LIBRARY OF THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY 
 
 PRINCETON, N. J. 
 
 G-reen Fund 
 
 BV 4257.5 .B88 
 Brown, John, 1784-1858. 
 Discourses suited to the 
 administration of the 
 
EI8C0URSES 
 
 SUITED TO THR 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OF THE LORD'S SUPPER, 
 
 BY JOHN BROWN, D.D., 
 
 PROFESSOR OF F.XEGETICAL THEOLOGY TO THE UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, 
 
 AND SENIOR PASTOR OF THE UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CONGREGATION, 
 
 BROUGHTON PLACE, EDINBURGH. 
 
 ' The Apostles' doctrine and the breaking of bread " — Acts ii. 42 
 
 ' When the disciples came togetlier to break bread, Paul preached unto them '" — Acts xx. 7. 
 
 THIRD EDITION, GREATLY ENLARGED. 
 
 EDINBURGH : WILLIAM OLIPHANT AND SONS. 
 
 LONDON : HAMILTON, ADAMS, AND COMPANY. 
 
 GLASGO.\V: DAVID ROBERTSON. 
 
 MDCCCLIIl. 
 
■^'^'^ 
 
 MURUAY AND 01110, PIUNTEHS, F.DlNBUROn. 
 
TO TIIK 
 
 REV. DAVID SMITH, D.D., 
 
 AND THE 
 
 NORTH UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CONGREGATION OF BIGGAR, 
 
 THIS THIUD EDITION OF A AYORK, 
 
 THIRTY-SIX TEARS AGO INSCRIBED, AS A TOKEN OF 
 
 PASTORAL REGARD, TO THE ASSOCIATE 
 
 CONGREGATION OF BIGGAR, 
 
 IS RESPECTFULLY AXD AFFECTIONxVTELY DEDICATED, 
 BY HIS KINSMAN AND THEIR FRIEND, 
 
 JOHN BW^T^. 
 
T« (iyia Toh oyt'oty.— Ciril IIieros. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 To prevent that species of disappointment whicli arises 
 from expecting to find in a book what it was never 
 intended to contain, it is judged proper to intimate, that 
 it is not designed, in the following pages, to fm-nish any- 
 thing like a complete and regular treatise on the Lord's 
 Supper. They are occupied with a series of Discourses, 
 delivered before, at, and after the administration of that 
 ordinance, composed at distant intervals, and having 
 little or no mutual connection, except what arises from 
 their general reference to the same great subject. 
 
 At the time of their composition, the Author considered 
 it his duty to consult such books on their subjects as 
 were within his reach, and to avail himself of whatever 
 in them he conceived likely to be useful to those whose 
 edification it was his object to promote ; and as at that 
 time he had not the remotest intention of publication, 
 he was not scrupulously exact in marking, in his manu- 
 script, the full extent of his obligations. In transcribing 
 the Discourses for the press, he has endeavoured, as far 
 as possible, to supply this deficiency ; but if, after all. 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 the reader should occasionally meet with sentiments or 
 language which he recognises as borrowed, it is hoped 
 candour will induce him to conclude, that the obligation 
 is not acknowledged, merely because it was not observed. 
 It is scarcely necessary to remark, that in the arrange- 
 ment and composition of the whole work, a regard has 
 been paid to the manner in which the ordinance of the 
 Lord's Supper is dispensed in the Scottish Presbyterian 
 churches ; and that to promote a fervid, yet enlightened, 
 devotion in their members, when engaged in this service, 
 is avowedly its primary object. At the same time, the 
 Author ventures to hope, that it may be of general use 
 and interest, as a view of Christian doctrine and duty in 
 reference to this ordinance ; and that it may also serve 
 the subordinate purpose, of exhibiting a picture of the 
 manner in which the Scottish Presbyterian churches 
 observe this solemn rite of Christian worship. 
 
 JOHN BROWN. 
 
 BiGGAR, April 1816. 
 
 Note. — At the time this preface was written, the following was the mode of 
 administering the Lord's Supper, all but universally followed in the Presby- 
 terian Churches of Scotland : — The ordinance was observed in a few cases, 
 chiefly in large towns, four times a-year ; in most country places among the 
 Dissenters, and in some in the Establishment, twice ; in many of the Estab- 
 lished Churches only once. The practice of communicating twice a-year 
 was introduced among the Seceders by my grandfather, the Rev. John Brown 
 of Haddington, about the middle of last century, and gradually became 
 imiversal among them. " Intimation of the Sacrament," as it was called, was 
 generally made a month before its celebration. The Lord's da}- immediately 
 preceding this wa.s called the I'rcparation Sabbath ; a day in the intervening 
 
PREFACE. vn 
 
 week was devoted to public worship, called the Fast Day, when the tokens of 
 admission to the Lord's table were distributed ; and two or three sermons were 
 preached on the Saturday. The discourses in the first part of this volume are 
 specimens of the kind of sermons generally preached on these occasions. 
 On the morning of the communion Sabbath, the congregation assembled 
 at an earlier hour than usual. The opening sermon, called the Action Ser- 
 mon, had ordinarily a peculiar reference to the great business of the day. On 
 its being concluded, after prayer and praise, came "the Fencing of the Table," 
 a discourse on the characters of those who may, and of those Avho may not, 
 observe the Lord's Supper ; with an invitation of the former to the Lord's 
 table, and a solemn debarring of the latter from it. After again engaging in 
 praise, the minister came down to the head of the communion table, read the 
 words of institution, and offered up a suitable prayer. Having given a short 
 address, he distributed the bread and wine ; and when the solemn act of com- 
 municating was over, dismissed the communicants after a short exhortation. 
 Their places were taken by other communicants, while the congregation was 
 engaged in praise ; and the same form, with the exception of the prayer, was 
 gone through at successive table- services till all intending communicants had 
 participated in the ordinance. As on these occasions many from neighbour- 
 ing congregations were present, the table-services were often numerous, and 
 the communion did not close till far towards the evening. When all had 
 communicated, the minister of the place, after praise, addressed suitable con- 
 cluding exhortations to those who had communicated. — The second part of 
 the volume is occupied by specimens of the Action Sermon — the Fencing of 
 the Table — the Table-service, and the Concluding Exhortation. The whole 
 services of the day were concluded by a sermon which, as well as the two 
 sermons preached on the Monday forenoon, and those on the following Lord's 
 day, commonly called the Thanksgiving Sabbath, Avas generally of a practical 
 kind. — Specimens of these discoiurses occupy the third part of the volume. 
 
 In consequence of neighbouring congregations being vacant, by their 
 ministers assisting each other in the administration of the Lord's Supper, 
 great crowds used to assemble at the place where this ordinance was observed: 
 and it was found necessary, as the church could contain but a small portion 
 of them, either to observe the Communion in the open air, or to have a 
 succession of sermons preached without doors, wliile the peculiar services of 
 the day were going on witliin. In the evening, it was customary to deliver 
 the concluding sermon to the whole congregation, in the open air. That 
 abuses were occasionally committed on such occasions cannot be doubted ; 
 yet still it is scarcely possible to look back without regret, to the impressive 
 spectacle which was not uncommon in Scotland, of an assembly of many 
 thousands, on a fine summer Sabbath evening, on a mountain-side, listening 
 with deep attention, and apparent devotion, to the glad tidings of great 
 
vm PREFACE. 
 
 joy, delivered with solemn interest and tender affection. Multitudes have 
 been obliged to say on such occasions, and the recollection has been sweet to 
 their dying hour, " Surely the Lord is in this place. How dreadful is this 
 place ! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of 
 heaven." 
 
 Since this voliune was first published, considerable changes in the external 
 mode of administering the ordinance of the Lord's Supper have taken place, 
 chiefly among the United Presbyterians. The ordinance is more frequently 
 administered — in very many congregations four times, in some six times, in at 
 least one twelve times, in the course of the year ; and in many instances, the 
 practice of simultaneous communion has been introduced. The fast- day 
 and other week-day services, if not altogether discontinued, are by no means 
 uniformly connected with the communion ; and " tent preaching," as it was 
 called, has, except in some instances among the Reformed Presbyterians, dis- 
 appeared from the Lowlands. 
 
 January 1853. 
 
ADVERTISEMENT TO THE THIRD EDITION. 
 
 My respected friend the Publisher lately informed me, 
 that these Discourses, which have for some time been 
 out of print, are still occasionally asked for, and suggested 
 the propriety of a ^ew Edition. To this proposal I 
 had but one objection, — the subjects of some of these 
 Discourses had come repeatedly before me in subsequent 
 publications ; and I knew that, regarding this volume 
 as, like so many better ones, finally disposed of, I had 
 in a number of instances without scruple availed myself 
 of its thoughts and expressions. On looking into the 
 book, however, I found that this had not been done to 
 the extent I had supposed, and I have resolved to comply 
 with my Publisher's advice. In preparing the copy for 
 the printers, considerable changes have been made, both 
 in the way of subtraction and addition ; the result of 
 which is, that this Edition contains fullv a third more 
 matter than any preceding one. 
 
 Grateful for the kind reception this volume (one of 
 my earliest publications) has received in its former 
 Editions, I present it in this enlarged, and it is hoped, 
 
X ADVERTISEMENT TO THE THIRD EDITION. 
 
 improved form, to tlio Christian Public, with the prayer 
 that its original object, "the promotion of a fervid yet 
 enlightened devotion in the observance of the Lord's 
 Supper/' may be extensively gained. 
 
 The four sermons on " Keeping ourselves in the Love 
 of God," originally published at the close of the Expo- 
 sition of the First Epistle of Peter, but not reprinted in 
 the second edition of that work, are subjoined as no 
 inappropriate Appendix. 
 
 J. B. 
 
 Arthur Lodge, Edinburgh, 
 January 1853. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 DISCOURSES BEFORE THE ADMINISTRATION 
 OF THE LORD'S SUPPER. 
 
 DISCOURSE I. 
 
 Page 
 Importance of Public Worship, and of Due Preparation for it. — " I will 
 wash mine bauds in iunocency : so will I compass thine altar, O Lord." — Psalm 
 XXVI. G, .......... 1 
 
 DISCOURSE II. 
 
 The Nature of tue Lord's Supper. — "This bread is my body, which is given 
 
 for you This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed 
 
 for you." — Luke XXII. 19, 20, . . . . . . ,15 
 
 DISCOURSE III. 
 
 The Design and Obligation of the Lord's Supi'ek. — "This do in remcm- 
 brance of me." — Luke xxii. 19, . . . . . .32 
 
 DISCOURSE IV. 
 
 Unworthy Communicating. — "Wherefore, whosoever shall eat this bread, and 
 drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of 
 
 the Lord For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and 
 
 driuketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body." — 1 Cok. xi. 
 27, 29, 32 
 
 DISCOURSE V. 
 
 Self-Examination. — " But let a man examine himself, ami so let liira eat of that 
 bread, and drink of that cup." — 1 Cor. xi. 28, . . . . .74 
 
CONTKNTS. 
 
 PART IT. 
 
 DISCOURSES AT THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE 
 LORD'S SUPPER. 
 
 SECTION I.— ACTION SERMONS. 
 
 SERMON I. 
 
 Gktiiskmane. — Matth. XXVI. 3G-4C. ISIark xiv. 3-'-4'.'. Lt ki: xxii. 37-46. 
 John xviii. 1, . . ...... 'Ji 
 
 SERMON II. 
 The Death of Ciiiust. — "Jesus yielded up the ghost." — Mattii. xxvii. 50, . 104 
 
 SERMON III. 
 
 The Manner AND Character of Christ's Death — CnrciFixioN— Obedience. 
 
 « Cln-ist Jesus became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." — 
 
 Pmi,. II. 8, 120 
 
 SERMON IV. 
 
 The IIiuh-Prie.sthood of Christ. — "Jesus hath obtained a more excellent 
 Diinistry." — Her. viii. G, . . . • . . . . 142 
 
 SERMON V. 
 
 The Aisohtion of Death. — " Om- Saviour, Jesus Christ, hath abolished death." 
 — 2 Tim. i. 10, . . . . . - . .172 
 
 SECTION II.— INTRODUCTORY ADDRESSES: OR, 
 " FENCING OF THE TABLE." 
 
 ADDRESS I. 
 
 The Distinuuishinu Characters of A Christian, .... lt>7 
 
 ADDRESS II. 
 
 'J"hi. Family in Christ, ....... 103 
 
CONTENTS. xiii 
 
 SECTION IIL— COMMUNION EXHORT AXONS. 
 
 EXHORTATION I. 
 
 Pa^e 
 TiiK Kedkemino Lovk of God, ....... VJ'J 
 
 EXHORTATION II. 
 
 The Love ok Cmiisr, ........ 204 
 
 EXHORTATION III. 
 
 Tiie Sufkerings of Chuist, and the Malignity of Sin, . . . 209 
 
 EXHORTATION IV. 
 
 The Christian Salvation, ........ 2U 
 
 SECTION IV,— CONCLUDING EXHORTATIONS. 
 
 EXHORTATION I. 
 
 Habitual Remembrance of Christ Recommended, .... 21!) 
 
 EXHORTATION II. 
 
 A Sciupture Farewell, . . . . . . . 22G 
 
 PART III. 
 
 DISCOURSES AFTER THE ADMINISTRATION 
 OF THE LORD'S SUPPER. 
 
 DISCOURSE I. 
 
 The Mind wiiicn was in Christ.—" Let tliis mind be in you, whicli was also in 
 Christ Jesus." — Phil. ii. 5, . . . . . , 233 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 DISCOURSE II. 
 
 Page 
 The CiiHiSTiVN ExnoRTKn and EncOiir.voed to Exertion. — "Be ye strong 
 therefore, and let not your hands be weak ; for your work shall be rewarded." 
 — 2 Chron. XV. 7, . . . . . . . . 252 
 
 DISCOURSE III. 
 
 The Saint's Seed-time and Hakvest. — "They who sow in tears shall reap in 
 joy." — PsAT.M csxvi. 5, ....... . 271 
 
 DISCOURSE IV. 
 
 The Christian a Citizen of Heaven. — " Our conversation is in heaven." — Phil. 
 III. 20, . . . . . . . . . .285 
 
 DISCOURSE Y. 
 
 Terms of Discipleship, and Reasons for Complying vrnn them. — Matth. 
 XVI. 24-27. Mark viii. 34-38. Luke ix. 23-2G, . . . .298 
 
 THE DUTY OF KEEPING OURSELVES IN THE 
 LOVE OF GOD. 
 
 SERMON I. 
 
 On Keeping ourselves in the Love of God. — "But ye, beloved, buildinp 
 yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, keep your- 
 selves in the love of God, lookinjif for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto 
 eternal life."— Jude 20, 21, ....... 3i; 
 
 SERMON II. 
 On Building ourselves up on ouk Most Holy Faith. — Jude 20, 21, . . 332 
 
 SERMON III. 
 On Prating IN the Holy Ghost. — Jude 20, 21, .... .346 
 
 SERMON IV. 
 
 On Looking for the Mercy of Our Lord Jbsus Christ unto Eternal Life. 
 —Jude 20, 21, . . . . . . . . .303 
 
PART I. 
 
 DISCOURSES 
 
 BEFORE THE 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OF THE LORD'S SUPPER. 
 
DISCOURSES 
 
 BEFORE THE 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OF THE LORD'S SUPPER. 
 
 DISCOURSE I. 
 
 THE IMPORTANCE OF PUBLIC WORSHIP, AND OP DCE 
 PREPARATION FOR IT. 
 
 Psalm xxvi, 6. — " I will wash mine hands in innocency : so will I compass thine altar, 
 
 O Lord." 
 
 Thus did the holy psalmist resolve in reference to the exercises 
 of public religion, and in reference to preparation for these exer- 
 cises ; and thus ought we to resolve. What is the import of his 
 resolution ? and why ought we to make that resolution ours ? 
 To these two questions, this discourse is intended to furnish a 
 satisfactory reply. 
 
 I. The psalmist's resolution, — " I will wash mine hands in 
 innocency : so will I compass thine altar, O Lord," is obviously 
 a complex one, and naturally divides itself into two simple de- 
 terminations : the first a resolution to engage in the exercises 
 of pubhc religion, "I will compass thine altar, O Lord"; the 
 second, a resohition to prepare for engaging in these services, by 
 a thorough piu'ification of himself, " I vnW wash mine hands in 
 innocency : so will I compass thine altar, O Lord." Let us 
 attend in succession to these two determinations, of which the 
 psalmist's resolution expressed in our text is composed. 
 
 A* 
 
2 THE IMPORTANCE OF PUBLIC WORSHIP, [PART I. 
 
 1st. He resolves to engage in the exercises of public religion, 
 " I \\^ll compass thine altar, O Lord." The allusion in these 
 words scarcely requires to be explained to those who are acquainted 
 with the ritual services of the Mosaic economy. Sacrifices either 
 expiatory or eucharistic formed the principal part of the servnces 
 of public religion under that dispensation, — the one emblematical 
 of the gi'eat atoning sacrifice of Jesus, the other of the grateful 
 acknowledgments and sendees of the saints. When the priest, 
 as the substitute of the offerer, had laid the sacrifice on the altar, 
 it seems to have been usual for him to walk with slow and mea- 
 sured step around it ; and it is not unlikely that the attending 
 multitude at a distance joined in the procession amid the solemn 
 music of the temple. Thus did they encircle the altar of God. ^ 
 It is easy to perceive, then, with what propriety the phrase " com- 
 passing God's altar" is used to express an observance of the duties 
 of public religion. 
 
 The religious service which God enjoins on man, may be 
 considered as, like man himself, constituted of two parts, — a body 
 and a soul. The essential part of true religion is pm-ely spmtual. 
 It consists in a right mode of thinking and feeling in reference 
 to God — in just comprehensive views of the Divine character, and 
 in a corresponding state of the affections. To knoAv God, to fear 
 God, to trust in God, to believe all his revelations, and to ac- 
 quiesce in all his appointments — these exercises of the understand- 
 ing and the heart may be attended to at all times and in every 
 situation ; and being rather fixed habits than occasional employ- 
 ments, may be termed the soul of religion. Without these, all 
 external service is a dead vminformed mass ; without these, the 
 most fatiguing labours and the most painful sufferings are of no 
 value. 
 
 Were man a pure and uncon*upted spmt, entirely unencum- 
 
 ' " Not only had the priests often to go round about the altar when they were to 
 sprinkle on its horns the Mood of different sacrifices (See Lev. iv. 18, 25, 34; xvi. 18, 
 etc.), but when the king brought sacrifices, he led the sacrifice to the east side of the 
 altar, gave it there into the hand of the officiating priest, and did not turn back the 
 same way, but came round about the altar to the north side, where he remained till it 
 was offered. But on solemn occasions, the musical Levites surrounded the altar seven 
 times with songs of praise and thanksgiving, while the smoke of the whole burnt- 
 offering ascended on high as a sweet-smelling savour to Jehovah. On such occasions, 
 the sweet psalmist of Israel went before all the bands of musical Levites with the harp 
 in his hand, surrounding the altar of God with praise and songs of triumph and 
 joy." — Weiss. 
 
DISC. I.] AND OF DUE PKEPARATION FOR IT. 3 
 
 bered with matter and untainted with sin, this might perhaps 
 have formed the whole of his rehgion. But his constitution as 
 an embodied spirit, and his situation as a fallen creature, render 
 something more necessary. The rehgion of such a being must 
 be in some measure palpable and material ; it must have a body 
 as well as a soul. This body, He who " knows our frame, for He 
 liatli made us, " has given it in those external ordinances which 
 recur at stated intervals, — those devotional services, public, do- 
 mestic, and secret, which, though in various forms, have consti- 
 tuted a part of man's religious duty under every dispensation of 
 Divine grace. It is a profound remark of one of the greatest of 
 our moralists, that " religion, of wliich the rewards are chstant, and 
 which is animated only by faith and hope, will glide out of the 
 mind, unless it be invigorated and reimpressed by external ordin- 
 ances, by stated calls to worship, and the salutary influence of 
 example." ^ 
 
 "With regard to the important subject of external, and especially 
 public religion, men have run into opposite extremes. They have 
 separated what God has connected ; and have taken up, some with 
 the one part of religious duty, and some with the other, instead 
 of the whole. The most common and fatal mistake is to substi- 
 tute the material external part of religion for the whole of it ; to 
 rest content with the form, while unacquainted with the power of 
 godliness. But it is also an error, and one of no slight import, to 
 cultivate an entirely spiritual religion to the neglect of the insti- 
 tuted means of devotion. Of those who, from a mystical mode of 
 thinking and feeling, have renounced external ordinances as use- 
 less, and placed the whole of religion in the sohtary contemplation 
 and love of God, not a few, finding it impossible to realise their 
 own idea of a pm*ely spiritual and perfect devotion, have given 
 up with religion altogether ; and even in cases where the ultimate 
 result has not been so fatal, if final happiness has not been sacri- 
 ficed, moral improvement has been materially obstructed. 
 
 In the character and conduct of David, we have a beautiful 
 illustration of the perfect practicability of uniting the cultivation 
 of sphitual religion with a strict attention to external ordinances. 
 In liis psalms we have the finest specimens of pure and spiritual 
 devotion ; and we also find expressions of the highest regard for 
 
 ' Johnson. 
 
4 THE IMPORTANCE OF PUBLIC WORSHIP, [PART I. 
 
 the external, and especially the public, ordinances of religion. 
 " One thing," says he, " have I desired of the Lord, that mil I 
 seek after : that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days 
 of my life." " How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts ! 
 My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth. ISIy heart and my flesh 
 crieth out for the living God." " I was glad when they said unto 
 me. Let us go into the house of the Lord." " We will go into his 
 tabernacles ; we will worship at his footstool." How does this 
 energetic language, so expressive of high esteem for the compara- 
 tively carnal and imperfect ordinances under the law, reprove the 
 greater part of the professors of Christianity for their listless 
 indifference to the highly spiritual and rational external services 
 of the new dispensation ! 
 
 David's high esteem of public ordinances, and his resolution 
 carefully to observe them, are peculiarly instructive, as they 
 strongly illustrate the futility of those arguments, if they deserve 
 the name, by which the neglectors of these institutions seek to 
 defend their conduct. These are prhicipally the two following : — 
 That they can derive no advantage from public ordinances, as 
 they are already sufficiently acquainted with the priiiciples of 
 religion ; or that they are so deeply involved in worldly business, 
 that they cannot devote the requisite time and attention. 
 
 The first objection comes with a bad grace from any person, 
 and it is a gross falsehood in the mouths of those who are most 
 disposed to urge it. There are comparatively very few who may 
 not find even new information, by attending on the public exer- 
 cises of religion. Men, well informed on other subjects, are often 
 miserably ill informed on this, though of all subjects the most 
 important. David's knowledge of Divine tratli was very extensive, 
 when we consider his circumstances ; yet lie did not think it 
 unnecessary to compass God's altar, to inquire in his temple. 
 Indeed the objection goes on a false supposition altogether. The 
 communication of new information is by no means the only, nor 
 even the principal, design of public ordinances. We meet together 
 for higher and better piu'poses than, like the Athenians, " to tell 
 or hear some new thing." To recall truth to the mind, to impress 
 it on the heart, to excite and express religious aft'ection, to stimu- 
 late to active duty, — these are the purposes of public ordinances. 
 Who that knows himself, can say that he stands in no need of 
 any of these things ? The right way to observe Divine institutions 
 
DISC. I.] AND OF DUE PKEPAKATION FOK IT. 5 
 
 is, considering them as the divinely-appointed means of spiritual 
 improvement, to engage in them from a regard to Divine authority, 
 and with an humble expectation of the Divine blessing. 
 
 Nor does David's resolution place in a less clear light the 
 impropriety of their conduct, who neglect the public ordinances 
 of religion on the ground of want of time or hurry of business. 
 It is not likely that any of them have a greater variety of im- 
 portant affairs to manage than David the king of Israel. Yet 
 he resolves that, whatever be neglected, religious duty shall not. 
 " I will compass thine altar, O Lord." Activity in secular busi- 
 ness is in no way inconsistent with attention to religious duty. 
 Diligence in business and fervour of spirit, are but two dififerent 
 parts of the same work, — the service of God. In ordinary cases, 
 they do not at all interfere with each other ; and when they do, 
 there can be no doubt which should give way with the man who 
 believes the soul to be more valuable than the body, and time 
 less important than eternity. I know no law, either Divine or 
 human, which obliges any man to involve himself in more business 
 than he can manage ; but I do know more than one Divine in- 
 junction, sanctioned by a tremendous curse, which require every 
 man to keep God's Sabbaths and to reverence his sanctuary. 
 
 2d. The psalmist resolves to prepare for engaging in the 
 public ordinances of religion, by a thorough purification of him- 
 self, — " I will wash mine hands in innocency : so will I compass 
 'thine altar, O Lord." 
 
 Tliis resolution, as well as that we have been considering, is 
 expressed in figui'ative language, boiTowed from the ritual of 
 Judaism. Under the law there were " divers washings." It is 
 difficult to say to what particular rite there is here an allusion ; 
 it may refer to the rite of ablution in general, which was very 
 common among the Jews, or to the purification of the priests 
 before engaging in the discharge of their duties,^ or to the rite by 
 which uncertain murders were to be expiated. We are disposed to 
 think that it is likely to the second of these usages that the refer- 
 ence here is made ; and there can be no doubt that it was intended 
 to teach the important truth, that moral purity, freedom from guilt 
 and pollution, is necessary in order to our acceptably engaging in 
 the exercises of religious worship. In language suited to the exist- 
 
 » Exod. XXX. 17-24; xl. 30-32. 
 
6 THE IMPORTANCE OF PUBLIC AVORSIIIP, [PAUT I. 
 
 ing order of things, the psalmist declares liis resolution to approach 
 God " with a lieart," to use the words of an apostle, " sprinkled 
 from an evil conscience, and a body washed with pure water," 
 
 Viewing the psalmist's words in this point of light, they 
 plainly imply a conviction of the necessity, g,nd an acquaintance 
 with the natui'e, of true preparation for Divine ordinances, a 
 persuasion of personal guilt and depra^^ty — a knowledge of the 
 means by which they are to be removed — and a determination 
 so to employ them as to gain the end in A-iew. Such appear to be 
 the leading ideas suggested by the psalmist's resolution, " I will 
 wash mine hands in innocency." They are highly important, 
 and deserve our attentive and devout consideration. 
 
 The psalmist discovers a conviction of the necessity of pre- 
 paration in order to acceptably worshipping God. There are 
 many professed worshippers of God, who rush into the Di\ane 
 presence " as the horse rusheth into the battle." They enter 
 the house of God without preparation, and they retire from it 
 without advantage. This heedlessness originates in ignorance, 
 or want of consideration respecting the character of God and of 
 themselves. It is because they do not reflect that God is in- 
 finitely gi'eat, holy, and just, — and that they are inconceivably 
 mean, guilty, and depraved, — that they act in a manner so irra- 
 tional, so criminal, and so dangerous. David had extensive and 
 accurate views both of the Divine and the human character. He 
 knew and felt that " God is a gi'eat God and a gi'eat King above 
 all gods " — that " He is of purer eyes than to behold evil, and 
 He cannot look on sin " — that " evil shall not dwell with PIim,and 
 that He hates the workers of iniquity." He knew and felt that 
 mankind at their best estate are altogether vanity, " That they 
 had all gone aside — that they had altogether become filthy — 
 that there was none that did good, no, not one." KnoAAing this, 
 he perceived that preparation Avas absolutely necessary in order 
 to enable man to worship God with acceptance ; that " God is 
 greatly to be feared in the assembly of his saints, and to be had 
 in reverence of all who are about Him ;" and that " holiness 
 becometh his house for ever." 
 
 The same views of God and man which convinced the psalmist 
 of the necessity of preparation for the Divine ordinances, must 
 have led him into an ac([uaintance with the nature of that pre- 
 paration. He perceived that the preparation iXHpiisite for such 
 
DISC. I.] AND OF DUE PREPARATION FOR IT. 7 
 
 a being as man approaching God, could not be mere ceremonial 
 rites, or even external reformation. Knowing that " God desireth 
 truth in the inward parts," and that " the righteous God trieth 
 the reins and the heart," he saw plainly that nothing short of 
 freedom from guilt, and renovation of heart, could fit man for 
 acceptable and comfortable intercourse with God. 
 
 Nor were these truths as to the necessity and nature of prepara- 
 tion for the Divine service, in the case of the psalmist, merely general 
 principles — part of a theological system which he had been taught. 
 He saw and felt his owni interest in them. He knew that not 
 only mankind need this kind of preparation, but he needed it. 
 
 The words we are considering obviously intimate a sense of 
 moral pollution. " I will wash mine hands." Clean hands need 
 not to be washed. " Pure hands" is a common figurative expression 
 for innocence and hohness ; polluted hands are the emblems of 
 depravity and guilt. The sentiment so plainly imj)lied in this 
 passage, is explicitly stated in many other places in the book of 
 Psalms. David was deej^ly convinced that he was at once guilty 
 and depraved. " I acknowledge my transgression, and my sin is 
 ever before me. Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned, and done 
 this evil in thy sight. Behold I was shapen in iniquity, and in 
 sin did my mother conceive me." " Who can understand his 
 errors ? IVIine iniquities have gone over my head ; as a heavy 
 burden, they are too heavy for me." 
 
 But, while the words of the psahnist strongly imply his sense 
 of his own moral defilement, and his persuasion that till it was 
 removed he was unfit for the performance of acceptable Divine 
 worship, they are not the language of helpless, hopeless guilt 
 and depravity. He knows that he is guilty and depraved, but 
 he knows also how he may become righteous and holy. ' My 
 hands are polluted, but " I will wash tliem in innocency." ' It 
 may appear to many, that these words merely imply that David 
 was resolved to repent of all his past sins, and to abstain from 
 them for the futm'e, and be more careful henceforth in the 
 chscharge of all his duties ; and by these penitential tears, good 
 resolutions, and sincere endeavours, secm"e for himself the ac- 
 ceptance of his homage when he laid his sacrifice on the altar. 
 But it is not thus that we have learned Christ, nor is it thus 
 that the Scriptm'es of the New Testament teach us to understand 
 those of the Old. 
 
8 THE IMPORTANCE OF PUBLIC WORSHIP, [PART I. 
 
 The way of deliverance from guilt and depravity, the way of 
 restoration to the Divine favoui', image, and fellowship, has in 
 all ages been the same. " There is " only " one God, and one 
 Mediator between God and man;" one atoning sacrifice, one 
 justifying righteousness, one sanctifying Spirit. I trust none 
 of you are ignorant of the only way in which guilty man can 
 become righteous, and depraved man holy. We are "justi- 
 fied freely by God's grace, through the redemption that is in 
 Christ Jesus." " The righteousness of God is mito all and upon 
 all them that believe." " We are washed, and sanctified, and justi- 
 fied through the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of 
 our God." " Not by works of righteousness which we have done, 
 but according to his mercy He saved us, by the washing of re- 
 generation, and the renewing of the Holy Ghost." 
 
 It is our happiness to have the manner in which man is to be 
 purified much more frilly unfolded than David had ; yet it will 
 not be difficult to show that as the manner of deHverance from 
 guilt and depravity has been the same in all ages, David's know- 
 ledge of it was more extensive than many suppose. The careful 
 reader of the book of Psahns, will soon perceive that David 
 does not consider himself capable of atoning for his sin or of 
 transforming his nature. He asks both of these blessings as 
 mimerited favom's ft'om God. " For thy name sake, O Lord, 
 pardon mine iniquity, for it is great." "Have mercy on me 
 according to thy loving kindness, according to the multitude of 
 thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions." To the same 
 source from which he expected pardon, he looked for renovation. 
 " Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from 
 my sin." 
 
 Nor was this the whole of David's knowledge on this interest- 
 ing subject. He knew not only that pardon and sanctification 
 were to be obtained from God ; he also had some idea, though 
 no doubt an indistinct one, compared with Avhat we may now 
 have, of the manner in which these divine blessings were to be 
 bestowed. He declares his conviction that no ceremonial sacri- 
 fice could prociu^e for him the pardon of his sin. " Thou desirest 
 not sacrifice, else would I give it Thee ; Thou delightest not in 
 burnt-offering." Yet he says, " Purge me with hyssop, and I shall 
 be clean." These words allude to the manner in which the 
 healed leper was purified from ceremonial defilement, by being 
 
DISC. I.] AND OF DUE PREPARATION FOR IT. 9 
 
 sprinkled with the Llood of an animal slain for a sin-offering. 
 From these two passages, taken in connection, it is evident that 
 while David did not expect to obtain the remission of moral 
 guilt by means of ceremonial offerings, he was also persuaded 
 that " without shedding of blood there could be no remission," and 
 tliat his pardon was to be procured by a propitiatory sacrifice of 
 which the Mosaic expiations were only figures. Indeed, in the 
 following passage, we have the great mystery of the manner in 
 which the just God justifies the ungodly unfolded, though we 
 cannot say how far the inspu'ed writer miderstood his own language. 
 " Sacrifice and offering Thou didst not desire ; mine ears hast 
 Thou opened : burnt-offering and sin-offering hast Thou not 
 required. Then said I, Lo, I come : in the volume of the book it 
 is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God ; yea, thy 
 law is within my heart." In language not ambiguous, the 
 psalmist also intimates his expectation of deliverance from the 
 depraving influence of sin, by the Divine Spirit's influence. 
 " Create in me a clean heart, O God ; and renew a right spirit 
 within me. Cast me not away fi'om thy presence ; and take not 
 thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salva- 
 tion ; and uphold me with thy free Spirit" Such was the manner 
 in which David expected to be purified, and thus fitted for 
 acceptably compassing God's altar. 
 
 It may be urged that this view of the subject, however sup- 
 ported by quotations from other parts of the book of Psalms, 
 does not very well comport with the language employed in the 
 text more immediately under consideration, which represents 
 David as active in his own purification. This apparent difficulty, 
 however, is easily surmounted. In purifying man from moral 
 guilt and depravity, God deals with him according to his rational 
 and active nature. " It is God that justifies ;" but in order to 
 justification, man must by faith receive " the gift of righteousness." 
 It is the Holy Spirit who sanctifies ; but while he " works in us 
 both to will and to do," he makes us " work out our own sal- 
 vation." The atonement of Christ will justify none but those 
 who believe, nor will the Spirit of Christ sanctify any but those 
 who yield themselves to his influence. The respective uses of 
 the atonement and Spirit of Christ, and our employment of the 
 appointed means, are in some measure shadowed forth by the 
 figure here employed. It is the water which cleanses our hands 
 
10 THE IMPORTANCE OF PUBLIC WORSHIP, [PART I. 
 
 — the purifying efficacy resides entirely in that element; but 
 if our hands are not washed in the stream, they will not be 
 cleansed. 
 
 The AA'ords of the psalmist imply a resolution not merely to 
 purify himself, but to do so thoroughly, " I will wash mine hands 
 in innocency." "With the great body of interpreters, we consider 
 the words in innocency, as referring to the manner in which David 
 was resolved to wash his hands, and as intimating its completeness. 
 He was desiroiTS of obtaining the pardon of all his sins, the 
 mortification of all his corruptions. There was no sin from which 
 he did not wish to be wholly piu-ified. He was not disposed to 
 say of any sin, " It is a little one." It was his determination to 
 " cleanse himself fi'om all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, and to 
 perfect holiness in the fear of God." The language of his heart 
 was, " Wash me throughly from mine iniquity." " Keep back 
 thy servant also from presumptuous sins." " I esteem all thy 
 precepts concerning all things to be right ; and I hate every false 
 way." 
 
 I only further remark here, that the psalmist's language 
 intimates a determination to seek purification previously to every 
 approach to God's altar. David had often washed his hands 
 in innocency, and thus surrounded the altar of Jehovah ; but 
 conscious of daily contracting guilt and defilement, he resolves 
 daily to a])ply to the blood of propitiation and to the laver of 
 sanctification. 
 
 Brethren, have you made the psalmist's resolution your own % 
 Have you determined in the solemn services of the sanctuary to 
 draw near to God ? Have you resolved to prepare yourselves 
 according to the due order ? Are you aware of the necessity, 
 and do you understand the nature, of preparation for Divine 
 ordinances ? Do you feel your guilt and depravity ? Are you 
 acquainted with the Divine way of justification and sanctifi- 
 cation ? Are you with unsuspecting confidence relying alone on 
 the atoning sacrifice and all-powerful Spirit of the Redeemer?- 
 Is it your desire and determination to cleanse yourselves from all 
 filthiness ; and though you have often applied for pardon and 
 sanctification to the atonement and Spirit of Christ, do you feel 
 the absolute necessity of constantly aj)})lying to these in order to 
 the acceptable performance of any duty ? These are important 
 questions. Let conscience do its work, and honestly answer them. 
 
DISCI.] AND OF DUE PREPARATION FOR IT. 11 
 
 II. I proceed now to the second division of the discourse, in 
 wliich your attention will be directed to a few reasons why we 
 ought to make the psalmist's resolution our own. 
 
 " Whatsoever things were written aforetime, were written for 
 our learning." The experience of David is recorded for the 
 instruction of saints in every age, " that they may be followers 
 of him, who through faith inherits the promises." Numerous 
 and cogent reasons may be adduced for our embracing both parts 
 of the psalmist's resolution. A regard to the Divine authority, 
 and our own real interest, call on us to resolve with David to 
 observe the public ordinances of religion ; and a consideration of 
 the Divine character, of the threatenings denounced against, and 
 the judgments executed vipon, those who approach God unpre- 
 pared, and of the promises addressed to those who draw near to Him 
 after the due order, with the moral impossibility of our deriving 
 any advantage from them if not thus prepared, urges us to adopt 
 the resolution of washing our hands in innocency, before encom- 
 passing God's altar. Let us shortly attend to these motives in 
 their order. 
 
 1st. A regard to the Divine authority and to our own real 
 interest, ought to induce us to resolve to attend the public 
 ordinances of rehgion. That it is the duty of mankind to 
 worship God, not only in secret and in the family, but also 
 in public assemblies, seems a dictate of reason — a part of that 
 law originally impressed on the human mind, which ignorance 
 and guilt have not entirely eflFaced. In all ages and nations, 
 in almost every stage of society, we find some form of 
 public worship, and meetings at stated times in honour of 
 their deities. He who neglects public worship, discovers a 
 conscience more insensible to the calls of duty than the benighted 
 pagan. 
 
 In the holy Scriptures, the duty of public worship is explicitly 
 enjoined. " O come, let us worship and bow down ; let us kneel 
 before the Lord our Maker. For He is our God ; and we are the 
 people of his pasture." " Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, 
 and into his courts with praise." " O that men would praise the 
 Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the child- 
 ren of men. Let them exalt Him also in the congregation of the 
 people, and praise Him in the assembly of the ciders." " Not for- 
 saking the assembling of oxu'selves together, as the manner of some 
 
12 THE IMPORTANCE OF PUBLIC WOUSllIl', [PAKT I. 
 
 is." It is thus impossible for us to neglect public ordinances 
 without pouring contempt on the authority of God. 
 
 In this case, as in every other, duty and interest are closely 
 connected. The person who neglects public ordinances, not 
 only disobeys God but also injures himself. Numerous and 
 important advantages are to be derived from a conscientious, 
 devotional attendance on them. They are the usual medium 
 through which divine influence exerts itself for the conviction 
 and conversion of sinners, and for the edification of saints in 
 knowledge and faith, consolation and obedience. By waiting on 
 them the ignorant may become well informed, and the fool wise 
 to salvation. Knowledge is instilled by them into the understand- 
 ing, and comfort into the heart. By these means, men become 
 better acquainted with God's will and more disposed to do it ; 
 more active in duty, more patient in suffering ; more harmless and 
 more useful ; more w'eaned fi'om earth and more fit for heaven. 
 Consult the experience of the saints, and you will find they have 
 all found attendance on public ordinances a source of advantage 
 and pleasure. " It is good for me to draw near to God." 
 "A day in thy coiu'ts is better than a thousand." He who 
 neglects the pubHc ordinances of religion despises his own mercy. 
 
 2d. A consideration of the Divine character, of the threatenings 
 denounced against and executed on the profaners of Divine insti- 
 tutions, of the promises made to those who approach to God after 
 the due order, and of the moral impossibility of our deriving 
 spiritual advantage from them otherwise, urges us to resolve to 
 prepare ourselves for engaging in these duties, by applying to the 
 sacrifice and Spirit of Christ for pardon and sanctification. The 
 God we worship is infinitely great and glorious, just and holy. 
 Angels, when they approach Him, veil their faces and their feet 
 with their wings. He is jealous of the holiness of his house, and 
 will not allow him who profanes it to escape with impunity. 
 
 The threatenings denovinced against those who with impure 
 hearts and unclean hands engage in his worship, are awfully 
 alanning. " Unto the wicked God saith. What hast thou to do to 
 declare my statutes, or that thou shouldest take my covenant in thy 
 mouth ? Seeing thou hatest instruction, and castest my words 
 behind thee, "When thou sawest a thief, then thou consentedst 
 with him, and hast been [)artaker with adulterers. Thou givest thy 
 mouth to evil, and thy tongue frameth deceit. Thou sittest and 
 
DISC. 1.] AND OF DUE PREPARATION FOR IT. 13 
 
 speakest against thy brother ; thou slanderedst thine own mother's 
 son. These things hast thou done, and I kept silence; thou 
 thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself : but I will 
 reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes. Now consider 
 this, ye that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be 
 none to deliver." " To what purpose is the multitude of your sacri- 
 fices unto me ? saith the Lord. I am full of the burnt-offerings 
 of rams and the fat of fed beasts, and I delight not in the blood of 
 bullocks, or of lambs, or of he-goats. When ye come to appear 
 before Me, who hath required this at your hands to tread my 
 coui'ts ? Bring no more vain oblations ; incense is an abomination 
 unto Me : the new moons and Sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, 
 I cannot away with ; it is iniquity even the solenm meeting. 
 Your new moons and your appointed feasts, my soul hateth : 
 they are a trouble unto Me ; I am weary to bear them. And when 
 ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you ; yea 
 when ye make many prayers, I will not hear : youi' hands are 
 full of blood." Nor are these vain words ; He who utters them 
 is not a man that Pie should he. In many instances He has 
 awfully proved his displeasure at the profaners of his ordinances. 
 Nadab and Abihu, when they offered incense with strange fire, 
 were punished with instantaneous death, by fire from heaven. 
 The men of Bethshemesh, who dared to look into the sacred 
 symbol of Divinity, were smitten with a great slaughter. The 
 Corinthians, for their unprepared approach to the table of the 
 Lord, were chastened with severe diseases, and some of them 
 with untimely death. 
 
 If these threatenings and judgments are fitted to deter us 
 from a rash approach to God in his ordinances, the promises 
 addressed to those who cbaw near to Him accordinc; to the due 
 order, arc well fitted to persuade us to wash our hands in inno- 
 cency, and so compass the altar of Jehovah. While the sinners 
 in Zion " may well be afraid, and fearfiilness surprise the hypo- 
 crites" — if the question be put " who can dwell with the devouring 
 fire (for our God is a consuming fire), who can dwell with ever- 
 lasting burnings 1" the answer follows, " He that walketh 
 righteously and speaketh uprightly, he that despiseth the gain of 
 oppression, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, and 
 stoppeth liis ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes 
 from seeing of evil, he shall dwell on high, his place of defence 
 
14 THE IMPORTANCE OF PUBLIC WORSHIP. [PART I. 
 
 shall be the munition of rocks ; bread shall be given him, and 
 his water shall be sure. Thine eyes shall see the King in his 
 beauty ; they shall behold the land that is very far off." " Who 
 shall ascend into the hill of the Lord, and who shall stand in his 
 holy place? He that hath clean hands and a pm'e heart, who 
 hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity nor sworn deceitfully. 
 He shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness 
 from the God of his salvation." " Blessed are the pure in heart, 
 for they shall see God." 
 
 Finally, the consideration of the impossibility of oui' deriving 
 spiritual advantage from public ordinances, unjustified and un- 
 sanctified, shoidd lead us to resolve to wash our hands in inno- 
 cency, that so we may encompass God's altar. How can a man 
 " under the cm-se " be blessed with tokens of God's peculiar 
 favour ? How can the unholy have fellowship with the holy, 
 holy, holy One? 
 
 Deeply impressed with a sense of our obligations, from duty 
 and interest, to engage in the solemn public services of religion, 
 and convinced that it is impossible for us to perform these in a 
 manner acceptable to God, and advantageous to ourselves, without 
 an interest in the atonement and spirit of Christ, let us exercise that 
 humble, yet confident, reliance on the testimony of God concern- 
 ing his Son, which is the appointed medium of our receiving all 
 the blessings of the Christian salvation. This faith is the work 
 of the Spirit, this holy Spirit is the gift of God, and this divine 
 gift is promised to all who ask it. " Ask and ye shall receive, 
 seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you ; 
 for every one that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth, 
 and to him that knocketh it shall be opened." — " If ye then being 
 evil, know how to give good gifts unto your childi'en : how much 
 more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them 
 who ask Him V 
 
DISCOURSE II. 
 
 THE NATUKE OF THE LORD'S 8UPPER. ^ 
 
 Lure xxii. 19, 20. — " This bread is my body, which is given for you : — this cup is 
 the New Testament in my blood, which is shed for you." 
 
 Christianity is honourably distinguished, by the simplicity and 
 spirituality of its ordinances and duties, not merely from those 
 false religions which have in every age imposed on the credulity 
 or the fears of manldnd, but also from Judaism, the only other 
 religion which can justly lay claim to a divine origin. By far 
 the greater part of the Christian code is occupied with the duties 
 which naturally arise out of the relations which man bears to the 
 Supreme Being, and to his fellow-men. Love to God and love 
 to man, form the two cardinal requisitions of the law of Christ ; 
 and its particular injunctions are but illustrations or exemplifica- 
 tions of these two leading principles. 
 
 It is comparatively but a very smaU part of the Cluistian law 
 that is devoted to the institution and regulation of ritual obsen^- 
 ances. Under the Old Testament economy, ceremonial institu- 
 tions bore a very considerable proportion to the general mass of 
 religious duty. On those who hved under that dispensation, 
 were imposed numerous fatiguing and expensive observances, the 
 meaning of which was in many cases obscure ; and the obligation 
 of which was to be traced entirely to positive institution. The 
 ordinances of Christianity, on the contrary, are in general such as 
 natiu'ally arise out of the constitution and situation of mankind, 
 and their relations and duties to their Creator and each other ; 
 and that part of our rehgion which is ritual, is in the highest 
 
 ' A fuller view of the doctrine of Scripture as respects the nature, design, obligation, 
 permanent obligation, and frequent observance of the Lord's Supper, may be found in 
 the Author's " Hints on the Lord's Supper, and Thoughts for the Lord's Table.'' 
 
16 THE NATURE OF THE LORD's SUPPER. [PART I. 
 
 degree simple, being confined to two ceremonies, — the meaning 
 of which is apparent, and the observance of which is easy, — 
 Baptism and the Lord's Supper. Tliese are tlie only institutions 
 of a ritual nature, which Jesus Christ has enjoined on his followers. 
 
 These orcHnances are ob^^ously of a positive nature, and derive 
 their obligation, not from any intrinsic propriety, but entirely 
 from the authority of Him who appointed them. On the sup- 
 position of the truth of the Gospel, it necessarily follows, on the 
 principles of that law which binds all intelligent beings, that all 
 who hear it ought to believe it, and that all who believe it ought 
 to profess it ; but the obligation of believers to make this pro- 
 fession, by being Avashed with water in the name of the Father, 
 and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, is to be resolved into a 
 positive appointment of Heaven. On the same supposition, that 
 we should gratefully recollect the love of the Son of God in dying 
 for oiu* salvation, is the dictate of reason and of conscience ; but 
 that we should testify this grateful recollection by eating bread 
 and drinking wine, as instituted emblems of his body and blood, 
 we could never have found out, had he not expressly said, " This 
 do in remembrance of me." 
 
 The attentive observer must, however, have remarked, that 
 even these positive ordinances, these ritual institutions, bear the 
 general character of simplicity and spirituality, which marks 
 the whole of the New Testament economy. Baptism and the 
 Lord's Supper, though ceremonies, are by no means unmeaning 
 ceremonies, nor is their signification either doubtful or obscure. 
 They are striking emblematical representations of the peculiar 
 and most important principles of our holy faith. The Author of 
 our religion, who " knows our frame, for He hath made us," has, 
 in kind condescension to our weakness, embodied, as it were, the 
 abstract principles of his institution in these ordinances, and thus 
 made use of our senses, the more deeply to impress our mmds 
 with the invisible realities of religious truth. In both of tliese 
 ordinances, we are taught the doctrines of man's guilt and de- 
 pravity, and of salvation through the atoning sacrifice and trans- 
 forming Spirit of Jesus Christ. The baptism of water is a symbol 
 of internal purification ; and who but the polluted require to be 
 cleansed ? The Lord's Supper is a commemorative representa- 
 tion of a propitiatory sacrifice ; and who but the guilty stand in 
 need of expiation and forgiveness? This ordinance proclaims 
 
DISC. II.] THE NATURE OF THE LORD's SUPPER. 17 
 
 the necessity and efficacy of the Redeemer's sacrifice, — that, the 
 power and sufficiency of the Redeemer's spirit. Both are cal- 
 culated to suggest the most important truths to the mind, as well 
 as to excite the most devotional affections in the heart ; and thus, 
 though positive observances, and ritual institutions, they are 
 " spiritual sacrifices," — " reasonable services," — " rational wor- 
 ship." 
 
 No employment can be more appropriate to our present cir- 
 cumstances, in the immediate prospect of observing the Lord's 
 Supper, than an inquiry into the meaning of the holy service we 
 have in view ; and nowhere are we likely to find more satisfactory 
 information on this subject, than in the words of the Master 
 himself, when he instituted this holy ordinance. " This bread," 
 said he, " is ray body which is given for you : — this cup is the 
 New Testament in my blood, which is shed for you." 
 
 The force of our Lord's words may, I apprehend, be expressed 
 in the folloAving proposition : — " The religious ceremony which 
 we term the Lord's Supper, is an emblematical representation of 
 this truth, — that the incarnate Son of God, by his sufferings and 
 death, made atonement for the sins of his people." It teaches us, 
 that the Son of God had a body and blood, — or in other words, 
 that he was incarnate ; it teaches us, that this body was broken, 
 and this blood shed, — or in other words, that he suffered and 
 died ; and it teaches us, that this body was given for his people, 
 and this blood shed for them, — or in other words, that he offered 
 himself as an expiatory sacrifice in their room. The illustration 
 of this general remark, Avhich thus naturally divides itself into 
 three parts, shall occupy the remaining part of the discourse. 
 
 I. In the Lord's Supper, we have an emblematical representa- 
 tion of our Savioiu''s incarnation. The bread and the vane are 
 symbols of his holy humanity. " This bread is my body, — this 
 cup is the New Testament in my blood ;" — or, as it is expressed 
 in another of the gospel histories, " this is my blood of the New 
 Testament." 
 
 Nothing is of greater importance to the formation of just 
 conceptions of the system of human redemption, than correct 
 notions of the pre-existent glories of Him who came in the name 
 of the Lord to save us. He whose death is represented in the 
 Lord's Supper, did not begin to exist when he was born of the 
 
 B * 
 
18 THE NATURE OF THE LOED'S SUPPER. [PART I. 
 
 Virgin. " His goings forth have been of old, from everlasting." 
 " Ho was in the beginning with God, — he was God." His name 
 is " the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, and the living 
 One." ' He is " God over all, blessed for ever." " By him were 
 created all things that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible 
 and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or princi- 
 palities, or powers ; all things were created by him and for him, 
 and he is before all things, and by him all things subsist." 
 
 This illustrious person, to obtain our salvation, became " the 
 man Christ Jesus." " The word was made flesh, and dwelt 
 among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the Only- 
 begotten of the Father, full of grace and of truth." " Forasmuch 
 as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also took part 
 of the same." 
 
 The facts of the case are thus stated by the evangehcal his- 
 torian : — " And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent 
 from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin 
 espoused to a man, whose name was Joseph, of the house 
 of David ; and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel 
 came in unto her, and said. Hail, thou that art highly favoured, 
 the Lord is with thee : blessed art thou among women. And 
 when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in 
 her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the 
 angel said unto her, fear not, ISIary ; for thou hast found favour 
 with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and 
 bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be 
 great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest ; and the Lord 
 God shall give unto him the throne of his father David : And 
 he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever ; and of his king- 
 dom there shall be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel. 
 How shall this be, seeing I know not a man ? And the angel 
 answered and said unto her, the Holy Ghost shall come upon 
 
 ' Rev. i. 17, 18. — Nowhere, perhaps, has the division of the New Testament into 
 verses produced a more unhappy effect on the translation, than in the passajje here 
 referred to. Instead of rendering — iyu uy-i i Tjafrof x«i i ia-xarci xmi » ?*», ««/ 'fyivi//.tif 
 ,iK(ot *. T. X. " I am the first and the last, and the living one^and I was dead," &c., 
 our translators, following the Stephanie division of the verses, which is of no authority, 
 have rendered it, " I am the first and the last, / am he that liveth ;" thus omitting the 
 second ««< altogether, and inserting the very needless supplement " I am." The 
 division of the Bible into chapters and verses is a great convenience for reference ; 
 but this is not a solitary instance, in which an undue regard to this division has led 
 to an obscure or even incorrect translation. 
 
DISC. II.] THE NATURE OF THE LORD's SUPPER. 19 
 
 thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee : there- 
 fore also that holy thing, which shall be bom of thee, shall be 
 called the Son of God. And, behold, thy cousin Elizabeth, she 
 hath also conceived a son in her old age : and this is the sixth 
 month with her, who was called barren. For with God nothing 
 shall be impossible. And Mary said. Behold the handmaid of 
 the Lord ; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel 
 departed from her." ^ " And it came to pass in those days, that 
 there went out a decree from Cesar Augustus, that all the world 
 should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when 
 Cyrenius was governor of Syria). And all went to be taxed, 
 every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up fi-om 
 Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of 
 David, which is called Bethlehem (because he was of the house 
 and lineage of David), to be taxed with Mary his espoused 
 wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they 
 were there, the days were accomplished that she should be de- 
 livered. And she brought forth her first-born son, and wrapped 
 him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger ; because 
 there was no room for them in the inn. And there were in the 
 same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over 
 their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon 
 them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them ; and 
 they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them. Fear 
 not : for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which 
 shall be to all people. For unto you is bom this day, in the 
 city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this 
 shall be a sign unto you ; ye shall find the babe wrapt in swaddling 
 clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the 
 angel, a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying. 
 Glory to God, in the highest, and on earth peace, good will 
 toward men. And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away 
 from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another. Let 
 us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is 
 come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And 
 they came with haste, and found Mary and Joseph, and the babe 
 lying in a manger."^ Thus was the Word made flesh. 
 
 The doctrine of the Scripture on this confessedly mysterious 
 
 ' Luke i. 26-38. » Luke ii. 1-16. 
 
20 THE NATURE OF THE LORD'S .SUPrER. [I'ART IT. 
 
 but obviously most important, suljject, seems reducible to the 
 following proposition, which I shall endeavour, as briefly and as 
 plainly as I can, to illustrate. * That the Only-begotten of God 
 equally with the Father and the Spirit, the possessor of the 
 essential })erfections and rights of the one Divine nature, assumed 
 a human nature, consisting of a material body and a rational soul, 
 free from moral guilt and defilement, yet subject to the innocent 
 infirmities of humanity in its present state, into a personal union 
 with his Divine nature, so that, while the natures are for ever 
 distinct and unmingled, they are inseparably and eternally 
 united in his person, as "the mediator between God and man.'" 
 
 The Son of God, when he came into our world to procure our 
 redemption, did not, as some ancient heretics taught, merely 
 assume a human form as he had repeatedly done under former 
 dispensations. He took unto himself a material body formed of 
 the same kind of substance as the bodies of other men. " When 
 he cometh into the world, he saith, sacrifice and offering thou 
 wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me." In this body 
 he was " born of a woman ;" and, like the bodies of other men, it 
 was nourished by food and increased in size. He was made of 
 the seed of David according to the flesh. In his own body, 
 he, his own self, bare our sins to the tree, and by the shedding 
 of his own blood did he make expiation for the transgressions of 
 his people. " Handle me and see," said he to his disciples, who 
 were in doubt as to the reality of his resurrection, " for a Spirit 
 hath not flesh and bones as ye see me have." 
 
 But our Lord assumed not only a human body but a human 
 nature, consisting both of matter and mind, soul and body. 
 The Divine nature was not the immediate animating principle of 
 the body of Jesus. In this case he had not been our kinsman, 
 our brother, the man Christ Jesus. Jesus increased in wisdom 
 as well as in stature, but the second person of the Trinity, who 
 is the all-wise God, can acquire no new information. It is plain 
 from this single fact, that our Saviour possessed a human under- 
 standing, limited in its capacities and susceptible of improve- 
 ment. The Divine nature is incapable of suffering, but the soul 
 of Jesus was exceeding son*owful even to death. The will of 
 the Divine Father and Son is necessarily one, but Jesus pos- 
 sessed a will distinct from, though completely subject to, the will 
 of God. " Not my will but thine be done." 
 
DISC, II.] THE NATURE OF THE I.OKD'S SUPPER. 21 
 
 Indeed, had not the Son of God assumed a com])lete human 
 nature, he would have been incapable of death, which in man 
 consists in the dissolution of the union between the material and 
 spiritual parts of his complex frame. The death of Jesus was in 
 everything essential like the death of other men. "Father," he 
 said, " into thy hands I commend my spirit ; and having said this, 
 he yielded up the ghost." 
 
 Nor are we to conceive of our Lord's incarnation as merely the 
 communication to the man Christ Jesus of a Divine influence, 
 superior in its nature, larger in its measure, more constant in 
 its operation, and more permanent in its continuance than was 
 ever conferred on any other man. The language of Scripture 
 necessarily involves in it the idea of personal union. 
 
 " The "Word was made flesh." " God was manifest in flesh." 
 Yes, the invisible God was so manifest in the flesh, as to be the 
 object of men's bodily senses. The eternal living one who was 
 with the Father, was seen and looked on and handled. " He 
 who saw him, saw the Father." The command was, " Behold 
 thy God." " The child born," and " the mighty God," was the 
 same person. " He who was found in fashion as a man," was 
 "He who was in the form of God." 
 
 The human nature thus assumed by the Son of God, into 
 union with his Divine person, was completely free from moral 
 stain. " Jesus was such an High Priest as became us, holy, 
 harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners." That which was 
 bom of the virgin was " a holy thing." 
 
 Indeed, though this truth had not been so distinctly stated, 
 the well informed mind would instinctively have recoiled from the 
 idea that the thrice Holy Divinity in the person of the Son should 
 be united to what is sinful, morally impure, as the veiy supremacy 
 of incongruity and absurdity. Besides, the very design of the 
 incarnation, which was to furnish him with " somewhat to offer " 
 as a sacrifice, required that he who was to expiate the sins of men 
 should have none of his own. The doctrine of our Lord's fallen 
 humanity, however modified, is one of the " strange doctrines" 
 against which the apostle warns the Hebrews. It appears to be 
 held in three diflPerent forms. AVith some it is merely a para- 
 doxical mode of expressing the doctrine of the Christian church 
 from the beginning, that human nature, as existing in our 
 Saviour, was liable to those evils which are the result of the first 
 
22 TUE NATURE OF THE LORD's SUPPER. [PART I. 
 
 sin of the first man, and in other men ai*e connected with ori- 
 ginal depravity. With others it seems to be a name for the fol- 
 lowing principle — that had the human nature of our Lord not 
 been, from the first moment of its existence, in connection with 
 the Divine nature, and under the influence of the Holy Spirit, it 
 would have been like human nature in other men — a principle 
 which, stripped of its phraseology, having a show of wisdom, is 
 equivalent to the proposition — Had Jesus been a man like other 
 men, he would have been a man like other men — a most un- 
 doubted truth, but one which it would be difficult to turn to any 
 account, either in doctrinal theology or practical godliness. By 
 a third class, if their language have any meaning, the doctrine is 
 taught, that the man Christ Jesus, in union with God, had 
 in his nature those tendencies to sin which characterise all man- 
 kind, and that they were repressed and subdued in him only by 
 the overpowering influence of the Holy Spirit. This is a doctrine 
 obviously dii'ectly opposed to the plainest declarations of the 
 word of God, revolting to the feelings of natural, as well as of 
 Christian piety, and striking at the foundation of the sinner's 
 hope in the reality and efficacy of the atonement made by the 
 perfect offering of an unblemished victim of infinite value, when 
 the Just and Holy One of God give himself a sacrifice in the room 
 of the unjust. The only remark having even the semblance of 
 an argument in support of this doctrine, is, that had he not 
 taken such a nature, he could not have been our " kinsman 
 Redeemer." On the same principle, the supernatural concep- 
 tion of our Lord may be denied and attempted to be disproved, 
 by saying, because he had no human father he could not be our 
 kinsman-Redeemer. The truth is, all such speculations about 
 the mode of the incarnation are useless, or worse than useless. 
 
 My hope as a sinner does not depend on my understanding of, 
 what very likely no created being understands, the manner in 
 which human nature is connected with the Divine in the passion 
 of the Saviour, so as that he is my kinsman Redeemer, but on 
 my believing the fact plainly stated to me on Divine authority, 
 that the Son of God did become a true man, and suflfered and 
 died in the room of men, and is set forth an all perfect and 
 accepted propitiation, on which I may and ought to rely for the 
 redemption that is in liim through his blood, according to the 
 riches of Divine grace. 
 
DISC. II.] THE NATURE OF THE LORD's SUPPER. 23 
 
 While the humanity of Jesus was perfectly free from stain, it 
 was subject to all those infirmities, which, though in themselves 
 sinless, are the consequences of transgression. " He was made 
 like unto his brethren." " He was in all things tempted as we 
 are, yet without sin." He was liable to hunger, thirst, exhaus- 
 tion, distress of mind from the experience or the apprehension 
 of suffering, to fear and sorrow, to agony both of body and soul, 
 and to death. He thus took on him not only the form of a ser- 
 vant, but the nature of a man, the likeness of a sinner. 
 
 But though our Lord so assumed human nature as that the 
 Word became flesh, and the Son of God became the man Christ 
 Jesus, yet were not the two natures confounded or commingled. 
 Though such a commixture had been possible, it would not have 
 answered the design of the incarnation; for in this case, the 
 Redeemer, instead of being of the nature of God and man, and 
 thus a fit mediator between them, would have been of a nature 
 diflferent from both. That man must have very gross and un- 
 worthy ideas of the eternal and independent Spirit who can 
 suppose that his nature can be commingled with what is material 
 and created, and as there is not, as there could not be, any 
 mixture of the natures of our Lord, so neither is there mutual 
 conversion. The divine nature does not become human, the 
 human nature does become divine, in the person of the incarnate 
 Son of God. Divinity cannot be converted into humanity, for 
 immutability forms one of its essential attributes. He who is 
 God cannot cease to be God, for He is the Father of Lights, 
 with whom there is no variableness nor shadow of turning. 
 Humanity cannot be converted into divinity. That which was 
 called into existence and continues to exist by the will of another, 
 cannot become essentially independent — that wdiich came into 
 being yesterday can never become eternal — that which is essen- 
 tially limited cannot become infinite. The human and divine 
 natures in the person of Christ continue for ever distinct, each 
 possessed of its peculiar and incommunicable attributes. 
 
 Yet while the divinity and the humanity of our Saviour are for 
 ever distinct as existing in him, they are inseparably united and 
 constitute one person. " God was manifest in the flesh. He 
 who was in the beginning was made of a woman." He whose 
 goings forth have been of old from everlasting, was born in 
 Bethlehem, in the days of the emperor Augustus, and Herod the 
 
24 THE NATURE OF THE LORD'S SUPPER. [PART I. 
 
 king. He who is of the seed of David according to the flesh, is 
 God blessed for ever. He by whom God made the world, and 
 who upholds all things by the word of his power, purged our sins 
 with his own blood. 
 
 The doctrine of the Scripture on tlie incarnation which we 
 have endeavoured briefly to unfold, is happily expressed by an 
 ancient council in fom* words. The two natures are united, 
 without commixture, without conversion, undividedly, inseparably; 
 or, in the well-considered words of our Shorter Catechism, " Jesus 
 Christ was and continues to be God and man in two distinct 
 natures and one person for ever;" and though to some these 
 statements may appear to be scholastic niceties or matter of 
 doubtful disputation, yet in truth, to borrow the words of a 
 very sound thinker — " They are necessary verities and certain 
 truths, without which we cannot interpret sacred Scripture nor 
 understand the history of our Saviour." ^ 
 
 " This bread is my body — this cup is my blood." These are 
 the words of the eternal Son of God. " Great without contro- 
 versy is this mysteiy of godliness ! " Let us contemplate it with 
 devout admiration and fervent gratitude. " He who was in the 
 form of God, and thought it no robbei*y to be equal with God, 
 empties himself, takes on him the form of a servant, and is found 
 in fashion as a man ! " Astonishing condescension ! The angelic 
 hosts stand confounded at this voluntary abasement ; they " desire 
 to look into " it, and every new discovery produces deeper wonder, 
 and calls forth louder halleluiahs. And should we be unaffected 
 — should we be silent, who are so deeply interested in this miracle 
 of kindness ? Surely no. " Our spirits will magnify the Lord, 
 our souls will be glad in God our Saviour." Our hearts will 
 adore, and our lips praise him. 
 
 This is the true dignity of human nature. Man is now made 
 higher than the angels. " Human flesh," to borrow the energetic 
 language of a truly great man, " has become adorable as the 
 true Shechinah, the everlasting palace of the supreme Majesty, 
 wherein the fulness of the Godhead dwelleth bodify, the most 
 holy shrine of the Divinity, the orb of inaccessible light, as this, 
 and more than all this, if more could be expressed, or if we could 
 explain that text, ' the Word was made flesh, and dwelt amongst 
 us.' " 2 
 
 ' Pearson, ' Barrow. 
 
DISC. II.] THE NATURE OF TUE LORD's SUPPER. 25 
 
 II. In the Lord's Supper we have an emblematical represen- 
 tation of the silverings and death of the incarnate Son of God. 
 " This is my body ^iven " — or, as the apostle Paul relates our 
 Lord's words — " broken for ^ou. This cup is the New Testament 
 in my blood, which is shed for you." The breaking of the bread 
 and the pouring out of the wine, figuratively represent the 
 severe sufferings and violent death of our Saviour. As the 
 divine nature is not susceptible of pain, the Saviour could suffer 
 only in his human nature. " Christ suffered for us in the flesh." 
 The Deity, who is immutable, cannot suffer change ; nor can 
 that essence, " which alone hath immortality," become subject to 
 death. Yet still it is true, that He who is God suffered and 
 died ; — not that the divinity of Christ was passible and mortal, 
 any more than his humanity was immutable or eternal, but 
 because the Son of God was also the son of man, he was at the 
 same time, though in different respects, passible and mortal, im- 
 mutable and eternal; — passible and mortal in respect of his 
 humanity — immutable and eternal in respect of his divinity. 
 There is much that is wonderful, much that is incomprehensible, 
 here : but there is nothing that is self-contradictory, nothing that 
 is incredible. 
 
 While the sufferings of our Lord were necessarily confined to 
 his human nature, they were, in both of its constituent parts, in 
 the highest conceivable degree intense and severe. In his body 
 he felt weariness and languor, hunger and thirst, sickness and 
 pain. " His visage was more marred than any man's, and his 
 form than the sons of men." How sharp must have been the 
 pain produced by the merciless Roman scourge, when " the 
 plowers plowed upon his back, and made long their furrows !" 
 We shudder to think of the excess of agony occasioned by forcibly 
 wreathing the crown of thorns around his bleeding temples ; and 
 though the spear, directed by wanton barbarity, inflicted no 
 pain on the breathless coqise which it wounded, it was far other- 
 wise, when large bolts of rugged iron were forcibly driven tlu'ough 
 the hands and the feet, parts endued with the keenest sensibility; 
 and the whole weight of the body suspended for some hours on 
 these mangled wounds. 
 
 But though the words in the text, and the emblems in tlie 
 Lord's Supper, lead us more directly to reflect on the bodily 
 sufferings of our Lord, " the breaking of his body and the shedding 
 
26 THE NATURE OF THE LORD'S SUPPER. [PART I. 
 
 of his blood," yet by that figure of speech by which a part is put 
 for the whole — what is seen for what is unseen — we are to con- 
 sider both the one and the other as representing the whole of the 
 Saviour's passion. He suffered in his soul, as well as in his body. 
 Indeed, to use the expressive, though somewhat quaint, language 
 of an old divine, " the sufferings of his soul were the soul of his 
 sufferings." — " The spirit of a man can sustain his infirmity ; 
 but a wounded spirit who can bear ?" Evil apprehended as 
 future, tormented his soul with fear ; — evil felt as present, tor- 
 mented it with sadness, and sorrow, and anguish. 
 
 Of the nature and extent of our Lord's mental sufferings, we 
 are able to form but very indistinct ideas. But the awfully 
 energetic language which is used in describing them, is sufficient 
 to convince us, that they exceeded not only all that we can 
 experience, but all that we can conceive. " He began to be 
 sorrowful," says Matthew ; " he began to be sore amazed," says 
 Mark ; " he began to be very heavy," says both these evangelists. 
 I do not know that our translators could have found more ap- 
 propriate and expressive terms in our language than those which 
 they have employed ; yet powerful as they are, they come far 
 short of the energy of the original phrases. They are explained 
 by one who well knew their force, as representing him as " on a 
 sudden possessed with horror and amazement ; encompassed with 
 grief, and overwhelmed with sorrow ; pressed down with con- 
 sternation and dejection of mind ; tormented with anxiety and 
 disquietude of spirit." ^ 
 
 If the language of the evangelist be expressive, still more 
 fearfully significant are the words of our Lord himself: "My 
 soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death." What dreadful 
 emphasis is here ! " I am sorrowful — my soul is sorrowful — my 
 soul is exceeding sorrowful — my soul is exceeding sorrowful, even 
 unto death." And let it not be forgotten, that he who thus heaps 
 superlative upon superlative in expressing his own anguish, was, 
 as all his history proves, distinguished not less by magnanimity 
 than by mildness, — not more by activity in duty, than by ])atience 
 in suffering. Again and again, " with strong cr}'ing and tears, 
 he made supplication to Him who was able to save him," for 
 
 ' Matth. xxvi. 37 ; Mark xvi. 33. — Pearson's note on these passapcs is well worth 
 the notice of the pious critical reader of the New Testament. — On thr (Wrd, p. 198. 
 fol. Lond. 1G76. 
 
DISC. II.] THE NATURE OF THE LORD'S SUPPER. 27 
 
 deliverance, if it was possible, from the sorrows of that hour. 
 And, as if his cries and tears were not sufficient evidence of his 
 inward sufferings, the innumerable pores of his body pour forth 
 a still more lively representation of the bitter anguish of his soul. 
 " Being in an agony, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat 
 was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground." 
 The heart of our Saviour was as it were " molted like wax in the 
 midst of his bowels," and all the parts of his body inflamed with 
 anguish and agony. But time would fail us, to tell what he 
 suffered from his infernal and human foes ; what he suffered 
 from his friends ; and, severest of all his agonies ! what he suffered 
 from his Father. That w'as a cry of deepest anguish, " My God, 
 my God ! why hast Tliou forsaken me ? " 
 
 These sufferings were sufferings unto death. The body is not 
 only bruised, but broken ; the blood is poured out till the vital 
 current has ceased to flow. "He became obedient to death, 
 even the death of the cross." His course of suffering did not 
 terminate till the constituent parts of his human nature were 
 disunited ; not did he rest fi'om his toils, till he fell asleep in 
 death. 
 
 Such is the scene of suffering and death emblematically repre- 
 sented to us in the Lord's Supper. Thus did the Saviour suffer 
 and die. He suffered in his body by infirmities and external 
 injuries — in his soul by fears and sorrows, by unknown and 
 inexpressible agonies. The emblems are expressive, but they 
 are not too expressive ; they fall short, infinitely short, of a 
 complete representation : for, " if sorrows and agonies, if stripes 
 and buffetings, if condemnation and crucifixion be suffeiing, 
 Jesus suffered. If the infirmities of our nature, if the weight of 
 our sins, if the malice of man, if the machinations of Satan, if the 
 hand of God could make him suffer, our Saviour suffered !"' 
 
 What an astonishing scene is here, my brethren ! Turn aside, 
 and behold this great sight. The incarnate Son of God toihng 
 and weeping, bleeding and dying ! " Behold God accused by 
 men of blasphemy, the eternal wisdom aspersed with folly, ti'uth 
 itself impleaded of imposture, essential love made guilty of mis- 
 chief, and supreme goodness styled a malefactor ; infinite power 
 beat down and trampled on by impotent malice ; the Judge of 
 
 ' Pearson. 
 
2y THE NATURE OF THE LORD'S SUPPER. [PART I. 
 
 all the world, the fountain of all authority and right, arraigned, 
 condemned, and executed, for injustice ; the desire of all nations 
 rejected by his own countrymen and kindred ; the joy of paradise, 
 whose smile brightens the glories of the blessed, overwhelmed 
 with grief, uttering lamentable groans, tortured with grievous 
 agonies — the very heart of God bleeding, and the sole Author of 
 life expiring." ' All this the words of institution, and the sacred 
 symbols, are intended and calculated to suggest to the under- 
 standing, and to impress upon the heart. 
 
 III. In the Lord's Supper, we have an emblematical represen- 
 tation of that atonement for the sins of men, which the incarnate 
 Son of God made by his sufferings and death. " This is my 
 body given " or devoted "for you : — this cup is the new testa- 
 ment in my blood, which is shed for you ;" i. e,, the blood of the 
 expiatory victim, by which the new covenant of grace and salva- 
 tion is ratified and confirmed. There can be no reasonable doubt, 
 that these expressions of our Lord are borrowed from the sacri- 
 ficial language of the Jews, and intimate this important truth, 
 that his human nature was presented to God in our stead, as a 
 sin-offering, to obtain for us the pardon of our sin, restoration to 
 the Divine favour and image, and the enjoyment of everlasting 
 happiness. 
 
 This doctrine of our Lord's vicarious and expiatory sacrifice, 
 is one of the first principles of our most holy faith. Remove it, 
 and you rob Christianity at once of almost all its peculiarity and 
 glory. Remove it, and the Mosaic ritual appears not only 
 burdensome, but unmeaning. Remove it, and the Christian 
 system becomes a mass of inconsistency and confusion. Remove 
 it, and you overturn the foundation of man's hope, and involve 
 the prospect of his eternity in the " blackness of darkness." 
 
 The substitution of our Lord is a doctrine which unprejudiced 
 reason naturally deduces from the facts connected with the dis- 
 pensation of mercy to mankind. We perceive an infinitely just 
 and merciful God, inflicting sufferings, unparalleled in their 
 number and severity, on a person perfectly innocent, infinitely 
 meritorious. We see the same God dispensing pardon and 
 salvation to the guilty and depraved. How then is the justice 
 
 I Barrow. 
 
DISC. II.] THE NATURE OF THE LORD's SUPPER. 29 
 
 of God, to say nothing of his goodness, to be vindicated in these 
 dispensations, but on the supposition of transference of guilt in 
 the one case, and of merit in the other ! We have been told, 
 indeed, that the humble life, the severe sufferings, and the 
 accm'sed death of the Son of God, were intended merely as 
 attestations of the truth of his doctrines and the divinity of his 
 mission, and as illustrations of the passive virtues of fortitude 
 and patience in the most trying circumstances. We wilhngly 
 concede that these ends were gained by our Saviour's incarnation, 
 sufferings, and death ; but they were not the only, they were not 
 the principal, designs of these most astonishing events. That 
 these confessedly important objects were gained by these means, 
 is most true ; but we must renounce our belief in the moral 
 perfections of the Divine character, before we can persuade 
 ourselves, that the plainest principles of justice wore violated, to 
 obtain these blessings for men. The only satisfactory account of 
 these wonders, is to be found in the scriptural doctrines of 
 substitution and expiation. 
 
 We are not left, however, to deduce this principle from other 
 facts by a train of reasoning, however short and conclusive. It 
 is revealed in Scripture with a clearness and an abundance of 
 evidence corresponding to its importance. " The Lord laid on 
 him the iniquities of us all." " Scarcely for a righteous man will 
 one die, yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare 
 to die ; but herein God commendeth his love to us, in that while 
 we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." " Christ hath redeemed 
 us from the curse of the law, having been made a cm'se for us." 
 " He himself bare our sins in his own body on the tree." 
 
 Let us endeavour to collect the force of these passages of 
 Scripture, the number of which might easily be increased, into 
 one short aro;umcnt. He who suffers the punishment to which 
 another is o bnoitio ^s, in order that that person may escape 
 punishment, suffers in his stead. No person who understands 
 the meaning of the tenns, will question the truth of this proposi- 
 tion. Now this is a plain statement of the doctrine of Scriptm'e 
 respecting Christ and sinners. That our Lord endm'ed the 
 sufferings to which sinners were o b nojuou s, is as clear as language 
 can make it. " He bare our sins. He was made a sin-offering 
 in our room, — the chastisement of our peace was upon him." 
 That he underwent these sufferino-s that men miiiht be delivered 
 
30 THE NATURE OF TOE LORD'S SUPPER. [PART I. 
 
 from them, is equally obvious. " lie was made a sin-ofFering in 
 our stead, that we might be made the righteousness of God in 
 him." " By his stripes we are healed." " He gave himself for 
 us, a sacrifice and an offering, that he might bring us to God." 
 
 Indeed, though the enemies of the doctrine of our Lord's atoning 
 sacrifice were to succeed in their favourite work of expunging or 
 explaining away all those passages of the Holy Scriptures, which 
 directly teach it, their labour would be in a great measure lost, 
 for it is interwoven throughout the whole contexture, both of the 
 Law and the Gospel. Like the ancient artist who so inscribed 
 his name on the temple he built, that it was impossible to erase 
 the one without destroying the other, the great Author of revela- 
 tion has so constructed the revealed system, that without a total 
 relinquishment of its authority, it is impossible, with any degree 
 of consistency, to deny the vicarious nature and expiatory effi- 
 cacy of the sufferings and death of Jesus. So long as the Lord's 
 Supper continues in the church ; so long as the words of institu- 
 tion are repeated, and the instituted symbols displayed ; there 
 shall never be wanting to the church a clear demonstration, that 
 the death of Christ as a sacrifice for sin, was a doctrine of the 
 primitive age of Christianity. 
 
 The truth which we have now been considering completes the 
 important proposition of which we consider the Lord's Supper 
 as an emblematical representation. And of all the wonderfid 
 truths w^hich it implies, this is questionless the most wonderful. 
 That the Son of God should become incarnate, is strange ; that 
 the incarnate Son of God should suffer and die, is still stranger ; 
 but most strange of all is the fact, that the incarnate Son of God 
 should suffer and die in the room of sinful men, to obtain their 
 salvation. " O the depth both of the wisdom and of the know- 
 ledge of God ! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways 
 past finding out!" 
 
 But while we are amazed with the strangeness, and confounded 
 by the grandeur, of the truths thus taught us, let us rejoice that 
 the proposition is not more strange and overwhelming, than true 
 and consolatory. 
 
 The view which we have now taken of the Lord's Supper, as 
 an emblematical representation of the leading principles of the 
 Christian system, is calculated to suggest to the reflecting mind. 
 
DISC. II.] THE NATURE OF THE LORD's SUPPER. 31 
 
 much important practical truth, in reference to the proper mode 
 of observing this holy ordinance. The Lord's Supper teaches by 
 emblems, what the preaching of the Gospel teaches in express 
 terms ; and our duty in reference to both is substantially the 
 same — to yield a ready assent to the truths made known, and a 
 hearty acquiescence in the plan of salvation exhibited, — and to 
 cherish a state of feeling correspondent to this assent and acqui- 
 escence. 
 
 It is ever to be remembered that a mere mental contemplation 
 of the truths emblematically represented, is by no means all that is 
 required in order to observing the Lord's Supper with acceptance 
 and advantage. Something more is necessary. We must not 
 merely survey with attention the symbolical representation ; we 
 must take a part in it — we must " take — and eat." In other 
 words, we must rely on the atoning sacrifice of the incarnate, 
 suffering, and dying Saviour for salvation. This is " to eat the 
 flesh, and to di'ink the blood of the Son of man ;" and without 
 this there can be no fellowship with him in his righteousness and 
 spirit. As it is not enough for our salvation, that the Son of 
 God has become incarnate, suffered, and died as an atoning 
 sacrifice, unless we, by believing the record of God, " set to our 
 seal that God is true ;" so it is not enough in order to worthy 
 communicating, that we admit the general truth of these princi- 
 ples, — we must also receive " Christ Jesus" as thus exhibited, 
 " made of God to us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and 
 redemption." 
 
DISCOURSE III. 
 
 THE DESIGN AND OBLIGATION OF THE LORD'S SUPPER. 
 
 Luke xxii. 19. — " This do in remembrance of me." 
 
 Somewhat more than eighteen hundred years ago, thirteen 
 Jews assembled together in an upper room in the city of Jeru- 
 salem to obsen^e the Passover — a solemn religious festival 
 divinely appointed to commemorate the miraculous deliverance 
 of their forefathers from Egyptian bondage, and to foreshadow 
 the more wonderful redemption of mankind from a deeper and 
 more degrading slavery. 
 
 Judging from external appearances, there was nothing re- 
 markable about these thuleen inchviduals. They seemed to be- 
 long to the humbler orders of society, and nothing betokened the 
 probability of their ever becoming the objects of general interest. 
 Yet in tnith this little company, with a single exception, was an 
 assemblage of the most illustrious and worthy personages who 
 ever trod the theatre of our world. One of them was far elevated 
 above the rest by the dignity of his nature, the perfection of his 
 character, and the importance of his office. His name among 
 men was Jesus of Nazareth, and he was the reputed son of a 
 Galilean carpenter ; but he was in truth, an incarnation of the 
 Divinity, he was " God manifest in flesh," the Divine, and the 
 divinely appointed and quahfied. Saviour of mankind. His at- 
 tendants formed a motely group ; — men of different dispositions, 
 educations, and habits ; men at this time obscure and unnoticed, 
 but destined ere long to secure for themselves an everlasting re- 
 membrance as benefactors of their species, as the principal human 
 agents in establisliing that religion among mankind, the natiu'al 
 tendency, and the uniform effect of which, is to make all who 
 receive it truly, wise and good and hap})y. 
 
DISC. III.] OF THE LOHD'8 SUrPEK. 33 
 
 The purpose for which they were met, was of itself calculated 
 to produce in devout minds a solemnity of feeling ; and the 
 hearts of the disciples Avere more than usually agitated by the 
 intimation which their Master had lately given them of a scene 
 of extreme suffering, in which, for their sakes, he was soon to be 
 involved. The impressive silence which such a state of mind 
 naturally produces, was at last broken by the Saviour in these 
 words — words full of solemn anticipation in reference to himself, 
 and of affectionate tenderness towards his disciples : " With desire 
 have I desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer ; for 
 I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, till it be fulfilled 
 in the kingdom of God." During the paschal feast, he discoursed 
 with them of the decease he was about to accomplish ; and at its 
 conclusion, taking the cup of thanksgiving, he gave it to the 
 disciples, saying, " Take this, and divide it among yourselves ;" 
 for " I say unto you, that I will no more drink of the fruit of 
 the vine, till I drink it new with you in the kingdom of God." 
 
 Such were the interesting external circumstances in which the 
 holy ordinance of the Lord's Supper was instituted. 
 
 To form, however, any adequate idea of the solemnity and in- 
 terest of the scene, we must look farther than outward appear- 
 ances ; Ave must take a vieAV of the varied feelings which then 
 agitated the Saviour's heart. The cloud of sorrow which had 
 darkened all his days, had now assumed a portentous blackness, 
 and threatened immediately to pour forth its wrathful contents 
 on his devoted head. To his comprehensive mind, the whole 
 scene of his sufferings lay full disclosed. The treacheiy of 
 Judas, and the cowardice of the rest of the disciples ; the insults 
 of the populace, and the cruelties of the soldiers ; the systematic 
 malignity of the Jewish rulers, and the inhuman selfishness of 
 the Roman governor; the shame of the sctourge, and the pain of 
 the cross ; the dereliction of Divine comforts, and the inflictions 
 of Divine wrath ; — all these, and a thousand other terrific antici 
 pations, were present to his thoughts. 
 
 Possessed of an acuteness of sensibility proportioned to the 
 poAver of his understanding, the Saviour, even then, must have 
 been subjected to a degree of suffering ineffable, inconceivable. 
 It might have been expected that personal suffering so severe, 
 should have occupied all his thoughts ; and that the sorrows of 
 an hour so aAvful, should have preckided all sympathy Avith the 
 
 C* ' 
 
34 THE DESIGN AND OBLIGATION [PART I. 
 
 comparatively liglit afflictions of liis friends. But rising above 
 the difficulties of his situation, with a magnanimity altogether 
 godlike, he seems to forget his own sufferings, and occu])ies him- 
 self chiefly in alleviating the griefs of his disconsolate followers. 
 
 Such were the feelinos of the Saviour when he instituted the 
 ordinance of the Supper. 
 
 In that m'glit in which he was to fall a victim to the treacheiy 
 of a professed friend, and the fiiry of open enemies, — to endure 
 the vuiitcd pressure of human malignity, diabolical rancour, and 
 Divine wrath ; in that night, ever attentive to the happiness of 
 his people, the Saviour took bread. Lifting up his heart with 
 his hands to God in the heavens, he gave thanks in the near 
 prospect of the completed redemption of the world. And when 
 he had thus given thanks, he brake the bread, and distributed it 
 among his weeping attendants, whose bosoms must have throbbed 
 with a straiige mingled emotion of wonder, and gratitude, and 
 sorrow, and love. In like manner he presented them with the cup 
 after a second benediction. These solemn and endearing ac- 
 tions he accompanied with words not less solemn and endearing. 
 " This is my body which is given for you." " This is the New 
 Testament in my blood, which is shed for you." " This do in 
 remembrance of me." 
 
 In this most aflFecting scene, the apostles of our Lord are not 
 the only persons who are interested. In the redeeming love, in 
 the atoning sacrifice of the Son of God, we have an interest as 
 deep as they. The ordinance then instituted was intended to be 
 perpetual ; and the command, which is the subject of discourse, 
 is addressed to us as well as to them. " As often as ye eat this 
 bread, and drink this cup," says an apostle, " ye do show the 
 Lord's death until he come." As we liave, in the good providence 
 of God, the near prospect of observing the Lord's Supper, I con- 
 ceive our time at present can scarcely be more appropriately, 
 usefully, and agreeably employed, than in, — 
 
 I. Attending to the im])ort of our Lord's command, "This do 
 in remembrance of me ;" and, 
 
 II. Considering the ol)ligations under which Christians lie to 
 compl}' with this command. 
 
 I. The command of our Lord, " This do in I'cmcmbrance of 
 me," may be considered in two points of view : as intimating the 
 
DISC. III.] OF THE lord's SUPPER. 35 
 
 ilc'siVn of tlie Lord's Supper : and as teaching us tlie manner in 
 whicli it ought to be observed. Let us sliortly attend to these 
 two views of the text. 
 
 Is^, The command, " This do in remembrance of me," intimates 
 the design of the Lord's Supper, It is intended to commemorate 
 the Saviour. To perpetuate the memory of illustrious men and 
 important events, various methods have been adopted by man- 
 kind. One of the most common of these has been to institute a 
 festival, stated or occasional. Festivals of this kind have usually 
 formed a part of the religious worship of those among whom they 
 existed. They were numerous among the pagan nations, and 
 have found a place in both those Divine dispensations, of which 
 the Scriptures give us a detailed account, the INIosaic and the 
 Christian.^ Under the former, there were a variety of feasts, 
 such as the Passover, Pentecost, etc., commemorative of remark- 
 able national blessings. Under the latter, we have the Lord's 
 Supper, in commemoration of the redemption of mankind by the 
 death of the Son of God. 
 
 That this event well deserves to be commemorated, who can 
 doubt ? If the display at once of all the more amiable, and all 
 the more awful, virtues of which human nature is susceptible, 
 the most exalted piety and the most fervent benevolence, the 
 most tender pity and the most undaunted fortitude ; — if the illus- 
 tration of the glories of the Divinity, and the vindication of the 
 honoiu's of his violated law ; — if the deliverance of countless 
 millions from moral degradation and inconceivable misery, and 
 their elevation to a state of perfect purity and everlasting happi- 
 ness ; — if these ought not to be forgotten, it is most meet that 
 the death of Jesus, in which all these virtues were displayed, by 
 which all these events were accomplished, should be held in ever- 
 lasting remembrance. 
 
 That a particular institution should be required to preserve the 
 memory of an event so illustrious, will not appear strange to him 
 who has reflected with care on the present state of human natiu'e. 
 When a sinner first obtains, and knows that he has obtained, an 
 interest in the blessings procured by the sufferings and death of 
 
 ' The strong evidence of the truth of Christianity, which may be deduced from the 
 general prevalence of such an institution as the Lord's Supper in the Christian 
 Church from the earliest ages, is admirably illustrated in Leslie's Short and Easy 
 Method idth the D.L-^ts. 
 
36 THE DESIGN AND OBLIGATION [PART I. 
 
 Jesus ; when he begins " to comprehend with all saints, what is 
 the height, and depth, and length, and breadth, and to know the 
 love of Christ, which passeth knowledge," so deeply do the Re- 
 deemer's excellences and benefits impress his heart, that to for- 
 get HIM seems an event scarcely within the Jimits of possibility. 
 With a heart all glowing with admiration, and gratitude, and 
 love, he adopts the language of the pious and ]>atriotic psalmist, 
 when weeping over the iiiins of the temple of his God, and the 
 desolations of his father's sepulchres, and applies them to a sub- 
 ject still more interesting : " If I forget thee," O Jesus, " let my 
 right hand forget her cunning : let my tongue cleave to the roof 
 of my mouth, if I prefer thee not above my chief joy." But the 
 imperfections of our nature forbid such an elevated state of devo- 
 tional feeling to be perpetual. Surrounding objects steal away 
 the thoughts and the aifections from the Saviour, and we too 
 often act as if we had never known his love. ISIost wisely, then, 
 as well as most graciously, did the Saviour, " who knows our 
 frame, and remembers we are dust," appoint a positive institu- 
 tion, by which an aflPectionate remembrance of his dying love 
 might be perpetuated among his followers to the most distant ages. 
 
 The ordinance of the Lord's Supper is w^ell calculated to an- 
 swer the end for which it was instituted. The whole of the in- 
 stitution is emblematical, and the symbols employed are at once 
 simple and significant. Our senses are called in to the aid of 
 our faith, and " Christ Jesus is evidently set forth crucified." 
 
 As the bread is broken in order to its being eaten, so was our 
 Redeemer " w^ounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our 
 iniquities." As the wine is poured out in order to its being 
 drunk, so was the blood of the Saviour " shed for the remission 
 of sins to many." The actions are equally significant with the 
 elements. The giving the elements into the hands of the receivers, 
 is emblematical of the Father's gift of his Son, and the Son's 
 gift of himself to his people ; and their reception of the elements 
 is significant of that personal reliance on the Saviour, and that 
 personal interest in his blessings, which characterise all true 
 believers, and which in Scripture are represented as an " eating 
 the flesh and drinking the blood of the Son of God." 
 
 But while we consider the Lord's Supper as commemorative, 
 while we acknowledge that it is a necessary and most suitable 
 memorial, let us never forget that it is nothing more than a, 
 
DISC. III.] OF THE lord's SUPPER. 37 
 
 memorial. In the Supper of the Lord there is no new sacrifice 
 offered, to procure the forgiveness of sin, and the salvation of the 
 soul. This ordinance is not a sacrifice, but a feast upon a sacri- 
 fice. It is not the repetition of the atonement made on Mount 
 Calvary, but only its symbolical representation. The perfection 
 of the Redeemer's sacrifice precluded the necessity of its repetition. 
 " Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many ; " and all 
 that remains for us, is by faith to rely on this all-perfect sacrifice, 
 to improve it for the purposes of holiness and comfort, and by 
 observing the ordinance of the Lord's Supper, to yield our feeble 
 assistance to render its memory permanent among mankind, and 
 influential on our own tempers and conduct. 
 
 2(7, The command of our Lord, " This do in remembrance of 
 me," teaches us the manner in which the ordinance of the Lord's 
 Supper should be observed. We have seen that the Lord's 
 Supper is intended to be a memorial of Cluist. It follows ot 
 course, that he who engages in it, should view it in this point of 
 light, and have his mind wholly occupied with affectionate re- 
 collections of the Sa^dour. To remember Christ is by no means 
 to be considered as merely an occasional duty, to which the 
 Christian is called only when he enjoys an opportunity of observ- 
 ing the Lord's Supper.^ " Whatsoever he does, whether in 
 word or in deed, he does all in the name of the Lord Jesus, 
 giving thanks to God the Father, through him." " He always 
 bears about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the 
 life also of Jesus may be made manifest in his body." Yet it is 
 certainly the duty of the Christian, when he engages in this holy 
 ordinance, to fix his mind with peculiar intensity on the recollec- 
 tions of his Savioui', and to stir up within him all those pious 
 affections, which these recollections are calculated to awaken. 
 There are here two inquii'ies which deserve our notice. What 
 are those recollections which on such an occasion should occupy 
 our thoughts ? and what are those dispositions of heai't with 
 which these recollections should be accompanied ? In other 
 words, what about Christ are we to remember ? and hoio ai'e we 
 to remember him ? — 
 
 (1.) The grand object of our remembrance is without doubt, 
 Jesus Christ — " This do in remembrance of me." And what 
 
 ' This thought is expanded in the first of tho concluding exhortations. Part ii. 
 Sect. iv. 
 
38 THE DESIGN AND OBLIGATION [I'AKT I. 
 
 iibout our Redeemer are we to remember ? We are to remem- 
 ber who lie is. The only-begotten and beloved Son of God ; — 
 " the brightness of liis Father's glory, and the express image of 
 his person ;" — the Creator and Lord of angels ; — the preserver 
 and governor of the universe ; — " in the form of God, and think- 
 ing it no robbery to be equal with God ;" — " God over all, blessed 
 for ever." A recollection of his original dignity, is necessary to 
 oiu" forming just conceptions of the depth of his condescension, 
 the efficacy of his atonement, and the greatness of his love. 
 
 We are to remember what he became for us. " The Word 
 was made flesh, and dwelt among us." " God was manifest in 
 flesh." " Verily he took not hold of angels, but he took hold of 
 the seed of Abraham : forasmuch as the children are partakers 
 of flesh and blood, he also took part of the same." Astonishing 
 condescension ! " The mighty God," a feeble babe ! " The 
 Father of eternity," a child, whose duration is measured by days 
 and years ! 
 
 We are to remember what he did. " He did no sin, neither 
 was guile found in his mouth." " Pie did always the things 
 which pleased the Father." " He went about doing good, healing 
 diseases, and teaching the people." " He finished the work 
 which the Father gave him to do." 
 
 We are to remember what he said. We are to think of the' 
 many " gi'acious words which proceeded out of his mouth ;" 
 which made even unbelievers to marvel, and acknowledge that 
 " never man spake like this man." We are to call to mind 
 " the glad tidings of great joy " which he proclaimed, the doctrines 
 which he taught, and the laws Avhich he promulgated. We 
 ought especially to remember, the precious instructions and con- 
 solations which he administered to his disciples immediately after 
 the original institution of the Lord's Supper.^ 
 
 We are to remember what he suffered, A\'hat he suftered 
 from God, from devils, from men, both his friends and his 
 enemies : what he suffered in his body, in his soul, in his re- 
 
 ' I must IxTc he permitted to remark b_v the way, tliat few exercises are, hy the 
 hlessiiig' of God, hetter calculated to prepare us for cominuiiicatiii;^, than a careful 
 and devotional perusal of those discourses recorded in the fourteenth, fifteenth, six- 
 teenth, and seventeenth chapters of the Gospel by John. These chapters not only 
 furnish us with proper subjects of meditation when at the table of .lesus; but tht^y 
 breathe so pure and fervent a spirit of piety and benevolence, as, could we but catch 
 a portion of it, wouhl make us at once acceptable ami happy comnnniicants. 
 
DISC. III.] OF THE lord's SUPJ'EK. 39 
 
 putation, in liis external circumstances. We are to recollect how 
 infinitely varied, how inconceivably severe, how awfully violent, 
 — how early in their commencement, how close in their succession, 
 how permanent in their continuance, were his sufferings. 
 
 We are to remember that he died, and how he died. We are 
 never to forget that his death was that of a traitor and blasphemer, 
 a felon and a slave, — exquisitely painful, peculiarly shameful, 
 divinely accursed. And while we recollect the Saviour's suffer- 
 ings and death, we must not be unmindful of their cause. Use- 
 less are the tears of mere human sympathy for the sorrows of 
 the Saviour. We must remember how deeply we are interested 
 in these sufferings ; tliat his body was broken, and his blood shed, 
 for our benefit and in our stead ; that " he was wounded for our 
 transgressions, bruised for our iniquities ; the chastisement of our 
 peace was upon him, and that by his stripes we are healed." 
 
