Ex Libris C. K. OGDEN THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES LECTURES PRACTICAL EXPOSITION OF TOE GOSPEL ACCOKDING TO ST. JOHN, IN THK FORM OF L E C T U 11 i: S, INTENDED TO ASSIST THE PRACTICE OF DOMESTIC INSTRUCTION AND DEVOTION. By JOHN BIRD SUMNER, D.D. AEOHBISHOP OF CANTERnURY. FOURTH EDITION. LONDON : THOMAS HATCHAKD, 187, PICCADILLY. 1850. LONDON : PRINTED BY 0. J. PALMER, SAVOY STREET, STRAND. SRLF ^qcr, YRL CONTENTS. Lecture I. — i. 1 — 3. Page The Divinity of the Word, or Son of God, declared. . 1 Lecture IL — i. 4, 5. The Word declared to be the light and life of the soul of Man. . . . • • ' Lecture IIL — i. 6 — 12. John the Baptist, a witness of the Son of God. The Son of God rejected by those to whom he came. . . 13 Lecture IV. — i. 12, 13. The privileges of those who receive the Son, as sent of God for their salvation. They have the provision, the education, the inheritance of children. . • .20 Lecture V. — i. 14. The word became man. His glory, as seen by the apostles, and witnessed in the world. • • .26 A O -§ i' vi CONTENTS. Lecture VI. — i. 15, 16. The SUFFICIENCY OF THE SoN OF GoD to Supply all the wants of his disciples. . . . .34 Lecture VII. — i. 17. The old and new covenant contrasted. The use of the law to the Christian. . . . .38 Lecture VIII.— i. 18. Our KNOWLEDGE OF GoD derived through Jesus Christ ; who has declared his justice and his mercy. . . 45 Lecture IX. — i. 19 — 28. John Baptist's account of himself. He baptizes. The origin and intent of baptism. . • .50 Lecture X. — i. 29 — 34. John describes Jesus as the Lamb of God. The meaning of that TYPE, considered. . . . .55 Lecture XI. — i. 35 — 51. Andrew and Simon and others called as apostles of Jesus. Especial mention of Nathanael. . . CO Lecture XII. — ii. 1 — 11. The first miracle performed in Cana of Galilee. Reflections upon miracles. . • . . 65 Lecture XIII.— ii. 12—25. Jesus clears the temple of those who profane it, giving an ex- ample of religious zeal. . . -71 Lecture XIV. — iii. 1 — 5. Nicodemus is assured of the necessity of regeneration. Re- generation considered and illustrated. . . 76 CONTENTS. vii Lecture XV. — iii. (3 — 8. The necessity of regeueratiou through the operation of the Spirit. 84 Lecture XVL — iii. 9 — 15. Discourse with Nicodemus continued. The type of the brazen SERPENT. . . . . .8!) Lecture XVIL— iii. 16—21. Jesus declares to Nicodemus the merciful purpose of God in the REDEMPTION OF MANKIND. Why and hy whom his mercy is rejected. . , . .94 Lecture XVIIL— iii. 22-36. John Baptist's testimony to Christ, as the authoi' of eternal life to all who BELIEVE IN HIM. . . .99 Lecture XIX. — iv. 1 — 14. Discourse with a woman of Samaria. Jesus describes the living WATER which he gives to those who ask him. . 104 Lecture XX. — iv. 15 — 26. Jesus discloses himself to the Samaritan woman as the Christ ; and explains the spiritual worship which God requires. 110 Lecture XXL— iv. 27—38. Jesus discourses with his disciples on the work which he was sent to accomplish, and on the harvest which he and they should gather. . . . .115 Lecture XXIL — iv. 39 — 42. The faith of the Samaritans; fust from report ; afterwards from PERSONAL CONVICTION. . , .121 viii CONTENTS. Lecture XXIII. — iv. 43 — 54. Jesus recovers a uobleman's son from a dangerous fever. An emblem of the recovery of the soul. . . 126 Lecture XXIV.— v. 1—9. A LIKE EMBLEM, in the healing of the cripple at the pool of Bethesda. . . . . .131 Lecture XXV.— v. 10—14. The cripple who had been healed at Bethesda, is warned to sin NO MORE. . . . . .137 Lecture XXVI.— v. 15—27. Jesus reasons with the Jews. His power to bestow spiritual LIFE. . . . . . 142 Lecture XXVII.— v. 28, 29. A resurrection to eternal life or eternal death declared. 147 Lecture XXVIII.— v. 30—40. Threefold testimony to the divinity of Jesus. That of John the Baptist ; of God the Father; of the Scriptures . 152 Lecture XXIX.-v. 41—47. Jesus alleges their love of worldly honour as one reason why the Jews rejected the testimony concerning him. . 157 Lecture XXX. — vi. 1 — 13. Five thousand miraculously fed. Fragments of time and opportunity to be gathered up for use. . .162 Lecture XXXI vi. 14 — 21. The disciples, overtaken by a storm, are relieved by the pre- sence OF Jesus. .... 167 5 CONTENTS. _ ix Lecture XXXII.— vi. 22—29. Faith in Christ declared to be the work required by God. 172 Lecture XXXIIL— vi. 30—40. Jesus reveals himself as the bread of life : and declares the Father's will concerning those who believe in him. . 178 Lecture XXXIV.— vi. 41—46. Faith in Christ declared to be the work of God upon the heart. . . . . , .183 Lecture XXXV. — vi. 47 — 58. Christ the bread of life. The metaphor explained, . 188 Lecture XXXVI. —vi. 59—71. Many disciples leave the company of Jesus, on account of his hard sayings. The apostles remain. . .193 Lecture XXXVII. — vii. 1 — 8. A discourse between Jesus and his brethren. The friendship OF the world. . • . . . 198 Lecture XXXVIII.— vii. 9—18. Faith promised to the honest and good heart. . 203 Lecture XXXIX.— vii. 19—30, The Jews convicted, as having no Knowledge of God, 208 Lecture XL. — vii. 31 — .S9. The Spirit which the believers in Christ shall receive, compared to rivers of waters. . . . ,214 X CONTENTS. Lecture XLI. — vii. 40 — 53. Enmity of the Pharisees towards Jesus, and those who ac- knowledge him. , . . . .219 Lecture XLIL — viii. 1 — 14. The woman taken in adultery released, and warned to sin no MORE. ...... 225 Lecture XLIIL— viii. 12—24. Jesus declares to the Jews the consequence of their rejecting HIM. ...... 230 Lecture XLIV.— viii. 25—32. Jesus promises to those who receive the truth, freedom from the POWER OF the world, and the fear of death. . 236 Lecture XLV, — viii. 33—36. Freedom from the yoke of sin conferred by Christ upon his disciples. ...... 242 Lecture XLVL — viii. 30 — 47. The children of God distinguished from the children of Satan. . . . . . .248 Lecture XLVIL— viii. 48—59. Jesus defends himself against the charge of blasphemy. 253 Lecture XLVIIL— Lx. 1—12. Blind man healed at the pool of Siloam. . . 258 Lecture XLIX.— ix. 13—34. Inquiry of the Pharisees into the case of the man who had re- ceived his sight. Their prejudice. . . • 264 CONTENTS. xi Lecture L. — ix. 35 — 41. The HAUGHTY AND SELF-RIGHTEOUS SPIRIT of the Phari- sees. - . ... . . . 2G9 Lecture LL — x. 1 — 10. Christ describes himself as the door of the sheepfold. 275 Lecture LII. — x. II — 18. Christ describes himself as the good shepherd. . 280 Lecture LIIL— x. 19—30. Christ describes his flock, as hearing his voice, and follow- ing him. ...... 285 Lecture LIY. — x. 31 — 42. Christ asserts his union with the Father. . 290 Lecture LV. — xi. 1 — G. Sickness of Lazarus. lie and his sister loved of Jesus. Their character. ..... 290 Lecture LVL — xi. 7 — 16. Jesus resolves on going to the house of Lazarus. -. 302 Lecture LVIL — xi. 17 — 27. Jesus declares himself to Martha as the resurrection and the life. ...... 30G Lecture LVIIL — xi. 28—40. Jesus accompanies Mary and Martha to the grave of Laza- rus. . . . • • .311 xii CONTENTS. Lecture LIX. — xi. 41 — 44. Jesus recals Lazarus to life. Emblem of the general kesur- RECTION. ...... 317 Lecture LX. — xi. 45 — 57. Counsel of Caiaphas that Jesus should be put to death. 321 Lecture LXL — xii. 1 — 8. Mary anoints the feet of Jesus. Sign of her love. 326 Lecture LXII. — xii. 9 — 19. Jesus enters Jerusalem in triumph. Jealousy of the Pharisees. Its source. . . . . . .331 Lecture LXIIL— xii. 20—33. Jesus intimates that his crucifixion is at hand, and shall draw ALL men to him. ..... 336 Lecture LXIV. — xii. 34 — 43. The hearts of the Jews hardened through unbelief. 341 Lecture LXV, — xii. 44 — 50. Christ sent to be the light of the world. . . 347 Lecture LXVL — xiii. 1 — 11. Jesus, washing his disciples' feet, shows the necessity of being cleansed by him from sin. . . . 352 Lecture LXVII. — xiii. 12—30. The apostles exhorted to mutual condescension. Warned that one among them is a traitor. . . .35/ CONTENTS. xiii Lecture LXVIII.— xiii. 31—38. The apostles exhorted to mutual love, after the departure of their Lord. . . . . .362 Lecture LXIX. — xiv. 1 — 14. Jesus comforts the apostles, declaring to them his union with the Father. .... 307 Lecture LXX. — xiv. L5 — 1 7. Jesus encourages the apostles with the promise of a Com- forter. ..... 373 Lecture LXXL— xiv. 18—24. The presence of God is promised to those who keep the sayings of Christ. Signs of his pi'esence in the heart. . . 378 Lecture LXXIL— xiv. 2.')— 31. The apostles are consoled with the promise of the Holy Ghost, and of INWARD peace. . . . 383 Lecture LXXIH. — xv. 1, 2. Christ the vine. The Father the husbandman. His treat- ment of the branches. . . . 388 Lecture LXXIV. — xv. 3 — 8. The disciples of Christ represented as branches of the vine. ..... 392 Lecture LXXV. — xv. 9 — -16. The love of Christ towards his apostles, whom he had chosen AND ordained to bring forth fruit. . . 400 xiv CONTENTS. Lecture LXXVI.— xv. 17—27. The enmity of the Jews towards the apostles foretold. Its SOURCES, AND ITS GUILT. . . , 405 Lecture LXXVII.— xvi. 1—11. The apostles are forewarned of opposition, and promised the aid of the Comforter. His office. . . 410 Lecture LXXVIIL— xvi. 12—15. The Holy Ghost promised, to unfold the truths of the gospel. . . . . .416 Lecture LXXIX.— xvi. 16—27. Jesus, alluding to his removal, assures the apostles of the Fa- ther's LOVE towards them. . • . 424 Lecture LXXX.— xvi. 28—33. Jesus leaves with the apostles a promise of peace within. 426 Lecture LXXXL — xvii. I — 3. Intercession of Jesus, for those whom God had given him 43 1 Lecture LXXXIL— xvii. 4—10. The intercession of Jesus continued. Its objects. . 436 Lecture LXXXIII. — xvii. 11 — 13. Intercession continued. Its results. , . 442 Lecture LXXXIV. — xvii. 14 — 16. Intercession continued, that the apostles may be preserved from the EVIL of the world. . . . 447 CONTENTS. XV Lecture LXXXV.— xvii. 17—19. Intercession continued, that the apostles may he sanctified THROUGH THE WORD. . . . 452 Lecture LXXXVL— xvii. 20—23. Jesus extends his intercession to all who should hereafter believe in him. Their blessedness. . .4.57 Lecture LXXXYIL— x™. 24— 2G. Jesus concludes his intercession. . . 462 Lecture LXXXVIIL— xviii. 1—23. Jesus SURRENDERS HIMSELF to the officers and soldiers, and is brought before the high-priest. . . .407 Lecture LXXXIX.— xviii. 24—40. Jesus explains to Pilate the nature of his kingdom. 472 Lecture XC — xis. 1 — 16. Pilate's LOVE of the world leads him to consent to the death of Jesus. ..... 4/8 Lecture XCL — xix. 17 — 30. The crucifixion. The scheme of redemption accomplished. 485 Lecture XCIL— xix. 31 — 42. Prophecy of Zechariah fulfilled in the death of Jesus. 491 Lecture XCIIL— xx. 1—18. The resurrection of Jesus is made known to his disciples. 496 xvi CONTENTS. Lecture XCIV.— xx. 19—23. Christ appears to his apostles, and gives them a commission to REMIT OR RETAIN SIN. , . . 503 Lecture XCV.— xx. 24—30. The unbeUef of Thomas. Tlie blessedness of believers. 509 Lecture XCVL — xxi. I — 17. Christ appears to his apostles. His particular address to Simon. . . . . .515 Lecture XCVIL— xxi. 18 — 25. The martyrdom of Simon foretold, and the protracted life of John. Conclusion. . . . .521 EXPOSITORY LECTURES. THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN. LECTURE I. Immediately after the account given by St. Mat- thew of the beginning of our Lord's ministry, (iv. 17,) he proceeds to tell us, that Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, after calling Simon Peter and his brother Andrew, " saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee (whose wife was Salome) and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their fa- ther, mending their nets ; and he called them : and they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him." John therefore was with the Lord from the first, and had every opportunity of hearing him. He was one of the three (James his brother and Peter being the others) who were chosen to attend him on many particular occasions : they witnessed, for instance, his agony in the garden, and his transfiguration. He is also distinguished as " the disciple whom Jesus loved : " whom he honoured with his parti- cular confidence : so that, during the last supper, Peter suggests that he should be the person to ask who it was that " should betray him." To him, o JOHN I. 1—3. too, from the cross, Jesus recommended the care of his sm'viving mother. These circumstances give the Gospel of St. John a particular interest. We cannot read it without perceiving that he wrote with a different object from the other three Evangelists. Many secret things, which they had very slightly touched upon, God has been pleased to reveal to us by the pen of St. John. We have much need to pray, and to pray earnestly, that " the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto us the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the know- ledge of him : the eyes of our understanding being enlightened ; that we may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance." ' THE DIVINITY OF THE WORD, OR SON OF GOD, DECLARED. John i. 1 — 3. 1. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2. The same was in the beginning with God. 3. All things were made by him ; and without him was not anything made that was made. The disciples of Christ had been already fur- nished, by the other writers of his history, with a sufficient account of his birth, and ministry, and the various circumstances of his life. These had described his miracles, had related his discourses; ' Eph. i. 17, 18. JOHN I. 1—3. 3 not all that he did, nor all that he said ; but all that tlie Holy Spirit knew to be needful, in order that every sincere inquirer might be satisfied with truth, and instructed in doctrine : might possess all things " that pertain to life and godliness." But it still remained to show who he a\"as, who had said and done these things. They who believed in him, considered him to be the expected Messiah, the Son of God, the King of Israel. The apostles had from the first perceived and acknowledged this : " Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." But who, and of what nature, M'as the Christ ? Was he a created being, like the angel which appeared to Daniel and to Mary ? and in what sense is that term to be understood, the Son OF God ? For even Adam is so called, as having had no earthly father.^ Here, however, St. John plainly declares, that He, who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, was no created being : is not called the Son of God in any ordinary sense ; but was possessed, in his own nature, of all the proper- ties which essentially belong to God. It might have been otherwise, for anything that appears. The Almighty might have endued with such a spirit as Jesus possessed, or with power like that which he displayed, another being who should be born as Jesus was born: — nothing resembling it ever had been seen, but there is nothing incredible in conceiving it ; — and men might have su}iposed « " Enos was the son of Scth, wlio was the son of Adam, who was the son of God." Luke Hi. 38. B 2 4 JOHN I. 1-3. it, and some probably did suppose it. St. John here assures us in clear terms that it was not so. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word icas ivith God, and the Word was God. In the be- ginning of all things, in the beginning of time, from all eternity — he was, he existed, who had now taken upon himself the nature of man. Wherever God was, lie was : partaking of the same everlasting, uncreated nature. And therefore he is here described under a new term, the Word. That which passes our comprehension, because we have never seen or known the like, must be ex- pressed to us by some term which is familiar to us, and we do understand. And therefore the Son of God is here represented as the Word of God. The word of a man discloses his thoughts, explains his mind, declares his will. The thoughts, the mind, the will of God and of his " beloved Son," are one. And accordingly Christ may properly be re- presented as the Word of God. For it is he who makes known to us God's counsels and purposes, and has been to us as his word.^ But we are told more still. All things were made by him, and icithout him was not anything made that was made. All things were made by him, not independently of the Father, but in union with the Father. We know, from the book of 3 The plainest reason why this essential Son of God is styled the Word, seems to be this : that as our words are the interpre- tation of our mind to others, so was the Son of God sent to reveal his Father's mind to the world. — Whithy. 6 JOHN I. 1—3. 5 Genesis, that " in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth," And we are here informed that in this exercise of his power the agent, the counsellor, was the Son. the Word, " who is the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person." " The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do : for what things soever he doeth, these also doetli the Son likewise." And so the apostle understands it : saying to the Ephesians and Hebrews, that " God created all things by Jesus Christ : " " whom he hath appointed heir of all things, and by whom also he made the worlds." ^ ,: These are subjects concerning which we can know nothing, beyond what God reveals to us. Our reason tells us, that there must have been one from the be- ginning, ONE " before all things, and by whom all tliinfi:s consist." Our reason agrees with the words of the Psalmist, " Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of thy hands." But more than this we know not. We cannot by searching find out" the nature or person of the Creator : and we can do no more than bow before him, and say, " Thou art worthy, Lord, to receive glory, and honour, and power : for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created."' Thou hast created all things for thy pleasure. Yet would any have supposed this, who looked at the state of the world when Jesus came ; who saw the ' Eph. iii. 9. Ilcb. i. 2. 6 JOHN 1. 1—3. thing made, ignorant of him who made it ; who saw the creature estranged from his Creator ? He there- fore who had at first formed the earth for the use of man, and man to inhabit it, interposes once more. He who had said at first, " Let us make man after our own image, in our likeness ; " now says again, Let us restore man to that image which he has lost, to that likeness which sin has defaced and deformed. " Hear, heavens, and give ear, earth, for the Lord hath spoken : " hath spoken unto us by his Son, even by him who was in the begiiuiing with God, and was God. And if we hearken to his call, and obey his word, the revela- tion here made by St. John is the strong foundation of our hope and comfort. He to whom we are taught to flee, he in wliom Ave seek refuge from the wrath to come, is " God over all, blessed for ever;" and his greatness is our security. He who offers salvation is not, as some pretend, a pro- phet endowed with authority to reveal God's will, but still a mere man of nature like our own : but is He who, " being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God," Why should we de- face the scripture, blot out its clearest characters, and write it as it were anew, (as we must, if we endeavour to clear it from the divinity of Christ,) and so make a vain attempt to disprove this truth, this precious and consoling truth? For is there not solid comfort in the thought ? True, he is man, with our nature to })ity ; but then he is also God, with infinite power to save. Such is the ground of the apostle's confidence. " Who shall lay any JOHN I. 4, 5. 7 thing' to the charge of God's elect ? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemnetli ? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is now at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us." To him then bring your wants, he is merciful to relieve ; to him disclose your fears, he is power- ful to strengthen ; on him lay the burthen of your sins, " he is able to save unto the uttermost those that come unto God by him." For he loas in the beginning with God, and was God: and loithout him was not anything made that ivas made. LECTURE 11. THE WORD DECLARED TO BE THE LIGHT AND LIFE OF THE SOUL OF MAN. John i. 4, 5. 4. Iti Mfn was life ; and the life ivas the light of men. 5. And the light shineth in darkness ; and the darkness comi)rehended it not. St. John had before declared that the eternal Word, whose incarnation is the subject of his Gospel, had been one with the Fatlier from the beginning : and that " without him was not any- thing made that was made." He now adds, In him was life. On him life depended, and is by him imparted and communicated. " For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself: so the Son quick- eneth whom he will. " ^ ' V\x. V. 2r., 21. 8 JOHN I. 4, 5. But tJw life here spoken of, is something more than that whicli was " breathed into man's nostrils, and he became a living soul." ^ l^he light was the light of men. It is the spiritual, and not the natural life which is the light of men. And this life is in the Son, and is by him shed abroad upon the heart. Accordingly, in one of his epistles, this same evangelist describes him as " the Word of life : " (i. 1, 3 ;) " That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, whicli we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Wor^d of life, that which we have seen and heard, declare we unto you." And justly is he so termed, who generates in the soul a new existence, springing up to immortality. He is to the soul, Avhat light is to the body of man. If the eye be without light, how great is the darkness i But darker still the soul, without that light which proceeds from the Son of God, and enables it to answer the purposes for which it was created, and endued with under- standing. Some seeds of this divine life, some sparks of this heavenly light, had always been scattered in the world. As it is in nature, before the actual rising of the sun, certain beams of light are visible, and, however inadequate to all our wants, serve many useful purposes : so was it with that spiri- tual light which had now fully risen. It had long been glimmering in dim and partial rays, before the prophet's words received their certain accom- ^ Gen. ii. 7. JOHN I. 4—5. 9 plishment, before it could be said of Jerusalem, " Arise, shine ; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee." ^ It was by that earlier light that some of the heathen, wiser than their fellows, and emerging out of the general ignorance, Avere led to " seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him." As certain of their poets said, " For we are also his oftspring." ^ Led by this light, they worshipped the powers which they perceived to be above them, though they worshipped they kneAv not what : so that Paul, as he " passed by and beheld their devotions, found an altar with this in- scription. To the unknown God." ^ And much far- ther would that light have conducted them, if they had not too often quenched it. because they " did not like to retain God in their knowledge." '^ Still more particularly among the Jewish people this life was the light of men. Many had come to the light ; had received life, had feared God, and wrought righteousness, " looking for glory, and honour, and immortality." It was by this light that " Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain." It was by this light that Enoch walked with God : that Abraham obeyed the call of God, and left his country and his kindred, looking for a better habitation, eternal in the heavens. It was by this light that Moses was enabled to refuse the i)leasurcs of sin for a season, which he might have enjoyed at the court of Pharaoh, and '• es- '^ Isa. Ix. J. -^ Acts xvii. 27, 28. "^ Acts xvii. 23. f' Rom. i. 28. 10 JOHN I. 4, 5. teemed the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt-" It was by this light that many projihets and righteous men, " of whom the world was not worthy, died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth." ^ But still there was too just cause to say, as St. John goes on to add, The Ufjht shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. The law was but " a shadow of good things to come," s and could not be compared with " the very image of the things," which had now been manifested to the world. Prophecy was as "a light that shineth in a dark place :" ^ and even they who uttered it, desired to see the things which were now seen, and had not seen them : " inquired and searched diligently, searching what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified before- hand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow."' The vast scheme undertaken by the Son of God, when he came to " give his life a ransom for many," could be but obscurely perceived and imperfectly understood, before the facts inter- preted the predictions. The state of man, in re- gard to the things of God, in regard to present duties and future prospects, is exactly described in this expressive verse, The light shineth in darhiess, "^ Sec Hebrews xi. 4, ,j, 8, 26, 1 3. 8 Heb. X. 1. 9 2 Peter i. 19. ^ 1 Peter i. Jl. JOHN I. 4, 5. 11 and the darkness comprehended it not. Certain rays were discovered amid the general gloom, which glimmered, and shed forth a partial light, but did not disperse the darkness. There was not total ignorance, yet there was no clear knowledge. It is a melancholy thought, that this description too well suits even the present condition of the world, which is now "without excuse." "The times of that ignorance God winked at ; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent."' ^ The dim light, the uncertain knowledge of the Jewish patriarchs, could not be imputed to them as sin. But, alas ! what must we now say for the wilful darkness of those who close their eyes against the liQ'ht, which shines in all its lustre ! How does the account here given by St. John of the Redeemer condemn their indifference and ajiatliy ! He has himself said, " If I had not come and sj)oken unto you, ye had not had sin ; but now ye have no cloke for your sin." He who was in the beginning with God, and was God, undertakes the salvation of mankind ; pro- poses a mighty scheme, determined " from the foundation of the world ;" gives intimation before- hand, by the mouth of " holy men of God, who spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost;' sends rays of prophectic light as messengers to pre- pare the way before him, and warn men to be on the watch for the " brightness of his rising." Till at last " the Sun of righteousness" is fully displayed, 2 Acts xvii. 30. 1-2 JOHN 1. 4, 5 "with healing" on his wings;" and a voice goes forth from one end of the earth to the other, "Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light." And well may we expect that this voice should be heard. For observe the certain inference which we must draw from what the Evangelist reveals concerning the Christ, the Son of God. We learn from it the miserable and ruined state of man : so ruined and miserable that the same power must redeem life, which had given life: the same divine person must create anew, who had at first created. He without w^hom nothing was made that was made, now^ comes to seek and to save that which was lost. Low, indeed, was the con- dition, which must needs be thus relieved and i-aised. Utter, surely, must be the ruin Avhich could only be thus recovered. If he who comes to save, is he, who ivas in the beginning luith God, and icas God, no other argument is needed to prove the depth of ruin and of misery. We see it in the majesty of the Deliverer. In the greatness of our Saviour we read the great- ness of man's necessity. In the vastness of the sacrifice, we learn to calculate the weight of our debt, the burthen of man's sin. And let us learn to measure from it, too, the extent of our obliga- tion. Which will be greatest, the heinousness of guilt or the extremity of loss, if we put this mercy fi'om us, " count ourselves unworthy of eternal life,'" and neglect so great salvation?" JOHN I. 6—11 13 Rather, may the gracious purpose which was de- signed, when " the Word was made flesh," be ac- complished in us ! " That we may know Him that is true," and "have fellowship with the Father through his Son Jesus Christ !" LECTURE III. JOHN THE BAPTIST, A WITNESS OF THE SON OF GOD; \\110 WAS REJECTED BY THOSE TO WHOM HE CAME. John i. G — 11. (Matt. iii. 1 — 12. Luke iii. 1—17.) G. There was a man sent from God, wliose name was Jolt n. 7. TJie same came for a witness, to hear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. 8. He teas not that Light, hut was sent to hear icifnrss of that Light. 9. Tliat was the true Light, which lighfeth cverg man that cometh into the world. So great an event as the appearance of the Sou of God, the incarnation of the Eternal Word, could not take place without announcement. Many pro- phecies had gone out respecting him ; expectation had been raised, even beyond the land in which he 14 JOHN I. 6—11. sliould be born ; and there was a general idea of One " tliat should come, and redeem Israel." And now that the proper season had arrived, according to the determinate counsel of God, an especial mes- sage was entrusted to John the son of Zacharias, that he might call the attention of the people to the " time of their visitation :" that he might " prepare the way of the Lord, and make his paths straight." He came to hear ivitness of the lirjlit, which was no longer to shine in darkness, but to be openly held np to view : sufficient and ready to light every man that cometh into the woidd. Yet all are not enliglitened. From the beginning it had proved so : men close their eyes against the light which they possess. The description is too just which follow^s. 10. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the ivorld knew him not. 11. He came unto his own^ and his own received him not. The wisdom, the power, the goodness of the Creator is manifest to tlie understandings of men. "He left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain and fruitful seasons." ' Yet the world knew him not. " The w^orld by wis- dom/' by its own wisdom, by rightly exercising the faculties which God had given, had not learnt to know God their Creator." The world at large was ignorant respecting him. The Jewish people, to whom he had been clearly revealed, they had better lActsxiv. 17. MCor. i. 21. JOHN I. (}— 11. 15 knowledge, they had a purer faith ; and when one came to them from the Father whom they professed to please and serve, it might be expected that they would eagerly follow him and hear him gladly. But no. He came to his own, to his chosen nation, his peculiar people, and his own received him not. The Jewish nation in general, as we know, did not receive him as their Messiah : and even the people who had listened willingly to his discourses, and been relieved by the merciful exer- cise of his power, suffered him to be led to execu- tion, while not a single voice was raised in his favour. " The Son of man goeth, as was deter- mined of him ! " Let us however inquire on what ground they received him not. Was it that he did not answer the predictions which had gone forth respecting him? We know that his lineage, his birth, his life, and his death, did fulfil the prophecies and correspond with the types concerning him, in the most minute and remarkable particulars. Was it that he did not show such signs and wonders and mighty deeds, as were reasonably to be expected from the Messiah! It was acknowledged, — "This man doeth many miracles ; " — " No man can do the miracles which thou doest, except God be with him ; — " He saved others," though himself he did not save. Was it that his discourses and his doc- trines were not in agreement with the character which he claimed? It was acknowledged, that " never man spake like this man : '" — that " all 16 JOHN I. 0—11. men were astonished at the gracious words whicli proceeded out of his mouth : " — that " he taught as one having authority, and not as the scribes." And yet they received him not. The reason was not in him, but in themselves. He came in a particular character. He came as a Saviour. He was announced as such by the angels. " Unto you is born this day a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord." For this he was promised, pre- dicted, sent ; for this he took our nature, minis- tered, and died ; that he might redeem a lost world, and deliver a race which sin had ruined. Now, to receive one who comes in this character, and purports to be such a Saviour, requires a cer- tain state of mind in those who so receive him. To receive one who offers deliverance, implies a sense of danger, a sense of destitution and helpless- ness. To receive redemj)tion through Christ Jesus, was to acknowledge a state of bondage and con- demnation. To receive eternal life as the gift of God for his sake, was to cast themselves on his mercy, to abandon all personal claim, to renounce all procuring merit in themselves. Tbe Jewish people perceived this : against this their pride and their self-complacency revolted ; and for this cause they received him not. So St. Paul expressly shows, arguing to the Jews them- selves in his epistle to the Romans. They lost? he says, the blessing offered them : they did not become tJte Sons of God, because they per- sisted in trusting to themselves, and refused to rely on Jesus as a Saviour. " Tlioy being igno- JOHN I. 6— 11. 