e
lift :
TWENTY-TWO SERMONS
BY THE
BT. REV. Ot P. MPILVAffiE, D.D., D.C.I.
* TB E PBOT.8T*T EPISOOPA!, OH^.CH THE
OB,O.
NEW YORK:
ROBERT CARTEE & BROTHERS,
285 BROADWAY.
1854.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1854, by
CHARLES P. McILVAINE,
In the District Court of the United States, for the District of Ohio.
FRANKLIN PRINTING COMPANY. COLUMBUS, O3I0,
TO THE
C L E B, 0- Y AND LAITY
OF THE
PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN THE DIOCESE OF OHIO,
PUBLISHED ACCORDING TO A REQUEST, LONG SINCE MADE IN THE DIOCESAN
CONVENTION, ARE
MOST RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED,
BY THEIR AFFECTIONATE FRIEND AND PASTOR,
THE AUTHOR,
WITH HIS EARNEST PRAYER THAT WHEN HIS VOICE IS SILENT IN DEATH, HE
MAY LONG BE PERMITTED, BY THEM, TO TEACH AND
PREACH JESUS CHRIST.
CINCINNATI, OCT. 1, 1854.
CONTENTS.
SERMON I.
THE POWER OF THE WORD OF GOD.
Psalm cxix. 130. " The entrance of thy words giveth light ; it giveth under-
standing to the simple." Page 1 .
SERMON II.
THE TRUE CHURCH, THE WORLD'S LIGHT.
Matthew v. 14 "Ye are the light of the world."
Page 25.
SERMON III.
THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN ITS ESSENTIAL BEING.
1 Chronicles xxii. 1 " Then David said, This is the house of the Lord God,
and this is the altar of the burnt-offering for Israel." Page 55.
SERMON IV.
THE PERSONAL MINISTRY OF CHRIST, IN HIS CHURCH, NOW AND EVER.
Luke iii. 16, 17 "I indeed baptize you with water ; but one mightier than I
cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose : he shall
baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire : whose fan is in his
hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat
into his garner ; but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable."
Page 83.
SERMON V.
THE PRESENCE OF CHRIST IN THE ASSEMBLIES OF HIS PEOPLE.
Matthew xviii. 20 "Where two or three are gathered together in my name,
there am I in the midst of them."
Page 103.
TU CONTENTS.
SERMON VI.
THE NATURE AND CONDEMNATION OF SIX 1 .
1 John iii. 4" Sin is the transgression of the law."
Pag* 124.
SERMON VII.
THE GREAT FEAST AND THE VAIN EXCUSE.
Luke xiv. 16, 17, 18 " Then he said unto them, a certain man made a great
supper, and bade many : and sent his servant at supper time, to say to
them that were bidden, Come, for all things are now ready ; and they all
with one consent began to make excuse.
Page 147.
SERMON VIII.
THE CALL TO DILIGENCE.
Romans xiii. 12 " The night is far spent ; the day is at hand."
Page 171.
SERMON IX.
THE CHRISTIAN NOT OF THE WORLD.
John xvii. 16 " They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world."
Page 190.
SERMON X.
THE TRUE ESTIMATE OF LIFE.
Psalrn xc. 12 "So teach us to number our days that we may apply our
hearts unto wisdom."
Page 213.
SERMON XL
THE NATURE AND EFFICACY OK SAVING FAITH.
John iii. 36 "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life ; and he that
believeth not the Son, shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on
him."
Page 231.
SERMON XII.
FAITH APPROPRIATING THE SACRIFICE OF CHRIST.
John vi. 53, 54 "Verily, verily, I say unto you, except ye eat the flesh of
the Son of Man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso
eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life ; and I will raise
him up at the last day."
Page 257.
CONTENTS. Vll.
SERMON XIII.
THE CHARACTER OF GOD AS MANIFESTED IN CHRIST.
1 John iv. 8, 9 He that loveth not, knoweth not God ; for God is love. In
this was manifested the love of God towards us, because that God gent
his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him."
Page 284.
SERMON XIV.
THE BELIEVER'S HIDDEN LIFE IN CHRIST.
Colossians iii. 3, 4 "Ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God:
when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with
him in glory."
Page 308.
SERMON XV.
THE BELIEVER'S PROGRESSIVE LIFE IN CHRIST.
Proverbs iv. 18 " The path of the just is as the shining light that shineth
more and more unto the perfect day."
Page 326.
SERMON XVI.
THE BELIEVER'S ASSURANCE IN CHRIST.
Romans viii. 32 " 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 ?"
Page 347.
SERMON XVII.
THE BELIEVER'S PORTION IN CHRIST.
Colossians i. 12 "Giving thanks unto the Father which hath made us meet
to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light."
Page 371.
SERMON XVIII.
THE PRESENT BLESSEDNESS OF THE DEAD IN CHRIST.
Revelation xiv. 13 " I heard a voice from Heaven saying unto me, Write
Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth : Yea, saith the
Spirit, that they may rest from their labors ; and their works do follow
them."
Page 390.
Vlll. CONTENTS.
SERMON XIX.
THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST.
Luke xxiy. 34" The Lord is risen indeed."
Page 413.
SERMON XX.
THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD IX CHRIST.
John xi. 23" Thy brother shall rise again."
Page 439.
SERMON XXL
THE FINAL SATISFACTION OF THE BELIEVER IK JESUS.
Psalm xvii. 15 "As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness ; I shall
be satisfied when I awake, with thy likenesss."
Page 4G4.
SERMON XXII.
THE MINISTER OF ^CHRIST EXHORTED TO GROWTH IN GRACE.
1 Timothy vi. 11 "Thou, man of God, flee these things, and follow
after rightecmsness, godliness, faith, loye, patience, meekness."
Page 488.
SERMON I.
THE POWER OF THE WORD OF GOD.
PSALM cxix. 130.
** The entrance of thy words gireth light ; it gireth understanding unto the
simple."
"!N the beginning God created the heavens and the
earth, and the earth was without form, and void, and
darkness was upon the face of the deep." The material
of this world was all there, under that darkness, but there
was nothing else. Organization was not ; life was not ;
there was the element of all things, but the form of
none.
"The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the
waters " Still the chaos remained. Life came not.
There was to be no order nor life, till there was light ;
nor any light, without the word. Then came the word of
God; its first voice to this world: "Let there be light.
And there was light. And the evening and the morning
10 ere the first day" Thus early the union of the Spirit
and the word. The next thing was order, organization ;
then life, and then man, a living soul in the likeness of
his Maker.
But soon that crown upon the head of creation had
fallen. The image of God, in man, was lost. The grace
of God interposes to restore it. Lost in the first Adam,
it is renewed in the second. There is a new creation in
1
2 SERMON I.
Christ Jesus. The Spirit of God comes clown again and
moves upon the face of that deep of darkness, and confu-
sion, and spiritual death, into which the whole human
nature is fallen.
But the God of nature is the God of grace. And his
instrument, as in the beginning, still is Light. Until the
light of the knowledge of Himself, in his law and in his
gospel, in his justice and grace, in his holiness and love,
as all are manifested in Christ, reconciling the world unto
Himself, be received into man's heart, his recovery to the
likeness of God cannot begin ; his nature must remain
" without form, and void ;" its affections out of place and
perverted, in conflict with one another and the Creator,
all desolate and empty as to all spiritual life. "God is
light." His children are "children of light." Light is
the element of their new birth. How then reads the
account in the Scriptures of the new creation ? " God,
(it is written) who commanded the light to shine out of
darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of
the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus
Christ."*
Such is the elementary process by which we are
recovered from the fall. " We are his workmanship,
(saith the Apostle) created in Christ Jesus unto good
works." Each true child of God is that new creation ;
exclusively, and most wonderfully the "workmanship" of
God ; the work of his power, his wisdom, his grace ;
transforming him by the renewing of his mind, translating
him into marvellous light; a work even more to the
glory of God than the creation of the heavens and earth,
* 2 Cor. iv. G.
THE POWER OF THE WORD OF GOD. O
because the manifestation of his grace, as well as of his
power. All this visible workmanship shall pass away ;
but that remaineth, and will be for ever making known
more and more, "to the principalities and powers in
heavenly places, the manifold wisdom of God."
But from beginning to ending, that work, by the Spirit
as the power, is by the light as the instrument ; " light of
the knowledge of the glory of God, in the face of Jesus
Christ ;" in his person and offices, especially in his
sacrifice on the cross and that glory made visible to us
by God's shining in our hearts.
No sooner appears that light in the heart, than, under
the power of the Spirit, all things become new; order
begins where confusion reigned. Life enters the void of
that dead and desolate nature. The law of holiness takes
the mastery. The affections find their rightful objects
and range themselves in their proper relations to the
Creator and the creature. The love of God is shed
abroad in the heart by the Holy Ghost, and man is again
in the likeness of his Maker.
But the God of nature is the God of grace. And as
light came not in the first creation without the wordy so
it comes not in the neAV creation.
We have seen that it is " the light of the knowledge
of his glory in the face of Jesus Christ," that God
employs. The sun, then, that shines on us is Christ.
" I, (saith our ascended Lord) am the light of the world;
he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall
have the light of life." But that sun has gone far out of
our sight. How then doth his shining now come to us ?
When the sun of our natural day is beyond our horizon,
4 SERMON I.
there is a moon to receive its light and reflect it to the
earth. Has the God of grace provided in like manner
for the absence of him on whom our spiritual day
.depends? The Psalmist answers : "Thy word is a light
unto my feet and a lamp unto my path." God, by his
Spirit, takes of the things that are Christ's, in his word,
and shows them unto us.* He shines on the Scriptures,
and by them in our hearts. He gives no new revelation
to the word, but he gives a new sight to our understand-
ing. He plants no new stars in the sky, but he gives us
a new lens to see what have been always there. Other
means of making us wise unto salvation he could certainly
have employed, as he gave light to the earth before he
gave it the sun. But as it is now his ordinance, that
without the sun there shall be no day, so hath he
ordained, that without his word there shall be no life
abiding in us. Other ordinances he hath made for our
spiritual nurture and growth, but all their light is in the
word. Whether the voice of the preacher, or the
Church's discipline, or the ministration of sacraments,
they are only the means whereby God shows forth,
applies, or seals more emphatically the precious things of
his word; and only according to the reception of this in
the heart, can they be efficacious to salvation.
We are now prepared for the first of the two divisions
of this discourse, viz :
I. The condition on which the efficacy of the word
depends " The entrance of thy word giveth light."
The word of God must have entrance to our hearts.
"Let the word of Christ dwell in you, in all wisdom," is
*,Tohn xvi. 14.
THE POWER OP THE WORD OF GOD.
the requirement. " God hath shined in our hearts," was
the experience of the Apostle and his brethren.
The daily sun enlightens us not, except his rays have
admission through the windows communicating with the
mind within. It is his entrance to the inner chamber
of the eye by which we see. So must it be with the
word.
" True," says some reader of the Scriptures ; " I am
not ignorant of a truth so elementary. Of course the
word must have access to my thoughts and opinions : I
must not only read but ponder it. Whatever impedes an
honest interpretation must be taken away. It must
have entrance to my most cherished belief." Yea, but
there is still an inner chamber which it claims to enter.
The outer apartment of the mind it must indeed first
penetrate, and with your every intellectual faculty and
effort must it be allowed free course. But it must not
stop there ; for its chief message cannot be delivered
there. It is sent to the secret conscience and heart, and
must not be kept waiting outside, as if you could receive
its errand at second hand. It comes direct from God,
charged to speak with the master of the house ; and in
your most private audience, face to face, must it be
received. It comes with " doctrine, reproof, correction,
and instruction in righteousness," and demands that your
most hidden thoughts, and motives, and affections all
from which are the issues of life be arraigned before it,
to be examined, reproved, corrected, instructed. Shut-
ting the door, then, against the interruption of worldly
cares ; realizing the presence of God and his eye upon
us ; mindful of all we have at stake, and seeking help at
SERMON I.
the throne of grace, that we may read, mark, learn, and
inwardly digest the word to our soul's health, we must
bid it search the ground of our hearts. Amidst the deep
corruptions and wants of our nature, amidst all its ruin
and indwelling sins, in the citadel of our rebellion and
the temple of our worldly idolatry, the word must take
its stand, and speak to us face to face, telling us of God,
his law, his holiness, his condemnation of our sins ; tell-
ing us of Christ, the grace that gave him, and the love
that brought him to be a sacrifice for us, and the fulness
and freeness of the salvation his blood hath purchased for
us ; yea, deep in our hearts with the consciousness of our
ruin and beggary bearing us down to eternal death, must
the word speak to us of Christ on the cross, and Christ
on the throne ; especially of the perfect justification of
all believers through his righteousness imputed, and their
finally perfect sanctification through his Spirit imparted
unto them.
Such is the entrance on which the power of the word,
to make us wise unto salvation, depends. And thus are
explained the different effects of the reading of the Bible
on different minds equally familiar with its chapters.
To many a man, after years of diligent perusal, it
remains, as to all spiritual improvement, a sealed book.
He is still " the natural man" that " perceiveth not the
things of the Spirit of God, neither can he know them,
because they are spiritually discerned ;"* seeing them
afar off, as the natural eye sees the starry nebulae of the
heavens, but wanting the help of a spiritual vision to
bring them nigh and discover their magnitude, and
*1 Cor. ii. 14.
THE POWER OF THE WORD OF GOD. I
number, and relations, and glory. Every controversy of
the truth, he may have mastered. Among the ablest of
its expounders, he may be ranked. And yet may there
be a veil on his heart,* so that he sees nothing beyond
the letter, and a ray from the inner temple of the truth
may have never reached him. Such a verse as, "to you
that believe, he is precious" may find no response in his
experience. All within him may remain as cold and dead
to the calls of the word, as undrawn by its invitations, as
uncheered by its promises, as unaffected by its revelation
of the wonderful love of God in Christ, as fast bound in
woiidliness, and as alien from the hidden life of the man
of God, as if a Bible had never met his eye. The reason
is, the word has never had " entrance" It has been kept
as a servant at the door, not received as a friend into the
private house.
But not so with many an humble reader, though of far
inferior furniture of knowledge and skill of interpretation,
who " applies his heart to understanding ;" searching the
Scriptures "for hid treasures;" whose affections take hold
on their chapters, whose hungering after righteousness
digests their teaching ; whose prayers obtain the help of
the Spirit, that the truth may give him life. To him
they are "all glorious within," their "vesture is of
wrought gold." "Wondrous things" are in God's law,
whoever reads it ; but to none do they appear but to him
who prays, " Open thou mine eyes" That is the man who
comes to know, by an evidence which cannot deceive, that
the word is of God, because it does in him the works of
God, and leads his heart unto God, and sheds abroad
*2 Cor. iii. 13-16.
8 SERMON I.
therein the love of God. The entrance of the word gives
him light, and that light giveth him life. " Thy word
(said the Psalmist) have I hid in my heart" And
because he could say this, he could further say, "Thy
testimonies have I taken as my heritage for ever, for
they are the rejoicing of my heart."
We come now, in the second place, to
II. The power of the word thus having entrance "It
giveth light* It giveth understanding unto the simple"
The effect of the word on the day of Pentecost is the
great, standing, comment on these words That day was
the first of the new creation under the Gospel. A
deeper moral darkness than that which then covered the
earth, had never been known. A more hopeless people
among whom to begin the effort of the word, than the
Jews then at Jerusalem, could not be. More helpless
agents than the laborers of that day, apostles of a
Master recently crucified, and supposed by all that heard
them to be still in death, we cannot imagine. But the
word of their lips was not their word. "The Spirit
gave them utterance" and gave it entrance. As they
delivered the word, God commanded the light. And
what a birth-day that was ! what a new creation ! Behold
that great multitude Jews out of all nations, hastening
to the apostles to confess Christ and receive his baptism !
Three thousand, in one day, brought to repentance, joy-
fully embracing the Gospel, forsaking all to follow Jesus !
They come out of all the enmity and obduracy and
unbelief of a people that have just been rejecting and
crucifying with wicked hands that same Jesus. His
blood is on their raiment, and the hatred of his gospel
THE POWER OF THE WORD OF GOD.
9
was just now in their hearts. But see the new creation !
Since the world began, there had not been such a mani-
festation of the power of God. All things in those three
thousand hearts are become new their views, their
affections, their faith. They have put off the old man
and put on the new man. All things are now counted
loss for Christ. The shame of his cross is their glory ;
and in the city of his rejection and crucifixion, and
before the rulers that slew him, they take their stand as
his disciples, ready to die for his name. The entrance of
God's word had given them great light, and the simplest
among them, it had suddenly, in one day, made "wise
unto salvation."
We look back to that day, as the day of days, intended
for light to all subsequent days. Never can the word
have a harder work to do than the work of that day ;
never can it attempt an entrance into a more impenetra-
ble fortress of human pride and enmity ; never can its
missionaries encounter trials of faith more severe, or
need the power of God more perfectly. There is nothing
of the depth of Satan in " the Man of Sin," or in the
strong entrenchments of the power of darkness among
the heathen, or even in the awful atheism that is now
coming in like a flood, that presents a mightier barrier
against the word than did the mind of the Jews on the
morning of that day.
We must not allow the encouragement thus derived to
be impaired by the suggestion that the marvellous things
of that Pentecost were miraculous, and that days of
miracle are passed. True the Spirit wrought miracu-
lously in those that spake the word to give them utter-
10 SERMON I.
ance in divers tongues, but not in those that heard to
give them new hearts. It was an extraordinary operation
of the Spirit that gave such manifest witness to the word
in the speech of the Apostles. It was the ordinary,
which is promised to the Church in all ages, that gave
such abundant entrance to the word, and such light to its
entrance.
Were the private history of the conversion of each
man of that new-created host, unveiled to us, what
striking attestations, under all variety of circumstances,
should we read, to the light-giving power of the simple
word, under the blessing of the Spirit! It was no
eloquence or labored argument of the preacher that
turned them. Not one of them ascribed his conversion
to the miracle of the tongues, however that may have
first arrested his attention. All he knew as the instru-
ment of the power that wrought in him thus to will and
to do, was the word he had heard concerning the crucified
Jesus ; and it was the very simplest statement of the
word; not in any extended view, but only in a few Old
Testament passages, with a little comment; and most
likely, in many cases, it was but a single one of those tes-
timonies that did the work with the conscience and heart.
Such has been the working of the word ever since that
day. How often has a single verse, with wonderful
grasp, arrested the careless sinner after he had been for
many years an unmoved hearer, and taught him such
views of the law of God and his transgressions, that he
could not rest till he fled to Christ for refuge! And
who shall fix the limit to this power of the word to give
light to such wanderers, when we know it is God that, by
THE POWER OF THE WORD OF GOD. 11
it, shines in the heart? Jesus fed the five thousand with
a few barley-loaves. And what measure of saving light
may he not pour into thousands of humble, seeking
hearts, by a few words of his scriptures ! David had
but a small part of the Old Testament for that word
which was his "meditation all the day." But with that
little, God gave such light that David's religious experi-
ence has been the example of Christians of every age,
and of the highest spiritual degree.
And this suggests the beautiful similarity of the
spiritual image wrought by the light of the word, wher-
ever, in any age or part of the earth, it has been received.
A strong family likeness between the piety of the saints
under all dispensations since Enoch walked with God,
establishes their near relationship as children of the same
Father, the workmanship of the same grace. Is it the
spiritual character of Augustine in the fourth century, or
of Luther in the sixteenth, or of Baxter, or Doddridge,
or Venn, or Simeon, of England or of Bedell or Milnor,
in the new world; is it a work of the word on some
humble daughter in the dairyman's cottage or the high
and mighty in a king's palace ; is it amid the refinements
of your high places of learning or among the degraded
victims of the vilest heathenism, that you trace the doings
of the word? You see, in the piety it creates, innu-
merable varieties of minor details, with wonderful iden-
tity of ruling feature ; the great transformation every-
where the same, and everywhere ascribed to the same
grace; the affections, the desires, the trust, the hope, the
conflict the same; the same spiritual meat, like the
manna of the desert, is the food of all ; the same flowing
12 SERMON I.
Rock of living water is the refreshment of all ; the same
Bible prayers and praises express the wants, and faith,
and love, of all. Jesus is the joy of all.
But I must speak more particularly of that clause of
the text, which says, that the entrance of God's words
"giveth understanding unto the simple"
I see in this an advance upon the previous statement ;
a more emphatic declaration of the power of the word.
It means not only that its entrance giveth light, but
that it so giveth light as to give understanding in the
truth of God even " unto the simple."
Here let us pause a moment. In all efforts to pro-
mote the free circulation and universal reading of the
Scriptures, and more and more in these days of the
quickened efforts of Popery, we are encountered by a
Church and by many who are harnessed in her traces,
while they wear not her livery, telling us that the Bible
is not for the simple ; that instead of getting from it
understanding, they can only pervert it to their own
destruction ; and indeed that to none is it a safe or edifying
book, with which they ought to be trusted, but under par-
ticular guidance of a priest and the authoritative inter-
pretation of that Church.
We answer, "The entrance of thy words giveth un-
derstanding unto the simple" We affirm and may safely
call the history of Bible reading to prove it, that there is
not a doctrine of the gospel, a precept pertaining to
God's service, a single consolation in Christ, a warning,
an exhortation affecting the Christian life, that is not, in
some at least of its forms of expression, as plain in the
Scriptures to the simple, as to the learned, so making the
THE POWER OF THE WORD OF GOD. 13
word, like the true Church, which, under God, it creates,
Catholic word, open to all conditions of men, sent for all,
suited to all, and not, as some who make a special boast
of the name of Catholic would have it, a sealed book to
all mankind, which only the traditions of ages, managed
by a peculiar priesthood, could open and interpret.
That there are not high places in Scripture which only
the ladder of studious learning may mount, we are far from
teaching. But just as far are we from allowing, that on
the scaling of those heights depends our knowledge of
any great truth pertaining to Christian faith, or hope, or
life. It is where the humblest may walk, that the "trea-
sure hid in a field" is to be discovered; and while the
man of great equipment may be looking too high to find
it, the simple has already " sold all he has, and bought
it," and enjoyed and loved it.
But of all pretenders to special light in understanding
the Scriptures, and all claimants to your special submis-
sion to their interpretation, the church of Rome has the
least reason to expect her claim to be acknowledged. Let
her show, not that she has fathomed mysteries and
mounted heights which the simple cannot reach, but that
she has not most grossly darkened and perverted such
plain and elementary teaching of the Scriptures as the
simple and honest-minded cannot mistake. One would
suppose that if words can make any teaching plain, it is
the wording of the second commandment, as forbidding
the bowing down to and worshipping graven images ; or
this, " there is one God and one Mediator between God
and man" as expressly limiting our refuge to one only
Mediator ; or, "the blood of Jesus Christ clcanscth us from
14 SERMON I.
all sin" as freeing the believer in Jesus from all reason
to apprehend any suffering for his sins in the world to
come ; or the simple words of the institution of the
Lord's Supper, as incapable of having engrafted on them
the monstrous blasphemy of transubstantiation or the
idolatry of the mass. But what work have the interpre-
tations of Rome made of these plain Scriptures ! Call
up the simple from any of your humblest ranks of Bible
readers, and how easily will he show that in these things,
either she hath no honesty to acknowledge, or no under-
standing to perceive the meaning of the word. Let her
disband her army of mediators, and put out the fires of
her purgatory, and reduce her pompous mass to the sim-
plicity of the Christian sacrament as the Lord ordained
it ; let her pluck down and give to the moles and the
bats her innumerable idols, her worshipped pictures and
images, and dead men's bones ; let her put on sackcloth
and repent, before God and man, for the souls she has
seduced, and the indignity she has done to God's com-
mandment, by a grossness of idolatry which surpasses
even that of heathen Rome ; and then let her begin anew
to learn in simplicity and godly sincerity the Holy Scrip-
tures which are able to make even such a blind and
perverted church wise unto salvation. Till then, let her
not wonder if we think her incompetent to teach the
plainest lessons of Christ, and would rather rely on the
interpretations of the simplest reader of the Bible, whose
conscience is undefiled by the known habit of disobe-
dience to God's plain will, than on hers.
But we must remember that our text does not speak
of the mere interpretation of the word, but also and
THE POWER OF THE WORD OF GOD. 15
especially of its spiritual discernment ; that which " the
natural man," with all the aids of learning and of vigorous
intellect cannot have, while the spiritually-minded peasant
on his estate may be rejoicing therein ; the discernment
which draws the heart to the word, and applies the word
to the heart with a subduing and sanctifying power, so that
by it we come to know, not only the word, but Christ
whom it is its great object to make manifest in our hearts.
Let us also remember that in this spiritual discernment
of the things of the Spirit, is contained all that God
regards, as the true knowledge of himself, of his will, or
his salvation in Christ ; all other knowledge of his word
being in his sight but as chaff in the comparison ; that in
his sight the simplest, having that one attainment, are of
more understanding and of more dignity in his kingdom,
and of more honor to his service, than if, without it, they
had all faith, so as to remove mountains, and all learning,
so as to expound all mysteries. Let us remember also
that in the school of this spiritual discernment, the Spirit
of God is the only teacher : that there is no respect of
persons there ; the way of promotion being just as easy
and free to the simplest rustic, as to the most instructed
and elevated ecclesiastic ; humility, earnestness and
prayer, being the only qualifications required.
Then remember that while God gives grace to the
humble, he resists the proud ; that while he gives more
light to him who walks by what he has, he takes away
his light from them that abuse it to works of darkness ;
remember also that the Apostle speaks of God's send-
ing to those who have "pleasure in unrighteousness,"
"strong delusion that they should believe a lie"* and further-
* 2 Thes. ii. 11, 12.
16 SERMON I.
more that no "pleasure in unrighteousness" is more
directly connected in Scripture with such awful punish-
ment, than that which changes " the glory of the incor-
ruptible God, into an image made like corruptible man,"
" worshipping and serving the creature more than the
Creator."* Then look how the Church of Rome finds
not only her pleasure, but her enormous gains of " gold,
and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls," and
all merchandize of pomp, and pride, and luxury, in that
very unrighteousness of creature and image and picture
worship, continually putting forth pretended miracles in
its support, and arguments than which the heathen Ro-
mans had none worse for their idolatry ; so that if ever
the "Father's house" was "made a house of merchan-
dize" in the traffic of an idolatrous priestcraft ; if ever
there wasa house of idols on earth, it is in that Church.
And can that Church live ? Will not God make good
his word against the graven images ?
Separate from all testimony of prophecy, can we doubt
that " desolations are determined" on that rebellious city?
Is there no voice from the desolations of ancient Babylon,
telling what must be prepared for the modern? Can we
forget those words " Son of man, these men have set
up their idols in their heart, and put the stumbling-block
of their iniquity before their face : should I be inquired
of at all by them ? I the Lord will answer him that
cometh, according to the multitude of his idols. And I
will set my face against that man, and I will make him a
sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst
of my people; and ye shall know that I am the Lord."|
Under the sound of these words, we ask, if the Church
* Romans i. 23, 28. + Ezekiel xiv. 3-5.
THE POWER OF THE WORD OF GOD. 17
which they so awfully condemn, is to be allowed the arro-
gant claim of being exclusively the Temple of the Holy
Ghost, where alone we can learn to " worship God in spirit
and in truth ;" where alone we are to learn his law and
acquire the heart of a true obedience to his command-
ments ? Can it be believed, that with a conscience so
polluted by an evident, habitual, cherished iniquity, in
such plain contempt of God's word, and bound, moreover,
to its vindication, by her own most solemn decrees and her
abounding spiritual merchandize, so that to renounce it, she
must not only abandon a great source of her wealth, but
humble herself to the lowest confession and self-abasement
before God and man ; can it be believed, that in her is
to be found the spirit of meekness, and simplicity, and
purity, and prayerfulness, for the interpretation of the
the very word which so denounces her favorite sin ? Must
she not, in self-defence, bar up her corridors against
the entrance of that word which giveth light and under-
standing to the simple, lest even the most simple should
find her out? If the Spirit may be grieved by any of
you, so that he will strive with you no more, must he not
be grieved by such an idolatrous Church, so that he wiS
depart and leave it to wander on from sin to sin, and from
darkness to darkness? Did God let Ephraim alone,
because he was "joined to his idols;" and shall we suppose
the same spiritual adultery will not produce the same
spiritual abandonment of a Church that hath so abused a
light of which Ephraim had scarcely the dawn ? Oh 1
give me the most unlettered reader of the Bible, and let
him only have simplicity, and singleness, and earnestness
of desire to know and do the will of God, to know and
2
18 SERMON I.
follow Christ, to know and abandon sin; let him be also
a man of earnest prayer for the teaching of the Spirit,
and he shall give you a far better interpretation of God's
word as to all the vital matters of Christian life and hope,
than is ever to come from a Church that is joined to her
idols by decrees which she cannot annul without annihi-
lating her proudest claims and humbling herself to the
lowest abasement. He at least will know the truth,
though it may be but its alphabet ; while she certainly
will deny the truth against which she is so permanently
pledged.
Witness that man of God and bold soldier and apostle
of the Reformation; a young man and simple in knowl-
edge, finding in the dark and dust of his monastery that
neglected, unknown Bible, reading and giving entrance at
once to its word into his hungry heart see how, as he
reads, God giveth him understanding ; how the mind of
Luther is emerging out of the chaotic darkness of the
darkest ages of the Romish Church, as that word giveth
him light. But still his deliverance is not complete. See
him now in "the holy city," going about in his own igno-
rance to establish his own righteousness by works of bodily
penance. A single verse finds entrance into his burdened
heart " The just shall live ~by faith.''' It scatters the
night; it bursts his chains; it creates the great Reformer;
it lays the corner-stone of the Reformation in the great
corner-stone of the Gospel Justification ly faith through
the righteousness of Christ accounted of God to the
believer. Then began that great light, the revival of what
ages of corruption had well nigh extinguished the Pro-
testant Reformation, to which, under God, we in this land
THE TRUE CHURCH, THE WORLD 's LIGHT. 19
are so immeasurably indebted. Its whole life was the
blessing of the Spirit of God on the unsullied Bible the
free reading, the simple teaching of the Bible. How won-
derfully did its entrance at that period among the nations
of Europe, long sitting in darkness, under the bonds, and
superstitions, and idolatry of Popery, give them light !
How wonderfully did it give understanding to the simple !
What a glorious revival of gospel-faith and life appeared,
in immediate connection with, and as the direct result,
under the Holy Ghost, of the free publication and reading
of his word ! " The seed" was, and is, and ever shall be,
the ivord. I know not a more perfect expression in a few
words of the very heart and soul of the Protestant faith
and work than that. " The seed is the ^vord" said the
Lord, when his kingdom was as a grain of mustard seed.
The seed is the ivord, said the intrepid Luther, when the
kingdom had to be planted almost anew. The seed is the
wordy said those men of faith and love who founded our
Bible Societies, that every family on earth might be pos-
sessed of the Scriptures. The seed is the ^vord, say our
diligent steam-presses, hastening to multiply copies of the
Bible, and the many and various Protestant agencies in
almost all lands, to spread and teach them, and the hun-
dred and fifty or sixty languages and dialects in which
Protestants are sending the Scriptures to Jew and Gen-
tile, bond and free. The seed is the wordy say all our
Protestant Missionaries, making it their first effort when
they go into a heathen land, or among the Jews, or where
Romanism reigns and darkens the land, or among any
people, to see that the Scriptures are in the hands of the
people, in their own tongue wherein they were born.
20 SERMON I.
The precise opposite is the very embodiment of Roman-
ism. Not only is the word not the seed from which grows
that tree, but she professes no such principle as would lead
her to place any value on the dissemination of the Scrip-
tures, no matter in what version or tongue.
Do Romish missionaries translate the Scriptures? How
many of the versions now known are by the labors of
such hands? Where is the land in which such laborers
are known to be promoting, urging, facilitating the reading
of the word? Need we say that such works have no part
in the propagation of religion by the Papal hierarchy?
that not only has she no desire that her people shall have
free access to the Scriptures in their own vernacular
tongue, but that she prohibits it where she can, under her
severest penalties, and never allows it even in appearance,
but where the time and the place make it impolitic to do
otherwise ? Search through the holy city, her vaunted
centre of light and faith, for such a phenomenon as a
Bible on sale; ask her mind on this subject, from the pe-
riod of WicklifFe's translation of the Vulgate into English,
or the burning of Tyndale's New Testament, or the epistle
of the present Pontiff from his late retreat under the pro-
tection of Naples, addressed to the prelates of Italy, or
the recent sufferings of God's people in the prisons of
Tuscany. Should that dark power obtain the ascendancy
it claims, and once had in all Europe, think ye that in
this land, a single house would have in its own language
the Book of God, but by express license of a priest ; or
that persecution for reading the Scriptures would not put
on the same aspect as that which now makes that duty
and privilege so criminal and perilous in Italy?
THE POWER OF THE WORD OF GOD. 21
But why all this in a Church professing a Bible-faith
and a Bible-mission ? Why should it be more tolerable
to Romish powers to read any book of vile licentiousness
of morals, or lead a life of odious profligacy, than to read
the Scriptures? You answer justly, it is the dread of
their confronting testimony. It is the unclean spirit
among the tombs, crying out : " What have I to do with
thee torment me not."
But there is another answer. Your Bible societies, your
Missionaries translating and circulating the Scriptures ;
your zealous agents endeavoring to place a Bible in every
house of every land, are stimulated by the one great princi-
ple that the seed is the word sanctification is through the
truth and the ivord is truth. No, says Rome. The
seed is the sacrament, not the word sanctification is
through the office of the priest, dispensing the grace of
the Church. The truth, except just to bring you to the
Church, and the priest, and the sacraments, has nothing
to do with your sanctification. This is her great central
principle. Here stands the citadel of her hopes. On this
she plants her engines of war. By this she has drawn
the millions of the ignorant and superstitious to her feet,
and bound them in chains of iron, and made merchandize
of them, and made herself rich in the traffic of her priest-
craft. Take away this, and her power and wealth are
ended. Nothing can be more directly at war with this,
both in principle and operation, in the basis it goes on,
and in the light it spreads in its march, than the great zeal
which God has raised up in these days to translate and
circulate the Scriptures. Nothing must Rome be expected
move thoroughly to hate ; nothing is she more bound by
22 SERMON I.
her own principles, to destroy, as the very antagonism of
herself, than our Bible societies, sending out to all people
the Scriptures. I cannot imagine a spectacle more odious
to the genuine spirit of the Romish system and priest-
hood, than such an institution as the British and Foreign
Bible Society, so mighty in patronage, so vast in opera-
tion, so increasing in strength ; its vast confederation of
auxiliary societies; its great catalogue of translations; its
issues amounting from its first days, to about twenty-
seven millions of copies of the Scriptures all because
66 the seed is the ivord" and sanctification is "through the
truth:'
Brethren, what an account we shall have to render for
the use we make of the Scriptures! Do we give the
word of God a free entrance to our hearts? "Behold!
I stand at the door and knock." Do our hearts answer
Come in, thou messenger of God, minister of light and of
blessing, come in to the secret place of my thoughts and
affections; converse with me, admonish me, humble me,
correct me, warn me, take away my hope, if it be not the
good hope that maketh not ashamed, that I may seek a
better ; bring all that is within me into captivity to the
obedience of Christ! The spirit which thus invites and
welcomes the word of God, is the spirit that makes the
wise, and the proud, and the great, to be the simple ; and
without which the poorest and most ignorant cannot be
the simple ones, to whom the word of God will give the
saving light. It is he that is a little child in such simpli-
city, whatever he be in strength of mind, in wealth or
poverty of knowledge, in elevation or obscurity, who, by
the light of God, and through the mediation of Jesus, will
THE POWER OF THE WORD OF GOD. 23
enter into the kingdom. It is he who does not thus be-
come as a little child, that can never enter that kingdom.
Ah ! how the want of that simplicity accounts for the
difficulties which some men find in the Scriptures, and
for the darkness that rests upon so many minds as to the
true knowledge of God and of themselves, even after much
reading of the Scriptures. The entrance of the word
giveth understanding "to the simple" to "the poor in
spirit," to them that are "followers of God as dear chil-
dren," to them who "receive with meekness the engrafted
word" and strive in the Lord's help, to be doers, as well
as hearers or readers of its precepts. "Thou hast hid
these things from the wise and prudent (those who trust
in their own understanding) and hast revealed them unto
babes."
But one thing is carefully to be borne in mind. The
power to give light is not in the word. As the word of
truth, it can teach truth in the letter, but to teach it so
that it shall be spiritually discerned, and so that the
learner shall have that knowledge of God, and of his Son
Jesus Christ, which is life eternal, is the office of "the
Spirit of truth," who is also "the Spirit of life in Christ
Jesus," The Holy Ghost is come for that very end
to lead us into all saving truth into such views of it,
that our hearts shall receive, and love, and rejoice in it,
and adore the riches of divine grace made known therein.
When he shines on the word, and into the heart of the
reader by it, then its entrance giveth light. The Scrip-
tures are then an illuminated mine full of precious things.
Where the natural man walks unconscious of the riches
around him, seeing nothing but the forms which contain
24 SEEMON I.
the hid treasures, the mind enlightened by the Holy
Ghost beholds "wondrous things," and exclaims, "thy
testimonies are wonderful ;" "how love I thy law." But
one thing is needful here. Prayer Prayer ! We must
call upon God then, to enable us to use this word.
"Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous
things out of thy law," must be our prayer. The need of
God's help must be felt ; the utter insufficiency of our
own understandings spiritually to discern, must be felt^
We must come to Jesus, the true light and ask continu-
ally that his Spirit may be given to us. Read and pray ;
hear and pray are exhortations founded on our need as
truly as " watch and pray." " If thou criest after know-
ledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding," is a
condition of finding the knowledge of God, as much as "if
thou incline thine ear," and " apply thine heart," and
" seekest as for silver, and searchest as for hid treasures."
Brethren, do you thus feel your need of divine help in
endeavoring so to use the word that, read or heard, it
shall make you wise unto salvation ? Do you thus call
upon God to take of the things that are his, and show
them unto you? The Lord give us all richly to expe-
rience the power of his Spirit, through the word, to give
us the light of the knowledge of his glory in Jesus Christ,
and to make us meet to be partakers of the inheritance
of his saints ! Amen.
SERMON II.
THE TRUE CHURCH, THE WORLD'S LIGHT.
MATTHEW v. 14.
" Ye are the light of the world."
You will immediately recognize in these words a part
of our Lord's Sermon on the Mount. To whom were
they addressed ? To Ministers of his word, as such ? We
answer, that as yet he had not ordained his Apostles or
Ministers. Some of those whom he afterwards ordained
had now been called, with reference to their becoming his
Apostles, and were now his followers; but as yet they
were simply disciples. To whom then were these words
addressed ? The answer is in the first verse of the chap-
ter. "Seeing the multitude, he went up into a mountain,
and when he was set, his disciples came unto him, and he
opened his mouth and taught them, saying," &c. The
text is part of what he then taught. So that it was to his
disciples, as such, without particular reference to the office
of the ministry, that he said " ye are the light of the
world" In this sense we shall use these words in this
discourse, considering them as teaching all who profess to
be disciples of Christ, what they are expected, individu-
ally, to be towards the world, according to their several
positions- and opportunities; teaching, also, what is the
office and duty of that wide-spread community and rela-
tionship in which, under the name of his Church, the Lord
26 SERMON II.
Jesus Christ, by the outward and visible bond of sacra-
ments, has associated his professing people. To the
whole visible Church, in all its several parts, as occupying
different countries, cities and villages ; to all the several
individuals of which the Church is any where composed,
ministers and laity, the Lord now addresses the words of
the text, " Ye are the light of the ivorld" As thus
addressed, without reference to the faithfulness or
unfaithfulness of Christians, the steadfastness or the
apostacy of any particular section of the visible Church,
these words express simply what the Lord expects of all
that are called by his name, individually and collect-
ively and what they will be, so far as they walk accord-
ing to their high calling and profession. But they may
grievously dishonor their calling. They may be Chris-
tians but in name and form. They may receive the grace
of God in vain. If their lamps did ever burn, they may
have quite gone out. Whole communities of nominal
Christians may be in this state. Churches, once faithful,
may have wholly departed from the faith, and still remain
in name and form Christian Churches. Their duty is the
same as ever, to be the light of the world; but they are
only adding to its darkness and increasing its delusions.
Addressed to faithful, consistent, disciples of Christ,
those who belong to that invisible, living Church, which
is simply and exclusively the blessed company of all God's
faithful people, under whatever name or form ; the Church
of the promises ; the Church, which is the temple of the
Holy Ghost, because in every one of its members is the
Spirit of Christ ; to that Church, the words of the text
express not only what it ought to be, but what indeed it
THE TRUE CHURCH, THE WORLD'S LIGHT. 27
is, "the light of the world" All the spiritual light that ever
shines on the world comes to it, under God, and by his
appointment, through the instrumentality of the Church,
thus viewed. And a time cometh, when, according to the
promise of God, that blessed company shall be so enlarged,
and in its various means and agencies shall so extend
itself among all nations, and shall be made so mighty
through the power of God abiding on it, that it will be
literally light to all the world.*
If it require a strong faith in the promise of God to
expect such a day, seeing what the Church now is ; what
faith must it have required when Jesus uttered the
words before us ? What a remarkable declaration it
was, considering the time and circumstances ! Never had
a moral darkness so gross, so hopeless, covered the earth.
Truth, concerning God and his will, seemed almost lost.
The lamps in the golden candlestick of the Jewish Church
had nearly all gone out. The Gentile world was all night.
None then so much as dreamed of a power that could
break that night. The wisest of heathen sages hoped
for nothing better than a faint ray by which to see for
themselves, but nothing for others. Jesus, on a moun-
tain of Israel, has before him the little company of his
disciples. Some are fishermen, all of obscure condition,
all from a nation oppressed and despised by the rulers of
the earth it is the beginning of his Church. To that
feeble band on the mountain top, he says, "ye are the
light of the ivorlcV How it must have astonished them !
How in the infancy of their faith, it must have alarmed
them, by the responsibility it involved ! How impossible
*Isai. cli. Ix.
28 SERMON II.
it must have seemed, except as their minds took refuge
in the power of God ! It was as if Jesus had taken a
straw and set it for a taper, and said, this shall give light
to all nations. But "he spake as one having authority"
authority over all things to make good his word. In the
beginning of the creation, it was he who " commanded
the light to shine out of darkness," and suspended the
sun in the firmament of heaven to be the light of our
natural day. It was as easy for him, from that little
beginning of disciples, to raise up a church which would
prove the regeneration of the earth. And how marvel-
lously were his words fulfilled! Before the last of that
little company had finished his course, how literally had
their ministry been made the light of the world. What
nation was there which their labors had not penetrated ;
what fortress of the powers of darkness into which they
had not carried their lamp ; what cavern of iniquity out
of which they had not led some children of night into
the knowledge and peace of God ?
Let that first wonderful work of the Church encourage
us. Immense is still the reign of darkness in this world.
Utterly without strength is the present Church, of itself,
to overcome it. But now, as much as in the beginning,
the Lord says to the blessed company of his faithful
people, "Ye are the light of the world." Unbelief looks
at them, and says hoiv can it be! But faith looks unto
Jesus, and remembering " the years of ancient time,"
says, Thou knowest. Thine is the power. Hast thou
said, and shall it not be done ? Zion will fulfill her
destiny. " The righteousness thereof shall go forth as
brightness, and her salvation as a lamp that burneth."
In the further exhibition of the text, let us consider,
THE TRUE CHURCH, THE WORLD'S LIGHT. 29
I. The position and office here assigned to the Church
of Christ on earth.
You remember how emphatically the Saviour asserted
of himself, exactly what he here declares of his people .
"I am the light of the world"* These words indicate that
Christ is the world's only light. And the similar words
addressed to his people indicate that they are the world's
only light. And how are these apparently contradictory
declarations to be reconciled ? We answer,
To this benighted world there is but one sun as the
source of spiritual light. But he hath gone from the
view of men and doth not shine directly upon the world.
There are intermediate agencies, secondary lights ; there
are planets and satellites ; there is a system of dependent
and associated instruments, which keep their circuit around
that great central orb, held therein only by his power, and
shining only in his light. Perfectly dark in themselves;
only as they receive light from him are they the light of
the world. Thus the Church, in its ministry, and in all the
life and works of its people, is to Christ, what moon and
planets are to the sun. The world receives from them, as
they receive from Christ. They are the light of the world
as the only visible light. He is the light of the world as
the only original light. And thus we harmonize the two
declarations. Of himself Jesus speaks as the author and
giver. " I am the light." To his Church, he speaks as his
constituted instrument and medium. " Ye are the light."
This is not an illustration of our own invention. It is
precisely that of the Scriptures. The prophet Isaiah,
addressing Zion, says, " Arise, shine, for thy light is come,
*John viii. 12.
30 SERMON II.
and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.* John, in
the opening of the Apocalypse, beheld in vision a repre-
sentation of the churches, under the emblem of " seven
golden candlesticks," instruments of light but not its
containers. In the midst of them "there walked one like
unto the Son of Man, whose countenance was as the sun
shineth in his strength." From him came the light which
seemed to dwell on the lamps of those candlesticks. In
his hand were seven stars ; as the sun holds the planets
before his face, that he may shine on them, and by them
on the world. And these stars, John was told, represented
the ministry of the churches, f
But the most remarkable use of this method of illustra-
tion is in another part of the Revelation of St. John. He
beheld, and " there appeared a great wonder in Heaven,
a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her
feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars." J
Among interpreters of the Apocalypse, there is entire
agreement that under this symbolic appearance is repre-
sented the true Church on earth, in its purity and faith-
fulness, doing its appropriate work in the world, and
holding its proper relation to Christ. This is evident
from the children of the woman being described as those
"which keep the commandment of God and have the testi-
timony of Jesus Christ." || Now observe the description.
The ornament of her head was a crown of stars. Under
her feet was the shining moon. Thus was indicated the
Church's office as a light-bearer to the world, but only a
bearer, not the fountain ; the medium, not the origin ; as
* lx. Isai. 1. fRev. i. 12-20.
J Rev. xii. 1. || Verse 17. The Church is called "the Bride, the Lamb's
-wife." Rev. xxi. 9.
THE TRUE CHURCH, THE WORLD'S LIGHT. 31
the moon and planets are only the reflectors by which the
unseen sun casts his radiance on the earth. But whence
came the light of that moon and those stars ? She was
" clothed with the sun" In that all-investing light, she
was all light ; her head, her feet, her raiment, all did shine
as the sun. I need not tell you that the sun thus invest-
ing the Church, represents him whose countenance John
beheld " as the sun shineth in his strength," and whose
proclamation is, " I am the light of the world." But that
bright form was seen, where all luminous bodies, whose
office it is to shine on this earth, are stationed, in the firma-
ment of heaven. The vision, therefore, whatever other
instructions it was intended to give, is an impressive
exhibition of the great office of the Church on earth, and
of what a faithful Church must be ; the bearer of the
knowledge of Christ to all people the light of the world.
But in order to set forth the more distinctly this
striking representation of the faithful Church, let me
turn your attention, by way of contrast, to another
symbol in the Revelation of St. John, of a Church, but
a fallen Church.
Nothing can be more evident than that the Scriptures,
especially the epistles of St. Paul, and the Apocalypse of
St. John, contain predictions, in very impressive terms,
of a great apostacy from the truth and spirit of the
Gospel, which after the Apostolic age would appear in the
visible Church ; an apostacy which, taking its rise at a very
early period, and growing from age to age in stature and
development, would at lengtli assume a shape and position
of great prominence and power. It would subdue to its
dominion, by signs and wonders, by seductive delusions,
32 SERMON II.
or terrific persecutions, a large part of the professedly
Christian world. It would put forth the most arrogant
and exclusive claims to dominion and authority. It would
usurp the prerogative of God ; and sit in his Church as if
if it were God, changing his laws, absolving from their
obligation, substituting its own. It would be especially
marked as a persecutor of the children of the faithful
Church, of those who, rejecting its unauthorized com-
mands and testimonies, should " keep the commandments
of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ."* You find
such a prediction in the second chapter of the second
epistle to the Thessalonians. Those Christians had
been troubled in mind, concerning the second coming of
Christ. Paul writes to them thus : " Let no man deceive
you by any means ; for that day shall not come, except
there come a falling aivay first, (an apostacy) and that
man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposeth
and exalteth himself above all that is called God or that
is worshipped ; so that he, as God, sitteth in the temple
of God, showing himself that he is God." The temple
here means, of course, the Christian Church. Sitting
therein as God, means, claiming dominion and authority
in the Church as God. This "Man of sin," Paul next
called " the mystery of iniquity" and said it had even in
his time begun to work, (v. 7.) Its coming, he said,
would be " after the ivorJdng of Satan, ivith all poiver, and
signs, and lying wonders, and ivith all deceivableness of
unrighteousness" It would continue until the second
coming of Christ and would be destroyed thereby.
* See Dan. vii. 20, 21, 25, compared with Rev. xvii. ; see also 2 Thess. ii.
3-10 ; and I Tim. iv. 1-3.
THE TEUE CHURCH, THE WORLD'S LIGHT. 33
" Consumed" saith the Apostle, "by the spirit of his
mouthy and destroyed by the brightness of his appearing"
(v. 8.) Daniel, predicting the same Man of Sin, under
the symbol of a great ecclesiastical ruler, says, " He shall
speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear
out the saints of the Most High, and think to change
times and laws."*
But what we find in St. Paul, under the names of the
"Man of Sin," and "Mystery of Iniquity," St. John, in
the Apocalypse, exhibits under another form. The
faithful Church is the Bride of Christ. He has already
exhibited it under the form of a woman arrayed in the
light of the Lord as her wedding garment, and crowned
therewith as her glory. He now exhibits, under the like
form, but far other raiment, an apostate Church, which
pretends to be the Bride of Christ. Let me give you his
description : "1 saw a woman sit upon a scarlet colored
beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads
and ten horns, and the woman was arrayed in purple and
sca'rlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones,
having a golden cup in her hand, full of abominations ;
and upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY,
BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OP HARLOTS, AND ABOMI-
NATIONS OF THE EARTH ; and I saw the woman drunk with
the blood of the saints and of the martyrs of Jesus."
Her throne was upon " many waters," which were inter-
preted to St. John as representing "peoples, and multi-
tudes, and nations, and tongues," a vast dominion of
nations.! Now that all these predictions indicate a great
Church apostacy, is too universally understood among the
* Dan. vii. 25. f Rev. xvii. 3-6 and 15.
3
34 SERMON II.
learned, as well Romish as Protestant, to need any argu-
ment.* We have no time, nor has it anything to do with
our present object, to attempt a particular interpretation.
But we are speaking of the faithful Church as the light of
the world, and we wish to illustrate that aspect by the
contrast of an apostate Church. Let us then compare
the two as exhibited in the two symbols of the Apoca-
lypse. Each is represented under the form of a woman.
One is the true bride of Christ, the other only a pretender
to that character. Both are magnificently apparelled.
But how vast the difference in the style of their adorning !
The true bride is arrayed in the simplicity, and purity,
and heavenly beauty of the light ; clothed with the
splendor of the sun ; the crescent moon as a sandal
adorns her feet; a circle of stars is the ornament of her
brow. Nothing but shining light is her glory, as becomes
the symbol of that which is ordained to be the light of
the world. The other is gorgeously apparelled, indeed,
but her ornaments are all earthly, such as worldly pride
and pomp put on ; the meretricious beauty of scarlet, and
purple, and precious stones, and gold, such as kings of the
earth have given her, and the " peoples and multitudes,"
over whom she rules, are attracted by ; as poor a substi-
tute for a vesture and crown of light, as paste for the
genuine pearl.
Again : in the symbol of the faithful Church we see a
constant glorying in Christ alone. The light that adorns
her is not her own ; she is clothed with the sun. Every
ray of her glory tells you whence it comes and whom it
glorifies, Jesus, the Son of God, whom it is her single
* " All the ancient expositors agree in identifying these prophecies \rith some
heretical Church." Wordsivorth on the Apocalypse.
THE TRUE CHURCH, THE WORLD'S LIGHT. 35
office to make known to the world, as planets testify of the
absent sun by which they shine. But the other, what a
contrast ! There you see no reference to any but herself;
no indication of dependence on the glory of another ; no
light leading you to seek elsewhere its source. All is
put on to attract the praise of men, instead of directing
them to Christ. She glorifies herself;* self-exaltation is
the prominent aspect of the apostate Church. Her voice
is, " I sit as a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no
sorrow," | and I claim the obedience of all nations unto
myself. But the voice of the faithful Church is : I stand
as a lamp, shining in the light of my Lord, to testify unto
and glorify him, that all may look unto him and be saved.
Again : from every thing in the position and aspect
of the woman representing the faithful Church, whose
children " keep the commandments of God and have the
testimony of Jesus," you see that she is occupying pre-
cisely the place, and doing the work, which the Lord has
appointed to his Church. John beheld her " in heaven,'''
among the constellations, where God in the beginning
placed the lights, "to rule over the day and over the
night." From that position she receives the direct rays
of the sun, and reflects them on a world shrouded in dark-
ness. Her office is that of a light-bearer to the world.
In it is her whole glory; all her jewelry is light she is
shod with it, crowned with it, clothed with it none of it
her own; all from the sun. Take away that light, and
she hath nothing left of any beauty. Beautiful representa-
tion of that blessed company of the children of God, who,
walking by faith, see him who is invisible ; and setting
* Rev. xviii. 7. -I- Ibid.
36 SERMON II.
their affections on things above, have their conversation
in heave n, and their " life hid with Christ in God," and
are changed into his image, and thus become the living
surfaces in which he reflects himself, and the active agents
by which his truth is spread in the world. But not such
the position in which St. John saw the woman represent-
ing the fallen Church. She was not in heaven, among the
stars of light, but on earth, "in the wilderness" There
she was sitting, not in banishment, or under constraint,
but on her throne, in all her power, in all her blazonry
and pomp. It was her chosen place, and it indicated that
instead of the light of the world, she was its desolation ;
where she reigns in her glory, there is a spiritual wilder-
ness, and the light of Christ doth not come. Behold,
then, that impressive and awful figure, as St. John has
pictured it. How would you ever obtain the idea from
all her aspect, that it is the great office of the Church of
Christ, which she professes to be, to enlighten the world,
to be the active carrier and distributer of the light of
Christ to men ? Where, in her position in the wilderness,
in her raiment and ornaments, in the throne she sits on,
and the name she wears on her forehead, and the cup she
holds out to the world, is there a feature or sign that says
any thing of light ? " Ye are the light of the world" saith
the Lord^to his Church, and the woman representing the
Church that answers to those words, is all a reflection of
light. But in the symbol of the fallen Church, there is
not the least sign of light received or reflected. Instead
of the clothing of the sun, we see the poor substitute of
purple, and scarlet, and gold, and precious stones ; intelli-
gible signs, indeed, of worldly pride and pompous luxury ;
THE TRUE CHURCH, THE WORLD 's LIGHT. 37
of loving the praise of men more than the praise of God ;
of living unto one's self instead of unto Christ ; of reli-
ance for influence on outward and earthly attractiveness,
instead of intrinsic holiness. But they say nothing of
LIGHT 5 much of darkness. Brilliants are worn to sparkle
on the wearer, not to irradiate the observer. They well
express the spirit of an apostate Church, glorying in
worldly greatness ; seeking to win the regards of men by
impressions on the senses, and through the avenues of
worldly tastes and dispositions ; but they say nothing of the
great office of the Church in the " manifestation of the
truth" as it is in Jesus. To sit enthroned on a ten-horned
wild beast,* is significant of conquest and cruelty, and of
extending ecclesiastical dominion, by force, but not by
truth. The whole combination is an apt symbol of secular
potentates sustaining the arrogant claims and persecuting
oppressions of some great ecclesiastical power ; but " ye
are the light of the ivorld" would read very strangely were
it written on such a rider and such a bearer.
Then that golden cup in the woman's hand, full of
abominations ! It reminds us of the name " BABYLON"
on her brow, for it is written in Jeremiah, " Babylon hath
been a golden cup in the Lord's hand that made all the
earth drunken." It is a striking name, especially as con-
nected with every thing else in the vision, for intoxicating
delusions and fatal seductions, for poisonous moral corrup-
tions, as attributes and acts of the mission on which the
great apostacy goes out among the nations, "with all
deceivableness of unrighteousness," as Paul describes.
* The original word signifies a wild beast, one that inhabits desert places,
fierce and hurtful.
38 SERMON II.
But a cup of abominations contains no light of life, no
testimony of Christ.
Then that name on her forehead, " MYSTERY." It
reminds us of St. Paul's name for the same apostacy,
" Mystery of Iniquity"* It teaches us that in it are
" the depths of Satan," as in the Gospel are " the deep
things of God." It speaks of a mysterious concealment
of truth, instead of its publication all abroad. It speaks
of an effort to attract reverence by being veiled and keep-
ing things in the dark ; of making mystery of all rites
and benefits, as magicians do with their incantations, and
as counterfeit physicians with their remedies ; it speaks
of this being as conspicuous an attribute of the apostate
Church, as the crown of light of the faithful Church.
Light reveals, mystery hides. Light opens the book of
the knowledge of Christ, and says to all men, READ.
Mystery shuts the book and puts it under her robe and
says, You must not read; it is not for common eyes.
Only the privileged may be trusted therewith.
Then that other name, " BABYLON THE GREAT," written
also on her forehead. It reminds us, by way of contrast,
of the promise to God's faithful people. " His name
shall be in their forehead." And again, " I will write
upon him the name of my God, and the name of the
city of my God, which is New Jerusalem.^ Ah ! yes,
Jerusalem ! But here the name written is that of the
old Pagan enemy of Jerusalem, her persecutor, her
destroyer, that led her children into captivity, and slew
her prophets, and profaned her sanctuary, and took away
her golden candlestick with the sacred vessels of her
* 2 Thess. ii. 7. T Rev. iii. 12 ; xxii. 4.
THE TRUE CHURCH, THE WORLD'S LIGHT. 39
sacraments, and set them in the house of her idolatry, and
used them in the feasts of her idols. How remarkable to
find the hand of inspiration writing the name of that old
Pagan city of abominations upon the forehead of a Church,
calling itself the Church of Christ ! Yes, Babylon for
Jerusalem ; the destroyer of the people of God, for " the
mother of us all" But so it is. It is a terrible brand,
indeed. It tells of grievous oppressions, of the desola-
tions of God's sanctuary, of internal debasements, con-
nected with hideous idolatries. It brings to mind the
river of Babylon, by the side of which the captive Jews
sat down and wept when they remembered Zion. It
recalls the words of Jeremiah : " Babylon shall become
heaps, a dwelling place for dragons, an astonishment and
an hissing, without an inhabitant."^ But how would it
sound to say to that Church thus written on, thou art the
light of the ivorld; the faithful bride of him who is the
Light of life. How great the relief to turn from that sad
and awful spectacle, to the symbol of the true bride, on
whose brow, instead of such names of apostacy, is written
in heaven's own sweet light, upon a coronet of stars,
Teacher of the ivord of God to all people.
But that great Church apostacy, so remarkably pre-
dicted and prefigured in the Scriptures, where is it ? has
it yet appeared'} You will not think it very probable
that an apostacy, the leaven of which St. Paul said had
begun to operate even in his time,| and which he assured
us was to grow into the gigantic stature of that " Man of
Sin," whose attributes he described, has not yet, during
* Jer. li. 37.
t " The mystery of iniquity doth already work." 2 Thess. ii. 7.
40 SERMON II.
the progress of eighteen hundred years, been sufficiently
matured to be seen and known. Where then will you
find it ? Under what Church form is it seen ? For evi-
dently it is not a mere defection of individuals, however
many, but of a Church, in its corporate principles and
life. I shall not answer this question directly but I will
do better. I will assist you to answer it for yourselves.
What then is the light which the Church is ordained to
diffuse ? The knowledge of God and his will, of Christ
and his salvation. Under what outward form does the
Church receive and possess that light ? Your ready
answer is, Under the form of the word of God. The
Psalmist says, "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a
light unto my path." " The entrance of thy words giveth
light ; it giveth understanding to the simple.'^ The
Philippian Christians were "lights in the world" by "hold-
ing forth the word of life."
Then if the word of God is the light which the Church
is ordained to diffuse, it only remains to ask, how is the
Church to be the light of the world? You answer easily :
It is by doing to all the world what the Philippians did
in the midst of their perverse nation: holding forth ever?/
^vhere the word of life. Changing the figure, from the
diffusing of light, to the sowing of seed ; we read in the
parable of the sower, that the world being the great field
on which the fruits of holiness and spiritual life are to be
grown, the seed, the only seed, which God has provided to
be sown therein is the word, and the work of the Church
is to sow that seed in all the ivorld. From nothing else
can spiritual life be made to grow.
* Ps. cxix. 105, 130.
THE TRUE CHURCH, THE WORLD'S LIGHT. 41
One more question : Under what form does the Church
possess the word ? IN THE HOLY SCRIPTURES, answers
every Christian people. " Search the Scriptures," said
our Lord. " They are they which testify of me." This
he said, not to the Jewish priests, but to the people* It
follows then that the great office of the Church on earth,
as the light of the world, is to make known the word;
not to make a mystery of it, but a manifestation; to pub-
lish it to all people sound it from the house-tops ;
proclaim it on the mountains ; put it into all languages ;
sow it broadcast, like the sower in the parable, that went
forth to sow ; so that though some seed should fall on the
wayside, and some on the rock, and some among thorns,
some at any rate may find the good ground, and spring
up and bring forth fruit. It follows further, that one of
the great means of thus making known the word to all
people, is to make known to them that book in which
God has written it, and which we are commanded to
search. Nothing can be more directly incumbent on the
Church's office as a light-bearer to the world, than the
publication of the Scriptures in all languages, and their
distribution to all men, and the effort to persuade all men
to search them for the testimony of Jesus, the will of
God, and the Gospel of our salvation.
Thus I have given you one of the means of answering
the question as to where the apostacy described is to be
found. Can you find a Church that has fallen from her
proper place and office as a publisher of the light of God's
word to the world ? Can you find a Church which not
only is not engaged in the free circulation of the Scrip-
tures, but, in its essential principles, denies that there
* John v. 39, compared \rith verses 15, 16, 17.
42 SERMON II.
is any necessary or important connection between the
knowledge of the Scriptures and the growth of religion ;
which makes the seed to be not the ivord, and claims to
be able to do the entire work of the Church, though all
but her own chief priests be wholly destitute of the Scrip-
tures ? Can you find a Church in whose dominions, in
proportion as you approach the centre of her power and
the fullness of her glory, where her chief seat is, and
where her ornaments and jewels are best seen, and her
consistency is least hindered, you find the greatest dearth
and ignorance of the Scriptures, so that where she is most,
the Bible, is least ? Can you find a Church which in her
missions among the heathen makes no effort to introduce
the Scriptures among the people, makes no translations
of the Bible into their tongues, feels no need of such
auxiliaries, does all the work of her missions without the
Scriptures ? Can you find a Church which, instead of
seeking to convince and persuade by manifestation of
the truth, substitutes her own authority and power, and
not merely does not set an open Bible before the world
and say come and ready but shuts the book and writes
upon it "mystery," and takes it out of sight, and says
You must not read ; it is enough if certain privileged
ones shall read ? Do you know a Church which, in
countries where she has ascendancy enough to venture so
far, concentrates her whole authority and vigilance upon
keeping the people from the free searching of the Scrip-
tures ; fences up her territories against their entrance as
against a pestilence, no matter in what version, Protes-
tant or Romish, they come ; employs an active police in
the zealous search after any that induce men to read the
THE TRUE CHURCH, THE WORLD'S LIGHT. 43
Bible, or that venture, in the secret chamber, to refresh a
weary spirit from that water of life ; dragging them for
that one only crime to chains and prisons and galleys, to
the company of felons and the sufferings of martyrs,
fearing nothing so much for her dominion, and strength,
and wealth, as the free searching and universal circula-
tion of the word of God ? Find a Church in which these
eminent peculiarities are exhibited, not merely in many
of her members, but in her corporate authorities ; not as
accidents of a certain age or region, but as ordinances
and laws, proceeding directly from her essential princi-
ples, inseparably connected therewith, and which she
cannot deny till she denies herself; and then, by those
marks, independently of many others that might be
given, you will have found out the seat of the woman
that is not "clothed with the sun; 5 ' and hath not the
testimony of the Apostles, as a crown of twelve stars
upon her head ; whose adorning, and power, and glory,
are not of God, wherever else they may have come from:
"The Mystery of Iniquity" of St. Paul, "The Babylon"
of the Apocalypse.*
* The recent persecutions in Italy, for the single crime of reading the Scrip-
tures, must open the eyes of many to what all who know the history, or under-
stand the doctrinal system of the Church of Rome, have always known, that
actually and doctrinally she forbids, and in consistency must forbid, the free
reading of the Scriptures, and only relaxes her practice in that particular
where her dominion is not sufficiently established to warrant the full carrying
out of her principles. But Cardinal Wiseman has recently been bold enough
to be sufficiently plain on that head. In his " Catholic Doctrine for the Use of
the Bible, " lately published, he says, " The Bible is more difficult to under-
stand than any other book. No Greek classic, no Arabian or Persian Poet, no
Hindoo mystic is more abstruse." (p. 13.) Of course then the Church of
Rome does not say to the people, "Search the Scriptures," but Jesus did. The
Cardinal must refer chiefly to the Old Testament for the difficult parts. But
when Jesus said " Search the Scriptures, " the people had only those parts.
But the Cardinal again : (p. 25.) " In Catholic countries, such as can read or
44 SERMON II.
Oh ! it is a consolation indeed to remember that we be-
long to a Church, the essential principle of which is, that
sancuification is by the truth; that the seed of all spiritual
do read, have access to the Latin version without restraint." The Latin
version for the people ! "If a son ask bread, will he give him a stone ? "
What better is the Latin version to people that cannot read Latin ? But the
Cardinal again: (p. 26.) ''Though the Scriptures may be permitted, we do
not urge them on our people ; we do not encourage them to read them. " Of
course you do not urge people to read the Latin version, when they know
nothing of the Latin tongue. But Jesus not only encouraged but urged :
" Search the Scriptures ; " and Paul commended the Bereans because they
" searched the Scriptures daily ; " Acts, xvii. 2. But the Cardinal further
states, (p. 25,) that where the Church permits " the reading of Scripture, she
does not permit the interpreting." Wonderful privilege ! First, it is a Latin
version, and then the few who can read that, though they are not encouraged
to do it, but only not forbidden, must not interpret ; that is, must not attempt
to find out the meaning ! A lamp they are permitted to hold in hand, but
must not walk by it? They may read, for example, " Come unto me all, ye
that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest ; " but they must
not interpret that sweet and plain invitation of grace. The Bereans had the
privilege of listening to an intepreter of the Scriptures, as infallible, per-
haps the Cardinal will grant, as the Pope ; even St. Paul. But even then
"they searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things (which he taught) were
so ; " and Paul praised them for it. Did they read without interpreting ?
By this prohibition to interpret, ths exceedingly liberal allowance of the
Latin version is made practically a nullity, even to a Latin reader. It is
time, therefore, for the Cardinal to be more candid. Next, therefore, he con-
fesses that the Romish Church is opposed to the free reading of the Scriptures.
" If (he says, p. 20,) we be asked why we do not give the Bible indifferently
to all, and the shutting up of God's word be disdainfully thrown in our face,
we will not seek to elude the question, or meet the taunt by denial, or by en-
deavoring to prove that our principles on the subject are not antagonistic to
those of Protestants. They are antagonistic, and we glory in avowing it. " We
trust then we shall hear no more of the denial of this avowed antagonism ; we
have had enough of it. The principles of the Romish Church are most certainly
directly antagonistic, as to the reading of the Scriptures by the people, to the
principles of Protestants. Then, if out of " Catholic countries " Romanists are
ever allowed to read any but a Latin. Bible, let it be remembered it is not
according to the principles of the Romish Church, but against them, and be-
cause a surrounding Protestantism requires that measure of concession for the
present, and when Popery shall be sufficiently in the ascendant it will cease.
Who can doubt this when he reads the Cardinal, at p. 15, as follows : "The
experiment has been tried on a great scale of what the indiscriminate reading
of the Bible will make a people. It has been tried in the dominions of Queen
Pomare with unexampled success. It has transformed a mild and promising
THE TRUE CHURCH, THE WORLD'S LIGHT. 45
life in the world is the word; that the knowledge of the
Scriptures is essentially connected with the propagation of
the Gospel ; that to persuade men to search the Scrip-
tures as the testimony of Jesus, is a great duty of her
ministry; that to spread the knowledge of the Bible is the
way by which the Church is to be the light of the world.
It is a great consolation to think of the institutions, un-
der the name of Bible Societies, which band together such
a vast array of the numbers, and wisdom, and influence, and
wealth of Protestant Christians in the single work of print-
ing the Scriptures for circulation among all people, and
whose issues are already many millions. It is delightful
to think of the vast and mighty system of agencies, from
the great publishing centres, to all the ramifications of mis-
sionaries, and zealous lay distributers and scripture-read-
ers, so exclusively connected with Protestant Churches
and the result of Protestant principles, whose object is to
place the pure word of God in every language, in every
house, and to encourage, and urge, and aid all people to read
the same. It is the glory of Protestant missionaries, that
always their first work in a dark land, is to get the Scrip-
tures as soon as possible into the language of the people;
to make the Bible an open book to them, by making it
speak in their tongue, and by teaching them to read it ;
race into a pack of lazy, immoral infidels." The Cardinal is emphatic. The
Bible, God's word, by the simple reading of it, has made a heathen people'a
great deal worse ! How it has made infidels of heathens, we do not under-
stand We supposed they had always been infidels. But the assertion is,
that what our Lord commanded us to search, and Paul praised the Bereans for
searching daily, and Timothy was commended for knowing in his childhood,
has been thus destructive to the morals, &c. of the subjects of Queen Pomare.
Of course, then, the principles of the Romish Church PROHIBIT the Scriptures.
Can they permit the word of God to be read, if they think it so poisonous?
The Cardinal will be believed.
46 SERMON II.
thus clothing their work at once "with the sun" and seek-
ing to "shine as lights in the world," like the Philippian
Christians of old, by "holding forth the word of life."
More and more may all such work and zeal increase
among us. It is evidence of the true and living Church.
It is the garment of praise ; it is the terror of the powers
of darkness; it is Jerusalem against Babylon.
II. And now, from the view we have taken of the posi-
tion and office of the Church of Christ in this world, let me
very briefly deduce a few of the important lessons con-
tained therein.
1. The great duty of the Church, in all her agencies and
operations, is to be a preacher and a witness of Christ. He
is the true light. To know him is life eternal. To make
him known to the world by his word is to be the light of
the world. To be clothed with the testimony of Jesus, so
that every aspect of the Church directs the eye of the sin-
ner unto him, so that all her beauty and value are sought
in the faithfulness of that her proper testimony, is for the
Church to be clothed with the sun. As that testimony
becomes obscure ; as any Church declines from the direct-
ness, and fulness, and constancy of that manifestation of
Christ ; as she gets to glorying in some other wisdom, and
seeking some other praise, and putting on some other
raiment, she wanders from her orbit; she falls from her
sphere ; she loses life ; she becomes darkness instead of
light to the world ; she may retain the whole form and or-
dinance of the visible Church, but in spirit and life she
may be utterly apostate.
2. The Church must seek her whole power to do her ap-
pointed work, in the constant renewal upon herself of the
THE TRUE CHURCH, THE WORLD'S LIGHT. 47
light and life of Christ. The moon and planets are no de-
positories, they are only reflectors of the light of the sun.
Arrest for a single moment their communion with that
central power, and they are perfect darkness. They must
be clothed with the sun, by renewal, every instant. Thus
must the Church continually be receiving from Christ.
She can lay up nothing in store. Her office is that of a
reflector. Her face must be always looking unto Jesus.
What she was in the Apostles' times was no security for
what she would be in future times. The seven Churches
of Asia were particularly represented in "the seven can-
dlesticks " which John beheld, and in the midst of them
walked the Son of Man, as the sun shineth in his strength.
But now what are they ? The Church of Rome was once
so faithful that St. Paul testified that its faith was spoken
of throughout the world.* What is it now ? Just as
each individual believer must be constantly renewing his
spiritual life by communion with Christ, "who is our life,"
must the whole Church, which is but the aggregate of all
believers, be receiving again directly from the fountain of
its being, that replenishment of life, without which, though
it keep all the form of a Church, it can have only a name
to live ; and that renewal of spiritual light, without which,
however the word of God may be in its hands, it will not
profit thereby, nor make use of it for the good of the
world, nor exhibit any example to lead men to God.
3. It is not merely in a corporate capacity, but by com-
bination of the faithfulness of individual Christians, in
their several spheres and relations, and in the use of their
several talents, that the Church is to be the light of the
world. The holiness of the Church is simply the aggregate
*Rom. i. 8.
48 SERMON II.
of the personal holiness of its several members. All
other holiness is but relative and ceremonial. Such also
is the light of the Church. Its ministry is of no avail to
fulfill its great work, but as each minister is faithful. Its
whole body of people can do nothing for the world, but as
each congregation, and each member of each congrega-
tion, is faithful in his own individual stewardship. The
Church at Philippi was composed of Christians who in the
midst of a crooked and perverse nation shone "as lights
in the world" as many lights as there were Christians
each doing his individual work in union with all the rest.
And thus the Philippian Church altogether was a light
in the world. What that one Church was, all Christians
are required to be. They are styled "children of the
light." "The path of the just is as the shining light,
which shineth more and more unto the perfect day."
As that path ascends in holiness, and gets more above
the world, and nearer to God, it becomes the more a
shining light. All members of the Church have not the
same office, but they have essentially the same work, the
same interest, the same essential relation to the Lord
and the world. The Church is a communion, not only of
brothers, but of laborers; not only in the hope of salva-
tion, but in the privilege of spreading the knowledge of
it, and of multiplying the number of those who partake
therein. We are all to be "workers together with God."
It is the heritage of each disciple of Christ to be per-
mitted to "occupy" the place and stewardship which his
Master has assigned him, so that when his Lord cometh,
he miy say of that disciple, however humble his lot, "/
am glorified in him" How much each may do, none can
THE TRUE CHURCH, THE WORLD'S LIGHT. 49
say, because results depend on God, and the magnitude
of a work is so little to be measured by its outside ap-
pearances or visible connections, and so much is added to
the visible deed by the unseen faith, and love, and prayer
that attend it ; and because that which seems least to our
eye may be a seed from which the Lord will raise harvests
of fruit in all generations. Who knows but that the con-
version of Saul was an answer to the prayer of Stephen
when he prayed for his persecutors ? What was the con-
nection between the faithfulness of a certain pious mother
diligently instructing her son in the Holy Scriptures,*
and the subsequent wide usefulness of that son when he
became Paul's own son in the faith, the beloved Timothy,
the instrument, under God, of making many wise unto
salvation ? It is apparently a little thing to the darkness
of the great world, that a single Christian, in a very
humble sphere, and with little worldly means and influ-
ence, should set the example of purity, and holiness, and
undeviating consistency of life ; should manifest the practi-
cal influence and blessedness of the Gospel in all his
spirit, and temper, and conversation, in the government
of his household, in the spirituality of his mind, in his
love of things above, in the application of Christian princi-
ples to all the relations of social life, in the conscientious
use of his pecuniary substance for the relief of human
suffering, and the promotion of the Gospel ; it seems little
that such a Christian should in his prayers be earnestly
beseeching God to send laborers into his harvest, and to
pour out his Spirit on the Church, and to establish his
kingdom in the whole earth. But no. It is the way ;
* 1 Tim. i.2 ; 2 Tim iii, 14, 15.
4
50 SERMON II.
God's appointed way. The eye cannot say to the foot,
nor the rich to the poor, nor the strong to the weak, nor
the learned to the most ignorant, nor the whole Church
to its least member, " I have no need of thee." In the
vision of St. John, the woman had a crown of twelve stars
on her head, but her whole body, every member, was
clothed with the sun. Beautiful, at night, is that broad
girdle of light which spreads through the firmament, com-
posed of innumerable distinct points of radiance, but each
so minute to our view, that none can be distinguished
from all the rest. So does each humble faithful follower
of Christ, living in the light of his Lord, contribute his
part to the whole office of the Church ; too obscure to
be distinguished ; too precious to be dispensed with.
4. Lastly, the Church will discharge its duty to the
world only so far as each of its several sections or congre-
gations shall be faithful to its own locality and neighbor-
hood. And this brings me, brethren, to the happy
services of this day, in which all the cares, and anxieties,
and toils, and burdens, connected with the progress of
this noble edifice, now solemnly consecrated to the
worship and word of God, have so joyfully terminated.*
Having followed your efforts with the liveliest interest,
from your first incipient measures, through all your trials
and discouragements, to the present hour, with a sympathy
much more intimate than you might have expected from
my official relation to you, I have admired the deter-
mined perseverance with which, in the face of great
difficulties, you have gone on, not only to complete, but
* Preached at the consecration of St. John's Church, Cincinnati, Feb. 9,
1854.
THE TRUE CHURCH, THE WORLD'S LIGHT. 51
also to relieve from incumbrance, this House of Prayer,
so good, so spacious, so appropriate, as well as beautiful,
in all its parts and furniture. And now that it is occu-
pied with a fixed congregation, in which the minister of
God may be well content to lay out all his efforts for their
eternal good, and that in him who occupies towards you
that responsible position, you are so richly blessed with a
most faithful and earnest preacher of Christ and pastor of
the flock (whom may God long spare and you long pos-
sess) ; I desire to take my part with you in a thankful
acknowledgment of the good hand of the Lord in these
mercies ; in feeling that it was He who gave what we have
this morning consecrated to his service ; and in supplica-
tion that all that has been expended here, and all that
shall be enjoyed here, may ever be to the glory of his
grace, in the increase of his kingdom everywhere.
But now, my brethren, after the special services of this
occasion, the question naturally arises, what will God, who
has placed you in this house to profit by all the privileges
of his grace, and who has thus brought you together as a
communion and congregation, what ivill He have you to do ?
What return, what fruit does He expect? How much
has your power to do good been increased by your pre-
sent associated condition ! How much ability to do good
was previously possessed among the individuals composing
this congregation, all of which is enhanced and made as a
city set on a hill by this union under this roof ! Now
there is a design in this. God has a purpose in forming
congregations. What is it here ? Brethren, will you
satisfy that purpose in being content just to occupy your
places here at the stated times, and join in the worship
52 SERMON II.
and listen reverently to the word of God ; or, if you do
more, and spiritually improve your privileges here, so as
to grow in grace, and so that the number of God's true
people shall be increased among you? Will that be
enough ? Is this congregation and communion, set up of
God in the midst of this rapidly enlarging population, in
the midst of so much darkness, so much wickedness, so
much unbelief, in the midst of multitudes that are without
God and without hope, is it only for the spiritual good and
enjoyment of those who belong to it? Is a light-house
erected merely to give light within ? or to cast the beams
of hope upon surrounding darkness and dangers, and lead
the wandering and lost from afar off into the way of
safety? Such is God's will with regard to you. You
belong to that great community on which the Lord has
laid the duty of being the light of the world. Ye must
take your part in those great works of Christian effort
which limit their benevolence only by the limits of the
world. But especially must you realize your responsi-
bility as connected with the spiritual necessities of the
world immediately around you. We must not be content
in this growing city, with our present churches, and
ministers, and Sunday schools, and other agencies for
good-doing. As fast as possible must they be increased
in number and extension. Sin, crime, neglect of God
and his word, the profanation of his holy day ; infidelity,
zealous and bold, indigenous and foreign, seeking prose-
lytes just where the want of the means of grace is great-
est ; a hundred forms of spiritual darkness and want are
fearfully increasing in power and diffusion around us, and
all Christian people have greatly to increase their efforts
THE TRUE CHURCH, THE WORLD'S LIGHT. 53
if they would keep up with the fast increasing demand
upon their zeal. Thus far you have begun well. Your
Sunday schools, your Bible classes, your contributions to
good works of various kinds, to the distribution of the
Scriptures, and of tracts, to the support of colporteurs
cariying the printed word where other agencies do not
reach, to the maintenance of missionaries at home and
abroad, all speak most encouragingly for the future
influence and good-doing of this recently organized flock.
Go on, brethren, to put your talents daily to the best
investment Ability increases with exercise. Talents
are ascertained by use. Blessings multiply, as blessings
are improved. In what particular ways you are to work
I cannot here specify. I aim now simply at stirring up
the conscientious inquiry, what the Lord will have you to
do, individually and collectively, as a leaven, as a light,
in the midst of the population of this city. The glory of
a Church is to have the light of Christ, and by it so to
shine in holiness and good works, that sinners may be led
to Christ for eternal life. Be that, as long as these walls
shall stand, the glory of the Church that shall worship
here. Here may the precious Gospel of Christ be ever
preached in purity and faithfulness, and be accompanied
" with the demonstration of the Spirit and of power 1" Here
may the riches of divine grace be gloriously manifested
in the conversion of multitudes of wandering sinners to
the faith and hope of Christ, and in their growing meet-
ness for his presence ! Here may many a desolate heart
be made the temple of the Holy Ghost ! To this house
may thousands of those who shall be with Christ in his
kingdom, have reason to look from the heights of their
54 SERMON II.
glory, and say, There was I lorn ; there I first saw the
true light; there I learned the preciousness of Christ to
my soul. Here, under the rod of the word and the power
of God, may a fountain ever flow, fed from out of the
riches of Christ, the streams of which shall make glad the
hearts of the perishing in the most distant habitations of
the wilderness ! Amen.
SERMON III.
THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN ITS ESSENTIAL BEING.
1 CHRON. xxii. 1.
" Then David said, This is the house of the Lord our God, and this is the
altar of the burnt-offering for Israel. "
IT was by no means a secondary matter under the dis-
pensation of the levitical law, to know ivhat was the house
of the Lord, and what was the altar of the burnt-offering
for Israel.
There was but one house, and one altar of burnt-offer-
ing. No sacrifice was accepted that was not brought to
the door of the one, and sanctified by being offered upon
the other. All that was peculiar to that dispensation was
centered in that house and altar. All that pertained to
an Israelite, as an Israelite, depended on his connection
therewith. Hence the question between the Jews and
Samaritans, as laid for decision before our Lord by the
woman of Samaria, namely, whether men ought to wor-
ship at Jerusalem, or on Mount Gerizim, whether the true
house and altar were in the one mount or the other, was
a vital question to all who desired a share in the peculiar
privileges of the ceremonial law. And hence the decision
of that question had not been left to human appoint-
ments or conjectures. In every period of the history of
the levitical dispensation, God had visibly declared by
signs and wonders where his house and what his altar was.
56 SERMON III.
When the tabernacle was set up and the altar therein, and
all was consecrated according to divine appointment, then
"a cloud covered the tent of the congregation and the
glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle."* It was the
marvellous signal whereby the God of Israel proclaimed
in language too plain to be misunderstoood, " This is the
house of the Lord our God, and this is the altar of the
burnt-offering for Israel."
And when, in place of the tabernacle of the wilderness,
the more permanent and magnificent temple of Jerusalem
was built, the same signal appeared. "The fire came
down from heaven and consumed the burnt-offering and
tbe sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the house.
And when all the children of Israel saw" they signified
that they well understood; "they bowed themselves with
their faces to the ground, upon the pavement, and wor-
shiped, and praised the Lord, "f
The dispensation of the law had a typical relation at
all points to that of the Gospel. Its priesthood was
typical, not indeed of our human ministry, which is no
priesthood; but of that priesthood of our blessed Lord in
heaven, which alone makes our ministry of any use, or
the sinner's hope the least consolation. Its temple was a
grand type of the Church of God, his household of faith,
in earth and heaven. And the question, what is that
Church or household, is just as vital to all our participation
in the blessings of the Gospel, as was the question, what
was the temple, and what the altar of the burnt-offering
of Israel, to all participation in the privileges of the
chosen people.
*Ex. xl. 34. i-2 Chron. vii. 1 and 3.
THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN ITS ESSENTIAL BEING. 57
To belong to the house or family of God is certainly
essential to all hope of salvation. If \ve have no part
in the temple, we can have none in the atoning sacrifice.
If we be not of the family, we can have no share in its
communion and festival. If we are not of Israel, we can
have no inheritance in Israel. It is just as true, and to
this we would draw your special attention, that if we do
belong to the house, the Church, the family of God, zve
must have part in the heritage of his people.
To be found in the Church, and to be saved, are essen-
tially connected. Whatever the Church may be, and
whatever may make us members thereof, it is Christ's
living body ; and the scriptures always represent those
who belong to that body as being in Christ Jesus, precise-
ly where St. Paul was so earnest that he might be found
at the last; and nothing can be more impossible than
that a real member of Christ, a sinner found, at death,
actually in him, can be lost. We repeat it, then, with
special emphasis; membership in the Church of Christ,
and salvation in Christ, are essentially connected, and cor-
relative.
And, further: Whatever be the instrument of God,
whereby alone we are made members of Christ's Church,
it is essential to salvation, and is necessarily saving sim-
ply because it unites us to Christ himself. Therefore, if
any sacramental ordinance if the sacrament of baptism
make us any thing more than visibly m professedly members
of the Church; if it be the instrument whereby we are
made, not merely in the visible sign, but in the inward
reality, members of the body of Christ; if every one who
has received that sacrament is a member of Christ's
58 SERMON III.
body, the Church, then is he found in Christ and then it
is true, not only that without that sacrament we cannot
be saved, but with it, ive cannot be lost. Wherever you
find the baptized, you find, according to such views, not
only the true and only house and Church of the Lord
our God, but those who have a saving portion in the one
great burnt-offering for Israel.
Baptism and salvation are as indissolubly connected,
according to that view, as our being in Christ, and our
being in the peace of God. The saved are exclusively
the baptized. The baptized are certainly the saved.
These are consequences of that doctrine of baptism, which
cannot be escaped. They follow of necessity from the
vital union between the Church and Christ; from the
oneness of membership in it and in him. Hence the
primary importance of the question, what is the house of
the Lord our God? what constitutes the Church of
Christ ? what makes us members thereof? Are the sacra-
ments and the ministry so essential to the being of the
Church, that without them it is a nonentity ? Is the
sacrament of baptism so identical with membership in the
Church, not visible merely, but spiritual membership in
the body of Christ, that whoever is baptized is such mem-
ber, and whoever is not baptized cannot be? If not,
what are the relations of the visible and divinely appoint-
ed ordinances of the Church to the being and member-
ship thereof? These are questions which we hope, with-
out the need of any great length of discussion, satisfac-
torily to answer. And subjects more important in these
days, I know not where to find.
THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN ITS ESSENTIAL BEING. 59
We must enter upon their consideration with the two
certainties of which we have spoken plainly in sight,
namely, whatever we make the Church, to be members is
to be saved, not to be members is to be lost; because it
is simply to be, or not to be, in Christ. And, moreover,
whatever we make the one instrument whereby alone we
Become members of Christ's Church, and so of Christ
himself, be it the living faith in the heart, or the sacra-
ment of baptism on the brow, that instrument is not only
absolutely necessary, in every case, to salvation, but
wherever applied must be saving, simply because in virtue
thereof we are in Christ Jesus. And, really, when we
have set before you these infinitely momentous conse-
quences of whatever view we take, we seem to have gone
much of the way in answering the questions before us.
For how hard it is, in view of all that have assuredly died
in faith without having received the outward sign of bap-
tism, as many of the martyrs died, and then of all who
have died, without faith, having that sign, as millions on
millions of the most ungodly have died, how hard to be-
lieve that all the latter died in the Church and so in
Christ, and that none of the former could thus die ! Not
even the Romish apostacy, far as it has dared to avow the
monstrous consequences which flow from its corruptions
of Christian doctrine, has ventured entirely to maintain
the extreme results of assigning to a sacrament so easily
received, so indiscriminately possessed, a necessity so ab-
solute, and an efficacy so saving. What is the invention
of a baptism "in Hood" and "in will" (in sanguine and
in voto, as Rome's standard writers speak,) but the con-
fession of salvation ivilhout a sacrament, and thus a virtual
60 SERMON III.
denial of her doctrine of sacramental union to Christ the
only union ? Nevertheless, she is bound to the honest
avowal, that as, by her own declaration, every baptized
man, except he be an infidel, or a heretic, or a schismatic,
is in Christ Jesus, by a living union, every such man must
have part in the salvation of Christ. His sacramental
baptism saves him for as long as that sign is on him, he
is in the Church and in Christ and to call in other sac-
raments, to bring in the fires of purgatory, in order to
make his baptism finally saving, is to flinch from the
direct consequences of her doctrine, and virtually deny it.
We come now to one of the two main questions which
we propose to answer in this discourse, namely :
I. In what consists the essential being of the Church
of Christ; and, consequently, what is membership in the
same ? We shall find it a shorter and easier question than
some of you may apprehend.
But let us mark well, that the question is not, what is
the Church in its apostolic appointments, but in its essen-
tial existence; not the polity,but the being; not what makes
the Church a visible organization before the world, but
what makes it the mystical body of Christ before God.