 We are to remember the important consequences of his suffer- 
 ings and death. And what are these? The expiation of the 
 sins of men, the turning away of the wrath of the Almighty, the 
 magnifying and making honom^able of the Divine law, the an- 
 swering of the demands of justice, the securing of the honours 
 of the Divine character, the vindication of the rights of the 
 Divine government, the ratification of the everlasting covenant, 
 the unfolding of the gates of paradise, " peace on earth, and 
 good-will towards men," rapture to the angelic millions, and 
 " ijlorv to God in the highest." But this is an endless theme. 
 
 I only add, that we are to remember what Jesus is now doing, 
 and will yet do, for us. We are to commemorate the death of 
 Christ as the death of him who " was once dead, but is now 
 alive, and liveth for evermore, and has the keys of hell and 
 death." We are to remember that " he is ascended up far above 
 all heavens, and set down for ever on the right hand of the 
 Majesty on high ;" exalted " far above all principalities, and 
 powers, and thrones, and dominions, and every name which can 
 be named, either in this world, or that which is to come ;" that 
 the difference in his circumstances, has caused no alteration in 
 his affections ; that he loves his people vriih an unabated and 
 unchangeable attachment ; that as he bled for them on earth, so 
 he intercedes for them in heaven ; that he is preparing a place 
 for them, and that " he will come again and take them to himself, 
 that where he is, there they may be also."' 
 
40 THE DESIGN AND OBLIGATION [PART I. 
 
 Such are some ot" the recollections which ought to employ the 
 mind of the Christian, when eating bread and drinking wine in 
 remembrance of his Saviour, 
 
 (2.) Let us now shortly inc^uire lioio we are to remember the 
 Saviour, or what are those dispositions with which our recol- 
 lections respecting Christ should be accompanied. The Savioui" 
 is to be remembered with faith, love, reverence, penitence, and 
 
 joy. 
 
 We ought to remember the Saviour with faith. With the 
 nature of this heavenly grace, I hope none of you are unacquainted. 
 With its importance, use, and necessity in religious duties, you 
 cannot be too deeply impressed. " AVithout faith, it is impossible 
 to please God." Necessary in all duties, it is peculiarly so in the 
 Lord's Supper. Without it, the Lord's Supper is a useless 
 ceremony ; without it, we cannot " discern the Lord's body," we 
 cannot " eat his flesh nor drink his blood ;" — to speak without a 
 figure, we cannot understand the truth emblematically represented 
 in it, nor participate in the blessings shadowed forth by the insti- 
 tuted symbols, — we cannot have communion with him in his 
 righteousness and spirit. Sensible of the importance of this 
 grace, let us, in the prospect of observing the Lord's Supper, use 
 every appointed method for strengthening our persuasion of the 
 truth as it is in Jesus ; and let our prayer be, " Lord, increase 
 our faith." 
 
 Love is another disposition of heart with which we should 
 remember the Saviour. And is it possible to remember him 
 without love ? Can we think of his essential excellences, his 
 mediatorial qualifications, and his invaluable benefits, without 
 feeling the fire of ardent affection burn within us ? Ah ! my 
 friends, Ave know little of oiu'seh'es, if we are not ready to com- 
 plain of the languor of our devout affections, even in those exer- 
 cises which are best calculated to excite them. There is more 
 than a possibility of a good man's observing the Lord's Supper 
 with a coldness of heart miserably unworthy of those wonders of 
 love which he is commemorating. In the prosjiect, therefore, of 
 engaging in this service, let us employ every means, in order to 
 fan the " smoking flax" into a flame. Let us th ink niu ch of 
 oiu- Redeemer. Our meditation, if it is characterised by faith, 
 will be sweet, and productive of love. Let us co)itemplate him 
 in the glories of his divine perfection, and in the milder beauties 
 
DISC. HI.] OF THE lord's SUPPER. 41 
 
 of his mediatorial character. Let us think of his love, — how 
 unmerited, how unsoHcited, how early in its commencement, how 
 seasonable in its display, how uniform in its exercise, how lasting 
 in its duration, how rich in its consequences ! Contemplating 
 the " unsearchable riches " of the Saviour's love, let us earnestly 
 beseech the Spirit of love to enable us to love him who so loved 
 us ; and, convinced that the warmest affection we are capable of 
 entertaining, is utterly disproportioned to the Saviour's loveliness 
 and love, " let us cast ourselves at his feet, and sigh, and weep, 
 that we can love him no more." 
 
 We ought to remember the Saviour with reverence. We 
 must not forget, that while Jesus is our Saviour, he is also our 
 God. " He is our Lord, and we ought to worship him." " He 
 is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be 
 had in reverence of all them that are about him." Though, with 
 ineffable condescension, he calls us, " not servants, but friends," 
 we must always remember the infinite distance which subsists 
 between him and us. The affection to be cherished towards our 
 Lord is altogether of a different character from human friend- 
 ship. It ought to have more than all its fervour ; but the con- 
 fidence of devotional intercourse must not be allowed to degenerate 
 into indecent familiarity. The Lord's Supper is an act of 
 worship. " Having therefore received a kingdom which cannot 
 be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God accept- 
 ably, with reverence and with godly fear ; for our God is a 
 consuming fire." 
 
 We must remember the Saviour with penitence. Looking at 
 " him whom we have pierced," we must " mourn " for our sins. 
 The incarnation and obedience, the sufferings and death of Jesus 
 Christ, are the strongest evidences which the world has ever 
 received, or ever can receive, of the inconceivable malignity of 
 human transgression : and it is surely impossible for a Christian 
 mind to recollect those wonderful events, without feeling at the 
 same time a deep sorrow for his own sin, and an unconquerable 
 and continually increasing abhorrence of all sin, as that " evil 
 and bitter thing " which fixed the Lord of glory to a cross, and 
 laid him low in the dust of death. Never are we in a better 
 frame for communicating, than when thus " sorrowing after a 
 godly sort." The genuine penitent is uniformly an acceptable 
 communicant. 
 
42 THE DESIGN AND OBLIGATION [PART I. 
 
 In fine, we ought to remember the Saviour at his table with 
 jo3\ It certainly is not natural to reflect on the sufferings and 
 death of a dear friend Avitli pleasure ; and could we have said no 
 more than, " we trusted that this had been he who should have 
 redeemed Israel," the remembrance of Jesus would have been a 
 joyless exercise indeed. But when we look into his tomb, we 
 behold it empty. The death of Christ ought never to be viewed 
 as disconnected with its consequences — his own glory, and the 
 happiness of his followers. In celebrating the Lord's Supper, 
 we commemorate the victory of the Saviour over the foes of man. 
 " Through death he has destroyed him who had the power of 
 death." On the cross he " spoiled principalities and powers, and 
 made a show of them, triumphing over them in it." If deliver- 
 ance from ignorance and guilt, depravity and ruin ; if the forgive- 
 ness of sins, the favour of God, and the privileges of his chilch'en ; 
 if the gifts of the Spirit, and the heavenly inheritance, be valuable ; 
 if the present possession of many of these blessings, and the 
 complete security, and certain prospect of all the rest, be calcu- 
 lated to produce joy, — surely Christians should rejoice while 
 observing that ordinance in which is represented the ratification 
 in the blood of the Redeemer, of that everlasting covenant, in 
 which all this blessedness is secured to them. Nor are Christian 
 joy and true penitence incompatible feelings. Every saint knows 
 that in his experience they are conjoined, and that he is never 
 more disposed to mourn for his sins, than when he is enabled to 
 "joy in God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have 
 received the atonement." 
 
 Such, then, are the recollections which should engage the 
 thoughts of the Christian at the Lord's table ; and such the 
 sentiments which should warm his heart. By giving himself 
 up to them, under the influence of the Divine Spirit, he will 
 acceptably obey the command, " This do in remembrance of 
 me." 
 
 II. Having thus illustrated the command of our Lord, as 
 intimating the design of the Lord's Su])per, and teaching us the 
 manner in which it ought to be observed, let us consider the 
 obligations under which Christians lie to comply with this in- 
 junction. In illustrating this part of the subject, I shall content 
 myself with showing that it is the express command of Christ to 
 
DISC. 111.] OF THE lord's SUPPER. 43 
 
 US, to eat bread and drink wine in remembrance of him ; and 
 tliat it is at once a pleasant and an advantageous exercise. 
 
 Istf We ought to eat bread and drink wine in remembrance 
 of Christ, for he has expressly commanded us to do so. There 
 is no precept in tlie whole volume of inspiration delivered in 
 terms more explicit than the command to Christians to observe 
 the Lord's Sapper. The command, " Thou shalt not steal," is 
 not more unequivocal than the command, " This do in remem- 
 brance of me." 
 
 It has indeed been urged by some, that this command was but 
 temporary in its obligation, being addressed only to the apostles 
 and primitive Christians. But of this restriction in the extent 
 of the precept, there is not the slightest trace in the language in 
 which it is expressed. The injunction is completely free of every 
 thing that looks like exclusion or limitation. Indeed, in the very 
 nature and design of the Lord's Supper, we are furnished with 
 an irrefragable proof that it is an usage not peculiar to any 
 ])articular age of the church, but belonging to Christianity, 
 wherever and whenever professed. The great intention of this 
 institution is, as we have already seen, to preserve an affectionate 
 remembrance of the Saviour's sufferings and death on the minds 
 of his followers. Those individuals who had themselves been 
 witnesses of these most interesting and important events, or who 
 had received their information from those who had seen them, 
 and whose testimony was confirmed by miracles, were, compara- 
 tively speaking, in little danger of forgetting them. An impres- 
 sion must have been made, too deep to be easily effaced by 
 secular and sensible things. It was to those who should live in 
 a period remote from that in which the Saviour lived and died, 
 that such an emblematical representation was peculiarly necessary. 
 This ordinance of commemoration, accordingly, has obviously a 
 reference to coming ages, and may be considered as acquiring 
 every hour new importance, as the hand of time is obsciu'ing the 
 memory of events which are past. 
 
 Besides, there is nothing in the truths shadowed forth by this 
 symbolical institution, exclusively interesting to the primitive 
 believers. The body which was broken, was broken for us as 
 well as for them, — the blood which was shed, was shed for tlie 
 remission of our sins as well as theirs ; and, reasoning abstractly, 
 it would appear to be as much our duty as theirs, to observe an 
 
44 THE DESIGN AND OBLIGATION [PART I. 
 
 ordinance, one great object of which is to call forth gratitude for 
 these most important favours. But in the absence of all other 
 evidence, the language of the apostle, in his Epistle to the 
 Corinthians, would of itself have been sufficient to set this question 
 at rest. " As often," says he, " as ye eat this bread, and drink 
 this cup, ye do show the Lord's death until he come." In these 
 words, the apostle obviously intimates, that it is the duty of the 
 Christian church to observe this ordinance till " the coming of 
 Christ ;" a phrase which certainly usually, if not uniformly, 
 refers to his " coming the second time, without sin unto salva- 
 tion."! 
 
 Taking for granted, then, that the command contained in the 
 text is tlie command of .fesus Christ to his followers in every 
 age, it will require little reasoning to show that they are bound 
 to obey it. All the injunctions of Christ Jesus are entitled to 
 the implicit obedience of all intelligent creatures to whom they 
 are addressed. He is constituted by his Father the supreme 
 governor of the moral world. " All power is given to him in 
 heaven and in earth ; all judgment is committed into his hand ;" 
 and it is the clearly revealed will of God, "that all should 
 honour the Son as they honour the Father." " God has highly 
 exalted him, and given him a name above every name, that at 
 the name of Jesus every knee should bow, and every tongue con- 
 fess that he is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Whatever 
 then he, as the accredited messenger of Deity, enjoins, is to be 
 received with the same reverence, and obeyed with the same im- 
 plicitness, as if it were the declaration of his Divine Father. 
 
 But Christ Jesus is entitled to obedience, not only as a divinely 
 authorised legislator ; his claims on the entire subjection of all 
 our faculties, intellectual and active, are founded on that divine 
 nature, of which he is, equally with the Father and the Holy 
 Spirit, the possessor. " He is the true God, and eternal life." The 
 commands of Jesus are, in the strictest sense of the word, the com- 
 mands of God : and he who disregards them, exposes himself to 
 all the evils which are included in the unqualified displeasure of 
 
 1 Ileb. ix. 28.— Bp. Horslcy's attempt to prove that this is the uniform sense of 
 the phrase "the comin;,' of Christ" in the New Testament, thou;iii (listin;,'uislied by 
 his usual ingenuity and learning, is certainly unsuccessful. lie sutHciently establishes, 
 liowevcr, that the exceptions from the common use, are not by any means so numer- 
 ous as has been supposed. 
 
DISC. III.] OF THE lord's SUPPER. 45 
 
 Deity. To neglect compliance with the commands of the Su- 
 preme Being, must be, in the very highest degree, criminal and 
 dangerous. " He who despised Moses' law" relative to the 
 passover, " died witliout mercy ;" and shall the despiser of 
 Christ's law relative to the Lord's Supper, escape unpunished ? 
 The Israelite who, without a proper excuse, neglected to com- 
 memorate the deliverance from Eg}'pt along with his brethren, 
 was " cut off from the congregation, and bore his sin ;" and is 
 his sin who trifles with a Divine injunction to commemorate a 
 far more glorious deliverance, less aggravated ? shall his punish- 
 ment prove less dreadful ? 
 
 " This do in remembrance of me," is as certainly and plainly 
 a command of God, as any of the precepts of the decalogue ; and 
 he who refuses to obey it, virtually assumes to himself a power 
 of dispensing with the Divine authority — a power superior to his 
 to whom all power is committed in heaven and In earth. Those 
 professors of Christianity assuredly mistake the matter most pal- 
 pably, who conceive that it is in their option to observe the 
 Lord's Supper, or not to observe it. It is the command of the 
 Supreme Sovereign, and it is at the hazard of their eternal in- 
 terests if they disregard it. 
 
 The Supreme authority of the Kedeemer is, however, by no 
 means the only consideration which should incite Christians to 
 comply with his injunction. When we call on them to obey the 
 commands of Jesus, we appeal to the principle of gratitude, as 
 well as that of duty. It is the command, not merely of Jehovah 
 their Sovereign, but of Jesus their Saviour. That they might 
 be righteous, he became a curse ; that they might live, he died ; 
 that they might be happy, he voluntarily became most miserable. 
 And shall they refuse to yield to the request of this kindest of 
 friends, this most generous of benefactors? If they do, they 
 incur most justly the charge, not merely of the most daring dis- 
 obedience, but of the basest ingratitude. 
 
 The command was not given from a weak desire of posthum- 
 ous honours, but from the most disinterested regard for our 
 happiness. The Lord Jesus, far exalted above every created 
 dignity, the object of angelic homage, stands in no need of the 
 services of mankind. It was for our benefit that he appointed 
 this institution ; and shall we carelessly neglect, or contemptu- 
 ously spurn, the boon his generous friendship offers? 
 
46 Till': DESIGN AND OBLIGATION [PART I. 
 
 It is one of tlie Redeemer's 'lyine; commands. Tlic last advices 
 of a venerated parent or dear friend are usually listened to with 
 eager attention, laid up in tlie inmost recesses of the heart as a 
 precious treasure, frequently reviewed with a delicious kind of 
 melancholy, and followed with a scrupulous and religious care. 
 And ouffht we to be regardless of the last advices of that best of 
 all friends, who " loved not his life to the death" for our sakes ? 
 Should a generous friend, who, in order to shield us from some 
 important danger, had died in our defence, with his last breath 
 have bequeathed to us a miniature picture of himself in the act 
 of expiring, and conjured us, as we loved him, frequently to con- 
 template this last token of his friendship, — where, in the whole 
 compass of language, could we find terms sufficiently expressive 
 of baseness, to paint our conduct, should we allow the precious 
 relict to lie uninspected for days, and months, and years, feel re- 
 luctant when called on to give so easy a proof of our gratitude, 
 and even urge that we showed gi'eater respect for our friend, by 
 y)reserving his gift locked up from view, and contemplating it 
 only at very distant intervals?' To too many professors of 
 Christianity, I might safely use Nathan's language to David, 
 " Thou art the man." 
 
 This command was fjiven on the ni<]|'ht in which our Lord was 
 betrayed. Even then he found both time and inclination to think 
 on us and our interests ; and shall we refuse to devote a few of 
 our hours of health and comfort to the preserving such matchless 
 love in everlasting remembrance ? 
 
 The duty to which this command calls us, is by no means a 
 burdensome one. Had he enjoined some tedious and difficult 
 task, — had he appointed a ceremony painful as the self-inflicted 
 tortures of the votary of Juggernaut, fotiguing as the Moham- 
 medan pilgrimages, or costly as the sacrifices of the Jews, still 
 reverence for his authority, and gratitude for his goodness, should 
 have produced a ready and cheerful compliance. IIow much 
 more readily, how much more cheerfully, ought we to engage in 
 the simple, easy, significant ordinance, which he has instituted in 
 commemoration of his dying love? — Such, then, are the most 
 powerful and diversified obligations under which Christians are 
 laid to observe the Lord's Supper, originating in the command 
 of our Saviour. 
 
 I Coutts. 
 
DISC. HI.] OF THE lord's SUPrEU. 47 
 
 2d, AVe oufjlit to cat bread and drink wine in remembrance of 
 Christ, for this is a pleasant employment. Nothing more satis- 
 factorily proves the essential benignity of the Divine Being, than 
 his connecting in indissoluble union, man's duty and ha})piness. 
 " In the keeping of God's commandments, there is great reward." 
 This general remark holds true witli res])ect to all those duties 
 which are strictly of a religious nature. The indulgence of de- 
 votional contemplation and feeling, affords the most exalted em- 
 ployment both for the understanding and the heart, and is a 
 source of pure, refined, exquisite enjoyment. 
 
 None of the institutions of Christianity are better fitted to 
 draw forth those principles into exercise, and present them with 
 appropriate objects, than the Lord's Supper. All the most strik- 
 ing peculiarities in the Christian system of doctrine, and all the 
 most affecting incidents in the history of its Author, are at once 
 brought before the mind, in a form peculiarly calculated to fix 
 attention, and excite emotion. Merely to witness a ceremony so 
 solemn, so significant, so interesting, so useful, must excite agree- 
 able feelings in every well-regulated mind. Even those pure 
 spirits, who have no direct interest, so for as we know, in the 
 economy of reconciliation, but as an admirable display of the 
 Divine excellences; even they may, without improbability, be 
 conceived as contemplating the eucharistic feast with a combined 
 emotion of wonder and joy. 
 
 But how pure must be the pleasure, how exalted the enjoyment, 
 of the Christian, who, with proper dispositions, engages in this 
 sacred institution ! " Speak ye who best can tell." Say, Chris- 
 tians, have not your understandings and your hearts been equallv 
 delighted, while eating bread and drinking wine, in obedience to 
 your Lord's authority, and in affectionate recollection of his 
 dying kindness ? Have you not tasted delights, compared with 
 which the pleasures of the world were vapid and worthless ? 
 Contemplating that most interesting view which the institution 
 exhibits of your unseen Saviour, have you not felt the fire of 
 Divine love kindling within you, and under the united influence 
 of faith and affection, have ye not " rejoiced with joy unspeak- 
 able and full of glory"? Has not "the peace of God, which 
 passeth all understanding," taken possession of your heart, and 
 diffused univxn'sal and ineffable tranquillity through the soul? 
 I speak a language at present, which^ though to many it may 
 
48 THE DESIGN AND OBLIGATION [PART I. 
 
 appear the eft'usion of a wild enthusiasm, is not I trust altogetlier 
 unintelligible to some of my audience. They know, for they 
 have " the witness in themselves," that " I speak forth the words of 
 truth and soberness." 
 
 Far be it from me to affirm, that the observance of the Lord's 
 Supper iniiformly produces such high degrees of spiritual dehght, 
 even to the worthy participant. There is a great variety in the 
 degree of susceptibility of devout impression and reh'gious 
 pleasure, in different minds, and in the same mind at different 
 times ; and it is a wise and merciful ordination of Heaven, that 
 the mode of conveying spiritual improvement and pleasure should 
 vary, lest we should trust more to religious institutions than to 
 their Author, lest in the means of grace and comfort, we should 
 forget the Spirit of grace and comfort. Still, however, it is a 
 truth which cannot w^ell be controverted, that the ordinance of 
 the Lord's Supper is intended, and is calculated, to communicate 
 much pleasure to the genuine Christian, and that in the experi- 
 ence of the saint, it has actually been the means of producing 
 much devotional delight and holy joy. The command, " This 
 do in remembrance of me," is the reverse of grievous ; to obey it 
 is a pleasure and privilege, as Avell as a duty. 
 
 dd, We ought to eat bread and drink wine in remembrance of 
 Christ, for this is a very advantageous exercise. Numerous and 
 important are the advantages derived by a saint from a dutiful 
 observance of the Lord's Supper. 
 
 The preparatoiy serv'ices are in themselves highly useful. 
 Careful self-examination, fervent prayer, and deep meditation on 
 the leading truths of the Gospel, are employments peculiarly fitted 
 for preserving the life of religion in a healthy and vigorous state, 
 for guarding against the formation of unholy habits, and for 
 counteracting that spiritual langour which is so apt to diffuse its 
 enervating influence over the reircnerate mind. 
 
 The ordinance itself is well fitted for strengthening our faith, 
 animating our ho])e, elevating our affections, and strengthening 
 our holy resolutions. The view of a dying Saviom*, a reconciled 
 God, a confirmed covenant, a finished salvation, an unstinged 
 death, an illuminated immortality, an opened paradise, — is cer- 
 tainly fitted to rouse every energy of the soul into action, and 
 urge to activity in doing, and patience in suffering, the whole 
 will of God. The love of Christ as manifested in this ordinance, 
 
DISC. III.] OF TIIK LOUD'S SUPPKU. 49 
 
 awakens a reciprocal affection in the soul of the saint ; and we 
 know that the love of God and Christ slied abroad in the heart, 
 is the only and abundant source of Christian virtue. As it is 
 fitted to increase our love to the Saviour, it is also calculated to 
 strengthen the bonds of Christian affection and charity. We 
 learn to love all who love our common Lord, and whom our 
 common Lord loves. Seated at the same table, eating the same 
 bread, drinking the same cup, acknowledging one God, one 
 Saviour, one Spirit, one faith, one hope, one joy, — we at once 
 declare and increase the unity of our minds and our hearts. The 
 malignant passions die within us, and the benevolent affections 
 are at the same time exercised and strengthened. 
 
 The recollection of the solemn obligations which we voluntarily 
 recognise when seated at the Lord's table, is also followed by the 
 most salutary consequences. It suggests numerous and powerfiil 
 motives to perseverance and activity in the service of God. It 
 is peculiarly useful in the day of temptation, and suggests a ready 
 and most satisfactory answer to those who would seduce us from 
 the ways of holiness. ' " I am not my own, I am bought with a 
 price." I have publicly acknowledged the justice of the claims 
 of my God and Saviour. Over the instituted symbols of the 
 holy suffering humanity of my Redeemer, I have solemnly de- 
 clared, that I will be his, his only, his wholly, and his for ever. 
 "Depart from me, ye evil-doers, for I will keep the command- 
 ments of my God." ' 
 
 Such is a hurried sketch of the advantages to be derived from 
 the observation of the Lord's Supper. Let tJie Christian deeply 
 reflect on them, and consider how strong a motive they suggest 
 for complying with our Lord's command. Let him recollect 
 that this institution is an appointed mean of strengthening his 
 faith, animating his love, and increasing his holiness ; and that 
 by neglecting it, he provokes God to withhold from him that 
 divine influence, without which he can do nothing. To expect 
 spiritual blessings, while we neglect the use of the means which 
 God has appointed for procuring them, is gross presumption. If 
 we wdsh to grow in grace, let us not forget to eat bread and 
 drink wine in remembrance of Christ. 
 
 To this illustration of the motives which urge us to compliance 
 with our Lord's command in the text, it may not be without its 
 use to subjoin a brief notice and exposure of the excuses, pallia- 
 
 D* 
 
50 THE DESIGN AND OBLIGATION [PART 1. 
 
 tions, and even defences, which professors of Christianity, wlio 
 live in the habitual neglect of the Lord's Supper, make for their 
 conduct, in so directly opposintr the authority of Christ. 
 
 One of the most common of these excuses is, a want of due 
 preparation for this solemn service. It is much to be feared that 
 many participate in the Lord's Sup])er unprepared, and of con- 
 sequence derive no advantage from the observation of this ordi- 
 nance ; but it is not to be forgotten, that want of preparation is 
 itself a sin, and surely one criminal action cannot be sustained as 
 an excuse for another. In order to ascertain whether any regard 
 is to be paid to this excuse, it is necessary to consider what is re- 
 quisite to prepare us for the Lord's Supper. 
 
 That man is liahitually prepared for the Lord's Supper, who 
 is a believer in Christ Jesus, and a partaker of his Spirit. If 
 these characters do not belong to you, then are you indeed un- 
 prepared, and it is hazardous for you to engage in this sacred 
 institution. But in this case, you are not only unfit for the 
 Lord's table, you are unfit for death ; and should you leave the 
 world in your present circumstances, you are undone for ever. 
 Were you properly affected with a sense of your situation, instead 
 of coolly urging it as an excuse for not eating the Lord's Supper, 
 you would feel it as an irresistible motive to believe in the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, that you may be saved. This is your first duty ; 
 — and having believed, then hasten to his table, " take the cup 
 of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord." 
 
 There are, however, many true saints, who, under the influence 
 of mistaken notione on this subject, occasionally abstain from 
 eating the Lord's Supper for want of preparation. If they have 
 wilfully neglected the appointed preparatory services, they are 
 no doubt much to blame, and ought penitently to acknowledge 
 their sin. Yet even in this case, one omission of duty cannot 
 surely sanction or render necessary and proper another. But 
 by want of preparation, these good people often mean something 
 quite distinct from this. They are not in a good frame. Their faith 
 is weak, their hope is dead, tlieir affections are languid ; and for 
 these reasons, they deem it warrantable and reasonable to neglect 
 communicating. This is just as rational conduct as it would be 
 in a fatigued traveller to refuse a cordial because he was faint, 
 or in a person perishing for want t(^ refuse bread because he was 
 hungry. 
 
DISC, iir.] OF THE loiid's supper. 51 
 
 There are otliers who urge, that they are terrified lest they 
 eat and drink unwortliily, and thus seal their own condemnation. 
 In order fully to show the futility of this objection, it would be 
 necessary to enter more at large than your time at present ad- 
 raits, into an examination of the meaning of the passage of ScrijD- 
 ture, on a mistaken view of which it is founded. I intend to 
 take an early opportunity of illustrating that subject at large.* 
 Suffice it at present to observe, that on the same principle on 
 which they profess to be afraid of the Lord's Supper, they ought 
 to refrain from all religious exercises, and even the ordinary 
 business of life, for " the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination 
 to the Lord," and even " his plowing is sin." 
 
 Another reason which has been offered for neglecting the 
 dying command of Christ, is the fear of that increased guilt 
 which will be incurred by sins after communicating. There is 
 no doubt that sins after communicating have peculiar aggrava- 
 tions. But these offences, though very foul, are not unpardonable. 
 " If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus 
 Christ the righteous : — and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son 
 cleanseth from all sin." Besides, if we fear sin, we ought care- 
 fully to employ the means God has appointed for the mortifica- 
 tion of sin. Frequent communicating is one of these means. 
 We must " wait on the Lord," if we would " renew our strength." 
 He who acts on the principle we have been exposing, is like the 
 man who will not take nourishing food, lest, if attacked by a 
 fever, he should suffer more than if his constitution were less 
 robust. 
 
 It has beqji urged sometimes as a, reason for not observing the 
 Lord's Supper, that no denomination of Christians are to be met 
 with, so confonned to the primitive standard, as to make it safe 
 to hold communion with them. The objector certainly does not 
 see where this principle leads him. It is an implied denial that 
 Christ has now a church upon earth, — an implied assertion that 
 the faithful and true Witness has failed to perform his promise. 
 The divided state of the church is deeply to be lamented ; and 
 the accurate observer will find many faults in every body of 
 professors of Christianity. To look for a perfect church on earth, 
 is a foolish and unwarranted expectation. Let such persons 
 
 1 Vide Disc. IV. 
 
52 DESIGN AND OBLIGATION OF THE LORD'S SUPPER. [PART I. 
 
 reflect, that our Lord, in liis command to observe the Lord's 
 Slipper, has made no provision for this supposed case ; and that 
 if there is a danger of being unscripturally hix, there is also a 
 danger of being unscripturally rigid. Those men have certainly 
 learned their religion somewhere else than in the New Testament, 
 who, in the great variety of denominations of Christians, can 
 find none to whom they can conscientiously attach themselves. 
 Let them beware lest they mistake humour for conscience, and 
 be found at last guilty of " making the commandment of God of 
 none effect tlu'ough their traditions." 
 
 Custom is pled by others as an excuse for neglecting this 
 ordinance. Many omit this duty, and why may not we ? 
 Custom cannot make that right, which is in itself wrong. The 
 sins of others will form no excuse for ours before the tribunal of 
 God. They who follow the multitude to sin, must follow them 
 to punishment. If this ordinance is neglected, there is the greater 
 necessity of our being nobly singular. Let us never forget our 
 Lord's declaration : " Whosoever shall confess me before men, 
 him will I also confess before my Father who is in heaven ; but 
 whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before 
 ray Father who is in heaven." 
 
 To mention only one excuse more. Some urge that they do 
 not refuse, they only delay, compliance with this command of 
 the Saviour. But do they not know, that to refuse immediate 
 compliance with an injunction which requires it is disobedience ? 
 Procrastination is the thief of time, and the murderer of souls. 
 " Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might." 
 Neglect not the present opportunity. It may be the last aftbrded 
 thee of manifesting thy regard for the Saviour's authority, and 
 thy gi'atitude for his goodness. 
 
 What now remains, but that we, with united hearts, supplicate 
 " the God and Father of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ," 
 that lie would graciously render these views of the Lord's Supper 
 useful for preparing us for engaging in this solemn observance, 
 " opening our understandings to understand the Scriptures," and 
 " opening our hearts, that we may receive the love of the truth, 
 that we may be saved.". Amen. 
 
DISCOURSE IV. 
 
 UNWORTHY COMMUNICATING. 
 
 1 Cor. xi. 27, 2!>. — " Wherefore, whosoever shall eat this bread and drink this cup 
 
 of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord 
 
 For lie that eateth and drinkcth unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, 
 not disceniinjf the Lord's body." 
 
 The inspired account of the church of Christ during the primi- 
 tive age, is, of all historical records, the best fitted for interesting 
 and instructing the Christian mind. It contains a narrative of 
 the most important revolution which ever took place in the 
 situation of mankind, and exhibits numerous and striking displays 
 of the Divine power, wisdom, and goodness. It holds up to our 
 view examples, on the one hand, of human folly and crime, to 
 detest and avoid ; and on the other, of faith and patience, zeal 
 and charity, to admire and imitate. That man must be strangely 
 deficient in the powers of thinking and feeling, or he must wilfully 
 have neglected to exert them, who can rise from the perusal of 
 tliis sacred record, without being at the same time interested and 
 instructed, delighted and improved. 
 
 Of the lessons taught us by the history of the primitive church, 
 none are more prominent, and few more important, than this, 
 that the conduct of Providence towards the chm'ch is at once 
 mysterious and wise. Imagination can scarce delineate a scene 
 more amiably interesting, than that which the infant church in 
 reality displayed. Bound together by the fellowship of sentiment, 
 feeling, and affliction, — having one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 
 — the believers in Christ found more than a compensation for 
 the contempt, and hatred, and persecution of the world, in their 
 common liopes, and mutual offices of kindness. Around them' 
 was a scene of rude agitation and wild confusion ; but within 
 the little circle of their society, all was union, hai'mony, and love. 
 
54 UNWORTHY COMMUNICATING. [I'AKT I. 
 
 This enviable state of serenity and peace was, however, un- 
 haj)pily but of sliort duration. " AVhen men slept, an enemy 
 came and sowed tares." Differences of opinion soon made their 
 appearance among the disciples of Christ, and were speedily 
 followed, where they were not preceded, by alienation of heart. 
 Irregularities of conduct conduced still farther to disturb the 
 peace of the primitive church. 
 
 To the limited view of mortal wisdom, on the supposition of 
 Christianity being the object of Divine patronage, the conduct of 
 Providence in permitting these disorders, must appear strange, 
 and indeed unaccountable. The house, apparently built of no 
 very durable materials, assaulted by external violence, and now 
 divided against itself, seemed destined to a speedy and total 
 destruction. But let us beware of rashly arraigning the wisdom 
 of the Divine government. On a closer inspection, these myste- 
 rious dispensations appear to bear broad and deep signatures of 
 infinite wisdom. "The foolishness of God is wiser than men." 
 Most wisely and most mercifully did God permit almost every 
 heresy and abuse, which in later ages have tarnished the purity 
 and disturbed the peace of the church, to make their appearance 
 in her primitive age, while yet there remained infallible teachers 
 to oppose these errors, and establish the opposite truth. 
 
 These observations, though applicable to the history of the 
 jjrimitive church in general, have been suggested by, and certainly 
 receive illustration from, those occurrences in the history of the 
 Corinthian church, which gave occasion to that detailed account 
 of the origin, nature, and design of the Lord's Supper, of which 
 our text forms a part. A variety of abuses had crept into their 
 mode of observing this holy institution, — abuses of a nature so 
 gross and so shocking, as nothing but a consideration of their 
 former habits as heathens could have made credible. The anger 
 of God was kindled, and the arm of his power was raised, to 
 vindicate the importance and purity of the Divine ordinance. 
 Many of the offending Christians were afflicted with severe bodily 
 distempers, not a few of which terminated in mortalit3\ 
 
 But while we can scarcely too severely reprobate, while we 
 cannot too carefully aA^oid, those errors and crimes which stained 
 'so foully the character of the Corinthian church, it is certainly 
 not only allowable, but dutiful, to observe, admire, and bless the 
 operation of that wisdom and goodness, which, in the present 
 
DISC. IV.] UNWORTHY COMMUNICATING. 55 
 
 case, brought good out of evil, and made use of those unhappy 
 occurrences, as the occasion of giving us a more extensive account 
 than is anywhere else to be met with, of the nature and design 
 of the Lord's Supper. It scarcely admits of a doubt, that the 
 permission of those disorders at Corinth, when taken in connec- 
 tion with the epistle to which they gave occasion, has, in un- 
 numbered instances, prevented the occurrence of similar enor- 
 mities. The paragraph of which our text is a part, though written 
 in reference to the peculiar circumstances of the Corinthian 
 church, forms a complete and most luminous directory for 
 Christians in all ages, in observing this sacred institution. It 
 teaches us its design, — to keep up the memory of the Saviour's 
 death ; the preparation which is necessary in order to observe it 
 aright, — " let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of this 
 bread and drink of this cup." And in the passage more imme- 
 diately imder review, this exhortation is enforced, from a con- 
 sideration of the guilt and danger of profaning so holy an 
 institution : " Wherefore, whosoever shall eat this bread and 
 drink this cup of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the 
 body and of the blood of the Lord : for he that eateth and 
 drinketh unworthil}', eateth and drinketh damnation to himself." 
 — This passage naturally calls our attention, 
 
 I. To the mode of conduct which the apostle condemns — 
 " Eating the bread and drinking the cup of the Lord unworthily." 
 And, 
 
 II. To the consequences which he represents as flowing from 
 it : They who do so " are guilty of the body and blood of the 
 Lord ;" and they " eat and drink judgment to themselves." 
 
 These shall therefore form the leading topics of the sequel of 
 the discourse. And may God enable us so to declare his will 
 on this subject, as that, while the guilty are deterred from 
 intruding themselves into a situation to which they have no 
 right, the humble self-diffident Christian may be encouraged to 
 engage in a service, which is not less the enjoyment of a privilege, 
 than the performance of a duty. 
 
 I. The mode of conduct which the apostle condemns, is 
 " eating the bread and drinking the cup of the Lord unworthily." 
 A consideration of the behaviour for which the apostle reproves 
 the Corinthians, will be of some service in enabling us to ascertain 
 
5fi UNWOUTIIY COMMUNICATING. [PART T. 
 
 the nature of unworthy communicating. Of this we have an 
 account in tlie 20tli, 21st, and 22d versos of this chapter : " "When 
 ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the 
 Lord's Supper : for in eating, every one taketh before otlier his 
 own supper, and one is hungry and another is drunken. What ! 
 have ye not liouses t(j eat and to drink in ? or despise ye the 
 church of God, and sliame tliem that liave not ? Shall I praise 
 you in this ? I praise you not." 
 
 From this account, it appears that their mode of observing 
 tliis sacred institution was marked by the utmost irregularity 
 and irreverence. A religious festival Avas converted into a riotous 
 banquet. Their whole behaviour savoured more of the religion 
 they had abandoned, than that which they had embraced ; and 
 bespoke them rather the votaries of Jupiter or Bacchus, than 
 the worshippers of Jehovah, and the followers of Jesus. Such 
 was the manner in whicli they ate the bread and di*ank the cup 
 of the Lord unworthily. Into disorders of this nature,' the 
 manners of the age, and the customs of all Christian churches, 
 preclude almost the possibility of falling. But does it follow, 
 because we cannot exactly imitate tlie Corinthians, that it is 
 impossible for us to incur the guilt of unworthy communicating? 
 Far from it. Their external conduct is not likely soon to be 
 followed ; but the principle which dictated their behaviour is but 
 too prevalent. The crime seldom wears that unsightly form 
 which it assumed at Corinth ; but under a more plausible exterior 
 it exists, it abounds, I fear, in every Christian church. 
 
 Let us endeavour, then, to explain in what unworthy com- 
 numicating consists, fixing our attention rather on what is dis- 
 tinctive of the crime in all circumstances, than on the particular 
 forms under which it presents itself, which are liable to consider- 
 able variety. In wdiatever age of the church he may live, and 
 however solemn and decorous may be his external demeanour, 
 that man is an iniworthy commuriicant, who engages in this 
 religious service, fi"om improper motives, — ignorant of its nature 
 and design, — destitute of laitli in the doctrines which it symboli- 
 cally teaches, — unactuated by those holy tempers Avhich it is 
 intended to exercise and improve, — or with a view to gain 
 uuAvorthy ends. We shall shortly illustrate the dift'erent parts 
 of this description. 
 
 l.s^. That man eats the bread and drinks the cup of the Lord 
 
DISC. IV,] UNWOIITIIY COMMUNICATING. 57 
 
 uiiwoi'tliil}', who engages in this service li'oin iinjjroper motives. 
 No maxim in morals is more universally admitted than this, that 
 " actions are good or evil, chiefly according to the nature of the 
 motives fi-om which they proceed." Though no excellence of 
 intention can render an action right that is materially wrong, it 
 may, it will, be considered as a palliation of its guilt ; and a 
 motive criminally defective, or positively wrong, robs actions, 
 however good in themselves, of all their moral worth. In cases 
 where man is the immediate object of our conduct, an action 
 may be very acceptable, while the motive is very unworthy ; 
 but the cause of this is merely, that as man can judge of principle 
 only by conduct, he presumes that where the outward act is 
 right, the hi ward principle is not wrong. He is pleased only 
 because he is mistaken. Inform him of the truth, and the action, 
 previously highly esteemed, will be contemned as utterly void of 
 value. In religious services, we have to do with God, who 
 " seeth not as man seeth, for man looketh on the outward ap- 
 pearance, but God judgcth the heart." If the heart be not right, 
 in his estimation all is wrong. So long as the source of action 
 continues unpurified, the streams which flow from it, however 
 pellucid in appearance, are in God's judgment polluted. 
 
 That many engage in the Lord's Supper, whose motives are 
 by no means pure, is a fact too notorious to require a laboured 
 proof. It is to be feared, that the mere force of custom is the 
 most ordinary motive to the observance of this sacred institution. 
 Multitudes have received their religious ritual like their religious 
 creed, " by tradition from their fathers." They follow the multi- 
 tude. The}' crowd to the table of the Lord, for the same reason 
 that they would have joined in an idolatrous procession, had they 
 been born in the regions of Paganism ; or taken part in the 
 services of the mosque, had their lot been cast among the nations 
 who follow the Arabian impostor. 
 
 A regard to Christianity as a political engine, — the religion of 
 the state, — induces another class to attend to this part of its 
 external worship. It is probable that they have never seriously 
 investigated the question respecting its claims to a divine origin ; 
 it is not unlikely that they may be sceptical about them ; it is 
 even possible that they may openly deny and ridicule them ; yet 
 still they consider it as decent and wise to pay an easy homage 
 to a religion which has the approving sanction of the civil 
 
58 UNWORTHY COMMUNICATING. [PART I. 
 
 authorities, and wliioli is of obvious use in maintaining good 
 order among tlie niiddle and lower ranks of society. 
 
 A third, and perha])s a larger class of men, observe the Lord's 
 Supper, because (depraved as the state of religion and morals 
 among us confessedly is) it is, at least among the middle orders, 
 still reckoned discreditable to be openly infidel and irreligious, 
 and a man's Christianity is apt to be doubted, who habitually 
 neglects its ritual institutions. 
 
 A vague expectation, and in some cases a real though most 
 mistaken conviction, that the pardon of sin is to be procured by 
 an ajjproach to the Lord's table, are not without their influence 
 in increasing the number of communicants. It is really pitiable, 
 that persons calling themselves Protestants, should thus substan- 
 tially cherish one of the most dangerous errors of Popery, — the 
 doctrine of the sacrifice of the mass, which transfers our confidence 
 from the Saviour's atoning death, to our commemoration of it ; 
 but the evidence in support of the lamentable fact is too abun- 
 dant to leave room for doubt. 
 
 It were endless to specify all the unworthy motives which urge 
 men to attend to this holy ordinance. Suffice it to remark, that a 
 desire to gratify the wishes of relations and friends, a principle in 
 itself by no means unaraiable, or to satisfy the demands of an 
 awakened but unenlightened conscience, or to promote the 
 interests of a party, by thus enlisting themselves in its ranks ; — 
 that these motives, and such as these, have been the actuating 
 principles of countless numbers, in seeking a place at the table 
 of the Lord. 
 
 It surely does not need much reasoning to prove, that the 
 person who is not animated by higher motives than these, in 
 observing the Lord's Supper, must be an unworthy communicant. 
 Is a regard to custom, political constitution, respectability of 
 character, the opinion of friends, the demands of an erring 
 conscience, or tlie interests of a party ; — is a regard for any of 
 these, or all of them conjoined, a worthy motive to the perform- 
 ance of a religious duty V No. Service proceeding from such 
 principles, the Suj)reme Being considers not as worship, but as 
 insult. " In vain," says He, " do they worship Me, teaching for 
 doctrines the comnuuulments of men." 
 
 Indeed, we may observe in general, that no motive can be 
 .sustained as pure and worthy, except a rcgar^l to the Divine 
 
DISC, IV.] UNWORTHY COMMUNICATING. 59 
 
 authority, instituting tliis ordinance, and requiring us to observe 
 it. It is only in this case that communicating can be con- 
 sidered as a religious service, — a part of Divine worship. Of 
 consequence, it is only in this case that it can be acceptable to 
 God. 
 
 2d, That man eats the bread and drinks the cup of the Lord 
 unworthily, who engages in the Lord's Supper while ignorant of 
 its nature and design. Our God expects rational worship from 
 his rational offspring. The radical part of true religion lies in 
 exercises of the understanding and the heart, in which it is im- 
 possible to engage without knowledge ; and even the external 
 and ritual part of religion is then only acceptable when it is a 
 reasonable service. That the mere reception of the Lord's 
 Supper, without any reference to the intelligence or devotion of 
 the recipient, is accompanied with saving virtue, is justly num- 
 bered among the most pernicious as well as absurd dogmas of 
 the Roman Church. 
 
 The Lord's Supper does not act as a charm on those who 
 engage in it. Its manner of operation is substantially the same 
 as the ordinance of preaching the Gospel. It is by a representa- 
 tion of truth and its evidence to the mind — in the one case by 
 symbols — in the other by words, that a salutary impression is 
 made on the heart. How is it possible, then, that a person 
 should observe this ordinance either acceptably or profitably, 
 who is ignorant of the first principles of Christianity, — who does 
 not know who Jesus Christ is, what he has done for our salva- 
 tion, and how we are to obtain an interest in the blessings of 
 his redemption '? He who does not understand the symbols in 
 tlie Lord's Supper, can derive no advantage from it. He can- 
 not, to use the apostle's language, " discern the Lord's body." 
 Ignorant of the truths emblematically taught, he cannot take up 
 the elements, nor perform the actions, as representations of doc- 
 trines most sublime and interesting. To him the consecrated 
 elements are mere bread and wine, and all the venerable solem- 
 nities of the eucharist unmeanins ceremonies.^ 
 
 1 lu using such language as is adopted in this sentence, the author wishes it dis- 
 tinctly understood, that he considers the elements in the Lord's Supper as consecrated 
 or set apart, not by wliat is usually termed the consecration prayer, but by the original 
 institution of Jesus Clirist. He thiidcs it, to say the least, very incautious language 
 which is often used hy ministers on such occasions, " We hereby set apart from a 
 
GO UNWORTHY COMMUNICATING. [PART I. 
 
 It might reasonably be expected that, in a country like ours, 
 so long Christian by profession, and possessing unparalleled ad- 
 vantages for religious instruction (I mean no hyperbole when I 
 use this expression), there should be few unworthy communicants 
 from ignorance. Would to God it were so ! I am deeply per- 
 suaded, however, that the reverse is the truth. Owing to the 
 highly criminal neglect of their parents in the precious season of 
 childhood and youth, and their own equally criminal neglect 
 when they arrive at rij)cr years, there are thousands, ay, and 
 tens of thousands of our countrymen, who are "perishing for 
 lack of knowledge." 
 
 That persons of this description so frequently find their way 
 to the table of the Lord, is partially, no doubt, but not wholly, 
 nor perhaps chiefly, to be attributed to the unprincipled or neg- 
 ligent conduct of those whom Christ Jesus has constituted 
 " stewards of the mysteries of his kingdom." In many cases, 
 men have a vocabulary of religious terms in their memories, who 
 have but little knowledge of religious truth in their understand- 
 ings : and what conscientious ruler of the church has not often 
 trembled, lest, when he meant merely to prevent the ignorant 
 from ])rofaning a Divine institution, he might inadvertently ex- 
 clude some weak but sincere Christian, some " babe in Christ," 
 from that rich and suitable provision, which, in this ordinance, 
 is prepared for him by his Father ? It is, however, abundantly 
 evident, that the grossly ignorant person cannot partici})nte in 
 the Lord's Supper with acceptance or advantage. If he eat the 
 bread and drink the cup of the Lord at all, he must eat and 
 drink unworthily. 
 
 ?)d, That man eats the bread and drinks the cup of the Lord 
 iniworthily, who engages in the Lord's Supper while destitute 
 of faith in those doctrines which are symbolically represented in 
 this ordinance. The Lord's Su])per, as we have endeavoured to 
 show at length,' is the Christian religion under a figurative re- 
 presentation. It holds up to the mind, under sensible signs, 
 some of the characteristic peculiarities of that system, and has 
 
 common to a sacred use, so mucli," &c. All tliat a Cliristian minister can do, and 
 all lie oufjflit to atteiii))t to do, is to give thanks for the great blessing of redemption 
 through the death of Christ, and for this diviiiely-aiiiiointed representation of it; and 
 to supplicate the Divine blessing on the ordinance administered according to the 
 original institution. 
 ' Discourse II. 
 
DISC. IV.] UNWORTHY COMMUNICATING. Gl 
 
 perhaps in this view contributed much to preserve unsullied the 
 purity of evangelical truth. ^ 
 
 The leading principle, symbolically represented in the Lord's 
 Supper, is this, that by the vicarious sacrifice of the Son of 
 God, human redemption was obtained. With this doctrine, all 
 the peculiar principles of Christianity are connected by an indis- 
 soluble bond. It is the key-stone of the arch of Christian doc- 
 trine, with which all the rest stand or fall. That this truth is 
 symbolically taught in the Lord's Supper, cannot l)e reasonably 
 doubted. On any other supposition, it is an unmeaning service. 
 The words of our Lord place this truth beyond all question : 
 " This is my body given for you. — This cup is the New Testa- 
 ment in my blood, which is shed for you." The reception of 
 the Lord's Supper is certainly, therefore, an implied acknowledg- 
 ment of a belief in this article, and in all that is necessarily con- 
 nected \vith it. 
 
 It follows, of course, that no man can worthily communicate 
 who does not sincerely believe the doctrines of the di^^nity and 
 atonement of the Saviour. I can scarcely conceive on what 
 principles the man who holds the doctrine of the mere humanity 
 of Jesus Christ, who considers him as the son of Joseph and 
 Mary, and who sees in his obedience no efficacy towards obtain- 
 ing the salvation of mankind, different from and superior to that 
 which they possess as proofs of doctrine and examples of virtue, 
 — I can scarcely conceive on what principles such a man can 
 satisfactorily account for the original appointment of this ordi- 
 nance, or justify his own individual observance of it.^ 
 
 But besides this accuracy of speculative apprehension of the 
 cardinal articles of Christian doctrine, something more is neces- 
 sary, to avoid the guilt of " eating the bread and drinking the 
 
 ' WitherspooD. 
 
 2 The Socinians seem to feel this difficulty themselves. In a late periodical publi- 
 cation, conducted by one of the most respectable of that body, we have the following 
 curious remark on this subject, which strikingly illustrates the observation just made. 
 " If the Unitarian Society, on their English Anniversary Festival, were to consecrate 
 the first goblet to the immortal memory of the great founder of their faith, they would 
 more faithfully copy the spirit of his institution, than any rival creedsmen, and would 
 accomplish the association of religion with the natural and habitual pleasures of 
 mankind." — Si/nonimic Elucidation^', AthcncBum, vol. iv. p. 497. It is plain that this 
 writer finds something not very agi-eeable in the usual modes of observing the Lord's 
 Supper. No doubt, were his proposal accepted, his brethren would avoid the apparent 
 sanction of a doctrine they abhor; but they would no longer observe the Lord's 
 Supper. 
 
02 rxwoKTiiY co:m51unicating. [part i. 
 
 cup of the Lord unwortliily." A man whose professed creed is 
 rigidly orthodox, and who is zealous, even to rancour, in defence 
 of it, may yet notwithstanding he an unworthy communicant. A 
 faith of these truths producing a reliance on the Saviour for 
 pardon, and acceptance, and purity, and consolation, arid eternal 
 life, and a submission of the understanding and affections to his 
 authority, is absolutely necessary for advantageously and accept- 
 ably observing the Lord's Supper. We must be under the in- 
 fluence of that divine principle, which gives as it were a present 
 existence to past and future events, and a palpable form to un- 
 seen and immaterial objects. Without this, we may eat the 
 bread and drink the wine ; but, without it, we cannot " eat the 
 flesh and drink the blood of the Son of God." 
 
 Atli, That man eats the bread and drinks the cup of the Lord 
 unworthily, who engages in the Lord's Supper without duly cor- 
 responding affections of heart. The value of a moral or religi- 
 ous action depends very much on the manner in which it is per- 
 formed. This remark may be applied with advantage to the 
 subject now under consideration. This ordinance is calculated 
 and intended to call forth into exercise many holy affections, 
 particularly reverence and love, penitence and charity ; and 
 wdienever it is observed without these sacred principles, it is ob- 
 served unworthily. 
 
 Deep veneration should characterise the worshippers of God 
 in every office of devotion, and the customs of our church strictly 
 prohibit eveiy approach to external irreverence, — but no human 
 inspection can secure the reverence of the heart. This, however, 
 is absolutely necessary. If Jacob, on recollecting the visions of 
 Bethel, exclaimed, " How^ dreadful is this place ! it is none other 
 than the house of God, and the gate of heaven !" if Moses ap- 
 proached the burning, yet unconsumed bush, the s^mibol of the 
 presence of Divinity, with visible tokens of religious awe, — surely 
 it must be highly criminal to contemplate, with an unimpressed 
 mind, the instituted symbols of the holy suffering humanity of 
 the Son of God — to survey with a careless heart these mysteries 
 " into which the angels desire to look." This fear, which is 
 necessary to worthy communicating, is not slavish terror, arising 
 from alarming apprehensions of the Divine vengeance, but that 
 childlike awe which is produced by enlightened conceptions and 
 overwhelming impressions of the Divine excellence, which, so 
 
DISC. IV.] UNWORTHY COMMUNICATING. 63 
 
 far from being inconsistent with supreme love, is its necessary 
 accompaniment. 
 
 That the person who does not love our Lord Jesus caniiot he 
 a worthy communicant, is too evident to reqiiire an extended 
 illustration. If he continues in this state, he must be "ana- 
 thema MARANATHA," accurscd at the coming of the Lord ; and 
 for him to observe the Lord's Supper, is but to re-act the treachery 
 of Iscariot — to betray the Son of God under the mask of kindness. 
 
 The impenitent person who approaches the Lord's table must 
 be an unworthy communicant ; and, in the estimation of Scrip- 
 ture, every man is impenitent who lives habitually in the neglect 
 of any known duty, and in the commission of any known sin. 
 It is to be feared, many persons of this description observe the 
 Lord's Supper, in the fond expectation of its being a kind of ex- 
 piation for past transgressions, if not a license for future ones ; 
 but all such plainly involve themselves in deeper guilt, by pro- 
 faning a Divine institution. 
 
 I only farther observe here, that he who engages in the Lord's 
 Supper, without charity, eats and drinks the cup of the Lord 
 unworthily. The Lord's Supper is termed " the communion," 
 not merely because it is a medium of intercoui'se between saints 
 and God their Father, and Christ their Saviour, but also as it is a 
 bond of fellowship among saints themselves. Here we all sit at 
 the same board, and as a token of the unity of our sentiments and 
 aifections, eat of the same bread and drink of the same cup. 
 Far hence, then, be the malignant and injurious, the wrathful 
 and unforgiving, the unfeeling and ungenerous. They cannot 
 approach without profaning the holy table ; they are incapable 
 of relishino; the benevolent delin;hts of this fraternal feast. How 
 can we properly commemorate the love of " God, mIio for 
 Christ's sake forgives us," if we are incapable of forgi\ing an 
 offending brother ! Our Lord's injunction with respect to sac- 
 rifices ought to be observed with equal cai'e in reference to the 
 Lord's Supper : " If thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there 
 rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee ; leave 
 there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way : first be reconciled 
 to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift."^ 
 
 ' Matth. V. 23, 2i. — The illustration of this particular has been intentionally cur- 
 tailed, as many of the remarks made on the sccoud division of the first general head 
 of the second discourse are equally applicable here. — Vide pp. 31-3-1, 
 
64 UNWORTHY COMMUNICATING. [PAKT I. 
 
 6th, That man eats the bread and drinks the cup of the Lord 
 unworthily, who engages in the Lord's Supper in order to gain 
 unworthy ends. The primary object of all our pursuits, whether 
 religious or secular, should be tiie advancement of the Divine 
 glory. " Whether we eat or drink, or whatever we do, we 
 should do all to the glory of God." This is the end which we 
 should chiefly seek in observing the Lord's Supper. We are to 
 eat bread and drink wine, tliat the matchless love of God our 
 Saviour may be held in everlasting remembrance, that the trans- 
 cendent display of the glories of the Divine character in that event, 
 of which this ordinance is commemorative, may never be for- 
 gotten, either by ourselves or others ; and may never be remem- 
 bered, but with sentiments of admiration, gratitude, and love. 
 In subservience to this great end, we are to seek in the Lord's 
 Supper our ow^n sjnritual improvement, and that of our Christian 
 brethren ; Ave are to come to the table of Jesus, that our faith 
 may be strengthened, our hope enlivened, our love inflamed, our 
 devotional affections elevated, our good resolutions confirmed, 
 and that the hearts of our fellow Christians may be comforted, 
 and their hands strengthened in the good work of the Lord. 
 
 Sucli are the ends which the worthy communicant keeps 
 steadily in view. But how different from, hoAV inconsistent with 
 these, are the designs to promote which, many professors take 
 their seats at tlie communion table !^ Do none take their place 
 at the Lord's table to be seen of men ? to obtain, preserve, or 
 increase, a reputation for sanctity of character, and to serve secu- 
 lar ends by a character thus supported ? All such ends, indeed 
 
 ' In the former editions the following' paragraph occurs. It is with devout g'rati- 
 tude we record the important fact, that the shameful prostitution referred to no longer 
 exists. " In a sister country, it is no uncommon practice to receive the Lord's Supper 
 as a qualification for holdinj;^ situations of lionour, or emolument, whether civil or 
 military. This custom, though sanctioned by law, deserves no better name than 
 sacrilege. On the general subject of test laws, good and wise men have long differed 
 in opinion, and perha[)s m.iy lonjf continue to differ ; but surely no Christian w ho feels 
 for the honour of liis religion and his Saviour, can help earnestly wishing, that if an 
 attachment to a peculiar mode of Christianity be necessary for fitting men for filling 
 certain situations, some other plan of ascertaining this attachment could be devised 
 than the prostitution of one of the venerable institutions of our holy faith. From 
 our local situation, as well as from the circumstances in which an all-wise Providence 
 has seen fit to place most of us, we are happily not exposed to any tomi>tation to 
 this gross abuse of the Lord's Sui>per, — but I could not allow so fair an opportunity 
 to pass unimproved, of strongly reprobating a practice which forms no inconsiderable 
 part of our national guilt, and which has contributed largely to the growth of impiety 
 and profaneness." 
 
DISC. IV. I UNWORTHY COMMUNICATING. Oo 
 
 all ends except those above specified, wlieu sought by the obser- 
 vance of the Lord's Supper, are highly unworthy, and stamp 
 the person who prosecutes them, with the character of an un- 
 worthy communicant. 
 
 II. The consequences which the apostle represents as flowing 
 from eating the bread and drinking the cup of the Lord un- 
 worthily, come now to be considered. These are two : — The 
 unworthy communicant contracts much guilt, — •" He is guilty of 
 the body and the blood of the Lord ;" — and he exposes himself 
 to severe punishment, — " lie eats and drinks judgment to him- 
 self." 
 
 1st, The unworthy communicant contracts much guilt : " He 
 is guilty of the body and blood of the Lord." These words have 
 been variously interpreted. Perhaps the most ordinary way of 
 explaining them, is to represent them as synon} mous with ' He 
 is guilty of a profanation of the symbols of the body and blood 
 of the Lord.' ^ This appears to be using an undue freedom with 
 the language of the inspired writer. It is to suppose an ellipsis 
 of a kind unexampled, so far as I know, in the New Testament. 
 Besides, it strips the declaration, obviously intended to be alarm- 
 ing, of much of its terror. It makes the apostle say little 
 more than that he who communicates unworthily, is guilty of 
 unworthy communicating. 
 
 The most rational way of ascertaining the meaning of a 
 scriptural phrase, is carefully to consider those passages of Scrip- 
 ture in wdiich either the same expression or a similar one occurs. 
 The phrase under consideration is, I believe, a singular one. 
 But in the Old Testament, we find the phrase " guilty of blood," 
 used to signify murder. The murderer is said to be guilty of 
 the blood of the person murdered.^ In like manner, "to be 
 guilty of the body and blood of the Lord," seems to signify a 
 participation in the guilt of the Saviour's death. 
 
 In a literal sense, indeed, this guilt belongs exclusively to the 
 Jewish rulers who plotted his destruction, the Roman governor 
 who sentenced him to death, the Jewish populace whose san- 
 guinaiy outcries tempted the timid judge into a compliance with 
 their wishes, and the Roman soldiers who nailed him to the 
 
 ' Vide Do(ldri<]i>o aiul Macknirrht in loco. 3 Numb. xxxv. 27. 
 
GQ UNWORTHY COMMUNICATINO. [PART I. 
 
 cross. The tragic scene of Mount Calvary can never be re-acted. 
 The human nature of the Saviour is placed for ever beyond the 
 reach of injuiy and insult. He is " passed into the heavens, and 
 is sat down for ever on the right hand of the Majesty on high." 
 A diadem of glory now surrounds the temples which were bound 
 by the crown of thorns, and the sceptre of the universe is swayed 
 by the hands which were nailed to the cross. But is the lan- 
 guage of the apostle, therefore, umneaning? By no means. 
 Though understood literally it would be absurd ; considered as a 
 figure it conveys, in a manner -the most impressive, a truth the 
 most important. It teaches us, that the unworthy communicant 
 is under the influence of the same malignant dispositions which 
 animated the murderers of our Lord ; and that, placed in their 
 circumstances, he "vvoukl have imitated their conduct. 
 
 The truth contained in the text, even when thus explained, 
 may appear to many a hard saying. That the person who ob- 
 serves a religious ordinance, however solemn, in an irreverent 
 manner, should discover dispositions of the same malignant nature 
 as those displayed who hated, persecuted, and slew the Son of 
 God, may seem a very paradoxical assertion — " No," says the 
 mere worldly and wicked professor of Christianity, " it cannot be ; 
 had we lived in the days of our Saviour, we would have received 
 and honoured him as the Lord from heaven ; we would have 
 listened with eagerness, faith, and reverence, to his instructions ; 
 we would have treated his person with veneration and kindness ; 
 we would have protected him from violence, or died in his de- 
 fence." I do not despair, however, of proving, to the satisfaction 
 of every attentive unprejudiced hearer, that, in the sense in which 
 I have explained it, the unworthy communicant is guilty of the 
 body and blood of the Lord. 
 
 Our attention is more strongly arrested by the body, if I may 
 use the expression, than by the spirit of the crime of our Lord's 
 murderers. Our imagination is more occupied with the injuries 
 and insults heaped upon the Saviour, than our judgment with 
 the principles from which they proceeded. Yet there is not a 
 more incontrovertible principle in morals than this, that crimin- 
 ality is more properly a quality of motive than of action. It is 
 also to be remembered, in order to our forming a right judgment 
 upon this subject, that the same principle operates very differently 
 in cUfferent circumstances. If, then, the motives which actuate 
 
DISC. IV.] UNWORTHY COMMUNICATING. G7 
 
 the profaner of tlic Lord's Supper be substantially the same as 
 those which animated the murderers of the Saviour, it will fol- 
 low, of course, that they are partners in their criminal principles ; 
 and if circumstances had allowed, would have been imitators of 
 their criminal conduct. Now, wliy did the Jew and the Gentile 
 unite in hating, and persecuting, and slaying the Saviour "? Was 
 it not because they disbelieved his Messiahship, rejected his sacri- 
 fice, and contennied his authority ? And to what otiier princi- 
 ples can unworthy communicating, as explained in the former 
 part of the discourse, be traced 1 Human nature is much the 
 same in every age. The Jews were not the monsters we are apt 
 to suppose them. Their wickedness, indeed, can scarcely be ex- 
 aggerated, thouiili described in the strono-est lann;ua!T;e ; but place 
 irregenerate men of any country or age in the same circum- 
 stances, possess them with the same sentiments, prejudices, and 
 prospects, and tliey will act substantially the sarae part. 
 
 But it may be said this is the character of other sins as well 
 as of unworthy communicating : We readily admit that it is, 
 for the apostle does not assert here that this is the distinguishing 
 peculiarity of the crime. Obstinate rejection of the Gospel, and 
 apostasy from its profession, are described in very similar lari- 
 guage. The rejector of the Gospel, is said to " trample under 
 foot the Son of God," and to " account the blood of the covenant 
 wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing." And the apos- 
 tate is said to " crucify the Son of God afresh, and put him to an 
 open shame." It seems to follow, from these remarks, that the 
 guilt of unworthy commimicating, though highly aggravated, is 
 not singular. ^lay God grant that this exhibition of its defor- 
 mity may make us all cautious how we incur it !^ 
 
 2d, The unworthy communicant exposes himself to severe 
 punishment. He " eats and drinks judgment to himself." The 
 mode of expression is remarkable. So far as I have observed, it 
 is singular. Its meaning is not, however, in any degree obscure. 
 The words plainly signify, that by thus eating and drinking he 
 exposes himself to condemnation. From this passage some have 
 rashly concluded, that unworthy communicating is uniformly 
 and necessarily connected with everlasting destruction. This is 
 
 ' Without speaking' dogmatically on a doubtful question, I think it riglit to say, — 
 I am less averse to the first mode of interpretation, and much less sure in reference 
 to the second, than I was when, thirty-five years ago, I wrote this discourse. 
 
68 UNWORTHY COMMUNICATING. [I'ART I. 
 
 certainly a very unwarranted inference. Great as is the guilt of 
 this ci'ime, and severe as is its punishment, we have no reason 
 to think the former iiTomissible, nor the latter uniformly eternal. 
 We know from the apostle John, that " there is but one sin unto 
 death ;" and from our Lord, that that sin is the blasphemy 
 against the Holy Ghost. Whatever this irremissible sin may be, 
 we have no reason to think that it is unworthy communicating. 
 That is obviously a crime directed immediately against Christ ; 
 and we know that " all sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven 
 unto men ; and if a man speak a Avord against the Son of man, 
 it shall be forgiven to him." 
 
 But apart from these general considerations, the passage itself 
 contains abundant evidence, that eternal destruction is not the 
 evil which the apostle here declares to be incurred by unworthy 
 communicating. The Avord translated " damnation " in our ver- 
 sion, is much better rendered in the margin "judgment." It is 
 thus translated in many other passages of Scripture. We shall 
 quote two of them. " He that troubleth you shall bear his 
 own judgment, whosoever he be." — " The time is come when 
 judgment is begun at the house of God." Even a mere English 
 reader must perceive, that it woidd have been exceedingly harsh 
 to have rendered the w^ord damnation in these passages. 
 
 The nature of the judgments to which unworthy communicat- 
 ing subjects those who are guilty of it, maybe learned fi'om that 
 which befell the offending Corinthians : " For this cause," says 
 the apostle, " many are weak and sickly among you, and many 
 sleep." In their case, bodily diseases and untimely death were 
 the judgments inflicted. — But were not these merely the fore- 
 runners of more dreadful evils, of more lasting pains ? We have 
 no reason to think so. On the contrary, a phrase is used to 
 express their death, which is never in the New Testament applied 
 to the death of the wicked. They are said " to fall asleep ;" and 
 so far from being the earnest of everlasting punishment, wo are 
 informed that they were intended for this very purj>osc, tliat they 
 might escape the condemnation of the wicked. " When we are 
 judged," says the apostle, " we are chastened, that we shoidd not 
 be condemned with the world." These observations will not be 
 useless, if in but one instance they serve to dissipate those dis- 
 tressing fears Avhich are aj)t to arise in weak, perhaps, but tender 
 minds, from the very strong phraseoh^gy which is employed in oiu' 
 
DISC. IV.J UNWORTHY COMMUXICATING. 69 
 
 translation of the Scriptures, and which frequently prevent them 
 fro]]i receiving that unmingled satisfaction from this ordinance, 
 which it is certainly intended and calculated to communicate. 
 
 Let no man, however, conclude, from what has been said, that 
 the punishment to which unworthy communicating exposes, is 
 but common and trifling. Like every other sin, it is damning 
 in its own nature; and if vmrepented of, will doubtless form one 
 of the grounds of that sentence of condemnation which dooms the 
 sinner to unending destruction. Besides, it is not for us to 
 determine how often, or in what instances, this crime in irregener- 
 ate men is, even in the present state, punished by mental and 
 bodily diseases. 
 
 Nor is the punishment slight to which the Christian (for even 
 he may be guilty of some of the forms of this crime) exposes 
 himself, when he eats the bread and drinks the cup of the Lord 
 unworthily. The severest and most apparently wrathful afflictions 
 with which God visits his people, will ultimately be salutary ; 
 but during their continuance, they may all be intolerable. The 
 judgments of God, even when we except the most di'eadful of 
 them, are infinitely varied, and may be awfully severe. Say, 
 Christian, is it a small affliction to be deprived of all sensible 
 communion with thy Saviour and thy God, — to be given up to 
 be the sport of the malignant ingenuity of thine infernal foes, — 
 to be allowed to fall into some gross sin, which must deeply 
 wound thy conscience, indelibly stain thy character, and totally 
 destroy thy usefulness, — to have thine understanding clouded 
 with perplexity, and thy heart tortured with fear, — to lose, though 
 not thy security (for that cannot be lost) yet the knowledge of 
 thy security, of the everlasting inheritance, — to be " chastened 
 with sore pain upon thy bed," while no comforting influences 
 are vouchsafed from above, — to be terrified with the prospect of 
 spending an eternity — an eternity, too, apparently at hand, in 
 the society of devils and damned spirits, under the hopeless 
 dominion of depravity, — to be haunted with the idea that the 
 unrelaxing frown of an offended Judge is fixed on you, instead 
 of the benignant smile of a reconciled Father, — in fine, to die 
 without comfort and without hope, unable to give a testimony to 
 the power of the religion of Jesus, to support the mind under the 
 pressure of affliction, and in the prospect of death ? Say, Chris- 
 tian, are these light evils, or canst thou form an idea of misery 
 
70 L'NWORTUY COMMUNICATING. [I'AKT I. 
 
 more exquisite, without borrowing tlie notion from the regions of 
 despair? Yet all these judgments may be inflicted on the saint 
 who is guilty of unworthy communicating. 
 
 It would be extremely rash to assert, for Scripture warrants no 
 such affirmation, that all these judgments were ever, in any 
 instance, inflicted vipon an erring saint. In dispensing chastise- 
 ments to his people, God is sovereign and merciful. But let us 
 beware of presuming on his mercy. To all these evils does the 
 unworthy communicant ex})ose himself; and were they inflicted 
 on him in all their variety and severity, who durst say that the 
 Almighty was either unmerciful or unjust ? If the true Christian, 
 when he communicates unworthily, may be thus chastised, oh 
 how severe must be the punishment of the impenitent, irregenerate 
 profaner of the body and blood of the Lord ! 
 
 Before concluding the Discourse, it may be proper to guard 
 you against misimproving these truths — and to urge you to apply 
 them to the practical purposes which they are fitted and intended 
 to answer. 
 
 The doctrine of the deep guilt and the great danger of un- 
 worthy communicating, is misimproved by two classes of men of 
 very different characters. It is often urged as an excuse for 
 neglecting this ordinance, by men who are in reality careless 
 about Christianity and its institutions ; and it is sometimes felt 
 by the sincere, but timid believer, as a real obstacle in the way 
 of his enjoying the privilege and performing the duty of eating 
 bread and drinking wine in remembrance of the Saviour's dying 
 love. 
 
 The conduct of the first class of persons is highly criminal and 
 foolish ; — it is to pervert the doctrines of the Gospel from their 
 true design, and to extract from them an apology for neglecting 
 its duties. Are such persons serious in their objection ? If 
 they are not, let them know, that the will of God, and the salva- 
 tion of the soul, are much too serious subjects for quibbling about, 
 and that " God is not deceived, and will not be mocked." In 
 very many cases, the real cause of their not communicating is 
 their insensibility to the obligations of Christianity altogether, or 
 the love of some sin which they are determined not to abandon. 
 The profession of a fear of communicating unworthily, is but the 
 pretext under which they endeavour to cloak from others, and 
 l>crhaps from themselves, their latent infidelity and supreme love 
 
DISC. IV.] UNWORTHY COMMUNICATING. 71 
 
 ot" iniquity. For if they are so much Jifraid of condemnation, 
 why are they not careful to avoid every sin ? Unworthy com- 
 municating is not the only damning transgression. Every sin 
 exposes to the displeasure of God, and among the rest neglect of 
 the Lord's Supper. 
 
 Let such persons remember, if they are indeed unprepared for 
 communicating, they are in a state of extreme hazard. They 
 are enemies of God, unfit for every religious exercise, condemned 
 already ; and, should they die in their present situation, they 
 must be miserable for over. To invite such persons, in their 
 present state, to the Lord's table, would be highly improper. 
 But we would beseech them, by the " terrors of the Lord," and 
 by the compassions of the Redeemer, to " flee for refuge to the 
 hope set before them in the Gospel." Let them " believe in the 
 Lord Jesus, that they may be saved ;" and then let them hasten 
 to the Lord's table, to express their gratitude for his redeeming 
 kindness. 
 
 But there is another class of persons who are apt to misimprove 
 the doctrine of the guilt and danger of unworthy communicating, 
 possessed of far difterent characters, and to be regarded with far 
 different sentiments — objects at least as much of pity as of blame. 
 I allude to those really religious persons, who, partly from a 
 peculiarity of bodily constitution, partly from a timidity of dis- 
 position, and partly from far different causes, the power of re- 
 maining corruption, and the suggestion of evil spirits, refrain 
 from communicating, lest they should incur the guilt of eating 
 the bread and drinking the cup of the Lord unworthily. 
 
 With an individual of this kind I would use the language of 
 friendly remonstrance. My dear Christian brother, — Do not 
 these fears argue very unworthy conceptions of the Saviour ? 
 Do you not think of him rather as a hard master, a suspicious 
 tyrant, who is strict to mark every offence, even in those who 
 are sincerely attempting to please him, than as an affectionate, 
 condescending Redeemer, who " knows your frame, and remem- 
 bers you are dust"? Will such fears be sustained as an excuse 
 at the tribunal of God, for the neglect of a plainly commanded 
 duty ? Will not the recollection of slighted communions embitter 
 the cup of death 1 How canst thou answer to thy conscience 
 now, and how on a more solemn day wilt thou answer to thy 
 Lord, for in reality ofiFering disrespect, though under the appear- 
 
72 UNAVORTHY COMMUNICATING. [PART I. 
 
 anco of extreme regard to the instituted memorials of his dying 
 love ? Tliere is guilt and danger in unworthy communicating, 
 but is tliere less guilt or danger in refusing compliance with an 
 explicit and most peremptory command of thy God and Saviour 1 
 — " But I am unworthy to sit down at the Saviour's table." 
 And were we to wait till the table was surrounded with worthy 
 guests, in your acceptation of the term, when would the feast be 
 celebrated ? The holiest man on earth is not worthy to be ad- 
 mitted to so great an honour — so rich a privilege. To know, 
 and be duly affected with our owm unworthiness, is a clear evi- 
 dence that we shall be acceptable communicants. Canst thou 
 appeal, Christian, to thy God, that it is nothing but a fear of 
 offending Him that keeps thee from his table 1 In the conscious- 
 ness of this sentiment of complete acquiesence in the will of God, 
 thou hast a proof of thy saintship, and of thy right in his estima- 
 tion to a place at his table. 
 
 But while we guard thus against the misimprovement of these 
 doctrines, let us also use them as powerful motives to a careful 
 attention to the preparatory duties of meditation, prayer, and 
 self-examination, and to the state of our thoughts and feelings 
 when engaged in observing tiie Lord's Supper. " God is greatly 
 to be feared in the meeting of his saints, and He is to be had in 
 reverence by all who are about Him." To serve Him acceptably, 
 we must " serve Him with reverence and godly fear, for our God 
 is a consuming fire." " Holy and reverend is his name." 
 
 Let us then devote ourselves to deep serious thought on the 
 great truths represented in this ordinance, let us be frequent and 
 fervent in our addresses to the throne of mercy, and let us be 
 impartial and diligent in our researches into our own hearts. 
 And when in the multitude of his mercies the Saviour brings us 
 to his table, let us, in humble diffidence of our own wisdom, 
 righteousness, and strength, but in unshaken confidence in " the 
 grace which is in Christ Jesus," exercise a holy reverence, a firm 
 faith, and an ardent love. Let us give oursehes entirely up to 
 the holy service. Shutting out the world and its vanities, let 
 Christ and his love, heaven and its glories, possess all our souls. 
 Let faith present us with the view of the unseen Saviour, and 
 let love and joy, admiration and gratitude, penitence and hope, 
 hold the united empire of our hearts. Let a reflection on those 
 sins, which were the cause of our Saviour's matchless sufferings, 
 
DISC. IV,] UNWORTHY COMMUNICATING. 73 
 
 heave tlie breast with the sigh of regret, and moisten the cheek 
 with the tear of penitential sorrow ; while the delightful assurance, 
 that by these sufferings that guilt was expiated, and the ultimate 
 extinction of the j^rinciples of depravity secured, removes every 
 thing painful fi'om these emotions, and fills the heart with a "joy 
 unspeakable and full of glory." 
 
 Thus, instead of eating the bread and drinking the cup of the 
 Lord unworthily, we shall observe this holy ordinance in a manner 
 pleasing to God, honourable to our Redeemer, useful to ourselves, 
 and edifying to the church of Christ. Instead of eating and 
 drinking judgment to ourselves, we shall enjoy a foretaste of 
 the " hidden manna," and of the " new wme of the kingdom of 
 God." 
 
DISCOURSE V. 
 
 SELF-EXAMTNATION. 
 
 1 Cor. xi. 28. — " But let a man e.\aniine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and 
 drink of that cup." 
 
 The religion of the Bible is, like its great Author, spiritual in 
 its nature. Its business is with man, as a rational, active, and 
 immortal being. The word which reveals it is " quick and 
 powerful, sharper than a two-edged sword, piercing to the divid- 
 ing asunder of the joints and marrow, the soul and spirit, and 
 is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart ;" and 
 wdiile it by no means overlooks external and ritual duties, its 
 gi'and leading requisition is rectitude of principle, and its great 
 object is, by purifying the heart, to purify the conduct. The 
 God whom the Scriptures reveal is the God " who searches the 
 heart," and his acceptable votaries are those " who worship Him 
 in spirit and in truth." With Him "bodily service profiteth 
 little:" it is "a living sacrifice" that alone rises in acceptance 
 before Him. 
 
 From this peculiarity of the religion of the Bible flow a vaiiety 
 of duties, to which nothing analogous is to be found in the systems 
 of superstition. " Keep thy heart yviih all diligence," is a radical 
 law of the scriptural system. The principal object is not that a 
 certain round of visible services be regularly performed, though 
 this is not neglected, but it is to have the understanding enlight- 
 ened in all necessary truth, to have the conscience well informed 
 and honest, to ha^•e the affections properly directed, to have 
 the passions rightly regulated,^ — in one word, to have the tone of 
 thinking and feeling rendered perfectly accordant to that revela- 
 tion of truth contained in the Holy Scriptureis. In these consists 
 true reli<Mon ; all else is merely the expression of it. Hence also 
 
DISC, v.] SELF-EXAMINATION. 75 
 
 arise the necessity and obligation of such duties as self-knowledge 
 and self-examination. In a religion entirely ritual and external, 
 a man can scarcely mistake as to the question whether he is or 
 is not religious. In a religion which is spiritual and unseen, it is 
 far otherwise : there is much room for self-deception, and of 
 coui'se there is much need of self-inquiry. Where religion con- 
 sists in the general state of the mind, and heart, and conduct, 
 there is an obvious necessity of thorough self-knowledge, in order 
 to ascertain our religious character; and in order to thorough self- 
 knowledge, deep reflection and impartial inquiry are requisite. 
 
 To the proper performance, even of the ritual and external 
 duties of religion, under such a system, self-examination is neces- 
 sary. In order to be acceptable, these must be expressive of a 
 certain mode of thinking and feeling ; in any other case, they 
 are not merely improfitable as bodily services, but they are 
 detestable as hypocrisy ; and therefore it is very necessary, that 
 by self-inqiiiry we should ascertain that our hearts are right with 
 God, previously to oitr engaging in them. It is plainly on these 
 principles that the apostle in the text so strongly enjoins self-ex- 
 amination in the prospect of engaging in the Lord's supper. If 
 we would observe that ordinance acceptably, we must not only eat 
 bread and drink wine, but do this as expressive of certain senti- 
 ments and feelings ; and, therefore, previously to our observing 
 it, we must inquire whether we possess these sentiments, whether 
 we cherish these feelings. We have the prospect of soon observ- 
 ing the Lord's Supper. Self-examination is in our present cir- 
 cumstances a most appropriate and necessaiy duty. In order to 
 facilitate its performance, I shall endeavour, 
 
 I. To direct your attention to some of the subjects about which 
 a man ought to examine himself, previously to his eating the 
 Lord's Supper. 
 
 II. To point out the manner in which the exercise of self- 
 examination ought to be conducted. And, 
 
 III. To bring forward a few motives which should stimulate 
 Christians to engage in this exercise. 
 
 I. To engage in the Lord's Supper with accejitance and ad- 
 vantage, it is necessary that a man should be a true Christian, 
 " reconciled to God through the death of his Son," and "renewed 
 in the spirit of his mind '" by the effectual operation of the Holy 
 
7() SELF-EXAMINATION. [I'AUT I. 
 
 Ghost ; and u Christian, too, M-hose faith and love, and penitence 
 are in lively exercise. The requisite inquiry seems thus naturally 
 to resolve itself into two parts. What is my state as a man ? Am 
 I converted or unconverted ? And what is my character as a 
 Christian ? Am la" babe in Christ" "? or am I amved in 
 some measure at maturity? Am I "carnal or spiritual" ? Am 
 I a backslider ? or am I " growing in grace, and in the knowledge 
 of our Lord Jesus Christ" ? To use a somewhat antiquated but 
 sufficiently accurate plu'aseology — The design of self-examina- 
 tion, before we engage in the Lord's Supper, is to discover both 
 whether we are habitually, and whether we are actually, prepared 
 for it. The two inquiries may, however, with sufficient propriety, 
 be conjoined ; and the subjects about which a man ought to ex- 
 amine himself, may be reduced to three : his sentiments, his affec- 
 tions, and his conduct. 
 
 1st, In the prospect of observing the Lord's Supper, a man 
 ought to examine himself with respect to his sentiments. Opinion 
 is, in a good degree, the gviide of human conduct ; and our senti- 
 ments have a direct and powerful influence in forming our char- 
 acter. To discover the latter, we must be acquainted with the 
 former. 
 
 A great proportion of mankind, even of professed Christians, 
 are so ignorant as to have, properlj^ speaking, no sentiments on 
 religion at all. If we belong to this class, there is no need of 
 our prosecuting the inquiry any farther. We have already seen, 
 that the grossly ignorant person must be an unworthy commu- 
 nicant.^ The great body of you, however, who have been 
 admitted into clnu'ch-fellowship, must, in charity, be presumed 
 to be not ignorant. It is to be supposed that religious truth has 
 been a subject of thought with you, and that you have formed 
 something like a fixed system of opinion. Now, what are your 
 sentiments about religion? — To assist you in your inquiries, I 
 shall class the leading subjects in religion under general heads, 
 and propose a few plain questions in reference to each of them. 
 
 What are your opinions respecting God? Do you believe 
 that there is a God ? Have you a realising, impressive con- 
 viction of his existence and presence, his providence and power ? 
 Or are you "saying in your heart with the fool, There is no 
 
 ' Discourse \\. 
 
DISC, v.] SELF-EXAMINATION. 77 
 
 God"? Do you believe God to be possessed of all the attri- 
 butes ascribed to Ilim in the Holy Scriptures ; infinitely great and 
 powerful, wise and good, holy and just ? Or do you conceive 
 of Him as "one" if not "altogether" yet ver}'much "like your- 
 selves" ? Do you believe Him to be so severely strict as to bo 
 t\Tannical, or so " all mercy" as to be unjust ? or, do you 
 consider Him as inflexibly just and immaculately holy, yet at the 
 same time infinitely benignant and inconceivably gracious ? 
 
 What are your opinions concerning yourselves ? Do you not 
 only believe in human guilt and depra^aty as a general doctrine ; 
 but do you believe yourselves to be guilty and depraved, and to 
 be as guilty and depraved as the Scriptures represent you to be ? 
 Do you believe that " the imagination of the thoughts of your 
 hearts are only evil, and that continually;" that your "heart 
 is deceitfiil above all things, and desperately wicked;" that your 
 violations of the Divine law have been infinitely numerous, 
 (Ireadfidly aggravated, and altogether inexcusable ; that you 
 are "by nature children of ^\Tath;" and that, being "dead in 
 trespasses and sins," it is physically impossible for you to make 
 atonement for your sins, and morally impossible for you to 
 restore yourselves to a state of rectitude? Or, though you 
 admit that you have sinned, do you consider yourselves as still 
 capable of securing for yourselves pardon, restoration to the 
 fiivoui' and image of God, and final happiness, by repentance 
 and amendment ? 
 
 \^^lat are yoiu' sentiments in reference to the Saviour ? Are 
 you thoroughly persuaded that the Saviour Jesus Christ is the 
 great God ; that he voluntarily assumed the human nature, and 
 the mediatorial character; that he oflFered himself a sacrifice for 
 the sins of men; that he "ever lives to make intercession;" 
 that he is the all-sufficient and the only Saviour ? Or do you 
 conceive of Jesus Christ as a mere man, or as an incarnate angel, 
 who contributed inucii, by his doctrine and example, to the pro- 
 motion of human happiness? 
 
 AVliat are your sentiments respecting the way of salvation 
 through Christ? Are you persuaded that "eternal life is the 
 gift of God through Christ Jesus," not to be purchased by 
 works, but received by faith ; that this " faith is the gift of 
 God," and the work of his Spirit ; that the " renewing of the 
 Holy Ghost" forms as essential a part of the Christian salvation 
 
78 SELF-EXAMINATION. [PAItT I. 
 
 as the atonement of the Son of God ; that tliere is no other 
 way of deliverance for man ; and that this method is most wise, 
 just, and good? Or do you expect an interest in the blessings 
 of salvation as the rewaixl of some exertion made by yourselves ; 
 or conceiA'C it possible to be saved while unrenewed by the Spirit, 
 and the servants of iniquity ? 
 
 What are your sentiments with respect to the invisible realities 
 of a future state ? Are you deeply persuaded that there is a 
 heaven and a hell, and that you must be for ever an inhabitant 
 either of the one or the other ? 
 
 What are your opinions with regards to the Lord's Supper ? 
 Do you view it as a species of propitiation for your sins, or 
 merely as a testimony of your grateful reliance on the one sac- 
 rifice of Jesus Christ? What are your sentiments as to its 
 nature, — its obligation, — its design ? 
 
 On what are your sentiments on all these various subjects 
 founded ? Have you received them merely " by tradition fi'om 
 your fathers" ? Are they only the prejudices of education? or 
 have you seen them with your own eyes in the Scriptures of 
 truth, and received them on the ground of the Divine testimony, 
 discerned in the exercise of your rational faculties, under the 
 enlightening influence of the Divine Spirit? And are you 
 ready to " give every one who asketh you, a reason of the hope 
 that is in you with meekness and fear" ? Such is a specimen 
 (our limits admit of nothing more) of the questions, by putting 
 which to himself, a man may discover the real state of his sen- 
 timents, and their accordance, or discordance, with that system 
 taught in the Holy Scriptures. 
 
 2d, In the prospect of observing the Lord's Supper, a man 
 should examine himself as to the state of his affections. The 
 head may be clear, while the heart is cold. The professed creed 
 may be orthodox, while the affections are disordered. In order 
 to know what we are, we nuist know not merely what we think, 
 but how we feel. In inquiring into the state of our affections, 
 we may follow two different methods : we may either attend to 
 the different affections, such as love and hatred, hojie and fear, 
 joy and sorrow ; or the cUlferent objects of affection, — as God, his 
 law, Christ Jesus, sin, the world, ourselves, and our neighbours. 
 Either mode will sei*\'e to lead us into a knowledge of the real 
 state of our affections. We shall adopt the latter. We call. 
 
DISC, v.] SELF-EXAMINATION. 79 
 
 tlien, on every person who proposes to observe the Lord's Supper, 
 to attend seriously to the following questions : — 
 
 What is the state of your affections towards God ? Do you, 
 under the influence of " the carnal mind," chci'ish sentiments of 
 " enmity against God" ? or do you " love Him with all your 
 heart, soul, strength, and mind " ? Is He the object of your 
 supreme esteem and affection ? Do you love God for what He 
 is in himself, as Avell as for what He has done for you in the gifts 
 of providence, and the blessings of grace? Do you "sanctify 
 the Lord your God in your heart, and make Him yom* fear and 
 your dread" ? Does your fear of God arise from alarm of the 
 effects of his vengeance? and is it productive of torment? or 
 does it flow from enlarged views of his venerable excellences ? 
 and does it sweetly harmonise w4th the emotions of esteem and 
 love? 
 
 "WHiat is the state of your affections with respect to God's law? 
 Do you feel dissatisfied with the extent and spiritviality of the 
 Divine law ; with the strictness of the precept, and the severity 
 of the penalty? or do you account "the law holy, just, and 
 good " ? Do you " delight in the law of God after the inward 
 man " ? Do you heartily approve of these injunctions of the law 
 that most directly oppose the strongest impulses of your corrupt 
 nature ? And is it yom' desire, not that the law were brought 
 down to your weakness, but that you were conformed to the 
 law's perfection ? Do you " esteem God's commandments, con- 
 cerning all things, to be right "? 
 
 What is the state of your affections towards the Saviour? Is 
 he the object of yoiir indifference or dislike ? Does he " grow 
 up before " you in the revelation of the Gospel, " as a root out 
 of a dry ground, without form or comehness"? and, when you 
 see him, do you perceive "no beauty why ye shoidd desire him"? 
 Or do you regard him as the loveliest of all beings, and the 
 kindest of all benefactors ? Do you love him supremely, not, 
 indeed, as he deserves to be loved, not as you wish to love him, 
 but still far better than the most valuable earthly possession, or 
 the dearest earthly friend? Can you enter into the apostle's 
 feelings, when he says, " 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"? Do you feel com- 
 munion with him to be absolutely necessary to your happiness ? 
 
80 SELF-EXAMINATION. [PAUT f. 
 
 and do you earnestly desire and huniLly hope to be for ever 
 " with him, and to behold the glory whieli the Father hath 
 given him" *? 
 
 ^^^lat is the state of your affections with respect to sin ? Do 
 you account it the most malignant and detestable of all things? 
 Do you dislike it, merely or chiefly on account of its baneful 
 effects on your conscience, constitution, character, or fortune ; 
 or on account of the dreadful punishment to which it subjects 
 the sinner in the world to come ? Or do you hate it on account 
 of its opposition to the Divine character and will, and because it 
 rendered necessary the sorrows, and agonies, and death of your 
 dear Lord ? Do you hate all sin, even that to which, from con- 
 stitution, habit, or interest, you are most strongly inclined ? Do 
 you consider liableness to sin as the gi'eatest evil of your present 
 situation? and are you disposed to exclaim, w'ith the apostle, 
 " O wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body 
 of death?" 
 
 What is the state of your affections with regard to this world ? 
 Do you " love the world and the things that are in the world"? 
 Is the love of pleasure, of honour, or of wealth, the animating 
 principle of your conduct? Are your chosen companions the 
 men of the world ? Or is the " world crucified to you, and are 
 you crucified to the world" ? Are you " mortifying your mem- 
 bers, which are upon the earth," and crucifying the flesh with 
 its affections and lusts ? Do you regard the world as a state you 
 are to fly from, and a place in which you are to have no settled 
 rest, no continued abode ? 
 
 What is the state of your affections with regard to yourselves ? 
 Are you "lovers of your ownselves," disposed to make your own 
 gain, or pleasure, or honour, the grand ends of your existence ? 
 Or have you learned to sink your own secular interests in the 
 more important concerns of the Divine glory, and the general 
 happiness of mankind? Are you so loving yourselves so as to 
 make the salvation of your soul your principal object, in subser- 
 vience to the glory of God ? 
 
 What is the state of your affections with respect to your 
 fellow-men ? Do you love and honour ail men ? or are you still 
 " hateful and hating each other" ? Have you an enlightened 
 and fervent benevolence for all who wear the nature of man ; a 
 deep-felt pity for all the miserable, and especially the morally 
 
DISC, v.] 8i:LF-i:XAMINATIOi\. 81 
 
 miserable ; and a peculiar love to all who bear the imao;c of our 
 Redeemer? — " We know," says the Apostle John, " that we are 
 passed from death to life, because we love the brethren." Do 
 you account the truly pious the "excellent ones of the earth"? 
 and do you prefer the poor despised child of God, though learned 
 only in his Bible, and wise only for eternity, to the accomplished 
 but dejn-aved possessor of riches, learning, and genius ? Are 
 your religious affections not transient feelings, but fixed prin- 
 ciples? — By allowing conscience to answer these and similar 
 questions, you may easily ascertain the true state of your 
 affections. 
 
 Sd, In the prospect of observing the Lord's Supper, a man 
 ought to examine himself respecting the state of his conduct. A 
 man's general deportment is, of all species of evidence, the most 
 satisfactory, both to himself and others, as to his real character. 
 Following a plan similar to that adopted in the preceding sub- 
 jects of incpiiry, I shall suggest a few questions respecting conduct, 
 by giving honest answers to which you may be assisted in ac- 
 quiring the knowledge of yourselves. 
 
 In what manner do you conduct yourselves towards God? 
 Are you regular and conscientious in the discharge of the duties 
 of religion, — public, domestic, and secret ? Dare you not " forsake 
 the assembling of yourselves together, as the manner of too many 
 is"? Is there an altar erected in your dwelling? and is the 
 morning and evening sacrifice of prayer and praise regularly 
 presented? And do you frequently and regularly "enter into 
 your closet," and pour out your hearts before your God ? Is 
 your attention to religious duty the effect of principle, or of habit 
 merely ? Does the external performance of such duties satisfy 
 you ? or are you uneasy unless, through their medium, you enjoy 
 fellowship with God ? Do you walk before God " with a perfect 
 heart, and serve Ilim with a willing mind" ? 
 
 In what manner do you behave yourselves in what directly 
 regards your oion jjersonal concerns? Do you consider your body 
 as a temple of the Holy Ghost ? Do you attend to the apostolic 
 injunction, " Be sober" ? Do you refi-ain " from wine, wherein 
 there is excess" ? Do you " use this world as not abusing it" ? 
 Are you following out that first law of our nature, self-love, 
 according to the directions given in Scripture ; seeking your 
 true happiness next to the Divine glorv; preferring the improve- 
 
 *F 
 
S'2 SELF-EXAIHINATION. [I'ART I. 
 
 meiit of the mind to the gratification of the body ; and, while 
 not neglecting the concerns of time, prosecuting, with supreme 
 ardour, the interests of eternity ? 
 
 In ^^•hat manner do you behave towards your felloio-men ? Is 
 your conduct regulated by the laws of justice and benevolence % 
 Do you " render to all their due" ? and do 3'ou " do good to all as 
 you have opportunity" ? Are you, according to your different 
 stations and talents, reheving the distressed, feeding the hungry, 
 clothing the naked, instrvicting the ignorant, warning the un- 
 wary, and comforting the afflicted ? Do you " look, not only at 
 your own things, but also at the things of others" ? Is there, 
 in one word, a general conformity between your conduct, and 
 that enjoined by the Divine law ? 
 
 What are the principles of your conduct ? Does the principle 
 of regard to interest or reputation, form yoiu' chief motive ? or 
 is it respect to the Divine authority, and love to the Divine law % 
 What is the ride of your conduct ? Is it tlic opinion of the 
 world, or your own inclinations ? or is it the unerring law of 
 God ? What is the great end of your conduct ? Is it self in 
 some form or other ? or is it the Divine glory in your own true 
 happiness, and that of others ? Particular questions might easily 
 be multiplied; but to a mind, even of very ordinary powers, 
 these are sufficient to suggest a train of reflection, which must, 
 if honestly pursued, lead to a discovery of the true state of 
 character. 
 
 II. The manner in which the exercise of self-examination 
 should be conducted, is the second topic to which your attention 
 is to be directed. Here we shall shortly consider, in order, 
 the criterion by which our judgment is to be guided ; the temper 
 in which the examination should be conducted ; and the assist- 
 ance which is necessary to its being carried on with success. 
 
 1st, The word of God is the criterion according to which we 
 ought to form our judgments of every subject of a religious or 
 moral nature. It is the infallible test by which we are to try 
 doctrines and practices. It is the sure touchstone by which we 
 ought to examine ourselves. In the Holy Scriptures we have 
 the characters of sinners and saints dra>vn by the pencil of in- 
 spiration. The distinguishing features of these two classes are 
 very distinctly marked ; and were it not for the prevalence of 
 
DISC, v.] SELF-EXAMINATION. 83 
 
 inconsideratioii, tuiJ tlie strange influence of self-love, it wouUl 
 be impossible for any man to read the Scriptures witliout dis- 
 covering his own moral likeness. 
 
 In judging of their own characters, men often fall into im- 
 portant and fatal mistakes, by taking up Avitli a false criterion, 
 adopting the general run of human character, or, at any rate, of 
 the character of professional Christianity, as the standard by 
 which they try themselves ; and they think well or ill of them- 
 selves, as they rise above, or fall below, this standard. " They 
 measure themselves by themselves ; they compare themselves 
 among themselves," and, in doing so, " are not wise." In re- 
 ligion, we have to do with God. In endeavouring, then, to 
 ascertain our religious character, the prime object ought to be, 
 to discover whether it correspond to what is right, not in man's 
 estimation, but in God's. 
 