17 norant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God." » The fifth chapter of this Gospel (ver. 39) supplies an exam- ple, where we find our Lord reasoninu' with the Jews around him. " Search the Scriptures ; for in them ye think ye have eternal life : and they are they which testify of me. And ye will not come to me that ye might have life." Here he addresses them as expecting eternal life, and thinking that they had it in their Scriptures; but not rightly interpreting the Scriptures, and there- fore not having salvation, because they refused it through him who is the author of it. "Ye will not come to me, that ye might have life." Ye will not come to the fountain, or ye might be cleansed. Ye withdraw yourselves from the phy- sician, or ye might be healed. Ye will not seek the appointed door, or ye might enter in. Thus they maintained their self-dependence. They would mot receive salvation "of grace." They did 7iot receive him, because of their proud, unhumbled, self-confident, self-justifying heart. They would not humble themselves, that they might be exalted ; but they would exalt themselves, and therefore they remained abased before God. But more than this: — Jesus came as a Saviour not only from guilt, but from the power of sin. It was ordained concerning him, " Thou shalt call his name Jesus ; for he shall save his peo])le from their 3 Horn. X. 3. c 18 JOHN I. G— 11. sins." While he invited them to receive eternal life, he also required them to repent ; for " the wages of sin is death ;" — to " bring forth fruits meet for repentance." And here, again, they stumbled. A deliverer from foreign yoke, a deliverer from Herod or the Romans, they would have gladly followed. But a deliverer from sin had no inducement for them. That yoke they had not felt heavy. They did not grudge the tribute which they paid to Satan. We meet with an example in the eighth chap- ter of this Gospel. There our Lord, discoursing in the presence of a large company, said to some who believed on him, "If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed ; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." This saying offended his hearers. They answer, — " We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man : how sayest thou. Ye shall be made free?" They would not under- stand, — it did not suit them to understand, — that " whosoever committeth sin, is the servant of sin." They did not understand — nor care to understand — that he alone who could renew the heart in righte- ousness and true holiness, could make them "free indeed." To receive him who required them to be, and who would make them, " poor in spirit," and " pure in heart," and lovers of righteousness, and merciful, and meek, — was to lay aside their pride, and their sensuality, and their love of this present world, and their covetousness. And tlierefore they G JOHN I. 6—11. 19 received him not. And this was their condemna- tion : that light was come into the worhl ; but they loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. This was their condemnation, that Avhen He came unto his own, his own received him not. They rejected him, because of their proud, unhumbled, unsubdued, self-confident, self- justifying heart. They depended on themselves that they were righteous, and " had need of no- tliing ; and knew not that they were wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked."* Let their error be our warning ; their loss, our security. Let us learn to feel our own wretched- ness, that we may gladly welcome deliverance ; let us acknowledge our helplessness, that wo may gladly lean on him who is " miglity to save.'' " Blessed are tlie poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God." * See Rev. iii. 1/. c 2 20 JOHN I. J 2, 13. LECTURE IV. THE PRIVILEGES OF THOSE WHO RECEIVE THE WORD AS SENT OF GOD FOR THEIR SALVA- TION. John i. 12, 13. 12. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name : 13. Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, tior of the icill of man, but of God. It lias been already stated, that M'hen the Son of God came, he did not meet with acceptance. He came unto his own, and his oivn 7'eceived him not. It was necessary, in the divine counsels, that the word of God should be first spoken to the Jews : but " they put it from them, and counted them- selves unworthy of eternal life." Yet not all. There were those who said, " Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life." These opened their eyes to the evidence which proved him to be the Messiah. These neither opposed his doctrines, nor revolted from the re- demption which he offered them. They closed with the mercy of God ; they believed in his name ; they received him ; and, together with him, they received the privilege which he alone can give, the " adoption of children," and became the sons of God. JOHN I. 12, 13. 21 Became, were made, tlie sons of God. Were they not so before ? In one sense, all mankind are the sons of God. So Adam is called by St. Luke, ^ when he is tracing the line from which Joseph was descended. But the whole of the Jewish people were children of God in a hi""her sense. God sent a messaji^e to Pharaoh: (Ex. iv. 22:) "Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, even my first-born." Accord- ingly Moses addresses the people in Deuteronomy, (xiv. 1,) " Ye are the children of the Lord your God." Jesus recognizes them as such, distinguish- ing them from the Gentiles. (Matt. xv. 2G.) " It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs." And St. Paul speaks of the privilege enjoyed by his brethren ; (Rom. ix. 4 ;) " Who are Israelites ; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the pro- mises." Yet still we find, that they required, and were capable of, a further and more special adoption. There is a higher privilege, which they could only possess as disciples of Christ Jesus : a privilege which those Jews forfeited, who, when he came, received him not; and to which those were raised, who did receive him, and believed in his name. To as many as received him, — to those who ac- knowledged the character in which he came, and accepted the redemption which he offered, — to those he assigned the blessings which he alone could give, and which in no other way they could enjoy. ' Luke iii. 38. 22 JOHN I. 12, 13 To as mail?/ as received fiiin, to them gave he power to become the sons of God. God's children. " Ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." And justly are they so entitled. It is not a vain and empty term. For, by the adop- tion given them, they have the provision, and the education, and the inheritance of children. 1. They have the provision of children. As the Father of all, God has j^rovided for the whole race of man. He sends them rain and fruitful seasons ; he causes his sun to shine, and his rain to fall, " on the just and on the unjust." But a very different provision is made for those who belong to the cove- nant which is in Christ Jesus. They have the assurance that their God shall supply all their wants ; that all needful things shall be added to them ; for their heavenly Father knoweth that they have need of all these things. " For even the hairs of your head are all numbered." ^ The cir- cumstances of their lives are so ordered, that all things work together for their good. If they are poor, it shall preserve them from temptation, and keep them humble ; if they are rich, it is that they may be " rich in good works." If they are in adversity, it is that they may enjoy a peace which this world cannot give. If they are in prosperity, it is that they may take comfort from the sunshine of God's favour. Rich or poor, afflicted or pros- perous, in health or in sickness, in life or in death, " they are the Lord's." 2 See Matt. vi. 33. Thil. iv. ll». JOHN I. 12, 13. 23 2. Together with the provision, they have also the education of children. If they are the sons of God, they are "led by the Spirit of God;"^ and prepared by his grace for the glory which is to follow. He purifies them from the corruption of their natural descent, and renews them after his own image ; he vvithdraws their hearts from things below, and raises them to things above : he uses exactly that discipline which their character most needs, whether gentle or severe : sometimes he chastens them, that they "may bring forth more fruit;" but still he "dealeth with them as sons;" " yea, spareth them as a man spareth his own son that serveth him." ^ 3. And in the end they have the inheritance of children. "If they are children, then are they heirs ; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ." ^ If they are children, they are the " blessed of the Father," whose "good pleasure it is to give them the kingdom," " the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world."'' We need not know, or desire to know, more of this inheritance, than that it is worthy of the purchase of the blood of Christ; worthy of the promise of God's ever- lasting covenant. It is an "inheritance mcorrup- tible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away." ^ Such are the privileges of those who are made 3 See Rom. viii. 14. ^ See John xv. 2. Ilcb. xii. 7. Mai. iii. 1 7. 5 Rom. viii. 17. ^ Matt. xxv. 34. Luke xii. 32. 7 1 Pet. i. 4. 24 JOHN 1. 12, 13. the sons of God by ffiitli which is in Christ Jesus. But who shall declare their generation ? They are born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. It is not with their spiritual as with their natm^al birth : that comes of the will of the flesh, and of the will of man ; but the spiritual being cannot be so handed down : God keeps it in his own power. The cor- ruption of Adam descended in natural course to his posterity ; but not so the grace of Adam, or of any since born his children : no man can produce it in another by his own means, or secure it for another by his will and desire. It is the gift of God. And though we are sure that it is be- stowed according to just and equal laws, we are often foiled and baffled, if we attempt to trace their operation. Still, we know that, whicli it is of chief conse- quence to know. Though this birth is a secret thing, and of a spiritual nature, it is discerned by outward signs. It belongs to those who receive Christ Jesus. To as many as receive him, to them gives he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe in his name. Blessed are they whose S])irit bears witness with them that such is their case and state ! And the more blessed, because "flesh and blood" has not put this new heart and right spirit witbin them, but the Father which is in heaven. If it was of flesh and blood ; if it was of the will of man, and not of God, — it might fail " through their mani- JOHN I. 14. 25 fold temptations." The corruption which they feel within, tells them it might fail, if it was of them- selves. But this is their security ; — that it is not of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, hut of God. And none shall pluck them out of his hand. He that is the author, will be the finisher of their faith. " He that hath begun a good work in them, will perform it unto the end." LECTURE V. THE WORD BECAME MAN. HIS GLORY, AS SEEN BY THE APOSTLES, AND WITNESSED IN THE WORLD. John i. 14. 14. And the Word was madejlefsh, and dwelt among ns, {and we beheld his (ilorij, the (flory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. St. John, in the preceding verses, had declared the DIVINITY of the Redeemer. "The Word was God." He now testifies, with the same clearness, a truth which equally concerns us, his humanity. The Word was made flesh. He who was God, took upon him the nature of man: the nature of frail mortal flesh. He did not cease to be what he was : he could not cease to l)e what he had been from 26 JOHN I. 14. eternity ; but he became, what he was not before, man as well as God.^ Let us consider, first, Is this possible ? Why should it not be possible? There seems no reason why the nature which is clothed with flesh should only be such a nature as our own. God, we know, breathed into man the breath of life, and he became a living soul. That soul might have partaken of his own nature instead of the nature which it has. The mode in which God and man became one, we cannot comprehend; but we need not go beyond ourselves, and the union of soul and body in our own natures, to meet with that which we shall never comprehend : and there is nothing contradictory in believing that as the living soul and body constitute one man, so God and man are one Christ. " For with God nothing shall be impossible." Secondly, Does this agree with what had been foretold, and with what the Jewish nation, possess- ing the oracles of God, had reason to expect ? God had declared to Adam that " the seed '' or offspring " of the woman should bruise the ser- pent's head."" Jesus was the off*spring of the woman, Mary ; and was now manifested to bruise the serpent's head, and to destroy the works of the devil. 1 As defined by the fourth General Council. — " He was so made flesh, that he ceased not to be the Word, never changing that he was, but assuming that lie was not." 2 Gen. iii. 15. JOHN I. 14. 27 Moses had assured the Israelites, that in due time "the Lord their God shouki raise up unto them of their brethren a prophet like unto him- self." 3 And now the Word was made flesh, and "born of a woman," among this people. Isaiah had prophesied concerning a Saviour, in words, which could only apply to one who came in fashion as a man, and yet who was in his nature more than man : "* whose generation was incom])re- hensible : whose appearance was frail and humble, yet whose power was divine. The appearance, therefore, of Christ in the flesh did agree with the expectation raised by prophecy. And then we ask, thirdly, Was there a reason for it? Scripture explains the reason. Jesus came to save sinners, by dying the death of sinners. In the nature of God he could not die. He could not suffer except in that nature which had sinned. He could only bear the curse of the law in the nature which had incurred the curse by transgression of the law. Forasmuch then as those whom he came to redeem " are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same ; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them, who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For verily he took not on him the nature of angels ; but he took on him the seed of Abraham." '" ■^ Dcut. viii. If). See Acts xiii. 22. * Compare Isa. vii. and ix. ^ Heb. ii. 14 — IG. 28 JOHN I. 14. Therefore, according to God's power, and ac- cording to God's determinate counsel, and for a reason which can be explained to us, " a body was prepared" for the Word :^ the Son of God "was made of the seed of David according to the flesh," '' and dwelt among ns in fashion as a man. " With- out controversy, great is the mystery ; God mani- fest in the flesh." ^ Great is the mystery : but how much greater is the mercy ! And now the Evangelist adds. We beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father. Though he showed himself in the nature and weakness of man, he also showed himself in the glory of Almighty God. That while we can approach and lean upon the one, we may trust in and com- mit ourselves to the other. St. John says, " We beheld his gloryJ" St John was one of those who enjoyed this privilege in a special degree. He was of that chosen party which attended Jesus on mount Tabor, when "he was transfigured before them, and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was as white as the light." ^ The intent, surely, of that manifestation was to leave an im- pression upon the mind of the witnesses, which they should in time transmit to others. St. Peter used it for this purpose, saying, " We have not followed cunningly devised fables, when Ave made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eye-witnesses of his 6 Heb. X. .5. 7 Rom. i. 3. 8 1 Tim. iii. 16. » Matt. xvii. 1, 2. JOHN I. 14. 29 majesty. For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount." ' Such is the clear assurance left to us from those who spoke what they knew, and testified what they had seen. It has been handed down to us in un- interrupted order by successive generations of Christians. The apostles beheld it. To the different assemblies among which they went, " preaching the word," they related what their " eyes had seen, and their hands had handled, of the Word of life."" And what was so witnessed and confirmed, the first companies of Christians received as true; and believed in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God : so that Peter could affirm of them, " Whom having not seen, ye love ; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory." 3 These, again, conveyed the word of truth to the generation that came after; the leaven was gra- dually diffused : the seed became a great tree, with its branches spread on every side, and "its leaves for the healing of the nations." But as the tree which may have stood for centuries, and which no man living has ever known except as a widely spreading and an ancient tree, was once a ' 2 Peter IG— 18. '- 1 Jolin i. 1. '^ 1 Pet. i. 8. 30 JOHN I. 14. seed, and would never have existed at all if that seed had not been dropped into the ground : so with our christian faith. The believers have mul- tiplied ; ages have followed ages ; nation after nation has been added to the church : and the time seems far back since that church first began to be. Still there was a first seed ; and that seed was planted when the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, fidl of grace and truth, and the apostles beheld his glory. In one way, that glory has been evidently be- held in every age that has since passed. For in every age that has since passed, multitudes have been brought, through the preaching of the word, " from darkness to light, from the power of Satan unto God : " multitudes have given up their sinful practices and their worldly desires, and have laid them at the foot of the cross, and have " received the gift of the Holy Ghost," so as to become "a peculiar people," living to the glory of God, and adorning the doctrine of the Saviour. Men "see their good works," see " their light shining ; " and they behold in this a testimony, a glorious evidence of the gospel. A testimony was given which it was impossible to resist, when, as Saul was on his way to Damascus, a light shone suddenly from heaven, " above the brightness of the sun," and struck the persecutor with blindness. But a few days after was Saul himself a less convincing- spectacle, when praying for direction to him whom he had so lately persecuted, and preaching the JOHN I. 14. 31 doctrine which before he destroyed ? 4 The voice which came out of the cloud was astonishing, when it said, " This is my beloved Son, hear him." But the dying voice of the christian Stephen was equally convincing, when under the influence of the Holy Ghost, he knelt down and prayed, "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge!" "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit ! " ^ These, however, are extraordinary cases. We need not go so far back, we need not appeal to ex- traordinary interpositions of divine power, to see proofs of the glory of Christ, or to be convinced by the evidence which it supplies. Every member of the fold of Christ bears about him testimony to his Shepherd's faithfulness, and truth, and power. No evidence can be stronger. When we see an individual of the Jewish nation, we see an unde- niable proof of the truth of the Bible history, and of the prophecies it contains. So, when we behold a true and consistent Christian, w^e possess the same evidence of all that the gospel says of the mercy of God, the divinity of Christ, and the power of the Spirit. What can be a greater miracle, than one who has his deaHngs here on earth, and his conver- sation in heaven : who is dead to the things with which he is daily and hourly conversant, and whose " life is hid with Christ in God ? " Surely this is not natural. Especially when we remember the tempta- tions of that world to which he is crucified, and the corruption of that heart which he is subduing, and 1 See Acts ix. 3—22. ^^ Acts vii. .59, 60. 32 JOHN I. 14. the rebellious lusts of the flesh which he habitually mortifies. We have reason to be thankful, that these evi- dences of the glory of Christ have never failed. We may see them in those around us; nay, we may possess them in ourselves : and let none be satisfied unless he does possess this inward testi- mony. Every one possesses it, who, through faith in the Son of God, is renewed after the image of God, in righteousness and true holiness, and enabled to escape the corruption Avhicli is in the world. And God has put this proof within the power of every one ; "He that believeth on the Son of God hath the M'itness in himself;" has it in the consciousness of his heart, and the obedience of his life. This is a sure record ; and this is the true faith, and eternal life. I conclude with a single reflection; The Word was made fiesh. For what purpose ? " For us men, and for our salvation." He descended to our nature, that he might exalt us to his. He was made flesh, that we might be raised above the flesh, and become " partakers of the divine nature." He became the Son of man, that we might become the Sons of God. But to what end, if we still re- main carnal, earthly, sensual ? Know ye not that the unrighteous, the unholy, the ungodly, " shall not inherit the kingdom of God ? " If it could be so, if an unsanctified, unrenewed nature could be admitted to the presence of God and the glory of JOHN I. 15, 16. 33 bis power, what need was there that the Word should be made flesh and dwell amongst us ? Therefore " cleanse yourselves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord." " Mortify your members which are upon the earth:" and "glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's." For " if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die; but if ye, through the Spirit, do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live;" shall live for ever. LECTURE VL THE SUFFICIENCY OF THE SON OF GOD TO SUP- PLY ALL THE WANTS OF HIS DISCIPLES. John i. 15, 10. 15. John bare tvitness of him, and cried, ftaying, This wan he of whom I spah'e, He that cometh after me, is pre- ferred before me ; for he was before me. 16. And of his goodness have ive all received, and (/race for grace. The purpose of John the Baptist's mission was to prepare the way for him of whom he spake. D 34 JOHN I. 15, 10. He of whom lie sjiake was como, and was now ready to enter upon his ministry. John therefore must be superseded, and retire before the presence of Jesus, of whom he was the forerunner : just as the morning star, which shines so brightly until dawn, disappears when the sun rises in the heavens. And now the evangelist proceeds to describe the benefits of his light ; his blessed influence upon the world. His divine nature, his eternal exist- ence, his omnipotence, had been before declared. "In the beginning was the Word; and the Word was with God ; and the Word was God." But this might be, and yet no advantage be derived to man. The mine may be rich ; full of gold or precious stones : but what is this, unless the mine is open to us, and we have access to the treasure? To the treasure which is laid up in Christ, all who believe in him have access. The apostles had already proved this ; and St. John speaks his own experience, when he writes, of his fulness have all, we received, and grace for grace. ' It was from his fulness that these unlearned and iirnorant men received "a mouth and wisdom," which all their " adversaries had not been able to resist." 3 He supplied their answer to the high priest and elders. It was not in their own strength, which had been ])roved weakness : but in 1 Xapiv dvTt xaptTos. A double measure of grace ; grace in- creasing by successive degrees. 2 2 Luke xxi. 15, JOHN 1. 15, 16. 35 the might of their Master that they said, (Acts iv. 19,) "Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard." It was from his fulness that they had been en- abled to perform works exceeding the power of man: as Peter declared, (Acts iii. 10,) after the healing of the cripj^le, " His name, through faith in his name, hath made this man strong : yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all." It was from tiie supply of his fulness that Paul could dare to say, (1 Cor. i. 4, 5,) " I thank my God always on your belialf, for the grace of God wliicli is given you by Jesus Christ : that in every- thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge." Still if this abundant grace had been poured out upon the apostles only, those who believe in Christ " through their word " would read of it with little interest. It would not concern them. But when St. John says, that of his fulness have all we received, he spake in the name of all successive believers. He means that Christ is the fountain from which all may supply their need. "Ho every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money ; come ye, buy and eat ; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price." " Whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely." This is expressed in many ways in Scripture. Sometimes Christ is the D 2 30' JOHN I. 15, 1«. stem, wliic-li funiislies the sap of life to all liis branches. Sometimes he is the stream, which pours fortli its perpetual supply.^ Sometimes he is the treasury, in which " it has pleased God that all fulness sliould dwell:" "in whom are laid up all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge :" ^ and these he dispenses by his Spirit, " dividing to every man severally as he will." Thus he recovers tliem from their lost estate, and repairs the ruins of the fall. Observe the richness of the treasure, observe the copiousness of the stream. Do we want pardon? There are none who do not need it: but even where it is most urgently needed, of his fulness it may be received. He has made a full, perfect, and sufficient satisfaction for the sins of all that believe. Even the malefactor upon the cross was permitted to find that " the blood of Christ cleanseth from all sin." Do we require knowdedge ? He is " the light of the world." He has revealed to us all that is most valuable to learn. He has given us an ac- quaintance with God, an acquaintance with our- selves ; he has told us the nature of this world and the nature of the world to come : he has told us on whom God will have mercy, and on whom he will not have mercy : he has abundantly fulfilled the expectation which had gone forth concerning bim ; •• when Messias cometh, which is called Christ, he will tell us all things." 3 John XV. 4 ; vii. 37. * Col. i. 19 ; ii. 3. •> John iv. 25. JOHN 1. 15, IG. 37 Or do we need a power which we have not in ourselves, to subdue our natural sinfulness, to keep down indwelling sin, and to renew the heart after the image of God ? He is the source of all spiritual victory : and God would have us trust to the ful- ness of his strength, that we may receive (jrace for grace, grace in abundance and increasing measure. Thus living upon him in perpetual dependence, the disciples maintain a continued intercourse with their master, the soldiers with their captain, the servants with their Lord. Here then must be sought whatever is wanted of grace and spiritual knowledge. Independently of Christ Jesus we have nothing : as he himself de- clares, " Without me ye can do nothing." With him we have everything. As it is written again, " He tliat abideth in me, the same bringeth forth much fruit:" and as St. Paul has left on record, " I can do all things throngh Christ wliich strengtheneth me." Let no one boast : for " what hath he which he hath not received ?" " Our sufficiency is of Christ." Let no one despair ; for who has ever come to him in penitence and faith, and Ix'en cast out, or found his truth to fail? 38 .JOHN 1. 17. LECTURE VII. THE OLD AND NEW COVENANT CONTRASTED. THE USE OF THE LAW. John i. 17. 17. For the law teas given hy Moses, hut grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. A comparison is here drawn between the first and second dispensation. And the difference is strongly marked by the circumstances attending til em. The law was given by Moses. Moses was aliighly favoured servant of God, selected to communicate his will to the chosen nation. Yet he was a man ; one of the fallen race of Adam. But grace and truth came hy Jesus Christ. God having a design of mercy, sent forth his Son — his well-beloved Son, in whom he was well pleased : — and he, " the mighty Lord," was proclaimed as " the Prince of peace." Again, when Moses was summoned to receive the declaration of God's purposes, Mount Sinai 8 JOHN I. 17. 30 burned with tire; blackness, and darkness, and tempest surrounded it, and there was beard " the sound of a trumpet, and tbe voice of words ; which voice they that heard entreated that the word shoukl not be spoken to them any more : and so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceed- ingly fear and quake." ^ But the grace and truth which came hi) Jesus Clirlst, was characterised by its different announcement. All was condescension in God, and comfort to mankind. " Fear not ; 1 bring- you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people." " Glory to God in the highest; on earth peace, good will tow^ards men." Still it ' w^is an advantage which we must not undervalue, that the law was glueu hy Moses to the Israelites. It was an " advantage, great every way, that unto them were connnitted the oracles of God." God did not pass them by : or give them up, like other nations, " to a reprobate mind," ignorant of him and of his will. They were taught his " statutes and his judgments, which if a man do, he shall continue in them." And they were many, more than we pretend to number, w ho w^ere thus led to " do justice, and love mercy, and walk humbly with their God," and to direct their lives " according to the commandments and ordi- nances of the law." What, however, would be the effect of this law of God, if we had no other revelation of his will ? What, but to condenm all mankind ? As the ) ileb. xii. 18—21. 40 JOHN 1. 17. ;i])ostle says, to " conclude all under sin," that " every mouth may be stopped, and all the world become guilty before God ?" This law, whetlier given to the Israelites by Moses, or repeated by Jesus in his discourses, may all be summed up, as he has himself summed it up, under these two beads : " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart ; and thy neighbour as thyself." And who can hold uj) his hand and affirm, 1 am guiltless of any transgression against these laws ? If then the terms of the law are such, as to con- demn those who transgress it — and such must be the terms of every law — " Cursed is every one that con- tinueth not in all the things which are written in the book of the law to do them :"3 it is clear that " by the law is the knowledge of sin :" that " by the deeds of the law no flesh shall be justified :" and we have eternal reason to be thankful, that grace and truth came from the Lord Jesus Christ. The apostle has taught us how to feel and reason : saying, " The strength of sin is the law: but thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." It is right to be often reflecting upon this : to call to mind, how many things we have done M'hich we ought not to have done : how many things we have left undone that we ought to have done : and that our only comfort must be, " By grace are ye saved ;" " by Jesus Christ all that believe are justified from all things, from " DcLit. xxvii. 26. Jer. xi. 3. Gal. iii. 10. JOHN 1. 17. 