The difference between the Church in its essential being
before God, and in its divinely appointed mode of mani-
festation or visible profession before men, is precisely the
same as the difference between the inward reality of com-
munion with God, and the visible profession of that com-
munion in the sacraments. All who come to the Lord's
Supper we call communicants; we do not mean that all are
really communicants in the salvation of Christ. Bat
we name them what they profess to be. A ad in the same
THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN ITS ESSENTIAL BEING. 61
way, we call the whole body of those who come to that
sacrament, the Church the body of Christ. But it does
not follow that we suppose them all to be really, spiritual-
ly, of the Church or body of Christ, We name them
what they profess to be. Professing to be communicants,
we call them communicants. Professing to be Christians,
we call them Christians. In baptism, professing to be
regenerate, they are spoken of as regenerate in baptism.
Professing, in the several ordinances of the Church, to be
the Church, they are called the Church; although we do
not forget the declaration of St. Paul : "He is not a Jew
which is one outwardly ; neither is that circumcision which
is outward in the flesh ; but he is a Jew which is one in-
wardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit
and not in the letter,"* If this was the state of the
case under the ceremonial dispensation, how much more,
if possible, must it be under the more spiritual and in-
ward? How emphatically should we keep in mind, that he
is not a Christian which is one outwardly, neither is that
baptism which is outward in the flesh ; but he is a Chris-
tian who is one inwardly, and the true, saving; baptism is
that of the heart, in the spirit and not in the letter; and
hence the Christian Church is not constituted of those
who are Christians in the sacrament only, which is outward
in the flesh, but of those whose baptism is that of the
heart, in the spirit.
We find in the narrative connected with the text a
very convenient and striking illustration. A pestilence
was raging among the people of Israel in the reign of
David. He beheld the angel of the Lord stand between
* Rom. ii. 28, 29.
G2 SEKMON III.
the earth and heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand,
stretched out over Jerusalem. The angel "stood by the
threshing floor of Oman the Jebusite. " David prayed
that his hand might be stayed. The Lord commanded
him to set up an altar on that floor. He did so, " and
offered burnt- offerings and peace-offerings and called upon
the Lord. And He answered him from heaven by fire up-
on the altar of burnt-offering." * " When David saw that
the Lord had answered him in the threshing floor of Oman,
then (it is written) he sacrificed there; "f that is, he con-
tinued to sacrifice there, notwithstanding (as the next
verse says) "the tabernacle of the Lord and the altar of
the burnt-offering were at that season at Gibeon. " Then
David said, " this is the house of the Lord our God., and
this is the altar of the burnt-offering for Israel. " The
same miraculous indication from heaven that had been
given at the consecration of the tabernacle, that the
house of the Lord was there, was now manifested unto
David, that the house of the Lord was that open thresh-
ing floor. The Lord answered from heaven by fire upon
the altar.
The case of Jacob at Bethel is precisely similar. In
the open field he sleeps. The vault of heaven alone is
over him. God appears to him. He awakes and says,
" Surely the Lord is in this place this is none other but
the house of God and he named the place Bethel"
house of God.\ Now, what made that open field or that
naked threshing floor the house of the Lord? Jacob's
words afford precisely the answer, " The Lord is in this
place." The special presence of the Lord! It is rest-
*1 Chrcm. xxi. 14-26. fver. 28. }Gen. xxviii. 11-19.
THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN IIS ESSENTIAL BEING. 63
deuce in a place, not walls, that makes it our house. It
is the citizens, not their edifices, that make the city.
Now, with this plain light from the Old Testament, as
to what of old constituted the Lord's house, we open the
New Testament to see what makes his house or Church in
these days. I find the house of God declared to be in
every true servant of God; and that which gives him that
character, the indwelling of God's Spirit. " Know ye not
that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is
in you. " I find next the whole community of God's
people called his temple. " Ye are the temple of the
living God (said St. Paul to the Corinthians) as God
hath said, I zvill dwell in them and walk in them. "| The
indwelling of God made them his temple. And thus the
same Apostle says to the Ephesians, "Ye are builded to-
gether, for an habitation of God, through the Spirit. " J
The Spirit abiding in them made them the habitation of
God. Here we have precisely the similar case to that of
the threshing floor of Oman the Jebusite. The presence
of God to David in that unwalled space, made God's house
to be there. The indwelling of God by his Spirit in any
human being makes him his temple. The same indwell-
ing of the Spirit in the whole community of God's people,
makes it all his temple his Church. The parts are not
made each a temple by being first united to the whole.
But the whole communion becomes the whole temple or
Church, by the aggregation of the several parts, each be-
ing a temple in itself. God dwells in the community, and
so makes it his house, by dwelling in each member there-
of, and so making him "the habitation of God, through
the Spirit. "
*1 Cor. vi. 19. f2 Cor. vi. 16. * Ephes. ii. 22.
64 SERMON III.
Thus we have found, by a very short process, the es-
sential being of the Church all that gives it a spiritual,
and thus all that gives it a real, existence towards God.
Nothing can be more simple. We ask, where is the house
of the Lord our God? The scriptures answer, wherever
is " the habitation of God through the Spirit," wherev-
er his Spirit dwells. And thus the saying of Tertul-
lian, so much wondered at because not understood, is per-
fectly scriptural : "Wherever three are met together in
the name of the Lord, there is the Church"* not a
Church in any outward equipment or visible organization;
but the Church, the habitation of God, in the highest
sense of spiritual being. And why? Simply because of
the Lord's assurance : " There am I in the midst of them. "
I dwell in them they are thus my temple, my Church.
And to the same effect writes St. Paul: "By one Spirit
we are all baptized into one body- and have all been
made to drink into one Spirit. "| In other words, the
bond which makes us all one body in Christ one Church,
is not an outward tie, but participation in the same inward
life; not a visible sacrament of baptism, but that baptism
which the sacrament signifies ; the being baptised ly
the Spirit, the drinking into one Spirit, as the living
branches drink into the life of the vine, and so are one
body therewith.
Thus we have ascertained wherein consists the being of
the Church, and yet have only incidentally mentioned
such things as the sacraments, the ministry, or any out-
* Tertullian, lib. de exhort. Castitat. cap. vii. Ubi tres, ecclesia est, licet
laici. Unusquisque enim sua fide vivit, nee est personarum acceptio apud
Deum . Quoniam non auditores legis justificantur, sed factores.
i 1 Cor. xii. 13.
THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN ITS ESSENTIAL BEING. 65
ward order. We have found that whatever the necessity
of these, by divine appointment, to the w^-being of the
Church, they are not necessary as elements of its being ;
however necessary as means of establishing, extending,
and continuing the Church, they are not parts of its es-
sential structure.
The moment we get this view of the Church, as quite
another thing in its essential constitution from the ordi-
nances which God has connected therewith, the way is
plain to the decision of the connected and important in-
quiry, ivhat is the divinely appointed instrument ivhereby we
'become members of the Church ? We have seen that what-
ever makes any man " the habitation of God, through the
Spirit," makes him also a member of God's Church;
since the latter is^ simply the community of all those in
whom, individually, God's Spirit dwells. In other words,
the Church in its real, interior being, is the aggregate of
all branches of the True Vine; all real branches; all that are
united to the Vine by an internal, vital bond, in partaking
of its life ; not of such branches, in connection with those
which, however professedly and reputedly branches, are
only so in appearance, by an outward insertion and the tie
of a visible bond 5 (that is the visible Church as seen of
men;) but of such branches only as commune in the Vine's
own life, and by that oneness of spiritual life are united
not only to the Vine, but among themselves also ; all
abiding in Christ by the fellowship of his Spirit, and he
thus abiding in each of them. That is the Church of
Christ. Union to that Church and union to Christ are,
therefore, identical. Now, what is the order ? Is it first,
union to the Church in order to union to Christ; or union
66 SERMON III.
to the Vine first, in order to membership with the branch-
es ? St. Peter decides, and well it were if those who claim
to have such special succession from him, would better re-
ceive his words, " To whom coming, as unto a living stone
ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house"
a holy Church the habitation of God through the Spirit.*
Now, observe that this spiritual house is made of none
but living stones each is a real living Christian. The
Church of God contains none else in his sight. Observe,
also, chat the stones do not become living in consequence of
being built up into the Church, as if the life were thence
communicated; but they are built up into the Church as a
consequence of being already living, they together making
the living Church, and not the Church making them. Ob-
serve, again, that it is by the coming of each separate
stone to Christ as the living head of the corner, and being
joined unto him, that gives it life, and it is that coming
and union that joins each stone to every other by oneness
of life in Christ, and thus builds up the spiritual house.
The whole building is "fitly framed together in Christ."
Thus the order : We come to Christ that we may come to
his Church; not first the Church that we may, through
union therewith, become members of Christ. If we were
speaking of the visible Church, and of visible or professed
union to Christ, we should say : Come to the Church, be-
cause only by its visible forms and signs can you be pro-
fessedly in Christ. But it is of the Church in its spiritual
being, without reference to its visible institutions, that we
are now speaking, and hence the order coming to Christ
thus made alive unto God and so built up in his spir-
itual house.
* 2 Pet. ii. 4-5.
THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN ITS ESSENTIAL BEING. 67
But how do we come to Christ ? Peter gives his testi-
mony again : " Wherefore, also, it is contained in scripture.
Behold I lay in Zion a chief corner stone, and he that be-
tieveth on him shall not be confounded. "* Thus he that
lelieveth on, is he that cometh to, that living corner stone.
It is faith that saves us from being confounded, because it
is faith that makes us partakers of Christ. Thus we have
another step in the order. A living faith brings us to
Christ. By partaking of his Spirit we are united unto
him in oneness of inward life, and all who have that same
union to Christ are thereby united to one another, in one
spiritual communion and fellowship, which is the Church
of Christ. Thus a living faith is God's ordained means
whereby we are made members of his spiritual house, his
living Church, unto which are the promises and by which
he is glorified.
Now, my brethren, let me remind you of the position
from which we set out, namely: that whatever the Church
may be, to be found therein is to be saved, not to be
found therein is to be lost; because it is to be found or
not found in Christ. And, again, that whatever be the
instrument whereby we are made members of the Church,
outward ordinance, or inward faith, it is not only abso-
lutely necessary to salvation, but must be absolutely
saving, and all who are thus in the Church must have
peace with God. Taking the view we have given of
what constitutes the Church, and what instrumentally
unites us thereto, these positions are not only true, but
exactly consistent with all else in the scriptures, and in
religion. They are but another mode of saying, "He
* 1 Pet. ii : 6.
68
SERMON III.
that believeth in Jesus shall be saved, and he that be-
lieveth not shall be damned." Taking any other view
of the being of the Church, and of what instrumentally
makes us members thereof; say that the Church is made
up of all who are joined together in a visible fellowship by
the bonds of visible ordinances; that every baptized per-
son is a member, and no unbaptized person can be ; then
consider who the baptized every where are that most la-
mentable mixture of tares and wheat, that awful conjunc-
tion and confusion of godly and ungodly; and can you
say that all, because in the Church, have peace with God?
But why not, if they are in the true Church in the body
of Christ ? If not, are your views of the being of the
Church and what makes a member, consonant with the
scriptures? Can they be in Christ and not in God's
peace ?
II. We proceed to the other question proposed. If
the sacraments and other visible ordinances of the Church
are not essential to its being, in ivhat relation do they stand
thereto ? Mark well the question, lest we be misunder-
stood. It is not, what are the several objects, wcs, benefits,
towards the Church, or the Christian, for which the sacra-
ments, &c., were ordained but the much narrower ques-
tion, what is the relation they stand in toward the essen-
tial being of the Church, and consequently of the Chris-
tian?
We look back to the narrative of David on the thresh-
ing-floor of Oman the Jebusite. In one verse we have
him saying of that open floor, simply because God's pres-
ence was there: " This is the house of the Lord our God;"
and in the next verse we read that he " set masons to
THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN ITS ESSENTIAL BEING. 69
hew stones to build (in that place) the house of God "
and afterwards we find the magnificent temple of Solomon
erected on that very spot, and customarily spoken of in
the subsequent scriptures, as the house of God. How is
this ? Two houses in the same place the invisible and
visible? or the same house under different relations
first in its invisible being, made ' a temple by God's pres-
ence, next in its visible form, made a visible temple by
walls and courts and altars?
The plain truth is, that when the stately sanctuary of
Solomon was erected over and around the place which
David long before had pronounced to be the temple of
God, since the presence of God was no more there than it
was before, it was no more really God's temple. Take
away the walls and courts, and leave the divine presence,
and the temple is there still. Of what use then were the
walls and courts and altars, and all the imposing ceremo-
nial connected therewith? We answer, they gave visibil-
ity to that otherwise invisible house of the Lord. They
were its conspicuous notes and marks. They did not
give it being, but they gave it visible, sensible, being.
God needed them not in order to recognize his temple;
but man did. Thus there was a sense in which the out-
ward and visible building was the house of the Lord,
while the real house was there without it. It was the
form of that spiritual house, and called therefore the house.
So we call our liturgy prayer, when it is only a form of
prayer. Words, however, are signs and expressions of
prayer, and we call them prayer, with no risk of being
understood to mean that prayer is so identical therewith
that it must be where they are, or cannot be where they
are not.
70 SERMON III.
Let us now apply what has been said of the temple
of Jerusalem to illustrate the relation of the sacraments
and other ordinances of the Church, to the Church itself.
During the interval between the death of Christ and
the setting up of the visible Church by the administra-
tion of baptism to the three thousand on the day of Pen-
tecost, there was certainly a Church. Since the begin-
ning of the world, God had always his house, his habita-
tion through the Spirit, in this world. One hundred and
twenty disciples, believers in Jesus, commanded by him
to continue in Jerusalem till they should receive the
promise of the Father, were gathered together in Jeru-
salem, in his name, and he, according to his promise, was
in the midst of them. They were thus his temple. And
presently the Lord visibly declared they were his temple,
precisely as he declared the same of the threshing-floor
of Oman, or the tabernacle of Moses. " There came a
sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it
filled all the house where they were sitting, and there ap-
peared unto them cloven tongues, like as of fire, and it
sat upon each of them, and they were all filled with the
Holy Ghost."
But as yet, the Church of Christ had no administration
of sacraments. It was like the house of the Lord in the
threshing-floor of Oman, when it had no walls. The
baptism ministered before the death of Christ was not
the sacramental baptism of the Christian Church. The
Lord's Supper had been administered to only eleven out
of the hundred and twenty, and then while the Jewish
dispensation still existed. The sacraments were in being
only as appointments for a time to come. They had no
THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN ITS ESSENTIAL BEING. 71
hand in constituting the Church that then was. But that
Church nevertheless was just as really the Church of God,
as it has been ever since. Composed of living stones,
built upon the precious corner stone which God had laid,
and inhabited by " the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, "
it was in every essential respect "the temple of the living
God."
But the Church, then made visible as such, only by mi-
raculous signs, in order that it might come into contact with
the world in which its work is to be done, must have a
visible and permanent form or body. It is not enough
that God knoweth them that are his. Man must see who
profess to be his. An angel host may dwell among us
in all the perfectness of their being, but until they put
on some visible shape we cannot know their presence.
Man comes in contact with man, only through the means
of a visible form the body he lives in. The Church,
as a spiritual house, can be known to the world only
through a similar form. So, then, when the Apostles
proceeded to place the Church in its appointed relations
to the world, they invested it with a body of visible ordi-
nances, which the Lord had appointed, and such as, by
their fewness and simplicity, were suited to a dispensation
intended to embrace all nations. No sooner had David
ascertained the house of the Lord, than he set men to
hew stones to build its walls. No sooner had the Lord
declared, by the manifestation of the Spirit on the day
of Pentecost, that in those hundred and twenty disciples
was his Church, than the Apostles began to preach the
word and baptize. Thousands were the same day turned
to the Lord, and, by faith, were joined to Christ, and so to
72 SERMON III.
his Church. What was thus invisibly done, they were re-
quired openly to confess. They were baptized in the
sacramental sign, as they had been already in the spirit-
ual reality. Thus they became, not more really members
of Christ, but more visibly; as a king, by his coronation,
is no more a king, but only more formally and declara-
tively.
But as baptism is only once in a Christian's life, a sac-
rament more permanently in sight was needed for the
full visibility of the Church. The Lord had prepared
and directed it. The Apostles added therefore to the
baptized, the sacrament of communion in the body and
blood of Christ. Thus the Church, with both the sacra-
mental marks and signs which the Lord had ordained,
and with a divinely appointed ministry preaching the pure
word of God, was fully set up in its visible form, as be-
fore in its invisible being. " They that gladly received
the word were baptized, and they continued steadfastly
in the Apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of
bread and in prayers."
Now, in all this account of the difference between the
Church as it is, and the Church as it is visible, in ordi-
nances, we have had in view the language of our stand-
ards. When the object is to declare simply what the
Church of Christ is, without reference to how it is known,
the description is, "the Messed company of all faithful peo-
ple ;"* in other words, all believers in Jesus. But when
the object is not only the spiritual being of the Church
before God, but its visible form before men; what indi-
cates as well as what constitutes it ; then the Homily for
* Communion office.
THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN ITS ESSENTIAL BEING. 73
Whit-Sunday says: "The true Church is an universal
congregation or fellowship of God's faithful and elect
people, built upon the foundation of the Apostles and
Prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner
stone. " So much for what it is in its essential constitu-
tion. Then the Homily proceeds: "And it hath always
these notes or marks whereby it is known : Pure and
sound doctrine, the sacraments ministered according to
Christ's holy institution, and the right use of ecclesiasti-
cal discipline."* So much for what makes it visible.
Thus our standards place the sacraments and ministry
in relation to the inward being of the Church, exactly
where they put them as to the spiritual being of the in-
dividual Christian. A man is not qualified for the sacra-
* The declaration of Bishop Ridley in the Conferences between him and
Latimer during their imprisonment, are remarkably illustrative of the above
passage from the Homilies. Ridley supposes the Romish adversary whom he
calls Antoninus, to say: "Without the Church, (saith St. Augustine,) be the
life never so well spent, it shall not inherit the kingdom of heaven. " To
which Ridley answers by defining what the Church is and how it is marked,
and thus making no objection to the truth of the adversary's position, provided
the Church spoken of were rightly understood. He says : "The holy Cath-
olic or universal Church, which is the communion of the saints, the house of
God, the city of God, the spouse of Christ, the body of Christ, the pillar and
stay of truth ; this Church, I believe, according to the Creed ; this Church I
do reverence and honor in the Lord the marks whereby this Church are
known to me in this dark world are these : The sincere preaching of God's
word ; the due administration of the sacraments ; charity ; and faithful observ-
ing of ecclesiastical discipline, according to the word of God. And that
Church which is garnished with these marks, is in very deed that heavenly Je-
rusalem which consisteth of those that be born from above. Forth of this I grant
there is no salvation. " Soon after, Bishop Ridley more particularly describ-
ing the constituency of the Church, says : " That Church which is Christ's
body, and of which he is the head, standeth only of living stones and true
Christians, not only outwardly in name and title, but inwardly in heart and
in truth." Ridley's Works, Parkers' Society Edition, pages 123 and 126.
Nothing can be plainer than the above distinction of Ridley's between the
Church, as consisting of all, arid only of those who are true Christians in heart
and tiuth, and as made known or visible by the sacraments, <fec.
74 SERMON III.
ment of baptism until he has been baptized; that is, until
he has received that inward grace, that baptism of the
Spirit, which the sacrament signifies. He must repent
and believe he must first be a Christian, and then re-
ceive the marks and notes of a Christian. But still he is
said by the Church to be made in baptism "a member of
Christ, and a child of God;" because while his previous
religious life was seen of God, the Church can know him
only from the period of his professing a religious life, and
in her register dates his being made a child of God from
the day when she began to know him as such. His be-
coming a child of God was really when he repented and
believed in Jesus. His becoming such in the sight of
the Church was when he professed repentance and faith
in the sacrament of baptism. So we say a man receives
the conveyance of an estate when he receives the signed
and sealed title-deed, though he was really the owner
from the time he paid for it. The human tribunal can-
not take knowledge of the private transaction ; but re-
quires the visible instrument, and makes its date the be-
ginning of ownership. Such is the case as necessarily in
the Church as in the state. A man is made a member of
Christ in baptism, who was a member before by a living
faith, because then he receives the visible instrument by
which only the Church can know him. A community of
Christ's people begins to be his Church before the eyes of
men, when it becomes clothed with those outward ordi-
nances which make it visible as such to men.
Our Church, when speaking with reference to our
standing and privileges in the visible Church, dates the
time when we were made children of God at our sacra-
THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN ITS ESSENTIAL BEING. 75
mental baptism ; because then we were made professedly
such. But when she speaks of our standing before God
who looketh on the heart and needs no sacramental signs
to mark us, then, as everywhere in her Homilies, she leaves
the sacramental sign out of sight and speaks only of what
it signifies, the baptism of the Holy Ghost, the new birth
unto righteousness; and dates the beginning of Christian
life and hope from thence. This is the key which not
only fits the wards of our Church standards, but unlocks
what, in some of our oldest and best divines, Bishop Bev-
ericlge, for example, seems contradictory ; so that to some
they seem to teach the very doctrine of baptismal regen-
eration and justification which they expressly deny.
And, now, in the concluding part of this discourse, lest
in what we have said concerning the relation of the out-
ward order to the inward being of the Church, we should
seem in any degree to favor that neglect of ordinances to
which some minds in avoiding the opposite extreme of
undue reliance on them are so apt to run, we must take
you once more to the threshing floor of Oman the Jebu-
site, and the temple built thereon.
That magnificent temple, with all its various ceremoni-
al appurtenances, was, as we have seen, not the house of
the Lord, but only the visible form of that house, and for
that reason only was called the temple. But it must be
noted emphatically that as a form, it was all divinely ap-
pointed. As the tabernacle was made by Moses accord-
ing to the pattern which God had showed him in the
Mount; so the temple was built by Solomon, after a pat-
tern which David his father had received of the Lord,
and of which David said to him : " All this the Lord
76
SERMON III.
made me understand, in writing by his hand upon me,
even all the works of this pattern. "* The altars and
courts and walls of that structure did not make it the
house of the Lord, but they were as much of divine com-
mand as if they did. The form was not the being, but
God appointed that form for that being, and no man could
put them asunder without profaneness. If the one was
very subordinate to the other, both were sacred; both to
be reverenced as nothing of man's ordaining should
ever be.
We turn again to the visible ordinances of the house of
God, under the gospel. They are very few and simple, as
suits the more spiritual aspect, and the more active work
of a Church which must be as much at home in the wil-
derness as in the city, on the march of missionary inva-
sion as in the oldest and most fixed dwelling place of
Christianity. The Jewish ritual was for a single nation
and a narrow territory. The work of that dispensation
was in no sense aggressive. It was to preserve, not to
spread the knowledge of God a light to be kept within
the veil of the sanctuary, not to be carried abroad into
surrounding paganism. It was a sentinel on the walls;
a witness to testify; a prophet to be ever pointing towards
the more perfect dispensation. Thus stationary, it could
bear the weight of cumbrous ordinances. But the Chris-
tian dispensation is for the length and breadth of the
earth. Its business is conquest; breaking down the
kingdom of Satan; making captive all nations to Christ;
never to be stationary till that work is done. On such
an errand, the Church, like the first Apostles, must carry
little weight, nothing but staff and scrip. The water,
* 1 Chron. xxviii: 11, 12, 19.
THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN ITS ESSENTIAL BEING. 77
the bread, and the word; Baptism, the Supper of the
Lord, and the trump of the Gospel, are all her equip-
ments. These are notes and marks which God has made
as essential to her divinely appointed visible form, as the
dwelling of his Spirit in the hearts of his people is essen-
tial to her invisible being. There is nothing more foolish
than to suppose that because the exterior of the Church
is not the Church, because the ordinances of religion are
not religion, they may be treated with little religious
regard. Do those who are prone to such thoughts,
imagine the same with regard to another form; that which
makes their own being a visible being namely, their
own bodies? God has joined the soul and body of man
together in this life, by a bond which only death is per-
mitted to break. No man supposes that his body is his
life; he knows that the soul is essentially the man; but
he knows that the soul is an inhabitant of this world,
only as long as the body is its habitation; that it can
give no sign of life nor hold any communication with this
world, but by that bodily form. The ordinances of the
senses and of speech and motion are its visible being,
though not its being. Their actings and re-actings, one
upon another, are continual and necessary. The well-being
of each requires the constant keeping of the other in
health and vigor. It is the madman that says, the body
is not the spirit, and therefore I will not regard it.
"What God hath joined together let no man put asunder."
In the same way, has God joined together in this life,
the spiritual being of his Church and a certain body of
divinely instituted ordinances, without which the former
is permitted to have no fixed habitation in this world,
78 SERMON III.
nor any means of manifesting itself as a Church of God,
before the world. And while it is a most important
truth that these are not religion, but only its forms, we
must maintain that precisely in proportion as they are
neglected by any branch of the visible Church, must the
life of true piety therein be damaged. True, we can
easily suppose a servant of God with the word in his
mind, and the Spirit of Christ in his heart, separated by
divine Providence from all public and social means of
grace, and yet living unto God in the highest spiritual
health, the Lord working in him independently of those
means of grace from which his own dispensation has sep-
arated him. But let him be returned to the bosom of Chris-
tian fellowship, and then if he wilfully come not to the
public sacrifice of prayer and praise, and neglect the
ministry of the word, and the sacrament of communion
in the atonement of Christ, he must decline in grace.
His confession of Christ before men is effaced. However
he may hope that in his private life he can shed the
influence of a Christian example on those around him,
that life is but an evil example of the manifest inconsis-
tency of professing to be a follower of Christ, and yet
wilfully dishonoring institutions of Christ, divinely ap-
pointed means of grace, as binding in their place as any
obligations of the scripture.
Still stronger appears the case when we speak of the
Church instead of the individual Christian. There is such
a thing as destroying the spirit of religion in the visible
Church, by overloading the simple institutions of Christ
with rites and ordinances of human invention. But there
is another extreme not less fatal. Two ways there are of
THE CHUECH OF CHEIST IN ITS ESSENTIAL BEING.
79
dishonoring the Gospel and doing damage to our own
souls, as regards the divinely instituted ordinances of tr
Church. We may undervalue and overvalue them,
diminutive estimate of their use, you deny them the pU
which God has given them. By an exaggerated estimate,
you appoint them a place which God has denied them,
a misguided zeal for the inward life of all religion, you
may do great injustice to its ordained means of growth.
Out of an Inordinate concentration of interest upon the
sacramental signs and means, you may grievously ,
honor the nature and hinder the growth of inward piety.
Make the sacraments, in effect, identical with the com-
munication of grace, and we cannot undervalue them, i,
that respect, for thus they are not what God made them.
Make them only signs and effectual means of grace,
depending on the faith and prayer of those who come to
them, and we cannot overvalue them, except we give them
a higher place than the ministry of the word of God.
We must carefully guard against both the extremes
which I have adverted to. Which is the worst I have no
wish to decide. But I see not why the one error should
be supposed the result of a specially reverential spirit,
and the other of an irreverent. If I find a man who
out of a pious fear of leading sinners away from t
and from the spiritual power of godliness, to a resting
in its more lifeless form, unduly and injuriously
ciates the sacraments in comparison with the preaching
of the gospel, I see not that I may not attribute his error
to an humble reverence for his Master, at least as much
as that of the man who out of an earnest zeal
visible Church, so exalts the sacraments as to change
80 SERMON III.
their whole character from signs of grace to grace itself;
so magnifies the ministry of the Church, under the name
of a sacrificing priesthood, as not only to deprive the
preaching of the word of its rightful honor and value,
but to put our Lord's ever-living priesthood almost out
of sight, and make the coming of a sinner to sacraments
ministered by a priesthood of men, to be all that is
meant by his coming to Christ. I see no godly reverence
in this. Sacraments which point me and help me to
Christ, I understand and reverence and love as God's own
means of grace. Sacraments which say then are Christ
to me, and which profess to give me grace for which the
scriptures bid me look unto Jesus; sacraments and min-
istries which thus stand in the way of my feeling the
need and preciousness of a direct and constant communi-
cation between my soul and the present intercession of
Jesus at the right hand of God, independently of all or-
dinances and all human intervention, are sacraments and
ministries most sadly perverted, and over which a godly
reverence has only to mourn such dishonoring of the
Gospel and of Christ.
There is the form of godliness, and there is the power;
both of God. Each has its peculiar importance. The
great evil is in confounding them ; putting one for the
other; being satisfied with either without the other.
Just as the inspired word, the appointed instrument of
sanctification, is dependent for its efficacy on the faith
that receives it, so are the sacraments. The form of
grace is in the latter ; the form of truth is in the former ;
in themselves only forms; to the unbelieving equally in-
efficacious ; to the believing alike means of grace from
THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN ITS ESSENTIAL BEING. 8l
God whereby he carries on his good work in the hearts of
his people.
Great care must we take, lest in giving these divinely
ordained and precious means their right place of most
reverent estimation, our minds rest too much upon them,
instead of passing intelligently through them to the
clearer seeing of Christ and the more vigorous apprehend-
ing, by faith, of all his promised grace ; lest we make them
objects instead of mediums; like a man using his spectacles as
things to look at, instead of things to look with. Great care
must we take lest we narrow the communion of our souls
with Christ to the single avenue of outward and ministe-
rial means of grace, and thus deprive our souls of the
blessedness of that habitual walk of faith, wherein it is
the believer's privilege to be always going directly and
most freely to his Saviour, as well in his daily exercises of
heart as in the solemnities of the sanctuary; great care
lest out of a disproportioned reverence for sacramental in-
stitutions we place in any secondary rank among means
of grace, that great instrument of God in awakening a
dead world, and sanctifying a believing heart, the inspired
word, preached by Christ's ambassadors ; read, and pon-
dered, and prayed over by the sinner.
And now, in conclusion, let us remember, brethren, that
the House of the Lord, the household of faith, for which
we have been inquiring, and of which I have showed you
the essential being, is the Church, not of this Christian
dispensation only, but of all dispensations, since there was
a Church of God on earth; the Father's house of many
mansions, in which the saints of all ages, all forms, all di-
versities of light and privilege, are joined together at this
6
82 SERMON III.
time, whether they be saints in the imperfectness of the
Church below, or in the perfectness of the holiness above;
the House of God, in which Enoch walked with him, and
Abraham lived by faith, and David praised, and Paul la-
bored; the Church, whose life has always been "hid with
Christ in God" "the communion of saints the Holy
Catholic Church" wherein is the "one Lord" the hope
and life, the one living faith of the heart, whereby that life
and hope are embraced, and the one baptism of the Spirit,
sanctifying the heart and making it meet for the inherit-
ance of the saints in light. Other " Holy Catholic Church"
I know not where to find. A member of that Catholic
Church I rejoice to greet in any man, of whatever name,
in whom are those spiritual marks. If I know him not
for a brother, God knows him for a son. If he be sepa-
rated from visible Church communion, he is not, and can
not be separated from communion here and forever with
all the true Church of Christ, simply because he is not
separated from Christ.
To gather sinners into that blessed communion ; to build
them in that faith and promote in them more and more
that baptism, is the single work of our ministry. Noth-
ing is of any value in the Church but as it bears on that.
To be in that communion is life out of it is death. To
bring a soul to that Church, is to save it and make proof
of our ministry. There, brethren, may we be found when
called of God to die counting all things but loss for the
excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord
that we may "win Christ and be found in him." Amen.
NOTE. The above discourse was preached in the Church of the Epiphany,
Philadelphia, A. D. 1848, as the first annual sermon of the Prot. Ep. Society
for the Promotion of Evangelical Knowledge. It has been much altered for
this volume, and it is hoped improved, but its sentiments in no sense changed-
SEBMON IV.
THE PERSONAL MINISTRY OF CHRIST IN HIS CHURCH, NOW AND EVER.
LUKE iii. 16, 17.
'I indeed baptize you with -water; but one mightier than I cometh, the
latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose ; He shall baptize you
with the Holy Ghost and with fire ; whose fan is in his hand, and he will
thoroughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his garner; but
the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable."*
THE advent of our Lord had taken place some thirty
years before these words were spoken concerning him by
his distinguished herald, John the Baptist. He had come
in the flesh, but not in his ministry. But now he was
about to appear in the work which the Father had given
him to do. Meanwhile, the Jewish people, by the study
of the prophecies concerning the coming of the Messiah,
had been generally impressed with the belief that the
time was at hand; so that in consequence of the peculiar
character and ministry of John, "all men mused in
their hearts whether he were the Christ or no." Thus
was that faithful messenger led to declare, in the words
of the text, how infinitely superior to himself was He
whose coming they looked for, and whose way he was
sent to prepare.
Before proceeding to the chief subjects of discourse as
contained in the text, we cannot but draw your attention
* Preached for the Church Missionary Society, in St. Saviour's, Chelsea,
London, May 8, 1853.
84 SERMON IV.
to the exceeding strength of the testimony of John to the
personal dignity and eminence of our Lord. " One might-
ier than I cometh, whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose"
To take off, or carry, the shoes of another, was in those
days so menial an office that only the lowest of servants
were put to it. But even that, John confessed he was not
worthy to perform to our Lord. And yet, Who was
John? Do you say, a prophet? "Yea, (said the Lord)
and much more than a prophet; and verily I say unto
you, among them that are born of women there hath not
risen a greater than John the Baptist."
Many centuries before his birth, prophets of God had
been inspired to foretell his coming. An angel from the
host of heaven was despatched to announce to his parents
the near approach of that event. From his mother's
womb, "he was filled with the Holy Ghost." Other
prophets were distant foretellers of the coming of Christ.
This prophet was his immediate forerunner going di-
rectly before his face. Others testified that Christ ivould
come; John testified that he ^vas come; and to him was
granted the privilege and honor of being the first to see
and recognize and proclaim Jesus, in his proper character
as the Saviour of the world. And yet that greatest of
prophets, most exalted of men, sanctified from the birth,
felt himself not worthy to unloose the latchet of the
shoe of Christ. The question comes then, Who and
ivhat is Christ? Do you say, "a great prophet, mighty
in word and deed"? Aye, but since John was more than
a prophet, and yet so unspeakably his inferior, will you
say he was a mere man; when a man, than whom there
was not a greater among the sons of men, was not worthy
THE PERSONAL MINISTRY OF CHRIST. 85
to serve him in the very humblest office? The words of
Christ in the book of the prophet Malachi, shall answer,
"Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare
my way before me."* Who is this, thus speaking as if
he were Lord of all? speaking of sending his messenger
to prepare his way, some six hundred years before the
time? Is it mere man; or is it the sovereign and eternal
God? Let the prophet Isaiah answer further, "The
voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye
the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a high-
way for our 6W."| John the Baptist was that voice
crying in the wilderness Christ, he whose way he came
to prepare; and Christ was then our Lord and God.
Contemplating him in that infinite dignity, we perfectly
comprehend the unworthiness of John so much as to
perform the lowest service at his feet. The seraphim
veil their faces in his presence. And God forbid that
we, sinners on earth, should render him any lower rever-
ence. Be it the glory of every soul that hopes in him
for acceptance with God, to place him on the throne of
his heart, as his God, as well as .Saviour, and to worship
him as sitting on the throne of all dominion and power,
the eternal Jehovah, "for whom and by whom are all
things."
Let us proceed to the main points of the text. You
will observe the strong comparison between the ministry
of John and that of Christ. "I indeed baptize you with
water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of
whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose ; he shall baptize
you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire; whose fan is
Malachi iii. 1. f Isaiah xl. 3.
86 SERMON IV.
in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and
will gather the wheat into his garner; but the chaff he
will burn with fire unquenchable." We mark in the first
place :
I. The essential difference between the ministry of
Christ, and that of all his ministers on earth, in point of
SPIRITUAL EFFICACY.
The difference is expressed in the text with reference
merely to the comparative baptisms of John and of Christ.
But it holds as well in regard to all parts of the work
of the ministry. John baptized with water only. In
other words, the outward sign of baptism was all that
John co aid give. The inward and spiritual grace of bap-
tism, which is the real baptism, was not at his disposal.
He, who was mightier than John, and whose coming in
the power of his ministry was then at hand, HE would
baptize "with the Holy Ghost and with fire"
We understand the addition of the words "tvith fire"
to the baptism of the Holy Ghost, as a figurative expres-
sion of the searching, refining, illuminating, warming in-
fluences of the Lord's Spirit upon the dark, and dead, and
cold heart of unregenerate man. The whole declaration
was intended to foretell the mighty power that would
attend on the ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ for the
sanctification of the hearts of sinful men; how, as water
cleanses, and as fire refines and kindles, so his Spirit would
search out and consume away the corruptions of our sinful
nature, enlightening believers with heavenly wisdom,
shedding abroad in their hearts the love of God, till finally
they are restored to his perfect image and likeness in a
spotless holiness.
THE PEKSONAL MINISTRY OF CHRIST. 87
We have no idea that John, in using these words, had
any direct reference to the Christian sacrament of bap-
tism. It is written that our Lord "baptized not"* that
is, he did not baptize in the visible form of water. But
yet in the highest, and fullest, and only real sense in which
baptism can be given, he did baptize; because he poured
out upon his disciples that Spirit of holiness, which is the
only true baptism. In this sense, none but he ever did
or could baptize. In this sense he has been ministering
to his Church and baptizing, ever since the Gospel began
its course; every soul of man that was ever transformed
by the renewing of his mind, into the love and holiness
of God, having been indebted for all to the direct work of
Christ himself, as the ever-present minister of his grace,
baptizing with the Holy Ghost. In this view there is
really no ministry of baptism in the Church, except the
unseen, but ever-living and all-powerful ministry of Christ,
searching, changing, sanctifying the hearts of sinners.
The declaration of John is as if he had said he that
cometh after me is mightier than I. He shall sanctify
with the Holy Ghost, internally, really, effectually. I
baptize with water. I can give but the form and sign of
sanctification. He will make you holy in spirit and in
truth, giving you the power and life of a new birth unto
righteousness.
Thus you perceive that the baptism given by our Lord
is identical with the commencement, and progress, and
final completion of our sanctification by his Spirit. It is
the abiding and progressive renewing of our minds after
the mind of Christ. The baptism in the form of the sac-
*John iv. 2.
88 SERMON IV.
rament is once only that by the power of the Spirit is
progressive in the Christian life, and is co-extensive there-
with; just as communion in the form of the sacrament is
occasional only, while the spiritual communion with Christ
continues as long as faith lives in the heart. The
baptism of the Spirit begins in the spiritual regeneration
of the sinner, whether that great inward change takes
place at the time of the sacramental washing, or before,
or after. It continues and becomes more perfect; as the
Christian, under the cleansing of the Spirit, becomes more
holy. Every increase of inward sanctification is the pro-
gress, step by step, of this baptism of the Holy Ghost.
As the inward washing becomes more perfect, the real
baptism becomes more complete. The Christian, improv-
ing his privileges, is always under that direct ministry of
Christ, who thus sits "as a refiner and purifier of silver,"
and who will continue that work, till he shall have search-
ed out and consumed away in the believer the last impu-
rity of our nature; till our whole inner man shall become
the new man, perfectly conformed to our Lord's own like-
ness, and meet for his kingdom.
But the words of John, comparing his baptism with that
of his Lord, we all must alike use who are commissioned
to officiate in the ministry of Christ on earth. To be
able to baptize only with water, was not a peculiarity of
the Baptist. No minister of the gospel can do any more.
It is not given to us to communicate in baptism the spirit-
ual, sanctifying grace. We officiate only in the sign of
the Spirit, and except the receiver of the sign have the
preparation of a living faith to seek the reality of him
who only can give it, it will be to him but a sign. The
THE PERSONAL MINISTRY OF CHRIST.
spiritual grace, or the new birth unto righteousness, is
not tied to our hands; depends not on our agency; flows
not through our act; dwells not in any store-house in the
Church on earth; never reaches any heart but directly by
the unseen, personal ministry of Jesus, reaching to each
seeking soul as really now as when of old he healed the
leper, or raised the dead. Thus we point every one that
desires the renewing of the Holy Ghost far above our min-
istry; far above all visible ordinances in our gift, however
divinely appointed and needful in their place, to him who
is "able to save to the uttermost;" saying with John the
Baptist, "Behold the Lamb of God!"
It does not militate against all this to say, that between
our ministry and that of John, there is this great differ-
ence, that the baptism he gave was not, as ours is, a sac-
rament, and that the Holy Ghost had not then been
given, as after the ascension of Christ he was given to
the Church. For, you will note, that we are not teaching
that greater power of the Spirit does not attend the right
reception of Gospel ordinances in repentance and faith,
than attended the baptism of John; but that whatever
the grace received therein by the repenting and believing
heart, it is not the ministry of man, nor the ordinance
given by the human minister, that confers it. Sacraments
are means of grace, made fruitful on certain conditions
only; but they are not grace; they contain not grace;
they give not grace. The efficacy of grace resides not
in them, is not confined to them. "Not by might nor
by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord." It is "God
that worketh in us to will and to do," as directly as when
he made the world. It is the Spirit of God moving on
90 SERMON IV.
our hearts as personally and directly as when he moved
on the face of the primitive chaos, that gives the newness
of life. It is the Lord and Giver of life shining into our
hearts, as truly and immediately as when in the begin-
ning" of the world, he said "Let there be light."
This declaration we confine not to baptism, or to sacra-
mental ordinances. We extend it to every part of our
ministry. It takes in the whole preaching of the word.
What if it be a Paul that preaches, or an Apollos, or Ce-
phas ; no matter what the winning simplicity, or the mov-
ing eloquence with which the pure truth is declared and
urged upon your hearts. As to all spiritual power, it goes
not of itself beyond the outward sign, which is the spoken
word. It remains in the memory or in the understand-
ing of the hearer, as powerless of itself for spiritual life,
as the mere water upon the brow of the baptized. A
great gulf is fixed between the furthest point which our
preaching can reach, and the conversion of a sinner to
God. We may teach the understanding and convince it.
We may move the sensibilities and disturb them in their
depths. We may alarm the wicked with the solemn and
searching exhibition of the truth, and, like a smitten
Felix, he may tremble at the prospect of a judgment to
come. But conviction of the intellect is not conversion;
the gushing of tears, the quaking of conscience, is not
conversion. The great work remains. Repentance, a
new heart, is not ours to give, nor ours so much as to
begin. Let us realize that whenever a sinner is turned
unto God, with a new heart, and a genuine repentance,
whatever the instrument employed, and however entirely
out of our sight the process within, the work is as directly
THE PERSONAL MINISTRY OF CHRIST. 91
and exclusively of the omnipotence of God as if he
should create a world. Man never converted man to
God.
John the Baptist was "a voice crying in the wilderness,
Prepare ye the way of the Lord." He was only a voice.
He spoke the truth and urged it ; nothing more. If any
repented, and so in his heart was prepared the way of the
Lord, it was the Lord that prepared that way. That voice
was the appointed instrument, like the trumpets around
the walls of Jericho ; but the power was His only who sent
the voice. Nothing more than such instruments, are the
ministers of the Gospel. There is a second coming of
Christ for which it is our office to make ready the way,
"by turning the hearts of the disobedient unto the
wisdom of the just." For this purpose we cry aloud in
this world's wilderness of sin, and emptiness, and misery.
We sound the call to repentance; we publish the invita-
tions of the Gospel; we lay siege to the conscience with
the battery of truth ; we try to gain over the hearts of
men to God. We know it is the Lord's appointed
means. Without it, his way will no more be prepared,
than it can be by it. But we are only a voice. Left to
ourselves, none mightier to look to and depend on, none
to speak to the rebellious and disobedient, the wordly,
and the proud, and the dead in sin "as never man
spake," our ministry would be as fruitless as the voice
on the wind that dies away.
But we are not left to ourselves. The whole work of
the ministry is not committed to such earthen vessels,
The treasure of Gospel truth is in such feeble hands as
ours, that all may see that the excellency of the power is
of God and not of us. We do the under-work. There is
92 SERMON IV.
a teacher and minister of whom it is written that he hath
" the tongue of the learned to speak a word in season to
him that is weary/' and^concerning whom it was testified
of old, that he spake " as one having authority, and not
as the scribes." His word commanded the sea and it obey-
ed ; he bade the dead arise, and they stood up ; and he is
now, and always, the great officiating minister of his
Church "having authority" over the consciences and
hearts of men, and not suffering his word to return unto
him void. We plant the seed and water it : He gives the
life, and growth, and fruit. We call upon sinners to work
out their salvation with fear and trembling: He works in
them to will and to do according to his good pleasure;
we the instruments merely, Christ all the power and
his all the glory.
This vast difference, between the visible minister in the
sanctuary here, and the invisible minister in the sanctuary
on high, the Church of Corinth, even in the days of St.
Paul, had in a great degree forgotten; so prone is man to
glory in man, and so early began in the Church that great
sin, which afterwards grew to such enormity, and now
reigns so widely and ruinously in a large part of nominal
Christendom, the virtual substitution of the ministering
of man for that of the Lord of all ; so that the people,
instead of looking unto Jesus, look to the so-called priest,
and put their trust in him, and in the sacraments of God's
appointing, or of man's making, which he gives them.
And Paul taught us how to rebuke that sin. Hear his
indignant words: "Who is Paul, and who is A polios, but
ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to
every man ? I have planted, Apollos watered, but God
THE PERSONAL MINISTRY OF CHRIST, 93
gave the increase. So then, neither is he that planteth
any thing, nor he that watereth, but God that giveth the
increase."*
Not only is this view of great importance to minister
and people, to keep their dependence where it ought to
be, but it is of great consolation to both.
What should we do to sustain our hearts in so great a
work as that committed to us, having nothing stronger
than the simple word as our means of producing in the
hearts of men the obedience of Christ; feeling that "nei-
ther is he that planteth any thing, nor he that watereth,"
what should we do, were it not for the assurance that
" God giveth the increase" ? that we are not alone in the
work that there is a minister to give the growth and
fruit, as well as we feeble ones to plant the seed; that
not only must HE give it, if it be given at all, but he doth
give it; that all the conversions and all the growth of
grace in any heart, since the Gospel was preached, are the
abundant evidence that to the faithful planting and water-
ing of his word, he will give increase. That seed may
have its winter, when it will seem only to wither and die,
and we may need "long patience" to wait for it, and the
fruit may never come for us to see in this life; for what
are we in the matter; but it will be given, and be gath-
ered into the Lord's garner, to the praise of the riches of
his grace.
And let all that hear the word of his grace take comfort
likewise. The same words that forbid all trust in man,
encourage all faith in Christ. When you realize how
great is the work to be wrought in your hearts to make
* 1 Cor. iii. 57.
94 SERMON IV.
you superior to the world and meet for God's kingdom,
where would be your hope, had you no ministry to look
to for help, but that of men of like passions and infirmities
with yourselves? But when you learn to look on all our
work as only the voice of the word, directing you above
and away from ourselves, and from all trust in the crea-
ture and in ordinances, to Christ, the great power of God,
who is "made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and
sanctification, and redemption ;" when in the very weak-
ness of the ministry that can only baptize with water,
you learn to look, while you wait on that ministry, the
more to him who doth and will baptize every seeking
soul with the Holy Ghost, and who will continue that bap-
tism until he hath perfectly cleansed you from all unright-
eousness and set you at his own right hand; then will
your hope abound and your hearts rejoice, and you will
glory in the preciousness of Christ, your strength and
your Redeemer.
But there is a part of our text to which I have not yet
directed your attention.
John testified further concerning Christ, in these words
"whose fan is in his hand, and he ^vitt thoroughly purge
his floor, and gather the wheat into his garner, but the chaff
he willlurn with fire unquenchable."
II. This leads us to speak, in the second place, of the
essential difference between the work of Christ, as the
minister of his Church, and all our ministry, in point of
DISCIPLINARY POWER.
A part of our office is the exercise of government and
discipline in the visible Church. Besides the work of re-
proving, and exhorting, and instructing, by the word, for
THE PERSONAL MINISTRY OF CHRIST. 95
the increase in grace of all the members of the Church,
it is part of our office to separate from its communion, as
far as it can be safely done, by ministers who cannot
search the heart, all such as are unworthy to continue
therein.
But when we say that such discipline is to be exercised
by ministers tvho cannot search the heart, you see at once
how contracted is the field of their work in this respect,
and how limited the power of their office. Innumerable
are the avenues and the disguises by which the self-de-
ceived and the deceiver may elude the vigilance of such
watchmen, and not only enter, but remain in, the com
munion of the visible Church, to its exceeding injury and
dishonor. Hence it is that while the true, the invisible
Church, as God's own "household of faith," unto which
his promises are exclusively made, cannot have in it any
but his true people; because a living union by faith to
Christ is the very essence of membership in that Church,
and because he who does search the heart, and cannot be
deceived, keeps the door; the visible or professing Church,
on the other hand, the Church as it is seen of men, under
the boundaries and marks of outward ordinances, is rep-
resented in the scriptures, just as all must see it to be,
exceedingly mixed the genuine people of God united
every where, under the same sacraments, with those who
are only nominally his people. It is the true Vine with
its many branches ; some united to it by a junction of
life; others only by the bonds of outward ordinance; some
living and fruitful, others dead.* It is the great draw-net
cast in to the sea, gathering of every kind, the good and
* John xv. 1, 2.
96 SERMON IV.
the bad, and keeping the mixed multitude within its
meshes, until it is brought to shore, and they "gather the
good into vessels, and cast the bad away."* It is the
great harvest-field, in which the tares have grown up with
the wheat, all surrounded by the same enclosure, all seem-
ing to the distant eye to belong to the same sowing, but
really of entirely distinct natures, and coming from entire-
ly different seed, from seed sown by different hands, and
for opposite ends. It is that field permitted to go on thus
confused and defiled, because the servants of the hus-
bandman cannot be trusted with the separation; "lest
while they gather up the tares," unable to distinguish with
accuracy, "they root up also the wheat with them."f
We do not mean that the visible Church is not a great
deal more mixed and defiled with the unholy and the
spiritually dead, than it would have been, had there been
every where and always a more faithful ministry of the
word and of such discipline as is committed to man.
But we mean that under the best ministry of which hu-
man wisdom and faithfulness are capable, the state of the
visible Church, under the power of Satan and our deceit-
ful hearts, would have perfectly fulfilled those inspired
representations of its mixed and lamentable aspect. It
is the Holy Catholic Church, because its true members
are holy as the true wheat is good, no matter what it
be mixed with ; and because the unholy are not its mem-
bers, however seeming to be, as the tares are not of the
harvest, though enclosed within its landmarks.
But is there no remedy for this sad confusion? Be-
cause our ministry cannot make the separation, is there
* Matt. xiii. 47. t Matt. xiii.
THE PERSONAL MINISTRY OF CHRIST. 97
none that will? Is the Lord's hand shortened that he
cannot purify his Church ? As Lord of the Temple, will
he not drive out all that profane it, as of old he cleansed
his Father's house in Jerusalem? As the Bridegroom
who hath espoused the Church as his Bride, is there not a
day coming when he will present it unto himself, a pure
virgin, without spot and blameless? Whatman cannot do,
because he hath power neither to discern between the
true and the false, nor to separate them to their own
places, he who hath all power in heaven and earth will
do in the last day. He " will send forth his angels to
gather out of his kingdom all things that offend,.and them
which do iniquity, and he will cast them into a furnace of
fire; where shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth."
"Then shall ye discern between the righteous and the
wicked, between him that serve ih God, and him that
serveth him not." "Then shall the righteous," the
Church universal, in its true being and character, as a
living, holy, peculiar people, without spot and without
mixture, "shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their
Father," as the sun when all the vapors that had con-
cealed its light have been driven away by some rushing
wind. W
In that day, will all the present ministry of man be
ended, as that of John the Baptist ceased when the Lord
had come. "He must increase, but we must decrease.
He that cometh from heaven is above all." Heralds' work
is done when the King appears. "The Lord is in his
holy Temple." We that were sent before him "to make
ready his way," are wanted no more, as ministers of his
word. We come down, therefore, from our pulpits, to give
7
98 SERMON IV.
account of our stewardship. We must take our places in
the great congregation, with all the quick and the dead,
when the trump of the archangel hath called to judg-
ment, having no distinction from our office as ministers
of the Gospel but the greater responsibility, and like all
the rest of men, to be driven away as stubble, if not in
Christ, "But who may abide the day of his coming, and
who shall stand when he appeareth ?" Then shall the whole
multitude of the professed servants of God, all marked
alike by outward enclosure of ordinances the Church
of sacramental signs, in which the Church of spiritual
grace appears as the wheat of the harvest, while yet mix-
ed with the chaff on the threshing floor, then shall they
be separated one from another. The time of the winnow-
ing comes. The Lord is now ready and furnished for that
work. His "fan is in his hand" Ah 1 is ready, waiting
only the fullness of time. The delay will not be long.
"He ivill thoroughly purge his floor" How awful that dis-
crimination, as one shall be taken of the baptized and an-
other left one taken of two that $like called themselves
Christians, and were of the same visible communion, and
the other left. How differently the line of separation will
be made from any anticipation we now can make.^t How
it will cross all the bounds of what we call denominations,
and overlook all the distinctions^ visible Churches, and
place on the right many that feared they were not of the
Lord's people, and on the left many more that feared not
but were confident they were his ! Ah, what self-delu-
sions, what dreams of self-righteousness, what presump-
tions of dead and fruitless faith, what hopes carelessly
encouraged, never examined, will then flee away! what
THE PERSONAL MINISTRY OF CHRIST. 99
terrible disappointments will take their place ! We are
already warned by the Lord, that "many shall seek to enter
and shall not be able." That day will show those many, as
it will also show "a multitude that no man can number,"
that "have washed their robes and made them white in
the blood of the Lamb/' and who are "therefore before
the throne of God and the Lamb." Then shall be heard
that cry of disappointed expectation, "Lord, Lord, open
unto us!" and that answer from him that sitteth on the
throne, "I know you not;" and then the plea of beginning
anguish, "Have we not eaten and drunk in thy presence?"
Were we not communicants at thy table ? Did we not
come to thy solemn feasts ? Were we not called by thy
name and numbered with thy Church ? And then the
final answer, the seal of exclusion and condemnation for-
ever, " I never knew you depart from me." Ye were
never mine. Ye were among my people, but never of
them. Ye took my name : ye never received my Spirit.
Most perfect will be the purification of the Temple in
that day ; not only as it embraces the whole Church, so
that none shall be left in its visible fellowship but God's
true people ; but the temple in the heart of each true
child of God "the habitation of God through the Spirit."
In that work the Lord " will sit as a refiner and purifier of
silver, and he shall purify the sons of Levi, (his own royal
priesthood of all believers,) and purge them as gold and
silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in
righteousness" a pure offering, without spot or blemish,
forever and ever. All their dross will be purged away.
Every remnant of a corrupt nature will be consumed.
The image of God in them will appear as untarnished, and
100 SERMON IV.
bright, and complete, as if sin had never defaced it. " They
shall be mine, saith the Lord, in that day when I make up
my jewels."
We return to the language of John the Baptist, descri-
bing the doings of that day of separation, of excommuni-
cation, and of ingathering: " He shall gather the wheat into
his garner" All will be joyfully harvested home ; not a
grain left behind ; not a grain but shall be regarded as
worth being laid up in the garner; all his true people
perfectly known, each called by name, each recorded
in the book of life, each treasured up and put away as
crown jewels of his kingdom, for which a price far more
precious than of gold that perisheth, has been paid by
the Great King.
For that great ingathering, the Lord hath gone to pre-
pare the many mansions in the Father's house. It will
require the " many" for it will be a great harvest.
" But the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable."
"Behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven."
But let it be well observed here that the whole reference
of John the Baptist, in the figure of the wheat and the
chaff, and of our Lord, in the corresponding figure of the
wheat and the tares, is to the visible Church ; not to the
whole race of man, including the Church, but to the
Church, exclusive of all the rest of mankind. The judg-
ment, indeed, will embrace all the quick and dead ; but
here its application to the visible Church alone is in view.
It is a solemn thought indeed, that some of the most im-
pressive accounts of the searchings of the judgment, and
the separations it will make, and the condemnations that
will ensue, are accounts of the Lord's sitting in judgment
THE PERSONAL MINISTRY OF CHRIST. 101
on his visible Church, on his professing people, those to
whom his ministers have given the baptism of water in his
name, and who have belonged to the visible communion
of his children. The chaff and the grain on the threshing
floor, the tares and the wheat in the harvest field, like
the wise and the foolish virgins when the bridegroom com-
eth, are the whole baptized Church, the whole company
of professing Christians. But the chaff was never the
grain, however intimately associated with it. Tares never
were wheat, however near to it they grew ; however like
it they may have seemed ; however enclosed with it in the
same hedge. Visibly, they belong to the same harvest,
because in the same field. Really, they are wholly unlike
in nature. They came from different seed. The servants
of the husbandman sowed the one; an enemy the other.
What a testimony is here to what the Lord will find in his
visible Church when he cometh not only Christians of
various degrees of holiness and growth, but Christians
and those that never were Christians but in name and
form; all baptized of water, but not all born again of the
Holy Ghost; the old nature in many remaining unchanged
and as essentially different from that of God's people, as
weeds from wheat ; as chaff that is fit only to be burned,
from the good grain that is precious for the garner.
Brethren, where shall we be found in that day? How
infinitely important is an honest judgment of ourselves
now by the light of the word, lest we then be judged of
the Lord to our everlasting confusion ! Without that,
how easily may we call ourselves Christians, go to the
Christian communion, and go to the grave expecting the
Christian's inheritance, and then, when the seal is set to
102 SERMON IV.
our portion, find out to our unspeakable dismay, that the
Lord never knew us as his people. There is no danger
of such delusion where there is the fear of it, and the dil-
igent and prayerful effort by the grace of God to escape it.
But oh ! that baptism of the Holy Ghost, without which
none can see the Lord ; that indwelling spirit of life, and
love, and holiness; that daily growth toward the perfect
mind of Christ ; let us most earnestly seek it as our mis-
sion every day, our work for all of life, as much our con-
stant calling in this world, as it is the work of the morning
light to increase hour by hour unto the perfect day. Our
earnest aspiring of the heart to be holy, will be the best
evidence that we are holy. Oar earnest seeking for a
more complete baptism of the Spirit, will be the witness
of the Spirit to a true baptism already attained, and the
pledge of more. That growing in grace, towards the per-
fect day of grace, will be your evidence that the day has
begun, that ye are children of light, and will be partakers
of the inheritance of the saints in light. Lord Jesus, send
thy Spirit! Blessed Spirit of Christ, come down upon
our hearts ! More and more, day by day, baptize us, wash
us, make us more holy, till the work of grace be finished
in everlasting glory ! Amen.
SERMON Y.
THE PRESENCE OF CHRIST IN THE ASSEMBLIES OF HIS PEOPLE.
MATTHEW xviii. 20.
"Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the
midst of them."
THE presence of the Great and Good Shepherd wherever
his people, however scattered, may be how comforting
the assurance of it ! In the valley and shadow of death
to be able to say "thou art with me" lights up the whole
way and takes from the dying believer, all his fear.
When the twelve Apostles had received their commission
to carry the message of the Gospel to all people, and to
assault, with the single weapon of the truth, the strong
holds of Satan, in all the world 5 and when they looked
at their utter impotence for such a work twelve despised,
persecuted, unlearned Jews, servants of a crucified master,
to attack the entrenched philosophies, and superstitions,
and ungodliness of all mankind, and that in direct con-
flict with all the power of rulers, all the resistance of
priesthood, all the learning of the schools oh! what a
comfort it must have been to hear, immediately in con-
nection with their commission, those assuring words of
their Omnipotent Master, "Zo, / am with you alivays"
Now, precisely what that precious promise was to the
twelve Apostles, and has been to all the generations of
104 SERMON V.
the Christian ministry, the promise in the text was given
to be to the whole membership of Christ's true Church,
to every gathering together of his people, in his name, to
the end of the world. Let us study a promise so express
and so dear.
The text contains these two prominent heads of dis-
course : A promise, and a certain assemblage of persons to
whom that promise is made, We will first consider the
peculiar description given of that assemblage, and then
the contents of that promise.
1, What is the peculiarity of the assemblage ? "Where
two or three are gathered together in my name." Such
is its brief description. The peculiarity is found in these
words, " in my name" the name of Christ. What, then,
are we to understand by this essential condition of the
promise ?
The original word here translated, in, may more properly
be rendered, unto, making the passage read "gathered
together unto my name." The same original expression
occurs in the appointed form of baptism, where "baptizing
them in the name of the Father," &c., should be read,
"^baptizing them unto, or into, the name," &c. Whether
we read the text one way or the other, makes no difference
in the doctrinal teaching contained therein, for both read-
ings come to the same thing in substance. But I think
we get at the fullness of the meaning of our Lord, and
are enabled to read the text in its proper relative bearing
and to understand the allusion contained in it to the
name of the Lord, as connected with the temple worship
of the Jewish dispensation, by taking it as unto, instead
of in my name. We shall therefore read the text as if it
CHRIST PRESENT IN ASSEMBLIES OF HIS PEOPLE.
105
were written, " where two or three are gathered together
unto my name, there am I in the midst of them."
You can hardly have avoided being struck with the
very peculiar sense in which this expression "my name"
and its equivalents, the name of the Lord" "the name of
Jesus" &c., are used in the scriptures. For example,
where the prophet, speaking of Him who was to be born
of a virgin, says: "His name shall be called Wonderful,
Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of
Peace." Do we find our Lord actually called by these
names in the New Testament scriptures? By the name
of God and "the Great God" he is called* in the New
Testament; but neither in the New Testament nor in the
usage of the Church do we find the title "Wonderful,"
or "Counsellor," or "Everlasting Father," applied as a
name of Christ.
Again, in the words of the prophet, concerning the
same divine person: "His name shall be called Immamiel,
which being interpreted (says the Evangelist Matthew)
is, God with us." But when the child of Mary came to
be named, he was called Jesus, and this by divine direc-
tion ; and nowhere in the New Testament writings is he
called Immanuel. And yet we do not perceive that any
were at a loss to account for this, or that it was ever
objected against the claims of Christ by unbelieving Jews,
as if because he was not actually called Immanuel, or
Wonderful, or Counsellor, or Everlasting Father, &c.,
therefore the prophecies were not fulfilled in him. The
reason is, that there was a peculiar use of such languag e
which the Hebrews were accustomed to, and perfectly
* Titus ii. 13; Rom. ix. 5; 2 Pet. i. 1; Rev, xxi. 5-7.
106 SERMON V.
understood, however different from our usage. You get
a nearer view of it in this passage : " From the rising of
the sun unto the going down of the same, my name shall
be great among the Gentiles, and in every place incense
shall be offered unto my name"'' And again, where it is
written of Christ that God "hath given him a name
which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus,
every knee should bow," &c.|
But is it to a name only that every knee is to bow, and
that incense is everywhere to be offered. No, you an-
swer. It is to the Being whose name it is. The name is
evidently used there as an expression for Christ himself,
as the great object of universal adoration. Thus, bap-
tized unto the name of the Father, and the Son, and the
Holy Ghost, is being baptized, consecrated, unto the
Father, and the Son, and Holy Ghost. So, "let every one
that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity,"
means every one that professes Christ himself, as his
Master and Saviour. And thus, "His name shall be
called Immanuel," means, he shall le " Immanuel, God
with us:" and again, "His name shall be called Wonder-
ful," &c meant, he should le among men, really the
"Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God;" and whether he
has ever been literally called by either of those names
has no connection with the fulfilment of those prophecies
in him. Thus we reach the text. "Where two or three
are gathered together unto my name" means, gathered
together unto me unto me, with reference to all that I
am towards sinners, to seek me as the object of their
worship, as their trust and hope.
*Mal.i.ll. tPhiLii. 9, 10.
CHRIST PRESENT IN ASEMBLIES OF HIS PEOPLE. 107
But why, it may be asked, should our Lord employ
this circuitous expression ? Why not say, gathered unto
me, instead of unto my name? We think that, besides its
conformity to a mode of speech which the Jews were
accustomed to, especially in the Old Testament writings,
there was an important reference to the promise of God's
presence in the assemblies of his people, under the pre-
vious dispensation.
You will remember the promise to the Jewish Church,
which bore the same relation to that national and limited
dispensation, that this in our text bears to the Christian
and universal. It was given to that Church in these
words: " In all places w/^r<? I record my name, I ivill come
unto thee and I will bless thee."* Now, I need not tell
you that after the temple of Solomon was built, that was
the place and the only place that answered this description,
a place where God had recorded his name in other words,
where God especially manifested his presence among his
people Israel. Accordingly, when Solomon consecrated
that sanctuary, he said : " I have built a house for the
name of the Lord God of Israel ;" and in his consecra-
ting prayer, he called that house "the place of which God
had said, 'My name shall be there.' " : There was the altar
of the burnt-offering of Israel, and nowhere else. It
was not lawful to offer sacrifice but at that altar. There
only was the mercy-seat, and the covenant, and the she-
kinah of glory. When the tribes went up to worship there,
they were said to go up unto the name of the Lord. If
they assembled anywhere else than around that one
*Ex. xx. 24.
108 SEKMON V.
altar, they were not gathered unto that name, for nowhere
else had God appointed to meet and bless them.
Now, we think it was with reference to all this that our
Lord employed the peculiar language of the text : " Where
two or three are gathered together unto my name, there
am I in the midst of them. It was to draw a most
important contrast between the restrictive character of
the dispensation of the law, and the free, the universal
adaptation of the dispensation of the Gospel. Under the
former, God's name was but in one place. His promise
of special presence and blessing, was only to those whose
sacrifices were offered there. Under the latter, the name,
the grace, the fullness, of the blessing of Christ, the head
of the Church, are present and ready, wherever the needy
meet together unto him, to seek his face. Any house,
any place in which such a congregation meets, is the house
where God's name, Imrnanuel, God with us, is placed.
It abides there as long as that congregation is there.
We have thus ascertained the sense of the peculiar
language of the text. Let us now contemplate a little
further the peculiarity of the assemblage described. They
are evidently gathered together for prayer. This is
manifest from the preceding verse. "If any of you shall
agree on earth, as touching anything that they shall ask,
it shall be done for them of my Father which is in
Heaven." Then follows the assurance of Christ's pres-
ence with two or three, showing that they are supposed to
be gathered together to ask something, to pray. They
are gathered unto the name of Christ. They bring their
sacrifices of prayer and thanksgiving unto Christ, as
the Jews brought their offerings unto the name of the
CHRIST PRESENT IN ASSEMBLIES OF HIS PEOPLE. 109
Lord, in the temple at Jerusalem. To come unto the
name of Christ, is to come unto him in all those aspects,
attributes and offices in which he is revealed to us under
the several names applied to him in the scriptures. Is
his name " Immanuel God with us?" We must gather
together unto him as the true God, essentially and perfectly
divine God with us, God manifest in the flesh, dwelling
among us, because incarnate in our nature. Is his name
" Jesus" because "he shall save his people from their sins ? "
Then we gather unto him as our Saviour, our refuge and
only hope, as the Mediator between God and man, through
whom alone we can obtain remission of our sins and eter-
nal life. Is it written, " This is the name by which he
shall be called, 'the Lord, our righteousness?' 1 Then
we must be gathered unto him as our righteousness, all
our righteousness, and a most perfect and sufficient right-
eousness for the justification of all that come, because he
is Jehovah, as well as our righteousness, whose perfect
obedience to the law, and suffering its penalty as man, for
us, is rendered infinitely meritorious for our complete justi-
fication. Is he represented as the Prophet of his Church, to
enlighten it; the Priest of his Church, to atone for and sanc-
tify and bless it; the King of his Church, to rule over and
in the hearts of his people and to make them the partakers
of his kingdom forever? Then the congregation described
in the text, is gathered unto him, as unto one who fulfils
towards them the three offices expressed in those three
names they come to him for the blessings which those
names promise. They pray unto him as the true God.
They pray through him as the true and only Mediator.
They trust in him as their only Righteousness. He is
110 SERMON V.
their altar, their atoning sacrifice, their incense, their only
interceding priest, the holy temple in which God has
placed his name, in which he manifests his glory, and in
which sinners are brought nigh unto him, by the blood
of Jesus. Thus, as the worshippers in Israel came on the
great feast-days, from all parts of the earth, whither their
dispersions had carried them, to the one holy temple at
Jerusalem, all concentrating at that one point, all gather-
ing unto that one altar, and sacrifice, and priesthood, and
mercy-seat ; all delighted to meet where God had placed
his name, so are all true Christians, of all regions and all
ages, united and centered in Christ. And just as the
temple in Jerusalem, in all its magnificence and glory,
stood forth upon the holy hill of Zion so pre-eminent,
so conspicuous, that the eye rested everywhere on that
one commanding, engrossing object, so, in the hearts of
those who truly gather themselves together, no matter
from what corner of the earth, unto Christ, he is the
glorious vision, the tower of strength, the citadel of hope,
the mansion of grace, the brightness and fullness of the
Godhead, that fixes every eye, delights every affection,
engrosses every prayer, and concentrates upon himself
the thankful trust of all believers. The whole true
Church is always gathered together in spirit there, whether
it be on earth or in heaven. Thus, it is a true and living
Church. Thus, it is essentially one. Gather it in spirit,
in heart, in trust, in love, in praise, anywhere but just
there, unto that name, and its whole spiritual being is
gone. It is no more a living Church of Christ. It may
keep all the forms, and sacraments, and ministry, but it
cannot be a living Church of Christ. Unto that one altar,
CHRIST PRESENT IN ASSEMBLIES OF HIS PEOPLE. Ill
Christ; unto that one sacrifice, Christ; unto that one
Priest to make intercession ; unto that one temple of the
Godhead, Christ, must the Church be gathered, and there
alone must be its hope, or a Church it is but in name and
visible form, exactly as the individual man, whose heart
and hope are not centered there, can be a Christian but
in name and form.
Thus, we have seen all the peculiarity of the assembly
to which the promise of Christ's presence is given. And
before we leave this part of our subject, I beg you will
observe two things:
First, that whether the number gathered together be
great or small, affects not the application of the promise ;
the presence of Christ is there. The specification in the
text is reduced to the fewest members of which a meeting
of praying people can consist two or three. Thousands
may pomvout their hearts together, or a very little flock
of Christ's people may be found to seek him in prayer
and praise, while all around them is ungodliness and spir-
itual death; but like the light of God that shone in the
dwelling of the Israelite in Egypt, on whose door-post
was sprinkled the blood of the paschal lamb, while on all
the land lay the deepest darkness, so is the Saviour in
the midst of that little flock, and manifesting himself as
"Immanuel, God with us" "full of grace and truth," the
light of life.
Observe, again, that the place where the gather-
ing together unto Christ occurs, has no connection
with the promised presence. Place, as we have seen al-
ready, was once most materially connected with the pro-
mise of the presence of God in the assemblies of his
112 SERMON V.
people. As one nation was chosen out of all nations to
be his people, and one tribe out of all their tribes to offi-
ciate in his worship, and one family of that tribe to be
exclusively the priests, so was one land selected to be the
holy land, and one city to be the holy city, and one house
to be God's holy temple, and one chamber of that house
to be holy above all others, because it was there his name
was specially recorded, and there was the special sign of
his presence in the visible glory above the mercy-seat.
In all this, there was reason then. But it is all passed
away. The veil rent in twain from top to bottom, when
Jesus, our only mediating priest, had finished the only
sacrifice that can take away sin; the inner sanctuary
of the temple, the holy of holies, thus thrown [open to
universal view; that was the sign from heaven, that in
all such respects, old things were now to pass away and
all to become new. The holy nation, the peculiar people,
is now the universal Church, embracing the ends of the
earth, "the blessed company of all believers" Its holy
priesthood, under Christ, is none other than that same
" blessed company of all believers." " Ye, (saith St. Peter,
addressing all of them,) are a holy priesthood, to offer
up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God, by Jesus Christ." 5 *
Thtir sacrifices are themselves' their bodies and spirits
in love, in faith, in prayer, in thankfulness, in praise, in
obedience. The great priest of our profession, by whom
every one of that universal priesthood of worshipping
believers, presents himself acceptable unto God, is he,
who having first presented himself a propitiatory sacrifice
for our sins, now " ever liveth to make intercession for all
that come unto God by him." Restriction of place has
*1 Peter, ii. 5.
CHRIST PRESENT IN ASSEMBLIES OF HIS PEOPLE. 113
vanished with that whole peculiar system of which it was
a part. The name of the Lord God is not now recorded
in one spot of earth more than another; but is recorded,
as no where else in earth or heaven it can be, in him of
whom it is written, "His name shall be called Immanuel,
which being interpreted is, God with us." That name
indicates the true temple of our worship, the true and
only sanctuary of our hopes. In Christ, our Lord,
"dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead, ~bodily" In the
typical temple at Jerusalem, it dwelled only in sym-
bol of wondrous light. In the real temple, our blessed
Lord, it dwells in all the reality of its unsearchable glory,
by a personal union of the divine nature with the human.
In him is the only sacrifice for sin. In him is the true
mercy-seat and the ever-living and prevailing intercession.
To that glorious temple all the ends of the earth are com-
manded to look, and all places on earth are equally near.
Where, then, under the whole dome of the sky, is that
little company' those two or three gathered to worship
Jesus, to trust in him, to love him, to approach the
Father by him, as Jehovah their Righteousness, Jehovah
their King ? Where are they ? Is it that little band in the
upper chamber on the day of Pentecost? is it Paul and
Silas in the dungeon of Philippi ? is it the humble gather-
ing of a few persecuted ones, taking refuge in the dens
and caves of the earth, hunted by the terrors of Pagan
Home, or by the fiercer, more unsparing persecutions of
Papal Rome? is it the retired worship of some of you,
my brethren, praying, one with another, in one of your
own dwelling places; or the simple Christian household
gathered for its daily family worship, with Bible in hand.
8
114 SERMON V.
and looking unto Jesus? is it the two or three cast upon
a desert shore, or alone in some Sodom of ungodliness, or
afar off on the outskirts of our wide-spread population;
the forest their church, the sky their shelter; no minister
to preach to them, no ordained hands to give them the
sacrament? still, let them be only gathered together unto
the name of Christ there Christ is, as head of his
Church, in all the riches of his grace and fullness of his
promises, in their midst, to hear them, to bless them, as
richly, as directly, as if the place were the consecrated
Church, in all the sanctity and grandeur of the temple
of Jerusalem, in its original glory.
That place, we said, may be without the presence of a
minister of the Gospel. Still, if the two or three be
gathered there unto the name, unto the mediation of
Christ, the promise of his presence is theirs. There are
reasons enough to show the value of an ordained ministry
to the spiritual interests of the Church, without making
the nearness of access between Christ and his people, in
the least dependent on that agency. In coming to God,
through Christ, there is no difference between one sinner
and another, one believer and another, the least of the
laity and the highest of the ministry. The mercy-seat,
the blood of Jesus, the peace of God, are most freely
accessible to all alike. A contrite heart and a living faith
are equally demanded of all and equally qualify all.
That place, we said, may be without the presence of
the sacrament of the Saviour's body and blood. The
promise of the Saviour's presence is not dependent on the
actual reception, under all circumstances, of that most
precious sign and pledge of his presence with his people.
CHRIST PRESENT IN ASSEMBLIES OF HIS PEOPLE. 115
There are reasons enough for us to love it and wait on it,
as a precious means of grace to the penitent and believing
communicant, without placing it in any such essential
relation. The same faith that obtains the presence of
Christ among his people assembled at his visible table,
obtains it also, when, without the visible table and sacra-
mental signs, they are gathered unto that true and living
bread which they signify.
We say the same of the consecrated Church. A more
unwarranted, unevangelical idea cannot be entertained,
than that because we consecrate our houses of worship,
it is the teaching of our Church that prayer is more
acceptable to God in such places than any where else ;
that the praying soul is any nearer the throne of grace
kneeling within such walls, than when kneeling in the
cottage or the forest ; that the two or three are any more
certain of the presence of Christ in that place, than if
they were gathered together on the desert mountain, or
in some cave of the earth; or that any part of a conse-
crated Church, as the chancel, the part about the com-
munion table, is any more holy, or any nearer to Christ, or
spiritually privileged, than any other part
It was to avoid the Romish superstition that the place
where the table stands and the Lord's supper is adminis-
tered, is more holy, and more privileged, and nearer to
God, than where the Gospel is preached and the people
pray and praise, (a superstition quite in keeping with the
Judaism of the Romish, and equally repugnant to the
Catholic spirituality of the true Gospel faith,) that it
was directed by the reformers of our mother Church, that
the sacramental table, instead of a fixed, stone, altar-
116 SERMON V.
shaped structure, as it had been under the Romish sway,
should be a table of wood, and movable, easily taken
from place to place, as the convenience of the congrega-
tion should require.* And, in particular denial that the
consecrated building renders prayer therein any more
acceptable or effectual, our Homilies declare that "the
chief and special temples of God, wherein he hath the
greatest pleasure and most delighteth to dwell, are the
bodies and minds of true Christians;"! "that the Church
or temple is counted and called holy, not of itself, but
because God's people resorting thereunto are holy, and
exercise themselves in holy and heavenly things ; "J so
that the house is holy because of the prayer of the people
in it; and not the prayers acceptable in any degree
because of the house. And again, our Homilies say, that
" the Apostles and holy fathers knew that their prayers
were heard in what place soever they made them, though
it were in caves, in woods and in deserts ;" and "they
that worship God the Father, in spirit and in truth, in
whatsoever place they do it, worship him aright." ||
We must be careful to keep clear in our minds, the
broad distinction between the faith of a worshipping people
and all those privileges and means of grace which are
* Our Rubric, before the communion office, directs that the communion
table shall stand " in the body of the church or in the chancel." Custom places
it in the chancel. But what if it should be placed in the midst of the pews,
in the body of the church, without rails around it, unfenced ; how would it
shock the reverence of some, especially of those who ascribe a very special
holiness, not only to the table, but to the par Is around it ! And yet it would
be placed just as consistently with the written order of the Church as if it
were in the chancel.
f Horn Of Time and Place of Prayer. \ Horn. For Repairing the Church
Horn. On the Place and Tinae of Prayer. || Horn. Of the Right Use of the
Church.
CHRIST PRESENT IN ASSEMBLIES OF HIS PEOPLE. 117
appointed for the help of that faith. The two or three
gathered unto Christ on some desert shore, and the hun-
dreds assembled in the consecrated sanctuary, with the
Gospel preached and sacraments ministered, certainly differ
to a very important extent, in those things which are
appointed as outward helps of faith and means of grace.
But if you only suppose the faith in the hearts of the
little band in the desert, with no outward means but their
united prayers, to be as genuine as the faith of the privi-
leged congregation with the full equipment of ecclesiastical
appointments, the presence of the Lord in the riches of
his grace is the blessing of the one, just as much as of
the other. "He that lelieveth shall be saved."
II. We come now in the second part of this discourse
to consider the nature and preciomness of the blessings
embraced in the promise of the presence of our Lord in
the midst of his worshipping people.
You will perceive that the text is a declaration of
omnipresence. It is the declaration on the part of our
Lord Jesus, that though there should be as many separate
gatherings unto his name as there are separate places on
the whole earth for them to be held in, all at the same
precise moment, he is present in each and all. " There
am I in the midst " of each assembly. But such omni-
presence is an essential and incommunicable attribute of
the Divine nature. Hence we know that it cannot be
with reference to his human nature, his human body and
soul, that our Lord will be present in the assemblies of
his people. It is therefore in his divine nature as God,
though in his office as Mediator, that his presence is
promised. He that said, "before Abraham was / am"
118 SERMON V.
thus expressing his presence as God in all time, said also,
" where two or three are gathered together in my name,
there / am" thus expressing his presence as God, the
Redeemer, with his people in all places. But wherein,
then, is the peculiarity of the promise? Is not Christ,
as God, present to all people, in all places, whether they
be gathered unto his name for worship, or against his
name, for blasphemy? There is an essential presence
God is every where. There is a gracious presence God
is with the righteous his presence is the exclusive bless-
ing of his people. This it is that makes heaven. To all
beings our Lord is present as the upholder of all; to all
men as the Judge of all; to the lost in eternity, as the
avenger of his law ; to his people here as their Mediator,
their strength, and light, and joy, and life; their shepherd,
their salvation. To his people in heaven, he is present
as their infinite portion and glory forever.
Jacob, when he fled from the face of Esau, well knew
that at every step of that long jonrney, God was present.
But the night on which, in a solitary place, he saw in his
sleep, the mystic ladder reaching from heaven to where
he lay, angels of grace coming and going thereon, and
above, the Lord manifesting himself to the desolate heart
of the patriarch, as he doth not unto the world, he exclaim-
ed, "surely the Lord is in this place this is none other
but the house of God and this is the gate of Heaven"*
It was the relation in which God was present to Jacob,
then, and the manifestation of that relation, that made
him present that night, in that place, as he had not been
elsewhere. And such is the peculiarity of the presence
*Gen. xxviii. 11-18.
CHRIST PRESENT IN ASSEMBLIES OF HIS PEOPLE. 119
of Christ, as God, in the assemblies of his people. He
is present as their God, their Saviour; as bearing a rela-
tion of most special nearness and preciousness to them ;
as full of grace for them ; waiting to receive their prayers,
manifesting himself unto them, in their hearts, by his
Spirit, as he doth not unto the world ; so that the desert,
or dungeon, or den of the earth, if their gathering together
be there, is "none other than the house of God and the
gate of heaven."
It is manifestly the object of the text to teach that
there is a special blessing to be expected, and therefore a
special duty to be fulfilled, in the gathering of ourselves
together for common prayer.
We have no lack of assurance that the presence of the
Lord, in all its preciousness, is granted to the single con-
trite, praying heart. " To this man will I look (saith the
Lord), even to him that is of an humble and contrite
spirit, and that trembleth at my word." There is a
special promise to secret prayer. "Thou, when thou
prayest, enter into thy closet; and when thou hast shut
thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret, and thy
Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly."*
But if secret prayer has its advantages and special bless-
ing, so has the united prayer the social worship the
gathering together of the Lord's worshippers to join heart
to heart, and voice to voice, in supplication and praise.
Hence, in all ages, the great stress laid on public wor-
ship first, the secret prayer within the veil of each one's
own private sanctuary, then the coming of the several
worshippers, each with the fire and incense of his solitary
*Matt. vi. 6.
120 SERMON V.
offering, to put all together in one holy flame and one
fragrant cloud, ascending before the mercy seat through
the offering of Jesus, "once for all." These two methods
of coming unto the name of Jesus must go together. If
the private, under certain circumstances, can live without
the social, the social cannot, under any circumstances, ex-
ist, except in form, without the private. He who knows
the most of the pleasures, the consolations, the manifold
blessings of secret prayer, will invariably be the best
qualified and the readiest to partake in the privileges of
more public prayer.
And now, brethren, let us bring all this subject into
nearer application to our hearts and consciences. How
ought we to meet the promise in the text? What cor-
responding emotions and efforts of mind does it demand
of us? For what purpose is our Lord thus present in the
assemblies of his people, gathered unto his name? They
come to him in prayer. In what aspect to what end,
does he come into the midst of them? The promise of
the Old Testament was "In all places where I record
my name, I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee"
That promise, I will bless thee, is not in the New Testa-
ment text, It was enough for him who "is full of grace "
to say under the Gospel dispensation, " I am in the midst
of them." We know it must be to bless them. Why
cometh the glorious sun, if not to shine? why the plen-
teous fountain of grace, if not to flow? why the very
bread of God, if not to feed us? why the Shepherd of
Israel in the midst of his flock, if not to distribute out
of his fullness as every one hath need?
Now what is it we need, and what should we cultivate in
CHRIST PRESENT IN ASSEMBLIES OF HIS PEOPLE. 121
our hearts, in order that we may derive the more benefit
from that presence? I answer, faith moTQ faith to real-
ize that presence. To that one point I confine our appli-
cation of this discourse. You remember with what joy
the pious Israelites went up to the gathering of the tribes
unto the name of the Lord at Jerusalem. "I was glad
when they said unto me, ' Let us go into the house of
the Lord. Our feet shall stand in thy gates, Jerusa-
lem. How lovely are thy tabernacles, Lord of Hosts !
My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the
Lord."^ Whence came this high joy this large expec-
tation? They believed the promise, "In the place where
I record my name, I will come unto thee, and I will bless
thee." They expected to meet God to come into his
very presence, to receive out of his fullness. Who can
wonder that they were glad to go up, and longed for the
time to arrive? But how does this rebuke the spirit of
Christian worshippers ! It seems as if, with the enlarge-
ment of our privilege, had come the diminution of our
disposition to embrace it. Why is it that the opportuni-
ties of public worship are so languidly appreciated by
great numbers of those who consider themselves to be
true worshippers? How is it that so many little difficul-
ties serve as great hindrances to keep them from the
house of prayer difficulties which in matters of worldly
interest the same people would be ashamed to make of
so much consequence ? Why is it that when we come up
to the gathering of the people to the name of the Lord,
we do it too much as only a reasonable duty, a befitting
solemnity, a profitable thing in some general way, instead
*Psalms cxxii. 1,2; Ixxxiv. 1, 2.
122 SERMON V.
of having our minds set on the one single and engross-
ing object of meeting and communing directly with the
Lord where he has promised to be present? Oh! how
should we see the pillar of cloud resting over the place
of the congregation of the Lord's people, as it did of old
over the tabernacle of Israel, saying, " the Lord is in this
place ; this is none other than the house of God and the
gate of Heaven." With what joy should we hail the Sab-
bath of worship; with what high expectation should we
enter into the courts of the Lord ; how would our hearts
be lifted up at those words, "The Lord is in his holy
temple," had we more practical faith to realize what intel-
lectually we so well believe. We must seek more of such
faith. We must go to the assembling together of Christ's
people, realizing who is there who besides the visible
company of believers that great Shepherd of Israel in
all his tenderness and love; that searcher of hearts see-
ing our every want, and weakness, and hindrance, and
desire ; that most merciful and compassionate High Priest
who waits to take our poor, polluted, unworthy prayers,
and offer them to the Father, with the merit and efficacy
of his own intercession ; that mighty Redeemer who hath
all power in heaven and earth for the very purpose of
answering the prayers, and supplying the wants, and
overcoming the adversaries of his people. What more
appropriate song for a company of believers, gathered
unto his name, can there be, than that which we so often
sing in our assemblies "0, come, let us sing unto the
Lord; let us heartily rejoice in the God of our salvation."
What needest thou, Christian pilgrim, in thy journey-
Christian soldier, in thy warfare Christian laborer, in thy
CHRIST PRESENT IN ASSEMBLIES OF HIS PEOPLE. 123
work? What needest thou, poor sinner, in thy unwor-
thiness, and weakness, and temptation ? What wouldst
thou that the Lord should do unto thee ? Think what
thy need is, when thou goest where the Lord is in the
midst of his assembled people. Is it that the eyes of
your understanding may be more opened to see the things
of the Spirit of God? Is is that you may be enabled
more entirely to overcome the world? Is it that you
may be led more powerfully, more habitually, by the
Spirit of God, as a child of God ? Be prepared with your
petition, whatever it be. " The Lord is in his holy tem-
ple." He is waiting to give thee audience. You see him
not. He sees you. It is " the accepted time." Lift up
your heart unto the Lord. The Lord increase our faith!
and grant us to know by sweet experience how his
presence can turn our darkness into day, and make us
drink of rivers of living water in "a dry and thirsty land
where no water is."
SERMON VI.
THE NATURE AND CONDEMNATION OF SIN.
1 JOHN iii. 4.
" Sin is the transgression of the law."
THE essential foundation of all right appreciation of the
Gospel of our salvation, is a right view of that from
which it is our deliverance' sin; its nature, its evil,
its condemnation. To think of understanding what
Christ has done to save us, without first learning what
sin has done to ruin us; to think of estimating aright the
exceeding preciousness of the redemption, before our
eyes have been opened to see the entireness of our con-
demnation, is the sure way to come short in all our hopes
of the grace of God, as revealed in the person and offices
of Jesus Christ.
We propose, at this time, a consideration of sin, as the
basis of the knowledge of the Saviour. To ears listening
for such attractions of discourse as are independent of the
vital seriousness of the subject, we can promise but little.
To hearers who hear for spiritual profit, and whose interest
is proportioned to the importance of the subject, we could
not propose one more calculated to fasten their closest at-
tention. May the Spirit of the Lord be our guide, teaching
me so to speak, and you so to hear, that all of us may
THE NATURE AND CONDEMNATION OF SIN. 125
be accounted before God as good stewards of the manifold
riches of his grace.
1. What is sin? The text answers in one of the
plainest and most concise statements that words could
furnish "Sin is the transgression of the law" Suppose
you were inquiring concerning sin in general not merely
against God, but against any human government the
same answer serves universally. Sin or crime, any where,
before any tribunal, is neither more nor less than the
transgression of the law. As law is the only measure of
obedience, its transgression is the only measure of disobe-
dience. As its fulfilment is innocence, its violation is
guilt. If there be no law, there can be no transgression,
and consequently no sin. By the law, therefore, is the
only knowledge of sin. Nothing else but law can be
admitted to take part in the determination of what is sin.
These elementary truths are equally applicable to all laws,
human and divine.
