I follow after, if that I may apprehend hat for which
also I am apprehended of Chris' ^esus." But,

Secondly, We ought to be perfect in character, as well as
in knowledge. Character in the Christian has a regard,
particularly, to the various graces of his heart. We cannot
enumerate all these at present, much less dwell upon them,
but shall content ourselves with dwelling particularly on the
two following, which are of primary importance, as they
embody and lead to every other ; namely, faith and love.

In the first place, Faith : this being the principle by which
we become possessed of salvation, you are aware that it is
very weak and imperfect at first, and unable to support us in
the various trying situations in which we may be placed. It
may be sufiicient, in its first apprehensions of the Saviour, to
quiet the conscience, and to produce comfort ; but it is alto-
gether unable to make head against that host of corruptions
which still remain in us, and those various troublesome situa-
tions into which we may be brought. It cannot take such a
full view of the death of Christ, in its relation to the law, in
its relation to the justice of God, and to death and hell, as to
repel every artful accusation of the enemy, — every accusing
suggestion of our conscience, — every fear about death and
hell, —and to maintain our confidence and joy unimpaired.
It cannot take such a full view of the life, and intercession,
and reign of Christ in heaven, as managing every concern,
appointing every event for good, and triumphing over every
enemy, as to beget tlia highest confidence and steadfastness
in every state — the highest feelings of assurance and triumph.

Ill

THE apostle's FINAL EXHORTATIONS.

215

It cannot take such a full view of the fatherly relations and
perfections of God in Christ, as having a sympathy and care
for us in every state, that all our wants, temporal and spiritual,
shall be so supplied as to keep our souls equally easy in every
situation — our joy equally unabated — and our strength and
courage equally unimpaired. Oh, no ! there are few if any,
at any time, that ever attain these lengths, much less, even
the strongest, at their first exercises of faith. Though they
have believed, and cannot give up with believing, yet it is
pitiful to think how weak it is, and how little it influences their
whole man ; — pitiful to think how wavering it is under trial or
temptation, — how desponding under darkness or desertion, —
how deficient in realizing clearly its various objects and subjects,
connected with God and heaven, — and how comfortless and
uninteresting it is in its general and particular actings. In
80 far, then, as this is the case with any Christian, in so far
are they defective in the exercise of their faith, and in so far
are they called to complete what is lacking in it.

The exhortation, therefore, of the Apostle is in all its force,
with regard to this point of Christian character, — be perfect
in your faith, or complete what is wanting in it. And, for
this purpose, let me call upon you to exercise your under-
standings on the great matters of your faith, that you may
know, and be able to say what they are, and that you may
see that they are truth, from the most indubitable evidence.
Be assured, for instance, that there is such a person as the
Son of God, — that He actually suffered, rose, and ascended,
— that He orders every event, every step of your lives for
good, — that He gives whatever is necessary for our state, —
that He never leaves, never forsakes us, — and, that neither

n:i

216

THE apostle's FINAL EXHORTATIONS.

death, nor life, nor any other thing, can ever separate us
from Him. Be assured, that He is the wisest and best friend
"which you can possibly have ; and that His Father is the
kindest and most compassionate. Be assured of these, by
studying them in their own nature, and in those intimations
which he hath given of them in His Word and Providence. Be
assured of them, by studying them also in their relation to one
another, as constituting one harmonious whole, and as throw-
ing additional light and beauty on one another. Be assured
of them, by studying them also in their application to every
particular state, and that for the confirmation and joy of
your faith. Be assured of these, by abounding in
prayer as well as in study, that you may " know the
things which are freely given to you of God ;" that
you may " be filled with the knowledge of his will unto
all wisdom and -spiritual understanding ;" so that thus you
may be strong in faith, giving glory to God. And if you do
so, with that desire and energy of mind which the importance
of this point of Christian character requires, you will fill up
what remains of the measure of your faith. You will not be
found wanting in any day of your pilgrimage here, or in the
day of Christ hereafter. Whether you are in adversity or
prosperity, in health or sickness, you will be equally confident
and happy in all, and at length receive the reward of your
faith, even the salvation of your souls : be perfect, then, in
your Faith. But, ' ■'' -'^

Secondly, Be perfect in your Love, — your love of God,
and of your fellow man, — your love of God, which con-
sists in a high esteem of His excellence — a supreme
regard to His character — and a delight in His goodness.

fM2

THE apostle's FINAL EXHORTATIONS.