41 which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses." Thus the law is used by the Spirit to " convince of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment ;" becomes " a schoolmaster," a mighty teacher, " to bring us unto Christ :" to awe the transgressor into a thankful acceptance of his mercy. In earthly cases, we often find the criminal hardened in his denial of guilt, confident of escape sullen, obstinate : but when an unexpected witness appears against him, and his guilt is clearly shown his spirit fails, his conscience shrinks, and the terror of death subdues, if it does not soften him. The effeet of the law upon our hearts should be of a like nature : should be to soften them, now, in time, that we may not at last fall into the hands of an unpropitiated God. It seems to say, why con- tend and dispute against God ? Ye cannot change him who is unchangeable : ye cannot alter his will, which is fixed from everlasting upon the pillars of eternal right: but ye may reject his counsel against yourselves, (it is but too possible,) ye may despise his mercy, and then, too late, experience his anger. Whether ye will hear, or whether ye will forbear, ye must submit to die and stand before God, to be judged by that law which he has ordained. " Woe to him that striveth with his Maker?" Repent, and return unto the Lord : there are still the means of i)eace and recon- ciliation : grace and Irufh came hy Jesus Christ : cast upon him your burthen, and find rest unto your souls. 4'2 JOHN I. 17. Therefore, as the demand of the law is perfect obedience, so the offer of Christ is perfect for- giveness. Perfect forgiveness no man has paid or can pay. Perfect forgiveness every one may enjoy who seeks to be accepted through the righteousness which is of God by faith. The two covenants have this great distinction. One is command, the other is mercy : mercy which assures us, that though man had transgressed the covenant of command, God had still in store a covenant of grace ; that though man had fallen far short of the obedience which God re- quired, God has not altogether cast off his unworthy servants. " Herein was love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and, while we were yet sinners, has reconciled us to himself by the death of his on. But here a question meets us, which occurred to St. Paul, when arguing in this same strain. " Wherefore then serveth the law ?" ^ Are we at liberty to disparage it, to neglect it ? God forbid. Think not, said our Lord himself, foreseeing what might be alleged, " think not that I am come to destroy the law and the prophets ; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.'' And there are three uses which the law serves, all which tend to establish the Christian character ; there are three considerations which it suggests to the mind, all which we must attentively cherish. We read the commandments of the law, as • Gal. iii. ID. JOHN 1. 17. 43 Moses gave them to the Israelites. The Lortl Jesus enforced them, explained them, extended them, showed that the spirit of them, and not the letter only, must be fulfilled. The apostles still further point out their bearing upon the heart and life. The first thought should be, This is God's will respecting me. My Saviour kept all these laws perfectly. Not that I might not keep them, but that he might leave me an example as well as an injunction to follow his steps, and walk as he walked. These, then, are to be my rule ; and by these I must exercise myself, that I may " keep a conscience void of offence towards God and towards man." The second thought is of another nature. These are the commands of God. This law is his law — my Maker's law. What could be my hope, if he were to reward me according as I had kept it from my youth up ? If that were to be my " righteous- ness, that I had continued in all the things that are written in the law to do them V Thanks be to him, who has " redeemed me from the curse of the law:" whom God has made to me " wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption." And, lastly, consider within yourselves, Do I keep these commandments ? Do I allow myself iu the wilful neglect of any of them ? Is it my aim, my desire, my prayer, to love the Lord my God with all my heart, and my neighbour as myself? to bring every thought, word, and wish, into cap- tivity to the obedience of Christ : Do I direct my life by the law, and try myself and judge myself by 44 JOHN 1. 17. the law, though I trust not to be " under the law before God ?" This use of the law remains under the Gospel ; and those who most constantly use the law for these purposes, are those who understand the gospel best. Whatever, then, your state is, there is use in the law. If ye are yet unreconciled to God, the law condemns you. " Agree with thine adversary quickly." Apply unto Christ, who bore your sins in his own body, that ye may find rest unto your sou Is. If ye have already sought shelter under his cross, still keep your eye upon the law. Look to it, that ye may better measure that which is beyond all measure, the goodness of him who has blotted out the record of your transgressions. Look to it also as the rule by which ye are to be guided ; the standard by which ye are to judge yourselves now, and hereafter to be judged : see how far, how very far, ye come short of that standard, and be humble. JOHN I. 1ft. 45 LECTURE VITI. WHATEV'ER KNOWLEDGE WE HAVE OF GOD, IS DERIVED TO US THROUGH HIS SON JESUS CHRIST: WHO HAS DECLARED HIS JUSTICE AND HIS MERCY. John i. 18. 18. No man hath seen God at any time : the only he- gotten Son, nhlch is in the hosoni of the Father, he hath declared him . This sentence reminds us of a most important truth. We know nothing of God, nothing which we can depend upon or trust to, except what he has himself revealed. No man lias seen God at any time. ' As it is justly asked in the book of Job, " Canst thou by searching find out God ? Canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection ?" " Yet we often meet with those who argue resi)ect- ing God and his counsels, as if they had seen him, and been admitted to the " secret things which belong to him." And still more often we find men so acting, so living in the world, as if they knew that he was regardless of either right or wrong, and w^ould make no difference between those who serve him and those who serve him not. ' Seen, perceived, discovered, and fully understood, either as to his essence or his attributes. Declared, revealed, disclosed. " Job xi. 7. 46 JOHN I. 18. Now it would be a grievous calamity if there were no help for this ignorance : if, because no man hath seen God, therefore no man, however desirous and piously sincere, could become acquainted with his character and will. His we are, and from his hand nothing can deliver us. We must be sensible of the power which he has over us, whether for good or evil, happiness or misery, if we either turn to the constitution of the body or the soul. Can it, then, be a matter of indifference, a light matter, whether we are the objects of his anger, or his fa- vour ? whether he is reconciled to us, and we are at peace with him ? Here, then, is the blessing which we receive from that vast event which St. John has been an- nouncing, " God manifest in the flesh :" God re- vealing himself to us " by his Son, the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person." No man hath seen God at any time : the oiily he- gotten Son, luhich is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. Or, as the same truth is ex- pressed in St. Luke, (x. 22,) " No man knoweth who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him.' The Jewish Scriptures certainly furnish much knowledge of God ; all the knowledge which could be given by description. He is represented as " God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible." He is represented as " the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him to a thousand generations." ^ ^ Deut. vii. 9. JOHN I. 18. 47 " All his ways are judgment : a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he." '^ The Psalms of David abound with great and lofty thoughts con- cerning the majesty and goodness of God. And the prophets fill up the outline, and describe " the High and Holy One, who inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy, yet humbleth himself to behold the things that are upon the earth," and " look on him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trem- bletli at his Avord." ^ St. John, hoAvever, was no stranger to this. He was brought up in the knowledge of it, as belonging to the Jewish nation ; a nation distinguished from the rest of the world, because they had this know- ledge ; because they did not " change the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man," or suppose that the world was either self-created or had no beginning. And yet St. John clearly implies in this sentence that the incarnation of the onlij begotten Son of God, who is in the bosom of the Father, has declared God to us, as he could not otherwise be declared ; has given us an acquaintance with him Mhicli mo could not otherwise have enjoyed. And it is easy to perceive this. Let us trace it in regard to the two attributes with which we are most concerned, his justice and his mercy. 1. We are told, plainly told in Scri])turo, that God "cannot look upon evil;" that "ho will l)y uo means clear the guilty." '' Vengeance is mine, 1 ^ Dcut. xxxii. 4. ■' Isaiah Ixvi. 2. 48 JOHN I. 18. will rc])ay, saith tlie Lord." But men invent a thousand reasons, why they should not believe this. Therefore the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared it. He declared it» when he was lifted up on the cross to " bear the sins of many :" to " bear our sins in his own body :" to " give his life a ransom :" to " die unto sin :" to show that between sin, and misery as the consequence of sin, there is an inseparable connexion — and that "if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die ;" for " the wagfes of sin is death." A king', (let us suppose,) an earthly sovereign, has proclaimed to his sulyects, that every wilful offender against his law shall die. What irresistible force would be added to his proclamation, if, rather than leave the law unsatisfied, he did not spare his son, his only son ! Here, then, the incarnation of the only begotten Son of God has declared to us the JUSTICE of the Father with a plainness not to be misunderstood. 2. But God is also revealed to us as " long-suf- fering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin." And surely the gospel of Christ Jesus has declared this in characters which shine as a sunbeam. There his mercy is beheld in active exercise : " For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." As the apostle writes, " Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." The only JOHN T. 18. 49 begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, has declared tlie Father to us, as planning the M^on- derful scheme of our redemption ; as testifying his goodness by that " mystery of godliness,"' Mhich " the angels desire to look into : "' as sending out his ambassadors to a rebellious world, that the Avorld may be converted to God : " as having prejjared for them that love him " glory which cannot be ex- pressed, and " such good things as pass man's un- derstanding." Behold, then, the character in which God is revealed to us : He, whom no man hath seen at any time, " though he is not far from any of us ; " He with whom we have to do. However boldly men may contend and cavil, they cannot know him, except as he has revealed himself. Behold, as St. Paul says, looking to this very thing — " behold the goodness and severity of God : on them wliich fell, severity ; but towards thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness : otherwise thou also shalt be cut off." « " Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish." Behold, ye that are penitent and poor in spirit, and rejoice : for " the mercy of the Lord is on them that fear him," and "he that humbleth himself, shall be exalted." 6 K(j 111. xi. 111:. £ 50 JOHN I. 19— '28. LECTURE IX. JOHN'S ACCOUNT OF HIMSELF. HIS BAPTISM. John i. 19—28. 19. And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent Priests and Levitesfrom Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou ? 20. And he confessed, and denied not : but confessed, I am not the Christ. 21. And they asked him, What then ? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet ? And he answered. No. 22. Theti said they unto him. Who art thou ? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself?' 23. He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wil- derness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias. John had taken upon himself a character of great importance. He had stood forward, and called upon all to consider their ways, " before the coming- of the great and dreadful day of the Lord." " Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." He might expect to be inquired of, Who art thou ; what sayest thou of thyself f Art thou " he that should come to redeem Israel ; " or, art thou Elias, JOHN I. U»— -28. 51 who, according to the scribes " must first come ? " ' Art thou that prophet 1 And he answered. No. He was not the Christ. He woiihl not take upon him- self the name of Elijah, that great and honoured name, though he was acting " in the spirit and power of Elijah, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."^ Nor was he a prophet commis- sioned of God to declare things future. But he was one in whom prophecy was accomplished : he was " the voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God." ^ 24. And they which were sent were of the Pharisees. 25. And they asked him, and said unto him, Why haptizest thou then, if thou he not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet ? 26. John answered them, saying, [baptize with luater : hut there standeth one among you, whom ye know not ; 27. He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's latchet I am not ivorthy to unloose. 28. These things were done in Bethalmra beyond Jor- dan, where John was baptizing. The Evangelist here speaks of baptism, as of a practice familiarly known. And so the question of the Pharisees is not, why IjujAizcst thou at all ? but why haptizest thou, if thou he not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet? Yet if the word were not in constant use among ourselves, we should see that it needed explanation. John was 1 Matt. xvii. 10. ^ Lui^g i- 17. ^ Isaiah xl. 3. E 2 52 JOHN I. 19—28. baptizing, — baptizing with water, those who came to him for this purpose, " confessing their sins." To what end? The oldest Jewish writers acquaint us that such baptism had been practised as an ordinary rite, when a heathen became a proselyte to the truth re- vealed in the Hebrew Scriptures, and turned from his national " vanities to serve the living and true God." " In all ages," they say, " when a Gen- tile is willing to enter into the covenant, and gather himself under the wings of the majesty of God, and take upon him the yoke of the law, he must be circumcised, and baptized, and bring a sacrifice."^ Certain rules were observed, both of time and place. It was done — not on the sabbath, not by night — at a confluence of waters, with two or three reputable persons as witnesses. The meaning must have been this : — The convert had been polluted by idolatry, and all its attendant wickedness. From this he must be puri- fied. And the water with which he was sprinkled, or into which he was plunged, was an emblem of the purification which he required and received. It did not purify, but it prefigured and betokened purification. As was said afterwards of Christian bajitism, " Arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling upon the name of the Lord ; " so would the Jewish teacher say, Arise, and be bap- tized, and wash away thine idolatry : — as the water cleanses the defilement of the body, so let the cor- * Maimonicles. Quoted by Wall. JOHN I. 19—28. 58 ruption which has defiled the soul be purged and cleansed. Still it might be asked, Whi/ haptizcst thou, when those whom John was bajitizing were not heathens, but belonged to the chosen nation, and acknowledged the God of their fathers. He ac- quaints us, that he baptized with water " unto repentance." " The multitude who came forth to be baptized of him," confessed that they as much re- quired to be cleansed from the corruption of wilful sin, as the heathens from their ignorant supersti- tions. Each M'ere to become new creatures, being " purged from their old sins." ^ The meaning of the ordinance remained un- changed, when our Lord saw fit to sanction it as the entrance into his religion, the token of his faith : and taught his apostles to " go into all the world, baptizing in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." The convert to the Hebrew faith washed away his idolatry : the convert to the Christian faith washes away his cor- rupt nature, in whatever way it may have polluted him : the prayer for him is, that the water with which he is baptized, may be " sanctified to the mystical washing away of sin," and be attended by " spiritual regeneration." " It cannot affect the nature of the ordinance, whe- ther it be performed by the immersion, or by the sprinkling of the body. In whatever way it is per- formed, it is figurative, 'ilie putting away of the defilement of the flesh, is nothing except as it in- 5 See 2 Pet. i. 9. c ggg Baptismal Service. 54 JOHN I. 19—28. dicates the heart renewed, and " believing unto righteousness." All the waters of Jordan can be no more effectual than the smallest drop, to confer grace which God does not bestow, or wash away sin which God does not forgive. And therefore we bring our children to the font, in humble hope and earnest prayer, that as the body is sprinkled with water, so the heart may be " sprinkled from an evil conscience," " sprinkled with the blood of Jesus Christ," 7 and renewed by the Spirit unto righteousness and true holiness : and thus the words of tlie prophet may be accomplished, " Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean." « In regard to ourselves, we have all been ba})- tized with water unto " repentance towards God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ." We do not undervalue it, as that which was appointed of our Lord himself, and dignified by his own example. But as the body without the soul is dead, so the form without the spirit is dead also. The out- w^ard purification must be answered by inward purity : and baptism must " save us, not " as it is " the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but," as it is " the answer of a good conscience towards God."" 7 See Heb. x. 22. 1 Pet. i. 2. ^ Ezek. xxxvi. 2.5 » 1 Pet. iii. 21. JOHN T. '29—34. 55 LECTURE X. JOHN DESCRIBES JESUS AS THE LAMB OF GOD. John i. 29—34. 29. Tlie next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith. Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. 30. This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me : for he was before me. 31. And 1 knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water. 32. Atid John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit de- scending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upoyi him. 33. And I knew him not: but he that sent me to bap- tize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shall see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptize th with the Holy Ghost. 34. And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God. Jesus had been living in retirement while the Baptist was fulfilling his public ministry. There- fore John knew him not : yet he knew the purpose for which he came. The Si)irit had revealed this to him; and therefore he is able to l)ear record to him as the Son of God, whose ministry was to set aside his own, who was to complete, by the gift of the Holy Ghost, that baptism of repentance which he had himself been hitherto exercising. 56 JOHN I. 29—34. He points liim out to his disciples in terms which at once explains a whole volume of type and ])ro- phecy. Behold the Lamb of God, ivhich taketh away the sin of the world. We had been told before, " The Word was made flesh." The reason, the purpose of this incarnation is now disclosed. It is all contained in the descrip- tion, The Lamb of God. He came to be the pro- pitiation for sin. He came to be that, which He alone could be, an atonement to the holiness of God for the guilt incurred by man. Adam had transgressed the law which he was bound to obey, and involved the whole race of his posterity in corruption. And how could man be pardoned, and the holiness of God's government be maintained? " As by one man's disobedience many were made sinners," who could be the one, by whose " obedience many might be made righteous ? " None of the sons of men could offer an atonement. They needed atonement; for they were themselves corrupt : they had nothing to pay : " No man can redeem his brother, or make agreement unto God for him." But the Son of God, the eternal, uncreated Word, consented to stand in the stead of that guilty race. " In the volume of the book it is written of him, Lo I come to do thy will, God." ^ Being " without spot of sin," his innocence might be received as a free offering: and, taking man's nature upon him, he could suffer man's penalty. This was determined from the beginning. Jesus ' Ps. xl. 6. Heb. X. 4, kc. JOHN I. 20—34. 57 is called " the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." ^ And being so determined, it was foreshown in various ways. From the earliest times, the patriarchs are represented as offering sacrifice to God. As mankind were dispersed, they carried the custom with them, though its pur- pose was lost and forgotten. But the whole is con- tained in the law given by Moses to the Israelites. It could not be mistaken, when the priest laid his hands upon the head of the creature intended for an offering, and made confession of sin over the head of the sacrifice ; ^ thus prefiguring what was afterwards to be more fully explained, how the Lord had laid on one the iniquity of all. "* By the ordinances of the law, various animals were used in sacrifice ; but none so constantly as the lamb. One was offered up in the temple every morning, and another every evening: and on the sabbath, two. ^ But it was the rite of the passover which most evidently and remarkably ty- pified that full and perfect sacrifice and satisfaction for the sins of all men, which was consummated upon the cross. The lamb slain as the passover was to be without blemish. ^ So was Jesus without spot of sin, neither was guile found in his mouth. ^ The lamb was to be "of the first year;" so Christ was cut off in the prime of his days, and slain by such a death, that, as was ordered in the killing of the passover, " not a bone of him was broken." The lamb was to be slain by the " whole assembly ^ Rev. xiii. S. ^ Lev. xvi. 21. ^ Isa. liii. '" Num. xxviii. 3—10. " Exod. xii. 3, &c. ' See 1 Pet. i. 1!). 10 58 JOHN T. 29—34. of the congregation of Israel.'' So it a\ as on the principal festival of the year that " counsel was taken against Jesus, to put him to death : " and the whole people made it their own act, by ex- claiming, "Crucify him! crucify him!" "His blood be on us and on our children ! " The lamb, too,was slain in the evening. And so it was in the evening, " about the ninth hour," when Jesus, " knowing that all things were now accomplished " Mhich he had undertaken for our salvation, de- clared, — " It is finished ; " — " and bowed his head and gave up the ghost." And as in the manner of the sacrifice all was similar, so was the effect the same. The blood of the lamb sprinkled on the door-posts of the houses preserved the people of Israel from the messenger of destruction. And so the blood of Christ, sprinkled, as it were, upon our hearts, is designed to exempt the sinner from the stroke of divine justice, and save him from " the bitter pains of eternal death." Thus was atonement made to the justice of God : who, in mercy to man's ruined and helpless state, has covenanted to receive the blood of one instead of the blood of many, and to be reconciled to the penitent offender for the sake of his dear Son. Here then is the sense in which we behold Jesus as the Lamb of God ichich taketh away the sin of the world : — taketh away all that sin which is laid upon him by the faith of the penitent oflfender. The words of the Baptist show that he possessed the kov of tliat mvstcrious worsliin which God had 7 JOHN I. 29—34. oJ) established, and was empowered to disclose its mean- ing, hitherto concealed. He points to Jesus, and exclaims, Behold the Lamb of God. And behold, in him, the person so long prefigured by the sacri- fices of the law. Behold the one righteous, designed in the counsels of God as a substitute for many sinners. Behold the true Paschal Lamb, who is offered for us, to take away the sin of the world : who by his death shall destroy death, and by his rising to life again shall restore to us everlasting life. " For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." The application of these words of the Baptist is simple and clear. Behold the Lamb of God. Let wilful offenders against the divine command be- hold the testimony which God has borne to the heinousness of sin, in the fact established by the law of Moses, "that without shedding of blood is no remission." But let the humble and contrite behold, in the Lamb of God, an evident proof of the divine mercy. " For if, when we were enemies, we were recon- ciled to God by the death of his Son, nnich more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life." ^ " He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things"'^ "pertaining to life and godliness ? " *^ Rom. V 10. ^ Rom. viii. 32. 60 JOHN I. 35—51. LECTURE XI. ANDREW, AND SIMON, AND OTHERS, CALLED AS APOSTLES OF JESUS. ESPECL\L MENTION OF NATIIANAEL. John i. 35 — 51. 35. Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples ; 30. And luohing njwn Jesus as he walked, he saith. Behold the Lamb of God ! 37. And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. 38. Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye ? They said unto him. Rabbi, {which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where dwellest thou ? 39. He saith unto them, Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day : for it was about the tenth hour. Though the call of tliese disciples was peculiar, the circumstances attendinsr it are full of instruc- tion . They heard the Baptist point to Jesus as he walked, and say, Beliold the Lamb of God, " which taketh away the sin of the world." Behold him " of whom Moses in the law and the prophets did write ; " him " who should come," and whom JOHN I. 35—51. 61 " God hath now sent to bless you : " "a Saviour which is Christ the Lord." How many amongst us are constantly hearino- Jesus represented as " the way, the truth, and the life," yet pass by on the other side ! But these followed Jesus. Followed him, but not unknown or unobserved. He sees and encourages the first approach towards him ; the first breathings of their faith. He turned, and saiu them folloioing : and when they inquired, Master, lohere dwellest thou ? he saith unto them, Come and see. This was a further trial of sincerity. Many will appear interested for a while, and then stop short. But these came, and saw where he dwelt, and abode ivith him that day. And whoever Avith an honest and good heart will consent to come and sec, shall not remain unsatisfied. In the abode where Jesus dwells, he will see " righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." He will see that which can no where else be found. And then, having learnt the truth, and dis- covered the greatness of the blessing, he will not keep the secret within his own breast, but will hasten to communicate it to his friends. 40. One of the two tvhich heard John .yjea/c, and fol- loived him, was Andrew, Simon Peters brother} 41. He Jirst Jindeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him. We hare found the Messias,- which is, being inierjrreted, the Christ. 'The other is commonly supposed to have been S». John himself. ^ The Messias, signifying in Hebrew the same as the Christ in Greek, the anointed. 62 JOHN I. 35.— 51. 42. And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona : thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, a stone. Here Jesus intimates what he afterwards con- firmed : that Simon should be endued with sucli a firm and consistent temper, as should " be set like a flint," 3 inflexible and unbroken : he should be a corner-stone of the temple which was about to be soon raised to the honour of God and the salvation of man. All Christians have not the prominent station which Peter held. But he himself speaks of all Christians, as being living stones in that spiritual temple, the church of God.* And none can main- tain their integrity, who are not resolute and firm ; as a stone solid and stedfast : a character which they receive, as Simon received his new name, from the Lord who has called them. 43. The day following, Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Fldlip, and saith unto hint. Follow me. 44. Now Philip) was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45. 'Philip Jindeth Nathanael^ and saith unto him, We have found him of whom Moses in the law and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. 46. And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth ? Philip saith unto him. Come atid see. 47. Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him. Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile ! 3Isa. 1. 7. * 1 Pet. ii. .5. JOHN 1. 35-51. 6S 48. Nathanael sailh unto him. Whence knowest thou me ? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the Jig -tree, I saw thee. The whole of this history is instructive. When Philip first acquainted Nathanael of his own belief, that the Christ was to be found in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph, Nathanael betrays a lurking prejudice. Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth^: Can so obscure a place, so ill reputed of, send forth the Holy One of God, the King of Israel ? And do not the prophets speak of Bethlehem as the birth-place of the Messiah ? ^ This prejudice might not have been altogether blameable. He was not to take on trust so great a matter. Let him " prove all things, and hold fast that which is good." He did not speak in the spirit of the Pharisees afterwards, when they said in scorn, and without inquiry, " Search and look, for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet." When Philip invited him to come and see, he did not make excuse ; he did not plead his family, or his busi- ness and worldly cares: he arose and went with Philip. And then we perceive how Philip had been directed by a superior guidance, that he should find Nathanael. He was suited to the purpose in which henceforth he was to be employed ; for he was " a Jew, not outwardly, but inwardly ; " whose " circumcision was of the heart ; " an Israelite 5 See IMatt. ii. 4—6. 64 JOHN I. 35—51. indeed, in whom is no guile. lie was not one of those who "loved to pray standing in the syna- gogues and in the corners of the streets, that they might be seen of men." He sought the retreat of his garden, and the shade of his fig-tree, and there he poured out his soul before God. This, surely, (though it is only conjecture,) is the allusion of Jesus, who said, when thou wert under the fig-tree^ I saw thee. " The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good ; " and the prayer which is offered in secret, shall be "re- warded openly." Such a proof of divine knowledge was irresistble to the mind of Nathanael. 49. Nathanael ansivered and saith unto him, Bahbi, thou art the Son of God : thou art the King of Israel. 50. Jesus answered and said nnto him. Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig-tree, helievest thou ? thou shalt see greater things than these. 51. And lie saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaveti open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of mail. There were many seasons, even whilst the Son of man was on earth, when this sight might have been witnessed, and "angels came and ministered unto him." We cannot tell with certainity whether these are alluded to, or no. Hereafter, doubtless, the whole world shall see it together, when " the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, and shall sit on the throne of his glory." JOHN II. 1—11. H5 But another truth is coutained here, of great practical importance. Nathanael had not resisted the first call to inquiry, nor the first impulse of con- viction. He had yielded his mind to the evidence which was presented to him, " To him that hath shall be given. Jesus says, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee iiuder the Jig tree, believest thou f Thou shall see greater things than these. So it is universally. " Ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart." ^ " Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord." ^ He that now " goeth on his way softly," but sincerely, and opens his heart to the motions of the Holy Spirit, shall be brought to see greater things, than, in the beginning of his course and the infancy of his faith, he had ventured to desire. LECTURE XXL THE FIRST MIRACLE IS PERFORMED IN CANA AT A MARRIAGE. John ii. 1 — 11. 1. And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee ; and the mother of Jesus was there : 2. And hath Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. ^ Jerem. xxix. 13. ^ Hos. vi. .3. G6 JOHN II. 1—11. 