Returning then to the nature of sin against God, as
defined to be the transgression of God's law, you will see
at once that all depends on what that law is. Here we
have no difficulty. The plain answer is, the revealed ivill
of God. If he hath not made known to us his will if
he hath not written it, either on the tables of our con-
science, or in his visible works, or in his scriptures, so that
if we will, we may know it, it is not law for us. But if
he have so revealed it, then, though by our negligence and
indifference we may be ignorant of it, it is law for us, and
sin is its transgression.
It matters not how the will of God is made known to
us whether by the voice of natural conscience or by the
126 SERMON VI.
written word whether in the brief compendium called
the ten commandments, or as they are expanded and ap-
plied in any precept of the scriptures whether you find
it formally declared, or only informally indicated
whether the thunders of Sinai or the mercies of Calvary
be our teachers a chapter of Moses or a sermon of Je-
sus: whatever, in any way, we learn, or may learn, to be
God's will for us, that is the law. Thus, a promise of the
Gospel is law, because it essentially implies the duty of
embracing it. Thus all the love of God in Christ is the
giving of his law, because it publishes and seeks to write
on our hearts the obligation of love, and gratitude, and
obedience, in return. Thus, in an important sense, the
Gospel is all law, and the very strongest publication of
the law; because not only does it confirm and establish
it, but declares it under additional sanctions ; makes its
violation the more guilty, and enlarges our knowledge of
the divine will in all things. The injunction to believe in
the Lord Jesus Christ is law, and the exhortation to re-
pent is law, and to embrace every promise made to
penitent sinners in Christ, and to set our hearts upon the
blessedness of his kingdom all this is as truly God's law
to us, as the ten commandments of Sinai.
2. "The law of God is perfect" It extends to the
whole of man; it leaves no part of him, no faculty of body
or mind, no thought, no affection, no deed, no moment, un-
embraced. Human laws are necessarily exceedingly im-
perfect; they must leave out the government of the whole
inner man, and all the secret springs of man. But God
looks upon the heart, and therefore legislates for the
heart; and as the fountains out of which are the issues
TEE NATURE AND CONDEMNATION OF SIN. 127
of life dwell there, it is there, where no other law can
reach, that his will is heard in its most solemn and
searching requirements. God's law is perfect; nothing
in us or by us is too minute or secret to escape its pro-
visions. These truths are elementary and self-evident.
To suppose that there is any thing in us to which his law
does not extend, is to suppose that man, in something, is
not under God's government; in other words, is indepen-
dent of the will of his Maker.
3. Another self-evident truth: God's law requires
of all a perfed obedience. What else can it require?
Was there ever a law of any sort that did not require the
same? To say that a law requires but a partial obedi-
ence, is to say that only part of it is really law. In that
part in which it does not require perfect obedience, or in
that degree in which disobedience may be tolerated, it
may be advice, but it cannot be law. To say that God
does not require us to come up to the fullness of a certain
commandment, is to say that in its fullness it is not his
commandment. Whatever is law, must by its nature re-
quire complete obedience. Its transgression must be
sin.
Here, then, the question comes again, What is sin?
We are prepared with the answer, because we have ascer-
tained the law. Whatever falls short of, whatever trans-
gresses, in outward deed, or inward thought, or affection,
any, the least part of that will or law of God, from the
earliest moment of your accountableness to the latest, is
sin. Whit! replies some hearer, am I marked in God's
remembrance, with such awful strictness ? Can I fail in
nothing, in not even a thought, or a moment of perfect
128 SERMON VI.
fulfilment, but it is sin; and sin to be brought into judg-
ment ? You can answer for yourself, if you will repeat
the necessary definition of sin " the transgression of the
laiv" Is it not the same under all governments ? Can
you come short in any thing of the law of this land,
without being guilty before it ? The government may be
too imperfect to take cognizance of your guilt, but that
does not make you the less guilty. It may be able to
prove nothing against you, because its eye is not in every
place beholding the evil and the good; but your guilt is
all the same. And now let us advance one step further.
There is a passage in St. James' Epistle which reads
thus: "Whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offend
in one point, he is guilty of all."^ It sounds unrea-
sonable, but we will show you that ifc is nothing peculiar
to the divine law. The meaning is, that every single sin is
the breaking of the whole law. The mind of James was
probably led to the utterance of this principle, by one of
those traditionary notions whereby the Jews, in his day,
made void the law.
The Scribes taught that by the strict observance of
some one requirement of the law, a man would secure the
favor of God, though he neglected all others. The
Pharisees, therefore, used to select some prominent duty,
such as the keeping of the Sabbath day, or paying the
tenth ; and then, with whatever their traditions added to
them, be exceedingly scrupulous and exact in those par-
ticulars, however negligent in every thing else. The idea
was that of compensation. It was imagined that by a
measure of strictness not required, they would make up
* James, ii. 10.
THE NATURE AND CONDEMNATION OF SIN. 129
for, in any one point, the neglect of what was required in
other points. This singular notion, we apprehend, has a
wider habitation than the minds of the Jewish Phari-
sees. It is a form of self-righteous delusion, which,
however unreasonable, has been the hope of thousands
who have enjoyed the light of the Gospel. What else is
the idea practically so prevalent, and that comforts so
many, now-a-days, that if you do well in one line of duty,
you will not be condemned if you neglect another; if
you attend to one table of the law, you may be at ease
though the other have been forgotten; if you have led a
moral life it will answer, though you have not led a reli-
gious life good works towards man will suffice, though
you have been habitually disobedient towards God. It
was this idea of compensation, as if we could ever compen-
sate for disobedience to God, that gave rise to all that
system of will-worship, the divers fastings and vain repe-
titions of prayers, and minute scrupulousness in certain
self-imposed outward forms, or penances, while the whole
spirit of true obedience was wanting, on which the Saviour
so often and so solemnly pronounced those words "wo
unto you. Scribes, Pharisees, Hypocrites" Exactly the
same, though in a Christian dress, is that which in the
Romish Church, under the traditions of Popery, making
equally void the Gospel, produces corresponding fruits
among nominal Christians. The man who cannot be
persuaded to eat meat on Friday, can easily profane the
name of God every day and be comforted. Be very
exact in keeping certain days, repeating certain prayers,
and doing certain penances, and visiting certain shrines,
and attending mass, and confessing to a priest, and all
will be well.
9
130 SERMON VI.
Against all this, whatever shape it may assume, accord-
ing as it may appear among Jews, or Romanists, or Pro-
testants, (for the human heart will produce it in some
shape among all,) stands the declaration of St. James,
"whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offend in one
point, is guilty of all." The meaning is not, that to
violate any one precept of the law, is to violate every
precept, or is as guilty as if every other were violated.
Certainly the commission of one sin cannot necessarily
involve the commission, or the guilt, of all sins. But the
law of God is one. It contains various precepts, but it is
one law. Sin is the transgression of the law in its oneness,
its integrity. To break it anywhere, breaks it entirely;
all its authority is resisted, all its honor is injured, all
its condemnation is incurred. It is a chain of many links.
One link broken, the chain is as perfectly broken as if
many links were broken. One sin makes you as truly a
violator of the whole law of God; brings you as really
under its verdict of guilty, forfeits as entirely your inno-
cence or righteousness at its bar, as any number of sins.
But is there anything new in this ? Is it not just what
you are all familiar with under the laws of the land ? Let
us suppose a covenant or contract between man and man.
It may have its several articles, but it is all one covenant.
Now, should one of the parties keep the whole, except
that he fails in a single article, will not the law decide
that, in the failure of that one article, the whole covenant
is broken, and the other party entirely released, and the
penalty, whatever it be, all incurred ? And if the failure
be in two or more articles, instead of one, you know that
the covenant is no more entirely, though it may be much
THE NATURE AND CONDEMNATION OF SIN. 131
more flagrantly broken. And you well know that before
the law of the land, it would avail nothing to save the
party in default from the penalty or forfeiture resulting
from a broken covenant, should he plead that he had ful-
filled it in every thing but one single article. The law of
the land would consider that the keeping of all but one
is no justification for failure in that one. It would an-
swer: the covenant is all broken; you have forfeited all
that you were to get by it ; your claim on the other party
is all lost; he has a perfect right to exact from you the
whole penalty; justice cannot help you ; law has nothing
for you but its condemnation. The clemency of the other
party is all you have to look to.
Now that represents precisely the state of a transgressor
of God's law. God has been pleased to enter into cove-
nant with us. He might have said simply "Do this" wifch^
out annexing any promise of eternal life ; and then* it
would not have been a covenant, but simply a law. But
he has been pleased to say, Do this and live, annexing the
promise of life eternal to the keeping of his law. And
he has annexed the penalty; that is, the loss of life eternal,
to every violation of that covenant. "Cursed is he, (in
other words, condemned is he to the penalty of the law)
who continueth not in all things written in the book of the
law to do them." You observe, the condition' of the cove-
nant is continuance in all things to do them ; not merely
during part of life, but all of life; not in some things,
but in all things. Now, you are a transgressor of the law.
It is of no importance at present to ask how often, or
under what aggravating circumstances, you have trans-
gressed. It is enough that you have transgressed. The
132 SERMON VI.
covenant thus is all broken. God is perfectly released
from his promise of life. You have forfeited all that you
were to gain by obedience. He can exact from you all
the penalty of a law entirely broken. It will avail noth-
ing in point of law and justice to plead that you have
kept the covenant in other particulars. The breach
remains in that one particular, and cannot be healed. To
be innocent, or righteous, in the sight of the law, by your
own obedience, is now forever impossible. Add another
transgression or a thousand you will thereby increase
your guilt and your punishment ; but the covenant is no-
more entirely, though it is certainly more flagrantly viola-
ted. All this we showed you is just the parallel of wluat
takes place under all human law. And thus the principle
announced by St. James, is a general principle of law?
whether human or divine : " Whosoever shall Jceep the ivhole
law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all"
4. And now we are prepared for another step. It is
essentially involved in the great but perfectly simple and
obvious principles of law and obedience of which we
have spoken, that the condemnation of a sinner before
God, essentially and necessarily takes place immediately
upon the transgression of his will. In other words, the
sinner is " condemned already"
One of the most common misapprehensions, and one
which exercises the strongest influence in keeping men
insensible to the awfulness of their state before God, as
sinners impenitent and unpardoned, is an idea, directly
the contrary of what I have thus declared. It is a very
common thought, that the condition of sinners on earth
who continue impenitent, is neither one of positive wrath
THE NATURE AND CONDEMNATION OF SIN. 133
or peace; not of condemnation; assuredly not of accep-
tance ; but a condition, the decision upon which is deferred
to a day of trial hereafter, in the future world. Mean-
while they imagine they are contributing to make that fu-
ture decision favorable, or unfavorable, according as, by
evil deeds or good deeds, they are running up an account on
one side or the other, in the book of God's remembrance.
Now, I can imagine no reason why this thought should
be entertained, except it be the supposition that God,
however he be the All-seeing Witness of every sin, to
whom "the darkness and the light are both alike," does
not so notice sin as soon as it is committed, as in his own
mind to decide upon what it is and what it deserves. Men
have a vague idea of the day of judgment, They know
that in human affairs, there can be no condemnation till
the formal trial, because till then, since the human judge
ascertains transgression only by examination of witnesses,
the truth cannot be determined : and so they imagine the
day of judgment is to ascertain guilt; to enable the Judge
of all the earth to decide upon the merits of each case, as
if God were not himself always witness and always judge,
always perfectly knowing, always perfectly measuring and
deciding upon every transgression. No, brethren, the
day of God's judgment is not to assist the knowledge or
counsels of him who knoweth all things. It is not to
unveil any thing in us that is not now all marked and open
to him who searches the secrets of all hearts. It is not
that God may then/or^ a decision as to us, which he had
not formed before ; but to declare, and vindicate, and exe-
cute before the assembled angels of heaven, and the
assembled generations of all mankind, the condemnation
134 SERMON VI.
or the justification already passed upon all before we died.
The essential judgment, except as to the infliction of the
penalty, is going on all our life-time. We are at each
moment perfectly known and weighed in the balance of
the law of God. " He that planted the ear, shall he not
hear ? He that formed the eye, shall he noc see ? He
that teacheth man knowledge, doth not he know ? " You
see, in a moment, that it cannot be possible but that as
God is witness to every sin, and the law is simply his own
will, so he must judge every sin immediately by that law,
and the sinner must at once stand before him instantly as
he sins, in his true position, as a convicted transgressor,
condemned already. Such would be the case under human
laws, were it not for the great imperfections which neces-
sarily belong to their administration in the hands of men.
But what saith the Lord upon this point? " He that lelieveth
on the Son of God is not condemned" No, he is delivered
from condemnation, because he has taken refuge in Christ.
But proceeds the verse: "He that lelieveth not is condemn-
ed already"* What gives these declarations a special
impressiveness is, that they come from Him who is to be
the Judge, and to pronounce the sentence of the last day.
It is upon this actual condition of sinners in the pres-
ent life, that all the structure of the Gospel is erected.
It brings salvation to every one that believeth; but in so
doing it pronounces all of us lost till we embrace it. Jesus,
our Saviour, " came to seek and save that which was lost"
If we are not now already lost, we are not those whom he
came to save. He came " to preach deliverance to the
captive, and the opening of the prison doors to them that
*Jolm iii. 18.
THE NATURE AND CONDEMNATION OF SIN. 135
are bound." If any of you are not already condemned
before God for your sins, then his law has not laid hand
upon you ; you are not captives under its arrest ; you are
not bound; its prison doors have not been shut upon you.
You are therefore not among those to whom the mes-
sage of the Saviour's grace is addressed. He came to give
salvation, not to those who may be lost, under a judgment
not yet given, but who are lost already; to give deliverance,
not to those who are in danger of condemnation, but to those
who are condemned already. Hence it is written : "There
is now, therefore, no condemnation to them that are in
Christ Jesus."* They are now, in this present life, deliv-
ered from condemnation, because they are in that refuge ;
they have become believers in, and thus partakers of
Christ Jesus. Of course it follows, that to all who are not
in Christ Jesus, there is now the condemnation of God.
And here, if you ask me what then is the difference
in regard to condemnation between your state in the pre-
sent life and what it will be in the world to come, in case
it continues as it now is unto death, I see but one answer,
and I feel that it is an awful answer, and I would that it
were deeply felt as an awful thing to be true of any body.
There is no difference but in one particular. The sinner
who has not availed himself of the salvation that is in
Christ Jesus, is i&k finally, irreversibly, condemned. Your
day of grace and long suffering is not ended yet. You
have still an accepted time and a day of salvation. The
condemnation is perfect, but the prison door is not forever
barred. You are bound, but your bonds may be loosed.
You may yet be persuaded to listen to Him who preaches
* Rom. viii. 1 .
136 SERMON VI.
deliverance to the captive. But your time to die may
come before your repentance. Then the door is fast for-
ever. Then the voice of a Saviour's grace is heard no
more. Your condemnation abideth without end; the
same precisely that abideth now, only then a condemna-
tion sealed up forever.
5. We proceed to one more position, which, though
it has been included in what has been already said, we
wish to make more distinct and prominent. It is this:
A 'single transgression of the law of God makes you liable,
to its whole penally. "The wages of sin is death." The
declaration is not, that death is the wages of sins of a cer-
tain number, but of sin any sin. This is but a figura-
tive form of the original declaration, " In the day that
thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." Adam in-
curred that penalty by a single transgression. And again,
another form of the same thing: " Cursed is every one
that continueth not in all things written in the book of
the law to do them." If the continuance of perfect obe-
dience be not unbroken, if it be not in every hour and
moment, if it be not in all things required by the will of
God, the law is transgressed, and the wages of sin are due.
It is one thing to speak of penalty being equally due
to one sin as to many, and a very different thing to speak
of it as being due in an equal degree of severity. Death
is universally the wages of sin, without reference to this
or that sin, few sins or many; death of the body in the
loss of its soul till the resurrection, death of the soul in
the loss of that favor of God which is life, and that loving
kindness of God which is better than life death spiritual
in everlasting banishment from God. But that eternal
THE NATURE AND CONDEMNATION OF SIN. 137
banishment from God, and loss of all spiritual life and
hope, will be accompanied with more or less of the posi-
tive infliction of the pains of hell, according as you have
accumulated sin upon sin ; according as you have done
so in the midst of the light of the Gospel, or in compara-
tive darkness ; according as your privileges, and mercies,
and opportunities have abounded, and you have resisted
convictions, trifled with serious impressions, and quenched
the influences of the Spirit of God that would have per-
suaded you to repentance.
I need not further show the proof of our present posi-
tion, that a single transgression of the law of God makes
you liable to the law's penalty. You perfectly well know
that such is the case under all laws. One murder incurs
the penalty of death as fully as twenty; one theft as fully
as a hundred. Who ever heard of the law delivering a
criminal from the whole penalty of murder, on the ground
that he had committed the crime but once ? And how
strange it would seem, to see a fellow creature, with the
blood of his neighbor on his hands, and the fear of the
law before him, administering consolation to his trembling
heart by saying, " I never took life before, therefore I
cannot be condemned to die for this."
But, my brethren, is not this precisely the sort of peace
which they who neglect the salvation of God are contin-
ually ministering to their souls ? That they have very
often transgressed the divine law, they freely own. But
that therefore they have forfeited all title to God's favor
lost all reason to hope for eternal life on the ground of
their own merits incurred a positive condemnation, and
are now abiding under it, and have nothing to look for
but the wrath of God, after death, unless they flee to a
138 SERMON VI.
better hope and righteousness than any within them-
selves they cannot admit. And why? The only reason
given is that, though sinners indeed, they have not sinned
to this or that extent. We beg to remind them, that to
what extent they have sinned is not now the question.
" Sin is the transgression of the law" whether one or a
thousand; and condemnation necessarily follows upon sin,
whether it be once committed or a thousand times. The
law of God and the law of man are in principle exactly
alike in this respect. The question of the extent to
which you have sinned is necessary to the determination
of the amount of your guilt, but enters in no wise into
the question of the fact that you are guilty. Besides,
the amount of your sins is a subject of inquiry to which
you are not equal, except to see that it is broader than
the sea, deeper than the sea, enough to make you hide
your face in the dust, and seek the mercy of God with a
broken and contrite heart. When all the history of your
whole life can be read by you, all the movements of
thought, all the working of affection, and desire, and mo-
tive, all moments, all things done within as well as without,
all things left undone within and without when you are
competent to read that whole history in all its connections,
each moment, with your circumstances, your light, your
privileges, your opportunities, all those things which will
make it more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the
judgment than for the impenitent of this day and this land;
yea, when you are competent to read all this history in
such comparison with the law of God that you shall see its
sins as they are seen by him, before whose holiness even
the heavens are unclean, then you may attempt to justify
THE NATURE AND CONDEMNATION OF SIN. 139
yourselves by measuring the extent of your transgressions.
Meanwhile, it is very easy so to read that history as to
see that you have sinned enough to be brought in guilty
before God, and therefore under condemnation and wrath,
till you shall be found in Christ Jesus, rescued in that
ark.
And now, having gone over the ground thus finished, I
am very conscious that I have been bestowing much at-
tention upon principles not only exceeding plain, but very
familiarly known and recognized among all descriptions of
men; and the question occurs, how is it that principles
so easily understood and acknowledged in ordinary mat-
ters of human jurisprudence, should need so much expli-
cation when applied to divine? For example, when
we speak of the single transgression of a human law
being enough to incur its condemnation, we speak what
every body knows. None think of charging the law with
undue severity. It must be so, in the very nature of
law. But as soon as the same is asserted of transgres-
sion of the law of God, immediately there is a revolt. It
cannot be. It is incredible that the Judge of all men
should be so severe. And this, too, will arise in the
breasts of men who, as judges in the land, are in the
practice of administering judgment on precisely the same
principle. How is this to be accounted for ?
I apprehend the answer is not difficult. Men realize
that they have a deep interest in the principles of crimi-
nal law between man and man, and they therefore think
of them enough to understand them, at least in the ele-
ments of which we have spoken. The subject is earthly;
but the whole matter of the law of God is unearthly it
140 SERMON VI.
does not force itself upon daily thought. It is easy not to
realize that you have any thing of great moment depend-
ing on it, and therefore its interest, its nature, and its appli-
cation, are not considered, except in the most dreamy way.
Again, in human affairs, men are compelled to feel the
absolute necessity of a wise and strictly administered
government of law. But it is precisely here that they
allow themselves, for want of consideration, to realize
nothing as to the relations between them and God.
Nothing do they practically believe in so little, whatever
speculatively they may acknowledge, as God's moral law
reaching to the thoughts and intents of the heart,
strictly administered on the 1 essential principles of all law,
and having its final assize and sentence, when "God will
bring all things into judgment, with every secret thing."
Again, there is nothing to warp our views when consider-
ing the proper process of things under human tribunals.
We are not the accused. We feel that our interests are
identified with the strict execution of the law. The true
principles seem self-evident, because our eye is single.
But before God we are all the guilty ones. Impenitent
men feel that all their hope out of Christ is in trusting
that God's law will prove to be some such law, in its prin-
ciples and decisions, as no law can be. Thus their eye is
perverted, and when they think at all on the subject, it is
to deceive themselves with expectations which a candid
consideration would teach them can end only in the bit-
terest disappointment.
But again, in human jurisprudence we easily distin-
guish between the judge, to condemn according to law,
and the ruler, to pardon according to dictates of mercy.
THE NATURE AND CONDEMNATION OF SIN. 141
We see those offices in different hands, and well compre-
hend that it is the duty of the one to sentence to death the
very man to whom the other may grant a pardon. But
in God those offices are united. He only can bind and
loose, condemn and forgive; and because thus united in
God, those two offices become confounded in men's
thoughts, till that of the Judge, administering the law, is
lost sight of, and nothing remains upon the judgment seat
but a Being of boundless compassion, to pardon the trans-
gressor. They know perfectly well that a wise human
ruler will exercise his power to pardon only when the
great interests and sanctions of the law are not thereby
impaired. But they do not ask whether the law of God
must not be treated with equal respect. Thus they care-
lessly take refuge in the certainty that God is plenteous in
mercy, not inquiring whether there be not some one only
way of administering his mercy, some certain conditions
on which alone, out of regard to the guilt of sin and the
honor of his law, his mercy shall be dispensed, which they
have utterly neglected.
There is an injunction of St. Paul of the greatest con-
sequence to all safe conclusions, as to what you may
expect under the law of God. "Behold (saith he) the
goodness and severity of God."* The Apostle had in his
mind the severity of God in casting off and punishing
the Jews for their unbelief and rejection of the gospel,
and his goodness in admitting the Gentiles to its bless-
ings. We have now in view, in the just application of
the Apostle's words, the severity of God in holding as
guilty, and in condemning to eternal misery, all trans-
*Rorn. xi. 22.
142 SERMON VI.
gressors of his law ; and on the other hand, his goodness
in mercifully providing, through the atoning sacrifice of
his own Son, Jesus Christ, such plenteous redemption
that every penitent sinner, coming unto Jesus, shall have
everlasting life. We must behold the character and ways
of God in both these aspects, or we cannot know him.
The goodness is no more his character, no more essential
or honorable to his nature, than the severity. The red,
as well as the violet of the rainbow, is essential to the
pure white light of the solar ray. God, as Judge, must
be "a consuming fire" to the wicked and impenitent, for
the same reason that, as a merciful Father, he is eternal
life to the penitent sinner coming unto him through the
atonement of Christ. The terrible retribution that he
brought on the Jews, for their unbelief, and with which he
still visits them, is a chapter in the history of his gov-
ernment, to teach us its character, as much as any book
of his goodness to the children of men. What the Apos-
tle calls "the terrors of the Lord," are as essential to our
right knowledge of him as his mercies the sentence of
the law condemning the sinner, as the grace of the gospel
justifying the believer in Jesus Sinai as much as Calvary.
They are parts of his ways, neither of which can be right-
ly known as setting forth his dealings with man, without
the other. The same indeed must we say of all govern-
ments. Wherever a wise law is wisely executed, there is
both a goodness and a severity to be beheld, if we would
appreciate its character. Severity, in this application,
means not harness, but strictness. The goodness of a
ruler to pardon the offender is weakness, if there be not
also a strictness to punish iniquity. The judge of your
THE NATURE AND CONDEMNATION OF SIN. 143
criminal court shows a righteous severity, when he so ad-
ministers the law that crime shall be sure of his sentence
in the strict execution of the law. The Judge of all the
earth is righteously severe, when he holds every trans-
gressor of his law strictly subject to its penalty, and will
admit to the enjoyment of his saving grace none but those
who seek it in the way of his own appointment the ato-
ning sacrifice and all prevailing mediation of our Lord
Jesus Christ. I must behold that severity, that strict-
ness, that certainty that the law of God will not clear the
guilty, that if I appear at that bar in no righteonsness but
my own I must be condemned and lost, or I cannot take
a right view of the wonderful grace and mercy of God, in
providing eternal redemption for us by the sacrifice of his
only begotten Son; nor can I see my absolute need of my
fleeing for refuge to the hope that is there set before me.
"By the law is the knowledge of sin." The only way to
know ourselves as sinners, is to measure ourselves by the
will of God. The only way to know what we have to fear
as sinners, is to behold the severity of God in enforcing
the penalty of the violation of his will, as exhibited in
his word, and in all his dealings with mankind. The
only way to get a right sense of our need of the ark of
salvation provided in Christ Jesus for all that will flee to
it, is to behold and see in what hopeless ruin the flood of
the wrath of God, which is coming upon all unrighteous-
ness of men, must overwhelm us, unless we are found in
that refuge. Thus, by the law is the knowledge of the
gospel, as it is the essential lesson whereby we learn the
need of the gospel. And thus, in the words of St. Paul,
it is "our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, that we may
144 SERMON VI.
be justified by faith" a schoolmaster that teaches a
very humiliating lesson indeed, and teaches it very stern-
ly and inflexibly, and by many inflictions of the rod upon
our consciences and wills, which are so slow to learn in
such a school, but whose lesson, nevertheless, is the begin-
ning of wisdom, the voice of one that prepareth the way
of the Lord.
And now what, my brethren, has been our object in all
this discussion of the law of God? Let me answer the
question plainly. It has been that we might, by the bless-
ing of the Holy Spirit, accomplish one most needful, most
precious, most kind, but most painful work in the minds
of a large class of this congregation. But, to make myself
better understood. You, my hearer, let me suppose, have
not sought the Lord. You have no reason to believe that
if death should overtake you as you now are, it would
find you in Christ, having fled thither from condem-
nation, trusting there, and sheltered there, as under the
curtains of the Lord's sanctuary. Now the object of all
this discourse has been one which I know that no mere
reasoning of mine, without the sealing power of God's
Spirit, can effect: to lead you to feel that you have no hope
of salvation. It is to take away from you all thought that
in such a state as yours there is any such thing as salva-
tion for you ; it is to lead you up to the bar of God,
noiv, before the final trial comes, and induce you to judge
your case in the presence of his law, and see what must
be the certain issue, if, hereafter, when the books shall be
opened, you come before it in your present state. I
could not attempt a kinder office. To make you hopeless,
that you may seek that only hope which will not make
THE NATURE AND CONDEMNATION OF SIN. 145
you ashamed, is the greatest kindness. Then where are
you now? Under the Gospel? No. Under its revela-
tions, its invitations, its responsibilities, you certainly are.
It is proposed to you. But have you accepted it? No.
You have lived to this day in the rejection of all its offers
of salvation. You have been constantly called to its em-
brace, and have constantly refused; so that under the
Gospel, as in any sense a hope or a protection, you are not.
Then where are you? Of course under the law; the
strict, unmitigated, inflexible, holy, heart-searching, heart-
requiring law of God, every transgression of which is sin
and condemnation. To that law exclusively must you
look for justification. If it have nothing against you, you
have hope. But mark, your case all hangs on that one
condition. You are shut up unto the law for hope. Light
can come upon your prospect for eternity but from that
one quarter. If you have not transgressed the law, it
will justify you; if you have, it will condemn you. " The
goodness of God" in pardoning sinners, you cannot behold
for any comfort or hope, because that is revealed only to
those who seek it by embracing the mediation of Christ.
It is only "the severity of God,"as a just and holy Judge,
most strictly enforcing and maintaining his law, that you
are permitted to behold from your present position. Now
what is your verdict upon your case, arraigned for your
own decision at that bar? What does your whole life tes-
tify? What witnesses stand up against you, from all
your thoughts, and affections, and words, and deeds? Be-
hold that great cloud of witnesses coming into court to
appear against you, brought from all the mercies, and priv-
ileges, and talents, which you have not improved in God's
10
146 SERMON VI.
service. See how sternly Conscience demands to be heard,
and testifies that you have always loved the world, to the
exclusion of its Maker, and sought your happiness in its
service, to the exclusion of the service of God. But
alas ! what witness is this that now comes in, claiming that
none else need be heard. Meek, and gentle, and loving,
but decided and fixed. It is the Gospel. It comes with
all its offers of peace, all its invitations and promises, all
its love and grace. It holds up the blood of Jesus Christ
which was shed for you, and cries, "These all hath he re-
jected. I called continually, but he refused. I stretched
out my hands, but he did not regard. He despised all
my counsel, and would none of my reproof." Oh! poor
sinner, what answer can you make to such testimony?
What can you say to escape the certain condemnation of
God? Whither will you flee? No where can you flee, if
all this shall take place with you after this present day of
grace is over. But I tell you where now you can flee.
That rejected blood of Christ still cries, come. The door
of access to the mercy of God, through Christ, is still
open, and over it is written still, come. There is bound-
less mercy in God for you, if only in that way, Jesus
Christ, you will seek it. And will you heap sin upon sin,
judgment upon judgment, by refusing to come? God for-
bid ! God, in mercy to your soul, persuade you to come,
and be found holding on to the cross of Jesus, pleading
his blood, abiding in him as the ark of God, in that day
when you shall be called, with all of us, to appear at his
judgment! Amen.
. vii.
THE GREAT FEAST AND THE VAIN EXCUSE.
LUKE xiv. 16, 17, 18.
" Then said he unto them, a certain man made a great supper and bade
many, and sent his servants, at supper time, to say to them that were
bidden, Come, for all things are now ready. And they all, with one
consent, began to make excuse."
ONE of our Lord's objects in delivering this parable, was
to illustrate, by way of prediction, the reception which
would be given in the world to those offers of salvation
with which his Apostles were soon to be sent forth. The
same is our object, in the present selection of this parable,
or so much of it as the text contains. We wish to draw
your attention to the treatment which the gospel invitation
receives from the great mass of those to whom it is sent,
and to the aspect of such a reception in the sight of God.
66 A certain man (we read) made a great feast" That
certain man, is represented in the corresponding parable,
given by St. Matthew,* as a King ; and the great feast is
there described as a marriage feast ; and the occasion of
it, as the marriage of the King's son. These several par-
ticulars are given by the Lord, with the evident design of
enhancing the dignity and excellence of the festival,,
and consequently the honor and favor shown by the
King to the "many" whom he bade to it; and their duty.
*Matt. xxii. 2.
148 SERMON VII.
as a matter of thankfulness, as well as of obedience, to
embrace the invitation.
Now you can have no doubt that, under that figure of
a great feast thus provided, is intended to be represented
all that eternal life and glory in the presence, and favor,
and communion of God and the Lamb, to which we are all
so earnestly called a feast of blessedness which God only
could make; and to which his sovereign mercy alone
could have bade the needy, and perishing, and unworthy, of
all nations, to come. It is a marriage-feast. The bride-
groom is the only begotten Son of God. So intimate is
the union which takes place between him and all those
who embrace the invitations of his grace, and come unto
him, and receive out of his fullness, and live by him so
affectionate, and tender, and inseparable is that union, that
it is likened, in the parable, to a marriage union. Be-
lievers in Jesus are espoused unto their Lord. The cove-
nant between them, is a marriage covenant. By virtue
thereof, they become, for all the purposes of their sancti-
fieation, and justification, and life, in and through him,
"one flesh," " bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh" so
that their debts, and wants, and infirmities, are his to bear
for them ; and his righteousness and Spirit are theirs to
possess in him. Thus, the whole company of true believers
in Jesus, as composing his living Church, are called in
Scripture his Bride; and on that glorious day, when all
believers shall have been made ready to be received unto
Christ, in his kingdom on high, having been perfectly
cleansed from all sin, and made, in body and spirit, per-
fectly conformed unto himself, then shall take place " the
marriage of the Lamb." The Lord will receive his
THE GREAT FEAST AND THE VAIN EXCUSE. 149
perfected people unto himself; that where he is, there
they may be also. As a glorious Church, without spot or
wrinkle, they will all be " arrayed (for a marriage garment)
in fine linen, clean and white; for the fine linen is the
righteousness of saints." All that Christ hath obtained,
by the purchase of his obedience and sacrifice, they will
be made to share, as their marriage dower. They will sit
with him on his throne. They will enter into the joy of
their Lord. His mind will be perfectly in them ; his glory
all upon them. He, the heir of the kingdom, in his own
right; they, inheriting all things, as joint-heirs with, and
in virtue of their union unto him. "When Christ, who is
our life, shall appear, then shall we also appear with him
in glory."
The maker of the feast is represented as sending out
his servants, " to say to them that were bidden, Come, for all
things are ready"
The point of time in the gospel history, was when the
Apostles received their full commission to go and preach
the Gospel to every creature. All was ready when our
Lord, having offered up himself for the sins of the world,
having risen from the dead and ascended into heaven and
sat down upon the right hand of the Majesty on high, as
the Prophet, Priest and King of his Church, a Prince and
Saviour, rich in grace and power, had given the promised
evidence of his readiness for his whole work in the pouring
out of the Holy Ghost, on the day of Pentecost. That " bap-
tism of the Holy Ghost " testified by the gift of tongues and
the cloven flames of fire, was the sign from heaven that
all things were ready on the side of God; that the atone-
ment was accepted, the ever-living intercession of our
150 SERMON VII.
High Priest begun, the new and living way prepared,
Christ ready to be made unto all that should come unto
God, by him, "wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and
redemption." All was ready. Nothing remained to be
done to make the salvation of God most perfect, most ap-
plicable to all conditions of men, most free to the unwor-
thiest, most accessible to the neediest and most feeble.
The wisdom, the love, the mercy, the holiness, the riches
of the grace of God, ' had finished the preparation. All
that was now to be done was for sinners to come and take
of the feast and live forever. Then began the servants
of the King, the Apostles of Christ, to preach the Gospel
to all nations, to publish on every side, a full and free sal-
vation, "without money and without price," to all believ-
ers in Jesus, saying to all the needy and perishing: "Come
come to Jesus. He is able to save to the uttermost all
that come unto God by him." Continually has that call
been repeated since the Apostles finished their course.
How often have you all heard that sound ? How repeat-
edly, how urgently, how importunately, have you all been
entreated, by the messengers of God, to come and partake
in what his grace has made ready in Christ !
This brings us to the last words of our text and those
on which we shall now chiefly speak : " And they ally ivith
one consent, legan to make excuse." Such was their answer
to the King's invitation to the marriage festival of his son.
In the parable as given by St. Matthew, it is said, "-they
ivould not come"* This is certainly the honest aspect of
the case. It was not because of any impediments or dif-
ficulties that they came not, but simply that they were
*Matt. xxii.3.
THE GREAT FEAST AND THE VAIN EXCUSE. 151
unwilling their hearts were not right. But in St. Luke
that unwillingness is politely disguised by those who would
not, under an exterior intended to be considered as respect-
ful to the King whose honors and riches were refused.
They made excuse: "I pray thee have me excused." In
St. Matthew, we read that "the remnant" that is, we must
understand, a certain part of those who were bidden, and
who were unwilling, but not respectful enough even to
attempt an excuse, or wise enough to desire one, proceed-
ed to such lengths that they took the servants of the King
and " entreated them spitefully and sleiv them." Their aver-
sion, singular as it was, to becoming the guests of the King,
on an occasion so distinguished, was too strong to be veil-
ed. It sought no concealment; but at once declared its
real spirit, its decided enmity, in the persecution and
death of those who brought the invitation.
Such precisely is the state of things under the publica-
tion of that message of mercy and grace with which the
ministry of the gospel is charged. Which of the first
heralds was not spitefully entreated by those to whom they
went in the name of the Great King? Hardly had they
opened their message before Stephen was stoned to death,
and James, the brother of John, was slain with the sword,
and Peter was shut up in prison, to be delivered to the
rage of the people. The world has been ever since essen-
tially the same in its spirit towards the Gospel. Some
are so offended at it, so kindled into positive persecution
by the urgency of its love and the terms of repentance
and holiness on which its salvation is offered, that they
cannot patiently hear its voice, but treat it as an enemy,
casting it from them and sometimes even in these days,
152 SERMON VII.
they lay hands of violence on the messengers, put them
in loathsome dungeons and to a cruel death; while
there is often a spirit manifested by some, of such
bitter hatred and opposition, that it requires no special
sagacity to see that, so far as the ready mind is concerned,
there are not wanting even in this our land, the materials
and the agents by which the fires of deadly persecution
might be speedily kindled and the messengers of grace
would be spitefully entreated and killed.
. But many of those to whom the Gospel message comes,
are represented as making excuse. They have no idea of
rejecting it. They suppose they commit no such griev-
ous sin. They desire to be considered as treating it
with great respect. They think it a great mercy that such
salvation has been provided. That the Gospel is not only
true, but most important, and necessary; that death can-
not be met in peace without its hopes, they freely own.
That, sometime before they shall be called to face that
great terror of the sinner, they will have put on that only
armor, they earnestly hope. Nothing Would fill them with
more dismay, than to be assured that their day of grace
will have expired before they will have embraced the Gos-
pel. Every anticipation of death-bed thoughts and anxie-
ties is associated in their minds with expectations of re-
penting, and praying, and endeavoring at last to become
partakers of Christ.
But the invitation and calling of God is, " Come, for all
things are ready" It means, come now, because all things
are ready now. But there lies the difficulty " Come by
and by ; all things will be ready j ust when it shall suit
your convenience to come" that would be the acceptable
message to them. But God's set time is now. To-day is
THE GREAT FEAST AND THE VAIN EXCUSE. 153
the day of salvation. As soon as God is ready to receive
sinners, is the time for sinners to go to him. But alas!
his time is not theirs. All things on their part are not
ready. They are not ready for God, however he may be
ready for them. The world also has its invitation abroad,
and proclaims its feast, and calls the many, and blazons
its attractions, and they cannot excuse themselves there.
They think they will avail themselves of both but of
each according to their own convenience. The world's
festivcd first, and for that their days of vigor and health,
their prime of life, when they can best enjoy and best
make return. Then, the invitation of God, when infirmity
comes on, and life is getting weary, and death is near.
So that when the message of the great God and King is
heard, saying, "Come, I have prepared my feast of grace;
the lamb for the burnt-offering has been slain; the free
and perfect salvation, purchased by the sacrifice of my
beloved Son is ready ; come ye ! come ye ! for why will ye
die ?" their answer to the messenger, in the secret lan-
guage of the heart is, " I pray thee have me excused. My
convenient season for such things has not yet come. Let
the feast be kept. Let the table wait. God will surely
be patient with me. He ' desire th not the death of a sin-
ner.' I expect some day to come. I have no thought
of dying without the consolations of religion; but not now.
God will surely excuse me in this deliberate preference of
my own will to his I"
Meanwhile, you do not see these persons keeping away
from the constant repetition and urging of that same invi-
tation. They attend where it is preached. They perhaps
approve of no ministry that does not exhibit it continually.
154 SERMON VII.
All this while, it enters not into their thoughts that in
the sight of God they are guilty of so great a sin, every
moment, as an actual rejection of his grace and denial of
Christ. On the contrary, they draw a broad line of sep-
aration, and that too, entirely in their own favor, between
the case of those who will have nothing to do with the
Gospel and expect never to care for it, because they deny
its truth; and their own case, who, not only believing its
truth and preciousness, but knowing they cannot be saved
without it, so abuse their light, and dishonor their con-
victions, and practically deny what they know, as to ex-
cuse themselves from all present participation in its duties
and promises.
We come now to the sort of excuses usually made.
In the parable they are classified. Our Lord has there
presented three forms of them, as examples under which
all may be arranged. One man is represented as answer-
ing the servant of the King : " / have bought a piece of
ground and I must needs go and see it" Another, " /
have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them" An-
other, "I have married a ivife and therefore I cannot corned
Each says, "I pray thee have me excused." And each
seems to think he has given a sufficient reason and has
treated the royal condescension and kindness quite respect-
fully. Now you perceive, that, while these excuses are
very different in form, they are in substance alike. They
indicate persons of different classes, but agreeing in one
main feature of character. They are all drawn from things
foreign to the feast. The men have something to do at
home and therefore they cannot go abroad; or they have
Something that interests them so much at home that they
THE GREAT FEAST AND THE VAIN EXCUSE. 155
have no wish to go abroad, though it were even to such
a festival. They profess no objection to what they are
called to enjoy. It is no doubt very good, and they
are no doubt, very much favored in being called to it;
but they have matters of their own to see to, which they
are not willing to lay aside. Now what does this suggest
in regard to the excuses usually made, in men's hearts,
for not embracing the Gospel ? They are not founded on
any professed objections arising out of the blessings of-
fered. The Lord is gracious; his grace is unsearchable.
Eternal life in his kingdom is worth all worlds. This they
deny not. Their excuses are various in form, but they all
unite in being drawn from things of this life, from inter-
ests of the world. The love of this present world, in some
of its aspects, is the sum and substance of all ; such an
immersion of mind and heart in the cares and interests of
this life that the mercies of God for another, however pro-
fessedly reverenced, are not heartily valued; however hon-
ored as true, are neglected as comparatively unimportant.
Let us take the illustrations afforded in the parable.
One man has bought his piece of ground, and must needs go
and see it. He represents the man of business, who is
prospered, so that he is "adding field to field." The
blessing of God is on his labor and toil ; and by that
very blessing, he is made to feel as if he could do without
God. The more prosperous, the more must he be ex-
cused for not being religious. The more blessed with
things of this life, so much the more is his heart over-
charged with them ; so much the less room there is for
thoughts of God's goodness, and of his own debt of gratitude
and love ; so much the less he feels the need of those infin-
156 SERMON VII.
itely richer blessings to which God calls him in the gospel;
and so much the more urgently prays, " Have me excused.""
The next illustration is that of a man who has bought
five yoke of oxen and thinks he must needs go to prove them.
He represents the diligent laboring man, pursuing some
honest and appropriate vocation, in a lower range of world-
ly gradation than the former. He is dependent, his
family are dependent, on his daily industry. He must be
excused attendance at the King's table, because he cannot
neglect the supply of his own household ; as if to honor
the King's grace were not the very way to serve his own
necessities. His doctrine is, that men of diligence in
business, laboring for the daily bread of their families,
must be excused embracing eternal life, excused from seek-
ing the everlasting friendship and favor of God, from whom
alone their strength to labor, their ability to reap where they
sow, and to enjoy when they reap, is derived; as if to
serve God were not the shortest way to serve themselves ;
and to be allowed so much as to gather up the crumbs
that fall from his table, were not a surer way to provide
for their households than to gain all the world, and lose
his blessing with it.
The condemnation here is not that such persons are so
diligent in business, but that their diligence is confined to
the least part of their business ; that they are laboring
for the meat which perisheth, instead of that which endu-
reth unto everlasting life; that they are forgetting eter-
nity in the zeal for a day ; neglecting immortal souls, for
dying bodies ; setting God aside, as if to please him were
no part of their proper daily business, imagining that it is
possible, in any real sense, to provide for themselves in
THE GREAT FEAST AND THE VAIN EXCUSE. 157
this life, while God's will and blessing are neglected. The
condemnation is, that they allow the concerns of the field,
or the shop, or the counting room, or the office, so to fill
their hearts and days, that when God comes to them in
behalf of their souls, they have no leisure to hear him, no
room to admit him. He must wait till they shall find a
more convenient season ; and when, after such treatment,
he condescends still to plead with them, and to say, " I
ask not that you be less diligent in your secular business,
but only that, instead of setting your hearts upon it, you
give me your hearts, that I may giveyow my saving bless-
ing" alas! the answer that arises, like the cold mist
from the ground which God's rain has just watered, is,
" Our hearts are too much occupied already ; we have no
affections at liberty ; we are so taken up with things that
are seen and are temporal, that we have no time, no heart,
for unseen and eternal:" and what is still more strange,
they answer thus, as if it were something like a valid and
justifying excuse.
There is a third class and condition represented in the
parable: that of the man of domestic contentment and
blessings, who is so much occupied and satisfied with
them that he feels no need of any that are higher, and
better, and more enduring. His home is his temple;
there he worships ; but God is not there. All of home
is represented in the parable, in the person of that one
being, on whom all its happiness so mainly depends the
wife. " I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come."
The case is presented as a type of the manner in which
the dearest earthly blessings God ever gives, are made to
become our strongest masters, our most ensnaring idols,
158 SERMON VII.
to keep our hearts from loving him. A sweet home,
such as a good wife, and a faithful mother, and dear chil-
dren make, many that hear the Gospel have received of
God; and this precious blessing keeps their hearts from
God ; this, when they are called to seek a better heritage,
an everlasting, holy home, where they and theirs may all
be at rest and full of joy, when all earthly things shall
have passed away ; where they may see God, face to face, in
the endless festival of a Saviour's love, oh ! then, it is this
very home on earth that holds them fast, and keeps them
away. They are too well satisfied with their present rest,
to set their hearts on that which "remaineth for the peo-
ple of God." Let us pause a moment over such a case :
The domestic man, to whom no attractions on earth are
comparable with those of his own fireside; who, instead
of seeking enjoyment anywhere else in preference, returns
from wherever else his duty may take him, to rest, and
soothe, and comfort, and satisfy his heart at home ; who
comes from his daily work and meets the welcome of his
wife, and the fond embraces of his children, and delights
his heart among them, and feels how theirs beat, pulse by
pulse, with his, and knows that his cup runneth over
we tremble for that man, that sweet home, that whole
domestic circle, when we see in him who heads it and
should lead it all to God, a heart so satisfied therein that
God is forgotten, and from that temple of his own making
and blessing is excluded ; that he who gave those blessings
that they might win that parent's heart is not sought,
because he is not wanted. Not wanted ! Yes, they feel
no need of him. They are "rich and in need of nothing."
Oh ! it is fearful to look into a household of so many
THE GREAT FEAST AND THE VAIN EXCUSE. 159
blessings and see that what really prevents the father and
mother from feeling any need of God's grace, is the very
fullness with which his providence has enriched them; that
what he sent as winning arguments to persuade them to
give him their hearts, are turned into the very chains that
bind their hearts away from him. Will God allow this?
Will his compassion for that family permit it to go on
unwarned, unvisited ? Will he not come down in mercy,
but in chastisement, and take away one idol and another,
till this setting up of their idols in their hearts shall cease,
and they will feel their need of him, and turn unto him
as their only sufficient rest? 0, remember those words:
"I, the Lord thy God, am a jealous God." Give him not
such reason to hang your house in mourning ! How often,
in mercy to men's souls, does God visit them for these
things, sending sorrow throughout their household, turn-
ing their cup of blessing to bitterness, and causing their
very rest to become their weariness, in order to make
them know how poor, how empty, how desolate is every
thing, where God is not their portion, and rest, and refuge.
And now, having looked at the three classes of those
who are represented as making excuse, it occurs to us as
something exceedingly remarkable, that sinners, soon to die,
soon to stand before God in judgment, should, in the least,
desire to be excused from embracing his salvation won-
derful beyond degree ! What! the naked excusing them-
selves from being clothed? the lepers from being cleansed?
the hungry from being fed ? the condemned from being
pardoned? the perishing from being saved? Yes, as
if God were to be the only gainer; as if you were
called to make a great sacrifice and endure a great trial, to
160 SERMON VII.
come to God and receive his peace, and obtain a blessed
home in his kingdom, and have the sting of death and the
terrors of the judgment day all removed ! How can it be
accounted for? When you read in the parable, that in
answer to the King's invitation to his great feast, they
that were called, "all began with one accord, to make
excuse ; " and when one pleads one pretext, and the next
some other pretext, all perfectly futile, you feel that
there is something very extraordinary in the matter,
something which the reasons given do not explain. Who
ever heard of the subjects of a gracious Prince earnestly
praying to be let off from accepting his invitation to his
banqueting hall, and to the marriage festival of his son ?
Who ever heard of their pleading such hindrances as are
given in the parable ? There is a want of nature in this
whole matter. It was never met with in real life. All
this is designed. It is intended to make it seem so much
the more remarkable, so much the more in need of ex-
planation, that men should treat as they do the invitation
of the Gospel, where the King is our God, our Judge, our
Creator, our Father ; and the feast is life eternal in Christ
Jesus ; and the called, who make excuse and will not come,
are poor, perishing sinners, needing the mercy and grace
of God above all things, and certain to be lost forever,
except they embrace the very invitation which they
refuse.
Think of some naked, starving pauper perishing on the
highway! A benevolent prince, as he passes, is arrested
by his misery, and bids him arise, and go with him to his
sumptuous home, where bread and raiment shall be sure
to him all his life. You hear from lips almost ready to
THE GREAT FEAST AND THE VAIN EXCUSE. 161
be sealed in death the strange answer: "I pray to be ex-
cused. I cannot make the sacrifice." Who would not
say, The man has lost his senses; much misery has made
him mad?
Enter the cell of a criminal under sentence of death, wait-
ing the summons to the scaffold. The prison-door opens.
Is it the messenger of the law come to say, that the
time has arrived? No, it is the Lord of the country,
his countenance beaming with benevolence. He comes,
to say, "A ransom is found thou art redeemed from
death. Arise, and let thy chains be loosed, and come
forth into peace and life." You expect the prisoner will
leap for joy and embrace the knees of him who brings
such tidings. But see ! he is troubled and silent ! Is he
deaf? Is he crazed? Has he misunderstood? He is
actually troubled by the tidings. He is anxiously search-
ing his mind for an answer by which, without being
disrespectful, to put off the man who has intruded upon
his dungeon, with such an errand. At length you
hear him, "Pray, sir, consider my circumstances. This
dungeon is my home. Here, in these bonds, is my rest.
I am attached to my prospects and cannot sacrifice
them. Plans for the better adorning of my prison are
not yet complete ; how can I leave them ! By and by
it will be more convenient. I appreciate your kind-
ness, but pray let me be excused ! " Poor wretch, who
would not think his prison had made him mad?
Change the scene ! A man is under sentence of death
at the bar of God. The condemnation of his sins reaches
to everlasting woe. He knows not but the next hour he
may take up his abode forever in hell. The Lord of life,,
the Prince of peace, the God of glory, in his wonderful
11
162 SERMON VII.
grace, proclaims, "I have found a ransom a precious price
has bought thee. Everlasting life and bliss await thee.
Forsake thy sins; flee unto Jesus, put thy trust in
him; follow him and all is well forever." By his word
preached, by his Spirit striving, God reiterates the invita-
tion, entreating, exhorting, not willing that any immortal
soul should perish within reach of such blessedness. The
man excuses himself! In his heart he begs to be permit-
ted to decline! Is there a spectacle on which angels
look with such amazement, as that perishing sinner thus
turning away from the salvation of God? How his miser-
able pleas must seem to them in their deep reverence, as
they behold at one view the majesty of the great God, the
heaven of heavens, the hell of the lost, and that poor, im-
mortal soul at the brink of its bottomless gulf! He has
so much to do for this life, that he cannot attend to the
life eternal. He has some scheme of worldly business on
hand, which he cannot interrupt to think of Christ. He
has some pleasures of this world to enjoy, which he cannot
sacrifice for salvation, and heaven, and God. The man be-
seeches God to let him go on; for such is the real language
of his heart. He beseeches God not to disturb him in his
course. "I pray thee have me excused." He is willing
to attend Church; to believe in Christianity; to give his
mite when called on for good works and he expects,
some time or other, to give his heart to God, but he is not
willing to go any further now. He wishes to be allowed
to remain contented with his condition, till it shall be con-
venient to change. So that to have the light of truth
flash straight in his face; to have the warnings of God
thundering at his ear; to be convinced of his folly and
THE GREAT FEAST AND THE VAIN EXCUSE. 163
sin when he is not ready to renounce them ; to be made
to see that his house is in flames before he is willing to
leave it, would too much trouble him. He therefore ear-
nestly desires that all this may stand aside, till he shall
find it convenient to give it audience. But what is all
this but the voice of God, the mercy, the pity, the earliest
love of God, seeking the salvation of that soul ? And
what is his strong desire to keep all this at a distance yet,
but an earnest beseeching of God to let him alone, and
allow him to take his rest in the world, and not trouble
him with so much light and conviction, so clear a sight of
his sins, so deep a sense of the worth of his soul, so strong
an impression of eternity, that he cannot be at ease, un-
less he repent? Oh! it is an awful prayer that a sinner
thus makes, to be let alone in his condemnation, in his
bondage, in his nearness to everlasting woe a prayer
which comes often much more sincerely, much more from
the heart, than many a better prayer from many a nom-
inal Christian. And a prayer it is that God answers.
Men that make it are sometimes taken at their word.
They would not that God should bless them now with his
Holy Spirit, and he takes his Spirit away, not only for this
time, but for all time, and they are left undisturbed indeed,
to get all they can in the world, and make the best of a
life, and a death, and an eternity, without God.
It is written of the prodigal son, that before he became
sensible of his folly and sin, "he came to himself" Then
he said, "/ will arise and go to my father" Let the man
who thus neglects or delays the salvation of his soul, but
once come to himself see where he is, what he is, what all
is worth in comparison with the peace of God, and he too
164 SERMON VII.
will instantly arise and go, and will not tarry till lie gets
to the feet of his Father, and pours out a full heart of re-
pentance and supplication before him.
And now let us put the question, how can all that we
have described be accounted for this strong and general
disposition to be excused from accepting the invitation of
God; the folly and emptiness of the excuses given; the
ingenuity with which they are perseveringly clothed in new
forms as circumstances vary; and the tenacity with which
they are held and used for the quieting of conscience under
troublesome alarms of the truth, no matter how often ex-
posed in all their vanity. It would seem as if to the people
so invited and so excusing themselves, there were something
positively odious in God's feast of grace; something ex-
ceedingly opposed to the ruling dispositions of their hearts
in the Gospel of Jesus. Can this be true ? Is there such
strong opposition between the sinner's heart and the sin-
ner's God, the will of man and the following of Christ?
I pray you, consider. What else offers the least expla-
nation of the phenomenon we have been looking at ? Let
me beg that they whose manner of receiving the Gospel
has been described, would consider where the difficulty
does really lie ? Is its heart truly expressed in the rea-
sons you commonly give for not seeking after God? You
have seen and felt the emptiness of those reasons again
and again, but the difficulty was unchanged. Ah ! there
is a truth here which must be learned, however hard to
be admitted. St. Paul goes to the root of the matter:
" The carnal mind is enmity against God" The disposi-
tions of the unrenewed mind are averse to his holy will
and service. Nothing less humiliating explains the case.
THE GREAT FEAST AND THE VAIN EXCUSE. 165
No duty presents such claims, such motives ; none meets
such general and strong reluctance. No interest is pretend-
ed to be comparable with this in importance; none meets
such impatience under its importunity, or such desire to
be delivered from its counsels. Ah! the heart is not
right. The resistance is there. The excuses are but
soft pretences. It is not the cares or the pleasures of
this life that keep the sinner from the grace of God.
The power is not in them. They work by a power in the
sinner's heart. His heart is so sinful, so alienated from
God, so averse to his holy service, so dead to all the in-
ducements of his grace, so alive to sin and the world, that
change of heart, a new heart, to be born again, is the only
remedy. Oh ! yes and as soon as that change of heart
does take place, by the grace of God, in any worldly
minded man, how immediately do all those reasons he was
wont to give for not embracing the Gospel, vanish as va-
por! How do they then seem as so many strong evi-
dences that the natural heart is "deceitful above all
things, and desperately wicked !" How plainly does he now
see that the one simple cause of all the difficulty hitherto
experienced in the efforts of the truth to bring him to God,
was the desperate, yet ingeniously masked, resistance of
his heart, fighting against God, and continually throwing
itself into one cover after another, to conceal its real char-
acter. How wonderful then appears the long-suffering of
God, in having so long borne with him, while thus reject-
ing his grace !
And now, let us see how all this appears in the sight of
God. In the parable as given by St. Luke, the treatment
of the invitation is given as it was expressed by those in-
166 SERMON VII.
vited: They made excuse. But in the parable as given
by St. Matthew, the treatment is described as it appeared
to the Maker of the feast. " They made light of it, and
went their way, one to his farm, another to his merchan-
dise."
It is not meant that they considered themselves as
making light of the King's invitation ; nor that they did
not intend to excuse themselves as respectfully as pos-
sible; but that, however they may have intended to ap-
pear, the King interpreted their conduct as nothing less
than making light of all the honor and enjoyment to which
he had condescended to bid them. Certainly; for who
would not think that to esteem the privilege of partaking
in the King's festival as less interesting than to go to one's
farm or merchandise, is to make light of it indeed?
Such then is the interpretation which the Lord God
assigns to all this making of excuse, when he, the King
whose laws we have broken, whose condemnation we de-
serve, instead of sending us away under his endless wrath,
invites us to partake in the riches of his saving grace. Under
whatever form you decline, whatever reason you give, he
considers you as making light of his mercy, and compas-
sion, and love. You do not intend to be so understood.
You wish, in all your ways, to be very respectful to the
Gospel, and to be considered as having a very high regard
for what it offers. Even in the manner of declining its
invitation you suppose you are rendering it a respectful
tribute; for instead of denying its claims, you confess them,
and the infinite importance of its consolations, and you
express the hope that you will one day accept them ; only
you are not ready yet; you set them aside for the present.
THE GKEAT FEAST AND THE VAIN EXCUSE. 167
Be not deceived ! God sees beneath all that veil, how
ever it may blind your eyes. In his view, you make light
of all that he has done for you and all that he offers you
in Christ. Is it not true ? How can you make light of
any thing, but by so treating it, as to show that you lightly
estimate it, that you account it as of little value. I speak
of that estimate which the life, not the creed, or the sen-
timent, or the confession of the lips, expresses.
Well, then, here is a salvation which cost the deep
humiliation, the awful agonies and death of God's beloved
Son. Angels desire to look into it as the greatest wonder
of love and grace. God, by his word and ministry, sets
it before you, and entreats you to make it your own.
Now, suppose Satan, in endeavoring to persuade you to
neglect it, should offer the whole world as his price where-
with to persuade you, and that considering the immensity
of the bribe, you should consent. Surely you would make
light of the grace of God ; " for what is a man profited,
if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul ? " What
an indignity to the grace of God, to think this world a
recompense for the neglect of his salvation !
But far more inexcusable is yo'ur case. It is no such
vast consideration to which you have yielded. You have
weighed the peace of God against a matter of ordinary
worldly business, or pleasure, or personal gratification, or
palpable sinfulness. You have allowed such things, prac-
tically to outweigh the precious things of the Gospel,
the dying love of Christ, the mercies of God, the glory
of his kingdom ! Thus have you grievously dishonored
his great salvation. In your practical estimate, you have
weighed in the balance, the emptiness of a short and
168 SERMON VII.
worldly life on earth, spent in constant peril of hell, against
eternal blessedness in the peace and presence of God;
and the latter you have decided to be the least precious,
the least entitled to your heart's devotion. You have
acted, year after year, on that estimate, and in so doing,
have incurred the more guilt, because it has been directly
opposed to the estimate, which in your understanding you
were obliged to make, and in your professed opinions,
avowed. What if a man should stand on the shore of the
ocean, and profess to measure its waters in the hollow of
his hand? Would he not make light of it? But have
you not offered such indignity to the mercy of God, in
Christ Jesus? 0, yes ! in all the reasons you plead for
not coming to him, in all your excuses, you make light of
that boundless breadth and depth of grace. What could
not be purchased but by the sacrifice of God's only be-
gotten Son on the cross, cannot be thus treated without
the most grievous guilt.
"All that a man hath will he give for his life" pro-
perty, labor, intense protracted suffering nothing seems
to a man too high a price to pay for his life. We never
make light of that. How would it sound to hear one
say, "I have so much to do that I cannot give any time
to save my life. I am so much attached to the world,
that I can make no sacrifice of it, to save rny life !" Men
have a more respectful sense of the worth of this life,
which, after all, is but a vapor, than to speak in that way.
But when the consideration is life eternal, a question of
heaven or hell; when it is the wrath of God that is
to be escaped then almost any sacrifice is too costly ;
men are busied about this or that worldly matter, and can-
THE GREAT FEAST AND THE VAIN EXCUSE. 169
not see to it, and they must be excused; and they are
thought quite reasonable. The Spirit of God must wait
their convenience. They will be ready by and by to
attend to him, when the world can be enjoyed no longer.
They will give ear upon a death-bed, when heart and flesh
are failing. Yes! those miserable leavings of life they
will give to God ! And is not this making light of his
grace ?
But the guilt and wonder of it are the greater, because
you profess to believe the scriptures and the infinite im-
portance of what they reveal. That an infidel who
despises the gospel as a fable, and makes a mock of hell
as a dream, that he should prefer any bauble to a Chris-
tian hope, is no marvel; but that they who have no
doubt of the dread events of the judgment day, and
know that out of Christ is no salvation, should do so
that is the wonder.
But there is nothing to wonder at when we read in the
parable, the impressive sequel; "/Sb that servant came and
told his Lord these things. Then the King, being angry,
answered : I say unto you that none of those men that were
bidden, shall taste of my supper"
My dear friends, let that declaration alarm you. The
invitation may cease, the door may be shut, much sooner
than you expect. What if it should turn out with you,
as with millions, who lived, and excused themselves, and
hoped for better things by and by, just as you are doing,
and who are now without hope forever that before your ex-
cuses are ended, your day of grace shall be ended; your op-
portunity, your privileges, God's forbearance, the precious
invitations of the Gospel to you, all ended ; and God shall
170 SERMON VII.
say : " Their prayer shall be answered long enough have
I called and they refused. I ivill excuse them. Never
shall they come. Never shall they hear another call.
The seal is set on their condition forever." Then you
die. I go to your funeral a sad funeral, indeed stand-
ing beside your coffin, and looking upon your sealed lips
and eyes, and thinking of the end of all things that has
come upon your immortal soul, I say to myself, where is
he now ? how seems to him now the worth of salvation,
the preciousness of a hope in Christ? how looks this world
to him now since eternity has begun ? how seem now the
excuses he was wont to give for not embracing the invita-
tion of the Gospel ? Alas ! what light that outer dark-
ness has thrown on all things ! what delusions it has un-
masked ! what realities it has revealed ! Oh ! that lost
soul, what would it now give to hear again that invitation,
" Come, for all things are ready ! " and what anguish
will it add to his eternal woe, to think how continually
that call was once heard and pressed on his acceptance,
and how light he made of it, till the opportunity was
passed. Oh! he will not make light of the grace of God
in that outer darkness, when he shall see them coming
from the east and west, from the north and south the
least privileged, the men of the fewest opportunities ; and
he himself cast out. Oh ! may we never know the
thoughts of a lost soul, looking back upon its day of
grace and its treatment of the invitation of the grace of
God in Jesus Christ !
SERMOI VIII.
THE CALL TO DILIGENCE.
ROMANS xiii. 12.
The night is far spent ; Ihe day is at hand.
THE whole duration of our existence, here and hereaf-
ter, is, in these words, divided into two parts night and
day a single night, a single day. The night begins at
birth, the day begins at death. To those who are this
side of the grave, it is night; to those who are beyond
the grave, it is day. They who died in the Lord, have
now the day of endless glory; they who died in their
sins, have also their endless day; but as the scriptures
speak of it, it is "the day of wrath, and of the revela-
tion of the righteous judgment of God."*
You will observe that the relative position of night
and day, in regard to the life of man, is not the same in
the text as in certain other passages of scripture. Some-
times the comparison is between our present life and our
approaching death; between the life that now is, as the
only time to work out our salvation, and death, as the
final termination of all opportunity of preparing to meet
our God; and then the present life is our day, and death
is represented as a coming night. Of this sort is the
comparison in those words of our Lord, " I must work
Romans ii. 5.
172 SERMON VIII.
the works of Him that sent me, while it is day ; the night
cometh, when no man can work."*
But here the comparison is not between life and death,
but between two divisions of life the life that we have
now, before we die, and the life we shall have when we
die. Hence, the present is the night, the future the day.
" The night is far spent ; the day is at hand." To some
here, it is very near the break of day.
I. I will show in what sense our present life is justly
called the night.
1st. It is our time of ignorance. At the very best
of our condition this side the grave, we walk in igno-
rance in respect to matters in the works and ways of God,
so innumerable, so immeasurable, that our light elsewhere
is but as the spark of the fire-fly upon the bosom of the
night. But mistake me not; I do not mean that we have
not a clear, and most precious, and sufficient revelation of
the truth and will of God, in regard to all things which
it was the purpose of God to reveal, as necessary to our
doing his will, and attaining our salvation. There is light
enough in the Bible, when received by a lowly and pray-
erful mind, and when pursued with ready obedience, to
teach all we have need, for present duties and interests,
to know concerning God and ourselves; His will, and
our duty ; His salvation, through Christ, and our way by
which to obtain it ; light enough about the way of life,
and the passage of death, and the awards and the heri-
tage of eternity, and the love and wrath of God, to guide,
to stimulate, to comfort us, if we will "run with patience
the race that is set before us." But still, even there,
John ix. 4.
THE CALL TO DILIGENCE. 173
where the precious revelation of the word of God is most
direct and full, and where the meek and lowly mind is
conscious that it needs no more, it is revelation directed
only here and there, touching only certain points, and em-
inences, and headlands. It is but reflected and partial
light the moon, not the sun; the light of night, in
which we can see enough to shape our course and be com-
forted ; not the broad, penetrating daylight, scattering the
mists, illuminating the valleys, filling the forests, reveal-
ing all things.
Surely, when you think of the works of God immedi-
ately around us, and of what the wisest know of them,
you will feel that now is the night.
Who but the most learned in the various departments
of what science calls the ivorks of nature, but religion calls
the works of God, can have a just impression of how lit-
tle we are capable of knowing there ? We speak, indeed,
and justly, of great advances beyond the knowledge of
preceding ages, in that field ; wonderful discoveries, as-
tonishing results of vast researches. But let us remem-
ber, these are all comparative. They are vast and won-
derful compared with what was known before; but, com-
pared with what we must know remains unknown, and im-
possible to be known in the present life compared with
vast regions of knowledge in the works of God, all around,
and all above, and within the circle of our constant view,
but into which the researches of man have never pene-
trated, and in this life cannot penetrate one single step
what is all human attainment here, but the laborious
climbing up of now and then an eminence, only to see a
boundless expanse, where foot of man hath never trod?
174 SERMON VIII.
Our lamp is better, and shines further and brighter,
than that of previous centuries. It has greatly extended
our illuminated circle. But after all, it is a lamp not
the sun; the night is relieved, not broken. It is a very
little way that we can go without being lost in the unmit-
igated darkness. We discover planets before unknown;
we resolve the nebulous spots in the sky into many dis-
tinct stars and immense worlds; we calculate the prodi-
gous orbits and predict the distant returns of the comets ;
we measure the velocity of light, and the bulk and weight
of worlds apparently on the outskirts of the universe;
but what remains ? Is there an atom of the dust of our
own earth is there a spark in the light of our own sun-
is there a leaf on the trees of our own forests is there
a sensation in our own personal consciousness is there a
mote in the sunbeam, that is not yet to our understand-
ing an impenetrable mystery ?
But, my brethren, from the universe of the works of
God, turn your thoughts to the universe of his Providence;
its boundless embrace, its unfathomable designs, its innu-
merable parts, their wonderful minuteness, their wonder-
ful greatness ! Think how far our light extends over that
world, and you must feel that it is now the night.
Every least event, the falling of a leaf, the passing of
a shadow, the movement of a thought, the death of an
insect, is connected, in the counsels of God, as really as
the downfall of an empire, with one grand, holy, infinite-
ly good and wise design, which, from the beginning, he
has been carrying on toward the final consummation, as
steadily and surely as the sun ascends the skies; involv-
ing infinite complexity of detail ; presenting to our feeble
THE CALL TO DILIGENCE. 175
vision inextricable confusion and contradiction ; but going
on in the continual progress of its vast orbit, with such
harmony and perfectness in the sight of God, that all will
be finally completed precisely where, and when, and how,
his will at first designed.
But what a world of darkness is all that movement to
us, except as we see a little of its surface! How much of
it can we trace ? How far can our sounding-line descend
into its depths ? How many of its winding labyrinths are
we able to follow ? Is there a single course on that chart
that our eye can pursue ? Is there a single action of
our own, or of any creature, the bearing of which on that
movement we can see, or in any degree appreciate, know-
ing, as we do, all the while, that every action of every crea-
ture is part and parcel of that wondrous system ?
A few things of God's providence we do know, but only
because he has told us. We know that in the moving on of
his great purposes, he is present everywhere, and to us all;
that his will controls, combines, subordinates all events to
his final design; that to each of us there is that freeness
which makes us morally accountable for what we do, or
leave undone ; that all things shall work together for eter-
nal good to them that love God; that the ultimate accom-
plishment of the perfect redemption and blessedness of
the whole blessed communion of those who believe in his
Son Jesus Christ, is the one end to which the whole move-
ment is directed ; and that all will issue at last in most
wonderfully displaying and glorifying the infinite riches
of the wisdom, and goodness, and grace of God to a sinful
world. More than this, as to the providence of our Hea-
venly Father, we know not' more, we have no need, in
176 SERMON VIII.
this life, to know. It is our Father's hand that is guid-
ing all ; and what need his children to inquire any further ?
" His way is in the sea, and his path in the mighty waters,
and his footsteps are not known," We cannot follow
them ; but we can trust and not be afraid. We may take
the lamp of his word, and go forward in our daily obedi-
ence, feeling that the path of life and salvation, and so of
happiness, here, as well as hereafter, is plain ; but still it
is night.
And now, from considering your knowledge of things
present and temporal, proceed to consider what we know
of the things future and eternal the world beyond the
grave.
"Now, I know in part" said St. Paul, speaking of that
world; and in comparison with him who had been " caught
up to the third heaven,"* what can we know ? We have
the words of another apostle who was favored with won-
derful manifestations of the spiritual world. " We know
not what we shall be, (said St. John,) but this we know,
that when he (Christ) shall appear, we shall be like him,
for we shall see him as he is."| Oh, yes ! blessed be God,
we do know this one glorious truth. When our Lord and
Saviour shall appear in his second coming to receive his
people to his glory, we, if belonging to that company,
shall see him as he is, and be like him as he is ; and that
knowledge of the future blessedness of his people is
enough for every purpose of duty, of encouragement, and
of consolation. But beyond what is contained in that one
great truth of perfect likeness and communion between
Christ and his people, in the presence of his eternal glory,
*2 Cor. xii. 2. f 1 John iii. 2.
THE CALL TO DILIGENCE.
what know we of the life and relations of the redeemed
during their endless being, in the world to come? What of
that elder family of blessed ones, those hosts of God, the
angels about his throne, who we know have much to do
with us here, and will have more hereafter? What know
we of those "principalities and powers in heavenly places,"
whose everlasting blessedness is to be so like, and so
mingled with, our own? What know we of what is con-
tinually taking place among us an immortal soul becom-
ing disembodied, leaving its bodily tabernacle, going forth
as it never was before, and where it never was before its
mode of existence, of communication, of action what do
we know ? Yea, what of the employments, and residence,
and relations, and faculties of immortal souls, after the
resurrection, when their bodies, made incorruptible, shall
be again inhabited, and the inhabitants divested of all in-
firmities; superior to all that we know of the laws of mat-
ter, and space, and time; admitted to the interior of mys-
teries, of which we know not even the existence; at home
in all the boundless domain of light; seeing nothing, as we
are compelled to see all things, in the mere outside qualities
seeing all things as we see nothing, in the imvard nature ?
And concerning the soul that hath no peace with God,
but is driven away from his presence into the "outer
darkness," what know we, what adequate conception
have we, of the awful despair of that soul, when with all
its enlarged powers of life, of thought, of ability to realize
what it is to be lost forever, to have eternity sealed upon
his ruin, he knows that his day of salvation is over, the
day of his judgment begun. God has cast him out, his
12
178 SERMON VIII.
condition is everlasting? Oh! who knows how eternity
seems to that lost soul ?
But think of a ransomed soul, coming, in the resurrec-
tion day, to the full possession of its heavenly inheritance ;
think of him as safe forever, in the peace, and love, and
immediate presence of " God and the Lamb," bathing in
that fullness of joy, with faculties immensely invigo-
rated and enlarged, and, for aught we know, multiplied
in number ; think of him in the bosom of that glo-
rious communion of infinite love, and holiness, and know-
ledge, God and the Saviour, and the whole vast assembly
of his ransomed people, their communion, one with another,
without an interposing veil, spirit to spirit, being to being,
never a wave of trouble in that deep sea of blessedness
Oh ! what know we now of heaven ! what a time of
ignorance is this ! Surely it is the night.
2d. But we must give you another reason why the
present division of our existence is justly called the night.
With a large proportion of the human family, it is a period
of sleep. " They that sleep, sleep in the night." Men are
asleep in regard to their eternal interests, dozing away the
time given them to make their peace with God and secure
a heritage in Christ ; fast locked in a deadly sleep, so that
while the interests at stake are infinite, and the time is
fast hastening away, and the warnings are loud around
them, and the earth is quaking under the steps of the
coming judgment, and a voice from heaven is heard con-
tinually crying, "Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise
from the dead, and Christ shall give thee life," they sleep
on as unmoved and unconcerned as ever.
Insensibility is a marked feature of sleep. Lift up the
THE CALL TO DILIGENCE. 179
eye-lid of the sleeper and he does not see. The sleep-
walker, with his eyes open, paces the fearful edge of the
precipice, but sees not. The heavens are pealing with
thunder, but he hears not. A boat is seen rushing down
the rapids of Niagara, drawing fearfully near the tremen-
dous cataract ; every one that sees is frantic with anxiety
for the man that is in it; but that man is perfectly at
ease, he knows nothing of the peril, he is asleep. A fellow
creature is to be executed for capital crime, at break of
day, to-morrow. The scaffold is ready. You go into his
dungeon to help him get ready to meet the judgment
of God. You can hardly overcome your emotions. But
the prisoner has none. He is utterly insensible to the
awfulness of his condition. He imagines himself at liberty,
and his thoughts are busied with sanguine schemes for the
present world. He is asleep. I know not a truer picture
of the spiritual slumber in which impenitent men are
drowned, in regard to their actual state before God, and
the great work of life which demands their instant effort.
Oh ! what is condemnation at a bar whose extremest pen-
alty can only kill the body, to the condemnation of
God, which forever destroys both soul and body in hell?
And what sleep is so strange, what insensibility so fear-
ful as his, who, under that condemnation for his sins,
knowing there is a Saviour to take it away, and but a
short and most uncertain time to secure an interest in that
Saviour's grace, is doing nothing for it, feeling no concern
about it ; taken up with dreams about this short life, as
if it were to abide forever! Nothing seems sufficient to
arouse him to the business of his soul. The warnings of
the word are in vain. The afflictions of Providence shake
180 SERMON VIII.
him in vain. Soon it will be too late to be concerned, and
to pray, and strive ; but he is sleeping on. Sometimes,
indeed, there is a partial opening of the eyes. Some sense
of the reality, and of what ought to be done, gains an
entrance. The man is half awake, and begins to look
around upon time and eternity, sin and God, heaven and
hell ; and he begins to move a little about the work to
be done. But the world is at hand with its opiate, and
the strength of long established habits of impenitence,
and of the neglect of God, is at hand with its bonds ;
and he falls back as insensible and unconcerned as ever,
till in his sad history that whole awful declaration of God
is fulfilled: "Because I called and ye refused, ... ye
have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of
my reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity, and mock
when your fear cometh; when your fear cometh as desola-
tion, and your destruction as a whirlwind. Then shall they
call upon me, but I will not answer." 11 Yes, then; for
when " destruction cometh from God, as a whirlwind,"
upon the impenitent soul, sleep can endure no more ; no
prayerless soul can then help calling upon God. " Then
shall they call upon me," saith the Almighty they shall
beg a hiding place from that tempest. Yes, then they will
pray who never prayed before. But the time to be heard
is over. That time was once. It was dreamed away. It
is now gone forever. " They shall call upon me, but I ivill
not answer"
But a state of dreaming is also characteristic of sleep.
The sleeper, starving with hunger, dreams he is seated at
a plentiful feast. The sleeper buried in a prison, and
clothed in chains, dreams ; and at once the sad reality is
*ProT. i. 24, etc.
THE CALL TO DILIGENCE. 181
exchanged, in his imagination, for all the sweets of his
home, and the enjoyments of liberty. And what else is
the actual state of those who, with such complacent
confidence in their condition, are living for this world, un-
concerned about God and his peace? Do they see any
thing any tiling^ as it is, in its real character, its actual
relations, its just proportions, in its proper value? Are
not all things that engage their interests, but as a proces-
sion of actors upon the stage, that " walketh in a vain
show," indebted to tinsel, and drapery, and imagination,
for all it looks like, and only waiting the drop of the cur-
tain to break up and vanish " as a dream when one awa-
keth?" Are they spending their strength in efforts
that tell upon the great business of life, the great concern
of man ; or only upon schemes of happiness, which the
first waking moment, the first dawn of the eternal day,
wih 1 put to shame as a most wretched delusion ? What is
every thought of the possibility that man, an immortal
soul, made for communion with God, can ever be happy
or satisfied, even in this life, without God, without his
peace, his love, his blessing what is it, but the veriest
and vainest dream the mind of man is capable of ? And
what else is the idea so much indulged, that there is so
much time in life to serve God, that one may safely delay
the work of salvation to a more convenient season ? Has
it never seemed to you, in sleep, that you were engaged
in something that was occupying a very long time, a
whole day of effort, full of a whole history of cares, and
trials, and doings, which in reality was the dream of a
moment? And what else will seem your imagination
of the length of the present life, as furnishing abundance
182 SERMON VIII.
of time to serve the world, and then to serve God, when
death shall unbar the windows of the day, and you shall
find the night is gone, eternity begun? A dream! a
dream! but, alas, a dream which must be remembered
with anguish to all eternity.
I am aware that dreams seldom seem dreams while they
are passing. They seem honest realities. So seem, as
long as they last, the delusions of this world, that hold the
spiritual sleeper. It is the awakening that will convince
him what they are, and where the reality is found.
Sometimes, in a dream, there is an undefined idea that
we are only dreaming. And it is not unfrequently the
case with those who try to content themselves with earthly
things for their portion, and to feel that they are about
their work, and seeking their appropriate ends, that they
feel an uncomfortable sense that it is all a mistake ; that
they are only sowing to the wind, to reap the whirlwind;
that nothing has any reality of peace, but the peace of
God, that nothing is worth their hearts but his service.
But on they go, till that half consciousness of the truth
sleeps also, and so they die, and find how true was that
half heard voice within them, and how sorrowful it was
that they did not hear it more reverently.
II. It remains for the second division of our discourse,
that we speak of the future life, as called in our text "the
day" But to show in what sense it is so called, is ren-
dered unnecessary by what we have said of the present life
as the night. By contrast, you can easily understand the
appropriateness of the wording of the text. But let us try
to form some conception of the change from the present
night to that coming day. To help your conception, think
THE CALL TO DILIGENCE. 183
of the change from a man asleep to the same man when
he awakes from sleep ! Such is the marvellous change
that were it not for our daily sight and experience of
it, we could hardly believe it to be the same identical man.
Such new views and feelings, such enlargement and ex-
altation in all his consciousness, in the operation of all his
senses, in every faculty of body and mind ! It is an in-
fant suddenly sprung up to manhood. It is a captive
suddenly unchained and brought out of darkness into
open day. The man is new to himself. He is in a new
world. Well, then, apply this to the aid of your thoughts
in conceiving of the change when we shall awake out of the
present night time, into the new vigor, and activity, and
faculty, the new consciousness, the expanded being, of the
eternal day.
Again, consider the vast change that takes place with
each of us, every morning, as the rising of the dawn ex-
changes the uncertain and contracted views of the night
for the expanded revelation of the day. Suppose you had
never seen the face of creation but at night, with the
moon and stars, and the aid of your lamp what would
you know of it? A little just around you, the rest all a
black expanse, nothing seen but undefined extension.
And suppose you should then suddenly find yourself in
the open day; all the varied scenery of nature, all the
beautiful coloring of the flower, of the forest, and the sky,
all the minute and the grand which every day reveals to
our familiar view, suddenly exhibited. It would be a
feeble illustration of the vast change that must take place
when a soul exchanges this present star-light night of life,
aided as it is by the lamp of the word of God, for the full
184 SERMON VIII.
disclosures of the everlasting day. Then will there be the
awaking of the soul to a vigor of capacity to enjoy or to
suffer, which it never knew before. Then will there be
light; light penetrating, surrounding, exhibiting every
thing as it is. Oh ! then must every false hope be seen
as it is, with all counterfeit piety, and every thing under
the name of religion, till nothing remains unconfounded
with the light, but the simple giving of the heart to God
and the simple resting of the sinner in Christ. Then will
be seen the true value of the peace of God and the full pre-
ciousness of the love of Christ to sinners; the wisdom of
those who took refuge there, and the guilt of those who
neglected so great salvation. It will be "the day" in-
deed, "of the revelation of the righteous judgment of God"
through everlasting ages. A day which will behold only
two. communities out of the whole race of man; but those,
alas ! how widely separated in character and destiny. To
one it will be " the day of the revelation of the righteous
judgment of God," in his holiness and justice, fulfilling
his word to the impenitent and disobedient, making retri-
bution for their ingratitude, and rebellion, and neglect of
the Gospel of Christ; while to the other also it will be the
"revelation of the righteous judgment of God," in his
boundless grace to all who embraced the salvation of
Christ, making good to them all his promises, investing
them with "joy unspeakable and full of glory."
It is written concerning that day, "there shall le no
night there"* No night to the blessedness of the redeem-
ed, because their vision of God will never be clouded; the
brightness of their eternal prospect will never be darken-
*Rev. xxii. 5.
THE CALL TO DILIGENCE. 185
ed ; sorrow can never come ; perfect bliss never cease. But
it is not to that community only that there will be no
night. There will be none to the lost, because there will
be no sleep there, no rest arising out of a brief unconscious-
ness of the awful reality of their destiny, no darkness up-
on their prospect, not even a momentary dream, however
delusive, of something better. It will be a perpetual, un-
changing "day of the revelation of the righteous judgment of
God" Oh! it would be something there to be allowed
some blindness for a moment to the whole reality, some
dream, some mode of getting the mind away from the
perpetual thought of the everlasting future of a lost soul.
No, there is "no night there"
III. I have but little time to dwell upon that portion
of our text which must conclude our discourse the de-
claration that "the night is far spent, the day is at hand"
It is true in regard to those who have spent a large part
of the average life of man. It is applicable to those who,
whether young or old, vigorous or infirm, are, in the ap-
pointment of God, soon to die, and among them may be
the least expecting and the least prepared in this assem-
bly ; it is true in regard to us all, my brethren, because
of the preciousness of every year and day when such in-
terests are at stake, and such uncertainty hangs over even
the morrow. Oh ! yes, the day is at hand, because the long-
est life of man is nothing in the presence of that eternity.
And how stands your condition and work, my hearers,
with reference to that day? Have you been, to this mo-
ment, sleeping away your season of grace ? Has the far-
spent night been consumed in neglecting God, in denying
your hearts to Christ, in serving a world that has no wages
186 SERMON VIII.
to pay you but disappointment and sorrow? Is the great day
at hand, and have you made no preparation ? Is the whole
work of your salvation undone, all put off to some indef-
inite period, as if any uncertainty were good enough for
such an interest ? And will you still say with the sluggard,
"a little more sleep, a little more slumber," instead of
being up and about your great work, striving to redeem
the time and get ready for that day ? Is it not high time,
ye dying men, to awake out of sleep ? high time to cease
hardening your hearts against the grace of God, and in-
creasing your alienation and your guilt ? Is it not high
time you were beginning a life of earnest prayer, of hum-
ble repentance, of diligent watchfulness, "lest that day
come upon you unawares" and find you without hope in
Christ?
Are there any who feel that it is high time, and whose
consciences are struggling to be free and to be permitted
to seek God and salvation? I beseech them give ear to
that awakened conscience. Do not grieve the Spirit of
God, whose voice it is, and whose rebuke it speaks. "The
time is short." The redeeming grace of the Lord Jesus
Christ still invites you.
Ye who hope you are Christians in more than name,
are you indeed awake ? Do you know yourselves ? Do
you realize the solemnity of your obligations to God?
Are your eyes well open to the leading of the Master
whose name you bear? Do you see the blessedness you are
seeking the awfulness of the misery you should be esca-
ping ? Does the reality of eternal things, of the all-seeing
eye of God, and of the love and promises of Christ, bear
supremely upon your hearts and control your lives ? Is your
THE CALL TO DILIGENCE. 187
standing with God well ascertained? Are all dreamy
hopes and baseless consolations renounced ? Is it only by
"comfort of the scriptures" that you have hope of salva-
tion? Do you habitually reduce all questions of duty, all
marks of a Christian, all your expectations of God's favor
to that test the scriptures ? Are you living "as children
of the light and of the day," lamp in hand and trimmed,
waiting the coming of your Lord ?
Was not that a tender, but most piercing rebuke of
Jesus to his disciples, when they slept in Gethsemane,
while he was prostrate in prayer, and full of agony? At
first when he came to them and found them asleep, he only
said, " Could ye not watch with me one hour,"* only one
hour? A second time he came from his own place of
agony and prayer, and found them "asleep again."* Then
he looked on them in silence, and went away again to his
solitary conflict and agony. A third time he came, and
Judas and his band were coming to take him; the time
to watch and pray was over. Then he said, "Sleep on now,
and take your rest; behold the hour is at hand and the
Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise,
let us be going." As if he had said: 'Now slumber if you
can. When watching and praying would have been of use
to prepare you for the coming trial, you could sleep. Now
that the danger has come, take your rest; watching and
praying are too late. Sleep on now !' And may not the
unfaithful disciple of the present day expect a more pain-
ful rebuke, when his Lord, instead of the Sufferer in Geth-
semane, shall be the Judge of quick and dead? ' Sleep
* Matt, xxvi . 40 . Matt. xxvi. 43. f Ib. 45, 46.
188 SERMON VIII.
on now? (may not Jesus then say,) ' faithless sleeper,
bearing the name of Christian ; take your rest now, if you
can find it. You need not watch or pray any more. The
time is ended. You slept in the day of temptation, when
prayer and vigilance would have been your salvation, when
my faithful ones were denying themselves and taking up
their cross and following me. Your slumbers will be dis-
turbed no more by the calls of duty and of mercy. Be-
hold, they are at hand that will take you away. Sleep on,
take your rest, where their worm dieth not and the fire is
not quenched!' But to the earnest, wakeful, watching,
praying believer in Jesus, how animating is the declaration :
" the night is far spent, the day is at hand;" the race is far
run, the prize is at hand ; the battle is far gained, the crown
is at hand ; the pilgrimage is far traveled, the home and
the rest are at hand. "Now is our salvation nearer than
when we believed" was the exulting language of one
who realized ah 1 its joyfulness. Every day, every trial,
every sorrow, brings nearer our day of deliverance, short-
ens the intervening night. How much nearer to many of
us, brethren, is that glorious day, than when we first came
as believers to Christ! How soon it will be here with
death to try our faith, and put us to earnest prayer and
exercise of hope for a short space, and then all trial is over
and the day begun, and we are safe at home for ever and
ever. "Lift up your hearts, then, for your redemption
draweth nigh." Press forward, brethren. Keep your
eye upon the golden towers of the city of God on high.
Walk as children of the day, "fervent in spirit, rejoicing
in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing instant in prayer."
Moderate all earthly concern, soothe every pain, lighten
THE CALL TO DILIGENCE. 189
every burden, assuage all griefs, with the thought of the
nearness of the time when you will be with Christ in his
glory. "The earnest expectation of the creature waiteth
for the manifestation of the sons of God." "I reckon,
(said one who was well skilled in such computation,) I reck-
on, that the sufferings of this present time (said an Apostle
who had so many sufferings in his time to count) I reckon
that ah 1 are not worthy to be compared with the glory that
shah 1 be revealed in us."* May that estimate be ours, and
so that glory ours, through our Lord Jesus Christ ! Amen.
* Rom. viii. 18.
SERMON IX.
THE CHRISTIAN NOT OF THE WORLd.
JOHN xvii. 16.
" They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world."
How peculiarly interesting and instructive to a devout
reader of the scriptures, is the intercessory prayer of our
Lord, contained in this chapter, and of which the text is
a part. The chapter is altogether composed of that pray-
er, except a verse or two of introduction. And what is
the value and interest of so long a prayer, coming from
the lips of our great Intercessor, and especially when we
read in it that it was offered, not only for his disciples
then living, but for all that should ever believe on him
through their word, and therefore for us, if we answer to
that description !