217

And, my brethren, you must be aware that you have great
room for being perfect in these ; for however perfect you may
have conceived yourselves to be at first, yet, when your new
state became familiar to you, and the fire of your first love conse-
quently abated, you have become convinced of great defici-
encies and neglects : you have felt coldness, and ingratitude,
and enmity remaining in your hearts to a high degree. But
how, you may be ready to ask, are you to become perfect in
your love ? Why, by laying to heart, more and more, the
criminality of your coldness, ingratitude, and enmity as being
entirely contrary to His character, and consequently hateful
in his sight, — by laying to heart, particularly, the power of
his love in giving his Son and Spirit, and thus delivering you
from hell and bringing you to heaven, — by considering how
great is that goodness which He hath already conferred on
you, as well as that which He hath laid up for you, — by
praying more and more that He would shed abroad His love
into your hearts, and thus make you feel its power and sweet-
ness, — and, finally, by abstracting yourselves more and more
from the love and communion of this evil world, and taking
yourselves up more and more with God, as your only portion
and joy. Such are the ways, generally, in which you will
become perfect in your love ; and, if you attended to these
with that constancy which their importance requires, you
would soon become more pure and ardent in your love,
and show the reality of it in your deeper spirituality of
mind ; your closer walk with God ; your more lively frame ;
and your greater ardour of spirit in His service. You would
show, that it is God chiefly whom you regard in the present
life ; and that, when you are enabled to exercise yourselves

218

THE APOSTLE 8 FINAL EXHORTATIONS,

to him in any becoming manner, you only then feel satisfied.
See, then, that you have that love to God, which '' is the
end of the commandment, out of a pure heart, and of a good
conscience, and faith unfeigned."

But there is love also to our fellow men, which you are
required to be perfect in, as well as to God. That love which
leads us to esteem every grace which wo see in them ; to
behave to all in the most condescending and agreeable man-
ner ; and to do to them, in all things, as we would wish to be
done' to. And, my brethren, when you consider our natural
selfishness — our peevishness, also, on the least occasion of
offence, not to speak of our haughtiness, our wrath, our evil
speaking and acting, in which we are too ready to indulge,
you will see, that we have great reason for being perfect in
our love. But how, again, you may ask, are we to be perfect
here ? Why, by laying to heart their general relation to us,
as brethren, and the particular relation which his people have
to us in the Lord, — by considering how highly His own people
are beloved by Him, — how richly they are endowed, — and
how great is the glory which is in reserve for them ; — and,
lastly, by considering how much it is the will of Him, on
whom we all depend, that we delight in, and add as much as
possible to the felicity of one another. And, if we did so,
we would soon come to have a love to our brethren, and to be
perfect, comparatively, in our love. We would show the
reality of it in a more open, agreeable, and condescending
demeanour towards them, — in a greater readiness to give
praise to whom praise is due, — and to throw the mantle of
concealment over the infirmities and faults of all ; — and, by
acting in a more bountiful and sympathetic manner to the

THE APOSTLE S FINAL EXHORTATIONS.