3. And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him. They have no wine. 4. Jesus saith unto her. Woman, ^ what have I to do with thee ? mine hour is not yet come. 5. His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever lie saith unto you, do it. In this domestic history is represented to us the way in which the Eternal Word, whose majesty has been so fully described, " dwelt amongst us " in form and fashion as a man. The first narrative which we read, relates to his conduct at a common family entertainment, to which, according to cus- tom, all the friends and neighbours of the bride- groom were invited. It is not clear with what purpose the mother said to Jesus, They have no wine. But from his answer it would seem to be said with an expecta- tion that he would exercise his power. And her order to the servants implies the same : Whatso- eiier he saith unto you, do it. Those who wait long, and seek the Lord, know not when the hour may come that he shall see fit to hear them, and interpose. But they may be 1 Though to our ears this appellation sounds harshly, there is no such effect according to the usage of the original language. The word ywat might as properly have been translated. Mother. The whole answer, however, may contribute to show that tfie mother of Jesus, as such, is entitled to none of the veneration which belongs to the Son alone. Whether so intended or not, it leaves them without excuse, who taking the honour from the Son, have exalted Mary as "the queen of heaven," "the hope," "the life," "the health of the world." JOHN II. 1—11. 67 sure that he does not neglect or overlook them, and is only delaying till the proper hour arrives. In the mean while their course is clearly prescribed to them. Whatsoever he saith unto thee, do it. 6. And there were set there six ivaierpots of stone, after the manner of the 'purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. ^ 7. Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water- And they filled them uj) to the hrim. 8. And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it. 9. When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was : (hut the servants tuhich drew the water knew :) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, 10. And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine ; and when men have well dr'unk, then that which is worse : but thou hast kept the good wine until now. 11. This beginning of miracles did. Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory : and his disciples believed on him. The intention of the miracles performed by Jesus is shown in these words, He manifested forth his glory : and his disciples believed on him. The miracles were needful to prove the authority with which he came. The people asked, as they had a right to ask, " What sign showest thou, that thou doest these things?" What sign dost thou give us, that thou hast a claim to our faith and obedience ? And the natural answer was that which he himself 2 According to their constant habit of washing before meals, F 2 08 JOHN n. 1—11. alleged : " If I had not done among them the things which none other man did, they had not had sin ;" they would not be condemned for dis- believing me. It is only by some change in the usual course of nature, either by the communication of super- human knowledge, or by an interruption of the settled order of the universe, that a revelation can be proved to be of heaven, and not of men. For this purpose alone God has seen fit to inter- pose, and occasionally to permit a change in that arrangement of things which he established at the creation. He did so in the case of Moses. Moses very naturally expected that neither the Israelites nor the Egyptians M^ould attend to his summons. (Ex. iv. 1.) " He answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The Lord hath not appeared unto thee." And the Lord promised power, by which his mission might be plainly under- stood, when he assured him, " Certainly I will be with thee." The like power was given to Joshua till the will of God was accomplished by the settle- ment of the Israelites in Canaan : the like power to Elijah, when he recalled the people from their idolatry. And now the divinity of Jesus was manifested in the like manner. What we call the laws of nature, i. e. the principles on which God framed the world, were suspended at his command : water became wine : the sea was calmed : the pro- vision of bread was augmented : the fig-tree withered away : fever, even death, was arrested in its course. JOHN 11. 1— II. 69 Thus the Creator did again, what he had before done at the creation. He visibly exercised that }30wer to change the regular system of things, which he is constantly exercising to keep the sys- tem regular. It is not more surprising that a certain union of substances should produce wine, than that they should produce water : that the juice by which a tree is nourished should suddenly fail, than that sap should ever flow within its pores. It is not more surprising that the substance of a few loaves and fishes should be enlarged, till many thousands were satisfied with food, than that any substance should ever be ])roduced where none existed before. It is not more surprising that the eye should be enabled to see, or the ear to hear, than that any ear should be formed for hearing, or any eye for seeing. It is not more astonishing that the blood should be restored to its natural circula- tion, or that the lungs should breathe again, than that blood should be " the life of man " at all, or that "the breath of life" should ever have been imparted. If, then, it at first seems strange, that Jesus should perform these wonders and mighty deeds, we should look back to the beginning, when God created the heaven and the earth. What could be more strange than that God should say, " Let there be light, — and there was light." " Let us make man in our image. — And man became a living soul." And we were before told, that "nothing was made, that was made, without"'^ 3 Chap. i. 2. 70 JOHN II. 1—11. him who was now exercising his power : exercis- ing his power to change or to suspend what he had at first ordained and established. The object was no Hght one ; it was one which could not other- wise be fulfilled : it was to show that he who had now been born into the world was indeed " a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord." And St. John here, unintentionally as it were, alludes to the effect produced upon his own mind, and the minds of his brethren. This heginning of miracles did Jesus in Cajia of Galilee ; and his disciples believed on him. We, who could not witness the miracles, believe on him through the word of these disciples. And if we continue steadfast in the faith, the promise made by Jesus to Nathanael may be again applied. We " shall see greater things than these." Indeed, greater things are daily seen, when the promise of the Scripture is fulfilled, and a new heart and a right s})irit is given to any man. It is much to govern the material elements, and can be done by him alone who moulded them in their original form : but it is more to govern the human will, and give a new direction to the affections ; to raise them above things seen, and fix them upon things eternal. May wc be all conscious of this superior power exercised over ourselves ! JOHN IJ. 1-2— -25. 71 LECTURE XIII. JESUS CLEARS THE TEMPLE OF THOSE WHO PROFANED IT, GIVING AN EXAMPLE OF RELI- GIOUS ZEAL. John ii. 12 — 25, 12. After this he went down to Capernaum, he, and his mother, and his brethren, and his disciples : and they con- tinued there not many days. 13. And the Jews' passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, ^ 14. And found in the temple those that sold oxen atid sheep) atid doves, and the chancers of money sit tiny. 15. And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the tonple, and the slceep, and the oxen ; and poured out the changers money, and overthrew the tables ; 16. And said unto than that sold doves, Take these things hence ; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise. 17. And his disciples remembered that it was written. The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up. ^ * The first passover, a. d. 30, the first year of the ministry of Jesus. — Newcome. 2 Ps. Ixix. 9. The whole passage stands thus: "For thy sake I have home reproach ; shame hath covered my lace. I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an ahen unto my mother's children ; for the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up ; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me." 72 JOHN 11. 12— -25. This recollection of St. John is interesting. He seems to allude to some surprise felt at the time by the apostles. And certainly there was much to astonish them. Jesus saw, with great indignation, an evil practice which the proper guardians of the temple had overlooked or countenanced. When he saw it, the fire kindled within him ; he laid aside his usual character, and eagerly engaged himself in disi3ersing those who profaned his Fa- ther's house. This surprised them. But their surprise was checked when they remembered the words of Scri]3ture, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up. I am even consumed by my zealous feelings for the honour of thy house. "It is good to be zealously affected in a good thing:" and the wonder is, that we should com- monly be so earnest in trifles, and so lukewarm in what is most important. But the same inward feel- ings will always lead to similar conduct. Tiiey had led David to say, " I will not come into the taber- nacle of my house, nor go into my bed ; I will not give sleep to my eyes, or slumber to my eyelids, until I find out a place for the Lord, an habitation for the mighty God of Jacob." ^ And now a like emotion is hallowed by the Son of God. It is my Fathers house which is thus desecrated ! Ought we not to feel the same, when we hear the name of God profaned ; when we see his com- mands neglected ; when multitudes have no know- ledge of him. We too should be zealous for the honour of our heavenly Father. And this zeal •'' Ps. cxxxii. 3 — 5. JOHN II. 12— -25. 73 must not evaporate in mere vague or idle lamenta- tion : but after the example of Jesus, we must en- deavour to promote what we desire, and remove the evils over which we mourn. 18. Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto ns, seeing that thou doest these things ? 19. Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this tetttple, and in three days I will raise it up. 20. Then said the Jeivs, Forty and six years was this temple in building,^ and wilt thou rear it up in three days ? 21. But he spake of the temple of his body. 22. IVIien therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them : and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said. The temple which they profaned, whilst they professed to hold it in veneration, was the temple of which they thought and spoke. He spoke of a greater temple, the temple of his body. And he had reason to term it so. For a temj)le like that at Jerusalem is raised to the honour of God, a testimony to his name in the midst of a world which he has made, but which is too often forgetful of its Maker. And such also was the body which had been now prepared for Jesus, when " the Word was made flesh, and dwelt amongst us." It was given him that he might glorify God in the bodily form and nature of * This speaks of the gradual restoration of the second, or Zerubbahel's temple, which Herod had begun to rebuild sixteen years before the birth of Christ. Forty-six years had now elapsed, and the repair was not yet completed. 74 JOHN II. 12—25. man, first by living to his service, and then by dying as a sacrifice to his holiness. We must bear in mind, however, that this term, great and honourable as it is, is not applied to the body of Jesus alone. St. Paul addresses every Chris- tian when he says, " Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost ? " " Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you ? " ^ The temple is dedicated to the service of God. And so are those whom Christ has called to be a " peculiar people, zealous of good works." When the Lord of the temple came, seeking what he had a right to expect there, piety and de- votion, he found it made a house of merchandise ; nay, even "a den of thieves." Let it not then be so with us, when the Lord shall finally come to exa- mine the spiritual temple, which it is the purpose of his grace to purify : when he takes " account of things done in the body, whether they be good or bad." " The Lord whom ye seek shall sud- denly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant. But who may abide the day of his coming ? and who shall stand when he appeareth ? " e At his second coming, let him not find that un- seemly or unworthy things have got i30Ssession there, where everything ought to be inscribed with "holiness to the Lord." "For the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are." " Therefore, glo- rify God in your body and your spirit, which are his." ^ 1 Cor. vi. 19 ; iii. 10. « Mai. iii. 1, 2. JOHN II. 1-2— 25. 75 23. Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the /east day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles wliicli he did. 24. But Jesus did not commit himself unto tliem, he- cause lie knew all men, 25. And needed not that any should testify of man ; for he knew what was in man. He knew the weakness, the fickleness of those people, and did not commit himself unto tliem. Tliey believed in his name when they saw the miracles which he did : but he perceived in them no stability : no- thing that promised zealous and consistent faith. The soil was so light or so stony, that even if the blade shot up for a while, it would soon wither away and perish, when the first heat of temptation came. Jesus still knows what is in man. This should be an awful thought to the hollow and insincere professor. It is the greatest comfort of the humble and earnest Christian, who is struggling against his infirmities, and lamenting his unworthiness ; but on whose heart is written, as it was on that of Paul, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Cln-ist, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto tlio world." ^ 7 Gal. vi. 14. 76 JOHN III. 1—5. LECTURE XIV. NICODEMUS IS ASSURED OF THE NECESSITY OF REGENERATION. John iii. 1—5. 1. There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nico- demus, a ruler of the Jews : 2. The same came to Jesus hy night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God : for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. 3. Jesus answered and said unto him. Verily, verily, I say unto thee. Except a man be born again, lie cannot see the kingdom of God. We may feel assured that these words, thougli they convey a general truth applicable to all man- kind, were especially suited to the frame of mind in which Nicodemus came to Jesus. As we were lately told, " He needed not that any should testify of man ; for he knew what was in man :" and therefore he addressed his language to the case of the individual inquirer. What then may we suppose to have been the character of Nico- demus ? He was a man of the Pharisees, a ruler of the Jews : accustomed, therefore, to think highly of himself in comparison of others; accustomed to believe himself safe in God's favour ; confi- dent, perhaps, tiuit he was, " according to the JOHN III. 1—5. 77 rififhteoiisness which is of the law, blameless." And how surprised would a person of such disposition be, when he heard from the lips of one whom he knew to be a teacher sent from God, Except a man be borfi again he cannot see the kingdom of God. A change must take place in him, which can only be compared to his being born anew, before he can be a member of that kingdom of God which is now come nigh unto you. We may suppose, perhaps, that there was some idiom in language, some customary form of speech, which made this sentence appear less strong and forcible to Nicodemus, than it appears to us now. Men are apt to explain away in this manner that which they do not like to understand. It was not so, however. We perceive by what follows, that he took it in its plainest and most literal meaning. 4. Nicodemuf; saith unto him, How can a miin he horn when lie is old! can he enter the second time into his mother''s womh, and be horn ? 5. Jesus answered, Verily^ rerily, I say unfo ihee, Ex- cept a man he born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God Here then is the explanation : Jesus had said, Ye must be born again. He repeats it, and declares that a man cannot enter into the kingdom of God, except he be born of ivater and of the Spirit : except he be renewed by the Spirit cleansing and purifying him ; unless an effect is produced upon the heart like that which water produces upon the body, and it is cleansed from its natural pollution. They are remarkable expressions : — to be born again, born of water and of the Spirit: — but they 78 JOHN III. 1—5. exactly describe tbc thing intended, A man is first born "of blood, of the will of the flesh, of the will of man." But he is born corrupt ; the offspring of a corrupt parent. As we are told presently, " That which is born of the flesh, is flesh." He must be born again of luater and of the Spirit : — of water, inasmuch as he was born impure, and must now be cleansed : — of the Spirit, inasmuch as he must be "renewed in the spirit of his mind," The water cleanses, " the Spirit giveth life." The water represents that purification which he needs, and which is bestowed through the blood of Christ. The Spirit enables him to walk as one who is " purged from his old sins," his corrupt nature, and is mortifying the flesh with its affections and lusts, and living not to this world, but unto God. For this reason, our Lord appointed as the en- trance into his religion, a rite which should be an emblem of this change. He sent his disciples into all the world, baptizing. Baptism was no new ordinance, otherwise we should have more account of its introduction. It was explained in a former lecture, that baptism had been practised among the Jews, when one who had lived a heathen came to acknowledo^e the livins: and true God, and gave up the idols which he had been used to serve. Before he was admitted to their religion, he was baptized with water. He had been polluted by idolatry, and all its attendant ^^ickedness ; from this he must be puri- fied. And his baptism with water was an em- blem of the purification which he required and received. It did not purify — but it prefigured and JOHN III. 1—5. 79 betokened purification. It was an emblematical action, signifying-, that as the water cleanses the defilement of the body, so must the corruption which has defiled the soul be purged and cleansed. And such is the declaration to Nicodemus, Except a man he horn again, horn of water and of the Spirit^ he cannot see the kingdom of God. Excejjt a man be so truly renewed, that you may term him a new creature : except he be as thoroughly purified by the effusion of the Spirit on his soul, as his body would be purified by pouring on it a stream of water; he cannot enter into the kincdom of God, that kingdom which Nicodemus was inquir- ing of. He may esteem himself — perhajis Nicode- mus did — clean in the sight of God; but he needs a cleansing which he can only receive from the Spirit, through faith in the Son of God, before he can belong to God's heavenly kingdom. This may be best illustrated, by considering the case of some who were thus born again. The Jewish assembly, addressed by St. Peter (Acts ii 14, &c.) became convinced of the wicked- ness in which they had been led to concur; and "being pricked in their hearts, said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." The idea of haptism was not strange or new to this assembly. They had known that proselytes from the heathen were baptized, when they turned 80 JOHN III. 1—5. from idols, and entered into the service of the living and true God, revealed to the Jewish nation. The heathen washed away the corruption of their idolatrous traditions. And these must wash away the corruption of prejudice and unbelief and hard- ness of heart, which had led them to "crucify the Prince of life." They must make this acknow- ledgment, that they required to be cleansed by the water of regeneration ; and were to rise out of it as " new creatures," from whom " old thinsfs had passed away." " Then they that gladly received his word, were baptized." Was it too much to say, they were horn again ? They had crucified Jesus : now they worshipped him. They had prided themselves in God's favour : now they humbled themselves, and entreated remission of their sins. They were en- abled, for the sake of that future life now set before them, to fix their affections, not on the things that are seen, but on the inheritance which is above. They were indeed new creatures : before they had lived for earth, now for heaven. " All that believed were together, and had all things com- mon ; and sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need." Another example occurs in the case of the Ethiopian who was returning from his worship at Jerusalem. (Acts viii.) He had learnt through the Jewish Scriptures to serve God. But as yet he knew nothing of the Redeemer. A particular commission was given to Philip, as a Christian teacher, to explain to him the doctrine of the JOHN III. 1—5. 81 Gospel, " And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water; and the eunuch said, See, here is water ; what doth hinder me to be baptized ? " Why may I not receive the benefit which Jesus, whom thou preachest unto me, came to bestow ? Why may I not enter into the kinrjdom of God, being horn again oficater and of the Spirit ; " putting- off the old man, which is corrupt accord- ing to the deceitful lusts ; and putting on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness ? " ^ Philip said, " If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he com- manded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch ; and he baptized him." " And he went on his way rejoicing." Having thus given an evidence of his faith, having been admitted into the covenant of grace, having received the pledge of the Holy Spirit, he went on his way rejoicing. These are jn-actical illustrations of our Lord's meaning ; Except a man he horn of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is a kingdom of holiness : and man is not holy but corrupt. The Saviour of the world has provided a way for his purification. Therefore the entrance into his religion is by an emblematical action, which indicates that man both needs to be renewed and purified, and desires to be renewed and purified ; desires that as water removes the defilement of the flesh, so the Spirit * See P:pli. iv. 22—24. G 82 JOHN 111. 1—5. of God may remove the corruption of the heart.^ If a man comes, like the Ethiopian, or like the Jews, of his own accord, and from personal conviction, and says, " See, here is water ; what doth hinder me to be baptized ? " he makes this acknowledg- ment for himself. If an infant is brought to bap- tism, the same acknowledgment is made by those who bring him. The parents, or whoever take the parents' place, come with this avowal. Their child is of a corrupt stock, sinful ; but they desire that he may be born again, washed in the fountain " opened for sin and for all uncleanness ; " — and that a new heart may be put within him, " in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God " And thus they enrol him as a member of God's kingdom. It were well if every child, which is presented in the temple for the outward ceremony of baptism, were brought with this intelligent conviction : with a sense of the necessity of this spiritual regeneration, and an earnest desire and prayer that it might be obtained ! The Lord approved of the zeal of those friends or parents who " brought young children to him, that he might touch them." It was done in faith, that he was a prophet ; it was done in hope, that a prophet's blessing might avail. It was done in earnestness and with full purpose of heart ; for ~ Hence the ancieut custom of putting white robes upon baptized persons, as signifying the purification of the soul ex- pected by virtue of their baptism : and expressed in a poem found among the works of Lactantius, Fulgentes animas vestis quoque Candida signat. JOHN 111 1—5. 83 when his disciples rebuked those that brought them, they still persevered, till Jesus, " laid his hands upon them and blessed them." And so there is reason to believe that he will hear and favour the prayers of all parents who come to the ordination of baptism in like simplicity of heart and faith : who feel that they have bestowed upon their offspring" an earthly, corrupt nature, which would lead, not to life, but to death : — " for that which is born of the flesh, is flesh : " — and who therefore pre- sent their children to him who can change and re- new that nature, and make it like unto his own. " For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." It behoves all, however, who are no longer children, to examine, how it is with themselves. Can it be said of them, that they have been born again f It must be true of them, if they belong to the kingdom of God. For " if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature."^ He is entirely diflerent from what he would be, if he were not in Christ Jesus. His trust is different: his views are different: his life is different. For he lives and thinks as one who knows, " that as many as are baptized into Jesus Christ, are baptized into his death." And " therefore they are buried with him by baptism into death ; that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so they also should walk in newness of life.'" ' 2 Cor. V. 17. * See Rom. vi. 3, 4. g2 84 JOHN III. 0-8. LECTURE XV. THE NECESSITY AND MEANS OF REGENERATION DECLARED. John iii. 6 — 8. G. That which is lorn of the flesh is Jlesh : mid that which is born of the Sj)irit is sjnrit. This sentence explains that which was last con- sidered. Jesus had assured Nicodemus, that " ex- cept a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot see the kingdom of God." And now he pro- ceeds to declare, why this is needed. He tells it in short but important words : That ivhich is born of the flesh is flesh. The flesh is a phrase used in Scripture to signify man*s nature. And that nature, as derived from Adam, is a corrupt and evil nature. Adam did not receive it so, for he was created pure and innocent : but he made it so when he transgressed the com- mands of God, and lost the innocence Avhich he had possessed, and the grace with which he had been endowed. And men since born his children are born in his likeness; inherit the nature of their JOHN III. 6—8. 85 sinful parents : are " very far gone from original righteousness," and from their earliest years are " ineh'ned to evil " continually. This is what our Lord declares : That whkh is born of the flesh is flesh : that which man brings with him into the world is tainted with the sinful- ness which has adhered to the human heart ever since the transgression of Adam. But this sinfulness, however it may prevail on earth, can have no })lace in heaven. " Corrup- tion cannot inherit incorruption." Unholy man cannot be admitted into the presence of a holy God. Therefore this corrupt nature must be cleansed and renewed, " Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." And for this regeneration and renewal, provision is made in the Gospel of Christ Jesus. That ivhich is born of the Spirit is spirit. The Spirit fulfils the well-known prophecy, " A new heart will I give you, and a right spirit will I put within you." The Spirit purifies the sinful principle, and enables the man to renounce evil, and to cleave to that which is good : to subdue wicked propensities, and to follow " love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance." Thus the flesh, the corrupt nature which is contrary to God, shall be subdued, and another nature introduced which shall be not earthly, but heavenly ; nor car- nal, but si>iritual ; not contrary to God, averse from his will, and stranQ:e to the holiness which belongs to him, but deligliting in the will of God, aspiring- after holiness, and setting the aiTections on things 86 JOHN III. 6—8. above. So that it might be truly affirmed, " If a man be in Christ Jesus, he is born again : is a new creature." Jesus is well aware that this would seem to Nico- demus " a hard saying," a mysterious doctrine. But he bids him look, not to the difficulty or strangeness of the work, but to the power by which it is to be performed. 7. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. 8. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth : so is every one that is born of the Spirit. This is a singular and instructive comparison. The Spirit is compared to the wind, because both the SjDirit and the wind are manifest from what they do, but are not seen in themselves, nor un- der man's control. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou canst not tell whence it comet h^ and ivhither it goeth. There is hardly anything in nature, over which man has so little power. God holds the winds, as he " holds the waters, in the hollow of his hand." ^ The wind and storm fulfil his word. But man can do nothing to direct, or regulate, or restrain it. The wind bloweth where it listeth. And such, says our Lord, is the case with the Spirit. It is beyond our power, or reach, or con- trol. Those who are born of the Spirit, are " born, ' Job ix. JOHN 111. 6—8. 87 not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." We cannot command the Spirit, and say, Come, and he cometh. The parent cannot secure the Spirit for his child, nor the child for his parent. The minister cannot en- gage that the Spirit shall influence the hearts of his people. Neither can the people secure that the Spirit may rest upon their minister, that he may " open his mouth boldly," or " rightly divide the word of truth." They can pray with hope, nay with confidence : but still there may be some reason, some hindrance known to God, and sufficient in his sight, why the gift should be withheld. They are constantly reminded, that the Spirit is not theirs to give. At the same time we must be far from supposing, because the Spirit bloweth where it listeth, that there are not sure and irregular causes for its breathing on one and not on another. Though we cannot determine or divert the course of the wind, nothing in nature is under more regular command. The stars are not more exactly governed, though the stars rise at a known and certain time, and the changes of the wind are to us uncertain. There is as much reason why the wind blows from a par- ticular quarter, and why it blows sometimes gently and sometimes forcibly, as there is reason Avliy a stone falls to the ground, or a feather floats in the air. So is every one that is born of the Spirit. The Spirit's influence is settled and directed by divine wisdom, though that wisdom is often to us unsearcha- ble, and " its ways past finding out." 88 JOHN III. 6—8. But though we cannot control the operation of the wind or of the Spirit, we can see the effects of both, and we know the presence of both by those effects. Of the wind it is said here, Thou hear est the sound thereof. It breathes in the gentle gales of spring, and all nature is refreshed and rejoiced ; it roars in the boisterous storm, and the forest shakes, and the vast sea heaves under its force. So likewise is the effect of the Spirit on the heart. The effect is manifest, though the agent is not visible. It is seen in that " righteousness, and peace, and joy," which are among its most precious results. Or it is seen in that boldness, and zeal, and energy, which rises against opposition ; which takes the kingdom of heaven by violence ; which rebukes the tyrant on his throne, and defies even the "king of terrors." These are proofs of the Spirit which will be dif- ferently manifested in different characters, accord- ing to their respective circumstances. But there is one proof which must be evident in every man who has a christian hope in him : namely, that the flesh is subdued to the spirit. St. Paul has shown us, (Rom. viii. 1 — 14,) that it is the great business of the christian life to " crucify the flesh with the affections and lusts : " as it is the sure mark of a Christian that " he walks not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and "they that are after the flesh cannot please God ; because the carnal mind is enmity against God ; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." " But ye are not JOHN III. 0—15. 89 in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die ; but if ye through the Spirit mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God."