The time and circumstances of this prayer give a special
impressiveness to whatever lesson of duty it was intended
to teach. Jesus had just come, with his disciples, from
the upper chamber, where he had substituted for the
Paschal feast of the Jews, the Christian feast of the Lord's
Supper, to commemorate what in a few hours was to be
offered the sacrifice of himself, as the Lamb of God, in
propitiation for the sins of the world. He had now
reached the Mount of Olives. In a few moments he was
to enter the solitary garden, and to endure that awful
THE CHRISTIAN NOT OF THE WORLD. 191
agony of soul, which, ever since, has associated, in Chris-
tian minds, such affecting thoughts with the name of
Gethsemane. It was night. Our great High Priest
being prepared to offer himself, without spot, to God, both
in the garden and on the cross, begins that gracious in-
tercession for believers, which now he ever liveth to
continue in the presence of the Father Almighty. Hav-
ing finished his parting words of counsel and consolation
to those he was about to leave alone in the world, as sheep
in the midst of wolves, " he lifted up his eyes to heaven,
and said, Father, the hour is come : " the hour of the
great trial, the hour of the deep agony, the hour of the
powers of darkness, the hour of the great conflict for the
deliverance of sinners, the hour of the propitiation for the
sins of the whole world. Then followed that mediatorial
prayer, so earnest, so affectionate, so comprehensive the
prayer that embraced in its arms of love, and bore up to
God, all the wants of all disciples of Christ, in all future
ages; a prayer which ascended, and was accepted, on the
ground of the perfect merits of the offerer; which still
lives in heaven before the mercy seat, and is as efficacious
for the Church of Christ as when it came first from his
lips, and to which it is the privilege of all that come unto
God, by faith in Christ, to attach their kindred supplica-
tions, that they may mount on its wings, and be heard for
its merits.
Brethren, is the intercession of our Lord in heaven, as
the " Advocate with the Father for all that come unto God
through him," a matter of deep interest to you ? Do you
feel, sometimes, as if you would like to look " within the
veil," and get a view of the High Priest of our profes-
192 SERMON IX.
sion, in the discharge of his great office, standing before
the mercy-seat, bearing on his heart the wants of all his
people, and in virtue of his atoning sacrifice on the cross,
making intercession for each of them? Would you like
to know what is the burden of his intercession ? what be-
sides the forgiveness, and sanctification, and perfect redemp-
tion of believers ? what in your individual case attracts
his attention and furnishes especial subject of mediation ?
We cannot lift the veil of things unseen, as yet. But as
Jesus, on the Mount of Transfiguration, vouchsafed to his
disciples, for a moment, a sight of that ineffable glory
which he was soon to put on, and in which he is now seen
in heaven ; so, in this mediatorial prayer, offered in such
direct connection with his mediatorial sacrifice, in the hour
that so concentrated all the functions of his everlasting
priesthood, he has given us the best view we can have in
this world, of his intercessory office, " in the secret place
of the tabernacle of the Most High." Study the petitions
of that prayer. You will see in it what it was for which
your Saviour was especially concerned in your behalf, my
Christian brethren, when his love for you was just taking
him to suffer and die for your sins. You may thus form
a good idea of what concerns him now, in your behalf, as
he looks upon you in your present weakness, and expo-
sure, and dangers. And thus may you learn, most im-
pressively, what it is that should occupy your chief con-
cern for yourselves, and should speak with all earnestness,
in your own prayers.
In that mediatorial prayer of our Lord, there is a fea-
ture on which I desire to collect all your thoughts at pres-
ent. And that is, how much the mind of our compassion-
THE CHRISTIAN NOT OF THE WORLD. 193
ate Saviour was drawn to, and occupied with, the condi-
tion of his people, as being "in the world-" in it as a
place of duty and a place of danger, and yet as being not
" of the world -" a separate people, mingled but distinct,
associated but not assimilated, having much in common
with the world as to the present life, but yet " a peculiar
people," " not conformed to the world." First, he de-
scribed them as having been given to him by the Father,
"out of the world" Then he adverted to the trial to
which they were to be exposed, in being, without his visi-
ble presence, in the midst of the world's influences.
"Now, (he said,) I am no more in the world, but these are
in the ivorld, and I come to thee" Then he speaks of the
opposition they must meet with from the world. " The
world hath hated them, became they are not of the world, even
as I am not of the world." Then comes the supplication
drawn out by that thought of the world's enmity. " I
pray not that thou shoiddst take them out of the world, but
that thou shouldst keep them from the evil" Then follows
a repetition of the description just before uttered, of the
unworldly character of his people, their distinct and sepa-
rate character while in the world : " They are not of the
world, even as I am not of the world" This repetition of
that description is remarkable. Why, in the space of
three verses, did Jesus twice declare of his people, on
that most solemn occasion, in that brief space when the
whole burden of their necessities, in all ages, was in his
mind, " They are not of the ivorld, even as I am not of the
world" ? It was no vain repetition. Our Lord had mean-
ing in such things. It is, like his " Verily, verily, I say
unto you," intended to be regarded as very emphatic; and
13
194
SERMON IX.
it ought to draw our serious attention. I read it as
connected with the next verse, "Sanctify them through
tlnj truth." The progressive sanctification of the disciples
of Christ is most intimately connected with the distinct
carrying out of their character, as " not of the world."
I read it also as connected in the same prayer with the
declaration of the Saviour, "/ am glorified in them"
Christ is glorified in his disciples in proportion as they are
faithful to their proper character as " not of the luorld"
I desire, therefore, in this discourse, to set out in some
of its chief features, this character of Christ's people, as
" Not of the world"
But in order that our view may be distinct, we must
form a distinct idea of the ivorld here spoken of. What
are its. distinctive features ?
The human race are in the scriptures distributed into
two, and only two, divisions the Jdngdom of God and the
world, or the kingdom of " the god of this world," " the
spirit that worketh in the children of disobedience." They
who walk according to that spirit, are said to walk " accord-
ing to the course of this world," and to be "dead in tres-
passes and sins;" "fulfilling the desires of the flesh, and
of the mind."* And our Lord has solemnly declared that
none can enter into the kingdom of God, except they be
bom again of the Holy Ghost; f that is, the only way out
of the world into the kingdom of God, is the way of a
great spiritual transformation, the new birth by his Spirit.
"If any man be in Christ, (that is, "not of the world,")
he is a new creature." Thus, St. Paul exhorts us to be
" transformed by the renewing of the mind" as the only
way to be "not conformed to this world"\
*Eph. ii. 1-3. fjohn iii. 3-5. \ Rom. xii. 2.
THE CHRISTIAN NOT OF THE WORLD. 195
Hence it is manifest that in the scriptural view of the
world, as spoken of in the text, the basis of its distinctive
character, is the natural or unregenerate state of man.
The world is not marked off by external peculiarities;
it is not a question of less or more in worldly vanities, or
worldly devotedness ; its boundary line is not made by
the pale of the visible Church ; we do not ask who are
they that have received the sacraments of the Church,
and attend punctually upon its services. The true line of
the world runs within the visible sanctuary and separates
to right and left the partakers of the sacraments. It is
simply the question, who are they that have been born
again, and have the Spirit of Christ ? All who have not
been thus transformed, and who are therefore in their nat-
ural state of spiritual death, are " walking according to
the course of this world," and so are of the ^uorld.
Now consider what innumerable varieties of moral char-
acter this description of the world embraces from the
most profligate sensualist, to the person of pure morals
and delicate refinement ; from the men of most brutal
inclinations and habits, to the elevated tastes of those
who find their pleasures in intellectual culture; from the
most selfish of mankind, to those whose benevolence is
the blessing of their neighborhood ; from the most dis-
honest, to those whose scrupulous uprightness is almost
proverbial. Such vast diversities are certainly found among
those who make no pretension to having undergone any
such spiritual change as that expressed by being " born
again" of the Holy Ghost. The question then arises and
an important one it is Seeing such wide diversities of
moral character are thus all classed together as the world,
196 SERMON IX.
and of course, as all displaying essentially the same pre-
dominant features, alike out of the kingdom of God, and
therefore excluded from his salvation, what is that pre-
dominant likeness, in the midst of so much unlikeness,
by which this classification is made ?
We answer : it is in their affections; they "mind earthly
things," as their portion and felicity ; their affections are
set "on things on the earth" and not "on things above,
where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God," and where
they are commanded to be set, and will be set if we " be
risen with Christ," and have his Spirit;* or, to use another
inspired description, they " mind" they set their hearts on
"the things of the flesh," and not "the things of the
Spirit"! Such is the distinctive feature of the world.
The affections of some who are of the world, are cer-
tainly placed on things far higher and purer, more noble
and refined than those of others ; but we mean that what-
ever they may be, they are things on the earth, temporal,
not eternal, not the things of the Spirit of God; not
Christ, and his will, and service, and kingdom. It is not
asserted that the affections of all are set in that direction
with equal devotedness ; that all follow " the course of this
world" with the same zeal; that none have ever any
serious thoughts of religion, or make any efforts to
obtain eternal life. Far from it. Many of the most
worldly in their affections, are among the most laborious
in endeavors, by outward works, which require no change
in the current of the affections, to obtain salvation. The
Pharisee who prayed in the temple, and was a member of
; God's visible Church, and fasted twice in the week, and
gave the tenth of all he possessed to what he considered
*Col. iii. 1, 2. fRom. viii. 5.
THE CHRISTIAN NOT OF THE WORLD. 197
good works, was of the world. We may go further than
he in seriousness of mind. Religious truth may exert a
daily influence, of no little value upon our feelings and
ways. Though not renewed in our minds, we may be
reached and operated on in our minds, by the word and
Spirit. Some may seem so little worldly in their affec-
tions, that in comparison with others, they may seem
almost spiritually minded. But the question is not, what
influences affect us partially, or occasionally, or compara-
tively, but what have the habitual, the governing control
of our hearts; where do we seek our present portion;
whence come the motives that conclusively and perma-
nently determine our lives ? And the answer, with regard to
all who have not been born of the Spirit of God, in all
the varieties of their aspects, is, " they mind earthly things"
not the things of " the Spirit of God'' They cannot say,
" The Lord is the portion of my soul." My heart is fixed
on God. " I delight in the law of God, after the inward
man." I hunger to be "holy, as God is holy."
And thus, having seen the distinctive feature of the
world, we obtain by contrast the more satisfactory view of
the character of the disciple of Christ, as "not of the
ivorld"
The basis of his distinctive character is, that he has
been born again. He is " not in the flesh," but " in the
Spirit." By the grace of God, he is " begotten again unto
a lively hope ;" thus he has been given " out of the world,"
unto Christ, by the Father ;* and now he "minds the things
of the Spirit." Thus is he " spiritually minded." t His
affections are upon " the things of the Spirit " the will
of God and the path of holiness here; the presence of
* John xvii. 6. t Rom. viii. 5.
198 SERMON IX.
God and the holiness of his kingdom hereafter. He can
say, " the Lord is the portion of my soul" The creature is
cast down from the throne it had usurped in his heart.
The supremacy of the Creator is restored. The great
governing motives of his life, are brought from above this
world, even from Christ his Lord in heaven. I do not
mean that there is never any inconsistency in the state of
his mind with this heavenward direction ; that earthly
things are so entirely cast out, as well as cast down, as
not to furnish cause of continual watchfulness and often
of deep self-humiliation; that though his heart be habitu-
ally on heavenly things, he does not find still that it is a
very weak and wayward heart, needing, to keep it where
it is, the continual renewing of the same grace that first
placed it there. As was said before, in regard to those
who are of the world, we are looking, not at the partial,
or occasional, or secondary influences, but at the habitual,
and supreme. The true disciple is not of the world, be-
cause his treasure is not ; and hence his heart is not.
What he loves, he is conformed to.
Take good heed, brethren, to that weighty saying of
our Lord : " where your treasure is, there ivill your heart
be also." It shows the precise level of your spiritual
standing. You can neither rise above nor fall below that
mark. If our Lord Jesus Christ be not your chosen and
precious treasure, then your hearts are as far beneath him,
as earth is below the heavens. Whatever your happiness,
its fountain head is somewhere here on the earth. The
stream cannot rise above its source. Your happiness can
never be else than of the earth. Your best portion is
therefore here. Temporary, turbid, unsatisfactory as all
THE CHRISTIAN NOT OF THE WORLD. 199
things earthly must be, they are your all. Alas ! what
poverty for an immortal soul ! Nothing laid up for eter-
nity ; and yet eternally you must live !
But on the other hand, if Christ be your treasure, in
comparison of whom you " count all things but loss/'
then your hearts are "where he is, at the right hand of
God." The fountain head of your happiness is there in
the holy mount. A well of the water of life is within
you that is ever "springing up into everlasting life."*
You will go where your treasure is. Your "own place" is
with Christ, where he is at the right hand of God.
And now, having seen the main classifying feature of
those who are not of the world) let us attend for a moment
to the comparison by which the nature of the difference
between them and the world is illustrated in the text.
"They are not of the world, (said our Lord,) even as 1
am not of the world" that is, the disciple of Christ is not
of the world just in the same sense as He who took our
nature and was made man, and dwelt among us, was not.
The extent of unworldliness in the two, is to be sure un-
speakably different; the principle is the same. And thus
have we a fundamental principle of all Christian character.
The disciple is as his Master. There is a common charac-
ter and spirit in the head of the mystical body "which is
the blessed company of all faithful people," and each of
his members. "Let this mind be in you which was also
in Christ Jesus."| "We have the mind of Christ," j was
the declaration of primitive Christians, and we must be
essentially of the same mind, or we are not Christians
of any degree. Likeness to God was the character of
* John iv. 14. t Phil. ii. 5. i 1 Cor. iii. 16.
200 SERMON IX.
man as created and unfallen. Likeness to God in Christ
is the character of man now fallen, but created anew. It
is true religion on earth. It will be heaven forever. It
is the family likeness of " the household of God/' associ-
ating into one holy brotherhood, all disciples of Christ on
earth in their exceeding imperfectness, and all saints in
heaven in their perfect holiness. The difference between
them is great but continually decreasing. Those on the
earth are striving to be delivered more and more from
remaining worldliness, and to be more conformed to their
Master's holiness. What of the world yet besets them
is not held by them willingly, but adheres to them unwil-
lingly, as clay on the garments, and mire on the feet of
the traveller through a marshy way. Soon their journey
will be ended. They will be unclothed of all that remains
of the world, and clothed upon with all that remains of
heaven. Then will Christ and all his people be one in
holiness made perfect, as they are one now by a common
Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.
As I have thus described the true disciples of Christ
as not of the world, in respect to the objects on which
their affections are supremely set, and the governing mo-
tives and spirit of their lives, let me now conduct you to
another view. The true followers of Christ are not of
the world, but are a peculiar people in it as regards their
consolations amidst the trials of the present life.
The type of the condition of the Christian as in the
world, but not of it, was the nation of Israel as God's
chosen and peculiar people, dwelling alone in the earth,
surrounded with the nations, but unassimilated to any of
them ; first while in Egypt, then in the wilderness, then
in Canaan. The ceremonial law, from its elementary be-
THE CHRISTIAN NOT OF THE WORLD. 201
ginning before they forsook Egypt to its completion at
Sinai, was the wall of separation between them as a visi-
ble Church of God's peculiar people, and all other people.
That outward separation and distinctness, represented the
spiritual separation and peculiarity of all that true Israel,
in all ages, " who worship God in the Spirit and rejoice in
Christ Jesus, and put no confidence in the flesh." In
conformity with that type, St. Peter says to all true be-
lievers in Jesus : " Ye are a chosen generation, a royal
priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye
should show forth the praises of Him who hath called
you out of darkness into his marvellous light." |
But most signally were the people of Israel marked
off in Egypt, as well as in the wilderness, by the peculiar-
ity and the inimitable nature of their consolations amidst
abounding afflictions. "When the plague of darkness came
down on all the land of Egypt, so deep and black that
" the people saw not one another, neither did any rise
from his place for three days;" then it is written, "all
the children of Israel had light in their dwellings" What
light was that? Many of them lived where the Egyp-
tians lived. Then, if it were only some ordinary, natural
light, such as of candles or torches, why could not the
Egyptians have had the same? No, the Israelites had
what was impossible to the Egyptians. All the means of
ordinary lighting were made of none effect, by the ex-
traordinary, supernatural darkness. The light in the
dwellings of the Israelites was equally supernatural. It
was just the same light which afterwards, in the pillar of
fire, guided their night march out of Egypt and lighted
up their whole camp when they rested. Under the
*Phil. iii. 3. f 1 Pet. ii. 9.
202 SERMON IX.
plague of darkness it stood, not as a great column of light,
for the families of Israel were scattered among the Egyp-
tians ; but it entered, like the present light of Gospel
promises, into each of their houses, and cheered and com-
forted them with the expression of God's favor, while
their oppressors were trembling around them under the
darkness of his judgment. It was the hand-writing upon
their walls, marking them as His peculiar people, and dis-
tinctly testifying, that though in Egypt, they were not
of Egypt.
And thus it is, when God sends afflictions on the chil-
dren of men, which bring such darkness upon all the
ways, and pleasures, and hopes of the people of the world,
that they are disquieted within them, and go mourning
all the day, and know not who will show them any good,
but grope about for consolation and find none. Then
may ye " discern between the righteous and the wicked,
between him that serveth God and him that serveth him
not." " A book of remembrance " is written for them
that fear the Lord and think upon his name.* Unto
them " shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing
in his wings." There is light in their hearts. " They
walk in the light of the Lord." Having peace with God,
through faith in Jesus Christ, they are enabled to " glory
in tribulations " "in all things giving thanks" .find-
ing their consolations to abound in God with the increase
of their trials. It is written, " He giveth songs in the
night" f Songs in the day time are easily given. Such
is the rejoicing of the world. Egypt could have that.
But in the night, in deep tribulation, when all the candles
with which the children of this world light their life, have
*Mal. iii. 16, 17, 18. t Job xxxv. 10.
THE CHRISTIAN NOT OF THE WORLD.
203
gone out ; especially in the night of death ; oh, then to
have songs of rejoicings in our hearts! Who can give
them but God; who but his people can learn them?
The magicians of Egypt did great wonders, indeed, in
imitation of God's plagues upon Egypt, but to counter-
feit his signal-light in the dwellings of his people, they
did not attempt. The world, and they who are not of it,
are often associated in the same tribulations ; but the
songs in the night with which God visits his people in such
times of need, is that " secret of the Lord with them that
fear him," with which the world intermeddleth not. " I
call to remembrance (said the Psalmist) my song in the
night.' But the light in the dwellings of Israel in Egypt
did not forsake them when they had left Egypt. As
soon as their scattered families had gathered into one
great host, and had gone out on the march to the
promised possession, then the scattered lights of their
dwellings were gathered over the vast multitude into
a pillar of cloud and of fire the visible expression
of the presence of God among them, to guide, defend,
supply and comfort them. " In the day time he led them
with a cloud, and all the night with a light of fire." :
How distinctly were the Israelites thus separated from
all the people of the countries, and marked as God's pe-
culiar people! You know that towards the Israelites,
that pillar was light, and towards all others, darkness;
that in the day time it appeared as a cloud, luminous, but
cloudy; but as evening came on, its brightness in-
creased, till, the night being complete, it was all a pillar of
fire, illumining the whole host of Israel with a glorious
* Ps. Ixxviii. 14.
204 SERMON IX.
effulgence, making plain their way. res ting as a defence and
consolation upon their camp, and saying in a language that
could not be mistaken, " God is here ; this is his people"
What a wondrous sign ! How remarkably were the people
of Israel separated from all other people, by consolations
which it was impossible for others to have ! But the true
Israel the living Church of Christ has a still more
blessed light. God still leads his people, whom he hath
chosen out of the world, in whose hearts he hath placed
his Spirit, and who, in the midst of Egypt, are not of it,
having set out in their journey to the heavenly land. He
leads them "in the day time with a cloud, and all the
night with a light of fire." What else is "the glorious
Gospel," the very light of his countenance, the assurance
of his presence, the pledge of the inheritance, the lamp of
our path, the strength and joy of our hearts that glori-
ous manifestation of grace in Christ Jesus? "A cloud"
for it is all a mystery of the deep things of God; " afire"
of wondrous brightness, for it is "the light of the
knowledge of the glory of God, in the face of Jesus
Christ." Full of precious promises, it is "joy unspeaka-
ble and full of glory " to the believer, while it is all
condemnation to the world that heeds it not. " In the
day time it is a cloud the day time of prosperity when
the world is in its sunshine, and puts on its brightest and
most assuring countenance ; when no afflictions darken it,
and no trials reveal its emptiness. Then the people of
God are wont to feel too little their need of what his
grace has prepared for them in the gospel. They see so
much light all around in the wilderness, that, false and
vain as it is, it dims, to their view, the light of the gos-
THE CHRISTIAN NOT OF THE WORLD. 205
pel. The preciousness of the latter is not fully realized.
It is a pillar of cloud, not of fire as the clouds that
brighten so gloriously at evening into blazing chariots,
are only clouds at noon. But only wait till the sun has
set. Let dark night come on a night of adversity, of
sorrow, of deep affliction. Then, when all the candles
with which the men of the world seek to light up their
tabernacles, only serve to make their darkness the more
sensible ; when the perfect impotence of all human con-
solations is most painfully felt 5 when what was before, to
the world, as a fire of light, is now all gloominess and
misery then shines out, in all its glory, the preciousness
of the gospel. The darker the world, the brighter the
gospel. The more all other lights go out, the brighter
that light appears. What was a cloud in the day time, is
a pillar of fire in the night time, saying, of all whose
hearts it comforts, and whose path it guides, "These
are not of the world." It will be with them in all their
journey to that world where their home is, and their hearts
are, and never will it seem so glorious, so full of the
presence and love of God, as when they shall be going
through " the valley and shadow of death."
Nothing more detects and exhibits the essential differ-
ence, in point of character, of dependence, and of heart, as
well as portion, between the world and those who are not of
ti, than affliction. Job said, " when He hath tried me, I
shall come forth as gold."* When he was tried by a hot
fire of tribulation, he did come forth as gold indeed.
Nothing could so plainly have showed the eminent pecu-
liarity of his character, as of another stamp altogether
from those around him.
* Job xxiii. 10.
206 SERMON IX.
There is in pure gold an essential peculiarity, which man
can neither give nor take away. Mix its dust as you
please with the dust of other substances; burnish as you
please other substances into its likeness, the fire will de-
tect the counterfeit, and will bring out the gold, untar-
nished and undiniinished. Thus it is with the genuine
character and peculiarity of true Christians. "Not of the
world;" as long as they are this side of the grave, they
are in the world. Their business is there, their sphere of
duty is there. They have so many secular interests, em
ployments, duties and sympathies, in common, in many
respects, with the world, that, inasmuch as their distinct-
ive character is in the inward man, it does not always
appear to the common observer, or in ordinary circum-
stances, how truly they are "a peculiar people," mixed
with, but not conformed to, the world, having much to do
with it, but living above it. Thus, to many, there seems
no difference of much moment between the character of
the real Christian, and that of many amiable, upright
people, who make no claim to that distinction. But the
real difference is immense. There is an entire contrast
of ruling dispositions, of chosen portion, of habitual re-
liance, and of actual relation to God.
On one side, the affections are on things on the earth.
Thus are they essentially worldly, some more than others,
but all, in their ruling dispositions and reliance, worldly,
Hence, they have nothing better than the world can give.
On the other side, the affections are set on things above,
in Christ, his will, his glory, his kingdom in some more
earnestly than in others, in some more manifestly than in
others, but in all that are Christ's indeed, really and ef-
THE CHRISTIAN NOT OF THE WORLD. 207
fectively. Thus is their character formed, and their
position determined. The two classes, in the sight of
God, are really two widely distinct people, having hearts
without sympathy with one another, in their governing
influences; having masters as opposite as the world and
heaven; consolations as different as things that are seen
and are temporal, and the things invisible and eternal, of
the kingdom of God. There are times when all this
becomes especially manifest times of affliction, when
ordinary supports have failed, and human relief is vain,
and the world seems to the sorrowing heart all a desert,
and all its cisterns dry. The faithful disciple of Christ is
not disappointed then, for he has expected nothing better
from the world. His consolation is not taken away, be-
cause it never depended on any thing here. He says to
the man of the world, journeying with him, "Let not
your heart be troubled; God is a very present help.
Our light afflictions, which are but for a moment, may well
be cheerfully borne, when we think of the everlasting rest
which remaineth for the people of God. Let the love of
Christ be our comfort, as we journey on to his kingdom."
But how little his worldly neighbor is able to receive such
consolation. It is something he has never learned. It
meets no sympathy within him. What cheers the Chris-
tian, only the more troubles him. The more the trials
press, and the world grows dark, the more in contrast
these travelers appear. One of them, as he walks in
darkness, is continually saying in spirit, "Who will show
me any good;" all is "vanity and vexation of spirit;"
there is none to comfort me ! The other, cast down, but
not destroyed, sorrowful, but rejoicing in God, has meat
to eat, his neighbor knows not of. "My soul, wait thou
208 SERMON IX.
only upon God, for my expectation is from him. In God
is rny salvation and my glory; the rock of my strength
and my refuge is in God."
The two travelers are drawing near to the valley of death.
How different their views of that passage. To one it is
the end of all his expectations ; to the other, it is the
entrance upon all the blessedness of his portion. To one,
it is leaving forever all he has ever loved; to the other, it
is going to all on which his love has ever been supremely
placed. Now they are stepping down together. The
waters are deep, the darkness is awful ; heart and flesh
are failing. " Who will help me ? " cries the man who
has not made God his trust. No voice answers. No kind
hand, able to support, is held out to him. He goes down
alone, in all that darkness, through all that awful way
all alone. The world has left him. His candle has gone
out. The waters get deeper and deeper. Not a ray of
light. Oh! how dreadful so to die. To leave all behind;
to have nothing to go to in eternity no refuge in God,
no portion in Christ. Where is his neighbor? Is he
alone? Hear him ! " My soul followeth hard after thee;
thy right hand upholdeth me." "The Lord is my shep-
herd; I shah 1 not want." It is the shadow of death,
but its darkness is turned to day. It is a strange path,
but his Saviour has trodden it before him, and taken
away all its terrors. It will soon open upon his home
and rest. Deeper and deeper he descends. Earnestly
and peacefully his spirit says, " I will fear no evil, for thy
rod and thy staff they comfort me." The deep waters
now threaten to overwhelm him. A voice whispers,
" When thou passest through the waters, I will be with
thee." He knows his shepherd's voice, and answers, "I
THE CHRISTIAN NOT OF THE WORLD. 209
will trust, and not be afraid." His sins assail him; his
unworthiness stares him in the face, and would paralyze
his hope. He answers, "I know in whom I have believed,
and that he is able to save me to the uttermost."
" Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his
saints." Jordan divides before his people, going to their
heavenly Canaan. Its floods overwhelm those who, being
not of the true Israel, are of the ivorld.
And now, as we are all soon to need all the help and
consolation we can get, let each of us ask himself, to
which class do I belong? Of the world or not? There is
no neutral position.
To those who know where they belong, and that the world
is their all allow me a few kind, earnest words. My
dear friends, I have endeavored to set before you the
real, the essential difference between your spiritual state
and that of God's people. You see that it is no inciden-
tal thing, but a radical difference of spiritual being. Their
bread is not your bread. Their chief happiness is not hap-
piness to "you. Their chief desires have no place in you.
Their God is not your God; your god is not theirs. The
difference is appalling. What can remove it on your part ?
How can you be as they? Do I hear you say, "Sup-
pose we should become more serious and thoughtful, as
regards religion; less interested with the idols of the
world; more sensible of the emptiness of all earthly things;
more secluded and circumspect ? And suppose we should
be unfailing in attendance on all religious services, private
and public, would this translate us into the condition of
those who are not of the world?" I answer, all this only
reaches the outer man. You might shut yourselves up
14
210 SERMON IX.
in a monastery, and by a process of self destruction, be-
come, in a sense, dead to the world; but it does not follow
that you would be alive unto God. Bodily sickness, even,
may easily make the world, and all in it, seem exceedingly
distasteful, but it cannot make us hunger and thirst after
God and holiness. What, then, must you do ? I go to
the foundation. There is but one answer. " Ye must be
born again" Nothing will do but a neiv heart. The differ-
ence is in moral nature. Nothing but an entire change of
moral nature will abolish it. The gradual brightening of
a worldly state into a spiritual, is just as impossible as to
burnish brass into gold. They want a common base ; they
can never be one. Your only way is to stop where you
are ; begin life anew ; seek the renewing of the Spirit of
God. Go down to the beginning of childhood ; arise from
thence to be the people of God. Begin to serve him, by
obtaining the new birth by his grace. "Except ye be
converted, and become as little children, ye cannot see the
kingdom of God." He is mighty to create you anew.
He is merciful to hear your cry, when you entreat him to
do so. Seek till you find.
To my brethren, who, as professed disciples of Christ,
are professedly not of the world, let me say Strive to
keep so far beyond the separating line, to have so strong
a sense of having your hearts fixed on " the things of the
Spirit of God," that it will not be necessary to search for
evidence of what you are, when the time of trial shall re-
quire the most ready and positive consciousness of being
the living children of God. " To be spiritually minded is
life and peace." The more of that mind, the more evi-
dence of spiritual life; the more enjoyment of the peace
of God.
THE CHRISTIAN NOT OF THE WORLD. 211
But consider the importance of living thus evidently
not of the world, with reference to the benefit of your
example. Your profession, at its lowest terms, is a high
profession. To be not of the world, while in it, a people
of a new heart and another home, with affections set on
God, is a high profession in such a world as this. Your
walk should manifest its truth. How impressive must it
be to the worldly, who have nothing beyond this world,
when they see in Christians that decided love of heavenly
things, that cheerful renunciation of whatever on earth is
inconsistent with a spiritual mind; that comfort in present
trials, derived from eternal prospects; that evident feeling^
that here they have no continuing city, but are seeking
one to come, which so properly belongs to their pro-
fession, as followers of Christ. Such examples are con-
stant sermons. You know how it is when people emigrate
to new countries, leaving the land of their birth for what
they think a better land ; how it affects their neighbors,
and often makes them dissatisfied till they go also. So the
effect will often be upon people of the world, when it is
plain, in the spirit and walk of their friends and neigh-
bors, especially their dearest relatives, that they have left
the world, and are now but strangers here, and are press-
ing on towards the heritage of the people of God. Men
may never go where other preaching can reach them.
Sermons in the pulpit, sermons in books, they can avoid;
but such living sermons they cannot escape. They go
wherever they go, and are perpetually saying to them,
"Why stand ye here all the day idle? Come away.
Go with us. The good land is inviting you, as well as
us. This is all barren ; that is all life. Here you must
212 SERMON IX.
perish ; there you will live forever." And that silent ser-
mon will be felt. It often unnerves the hardest heart.
And, by the blessing of the Spirit of God, honoring the
preaching of the word in the examples of his people,
many are thus made unwilling to put up with the world,
and are finally persuaded to put in their lot with those
who have renounced it, for the inheritance incorruptible
and undefiled, saying, "Whither you go, we will go; your
people shall be our people, and your God our God."
SERMON X.
THE TRUE ESTIMATE OF LIFE.
PSALM xc. 12.
" So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom."
THE Psalmist prayed for the teaching of God in number-
ing his days. What days, and what sort of numbering
did he mean ? Did he refer to his days that were past ?
But surely he could easily count them, without higher
help than that of his own memory. He knew his own
age. Did he refer then to days yet to come ? But how
could he have expected to be able to number those days?
Or how could he pray to be taught to number days, the
number of which God purposely, and in great wisdom,
conceals from all men? What then could he have
meant ? It is manifest, that whether he referred to days
past or future, he was speaking of numbering them in a
sense very different from the mere arithmetical estimate
of how many they had been or would be. It was a num-
bering such as mere numbers could not make. It was a
numbering that was not to be satisfied with ascertaining
how long he had lived or was to live. It required a higher
calculus, and it could not be effectively accomplished with-
out help from God. We understand him as if he had
said in his prayer, Teach me in my meditations upon the
214 SERMON X.
life I have already past, and upon the shortness, and un
certainty, and infinite interests dependent on the days
yet to be lived in this world teach me to become so deep-
ly impressed with the view of the time already lost, and
the need of diligence and faithfulness in improving the
time yet to come, as a steward of God, as one who is soon
to be called into judgment, as an immortal soul seeking
eternal life; that I may be led to apply my heart, my
whole heart, to that only true wisdom thy service, oh ! my
God-and the securing of thy peace and blessedness forever !
Ah ! brethren, there is need to pray for divine teaching
in the study of that lesson. There is heart-work as well
as head-work to be done. To apply the heart unto wisdom,
we must first apply our hearts unto God in supplication.
We need a mind enlightened by his Spirit, to be enabled
to take a right view of days that are gone, their lessons
of humiliation, of repentance, of warning, of thankful-
ness, of faith. We need wisdom from above, to be ena-
bled so to contemplate the future the future of this life,
and the future of the world to come all that, between
this and the grave, of which we know nothing but that
"the time is short; " all that beyond the grave which is
"unseen and eternal;" so to number those endless days;
so to measure the infinite interests at stake and the time
given us to secure them; so to see the days of this life
in comparison, and in their connection, with the days of
the life of the world to come, that we may not sleep as do
others, but be giving all diligence, redeeming the time,
working while it is called to-day, lest we fail of the
life eternal. Such numbering of our days, we desire
now to attempt. We would undertake it in prayerful
THE TRUE ESTIMATE OF LIFE. 215
dependence on the help of the Lord. May his teaching
guide the preacher and bless the hearer !
Let us begin with our days that are past. But how
shall we number them?' on what system by what rule ?
What standard of measurement shall we adopt ? Let us
take the great work of life, and measure by that. What
is it? The service of God; the salvation of the soul!
Life is given, life is preserved, for that work only. It can
be measured by none other. Every other line deceives.
Days have no right to be called days of life, that have
not been spent in that work. Many men are dead while
they live ; their natural life is all spiritual death. The
man who has just begun to serve God, "in spirit and in
truth," has already lived a longer term of real life than
all his life before, because he has now begun the true life,
for the one end of all life. He is "alive unto God" In
this respect, as there is an essential difference between
those who live unto God and those who do not; so there
is often a very important difference among those whom
we must believe to be truly God's people. Some of them
seem just to live. The most you can say of them is, that
they are not spiritually dead. The reality of life is too
feeble in them to give them any but a doubtful experience
of the power of godliness and the blessedness of the love
of God in Christ. The root of the matter is in them, but it
is little nourished by the word of truth and faithful prayer.
Weeds of earthly growth are all about it. The cold shade
of worldly conformity keeps away the cherishing influence
of the sun. There is no vigor, nor activity, nor lively
enjoyment of the spiritual life. The fruit is scanty just
enough to indicate life. Such days count but little. In
216 SERMON X.
other Christians, religion is the active out-working of a
heart earnestly aspiring after more conformity, in all its
affections, to God's will and holiness ; a heart of prayer, of
love, of zeal, of labor, of joy and peace in believing ; the
tree is constantly and rapidly growing in root, and branch,
and fruit, drinking at every leaf of the aliment which
every breeze brings to it, and every morning dew deposits
upon it. Such Christian life counts rapidly. Every day
adds to the numbering. No days are blank. A year of
such life is a longer life; tells more upon the business of
life; lays up more treasure in heaven; does more for the
glory of God; contains more of the light and joy of life,
than a whole long life of such slow, lukewarm, undecided,
half-worldly, unaspiring, down-hearted, dust-grovelling re-
ligion as many are contented with, from whom we could
not withdraw the name of Christian.
With the aid of this arithmetic, let us measure the
past. Let me first address those who trust they have
been born again, and have thus begun a new and spiritual
life. My Christian brethren, what was all that portion of
your days which elapsed before you thus began to live ?
What shall we call it in our present reckoning ? Was it
a time of life, or of death? What shall we call those
days of worldliness, but days of vanity and delusion ; days
of blindness and infatuation ; days of ingratitude, and
disobedience, and hardness of heart, and impenitence,
never to be remembered but with self-abasement before
God, and with wonder and praise that his long suffering
spared you to out-live them ? But taking your position
at that great era in your existence, when you were brought
to life, by being brought to God, endeavor to form some
THE TRUE ESTIMATE OF LIFE. 217
idea how much of your subsequent days should be num-
bered in such an estimate as we are now forming. How
old are you, as Christians, in growth of grace, in victory
over the world, in works of righteouness, in labors of love,
in preparation to die ? How much of your time have you
wasted ? In how much have you been faithful stewards
of the mercies and gifts of God? What return have you
made for the love of Him, whose whole life on earth, and
whose bitter death were for you ? Seen from a death-bed,
seen from eternity, how do your days appear? How
much dross will He find mixed up with the genuine gold,
who shall come to purify his people and " refine them as
gold and silver are refined? " Oh! what a soul-humbling
view does this method of numbering our days, bring to a
Christian; how it diminishes his real life to a humiliating
remnant of life, as ore out of the mine, when the fire
separates the gold ; how it shows him the need of a con-
trite heart for his best days, and of the atoning blood of
Christ, lest his best deeds and moments should bring him
into condemnation. Ah ! brethren, while you look to
yourselves for humiliation, you must look away from your-
selves for consolation. Other refuge have we none, but
the boundless mercy of God, through the intercession of
our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus, Saviour of my soul, let me
to thy bosom fly !
But I must call another class of my hearers to the
numbering of their days those who are conscious that
they have no title to the character of God's servants.
My friends, what is the just estimate of your past days ;
how many of them will bear examination by the light of
that day which shall drive away all delusions and dreams,
218 SERMON X.
as the sun dispels the mists of the morning ? How long
have you lived? I know an answer. Long enough, you
can say, to have had abundance of time to become ser-
vants of God; long enough to be blessed beyond measure
with the goodness, the patience, the compassion of God ;
long enough to be able to tell of innumerable privileges
and opportunities of grace neglected and lost; long
enough to heap up a fearful account of convictions unheed-
ed, light resisted, and calls of the Spirit of God neglected.
But is there not another and still more humiliating answer?
Has not all your life been one of sin and rebellion against
God ? I know it is a hard saying. But the question is
asked in tenderness and love, and let it be considered in
simplicity and sincerity, so that this present numbering of
your days may be as God will number them in the judg-
ment.
But how can your days have been only days of sin and
rebellion against God, when so much that is good and useful
to others, may have resulted from them ? True, you have
not been religious, but you may have been quite moral
and upright, living in the diligent discharge of the duties
of domestic life, and of the social bond ; exercising much
commendable kindness and benevolence, and active good-
doing towards your fellow creatures; and are you then to re-
gard your past lives as all lost and all sin ? Mind, we are
speaking of lost, with reference to the great end of life;
lost in respect to the one work given us to do in this
world. We are speaking of sin and rebellion against God,
as measured by the simple rule of the scriptures. You
send a laborer into your field to do a certain work, to
which you expect him to devote all the day. He does
THE TRUE ESTIMATE OF LIFE. 219
many things that are useful to others, but your work he
wholly neglects. Is not his time lost ? Has he not spent
his whole day in sinning against your command, and in
rebellion against your will ?
But the Saviour has given us the best illustration. " A
certain man, (it is written,) had a fig tree planted in his
vineyard?* You are represented in that favored tree. It
was "planted;" there was a purpose and object in its
being where it was. It was in "a vineyard;" not in the
open high way; not on the sterile heath; but on privileged
ground; fenced and cultivated. Such is your position.
God has a purpose in your being here. You have a cer-
tain end to answer. You are in the midst of facilities for
that end. The means of grace enrich the vineyard you
live in. The water of life flows through the midst of it.
But the parable proceeds : "He came and sought fruit there-
on, and found none" Such, also, is your precise position
before God. With all your opportunities, and privileges,
and mercies, knowing so well what God expects of you,
and with every motive to make you comply, God seeks
in you, every day, the fruit the reasonable fruit of all
his care, and culture, and goodness, and he findeth none.
None! not a branch is bearing; not an affection is devoted
to his service; no portion of life has been consecrated to
him. The parable proceeds : " Then said he unto the dres-
ser of his vineyard, lo! these three years have I come seek-
ing fruit on this fig tree, and find none; cut it doivn why
cumber eth it the ground ? "
Why cumber eth it the ground? Was it deserving of
such a hard saying ? True, that tree had never produced
the fruit for which it was planted, and thus it had entirely
220 SERMON X.
*
failed in rendering any return for its cultivation. But had
it done nothing else ? Had it been entirely useless ? Did
not the fowls of the air find a home in its branches? Did
not the weary laborer find rest and shade under its foliage ?
Did not its falling leaves enrich the soil for other plants
to feed on ? Yes ; but was it planted, was it placed in a
vineyard, had it been enriched and cultivated, for such
ends? It failed in the single object for which it was
planted, and nourished -fruit fruit after its kind. It
was therefore a cumberer of the ground, and was deservedly
cut down.
And is not this exactly your case ? You plead that
though you have not returned to God a life devoted to
his service, a life of love to him, and of the following of
Christ, your days have not been without usefulness in
various collateral relations. We deny it not. We hope it
is true of all of you, whom we are now specially address-
ing. But chat is not the question. Has God found in
you that fruit which every year, every day, he has sought?
Where has been your heart? On what have your affec-
tions been set? In what have you sought your happiness ?
Where has your treasure been ? Plead that you have not
lived in vain ; but have you lived unto God ? Can he
number your days as days of service to him, when another
will than his has held all the mastery ? The voice of God
has been following you at every step, saying : "My son,
give me thy heart;" and never has that voice been obey-
ed; always has that heart, with its whole energy of will
and affection, been given to other gods, the gods of the
vanities of this world; and is it too much then, my friends,
to say that therefore, as sure as the barren fig tree was con-
THE TRUE ESTIMATE OF LIFE. 221
demned as a cumberer of the ground, your days must be
numbered as only days of sin and rebellion against God ;
days in which, while all your life was the gift of his grace,
and all your blessings came from his Providence, and your
every breath was from his forbearance and mercy, God
was practically rejected, and his will denied. Alas ! this
is a fearful view of the past, especially as you know not
how shorfc the future will be before it becomes eternity. I
wish indeed, we had not to say such painful things to any
body. But when they are the solemn truth, the more we
love you, the more must we say them to you, affectionate-
ly, but so plainly that as much as possible, their painful-
ness may be felt.
And now we turn to the future. What future is there
to us, before that endless future begins its course ? How
many days to come may we number before that life comes
that has no days, or years, or centuries that ever and
ever, into which all years, all times, empty as rivers into
the ocean ? How long have we yet to live ? I mean, to
live here; for we have always to live. The Psalmist pray-
ed, "Lord, let me know mine end and the measure of my
days, what it is, that I may know how frail I am." Our
end, the measure of our days ! Of course, in the way of
numerical computation, we cannot know it now. But, in
the way of a serious impression of how near our end is,
and how precious our time is, we can know what it is.
We can do just as the Psalmist did. He measured his
days by the eternity of God. Thus he began : " Before
the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst
formed the earth or the world, even from everlasting to
everlasting, thou art God." " A thousand years in thy
222 SERMON X.
sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch
in the night." A thousand years in God's sight, but as
yesterday 1 Yea, because God's measure of duration is
eternity. The Psalmist, measuring by the same line, look-
ed at the longest age of man on earth. " The days of our
years are threescore years and ten ; and if by reason of
strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength
labor and sorrow, for it is soon cut off and we fly away."
"In the morning it flourisheth and groweth up; in the
evening it is cut down and withered." * Thus did a life
of fourscore years appear, when seen in the shadow of an
eternal future. Let us get that same view. Suppose
that by reason of strength we should lengthen out our
journey here, with labor and sorrow, to those four score years
How long they look from childhood; how short will
they look from a death-bed ! How long when we compare
them only with shorter periods, as a year is long compar-
ed with an hour ; but how short, in comparison with ev-
erlasting ages ! Oh ! Lord, so teach us to number our days ;
so teach us to feel their exceeding insignificance as they
stand beside eternity; so teach us to feel their unspeakable
magnitude and preciousness as days that must decide
what we shall be, where we shall be, what our endless
portion happiness with God, or misery in banishment from
God, forever and ever!
But threescore years and ten ! what right have we to
count on any such length of days ! "Boast not thyself of
to-morrow" saith the warning voice of God's word, "for
thou Jcnowest not what a day may Iring forth" " Go to,
ye that say, to-day or to-morrow 2ve ivill go into such a city
* Ps. xc., 2 and 4 ; 10 and 6.
THE TRUE ESTIMATE OF LIFE. 223
and continue there a year, and luy and sell and get gain,
2vhereas ye knoiv not what shall be on the morrow. For what
is your life ? It is even a vapor which appeareth for a
little time and then vanisheth aivay" * What a rebuke to
your confident calculations upon years to come ! What a
gloomy shadow ifc brings over all the schemes of a worldly
mind the buying, and selling, and getting gain, and lay-
ing up treasure on earth, and trying to be happy without
hope in eternity, and without God for a refuge and por-
tion. Oh ! what a gloomy cloud when you once realize,
as sometimes the most worldly mind is forced to do, that
all of life is such a mere vapor ; that its surest and proud-
est calculations may be so easily and awfully disappoint-
ed. Ye know not what ye shall be on the morrow. Ye
may be dead on the morrow ; ye may be disembodied
spirits on the morrow ; ye may have received your ever-
lasting condemnation on the morrow ; ye may be beyond
the reach of hope on the morrow; the eternal night of
darkness and of despair unutterable may have settled
down upon your soul, to-morrow. Oh ! that solemn warn-
ing, "Ye know not what shall be on the morrow" so often
preached by the funerals of those that die unprepared ;
that hand-writing on the wall of every earthly habitation
which so many are afraid to read, lest like the King of
Babylon in his banqueting house, their thoughts should
trouble them, and their eyes should see too plainly the
vanity and folly of their worldly idolatry; I would that it
could appear to you in every temple of Mammon, in every
house of feasting, in every street of business, in all the
cares and interests and attractions of home, in all scenes
/ * James iv., 13, 1-1.
224 SERMON X.
of gayety and mirth, everywhere* And if it be too seri-
ous, too impressive a monitor to suit your occupation ; if
the zeal of any worldly scheme, if the gayety of any plea-
sure, if the relish of any amusement, cannot bear to be so
confronted with the uncertainty of life and the nearness
of the judgment to come; if you could not read that wri-
ting of God without feeling it an unwelcome intrusion
upon your occupation or your pleasure, out of place be-
cause not in keeping with what you are about ; then be
sure your pleasure or occupation is out of place, not be-
fitting, either in itself, or else in the spirit in which you
pursue it, the position, the relations, the interests of a
sinner whose days are so few, and beneath whose feet, at
his next step, the grave may open, Oh ! let us try to real-
ize, always and everywhere, what we are, whither going,
what we have at stake, what we have to do. We speak of
dying. Shall we ever die ? Can we die if we would ?
We shall suffer dissolution. The mysterious bond between
body and soul will be divided. We shall depart hence.
But we this within, that thinks, and sees, and speaks this
soul, will never cease its thinking, and remembering, and
enjoying or suffering. It cannot die if it would. Once em-
barked in life, onward you must go, living and living
forever and ever; no door to escape out of being; no
refuge from the necessity of life ; one thing or other your
unchangeable portion the home of the saved, or the
portion of the lost.
How can we number the days of such a future ? There
is a way. If we cannot compute, we can contemplate.
We can survey the ocean, which we cannot measure ; we
can compare with its boundless bosom the narrow streams
THE TRUE ESTIMATE OF LIFE. 225
that empty therein ; we can consider the tides of life that
are continually pouring their contributions of immortal
souls into that eternity; we can think of all that is beyond
the horizon which now bounds our view, and ah 1 that is
beneath, in those fathomless depths which no mortal
thought can penetrate ; we can get an impressive sight of
what is length of days on earth, as measured by the con-
trast of the life to come a foot-print on an ocean shore.
We can thus obtain some view of the preciousness of a
good hope in Christ Jesus, and the unspeakable littleness
of every thing in comparison. We can so number the
days of that eternal future, as to form some answer to
that question of our Lord, which many dare not answer
What shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and
lose his oivn soul? And thus, we can realize something
of the folly of the man who makes this world his portion,
doing nothing to save his soul ; something of the weighty
argument that enforces those constant exhortations of the
scriptures " Be ye ready ; " " Prepare to meet your
God;" "Labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for
that which endureth unto everlasting life;" "Give all
diligence ; " "Work out your salvation with fear and trem-
bling;" "To-day, if ye will hear His voice, harden not
your hearts." One glance at eternity! a moment's draw-
ing aside of the veil! with what power would it preach
those exhortations; how it would expose the folly of a,
worldly life, and convince you of the preciousness of the*
refuge that is in Christ!
Brethren, must we not all adopt the prayer of the texr>.
" So teach us to number our days, that we may apply OWE-
hearts unto wisdom " ? Let our hearts be now applied to
15
226 SERMON X.
the study, that we may know what the true wisdom is
for us.
Son of man, have you secured a hope, in Christ, of ac-
ceptance with God? Are you laying up treasure in
heaven ? Have you repented, and fled to Him who is
our only refuge from the condemnation of sin ? Have
you the peace of God, and are you striving to retain it,
till he calls you to his presence? What answers your soul
to these questions ? "No ? I have not found, I have not
sought, I have not repented. Here I am, an immortal
soul, eternity at hand, all my work undone, all my porlion
here no home to go to when I die, no Saviour secured to
comfort and save when I go hence all God's mercies to
be accounted for, all his will undone." Then, poor sinful
man, what is the wisdom to which thy heart should be ap-
plied? Art thou willing to meet death in such a state ?
Canst thou stand before God in such a state ? Ah ! how
dreadful to have your day of grace ended in such a state.
What is wisdom? One thing is wisdom for thee; all
else is foolishness, in comparison. Apply thine heart in-
stantly, earnestly, entirely, to the effort to obtain the
peace of God, through that merciful and compassionate
Saviour, who waits to receive your petitions, to help your
infirmities, to cleanse you from your sins, and to embrace
you in his love. May I not entreat you, in the name of
that poor soul which you have so neglected ; in the name
of that eternal portion of bliss or woe which you have so
much forgotten ; in the name of that God whose peace is
so precious, whose wrath is a consuming lire ; in the name
of Jesus, that most gracious Saviour, whose love and
sufferings for you have been so ungratefully slighted;
THE TRUE ESTIMATE OF LIFE. 227
must I not entreat you, delay no more. Seek eternal
life, while it may be attained ; escape the wrath to come,
before it be come ; do the work of him that sent you, be-
fore he shall send for you to give account of your work ;
cease to cumber the ground with barrenness, lest barren-
ness and hopelessness be your portion forever. Oh ! seek
your endless portion in Christ. Bring that sin-fettered,
world-oppressed soul to Christ ! He will set it free.
Bring that poor, wearied, burdened, disappointed heart, to
Christ 1 He will give it rest. Dying sinner, whose days
are numbered, and whose sins have brought on you the
condemnation of God, flee to Christ, and he will be to
you a hope that maketh not ashamed, and a peace that
passeth understanding.
My Christian brethren ye who hope in Christ, and
trust you are his what is the lesson for you in the views
we have been taking? What is the wisdom to which
your hearts should be applied? I answer, the wisdom of
a greater earnestness in the whole work and life of a dis-
ciple of Christ. It is a short time you have to live for
the glory of your Lord in this evil world. It is a short
time you have to do good, where there is so much evil ;
and to seek the salvation of your fellow creatures, where
so many are perishing. It is a short time ye have to get
ready to meet death as Christians should meet it, rejoicing
in Christ your Saviour, and feeling that death hath no
sting remaining, nor the grave any fears. Ye are pre-
pared to die, if ye be in Christ Jesus; but ye may not be
so prepared as to feel prepared. Your sense of a good
hope may not be strong. Your evidence of being in
Christ may not be such as to free your minds from many
228 SERMON X.
painful doubts which you would fear to encounter on a
death bed. We want to go down into the valley and
shadow of death with our hope all determined, our conso-
lation all ascertained; no need of an anxious examination
of evidence; no room for a painful suspicion that we
have been crying peace, when there was no peace. We
want to be found prepared, not only to go safely, but joy-
fully; not only alive unto God, but looking for, and
hasting unto, that day, when he shall call us hence.
We want to be found with our loins girt about, as servants
waiting for their Lord; with our staif in hand, as pilgrims
waiting to go home ; with our lamps trimmed and burning,
as the wise waiting for the coming of Him who saith, " I
come quickly" Christian brethren, apply your hearts to
such wisdom. Seek to become more weaned from the
world. Endeavor to make the most profitable investment
of your remaining days, and of the talents entrusted to
you, for the good of man and the glory of your Lord.
Practise constantly on the rule of looking, not at the
things that are seen and temporal, but at those which
are not seen and eternal. Live, and pray, and work, as
those whose eyes are thus opened and thus elevated; who
see in open vision the things eternal the unseen God,
the unseen glory of his people, the eternal misery of the
lost. Seek a bright and shining hope; seek a strong
faith, that lays hold vigorously on the promises, and puts
on the whole armor of God, and stands complete in " the
righteousness which is of God, by faith." Be it your
every day's work to apply your hearts to that wisdom.
You will reap if you faint not. The hour of your death
will be your recompense.
THE TRUE ESTIMATE OF LIFE. 229
Brethren, friends all we must all pray to be taught
of God, or we shall never learn from the solemn lessons
we have been considering. What I have said to you to-
day, how often have you heard before, and with how little
benefit. How often have your days been numbered before
you, so that you have seen the shortness of your time
and your eternity just at hand, and have felt the exceed-
ing folly of a careless, worldly life, and have turned away
and continued the same careless, worldly life, as if the fu-
ture were all a dream, and the present were all the reality.
These world-blinded hearts, these sin-palsied hearts, how
slow to learn in such a school. To read the page is easy.
To understand the truth, and take it away in your mem-
ory, is easy. But to have it written in our hearts ; to get
its impression, and keep it, so that it shall abide in us; so
to learn the lesson, that we shall learn by it, and be wise
in heart, unto salvation; for this we must not trust our-
selves; we must pray; we must apply our hearts unto
Him who alone giveth wisdom; we must take the lesson
to the engraver, and beg Him who can write his law in
our inward parts, to grave it upon our hearts, so that
nothing shall erase it, and so it shall speak to us by the
wayside and the fireside, in our business and in our enjoy-
ments, in solitude and in company everywhere ; keep-
ing us solemnly in mind that the end of all things is at
hand; ever urging us to count all things but loss for
Christ, that we may be found in him. Oh ! yes, we must
pray Lord teach us so to number our days, so to ap-
ply our hearts! We must pray for one another. We
must pray for the careless and unconcerned. We must
pray for those who pray not for themselves. What we all
230 SERMON X.
need is, seeing "the time is short," and "the fashion of
this world passeth away," that "they that weep be as though
they wept not ; and they that rejoice as though they re-
joiced not; and they that buy as though they bought
not; and they that use this world, as not abusing it."
We want, not only an abiding sense of the shortness of
our time remaining for our great work, but an humble,
contrite sense of how the time past condemns us for our
unprofitableness, and a solemn sense of the unutterable
worth of the soul that each of us has to save, with such
a spirit of earnest application of life, and love, and
strength, to the following of Christ, that we certainly
shall not come short of the inheritance of his saints.
Lord, so teach us. Write that law of life on our hearts.
Evermore give us that wisdom. Help us to be ever
pressing " toward the mark, for the prize of our high call-
ing of God, in Christ Jesus." So teach us always to
pray, and always to learn ! Amen.
SEBMON XL
THE NATURE AND EFFICACY OF SAVING FAITH,
JOHN iii. 36.
"He that beleveth on the Son hath everlasting life ; and he that believeth
not the Son, shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him."
NONE who read the scriptures can fail to notice how much
is there made of faith) as essential to a truly religious
life, and the salvation of the soul. The jailor of Philippi
rushes in fear and trembling before his prisoners, Paul and
Silas, and begs to know what he must do to be saved.
Their simple answer is, " Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and thou shalt be saved." A poor blind man pushes his
way through a crowd, and gets to Jesus, begging that his
eyes may be opened. Jesus grants his prayer, opens his
eyes, and then ascribes all to his faith. "Thy faith hath
saved thee." Our blessed Lord sends his apostles to
preach the Gospel to every creature, and underwrites their
commission with these emphatic words: "He that believeth
shall be saved ; and he that believeth not shall be damned. "
But for strength of declaration on this head, we need not
look any further than the text: "He that believeth on the
Son hath life; and he that believeth not the Son, shall not
see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him." You see
how directly and essentially everlasting life is here con-
nected with the possession of faith in Christ. He that
232 SERMON XI.
has a true faith in Christ, is now in possession of life
eternal. He who has it not, is now abiding under the
wrath of God.
Now, we should not think much of the reflecting dis-
position of that man, who, accustomed to the usual
thoughts on the subject of saving faith, had never been
struck with something pparently so peculiar, so unlike
what we are accustomed to in all other interests of man,
in this absolute dependence of everlasting life and death
singly on the possession of faith in Christ, as to have felt
there was a difficulty which he would much desire to have
removed. I suppose there is a large number of minds,
among the respectful hearers of the gospel, who are con-
scious, all the time, of a want of satisfaction on that
subject; and another class, among serious and earnest
Christians, to whom, while it may present no difficulty, it
is a subject about which they feel that they have little to
say, except that it is the plan of Him who is infinitely
wise and merciful, thus to make believing in Jesus the
turning point of life or death to the sinner's soul.
We desire to show that there is much more to be said
than that; that faith is not so peculiar in its connection
with salvation, nor so unlike its position in all other con-
cerns of man, as is much imagined; that the exceedingly
prominent and essential position assigned to faith, in the
economy of our salvation, and in all the Christian life, in-
stead of having no parallel in other interests of man, is in
precise conformity with what we are familiar with in all
other human interests; so that, from all our connections
with nature and Providence, from all our worldly concerns
and relations, we should have had reason to anticipate
THE NATURE AND EFFICACY OF SAVING FAITH. 233
that the place and function of faith, in all our spiritual
interests, would be just what the scriptures represent it.
But I must first correct a prevalent, but very errone-
ous idea, of the nature of the faith required in the Gospel.
It is a common supposition, arising out of the great
things attributed to faith in the scriptures, such as the
believer's union to Christ, his justification in the right-
eousness of Christ, his victory over the world, &c., that
it is some principle of the regenerate heart, so peculiar,
so entirely above nature, and so exclusively pertaining to
the Gospel, that there is nothing elsewhere corresponding
to, or partaking of, its character. That there is such
a thing as faith between man and man, in the ordinary
concerns of human life, is of course understood; .but the
idea is, that between such natural faith, and that of the
Christian believer, successfully prosecuting the work of
his salvation, there is nothing in common. Faith that
saves the soul, through Christ, we know is asserted in the
scriptures to be "the gift of God"* It is therefore sup-
posed that it must be unlike, in all things, that faith
which is only the gift of nature.
We shall take good heed, that in correcting this idea,
we do not, in the slightest degree, reduce your conception
of saving faith, as being never a natural endowment of the
human heart, and never attainable by man without the
converting grace of God; never attained but by the di-
rect act of the Holy Spirit upon man's mind and heart,
convincing him of his ruined state as a sinner, condemned
under the law of God; revealing to him the preciousness
of Christ, as his only and perfect refuge, and enabling
*Eph. ii. 8.
234 SERMON XI.
him to embrace and rest thereon with a joyful hope of
salvation. Faith is thus most truly and exclusively "the
gift of God" But must we not say the same of love to
God? Is not the love in which all the law is fulfilled,
and which, in its various degrees of perfectness, is the
sum and substance of all piety, as much the gift of God
as saving faith? And yet, do any suppose that it is a
grace so peculiar to vital religion, so entirely supernatural,
that in the natural man there is no corresponding affec-
tion? Is not the love of a dutiful son to an affectionate
father an emotion very nearly corresponding to that of a
child of God towards his Father in heaven ? Must we
have an entirely new affection created within us, before
we can love God ; or only an old natural affection made
new by having a new heart given to it; made new by be-
ing transferred from the creature to the Creator, and set
upon our Father in heaven? And when, according to the
scriptures, we hold, that the love of God in our hearts
cometh only by the gift of his Spirit working in us, what
is meant, but that the affection of love, implanted in us by
nature, and kept, by the bondage of our fallen nature,
grovelling amidst earthly things, and incapable of ascend-
ing to God, has been, by the power of his Spirit, regen-
erated, purified, and exalted, so that what was before
only the supreme love of the world, and the things there-
in, is now the supreme love of God and his will. In a few
words, to love is the gift of nature. To love God is the
gift of grace.
Now, precisely what we have said of the nature and
peculiarity of the love of God in the heart, is equally
true of a saving faith in Christ. In our unregenerate
THE NATURE AND EFFICACY OF SAVING FAITH. 235
state, faith is as universal as love; The child trusts in
his m ther as naturally as he loves her. Mutual reliance
is as natural between man and man as mutual love.
This reliance is nothing lout faith, in its entire definition.
And the difference between such natural faith and reli-
gious, saving faith, is not that they are two entirely
separate things, but that the one is regenerated into the
other; a new heart is given it, so that now, instead of
satisfying itself with earthly things to trust in, it embra-
ces the heavenly ; instead of contenting itself with hew-
ing out to itself cisterns that can hold no water, it rests
for happiness upon the fullness of God ; instead of seek-
ing salvation in our own righteousness, it embraces
promises of God in Christ, and in doing so embraces the
Christ in all the offices and relations which he sustains
to us; his will as well as his grace; the precept of his
present service as well as the hope of his everlasting
blessedness. And because this great change can no more
take place in the natural faith of the heart than the cor-
responding change in the heart's natural love, without the
direct gift of God's Holy Spirit, therefore, most justly is
it said of saving faith, that it is "not of yourselves, hit the gift
of God" So that just as we said of love, we now say of
this. Faith is the gift of nature. But saving faith in
Christ is exclusively the gift of grace. To believe and
to live by faith, is born with us, To believe with the
heart in Christ, and live thereby unto God, is not ours till
we are born again.
But we advance a further step. Not only do we find
in the natural faith of men that which is so akin to the
saving faith of the Gospel; but the exceeding prominence
236 SERMON XI.
assigned to the latter in thewliole plan of salvation, in
all our spiritual interests and duties, is precisely corres-
pondent to the position held by the natural faith of man,
in all his temporal concerns ; in all that constitutes the
welfare of human society ; so that it would be a departure
from all that we are accustomed to in the divine arrange-
ments for our secular interests and duties, did we find in
the provisions of the Gospel for our spiritual and eternal
welfare, any less essential and prominent position assigned
to faith than that in which the scriptures have placed it.
But you tell me that such is the exceeding prominence
of faith in the religion of Christ, that every thing in the
saving of the soul is made to hinge on that one gift ; that
without it there can be no true piety, no interest in
Christ, no salvation ; and with it, we are " in Christ," and
have eternal life ; that it is the tree to which all the other
manifestations of personal religion belong as its fruit, and
without which they can no more be produced than grapes
can grow without the stock and root of the vine. True !
But what less can you say of natural faith in all that per-
tains to the personal, domestic and social relations of man
in the present life ? Does not the whole movement of
this world, as a world of mind and heart and mutual inter-
ests and innumerable connections, between man and man,
turn upon the single pivot of faith ?
Take man at his birth. What is the whole existence
of the feeble, helpless infant, but a life of the most
simple, implicit faith. He literally lives ly faith. Take
away his unquestioning faith in his mother's love and care,
and what will become of his life ? And when the time
arrives for his education, how can he receive the first
THE NATURE AND EFFICACY OF SAVING FAITH. 237
communications of knowledge but by an elementary and
implicit faith? Must he discuss the necessity or the pro-
priety of the alphabet before he will receive it ? And to
the end of life, how large a part of all he will ever know
as matter of fact, must be known by faith only ; by reli-
ance on the testimony of men ! How can he know of
distant lands which he never sees, but by such faith alone ?
Suppose a man to have no faith in his fellow-man, and
what can you imagine more helpless or more wretched!
Suppose a family, the members of which are without faith
in one another, and how is it possible there can be any
family life ? And thus advancing to the social relations
of a whole nation, how immediately would you dissolve
the bonds of civilized communities, and annihilate ah 1 the
combinations and reciprocal dependencies which make the
basis of society, and how would you substitute a condition
worse than even of the lowest barbarism you ever heard
of, were you to take away from a people merely their
faith in one another. Nothing more distinguishes a civil-
ized from a savage state, than the extension of the exer-
cise of faith. By the growth of faith in one another,
combinations for mutual benefit become more easy and
more numerous and more efficient. Thus arise power
and accumulation of the means of further improvement.
Knowledge grows with this union of minds. Laws extend
their protection, because men rely on one another for their
observance and support. Commerce spreads its wings,
and arts and all the blessings of cultivated life attain do-
minion on the strength of the confidence of man in man.
How lives the vast system of pecuniary exchange that
binds the whole business world together, embracing in its
238 SERMON XL
connections, all countries, all classes, all interests, so that
were it stopped, there must take place a dissolution in
the secular interests of men like that in our bodies, when
the circulation of the blood has ceased; how lives that
whole system but by faith? And in the world of letters,
what if the faith that now receives and acts confidently
on reports of distant lands, or of important phenomena in
nature, or of valuable experiments in science, were extinct,
so that instead of being ever willing to rely on human
testimony, we must verify everything by our own obser"
vation or experiment how then could knowledge increase
or science advance; what could we ever know beyond
the narrow horizon of our own personal inspection ? How
know we even to prepare for the morrow, but by our faith that
the laws which regulate the present, will alike extend into
the future ? Certainly it needs no more words to show
how innumerable are the ramifications of faith in our
most ordinary concerns; how they run in all directions,
extend to^all particulars, and embrace the utmost extremi-
ties of the social system, so as not only to bind together
its several members in one harmonious movement, but
like the arteries in our bodies, to supply the very life by
which it exists.
But is there any thing beyond this in the importance
attached to faith in the Gospel ? Is that faith in our
Lord Jesus Christ, which is "the gift of God," of any
more necessity to the present life of piety within us or to
the future salvation of our souls, according to the revela-
tion of God in the scriptures, thin is that faith which is
the gift of nature to the dearest earthly interests of every
individual, family and nation?
THE NATURE AND EFFICACY OF SAVING FAITH. 239
But let us come to some of the special powers and effects
of faith, as ascribed to it in the scriptures.
We read, for example, in an epistle of St. John, that
"whatsoever is born of God, overcometh the world; and
this is the victory that overcometh the ivorld, even your
faith"'' It is a property, then, of a living and saving
faith, that it overcomes the world. Faith in the individual
Christian, will give him, through the power of God, such a
victory over the world, that he will successfully resist all
the influences with which it opposes his going out of it,
and living unto God, and journeying toward the heavenly
land. It will make him victorious in his daily conflicts
with its temptations, and will carry him triumphantly to
the end of his pilgrimage, where the battle will cease and
the crown of life be gained. The same faith will make
the whole Church of Christ, by the power of its Divine
Head, ultimately victorious over the whole world. By faith,
it will "subdue kingdoms;" it will remove mountains of
obstacle now presented by idolatry, and superstition, and
worldliness, and all sinfulness ; it will "quench the violence
of fire," which the combined powers of infidelity, and
popery, and anarchy will kindle around it ; a Red sea of
dangers will divide before it; the walls of the mystic
Babylon, like those of Jericho of old, will fall before it; it
will stop the mouths of lions, gnashing their teeth against
it ; it will "have trial" hereafter, as in past ages, "of cruel
mockings and scourgings yea, moreover, of bonds and
imprisonment ;" and many of the children and soldiers of
faith may be slain; but it is written in the "sure word of
prophecy," that " the kingdom, and dominion, and the
* 1 John, v. 4,
240 SERMON XI.
greatness of the kingdom, under the whole heaven, shall
be given to the people of the saints of the Most High,
whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all nations
shall serve and obey Him."* And this is the victory that
by the power of God, will thus overcome the world, even
the combined faith of the people of God. And what is
all this but just, in greater extension, what faith has been
achieving from the beginning ? Did not Moses overcome
the world by a wonderful victory, when he refused the
honor, and power, and wealth connected with being " called
the son of Pharaoh's daughter;" and "esteemed the re-
proach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of
Egypt ?" And was it not his faith, " enduring as seeing
Him that is invisible," and "having respect unto the
recompense of the reward " at God's right hand, that
gained that victory ? j And did not faith overcome the
world in each soldier of that noble army of martyrs, who,
amidst the persecutions of all ages, enlisted under Christ,
and fought a good fight, and finished their course, and enter-
ed into the glory of God, " more than conquerors?" The
world slew them ; but in consenting to be slain, rather than
obey the world to the dishonoring of Christ, they over-
came the world. The same was the victory of that " glori-
ous company of the Apostles," who by faith in the words
of their Lord, "lam with you always, even to the end of the
world" issued forth from Jerusalem, to assault, single
handed, the empire of darkness, over the whole earth,
and ceased not their work till a great multitude in every
land had renounced the world and become obedient unto
God.
But is there any thing singular or strange in this con-
*Dan. vii. 27. fHeb. xi. 24-27.
THE NATURE AND EFFICACY OF SAVING FAITH. 241
nection of faith ? Is there nothing analogous thereto in
what the natural faith of man accomplishes away from the
duties of the service of God ? I would not for a moment
keep out of view the infinite superiority of a gospel faith
over every other form and operation of faith, in its pro-
perty so to enable the Christian to overcome the world,
that in his heart, and spirit, and life, he is no more of it;
but one of "a peculiar people," who declare, in all their
affections and life, that they " have here no continuing city
or abiding place, but are seeking one to come." "No man
can do such miracles except God be with him." But there
is a faith which, in an unspeakably lower field, and for in-
finitely less precious ends, and against far less opposition,
overcomes the world. The man who sets his heart, not
indeed on treasure in heaven, but upon the treasures of
golden mines in a far distant land, and puts such faith in
the promises of wealth to him who will go there and search
the sands, and the rocks, and encounter all the perils and
endure all the hardships inseparable from the effort, that
notwithstanding all the resistance of all that he loves, and
all that he has in this world, he makes the needed sacrifice
of every personal comfort, and domestic attachment, and
worldly connection ; and, with a brave will, battles all the
dangers and difficulties of the long, disheartening journey
by the way of the wilderness and the savage, fearing
neither hunger, nor cold, nor nakedness, and reaches at
last the scene of his anticipated labors is there no vic-
tory that overcometh the world in him? True, it is the
power of a worldly dominion in his heart overcoming the
obstacles of the world without ; it is a victory that uses
the attractions of one promise of the world against those
16
242 SERMON XI.
of all the world besides ; it only makes the conqueror,
more than ever, the slave of the world ; but it is a great
victory to be gained over such obstacles and at such cost ;
and that which obtains it is faith. Nothing but strong
faith in the promises that came from that distant land,
of golden gains; faith investing those things unseen and
distant with the influence of things present and seen, could
take such possession of the mind, and nerve it for such
labors and sacrifices.
But let us take another example. A great Captain
overcame with his armies .many nations - a large part of
the earth. But how ? Not by superiority of numbers,
for the vanquished nations far exceeded his array. Not
by superior personal courage, for armies are generally
much alike in that respect. Superiority of discipline is
said to have decided the contest. But what is the soul,
and bond, and strength of military discipline, but faith ?
That which binds the regiment into one compact and
steady array, and enables it to move as one man, obeying
without confusion, and without fear, the orders of the
head, unbroken by assault, unaffected by dangers, is not
the mere practice of evolution, but it is something without
which all such practice would come to nought in the hour
of conflict confidence, reliance not the reliance of each
man upon himself, but of each in all the rest; and, espe-
cially, the confidence of all in the leading head. The
weak are made strong by such faith. The fearful are
made bold by such faith. The hundreds have overcome
the thousands by such faith. Without it, the strong be-
come weak, the bold become fearful ; and the greater the
number, the worse the defeat and the dismay.
THE NATURE AND EFFICACY OF SAVING FAITH. 243
I am well aware that whatever examples I may produce
of the operation of the natural faith of man surmounting
great difficulties, and accomplishing great victories, in
pursuit of some engrossing end, must come immeasurably
short of a just resemblance, in many respects, of that
elevated faith which is " mighty, through God," to over-
come the world. But we are looking for analogies, not
equals ; for faith in the world, occupying a position towards
the world, similar, in its low and contracted sphere, to that
of faith in the hearts of those who are "not of the world"
in its high endeavors to attain the kingdom of God.
There is certainly a boundless difference in character
and spirit between the faith that overcomes the world out
of the love of it, and that it may have the more of it
and that which overcomes the world because it has re-
nounced it, and is endeavoring to get as much delivered
as possible from its entanglements and attractions. You
describe a vast gulf between the two, when you say of the
faith which God gives by his grace, that it " worketh by
love," the love of God, the love of holiness, the love of
unseen and eternal blessedness with Christ ; and can say
nothing better of the faith that is naturally in us, than
that, if it ever work by love, it is only by the love of
things on the earth, as empty and fleeting as the shadow.
And in point of operation, what comparison is there between
the faith which, in accomplishing its ends, has no power to
rest on but man's, and that which, because it is engaged
in the work of God, in obedience to his word, and in the
assurance of his promises, has the power of his omnipo-
tent arm to nerve it and make it victorious? The former
can never rise above the arm of flesh it leans to. All it
244 SERMON XI.
gains is of its own level. The latter must rise to the arm
above, which it holds to. Its conquests must be as high
as heaven, and as eternal as God.
But vast as is the difference in point of character and
operation, there is a strict analogy between the position of
our natural faith as connected with every worldly enter-
prise, and that of a saving faith as connected with the
great enterprise of every Christian believer, to overcome
and live above the world.
But let us take another instance of the great promi-
nence assigned to faith in the scriptures. We read the
words of our Lord Jesus, where he says: "/ am the
bread of life ;" in which single expression he embraces all
our salvation as being found in him. Then he says : "He
that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on
me shall never thirst ; " * thus making faith not only the
way, but the certain way, by which we are to partake of
him and live forever. St. Paul, in enforcing this doc-
trine, said : " We are made partakers of Christy if ^ue hold
the beginning of our confidence (faith) steadfast unto the
end ; " | thus teaching that not only is it faith that ob-
tains Christ and makes him ours, but that it is the stead-
fast continuance of faith alone that retains him as ours,
and will finally insure to the soul the everlasting posses-
sion of that living bread. And in the same connection
are the words of the text : " He that believeth on the Son,
hath everlasting life." The act of faith is here immedi-
ately connected with our being partakers of Christ, with
our coming into saving union with him, and being justi-
fied in his righteousness; and thus it is connected with the
* John vi. 35. f Heb. iii. 14.
THE NATURE AND EFFICACY OF SAVING FAITH. 240
present possession of life with God, and life everlasting.
But this wonderful blessing, consequent upon the simple
act of believing with the heart in Christ, is it illustrated
by any analogy to be found in the efficacy of that faith
which resides naturally in man, and operates in his daily
interests ?
What is it that goes on continually between the physi-
cian and the sick? A man is dying with a malady,
against which all his own efforts, and the skill of those
about him, have proved ineffectual. He is told of a phy-
sician at a distance, of whose power over disease he
receives such evidence and assurance, that .he is per-
suaded that if he can only get to him he can be saved.
At much expense and much effort, in his weakness, he
goes to that physician, places himself in his hands, sur-
renders himself implicitly to his direction, to be conformed
in all things to his requirements. Thus he comes into
union with that physician. There is a vital connection
formed between the malady of the one and the power of
the other. The sick man is thus a partaker of the phy-
sician, in all his skill and power to heal. But what has
made him thus a partaker? what has formed this union,
whereby he escapes from death? Is it not bis faith?
It was simply because he so fully believed in the physi-
cian, that he came to him; that he placed himself in his
hands; that he obeyed all his most painful requirements.
Without faith he would not have done so. By faith was
the union formed between himself, as dying, and the skill
of that physician, as mighty to save him.
Now, you well know that the salvation which is offered
to us in Christ, is presented to us in the light of a gra-
246 SERMON XI.
cious and all-sufficient remedy for our dying condition
under the internal dominion of sin, and the condemnation
of God's violated law. Jesus comes to us as the physi-
cian, mighty to save to the uttermost all who believe in
his name. He "healed all that came unto him," in the
days of his ministry on earth, of all their " divers diseases
and torments" of body, in order to show how ready and
able he is to comfort and deliver all that ever thereafter
should mourn the power of sin, and the burden of its
condemnation on the soul.
Let us then suppose the case of a sinner thus feeling
his spiritual necessities. He has tried all .the expedients
which self-reliance and human aid could suggest, and now
feels that he is as helpless as he is sinful and needy.
The gracious call of Christ is heard, saying, "Come unto
me, and I will give you rest." It comes to him with convin-
cing evidence that to Christ he cannot apply in vain. He
comes to the Saviour, embraces his promises, surrenders
himself to his grace, submits himself to his will. Thus
are all his necessities brought into union with all the
saving grace that is in Christ Jesus. Thus does he be-
come a "partaker" in all which that gracious physician
has invited him to seek in him. He now hath life in
Christ. And what has brought him to that possession ?
What has set him down at the feet of Jesus, to do just
what he directs, but faith ? It was because he did not
believe in any other refuge, that he renounced all others.
It was because he did believe in this one refuge, that he
fled to it, and was made partaker in its salvation; and
now he will be jthe final partaker of Christ unto life eter-
THE NATURE AND EFFICACY OF SAVING FAITH. 247
nal, if he shall only " hold the beginning of his confidence
steadfast unto the end"
Thus, we are prepared for the strong declaration of the
text: "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting
life ; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life,
but the wrath of God abideth on him."
We do not see but that, as regards the points now in
view, that text, in its first declaration, has its entire
parallel and illustration in the case of every sick man,
who, in reliance upon a physician's skill, applies to him,
adopts his prescriptions, and is delivered from death by
his cure; and in its second declaration, has its entire par-
allel in the case of every sick man who might equally be
healed, but, because he chooses some other help, and will
not entrust his case to him who is able to heal, must die.
He that believed in the physician, has life. He that be-
lieveth not, shall not have life, but the power of death
abideth on him.
If God, in his wise providence, has thus suspended the
cure of the body upon the exercise of faith, is it a matter
of wonder that in the appointments of his grace, he should
make the salvation of our souls as much dependent on
the exercise of a true faith in the exclusive sufficiency of
our Lord Jesus Christ? Do we not see that the position
of faith in the Gospel, as essential to our being partakers
of Christ, so far from being such a peculiarity of the Gos-
pel, that it has no parallel any where else, and has no
explanation but that so hath God ordained, is no more
than the carrying out, in our highest concerns, of the
ways of God, as they are ordered in all the temporal inter-
ests of man, so that if it were possible that we should be
248 SERMON XI.
saved through Christ, in any other way than by believing
upon him, it would be a departure, not only from the re-
peated dec arations of God's word, but also from all the
ways of his providence.
In truth, the position of faith in the heart of the Chris-
tian as regards the life of his piety, and the strength of all
its operations towards God, is just the restoration of what
dates its origin as far back as the creation. Faith in God
was as much the feature of man before he fell under the
power of sin, as love to God. His whole perfect walk was
of the simplest, most implicit and affectionate trust. The
divine word on which his faith rested, was written in his
own enlightened conscience and faithful heart ; was writ-
ten in every illuminated page of the great volume of
nature ; was heard in his direct and daily communion with
his Maker. None, ever since, have walked as perfectly
by faith, as did Adam, before he fell; as none have ever
walked as perfectly in love. " Faith that worketh by
love," was more mature in Paradise than it has ever been
out of it.
But the fall of man dislocated both his love and faith.
It destroyed neither; but it separated both from God.
Love remained ; but not love to God. Faith remained;
but not a living faith in God. And now the prominence
of our natural faith in all the concerns of this life; its con-
tinual and essential operation, from the most simple trusting
of childhood, through all the complex reliances of our man-
hood; and then down again to the simplicity of a second
childhood, so that it is as true in secular life as in spiritual,
that we live by faith -what is all this but the remnant,
the detached fragment, of that implicit, and all compre-
THE NATURE AND EFFICACY OF SAVING FAITH. 249
hensive, faith in God which once reigned supreme in the
heart of man; and which, because it embraced the whole
will of God, connected itself with and sanctified the
whole world that God created ? Faith then, was all reli-
gious faith, whatever its secular connections; because
then the most ordinary and secular act and interest was
directly associated with and part of the service and wor-
ship of God. All life was religion, as all religion was
life.
Now, it is the office of the grace of God, dispensed
through Christ our Mediator, to restore religious faith to
its original supremacy in the heart and life of man ; to
regenerate the present natural faith in the creature, so
that it shall be a living, saving faith in the Creator ; to
take up that fallen fragment as it lies broken away from
God, like a chain that has lost its upward fastening, and
now is dragging along in the dust ; to lift it up again to
God ; link it again to his throne ; then carry it from man
to man, till every heart has moored itself thereto ; and so
to unite all mankind in one happy reliance on the prom-
ises, in one happy obedience to the will, in one happy par-
' ticipation in the blessing and salvation, of God.
But in saying that the faith required of the Christian
for salvation, is just the restoration of a faith which is as
old as the creation of man, I must be understood as speak-
ing only of its essential nature and its prominent position in
religion. In the exercise of faith, there is something pecu-
liar to the Gospel, and which, before sin came into the
world, and the promise of a Saviour was made, could not
exist. Religion and salvation are now so inseparably asso-
ciated in our thoughts, that we can scarcely imagine them
250 SERMON XI.
divided. But before the coming in of sin, man's religion,
which was then in its perfectness, had no reference to sal-
vation. There was no salvation to be attained, because
there was nothing lost. Man was safe, as long as he con-
tinued what he was. But he sinned, and thus was lost.
A salvation and a Saviour were now required. Hence-
forth religion was all about salvation; and the Saviour,
then promised, and now sent of God to seek and to save
that which is lost, became, as he ever must be, the great
and precious object and refuge in the sight of sinners.
To get to Christ; to be partakers of him, in all his offices,
as the one Mediator between God and man, became at
once the great matter. Thus it is that faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ^ faith as the approach of the soul to him who
is the sinner's way to God and God's way to sinners, be-
came so leading a feature in true religion; not faith in any
new prominence, but in an entirely new direction; not faith
rendered any more essential to religion than it was before,
but performing its essential office by seeking deliverance
from a misery which man had not before, and embracing
a remedy which man needed not before ; faith seeking
God, by first resting in a Mediator, and looking unto Jesus
as the Author and the Finisher of all its hope.
But we must not omit to speak of a peculiarity in the
saving faith whereby we become partakers of the right-
eousness of Christ, which eminently distinguishes it from
that natural faith of the human heart with which we have
compared it. It is described as "faith that worketh ly
love"* That is, not only is it working, operative, influ-
ential, as all faith, whether of the natural or regenerate
heart, whether occupied with secular or eternal things,
*Gal. v.6.
THE NATURE AND EFFICACY OF SAVING FAITH. 251
must be, unless it be only nominal ; but the operative
character of saving, gospel faith, is distinguished by this
notable peculiarity, that "it worketh ly love" by the love
of him on whom its trust is placed, Jesus Christ ; by the
love of God, unto whom it comes through Christ ; by the
love of his will and service, and by the love of all his
people for his sake. Hence the true believer is drawn by
the affections of his heart to desire, and to walk in, the
path of holiness ; not merely because, without holiness, he
knows he cannot be saved, but because he loves holiness
as the very image and likeness of God. Take away that
operative love, thus drawing him to delight in the will of
him on whose promises his faith is placed, and that faith
is dead. It is but the lifeless form of faith, about as much
like the saving faith of the gospel, as a corpse is like the
living man. It may join him to the visible Church, but it
cannot unite him to Christ; it may make him a partaker
of the visible fellowship of true believers, but it cannot
introduce him to that invisible communion wherein true
believers are partakers of Christ, in the imputation of his
righteousness to justify them, and the communication of
his Spirit to sanctify them.
But it is needless to show that the natural faith of the
human heart, which, as we have seen, in point of prom-
inence and importance in secular affairs, is so analogous to
that of the Gospel, has no such attribute. It is a working
faith, however. It is not dead in regard to its appropriate
office. It strongly embraces all the promises it has to
rest upon. But it does not necessarily work by love.
For example, is it the faith of the sick man seeking the
physician's aid, trusting in his skill, conforming to his
252 SERMON XI.
directions ? It is operative, it is obedient, and it may be
successful, though, in place of having any love for the phy-
sician, or for the obedience of his will, by which to work,
there may be the strongest aversion to both, an aversion
overcome only by the stronger love of life.
And now let me return once more, in conclusion, to
the particular words of the text :
"He that believe th on the Son, hath everlasting life"
He " hath the Son" because his faith has applied to the
Son. He hath life, because in the Son is " the life of
men." He hath " everlasting life ; " as he that hath the
inexhaustible fountain, hath the endless stream. Is Christ
our righteousness, wherein we are justified before God?
Faith brings us to, and makes us partakers in, that right-
eousness. Is Christ our sanctification, whereby we are made
meet for the presence of God ? Faith brings us to, and
makes us partakers in, that sanctification. And the union
of those two is life, with God, and unto God "life ever-
lasting;" the same life precisely as that which saints made
perfect enjoy in the immediate vision of God, and in the
boundless bliss of his kingdom ; except that here, it is the
stream, begun and flowing on, impeded and obscured by
the nature it flows in ; but growing wider, and deeper, as it
proceeds; while there, it is the ocean, without measure, and
without impurity the united life of all the saints of God,
in their utmost perfectness of communion with his infinite
fullness.
But we must mark more particularly, that the words of
the text are in present time. They declare, that "he that
believeth on the Son, hath everlasting life." The posses-
sion of life, in other words, is immediate on the possession
THE NATURE AND EFFICACY OF SAVING FAITH. 253
of faith. When the sinner believes with his heart, as
soon as he so believes, he hath that life, that peace with
God, that justification, that sanctification; yea, justifica-
tion complete, because in that there can be no degrees or
progression ; but sanctification begun, as the morning light,
and going on to the perfect day of holiness in heaven.
But the text contains as positive a declaration of the
present possession of the ivrath of God ly him ivho leliev-
eth not. " He that believeth not the Son, shall not see
life ; but the wrath of God abideth on him." " The wrath
of God abideth " NOW, on every one that hath not faith
in Christ. He waits not for the day of judgment. He
"is condemned already."* Does this seem a hard saying?
But is it not the necessary result of these two facts,
namely : that you have sinned against God, and that
you have not embraced the only terms of his forgiveness?
If I find a man under the power of a deadly disease, and tell
him of one that can and will heal him, if he will only trust
himself to his care; and then, when he will not do so, but
prefers to trust the power of his own nature to overcome the
malady, and so goes on to die, would it be strange, if I
should say, because he will not put his trust in that physi-
cian, he cannot have life ; but the power of death abideth
on him?
A raging flood, we will suppose, has overflowed the land ;
a family, surrounded by the waters, has gathered to the
last foothold; the tide is rapidly rising ; soon they must
be swept away. But see ! a boat hastens to their relief-
A rope is thrown, and a voice cries to them, " come away ;
seize the rope ; trust its strength and we will save you."
One grasps it eagerly, and is drawn aboard and rescued.
*John iii. 18.
254 SERMON XI.
The others hesitate, and linger, and look around for some-
thing else. They hope the waters will not rise any more.
They will hope to be saved where they are. But now the
moment of rescue is over the boat can stay no longer.
The flood increases, and takes them all away. And what
is the most appropriate language concerning them ? None
better than that of the text : He that believeth is saved;
but they that believed not, cannot live, but 'the wrath of the
flood abideth on them. And what is this but, under an-
other form, the precise case of those who believe not on
the Lord Jesus Christ? They are sinners. They have
therefore incurred the condemnation of God. They have
come under his wrath. Have they ever obtained the
removal of that wrath ? The only Saviour has come to
save them; has come near to them; has stretched out
his hands unto them; has entreated them to embrace his
salvation; but they have turned away from him; they
will not rest their hearts upon his grace. What follows ?
Why, they remain, of course, just as they were ; their
sins unpardoned ; their souls without peace. Let that
unbelief, that neglect of Christ, go on to death, and they
can never see life ; but the wrath of God abideth on them
forever and ever. Surely it is not wonderful, that, reject-
ing the ark you must abide the flood; that, neglecting to
avail yourselves of the only salvation, you should remain
the lost to all eternity.