219

poor and afflicted. See, then, that by attending to these
things, you make a point to be perfect more and more in
them ; and '* the Lord make you to abound and to increase
in love one towards another. • •

II. Let us now come to the second part of the Apostle's

exhortation — " Be of good comfort." This we will consider,

with regard to the three following things ; namely, your

' salvation, generally ; the season of darkness and desertion ;

and the trials and afflictions of life. ,, . . ,,

First, Be of good comfort with regard *to your salvation,
generally considered. If you have the faith of this salvation,
let no suggestion whatever disturb your minds, in regard to
it. Listen not to the fears which unbelief may raise up, as
arising from your sinfulness ; nor to the doubts which the
darkness of your minds may start, as to its reality. Give
not way for a moment to any uncertainty which you may
conceive attending it, whether as arising from the greatness
of the salvation itself — the distance at which it is still kept
from you — or the length of time that may intervene befo-e
you receive it. Attend rot to any say of these, for they are
either the offspring of the Devil, or of your own pride and
unbelief, but take all the comfort from your salvation gener-
ally, which it is calculated to give. Consider that it is a per-
fect salvation, and was wrought out without any regard to
your unworthiness, but with the full view of it in all its crimi-
nality ; — consider, that if you only are convinced of sin —
only loathe yourselves on its account — only believe, and apply
the salvation to yourselves, that you shall as certainly be
saved as there is salvation ; — consider, that it is carried on
and perfected, without any regard to your merits, but merely

220

THE apostle's FINAL EXIIOIITATIONS.

for the glory of God, and to make you more humble, more
grateful, more believing and more depending on Ins grace ;
so that, if these things arc in you, and particularly, if you are
sensible of a growth in them, you may also be sensibly assured
of your salvation. And when you have considered these
thhigs, and laid them to heart, take all the comfort from them
which they are calculated to give ; say, 1 am satisfied that
there is salvation, and that I have an interest in it ; say, that
victory over sin and death is mine, and that heaven at last
shall be mine also.' And, when you thus speak from a believ-
ing regard to your salvation, endeavour, even now, to feel
what that blessedness is, wliioh consists In a deliverance from
hell, and a hope of heaven ; what that is, to be living in the
assured prospect of future felicity. But, should any unbe-
ieving fears still arise, reason and quarrel with yourselves
against them, in the same manner as the Psalmist did.
" Why art thou cast down, O, my soul ? and why art thou
disquieted within me ? hope in God, for I shall yet praise him,
who is the health of my countenance, and my God." If,
after all, you cannot find arguments to remove your fears,
reason against them in the following manner : — I caimot die,
because Christ died for me, — I cannot fall short of heaven,
because Christ hath taken possession of it in my name, and
pleads triumphantly my cause there, and because Ilis own
honour and interest are engaged in my preservation. I will
therefore be of good comfort ; and, instead of giving way any
longer to unbelieving fears, shall rather say with the church
of old, " Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not
be afraid ; for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song,
he also is become my salvation. Ther'^fore, with joy shall ye

TIIR APOSTLES FINAL EXHORTATIONS.

221

draw water out of tho wells of salvation." Yes, Christiang,
thus bo of good comfort. . ,

I . But, secondly, Bo of good comfort during tho season of
darkness and desertion. You may, for a season have no
light, and labour also under tho sense of desertion, or the
want of His favour. But without entering into tho nature of
those at present, let mo call upon you to be of good comfort,
even in the midst of them. They are not tho effect of
•wrath, but merely of fatherly chastisement. They are not
given to bring us back to the bitterness of past experience,
but merely to try and to humble us, — to bring us to the
recollection of some omission of duty, or some commission of
sin, — to make us feel in a higher degree the pleasure of duty
for tho time to come, — and to deliver us for the same time
from tho accusing torment of sin, — to make us appreciate,
also in a higher degree, tho blessings of light and favour, and
to raise in our minds greater desires after these blessings.
Besides these, the darkness into which we may be brouglit is
never so great, we apprehend, as to deprive us of all light, or
our want of llis favour so great as to rob us of tho recollection
of past experience, much less to be succeeded with tho alarm-
ing apprehension of wrath, or the sinking depression of de-
spair. No, even in our greatest darkness there must be some
light, in our greatest desertion some comfort, were it nothing
more than the feeble recollection of past ideas and experience ;
so that instead of asking, with the Psalmist when in this state,
" Is his mercy clean gone, and will he be favourable no more ?"
we ought rather to keep ourselves up in good courage and
comfort. We ought to take the benefit of tho little light
which Ave have, and of the remaining calm which may bo left