^ LECTURE XVI. DISCOURSE WITH NICODEMUS CONTINUED. THE TYPE OF THE BRAZEN SERPENT. John iii. 9 — 15. 9. Nicodei?i7(.s amivered and said unto him. How can these tilings he .^ 10. Jesns answered and said nnio him. Art thou a master of Israel, and knotvest not these things 1 11. Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we hare seen ; and ye receire not our witness. 12. If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? 13. And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man, which is in heaven. 2 Rom. viii. ID— 1-4. 90 JOHN III. 9—15. Nicodemus ought to have understood the neces- sity of that regeneration of which he was so hard to be convinced. For it was nothing new, to a master of Israel, to one instructed out of the law and the prophets. David had prayed, that God would *' create a new heart, and a right spirit within him." ' And God had promised the same, by the mouth of his prophets; saying in many places, " Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean : from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you."^ But even if it had not been so, and these things had been more novel and more mysterious than they were, Jesus was to be believed. He had given proofs that he ought to be believed: and Nicodemus had come, acknowledging this : ac- knowledging that he had shown himself to be a teacher sent from God. Yet he disputes his teach- ing, and says. How can these things he ? This is very common. We avow our belief, and we do believe, that Jesus is tlie Son of God ; and yet we receive not his witness : and live and act as if those things could not be, or would not be, of which he has declared. We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen. And yet if we refuse this testimony, to whom shall we go ? No man hath ascended up to heaven : no man can tell us of heavenly things, but he that came down from heaven for that express purpose, even the Son of man which is in heaven : whose abode ^ Ps. li. 10. 2 Ez. xxxvi. 25. JOHN III. 9—15. 91 is heaven whose dwelliDg is with God from the beginning. Let not such a witness have cause to say of any of us, Ye receive not my testimony. The words which immediately follow show% that to re- fuse it is death, to receive it everlasting life. 14. Aiid as Moses lifted up the serpent in the ivilderness, even so must the Son of man he lifted up : 15. That whosoever helieveth iti him^ should not perish, hut have eternal life. Here another truth is set before Nicodemus, which might more justly appear new and strange to him. We read in Numbers xxi. (C — 9,) that the peo- ple, weary of their detention in the wilderness, murmured against God and his servant Moses. " And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the peo- ple, and they bit the people ; and much people of Israel died. Therefore the people came to Moses, and said. We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord, and against thee : pray unto the Lord, that he take aw^ay the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole ; and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole ; and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass ho lived." This transaction, we now learn, had a meaning o no JOHN III. 0-15. Mhich could not be then foreseen ; a reference be- yond itself. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the luildei'ness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up. As the serpent was raised on high, in the midst of the camp, that it might be beheld by all the people : even so must the Son of man be raised upon the cross, that all might behold the Lamb of God, the sacrifice offered for the sin of the world. And for a like cause. The cause why Moses lifted up the serpent, was the hopeless state to which their sins had reduced the Israelites. "The people came to Moses and said. We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord, and against thee : pray unto the Lord, that he may take away the serpents from us." And the cause why Jesus was lifted up, was the sin of mankind. " Sin entered into the world, and death by sin ; and so death passed upon all men, for that all had sinned." ^ And then it was, by reason of this sad and hopeless condition, that the compassion of God was moved, and he " gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish." This is the first resemblance. But a further resemblance is found in the nature of the remedy. Of the Israelites, as many as looked up towards the serpent of brass, were healed of their wounds. Of sinners, it is promised that whosoever look up to the Sou of man, shall find the remedy of their sins. Their wound is healed, and is not a wound unto death. They are assured that " the 2 Rom. V. IL'. JOHN lil. !J— 15. 93 blood of Christ cleaiiseth from all sin.' Tliey are assured, that " sin shall not have dominion over them." " They are washed, they are sanc- tified, they are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God."' Thus is the consequence of sin removed, and it has no more power to destroy. The difl^culty is to feel that sense of danger which shall rouse us to seek deliverance. This must be done by ourselves. As there has been a lifting up' on God's part, there must be a looking up on ours. And here it is not with us as with the Israelites. The Israelites could not but per- ceive the malignancy of their bodily malady. The disease of the soul is hidden and concealed from our notice. But if anything can convince us of its fatal consequences, it must be the remedy which God has mercifully provided. The Son of man must be lifted up, that luhosoever helieveth^ on him should not perish. Unless then the Son of man be lifted up, there is no more help nor liope, than there was help or hope to the Israelites, till Moses lifted up the serpent of brass, that they who had been bitten might look upon it and live. This brings the subject closely home. Have we felt the wound which sin has inflicted upon the soul, and felt it deei)ly enough to seek its remedy ? Have we found that remedy in the sacrifice of Christ, now oftered as a full and perfect satisfaction ? Then is the Son of man to us, what the brazen serpent was to the Israelites. God has said to us, as to them, " Look unto him and be saved, all ye ends 94 JOHN III. IG— 21 of the earth." And he has also said, " There is no other name under heaven given among men," whereby ye may obtain health and salvation.* LECTURE XVII. DISCOURSE WITH NICODEMUS CONTINUED. John. iii. 16 — 21. 16. For God so loved the wo7'ld, that he gave his only he- gotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, hut have everlasting life. 17. For God sent not his Son into the world to con- demn the world ; hut that the world tliro ugh him might he saved. 18. He that helieveth on him is not condemned : hut he that helieveth not is condemned already, hecause he hath not helieved in the name of the only hegotten Son of God. 19. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, he- cause their deeds were evil. Our Lord has been uttering to Nicodemus things which probably surprised and perplexed him. But he does not leave him without an assurance full of comfort. He had sought Jesus, under an acknowledgment * See Acts. iv. 12. JOHN III. 16—21. 95 that he was "a teacher sent from God." He is now acquainted that God had indeed sent him as a pledge of his love, as the author of peace and bearer of mercy. He had come to an idolatrous world — a world which had become idolatrous, be- cause men had not " liked to retain God in their knowledfi-e." He came to a nation which had mis- used the privileges it enjoyed, had rejected the counsels of God, and despised his reproofs: and yet he came not to condemn the world, hut that the woidd through liim might he saved. He brought an offer of reconciliation ; and his first message was, Peace to this rebellious people : — " to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile." " Herein was love ; not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." He that helieveth on him is not condemned : hut he that helieveth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only hegotten Son of God. If subjects are in a state of rebellion against their sovereign, and he sends an embassy, offering to receive them again to favour on their laying down their arms : those who refuse his offer, and reject his messenger, are condemned already. They are condemned by their act of rebellion ; and " his wrath abides upon them : " their state of condem- nation continues, because they have not accepted the terms of reconciliation. Such is the case or those, who, like the Jews, reject the counsel of God against themselves. And what are the grounds of their refusal ? Do 96 JOHN III. 16—21. they say, We do not know him that is come to be the messenger of the Sovereign : we do not see his credentials ? This answer will not avail them, either in law or conscience, if they have refused to examine those credentials, if they have rejected him unheard : still less if he bora the signs of dignity so manifestly upon him, that all who had eyes to see, might recognise the proofs of his com- mission. But what, it might be asked, could induce them to refuse ? Could they have any culpable motive, any reason worse than ignorance ? Too surely might they have been kept back by pride and hardness of heart : submission requires humility. Too surely they might have been actuated by a re- bellious unrestrained spirit : disinclined to the rules imposed upon the subjects of the sovereign. And this, we are here told, was the condemnation of the Jews : that when light was come into the world, men loved darkness rather than light, he- cause their deeds were evil. Their deeds were evil, their heart was evil ; and they would brook no control, submit to no change of life. On several occasions they display this temper. They con- tended against Jesus, on this sole ground, that he convicted them of sinfulness. " Master, saying this, thou condemnest us also." " Are we blind also?" Here was a proud, unhumbled heart, which would not listen to a message of reconciliation. Recon- ciliation implied enmity. Mercy implied desert of punishment. Peace required submission. JOHN III. 10- -21. 97 " Take heed," as St. Paul says, " lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief," arising from a like cause. Evil liabits present a strong obstacle against reason and conviction. " If I believe in the name of Jesus Christ, (so a man may argue with himself,) I must acknowledge his precepts as my rule of life. I must l)e poor in sj)irit : I must be pure in heart. 1 must be meek and forgiving, I must be temperate and self-denying. A different society must be lived in : new habits formed : old habits abandoned." Thus a barrier is raised between a man and serious reflection, when conscience whis- pers that the result of reflection may make reforma- tion indispensable. So He has said, who knew the heart of man. 20. For every one that doeth evil liaieth the light ^ nei- ther eometh to the light, lest his deeds should he reproved. 21. Blithe that doeth truth eometh to the light, that his deeds may he made manifest, that they are nrought in (iod. Sincerity and insincerity arc here exactly de- scribed. Insincerity liateth the light : sincerity eometh to the light : eometh in a spirit like that of the Psalmist, '* Teach me, O God, the way of thy statutes !" " Give me understanding, and 1 shall keep thy law !" " Search me, God, and know my heart : try me, and know my thoughts : and see if there be any wicked way in me !" We may illustrate this by the different conduct of two kings of Judah. In the time of Josiali, " the book of the law," which had been lost sight of H 98 JOHN 111. IG— 21. during the ungodliness of some former reigns, was brought unexpectedly to light. (2 Kings xxii. 11 ; xxiii. 2). " And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the book of the law, that he rent his clothes. And the king went up into the house of the Lord, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him ; and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the Lord. And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant." Thus it is, that he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest that they are wrought in God. A few years afterwards, God sent a message to the son of this Josiah, Jehoiakim by name. (Jerem. xxxvi. 21.) It was written on a roll of parchment, and " Jehudi read it in the ears of the king, and in the ears of all the princes which stood beside the king. Now the king sat in the winter- house in the ninth month : and there was a fire on the hearth burning before him. And it came to pass, that when Jehudi had read three or four leaves, he cut it with the penknife, and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until all the roll was consumed." He has left us this awful exam])le, how every one that doeth evil hateth the 5 JOHN III. 22— 36. 99 light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. Tims is shown the disposition of the heart, and its spirit proved. And therefore the Almighty hath declared, " To this man will I look, even to him that' is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word." ^ LECTURE XVIII. JOHN THE BAPTIST'S TESTIMONY TO JESUS AS THE CHRIST, AND THE AUTHOR OF LIFE ETER- NAL. John iii. 22— 3G. 22. After Ihes^e things came Jesus and his disciples into the land of Judcea ; and there he tarried with them, and baptized. 23. And John also was baptizing inMnon near to Saliuiy because there was much water there : and they came, and were baptized. 24. For John ivas not yet cast into prison. 25. Then there arose a question between some of John''s disciples and the Jews about purifying. 26. A7id they came unto John, and said unto him. Rabbi, he that ivas with thee beyond Jordan, to tchom thou barest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to him. " Isa. Ixvi. 2. n 2 100 JOHN III. 22—36. 27. John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven. 28. Ye yourselves hear me witness that I said, I am not the Christ, hut that I am sent he/ore him. 29. He that hath the hride is the bridegroom ; but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my Joy there/ore is fuljilled. 30. He must increase, but I must decrease. If the spirit of John the Baptist had been of the world, worldly, he would have been distressed and grieved at the intelligence which his disciples brought him. He to whom thou barest witness, be- hold, the same haptizeth, and all men come to him. He would have partaken of the feeling which in them was natural and pardonable, when they were jealous that his honour should be diminished : un- willing that his star should fade before the light of " the Sun of Righteousness." But he has the satisfaction of reminding them, that instead of claiming honour, he had uniformly declined it. Ye yourselves hear me witness, that I said, that I am not the Christ, hut that I am sent he- fore him. And to this he now adds the beautiful remark, A man can receive 7iothing, except it he given him from heaven. What a multitude of heartburnings, and envyings, and jealousies are removed when that sentence has possession of the heart ! " For what hast thou, which thou hast not received ?" Hast thou talents ? " Every good and perfect gift cometh from above." Hast thou station or fortune ? " God set- teth up one, and putteth down another. Hast thou JOHN 111. 2-2- 3G. 101 success in thy just and rigliteous designs ? One plants, and another waters ; it is " God who giveth the increase." And if it is God who elevates, who bestows : so it is God also who withholds, who depresses, who denies. " Even so, Father; for so it seemeth good in thy sight." Could we keep this in view, it would banish discontent : for dis- content is a want of dejjendence upon God : a forgetfulness, that as a man can receive nothing, so neither can he be deprived of any thing, but from heaven. John proceeds to bear record to him whose mes- senger he was, and whose voice he now rejoiced to hear. 31. He that comet h from ahore is ahore all : he that is of tlte earth is earthlD^andspeaketh of the earth : lie thai cometlt from heaven is above all. 32. And what he hath seen and heard, that he testi- Jieth ; and no man receiveth his testimony. 33. He that hath received his testimony hath set to his seal that God is true. 34. For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God ; for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him. 35. TJie Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand. 36. He that belie veth o)i the Sou liatli eicrlasling life ; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life ; but the wrath of God abidcth on liim. John speaks here, as inspired with an ample know- ledge of the blessings conveyed by " the covenant 102 JOHN III. 22—36. of promise." He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. Wlio can sufficiently comprehend what is intended in that phrase ? The presence of God : and in his " presence is fuhiess of joy :" the possession of a nature without sin and with- out sorrow : the deliverance from fear or danger; the exception from all decay or change for ever. This is the consummation. But the sentence both here and elsewhere speaks of something in possession. He that believeth hath everlasting life. He has now the beginning, the earnest of it. He has it, in reconciliation, acceptance, adop- tion with God. He has it, in union with Christ. He has it, in the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. He has it, in a heart raised beyond this present world, and fixed on things above. He has it, in " righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." All these blessings are immediate; a new life given now, connected with life ever- lastins* : a life unknown to those who do not belong to the same covenant : a secret hidden life which is animating the man within, whilst outwardly he is partaking of the cares and duties of the world below. Is this indeed a " treasure," a '' pearl of great price ?" John here tells us to whom it belongs, and by what means it is obtained. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. For the Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand. They, then, enjoy the blessing, who believe that God hath sent his Son, that he may give eternal JOHN HI. 22—36. 103 life to as many as receive him : to all who receive the offer which is made in plain and simple terms, " Whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die : but I will raise him up at the last day." " Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." They who hear this offer with a hearing ear, reflect within themselves how far it may suit their case, how far it may supply their need. They per- ceive its fitness. For they are conscious of the dis- tance which separates them from God : that though they live, and move, and have their being in him, their hearts are naturally strangers to the holiness which he requires. They gladly accept the ofter, and take the promise home, as simply as it is made. It is offered to the believers, and they be- lieve. It is held out to as many as receive Christ Jesus, and they receive him. They become one with him, and he with them : they dwell in him, and he in them. In all their spiritual groM'th, he strengthens and cherishes them, as the tree its branches. In their fears and dangers, he is their refuge, as the ark was a refuge to Noah. In their difficulties and labours he directs them, as the head directs the members of the body. x\nd though their life is sometimes feeble and ready to fail, and they are subject to many alternations of health and weakness ; still it survives ; they have life, they have everlasting life, as long as their faith keeps them united to the Saviour wliom God liath sent, luho speaketh the words of God. They have received his testimony, though multitudes refuse 104 JOHN IV. 1—14. it : tliey have set to their seal that God is true, and that " faithful is he who hath promised." It is not so with those who despise the gift of God, and set at nought his offers. Their state is described here in words few and brief, but amply comprehensive. He that believeth not the Son shall not see life : hut the wrath of God abideth on him. The ark has floated near them, but tliey have refused to enter it for safety ; therefore the flood nmst come, and sweep them all away. They have been nigh to the " city of refuge," and have refused to take shelter within its gates ; therefore the wrath of God abideth on them. LECTURE XIX. JESUS DISCOURSES WITH A WOMAN OF SAMARIA. John iv. 1 — 14. 1. When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John, 2. (Thouijh Jesus himself baptized not, but his dis- ciples,) 3. He left Judcea, and departed again into Galilee.* ' Sec Matt. iv. 12 ; Mark i. 14 ; Luke iv. 14. JOHN IV. 1 — 14. 105 4. And he tnusf needs go throufjh Samaria. 5. Tlien comet Ji he to a cilij of Savuirla,whicJi is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gate to his son Joseph r 6. Now JacoVs well^ uas there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with hisjourneg, sat thus on the well : and it was about the si.vth hour. 7. There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water : Jesus saith nnto her, Give me to drink, 8. {For his disciples were gone auay unto the city to buy meat.) 9. Tlien saith the woman of Samaria nnto him., How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which ant a woman of Sainaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. 10. Jesus ansivered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and icho it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou woiildest have asked of him, and he tcould have given thee living water. It was indeed an extraordinary providence, a signal gift of God, that what many i)rophets and righteous men had desired to see and had not seen, should now be unexj)ectedly granted to this Sa- maritan woman. The restorer of a lost world was before her. The author of eternal life was convers- ing with her. Without seeking it, without know- ing it, she had met with that " hidden treasure," that " pearl of great price," which " when a man has found, he sells all he has" to obtain. ^ As related Gen. xlviii. 2, in the account of Jacob's death. " Moreover I have given to thee one portion above thy brctlnen which I took out of the hand of the Amoritc witli my sword, and with my bow." ^ A well which bore the name of Jacob. 106 JOHN IV. 1—14. We too must remember the gift of God, in mak- ing us to differ from that vast multitude who are yet strangers to the blessings of redemption. And the Lord here shows how those will act. who are happy in knowing these things. Thou wouldest have askedy and he woidd ham given thee living water. In a future discourse it is explained what that living water is. This spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe in him shall receive." The Spirit, which renews, and cleanses, and sanctifies the soul ; which comforts and instructs it, and guides it into all truth ; which ena1)les it to discern heavenly things, and to live the life of faith in the Son of God ; this is the blessing intended here; the blessing which Christ alone can give ; the blessing which they who know the gift of God^ wdll ask of him; and which all who do ask of him shall receive. This was as yet an unknown language to the Samaritan. 11. The tvoman mith unio him, Sir, thou hast nothiiKj to draic with, and the well is deep : from irheiice then hast thou that living icater ? 12 Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle ? 13. Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever driuketh of this water shall thirst again : 14. But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst ; hut the irater that I shall (jive him shall be in him a well of water sjwitiging up into everlaslin;/ life. JOHN IV. 1 — 14. 107 See here described, in vivid terms, the effect of that Spirit which Jesus sheds abroad upon the heart. First by comparison of what it is not, and does not resemble. Whosoever drhiketh of this water shall thirst again. How truly does this characterise the things which are most valued in this world ! Whosoever drinketh, shall thirst again. The pleasures of the world, whenever they are made the chief object, how truly unsatisfying are they, wearying when present, yet leaving the mind restless till it returns to them, and is again wearied. Riches, honours ! these too, they who have tasted, thirst again : something is still wanting, and yet re- mains to be acquired, often even on the brink of the grave. It is not thus with the living water, drawn from the well of salvation. 1. It never fails. It is a living spring, per- petually flowing; not a "broken cistern," Mhich may be soon exhausted. The more grace is sought, the more is grace bestowed. If all the world would ask — for all have need to ask, and all must ask at the right source — but if ail would ask and seek, not one should be refused. The invita- tion has no limits. It is wide as the prophet's words, " Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters !" 2. Next, it always satisfies. Whosoever drhiketh of the water ichich I shall give him, shall never thirst. No craving void ensues, no restless desire is left to harass and disturb. It brings with it, and sheds over the soul, a calm, a satisfying comfort which 108 JOHN IV. 1 — 14. nothing else can give, and which only those who have enjoyed it can understand. 3. And, thirdly, it has an object and an end to which nothing earthly can be compared. It spring- eth up into everlasting life. It proceeds in a course which is to lead to that inestimable and incon- ceivable blessing. And in this view, how justly may the Spirit which Jesus communicates be described as a spring of living water. Consider such a spring. It has its source in the rain and dews which God has provided to water the earth and make it fruitful, And the living water which Christ affords, pro- ceeds from God. He so loved the world, that he sent his only Son to be the author of salvation. The spring, small commonly at its source, gains strength as it flows along. So the Spirit in the heart may at first be as a drop, to which other and fresh drops are continually added, till it becomes a clear and sparkling stream. The spring too, proceeding from its perennial source, and flowing onward, purifies its channel as it runs. It carries down before it that which is impure and muddy and would impede its current, and what remains is clear and beautiful. Such likewise is the effect of the Spirit of Christ upon the soul. It meets at first with much that is of an uncongenial nature, much that would sully and corrupt it. But this it gradually clears away. The " lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life, and whatsoever is not of the Father but of the world ' — these it carries off, and suffers JOHN IV. 1—14. 109 not to rest, and choke the stream. Nothing remains but the purer properties of the renewed heart, tem- perance, and patience, and godliness, and meek- ness, and charity. These are seen to shine be- neath the flowing water, and reflect that " Sun of righteousness," from which their beauty is de- rived. As a last point of resemblance, I observe that the stream still runs. It does not stagnate. It seems to have an object, from which it Mill not be long diverted; it cannot be stopped or restrained. It seeks the wide river or the still wider ocean, in which it is to be received at last. Such too is the living water of the Spirit. It is in the heai^t a well of water springing up into everlasting life. For this it was given : and for this it flows, and will flow on until the end come. When it first began, this was the object at which it aimed ; and this it keeps constantly in view till that object is reached. It turns aside whatever would impede its course ; and it gathers strength as it continues to flow. Christ, its author, gives fresh supplies from his ful- ness ; gives " grace for grace ; "" till at last he re- ceives the soul, renewed and purified, into a sea which knows no storms. There it shall glide on through all eternity, in undisturbed peace and in unsullied purity. Just cause were there to say, If thou kncwest the gift of God — thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. We all know the gift of God. " Ask, and ye shall receive ; seek, and ye shall find." This gra- no JOHN TV. 15—20. cious promise is implied in what is said to the woman : Thou wouldest have asked, and he would have given thee. It is clearly implied, that " who- soever is athirst, may come and take of the water of life freely." LECTURE XX. DISCOURSE WITH THE WOMAN OF SAMARIA CON- TINUED. JESUS DISCLOSES HIMSELF TO HER AS THE CHRIST. John iv. 15 — 26. The woman at the well of Sychar, who gave oc- casion to the preceding lecture, still continues to understand in its literal sense, and in no other, the allusion of Jesus to Iwing water. Upon which he leaves the subject, and proceeds to announce himself to her, and through her to the inhabitants of Samaria, as the Messiah whom they were ex- pecting. 15. The woman saith loito him, Sir, give me this water ^ that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw. 16. Jesus saith ttnto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither. 17. Tlie woman answered and said, I have no husband. JOHN IV. 15— 2(). Ill Jesus said unto her. Thou hast well said, I have no hus- band : 18. For thou hast Ji ad Jive huslands ; and he whom thou tiow hast is not thi/ husband: in that saidst thou truly. 19. TJie woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. 20. Our fathers ivorshipped in this mountain;^ and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. 21. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, iclien ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22. Ye worship ye know not what : we know what we worship : for salvation is of t lie Jews. The worship of the Samaritans had been cor- rupted from the time when they became inter mixed with the people of various countries, who had been sent to settle in Samaria, after its con- quest by the king of Assyria. The true God had been recognized, and the early Scriptures j^reserved among them, But the idolatry and superstitions introduced by foreign settlers liad been so inter- mixed with the truth, that they could only be de- scribed as icorshipping they knew not luliat. The Jews, with all their formality and hypocrisy, still knew what they worshipped. I'hey knew Him who had established them " to be a people unto him- self." They had kept the revelation of his will, " the law and the prophets," pure and entire. 1 Mount Gerizim. The blessings were promised there. (Deut. xxvii 12, &c.) Hence the Samaritans inferred that there ought to be the temple. 112 JOHN IV. 15—26. This woman showed by her language that she had little understanding of the real nature of divine worship. Her mind turned to the place, not to the manner of worshipping : whether this moun- tain of Samaria, mount Gerizim, or mount Sion, was the acceptable dwelling-place of the Most High. Jesus foretels, in the first place, the destruction in which both the Jews and the Samaritans were soon about to be involved, which should spare neither the temple at Gerizim, nor even the more costly buildings of Jerusalem. And then he intimates the establishment of a purer faitli, w^iich should lead to a spirit of devotion agreeable to the nature of God. 23. Bid IJie Jiour cometh, and noiv is, when the true worshippers s/tall worship t/ie Fatlier in spirit and in truth, for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 24. God is a Spirit : and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. 25. Tlie woman saith unto him, I know that Messias Cometh, ^vliicJi is called Christ: ichen he is come, he will tell us all things. 26. Jesus saith unto her, I that sj)eak unto thee am he. What Jesus declares concerning the worship of God, is the thing to be first attended to here. He teaches us — by implication — what the wor- ship of God should not be. It should not be a mere form or ceremony. This our nature inclines to make it. This woman's error, is the error of all human nature : treating the worship of God as if it consisted in circumstantials, and not in realities. People who are very far from a real 10 JOHN IV. 15—20. 113 knowledge or abiding fear of God, are compara- tively ready to comply with religious forms. These satisfy that inward sense, that conviction of reason which prevails, that God must not be altogether neglected. The Jews, for example, with no love to God in their hearts, were not deficient in their sacrifices and offerings : but are constantly reminded by the prophets, that this was not the chief service which God demanded. Samuel reproves Saul, (1 Sam. XV. 22,) "Hath the Lord as great de- light in burnt-offerings and sacrifices, as in obey- ing the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken, than the fat of rams." The Psalmist is made to ask, (1. 