But there is one thing to be noted here of great seri-
ousness. The drowning man does not make the depth in
which he sinks, any the deeper or more terrible, because
he will not seize the hand extended to rescue him. But
not so with the sinner, abiding and sinking under the con-
THE NATURE AND EFFICACY OF SAVING FAITH. 255
demnation of sin, and who yet neglects the great salva-
tion which the wonderful love and grace of God have pro-
vided for him at so much cost, and pressed upon his
acceptance with so much compassion. That neglect,
though it be merely neglect, and rise not to a more posi-
tive rejection of Christ, is itself awful sin, covering the
soul with guilt; enough of itself to ruin you forever; and
consequently, to a dreadful extent, increasing the weight of
the condemnation abiding already. This is not often con-
sidered by sinners in this unhappy state. What they for-
feit by not taking refuge in Christ, they may sometimes
think of. But what they get by that course, they do not
consider. Not to accept Christ I What is it but to re-
ject him ? Take care, my hearers, that you understand
this. No matter how confidently you may expect, some-
time hereafter, to embrace Christ ; the denial of your pres-
ent love, and trust, and obedience, and devotedness to
him, is nothing less than the present denial of Christ, in
every practical sense ; it is the practical denial, in your
hearts, that you have any need of his grace; it is the
turning away of your whole being from the tender com-
passion of him who "spared not his own Son, but deliver-
ed him up for us all;" it is the deliberate taking away
from Christ that heart, that life, which he hath purchased
unto himself with his own blood, and saying you will not
have him to reign over you. And can it be that the sin-
ner does not come under a far heavier wrath of God for
this ; that if death had no sting but that one sin, it would not
be enough to fill us with " the terrors of the Lord." Oh !
what can He, who is to judge the quick and the dead, in
the day when " he will bring every work into judgment,
256 SERMON XL
with every secret thing," what can he then say to you so
terrible, as that he, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God?
did come to seek and save your soul, by the sacrifice of
himself, and you neglected so great salvation ? Ah ! that
denial of Christ ; what a denial from Christ must it meet,
in "the day of the revelation of the righteous judg-
ment of God ! " Escape ye, escape ye, while yet it is the
day of salvation ! Tarry not ; the door of the ark is yet
wide open, and the voice still speaks : " Him that cometh
unto me I will in no wise cast out." Oh ! blessed Spirit
of Grace, help us to persuade them to enter while yet it is
a day of grace and not of judgment while it is the blood
of the Lamb to take away sin that is proclaimed, and not
as it soon will be " the wrath of the Lamb," to banish all
hope forever! Look at the fullness, the freeness, the pre-
ciousness of the salvation in Christ to which ye are so
earnestly called ; and say, sinners, say, why will ye die ?
SERMON XII.
FAITH APPROPRIATING THE SACRIFICE OF CHRIST.
JOHN vi. 53, 54.
' ' Verily, verily, I say unto you, except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and
drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and
drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I \vill raise him up at the
last day."
THOSE among you who are familiar with the New Testa-
ment will remember several verses connected with the
text, in which our Lord, in different forms, uttered the
same declaration as that here given. All of them pro-
nounce very strongly on the necessity that, in some sense
or other, we should eat Us flesh and drink Ms Uood, if we
would attain eternal life. Such an emphatic use of terms,
so remarkably strong and striking, must be supposed to
indicate some very essential doctrine concerning the way
by which we are to partake in the benefits of the Saviour's
death. It is the object of this discourse to make that
doctrine plain, and to make such application of it as our
Lord intended.
Now the first question is : Did he use the words " ex-
cept ye eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of
Man," in a literal, or in a figurative and spiritual sensed
One or the other was his sense, of course. Which are
we to take?
17
258 SERMON XII.
The Jews who heard him utter them understood him
in the literal sense, and therefore murmured at the requi-
sition, and said, " Hoiv can this man give us his flesh to eat ?
Those literal interpreters of the Saviour's words have not
wanted followers among Christians. Ever since it became
necessary in the Church of Rome to find scripture-war-
rant for her monstrous doctrine of transubstantiation,
which teaches that, under the consecrating act of a priest,
the bread and wine in the Lord's Supper are changed into
the very substance of the body and blood of Christ, so
that the communicant literally eats the flesh and drinks the
blood of his Saviour's body which is in heaven ; ever since
that doctrine became the established faith of the Church
of Rome,* it has been a great point with its advocates
to take sides with the interpretation of the Jews, and to
urge as necessary to salvation, the most literal obedience
to the Saviour's words. Grant them that meaning of the
text, and then, since their transubstantiation of the ele-
ments in the Eucharist is the only method that even pre-
tends to furnish the means of our literal compliance, the
bearing upon their favorite dogma is manifest.
But, unfortunately for the conclusiveness of all the
argument they would raise from that source, you must
first believe the doctrine that is to be proved, before you
can believe in that literal interpretation as its evidence.
If you have first established the matter of fact, that
under the visible forms of bread and wine in the sacra-
ment, we have in material reality the actual flesh and blood
of Christ;, then, as there is thus a way by which we may
literally eat that flesh and drink that blood, it becomes
* Which was not till the Lateran Council, A. D. 1215.
FAITH APPROPRIATING THE SACRIFICE OF CHRIST. 259
possible, that our Lord, in the words before us, intended
to be literally understood, and possible, therefore, that he
had the transubstantiation of the sacramental elements in
view. But, on the other hand, if you suppose the
only method ever dreamed of, by which to comply with
the literal sense, to be not proved, then you abandon all
that can possibly vindicate that sense from the charge of
perfect unreasonableness ; since, in the absence of posi-
tive evidence to the contrary, it is not reasonable to sup-
pose that the Saviour could have made absolutely essential
to our salvation, the most impracticable thing we can con-
ceive of.
It is singular that any can adopt the literal interpreta-
tion, after the express denial put on it by our Lord himself.
When some of his Jewish hearers thus understood him,
" they strove among themselves " in their revolt at such a
requisition, and exclaimed, "How can this man give us his
flesh to eat !" Many of his disciples said, " This is a
hard saying, who can hear it?" Jesus knew that they
murmured, and said, " Doth this offend you ? It is the
spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing : the
words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are
life."* Thus did he expressly rebuke their literal and
carnal understanding of his words ; telling them distinct-
ly and pointedly, that "the flesh" which they understood
him to mean, namely, his flesh, so taken, would profit them
nothing, even if they could all literally eat it, that he
was speaking of no such carnal appropriation of him to
the saving of their souls ; that it was the spirit a spirit-
ual participation of him ; which alone could profit them
* John vi. 63.
260 SERMON XII.
with God ; that his words were to be taken in that spirit-
ual sense, and only when so taken would they be words o*
life to the souls of men.
What we are to understand by that true spiritual sense
of the Saviour's words, so misunderstood by those who
heard him, we will consider directly. But at present,
inasmuch as the peculiar language of the text is so simi-
lar to that of the Lord's Supper, that many take it for
granted that the latter is directly referred to in the for-
mer, and thus the passage seems, at least, to countenance the
Romish dogma of transubstantiation, we will first briefly
inquire whether the direct and primary reference, in the
words of the text, and in the connected and similar lan-
guage of other verses in this chapter, is to the sacrament
of the Lord's Supper ; or in other words, whether it is only
in the reception of that sacrament that we find the
mode of eating the flesh and drinking the blood of the
Son of Man, to which the text refers.
We have no idea that, in the words before us, our Lord
had any direct reference to the sacrament of his body and
blood. We have no doubt indeed, that between the words
of the text and the whole signification of that sacrament,
there is one common subject and reference of unspeak-
able importance namely, the death of Christ, as our life,
and the necessity of receiving in our hearts, by faith, a
crucified Saviour, and of living on him by faith, as our
bread of life, daily and hourly. What the one teaches in
words, the other teaches in symbols ; what in the text is
expressed by figures of speech, is expressed in the sacra-
ment by tangible signs and forms. The text and the ordi-
nance are thus related together by the bond of a common
FAITH APPROPRIATING THE SACRIFICE OF CHRIST. 261
meaning, but in no other way. They meet at the cross.
They are fulfilled in the same act of the believer's faith,
by which he lives upon Christ for life eternal. The sacra-
ment refers to the text, and to all such like declarations of
scripture, as containing the essence of its spiritual mean-
ing ; but that in the words of the text there was any di-
rect or primary reference to the subsequent institution of
the sacrament, we think is without evidence ; and, for
reasons which we proceed to give, should be strenuously
denied.
First. When our Lord declared the necessity of our
eating his flesh and drinking his blood, if we would have
eternal life, not only was the sacrament of the supper not
instituted, but even his nearest disciples had not received
the least hint of his intention to appoint it ; nor was there
anything to suggest it to them, in any institution with
which they were acquainted. Consequently, it was per-
fectly impossible that they should have understood him,
if the receiving of that sacrament was the duty in view.
Nothing more perfectly unintelligible in their circumstan-
ces, even to minds the most ready to learn and believe,
can be imagined. The bare announcement to them of
an intention to institute that sacrament, would have fur-
nished the key to his words, had they referred thereto.
So that, on the supposition of that being their reference,
it is not easily accounted for, that so much as even a hint of
that intended institution was withheld. Nor is it any more
explicable that St. John, who alone of all the Evangel-
ists gives the conversation before us, should be the only
one to omit all account of the explanatory institution of
the sacrament ; his narrative alone presents the difficulty
262 SERMON XII.
to be solved, and his alone omits the necessary explanation.
To those who, in his days, and afterwards, had no gos-
pel but his, as no doubt was the case with many, a con-
versation was stated, on the understanding of which, as
containing a duty, eternal life depends ; and that conver-
sation referred, for the only mode of understanding and
fulfilling the duty, to the institution of a certain sacra-
ment, and yet of that institution not a word is given by
St. John. So improbable an omission of so necessary a
key, is strong evidence that the conversation had no
primary reference to that sacrament.
I know it is answered, that "our Saviour said many
things to the Jews which neither they nor his disciples
could understand when they were spoken, though his dis-
ciples understood them after he was risen." But none of
those cases were parallel to that before us. If unintelli-
gible till the resurrection or its connected events ex-
plained them, they were not necessarily revolting to all
minds until so explained. But here is a declaration, an
action required as essential to salvation, which, until ex-
plained, must, of necessity, have occasioned a painful re-
volt and the most dangerous perplexity in all minds, and
which therefore demanded immediate explanation. Such
explanation, according to our view of the Saviour's mean-
ing of eating his flesh, &c., was given in all that he had
just said of letieving on him as the bread of life; and it
was more particularly furnished as soon as it appeared
that that previous interpretation had not been taken. It
was given when Jesus said, " It the spirit that quickeneth,
the flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I speak unto
you, they are spirit, and they are life." But if the refer-
FAITH APPROPRIATING THE SACRIFICE OF CHRIST. 263
ence of our Lord could only be understood by a knowl-
edge of the eating and drinking in a sacrament not then
in being, not only were his hearers utterly unable to com-
prehend his meaning, but his words must necessarily have
been to them most painfully perplexing and stumbling ;
they must have felt that an action was required, as
essential to the salvation of all men, which, so far as they
could understand it, was utterly impossible to all men.
Secondly. If we suppose our Lord to have had, in the words
before us, a direct reference to the Eucharist, as the only
mode of eating his flesh and drinking his blood, we make
him then to have assigned to that sacrament an absolute
necessity to the very being of spiritual life in us, which the
creed of no portion of the Christian Church has ever
maintained. "Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of
man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you," would
thus mean, except ye partake of the sacrament of the Lord's
Supper, ye have no life in you ; no spiritual life, even in its
weakest state ; no regeneration by the Holy Ghost, no
resurrection from the death of sin, no salvation. But
even the Romanists, who exceed all others in the stress
laid on the necessity of sacramental participation, cannot
go to that extent. According to them, every baptized
child, though he may not yet for many years partake in
the Eucharist, is spiritually born again, and hath in him
the divine life in its fullest reality. And, in the view of
all Protestant churches, whoever truly repents of his sins,
and believes with the heart in Christ, is thus a partaker of
the life that is in Christ Jesus, though he may not yet
have had the opportunity of confirming it in the believ-
ing reception of the Lord's Supper. And the scriptures
264 SERMON XII.
expressly assure us, in words pronounced long before that
sacrament was known, that "he that believeth on the
Son, hath everlasting life;" * making the life to depend,
not on the sacrament, but simply on faith.
Thirdly. It appears from all the conversation of our
Lord with which the words before us are connected, that
when he urged the duty and necessity of eating his flesh,
&c., and when he declared that without it his hearers had
no life in them, he was urging a duty which could then be
performed, and was warning them of a destitution which
could then be obviated. Where was the propriety of say-
ing, " The bread of God is he that cometh down from
heaven and giveth life unto the world ;" " he that cometh
to me, shall never hunger;" " he that eateth of this bread
shall live forever ;" " my flesh is meat indeed, and my
blood is drink indeed;"! why should our blessed Lord
have exhorted his hearers to labor after that very meat,
(v. 27) if it were not then prepared if it were not then
attainable if the institution of the sacrament, which did
not take place till a year after, was necessary to make it
attainable ? Some of those who heard the exhortation,
would die before that year would arrive. That meat was
essential to their salvation ; without it, they could have
no spiritual life ; and yet, if it was the reception of the
Lord's Supper that was referred to, they could not possibly
obtain it they must die without it.
The whole tenor of the chapter from which we have
selected the text compels us to understand, that, as in the
first sentence of the text, "Except ye eat the flesh of
the Son of Man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in
* John iii. 36. f John vi. 33, 35, 51 , 55.
FAITH APPROPRIATING THE SACRIFICE OF CHRIST 265
you," our Lord is speaking of a necessity as universal
as the nature of fallen man; so, in the second sentence,
" Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath
eternal life," he is speaking of a remedy equally uni-
versal and applicable; one which depends not on any out-
ward circumstance, institution, or privilege, which a believ-
er may, or may not, possess; but is accessible wherever
Christ is known, and his word received. Its chosen type
was the Manna. "Your fathers did eat manna in the
wilderness and are dead. This is the bread which cometh
down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof and not
die.' 5:i But it was remarkably the attribute of that bread
in the wilderness, that it was alike accessible to all that
needed it. Priestly intervention had nothing to do with
its preparation or distribution. Priests obtained it no
more easily, or directly, or abundantly, under no more
privilege, of any sort, than the meanest of the people.
The family of Aaron was treated, in regard to the common
bread of Israel, not as the sacerdotal family, but simply
as a portion of the dependent people of God. It was
before the appointment of the sacramental rites of the
ceremonial law that the manna was first given, and its
ordinance appointed ; and when the ceremonial law brought
in its priesthood, and sacrifices, and sacramental institu-
tions, no change was made in the universal freeness of
the manna ; in its perfect independence of all sacramen-
tal, all sacerdotal agency, in its being the unrestricted com-
mon bread of all the people of God alike. So it continued
until the host had crossed the Jordan, and exchanged
the bread of the wilderness for " the new corn " of the
promised land. And such is our Lord's chosen type of
*John vi. 49,50.
266 SERMON XII.
his flesh and blood, as the living bread from heaven, with-
out which we cannot have eternal life. A type which, as
it stands connected with the whole chapter before us, com-
pels us to understand, by the Saviour's flesh and blood, a
food of life, which, though it be represented under the
visible elements of the Lord's Supper, and though certain-
ly received by the believing heart in that sacrament, is
not confined to the reception of sacraments; is tied to no
external institution ; is dependent on no priesthood or
ministry of man ; comes not by the intervention of hu-
man hands, nor can be prevented from reaching the needy
by any human will; a bread of which no persecution, no
poverty, no banishment from the visible ordinances of the
the Church, can deprive the true believer; a "bread of
God" which is not obtained and eaten only in the sanc-
tuary and at certain special times, but, like the manna, is
to be our daily bread ; obtained and eaten at home, as
well as at Church ; by the faith of the Christian in his daily
duties, in the household and in his business, as really and
as freely, as while participating in the solemnities of the
sanctuary ; a bread which he will obtain, abundantly, not in
any proportion to his outward ecclesiastical privileges, but
simply in proportion as he feels his need of it, and comes
in his heart's faith to Christ to obtain it. It is a bread, not
of the Christian dispensation merely, but of all dispensa-
tions, from the fall of man to the judgment day, because
the need of it is peculiar to none. It is that which unites
the whole blessed company of the people of God, of all
generations, in one spiritual communion and fellowship ?
whether they be in earth or heaven; their Saviour, their
life, their joy, being the same; as it is written: "They
FAITH APPROPRIATING THE SACRIFICE OF CHRIST. 267
did all eat the same spiritual meat ; and did all drink
the same spiritual drink; for they drank of that spiritual
Rock that followed them ; and that Rock was Christ"*
You will readily perceive, in these remarks, the inter-
pretation I put on the words of the text. By the flesh
and blood of Christ, which we must receive, I understand
Christ himself. We must receive him as our life, accor-
ding to the connected verse : " He that eateth me, even
he shall live by me." (v. 57 .) And if you ask, then, why
\i\sflesh and Hood are so particularly mentioned, I answer,
because it is as having been once offered up on the cross, a
propitiatory sacrifice for our sins, that we are to receive our
Saviour; Christ crucified Christ as having been "woun-
ded" under the sword of the law, " for our transgressions;"
as having poured out his precious blood for the remission
of our sins. We must always keep that great sacrifice,
of which his flesh and blood were the constituents, in the eye
and embrace of our faith. And then again, by eating that
flesh and drinking that blood, I understand simply that
habitual exercise of earnest faith in Christ as the propitia-
tion for our sins in his death, and as our unfailing life, now
that he hath ascended to the right hand of the Father
Almighty, whereby we come to him, trust in him, appropri-
ate his benefits to our souls, and live on the daily supplies of
his grace ; that faith which finds its strongest expression
in the sacramental eating and drinking in the Lord's Sup-
per, and of which the natural faith that takes us to our
daily meals, and makes us eat our daily bread, and drink
our daily cup for the sustenance of natural life, is the
strongest and most familiar resemblance.
In confirmation of this interpretation of our Saviour's
* 1 Cor. x. 3-4.
268 SERMON XII.
language in the text, let me beg you to observe in the
chapter before us, a remarkable mingling of expressions
entirely literal, with others highly figurative ; both sets of
expressions evidently referring to the same act on our
part towards Christ, as necessary to salvation, and inten-
ded to explain one another. For example said our Lord:
"This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom
he hath sent." (v. 29.) "He that believeth on me hath
everlasting life." (v. 47.) This is all literal. All is
suspended on faith. Then comes the figurative. " I am
the living bread, which came down from heaven. If any
man eat of this bread, he shall live forever; and the bread
that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of
the world." (v. 51.) Here, what was before expressed
under the literal believing in Jesus, is now found under
the figure of eating his flesh. The two are evidently one,
for each equally attains eternal life.
But again, said the Lord: "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." (v. 40.) This is the literal. Be-
lieving on Christ is here the great essential to salvation.
Then the figurative, precisely parallel : " Whoso eateth my
flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life ; and I will
raise him up at the last day." (v. 54.) You cannot fail
to see how precisely these two passages are speaking of
the same act on our parts, just as they speak of the same
eternal blessings consequent upon it. Believing is the
literal; eating and drinking are the figurative. Eternal
life, and being raised up at the last day, are the results of
both.
FAITH APPROPRIATING THE SACRIFICE OF CHRIST. 269
But we perceive the same yet more manifestly, in a
verse of the same discourse of our Lord, in which the
literal and figurative are mixed together : " He that com-
eth to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me
shall never thirst." (v. 35.) Here, the believing in Christ
is so associated with the hungering and thirsting, and conse-
quently with eating and drinking, all having direct refer-
ence to Christ, that we cannot doubt it was our Lord's in-
tention to use the expressions, coming unto him, believing
on him, and eating his flesh, &c., only as various modes of
declaring the same great truth; namely, the absolute ne-
cessity, and the saving efficacy, of a living faith, to
bring us into vital union with Christ, according to the
testimony of John the Baptist : " He that believeth on
the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not
the Son, shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth
on him."^
But here I can easily suppose you to say, Is there
not something very unnatural a use of figurative lan-
guage exceedingly forced and extravagant, in speaking of
the simple act of faith in Christ, as if it were an eating of
his flesh, and a drinJcing of his blood?
We answer, that modes of expression, which, when de-
tached from their context, seem most unnatural and
forced, often appear the reverse when seen in their proper
place, with all the connections and circumstances of the
discourse around them. Let us see if the language be-
fore us does not illustrate this remark.
Our Lord had just fed the five thousand, by the mirac-
ulous multiplication of the five loaves and the two fishes.
* John iii. 36.
270 SERMON XII.
In consequence of that miracle, a great multitude fol-
lowed him. Knowing their motive, he said to them: "Ye
seek me, not because ye saw the miracle, but because ye
did eat of the loaves, and were filled. Labor not for the
meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth
unto everlasting life, which the Son of Man shall give unto
you. (v. 26 and 27.) Having thus, from the recent dis-
tribution of temporal food, naturally and easily intro-
duced the sustenance of our spiritual life, under the figu-
rative expression of the "meat which endureth unto
everlasting life," he is next led, by his hearers having
adverted to the manna which their fathers ate in the wil-
derness, to speak of "the true bread from heaven," of
which that manna was the type. (v. 31-35.) The next
step was to say, that he himself was that true bread of
God, "the meat which endureth unto everlasting life."
And then, since he became that life to us, only by giving
his flesh and blood as an atoning sacrifice for our sins, the
transition was easy and natural, from saying, "I am the
living bread," to saying, " the bread that I will give is my
flesh, which I will give for the life of the world;" (v. 51.)
and thence again to saying, " My flesh is meat indeed, and
my blood is drink indeed." (v. 55.) And next, as he had
just before spoken of believing in him, as the way by
which sinners are to participate in the benefits of the sac-
rifice of his flesh and blood, there was an easy step to the
representation of that believing, by the figure of eating
his flesh and drinking his blood.
Thus we have reached the height of the figurative lan-
guage of the text by an easy gradation, from step to
step, till what, if introduced without such preliminaries,
FAITH APPROPRIATING THE SACRIFICE OF CHRIST. 271
would have seemed unnatural, appears in connection with
them, only appropriate to, and consistent with, the whole
preceding discourse.*
And now having seen the appropriateness of the lan-
guage before us, and its true interpretation, let us devote
the remainder of our time to the consideration of the
practical lessons it teaches.
1st Let us observe the eminent, the unequalled, prom-
inence in which the death of Christ is here placed before
our hearts, for the daily contemplation of our faith.
At first, our Saviour only said, " I am the bread of
life." But next he said, "The bread that I will give is
my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."
"Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink
his blood, ye have no life in you." Why this particular
mention of his flesh and his blood, as if, in being our
*For a truly able and learned treatise on the language of the text, and the
whole connected discourse of our Lord , with reference to the support of the
views maintained in the above discourse, and in reply to those of Cardinal
Wiseman, in his book on the Eucharist, see the Essay of the Rev. Dr. Turner,
the learned Professor of Biblical Literature in the Gen. Theol. Sem. of the P.
E. Ch., (published by the Harpers, N Y.,) entitled, "Essay on our Lord's
discourse at Capernaum," (12 mo.) In connection with the above consideration
of the strength of the figurative language of the text, <fcc., the reader will do
well to see what Dr. Turner has produced, (pp. 82 94,) from the scriptures
and from Jewish writers, showing that such language was current among the
people whom our Lord addressed. I confine myself to a single passage from
the Babylonish Talmud, as quoted by Dr. Turner : " Rabbi Hillel says, N"ot
for them, for Israel, is Messiah; for a long time ago they ate Mm, in the days of
Hezekiah." On which passage, Dr. Lightfoot, that great Master- critic, makes
the following observations: "Behold, eating the Messiah, and yet no complaints
upon the phraseology. Hillel is indeed blamed (in the Talmud,) for saying
that the Messiah was so eaten that he will no longer be for Israel ; but on the form
of speech not the slightest scruple is expressed. For they clearly understood what
was meant by the eating of the Messiah ; that is, that in the days of Hezekiah
they became partakers of the Messiah, received him with avidity, embraced him joy-
fully, and, as it were, absorbed him; whence he was not to be expected at any
future period." Dr. Turner's Essay, p. 68.
272 SERMON XII.
bread of life, they were to be separated, one from another?
Why would it not suffice to have spoken of himself, in the
integrity of his human nature, as our living bread ? We
answer, because he desired to teach us, most impressively,
that the great event by which he became the bread of life,
to all generations, as well to those before, as those after
his crucifixion, was his death., when he offered himself as a
propitiatory sacrifice to God; when his flesh was wounded,
and his blood was poured out for the remission of sins ;
that it was not by coming in our nature, but by his be-
coming " obedient unto death " in that nature ; not by his
being sent forth from God, and " made of a woman, made
under the law," " that he redeemed those who were under
the law,"* but by enduring in his death the penalty of
the law for them ; not his incarnation, by which he became
man; not the example and teaching of his perfect life
whereby he became the guide of man; but his death,
wherein he completed his obedience as our surety, and
paid our debt to a violated law, and brought us nigh to
God, "that we might receive the adoption of sons."
He desired to teach, in a manner too impressive to be
forgotten, that the great objective event in Christianity,
around which the whole system of our faith is concentrated ;
that which, like the brazen serpent, lifted up on high for
all that were dying among the Israelites to behold, should
be ever the most exalted and the most distinctly in the
view of our faith, is "Christ crucified ;" Christ who indeed
" was made man," but that he might die for man ; Christ,
who being without sin in his life, was in his death " made
sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God
Gal. iv. 4 6.
FAITH APPROPRIATING THE SACRIFICE OF CHRIST. 273
in him."* The ripe corn is not prepared to be our bread,
till it is broken, and has endured the fire. Jesus became
not the bread of life to dying man, but by being " wounded
for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities ;" by
enduring the " consuming fire " of the wrath of God in
our stead. The Atonement ! the Atonement ! that "full,
perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction
for the sins of the whole world," is the central point, the
great objective event, in Christianity. There our faith
must fix its trust. There our hope must abide as its
refuge. Oh ! how little we know of believing in Jesus ;
how little we have really learned of what he is to sinners,
if we have not learned thus to lift up in our hearts a cruci-
fied Saviour, Jesus, in his death, as the great light of our
life and joy of our hope. His " flesh is meat indeed,"
his "blood is drink indeed," when thus contemplated and
received. Hence, though St. Paul appreciated as thank-
fully and devoutly as any man that ever lived, every event
in the Saviour's earthly mission, he did not say, God for-
bid that I should glory, save in the incarnation of our
Lord Jesus Christ, or save in his holy example and unex-
ampled teaching. But what did he say? "God forbid that
I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ."!
And when he would designate the great burden of his
preaching and that of his brother Apostles, it was not,
"We preach Christ in the several steps of his mission,
from the day of his being born of a virgin, to the moment
when he ascended into the heavens; though all, of course,
received at their hands the rightful attention ; but it was,
"We preach Christ crucified"
*2 Cor. v. 21. fGal. vi. 14.
18
274 SERMON XII.
Precisely of the same tenor is the teaching of the sac-
rament of the Lord's Supper, which is the visible preach-
ing of Christ crucified, the visible glorying of the commu-
nicant only in the cross of Christ. "As often (said the
Apostle,) as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do shotv
the Lord" s death till he come"* The Lord's death! Why
should we so especially show forth his death, rather than
his wonderful birth and works ? Was it not Jesus living in
the perpetual manifestation of a perfect holiness, and sur-
rounded on every side with his miraculous works of love,
that most commended his mission to the acceptance of the
world? And was it not Jesus dying on the cross, not de-
livered from an ignominious death either by his own pow-
er, nor that of the Father, that seemed the greatest
offense of his mission, in the sight of the world ; " to the
Jews a stumbling block, and to the Greeks foolishness?"
And yet it is Jesus dying and dead on the cross, in all the
deep humiliation and ignominy, the mocking and scoffing
of the crucifixion, that is chosen as the event to be held
up and showed forth by the whole Christian Church, in
this its solemn and only repeated sacrament, by all gene-
rations, till the Saviour comes again ! Why is this ?
Why was no sacrament appointed for the special com-
memoration of some other event in the mission of Christ?
Why, when the household of faith is gathered together to
keep, under the form of the sacramental supper, the feast
of their Saviour's love, and to commemorate his death,
why is nothing exhibited on the table but symbols of his
flesh and blood? Why are those symbols exhibited only in
the form of bread, the type of all nourishment, and of
* 1 Cor. xi. 26.
FAITH APPROPRIATING THE SACRIFICE OF CHRIST. 275
wine, the type of all refreshment and joy ? Why is that
table, with that its simple furniture, so indispensable to
the very being of the visible church; so that in every con-
gregation, in every land, by every believer, before all the
world, till the second appearing of our Lord, there must
be so frequently repeated that solemn, sacramental show-
ing forth of his death, as if, in some sense, our all were
centered there, as if our glorying were all to be there, as
if that were the banner under which the whole Christian
host must be marshalled ? Why, but to teach in the
strongest manner, and to keep before the Church and the
world, in the utmost prominence and impressiveness, these
two momentous truths, namely, that of all events in the
Saviour's work on earth, the sacrifice offered in his death
for our sins, must be our refuge, our hope, our glory, the
strength of our salvation, the song of our praise; and that
that sacrifice must be received and appropriated by a liv-
ing faith to our several necessities as our daily bread of
life, or else our hope is vain, and we are yet in our sins?
What is it all, but just, in another form, the teaching of
our text: "Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man,
and drink his blood, ye have no life in you ?" And what
is the object of the very strong and remarkable language
of the text, but to do in words what the sacrament does in
visible symbols, namely, to make those two great vital
truths as conspicuous and impressive as possible?
2nd. Let us observe also the impressive light in which
the nature and operation of faith are represented in the
text.
The corporeal act of eating our daily food is chosen by
our Lord to illustrate what faith is in its relations to him;
276 SERMON XII.
what it implies, what it does, and what is its absolutely
essential relation to all spiritual life in us. The believer
is represented as coming to Christ, as the hungry and
perishing come to an abundant banquet. Faith expects
not to partake of that feast by merely knowing it has
been provided, or by standing away and looking thereat
and acknowledging the grace that gave it, confessing that
Christ has come in the flesh and has died for our sins ;
but only by actual appropriation of the sacrifice of Christ,
and all the benefits connected therewith, to the deep ne-
cessities of the soul.
Such faith implies a sense of great spiritual want and
an earnest desire after those very supplies which are found
in Christ.
We do not ordinarily partake of food but when we feel
the need of it. We hunger, and therefore eat. No man
ever came to Christ in a saving faith, to take and live by
that bread of life, saying in his heart, "Lord, evermore
give me that bread" who was not first brought to feel that
without it he must die in his sins, and in whose heart
there had not been created so strong a desire after just
such grace as is treasured in Christ for sinners, that he
was importunate to get to him, and felt there was no
peace or life with God, till he had found him.
Again, it is implied in the text that a saving faith
makes a personal, individual appropriation of Christ, to the
case of each believer, bringing all that his death obtain-
ed, into direct application to the sinner's wants.*
It is not by believing that there is bread for us, that it
benefits us ; but by acting on our belief and eating of the
* " Thy words were found, and I did eat them." Jer. XT. 16.
FAITH APPROPRIATING THE SACRIFICE OF CHRIST. 277
bread. We do not derive nourishment and strength from
food prepared for us, however graciously, and abundantly,
and freely, but by receiving it, and digesting it, till it be-
comes distributed, in its several parts, to all the functions
of our bodies, as each has need, and becomes incorporated
in a living union with us, as bone of our bone and flesh of
our flesh.
Thus does a living, saving faith, receive and appropriate
Christ. Thus does it make his "flesh meat indeed, and
his blood drink indeed," using him as the soul's bread.
It receives Christ crucified as the one only, and the one
"perfect and sufficient, oblation and satisfaction" for our
sins. It receives him in all the offices he sustains to us,
in all the saving mercies that flow from the perpetual pre-
sentation of his sacrifice before God on high ; it receives
him as still bearing towards us all the love that brought
him to die for us, and as ready to fulfill all the promises
which that love has made to us; it digests all in prayer-
ful meditation, and in the believing use of, and reliance on
all; it appropriates and distributes all, in the several
parts thereof, to the several affections, and principles, and
duties, and trials, of the Christian life, as ' each hath need ;
it incorporates all, as living bread, into personal, vital
union with the inner man, as the very being, as well as the
only sustenance, of our Christian life. The heart is thus
fed and grows in grace. The love of God in Christ be-
comes in our hearts more and more supreme and con-
straining, sin more abhorred and feared, the world more
overcome, the mind more spiritual, strength for every
conflict with temptation, zeal for every labor in the service
of God, increased all our affections more strongly set
278 SERMON XII.
"on things above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand
of God."
Again, the language of the text implies that such is
the daily, the habitual operation of a saving faith. When
the Israelites lived upon the manna in the desert, it was
the bread of every day. It came daily ; it had to be
gathered and eaten daily; they could not keep it for the
morrow. Each day must have its own gathering and
receiving. So is Christ, whom that manna represented.
He is provided for daily wants, and must be appropriated
daily and habitually. There is no place where a believer
can be in this wilderness, that he may not find there
"that bread which cometh down from heaven, so that he
may eat thereof and not die ;" and there is no day or
hour in this wilderness when the believer should not, and
has not need to take of that bread.
Saving faith does not wait for the sacramental signs
and pledges of the sacrifice of Christ, before it will take
of that sacrifice. Its language of praise at all times, is,
" Christ our passover is sacrificed for us ; therefore, let us
keep the feast" It is a feast upon the sacrifice once
offered for all- a feast then begun, ever since continued
in every believing heart, now going on everywhere, as
sinners live by faith in Christ and his sacrifice. This
bread of God enters into, and is necessary to, our spir-
itual life each hour and moment. So must we receive it.
It is the nourishment of the daily secret prayer that asks
for it. It is the nourishment of the habitual faith that
receives and appropriates it. It is the bread that feeds
our love and thankfulness, when we go to express our
dependence on it, and our gratitude for it, and to seek
FAITH APPROPRIATING THE SACRIFICE OF CHRIST. 279
more of it in the sacrament by which it is represented.
We must take and eat of it before we approach its
sacramental table, or else we shall be dead while we sit
there. We cannot feed on Christ "by faith with thanks-
giving" in the sacrament, except we have already begun
to live on him by faith with thanksgiving, in our daily
walk.* The life that we live in the flesh, if it be a
Christian life, if it be the life that is hid with Christ in
God, must be "a life of faith on the Son of God," the
habitual coming of our hearts to Christ.
And now, in conclusion, let me speak more particularly
concerning that holy sacrament in which we are to com-
mune to-day.
In the early part of this discourse, it was said that in
the words of the text, speaking of the necessity of eat-
ing the flesh and drinking the blood of Christ, there is
no direct primary reference to the sacrament of his flesh
and blood; that the text and the sacrament speak, in
different ways, precisely the same language, and enforce
* Our Church, in the 3d Rubric of the Office for the Communion of the Sick,
says : "If a man, by reason of extremity of sickness, * * or any other just
impediment, do not receive the sacrament of Christ's body and blood, the min-
ister shall instruct him that if he do truly repent him of his sins, and steadfastly
believe, &c., he doth cat and drink the body and blood of Christ to Ms soul's
health, although he do not receive the sacrament with his mouth." Jerome says :
" We are fed with the body of Christ, and we drink his blood, not only in mys-
tery, (in the sacrament,) but also in the knowledge of holy scripture." The
like language is common in the writings of the early fathers. Our 28th article
says: "The body of Christ is given, taken and received in the supper, only
after an heavenly and spiritual manner. And the mean whereby the body of
Christ is received and eaten in the supper, is faith." The 29th article says :
" The wicked, and such as be void of a lively faith, although they do visibly
and carnally press with their teeth the sacrament of the body and blood of
Christ, yet in no wise are they partakers of Christ." How prominent, through-
out our communion office, is faith, as essential to partaking in Christ, in the
sacrament !
280 SERMON XII.
precisely the same lesson. They are related to one an-
other by a common meaning and object. What one ex-
presses in signs of words, the other expresses in the signs
of bread and wine, and in our eating and drinking of the
same. But we think it of great importance to keep dis-
tinctly before you the truth, that what the text expresses
and requires, is not fulfilled in the mere carnal reception
of the bread and wine in the sacrament; nor is so confined
to the sacrament, however spiritually received, that it can
not go on, and must not go on, away from it, as truly as
in it ; in the daily exercise of a living faith, in our secret
prayers, in our retired meditations, in reading and hear-
ing the word of God, in a continual resting of our souls
upon the all-sufficiency of our ever-living and ever-present
Saviour.
But in being thus emphatic here, we are exceeding
far from teaching, that therefore, to obey our Lord's sol-
emn command, by partaking of the sacrament of his death,
and receiving therein, spiritually, by faith, his flesh and
blood, is needless, or is not a most precious privilege and
a most bounden duty, which cannot be neglected without
peril to the soul. Though there be other means of grace
whereby we may partake in the same benefits, this is the
means in which all others are combined and intensely
concentrated. It is emphatically " the communion."
Though elsewhere, and at all times, it is the believer's
privilege to hold communion with his blessed Lord, "in
the fellowship of his sufferings," in the participation of
the precious benefits of his passion; there are here helps
to faith, incitements to love, pledges of grace, and mani-
festations of our fellowship in Christ, and with one anoth-
FAITH APPROPRIATING THE SACRIFICE OF CHRIST. 281
er, which make the Supper of our Lord peculiarly pre-
cious and edifying to the believer. At other times, we
partake more by ourselves, each in the unseen prayer of
his heart, in the exercise of his hidden, habitual faith.
Our "fellowship one with another," in our common Lord
and life, is not so distinctly expressed. We are "one
body in Christ," but even in our usual public worship and
common prayer of the Lord's day, our oneness is not so
impressively and delightfully written on all we do. But
when we gather around the simple table of our Lord's
redeeming love, all taking of that same bread, all drink-
ing of that same cup, all looking through those visible
signs to the great sacrifice which they represent, all lifting
up our hearts to him "who was dead and is alive again,"
and who ever liveth the life and salvation of all that seek
him ; all saying, in every act of that communion, that they
come only to Christ, and desire none but Christ, and him
crucified, as their hope and refuge, their life and all ; oh!
in that gathering together of believers to that one table,
not as merely in the one house of worship where ^ve may
happen to be, but as taking place in union with us, in
so many thousands of assemblies of the people of God
in various lands, all thus united in showing " the Lord's
death until he come ;" then do we express, then do we
feel, then do we rejoice in, " the communion of saints" in
our union together in the common hope, and the common
life, and the common salvation, of Christ; then is the love
of the brethren quickened, and the love of the Lord of the
household increased in our hearts, when thus we feel that
we are marching together, as one host, under one head, to
one conquest and home, showing out upon our banner
282 SERMON XII.
" the Lord's death,' 1 and each saying, in every act, " God
forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord-
Jesus Christ"*
But, my dear brethren, precious as that sacrament is, it
is but a sacrament, a mere sign without grace, a dead. 1
sign, if the receiver's heart be so dead as not to have the
living faith, by which to get within and mount above the
visible sign, and commune in spirit with an unseen Christ.
What if I should tell you that the mere receiving the
words of my text into your ears, without faith to appro-
priate their doctrine to your souls, would convey to you
the benefits of the body and blood of Christ? Who
would credit such an assurance? But why should you
any more believe that the mere receiving into your mouths
the signs in the Lord's Supper, without faith to go from
them to Christ, will make you partakers in any benefit of
his passion? Are not the words of the text as really
signs of saving truth in Christ, and as divinely given, as
those of the sacrament ? Are not the signs in the sac-
rament as truly words for us to read,' as the words in the
text? And if the word preached, in the sermon, will not
profit except it be mixed with faith in them that hear it,
* What I would express in regard to the special preciousness of the Lord's
Supper as a means of receiving Christ by faith, is very happily given in a ser-
mon by Bradford, the martyr : " Though in the field a man may receive Christ's
body by faith, in the meditation of his word, yet deny I that a man doth ordi-
narily receive Christ's body by the only meditation of Christ's death, or hearing
his word, with so much light, and with such sensible assurance, as by the
receipt of the sacrament. Not that Christ is not as much presented in his
word preached, as he is in or with his sacrament, but because there are in the
reception of the sacrament more windows open for Christ to enter into us, than
by his word preached or read. For there (I mean in the word) he hath an
entrance into our hearts, but only by the ears, through the voice and sound of
words ; but here in the sacrament, he hath an entrance by all the senses."
On the Lord's Supper.
FAITH APPROPRIATING THE SACRIFICE OF CHRIST. 283
no more will the word exhibited in the signs of the sacra-
ment, except it be mixed with faith in them that re-
ceive it. To him that hears the written word of truth
and life, without faith inwardly to digest and appropriate
it, it is but a minister of condemnation. To him who
receives the sacramental words of the same truth and life,
in the same deadness, the same condemnation must en-
sue. We must go to the Supper of our Lord, to the house-
hold feast of his family and brethren, not to be made
his, but to profess that we are his, and to be made
more entirely his ; to have a life, already begun in faith,
strengthened and refreshed. It is a table for the living,
not for the dead for members of the Lord's family;
not for those also who may only in name and form be-
long thereto. "Judge therefore yourselves, brethren,
that ye be not judged of the Lord. Repent ye truly
for your sins past; have a lively and steadfast faith
in Christ our Saviour; amend your lives, and be in per-
fect charity with all men : so shall ye be meet parta-
kers of those holy mysteries."
SERMON IIII.
THE CHARACTER OF GOD AS MANIFESTED IN CHRIST.
1 JOHN iv. 8, 9.
"He that loveth not, knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was
manifested the love of God towards us, because that God sent his only
begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him."
"Goo is Love." What an engaging representation of
the Most High! How simple, how comprehensive!
Where, but in his own inspired word, is there to be found
such a declaration of his essential nature? Many other
oracles have said, God is almighty, all-wise, infinite in
goodness, &c. ; but it remained for his own book to say,
"God is Love."
This declaration occupies the central position of the
text. What precedes, is inferred from it : " He that
loveth not, Jcnoweth not God; for God is love" What fol-
lows, is its chief manifestation : " In this ^vas manifested
the love of God towards us, because God sent his only begot-
ten Son" &c. We will consider, first, the central truth;
secondly, its chief manifestation; and thirdly, the inferen-
ces from it.
I. The central declaration of the text " God is Love"
It is a comprehensive expression for the whole nature
of God; not for a single attribute, but for the sum and har-
mony of all his attributes. You read in the scriptures,
THE CHARACTER OF GOD AS MANIFESTED IN CHRIST. 285
very often, that God is holy, but never that God is holi-
ness; that he is just, but never that he is justice; that
he is merciful, but never that he is mercy. Holiness,
and justice, and goodness, and mercy, are severally,
according to our feeble way of understanding and speak-
ing of, God, the attributes of his nature. Neither of
them can stand as a comprehensive expression for his na-
ture itself, in its whole compass and perfectness. But, on
the other hand, love is not an attribute of the divine
nature, like holiness, wisdom, &c. It is that nature itself.
It is the comprehension of all the moral attributes in
their harmonious relations to one another.
There is a similar expression in the scriptures : " Go d is
Light"* It is but another aspect of the other. God is
Light, as he is Love. The one is the figurative, the other
the literal. We will employ the one expression to illus-
trate the other. The truth that God is lAghi, shall guide
us in setting forth the truth that God is Love-
Now, you are well aware, in regard to light, in its pure,
original state, as it comes, unchanged, from the face of
the sun, that it is perfectly white. But you also know,
that the moment you cause its ray to pass through a
glass of a certain form, it is separated into seven varie-
ties of color, and the white has all disappeared. You
have all the beautiful shades of the rainbow, but nothing
of the original aspect of the light. But by causing those
several varieties of colored rays to fall upon another sur-
face, you find they all disappear, and the original white is
restored. And thus, it is perceived, that the whiteness
of the solar ray, in its original state, is not an attribute of
* 1 John i. 5.
286 SERMON XIII.
light, but is the light; not a mere variety or property
which light exhibits, under certain circumstances, like
the red, or blue, or violet, of the rainbow ; but light itself,
in its unbroken, primitive perfectness. Broken up and
decomposed by the prism, its parts exhibit various colors.
Those parts being recomposed, so as to make up the ray
in its first integrity, there is no color remaining. The
several hues which the decomposed light presents to our
eyes, are its attributes, as we see it through a certain me-
dium, or under certain conditions of imperfectness. But
when light is seen in its purity and integrity, as the face
of the sun delivers it, all colors are harmonized, merged,
and lost in perfect white. " God is Light."
But you may justly ask, when does the light which
comes from the sun ever descend to our eyes, unchanged?
As it passes through the atmosphere, or is reflected
from the innumerable surfaces on which it falls the
clouds, the grass, the flowers it is everywhere in a de-
gree decomposed, so that we are greeted on every side
with the various colors which give so much beauty, and
often so much terror, to the face of nature. Who, from
such various exhibitions of colored light, would imagine
that light, in its perfection, has no color? God is Light;
and when you contemplate his character, as its several
manifestations are given to our imperfect vision, through
the glass of his works, his providence, and his word, that
which we know is and must be of the most perfect sim-
plicity, appears as if compounded of many qualities, or
distinct properties, which we call divine attributes as jus-
tice, goodness, wisdom, holiness, mercy; while to each
there seems allotted a separate office in the divine dis-
THE CHARACTER OP GOD AS MANIFESTED IN CHRIST. 287
pensations. Of these attributes, we speak and reason, as
if they were not merely aspects in which the divine char-
acter appears to our infirm conceptions, who here, more
than anywhere else, must " see through a glass darkly ; ' '
but as actually distinct properties, found as really in the
nature of God, as in the language of man. We have ob-
tained the habit of imagining these several attributes to
be, not only real distinctions in God, as well as in our
own minds, but so independent one of another, that in
his dealings with men, he is sometimes seen in the exer-
cise of a part, while the rest are not concerned; some-
times as a God of justice, but not, at the same time, and
in the same act, just as much a God of mercy.
But what are these distinctions of justice, and mercy,
and holiness, &c., under which we are obliged to speak
and think of God? Do they really belong to him in
that separate aspect, or only to our necessarily broken
and confused conceptions of his nature? Do they exist
in that boundless, uncreated light, as it is in God, or only
as the atmosphere, and the clouds, and the several infir-
mities which hang around our moral vision, present him
to our view? Are they not simply the effects of that
process, which the revelation of the perfect unity and
simplicity of the divine nature undergoes, in being neces-
sarily conveyed through a language, or by manifestations,
which man may read and comprehend? Certainly, it
needs no argument to prove, that in God's infinitely sim-
ple and perfect nature, to whom there is no succession of
time or of counsel, no change of will or thought, there can
be no such distinction of attributes ; as if sometimes it were
an inflexible justice, to the exclusion of mercy, that de-
288 SERMON XIII.
termined his ways, and sometimes it were a tender, com-
passionate mercy, that put justice aside, and took the
reins of sovereignty, and guided his hand. "God is
Light." All those several attributes under which the
character of God appears, in being made visible to us, in
the several revelations of his works, his providence, and
his word, are harmonized and merged in the perfect unity
and simplicity of the divine nature. "God is Love."
But you know, with regard to light, that you cannot
produce the pure white of the sun's ray, without the
presence and combination of every one of the several col-
ors of the prism. It is the union of all, that causes all
to disappear in a colorless light. Subtract either one of
them, and you cannot make the perfect light. It is just
as essential to the pure whiteness of the solar ray, that
it contain the red of the fearful lightning, as that it shall
contain the soft blue of the sky, and the grateful green
that carpets the earth. And so it is in God, and his ways
towards man. All his attributes justice as well as mer-
cy, wisdom as well as compassion, holiness as well as
goodness, must be associated, and perfectly harmonized, in
every procedure of his boundless administration, or else
the perfect unity and simplicity of his nature are not pre-
served. Take away either, in any degree, and God is not
Love. One may be manifest to our vision, and another
concealed. Like the tints of the rainbow, one may be
exhibited more strongly than another, but all must be
there; all in the depths of the divine mind, concurring
and harmonized. That which makes it so fearful a thing
for an impenitent sinner "to fall into the hands of the liv-
ing God," must be there, as well as all that which so
TTE CHARACTER OF GOD AS MANIFESTED IN CHRIST. 289
tenderly invites and encourages the contrite heart to draw
near to God, through Jesus Christ, and repose ah 1 its sins
and sorrows upon his grace ; the stern hatred and con-
demnation of sin, whereby the unquenchable fire has been
prepared for the ungodly, as well as the unsearchable
riches of grace, which have laid up, in Christ Jesus, the
glorious inheritance reserved for the righteous; all must
be in God, and all must be present, and concurrent, and
harmonized, in all his' dealings with us, whatever the
manifestation to our infirm conceptions, or G-od is not Love.
II. Let us now consider that special manifestation of
this character of God to which the text refers us.
" In this was manifested the love of God toward us,
because God sent his only begotten Son into the world,
that we might live through him." Thus, the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus, that wonderful way of salvation
provided in the incarnation of the Son of God in our na-
ture, and in his death on the cross, as a sacrifice for our sins,
is that grand manifestation, which, above all his ways and
doings, declares that God is Love.
We are speaking now of the manifestation. God was
Love, when he was known only as the Creator and Preser-
ver of all things, as much as he is now, when we have the
additional knowledge of him as "He who spared not
his own Son, but delivered him up for us all." But then
the manifestation of his character was widely different.
As long as God continued to see all things on earth to
be "very good" as his own hand had fashioned it; as
long as sin had not entered into the world, defacing, and
defiling, and transforming all things ; and man still was
holy, so that God, the Light of light, beheld his own per-
19
290 SERMON XIII.
factions reflected unchanged in the transparent purity of
all created things ; then, of course, the attribute of jus-
tice, the same that now arms the penalty of his violated
law with such fearful strength, was as much a perfection
of his nature, and as much associated in all his works and
ways, as it ever has been since. But because there was no
sin then to be visited, no violated law to be vindicated, that
justice lay all unseen in love, just as when there is no
cloud in the firmament, that which at other times colors
so deeply the sky, as if it were all a burning flame, lies
unseen in the sun's unbroken rays. Precisely as it
was with the justice of God, so was it with all his other
attributes. Since there was no sin deserving punishment,
there was no room for the manifestation of his mercy. It
lay undistinguished in love. So was it with holiness. As
there was no sin in man to exhibit the opposite of holiness
in God, there was no contrast by which the holiness of
God could be manifested. It lay undistinguished in love.
There being no want to be relieved, nor suffering to be
pitied, there was nothing to exercise the divine compassion.
It lay undistinguished in love. And as man was then in
the likeness of God, perfectly holy, there was towards
him the continual manifestation of the love of God,
in which all divine perfections were united, however
merged and undistinguished. And because man was
"made perfect in love," and all on earth was unpolluted
by sin; heaven and earth, in point of moral atmosphere,
were one. Therefore, the light of the countenance of the
Creator passed unchanged into the mind of the creature.
There was no interposing medium of human infirmities and
sinfulness, no cloud of anger between man and his Maker,
THE CHARACTER OF GOD AS MANIFESTED IN CHRIST. 291
through which the manifestations of God's character
and will must pass, and by which they must be affected
in getting to the view of the creature. Man was love;
and thus he was capable of knowing God, and of reflect-
ing in himself the perfect image of God, as he was, and is,
and ever shall be Love. And the garden of Paradise,
where was held that perfect communion between man and
God, which since the entrance of sin has never been re-
newed in this world ; and where all the varieties of form
and color were blended into one harmony of perfect love-
liness, was it not a standing manifestation of the glory of
God, saying always, "God is Love, and he that dwelleth in
love dwelleth in God and God in him."
But sin perverted all the relations between man and
God. It brought guilt on the creature, and wrath from the
Creator. Their communion was destroyed; man was alien-
ated ; and henceforth he beheld his Maker from the great
distance to which sin had banished him, and through the
infirmities and corruption of nature which it had entailed
upon him. There was now a thick cloud between them,
and all the manifestations of the character of God were
through that cloud ; so that, as when the sun shines
through the storm and seems as if deprived of all light
but that of a frowning tempest, the unchangeable God, as
much Love as ever, appeared as if only justice and judg-
ment were the habitation of his throne. But soon was
established the covenant of grace. God promised his
only begotten Son, through whom the sinner might again
approach and hold communion with him, and through
whom he would manifest himself to the sinner. Under
that covenant we now behold "the light of the knowledge
292 SERMON XIII.
of the glory of God, in the face of Jesus Christ." Thus
we are enabled to see that God is Love. But still there is
so much in the world to call forth his character as just and
holy, hating iniquity, and by no means clearing the guilty ;
a God of judgment, whose terrors we are earnestly exhor-
ted to escape ; that men are wont to read many of his
doings,^ as if love were all removed far away from them,
and as if their only testimony were to God's justice and
holiness.
How fearful, for example, was his judgment, when in
punishment of the wickedness that overspread the earth,
he brought upon its whole population the waters of the
deluge, and, with the exception of a single family, buried
in one grave all mankind. Think of the cities of Sodom
and Gomorrah ; of the commanded extermination of the
Canaanitish nations, under the sword of Israel ; of the
vengeance, which by famine, and pestilence, and sword,
desolated the guilty Jerusalem, when the Romans were
made God's instruments of visiting upon the Jews, the
rejection of his Son.
Looking at such fearful dispensations without the ac-
companying light of the scriptures, we may see that God
was just and holy; that the Judge of all the earth did
right ; but one is apt to feel that we must look elsewhere,
if we desire to find the dispensation in which was fulfilled
the declaration, "God is Love" Such, however, is not the
aspect in which it is our privilege and duty, under the light
of the scriptures, to contemplate those proceedings. And
the same with regard to that most appalling of all, the
judgment of God upon the wicked in the last day, con-
signing them to a retribution which is never to end, "where
THE CHARACTER OF GOD AS MANIFESTED IN CHRIST. 293
their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched." Sure-
ly, (it may be said,) though God is just in that retribution,
you cannot say he is Love. Yes, it is our privilege under
the revelation of his word, to pass in review all the most
tremendous visitations of judgment that ever came on
the earth ; and to survey in anticipation, all that is yet to
come upon man, in earth or in hell, and to declare that,
not only in his own essential being, but in each of these
manifestations, God is Love. Whatever its aspect to the
individual recipient, still, in the relations of God to all in-
telligent beings inhabiting the whole universe, angels as
well as men, over whom his government is exercised, and
before whom it is to be honored ; his sternest severity to
transgressors, impenitent the very judgment in which he
is most fearfully "a consuming fire," is that in which,
could we read it as it is, we should see that he is Love.
Did we but see all these footsteps of his power and holiness,
not as mere insulated parts of his ways, but in all their
connections with the whole dominion of God, we should
understand, not only that they are compatible with his
character as declared in the text, but that, seeing what
this world is, as a rebellious world, they are positively
essential to that character.
And what matters it to our full belief of all this, if,
while assured of it on the authority of the divine word,
we should feel ourselves baffled in our utmost efforts to
comprehend how it can be ? Can we any better compre-
hend how all the diversified colorings of nature, from the
delicate verdure of the grass of the field, to the glare of
the lightning, and the blaze of devouring fire, are concern-
ed in, and essential to the composition of the light of an
294 SERMON XIII.
x
unclouded day, as it comes in all its transparent whiteness
from the sun ? Can we enter into the secrets of the light,
any more than into the mysteries of that divine nature
of which it is the scriptural similitude ? If we believe
the truths of philosophy in regard to the one, because we
see them, little as we comprehend them; may we not be-
lieve the doctrines of the Gospel as to the other, when
certified by the Spirit of truth in the holy scriptures ?
Surely, it is not wonderful that the very love of God to
men and angels, should demand just such terrible judg-
ments upon the wicked, and yet that we should be unable
to see wherein the dire necessity lies. Consider how little
we are capable of discerning the interior of anything ; how
we are only as children in the nursery, looking out upon
the boundless empire of God, through a very little win-
dow, and that very obscure; that it is but just a corner
of the map of his universal providence that is unrolled to
our inspection, so that we see never but "parts of his
ways," and cannot follow out a single line of the chart
beyond our own position. In another world, under a more
perfect revelation, that chart will be more unrolled. We
shall see God as he is, if it be our happiness to inherit
the blessedness of his kingdom. All his ways will then
be vindicated. Then shall we see perfectly, what we now
believe assuredly, how all his judgments, as well as all his
mercies, praise him ; how all the consuming fire that ever
fell on man has praised him ; how all the retribution poured
upon lost souls in hell praiseth him ; and how perfectly all
his severest dispensations unite and harmonize with all his
most compassionate and merciful, in adoring testimony
that God is Love.
THE CHARACTER OF GOD AS MANIFESTED IN CHRIST. 295
But far beyond all other manifestations of this precious
truth, is that wonderful provision for the redemption of
sinners, to which we are directed in the text. It is men-
tioned there as if it were the only manifestation ; so far is
it beyond all others, in the fullness and glory of its evi-
dence. "In this was manifested the love of God toward
us, because God sent his onjy begotten Son into^the world
that we might live through him." The praises of the
glorified Church in heaven are represented as being in-
tensely concentrated upon that great gift of God's love,
and on the great redemption wrought out by the atoning
death of that only begotten Son, as if in its light, the
saints "made perfect" were capable of seeing no other
manifestation of God. They sing that "new song;" a
song always new, because the theme is never -exhausted :
" Thou hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of
every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation."*
In accomplishing the salvation of sinners, the one great
difficulty, if we may so speak, was to preserve the justice,
and holiness, and truth, and faithfulness of God from all
dishonor and all compromise with sin; to vindicate his
violated law to the full exaction of its penalty ; to mani-
fest his own infinite holiness as a sin-hating God ; and
yet to open a way for the going forth of the unsearchable
riches of his grace, for the free forgiveness and the ever-
lasting blessedness of the repenting sinner. To provide
salvation on any other terms, might have manifested com-
passion and mercy to the lost ; but in such a salvation it
could not have been said that God is Love. Such mercy
to the guilty would have been any thing but love to the
*Rev. v. 9.
296 SERMON XIII.
whole universe of intelligent and accountable beings. It
is infinitely more important to the happiness of the uni-
verse, that the law of God shall be honored, and his faith-
fulness as a righteous Governor sustained, than that
sinners should be saved.
In the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, wherein God
hath laid on him the iniquities of us all, nothing is lost on
his part in order that we may be saved. All the divine
perfections are maintained and are glorified ; all co-operate
in entire harmony in that great salvation; yea, all are
manifested and vindicated as never before in the ways of
God. Never were his mercy and compassion so seen, as
when heaven and earth beheld them in the working out
our peace at such cost as the humiliation, and agony, and
death of the only begotten Son of God. Never did he
appear in such robes of justice and judgment, hating and
punishing iniquity; abating not a jot or tittle of its
curse; never was his holiness so seen, as when, rather
than save sinners at the expense of his law, he saved
them at the expense of his own Son, and delivered him
up to be "made a curse for us." Ezekiel saw in a vision
" the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord,"
and he says it was " as the appearance of the low that is
in the cloud on the day of rain"* John had a similar
vision ; and says, like Ezekiel, " there was a rainbow round
about the throne." | It was a vision of the glory of God in
the redemption of sinners by Christ, wherein all the divine
perfections unite, and co-operate, and blend in beau-
tiful harmony; wherein, while they constitute the most
perfect assurance of salvation to every penitent and be-
*Ezek. i. 28. t Rev. iv, 3.
THE CHAKACTER OF GOD AS MANIFESTED IN CHRIST. 297
lieving sinner, they all bend, as one, around the throne,
rendering all honor to the government of Him that sitteth
thereon, as being only the more glorified, as the righteous
Judge, in providing as a compassionate Father that free
salvation.
III. And now let me turn your attention to the infer-
ence in the text from the character there given under the
name of Love. " He that loveth not, knoweth not God, for
God is Love." In other words, where there is not the
love of God in the heart, there is no true knowledge of
him. To know him truly, and to love him sincerely,
must go together.
Indeed, it is a principle of general application, that we
know nothing that is lovely, unless we love it. The ab-
sence of love is the absence of true knowledge. To know
by the hearing of the ear, or to see, as a matter^of fact,
that, according to rule and the ordinary way of estimating
things, an object deserves to be loved, is one thing ; but it
is a very different matter, to know its loveliness by our own
consciousness, by a personal appreciation and the testimony
of our own affections. We know not the harmonies of
music, however we may learn them as a thing of science,
except our ear can receive and enjoy them. We know
not the loveliness of a landscape, which the hand of na-
ture has adorned with every beauty and grace, except
there be in us that susceptibility, that sympathy of feeling,
that love for it, without which we observe it not, and care
not for it. We may know that it is lovely, because so it is
said to be. But if we do not love it, we show that we do
not know it, but by the hearing of the ear. And thus,
since God is Love, and infinitely worthy to be loved by us,
with all our hearts ; if we love him not, there is the most
298 SERMON XIII.
conclusive evidence that we do not even know him. That
he is, and something of what he is, we may know. On
the assurance of his word, or by the process of an argu-
ment, we may be certified, that he hath indeed a most
just claim on all the love we have to give. But know him
with the only knowledge that is owned as the knowledge
of God in the scriptures, we cannot, unless we love him.
"God is Light." The eye sees light, by first receiving
it. " God is Love." The heart knows him, by loving
him. With the understanding, we know that he is; but
with the affections, we know ivhat he is; and especially
what he is as " the God of all grace," manifesting himself
in the gift of his only begotten Son, that we might live
through him.
Hence, you find in the scriptures, that the knowledge
and the love of God are spoken of as identical. They
whose hearts are not with him, are always described as
those who do not know him, no matter how knowing they
may be in the doctrine of his word, or how mighty in the
exposition of the scriptures. " This is life eternal," said
our Lord, " to know thee, the only true God, and Jesus
Christ, whom thou hast sent;"* where, you see, the
knowledge of God is put for the whole of spiritual life, and
thus is inseparably joined with the love of God. And
thus, brethren, you see the "essential difference between
all that mere information concerning God, which, however
embraced by the understanding, lies no deeper; and that
inward, heart-received, and heart-subduing knowledge,
written with the finger of God, upon our deepest and
most governing affections. Without the latter, we know
not God. All our knowledge of him is blindness. It is
* John xvii. 3.
THE CHARACTER OF GOD AS MANIFESTED IN CHRIST. 299
seeing, but not perceiving. It is knowledge lodged upon
the surface, as good seed lying by the way-side, or upon
stony ground, where it has no depth of earth and cannot
bear any fruit. It is not seed implanted in the only soil
that is prepared for it, and where only it can spring forth
and yield the fruits of righteousness. What if we " under-
stand all mysteries and all knowledge," so as to speak of
the things of God "with the tongues of men and of an-
gels," and have not love! Alas! "it profiteth us noth-
ing;" we are but as "the sounding brass and the tinkling
cymbal." "He that loveth not, knoweth not God, for
God is Love."
And now I will conclude this discourse with a few prac-
tical lessons arising out of the views we have taken :
1st. We may learn wherein consists the essential nature
of true piety.
True piety is simply likeness to God. Since he is
Light, his people are called "Children of Light." 1 * To be
in the image of God was the whole of the nature of piety
when man was unfallen. To be created anew in that im-
age, by regenerating grace, is the basis and substance of
all piety now that fallen man is striving to regain what sin
has made him lose. To make that likeness perfect once
more, will be the finishing work of the redemption that is
in Christ Jesus. But God is Love. The sum and sub-
stance, therefore, of all true piety is love, in its two aspects,
towards God and towards man. All the imperfect-ness of
piety is iniperfectness of love ; and the perfection of the
child of God is his being "made perfect in love." And
thus, when St. John repeats in a subsequent verse of the
same chapter the declaration of the text, "God is Love,"
* 1 Thess. v. 5.
300 SERMON XIII.
he adds, as an inference, " He that dwelleth in love dwel-
leth in God, and God in him." "As He is, so are we in
this world."
The law of God is like himself it is Love. In adap-
tation to our infirmities, it is broken into many precepts,
but all are one commandment Love. It is a harp of
many strings, but all unite in one harmony of love. " Love
is the fulfilling of the law," as it is the perfectness of its
Author. The Christian character is made up of many vir-
tues and aspects of grace, as it exhibits the several fea-
tures of holiness, of humility, of devotedness to God, of
benevolence to man, of patience, of meekness, of prayer-
fulness, of abhorrence of that which is evil, of zeal for that
which is good; but love is the life of all; and just in pro-
portion as the Christian character approaches perfection,
are all those several aspects seen blended and merged into
one controlling, harmonizing, animating, strengthening,
love to God and man.
While the children of God continue in this earthly
state, their character will be imperfect ; its several parts
deficient in proper harmony and proportion ; some aspects
and influences of piety taking undue precedence of others
which should have equal prominence ; more faith, perhaps,
than gentleness ; more distrust of self than trust in God ;
more hope than fear, or more fear than hope ; more meek-
ness to submit to affliction than boldness to go forward in
duty ; more prayerfulness to obtain blessings than thank-
fulness to acknowledge them. From Christian to Chris-
tian, there is great diversity of religious character, even
among those who may be considered equally holy ; some
shining more beautifully in one aspect of piety, some in
THE CHARACTER OF GOD AS MANIFESTED IN CHRIST. 301
another. Let us remember, they are "all children of the
light" And where, in all this world of imperfectness,
does the purest light find a surface to rest on, without
being spoiled thereby of its native proportion of parts, and
changed from its original aspect? The child of God never
in this life exhibits in himself the image of God without
imperfection. All the features are there, but more or less
obscure and out of harmony. But he is growing in grace.
The likeness is being brought out into more and more
fullness, as his Christian character becomes more meet for
the heavenly inheritance. The more mature he becomes
in "the mind of Christ," the more will all things within
him assume their proper place, and proportion, and sym-
metry; losing their individual aspects, and combining into
one blended harmony of all Christian virtues, like the
several precepts of the law uniting and fulfilled in one
single commandment. And when the child of God attains
the heavenly state and the whole " general assembly and
Church of the first born" are there in their fullness and
final glory, without spot or blemish, all in the perfect like-
ness of God, suppose ye that we shall then contemplate
each other's perfectness in the several separate virtues in
which present circumstances draw out the Christian charac-
ter, any more than we shall then have need to read the one
commandment of the law of God, under the several par-
ticulars of duty in which it is now presented in the ten ?
Shall we know one another but as made perfect in love ?
Will not all the separate aspects of Christian excellence
be then merged in the simple perfectness of love, as all hues
of the rainbow are lost in the pure white of the perfect
light?
302 SERMON XIII.
2d. The view we have taken of the divine character,
under the guidance of the text, suggests considerations
most comforting, under the various dispensations of Provi-
dence.
It is written that " all things work together for good to
them that love God." "All things!" Nothing is except-
ed. The whole universe of things is included. All con-
spire, and all work together, the greatest and the least,
the mightiest movements of empires, the least changes in
domestic or personal affairs, for the ultimate bringing to
pass of the promises of God to his Church, and to every
individual child of God in that great household. But
how conflicting oftentimes appear those things ; how di-
rectly set and prepared by man against all the good of
them that love God ; with what malice the powers of Sa-
tan are continually at work to make all things result
in their eternal ruin ; so that it often seems as if there
were nothing more contradictory to the aspect of all things,
than that they can possibly be working together for the
good of them that love God. But look abroad upon the
face of the sky and the surface of the earth ! What va-
riety, what contrasts, of colors does the light exhibit !
And yet all these work together, all must work together,
to form the uncolored light of day. Can you trace their
operation to that result ? And is there any mystery in
the ways of God more inexplicable ? Is it any less diffi-
cult for us to comprehend that under the power and
wisdom of God, those things which seem so conflicting in
the events of theworld, in regard to his Church, should
all be made to co-operate continually in producing its ulti-
mate good, and in proving that towards it, all the ways of
THE CHARACTER OF GOD AS MANIFESTED IN CHRIST. 303
God are love? Let us remember that to such ^children
as his people are in this world, it takes all his ways, the
chastening as well as the comforting, the severe as well
as the tender, to deal with them in love. The dark lines
have as much to do in making their true light, as the
milder. Were all dispensations without trials, without
sorrow, God would not be Love in his dealings with such
children, so compassed with infirmities, so easily going
astray, so in need of correction, any more than if all were
unmixed tribulation. Oh ! how should this enable us to
glory even in any tribulation, knowing that if we do love
God, that trial is only one aspect, one operation, of his
love toward us ; one of those lines of Providence, which,
as when we look upon the wrong side of a beautiful tapes-
try, seem now all mixed, and confused, and contradictory,
as if, instead of any wise design or loving object, all were
at best but blind chance ; but when seen on the right side,
as they appear to those who look on them from heaven,
whence every line can be traced to the uttermost, exhibit
but one continual evidence of the hand of God, ordering
all things in infinite wisdom, all with constant reference to
the fulfillment of his promises, all working together in the
most faithful, patient, unchangeable love to them that love
him. This we now know ly faith, on the assurance of
God's word. It is a part of that very working together
of all things for our good, that we must know these
things only by faith, so long as we abide in the flesh.
The sight of them will come when the end of them is ac-
complished. Then, with what adoration will we trace in
every minute particular, the ways of God's love towards
us and his whole Church, and see what steady light was
304 SERMON XIII.
always upon us, however dark the earthly cloud; and how
steadily, from all directions, the working together went
on ; and how all the wrath of man and all the malice of
Satan, were forced to join in it, so that in that respect
"all things" indeed tvere ours, "the world, or life, or death,
or things present, or things to come."*
Lastly. From the view we have taken of the character
of God, there arises a thought of no little seriousness, for
the consideration of all who withhold their hearts from
him.
They often read this very text, "God is Love," as if it
were a refuge from the sterner declarations of the scrip-
tures ; and hence they indulge the hope that though they
go on to neglect him, to disobey him, to refuse him their
hearts, and set at nought his fear, and in such sin should
die ; nevertheless, either he will not, or else may not exe-
cute his law upon them in the awful penalty pronounced
in his word, but in some way or other may make room for
their escape. I beg them to consider. There is no encour-
agement in this character of God to them. Precisely the
reverse. You might as well say there never could have
been such a judgment as the deluge, as that the impeni-
tent will not be cast into hell, because God is Love. I
grant that between the two judgments there is an un-
speakable difference in degree, but both are judgments of
God's anger against sinners both awful beyond our con-
ception ; and if his being Love must prevent the one, it
would have prevented the other. You might as well say,
the fearful flash of the red lightning can never appear, be-
cause all light in its original perfection is purely white.
The more our God is Love in fhe harmony of ai his
*1 Cor. iii. 21, 22.
THE CHARACTER OF GOD AS MANIFESTED IN CHRIST. 305
attributes, and in the harmony of all his works and
ways, the more must he be " a consuming fire " to
those who, instead of harmonizing in their hearts and
ways with his will, exhibit rebellion where there should be
love, and reject that great manifestation of the love of
God toward us, his only begotten Son, sent into the world
that they might live through him. Surely, the earthly
ruler is not less the loving magistrate, when he bars the
prison upon the criminal, than when he opens the door of
some peaceful asylum to the needy and deserving. You
know it is just the contrary. The more he is love, the
more is he just ; the more will he uphold the just law ; the
more will he be stern against transgressors ; the more the
obedient can rely on him, because the more must the dis-
obedient be afraid of him. Mercy is not love. In some
minds it is the antagonist of the ends of true love.
Tenderness in an earthly ruler, compassion that lays aside
the penalty of the law, is not love. It may be the very
reverse; producing results which true love would of all
things most deprecate. You must think of God always
as having a law to uphold and honor, a moral government
of boundless extent to sustain. You must take care to
remember, that however dear to him is every immortal
soul; however he "desireth not the death of a sinner, but
rather that he may turn unto him and live ;" infinitely
dearer to him are his own law, and government, and holi-
ness, and truth, all of which are pledged for the punish-
ment of sin ; and the very fact that God is Love, not
mercy, not compassion, not goodness, not holiness, not
justice, not wisdom, but the meeting and harmonizing of
all these in that love which includes and employs all, each
20
306 SERMON XIII.
in its place, in a perfect government over all creatures in
heaven and earth, and under the earth, is as much the
assurance that the sinner who doth not turn unto him
must perish under the wrath of his law, as that the peni-
tent sinner who doth turn unto him shall live in the full-
ness of his grace and glory. " The terror of the Lord "
is not another part of God's character, but the same. It
is only that character of love seen from another quarter,
in manifestation on another surface, in exercise toward
another object; just as the same pillar of fire was all
brightness and consolation toward God's people, and all
darkness and dismay toward their enemies. All depends
upon us upon the position from which we look at God,
the direction from which we come to him. Do we con-
template him from amidst his own reconciled people do
we come to him with hearts turned unto him, seeking him
through his only Son, our only Saviour ? then he is love,
and because he is love, our salvation and blessedness in
his kingdom are sure all is light. But is it from the
opposite quarter, from among those who would not have
him to reign over them, and would not seek him, but re-
ject his grace? then is he still infinite love; and for that
very reason, your condemnation and rejection are certain.
There is now no salvation for you ; you are lost forever, ex-
cept you are in Christ Jesus. God, in wonderful love,
has provided a way by which we may live before him ; by
which the most sinful, truly repenting, may live in his
peace and glory forever. But it is "through his only
begotten Son" The way is broad enough for all. The in-
vitation is free enough and urgent enough for all. None
are cast out that come in that way. None are accepted
THE CHARACTER OF GOD AS MANIFESTED IN CHRIST. 307
that come in any other. None that perish will have any
to accuse but themselves. "Ye will not come unto me
that ye might have life," is the Saviour's kind remonstrance
with them now. Ye would not come unto me, that ye
might have life, will be his stern rebuke and condemnation,
when they meet him as the Judge of quick and dead, and
find themselves cast out, and condemned, and lost, to all
eternity.
God is love. His saints, made perfect in his likeness,
are love. Heaven, the communion of God and his saints,
is love. What is hell? Only think of it as having, in
its fallen angels and its lost immortal souls, no love; their
intellectual powers and all the capacities and desires of
their fallen nature in fullest vigor, but no love ! What then
must be that awful fellowship that communion of the lost !
Saviour, we flee to thee ! Oh ! bind our hearts to thee.
In thee may it be the prayer and striving of our whole life
to be found, each hour of life, that wherever death may
find us we may be safe in thee !
SERMON XIV.
THE BELIEVER'S HIDDEN LIFE IN CHRIST.
COLOSSIANS iii. 3, 4.
" Ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God : when Christ, who is
our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory."*
THESE words are addressed to all who trust that they
have become truly followers and partakers of Christ, by
having experienced in their hearts the quickening power
of his Spirit, raising them from the death of sin to a new
and spiritual life. The Apostle has just exhorted them
thus: "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those
things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right
hand of God;" that is If indeed ye have followed
Christ in his resurrection, so that by his grace you have
risen from spiritual death to newness of life, then follow
him in his ascension ; follow him in your hearts, to where
he now sitteth, at the right hand of God ; set your affec-
tion, not on things on the earth, where Jesus is not, and
where the portion of his people cannot be, but on things
above ; those eternal, ineffable glories, of which He is the
centre, and source, and being. And then, as a reason
why Christians should thus ascend in their affections to
where Christ now is, amidst " things above," he bids them
remember that they are " dead" and their " life is hid
* Preached in Carfax Church, Oxford, England, May 15, 1853.
THE BELIEVER'S HIDDEN LIFE IN CHRIST. 309
with Christ in God; " adding, as a most stimulating mo-
tive to that heavenward setting of their affections, the
glorious assurance, that "when Christ, who is our life,
shall appear," then shall all that are his, who have set
their hearts upon him as their Saviour and portion, " ap-
pear with him in glory."
Such is the connection of our text. Let us take up
its parts :
1st. " Ye are dead" The persons addressed are true
Christians. In what sense is the Christian dead? We
answer, dead to sin. The fact that he is risen with
Christ, or by virtue of the death and resurrection of
Christ, to newness of life, implies that he is crucified with
Christ, and so has become dead unto sin. The Apostle,
speaking ' of Christ and Christians, says : " In that he
died, he died unto sin once; but in that he liveth, he liv-
eth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be
dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God, through Jesus
Christ our Lord."*
In all men, there is at the same time both death and
life ; death unto God, and life to sin ; or else life unto
God and death to sin. The heart unrenewed by the
Spirit of Christ, is dead to God ; dead to things above ;
dead to the love of Christ ; dead to the motives and affec-
tions of the Christian life. It has no pleasure in them,
nor desire for them, nor sensibility to them. It lies in
the grave of its alienation from God, as deaf to his heav-
enly invitations and promises, as the dead body in the
sepulchre is deaf to all the sounds of the world above it
Such, before God, my dear brethren, are all here young
*Romans vi. 9.
310 SERMON XIV.
and old, the gay and the grave, the most amiable, and
the most upright, and the most refined, until there take
place in them a spiritual resurrection till they be raised
up by the power of the Spirit of our risen Saviour, breath-
ing into them the breath of a new and holy life.
But that death is all alive a living death. Precisely
that which is the death of the heart towards God, is its
life to the world and sin. How quick the sensibility of
that unrenewed heart to all that is seen and temporal, as
its substitute for all that is unseen and eternal. How
naturally and easily it sins, and perseveres in sin. Its
affections need no exhortations or urgent sermons to per-
suade them in that direction. Tell it of the love of Christ,
and how cold it is. Tell it of the praise or gain of the
world, and how it kindles with life. Under the loudest,
most powerful declarations of the will of God, it hears
not. But let the will of the flesh, or the will of man, but
whisper its command and reward, and how keen the hear-
ing ; and how immediately the question of obedience
receives the needful consideration!
But, on the other hand, the heart of the true servant
of Christ is dead, and yet is alive. Sin hath lost its do-
minion over him. Its power is broken. He is created
anew in Christ. He is risen with Christ from the death
of sin; and though, like Lazarus coming up out of the
sepulchre, "bound hand and foot with grave-clothes," the
bonds of that old spiritual death be not all removed, he
is no more dead in sin, but is alive unto God alive to
the voice of his will, alive to the enjoyments of his ser-
vice, alive to the attractions of holiness, alive to the per-
suading, animating, subduing power of the love of Christ.
THE BELIEVER'S HIDDEN LIFE IN CHRIST. 311
The great motives of godliness find a true response in his
heart. There is a communion of nature between them
and him. They draw in the direction of his affections.
Religion, with him, instead of a mere form of outward
observances, like a vesture thrown over a stone, is an in-
ward spring of life and love. Instead of a mere accretion
of works, wrought out independently of all discrimination
of motive %nd inward affection; religion with him is a
new heart, having God for its chosen portion, Jesus for
its precious example, and trust, and strength; seeking
present holiness for its present happiness; eternal holiness
for its coveted, eternal inheritance; and good works of
righteousness as naturally and as necessarily flowing from
all, as a fountain sends out its stream.
But here it is well to say, we are not teaching that the
servant of Christ in the present life is as dead to sin as
the unrenewed man is dead to God ; nor that he is as alive
unto God as the other is alive to the world and sin. Such,
indeed, will be the attainment of the child of grace, when
grace shall have finished in glory the work which is now
being carried on in his heart. The morning light is ad-
vancing unto the perfect day. The child is growing into
the full development of the stature of the perfect man.
The spiritual life is getting more and more complete do-
minion. The spiritual death is surrendering one remnant
after another of its broken sceptre. Meanwhile, however,
there is a remnant of that death. The Canaanite is van-
quished, but is yet in the land, and ready at any opportu-
nity to assault and wound, if not to slay. The serpent is
bruised with a deadly blow, but is not dead, and has venom
still. The malefactor at the side of the crucified Jesus,
312 SERMON XIV.
was essentially dead. Life was certainly, though slowly,
ebbing away under the wounds of his crucifixion. But he
was not so dead that he could not turn upon the Lord of
life at his side, and assault him with bitter mockery and
reviling. So our old nature, crucified with Christ, how-
ever essentially dead to sin, has life enough remaining to
make us know that the malefactor within us has yet to be
watched, and that our warfare is not yet accomplished.
The time is at hand when that death unto sin will be com-
pleted, and our newness of life will be consummated :
when all of spiritual corruption will be laid aside in the
grave, and all of spiritual perfectness will be put on in
heaven, and our souls shall be with Christ at the right
hand of God.
2d. Let us come now to the second part of our text
"Your life is hid with Christ in God."
"Your life;" ye who are "risen with Christ." Your
life, as Christ's people the life of your faith that which
makes you, and sustains you, as servants of God. It is a
life so foreign from all that is natural to man, so different
from any other manifestation of life in this world, so much
like that of some beautiful exotic of the conservatory, the
food and the atmosphere of which are exclusive and pecu-
liar to itself, that as we look at a faithful, heavenly-minded
Christian, " in the world," but not " of the world," living
by a life evidently pertaining to another world, we are
moved to ask, how has he that very peculiar, that un-
earthly life? And the answer of the text is It is "with
Christ" There is the fountain. With the Christian it is
in regard to operation ; with Christ in point of habitation.
We receive the supply. Jesus keeps the source. The
THE BELIEVER'S HIDDEN LIFE IN CHRIST. 313
unsearchable riches, the inexhaustible fullness of all our
spiritual life, is indivisibly in him. Out of that fullness
we receive, day by day, grace to help in time of need.
The manna comes down upon the Church while making
her way through the wilderness to the heavenly land, not
to be deposited in her treasury or with her ministers, as
bread laid up for future need. It is given day by day,
directly from heaven ; the daily supply of daily wants.
" As thy day is, so shall thy strength be." Now, as at
the beginning, it is "tvith Christ." He has never parted
with it in any sense, so as to vest the possession or the
distribution anywhere else. He will have every one of
his people, and all his Church, to realize at every moment
the most perfect dependence upon him for the daily con-
tinuance, by his own personal and direct ministration, of
that spiritual life which he only did originally create. He
will keep the Christian always consciously weak him-
self, that he may be strong in the Lord; always poor in
himself, that he may be rich in faith and in supplies out of
his Saviour's fullness; always knowing that while he lives
unto Christ, he lives only by Christ, by new applications
of prayer, and new communications of grace.
It is written concerning the chosen people in the way,
from Egypt to Canaan, "They did all drink the same
spiritual drink, for they drank of that spiritual rock that
followed them, and that rock was Christ." And we may
add, that as that rock represented Christ so, in that
chosen people, all drinking therefrom, all as dependent
thereupon, one day as another, one year as another ; never
becoming any more capable of living without the con-
stant renewal of the first supplies ; all drinking immedi-
ately from that rock, without any intermediate ministry
314 SERMON XIV.
or priesthood in that people was represented the whole
blessed communion and fellowship of God's peculiar peo-
ple in all ages and parts of the world, in union with their
common life ; all drinking the same spiritual drink ; all
receiving their supplies day by day; all seeking them in
none but Christ, directly from him, and none ever com-
ing unto him in vain.
3d. But let us draw nearer to this great mystery of
grace. Your life is not only with Christ it is Christ.
So speaks our text most positively : " When Christ, who is
our life, shall appear," &c. What can be more intimate
than the union between the believer and the Saviour !
We receive for our salvation not merely our Lord's prom-
ises, but the Lord himself; not merely what he im-
parts, but what he is. He himself is our bread, and
strength, and life, and hope, and glory. It is he that
is "made unto us, of God, wisdom, and righteousness,
and sanctification, and redemption."
How frequently and strongly do we find in the scrip-
tures this identifying of our spiritual life with the per-
son of our blessed Lord, as being himself that very life.
For example : "The bread of God is he which came down
from heaven, and giveth life unto the world." " I am that
bread of life." " I am the resurrection and the life."
"I am the way, the truth, and the life." "He that hath
the Son hath life." " He that abideth in me, and I in him,
the same bringeth forth much fruit."
The object in such passages certainly is to draw the
reliance of our hearts as near as possible to the very per^
son, and immediate communion, of our ever-living Saviour.
We are prone to trust in means of grace, as if they were
THE BELIEVER'S HIDDEN LIFE IN CHRIST. 315
grace, or could communicate grace; to use the sacraments
of Christ too much as substitutes for himself, or deposito-
ries of his gifts; instead of the means by which, under
the power of his Spirit and the light of his word, we are
to get the nearer to him, and thus, by faith, partake
directly in his fullness. The object in such scriptures as
I have just cited, is, to keep most distinct in our minds
the important truth, that whatever the value of the di-
vinely instituted ordinances and ministry of the Gospel ;
however precious even that revealed truth of the Gospel
in which, under the form of scripture, Christ is set before
us ; our new life cannot be found in them. They may
lead us to the life ; they cannot give the life. The Chris-
tian must use them, but he must not rest in them. Noth-
ing must for a moment interfere with his reliance upon, or
his looking directly unto, Jesus. The life that he lives in
the flesh must be in all things, at each moment, a life of
faith in the Son of God; and that faith embracing, lean-
ing upon, applying to, and receiving from, the Son of God ;
most directly and immediately.
But we advance to a further declaration of our text.
The Christian's spiritual life is said to be "hid with
Christ:'
It is hidden from the Christian and from all that would
ruin his soul. The life of the stream from which you
quench your thirst in the valley, is hid when its source is
far out of sight in the height of the mountain, where the
hand of man can never reach to defile or diminish it. So
is our life " hid ivitli Christ:' He who by the suffering of
death became our life, by resurrection from death and
exaltation to the right hand of God, became our hidden
316 SERMON XIV.
life. The rock from which we all drink the same spiritual
drink, is high in the mount of God, where no eye but that
of faith can reach, where no foot but that of prayer can
mount.
When the whole population of a city depends for water
upon one single stream, and the city is encompassed with
enemies, who would gladly get at its source, to poison it,
how great is the comfort of the dependent people, to
know that its spring is hid in the height of the moun-
tain, where no enmity of man can approach. But how
much greater the security and the comfort, when not only
the source of the stream, but all its ways and channels,
by which it reaches the people within the city, are so hid-
den, that no malice of the enemy can find them out, to
divert or pollute them. Such a city is the living Church,
which is the blessed company of all God's living people,
and which contains none else. The life of every one of
those members depends on one single fountain. Cut off
their communication therewith, or poison its supplies, and
all perish. Abundant is the enmity of Satan, and of the
thousand agencies which he employs in this world, to ac-
complish that work, if it be possible to the power or skill
of any created being. How earnest and repeated were
his attempts at that very end, when our Lord was on the
earth. The temptations which he addressed to the Sav-
iour, in the desert what was their object but to intro-
duce, if it were possible, only one sinful thought or wish
into that holy mind, and thus forever poison the source of
all our spiritual life? But our blessed Lord is now exalted
to the right hand of the Majesty on high. Within the
veil of the heavenly sanctuary; under the shadow of the
THE BELIEVER'S HIDDEN LIFE IN CHRIST. 317
Almighty; in the brightness of the glory of our ascended
and glorified Redeemer, is your life now hid. Satan has
no access there ; the thousand polluting influences of the
world, by which all on earth is so defiled, have no access
there. Our own follies, and infirmities, and sins, have no
access there. We can receive out of that blessed source
of life, but we cannot reach it. It is hid from the believer
who lives by it, as well as from the powers of darkness
that would cut off our access to it. It is written of him
in whom is that life, "Whom having not seen, we love; in
whom, though now we see him not, yet believing, we re-
joice." "The same yesterday, to-day, and forever," is
that mysterious, unsearchable, glorious life of all the
Church of God.
But we have the additional comfort of knowing that the
ways by which that life comes to and refreshes the hearts
of the people of God, are hidden, as well as its origin in
Christ. It is written of the servant of God, that " He
shall be as the tree planted ly flu rivers of water" And
it is written of that servant's Saviour and hope, that he
shall be to his people, " as rivers of water in a dry place"
And the Psalmist, speaking of that precious consolation,
says, "There is a river, the streams whereof shall make
glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacle of
the Most High." On the strength of that assurance, he
exclaimed, " God is in the midst of her ; she shall not be
moved: God shall help her, and that right early. The
Lord of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge."
But that river is out of sight to the world. Its waters
reach the heart of the servant of God, and become " a
very present help" just in the time of need, by ways un-
318 SERMON XIV.
known but to Him who knoweth all things. No persecu-
tion can find them out, to cut them off. "Your life is
hid." The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou near-
est the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh
or whither it goeth ; so (said our Lord) is every one that
is born of the Spirit." And we add, so is every one that
is sustained, and sanctified, and refreshed in the divine
life, by the Spirit of God. Secret, inscrutable, beyond the
malice of man and of Satan, is the way of communion
between the soul of the believer and his spiritual life in
Christ. Is some child of God the banished victim of per-
secution, dwelling in caves of the earth, or buried alive in
dungeons of the Papal inquisition, cut off by priests of
Antichrist from all the ordinances of the visible Church
and all the visible communion of its means of grace ;
still there is a river of God, full of water, to make glad
that thirsting heart. His communion therewith is un-
changed. Antichrist knows not its ways. Satan cannot
hinder them. It springs up in the prison of the perse-
cuted believer, and amidst the flames of the Christian
martyr. As soon as we need it, and seek it, it is present.
We drink of that Spiritual Rock that follows us all the
way of this wilderness; but how it follows us, is kid. And
we rejoice that it is so; hid in its source; hid in its
streams ; hid from the power of Satan ; hid from the fol-
lies and the violence of man; inaccessible even to the
Christian believer, in the infirmities of his present nature,
except simply as he may apply thereto in the prayer of
faith, and receive out of the fullness of Christ, as every
one hath need.
But there is still a stronger expression in our text.
THE BELIEVER'S HIDDEN LIFE IN CHRIST, 319
Your life is said to be not only "hid with Christ" but
"hid with Christ in God."
There is a reference here to the mediatorial work and
office of our Lord, as depending on the union of the two
natures, divine and human, in the person of the Christ,
and also to the divine nature that he had from eternity,
as the original source whence all the spiritual life, which,
as Christ the Mediator, he bestows on sinners, is derived.