222

THE APOSTLE S FII^AL EXHORTATIONS,

in our minds ; or, shoiild tlicso bo wholly awanting, wo o\ight
to take the benefit of our past experience and recollection ;
and with these, to comfort ourselves for a while — with these
to wait upon God — with these to plead for a renewal of past
fav,ours — with these to hope that " ho will make darkness light
before us," and that " he will make us glad, according to the
days wherein he luith afHictod us." It was thus evidently that
the Psalmist acted, when in a season of darkness and deser-
tion. " I will remember thee," says he, " from the land of
Jordan, and the liormonitos from the hill Mizar." And
no doubt the remembrance was sweet and pleasant to his soul ;
the remembrance kept up his spirit, preserved his faith and
courage, kept him waiting on God, till he interposed in his
behalf, and opened his mouth in songs of thanksgiving. Act
you in the same manner, from your experience also, and be
of good comfort and courage ; and we will venture to say,
that sooner or later you will have the same occasion for
gratitude and joy. For the comfort of all, however, who are
in this state, let them remember the words of God, and obey
them. " Who is among you that feareth the Lord, and
obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness,
and hath no light ? let him trust in the name of the Lord,
and stay himself upon his God." • ■■'■>■■ ■

Be of good comfort, lastly, under all your trials. What-
ever these are, do not sink under them — do not rise up
against them — do not murmur or fret. They are the neces-
sary appointment of a wise Providence. We would be much
worse without them than with them. They are given, in
general, for the correction of some evil temper — for the
mortification of some evil prosperity — for the dissolution of

THE APOSTLES PINAL EXIIORrATIONS.

223

some uiuluo attachment — for the cultivation of somo latent
virtue — the revival of somo dyin;^ j^raco, to bring us more
frequently, and keep us more nearly at tho throne of grace,
and to mako us take up our happiness chicHy with divino
things. Besides, tlicy are never given in such number and
bitterness as to overwhelm our spirits, but in such measure
and succession, as makes them bearable ; and the ^race and
consolation of God are particularly promised, to counterbalance
our afflictions, besides the assurance which we have of their
sanctified use, and their short continuance, to make us submit
to them. As this, then, is the cast, how patiently should we
submit to them ? how cheerfully acquiesce in their api)oint]
mcnt? and how readily should we build ourselves up in com-
fort, in the assurance of an expected end ? But as our
spirits, after all, are too ready to sink, or as we are loath to
take to ourselves the comfort we might have, let all who may
be in affliction lay to heart the following expostulations, and
improve them : — Why should you be overmuch troubled at
the afflictions of this life, when they cannot deprive you of the
joy of the next, but rather enhance and increase it ? Why
should you be too much affected at tho pain of the body,
when it only tends, by the blessing of God, to purify and to
strengthen the mind ? Why should you grieve at the loss of
earthly substance, when it cannot affect your heavenly
crown, but remains securely and gloriously the same ? Why
should you be dejected at the loss of worldly favour, when
you may ever enjoy that which is of a more transcendent and
delightful kind ? Why at the loss of earthly friends, when
your best Friend ever lives ? Why pine away in sorrow and
disquiet, at the sin and wretchedness, the carelessness and

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hi'

9<; I

wickedness of your near relations, when jour own escape from
hell was a miracle of mercy, and your own carelessness and
wickedness so great ? Answer, I entreat you, to these
expostulations ; and if you act a rational and incumbent part,
you will find that you have far more occasion to be grateful
for what you possess, than dejected for what you want ; far
more occasion to rejoice in your present good and future pros-
pects, than afflicted at present troubles, however great. Act
you, therefore, a Christian and incumbent part, by being of
good comfort in every state, for " the Lord doth not afflict
willingly, nor grieve the children of men." " Though he
cause grief, yet will he have compassion, according to the
multitude of his mercies." " He maketh sore, and he
bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make Avliole."
Bo of good comfort, therefore, for though he cause trouble,
he will give help and deliverance. " Sorrow may endure
for a night, but joy cometh in the morning,"