13,) "Will I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats ? Offer unto God thanksgiving, and pay thy vows unto the Most Higli, and call upon me in the day of trouble. So the prophets : (Hos. vi. G :) " For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt- offerings." (Mic. vi. 7.) " Will the Lord be pleased with thousand of rams, or with ten thousand of rivers of oil ? Shall I give my first-born for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul ? He hath showed thee, man, what is good : and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God ? " From all these passages it appears that the Jews were not backward to offer outward worship, how- I 114 JOHN IV. 15—26. ever burtlieiisome : and tliat the reproof of God ■\vas, that when they offered sacrifice, they did not feel as penitents ; when they worshipped before him, they were actuated by no sentiments of pious and grateful love. A kindred error prevails at all times : for as was before hinted, it is not in Jewish nature, nor in Samaritan nature, but in the universal nature of the human heart. How hardly are men persuaded that the services of the church are not in themselves religion, but the signs and means of religion ! How slow are they to understand, that prayer is not merely the performance of a duty, but the expres- sion of the heart ! that the partaking of the Lord's Supper is not faitli, but an ordinance for the faith- ful to observe ! That the consecrated place, the posture, the ceremonial, the rite, are only valuable, as far as they assist the dull and wayward heart to oifer what God does value ? For he does value, that is, he graciously conde- scends to receive, sincere and spiritual worship. He receives that worshij) which the heart sponta- neously offers, when filled with a sense of his holi- ness, greatness, goodness : when it looks up to him as the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, and through him, the Father of those whom " he is not ashamed to call his brethren :" when it feels at once levelled to the dust by conscious unv\orthiness, and yet raised above the world by the covenant of grace. This is the worship which proceeds from the heart, when brought by the Holy Spirit to the know- ledge of God. Low and feeble as it is, compared JOHN IV. 27—38. 115 with the majesty of him whom it addresses, still it is not contrary to his nature ; and therefore it is the worship of truth. And not being dependent upon mere outward ceremony, though perhaps as- sisted by it, — it is the worship of the spirit. And such is the worship, we are assured, which the Fa- ther seeks. Such is the worship, which being begun here in the frailty and imperfection of our fallen nature, may be perfected hereafter, when that which is sinful is done away, when corruption is changed for incorruption faith for sight, humili- ation for glory. For they that have " washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb, are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple." LECTURE XXI. DISCOURSE WITH THE DISCIPLES AT THE WELL IN SAMARIA. John iv. 27—38. 27. And upon this came his disciples, and marvelled that he talked ivHh the woman .-^ yet no man said, What seekest thou 2 or, Why talkest thou icith her'^ Explained in v. i). " For the Jews have no deaHngs with the Samaritans." I 2 116 JOHN IV. 27—38. 28. The woman then left her water-pot^ and went her way into the city, and saith to the men, 29. Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did : is not this the Christ ? 30. Then they went out of the city, and came unto him. 31. In the mean while his disciples prayed him, saying, Master, eat. 32. But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of. 33. Therefore said the disciples one to another. Hath any man brought him ought to eat ? 34. Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. The state of mind which is implied in these gra- cious words, is full of comfort and encouragement to ourselves. It is when the heart is filled with deep anxiety that there is no desire of food. When the eldest servant of Abraham's house was sent to the city of Nahor to seek a wife for Isaac among his father's kindred, he was taken into the house where Re- bekah dwelt with her friends. (Gen. xxiv. 33.) " And there was sat meat before him to eat : but he said, I will not eat until I have told my errand." So Samuel, when sent to anoint one of the sons of Jesse as the future king of Israel, when he missed David the youngest from the company, said to Jesse, (1 Sam. xvi. 11,) "Send and fetch him: for we will not sit down till he be come hither." It was the same in the present case. Jesus being wearied with his journey — (for he was bear- ing our weaknesses, and was subject to our in- firmities,) — sat resting on the well. His disciples JOHN IV. -27-38. H7 went for food ; and on their return, aware of bis necessity, pressed iiim to eat. He, the mean while, had forgotten the exhaustion of nature, and had fed upon the divine work in which he was en- gaged. Mij meat and drink is to do the ivill of km that sent me, and to finish his work. But there is another encouragement arising out of this answer. The earnestness of the messenger depends, in part, on the earnestness of him whose message he conveys. The servant of Abraham was urgent, because Abraham was urgent. Samuel re- fused to be delayed, because God had sent him with a commission which required to be promptly exe- cuted. And so the eager anxiety of Jesus here, was to do the will and finish the work of his heavenly Father. What then was that will ? The salvation of souls. And what that work ? The making himself known as a Redeemer, the author of man's salvation. It is therefore the will of God, that no opportunity be lost of forwarding this work : it is his will that "all should come to repentance and the know- ledge of the truth." Can there be a stronger in- ducement either to receive the word of God our- selves, or to communicate it to others ? To com- municate it, is to do the work which God would have done : to receive it, is to conform to his will. He desires that man shall be happy in the know- ledge of himself, and in the participation of his na- ture. And the Son of God rejoices in the prospect of imparting this happiness. He goes on to say, 35. Say not ye. There are yet four months, and then Cometh harvest ? Behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes 118 JOHN IV. 27—38. and look on the fields ; for they are white already to har- vest. 36. And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gather eth fruit unto life eternal; that hath he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. 37. And herein is that saying true, One soweth and ano- ther reapeth. 38. / sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour ; other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours. The husbandman rejoices in his mind, and feels his labour recompensed, when, on looking towards the fields which he has tilled, he sees a just hope of future harvest. And so Jesus bids his disciples look towards the fields of Samaritan ignorance and superstition, and already perceive a promise, even before the expected time. The regular season was not yet ; he had not yet been " lifted up " upon the cross, that he might " draw all men after him." And yet the fields were white already : for the Sa- maritans had listened to the summons of the woman to whom he had revealed himself, and were now hastening to see him, who, as she affirmed, had told her all things that ever she did: is not this the Christ ? And this was an earnest of that harvest which the apostles should reap, and which should be to them "a crown of rejoicing" in the end He that reap- eth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal. He receiveth wages : for the master whom he serves, " is not " unrighteous to forget his work and labour of love : and he gathereth fruit unto life JOHN IV. 27—38. 119 eternal : he shall both " save himself and those that hear him." " If the faithful reform his own soul, that is fruit abounding to his account ; it is fruit gathered to life eternal. And if, beyond this, he is instrumental in saving the souls of others too, there is more fruit gathered : souls gathered to Christ are fruit, good fruit, the fruit which Christ seeks and desires : it is gathered for him, and it is gathered to life eternal." In the part assigned them in this work of mercy, the aj3ostles w^ere greatly honoured and greatly fa- voured. In their case was the saying made good, one soiveth and another rcapeth. The seed of that harvest which w^as to be reaped now^, liad been sow^n during many preceding ages. Moses had laboured in it, when he conducted the Israelities to the field in which it should grow, and when he planted the law in preparation fur the gospel which should fol- low. David and Isaiah, and the other prophets had also laboured, and tended the springing blade ; who prophesied of the grace that shoukl come. But to these it was never permitted to say, "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation," To these it was not allowed to proclaim the glad tidings, how " God w^as in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself:" how, dispersing the long night of igno- rance, he now commanded all men everywhere to " repent," and " lay hold of everlasting life." The gospel seed was sown, when that tradition was given to which the Samaritan M'oman alluded : / knoiu that Messiah cometh, which is called Christ. But 120 JOHN IV. 27—38. the harvest was to be reaped, when it could be said, I that speak unto thee am he. And the fruit would be gathered, when those of the Samaritans who believed, and continued stedfast, should receive the end of this faith, even eternal life. For this, as we should carefully observe, is the end, the object of all. For this, God prepared the field. For this, the Spirit tilled the field. For this, the prophet sowed. For this, Jesus went through his appointed labours. For this, the apostles at length put in their sickle ; that im- mortal souls, that our immortal souls, might be a harvest to the glory of God, and repay the Re- deemer's toil. How great must be the blessedness in store for souls thus gathered unto life eternal, and purchased at so high a cost ! when both he that soiveth, and he that reapeth, shall rejoice toge- ther, and no more blight or mildew, no more storm or tempest, shall endanger the harvest, now safely lodged in the garner of the heavenly hus- bandman ? All will then unite in the same chorus, and the strain will be, " Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name be the praise." " For thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us unto God by thy blood." " Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen." 2 2 Rev. V. 12 ; vii. 12. JOHN IV. 39—4-2. 121 LECTURE XXII. THE FAITH OF THE SAMARITANS. John iv. 39 — 42. 39. And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did. 40. So when the Samaritans icere come unto him, they besought him that he woidd tarry with them : and he abode there two days. 41. And many more believed because of his own word; 42. And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not be- cause of thy saying ; for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the ivorld. All Scripture is profitable for instruction. And this account of the inhabitants of Sycliar may serve a very important purpose. It furnishes a striking example of the two sorts of faith which may exist in the mind, and which it is highly needful to dis- tinguish. The first, is a belief grounded on the report of others. Many believed on J dm for the saying of the woman, wldcli testified. He told me all that ever I did. The second sort of faith goes further, and depends on personal experience and conviction. Now we believe, not because of thy saying ; for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed 122 JOHN IV. 39—42. the Christy the Saviour of the world. It will be useful to examine this. The faith of the Samaritans, in the first instance, when they went out from the city and came unto Jesus, had its foundation in the report which the woman made. She had assured them that Jesus had proved himself to be acquainted with all the acts of her life. It could only be accounted for in one way. Is not this the Chi^ist ^ Can this man, to whom all hearts are open, and from whom no secrets are hid, be any other than he whom we were looking for, who was to come into the world ? They concluded that it must be so, and believed at her saying. This is the foundation of all faith in Christ. It is far from being- all that is meant by " receiving him and believing in his name : " but it is the need- ful basis on which all future faith may stand. We believe that a Saviour of the world had been pro- mised : had been foretold by prophets : had been prefigured by types : had been expected by devout men : and at last appeared in man's nature about eighteen hundred years ago. We believe that he did many miracles : healed the sick, restored the dead: taught an excellent doctrine, exhorted sin- ners to repent : suffered deatli upon the cross, but rose again from the tomb, and ascended to the place which he had left in the bosom of the Father. This we believe ; — on the report of others ; — on the report of those who lived at that time, and witnessed these things. They delivered these facts to their children and contemporaries: these JOHN IV. 39—42. 123 handed them down to the generation that came after ; and in this way they have always been be- lieved by Christians, who could not possibly know the facts in any other manner, unless the Christ were to appear in every age. It was thus with the Samaritans. They believed first on the woman's report. They could not have known, for them- selves, whether Jesus had declared to her the secret actions of her life. But she assured them so, and they believed her. Now this is the sort of faith in which the inha- bitants of a Christian country grow up. They know that they have been baptized in the name of Jesus. They know the principal circumstances of his life. They know that he suffered death upon the cross ; and they have a vague idea that his death was a great benefit to mankind. Such is the belief of children ; and the belief of many who are no longer children goes no farther. The belief which they have is good, though not suffi- cient. They must believe that " the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us ; " that he " died for our sins, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day, according to the Scriptures."^ And these things they can only believe on the testimony of those who witnessed them. If the people here had not attended to their country-woman, saying, Come and see a man who told me all things that ever I did, they would never have heard him for them- selves at all. But still we must bear in mind that this is only ' See 1 Cor. xv. 3, 4. 124 JOHN IV. 39—42. the beginning of that faith, by which, " being jus- tified, we have peace with God." A person may believe all this, and feel no doubt of its truth : '^ and yet may be no way influenced by it in his heart and life. It is the same with belief in the existence of God. How few are found ready to deny that " there is one God !" And yet how few live as if they believed it; and either love, or fear, or reverence, or obey him ? Nothing is more easy, and nothing more common, than to believe that Jesus was sent from God ; that he was " ap- proved as such by signs and wonders and mighty deeds," that he most unjustly suffered a cruel death : —all this we may believe, and yet have none of that faith by which men are justified before God ; and of which Jesus so frequently declared, " Thy faith hath saved thee ; go in peace." It is one thing to know a man to be an excellent physician; it is another thing to apply to him, and follow his coun- sel. So it is one thing to believe in the history of Jesus as related in the Bible : and another thinfj to rely on him as " the Christ, the Saviour of the world," by whom alone we obtain health or salvation. But to this real and justifying faith the Sama- ritans proceeded, being led on to it by their own inquiry and experience. Now we believe, not for thy saying ; for ice have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world. On the testimony which the woman gave, they had besought him that he would tarry ^ See James ii. 19. JOHN IV; 39—42. 125 with them. And he abode there two days. And during those two days, though his discourses are not preserved, we may feel sure what their subject was. He would tell them, that " except they repent, they must all perish." But that they need not perish. " For God had sent his Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved." " He that believeth on him is not condemned, but hath ever- lasting life." These things he was often repeating, and those to whom he addressed them, cavilled at his words : or " went back, and walked no more with him." But here was more of that " honest and good heart," which the Lord opens, so that it " understands the things that are spoken." So that many believed because of his ivord: and said. We have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world. And all must be able to affirm the same, who have any scriptural right to peace or hope as being " reconciled to God " " through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." They must have under- stood the description of Christ as suited to them- selves, and the promises of Christ as offered to themselves. In infancy they had been enrolled within his covenant : in their youth they had named the name of Christ, and believed on their parent's word, or their country's creed. But now they have sought further, and learnt more, and themselves discovered that this is indeed the Christ. They can assume the language of the apostle, " I know in whom I have believed, and that he is able 126 JOHN IV. 43—54. to keep what I have committed to him unto the great day." Let none rest, till they can say this in their own persons, as the feeling of their own hearts. " For so an entrance shall be ministered unto them into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour." LECTURE XXIII. A NOBLEMAN'S SON IS RESTORED FROM A DANGEROUS FEVER. John iv. 43 — 54. 43. Now after two days he departed thence^ and went into Galilee.^ 44. For Jesus himself testified, that a prophet hath no honour in his own country.' 45. Then when he was come into Galilee, the Galileans received him, having seen all the things that he did at Jeru- salem at the feast: for they also went unto the feast? 46. S)0 Jesus came again into Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum. 47. When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judea 1 Passing in his way through Nazareth, which lay between Sychar and Gahlee. 2 See on Mark vi. 4 ; Luke iv. 24. 3 They attended the feast of the passover. G JOHN IV. 43—54. 127 into Galilee^ he went unto him, and hesoiiyht him that he would come down, and heal his son : for he teas at the point of death. 48. Then said Jesus unto him, Excejyt ye see sif/ns and wotiders, ye will not believe. We have an example here, if examples were needed, how little riches can effect towards real hap- piness. They cannot confer it, because they can neither remove the causes of affliction with which the world abounds, nor do much to soothe them. This nobleman, whose son lay at the point of death, found nothing to tranquillise his distressed feelings, either in his honours or his wealth. Affliction did more for him than either. Affliction brought him a suppliant to the feet of Jesus. The treatment which he received there, was not exactly the same which other suppliants received. St. Matthew relates, (viii. 5 — 13,) how " when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, and saying, Lord, my servant licth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. And Jesus saitli unto him, I will come and heal him." But here the petitioner met with a rebuke; though high in station, and though making his entreaty, not for a servant, but a son. Instead of answering, " I will come and heal him," Jesus said unto him^ Except ye see signs and wondei'Sj ye icill not believe. No doubt, in either case the answer was exactly that which was most suitable. We know that the centurion was a proper object of encouragement '■> 128 JOHN IV. 43—54. for be at once replied to our Lord, " Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed." Jesus was well aware of this; " for he knew what was in man." And we may be equally sure that he read something in the heart of this nobleman, which made him less fitted for a prompt and unhesitating compliance. Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe. Now signs and wonders were part of the evidence of Jesus's divinity which should lead men to believe. But they were not the only proofs of the power in which he came. " Gracious words proceeded out of his mouth." The purity of his precepts and the authority of his doctrine showed that God was in those latter days speaking unto man by his Son.^ Perhaps the nobleman had appeared insensible to signs like these. Perhaps for this reason Jesus thought it good to humble him, instead of imme- diately declarino^, " I will come and heal him." The man, however, like the Canaanite woman in a case somewhat similar, receives the reproof in a meek and quiet spirit : he opens not his mouth, makes no complaint or defence, but urges his re- quest once more. 49. The nobleman saith unto him. Sir, come down ere my child die. 50. Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way ; thy son liveth. Atid the man believed the tvord that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way. * See Heb. i. 1,2. 10 JOHN IV. 43—54. 129 The man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him. If there had been anything amiss be- fore, any want of faith in his seeking the actual pre- sence of Jesus, instead of saying, Speak the word only, and my son shall be healed : this was now removed. He believed. He exercised the same faith as St. Paul commends in Abraham ; (Rom. iv. 20 ;) " He staggered not at the promises of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully persuaded that what he had promised, he was able also to perform. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteous- ness." 51. Afid as he was now (joing down his servants met him, and told him, saying, Thij son liveth. 52. Then inquired he of them the hour when he began to amend. And theg said unto him. Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him. 53. So the father knew that it was at the same hour, in the which Jesus said unto him, Tlnj son liretJi ; and him- self believed, atid his uliole house. 54. This is again the second miracle that Jesus did, when he was come out of Judea into Galilee. It is proper to remark here, that those healings of the body are emblems of the recovery of the soul. Jesus said to the anxious father, Go thy way ; thy son liveth. Though tliis was spoken at the distance of a day's journey from the scene of the illness, it was soon found tliat tlie fever had been ol)edient to his command. It is the same with the restoration of the soul. Though he is in K 130 JOHN IV. 43—54. heaven, and we wlio believe in him, and make our supplications to him, are on earth ; he still will speak the word, and the sin which is repented of shall be pardoned ; the power of Satan which threatens to destroy, shall be kept in subjection ; the lusts which war against the soul shall be sub- dued. Only let there be the same sense of our own weakness : the same confidence in Christ's strength ; the same earnestness in prayer " for grace to help in time of need." It should also be kept in constant remembrance, that, in one sense, the case of this parent is the case of all parents. His necessity is their neces- sity, and his prayer should be their prayer. For, without Jesus, their child must likewise die. Believing this, let them "ask in faith, nothing waverinir." Let them ask at the font, when their infant is " received into the congregation of Christ's flock," that he will " mercifully look upon their child, wash him and sanctify him with the Holy Ghost," and make him an " inheritor of his everlasting kingdom."^ Let them daily continue to entreat, that the good work which has been be- gun, may be carried on unto the end : and the child be kept " by the power of God, through faith, unto salvation." We may humbly, but con- fidently, hope and trust, that children shall not finally perish, who are children of these prayers. 5 See Baptismal Service. JOHN V. 1—9. 131 LECTURE XXIV. A CRIPPLE IS HEALED AT THE POOL OF BETHESDA. John v. 1 — 9 1. After this there was a feast of the Jews ; ajid Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ' 2. ]!^ow there is at Jerusalem hij the slieep market a. pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, ^ having Jive porches. 3. Iti tJiese lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, ivithered, waiting for the moving of the water. 4. For an angel went down at certain seasons into the fool, afid troubled the water ; whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in, icas made whole of what- soever disease he had. This place, where a number of diseased persons were collected together, too nearly resembles the picture of our moral world. What does the world contain, but what these porches of Bethesda con- tained ? A great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered. Impotent we are, unable to fulfil the commands of God ; not loving* him with all our heart, nor our neighbour as ourselves. The ^ So this feast, the Passover, rcquiretl. See Deut. xvi. 1(5. ^ That is, the house of mercy. K 2 132 JOHN V. 1—9. apostle has described our state : '* I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing." Blind too we are, as to our best and truest inte- rests ; and too often loving darkness rather than light; or boasting that "we see," when in truth we know nothing as we ought to know. These moral evils, also, were brought on in the same way as the bodily evils mentioned in the his- tory. Adam sinned ; and with sin came death : and with death, all that leads to death : all disease, and pain, and infirmity. Again, Adam sinned, and the soul became corrupt : hence the sinful character of his posterity : hence their blindness in spiritual things, their enmity towards God : till he in his mercy lightens our darkness, and restores us to himself. Let us be thankful that there is a provision for this, of which the pool of Bethesda is the emblem. The multitude of diseased persons lying there, were waiting for the moving of the water: for an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and trou- bled the ivater : whosoever then first after the trou- bling of the ivater stepped in, was made whole of whatsoever disease he had. So too must the diseases of the soul be cured ; healed from above : the water must be troubled ; the heart must be moved with a sense of its condition and its danger, and this must come from the Holy Spirit : he must descend and prepare the soul to receive the remedy which Christ proposes, to apply the means which he prescribes, and by which it may be made whole of whatsoever disease it has. JOHN V. 1— .9. 133 5. And a certain man was there, which had an injirniily thirty and eight years. C. When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him. Wilt thou be made wliole ? 7. The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool : hut while I am coming, another steppeth down before me. When sin is the disease to be removed, men are not always willing to be made whole. They do not feel the evil ; therefore they do not desire a cure. It is very different in the case of a bodily dis- order : that we do feel, and are eag-er to be rid of. There was no hesitation as to the wish of this unhappy ])atient. But he had little hope : he had no friend to assist him, and others continually stepped down before him. And this exhibits ano- ther symptom of our moral disease. This poor man had not strength to keep his turn, and they had not the justice to give it him. To step before another : to obtain some good for ourselves, with- out looking to others' interests, often by supplant- ing them — this is the way of the world. The gos- pel would change that evil way ; and bids us live, "in honour preferring one another:" and says, *' Let no man seek his own, every man another's wealth." And when the spirit of these precepts is more generally observed, the course of this world and the will of God will more nearly agree together. 8. Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and tcalk. 9. And immediately the man was made whole, and took 134 JOHN V. 1—9. II]} his bed, and tvalked : and on the same day tvas the Sabbath. Thus he who had no earthly friend, found that one greater than any earthly friend was here. What he had so long and so hopelessly waited for, Christ at once effected for him. Christ felt the pity which his fellow-creatures did not feel; and together with the sympathy to pity, he had the power to cure. Immediately the man was made wliole, and took up his bed and walked : giving evi- dent proof of the completeness of his restoration. In this, as in many other cases, the cure which Avas performed on the body, is an example of the healing power which the same Lord exercises on the soul. All mankind are not diseased, halt, and withered in their body, like those persons who were gathered at the side of the pool of Bethesda. In respect of bodily health and strength, there is a great differ- ence among men. There is no such difference as to the soul. Here all are by nature alike. "Every mouth must be stopped and all the world become guilty before God. For that all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God : being justified (if justified at all) freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." We lately received it from his own mouth, " He that believeth not, is condemned already :"^ lies under the condemnation of his own natural and actual sin. 3 John iii. 18 — 36. JOHN V. 1—9. 135 For the remedy of this miseral^le state, it pleased God to send his Son, that as many as believe in him might be freed from this condemnation. And he comes to the world, as he came to the pool of Bethesda. There he found those lying avIio were afflicted with diseases, and says to one, Wilt tliou he made whole ? So he comes into the world, the inhabitants of which are oppressed with sin ; op- pressed both by its present misery and its future consequences : and he says to all who hear " the Gospel of the kingdom," Will ye be made whole. We might suppose that all would be ready to reply, Thanks be to God for his condescending mercy ! And in one sense all are ready to answer thus : there is no man who does not desire the pardon of his offences : no man who would not gladly be safe from the wrath of his Maker, the sentence of his Judge. If this were the whole offer, all would embrace it hastily. But they know that it goes further, and implies more : they know that it is an offer of deliverance from sin itself, as well as from the consequences of sin. Wilt thou be made whole of thy plague of a sinful heart? Wilt thou be delivered from those works of the flesh against which God's wrath and indignation are revealed ? " They tliat do such things, can- not inherit the kingdom of God ;" and therefore thou must be delivered from them before thou canst inherit that kinii^dom. Alas ! too many feel no need of such deliverance. These things give them no pain, no distress, no anxiety. And too many others, who cannot but 130 JOHN V. 1—9. confess their need, have no real wish or desire for spiritual health. However they might be glad to be freed from danger, they are not willing to be freed from sin. They had rather indulge their sin, and risk the consequence : they have not faith enough to cut off the right arm, or pluck out the right eye — to abandon habits which have become part of themselves — rather than with all their guilt remaining, to encounter the " tribulation and an- guish revealed against every soul of man that doeth evil." Otherwise, the gospel would afford them the same comfort which was given in this history. Jesus saith unto the impotent man. Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. And such is his universal offer, " Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and 1 Avill give you rest." " Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." ^ His name is called Jesus, " for he shall save his people from their sins." ^ Let us, at least, inquire whether we have both understood this offer and accepted it. He that be- lieveth in the Son of God, hath the consciousness of it in himself : ^ and can tell whether he is look- ing up to him for that remedy of his soul's disease, which the impotent man received in his crippled limbs at the pool of Bethesda. 4 Acts ii. 38. 5 Matt. i. 21. c i joh^ v. 10. JOHN V. 10—14. 