 There is a very large portion of the word of God characteristic ; 
 indeed there is comparatively but little of it which may not be 
 improved for leading us into a more extensive and accurate 
 acquaintance with ourselves. There are, however, some passages 
 peculiai'ly fitted for answering this purpose. I shall mention a 
 few of them, which you can consult in your retirements : The 
 law of the ten commandments ; the fifteenth, and twenty-fourth, 
 and twenty-sixth Psalms ; the beatitudes, and indeed the whole 
 of our Lord's Sermon on the Mount ; and the practical parts of 
 the apostolical epistles. In this point of light, the First Epistle 
 of John possesses uncommon value. It may, indeed, be termed 
 an inspired directory for self-examination. It is scarcely con- 
 ceivable how a person, wishing to know his real character, can 
 attentively read that epistle without coming to a decided opinion 
 before he concludes the perusal. 
 
 2d, The tempers which are absolutely necessary in order to 
 conduct a course of self-inquiry with the probability of final 
 success, are principally seriousness and impartiality. It is well 
 remarked by a pious writer, that half the difliculties that are 
 met with in the prosecution of religious inquiry, and the per- 
 formance of religious duty, would evanish, if men would but 
 attend to the advice, " Be serious." ^ Without this, nothing 
 can be done to purjiose in self-examination. This will appear if 
 
 jMilner. 
 
SA SELF-EXAMINATION. [rART I. 
 
 we attend, either to tlie importance, or to the difficulty of the 
 exercise. 
 
 TJie point at issue is of inconceivable importance. In an 
 inquiry, on the result of which our property or life depended, 
 we would naturally be serious ; but here the subject of inquiry 
 is far more important. It involves our everlasting welfare. 
 The question is nothing less than, ' Are we the friends or the 
 enemies of God ; the children of his love, or the objects of his 
 indignation ?' It is, as it were, an anticipation of the proceedings 
 of the general judgment, so far as refers to ourselves : and if 
 this does not require seriousness, what does ? 
 
 But the exercise is not only important, but also difficult. The 
 difficulty of the duty arises partly from natural, but principally 
 fi'om moral causes. The study of ourselves is attended with a 
 variety of obstacles. It is witli the mind as with the eye : with 
 perfect ease it observes external objects ; but it is not without 
 a good deal of contrivance and exertion that it can be rendered 
 the object of its own contemplation. The physical difficulties 
 are small, however, compared with the moral ones. We are 
 disposed to think too favourably of ourselves, and are unwilling 
 to be persuaded of disagreeable truth. Evidence, which Avoukl 
 prove quite conclusive in another person's case, is considered as 
 by no means satisfactory in our own. We easily assume that 
 to be trae which we wish to be true, and conclude that to be false 
 which we wish to l)e false. 
 
 Hence the necessity of the second temper which we mentioned, 
 im^yartialiti/. This is a qualification essentially requisite in a 
 judge. We must be willing to hear all that is against us, as 
 well as all that is for us. We must not allow ourselves to act 
 the part of an advocate, by bringing forward palliations, excuses, 
 or defences. We must not, when the evidence wears an alarm- 
 ing appearance, desist from the inquiry. We must determine, 
 at all events, to get at the truth, the whole truth. A partial 
 self-examination is worse than no self-examination at all. It 
 hardens prejudice ; it perpetuates delusion. 
 
 Sc/, In order to carry on with success a course of self-inquiry, 
 the assistance of the Holy Spirit is absolutely necessaiy. It is 
 a radical principle of the Christian institution, that all right 
 thinking and feeling, in reference to religion and morals, origin- 
 ate in the operation of the Spirit of God. We cannot think a 
 
DISC, v.] SELF-EXAMINATION. 85 
 
 good thought as of ourselves. " Without Christ" and his Spirit, 
 " we can do nothing." The reason why so many of om' attempts 
 at religious duty turn out to no purpose, or worse than no 
 purpose, is, that we are not duly impressed with a sense of the 
 necessity of Divine influence, and not sufficiently attentive to 
 the appointed means of obtaining it. 
 
 The assistance of the Holy Spirit is absolutely necessaiy, in 
 order to successful self-examination. He alone is perfectly ac- 
 quainted with our character. Pie knows not only our actions, 
 but their causes. He sees the forming thought, the rising desire, 
 the latent intention, " He searches all things." He has, in 
 the Scriptures, furnished us with the means of trying ourselves ; 
 but lie must fix oiu* attention, and irradiate our judgment, to 
 enable us to make a right use of these means. 
 
 To obtain his assistance, we are commanded to be instant in 
 prayer : " If ye, being evil," says our Lord, " know how to give 
 good gifts to yoiu" children, how^ much more will your Fathei', 
 who is in heaven, give the Holy Spirit to those wlio ask Him *?" 
 Let then our prayers ascend frequent and fervent before the 
 throne of God, for the enlightening influence of the Holy Ghost ; 
 which alone can dissipate the clouds of prejudice and self-decep- 
 tion so apt to envelop the mind when engaged in the investiga- 
 tion of its own moral state. " Search me, O God, and know my 
 heai't ; try me, and know my thoughts, and see if there be any 
 wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." 
 
 HI. A very brief illustration of a few of the motives which 
 urge to the performance of the duty of self-examination, shall 
 conclude the discourse. The express command of God, the 
 reasonable nature of the exercise, and its advantageous con- 
 sequences, all urge us to engage in it. 
 
 1st, The authority of God requires us to engage in self-ex- 
 amination. A clear revelation of the will of God is the most 
 powerful motive to duty which can be urged on a rational, de- 
 pendent, innnortal being. This is not wanting in the present 
 instance. The words m the text are most express : " Let a man 
 examine himself." Nor less explicit are the words of the same 
 inspired ^\Titer upon another occasion : " Examine yourselves 
 whether ye be in the faith, try yoiu" omu selves, \^'llat ! know 
 ve not vonr own selves, that if Christ Jesus be not in vou, then 
 
8ti SKLF-EXAMIXATIOX. [PAUT I. 
 
 are yo ivproLates ?" Resides tlicso explicit injunctions of selt- 
 exaniination, its ohligation is implied in almost every precept 
 wliicli has a reference to religious duty. How can we repent, 
 how can we turn from our backslidings, or grow in grace, unless 
 we know our (jwn state and character ( and how are we to ac- 
 quire a knowledge of these but by self-examination ? 
 
 2d, Can anything be more reasonable than tliat a man should 
 examine himself^ What exercise is more suited to his natiu'c 
 as a rational being ? " The proper study of mankind is 
 man." Even the Heathen sage was so impressed with a sense 
 of the reasonableness and importance of self-knowledge, that he 
 asserted that the maxim " know thyself" was the suggestion 
 of the Divinity.^ A\niy was the power of reflection given to man, 
 but that it might be improved t 
 
 It is reasonable that a man should examine himself, not merely 
 because he is by his natui'c fitted for this exercise, but because 
 it is absolutely necessary to prevent him fi'om foiling into dan- 
 gerous mistakes. Vast multitudes, fi^"om neglecting this duty, 
 not only impose on others, but deceive themselves. While 
 strangers to the Christian character, they lay claim to the present 
 consolations and the fixture rewards which belong exclusively to 
 its possessors. Lulled asleep in false secimty, they ch'eam of 
 not] ling but peace and happiness, till " in hell they open their 
 eyes, being in torment." Does not the very possibility of our 
 committing such a mistake, make self-examination in the hiiili- 
 est degree reasonable ? 
 
 3(/, Numerous and important ad"\'antages naturally flow from 
 selt-examination. In the Holy Scriptm'cs we find appropriate 
 instructions given to mankind, according to their various char- 
 acters ; but to derive advantage fi'om these instructions, we must 
 know under what class we are to rank oiu'selves. To a man 
 who loiows himself, the word of God must be very useful. To 
 a man who does not know himself, it can be l)ut of little, or 
 rather of no, use. 
 
 Self-examination can do no hann. If all is safe, the know- 
 ledge of this cannot produce insecurity. If we are in hazard, 
 the knowledge of this does not increase the danger. IJut this is 
 not all. Self-examination is in eveiy case calculated to do good. 
 
 ' Tiaifli »^(«i;7«v (Icscendit a ca-lo. 
 
inSC. V.j SELF-EXAMINATION. 87 
 
 Are we still strangers to the power of religion ^ A conviction 
 ot" this is a probable means of rousing us to consider the things 
 which belong to oui' peace. To be convinced of danger, is 
 recpiisite in order to oui* " fleeing for refuge to lay hold on 
 the hope set before us in the Gospel." Multitudes are thought- 
 less about conversion, because they flatter themselves they are 
 converted already ; whereas a sense of their awfully hazardous 
 situation, residting from an impartial and honest inquiry, is of 
 all things the most likely to produce that serious concern, which, 
 by the blessing of God, often issues in " repentance towards 
 God, and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ." 
 
 Ai-e we really religious ? Surely it must be good for us to 
 know that we arc so. To make oiu' calling and election sure, is 
 equally oiu' interest and om* duty. A good man, uncertain 
 about his state, must be unhappy, and unhap])y in ])roportion 
 to his goodness. On the other hand, how delightful to know 
 that God loves us, and that nothing can separate us from his 
 love ; to Imow that all the blessings of grace, and of gloiy, are 
 secured to us by an inviolable tenui'e ; to knoAv that " all things 
 are om's, whether Paul or Apollos, or Cephas, or life, or death, all 
 are ours, for we are Christ's, and Christ is God's !" Neglect of 
 selt-examination is a sin, which to a Christian carries its punish- 
 ment in its bosom ; and " in keeping the commandment" in the 
 text " there is great reward." 
 
 Never is self-examination more necessary than in the prospect 
 of observing the Lord's Supper. From what has been said in 
 a fonner discom'se, it is plainly requisite to enable us to resolve 
 the question, whether or not Ave have a right to engage in this 
 service, — whether an approach to the Lord's table on oui' part, 
 would be honourable to our vSaviour, or advantageous to our 
 own souls i " Wliatsoever is not of faith is sin," says the apostle. 
 Communicating then is sin to every one who engages in it, 
 without an enlightened conviction of its being his duty to do so, 
 — and this he camiot have, unless by serious self-inquiry he has 
 discovered that he is indeed a Christian. 
 
 Self-examination is expressly required as a preparatory duty 
 to observing the Lord's Supper. " Let a man examine himself, 
 and so let him cat of this bread, and diink of this cup." L dare 
 not say that God nofk-cr meets in mercy at his table, those who 
 have been negligent in this ap[)<)inted preparation ; but I will 
 
88 SELF-EXAMINATION. [PART I. 
 
 say, that to expect favourable fellowship with God at his table 
 ill such a case, is most unwarrantable. Christians are apt enough 
 to complain that they derive little benefit fi'om observing this 
 ordinance ; but it is to be feared that one reason is, they ai"e not 
 carefld to di'aw near to God according to the due order. Let 
 us, my brethren, neither neglect nor tnist to our preparation. 
 To neglect it is gross presumj)tion, — to trust in it is deplorable 
 superstition.^ 
 
 ' In a single discourse on Self-Exaininatioii, to which liis plan restricted him, the 
 Author found it impossible to do more than merely give a general outline, which, 
 however, a well-informed Christian will find no difficulty to fill up in his religious 
 exercises, "lb persons who feel that they need as^sistance in managing their inquiries 
 into their state and character, Mason on " Self-Knowledge," Darracot's " Scripture 
 Marks of Salvation," and Walker's (of Trnro) "Familiar Introduction to the Know- 
 ledge of Ourselves," in his three Tracts, may be very useful. There is a very judi- 
 cious tract by the late INIr James A. Haldane, on " Self-Examination," well fitted to 
 prevent and correct both doctrinal and practical mistakes on that 'subject. 
 
 The self-examination required in the text, has a reference to that which is neces- 
 sary to the prevention of unworthy communicating. It is the not discerning the 
 Lord's body which leads to this " being guilty in reference to the Lord's body and 
 blood." Let a man, then, examine himself whether he indeed discerns the Lord's 
 body — whether he really understands and believes the truth emblematically repre- 
 sented in this ordinance, and let him oOtus, ilms eat and drink, for if he do not thus 
 eat and drink, he ivill — he must — eat and drink in an unbecoming manner, just because 
 he does not discern the Lord's body. He who discerns the Lord's body is of course 
 a worthy communicant, and self-examination is necessary to ascertain whether a 
 man does indeed discern the Lord's body. 
 
PART II. 
 
 DISCOURSES 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OF THE LORD'S SUPPER. 
 
SECTION I. 
 ACTION SERMONS. 
 
 SERMON I. 
 
 THE DEATH OF CHRIST. 
 
 Matt. xxvi. 3G-4G. — " Tlien cometli Jesus with them unto a place called Gcthse- 
 mane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder. And he 
 took with him PetCr and the two sons of Zebedee, and be^au to be sorrowful aud 
 very heavy. Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto 
 death : tarry ye here, and watch with me. And he went a little further, and fell on 
 his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from 
 me : nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou trilf. And he cometh unto the disciples, 
 and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Petei', What ! could ye not watch with me 
 one hour? Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation : the spirit indeed is 
 willing, but the flesh is weak. He went away again the second time, and i)rayed, 
 saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away fiom me, except I drink it, thy 
 will be done. And he came and found them asleep again : for their eyes were heavy. 
 And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same 
 words. Then cometh he to his disciples, aiid saith unto them. 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 : behold, he is at hand that doth betray me." 
 
 Mark xiv. 32-42. — "And they came to a place which was named Gethsemane: and 
 he saith to his disciples. Sit ye here, while I shall pray. And he taketh with him 
 Peter, and James, and John, and began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy; 
 and saith unto them. My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death : tarry ye here, and 
 watch. And he went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it 
 were possible, the hour might jiass from him. And he said, Abba, Father, all things 
 are possible unto Thee ; take away this cup from me : nevertheless not what I will, 
 but what Thou wilt. And he cometh, and findeth them sleeping, and saith unto 
 Peter, Simon, slecpest thou ? couldcst not thou watch one hour ? Watch ye, and pray, 
 lest ye enter into temptation : the spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak. And 
 again he went away, and prayed, and spake the same words. And when he returned, 
 he found them asleep again ; (for their eyes were heavy ;) neither wist they what to 
 answer him. And he cometh the third time, and saith unto thom. Sleep on now, and 
 take your rest : it is enough, the hour is come ; behold, the Son of man is betrayed 
 into the hands of sinners. Rise up, let us go ; lo, he that bctrayeth me is at hand." 
 
 Luke xxii. 8'J-4(j. — " And he came out, and went, as he was wont, to the Mount of 
 Olives; and his disciples also followed him. And when he was at the place, he said 
 unto them, Pray that ye enter not into temptation. And he was withdrawn from them 
 
92 GETHSEMANE. [PAHT 11. 
 
 about a stone's cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, saying, Father, it' Tliou be willing, 
 remove this cup from me : nevertheless, not my will, but thine, be done. And there 
 appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. And, being in an agony, 
 he prayed more earnestly : and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling 
 down to the ground. And when he rose up from jtrayer, and was come to his dis- 
 ciples, he found them sleeping for sorrow, and said unto them, Why sleep ye ? rise 
 and pray, lest ye enter into temptation." 
 
 John xvui. 1. — " When Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his dis- 
 ciples over the brook Cedron, where was a garden, into the which he entered, and his 
 disciples." 
 
 " Holy bretliren, partakers of the heavenly calling," we are 
 come together on this first clay of the week, to " break bread ;" 
 and my object dm'ing the short season that is to elapse before 
 oui" engaging in that religious commemoration of those expiatory 
 sufferings by which atonement Avas made for our sins, is to fix 
 your attention on what is perhaps the most extraordinary part of 
 our Lord's passion — that which is commonly denominated his 
 AGONY — that which the ancient church called " his unknown 
 sufferings." In this we have a realisation of the emblem pre- 
 sented to the sight of Moses in the mountain of God — " a bush 
 burning with fire, yet not consumed." " The plant of renoA\m," 
 which spning " from the stem of Jesse," appears enveloped in 
 flame, but being " the branch of Jehovah," as well as " the fruit 
 of the earth," it remains not only unconsumed but unshrivelled, 
 and the strange process hastens on the ripening of those fi'uits 
 which are for the " healing of the nations." Jehovah is in the 
 bush — therefore, though biu'ning, it is not consiuned. " Let us 
 turn aside and see this great sight" — and let us approach with 
 reverence, for " the ])lace whereon we stand is holy ground." 
 
 Our Lord having instituted that holy ordinance which we are 
 this day met to observe, seems, after singing a hymn, to have 
 gone with his discij)les to the Mount of Olives, where, having 
 in some retired place addressed to them such instructions and 
 consolations as their circumstances peculiarly required, and in a 
 most affectionate and fervent ])rayer, connnended them to the 
 protection and guidance and blessing of his Father and their 
 Father, his God and their God, he crossed the brook Cech'on, 
 which ran at the bottom of the movmtain, and entered into a 
 garden on its banks called Gethsemane, probably belonging 
 to some of his followers, to which he and his discijjles, when 
 residing at Jerusalem during tlie solemn feasts, had been in the 
 habit of retuing for the ])urpose of undi.^turbed intercourse and 
 
SER. 1.] GETHSEMANi:. 93 
 
 solemn devotion. On entering this garden, hallowed in the 
 Saviour's mind by many sacred recollections, and destined now, 
 as he was well aware, to be the scene of some of the most mys- 
 terious and agonising of his expiatory sufferings, as well as of his 
 being betraj-ed into the hands of his enemies by a traitorous 
 disciple, he left eight of his disciples behind him, and proceeded 
 onward to a place of deeper retirement, in the recesses of the 
 garden, accompanied only by his three bosom friends, Simon 
 Peter, and the two sons of Zebedee, James and John, " the 
 disciple wliom he loved." 
 
 It was now night — probably midnight — and the shadow^s of 
 Gethsemane's gi'oves deepened its gloom, by intercepting the 
 rays of the fnll moon. The natm'al darloiess was, however, but 
 an imperfect figau'e of that deep spiritual gloom, that hon'or of 
 great darlcness, Avhich now settled down on the Saviour's mind. 
 It was a darkness that might be felt. " The Man of Sorrows" 
 becomes more sorrowfiil than ever. " The waters came in into 
 his soul. He sunlv in deep mire wdiere there was no standing. 
 He came into deep waters, where the floods overflowed him." 
 He became pre-eminently "sorrow^frd, sore amazed, very heavy." 
 The terms employed by the sacred historians to describe these 
 purely mental sufferings are peculiarly strildng. I do not know 
 that om* language affords more appropriate and expressive words, 
 than those which our translators have employed to convey their 
 meaning — yet, powerful as they are, they come far short of ex- 
 pressing the energy of the original phrases — words, indeed, 
 instinct with angiiish. They are explained by one wdio well 
 knew theu' force, as describing ovu* Lord as " on a sudden pos- 
 sessed wdth hoiTor and amazement, encompassed vnth giief and 
 ovenvhelmed with sorrow, pressed down with consternation and 
 dejection of mind, tormented with anxiety and cUsquietude of 
 spirit." 
 
 It is a natiu'al and a highly momentous question, " AAliat was — 
 what could be — the cause of this deep mental suffering, this un- 
 utterable, inconceivable inward agony ? How^ comes the soul of 
 the spotlessly innocent, the absolutely perfect man Christ Jesus, 
 to be thus agitated and tortm'ed ? " It was not, it could not be, 
 the effect of remorse. His conscience, thoroughly enlightened 
 and exquisitely sensitive as it was, could not find in the retro- 
 spect of his whole life a single action or word, no, not a single 
 
94 CJETIISEMANK. [I'AUT II. 
 
 thought or t'cohug, on wliicli it i-ould orouiul SL'li-c-uiuU'iunation, as 
 not lia\ing been in j)erfect accordance >vitli the Avill of God. He 
 liad the inAvard consciousness tliat he liad always done that wliicli 
 Avas pleasing in the eyes of his God and Father. It was not, it 
 could not be, the fear of his impending bodily sufferings, severe 
 and agonising as these were, and distinctly as they were in theii' 
 minutest circumstances anticipated by him. For not mereh' 
 did he know that, however sharp and excruciating they might 
 be, they woultl soon be over — over for ever — and that they would 
 be infinitely more than compensated in the felicities and glories 
 of that state into Avhich they were the appointed means for 
 introducing him, but Ave find, Avlien the season of torture and 
 death did arrive, that lie Avas perfectly self-possessed, and met 
 them AN'ith unexampled composiu'e and firmness. He discovered 
 no AA'cakness, no fear then. " He gaA'e his back to the smiters, 
 and his cheeks to those Avho plucked off the hair ; he hid not his 
 
 face from shame and spitting He set his face as a 
 
 flint." He uttered no AA'cak com])laints against the cnielty of 
 his enemies — he sunk not imder the accmnulated Aveight of 
 contumely and tortm'e they heaped on him. " He endiu'ed the 
 cross — he despised the shame." It is natural to inquire, AATiy 
 Avas it so different now ? It is sm'cly, then, in the last degree im- 
 probable, that the bare prospect of those suflPerings Avhicli he so 
 magnanimously sustained, should liaA'c so convulsed his inmost 
 soul with terror and agony. No — no, my brethren, such at- 
 tempts to account for the agonies in Gethsemane, are insulting 
 to reason, as Avell as dishonouring to the illustrious Sufferer. 
 
 There is but one satisfactory mode of acctninting for these 
 strangest of all events in the strangest of all histories — these 
 intense mental sufferings of the all-])erfect God-man. An in- 
 visible arm was now smiting him, and that arm Avas the arm of the 
 Omni})otent. " Who knoAvs the poAver of his anger ? " On the 
 head of that spotless, perfect Man — that Man Avho is " God mani- 
 fest in flesh"' — the Man .lehoAah's fellow — made strong for this 
 very purj)ose, Jehovah has "made to meet the iniquities" — the 
 responsibilities — of our guilty race. Exaction is now making, and 
 he is answering it. Jehovah, the Jndge, is doing his Avork — his 
 strange work — in ])unishing sin on One who was no sinner. The 
 victim is laid on the altar — the fire of heaven is burning Avhat it 
 cannot consume. '' liehold the Lamb of God" — bearing, and 
 
HER, 1,] GI:T118EMANE. 95 
 
 bearino- away towards the cross, the sins of tlie world. These sins, 
 in all their odiousness and malignity, were present to his mind, 
 present to his mind as the sins of those to whom he is so nearly 
 related as to be considered and treated as if identified with them. 
 He was deprived for a season of all sensible manifestations of his 
 Father's complacency in him — the very life of his life, the element 
 of his soul's happiness. The smi of consolation was to him totally 
 eclipsed. The whole sphere of his vision as a man was filled 
 with Jehovah, who cannot clear the guilty, inflicting on him, the 
 victim for men, those evils which were an adequate manifestation 
 of his displeasure at tlieu' sins. He could see nothing but this 
 — the most tremendous sight in the universe — " the most temble 
 of all ten'ibles." God was now making him who knew no sin, 
 sin in our room. He was endui'ing, so far as a perfectly holy 
 being can endm'e them, the fidl penal consequences of sin. 
 Jehovah was bruising him, crushing him to death — putting him 
 to grief. The terrors of the Lord were set in aiTay against him, 
 and the aiTows of the Almiglity within him were drinking up his 
 spirit. He felt the pressure of Almighty vengeance, a pressure 
 which no mere created being could sustain. The fire of the 
 altar, in the midst of which he now lay, would have entii'ely 
 consumed any other victim. This — this was the tnie cause of 
 these deep sighs — these bitter tears — this unutterable anguish. 
 
 In connection with this, it must be recollected that this also 
 was " the hour and power of darkness." Then the prince of the 
 world came to him, attempting to shake by teiTor him on whom 
 he had found allurements could make no impression. Every 
 method which satanic ingenuity and actiA'ity could devise and 
 execute, to harass and pei'j:)lex, to depress and unnerve, to tor- 
 tm'e and agonise the victim, was then in active operation. The 
 mind labom's under such a subject of contemplation as this. 
 Its greatness oppresses. Its strangeness confounds us. The 
 thouo'hts strive in vain to fonn a chstinct idea of such sufferinir, 
 to comprehend the immensity and variety of the anguish sj)ring- 
 ing from such sources. " Such loiowledge is indeed too wonder- 
 fid for us. It is high, we cannot attain to it." 
 
 For some time om' Lord bore this fearful load in uncomplain- 
 ing silence — " he is dumb, not opening his mouth," for God is 
 doing it. At last his soiTows find utterance in words of fearftil 
 import — " ]VIy soiil is exceeding soiTOA\"ful, even unto death ;" 
 
90 GETUSEMANE. [PART 11. 
 
 words wliich seem to intimate, tluit in his consciousness, the in- 
 tensity of mental anguish was such, as, if augmented but a little 
 more or continued a little longer, it Avould extinguish life. 
 
 In the hour of his trouble he sought the Lord, liequesting 
 his three beloved friends to remain where they were, and to 
 Avatcli with him, and pray that thpy might not enter into tcmi)ta- 
 tion, he proceeded forward a little way farther into the garden, 
 and first kneeling down, and then, as the ardour of devout 
 feeling increased, falling prostrate on the ground, he presented 
 this prayer to his Father in heaven : — " Abba, Father, all things 
 are possible to Thee;" " O, my Father, if it be possible, take 
 away this cup and let it pass from me ; nevertheless, O, my 
 Father, if this cup may not })ass away fi'om me except I drink 
 it, not my wdll, but thine, be done." We must not for a 
 moment suppose that in these words our Lord expresses a dis- 
 position to shrink back from finishing the work which the Father 
 had given him to do, in " the offering of his body once for all" — 
 fi'om becoming " obedient unto death, even the death of the 
 cross." We are not to \\g\\ them as a prayer to be excused 
 from further suffering. Such a petition woidd have been utterly 
 inconsistent with that steady constancy which he unifoniily 
 showed, and with his language on a former occasion, in which 
 he expressly disowns the wish of being saved from the hoiu" of 
 expiatory suffering, for which he had come into the Avorld. 
 " Now," said he, " is my soul troubled, and what shall I say ? 
 Father, save me from this hour ? Shall I say this ? No, I will 
 not, I can not say this." " For this cause came I unto this hour 
 — I will rather say, ' Father, glorify thy name.'" 
 
 The cup referred to in our Lord's prayer in the garden, does 
 not seem to be the cup of suffering generally, nor the cup of 
 death in particular, but it was " that cup" of mental anguish — 
 arisino; fi'om the united influence of the desertion of Divine com- 
 forts, the deep inward sense of the Divine displeasure against 
 the sins of those wdiose ])lace he occuj)ied as an expiatory 
 victim, and the suggestions and assaults of evil spirits — of which 
 he was at that moment drinking, that he prays so earnestly to 
 have removed from him. It was that deep, deathful anguish 
 which he was then experiencing, and which he felt was threaten- 
 ing to dissolve the connection between the soul and the body, 
 before all that was \n'itten of him in the Scriptiu'es respecting 
 
SER. 1.] GETHSKMANE. 97 
 
 liis last sufFerings, was ftilfilled — it was this tliat he so earnestly 
 desired to be delivered from. 
 
 What a prayer was this, my brethren ! How deeply imbued 
 with holy reverence and filial confidence ! how instinct equally 
 with ardent desire and humble submission ! Yet this prayer was 
 not immediately answered. The cup was not immetliately taken 
 away. The sense of utter mental desolation continued. 
 
 Rising fi'om the ground, the Saviour retraced his steps to the 
 spot where he had so lately left the three disciples — left them 
 with so solenni, so urgent, a charge to watch and pray ; but in- 
 stead of finding them watching and pra^-ing, he found them 
 asleep. The human feelings of the man Chinst Jesus could not 
 but be deeply wounded by such a manifestation of api)arent 
 want of sympathy from those for whose sakes he was enduring 
 all this agony, and he expressed this sentiment very touchingly in 
 the words in which ho adth'essed Peter, who had been so lately 
 boasting of the fervom* and finnness of his attachment to his 
 ISIaster, " I am ready to go to prison and to death with thee. 
 Though I should die, yet viiW I not deny thee." " Simon, 
 sleepest thou. Couldst thou not watch with me one hour?" 
 q. d. 'I did not ask thee to go to prison or death with me. I 
 did not ask thee to die for me — I only asked thee to watch with 
 me — to watch with me one horn". Even this seems too much 
 for thee, for thou art asleep. Is this thy kindness to thy fi'iend — 
 this thy regard to thy Master ? ' And he added, speaking to them 
 all, " Pray that ye enter not into temptation," — you are ill ])re- 
 pared for it — " the spirit tndy is willing, but the flesh is weak." 
 
 These last words ha^-e very generally been considered as a 
 kind, generous apologv^ on the part of our Lord for the disciples : 
 q. d. 'I know your falling asleep does not indicate want of 
 affection for me, but bodily infirmity ;' and, in this point of view, 
 it is a beautiful illustration of the transcendent loveliness of the 
 Saviom''s character. His mind, discomposed b}'- soitow, must 
 have deeply felt the seeming want of s^nnpathy on the part of 
 his deai'est fi'iends. Yet how gentle the rebuke — how kind the 
 apology ! AMien we make bodily affliction or mental harassment 
 an excuse for peevishness, as we are very apt to do, the mind 
 that was in him is not in us — we ai'e not in the world as he was 
 in the world. 
 
 I cannot help thinking, however, that the words of om' Lord 
 
 *G 
 
98 GETHSEMANE. [PAIIT II. 
 
 under consideration, refer rather to liiniself tlian to his disciples : 
 q. d. * My spirit is "vvillin<j;. I am ready to be offered. I am 
 ready to bear — I am desirous of bearing — everything that is ne- 
 cessary to the completion of the gi'oat work of atonement. But 
 my flesh is weak. My body seems incapable of sustaining the 
 weight of suffering imposed on me. It threatens to give way, 
 and sink under it. This is the hour of my temptation — my trial, 
 and I feel it to be an awfid one. Watch ye, and pray that ye 
 enter not into temptation.' 
 
 Finding that there was no relief, and but very imperfect svm- 
 pathy, to be found on earth, even fi'om those who most sincerely 
 loved him, but who could not sympathise Avith him, for they 
 could not at all comprehend his present sufferings, he again turns 
 to heaven, and to his Father tliere, Avho knew all his soitows — 
 who could, and who would, sustam him under them, and deliver 
 him fi'om them. "Retirino; ao;ain to a little distance from the 
 disciples, he again poured out his bursting heart into that 
 Heavenly Father's bosom — in the same words so full of sorrow 
 and desire. Yet still no complacent smile beamed on him. Je- 
 hovah had tiu'ned aside the face of his throne, and a thick cloud 
 covered it. Still — still He seemed to lend a deaf ear to the Suf- 
 ferer's prayers. 
 
 With that restlessness which characterises deep mental distress, 
 he again arose from the gi'ound, again retraced his steps to the 
 spot where he had left his disciples, and again found them sunk 
 in slumber. Leaving them for the third time, he a third time 
 prostrated himself on the ground, and a third time in the 
 same words, "in prayer and supplication, with strong crying 
 and tears," made his request to " Him who was able to save 
 him from death.' 
 
 The intensity of our Lord's contimied mental anguish was 
 manifested in a very remarkable manner by its effects on his 
 bodily frame. " Being in an agony, he prayed more earnestly ; 
 and his sweat was as it were great cb'ops of blood falling dowTi 
 to the ground." Though the night in that coimtry, at that 
 season of the year, is often intensely cold, and he was stretched 
 on the cold earth, he })ers])ired j)rofusely ; nor docs this seem to 
 be all — for the most natural inteq^retation of the words leads us 
 to conclude that the sweat l)ecame ensanguined. The big drops 
 which we sometimes see, even in the coldest weather, in cases of 
 
SER. I,] GETHSEMANE. 99 
 
 extreme bodily or mental sufferino;, stand on the fcjrehcad, are 
 among the most striking indications of agony or anguish ; and 
 physicians have recorded a few instances in which extremity 
 of pain has been manifested by the sweat becoming tinged with 
 blood. 
 
 The species of suffering to which our Lord was exposed, seems 
 to have been caiTied as far as human natiu'e could sustain it. 
 A little more, and death must have inten^ened. This temptation 
 was now over — this trial had been undergone.^ The prayer of 
 the Saviour was heard. Which of his prayers was ever un- 
 heeded or unheard ? " Him the Father hcareth always." " This 
 poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of 
 all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encampeth round about 
 them that fear Him, and delivereth them." " In the day when 
 I cried. Thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength 
 in my soul." " And there appeared an angel unto him from 
 heaven, strengthening him." 
 
 Among the mysteries of godliness connected with " God mani- 
 fest in the flesh," the apostle enumerates his being " seen of 
 angels." These were made \dsible to others at his birth, and to 
 himself after his temptation in the \N'ildemess. After another, 
 a severer temptation, it was deemed fit that one of these heavenly 
 messengers shoidd now appear and minister to theu* incarnate 
 Lord and King. Li what way this angel strengthened om' Lord 
 it is needless to inquire. We cannot know, for it has not been 
 revealed. He may have raised his enfeebled body fi'om the 
 ground and offered a sj-mpathising bosom on which he might 
 rest his aching head or throbbing brow. Or, perhaps, the mere 
 appearance of the angel may have afforded all the invigoration 
 that ovu- Lord required. It was a very distinct expression of 
 the approbation of his Father, and of the lively interest which the 
 holy part of the intelligent creation were taldng in his wondi'ous 
 work ; and a foretaste of that celestial welcome and triumph 
 which was ere long to recompense his labours and suflerings in 
 the cause of God's gloiy and man's salvation. The very- sight 
 of the angel was fitted to comfort ; and he probably said — he 
 possibly (Ud, something still more fitted to comfort and strengthen. 
 He will be ready to tell us all about it when ^^•e meet him in 
 
 ' " The victory of his soul was gained; tl\c struggle was over until the busy conflict 
 of the parting pang." — Nkandeb 
 
100 GETHSEMANK. [I'ART II. 
 
 heaven. How lii^L^hly honoured was tlie angel, though he liad 
 been the highest in tlie ceU'stial hierarchy, who was sent on sueh 
 an eiTand ! A\niat a dehglitful thouglit to all eternity to such 
 a pure spirit, must it be, that he had been the instniment of 
 sustaining the strenoth and soothinj; the sorrows of his incar- 
 nate Lord. We never can share his joys, Init we may approxi- 
 mate to them if we comfort and strengthen those in then- weakness 
 and soiTow, of whom our Lord himself says, " Verily I say unto 
 you, inasmuch as ye did it to the least of these my brethren, ye 
 did it to me." But oh, how low was the Lord of angels sunk, 
 when one of his own creatures, one of his own ministers, must 
 come doA\ni and raise liim from the earth and strenfjthon him ! 
 Yes, he was indeed for a little season made loAver, much lower, 
 than the angels. But how blissful the thought, — " Now for 
 these sufferings he is crowned with gloiy and honoiu*"; 
 " Angels and principalities and powers are made subject to 
 him" ; " Thousands of angels minister to him ; ten thousand 
 times ten thousand stand l)cfore him." And the command 
 that has gone forth, while God is bringing in his First-begotten 
 into the world — putting him in actual possession of his blood- 
 bought kingdom — " Let all the angels of God worship him," 
 is most gladly obeyed. " And I beheld," says John the divine, 
 " and I heard the voice of many angels romid about the throne, 
 and the beasts, and the elders : and the number of them was 
 ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands ; 
 saying with a loud voice. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain 
 to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and 
 honour, and glory, and blessing." 
 
 Thus delivered from this most oppressive sense of the weight 
 of human guilt, the bitterness of Divine dereliction, and the 
 horrors of satanic conflict, and restored to composure and self- 
 possession, the Saviour returned once more to his disciples, and 
 again found them " sleeping for son'ow." The slumbrous in- 
 fluence which on this occasion affected the disciples, seems so 
 strange, as almost to lead us to seek for its cause in something 
 supernatural ; we are tem])ted to ascribe it to satanic agency, 
 ]:»ut forth for the purpose of increasing our Lord's sufferings 
 by the apparent insensibility of his dearest friends. Yet, at 
 the same time, we know that the power of sleep is often iiTe- 
 sistible in circumstances which at first sight might seem to make 
 
SER. I.] GETHSEMANE. 101 
 
 it iin]jossible. The certainty of impending death \vill not ])revent 
 persons benumbed with cold in a snow storm, from giN ing way 
 to a sleep from which they Tcnow they are not likely ever to 
 awake. The Earl of Argyll was found sleeping sweetly an hour 
 or two before his execution ; and the venerable Lady Lisle, who, 
 for an act of humanity to a fellow-Christian, was tried for her 
 life by the infamous Lord Jeffries, was so overcome with the 
 fatigues of her protracted trial, that she sunk into a peaceful 
 slumber, from which she had to be awakened to receive sentence 
 of death ; — and I believe most persons who have seen severe 
 affliction in the sha})e of bereavement of dear friends, after the 
 anxieties and fatigues and watchings of a lingering illness, know 
 by experience what sleeping for soitow, as well as waking for 
 sorrow, means. 
 
 Listead of ui'ging them any more to watch, om* Lord said to 
 them, " sleep on now and take your rest" ; q. d. ^ You may now 
 sleep if you can, and take your rest as long as you please. My 
 w^arnings are no longer needful to keep you awake. An event 
 is now just about to take place which will effectually rouse you. 
 The time is at hand of which I have repeatedly warned you, 
 when I am to be betrayed, by a false disciple, into the hands of 
 mv enemies. " liise, let us be going — he that betrayeth me is 
 atJiand." ' 
 
 The uses which ought to be made of these illustrations of one 
 of the most wonderful and instructive parts of our Lord's holy 
 passion, must be apparent to eveiy reflecting mind. 
 
 Cai'eless and impenitent sinner, if there be any such within 
 reach of my voice, this subject should deeply alann thee. The 
 woes which Jesus endured in Gethsemane, were for sin — in the 
 room of sinners. But if thou continuest ungi'atcfully to reject 
 his finished sacrifice as the expiation of youi' gTiilt, and as your 
 redemption fi'om sin and Satan, rest assured you must in your 
 own person suffer those e^ils which are the manifestation of the 
 displeasui'e of God against sm — suffer them for ever. " If these 
 tilings were done in the green tree, what shall be done in the 
 dry ?" " It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living 
 God." The cup fiill of the wrath of Almight}- God, when once 
 put into thy hand shall never pass away fi'om thee. No angel 
 will be ever sent to comfort thee. Oh, ere it be too late — 
 by the faith of the Gospel, become one with Christ, who has 
 
102 GETHSEMANE. [PART II. 
 
 driuik that cup, and then liis sufferings will be as if they liad 
 been thine ; and because he became a cui'se for thee, thou shalt 
 be redeemed from the curse, — because he for thee was very- 
 sorrowful — sorrowful even to death — thou through him shalt 
 have fulness of joy, and be made most l)les8ed at his Father's 
 right hand for evennore. 
 
 Believer in Christ, in the anguish of Jesus' soul see the 
 foundation of thy joy, the security of thy happiness. Because 
 he has suffered, thou shalt not suffer. The height to which he 
 will raise you will bear some proportion to the depth to which 
 he descended to deliver thee ; youi* joys shall coiTespond to his 
 sorrows. How great, how glorious, then, must they be ! Never 
 forget his kindness in for you agonising m Gethsemane ; let 
 this embitter your sins,— let this deepen yom* repentance, — 
 let this alleviate all your bm'dens — let this sweeten all your 
 sorrows. Behold how he loved you. It was love to you made 
 him drink of that cup of trembling and astonishment. If he had 
 not, you must have, drmik of it. These heavy blood-stained 
 drops are the costly tokens of his love. Love the Saviour, Avho 
 so loved you as willingly to submit to unspeakable ang-uish of 
 spirit, as well as extreme bodily pain, to obtain your salvation. 
 In your hours of deep mental suffering, and few Christians are 
 entirely strangers to these, seek relief in the sympathy of Jesus. 
 " He knows what strong temptations are, for he has felt the 
 same." He has been in the lowest depths, and can sympathise 
 with those over Avhom all God's waves and billows seem passing. 
 Trust in him, and in the faith of liis atoning agonies, you shall be 
 enabled, with Christian at the sepulchre into which his burden fell, 
 to say with a merry heart, " He hath given me rest by his sorrow, 
 and life by his death." The angel of the covenant will sustain 
 and comfort you. Under all affliction endeavom' to manifest the 
 calm, self-possessed, pious, benignant, self-sacrificing spuit with 
 which Christ bore his heaviest afflictions, his soul-sufferings ; seek 
 relief in prayer as he did, and in j)rayer like his ; and never 
 lose entire resignation to the will of God. 
 
 " Go to dark Gctlisciiianc, 
 
 Ye that feel the tempter's power ; 
 Your Uedoeiner's couHict see — 
 
 Watch witli him one hitter hour. 
 Turn not from his H;riefs away — 
 
 Learn of .losiis liow tn i>ray." 
 
SEE. I.] GETH8EMANE. 103 
 
 And now let us hasten to the communion table, and with 
 thankful hearts, taking the cup of blessing into our hands, 
 in his appointed way proclaim to God and men, angels and 
 devils, how deeply we feel his kindness, and how determined we 
 are in the strength of his good Spirit, to present ourselves to him 
 a living sacrifice. O, may we so perform this act of worship, and 
 so fulfil all the duties and sustain all the trials of om' Christian 
 course, as that in us " he may see of the travail of his soul, and 
 be satisfied." " Now unto him that loved us and washed us fi:om 
 our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests 
 unto God and his Father : unto him be glory and dominion for 
 ever and ever. Amen." 
 
SERMON II. 
 
 THE DEATH OF CHRIST. 
 
 Matt, xxvii. 50. — "Jesus yielded up the ghost." 
 
 The importance of an event cannot be accurately estimated by 
 the degi'ee of interest which it innnediately excites, or the mag- 
 nitude of tlie consequences which it immediately produces. 
 Events which, on their occurrence, excited deep and general 
 interest, and seemed big with the fates of many nations and 
 generations, have sometimes failed of producing any important 
 or permanent result. They have passed by, and are forgotten ; 
 or if remembered, the recollection is accompanied by a sentiment 
 of wonder, that incidents which have been proved by the event 
 to be so trivial, should ever have attracted so much regard. 
 On the other hand, the most extensive and lasting revolutions 
 in Jiuman affairs have often flowed from incidents obscure in 
 their origin, casual in their occurrence, and apparently trifling 
 in their importance. Thus, when the atmosphere, overcharged 
 with watery vapour has threatened a deluge of rain, we have some- 
 times seen the black clouds dissipated by the winds, or exhaled 
 by the solar heat, till no trace was left of the apparently impend- 
 ing tempest ; while at other times, a cloud scarcely bigger than 
 a man's hand, and merel}^ staining the pure ether, has rapidly 
 enlarged and thickened, till it has overspread the firmament with 
 darkness, and poured out unexpected and desolating torrents upon 
 the earth. 
 
 A moderate acquaintance with the history of past ages, or even 
 an attentive survey of the events which have given so |)eculiar a 
 character to the times in which we live, will readily suggest 
 proofs and illustrations of the remarks which have now been 
 made. There is not, however, to be found in the histoiy of 
 the human race, from the commencement of time to the present 
 
BER. 11.] THE DEATH OF CHRIST. 105 
 
 moment, an instance in which tlic apparent insig-nificance of 
 an event was more strongly contrasted by its real importance, 
 tlian tliat which is so simply recorded in onr text, " Jesus 
 yicliled up the ghost." 
 
 In this event, if we look merely at its external circumstances, 
 there is nothing to merit record, or to secure remembrance. 
 Man's giving up the ghost is an event of daily — of hourly — recur- 
 rence. There was indee4 something peculiar in this case, for 
 Jesus died upon a cross. But is there anything unconunonly 
 interesting in the fact, that a poor and unfriended Jew, accused 
 by his countrymen of violating the law of their fathers, and as- 
 piring to temporal rule or Divine honours, should fall a victim to 
 their hatred, and expiate his supposed crimes by crucifixion I 
 The severity of his punishment, especially when contrasted with 
 the deficiency of the evidence on which he was condemned, 
 might, indeed, be supposed likely to excite some degree of sym- 
 pathy in the spectators ; but certainly the probability was, that 
 his life and death, his guilt or his innocence, woidd soon cease 
 to be an object of interest, and that every vestige of his existence 
 would, in the course of a very few years, perish from the earth. 
 
 As the interest which this event, considered in itself, was cal- 
 culated to excite, was but slight and transitory, so nothing could 
 be more unlikely than that it should be followed with any im- 
 portant or permanent effects. Had the sufferer been a favourite 
 of the Jewish jieople, and sacrificed to the jealousy of the Eoman 
 government, his violent death might perhaps have occasioned a 
 rebellion, which must, hoAvever, have terminated in the chains of 
 servitude being rivetted more strongly on that turbident and un- 
 happy nation. But when he who was crucified was the object 
 equally of hatred to the Jews, and of contempt to the Romans, 
 what was to have been expected but that his few followers should 
 be speedily dispei'sed, and his name and pretensions soon lost for 
 ever amid " the wreck of things which Avere" ? 
 
 Yet, my brethren, this event, so aj)parently trivial and incon- 
 siderable, formed the grand and concluding action in a scene 
 the most interesting and important Avhicli ever Avas, Avhich ever 
 Avill be, Avhich CA'er can be, exhibited on earth. Amid apparent 
 meanness, there was real grandem* ; amid seeming insignificance, 
 there was infinite importance. That Jesus Avho on the cross 
 yielded up his Spirit, was the only-begotten Son of God in hiunan 
 
106 THE DEATH OF CHRIST. [PART II. 
 
 nature. That life which he there voluntarily laid down, was the 
 ransom of men innumerable. Heaven, earth, and hell, felt the 
 Saviour's dying groan. From that event, consequences infinitely 
 numerous, immensely important, and unspeakably interesting, 
 have flowed. Revolutions in this world, deeply affecting the 
 present and the immortal interests of mankind, have been its 
 result ; while among its consequences in the invisible state, faith 
 beholds the rights of the Divine government vindicated, the ever- 
 lasting covenant ratified, the gates of paradise set open, and the 
 salvation of an innumerable midtitude of otherwise hopelessly 
 lost men secui'ed. 
 
 Wliile thrones the most ancient and stable have been crumbled 
 into dust, and their proud possessors forgotten among men ; while 
 the renown of the warrior, and the statesman, the philosopher, 
 and the poet, has passed away, the death of Jesus on a cross is 
 not merely remembered, but remembered with the deepest in- 
 terest and the profoundest veneration. And now, at the distance 
 of nearly two thousand years since this decease was accomplished 
 in Palestine, we, the inhabitants of a remote district in a distant 
 island of the sea, have met together to celebrate a religious rite 
 instituted for its commemoration, and thus to testify our sense of 
 its importance, and our wish that it may be held in everlasting 
 remembrance. 
 
 How then, my brethren, can we employ, in a manner more 
 appropriate and agreeable, the moments which are to elapse 
 before we, according to om' Redeemer's institution, commemorate 
 his d}dng love in the holy Supper, than in attentively and de- 
 voutly considering those cu'cumstances which rendered his death 
 so transcendently important and interesting ? 
 
 The most important of these circumstances ai'e summed up in 
 the following proposition. Wlien Jesus yielded up the ghost, an 
 expiatory sacrifice was offered up to God for the sins of men, — 
 the most satisfactory evidence was given of the divinity of his 
 mission, and the truth of his doctrines, — and a most impressive 
 and exemplary exhibition of active and passive \nrtue was pre- 
 sented to the world. In other words, Jesus died as a sacrifice, as 
 a martyr^ and as an example. To these three views of that most 
 important event, the commemoration of which is the principal 
 design of our present assembling, your attention shall be suc- 
 cessively directed in the seqiiel of the discourse. 
 
SER. II.] THE DEATH OF CHRIST. 107 
 
 I. When Jesus yielded up the ghost, lie offered himself as 
 an atoning sacrifice for the sins of men. 
 
 The universal guilt and depravity of mankind are attested 
 by obsei-vation, experience, and Scrij^ture. The general appear- 
 ances of things evince a disorder in the intelligent creation of 
 God, which could have originated only in a violation of those 
 laws which He had enjoined, and by a careful observance of 
 which alone it could be preserved in its primeval hannony and 
 beauty. Eveiy man who has reflected at all on the workings of 
 his owai mind, will readily acknowledge he is a sinner, — conscious 
 of guilt, and afi'aid of pmiishment ; and the explicit declaration 
 of Scripture is, " All have sinned, and come short of the glory 
 of God." 
 
 In these circumstances, without doubt, the most unportant 
 objects of inquuy which can engage the attention of the human 
 mind are, the practicability of restoration to the Divine favom*, 
 and, on the supposition of such a restoration being practicable, 
 the mode in which this most desirable object is to be gained. 
 Now, it is a curious fact in the history of the hmuan mmd, and 
 seems scarcely accomitable but on the hypothesis of a primitive 
 revelation, fragments of which have been preserved among all 
 nations — that mankind of all countries and ages, and in every 
 various stage of civilisation, have agi'eed in the general outline 
 of their sentiments on these important subjects, notwithstancUng 
 the gi'eat diversity which prevails in then' manner of filling up 
 that outline. There seems to be a universal persuasion, that 
 the Divinity, though offended, may be propitiated ; that repent- 
 ance and reformation are of themselves inefficacious for this 
 purpose, and tliat it can only be effected through means of an 
 atoning sacrifice, that is, by substituting some person or thing in 
 the room of the offender, and devoting the \'ictim to the destruc- 
 tion to which the sinner was doomed. 
 
 But, while tlie unenlightened nations seem deeply to have felt 
 the necessity of offering, in some form or other, satisfaction to 
 the offended justice of Heaven, they were totally in the dark 
 respecting what was necessaiy to constitute an acceptable sacri- 
 fice. The lives of the bimtal creation were lavisldy squandered 
 jto obtain the remission of human guilt ; and not unfi'equently, 
 under the influence of a gloomy superstition, which extinguishes 
 all sense of the more amiable attributes of Deitv, in a dread of 
 
108 THE DEATH OF CHRIST. [I'AKT 11. 
 
 liis vengeance, have tlie most sacred principles of our natiu'e 
 been outraged, the circumstances of" tender age and near rehi- 
 tionshij) disregarded, and tlie altars of the Divinity stained with 
 the blood of innocent infants, to expiate the crimes of their 
 guilty parents. At the recital of these hon*id rites, humanity 
 shudders and weeps; while reason jilainly })erceiving their in- 
 utility, laments the infatuation of mankind in thus endeavoui'ing 
 to atone for one crime, by the commission of another still more 
 foul. Yet, hoAvever absurd and criminal the mode of expression, 
 it is easy to recognise, in these rites, the general principles of 
 the inefficacy of repentance, and the necessity of sacrifice. 
 
 The same principles are plainly taught in the scrij)tural reve- 
 lation. The whole of the Mosaic ritual proceeds on the princij)le, 
 that, in order to render the Deity propitious to man, satisfaction, 
 in some form, mvist be made to his law and justice ; and an 
 inspired interpreter of these institutions informs us, that they 
 were intended to teach, that " without shedding of blood, there 
 is no remission." 
 
 The Mosaic sacrifices, though of Divine appointment, and 
 though efficacious for the purj:)ose for which they were instituted, 
 were altogether incapable of making cxjuation for moral guilt. 
 Enliii'litened reason can trace no connection between the slied- 
 ding of the blood of an irrational animal, and the remission of 
 the <i;uilt of a human transmvssor, and readilv acknowledo;es 
 the truth of the apostle's declaration, that " it was not possible 
 that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sin." 
 Indeed, the only way of accounting for their institution, in a 
 consistency with the Divine wisdom, is by supposing (and the 
 New Testament Scriptm'cs fully authorise the supposition) that 
 they were intended to keep constantly before the mind the 
 doctrine of the necessity of atonement in order to pardon ; and 
 to prefigure that gi*eat propitiatory sacrifice, which, " in the end 
 of the age," was to ex])iate fully the sins of mankind. 
 
 Now that sacrifice, which unenlightened reason perceived to 
 be necessaiy, but sought in vain to obtain, — that sacrifice, of 
 which all the legal atonements were merely figures, is to be 
 found in the course of obedience and suffering which Christ 
 Jesus terminated on the cross when he yielded up the ghost. 
 Accordingly, when we say that Christ offered himself an atoning 
 sacrifice, we mean that, in consequence of his sustaining the 
 
8ER. II.] TIIK DEATH OF CHRIST. lOO 
 
 suifcrings and death wliich guilty man dcsen'cd, it became 
 consistent with the Divine moral character and govennnent to 
 pardon and save those in whose stead the Savioiu* suffered and 
 died. 
 
 No man can read the Scriptures, with any degree of attention, 
 without noticing the close connection which is I'epresentcd as 
 existing between the death of Christ and the salvation of men ; 
 and he must be strangely blinded by prejudice, who does not 
 perceive that an efficiency in procuring human rcdcm})tion is 
 ascribed to that event, of a Idnd totally different from, and far 
 superior to, its influence as an evidence of doctrines, and an 
 exann)le of virtue. At the same time, it cannot be denied tliat, 
 in explaining the nature of this efficiency, some good men liave 
 attempted to be "wise above what is ■vvintten." The precise 
 manner in which the siifferings and death of the incarnate Son 
 of God in the stead of sinners, rendered it consistent with the 
 perfections of the Divine character, and the rights of the Divine 
 government, to dispense pardon and salvation to the believing 
 and penitent sinner, is a mysteiy which probably even angels 
 but imperfectly comprehend. " This knowledge is too wonderful 
 for us ; it is high, we cannot attain to it." The fact, however, 
 is most certain, that these suffinings and this death were ex- 
 piatoiy, undergone in the room of the guilty, intended to be 
 efficacious, and in fact found to be so, for their deliverance 
 fi'om guilt, depraA"ity, and destruction. 
 
 On any other supposition we will find it impossible to account 
 for the sufferings and death of Christ, in a consistency Avitli the 
 perfections of the Divine moral character, and the principles of 
 the Divine moral government. That under the administration 
 of a Being infinitely benignant and just, a person like Jesus 
 Christ should not merely not be imiformly and perfectly happy, 
 but should be visited with calamities so numerous, vained, and 
 severe, that orchnaiy human misery evanishes into nothing in 
 the comparison, is certainly a strange, and if we look no farther 
 than to the events themselves, a most unaccountable, dispensation. 
 It is altogether unaccountable on the principles of those who 
 deny the doctrine of proper atonement. Suppose, for a moment, 
 the Saviour to be a mere man, as he is admitted on all hands to 
 have been a perfect man, how is it consistent with the Divine 
 justice and goothiess that such a person shoidd suffer and die ? 
 
110 THE DEATH OF CHRIST. [PART II. 
 
 The sufferings of otlier men may, however good, be accounted 
 for, on the })rinciple that tliey are parts of the system of moral 
 discipline that is necessaiy to purify them from their faults, and 
 perfect their virtues. But he Avho is already pure, needs not to 
 be pui'ified. He who is perfect needs not to be perfected. 
 
 But may not the sufferings and death of the innocent — the 
 perfect — man Chiist Jesus, be sufficiently accounted for, on the 
 principle that they attested the truth of liis doctrines, and illus- 
 trated at once the practicability and excellence of his precepts ? 
 We fearlessly answer in the negative. For, in the first place, 
 Christ's sufferings and death, though they did answer these 
 purposes, were not absolutely necessary to answer these pui'poses. 
 The divinity of his mission was abundantly proved by other 
 evidence ; and if tlie various duties of Christianity could not be 
 illustrated without its Author submitting to suffering and death, 
 this end might have been gained without his suffering so severely 
 — without his dying on a cross. Had there not been another 
 and a more important end in vicAv, we may warrantably assert, 
 there was a waste of suffering and of blood. A second consi- 
 deration, which shows the uusatisfactoriness of the proposed way 
 of accounting for Christ's suffering and death, is, that even 
 supposing Christianity could not have been confirmed and il- 
 lustrated in any other way, it accords not with the Divine char- 
 acter to do injustice (and in the supposed case there is obvious 
 injustice) that good may come. 
 
 The system, which attempts to account for the sufferings and 
 death of Christ, on the principle, that by them he merited for 
 himself the sovereignty of the universe, in the exercise of which 
 he bestows salvation on those who acquiesce in his terms, is 
 equally unsatisfactory. It labours, indeed, under precisely the 
 same difficulties as the system we have just been considering. 
 For might not the sphere of his exertion have been so placed, as 
 that the ultimate object might have been gained without suffer- 
 ing so severely — Avithout dying acciu'sed ? And, if it could not, 
 why should justice be violated, in order to save the guilty from 
 destruction ? 
 
 But, admit the doctrine that the sufterings and death of 
 Christ were an exi)iatoiy sacrifice, and light dawns on the dark- 
 est of the ways of God. Man deserved to suifer extremely, and 
 to die accursed. Standing in man's place, the incarnate Son of 
 
SER. II.] THE DEATH OF CHRIST. Ill 
 
 God met with man's desert. It may be said, however, tliat this 
 is not to remove — it is only to shift — the difficulty. Admitting 
 the Saviour's substitution, we do not wonder at his expiatory 
 sufferings ; but is there not an equal difficulty in conceiving of 
 the Son of God becoming man's substitute ? It is true that the 
 difficulty, though shifted, is not removed ; but it is also true that, 
 by being shifted, the natui'e of the difficulty is changed. In the 
 former cases, the difficulty was to reconcile contradictions. In 
 the present case, it is to comprehend infinities. In truth, it is 
 just the difficulty which meets man on all such subjects, when 
 he pushes his inquiries to a certain length, the difficulty of 
 " finding out God to perfection." There is here no i]ijustice. 
 The Son of God, who is, equally with his Father, " God over all 
 blessed for ever," had a property in, and a power over, his 
 human nature, Avliich no creatui'e can have in and over either 
 another or himself; and there is no injury done to justice, to 
 wisdom, or to goodness, in treating him according to the char- 
 acter which he voluntarily assumed, when an object so gi'cat and 
 beneficent as the remission of the sins and the salvation of the 
 souls of a multitude whom no man could number, was to be 
 gained by it, — an object which, so far as we can see, could have 
 been gained in no other way, which most certainly could have 
 been gained in no other way so well. We readily acknowledge, 
 that we find it not only difficult, but impossible, to conceive 
 adequately of that infinity of wisdom, benignity, and justice, 
 which the formation and execution of such a scheme of redemp- 
 tion necessarily imply ; and seated at the foot of the cross, we 
 wish to look up, with adoring gratitude, and exclaim, " O the 
 depth, both of the \\isdom and of the knowledge of God ! 
 how unsearchable are his counsels, and his ways past finding 
 out !" 
 
 The doctrine, that the death of Christ was the death of an 
 expiatory victim, is not only absolutely necessary to accoimt 
 satisfactorily for the facts, but is stated in the most explicit terms 
 in the Holy Scriptures : " His soul," says the prophet Isaiah, 
 "shall make a propitiatory sacrifice."^ "The Son of Man," says 
 the Savioiu' himself, " came to give his life a ransom for many." 
 " Christ Jesus," says the apostle Paul, " is set forth a propitia- 
 
 ' Isa. liii. 10. Lowtli. 
 
112 1 THE DEATH OF CHRIST. [PART 11. 
 
 tion through faith in his blood." " Christ, om* passover, is sacri- 
 ficed for us." " God sent his Son," says the apostle John, " to 
 be the propitiation for our sins."* 
 
 When Jesus yielded up the ghost, he completed the great 
 work of atonement : " He finished transgi'ession, and made an 
 end of sin, and brought in an everlasting righteousness." It is 
 obvious, from the passages quoted and refeiTed to, that the 
 expiatory influence of our Lord's obedience and sufferings is not 
 to be considered as confined to his death, though there is a pecu- 
 liar propriety of applying the term sacrifice to that event, as it 
 was the crowning act of his obedience, and the termination and 
 consummation of his sufferings. 
 
 That the sufferings and death of Jesus Christ were abundantly 
 efficacious for the pm'pose for which they were intended, is 
 proved by their aceeptance. His sacrifice ascended before his 
 Father as a sacrifice of a sweet-smelling savoui'. Its efficacy 
 and consequent acceptance are ob\dous from its results : " When 
 he had by lumself purged om' sins, he sat down on the right 
 hand of the ^Majesty on high." 
 
 Indeed, this efficacy and acceptance seem necessarily to 
 arise out of its nature. The sacrifice offered and accepted, 
 was, indeed, only a human nature. But it was a human natm'e 
 free fi'om hereditary and personal guilt — fi'om natiu'al and ac- 
 quu'ed depravity ; and it was a human nature, infinitely dignified 
 by union with the Divine, in the j)erson of the Son of God. 
 Accordingly, we find the apostle thus reasons : " For, if the 
 blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer, sprinkling 
 the unclean, sanctified to the purifying of the flesh, Jioio much 
 more shall the blood of Christ, who, through the eternal Spirit, 
 offered himself without spot unto God, purge yoiu' conscience 
 from dead works to sen^e the living God !" 
 
 II. Wlien " Jesus yielded iip the ghost," he gave satisfactory 
 evidence of the divinity of his mission, and the truth of his 
 doctrine. 
 
 The (hvine origin of our holy faith is supported by a host of 
 
 ' 1 John iv. 10. — The reader may also consult the followin^jf passages:— Isa. liii. 
 5-8; Matth. xxvi. 28; Mark x. 45; Acts viii. 32,33; Kom. iv. 25; Kom. v, C-10; 
 1 Cor. XV. 3; 2 Cor. v. 21 ; Eph. i. 7 ; Col. i. 14 ; 1 Tim. ii. G ; Ileb. i. 3 ; Ilcb. ii. 17 ; 
 Heb. ix. 12-28; 1 Pet. i. 18, 19; Rev. v. 9-12; Rev. xiii. 18. 
 
SER, II.] THE DEATH OF CHRIST. 113 
 
 arguments. The miracles which Jesus performed ; — the accurate 
 cori'espondcnce of his character, conduct, and the events of his 
 life, with the declarations of Old Testament prophecy ; — his 
 glorious resurrection from the dead ; — the signs and wonders 
 which attended and followed this event ; — the rapid and exten- 
 sive jiropagation of his doctrines, — and the moral miracles which 
 they have wrought on those who have believed them ; — all these 
 afford in*efragable evidence that our religion is divine. But, 
 distinct fi'om these sources of proof, we apprehend that the truth 
 of Christianity necessarily Ibllows from the death of Christ, when 
 that fact is viewed in its true light. 
 
 Let us fix oiu* attention for a little on the circumstances which 
 attended the Sa"\doui''s death. Signs in -heaven and signs on 
 earth proclaimed the importance of the event, and attested the 
 divine mission of him wlio now yielded up his spirit. The vail 
 of the temple was rent fi'om the top to the bottom ; the earth 
 shook ; the rocks rent ; the graves were opened, and many bodies 
 of the saints who slept arose. So strongly did these concomi- 
 tants of the death of Jesus affect the mind of the Koman 
 centurion, that he exclaimed, " Truly this was a righteous man ; 
 tinily this was the Son of God!" 
 
 It is not only, liowe\'er, in the miraculous events by wdiich it 
 was accompanied that the death of Jesus attests the divinity of 
 his mission, and the truth of his religion. Jesus died as a 
 martp'. His death is a proof of the truth of his doctrines, the 
 same in kind, but infinitel}^ higher in degree, as that wdiich is 
 afforded by the death of those holy men who sealed his testimony 
 with their blood. 
 
 We are far fi-om considering it as a sufficient proof of the 
 tnith or excellence of any system of opinions, that men have died 
 for it. In this case, principles directly oi)posed to each other, 
 might equall}' be demonstrated to be true and excellent. We 
 are, indeed, disposed to think, that to die rather than renounce 
 a doctrine is not uniformly, though it certainly is usually, a proof 
 that the martyr believes it. The desire of posthmnous fame ma}- 
 have, in some instances, induced men to suffer death, rather 
 than avow a truth which would have been fatal to their reputa- 
 tion. And there is no difficulty in finding abundance of examples 
 in the history of the world, of men dying in defence of princi})les, 
 which, though in rcalitv false, they firmlv believed to be true. 
 
 *H 
 
114 THE DEATH OF CHRIST. [pART II. 
 
 But, in tlie case of Jesus, it is impossible to account for his 
 death, on any principle, that does not necessarily involve m it 
 the admission of the chvinity of his mission, and the truth of his 
 doctrine. I take for gi-anted, in the argument I am about to 
 state, what no person will deny, that our Lord's death was 
 voluntary, that is, that he might have avoided it, either by keep- 
 ing out of the way of his enemies, or by making an open renim- 
 ciation of all claims to Messiahship. Now, this beuig admitted, 
 there are only three conceivable ways of accounting for the 
 death of Jesus : He must have died in defence, either of what 
 he knew to be false, or of what he conceived, though erroneously, 
 to be true, or of what he knew to be true. If, then, we can 
 prove that neither of the two former of these suppositions is 
 tenable, it will follow that the third is the tnith. 
 
 It is plain that the case of Jesus is not that of a person who 
 died in defence of doctrines which he knew to be false. For, 
 not to dwell on the abmidant e\adence to this eflfect, which may 
 be draA\ai fi'om the histoiy of liis life, it is enough to ask. What 
 possible object could he in this case have had in view ? It could 
 not be worldly wealth or fame ; for, even if his death could have 
 procm'ed these, of what use are they to the dead ? It coidd not 
 be posthumous honour ; for, had not his death been followed by 
 his resurrection, his impostm'e must have been discovered, and 
 himself held up to the scorn and detestation of eveiy succeecUng 
 generation. 
 
 It is equally ob^^ous, that the case of Jesus is not of a person 
 who dies in defence of doctrines which, though really false, he 
 mistakingly believes to be time ; for his doctrines were of a kind 
 of which, if false, he must have kno\Aai the falsehood. He died 
 in support of plain matter-of-fact, not of abstract principles. If 
 there was imposture in the case, he was the author, not the dupe 
 of it. There is, however, no instance recorded (and, indeed, we 
 may vcntui'e to pronounce it a moral impossibility) of an impostor, 
 who had nothing to gain by his imposture, and who might easily 
 have escaped all tr<ml)lc by merely acknowledging it, persisting 
 in his fraud in opposition to the terrors of punishment, and 
 voluntarily exposing himself to the most excruciating tortmvs, 
 and to death in its most alarming form, in preference to con- 
 fessing the truth. 
 
 The only satisfactoiy account, therefore, of our Lord's volun- 
 
SER. II.] TIIK DEATH OF CIIKIST. 115 
 
 tarv cleatli is, that he was firmly persuaded of the divinity of his 
 mission, — was " faitliful to Him who appointed him," — and sealed 
 his testimony with his blood. Thus did our Lord, even in tlie 
 article of death, bear witness to the truth, and by ascending the 
 cross, give a stronger proof of his Messiahship, than if, in com- 
 pliance with the insulting proposal of the Jews, he had come 
 down from it. 
 
 III. When " Jesus yielded up the ghost," a most impressive 
 and exemplary exhibition of active and suffering virtue was 
 exhibited to the world. While it is evident from Scripture, that 
 the great design of our Lord's mission was to make atonement 
 for the sins of his people, it is equally obvious, that it was intended 
 and calculated to answer other important, though still subordi- 
 nate, ends. Among these objects must be ranked the exhibition 
 of a perfect pattern of that moral excellence which ought to 
 distinguish all his followers. 
 
 Of such a fliultless exemplar mankind stood much in need. 
 JNIoral truth, in an abstract form, makes comparatively a weak 
 and transient impression on the mind. It must be, as it were, 
 embodied and exemplified, in the character and conduct of some 
 individual to render it perfectly intelligible, and deeply interest- 
 ing. This important object was gained in the completest manner 
 by the life and death of the incarnate Son of God. Though 
 subject to all the sinless infirmities of tlie natm*e wliicli he had 
 assumed, placed in circumstances peculiarly difficult, and exposed 
 to temptations singularly severe, he, in no instance, deviated 
 from the path of strict propriety, but exhibited an absolutely 
 perfect example, both of the active and suffering virtues. Piety 
 and benevolence were the principles which ruled in his heart ; and 
 his life was a uniform tenor of sublime devotion and disinterested 
 beneficence. " He has left us an example, that we should follow 
 his steps." To have " the mind in us, which was in Christ Jesus," 
 and to " walk as he also walked," is a comprehensive summaiy 
 of those sentiments, and feehngs, and habits, which ought to 
 characterise the Clmstian. 
 
 It is not, however, to the example of Christ in general that I would 
 at present direct your attention, but to the example he afforded 
 us in the article of death. " It is ajipointed to men once to 
 die." We can die but once ; and on the state in which we die, 
 
116 THE DEATH OE CHUIST. [PART II. 
 
 clejjends the luippiiiess or the miser}' of eternity. It is plainly, then, 
 at once our duty and our interest to learn to die well ; and never 
 was this lesson so impressively taught as wlien Jesus, on the cross, 
 " yielded up the ghost." We are taught by the Saviour's dying 
 conduct, how we ought to behave in our departing hours, to our 
 li'iends, to our enemies, and to our God. 
 
 The bosom of Jesus glowed with the purest fire of universal 
 benevolence ; but he was, at the same time, no stranger to the 
 more tender feehngs of consanguinity and friendship. Of the 
 ardoui- of these principles he gave many a striking proof duiing 
 Jiis life ; but the most interesting display of them was that made 
 on the cross. It is, indeed, usual to feel, with peculiar force, 
 the closeness of the bands of relationship and friendship, at the 
 moment when they are about to be severed by the hand of death. 
 It is impossible to relate the incident referred to, in language so 
 apj)ropriate and touching as that of the Evangelist John : " Now, 
 there stood by the cross of Jesus, his mother, and his mother's 
 sister, the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. ^AHien 
 Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by 
 whom he loved, he saith unto his mother. Woman, behold thy 
 son ! Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother ! And 
 from that horn* that disciple took her to his ovm home." An 
 eloquent volume could not have taught so luminously, nor en- 
 forced so persuasively, that tender considerate regard which we 
 owe to those with whom we are connected by the closest bands, 
 when about to bid them a final farewell. 
 
 Wlien " Jesus yielded up the ghost," He taught us how we 
 ought, when dying, to behave to our enemies. Forgiveness of 
 injuries was a virtue which oui' Lord not only enjoined on his 
 followers, but in circumstances the most trying, actually exer- 
 cised. With his expiring breath he prayed for the pardon of his 
 murderers : " Father, forgive them," said he, " for they know 
 not what they do." " Human nature, in such circumstances, 
 is apt to harbour very different sentiments. To be persecuted 
 for no fault, to be loaded with foul imputations which we have 
 not deserved, to be deprived of life by the hands of injustice, 
 and to have the last agonised moments rendered still more pain- 
 ful by vinilent insult ; — these are wrongs which not only would 
 have irritated ordinary patience, but even seemed to excuse an 
 appeal to the Divine tril)unal, and an imprecation of vengeance 
 
SER. IT.] THE DEATH OF CHRIST. 117 
 
 on the head of men so unreasonable and wicked." Yet, e\'cn in 
 these circumstances, Jesus " renders blessing for cursing, and 
 prays for them who despitefully use him, and persecute him." 
 Can any one, then, who calls himself a Christian, depart out of 
 the world with a heart rankling with malice against even his 
 worst enemy ? If he does so, he contemns at once the sacrifice 
 and the example of the Saviom*. 
 
 We are also furnished, in the death of Jesus, with an example 
 of the manner in which, when dying, we ought to conduct our- 
 selves towards our God. Jesus discovered the most perfect 
 acquiescence in the will of 4]is Father, with respect to the time 
 and circumstances of his death. He betrayed no unwillingness to 
 die, though in the prime of life ; and, altliough the weakness of 
 human nature shrunk back from that dreadful intensity of suffer- 
 ing with which he knew dissolution was in his case to be accom- 
 panied, yet he expresses the most implicit and entire resignation 
 to the will of God : " O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup 
 pass from me : nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou wilt." 
 " The cup which my Father liatli given me, shall I not di'ink 
 it ? " — Amid all the horrors of mental darkness and desertion, he 
 maintained unshaken his confident reliance on his Father's justice 
 and goodness. Even when complaining of dereliction, he claimed 
 Him as his God : " My God, my God ! why hast Thou forsaken 
 me ?" And, when just on the verge of the unseen state, he com- 
 mitted his departing spirit into the hands of his heavenly Father : 
 " Father, into thy hands I commend my sj)irit." Thus did the 
 Saviour die ; and, in the exercise of the same faith and hope, 
 resignation and patience, ought all his followers to depart into 
 the world of spirits. Thus did he " suffer for us, leaving us 
 an example that we should follow his steps." 
 
 But the value of Christ's death, as an example, is by no means 
 confined to the instimction Avhich it gives us, of the manner in 
 which we ought to die. It strikuigly exemplifies some of those 
 leading principles of his conduct, which ought to animate and 
 regulate the behaviour of his followers. We see the principle 
 of an implicit obedience to what God commands, and an implicit 
 submission to what God appoints, most strikingly illustrated. 
 " He became obedient to death, even the death of the cross." 
 Disinterestedness and public spirit are also most impressively 
 taught us, in Jesus " not pleasing himself, but seeking the profit 
 
> 
 
 118 THE DEATH OF CHIilST. [PART II. 
 
 of many, that they might be saved." The death of Christ pro- 
 claims to the attentive Christian, " Look not eveiy one at liis 
 own things, but every one also at the things of others." Nor 
 does it less clearly teach, or less powerfnlly enforce, the love of 
 the brethren. With the eye of faith fixed on the cross, who 
 can resist the force of the apostle's reasoning ? " Hereby do 
 we perceive the love of God to us, because he laid down his life 
 for us ; and Ave ought to lay down our life for the brethren." 
 
 Svich, my brethren, are the chief of those cii'cumstances, wliich 
 stamp with inconceivable dignity and importance, that event, in 
 appearance so insignificant, to commemorate which, by a religious 
 ordinance, is the principal object of our present meeting. 
 
 Contemplate tlien, Christians, with faith, reverence, gratitude, 
 admiration, and joy, the dying Saviour, in the different char- 
 acters in which he has now been held up to your mind. Behold 
 in him the victim of your sins ; the only, the all-sufficient sac- 
 rifice of atonement! This is the aspect in which the sacred 
 ordinance, in which you are about to engage, exhibits him to 
 your faith. " This is my body broken for you ; this is my blood 
 shed for remission of sin unto many." Kcly^on the efficacy of his 
 sacrifice ; relinquish all dependence on your own righteousness ; 
 and when you take into your hands the sjanbols of his holy suf- 
 fering humanity, say, ' It is most true, " he was wounded for my 
 transgressions, he was bruised for my iniquities, the chastisement 
 of my peace was upon him, and by his stripes I am healed. — 
 Worthy is the Lamb that was slain. To him that loved me, 
 and washed me from my sins in his own blood, and hath made 
 me a king and priest unto God, even his Father ; to him be 
 glory and dominion for ever. Amen."' 
 
 And while we rest with unfeigned and unsuspecting reliance 
 on the Kedeemer's atoning sacrifice, let us rejoice that we have 
 such abundant evidence, that in receiving this doctrine, and the 
 other principles of Christianity, " we have not folloAved cunningly 
 devised fables." Let us study, with increasing diligence, the 
 evidence of our holy faith, that we may not be " as children 
 tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine ; " but may be 
 enabled to " hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of our 
 hope to the end." 
 
 Nor let us be inattentive to the persuasive lessons of Christian 
 
8ER. II.] THE DEATH OF CHRIST. 119 
 
 duty, so impressively taught us by our Saviour from his cross. 
 Let us resolve, in a dependence on the grace of the Spirit of 
 promise, to imitate his example. Let it be the study of our life, 
 to learn to think as he thouglit, to feel as he felt, to act as he 
 acted, to suffer as he suffered, to live as he lived, and to die as 
 he died. Contemplating liim as in a glass, let us be changed 
 into the same image ; carrying about with us liis dying, let liis 
 life also be manifested in our mortal bodies. 
 
 In one word, let us consider the death of Christ, as, what it 
 indeed is, the centre of our religion, at once the evidence of its 
 truth, and the exhibition of its excellence, the only solid ground 
 of the sinner's hope, and the most powerful of all incentives to 
 the believer's duty. And " God forbid that we should glory, 
 save in the cross of om* Lord Jesus Christ." 
 
SERMON III. 
 
 THE MANNER AND CHARACTER OF CHRIST's DEATH — 
 CRUCIFIXION — OBEDIENCE. 
 
 Phil. ii. 8. — " Christ Jesus became obedient unto death, even the deatli of the cross." 
 
 Jesus Christ — the Son of God — the eternal Life who was with 
 the Father before the world was, — being in the form of God — 
 the First, the Last, the Living One — tlie incarnate Deity, — 
 the image of the Invisible One — the brightness of his glory, the 
 resplendent radiance of the uncreated light, — the exact resem- 
 blance of his person, — the substantial representation of Hira of 
 whom all other representations are but as shadows, — the manifester 
 of the Father — the revealer of Di\'inity — tlie revealed Divinity 
 — God manifest in flesh — the Life and the Light of men — the 
 Creator, Preser\^er, Proprietor, Governor of the universe — the 
 Mediator between God and man — the Surety of the new cove- 
 nant — the Expiator of human guilt — the Teacher of saving truth 
 — the Author of spiritual life, true holiness, true happiness, — 
 the Redeemer of men, — the Saviom* of the world, — the great 
 Shepherd of the sheep, — the Captain of Salvation who conducts 
 all the children of God, the heirs of salvation, to glory- — this 
 illustrious person is the great subject of Di\'ine revelation, and 
 should be the grand theme of the Christian ministry. There 
 is important deficiency, there is essential faultiness, in all religious 
 teaching in wliich IIE does not occupy the foreground, in which 
 everything, whether doctrine or precept, privilege or duty, is not 
 viewed in its connection with him. 
 
 If this should be the character of Christian teacliing generally, 
 it should especially be so of the Christian teaching imnicdiatelv 
 connected with that emblematical institution which we are this 
 morning come together to obser\-c. That ordinance is a repre- 
 sentation of the truth respecting the incarnate Only-begotten, 
 suffering and dying, the just One in room of the unjust, to obtain 
 
SER. III.] I'llF. .MANXKK OF ClIin.STS DEATH. 121 
 
 for Ill's chosen people the remission of their sins, and the salva- 
 tion of their souls, — a representation made that it may be under- 
 stood and believed, and which, understood and believed, gives the 
 consciousness of a personal interest in him as the Saviour, and in 
 the all-important blessings of his salvation. The language of the 
 Saviour in this institution is, " Look to me — Behold me — Be- 
 hold me !" — and everything that is said by the minister should, 
 by tending to second the Saviour's invitation, fix the mind on 
 iiiM. The substance of all " action sermons," as they used to 
 be called, should be, " Behold the Lamb of God." Everything, 
 however good in itself, which in any degree draws away the 
 attention of the mind from the great central truth of the Chris- 
 tian system, which is embocUed in the institution, is ill timed, 
 and calculated to be injurious. They who come to the com- 
 munion table with right apprehensions and dispositions, come 
 saying in their hearts, " We would see Jesus" ; and the minister 
 forgets his duty both to his Master and to his brethren, who 
 does not immediately lead them into HIS presence. This is the 
 principle on which I have uniformly endeavoured to conduct 
 the dispensation of Christian doctrine, previously to the breaking 
 of bread ; and I am much more desirous that my sendees on 
 such an occasion, should have the character of appropriateness, 
 than afi-aid lest they want the attraction of novelty. 
 
 To the dying Sa^-iour, as he is " evidently set forth," botli in- 
 the text I have read, and in the divinely instituted emblems 
 which once more stand before you, let us, mider the impression 
 that it may be but once more, turn our minds ; and may the 
 good Spirit open our understanthngs to perceive the truth, and 
 om- hearts to love it, so that we may be saved by it ; finding that 
 it malies us free — fi'ee indeed, and is the Joy and rejoicing of our 
 heai'ts, — ^' a well of water springing up unto everlasting life." 
 The DEATH of Christ, — the manner of his death, — and the 
 MORAL CHARACTER of his death, — these are the three topics 
 suggested by the text. Christ Jesus died — he died on a cross, 
 and he became obedient to death, even to the death of the 
 cross. 
 
 I. The DEATH of Jesus Christ occupies a very pronunent place 
 in the gospel revelation. The details of it are given with great 
 minuteness by the four evangcHsts, and in the apostolic writings 
 it is veiy frequently introduced, and almost always in a way 
 
122 THE MANNER AND CHARACTER [PART II. 
 
 wliicli distinctly proves that they regarded it as sometliing in the 
 highest degree remarkable and important. 
 
 It would not be easy to account for this on the principle that 
 Jesus Christ was merely a man of our own order. To the 
 angelic hosts who witnessed with delight the establishment of 
 the original teiTestrial order of things, the death of a being 
 formed for iminterrupted endless life, must have appeared a veiy 
 strange and deplorable anomaly — a sad departure from the 
 course of nature, — sometliing not only strange but monstrous, 
 like the sin which had produced it ; and, viewed as the penalty 
 of the Divine law, the manifestation of the Divine displeasure 
 against sin, death is awfully important. But now that the 
 superinduced law^, " Dust thou art and unto dust thou shalt 
 return," has been for ages operating with as much regularity as 
 the law of gravity or any of the other great laws of the material 
 world, — the death of one of a race, all of whom are doomed 
 to die, an event which is occurring many thousand times every 
 day, can scarcely be counted remarkable. What is strange is, 
 not that men innumerable die, but that any man does not die. 
 Enoch and Elijah are the- "men to be Wondered at." The cir- 
 cumstances of a man's death may be rcmai'kable — his death 
 itself is not so ; and though to the person who dies, his 
 death, viewed as the entrance into an unchangeable endless 
 state, is the most important event that has occurred since the 
 creation of the world — and though to those immediately con- 
 nected with him, it may have a deep and lasting interest, yet to 
 the great body of manldnd, the death of an individual excites as 
 little notice as the setting of a single star, and is scarcely felt to 
 be more important than the falling of a leaf amid the recesses of 
 an American forest. 
 
 Yet without reference to its circumstances, though these too 
 were full of interest and of import, the mere fact that Jesus 
 Christ died, is plainly represented in Scri])ture as something very 
 remarkable and important. It is worth while to inquire what 
 made it so. What made it remarkable ? What made it 
 important ? 
 
 Without seeking to exhaust the subject, we may remai'k, in 
 reply to the first question, — The death of Jesus Christ was 
 remarkable as the death of an umocent — of a morally perfect 
 man — and of a man united to God. And in reply to the second 
 
SER. III.] OF Christ's death. 123 
 
 — that the death of Jesus Christ is important, as it was a death 
 in attestation of truth infinitely important — and still more as it 
 was a death in ex])iatIon of (^uilt otherwise irremissible. 
 
 After we learn that " death is the Avages of sin — that by one man 
 sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed 
 upon all men for that all have sinned," — we do not wonder that sin- 
 ful men die. After we have heard the declaration, " the soul that 
 sinneth it shall die," come forth from Him wlio " is not a man that 
 He should lie, nor the son of man that He should repent," we should 
 wonder if sinftd men did not die. But hero is one " who knew no 
 sin," — " without sin,"— " holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate 
 from sinners," — wdio always "did the things which pleased his 
 Father," — who " delighted" to do His will — who found doing it 
 "his meat and his drink" — one completely free from error, guilt, 
 and depravity — all Avhose thoughts and volitions were in entire 
 accordance with the mind and will of God — how came he to be 
 so numbered among transgressors as to die ? How was it that 
 death dared to lay his sacrilegious hand on " that Holy thing," 
 born of the virgin ? How came he who alone of all human Idnd 
 ever did — ever could — merit eternal life, to receive from the 
 righteous Judge — who renders unto man according to his works, 
 and causes him to receive according to his ways — the wages 
 of sin? 
 
 This is strange enough, but in the death of Jesus Christ there 
 is something stranger still. This perfectly holy man was in per- 
 sonal union with the Divinity. The man Christ Jesus was the 
 Son of God. He was "in the form of God," — "he reckoned 
 equality with God not a prey," but his undoubted indisputable 
 property. The idea of such a union to God, on the part of a 
 man, is overwhelmingly strange ; but, supposing it to exist, surely 
 we slioidd be disposed to say, — Nothing so closely connected with 
 the living One — Him who alone hath immortality — who liveth 
 for ever and ever — can ever die. Yet, wonder O heavens ! be 
 astonished O earth, Jesus Christ, the God-man, did die ! 
 
 So strange an event sm'ely must be an important one — such 
 an extraordinary dispensation must be intended to gain some 
 veiy valuable object. It is not oui' purpose to mention all the 
 objects it was intended to gaui ; indeed, we are but imperfectly 
 informed witli regard to them — but we know that it was the 
 means of satisfactorily attesthig truths the most important, and 
 
(sf 
 
 124 THE MANNER AND CHARACTER [PAUT II. 
 
 of expiating guilt which otherwise was iiremissible. " To this 
 end was I born, and for this cause did I come into the world, 
 tliat I should bear witness to the truth." It is plain Jesus 
 Christ needed not to have died at the time he did die, unless he 
 had chosen. He had only to say, ' I have been mismiderstood, 
 I make no claims to Messiahship or Divine Sonship,' and his 
 bitterest enemies would gladly have allowed him to live. The 
 facts, rather than deny wdiich, he submitted to death, were of a 
 kind with regard to which it was impossible, in the nature of 
 things, that he could be mistaken ; and all the ingenuity of in- 
 fidels has hitherto been miable to devise a probable account for 
 his voluntarily submitting to death, on the supposition that he 
 was aware that these facts were supposititious. These facts lie 
 at the foundation of human hope, and therefore it v,as meet they 
 should rest on a solid foundation. 
 
 But a higher importance still attaches to the death of Jesus 
 Christ. His death was not only the death of a martyr , it waa 
 the death also of an expiatory victim. He died, " the just in the 
 room of the unjust" — he died "/or us" — he died " for our sins." 
 " God made to meet on him the iniquity of us all — exaction 
 was made, and he became answerable." When " made of a 
 woman," he was " made under the law — to redeem them who 
 were under the law." Now all men who are under the law, are 
 under the curse, and could only be redeemed by Him, who took 
 their place, being made a ciu'se in their stead. It is this fact 
 that, so far as man is concerned, stamps its highest importance 
 on the death of Christ — a fact which, in one point of view, dis- 
 sipates the cloud of mysteiy which hangs over it, and, in another 
 point of view, deepens it — a fact wdiich, by changmg the cause 
 of our astonishment, alters its nature, converting what was 
 amazement at a dispensation which seemed incongi'uous, and 
 unwise, and unjust, into admiration of one which is obviously 
 unsearchable for wisdom, and righteousness, and benignity. It 
 is no longer the difficulty to reconcile incompatibilities, it is the 
 impossibility to comprehend infinities. 
 
 It is now time that we turn our attention for a little, — 
 
 II. To the account given in the text of the m.vnnek of the 
 death of Jesus Christ. He died on a cross — his death was " the 
 death of the cross." 
 
 This seems stranger still —for surely, might we think, if due 
 
SEH. HI.] OF Christ's death. 125 
 
 justice makes the deatli of the God-man sm-ety of sinners neces- 
 sary, and if his love make him wilHng to die, the bonds of mor- 
 tahty will be gently unloosed, and death in its least alarming 
 and shocking fonii be the lot of the Saviour of men, the Son of 
 God. How different the tnith! He underwent death in perhaps 
 its most repulsive shape — the death of the cross. He was executed 
 as a malelactor, and the punishment of death was inflicted in the 
 most agonising and ignominious manner. 
 
 In no page of the history of man is the depravity of his nature 
 more distinctly recorded, than in that which treats of capital 
 punishments. Whether in any case it be either lawful or ex- 
 pedient to take away life as the punishment of crime, is a 
 question on which wise and good men are not agreed ; but it is 
 agreed on all hands, that the malignity and hard-heartecbiess of 
 depraved man have been strikingly displayed in multi})lying im 
 necessarily the offences which expose to this extreme punishment, 
 and in attaching to its infliction many circumstances of pain, 
 and shame, and horror, which, while they added largely to the 
 sufferings of the individual, were of no use in promoting the 
 only legitimate object which public justice can have in view in 
 such infliction — the deterring others from the commission of 
 similar enormities. Among these modes of punishment, invented 
 rather to glut revenge than to satisfy justice, must be numbered 
 that to which the Saviour of the Avorld submitted for its redemp- 
 tion. The punishment of the cross seems to have originated 
 among the Romans — a people remarkable for their ferocious and 
 sanguinary disposition — and was among them inflicted only on 
 offenders of the meanest rank and most ati'ocious character. 
 After being stripped of his garments, and lacerated by rods, the 
 criminal condemned to this punishment was fastened to the cross, 
 which was formed of a large plank of timber, with a ti'ansverse 
 beam near one of the extremities. To this dreadful instrument 
 of death the miserable victim was fastened by ii'on bolts driven 
 through the hands and feet — the feet being nailed to the longi- 
 tudinal post, and the hands in an extended posture to the ex- 
 tremities of the transverse beam. The hon'id machine, with its 
 pitiable biu'den, was then raised and placed with violence in a 
 hole dug for it in the earth, and being fixed there, the miserable 
 victim was left to consume in lingering and dreadful torments. 
 As none of the parts essential to life were humediately injured. 
 
126 THE MAXXER AND CIIAUACTER [I'AUT II. 
 
 none of the vital actions directly impeded, and none of the larger 
 blood-vessels set open, the death was usually slow ; while the 
 multitude of nerv^es wdiich terminated in the hands and feet, 
 giving these parts the nicest sensibility, wounded, torn, and 
 tortured by the rugged nails, rendered the degree of suftering 
 exquisitely severe.^ 
 
 Such was the death to which Christ Jesus became obedient. 
 From what has already been stated, it must be obvious that this 
 mode of death was intensely painful. During the hours the 
 Saviour hung on the cross, he must have suffered every moment 
 more than the pangs even of the most agonised dissolution. It 
 was a mode of punishment as opprobrious as painful. It was 
 appropriated to slaves, a class of men whom the ancients seem to 
 have considered as an inferior order of beings, and scarcely, if at 
 all, possessed of the ordinary rights of humanity — so that, when 
 fixed to the cross, it was literally true that the Saviour Avas treated 
 as " a worm, and no man — a rej^roach of men and despised of the 
 people." It is a remarkable fact, too, that suspension on a 
 gibbet or cross was, by the INIosaic institute, the token of having 
 suffered as a victim of public justice. The Mosaic law was too 
 humane to authorise crucifixion ; but it ordained that the body 
 of every public criminal who had expiated his crimes by suffering 
 death by stoning, strangulation, or otherwise, should be hung up 
 — to anounce the fact that he had died as a malefjictor. 
 
 That the death of the Son of God would have been efficacious 
 for the redemption of his people, in whatever way it had been 
 effected, w^e have no reason to doubt. The efficacy of his blood 
 depends on its being the blood of a person of infinite dignity, 
 and shed by the appointment of the Supreme Legislator ; and not 
 on the particular manner in which it was shed. Without doubt, 
 however, there were wise and good reasons why, out of the count- 
 less variety of violent deaths, the most painful and shameful of 
 all should have been chosen as that by which the ^Messiah should 
 glorify God, and ransom mankind. Many of these reasons may 
 lie hid in the Divine mind; but, we apprehend, so many of them 
 are apparent as may and ought to lead us to recognise the wisdom, 
 as well as the sovereignty of God, in appointing the sins of the 
 world to be expiated by " the death of the cross." 
 
 '"Discourses and Savings,"' ii, 231-3. 
 
SEH. 111.] OF cueist's DEATH. 127 
 
 To some of the ends, which the death of Jesus on the cross 
 was calculated to answer, and has in effect answered, I am now 
 for a little to solicit your attention. The death of the cross 
 jjroves our Lord's divine mission, — points him out as a sufferer 
 for sin, — illustrates the inconceivable love of the divine Father 
 and Son, — shows the prodigious malignity of human transgres- 
 sion, — indicates the spiritual natiu'e of the Redeemer's kingdom, 
 — renders the idterior success of the Gospel more illustrious, — 
 and furnishes his followers with the most powerful motives for 
 avoichng sin, and performing duty. To the different parts of this 
 enumeration, we shall successively direct your attention. 
 
 1st, The cimcifixion of Christ Jesus proves the divinity of his 
 mission. This declaration may at first view appear paradoxical. 
 To deduce a proof of his Messiahship from the pm-ity of his life, 
 the reasonableness of his doctrines, and the splendour of his 
 miracles, may appear sufficiently natural ; but how his death, 
 and especially his death upon a cross, can afford evidence of his 
 being a divinely appointed Saviour, may not at first view be 
 ^'ery apparent. Without doubt, neither crucifixion nor any of 
 the other sufferings of our Lord, are m themselves evidences of 
 his Messiahship ; but they are so, both as they clearly prove that 
 our Lord himself believed in his owai divine mission, which he 
 could not have done unless it had been real, and as they are the 
 fulfilment of Old Testament pro])hecy. 
 
 No man will suffer and die in attestation of what he laiows to 
 be false, when there is no object to be gained by persisting in 
 falsehood, and when life may be purchased by an acknowledgment 
 of the truth. The application of this general principle to the 
 case of Jesus is easy. Ip a discourse on the death of Christ, 
 lately delivered to yon, I endeavoiu'cd briefly to unfold this 
 argument.^ All that was said then, is ecjually applicable to the 
 present subject, with tliis adcUtion, that the death of the cross 
 being of all deaths the most opprobrious and agonising, was in 
 every respect the least likely to be volimtarily submitted to by a 
 deceiver in support of his imposture. 
 
 It is, however, principally in the second point of ^iew that I 
 intend at present to consider the crucifixion of Jesus, as a proof 
 of his Di\'ine mission. That the Messiah was to be a sufferer in 
 
 ' Sermon II. 
 
128 THE MANNER .\ND CIIARACTEIl [PART II. 
 
 an extreme degree, and that, after a life of labour and sorrow, 
 he should die a death of agony and shame, was plainly foretold 
 by the Old Testament prophets. But this is not all. The mode 
 of his death, a mode of capital punishment, at the time of the 
 publication of the prophecy, it is likely, altogether unknown 
 among the Israelites, is particularly predicted. In the twenty- 
 second psalm, the whole of which is a very striking prophetic 
 account of " the sufferings of Christ, and the glory which should 
 follow," it is expressly foretold, that, when " the assembly of the 
 wicked had inclosed him, they would pierce his hands and feet." 
 To the same circumstances does the prophet Zechariah refer, 
 when he says, in the person of the Messiah, " They shall look on 
 me whom they have pierced." 
 
 The manner of om* Lord's death was predicted, not only by 
 the Old Testament prophets, but by himself; so that while it 
 proved him to be the JNIessiah promised to the fathers as the 
 fulfilment of their predictions, it also proved that he was a 
 true prophet as the accomplishment of his own. He intimated 
 the mode of his death at a very early period of his ministry : 
 " As Moses," said he, " lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, 
 even so must the Son of man be lifted up : that whosoever be- 
 lieveth in him might not perish, but have everlasting life." 
 " And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto 
 me. This he said," adds the evangelical historian, " signifying 
 what death he should die." Nor did he speak of the manner of 
 his death in figurative language merely, Avln'ch it might be sup- 
 posed the imagination of his followers applied to the event. On 
 this subject he " speaks plainly, and speaks no proverb." " Be- 
 hold," said he to the disciples, as theyujourneyed towards Jeru- 
 salem, " we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of man shall be be- 
 trayed unto the chief priests, and unto the scribes, and they shall 
 condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles, to 
 mock, and to scourge, and to crucifij ; and the third day he shall 
 rise again." " Ye know," said he on another occasion, "■ that 
 after two days is the passover, and the Son of man is betrayed 
 to be crucified^ 
 
 No single prediction, by its fulfilment, more strikingly proves 
 the Messiahship of Jesus than that of his crucifixion. It was an 
 event entirely beyond the reach of human foresight ; and the 
 prediction is far too circumstantial to allow of the supposition 
 
SER 111.] OF Christ's death. 12i) 
 
 that the fulfihnent was accidental. That the Messiali, whom 
 the Jews so long and anxiously expected, should, when he made 
 his appearance, be put to death by his countrymen, was in itself 
 a very improbable event. That he should be cnicified, was all 
 but impossible. Crucifixion was not a Jewish, but a Roman 
 punishment. Stoning to death was the punishment appointed, 
 by the Mosaic law, for the crimes of which Jesus was accused, 
 and, biit for circumstances in the highest degree contingent, — 
 the subjugation of Judea by the Romans, and the weak and 
 unprincipled character of the Roman governor, — this punishment, 
 rather than crucifixion, would have been inflicted. Thus we 
 find the Jewish rulers, in bringing about the crucifixion of 
 Jesus, were the unconscious agents of fulfilling a prediction, by 
 the accomplishment of which the victim of their malignity was 
 " powerfully declared to be the Son of God." " Wonderful catas- 
 tro})he ! replete with mysteries, among which the harmony of 
 Divine providence with human liberty is not the least. Mechani- 
 cal causes, governed by a single intellect, could not with more 
 certainty have wTought the pre-determined effect. Independent 
 beings could not have pursued with greater liberty than the 
 persons concerned in this horrid transaction, each his separate 
 design." ^ " Tnily, O Lord, Thou art greater than all gods : for, 
 in the things wherein men deal proudly, Thou art above them." 
 
 2d, The crucifixion of Christ points him out, as a sufferer 
 for sin, the sacrificial victim for human transgression. 
 