As Jesus is our Mediator at the right hand of God, hav-
ing obtained eternal redemption for us; as he is the God-
man, in whom it pleased the Father that all fullness
should dwell; as he is exalted to be head over all things
to his Church, our life is with him. He is the ultimate
and only source to which we go for new supplies. He is
"made unto us (saith St. Paul) wisdom, and righteous-
ness, and sanctification, and redemption." These are life
eternal. But, saith the Apostle, he is "made unto us of
God" these precious gifts. An expression precisely
corresponding with that of the text "with Christ in
God" As Christ is both God and man, the foundation
of our life is in our union of these two natures ; but as he
was from all eternity God, before he came in the nature
of man, and as all he did and suffered for us, in man's
nature, received its whole redeeming value and efficacy
from its union with the nature of God; therefore is that
divine nature the original source whence the fullness of
that hid fountain proceeds; therefore we read, "with
Christ in God"
The same great truth is exhibited in that vision of St.
John, wherein he beheld " the holy city, New Jerusalem ;"
"the inheritance of the saints in light." He saw "a pure
320 SERMON XIV.
river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of
the throne of God and of the Lamb," representing the
life of the people of God in their heavenly heritage."
" A pure river, clear as crystal" Beautiful image of per-
fect felicity! But mark whence that river issues : "pro-
ceeding out of the throne of God and the Lamb" Its
origin, "hid with Christ in God." The grace that saves us
has all its head-springs in the unsearchable depths of the
being and government of God. It proceeds from under
the very throne of the sovereignty of Jehovah; all his
authority and power are its warrant ; all the infinite riches
of God are its supply; all the attributes of his nature
justice, and holiness, and truth, as well as mercy and com-
passion unite in sending it forth for the life of the world.
But, mark, it is the throne also of the Lainb whence it
proceeds. The life comes not to sinners except by the
mediation of the once crucified, now glorified and en-
throned Lamb of God; through his sacrifice on earth, and
his intercession in heaven. But issuing through that ex-
alted mediation, supplied out of the unsearchable grace of
God, it comes forth, not a rivulet for a few, but a river of
life for a whole world so full, so free, that whosoever will
is entreated to come, and drink, and live forever. " There
is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city
of our God." The Prophet Isaiah, standing as if upon
its banks, sounded the proclamation, "Ho, every one that
thirsteth, come ye to the waters." Jesus was still nearer
to it, when he stood and cried, " If any man thirst, let
him come unto me and drink." The way to it is all plain.
The invitations to it are all free. Thousands of thousands
have received thereof, and are now where they behold it in
THE BELIEVER'S HIDDEN LIFE IN CHRIST. 321
all its breadth and fullness, proceeding out of the throne
of God and the Lamb. To them and to us, it is equally
the life that it is "with Christ in God" All the stability
of the throne of God; all the unchangeableness of the
nature of God; all the boundless love of God in Christ to
sinners, are thus our assurance, that it is a life which no
necessities of his people can diminish; no devices of Satan
reach; no corruptions of man pollute; as pure, as inex-
haustible, as eternal, as God.
But there remains yet one declaration of our text.
Your life is not always to be hid. Now we see not him in
whom we believe as our life. He is gone to receive his
kingdom to prepare the mansions in his Father's house
for his ransomed brethren. He will come again "Christ,
who is our life," saith the text, u shall appear." " Every
eye shall see him," of them " that pierced him," and of
them that trust in him. " His appearing" will then be,
not as "the man of sorrows," the despised Nazarene, with
a little band of feeble disciples following his steps; but as
the "Great God and Saviour," " far above all principality,
and power, and might, and dominion," coming in the
clouds of heaven with the glory of the Father, and with
all the hosts of heaven attending his word. Then will our
life be manifested, because he will be seen; "we shall see
him as he is" He will appear to his beloved people in all
his unspeakable glory. They shall know, as they never
knew before, in whom they believed; so that all shall realize,
indeed, that eye had not seen, nor ear heard, nor had it
ever entered into their hearts to conceive, what a precious
Saviour, what a glorious heritage, they embraced when
they chose their portion in Jesus.
21
322 SERMON XIV.
But not only will Christ, the life, appear in that day,
but all to whom he has given life shall " appear tvith him
in glory " The glorious vine, with all its innumerable
branches, and all the clustering and ripened fruit of its
own life, " the travail of the soul " of our Redeemer, the
purchase of his atoning blood, the whole blessed com-
munion of saints, from the eldest born of the oldest dis-
pensation of the covenant of salvation, through all the
generations of those who were ever united to him by a
living faith all shall appear together, as one mystical
body, one royal priesthood, one holy nation, entering into
the glory of their infinitely exalted Head. It will be
"the day of the manifestation of the sons of God;" the
day of the manifestation of those who are sons of God,
in distinction from those who are not ; of those who have
really had their life "with Christ in God," and so have
lived a life of faith, from those who, under the profession
of such life, had all their life in the flesh, and with the
world.
We speak commonly of " the invisible Church" as dis-
tinguished from the visible; because it doth not now appear
to us, who are alive unto God, and who are not who are
the true Church and who are not. The line between the
merely professing Christians and the real Christians ; com-
municants in the form only, and communicants in the
spirit; the Church by participation in sacrament merely,
and the Church by participation in the life of Christ- is
now a hidden line. But when Christ shall appear, his
real Church, no longer in any sense invisible, shall appear;
the vital union of his people with him, their inseparable
life, their common inheritance, shall appear. All that
THE BELIEVER'S HIDDEN LIFE IN CHRIST. 323
were branches of the true vine, only by being tied to it
by the outward bond of ordinances and forms, having
never drank into its life, will have been taken away and
given over to be burned, as the stubble; while every
single branch, the least, the feeblest, that was united to
the vine by an inward participation of life, will then appear
with Christ its life in glory the vine manifested in its
branches the Saviour glorified in all his brethren, his
Holy Catholic Church. Oh! who can tell what is con-
tained in the declaration : " Then shall ye also appear
with him in glory ! " Think of the glory of Christ at the
right hand of the throne of God ! Think of our being
made so to be with him, in that glory, that not only are
our souls joint-heirs forever with him, but even our bodies
are to be made "like unto his glorious body, by the
mighty working whereby he is able to subdue all things
unto himself;" think of all this enjoyed by each believer,
in communion with that whole brotherhood of the Church
of God, which shall be then gathered out of all genera-
tions, and all kindreds and dispensations, once so separa-
ted, and hid one from another, now all knowing that "they
did all drink the same spiritual drink for they drank of
that spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was
Christ."
Now, my brethren, it is upon the broad basis of all the
precious and animating considerations which we have thus
endeavored to present to you, conscious all the while, how
far short of the height and depth of the text we have
come, that we are exhorted in the words of the Apostle,
immediately following the text; "Seek those things
which are above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of
324 SERMON XIV.
God. Set your affections on things above, and not on
things on the earth."
There is not time to urge this exhortation. It speaks
for itself. What are things on the earth for a Christian's
affections to be placed on, when Christ his life is in heaven,
and all the hope of his soul is with him there ; and when,
to be ready to meet him at his appearing, and to appear
with him when he cometh, is the great business and inter-
est of our earthly state ?
But you see, brethren, on what all our hope depends.
Shall ive appear with Christ when he appears ; partakers
of his glory, heirs with him of the kingdom ? All de-
pends on this Is he now our life ? Have we sought a
new life in him ? Are we conscious of having found a
new life in him? Do we live now a life of faith on him;
a life of holiness by him ; a life of good works unto him ?
Can we say, " For me to live is Christ?" Then may we
say also, "Forme to die is gain." But all depends on
that one point Christ our present life. Eternal life will
be not a new life to the believer, but the present Christian
life of faith, purified, expanded, ennobled ; the little stream
enlarged by open communion with God's unbounded glory.
Oh, then, dear brethren, seek with your whole hearts, the
experience of that life now in the flesh. "Hid with
Christ in God," you can attain unto it, by the steps of
earnest prayer, leaning upon the promises and invitations
of the Gospel, and none shall fail but those who, in that
way, will not seek and strive.
But have I not been speaking to many in this congre-
gation to whom, though they do not doubt the correctness
of my exposition of the text, I have been all the while
THE BELIEVER'S HIDDEN LIFE IN CHRIST. 325
describing an experience, a life, to which they have no
responding history, to which they feel themselves to be
entire strangers ? Have I not been speaking to those who
know nothing of any life but that which they have in
themselves, and to whom all that we have said is so alien
from all their experience, that did they not know it to be
scriptural, they would think it visionary? What then,
my friends, is your hope ? Can you have your portion in
Christ, or with his people ? Is there not an essential con-
nection between that hidden life of the heart in him while
we abide here, and that manifested life of his people with
him, when they shall appear with him in glory? If you
have not the one, can you attain the other ? If the
branch abide not in the vine, must it not be withered and
dead ? Can you be sensible that in your soul you seek
not the life that is hid with Christ in God, and yet in-
dulge the hope that when he appears, you will have a
portion in that very life, and a place in the great com-
munion of his people ? " If any man have not the Spirit
of Christ, he is none of his."
SEEMOI XV.
THE BELIEVER'S PROGRESSIVE LIFE IN CHRIST.
PROVERBS iv. 18.
' ' The path of the just is as the shining light which shineth more and more,
unto the perfect day."
THE "just," in this verse, are the righteous, the men of a
genuine faith and holiness. "The path of the just" is
the walk, the life, the habitual character of such men.
The passage is an Old Testament description of the gra-
cious, happy, useful and brightening character of the true
servant of God, in contrast with another path, of which
the inspired writer had just said : " Avoid it, pass not by
it, turn from it, and pass away." " The way of the wicked
is as darkness"
The righteous were not called Christians in those days.
But now that their name is taken from that of him in
whose righteousness and by whose Spirit alone they can
have any righteousness before God, we will substitute that
new name for that by which they are called in the text,
and will read the verse as if it were written, the path of
the Christian is " as the shining light, which shineth more
and more, unto the perfect day."
I. The Christian, in his habitual walk and character,
is as the shining light.
THE BELIEVER'S PROGRESSIVE LIFE IN CHRIST. 327
How beautiful the illustration ! Light must shine.
You may hide it, but shine it will. Bury it in a dungeon
cover it with clouds it shines as ever. All may be
blindness around it, so that none see it, but it shines. Is
it a diamond, encrusted with earth, in the rubbish of the
mine ? It makes itself known by its shining. Is it the
glow-worm creeping on the ground? You know it by its
shining. Such is genuine Christian piety. It is of its
own nature light, and must give light, whether there be
an eye to see it or not, and the heart in which it dwells
must be full of light of joy, and peace, and love, and
hope, just so far as its piety has advanced from infancy
towards maturity in Christ.
The light in that heart must be a shining light ; shining
not merely in its own chamber where dwell the Christian's
affections, and joys, and tempers, and principles ; but out-
wardly, through all the issues of that heart, in the life ;
shedding around it the radiance of truth, and purity, and
loving kindness, and gentleness, and love ; thus attracting
the regards of men and leading their thoughts above to
him whose light it is. So strongly do the scriptures
insist on the essential connection between a Christian
heart and a shining light, that they make true Christians
identical with light. " Ye ivere sometime darkness" said
St. Paul. Mark the expression ! In their unconverted
state, they had been darkness itself, not merely walking
in darkness, but identical with it. " But now are ye light
in the Lord;" not only bearers of the light, as a candle-
stick bears the candle burning in its socket, but so pene-
trated with the radiance of a true godliness, so transformed
by the grace of God into his own likeness, so identified
328 SERMON XV.
with Christ, who is " the true light," that " now ye are
light;" but yet only "in the Lord"
Thus the inseparable connection between the Christian's
faith and a shining light. How beautifully was this exhib-
ited in the prison at Phillippi ! Paul and Silas, with their
feet fast in the stocks, and their limbs in chains, and the
midnight around them, and all the other inhabitants of
the prison locked in sleep, but they themselves too full of
the praises of God to sleep how were they "light in the
Lord ;" how luminous became their very bonds ; how full
of joy was that midnight dungeon. Shining lights in-
deed ! but where was the eye to see, or who in that solitude
could be profited? God provided. Did he send the
light, and would he not send the eye to see thereby ? An
earthquake shook the walls, unbarred the doors, loosed
every man's bonds, awoke the jailor and his prisoners
provided thus the witnesses and the hearers. The jailor
owned the hand of God ; his heart was opened to the
Gospel at the mouth of its faithful preachers, and with
all his house he believed and was baptized. What is the
lesson ? Why, that no troublous circumstances can ex-
cuse, or need ever prevent us, from the manifestation in
life of what it is in heart to be a Christian ; that no con-
dition is so out of sight but that we may glorify God
therein and promote the spiritual good of men ; that
affliction, persecution, hatred, enmity, though intended for
our destruction, may easily become, under God's provi-
dence, the very reflecting surface by which our light will
be multiplied and our usefulness extended.
"No man liveth unto himself" alone. He cannot, if he
would. The man who, through sinful disobedience to
THE BELIEVER'S PROGRESSIVE LIFE IN CHRIST. 329
God, is only darkness, cannot keep his darkness to him-
self. His shadow will darken others. The same is true
of the children of light. The residence may be a hovel,
the tenant a poor beggared cripple, full of suffering, almost
speechless. But is he alive unto God ? Has he the love
of God shed abroad in his heart? Is he sweetly sub-
missive to the will under which he suffers, abounding in
thankfulness and praise, counting all his affliction light
and but for a moment, in view of the eternal weight of
glory for which, under divine grace, he knows it is prepar-
ing him? He is God's own son, adopted in Jesus Christ.
He is an "heir of God and a joint heir with Christ." A
crown of glory is awaiting him in heaven. Why, then, is
he kept here thus to suffer ? Why doth not his Heavenly
Father receive him unto himself? He is "a shining light"
He is continued here that men may see and glorify his
Father who is in heaven. Yea, but how many will ever
see that poor hovel and that humble inhabitant? God
will provide. He who hath set so beautiful a light in so
humble a candlestick, will not permit it to shine unseen
of men. A thousand ways he hath of making it known.
That suffering child of God in his hovel may do more for
the salvation of others by his patient, thankful, loving
sufferings, and by his few words for Christ, than a hundred
Christians of inferior piety. His one talent of meek, and
lowly, and thankful acquiescence in the painful will of God,
will gain ten talents to his Saviour's treasury. How
strikingly does the well-known tract of the Dairyman's
Daughter, exemplify this ! How obscure the rustfc neigh-
borhood in which her path lay. How secluded and hum-
ble the cottage she lived in, and the little upper chamber
330 SERMON XV.
she died in. How entirely out of sight had been her
pious life ; how unknown, save to two or three, was the
lovely Christian grace that adorned her death. She was
dear, indeed, very dear, to her Saviour ; and sweetly did
he shine upon her path as she went through the shadow of
death. How little did she imagine that ever mortal ears,
beyond that little neighborhood, would hear her name.
And little did her affectionate pastor imagine, when wri-
ting that simple, touching narrative of her life and death
in Christ, what God would do by that tract. God's
thoughts are not our thoughts. "Thus saith the Lord,
The heaven is my throne and the earth is my foot-
stool ; where is the house that ye build unto me?" " To
this man will I look, even to him that is poor and
of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word." God
looked much more to that temple of his grace, that con-
trite daughter in her poverty of goods and poverty of
spirit, as the manifestation of his glory, than to all our
temples made with hands. What book of great learning
and strong argument for the truth, has been honored in-
the conversion of sinners to Christ, as the light of the
example of that child of God, set in that simple narra-
tive ? What minister has been the instrument, by his
public labors, in the turning of so many to righteousness,
as that narrative of "The Dairyman's Daughter," trans-
lated, as it has been, into various languages, read in pal-
aces and cottages, loved among the noble and the poor,
gathering fruit in the households of princes ? A shining
light ! Not long ago a missionary in Asia Minjr, amidst
barbarism and the utmost spiritual darkness, found a little
fellowship of some ten or twelve persons of oriental
THE BELIEVER'S PROGRESSIVE LIFE IN CHRIST. 331
speech, who, to his great delight, seemed true followers of
Christ, acquainted with the way of life. It was not long
since they had learned it; but their enlightening and
conversion were traced to a copy of that precious narra-
tive, which, in an oriental dress, had been brought, by Di-
vine Providence, as a light into that dark land, and had
thus been made a lamp to their path.
" Ye are the light of the world," said our Lord to his
people. It is the combination of such faithful manifesta-
tions of the truth and grace of God, in Christ, in connec-
tion with the teaching of the word, that constitutes the
only light of this world. Then follows the Lord's exhor-
tation to his people : " Let your light so shine before men,
that they may see your good works and glorify your
Father which is in heaven." Mark the words : " Let your
light so shine before men," &c. It will shine, whether
seen or not. But it may shine as a candle hid under a
bushel, or as a candle set on a candlestick and giving
light in all the house. Let it so shine as to be manifest,
diffusive, invasive of the place of darkness. So seek and
cherish the sanctifying influences of the Spirit of God
upon your affections, tempers, manners and ways ; so cul-
tivate a spirit of active love and of out-going benevolence,
according to the mind of Christ, that the genuine effect
of the Gospel on its true disciples, to purify their affec-
tions, and exalt their whole character, to promote their
purest happiness, and make them blessings among their
fellow creatures, may be known and read of all that
know you. " I have seen (says Bp. Taylor,) a religion
that wholly dwelt upon the face and tongue ; that like a
wanton and undressed tree, spends all its juice in suckers
332 SERMON XV.
and irregular branches, in leaves and gum ; and after all
such goodly outsides, you should never eat an apple, or
be delighted with the beauties or the perfumes of a hopeful
blossom."
Let your light so shine, not ostentatiously, as if it were
shining on yourself, instead of from yourself; as if it in-
vited attention to your praises, instead of the praises of
him in whose grace you live; but still not indistinctly,
but positively and boldly so that men seeing your good
works, (for it is good works which must furnish the reflec-
tors and manifestations of the light of God in your heart,)
they may glorify (not you, for you must stand behind
your works, as the body of the sun stands behind its
light, invisible while it makes all things visible, but) " your
Father which is in heaven" who is your light, and joy, and
glory, and before whom, as the seraphim veiling their
faces and their feet, while they praise him, you, as his true
children and grateful receivers of his glory, will delight to
stand concealed in the shadow of your good works ; like
a fair taper which shines to all the room, but casts a
shadow around itself.*
He that would be thus a shining light, so glorifying
God in the sight of men, must live very near to God,
* I cannot refrain from quoting here that beautiful passage of Bp. Taylor's
sermon at the funeral of the Countess of Carbery, from which the above figure
is taken : " Like a fair taper, -when she shined to all the room, yet round
about her own station she cast a shadow and a cloud, and she shined to every
body but herself. But the perfectness of her prudence and excellent parts
could not be hid; and all her humility and arts of concealment, made the vir-
tues more amiable and illustrious. For as pride sullies the beauty of the
fairest virtues, so humility is the greatest eminency and art of publication in
the whole world; and she in all her arts of secrecy and hiding her worthy
things, was but like one that hideth the wind, and covers the ointment
of her right hand."
THE BELIEVER'S PROGRESSIVE LIFE IN CHRIST. 333
dwelling constantly in his light, as the moon, so dark in
itself, keeps up its constant contributions to the earth
only by a constant walk in the radiance of the sun.
Your life must be that inner life which is " hid with Christ
in God."
II. But the Christian in his habitual walk is compared
not only to the shining, but to the advancing and increas-
ing light the shining light "which shineth more and
more"
Thus is declared, the progressive nature, the ascending
progress, the increasing strength and usefulness of true
religion in the heart.
At its beginning, at its birth out of the darkness of
our natural state of alienation from God and insensibility
to heavenly things, with all the delusions of such a
condition, it is like " the morning light ;" " morning spread
upon the mountains" and not yet reaching the valleys;
morning spread as a vesture of many colors upon the
headlands, gradually extending to the lowlands and losing
its coloring, as it advances, in the pure white light of the
maturer day. Then there is often a mistiness remaining
when the darkness is passed away. The features of the
landscape are indistinct. The dividing lines of hill and
vale, of land and sea, are invisible. Things appear out of
shape and proportion. Some leading heights are beauti-
fully revealed; others, less prominent, are yet in the
shadow ; while on much of the landscape there is an uncer-
tainty over which imagination may play without guide
or limit. Such is the beginning of the day of grace in
the sinner's soul. A long, dark night has been upon
him. The Sun of Righteousness hath risen and is chas-
334 SERMON xv.
ing the night away. Bat it is early morning yet only a
feeble dawn. His views are very obscure. The sight of
the depths of his own sinful nature, of his many and great
necessities, and of his relations to God and his Saviour;
his knowledge of the temptations and dangers of his
path, and of the need of watchfulness, and how easily
he may be deluded and overcome, all is very confused.
The day has begun ; he is born again ; he has become
truly a child of the light and of the day; he knows
enough of his sinfulness to repent of it, and to be hum-
bled before God on account of it ; he knows enough of
the Saviour to flee to him and love him ; he knows enough
of holiness to hunger after it, and of the "hope that mak-
eth not ashamed " to rejoice in it; he is a new creature
in Christ Jesus, but a new creature at the dawn of life ;
amidst clouds, and shadows, and uncertainties, and obscuri-
ties, as we may suppose the new-created earth to have
been, when there was upon it only the light that sufficed
to divide the day from the night, and to manifest in gene-
ral the hand of God all around, and while as yet the great
lights in the firmament had not been made. How much
has he to learn of himself; of the world in its dangerous
influences upon a heart striving to be the Lord's; of the
preciousness of the love and peace of God in Christ; of
a life of faith, in its contests, its trials, its encouragements,
its victories! Some points of Christian character are
beautifully brought out. Others lie in a great degree un-
developed. There is often a want of proportion of parts,
and symmetry of stature,which impairs strength and causes
unsteadiness. Self-knowledge is feeble; self-confidence
is strong. Feelings are too much mistaken for affections.
THE BELIEVER'S PROGRESSIVE LIFE IN CHRIST. 335
Impulse is too often the substitute for permanent princi-
ple. Mere sensibilities of nature appear as precious
fruits of the Spirit. A lively and ardent imagination
takes the name of spirituality of mind. Angels of light
are made out of apparitions to which the remaining dark-
ness of nature gives birth. It is only the dawn of day.
But it is the day. God has shined into the heart, and
already is he glorified in that beginning of his work of
grace.
If the subsequent and more mature state of Christian
character be more calculated, on many accounts, to show
forth the praises of him who calls us out of darkness into
his marvellous light; there are features peculiar to the
first life of God's children, which, in their own way,
but most beautifully, exhibit his hand. Glorious in-
deed is the natural day now well advanced, as it rises
towards its noon. There is nothing hid from the light
thereof. The heavens then, most eminently declare the
glory of God. But the morning has its own peculiar song
of praise, and sweetly does it tell of Him that created it,
as the sun "cometh forth like a bridegroom out of his
chamber." So is it also in the work of grace. Glorious,
beyond comparison, will be that perfect day of Christian
life, when every sin shall be banished, and every infirmity
removed, and every grace matured, and the image of God
in man shall be as perfect a reflection of his own perfec-
tions as created mind is capable of. Every step of ad-
vancement in the Christian toward that maturity of stature,
is a further step in the praise of him who, being the
Author, is also the Finisher, of our faith. But eminently
does the 'beginning of the Christian life glorify God. It
336 SERMON XV.
is not life increasing upon life, but arising out of death.
It is not light advancing upon light, but beginning out of
darkness. It is not the new creation putting on one
additional beauty after another, but standing in all its new-
ness, in the dew of its birth, a striking contrast to the
chaos from which it has just come forth. The ransomed
spirits made perfect in heaven, have their own song of
praise, " Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our
sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests
unto God." The ransomed sinner on earth just come out
of the bondage and death of sin, hath his song also:
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
which, according to his abundant mercy, hath begotten us
again unto a lively hope to an inheritance incorruptible,
undefiled, and that fadeth not away."
But the path of the Christian is as the shining light of
day, not only in its beginning at early dawn, but as it
shineth " more and more" That light is never stationary.
Upward it ascends till it attains meridian. Brighter and
brighter it becomes till the day is perfect. Clouds may
obscure it. Storms may trouble it. Its increase may
not be visible each hour. It may seem more obscure
when near its zenith than when just emerged from the
mists of the mountains ; but gradually, silently, it rises
to the perfect day. The shadows diminish till they cease.
The changing, varied, beauties of the morning are gradu-
ally exchanged for the finished glory of the unclouded
noon. So does true religion grow in the heart and life.
Such is the growth in grace which we are required to make,
day by day; such the growth which it is of the essential
nature of a new heart to desire to make, and which we
THE BELIEVER'S PROGRESSIVE LIFE IN CHRIST. 337
must make if we would enjoy a present evidence that we
have been begotten again, and are the living children of
God. In that progress, the Christian becomes more pure
in heart, more humble in spirit, more elevated in his affec-
tions, less selfish in his aims, and more benevolent towards
others. He gets nearer to Christ, and manifests more of
his mind. He increases in the knowledge of himself, of
his sinfulness, his dependence and necessities. He knows
more of the trials, and more of the consolations, of a faith-
ful disciple. His walk is more steady and consistent.
The love of Christ reigns in him, with a more habitual
and constraining power. Faith in Christ, working by love,
becomes more simple, and child-like, and firm, in its lean-
ing on the promises ; more courageous in undertaking try-
ing duties; more successful in overcoming the world; more
patient to run the race set before it ; more diligent for the
prize of its high calling. The whole example is more lovely;
the whole spirit more pure; the whole man more and
more transformed, by the renewing of his mind. That
undue sway of mere sentiment or imagination, which the
new-born Christian so often exhibits, passes away before
the steady increase of settled principles, established in the
word of God. Changing frames of feeling, sometimes
vigorous, sometimes lifeless, are exchanged for the better
mastery of heart-seated affections, implanted by the
Spirit and nourished at the fountain of inexhaustible grace.
There is less dependence on excitement, with less fickle-
ness of spirit ; there is more quietness with more continu-
ance of an earnest spirit. Depressions of mind are less
frequent; serene reliance on the promises is more con-
stant. "Patient continuance in well doing," is more and
22
338 SERMON XV.
more the tenor of his way. The shallow brook, now
scarcely finding its narrow and often unseen way, now
swollen by sudden rain, till it overflows its banks and
goes on its noisy course, soon to be reduced again to fee-
bleness and obscurity, is too often the type of religious
character recently begun. The deep, full river, fed by
unfailing springs, never overflowing, never shallow, silently
advancing its tribute of waters to the ocean, is the better
type of a better state. Let me use the eloquence of
Bishop Taylor here. Describing exactly what I aim at,
he said of a devout lady whose funeral sermon he was
preaching : " In all her religion, and in all her actions of
relation towards God, she had a strange evenness and un-
troubled passage, sliding toward her ocean of God and of
infinity, with a certain and silent motion. So have I seen
a river, deep and smooth, passing with a still foot and a
sober face, and paying to the great exchequer of the sea,
a tribute large and full; and hard by it, a little brook
skipping and making a noise upon its uneven and narrow
bottom ; and after all its talking and bragged motion, it
paid to its common audit, no more than the revenues of
a little cloud. So have I sometimes compared the issues
of her religion to the solemnities and famed outsides of
another's piety."*
My dear brethren, I cannot too earnestly beseech you
to remember the essentially progressive nature of true
religion in the heart. " Grow in grace" is the require-
ment of our Lord, inscribed over the very birth-place of
the child of God. "Forgetting those things that are behind,
and reaching forth unto those things which are before," is
* Sermon at the Funeral of the Countess of Carberj.
THE BELIEVER'S PROGRESSIVE LIFE IN CHRIST, 339
the motto of the Christian life. " Blessed are they that do
hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be
filled;" they that hunger and thirst for more and more, no
matter what the attainment already : such, in the form
of a benediction, is our Lord's expression for the aspiring
spirit of a heart alive unto righteousness. The fruitful
branch bringing forth much fruit, and pruned, and trained,
and stretching forth its arms, and searching the soil with
its extending roots, that it may bring forth more fruit ;
such is our Lord's chosen image to set forth his true and
faithful disciple growing in grace. His path is as the
shining light that goes on to shine more and more. Unlike
that of the morning, ascending toward meridian and never
going backward, it may have its periods of decline. Some-
times, like the day in its progress, it may seem to decline,
when it is only that its sensible consolations are less,
while its inward life is strengthening. Clouds are upon
the face of its joys, while the light beyond is in full com-
munion with him who is the same yesterday, to-day and
forever. It is not necessary to real growth, that you
shall be able to discern your progress from day to day;
any more than you may expect to measure the ascent of
the sun from moment to moment. But from hour to
hour, the movement of the shadow, contracting more and
more, does show the steady increase of the day. So,
when you take some prominent besetment of your evil
nature to measure by, you will see, from time to time,
that its shadow is less and less as your path advances to-
wards the perfect day of your hope and holiness.
There is a shining light in earthly things, of which it
cannot be said that it shineth more and more unto the
340 SERMON XV.
perfect day- an Aurora, but not that which increases
till it ends in the greater glory. Often it flashes out its
fitful streams of radiance, so that the benighted traveller
is made to hope the morning breaks, while it is yet un-
broken night. It is fickle and uncertain, stays where it
begins, brings no vital warmth, quickens no powers of
life, affords no guidance, and dies away in the perfect
night. So is there a counterfeit of God's true grace in
the sinner's heart, which often in outward appearance
much resembles it ; exceeds it often in the pretensions
and manifestations of its early existence; puts out bolder
efforts, shoots out hither and thither with greater activity,
draws the admiration of many, and puts out of counte-
nance the steady, modest, and often unseen working of
true piety ; but it is all excitement and impulse. Its life
is in itself. It knows nothing of "patient continuance"
It has no growth. Where it began, it ends its race. Its
brightest hour is at its dawn. Such religion proceeds not
from the fountain of life in Christ, and therefore can
never rise to him or above the world. He that guides his
path by its example will be confounded. He that takes
his knowledge of religion from such stimulated growths,
where the life is excitement, and the strength to abide de-
pends on excitement more and more, will be brought under
a delusion by which many have been led into greater
darkness. Measure the reality of your religion by its
earnestness to grow, its consciousness of present great
deficiency, its hungering and thirsting after more of all
that belongs to the likeness of God, and of all that his
scriptures set before you to seek. Religion that is born at
its maturity, and the progress of which is only to get more
THE BELIEVER'S PROGRESSIVE LIFE IN CHRIST. 341
infirm and less animated, but not more deep-seated and con-
trolling, is very like the piety of a man who was much with
St. Paul in a part of his ministry, but of whom he wrote
by and by " Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this
present world."
III. But there is a perfect day to every dawn of
morning. " He that hath begun a good work in you,
will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ."* " It
doth not yet appear what we shall be; but this we
know, that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for
we shall see him as he is." " I will come again, (said the
Sun of Righteousness) and receive you unto myself, that
where I am, there ye may be also." That will be the
perfect day of the disciple of Christ, for which all his
growth in grace is preparation; towards which every step
of growth is advancement; of which every present gift of
grace is "the earnest of the Spirit," in which the present
beginnings of grace as naturally terminate, as infancy
ripens into manhood; and the brightness and blessedness
of which we can now conceive of no more than the glory
of the noontide sun could be anticipated, had you
never seen but the first streaks of the morning, tipping
with gold the tops of the mountains. I know not any
higher idea of the perfect day of the Christian's light and
blessedness, when his every hope will be fulfilled, and all
the promises accomplished, than that glorious day of Christ,
when he shall receive his people to himself, and they shall
be with him where he is, and thus inhabit eternal glory, in
the fullness of his glory; made like him, perfectly; see-
ing him, knowing him, communing with him, without a
*Phil. i. 6.
342 SERMON XV.
cloud or a barrier, in the nearness of a perfect union.
"Then shall they shine forth as the sun, in the kingdom
of their Father." The perfectness of their day will be in
the perfectness of their own attainments in holiness.
God's work will be completed in them. His image will
be perfectly renewed upon them. Their sanctification
will have ripened into a finished redemption, from all the
bonds, and all the pollutions and infirmities of this fallen
state. Their day will be perfected in the complete pre-
cipitation of all the vapors, and in the complete extinc-
tion of all the darkness, of this mortal state. What
light, what revelation, will then be poured upon all things ;
on all the history of the providence of God towards this
world, and towards each of his people ; on all the doings of
his grace towards every sinner; his holiness, his justice,
his goodness, his long-suffering and his amazing love, in
all their connections with man. What light around the
cross! When Jesus manifested himself to Saul for his
conversion, there was a light seen shining round about
him, "above the brightness of the sun;" and then the
sun was at high noon. What light, then, will that be,
surrounding "the throne of God and the Lamb," when
the day shall come, of which that manifestation to Saul
was but a momentary glimpse; when all his people shall
" see him as he is," in the glory which he had with the
Father, before the world was! "The city had no need
(said St. John in his vision of that heavenly bliss) of the
sun to shine upon it; for the glory of God did lighten it,
and the Lamb is the light thereof." Had no need! Does
the mid-day need a candle ? Can you see the stars when
the sun is high ? How all present conceptions of that
THE BELIEVER'S PROGRESSIVE LIFE IN CHRIST. 343
day of glory will be lost in those revelations of God and
of Christ, to which our present views are but as the dawn
of thought in the mind of infancy.
But there is a great difference between the path of the
Christian, going on to his reception into the glory of his
God and Saviour, and the shining light increasing unto
the perfect day. In the latter, there is so constant and
gradual an increase unto the final consummation, that
many of the last steps are not discernible from the ter-
minating perfection. But the Christian's highest attain-
ment, during the days of his growth in grace how does
it compare with the perfect day on which it joins? What
is the holiness of the most eminent saint on earth, to the
sanctification he will receive, when, at his passage to the
inheritance of the saints in light, God will complete his
meetness to be a partaker therein ! We must see through
a glass darkly, down to the very moment of our transla-
tion ; and then, all at once, we shall see, " face to face,"
the glory of God, and the wonders of his kingdom. We
must " think as a child, and understand as a child," down
to the very moment of the time of our reception to be with
Christ; and then, all at once, we are to put away childish
things, and appear in the full stature, and think and
understand with all the vigor of the most perfect man-
hood. What mysterious doings of grace what marvel-
lous operations of the Holy Ghost, must take place in
the soul of the dying believer, after you have heard his last
word, and caught his last look, and received his last be-
queathed evidence that he dies in the Lord; and before
he joins the hosts in light, and meets, face to face, the
God of glory, and begins his eternal day in the presence
344 SERMON XV.
of the Lamb oh ! what a change, to make him capable of
sustaining that wondrous vision, and meet to enter upon
that inheritance ! But that good work which marvellous
grace began, the God of all grace will make perfect in
that day.
And now, in conclusion, a few reflections derived from
the view we have taken.
1st. We see what the heavenly state will be, in connec-
tion with the Christian life on earth. It is another life,
and yet not another the same life as that which dwells
in the heart, and issues in the walk of the child of God
during his present imperfectness; but now under a new
dispensation, in another clime, under a brighter sky; as
the perfect day, when the earth is filled with light, is the
same day as when the first hours were struggling with
the mists of morning. The religion of heaven is the re-
ligion of believers on earth; but with both its robes, its
sanctification as well as justification, made perfectly white
in the blood of the Lamb. The happiness of heaven is
just the happiness of the believer on earth, only with all
its impurities precipitated, all its feebleness removed, all
its dimness of vision done away the little stream won-
derfully enlarged, but proceeding, as ever, out of its hid-
den source " with Christ in God ;" the hope of the inherit-
ance superseded by the possession of the inheritance ; the
priest who worshipped outside the vail, in types and shad-
ows, now standing in the most holy place, directly before
the throne. Grace is the dawn of glory glory is the
fullness of grace. Happiness in heaven is holiness made
perfect in the communion of God. How vain, therefore,
for a man to be hoping for heaven when he dies, in whom
THE BELIEVER'S PROGRESSIVE LIFE IN CHRIST. 345
the seed-life of heaven is not now begun ! How impossi-
ble that a man should be happy in heaven, were he even
taken thither, who has never learned to partake in the
happiness of religion, before being taken thither ! How
can we ever reign in the life of glory, if we have
not first served in the preparatory life of grace ? Does
morning light give assurance of the full grown day?
Just as much does the latter tell you there has been a
dawn of day -just as much does the blessedness of every
saint in heaven testify that in him there was a new
birth, by the power of the Holy Ghost, wherein the new
life thus consummated above was begun in weakness on
the earth.
2d. You have no reason to be discouraged about your
state, when, at the outset of a Christian life, you feel your
attainments in grace to be very poor and feeble. It may
be "a day of small things," but it must not be despised.
The perfect day was once but a streak of feeble light,
scarcely visible amidst the powers of darkness with which
it struggled for the mastery. Every saint now in heaven,
rejoicing in all the maturity of his life in Christ, was once
where you are, just beginning to learn, just trying to creep,
just seeing a very little, with a very tottering faith, and
a very infant hope. The hill of Zion must be ascended
from the bottom of the valley ; and many a step must be
taken, without seeming to ascend at all. The great ques-
tion is, Has the day begun, and is it striving, in the
light and help of God, to increase more and more ? In
the faithful use of God's ordained means of grace, by
prayer, by watchfulness, by looking unto Jesus, the
Author and Finisher, by exercise of what you have, by
346 SERMON XV.
improvement of what you have obtained, you will go on
from the good beginning in weakness, to the blessed
consummation in perfectness.
3rd. Ye who earnestly desire never to cease advancing
in holiness, till you are made perfect in heaven, remember
where lies the power, whence cometh the light, who it is
that is "made unto us, of God, sanctification and redemp-
tion." "Ye were sometime darkness; but now are ye
light in the Lord." Mark, it is "in the Lord." Your
standing before God, as his people, is only as ye are " in
Christ Jesus." Your increase in any of the endowments,
hopes, or happiness of his people, can be only as ye are
"in Christ Jesus." All your life is there; all your
hope is there ; all your righteousness is there. Growth
in grace, is simply increased likeness to Christ, increased
nearness to Christ, increased reliance upon Christ, in-
creased desire after him, increased drawing by faith and
prayer upon the treasury of grace in him. The crescent
moon, all dark in itself, increases to its fullness of light as
its face is turned to the sun. " Seek ye my face," is the
exhortation. May the answer come from every heart
among us, "Thy face, Lord, will I seek."
SERMON XVI.
THE BELIEVER'S ASSURANCE IN CHRIST.
ROMANS viii. 32.
"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 1 "
THERE are two principal methods by which the believer
may comfort his soul out of the treasures of the grace of
God. One is, by the direct application to his own spiritual
state, of those promises of the scriptures which are appro-
priate thereto. His wants cannot be so various but the
scriptures furnish promises to meet them, nor so great and
pressing but he may find strength and consolation enough
in those promises to sustain his heart in peace. And
happy he, in whom " the word of God dwells richly, in all
wisdom and spiritual understanding," and whose heart is
habitually exercised, by devout meditation, in the practi-
cal use and personal application of its many "words in
season." That man is always ready when temptation
assails, to stand in the whole armor of God ; when duty
calls, to be girt about with truth, for its longest and hardest
path ; when tribulation brings its darkness, to find the
lamp that will light up his tabernacle; when fears come
about him, to give to each of them a reason of the hope
that is in him; and when his Lord cometh, and calleth for
him, to take his shining lamp, trimmed and burning, and
go forth to meet him.
348 SEEMON XVI.
The other method is, by calling to mind what God has
already done for us; especially what he did for us when
we were enemies, wandering further and further away from
him, having no desire for his love, making the world our
God; and thence arguing, how much more we may look
for his compassion and grace, now that we have tnrned un-
to him, and embraced his promises. The believer remem-
bers "the rock whence he was hewn, and the hole of the
pit whence he was digged;" he considers the mercy that
plucked him "as a brand from the burning;" that persua-
ded and enabled him, in his great sinfulness and weak-
ness, to seek refuge for his lost soul in the righteousness
of Christ ; that put a new song into his mouth, and shed
abroad in his heart the love and peace of God. And
thence he argues with his soul He that so pitied me and
did such wonderful things for me when I loved him not,
shall I not trust in him and cast every care upon him, now
that he knows that I love him. "Why art thou cast down,
my soul, and why art thou so disquieted within me?
Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise him, who is
the help of my countenance and my God." So reasoned St.
Paul : " If, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to
God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled,
we shall be saved by his life." And so again, in the text:
"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 !"
The great subject of the text, is the love of God to sinful
and ruinedman, in the gift of his Son Jesus Christ, to be a
sacrifice for our sins; and the particular topics under which
the text leads us to consider that love, are,/rs^, the Person
THE BELIEVER'S ASSURANCE IN CHRIST. 349
whom God spared not; secondly, that unto which he was
delivered for us all; and thirdly, the comforting inference
thence arising.
I. The Person whom God spared not.
He " spared not his own Son" These words are in-
tended to impress us with a sense of the dignity and pre-
ciousness of him whom God delivered up for us all, and
consequently with some conception of the cost of that
great sacrifice for our sins. The inference, " how shall he
not with him also freely give us all things ? " depends en-
tirely upon the sense in which we understand Jesus to be
called God's " own Son" If you give this title only an
accommodated meaning, supposing Jesus to be entitled
the Son of God, only as any mere man, sustaining a cer-
tain peculiar relation to God, might, in distinction from
other men, be so called, without implying that there was
literally any relation of nature to God which other men
had not, then the force of the text is all destroyed. For
when I have said to myself, "He that spared not that
man on whom he hath conferred the adoption of a Son,
but delivered him up for us all ; " what basis have I laid
for the Apostle's animating inference, "How shall he not
with him also freely give us all things ? " An actual
Sonship, and that implying a dignity of nature, and a
nearness to the Father, which cannot be in any merely
created being, is necessary to the argument of the text.
We are well aware that Jesus is called the Son of God,
sometimes, in the scriptures, with reference to his coming
in the flesh, his being miraculously "conceived by the
Holy Ghost, and born of the Virgin Mary." So spake
the angel to Mary, " The Holy Ghost shall come upon
350 SERMON XVI.
thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee :
therefore that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall
be called the Son of God." Adam, for a similar reason,
as he was the offspring of God by creation out of the dust
of the earth, is called " the Son of God ;"* while Seth,
because he was not thus created, is called only the son of
Adam.
But our Lord Jesus Christ is named in the scriptures,
"the Son of God," in a sense in which none else can have
that name, and by which he is the " only-begotten Son."
We read in the text that God " delivered up " his own Son
for us all. But this was done not merely when our Lord
was delivered up to the ignominy and sufferings of the
cross ; but before that ; when he was delivered up to take
" the form of a servant," and to be so deeply humbled as
to be "made in the likeness of men."| Thus it is written:
"Being in the form of God, he thought it not robbery
to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation,
and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made
in the likeness of men." He was delivered up for us all,
when all that humiliation was laid upon him. It was the
preparation for the sacrifice afterward to be offered. But
he who was thus delivered up was then God's " own Son."
He did not become God's " own Son " by being delivered
up ; but he was that Son when delivered up. Thus we
find his Sonship to have existed before he came into the
world to save sinners. And hence we find the Sonship of
Christ, which is spoken of in the text, to embrace all that
infinite dignity of nature, in which the second person of
the adorable Trinity existed, in the Unity of the Godhead,
* Luke iii. 38. + fhil. ii. 6, 7.
THE BELIEVER'S ASSURANCE IN CHRIST. 351
from all eternity ; " the brightness of the Father's glory
and the express image of his person."* The title, then,
of God's " own Son " associates the person of our Re-
deemer with all that is unsearchable and infinite in the
glory and majesty of Jehovah, and brings to our view,
as setting forth his attributes, those passages of Scripture
which speak of all things as having been made by him ;
and as consisting in him, and upheld by him; which
moreover declare that he was "before all things;" that
he is "above all things," and that "in him are hid all the
treasures of wisdom and knowledge ;" that the hearts of
men are open to his sight, and that all the angels of God
worship him.|
But it is not merely the infinite dignity and majesty of
our Redeemer that we are led, by the language of our
text, to contemplate. It was more than an infinitely ex-
alted and glorious person, whom God delivered for us all.
He "spared not his own Son." It is the special relation
which that glorious person sustained unto the Father Al-
mighty, as his Son, " his own, his only Son," which is in-
tended to make the deepest impression on our minds, of
the wonderful grace and love of God in our redemption.
Have you never remarked, my brethren, how very fre-
quent in the Scriptures is the use of the expression, GocCs
Son, and equivalent phrases, in application to Christ ; as
if it were peculiarly an object of the inspired writers to
make us always contemplate him, no matter in what other
aspect of dignity he may be represented, as holding that
filial relation to the Father which those words express ?
*Heb.i. 3. t John i. 3. Col. i. 17. Heb. i. 3. John iii. 31. Col. ii. 3.
Acts i. 24. Heb. i. 6.
352 SERMON XVI.
Have you never remarked how peculiarly that method of
speaking of Christ is used, when it is the special object
of any portion of the scriptures, to set forth, as impress-
ively as possible, what God did in giving Mm to bear our
sins ; and the wonderful love to us that led him to make
that sacrifice ; how it is then that the scriptures place
him before us especially as the loving Father, and how
he who comes to us as that great gift, is beheld as a most
beloved Son from "the bosom"* of that Father, and not
merely an infinitely exalted one from the majesty and
glory of the Godhead ? Take, as an example, that pass-
age, " Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he
first loved us, and sent Us Son to be the propitiation for
our sins." And another " God so loved the world that
he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on
him should not perish," &c.f It is in this connection that
our Saviour is called God's "dear Son ;"% his "ozon Son;"
his "beloved /SW'|| Twice while he was preparing for
the sacrifice on the cross; first, at his baptism, then at
his transfiguration, when he spake with Moses and Elias
" of his death which he was to accomplish at Jerusalem,"
there came a voice from the glory of the Father, saying,
" This is my beloved Son"** That voice from heaven
never spake of him under any other name. Nor when
the voice of Jesus ascended in prayer to God, is there a
recorded instance of his using any form of address but
that of Father; sometimes " Holy Father," or "Right-
eous Father," never any substitute for Father. Six
times is that appellation used in that intercessory prayer
* John i. 18. f 1 John iv. 10. John iii. 16. * Col. i. 13.
Rom. viii. 32. |] Mark i. 11. **Luke ix. 35.
THE BELIEVER'S ASSURANCE IN CHRIST. 353
which immediately preceded his being delivered up to be
crucified. When his soul was in the agony of Geth-
semane, his words were, " my Father , if it be possible, let
this cup pass from me ;" and when on the cross he utter-
ed, out of the depth of his sufferings, his prayer for his
enemies, it was " Father, forgive them," and when he
gave up his spirit in death, it was with the filial prayer,
" Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit." But
why such an address to God, in such seasons of peculiar
anguish, if not for precisely the same reason that a son
on earth, the more he feels his heart drawn to his Father,
will use those words of address to him which express most
tenderly the emotions of a son? The filial relation of
Son between Jesus and the Father Almighty is at least
as real as that between any son and father on earth ; it is
the original of which such relationships here are but the
faint copy ; and we must take care lest in our thoughts
we be unconsciously led to lose sight of this, by imagin-
ing that because in that divine relationship there is an
infinite mystery, therefore there is a less literal reality.
I would say the reverse. Instead of throwing unreality
into that relation, as if it involved no such emotions, no
such peculiar love and tenderness as that existing natu-
rally between parent and son on earth ; as if it were little
else than a name or an abstraction, because the Father is
the infinite God, and not the mortal man: it would seem
rather to be our duty to endeavor to conceive of it as in-
volving a Father's love and tenderness, only so much the
more exalted in power and in intensity, as the infinite
God is beyond the mortal man, in all the heights and
depths of his nature. This view follows of necessity,
23
354 SERMON XVI.
when you once admit that when the Scriptures speak of
Christ as God's own Son, his only, his beloved Son, they
represent a literal reality, without any limitation upon the
usual meaning of such words ; that when we read in the
text that God "spared not his own Son, but delivered
him up for us all," we are not only allowed, but directed,
to form our estimate of the cost of the sacrifice, by think-
ing of what it would cost one of us to deliver up a be-
loved son to such sufferings as Jesus endured, and by
then adding to that cost of ours, the consideration that
the Father as a Father, as the Father, from whom ail pa-
rental love on earth is but the feeble derivative, as a ray
of light from the sun, is as infinite in his love and tender-
ness as in his power and holiness. And how strikingly do
you see this in that remarkable type of the sacrifice of
Christ, which is presented in the narrative of Abraham
offering Isaac his only son upon the altar.* There you
see the venerable and devoted father, at the command of
God, without a murmur, taking that only and beloved son,
and going forth on the long journey to the distant mount
of sacrifice, perfectly expecting there to slay his son ;
you hear those words from Isaac as they walk along, words
so calculated to unman a father's strongest determination
"My father, behold the fire and the wood, but where is
the lamb for a burnt-offering?" At length they reach the
place, and you see Abraham building the altar and laying
on it the wood, and then laying his son thereon, and bind-
ing him down ; and no complaint is heard from the sub-
missive son: and now the father's hand has taken the
knife to slay him ; the sacrifice is virtually made ; the
* Gen. xxii.
THE BELIEVER'S ASSURANCE IN CHRIST. 355
suffering of Abraham was as agonizing as if he had actu-
ally slain his son. Who can tell what he suffered? How
does the narrative, with particular intent, take care that,
as we read it, we shall not for a moment lose sight of the
fact that it is a father not sparing his only son. The com-
mand to Abraham was, " Take now thy son, thine only son
Isaac, whom thou lovest." Every word of that command
drew blood from that father's heart. In the conversation,
as they go on their way, Isaac says, " My father" Abra-
ham answers, "Here am I, my son." And when the
trial is over, the blessing pronounced on Abraham begins
with the preface, "Seeing thou hast not withheld thy son,
thine only son"* All this we find in the most distinct
and impressive of all the types and promises of the sacri-
fice of Christ given to the Patriarchal Church; yea, in
that very type in which Abraham was granted to see by
prophetic exhibition the "day" of Christ "and was glad."~f
And why all this, but that when we are considering the
cost, and the dignity, and the efficacy of the sacrifice of
Christ, and the love that provided it for us, and all the
comforting inferences for the believer which flow therefrom,
we should concentrate our attention mainly upon the Son-
ship of Christ; upon the fact that he was not merely "the
brightness of the Father's glory," of the same essential
divinity, but " his only begotten Son ;" so that, as it was
so much the more wonderful evidence of the obedience of
Abraham, that he withheld not his son, his only Isaac whom
he loved, but delivered him for a burnt-offering at God's
command, we should be the more deeply penetrated with
a sense of the wonderful love of God to sinners, because
"he spared not his own Son," so infinitely nearer and more
* Gen. xxii. 117. f Jqhn viii. 56.
356 SERMON XVI.
beloved than ever any only son to a father's heart among
men, " but delivered him up for us all."
And what thus is the great crowning glory of our re-
demption as respects the love that provided it, and the
efficacy attending it, is the basis also of its crowning bles-
sedness in regard to the benefits accruing therefrom to
the believer. It is because Christ is God's "dear Son " in
virtue of his divine nature, that sinners obtain, as united
to him by a living faith, the relationship of God's adopted
sons. Our redemption began with God's not sparing his
own Son, but delivering him up for us all. It will be com-
pleted in God's receiving believers as sons in Christ and
for Christ's sake, and delivering all the glory of his king-
dom unto them all. It was the Sonship of Christ that
made his sacrifice so infinitely meritorious. It is the son-
ship of his people, by adoption in him, unto God, so that
they are made "heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ,"
that will make their everlasting portion so inconceivably
glorious.
Let us now speak in the second place of,
II. That unto which God delivered his own $on.
We might survey the whole mission of Christ, from his
being made in the form of a servant, till he rose from the
dead, and say that unto all the humiliation, and labors,
and sufferings of that period was he delivered. But as
all had reference to, and were all completed in that one
event, for which chiefly he took our nature, namely, Ms
death on the cross, therefore we find in the scriptures, that
his being delivered for us all, has reference mainly to that
event; as when he said, "The Son of Man shall be deliv-
ered into the hands of men ;* and, as when Peter said to
* Luke ix. 44.
THE BELIEVER'S ASSURANCE IN CHRIST. 357
the Jews, " Him being delivered by the determinate coun-
sel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by
wicked hands have crucified and slain." * And, again,
He " was delivered for our offences and raised again for
our justification ;"t where "delivered" being put in oppo-
sition to being raised again, shows that it was deliverance
unto death that was meant.
But our Lord Jesus endured that death as a penalty.
It was the penalty of our sins. He "redeemed us from
the curse of the law, being made a curse for us." Hence,
as his death was the penalty imposed by the violated law,
under which he was placed that he might redeem us from
its curse, it is more proper to say that Christ was delivered
unto the law, the broken law, to endure all its wrath, to
exhaust all its curse, to pay all its demand against sinners,
to make a perfect atonement for all our transgressions, in
order that when that work was finished, he might "preach
deliverance to the captives, and the opening of the prison
doors" to all that are bound under its condemnation.
But let us consider all that is contained in this view.
The law of God, just, and holy, and good, without imper-
fection, and on the supremacy and upholding of which, all
things, in every gradation of God's intelligent creatures,
depend, was broken and dishonored by man. Its penalty,
pronounced upon every one that continueth not in all
things written in the book of the law, must be paid. It
was not in the nature of law to "clear the guilty." Man,
therefore, the sinner, was held under its arrest, under con-
demnation, in bonds, unto eternal death. That eternal
death he must die, or a surety must satisfy, in his stead,
'the justice, and holiness, and majesty of the law. But
* Acts ii. 23. t Rom. iv. 25.
358 SERMON XVI.
whence shall that surety be provided? Who could make
atonement for the sins of the whole world ? Who could
receive and bear upon his soul " the iniquities of us all,"
of all ages ; and so suffer for them, and so make propitia-
tion, and impart to the propitiation such wonderful value,
that no demand of the law should remain unpaid, no part
of its curse uninflicted, no word of its commandment not
perfectly honored and vindicated; yea, so that God
might be just and yet the justifier of the ungodly ? In
the whole range of creation, among all the " principalities
and powers in heavenly places," there was none compe-
tent to that office. The surety must come from above the
rank of created beings, or not at all. Must he then
come from the throne of God? The language of God to
Abraham, when he demanded of him no less a sacrifice
than his only son Isaac, we may, without irreverence, sup-
pose to have been, in this emergency, addressed by the
law to the love of God the Father Almighty : " Take thy
Son, thine only begotten Son, whom thou lovest, and offer
him up for a burnt-offering," and there shall be no con-
demnation to those that shall believe in his name.
And, wonderful to say, the boundless love of God con-
sented. He beheld, infinitely more clearly than we now
see it in the history, all that was to be endured by his own
Son, if delivered up to that work of redemption all the
long descent of humiliation, from the throne of the God-
head to the ignominy of the cross ; all the steps of sacri-
fice and suffering, from the day he took our nature in the
virgin's womb to the day in which he arose in it from the
grave. And for whom was such cost to be incurred? Ah ! ,
what a world he looked upon ! "We were enemies." "All
THE BELIEVER'S ASSURANCE IN CHRIST. 359
we like sheep had gone astray." We desired not that
God should reign over us. The world was one vast theatre
of rebellion and corruption, deserving only God's wrath
and damnation. And how perfectly did he search all its
iniquity to its depth ; and see it in all generations and in
all hearts at one view ; and estimate, as we cannot approach
unto, all its vileness, ingratitude, and hatefulness, as it
rose up against his authority as it despised all his love-
as it stood in awful contrast with his infinite holiness!
And it was for such sinners, that he, or none, must find a
ransom. Then he " spared not his own Son, but delivered
him up for us all." The Son was first delivered up to be
66 made of no reputation" by being made in "the form
of a servant" and "the likeness of man," so that coming
into the world in our nature, he might become " obedient
unto death" for our sins. But no sooner did he thus be-
come man, as the surety for all men, than the law recog-
nized him in that mediatorial office, and began at once to
lay upon him the iniquities of us all, and to wound him
for our transgressions. All his way, from birth to cruci-
fixion, that wounding went on. " The chastisement of our
peace was upon him" continually, for he was all the while
the " man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief," and
every sorrow was part of the price that bought our re-
demption, and every grief was an offering for us. At last
he was delivered unto death. So perfectly was he deliv-
ered into the hands of the law, and held under its arrest
in our stead, and treated as if all our sins were his, and
thus identified with us as our surety, by whose stripes we
are saved, that it is written he was "made sin for ^s" *
words which can be understood in no other sense than that
* Romans v, 21.
360 SERMON XVI.
our sins were imputed to him, and he bore them as our
surety under the vengeance of the law, as if they were
personally his own.
Oh ! how can we comprehend the depth and height of
the love of God as thus manifested for us ! Read it in
its type Abraham offering up his son. You see the
venerable patriarch receiving the command, "take thine
only son, whom thou lovest, and offer him up for a burnt-
ofifering on one of the mountains which I will tell thee of."
He rises "early in the morning " for the painful journey ;
cleaves the wood for the burning of the precious victim;
keeps on, with his Isaac, those three long days of con-
cealed anguish, towards the appointed place ; every step
a martyrdom, every thought a crucifixion; leaves the
servants at a distance from the mount selected, lest they
should prevent the sacrifice; takes Isaac alone, lays upon
him the wood to bear it up the mount, takes in his own
hand the fire and the knife, builds the altar, binds his son,
and is just proceeding to slay; oh, how could mortal heart
be strong enough for such obedience ! How wonderful
the love of Abraham to God, that he did not spare his
only son, his beloved Isaac, the only heir of the promises
made unto himself, but without a murmur delivered him
to death by his own father's hand, because God comman-
ded!
But let us turn to the antetype. How very " early in
the morning " of the world's history did God begin, in his
providence and grace, to prepare for the offering of the
sacrifice of propitiation for our sins ; for how many thou-
sands of years was there one continual progress towards
that wonderful offering ; how was every step and arrange-
THE BELIEVER'S ASSURANCE IN CHRIST. 361
merit of God's dispensations directed with a view to that
one great event ; with what constancy of purpose all
things were made to work together to bring it to pass!
As in the journey of Abraham, there was carried the
wood, the knife, and the fire, as well as the lamb for the
offering; so from the beginning of the world's sinfulness,
as God was bringing nearer and nearer the fullness of
time, when his own Son should be actually offered up a
propitiation for our sins, the signs of that promised sacri-
fice were seen by all generations of his Church, the fire,
the ivood, the knife, and the victim, all presented in that-
shedding of blood, for the remission of sins, and in that
burning of sacrifices upon altars, which, from the offering
of righteous Abel to the last in Jerusalem, before the
vail of the temple was rent in twain at the death of
Christ, foreshadowed, and kept up in the expectation of
the Church, that one perfect and sufficient oblation and
satisfaction for the sins of the whole world.
At length " the fullness of the times " had come, and
" God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the
law." Every step in the life of Jesus from that hour, was
towards that mount which God had appointed for the offer-
ing. Every enemy was made a servant to help on the
journey. Jesus bore the fuel of the burnt offering, in
bearing our nature and our sins. But the fire and the
knife to slay were in the Father's hand. The hour is
come. The only Son of God is nailed to the cross, " by
wicked hands," which accomplish unknowingly, "the de-
terminate counsel" of the Father. Legions of angels
there are to rescue him, if summoned ; but, like the ser-
vants of Abraham, they are kept away. There is none to
362 SERMON XVI.
help. The sword of divine justice is stretched forth in all
its wrath against him, as our representative and substitute.
He is "not spared" in the least. Every sin, of every
soul, of every generation, with its whole penalty, is visited
upon him, until the last drop of the bitter cup is drank,
and the last jot and tittle of the exaction of the law is
satisfied. He suffered to the uttermost, that he might
"save to the uttermost ah 1 that come unto God by him."
To the most ignominious and the most painful death, was
he delivered. Everything that accompanied it, all its
accessories, all the stripes, and mockery, and revilings,
the being crucified between two thieves, and regarded as
a malefactor, all tell us how little the Father spared him,
how entirely he delivered him up. The sharpest agony
came when God the Father, for a time, did hide his face
from his Son ; thus treating him so entirely as we deserved
to be treated, in whose place he suffered. Even that most
inconceivable agony, the beloved Son was not spared.
And then it was that there came that cry of anguish,
" My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me ! "
Ah ! it is what gives that sacrifice its most affecting
aspect, and declares most impressively how God regards
the guilt of sin, and yet loves, and would save, the sinner,
that, while to human eye there were no agents in the
death and sufferings of Christ but men, and no causes of
pain but such as their hands employed; the hand that
really delivered him up the unseen hand that really
bound him and laid him on the altar, that gave him the
bitter cup to drink, that kindled the fire of agony which
burned in his very soul, was that of his Father. He
"laid on him the iniquities of us all." "It pleased the
THE BELIEVER'S ASSURANCE IN CHRIST. 363
Lord, (said the prophet Isaiah), to bruise him, to put him
to grief." It was he who made the soul of Jesus " an
offering for sin."* And not till that offering had become
a complete propitiation for the sins of the whole world;
not till God's own Son, standing as our surety under the
demands of the law, had satisfied them to the uttermost,
did God spare him, or cease to put him to grief. But so
soon as that price was paid, and that propitiation was
finished, did the law remove its arrest, and the surety was
justified from the imputed sins of men, and deliverance
was given to him who had been bound under their con-
demnation. Then came forth the Lord of Glory from the
bonds of death, having spoiled "principalities and pow-
ers," and " having blotted out the hand- writing that was
against us, and taken it out of the way, nailing it to his
cross."| Then ascended he up on high, "leading captivity
captive," to "the joy set before him," for which he
had " endured the cross, despising the shame.'" From
that time, all things were ready for the preaching of the
gospel of his free, and perfect, and glorious salvation to
every creature. From that time, " the righteousness of
God without the law has been manifested, being witnessed
by the law and the prophets ; even the righteousness of
God which is by faith of Jesus Christ, unto all and upon
all them that believe 5" J a free and perfect justification
from all sin to every soul coming unto, and with a peni-
tent heart embracing, the mediation of Christ ; so that
" now there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ
Jesus ;" there is no such thing remaining to them, or
possible unto them all taken away, blotted out, nailed to
the cross of Christ.
Isaiah liii. 6, 10. f Col. ii. 14, 15. \ Romans iii. 21, 22.
364 SERMON XVI.
III. Let us now, in conclusion, attend to the exceed-
ingly comforting inference drawn by the Apostle from all
this love of God in Christ Jesus: "How shall he not with
Mm also freely give us all things!"
The apostle argues from the greater to the less. What
has God done for us already? He has given us his be-
loved Son. Not only that he delivered him up to all
humiliation and suffering yea, to be made sin for us;
what now can we need that must not come immeasurably
short of the preciousness of that gift ? He gave that gift
most freely ; without money or price on our part; when
we were enemies; when we desired not the knowledge
of his ways ; when every thing in us, and in the world
invoked his wrath ; and now that we have turned unto
him and embraced his mercy in Christ, will he not freely,
without any merit or price in us, as freely as he gave his
Son for us, give us all things; all that we need for our
present welfare and our eternal salvation? Shall we not
be "justified freely by his grace" from all our sins, see-
ing he has so freely provided a perfect righteousness for
our justification in Christ ? Will he not most freely give
us grace to help in time of need, seeing that his grace has
already so abounded towards us, that he hath not spared
his own Son, but delivered him up for us all ? Will he not
sustain us in death that we faint not ; and lift us up above
its waves, that we fear not; and then receive us graciously
to all that glory which Jesus hath purchased and prepared
for his people ?
How strong is this method of consolation in lower re-
lations ! Suppose you should hear of a poor lost orphan
child, carried far away into grievous bondage, and you
THE BELIEVER'S ASSURANCE IN CHRIST. 365
should feel so moved with compassion as to go a long
journey, at a great sacrifice, to deliver him. You then
take him to your home, adopt him as your son, and assure
him that you will be to him a father. But bye and bye
I find that child distressed. He thinks how little claim
he has on your love, how little he can do to repay it ; he
says to himself 6 Why should such as I be the object of
such gratuitous affection? what if those who carried me
away should be permitted to regain their captive? what
if I should be suffered, at any rate, to come to want, and
wander unfriended amidst the dangers and trials of this
world? " Now, what could I do to that troubled heart, so
calculated to lift it up in hope and confidence, as to say,
"He that has already done for you so much, he that
sought you out when a stranger now that you are his
adopted child, how shall he not most surely protect, and
sustain, and cherish you! "
Such is a most feeble illustration, indeed, of the " strong
consolation " which belongs to those who have fled for
refuge to lay hold on the hope set before them in
Christ. The child of God has his fears and temptations.
The future, between this and the grave, with all its antici-
pated and unanticipated trials; the future, beyond the
grave, with its day of judgment and its eternal inherit-
ance of bliss or woe, arises to fill his mind with care.
"May not one so weak as I, be left to my own strength,
when trials come, seeing I so much deserve it? Can I
feel assured of grace according to my day, when already
I have so much abused the grace of God ? Will he accept
such prayers as mine, which, though presented in repent-
ance, looking only unto Jesus, and from a heart that does
366 SERMON xvi.
love him, are so weak in every holy affection, and so pol-
luted with sinfulness? Can I feel persuaded that I shall
not be left to go down alone, unlighted, unsupported, into
the valley and shadow of death ? And when, in the great
day, I stand accused by the broken law, and ten thousand
thousand sins confront me, oh ! will Jesus then remember
me in his kingdom, and interpose his righteousness to
shield and justify me?"
Under such thoughts, his soul tempted to be cast down
and disquieted within him, the believer calls up the direct
promises of the scriptures, and endeavors to cast all his
cares upon God. But nothing enables him to do this
with more sweet and sustaining consolation, than the
thought of what the grace of God has already done on
his behalf. What greater assurance could I have (he
meditates) of inexhaustible love and grace, than that
which meets me at every remembrance of the death of
Christ ? He saw me, a wandering, impenitent, disobedi-
ent, ruined sinner, my heart wholly alienated from him,
my soul deserving to abide forever under his condemna-
tion. Then he gave his own Son to bear my sins, that I
might be received as his adopted child. Every conceiva-
ble gift of grace was contained and promised in that
greatest of all possible gifts. What stronger assurance
is possible ? If, on the bosom of every cloud, I should
see the tokens of his forgiving mercy ; if all the angels of
heaven should be despatched on purpose to tell me that
God will never forsake me, but will freely give me all I
need ; yea, if at every step I should hear a voice from
heaven, saying, " Let not your heart be ^troubled ; " could
all this be stronger than the single fact that God has al-
THE BELIEVER'S ASSURANCE IN CHRIST. 367
ready so loved me, that he spared not his own Son, but
delivered him up to the cross for me? Oh, no! hope
thou in God. He that laid such a foundation, will surely
enable thee to build thereon the "hope that maketh not
ashamed." He who at such cost, hath opened for thee
that new and living way, will not fail thee when thou
needest and seekest his grace to walk therein. He who
purchased for .thee, at such a price, the incorruptible in-
heritance, surely, when thou seekest it in the way of his
own appointment, will not fail, in his own time, to give
thee possession? "All things are yours," Christian be-
liever, because "you are Christ's, and Christ is God's."*
Fear not, for " it is your Father's good pleasure to give
you the kingdom." When his pleasure was, to put his
people Israel in possession of the land of Canaan, and to
give them the heritage of the heathen, if the Red Sea
opposed their march, it was made to divide, and open
their path; if a mighty host pursued them, they were
made more than conquerors; if they wanted bread in the
wilderness, the manna came down from heaven ; if they
wanted water, where all was dry, the flinty rock was made
to yield it. So shall it be to the end of the world. Our
Lord Jesus must " see of the travail of his soul, and be
satisfied." For that end, all that believe in him shall
come to him, and be with him in his glory, joint heirs in
his kingdom ; and if all the angel-host be needed for their
safety on the way, and all the riches of grace be required
for their journey to the heavenly country all are theirs ;
given already, most freely, in the greater and all-contain-
ing gift of God's own Son.
*1 Cor. iii. 21,23.
368 SERMON XVI.
Then, Christian brethren, let us comprehend the breadth
and length of the grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in
hope of the glory of God. Let us catch some of the
abounding joy of that Apostle, who so well knew in whom
he believed, and so felt the certainty of what he believed,
concerning the freeness and fullness of the salvation of
God to all believers. "Who is he that condemneth? (he
cries ;) it is Christ that died. Who shall lay anything to
the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? I am
persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor principalities,
nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor
any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the
love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.'^
But, brethren, to be allowed thus to live in triumphant
elevation above all fears of death and hell, in joyful assu-
rance of the love of God as our portion forever, is indeed
a "high calling," a "holy calling," and requires of us that
we walk worthily thereof. I have time only to speak of
one particular of a worthy walk according to such vo-
cation.
Freely hath God provided for us all things in Christ,
and freely will he give us all things with him, and therefore
freely should we seek all things thus laid up for us, and
waiting our earnest and faithful application. Such abound-
ing treasures, offered so freely, demand of us correspond-
ing desires, large expectations, large prayers. Among
the "all things "provided, is not only a free and complete
justification to every believer, grace to help in every time
of need, consolation in all affliction, strength for all duties,
* Romans viii. 33-39.
THE BELIEVER'S ASSURANCE IN CHRIST. 369
and all we can want in the hour of death ; but " the Spirit
of holiness " to carry on in our hearts the work of righteous-
ness, and to " bring every thought into captivity to the
obedience of Christ," till we are made perfect in the
image of God. Next to Christ himself, there is nothing
so precious as that Spirit of holiness. Among the all
things which God will give us with Christ, nothing
should we so desire, in union with his righteousness to
justify, as his Spirit to sanctify us. Blessed are they that
hunger and thirst after that free gift of God in Christ.
Let your hearts pant after it ! Let your prayers impor-
tunately beg for it. The more you seek, the more will
come. God has most freely provided the treasury. You
must most freely, largely, earnestly, draw thereon, in your
prayers and expectations; standing at the door and
knocking till it is opened ; using every receipt of grace
as the argument only to make you wait upon God the
more continually, and knock at the door of his treasury
the more importunately, for additional gifts of every grace.
But if God spared not his own Son from being a sacri-
fice for our sins, shall we spare our sins, that cost such
sacrifice ? Must we not hate them, and be humbled for
them, and take every method to put them to death, as
most vile and abominable ? " He who knew no sin, ivas
made sin for us" It was therefore ^ue who, by our sins,
did adjudge and sentence him to death. The raging
Jewish priests were our agents. The Roman soldiers were
our representatives. Our sins, it was, that cried out,
Crucify him, Crucify him ! with demands more insatiable
than all the multitude that followed him to Calvary. Not
so much therefore upon Jewish murderers, as upon our
24
370 SERMON XVI.
sins, let us turn our indignation, and discharge all the
resentment our hearts can feel, most freely condemning
them, and striving to put them to death, as we joyfully
hope freely to be justified from all of them through the
atoning death, and the ever-living intercession, of our
Lord Jesus Christ.
One word more. Brethren, did God indeed deliver up
his own Son for us all, and must we not all, under the
sense of deepest indebtedness, under the constraining
force of the most earnest thankfulness, deliver up our-
selves unto God in return, as the least we can offer him ?
Shall we think of a divided heart for the sacrifice of
thanksgiving? Shall we profess to lay down all we owe
at his feet, and yet keep back part of the price? Shall
we allow the world to share where God has such claims on
all ? Will you bring the lame, and the halt, and the blind,
to his service, when the blood of Christ has purchased all
you have, all you can do, and when all must come so
immeasurably short of the cost of the purchase ? "I
beseech you, by the mercies of God, that ye present your
bodies, yourselves, your hearts, and lives, a living sacri-
fice, holy, acceptable to God, through Jesus Christ," for
that only is "your reasonable service." May the Spirit
of the Lord come down upon all of us, to make us dead
to sin, and alive unto God, through Jesus Christ our
Lord ! Amen.
SEEMQI XVII.
THE BELIEVER'S PORTION IN CHRIST.*
COLOSSIANS i. 12.
" Give thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of
the inheritance of the saints in light."
IT is as much the duty of the Christian to give thanks, as
to pray, unto the Father. If we are commanded to "pray
without ceasing" we are also commanded "in everything to
give thanks" In everything, it is a great matter of thank-
fulness, that we are permitted, enabled, and so graciously
encouraged, to pray. A sinner permitted to live under
the invitations of the Gospel, instead of being condemned
to live eternally where only the wrath of God abideth,
can never in anything lack a theme of thanksgiving.
But a sinner whose heart has been drawn by the grace of
God to the embracing of the invitations of the Gospel ;
whose heart has been so changed by the power of God,
that he is now made meet to be a partaker of the inherir
tance of the saints in light, having in that very condition
of his heart, the indwelling earnest and witness of the
Spirit that he will finally become a partaker in that
glorious inheritance ; he surely must in everything give
thanks ; no adversity, no affliction, must ever hide from,
his sight his boundless debt of praise, to the riches of
* Preached at St. Dunstan's-in-the-West, London, May 8, 1853.
372 SERMON XVII.
the grace of God to his soul; all his life long, he must
be so deeply sensible of the preciousness of his hope in
Christ, and of the wonderful mercy of God in bringing
him thereto, out of the sinfulness and condemnation of
his unconverted state, as to make it his heart's delight to
give thanks unto the Father, who thus hath made him
"meet to be a partaker of the inheritance of the saints
in light."
In considering the words of the text, let us attend :
I. To the manner in which the future blessedness of the
people of God is presented: an " inheritance" "the inheri-
tance of the saints" "the inheritance of the saints in
light."
The portion of the people of God is an inheritance.
They are called elsewhere, "heirs of salvation," "heirs of
the kingdom." "He that overcometh, shall inherit all
things." Christ will say to his people in the last day :
"Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the founda-
tion of the world." *
Now there is a great Gospel truth contained in this
word inheritance. It teaches that the future portion of
the righteous, is not their purchase. They do not obtain
it on the basis of merit, but of relationship. They do
not make themselves heirs; but they are made heirs by
the will and favor of their Heavenly Father. A father
makes a son his heir, not because the son has merited
the inheritance, but because he is a son, a dear son. Thus
it is written : " The Spirit beareth witness with our
spirit, that we are the children of God. And if children,
then heirs heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ." |
* Heb. i. 14; James ii. 5; Rev. xxi. 7; Matt. xxv. 34. f Rom. xvi. 17.
THE BELIEVER'S PORTION IN CHRIST. 373
If children of God, then heirs of God children by adop-
tion, taken up out of a miserable beggary, and adopted as
God's dear children, and thus made inheritors of him-
self as our boundless portion. But this is not all: "joint
heirs ivith Christ." If God's children, then Christ's breth-
ren ; and in virtue of that union with Christ, we inherit
jointly with him. In ourselves, we can have no title to
the inheritance. In Christ, the only begotten Son of
God, the sons, by adoption, have a most perfect, indefeas-
ible title. He, in his mediatorial office, is "heir of all
things"* We, in him, shall inherit all things. Thus it is
that such glorious things are spoken of the future pos-
session of his people. " To him that overcometh," he
saith, "I will grant to sit with me on my throne;"!
not merely in my kingdom, but on my throne ; not merely
to share the blessings of my kingdom, but to share the
glory of its king ; my brethren in glory, my joint heirs
in all that I inherit of my Father. Thus it is written,
that " his people shall reign with him," " shall be glori-
fied together" with him, and that God doth make them
"sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." In
the last day, when our Lord shall be receiving his peo-
ple to himself, his words to each will be, "Enter thou
into the joy of thy Lord," into mine own joy, which
thou dost inherit, because thou art in me and I in thee.
And when he shall have thus gathered together all his
beloved ones that believe in him, to be with him where
he is, to be glorified with him and in him, then shall
his own inheritance of joy be completed in their salva-
tion and blessedness all having come, "in the unity
of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God,
*Hcb.i. 2. fRev.iii.21
I
374 SERMON XVII.
unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of
Christ."*
And thus we see how much of the portion of the
people of God in the world to come, is described, in its
being called an inheritance. It teaches how that por-
tion is all of grace ; how it results simply from our hav-
ing received "the adoption of sons;" how necessary as
the evidence of our title is "the spirit of adoption " in our
hearts ; and how, since our inheritance is a joint inherit-
ance with that of Christ, we must look only to his merits
for the title, and to a vital union with him through faith
that we may share therein. It teaches, moreover, what
St. Paul calls the "riches of the glory " of that inheritance.
What description of riches of glory can exceed that of
simply telling us we shall be "joint heirs ivith Christ?"
We have in the text another feature of the future bliss-
It is called the " inheritance of the saints"
The saints are the "sanctified in Christ Jesus." To
none else is the inheritance, and in that exclusiveness do
we see much of its excellence. It is thus an inheritance
"undefiled" None are there but those whom God hath
perfectly sanctified. All there have "the mind of Christ
in its perfectness." It is a Church which he hath sancti-
fied and cleansed, " that he might present it unto himself,
a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such
thing." Sin enters not into that inheritance, sorrow goes
not thither. Tears have no fountain there. "No spot,
nor wrinkle, nor any such thing" upon the white raiment
of that holy fellowship. Holy ones made perfect are the
only dwellers there. " The former things are passed
away." The Church of Christ will not then be as now, a
* Eph. iv. 13.
I
THE BELIEVER'S PORTION IN CHRIST. 375
church defiled; tied to a body of death; the living min-
gled everywhere with the dead ; the Christian of a vital
faith, and the Christian of a mere lifeless form, united
under the same profession of discipleship; the children of
this world communing outwardly with the true, but im-
perfect family of God. Oh ! no. Nor will the true Church
be then so far defiled as to contain any such members as
its best are in this life; holy indeed essentially, but so
imperfectly holy ; saints indeed, because truly sanctified
in Christ Jesus but saints conscious of coming so far
short in holiness, that they seem to themselves to be all
spot and wrinkle, and every such thing. All things will
then have become new not only as being holy, but as
being all perfectly holy. " The spirits of just men made
perfect" is the description of that fellowship. Oh ! it is
precious to think of a heritage so excluding all unholi-
ness. But it is most alarming for you, my hearers, in
whom the work of holiness is not commenced.
While however it is good to think of that inheritance
as exclusive of all but saints, we love to think of it as in-
clusive of all that are saints. We drop our denomination
uniform when we undress at the grave. It belongs to
those things that are seen and are temporal We enter
into eternal life in no raiment but the white robe of Christ,
which is the righteousness of all that are sanctified in him,
and belongs to those things which are unseen and eternal.
If it be necessary to this most imperfect state of the Church,
that we should be divided as we now are ; it is good to
think of it as a humiliation which can last only while we
are here. The grave will cover it with our corruptible
bodies. The only name to be inquired for, in ascertain-
376 SERMON XVII.
ing the inheritors of Christ, is saints the sanctified
those who have been born again of the Spirit of God, and
are walking in newness of life. Bring them from the
east, and west, and north, and south from all generations.
from out of all divisions of the Christian family, from
under any name, or form ! Each has his lot in that good
land. All inherit by the same title in Christ ; and there-
fore all " inherit all things" In the poverty of earthly
inheritances, the more one heir obtains, the less all others
have. But in the fullness of the inheritance of the saints.
each inherits all, as if there were no heir but himself or
rather because all inherit as one body in Christ. Oh ! it
is a most blessed heritage that shall assemble together in
one most affectionate, holy, household ; such a boundless
fellowship of the people of God, out of all nations, and
kindreds, and tongues ; all seeing eye to eye ; all feeling
heart to heart; all children of the same redeeming grace;
all brethren of the same wondrous adoption in Christ ; all
most glorious in his likeness; "the communion of saints"
in its perfectness; "the Catholic Church" in its fullness;
"the general assembly and Church of the first-born, whose
names are written in heaven."
But there is another feature of the inheritance. It is
the inheritance of the saints in light. In light ! What
so pure as perfect light ? Whence all the varied beauties
of nature, but from light ? Light is an expression for
God himself, its Maker. " God is light." It describes
his people here; they are "children of light" It de-
scribes their progressive advancement in grace ; their path
is pictured in scripture " as the morning light which
shineth more and more unto the perfect day." And here
THE BELIEVER'S PORTION IN CHRIST. 377
it describes their future glory, when their path shall have
reached meridian the perfect day ; they shall be saints
in light. God is light ; and they shall be like him, and
see him as he is.
But how shall we understand this description of the
inheritance ? I read it as having reference to the compa-
rison between the perfect state of the saints in heaven,
in point of spiritual knowledge, and their imperfect state
while here on earth; just what the same Apostle referred
to, when he said, " Now we see through a glass darkly,
but then face to face. Now we know in part; then
shall we know even as we are known." Now we see by
aid of a glass a revelation, an instrumental medium.
We see at a distance, at second hand. A thousand motes
and mists hinder our vision of spiritual and eternal things.
Constant vapors rise up from earth and our own evil
natures, to obscure our vision. At best, we know but in
part nothing entirely; nor can we know how little we
are capable of knowing of that boundless field. But
then we shall see face to face, in open, boundless vision.
We shall dwell with God, in the light which no man can
now approach unto. We shall know without tuition, see
without a medium, understand without interpreter "saints
in light"
Thus I understand that description of the city of God
in the Revelation of St. John. " The city had no need
of the sun, neither of the moon to shine in it ; for the glory
of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light there-
of." *
God is light its fountain, its fullness; and what need of
*Rev. xxi. 23, 24.
378 SERMON XVII.
lesser lights in heaven, when he is there ? They will need
no sun nor moon ; in other words, no intervening medium
of communication from God to them. Their communion
with " God and the Lamb " will be "face to face." Notv,
we do need the aid of the sun and moon we depend upon
secondary lights. In this world we must walk by faith,
not by sight, and must have the aid of means of grace. What
are the ministers of the word ; what the sacraments of the
Church ; what the revelation contained in the scriptures,
but parts of a system of instrumental secondary lights,
teaching us that we see not yet face to face ; that however
great our knowledge and privileges, compared with what
they would have been without those aids ; however suffi-
cient and most precious our revelation for all the present
necessities of the soul, we are far yet from the perfect
day. Ministers, and sacramental signs, and a written in-
spired word, are marks of the Church in the wilderness.
God is with her, but in the pillar of cloud. They are
marks of a state of grace not yet complete. God is com-
municating with his people, but it is from behind the veil
of the inner sanctuary. But the Church in glory will have
no need of human ministry, nor of visible signs of spirit-
ual grace, nor of an inspired book, revealing, under the
imperfections of human language, the things of the Spirit
of God. The saints being " heirs of God," their portion
will be therefore his fullness. God is light original, per-
fect, boundless light. They will commune directly with
that light, that holiness, that truth, that infinite knowl-
edge, that boundless wisdom. They will be saints in light,
because saints in the full vision of God. In contempla-
ting that blessed estate, Isaiah dipped his pen in the same
THE BELIEVER'S PORTION IN CHRIST. 379
effulgence as St. John, and wrote : " The sun shall be no
more thy light by day, neither shall the moon give light
unto thee, but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting
light, and thy God thy glory, and the days of thy mourn-
ing shall be ended."^ How sweet that sentence, "the days
of tluj mourning shall be ended." St John's account of it
is : " God shall ivipe aivay all tears from their eyes." We
know not which description is the most engaging that of
the evangelical prophet, or of the prophetic evangelist?
Neither could speak of the light of that inheritance of
the saints, without telling how it would banish all the sor-
rows which sin has brought upon our hearts, even to the
drying up of the last tear; just as all the remnants of
night, even to the last drop of dew, are wiped from the
face of nature by the radiance of the sun.
But we must come to the second division of our dis-
course. St. Paul, in the text, unites with his fellow Chris-
tians in giving thanks unto the Father, because he had
made them meet, or fit qualified in spirit, to be partakers
of the inheritance of the saints. And from this we take
our second head.
II. We cannot partake in that blessedness, unless we
are first, by the transforming grace of God, in this present
life, made meet for it.
One would suppose it could hardly be needful to use
many words to demonstrate so plain a truth. We really
partake in nothing unless we are meet to be partakers. A
sick man cannot partake in a sumptuous feast. It will
not be a feast to him; he is not meet for it. A man
without an ear attuned to musical sounds, may sit in the
*Isaiah Ix. 20, 21.
380 SERMON XVII.
midst of the richest harmonies; but he cannot partake in
them, however he may hear them. Take a man of gro-
velling mind, and place him in a circle of the most refined
and intellectual; bid him associate his mind with theirs.
You might as well command the deaf to hear, or the blind
to see. How irksome that company! You easily per-
ceive the reason. His mind is not fitted, his tastes are
not qualified, for such privileges. Well, then, suppose I
should find a little company of saints made perfect, come
down from heaven, on some errand from God, to earth,
and keeping here for a little while their endless Sabbath
of holiness and happiness, as they keep it in heaven;
and suppose I should take a man of the world, such as we
meet with everywhere his affections all running upon
earthly things, all confined to earthly things, and set him
down in that circle, and say to him, "Now, partake in
their happiness. You think that all you need to make
you happy hereafter, is only to be admitted to heaven.
Try ! Here is a little of heaven; join those blessed ones
in their joys, in their sweet communion with God; in their
overflowing love to Christ; in their praises to him that
loved them, and washed them from their sins in his own
blood, and hath made them kings and priests unto God."
Why, one might as well speak to the dead. Not a chord
is there in his heart to harmonize with their joys. He is
all strange in his sympathies to them, and they to him.
How would he like to have nothing else but their company
and their pleasures, with his own present dispositions,
forever and ever? What heaven would that be to him?
His whole moral being must be changed, before he can be
meet to partake with the saints of God on high in their
holy blessedness. And so long as that change is not
SERMON XVII. 381
wrought, no decree of God is needed to shut him out of
the presence of his glory, or the fellowship of the heaven-
ly host. A decree powerful enough is written in the
man's own affections. His own heart excludes him. A
mere title to heaven would not help him. What if he
should even be allowed to come to the table of that hea-
venly feast ? He could not partake. He would sit there
all deaf, and dumb, and dead, amidst boundless life.
My dear hearers, let us well understand what consti-
tutes salvation. Two things are essential, and both are
brought to view in the connection of our text. St. Paul,
speaking of Jesus, says : " In whom we have redemption
through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins" That is
one of the two forgiveness of sins. It opens the door to
the habitation of the saints in light. Very precious, in-
deed, but it is not all. Then, in the text, we have those
who have obtained the forgiveness of sins, that open door,
now giving thanks for another thing, namely, that they
have been made " meet to be partakers of the inheritance"
to which that door admits them. That is the second of
the two great gifts which make up our salvation. The one
removes the barrier on the side of the broken law; the
other, the barrier on the side of our own corrupt,, carnal
nature. The first is taken away in God's being reconciled
to us through the mediation of Christ. The second is
taken away in our hearts being reconciled to God by the
renewing of the Holy Ghost. They come inseparably.
Neither is ever without the other. They come both out
of the great sacrifice on the cross. Faith draws both
together from him who " was wounded for our transgi^es-
sions, and by whose stripes we are healed " " the water
382 SERMON XVII.
and the blood." Whom God justifies, he also sanctifies.
In whom these two are united, the forgiveness of sins and
the meetness for the inheritance, in them is salvation.
They are saints. In whom both are perfected, salvation
is consummated. They are saints made perfect.
But what is that meetness for the inheritance of the
saints? It is surely likeness to the inheritance. It is
conformity of our affections to the nature of the blessed-
ness. Is that blessedness the presence and glory of God ?
Then the meetness for it is to be holy, since God is holy.
Is it a joint inheritance with Christ ? Then to be meet
for it, is to be like Christ ; to have his mind in us, that
his joy may be in us. It is to be assimilated to him in
our affections, that we may be associated with him in his
heritage. It is to be not of the world, even as he is not
of the world. It is to have our affections set on things
above, "where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God."
Ic is to be "dead indeed unto sin, and alive unto God
through Jesus Christ our Lord." It is to love the will
and service of God as our present happiness; to know b} r
our present experience the sweetness of communion with
him as his own children ; to have such a sense of the pre-
ciousness of Christ to our souls, that we can participate
with some degree of real consciousness in that declaration
of the early believers: "Whom, having not seen, we
love ; in whom though now we see him not, yet believing,
we rejoice, with joy unspeakable, and full of glory."
Vast, indeed, is the difference between that meetness
for the inheritance which believers in their highest sancti-
fication, this side the grave, possess, and that of those who
have not entered into possession. It seems, indeed, that
THE BELIEVER'S PORTION IN CHRIST. 383
it must take a mighty work of grace to make any Chris-
tian now on earth, with all our infirmities and remaining
sinfulness, capable of the presence of God in his mani-
fested glory. So it must, unquestionably. The eye that
has never seen "the things of the Spirit of God" but
" through a glass darkly," must needs undergo a mighty
change of capacity before it is capable of looking on all
those wonderful and glorious mysteries, face to face. The
heart that has never communed with the holiness and
majesty of God, but on this side the veil, must needs be
prepared with a vast measure of new adaptation before it
can bear to be introduced to the presence of that unveil-
ed, infinite holiness and glory, on which even the seraphim
look not with open face.
But the change required is only like that of a child
that is now meet essentially for the inheritance of his
father, because he is a true child, with all the faculties of
a child ; but who must attain to manhood, and have all
those faculties matured, before he can be ready to enter
into full possession of the inheritance. What would you
say of the meetness of an infant to possess, and manage,
and enjoy, a magnificent estate inherited from his father ?
But in one most important sense that infant is meet. He
has the mind he has the faculties. All he wants is,
their development, their ripening, their manhood. The
essential preparation he has. It is only the perfecting
he needs. You have not to change what he is, but simply
to mature it.