13: LECTURE XXV. NARRATIVE OF THE MIRACLE AT BETHESDA CONCLUDED. John v. 10 — 14. 10. The Jews therefore said unto him that was cu7'ed, It is the sahhath dai/ : it is not lawfidfor thee to cai^ry thy bed. 11. He ansioered them, He that made me ^vJiole, tJie same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and lualk. It was a just and natural reply on the part of this poor man. Who He "vvas that had made him whole he knew not : but this he felt at once, that whoever had power to effect the cure, must also have autho- rity to permit him to carry home the bed on which he was lying. But the Jews, instead of attending to the miracle, or learning the lesson which it taught, "sought to slay Jesus, because he did these things on the sabbath day.'^ ^ We cannot, therefore, think so favourably of them, as to believe that they were led to censure the man from any proper feeling, any honest zeal for God's honour. It were possible that they might have censured him, in a state of mind like that of our Lord himself, when he said, " Make not my Father's house a house of merchandise." In the same spirit they might have rebuked the man who made their Fa- 1 Verse 16. 138 JOHN V. 10—14. tiler's day a day of ordinary labour. But their sub- sequent conduct shows that they were actuated by malevolence, and not by jjiety. 12. Then asked they him, What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy hed, and walk ? 13. And he that was healed luist not who it was : for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a inidtitude being in that place. 14. Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him. Behold, thou art made ivhole : sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee. We need not conclude from this remark, that the man's disease had been a special judgment : Jesus takes the opportunity of declaring to him, that there is a judgment against sin, which must fall upon those who continue in sin ; and more especially on those who continue in sin after mercy has been shown them, and the light manifested to them. "For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remain- etli no more sacrifice for sins ; but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries." - Yet how is this command to be obeyed, Si7i no 7nore f Nature is not altered, temptations are not removed, because a disease is cured, or an afl3ic- tion taken away. He who issues the command, will also afford the power. Without his power, the cripple could not have risen, and taken up his bed, and walked. But he did this at the command of Jesus ; did 2 Ileb. X. 26. JOHN V. 10—14. 139 what he had been long striving to do in vain. And that he did it, was the proof of his cure. And such may be, and such must be, the case with the heart which is pardoned and reconciled to God through faith in Christ Jesus. It must give proof of the change wrought in it. It must rise " from the death of sin to the life of righteousness." It must leave in the pool where it has been washed, its unruly passions, its unsanctified desires, all that is displeasing to God, and unfit for heaven : and it must take up, instead, the various graces, which adorn the doctrine of Christ ; must " add to faith, virtue, and knowledge, and temperance, and pa- tience, and godliness, and brotherly kindness, and charity." Indeed, what happened to this cripple at Bethesda, must happen, in substance, to all who partake of the benefit of the redemption which is in Christ, Jesus. He had felt his wretchedness : had thought within himself how he might obtain relief; and at last received it through the mercy of the Saviour. So must every Christian reflect within himself: I have offended against Almighty God, and cannot appear before him in judgment. My nature is corrupt: so that "the good that I would, I do not ; but the evil which I would not, that I do." How can I obtain remission of sins past? How can the stony heart be taken away, and be replaced by the tender heart which feels the love of God and holiness? One method alone is pointed out. " There is one Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus." lie must recover nie. 140 JOHN V. 10—14. He must wash me from my sinfulness. , He must strengthen me. He must lift me above the dust of this world, and enable me to keep the paths of righteousness : he must engraft upon me the fruits of the Spirit, approved of God, but not natural to the heart of man. So it was with those to whom the gospel was first made known, and who had been living in all the evil of our unrenewed nature. " Some of you," says St. Paul to the Corinthians, (1 Cor. vi. 9 — 11,) " were once adulterers, and thieves, and covetous, and drunkards, and revilers, and extor- tioners." But now, he proceeds, " ye are washed, ye are sanctified, ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." In the name of the Lord Jesus they had laid aside their evil habits; had risen above the darkness in which they had been lying, and become able to walk before God in righteousness and holiness. The difficulty is to feel the need of this ; so to feel it, as to seek and apply the remedy. The cripple felt his need, but he had no hope of remedy. Lord, I have no one, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool. For surely I icould be made whole; but in my helpless, miserable state, what hope is there ? When any one feels this in respect to his soul, angels begin to rejoice over him. When any one feels — I would, indeed, gladly be cleansed from my sin : I do not cling to it, though it still adheres to me. But I have no one who shall enable me to overcome the evil dispositions of my heart, and the JOHN y. 10—14. 141 evil habits of my life. " The flesh lusteth against the spirit, so that I cannot do the things that I would." " Wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death ? " This is the state of mind when the offer of Jesus Christ, as conveyed in the gosj^el, is indeed glad tidings. He says, Wilt thou be made loholef He promises deliverance : he engages to supply all our need. An when the heart is con- vinced that " without holiness no man can see the Lord," and that without "the Spirit of God in Christ Jesus " no man can attain unto holiness, we shall eagerly close with the offer, and " thank God for his unspeakable gift." Wilt thou he made luhole f That is my earnest desire. My earnest desire is to be purified from the corruption which I derived from Adam, and to become a child of God through the adoption that is in Christ Jesus. Christ approves of the heart which thus moves towards him, and accepts his gracious invitation. He said to the diseased cripple, " Rise, take up thy bed, and walk." He says to the believing penitent, " Rise, thy sins are forgiven thee." The stain of thy guilt is washed away. Being justified by faith, thou art at peace with God. Behold, thou art made whole ; but go, and sin no more, lest a ivorse thing come ujwn thee. The apostle says, " It had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them." Go, then, and for the remainder of 1 2 Peter ii. 21. 142 JOHN V. 15—27. thy life walk before God in righteousness and holiness. Take thy affections from things below, and raise them to things above. Rise beyond the trifling concerns of this world, or rather so carry them on, as to make them serve towards thy eternal interests. This must be the proof of thy soul's health ; as the strength with which he rose, took up his bed, and walked, was the proof that the cripple was healed, who had lain so long in the porches of Bethesda. LECTURE XXVI. JESUS REASONS WITH THE JEWS CONCERNING HIS AUTHORITY AND SPIRITUAL POWER. John v. 15 — 27. 15. Tlie man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, ivhich had made him whole. 16. And therefore did the Jeius j^srsecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day. 17. But Jesus answered them, My Father luorketh hitherto, and I work. Such is the reason which our Lord alleges for healing on the sabbath day. M?/ Father ivorketh hitherto, and I work. The Father does not restrain JOHN V. 15—27. 143 the operations of his providence, but sends his rain and his sun on the sabbath as on other days, that the comfort and welfare of man may be promoted. I do the same. I do not allow a blind man to continue in despair, or a diseased cripple to lan- guish unrelieved, because it is the sabbath day. I bid them anoint their eyes with clay, and they receive their sight; I bid them carry home the bed on which tliey have been lying, and they carry it : these works of mercy I perform, and the sabbath is no more profaned by them than by the shining of the sun. By this argument he virtually affirmed, what he affirms elsewhere in plain terms, that he and the Father are one. So the people perceived, and were indignant. 18. Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal luith God. 19. Then answered Jesus and said unto them. Verily, verily, I say unto you. The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do : for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. 20. For the Father loveth the Sun, and sheiueth him all things that himself doeth ; and lie will sheiu him greater works than tJiese, that ye may marvel. 21. For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quick- eneth them ; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will. 22. For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son : 23. That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son, ho- noureth not the Father which hath sent him. 6 144 JOHN V. 15—27. The Jews had grounded their indio^natio'n ao-ainst Jesus on a pretence of zeal for God's honour. He liad made himself equal ivith God. If this their feeling had been sincere, it had been excusable. Jesus does not blame it ; but calmly shows them, that if they wish to honour tlie Father, they must honour him ; for he represents the Father. He did not come independently ; he came in the Father's name : he did not act independently ; the Son can do nothing of himself . What miracles he had done, he had done as one with the Father. And Q-reater things than they had seen hitherto, were yet to come. They should see that as the Father hath life in himself, even so the Son quicheneth whom he will. For the Father had committed all judgment unto the Son: had given him complete authority, because he is the Son of man. They had already been witnesses of his power over the body ; and the time was now at hand, when they should witness his power over the soul. 24. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and helieveth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation ; but is passed from death unto life. 25. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coining, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God ; and they that hear shall live. 26. For as the Father hath life in himself, so hath he given to the So7i to have life in himself 27. And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, becUuse he is the Son of man. Here Jesus repeats, what he had before asserted, 10 JOHN V. 15— -27. 145 that he brought an offer of everlasting life to those who were in a state of death ; and that all who should hear his word, and believe in him who sent liijn, — believe the Father's message, — should pass from death unto life. And there should be such: the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God ; and they that hear shall live. Many important truths which are implied in the whole dispensation of the gospel, are collected here in one brief sentence. Those who are without Christ are dead. Christ has power to quicken them. Those whom he quickens shall live. 1. Those who are Avithout Christ in the world, are in a state which can only be adequately de- scribed as a state of death. Because they are useless as to all the great objects for which human life is given, as much as if they were already cold and in- active in the grave ; useless to the service of God, useless to every spiritual ])urpose ; and because being so, they may be described according to law as dead, condemned in the sight of God, and liable to his wrath. ■' The man was in a state like this, who is represented by our Lord, (Luke xii. 19,) as thus communing with himself, " Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years : take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry." What is such a life, as far as God, as the soul, or eternity are concerned, what but a livino- death ? » Sec Eph. ii. 3 — 6. 146 JOHN V. 15—27. 2. To these Christ has the power of 'giving life, that they may rise out of the darkness in which they are lying. j4s the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth ivhom he will. His Spirit infused into their hearts gives them a new existence. For whereas they were before alive to this world and dead unto God, now they are " alive unto God, and comparatively dead unto this world. And whereas otherwise their souls were left to perish, whilst their mortal bodies were alone considered; now they " mortify their members which are upon the earth," and seek first and chiefly what may nourish and strengthen their immortal souls. This is life ; it deserves to be so called ; and it is a new life, not that to which our carnal nature tends : and it is a life which Christ bestows and maintains, and by which he fulfils the promise, that to " as many as receive him, he gives power to become the sons of God." Zacchseus, as described by St. Luke, ^ was one of the first examples of this, ^vhen having been, " according to his former lusts in his ignorance," accustomed to live to himself alone, he entered upon a new course, and began to live unto God ; when he resolved to be as earnest for heaven as he had hitherto been for this present world. 3. Those, then, who do thus live, are those who hear the voice of the Son of God, and come unto him " that they may have life." Zacchseus did this; he received Christ joyfully, and passed from ^ Chap. xix. JOHN V. -28, 29. 147 death unto life. Others refused to do it : as the rich young man who went away sorrowing, when he found on what terms the offer of eternal life was made; and that he could only live unto God, by beinsf dead unto this world. He indeed heard the voice of the Son of God with his outward ears, but it did not enter into his heart, and, like too many in all ages, " he went away." Thus are set before all to whom the gospel is proclaimed, " life and good, and death and evil." '' Our hearts, examined as to their inward feelings, and compared with the habits of our life,8 can alone determine whether we ourselves have everlasting life^ and shall not come into condemnation. For this is certain, that if we have passed from death unto life, then we are " dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God, through Jesus Christ our Lord." ' LECTURE XXVIL THE RESURRECTION TO ETERNAL LIFE, OR ETERNAL DEATH, DECLARED. John v. 28, 29. 28. Marvel uol at this : for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, 7 Deut. XXX. 15. ^ See 1 John iii. and iv. throughout. !> Rom. vi. 11. l2 11 8 JOHN V. 28, 29 29. And shall come forth. ; theij that have' done good, unto the resurrection of life ; and they that have dofie evily unto the resurrection of damnation. These verses declare the important fact, on which the whole of religion rests. As St. Paul argues, (1 Cor. xv. 29,) " What shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all ? why are they then baptized for the dead ? Why do they live in the faith of one who, confessedly, died and Avas buried, " if so be that the dead rise not ?" " Let us eat and drink :" let us folloAv the devices and desires of our own hearts, — if we may die to-morrow, and die for ever. But, as the apostle proceeds, *' Be not deceived :" for the hour is coming, wheii all that are in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and shall come forth, and " appear before the judgment-seat of God, to receive according to the things done in the body." " But some man will say, How are the dead raised up, and with what body do they come ?" Without doubt, it is a wonderful thought, that the sea should cast up her dead, and that death and the grave should deliver up the dead that are in them, and that the soul should animate once more a body, which shall be to each individual as his own body. This is a matter which we are not concerned to examine closely. God reveals to us the fact. " He who raised up Jesus from the dead, shall also quicken our mortal bodies by his Spirit which dwelleth in us." That these bodies will JOHN V. -28, 29. 149 undero'O a oreat chano^e, is certain. What is " sown in corruption," Avill be " raised in incor- ruiDtion.'' " Flesli and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God." He that effects the whole, " shall change our vile bodies," and " the dead shall be raised incorruptible." But still it Mill be the same body that died : in the same sense as the corn which springs up in the field, or is ripening for harvest, is the same corn which was dropped into the ground, Avith a form altogether different. It will be animated by the same mind, the mind conscious of itself, conscious of its own thoughts and feelings. This mind God will again invest with a body, and to every mind his own body ; according to that mighty energy which has all things within its power. No man can doubt this power, who contemplates himself; how fearfully and wonderfully he is made. The same Deity which made him what he is, can make him what he is to be, and what he is to remain for ever. And in the fact here so })lainly declared, the resuri'ection to life or death eternal, we have the explanation of whatever might seem surprising in the M'hole dispensation of the gospel. The Son of God is made flesh, and dwells amongst us. Great is the mystery. But is there not a cause, if all that are in the graves shall come forth, they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life ; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation? Do we reflect on what may be suffered, or what may be enjoyed, throughout eternity? And if Ave do, can we Avonder that he who saw all in a state 150 JOHN V. 28, 29 of death, and knew in what that death would issue, should be so moved by the goodness of his divine nature as to humble himself, and " bear our sins in his own body," that " by all means he might save some ?" that as " by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one many might be made righteous ?" ^ Should any be disposed to doubt what is here affirmed, the eternal happiness of the faithful, and the eternal misery of the wicked, let them turn their minds to the great fact which we all avow, the incarnation of the Son of God. Men are un- willing to believe that so much can depend upon the present time : they divert their thoughts from a subject which distresses them : and Satan is now ready to whisper, as he did of old, " Ye shall not surely die;" ye may disobey the commands of God, ye may neglect his revealed will ; but ye need fear no evil ; " ye shall not surely die." Ask yourselves, then, would the Son of God have come in our nature, and have died in our nature, if there were no reality in what is declared to us concerning heaven and hell : if the kingdom of God were not inconceivably glorious, or if what is described as " outer darkness," as " the lake of fire," " the second death," " the worm that never dieth," meant nothing substantial, nothing very terrible — — meant anything except the greatest imaginable misery ? ^ Rom. V. 19. Sec the whole argument. JOHN V. 28, 29. 151 Try then to live with the impression before your minds of that scene which these words represent. Consider the feelings which it would awaken in us, if we saw it actually taking place ; the heavens passing away, the elements melting, the earth disap- pearing : but the dead, small and great, standing before God, to be "judged out of those things which are written in the books, according to their w'orks." These things it is the business of faith to represent to us, before they happen, in order that when they happen we may be found ready. And we ought to stir up and encourage this faith. A Christian of former times was used to say, that the sound seemed continually in his ears, " Arise, ye dead, and come to judgment : the Judge is set ; the books are opening ; sentence is passing." And it is surely wise, if we be- lieve in the resurrection as a doctrine, to bring it before our minds as a practical truth by wiiicli this life is to be governed. It will teach us to value time, and to redeem it: to restrain every unholy thought, and word, and action ; and carefully to regulate that life, which will soon be narrowly exa- mined by an all-seeing Judge. 15-2 JOHN V. 30-40. LECTURE XXVIII. TESTIMONY OF JOHN THE BAPTIST, OF GOD, AND OF THE SCRIPTURES, TO THE DIVINITY OF JESUS. John v. 80—40. 30. / can of mi)ie own self do nothiny : as I hear, I juclfje: and my judgment is juat ; because I seek not mine own will, hut the will of the Father which hath sent me. 31. If 1 hear witness of myself, my witness is not true. 32. There is another that heareth witness of me ; and I know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true. Jesus bad been declaring great tbings, many of tbem new tbings : so tbat tbey marvelled. They were not merely tbings to be assented to, as ab- stract truths, or points of doctrine ; but tbey were truths which if admitted must govern the heart and life. He bad been declaring himself equal with God. And this was not only a philosophical speculation : but if so, be must be believed and obeyed as God. He had been declaring the resur- rection of the dead. This too might be admitted; if it did not follow, that if we admit it, we must live as those who are to give account of the things done in the body, and to be recompensed according to the works, whether they be good or bad. When JOHN V. 30-40. 153 a truth is to be followed by these practical conse- quences, the authority by Avhich it is supported must be seen. He therefore concludes his discourse, by showing the grounds of that authority. He had already asserted it, saying, " The Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son ; that all men should honour the Son even as they honour the Father." This he had himself affirmed. But no one is received on his own unsupported word. If I hear laitness of myself, imj witness is not true ; that is, is not to be at once received as true. Though it may be true, yet, according to the laws of evidence which men are obliged to establish on ac- count of the deceitfulness which prevails, it requires further confirmation. So that he proceeds to a])peal to three testimonies, by which they might be con- vinced that his witness was true. First, to that of John the Baptist : next, to that of the Fatlier : and thirdly, to that of the Scriptures. 38. Ye sent unto John, and he bare icitness iinlu tlie truth. 34. But I receive not testinioni/ from man .• hut these thinfjs I say, that ye miyht he saved. 35. He teas a hurnin(j and a shiuiny liyht : and ye were wilUny for a season to rejoice in his liyht. John bore the authoritv of a divine commission ; a commission which was acknoM'ledged. People of all ranks sought him ; looked up to him for a while as a hurning and a shiniwj iuiJit, and luere willing for a season to i^ejoice in Ids light. And nothing 154 JOHN V. 30—40. could be clearer than the testimony whicli he gave, when " he saw Jesus coming unto him, and said, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketli away the sin of the world. This is he of whom I said, After me Cometh a man who is preferred before me; for he was before me," ^ 2. The second testimony was greater still. *' If we believe the witness of men, the witness of God is greater." 36. But I have greater witness than that of John : for the works which the Father hath given me to Jinish the same works that I do, hear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me. 37. And the Father himself, ichich hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape. 38. And ye have not his word abiding in you : for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not. The Father had borne witness to the Son, and was continually bearing it : the works which he did, which the Father had given him to Jinish, hare wit- ness of him, that the Father had sent him. " If he had not done among them the works which none other man did," they had been more excusable in rejecting him : for whosoever professes to have a message from God, must produce sufficient proof of the authority which he claims. But this he did produce : and they should have believed him for the very works' sake. ^ If all had had the simplicity of Nicodenms, all would have acknowledged, like ' Johni. 29, 30. "~ John xiv. 11. JOHN V. 30—40. 155 Nicodemus, that " no man could do the miracles which he did, except God be witli him." ^ 3. The third testimony to which Jesus appeals, is that of the Scriptures. 39. Search the Scriptures ; for iti them ye think ye have eternal life : and they are they which testify of me. 40. And ye will not come to me, that ye miyht have life. The Scriptures concluded the evidence, and con- firmed the whole. The Jewish people were bound to search these ; for in these they thought they had eternal life ; and if they had searched them with true and candid heart, they would have proved to them what the star shining in the east i^roved to " the wise men ;"' they would have led them to perceive that Jesus was the Christ the Son of God, so that " believing, they might have life through his name :" might come unto him that they might have life. For consider what a Jewish inquirer would have discovered, had he followed the counsel given him, and searched the Scriptures for a testimony of Jesus. He would remember how Moses had said, that God would raise up unto them " a prophet from the midst of them, of their brethren, like unto him, unto whom they should hearken."* The question therefore would be. Is this he that should come ? It would then be found, that all which the Scriptures pronounced concerning his birth, hud •^ Joiiu iii. 2. ^ Deut. xviii. 1 j. 156 JOHN V. 30—40. been complied with. It would be found that there had been the voice' of one crying in the wilderness, " Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight." It w^ould be found that, according to the language of Isaiah, " a virgin had conceived, and borne a son :" that this Son was of the line of David : was born in Bethlehem of Judea : was born at the very time when, according to the predic- tion of Daniel, devout men were looking for " the consolation of Israel :" and had been born with such signs preceding, attending, and following, as might w^ell persuade them that this was " of a truth that prophet which should come into the w^orld." There- fore the direct affirmation of John, wdiohad declared him to be the Christ ; and the testimony of the Father, who had borne witness to his beloved Son, and was still bearing witness by the miracles wdiich he performed ; would be confirmed and corroborated by an exact agreement with all which the Scriptures had foretold. So just is our Lord s conclusion : Ye hare not his word abiding in you : for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not. Had his Mord been abiding in their knowledge, or a love of it in their hearts, they would have come to him that they might have life. But there was nothing in their character in common wdth that of the Father : nothino- which led them, when they saw the Son whom he had sent, to look on him as precious and honourable. As Isaiah had foretold, they " saw no beauty in him that they should desire him." Let their unbelief l)o a Marning to us, " on JOHN V. 41—47. 157 whom the ends of the world are come." " For we have not followed cunningly-devised fables, when we have believed the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." For we know, that " he received from God the Father honour and glory," when the works which the Father had gicen him to finish, bare witness of him. " We have also a sure word of propliecy : " ^ if we search the Scriptures^ Ave perceive that they testify of him. And these assurances are given to them " that believe on the name of the Son of God ; that they may know that they have eternal life, and that they may believe on the name of the Son of God." "^ " For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end."" LECTURE XXIX. REASONS ARE ALLEGED, WHY THE JEWS RE- JECTED JESUS John v. 41 — 47. 41. I recewe not Jionour from men. 42. But T Jaioir yoti, thai ijc have uol the lore of God in you. 5 See 2 Peter i. IG. « 1 Jolm v. lo. ~ Heb. iii. 14. 158 JOHN V. 41—47. 43. / am come in my Fathers name, and ye receive me not : if another shall come in his otvn name, him will ye receive. 44. How can ye believe, ichich receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only ? Jesus had come into the world, as the Redeemer of the workl. To the Jews, especially, he had first appeared, as the Messiah whom they had been expecting. That he might accomplish the purpose for which he came, he must be trusted ; be believed in. He showed them, therefore, in the former part of this discourse, that he had all tlie testimony in his favour which could either be required or granted ; he had the testimony of John the Baptist, he had the testimony of God him- self, he had the testimony of their Scriptures. If they did not receive this testimony, there must be some reason for it ; something which perverted their minds, and prevented their seeing the truth which lay before them. And here he shows what that obstacle was. / k7iow you, that ye have not the love of God in you. Ye do not love the things which God approves, or desire the things which God permits, or do the things which he commands. Ye have other love, other desires, other affections ; so that ye have nothing in common with him who comes in the Father s name : condemning what he condemns, and prescribing what he sanctions. If another should coine in his own name, him ye will receive : for he would be of the world, and ye love the world : he, coming in his own name, would JOHN V. 41—47. 150 "savour the things of men:" and so do ye. This worldly, carnal spirit is a barrier between you and truth. How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour which cometh from God only ? How can ye believe ? how can ye attend to the proofs of my divinity, whilst there is in you a prevailing bias on the other side, whilst your minds are so swayed by earthly motives that the judgment is not free ? It is as true now as it was then, that before the mind can be brought to any practical faith in Christ, it must escape from the trammels of this world. Men must cease to care for receiving honour one of another. They must not be kept back and restrained by considering wliat others think or others practise, but must enjoy a liberty within themselves of forming a right judgment, and acting on what the judgment approves. Deme- trius of Ephesus, for example, was not likely to attain a true estimate of the authority of the apos- tles, (Acts xix. 24,) when he began by saying that if Paul was listened to, "the craft by wliich he and the workmen of like occupation had their wealth, was in danofer of beinfi: set at nouo-ht " His mind was pre-engaged to his wealth, and could exercise no freedom of opinion. So with the Jewish people. The elders had decreed, that whosoever adhered to Jesus, " should be put out of the synagogue." Before, therefore, a man could reasonably or justly decide whether he were tlie Messiah or no, he must be independent of the 160 JOHN V. 41—47. opinion of the elders ; ready, if needful, to forfeit it. If lie soiig'ht the honour which cometh from man, he would be incapable of judging concerning Christ's title to honour, which was proscribed and rejected of man. What was needful then, that a man might con- fess Jesus to be the Christ, is equally needful now, that men may live as true and consistent Chris- tians. They must view the precepts of the gospel, unbiassed by the opinions and practices of those around them. It is a just saying, " If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." If any man is not able to defy the reproaches which may be cast on him, or the interests which he may endanger, or the inclinations which he must com- bat, for the sake of living as a faithful disciple of Christ Jesus, he may in words acknowledge him, but he will " in works deny him." And this, alas ! is very possible — such is the deceitfulness of the heart — while he may think himself secure. He may be as little aware of his own inconsistency, as the unbelieving Jews : and as much without ex- cuse. They professed to follow JVIoses, and the words of Moses would condemn them. He pro- fesses to believe in Jesus, and the words of Jesus will convict him. Our Lord proceeds to show this of the Jews. 45. Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father : there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust. JOHN V. 41—47. 