 The sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ, which terminated in 
 his death on the cross, considered in themselves, prove nothing 
 but that he was the object of the extreme malignity of those who 
 inflicted them. Considered in connection, however, with his 
 absolute innocence and perfection, they are altogether unaccount- 
 able, but on the supposition of his occupying the place of guilty 
 man. We find no difficulty in accounting for the severest afflic- 
 tions, which the best of the children of men meet with ; for "all 
 have sinned," and every sin deserves suffering, indefinite suffer- 
 ing. But how shall we account for the sufferings, the apparently, 
 the obviously, penal sufferings of the man Christ Jesus ; " a just 
 man, and a perfect;" a man whose conscience reproached him 
 with no vice or folly ; a man whose life had been piety and love, 
 
 ' Horslt'v. 
 
130 THE M.iNNER AND CHARACTER [PAUT II. 
 
 unafFecteJ piety, disinterested love ; a man assuredly entitled to 
 eveiy comfort which the consciousness of periection, of perfect 
 virtue, and perfect wisdom can bestow 1 — How shall we account 
 for this man — this good, this perfect man ; this man in union 
 with the Divinity, being the victim of poverty and reproach, 
 apprehended and judged, and condemned as a criminal, and 
 executed as a felon and a slave, a blasphemer and a traitor? 
 
 Was it merely that truth might be confirmed by a powerful 
 testimony, and patience taught by an eloquent example ? Im- 
 portant as are these benefits, they are purchased at too dear a 
 rate, when the order of God's moral government is deranged, 
 and his innocent Son treated as a criminal. Besides, if Jesus 
 died but as an example and a martyr, why was not some mode 
 of death chosen which would have been less agonising to him, 
 and equally, or even still more, fitted to be exemplary to man- 
 kind ? The sufferings of our Lord in general, and his death 
 upon a cross in particular, are altogether unaccountable, but on 
 the supposition of his being the substitute of guilty men. " Ho' 
 was wounded for our transgressions; he was bruised for our 
 iniquities ; the chastisement of our peace Avas upon him. The 
 Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all ; therefore it pleased th4 
 Lord to bruise him." 
 
 Admit this doctrine, and we do not cease to wonder at the 
 crucifixion of Christ. But the subject of our wonder is changed. 
 We no longer wonder that Jesus, standing in man's place, 
 should meet with man's desert ; though wo must wonder at the 
 inconceivable kindness which induced him to occupy that place. 
 The substitute of innumerable criminals, we do not wonder that 
 he should have been treated as a criminal. And of all deaths, 
 that which was divinely accursed, seems most appropriate and 
 characteristic of him who " redeemed us fi-om the curse of the 
 law, by becoming a curse in our stead."* 
 
 dd, The crucifixion of Christ affords a most striking manifesta- 
 tion of the love of the Divine Father and Son. 
 
 That the illustration of his own excellences is the ultimate 
 end which the Divinity proposes in all his works, is a doctrine 
 plainly revealed in Scripture, and, when properly explained, is 
 perfectly consistent with the deductions of enlightened reason : 
 " God hath made all things for himself." As " of Ilim and 
 through Him," so also " to Him arc all things." 
 
SKit. III.] OF Christ's death. 131 
 
 This is the grand end of redemj^tion, as of all the other works 
 of God. That economy was particularly designed to illustrate 
 the exuberance of his mercy ; or, to use the apostle Paul's most 
 energetic language, " to show the exceeding riches of his grace 
 in his kindness toward us." To promote this great end, every 
 part of this dispensation is calculated, and none more directly and 
 powei*fully, than that which the text brings more immediately 
 before us, the crucifixion of the Son of God. To acquiesce in 
 his Son's assuming humanity, and becoming the substitute of 
 mankind, was a wonderful display of grace ; to give him up to 
 suffering, was a still more amazing display of mercy ; to appoint 
 him to death, still heightens the mu-acle of kindness. What 
 language, then, shall we find for expressing that infinity of 
 benignity, which was manifested in dooming his only-begotten 
 Son to the death of the cross, in order to obtain the salvation of 
 rebels — of enemies ? " Herein is love, not that we loved God, 
 but that He loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for 
 our sins." 
 
 The crucifixion of Christ places in as strong a point of view 
 the love of Christ Jesus himself, as that of his Father. The Son 
 of God had an independent right over the human nature which 
 he assumed. No man could have taken his life from him ; he 
 laid it down of himself. " Greater love hath no man, than that a 
 man lay down his life for his friends." To submit to die even the 
 easiest death for a friend, would be a high and most extraordinary 
 proof of human friendship. But how much more transcendent 
 the evidence of regard which Jesus gave for his people ! He 
 died for them when enemies ; and he died for them, not an 
 OTchnary death, but a death above all others painful, ignominious, 
 and acciu'sed. Surely this love has " a height and a depth, a | 
 length and a breadth, which pass knowledge." Surely, when in 
 the Holy Supper we see him " plainly set forth crucified" for us, 
 we may adopt the language of the Jews, when they saw the 
 Redeemer shed a few tears of natural sympathy at the gi-aA^e of 
 his friend Lazarus, and apply them with a higher emphasis — 
 " Behold how he loved us !" 
 
 Uli, The crucifixion of Christ shows the fearful malignity of 
 human transgression. 
 
 To convince mankind, and indeed the whole intelligent crea- 
 tion, of the evil of sin, or, in other words, to illustrate the 
 
132 THE MANNER AND CILVRACTER [PART II. 
 
 purity of liis character, and the rectitude of liis government, was 
 certainly one gi'eat end of the Divine Being in the ccononiy of 
 human redemption. That sin is inconceivably malignant, is an 
 inference fairly deducible from the account -sve have in Scripture 
 of its nature, its tendency, and its consequences. Its nature is 
 directly opposed to the character and will of Ilira, who is essential 
 holiness and truth ; its tendency is to involve the whole moral 
 system in confusion and miseiy ; and is consequence to the indi- 
 vidual who is guilty of it, is unqualified destruction. More deeply 
 to impress this truth on the mind of man, which is apt to be little 
 affected wdth distant and unseen objects, the Almighty has fre- 
 quently given signal, and as it were palpable, proofs of his hatred 
 of iniquity. Of this kind were the universal deluge, the fiery 
 desolation of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the sudden destruction 
 of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. 
 
 But all the illustrations of this truth were faint and feeble 
 when compared with that wdiich w^as given when the Son of God, 
 as the substitute of sinners, hung on the cross. The considera- 
 tion that, in order to take away sin, not only the incarnation, 
 and labours, and sorrows, and tears, and blood, but the death, 
 and the death on a cross, of the Son of God, was necessary, — is 
 above all things calculated to convince us, that " sin is," indeed, 
 " exceeding sinful" — " an evil and a bitter thing." 
 
 Consider who was the sufferer ! The Son of God — God 
 manifest in flesh. Consider what he suffered ! Think of the 
 shame and the pain of the cross, and of that internal agony, 
 of which they were but the imperfect figures ! Consider, in fine, 
 who it was that inflicted these sufferings — his Father, who 
 loved him, who knew his worth in all its infinite extent, and 
 whose love corresponded in its fervour to the perfection of his 
 knowledge ! The Jewish rulers, the Roman soldiers, were but 
 the unconscious instruments, though certainly the deeply guilty 
 instruments, of his righteous inflictions. " It pleased the Lord 
 to bniise him, lie put him to grief." And then say, how in- 
 effably, how inconceivably evil, that must be, in order to the 
 expiation of which it was necessary that such a Father should 
 inflict such sufferings on such a Son. 
 
 hth, The crucifixion of Christ illustrates the spiritual nature 
 of that kingdom which he came to erect among mankind. 
 
 The Old Testament y>rophcts very fi'cquontly foretol the pro- 
 
SEE. 111.] OF Christ's death. 133 
 
 mised Messiah under the character of a mighty Prince and 
 Conqueror. These predictions were interpreted in their literal 
 meaning by the gi'eatcr part of the Jews, without any regard to 
 the general harmony of the prophetic system. They expected 
 their Messiah to be a temporal prince, and that his kingdom was 
 to consist in dominion over the bodies and estates of men, — 
 dignified by external wealth and splendour, managed by worldly 
 power and policy, — and affording to its subjects present safety, 
 riches, honour, and prosperity. Such was tlie kind of deliver- 
 ance which the Jews generally cxjoected ; and these expectations, 
 as well as other Jewish prejudices, considerably affected the 
 minds, even of the primitive disciples of Christ. 
 
 The Avhole of our Lord's appearance was calculated to dissipate 
 this delusion : " He grew ujj as a root out of a dry ground." To 
 a scribe, who, in the hope of liis being the Messiah according to 
 the Jewish signification of that term, had declared his resolution 
 to become his follower, he honestly pointed to his circumstances 
 as the best proof that he was no earthly prince : "The foxes 
 have holes, and the birds of the air have nests ; but the Son of 
 man hath not where to lay his head." From the general tenor 
 of his discourses, it was obvious that his kingdom was purely 
 spiritual, — that it consisted in the government of men's minds 
 and hearts, — that its splendours were those of wisdom and holi- 
 ness, — that it was to be administered by the power and grace of 
 the Holy Spirit, — that it was to be protected by the unseen 
 guardianship of DiA-ine pro\adence, — that it was to be upheld 
 and propagated by meek instimction, holy example, hearty devo- 
 tion, and patient suffering, — that its rewards were spiritual joys 
 and consolations here, and hereafter celestial rest and immortal 
 blessedness. To these truths our Lord bore witness before 
 Pontius Pilate, and this testimony he soon after sealed in his 
 blood. On the cross, faith can discover another inscription 
 besides that dictated by the Roman governor : ^Iy kingdom is 
 NOT OF THIS WORLD. Nothing could be better fitted for extin- 
 guishing all vain hopes of worldly splendour, than such an event 
 as the crucifixion. Suffering was not the means of acquiring 
 worldly power ; nor was the cross the way to an earthly crown. 
 It would have been well for the chm*ch and the world, if this 
 lesson had been more carefully studied by the followers of 
 Jesus. 
 
134 THE MANNER AND ClIAllACTER [PART. II. 
 
 Qftli, The crucifixion of Christ renders the subsequent success 
 ot" the Gos})cl more illustrious. 
 
 Every Christian knows that, in the rapid and extensive 
 propagation of Christianity, we consider ourselves as having sa- 
 tisfactory proof of its divine origin. The mere rai)id diffusion 
 of a religion is, liowever, no certain evidence of its truth. In 
 this respect Mohammedanism stands at least on a level with 
 Christianity. It is only by taking into view the circumstances 
 in which the author and primitive teachers of Christianity were 
 placed, and the means they used for diffusing it, as well as the 
 nature of its doctrines, and the opposition with which it had to 
 contend, that we can properly perceive the force of this most 
 powerful argument. 
 
 Certainly the fact, that Christ Jesus was put to the death of 
 a criminal and a slave, was in itself calculated to throw strong 
 obstacles in the way of his being generally acknowledged as the 
 Son of God, and the Saviour of the world. That Herod the 
 Jewish king, or Vespasian the Roman emperor, should be 
 blasphemously complimented, or even seriously considered by 
 some as the Messiah, is no way remarkable. But certainly it 
 must be admitted to be very wonderful, that a poor unfriended 
 Jew who was crucified, should, in the course of three centimes 
 after his death, without any secular means being employed to 
 advance his claims, with the strongest opposition which could 
 be made by deep-rooted prejudice and imperial power, be con- 
 sidered, by the greater part of the Roman world, and by many 
 beyond its limits, as the Son of God and the Saviour of man- 
 kind. Can any other satisfactory account be given of this event 
 than that which our Lord himself gave '^ " The stone which 
 the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner. 
 This is the doing of the Lord; and it is marvellous in our 
 eyes." ^ 
 
 The divine agency in the success of the Gosj)el, becomes still 
 more apparent, if we recollect that the fact of Christ's having been 
 crucified was by no means concealed; but, on the contrary, held a 
 most prominent place in the j)reaching of the apostles. It was not 
 only honestly avowed, but studiously exhibited, and triumphantly 
 gloried in. It was, indeed, by this doctrine, that they subjugated 
 
 ' Psalm cxsiii. li'J, •.';(; coiiniiuc Luke xx. 17. 
 
SER. 111.] OF Christ's death. 135 
 
 the world. " Christ crucified was to the Jew a stumbling-block, 
 and to the Greek foolishness," while the first demanded a sit^n, 
 and the second sought after wisdom ; " but, unto all who were 
 called, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God ;" so 
 that it was apparent to all, that " the foolishness of God is wiser 
 than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men." 
 
 1th, The crucifixion of Christ furnishes saints with the most 
 powerful dissuasives from sin, and motives to duty. 
 
 What can lead an ingenuous mind more thoroughly to detest 
 sin, than the consideration that it rendered the death of Jesus 
 on a cross necessary, in order to human redemption ? We are 
 in some danger of indulging in malignant feeling against the 
 human agents of our Saviour's sufferings. But if we have ever 
 rightly contemplated a crucified Saviour, we must have perceived 
 that our sins were indeed his murderers. " They were the traitors 
 who, by the hands of Judas, delivered him up. We by our sins 
 impeached him. The spiteful priests were out our advocates. 
 Our sins cried, 'Crucify him, crucify him !' with clamours more 
 loud and importunate than the Jewish populace." ^ He who 
 has seen all this, cannot but hate sin, and avoid it as the worst 
 of evils. Eveiy sin Avill appear to him a re-acting of the tragic 
 scene of Calvary, — a " crucifying of the Son of God afresh, — 
 and a putting him to an open shame." So true is it, that 
 
 " The cross, once seen, is death to every vice."^ 
 
 As the crucifixion furnishes strong dissuasives from sin, it also 
 suggests most powerful motives to duty. What arguments to 
 universal holiness so cogent as those deduced by the holy apostles 
 from this source I " Knowing this," says the apostle Paul, 
 " that our old man is crucified with him, — that the body of sin 
 miglit be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. 
 Let not sin, therefore, reign in your mortal body, that ye should 
 obey it in the lusts thereof." " Forasmuch," says the apostle 
 Peter, " then, as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm 
 yourselves likewise with the same mind, that ye should no longer 
 live the rest of yom* time in the flesh, to the lusts of men, but 
 to the w^ill of God." 
 
 'Barrow. ' Cowpcr, Progress of Error. 
 
180 THE MAXNER AND CUAKACTER [I'ART II. 
 
 The cross ministers most persuasive motives, not only to holi- 
 ness in general, but to all the various duties of the Christian 
 life. Who dare murmur mider the evils of life, when he thinks 
 of Him who "endured the cross, and despised the shame" t It 
 Avas a powerful incentive which Ignatius employed to fortify his 
 mind against the terrors of martyrdom, " My love was cruci- 
 riED." Who can hate or despise his brother, when he recollects 
 that Christ was crucified for him ? How is it possible to enforce 
 humility so powerfully as the apostle does ? " Let the mind be 
 in you which also was in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form 
 of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God ; but made 
 himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a ser- 
 vant, and was made in the likeness of men ; and being found in 
 fashion as a man, humbled himself, and became obedient unto 
 death, even the death of the cross." IVho that has the heart of 
 a disciple can think of Christ's cross, and not be disposed cheer- 
 fully to take up his own, and follow his Saviour ? 
 
 Wouldst tliou, Christian, feel the sweetly compulsive force of 
 Christian motive, in all its constraining influence ? take your 
 station, along with the beloved disciple, near the foot of the cross, 
 behold your dying Lord, and listen to the language of his 
 agonies! "Is it nothing to you, all ye that go by? behold and 
 see, if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, wherewith the 
 Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger." " I am 
 womided for your transgressions, I am bniised for your iniquities, 
 I am undergoing the chastisement of your peace. By the yearn- 
 ings of my compassion, by the wounds of my body, by the 
 anguish of my soul, by my blood, by my death, I conjure you 
 to take up your cross and follow me. Willingly assume, cheer- 
 fully wear my easy yoke, gratefully acknowledge my goodness, 
 carefully imitate my virtues. Give yourselves wholly to my 
 service, as I give myself wholly for your salvation, and live to 
 me, who now die for you." — Who will now dare to doubt, that 
 it became Him, by whom are all things, and to whom are all 
 things, in bringing many sons luito glory, to devote the Saviour 
 to tlie death of the cross? — I conclude this section of the discourse 
 in the powerful language of a most eloquent preacher : 
 
 " The crucifixion of Christ was the closing scene of his suffer- 
 ings. After six hours of inconccival^le agony, he said, ' It is 
 finished ! placidly bowed liis anointed head, and gave up the 
 
SER. 111.] OP" Christ's death. 137 
 
 ghost.' It is finished ! Holy victim ! all is finished that wicked 
 men were wonderfully destined to contribute towards the general 
 deliverance ; what remains, infinite power and wisdom shall ac- 
 complish. The disciples, those few of them who had the courage 
 to be present at this dismal scene, hang their heads in despon- 
 dency, and seem to have abandoned the hope, that this was he 
 who should redeem Israel. But Israel is redeemed. The high 
 sacrifice appointed before the foundation of the world, typified 
 by all the sacrifices of the law, is now offered and accepted. 
 That Jesus, who, according to his own prediction, hath expired, 
 shall, according to his own prediction, be raised again on the 
 third day. He is raised. He is entered into gloiy. He has sat 
 down for ever on the right hand of the Majesty on higli. There 
 he pleads the merits of his blood in behalf of those whose crying 
 sins caused it to be shed. Nor does he plead in vain. All power 
 is committed to him i)i heaven and on earth. The final judgment 
 is committed into his hands ; and the greatest sinner, who will 
 but trust in him, w^ill have no reason to fear the seventy of a 
 Judge, who has himself been touched with a fellow-feeling of 
 our infirmities. On the other hand, let none deceive themselves 
 with the hopes of salvation, while they continue impenitent. 
 The sacrifice of the cross was no less a display of the just severity, 
 than of the tender mercy of God. The authority of his govern- 
 ment must be maintained. This rendered atonement and inter- 
 cession necessary, in order to the pardon of sin, — the most 
 meritorious intercession, the highest atonement. To those who 
 despise so great a salvation, who cannot be reclaimed by the 
 promises and threatenings of God, by the warnings of wrath and 
 the appearances of mercy ; for those who will not be reclaimed 
 by these motives, there assuredly remains no more sacrifice for 
 sin, but a certain fearful looking for of fiery indignation, which 
 at the last day will burn with inextinguishable rage against all 
 those incorrigible enemies of goodness and of God. May God 
 grant of his great mercy, that all of us may be permitted, through 
 that crucifixion which we are this day to commemorate, to escape 
 the everlasting horrors of the second death !" ' 
 
 Let us now for a little consider the third topic presented to 
 our mind by the text, 
 
 1 Horsley's Sermons, vol. ii. pp. 152-155. The author gladly acknowlcdffes his 
 obligations in writing this sermon to Dr Barrow. Vide Sermon on Phil. ii. 8. 
 
138 THE MANNER AND CHARACTER [PART II. 
 
 III. The moral character of the Saviour's death on the cross 
 — " He became obedient to death, even to the death of the cross." 
 
 These words seem to intimate that our Lord's death was 
 voluntary. It was an act of obedience — and it was the co7iclicding, 
 crowning act of a course of obedience. 
 
 In the case of mankind generally, death is in no sense volun- 
 tary. They have no choice in the matter, and, in a great 
 majority of cases, they most reluctantly yield to an irresistible 
 necessity. It was otherwise with Christ Jesus. His death was 
 in the highest sense voluntary. Human nature in him was com- 
 pletely free from that which occasioned the introduction of the 
 law of mortality. It is not as men, it is as sinful men, that we 
 must die. The Son of God might have assumed human nature, 
 and yet never have died. Indeed, that seems the natural course 
 of things, on the supposition of his assuming human nature. 
 Notliing but a positive appointment could have made it otherwise. 
 It is true, indeed, if he assumed human nature for the purpose of 
 saving man, he must die ; but there was no previous necessity of 
 his undertaking our cause — of his takhig on him that suretyship 
 for strangers, for which he has so severely smarted. He willingly 
 put himself in the condition which required his submitting to 
 death. Ho died because he cliose to the rather than that the ends 
 which could only be gained by his death, should not be obtained. 
 
 As his death was voluntary, inasmuch as it was not the result 
 of the great law of human mortality, so it was voluntaiy too, 
 inasmuch as it was not the result of compulsion. It was indeed 
 a violent death. He was taken and with wicked hands crucified 
 and slain ; but if he had pleased, he could easily have kept him- 
 self out of these hands. It was no vain boast — when his honest- 
 hearted but dark-minded disciple sought to intei*]wse his feeble 
 arm between his ]\laster and danger — "Put up thy sword into its 
 place ; thinkest thou that I cannot pray to my Father, and he 
 shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels." 
 He had but to look at the armed band^and a divine power went 
 forth in that meek majestic glance, which laid them prostrate on 
 the earth. No man wrested his life from him, he laid it down 
 of himself. 
 
 IJut our Lord's death was not only voluntary — it was obedi- 
 ential. " He became obedient to death." In dying, all good men 
 obey God — i. e., they exercise the princi])les of patient, rcsigneil 
 
SER. III.] OF Christ's death. 139 
 
 submission to the Avill of God, in appointing death, and the time 
 and circumstances of their own death ; and in tliis sense, no 
 doubt, Jesus Christ was obedient in dying. 
 
 But this is not, I ai)prehend, tlie apostle's thought here. Jesus 
 Christ was obedient unto death in a sense in which no other 
 possessor of human nature ever can be. To die is in no degi'ee 
 a matter of choice to men. They must die. It is a matter 
 about which they are not called to exercise will at all. They 
 have nothing to do but submit. But Jesus Christ, in the volun- 
 tarily assumed as well as divinely appointed character of the 
 servant of God as Saviour of men, was sent into the world to do 
 a great Avork — of which his dying constituted an essential part. 
 "Lo! I come," said he, "to do thy will" — and that will was the 
 salvation of his people by the offering, once for all, of his body. 
 He Avas constituted " the great " — " the good Shepherd," and his 
 leading duty in that character was to " lay down his life for the 
 sheep." This Avas " the finishing the work given him to do." 
 He came to " give his flesh for the life of the AA-orld." He came 
 " to give himself a ransom for many." His great Avork Avas to 
 accomplish redemption in a manner consistent with, and illustra- 
 tive of^ all the perfections of the Divine character — all the prin- 
 ciples of the Divine government, and this could only be done by 
 his dying for men ; and as it Avas not the mere dying — not the 
 mere dying even of incarnate Divinity — but the dying in the 
 exercise of holy zeal for the Divine honoui' — humble submission 
 to the Divine Avill — generous love for the souls of men, wdiich 
 could serve that purpose, he not only died, but in obedience to 
 the Divine Avill, in satisfaction of the demands of the Divine laAV 
 on him, as the second Adam, with all the legal liabilities of those 
 Avhom he represented on him, he laid doxon his life. 
 
 But the language seems obviously to import something more 
 than even this. It intimates that the death of Christ Jesus Avas 
 the concluding, croicning act of a course of obedience. Having 
 assumed the form of servant, he Avas throughout obedient, obedient 
 till he finished the Avork required of him in dying on the cross. 
 The Avhole of our Lord's conscious existence as God-man may be 
 vicAved as one great unbroken act of obedience. This is plainly 
 the vieAv the apostle takes of itAvhen he contrasts "the one otfence" 
 of the first man, Avith "the one (8i/cma>/x«) righteousness" of Him 
 of whom he Avas the figure. When Jehovah introduces his Only- 
 
140 THE MAXXER AND CHARACTER [PAKT II. 
 
 begotten to the knowledge and admiration of men, He says, 
 " Behold my servant ;" and our Lord himself often declares that 
 the sole purpose of his coming into the world, was to do the will 
 of his Father w'ho sent him. And he always did this will. Every 
 thought, every feeling, every wish, every word, every action, was 
 in entire conformity with the mind and will of God. Obedience 
 absolutely perfect in principle, in extent, in continuance, charac- 
 terised the Saviour ; and it was this all-perfect God-man in the 
 entireness of his holy character — in the completeness of his dutiful 
 obedience and submission — in the perfection of the satisfaction 
 thus yielded both to the perceptive and sanctioning demands of the 
 Divine law — "who through the Eternal Spirit in his death offered 
 himself a sacrifice, w^ithout spot, blameless — a sacrifice of a sweet- 
 smelling savour — a sacrifice which can cleanse the conscience 
 li'om dead works, to serve the living God." The death of our 
 Lord is never to be viewed apart fi'om the holy principles which 
 inspired him, and the perfect obedience in ^vhich these principles 
 found form and manifestation. Its true character is expressed 
 in the Saviour's dying exclamation, '^ It is finished." The mighty 
 work is done — the ransom price is fully paid — justice is satisfied 
 — the law is magnified ; and now holy love has free course, and 
 is glorified, — " grace reigns through righteousness unto eternal 
 life." 
 
 Such are the leading truths which this interesting passage of 
 Scripture brings before our minds. ' Jesus Christ, a sinless — a 
 perfect man, a man in union with God — by Divine appointment, 
 yet most voluntarily, entered on, prosecuted, and completed, a 
 course of perfect obedience to the demands of the Divine law 
 upon him, as the divinely appointed expiator of human guilt — the 
 author of human salvation — a course of obedience terminating 
 in his dying, like a felonious slave, on a cross — dying in a manner 
 not only in the highest degree painful and disgraceful, but indi- 
 cating that he suffered as the victim of sin, that he fell by the 
 hand of avenging justice, vindicating the rights of violated law.' 
 
 And is all this true ? Has our redemption been secured f 
 and was it secured by such abasement — such privation — such 
 suft'cring — such a death on the ])art of one so infinitely great, 
 and excellent, and amiable, as the incarnate Only-begotten of 
 God ? Is it not meet that such a death, and the holy love that 
 led to it, shoidd be kept in everlasting remembrance? He who 
 
SEK. in.] OF Christ's death. 141 
 
 Imno- on tlie cross, now from the throne of his glory is jn'oclairn- 
 ing, " Do this in remembrance of me." Let us gladly and 
 gratefully perfonn this easy, delightful act of obedience to him, 
 who, throuoh such a fearful series of labours and sufferino-s, 
 experimentally became acquainted with the full extent of that 
 obedience which had to be undergone by him, in order to secure 
 our salvation ; and as we celebrate our feast of memorial, let us 
 thus sing in our hearts, making melody to our Lord — "To him that 
 loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath 
 made us kings and priests unto God, even his Father, to him be 
 glory and dominion for ever and ever." " What shall we render 
 to the Lord for all his benefits ? We will take the cup of salva- 
 tion — we will call on the name of the Lord — we vnW walk before 
 the Lord in the land of the living — we will pay our vows to the 
 Lord in the presence of all his people. In the courts of the 
 Lord's house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem ! Praise ye the 
 Lord !" 
 
SERMON IV. 
 
 THE PRIESTHOOD OF CHRIST. 
 
 " Jesus hath obtained a more excellent ministry." — Heb. viii. 6. 
 
 In the system of Divine revelation, as in a fine historical picture, 
 there is one object of pre-eminent importance presented to our 
 contemplation ; and all the subordinate parts of the piece, are at 
 once intended and calculated to give prominence and effect to 
 the beauties of the principal figure. I need scarcely add, that the 
 great object, to the striking exhibition of which every part of 
 Scripture is made subservient, is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, 
 and the Saviour of sinners. A more appropriate motto for the 
 book of God cannot be found than this, " Christ is all." He 
 is indeed its " Alpha and Omega, its beginning and ending." 
 To him all the sacred vv^riters bear witness. " The testimony of 
 Jesus is the Spirit of prophecy." The Jewish ceremonies are 
 " shadows, of which the body is Christ ;" and of him " Moses 
 in the law and the prophets do write." The evangelists relate 
 to us the story of his actions and sufferings, his life and death ; 
 and the epistolary part of Scripture is employed in unfolding 
 the unsearchable riches of his wisdom and grace. 
 
 To evince the necessity of His incarnation, and the divinity of 
 HIS mission ; to illustrate His personal dignity and mediatorial 
 excellence ; to show the truth of iiis doctrine, and the perfection 
 of HIS example, the value of iiis sacrifice, and the prevalence of 
 HIS intercession ; to celebrate the depth of his wisdom, the 
 extent of lllS power, the freedom of his love, and the wonders 
 of HIS grace, — these are the great objects which the inspired 
 penmen, under the guidance of the " one Spirit," keep steadily 
 in view, and to gain which, all the different parts of the revealed 
 system harmoniously contribute. To the heaven-enlightened 
 
SEIl. IX.] Till: PRIESTHOOD OF CHRIST, 143 
 
 eye, the whole of the Scriptures are an exhibition of " the ^lory 
 of God in the face of Jesus Christ." To the heaven-opened ear, 
 all the inspired writers seem proclaiming with the prophet, 
 " Behold your God," or with the Baptist, " Behold the Lamb of 
 God, who taketh away the sin of the world." He is the sun of 
 the revealed system ; the soul of the body of inspiration. 
 
 The methods which the sacred writers employ, in order to gain 
 this one end, the exhibition of Christ Jesus in his true character, 
 are at once numerous and diversified. They sometimes represent 
 him in all the insufferable radiance of uncreated perfection, dwell- 
 ing in light which is inaccessible, reposing in the bosom of his 
 divine Father, " the brightness of His glory, and the express 
 image of His person." At other times, they bring before the 
 mind his voluntary humiliation ; represent him as emptying 
 himself of that form of Godhead which he possessed ; descending 
 into a world polluted with sin, and dark with misery ; taking to 
 himself not merely the natm'e of a man, but the form of a ser- 
 vant ; and not merely the form of a servant, but the likeness of 
 a sinner ; and minutely detail the wondrous histoiy of what he 
 did, and said, and suffered ; of how he lived, and how he died for 
 man's salvation. They sometimes tell us what he is in himself, 
 and at other times what he is in the estimation of those who 
 know and love him. Here they describe his personal excellences, 
 and there they enumerate some (for to tell them all were impos- 
 sible) of the invaluable benefits which, through his mediation, 
 are bestowed on mankind. 
 
 Finding the delightful theme too big for utterance in ordinary 
 language, they call in to their aid the iise of figm'ative expression. 
 Their divinely invigorated imaginations range through the uni- 
 verse, and from the worlds of matter and of mind, collect all 
 that is sublime and beautiful, fair and excellent, venerable and 
 lovely, that these images combined, may give us some idea (a 
 faint and imperfect one it must be at best) of his matchless 
 glories. They tell us, that he is the " rose of Sharon, the lily 
 of the valley, and the apple tree among the trees of the wood." 
 He is the " rock of ages," and the " rock too of salvation." He 
 is " the bread, the water, and the tree of life." He is " the sure 
 foundation," "the pearl of great price," and "the hidden 
 treasure." He is " the Lion of the tribe of Judah," and " the 
 Lamb of God." He is the " Star of Jacob, the bright and the 
 
144 THE rrviESTiiooD of CIIRIST. [rAUT IT. 
 
 morning Star." He is as " the liglit of a morning without 
 clouds," " the sun of righteousness with healing under his 
 wings." He is " the good Shepherd," " the faithful and true 
 Witness," " the Prince of the kings of the earth, the King of 
 kings, and the Lord of lords." 
 
 Another method w'hich the sacred writers not unfrequently 
 employ, to convey to our minds just conceptions of his trans- 
 cendent excellence and absolute perfection, is by comparing and 
 contrasting him with those objects and persons whom we have 
 been accustomed to regard with the deepest veneration. We 
 are told that he is " greater than the temple," — a more dignified 
 prophet than Moses, — a more magnificent king than Solomon, — 
 " much better than the angels," — " the head of principalities and 
 powers." We have an instance of this mode of illustrating the 
 excellences of the Redeemer, in the passage which we have 
 chosen as the subject of the present discourse. The Kedeemer, 
 in his sacerdotal character, is compared and contrasted with the 
 Aaronical priesthood, an order peculiarly venerable in the estima- 
 tion of the Hebrew- nation ; and w^hile its dignity and importance 
 are fully admitted, it is asserted that Jesus " hath received a 
 more excellent ministry." 
 
 In illustrating this truth, that Jesus, as the high priest of 
 our pi'ofcssion, is far superior to the Aaronical priesthood, w^e 
 shall have an opportunity, not merely of stating many of the 
 most important principles of our holy faith, but of presenting 
 you with an abstract of much of the apostle's reasoning in this 
 elaborate epistle. In the text, a comparison between our Lord 
 and the Aaronical priesthood is implied, and a contrast stated. 
 A resemblance is supposed, and a superiority is asserted. In 
 order, then, fully to illustrate the apostle's assertion, it will be 
 necessaiy to attend, first, to the points of resemblance, and then 
 to those of CONTRAST ; or, in other words, to show, that while 
 the priesthood of our Lord possesses all the excellences of the 
 Aaronical priesthood, it also possesses many excellences peculiar 
 to itself. These form the two great divisions of our subject; and 
 if we can satisfactorily prove both parts of this proposition, it 
 will appear with the most abundant evidence, that Jesus has 
 indeed received a more excellent ministry. 
 
 I. It will tend, we apprehend, to diffuse light over some of the 
 
SER. IV.] THE miESTirOOD OF CITUIST, 145 
 
 succeeding discussions, to make a few preliminary remarks re- 
 specting the priestly office in general, and the manner in wiiicli 
 it became fixed in the family of Aaron. By the priesthood, we 
 understand a particular class of men divinely appointed to manaiTe 
 the concerns of their brethren with the Divinity — by means of 
 vicarious atonement and intercession ; to avert his displeasure, 
 propitiate his favour, and secure friendly intercourse with Him, 
 — in the acceptance of services /rom them, and the cominunicii- 
 tion of blessings to them. This is the apostle's account of the 
 matter. " Every high priest taken fi'om among men, is ordained 
 for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both 
 gifts and sacrifices for sin." 
 
 Immediately after the fall, an intimation was made to man of 
 the determination of God to redeem him ; and the manner in 
 which this was to be accomplished, was shadowed forth by the 
 significant rite of sacrifice — a rite, which at once exemplified 
 the death to which men were doomed for transgression, and re- 
 presented the death to be undergone by the Redeemer of mankind 
 for their salvation. Whether, during the earlier ages of the 
 world, every man was allowed to offer up sacrifices for himself, 
 or whether this office was from the beginning appropriated to a 
 particular body, and, in this case, what was the body of men 
 entrusted with this honourable function, are questions, the full 
 resolution of Avhich w^ould involve us in a long discussion, which 
 though neither uninteresting nor unimportant, would not well 
 answer the design of our present meeting. 
 
 There seems, however, to be reason to suppose, that for some 
 time eveiy father of a family was the prophet, priest, and king 
 of his OAvn household ; and that afterwards the priesthood formed 
 an important part of that birthright which belonged to the first- 
 born. In the book of Exodus, wc read of " the priests who 
 came near the Lord," and of "young men of the children of 
 Israel, who offered burnt-offerings, and sacrificed peace-offerings 
 to the Lord," at a period prior to the choice of the tribe of Le%'i, 
 or the consecration of Aaron and his family ; and it deserves 
 notice, that the Chaldaic paraphrasts, and some of the more 
 ancient versions, interpret " these priests and young men " of 
 the first-born among the Israelites. At the commencement of 
 the Mosaic dispensation, the office of the priesthood was a]t- 
 propriated to Aaron and his descendants, and it became sacrilege 
 
 *K 
 
146 THE PRIESTHOOD OF CHRIST. [PART II. 
 
 in any other person, without a particular commission, to perform 
 any of the sacred functions. 
 
 Considering sacrifice, as we conceive Scripture warrants us 
 to do, to be just a showing forth the death of Christ till he came 
 the first time, " to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself;" and 
 viewing the priesthood as an office originally appointed to shadow 
 forth to mankind the character and work of their great Deliverer, 
 it is nothing more than was to be expected, if there exist numerous 
 and striking features of resemblance between the Aaronical 
 priesthood, and " Jesus the high priest of our profession." That 
 there is such a resemblance between our Lord and the Jewish 
 high priests will appear, if we attend to his divine constitution ; 
 — his qualifications for the office ; — the nature, design, and 
 efficacy of his functions ; — and their strict appropriation to 
 himself. 
 
 1st, Divine constitution is the first point of resemblance be- 
 tween Jesus and the Aaronical priesthood, to which Ave shall 
 direct your attention. When we reflect that sacrifice is obviously 
 a positive institution, there being no foundation for it in the 
 relations between God and man, as apprehended l)y unassisted 
 reason, — when we consider that such an idea as vicarious atone- 
 ment could never have entered of itself into the mind of man ; 
 and that on the supposition that it had, that he could have 
 cherished no rational hope, that such a strange rite would be 
 acceptable to God, — we are naturally led to the inference, that 
 sacrifice itself, and that every thing in reference both to the 
 victims to be presented and the persons who should present 
 them, must have been the subject of Divine appointment. This 
 conclusion is strengthened by the apostle's statement that Abel's 
 sacrifice was offered " in faith," Avhich it could not have been, 
 had there not been a Di\ine revelation requiring the sacrifice, 
 and promising its acceptance if offered according to the due 
 order. 
 
 With respect to the Aaronical priesthood, which is the more 
 immediate sul)ject of cUscussion, we have a particular account of 
 the Divine call of Aaron and his family to this high office. " They 
 were taken from among men, and ordained for men in things 
 pertaining to God." " Take unto thee," said Jehovah to ]Moses, 
 " Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him, fi'om among the 
 children of Israel, that he may minister to me in the priest's 
 
SER. IV.] THE PIIIESTHOOD OF CllKIST. 147 
 
 office." " Aaron was separated, that he should sanctity the holy 
 things, he and his sons for ever, to burn incense before the 
 Lord, to minister unto Him, and to bless in his name for ever." 
 
 ■^'And as no man" among the children of Israel "took this 
 honour unto himself, but he that was chosen of God, as was 
 Aaron ; so also Christ glorified not himself to be made a high 
 priest, but He that said unto him, Thou art my Son, this day 
 have I begotten thee ; as He saith also in another place, Thou 
 art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec." The ap- 
 pointment of the Son of God to the office of the priesthood, is 
 one of the transactions of eternity. The Father declared his will 
 — the Son said, " Lo, I come to do thy will," " The counsel 
 of peace was between them both." He was the sacrificing priest, 
 as well as the '' slain victim from the foundation of the -world." 
 " As one ordained for men in things pertaining to God," " he was 
 set up from everlasting, from the beginning, ere ever the earth 
 was ; then was he with God as one brought up with Him ; he 
 was daily his delight, rejoicing always before Him, rejoicing in 
 the habitable parts of the earth, and his delights were with the 
 sons of men." Accordingly, in the representations given us of 
 our Lord's character, both by himself and his apostles, a leading- 
 feature, almost uniformly, is his divine appointment to the office 
 which he sustained. " I have," says he, speaking of the great 
 act of sacrifice which he was about to perform, " I have power 
 to lay dowm my life, and I have power to take it up again. 
 This commandment I received of my Father." " Christ Jesus," 
 says the apostle, " was faithful to Him who appointed him." 
 
 2c/, In his qualifications for his office as High Priest, our 
 Saviour resembled the Aaronical priesthood. 
 
 It is not my intention here to enter at large into an account 
 of our Lord's qualifications for the office of the priesthood ; we 
 must confine ourselves to the qualifications which he possessed 
 in common with the Aaronical priests. The qualifications of 
 the Aaronical priesthood were of two kinds : they were either 
 such as were entirely ceremonial, originating not in any natural 
 propriety, but in positive institution, or such as were in their 
 own natvu'e necessary to the discharge of the sacerdotal functions. 
 
 AVith respect to the first of these classes of qualifications, our 
 Lord resembled the Levitical priesthood no further than that 
 he possessed all those moral excellences of wliich those ceremonial 
 
148 THE PRIESTHOOD OF CHKIST. [PART IT. 
 
 qualifications, according to the genius of the Mosaic economy, 
 were emblematicah He was not of the family of Aaron, he did 
 not restrict himself to certain articles of diet, he chd not wear 
 the Imen robes, nor bear the Urim and Thummim on iiis 
 breast ; but he was the highest of that class to whom the 
 priesthood originally belonged, and in whose place the tribe of 
 Levi was substituted, being " the first-born of every creature, 
 the only-begotten Son of God ;" he was possessed of that temper- 
 ance of which the restricted diet of the priests under the law 
 was typical ; he was clothed in the robes of unspotted pm'ity ; 
 and he had in his heart eveiy species of " divine light and 
 perfection." 
 
 It is, however, to the resemblance subsisting between the 
 Saviour and the Aaronical priests, with respect to the second 
 class of qualifications, that our attention must be chiefly directed. 
 The sacred writer specifies two of these qualifications, — the pos- 
 session of a human natm'e, and a sympathising disposition. 
 God did not appoint his " angels who excel in strength " to 
 minister to Him as priests for men. The sons of Aaron were 
 men like their fellow-men, Israelites like their fellow-Israelites. 
 They were " taken fi*om among men." 
 
 In like manner, the Son of God, when about to enter on the 
 discharge of the duties of his priestly office, was " made for a 
 little while lower than the angels." " Both he that sanctifietli and 
 they who are sanctified, are all of one " natm*e, " for which cause 
 he is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, I will declare 
 thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I 
 sing praise unto Thee ; and again, I will put my trust in Him ; 
 and again, behold I and the children which God hath given 
 me. For as much, then, as the children are jiartakers of flesh 
 and blood, he also took part of the same." The " high priest of 
 our profession " is " the man Christ Jesus." 
 
 This qualification, the possession of human nature, was neces- 
 sary to the very existence of the sacerdotal character. The second 
 qualification, a sympathising disposition, improved by exercise, 
 was necessary, in order to the right discharge of the sacerdotal 
 functions. This will appear with abundant evidence, when we 
 come to treat of their nature, design, and efficacy. All we have 
 to do at present is to show, that the qualification was required in 
 the Aaronical priests, and was possessed by our Lord and Saviour. 
 
SER. IV.] TFIE PRIESTHOOD OF CHRIST. 149 
 
 As to tlic first of these points, the words of the apostle arc 
 abundantly explicit. He describes a high priest as " one who 
 can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them who are out of 
 the way ; for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity." 
 As to the second, that our New Testament High Priest possesses 
 this qualification in the highest degree of excellence, we know 
 that he was " a man of sorrows, and acquainted with griefs." He 
 experienced almost every human pain. He knows what strong 
 temptations mean, for he has felt their force. He can soothe our 
 soiTows, for he has himself been "exceeding sorrowful." He can 
 dry the streaming eye, and quiet the throbbing breast, for he has 
 wept and been in agony. He can support and console the dying, 
 for he has died ; and " by dying destroyed him that has the 
 power of death." " It behoved him to be in all things made like 
 unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high 
 priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the 
 sins of the people ; for in that he himself hath suffered, being 
 tempted, he is able to succour those who are tempted." Every 
 Aaronical priest, though from his dignified station he must have 
 been personally unacquainted with many of the sorrows of man, 
 might have said in the language of the heathen poet, " I am a 
 man, and nothing which concerns humanity is indifferent to me." ^ 
 But certainly in tenderness of compassion, and extent of experi- 
 ence of human woe, the High Priest of our profession far trans- 
 cends them all. 
 
 3<i, The third point of resemblance between our Saviour and 
 the Aaronical priests, is to be found in the nature, design, and 
 efficacy of his priestly functions. The functions of the Aaronical 
 priesthood were entirely of a spiritual nature. They were en- 
 trusted with the management, not of the secular, but of the sacred 
 interests of their brethren. " They were ordained for men, in 
 things pertaining to God'' In like manner, Jesus as a high 
 priest is the authorised agent of his people with God, in re- 
 ference to all their interests as moral and accountable, guilty and 
 depraved beings. 
 
 The three principal parts of the priestly office, are the offering 
 of sacrifice — the interceding for the people on the ground of this 
 sacrifice— and the authoritatively blessing them in the name of 
 
 I Homo sum, Tiihil humani aliemnn puto.— Ter. 
 
150 THE PRIESTHOOD OF CllKlST. [PAllT II. 
 
 the Lord. The Aaronical priests presented many sacrifices, ex- 
 piatory and eiicharistic. And, " as every high priest is ordained 
 to offer gifts and sacrifices, it was of necessity that this man 
 should have somewhat to offer." His human nature Avas intended 
 to answer this purpose among others. "When he cometh into 
 the world, he saith. Sacrifice and offering Thou wouldst not, but 
 a body hast Thou prepared me." This holy human nature he 
 actually oftercd in sacrifice. He " gave himself for us, an oflPer- 
 ing and a sacrifice of a sweet-smelling savom*." 
 
 Besides offering sacrifice, the Aaronical high priests, on the 
 ground of their sacrifice, made intercession for the sins of the 
 people. Once a year, as the representative of those with the ma- 
 nagement of whose spiritual interests he was intrusted, the high 
 priest, with the blood of the sacrifice of atonement, entered wdthin 
 the veil, and sprinkled with blood the mercy-seat, and burnt in- 
 cense, as an emblem of fervent supplication. In like manner 
 did our Lord make intercession. " In the days of his flesh he 
 offered up prayers, and supplications, with strong crying and 
 tears, to Him who was able to save him from death." " Christ 
 being come, a high priest of good things to come, by a greater 
 and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is not of 
 this building ; neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by 
 his own blood, he entered in once into the holy place, having 
 obtained eternal redemption for us." " He ever liveth to make 
 intercession for those who come to God by him." 
 
 Blessing was the third part of the priest's office. This is the 
 only sacerdotal act that we read of as pcrfonned by Melchisedec, 
 after whose order Jesus was a priest. " Aaron also was separated 
 to bless the people in the name of the Lord." And we are told, 
 when he entered on the discharge of his sacred functions, that 
 " he lifted up his hands towards the people, and blessed them." 
 Our Redeemer began his sermon on the mount with benediction. 
 When he left the world, he left it in the act of blessing his 
 people. " He led out his disciples as far as Bethany, and lifted 
 up his hands and blessed them." And " God having raised him 
 from the dead, has sent him to bless us, in turning every one 
 from his iniquities." 
 
 The design of the priestly functions, in the case of our Lord 
 and the Aaronical ])riests, was substantially the same. They 
 were both npi)ointed " to offer gifts and sacrifices for sin." To 
 
THE PRIESTHOOD OF CHRIST. 151 
 
 remove guilt and its consequences was equally the design of both, 
 — though the Jewish priesthood had a reference to ceremonial guilt 
 and temporal punishment ; and the priesthood of our Lord had 
 a reference to moral guilt and everlasting destruction. 
 
 In the efficacy of his sacerdotal functions also, our Lord re- 
 sembled the Aaronical priesthood. The declaration of the apostle, 
 ^'' that it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should 
 take away sins," has sometimes been explained as if it asserted 
 the total inefficacy of the Levitical sacrifices ; while the truth is, 
 it only asserts their inefficacy to remove moral guilt. They indeed 
 made no permanent atonement even for ceremonial offences. But 
 so far as they were intended to be efficacious, they were so. For 
 the offences on account of which they were offered, considered as 
 a violation of the ceremonial law, they made a complete atone- 
 ment. The person for whom they were offered, according to the 
 due order, was, with respect to the particular offence expiated, 
 as if he had never committed it. He was completely secured 
 from the punishment wdiich otherwise, according to the law, must 
 have fallen upon him. With similar limitations, the intercessions 
 of the Levitical priesthood also were effectual. 
 
 Now, the priestly functions of our Lord have fully answered 
 the purpose for which they were designed. His sacrifice was " a 
 sacrifice of a sweet-smelling savour to God." It has " finished 
 transgression, and made an end of sin, and brought in an ever- 
 lasting righteousness." It has " perfected for ever all them that 
 are sanctified." His intercession is unifonnly prevalent. " Hun 
 the Father heareth always." And he whom He blesses, is blessed 
 indeed. 
 
 Ath, In fine, in the strict appropriation of the sacerdotal func- 
 tions to himself, Jesus resembles the Aaronical priesthood. 
 
 It was an act of sacrilege for any Israelite, even of the tribe of 
 Levi, to perform any of the functions peculiar to the priesthood. 
 When Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, rebelled against Moses and 
 Aaron, insisting that all the congregation was holy, on the 
 Divine decision being solemnly appealed to, the earth opened and 
 swallow^ed these sacrilegious intruders ; and their brazen censers 
 " were made broad plates for a coveiing of the altar, to be a me- 
 morial u.nto the children of Israel, that no stranger, who is not of 
 the seed of Aaron, come near to offer incense before the Lord." 
 When Uzziah, one of the most powerful of the Jewish kings, at- 
 
152 THE PRIESTHOOD OF CHRIST, [PAUT II. 
 
 tempted to burn incense on tlie altar, he was forced from tlie 
 holy place by Azariah the high priest and his brethren ; and 
 Jehovah sanctioned the holy violence of his sen^ants, by smiting 
 the monarch with an inciu'able leprosy. 
 
 In like manner, no person can, without the most imminent 
 hazard, intrude upon the peculiar functions of the High Priest of 
 our profession. They are strictly appropriated to himself. lie, 
 and he alone, can make atonement for sin, intercede for others 
 on the gx'ound of his own merits, and authoritatively bless them. 
 Whosoever attempts to substitute any thing in the place of his 
 atoning sacrifice, and prevalent intercession, incui's the Divine 
 indignation, and, if he persists, will draw down upon himself swift 
 destruction. Had any Israelite attempted to substitute repent- 
 ance and reformation in the room of the appointed sacrifice, or 
 presented the sacrifice himself, instead of employing the sons of 
 Aaron, far from gaining the remission of his sin, he would have 
 involved himself in deeper guilt. And thus the sinner, who, in- 
 stead of " submitting to the righteousness of God, goes about to 
 establish his own righteousness," far fi-om obtaining pardon, 
 commits a new and most aggravated transgression. He usui'ps 
 the place of om* great High Priest ; and if he perseveres, for him 
 " there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin, but a certain fearful 
 looking for of judgment, which shall devour the adversaries." 
 Such are the leading points of resemblance between Jesus as a 
 high priest, and the Aaronical priesthood. And from the cursory 
 view we have taken of them, it must be obvious that Jesus hath 
 obtained a more excellent ministry. 
 
 II. The superiority of Jesus Christ as a high priest above 
 the Aaronical priesthood, will, however, become still more ap- 
 parent when we consider those points of contrast which subsist 
 between them. While our text implies resemblance, it expresses 
 l)re-eminence. Jesus, as a high priest, is contrasted to the 
 Aaronical priesthood, in the dignity of his nature — the perfection 
 of his character — the solenmity of his appointment and inaugura- 
 tion — the value of his sacrifice — the excellency of the blessings 
 procured by it — and the duration of his office. 
 
 1st, Jesus Christ is superior to the Aaronical priests in dignity 
 of nature. In the description of a high priest, by the apostle, in 
 the fifth chajiter of this Epistle, it is stated, that he must be 
 
SER. IV.] THE PRIESTHOOD OF CHRIST. 153 
 
 " taken from among men." And we have seen that this requisite 
 was by no means wanting in the High Priest of our profession. 
 The Jewish high priests were, however, not only men, but they 
 were no more than me7i. Though elevated above the rest of 
 their brethren by their sacred and dignified office, as to nature 
 they were precisely on a level with them. 
 
 It is, however, far otherwise with our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 While he was, " according to the flesh," the son of David, he 
 was, "according to the Spirit of holiness, the Son of God." 
 While he was " the man Christ Jesus," he was also " God over 
 all, blessed for ever." The Di^dnity of our Saviom* is one of the 
 first principles of our " most holy faith." It enters into the 
 essence of Christianity, so that to deny it, is not merely to nmti- 
 late, but to destroy the Gospel ; is to degrade it from its rank as 
 a peculiar system, and entirely to destroy its suitableness to the 
 situation and character of sinful men. 
 
 The evidence on which this principle rests, corresponds in ex- 
 plicitness and abundance to its obvious importance : and the 
 " mystery of godliness, that God was manifest in flesh, which is 
 the pillar and ground of truth, and confessedly great," rests on 
 the immoveable foundation of the clearest Divine testimony. 
 
 There is scarcely any appellation which the Supreme Being 
 has assumed to express the peculiar excellences of his nature, 
 that is not repeatedly in Scripture applied to our Redeemer. 
 Numerous are the passages in which he is termed " God, the 
 Mighty God, God with us, the great God, the true God, our 
 God, God over all blessed for ever. Lord, Lord of hosts ;" and 
 the name Jeuovah, which is expressive of eternal and indepen- 
 dent existence, and, of course, in no sense applicable to a 
 creature, is both simply, and in connection with other titles, 
 given to Jesus.^ 
 
 Whatever attribute is characteristic of Divinity, is in Scripture 
 ascribed to the Saviour. How can the Supreme Being be dis- 
 tinguished from his creatures more clearly than by the ascrip- 
 tion of eternity, immutability, omnipresence, omniscience, and 
 omnipotence ! Yet Jesus is represented as " the first and the 
 last, and the living One." " Ilis goings forth have been of old 
 
 ' Ps. xlv. 6. with Heb. i. 8; Isa. ix.6; vii. 11 ; Tit. ii. 13; 1 John v. 20; Rom. ix. -5; 
 Isci. vi. 1-0, with John xii. 39-11., etc. 
 
154 THE PRIESTHOOD OF CHRIST. [PART II. 
 
 from everlasting ; he is the same yesterday, to-day, and for 
 ever." lie is present in the numerous and widely scattered 
 assemblies of his followers. " He needs not that any should 
 testify of man, for he knows what is in man." It is he who 
 searcheth the reins and the hearts ; and his power is so extensive, 
 that " lie is able even to subdue all things to himself." ^ 
 
 The works peculiar to the Divinity, are represented as per- 
 formed by Jesus. Who does not perceive the gross absurdity 
 of supposing a creature capable of creating, supporting, govern- 
 ing, and judging the world? Yet "by Jesus were all things 
 created that are in heaven and in earth," " by Jesus all things 
 subsist," and before Jesus' judgment-seat must all stand, to 
 receive their final doom.^ 
 
 Those supreme honours, which are due only to God, are in 
 the Holy Scriptures represented as due to Jesus. To him prayers 
 are addressed, in his name Divine ordinances are administered, 
 and it is declared to be the will of the Father, " that all men 
 should honour the Son as they honour"^ himself. 
 
 Besides these direct proofs of our Lord's divinity, there is a 
 great deal of implied evidence for this doctrine in the Holy 
 Scriptures, which cannot fail to make a deep impression on every 
 considerate and unprejudiced mind. It is quite impossible, satis- 
 factorily, to account for the very strong language used in Scrip- 
 ture concerning the love of God in the mission and gift of Jesus 
 Christ, and the condescension and kindness of Jesus Christ 
 himself; for the depth of interest, the warmth of admiring 
 transport and adoring gi'atitude, with which this subject inspired 
 the New Testament writers ; for the description given in the 
 New Testament, of Christ's exaltation at the right hand of God ; 
 and for the high claims which Jesus himself makes on the love 
 and obedience of his followers, — but on the principle that he is 
 indeed " the tnie God, God over all, blessed for ever." * 
 
 Indeed, we might safely rest the decision of this important 
 question, on the evidence adduced in that Epistle fi'om which 
 
 I Rev. i. 17, 18; Ilcb. xiii. 8; Miittli. xviii. 20; .Tohii ii. L'5 ; Uev. ii. 23-, Phil, 
 iii. 21. 
 
 ' Col. i. 16, 17 ; Rom. xiv. 10. 
 
 3 Acts vH. 59 ; Matt, xxviii. VJ ; John v. 23. 
 
 * The reader who wishes for an illustration of the whole argument respecting the 
 divinity of Christ, and especiiiUy of this very iiitt resting part of it, will meet with the 
 fullest satisfaction in WardUiw's "Discourses on the ^ucinitm Controveisij." 
 
SKR. IV.] THE PRIESTHOOD OF CHRIST. 155 
 
 we have selected the subject of our discourse. In the first 
 chapter, we find him represented as superior to the prophets, 
 " much better than the angels," " God's only-begotten Son," the 
 ap})ointed heir of all things, the maker of the world, " the bright- 
 ness of the Father's glory, and the express image of his person," 
 " upholding all things by the word of his power," and the object of 
 worship to the heavenly host. The inspired writers are repre- 
 sented as addressing him in the following language : " Thy 
 throne, O God, is for ever and ever ; a sceptre of righteousness 
 is the sceptre of thy kingdom : and Thou, Jehovah, in the be- 
 ginning hast laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens 
 are the work of thy hand ; they shall perish, but Thou remainest ; 
 and they shall all wax old, as doth a garment, and as a vesture 
 shalt Thou fold them up, and they shall be changed ; but Thou 
 art the same, and thy years shall not fail." Surely if any thing 
 can waiTant the inference, this evidence does — This person is 
 the true God. 
 
 And it is equally evident, that the possession of the Di\nne 
 nature raises our Lord to an inconceivable superiority above the 
 Aaronical priesthood. Between the smallest atom of matter and 
 the whole universe of matter, between the meanest intelligent 
 being and the highest angel, there is some proportion, but 
 between the creature and the Creator, between finite and infinite, 
 there is — there can be — none. The iVaronical priests were mere 
 mortals. The High Priest of oiu' profession is the God " who 
 alone hath immortality." 
 
 2(7, Jesus Christ is superior to the Aaronical priests, in tlie 
 perfection of his character. 
 
 The Apostle informs us, that " the law maketh men priests 
 who have infirmity :" and the Aai'onical high priest, being 
 " compassed with infirmity, was imder the necessity of present- 
 ing a sin-offering for himself as well as for the people." The 
 Aaronical priesthood were men subject to moral fault as well as 
 their brethren. The history of the Jews proves, that some of 
 their high-priests were monsters of deprav-ity and crime ; and 
 though many of them were men of exalted piety and virtue, 
 none of them was faultless. Aaron and Eli were excellent men : 
 but the criminal compliance of the one with the wishes of the 
 idolatrous people, and the equally ci'iminal indulgence of the 
 other towards his abandoned children, clearly show that they 
 
156 THE PRIESTHOOD OF CHRIST. [PART II. 
 
 were no exceptions from the general rule, — " There is not a just 
 man upon the earth, that doeth good and sinneth not." They 
 were " by nature children of wrath even as others," stained by 
 hereditary and personal guilt, by original and acquired depravity ; 
 and even such of them as were regenerated, had "flesh" as well 
 as " spirit," and " in their flesh dwelt no good thing." 
 
 But in the moral character of our Lord, there were no such 
 blemishes. He was " all fair, there was no spot in him." 
 Every descendant of our original progenitor and federal repre- 
 sentative, according to the ordinary laws of nature, comes into 
 the world a guilty creature, a " child of wrath." " In Adam all 
 sinned, and in Adam all died." Our Redeemer, however, though 
 a descendant of Adam, did not descend from him according to 
 the ordinary laws of nature. — " The seed of the woman," his 
 human nature was formed by the supernatural operation of the 
 Divine Spirit, and was born of a virgin. He was thus not 
 represented by Adam, and of course uninvolved in the moral, 
 and not necessarily involved in the natural, consequences of 
 Adam's fall. " The Holy Ghost," said the angel to the blessed 
 virgin, " shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest 
 shall overshadow thee ; therefore also, that holy thing which shall 
 be born of thee, shall be called the Son of God." 
 
 Every descendant of Adam, is not only a guilty, but a de- 
 praved creature. Destitute of the purifying influence of the 
 Holy Spirit, and exposed to the depraving influence of wicked 
 spirits and a corrupted world, no sooner do his moral faculties 
 inifold themselves than they are misemployed ; no sooner does 
 he become capable of moral action, than he acts wrong. But 
 the Saviour being free from guilt, in his moral constitution there 
 was no tendency toAvards transgression. " He was holy, harm- 
 less, and undefiled." 
 
 But not merel}^ was our Lord, like Adam, naturally free from 
 guilt and depravity ; unlike Adam, he contimied free from both. 
 He never incurred guilt, he never acquired depravity. With- 
 out the slightest hazard, he could appeal to his enemies for his 
 innocence : " Which of you convinceth me of sin ? " and, in his 
 case, the sarcasm, " Physician, heal thyself," had no force. 
 Though exposed to the fiercest attacks from Satan, that enemy 
 did not prevail against him ; that son of wickedness " did not 
 overcome him." He retired discomfited and ashamed, fur he 
 
SKU. IV.] THE riUESTIlOOD OF CHRIST. I;j7 
 
 found nothing in him to afford fuel for his temptations. They 
 distressed, but they could not deprave him. In a world full of 
 seductions, though tempted both by its frowns and its smiles, 
 its terrors and its allurements, he never, in the slightest degree, 
 imbibed its corrupt spirit, nor imitated its improper manners. 
 The purity of his nature and his life remained unstained, and 
 he died as he lived, a stranger to guilt and to depravity. " He 
 knew no sin." 
 
 But when we have said of our Lord that he was faultless, 
 though we have raised him far above the Aaronical priesthood, 
 far indeed above any of the children of men, we are far from 
 having told all the truth. He was not only innocent, but ex- 
 cellent ; not only excellent, but perfect. His mind was not 
 merely free from any bias to evil, it was strongly and solely in- 
 clined to what was good. In his moral constitution were sown 
 the seeds of every excellence, which, as he grew to maturity, 
 unfolded themselves, yielding the beautiful blossoms of grace, 
 and the rich fruits of perfection. The Spirit of God, the 
 principle of all true goodness in created natures, took up his 
 residence in the human nature of our Lord, in the moment of 
 its formation, and adorned it with all the beauties of holiness. 
 He rested on him as a spirit of wisdom, and understanding, and 
 counsel, and fortitude, and discernment, and zeal, and benignity. 
 His intellectual faculties, free from prejudice, were steadily 
 directed to the acquisition of the most valuable knowledge, — 
 the knowledge of the character and will of God. His will 
 bowed in cheerful submission to the revelation of the Divine 
 word, and the appointments of the Divine providence. His 
 affections were pm'e, and ardent, and heavenly. All was 
 moral beauty, order, and harmony. 
 
 As his mental constitution was thus not only free from defect, 
 but richly furnished with all that is great and good in morals, 
 so his conduct was not merely free of faults, but distinguished 
 by every positive, every possible excellence, which the circum- 
 stances in which he was placed either required or admitted. 
 " He loved the Lord his God with all his heart, and strength, 
 and soul, and mind, and his neighbour as himself." " He did 
 justly, loved mercy, and walked humbly with his God." To 
 every institution, whether moral or ceremonial, which bore the 
 stamp of Divine appointment, he yielded a willing and a perfect 
 
158 THE PRIESTHOOD OF CI1K18T. [PART II. 
 
 obedience. He clieeifully did all that God commanded, and 
 patiently suffered all that God appointed. 
 
 His obedience to the Divine law had every character of per- 
 fection. It was perfect in its principle ; for it flowed from a 
 regard to the Divine authority, and a love to the Divine law. 
 He worshipped " God, who is a spirit, in spirit and in truth." 
 An eager desire to finish the work assigned him, because it was 
 assigned him, was plainly the animating principle of his conduct. 
 It was the language of his actions as well as of his lips — " My 
 meat is to do the will of Him that sent me, and to finish his 
 Avork." " Not ray will, but thine, be done." His ultimate 
 desire was, that God should be glorified ; and even wlien he 
 prays for his own glory, this is his language, " Father, glorify 
 thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify Thee." His obedience 
 was also perfect in its extent. It was as extensive as the 
 demands of the Divine law, and the obligations which arose 
 out of the different relations he sustained to God and to man- 
 kind. And, in fine, his obedience Avas perfect in its duration. 
 He never was " weary of well-doing." He did " not fail nor 
 was he discouraged," but became " obedient to death, even the 
 death of the cross." His character was, in one word, a beautiful 
 combination of the great and amiable moral qualities of all the 
 active and passive virtues, so mixed and blended together, as to 
 form absolute perfection and loveliness. 
 
 It deserves particular notice, and with the remark I shall 
 conclude this part of the subject, that in this Epistle, wherever 
 the moral imperfections of the Jewish priests are spoken of, par- 
 ticular care is taken to guard against any inference inconsistent 
 with the spotless purity of the liedeemer's character. For ex- 
 ample, just before the apostle takes notice, that " the priests 
 under the law needed to offer sacrifice for their own sin," he 
 assures us, that though Jesus " was tempted in all points like 
 unto us, yet he was without sin ;" and he prefaces the declara- 
 tion, that " the law made men high priests who had infirmity," 
 with the assertion, that Jesus was " such a high priest as became 
 us, holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners." — Com- 
 pare the above very imperfect delineation of our Lord's moral 
 excellence with the character of Aaron, or the holiest of his 
 sons, and acknowledge the prodigious superiority of our New 
 Testament High Priest: " In all things he has the pre-eminence." 
 
SEU. IV.] THE PRIESTHOOD OF CHRIST. 159 
 
 Sd, Jesus Christ is superior to the Aaronical priesthood, in 
 the solemnity of his appointment and inaugm'ation. 
 
 The appointment and inauguration of the Aaronical priesthood, 
 are among the most impressive transactions which illustrated 
 the commencement of the Mosaic dispensation. A particular 
 account of them is to be found in the twenty-eighth and twenty- 
 ninth chapters of Exodus, and in the eighth chapter of Leviticus. 
 
 The Aaronical high priesthood was constituted by an imme- 
 diate revelation of the Divine will to Moses. "Take unto thee," 
 said Jehovah, " Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him, from 
 amoncp the children of Israel, that he mav minister unto Me in 
 the priest's office." The ceremonies of their inaugiu"ation were 
 numerous and imposing. Having been washed with water, 
 Aaron was, by the Divine legislator, robed in his sacerdotal gar- 
 ments ; " the coat and its girdle ; the robe and the epliod, and 
 its girdle ; the breast-plate, inclosing the mysterious Urim and 
 Thummim ; and the mitre, with its golden front, or the holy 
 crown." The precious oil of consecration was then poured on 
 his head. " A bullock for a sin-offering, a ram for a burnt-offer- 
 ing," and a second ram, termed the ram of consecration, were 
 all, with significant rites, presented in sacrifice. A portion of 
 their blood was sprinkled on Aaron ; and thus, by a triple bap- 
 tism of water, of oil, and of blood, was he set apart to discharge 
 all the functions of his sacred ministiy. 
 
 But how does the glitter of ceremonial gi'andeur become dim, 
 when compared w ith the sublimely simple dignity of the appoint- 
 ment and consecration of oui' New Testament High Priest ! 
 The constitution of our Saviour's priesthood, Avas the result, not 
 of a simple revelation of the Divine will, but of a Divine oath. 
 " He was made a priest, not without an oath ; for the Aaronical 
 priests w^ere made Avithout an oath, but this with an oath by 
 Him who said to him, * The Lord sware, and will not repent, 
 Thou ai't a priest for ever after the order of !Melchizedec." ' This 
 is one of the subjects, which, by their vastness and strangeness, 
 oppress and confound the human mind. La reading these words, 
 we feel, as if, like Paul, we were " caught up to the third 
 heavens." Our thoughts ai*e hurried back through the course 
 of eternal ages ; and we seem to witness, though the minuter 
 parts of the sublime scene are hid in excess of brightness, that 
 awfully important transaction among the independent and eternal 
 
•160 THE PRIESTHOOD OF CHRIST. [PART II. 
 
 Three in One, from which originates the whole scheme of human 
 redemption ; and which, according to the different aspects in 
 wliich our feeble faculties consider it, we denominate the counsel 
 of peace, tlie covenant of grace, or the decree of mercy. The full 
 import of these words, " The Lord sware, and will not repent," 
 we cannot tell ; but assuredly Jehovah does not swear about a 
 matter of trivial import. They mark, in the strongest manner, 
 the solemnity, the importance, the immutability of the appointment. 
 
 The circumstances in our Lord's history, which answer to the 
 inauguration of the Aaronical priesthood, are also much superior 
 in solemnity. How poor is all the pomp of Aaron's vesture, to 
 those robes of heavenly wisdom and purity in which Jesus stood 
 by the banks of Jordan ! and, how does all the solemnity of his 
 ceremonial investiture dwindle into insignificance, when com- 
 pared with the opening heaven, the descending Spirit, and the 
 voice of Jehovah from the excellent glory, " This is my beloved 
 Son, in whom I am well pleased !" 
 
 By a baptism of blood and of the Spirit — " the oil of gladness," 
 was the Redeemer consecrated to his office of an interceding: 
 priest. To this the apostle seems to refer, when he says, " It 
 became him, by whom are all things, and through whom are all 
 things, to make the Captain of our Salvation perfect through 
 suffering." " By his own blood, he entered into the holy j^lace." 
 In the eyes of all enlightened, intelligent beings, there is infinitely 
 more solemnity in the single death of the Son of God, than in 
 the sacrifice of a hecatomb of victims, in all the pomp of Mosaic 
 or Pagan ceremony. 
 
 The introduction of the high priest into the sanctuary, was a 
 very splendid ceremony. But how does its glory fade away 
 before the " excelling glory " of the entrance of the High Priest 
 of our profession, baptized in his own blood, into the " holy place 
 not made with hands," — the true tabernacle, of which tlie Jewish 
 sanctuary was merely the figure, to present the blood of his 
 sacrifice before the throne of mercy, to make intercession for 
 his people, and to sit down a "priest upon his throne !" " God 
 went up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet." 
 " The chariots of God were twenty thousand thousand of 
 angels. The Lord was among them, as in Sinai, in the holy 
 place." The whole celestial city was moved at his coming ; the 
 "everlasting gates" were tlu'own wide open to receive the 
 
SEU. IV.J THE PRIESTHOOD OF CHRIST. IC.I 
 
 triumphant procession ; and as he sat down with his Father 
 upon liis throne, the arches of the temple above rung witii, 
 " Worthy is the Lamb wlio was slain, to receive glory and 
 honour, power and riches, strength and blessing." 
 
 4iA, .Jesus Christ is superior to the Aaronical priesthood, in 
 the value of his sacrifice. 
 
 The great design of the priestly office, was tlie offering to 
 God both " gifts and sacrifices for sins." In proportion to the 
 efficacy of these sacrifices, must be the dignity and importance 
 of the priesthood ; and under the moral government of a holy 
 and a just God, the efficacy of a sacrifice must be in proportion 
 to its value. The comparative value of the sacrifices of Jesus 
 Christ and the Aaronical priests, is a just criterion of the com- 
 parative importance of their priesthood. 
 
 The value of a sacrifice arises from two sources — Divine consti- 
 tution, and intrinsic worth. The first of these is absolutely 
 necessary in every case. Sacrifice is not a duty of natural 
 religion, but a positi-ve institution. Without Divine revelation, 
 we could neither have known that sacrifice is a duty, nor what 
 sacrificial victim we ought to offer. It is owing to this circum- 
 stance, that the heathen expiations, though the victims were 
 often rational beings, were not only without value as sacrifices, 
 but were abominable in God's sight. Instead of being acceptable 
 duties, they were enormous crimes. And could the human 
 nature, even of the Son of God, have been offered witliout 
 Divine appointment (a supposition, however, which involves in 
 it a contradiction), even it would, as a sacrifice, huxQ been 
 destitute of value. 
 
 At first view, the sacrifices under the law, and the sacrifice of 
 our Lord, may be considered as on a level with regard to the 
 value derived fi'om Divine appointment ; for both were equally 
 of Divine appointment. That God appointed the Aaronical 
 sacrifices, is plain from the book of Leviticus. That He appointed 
 the sacrifice of our Lord, is equally obvious from such passages 
 as the following : " The Lord laid on him the iniquity of us 
 all.— It pleased the Lord to bruise him. — Thou shalt make his 
 soul an offering for sin. — The Father sent the Son to be the 
 Saviour of the world. — He delivered him up for us all. — He 
 gave his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.— He made him 
 to be sin for us." 
 
 *L 
 
162 THE PRIESTHOOD OF CHRIST. [PART. 11. 
 
 But thougli God really appointed both the sacrifices in the 
 temple, and the sacrifice on Calvary, the objects of the two Divine 
 apjwintments were very different. The design of the divinely- 
 appointed Levitical sacrifices, was to " sanctify to the purifying 
 of the flesh." The design of the divinely-appointed sacrifice of 
 Christ, was to " purge the conscience from dead works to serve 
 the living God." The object of the former was, to procure the 
 remission of ceremonial guilt, purification from ceremonial defile- 
 ment, and deliverance fi-om temporal punishment. The object 
 of the latter was, to procure the remission of moral guilt, pm*ifica- 
 tion from moral pollution, and deliverance from everlasting misery. 
 The sacrifice appointed by an infinitely wise and just God, to 
 serve the last of these purposes, must be more valuable than 
 those appointed by Him to serve the first of them. 
 
 The value of the Aaronical sacrifices arose entirely from 
 Divine appointment. Of themselves they were altogether in- 
 sufficient, even for the pm'poses for which they were intended. 
 Their value, as sacrifices, was entirely extrinsic, originating in 
 their being a Divine ordinance. Their connection with their 
 object was like that which existed between our Lord speaking a 
 word and curing a disease ; not that which exists between the 
 application of medicine, and the removal of the disorder. 
 
 It is otherwise with the sacrifice of om* Lord. That sacrifice 
 was in ^Vse?/' valuable ; and between it and its object there existed 
 the connection both of means and end, cause and effect. It was 
 in itself calculated to gain the purpose for which it was intended. 
 It was not so properly valuable because it was appointed, as 
 appointed because it was valuable.^ 
 
 The intrinsic value of the victims offered in sacrifice by the 
 Aaronical priests, was comparatively trifling. They were all of 
 them iiTational animals. The blood shed was that of bulls and 
 goats. But Christ's sacrifice was the " sacrifice of himself," — 
 
 ' Were I not afraid of degradiiig- a subject so important, by my attempts to illustrate 
 it, I would say, the Levitical sacrifices resemble a state-paper currency, which owes 
 both its value and its use to the appointment of the government ; whereas the sacrifice 
 of our Saviour bears an analo{jy to the pold coin. It has value in itself; the stamp 
 of the mint only gives it currency ; and it is because it is valuable that it is made 
 current. May I be for^fiven for tracing the analogy a little further ? It is from its 
 reference to real property, that paper currency has even the value it possesses. It 
 is from a reference to the great sacrifice, that the Levitical expiations derived their 
 principal value. 
 
SER. IV.] THE PRIESTHOOD OF CIIRTST. 103 
 
 liimseli' botli body and soul. The life of a man is more valuable 
 than the lives of innumerable beasts. The soul of a man is more 
 valuable than a universe of mere matter. The sacrificial victim 
 was, in the case of our Saviour's offering, an intelligent being, 
 possessed of the highest intellectual endowments and moral 
 excellences ; so that, even in this point of light, the sacrifice of 
 Christ was incomparably more valuable than those of the Aaron- 
 ical priesthood. 
 
 The most important fact, however, in reference to the value 
 of our Lord's sacrifice, remains to be stated. The sacrificial 
 victim was a human nature most intimately united to the Divine, 
 in the person of the Son of God. The Divine nature necessarily 
 impresses its own dignity and value on the constituted person 
 of the Messiah, and upon his whole mediatory work. Accord- 
 ingly we find the value and efficacy of the sacrifice of the Son 
 of God, is, in Scripture, referred to his essential Deity. " In 
 liim we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of 
 sins, who is the image of the invisible God, the first-boni of 
 every creature ; for by him were all things created." The Son 
 of God, whom He has " appointed heir of all things, by whom 
 He made the worlds, who is the brightness of his glory, and the 
 express image of his person, upholding all things by the word 
 of his power, hy himself purged our sins." " Through the eternal 
 Spirit, he offered himself to God a sacrifice without spot." Can 
 anything be more evident than that, in these passages, the 
 value, and consequent efficacy of the Redeemer's sacrifice, are 
 represented as flowing fi'om his being a possessor of the Divine 
 nature ? 
 
 It is indeed most true, that the Divine nature is not susceptible 
 of pain or death ; and the cause of scriptural truth has been 
 materially injured by the use of a phraseology by some of its 
 honest and able defenders, which seems to imply the absurdity 
 and impiety of the Divine passibility. Yet still, though only 
 the human nature was, or could be, offered in sacrifice, it was 
 the human nature of the incarnate Deity ; and " God mani- 
 fest in flesh," stamped his own glory on the propitiation for 
 our sins. 
 
 How the infinite dignity of the Lord's divine nature conveyed 
 an infinite value to the sufferings of his humanitVj it is difficult, 
 or perhaps impossible, for us fully to explain. The fact is certain, 
 
104 THE PRIESTHOOD or CimiST. [PART If. 
 
 and is of the last importance, as tlie foundation of the sinner's 
 liope of acceptance with God.^ 
 
 There is a somewhat different aspect in which this most in- 
 
 ' To attempt fully to explain such a sulject, as the manner in which the divinity 
 of the Saviour affects the value of his sacrifice, is certainly to endeavour " to be wise 
 above what is written;" but we may surely "show the reasonableness of such a 
 doctrine, and rebut the charges which rashness or profaneness may throw out against 
 it, without overstepping the boundary prescribed to our feeble and fallen faculties." 
 This has been done in so masterly a manner by an English divine, in whom seem to 
 meet, in rare combination, extensive learning, critical acumen, consistent orthodoxy, 
 and fervent piety, that I conceive I am doing an important favour to the reader, by 
 presenting him with the following statement. 
 
 " I. The assumption of human nature by the Eternal Word, who is God, was the 
 act of an infinite mind, knowing, intending, and contemplating all the results of that 
 act of assumption, through the period of the designed humiliation, and for ever. To 
 the Divine mind, nearness and remoteness of time or space are equal ; consequently, 
 as the actual assumption of human nature was the first result of the Omnipotent will, 
 so the same act or volition must equally have carried forwards, and communicated 
 its original Divine value, to all the subsequent moral and mediatorial acts of the 
 incarnate Saviour. 
 
 "II. The union of the divine and human natures in his person, was constant and 
 invariable. The Scriptures afford us no reason to think, that the Messiah's human 
 nature, though retaining always its essential properties, had ever a separate sub- 
 sistence. To the mother of Jesus it was announced, ' The holy being which is born 
 of thee, shall be called the Son of God' ; and, according to the prophetic declaration, 
 as soon as the world could say, ' Unto us a child is born,' so soon was it the fact that 
 his name was called, ' the Wonderful, the Counsellor, the Mighty God.' It was the 
 Mediator in his whole person, who acted for the salvation of man, though it was im- 
 possible that tlie divine nature could be subject to suffering. 
 
 " From these two positions, I infer a third, which I venture to propose as an un- 
 exceptionable mode of stating this important, though profound and difficult subject. 
 
 "III. All the acts of our Lord Jesus Christ, that were physical or merely intellec- 
 tual, were acts of his human nature alone, being necessary to the subsistence of a 
 human nature ; but all his moral acts, and all the moral qualities of complex acts, 
 or, in other terms, all that he did, in and for the execution of his mediatorial office 
 and work, wei'C impressed with the essential dignity and moral value of his divine 
 perfection. 
 
 " These reasons appear to me sufficient to authorise our attributing to this holy 
 sacrifice, a value properly infinite, on account of the divine nature of Ilim who offered 
 it, A most important conclusion ! rich in hope to the contrite sinner ; full of joy to 
 the obedient believer. 
 
 " I cannot decline also to observe here, how close and important is the connection 
 between the two leading doctrines of the Christian system, the Deity and the atone- 
 ment of Christ. They yield mutual illustration and support, and neither can be 
 consistently held without the other." 
 
 These paragraphs are extracted from Dr Pye Smith's Sermon "On the sacrifice of 
 Chiist,"" pp. 53-55 ; a well reasoned and elaborate discourse, which, besides giving 
 a very satisfactory view of the subject in general, is calculated to be particularly 
 useful as a necessary supplement to Dr Magee's work on Atonement. Dr Smith's 
 discussions in reference to the " value ami efficacy of the sacrifice of Christ," fill up a 
 most material defect in the able and learned treatise of his predecessor, which, so far 
 as it goes, is an unanswered and unanswerable defence of the scriptural doctrine of 
 sacrifice and atonement. 
 
SEH. IV.] THE riUESTHOOD OV CHRIST. 105 
 
 teresting subject may be viewed ; and from the contemplation of 
 wliicli, the superior value of the sacrifice of onr Saviour, above 
 the Levitical sacrifices, will become yet farther apparent. Tlie 
 value of a sacrifice consists in its tendency to propitiate the 
 Divinity, or, in other words, in its tendency to give such a dis- 
 play of God's hatred against sin, and his determination to punish 
 it, as renders it consistent with his moral character and govern- 
 ment to pardon and save the sinner. Noav, that in this point of 
 view the sacrifice of Christ infinitely transcends in value the 
 Levitical sacrifices, may easily be made evident. 
 
 There are two circumstances with respect to a sacrifice, which 
 may be viewed as illustrative of the displeasure of God against 
 sin — the degree of sufi'ering endured by the victim, and the 
 dignity and excellence of the victim who undergoes the suflPering. 
 It is self-evident, that the pain suffered by all the victims which 
 bled in sacrifice imder the law, Avas as nothing when compared 
 with the pain endured by our blessed Redeemer. And if there 
 be no proportion as to the first mode of illustrating the Divine- 
 hatred of sin, the ob\dous disproportion is still more striking as 
 to the last. Wliat an infinite difference is there between the 
 display given of the Divine displeasure at sin, by devoting some 
 thousands of irrational animals to a A^olent and somewhat un- 
 timely death, and that given by inflicting on his own well-beloved 
 and only-begotten Son, agonies which extorted fi'om his lips 
 these words of feai'fid emphasis : " My soul is exceeding sorrow- 
 ful, even unto death ! Mj God, my God ! why hast Thou for- 
 saken me ?" Siu'ely, if the value of the sacrifice be a just crite- 
 rion of the dignity of the pi'iesthood, our Saviour has " obtained 
 a more excellent ministiy." 
 
 5th, Jesus Christ is superior to the Aaronical priests in the 
 excellence of the blessings prociu'ed by him in the exercise of his 
 priestly office. 
 
 The Aaronical high priesthood was a source of benefit, both 
 to those who were invested with it, and to those on Avhose 
 behalf they performed the sacerdotal fimctions. The high priest, 
 in consequence of his office, was elevated above all his brethren. 
 His apparel was splendid, — his revenue princely, — and his atten- 
 dants numerous. His office was the most honourable known 
 among the people of God, and he was admitted to intercourse 
 -with the Divinity peculiarly intimate. 
 
166 THE riiiESTHooD OF cHiiiST. [part II. 
 
 But, how niucli more elevated are the honours, how much 
 more rich are the blessings, which the " High Priest of our pro- 
 fession" has obtained for himself! He is "a priest upon his 
 throne." " Because he humbled himself," in the offering of his 
 sacrifice, " and became obedient unto death, even the death of the 
 cross, God has highly exalted him, and given him a name above 
 every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, 
 and exerry tongue confess that he is Lord, to the glory of God 
 the Father." God has prevented him with the blessings of 
 goodness. " He has set a crown of pure gold upon his head. 
 His glory is great in God's salvation. Honour and majesty have 
 been laid upon him. God has made him most blessed for ever ; 
 — He has made him exceedino; ";lad with his countenance." 
 Because he poured out his soul unto death, and was numbered 
 with the transgressors, and bare the sins of many, and made 
 intercession for the transgressors, he sees his seed, he prolongs 
 his days, and the pleasure of the Lord prospers in his hand. 
 Jehovah apportions him the gi'eat as his reward ; and he " re- 
 ceives the many as his spoil." Instead of being permitted once 
 a-year to contemplate the symbol of Deity in the material holy 
 of holies, our New Testament High-Priest enters into heaven, 
 and enjoys for ever the most intimate and uninterrupted com- 
 munion with God. " Christ being come, a high priest of good 
 things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not 
 made with hands, neither by the blood of goats and calves, but 
 by his own blood, entered in unto the holy place : He is not 
 entered into the holy places made with hands, which ai'c the 
 figures of the true, but into heaven itself, there to appear in the 
 presence of God for us." 
 
 The benefits procured by oiu* Lord's performance of the 
 functions of the priesthood for those in whose behalf he acts, 
 are also incomparably more excellent than those secured for the 
 Israelites by Aaron and his sons, in the discharge of theii* sacred 
 duties. The Aaronical priesthood, by the performance of their 
 sacred duties, obtained for the Israelitish j)eople the remission of 
 ceremonial guilt, — the removal of ceremonial pollution, and an 
 exemption from the temporal evils to which these exposed them. 
 They secured for them a right to mingle in the services of the 
 sanctuary, and the peaceful enjoyment of the promised land. 
 
 These were, no doubt, blessings of very considerable value ; 
 
SER. IV.] THE PRIESTHOOD OF CHRIST. 167 
 
 but they shrink into nothino' when compared with tlie benefits 
 prociu'ed for sinful men, through the sacrifice and intercession 
 of Christ Jesus. A man might enjoy all these privileges, and 
 yet perish for ever. But, through the priesthood of Jesus Christ, 
 we obtain benefits large as our Avishes, and lasting as our souls ; 
 — benefits suited to our nature, as rational and immortal, and 
 to om* situation as guilty and depraved. " In him wc have 
 redemption through his blood — the forgiveness of sins." He has 
 " put away sin by the sacrifice of himself," so " that there is now 
 no more condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus, who 
 walk not after the flesh, but after the spuit." Through the priest- 
 hood of Christ, we obtain also deliverance from moral pollution. 
 By the mission, incarnation, and sacrifice of the Son of God, 
 the power of sin over elect men is destroyed. " God, sending 
 his Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and a sin-offering, con- 
 demned sin in the flesh, which the law could not do in that it 
 was Aveak through the flesh." ^ The blood of Christ, who, through 
 the Eternal Spirit, offered himself to God a sacrifice without 
 spot, pm'ges the conscience from dead works to serve the living 
 God. Through the priesthood of Christ we obtain too, complete 
 and eternal exemption from the dreadful consequences of moral 
 guilt and depravity. " Jesus delivereth us fi*om the wrath to 
 come." 
 
 Nor is even this all. He has obtained for us free access at all 
 times, and in all circumstances, to the throne of mercy. Through 
 " the new and li\T[ng way, opened through the rent vail of his 
 flesh, and consecrated" by his blood, may the sinner a^jproach 
 in the assm'ed hope of piu'don, and the saint in the joj-fid ex- 
 pectation of " finding grace to help in every time of need." In 
 fine, through the priesthood of om* Lord, is obtained for us the 
 enjoyment of the heavenly Canaan. It is in consequence of 
 his being slain, that men are redeemed to God, and admitted to 
 the honours and joys of the celestial state. " ^Vlio are these 
 that are arrayed in white robes, and whence came they? These 
 are they who have come out of great tribulation, and have ivashed 
 their robes, and made them lohite in the blood of the Lamb. 
 Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve Ilini 
 day and night in his temple ; and He that sitteth on the throne 
 
 ' Romans riii. 3. r^i «y,xfi»(. 
 
l68 THE PRIESTHOOD OF CHRIST. [I'ART II. 
 
 shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither 
 shall they tliu'st any more, neither shall the sun light on them, 
 nor any heat ; for the Lamb, who is in the midst of the throne, 
 shall feed them, and lead them unto living foimtains of "svater, 
 and Qrod shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." How 
 much superior in excellence, then, are the benefits procured by 
 the priesthood of om- Lord, to those obtained by the Aaronical 
 })riesthood I Judging of the comparative dignity of the offices, 
 by the comparative importance of their results, we must acknow- 
 ledge that Jesus has obtained a more excellent ministry. 
 
 6th, Jesus Christ is superior to the Aaronical priesthood in 
 the duration of his office. 
 
 The indi^■idual priests of the order of Aaron, like the rest of 
 their brethren, " were of few days." The office by no means 
 conferred innnortality on those who were invested with it. 
 " They truly," says the apostle, " Avere many priests, because 
 they were not suffered to continue by reason of death." And 
 not merely were the individual priests mortal, but the institution 
 itself was but temporary. It did not last above fifteen hundred 
 years. Nearly eighteen centuries have elapsed since any de- 
 scendant of Aaron performed any of the priestly fimctions. Their 
 altars are overthrown ; the temple in which they ministered is 
 levelled with the dust ; and its sacred fire is extinguished for 
 ever. 
 
 It is far othenvise Avith our New Testament High Priest. 
 His mediatorial person is immortal, and his priestly character 
 ])erpetual. " Clu'ist being raised fi'om the dead, dieth no more : 
 death hath no more dominion over him." " This man, because 
 he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood." This 
 was tyi^ified, under the former dispensation, by the priesthood 
 of !Melchizedec, whose predecessors and successors, both as a 
 man and a priest, are concealed, for the express purpose of his 
 shadowing forth the immortal life of the Messiah, and the per- 
 petual dui'ation of his priesthood. "■ For this Melchizedec, king 
 of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham re- 
 turning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him : To 
 whom also Abraham gave a tenth j)art of all, first being, by 
 interpretation, king of righteousness, and after that also king of 
 Salem, which is king of peace : Without father, without mother, 
 without descent, luniiig neither beginning of days, nor end of 
 
SER. IV.] TllK PRIESTHOOD OF CHRIST. 169 
 
 life : but made like unto the iSon of God, abidetli a priest con- 
 tinually. The law maketli men liigh priests who have infimiity; 
 but the word of the oath, which was since the law, niaketh the 
 Son, who is consecrated for evermore." 
 
 It is true, indeed, that with res])ect to one of the leading 
 functions of the jn'iesthood, Jesus has long ceased to exercise it. 
 1 allude to the offering of sacrifice. " lie was once," and but 
 once, " offered to bear the sins of many." This, however, instead 
 of detracting from, is one of the most powerful illustrations of, 
 the dignity and excellence of his ministry. The repetition of the 
 Aaronical sacrifices was a proof of their inefficacy. It was 
 " because their sacrifices could not take away sin, that every 
 j)riest under the law stood daily ministering, and oft'ering often- 
 times the same sacrifices." " Had these sacrifices made the 
 comers thereunto perfect, would they not have ceased to be 
 offered ? " The periection of our Saviom''s sacrifice completely 
 superseded, not merely all other sacrifices, but the repetition of 
 itself. This one sacrifice " put away sin, — obtained eternal 
 redemption for us, — and perfected for ever all them who are 
 sanctified." " IlaAdng offered one sacrifice for sin, he for ever 
 sat down on the right hand of the throne of God, fi'om henceforth 
 expectmg till his enemies be made his footstool." The efficacy 
 of his sacrifice is, however, immortal. " The blood of Jesus 
 Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin." 
 
 The otlier functions of the priesthood om* Saviom' continues 
 for ever to perfonn. " He is able to save to the uttermost all 
 that come to God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make inter- 
 cession for them." He for ever retains the power and the 
 disposition to bless his people. Whether the priestly oflSce of 
 om' Saviour is to be considered as, strictly speaking, eternal, — 
 or whether it is to be considered as everlasting, merely in refer- 
 ence to the present order of things, and to terminate when " the 
 Son shall deliver up the Idngdom to the Father, and God shall 
 be all and all," are questions, the full cUscussion of which woidd 
 involve us in some abstruse inquiries, and the resolution of which 
 is by no means necessaiy for any important purpose, either of 
 duty or of comfort. Whatever view we take of this subject, the 
 superiority of our Lord's priesthood to that of the family of 
 Aaron, is abundantly evident. Then" hves were short, and their 
 office temporaiy. His life is immortal, and his office unchanging. 
 
170 THE PRIESTHOOD OF CHKIST. [PART 11. 
 
 Thus does it appear, wlietlier we compare the priesthood of 
 Aaron, and the priesthood of our Lord, — or contrast them, the 
 result to wliich we are led is the same, the transcendant excel- 
 lence and glory of our Lord's sacerdotal character. lie has 
 received a more excellent ministry. 
 
 And now, " holy bretlu'cn, partakers of the heavenly calling, 
 consider the Apostle and High Priest of oui' profession, Christ 
 Jesus." He has been presented to our minds in various aspects ; 
 and the believing contemplation of him in each of them is calcu- 
 lated to instruct and to comfort you. As he is a possessor of the 
 iiatm-e and perfections of Deity, Mnth reverence and holy fear 
 yield him religious homage ; " he is yom' Lord, and worship ye 
 him;" rely on his sacrifice, for it must be infinitely valuable ; 
 and trust to his gi'ace, which must be all-sufficient. As possessed 
 of immaculate moral excellence, behold in him the pattern of 
 your conduct ; and, contemplating his matchless worth, be trans- 
 formed into his image from glory to glory. As divinely appointed 
 to, qualified for, and invested with, the high priesthood of our 
 profession, " see that ye refuse not him" who bears so high a 
 commission ; but, with unsuspecting confidence, commit the 
 management of yom* spmtual interests to " him whom the 
 Father has sanctified, sent, and sealed." To the merits of his 
 atonement, look for the pardon of all your sins. To the preva- 
 lence of his intercession, look for the acceptance of all your 
 services. To the power of his benetliction, look for comfort here 
 and happiness for ever. As the possessor of an immutable and 
 immortal priesthood, fear not to trust him with your everlasting 
 interests ; and look fonvard to eternity "VAithout fear, since he 
 ever lives to pardon and bless you. As he is the only High 
 Priest of your profession, beware of going about to establish your 
 OAvn righteousness, and "trust in the Lord Jehovah, in whom 
 alone is everlasting righteousness and strength." And, as he 
 has done all for your salvation, devote yourselves with unresen'ed 
 hearts to the advancement of his honour, and the fidfilment of 
 his will. Improve the atonement, the intercession, and the saving 
 power of the Kedecmer, for all the purposes of holiness and of 
 comfort, and " let the life you live in the flesh be by the faith 
 of the Son of God, who loved you, and who gave himself for 
 you." 
 
 How miserable is the situation of those who neglect or despise 
 
SEH. IV.] THE PRIESTUOOD OF CHRIST. 171 
 
 our great New Testament High Priest ! How enormous is their 
 crime ! ho^y profound must be tlieir perdition ! " How can they 
 escape, who neglect so great salvation!" "For them there 
 remains no more sacrifice for sin, but a certain fearfid looking 
 for of judgment, to destroy the adversaries." Without delay, 
 let every sinner " flee for refuge to the hope set before him in 
 the Gospel." In the world to come, into which we must soon 
 enter — to unforgiven, unregenerate men, there is no atoning 
 sacrifice, no quickening Spirit. "Now is the accepted time, 
 now is the day of salvation." 
 
 I conclude with the reflection by which the discom'se was 
 introduced : How full are the Scriptm'es of om' Lord Jesus 
 Clmst ! He is, indeed, the smn and substance of them. He 
 gives them meaning and consistency, importance and beauty. 
 No portion of the Scriptures is apt to be peimsed with less 
 pleasure and advantage, or indeed, considered by itself, appeal's 
 less worthy of God, than the very particular detail which we 
 find in the books of Moses respecting the Levitical priest- 
 hood. Viewed, however, in connection with the priesthood and 
 sacrifice of Jesus Christ, we perceive theii' meaning, we feel 
 their importance. " As the sun paints the clouds, which are in 
 themselves but dark lowering vapom's exhaled fi'om the eaitli, 
 with the most glorious colom's ; so, when the Sun of righteousness 
 rises, even the ' carnal ordinances' and commandments of the 
 law, dark and earthly as they seem, are gilded by his beams, and 
 assume a fail* and smiling aspect. Under his benignant influence, 
 who is the light of the word, as well as of the world, tlie most 
 barren parts of Scripture ' blossom as the rose.' " ^ 
 
 > M'Ewen. 
 
SERMON V. 
 
 THE ABOLITION OF DEATH. 
 
 2 Tim. i. 10. — "Our Saviour, Jesus Christ, hath aboli.shed death." 
 
 What an interesting description have we in these words of that 
 illustrious personage, to commemorate whose infinite excellence 
 and ineffable love, as manifested in his " dying, the just One in 
 the room of the mijust," we are to-day assembled, — OUR Saviour, 
 Jesus Christ ; and what a glorious work is he here represented 
 as performing, — the abolition of death ! Let us first take 
 a transient glance of his personal and official glories, as here 
 exhibited, and then, somewhat more closely, contemplate that 
 mysterious portion of his saving work, to which our attention is 
 specially called by the words of the text. 
 
 I. Our Saviour Jesus Christ. How sweet, to the ear of 
 a believer, are these sounds ! how precious to his heart, the 
 truths to which they give utterance ! Saviour — Deliverer — 
 there is music in the very name. It tells of wisdom in the mind, 
 and benignity in the heart, and energy in the ann, of hmi who 
 bears it, and of all these effectually put forth, in the extinction of 
 evil and the production of good. It speaks of relief fi'om oppres- 
 sion, from pain, fi'om sorrow, from danger, from fear ; and, of 
 course, calls up agreeable feelings in every benevolent mmd, 
 though the Deliverer be unknown to us, — though the delivered 
 iiave no peculiar or intimate connection with us. 
 