III. Let us now come, in the third place, to the other _
part of the Apostle's exhortation — " Be of one mind." This
refers evidently to unity of sentiment on the great doctrines
and duties of the Gospel, and to the purity and order of
church discipline. Surely we ought to be one on these when
we are not left to our own judgment to know them, but have
an infallible standard of faith and duty in the Word of God
and in our subordinate standards of confession to inform us
of them for our guidance and faith. The Scriptures through-
out spsak only one language, have only one aim, are all in
harmony with one anotlier, and in the simple language of
common sense, so that there is no room left for jarring of
opinion, for gainsaying, or contradiction, but for the fullest

ir I

THE APOSTLES FINAL EXHORTATIONS.

unity in faith and action. And blessed be God, there is a
general agreement among those who are called Christians in
regard to Christ and God. There is a general agreement in
faith and practice, and a general toleration for little diversities
or merely circumstantial points on the whole ; there is one
Lord, one faith, one baptism, and several other things, till,
as we are told, Ephesians iv. and 13, we all come to the unity
of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a
perfect man unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of
Christ. But on account of our own prejudice and conceit
we are all ready more or less to differ and to bring discord
and wrangling into our differences ; and as these are very
unseemly, and apt to produce uncharitableness and division,
which it has done in too many instances, wo need to be
exhorted to " walk Avorthy of the vocation wherewith we are
called," namely, " with all lowliness and meekness, with long-
suffering, forbearing one another in love as endeavouring to
keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace ; as there
is but one body and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one
hope of your calling." Ephesians iv. 1.

Here in the text also he calls them to be of one mind. He
reproves highly for the want of this in several important points
in his Epistle to the Corinthians, and lays down many rules
for their unity of faith and action on many points. I do not
however mention ^hese at this time, having already done so in
the first part of this discourse, so that if we only know and
acknowledge these, we will have no difficulty in having unity
of mind upon these. Brethren, be therefore of one mind on
all disputed things, give up your own mind, and appeal at
once to the final standard of all controversy, the Scriptures ;

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THE apostle's FINAL EXHORTATIONS,

be ready to say at once what saith the law, and let that
decide the matter in all controversies. For, as the Apostle
says, all Scripture, is given by inspiration of God that the man
of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto every good
work. Be as much as possible in one mind, waiting for the
time when we shall all see eye to eye, and when with the
mouth together wo shall sing.

IV. Let us now come, in the last place, to the other part
of the Apostle's exhortation — " Live in peace." But here,
as in the former case, I do not see any necessity for dwelling
particularly on this duty. Let me only call upon you to live
as much in peace for the time to come, as you may have done
in time past. Go along cheerfully with one another, and give
in to one another, for the general good. Show the same
kindly feeling and temper to one another ; and if anything
like irritable feeling or expression should escape, be ever
ready to exercise mutual forbearance and charity to one
another. View one another, I entreat you, in the best light
possible ; and as brethren, I trust, in the Lord, hide as much
as possible the infirmities and faults of one another, and
never, never, let the voice of accusation be Ufted up by any
of you against your brethren, but " let that charity which is
the bond of perfectness," and that " peace of God which
passeth all understanding, rule and keep your hearts," and
you shall be enabled to Uve in peace.

Having thus called your atto-ntion to the various parts of
the Apostle's exhortation, let us now come to the encourag
ing declaration which He hath annexed unto them ; — " And
the God of love and peace shall be with you." I cannot
enter at length into these characters which the Apostle hath

THE apostle's FINAL EXHORTATIONS. 227

applied unto God, but shall merely observe that he is the God
of love, as it is the natural effect of His own infinite nature,
which being self-sufficient and independent, must lead Him to
delight Himself abundantly in His own goodness, and in its
manifestations to His people. He is the God of love, also, as
He has given the brightest display of it in the gift of His Son
and Spirit, and in those present and future blessings which
he hath given to us through them. And Ho is the God of
peace, as He alone devised and carried into effect the con-
ditions of it by His Son, when it was broken on our part ;
and as He remains ever the same, notwithstanding our
frequent rebellions against Him ; and shows the reality of it
on our renewed repentance and obedience.