And thus we understand the present raeetness of the
Christian in the imperfectness of his earthly state, for the
presence of the glory of God in heaven. What though
384 SERMON XVII.
but the youngest child in grace, however old in years
just born again of the Spirit -just beginning the experi-
ence of newness of life every affection and faculty of his
heart in infant feebleness, but all nevertheless in living
reality? Great indeed is the growth he must make, now
that he has just opened his eyes upon such light as conies
to us here in this moonlight night, before he can be quali-
fied for the light of that city, where moon and sun are
invisible by reason of the light of the unveiled counte-
nance of God.
But still we can join that child in grace in giving thanks
unto the Father who hath (already) made him " meet to
be a partaker with the saints in light." He is meet, be-
cause he is God's regenerate and adopted child. He is
meet, because he has all the mind, and heart, and sympa-
thies, and relations, of a child of God. He is meet, essen-
tially, though not maturely. The time to enter upon the
inheritance has not yet come. He who has now given
him the spirit of adoption, and made him his child, when
that time does come, will give him the spirit, and stature,
and perfectness, of a full-grown son, that he may inherit
the kingdom prepared for him. As his day, so shall his
grace be. Meanwhile, his calling is that of a child of God
in minority and pupilage ; to see the inheritance only in
reversion, and in the distance ; to live in the hope of it,
and to be educated for it ; and God giveth him grace for
that need. When his calling shall be to go hence from
the nursery of spiritual childhood, and take his place in
the full citizenship of the commonwealth of Israel ; " to
stand in the General Assembly and Church of the First-
born" in heaven; to minister as one of the "royal priest-
THE BELIEVER'S PORTION IN CHRIST. 385
hood" in the immediate presence of the Majesty on
High, then also shall his grace be as his day. His meet-
ness will grow with his privilege. When God shall take
him to the highest place, he will bring forth the best robe
and put it on him.
Oh! but what a difference there is between the change
which that child of God must undergo to make his pres-
ent feebleness of holy attainment meet for the fullness of
the future inheritance ; and, on the other hand, the change
that must take place in that man, in whom not a feature,
not an affection, not a sympathy, not a faculty, of the
child of God has ever found a place. In the former case,
it is only a change from morning to noon the day is the
same. It is only a transition from the child to the man ;
the being is the same. But in the latter, it must be a
change from night to day, from death to life ; from the
man who is in no sense a child of God, to the man who
is in everything his living, loving child. In the former
case, death is the certain introduction to the full comple-
tion of the glorious advancement. In the latter, death,
finding the essential change not made, sets the seal to
the certainty of its never being made to all eternity.
And now, would you be told how that meetness for the
inheritance of the saints is obtained? I answer, it is no
endowment of our natural state. All the meetness of
this fallen and depraved nature of ours is for the inheri-
tance of the unholy in darkness everlasting. The mind
that is in man by nature, and the mind that is in the
wicked and lost in hell, is essentially the same mind; just
as the mind of the Christian here, and of the saint with
God, is essentially the same. I doubt not there is an
25
386 SERMON XVII.
awful maturity of wickedness in hell, for which the un-
regenerate in this world are not prepared in point of
present growth. It would shock them, were it now seen
by the worst of them: just as in "the brightness of the
Father's glory," as seen by the saints in light, there is a
manifestation for which the regenerate on earth, in point
of maturity of grace, are not meet. But in every unre-
generate man here, there is "the carnal mind," which "is
enmity against God, and is not subject to the law of God,
neither indeed can be." That is all that is needed. The
meetness for the fellowship of the lost is thus in him
essentially. It needs but development. Change of
worlds, from a place of hope to a prison of despair ; from
a condition of a thousand corrective and restraining influ-
ences, to one where none exist, and where every pent-up
corruption of the heart is set loose, and set on fire, to
range and rage without limit such change will soon con-
summate the meetness of a lost soul, for all the wickedness
and misery of the outer darkness.
Do you ask again, whence comes that essential meet-
ness for the inheritance of the saints, which I have de-
scribed as the possession of every child of God in this
world ? The answer is in our text. St. Paul, with his
fellow Christians, said, " Giving thanks unto the Father,
which hath made us meet/' &c. They ascribed all they had
of preparation for the inheritance, to the power of God.
He made them what they were, as Christians. " We are
his workmanship, (they said) created in Christ Jesus."
So mighty a change as that which forms out of such a
being as man, in all the depravity of his natural heart, a
being meet to associate with Christ and his saints, they
THE BELIEVER'S PORTION IN CHRIST. 387
could ascribe to no power less than God's. He who crea-
ted man originally in his own likeness, that he might
qualify him for his own fellowship, now that we have lost
that likeness, must by the same power create us anew, or
we cannot be heirs of God. Hence that strong declara-
tion, "If any man be in Christ;" if out of all mankind
there be a true Christian, a child of God, a joint heir with
Christ, " he is a neiv creature" The work that made him
what he is, was a new creation. The power that made
him what he is, was the power that created the heavens
and the earth.
Of the like testimony are these joyful words of St.
Peter: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, who, according to his abundant mercy hath
begotten us again unto a lively hope, to an inheritance
incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away."
What prepared them for such an inheritance? They
were "begotten again." Who accomplished that new birth
in them ? " The God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ," in his abundant mercy. That new birth made
them his children. That relation of children connected
them with the inheritance. " If children, then heirs."
Invert this sentence and it will be equally true and im-
portant If heirs, then children. Add If children, then
begotten again by the Spirit of God. Add further If
not so begotten again, then ye cannot Bee the kingdom
of God.
Oh, what alarming conclusions necessarily follow from
all we have said, in regard to the hopelessness of those of
you, my hearers, in whom no such inward, transforming
work of grace is found ! How painful to be obliged to
388 SERMON XVII.
draw such lines of exclusion from the blessed heritage in
prospect. But we have this alleviation and comfort, that
the line is not yet so drawn as never to be crossed. You
that find it marking you off from the fellowship of the
kingdom, you may cross it yet, if you will strive ; the
hand of God is outstretched to lift you over when you
strive. And it is by this painful plainness in drawing that
line before you, and showing where it places you, that
we hope, by the blessing of the Holy Ghost, to contrib-
ute to the raising up of a fixed determination in your
hearts, that by the grace of God you will overpass it,
and so gain a place among the inheritors of life.
But what precious encouragement and assurance there
is in all we have said, to those who, having the love of
God in them, and habitually loving his ways, are thus
prepared essentially to be with him in glory. Their pleas-
ure of heart in his word and worship, and whole service ;
their love of holiness, and earnestness to have more holi-
ness, is "the earnest of the Spirit." It witnesses with
their spirit, that they are children, and therefore heirs of
God. The Lord "gives grace and glory;" glory, the ma-
turity of grace; grace, the promise and preparation for
glory; both where there is either. The one, the first
fruits of the Spirit ; the other, the fullness of the ripe
harvest of grace. As sure as we have now the one, we
shall hereafter possess the other. The heart that ascends
to God amid the infirmities of the flesh, will go to God
when the flesh shall encumber it no more. To be meet
for the inheritance, is the assurance of obtaining it. He
that fashions you for it, will certainly take you to it.
THE BELIEVER'S PORTION IN CHRIST. 389
Then be joyful in God, and praise him for the riches of
his grace ! So run that ye may obtain. So seek that ye
may find. So press toward the mark of the prize, that
ye may be sure of the blessedness promised to him that
endure th to the end. Amen.
SEMON XVIII.
THE PRESENT BLESSEDNESS OF THE DEAD IN CHRIST.
KEY. xiv. 13.
'' I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead
which die in the Lord, from henceforth ; Yea, saith the Spirit, that they
may rest from their labors, and their works do follow them."
THE dead! Where are they? In what state are they?
What innumerable connexions unite them to us! They
have gone where we are soon to go. They are, as we are
soon to be. Especially the dead in Christ' what bonds
unite them to those here who are alive in Christ all one
family still ! What is their state ? Where are they ? It
is of them the declaration of our text was written. It
is of the dead as they now are before the resurrection,
and not as they will be after the resurrection, that the
text speaks. After the resurrection, they will be the
living as they never were before; not only alive in the
body, as well as in the spirit, and alive for evermore;
but alive in a power and perfection of life altogether
new. To them, in that day, there will be "no more
death." It is therefore of the disembodied state of the
people of God, to whom, as regards their bodies, there is
yet death, that the text speaks. Their "earthly house of
this tabernacle " has been dissolved. They are "absent
THE PRESENT BLESSEDNESS OF THE DEAD IN CHRIST. 391
from the body." What a world of intelligent, spiritual
beings are the disembodied dead ! Think that not one soul
that ever came into life since the human family began its
generations, has ceased to live. They have passed out of
sight to us they have passed out of this life this life in
the body; this life of preparation for another; but not one
ever passed out of life. What an inconceivable multi-
tude are the millions that now people this earth! But
what are they to those who once were here and are now
gone away, and are living, in thought, in recollection, in
happiness or suffering, as really as any of us. What tides
of living men have the passing generations been pouring
into that world, millions on millions since death began, and
the first grave was made. On one side or other, of one
great line of separation, they are all found. It is the
same precisely that now separates into two great divisions
all that live yet in the flesh. It is the only distinction
among us that will survive us when we are gone hence.
High or low, princes or peasants, in riches or in beggary ;
all such distinctions perish when we are laid in the grave.
But there is one that lasts forever and runs its line among
the disembodied that are waiting the resurrection, as uni-
versally as it now divides this congregation. The two
classes into which it separates us here, are they that are
in Christ^ and they that are not in Christ. The classes
beyond the grave, are they that died in Christ, and they
that died out of Christ. There is not a soul in that
world that comes not under one or the other of those
denominations. We are led by the text to speak of the
present state of those who belong to the former class
the dead in Christ those "who died in the Lord"
392 SERMON XVIII.
I. What is it to die in the Lord ?
It is the last act on earth of "being in the Lord. It is
to cease our Christian race as we began it, and as we ran it;
it is to be found when the messenger of death comes for us,
just where every call of duty, every trying providence,
every temptation, every mercy, ever since we began the
life of faith, found us in Christ. It is not the getting
into some new shelter ; it is not the putting on some new
armor; it is not the coming of the Christian into some
new relation to Christ. It is the enduring to the end, of
a relation formed when the Christian life began. It is the
abiding of the soul in the ark which it entered when first
it renounced the world. It is the having on of that whole
armor of God which we put on when first we became sol-
diers of Christ. It is the Christian going through the
valley and shadow of death, precisely as he went through
the dangers, and trials, and sorrows, and duties, of this mor-
tal life, saying, " The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not
want;" leaning on the hand of that Shepherd, and saying,
"Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me." It is faith over-
coming, in the last conflict, precisely as it overcame in
every precious conflict of the Christian's pilgrimage the
same faith, resting on the same promises, embracing the
Saviour just as ever before; passing through the Jordan
as it passed through the Heel Sea and the wilderness,
" looking unto Jesus" It is the child of God falling asleep
in the same arms of redeeming love in which he was al-
ways embraced, and where always he was safe in the peace
of God. But we must be more particular. " There is
now no condemnation (saith the Apostle) to them that are
in Christ Jesus" In Christ and a Christian are the same
THE PRESENT BLESSEDNESS OF THE DEAD IN CHRIST. 393
state. We have no beginning of Christian life, we have
no nourishment of Christian life, none of its consolations,
none of its hopes, none of its strength, none of its armor,
except we be in Christ Jesus. But once there, we are in
possession of all that belongs to the preciousness of the
Gospel ; condemnation is no more ; there is grace sufficient
for us to live by, and die by ; and we have the inheritance
incorruptible reserved in heaven for us all in Christ, and
all ours because we are in him.
Is Christ our refuge ? We are in him when we flee to
him, as Noah fled to the ark. Is Christ our Surety and
Advocate? We are in him when we commit the cause of
our souls before the judgment seat to him, and thus
embrace him as our Representative. Is Christ our Life,
whereby alone we can live a life of holiness unto God ?
We are in him, as the branch is in the vine, when we
receive his Spirit, and are thus made to live by his life.
Is Christ our Righteousness? We are in him when, being
united to him by receiving his Spirit, all his merits as our
Mediator, his death for our sins, and his obedience unto the
law, are imputed unto us, and so we are clothed upon
with his righteousness, as our justification before God.
That, on the part of Christ, which thus unites us to him as
our Refuge, Surety, Advocate, Righteousness and Life, is
his Spirit abiding in us. That, on our part, which unites
us to him, is OUT faith. The life which the Christian lives
in the flesh, is "a life of faith on the Son of God" all
that Christian life, from its first breath to its last, from its
first partaking of Christ, to its departure in Christ; in its
inward partaking of his Spirit and its outward manifesta-
tion of his grace ; in all its works, and hopes, and strength,
394 SERMON XVIII.
and growth, its conflicts and final victory all is simply a
life of faith, and of faith leaning on, uniting unto, and
deriving from Christ. Nothing else on our part makes us
to be in Christ. That faith begun, we are in him, before
God. Thus is the sinner a Christian. His continuance
as a Christian is simply the continued exercise of that
same faith. His progress in the Christian life is just the
increase of the strength of that same faith. It is faith
working more and more by love, and exhibiting the fruits
of the Spirit more and more maturely and abundantly.
It is the daily repetition of precisely those exercises of
faith wherein the Christian life began; each increasing with
its exercise, trusting more simply in Jesus, drawing upon
his grace more freely, obeying his will more impli-
citly, walking more closely with him, living more faith-
fully unto him, and thus till death. You remember that
bright constellation of patriarchs, and prophets, and mar-
tyrs, which St. Paul has grouped together so beautifully
in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews, as illustrations of
faith. You remember how he begins with, "By faith,
Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than
Cain." By faith, (he goes on to say,) Enoch, and Noah,
and Abraham, and Moses, and a great multitude, of whom
the world was not worthy, lived, and labored, and denied
themselves, and suffered, and fainted not. These all lived
1)ij faith. The apostle sets down all their faithful exam-
ples to a life of faith. Then he adds : " These all died in
faith" I know not a better illustration of the connection
between a Christian death and a Christian life ; between
living in the Lord and dying in the Lord. Where faith
led them, death found them. On the field of their war-
THE PRESENT BLESSEDNESS OF THE DEAD IN CHRIST. 395
fare, in the armor of their confidence, ready for a longer
contest, if duty called, they died. The promises that sus-
tained them in the trials of life, were their strong consola-
tion in the conflict of death. Their faithful death was
just the continuance of their life of faith, uniting it to the
life of eternal blessedness with God.
But the same Apostle has in another place so striking
an illustration of the doctrine we wish to impress on your
minds, that we cannot refrain from presenting it. You
know his stirring account, in the Epistle to the Philippians,
of his own earnestness on the very subject before us,
namely, that he might die in the Lord. You remember
that verse : " For whom I have suffered the loss of all
things, and count them but dung, that I might win Christ,
and be found in him.'" Found in him ! Here, you per-
ceive, is precisely what we are speaking of. To die in
the Lord, is at death to be found in him. Paul valued all
things as utterly worthless, in comparison with that.
Does he tell us what it is to be found in him ? Yes; in the
very next words : " That I might win Christ, and be found
in him, not having mine oivn righteousness, ivhich is of the
laiv; but that ivhich is through the faith of Christ, the
righteousness which is of God, ~by faitli"* In these words,
you see, brethren, two descriptions of righteousness one,
our own, which is of the law ; our own obedience, whatever
it be, to the law of God; our own works and merits under
the law; the other, that ivhich is through the faith of
Christ, the righteousness which is of God, ly faith ; in other
words, precisely the opposite of the former ; not our own
righteousness, but God's ; not by obedience to the law,
but through the faith of Christ ; not the righteousness of
*Phil. iii. 8, 9.
396 SERMON XVIII.
the sinner, but of the sinner's Saviour, who fulfilled the
law, and endured its curse for him. These two descrip-
tions of righteousness are so incompatible with one
another that they cannot coalesce. You cannot wear
them both together. If you would put on one, you must
renounce the other. You cannot be under the law, and
under grace; trusting in your own merits and those of
Christ at the same time. See, then, what St. Paul meant
by being found in Christ.
If found having on his own righteousness that is, trust-
ing thereto, wrapping himself therein as a covering from
the tempest, when the wrath of God should come against
sin, he would not be found in Christ. He was therefore
most earnest not thus to be clothed, but rather to be per-
fectly stripped of all such protection. But, on the other
hand, if found trusting only in the righteousness which is
provided of God in Christ, and embraced by faith, clothed
in that spotless robe which God giveth as a wedding
garment to every soul that accepts his invitation to the
great feast of redeeming grace, then would he be found
in Christ, sheltered as perfectly from the condemnation of
sin, as Noah under the shelter of the ark, from the wrath
of the flood; as secure of life eternal as he in whose
righteousness he is clothed. Thus do we " put on Christ."
Thus is he " made unto us righteousness." Thus is he
"the Lord our righteousness." In that refuge, clothed
upon with that white robe, Paul was abiding when he
wrote the words on which we have been commenting. It
was all his hope. And there he most earnestly desired
to be found when his work should be done. He had suf-
fered the loss of all things for Christ; but in that righteous-
THE PRESENT BLESSEDNESS OF THE DEAD IN CHRIST. 397
ness, he placed no trust. All that, and all else of his
own, he renounced, as incapable of answering the demands
of the law. Christ had suffered all the penalty, and ful-
filled all the obedience of the law for him. That was the
righteousness in which his hope rejoiced. As his end
drew near, he wrapped that robe about him only the more
humbly, and confidently, and joyfully. Death found him
where every trial of his faith had found him. He fell
asleep, where he had lived, "in Christ Jesus" and now is
he one of that great multitude of the dead, the "absent
from the body," over whose graves the Evangelist has
written, "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord.
Even so, saith the Spirit, for they rest from their labors."
May we follow him in his faith, that we be like him in his
blessedness. And now let us attend to what our text de-
clares of
II. The blessedness of those who die in the Lord.
There is something very remarkable in the very formal
and solemn manner in which St. John is made to announce
the precious declaration contained in the text. He be-
gins " / heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write.,
Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord, from henceforth"
Then another voice is heard, giving a confirming testi-
mony to the declaration of the first: "Yea, saith the Spirit,
for they rest from their labors.'' 1 One is led to inquire,
Why this peculiar solemnity ; this new declaration from
heaven ; this new-commanded record and this super-added
celestial attestation of the same? Was there anything
new to the Church, in the days of St. John, in the plain,
though precious truth, he was thus commanded to record?
Had it not been the consolation of believers, and especially
398 SERMON xvnr.
of martyrs, rejoicing at the stake, ever since the Gospel
was preached? Had not St. Paul said, some half century
before, that he knew that when his body should be dissolved,
he should have " a building of God, eternal in the heavens;""
that for a child of God to be "absent from the body" is to
"be present ivith the Lord?"
Let it be remembered that this extraordinary announce-
ment of so plain and familiar a truth, occurs in the midst
of the prophecies of St. John concerning the persecutions
of the saints, by that mystic Antichrist called by St. Paul
"the Man of Sin," "the mystery of iniquity;" known
now as the Church of Rome, but called in the verses just
preceding our text, Babylon, because of its eminent like-
ness to that ancient city of corruption, in its wars against
the Israel of God, and in the abominations of its idolatries.
The prophet St. John had just predicted the utter ruin of
that apostate church, in these awful words: "Babylon is
fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all natiom
drink of the wine of the ^vrath of her fornications ." Next,
an angel denounces the vengeance of God upon all who
should participate in her crimes. Then, as if to show that,
in maintaining a faithful resistance to all her blandishments
and persecutions, would be the great trial of the faithful-
ness of the true people of God, the prophet abruptly
declares : "Here is the patience of the saints : these are they
t/iat hep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus"
Then, to comfort them in their struggle, comes the decla-
ration : " I heard a voice from heaven, saying unto me,
Write, blessed are the dead which die in the Lord, from
henceforth."
Mark the word henceforth. Does it mean from the
THE PRESENT BLESSEDNESS OF THE DEAD IN CHRIST. 399
time John was directed to write ? But why should the
dead in Christ be blessed from that period more than any
other ? There was nothing in the close of John's ministry,
(when he received the Revelation,) to make any remark-
able epoch in the blessedness of the saints departed. Does
it mean, from a certain point of time, in the course of the
fulfillment of the prophecies of this book ; a time then
in the distant future ; as if the voice from heaven speak-
ing to John, were issuing from the midst of the events
of that future time, and saying, "from henceforth" from
that period, " blessed are the dead," &c.? Such interpreta-
tion would teach that it is given only to a certain portion
of the dead in Christ to be blessed and to rest from their
labors, while it is not given to another ; and that the dis-
tinction rests only upon times and external events in this
life, having no connection with the inward state of believ-
ers ; that it is not because they die in the Lord, that some
are blessed and rest from their labors, but because they
die at a certain period, amidst certain events. But this
is inconsistent with the analogy of faith, and with the
plain teaching of St. Paul, when, speaking of the depar-
ture of believers in general, he teaches that to depart in
Christy is to le with Christ ;* and therefore to be blessed
with the most glorious rest. It was long before this hearing
the voice from heaven, that John had seen in vision " a
great multitude which no man could number," standing
u before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with
white robes, and palms in their hands," and saying, " Sal-
vation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, a ad unto
the Lamb." They had " come out of great tribulation,
*2 Cor. v. 9, and Phil. i. 23.
400 SERMON XVIII.
and had washed their robes and made them white in the
blood of the Lamb." They were absent from the body
and present with the Lord. They had died in the Lord,
and were now blessed in his presence, and love, and glory,
and they rested from their labors. Their rest is described :
" They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more ;
neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For
the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed
them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters,
and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes."*
What sweet rest ! It is exactly what the voice from
heaven said would be the portion of the dead in Christ.
And it teaches that as soon as they came out of the
great tribulation, as soon as they died, they were thus
before the throne ; and moreover, that their being thus
blessed and glorified, was simply because they had washed
their robes and made them white in the blood of the
Lamb" in other words, had died in the Lord. From
henceforth, from that time of their death, they were so
blessed, and entered into that sweet rest. We therefore
understand the word " henceforth ;" ("blessed are the dead
which die in the Lord, from henceforth") just as our
Church, causing it to be read over the graves of her peo-
ple, would teach us to understand it, and as the scriptures
in other places teach us, concerning the state of the dead
in Christ, namely, from the time of their dying in the
Lord; as if it were written, Blessed, from the moment of
death, are the dead who die in the Lord.
Viewed in this light, there is abundant explanation of
the very peculiar emphasis and solemnity with which a
* Rev. vii. 9-17.
THE PRESENT BLESSEDNESS OF THE DEAD IN CHRIST. 401
voice from heaven declared anew, and directed John to
record anew, what the primitive Church so well understood,
and Apostles had so plainly taught, and faithful followers
of Christ had so long cherished, and in inspired epistles to
the churches was so indelibly written. It was foreseen
that a time would come when that truth, so dear to a dying
believer, so unspeakably comforting when a Christian is
called to suffer for his Master, would be almost erased from
the memory and belief of men; when, though it would
remain written in the scriptures, a Church, professing to be
the exclusive keeper and interpreter of the scriptures,
would so keep it out of sight, by keeping the whole scrip-
tures in bondage ; would so conceal it by her rubbish of false
doctrine, and vain tradition, and so deny it, by positive de-
cree, requiring universal belief in precisely the opposite
thus putting darkness for light that it would be necessary
that so vital a truth of the redemption in Christ Jesus should
be recorded again, published anew, established afresh, and
with an emphasis and solemnity, as if a new revelation
from heaven had been received. The text is not only a
foresight of that necessity, but a prophecy, that at that
time of darkness and corruption of the truth, there would
be, under the Spirit of the Lord, a great revival of that
very doctrine of the present blessedness of the dead in
Christ, from the very time of their death ; a fresh writing
of it in the creeds of all Christians ; a new record of it in
their hearts; and a new attestation thereof by the Spirit of
God, accompanying such revived teachings of the truth
as it is in Jesus, with his own sanctifying power. All this,
you know, was fulfilled.
You know the doctrine of the Church of Rome, con-
26
402 SERMON XVIII.
cerning the state of the dead in Christ; her abominable
invention of purgatorial sufferings to make them meet for
the inheritance of the saints. The greatest persecutor of
God's people, "drunk with the blood of his saints;" she
has forbidden all men, under pain of her anathema, to
believe that very hope of being with Christ and resting
from his labors at the time of death, which the faithful
confessor feels to be his precious consolation when suffer-
ing her torments, in his Master's name. Not henceforth,
she pronounces, against that voice from heaven. They
that die in the Lord are not blessed when they die ; they
do not rest from their labors; they are not present with
the Lord. Such is the voice, not from heaven, but from
Antichrist. What that "mystery of iniquity" has com-
manded to be written, and has established by solemn
decree, under seal of pretended infallible teaching of the
Spirit of God, is, that the dead in Christ, instead of
resting from their labors, have entered on labors and pains
more severe than ever they knew before; instead of being
blessed and happy with Christ, are suffering for their
sins, in distant and dark separation from him; instead
of finding that his blood " cleanseth from all sin," are
experiencing the pains of purgatorial flames, for the
finishing of the work that he hath left undone ; instead of
being relieved by death, are more wretched than before
they died; instead of being liberated from all terrestrial
things, are now dependent on the prayers, and masses, and
indulgences of the Church on earth, on the will of priests,
and the charity of sinners, and the payment of money to
buy the priest's mediation, for the diminution of their
years of suffering. What an abomination of the devil,
THE PRESENT BLESSEDNESS OF THE DEAD IN CHRIST. 403
the "father of lies!" What a horrible poison to cast
into the cup of the children of God, turning all its
sweet consolations into bitterness How can that spiritual
communion be else than Antichrist, which thus sets itself
up in the temple of God, as if it were God, and as if it
held the keys of death ; which opposes Christ at the death-
bed of his saints, prohibits them his consolations, takes
away " the garment of praise," with which he invests the
dying believer, and substitutes " the spirit of heaviness,"
yea, denies what the Lord has written for his people, to be
read by them in the valley of death, and writes precisely
the reverse ?
Early began the rudiments of that profaneness. It was
part of that " mystery of iniquity," which Paul said had
begun to work even in his day.* It went on working and
maturing, as the Church declined more and more from the
purity of the Gospel, till it became the full grown, regu-
larly decreed, and sealed doctrine of the Church of Rome.
No man was allowed to believe otherwise, under pain of
her curse. At the beginning of the sixteenth century,
that evil doctrine was at its height. It was bringing in
enormous gains to the treasury of the Church and to the
vices of her priesthood, in the payments of poor, igno-
rant people for masses and indulgences, which pretended
to deliver the suffering souls of Christ's people out of the
flames of purgatory. It was the mine of her wealth, the
factory of her merchandize, the very lever of her power.
The truth of the Gospel concerning the blessedness of the
dead in Christ, as well as their free and perfect justifica-
tion in his righteousness only, had become almost as
unknown as if it had never been written. It was in the
* 2 Thess. ii. 7.
404 SERMON XVIII.
Bible yet, but the Bible was locked up and forbidden the
people. Then came the Revival the Reformation. As if
a voice from heaven had just been heard, saying : " Write,
Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord, from henceforth? '
from the hour they die; as if the confirmation, " Yea, saith
the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors" had
just sounded from on high; there took place a mar-
vellous, and wide re-establishment of that blessed truth.
It was Tetzel's preaching that very doctrine of purgatory,
and his making merchandize of men's souls thereby, that
first roused the spirit of Luther and caused the first blast of
the trump of the Reformation. The scriptures were re-
opened the Gospel was preached anew the whole truth
of the sinner's complete justification in the righteousness
of Christ, through faith only, without merit of works, or
aid of priests, or saints, or penances, or indulgences, was
re-written, re-attested, re-established. With it, was set up
anew, in the creeds and hearts of believers, the assurance
of the present felicity and rest in Christ, and with Christ,
so all that have died in him. It is now written before
every eye, by the publication of the scriptures in so many
languages, and their being placed in the hands of so many
millions. It is written so that it can never be concealed
again, wherever the Gospel is preached. Thousands and
thousands of faithful ministers of Christ are engaged in
obeying the command to write it. It is written by the
Spirit of God in the hearts of a multitude that cannot be
numbered, and no powers of Antichrist, no wiles of the
devil, can ever deface, or take it away. Our mother
Church wrote it, not only in her whole testimony to the
Gospel doctrine of a free and perfect justification of every
THE PRESENT BLESSEDNESS OF THE DEAD IN CHRIST. 405
believer in Jesus, by his righteousness only ; but particu-
larly in her office for the burial of the dead, testifying there-
in that " the souls of the faithful, after they depart hence
in the Lord, and are delivered from the burden of the
flesh," do live with God, and " are in joy and felicity : "
so making, as well her graveyards, as her pulpits, pro-
claim it so writing it over the chambers of the dead.
That testimony is ours also, and in the same words. We
renew our solemn protest against one of the vilest inven-
tions of Antichrist, every time we lay a believer in his
last bed; proclaiming over his grave, "I heard a voice
from heaven saying unto me, Write, blessed are the dead
which die in the Lord, from henceforth ; yea, saith the
Spirit, that they may rest from their labors."
Let us pause on these words, and meditate on the hap-
piness of which they speak. They that die in the Lord
are blessed in death itself. Found in Christ, how changed
is death to them ! The sting is taken away. The terror
is abolished. Where flesh and blood are vanquished and
fall, the spirit rises in triumph and sings her song, like
Miriam at the Red Sea, u Thanks to God which giveth us
the victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ." " Precious
in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints." It
is their blessedness in death to have him specially near to
them; to have most precious communion with him; to
feel a freeness and strength of faith in committing their
all to him, which they have not known before ; to say
with a confidence, and love, and peace, sweeter than ever
they realized before : " The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall
not want I fear no evil thou art with me." " The Lord
is my light and salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord
406 SERMON XVIII.
is the strength of my life ; of whom then shall I be afraid?"
They " sleep in Jesus." How sweet that description, by
the Holy Ghost, of the death of those who die in the
Lord! It is going to rest after a weary day. It is all
peace, as the sleep of a child folded in a mother's arms.
" To die is gain." It is the crossing the river to the
blessed land, and the river is divided that the believer
may go over unharmed, untroubled.
The dead in Christ are blessed in being " with Christ"
"present with the Lord." Their "intermediate state" is
not intermediate between darkness and perfect light ; be-
tween suffering, and unmingled, ineffable, felicity ; between
being away from Christ, and being in the full presence and
communion of his love and glory. It is intermediate be-
cause between death and the resurrection ; between being
absent from the body, and being in the body again, when
it shall be raised in incorruption ; between the full measure
of felicity which the soul is capable of in separation from
the body, and that larger measure, when its original habi-
tation being fashioned like unto the glorious body of the
Lord Jesus, shall be restored to it, and both in one person
shall be "present with the Lord." Thus intermediate their
state, their presence with him in glory is without a veil.
Their communion with him in bliss and love has no barrier
to hinder, no infirmity to weaken, no cloud to obscure
it. They were found in Christ at death, and they must
be with him forever in glory. Our blessed Lord's own
chosen consolation to his people here is, "I will receive
you unto myself, that where I am there ye may be also."
They rest from their labors. They were "strangers and
pilgrims" here, far off from home. They had a wilder-
THE PRESENT BLESSEDNESS OF THE DEAD IN CHRIST. 407
ness to labor through; a stubborn, rebellious nature to
labor with ; many a grievous burden to bear ; a host of
infirmities to make them wearied and faint in their minds ;
a great work to do, demanding all diligence. Their pa-
tience was often sorely tried. Their hearts were often
very heavy. Their hands hung down. They longed for
rest. Now it has come. The pilgrim has reached his
city of habitation. The stranger has arrived at his home.
The burden is dropped. The work is done. They rest
from their labors.
They were soldiers. A great prize was to be gained ;
a great battle was to be fought. Their all, for eternity,
was at stake. The world was to be overcome. An ad-
versary of great might, the god of this world, was to be
vanquished. Their march was at every step through the
country of the enemy. The conflict was never over while
they lived in the flesh. Incessantly to stand on the watch,
was their calling. They " fought a good fight and kept
the faith." In the armor of God they trusted, and with
the sword of the Spirit contended. In their weakness,
they were made strong. As their day, so was their strength.
God was their refuge, a very present help in time of
trouble. Thus they endured to the end; sometimes cast
down, never destroyed. Now are they more than conquer-
ors through him that loved them. The conflict is ended,
the land is gained, the crown is won. The promise of the
Lord is fulfilled : "To him that overcometh will I grant to
sit with me on my throne." " They rest from their labors"
Sweet indeed must be that rest to a soul just arrived
out of this evil world; just delivered from the burden of
the flesh, and all the pains, and sorrows, and sins, of this
408 SERMON XVIII.
mortal life sweet that Sabbath of perfect rest, after all
these working days of the week in which we are so wearied
and heavy laden ; sweet that Sabbath in the temple of the
glory of God, in the immediate presence of Jesus, where
there can be no more death, nor sorrow all tears wiped
away and never to return, the joy of the Lord our portion
and inheritance.
Yea, sweet indeed, when it is considered with whom, in
what fellowship, that eternal rest is to be enjoyed. How
little we know here, by any just conception, of the love
of God towards his children whom he hath adopted in
Christ, and in whose hearts he hath shed abroad the spirit
of the adoption, so that they are "not servants but sons
heirs of God through Christ!" We measure God's love to
his children so much by their love to him. And we mea-
sure the fellowship and love of the saints above so much
by the feebleness and dullness of our love in the Church be-
low. The communion of saints ! what do we know of it
now ? Christian society ! social pleasures of holy minds
and hearts, united in Christ and in a common inheritance,
baptized in one Spirit; how little we know of it? Church
relationship ! what conception can we get of it in its full-
ness and blessedness, from any specimen furnished in the
bonds of brotherhood realized among believers in the ex-
ceedingly infirm, and mutilated, and defiled condition of
the Church on earth, with its mixtures, and divisions, and
jealousies and strife ? But oh, when that sweet rest shall
come ; when the soul departed finds itself in that com-
munion of "the spirits of just men made perfect," where
is perfect calm from all that agitates this visible Church on
earth, where eye will see to eye, and heart will come to
THE PRESENT BLESSEDNESS OF THE DEAD IN CHRIST. 409
heart, and sin cannot enter, and love is made perfect, and
the love of God to his people is not only received, but
known, and realized, in all its wonderful depths when we
are come to the New Jerusalem, to the general assembly
and church of the first born, which are written in heaven,
to God in his glory, and Jesus as he is ; then shall we un-
derstand what holy society is; Church brotherhood; the
nearness of the relationship between the children of God's
adoption in Christ; their nearness in love to God, through
their vital union to his beloved Son. Then shall we under-
stand what communion of saints is with God, in Christ;
with one another, in the life everlasting. It is a rest which
remaineth to the people of God. Only a foretaste have we
here, and that in comparatively a very slight degree ; as a
mariner catches a little sense of rest, now and then, upon
his ocean voyage. To form any conception of its ineffable
sweetness, remaineth. Oh, how unsearchable the grace
that has prepared such blessedness for such sinners, and
that prepares such sinful hearts for such blessedness 1
But methinks I hear some complaint, as if I were
omitting to speak of one very important part of our text :
" their works do follow them" No, it is not forgotten. It
is reserved as part of the exhibition of the blessedness of
the dead in Christ. But the works of believers ! Those
imperfect, unworthy works, which they tried to do for
Christ and his Church, but which they always felt to come
so far short in every duty of motive and spirit, of love,
and faith, and devotedness ; the works they so often re-
pented of as most defective, and all of which they so
utterly renounced when they sought the rock on which to
build their hope of justification and acceptance with God;
410 SERMON XVIII.
how can they follow into that blessedness ; what can they
do in that rest ; what office have they to perform in the
presence of Christ ; why will they go with believers, dying
in the Lord? Mark! they fottoiv they go not before to
open the door. No, no ! " Not of works, lest any man
should boast." Jesus goes before. The believer's faith
goes before, following Jesus. The door is opened by the
one Mediator, who hath " for us entered," and who by
entering as our Forerunner, and Surety, and Advocate,
and Righteousness, hath opened ^vide the way for his
people. And because his people enter by him, their works
of faith, and labors of love, wrought by his grace, and ac-
cepted through his intercession, enter likewise. They
bring no plea. They present no claim. They too, must
be accepted, only through grace, "not of works" The
righteousness of Christ that justifies the believer, justifies
his works as a believer's. They follow him, not afar off,
but immediately, as works always and necessarily follow
faith ; inseparably united, going wherever it goes, its evi-
dences, its fruits, its fullness; the clustering grapes follow-
ing hard upon the life and growth of the vine ; the mani-
festation following faithfully upon the reality of godliness.
There is to be a reward " according to works done in the
body " a reward not of eternal life, for that is the pur-
chase of Christ and his free gift to the believer but a
reward in eternal life, after it has been freely given, after
the ransomed of the Lord have freely entered into the
joy of their Lord. Then will come their reward, according
to their works not on account of their works ', on account
still of the merits and grace of Christ alone ; but accord-
ing to the faithfulness wherewith the believer, in his heart's
THE PRESENT BLESSEDNESS OF THE DEAD IN CHRIST. 411
works and in his life's works, has adorned his Master's
service and done good to man. That reward will bring
sweet contributions to the blessedness of the departed be-
liever. It will mingle precious joys with his everlasting
rest. Often he will wonder at the abundant grace be-
stowed by his gracious Saviour on .what he regarded per-
haps as the very least of his doings the cup of cold water
given ; the secret sigh to do what, through opposing
providences, was never done ; the box of ointment, broken
and poured out. with such a sense of sinfulness and so
many tears, that it was never remembered, but for its un-
worthiness. But the thoughts of our Lord will not
be as our thoughts. Works will greatly help, through
grace, the blessedness which, but for grace, they could
never enter, and would only come into condemnation.
And, now, my dear brethren, let us write in our hearts,
let us pray the blessed Spirit of God so to write in our
hearts what the voice from heaven directed John to write
concerning the blessedness of the dead in Christ, that we
who live, and are so soon to die, may be quickened into
all diligence so to live, that when we die we may share that
rest.
How comforting and delightful the assurance we have
been considering, concerning those dear departed relatives
and friends, who, we have reason to believe, did die in the
Lord. Let us bless God for so plain and positive a
declaration of their state. Let us enjoy it. Let us not
permit the mistiness with which some seem to labor to
invest the condition of the righteous dead, to come over
our vision. Mysterious as their state, out of the body,
unquestionably is, it does not follow that what is revealed
412 SERMON XVIII.
concerning it is not plain and certain. True, we know
not what we shall be there ; it is a condition of being of
which we have no analogous experience. But " this we
know" because God has revealed it, that to depart hence
in the Lord, is to be with the Lord; and that is enough
to know, and enough to give us the sweetest thoughts of
the present glorious communion and felicity of all those
whom death found in Christ. *
But are we to be like them, in our death? We are
soon to follow them in the dissolving of our earthly house
of this tabernacle. Have we a good hope that we shall
follow them in their departure in the Lord ? How will it
be with us? How is it noiv? Can I say, "For me to
live is Christ ?" Am I now in him, as my only hope, my
daily life, a branch that brings forth fruit? It is surely
very impressive, and ought exceedingly to reprove and
animate us to greater diligence, to see St. Paul with all
his evidences of being in Christ, and all his assurance of
a crown of glory, still pressing on, that he might " win
Christ and be found in him." Brethren, may we meet no
sad disappointment in our hope, when it shall be too late
to obtain a better. May we now make it sure that we
abide in Christ and he in us, so that when we come to the
last trial, we may have such sweet evidence of God's love
to us, and such precious assurance that we are going to him,
that it may seem as if on the wall of our chamber, for our
closing eyes to read, it were written by the finger of God:
Blessed are ye that die in the Lord ; and as if a voice from
heaven sweetly whispered, Yea } for ye rest from your
labors !
SERMON III.
THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST.
LUKE xxiv. 34.
"The Lord is risen indeed."
THESE are words of conviction, and of joy. To appre-
ciate them, as uttered by the disciples of Christ, when they
became assured that he had risen from the dead, we must
enter into their circumstances. Well persuaded that, in
Jesus, they beheld him to whom all the prophets had wit-
nessed, who was to sit on the throne of David, and to
establish his kingdom over all people ; they had forsaken
all to follow him, and had embarked all their hopes on his
claims. Already had they learned, by painful experience,
that it was through much tribulation they were to share
in his kingdom; but such trials had not shaken their
faith. Accustomed to behold him despised, persecuted,
and rejected of men, their confidence was continually
sustained, as they heard him speak "as never man spake,"
and with an authority that controlled the sea and raised
the dead. But now, deep tribulation, such as they had
not known before, had overtaken them. What darkness
ad come upon their faith ! He, who was once so mighty
414 SERMON XIX.
to give deliverance to the captive, had himself been taken
captive, and bound to the cross. He, who with a word
raised the dead, had been violently, wickedly, put to an
ignominious death. He, whom they expected to reign as
king of kings, and to subdue all nations, had been brought
under the dominion of his own nation, and shut up in the
sepulchre, and all the people of Israel were now boastfully
confident that the death of the cross had proved him a
deceiver. Oh, indeed, it was a season of great heaviness,
and dismay, and trial ; those days and nights in which
their beloved Master was lying in death ! The great stone
which his enemies had rolled to the door of the sepulchre,
lest his disciples should go by night and take away the
body, was expressive of the cold, dead, weight, which that
death and burial had laid upon their hearts. That sepul-
chre seemed as the tomb of all their hoges. All was
buried with Jesus. "For, as yet, (it is written,) they
knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the
dead."* Had they understood what he had often told
them, they would have known " that thus it behooved
(the) Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third
day."
The third day was now come. The Jewish Sabbath
was over. The first day of the week was breaking. While
it is yet dark, faithful women repair to the sepulchre with
spices for the embalming. They find the stone rolled
away. Wondering at this, they enter the tomb. The
body is not there. Enemies have taken it away, is their
first thought. Mary Magdalene hastens to say to Peter
and John, " they have taken away the Lord out of the
sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him."
* John, xx. 9.
THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 415
Angels appear to the women in their alarm, saying, " He
is not here, but is risen." "With fear," and yet "with
great joy," they ran "to bring his disciples word." But
to the latter, "their words seemed as idle tales, and they
believed them not." Peter and John had now reached
"the place where the Lord lay," and entering in, they
found the grave-clothes remaining, but otherwise an
empty sepulchre. They "saw and believed." After a
little, came Mary Magdalene to the other disciples, and
" told them she had seen the Lord," and what thing^ he
had spoken unto her. Still, "they believed not." It
seemed too good to be true. How was it that they did
not remember his words, which even the Chief Priests
and "Pharisees repeated to Pilate, as a reason for posting
a guard around the tomb, "After three days, I will rise
again." % The terrible shock of the crucifixion must
have so stunned their faith, and distracted their thoughts,
that what they afterward remembered so clearly, was
either forgotten, or not comprehended.
That same day, two of them went toward the neigh-
boring village. Their hearts were heavy, and they
"talked of all these things that had happened." Jesus
"drew near, and went with them." He often draws
near to those whose hearts are sad, because they feel their
need of him. He asked their grief. They told him of
Jesus of Nazareth, whom they believed to have been "a
prophet, mighty in word and deed;" how he had been put
to death he of whom they expected that "he would
have redeemed Israel;" and how it was now the third
day since this was done ; and of the amazing statement
*Matt. xxvii. 63.
416 SERMON XIX.
that his sepulchre had been found empty, and that a vision
of angels had been seen, "who said he was alive."
Then answered their unknown companion : " slow of
heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken." " And
beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expoun-
ded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning
himself." What an exposition must that have been ! Who
but must wish we had it to read ! No wonder their hearts
were inflamed at the touch of such words, and burned
witBin them, while thus the Light of the world was opening
to them the scriptures. Presently, while sitting at meat
with them, Jesus V took bread, and Iralce it, and gave to
them" It was a sign they could not mistake. Their eyes
were opened in that breaking of bread. " They knew
him, and he vanished out of their sight." Immediately
they returned to Jerusalem with the tidings, "hey found
the rest of the disciples, and others, gathered together
but in what mind ? No more in doubt, but saying among
themselves, " The Lord is risen indeed" The two from
Emmaus, now added their testimony. Again, and more
confidently and joyfully, must they all have said one to
another, with a relief of heart, and a return of faith, and
a resurrection of hope, like the return of day after a
long and fearful night, The Lord is risen indeed ; the Lord
is risen indeed.
Corresponding with the faith and joy of those disciples,
is the state of mind in which the Church should keep her
feast, this day the annual commemoration of the res-
urrection of her Lord and Head. * Eminently is it the
Lord's day that from which all the Sabbaths of the Chris-
* Easter Sunday.
THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 417
tian year derive their light and festival. It is " the great
day of the feast" that feast of faith and hope which
measures all the life of the true believer.
We began by saying that the words of the text, as ut-
tered by the Apostles, are words of conviction and words
of joyfulness. Under those two aspects we will treat the
subject they contain.
I. Words of conviction. " The Lord is risen indeed."
The Apostles had laid aside their doubts and were as-
sured. And what if we were not assured that Christ did
rise? St. Paul answers, "If Christ be not risen, then is
our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain." " Ye
are yet in your sins. Then they which are fallen asleep
in Christ are perished."* In other words, the great seal
and evidence of the victory of Christ over sin and death,
as our surety, would be wanting. We could have no con-
fidence in the efficacy of his death as a sacrifice for us.
Life and immortality would be still in darkness. Our
hope would want its corner-stone, our faith its warrant.
Every promise of the Gospel would lack the signature of
him who only can fulfil it.| But, saith the same Apostle,
" Now is Christ risen from the dead and become the first
fruits of them that slept."J His resurrection was not only
the greatest and the most important of his miraacles, but
the most abundantly and variously attested. We have only
space here for a mere glance at its evidence.
Prophets had for many centuries foretold that Messiah
would rise from the dead. Jesus had several times pre-
dicted and promised it, both to his disciples and the Jews.
* 1 Cor. xv. 14, 17, 18. f Rom. i. 4. Acts xvii. 31; & xiii. 32, 33.
1 1 (Jor. xv. 20. Ps. xvi. 9, 10 cxxxii. 11. Is. liii. 10, 11, 12.
Actsii. 30, 31.
27
418 SERMON XIX.
who believed not on him.* So well did the Chief Priests
and Pharisees remember his words and the exact time
that he said he would lie in the grave, that it was the
alleged ground of their application to Pilate for a guard
of soldiers to protect the sepulchre from any attempt of
his disciples, apparently to make good the prediction, by
stealing away his body. But while the enemies remem-
bered so well his saying, his disciples, as if it were so
ordered to increase the evidence, had no recollection, or
no idea of the meaning, of his words, and therefore no
preparation either to expect his resurrection, or to prac-
tice the fraud which the Chief Priests apprehended. But
now that the tomb is empty on the predicted third day,
notwithstanding the guard of Roman soldiers, determined
as they valued their lives to keep it safely; that notori-
ous fact must be accounted for. The grave-clothes are
there. The fact of the burial was certain and notorious.
Either friends or enemies must have removed the body; or
else it did rise from death. Enemies of course did not.
Their easy and triumphant answer to the preaching of
the resurrection, had they done it, would have been to
produce the body. Did friends ? Who were the friends
of Jesus ? Eleven Apostles, Joseph of Arimathea, and a
few women ! The first were so overpowered by fear that
when he was taken, " all forsook him and fled."| But
had they not been too fearful to attempt it, in the face of
the Roman guard, was it possible for them to accomplish
it, to roll away that great stone, and bear away that
burden, so jealously and so strongly watched ? Were the
soldiers awake, or asleep? Of course, the latter, if that
* Matt. xx. 18, 19. fMatt, xxvi. 56.
THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST.. 419
robbery was committed. But what less than miracle put
to sleep a whole Roman guard, on such a night, with such
a trust, and under such responsibility, and kept them all
so fast asleep that all the movement of all the men neces-
sary to roll away the stone, and force the tomb, and bear
away the body, did not arouse them ? Seeing then that
friends could not, and enemies would not, remove the body,
the empty sepulchre was negative evidence of resurrec-
tion. Then, when afterwards Jesus was frequently seen and
conversed with ; when his doubting disciples were allowed
to touch him, to place their hands in the print of the
wounds in his hands and side ; when during a space of
forty days they listened to his instructions, recognizing
perfectly the well-known countenance and voice, and the
teaching as never man taught; when he appeared to
" more than five hundred brethren at once,"* so that, as
a mere historical fact, we must deny the evidence of all
history, if we question there vidence of his appearance in
the body, after his crucifixion ; what excuse can be devised
for not believing that he was risen indeed ? Will any re-
sort to the desparate pretext that the disciples were de-
ceived? But, as men of ordinary sense, must they not
have known, during a close conversation and association of
forty days, whether it was really a human body and the
body of Jesus which they beheld, or not ? Will you im-
agine a miracle of blindness, to get rid of a miracle of
resurrection ? Will you take another expedient, and say
they were not deceived, but they practiced a deception ?
Then you must give a motive to account for such a de-
*1 Cor. xv. 6.
420 SERMON XIX.
ception? You must explain how men, so evidently good
men, and the teachers of so much goodness, and the influence
of whose teaching was, and is, to make all deception ab-
horred and despised ; how such men could have gone out
into a world in arms against them and their doctrine, and
preached everywhere the resurrection of Christ as the
great seal of the gospel and corner-stone of their mes-
sage; knowing that they would draw upon them the
utmost rage and persecution that man could shew ; un-
shaken by any dangers, unwearied by any sufferings ;
cheerfully losing their all, and submitting to tortures and
death, that they might preach Jesus and the resurrection.
If Christ was not raised, if their teaching was all untrue,
then "were they of all men most miserable," having
nothing but sufferings here, and expecting to answer for
a life-long fraud hereafter. Will you imagine a miracle
of folly that you may escape the miracle of resurrection ?
But there was an evidence if possible, more convincing
even than the appearance of Jesus to his disciples, and
his frequent association with them. It was in " the events
of the day of Pentecost."
Here we remark, in general, that his resurrection was
the great sign and crowning miracle to which our Lord,
all the way of his ministry, to the day of his crucifixion,
referred both friends and opposers, for the final confirma-
tion of all his claims and doctrines. He staked all on the
promise that he would rise from death. The Jews asked
of him a sign that they might believe. He answered,
"There shall no sign be given, but the sign of the
prophet Jonas. For as Jonas was three days and three
nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of Man be
THE RESURRECTION OP CHRIST. 421
three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."*
Again, in answer to the question of the Jews, " What
sign shewest thou ?" he promised the same sign, " Destroy
this temple and in three days I will raise it up." " He
spake (says the evangelist,) of the temple of his body."|
Thus, on that single event, the resurrection of Christ, the
whole of Christianity, as it all centers in, and depends on
him, was made to hinge. Redemption waited the evi-
dence of resurrection. Nothing was to be accounted as
sealed and finally certified till Jesus should deliver himself
from the power of death. All of the gospel, all the hopes
it brings to us, all the promises with which it comforts us,
were taken for their final verdict, as true or false, suffici-
ent or worthless, to the door of that jealously guarded
and stone-sealed sepulchre, waiting the settlement of the
question, will he rise ?
It was a wondrous sign to choose. The mere selection
of such a sign by Christ himself, was itself a very strong
evidence of what its accomplishment was to prove. We
do not wonder that the enmity of the Jews was all cen-
tered upon the watching of that gate. It was a serious night
indeed, to friends and foes, and well appreciated among
the powers of darkness, when that great sign was to be
seen, or else the gospel finally contradicted. But an
event so momentous was not left to but one class of evi-
dences. There was a way by which thousands at once
were made to receive as powerful assurance that Christ was
risen, as if they had seen him in his risen body. Jesus,
before his death, had made a great promise to his dis-
ciples, to be fulfilled by him, only after his death and
* Matt. xii. 3840. f John ii. 19.
422 SERMON XIX.
resurrection; a promise impossible to be fulfilled if his
resurrection failed*; because then, not only would he be
under the power of death, but all his claim to divine
power would be brought to nought. It was the promise
of the Holy Ghost. " When the Comforter is come whom
Izvill send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth
which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me"
"he shall glorify me"*
It was after he had " shown himself alive after his pas-
sion by many infallible proofs, being seen of his disciples
forty days, and speaking to them of the things pertain-
ing to the kingdom of God," that the day for the accom-
plishment of that promise came. The day was that which
commemorated the giving of the law on Mount Sinai. It
was now to witness the going forth of the Gospel from
Jerusalem. I need not relate to you the wonderful events
of that day of Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Ghost
with the "sound as of a rushing mighty wind," that "filled
all the house;" the "cloven tongues like as of fire,"
which sat on each of the disciples ; the evidence that it
was the Spirit of God which had then come, given in the
sudden and astonishing change which immediately came
over the Apostles, transforming them from weak and timid
men to the boldest and strongest ; in the change which
suddenly came upon the power of their ministry, converting
it from the weak agent it had previously been, in contact
with all the unbelief and wickedness of men, into an in-
strument so mighty, that out of a congregation composed
of Jews of all nations, many of whom had probably par-
taken in the crucifixion of Christ, three thousand, that day,
were bowed down to repentance and subdued to his obedi-
* John xv. 26 <fe xvi. 14.
THE RESURRECTION OP CHRIST. 423
ence. I need not remind you of the miraculous attesta-
tion that all this was from God, in the sudden gift, to the
Apostles, of divers tongues, whereby they preached to an
audience from all nations, in the several languages in which
they were born; nor need I tell you of the immense number
of people that witnessed all these things. Thus the power
of God testified of Jesus. Thus Jesus made good his
word, " / will send the Holy Ghost and he shall testify of
me." How could he thus employ the power of God, if
the great sign, appointed his resurrection, had failed ?
How could he thus shew himself mighty to raise thous-
ands from the death of sin and to make his Apostles, in a
moment, preachers in all languages, if the power of death
were still upon him ? How could he send the Holy Ghost
and shew such mighty signs, who was still bound in the
sepulchre?
Thus was the day of Pentecost a great day of testi-
mony to the life and divine power, and consequently the
resurrection, of Christ. Each of those who heard the
divers tongues of the ministry of that day, each of the
three thousand, was a witness to the same. All "the signs
and wonders, and divers miracles and gifts of the Holy
Ghost," by which God bore witness to the preaching of
the Apostles, as in all their ministry they made the resur-
rection of Christ the great demonstration of their mes-
sage, all testified to its reality. For, would God accom-
pany with such powers the constant declaration of a lie ?
But witnesses have been multiplying by thousands ever
since. Every man that receives the Holy Ghost to raise
him from the death of sin to the life of righteousness, is
a witness. He can testify that Christ now liveth, and is
424 SERMON XIX.
exalted to the right hand of power, and is able to make
good all his word, because he hath given him his Spirit.
He hath given him a new heart ; he hath done that for him
which only a power above man could do, and which no faith
but a Christian faith ever obtained. And his question is,
can he be dead, lying under the dominion of the grave ; can
he have been rejected of God, who hath the living power
to do these things? Thus will the evidence of our Lord's
resurrection, be increasing with every new spiritual resur-
rection among the children of this world, until that day
when he shall " come in the glory of his Father and all
his angels with him," and when " every eye shall see him,
and they also which pierced him." Then will "thepoiver
of his resurrection" be known in the universal rising of the
dead at his word.
We said, the words of the text, in the mouths of. the
Apostles, were words of conviction and of joyfulness.
Under the latter head we proceed next to consider the
subject contained in them.
II. Words of joyfulness. " The Lord is risen indeed"
The resurrection of Christ was the resurrection of the
faith and hopes of his disciples to a new life and vigor.
It made them new creatures, as to all joy and peace in be-
lieving. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who according to his abundant mercy hath begot-
ten us again unto a lively hope, by the resurrection of
Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible
and undefiled, and that fadeth not away."* "The Lord
is risen indeed," was an exclamation of joy equivalent to,
His kingdom shall embrace all nations; our faith shall
*1 Pet. i. 34.
THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 425
overcome the world ; death is conquered ; eternal life is
the heritage of all believers.
1st. Let us consider the resurrection of Christ in its
connection with his death as an atoning sacrifice for sin.
Suppose that after we have commemorated his crucifixion,
in the solemn services of our " Good Friday," we had no
resurrection to commemorate, in the customary praises of
our Easter Sunday, what consolation would there be to us
in the former ? You know that Jesus became " obedient
unto the death of the cross " as our surety. " He was
made sin for us." "The Lord laid on him the iniquities
of us all." Our sins being thus imputed to him as our
Representative, he was treated, in his death, by him to
whom atonement was offered, as if our guilt were his own.
He was held under the arrest of the law of God. Its
penalty was required of him. Every jot and tittle was he
to pay, and not till all was discharged could he be justi-
fied from the imputed sin, and delivered from its bonds.
He did satisfy the law to the uttermost, and was justified
in behalf of all those in whose place he stood, and for
whom he died. But how is that ascertained ? Where is
the evidence ? By what hath God declared it ? The
only conclusive evidence of justification from the imput-
ation of sin, is the release of him to whose account it is
laid. Then if my surety were still under the bonds of
death, and lying in its prison, must I not suppose that the
arrest of the law which he came to satisfy, is still holding
him ; that the price of my redemption has not been all
paid, or has not been accepted ; and therefore that my
hope is vain, and I am yet under condemnation ? But
Christ is risen indeed. The law has delivered its prisoner.
426 SERMON XIX.
The surety comes forth from the grave. " Death hath no
more dominion over him." He is "justified in the Spirit"
by the power of his own Spirit raising him from the dead.
Thus was his justification from the imputed sins of men,
declared by the Spirit, that he might be "believed on in
the world."* In his resurrection, "God hath given as-
surance unto all men," that the atonement was finished
and accepted, the surety discharged, the hand writing
against us nailed to his cross, the way of a free and full
remission of sins laid open; that Jesus is "able to save
to the uttermost all who come unto God by him," and
that in him, whosoever believeth shall be justified perfectly,
and have peace with God. Thus you perceive the close
connection between his being "delivered for our offenses,
anfr raised again for our justification"
2nd. Let us consider the resurrection of our Lord in
connection with his making intercession for us.
You must not suppose that the whole work of Christ, as
the offerer of a propitiation, was finished on the cross.
The death of the sacrifice was there finished. All of the
office of our atoning Priest and victim that pertained to
the altar of sacrifice, in the court of the sanctuary, was
there completed. But there was a work remaining to be
done within the vail, in the most holy place of the sanc-
tuary on high, in the presence of God the Father a work
of oblation and intercession, in the presentation of the
sacrifice.
Those two chief parts of the Saviour's priesthood, were
showed in the typical office of the levitical High Priest
on "the great day of atonement." In the solemn servi-
ces of that annual expiation, there were two main acts :
*1 Tim. iii. 16.
THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 427
the slaying of the victim, and the presentation, or obla-
tion, of the sacrifice. The former was done only at the
altar of burnt offerings in the court of the temple ; the
latter only within the inner vail, when the High Priest
entered the most holy place, with the blood, and sprinkled
it before the mercy seat. The second was as essential as
the first. It was only when the oblation in the most holy
place, had been added to the sacrificing in the court of the
sanctuary, that the propitiation became effectual.
This type could be fulfilled in our Lord, only when he
who was the Lamb that was slain, should rise from death
as our ever-living Priest, and ascend in the lody that was
slain, to " the tabernacle in the heavens," there to present
himself as the Lamb of God, before God, and make inter-
cession for us, in virtue of his having been sacrificed for
us. Resurrection was thus essential. How could St.
Paul have put forth that triumphant challenge, "Who
shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect ?" if he
could not have said, as the strength of his confidence, " It
is Christ that died ; yea, rather that is risen again, who is
even at the right hand of God, who also maketh interces-
sion for us?"* Here is first the initiatory work of our
justification, Christ hath died; then the finishing work on
his part, his intercession for us at God's right hand ; and
between them is the connecting fact, he is risen again.
The cross being thus connected with the throne the
death with the intercession, by means of resurrection we
have the one perfect and sufficient oblation and satisfac-
tion for the sins of the whole world.
Thus all the precious mercies that flow down upon a guilty
*Rom. yiii.33,34.
428 SERMON XIX.
world, through Christ all that justifies the believer all
that sanctifies the sinner all the grace by which our
weakness is made strong and our darkness is made " light
in the Lord," every present consolation in Christ, and all
that we hope to find in him during the trial of death,
amidst the solemnities of the judgment day, and in the
everlasting blessedness of the kingdom of God as all
depend on the completion of his office in his everlasting
Priesthood in heaven, so all combine to teach us the joy-
fulness of the assurance that " the Lord is risen indeed"
3d. Let us next consider the resurrection of Christ,
as it is connected with, and insures, the promised triumphs
of his Church.
The Church is the mystical body of Christ, inhabited
and made alive unto God, by his Holy Spirit, as his nat-
ural body was inhabited by his human soul. Of the lat-
ter, the promise was, that " His soul should not le left in
hell, neither should his flesh see corruption"* Concerning
the former, the promise is, " The gates of hell shall not pre-
vail against it""\ In both promises, the word hell, stands,
as in the Apostles' Creed, for Hades the region and domin-
ion of death. In the first promise, the meaning was, that
the powers of death should not be permitted to keep the
natural body of our Lord in their dominions. In the
second, the meaning was, that all the powers of darkness,
sitting in the gates of the dominion of death, and pour-
ing forth from thence their forces against his mystical
body, the Church, should not finally prevail against it.
How the powers of hell endeavored, not only to subdue
the Captain of our salvation, but after he was shut up
* Acts ii. 31. f Matt. xvi. 18.
THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 429
within the gates of death, to hold him there, and when he
arose from the dead, to persuade men that he was still
there, I need not tell you. How impossible it was that
he should be holden of them, when the set time to come
forth had arrived; how the guard was made to swoon
away, and there was a great earthquake, and an angel
rolled the stone from the mouth of his tomb, and Jesus
came forth, bearing " the keys of death and of hell," the
mighty conqueror, to reign forever and ever, I need not
tell you. But in that triumph, we read how easily and
how certainly he will see that the gates of hell shall not
prevail against his Church. It is the pledge and earnest
that all his glorious promises concerning her shall be ful-
filled.
Very precious and glorious are those promises. The
Church is to embrace all nations. The stone "cut out of
the mountain, without hands," is to become a great moun-
tain and fill the whole earth.* "The kingdom and
dominion and greatness of the kingdom under the whole
heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the
Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and
all dominions shall serve and obey hini."| The long dis-
persed of Israel and Judah are to be summoned from out
of all nations, gathered to their own land, converted to
Christ. J Then shall "the fullness of the Gentiles come
in" and be "as life from the dead."
But man demands a sign from heaven to convince him
that such things are possible. "What sign showest thou,
seeing thou wilt do all these things ?" The answer is, the
* Dan. ii. 34, 3545. f Dan. vii. 27. + Ezek. xxxvi. 2429, and
xxxvii. 15 26. Rom. xi. 25 15.
430 SERMON XIX.
sign has already been given. "I am he that liveth and
was dead ; and behold, I am alive forever more. Amen,
and have the keys of of hell and death."* Jesus, risen
from the dead, is the sign unto the end of the world, to
assure the Church and the world that not a jot or tittle of
what he hath promised, by the scriptures, shall fail. " I
am the resurrection and the life," saith the Lord. " Fear
not, therefore, little flock, for it is your Father's good
pleasure to give you the kingdom." " Because I live, ye
shall live also." Great tribulations and persecutions, and
falling away from the truth, may yet befall the Church, as
in times past. It may seem, once more, as if she had gone
almost to the grave. Priests of Antichrist, in league
with the gates of hell, may conspire to keep her in prison
and in darkness, fast bound in chains, such as they well
know how to forge. But they shall not prevail. The
captive shall be delivered. " The Lord shall be her light,"
and "the days of her mourning shall be ended." Such,
in point of tribulation, has been her history more than
once already. Think of the fearful corruption and dark-
ness, and bondage, and persecution, and spiritual death,
with which the Papal dominion, the power of " the Man
of Sin," who, " as God sitteth in the temple of God, show-
ing himself that he is God,"f did once, and for a long
time, oppress the Church of Christ, and drove the few
faithful witnesses of the truth, that remained, into the
wilderness, into prisons and dens, and caves of the earth,
so that it seemed as if there was hardly faith left on the
earth. But though Amalek was thus long victorious, there
were a faithful few, a little scattered flock, a remnant, as
*Rev. i. 18. fSThess. ii. 3,4.
THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 431
in the days of Elijah the prophet, who held up their hands
to God in prayer, and ceased not, till God raised up his
faithful witness, Martin Luther, and gave him the trumpet
of the sanctuary to sound an alarm and proclaim anew his
truth. The wonderful awakening of the Church, as from
the dead, in that day ; that manifestation of the power of
her risen Head, to be unto her "the resurrection and the
life," is a standing and glorious testimony to all ages, and
for all future trials, how little her faithful people have to
fear, and how certain are the promises of a final possession,
by her Lord, of the whole kingdom of this world, in his
time. Her grave clothes shall be laid aside her sack-
cloth will be cast away. "As a bride adorned with her
jewels," will she come forth, leaning on the hand of her
Lord. " Voices in heaven " shall be heard, " saying, The
kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our
Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and
ever."
Now, it deserves your attention, that when the scrip-
tures speak of great conversions of nations and millions
to the Gospel, as connected with the second advent
of our Lord, and which are to bring in his millennial
reign, the change is represented as one of impossibility to
human strength, of hopelessness to human wisdom and
foresight, of magnitude and wonder and miracle, equal to
that of a resurrection of the dead. Read the 37th chap-
ter of Ezekiel. It is an account of the restoration of the
Jews, of the lost ten tribes, as well as of Judah and Benja-
min, to their own land ; their being united together again
as one nation ; their being cleansed from their sins and
converted to Christ, so as to have the Son of David for
432 SERMON XIX.
their acknowledged King and Shepherd forever, and his
sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore; and all
these wonderful changes are described under the figure of
the resurrection of a whole nation from the dead. The
Prophet was " carried out in the Spirit of the Lord, and
set down in the midst of a valley which was full of bones,"
and was made to pass round them to observe their state.
" There were very many in the open valley, and lo, they
were very dry." Then the question was asked him, "Can
these bones live ?" In other words, what can be more
hopeless to all human view, than the condition of these
bones ? How is it possible they can be gathered from
this wide and promiscuous dispersion, so long exposed and
bleached, and mingled together in this open valley, car-
ried by beasts of prey hither and thither ; how can they
be made to resume their former places, each in its own
body, bone to its bone, and stand up alive ? The Proph-
et's faith could answer no further than by referring the
question to the power of God : " Lord God, thou know-
est." Then came the command, " Prophesy upon these
bones, say unto them, Hear the word of the Lord." How
could the dead hear? But the Prophet obeyed. "And
there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and bones came
to bones, lone to his lone" Each resumed its original place
in its own body, " and the sinews and the flesh came upon
them, and the skin covered them above." But as yet
there was no life in them. The Prophet, as commanded,
prophesied again, and "the breath came into them, and
they lived and stood up an exceeding great army." Then
came the interpretation of the Lord : " These bones are
the whole house of Israel ; behold, they say, Our bones
THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 433
are dried and our hope is lost. Behold, rny people, I
will open your graves and cause you to come out of your
graves, and bring you into the land of Israel, and put my
Spirit in you, and ye shall live and know that I am the
Lord."
Now, what says the unbelief of the world, as it looks
over the present condition of the Jews, so widely dispersed,
so mixed up among themselves, so mixed up among all
nations, the ten tribes so lost that none know where they
are; all so hardened against the Gospel? "Surely their
bones are dried and their hope is lost." We ask the
faith of man, Can these dry bones live ? Can the promises
of the scriptures, concerning these people, be fulfilled ?
We do not wonder that many ridicule the idea; that
others are unable to entertain it, seeing how few are
content with the answer of the Prophet, "Lord thou
knowest." The difficulties are as insuperable to human
might as the raising of the dead. So was it intended that
we should regard them. We have no desire to lessen the
appearance of impossibility, except to him who is " the
Resurrection and the Life."
But carry the use of the Prophet's vision beyond the
people of Israel. The state of the population of the
whole unconverted world, may be seen in that valley of
bones. Converted unto God, it is all to be. The
heathen are already given to the Lord, our Saviour, " for
an inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for a
possession ; " and a day is fast coming when the possession
and inheritance shall be, not only given, but received and
entered on. But what immeasurable difficulties oppose
such a conversion and regeneration; such impossibilities!
28
434 SERMON XIX.
What! shall the little flock of the true people of God,
possess such a kingdom ; shall this little stone ever fill
the whole earth ; can all these nations, so long dead and
buried under vices, and superstitions, and idolatries, and
all darkness, and perversions of mind, for so many centu-
si es? C an they be made all to turn unto Christ, and live
as his people ? Make the hopelessness of such an event,
to human power, as great as you please. The reality
cannot be exaggerated. Hopeless, it is indeed, if the power
of the Church, without the power of its Lord, or without
a far mightier putting forth of his power, than the Church
has known since her first days, is to be our whole trust.
But our assured answer to all difficulties is the resur-
rection of our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead. His word
assures us that such great things are promised. His resur-
rection assures us that, because promised, they can and
will be accomplished. What is there in all of them more
hopeless, more impossible, than seemed the resurrection
of Christ, during those days in which he lay in the grave ?
To the heathen, nothing was more impossible than that
the dead should be raised. Pliny said that to bring them
back to life (Revocare defunctos} was one of those things
which even God could not do. Festus thought Paul mad,
and the Athenians mocked at him, because he preached
the resurrection. And are there any bonds holding the
Jews in unbelief, stronger than those which held our
Lord's body in death ? Are there any barriers between
the resuscitation of the Jews, as a nation, and their being
restored to their own land, more impossible than those
between our dead, and buried, Lord, and the kingdom on
high, to which he ascended ? Have the powers of dark-
THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 435
ness acquired a more hopeless dominion over the heathen
world, than they seemed to have obtained over the rejected,
and crucified, and lifeless Head of all the promises of the
Gospel? Is there any thing to discourage the Christian
from expecting that the Jews, and the heathen, will ever
live unto God as a Christian people and Church ; is their
any thing to make the unbeliever moek at such an expec-
tation, which had not its perfect equal when Jesus lay in
the sepulchre ; his disciples scattered and dismayed ; his
enemies scoffing, and triumphing? But "the Lord is
risen indeed" Those impossibilities were all brought to
nought. He rose, the "Lord of all power and might."
Death could not hold him from ascending to his Father.
The nations could not prevent him from fulfilling his word-
All that he hath said shall be done. The greatest is done
already. Did he raise himself from death ? Then he
can, and will, bring Jews and Gentiles to spiritual life ;
because he has promised. "God hath given assurance
unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead"
5th. Lastly, we must consider the Resurrection of
Christ, in its connection with that of his people, who sleep
in him. There must be " the redemption of the body"
because Man is already redeemed. Our Lord will not
leave his work unfinished. "Your body is the temple
of the Holy Ghost," and he will not leave it in ruin and
desolation, polluted and outcast. He will build it again, and
in far more than its original beauty. It partook of the
sin, and the condemnation, and penalty. In the case
of all believers, it must partake of the justification and
the glory. What God joined together in the fall, he will
join together in the restoration. " We shall all be changed ;
436 SERMON XIX.
in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last
trump." " This corruptible must put on incorruptible,
and this mortal, immortality." The sign, the pledge, the
assurance, of all is that the Lord is risen. Believers are
members of a mystical body, of which he is head. Be-
cause he lives, they shall live also. He can no more per-
mit the gates of Hell to prevail over them, to keep them
in death, than he would allow them to prevail over him.
When he rose, as when he died and was buried, it was in
his federal relation, as the surety and representative of his
people. In him the believer rose also. Our graves were
opened, when the stone was rolled from his sepulchre.
Our victory over death was secured, when he burst its
bonds and came forth free. Beautifully is the argument
from his resurrection, to ours, delivered in St. Paul's allu-
sion to the presentation of the sheaf of the first ripe
wheat, in the temple, "Now is Christ risen from the dead
and become the first fruits of them that slept."* The
Jews were prohibited the gathering of the harvest, until
the first fruits were offered to God as an acknowledgment
of his goodness in the products of the ground. Till then,
the harvest was regarded as unholy unconsecrated. The
great proprietor had not received his tribute. That done,
all was considered as acknowledged to be his own, and
was received by the people as from him, and the harvest,
so consecrated, was secure to be reaped and gathered.
Vast is the harvest of the dead, lying ungathered. The
people of God of all generations, in the graves of earth
and sea, under all skies, dust on dust, an immense commu-
nity, precious beyond thought to him who died for them ;
* 1 Cor. xv. 20.
THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 437
' field from which the angels may gather for the
s of heaven ! It is all ready, only waiting " the
f the Arch-angel and the trump of God/' that the
aay begin ; for the first fruits have been already
ed. Jesus, " the first begotten from the dead,"
ssed within the vail, and now appears in the pres-
God for us. Thus the whole harvest of the dead
st, is consecrated and pledged. It must be
d, for the Lord is its owner. Oh glorious day,
e trump of God, sounding from heaven, shall give
al, and " in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye,"
I in Christ shall all come forth ! Oh that Jubilee?
r of all years, and end of all times, for which all
id dispensations have been preparing ; when every
of the Lord's household, now in the captivity
ol v*. .^, shall go free, and all debts of God's people
to his law, shall be finally cancelled, and all the true Is-
rael, from their wide dispersions, and separations, and
bondage, shall go home, returning "to Zion with songs
and everlasting joy on their heads;" when loved ones
shall meet again to be no more divided, and the great
family, the vast communion, the universal brotherhood
of Christ, shall meet in their heavenly Jerusalem, to keep
their feast of redemption and blessedness for evermore ;
every trace of the curse and the death abolished ; every
risen saint beholding in each brother, the likeness of the
glory of his Lord ! That will be "a holy convocation
unto God," indeed. How will they crowd the battlements
of Zion, to look down upon the deserted graves, and the
whole vanquished and ruined dominion of death, whence
they have been ransomed ! How will they fill that Holy
436 SERMON XIX.
in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at tlr
trump." " This corruptible must put on incorri
and this mortal, immortality." The sign, the pled
assurance, of all is that the Lord is risen. Belie v
members of a mystical body, of which he is hea<
cause he lives, they shall live also. He can no m
mit the gates of Hell to prevail over them, to kef
in death, than he would allow them to prevail ov
When he rose, as when he died and was buried, it
his federal relation, as the surety and representatr
people. In him the believer rose also. Our gra^
opened, when the stone was rolled from his sc
Our victory over death was secured, when he '
bonds and came forth free. Beautifully is the '
from his resurrection, to ours, delivered in St. I
sion to the presentation of the sheaf of the ^ . ripe
wheat, in the temple, "Now is Christ risen from the dead
and become the first fruits of them that slept."* The
Jews were prohibited the gathering of the harvest, until
the first fruits were offered to God as an acknowledgment
of his goodness in the products of the ground. Till then,
the harvest was regarded as unholy unconsecrated. The
great proprietor had not received his tribute. That done,
all was considered as acknowledged to be his own, and
was received by the people as from him, and the harvest,
so consecrated, was secure to be reaped and gathered.
Vast is the harvest of the dead, lying ungathered. The
people of God of all generations, in the graves of earth
and sea, under all skies, dust on dust, an immense commu-
nity, precious beyond thought to him who died for them ;
* 1 Cor. xv. 20,
THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 437
what a field from which the angels may gather for the
garners of heaven ! It is all ready, only waiting " the
voice of the Arch-angel and the trump of God/' that the
work may begin ; for the first fruits have been already
presented. Jesus, " the first begotten from the dead,"
hath passed within the vail, and now appears in the pres-
ence of God for us. Thus the whole harvest of the dead
in Christ, is consecrated and pledged. It must be
gathered, for the Lord is its owner. Oh glorious day,
when the trump of God, sounding from heaven, shall give
the signal, and " in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye,"
the dead in Christ shall all come forth ! Oh that Jubilee*
that year of all years, and end of all times, for which all
cycles and dispensations have been preparing ; when every
bondsman of the Lord's household, now in the captivity
of death, shall go free, and all debts of God's people
to his law, shall be finally cancelled, and all the true Is-
rael, from their wide dispersions, and separations, and
bondage, shall go home, returning "to Zion with songs
and everlasting joy on their heads;" when loved ones
shall meet again to be no more divided, and the great
family, the vast communion, the universal brotherhood
of Christ, shall meet in their heavenly Jerusalem, to keep
their feast of redemption and blessedness for evermore ;
every trace of the curse and the death abolished ; every
risen saint beholding in each brother, the likeness of the
glory of his Lord ! That will be "a holy convocation
unto God," indeed. How will they crowd the battlements
of Zion, to look down upon the deserted graves, and the
whole vanquished and ruined dominion of death, whence
they have been ransomed ! How will they fill that Holy
438 SERMON XIX.
City with their praises, as they cry, with one voice,
" Thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through
our Lord Jesus Christ." Then will it be said, as never
before it could be said, "The Lord is risen indeed" risen
in his mystical body, the Church, for which, in his natural
body, he died and rose again. Then his work is done,
redemption is complete; the fullness of his glory as the
Saviour of sinners is consummated, and the year of his
redeemed is come. Oh, may our eyes see that endless
year ! May our feet stand in thy gates, Oh Jerusalem,
to have part with them that shall keep that feast !
Brethren, what shall we do that we may rise to that
resurrection of life, and belong to that blessed company ?
I have time but for one brief answer, "Seek those things
which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of
God. Set your affections on things above, not on things
on the earth." Make Christ your heart's treasure and
hope, and he will make you, and keep you, as his own
dear treasure ; and at last will receive you unto himself,
as the crown jewels of his kingdom.
SEBMOJN IX.
THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD IN CHRIST.
JOHN xi. 23.
" Thy brother shall rise again." *
THIS was the consolation administered by our Lord to
the sorrowing sisters of his friend Lazarus, who was dead,
and whose body had been already three days in the
grave.
Martha and Mary had sent unto Jesus saying, " Lord,
behold he whom thou lovest is sick." They had long in
vain expected that he would visit them in their affliction,
and heal their brother. Now that all was over, and it
seemed too late to do any good except to help them bear
their loss, they heard that Jesus was coming. Martha
immediately went to meet him. "Mary sat still in the
house." Her sister's first words were: "Lord, if thou
hadst been here my brother had not died; but I know
that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will
give it thee." She had great faith in the intercession of
Christ. She modestly suggested what her heart wished
him to intercede for. Mary, when she afterwards met
him, repeated her sister's lament: "Lord, if thou hadst
* Written immediately after the death of a dear son, and soon after the death
of the author's eldest daughter. Re-written on the anniversary of the son's
death a father's remembrance, in this volume, of both.
440 SERMON XX.
been here my brother had not died." She made no re-
quest, nor suggested any. Probably she thought they
had nothing now to do but to drink the cup of affliction
that was given them, and to say in their hearts, " thy
will be done."
To the half-uttered petition of Martha, Jesus said:
" Thy brother shall rise again" In the faith of the de-
vout readers of the Old Testament scriptures, Martha
replied: "1 know that he shall rise again in the resurrec-
tion of the last day." The faith of God's people was
strong and distinct, before the brighter revelation of the
Gospel, as to the final and general resurrection of the
dead, though Sadducees denied, and Pharisees corrupted,
the doctrine. Martha knew not the whole meaning of Jesus
concerning her brother, until she saw, what her heart was set
on, Lazarus coming forth, that day, risen from the dead.
Here we may reasonably say why should those affec-
tionate and pious sisters have desired that their brother
should rise from the dead, before that last day, when all
tribulations will be ended, and they and he will never
be separated again ? He died in faith ; he rests from his
labors; he has no more tears to wipe away, no more con-
flicts with sin; his race is ended, his victory gained.
Would ye call him back to such sorrows as belong to this
vale of tears ? Why say, "Lord, if thou hadst been here
my brother had not died." Why wish he had not died;
especially, why hope he may rise again, before the resur-
rection of all the dead ?
But how natural that feeling and that desire of those
afflicted sisters! And how often, in spirit, do we imi-
tate them! Is it wise? A beloved one has died.
THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD IN CHRIST. 441
We have laid his precious remains in its narrow home,
" looking for the general resurrection in the last day, and
the life of the world to come, through our Lord Jesus
Christ." We feel a precious confidence that he died in
the Lord, and that therefore his soul is with the Lord; all
sin, and pain, and trial, and peril of life eternal, ended, in
the rest which remaineth for the people of God. Could
we meet the Lord at the grave, and he should bid us ask
what we would; what petition would our hearts, torn with
bereavement, offer? Would it be, the opening of that
grave ; the restoration to us of that dear one to die
again ? I cannot say what a poor, bleeding, heart would
answer in its weakness. I fear it might say what Martha
almost said, and did desire. But I know what would be
the prayer of the wisest love infinitely the best for him
we love and mourn for, Let the stone remain at the door
of the sepulchre ; let the seal continue unbroken upon
the bonds of death ; let dust, dwell with dust, and ashes
with ashes, till there shall be no more death, nor pain, nor
woes, nor sin ; till that day when " corruption shall put on
incorruption, and mortal immortality," and when " them
that sleep in Jesus, will God bring with him," and "so
they shall ever be with the Lord." Yes, brethren, the
consolation with which Jesus meets us at every stage of
our sorrow, concerning those who sleep in him ; the sweet
assurance which the hand of God's love has written for
our faith to read, over every sepulchre of his people, is
Thy brother, thy parent, thy sister, thy child, shall rise
again; and it is our privilege unspeakable to answer, (and
oh, how a bereaved, believing, heart, does love that answer,)
" I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection of
442 SERMON xx.
the last day." It is enough. We bless thee, Lord, for
that consolation. We ask no better. We will wait ; pa-
tiently, thankfully, joyfully we will wait that day.
Brethren, we bring before you, to-day, the subject of
" the resurrection of the lody" Conspicuous in the scrip-
tures, under a variety of declarations, it has been promi-
nent and positive in the creed of the Church of all ages.
Precious to the hearts of those who mourn for the dead,
it vitally concerns the completeness, and therefore the
whole reality, of the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
No doctrine of the scriptures was more utterly derided
and rejected as impossible by the heathen philosophers,
whom the Gospel encountered in its first aggressions into
the territory of paganism. No doctrine was more con-
stantly preached, or more boldly gloried in, by the primi-
tive disciples of Christ. Paul boldly preached before the
philosophers of Athens "Jesus and the resurrection"
The Stoics and Epicureans of that classic city, "mocked,"
because he did so. The primitive Christians triumphed in
the expectation of a joyful resurrection of the body,
though fires of martyrdom consumed it, or wild beasts of
the amphitheatre devoured it; and that article of their
faith was at once so notorious and so derided, that their
persecutors burned all that remained of the martyrs, and
then scattered the ashes on the rivers, and to the winds,
to be borne to all lands a contemptuous expression of
how incredible they thought it that God should raise the
dead.
But, let unbelief deride or reject as it may, we know,
and we joyfully hold fast the faith, that " the earth and
the sea shall give up their dead." Our brethren "that
THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD IN CHRIST. 443
sleep in the dust of the earth " " shall rise again in the
resurrection of the last day." But it is important on a
subject, so prominent in our creed, so mysterious in its
details, so exclusively dependent upon revelation, on
which imagination and speculation may so easily go astray
and be wise above what is written, exposing themselves,
and the subject, to the derision of the infidel, that we
should know distinctly what is known concerning it, and
on what grounds it is known. We take, therefore, our
text, "tliy brother shall rise again;" and our enquiry will
be, ivhat is contained in that assurance, and what is its evi-
dence ?
I. What is contained in that assurance, or what is
meant in the scriptures by the resurrection of the dead ?
What if I should tell you that it does not mean that
the body of your brother, which you lay in the grave, will
ever rise again ; that the only meaning is that his soul
shall, in the last day, be re-invested with some body to
dwell in ; not its own body that it before inhabited, but a
body, no matter whence produced? Would you not an-
swer me can that be called a resurrection of the dead ?
Does not resurrection, in the very name, imply the rising
up to life of that which did once live and is now dead?
Call it a substitution for the dead, and we can understand it.
But to call it a resurrection, is a glaring departure from
the propriety of speech. So we say. But yet that is the
idea of the resurrection which we too often find in books
and in the thoughts of those who imagine they believe in
the resurrection of the body an idea invented for the
purpose of escaping certain difficulties supposed to be
otherwise insurmountable, but chargeable, we apprehend,
444 SERMON xx.
with the grave objection that it escapes the objections,
not by maintaining the doctrine of a resurrection, but by
changing it for another. Against all such evasions of the
plain letter and testimony of the scriptures, I protest.
When Jesus said to Martha, "thy brother shall rise
again," did he mean that the body of her brother Laza-
rus, just buried, would rise; or some other body, no mat-
ter what or whence ? If the latter, what was the consola-
tion in her bereavement? And when she said, "I know
that he shall rise in the last day," did she mean only that
some body would be given his disembodied spirit in that
day ; or that the very body which she had loved, in which
he had been accustomed to commune with her, which she
regarded as an integral part of himself, and from which
she was now separated by the barriers of the grave, would
be restored to his spirit; that Lazarus, her brother, the
same soul and the same body essentially, would live
again? What speaks our Church on this head? We
enter the grave yard, reading for the consolation of
the bereaved, and as a solemn declaration of our faith,
those words of holy Job, "I know that my Redeemer
liveth, and that he shall stand, at the latter day, upon the
earth; and though after my skin, worms destroy this
body, yet in my flesh shall I see God."* Job certainly
expected to rise from the corruption of the grave in his
oivn flesh, his own body, that very one which worms would
devour, and not another. And why does our Church re-
quire these words of the Patriarch's faith to be read at
the burial of her people, and why, as we lower the dead
into the grave, does she make her minister say, "earth
* Job xix. 25,_27.
THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD IN CHRIST. 445
to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust, looking for the
general resurrection in the last day and the life of the
world to come, through our Lord Jesus Christ, at whose
second coming the earth and the sea shall give up their
dead, and the corruptible bodies of those that sleep in
him shall be changed and made like to his own glorious
body?" It is all for the consolation of surviving Christian
friends, to dry their tears, and fill their minds with
expectation of a glorious victory over death and the
grave, when the Lord of life, by the trump of God, will
preach deliverance to the captives, and the opening of that
prison-door to them that are bound. But where is the con-
solation, and what mockery to the afflicted, if, after all, it
is not meant that your brother, like Job, shall stand up
in his own flesh and see God that the dust you give to
dust- that the corruptible body of your beloved one, who
sleeps in Jesus, shall hear that trump and live ; but only
that his immortal spirit, instead of being disembodied for-
ever, shall have a body, some body, given to it in that
day.*
No, brethren, the scripture doctrine of the resurrection
of the body, that which lights the gloom of the grave,
* To make the doctrine of the identity of the resurrection-body more expli-
citly avowed in their declaration of faith, the Article in the Apostles' Creed, as
adopted in the Greek and Latin Churches, is " the resurrection of the flesh."
This phrase was anciently used to guard against the idea that any other body
than that which dies shall rise. In the Aquileian Creed it is still more point-
ed hujus carnis "the resurrection of this flesh." The Church of England, in
her office of Baptism, has retained the article, as in the Latin Church. Where
the question in our Prayer Book is, " Dost thou believe all the articles of the
Christian faith as contained," <fcc. The English book puts the whole creed in
the form of a question " Dost thou believe in God, the Father," <fcc., and there
we have " the resurrection of the flesh" instead of "the resurrection of the
body." On this subject see Pearson on the Creed, Jackson's works, vol. iii.
Tillotson's Sermons, No. 130.
446 SERMON xx.
that which Job professed, that which the martyrs gloried
in, and philosophers of the heathen scoffed at, that which
the Christian Church in all ages has declared, which the
afflicted heart so affectionately clings to, which crowns
the redemption that is in Jesus with its last victory, and
which alone is worth contending for, is plainly that, in the res-
urrection, the Lord shall give to every man his own body;
that the body out of which his soul departed, shall be
raised up again, and the same soul that departed from it
shall be restored and united to it again; and so the same
man that died shall live again, in the same body in which
he died."* When we say, the same lody in which he died,
we do not mean the same in all qualities and powers, but
the same essentially ; as the body from infancy to old age,
from wasting sickness to perfect health, is the same,
though there has taken place so great a change of con-
stituent elements, and of condition, and of powers.
One would suppose that the very expression, " resur-
rection of the dead" would suffice to settle that point.
But what else shall we make of the words of Job
"though worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I
see God;" or the words of Daniel, "Many that sleep in
the dust of the earth shall awake;" or of Christ, "the
hour cometh when all that are in their graves shall come
forth;" or of St. John, "the sea shall give up the dead
which are in it;" or of St. Paul, "It (the body) is sown
in dishonor, it is raised in glory."| What else can be
the meaning of such phrases as "the redemption of our
l)ody"\ or such a promise as that "he that raised up
Christ from the dead, shall also quicken your mortal
* Beveridge's Sermons, No. 72. fJobxix. 26. Dan. xii. 2. John v. 28.
Rev. xx. 13. 1 Cor. xv. 42, 43. $ Rom. viii. 23.
THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD IN CHRIST. 447
bodies?"'' What else, when we are exhorted to "fear
him who is able to destroy both soul and lody in hell?"