 But he whom the apostle holds up to our devout contempla- 
 tion is not only a Deliverer, a Saviour. He is our Deliverer, 
 he is OUR Saviour. The Saviour of men. Our Saviour, the 
 Saviour of eveiy one of us. Oh, what a view does this give us 
 of his grace, and po^A'er, and Avisdom ! What were men ? siimers, 
 
SER. v.] THE ABOLITION OF DEATH. 175 
 
 " sinners before the God of heaven cxceedhigly." How inexcus- 
 ably guilty, how righteously condemned, how fearfully depraved, 
 how deeply degraded, how variedly wretched, how hopelessly 
 lost ! How infinite must be the kindness which could induce 
 any one to become their Saviour ; how infinite the wisdom 
 which could form a satisfactory plan for delivering them from 
 such complicated evils; how infinite the power which could carry 
 such a plan into accomplisliment ! Our Saviour, not the Saviour 
 of sinning angels. No. He " laid not hold on them" to save 
 them, he left them to the natiu'al effects of their own impious 
 rebellion ; but he " laid hold" on us, not less impious, not less 
 inexcusable rebels. Oh, how sovereign is his kindness ! how 
 distinguishing his grace ! OuR Saviour, the Saviour of the 
 race, by Di\'ine appointment ; " the SaAdour of the world ;" so 
 that if any perish, it is for any reason rather than the want of a 
 Saviour. Our Saviour, ready to put forth his sa\4ng power in 
 the case of every one of us " coming to God by him." Our 
 Saviour, I trust, in the case of not a few now before me, by the 
 personal acknowledgment of his claims, by the actual enjoyment 
 of his salvation. 
 
 Om' Savioiu- Jesus, i. e., Jehovah the Saviom-, the Divine 
 Deliverer, Immanuel God with us, in our nature, on our side ; a 
 deliverer to whom the incommunicable name of Deity, Jehovah 
 — incommunicable, because expressive of perfections which no 
 creatui'e can possess, — properly belongs : the independent, eter- 
 nal, immutable, omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent, infinitely 
 wise, infinitely righteous, infinitely benignant, OxE. How does 
 this raise our thoughts, both of the Sa\-iour and of his salvation ! 
 Our Saviom' is " the great God," " God over all, blessed for 
 ever ;" and the salvation -urought out by him, is worthy |^ven of 
 HIS power, wisdom, and benignity. 
 
 Om* Saviom* Christ, — the anomted one, laiown to the fathers 
 as "^Messiah the prince:" in his official character, clad in 
 humanity, the divinely appointed, di^rnely qualified, ch\inely 
 accredited prophet, priest, and king, the teacher, the expiator-, 
 the sanctifier, the deliverer or Saviour in all the depth of mean- 
 inff belons-inff to that term, reaching as wide as the extent of 
 man's miseries and dangers, and stretching out to the illimitable 
 ages of man's immortal existence, — a dehverer from ignorance and 
 error, from guilt and condemnation, from depravity and moral 
 
174 THE ABOLITION OF DEATH. [PART II. 
 
 degradation, from pain and sorrow, from death and endless de- 
 struction ; in one word, a deliverer from evil, physical and moral, 
 in all their forms and in all their degrees ; and a deliverer from 
 all these for ever and ever. Snch is a veiy imperfect develop- 
 ment of the "gi'ace and truth" folded up in these words — OUR 
 Saviour Jesus Christ. 
 
 Wliat an appellation is this ! how replete with abundant con- 
 solation and good hope ! Happy they who know this name, for 
 all who truly know it, trust in him who bears it ; and all who 
 tiiist in him shall find that his name, truly luiderstood, can 
 excite no hope too high not to be realised, and they shall not 
 be " ashamed or confounded, world without end." 
 
 " Sure 'tis the sweetest, dearest name, 
 The heart can know, tlie tongue proclaim ; 
 Saviour of men, and Christ of God, 
 What rich perfume it spreads abroad ! 
 'Tis balsam to the bleeding heart. 
 When pierced by sorrow's keenest dart ; 
 A cordial to the fainting soul, 
 It makes the wounded s]iirit whole. 
 It calms our passions, dries our tears. 
 The mind disconsolate it cheers ; 
 'Tis strong support, and sure relief, 
 In hours of greatest guilt and grief. 
 This name our powerful foes shall quell, 
 'Twill raise our hopes, our fears dispel ; 
 From worst of ills 'tis our defence, 
 And all our blessings flow from thence." 
 
 " His name is as ointment poured forth." 
 
 II. Having thus cursorily glanced at the descriptive appella- 
 tions here given to oiu' Lord, let us now contemplate, a little 
 more closely, the wonderful work in which he is here represented 
 as engaged : the abolition of death. 
 
 Death, a word often used in Scri2:)tm'e, figiu'atively, to signify 
 misery generally, as life is used to express hapjnnesSf — is here 
 obviously employed in its proper signification of a dissolution of 
 the connection between the two constituent parts of human 
 natm'e, body and soul, in consequence of which, " the dust 
 returns to the dust as it was, and the spirit returns to Him who 
 gave it." This change, though universal, is not, properly speak- 
 ing, natural. It does not belong to the original economy under 
 
SER. v.] THE ABOLITION OF DEATH. 175 
 
 which man was created. It is an awful anomaly ; it is a fearful 
 departure from the truly natural course of things ; for as an 
 apociyphal Avriter beautifully says, " God did not create death. 
 He made man immortal, and formed him an image of his OAvn 
 eternity ; nevertheless, through the envy of the devil came death 
 into the world ; " or in words of infinitely higher authority, 
 " Death entered into the world by sin," " the Avages of sin are 
 Death." 
 
 Death, though not by any means the most cbeadful effect of 
 sin, is a very frightful evil. It is something abhorrent to nature, 
 and to a prochgious extent destructive of happiness and produc- 
 tive of misery. View^ed as the effect of the Divine displeasure, 
 the execution of the Divine curse, and the entrance into an 
 eternity of misery, it is, and it ought to be, consummately ter- 
 rible : and even when viewed, as much as possible abstracted 
 from such considerations, there is much aboTit death to scare the 
 imagination, to alarm the mind, to revolt the feelings, to agitate 
 the heart. It finally removes us from a world with which we 
 are familiar, and from friends to whom we are fondly attached ; 
 and ushers us into a state of existence of which we have no ex- 
 perience, and introduces us to beings, of whose modes of exist- 
 ence, and action, and enjopnent, we have no distinct conceiDtion. 
 The events wdiich usually precede it are all of a kind calculated 
 to alarm and distress : — exanimating sickness, agonising pain, 
 depressing debility, restless agitation, con^ailsive struggles ; and 
 then come the fearftil consequences in reference to the material 
 part of our nature, the di'eadfril process by which our organised 
 frame is resolved into its original elements, the dust retiu'ning to 
 the dust as it was, — consequences which make us glad to hide 
 the dishonour of om* common nature, in the bosom of our com- 
 mon mother the earth. It is not wonderful, then, that death, in 
 the language of all nations, should, when personified, be repre- 
 sented as an enemy ; and among the evils from which mankind 
 need to be delivered, — the dissolution of the component parts of 
 our nature, mth the causes in which it originates, and the effects 
 which it produces, occupies, by universal consent, an important 
 place. 
 
 It is the ABOLITION of this evil that is here ascribed to " oiu* 
 SaA-iour Jesus Christ." Death is descriptive sometimes of the 
 event of the dissolution of the connection between soul and body ; 
 
17G THE ABOLITION OF DEATH. [PART II. 
 
 sometimes of the state into -svhich this event brings the material 
 part of our frame. It sometimes means dying. It sometimes 
 means being dead. It sometimes moans both. To " abolish 
 death," is in the first sense of the term, to put an end to men 
 dying. To abolish it, in the second sense, is to restore those 
 who are dead, to embodied life, and to secure that they shall 
 never be deprived of this life. There can be little doubt that 
 the great work refen'ed to in the text includes both ; for, in the 
 state which is to follow its complete accomplishment, there is to 
 be "no more death." The meaning is, our SaA'iour Jesus 
 Christ has put an end to dying, and has raised all the dead to a 
 life of which they can never be deprived. That is the plain 
 meaning of the words. 
 
 But how can we reconcile this statement with palpable in- 
 dubitable fact ? Death reigns with as unlimited dominion, with 
 as uncontrolled sway, with as irresistible force, since the promised 
 Conqueror of him " who has the power of death," appeared among 
 men, as it did " from Adam to Moses," or fi'om Moses to Christ. 
 Still " it is appointed to men to die." The awful doom is ob- 
 viously unrepealed, " Dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt 
 return." And, while there are many buiials, there are no 
 resurrections. The gates of the tomb as yet open only inwards. 
 The deep sleep of death has not been broken ; or if, in one or 
 two instances, the spirit has returned to the inanimate fi'ame, it 
 has been only to be a temporary occupant, soon again to be 
 expelled by the relentless enemy. Yet, the Scriptui'e cannot be 
 broken. " God nnist be true, though every man should be a 
 liar ; " and this is one of his true and faithful sayings. 
 
 The difficulty of reconciling the undoubtedly true saying, 
 with the equally incontrovertible fact, has been felt, and various 
 plans have been devised for removing it, and for shoAving the 
 real consistency of what appear to be iiTcconcileable. Some 
 have supposed that the words merely signify, that our Lord has, 
 in a clear and well-accredited I'evelation of the Divine will, 
 declared that death shall be abolished, and that the reign of that 
 king of terrors shall not be perpetual ; as when he proclaimed, 
 " The hour comes, when all who are in their graves shall hear 
 the voice of the Son of God, and shall come forth, some to the 
 resuiTection of life, and some to the resurrection of condemnation." 
 And there is no doubt, that the declaration of a future event by 
 
SER. v.] THE ABOLITION OF DEATH. 177' 
 
 a Divine messenger, is sometimes, to mark tlie certainty of its 
 being performed, spoken of as the actual accomplishment of the 
 event. Speaking of his appointing Jeremiah to predict the 
 varied fates of nations, Jehovah says, " Behold I have put my 
 words in thy mouth. I have set thee to root out, and to pull 
 down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build and to plant ;" 
 and the apostle, in the Epistle to the Hebrews, speaking of the 
 same j)rophet, says, in reference to one of his predictions respect- 
 ing the Christian economy, " In that he saith, a new covenant, 
 he maketh the first old," or antiquated ; i. e., he declares that 
 the old economy should be superseded by the new ; and the 
 same inspired writer says, that, in the ancient oracle, " Thou 
 art a priest for ever, after the order of jMelchizedec," " there is 
 verily a disannulling of the commandment going before, and the 
 bringing in of a better hope," obviously meaning that that 
 oracle necessarily implies, that, at some future period, there 
 should be the dissolution of the economy of which the Aaronical 
 priesthood was an essential part, and the introduction of an 
 economy furnishing a surer basis for the hopes of men. The 
 text may be explained on this principle, but this mode of ex- 
 pression being unusual, this method of interpretation is not to 
 be resorted to without absolute necessity. 
 
 Others get rid of the difficulty, by giving a limited sense and 
 reference to the word translated abolished, as if it meant, not 
 annihilation, but merely depriving of energy, disabling ; in the 
 case before us, robbing death of its character to Christians, of 
 an execution of a Di^-ine curse, a manifestation of God's dis- 
 pleasure at them personally ; and converting it into an instrument 
 of good, the means of delivering them from all imperfection and 
 sorrow, and introducing them into a state of unmingled holy 
 felicity. This, too, appears to me a mode of interpretation far 
 from natm'al. Christ, no doubt, has done this ; but he has done 
 more, or is to do more, than this, in reference to death ; and 
 the words, in their plain meaning, describe the complete and 
 ultimate, the perfect and eternal triumph of " the Prince of Life " 
 over death, and " him that has the power of death." It seems 
 just equivalent with the destruction of death, in the parallel 
 passage, " The last enemy death, shall be destroyed." 
 
 I believe, the true principle of inteiiDretation is this : — The 
 declaration of the text is expressed in NAhat gi'ammarians term 
 
 * :m 
 
178 THE ABOLITION OF DEATH. [PART II. 
 
 the indefinite time. It represents the abolition of death as a 
 work in which the Saviour is engaged. He has begun it ; he is 
 carry'ing it forward ; he will in due time complete it. In our 
 language, Avhen we express a statement indefinitely, we usually 
 employ the present tense. We would say, " Our Saviour Jesus 
 Christ abolishes death, and brings life and immortality to light." 
 
 It is what he is habitually doing. He is the abolisher of 
 death. He is the illuminator of life and immortahty. He 
 has entered on the mighty enterprize, and in due time he will 
 completely accomj)lisli it. 
 
 Let us now contemplate our Lord in this character. Let us 
 see what he has done, what he will do, in the abolition of death. 
 Taking for granted, that our Saviour Jesus Christ is " the Lord 
 God Almight}^," it would appear, viewing the matter abstractly, 
 that the abolition of death must be a very simple, easy, matter to 
 him, — of whose will the most stable laws of nature, as we call 
 them, the most unmtemipted, and, as we think, necessary pro- 
 cesses, are merely the expression or manifestation. It is because 
 he wills the universe to exist, and to exist in a particular way, 
 that it does so. He has but to will it otherwise, and it would 
 cease to exist, or it would exist in a totally different form, under 
 what we should term new laws. He bade man live, and he 
 would have continued to live, had he not bidden him die ; and 
 he has nothing to do but to will it, and dead men shall live, 
 and mortal men become immortal. 
 
 But the subject wears another aspect when we consider death 
 as a part of the moral government of God, — a penalty inflicted 
 for the violation of a holy, just, and good law. Our whole 
 notions on this subject Avill be confused and erroneous, if we do 
 not keep this steadily in view. " Death is the wages of sin.'* 
 " By one man death entered into the world, and death by sin, 
 and so death passed on all men." Death is one of the appointed 
 expressions of Divine displeasm'e against sin. Death, then, 
 cannot be abolished by a simple act of the Divine will, by a 
 single stroke of the Divine arm. " God cannot deny himself." 
 The putting down death by mere power would be as if a king 
 were to employ his army to rescue a criminal whom his judges 
 had, according to law, doomed to punishment. It would be to 
 produce anarchy in the moral government of God. Death 
 cannot be abolished till somethinii' be done which shall better do 
 
SER. v.] THE ABOLITION OF DEATH. 179 
 
 what death is intcndod to do, — express that malignity -which 
 there is in sin, and vindicate the excellence of the law, and the 
 authority, and righteonsness, and benignity of tlie Lawgiver. 
 
 It was by accomplishing this, that oui' Saviom' Jesus Christ 
 laid the foundation for the abolition of death, in a consistency 
 with the perfections of tlie Divine character, and the principles 
 of the Divine government. And how did he accomplish this ? 
 God appointed him the victim of human transgression. lie 
 destined him as " His Lamb " who was to " take away the sins 
 of the world." He " made to meet " on his head " the iniquities 
 of us all ;" and " he bare our sins on his OAvn body on the tree " 
 as a sin offering. He submitted to death, " the just One in the 
 room of the unjust." " He made his soul an offering for our 
 sin." " He became obedient to death, even the death of the 
 cross." And was not the law " magnified and made honourable," 
 by such a satisfaction both to its preceptive and penal demands, 
 — magnified much more highly than it would have been, in the 
 unsinning obedience and consequent immortal life of the whole 
 race, had they continued innocent and immortal ; or in the 
 universal infliction, and ever enduring dominion, of death over 
 the whole race, now that they had sinned 1 Sovereign kindness 
 may now, to what extent, guided by infinite wisdom, it pleases, 
 abolish death, without any hazard to the pillars of truth and 
 justice on which the government of God rests. The just Author 
 may now be the just as w^ell as the merciful repealer of the law 
 of mortality. Thus mysteriously did the gi'cat antagonist of 
 death vanquish him by becoming his victim. " By dying he 
 destroyed" death, as well as " him that had the power of it." 
 He expiated sin, which is death's sting. He satisfied the law, 
 which is sin's strength ; and, in sinking under his stroke, he, as 
 it were, exclaimed, " O death, I will be thy plague ;" in entering 
 the gloomy portals of the tomb, " O grave, I will be thy destruc- 
 tion." 
 
 But this is not the only way in which that wondrous decease, 
 we are met to-day to commemorate, contributes to the abolition 
 of death. That obedience which was consummated in that death, 
 was the fulfilment of the benignant holy will of God. The 
 interposition of the Son in the cause of truth, righteousness, and 
 benignity — of God's honour and man's salvation, originating in 
 disinterested benevolence, most pure generosity, most enlightened 
 
180 THE ABOLITION OF DEATH. [fART II. 
 
 zeal for holiness, carried on in a manner entirely faultless, 
 absolutely perfect, and brought to a thoroughly satisfactory issue, 
 was necessarily the object of the infinite complacency of the 
 all-wise, holy, and benignant Jehovah : and this complacential 
 approbation was manifested in bestowing on him, who displayed 
 these principles, as the perfected Redeemer of men, " all power 
 in heaven and earth " to be exerted by him in following out his 
 benevolent intei'position to its glorious results : and this reward 
 was bestowed on him as at once merited by his labours and 
 sufferings, and peculiarly suited to the benevolence of his character. 
 " Because he " had so clearly proved that he " loved righteous- 
 ness and hated iniquity, God, even his God, anointed him wath 
 the oil of gladness above his fellows." " Because he humbled 
 himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the 
 cross. He highly exalted him, and gave him a name above every 
 name, that at his name every knee should bow, of things in 
 heaven, and things oh earth, and things under the earth, and 
 every tongiie confess that he is Lord, to the gloiy of God the 
 Father." He constituted him the administrator of those blessings 
 of his grace for which, by his atonement, he had opened up a 
 channel for communicating to sinftJ men. He " set him at his 
 own right hand, far above all principalities and powers, and 
 thrones and dominions, and every name that can be named, 
 either in this world or in that which is to come." He placed 
 him on his own throne, and said to him, " Sit thou at my right 
 hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool;" and there he 
 sits and reigns, and shall sit and reign, putting downi " all iiile, 
 and authority, and power," opposed to God. "For he must 
 reign till all his enemies are made his footstool." Ay, till even 
 " the last enemy, death, is destroyed." 
 
 The power and authority thus obtained, he has ah'eady exer- 
 cised in the abolition of death in reference to himself. He, 
 in the exercise of the power given him by the Father, " took 
 his own life again " which he had most voluntarily in obedience 
 to the same command, " laid down." According to his own 
 prophecy, he rebuilt the mystic temple on the third day after 
 impious hands had laid it in ruins. He rose from the dead — to 
 die no more — " Christ being raised from the died dieth no more, 
 death has no more dominion over him ; for in that he died he 
 died by sin once — but in that he liveth he liveth by God." 
 
SER. v.] THE ABOLITION OF DEATH. 181 
 
 '' Put to death in the flesh, he Avas quickened by the Spirit " — 
 that " Spirit of holiness " according to which he is " declared 
 with power to be the Son of God;" that "eternal Spirit" by 
 which " he offered himself to God a sacrifice without spot or 
 blemish." The resurrection of Christ is often, indeed, represented 
 as the work of the Father ; but there is no inconsistency between 
 these representations and that which we have now given. The 
 power of the Father and the Son is the same power, — the power 
 of God ; and " what things soever the Father doth, these also 
 doeth the Son likewise." It is probable, too, that " he abolished 
 death " in all the extent of meaning Ijelonging to the word abolish, 
 in the case of those saints whose " bodies came out of their graves 
 after his resuiTection." It seems congruous to suppose that they 
 attended him to heaven, and that along with him there they 
 " reign in life." 
 
 But the grand triumph over the last enemy is yet fiiture. 
 The Eedeemer, " made perfect through suffering," has, after 
 " tasting death for every one " of his people, become " the first- 
 fruits of them that sleep." His empty grave is the indication 
 that by-and-by all the graves of his people shall be empty too. 
 " In him," through him, " all shall be made alive, but every 
 man in his own order ; first, Christ, then they who are Christ's 
 " at his coming." AVith regard to the final and complete abolition 
 of death, we have the most explicit declarations in the sure word 
 of prophecy. The minuter details are hid from us ; the great 
 outlines are strongly marked : " This is the will of the Father 
 who hath sent me," says the faithful and true Witness, " that of 
 all whom he has given me I should lose nothing, but should raise 
 it up at the last day." Yes, " this is the will of Ilim that sent 
 me, that every one that seeth the Son, and believeth on him, 
 may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last 
 day." " T am the resurrection and the life." " In a moment, 
 in the t\nnkling of an eye, at the last trmnp (for the tnmipet 
 shall sound), while the living shall be changed, the dead shall 
 be raised incorruptible ; for this corruptible must put on incorrup- 
 tion, and this mortal must put on immortality ; so when this 
 corruptible shall have put on incon*uption, and this mortal shall 
 have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass that 
 saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory." " Them 
 who sleep in Jesus, God will bring with him. They who are 
 
182 THE ABOLITION OF DEATII. [PAKT II. 
 
 alive, and remain unto the coming of tlie Lord, shall not prevent" 
 — come before, have advantage over — " those who are asleep. 
 The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with 
 the voice of the archangel and with the tinimp of God, and the 
 dead in Christ shall first arise ; then they who are alive and 
 remain shall " — having been changed — " be caught up, together 
 with " those awakened from the sleep of death, " in clouds " — 
 myriads on myriads, ten thousand times ten thousand — " to meet 
 the Lord in the air, and so shall they for ever be with the Lord." 
 " And God himself shall be with them, and shall be their God ; 
 and God shall wipe away all tears from theu' eyes, and there 
 shall be no more death, neither son'ow nor crying, neither shall 
 there be any more pain : for the former things are passed away." 
 " He who sitteth on the throne " will then have finished the 
 work of restoration, and shall proclaim, as erst from the cross, 
 " It is finished," " Behold I have made all things new." Well, 
 then, with the full assurance of faith, may " we look for the 
 Saviour from heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change 
 our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious 
 body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue 
 all things to himself." 
 
 Nor shall death be abolished merely in the case of the " nations 
 of the saved." It will cease to exist in the universe of God. 
 When the hour is come of which om* Saviour speaks, " all in 
 their gi'aves shall hear the voice of the Son of God and come 
 out, some to the resurrection of life, some to the resun'ection of 
 condemnation." No token of the displeasui'c of God at the race, 
 shall be allowed to remain. That displeasure ^vill only appear 
 towards the finally, wilfully, irreclaimable, impenitent, and dis- 
 obedient part of the human race. " Death and hell," i.e., the 
 separate state, " shall be cast into the lake of fire," — i.e., the state 
 of death and of sej^arate souls shall cease to exist. Then will all 
 the intelligent universe of God have demonstration given them, 
 that " our Saviour Jesus Christ hath abolished death." And oh, 
 how loud, and lofty, and sweet, and long drawn out, will be the 
 shout of triumph over the fell tyrant — the hymn of thanksgiving 
 to the Conqueror, the " Prince of Life," " the King Immortal," 
 who has destroyed him, which shall rise from the countless multi- 
 tude of ransomed captives, — " Oh death, whore is thy sting ! O 
 grave, where is thy victory ! Thanks, everlasting thanks, be to 
 
SEH. v.] THE ABOLITION OF DEATH. 183 
 
 Him who giveth us the victory ;" " Salvation to our God, who 
 sitteth on the throne, and to the Lamb for ever and ever, 
 hallekijah," and again, and again, and again "they shall cry, 
 
 HALLELUJAH." ^ 
 
 Yet still, though in the case of all who are " in Christ Jesus, 
 the spirit lives through the righteousness" of the Second Man, 
 and though "He who raised him from the dead, will quicken our 
 mortal bodies on account of his spirit dwelling in us," yet must 
 " the body die," " because of" the first " sin" of the fii'st man ; 
 and death must, in the first instance, " reign over all," even of 
 those who are ultimately to " reign in life, by Christ Jesus." 
 And the question naturally arises in the mind, — But why is not 
 death now abolished? — why do men, — why do redeemed men die, 
 — why do their bodies continue, it may be for many ages, in the 
 grave — why is the prey allowed to fall into the hands of the 
 mighty, — why are the ransomed captives not delivered ? 
 
 It may be doubtful how far it is wase, either to propose or to 
 attempt to answer such questions. It might be enough to say, 
 *^It is not for us to know," or to determine " the times and 
 seasons." " His time is" obviously " not yet come, our time is 
 always ready." With Him " one day is as a thousand years, and 
 a thousand years as one day." It might be enough to say, that 
 it takes its place along with a number of other questions, which 
 men, more curious than wise, have proposed : Why did God not 
 form man with an absolute security of continuing holy ? Why 
 were the destinies of the race so deeply involved in the conduct 
 of their original parents ? "NYliy were sinning angels consigned 
 to hopeless destruction, while a Saviour was provided for man ? 
 Why, when the merits of that Sa^dour and the power of his 
 Spirili were equally infinite, were not all men saved ? Why was 
 the Saviom* of the world not brought into it, till four thousand 
 years after men needed his interference ? Why, before his com- 
 ing, was revelation confined to one nation, and since his coming, 
 
 ' " How insipid and tame are the histoi-y of all other conquests, of the rise and fall 
 of all other kingdoms and empires, when compared with the {jrand and wonderful 
 achievments of the 'King Immortal,' and the fall of death beneaih his power ; then 
 will he ' swallow up death in victory,' and then clothe his redeemed in garments of 
 immortality. Death shall be known and feared no more. Millions of inillions shall 
 join in everlasting praises to Him whom all the redeemed will acknowledge as their 
 great dehverer." — Robeht Hall. 
 
184 THE ABOLITION OF DEATH. [PAKT II. 
 
 why has it not been extended to all nations '? I scarcely think 
 angels meddle with such questions ; but " fools inish in where 
 angels fear to tread." 
 
 It can do no harm, however, to remark, that the delay, till the 
 close of the present system of things, of the abolition of death, is 
 owing to no want of merit, or of jyower, or of grace, on the part 
 of the great Deliverer ; neither are we, I apprehend, going " be- 
 yond our measure," when we advert to some of the advantages 
 which seem to be connected with the plan infinite wisdom has 
 preferred, though in this, as indeed in every thing, " His thoughts 
 are not our thoughts, nor are our ways his ways." 
 
 While it is utterly impossible for us to see to what an extent 
 the immediate abolition of death would affect the established 
 order of things, we cannot avoid seeing, that its effects would be 
 most numerous and important, changing entirely the character 
 of the present state, and unfitting it for many of the purposes it 
 at present serves. 
 
 The denunciation of death, as the punishment of the first sin 
 of the first man, is exceedingly j)recise ; and its execution, in the 
 case of every individual, is a striking confutation of the first lie, 
 — a striking vindication of the tiiith of God. 
 
 It is also a most impressive standing lesson of the evil of sin : 
 — Race after race descend into the grave, to mark God's dis- 
 pleasm'e at a single offence against his law ; and that, in the 
 estimation of many, no very flagrant one. The Great Judge of 
 all the earth appears full of awful majesty, when we see death, 
 his messenger, riding forth conquering and to conquer. How 
 important to secure his favour — to escape his righteous displea- 
 sure! 
 
 Death, too, in various ways, whether theii" own death or the 
 death of others, proves the means of exercising and strengthen- 
 ing the holy pnnci])les of renewed men, then' faith, then* hope, 
 their humility, their resignation, their patience ; the Savioiu' thus 
 wresting out of the devil's hands the weapons of his own forging, 
 and turning them into instruments of holiness and happiness, in- 
 stead of sin and misery. 
 
 Besides, it is obvious that the abolition of death, at once and 
 for ever, will place in a peculiarly glorious light the power and 
 grace of the Conqueror, and the magnitude and completeness of 
 the victory. Had all the dead saints at the resm'rection of 
 
SER. v.] THE ABOLITION OF DEATH. 18/) 
 
 Christ, — a gooclly company, but still coin})aratively a little tiock, 
 — been set free fi-om the bonds of death, and taken with him to 
 heaven ; and had, since that time, every individual saint been 
 freed from the necessity of dying, and been quietly " clothed 
 upon" instead of being " unclothed," the scene had been incom- 
 parably less striking than what will be exhibited on the last 
 eventful day of the world's histor}^, when the merit and the power 
 of the Kedeemer founded on his merit, will bring the whole 
 human race out of their graves, and before his tribunal ; and en- 
 able him to confer on all of them an endless existence, on his 
 own redeemed ones, an endless existence of perfect, holy happi- 
 ness. Oh what a day of triumph to the Redeemer and the re- 
 deemed ! How glorious will " the King of Israel," the "Captain 
 of our salvation," be that day, at the head of his ransomed re- 
 animated legions ! Yes, radiant as they will be in holy light and 
 loveliness, their glory will be as nothing, by reason of his glory 
 which excelleth ; a glory, compared with which the splendour of 
 ten thousand suns is as darkness. Yet will he not only be glo- 
 rious in himself, but " glorified in his" risen " saints," with 
 bodies fashioned like unto his glorious body, " and admired" by 
 all the ano-elic millions " in them who have believed." 
 
 The use we ought to make of these truths, is not far to seek. 
 Why should a Christian be, through fear of death, subject to 
 bondage? Death to him is great gain. With "the mortal 
 body," he puts off not only all its infimiities and disorders, but 
 also the " body of sin and death." By absence from the body he 
 obtains presence with the Lord : and yet a httle while, and 
 " mortality shall be swallowed up of life," and " the adoption, 
 the redemption of the bod\-" so eagerly desired, so deeply gi'oaned 
 for, shall be attained to. 
 
 And why should Christians mourn their departed friends, wth 
 an inconsolable sorrow ? They are not lost ; they ai-e gone be- 
 fore. They are in safe keeping, both body and soul. Ere long 
 we hope that om- spirits shall mingle with theirs, in the mansions 
 of rest prepared for the disembodied souls of the faithful ; and 
 by-and-by, we, by the grace of our Lord, expect, in re-animated 
 and transformed bodies, incapable of fatigue, or pain, or disease, 
 or death, to spend an eternity with them, in the most interesting 
 and exalted employments, in piu'e, transporting, uneloying de- 
 
186 THE ABOLITION OF DEATH. [PART II. 
 
 lights. Wlien we meet them next, " all tears will be wiped both 
 from their eyes and ours ;" and that consideration, if it do not 
 prevent, as it will not, om' shedding tears, w-ill take away from 
 these tears much of their bitterness.^ 
 
 How eagerly should all seek a personal interest in this glorious 
 Saviour. Oh how dreadful to be restored to life by him only to 
 become capable of more varied and severer punishment for ever ! 
 Yet this must be the case with those who do not become ac- 
 quainted with him as a Saviom', before they meet him as their 
 Judge. 
 
 In fine, how reasonable and right is it, for Christians to hold 
 in everlasting remembrance this most illustrious Deliverer, and 
 especially to remember that death by which the abolition of 
 death was secured, and a channel opened by which " eternal life, 
 the gift of God," might find its way both to our " mortal bodies" 
 and to our guilty, dead, depraved souls. Let us gladly embrace 
 the opportunity now offered of commemorating Christ's death, 
 and may we find in the commemoration of his death, consolation 
 for the death of our friends, and preparation for oiu" own. 
 
 1 Grove. 
 
SECTION II. 
 INTRODUCTORY ADDRESSES, 
 
 OR 
 
 "FENCING OF THE TABLE." 
 
 ADDRESS I. 
 
 THE DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERS OF A CHRISTI^VN. 
 
 It is a delightful truth, of which we ought never to be weaiy of 
 speaking, nor you of hearing, " that Christ Jesus came mto the 
 world to save sinners even the chief; and that whosoever 
 comes to him, he will in no wise cast out." No guilt, however 
 aggravated, — no depravity, however deep-rooted, excludes the 
 sinner from applying to the Saviour for pardon and acceptance, 
 holiness and everlasting life. We are called to proclaim the 
 good news to every creature, and to invite " whosoever will, to 
 take of the water of life freely." There are no reserves in our 
 commission, and we wish to make none. — The invitation to the 
 table of Jesus is, however, by no means so extensive. In re- 
 ceiving the Lord's Supper, men are considered not merely as 
 sinners, but as believing and penitent sinners ; not merely as 
 persons who may and ought to come to Christ, but as persons 
 who have actually come to him. The Divine Master of the 
 feast, who, in the former case, proclaims — " Ho ! every one that 
 thirsteth, come ye to the Avaters ; and he that hath no money, 
 come, buy and eat, without money and without price ;" in the 
 latter case, confines his invitation to persons of a particular 
 character — " Eat, O friends, drink, yea drink abundantly, O 
 beloved!" 
 
 A thoughtful person, who perceives this distinction, which is 
 marked with sufficient plainness in the Holy Scriptiu'es, will be 
 
188 THE DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERS [PART IT. 
 
 anxious, before taking liis place at the Lord's table, to know, 
 whether he be among the guests who have been invited, and who 
 may reasonably expect to be made welcome by the Master of the 
 feast. To relieve this natiu'al anxiety, is the design of the pre- 
 paratory duty of self-examination. It is not impossible, however, 
 that even after serious attempts at self-inquiiy, considerable ob- 
 scurity may still hang on the important question, and a difficulty 
 of discovering the path of duty may prevail to a distressing de- 
 gree. To resolve, as far as possible, these doubts and scruples, 
 on the one hand ; and, on the other, to warn those who, though 
 strangers to the power of religion, have so much of the form of 
 it as to render it impossible to exclude them fi'om chiu'ch com- 
 munion, of the danger to which they expose themselves, by in- 
 truding into a situation to which they have no right, seem to be 
 the ends proposed by that part of the service of our church, to 
 which we now proceed, — the stating plainly from the Scriptures, 
 the character of those who have, and of those who have not, a 
 right to the Lord's table. This service not being of direct Divine 
 appointment, is, of course, not absolutely necessary to the right 
 dispensation of the Lord's Supper ; yet its use is sufficiently ap- 
 parent. It is not intended to be a substitute either for church 
 discipline or self-examination — though it is feared it sometimes 
 has been thus abused. It is intended to do what church disci- 
 pline cannot do, and what self-examination may not have done. 
 If judiciously performed, it can scarcely do harm — it may do 
 much good — and it is certainly quite in the spirit of the apostolic 
 injunction, " Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat 
 of that bread and drink of that cup." 
 
 ' He who deeply and habitually feels his need of the Saviour, 
 who cordially acquiesces in the Christian plan of salvation, who 
 is under the regenerating and sanctifynng influences of the Holy 
 Spirit, and who pays a religious regard to all the commandments 
 of God, — he, and he only, has a right in the sight of God to a 
 place at the table of Christ.' Listen with attention and self- 
 application to a plain illustration of the different pai-ts of this 
 proposition. 
 
 Ist, He only has a right to the Lord's table, who deeply and 
 habitually feels his need of the Saviour : " All have sinned, and 
 come short of the glory of God." The righteous law of God de- 
 nounces condemnation against " every soul of man that doeth 
 
ADDRESS I.] OF A CHRISTIAN. 18H 
 
 evil." Eveiy sinner is thus " condemned already ;" and the 
 sentence must be executed, unless satisfaction be made to the in- 
 jured honour of the Divine government. This satisfaction no 
 finite creature can give, and, of course, unless some superior 
 being interpose in his behalf, man must perish for ever. These 
 are principles with which all of you have been familiar from 
 your infancy, and it is likely that all of you are ready to admit 
 their truth : But it is one thing thus to take for granted that 
 all mankind are sinners, and quite another thing, deeply and 
 habitually to feel your own individual need of salvation. 
 
 Make this last point the subject of serious self-examination. 
 Have you ever been convinced, that the law of God condemns 
 you, as an individual, to everlasting destruction? Have you 
 ever seen your total inability to procure for yourself the reversal 
 of this tremendous sentence ? Have you trembled at the pros- 
 pect of endless perdition, and cried out in good earnest, " What 
 shall I do to be saved ?" If you are a total stranger to such 
 feelings, you cannot be an acceptable commuracant. He who 
 never felt his need of a Saviour, never embraced him. 
 
 But beware of concluding, that you have a right to the table 
 of the Lord, merely because you have had convictions of your 
 danger as a sinner, and your need of a Saviour. Many have 
 been convinced who have never been converted. Have your 
 convictions been transient or abiding ? did they wear off without 
 producing any important permanent effect ? or did they lead to 
 faith, repentance, and obedience ? Do you habitually feel that 
 you are a sinner, and have constant need of the Sa\-iour? If 
 you do, you have reason to hope that you will be a welcome 
 guest at the table of Jesus. 
 
 2c?, He only has a right to the Lord's tabic, who cordially ac- 
 quiesces in the Scriptural mode of salvation. In the Holy 
 Scriptures, there is made known to us a scheme of reconciliation, 
 formed by infinite wisdom, and executed by infinite power, by 
 which guilty man may be pardoned, and depraved man regener- 
 ated and sanctified. Of this Divinely constructed plan the fol- 
 lowing is an outline : The Son of God, moved by pure benignity, 
 in obedience to the appointment of his Father, voluntarily engaged 
 to become the Saviour of a lost world. In pm'suance of this 
 engagement, he substituted himself in their stead, assumed their 
 nature, obeyed the law to which they were subject, and^ endured 
 
190 THE DISTINGUISHING CHAIIACTERS [PART II. 
 
 the penal evils which they deserved. The design of this was, to 
 save them at once from the wrath of God and from all iniquity. 
 The merits of his obedience, sufferings, and death, were infinite, 
 and, in the estimation of Divine justice, perfectly adequate for 
 both these purposes. On the ground of this satisfaction, He 
 oflfers pardon, and purity, and eternal life. No merits, no doings 
 of our own are required, to give us an interest in the blessings of 
 this salvation. We are called on but to believe, to the saving 
 of our souls. By this faith we are united to his person, justified 
 by his righteousness, and sanctified by his Spirit. 
 
 Now, what are youi' sentiments with respect to this way of 
 reconciliation? Do you see little in it that is gi-eat or good, 
 excellent or admirable? Would you rather be saved without 
 being so completely indebted to the grace of God, and the merits 
 of his Son ? Does the freedom of salvation, and the exclusion 
 of boasting, so offend your pride, as to induce you to refuse 
 eternal life as a free gift, and to go about to establish your own 
 righteousness ? Then are ye yet strangers to the power of Jesus' 
 gi'ace. — But are you accounting the gospel record " worthy of 
 all acceptation" ? Is the plan of reconciliation " all your salva- 
 tion and all your desire" ? Do you " count all things loss for the 
 excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus" ? and is it your 
 supreme desire " to be found in him, not having your own righte- 
 ousness which is of the law, but the righteousness which is 
 through the faith of Christ, the rio;hteousness which is of God 
 by faith" ? Then are you indeed the friends of Jesus, and ought 
 to testify your friendship by sitting down at his table. 
 
 Sd, He only has a right to the Lord's table who has expe- 
 rienced the regenerating and sanctifying influences of the Divine 
 Spirit. All who are interested in the righteousness of Christ 
 are made partakers of his Spii'it. " He who has not the Spirit 
 of Christ is none of his." This Divine Agent effects a complete 
 transfonnation of the sentiments, tempers, dispositions, and habits. 
 " If any man be in Christ Jesus, he is "a new creatiu'e ; old things 
 are passed away, and behold all things become new." He is 
 " created anew in Christ Jesus unto good works ;" saved ])y " the 
 washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost." 
 
 Now, let every intending communicant examine himself, 
 whether he has experienced this transforming influence ? This 
 question is to be determined by observing whether or not we 
 
ADDRESS I.] OF A CHRISTIAN. 191 
 
 exhibit the fruits of the Spirit in our temper and behaviour. Are 
 our affections habitually fixed on earthly objects — do we with 
 reluctance engage in religious services — do we habitually indulge 
 vain or vile thoughts — has no important chati<je ever taken place 
 in om* mode of thinking and feeling? Then have we much 
 reason to fear, that we are yet " dead in trespasses and sins." 
 
 But, on the other hand, have om' sentiments and our dispo- 
 sitions undergone such a change as to merit the appellation of a 
 " new birth" ? Do things spiritual and divine occupy many of 
 our thoughts "? Do improper thoughts and feelings excite deep 
 uneasiness, even though they should not break out into open 
 wickedness ? Do we habitually live under the influence of the 
 power of the world to come '? Are hatred of sin, and love of 
 holiness, habitual principles of action with us ? Then we cannot, 
 without at once neglecting a duty and undervaluing a privilege, 
 refuse to approach to the table of the Lord. 
 
 4:fh, He only has a right to the Lord's table, who pays a 
 religious regard to all the commandments of God. There are 
 many who would tnist in Christ as a Saviour from hell, if they, 
 at the same time, could obtain exemption from the authority of 
 his holy law. All such, whatever may be their profession, are 
 enemies to the Saviour. To no purpose do men call him " Lord, 
 Lord, if they do not the things which he commands them." " If 
 ye love me," says he, " keep my commandments." 
 
 Let, then, the intending communicant examine himself, as to 
 his sentiments and conduct in reference to the Divine law. Canst 
 thou habitually indulge in the commission of what thou knowest 
 this law forbids, or in the omission of what thou knowest this law 
 requires ? Dost thou secretly wish that the precept of the Di\'ine 
 law had not been so strict, and that its penalty had not been so 
 severe ? Dost thou choose which of God's commandments thou 
 wilt obey, and which of them thou wilt not obey ? Does thy par- 
 tial obedience proceed more from a fear of the Di^-ine vengeance, 
 than from a love of the Divine law ? Dost thou fear the penalty 
 of the law, more than thou lovest the precept ? Then thou art in 
 the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity, and thou canst 
 not eat the Lord's Supper, without profaning that ordinance, and 
 injiu'ing thyself. 
 
 But, on the other hand, canst thou say, notwithstanding thy 
 many lamentable and lamented failings, thou lovest the law — 
 
192 DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERS OF A CHRISTIAN. [PART II. 
 
 thou deliglitest in it after the inward man — that when thou sin- 
 nest, thou condemnest thyself, and justifiest thy God — that thy 
 desire is not that the law were brought down to thy weakness, 
 but that thou wert brought up to its perfection — that to be holy 
 is the strongest desire of thy heart — that thou accountest all 
 God's commandments to be right, and hatest every wicked way 
 — and that the love of God and of Christ, constrain you to at- 
 tempt an universal obedience to the Divine law ? If tliou canst 
 say all this with a good conscience, thou art a friend of Jesus, 
 and heartily welcome to " come in and sup with him." 
 
 As " the word of God is quick and powerful, sharper than any 
 two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of the 
 soul and spirit, the joints and marrow, discerning the thoughts 
 and intents of the heart," I conclude with directing you to a 
 few passages of Scripture, in which the character of saints and 
 sinners are very plainly delineated. — Psal. xv. ; !Matth. v. 3-9 ; 
 Gal. V. 19-24. 
 
 Examine yourselves by these scriptui'al marks, — and may the 
 Divine Spirit guide you into such a determination, as shall be 
 glorifying to the Redeemer, and usefid to your own souls. 
 
ADDRESS II. 
 
 THE FAMILY OF CHRIST. 
 
 Nothing is more plainly revealed in Scripture than this, — that 
 time Christians are a peculiar people, invested with peculiar 
 privileges, fonned to a peculiar character, and distinguished by a 
 peculiar mode of conduct. Though " in the world," they are not 
 " of it." Their principles and their spirit, their pursuits and their 
 pleasures, are altogether of a different kind fl'om those of the 
 men among whom they live. As every thing peculiar about 
 Christians arises fi'om their connection with Chiist, there is 
 perhaps no figurative view of this peculiarity of character and 
 situation which we have just adverted to, more pleasing and 
 instructive than that which represents them as one great family, 
 of which Jesus is the head. In this interesting aspect, we find 
 our Lord exhibiting himself and his people. The evangelical 
 historian informs us, that, on one occasion, wlien Jesus was 
 deeply engaged in his favourite employment of familiarly in- 
 structing the people, intimation was given him that his mother 
 and brethren, who could not get near him for the crowd, were 
 without, anxious to speak with him. UnwilHng to be inten'upted 
 in the midst of his work, and seizing the opportunity which was 
 afforded him of illustrating the closeness of the relation, and the 
 tenderness of the affection, which subsisted between him and his 
 disciples, " he stretched forth his hands towards them, and said, 
 Behold my mother and my brethren ; for whosoever shall do the 
 will of my Father who is in heaven, the same is my brother, and 
 sister, and mother." ^ 
 
 Among the peculiar pri\ileges of the family of oiu' Lord, the 
 
 This incident in the gospel history, is so touchingly versified by our lamented 
 
 *N 
 
191 THE FAMILY OF CHRIST. [PART II. 
 
 right to participate in tlie holy ordinance of the Supper must be 
 numbered. This is a family feast, — a feast of love. It is the 
 children's bread we break, and it must not be given to the dogs. 
 All the children are welcome, but all else are considered as in- 
 truders, and may expect to meet with the alamiing question, 
 " Friend, how camest thou in hither ? " Can we, then, be more 
 appropriately employed, for a little, than in inquiring whether 
 or not we belong to Christ's family ? On the resolution of this 
 inquiry depends the propriety of our taking our seats at his table. 
 — How shall we know whether w^e are members of the holy 
 family 1 All the members of that holy, happy society, are 
 distinguished by intimate relation, warm affection, genei'al resem- 
 blance, dutiful obedience to the Head of the family, familiar 
 intercourse, and mutual good offices. Let us apply these general 
 characters, for the purpose of discovering whether we belong to 
 the family of our Lord. 
 
 \st. Are we distinguished by our intimate relation to our 
 Lord Jesus Christ ? All men are related to Jesus Christ, as 
 their creator, and preserver, and governor, and benefactor, and 
 judge; nay, all men are connected with him as partakers of the 
 same nature ; and all who hear the Gospel are connected w'ith 
 him as a Saviour, freely offered to them in the Divine testimony. 
 But the relation I refer to, is far more intimate, and altogether 
 peculiar to Christians. It is that relation, by the formation of 
 which men become one with the Saviour ; so one with him, as 
 that all that he did, and suffered, and obtained as Mediator, is 
 considered as done, and suffered, and obtained by them ; so one 
 with him, as that they receive out of his fulness, live by his life, 
 and act by his strength. In this relation all true Christians are 
 placed. They are in Christ Jesus. 
 
 countryman, Grahame, in his " Biblical Pictures," that I cannot refrain from gratify- 
 ing the reader by quoting the passage : — 
 
 " Who is my mother and my brethren ? 
 
 He spake, and looked on them who sat around, 
 
 With a meek smile of pity blent with love. 
 
 More melting than o'er gleamed from human face. 
 
 As when a sun-beam through a summer shower 
 
 Shines mildly on a little hill-side flock ; — 
 
 And with that look of love, he said, " Behold 
 
 My mother and my brethren : for I say. 
 
 That whosoe'er shall do the will of (iod, 
 
 He is my brother, sister, mother, all."— Ghaiiamc's Poems, vol. ii. p. 74. 
 
ADDRESS II.] THE FAMILY OF CHRIST. 195 
 
 But how are we to know whether we are distinguished by this 
 relation ? The question is not very difficuh to answer. We are 
 none of us by nature thus related to oui' Lord Jesus. This 
 relation is formed by faith. All who believe arc united with the 
 Saviour ; all who have not believed are still unconnected with 
 him. Are you then believers ? Are you persuaded of the truth 
 of the Divine testimony conceniing Christ ? Do you cordially 
 acquiesce in the way of salvation through his mediation ? And 
 do you personally rely on him, and on him alone, for pardon, 
 acceptance, and eternal life ? Another way of discovering whether 
 we are thus united to the Saviour, is by inquiring whether we 
 are possessed of the consequences of this union. The living head 
 has li^^lng members. The fruitful vine has no barren branches. 
 They who are in Christ, and abide in him, bring forth much 
 finiit. Examine yourselves, then, whether ye be in Christ, and 
 whether Christ be in you ; for if this is not the case, ye are 
 reprobates. 
 
 2(7, Are we distinguished by the affections peculiar to the holy 
 family? Families ought to be, and in many cases are, bound 
 together by the cords of love. The Saviour loves his family : 
 and " they love him who first loved them." Can you, mtending 
 communicant ! satisfactorily answer the question proposed by 
 our Lord to the Apostle Peter, " Simon, son of Jonas, lovest 
 thou me ? " Canst thou say with him, " Lord, thou who knowest 
 all things, knowest that I love thee." Canst thou say, I love 
 hmi above every created object — I love him more than worldly 
 possessions — more than worldly relations — more than life itself, 
 and yet I wonder and lament that I love him no more ? Do 
 you wish a criterion of trying the sincerity of your love to the 
 Savioui' ? Hear his owti words : " He that hath my command- 
 ments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me : — if ye love me, 
 keep my commandments." — The family of Christ love the God 
 and Father of their Lord. Once their " carnal mind was enmity 
 against God," but now they have learned " to love the Lord 
 their God with all their heart, and strength, and soul, and mind." 
 Is this your character '? — Farther, the family of Cln-ist are taught 
 of God to love one another. Do you love genuine Christians 
 with a peculiar affection, — an affection founded on then* Christian 
 relations and qualities 1 " We know that we have passed from 
 death to life, because we love the brethren." 
 
196 THE FAMILY OF CHRIST. [PART II. 
 
 Sd, Are we distinguished by a general resemblance to our 
 Lord Jesus, and the members of liis holy family? We generally 
 find the same outline of features prevail among the members of 
 the same family. It is so in a remarkable manner in the family 
 of our Lord : " Whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate 
 to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the 
 first-born among many brethren. The first man is of the earth, 
 earthy : the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the 
 earthy, such are they also who are earthy; and as is the heavenly, 
 such are they also who are heavenly : And as we have bonie the 
 image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly." 
 This resemblance, though not perfect in the present state, is yet 
 real — universal — perceptible — and progressive. 
 
 Ask, then, intending communicant, is " the mind in me wdiich 
 was in Christ Jesus" ? Do my sentiments and inclinations 
 coincide with his ? Am I in the world, as he was in the world, 
 meek and lowly, tender and compassionate, patient and forgiv- 
 ing, zealous and active ? Is the resemblance becoming more and 
 more visible? " Beholding in a glass the gloiy of the Lord," am 
 I "changed into the same image, from glory to gloiy" ? And 
 am I waiting and longing for that blessed period, "when he 
 shall appear, and I shall be like him, seeing him as' he is" ? 
 when the likeness shall be extended to the whole man ? when 
 " he shall change this vile body, and fashion it like unto his 
 own glorious body, according to the working of his mighty 
 power, whereby he is able even to subdue all things to him- 
 self"? 
 
 Ath, Are we distinguished by dutiful obedience to oui' Lord, 
 as the Head of the holy family ? In every well-regulated 
 family, the will of the head of the family is a law to the members 
 of it. It is completely so in the family of oui* Lord. Ilis will 
 is the law of his house. Christians walk by rule ; and that rule 
 is not their own reason, or will, nor the opinions and will of other 
 men, but the mind and will of Christ. Now, is this oui' chai*- 
 acter ? Is our first inquuy with respect to any piece of conduct, 
 what is the will of my Loixl? Do we believe what Christ 
 reveals, because he reveals it — do what he commands, because 
 he commands it — and submit to what he appoints, because he 
 appoints it ? Is our rcgai'd to his will universal ? Do we 
 attempt to bring every thought and feeling into subjection to 
 
ADDRESS II.] THE FAMILY OF CHKIST. 197 
 
 him ? Do we account liis statutes conceniing qll things to be 
 right ? Have we no resen^es, no exceptions ? Is our obedience 
 affectionate and cheerful — the obedience of children, and not of 
 slaves ? Do we delight to do his will — and " present oui'selves 
 a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable, which is our reasonable 
 service"? 
 
 5thy Are w'e distinguished by that familiar intercourse which 
 marks the members of the family of Christ ? Members of this 
 family have frequent and intimate intercourse, both with the 
 Head of the family and with each other. Now, do we know 
 what it is to have our "fellow^ship with the Father, and with 
 his Son Christ Jesus" ? Do we know what it is to tell our 
 Saviour all our wants, and sorrows, and fears, and to receive the 
 supply of our need " according to his glorious riches" ? Do we 
 highly prize the ordinances of grace, as the means of this com- 
 munion ? Do we greatly esteem the Holy Spirit, the great 
 agent by whom this intercourse is conducted ? Do we carefully 
 avoid everything which has a tendency to interrupt this com- 
 munion, by grie\dng " that Holy Spirit of promise, who is the 
 earnest of oui* inheritance" ? Do we maintain a fiiendly inter- 
 course wath our fellow-Christians, though they differ from us in 
 opinion and usage on matters of inferior moment ? " They who 
 fear the Lord S2:>eak often one to another." 
 
 6th, Are we distinguished by mutual offices of kindness, as 
 members of the holy family ? In a happily constituted family, 
 the current of love is in constant circulation ; and there is an 
 endless succession of mutual kindnesses and attentions. It is so 
 in the family of Christ. Are we distinguished by mai'ks of the 
 attention of our great Elder Brother and Head ? Ai'e we con- 
 stantly receiving out of his fulness, recei\'ing, according to our 
 necessity, instniction and warning, reproof and consolation, 
 chastisements and endearments ? And are we attempting to do 
 him good offices in return ? Our goodness, indeed, cannot 
 extend to him. He stands personally in need of none of our 
 services : But he has a church on the earth which he identifies 
 with liimself. Are we endeavomnng to promote its interests ? 
 Are we speaking to his honom*, and living to his honom* ? Are 
 we doing all we can to thin the ranks of his enemies, and increase 
 the number of his friends ? Are we daily making prayer for 
 him, and daily also praising him ? 
 
198 THE F.UIILY OF CHRIST. [PAKT H. 
 
 By these plain scriptural marks, we call on you to examine 
 yom'selves. If you have no satisfactory evidence of relation, 
 affection, resemblance, or obedience to Christ, nor of intercourse 
 with him, nor of a mutual interchange of good offices, presume 
 not to take a place among his children. But if, amid many 
 deficiencies, you cannot but discern the outline of this character 
 in yourselves, you are members of the holy family. Come, and 
 welcome. Your Elder Brother sits at the head of his table, and 
 his voice to you is, " Henceforth I call you not servants, but 
 friends. Eat, O friends ; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O 
 beloved" ! 
 
SECTION III. 
 COMMUNION EXHORTATIONS.' 
 
 EXHOETATION I. 
 
 THE KEDEEMING LOVE OF GOD. 
 
 Christianas ! the love of God to sinful men, is an overwhelm- 
 ing subject. It has a height and a depth, a length and a 
 breadth, which bid defiance to the computing powers of created 
 intelligences. It exceeds description ; it " passeth knowledge." 
 
 Of all the numberless blessed effects of this love, the most 
 wonderful is that which we are met this day gratefully to ac- 
 knowledge, and religiously to commemorate : " God so loved 
 the world, that He gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever 
 believeth in him might not perish, but have everlasting life. 
 He spared not his Son, but delivered him up for us all." All 
 the other gifts of God, glorious as they are, lose all their lustre 
 when contrasted with this gift, of value unspeakable, incon- 
 ceivable. 
 
 Who the Son of God is, no created being can fvdly compre- 
 hend. On his vesture and thigh is a name written, the fidl 
 import of which is known only to his Father and to himself; 
 for, " as no man knoweth the Father but the Son, so no man 
 knoweth the Son but the Father." To estimate his excellence 
 exceeds our powers, — exceeds the powers of the highest created 
 
 ' Those readers who may be disappointed iu not finding a greater number of Com- 
 munion Addresses, may be referred to Dr Belfrage's " Sacramental Addresses ;" Dr 
 Smith's " Sacramental Manual ;" Eailes' " Sacramental Exercises ;" and the Author's 
 " Hints on the Lord's Supper, and Thoughts for the Lord's Table." 
 
200 THK REDEEMING LOVE OF GOD. [PART II. 
 
 beintr. Infinite intelligence can alone comprehend infinite per- 
 fection. Fix your attention, Christians, on the scriptural 
 account of his glories, not that you may form an adequate 
 estimate of his -worth, but that you may be penetrated with the 
 conviction that it is altooether inestimable. 
 
 His goings forth have been of old from everlasting. He was 
 "in the beginning." Before the expanse of the heaven was 
 stretched forth, or the sun had learned to know his place, — ere 
 there was a day to rule, or a world to enlighten, — the Son of 
 God existed, enfolded in the bosom of his Father, the partner 
 of his honours, the equal sharer of his fehcities. He is the 
 " brightness of his Father's gloiy, and the express image of his 
 person." By the exertion of his mighty power were the ma- 
 terials of all worlds called into existence; by his matchless 
 skill they were arranged into that harmonious and beautiful 
 system which we now behold ; and by the continued exercise ot 
 the same infinite perfections are they upheld in being, and made 
 to answer the purposes for which they were foniied : " By him 
 were all things created that are in heaven and that are in earth, 
 visible and in\dsible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or 
 principalities, or powers ; all things were created by him, and 
 for him ; and he is before all things, and by him all things 
 subsist." It was he wdio inspired with wisdom the angelic 
 hosts, and communicated understanding to the human soul. 
 All the angels of God worship him, and heaven and earth are 
 full of his glory. 
 
 The Son of God is not more glorious in himself, than he is 
 dear to his Father: "The Father loveth the Son." Clu'ist 
 Jesus receives that appellation in a sense pecuhar to himself. 
 He is God's only-begotten and well-beloved Son. All that is 
 implied in these appellations cannot be comprehended by mortals, 
 but most assuredly they convey the ideas of intimate relation, 
 and boundless complac(;ncy. God regards his saints and angels 
 with compassion and kindness ; but he loves his Son as he loves 
 himself. He knows all the innumerable excellences of his 
 nature, in all their infinite extent ; and up to the full measure of 
 his knowledge, if the expression may be admitted, does He love 
 him. 
 
 Who could have expected, that a person so glorious in him- 
 self, and so dear to God, should ever have been exposed to incon- 
 
EXnORT. I.] THE REDEEMING LOVE OF GOD. 201 
 
 Tenience or to soitow ? Surely it would have been natural to 
 have expected, that the whole universe of creatures should have 
 been allowed to sink in endless perdition, rather than the tran- 
 quillity of the Son of God should have been for a moment ruffled, 
 or his happiness in the slightest degree impaired ? Yet this 
 glorious personage was not spared, when the salvation of a lost 
 world required the sacrifice. When his interposition became 
 necessary it was not withheld, and when he did interpose he was 
 not spared. He was neither excused from suffering, nor spared 
 when he suffered. He was delivered up ; but to whom — to 
 what ? To enemies most formidable and numerous — to agonies 
 most intense and deadly. The more we think of the sufferings 
 of the Son of God, the more we are confounded and astonished. 
 It is an object too big for comprehension — too awful for steady 
 contemplation. He was delivered up to debasement and poverty, 
 to pain and death, — to the power of devils — to the wrath of 
 God. 
 
 And for whom was all this degradation submitted to, and all 
 this suffering endured ? Was it for creatures, unhappy indeed, 
 yet worthy and innocent ? No ; it Avas for rebels against the 
 Divine authority — violators of the Divine law — haters of the 
 Divine purity ; — Christians, it was for you. " Christ died for 
 us ;" he was "delivered up for us all." 
 
 What can you render to the Lord for this, the greatest of his 
 benefits? Take the cup of salvation, and call on the name of 
 the Lord. 
 
 " In that night in which our Lord was betrayed he took 
 bread, and when he had blessed, he brake it, and gave it to the 
 disciples, saying, Take, eat : This is my body which is broken 
 for you. This do in remembrance of me. In like manner also 
 after supper he took the cup, and when he had blessed, he gave it 
 to the disciples, saying, this cup is the New Testament in my 
 blood, shed for remission of sins unto many : Drink ye all of it. 
 And as often as ye eat this bread, and di'ink this cup, ye do show 
 the Lord's death until he come." 
 
 Communicants ! " The lines have fallen to } ou in pleasant 
 
202 THE REDEEMING LOVE OF GOD. [PAKT JI. 
 
 })laces ; yea, ye have a nooclly heritage." Go<l has so loved you, 
 as to give you his Son ; and, in giving him to you, He has in 
 effect given you all you need for time and for eternity. There 
 is no resisting the apostle's conclusion : " lie who spared not his 
 Son, but delivered him up for us all, how will He not with him 
 also fi'cely give you all things?" Yes, Chinstians, "all things 
 are yom's, whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or 
 life, or death, all is yours, ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's." 
 Whatever is really good for you, of a temporal kind, shall not 
 be withheld. If it is necessaiy to your happiness, nay, if it is 
 really conducive to it, you shall be rich, and honourable, and 
 great. Infinite w^isdom knows, however, that, in ordinary cases, 
 riches and honour, and grandeur, instead of being a blessing to 
 the people of God, would be a curse — would entangle them in 
 snares, and seduce them into sin, and therefore has generally 
 assigned them but a moderate portion, sometimes but a scanty 
 one, of worldly goods. Yet the poorest of you enjoy the benefits 
 confeiTcd on you by a securer tenure than the richest and 
 mightiest of the sons of the world : Ye " inherit the earth." 
 What you have is yours by the charter of the new covenant, is 
 the pledge of your Father's love, and the earnest of a better in- 
 heritance. Fear not want ; for the all-sufficient God assures 
 you that you shall not want any good thing : " What is good 
 God will give : He will give grace and glory." 
 
 The best part of yom* inheritance, however, is that which is 
 spiritual in its nature, and eternal in its duration. Whatever 
 is necessaiy to remove the guilt, to piu'ify the pollution, and to 
 subdue the power of sin — to fill the mind with all necessary 
 knowledge, and adorn the heart with all holy dispositions — to 
 stimulate indolence, to assist weakness, to protect in danger, to 
 comfort in sorrow, will certainly be conferred on you. Comfort 
 in life, safety in death, happiness for ever, are all included in 
 yom' inheritance. 
 
 Do unl)eHcving fears rise in your minds, lest those delightful 
 anticii)ations should never be realised ? Look through these 
 elements at the crucified Son of God, and be ashamed of your 
 suspicions. God has given you his Son, and what will He 
 refuse you i The gift of Jesus is incomparably more valuable 
 than any other, than the aggregate of all his other gifts ; and 
 He who has given you the greater will imt refuse the less. The 
 
EXHORT. I.] THJ^. REDEEMING LOVE OF GOD. 203 
 
 bestowal of all that is requisite for your happiness, is necessarily 
 connected with the gift of Christ. lie was given for you, that 
 these benefits may be given to you. Were these refused, the 
 unspeakable gift oi" God would have been bestowed in vain. 
 In truth, Christ and his benefits cannot be separated. He who 
 has the one must have the other. He who has Christ, has of 
 course " wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and re- 
 demption." Ye are happy indeed, Christians, would you but 
 believe your happiness, for ye may enjoy Christ in all things, 
 and all things in Christ. When God gave his Son for you, ye 
 were enemies ; now, through the reconciling efficacy of his 
 atonement, ye are friends. ISIost conclusively does the apostle 
 argue on this subject, " God commendeth his love to us, in that 
 while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. Much more, 
 being justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wTath 
 through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were re- 
 conciled by the death of his Son, much more being reconciled 
 we shall be saved through his life." The gift of Christ Jesus, 
 is a proof (what can be a stronger one ? ) of the love of God to 
 those for whom he was given ; and "whom He loves. He loves to 
 the end." He resteth in his love : " He is the same yesterday, 
 to-day, and for ever." 
 
 "How great is his goodness! and how great is his beauty !" 
 Let it ever be present to your minds, as the ground of your 
 hope, the source of your joy, and the motive of yoiu' obedience : 
 "O love the Lord, all ye his saints!" And, in proof of your 
 love, reverence his authority, and obey his laws. " Delivered 
 out of the hands of your enemies, by the tender mercy of your 
 God, see that ye serve Him without fear, in righteousness and 
 holiness all the days of your life." — Go in peace. 
 
EXHORTATION II. 
 
 THE LOVE OF CHRIST. 
 
 " We have thought of thy loving-kindness, O God ! in the 
 midst of thy temple." Christians, imitate the holy psalmist's 
 example, and think ye of the loving-kindness of the great God 
 yom^- SaA-iour, now that, in the multitude of his mercies, he has 
 brought you to his table. It is a delightful theme. Allow me 
 for a few moments to guide your thoughts on it. 
 
 Think of the early commencement of his loving-kindness. It 
 is an overwhelming thought, — there never was a period when 
 your Saviour began to love you. There was indeed a period, 
 and ye may recollect the time, when ye hated him, when ye 
 violated his law, contemned his authority, and trampled on his 
 atoning sacrifice ; and his love was first manifested, when he 
 turned you from darkness to light, and, by the invincible power 
 of his grace, sweetly constrained you to love him. But did he 
 then begin to love you ? No ; your conversion was the conse- 
 ([uence, not the cause of his love : " He loved you with an ever- 
 lasting love : therefore with loving kindness did he draw you." 
 That the eternal Son of God sliovild from unbeginning ages 
 regard with love the worthless, guilty, depraved children of men, 
 is indeed an idea which may well confound us by its grandeur, 
 and amaze us by its strangeness ; but, blessed be God, it is not 
 more grand and astonishing than true and consolatory. 
 
 Think, Christians, of the inconceivable ardour and intensity 
 of your Saviour's love. Human language cannot express its 
 fervoui* and tenderness. Maternal attection is, perhaps, the 
 strongest instinctive principle of the human constitution. None 
 but a mother can tell tlie tender anxiety and watchTul love 
 which agitates the bosom of a mother, when, in spcecliless 
 
EXHORT. II.] THE LOVE OF CHRIST. 205 
 
 tenderness, she hangs over the cradle of her sick infant ; but a 
 thousand times more ardent, a thousand times more tender, is 
 the compassion wliich glows in the bosom of the Saviour towards 
 all his people : " Can a woman forget her sucking child, that 
 she should not have compassion on the son of her womb ? yea, 
 she may forget, yet will not He forget thee." But the journey 
 fi'om heaven to earth, the toils and the sorrow, the wounds and 
 the death, of the Son of God, are the most satisfactory proofs 
 of the ardour of his loving kindness. 
 
 Think, Christians, of the immutability of your Saviour's loving- 
 kindness. He is " the Father of lights, with whom there is no 
 variableness, neither shadow of tui'ning." He resteth in his love, 
 and his name is " Jesus, the same yesterday, to-day, and for 
 ever." He may not — he Avill not — always bless you with equally 
 clear manifestations of his love ; and for this reason, — " your 
 sins often separate between you and your Saviour, and your 
 iniquities hide his face fi'om you." But, oh ! you argue ill, 
 Christians, if you conclude, because he afflicts yon, therefore he 
 loves you not. The opposite inference is the truth. He afflicts 
 you because he loves you. His afflictive dispensations are the 
 fruits of his affection. They are the fulfilment of some of the 
 most precious promises of the everlasting covenant — the charter 
 by which you hold all your blessings. The cause of his love is 
 not in you, but in himself; and while he continues the same, his 
 love will remain unaltered, unalterable. Sooner will the ever- 
 lasting mountains be plucked from their deep-seated foundations 
 — sooner will the universe dissolve like a vision — as soon will the 
 throne of the Eternal crumble into ashes, as thy Savioui' vary in 
 his love. 
 
 Think, Christians, of the endless duration of your Saviour's 
 love : " Whom he loves, he loves unto the end." Ye are inter- 
 ested in the favour of the Eternal, and " who can separate you 
 from his love ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or 
 famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Nay, in all these 
 things," if called to encounter them, ye shall be made "more 
 than conquerors, through him who loved you." Be persuaded, 
 Christians, " that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor princi- 
 palities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor 
 height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate 
 you from the love of Jesus Clu'ist, your Lord." 
 
206 THE LOVE OF CHRIST. [PART II. 
 
 Think, Christians, of the active and beneficent nature of the 
 Saviour's loving-kindness. It led him to labour, and suffer, and 
 die for you. It has procured for you the favour of God, the 
 delights of holiness, and the glories of paradise. All you have, 
 all you hope foi', flows from this love. 
 
 And O forget not, Christians, the free, unmerited, unsolicited 
 character of the SaA-iour's love. The love of Christ to sinners is 
 of a description altogether pecuhar. It is a love, not to dignity, 
 but to meanness ; not to beauty, but to deformity ; not to inno- 
 cence, but to guilt ; in one word, and nothing more extraordinary 
 can be said about it, it is the love of an infinitely holy and just 
 God to guilty and depraved sinners. 
 
 While you muse, Clu^istians, does not the fire of love bui'n 
 within you, and are you not constrained to say, " We will re- 
 member thy love more than wine : We will think of thy loving 
 kindness in the midst of thy temple " ? In the amazing act now 
 emblematically set before you, the death of Christ, you have the 
 most abundant evidence of the inconceivable love of your Saviour ; 
 receive the sacred pledge of his kindness with reverence and 
 with love. 
 
 AFTER COMMUNICATING. 
 
 Communicants ! " Ye have thought of the loving-kindness of 
 God your Saviour in the midst of his temple." I hope your 
 meditation of him has been sweet, and that you are now disposed 
 to say, " We love him, who first loved us." 
 
 " O love the Lord, all ye his saints !" It had been your duty 
 to have loved him though he had never loved you. He is the 
 most amiable and worthy of beings, and therefore the proper 
 object of the supreme esteem and love of all intelligent creatures. 
 But your obligations to love him are certainly greatly increased, 
 by what he has done, and suffered, and procured for you. For 
 you he left the honours and felicities of his pre-existent state ; 
 for you he took on him the nature of a man, the form of a servant, 
 and the likeness of a sinner ; for you he toiled and suffered ; for 
 you he bled and died : for you he obtained the favour of his 
 Father, and the graces of his Spirit — the ho])e of immortality. 
 
EXLIOKT. II.] THE LOVE OF CHRIST. 207 
 
 and the joys of paradise. Let a deep sense of his transcendant 
 excellence, and his inconceivable kindness, ever dwell upon your 
 lieart, and excite a warm and active reciprocal affection. 
 
 Cautiously guard against every thing that has a tendency to 
 abate the fervour of your love. If you are true lovers of the 
 Saviour, you can never cease to love him. The Holy Spirit, 
 who is the author of the love of Christ, as of every other holy 
 principle in the heart of man, dwells in you, and will continue 
 with you for ever. But, by involving yourselves too deeply in 
 the cares or pleasures of the world, you are in danger of grieving 
 the Spirit of love, and of provoking him to withdraw his enliven- 
 ing influence. Live above the svorld, if you would wish to enjoy 
 the manifestations of Jesus' love to you, and experience the 
 pleasures which flow from your love to Jesus. Oh ! it ill be- 
 comes you. Christians, to give yom'selves up to a languid 
 incUfference with respect to the Saviour. Yet thus it too often 
 is. The heart is cold under the melting beams of the Sun of 
 Righteousness ; and the affections are dull and stupid, when 
 they should be waked to rapture at the remembrance of his 
 love. Surely, my brethren, these things ought not so to be. 
 Is this your kindness to your friend ? It was not thus tliat 
 Jesus loved you. His affection was unabated and unvarying. 
 The floods of Divine wrath could not quench it ; the thunders 
 of angiy Omnipotence could not terrify it ; and all the glories 
 of the celestial state cannot induce him, for a moment, to neglect 
 the prosecution of the work of love. Sure I am, Christian, 
 whatever may be the cause of yoiu* declining afiection, it is not 
 to be fomid in the object of your love. Pie has not become 
 less amiable or excellent. He is the same yesterday, to-day, 
 and for ever. His heart is still as tender — his hand is still as 
 liberal, as when you first experienced his love. He is never 
 weary of doing you good. O never be weary of the reasonable 
 and delightful senice of rendering love for love. Instead of 
 your love waxing cold, let the fervom- of your affection increase 
 in proportion to your increasing knowledge of his excellence, and 
 experience of his kindness. 
 
 Manifest your love to the Savioui', by abounding in exercises 
 of kindness to him. Often think of him. Contemplate the 
 dignity of his person, and the beauties and glories of his media- 
 torial character. Let thoughts of Jesus sanctify and sweeten 
 
208 THE LOVE OF CHRIST. [PART IT. 
 
 all your meditations. Often speak to him. Though he is un- 
 seen, he is ever near. Tell him all your wants, and fears, and 
 sorrows. In eveiything, by prayer and supplication, with thanks- 
 giving, make your requests known to him. Often speak of 
 him. Speak of him to your fellow-saints, that you may inflame 
 their affections. Speak of him to sinners, who know him not, 
 that you may lead them into a saving acquaintance with his 
 love. Imitate his example — love his ordinances — esteem and 
 do good to his people — support his interest — and, in one word, 
 obey his law. Retiring fi'om his table, carry this solemn in- 
 junction on your consciences and hearts : " If ye love me, keep 
 my commandments. He that hath my commandments and 
 keepeth them, he it is that loveth me." Go in peace. 
 
EXHORTATION III. 
 
 THE SUFFERINGS OF CHRIST, AND THE MALIGNITY OF SIN. 
 
 Christians ! tlie sufferings to which yoiu' believing and affec- 
 tionate contemplation should now be directed, as the expiation of 
 your guilt, the price of your redemption, and the foundation of 
 your hope, were beyond concejition intense and agonizing. The 
 depth of the debasement to ^^•hich your Lord subn)itted, the 
 severity of the anguish which he endured, cannot be conceived 
 by the imagination, nor told in the language of mortals. A con- 
 sideration of the cause, however, for which he siiffered, may 
 enable us to form some idea of their prodigious extent ; or, at 
 any rate, may sen^e to impress us with this tnith, that our most 
 dreadful conceptions of them come far short of the dreadful 
 reality. 
 
 Chiist Jesus, " the Just One, suffered in the room of the un- 
 just." " He who knew no sin, was made a sin-offering in our 
 stead." He suffered for sin, and in the room of sinners. He 
 died, to expiate our guilt, avert our perdition, and secure oiu* 
 salvation. Sin is an evil of inconceivable magnitude : It is 
 the violation of obligations endlessly varied, and infinitely power- 
 ful. Our obligations to love and serve God, as they arise from, 
 so they must correspond to, the excellencies of his nature, the 
 relations we bear to him, and the favours which we receive fi*om 
 him. The perfections of his nature are, in the widest sense of 
 the word, infinite. Our relations to him, as our creator, o\u' 
 preserver, our governor, our judge, are numerous and intimate ; 
 and the blessings we receive from him are in number infinite, 
 and in value incalculable. Sin, then, must involve, in its very 
 essence, the violation of obligations inconceivably strong : It is 
 rebellion against the highest autliority, and ingratitude for the 
 
 * o 
 
210 THE SUFFERINGS OF CHRIST, [PARTII. 
 
 greatest goodness : It is disobedience to the best of i)arents, and 
 treason against the greatest of rulers : It is to pour contempt on 
 infinite condescension and kindness, and to set at defiance infinite 
 power and indignation, ^^'^hat then is the just desert of sin ? 
 What is the merited doom of the sinner 1 The answer of reason 
 and of God is, — Death, and destruction — the second death — 
 everlasting destruction. Every sin desenes this, for God has 
 said so ; and if every sin, surely much more every sinner : for 
 what man has not been guilty of thousands, of tens of thousands 
 of criminal actions ? 
 
 Jesus suffered, not for one offence, but for innumerable oflFences 
 — not for one sinner but for a multitude of sinners, whom no man 
 can number : " The Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all. 
 Exaction was made, and he became answerable. The chastise- 
 ment of our peace was upon him."^ He bare all that was 
 necessary, in the estimation of a righteous God, to render it 
 consistent with the principles of his moral government, to 
 pardon and save sinners of mankind. He sustained the weight 
 of Omnipotent displeasure at sin ; that eternal opposition to 
 moral evil, which has produced such tremendous consequences 
 on sinning men and angels. How dreadful, then, must have 
 been his mental sufferings when he groaned in Gethsemane and 
 bled on Calvary ! This, this accounts for his deep groans, and 
 his speechless agony : This explains these otherwise most mys- 
 terious words, " My God, my God, why hast Tiiou forsaken 
 me!" His understanding was clear and unclouded. He knew 
 the full extent of the demerit of sin, with which he was charged : 
 He surveyed it in all its fearful dimensions, in all its terrifying 
 aspects. He saw the dark cloud big with the thunderbolts of 
 Divine indignation, he perceived it ready to discharge its thou- 
 sand deaths on his devoted person : He knew the fl'ai*ful power 
 of the wrath of Jehovah : yet he meekly bowed his anointed 
 head to the eternal decree — the bolt descended, and the Man, 
 Jehovah's fellow, sunk do^m into the dust of death. But he 
 thus exhausted the contents of the WTathf\il cloud ; it has evan- 
 ished from the sky ; and on those who by the faith of the Gospel 
 are interested in the saving efi'ects of that death, the light of 
 Divine favour shines for ever with mild, unclouded radiance. " It 
 
 ' Isa. liii. C, 7. Lowtli. 
 
EXHORT. III.] . AND THE MALIGNITY OF SIN. 211 
 
 is finislied," Cliristiaiis ! all is finished that was necessary to com- 
 plete your deliverance : Your sins are expiated, your salvation is 
 secured ; and this bread and tliis cup are the testimonies, that 
 " in Christ ye have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness 
 of sins, according to the riches of Divine grace." 
 
 AFTER COMMUNICATING. 
 
 Communicants ! the malignity of sin, and the severity of the 
 Saviour's sufferings, mutually illustrate each other. In the 
 malignity of sin ye have seen the severity of the Saviour's suffer- 
 ings ; now, in the intensity of the Saviom^'s sufferings, contem- 
 plate the malignity of human transgi-essions. Though " fools 
 make a mock at sin," to the reflecting mind innumerable and 
 palpable proofs present themselves, " that it is an evil and a 
 bitter thing." The malignity of moral e\'il is wi'itten in legible 
 characters on the ills of life, — sickness, disease, and pain — pesti- 
 lence, famine, and war — disappointment, sorrow, and remorse — 
 in the agonies of dissolution, and the torments of hell. But he 
 who would wish to see sin in all the hateflilness of its natui'e, 
 the ruinousness of its tendencies, and the horror of its deserts, 
 must take up the position which you now occupy, and tm-n the 
 eye of the mind to an incarnate, suffering, dying Saviom* — to 
 Bethlehem, to Gethsemane, and to Calvaiy. 
 
 Behold him who is the Brightness of his Father's glory, and 
 the express image of his person ; who is in the form of God, and 
 God over all blessed for ever, clothed in hmnan nature, and 
 leading the life of a man of son'ows and acquainted with griefs ! 
 Behold the Lord of angels insulted by men, and tempted by the 
 devil ! Behold the Son of God, deserted of his Father, hanging 
 on a cross, shut out from all sensible commimications of Divine 
 assistance, and suffering the most dreadful effects of Divine indig- 
 nation at sin, Avhile nature shudders at the sight, and the sun 
 hides his face fi'om beholding a scene so homble ! And then say. 
 Christians, if it is a light thing to violate the obligations of the 
 Divine law, and to contemn the authority of the God of heaven ? 
 
 Is sin, then, so malignant in its natui'e, and so tremendous in 
 its consequences ? Did it expose our generous Lord, oui dear 
 Redeemer, to so much degradation and distress — so much bodily 
 
212 THE SUFFERINGS OF CHRIST, , [PART II. 
 
 anguish and mental agony ? And shall not you, Christians, 
 regard it with a mixed emotion of terror and detestation? shall 
 it not be your first desire, and your most assiduous labour, to 
 discard it from your conduct, and to exterminate it from your 
 hearts ? Are you not afraid of its power, sick of its tyranny, 
 and anxious, above all things, to be dehvered from its influence ? 
 In the sufferings of Christ ye have not only the completest evi- 
 dence of the detestable and fatal nature of sin, but of the certainty 
 of your being ultimately delivered from its poAver. These severe 
 sufferings of the incarnate Son of God " finished transgression, 
 made an end of sin, and brought in an everlasting righteousness." 
 They did more : " they condemned sin in the flesh, which the 
 law could never have done ; so that the righteousness of the law 
 may be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the 
 Spirit." If you have a right to the station which you now occupy, 
 you are already delivered from the thraldom of sin : " Yom' old 
 man is crucified with Christ, that the body of sui may be de- 
 stroyed, that ye may no longer serve sin. Reckon then your- 
 selves dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God, through Jesus 
 Christ our Lord. Let not sin, then, reign in yom* mortal body, 
 that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield yoiir 
 members to sin, as the instimmcnts of unrighteousness, but jneld 
 yom'selves mito God, as those who are alive from the dead ; and 
 your members to God, as the instruments of righteousness. For 
 sin shall not have dominion over you, for ye are not under the 
 law, but under grace." 
 
 It is likely, that some of you feel it difficult to believe in this 
 legal security from the power of sin, while you feel so much of 
 its active influence within you. But trace the evil to its source, 
 and you will find that it flows from a want of due confidence in 
 the Divine promise. Improve this ordinance, for strengthen- 
 ing your faith in the sanctif^dng as well as the expiatory 
 efficacy of the Saviour's atonement, and you will find it a most 
 powerful instrument for subduing the corrupt principle hi all 
 its various forms. You have seen, as it were with your eyes, 
 the new covenant ratified in the blood of the Redeemer; and are 
 there not in this covenant, promises of deliverance from the 
 depraving influence, as well as the condenming power of ini{iuity'? 
 " Trust in the Lord for ever." Live by the I'aith of the Son of 
 God, and your lives will be at once lives of holiness and of peace. 
 
EXIIOUT. III.] AND THE MALIGNITY OF SIN. 213 
 
 — honourable to your Saviour and edifying to his people : " Be 
 strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might." In his 
 strength " give all diligence to add to your faith virtue, and to 
 virtue knowledge, and to knowledge temperance, and to tem- 
 perance patience, and to patience godKness, and to godliness 
 brotherly-kindness, and to brotherly-kin cbiess charity; for if these 
 things be in you and abound, they shall make you that ye shall 
 be neither idle nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ." " Be strong, and let not your hands be weak, for 
 your work shall be rewarded." 
 
EXHORTATION IV. 
 
 THE CHRISTIAN SALVATION. 
 
 " How mucli owest tliou unto my Lord ? " is a question which in 
 your case, Christians, is not very easily answered. You owe 
 Him much, but how much, language cannot express, nor. ima- 
 gination conceive. All the blessings of the Christian salvation 
 are the fruits of his bounty ; and these blessings are infinitely 
 nimierous, and every one of them inconceivably valuable : " They 
 could not have been gotten for gold, neither could silver have 
 been weighed for their price : they cannot be valued with the 
 gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx and the sapphire. The 
 gold and the crystal cannot equal them : their exchange shall 
 not be for jewels of fine gold. No mention shall be made of 
 coral or of pearls, for their price is above rubies. The topaz of 
 Ethiopia cannot equal them, neither shall they be valued wnth 
 ])nre gold." The power of the highest angel, though employed 
 through all eternity on the subject, could not collect all the items, 
 nor sum up the mighty aggregate of yoiir debt to my Lord : — 
 Yet is the labour by no means undelightful or unprofitable, to 
 exercise our feeble powers in this species of spiritual arithmetic ; 
 for, thougli we never can fully estimate the extent of liis kindness 
 and our obligation, we may thus obtain a deeper impression of a 
 truth well fitted to excite gi'ateful delight, and to stimulate to 
 diligent obedience — that both are incalculable. 
 
 Few employments are more appropriate to your present cir- 
 cumstances, than such a survey of the benefits of the Christian 
 salvation as has been now adverted to ; for all these blessings, 
 while to you the free gift of God, are the dear-earned purchase 
 of the sacrifice of that holy sufTering hinnanity of tlie Son of God, 
 of which the instituted emblems stand now l)ef(ii'(' vou. The 
 
EXHOKT. IV.] THE CHRISTIAN SALVATION. 215 
 
 price and the purchase will reflect mutual illustration on each 
 other ; and the higher value we learn to set on both, the more 
 pleasant and profitable will be our communion feast. 
 
 In order to make your conceptions on this subject at once more 
 vivid, accurate, and impressive, allow your mind to rest for a few 
 moments on your situation, previously to your becoming par- 
 takers of the grace of the gospel. Children of wrath and of dis- 
 obedience — condemned already — enemies of God, and objects of 
 his displeasure — hopelessly, because wilfully enslaved to Satan 
 and to sin — mortal, yet without anything to sweeten the bitter- 
 ness of death — immortal, yet destitute of all prospect of an eternity 
 of blessedness ; such was your situation and character, for such 
 is the situation and character of all the children of our fallen 
 progenitor. Above you was an angry Deity, around you the 
 instruments of his ^'engeance, and beneath was the gulph of per- 
 dition, yawning wide to receive you. 
 
 Turning from this scene of horror with a mixed emotion of 
 terror and gratitude — terror at the danger escaped, gratitude for 
 the blessings obtained — fix your minds on the glories and felicities 
 of the Christian salvation : " In Christ ye have redemption 
 through his blood, the forgiveness of sins." Ye are " accepted in 
 the Beloved." " Justified by faith, ye have peace with God through 
 our Lord Jesus Christ ; by whom also ye have access by faith 
 into that grace wherein ye stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory 
 of God." Ye are " created anew in Christ Jesus to good works." 
 Ye are become new creatures : " old things are passed away, and 
 all things are become new." God, even the Father of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ, loves you, and blesses you with heavenly and spiri- 
 tual blessings. He invests you with the dignity, and forms you 
 to the chsposition of his children : Ye are made " partakers of a 
 Divine nature," and " the Spirit of grace and of glory rests on you." 
 All things work together for your good. None can separate you 
 from the love of God. None can pluck you out of the Saviour's 
 hand. Angels are your guardians, Christ is your brother, and 
 God is your Father : " Beloved, now are ye the sons of God ; 
 and it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that 
 when He shall appear, we also shall appear with Him in glory." — 
 This is only an outline of the benefits of the Christian salvation ; 
 but it has the advantage of being drawn by tlie pencil of inspira- 
 tion. 
 
216 THE CHKISTIAN SALVATION. [I'AKT II. 
 
 It is indeed :i salvation which includes in it '' the enjoyment 
 of God and all his perfections, of Christ and all his benefits, of 
 the Holy Spirit and all his graces, of the new covenant and all 
 its immunities, of the gospel and all its promises, and, what 
 crowns all, it includes in it the enjoyment of all these for ever 
 and ever."^ Oh, how valuable must have been the sacrifice 
 which purchased this salvation — how boundless the generosity 
 which bestows it ! While in this holy institution you contenij)late 
 this salvation so dearly purchased, so freely bestowed — when you 
 see the Saviom"'s body and blood at once given for you, and to 
 you, — bless the Lord with all your souls, and forget not all his 
 benefits. 
 
 AFTER COMMUNICATING. 
 
 Communicants ! the holy ordinance in which you have just 
 been engaged, was originally appointed by the Saviour, in the 
 immediate prospect of his death; and ought to be observed by 
 his followers, in the anticipation of their being made conformable 
 to him in his death, and going do\Aai to the place where the Lord 
 lay. For, wide as is the extent of the Christian salvation, it in- 
 cludes not in it exemption from the ordinaiy lot of mortals : 
 " It is appointed to men once to die :" and the saint, as well as 
 the sinner, must bow to the Divine ordination. Yes : children 
 of immortality as ye are, ye must submit to the stroke of death : 
 " Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God ; neither 
 doth corruption inherit incorruption." 
 
 The recollections which naturally present themselves to your 
 minds, in your present circumstances, are peculiarly calculated 
 to excite a deep sense of your mortality. Where are the Chris- 
 tians with whom, in your earlier years, you were wont, in this 
 place, to compass the altar of God % Where are the servants of 
 Christ, who used, on these solemn occasions, to minister to your 
 spiritual improvement % " Your fathers, where are they % and 
 the prophets, do they live for ever ?" The venerable form^ which 
 used to occupy the place where now I stand, is already dissolved 
 into its original elements, while the ardent sj)int which animated 
 
 ' Grosvcnor. • The Rev. John Low, wlio died Nov. 1804. 
 
KXlIOUr. IV.] THE CIIUISTIAN SALVATIOX. 217 
 
 it is, we trust, a flaming minister of God, among ten thousand 
 flaming ministers. Your fathers, who used here to worship, are 
 fathered to the conm'egation of the dead ; and not a few of them 
 also to " the general assembly and church of the first-born, whose 
 names are written in heaven." Yet a little longer, and the lips 
 Avhich now address you must be sealed in the silence of death ; 
 and those hearts which are now-, I trust, animated and agitated 
 by devotional feeling, shall be cold and motionless as the turf 
 which covers them. 
 
 These anticipations, Christians, ought certainly to inspire seri- 
 ousness ; but in you they need not, they ought not, to produce 
 melancholy. In the belieiing recollection of the Saviour's death, 
 you have all that is necessary to render the prospect of your own 
 not merely tolerable, but delightful : " The sting of death is sin, 
 and the strength of sin is the law." But Jesus, by dying, has 
 satisfied the law, which gave sin its power — and destroyed sin, 
 which gave death its terrors. In consequence of his death, you 
 shall not wholly die, and you shall not die /or ever. Yom* bod^ 
 must die, but your soul shall not perish : " The body is dead be- 
 cause of sin, but the spirit is life because of righteousness." 
 When " absent from the body," ye shall be " present with the 
 Lord." Freed from all those physical evils of which the body is 
 the seat, and from all those moral evils, too, of which it is the 
 occasion, your purified spirits shall be admitted into the most in- 
 timate acquaintance va\\\ the Divine character, and be blessed 
 with the most ravishino; connnunications of the Divine love. It 
 is true, you must bid adieu to all yom* earthly relatives and 
 friends ; but you go to the house of your heavenly Father, to 
 mingle with yom* spiritual kindred. It is true that you must 
 relmquish for ever the ordinances of gi-ace, in which you have 
 experienced so much enjoyment ; but you go to the God of ordi- 
 nances, and, instead of chinking at the streams, you ascend to 
 the fountain of blessedness. It is true, you must close your eyes, 
 to open them no more, on the glorious sun, and tliis beautiful 
 system of things ; but you go to a world where " there is no need 
 of the light of the sun, for the glory of Jehovah and the Lamb 
 enlightens it." 
 
 And even that part of you which must die shall not die for 
 ever : " If the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus fi'om the dead 
 dwell in you, he that raised uj) Christ ft'om tlie dead shall also 
 
218 THE CHRISTIAN SALVATION. [I'ART II. 
 
 quicken your mortul bodies, by liis Spirit that dwelleth in you. 
 Yes, though your flesh must " see corruption," it " shall rest in 
 hope." The dead bodies of the saints remain connected with the 
 person of the Son of God, and are under the immediate care of 
 Omnipotent kindness. He who reared the wondrous fabrics, 
 watches over their consecrated ruins ; and he will in due time 
 collect their scattered atoms, arrange them in then- former comely 
 proportions, and form them into " builchngs of God, houses not 
 made with hands, eternal in the heavens." And oh how changed, 
 how improved, will be the corporeal part of the fi'ames of the saints 
 when reunited to its immaterial companion ! " It is sown in 
 coiTuption ; it is raised in incorruption : it is sowti in dishonour ; 
 it is raised in gloiy : it is sowm in weakness ; it is raised in 
 power : it is sown a natural body ; it is raised a spiritual body." 
 We show forth the death of our Lord, in the expectation of his 
 second coming ; and we know our expectation sliall not be disap- 
 pointed : " For to them that look for him, he will come the 
 second time without sin unto salvation." And when he does 
 come from heaven, " he will change our vile bodies, and fashion 
 them like unto his glorious body, according to the working 
 whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself." 
 
 Why, then, Christians, should you be afi'aid to die? Your 
 spirits shall ascend immediately to the bosom of Jesus, and your 
 bodies slee}) in ])cace in the bosom of the earth, till the morning 
 of the resurrection. Nor let the anticipation of the exanimating 
 sickness and the intense pain which fi'oquently precede dissolu- 
 tion, nor of the unknown agonies of the last conflict, alarm your 
 minds. All is in the hands of Him who is infinitely wise, and 
 pow'crful, and kind. Jesus can make — he often has " made a 
 dying bed feel soft as downy pillows are." " As your day is, so 
 shall your strength be." When you walk through the valley of 
 the shadow of death, ye shall fear no Q\i\, for God your Saviour 
 will be with you : His rod and staft' shall giude and sustain your 
 steps. " He that testifieth these things saith. Surely I come 
 (juickly. Amen : Even so come. Lord Jesus. The grace of 
 om' Lord Jesus Chiist be with vou all. Amen."' 
 
SECTION IV. 
 CONCLUDING EXHORTATIONS. 
 
 EXHORTATION I. 
 
 HABITUAL REMEMBRANCE OF CHRIST RECOMMENDED. 
 
 Christian Brethren ! the peculiar solemnities of tliis day's 
 worslii]! are now closed. With much external decency and 
 apparent devotion, and, I trust, also in the exercise of faith, and 
 love, and reverence, and penitence, and joy, you have eaten 
 bread and drunk wine, in commemoration of the Saviour's djnng 
 love. Before we separate, allow me to press on youi* attention 
 these two most im])ortant practical truths — that remembrance of 
 Christ should not be merely an occasional exercise, but a habitual 
 employment ; and that faith, and love, and reverence, and 
 penitence, and joy, should not be mere transient sentiments and 
 feelings, but abiding and operative principles. 
 
 I, " Whatsoever ye do, whether in word or in deed, do all in 
 the name of the Lord Jesus, gi"\dng thanks to God the Father 
 by him." — " Bear about in the body the d^-ing of the Lord 
 Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be manifest in your 
 body." 
 
 Remember Christ when you are called to the discharge of 
 duty. Without tliis every duty will be difficult ; with it every 
 duty will be comparatively easy. When you feel your own 
 weakness, and are in dangev of abandoning your duty in despair, 
 remember fum in whom " it pleased the Father that all ftdness 
 
220 H.UJITL AL Kli.MLMBliANCE [l»Al:T II. 
 
 should clwcll," tliat " out of tliat fulness liis people might receive, 
 and gi'ace for grace." Trusting in his ])romise, that " his grace 
 shall be sufficient for you," you shall be " able to do all things 
 through him strengthening you." 
 
 When a sense of the many imperfections and improprieties 
 which attend yoiu' best services, excites in you a fear, that, 
 instead of meeting with reward, they will draw down on you 
 punishment, remember IIIM, on the gi'ound of whose all-perfect 
 righteousness you are made accepted of God, on the ground of 
 whose all-prevalent intercessions your prayers and sen-ices rise 
 with acceptance before him. 
 
 Remember Christ, and you will never want an example to 
 imitate : you will be furnished with a complete practical directory 
 in the plainest and most interesting form. Would you wish to 
 know how you should think, feel, and act? Remember how 
 Jesus thought, and felt, and acted, and as " he has set you an 
 example, follow his steps." 
 
 Remember Christ, and you will never want motives to urge 
 you to the discharge of duty : habitually remember that he loved 
 you, and gave himself for you ; and surely you must be sweetly 
 constrained " to live not to yourselves, but to him who died for 
 you, and who rose again." It is because we are so forgetful of 
 Christ, that we are so remiss in the practice of Christian \^ue. 
 How could we be weary in well-doing, if we always bore in mind 
 the unwearying assiduity of our Lord and Saviour ? How could 
 we be neglectful of, or languid in, devotional duties, if we habit- 
 ually recollected HIM, " who, in the days of his flesh, offered up 
 supplications, with strong ciying and tears, and was heard in 
 that he feared?" How could we be "angry at our brother 
 without cause," when we thought of HIM who died for his 
 enemies ? How could we refuse relief to a distressed Christian, 
 when we remembered the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, 
 " It is more blessed to give than to receive. Inasmuch as ye do 
 it to the least of these my brethren, ye do it unto me ;" or thought 
 •of " the grace of the Lord Jesus, who though he was rich became 
 poor, that we through his poverty might be made rich ?" 
 
 It is equally necessary and advantageous for you. Christians, 
 to remember Christ in the day of trial as in the day of exertion. 
 The remembrance of him is equally calculated to enable us to 
 suffer, as to do, the will of God. Remember Christ, and you 
 
EXIIOli,!'. I.] OF CIIKIST RECOMMENDED. 221 
 
 will cease both to wonder at and lament your afflictions. He 
 was a sufferer ; and " is it not enough that the disciple is as his 
 Master, and the servant as his Lord ? " " He suffered for you, 
 leaving you an example that ye should follow his steps." Is it 
 strange, tliat a crucified Saviour should requii"e his disciples to 
 take up their cross and to follow him ? 
 
 Kemember Christ, and in all your afflictions you will have a 
 living directory how to conduct yourselves under the mighty 
 hand of God. O strive to copy out in your temper, the fair 
 exemplar he has set, of firm foith, humble resignation, invincible 
 fortitude, and unwearied patience. 
 
 Remember Christ, and you will find abundant consolation and 
 good hope amid all the afflictions with which you may be visited. 
 His sufferings extracted the wormwood and gall of the Divine 
 curse out of yours, and the tender sympathy acquired by these 
 sufferings, opens up an exhaustless source of consolation and of 
 joy : " In all things he was tempted like as you are, yet without 
 sin." Are you exposed to the " fieiy darts of the wicked one ?" 
 Remember that he sustained the attack of the whole host of 
 darkness, and came off more than a conqueror. Are you despised 
 and maltreated b}' an ungodly world ? Remember " that the 
 world hated him before it hated you ; and be of good cheer, for 
 Jesus has overcome the w^orld." Are you oppressed with poverty? 
 Remember him who was so poor as not to have where to lay his 
 head, and cheerfully bear an evil which the Son of God has 
 sanctified and sweetened by enduring. Ai'e you reproached ? 
 Remember him whose heart wa% broken by reproach, and, like 
 him, quietly " commit your cause to Ilim who judgeth righte- 
 ously." Are you weeping over the closing grave, or, still 
 bitterer affliction ! over the faithless unkindness of a much- 
 beloved friend ? Remember him, " from whom lover and ac- 
 quaintance were far removed, and his friend into darkness ;" and 
 cling " close and closer" to that fi'iend who sticketh closer than 
 a brother. 
 