Now, the Apostle says, this God of love and of peace shall
be with us-with us, as to the sense of His presence, which
will ever command our souls in due regard to Him— with us,
to guide us in the way, to strengthen us under weakness, to'
console us under trouble, to carry us on from one step of our
pilgrimage to another, and to perfect that which concerneth
us-with us, particularly, as the God of love and peace, to
give to us the sense of love and peace. I cannot, however,
show you at length how He gives this sense, but merely that
it is by giving a direction to our minds, to think of Him* in
these views, and such an influence from them a^ shall settle
in the production of it.

But observe, my brethren, the ground on which we have
reason to expect His presence. It is only as we are perfect,
are of good comfort, of one mind, and live in peace. Yes 4
there is such a connection between the two, that it is only as
we have the one, that we may expect the other. It is only

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228

THE apostle's FINAL EXHORTATIONS.

as we grow in knowledge, that we can luive tlio sense of Ilia
presence, which rchites to llis being and perfections ; for in
what otlier way can these bo realized as present with us, but
only as they are the subjects of knowledge ? It is only as
^ we grow in faith and love, that we can have the sense of His
presence as the God of love and peace ; for in what other
way can lie bo realized as present with us, but only as Ho is
thus apprehended by faith ? It is only, also, as we aro of
good comfort, that we can have the same ; for with regard
to ourselves, we find, that a person of an unhappy disposition
wo studiously avoid ; whereas, ono who is cheerful and happy
in his mind we delight to be with. It is only as wo are
of one mind, and live in peace, that lie can be with us as the
God of love and peace ; for, independent of the fact that God
is one, and His Avays ono, and that Ho is the God of order
and not of confusion, and therefore caii have no communion
with disunited disorderly persons : wo are altogether unable
to realize Him in His one character, as present with us, if we
are jarring in our sentiments, — unable to have the sense of
His love and peace, if wo aro living at war witli one another.
We may, indeed, have the sense of His presence partially,
and also of His love and peace, without being particularly
dis'tinguished for those things ; but, unless that sense is
suitably appreciated and improved by us, we will soon find
ourselves do[)rived of it. And, accordingly, how often, when
we have ceased to exercise our minds on the great viows of
His character, have we found them become feeble and dark
and even unable after a time, to realize the view of His
character ? How often, when we have given up with faith
and love, have we lost the sense of His presence as a God of

THE apostle's final exhortations. 229

love, and felt our former alarms coming hack upon us ?
How often, when we have given up with comfort, and indulged
in a melancholy disposition, have wo felt that wc were only
sinning against our own mercies ? and when, if wo have
indulged in a wrangling and furious disposition, that we havo
gone on in the high way of misery : It is only, therefore, as
wc are perfect, of good Comfort, of one mind, living in peace,
that the God of love and peace shall be with us. Yes; this
follows not merely as the natural effect of an adequate cause,
but also, as all His people know, of the special communicar
tion of His grace. He is so pleased when He sees us thus
living, as to testify His approbation of us, by giving us at
times the special sense of His j-rescnce, love and'peace.
Who of His people has not felt this, in the awe of their
spirits, the moving of their afibctions, the elevation of their
minds, and the rapture of their praises and anticijuitions?
Such experiences assure us heartily of His love and peace,
aud engage us therefore the more heartily to the maintenance'
of them; while God on His part is the more readily engaged
to grant them the more sensibly to us. " My prrsencc
shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest which wo
promised to Moses. And the God of love and peace shall bo
with us," if we study to be perfect, to be of good comfort,
and to be of one mind, and to live in peace. And if so, then
we need hardly say farewell to you, for you shall fare well.
You shall have God's blessing on you while you live.
You shall be happy in life and happy with one another,
and come to have a meetness for the hapinncss of the saints in
Heaven, where the God of love and peace shall smile on you
for evermore. God grant it for His name's sake.