Is it not meant that the present body, as well as the
present soul, maybe destroyed in hell? Again, "it is
better to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than hav-
ing two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting
fire."| It is the identical body that was maimed in this
world in faithful service to God, that shall enter the life
of the world to come ; surely not some other body in its
stead.
Paul thought he was addressing very comforting words
to the Thessalonian brethren, when he said, "I would not
have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which
are asleep (your beloved ones in the grave) that ye sor-
row not as others which have no hope. For if we believe
that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which
sleep in Jesus, will God bring with him."J But what
consolation was it, what mockery of their sorrow was it,
if they whom God will bring with Jesus in that day shall
not be those very dead which they mourned after, but
some other bodies which they never knew, and that never
died? Certainly, the several instances of resurrection
which have already taken place, and of which we read in
the scriptures, especially that of our Lord and Saviour,
are intended to teach us by example, what the general
rising of the dead will be ? But in each case, was it not
the identical body buried, which lived again?
To show the power of our Lord's resurrection, and how
essentially the resurrection of his people must follow' in
consequence of his, we read that "after his resurrection,
* Rom. viii. 11, fMatt. x. 28; & xviii. 8. $1 Thcss. iv. 13, 14.
448 SERMON XX.
many bodies of saints which slept, arose, and came out of
the graves and went into the Holy City, and appeared
unto many."" 1 ' The passage is too plain to be evaded. The
very bodies which had died, came out of their graves and
appeared. How long they had been in their graves, what
changes had taken place, whether they had fallen to dust
or not, we are not told. We are at liberty to suppose
what we please on such points. The evidence is, that no
matter how changed by death, or how changed in being
quickened again, the identical bodies, that died and were
buried, arose. That resurrection was the antepast of that
glorious day when the whole fruit of the resurrection of
Christ shall appear ; when another great earthquake shall
be felt, and all graves will be opened, and all the bodies
of them that sleep in Jesus, shall arise and go into the
Holy City New Jerusalem ; and shall appear in "the
white raiment which is the righteousness of saints," and
"death shall be swallowed up in victory."
The second appearing of our Lord will find a part of
his Church alive on the earth "the quick ;" but it will
find very far the largest portion asleep, as to their bodies,
in the grave "the dead" Concerning these two divisions
of the Church, it is written, " the dead in Christ shall rise
first, then they which are alive and remain, shall be caught
up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in
the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord."f Cer-
tainly they which are alive in that day, shall be taken to
meet, and to be, with the Lord, in the very bodies in which
they were found. They shall be changed indeed, from
corruptible to incorruptible, yea into the likeness of the
*Matt. xxvii. 52. +1 Thess. ir. 16,17.
THE EESURRECTION OF THE DEAD IN CHRIST. 449
glorious body of Christ ; yet remaining essentially the
same bodies. But how are we assured of this, except from
language exactly equalled in strength and plainness in
relation to the dead. " The dead shall be raised/' The
living "shall be changed." Which of these expressions
is strongest in proof of the identity in question ? Will
the very small remnant of the people of God which shall
be alive at the coming of Christ, be the only portion of his
people that will then enjoy a perfect redemption, a redemp-
tion of the whole man a redemption of the body from
the curse of sin to newness of life, as well as a redemp-
tion of the soul ; and shall all the rest, constituting almost
the whole of " the general assembly and Church of the
first born whose names are written in heaven," shall they
be redeemed only in part, their bodies left under the do-
minion of death; the works of the devil in them not de-
stroyed by him who came to destroy them ? Must they,
instead of having restored to them their own bodies, and
being thus blessed, like Enoch and Elijah and the saints
that arose after the crucifixion, and like all those who,
without having died, shall be changed at the voice
of the Archangel ; must they alone be consigned to
bodies, entirely alien from their own ? Such was not the
expectation of Job : " In my flesh shall I see God." And
if such were the doctrine of resurrection which Paul
preached at Athens, why did the philosophers mock at it?
Was there any difficulty in their believing that the same
God who made the first body for the soul to inhabit, could
as easily make for it a second? And where was the
meaning of the scattering of the ashes of the martyrs by
their persecutors, to the winds and waters, in derision of
29
450 SERMON XX.
the resurrection ? Did they suppose that in that con-
temptuous act they offered any impediment to the resur-
rection which the Christians believed and taught, except
as it was a resurrection of the very body thus dispersed ?
And why, if this be not our just expectation, is the prayer
uttered at every reception of the sacrament of the death
of Christ: " The body of our Lord Jesus Christ, which
was given for thee, preserve thy lody and soul unto ever-
lasting life?"
Now, such being so evidently the doctrine of scripture,
that you may wonder why I should spend so much time
in showing it to be, you may well desire me to state what
are the objections to it that have caused the invention of
the substitute which I have mentioned ; objections on
account of which heathen sages thought it incredible that
God should raise the dead, and many like them, under
greater light, have not been wiser. I know of but two
objections that deserve a name. One is founded simply
on the infinite dispersion which the bodies of the dead
undergo. Take, for example, the bodies of Adam, and
Noah, and Abraham. Where are they ? Resolved into
original elements all their particles are still in being, but
where ? Let the imagination follow them through air and
earth and sea. The objection is against the possibility of
thence collecting such scattered elements and composing
again the bodies they once belonged to. But it comes only
from those who know not the power of God. He can do
all things which involve not a contradiction. He that
made the world out of nothing, can he not re-construct
the body when its materials are all in being? Every
stage and step of the dispersion has been only by his
THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD IN CHRIST. 451
power and guidance. He made that dissolution he effec-
ted that minute dispersion he gave to every particle its
direction, whithersoever it went, and assigLed its place,
wherever in earth, or air, or sea, it may be now. Known
unto God, is the place and history of every particle of
matter, in all his works, from each grain in the structure
of all worlds, to every atom in the frame of the animal-
cule swimming in the rain drop. And can he not call
back what he has sent abroad ? Can he not gather
together what he has scattered ? Is there any skill or
power required for this, beyond what we experience con-
tinually in the wonderful power and skill by which our
living bodies are nourished and renewed from day to day;
that mysterious skill which extracts, with such unfailing
chemistry, from the air and the water, from vegetable and
animal substance, whatever our bodies need for life, and
which so marvellously assorts and combines them, in weight
and measure, and sends to their several places and offices
in our frames, the various aliments, so that every minutest
part of this most complex structure shall daily receive its
portion in due season? It was well said by a Jewish
Rabbi: "He who made that which was not, to be, can
certainly make that which once was, to be again." The
only answer needed to the objection stated, is, "The Lord
God Omnipotent reigneth"
But there is an objection of much more apparent force.
It is not based so much on the wide dispersion of the ele-
ments of the bodies of the dead, as upon the innumerable
combinations into which they have entered. It is urged
that those elements have been taken into the structure of
vegetables, and that animals have been nourished by those
452 SERMON xx.
vegetables and men have fed on those animals, and
thus, doubtless, in innumerable instances, the particles of
one human body have entered into the composition of
another ; and so the difficulty is presented, How can ttvo
bodies, each of which has been constituted in part ly the same
particles of matter, be both raised up ? This is really the
only plausible objection. Its force is in the contradiction
which it seems to involve. That contradiction depends
on the assumption that, in order to the identity of the
body in death and the resurrection, the same numerical
particles must compose it. If there may be essential iden-
tity, without numerical sameness in all the parts, the con-
tradiction is avoided, and the objection fails. But all
nature testifies to that point. The oak that has stood a
hundred years, may not have an atom of the substance
which composed its germ in the acorn, and yet nobody
questions the identity of the body of the tree and the
germ. The human body, at sixty years of age, has
undergone repeatedly, since its infancy, an entire change
of constituent elements, so that it contains not now a
single particle that belonged to it in childhood. But
does any one question its being essentially the same
body? It is therefore a familiar fact, that we may pre-
serve our corporeal identity without preserving a numer-
ical sameness of parts. Nothing is a man more sure of,
than that the body he has now, is the same he had in
infancy. Nothing, however, does he know more certainly,
than that its constituent atoms have meanwhile been
entirely changed. What, then, if the difference should be
as great between the body buried, and that which shall
be raised, (though there is no necessity of supposing
THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD IN CHRIST. 453
it,) might they not be as truly the same body as my pres-
ent tabernacle is the same that my soul inhabited when
I was a child ? And thus liave we not all we need for the
resurrection of the dead, in the full, literal sense of the
scriptures ?
St. Paul seems to have had in view precisely this
method of answering, when he supposed some caviller to
ask him, "How are the dead raised up, and with what
body do they come ?" He answered, by referring to the
growth of the wheat-stalk from the seed, as we have answer-
ed by the growth of the oak from the acorn, or the man
from the infant. "That which thou sowest (said he) is
not quickened, except it die ; and that which thou sow-
est, thou sowest not that body which shall be, but bare
grain; it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain;
but God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and
to every seed his own body."*
The reasoning is ; The wheat in the stalk is essentially
the wheat that was first in the seed. The seed will not
spring forth into wheat except it die. The human body,
in order to its resurrection, must go into the corruption
of the grave. And when the seed is grown into the beau-
ty of the ripening plant, how great is the change ; where
are the particles it possessed when it lay a mere t irrain in
the ground? God, in thus arraying it, as Solomon in all
his glory was not arrayed, giveth it a body as it pleaseth
him. But, in all that change, from the corrupting grain
to the beautiful stalk and blade of the wheat, he so pre-
serves the corporeal identity, that he gives "to every seed
its own body" the wheat and the germ are one so is
* 1 Cor. xv. 3638.
454 SERMON XX.
the resurrection of the dead. What it is that is essential
to such identity, we know not. It is enough here to know
that it is not numerical' sameness of particles. The rest we
are well satisfied to leave with him who is " the God of
the dead, as well as the living."*
To the question, "hoiv are the dead raised up?" we
have no further answer. The matter of fact is plainly
revealed. But liow, he whose "footsteps are not known"
will accomplish such a wondrous work, thus swallowing up
death in such universal and stupendous victory, " in a
moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump,"
his word speaks not, man knows not. Tell me how he
created the world, and I will tell you how he will raise
the dead. Tell me how, by his word, all things were
made, and I will tell how, at his last trump, "the earth
and the sea shall give up their dead." Our confidence is
in the promise and power of God. "I believe in God, the
Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth ;" and,
therefore, because that Almighty One hath decreed it, "I
believe in the resurrection of the body."
And, now having spoken of the essential sameness of
the body in the resurrection, we must speak of the changes
it will neverthless undergo.
But here we encounter a passage which, for some minds,
* " It is impossible to say, (observes an excellent writer,) that there remains
not, somewhere, amidst the elements to which it (the body) is reduced, a germ
however imperceptible, from which the immortal body may yet develop itself
in an instant. Too little is known of that wondrous principle, whatever it be,
which remains through life, and gives to the body the same peculiar, individual
form, aspect and identity, distinguishing it from all others, though every per-
ceptible particle be repeatedly changed and renewed ." " The Last Enemy,"
by George Burgess, D.D., Bp. of the Diocese of Maine a book of much thought
and spiritual wealth, which cannot be read by a serious mind without benefit.
It should be much better known than it is.
THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD IN CHRIST. 455
needs explanation. St. Paul, with reference to this very
subject, says : " Flesh and Mood cannot inherit the king-
dom of God, neither doth corruption inherit incorruption"*
At first view, the former clause of this verse seems contra-
dictory to the doctrine of the resurrection of the body, in
any literal sense. But to that interpretation, it is justly
answered, that our Saviour's body, after he had risen from
the dead, was flesh, and surely that inherits the kingdom
of God. Thomas' unbelief was cured by touching it ; and
when uneasy thoughts arose in the other disciples' minds,
lest after all it was only a spirit that appeared to them,
Jesus said, " Why do thoughts arise in your hearts ? Be-
hold my hands and my feet, that it is I, myself ; handle
me, and see ; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see
me have."| The meaning of the clause objected, appears
from that which follows it by way of explication; "Neither
doth corruption inherit incorruption." The phrase, "flesh
and blood" is a synonyme for our bodies as the?/ now are
corruptible, mortal, full of infirmities, having wants and
appetites belonging to their present earthly state. As
thus situated, they cannot inherit the kingdom of God;
because they are not adapted to its life, and employment,
and spirituality. They must be changed ; not so that they
shall cease to be flesh, but cease to be flesh as it now is.
" All flesh, (saith the Apostle,) is not the same flesh."
" There are celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial." "As
is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy ; and as
is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly."
And, "as we have borne the image of the earthy, (the first
Adam,) we shall also bear the image of the heavenly,"
* 1 Cor. XT. 50. f John xx. 27. Luke xxiv. 3739.
456 SERMON XX.
" the Lord from heaven.'^ The body as well as the soul
must be made "meet for the inheritance of the saints in
light." The soul is made so, by being born again of the
Holy Ghost, and finally restored, by a perfect holiness,
to the perfect mind of Christ, the image and likeness of
God. The body also must be born again, and by the
same Holy Spirit. It is " dead, because of sin." " But,
if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead,
dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead,
shall also quicken your mortal bodies, by his Spirit that
dwelleth in you."| Hence, the resurrection of the dead
in Christ is called "the regeneration."^ "We shall not all
sleep, but ive shall all le changed." Vast and wonderful,
indeed, must be the change that will fit and prepare this
frail and mortal body, especially after the corruption of the
grave, for the habitation of God, the vision of his glory,
the communion of his kingdom, the society of angels, the
employments of heaven, the life eternal. Great, indeed,
must be the change to prepare it to be a suitable, conge-
nial companion, and instrument of the soul, in the perfect
holiness and boundless activity and vigor of its heavenly
state. The disembodied spirit, accustomed to the com-
munion of saints made perfect, and to the ineffable glory
of the presence of God, when it comes to re-enter its
tabernacle, must find therein, not only every vestige of
the fall ; every remnant of the dominion and curse of sin,
every mark of death, every infirmity of an earthly state,
obliterated ; but a newness of life, a purity, an energy,
and activity, adapting it to participate with, instead
of encumbering, its own inconceivably vigorous, active,
* 1 Cor. xv. 3947, 49. f Rom. viii. 10, 11 . + Matt. xix. 28.
THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD IN CHRIST. 457
and exalted powers. Without such change, the risen body
would be no more capable of the kingdom of God, than a
worm, without the transformation undergone in the chrys-
alis, would be capable of the new element, and new life,
and food, and pleasures, and occupations, of the butter-
fly ; or, than the seed in the ground, unchanged, unquick-
ened, can exhibit the properties, and perform the func-
tions, and answer the ends, of the growing and ripening
wheat. A change is to be made of worlds, from earth to
heaven; and a change must be made of the body, from
earthy to heavenly; from corruption to incorruption; from
mortal to immortality. That change must be made ; be-
cause the body, as much as the soul, has a title, in Christ,
to an inheritance in the kingdom of heaven. Christ came
to redeem us; not our souls only, but ourselves, just as we
are, body and soul, "from all iniquity," from all its con-
demnation, dominion and curse ; to destroy the work of
the devil entirely, in the flesh and in the spirit. One, as
much as the other, was bought with the price of his blood,
and is his. Whatever is his, he will have ; and neither death
nor life shall finally separate it from him. To leave the
bodies of his people under the power of death, would be
to leave his work of redemption unfinished; his own mys-
tical body incomplete. Man would not be saved for
man is corporeal, as well as spiritual. Hence, " this cor-
ruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal, immor-
tality."* Of the greatness and glory of the change, we
can form but the least and most inadequate conception ;
just as we can conceive so little of that whole transforma-
tion by which the soul is finally adapted, out of its present
* 1 Cor. xv. 53.
458 SERMON XX.
fallen state, to the holiness and glory of its heavenly por-
tion. All is done by St. Paul that language can do, to give
us the idea. But all language fails. In this life we must
needs see such things through a glass, very darkly. We
necessarily think as children, understand as children,
just the spelling-book, the merest elements. The resur-
rection day alone can teach us any more. When we rise,
we shall know. But let us take some of the words of St.
Paul, and think of them. " It is soivn in corruption, it
is raised in incorruption ;" raised as pare and deathless as
the soul that comes to inhabit it again. "It is sown in
dishonor, it is raised in glory" Now a " vile body," and
deeply dishonored by the humiliating process of death,
and burial, and dissolution, so that it is put out of the sight
of the living, as a spectacle not to be looked on; it shall be
changed into a habitation as far beyond its present state,
as the heavenly mansions exceed in glory the grave from
which it will be raised. " Sown in weakness, it shall le
raised in poiver ;" power to endure such a vision of God,
and to sustain such an "exceeeding and eternal weight of
glory;" power to endure forever, and to mount with the
soul to all the heights, and go with it, in all its vast excur-
sions, and endless occupations and enjoyments. "It is
sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual lody" Natu-
ral IWIQ means animal; spiritual is here used in opposi-
tion, not to corporeal, but animal; a body spiritualized,
deprived of its animal properties, and weaknesses, and
wants ; a body made as perfectly conformed to the nature
and uses of the spirit dwelling therein, as a material body
can be; so that instead of one encumbering the other, or
feeling itself impeded by the other, there shall be such
THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD IN CHRIST. 459
perfect harmony that both shall be one in every thing;
not the body now, and now the spirit, but the whole
redeemed man so perfect, that there shall be a complete
oneness of participation in all works, all occupations, all
blessedness.
But the highest reach of language, in describing the
change in the resurrection, is that of St. Paul, to the
Philippians. He tells us that our Lord Jesus Christ,
at his second coming, "shall change our vile body, that it
may be fashioned like unto his oivn glorious body" Fallen
in Adam, we bear his image in body and soul ; redeemed
in Christ, we must bear his image, also, in body and soul.
Members of Christ, we must be as he is. Ever to be with
the Lord, in the body ; he will qualify our bodies for that
blessedness, by making them like his own glorious body.
The harvest will be as the first fruits. We shall not only
see his glory, but partake therein. Our Lord will be the
pattern, and architect, of our resurrection. In the first
creation, God made man after his own image and likeness.
The completion of the new creation, by Jesus Christ, will
be the finishing of his own likeness in the risen bodies of
his people. What is the glory of the glorious body of
Christ, it hath not entered into the mind of man to con-
ceive. The light "above the brightness of the sun," in
which he appeared at the transfiguration, and the sight of
which the three disciples could not endure, was intended
to give some idea of that glory. But we wait the bea-
tific vision. Meanwhile, we are satisfied with the assurance
of St. John: "It doth not yet appear what we shall be;
but this we know, that when he shall appear, we shall be
*Phil.iii.20,21.
460 SERMON XX.
like him, for we shall see him as he is." : One thing,
however, we know, that the full and glorious triumph of
redeeming grace and power, the fullness of the victory
over sin and death, will not be consummated till the res-
urrection day. It cannot be, while the body of a single
saint is under the dominion of death. It cannot be, until
the earth and the sea shall be made to give up their dead.
It cannot be, till all they that sleep in Jesus are brought
with him, and changed into his own likeness. Your
brother, whose soul is now with the Lord, must rise in the
body from the grave, or the Saviour's work will not be
finished. But, writes the Apostle, "WHEN this corruptible
shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal immortal-
ity, THEN shall be brought to pass the saying that is writ-
ten, 'Death is swalloived up in victory? ' Then shall the
triumphal song of the whole redeemed Church be heard,
"0, death, where is thy sting! 0, grave, where is thy
victory ! Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ."!
If, in this discourse, we have only spoken of the resur-
rection of the righteous, it must not be forgotten that all
the graves are to give up their dead " some to everlast-
ing life, some to shame and everlasting contempt. "J We
are to be "judged according to the deeds done in the body 5"
and in the body must all be, in order to be so judged.
But for this most painful part of our subject, we have
not time except to say, that while the same identity
shall be preserved, there will be a change in the resurrection
of the unrighteous, corresponding to that of the righteous;
mortal changed to immortality, corruptible that of incor-
*1 John iii. 2. f 1 Cor. xv. 54-57. \ Dan. xii. 2.
THE RESURRECTION OP THE DEAD IN CHRIST. 461
ruption, weakness raised in power ; in order that those who
are to "go away into everlasting punishment," may be fitted,
in the body, for its endurance, as well as that those who are
to enter into life eternal, may be fitted for its enjoyment.
And now we have seen probably as much as we can
know here, of what the rising of the dead means, espe-
cially of those who sleep in Jesus. And what precious
consolation does the gospel thus bring to the aching
hearts of bereaved believers ! " Thy brother shall rise
again." Yes, answers Martha, sorrowing over some re-
cently tenanted grave, "but not till the last day. Oh,
that he could now come to life again ! " ' No, the wise
Christian heart replies, it is a great part the consolation
that he will not rise now, while death still reigns, and sorrow,
and sighing have not fled away ; that he will not rise till
that day, when all things shall be made new, " the tirne^
of the restitution of all things," when he can come forth
in a body that will never die again ; into a world where
there shall be no more sin, or pain, or woe ; in company
with the whole harvest of the dead in Christ, his holy
brotherhood, and then go with that whole blessed company
to be " ever with the Lord." This is our " garment of
praise for the spirit of heaviness." " Precious in the sight
of the Lord, is the death," and even the dust, " of his
saints." Not a Christian's grave is there, in the silent
city of the dead, but is well known to him well watched
and kept under his care though its memorial, for human
eye, has centuries ago been lost. As we walk along those
solemn streets, a voice seems to say, "these all shall rise
again." Then we think of the dead of all generations,
since the world began; the graves in land and sea; the
462 SERMON XX.
whole earth a cemetery of unknown millions ! Not a par-
ticle of their dust has perished, however widely it has
wandered. All are waiting "the day of redemption."
What a multitude that cannot be numbered, of God's
beloved people, are there, the tribes of his true Israel,
dispersed through all lands, enduring the captivity of
death, but "prisoners of hope" listening for "the voice of
the Archangel and the trump of God." Then shall the
earth cast forth her dead, and all shall come forth, and
rejoin the souls from which they have been so long
divorced ; and then shall be joy among the angels of God,
to welcome home to Zion the children of that long, and
dark, captivity. They "return and come to Zion with
songs and everlasting joy upon their heads." They are
clothed in the white raiment of their Redeemer's righte-
ousness. The shout of victory, and praise, and gladness,
is heard from every heart. Rank upon rank, a boundless
congregation, they press towards "the throne of God and
the Lamb," to "shew forth the praises of him who called
them out of darkness into his marvellous light." It is the
" royal priesthood, the holy nation," gathered out of all
nations, and people, and kindred, and tongues. The Lord
of Glory, having finished his work, begins that endless
Sabbath. His Church, "without spot or wrinkle," walking
with him, " in white," keeps holy that long hoped-for day
of eternal rest. They are "joint-heirs with Christ";
He, "glorified in them;" they, glorified in him. His joy
is in beholding in them "the travail of his soul;" their joy
is in beholding in him "the author and finisher of their
faith," and their portion forever. Oh, what believer would
wake the sleep of a brother in Christ sleeping in death
THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD IN CHRIST. 463
till the last trump of that day of days shall call him ;
till he can rise in that great communion and fellow-
ship, and begin that Sabbath! No, beloved one, we will
wait in hope. Sleep on, in thy silent, lowly bed, till this
stormy sea is passed, and the war of sin and hell is ended,
and the last vial of wrath is poured upon the earth. Come
not again to us, till we are ready to mount with thee to
the heavenly gates. The time is short. The day will
soon break. Farewell, precious one, till then !
But St. Paul has an exhortation for the living, founded
on the assurance of that day : " Therefore, my beloved
brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding
in the work of the Lord ; forasmuch as ye know that
your labor is not in vain in the Lord." With such perfect
redemption in view, such a day in prospect an inheri-
tance of life eternal, for body and soul, in the glory
of God shall anything move you from the steadfast, un-
shaken, setting of your hearts and the earnest devo-
tion of your lives to the obedience of Christ ? Shall
any temptations seduce, any trials discourage, any wrath
of man affright you, from the patient continuance in well
doing, knowing, as you do, that not the least moment of your
labor, or trial, or patience, or suffering, shall be in vain in
the Lord; that all will ripen unto, and that all will bring
forth fruit abundantly in, that great harvest. The Lord
strengthen us thus to abide, seeking our rest not here, on
these troubled waves, this open sea, where all winds
blow and rage, but in that haven where only the anchor of
the soul is cast, and where remaineth the rest of the people
of God. Amen.
* 1 Cor. xv. 58.
SERMON XII.
TEE FINAL SATISFACTION OF THE BELIEVER IN JESUS.
Ps. xvii. 15.
"As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied
when I awake, with thy likeness."
THE Psalmist was in affliction oppressed by the wicked,
who compassed him in his steps (v. 11) and were in world-
ly prosperity. He described their prosperity, however, as
that which he did not envy. It was of very brief dura-
tion. "They have their portion in this life" What a
poor portion is that which only lasts till we get to the
grave! Can any thing so short-lived, so uncertain, so
unsatisfactory, deserve the name of riches? When the
Psalmist looked at the portion of the ungodly, in that
light, and then turned his eyes upon the portion of the
righteous, in the life to come, that incorruptible inherit-
ance, that unfading joy, the well grounded hope of which
is wealth indeed ; he felt how little a child of God could
ever have reason to feel as if his lot in this life were hard.
"As for me, (said he,) I shall behold thy face in righteous-
ness; I shall be satisfied when I awake, with thy likeness."
We shall confine our attention, in this discourse, chiefly
to the latter clause of the it "I shall be satisfied when I
THE FINAL SATISFACTION OF THE BELIEVER IN JESUS. 465
aivake, ivith thy likeness" You see the connection here,
between our being in the likeness of God, and being satis-
fied. The connection is essential. There cannot be, in
this life, or in the life to come, a satisfied heart, a man
possessed of real happiness, except as he is in the likeness
of God. To illustrate that connection, is the chief object
of the present discourse.
" / shall be satisfied" A man perfectly satisfied! Can
there be such a miracle ? Every desire of his heart con-
tent, every capacity of his being filled ! We can form no
higher idea of a man entirely happy. What a marvel
would such a fellow creature be to the rest of the human
family; such a perfect rest of heart, on this troubled sea
of heaving, tumultuous, conflicting, desires ! Was there
ever a satisfied man on the earth? Yes, because there
was a time on the earth when there was no sin. I sup-
pose it wi'.l be conceded that our first father, as long as
he continued as God created him, before the malice of
Satan had succeeded in persuading him to desire what
was forbidden, knew no want, had no care, was conscious
of no imperfection in his portion, had no void in his heart.
Every power of his mind found adequate exercise ; every
affection of his heart found commensurate objects, in
which there could be no disappointment. This was es-
sential to the perfectness of his original state.
But the question arises, whence came his satisfaction ?
On what did it depend ? Ah, says the wounded spirit,
afflicted by some grievous bereavement, or chafed with
the thousand disappointments of the world, he was in the
garden of Paradise. All around him was perfectness.
There was no uncertainty hi his blessings, so long as he
30
466 SERMON XXI.
obeyed God. Disappointed expectations were not his lot.
An aching void, in the midst of abundance, was not his
burden. There was no death to blight his every hope and
turn every joy to mourning ! These, we grant, were
precious appurtenances of happiness. They went very
far to fill up his cup. But they fell unspeakably short
of the real, essential, constitution of his blessedness.
Man, invested with dominion over all the creatures around
him, and possessed of an immortal mind, by which he is
made so superior to them all, must find a source of happi-
ness, not in what is beneath, but in what is above him;
in a nature with which his highest powers may commune,
and from the fullness of which they may be ever receiving.
That superior nature is the Creator. The perfect man
lived in direct, unreserved, continual communion with God.
He saw God's face in righteousness. The river was in free
communication with the tides of the ocean, and hence its
own fullness.
Now the question occurs, how took place that free com-
munion of man with God ? What qualified him for it ?
On what basis was it erected? There was nothing like it
between the Creator and any other individual of his earth-
ly creation. The answer is found in that which distin-
guished the creation of man from that of every other
earthly being. God said " Let us make man in our oivn
image, after our likeness" Likeness to God, in intelli-
gence and holiness, was the single, the essential basis of
Adam's communion with him, and thus of his perfect fe-
licity.
There can be no communion between any beings but
on the basis of likeness. Brutes and men can have no
THE FINAL SATISFACTION OF THE BELIEVER IN JESUS. 467
communion, because they have neither intellectual nor
moral likeness. Adam, though surrounded with the love-
liness of Eden, and with all the obedient creatures over
whom he was vested with dominion, had no earthly being
with whom his mind and heart could communicate, until a
companion had been created in his own image and likeness ;
and the Most High God had none, among all his perfect
works of animate nature, that could know and love him,
and be enriched in communion with his infinite wis-
dom and holiness, until he had made man in his own im-
age, a being of intelligence and holiness.
I need not pause to show how essential to that likeness
in man, to God, was holiness. To have been only a ra-
tional being, however exalted in intellectual powers, would
have been no adequate qualification for communion with
God. Such are the fallen angels, and none so far from,
so incapable of, such communion. "Be ye holy, for 1 the
Lord your God am holy"* is an exhortation founded on
an intrinsic necessity, that if we would see God, face to
face, in the happiness of his kingdom hereafter, or if we
would now draw near to him in communion of soul with him.
as the Father of our spirits, we must be, as he is, holy.
Hence the real ground of the communion between the man
unfallen, and his Maker, and consequently of all his felic-
ity. He was like God, not only in being holy ; but in be-
ing perfectly holy. He did not, in the language of the
text, awake up, as if out of another state, in the likeness
of God ; but from the dust out of which he was made, he
arose, at the first, in that likeness, perfectly holy ; and h
was satisfied.
*Lev. xix. 2, and 1 Pet. i. 15, 16.
468 SERMON XXI.
Bat what a painful contrast to this, has the world pre-
sented, ever since that first man, in his first estate ! Never
satisfied, is the brief history. Immortal minds, driving to
and fro over the earth, in search of something, they know
not what, to appease desires they do not comprehend ;
minds never at rest, conscious of having been created for
something not attained, and of possessing capacities of
enjoyment which are never filled, wandering further and
farther, and becoming more needy and less satisfied as
they wander. Such is the human race. The word most
used in the scriptures to express that dissatisfied, craving
state of mind, is thirst the thirst of a wanderer who has
lost his way in a dry and barren land, where no water is
and nothing can be more appropriate. A thirsty man can
be satisfied with nothing but water. Other things may
promise, but cannot fulfill ; may create hope, but only to
disappoint; may for the time appease, only to make
thirst, by and by, the more intolerable. A heart athirst,
as it must be by its own nature, must have the "living
water" those supplies which no finite source can furnish,
even the fullness of God ; or it only becomes more and more
athirst and craving. And that thirst, unsatisfied here,
must go on forever, in the world hereafter. Beyond the
grave, will it shew its real power. Here, in the present
life, it is all the while under the delusion of a dream.
The unsatisfied heart, living away from God, is constantly
plied with false reliances and deceitful expectations which
prevent the consciousness of its real want and beggary.
There is yet a scheme to try, yet a hope to test a bro-
ken cistern to go to. The woild keeps up a constant suc-
cession of expectations, and so sustains the dream. But,
THE FINAL SATISFACTION OF THE BELIEVER IN JESUS. 469
by and by, conies death and banishes every delusion, and
takes the soul away to an eternity where, not only is its
whole condition forever fixed, but perfectly understood
and realized. The thirst of heart remains ; the faculties,
created to be satisfied only in God, remain; the man is
there just the same that he was here, only with every power
of mind intensely quickened, and every want therefore
intensely felt, and every hope perfectly destroyed. There
is nothing new to be tried ; no dream to afford a tran-
sient relief; nothing but self to feed on. Oh ! then must
the heart experience within itself, in its own aching, grow-
ing, burning, exacting, hopeless desires, " a worm that di-
eth not, and a fire that cannot be quenched." Then will
wants, now kept under and in comparative peace, by de-
ceitful hopes, be kindled into a fierce flame of entire de-
spair, exhibiting, what it were well for us now to know,
better than we do, that man, alienated from God, carries
always with him in this life, in the large and unappeased
desires of his nature, the essential element of his fiery
torment in the world to come, an element all ready for its
work and waiting only the breath of the Almighty, in the
sentence of eternal banishment, to kindle it.
And now let us put the question, what can relieve the
unsatisfied heart in the present life? Suppose this whole
world a paradise ; death with all its train of woes extermi-
nated; every thing about us restored to its condition as
it was, before sin introduced the curse and blight ; sup-
pose nothing unrestored but man; he, however, again in
paradise, but still the fallen man, holding no communion
of heart with God, arid incapable, by the state of his heart,
of such communion ! Will he be satisfied? The mass of
470 SERMON XXI.
mankind, not knowing themselves, will say, Certainly,
what more can he want ? But I say, Something infinitely
more and better, and more exalted, he does and must
want. He is without God. And it is the fixed decree of
the Almighty, established on the day of creation, and
written then in the constitution of our nature, never to
be canceled, that the faculties of our minds, and the af-
fections of our hearts are never to be satisfied but in the
love, in the communion, of our Creator. The brute, with-
out a rational soul, pastures upon the ground, and is satis-
fied. Of the earth he is earthy ; and is therefore contented
with the earth. But man must have higher aliment than
the creature. His nature, though not divine, is so fash-
ioned, that divinity alone can meet its wants. He is not
infinite, but infinity alone, the boundless riches of the
grace and love of God alone, can satisfy. Communion of
heart and soul with God, on the essential basis of likeness
in spiritual character, is the great law of human happiness.
He who stationed the sun at the center of our planetary
system, and bound it for a law in the being of our every
star, that it shall keep perpetual orbit round that sun, and
never shine but as it holds communion with its light; he
hath placed himself as the central and only source of
blessedness to all his intelligent creatures, ordaining for-
ever, that they shah 1 live in communion of spirit with him,
or live in utter spiritual beggary without him ; and the
planet that should break its orbit would not more neces-
sarily become a darkened wanderer, than must a soul,
alienated from God, become more and more benighted and
miserable, a wanderer in the outer darkness, further and
further. The earth may pass away, but that law written
THE FINAL SATISFACTION OF THE BELIEVER IN JESUS. 471
man's being, can never pass away. Men may not care
to think of it or believe it, but it is written. There are
multitudes indeed, who cherish a proud feeling of inde-
pendence of God, and to whom nothing seems more for-
eign than that they should have any need of his commu-
nion. If they can escape the power of his wrath, it is
all they suppose they need. They will trust their own
resources, and will be the architects of their own happi-
ness, and will be indebted to none else for its materials.
But still that dependence, in spite of them, remains. Sat-
isfied without God, they cannot be. So hath he ordained
from the foundation of the world. Were it even possible for
this earth, by its own resources, to meet their wants, all
things therein are laid under the interdict of the Al-
mighty, which forbids them to afford a home or resting
place to the heart of man, so long as he continues apostate
and ex-communicate from his Maker.
Thus we arrive at the basis of one of the great doc-
trines of the Gospel, concerning our salvation : " Except
a man be born again lie cannot seethe kingdom of God ;" the
necessity of a new birth, a new creation, by the Holy
Ghost. For if communion with God be essential to pres-
ent satisfaction ; much more must it be to the heavenly
blessedness. And if there can be no communion without
likeness ; if without being like God in holiness of heart,
we cannot be qualified for his holy presence, then must that
image of God in which man was originally created, and which
is now lost, be created in man anew. These two points
the scriptures settle without dispute : first, that " without
holiness, no man shall see the Lord ; " secondly, that with-
out being born again of the Holy Ghost, no man can have
472 SERMON XXI.
holiness. The universal description of those who live,
and are capable of living, in the communion and fellowship
of an infinitely holy God, is, " We are his workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus"* Love is the very element of
that communion. " He that loveth me (said the Saviour)
shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will
manifest myself to him." "We will come unto him and
make our abode with him." f
But, saith the Psalmist, in the text, "I shall be satisfied
when I aivalce, with thy likeness." He puts off, you per-
ceive, the time of his being satisfied in the communion of
God, to another life. But why so ? Hath he not that com-
munion now? Doth he not already sing, in the joy of
his soul, "The Lord is my light and my salvation ; whom
shall I fear ? the Lord is the strength of my life ; of
whom shall I be afraid ? " j Is he not seated beside the
waters of that full river, " the streams whereof make
glad the City of God," and of which it is the privilege of
every inhabitant of that city to drink ? Why then is he
not satisfied already ? And the same we ask concerning
every citizen of the commonwealth of Israel. He is not
satisfied yet ; he is looking forward to another life, to be
satisfied. And yet, has he not been created anew in
Christ Jesus, and thus restored to the image of God ; and
so to his blessed communion ? Is it not now his privilege,
and is he not qualified by the new affections of his heart,
to draw nigh to God, and pour out his soul before him, in
love and praise ; and doth not God, according to his own
word, "make his abode with him ; " and hath he not the
promise of the Saviour, " He that bdieveth on me shall
*Eph. ii. 10. fJohn xiv. 2123. JPs. xxvii. 1.
THE FINAL SATISFACTION OF THE BELIEVER IN JESUS. 473
never thirst?"* And yet he does thirst ; he is not satis-
fied. How is this ?
We answer : In one very important sense the child of
God is satisfied now. He is so satisfied with what he has
obtained in God, that he desires nothing in its steady but
only more of that. Men of the world are not satisfied,
because they want some things else than they possess.
The child of God is so satisfied that he only wants more
of what he possesses. The traveler in a desert land, after
many days of painful thirst, going from place to place,
for water, and finding every promised spring dried up, at
length finds the overflowing fountain. It is sufficient. He
will seek no further. He thinks not of substituting the
sand of the desert for its waters. More of it he will want.
Other than it, he wants not, and thus is he satisfied. Thus
sat David besides such a fountain, when he sung, " My
heart is fixed, 0, God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and
give praise."! He had been seeking fixedness and rest
of heart too much in earthly hopes. One dependence after
another had been sought, and trusted in, and had failed.
Now, his affections have found a sure resting place. He
has taken God for his refuge and exclusive portion. His
heart, therefore, is fixed; and certain that he cannot be
disappointed in that trust, he can sing for joy, and give
praise out of the fullness of his gratitude. He is satisfied.
He knows he has found what he needed. There is
nothing else to be sought. Nothing can add to the suffi-
ciency of that portion. " Whom have I, in heaven, but
thee ; and there is none upon earth I desire beside thee.
*Jolinvi.35. tPs.hrii.7.
474 SERMON XXI.
My strength and niy heart faileth ; but God is the strength
of my heart and my portion, forever.""*
David's experience, in that respect, is still the experi-
ence of the people of God. The sinner, who, in his state
of alienation from God, has been wandering from one de-
vice to another, seeking rest and finding none, and who
is now brought to seek in Christ, the peace of God, and
there to fix his heart, is satisfied. He knows he has cho-
sen that good part which cannot disappoint him. He is
not making a mere experiment. When the question arises,
" Who will show us any good ?" his answer is at hand
"Lord lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us."|
But still, while David's heart was thus fixed on God,
there was an important sense in which he was not satisfied
What exceeding strength of language does he use to ex-
press his earnest longings for a more perfect rest ! " As
the hart panteth after the water-brooks, so panteth my
soul after thee, 0, God ! My soul is athirst for God.
When shall I come to appear before the presence of
God ! "J There is evidently a deep feeling of dissatis-
faction with present attainment. But what is he thirst-
ing for ? Something besides God, or only more of God ?
The more he is satisfied, the more he wants. Having ex-
perienced such delight in God, under the imperfections of
the present life, he longs for the time when he may stand
in open vision, in God's immediate presence, and when his
cup will be full. Thus it is that the promise of Jesus,
" he that drinketh of the water that I will give him shall
never thirst," is not all fulfilled in the present life. The
godly soul, drinking of that water, does thirst; and thirsts
* Ps. Ixxiii. 25, 26. fPs. iv. 6. $ Ps. xlii. 1, 2.
THE FINAL SATISFACTION OP THE BELIEVER IN JESUS. 475
the more because he drinks. His desire of more is quick-
ened by what he has. Because he has tasted how gra-
cious the Lord is, therefore he cries, in spirit, "when shall
I come to appear before the presence of God," and thus
see him as he is ? Jesus now manifests himself unto him
as he doth not to the world; but not as he doth to the
saints in heaven. Hence, he cannot be satisfied. And
the simple reason is that the likeness of God in him is
yet imperfect, and hence his communion with God is im-
perfect. He is like God, inasmuch as he is truly holy ;
he is not like him, inasmuch as he is but imperfectly
holy. He is God's child in all his features, but in none
of them with maturity of growth. It is his privilege to
have access to his Father who is in Heaven, but it is the
access of a child in the nursery, under restraint and dis-
cipline. The rod of chastening is yet needed. The pain
of the hiding of the Father's countenance has sometimes
to be endured. He is fed upon the King's meat, but not
yet permitted to sit down at the King's table. Joseph
loved his brethren, and knew them when they stood be-
fore him in the house of Pharaoh, and he yearned over
them and longed to make himself known to them, but the
time was not come ; they must have some further trials
before they would be prepared for him to drop the veil
and say, " J am Joseph" As yet, therefore, they ate of
the food which Joseph sent, but they ate not at the table
where Joseph was. Thus God sends now to his people,
in this world, the communications of his love ; the pre-
cious gifts of his Spirit ; the bread which giveth eternal life.
He comforts and sustains and rejoices their hearts ; but
he receives them not yet to the fall communion and sat-
476 SERMON XXI.
isfaction of the saints " made perfect." It is not because
he does not love them enough; but because they are
not yet sanctified enough. The veil is that of their own
hearts. There is darkness remaining there which can
have no fellowship with him who is Light. There is un-
holiness remaining there, which can have no communion
with Him whose holiness makes even the heavens unclean.
In this imperfect, but progressive, sanctification, we can
" take the cup of salvation " and be so satisfied, as to want
nothing better, but not so as to want nothing more, even that
instead of a cup brought to us in this distant wilderness,
we may have the blessedness of partaking directly of the
river of life as it proceeds " out of the throne of God and
the Lamb." Better than what we have, cannot be, for it
is of God. More of it, we must have, in proportion as we
get nearer to God, in the perfectness of our likeness to
his holiness. And when his image shall be all complete in
us, no sinfulness remaining to be cleansed away, no feature
of holiness to be brought out in more maturity; when he
who sitteth " as a refiner and purifier of silver," shall be-
hold in us, as in Adam, when just created, the full reflec-
tion of his own likeness, every vestige of the fall obliter-
ated, every end of the redemption of Christ accomplished,
so that we are qualified to behold " his face in righteous-
ness ;" then will that face be unveiled in its ineffable glo-
ry; the brethren will be taken to the table of their brother,
the Lord Jesus, who is " head over all things " for their
sake; the children will be received to the immediate pres-
ence and vision of their Father who is in Heaven. They
shall see him as he is, for they shall be like him.* They
shall be satisfied.
* 1 John ii. 2.
THE FINAL SATISFACTION OF THE BELIEVER IN JESUS. 477
This leads us to the time when the Psalmist expected
to be in possession of that consummation of happiness.
" I shall be satisfied when I awake, with thy likeness."
When I aivalce. We have no doubt that the awaking of
the dead at the resurrection of the just, was what David
was especially anticipating when he wrote these words.
But we may suppose him to have had reference also to a
nearer event. There must be something very like awak-
ing out of sleep, when the soul, disembodied at death,
first beholds those things eternal, the glory of God, the
inheritance of the saints, of which in this life it had form-
ed so feeble a conception. There is nothing indeed in an
immortal spirit departing from the body, analogous to the
falling asleep of the body in death, and waiting till the
resurrection before it lives again. There is no unconscious-
ness. But there is something in the whole condition of a
soul before it departs hence ; in all its views and ideas of
the future; in the thraldom of its powers; in the dreami-
ness of its best thoughts of the heavenly state, very like
the movements of our minds in sleep. What torpor holds
down our faculties when we try to realize what, if God's
people, we soon shall be ! How drowsy and dull our live-
liest conceptions of things unseen and eternal ! How feebly
and confusedly do our ears hear the sounds from the eter-
nal world, bidding us give diligence to be ready to meet
our God ! How little we feel what we are, and whither
going ! Will not the soul seem to itself to have sudden-
ly awaked out of sleep, as if the shadows and dreams,
and insensibility, of a night of slumber had all been dis-
persed at once, and almost a new existence begun, when
coming forth from the "earthly house of this tabernacle,"
478 SERMON XXI.
it shall find itself in the midst of the heavenly inhabit-
ants, in the unveiled glory of their eternal portion, in the
immediate presence and vision of their great God and
Saviour, Jesus Christ ?
But when thus we awake, it will be with God's like-
ness. The departed child of God will see his face in a
righteousness made perfect. The work of sanctification
will have been completed at the dissolution of the body.
The Christian departed is thus all ready for the presence
of the glory of God. He goes therefore into that pres-
ence, and abides there, without hindrance to the most per-
fect communion, and is satisfied in " the fulness of God."
But there is still a sense in which he looks forward to a
period of more complete satisfaction. All that the dis-
embodied spirit is, all the powers and faculties it possess-
es, are satisfied. It knows no want. It rests from its
labors. "Absent from the body," it is "present with the
Lord."* Its communion with God is full; every veil
taken away. But still it is "absent from the body ;" and it
is absent, not from choice, but because the body is under
the bondage of death, and as long as it lies there, the
penalty of sin is upon it, and the redemption of man is
not complete. It is as much against nature, and in con-
travention of the purpose of God in our creation; it is as
really a continuance of the power of death, for the soul
to be absent from the body, as for the body to be deprived
of the soul. If the immortal spirit be the only life of the
body; the body is the only proper habitation of that
spirit. And so long as their separation lasts, both are in-
heriting the consequences of sin ; the one as lying in the
*2 Cor. v. 8.
THE FINAL SATISFACTION OF THE BELIEVER IN JESUS. 479
corruption of the grave, the other as living in exclusion
from a residence wonderfully made for it, by the wisdom
and power of God.
Hence it is promised, as the finishing work of the redemp-
tion of Christ, which is to destroy all the works of the devil
in his people, and make a full end of all that sin has done,
that this absence from the body shall have an end. The
grave is to be made to give up its dead. Its prisoned
bodies are to be unbound. Its corruption is to put on in-
corruption, Its mortal is to put on immortality. In the
perfectness of the original creation shall the bodies of the
dead in Christ come forth. Yea more, "He shall change
our vile bodies and make them like unto his own glorious
body" so that, as our souls shall be like him in holiness,
our bodies also shall be like him in glory. And think ye,
that those blessed ones, who died in the Lord and are now
blessed with the Lord, do not remember with the fondest
expectation that promise of a glorious, triumphant resur-
rection of their bodies ? Can they regard the work of
their Redeemer as finished, so long as there remains a
word of that declaration unfulfilled : "I will ransom them
from the power of the grave ; I will redeem them from
death ; death, I will be thy plagues ; grave, I will be
thy destruction ?" : What nearer union can take place
than the marriage between the soul and its body; and
what more violent, unnatural divorce, than when they are
separated at death; and next to the redemption of the
soul from the condemnation of sin, what more worthy ob-
ject of the redemption achieved by our blessed Lord can
there be, than the restoration to the ransomed soul of its
*Hosea xiii. 14.
480 SERMON XXI.
long lost and ruined body, raised from death, and invested
with the glory of him who is " the resurrection of the
life?" Is there a spot on earth, therefore, which a child
of God now " absent from the body, and present with the
Lord," remembers with more interest than that where his
body was buried; where its dust lies mingled with the dust
of the earth, forgotten of men, seen of God ; and whence,
on a day soon coming, it is to come forth, at the sounding
of the last trump, incorruptible and immortal, to be one
with that soul again, and that forever and ever? Hence,
satisfied as that disembodied spirit is, because made per-
fect in holiness, and now in free and perfect communion
with God; satisfied, because all its own capacities are filled
with blessedness; we must suppose there is a time coming
when, as by the resurrection of the body, it will be more
completely restored from the consequences of sin, so will
it be restored by the same cause to means, and avenues,
and capacities of bliss which in its separate state it could
not have ; and hence to a satisfaction peculiar to that peri-
od of the Church, which will succeed the resurrection.
Thus we understand St. Paul, when he speaks of those
who have "the first fruits of the Spirit " as "waiting for the
redemption of the lody"* So waits now that holy patri-
arch whose exulting anticipation of the resurrection we
repeat at the burial of our dead, " I know that my Re-
deemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day
upon the earth, and though, after my skin, worms destroy
this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God."f It cannot
be to Job, or to the rest of the ransomed of the Lord, a
matter of indifference, that worms have now destroyed
*Rom; viii. 23. f Job xix. 25, 26.
THE FINAL SATISFACTION OF THE BELIEVER IN JESUS. 481
those bodies in which they once dwelt. It must be a mat-
ter of earnest expectation, knowing as they now do, how
truly their Redeemer liveth and reigneth, that he will
soon "stand on the earth" in the midst of the graves of his
saints, and force them to give up their dead. It was that
awaking, to which David in the text looked forward, and
to which his spirit, absent from the body, though full of
glory, still looks forward ; " / shall be satisfied when I
awake ivith thy likeness"
That will be the day of the fulfillment, as never before,
of that which has been so long written, " Death is swal-
lowed up in victory"* Death is now conquered in
every departed believer. But then it will be swallowed
up, lost, abolished in victory. There will be no more
death to the people of God. Death will all be dead. And
the song of praise shall ascend from the whole ransomed
multitude, "Thanks to God who giveth us the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ ! "| 0, then, indeed, will
the Christian be satisfied. In his flesh, he will see God.
His eyes shall behold that unsearchable glory. It is im-
possible for us, who have not yet awaked out of the sleep-
iness and dreaminess of the fleshly habitation, who, hav-
ing never been absent from the body, can form no concep-
tion of the state of a disembodied spirit ; it is impossible
for us to form any definite idea of the additions to the
blessedness of the saints in glory, which the day of resur-
rection will bring. It is enough for us to say and believe
with St. John, " When Christ shall appear, we shall be like
him, for we shall see him as he aVJ
The appearance of our Lord, when he cometh to
* 1 Cor. xv. 54. f 1 Co. xv. 57. $ 1 John iii. 2.
31
482 SERMON XXI.
raise the dead, is to be attended with a great en-
largement of the capacities of the saints for blessed-
ness, and consequently a great enlargement of their
fullness of joy at God's right hand. "In my flesh,
shall I see God." Our whole redeemed, purified, and
perfected nature, so far superior to all other of the works
of divine wisdom and power, once in such sinful ruin and
desolation, then rebuilt as a glorious temple for the wor-
ship of God forever, adorned with the beauty of a most
perfect holiness, fragrant with the incense of a most per-
fect love, and filled with the memorials of the redeeming
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, will be taken possession
of, and inhabited by, the glory of God, as when the bright
cloud came down upon the new-built temple of Jerusalem,
and " filled the house of the Lord." All the inner cham-
bers ; all the mysterious and vast capacities of that reno-
vated and exalted nature will be filled with God. St. Paul
speaks of that glorified state, as that in which the saints
will be "fitted with all the fullness of God:'* Think of that
expression ! It measures "the breadth, and length, and
depth, and height," of heaven. "Filled with all the fullness
of God" ! Every faculty, every affection, every desire,
every thought, every sense, thus filled ; thus in immediate
communion with the glory of Jehovah ! It is in vain that
we endeavor to reach a height of thought from which to
survey even a little margin of that promised inheritance.
Our loftiest mount of vision is enveloped in cloud. Our
best anticipations, when the full reality comes, will be found
"but as dreams when one awaketh." There must be
a boundless difference between seeing that inheritance
* Eph. iii. 19.
THE FINAL SATISFACTION OF THE BELIEVER IN JESUS. 483
"through a glass darkly" and seeing it "face to face."
We have not yet awaked. Our best conceptions are
sleepy and imaginary. Bat when we do awake with God's
likeness, we shall be satisfied.
And now, my brethren, with some considerations arising
out of the views we have been occupied with, we will con-
clude this discourse.
1st. Let us be careful, when we indulge a hope of the
heavenly bliss, that it is the heavenly bliss we are hoping
for, and not some creation of our own imagination. Many
a man who comforts himself with such hope, would find
nothing that his heart could enjoy in the happiness of
the saints, were it once revealed to his view. How infi-
nitely is it exalted above the groveling ideas which the
world forms of its nature, as if any but a holy heart could
know it. You have heard, in this discourse, how the scrip-
tures speak of it. Job's expectation of it was, " In my
flesh, I shall see God." David's, "I will behold thy face
in righteousness." John's, "We shall be like him, for we
shall see him as he is " Our Lord expressed the same,
when he prayed: "Father, I will that those whom thou
hast given me, be with me where I am ; that they may
behold my glory."* You see the grand idea. Intimate
communion with God ; happiness arising out of being with
him; such is the highest conception presented in the
scriptures of the life eternal. We love to speak of it in
the beautiful imagery of the scriptures; but let us take
care that we rest not in the imagery. To think of heaven
as " a rest which remaineth to the people of God," gives a
refreshing prospect to the wearied heart ; but we must be
* John xvii. 24.
484 SERMON XXI.
careful to think of it as a Sabbath-iest, a holy rest rest
in God ; rest which none but holy hearts can know. The
sorrowful heart, to which all this world, viewed through
the darkness of affliction, appears shrouded in continual
night, dwells with pleasure on the thought, there shall be
no night there. But you must remember that it is only
because the saints shall see the face of the glory of God ;
and that to all who are not prepared by a personal holiness
to commune with that glory, it is all night, even as the
brightest day is darkness to the blind.
I doubt not there will be innumerable contributions to
the happiness of that inheritance ; beauties to the eye,
harmonies to the ear, noble offices for every faculty of
mind, a universe of knowledge to enjoy; intellectual and
spiritual communion with the works and people of God ;
a thousand inlets and streams of bliss, of which we can
have no conception here. But they will be only the tribu-
taries to the ocean. They will aid, but not contribute,
the blessedness. To its great source in the divine full-
ness, they will stand related, as the loveliness of the gar-
den of Paradise, to Adam's walking with God in its
midst; the smiles of God reflected, his praises echoed,
his love expressed; all of them only the varied forms
under which he will spread the table of his heavenly
communion. But the King, himself, shall come in to see
the guests, and " God will be ally and in all"
2d. You must see, brethren, how great and radical is
the spiritual change, the change of heart, which all must
undergo, before they can enter into that life of the world
to come. Great is the contrast and the opposition, be-
tween the aspect in which the scriptures represent the
THE FINAL SATISFACTION OF THE BELIEVER IN JESUS. 485
heavenly felicity, and the affections and dispositions of
the natural mind. What, to the world, is less interesting,
more insipid, less capable of their appreciation, than the
expectation of David: "I shall behold thy face in right-
eousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake, with thy like-
ness." Communion with God ! what is there which the
unregenerate heart cannot more easily partake in, and
enjoy ? 0, how utterly dead is that heart to all such
blessedness ! Instead of seeking it, hungering for it,
thinking of all future happiness as consisting in its per-
fection ; it turns away from it, to almost any communion
with earthly things as a relief, and feels positively averse
to expending a single thought upon endeavoring to draw
nigh to God. My hearers, is this your state ? Must
heaven change its whole nature, before you could be hap-
py there ? But it will not What then ? Why you must
be changed in your whole spiritual nature, if you would
be capable of happiness in heaven. A mighty change, on
one side or other, there must be, or you cannot see the
kingdom of God. " Ye must be lorn again" is a requisi-
tion, founded, not merely in the will of God, but in the
nature of heaven, and in the fallen, sinful, alienated
condition of the nature of man.
3d. You see, my brethren, how good an evidence it is
that God's work of grace hath place in you, and that you
are being prepared to " see his face in righteousness," if
now you "hunger and thirst after righteousness." A
precious blessing has our Lord pronounced on that state
of mind. The hungering soul "shall be filled" It shall
be filled with the holiness it seeks. In other words, it
shall be satisfied. That earnest appetite for holiness, is
486 SERMON XXI.
the surest evidence of holiness already begun. It is the
exercise of that very grace which it seeks. It is the
fruit of the Spirit of holiness, by which he witnesses with
your spirits that you are born of God. It is the very es-
sence of all true prayer, and must be answered. It is
that beginning of communion with God, which has only to
go on, to enlarge at last into the fullness of the commu-
nion of heaven. " My sheep hear my voice and they fol-
low me, (saith the good shepherd,) and I give unto them
eternal life." That following of the heart after Christ ;
that hungering for more of the bread which he giveth;
that bleating of the sheep after the fountain of water to
which he leads his flock, satisfied no where else, expecting
satisfaction no where else ; that shews where you belong,
who your shepherd is, and how surely eternal life will be
given you when he gathers his flock around him.
Lastly ; Let those who have in their hearts the evi-
dence of God's children, enjoy the expectation of what
he has prepared for them when they shall awake in the
world to come. It is written, "He giveth songs in the
night." Our text is one of those songs. It was given
to David in a dark night, when the wicked compassed
him about. His heart rejoiced in God as he sung these
strains : " I will behold thy face in righteousness. I shall
be satisfied when I awake, with thy likeness."
Brethren in the Lord, be the same our joy in the trials
of our pilgrimage and warfare ! It is the Lord's song in
a strange land, where we are far from home ; the land of
our dispersion and bondage ; the land of sorrows and dark-
ness, of enemies and conflict. Have ye the first fruits of
the Spirit in your hearts, as a pledge and foretaste of the
THE FINAL SATISFACTION OF THE BELIEVER IN JESUS. 487
glorious harvest ? Then enjoy the blessed hope of the
full fruition of that harvest, when you shall rest from your
labors. The more you find in this world to afflict you,
the more let your hearts be feasted with the prospect of
that world where every tear is wiped away. When tribu-
lation cometh upon you, and all seems dreary and empty
here, and the flesh is tempted to murmur, remember you
have in heaven " an enduring substance," " an incorrupt-
ible inheritance," " a crown of righteousness." Seize the
harp and sing : " Why art thou cast down, Oh my soul,
and why art thou so disquieted within me ! Hope thou
in God, for I shall yet praise him." The time of my re-
demption draweth nigh, when I shall behold thy face,
God, in righteousness. I shall be satisfied, when I wake
up with thy likeness.
SE1I10I XXII.
THE MINISTER OF CHRIST EXHORTED TO GROWTH IN GRACE.
1 TIMOTHY, vi. 11.
" Thou, man of God, flee these things, and follow after righteousness,
godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness."
THE Epistles of St. Paul to Timothy, his own son in the
faith, are impressive records of the deep concern of that
holy Apostle, for the spiritual advancement of his younger
fellow laborer in the Gospel field. They show how, in his
view, the growth of usefulness in the ministry depended
on growth in grace, and how necessary he thought it, that
whosoever would build up the Church, by the increase of
its holiness and of the number of living members of
Christ, should himself be built up in the deep laid and
well wrought experience of things pertaining to the
Christian life ; that whosoever would be instrumental in
leading sinners to the fountain of life in Christ, should be
a man well acquainted in his own heart with the precious-
ness of that living water, and constantly in the habit of
drinking thereof, for his own spiritual necessities. The
text is an example of what we refer to. It is a loud call
of an aged and experienced ambassador of Christ to a
young minister of great piety and promise, warning him
against dangers which might ruin his usefulness, by ruin-
THE MINISTER OF CHRIST EXHORTED TO GROWTH IN GRACE. 489
ing his spirituality of mind, and urging him to press on
after an ever increasing attainment in that eminent quali-
fication for his ministry which is found in a vigorous,
earnest, and growing piety.
I. Let us first consider the designation under which
Timothy is addressed " Thou man of God"
It is a form of expression which frequently occurs in
the Old Testament. It is applied to Moses, and David,
and Elijah, and various others. But we find it there used
for none but men bearing the prophetic office. The un-
official members of the Church, however eminent in holi-
ness, and however honored by such appellations, as "sons
of God," "the peculiar people of God," &c., &c., are never
called as Timothy is addressed in the text ; and even the
official men, who bore the dignity of priests of the Levit-
ical Law, except such of them as were also called to the
office of prophet, were not so named.
Now, the reason of this is seen in the meaning of the
appellation. "Man of God," means God's man by way
of eminence; God's messenger, honored with a special
call and message ; one sent upon a great errand from God,
and specially chosen for that very purpose. Such was
not the call of the Jewish priest : he inherited his office,
coming to it by virtue of his connection with the family
of Aaron. Nor was the Jewish priest, as a priest, sent
from God on any errand to man. His office was that
of an intercessor, on the part of man, with God. Not so
the prophets of the Old Testament. They were God's
men emphatically ; they came directly from him to men,
with messages of solemn import. And besides this, there
was no inheriting that office. The prophet was person-
490 SERMON XXII.
ally, individually, directly, chosen and anointed of God
for his work. Thus was he a "man of God."
Now, the minister of the Gospel, as God's messenger,
is the prophet of the Christian dispensation. He is a
priest indeed, but only as all believers in Jesus are "a
royal priesthood,"* to offer up the spiritual sacrifices of
prayer and praise, in the sanctuary of their own hearts,
through the mediation of the one sacrifice offered once,
for all in the priesthood of Jesus Christ. In his official
distinctive work, the minister of the gospel has no errand
of intercession from man to God. His office is simply that of
an ambassador from God to man; and his call to that office
is, in every case, an individual, personal call; as much so,
and as much from God, as was that of Moses in Midian,
or of Samuel in the tabernacle, or of Elisha in the field,
or of the sons of Zebedee at the sea of Tiberias, or of Saul
on the road to Damascus.f If, in those cases just men-
tioned, the call from the Head of the Church was heard
by the ear, in a voice from heaven; and if the call of the
minister of the Gospel in these days, by the same au-
thority, is by the silent agency of the Holy Spirit, speak-
ing in the ear only of a listening conscience, there is still
no difference as to the reality of a personal and direct
call from God. Hence that solemn question at the or-
dination of our ministers, the answer of which demands
such a searching, faithful, prayerful self-examination
"Do you trust that you are inwardly moved by the
* 1 Peter, ii. 5,9.
t We must be understood here as speaking exclusively of that inward call
of which, under God, one's own conscience is the final judge. To the out-
ward call, by the laying on of hands, we have no allusion; but at the same
time we would guard against any inference, from our silence, derogatory to its
necessity.
THE MINISTER OF CHRIST EXHORTED TO GROWTH IN GRACE. 491
Holy Ghost to take upon you this office and minis-
tration?" And hence the Church, in her address to
those who are ordained, exhorts them to consider
that they are called "to be messengers, watchmen, and
stewards of the Lord." Thus is the minister of the Gos-
pel, who has been truly called, a man of God; God's man,
for God's work. And hence the application of that name
to Timothy in the text, "Thou, man of God, follow
after righteousness, godliness," &c. The name has come
down from him to us; and what a sermon does that very
name preach to a minister of Christ, as to the responsibility
and solemnity of his work! Who does not so realize his
short-coming in all the spirit of his office, and all the duty
it involves, as to feel his heart shrink at the application to
himself of such a title ? But such is our scriptural ad-
dress, brethren in the ministry, and it is for us to see
that we honor it, by diligently obeying the exhortation
addressed to us in the text " Flee these things, andfolloiv
after righteousness" &c.
II. In considering this exhortation, let us first speak
of what we are here enjoined to flee " These things"
what things? The answer is in the previous verses:
" They that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare,
and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men
in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is
the root of all evil ; which while some have coveted after,
they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves
through with many sorrows." Then comes the exhorta-
tion "Man of God, flee these things" It is therefore
the desire to be rich the love of worldly possessions
with all those temptations and snares, those encumbering
492 SERMON XXII.
cares and dangerous worldly lusts, which come so directly
from that source, and so often drown the professing Chris-
tian in spiritual rain. It is these things against which we
are exhorted.
A minister, even in the furthest separation from the
possibility of worldly gain, provides no escape from the
exhortation in the text. It is not probable that Timothy
had any worldly substance, or any prospect of becoming
possessed of much. Days of persecution, when men had
literally to forsake all things to follow Christ, were no
times to lay up treasures on earth. There is no minister
among us so poor, and so unlikely ever to be otherwise
than poor, whom it would not be quite as reasonable still
to charge against the love of money, as it was for St.
Paul thus solemnly to exhort his beloved Timothy.
The truth is, brethren, no position in life is exempt
from this rank root of all evil. Ifc is indigenous in the
heart of man, and stands all climates, and can grow under
the most adverse conditions. The heavy foot of poverty
cannot tread it down, so that it will not grow by the pres-
sure, and extract sustenance from its adversities. The
entire impossibility of any considerable increase of worldly
possessions is no barrier to its growth. It is not the
man who 'becomes rich, but who desires to be rich, that falls
into the temptation and snare. It is not the having but
the loving of money, which is the root of all evil. It was
some who " COVETED after" not who had gained wealth,
that Paul spoke of as having " erred from the faith, and
pierced themselves through with many sorrows." The
coveting of worldly possessions may flourish in the hearts
of beggars, and within the walls of a monastery, and in
THE MINISTER OF CHRIST EXHORTED TO GROWTH IN GRACE. 493
the narrow worldly circumstances of a poor village pastor,
as luxuriantly as in the counting-rooms of merchants, or
the haunts of the exchange. The man who desires only
to lay up an amount, which to another would be but a
beggarly pittance, too trifling to be cared for, may never-
theless be as much engrossed and cankered by that desire
as another with the coveting of millions.
I cannot take time to speak of the destructive effect of
such a passion upon the heart of a minister of Christ as
to all the spirit of his work, or upon his reputation and
usefulness. The mere appearance of the evil is a blight
upon his influence. St. Paul's charge to Timothy as a
man of God was "Flee these things" Get far away ! The
very neighborhood is dangerous; the atmosphere is infec-
tious. The same charge would I urge, on the present oc-
casion, upon those especially who are now about to be
received to the work of the ministry. Flee these things;
all worldly lusts indeed, all secularity of spirit ; particu-
larly that which fixes and incarnates itself in that root of
all evil, the love of money, whether there be hope of
being ever much increased in goods or not. Be de-
termined that the breath of the reputation of such a
spirit shall never settle upon your influence. See to it
that your motives in undertaking the ministry, and in all
its future prosecution, be elevated far above that level.
Be jealous of your hearts in this respect; be not satisfied
with finding that the evil spirit has not yet entered. You
are to change condition and circumstances, and conse-
quently temptations. It is never too late for the heart
to be taken captive by that snare of the devil. The
494 SERMON XXII.
young man in his studies, with no wants but his own to
provide for, is a very different being from the same man
in the world, with a household to provide for. The root
of evil, which, in the retirement of preparatory study,
may lie almost dormant in the heart, may grow rapidly to
seed when stimulated by the influences of more social and
public life. Flee these things in the motives which shall
influence you in selecting or seeking a field of labor in
your sacred work. Flee these things hereafter in the con-
siderations which shall govern you in changing a field of
labor where your work is blessed, for another more invit-
ing in a worldly view. Flee these things in those efforts
and arrangements which, under the general duty of so
providing for yourselves and your families, as to be free
from the necessity of distracting secular cares, it is proper
for a minister to see to; but which may be so seen to as
to nourish a worldly spirit, and betray the operations of
that spirit, to the great injury of your usefulness. Flee
these things in the very appearance. Take care of your
conversation, lest it seem so to love to linger amidst cer-
tain topics, and so to indicate a mind attached to certain
channels of thought, that the appearance will be as if
your interests and affections were more under the sway of
the love of money, than the honor and usefulness of your
high calling allow. Be determined that there shall be
nothing in your actual state of mind, or in your reputa-
tion, to hinder yqu from preaching with all boldness and
faithfulness against all worldliness of mind, and especially
that deadly form of it now under consideration; nothing,
when you are so preaching, reasonably to awaken in the
hearer the words, "Physician, heal thyself''
THE MINISTER OF CHRIST EXHORTED TO GROWTH IN GRACE. 495
2. But, besides what we are to Jfoefrom, St. Paul's ex-
hortation to Timothy prescribes what, as ministers of the
Gospel, we must follow after ; " Follow after righteous-
ness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness."
The foundation of the minister is the Christian. To be
a man of God in office, one must first be a child of God in
heart and life. The first school of preparation for the
preaching of Christ, is that of the knowledge of Christ
in the habitual experience of a believing heart, embrac-
ing his promises, living on his grace, following his com-
mandments. Education for the ministry begins at the
conversion of the sinner; it goes on with every new ex-
perience of his own heart and of the preciousness of Christ;
it enlarges as faith increases, and love grows earnest, and
lessons of patience and meekness are better learned, and
as righteousness and godliness are more understood by
their practical applications in the daily life. The educa-
tion of books and teachers and the class-room, from the
foundation in the college to the termination on the day
of the laying on of hands, makes far the most appearance
to the common eye, and to some, we fear, seems the only
education. Its great importance I need not assert or vin-
dicate. But, brethren, it is merely man's education. The
teacher is only man ; and for a man of God we need God
to teach. It is his work we have to do, and it is his pre-
paration we must have. Hence, important as is the edu-
cation of learning and of the intellect, the education that
grows up in the closet of secret prayer, in the personal
application of the Scriptures to your consciences, to your
hopes, your affections, and motives, and walk; in the
study of yourselves and of that spiritual knowledge of
496 SERMON XXII.
Christ for which Paul counted all things but worthless ;
that education of which the Bible is the text- book, the
spirit of God the teacher, a meek and lowly mind the
learner, secret prayer the lamp, and a watchful self-disci-
pline the rod ; that education, the progress of which is in
the bringing of every thought more and more "into cap-
tivity to the obedience of Christ." Oh ! nothing can
compare with that in its worth or necessity to a minister
of the Gospel. It is riches which we may well covet after:
it is gold, the love of which is the root of all blessings,
and addeth no sorrow with it : it is the strong protection
against erring from the faith far stronger than the best
education in the mere knowledge of the arguments of the
truth.
A minister without the education of books is consid-
ered a very destitute being, and very unqualified for his
office. But a minister with the education of grace, what
is he in the sight of God ? What should he be in his own
sight ? The man of an unchanged heart ; who never
came as a sinner to Christ for mercy ; who knows nothing
by experience of that precious Gospel out of which all the
object, motive, weapons, encouragement, strength, and
patience of the ministry must come ; the mere hireling
functionary wearing the profession of the ministry as an
automaton performs its part in the dress of a living man ;
a dead body standing up in the holy place of the sanctua-
ry, braced to its position by outward ordinance and worldly
ties: can such do the work of an evangelist? Nothing
would have filled a devout Israelite with a deeper sense
of profanation than to place a corpse by the altar of God's
temple. But what must be thought in Heaven of one
THE MINISTER OF CHRIST EXHORTED TO GROWTH IN GRACE. 497
who is yet dead in heart towards God, with all the corruption
of an unregenerated nature about him, such a man minis-
tering in Gospel sacraments and Gospel promises and in-
vitations, professing to stand beside the fountain of living
waters, as if he knew their preciousness to perishing souls;
accountable for the duty, which he has bound on his soul
by most solemn vows, of setting forth the Saviour of sin-
ners in all the riches of his grace ! Is HE a man of God ?
Yes, in profession, in vow, in office, in responsibility. As
such, he must stand at the judgment bar. Oh ! that all
would be horribly afraid of being made by ordination men
of God, until they have been first made by regeneration
God's children, having the spirit of adoption shed abroad
in their hearts by the Holy Ghost.
Bat it is not the possession of grace so much as growth
in grace that we are led by the text to speak of the fol-
lowing after more and more attainment in the several at-
tributes of a Christian character already essentially pos-
sessed.
And here, I would say, with special emphasis, that a
minister's spiritual qualification for his great spiritual
work is in his being not merely a Christian, but a growing
Christian. Is it the merely living tree that bears good
fruit, or is it the growing tree ? Is it the old wood of the
vine that puts out the fruit-bud, and suspends the clus-
tering grapes, or the latest growth ? So it is with every
Christian. He is either growing, or withering in his reli-
gious life. There is no possibility of his standing so per-
fectly still, that he shall be neither gaining nor losing. So
is it with the minister. He may possess the essential re-
ality of the spiritual life, and that life may have manifest-
32
498 SERMON XXII.
ed itself in many goodly branches of the true vine ; but
if those branches are not growing, they are decaying, and
their fruitfulness has declined. That growth which once
bore fruit may remain, but the buds of new fruitfulness
are not formed. We can no more depend on a past growth
of love and faith, for present fruits of love and faith,
than the Israelite in the wilderness could subsist one
day upon the manna that he gathered days before ; or,
than a Christian can live upon past prayers, instead of
daily renewed communion with God. It is the pres-
ent experience, and not merely the remembered expe-
rience of the grace of God ; it is the fresh enjoyment of
his love, the fresh delight in his service, fresh spiritual
discernment of things of the spirit ; it is the knowledge
of Christ, not merely once attained and still preserved,
but a knowledge daily renewed and now enjoyed, and now
ever enlarging and getting more and more to possess the
soul, which prepares us for, and animates us in patiently
pursuing our daily work, and makes the man of God as a
tree planted by the rivers of water, bringing forth its
fruit in due season, the leaf never withering.
Give me the man in whose heart the love of God is
abounding more and more, and I will ask him to preach
on the wonderful love of Christ in the redemption of sin-
ners, and on the constraining power by which it should
bind us to live unto him, as well as on all the earnest de-
votedness which should flow therefrom. Give me the min-
ister of an active, strengthening faith, such as is daily
drawing new supplies of grace, and hope, and peace, from
the fountain in Christ, and he shall preach on such a text,
as "He ili at believeth on the Son hath life." Show me the
minister who is going on to acquire an ever fresh and en
THE MINISTER OP CHRIST EXHORTED TO GROWTH IN GRACE. 499
larging experience of the preciousness of that peace which
Jesus promises to the weary heart that comes to him,
he is the man to go with a tender, affectionate, persuasive
zeal, and tell a perishing world what a Saviour they are
rejecting, when they turn away from Jesus. Oh ! it is
when we are most hungering and thirsting after righteous-
ness, that we are best prepared to press sinners to come
to the heavenly feast. Then, it is, that the Bible is so
full of texts; and that materials of discourse seem so
richly to abound, and that the true savor and unction of
the Gospel, as morning dews from the mount of God, rest
upon our ministry ; because then we speak what we do
know, and testify what our faith solemnly realizes. How
shall we minister in the Gospel with any sustaining confi-
dence that we ourselves are true disciples of Christ, having
a saving interest in his redemption, except we are striving
to grow in grace ? There is no evidence that we are alive
unto God so good as that of growth in the grace of God.
How shall we preach to a Christian people upon the duty
of a continual progress in holiness, yea, reprove, rebuke,
and exhort with all long-suffering, that their path may be as
the shining light which shineth more and more unto the
perfect day, except we know in the consciousness of our
hearts that we ourselves are striving after that same
blessed progress? And how can we ever increase in the
real strength of our ministry, in its power with God to
bring down the blessings of his spirit, or in its power with
man to accomplish in his heart that great change, which
only the power of God can effect, but as we increase in
our personal nearness to God through faith, and become
more thoroughly baptized with the Holy Ghost ?
500 SERMON XXII.
Therefore, man of God, and ye who are now to be
invested with the office of the man of God, I beseech
you " follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, pa-
tience, meekness." You will need all the strength of
"faith" you can ever obtain, that you may do your work
in full view of eternity, of God, of judgment, of heaven,
and hell; that you may trust with an unflinching and
undiscouraged heart in those divine promises, which must
be all your consolation as ministers of the Gospel, and
may always enjoy the invigorating feeling, that you go to
your labors in the name, in the grace, in the strength,
and under the shadow of the Almighty. You will need
all the "love" you can ever get, to give you that earnest,
affectionate, pleading heart, out of which the true elo-
quence of our ministry proceeds, and which alone fur-
nishes the constraining motive, the unwearied zeal, the
abundant argument, and the whole pleasure of our office.
You will need all the progress you can make in "patience
and meekness" so that difficulties, and crosses, and appa-
rent unfruitfulness, and the hardness of heart, and all the
thousand annoyances and discouragements of every form,
which you must expect to encounter in trying to bring
sinners to God, instead of paralyzing your zeal and ma-
king you settle down in a mere formal routine of service,
that expects no blessing from God and no great work of
grace in man, may, on the contrary, take you nearer to
the arm of the Lord for help, and make you more con-
formed to the mind of Christ, who was " meek and lowly
in heart."
And now, that I may as much as possible speak the
word in season, to those who are here to be invested with
the office of ministers of Christ, I will introduce, as it
THE MINISTER OF CHRIST EXHROTED TO GROWTH IN GRACE. 5 01
were, a new text, as the guide of what I desire yet to say.
You remember the words of our Lord to his ordained
disciples u I have ordained you that you should go and
bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain."'
"/ have ordained you" Ever in the course of your
ministry, my young friends, remember from whence your
authority to minister in the Lord's vineyard proceeds.
Visibly, the servant and steward of Christ, who is over
you in the Lord, conveys it. Invisibly, it is the Lord
himself who gives it. You can have no place in the or-
dained stewardship of the Gospel, but as Christ himself
assigns it to you. In assigning the work, and investing
you with the commission of his ministers, he lays on you
the most solemn responsibility to himself. " / have or-
dained you" means, to me you are to give an account. Your
day of ordination and your day of judgment are most
intimately connected. The vows and the duties here to
be bound upon you, will be bound in heaven; and whether
you heed them or not, fulfill them or not, they will meet
you and confront you in the day when you shall give
account of your stewardship. Realize, then, that it is the
Lord who ordains you. He appoints your work; he will
bring your work into judgment; he is to be your guide
in doing it, and your great consolation, when you feel
your weakness for so momentous a trust. He is your
whole strength, your all-sufficient strength ; a very present,
as also a very mighty help in all time of need.
But for ivhat does the Lord thus put you into his min-
istry? It is a question which it were well for you often
*Jolmxv. 1C.
502 SERMON XXII.
and most solemnly to put to your own hearts and
consciences why hath the Lord ordained me? Why
this order of ministry, thus created, so perpetuated, so
protected ; entered by such vows ; held under such re-
sponsibility? Why am I admitted thereto ? Is it that I
may obtain a worldly maintenance, or enjoy a respectable
position, and sustain a routine of formal ecclesiastical ser-
vices? Is it for myself, or the Lord? my own emolument,
or the salvation of sinners? "I have ordained you that you
should go and Iring forth fruit" Fruit to the glory of
God, whatever it may cost in point of personal sacrifice,
is the single object of the ministry now to be committed
to you. Nothing can take its place nothing can excuse
its absence. "Every branch in me (saith the Lord) that
beareth not fruit, he (the father) taketh away." It is
cast into the fire, and is burned.* If these solemn words
apply to all fruitless members of the visible Church, much
more do they apply to all fruitless branches of its minis-
try. Let their solemn warning be ever sounding in the
ear of your consciences, and especially when you are
tempted to live unto yourselves, instead of to the Lord ; to
be satisfied with the perfunctory fulfillment of a certain
round of customary offices, and to make your ministry ter-
minate in itself, instead of aspiring evermore to be instru-
mental in gathering more fruit to the glory of the grace
of God.
But the question arises here what is the fruit which
the Lord ordains you to go and bring forth ? The answer
is found in the Lord's own words " that your fruit should
remain" It is abiding fruit, such as will remain when the
John xv. 5, 6.
THE MINISTER OF CHRIST EXHORTED TO GROWTH IN GRACE. 503
world and all that is therein shall have passed away ; stand-
ing the test of God's final judgment, and remaining to
His glory for ever and ever.
There is never a ministry without fruit, either good or
evil ; nor without fruit that remains in its blessings or its
woes for ever and ever. We cannot avoid, if we will,
the doing some work. Our indifference and worldliness
and negligence and formality will preach and make their
impression, if zeal and earnestness and faithfulness do
not. But fruit that will remain when the Lord of the har-
vest, whose fan is in his hand, shall thoroughly cleanse his
floor, and gather the wheat into his garner, and burn up
the chaff with unquenchable fire that is the end of the
work to which you are called.
There is much fruit in the Lord's ministry which, in
that day, will be lighter than vanity, and far worse than
nothingness. What if you teach a system of doctrine
which is not according to God's word, and lead away the
minds of sinners from an exclusive trust for salvation in
the righteousness of Christ, to a self-righteous reliance on
their own obedience ; and they become earnest in that re-
ligion, and diligent in thus going about to establish their
own righteousness, not submitting themselves on the right-
eousness of God, prepared in Christ, for their justification;
and what, if to increase their opportunity of establishing
the more widely and surely their own righteousness, you
invent for them works of merit, works of self-sacrifice, works
of compensation to the law of God, which have no sanc-
tion in the scriptures ; works of " voluntary humility ; " and
what if in their zeal to work out a righteousness that will
satisfy the demands of God's law, they become exceedingly
504 SERMON XXII.
laborious in such works, giving largely of their substance
to build religious establishments, spending daily much of
their time in prayers and sacraments and divers bodily ser-
vices, so that you think them very devout and holy what
is all such fruit ? Will it remain ? Is there any other
foundation than that which God has laid in the obedience
and death of his only begotten Son? And can all this
leading of the souls of men away from that only founda-
tion, to the substitution of their own righteousness, be else
than unspeakably abhorrent to God ? Can there be any
fruit of your ministry more ruinous to the souls of your peo-
ple, or more condemning to yourselves ? Can it abide the
day of God, or stand when he appeareth ? Can it endure
the fire that shall try every man's work of what sort it is ?
There is, however, good fruit which doth not remain.
It is good, but temporal ; which belongs to the present
earthly dispensation of the Church, but will have no place
in the heavenly and eternal ; it lasts till death, but no
longer. It is good, and must be sought, and has its im-
portant uses and relations ; but it is secondary and subsidi-
ary, and only good when kept in that position. I speak of
all that belongs to the exterior, the visible of the Church, in
its ordinances and ritual, its edifices and ornaments, so far as
the word appoints, or a wise consideration of the great end
of all may permit. Take care that you give these exter-
nal things the right place of importance in your ministry,
and no more. They are the scaffolding of the building;
they must not be treated as if they were the building
itself. When this is finished they will be dispensed with.
They belong to the seen and the temporal You may do a
great work, in the estimation of man, in bringing people
to sacraments and to attending on outward services, in
THE MINISTER OF CHRIST EXHORTED TO GROWTH IN GRACE. 505
rearing church edifices and covering the land with all the
visible of religion, and yet nothing for eternity ; nothing
that will remain when all that is seen shall vanish away,
and only the spiritual and the eternal shall endure ; noth-
ing that he who ordains you will esteem as the fruit for
which you are sent. Despise not these things; labor for
them in their proper relation and place. But remember
they are only secondary means at the best.
But fruit there is that remains to all eternity. What is
it ? I trust you are all ready to say, "It is the salvation
of sinners, by bringing them to Christ; it is their being
brought to repentance and to a saving faith in Jesus, and
their abiding by faith in him as all their hope and life;
that is the fruit for which we are ordained." Yes, verily;
and what else will you compare to that ? All the visible
of the Church ministry, sacraments, ritual, will pass away,
just as the visible of the former dispensation has all pass-
ed away. But that remaineth. That alone glorifies God.
That alone did Jesus die for, and send the Holy Ghost to
accomplish, and the ministry to labor for. All else, in
comparison, is vanity. You may spend your lives in the
mere building up of the Church in its outward appoint-
ments ; but he who brings only one sinner to Christ is in-
finitely beyond you in the fruit of his ministry. For such
fruit the faithful minister expends his strength; around
that one point his studies, and prayers, and anxieties, and
labors concentrate. He is comforted only as he may hope
that God is blessing, or will bless, his work with such re-
ward. My brethren, is that to be the begining and end-
ing of your work ?
But how will you seek it ? By what means ? The ques-
tion is exceedingly important. There are ways and means
506 SERMON XXII.
by which you may seek to save sinners, and utterly fail, and
worse than fail ; leading souls away from Christ, and har-
dening them in impenitence and self-righteousness, just be-
cause they are not those means which the Lord, who or-
dains you, has ordained to be used by you. Read the par-
able of the sower. The sower is the minister of the Gos-
pel. What means does he employ ? He sows seed. He
expects nothing but as the product of seed. What is
that seed ? " The Word" answers the Lord. Does the
Lord speak of any other seed ? Can any thing produce
the fruit of life in the souls of men, but as it contains,
or teaches, or nourishes the word therein ? Are sacra-
ments seed, or only helps, under God's blessing, of teach-
ing, enforcing, impressing, and nourishing the only seed?
Must not all growth in grace, in all the world, be traced
exclusively to God's blessing on his word, his truth ; just
as all fruit in the harvest-field must be ascribed to the sun
and rain nourishing the seed of the husbandmen ?
Remember, then, my brethren, that to sow the seed of
the word, and the word only, and by all the means of grace
to promote its growth, is as much your great work, as it
is to go and seek the salvation of souls ; he who fails here,
fails in his whole ministry. Nothing can supply that lack.
To "preach the word ; " and in that one work to be "in-
stant in season, out of season" is to be your life. All your
heart and mind and strength are needed, and are demand-
ed for it. All are in your ordination consecrated to it,
and must be employed for it. So Paul charged Timothy
so you are charged to-day " before God and our Lord
Jesus Christ, who shall Judge the quick and the dead, at
his appearing."*
*2 Timothy iv. 1, 2.
THE MINSTER OF CHRIST EXHORTED TO GROWTH IN GRACE. 507
Bat the word of God is the testimony of Christ. He
is " the truth" as well as the life. The word severed from
its relations to him is not the word of God, is not "the
truth as it is in Jesns," and cannot be the seed of the
fruit of holiness and eternal life. You may preach a great
deal of the word, yea, nothing but truth and the word.
You may preach many very solemn, and affecting, and
alarming truths, and may make serious impressions, and get
the praise of much faithfulness. Duties may be earnestly
enforced, the law held forth in its strictness, and the judg-
ment day in its terrors ; and yet you may not preach the
word in its integrity ; you may not sow the good seed of
the kingdom ; you may not preach the Gospel, because
you may not preach Christ. Does he teach the solar sys-
tem, who while he accurately describes all the planets in
all other repects, omits to exhibit their relations to, and
dependence on, the sun ? Can he preach the Gospel, who,
whatever else of truth and of the word he may teach,
does not set forth Christ and him crucified in his person,
and offices, and work for sinners, his death, and present
ever-living intercession, as the great central light, and
life, and glory, on which all Christianity depends, on
which all its parts concentrate, from which all our hope,
and strength, and righteousness proceed ? Can the
word be the seed of spiritual life in the sinner's heart
but as it thus testifies of Jesus ? Can any fruit of
your ministry be that fruit which will remain to the eter-
nal blessedness of the soul and the endless glory of God,
except as it grows from the word thus testifying of Christ ?
And, my brethren, will you not determine, by the help of
God, to make it the study of your life to be able with all
508
SERMON XXII.
simplicity, and clearness, and directness, and faithfulness,
and fullness, in the spirit of Christ, to teach Christ to the
consciences and hearts of men ? Will you not sit at his
feet, that he may teach you more and more that great les-
son ? Will you not seek your whole happiness in that
school, and your whole reward in that one work? Never
are my sympathies and affections more called out and mov-
ed, than when I look upon a young man just entering on
the work of the ministry. I see before him, by the light
of experience, what he as yet cannot see, however he may
expect it, all his trials of heart, with himself with the
world, with temptations to discouragement and desponden-
cy, to coldness and formality. And the more his desire
to do the work, and the deeper his sense of the solemn
responsibility upon him and the worth of souls about him,
the greater will be many of his trials. My heart is with
that young man in all its sympathies. Such, I trust, are
those now present, awaiting the laying on of hands for
the work of the Gospel. I can only commend them to
God and his grace, that they may have for their constant
teacher and helper, and their final portion and glory, that
same Jesus to whose work they are now to be sent. Ever-
more may you abide in him, and he in you ! Evermore
may you be " strengthened with all might, and the Spirit,
in the inner man," accomplishing the end of your work in
the bringing forth of much fruit, of souls brought to Christ
and abiding in him !
ERRATA.
e 6 line G from the bottom, for perceivetk, read receivetlt.
13 line 2, before Catholic, put the.
142 line 19, for terrors, read terror.
176 lines 18 and 19, for we know not, read it doth not yet appear.
235 line 13, before promises, put the.
371 text, for give, read giving.
372 note, for Rom xm. 17, read Rom. viii, 1G, 17.
379 note, after Is. lx., put 19.
392 line 22, for precious, read previous.
460 last line, for that of, read to.
463 last line, for it, read text.
471 first line, before man's, put in.
496 line 17, for with, read without.
503 line 9 from the bottom, for on, read to.
503 line 4 from the bottom for and, read by.
508
SERMON XXII.
simplicity, and clearness, and directness, and faithfulness,
and fullness, in the spirit of Christ, to teach Christ to the
consciences and hearts of men ? Will you not sit at his
feet, that he may teach you more and more that great les-
t seek your whole happiness in that
the bringing forth of much fruit, of souls brought to Christ
and abiding in him !
/r
/
//f
y-
c?
7s
/f
72
/
3/S
Sty
396
RETURN TO the circulation desk of any
University of California Library
or to the
NORTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY
Bldg. 400, Richmond Field Station
University of California
Richmond, CA 94804-4698
ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS
2-month loans may be renewed by calling
(510)642-6753
1-year loans may be recharged by bringing
books to NRLF
Renewals and recharges may be made
4 days prior to due date
DUE AS STAMPED BELOW
U.C. BERKELEY
DD20 1M 3-02
6871