 There is an hour awaiting thee, Christian, dark with " the 
 shadow of death," covered with clouds, and full of terror — the 
 hour in which thy spirit, separated from its mortal companion, 
 must shoot the untried gulf of eternity, — in which recollection 
 of the Saviour is peculiarly important to thy safety and thy 
 peace : in that hour. Christian, forget not thy Lord, as thou 
 
222 HABITUAL REMEMBRANCE [PART II. 
 
 woultlest not wisli tlien to befortrotten by him. Fix thy thoughts 
 on liiin, as tlie Conqueror of death, the Destroyer of the grave, 
 the Lord of eternity ; and, as it has been thy principal study to 
 be Hke him in his hfe, let it be thy closing ambition "to be made 
 conformable to him in his death." The remembrance of Jesus 
 is a sovereign charm for chasing away those alanning visions 
 which are apt to gather around a dying bed ; and the persuasion 
 of his love has often, in a great measure, superseded the agonies 
 of dissolving nature. 
 
 Need I add. Christian ! remember Christ throughout eternity. 
 The advice were a needless one. His glories shine so bright in 
 that blessed world, that they necessarily fix the attention, and 
 excite the admiration of its happy inhabitants. Fairest, where 
 all are fair — most glorious, where all are glorious, he is the centre 
 to which the thoughts and affections of the angels, and of the 
 spirits of just men made perfect, constantly tend. The diadems 
 purchased by his blood are cast at his feet, and his labours, and 
 sorrows, and triumphs, are the exhaustless subjects to which the 
 redeemed tune their golden harps, and with which they accent 
 their triumphant songs. 
 
 II. As the remembrance of Christ ought not merely to be an 
 occasional exercise, but a habitual employment with you ; so 
 faith and love, and penitence and joy, ought not merely to be 
 transient sentiments and emotions, but permanent and operative 
 principles ; not exerting themselves only when called forth by 
 the solemnities of a relio;ious .ordinance, but influencino; the 
 general tenor of your thoughts and feelings, yoiu* language and 
 conduct. 
 
 It is not enough that you have observed the Lord's Supper in 
 faith ; it is necessary that " the life which you live in the flesh 
 be by the faith of the Son of God, who loved you, and gave 
 himself for you." No duty can be acceptably performed, no 
 affliction acceptably sustained, without faith : " Without faith it 
 is impossible to please God." Weak in yourselves, you derive 
 your strength entirely from another ; and faith is the means by 
 which these supplies are obtained : " By faith you stand ; by un- 
 belief you fall. Endeavour, then, amid all the vicissitudes of 
 life, to retain an implicit belief of the Divine testimony — an xui- 
 shaken confidence in the Divine promise — a steadfast reliance on 
 
KXIIOUT. I.] OF CHRIST KECOMMENDED. 223 
 
 the Divine Saviour. Let it be your frequent and fervent prayer, 
 " Lord, inci-ease our faith ;" and prove the sincerity of your 
 prayer, by a careful use of the means by which faith is produced 
 and strengthened in the soul. If you abound in the exercise of 
 this grace, no duty will be difficult — no affliction severe — no 
 enemy formidable : " I can do all things," said a very humble 
 man, but a very strong believer, " I can do all things through 
 Christ, who strengthens me ;" and if by faith you " look" steadily, 
 " not at the things which are seen and temporal, but at the 
 things wliich are miseen and eternal, your liglit afflictions, which 
 are but for a moment, will work out for you a far more exceeding 
 and an eternal weight of glory." 
 
 Let love to the Saviour also be one of the animating princi- 
 ples of yom' general conduct : " A Mend loveth at all times." 
 The man who never thinks affectionately of the Lord Jesus, ex- 
 cept when the Lord's Supper, as it were, forces the recollection 
 of his dying love on him, deceives himself, if he considers himself 
 as a lover of the Saviour. Wherever the love of Christ really 
 exists, it will manifest itself not merely in an occasional obser- 
 vation of the Lord's Supper, but in a conscientious regard to 
 all his commandments. Let the love of Christ, then, exert a 
 constraining influence over the whole of our thoughts and feel- 
 ings, and sweetly oblige us " to live not to om'selves, but to him 
 who died for us, and who rose again." Let his " love, shed 
 abroad in our hearts by faith, through the Holy Spuit given to 
 us," stimulate us to exertions to promote the advancement of 
 his honour, the extension of his kingdom, the downfal of his 
 enemies, and the happiness of his people. 
 
 Live habitually under the influence of reverence for the 
 Saviour. At all times, and in all places, stand in awe of the 
 omnipresent God om* Saviour. Content not yourselves with an 
 awful sense of his greatness, still less with mere external devotion, 
 when engaged in the peculiar services of religion ; but, remem- 
 bering that he exists tlu'oughout all space and duration, reve- 
 rence him at all times and in all places, and manifest the sincerity 
 of your fear, by a careful obedience to all his commandments : 
 " He is thy Lord, and worship thou him."" 
 
 Penitence is another temper of mind which not merely should 
 be exercised when you receive the Lord's Supper, but should 
 influence the whole of your behaviour. Melancholy and godly 
 
224 HABITUAL TIE]«E:\IBRANC'E [part II. 
 
 sorrow are two very fliffercnt tliini's. Kfliirioii forbids the one 
 and enjoins the other. Let no day pass without a penitent con- 
 fession of the sin of your nature and of your life before your God 
 — without reviewing your daily imperfections and transgressions, 
 — and without humbly supplicating j)ardon through the atone- 
 ment and intercession of Jesus : " lie who thus goes forth bear- 
 ing precious seed weeping, will doubtless return rejcjicing, bearing 
 his sheaves with him." The confidence which may become one 
 who never offended, does not sit well on a pardoned rebel. 
 Though restored to the favour of his prince, and raised to the 
 highest honours he has in his gift, he must never forget that 
 he was a rebel, and that he owes his life to the royal clemency ; 
 and this recollection must mark his behaviour. 
 
 In fine, let Christian joy be the habitual temper of your mind : 
 " Rejoice in the Lord, ye righteous ; and again I say, Rejoice. 
 Rejoice evermore. Be joyful in tribulation," and triumph in 
 death. You have abundant gi'ound of rational satisfaction and 
 holy joy. To be habitually gloomy, is ingi'atitudc to youi* Bene- 
 factor : It is an implied declaration, that, after all He has done 
 for you. He has not done enough to make you happy. The 
 apparent unhappiness of some good men has done incalculable 
 mischief to the cause of religion ; and, on the oth r hand, 
 nothing tends more directly to recommend Christianity to all, 
 but especially the young, than the proving by our conduct that 
 we feel Christ's j^oke to be " easy, and his burden to be light ;" 
 "that wisdom's ways are pleasantness, and that all her path's 
 are peace." 
 
 Is it your desire, then. Christian brethren, thus habitually to 
 remember Christ in faith, and love, and reverence, and penitence, 
 and joy ? Then, in the first place, study dee})ly the character 
 and history of Jesus, as detailed by the evangelical historians ; 
 and, in the second place, as these holy tempers are by no means 
 the natural gi'owth of the human heart, be frequent and fervent 
 in your apphcutions to the throne of grace, for that Holy Spirit 
 whom God has promised to all who ask Him, and who is the 
 sole source of all moral fjood in created natures, — Acconlino- to 
 our usual practice, we direct your attention, before concUidiiig, 
 to an inspired account of your duties as Christians. Read with 
 me Col. iii. iv. 1-0. 
 
 And, "Now may the God of ])c'ace, that l)n)Ught again from 
 
EXHOKT. I.] OF CHRIST RECOMMENDED. 225 
 
 the dead our Lord Jesus, tliat great Slieplierd of the sheep, 
 through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect 
 in every good work to do his will, working in you that Avhich is 
 well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ ; to whom be 
 glory for ever and ever. Amen." 
 
EXHORTATION II. 
 
 A SCRIPTURE FAREWELL.^ 
 
 Brethren, the principal design of our assembling ourselves 
 together to-day has been answered. We have been allowed — 
 all thanks to the long-sufFering and mercy of our God ! — we 
 have been allowed to celebrate, in peace and comfort, our Chris- 
 tian passover. We are now about speedily to separate, with the 
 probability, or rather wdth the certainty, of never aU meeting 
 again, till we meet before the tribunal of the Almighty Judge. 
 What a solenni consideration ! Since we last met on a similar 
 occasion, more than ouq who sat down with us at the table of 
 the Lord have passed into the invisible state. It is beyond the 
 reach of human foresight to tell whose doom shall next be sealed. 
 It must be one of us, — it may be any of us. 
 
 It is natural for the imagination, on such an occasion, to anti- 
 cipate the circumstances of our next general meeting. How 
 prodigiously numerous, how awfully solemn, the assembly ! How 
 important the business to be transacted ! How serious the final 
 separation ! From that assembly not one of the countless millions 
 of the hmnan race shall retire thoughtless or luiimpressed. The 
 most fiivolous and unconcerned now, shall be then deeply and 
 eternally serious. 
 
 Under the impression that I am certainly parting with some 
 of you, and as / am equally mortal with you, that I may be 
 parting with all of you for a long, long scries of ages, till we 
 meet at the right hand or the left of Jesus the judge, I would 
 call the attention, not only of those who have been communicat- 
 ing, but of all who now hear me, to a " message from God to 
 
 ' The author conceives it right to remark here, tliat this Aihhcss is principally the 
 filling up of an outline which he met with among the unpublished MSS. of his grand- 
 father, the late Rev. John Brown of Haddington. 
 
EXIIOItr. II.] A SCIlirTUUAL FAREWKLL. 227 
 
 them." I shall bring to your remembrance some most important 
 truths — propose some most serious questions — utter some most 
 alarming warnings — proclaim some most gracious calls and in- 
 vitations — oft'er some useful advices — and conclude with express- 
 ing some earnest good wishes. And, as I shall endeavom' not 
 only to present scriptm-al ideas, but to use almost wholly scrip- 
 tural language, I not only request, but I command you, as you 
 value youi' soul's salvation, to be attentive. The voice is on 
 earth, but the speaker is in heaven : " The Lord is in his holy 
 temple, let all the earth keep silent before Ilim." — " O earth, 
 earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord." 
 
 1st, Let me call to your remembrance some most important 
 truths. " Brethren, I declare unto you the Gospel, which 1 have 
 preached to you, which also you have received, and wherein ye 
 stand, by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I 
 preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. God so 
 loved the world, as to give his only-begotten Son, that whoso- 
 ever believeth in him might not perish, but have everlasting life. 
 It is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ 
 Jesus came into the world to save sinners, even the chief. 
 Christ died for oiu* sins, according to the Scriptures. He gave 
 himself for us a sacrifice and an offering, that he might redeem 
 us fi'om all iniquity, and purif)- unto himself a peculiar people, 
 zealous of good works. The righteousness of God without the 
 law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets ; 
 — even the righteovisness of God, which is by the faith of Christ 
 unto all and upon all them who believe, for there is no differ- 
 ence ; for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. 
 Being justified freely through the redemption that is in Christ 
 Jesus, whom God has set forth a propitiation through faith in 
 his blood, declaring his righteousness ; that he may be just, and 
 the justifier of him who believeth in Jesus. To you is the word 
 of this salvation sent. Now is the accepted time, now is the day 
 of salvation. Of them to whom much is given, much shall be 
 required. If om' Gospel be hid, it is hid to them who are lost ; 
 whose unbelieving minds the god of this world hath blinded, lest 
 the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ, who is the image of 
 God, should shine into them. Strait is the gate, and narrow is 
 the way which Icadeth to life, and few there be that find it. 
 Except a man be bom again, he cannot enter into the kingdom 
 
228 A SCRirTURAL FAREAVTiLL. [PART II. 
 
 of God. It is appointed to men once to die, and after deatli 
 tlic judgment. We must all appear before the judgment scat of 
 Christ, to give an account of the deeds done in the body, that 
 we may receive according to what we have done, whether 
 it be good or wliether it be evil. Then shall the wicked go 
 away into everlasting punishment, and the righteous unto life 
 eternal." 
 
 2d, Let me propose to you a few most serious questions. WJiat 
 change in your religious state and character have you undergone ? 
 Were you "alive without the law once, but, when the command- 
 ment came, did sin re\ave and you die" ? Were " yc once dark- 
 ness, but are ye now light in the Lord" ? Have ye been "bom 
 again " ? Are ye still " dead in trespasses and in sins," or have 
 ye been " quickened, by the God who is rich in mercy, together 
 with Christ Jesus" ? Did you once " yield youi'selves as the 
 sen-ants of sin, and your members to sin as the instruments of 
 unrighteousness ; but do you now yield yoiu'selvcs to God as 
 those who are alive from the dead, and your members to holiness 
 as instruments of righteousness " ? What choice have you made ? 
 Have you chosen " that good part which shall never be taken 
 fi'om you" ? Have you " counted all things loss for the excel- 
 lency of the knoAvledge of Christ Jesus youi' Lord" ? Have you 
 counted " the reproach of Christ" greater riches than all the 
 treasures of the world ? Have you made choice of God's tes- 
 timonies above all riches? Instead of saying with the multi- 
 tude, " Who will show us any good ? " is the language of your 
 heart, "Lord lift on us the light of thy countenance"? WJiat 
 purpose have you formed ? Is it the " full purpose of your heart 
 to cleave unto the Lord" ? Is it your determination that you 
 and your famihes shall serve the Lord ? Is it your resolution, 
 " This God shall be our God for ever and ever ? — He shall be 
 our guide even unto death" ? At ivhat end do you chiefly aim'? 
 Is it " that God may in all things be glorified through our Lord 
 Jesus Christ" ? that " Whether ye eat or di'ink, or whatever ye do, 
 ye may do all to the glory of God" ? Mliat kind of a life do you 
 lead ? " Is the life whicli you live in the flesh by the faith of the 
 Son of God, who loved you, and gave himself for you" ? Are 
 you " pilgrims and sojouniers on the earth," declaring plahily, 
 that yon are seeking a " country, a better country, that is, an 
 heavenly"? Finally, Wliat provision have you made for death. 
 
EXHOKJ . 11.] A SCRIPTURAL FAREWELL. 229 
 
 and for a future state ? Do you " know whom ye have believed, 
 and are you persuaded that he is aUe to keep that which you liave 
 committed to him" ? Have ye " laid up a good fouudation for the 
 time to come, to lay hold on eternal Ufe" ? Have ye that ''Holy 
 Spirit of promise who is the earnest of your inheritance" ? and, 
 Ai'e ye " sealed by him till the redemption of the pui'chased pos- 
 session" ? 
 
 Sd, Let me now direct yoiu' attention to some most alarming 
 warnings. " Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit 
 the kingdom of God ? Be not deceived ; neither fornicators, 
 nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor 
 drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the king- 
 dom of God. If we sin wilfully, after we have received the 
 knowledge of the truth, there remaineth now no more sacrifice for 
 sin, but a certain fearfid looking for of vengeance and fiery indig- 
 nation to destroy the adversaries. He that despised Moses' law 
 died without mercv under two or three witnesses ; of how much 
 sorer punishment shall he be accounted worthy, who has trampled 
 under foot the Son of God, and accounted the blood of the cove- 
 nant an unholy thing, and done despite to the Spirit of grace ? 
 The earth which, being often rained upon, bringeth forth nothing 
 but briers and thorns, is nigh unto cursing, and its end is to be 
 burned. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the 
 living God ! The Lord Jesus shall be revealed in flaming fire, 
 taking vengeance on them who know not God, and obey not the 
 Gospel of his Son. God hath lifted up his hands to heaven and 
 said, I live for ever ! If I whet my glittering sword, and my hand 
 lay hold on judgment, I will render vengeance to my ad- 
 versaries. I will reward them that hate me ; I will make my 
 aiTows drunk with blood, and my sword will devour much flesh, 
 with the blood of the slain and of the captive fi*om the begin- 
 ning of revenges against the eneni}''. If there be among you a 
 root of bitterness, which bringeth forth wormwood and gall, who 
 saitli within himself, I shall have peace though I walk in the 
 ways of my own heart ; the Lord shall not spare him, but the 
 anger of the Lord and his jealousy shall smoke sore against that 
 man, — and He shall lay upon him all the evils that are written 
 in this book. Behold I come quickly, and my reward is with 
 Me ; he that is unjust, let him be unjust still ; he that is filthy, 
 let him be fihhv still." 
 
230 • A SCRIPTUIiAL FAREWELL. [rAllT 11.' 
 
 Aili, Let me now proclaim to you some most gracious calls 
 and invitations. " Ho ! every one that thii'stetli, come ye 
 to the waters ; and he that hath no money, come ye : yea, 
 come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. 
 Why do ye spend your money for that which is not bread, and 
 your labour for that which profiteth not ? hearken diligently unto 
 me, and eat ye that which is good, and let yom* soul delight 
 itself in fatness. Incline your ear, and come vmto me; heai*, 
 and your souls shall live ; and I will make with you an ever- 
 lasting covenant, even the sure mercies of David. Be it known 
 unto yovi, men and brethren, that through this Man is preached 
 unto you the forgiveness of sins, and that all who believe in him 
 may be justified from all things from which they could not have 
 been justified by the law of Moses. Come imto me, all ye that 
 labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take 
 my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly 
 in lieai't ; for my yoke is easy, and my bmxlen is light. Hearken 
 unto me, ye stout-hearted and far fi'om righteousness ! behold 
 I bring near my righteousness unto you, and my salvation shall 
 not tariy. I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, 
 that thou mayest be rich ; eye-salve, that thou mayest see ; 
 white raiment that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame 
 of thy nakedness may not appear. Behold I stand at the door 
 and knock ; if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I 
 will come in and sup with him, and he with me. The Spirit 
 and the Bride say. Come ; and let him that heareth say. Come ; 
 and let him who is athirst. Come ; and whosoever will, let him 
 come and take of the water of life freely. " 
 
 bthy Let me lay before you a few important and useful 
 advices. " Believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be estab- 
 lished ; ])elieve his prophets, so shall ye prosper. Trust in the 
 Lord, and be doing good. Be careful for nothing, but in every- 
 thing by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, make your 
 requests known to God. See that ye walk circumspectly, not 
 as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are 
 evil. Put on, as the elect of God, bowels of mercy, kindness, 
 tenderness of heart, forbearing one another in love, and for- 
 giving one another, even as God, t<)r Christ's sake, has forgiven 
 you. Honour all men ; love the brotherhood; fear God ; hon- 
 oui' the kiiiii'. T^rovi' all thincs. Hold fast that which is <>oo(l. 
 
EXHORT. 11.] A SCUIPTLTRAL FAREWELL. 231 
 
 In one word, let your conversation be such as becometh the 
 Gospel of Christ." 
 
 Qth, Let me take my leave of you with the expression of a 
 few most earnest good wishes. " O that ye were wise ! that ye 
 understood this, that ye would consider your latter end ! The 
 good Lord pardon every one that hath prepared his heart to seek 
 the Lord God of his fathers, though he be not cleansed accord- 
 ing to the purifying of the sanctuary. Oh, that God would 
 rend the heavens, and come down; that the mountains may 
 flow down at his presence ! May the God of hope fill you 
 with all joy and hope in believing, that ye may abound in hope 
 through the power of the Holy Ghost. I pray to God that ye 
 do no evil, not that we should be approved, but that ye should 
 do that whicli is honest, though we be as reprobates. The 
 grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the com- 
 munion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen." 
 
 Now TO THE Father, and to the Son, and to the 
 Holy Ghost, the one Jehovah, and our God, be 
 
 ASCRIBED BY THE ChURCH IN HeAVEN, AND THE ChURCH 
 
 on Earth, all power and glory, dominion and ivlajesty, 
 for ever and ever. Amen. 
 
PART III. 
 DISCOURSES 
 
 AFTEB TUE 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OF THE LORD'S SUPPER. 
 
DISCOURSES 
 
 AFTKR THE 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OF THE LORD'S SUPPER. 
 
 DISCOURSE I. 
 
 THE MIND WHICH WAS IN CHEIST. 
 
 Philiim'ians u. 5. — " Let tliis niiiul be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." 
 
 The Divine origin of Christianity may be evinced, by a countless 
 variety of unanswered and unanswerable arguments. Among 
 these arguments, while there are many better fitted to confound 
 and silence " the disputer of this world," there is perhaps not 
 one more calcidated to produce and strengthen conviction in the 
 honest inquirer, than that which is deducible fi'om the perfect 
 suitableness of the Christian revelation to the constitution and 
 circumstances, the weaknesses and wants, the tendencies and 
 capabilities of fallen humanity. 
 
 To perceive clearly, and feel strongly, the force of this species 
 of evidence, a much deeper acquahitance with human natm*e, in 
 its original principles and present state, and wdth the Christian 
 revelation in its doctrines and precepts, is necessaiy, than the 
 bulk of mankind either possess, or are inclined to acquire. 
 But while a profound knowledge, both of the constitution of 
 man, and of the revealed system in all its parts, is necessary to 
 enable a man fully to estimate the strength of this argument, 
 even a superficial acquaintance with these subjects, if it is but 
 accurate so fi\r as it goes, is sufficient to produce a conviction 
 tluit it is a very strong one. It is surely iinpossibk^ for an un- 
 
236 THE MIND WHICH was in christ. [rAiix m. 
 
 prejudiced mind, not to perceive in the revealed system, a 
 wonderfully extensive and minute correspondence with the leading 
 features of the character and situation of man, as a rational, 
 dependent, free, active, accountable, religious, improveable, im- 
 mortal, guilty, and depraved being ; and it is equally impossible 
 to perceive this correspondence A^'ithout drawing the conclusion, 
 that human nature and Christianity have a common Author, — 
 that a system so suited to man could originate only with Him 
 who " knoweth our frame, for He hath made us." 
 
 It is a persuasion of this truth which induces me to thmk, that 
 there is no department of hmnan science, from which more 
 extensive and valuable contributions are yet to be levied, for 
 promoting the interests of Christian truth, than the philosophy 
 of the hmnan mind. When, by a strict adherence to those laws 
 of induction, which have introduced so much light and order into 
 the regions of physical science, the facts in reference to man's 
 intellectual, and moral, and social constitution, shall be accurately 
 ascertained and classified, the truth, beauty, and excellence of 
 the Christian system, as suited to that constitution, vdW be placed 
 in a new and most striking point of light ; the natural con- 
 sequence of which will be, the exposure of the futility of the 
 arguments and objections of infidels, and the production of an 
 increased feeling of satisfaction and security in the bosoms of 
 reflecting believers. It would lead us into a wide but most in- 
 teresting field of discussion, to follow up the general reraai'ks 
 now made, by a variety of particular illustrations. ' 
 
 Waving these illustrations, however important and interesting, 
 as at present unseasonable, let me fix your attention for a little 
 on the peculiar manner in which Christianity teaches moral 
 truth, and on its singular adaptation to the natm*e and situation 
 of man. The view of human duty exhibited by heathen moralists 
 was not only radically defective and materially erroneous, but 
 the manner of its exhibition was but little calculated to impress 
 the mind, affect the heart, or influence the conduct. Abstiiisc 
 reasonings about the fitness of things, — general declamations 
 about the beauty of virtue, — cold inanimate j^recepts of conduct, 
 if not contradicted, at any rate very imperfectly exemplified in 
 
 ' Tliese remarks arc expanded in the Introductory Essay to Colliub\s edition of 
 " Venn's Comiilete Duty of Man.' 
 
DISC. 1.] THE MIND WHICH WAS IN CHKIST. 237 
 
 their own behaviour, — might, in some degree, exercise their 
 l)uj)ils' faculties of reasoning and memory, and render them 
 subtle disputants and pompous declaimers, but had little tendency 
 to enlighten their minds in the knowledge of moral tinith, or to 
 imbue their hearts with the love of moral excellence. It is far 
 otherwise with the religion of the Scriptures. While the system 
 of moral truth which they evolve is incomparably more extensive 
 and pure than that of the heathen moralist, it is not, like his, 
 couched in cold generalities, in abstract uninteresting language. 
 It "comes home to men's business and bosoms." It is deeply 
 impressive, and it is perfectly intelligible. It derives this character 
 principally, we apprehend, from the circumstance of its being 
 embodied and exemplified in the character and conduct of Jesus 
 Christ. We are not merely told what is right and what is 
 wrong ; we have placed before us a person in om' own natm'e, 
 and in circumstances similar to ours, displaying every holy dis- 
 position, and performing every dutiful action, and we are called 
 to contemplate, to admire, and to imitate ; and as we are naturally 
 most disposed to imitate those whom we love, this perfect pattern 
 of excellence is one to whom we are infinitely indebted, and 
 whom every principle of duty and gratitude calls on us to regard 
 with a supreme affection. So well suited is Christianity, as a 
 teacher of virtue, to a being like man, who is more easily taught 
 by example than by precept, — who is more deeply affected by 
 interesting facts, than by abstract reasonings, — and in whom the 
 disposition to imitate corresponds in strength with the affection 
 to the object of imitation. 
 
 Into this train of reflection, — which will not be useless if it 
 lead us to a more attentive consideration of the internal evi- 
 dences of Christianity, an inexhaustible store of consolation and 
 establishment to the Christian, — I have been led, by observing the 
 apostle, in the passage chosen as a subject of discourse, summing 
 up the whole of the Christian's duty in one short comprehensive 
 maxim, " Let this mind be in you which also was in Christ Jesus." 
 
 At the table of the Lord, over the instituted symbols of his 
 holy suffering humanity, we have just been avowing our con- 
 fidence in the Redeemer's atonement, our submission to his 
 authority, and our desu'e to be conformed to his image. It 
 cannot surely be unseasonable, then, shortly to consider the 
 mode of thinking and feeling to wliich we have obliged ourselves 
 
238 THE MIND WHICH WAS IN CHRIST. [PART HI. 
 
 by this solemn profession, and wliicli cannot be more comprehen- 
 sively and energetically expressed than by the terms in the text, 
 our " having the mind in us that was in Christ Jesus." I count, 
 therefore, on your devout attention, while 1, first, Explain, and, 
 secondly. Enforce, the apostolic injunction, " Let this mind be 
 in you which also was in Christ Jesus." 
 
 I. The word translated " mind," ^ is a term of very compre- 
 hensive meaning. It is descriptive both of the intellectual and 
 the moral character, — of the state both of the sentiments and 
 dispositions. The command, then, to "let that mind be in us 
 which also was in Christ Jesus," is equivalent to an injunction, 
 to conform ourselves in the whole frame of our mind and temper 
 to him ; to form our opinions and dispositions on the model of 
 his ; that so, thinking as he thought, and feeling as he felt, we 
 may act as he acted. The duty enjoined, thus naturally divides 
 into two parts, — the adoption of the sentiments, — and, the cultiva- 
 tion of the dispositions, which were characteristic of Christ Jesus. 
 
 \st, To have that mind in us " which was in Christ Jesus," 
 is to adopt his sentiments as our own. When two persons are 
 agi'ced in their o})inion on any subject, we say they are of the 
 same mind. When we are called on, then, to be of the same 
 mind as Christ Jesus, it plainly intimates, that our mode of 
 thinking should be conformed to his. 
 
 Our Lord's sentiments on many important subjects may be 
 learned from his discourses as recorded by the evangelical his- 
 torian. But these are not to be considered as the sole source 
 from which our knowledge of our Lord's mode of thinkintr is to 
 be derived. Whatever is found in the apostolical writings is to 
 be considered as an infallible expression of the Saviour's judg- 
 ment. " We," says the apostle Paul, " we have the mind of 
 Christ." The Avhole of the scriptural revelation is to be viewed 
 in the same light. It is the " word of Christ ;" and it was "the 
 Spirit of Christ" who was in the ancient prophets, and dictated 
 to them their oracles. 
 
 Had no revelation been made respecting the groat principles 
 of religion and morals, it would no doubt have been the duty of 
 man to have endeavoured, by the diligent exercise of his own 
 
 ' iffou'ir^u, vide Schleusner or Kobinsun. 
 
DISC. I.J THE MIND WniCII WAS IN CHRIST. 239 
 
 fjuulties, to discover as much as possible of the character and 
 will of God, and he must have rested in those conclusions, which, 
 upon the whole, appeared to him most probable. But, on the 
 supposition that God has made a revelation of his will by Christ 
 Jesus, and has put that revelation into our hands, along with 
 the most satisfactory evidence that it is what it professes to be, 
 it is plain, that man's duty, as to the formation of religious 
 opinion, is reduced simply to the discovery of the meaning of 
 this revelation, and the unreserv^ed submission of the understand- 
 ing to its dictates when discovered. Tliis is to have " the mind 
 in us which also was in Christ Jesus." 
 
 In some instances, the most unprejudiced inquirer into trutli 
 may find a difficulty in discovering what is the sense of Divine 
 revelation with respect to a particular subject. In this case, 
 hesitation is not only allowable, but praiseworthy ; for it is 
 indeed the same principle which sets the mind completely at 
 rest when the meaning of revelation is clearly discovered, and 
 which prevents the formation of a fixed opinion while that mean- 
 ing remains unknown, or but imperfectly discovered. These 
 cases are, however, comparatively of rare occurrence ; and it 
 may be laid do-VATi as a general principle, that it is our duty to 
 adopt, without reserve, the views of trutli exhibited in the word 
 of Christ, in opposition equally to a proud dependence on the 
 unassisted exertions of our own minds, and a base subjection to 
 the authority of others. 
 
 There are some men, wdio, while they profess to believe in the 
 authority of the Scriptures as a well-authenticated revelation of 
 the mind of Christ, receive or reject its doctrines according to a 
 self-formed standard of what is true or false, reasonable or absurd. 
 They do not, perhaps, directl}^ contradict the declarations of 
 Scriptiu'e ; but they do the same thing in effect, by explaining 
 aw'ay their obvious meaning. This is not to have " the mind of 
 Christ" in us, but to have a mind of our own. Such a mode of 
 conduct is ob\'iously not only criminal, but absurd ; as we are 
 fiu' less liable to be deceived in judging of the e\-idence of a 
 Di^'ine revelation, than of the abstract principles of religious and 
 moral truth, and as it plainly implies in it, that what is acknow- 
 ledged to be a DiA'ine revelation, is at once unnecessary and unfit 
 to answer the purpose for which it w\as intended. 
 
 There are others who, professing to believe the Holy Scrip- 
 
240 THE MIND WHICH WAS IN CHRIST. [PART III. 
 
 tnres to be the revelation of the mind of Christ, seem yet afraid 
 to receive the doctrines they teach, simply as they teach them, 
 but must have them modified accordinfj to the views of individuals 
 or bodies of men, whom they have learned to consider as the 
 standards of orthodoxy. The question with them is not so much, 
 What says the Scripture, on a particular subject ; but. How 
 does such an individual or body of men interpret the Scriptures ? 
 This is not to have the mind of Christ, but the mind of other 
 men, in us. Such persons may be materially right, but they are 
 formally wrong. The principles they hold may be true, but 
 they are not to them " the mind of Christ." They have " re- 
 ceived for doctrines the commandments of men." 
 
 In opposition to both these classes, he who " lets the mind be 
 in him which also was in Christ Jesus," endeavours to discover 
 the true meaning of the holy Scriptures, that he may thus know 
 the mind of Christ ; and, having discovered it, he cheerfully 
 acquiesces in it, however inconsistent with his preconceived 
 opinions, the probabilities of reason, or the authority of the wise 
 and learned. He sits down at the feet of Jesus, and learns the 
 law at his mouth. He is disposed to say, with a truly great 
 man, " Propose me anything out of this book, and require 
 whether I believe or no, and seem it never so incomprehensible 
 to human reason, I will subscribe it with hand and heart, as 
 knowing no demonstration to be stronger than this, God hath 
 said so, therefore it is true."^ 
 
 In order to our minds being thus moulded into the form of 
 Christian doctrine, it is necessary that we seek that faculty of 
 spiritual apprehension, without Avhicli the mind of Christ can- 
 not be discerned; — that we cultivate a serious and humble 
 temper of mind ; — that Ave peruse the Scriptures attentively, be- 
 lievingly, and devoutly ; — that we improve all the means in our 
 power, for discovering the true meaning of the Holy Scriptures ; 
 — that we earnestly seek, and confidently expect, the continuetl 
 influence of the Holy Spirit; — and that we conscientiously ap])ly 
 the knowledge obtained to the regulation of our tempers and 
 conduct.^ 
 
 The importance of this conformity of sentiments to Christ 
 
 - John V. i{9; Isa. xxxiv. IC; 1 John iv. 1 ; Eph i. 17, 18; 1 Cor. iii. IS; James 
 i. r> ; John vii. 17. 
 
DISC. I.] THE MIND WHICH WAS IN CHRIST. 241 
 
 Jesus, 1ms been very mucli underrated by many professed 
 Christians. The doctrine of" the innocence of error has been 
 strenuously maintained ; and we have been told, that if in our 
 temper and conduct we resemble Jesus, it matters not much 
 what oui" opinions be. Such sentiments originate in confined 
 and confused notions, both of human natm'e and Christian 
 truth. In a being constituted like man, there is no securing 
 right tempers and good conduct, but by implanting jvist senti- 
 ments. It is in the nature of things impossible, that we should 
 be conformed to the dispositions and behaviour of Christ, but 
 through the transforming influence of his doctrines. Hence the 
 frequent representations in Scriptm'e, of the importance of a 
 right state of the understanding, as a necessary means of pro- 
 ducing a rio'ht state of the afiections and conduct. Hence the 
 fi'equent declarations of the necessity and importance of know- 
 ledge and faith, and of the criminality and fatal consequences of 
 ignorance and unbelief.' 
 
 2d, To have that mind in us which also was in Christ Jesus, 
 is to cultivate those tempers and dispositions by which he was 
 distinguished. It has been remarked, by a very able writer, 
 that, " in the whole business of man's redemption, wonderful 
 in all its parts, its beginning, its progress, and its completion, 
 the most wonderful part of all is the character of Christ : a 
 character not exempt from those feelings of soul and infirmities 
 of body which render men obnoxious to temptation, but in which 
 the two principles of piety to God and good-will to mankind 
 maintained such an ascendancy over the rest, that they might 
 seem by themselves to make the whole. This character, in 
 which piety and benevolence, upon all occasions, and in all cir- 
 cumstances, overpowered all the inferior passions, is more incom- 
 prehensible to the natural reason of the carnal man than the 
 deepest mysteries — more improbable than the gi'eatest miracles ; 
 of all the parts of the gospel history, most trying to the evil 
 heart of unbelief — the very last thing which a ripened faith 
 receives, but of all things the most necessary to be well under- 
 stood, and firmly believed, for the softening of the sinner's 
 heart, for quelling the pride of human wisdom, and for bring- 
 
 ' The reader will do well to consult the concluding paragraphs of " Chalmers on the 
 Evidence and Authority of Revelation." 
 
 * /-» 
 
242 TUE MIND WHICH WAS IN ClIUIST. [PART III. 
 
 ing every thought and imagination of the soul into subjection 
 unto the righteousness of God." ^ 
 
 The tempers and dispositions of our Saviour must be known 
 in order to tlieu* being imitated ; and though the knoAvledge of 
 them is easy in comparison with the imitation of them, yet even 
 a correct, distinct conception of the moral character of Christ, as 
 an exemplar to copy, is not to be obtained without close thought 
 and serious meditation. The folloM-ing hurried sketch may be 
 in some degree useful for serving this pm*]5ose : Christ Jesus was, 
 in the strictest and highest sense of the term, pious. lie regarded 
 his Father with supreme esteem and veneration, confidence and 
 love. Regard to iiis will was the animating and regulating prin- 
 ciple of all his conduct. He shrunk fi'om no duty which He 
 required, however difficult ; from no suffering, however severe, 
 which He imposed. " I must work the w^ork of Him who sent 
 me. Not my will but thine be done." With respect to the 
 world, in the scriptural sense of that phrase, he maintained a 
 noble superiority : Its frowns could not terrify, nor its flatteries 
 seduce, him from the path of duty ; its pleasures and its power, its 
 riches and its honours, had for him no power to allure. " He 
 loved not the world, nor the things which are in the world." 
 With respect to mankind in general, the temper of the Saviour 
 was tender pity and enlightened benevolence. He loved his 
 neighbour as himself. He looked not merely "at his ova\ things, 
 but also at the things of others." AVhile he condemned crime, 
 he pitied the criminal, and cherished towards the worst of his 
 enemies feelings of forgiveness and tenderness. His disposition 
 towards his peculiar people may be summed up in one word — 
 love : a love peculiar in its nature and superlative in its degree ; 
 a love " that passeth knowledge." " Pure and disinterested in 
 its motives, the love of Christ had solely for its end the happiness 
 of those who were the objects of it. An equal sharer with the 
 Almighty Father in the happiness and glory of the Godhead, 
 the Kedeemer had no proper interest in the fate of fallen men. 
 Infinite in its comprehension, his love embraced those who were 
 his enemies : intense in its energy, it incited him to assume a 
 frail and mortal nature, to undergo contempt and death. Con- 
 stant in its operations, in an agony the sharpest the human mind 
 
 ' Horslcy. 
 
DISC. I.] THE MIND WHICH "WAS IN CHllTST. 243 
 
 was ever known to sustain, it maintained its vi^^our unimpaired. 
 Having loved liis own, he loved them to the end." ^ Such was 
 the mind which was in Christ Jesus. 
 
 Now, to haA^e this mind in us, is just to cultivate and exercise 
 these lioly tempers and dispositions. It is to cherish an habi- 
 tual and supreme veneration and love for the Supreme Being ; 
 to be thankful for benefits ; submissive under privations and 
 afflictions ; active in doing and patient in suffering the will of 
 God. It is to maintain the spirit of a pilgrim and a sojourner 
 upon earth ; it is to be neither undidy elated by worldly pros- 
 perity, nor unduly depressed by worldly adversity ; it is to love 
 all mankind as brethren, and to cultivate a disposition to alleviate 
 their sorrows, and add to their comforts, though at the expense 
 of our individual interest and gratification ; it is, in fine, so 
 to " love the brotherhood," as to be ready to lay down our lives 
 for those in whose room and for whose salvation the Saviour 
 died. 
 
 If we would thus have the mind in us which also was in 
 Christ, it is plainly necessary that we should both have just and 
 comprehensive views of the Saviour's character, and be at once 
 disposed and enabled to make that character the object of our 
 imitation. In order to obtain the first of these, a careful study 
 of the gospel histories is necessary. To enable us to form right 
 judgments of the Saviour's character, is obviously one great 
 object for which these wonderful narratives were written. The 
 means which their authors, under the direction of the Holy 
 Spirit, make use of in order to gain this purpose, though admir- 
 ably fitted for answering their end, are somewhat singular. They 
 enter into no laboured detail of his intellectual endowments or 
 moral excellences : they utter no lofty panegyiics ; they pro- 
 nounce no eloquent encomiums : they are the historians, not the 
 eulogists, of Jesus. Had much of the biography of Jesus been 
 occupied in this way, the ingenuity of infidelity would not have 
 been slow in suggesting, that the partiality of friendship had cast 
 his defects into the shade, while his excellences were brought 
 into the foreground of the picture ; and it might have been sus- 
 pected that, like some modern historians, the evangelists had been 
 less aiixious to give an accurate portrait, than to display to advan- 
 
 ' llorsley. 
 
244 THE MIND -WHICH was in ciiuist. [paiit hi. 
 
 tage their own ingenuity anil eloquenco. The method adopted 
 by the evangehst evinces the absurdity of such a supposition. 
 They give us a minute, simple, unadorned narrative of his 
 actions, his doctrines, and his sufferings ; they tell us what he 
 did, and what he said, and how he suffered. They do not so 
 much give us a picture of the Saviour's character, as present us 
 with the materials for forming such a picture for ourselves. In 
 consequence of this ])eculiarity, of all histories, the gospels require 
 to be read with the closest attention, if we would derive from 
 them all the information respecting the character of Christ which 
 they are intended and calculated to communicate. And he who 
 does read the evangelical historians with the requisite attention, 
 will find his labour richly rewarded. He will often find a simple 
 incident, an apparently accidental expression, opening up a most 
 unexpected and delightful view of the SaAaour's character. — Our 
 study of the SaA-iour's character must be marked by a desire to 
 copy it. We must not be like the mere spectator, avIio admires 
 a beautiful specimen of penmanship ; we must be like the scholar, 
 who studies it as an example which he is to endeavour to copy 
 as closely as possible. This cliaracter of Christ is not only an 
 object to admire, but a model to imitate. 
 
 More however is necessar)^, much more than a just and com- 
 prehensive view of our Saviour's moral excellence, in order to 
 our having the mind in us which also was in him. We must be 
 as once disposed and enabled to cultivate the holy tempers and 
 dispositions which were characteristic of our Lord Jesus. For 
 this disposition and ability we must be indebted to the influence 
 of the Holy Spirit. It is only by the effectual operation of the 
 personal Spirit of Christ, that we can be formed to the temper 
 and disposition of Christ : it is by his influence that we are 
 "created anew in Christ Jesus to good works." If, then, we 
 would wish to have the mind of Christ in us, let us be solicitous 
 to have the Spirit of Christ in us. And how is this blessing to 
 be obtained ? 15y fervent, humble, believing prayer : " If ye 
 being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how 
 much more will your Father, who is in heaven, give the Holy 
 Spirit to those who ask Him ? Ask, and ye shall receive ; seek, 
 and ye shall, find ; knock, and it shall be opened unto you : for 
 every one that asketh reccivcth, and he that seeketh findeth, and 
 to him that knocketh it shall be o])ened." 
 
DISC. I.] THE MIND WHICH WAS IN CHRIST. 245 
 
 II. The second object which we proposed to prosecute in this 
 discourse, was the enforcement of the a])OstoHc injunction, " Let 
 this mind be in you which also was in Christ Jesus." Here I 
 might bring forward separately the motives which urge us to 
 adopt the Saviour's sentiments, and cultivate the Saviour's dis- 
 lx)sitions. I might show, that we ought to maintain the same 
 sentiments as Christ Jesus, for they are true, important, and 
 necessar}^ ; and that Ave ought to cherish the same temjiers, for 
 they are enjoined by God, and are essential to our true happiness. 
 As such an illustration woidd, however, by its length, necessarily 
 ti'espass on your patience, I shall content myself with a more 
 general recommendation of confomiity to the mind of Christ, by 
 showing that it is at once dutiful, honourable, pleasant, and 
 advantageous. 
 
 1st, We ought to let the mind be in us which also was in 
 Christ Jesus, for this mode of conduct is dutiful. To prove this, 
 it is only necessary to repeat the text, and to remember, that 
 " all Scripture is given by inspiration of God." But, as we are 
 very apt to forget what we do not deny, and to neglect what we 
 do not refuse, it becomes necessaiy to dw^ell on the evidence of 
 undenied truth, and multiply motives to acknowledged duty. 
 
 All that Christ — a well-accredited Divine messenger — reveals 
 must be true, and therefore we ought to believe it : all the dis- 
 positions of the incarnate Son of God must be right, and therefore 
 we ought to cherish them. Every argument, then, which en- 
 forces the belief of what is time in sentiment, and the cultivation 
 of what is estimable and amiable in character, ui'ges to conformity 
 to our blessed Lord. — This was the great design of God in his 
 choice of men to salvation : " For whom He did foreknow, He 
 also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son." 
 This Avas one great design of our Saviour's incarnation and 
 sufferings : " Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example 
 to follow his steps." — Nor is this all ; the duty is expressly en- 
 joined, not only in the text, but in other passages of Scripture : 
 " Follow me," was the ordinary language in which Christ himself 
 invited men to become his disciples. " If any man," says he, 
 " would become my disciple, lot him deny himself^ take up his 
 cross, and follow me." " Forasmuch, then," says the apostle 
 Peter, " as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves 
 likewise with the same mind, that yo no longer should live the 
 
246 riiE :minu ^vI^cu was in ciikist. [I'AitT in. 
 
 rest of your time in the flesh, to the lusts of men, but to the will 
 of God." 
 
 2(1, We ought to let the mind be in us which also was in 
 Christ Jesus, for this mode of conduct is truly honourable. It 
 is accounted honourable among men, to maintain the same 
 senthnents as the wise and learned, and to be distinguished by 
 the same manners as the great and noble. To have the same 
 mind in us as was in Christ, must then be honourable. He is 
 the greatest, the wisest, and the best of beings : He is, as 
 Mediator, the Governor of the universe ; and, as to his pre- 
 existent nature, he is " God over all, blessed for ever." As to 
 his Divinity, he is the only wise God ; and, as Mediator, " in 
 him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." He is 
 the "Wonderful Counsellor." He is all that is great, glorious, and 
 lovely. To resemble the great ones of the earth, is often a real 
 disgrace ; but to be like Christ, is truly great and honourable : 
 for this renders us " great in the sight of the Lord," and secures 
 a large measure of " the honour that cometh down fi'om above." 
 
 del, We ought to let the mind be in us which also was in 
 Christ Jesus, for this mode of conduct is productive of the truest 
 pleasure. Man is so constituted, as that a very pure and ex- 
 quisite pleasure is the result of the knowledge and belief of what 
 is true, and the love and practice of what is right. Indeed, he 
 is so constituted, that he can have no real rational enjoyment 
 without these. " Truly light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is 
 for the eyes to behold the sun." Still more sweet is the percep- 
 tion of truth to the regenerated mind ; still more pleasant is the 
 love of excellence to the regenerated heart : " In the keeping of 
 God's commandments there is great reward. Wisdom's ways 
 are pleasantness, and all her paths are peace." 
 
 There is a superadded pleasure arising from the circumstance, 
 that in this knowledge and belief of the tnith, and in this holy 
 frame of temper, we arc conformed to Christ. In walking along 
 a road, in itself agreeable, and leading to scenes still more 
 delightftil, oiu" pleasiu"e is increased by the recollection, that our 
 best Friend trod this path before us — that he opened it up for 
 our advantage — that he intended us to walk in it — and that, by 
 pursuing it, we shall in due time reach our Father's house, where 
 that best Friend is waiting for us, to welcome us to the enjoyment 
 of the happiness he has prepared for us. 
 
DISC. I.] THE MIND WHICH WAS IN CHRIST. 247 
 
 In yielding; up our understandings to tlie obedience of faith, 
 we obtain rest from the perplexities of doubt ; and, in surrender- 
 ing all our active powers to the transforming influence of the 
 Divine Spirit, we obtain rest from the turbulence of malignant 
 and impure passion : " The peace of God, which passeth all un- 
 derstanding, keejis the mind and heart through Christ Jesus." 
 " Peace," says Jesus to all who have the same mind in them, 
 *' Peace, I leave you ; my peace I give unto you ; not as the 
 world giveth, give I unto you." " To the wicked," who are 
 strangers to this mind, " there is no peace." And, in the ex- 
 perience of the saint, it will be found, that the larger measure he 
 possesses of the mind of Christ, he is kept in the more perfect 
 peace and tranquil happiness. 
 
 4<A, We ought to let the mind be in us which also was in 
 Christ Jesus, for it is very advantageous. Conformity to Christ 
 is at once absolutely necessary and completely sufficient, to 
 secure for a man all the advantages which flow from an assur- 
 ance of his being interested in the Divine favour : " If any man 
 has not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." If any man has 
 the Spirit of Christ, he is one of his. Who does not perceive, 
 how numerous and important are the advantages which result 
 from a well-grounded conviction that we are the objects of the 
 unchanging love of God ? Now, all these belong to the man in 
 whom the mind of Christ is, and belong to him just in proportion 
 as he resembles his Lord. 
 
 Conformity to Christ is advantageous, for it fits us for heaven. 
 Without this mind being in us, heaven would be no heaven to 
 us. Without this mind we cannot be admitted into the celestial 
 mansions. With it, we cannot be excluded from them : " Without 
 holiness no man can see the Lord ; " and with holiness, no man 
 can be deprived of the beatific vision. 
 
 How advantageous, even in reference to the concerns of the 
 present state, is conformity to the Saviour ! — How happy would 
 individuals, families, churches, nations be, if the mind wliich was 
 in Christ were but miiversally prevalent ! If the same just 
 sentiments about God and man, time and eternity, were uni- 
 versally entertained — and the same patient, self-denying, forbear- 
 ing, generous, public-spirited temper, universally cherished, earth 
 would be transformed into a resemblance of heaven — paradise 
 would be restored — wars and dissensions would cease for ever — 
 
248 THE MIND WHICH was in chkist. [i'aut hi. 
 
 security and peace would establish their tranquil and permanent 
 dominion — man, the brother, would live the friend of man — God 
 would be glorified, and mankind would be happy. 
 
 Thus, Christians, ha^e you heard your duty explained, and 
 the motives which urge you to its performance briefly illustrated. 
 What remains, then, but that, in humble dependence on that 
 blessed Spiiit, who irradiated with perfect light the understanding 
 of Jesus, and adorned his soul with all the beauties of holiness, 
 and whose enlightening and purif)^ing influences are freely 
 promised to all who ask them, you go forward in a constant 
 endeavour to " let the mind be in you that also was in him." 
 
 If the discourse and the ordinance which preceded it have 
 ])roduced their proper effect, you will gladly receive this exhorta- 
 tion, and readily acknowledge the obligation of the duty, which 
 it enjoins. In the most extensive sense the words will bear, it 
 is your duty to have " the mind in you which was in Christ" — 
 to think alono; with Christ — to feel along with Christ — to choose 
 along with Christ — to dislike what he dislikes — to love what he 
 loves ; — and for this purpose it is your duty to study the revela- 
 tion of his mind and will contained in his word, seeking the 
 influence of his good Spirit that you may understand and believe 
 that revelation, for in this way alone will his mind soon become 
 your mind — his will your will. 
 
 But the apostle's exhortation seems to have a peculiar reference 
 to the ruling principle — the prevailing disposition of the mind of 
 our Lord — the leading element of his character as embodied in 
 his incarnation and sacrifice : Holy love, as opposed to criminal 
 selfishness — holy love, manifested in zeal for the Divine honour, 
 devotedness to the Divine glory, unreserved obedience to the 
 injunctions, and submission to the appointments, of God, and a 
 readiness to suffer every thing, and do every thing but sin, to 
 make men happy — to shrink from no labours, or perils, or suffer- 
 ings, which are necessary for this purpose — holy love, I say, in 
 opposition to a criminal selfishness, the natiu'al element of the 
 human character in its fallen state, which is sure to develop 
 itself in impiety and malignity — leading him who is under its 
 influence, to make himself his own god — or to make creatures 
 from whom he vainly expects happiness, his gods — so that he 
 does not " gloi'ify God as God, neither is thankful," but 
 
DISC. I.] THE MIND WHICH WAS IN CHRIST. 249 
 
 " worships and serves the creature more than the Creator ;" — 
 and leading him too, in seeking his own interest, ill understood, 
 both to neglect and to invade the interests of others, becoming 
 " hateful and hating " his fellow-men. 
 
 Cultivate this holy, generous love, in both its forms. Like 
 Jesus, love God " with all your heart and soul, and strength 
 and mind, and love your neighboiu* as yourself." Like Jesus, 
 look primarily to the manifestation of the Divine glory as your 
 chief end. Let this be your gTeat object, that God, the infinitely 
 great, excellent, amiable, benignant being, should have his 
 character justly appreciated by yourselves and others — and that 
 these just views should exert a paramount influence over the 
 character and conduct of all men — formed for Him, that they 
 may show forth his praise. Let this principle, embodied in the 
 first and great commandment of the law, and in the three first 
 j)etitions of the Lord's prayer, and exhibited alive and in activity 
 in the character and conduct of the man Christ Jesus, reign in 
 your hearts. Let your whole conduct plainly say. We supremely 
 venerate him who is infinitely venerable, and we wish all thus to 
 venerate him ; we supremely love him who is supremely lovely, 
 and we Avish all thus to love him ; we supremely tnist him who is 
 supremely trust-worthy, and we wish all thus to trust him. " Our 
 Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom 
 come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." 
 
 Like Jesus too, love your fellow-men. How disinterested, 
 how self-sacrificing was his love ! Let his disposition be in you — 
 feel for men's bodily wants and distresses ; feel especially for the 
 wants, and the dangers, and the miseries of the rational immortal 
 spirit ; and to relieve both, give not only good words and fair 
 speeches, but readily submit to privation — make sacrifices — 
 willingly labour and sufter in order to diminish the mass of 
 human guilt and wTctchedness — to increase the sum of human 
 worth and happiness. The command is that we love one another 
 " as he loved us" — -and that is not a Christian mind which does 
 not acknowledge the justice of the reasoning of that apostle, who 
 had much of the mind of his Master in him, when he says, " If 
 Christ laid down his life for us, we also should lay down our 
 lives for the brethren." 
 
 This "mind which was in Christ Jesus" manifested itself in 
 " obedience,'" and if the mind be in you, you also will be " obedient 
 
250 THE MIND WHICH WAS IN CHRIST. [PART nT. 
 
 children" — children of obedience : Obedient in your minds — 
 recognising no authority in religion but one, and ever bowing 
 to that authority, counting every thing true God says, because 
 He says it — every thing right lie appoints, because He appoints 
 it — and counting nothing in religion true or right, but what 
 He says and appoints : Obedient in our hearts, answering with 
 corresponding feeling eveiy manifestation of the Dixnne character. 
 When you look at his majestic grandeur and infinite holiness — 
 " Sanctify Him in your hearts, making Him your fear and dread," 
 — when you look at the loveliness of his character, and the 
 number, variety, and value of his gifts, " O love the Lord all 
 ye his saints." — Meet manifestations of his faithfiihiess by in- 
 creased confidence, and manifestations of his kindness with in- 
 creased gi'atitude : Obedient in your lives — both passively and 
 actively : passively, by patiently and cheerfully bearing whatever 
 afflictions He sends, just because He sends them ; and actively, 
 " obser%dng all things whatsoever He has commanded you," 
 " walking in all his commandments and ordinances blameless," 
 practically "counting his statutes concerning all things to be 
 right, and abhorring every wicked way." 
 
 As the obedience of Christ, under the influence of " the mind 
 that was in him," was obedience to death — so must yoiu's be. 
 Never forget, that it is the end which crowns the -work. " He 
 that endureth to the end shall be saved." " Be faithful unto 
 death, and I will give you the crown of life." It is to the over- 
 comer that the promise is made, " He shall sit with me on my 
 throne, as I have sat down on my Father's throne." 
 
 And you must not only be " obecUent unto death," but obedient 
 in death. Oh my friends, that is a severe trial. " Dying work 
 is serious work," but if the mind of Christ be in us, we shall be 
 enabled to sustain the trial, to finish the work. Though shrink- 
 ing from being unclothed, and Avilling rather to be clothed upon, 
 yet when God makes it evident that the great law of mortality 
 is about to have its course in reference to us, let us acknowletlge 
 the righteousness of the awful doom, " Dust thou art, and unto 
 dust thou shalt return," let us meekly submit to the stroke of 
 death, — thankful in om' hearts that though " the body must die, 
 because of sin, the spirit lives be(%iuse of righteousness," and 
 firmly believing that " He who raised our Lord Jesus from the 
 dead," shall in due time " quicken our mortal bodies because of 
 
DISC. I.] THE MIND WHICH WAS IN CHRIST. 251 
 
 his Spirit who dwells in us," " confident always and willing 
 rather to be absent from the body and present with the Lord." 
 Let us quietly submit to all his arrangements as to the time and 
 manner of our departure ; and instead of being " driven away," 
 — " chased out of the world," — let us go cheerfully along with 
 the grim messenger, knowing that he has no power over the re- 
 deemed spirit, which, escaping from its earthly tabernacle, like 
 the bird fi'om the snare of the fowler, finds its way direct to the 
 bosom of God; and assured that though death may for a season 
 give fearful proofs of his power on the now deserted material 
 tenement, yet the period is hastening onward when " mortality 
 shall be swallow^ed up in life," and the dishonours of the grave 
 forgotten for ever in the glories of the resiu'rection and life 
 eternal. " For we are looking for the Saviour from heaven, the 
 Lord Jesus, avIio shall change our vile body, and fashion it like 
 unto his own glorious body, according to the working whereby 
 he is able to subdue all tliino;s to himself." 
 
 The institution we have been observing confirms this glorious 
 hope. It looks forward as well as backward — it speaks of the 
 second as well as the first coming of the Lord. The services of 
 to-day have probably j^ainfully reminded some of us of happy 
 communions here with those with whom we must no more drink 
 the pignoral cup ; but they point our hopes onward to the period 
 when we shall huno-er no more — thirst no more — but alono- with 
 them be led by the Lamb to living fountains of waters, and 
 " drink our fill of their pure immortal stream." In this emblema- 
 tical institution, our Lord proclaims, 'I have come as a sin- 
 offering — I will come a second time, not as a sin-offering, but for 
 the salvation of those who are looking for me.' To the first 
 annunciation we reply, ' Blessed be thou who hast come in the 
 name of the Lord' — to the second, ' Amen, even so come Lord 
 Jesus.' 
 
 In obtaining a more and more accurate resemblance in their 
 mode of thinking and feeling to that of their Saviour, and ex- 
 hibiting a fair and still improving copy of the graces and \'irtues 
 which rendered his life and his death so illustrious. Christians 
 will honour their Loixl — make sure their calling and election, and 
 acquire a fitness for mingling in the closest fellowship, throughout 
 eternity, with Christ Jesus, and his divine Father and Spirit, to 
 whom be ascribed infinite and undivided honour. Amen. 
 
DISCOURSE II. 
 
 THE CHRISTIAN EXHORTED AND ENCOURAGED TO EXERTION. 
 
 2 Chron. XV. 7. — " Be strong, therefoi'e, and let not your hands be weak, for your 
 work shall be rewarded." 
 
 Of those good and great men who, in their respective periods, 
 were " the hghts of the world" — who, devoting the best gifts of 
 heaven to the best purposes, contributed by their talents and 
 virtues to the instruction, moral improvement, and happiness of 
 their fellow-men, it is but a small proportion whose names, and a 
 still smaller whose works, have survived their own age, and come 
 down to excite the admiration and claim the gratitude of suc- 
 ceeding generations. This fact is easily accounted for. These 
 men have, for the most part, been heedless of human applause. 
 The object of their ambition was something infinitely higher than 
 mortal fame — " the honour which cometh do^vn from above," the 
 approbation of their God. Content with being good and useful, 
 they left it to others to run the race and wear the laurels of 
 earthly renown. On the other hand, an ignorant and unthink- 
 ing world were indisposed to attend to, and incapable of estimat- 
 ing rightly, the worth of their character, and the importance of 
 their labours ; and, obstinately attached to their foolish and 
 criminal pm'suits, they willingly consigned to oblivion both their 
 reprovers and their reproofs. 
 
 It is owing to these, and similar causes, that so many great 
 and good men are entirely forgotten ; and, but for the unpcr- 
 ceived, yet frequently very pow^erfiil influence of their exertions 
 on the minds of those with whom they were connected, are as if 
 they had never l.)een. Their memorial among men is perished. 
 — Yet shall they be " held in everlasting remembrance." Their 
 names, though not inserted in the records of worldly honour, 
 are " written in the Lamb's book of life." Tiiey " honoured 
 
DISC. II.] THE CHRISTIAN ENCOURAGED TO EXERTION. 253 
 
 God, and lie will honour them." " They turned many to 
 righteousness, and they shall shine as stars in the firmament for 
 ever and ever." 
 
 It cannot bo doubted, that of those prophets whom God raised 
 up for the instniction of the Jewish church, as well as of those 
 ministers whom lie has raised up for the instruction of the Chris- 
 tian church, there were many thousands, venerable for their piety, 
 respectable for their talents, and highly useful in their stations, 
 of whose very names we are totally ignorant : Of many more we 
 know nothing but the names : Of a much less considerable 
 number we have some slender memorial : and of a very few we 
 have full delineations of their characters, and extensive specimens 
 of theu' labours. In these dispensations we may notice, and 
 ought to adore, the sovereignty of Divine Providence, who does 
 what He wills with his own, and who distributes posthumous 
 honour and usefulness on principles certainly wise, just, and 
 good, but to us altogether inscrutable. 
 
 Of the prophecies of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, we have 
 considerable volumes : Of Micaiah and Gad we know little more 
 than that they were prophets ; while Nathan, Obadiah, and 
 some others, hold a kind of intermediate station — slender por- 
 tions of their prophetic instructions having found a place in the 
 inspired canon. To this third class belongs Azariah, the son of 
 Oded, from whose short and solitary recorded prophecy I have 
 chosen the subject of the present discourse. 
 
 The words of the text are the conclusion of a solemn and 
 animated address, delivered by Azariah under the impulse of 
 inspiration, to the pious Asa, on his return from the miraculous 
 overthrow of Zerah the Cushite, and his prodigious army. The 
 prophet assures the monarch and his people of the continued 
 protection and blessing of Jehovah, if they remained faithful to 
 their duty, — puts them in mind of the dilapidated state in which 
 the true religion had for a long period been, — points out the 
 necessity of an immediate and thorough reformation, — and con- 
 cludes all with the exhortation in the text, " Be strong, and let 
 not your hands be weak : for your work shall be rewarded." 
 Without doubt, these words have a primary reference to Asa, 
 and the people of Judah and Benjamin, in the particular con- 
 juncture at which they were spoken. They are an exhortation 
 to activity, vigour, and perseverance, in the great work of 
 
254 THE CHRISTIAN EXHORTED [PART III. 
 
 national reformation, enforced by a declaration, that their 
 labours should be crowned with an abundant reward. It is 
 obvious, however, that they admit of a wider application, and 
 that both the command and the encouragement may, without 
 impropriety, be considered as addressed to men and saints in 
 every country and age. 
 
 In this avowedly accommodated sense I shall consider it in 
 the subsequent part of this discourse, in which your attention 
 shall be successively directed to the duty enjoined, " Be 
 strong, and let not your hands be weak" ; and to the motive 
 PROPOSED, " Your work shall be rewarded." 
 
 I. I do not know, if, in the whole compass of inspired Scrip- 
 ture, there is to be found an injunction so fi*equently repeated 
 as that to which your attention is now to be directed. " Be 
 strong," said Moses to Joshua, when he publicly declared him 
 his successor ; and the same laconic exhortation was repeated 
 immediately from heaven, when he entered on the discharge 
 of the duties of his office. " Be thou strong," said David to 
 Solomon, when he gave him his last advice respecting his 
 conduct as a man and a king. " Be strong," is a part of the 
 evangelical message, according to the prediction of the evan- 
 gelical prophet. " Be strong, O Zerubabel ; be strong, O 
 Jeshua ; be strong, all ye people of the land," was the command 
 of God by the prophet Haggai to the restorers of the temple. 
 " Be strong," is the injunction of the apostle Paul on his son 
 Timothy, and on the Corinthian and Ephesian believers. A 
 mandate so fi*equently repeated by men who spoke as they were 
 moved by the Holy Ghost, must be important, and an inquiry 
 into its meaning cannot surely be deficient either in interest or 
 instruction. The Divine injunction is by no means obscure. 
 It obviously enjoins alacrity in undertaking, activity in pro- 
 secuting, perseverance in continuing, a course of dutiful conduct. 
 The general command, " Be strong," implies in it an injunction 
 to acquire those princi})lcs and dispositions in which moral 
 strength and spiritual vigour consist ; and to display those 
 principles in their appropriate employment, of performing duty, 
 resisting enemies, and enduring affliction. The duty enjoined, 
 then, seems to be twofold — first, the acquisition ; and secondly, 
 the exertion of spiritual strength. 
 
DISC. II.] AND ENCOURAGED TO EXERTION. 255 
 
 1st, The conimaml, " Be strong," enjoins the acquirement of 
 spiritual strength. Were a person worn out by disease, ad- 
 dressed in these words, " Be strong," the most rational course 
 which he could adopt, in order to comply with the advice, would 
 be carefully to use every means which promised to re-establish 
 his health and restore his vigour. The application of the 
 remark to the moral state of mankind is obvious and easy. 
 
 That men are naturally destitute of all moral vigour, all 
 spiritual strength — that they are morally incapable, or, in other 
 words, very strongly indisposed, to perform actions acceptable 
 to God, is most decidedly the doctrine of Scripture. " With- 
 out strength, dead in trespasses and sins," are the expressive 
 appellations given in Scripture to all men in their natural state : 
 " They who are in the flesh cannot please God." 
 
 This moral inability seems owing to two causes — the Divine 
 curse, and the depravity of human nature. "All men have 
 sinned," and, of course, are under the curse which God has 
 denounced against all the transgressors of his laAV. To this 
 most holy and righteous ordinance of Heaven, I impute no 
 active energy in paralysing the nativa powers of the human 
 mind ; but, without doubt, the object of the Divine curse cannot 
 be the subject of that Divine influence, which is the sole source 
 of moral goodness in created minds. The Divine curse cuts off", 
 as it were, the supplies of the Divine life, and man, of course, 
 continues " dead in trespasses and sins." It is thus that " the 
 law is the strength of sin." It is, however, to the depravity of 
 man's natm*e — to the wilful delusions of his miderstanding — 
 and the determined wickedness 7)f his heart, that man's moral 
 inability is to be traced as its operative cause. It is because 
 men will not do their duty that they cannot do it : " Ye will 
 not come to me that ye might have life." 
 
 From this view of the subject it is plain, that in order to our 
 acquiring spiritual vigour, two things are necessaiy — we must 
 obtain deliverance from the Divine curse, and we must be " re- 
 newed in the spirit of our minds." I tnist none of you are 
 ignorant of the manner in which these blessings are to be 
 obtained ; yet, as it is scarcely possible to present the truth on 
 this subject too frequently to the mind, I shall state the leading 
 doctrines of the Christian scheme of restoration : — " Christ hath 
 redeemed us from the curse of the law, having himself become 
 
256 THE CHRISTIAN EXHORTED [PART III. 
 
 a cm'se for us. \\nicn we were without strength, in due time 
 Christ died for the ungodly. God, sending his Son in the like- 
 ness of sinful flesh, and a sin-offering, has condemned sin in the 
 flesh ; which the law could not do, in that it was weak through 
 the flesh." By faith in Christ Jesus, we are " made the righte- 
 ousness of God in him," and become partakers of all the bless- 
 ings which he has procured by his death. God, well pleased 
 with him, and with us in him, "blesses us with heavenly and 
 spiritual blessings ; " and, among these blessings, one of the fii'st 
 and most important is spiritual ability, " the creation in Christ 
 Jesus unto good works." This is conferred through the agency of 
 the Holy Ghost enlightening the understanding in the knowledge 
 of truth, and inclining the heart to the love of goodness. We 
 are "born again of the Spirit — saved by the washing of re- 
 generation, and the renewing of the Holy Ghost." " Sin no 
 longer reigns in our mortal bodies. We yield no more our 
 members to sin, as the instruments of unrighteousness ; but we 
 yield ourselves to God, as those who are alive from the dead, 
 and our members to Him as the instruments of righteousness." 
 
 But if the communication of spiritual strength be entirely 
 the work of God, how can we, who are dead in trespasses and 
 sins, with consistency be exliorted to be strong by acquiring 
 spiritual vigom'? This is a difficulty which arises from con- 
 founding together the ideas of physical strength and moral 
 ability, than which no two ideas can be more distinct ; and 
 from arffuinof from what is true in the one case, to what is true 
 in the other. The difficulty is not to be got rid of, as has some- 
 times been attempted, by merely saying, that, though man can- 
 not acquire spiritual \agour, he can use the means of acquiring 
 it ; but by asserting the plain truths, that an indisposition to do 
 what is our duty, can never excuse us from its performance — 
 that arguments and motives are the means suited to our 
 rational nature for lu'ging us to a particular mode of conduct — 
 and that it is through their medium that that divine influence 
 is usually exerted, " which works in us both to will and to do of 
 God's good pleasure." ^ 
 
 ' I am glad to have it in my power to lay before my readers the sentiments of the 
 most eloquent of living preachers, and, to say the least, one of the most profound of 
 living theologians, on this highly important subject. " PVom the moral impotence 
 which the oracles of truth ascribe to man in his fallen state, a certain class of 
 
DISC. II.] AND EXCOURAGED TO EXERTION. 257 
 
 The continuance and the increase of spiritual vigour flow 
 from the same copious sources of blessing as its commencement, 
 — the atonement and tlie spirit of the Redeemer. "Without 
 him" the most accomplished Christian "can do nothing." If 
 he is "strong," it is only in the grace which is in the Lord 
 Jesus. This increase of spiritual ^^gour is to be sought for in 
 the exercise of faith and prayer, and in the conscientious use of 
 that degree of spiritual energy already obtained. " Even the 
 youths may faint and be weary, and the young men may utterly 
 fall ; but they who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength, 
 they shall mount up on wings like eagles, they shall run and 
 not weary, they shall walk and not faint." 
 
 divines were inJuccJ to divide moral and relifjious duties into two classes— natural 
 and spiritual ; coniprehending- under the latter, those which require spiritual or 
 supernatural .assistance to their performance, and under the former, those which 
 demand no such assistance. Agreeable to this distinction, they conceived it to be 
 the duty of all men to abstain from the outward acts of sin — to read the Scriptures 
 — to frequent the worship of God — and to attend with serious assiduity on the means 
 of grace ; but they supposed that repentance, faith in Christ, and the exercise of 
 genuine internal devotion, were obligatory only on the regenerate. 
 
 " These conclusions were evidently founded on two assumptions : first, that the 
 impotence which the ■Scriptures ascribe to the unregenerate, is free from blame, so 
 as to excuse them from all the duties to which it extends ; wliereas, in truth, the 
 inability under which the unconverted labour is altogether of a moral nature, con- 
 sisting in the corruption of the will, or an aversion to things of a spiritual and 
 divine nature, so that it is in itself criminal, and is so far from affording an excuse for 
 what would otherwise be a duty, that it stamps with its own character all its issues 
 and productions. 
 
 "Another principle assumed as a basis by the High Calvinists is, that the same 
 things cannot be the duty of man and the gift of God ; or, in other words, that what 
 is matter of promise, can on no occasion be the matter of obligation. The con- 
 sistency of the promises and commands in question, arises from the matter of each 
 being of a moral nature. If we will allow ourselves to reflect, we shall perceive, 
 that tlie will, and the will only, is the proper object of command ; and that an agent 
 is no otherwise accountable, or susceptible of moral government, than as he is the 
 subject of voluntary powers. We shall also perceive, that the disordered state of 
 the will, or the radical indisposition of an agent to comply with legitimate commands, 
 which is the same thing, by no means exempts him from their obligation, nor tends 
 in the least degree, to render the addressing such commands to him absurd or im- 
 pi'oper. That they will not be complied with, wliile that disordered state subsists, 
 is true, but legitimate commands, enforced by proper sanctions, are amongst the 
 strongest motives ; that is, they tend in their own nature to incline the will, and 
 therefore they cannot be withheld without virtually relinquishing the claim of 
 authority and dominion." — H.\ll's (of Leicester) Preface to Hall's (of Arnsby) Help 
 to Zion's Truvellei: — It is a profound remark of the same great man, that the radical 
 principle both of Pelagianism and Hyper-Calvinism is, ' that moral ability is the rule 
 of obligation : ' "a position which, when the terms are accurately defined and cleared 
 of their ambiguity, conducts us to this very extraordinary conclusion, that men are 
 oblifjcd to just as much of their diit>/ as they are inclined to." 
 
 *R 
 
258 THE CHRISTIAN EXHORTED [I'ART III. 
 
 2d, The coininaiid, '' Be strong," enjoins the exertion of 
 spiritual strength, x\ll the faculties whicli God is pleased to 
 confer on his creatures are intended to be employed. He does 
 nothing cither in the natural or in the moral world in vain, 
 lias lie formed formed mankind capable of acquii-ing know- 
 ledge ? it is his will that they should actpiire it. Has He given 
 them the capacity of communicating knowledge ? it is his will 
 they should commiuiicate it. In like manner, when He has 
 by his Spirit produced a moral ability to do his will — when 
 He has "worked in men both to will and to do of his good 
 pleasure," it is his intention that these new moral faculties 
 should be exerted, and that they who arc possessed of them 
 should be " fruitful in every good work." The three principal 
 ways in which the Christian is called on to exert his spiritual 
 vigour, are, the discharge of active duty — the resistance of 
 spiritual adversaries — and the endurance of appointed trials. 
 
 The duties incumbent on the Christian are numerous and 
 important. He owes many duties to his God — many to himself 
 — and many to his brethren of mankind. These duties, though 
 in themselves most reasonable, and to a perfectly holy being easy 
 and delightful, are yet, in consequence of the remaining corrup- 
 tion of his nature, and the peculiar circumstances of his situation, 
 frequently attended with very considerable difficulty. "NAHien he 
 contemplates the number and importance of his duties, and 
 contrasts with them his own deficiencies and weakness, his heart 
 is apt to fail him, and his hands to hang down in hopeless in- 
 action. He is in danger of neglecting them altogether — of dis- 
 charging them in a slovenly manner — of attending only to a part 
 of them — or of abandoning them while yet vmfinished. In these 
 circumstances, the Christian must "be strong" — call forth into 
 action all the energies of his new nature — and look up to heaven 
 for renewed sup})lies of spiritual vigour. Let him not waste his 
 strength in uncommanded exertions. Let him not rashly en- 
 £ra2G even in a o;ood work, to which he is not called. Such 
 heedlessness is usually and justly pmnshed by failure. But, 
 when plainly called to follow a particular line of conduct, let no 
 ap|)arcnt difficulties prevent his entering uj)on it. Though com- 
 manded to demolish the walls of Jericho by the blast of rams' 
 horns, let not the seeming inadecjuacy of the means prevent their 
 employment. Though ordered to stretch forth a withered hand, 
 
DISC. Jl,] AND ENCOURAGED TO EXERTION. 259 
 
 let not tlic hopelessness of the exertion prevent the attempt hei)ig 
 made : Weak in himself, let him " be strong in the Lord," and 
 say with the apostle, " I can do all things through Christ, who 
 strengthens me." 
 
 Nor must the Christian display his spiritual Aigour merely in 
 boldly entering on the performance of commanded duty. He 
 must not only do what is required, but he must do it in the 
 manner required. He must not confine his attention to those 
 |)arts of Christian duty which are comparatively easy, — con'es- 
 ponding u-ith his interests and habits ; liis s])iritual vigour must 
 be manifested in the performance of those duties most opposed 
 to his worldly interests, and most abhorrent to his natural feel- 
 ings. He must " mortify his members which are upon the earth, 
 and crucify the iiesh, with its affections and lusts." He must 
 not only part with what he perceives and feels to be an incum- 
 brance; he mvvst cut off a right hand, and phick out a right eye, 
 when duty requires the sacrifice. 
 
 Farther, the Christian must discover spiritual vigour in tlie 
 perseverance of his dutiful exertions, " The Christian race," to 
 use the figure of an accomplished female writer, " is not to be 
 run at a few heats." ^ It is a constant progressive movement, 
 commensurate with our lives. It is always '' the race set before 
 us." The same duties are constantly recurring. What Avas done 
 yesterday must be done to-da}', and to-morrow, and eveiy suc- 
 ceeding day of our lives. The Christian is in danger of becom- 
 ing " weary of well-doing." But he must " be strong," and press 
 forward : '' Forgetting the things which are behind, he must 
 reach forth to those which are before, and press to the mark, for 
 the prize of the liigli calling of God in Christ Jesus." 
 
 The enemies of the Christian's salvation arc numerous and 
 powerful. Within, he has "■ an evil heart of unbelief tempting 
 him to depart fi'om the living God :" He has carnal affections 
 and unruly passions, a darkened mind and a perverse heart, to 
 contend with. Without, the world assaults him both by its 
 smiles and its frowns, — its allurements and its terrors. Death 
 threatens to overwhelm him, and his " adversaiy the devil 
 goeth about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour." 
 In resisting these enemies, the exercise of spiritual vigom' is 
 
 ' Hannah More. 
 
260 THE CHRISTIAN EXHORTED [PART III. 
 
 absolutely necessary. The Christian must " be strong." A 
 better commentary on the prophet's words, in this view of them, 
 cannot be conceived, than the exhortation of the apostle, — 
 " Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power 
 of Iiis might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be 
 able to stand against the wiles of the devil ; for we wrestle not 
 against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, 
 against the inilers of the darkness of tliis world, against spiritual 
 wickednesses in high places. Wherefore, take to you the whole 
 armom' of God, that ye may be able to A^thstand in the evil day, 
 and having done all, to stand. Stand, therefore, having yoiir 
 loins gh"t about with truth, and having on the breast-plate of 
 righteousness, and yoiu' feet shod with the preparation of the 
 gos])el of peace ; above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith 
 ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And 
 take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which 
 is the word of God," However much he may suffer in the con- 
 flict, he must enter into no tenns with the enemies of his salva- 
 tion. In his greatest distresses, let his language be — " Rejoice 
 not against me, O mine enemy ! when I fall I shall arise, 
 when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light to me." The 
 battle may be obstinate, but, if thus conducted, ultimate victory 
 is secure. The Christian shall be made " more than a conqueror, 
 through HIM who loves hitn." ' 
 
 The endurance of affliction, is the thu-d exercise which calls 
 for the vigorous exertion of spiritual strength. Affliction is the 
 general lot of mortals : " Man who is born of a woman is of few 
 days, and full of trouble : he cometh forth as a floAver, and is cvit 
 down ; he flieth also as a shadow, and continueth not." The 
 saint has his fidl share of the evils of life : " Whom the Lord 
 loveth He chastenetli, and He scourgeth every son whom He 
 receiveth." Spiritual vigour is not less necessary to enable us 
 to suffer well than to act welL Affliction, especially if it is long 
 continued, has a tendoicy to subdue the spirits and to weaken 
 the mind. There is a species of strength of mind under affliction, 
 which, so far from being a duty, is a great sin : a refusing to 
 bend under tlie hand of the Almighty — a " despising of the chas- 
 tening of God." Against this stubborn, untameable temper, the 
 Christian must carefully guard. He must " hear the rod, and 
 Him who appoints it." He must '*• humble himself under the 
 
DISC. II.J AND ENCOURAGED TO EXERTION. 2G1 
 
 mighty hand of God." lie must not " despise the chastening of 
 the Lord." But neither ought he to " faint wlien he is rebuked 
 of Him." However severe, however long-continued the affliction, 
 he must patiently bear it. He must endeavour even to " rejoice 
 in tribulation, knowing that tribulation worketli patience, and 
 patience experience, and experience hope." In this respect, as 
 in every other, the apostle Paul is a fit model for the Christian 
 to copy : " There was given to me," says he, " a thorn in the 
 flesh, a messenger of Satan, to buffet me. For this thing I be- 
 sought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me ; and he 
 said unto me, my grace is sufficient for thee, and my strength 
 shall be made perfect in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, will 
 I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may 
 rest on me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in re- 
 proaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's 
 sake ; for when I am weak, then am I also strong." Afflicted 
 Christian, " go thou and do likewise." 
 
 II. Having thus illustrated the duty enjoined, the acquisition 
 and exertion of spiritual vigour, I proceed to the consideration of 
 the motive by which the injunction is enforced — " Be strong, 
 and let not your hands be weak, for your work shall be 
 
 REWARDED." 
 
 There is such a tendency in the depraved human mind, to 
 consider benefits received in the light of a debt due to us by 
 heaven for services performed by us, that there is need of pecu- 
 liar caution and accuracy in stating some of the principles of the 
 Christian institution, lest they should, by a perverted ingenuity, 
 be construed as giving countenance to this common and most 
 dangerous eiTor. Among those ])rinci])les which are thus liable 
 to misconception, the doctrine of rewards for duty holds a con- 
 spicuous place.^ By incorrect exhibitions of this confessedly 
 important doctrine, the whole system of truth respecting man's 
 salvation has been obscured and misrepresented ; and in opposi- 
 tion to the apostle, who declares, that " by grace are we saved," 
 men have been led to expect everlasting happiness, not as a boon 
 from the self-moved benevolence, but a merited recompense for 
 their exertions from the justice, of Heaven. 
 
 • See Note at the eml of the Discourse. 
 
2(52 THE CHRISTIAN EXHORTED [PART III. 
 
 The doctrine of merit is equally indefensible on the principles 
 of reason and revelation : ''Can man be profitable to God, as he 
 who is wise is profitable to himself?" Can a rational creature, 
 even in liis best estate, do more than it is his duty to do ? and if 
 so, where is his merit ? The highest angel, the purest seraph, 
 has no merit. He owes his happiness, not to himself, but to the 
 bounty of his Maker. And shall man — a worm, a rebel, a con- 
 demned, and at best a pardoned traitor — shall he, for a moment, 
 cherish the proud thought of making God his debtor, or of 
 obtaining happiness from any source, but the undeserved, self- 
 originating goodness of the Divinity ? If there is a tnith re- 
 vealed explicitly in Scri])ture, it is this, that all the good which 
 man receives, either in the present or in a future state, fi'om a 
 breath of air, or a drop of water, to the high endowments and 
 rapturous enjoyments of the blessed in heaven, all, all proceeds 
 from the patience or the grace of the Sovereign Jehovali. From 
 the justice of Heaven, man, viewed as a fallen creature, in any 
 stage of his existence, deserves nothing but punishment ; — if he 
 is spared and pardoned, accepted and saved, not to him, but to 
 his merciful God, his compassionate Redeemer, must be ascribed 
 all the glory. 
 
 Still, however, it cannot be denied, and it ought not to be 
 concealed, that in the Scriptures w^e frequently find the benefits 
 l)estowcd on saints represented as rewards. Moses " looked for 
 the recompense of reward." God is said to '' recompense " to 
 his afflicted people " rest with the apostles." And, in the pas- 
 sage before us, the command " be strong," is enforced by a pro- 
 mise, that dutiful exertion shall be abundantly rewarded. The 
 idea intended to be conveyed by these and similar expressions, 
 c^annot be, that the blessings are merited by the exertion to which 
 the}' are promised as a reward. The connection established be- 
 tween the exertion and the blessing, is a connection originating 
 in sovereign aj)pointment. Previous to the promise, no man, 
 even thougli he had done the duty, could have laid claim to the 
 reward ; and the strength necessary to the discharge of the duty 
 is obviously the gift of God. Tet the language is far from being 
 either unmeaning or obscure. It teaches us, that, without the 
 discharge of the duty enjoined, the j)romised blessing will not bo 
 bestowed; and that the benefit will be conferred in a degree 
 [troportioned to the dutifid exertion made for its acquisition. 
 
DISC. II.] AND ENCOURAGED TO EXERTION. 2G3 
 
 In the Christian doctrine of rewards, thus understood, while 
 tliei'c is nothing incongi-uous with the strictly gratuitous nature of 
 all the blessings of salvation,— we have a striking proof, that, in 
 the scheme of man's redemption, advantages apparently incon- 
 sistent arc conjoined: for while every rising emotion of pride 
 and self-glorying is repressed by the consideration that all is of 
 grace, all the energies of our nature, which depend on the prin- 
 ciple of interest, are called foi'th into exercise in promoting our 
 sanctification, by the prospect of the gracious " recompense of re- 
 ward." Having thus, in order to prevent mistakes, shortly ex- 
 plained the nature of those rewards which God bestows on his 
 people, I proceed to show how the active and vigorous discharge 
 of Christian duty is usually rewarded. The work of God's 
 people is rewarded both in the present and in a future state. 
 
 Isf, The work of God's people is rewarded in the present 
 state. On a cursory view, the present state of things appears a 
 kind of moral chaos, where one event happens ro all, where good 
 and evil are dispensed with a careless hand, and happiness and 
 misery alternately and indiscriminately are the lot of the righteous 
 and the wicked. A closer inspection will, however, convince us, 
 that there are design and order amid apparent chance and con- 
 fusion, that there is a system of moral government administered 
 even here, that " veril}- there is a reward for the righteous, that 
 verily there is a God who judgeth in the earth." The modes in 
 which God rewards the work of his people are very diversified. 
 Sometimes He recompenses their dutiful exertions by worldly 
 prosperity ; sometimes by the success with which He crowns their 
 labours ; unifoi-mly by an increased degree of internal peace, and 
 a more confirmed hope of eternal happiness. 
 
 God does not always reward his people's dutiful exertions by 
 temporal prosperity, for temporal prosperity is not in every case 
 a blessing. It is not every good man who can withstand its 
 temptations, and where it seduces into sin, it is certainly not a 
 blessing, but a curse. Yet still, in many cases, the work of the 
 saints is rewarded by external blessings. Under that pecuhar 
 dispensation under which the ancient people of God were placed, 
 they were in general prosperous or aftlicted, according as they 
 kept or violated the law of their God. Asa obeyed the com- 
 mandment of the Lord by the prophet Azariah, and we find he 
 was rewarded by twenty-five years of unintennipted peace and 
 
2(54 THE CHRISTIAN EXHORTED [PART III. 
 
 prosperity. Wlio can doubt, that the external blessings by which 
 Job, and David, and Daniel were distinguished, were the gracious 
 rewards of their doino; and sufFerinc; the will of God ? Nor was 
 this mode of rewarding dutiful exertion peculiar to the theocratic 
 dispensation : still we find the promise to godliness, of " the life 
 that now is," fi-equently fulfilled. " The blessing of God still 
 makes rich," and when a person who is conscientiously employ- 
 ing all his capabilities of doing good, finds his worldly interests 
 prospering, he is waiTanted to consider this as a reward for his 
 past exertions, and as an encoui'agement to persevere in well- 
 doing. 
 
 Another way in which God perhaps still more frequently 
 rewards the dutiful exertions of his people, is by crowTiing their 
 labours with abundant success. When a saint enters with alacrity 
 on the discharge of a diflficult and important duty, the necessary 
 supplies of Divine assistance are given him, and he accomplishes 
 it with an ease which at once astonishes and delights him. When 
 he boldly encounters the enemies of his salvation, he is made 
 " more than a conqueror ; " and when he sets himself to endure 
 affliction, strength is given him from above, " patience has its 
 perfect work," and the affliction, having served its purpose, is 
 removed. In the success of his dutiful exertions, the saint enjoys 
 a rich reward. How amply recompensed is the faithful and 
 laborious minister, when his exertions are obviously rendered 
 effectual to the conversion of sinners, and the improvement of 
 the faithful ; or the pious and diligent parent, when he sees his 
 children growing up in the knowledge of the truth, and the love 
 of holiness ! Hoav wonderfully has the work of that honoured 
 individual^ been rewarded, who, nearl}' thirty years ago,- raised 
 almost his single voice in behalf of a benighted world, and whose 
 exertions in their cause have ever since been most \igorous and 
 unintermitting ! In the establishment of many Missionary and 
 Bible Societies ; in the translation of the Scriptures into most of 
 the written languages of the world ; in the distribution of hun- 
 dreds of thousands of Bibles ; in the formation of many Christian 
 churches ; in the conversion of many souls ; in the |)rospect of 
 the Christianisation of the whole peopled earth ; — he has already 
 obtained an exceeding great reward. Never, perhaps, could anv 
 
 1 Dr Carey. > In the year 1791. This was first i>ubli.-heil in 1816. 
 
DISC. II.] AND ENCOURAGED TO EXERTION. 265 
 
 man adopt, with greater emphasis, the words of Simeon, than 
 this distinguislied friend of God and man : " Now Icttcst thou 
 thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes liave seen thy sal- 
 vation." 
 
 It is not, however, in every case that God thus rewards the 
 dutiful exertions of his people with success. They often seem to 
 " labour in vain, and to spend their strength for nought and in 
 vain." In such instances, however, we should draw a very rash 
 conclusion, were we to affirm that their work is unrewarded. It 
 is a most important truth, that " the kingdom of God is within 
 man," and in secrecy and silence are many of its punishments 
 and rewards dispensed. Peace of mind is the reward in eveiy 
 case of dutiful conduct. " In keeping God's commandments 
 there is great reward. Great peace have they who love God's 
 law, and nothing shall offend them." He who has felt the pangs 
 of remorse, and he who has tasted the sweets of conscious sin- 
 cerity, are equally convinced, that it is a delightful thing to have 
 • " a conscience void of offence towards God and man." Not that 
 the saint depends on his most dutiful exertions as the grounds of 
 his acceptance. No ; he trusts in no arm but God's, he relies 
 on no righteousness but Jesus's ; but in his humble persevering 
 endeavours to do his duty, he has satisfactory evidence that he 
 is interested in the Divine favour. " His calling and election 
 are thus made sure," and the peace of mind thus produced may 
 surely be considered as the reward of his giving all diligence to 
 add to his faith every Christian virtue. 
 
 In proportion to the saint's diligence in the discharge of his 
 duty, is he rewarded with the unclouded hope of eternal life. 
 The saint's security of eternal life is derived from his interest in 
 the all-perfect atonement and all-prevalent intercession of our 
 Lord Jesus. Bvit the enjoyment of the satisfaction arising from 
 the prospect of celestial blessedness, is dependent on, and is the 
 rewai'd of, his dutiful exertions. Indolence on the part of a true 
 saint cannot render his final salvation insecure ; but it may, it 
 must, render him uncertain about it. Then does the Christian 
 most delightfully feel that his hope is not that of the hypocrite, 
 when it animates him to " purify himself as God is pure." 
 
 2d, The work of God's people shall be rewarded in a fiitm'e 
 state. Of the blessings which await the people of God in a 
 future world, we are able to form but \'erv indistinct and inade- 
 
266 THE CHRISTIAN EXHORTED [PAIIT 111. 
 
 quate ideas. " It doth not yet appear what we shall be. Here 
 we see througli a glass dai'kly." Eye hath not seen, ear hath not 
 heard, neitlior hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive, 
 the things Avhicli God has there laid np for those avIio love Him. 
 From the various images under which the celestial blessedness 
 is represented to our minds, we may safely conclude, that it is 
 infinitely superior to anything of which we have experience in 
 the present state. It is " a crown of gloiy and of life," " an 
 enduring substance," " a city which has foundations," " an in- 
 heritance incorruptible, undefilcd, unfading," — it is an " eternal 
 weight of glory," — it is " fulness of joy, and pleasure for ever- 
 more." This blessedness, represented under so many figures, 
 consists principally in the knowledge, the fellowship, and the 
 enjoyment of God. This is the full recompense of reward. It 
 is a reward, for it is necessarily connected with the discharge of 
 the duties enjoined. " Without holiness no man can see the 
 Lord," and with holiness, none can be excluded from the beatific 
 vision. It is a reward, for the measure in which it is enjoyed' 
 corresponds to the degree of dutiful exertion made in order to 
 obtain it. " Every man shall receive according to his own 
 labour." " They who are wise shall shine as the firmament, 
 while they who turned many to righteousness shine as the stars 
 of the firmament for ever and ever." He who gains ten talents 
 is made ruler over ten cities, and he that gains five shall obtain 
 a proportionable reward. This view of the celestial blessedness, 
 as the reicard of the saint's labours, is frequently exhibited in the 
 Holy Scriptures. " God will render to every man accorchng to 
 his deeds, — to those who, by a constant continuance in well- 
 doing, look for glory, honom', and immortality, eternal life." 
 " Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared 
 for you from the foundation of the world, for I was a hungered, 
 and ye gave me meat : I was thii'sty, and ye gave me drink : I 
 was a stranger, and ye took me in : naked, and ye clothed mc : 
 I was sick, and ye visited me : I was in prison, and ye came 
 unto me." 
 
 The rewards with which the dutiful exertions of God's people 
 shall be crowned, arc not more valuable than they are secure. 
 "Faithful is He who hath jn'omised, who also will do it. He is 
 not a man that He should lie, nor the son of man that He should 
 repent: Hath He said it. and will He not do it ! Inith He promised 
 
DISC. II.] AND ENCOURAGED TO EXERTION. 267 
 
 it, and will He not make it good i " Be strong, then, my breth- 
 ren, and let not your hands be weak, for your work shall be re- 
 warded. Allow this motive to have its due influence on your 
 minds. It is by no means the only one which urges you to 
 vigorous and persevering exertion in the discharge of your duty ; 
 but it is a powei'ful one. Moses felt it, and accounted the re- 
 proach of Christ greater riches than all the treasures of Egj^it, 
 " for he looked for the recompense of reward." Jesus felt it, and 
 " for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising 
 the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of 
 God." Let not the difficulty of your duties, the power of your 
 enemies, and the severity of your afflictions, make a disheartening 
 impression on your spirits. The joys of heaven will more than 
 compensate for all, and " the more you toil and suffer here, the 
 sweeter rest will be." " Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye 
 steadfast and immoveable, always abounding in the work of the 
 Lord, for as much as ye know that your labour shall not be in 
 vain in the Lord." 
 
 Unconverted men ! Ye are " the servants of sin, and fi'ee from 
 righteousness." Ye are stron£p, and vour hands are not weak in 
 the prosecution of the deeds of darkness. Your work also shall 
 be rew'arded. If you persist in your sinful course, " God will 
 render to you according to your works, indignation and wrath, 
 tribulation and anguish." He has sworn by himself, that He 
 will render vengeance to his enemies, and recompense them who 
 hate Him. " The wages of sin is death." " But" it is equally true 
 " the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ oiu- Lord." 
 Receive the gift so freely offered. " Work the work of God, in 
 believing on his Son whom He has sent into the world." " Work 
 out your salvation with fciu' and trembling, for it is God who 
 worketii in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure." 
 " To-day if ye will hear his voice." " Now is the accepted 
 time, — now is the day of salvation." 
 
 NOTE. 
 
 NATURE ANU KKWAUDAELENESS OF CURISTIAN VIRTIE. 
 
 It may be necessary to adduce proof that the Christian revelation 
 doci* aver the doctrine ami promise of rewards. Not a few wlio 
 
268 NOTE. 
 
 bear the Christian name, survey the subject with jealousy and dis- 
 like. They suspect its interference and incompatibleness with sal- 
 vation by grace. Its vocabulary is repugnant to their taste ; they 
 never employ it but with qualification. They might almost account 
 inspiration incautious in its style. They are always ready to correct 
 it. They affect a concern for the Divine character which it does 
 not confess. They are always impatient to set it right. This is a sen- 
 timent morbid and profane ! It is " speaking wickedly for God!" 
 
 The sacred Volume plainly defines what is. and what is not, its 
 principle upon this question. It supposes the case of an unfallen 
 man, who has kept the whole law, who is entitled to the life of jus- 
 tification by works. " Now to him that worketh, is the reward not 
 I'eckoned of grace but of debt." That case is purely hypothetical, — 
 it is uttei'ly inapplicable and unavailing — it is for ever past. The 
 ground of a sinnex-'s justification is altogether different. He of him- 
 self can do nothing to recover favour and acceptance. The attempt 
 to do so is a fearful aggravation of his guilt. " He worketh not." 
 He can claim no " reward of debt." When " he believeth on Him 
 that justifieth the ungodly, his faith," that is, its objects, or that 
 which it embraces, "is counted for justification." Now in such an 
 instance, after such a pre-requisitc, may ^ve prepare ourselves to 
 understand " the reward of grace." Let us, with this distinction in 
 our mind, examine inspired language concerning the well-doing 
 of justified and regenerate men. " God is the rewarder of them that 
 diligently seek Him." " The Lord rewarded me according to my 
 righteousness ; according to the cleanness of my hands hath He 
 recompensed me." " Verily there is a reward for the righteous." 
 *' Great is your reward in heaven." " And whosoever shall give to 
 drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the 
 name of a disciple, shall not lose his reward." " Let no man beguile 
 you of your reward." " Ye shall receive the reward of the inherit- 
 ance."^ The principle is not dependent on a word, or some nice 
 shade of expression. The conditional manner in which all promised 
 good or benefit is ensured, confirms it. It is pledged to character ; 
 it is unintelligible and unsuited to them who possess not kindred 
 sentiments and tastes. Character is here the condition, being the 
 capacity. We therefore read, " With the merciful, Thou wilt show 
 
 ' Reward may be used in the sense of positive recompense. So our translators 
 oceasioiuilly employ it ; Psalm xci. 8; llelirews ii. 2; 2 Peter ii. 13. Sometimes it is 
 employed indifferently for {i^ood or evil ; Mi(rOuro>ioiri» is taken to be sti'ong-cr than 
 KVTxrriicint. TIlis caiinot l)C proved. AVe adopt it in its conventional acceptation, 
 exclusively as the premium of virtue ; punishment can only have an invnriably evil 
 meaning. 
 