101 46. For had ye bclieoed Moses, ye would have believed me : for he wrote of me. 47. But if ye believe not his writinys, how shall ye believe my words ? Thus the very foundation on which they were resting, and thought they stood secure, would fail and sink from under them. They "made their boast of God, and rested in the law," ' the law given by Moses. That very boast and confidence would supply the ground of their condemnation. For Moses wrote of Christ : taught the people to ex- pect him : that Moses who said unto the children of Israel, (Acts vii. 37,) " A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me ; him shall ye hear." Besides which, the whole law which Moses appointed was but as a preparation, designed to lead men towards Him that should come.^ This the Jews perceived not, because " their minds were blinded." And "even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart." ^ We wonder at this perverseness. Let us look at it as a fearful warning. " Every way of a man is right in his own eyes." " But there is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." ^ 1 Rom. ii. 17. ^ gee Gal. iii. 19—24. 3 See 2 Cor. iii. 14, 15. ^ Prov. xiv. 12. M 16-2 JOHN VT. 1—13. LECTURE XXX. THE DISCIPLES AKE COMMANDED TO GATHER UP THE REMAINING FRAGMENTS, AFTER FIVE THOUSAND PERSONS HAD BEEN MIRACULOUSLY SUPPLIED WITH FOOD. John vi. 1 — 13. 1. After these things Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias. 2. And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased. 3. And Jesus went uj) into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples. 4. And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh. 5. When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, lie saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat ? 6. And this he said to prove him : for he himself knew what he would do. 7. Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyivorth of bread is 7iol sufficient for them, that every one of them may tahe a little. 8. One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peters brother, saith unto him, 9. There is a lad here, lohich hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes : but what are they among so many ? 10. And Jesus said. Make the men sit down. Now JOHN VI. 1—13. 163 there loas much grass in the place, So the mcfi sat down-' in number about Jive thousand. 11. And Jesus took the loaves ; and whe?i he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the Jishes as much as they would. 12. When they were filled, he said unto his disciples. Gather uj) the fragments that remain, that nothing he lost. 13. Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets ivith the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten. This was one of the occasions when our Lord saw fit to exercise liis power, in order to supply the wants of those who followed him, and heard his words. He refused to do this in his own behalf in the wilderness : but these sheep must not be al- lowed to go empty away. He seems here to give an intimation that nothing is lost by earnestness in religion ; that they who seek first the kingdom of God and his righteous- ness, shall find other things added to them, accord- ing to their need. Without changing the order of nature, it proves so in the order of Providence. " Godliness hath the promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come." The concluding remark is pointed and peculiar. Gather up the fragments ichich remain, that notliing he lost. So forcibly is this commanded as to re- quire particular attention. Notwithstanding the plentifulness of the provision, and the ease with which it had been su])plied ; yet the fragments are to be gathered up, that notliing be lost or wasted. M 2 104 JOHN VI. 1—13. All classes of men are concerned in this precept. The RICH are concerned in it. He who uttered it was rich : he had shown himself rich in power, beyond all human wealth. He proves by his con- duct, both on this and on other occasions, that those who are blessed by the bounty of Providence are intended to enjoy the gifts bestowed on them. But he prohibits all waste and extravagance. He suffers nothing to be squandered or thrown away which might improve the condition or assist the comfort of others. The POOR too are concerned in it, who often waste more in proportion than the rich, upon what is utterly needless and superfluous. There are few who, according to their situation in life, might not be in what are called easy circumstances, if they had always attended to the maxim, that no- thing be lost, nothing wa,sted by being spent un- necessarily or unprofitably. But we may carry this further than merely as a lesson of frugality. There are other fragments, besides those of our daily bread, or daily income, which we are here taught to gather up and save. 1. There are fragments of time. Though there is but one thing of real impor- tance to be done, very few persons can bestow the principal portion of their time on that great object. The main part of life cannot be spent in hearing, or reading) or meditating upon eternity. It must be employed in active business of some sort or other. But meanwhile our hearts must be fixed, through all this active business, on tlie grand con- JOHN. VI. 1—13. 1G5 cern ; on that which is beyond ; on the end of our faith, the salvation of the soul. We are tra- vellers ; we are on a journey ; we have many interests on the road ; we have much to call for our attention as we pass along : but after all, the object is not the road, or the interests of the road ; but the journey's end. For this purpose, the duty is to gather up the fiagments of our time, that nothing may he lost. Not- withstanding all the labours, all the active duties which are indispensable, how many hours in every week are commonly spent in sloth, in idle conver- sation, in pursuits which profit not! If those fragments were collected together for a week, or a month, or a year, what good purpose they might serve ! As multitudes might be rich, who now are poor, if they had carefully husbanded the resources which God had put into their hands: so multi- tudes, who are ignorant, might be rich in the most precious knowledge, if they had put to good account the moments which they have wasted and misapi)lied. Many a poor man would be happy to redeem, at the close of life, the sums which in his youth he has thrown away : and many an ignorant man, in the decay of his strength, has still more reason to lament the time which he once neglected, when he might have learnt to become " wise unto salvation." A slight excuse is enough for a man whilst death seems distant. He quiets his conscience wiiile he says, I am busy, I am hard working, I am constantly employed ; and God is not " aus- tere :" he will not expect much, where little has 166 JOHN VI. 1—1:3. been given. But this is seen at last to be a vain device of Satan, when death actually comes, and finds the soul unprepared ; much business done, but none of that which was most needful ; none of that which might have been performed, if all the fragments of time had been gathered up, and em- ployed for the purpose which they are given to serve. 2. Another hint of exhortation may grow out of this same precept. If ye profess to be servants of Jesus Christ, gather up all your opportunities of showing your zeal for his service ; let nothing be lost, by which you can display your love for him, aud your desire to please him. Some may have much of this power, and some less ; but all may find some fragments both of talent and opportunity, if they are careful to seize them. How few who are ignorant, would remain without instruction ; how few that are thoughtless, would continue with- out warning ; if all were careful to make the most of their means of usefulness ! And is there no encourao:ement ? He to whom this service is paid, " is not unrighteous, to forget your labours of love:" he will gather up the smallest fragments of service which may have been employed in his cause, he will let nothing be lost of obedience to his will. All will be set to account at the great day. And though no one will venture to look back upon such works as grounds of acceptance, or as entitling to reward, they will be received as tokens of faith and love — such tokens as are agreeable to our heavenly Father. "For JOHN VI. 14—21. 167 in tbis is the Fatlier glorified," that they mIio are his adopted children through Christ Jesus, " bring forth much fruit ; " and " abound in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as they know that their labour is not in vain in the Lord/' LECTURE XXXL THE DISCIPLES, OVERTAKEN BY A STORM, ARE RELIEVED BY THE PRESENCE OF JESUS. John vi. 14 — 21. 14. Tlien those men, when they had seen Ihe miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world. The power which the Lord had displayed, in the manner before related, convinced the persons who witnessed it that he came with divine authority. And we might have hoped that, being thus con- vinced, they would hasten to him, and learn that which it was the business of a prophet to teach — the will of God, and his counsels as concerning themselves. But their views were bounded by things present, not raised to things above: and 168 JOHN VI. 14—21. they see in the power of Jesus nothing beyond the means of temporal advancement or prosperity. They do not say, This jiropliet can tell us heavenly truths ; but This prophet can exalt us to wealth and power. It was not, however, for such a purpose that the prophet should come into the world. 15. When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he de- parted again into a mountain himself alone. 16. And when even was now come, his disciples went down unto the sea, 17. And entered into a ship, and went over the sea toward Capernaimi. And it was now dark, and Jesus ivas not come to them. 18. And the sea arose by reason of a great wind that blew. 1 9. So when they had rowed abontjive and twenty or thirty furlongs, they see Jesus walking on the sea, and drawing nigh unto the ship: and- they icere afraid. 20. But he saith unto them, It is I ; be not afraid. 21. Tlien they willingly received him into the ship ; and immediately the ship was at the land whither they went. Had the disciples undertaken this voyage with- out instructions from their Master, we might have supposed that the difficulties which they en- countered, by reason of a great wind that blew, were intended as a warning, to correct their rashness. But we learn from the other evangelists, that the voyage was undertaken at his express command. And yet they were in trouble. We are reminded, 1 Matt. xiv. 22—33 ; Mark vi. 46—52. JOHN VI. 14— -Jl. 169 then, that God's people are not exempt from trouble, the common lot of man, even when they are employed upon their Master's business. Their privilege is, that in their trouble they have " a very present help " which does not belong to others. On this occasion even the elements change their nature, rather than the disciples should be left comfortless. They see Jesus walking on the sea, and drawing nigh unto the ship ; and they were afraid. But he saith unto them. It is I ; he not afraid. Then they tvillingly 7'eceived him into the ship ; and immediately the ship ivas at the land ivhitlier they went. Now this may be taken in a further sense. The disciples willingly received their Lord; and imme- diately their object was attained. Many things which are difficult, nay, impossible to ourselves, become easy when we are relieved by his aid, and strengthened by his strength. With him all things are possible. Sorrows are cheered, and trials lightened by his presence. But it is still more, that when he draws nigh, the soul is enabled to resist passion, to overcome sin, to gain the victory over Satan. This is an experiment which is often tried. Multitudes have resolved to break off their evil habits ; convinced that such habits are misery here, and destruction hereafter. But their better reso- lutions have always fallen through ; they have yielded to temptation, and gone on from bad to worse. " Can the Etliiopian change his skin, or the leo])ard his spots ? " No : the sinner is under 170 JOHN VI. 14—21. Satan's power: "Jed captive by him at his will:" corrupt nature makes him an easy prey. What then shall we do ? The resource, the only resource, is to seek for one who is stronger than Satan, and profit by his assistance. And that one is Christ. He came into the world " to destroy the works of the devil." He himself did conquer him, and he will enable his followers to conquer him. " When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace: but when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils."^ Here then the case is like that of the disciples. They received Jesus into the ship, and the wind ceased. And so let the man who is under the do- minion of sin, receive Christ into his heart, and he shall be enabled to overcome the tempests which raoe within his bosom, and by which he may have been long tossed, like the troubled sea. Let the proud and haughty man commit himself to him who was "meek and lowly in heart;" his pride shall cease ; he shall " be clothed with humility," and learn what it is to " esteem others better than himself." Let the impure and sensual do the same ; and they shall be enabled to mortify those affections and lusts, which " war against the soul." " Sin shall have no more dominion over them." So it was with the Corinthian converts; we know what they had been: as St. Paul reminds them, " Such were some of you : " that is, they had lived 2 Lukexi. 21. JOHN VI. 14—21. 171 in the indulgence of all those evils to which corrupt nature is inclined. " But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." ^ Ye have received him into your heart, with whom Satan cannot dwell, and over whose disciples Satan cannot prevail. He "delivers you from the body of this death," and ye are not " brought into captivity to the law of siu which is in your members." ^ It may not, perhaps, be with every one, as it was with the apostles, whose ship was immediately at the land for which they were bound. This is not often granted. The contest may be long, and slow, and painful. But only let the contest be continued, and the end is certain. There is no corruption which may not be overcome by a steady contemplation of the cross of Christ, and the re- presentation which it exhibits of holiness and mercy. Take your sin to that, and crucify it there. Those who, like the apostles, have attached themselves to Christ Jesus as their Lord, find in this history fresh reason to approve their choice. He is theirs, who has alike the will and the power to protect and comfort them. He may suffer the tempest to arise, and the storm to alarm them for a while ; but it is not without a purpose. He will not permit it to overwhelm or injure them. That takes place, which is beautifully described by the Psalmist : " He commandeth, and raiseth the 3 1 Cor. vi. 11. ' Sec Rom. vii. 22— 25, and viii. 1—11. 172 JOHN VI. 22—29. stormy wind. Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses. He maketh the storm a cahn, so that the waves thereof are still. Then are they glad because they be quiet ; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven." ^ LECTURE XXXII. FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST DECLARED TO BE THE WORK REQUIRED OF GOD. John vi. 22—29. 22. The day following, when the jieople which stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was none other boat there, save that one whereinto his disciples were entered, and that Jesus went not vjith Ids disciples into the boat, but that his disciples were gone away alone ; 23. (Howbeit there came other boats from Tiberias nigh unto the place where they did eat bread, after that the Lord had given thanks ;) 24. When tJie people therefore saw that Jesus ivas not there, neither his disciples, they also took shipping, and came to Capernaam, seeking for Jesus. 25. And when they had found him on the other side of 5 Tsalm cvii. 25—30. JOHN VI. •22-21). 173 the sea, they said unto him, Rabbi, when earnest thou hither ? 26. Jesus answered them and said. Verily, verily, I say unto yon, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled. 27. Labour not for the meat ^vhich perishcth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, tvhich the Son of man shall give unto you : for him hath God the Father sealed. Had these persons sought Jesus, and taken even greater pains to find him, and join his company, because they perceived by his miracles that he was "come from God," and "had the words of eternal life ; " they would have done what was wise and prudent and praiseworthy. But he had reason to know, that they were more anxious about pro- vision for the body than the soul, and that the uppermost desire in their minds was the desire of being miraculously supported l)y liim. There was another support which he would give, which would avail when the body needed it no longer. There was another support which they would want, when nothing else could profit them. This he exhorts them to labour,^ to work for, and they should not labour for it in vain. He was at hand who should give it tliem, and God the Father had set his seal to his power. Him hath God the Father sealed. We seal the deed which we accredit as our own, and by which wc mean to stand. God had set his seal to Jesus as his Son, by the scriptures which 1 'Epya^€o-^ai, the Same word whicli is used in the succeeding verse. 174 JOHN VI. 22—29. prophesied of liim, by the voice which bore testi- mony to him, by the supernatural works which he was daily performing. For that then Avhich he coukl give, the meat which endureth unto everlasting life, for that they should labour. This leads them to ask a question, which we might expect every man to ask who may come to years of understanding. 28. Then said they unto Jilm, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God ? * 29. Jesus answered and said unto them, Tliis is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. A plain and obvious reply, suited to the inquirers of every age. Ye desire to do the works of God ; — to fulfil that wdiich he expects of you. This is as it should be, that the creature should perform the work assigned him by his Creator. Nor is that work doubtful. He has sent his message ; he has commissioned his own Son to deliver it ; and he re- quires you to believe him, " This is his command- ment, that ye should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ." This is the work of God, that ye be- lieve on him whom he hath sent. As this is a sentence not belonging to the Jews alone, but to all whom the sound of the gospel reaches, it is right to stop awhile and inquire, whether we in this respect are w^orking the works 2 The works of God — those works which he requireth, and which he alloweth. 8 JOHN VI. 22—29. 170 of God. Do we believe on him whom he hath sent f He came to tell us, that in ourselves, and our natural condition, we are lost : lost through that sin which Adam brought upon the world, and of which he bequeathed to his posterity both the guilt and the penalty. " For in Adam all die." " By one man's disobedience many were made sinners." He came to tell us, that by the blood which he shed upon the cross, the ransom which he paid there, the sacrifice he then offered, — this sin has been atoned for, this guilt may be taken away, and the sinner restored to the favour of his God. " For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." " For as by one man's dis- obedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous." s He came to tell us that this atonement is im- parted, this benefit made over to those who receive its Author for what he was sent to be : receive him in the affection and devotion of their hearts as the Redeemer by whom their souls are ransomed, are made acceptable to God, and endowed with everlasting life. As was declared in the last chapter, (v. 24,) " He that heareth my word, and belie veth on him that sent me, hath everlastino- life, and shall not come into condemnation ; but is passed from deatli unto life." He came to tell us, that " every man who hath 3 Rom. V. 19; 1 Cor. xv. 22. 176 JOHN VI. 2-2—29. this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure ; " is " renewed in the spirit of his mind ;" ^' mortifies his members which are upon the earth ;" and gives all diligence, that he may not be idle, nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, but may "be fruitful in every good work unto all well-pleasing, being filled M'ith the fruits of the Spirit, which are to the glory and praise of God." This he reveals : to the truth of this revelation God the Father hath set his seal : and to believe this, is the work which he would have us do. To the question, then, which an awakened mind is anxiously led to ask. How shall I be reconciled to God, and live more conformably to his will ? — to this question it would not be a proper reply to say, in the first place, " Do justice, love mercy ; " " give alms of thy goods ; " " keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips that they speak no guile." These indeed are the works of God, the works which he requires : but the first thing that he requires is, that we believe on him whom he hath sent : and then go forth in the spirit of that faith, and in obedience to his word, to walk before him in righteousness and holiness. It is only through that faith that God will receive our works : only through that faith that we can so perform them that they shall be acceptable to him. * We must first be grafted * Art. xiii. -'Works done before the grace of Christ, and the inspiration of his Spirit, are not pleasant to God, forasmuch as they spring not of faith in Jesus Christ." JOHN VI. 22—29. 177 upon the right stem, and become branches of the true vine, before we can bring forth fruit pleasing to God through his Spirit working in us. To this, then, look constantly and habitually, as to the foundation. See that it is securely laid. Have we a just sense of our own exceeding misery, as shown in the estrangement of the na- tural heart from God; and of God's exceeding mercy, as shown in the incarnation of his Son? To increase this sense, of helplessness on the one side, and of mercy on the other, is the way to " abound in the works of the Lord." No principle of holiness is so strong, as that arising from the atonement which he made for sin : no principle of charity so cogent, as " the love of Christ constrain- ing us " to imitate his wonderful example, and to comply with the declarations of his will. " Because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead ; and that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them." * '• 2 Cor. V. 14. N 178 JOHN VI. 30—40. LECTURE XXXIII. JESUS DESCRIBES HIMSELF AS THE BREAD OF LIFE ; AND REVEALS THE WILL OF HIS FATHER CONCERNING THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN HIM. John vi. 30—40. 30. They said therefore unto him, What sign shewest thou then, that we may see, and believe thee ? what dost thou work? 31. Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written. He gave them bread from heaven to eat. Jesus, in what was last read, had demanded from those with whom he was discoursing, faith and alle- giance ; declaring that this was the work expected of them by the Father, that they should believe on Mm whom he had sent. They, in return, require a sio-u, a proof that he was sent of God. What sign shoicest thou then, that we way see, and believe thee ? And the sign to which they refer, seems to imply that they were still looking for that temporal sup- port which had been lately given, when the mul- titude was provided with food. Our fathers did eat manna in the desert. Moses showed this sign of his divine commission : as the Scripture relates, he gave them bread from heaven to eat.^ And this affords to our Lord an occasion of explaining the spiritual purposes of his mission, and the spiritual nature of the benefit which he offered them. It 1 Neh. ix. 15. JOHN VI. 30—40. 179 was not heavenly life which was supported by the bread which Moses gave : but heavenly bread indeed was set before them now. 32. Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven : hut my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. 33. For the bread of God is he ivhich cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. 34. Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. 35. And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life : he that cometh to me shall never hunger ; and he that be- lieveth on me shall never thirst. On a former occasion, Jesus had employed the metaphor of water, to describe the refreshment and the spirit with which he would invigorate the soul. An allusion to the manna which supported the Israelites in the wilderness, now furnishes him with another example leading to a like j^urpose. He is the water of life, and he is the bread of life. Water and bread are needful to the body : and he is as water and as bread to the soul. But with this difference, that as the literal water and bread furnish but a temporary supjily which is soon ex- hausted, he furnishes that strength to the soul which shall never fail it in time or in eternity. He that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. But this was a benefit which must be souo-ht that it may be enjoyed; and that it may be souo-ht, must be desired. And these, as yet, had felt no such desire. N 2 180 JOHN VI. 30-40. 36. But I said unto you^ That ye also have seen me, and believe not. 37. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me ; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. 38. For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, hut the will of him that sent me. 39. And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me 1 should lose nothing, hut should raise it up again at the last day. 40. And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life : and I will raise him up at the last day. Most imjDortant, most interesting, are the truths which are here disclosed. Most comforting the as- surance which is conveyed. Those that come to Christ, and believe in him, are described, as given to him of the Father. This alludes to that secret preparation of the heart, which is " of the Lord : " of which we know little, except as we see its effects : when we find some so qualified and disposed, that when the " redemp- tion that is in Christ Jesus" is set before them, they close with it and follow him, whilst others neglect or reject him. Those that receive the word with an honest and true heart, and " are or- dained to eternal life,"^ believe. And those who thus believe, are given to Christ of the Father : who has engaged, in his mysterious covenant, to " give him the heathen for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession." ^ The preaching of St. Paul at Athens furnishes an example : and its copy may be found in every » Acts xiii. 48. ' Ps. ii. 8. 10 JOHN VJ. 30—40. 181 congregation or collection of persons where the gospel is proclaimed. (Acts xvii. 32.) " When they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked : and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter. Howbeit certain men clave unto him, and believed : among the which Mas Diony- sius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them." Damaris, then, and Diouysius, and others with them, formed a separate class from those who either mocked at Paul's doctrine, or deferred all thought of it. Tliey came to Christ, whom Paul was making known, whose doctrine he was preach- ing. And their coming was a proof that they were given to him of the Father. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me. Why the Father gave him these, and did not give him the whole assembly, we shall never know on this side the o-rave. But of o this we are sure, that " the Judge of all the earth shall do right, and that there is no respect of persons with him." And for those who have come to Christ — for those, for example, who in this Christian land, having been committed to him in baptism, have renewed in their own hearts the engagements of that covenant — how consolinii' is the thoudit, that they are objects of interest to their Father which is in heaven, who has given their soul into the charge of his beloved Son. And he, too, has added his own promise, Him that comcth to me I will in no wise cast out. Has any one faith to come unto me, to believe in me, to commit his eter- 182 JOHN VI. 30--40. nal salvation to my care ? I uill in no .wise reject him, however sinful and guilty he may have been, however corrupt and frail he may still be. So that there is nothing- to deter or discourage in the idea, that those who come unto Christ, are given unto him by the Father. Does any person feel such a sense of his own weakness and un- worthiness, as willingly and thankfully to accept the offer made, and appropriate to himself the ransom paid by Christ? Then he has within himself an evidence that he is one of those whom the Father hath given unto the Son. Then he has within himself a proof that it is the Father's will that he should enjoy his heavenly kingdom. For this is his will, That every one which seeth the Son, and beliereth in him, may have everlasting life. To see the Son, is to perceive his divine virtue and power ; to recognise him, as made of God unto us " wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption." And to believe in him, is to apply that virtue and power personally to ourselves. If it be so with you ; if ye perceive Jesus to be in- deed the Son of God; if ye believe in him and rely on him for salvation, then ye need go no fur- ther to inquire into the Father's M'ill concerning you. The faith which ye profess, and are con- scious of, is the token of his will. No other could be given, no other ought to be required. Be sa- tisfied with this, and rejoice with thankfulness. Cherish the faith which has drawn you to the Saviour, and ascribe it to " the giver of every good and perfect gift : " but do not presumj)tuously JOHN VI. 41—46. 183 search, why God hath made you to differ from ano- ther, or another from you. " Canst thou by search- ing find out God ? " Ought we to be surprised, if at present much appears inscrutable and incomprehen- sible ? Rather adopt the words of David : " I have not exercised myself in great matters, which are too high for me. I have refrained my soul, and kept it low. Yea, my soul is as a weaned child." ^ Nay, one greater than David has said, " I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father ; for so it seemed good in thy sight." ^ LECTURE XXXIV. JESUS DECLARES THAT FAITH IN HIM IS GIVEN OF GOD. John vi. 41 — 4G. 41. The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am the hread which came down from heaven. 42. And they said. Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we hnoio ? how is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven? 43. Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Mur- mur not among yourselves. 44. No man can come to me, except the Father which * Ps. ex 1, 2. ' Matt. xi. 2.3. 184 JOHN VI. 41—46. hath sent me draw him : and I will raise him up at the last day. 45. It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father^ cometh unto me. 46. Xot that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father. Instead of receiving the words of truth with due reverence, the Jews murmured at them. The Lord warns them not to invent objections, or listen to cavils. Such a spirit is totally inconsistent with that grace of God which bends the heart towards revealed truth. And though no man can come unto Christ unless the Father draw him, there are states of mind which remove them to a greater and a greater distance from him. This, he intimates, is no new doctrine, but such as the prophets had made familiar to them. It is written in the prophets^ And they shall be all taught of God. Every man, therefore, that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me. A truth is declared here, which many are very unwilling to admit ; and which others pervert, as they do also other scriptures, to their own destruc- tion.^ No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him. " The natural man receiveth not the things of God." The heart by nature is so filled with corrupt thoughts and desires, that it cannot come and surrender itself to Christ : ' Is. liv. 13. " All thy children shall be taught of the Lord : and great shall be the peace of thy children. 2 2 Pet. iii. 16. JOHN VI. 41—46. 185 it will be turned away from him by envy, as in the case of his brethren ; by covetousness, as in Judas ; by pride, as with the Pharisees ; by love of worldly things, as in the young- ruler. Therefore, as wq read in ver. G5, therefore said I imto you, that no 7na?i can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father. The Spirit of God the Father must so subdue the natural disposition of the heart, and must influence it with such humble feelin