CHRISTIAN DOCTUINE OF REWARD. 269 
 
 thyself merciful ; with an upright man, Thou wilt show thyself up- 
 right ; with the pure, Thou wilt show thyself pure." Nor is it less 
 when this promised good rests with our dispositions to give it effect. 
 " If I do this thing willingly, I have a reward." " Cast not away 
 your confidence, wliich has great recompense of reward." The final 
 state of happiness to which Christians are admitted, is thus described : 
 Something to be enjoyed by a peculiar aptitude, and under a condign 
 claim. They are " accounted worthy to obtain that world." " They 
 are worthy of tlie kingdom for which they suffer." " They walk in 
 white, for they are worthy." The theory of Christian reward 
 depends upon a fixed constitution of holy law, which has its founda- 
 tion in the atonement of Christ. From that real sacrifice proceeds 
 a consideration, by virtue of which the strict justice which regarded 
 the sinner is satisfied. That justice no longer forbids his salvation, 
 but confirms it. An infinite merit, or righteousness, becomes the 
 basis for the acceptance of his person and his works. Could his 
 Avorks challenge a perfect conformity to the Divine will, he would 
 not need the aid of any atonement. They now look to the satisfac- 
 tion of Christ for tlie sole reason why they can find favour Avith the 
 Righteous One. The entire basis and scope for such treatment of 
 them is the mediatorial system. All is done " through Jesus Christ," 
 and " in bis name." All is received " for his sake." " "Whatsoever 
 ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving 
 thanks to God and the Father by him." " For his name's sake they 
 went forth." We are explicit to guard against misconception. We 
 would found the doctrine of rewards aright. But we would speak 
 in no tone of exception and excuse. Whatever its relations and its 
 reasons, it is a perfect doctrine, to be understood and defended in 
 itself. God, the rock of faith and fulness, binds himself to it. It 
 is not that pseudo-scheme which stipulates his dishonour by the 
 allowance of a sincere, instead of a complete, obedience ; itself ad- 
 justed and accommodated to a mitigated law (a predicament which, 
 by its terms, must make insincere what it tolerates as incomplete,) 
 but an order and arrangement which, insisted on, against the sub- 
 stitute of man, a perfect obedience, even unto death, ere the imperfect 
 virtues of them upon whom the penalty has no farther claim and 
 force could be approved, and still exhibiting that obedience as the 
 exclusive ground of approval. This course being settled, God 
 having engaged himself to it, there arises an order which lie author- 
 ises, an expectation which He fulfils. " God is not unrighteous to 
 forget your work and labour of love." " Blessed are they that do 
 his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and 
 may enter in through the gates into the city." 
 
270 NOTE. 
 
 It may be said lliat, while puiuslinient is considered as a recom- 
 pense, every benefit of salvation, and all that Hows from it, is 
 ascribed to grace. The one may be of desert, but the other is gra- 
 tuitous bestowment. " The wages of sin is death ; but the gift of 
 God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." To any such 
 statement we assent. It must, nevertheless, be remembered that the 
 former applies properly to the first constitution, while the latter is 
 peculiar to the second. And assuredly we speak not now of eternal 
 life, otherwise than a gift, certainly not as the wages we have earned 
 — how^ever, beneath the dispensation which secures this gift of eternal 
 life, there be terms and rewards which serve the better to illustrate 
 its simple mercy, its lioly character, its glorious immunity ! — Winteu 
 Hamilton. 
 
DISCOURSE III. 
 
 THE saint's seed-time AND HARVEST. 
 Psalm cxxvi. 5.— "They who sow in tears shall reap in joy." 
 
 In forming an estimate of the worth or the happiness of man- 
 kind, no criterion is more deceitfnl than external appearance. 
 Tlie most splendid actions sometimes originate in the most nn- 
 worthy principles, and hypocrisy fi-eqnently receives the honours 
 due to genuine sanctity. On the other hand, modest worth often 
 passes through life in noiseless obscurity — its unobtrusive excel- 
 lences altogether overlooked, or rated at a price far below their 
 value. In the day when the secrets of all hearts shall be disclosed, 
 and human characters exhibited in their tnie colours, strange 
 discoveries will be made. It will then appear how different men 
 are from what they seem to be ; and how inconsistent their 
 opinions, who judge according to exteraal appearance, are with 
 the judgments of llim who looketh on the heart. 
 
 Nor is external appearance a surer test of the happiness than 
 of the worth of mankind. That man is not necessarily happy, 
 who iias all the external marks of happiness ; nor is he who 
 wears all the usual badges of wretchedness, necessarily miserable. 
 The world calls him happy, who is raised above the fear of want 
 and the necessity of labour — whose mansion is splendid, and 
 whose domains are extensive — who in health and vigour enjoys 
 in abundance the riches, and pleasures, and honours of life. Yet 
 such a man may be, and often is, very miserable. He may be 
 an unpardoned siiuier ; and if he is, the cm'se of God j^oisons all 
 his pleasures, and turns their sweetness into gall : " Even in 
 laughter the heart is sorrowful, and the end of these things is 
 often death.'" On the other hand, extreme apparent wretched- 
 
272 THE saint's seed-time [pAKT III. 
 
 ness is not inconsistent with real happiness : Behohl that afflicted 
 Christian ! poverty and disappointment, disease and pain, liave 
 long been his portion. His dearest friends liave gone down to 
 the grave. " String after string has been severed from his 
 heart," till his attachments to the ])resent state are well nigh 
 dissolved. His countenance is wrinlded w'ith care, and fiu'rowed 
 with tears; and from his lips proceed these plaintive accents, 
 " I am the man wdio have seen affliction by the rod of his wrath." 
 Yet amid all this apparent wretchedness, he is not wretched : 
 his confidence in the wisdom and goodness of God, and the hope 
 of eternal life, render him not only resigned and patient, but 
 contented and happy : " Blessed is the man whom the Lord 
 chasteneth, and teacheth out of his law, that He may give him 
 rest fi'om the days of adversity." " His light afflictions are but for 
 a moment, and they are working out for him a far more exceed- 
 ing and an eternal weight of glory." He is sowing in tears, but 
 his tears are not those of despair, for he knows that he shall reap 
 
 The words of the text form part of a sacred ode, composed on 
 the unexpected deliverance of the Jewish captives fi'om Baby- 
 lonian bondage. After celebrating, in the highest strains of 
 oriental poetry, the Divine power and goodness, as manifested 
 in this remarkable interposition in behalf of his people, the 
 psalmist, in the text, and in the verse which immediately follows 
 it, states under a beautiful figure the consolatory truth, that 
 while the saint, in the present state, must lay his account with 
 labour and sorrow, these exertions and afflictions are connected 
 with, and shall be amply compensated by, the pleasures and 
 honours of futmity. In the succeeding part of the discom'se, I 
 will consider the text AS A figurative account of tue 
 saint's situation — first, in the present state ; AND, se- 
 condly, in a future state. Here " he sows in tears," there 
 " he reaps in joy." 
 
 I. Tlic saint, in the present state, is represented as " sowing 
 in tears." The Holy Scriptures abound in figurative represen- 
 tations of spiritual objects. In gracious condescension to human 
 weakness, the Divine Spirit uses a language with which we are 
 familiar ; and, to render the important truths of religion and 
 morals at once interesting and intelligible, clothes them in de- 
 
DISC. Ill,] AND HARVEST. 273 
 
 scriptions borrowed from the works of nature and the ordinary 
 functions of life. In explaining these figurative representations, 
 much caution and delicacy are necessary. Some men, with the 
 best intentions, have, by tracing analogies too far, and by using 
 for evidence w^hat was meant only for illustration, exposed both 
 themselves and the doctrines they taught to the ridicule of the 
 profane. We trust we do not lay ourselves open to eithei' of these 
 charges, when we represent the figurative view of the saint in the 
 present state " sowing in tears," as teaching us, ' that the saint in 
 the present state is actively engaged in useful exertions which 
 have a reference to futurity ; and that, while thus employed, he 
 exhibits tokens of distress and sorrow.' 
 
 1st, The figm'ative description of the saint's present state in 
 the text intimates, that it is a state of active exertion. Sowing, 
 like the greater part of agricultural operations, is a laborious 
 exercise. Biu'dened with the seed, the sower walks with mea- 
 sured step over the uneven glebe, and scatters the grain as ex- 
 tensively and regularly as possible over the field. This figure 
 happily delineates the active and laborious nature of the Christian 
 life. Religion does not consist, as too many seem to suppose, in 
 barren speculation, enthusiastic feeling, or sj'jccious declamation. 
 It no doubt does interest both the understanding and the heart, 
 but it proves the hold it has of both, by influencing all the springs 
 of action, and making the man discharge with alacrity and dili- 
 gence all the duties of active life. It desers^es notice, that the 
 figurative representations of the Christian life almost uniformly 
 impl}^ the idea of vigorous exertion. It is a race — and a combat : 
 exercises which require the active employment of all the energies 
 of our nature. " The Clu'istian is a merchant — a scholar — a 
 husbandman — a traveller — a soldier : The anxiety of the mer- 
 chant, the application of the scholar, the hardy toil of the hus- 
 bandman, the unwearying progress of the traveller, the painful 
 exercise of the soldier, are images which ill accord AA-ith indolence, 
 ease, and inaction."^ He " works the work of God ;" " he works 
 out his ovm. salvation Avitli fear and tremblinc-" He " fonjets 
 the things which are behind, and reaches forth to those which 
 are before, and presses towards the mark for the prize of the 
 hin;h calling of God in Christ Jesus." It is of the verv essence 
 
 ' .lav. 
 
274 THE saint's seed-time [part III. 
 
 of true religion to quicken the soul, and to bring all its faculties 
 into active employment ; and no delusion can be more gross, 
 than for a man to flatter himself that he is religious, merely be- 
 cause he has a certain species of religious knowledge and religious 
 feeling, while he lives in the neglect of those dutiful exertions 
 which he is called on to make, for the promotion of the honour 
 of God and the happiness of mankind. 
 
 2d, The figurative description of the saint's present state, in 
 the text, intimates, that his active exertions are directed to 
 important and useful purposes. The employment of the sower 
 is not merely laborious, it is at the same time useful and necessary. 
 It is deej^ly to be regretted, there is not only much indolence 
 and inaction among mankind, but also much wasted exertion, 
 much misapplied industry. How many spend the whole of life 
 in busy idleness, constantly employed, but never employed to 
 any good purpose ! Their exertions produce no useful result, 
 either to themselves or to others. They scatter pebbles instead 
 of grain over the field : They have all the labour of the sower, 
 but they have none of his rcAvard. How many more do worse 
 than merely waste theu* activity in trifling, by strenuously exert- 
 ing themselves to do mischief to themselves and others ! " They 
 are of their father the devil, and the works of their father they 
 do." Their time and talents are devoted to his service, with a 
 zeal and perseverance wdiich reprove the langour and unsteadi- 
 ness of those who profess to be engaged in a better cause. These 
 men sow the seeds of some deadly poison, instead of the wholesome 
 grain. They are industrious, but their industry is not only 
 useless but mischievous. It is a melancholy reflection, that 
 many men put themselves to an expense of time and labour in 
 ruining their souls, which, if properly employed, might have 
 been sufficient to save them. 
 
 The industry of the saint is Avisely and usefully directed. His 
 labours have for their object the glory of God, the salvation of 
 his own soul, and the happiness of his brethren of mankind : 
 " Whatsoever he does, he does it in the name of the Lord .fesus, 
 gi\ing thanks to God the Father by him. AVhetlier he cats or 
 drinks, or whatever he does, he does all to the glory of God." 
 His great desire is, " that in all things God may be glorified." 
 He makes his " light to shine before men, that they, seeing his 
 good works, may glorify his Father who is in heaven." He 
 
DISC. III.J ANJ) UARVEST. 275 
 
 SOWS, that there may be a rich harvest of " tlie finiits of righteous- 
 ness, which are by Christ Jesus to the praise and glory of God." 
 — Next to tlie glory of God, the salvation of his own soul is the 
 great object of the saint's vigoroiis exertions. He is well aware, 
 that " eternal life is the gift of God, through Jesus Christ our 
 Lord ;" but he is also aware, that it is by " a constant continu- 
 ance in well-doing, that men are to locjk for glory, honour, and 
 immortality." Persuaded that religion is the one thing needful, 
 he labours to obtain " that good part which shall never be taken 
 from him." He gives " all diligence to add to his faith virtue, 
 and to virtue knowledge, and to knowledge temperance, and to 
 temperance patience, and to patience godliness, and to godliness 
 brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness charity. He makes 
 his calling and election sure ; and thus an entrance is ministered 
 to him abundantly into the kingdom of our Lord and Saviour 
 Jesus Christ." He " laboui's whether present or absent, that he 
 may be accepted of God." — A third important and useful object 
 to which the active exertions of the saint is directed, is the 
 promotion of the true happiness of his fellow-men. In his estima- 
 tion, no man ought to live to himself. Pie " looks not merely on 
 his own things, but also on the things of others." If blessed 
 with affluence, he employs his influence and wealth in mitigating 
 the sorrows of his less fortunate brethren. " He is eyes to the 
 blind, feet to the lame, and a father to the afflicted poor. The 
 blessing of him who was ready to perish comes on him, and he 
 makes the widow's heart to sing for joy." If Pro^adence assigtis 
 him a more narrow sphere of exertion, still, within its limits, he 
 " does good to all as he has oppoitiuiity ;" and labours, by 
 promoting by every means in his power the happiness of his 
 brethren, not to live in vain. 
 
 dd, The figurative description of the saint's present state in 
 the text, intimates, that his active and useful exertions have a 
 reference to futurity. The conduct of the sower is accountable 
 only when viewed as looking forward to the months of harvest. 
 To a ])erson unacquainted with the law of nature by which 
 vegetable substances are reproduced, the husbandman, casting 
 into the earth what is fitted for the food of man and of beast, 
 would appear to act the part of a madman. It is so with the 
 Christian : his labours have a direct reference to futimty : and, 
 without taking into consideration the invisible realities of religion 
 
276 THE saint's seed-time [part III. 
 
 and eternity, there is much of his conduct that is altogether un- 
 accountable. The employments in which he takes most pleasure, 
 have no tendency to secure for him the pleasures, the honours, 
 or the riches of this world. They look beyond time into eternity 
 for their recompense. He sometimes makes sacrifices, for which, 
 in the present state, he can expect to receive no compensation ; 
 and, if there is no heavenly happiness remaining for him, he is of 
 all men the most foolish and miserable. Indeed, the wdiole of 
 his mode of thinking, and feeling, and acting, is distinguished 
 by this reference to fliturity. He " walks by faith, and not by 
 sight." As the sower sows in hope, so the Christian acts and 
 suffers, lives and dies, under the influence of the faith of the 
 Gospel and the hope of eternal life. 
 
 4^A, The figurative account of the saint's jDresent state, in the 
 text, intimates, that while thus actively engaged in useful employ- 
 ments which have a reference to futurity, he often exhibits 
 symptoms of distress and sorrow : " He sows in tears." It might 
 have been expected, from the account already given of the saint's 
 employments in the present state, that he should be blessed with 
 uninterrupted serenity. What can be better fitted to preserve 
 the mind in perfect peace, than constant employment in the best 
 of all causes, with the prospect of perfection and immortality ? 
 And indeed we find, that good men do derive much satisfaction 
 from the duties and exercises of religion : " The peace of God, 
 which passeth all understanding, keeps their hearts and minds 
 through Christ Jesus;" and they not unfrequently "rejoice in 
 the hope of the glory of God, with a joy that is unspeakable and 
 full of gloiy." Yet still the motto of the saint is — " SoiTowfiil, 
 though always rej'oicing." The state of good men in a present 
 world is of a mixed character, and while they never want ground 
 of joy, they also are never without ground of sorrow. While the 
 saint goes forth bearing precious seed, weeping, his tears are 
 principally tears of penitence, tears of aftliction, or tears of 
 sympathy. 
 
 The people of God arc not naturally better than the rest of 
 mankind. They have sinned, and come short of the glory of 
 God. ^^^len renewed in the spirit of their mind, they are 
 instructed in the malignant nature of sin in general, and are 
 deeply impressed with the hatefulness of their own sins, and these 
 sins are " ever before them." Thoneh well assured that God 
 
DISC. III.] AND HARVEST. 277 
 
 has forgiven them, they find it impossible to forgive themselves ; 
 and Avhenever their sins are brought to their remembrance, the 
 tears of godly sorrow burst forth afresh. But this is not all : 
 the saint not only recollects with regret that he once Avas a sinner, 
 but he feels with deep sorrow, that still " in him, that is, in his 
 flesh, dwelleth no good thing." There is " a law in his members 
 warring against the law of his mind, so that when he would do 
 good, evil is present with him." This fills him with constant 
 uneasiness, and induces him to breathe out the apostle's complaint, 
 " Oh, wTetched man that I am, who will deliver me from the 
 body of this death !" 
 
 The afflictions of life fi.'equently also oblige the saint to exhibit 
 symptoms of distress, while engaged in the discharge of his 
 important duties : for religion neither exempts her votaries from 
 the evils of life, nor renders them insensible under their pressure. 
 " What son is there whom the Father chasteneth not?" "All 
 who wovdd live godly must suffer persecution." " Through much 
 tribidation must they enter into the kingdom." All these afflic- 
 tions are kindly intended on the part of their heavenly Father ; 
 and, by his superintending providence and gracious influence, 
 will ultimately be productive of the most beneficial results. But 
 while they continue they are painfol, and the saint must some- 
 times breathe a sigh and drop a tear. 
 
 Farther, in the present state the saint often sheds tears of 
 sympathy. There is much in this world to affect with sadness 
 the heart of any man who is not an entire stranger to sensibility. 
 It is a world full of sin and misery. Every renewed heart glows 
 with a peculiarly tender sympathy for all the miseries of man ; 
 and every renewed mind is enlightened with just views of the 
 nature and extent of the evils, and especially the moral evils, 
 luider which manldnd groan. In following the instinct of his 
 new nature, as well as in obeying the commands of his Saviour, 
 the saint must often shed tears, " weeping with those who weep." 
 — Thus have I shortly illustrated the truths respecting the saint's 
 present state, suggested by the figui'ative language of the text. 
 *He is actively engaged in useful emplopnents which have a 
 reference to futmitj^, and, while thus employed, he frequently 
 exhibits symptoms of distress and soitow :' " He sows in tears." 
 
 II. The future state of the saint is held up in the concluchng 
 
278 THE saint's seed-time [part III. 
 
 part of tlie text, under the corresponding figure of a liarvest of 
 joy : " They who sow in tears shall reap in joy." The remain- 
 ing part of the discourse shall be devoted to the illustration of 
 the truths suggested by this beautiful figure. It seems to inti- 
 mate, that the saint's future state shall be very different fi'om his 
 present state — that it shall be a state of activity — that it shall 
 be a state of enjoyment — and that it shall be a state resulting 
 from, and coiresponding to, the employments of the present 
 state. 
 
 1st, The figurative desci'iption of the saint's future state, in 
 the text, intimates, that it is veiy different from his present 
 state. Here the saint sows, and sows in tears ; there he reaps, 
 and reaps in joy. The employments of seed-time and harvest 
 are very dilFcrent, and sorrow and joy are opposite affections of 
 mind. The great object of all the saint's actions is the same in 
 every stage of his existence — the glory of God ; and the enjoy- 
 ment of God, is the principal source of his happiness both here 
 and hereafter : " Grace is glory begun ; glory is grace perfected." 
 Yet still there is an obvious and important difference between 
 the Christian's present and his future state. Here, he is engaged 
 in a ceaseless round of fatiguing employments ; there, " he rests 
 from his labours, and his Avorks do follow him." Plere he is 
 exposed to numberless inconveniences, from the hostile disposition 
 of the men of the world ; there, " the wicked cease from trou- 
 bling, and the wear}^ are at rest." Here, he is constantly con- 
 tending with his spiritual adversaries — "without are fightings, 
 and within are fears;" there, all is internal peace and external 
 security. Here, he puts on the helmet and assumes the shield ; 
 there, he wears the garland, and holds the palm of victory. 
 Here, he wanders along the wild of life, a pilgrim and a sojourner ; 
 there, he dwells for ever in the house of his Father. Here, he 
 has " no continuing city ;" there, he has " a building of God, a 
 liouse not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." Here, his 
 " adversary the devil goeth about like a I'oaring lion, seeking 
 whom he may devour ;" there, " Satan is bruised under his feet." 
 Here, he "sees through a glass darkly;" there, ho " sees fiice 
 to face." Here, he " knows in part ;" tliere, he "knows even 
 as he is known." Here, he " walks by faith and not by sight;" 
 there, he " sees God's face in righteousness, and is satisfied with 
 his likeness." Here he liopes ; there he enjoys. Here he fights ; 
 
DISC. III.] AND HARVEST. 279 
 
 there he triumphs. Here he prays ; there he praises. Here he 
 weeps ; there God wipes away all tears from his eyes. Here he 
 dies ; there he lives for ever : " There shall be no more death, 
 neither sorrow nor cryinp^, neither shall there be any more pain ; 
 for the former things are passed away." 
 
 2(/, The figurative representation of the saint's fliture state in 
 the text, intimates, that it is a state of activity. He is represented 
 as reaping in joy : a figure which not merely conveys the idea of 
 happiness, but of active exertion on the part of the individual 
 who enjoys it. The happiness of the saint in a future state, is 
 very frequently in Scripture described by figures significant of 
 tranquillity and repose : " The righteous enter into peace, they 
 rest in their beds." " There remaineth a rest for the people of 
 God." These expressions are intended to intimate the complete 
 freedom from weariness and pain which the saints possess, and the 
 immoveable nature of their happiness. But it would certainly 
 be a misinterpretation of the Scripture to conclude from such 
 texts, that the saints in heaven are mere passive recipients of 
 pleasurable feeling, and that they pass the ages of eternity in a 
 state of indolent repose. The rest which they enjoy is opposed, 
 not to action, but to fatigue and uncertainty. The truth is, no 
 one figure is sufficient fiilly to delineate the celestial blessedness ; 
 and of consequence different, and in some points of view incon- 
 sistent, metaphors must be employed, to represent its diversified 
 aspects, and transcendant excellence. 
 
 That the future state of the saints shall be a state of activity, 
 might be presumed from what we know of the human constitu- 
 tion. Action is absolutely necessary to rational, pennanent 
 enjoyment. He who is most actively employed, provided his 
 activity be properly directed, possesses the largest portion of 
 enjoyment. It is true, indeed, that the most Avise and dutiftd 
 exertions will, in the present state, if pursued to excess, produce 
 fatigue and uneasiness ; but that arises from the defects of our 
 nature, either moral or physical, neither of which have any place 
 in heaven. Accordingly we find heaven represented as all 
 energy : " There is no night there ;" for there is no need 
 of relaxation or refreshment. The saints are made like the 
 angels of heaven, Avho excel in strength, and with unwearied 
 acti-vity execute the purposes of the Most High. They rest not 
 day nor night, but unceasingly sing this anthem, "■ Holy, holy, 
 
280 THE saint's seed-time [part hi. 
 
 holy, Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come." 
 And, wliile these " Hving creatures," who seem to be the sym- 
 bolical representatives of the angelic hosts, " give glory, and 
 honour, and thanks to God, the four-and-twenty elders," who 
 are the symbolical rc})resentatives of the redeemed from among 
 men, " fall down before Him that sitteth on the throne, and 
 worship Ilim who liveth for ever and ever, and cast theu' crowns 
 before the throne, saying. Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive 
 glory, and honour, and power ; for Thou hast created all things, 
 and for thy pleasure they are and were created." 
 
 With respect to the particular employments of the saints in 
 heaven, the Holy Scriptures do not furnish us with any very 
 definite information. They certainly, however, authorise us to con- 
 clude, that all the intellectual and active powers of our nature sliall 
 be exerted on their proper objects with a A-igour, and perseverance, 
 and success, of which at present we can fonn no adequate con- 
 ception. In the acquisition of knov'ledge, the love of holiness, 
 and the communication as well as the reception of happiness, 
 the blissful ages of eternity will be delightfully and actively 
 occupied. 
 
 3cZ, The figurative representation of the saint's future state, in 
 the text, teaclies us, that it is a state of enjoyment. He reaps, 
 and he reaps in joy. Instead of entering on a general account 
 of the happiness of the future state of good men, I shall confine 
 myself to the illustration of the ideas suggested by the metaphor 
 before us. We read in Scripture of " the joy of harvest," as a 
 j)leasure peculiarly delightful. There are chiefly two things 
 which render the haFvest so remarkably pleasing to the husband- 
 man : It is the flilfilment of his desires and hopes, and it fur- 
 nishes him with a supply for the Avants of the coming year. This 
 observation equally applies to the harvest of the Christian 
 husbandman. It nuist be a season of enjoyment to him, for it 
 is the accomplishment of his most ardent desires and fondest 
 ho})es ; and it secures him abundant provision for the luiending 
 year of eternity. 
 
 In the treasures of hanest, the husbandman obtains the 
 reward of his exertions, and finds that he has not laboured in 
 Aain, nor spent his strength for nought. In the celestial blessed- 
 ness, the saint gains the ]>osscssion of that liap})iness which he 
 so highly \ alued, so eagerly desired, sq patiently expected, and 
 
DISC. III.] AND HARVEST. 281 
 
 for which lie so diligently and perseveringly laboured. " The 
 hope of which he had heard in tlic word of the truth of the 
 Gospel," now comes to him, and amply compensates all his toils 
 and sufferings. In tlie present state, he frequently felt that 
 " hope deferred maketli the heart sick ;" but he now feels, that 
 the other part of the proverb is equally true, " when the desire 
 Cometh, it is a tree of life." He now finds, to his eternal joy, 
 that his hope has not been what he often feared it would prove, 
 the hope of the hypocrite, and that it shall never make him 
 ashamed. He now clearly perceives, that all his exertions and 
 sacrifices were well bestowed ; and, looking back on the events 
 of the. seed-time and the summer, in gratcfiil joy his heart blesses 
 the Supreme Ruler, who has rendered all their diversified inci- 
 dents subservient to the production of so rich a harvest of endless 
 happiness. 
 
 Harvest affords pleasure to the husbandman, not only by the 
 retrospect it induces him to take, but also by the anticipations 
 which it naturally excites. He rejoices that he has secured a 
 supply for the wants of the coming year. In this point, too, the 
 figure holds with respect to the Christian husbandman. In his 
 han^est he obtains an abundant supply for the wants of eternity. 
 Without exposing himself to the charge of folly, he may say, 
 " Soul, take thine ease, thou hast goods laid up for eternal ages." 
 ' All is well with him, and all is well for ever. After the most 
 abundant harvest, the husbandman knows that his stores will be 
 soon exhausted, that the labours of the spruig must be again 
 submitted to, and the supply of his wants again become depen- 
 dent on the uncertainties of the weather. But the Christian's 
 harvest is that of an endless year. His supplies can never be 
 exhausted. His happiness admits neither of diminution nor 
 termination. Well, then, may the Christian rejoice, when the 
 seeds of faith and holiness reach their maturity in the fi'uits of 
 heaven. " God has increased his joy. He joys before Him 
 according to the joy of harvest, and as men rejoice when they 
 divide the spoil." 
 
 4:th, The figm'ative representation of the saint's future state 
 in the text teaches us, that it results from, and corresponds to, 
 the employment of the present state. Seed-time and harvest are 
 mutually connected. The labours of seed-time look forward to 
 han-est, — the events of harvest result from, and con'espond to, 
 
282 THE saint's seed-time [part hi. 
 
 the emplojonents of seed-time. That the present conduct and 
 the future happiness of the saint are closely connected, is too 
 plain to require a laboured ])roof ; but it may be necessary to 
 make a few observations to explain the nature of that connection. 
 It is obvious that the good conduct of the saint in the present 
 state is not the meritorious cause of his fiiture happiness. " Eter- 
 nal life is the gift of God, tln'ough Jesus Christ our Lord." 
 " -^y grace are we saved through faith, and that not of ourselves, 
 it is the gift of God." Yet the connection is as close and indis- 
 soluble as if it were that of cause and effect. The heavenly 
 blessedness is " the recompense of reward." " Without holiness 
 no man can see the Lord." He only who " sows to the Spirit, 
 shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." 
 
 The figure employed in the text may be of some use in illus- 
 trating this important and much misunderstood subject. No 
 person will be so absurd as to affirm, either that the labours of 
 seed-time are, properly speaking, the cause of an abundant har- 
 vest, or that there is no connection at all between the one and 
 the other. The true cause of an abundant harvest, is the unseen 
 operation of that God wdio worketh all in all. By means of 
 human labour, and the influence of the elements. He covers our 
 fields with abundance for man and for beast. Just such is the 
 connection between the Christian's laboui's and his reward. It 
 were gross presumption to expect the latter without the former. 
 Yet it is connected with it, not as the effect is with the cause, 
 but as the end is with the means. It is equally absurd to con- 
 sider the Christian's labour as the meritorious cause of his re- 
 ward, and to suppose that the reward is attainable without the 
 labour. 
 
 The figm'e also throws light on the nature of the celestial 
 blessedness considered as a reward. It is a reward just in the 
 same sense in which an abundant harvest is a reward to the in- 
 dustrious husbandman. In ordinaiy cases, the productiveness 
 of the harvest is proportioned to the diligence with which the 
 seed-time has been impnn-ed. This holds universally with the 
 spiritual husbandman. His future happijiess not only results 
 from, but corresponds to, his present labours. One man shall 
 receive " a prophet's reward," another " a righteous man's re- 
 ward." One shall be made ruler over ten cities, and another 
 ovor five. " Evcrv man shall receive accordinjx to his own 
 
DISC. III.] AND HARVEST. 283 
 
 labour." " lie that sowetli sparingly shall reap also sparingly, 
 and he that soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully." 
 
 Having thus shortly illustrated the figurative account which 
 the text contains, of the saint's present and future state, it only 
 remains that the discourse be concluded by a few practical 
 reflections. 
 
 How enviable is the situation even of the most afflicted saint, 
 when compared with that of the happiest worldling ! Even amid 
 his sorrows, he lias a peace which passeth all understanding, and 
 a joy which the world can neither give nor take away. And 
 his " light afflictions are working out for him a far more exceed- 
 ing and an eternal weight of gloiy." What abundant reason, 
 then, has he for patience under the pressure of present affliction ! 
 " Cast not away your confidence. Christian, which has great 
 recompense of reward. For ye have need of patience, that after 
 ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. 
 Be patient, therefore, brethren, iinto the coming of the Lord. 
 Behold the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the 
 earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early 
 and the latter rain. Be ye also patient, stablish your hearts, for 
 the coming of the Lord draweth nigh." Plow grateful ouglit the 
 saint to be for that revelation which assures him of a han-est of 
 
 joy J 
 
 " Tliat field of promise ! how it tlirows abroad 
 Its fragrance o'er the Christian's thorny road. 
 The saint, reposinjj on assur'd relief. 
 Feels himself happy amid all his grief; 
 Forgets his labours as he toils along, 
 Weeps tears of joy, and bursts into a song." ' 
 
 Let careless sinners reflect, that they too are sowing, and 
 perhaps sowing in joy ; but ere long, if mercy j^revent not, they 
 must reap in sorrow. " While ye forget the God of your salva- 
 tion, and are unmindful of the Rock of your strength, you may 
 plant pleasant })lants, you may set strange slips ; in the day ye 
 may cause your plant to grow, and in the morning make your 
 seed to flourish, but the harvest shall be a heap in the day of 
 giief, and of desperate sorrow," " Be not deceived ; God is not 
 
 I Cowpor. 
 
284 THE saint's seed-time AXD harvest. [part III. 
 
 mocked : Whatsoever a man sowetli, tliat sliall he also reap." 
 Ye are sowing to the flesh, and " of the flesh ye shall reap de- 
 struction." Happiness is not more certainly connected with 
 holiness than misery is with sin. The senants of sin shall 
 assuredly receive their wages ; which are death, — eternal death. 
 " Repent and be converted. Turn ye, turn ye, why will ye die ? 
 Believe in the Lord Jesus, and ye shall be saved." Rely on 
 his atoning sacrifice, and ye shall become righteous ; trust in 
 his sanctifying Spirit, and ye shall be made holy. Thus shall 
 your "fruit be to righteousness, and the end everlasting life." 
 Amen. 
 
DISCOURSE IV. 
 
 THE CHRISTIAN A CITIZEN OF HEAVEN. 
 
 PniLippiANS HI. 20. — " Our conversation is in heaven." 
 
 The moral code of Christ is distiiiguislied fi-om all other systems 
 of human duty, by the extent and pvuity of its precepts, and by 
 the variety and poAver of the motives by which these precepts are 
 enforced. Its requisitions are not confined to a few ritual obser- 
 vances, or external actions. Like its Author, it is spiritual, and 
 the internal principles, as well as the outward behaviour, are the 
 objects of its cognizance. It requires the sources of action to be 
 pure, as well as the streams which flow from them, and aims at 
 the regulation of the conduct, by enjoining the integrity of the 
 heart. And, while thus spiritual in its nature, its injunctions are 
 varied and extensive as the thoughts, the feelings, the actions, 
 and the relations of men. 
 
 In the Christian system of duty, a beautiful harmony pervades 
 the whole ; and the power of the motives proposed, is propor- 
 tioned to the importance and difficulty of the duties enjoined. 
 The imperfect morality of heathen philosopliy was but feebly en- 
 forced by its ablest teachers. The tendency of virtue to promote 
 the dignity of human nature ; the moral fitness of things ; the 
 pleasure arising fi'om the consciousness of having done well, and 
 the possibility of a future state of rewards, — these were almost 
 the only, these were certainly the strongest, arguments which 
 their imperfect views of truth enabled them to use for guarding 
 men against the commission of sin, and urging them to the per- 
 formance of duty. On beings so much absorbed as men are, 
 with present and sensible things, such reasonings, even in the 
 most favourable circumstances, could be expected to make but 
 little impression. Opposed, as they were, by strong inclination 
 
28G THE CHRISTIAN [PART III. 
 
 and apparent interest, they were altogether unavailing. There 
 was no proportion here between the means and the end. The 
 attempt to calm the raging ocean, by merely bidding it be still, 
 would not be more foolish than the endeavour, by such arguments 
 as these, to induce mankind to resist their strongest inclinations, 
 and forego their most favourite pleasures. 
 
 In the revealed system, we find a force of motive better propor- 
 tioned to the resistance to be apprehended from fallen man. An 
 almost infinite variety of the most powerful arguments is brought 
 forward. Man is assailed, as it were, on every side. Appeals are 
 made to the principles of reason, of conscience, and of interest. 
 Duty is made to appear, with the clearest evidence, to be reason- 
 able, and advantageous, and necessary. The authority of God, 
 the most powerful of all motives, is explicitly and strongly urged. 
 The secrets of eternity are in part disclosed ; and the joys and 
 soiTows of eternity, are held up as warnings against crime, and 
 incitements to holiness. 
 
 It deserves also to be noticed, that the motives urged in the 
 Christian system of duty, are not only powerful but appropriate, 
 wisely varied according to the nature of the duty enjoined, and 
 the character and circumstances of the person to whom the in- 
 junction is addressed. For example, when the sinner is com- 
 manded to forsake his evil ways, the command is enforced by a 
 view of the misery which will certainly overtake him if he per- 
 severe in the paths of iniquity, and by the assurance that, if he 
 solicit the Divine mercy in sincerity and faith, he shall not solicit 
 in A'ain. When he is enjoined to believe on the Saviour, the 
 dignity of the Redeemer's person, and the extent and suitable- 
 ness of his mediatorial excellences, are pressed on his considera- 
 tion, and he is informed that this is the only and the certain way 
 of escaping eternal misery, and securing everlasting happiness. 
 On the other hand, when the saint is urged to the performance 
 of his duties, a similar adaj)tation of the motive, both to the dut}', 
 and to his peculiar state and character, may be observed. The 
 authority, the sacrifice, the grace, and the example of his Saviour 
 — the dignity of his new character, and the grandeur of his hopes, 
 are among the arguments most frequently brought forward. He 
 is urged to the duty of forgiveness, "Ix'Cause God for Christ's 
 sake has forgi\en him :" to almsgi\ing, because " the Lord 
 Jesus, though he was rich, yet for our sakes became poor, that 
 
DISC. IV.] A CITIZEN OF HEAVEN. 287 
 
 we through his poverty might become rich ;" to patience, " be- 
 cause Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that we 
 should follow his steps ;" to hvmiility, because " Christ humbled 
 himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the 
 cross ;" to universal holiness, because such is the will of God — 
 such the design of the Redeemer's sacrifice — such the object of 
 the Spirit's operations : and because without this " no man can 
 see the Lord." 
 
 Of the force and appropriateness of Christian motives, we 
 have a fine exemplification in the passage of Scripture connected 
 with the subject of discourse. In the preceding context, the 
 apostle exhorts the Philippians to unanimity in their sentiments, 
 and harmony in the prosecution of the gi-eat objects of their 
 Christian calling, verses 15-17 ; and he enforces this exhortation 
 by the motive in the text (the intervening verses being obviously 
 parenthetical), " for our conversation is in heaven." The power 
 and fitness of this motive may not at first view be very apparent. 
 Owing to the fluctuation of living language, words and phrases 
 gradually change their meaning. We have an illustration of 
 this remark, in the alteration which has taken place in the sense 
 of the term conversation, since the period in which oiu' present 
 version of the Scriptures was made. This word, when used in 
 our translation, usually signifies conduct in general ; for example, 
 " only let your conversation be as becometh the Gospel of Christ," 
 — " let your conversation be without covetousness." The word 
 now is restricted in its signification to colloquial intercourse, and 
 the sense in wdiicli it occurs in Scripture is entirely obsolete. In 
 the text, the word translated conversation^ properly signifies 
 citizenship ; and the meaning of the apostle seems obviously to 
 be, " We are citizens of heaven." That such changes in the 
 meaning of words should take place, is no way wonderful ; — the 
 true cause of wonder is, that in a book translated more than two 
 hundred years ago, there should be found so very few passages 
 which, from this cause, either misrepresent the meaning of the 
 original text, or by their obscurity occasion (hfficulty to the 
 reader who is acquainted with no language but modern English. 
 Understanding the original term in its plain sense citizenship, 
 the appropriateness of the motive adduced by the apostle becomes 
 
288 THE CHRISTIAN [PART III. 
 
 at once apparent. The Philippian Christians are urged to una- 
 nimity and harmony, from a consideration of their common 
 character and hopes as citizens of heaven. 
 
 My oLject in the following part of the discourse, is to illustrate 
 some of those truths, in reference to the situation and character 
 of Christians, which are suggested by their being tenned " citi- 
 zens of heaven." This figurative representation seems to intimate, 
 — that they are strangers and sojourners in the present state ; — 
 that heaven is the residence of their Father and fi-iends ; — that 
 they are possessed of peculiar immunities ; — that they are dis- 
 tinguished by a peculiar mode of conduct ; — that their best 
 affections are placed on heavenly objects ; — that they maintain a 
 constant intercourse with heaven ; — and that heaven shall be the 
 place of their everlasting abode. To a short illustration of these 
 interesting and pleasing truths, shall be subjoined a few appro- 
 priate practical reflections. 
 
 Ist, The figurativ^e language of the text intimates, that the 
 Christian is a pilgrim and sojourner upon earth. The citizen of 
 heaven must, when on earth, be a stranger. This aspect of the 
 Christian's situation and character is often presented to oiu' view 
 in the Holy Scriptm'es, and well desen'cs our considei'ate atten- 
 tion. Like a stranger resident in a foreign country, his continu- 
 ance in the present state is limited and uncertain : " Here he 
 has no continuing city." " He cometh forth as a flower, and is cut 
 do'svn ; he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not." — Like a 
 stranger resident in a foreign country, too, not only is his resi- 
 dence in this world limited and uncertain, but his situation, 
 while he continues in it, is far from being comfortable. He is 
 from home, and he cannot reasonably expect all the conveniences 
 and comforts of home." " Many are the troubles of the righteous." 
 Jixposed, in common with the rest of mankind, to the ordinary 
 evils of life, he is liable to a variety of afflictions which are 
 peculiar to himself. — He receives the treatment of a stranger 
 from the great body of his fellow-men. " The world is not his 
 friend, nor the world's law." To pass through life in peaceful 
 obscurity, is the happiest event which can befiill him ; for, if he 
 attract in any great degree the world's notice, contempt and ill 
 treatment are likely to be his portion. Many of these citizens 
 of hea\en, while in this land of strangers and enemies, liave 
 
DISC. IV.] A CITIZEN OP HEAVEN. 289 
 
 " had trials of cruel mockings and scoiu'gings, yea, of bonds and 
 imprisonment : they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, they 
 were tempted, they were slain by the sword, they wandered 
 about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, and 
 tormented. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens 
 and caves of the earth." And though the sword of persecution 
 has long been sheathed, and its baleful fires extinguished, the 
 malignant spirit of the world still manifests itself against the 
 citizens of heaven. The arrows of calumny are still directed 
 against their reputation. Their character and conduct are the 
 standing jest of the profane. — Like a stranger resident in a 
 foreign land, tlie Christian, in the present state, feels that lie is 
 £i*om home, and acts vmder the influence of this feeling. He is 
 very thankful for eveiy comfort he enjoys, but he still feels that 
 this is not his rest. Though in the world, he is not of it. His 
 sentiments, tempers, and habits, are radically (UfFerent from those 
 of the persons among whom he lives ; and though he by no means 
 affects an unnecessary singularity, he finds, that, without making 
 an undue sacrifice both of principle and feeling, he cannot be 
 " conformed to the world." He honestly avows his real character, 
 and the language of his profession and conduct is harmonious : 
 He confesses that he is a stranger and pilgrim on the earth ; and, 
 while he says these things, he declares plainly that he " seeks a 
 country, a better country, that is, an heavenly." 
 
 2d, The figurative language of the text intimates, that heaven 
 is the residence of the Christian's Father and friends. The 
 situation of the saint may, at first view, appear void of comfort, 
 and full of misery. To be without a country and a home, is a 
 prominent feature in the picture of the consummation of human 
 wretchedness : But this is by no means the situation of the saint 
 of God ; he has a country, though it is a distant one ; he has a 
 home, though he is not 3'et arrived at it. Though an alien on 
 earth, he is a citizen of heaven. 
 
 If we trace those pleasurable feehngs which are connected 
 with the ideas of country and home to their soiu'ce, we \vi\\ find 
 that they principally originate in their being associated Avith all 
 that is interesting and delightful in the relations and affections 
 of consanguinity and friendship. There is, perhaps, no word in 
 any language Avhich calls up such a variety of pleasing thoughts 
 and feelings, as the English term home ; and why ? but because 
 
290 THE CHRISTIAN [PART HI. 
 
 home is conceived of as the abode of relative love and mutual 
 kindness ; because there ^Ye have met, and expect to meet, with 
 the care of a father, the tenderness of a mother, the aifection of 
 a wife, and the veneration of children. It is on much the same 
 principle that the feeling of patriotism is founded. It is not the 
 mildness of our climate, not the fertility of our soil, nor even our 
 civil and religious liberties, which chiefly bind our attachments 
 so closely to our sea-girt isle : It is, because it includes within 
 its limits almost all who love us, and all whom we love. 
 
 The consideration of heaven, then, as the country of the Chris- 
 tian, naturally suggests the idea of its being the residence of his 
 Father and friends. There, indeed, has the Father of mercies 
 established his throne, and reared his house of many mansions, for 
 the eternal residence of all his children. There dwells " Jesus, 
 the Mediator of the better covenant," and that Holy Spirit, 
 who is the author of knowledge, and purity, and happiness. 
 There reside the " general assembly and church of the first-born, 
 whose names are written in heaven — an innumerable company 
 of angels, and of the spirits of just men made perfect." With 
 all these illustrious personages, the Christian on earth is closely 
 connected. The eternal Father is " not ashamed to be called 
 his God," — Jesus is his elder Brother, Saviour, and Friend, — the 
 Holy Spirit is his Advocate and Comforter, — the perfected 
 spirits of the just have but finished the course in which he is 
 engaged, — and as to the angels, " are they not all ministering 
 spirits, sent forth to minister to those who shall be heirs of salva- 
 tion"?" The saints on the earth and the saints in heaven fonn 
 one great family — bound together by the closest relations — chil- 
 dren of the same Father — citizens of the same state. 
 
 d(1, The figiu'ativc language of the text intimates, that the 
 Christian is possessed of peciiliur immunities. It is not imlikely, 
 that when Paul wrote these words, the important pri^^leges of 
 Roman citizenship were present to his mind. In the more 
 flourishing ages of the Roman republic, the name of a citizen of 
 Rome was a safeguard, through a large portion of the world, from 
 injury and insult; and the apostle himself had, in the coiu-se of 
 his travels, on more occasions than one, found the possession of 
 this character of high importance to his safety. But the honours 
 and privileges of the citizen, even of imperial Rome, dwindle into 
 insignificance — shrink into nothing, when compared with the 
 
DISC. IV.] A CITIZEN OF HEAVEN. 291 
 
 immunities of the citizen of heaven. The citizen of the new 
 Jerusalem is, indeed, " a citizen of no mean city." 
 
 The immunities of celestial citizenship are enjoyed in the 
 greatest number, variety and perfection, in the better country. 
 But, as a powerful state not only provides for the happiness of 
 its subjects at home, but stretches forth its protecting arm around 
 such of them as sojourn in foreign countries ; so, even during his 
 state of exile and pilgrimage, the Christian derives guidance, 
 and safety, and comfort, from his connection with the kingdom of 
 heaven. God sends forth his light and his truth, — they lead him 
 and guide him. The good Spirit conducts him through all the 
 dangers of life, to the land of uprightness. An unseen guard 
 of angels suiTounds him : " The angel of the Lord encamps 
 round about those who fear God, and delivers them." His 
 celestial citizenship does not, indeed, secure him from the ordinary 
 evils of life, but it secures him from being in any degree injured 
 by them ; it does more, it converts them into important blessings 
 — for " all things work together for good to them who love God, 
 and who are the called according to his purpose." 
 
 Instead of fai'ther illustrating the privileges of the Christian 
 as a citizen of heaven, I shall direct youi* attention to a scrip- 
 tural delineation of them. "He that dwelleth in the secret 
 place of the Most High, shall abide under the shadow of the 
 Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my for- 
 tress : My God ; in Him will I trust. Surely He shall deliver 
 thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pesti- 
 lence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings 
 shalt thou trust : his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou 
 shalt not be afraid for the terrors by night, nor for the arrow 
 that flieth by day, nor for the pestilence that walketh in dark- 
 ness, nor for the destruction that wasteth at noon-day. A 
 thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right 
 hand ; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes 
 shalt thou behold, and see the reward of the wicked. Because 
 thou hast made the Lord, who is my refuge, even the Most 
 High, thy habitation : There shall no evil befoU thee, neither 
 shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For He shall give his 
 angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They 
 shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against 
 a stone. Thou shalt tread upon the lion and the adder ; the 
 
292 THE CHRISTIAN [PAUT III. 
 
 young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under foot. Be- 
 cause he hath set his love upon Me, therefore will I deliver him : 
 I w^ill set him on high, because he hath known my name. He 
 shall call on ]\[e, and I will answer him : 1 w^ill be with him in 
 trouble ; I will deliver him, and honour him. With long life 
 will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation." " All things 
 are youi's, wdiether Paul, or A polios, or Cephas, or the w'orld, 
 or life, or death, or things present, or things to come ; all are 
 yours, and ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's." Such are the 
 immunities of the citizens of heaven. 
 
 Ath, The figurative language of the text intimates, that the 
 Christian is distinguished by a peculiar mode of conduct. Out 
 of the relation of citizenship arises a variety of important duties, 
 by the discharge of which, every good citizen is distinguished. 
 Among these, a due respect for the sovereign, a strict regard to 
 the laws, a warm attachment to his fellow-citizens, and a zealous 
 and active support of the interests of the state, occupy a pro- 
 minent place. 
 
 Heavenly citizenship is by no means a mere name, and every 
 person who is possessed of it, is distinguished by the discharge 
 of the duties which flow from it. He maintains a supreme rever- 
 ence for his Divine Sovereign. He " sanctifies the Lord Gt)d 
 in his heart, and makes Him his fear and his dread;" and 
 takes eveiy opportunity of testifying his respect for his authority, 
 and his love to his law. — The Christian does not live at random. 
 As a citizen of heaven, he regulates his conduct according to 
 the laws of the kingdom of God: he is "not without laAv to 
 God, but under the law to Christ." He lives his time in the 
 flesh, " not to the lusts of the flesh, but to the will of God." 
 He takes God's law " as a light to liis feet, and a lamp to his 
 path, accounting it concerning all things to be right, and sin- 
 cerely hating eveiy wicked way." — A warm attachment to his 
 fellow-citizens, is another distinguisliing character of the true 
 citizen of heaven : " Having jjurified his soul in obeying the 
 truth, through the Spirit, unto unfeigned love of the brethren, 
 he loves them with a pure heart fervently." " Hereby," said 
 our Lord, " shall all men know tliat ye are my disciples, if ye 
 love one another." — Farther, the citizen of heaven is distin- 
 guished by a zealous and active su])port of the interests of the 
 kingdom of God. He is not a good citizen who is destitute of 
 
Disc. IV.] A CITIZEN OF HEAVEN. 293 
 
 public spirit. He is no Christian who cares not for the thinfrs 
 of Christ. The citizen of heaven earnestly desires, and fer- 
 vently prays for, the advancement of the interests of the Saviour's 
 Idngdom among men ; and, not content with this, he proves the 
 sincerity of his desires and his prayers, by cheerfully devoting 
 his time, his talents, and his property, to this purpose. His 
 motto is — " To me to live is Christ." To promote nis honour, 
 in the salvation of mankind, is the only object he thinks worth 
 living for ; and, in his estimation, to gain this object, ease, and 
 health, and life itself, are by no means too costly sacrifices. 
 
 btli, The figurative language of the text intimates, that the 
 saint's best aftections are placed on heavenly objects. A man 
 of ordinary sensibility, when exiled from his native land, finds 
 that his country, and the objects connected with it, occupy the 
 principal place in his affections and thoughts. In his imagina- 
 tion, a nameless charm is connected Avith everything which be- 
 longs to home. Its skies are more beautifully azure — its fields 
 more delightfully verdant — and its streams more refreshingly 
 pure, than the sides, the fields, or the streams of any foreign 
 land. — From what has already been said, it is plain, that heaven 
 must be the object of fervent affection and habitual thought to 
 the Christian : " Where the treasure is, there will the heart be 
 also." The Christian " sets his affections on things above." 
 Firmly persuaded, both of the real existence of the heavenly 
 state, and of his deep interest in it, he eagerly desires, and 
 firmly hopes, in due time to participate in its joys. The lan- 
 guage of his heart is, " Oh, how great is the goodness which 
 God has laid up for those who fear Him ! When shall I come 
 and appear before God ? I would not live always. I have a 
 desire to de])art and to be with Christ, which is far better. One 
 thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after, that I 
 may dwell in the house of the Lord for ever." The sincerity 
 of these desires and hopes is proved by a corresponding mode of 
 conduct : " By a jiatient continuance in well-doing, he seeks 
 for glory', honour, and immortality." — Nothing more strikingly 
 distinguishes the true Christian, than what may be termed the 
 spontaneity of his religious affections. It does not require an 
 external impulse to awaken, in the mind of the exile, tender 
 recollections of the land of his fathers. The cmTent of his 
 thoughts so naturally takes that direction, that, even in sleep, 
 
294 THE ClIUISTIAN [PAllT II F. 
 
 when reason is inactive, tinder the guidance of imagination, he 
 passes, quick as thought, boundless oceans and pathless deserts, 
 transports himself to the delightfiil fields in which he passed the 
 joyous years of childhood, and mingles with the long lost com- 
 panions of his youth. In like manner, under the influence of 
 liis new nature, the thoughts of the saint spontaneously rise up- 
 ward, and, leaving behind them earth and its vanities, rest with 
 settled delight on the honours and felicities which await him in 
 the land of his better birth. 
 
 Q)th, The figurative language of the text intimates, that the 
 Christian maintains a frequent intercourse with heaven. It is 
 usual with those who are laid under the necessity of leaving their 
 native country, and residing in a foreign land, to keej) up as 
 close a correspondence as possible with then* relatives at home ; 
 and, by this means, the ills of exile are wonderfully lightened. 
 The figure holds, in this point of view, with respect to the citizen 
 of Zion, in this strange and hostile land. He maintams a constant 
 intercourse with the heavenly country. On the part of God, 
 this intercourse is carried on by the communication of blessings, 
 and the influence of the Holy Spirit. " Every good and perfect 
 gift cometh down from above, from the Father of lights, with 
 whom there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. God 
 meetcth him that rejoiceth, and worketh righteousness." On 
 the part of the Christian, this intercourse is maintained by holy 
 affection, religious worship, and a discharge of the ordinary duties 
 of life as in the Divine presence, and with a view to the Divine 
 approbation. In the ordinances of grace he " draws near to 
 God," and, in the general tenor of his conduct, he " walks with 
 Hun." 
 
 The doctrine of the saint's communion with God, is by no 
 means the dream of enthusiasm ; it is plainly taught in the Holy 
 Scriptures, and is attested by the experience of the samts in 
 every age : " Truly our fellowship is with the Father, and wnth 
 his Son Jesus Christ." The infidel may wrangle, and the mocker 
 blaspheme, but the humble Christian knows, by a species of 
 evidence, wdiicli in their present state they are incapable of 
 appreciating, and of which all their soj)histry cannot deprive 
 liim, that there is a possibility of maintaining, even in this land 
 of distance and darkness, a close intercourse with the Author of 
 knowledge, truth, purity and happiness. 
 
DISC. IV.] A CITIZEN OF HEAVEN. 295 
 
 With respect to the intercourse which takes place between 
 saints on earth and angels and the spirits of just men made 
 perfect, Scripture is almost totally silent. Imagination may 
 conjecture much on this subject, and produce pictures peculiarly 
 soothing to the heart, scarcely recovered fi'om the severest of all 
 wounds. But this is not the place for indulging even the inno- 
 cent wanderings of fancy. Suffice it to remark, in the beautiful, 
 though somewhat obscure, language of the apostle : " We are 
 come to Mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the 
 heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, 
 to the general assembly and church of the first-born, Avhicli are 
 written in heaven, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, 
 and to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood 
 of sprinkling, that speakcth better things than that of Abel." 
 
 Itli, The figurative language in the text intimates, that heaven 
 shall be the place of the Christian's everlasting residence. A 
 person may continue for a while in a foreign land, but his fixed 
 residence is to be sought for in the country of which he is a 
 citizen. The residence of the saint in the present state is but of 
 very short continuance : " Man who is born of a woman is of 
 few days." The shortness of life, which to most men is a very- 
 ungrateful subject of reflection, is replete with pleasing antici- 
 pation to the saint of God. Death is to him but a restoration to 
 the land of his better birth — a translation from pathless mlds 
 and desert solitudes, to fields of perpetual verdure, and streams 
 of ever-living water. The return of the Sa\aom' to heaven, 
 secm'es that, in due time, all his people shall follow him. His 
 promise cannot fail : " In my Father's house are many mansions ; 
 if it had not been so I would have told you : I go to prepare a 
 place for you ; and if I go away I will come again, and take 
 you to myself, that where I am there ye may be also." The 
 Saviour's prayer must be answered : " Father, I will that they 
 also whom Thou hast given me be with me where I am, that 
 they may behold the glory which Thou hast given me ; for Thou 
 lovedst me before the foundation of the world." 
 
 From these blissful mansions the Christian shall never be 
 excluded. " lie shall go no more out." The staff of the 
 pilgrim and the sword of the soldier shall for ever be laid aside, 
 and the hai'p of praise and the palm of victory take their 
 place : " The ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to 
 
296 THE CHRISTIAN [PART III. 
 
 Zion with songs and everlasting joy npon tlieir heads : they shall 
 obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away." 
 
 Christians ! are ye indeed citizens of heaven ? Maintain then 
 a dignity of conduct corresponding to so exalted a character. 
 The son of a king, and the heir of a crown, w^oukl surely act an 
 unwortliy part, were he to content himself with the conceptions, 
 take an interest in the cares, and follow the pursuits, of \adgar 
 life. Such a mode of conduct would but ill fit him for wielding a 
 sceptre with grace, and for managing with advantage the con- 
 cerns of empire. His days and his nights ought to be otherwise 
 employed. His ideas and emidoyraeuts ought to correspond with 
 his present high raidv, and the still more exalted station w-hich he 
 is destined to occupy. And shall you, sons of Gocl, citizens of 
 heaven, heirs of eternal life — shall you degrade yourselves so far, 
 as to make the world and its concerns the principal objects of 
 your thoughts and your affections ? " Walk worthy of the high 
 calling wherewith you are called." " If ye are risen with Christ, 
 seek the things which are above, where Christ sitteth at the 
 right hand of Gocl. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with 
 Christ in God ; and when he who is your life shall appear, ye 
 shall appear with him in glory. Set your affections on things 
 above, and not on the things which are on the earth." 
 
 Are ye felloiv-citizens of heaven ? Cherish the affections, 
 engage in the offices, of mutual love. The tendency which a 
 foreign soil has to bind closer the bands of affection, has often 
 been noticed. The heart opens in a land of strangers. There, 
 every countryman is an acquaintance — every acquaintance is a 
 friend — every friend is a kinsman — every kinsman is a brother. 
 Show, by your conduct, that you feel this influence. Pilgrim- 
 citizens of Zion 1 " see that ye fall not out by the way." Oh ! 
 it ill becomes those who hope to spend an eternity of peace and 
 love together in heaven, to quarrel with one another on earth : 
 " I beseech you, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye put on 
 bowels of mercy, tcndenicss of heart, forbearing one another in 
 love, and forgiving one another, if any have a quarrel against 
 any, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." 
 
 In fine, are your jjrospects, as citizens of heaven, so glorious 1 
 let not the aftiictions of life make a disheartening in)pression on 
 your spirits. Ye may Avell " njoice in tabulation/' because ye 
 
DISC. IV.] A CITIZEN OF HEAVEN. 297 
 
 " rejoice in hope of the glory of God." Let the words of promise 
 be your " song in tlie house of your pilgrimage." It is thus that 
 the way-worn traveller soothes his fatigues by the songs of his 
 native land. His path is rugged, and his heart is lonely ; but 
 the well known and much loved sounds recall to his mind the 
 scenes of early life, the images of distant friends, and the recol- 
 lection of departed joys, — while hope fondly whispers, that he 
 shall yet re-visit these scenes, converse with these friends, and 
 renew these joys. In the sadly pleasing retrospect, and the 
 joyful anticipation, he loses the sense of his son'ows, and journeys 
 onward with increased vigom'. Behold your model, Christians ! 
 Go ye and do likewise. 
 
DISCOURSE V. 
 
 THE TERMS OP DISCIPLESHIP, AND THE REASONS FOR 
 COMPLYING WITH THEM. 
 
 Matt. xvi. 24-27. — " Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after 
 me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will 
 save his life shall lose it ; and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. 
 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? 
 or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul ? For the Son of man shall come 
 in the glory of his Father, with his angels ; and then he shall reward every man ac- 
 cording to his works." 
 
 Mark viii. 34-36. — "And when he had called the people unto him, with his dis- 
 ciples also, he said unto them. Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, 
 and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it ; 
 but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the Gospel's, the same shall save it. 
 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul ?" 
 
 Luke ix. 23-26. — " And he said to them all. If any man will come after me, let him 
 deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whosoever will save his 
 life shall lose it : but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. 
 For wliat is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be 
 cast away ? For whosoever shall be ashamed of me, and of my words, of him shall 
 the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, 
 and of the holy angels." 
 
 Such are the terms of Christian discipleship, and such are the 
 considerations which should induce all to whom these terms are 
 proposed, cordially and immediately to accept of them. These, 
 then, are to be the two topics of discourse — and topics more 
 important, or on such an occasion more seasonable, surely could 
 not easily be found. Let us all, my brethren, whether we belong 
 to the class who to-day have so solemnly avowed our submission 
 of mind, and heart, and active energy to Jesus Christ, or to that 
 of the halters between two opinions, whose minds are not yet 
 made up on the all-important question — for Christ or against 
 him — seriously consider this statement of claims and reasons. 
 It is plain Jesus Christ means that there shall be no room for 
 
DISC, v.] THE TERMS OF DISCU'LESIIIP. 299 
 
 innocent mistake on these subjects. Let us meet him with a 
 corresponding honesty of mind — let us endeavour to be as candid 
 in weighing, as he is downright in stating, the whole truth on 
 the subject. Regard for ourselves, as well as respect for him, 
 requires this — the weal of our eternity is at stake. 
 
 I. And first, then, of the tenns of Christian discipleship. 
 They are thus stated, with scarcely even a Hteral discrepancy, 
 by the three evangelists — " If any man will come after me, let 
 him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." " Who- 
 soever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his 
 cross, and follow me." " If any man will come after me, let him 
 deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me." To 
 come after Christ is just equivalent to — to become one of liis 
 disciples — to yield obedience to the command " follow me." 
 
 The full force of the expressions, " if any man will come after 
 me," — " ^^Hiosoever will come after me," is in danger of bemg 
 in a great measm'e overlooked, in consequence of the verb xcill 
 being often, in our language, employed as merely the sign of 
 future time. The meaning of the statement is, * If any man 
 wills, or icould, if he chooses, or is determined to become my 
 disciple, it is right for him to know and consider beforehand 
 what is required of him — what, in that case, he must be ready 
 to do and to sufier. He who, in his wish to become my disciple, 
 is influenced by the hope of worldly ease, or wealth, or honoui', 
 would do well to reconsider the matter, for he will assuredly be 
 disappointed. He who is disposed to be my disciple, must 
 "deny himself."' 
 
 The phrase " deny himself," sounds strangely, and it would 
 sound still more strangely if its fi*equent use had not somewhat 
 accustomed us to it. What does it mean ? To " deny " is to 
 contradict. To deny a statement is to say it is not true — to 
 deny a request is to refuse to comply with it — in both cases to 
 contradict the speaker. But what is it to deny a person's self? 
 It is said that " God cannot deny himself," — that is, He cannot 
 contradict himself either in word or in deed. He cannot act 
 inconsistently. And a man may be said to deny himself when 
 he acts a pait incompatible with his character, as when a wise 
 man says or does something foolish. It is obvious, however, 
 that this cannot be the meaning of the expression here, for a 
 
300 THE TERMS OF DISCIPLESHIP, AND THE [PART III. 
 
 Christian is required to Le consistent. In the degree he is not 
 80, he fails in exliibiting his appropriate cliaractor, and perform- 
 ing his appropriate duty, as a disciple. It would seem as if the 
 word were understood as used elliptically, as equivalent to — to 
 deny himself that which he desires — that is, to refuse to gratify 
 his o^^'n wishes ; and if this expression be understood with proper 
 limitations, as of equal import with — to oppose his o^^^l inclina- 
 tions, when these are inconsistent with the will of his Lord — then 
 it describes a fmidamental Christian duty. 
 
 I cannot help, however, regi'etting that the phrase has been 
 employed, for its employment is not only susceptible of abuse, 
 but has been often abused. It has given an unnecessarily repul- 
 sive aspect to the religion of the New Testament — it has led to 
 the notion that self-denial — understanding by that, contradicting 
 natural inclination — forms, as it were, the sum and substance of 
 Christian duty ; and has laid the foundation of monkery as a state 
 peculiarly holy, and penance as a substitute for the repentance 
 of the New Testament, among the Eoman Catholics ; and of a 
 species of asceticism, scarcely more akin to genuine enlightened 
 spiritual Christianity, in purer communions. To do violence to 
 any of the original principles of our nature, except where duty 
 absolutely requires, is folly, not wisdom — not duty, but sin. It is 
 a strange idea that it can be agi-eeable to Him who is essential 
 benignity, that creatures should make a merit in refiising to gi'atify 
 innocent wishes, or think that they can please Him by torturing 
 themselves. It is not, to a man of sound mind, a recommenda- 
 tion to anything, but the reverse, that it opposes an innocent 
 inclination, that it prevents or destroys blameless enjoyment. 
 To deny ourselves every forbidden gratification, is an essential 
 part of Christian duty ; and so is to deny ourselves the gratifica- 
 tion of desires in themselves innocent, when this is inconsistent 
 with the gaining of the high objects of our Christian calling. 
 But to doom a person's self to live on bread and water, to wear 
 sackcloth, to fiist merely to mortify the desire of food, and to live 
 in a cell in a wilderness merely to mortify the natural love of 
 society, to do this, or anything like this, wdiatcvcr it may be, is 
 not obedience to any law of Christ. This is certainly not the 
 grand constituent of Christian character — this is not the criterion 
 of discipleship. A man may systematically do all this, and yet 
 be entirely destitute of Christ's spirit, and therefore none of his ; 
 
DISC, v.] REASONS FOR COMPLYING WITH TIIEM. 301 
 
 and, at the very utmost, all wc can say is, that in some of its 
 forms and degrees, this ascetic spirit is not inconsistent with a 
 man being a Christian disciple, though in every such case it is a 
 proof that the doctrine of Christ is very imperfectly understood, 
 and its influence very imperfectly experienced. 
 
 I think our Lord's meaning wovild have been better brought 
 out, and this opportunity of abasing his saying been foreclosed, 
 had the word been rendered, as it properly enough might, re- 
 nounce instead of deny. ' If any man would be a disciple of 
 Christ, he must I'cnounce himself. He must cease to consider 
 himself as his own property. He must devote himself entirely 
 to Christ as his master. On subjects on which his blaster has 
 spoken, he must have no mind but his mind, no will but his 
 will, no views, no interests, separate from, inconsistent with Ids. 
 He must surrender himself up into Christ's hands, to be taught, 
 and guided, and governed, and saved in iiis way. He must 
 believe, and choose, and sufler, according to the Avill of his Lord. 
 His talents, his time, his acquisitions, his body, his soul, — him- 
 self, in one word, must be Christ's — employed in his scrs'ice, de- 
 voted to his objects.' 
 
 This is the fundamental term of true discipleship, entire self- 
 renunciation. He who has not made up his mind to this, had 
 better not assume the garb of chscipleship. The Master will 
 not acknowledge him. They who are determined to remain 
 their oicn, cannot be his. 
 
 A second term of discipleship is taking up the cross — taking 
 up the cross daily. It is common to speak of afflictions, of what- 
 ever kind, as crosses, though in that figiu'ative expression, as 
 ordinaril}^ employed, there does not seem to be any reference 
 to crucifixion. Every man is said to have his cross, — no man 
 is free from affliction. And in reference to this use of the 
 English phrase, it has been supposed that our Lord's meaning 
 is, ' Every man who embraces Christianity, may lay his account 
 with suftering — suffering in some form and degree, on account 
 of his religion. Some may have a heavier, others a lighter, 
 cross — but eveiy man will have his burden to bear, and every 
 man who wishes to be a disciple of Christ's must lay his account 
 with this. He must not refuse to submit to these sufferings — he 
 must not, by any improper means, evade them. He must 
 meekly take up the cross when it is laid down before him, and 
 
302 THE TERMS OF DISCIPLESIirP, AND THE [PAKT III. 
 
 patiently bear it. And he must expect that this is not to 
 be a thing of vciy rare occiuTcnce. From the moment lie 
 becomes a disciple, he will have his cross to bear — and he must 
 bear it daily, till, like his Lord, he exchange the cross for the 
 crown.' 
 
 This is truth, important truth, but it does not at any rate 
 exhaust the meaning of our Lord's language. When a criminal, 
 who had been condemned to the cross, was about to be executed, 
 he was usually required to bear or carry his cross to the place 
 of execution ; we know it was so in the case of our Lord. The 
 taking up the cross was the certain and immediate preparation 
 for being nailed to it. When our Lord then says, ' He who 
 wishes to be my disciple, must take up his cross ;' the meaning 
 is, and it must have been so understood by those to whom it 
 was addressed, ' He must at all times hold himself ready to mider- 
 go suffering and death in the most shameful and painful 
 forms. He must be ready to suffer the loss of all things — 
 to endure pain and obloquy and contumely — to die the death 
 of a felonious slave ; he must be in heart habitually prepared 
 for all this.' 
 
 It deserves notice, our Lord does not say generally 'he 
 must be ever ready to die in my cause.' Peter would very 
 readily have said, " I will go to death for thee," meaning by 
 that he would fight in his defence, till the last drop of his blood 
 was shed ; and no doubt multitudes of those who were disposed 
 to take him by force, and make him a king, had made up their 
 minds to hazard their property and their life in his cause. He 
 says he must be ready to be crucified — to be charged with the 
 vilest of crimes, and to be treated as if guilty of them. 
 
 This is the spirit which Christ still requires of his disciples. 
 He is not a genuine Christian who has not in him the spirit of 
 the apostle, who "counted not his life dear to him ;" or of the 
 martyi's who " loved not their lives to the death;" who is not 
 habitually ready rather to sacrifice property, liberty, reputation, 
 and life, than to deny the doctrine, or disobey the law of the Lord. 
 Such persons alone are "worthy" of, that is, 'fit' for, being 
 Christ's disciples. To all who cannot make up their minds to 
 this, it is better not to make a profession of attachment to Christ 
 — better for themselves — better for Christ's cause both in the 
 church and in the world. Profession on their part is hypocrisy 
 
DISC, v.] REASONS FOR COMPLYING WITH THEM. 303 
 
 and a lie in them, and can be no credit or satisfaction to him, 
 for it must end in perfidy and disgi-ace. 
 
 The precise force of the words that succeed, "and let him follow 
 me," is not very easily fixed. They may be considered as just a 
 re-duplication of the commencing statement; thus, 'If any man 
 wishes to be my disciple, he must renounce himself, cease to 
 consider himself as his own property, and regard himself as 
 mine, and he must hold himself ready at any moment to submit 
 to the very extremity of suffering for my sake. Let such a man 
 come after me, let such a man become my disciple — he is the 
 sort of disciple I wish.' Such a discipleship, in the long run, is 
 sure to be satisfactory both to Master and discijile — none other 
 can. Or it may be a following out of the thought in the ex- 
 pression, "let him take up his cross and follow me, bearing my 
 cross." Jesus bore the cross till, being nailed to it, he expired 
 proclaiming, " It is finished." Let the di&ciple be like the 
 Master. Let him too be faithfid unto death. Or, like the ex- 
 pression in other parts of the New Testament, it may mean, ' Let 
 him who, being qualified to be a disciple by a spirit of self- 
 renunciation and entire devotement, act the part of a disciple. 
 This is the sum of the Christian disciple's duty — to follow his 
 Lord. It is enough here that the disciple be as the Master. 
 Let him follow me as a teacher, seeking to know all my doc- 
 trines, believing whatever I reveal, belie\ang nothing as religious 
 truth which I do not reveal. Let him follow me as a ruler — 
 seeking to know all my will — to do all my w^ill. Let him follow 
 me as an exemplar — walking as I also walked — being in the 
 world as I was in the world — my living image — my epistle seen 
 and read of all men.' 
 
 I am inclined to consider the last as probably the time sense ; 
 and thus we have in the words before us a very condensed view 
 of all that is essential in that Christianity which has connected 
 with it the joys of eternity. It is a habitual following of Christ 
 as a teacher, ruler, and exemplar, growing out of an entire re- 
 nunciation of self, and connected with a readiness to submit to 
 any degree of privation and sufFermg he may appoint, for the 
 promotion of his cause. 
 
 Are we, my friends, in possession of this Christianity ? We 
 say we vdW to come after him — we say that we renovmce oiu*- 
 selves — we say we are ready to take up each man his cross — we 
 
304 THE TERMS OF DISCirLESHIP, AND THE [PART III. 
 
 say thcat we are following him. But is it indeed so ? I hope it 
 is so Anth some — with not a few. I fear it is not so with all. 
 Ay, I fear there are many with whom it is not so. Sm-ely you 
 may know whether it is so or not. Are there not many here 
 sensible that they are not wilhng to be Christ's disciples ? They 
 have many a wish — many a determination ; but this is none of 
 them. Ai-e there not many who know they have never renounced 
 themselves — their own wisdom — their own righteousness — their 
 own strength ; who are no way disposed to renounce themselves, 
 who think and feel as if they were their own. Are there not 
 many who know that they would not part with what they value 
 much less than life, for Christ 1 Are there not many who know 
 that Christ's doctrine, Christ's law, Christ's example, are not the 
 light, and the rule, and the pattern they follow ? Oh, w^hy do 
 such persons call him Lord ? What good can that do either to 
 him or them? And yet call him Lord they ought, for he 
 is Lord of all — call him their Lord they must, for if they 
 continue refusing to acknowledge him as their Lord, they must 
 perish. 
 
 To fit them for being his disciples indeed, they must receive 
 his word and abide in it, and thus know his real character. 
 Whenever the truth as it is in him, is distinctly perceived — 
 when his gloiy is seen as the Only-begotten of the Father, full of 
 grace and truth, when it is clearly understood who he is, and 
 what he has done, self-renunciation becomes an easy, a neces- 
 sary thing ; the man cannot help it, though he does it with all 
 his heart ; to suffer shame, and pain, and death in his cause, is 
 felt to be a privilege and honour, and the great desire is to have 
 his mind our mind — his will our will — to trace his steps on the 
 earth, and to wait for his coming in the clouds. 
 
 II. It is time noAv that we should turn our attention to the 
 considerations adduced by our Lord, for complying with the 
 terms of disciplcship, — the reasons for becoming his disciples, 
 even though it should be necessaiy for this purpose that we re- 
 nounce ourselves, take up our cross, and follow him. The con- 
 siderations would need to be weighty. And so they are. We 
 have but to look at them to see this. " For whosoever shall save 
 his life shall lose it ; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake 
 and the Gospel's, the same shall save it. For what is a man 
 
DISC, v.] REASONS FOK COMPLYING WITH THEM. 305 
 
 profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul, 
 lose himself, or be cast away ? and Avhat shall a man give in ex- 
 change for his soul ? For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of 
 my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall 
 come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels. 
 For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with 
 his angels ; and then he shall reward every one according to his 
 works. 
 
 The great general consideration, showing how much it is the 
 interest of men gladly and gi'atefully, to become Christ's dis- 
 ciples on his own terms is this, " That no worldly advantages can 
 countervail the disadvantages necessarily incurred by not becom- 
 ing the disciples of Christ ; and that no worldly disadvantages 
 can countervail the advantages secured by becoming his disciples." 
 The right interpretation of the whole passage depends on properly 
 fixing the meaning of the word rendered life and soul, for it is 
 the same word that receives these two different versions in the 
 paragraph before us. 
 
 " Life" is often, in the Bible, used as equivalent to happiness. 
 For example, ' Thy favour is life' — makes happy. " This is life 
 eternal," this is true endm'ing happiness, " to know the only true 
 God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent." " He shall never see 
 life," he shall never know what it is to be happy. Were we to 
 understand the word in this way here, a very good sense W'Oidd 
 come out of the statement. ' He who, to secure present enjoy- 
 ment, denies Christ by refusing to become his disciple or re- 
 nouncing discipleship once professed, shall expose himself to the 
 loss of enjoyment far greater than that which he may have thus 
 obtained ; while he who sacrifices present enjoyment in the cause, 
 and for the sake, of Christ, shall in due time obtain enjo}Tnent 
 far superior to that which he has thus sacrificed.' 
 
 But the word used by our Lord here is not that employed as 
 equivalent to enjoyment. It is a word that signifies Mife' pro- 
 perly so called — the principle of life — the soul — sometimes the 
 principle merely of animal life, at other times the principle of 
 rational immortal life. 
 
 Some interpreters have supposed that the word life is used 
 throughout the passage in the first of these senses, and that the 
 meaning of the declaration we are illustrating is, ' He who, to 
 save his life, either refvises to become my disciple, or having pro- 
 
 *u 
 
306 THE TERMS OF DISCIPLESIIIP, AND THE [PART III. 
 
 fessed disciplcship becomes an apostate, shall lose his life by the 
 very means he employs to save it ; while, on the other hand, he 
 who by becoming my disciple and acting out that character, ex- 
 poses his life to ver}' great hazard, shall notwithstanding, by that 
 very step which seemed to make certain its loss, secure its con- 
 tinuance.' There can be no doubt that even in this view of the 
 matter, our Lord's words w^ere remarkably verified. Many of 
 the Jews who, to save their lives, refused to become Christ's dis- 
 ciples — those who, lest the Romans should come and destroy 
 their city and nation, chose rather to put him to death than ac- 
 knowledge him as the Messiah ; and those who, ha^ang professed 
 Christianity waxed cool in their love amid the persecutions of 
 the first age, stumbled — relapsed — apostatised when that burning 
 withering sun arose — vast multitudes of these two classes lost 
 their lives in the most deplorable manner during the siege and 
 at the capture of their metropolis ; wdiile those who continued 
 steadfast amid the greatest hazards, escaped in a very wonderful 
 manner the general destruction by obeying the command of 
 their Lord to leave the city, at the only time, from the beginning 
 to the close of the siege, when there was an opportunity, a veiy 
 unexpected one, for doing so. 
 
 This interpretation is ingenious but not satisfactoiy. Our 
 Lord's words here as well as the verses that follow, wear the form 
 of a general maxim intended for all time, and the reference to 
 oui' Lord's coming in the glory of his Father, and in his presence 
 denying those who denied him, compels me to accede to the in- 
 terpretation, which proceeds on the principle that the word ' life' 
 is used with a different meaning in the two parts of tlie anti- 
 thesis, signifying in the one the life of the body, and in the other 
 the life of the soul. This shifting of meaning, though it would 
 be a great faidt in ordinary composition, is a beauty where it occurs, 
 being quite in accordance with the proverbial, enigmatical 
 style which for various obvious reasons oin* Lord so often 
 employed. 
 
 The meaning — and we have as deep an interest in it as those 
 who first heard the words, is — ' lie Avho, to secure himself from 
 danger and death, refuses to become my disciple, or who having 
 become in profession one of my disciples, on such an account 
 apostatises, that man will find that in the ultimate result of 
 things, he is anything but a gainer. — lie loses what is infinitely 
 
DISC, v.] REASONS FOR COMPLYING WITH THEM. 307 
 
 more valuable than what he lias retained. lie may secure a life 
 which must soon teiminate, but he exposes himself to a death 
 which will never end. lie may save his life, but he shall lose 
 his soul : While he who, as my disciple, shall not only take up 
 his cross, but actually be nailed to it and breathe out his spirit 
 — his soul — there : he who exposes his life to hazard : he who 
 lays down his life rather than renounce his allegiance to me, he 
 shall be no loser — he shall be an infinite gainer. He shall obtain 
 a better life than that he parts with — he may lose his life, but 
 he shall save his soul. And he who saves his life at the expense 
 of his soul is an infinite loser, while he who saves his soul though 
 at the loss of his life, is an infinite gainer.' 
 
 The first of these sentiments is expressed, the other plainly 
 implied, in the weighty words which follow, — " For what is a 
 man profited if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul," — 
 lose himself, be a cast-away — " and what slial) a man give in 
 exchange for his soul ?" Here, as well as in the words already 
 considered, there seems a reference to the double sense of the 
 term translated life there and soul here. The general idea is, 
 ' How foolish to seek the attainment of any enjoyment by that 
 which will completely and for ever incapacitate for all enjoyment! 
 You may easily estimate the gain of the man who succeeds in 
 such an attempt, but who can estimate his loss % ' 
 
 Our Lord supposes a man to gain the whole world. These 
 words may mean, to become proprietor of the whole teiTaqueous 
 globe ; but they more probably do mean, to obtain everything 
 in the shape of enjoyment that this world can afford to a human 
 being. Tlien he supposes this seemingly most fortunate of men, 
 in the gaining the world to lose his life, and asks, what would 
 such a man, having died, be the better of the world he had gained. 
 Wliat is the use of wealth, or honom', or pleasm'e to the dead ? 
 He is totally and for ever incapable of enjoying them. The idea 
 of a man seeldng to obtain these, by a course that necessarily 
 implied that their price to him must be his life — seeking for 
 enjoyment in a way that must deprive him, not only of the 
 enjoyment he has succeeded in obtaining, but of the very faculty 
 of enjo}^nent for ever — is in the highest degi'ee preposterous and 
 absurd. Such a man, if he succeeds, has gained the world, — but 
 who is to enjoy it % Not he — he has lost himself. In making 
 his fortune, he has himself become a cast-away. 
 
308 THE TERMS OF DISCIPLESHIP, AND THE [PAKT 111. 
 
 Tliis thought is very powerfully brought out by the interro- 
 gation — " What will a man give in exchange for his life ?" The 
 words may be considered as referring either to life in danger, or 
 to life lost. In the first case they are equivalent to, ' "W^iat — how 
 many — how great — how valuable things, will a man give for his 
 life ? ' It suits the idiom of om* language better to vise the negative 
 inteiTOgatory in such a case : What Avill a man not give as a 
 ransom for his life ? The sentiment in this case is, ' It is folly to 
 seek to gain or retain blessings at the expense of that which is more 
 valuable than them all.' If the words are considered as referring 
 to life viewed as lost — then their meaning is, ' Wliat can a man give 
 in exchange for his life, as a ransom to buy it back again"? Whatcaw 
 he give ? He is himself lost, — he has no power — no possessions. 
 Lost life so far as man's power is concerned, is hopelessly lost. 
 He has lost life, and in losing life he has lost ever)i:hing 
 else — and he has lost them without any capacity of regaining 
 them.' 
 
 There can be no doubt that our Lord's leading object hei*e 
 was to hold up under this striking but imperfect figure, the 
 madness of the man, who, in the hope or even with the certainty 
 of obtaining every enjoyment this life can afford, should, by 
 refusing to become his disciple, or apostatising after having 
 assumed discipleship, take a course which must end in " the loss 
 of the soul " in the higher sense of wdiich these words are 
 susceptible. To seek to gain any worldly good by wdiat is to 
 cost life, is, so far as the individual is concerned, foolish ; but to 
 do this by what must end in the loss of the soul, is just as much 
 more foolish as eternity is longer than time, and death less dreadful 
 than damnation. To lose the soul is not to be annihilated. That, 
 in comparison, though nature shrinks fi^-om it, were a " consum- 
 mation devoutly to be wished." To lose the soul is the converse of 
 to save the soul. To save the soul, includes deliverance from all 
 danger and misery, and the possession of all happiness in absolute 
 security for ever. To lose the soul, includes the conscious loss of 
 all that man can lose of happiness, and the endurance of all that 
 man can suffer of misery, and both these for ever. That is an 
 evil incurred already by ever}^ human being as the penalty of the 
 law he has broken. The only, the certain, way of escaping it, is 
 by becoming Clmst's disciple. Woukl he not, then, be a loser, 
 an infinite loser, who by refusing to become Christ's disciple, 
 
DISC, v.] REASONS FOR COMPLYING WITH THEM. 309 
 
 at once secured that all the enjoyments the world can give 
 should be his, and that he should lose his soul — perish for 
 ever ? 
 
 And if this he true, what shall we then say of those — alas, 
 what multitudes of such surround us — who expose themselves to 
 this tremendous doom, with no certainty and little probability 
 of getting any remarkable shai'e of worldly good — ay, what 
 shall we say of those who prefer to becoming Christ's disciples, 
 and its glorious results, the making themselves as miserable as 
 they can be out of hell — Avhile following a course which must 
 end in that pit of perdition being their everlasting abode? 
 
 The words before us plainly imply the converse of what they 
 express — ' Who can count his gain, wdio, though at the loss of 
 the world, by subjecting himself to suffering in every form, has 
 obtained the salvation of his soul ? ' How wise, how happy the 
 disciple of Christ — whatever sacrifice he may be called to make, 
 whatever suffering he may be called to endui'e — the loss of 
 life is mfinitely more than made up in the salvation of the 
 soul ! 
 
 But as the man who loses his soul does not usually gain the 
 world, so the man who obtains the salvation of the soul, does not 
 in the highest and best sense of the word, at all lose the world. 
 He must indeed give up with the world as his portion — he must 
 be " crucified to the world," and " the world must be crucified to 
 liim :" Yet " the world" is a part of his inheritance, for his Lord 
 is the Lord of the world ; and so far as it can be made to con- 
 duce to his highest interests, there is nothing Anthin its wide 
 compass that shall not be his. 
 
 The same general thought — the wisdom of becoming Christ's 
 disciples at all hazards — is brought before the mind in still 
 another aspect b}' our Lord. " For whosoever shall be 
 ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinfid 
 generation, of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed when 
 he cometh in his own glory and in his Father's, and of his holy 
 angels," or "with his holy angels." This declaration, like that 
 which precedes it, is obviously intended to suggest the other 
 side of the antithesis, " and whosoever shall not be ashamed of 
 me and of my words in this adulterous and sinfiil generation, of 
 him shall the Son of man not be ashamed when he cometh in 
 his own glory, and his Father's, and of the holy angels." 
 
310 THE TERMS OF BISCIPLESUIP, AND THE [PART III. 
 
 Oar Lord describes liis contemporaries as " an adulterous and 
 a sinful generation." The relation in which Jehovah stood to 
 the Jews is often spoken of under the figure of the conjugal 
 relation. He was their husband — they were his spouse. They 
 were an unfaithful spouse. The great body of the Jews in oui* 
 Lord's time, were Sadducean infidels orPharisean formalists; not 
 enlightened, pious men. Though not, like their fathers, idolaters 
 — they were not spuitual M'orshi})pers of a spiritual Divinity. 
 And as they were, religiously considered, either sceptical or 
 superstitious — so, morally considered, they were profligates, and 
 their rejection of our Lord was the natural result of their 
 character. It would have been strange if such a people had 
 received such a Messiah. 
 
 To be ashamed of our Lord in the midst of such a race, 
 was — for persons who could not help perceiving that he Avas 
 a Di\dne messenger, possibly the Messiah — to allow their in- 
 fluence to overmaster his, so as to decline becoming his dis- 
 ciples ; or to cease from becoming his disciples — to neglect 
 what he requires and to do Avhat he forbids, from a fear of 
 losing their respect and favour, or of inciu'ring their contempt 
 and displeasure. 
 
 With regard to such persons, our Lord declares that he will 
 be ashamed of those who thus showed themselves ashamed of 
 him. Some interpreters have considered these words as refer- 
 ring to ovu' Lord's coming to destroy the Jewish state ; but great 
 violence must be done them to make them bear this interpretation. 
 Did our Lord at the destruction of Jerusalem "reward every man 
 according to his works" ? The words look forward to a far more 
 solemn occasion, in which all who have been ashamed, and all who 
 have not been ashamed, of the Son of man before an ungodly world, 
 shall have their reward. 
 
 When our Lord had finished his work of expiation, he entered 
 on his reward. He sat down on the right hand of the Majesty 
 in the heavens. And these heavens which have received him 
 nuist retain him till the period fixed for closing in awful majesty 
 the mystery of God, when he shall again return to oiu' world. 
 " Behold he cometh in clouds, and evciy eye shall see him." 
 When he thus comes, he will come "in gloiy" — not as a feeble 
 babe — a man of sorrows — an expiring victim, but attended by 
 every possible circumstance of impressive grandeur. He will 
 
DISC, v.] REASONS FOR COMPLYING WITJI TIIEM. 311 
 
 come " in his own glory," with the splendour befitting the Only- 
 begotten of God incarnate — " in the glory of his Father," with a 
 splendour becoming him to whom the Father hath committed all 
 authority and power — the appointed Divine Manifester and 
 Vindicator of the power, and wisdom, and righteousness, and 
 benignity of Godhead; and "in the glory of" or "with his holy 
 angels" — attended by an innumerable host of those pure and 
 holy intelligences who excel in Avisdom and strength, ready 
 to be the ministers of his will, the executioners of his righteous 
 sentences. 
 
 Before him, when he thus comes, shall be gathered all nations. 
 The dead have been raised, the living changed, and all wait to 
 hear their final sentence from him appointed to jvidge the world 
 in righteousness. There is but one feehng in reference to the 
 value of his approbation amid these innumerable millions. A 
 smile, a token of kind recognition from hitn is felt to be worth 
 ten thousand worlds. But no such look will be vouchsafed to 
 any who, amid an adulterous and sinful generation, were ashamed 
 of him and his words. He will then be ashamed of them. He 
 will act as a man does in reference to persons who claim some 
 connection wutli him of whom he is ashamed. He will tm'n 
 his eyes away fi-om them, with a withering look of settled con- 
 tempt and dislike. Should one class say, " AVe thought better 
 of you than the bulk of our countrjanen did" — the reply would be, 
 "And yet, notwithstanding these convictions, you were ashamed 
 of me — you preferred the praise of men to the praise of God : 
 you had your choice, and you must abide by it." Should another 
 class say, " We were called by thy name, we did espouse thy 
 cause" — the answer would be, "If it had not been so, if you had 
 not done so, you could not have so foully dishonoured my name — 
 you could not so deeply have injured my cause." To both he will 
 say, " Depart from me, I never knew you, ye workers of iniquity." 
 While the objects of universal everlasting contempt, the feeling of 
 shame for their prodigious folly, will scarcely be less intolerable 
 than that of remorse for their enormous mckedness in having 
 treated with contumely the greatest and best, the most estimable 
 and amiable. Being in the universe. 
 
 On the other hand, the man who, following the conviction of 
 his reason and conscience, has openly avowed and consistently 
 maintained his faith and obedience to our Lord, notwithstanding 
 
312 THE TERMS OF DISCIPLESHIP, AND THE [PART III. 
 
 all the contempt and reproach to which it has exposed him, shall 
 on this solemn occasion be acknowledged by om* Lord in the 
 presence of an assembled universe, and be presented to his Father 
 as his faithful servant — his beloved friend — his near kinsman. 
 " Well done, good and faithful servant : enter thou into the joy 
 of thy Lord." " I appoint to you a kingdom, as my Father hath 
 appointed to me a kingdom." You have overcome, and "I ap- 
 ])oint unto you to sit with me on my tlu'one ; even as I have over- 
 come and am set down with my Father on his throne." You 
 have been faithful to death : receive the crown of life. You 
 were willing partakers of my reproach and svifferings, and you shall 
 "reign with me for ever and ever." Oh, is not this an exceeding 
 abundant, as it is an eternal, recompense for all the shame which, 
 even when bearing it, they felt sweet for his sake ! Who is now 
 the gainer? He who obtained the world's applause, and lost the 
 Son of man's approbation, or he who willingly incurred the world's 
 scorn, and has secured the honoiu'able sentence and the approv- 
 ing smile of the Judge of the world ? 
 
 .Looking at the terms of discipleship in the light of " that day," 
 who will say they are hard terms I Does He require too much ? 
 Could he require less ? In the light of that day we must con- 
 template them. " For the Son of man shall come in the gloiy 
 of his Father with his angels, and then will he reward every man 
 according to his works." Yes, he shall come. It is not more 
 certain that he has come the first time for sin, than that he ■will 
 come the second time for the salvation of his people and the de- 
 struction of his enemies. He \rill come not in the form of a 
 servant, as erewhile, but in the form of God. Infidel men may 
 tauntingly ask, " Where is his promised coming ? " But He is not 
 slack concerning his promise. He is on his Avay. '' He that should 
 come will come." And when he does come he will render to every 
 man according to his works ; to the fearful and unbelieving, and 
 to the consistent and faithful. The sins of the former shall 
 be at once the ground and the measure of their punishment. The 
 Christian virtues of the latter, while not the gi'ound — that is to 
 be found in justice satisfied, and law magnified by their surety 
 — shall be the measure of their reward. And then shall not 
 only they, but all men of every age and country, have their 
 everlasting destiny fixed according to the princii»les of eternal 
 justice. 
 
DISC, v.] REASONS FOR COMrLYING WITU THEM. 313 
 
 When our Lord uttered these words, the ])eriod referred to 
 lay far oft' in the distance of futurity. Eighteen centimes have 
 run their course since they were spoken, and still " all tilings con- 
 tinue as they were ;" and for aught we know, the time which has 
 elapsed may be but as a watch in the night in comparison to the 
 period which may have yet to elapse before they be fulfilled. 
 But what there is of force and argument in reference to the duty 
 of becoming and continuing true disciples of Christ folded up in 
 these words, does in no degree depend on the time when these 
 events are to take place, whether to-morrow or at tlie distance of 
 ages of ages. It rests on the certainty that they shall some time 
 take place. And it must never be forgotten, that though the 
 final advent of the Son of God may, for aught we know, be at the 
 distance of a thousand centui'ies, the termination of our mortal 
 course individually — which certainly cannot be more remote than 
 a few years, which may be so near that our next breath may be 
 our last — will place us unalterably in that relation to the approba- 
 tion or disapprobation of the supreme Judge, which his sentence 
 on that day will announce in the ears of the assembled universe. 
 " Consider what has been said, and the Lord give you under- 
 standing in all things." 
 
 I cannot conclude without adverting to the very powerful 
 though indirect evidence which the text affords of the Divinity 
 of our Lord. How ill would such language become a mere man ? 
 The highest of the prophets, Moses, or Elijah, or Isaiah, knew 
 his place too well ever to adopt words hke these. No ; no, 
 my brethren, there is no alternative — the Gospel is a fable, or 
 Jesus is Divine. His claims are presmnptuovis, if they are not 
 those of the incarnate Deity. Blessed be God for the abundant 
 evidence for the Divinity of the Saviour. How secure a foun- 
 dation does this lay for om* hope — Jesus Christ our Saviour is 
 the great God ! How powerfully does this corroborate his claims 
 on our faith and obedience ! We cannot disbelieve him with- 
 out calling God a liar ! We cannot disobey him without con- 
 temning Divine authority — inciu'ring Divine displeasure — defy- 
 ing Divine vengeance. We cannot look at Christ's claims 
 alight if we forget what gives them their peculiarity. Obedience 
 to him must be of a corresponding character. Let us see that 
 our obedience has that character. He is our God — let us ivoj'- 
 
314 THE TEIOIS OF DISCI PLESII IT, ETC. [PART III. 
 
 i^liip Iliiu. What an lumom- to serve and to sufter for such a 
 IMaster ! 
 
 " Jesus, and shall it ever be 
 
 That I should be asham'd of thee ? 
 
 No ! when I blush, be this niv shame. 
 
 That 1 no more revere thy name. 
 
 Asham'd of Jesus I jes 1 may, 
 
 When I've no sins to wash away — 
 
 No tears to wipe — no good to crave. 
 
 And no immortal soul to save. 
 
 Till then — nor is the boastinj,' vain — 
 
 Till tiien I boast a Saviour slain ; 
 
 And this shall still my glory be, — 
 ' Jesus is not asham'd of me." ' 
 
THE DUTY 
 
 KEEPING OURSELVES IN THE LOVE OF GOD, 
 
 THE BEST MEANS OF PERFORMING IT. 
 
 FOUR SERMONS. 
 
SERMON I. 
 
 ' ON KEEPING OURSELVES IN THE LOVE OF GOD. 
 
 JuDE 20, 21. — " But ye, beloved, buildinj,' up yourselves on your most holy faith, 
 praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy 
 of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life." 
 
 " The perfecting of the saints," " the edification of the body of 
 Christ," is the great design of that precious gift of tlie risen and 
 ascended Sa\'iour, ' the Christian Ministry,' in all its forms, 
 extraordinary or ordinary, temporary or perpetual. Those in 
 whom that gift was first embodied, the apostles, steadily prose- 
 cuted this design. Next to the glory of their Lord, and as the 
 grand means of promoting that glory, the object of their intense 
 desire and constant endeavour was the perfection in holiness and 
 comfort of his chosen people. They cUd and endured all that 
 they did and endured, " for the elect's sake, that they might 
 obtain the salvation that is in Christ with eternal glory." Every 
 thing in their writings bears on this great object, — that the 
 " chosen, called, separated, peculiar people," might enjoy Chris- 
 tian privilege, and possess Christian character, and discharge 
 Christian duty, in the highest degree possible in the present 
 state, as a preparation for that state of perfect happiness and 
 perfect holiness on which they are soon to enter. Their state- 
 ments, arguments, precepts, persuasions, warnings, encourage- 
 ments, and consolations, were all obviously intended, and are all 
 obviously fitted, to gain this end, — that " the church purchased 
 by the blood of Christ," in ever}^ one of its members, might be 
 " complete in Clmst, perfect and entire, wanting nothing ; filled 
 with all knowledge and spiritual iinderstanding, even with the 
 riches of the full assurance of understandin"; to the acknowledo;- 
 
318 ON KEEriNG IN THE LOVE OF GOD. [SEK. I. 
 
 mcnt of the mystery of God, and of tlic Father, and of Christ : 
 that they might not be like chikh'en, tossed too and fro with 
 every wind of doctrine, but rooted and grounded in love, stablished, 
 strengthened, settled : that they might not be babes who require 
 milk, but strojig men who can digest strong meat ; not unskilful 
 in the word of righteousness, but having their senses exercised 
 to make a distinction between truth and falsehood, good and 
 evil : that they might be filled with all joy and peace in believing, 
 having abundant consolation and good hope : that they might 
 be sanctified wholly in the whole man, soul, body, and spirit, 
 becoming partakers of the Divine nature, and escaping the 
 corruptions that are in the world : that they might be perfect 
 men in Christ Jesus, having attained to the measure of the 
 stature of his fulness : that they might be filled with the fi'uits 
 of righteousness : that they might be strong, and overcome the 
 wicked one : and that, Avalking worthy of him who had called 
 them to his kingdom and gloiy, they might be preserved blame- 
 less to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and be found of 
 him then in peace." 
 
 This object is never lost sight of by the apostles, no, not for a 
 moment, even when led into statements Avhich seem to have no 
 direct bearing on it. The character and the doom of the ungodly 
 are sometimes necessarily introduced in their ■\\-ritings ; but it is 
 interesting to observe how quickly they dispatch such subjects, 
 and how readily they find their way back to their favourite 
 themes. Christian character, and Christian privilege, and Chris- 
 tian duty : and how ingeniously, we should have said — did y\e 
 not recollect that they wrote as they were moved by the Holy 
 Ghost — they render even such statements subsen'ient to their 
 great object. The transitions by which they pass from the one 
 subject to the other are often very striking. For example, in 
 the second Epistle of the Apostle Paul to Timothy (iii. 13, 14), 
 he is led to remark, that " e^•il men and seducers shall wax 
 worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived ;" but he imme- 
 diately adds, " But continue thou in the things which thou hast 
 learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast 
 learned them." And in his first Epistle to the same Evangelist, 
 vi. 10, 11, he notices some Christian teachers, who, led aside by 
 " the love of money, the root of all oxW" had " erred fi'om the 
 faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows ;" and 
 
SER. I.] ON KEEPING IN THE LOVE OF GOD. 319 
 
 then emphatically says, " But thou, O man of God ! flee these 
 things, and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, 
 j)atience, meekness." In the Epistle to the Tliessalonians (2 Thess. 
 ii. 10, 11, 13), after stating that " God will send on those who 
 believe not the truth, but take pleasm*e in unrighteousness, 
 strong delusion, that they should believe a lie, that they may be 
 damned," he adds immediately, "But we are bound to give God 
 thanks always for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because 
 God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through 
 sanctification of the Spirit, and belief of the truth : wdiereunto 
 he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory," 
 approbation, the complete complacent approval, " of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ. Therefore, brethren, stand fast." And here, in 
 the interesting passage chosen as a suitable subject of exhortation 
 to you, .after you have made a solemn profession of the faith of 
 Christ, by observing the ordinance of the liord's Supper, in 
 w^hich its leading doctrines were strikingly exhibited to you, and 
 your obligations to Him solemnly acknowledged, the apostle 
 Jude, after speaking of " the mockers in the last day, who should 
 Avalk after their ungodly lusts, sensual, not having the Spirit," 
 adds, with a similar transition, " But ye, beloved, building up 
 yourselves on your most holy faith, keep yourselves in the love 
 of God, loolving for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto 
 eternal life." May the good Spirit who dictated this exhortation 
 guide us in our illustrations of it, and render them the means of 
 maldng you " perfect in every good work, working in you that 
 which is well pleasing in the sight " of our heavenly Father ; 
 that so ye may " grow in grace and in the knowledge of our 
 Lord and Sa\'iour," " adorn his doctrine in all things," and 
 ultimately have " an entrance ministered to you abundantly into 
 his everlasting kingdom !" 
 
 For the illustration of this exhortation it will be necessary 
 that we attend, — first, to the duty which the apostle calls on 
 Christians to perform, or the object which he calls on them to 
 prosecute, — the " keeping themselves in the love of God ;" and, 
 secondly, to the means which he recommends for the perform- 
 ance of this duty, or the attainment of this object, — " building 
 themselves on their most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, 
 and looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus unto eternal life." 
 
 Let us first, then, consider the duty which the apostle here 
 
320 ON KEEPING IN THE LOVE OF OOD [SER, I. 
 
 enjoins, or the object which he calls on Christians to prosecute, 
 "Kee[)ing themselves in the love of God." There are two 
 {juestions which must be here resolved. What are we to under- 
 stand by "the love of God?" and. What by Christians "keep- 
 ing themselves in the love of God" ? 
 
 The love of God is often in the New Testament used to signify 
 God's love to us, as when it is said, that " God commendeth 
 his love to us in that, when we were sinners, Christ" his Son, 
 " died for us ;" that " nothing can separate" those who are in 
 Christ Jesus "from the love of God ;" when "the love of God," 
 along with " the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ," and " the fel- 
 lowship of the Holy Ghost," is prayed for ; when it is said, 
 that " the kindness and love of God towards man has appeared," 
 been made manifest : and that " the love of God towards us 
 was manifested, because that God sent his onlj'^-begotten Son 
 into the world, that Ave should live through him." It is also 
 used in the New Testament to signify our love to God, as when 
 "the love of God" is mentioned by our Lord along with "judg- 
 ment," or righteousness, as one of the things passed over by the 
 Pharisees when " they tithed mint and rue, and all manner of 
 herbs;" and when he said to his unbelieving countrymen, "I 
 know you, that ye have not the love of God in you;" when 
 the apostle prays that the hearts of Christians may be "directed 
 into the love of God;" when it is said, that "the love of the 
 Father is not in him" who loves the world, and that " this is 
 the love of God, that we keep his commandments." There are 
 passages in which it has seemed doubtful which of these mean- 
 ings attaches to the phrase, as when "the love of God" is said 
 to be " shed abroad in the heart" of Christians " by the Holy 
 Ghost given" to them, and when "the love of God is said to 
 be perfected in him who kecpetli the word of Christ," though I 
 think there is no reason to doubt, that in the first passage the 
 phrase denotes God's love to the believer, not the believer's 
 love to God ; and even with regard to the second, when we 
 compare it with the statement, " If we love one another, God 
 dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us," it seems probable 
 that that is its reference there also. The ordinary meaning of 
 the expression " the love of God," in the New Testament, is, 
 tlien, God's love to us. 
 
 In the passage beibre us the word may be interpreted in either 
 
SER. I.] ON KEEPING IN THE LOVE OF GOD. 321 
 
 of the senses now noticed, without violating the usage of" the 
 New Testament, or tlie analogy of faith. It is most common 
 to consider the phrase as referring to the Christian's love to 
 God ; and the exhortation, " Keep yourselves in the love of 
 God," is thus considered as going on the supposition that they 
 already loved God, and as calling on them to continue to love 
 liim. ' Let not your love to God wax cold ; let it rather grow 
 exceedingly in ardour and influence, as you obtain wider, clearer 
 views of his loveliness and his loving-kindness.' The objections 
 to this mode of interpretation are, that " the love of God," and 
 " the merc}^ of our Lord Jesus," are expressions which must 
 be explained on the same principle of interpretation ; that the 
 reference of the latter expression, which is incapable of any 
 interpretation but one, must determine the meaning of the 
 former, which, taken by itself, might, as we have seen, be in- 
 terpreted in either of two different Avays ; and that " to be in 
 the love of God" seems a strange, unnatiu*al mode of describing 
 our love to God, though not an unnatural mode of expressing 
 our being the objects of his love. To have the love of God in 
 us, not to be in the love of God, is the ordinary New Testament 
 way of expressing our love to God ; and it is diflicult to find a 
 reason why the apostle should choose to express so plain an idea 
 as ' Continue to love God,' by so uncommon an expression as 
 " Keep yourselves in the love of God." Besides, this mode of 
 interpretation gives a disjointed appearance to what is obviously 
 one closely connected exhortation, recommending one duty, " the 
 keeping ourselves in the love of God, and the best means of per- 
 forming it;" "building ourselves up on our most holy faith ;" 
 "praying in the Holy Ghost ;" and "looking for the mercy of 
 our Lord Jesus unto eternal life." 
 
 The interpretation which gives " the love of God" here its 
 ordinary meaning, and considers the whole clause as an exhor- 
 tation to Christians to beware of losing that place in the com- 
 placent approbation of their God and Father, which, as " his 
 workmanship, created anew in Christ Jesus," they enjoyed, is 
 the most natural one ; and though at first sight there may seem 
 to be difficulties connected with it, on close examination they 
 will turn out to be merely apparent, not real ones ; and it will 
 be found tu bring out a meaning peculiarly rich in Chris- 
 tian practical instruction, and exactlv corresponding with the 
 
 *x 
 
322 ON KEEPING IN THE LOVE OF GOD. [sER. I. 
 
 obvious meaning and purpose of all the other parts of the 
 passage. 
 
 There is a passage in one of our Lord's valedictory discoui'ses 
 very much calculated to throw light on the text, and which it is 
 difficult to doubt that Jude, Avho heard our Lord deliver that 
 discourse, had in his mind when he wrote the words now under 
 consideration. John xv. 9, " As the Father hath loved me, so 
 have I loved you ; coiitinue ye in my love ;" that is, * Keep 
 yourselves in my love.' But what does " continue in my love" 
 mean ? It may mean, ' Continue to love me,' tliough, as he is 
 speaking of his love to them, not theirs to him, that is not very 
 probable ; but read on : " If ye keep my commandments, ye 
 shall abide," that is, continue (it is the same word in the original), 
 "in my love ;" that seems to moan, ' I will continue to love you ;' 
 but read on, and you will find what settles the question, " Even 
 as I have kept my Father's commandments, and continue in his 
 love," that is, without doubt, ' He continues to love me.' ' My 
 Father loved me ; I kept his commandments ; I continue in his 
 love ; that is. He continues to love me, and continues to love me 
 because I have kept his conunandnients. I have loved you as 
 my Father has loved me ; keep my commandments as I have 
 kept his commandments, and ye shall continue in my love as I 
 continue in his. I will continue to love you as He continues to 
 love me.' These words of oui* Lord not only explain the words 
 of our text, but they also illustrate the sentiment it conveys. 
 
 To be " in God's love" is to be a possessor of God's favour, to 
 be in favour with Him. Now, to be an object of DiA-ine favour, 
 may describe one or other of three very distinct yet intimately 
 connected things, which we must take care neither to disjoin 
 nor to confound, as confounding them may lead to serious 
 mistakes ; for what may be affirmed of one of those things, may 
 not, as a matter of course, be affirmed of all the rest. 
 
 Of the human being, whom from a special regard, of whicli 
 no cause can be found out of the Divine natiu'e, God determined, 
 in preference to another human being, to save from a misery 
 which both should equally deserve, it may bo said that man is 
 "in the love of God ;" he is an object of special favoiu". Such 
 a man obviously did not bring himself into God's love, and as 
 obviously does not keep himself in it. The determination to 
 save, in no degree and in no sense depends on the will or the 
 
SER. I.] ON KEEPING IN THE LOVE OF GOD. 323 
 
 doing of liini who is chosen to salvation. Every individual 
 " predestinated in love " to eternal life, ever was, and ever will 
 be, " in the love of God." It were ahsurdity in this reference to 
 bid Christians keep themselves in the love of God. 
 
 Of the elect sinner, wlio by nature was, like others, " a cliild 
 of wrath," an heir of the curse, an object of tlie judicial displeasure 
 of God, but who by the faith of the truth lias been "justified 
 freely through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus," and 
 " made accepted in the beloved," " made the righteousness of 
 God in him " who was " made sin in his room," it may also be 
 said in truth that he is " in the love of God," an object of Divine 
 special favour. lie is in a state in which the perfections of the 
 Divine character, and the principles of the Divine government, 
 not only permit but secure his salvation. Into this state the 
 sinner does not bring himself, and in this state he does not keep 
 himself. The Apostle Paul, in his Epistle to tlie E})hcsians, tells 
 us that he is brought into it " by the exceeding greatness of 
 God's power to us-ward who believe;" a power which he illus- 
 trates by comparing it with " the working of his mighty power, 
 which he wrought in Christ when He raised him fi'om the dead, 
 and set him at his own right hand." And the Apostle Peter in 
 his first Epistle, tells us that he is " kept " in this state " by the 
 power of God, through faith unto salvation." It might not, as 
 in the former case, be an absolute absiu'dity to call on the believing 
 sinner to keep himself in the love of God in the sense of a justified 
 state ; but, if not absolute absurdity, it would be pernicious error. 
 " There is," there shall be, there can be, " no condemnation to 
 them who are in Christ Jesus." Continued faith and holiness 
 are necessary to the continued enjoyment of the blessings of a 
 justified state ; but it is not the faith and the holiness which 
 secure the justification, but the justification which secui*es the 
 faith and the holiness. It is not then to the Christian, viewed 
 simply as an elect person, or as a justified person, that the 
 injunction in the text is addressed. 
 
 Of the elect believing justified sinner, as the subject of the 
 transforming influence of the Divine Spirit, it may be said, in 
 a sense of which it could not be said of him as an elect person, 
 nor of him simply viewed as justified, that God loves him, that 
 he is an object of Divine favourable regard. God loves him 
 for the spiritual and moral loveliness which belongs to him as a 
 
324 ON KEEPING IN THE LOVE OF GOD. [SER. I. 
 
 part of tlie new creation in Christ Jesus. The favourable regard 
 ■which God has towards liis elect ones as elect, has no cause in 
 them. They in the Divine prescient mind, were contemplated 
 as standing on the common level of the fallen race, nothing in 
 them but gniilt, depravity, and miseiy. He had mercy on them 
 because lie willed to have mercy on them. He had compassion 
 on them because He willed to have compassion on them. The 
 favoui'able regard which God has tow^ards the justified as jus- 
 tified, has no cause in them either, but originates entirely in his 
 being " well pleased for the righteousness sake" of him who, 
 when he was made sin in the room of sinners, " magnified the 
 law and made it honourable," by the propitiation made in his 
 blood, reconciling the exercise of mercy with the demands of 
 justice ; to whom the sinner has become united according to the 
 Divine method of salvation, by — under Divine influence, — believ- 
 ing the Gospel. Of the Divine love or favour in these two views 
 of it, we can find no cause in its objects ; the cause of the one 
 being found in the sovereignty of the Divine nature, the cause 
 of the other in the finished work of the Divine Redeemer. 
 
 The holiness of the believer is just that measure of conformity of 
 natm'e, mind, and will, to the nature, mind, and will of God, which 
 the Holy Spirit produces by the faith of the truth. Spiritual, 
 moral excellence must be an object of the Divine approbation 
 wherever it exists. It is so in himself. It is so in the holy 
 angels. It was so in our innocent alid holy first parents. It is 
 so in all his children by faith in Christ Jesus, in the degree in 
 which they possess it ; He loves them because they are lovely, 
 though of that loveliness He is the sole author. 
 
 The love or favour of God in the two former views of it, 
 admits of no degrees. Every elect man, every justified man, 
 stands on the same level before God. The security of one elect 
 sinner is not greater than that of another. The consistency of 
 the salvation of one justified person with the character and 
 government of God, is not greater than that of another. But 
 the love of God, in this last sense which we are now considering, 
 not only does, but must, admit of an endless variety of degrees, 
 both as to different individuals and to the same individual at 
 different times. It admits of being to a consideral)le degree 
 lost. It admits of being in an illimitable degree increased. 
 The special love of benevolence is always the same, originating 
 
SER. 1.] ON KEEPING IN TUE LOVE OF GOD. 325 
 
 ill an immutable cause, the sovereign will of God. The special 
 Jove of amnesty, forgiveness, and acceptance, is always the same 
 too, originating as it does, also, in an immutaLle cause, the 
 finished work of the atonement by the one sacrifice of the incarnate 
 Son. But the special love of complacency is regulated by the 
 degi'ee in which the object of it is possessed of the qualities 
 which naturally draw it forth. The smallest measure of true 
 holiness is an object of complacent delight to the holy and be- 
 nignant Jehovah; but the larger the measure of tiiie holiness pos- 
 sessed by the individual Christian, the higher the place he must 
 occupy in the estimation of Him who is perfect in knowledge, 
 and Avisdom, and holiness, as well as benevolence, and whose 
 judgment is always according to truth. It is, then, to the love 
 or favour of God in this last sense, that the apostle refers when 
 he says, " Keep yourselves in the love of God." 
 
 There are, I apprehend, two very important closely connected 
 injunctions bound up in this one exhortation. First, seek to pre- 
 serve and increase that holiness of heart and life which are the 
 objects of the Divine complacency, and Avhicli in the degree in 
 which you possess them will make you the objects of the Divine 
 complacency; and secondly, seek the continuance and the increase 
 of the apprehended manifestation of the Divine complacency. 
 Seek to continue to please Him, and seek, too, to obtain assurance 
 that you are well pleasing in his sight. Let us say a word or 
 two on these two closely connected aspects of the exhortation. 
 
 Christians are to seek to preserve and increase that holiness 
 of heart and life which is the object of the Divine complacency ; 
 and which, in the degree in which it is possessed by them, makes 
 them the objects of Divine complacency. They are in this 
 respect, as in many others, to be in the world even as he, their 
 Lord, was in the world. The gi'ace of God was on him, and it 
 is on them ; and he grew in favour with God, and so should 
 they. It is most certain that Christians as sanctified persons are 
 " God's workmanship," " formed" by as well as " for himself;" 
 and, as He has originated holiness in them, so He must increase 
 it and perfect it. It is his " good work," He has begun it, and 
 He "will perform it till the day of our Lord Jesus Christ;" but 
 it is just as certain that they are active in their progressive sanc- 
 tificatiou. " God works in them," and by them, according to 
 their intelligent and active nature. He keeps them in his love, 
 
32G ON KEEPING IN THE LOVE OF GOD. [sEU. I. 
 
 not witliout their care and diligence, but by means of .their own 
 care and diligence. His promises do not su])ersede their exer- 
 tions ; the latter arc the means of the fulfilment of the former. 
 The prayer of our Lord, " Father, keep them," is ill interpreted 
 when it loads to the conclusion they have no need to keep them- 
 selves. As Hooker has it, " To our own safety is required our 
 CAvn sedulity." It is an Antinomian notion that God always re- 
 gards his people with equal complacency, that in them sin is not 
 an object of his displeasure, or at any rate that they are not objects 
 of his displeasure on account of it. Sin is hateful to God eveiy 
 where ; nowhere so hateful as in his owai people. He is dis- 
 pleased at their sin, and at them on accovmt of then' sin. " He 
 is not a God that can have pleasure in inicjuity." The man ac- 
 cording to his own heart " displeased" Him when he sinned, and 
 di*ew dowai on himself fearful manifestation of this displeasiu'e. 
 " The just shall live by faith ; but if he draw back," as drawing 
 back, " God's soul has no pleasure in him." It is as going for- 
 ward that He has pleasure in him. " His eye is on the righte- 
 ous ; with a pleasant countenance He beholdeth the upright." 
 On the other hand, there is a " walking worthy of the Lord unto 
 all pleasing." There are " things which are pleasing in his sight," 
 " sacrifices with which He is well pleased." 
 
 Now, the Christian must carefully avoid what is displeasing 
 to God, if he would "keep himself in the love of God." He 
 must beware of sins in the heart, and sins in the life. He 
 must "come out and be separate, and not touch the unclean 
 thing," if he would have the Lord God Almighty smile on him 
 as his Father. He must " take heed, and not lose the things 
 that have been wrought in him," and on which the eye of God 
 rests with complacency. He must " hold fast what he has at- 
 tained." He nuist " keep himself," so that the wicked one may 
 not pollute him with his touch. He must take heed lest his 
 faith, without which neither he nor his works can be pleasing to 
 God, fail or bect)me weak, lest his love wax cold, lest his zeal 
 abate. And he must never forget that mere standing still will 
 not keep him in the love of God, for progression is the veiy law 
 of his new nature. "To please God," he must "aboimd more 
 and more" in faith, and love, and hope, and zeal, and holy 
 activity. God is displeased with the hizy and " unprofitable," 
 as well as with the wicked and " unfaithful servant." The 
 
SEK. I.] ON KEEPING IN THE LOVE OF GOD. 327 
 
 Christian must be constantly seeking the entire approbation, the 
 unmingled complacent regard, of God : and, in order to this, he 
 must seek to " cleanse himself from all filthiness of the flesh and 
 spirit, and perfect holiness in the fear of God." 
 
 In the best there is much wanting, much wrong, much with 
 which God is not — cannot be — pleased. Therefore they ought, 
 " not accounting themselves to have attained, or to be already 
 perfect, to forget the things that are behind, i*each fonvard to 
 those that are before, and press to the mark for the prize of the 
 liij^h callino; of God in Christ Jesus," determined never to be 
 satisfied till they are " presented to him without spot and blame- 
 less," " holy as he is holy, perfect as he is perfect," till they obtain 
 entire conformity in mind and will to Him, and become for ever 
 incapable of a thought, feeling or action, which is not perfectly 
 pleasing in his sight. 
 
 The second thought suggested by the words is, that Christians 
 should seek the continnance and increase of the apprehended 
 manifestation of the Divine complacency in, and love to, them. 
 The Christian is not only to seek to do the things which are 
 pleasing to God, but to seek to have the conscious assurance 
 that he is the object of the Divme complacency and love. ISIucli 
 of his comfort and much of his improvement depends on this. 
 
 It is obviously a very desirable thing that Christians shoidd, 
 on satisfactory grounds, be assui'ed that they are the objects of 
 the Divine approbation and special favour ; and it is one of those 
 desii'able things, the attainment of which is to be sought, not 
 merely in praying for it, but in the active use of the means fitted 
 to attain it, without the nse of which we have no reason to ex- 
 pect we shall attain it, and in the use of which we have no reason 
 to doubt om' attaining it. 
 
 The direct and the only safe way of arriving at this conclusion, 
 that we enjoy the approbation of God, is just habitually, carefully 
 to avoid the temper and habits which we know He disapproves, 
 and habitually to cultivate the temper and habits which wc know 
 He approves. Confidence that God regards us complacently 
 apart from this, is — must be — dangerous delusion; and permanent, 
 satisfactory evidence that we are in a state of pardon and accept- 
 ance with God, and that of course we are the objects of the elect- 
 ing love of God, can only be obtained in a com'se of holy dis- 
 position and conduct. 
 
328 ON KEEPING IN THE LOVE OF GOD. [SER. I. 
 
 A solid, safe conviction on this subject, can rest only on one 
 or otlier of two grounds : it generally rests on both. It may 
 rest, in the first instance it does rest solely, on a clear, distinct 
 apprehension of saving truth. I believe no man can have that 
 without a corresponding degi'ee of the hope of salvation. Or 
 it may rest not aj)art from this, but, in connection with this, on 
 a perception in ourselves, notwithstanding all our deficiences 
 and faults, of that state of mind and heart which Scripture re- 
 presents as characteristic of those who are in a justified state, 
 by which " calling and election" are made sure. If I am neglect- 
 ing the cultivation and exercise of holy tempers, if I am indulging 
 in unholy tempers and undutiful conduct, I cannot legitimately 
 possess the confidence which rests directly on the saving truth 
 believed ; for the very prevalence of the wrong state of mind, 
 is the strongest of all proofs that that truth is not before the 
 mind. It is the same truth which sanctifies the soul, and which 
 gives it confidence and a sense of security in God. If the sanc- 
 tifying effect is not there, the truth is not there ; and if there 
 be confidence of the goodness of oiu' state in such a case, it 
 must be presumptuous confidence. It is confidence resting not 
 on truth believed at the time, and its felt effects, but, it may 
 be, on a recollection or imagination that we have believed it, 
 and that it did produce certain effects ; a most dangerous basis 
 to rest such an edifice on. And then, with regard to the second 
 ground, of coming to the conclusion that we are in a state of 
 favour with God, it is quite obvious that it is entirely coincident 
 with that, which satisfactorily proves that we are doing the tilings 
 which are pleasing in his sight. 
 
 In either vicAv of the subject it is plain, that assurance of sal- 
 vation, " the full assurance of hope," cannot consist with the 
 indulgence of known sin. Iniquities do — they must — separate 
 between Christians and their God. Sins do — they must — hide 
 his face from him. A cloud, a dark, cold cloud is raised, which 
 prevents them from the enjoying the warm benignant radiance 
 of the smiling countenance of the Father of lights. 
 
 The attempt to combine indulgence in sin w^th maintenance 
 of confidence in the safety of our state, is a monstrous one. 
 The very disposition to make it, is a strong reason why he who 
 feels it should stand in doubt of liiniself. It is not the Christian, 
 but the self-deceiver, who usually attempts it. No Christian 
 
SER. I.] ON KEEPING IN THE LOVE OF GOD. 329 
 
 can succeed in it ; and the man who does so has no cause to 
 coiioratulate hinisolf. " Delusions, strong as hell, bind him 
 fast," and he is saying, " Peace, peace, when there is no peace." 
 " If we say we have fellowship with Him who is light, and in 
 whom there is no darlaiess at all, while we are walking in dark- 
 ness, we lie, and do not the truth ; but if we walk in the 
 light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with an- 
 other;" that is, He and we have fellowship; He with us as 
 our reconciled Father ; wo with Him, as his reclamied prodigal 
 chikh'en. 
 
 It is only in the belief of the truth respecting a free and full 
 salvation to the chief of sinners, through the atonement made by 
 liim, who, as " the Mediator between God and man, gave himself 
 a ransom for all," that solid confidence before God can be obtained. 
 And that gi'ound must never be shifted. But it is equally true, 
 that it is in " keeping his commandments," — which are, " to 
 believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and to love one 
 anotlier," and thus '■' doing the things which are pleasing in his 
 sight," — we are to escape the condemnation of our own heart, 
 " assure om' hearts before Him," and " hold fast our confidence 
 befere God;" for in no other way can we obtain permanent 
 evidence, that in the faith of the truth we are justified, and have 
 indeed obtained peace with God and free entrance into his 
 gracious presence. 
 
 This, then, is the great object which the apostle presses Chris- 
 tians to seek after : the cultivation of a course of disposition and 
 conduct which shall meet the complacent approbation of their 
 God and Father ; and which, in his infinitely wise and holy 
 arrangements, is connected with the enjoyment of the high 
 satisfaction rising out of a well-gi'ounded assurance of their 
 interest in his special favour and immutable love. 
 
 Surely the truths to which our attention has been directed, 
 afford a very powerful superadded motive to the cultivation of 
 holy dispositions, and the performance of commanded duties. 
 The path of holiness is the only path in which the Christian can 
 enjoy the dehghts arising from a well-grounded assurance, that 
 the eye, not of a righteously offended Sovereign, but of an 
 infinitely benignant Father, rests on him ; that all his sins have 
 been freely pardoned for His sake whose blood cleanseth us from 
 
330 ON KEEPING IN THE LOVE OF GOD. [sER. I. 
 
 Jill sin ; aiul that ho is iiulccd among those who were " chosen in 
 Christ, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without 
 blame ;" and having been " begotten again, by the resurrection of 
 Jesus Christ, to an inheritance incorruptible, undetiled, and that 
 fadeth not away, reserved for them in heaven," are secured of 
 l)eing " kept for it by the power of God, through faith unto 
 salvation." 
 
 Oh, what folly is it in a Christian to do any thing tliat must 
 interfere with these holy delights ! What can the world give 
 to com})ensate for one frown of the serene countenance of our 
 heavenly Father; for one hour of doubt whether we are the 
 objects of his approbation, the chilcbvn of his love? 
 
 It is plain that the duty we have been illustrating is a duty 
 which only Christians can perform. Men must be " in God's 
 love " before they can keep themselves in his love. All men, by 
 nature, arc not " in his love," in the sense of the text. They 
 are guilty and depraved ; they are condemned by his law : and, 
 if lie were to approve of them, He must deny himself. 
 
 How dreadful the state of those who are not in God's love, 
 and in whom God's love is not ; who are condemned already, 
 and on whom his wrath abides ! If mercy prevents not, the 
 condemnation in the book of the law must be ratified from the 
 judgment-seat ; and the character of depravity becoming indelible, 
 the S(mtiment of disapprobation must become unalterable. Fear- 
 ful doom ! For one who was made capable of friendship with, 
 conformity to God, to sink under the curse of his law, and the 
 power of his disapprobation, for ever and CNcr ! 
 
 Yet there is hope concerning such. Oh, sinners ! however 
 guilty, however depraved, you may yet be in the love of God, 
 and the love of God may yet be in you. Believe the revelation 
 of mercy. Accept of the offered salvation. Give God crecUt for 
 the love which is in his heart to sinners, and which He has 
 proved to be there by the mission and sacrilice of his Son. Re 
 reconciled to Him in receiving his grace. He is " })aciHed 
 towards you for all the iniquities which you have done." He 
 proclaims, "I, even I, am He who blotteth out your inicpiities 
 for my own sake ; and 1 will not remember your sin." " l\etnrn, 
 return, thou backsliding child ; 1 have redeemed thee." "Ac- 
 quaint thyself thus with God ; so shall good come to thee." 
 "Take hold of his strength ;" that Gospel which is "the power 
 
SER. I.] ON KEEPING IN THE LOVE OF GOD. 331 
 
 of God unto salvation." " Make peace with Him, and He will 
 make })oace with you." Then Avill " the love of God be shed 
 abroad in your heart, by the Holy Ghost given to you;" tlien 
 will you " love Him" who has so loved you ; then will the Father 
 " love you, and give you everlasting consolation and good hope ;" 
 and tlien will you be enabled to " keep yourselves in the love of 
 God, by building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying 
 in the Holy Ghost, and looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus 
 unto eternal life." 
 
SERMON II. 
 
 ox BUILDING OURSELVES UP ON OUR MOST HOLY FAITH. 
 
 JuDE 20, 21. — " But ye, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, 
 prayinfj in the holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God, lookinji^ for the mercy 
 of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life." 
 
 These words contain an injunction on Christians of an import- 
 ant duty, and instructions respecting the means by which, and 
 the manner in which, this duty is to be performed. The duty 
 enjoined is, " the keeping themselves in the love of God :" and 
 this duty is to be performed by " building themselves up on 
 their most holy faith," " praying in the Holy Ghost," and 
 " looking for the mercy of the Lord Jesus luito eternal life." 
 
 The last discourse I delivered to you, was occupied with the 
 illustration of the duty enjoined. I endeavoured to show you, 
 that " the love of God" here signifies the com})lacency with 
 which God regards his graciously chosen, called, justified people, 
 as regenerated and sanctified by the Holy Spirit, through the 
 faith of the truth ; and that, for Christians to keep themselves 
 in this love of God, is to persevere and increase in those holy 
 tempers and habits which are the foundation of this compla- 
 cency, and in the continuance and growth of which they only 
 can enjoy the habitual, permanent, constanth-enlarging mani- 
 festation of this comj)lacency. 
 
 I proceed now to the consideration of the means, by the use 
 of which the performance of this important duty, and the enjoy- 
 mentof the important ])nvilege connected with it, may be secured. 
 These are three, " building ourselves up on our most hoh' faith," 
 " praying in the Holy Ghost," and " looking for the mercy of 
 (jur Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life." This is the way, the only 
 way, the certain way, of " keeping ourselves in the love of God." 
 
 I remark, then, in the first place, that thoy who would keep 
 
SEll. II.J BUILDING ON OUR MOST UOLY FAITH. 333 
 
 themselves in the love of God, must " build themselves up on 
 their most holy faith." Here the folloAving questions require 
 our attention; first, What is the Christian's "faith'"? secondly, 
 Why is it termed "holy," "most holy"? thirdly. What is it for 
 a Christian to "Imild himself up on this most holy faith"? and 
 finally, How is this fitted to seciu'e his "keeping himself in the 
 love of God"? 
 
 Faith properly signifies that act or state of the human mind, 
 iu which a statement made on apparently satisfactoiy oadenco 
 is believed or reckoned tme ; but according to that general law 
 of language, by which the name of a mental affection is trans- 
 ferred to its object, faith not nnfrequently signifies the statement 
 belicA^ed : as when I say, ' That is my faith, though it may not 
 be yours ;' meaning, ' That is what I believe, though it may not 
 be what you believe.' A Christian's faith, then, may signify the 
 act or the oJject of his belief; either his believing, or that which 
 he believes. In the Ncav Testament, it sometimes signifies the 
 one and sometimes the other. What is its precise signification 
 in any particular passage, is to be ascertained from the context. 
 
 In the case before us, there can be no reasonable doubt but 
 that the word " faith" means, the truth believed by the Christian, 
 not his belief of the truth, though that he believes the tnith is 
 necessarily implied in its being termed his faith. Truth is not 
 less truth that a man does not believe it ; but if he does not be- 
 lieve it, it is not his faith. Whatever be meant by faith here, it 
 is the foundation of the spiritual edifice of holy character and 
 privilege. Now that, according to the Christian method of salva- 
 tion, is, " the truth as it is in Jesus," " the doctrine of Christ," 
 " the gospel of the grace of God," " the gospel of our salvation," 
 understood and believed. The faith of this truth, in the sense of 
 my believing it, is not the foundation, but it is the act of building 
 on the foundation. It is not by belief as an act of my mind that 
 I am made holy and happy, it is the truth that I believe that is 
 the source of my holiness and happiness ; though from the con- 
 stitution of my natm'e, if I did not believe it, that truth could 
 not make me holy and happy. It is the Gospel, then, viewed not 
 only as exhibited in the word, but as believed in the mind or 
 heart, that is here termed tlie Christian's faith. 
 
 Now, what is this Gospel ? The following are inspired sum- 
 maries of it : — " I declare imto you the Gospel, that Christ died 
 
334 ON BUILDING OURSELVES UP [SER. 11. 
 
 for our sins, according to the Scriptures ; and that lie rose again 
 fi'om tlie dead on the third day, according to the Scriptures." 
 " God so loved the world, that lie gave his only-begotten Son, 
 that whosoever helieveth in him should not perish, but have 
 everlasting lite." " The righteousness of God," the Divine 
 method of justifying sinners, " by the faith of Christ, attested by 
 the Old Testament Scriptures, is manifested to all, and is upon 
 all them that believe ; for there is no difference," in reference to 
 this Divine method of justification, among them that believe ; 
 " for all " of them " have si}ined," and lost, entirely lost, tlie 
 Divine approbation ; and all of them too are "jvistified fi'eely by 
 God's grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus ; 
 whom God hath set forth as a propitiation by faith in his blood, 
 declaring his righteousness in the remission of sins that are past, 
 declaring his righteousness that he is just, and the justifier of 
 him who believeth in Jesus;" "given for our offences, raised 
 again for our justification." " The righteousness of faith speaketh 
 on this wise. Say not in thine heart, who shall ascend to heaven, 
 that is, to bring Christ down, or who shall descend into the deep, 
 that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead ? but AAhat saith 
 it ? The word is nigh thee, in thy mouth and in thy heart, that 
 is, the word of faith which we preach ; that if thou shalt confess 
 with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thy heart 
 that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved : for 
 with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the 
 mouth, confession is made unto salvation ; for the Scripture 
 saith, Whosoever believeth on him, shall not be ashamed. For 
 there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek : for the 
 same Lord over all is rich unto all that call on him : For 
 whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved." 
 " God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not 
 imputing their trespasses unto them; for He hath made iiiM to 
 be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righte- 
 ousness of God in him." " This is a faithful saying, and worthy 
 of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save 
 sinners ; even the chief." " Not by works of riglitecmsness which 
 we have done, but according to his mercy hath He saved us; by 
 the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Gliost, 
 which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our 
 Saviour ; that, being justified by his grace, we should be made 
 
8KR. II.] ON OUR MOST UOLY rAITlI. 335 
 
 heirs according to tlie hope of eternal life." " Our Saviour 
 Jesus Cin'ist hath abolished death, and brought life and immor- 
 tality to light by the Gospel." " Jesus delivers from the wrath 
 to come." " The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth 
 us from all sin ;" and " he is able to save to the uttermost those 
 that come to God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make inter- 
 cession for us." 
 
 This is " the faith once delivered to the saints." This is the 
 very truth most sure, whether men believe it or not : but while 
 they believe it not, it is not their ftiith. It is the only foundation 
 of Christian character and privilege, of true holiness and happi- 
 ness. It is a sure foundation ; but unless a man believe, it is 
 not his foundation. While he continues an unbeliever, he can- 
 not build on it ; but when it is understood and believed, the man 
 becomes a Christian, and the truth he believes becomes Ids faith, 
 his foundation. 
 
 Let us now inquire why this faith, this truth believed, is termed 
 " holy, most holy," " your most holy faith." Hohness, as ex- 
 ])ressive of a moral qualit}^, is plainly applicable only to moral 
 beings and their dispositions and actions. When used in refer- 
 ence to a set of principles, as in the case before us, the meaning 
 is, that these principles are the embodiment of the holy mind and 
 will of the Holy, Holy, Holy One, who reveals them ; and that 
 if believed, if they become the faith of an individual, they will 
 make him holy. They have a sanctifying — a powerfully sancti- 
 f}^ng — influence. A man cannot believe them at all without being 
 made holy by them. The new mind created by them is a holy 
 mind — a mind in conformity with the mind of the Holy One. 
 The man is " transformed by this renewing of his mind." The 
 more enlightened, the more steadfast, is a man's faith of the 
 truth, the more thoroughly the faith delivered to the saints is 
 his faith ; the more holy is he. 
 
 The Spirit of God is the author of all holiness in the human 
 mind ; and lie is so, not only as the revealer of the truth con- 
 tained in the Scripture, but as the producer in the mind of that 
 state, which alone can secure such an apprehension of the mean- 
 ing and evidence of saving truth as will lead to its being believed ; 
 a state which is not natiu'al to any human being, and which, if 
 human natiu'e were left to itself, would never occiu' in a single 
 instance. He is the sanctifying Spirit, but he produce? sanctify- 
 
336 ON BUILDING OURSELVES UP [SER. II. 
 
 ing effects only by sanctifying tinith. lie is the only efficient 
 agent, Lut he employs appropriate means — means suited to the 
 constitution of the being on Avhom he operates, and the nature 
 of the eifects he means to produce. " Sanctify tliem through 
 thy truth," says the Savioin- ; " thy word is the truth." God 
 "gives" all his people "the Holy Ghost, and puts no difference" 
 between one class of them and another in this respect, but 
 " purifies all their hearts by faith." The word of God preached 
 by the apostles, when received, not as the word of men, but as it 
 is in truth, the word of the living God ; the word of God thus 
 becoming their faith, " worketh effectually in them who believe 
 it." " The grace of God" revealed in the Gospel, and, when 
 believed, becoming the Christian's most holy faith, "teaches" 
 what nothing else can teach, " to deny ungodliness and worldly 
 lusts, and to live soberly, righteously, and godly." And the 
 peculiar doctrines of the Gospel are to be affirmed constantly, in 
 order " that they who have believed in God may be careful to 
 maintain good w^orks." Thus " these things are good and profit- 
 able to men." 
 
 If men professing to be Christians remain unholy, there is 
 mistake — serious mistake — if not timely rectified, fatal mistake — 
 somewhere ; and the mistake commonly lies in one or other of 
 these points. The man has ?i faith, but his faith is not the truth 
 believed, but a lie believed ; and it were strange indeed if the 
 -faith of falsehood could produce the same effect as the fjiith of 
 truth. To wonder at this is about as wise as to wonder that 
 j)oison does not produce the same effect as wholesome food or 
 salutary medicine. If a man who has a fiith, a creed, a set of 
 principles which he really believes, and yet continues unholy, 
 he may rest assured that, whatever he may have believed, he 
 has not believed the Gospel of Christ. This is one of the points 
 where there is often mistake. The other is this : a man may 
 have the truth, to a very considerable extent at least, before his 
 mind, and yet continue unholy, for the truth is not his faith ; he 
 contemplates it, speculates about it, talks about it, contends about 
 it, but never really believes it. There is no more wonder that 
 sanctifving truth does not sanctity that man, than there is that 
 nourishing j)rovision does not nourish the man who merely looks 
 at it ; it may be analyzes it, it may be prepares it, and presents 
 it to others, but never partakes of it ; never does what, according 
 
SER, II.] OX OUR MOST HOLY FAITH. 337 
 
 to the nature of his bodily constitution, is uccessaiy to liis deriv- 
 ing advautuge fi'oui it. According to the nature of man's mental 
 constitution, the faith of sanctifying truth is as necessary to ])er- 
 sonal sanctification as the eating of nourisliing provision is to 
 personal nourishment. " Holy faith" is just an equivalent to 
 sanctifying fiiith ; " most holy fliith," to powerfully sanctifying 
 faith. A full Gospel fully believed is fitted to " sanctify a man 
 wholly, and to preserve the whole spirit and soul and body blame- 
 less unto the coming of the Lord «Tesus." 
 
 Having thus ascertained what is the Christian's faith — the 
 Gospel believed — and what is the force of the epithet here given 
 to his faith " most holy faith," as describing the sanctifying, the 
 powerfully sanctifying, influence of the Gospel believed, let us 
 now proceed to inquire what is meant by a Christian " building 
 himself up on his most lioly faith." 
 
 The general idea of building up is progressive improvement ; 
 of building a person's self up, progressive impro^'ement by means 
 of the active exertions of the individual himself. The figure is 
 applied both to the Christian church as a body, and to Christian 
 men as individuals. To the Christian church, "Ye are," says 
 the apostle Paul to the Corinthians, speaking plainly to them as 
 a body, " Ye are God's building." " Ye," says the apostle Peter 
 in his First Epistle, " as lively stones, are built up a spiritual 
 house." The various orders of the Christian ministry are said 
 to be " for the edifying" or building up " of the body of Chnst" 
 — that is the cluu'ch. Our Lord says, that " he will build his 
 church on a rock ;" and his apostle says, that that church, 
 composed of Jews and Gentiles, is " built on the foundation 
 of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ being the chief 
 corner-stone." So Christians, when spoken of as individuals, 
 are represented as " rooted and built up in Christ, and stablished 
 in the faith as they have been taught ;" and they are enjoined 
 to comfort themselves together, and to " edify or build up one 
 another." On looking carefidly at the passage before us, I think 
 there can be little doubt the reference is not to the church as a 
 bodv, but to Cin'istians as individuals; all the duties enjoined being 
 obviously personal duties, " pra^dng in the Holy Ghost," " looking 
 for the mercy of om* Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life." 
 
 It has been a question among expositors, Avhether the duty 
 enjoined here and in the following verse, be the dutv the Chris- 
 
 * y' 
 
338 ON BUILDING OURSELVES UP [SEU. IL 
 
 tian owes to liis brother or to himself. There is no doubt that 
 tlie words will admit of the translation which has been given 
 them, "build one another up on your most holy faith ;" " keep 
 one another in the love of God ;" and that similar phrases arc 
 in some places in the New Testament rightly rendered in this 
 way, as in Eph. iv. 32, and Col. iii. 16. But the more literal 
 and common rendering is that which onr translators have adopted, 
 and it best suits with the rest of the passage. 
 
 Taking for granted, then, that the exhortation refers to the 
 duty which a Christian man owes to himself!, let us inquire into 
 the meaning of the injunction, and into the manner in which 
 the duty enjoined is to be performed. The meaning of the 
 injunction varies according as you render the words, " building 
 yourselves up in your most holy faith," or with our translators, 
 " building yourselves up on yoiu' most holy faith." In the first 
 case, the injunction is a command, corresponding to the prayer 
 of the disciples, "Lord, increase our faith;" a command to seek 
 wider, and clearer, and more impressive views of Divine truth 
 and its evidence ; and in this view of the passage, " faith" would 
 stand rather for believing than for the thing believed. This 
 brings out a very good meaning, and a meaning suitable enough 
 to the connection ; for there can be no doubt it is by strengthen- 
 ing faith that we are to be enabled to keep ourselves in the love 
 of God. Yet the rendering of our translators, which is equally 
 waiTanted, gives a much wider signification, and one which still 
 more powerfully bears on the apostle's object, as suggesting the 
 proper mode of complying with his principal exhortation. We 
 consider the words, then, as they stand in our version, as 
 conveying the apostle's idea, and proceed to their illustration, 
 " Building yourselves up on your most holy faith." 
 
 The Gospel of the grace of God, in its various statements, is 
 represented as a foundation on which the Christian man is 
 enjoined to build himself up, to raise the whole frame of senti- 
 ments, and dispositions, and habits, which form the new man in 
 the full statui'e of maturity ; or, more in accordance with the 
 figure in the passage before us (though the passage I refer to 
 describes the church as a body), " fitly to frame together" on 
 this foundation the various parts of the gi'adually rising " holy 
 temple in the Lord, a habitation of God tln-ough the Sjiirit." 
 The apostle does not call on them to lay the foundation, — that 
 
SER. II.] ON OI'R MOST HOtY FAITH. 339 
 
 had been done in the word, "Beliold I lay in Zion a foun- 
 dation ;" lie does not bid tliem rest themselves on the founda- 
 tion, that had been done when they believed, when the Christian 
 truth became their fiiith ; but he calls on them to build on that 
 foundation, to build themselves on that foundation. 
 
 His leading thoughts are : The truth believed is intended to 
 be an operative principle, and to call your powers of activity into 
 vigorous exertion in developing its energies. To intimate the 
 tendency of Christian truth, understood and believed, to produce 
 all holiness of heart and life, it is compared to the sowing of seed 
 in the earth, Avhich, when favoured with the influences of heaven, 
 leads to the development of the whole plant or tree ; while to 
 place in a clearer point of view the place wdiicli human activity 
 has assigned it in the restorative process, it is represented as the 
 foundation intended for a superincmnbent edifice, a foundation 
 well able to sustain it, and exactly suited to the kind of materials 
 of which this edifice must be composed, but which materials 
 must be placed on it. The cultivation of holy temper, the 
 discharge of commanded duties, the welcome entertainment of 
 warranted comforts and encouragements, are all various ways of 
 building ourselves up, and they are all based on our most holy 
 faith. No disposition is to be cherished but what that faith 
 naturally excites ; no duty to be engaged in but what that faith 
 lays a foundation for ; no expectations or consolations admitted 
 but what that faith suggests ; and, on the other hand, every 
 disposition, duty, and consolation, which legitimately rises out of 
 this faith, which fits in to a building raised on this foundation, 
 has a claim to be attended to. It is materially the same idea as 
 when the apostle Paul represents (Rom. vi. 17) the Christian 
 doctrine, our most holy faith, as a mould into which the human 
 character, fused as it were by the fire of Divine influence, is 
 poured in order to be fashioned anew, every doctrine being 
 intended and fitted to form the ncAV man to solid strength, or 
 easy activity, or moral loveliness. 
 
 Perhaps the best commentary that is any where to be found 
 on the words before us, is that in the commencement of the 
 Second Epistle of the apostle Peter, in which he exhorts '' them 
 who have obtained like precious faith with the apostles, who 
 have been called through the knowledge of our God, and of 
 Jesus our Lord, and by a glorious power, to whom haAe 
 
340 ON liLlLDING OUltSELVES UP [SER. II. 
 
 been given exceeding gi'eat and precious promises, that by tliesc 
 they might becoHR' ])ai1:akers of'a divine nature, and escape the cor- 
 ruption that is in the world through lust ;" to " give all diligence, 
 to add to their faith, virtue," or rather fortitude; "and to fortitude, 
 knowledge ; and to knowledge, temperance or moderation ; and 
 to moderation, patience or rather perseverance ; and to persever- 
 ance, godliness ; and to godliness, brotherly kindness ; and to 
 brotherly kindness, charity. For if these things be in them, and 
 abound, they would make them that they should be neither 
 barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ." " Peter," like Jude, " does not exhort Christians to 
 seek after faith. He supposes them to possess it already. He 
 addresses them as believers, and calls on them to pursue a course 
 worthy of their faith, corresponding with their faith, and to which 
 their faith binds them."^ This is the way to build up one's self 
 into an edifice, sacred to the honour, employed in the semce, 
 blessed with the presence, beautified by the glory, of the Lord. 
 
 The manner in which the Christian is thus to build himself 
 up on his most holy faith is, just by endeavouring habitually to 
 keep before his mind the Gospel, the whole Gospel, in its mean- 
 hm and evidence ; and to allow it to have its fair influence on 
 his whole character and conduct, guarding against the seductive 
 influences of the present evil world, which, like Sanballat and 
 the Horonites, are continually attempting to interrupt the build- 
 ing of the Lord. It is by steadily conten^ij^lating the glory of 
 the Lord, to change the figure, as it appears in the face of Christ 
 Jesus delineated in the Gospel, that Ave, like mirrors, are to be 
 made to exhibit a dim resemblance to its heavenly radiance, 
 being changed by that which is so glorious into somethmg 
 glorious also, as the opaque moon reflects the effulgence of the 
 orb of light round which it revolves when it is turned towards it. 
 To revert to the figure in the text, every stone in the foundation 
 must have its corresponding superstructure. On the doctrine of 
 Christ's devotement for us, must be built our devotement to him ; 
 on his love to us, our love to him, and to those whom he loves ; 
 on the value of the soul, earnest, ])ersevcri)ig endeavour to secure 
 the sah'ation of our own souls, and the souls of others; on the 
 ])romise of God to make all things work for our good, entire 
 
 I Jay. 
 
SER. II.] OX OUR ^rOST HOLY TAixn. 341 
 
 resignation to the dispensations of his providence. Every stone 
 in tlie foundation must be built upon, that so a stately symmetri- 
 cal structure may be raised. 
 
 It only remains, on this part of the subject, tliat I briefly show 
 how this building of himself up on this most holy faith is fitted 
 to tell favourably on the Christian keeping himself In the love of 
 God. A very few remarks will suffice to make this plain. ' I 
 cannot secure the continued complacent approbation of God, 
 but by avoiding those things which offend llim, and doing the 
 things which ai'e well-pleasing in his sight ; and thoroughly 
 depraved as my nature is, " for I know that in me, that is, in 
 my flesh, dwells no good thing," I will not do the things which 
 please Him, I Avill do the things which displease Him, unless I 
 remain under the continued influence of that most holy faith, 
 which, by the good Spirit enabling me to understand and believe 
 it, has produced in me whatever the eye of tiiat God, who hath 
 no pleasure in wickedness, regards with a pleasant countenance. 
 In building myself up on this most holy faith, I do what He 
 commands me to do, and therefore He must be pleased with me 
 doing it ; and just in the measure in which I succeed, I realise 
 that character which, being conformed to his mind and will, 
 must be the object of his complacent regard.' 
 
 The connecting with the exercise of every holy temper, and 
 the performance of eveiy commanded duty, the contemplation of 
 " om' faith most holy," has a double effect on keeping us in the 
 enjoyment of a comfortable sense of the Divine kind regard. 
 The truth on which rests all our confidence before God, all our 
 hope for eternity, is kept habitually before the mind ; and we 
 are preserved both from those misconceptions of the Divine char- 
 acter, and from those sins, which separate between us and our 
 God, and hide his reconciled countenance from us, for om* faith 
 is faith most holy. It is plain, that just in the measure in which 
 a Christian builds himself \\\) on his holy faith, will he keep him- 
 self in the love of God. So says the apostle Peter : He who 
 does not build himself up on his holy faith, who does not " add to 
 his faith, virtue ; and to virtue, knowledge ; and to knowledge, 
 temperance ; and to temperance, patience ; and to patience, god- 
 liness ; and to godliness, brotherly kindness ; and to brotherly 
 kindness, charity ;" " he that lacketh these things is blind, and 
 camiot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was j)urgcd from 
 
342 ON BUILDING OURSELVES UP [SER. II. 
 
 liis old sins." Evon if a forgiven sinner, lie loses all the comfort 
 of knowing that he is forgiven ; while, on the other hand, he 
 who builds himself up on his most holy faith, " makes his calling 
 and election sure, and has an entrance ministered to him abun- 
 dantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour 
 Jesus Christ." So says the apostle John, " If we walk in the 
 liii;ht as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another ; 
 and the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanscth from all sin. 
 Hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our 
 hearts before Ilim ; for if our heart condemn us, God is greater 
 than our heart, and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our hearts 
 condemn us not, then have we confidence towards God ; and 
 whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep his com- 
 mandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. 
 And this is his commandment, that we should believe on the 
 name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave 
 us commandment. iVnd he that keepeth his commandments 
 dwelleth in Him, and He in him ; and hereby we know that He 
 abideth in us by the Spirit which He hath given us." 
 
 The consideration of the other means for keeping ourselves in 
 the love of God, the praying in the Holy Ghost, and the looking 
 for the mercy of the Lord Jesus to eternal life, nuist be reserved 
 for discussion till some ftiture opportunity. 
 
 This discourse, like the one which preceded it, has been ad- 
 dressed all but exclusively to true Christians. They, they only, 
 can build themselves up on their most holy faith. It naturally, 
 however, brings before the mind a great general truth, in which 
 all men are equally interested, to wdiich, in conclusion, I wish 
 for a little to turn your minds. The truth I refer to is this : 
 That Christian truth believed, is the only basis on which can be 
 raised in the human mind solid hope or time holiness. 
 
 There is no lio])e for man, the sinner, but through the free 
 grace of God, manifested in harmony with his justice, through 
 the atonement of his Son ; and that hope cannot become mine, 
 if I do not believe the Gospel, which contains the only and the 
 well-accredited account of that harmonious manifestation of 
 Divine <Tace and righteousness on which alone rational hope, in 
 a righteously condemned sinner, can rest. There is no holiness 
 lor man but in that love to fiod, and conformity to his character, 
 
SEK. II.] ON OUU MOST HOLY FAITH. 343 
 
 mind, iind will, of which he is naturally destitute ; and it is only 
 in the Gospel that we have such views of God as are fitted to ex- 
 cite love in a being like man ; only in the Gospel that we have 
 such a revelation of the mind and will of God as makes confor- 
 mity to them possible ; and the Gospel must be believed, in order 
 to these views and this revelation producing their appropriate 
 effects. 
 
 Nothing can come in the place of the Gospel believed to serve 
 these pm'poses. Good Avorks will not serve the purpose ; for 
 where are really good works to come from, in the absence of just 
 views of the Divine character, which only can proceed from faith 
 in the Gospel ? And if we had them, in all the extent that some 
 men seem to dream of their being attainable by man, how could 
 they form a ground of hope to a sinner ? how can they, which 
 are but imperfect payment of present debt, obliterate " the hand- 
 writing" that is against the sinner, the curse which has gone 
 forth against every soul that hath done evil ? and as to holiness 
 as an internal quality, surely good works can never confer it ; we 
 must have it, in order to our doing good works. 
 
 Strong religious impressions can as little stand in the room of 
 the Gospel believed, as a safe foundation of hope, or a permanent 
 source of motive. Feelings, except as they are excited and re- 
 gulated by true principles, are in every respect valueless, in many 
 respects dangerous, things. Instead of being able to support 
 hope, they need themselves to be sustained by faith. The 
 religion which rests on mere excited feeling is at best a tottering 
 fabric. It gives w^ay in the hour of temptation ; it will be con- 
 sumed in the day when every man's work must be tried by the 
 fire of Divine judgment. Nothing, nothing but the true Gospel, 
 really believed, can give a well-grounded hope to tlie sinner, or 
 produce in him a consistent, progressive, permanent holiness. 
 
 To men, then, seeldng a ground of hope and confidence before 
 God, the advice we must give is, Believe and hope : " Believe in 
 the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou slialt be saved." No hope for 
 thee but in him ; no access to him but by believing the tnitli 
 respecting him. 
 
 To those who are putting the questions, — How must we work 
 the W'Orks of God '? how are we to obtain that holiness without 
 which no man can see the Lord? — our answer must be, "This 
 is the work of God, that ve believe on him whom He hath sent." 
 
344 ox BUILDING OURSELVES UP [SER. II. 
 
 It i.s the truth — thu trutli about liim uudcrstood and bdieved — 
 that alone can make you tree : tliat will " make you free indeed ;" 
 and " enable you to walk at liberty, keeping God's command- 
 ments ;" to "serve Hiui without fear, in rigliteousness and holi- 
 ness, all the days of your life." To lead men who are concenied 
 about the interests of eternity, to seek and expect either hope or 
 holiness by works of righteousness, or by internal exercises of 
 mind, instead of directing them immediately to the only Saviour, 
 the only Author of ho})e and holiness, in the only way in which 
 they can come to him — in the belief of the truth resj)ecting him 
 as contained in the Divine testimony — is to delude, and, if they 
 are not brought under better guidance, to destroy them. 
 
 Unconverted men ! we cannot bid you build yourselves up on 
 your most holy faith ; for the most holy faith is not your faith. 
 You do not believe the Gospel ; if you did, you could not be des- 
 titute of hope, destitute of holiness, as you are, and as I doubt 
 not some of you are aware that you are. But while we cannot 
 call on you to build up what has never been laid on the founda- 
 tion, we can, and we do most earnestly, beseech you to look at 
 the Gospel, the most holy faith of all Christians, and tell us if it 
 be not fitted to be a foundation for you as well as for them ; if 
 you do not stand in need of such a foundation ; if you know of 
 any other foundation which can form a basis for hopes, and for a 
 character, which will bear the scrutiny of the tinal judgment ; 
 and if you can give any satisfactory reason why, in the belief of 
 the truth, this foundation should not become your foimdatioji. 
 This, this alone, is the immoveable rock ; all else is shifting sand 
 or yielding air. We beseech you, as you value the interests of 
 eternity, begin at the beginning ; it is the only way of reaching 
 the end. 
 
 We call on you then, in the faith of the truth, to receive 
 Jesus Christ, the Saviour and the Lord ; and, " having received 
 him, walk in him ; rooted and built up in him." Oh ! may the 
 good S])irit accompany these statements and exhortations with 
 his efficacious influence, opening the understandings of uncon- 
 verted men, to understand the truth as it is in Jesus, opening 
 their hearts to receive the love of the truth, so that they may be 
 saved by it ! And, under his contin\ied influence, may those 
 who have commenced building on the foundation of our " most 
 holy faith," jtruve themselves "wise and diligent builders;" show 
 
SEll. II.] ON OUR MOST HOLY FAITH. 345 
 
 that "tlicy have a mind to work!" Tlion will the spiritual 
 house in every lieart, " fitly framed, grow into a holy temple in 
 the Lord ;" and ere long the copcstone will be laid on, amid the 
 shoutings of the angels, and of the spirits of the just made perfect. 
 " How beautiful ! Grace, grace unto it!" Meanwhile, remem- 
 bering that " we have not attained, neither are already perfect, 
 let us forget the things that are behind, reach forth to those 
 things which are before, and press to the mark for the j)rize of 
 the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." Our labour shall not 
 be in vain in the Lord. 
 
SERMON III. 
 
 ON PRAYING IN THE HOLY GHOST. 
 
 JoDE 20, 21. — " But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, 
 praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy 
 of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life." 
 
 When I entered on the consideration of the interesting passage 
 of Scripture, now a third time read to you, as tlie subject of 
 discourse, I proposed to attend, first, to the duty which tlie apostle 
 calls on Christians to perform, or the object which he calls on 
 them to prosecute, tlie " keeping themselves in tlie love of God ;" 
 and secondly, to the means which he reconnnends for the per- 
 formance of this duty, the attainment of this object, " building 
 themselves up on their most holy fitith, praying in the Holy 
 Ghost, and looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto 
 eternal life." 
 
 The first discourse was entirely occupied with the first of these 
 topics. In that discourse, I endeavoured to show that " the love 
 of God" here, signifies the complacency with which God regards 
 his graciously chosen, called, justified people, as regenerated and 
 sanctified by the Holy Ghost, through the belief of the truth ; 
 and that for Christians to keep themselves in this love, is to per- 
 severe and increase in those holy tempers and habits which are 
 the foundation of this complacency; and in the continuance and 
 growth of which they can only enjoy the habitual, permanent, 
 ever-enlarging manifestation of this complacency. 
 
 In the second discourse, I entered on the consideration of the 
 means recommended by the apostle for the performance of the 
 duty enjoined, the attainment of the object pro])oscd ; " tlie 
 building ourselves up on our most holy fitith, the jn-aying in the 
 Holy Ghost, and the looking i'or the mercy of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ unto eternal life." The illustration of the first of these 
 
SER. 111.] ON PRAYIXG IN TUE HOLY GHOST. 347 
 
 topics, " the building ourselves up on our most holy faith," 
 required all the time we had to dispose of on that occasion. I 
 endeavoured to show you, that "faith" here means the Christian's 
 belief; that which he believes ; " the doctrine of Christ ;" " the 
 Gospel of the grace of God ;" and that this is " most holy," being 
 the embodiment of the holy mind and will of Him who only is 
 holy ; and, when believed, powerfully sanctifying. I attempted 
 to explain what is meant by a Christian " building himself up 
 on this most holy faith," the improving its various principles for 
 the formation of liis character and the regulation of his con- 
 duct; and how this "building himself up on his most holy 
 faith," is calculated to secure his " keeping himself in the love 
 of God." 
 
 I proceed now to the consideration of the second means 
 recommended by the a])0stle to enable Christians to keep them- 
 selves in the love of God — " praying in the Holy Ghost." The 
 theme, then, of this discourse is, 'If we would "keep ourselves 
 in the love of God," we must " pray in the Holy Ghost." ' And 
 here there are three questions to which we must endeavour to 
 find satisfactory answers. What is it to pray ? What is it to 
 pray in the S])irit ? And how is praying in the Spirit calculated 
 to help the Christian to keep himself in the love of God ? 
 
 I. Prayer is very well defined in that admirable compendium 
 of Divine truth, the Westminster Assembly's Shorter Catecliism, 
 a little book which contains in it the substance of many large 
 volumes ; a book, the contents of which almost every child among 
 us can repeat, but whicli comparatively few grown-up people 
 fully understand ; " prayer is," in that excellent summaiy of 
 faith and duty, described as " the offering up of the desires of the 
 heart to God for things agreeable to his will, in the name of 
 Clirist,with confession of our sins, and thankful acknowledgment 
 of his mercies." The word prayer, in strict propriety of language, 
 is expressive only of request or petition. To pray to a person, 
 is to seek with earnestness from that person somethmg that we 
 wish to obtain, and which we are persuaded he can bestow ; but 
 the term is often, both in Scripture and in theological discourse, 
 employed as descriptive of the whole of that devotional inter- 
 course which man in the })rescnt state holds with God. In this 
 comprehensive sense it includes solenni invocation, or calling on 
 
348 ON PRAYING IN THE HOLY GHOST. [SER. III. 
 
 tlie name of God ; speakin<T to Illin as one connected with and 
 near us ; addressing Him by one or more of the appellations bv 
 which, in the holy Scriptures, He has made himself known to 
 men ; an intimation of our design to worship Ilim, and our desire 
 to have connnunion with Him ; an expression of our insufficiency 
 for the rightly conducting such an exercise, and of our wish and 
 hope for the promised assistance of his Spirit ; an adoration of 
 his excellences, as displayed in his works and revealed in his 
 word ; an acknowledgment of our insignificance as creatures, 
 and oiu' ill desert as sinners ; a confession of the de])ra\ity of 
 oiu' nature, and the sins of our life, our desert of punishment, 
 and our unworthiness of mercy ; a deprecation of all evil, tem- 
 poral and spiritual, present and future, from ourselves and others; 
 an equally extensive petition for all good ; an enforcement of" our 
 petitions by approjn'iate scriptural arguments from the gi'eatness 
 of OIU' wants, and our utter incapacity to supply them ; from the 
 excellences of the Divine nature, infinite ])Ower, wisdom, righte- 
 ousness, kindness ; from the relations in which God stands to us, 
 and the promises He has made to us ; from the atoning sacrifice 
 of his Son, whose blood cleanseth from all sin ; and from his ever- 
 enduring, all-prevalent intercession, by which he is able to save 
 us to the uttermost, coming to God by him ; a dedication of our- 
 selves to God, to be his only, wholly, and for ever ; a grateful 
 acknowledgement of all his mercies, and an humble expression of 
 confidence, that our devotional services will be graciously accepted, 
 and our petitions complied with. And in doing all this, the 
 word of God is to be our rule of conduct ; the mediation of Jesus 
 Christ the ground of our hope ; and the Holy Spirit, in his en- 
 lightening and sanctifying influences, our guide and helper.' 
 This is prayer, which is just the Christian's laying open his mind 
 and heart to his Father in heaven, telling what he thinks of Him, 
 and what he expects from Him ; acknowledging his own empti- 
 ness, his conviction of the Divine fulness, and his desire and hope 
 that all his need will be supplied out of that fulness, according 
 to its glorious riches. 
 
 Thus to ])ray is the Christian's habitual privilege and duty : 
 and every thing that interests him may, and ought to be, the 
 subject of {)raycr. " In CAcry thing by prayer, with thanksgiving, 
 
 ' Watts. 
 
SER. III.] ON rUAYINQ IN TIJE HOLY GHOST. 349 
 
 sliould lie m;ikc his requests known to God." Especially should 
 every thing connected with his duty and his interests as a Chris- 
 tian, a new creature, a Son of God, an heir of immortality, be 
 made the subject of prayer. It is plain, then, that Christians 
 ought to pray in reference to their " keeping themselves in the 
 love of God," and in reference to their " building themselves up 
 on their most holy faith," in order to their keeping themselves in 
 the love of God. 
 
 It is prayer, with this particular reference, that is enjoined in 
 the passage before us. What, then, does the apostle call on 
 C/hristians to pray for ? We are to pray, that we may be en- 
 abled to keep ourselves in the love of God ; that we may be 
 preserved from cherishing any disposition, or doing any action, 
 which woidd diminish God's complacency in us: that in order 
 to this wc maybe blessed with spiritual perspicacity and spiritual 
 sensibility, so as readily to perceive, and instantaneously to 
 shrink back from, every thing that would be displeasing in his 
 sight ; that we may be enlightened in the knowledge of all duty, 
 and in opposition to the biases of our depraved nature, and the 
 influence of temptation, wliether from spiritual agents or external 
 objects, be inclined and determined to do all duty at all hazard ; 
 that we may be made sensible of the slightest intimations both 
 of tiie approbation and disapprobation of God, and be preserved 
 from trifling with conviction, tampering with temptation, and 
 continuing secure in sin. 
 
 And, in order to our keeping ourselves in the love of God, we 
 are especially to pray that we may be enabled to "build ourselves 
 up on our most holy faith." For this purpose we are to ask, 
 that by God's good Spirit we may be led into wide accurate 
 view s, and deep impressive convictions, respecting every part of 
 " our most holy faith ;" that we may be made distinctly to see 
 and readily to yield to the fair practical influence of every portion 
 of it ; that every part of the foundation may be built upon, and 
 every part of the building raised to the proper height, "fitly framed 
 and compacted together ;" that we may be enabled to derive from 
 every pai*t of the wortl of God, all of which is given by his in- 
 spiration, all the profit for " doctrine and reproof, for correction 
 and instruction in righteousness," which it is hitended and cal- 
 culated to afford ; that we may be made to know what we ought 
 to do to please God, how we are to do it, and why we are to do 
 
350 ON PRAYING IN THE HOLY GHOST. [SER. III. 
 
 it ; that it may be " a light to our feet, and a himp to our path," 
 guiding the mind, influencing tlie heart, forming tlie cliaracter, 
 reguUiting the cimduct. These are tlie things which the apostle 
 here calls on Christians to pray for in order that they may keep 
 themselves in the love of God, and in order that ihv this purpose 
 they may build themselves up on their most holy faith. 
 
 II. We arc prepared now to enter on our second inquiry, 
 What is meant by "praying in the Holy Ghost?" The Holy 
 Ghost is that Divine person, who, along with the Father and 
 the Son, exists in the unity of the Godhead. That the term 
 Holy Ghost is not uniformly or ordinarily employed in Scripture 
 to denote a personification of a Divine attribute or influence, 
 but usually designates a real personal agent, can scarcely be 
 doubted by any attentive, if but unprejudiced reader. Making 
 all due allowance for the boldness of oriental figure, there are 
 many passages from which no consistent meaning can be ex- 
 tracted but on this supposition. In the simplest narrative, and in 
 the most unimpassioned statements, the Holy Ghost, or Spirit 
 of God, is represented as performing Avorks which it would be 
 absurd to refer to an attribute or influence ; and that the person 
 designated by this appellation is Divine, is clearly proved by 
 the passages of Scripture in which names, and attributes, and 
 works, characteristic of, peculiar to, Deity, are ascribed to him. 
 Nothing more clearly establishes both the personality and 
 divinity of the Holy Ghost, than the two facts, that in the ad- 
 ministration of baptism, and in the apostolical benediction, he 
 is associated with the Father and the Son, whose distinct per- 
 sonality has scarcely been questioned, and whose supreme 
 divinity is capable of such abundant proof. It would be an 
 inconceivable incongruity, a monstrous absurdity, that a religious 
 ordinance should be administered by the authority of two 
 persons, and of one of their attributes or influences, and that a 
 benediction should be jjrayed for from, or pronounced in, the 
 name of so strange a combination. It is equally inconsistent 
 with all just ideas of such subjects to suppose, that an ordinance 
 should be administered in the name of the one God and two 
 creatures, or that a blessing should be supplicated in the same 
 breath from Him and from them. 
 
 In the economy of grace, the Father, the Son, and the Holy 
 
SER. III.] ON PRAYING IN THE HOLY GHOST. 351 
 
 Spirit, arc each of them rej)rc3cnted as occupying peculiar 
 offices and relations, and performing the functions that are ap- 
 propriate to such relations and offices. All things are of the 
 Father, throxujli the Son, hy the Spirit. To the Spirit belongs 
 what is ordinarily called the applicatory part of the work of 
 salvation. It is by his operation and influence, that the in- 
 dividual sinner is brought into the state, and formed to the 
 character, by which he is made capable of enjoying the blessings 
 which flow to men from the grace of the Father, through the 
 mediation of the Son. It is the Holy Ghost who produces in 
 man that faith of the truth, which unites him to the Saviour 
 in his atoning death and justifying resurrection. It is he who 
 makes the sinner a new creature, and brings him into a new 
 creation. It is he who gives and sustains spiritual life, and 
 who inclines and enables the new creature to perfonn all its 
 functions. He is the author of all right thinking, and feehng, 
 and acting, in reference to Gocl, and things unseen and eternal. 
 
 The Holy Ghost is particularly represented as having an 
 agency in producing and sustaining that state of mind and heart, 
 of thought and desire, of which j^rayer is the expression. An 
 Old Testament prophet, speaking of New Testament times, 
 terms him "the Spirit of grace and supplication;" and re- 
 presents the poui'ing out of his influence as a character of these 
 times. And the apostle Paul, in one passage of Scripture, 
 informs us, that " the Sjjirit also helpeth our infirmities :" 
 When " we know not what to pray for as we ought, he maketh 
 intercession for us, with groanings which cannot be uttered ;" 
 " He maketh intercession for the saints according to the will 
 of God." And in another passage he tells us, that God, who 
 hath " sent forth into the world his Son to redeem" us, hatli 
 " sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying," that 
 is, making us cry, " Abba, Father." The apostle Paul enjoins 
 the E})hesians " to pray in the Spirit." And the apostle Jude 
 here exhorts those to whom he wrote to " pray in the Holy 
 Ghost." 
 
 To pray in the Holy Ghost is an idiomatic expression, of 
 equivalent meaning with, to pray under the influence of the 
 Holy Ghost ; but this meaning is very forcibly expressed in 
 this peculiarity of phrase. It indicates, that the persons to 
 whom it is apjilied are, as it were, united to the Holy Spirit ; 
 
352 ON TRAYING IN THE HOLY GHOST. [SEU. 111. 
 
 SO that their individual minds and Avills are, as it were, lost in 
 his. That to he " in the Spirit," which is the same thing as to 
 be "filled with the Spirit," means to be under his influence, is 
 quite plain fi'om such expressions as the following : " Jesus was 
 led in the Spirit into the wilderness." Paul says, " I go bound 
 in the Spirit to Jerusalem." John says, " I was in the Spirit 
 on the Lord's day." " Immediately I was in the Spii'it." " He 
 carried me aAvay in the Spirit." The person possessed of the 
 gift of tongues, is said " in the Spirit to speak mysteries." 
 " To walk in the Spirit," is to act under the Spirit's influence. 
 
 It is a question, obviously of vital importance here, what is 
 to be understood by praying under the influence of the Holy 
 S2:)irit ? In replying to this question, men have run into oppo- 
 site extremes. On the one hand, some would restrict it to 
 prayer directly dictated to the individual by an influence similar 
 to that by which the writers of Scripture were inspired ; consider- 
 ing prayer in the Spirit as something peculiar to the miraculous 
 age of Christianity, and representing it as absurd as to bid men 
 now pray in the Spirit, as it would be to bid them speak a language 
 they had never learned, and heal disease by a touch or a word : 
 and others consider, that there is no prayer in the Spirit but 
 when a sensible impulse of the Spirit excites to prayer ; conclud- 
 ing, therefore, that set times for prayer are unwarrantable, and 
 worse than useless. These are mistakes in one extreme. There 
 are others who, running to the opposite extreme, hold, that to 
 pray in the Spirit is merely, in the matter and manner of our 
 prayer, to endeavour, in the exercise of those faculties which the 
 Spint of God has given us as men — that "inspiration of the 
 Almighty," by which He has given us " more understanding than 
 the beasts of the field, more wisdom than the fowls of heaven " 
 — to regulate ourselves by the directions which He has given us 
 in those Scriptures, which were written bv holv men moved by 
 Him. 
 
 We shall endeavour to state the truth, tlie doctrine of Scrij)- 
 ture, on this interesting subject, as distinctly and briefly as 
 ])ossible, guarding against both extremes. To pray under the 
 influence of the truth respecting God and ourselves, understood 
 and believed by us, and to pray in the Spirit, are substantially 
 the same thing ; for not only is that truth contained in a book, 
 written by men inspired by the Spirit, Imt it is t)nly in the degree 
 
SER. III.] ON rUAYlNG IN TUE HOLY GHOST. 358 
 
 that tlie mind of the individual is influenced by tlie Si)int, that 
 this truth is, or can be, truly understood and believed by him. 
 There is no ])rayer in tlie true sense of the word, but " prayer 
 in the Spirit." Prayer is the expression of a sincere desire of 
 what is necessary and sufficient to true happuiess, addressed to 
 the true God i)i the hope of o])tainiiig it, because lie lias promised 
 it. To this there is plainly required, a knowledge of God and of 
 ourselves, of what we need and of what He has promised ; a desire 
 of heavenly and spiritiial blesslnfrs ; and a confidence in the 
 power, grace, and trutli of God ; a knowledge, and desire, and 
 confidence, which no unconverted man possesses, and which can 
 originate in nothing but in the Holy Spirit influencing the mind 
 to attend to, to iniderstand, and to believe tlie truth, and in- 
 fluencing the mind by the truth thus understood and believed. 
 No man can pray, in the only just meaning of the term, but, 
 ^' in the Spirit." Even he who prays for the Spirit, if he does 
 more than use mere words, if he understand what he asks, and 
 really wishes to obtain it, prays " in tlic Spirit;" for it is the 
 Spirit alone wliich can tcacli man that he needs the Spirit. No 
 natural man, no mere animal man, no man just as born of the 
 flesh, knows his need of the Spirit, or really desires the Spirit. 
 And just in proportion as a man is influenced by the Spirit, in 
 the two ways we have noticed, will he pray, as to matter, and 
 manner, and effect, as he " ought to pray." 
 
 He will pray intelligently, both with regard to God and him- 
 self. He will not, like the Samaritans, worship he knows not 
 what ; he will know whom he worships ; for, " in the Spirit," he 
 has been made to " loiow the only true God, and Jesus Christ 
 whom He hath sent." He knows his immaculate holiness, his 
 inflexible justice, his omnipotent power, his infinite wisdom, his 
 redeeming kindness, his inviolable faithfulness. And he Ivuows 
 all this, for he has been taught it by the Spirit. The Spirit has 
 led him to understand and believe the truth revealed by him on 
 these subjects. He knows, for the same reason, his own deep, 
 inexcusa])le guilt, thorough depravity, entire helplessness ; he 
 knows that the possession of God's favour, and conformity to 
 God's image, are necessary and sufficient for his happiness ; he 
 knows that God has promised these blessings ; and, knoAving 
 this, he knows what things to ask of God. 
 
 He will pray helievinghi, not speaking as it were to the empty 
 
 * z 
 
354 ON PIi.VYING IN THE HOLY GHOST. [SER. III. 
 
 air, or addressing an imaginary being, but speaking to the great 
 Reality ; for he knows, he beheves, " that God is," a much less 
 common attainment than many suppose ; and he expects to obtain 
 what he is asking, being persuaded that what he asks is according 
 to God's will, is what He has promised, and what He both can 
 and will confer. He knows and believes that He is " the 
 re warder of," that He will do good to, " those who dihgently 
 seek him " in the way of his appointment : and in the spirit of 
 a son he will go boldly to his Father in heaven, on the throne 
 of grace, in the fiiU assurance of finding mercy and obtaining 
 gi'ace. 
 
 He will ^ra,y fervently ; for having believed the truth through 
 the Spirit, he perceives the intrinsic excellence of the blessings 
 he asks ; and the desire of his heart is drawn out towards their 
 attainment. Just in proportion as, " in the Spirit," he is enabled 
 to reahse to his mind the heavenly and spii'itual blessings pledged 
 in the exceeding great and precious promises, will he " with his 
 heart desire them, mth his Spirit within him seek them early." 
 
 He will pray reverentially. The truth about God's infinite 
 grandeur and excellence, and that about his own situation and 
 character as a creature and a sinner, kept before the mind by 
 the Spirit, Avill so abase every high thought, as that '' God alone 
 shall be exalted," " sanctified in the heart, and made his fear 
 and dread." 
 
 He will pray submissively. For the Spirit, by the word, 
 teaches him that his Father in heaven, infinitely wise and in- 
 finitely benignant, knows best how and when to answer his 
 prayer ; what arc the blessings needed in his ch'cumstances ; 
 what are the measure and mannei in which they should be be- 
 stowed. 
 
 We see now" what it is to " pray in the Spirit." It is with minds 
 enlightened, and hearts purified, and desires awakened and regu- 
 lated by the Spirit, leading us to believe the truth, and influencing 
 us by the truth believed, to pray with intelligence, and faith, and 
 fervour, and humility, and submission, for the blessings which 
 God has promised ; and the more intelligently, believingly, 
 fervently, humbly, and submissively we pray, the more fully do 
 we comply with the command, " Pray in the Spirit." 
 
 To some, prayer " in the Sjiirit " may seem rather a privilege 
 than a duty. In truth it is both. It is equally true that the 
 
SER. III.] ON FRAYING IN THE HOLY GHOST. 355 
 
 Christian, of himself, " knows not how to pray as he ought," and 
 that he ought " always so to pray, and not to faint." That man 
 is ignorant of the very elements of spiritual Christianity who 
 does not know, that what is beyond all doubt man's duty, cannot, 
 owing to his depravity, be performed but by Divine assistance ; 
 and that the Holy Spirit works that in us which God requires 
 of us, " writing his law on our hearts," and " working in us that 
 which is well-pleasing in his sight." 
 
 That we may habitually pray " in the Spirit," two things are 
 absolutely necessary : that we should study the mind of the 
 Spirit in his Word, and that we should seek the influence of the 
 Spirit by prayer. That knowledge of ourselves and of God, 
 wdiicli is necessary to oiu* praying in the Spirit, is not to be 
 expected to be miraculously put into our minds, as it was into 
 the minds of inspired men. We are to " search the Scriptures," 
 and to examine ourselves, that we may know who God is, and 
 who we are ; what we need, and what He has promised. And 
 we are to pray for the Spirit, that we may pray in the Spirit. 
 The first, the converting, influence of the Spirit, comes unasked 
 by the individual, though not unasked by the great Intercessor. 
 It comes miasked, otherwise it would never come at all. But 
 further communications of the Spirit are to be obtained by 
 prayer ; and it is presumption to expect them without it. It 
 deserves notice, that it is with reference to this among other 
 promises — " I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to 
 walk in my statutes ; and ye shall keep my judgments, and do 
 thera," that it is added, " Thus saith the Lord God : I will yet 
 for this be iufjuired of the house of Israel to do it for them." 
 And ye know the Avords of our Lord Jesus : " Ask, and it shall 
 be gi\en you ; seek, and ye shall find ; knock, and it shall be 
 opened to you. For every one that asketh, receiveth ; and he 
 that seeketh, findcth ; and to him that knocketh, it shall be 
 opened. If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, 
 will he give him a stone ? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish 
 give him a serpent ? or if he sh;ill ask an egg, will he give him 
 a scorpion '\ If ye, then, l,>eing evil, know how to give good gifts 
 to your childi'cn, how much more shall j^our heavenly Father 
 give the Holy Spirit to them who ask Him?" 
 
 In connection with these observations it is important to remark, 
 that the influence of tlic Spirit in prayer is not always, is not 
 
"356 ON PILVYING IN THE HOLY GHOST. [SER. III. 
 
 ■usually sensible, nor is it always most powerful when we think 
 •we most powerfully feel it. It is not usually to be distinguished 
 from the operations and feelings of the mind, influenced by truth 
 accordinff to the laws of our constitution. And it is a sad 
 delusion to think we must live in the neglect of prayer, or give 
 over praying, because we feel as if we were not under DiN-ine 
 influence. No. AVe are to pray for the Spiint ; and " it is 
 usually while we are praying that we obtain grace to pray."^ 
 
 Indeed, though I should tremble at the thought of awakening 
 either hopes or anxieties unwari'anted by God's Avord, I must 
 say that I am persuaded, that if Christians would but wait on 
 the Lord in the belie^-ing study of his Avord, and in prayer for 
 the Spirit, they might safely count on being enabled to pray " in 
 the Spirit," in a degree and 'svitli an effect which would contribute 
 to their spiritual enjoyment and improvement in a way that 
 would astonish themselves. Instead of the comparative deadness 
 which so often characterises the prayers even of true Christians, 
 seasons of devotion would be found to be " times of refreshing 
 from the presence of the Lord, the Spirit." " Things seen and 
 temporal " w^ould all but vanish, " things unseen and eternal " 
 fill up the wdiole field of vision, and, instead of a reluctance to 
 pray, there would be a feeling as if Ave could do nothing else. 
 We should know what to pray for, and how to pray as we ought, 
 and our hearts would be filled with holy desire, our mouths with 
 .scriptural arguments. We should be brought near God, even 
 to his seat, and allowed to pour our complaints and thanksgivings, 
 our joys and sorrows, our fears and desires, into his very bosom. 
 We should have ineffable longings after God, the living God. 
 We should be enabled to " launch forth," as a great and devout 
 man has it, " into the depths of the Divine perfections and 
 promises, and possess ourselves as much as possible of the fiilness 
 of God." ^ It is probable that there arc few Christians who have 
 not experienced at times — alas ! how seldom ; at intervals, alas ! 
 how distant — something like this. Why, oh why, should it not 
 be our daily, our hourly experience ? Why should we sit still 
 and cry, "My leanness, my leanness?" while He is saying 
 " Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it." 
 
 I have only further to remark here, that the only satisfactory 
 
 1 Fuller. ■ Hall. 
 
SER. III.] ON PRAYING IN THE HOLY GHOST. 357 
 
 proof that oiu' prayers are " in the Spirit," is to be found in the 
 effects resulting from them. If they do not lead us to keep 
 ourselves in the love of God, we have reason to fear, that what- 
 ever sj^irit we ]>rayed by, it was not the Holy Spirit. The very 
 design of praying in the Holy Ghost is, that we may keep our- 
 selves in the love of God. 
 
 III. With a few words as to how praying in the Spirit con- 
 duces to our keeping ourselves in the love of God, I shall conclude 
 the discourse ; and a very few words are all that is necessary for 
 this purpose. 
 
 Praying in the Spirit is, in its own nature, fitted to be subser- 
 vient to our keeping ourselves in the love of God ; for it brings 
 before the mind, in the circumstances most calculated to make a 
 deep impression, those truths about God, which, when understood 
 and believed, are the most poAverful motives to care lest we offend 
 Him, and to diligence in doing the things which are well-pleasing 
 in liis sight. If a Christian could but carry about with him always 
 the fi'ame of mind and heart towards God which he has when he 
 is " praying in the Spirit," how comparatively powerless would 
 be the seductions and teiTors of the world ; how desirous would 
 lie be to please God ; how careless about displeasing every one 
 else, if this can not be avoided but by displeasing Him ! How 
 afraid would he be to offend Him ; and what a wretched bargain 
 would the approbation and applause, the wealth and the pleasures, 
 of the world appear, if purchased at the expense of incurring his 
 fi'own ! 
 
 Further, praying in the Spirit is fitted to be subsers'ient to our 
 keeping ourselves in the love of God ; for He has commanded us 
 thus to pray, and we cannot neglect any of his commands A^•ith- 
 out so far forfeiting his complacent regard ; and He has consti- 
 tuted this prayer the appointed means of obtaining those supplies 
 of Divine influence Avhich are necessary to om* keeping ourselves 
 in his love, by doing the things which are good in his sight. 
 The declaration already referred to, " For all these things -^ill I 
 be inquired of by the house of Israel to do it for them," is con- 
 nected with the promise of progressive sanctification. " I will 
 sprinkle clean water on you, and ye shall be clean ; from all your 
 filthincss and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new 
 heart also will I give you, and a right spirit will I put within 
 
358 ON niAYING IN THE HOLY GHOST. [SER. III. 
 
 you ; and will take away the stony lieart out of your flesh, and I 
 will give you a licart of flesh ; and I will put my Spirit within 
 you, and cause you to walk in 1113^ statutes ; and ye shall keep 
 my judgments, and do them" — that is, 'ye shall keep yourselves 
 in my love' — "and ye shall be my people, and I will be your 
 God." 
 
 This means of keeping ourselves in the love of God, and that 
 which we illustrated in om' last discoiu'se, are very closely con- 
 nected ; they act and re-act. " Building ourselves up on our most 
 holy faith" naturally leads to "prayer in the Spirit." It increases 
 the instrumentality by which the Spirit works in leading us to 
 pray, and to pray as we ought. It raises mounds on which he 
 may plant his enginery ; furnishes arrows wdiich, with unerring 
 aim and resistless power, he sends into the heart. On the other 
 hand, " praying in the Spirit" enables us to " build ourselves up 
 on our most holy faith." "Except the Lord build that house," 
 the holy temple founded on our most holy faith, " they labour in 
 vain that build it." And how is the Lord's help to be secured 
 but by enlightened, believing, fervent prayer, prayer in the 
 Spii-it ? " Call on mc," says he ; " I will deliver." " He shall 
 call on me ; I will answer him." Thus do these two exercises 
 mutually sustain each other ; and thus arc thej' together subser- 
 vient to oiu' "keeping ourselves in the love of God." 
 
 I thought of concluding the illustration of the subject in this 
 discourse ; but I find I must defer the consideration of " Look- 
 ing to the mercy of our Lord Jesus unto eternal life," till anotlier 
 opportunity. 
 
 Has not Avliat I have said been obviousl}^ and powerfully cal- 
 culated to impress on the minds of Christians the importance of 
 ])rayer, of prayer in the Spirit ? That is a trntli we are by no 
 means sufficiently impressed with ; not so impressed with as we 
 are likely, ere long, to be. I believe the dying sentiment of that 
 good man, Suttcliff' of Olney, the friend of Andrew Fuller and 
 of Carey, is a very common one with genuine Christians, and 
 strongest in those who, their most intimate friends think, have 
 least ground for it. " I wish I had prayed more." " This," 
 says liis illustrious friend, " was one of those weighty sayings 
 which are not unfi'equentl}'^ uttered in view of the solemn realities 
 of eternity. This wish has often recurred to mc since his depar- 
 
SEli. 111.] ON PRAYING IN THE HOLY GHOST. 359 
 
 ture, as equally applicable to myself, and with it the resolution 
 of that holy man, President Edwards, so ' to live as he would 
 wish to have done when he came to die.' In reviewing my own 
 life, / wish I had prayed more than 1 have for the success of the 
 Gospel. I have seen enough to funiish me with matter of thank- 
 fulness ; but had I prayed more, I might have seen more. / 
 wish I had prayed more for the salvation of those about me, and 
 who are given me in charge. When the father of the lunatic 
 doubted whether Jesus could do any thing for him, he was told 
 in answer, that if he could believe, all things were possible. On 
 hearing that he burst into tears, saying, ' Lord, I beHeve, help 
 thou my unbelief.' He seems to have understood our Lord as 
 suggesting, that if the child were not healed, it would not be 
 owing to any want of power in Him, but to his o^^^l unbelief. 
 This might well cause him to Aveep and exclaim as he did. The 
 thought of his unbelief causiiifj the death of his child was dis- 
 tressing. The same thought has occurred to me as applicable to 
 the neglect of the prayer of faith. Have I not by this guilty 
 negligence been accessory to the destruction of some that are 
 dear to me ? And were I equally concerned for the souls of my 
 connections, as he was for the life of his child, should I not weep 
 with him (and pray with him) ? / ivish I had prayed more than 
 I have for my own soul. I might then have enjoyed much more 
 communion with God. The Gospel affords the same ground for 
 spiritual enjoyment as it did to the first Christians. I wish I had 
 prayed more than I have in all m/y undertakings. I might then 
 have had my steps more directed by God, and attended with 
 fewer deviations from his will. There is no intercourse with 
 God without prayer. It is thus that we walk with God, and 
 have our conversation in heaven."' It is thus that we "build 
 ourselves up on our most holy faith ;" thus that we " keep our- 
 selves in the love of God." 
 
 Let these weighty words have their appropriate influence on 
 our minds, on oui' hearts, on our conduct. Let Christians be- 
 ware of " restraining prayer before God." Let them " give 
 themselves to prayer ;" let them " watch unto prayer ;" let them 
 " continue instant in it ;" let them " always pray" — that is, per- 
 severe in praying — and "not faint;" let them " pray without 
 
 ' Fuller. 
 
360 ON PRAYING IN THE HOLY GHOST. [sER. III. 
 
 ceasing ;" let them " pray always, witli all prayer and supplica- 
 tion in the Spirit ;" let them " be careful"' — that is, anxious — 
 " about nothiniT ; but in every thing by prayer and supplication, 
 with thanksgiving, let them make their requests lalo^^n to God ; 
 and the peace of God, Avhicli passeth all miderstanding, shall 
 keep their hearts and minds by Christ Jesus." And this is the 
 way to holiness as well as to peace. It is by complying with this 
 exhortation that you will be inclined to comply Avith that which 
 follows it : " Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, what- 
 soever things are honest, whatsoever things nrc just, whatsoever 
 things are pure, whatsoever tilings are lovely, whatsoever things 
 are of good report, if there be any virtue and any praise, think 
 on these things. Those things which ye have both learned and 
 received, and heard and seen in me, do ; and the God of grace 
 shall be with you." This is to " walk so as to please God ;" this 
 is to "be followers of God as dear children ;" this is to "keep 
 ourselves in the love of God." 
 
 Here I would close, could I but ])ersuade m^'self that there 
 are among my hearers none who do not belong to the class to 
 whom the epistle is addressed, " The sanctified by God the 
 Father, the preserved in Christ Jesus, and called." But, with 
 the utmost stretch of charity which reason will allow, I cannot 
 indulge so pleasing a thought. Tliere may be, I fear there are, 
 some, it may be not a few, " who are sensual, not having the 
 Spirit;" "natural men who receive not the things of the Spirit, 
 to whom they are foolishness;" who are therefore praj'erless, 
 Avho may say prayers but who do not, never did, cannot pray^ 
 " pray in the Spirit." What shall I say to them ? 
 
 I say, all who have the Spirit pity you. Your condition is 
 indeed most pitiful. A body without a soul is a corpse, tending to 
 decomposition, loathsome, dangerous ; and what is a soul without 
 the Spii'it? Spiritually dead, spiritually corrupt, spiritually loathe- 
 some, spiritually noxious. They pity you, for they were once like 
 you. They were once " dead in trespasses and sins." They know 
 the miseries and dangers of your condition. All who have the 
 Spirit pray for you. They know that nothing but Divine ]iower 
 and grace could have quickened them ; that nothing but Di^-ine 
 power and grace can quicken you. Their prayer is, " Come, O 
 come from the four winds ! O breath of the Lord, breathe on 
 these dry bones that they may live !". All who are in the Spirit, 
 
SEll. III.] ON PRAYING IN THE HOLY GHOST. 361 
 
 and who pray in the Spirit, would earnestly wish that you in 
 the Spirit were praying for the Spirit. But they know that, in 
 your present condition, for you to employ words of prayer, 
 askinp; for the Spirit, W'ould be mockery and insult. You have 
 no belief in the ti*uth respecting the existence and work of 
 the Holy Spirit. You have no sense of your need of the 
 Holy Spirit. Supposing the existence of such a thing as his 
 regenerating and sanctifying influence to be forced on your con- 
 viction, while your hearts remain as they are, the very last thing 
 in the world you would wish for yourselves is, to be their subjects. 
 It is your duty to pray, it is the duty of all men to pray, — to pray 
 in the Spirit, to pray for the Spirit ; but while you remain in 
 unbelief, the thing is a moral impossibility. And what you 
 would call prayer is an abomination to the Lord, intended by 
 you as a substitute for what is your duty, your immediate duty ; 
 suggested by the enemy of souls as a means of deepening delu- 
 sion ; and detaining you from Him who alone can deliver fi'om 
 guilt, and depravity, and endless ruin. 
 
 Your duty, your immediate duty, your interest, your highest 
 interest, is to believe the Gospel. Till you do this you cannot 
 know God as the hearer of prayer. You cannot see his throne 
 as the throne of mercy. Its back is, as it were, turned to you, 
 and there is a cloud on it. And do not say, I can no more 
 believe than I can pray without the Spirit. That is most true ; 
 but it is nothing to the purpose as an excuse for your not imme- 
 diately believing. Do not say, I must wait for the Spirit. The 
 Spirit is waiting for you. How long has he waited for some of 
 you ? Beware lest you so grieve him as that he give over 
 waiting, and retire from you for ever. He is now striving with 
 you. O, take care lest the awful word be uttered, * My spirit 
 shall strive no lono;er!' Then bursts forth the overwdielming 
 deluge, then down comes the thunderbolt. You say you cannot 
 believe. What does that mean, but that you are so stupified 
 with the love of sense and sin, that, in opposition to the plainest 
 statement and evidence, you will not believe the testimony of 
 the God of truth concerning his Son, nor receive the salvation 
 from sin which that testimony believed is ready to convey to 
 you? 
 
 There can be no reasonable doubt of your obligation. The 
 statement is ])lain, the evidence is abundant, the authority is 
 
362 ON PRAYING IN THE HOLY GHOST. [SER. HI. 
 
 supreme. It is your duty ; your duty now. " If you do not 
 
 believe, you must die in your sins." And you may die very soon, 
 very suddenly. And as you ought to believe, since to do other- 
 wise is to contradict the principles of your rational nature, as 
 well as to pour contempt at once on the authority and grace of 
 God ; as you must believe, if you would not perish, perish for 
 ever ; so you would most certainly believe if you did not wilfully 
 shut your eyes and stop the ears of your mind. Look at the 
 declaration of God's law and Gospel, his law condemning you, 
 and his Gospel proclaiming free forgiveness, full salvation. It 
 is not in looking away from these things, while professing to be 
 waiting for some operation on the mind, which shall as it were 
 compel you to believe, that you are to be brought to the 
 faith of the Gospel. " Faith comes by hearing," by listening to, 
 by understanding the word. Fix your mind on the truth 
 respecting yourselves and the Saviour. Can you do this without 
 seeing your need of him, his suitableness to you ? Can you see 
 this without gladly, gratefully accepting him and his salvation I 
 Then will you have evidence — you never can have it in any 
 other way — that the Spirit has been savingly working on you, 
 and that he is now in you. Then will you pray, pray in the 
 Spirit ; and God will hear your prayers, and give you larger and 
 larger measures of this Spirit ; that, " building yourselves up on 
 your most holy faith," you may become every day more holy and 
 happy ; that you may " keep yourselves in the love of God," of 
 which, as his regenerated ones, you are the appropriate objects, 
 " looking for the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal 
 life." 
 
SERMON IV. 
 
 ON LOOKING FOR THE MERCY OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST 
 UNTO ETERNAL LIFE. 
 
 JuDE 20, 21. — " But ye, beloved, building up yourselves ou your most holy faith, 
 praj hig in tlie Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy 
 of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life." 
 
 The great duty to which Christians are exhorted in these words 
 is, "the keeping themselves in the love of God;" and the means 
 recommended for this pm'posc are, " building themselves up on 
 their most holy faith, prapng in the Ploly Ghost, and looking 
 for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life." 
 
 In tlie first of the three discourses which I have addressed to 
 you fi'om tin's exuberant passage of Scripture, I explained to 
 you " the Christian's duty to keep himself in the love of God ;" 
 and, in the second and third, I illustrated the first two of the 
 means recommended for assisting in the performance of this 
 duty, " the building himself up on his most holy faith, and the 
 pra;\dng in the Holy Ghost." It only remains, to the completion 
 of om* exposition, that I tvirn your attention to the third exercise 
 recommended by the apostle as conducive to the Christian's 
 keeping himself in the love of God, — "The looking for the 
 mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life." 
 
 Tliis, then, is oiur theme. ' If Christians wovild keep them- 
 selves in the love of God, they must " look for the mercy of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life." ' All true Christians have 
 experienced the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ, his kindness, 
 his fi*ee grace, his tender pity, towards them ; fi'om their sin 
 utterly undeserving of, fi'om tlieir misery greatly needing, this 
 mercy. It was in the exercise of this special mercy, that the 
 Only-begotten of God from eternity undertook their cause ; in 
 the fiilness of time appeared in their nature, charged with its 
 responsibilities, though unstained by its sinfulness ; and having, 
 hy his obedience unto death, fidly satisfied the demands of the 
 
364 LOOKING FOR THE MERCY OF CHRIST [SER. IV. 
 
 Divine law on their behalf, assumed that unlimited sovereignty 
 assigned him by his Fatlier, the righteous Judge, as the reward 
 of his having, at such a cost of generous labour and suffering, 
 reconciled the exercise of mercy with the claims of justice ; in 
 the exercise of which, under tlie influence of his unchanging, 
 unchangeable mercy, he will put them all in possession of com- 
 plete unending happiness, gi'ving eternal life to all whom the 
 Father has given him. Every one of them who has been brought 
 out of his natural state of condemnation, into a state of judicial 
 forgiveness and paternal favour ; every one of them who has been 
 delivered from the reigning power of that depra\'ity, which is, and 
 must be, the object of the Divine abhoiTence, and formed to 
 that character of true holiness, which is, and must be, the object 
 of the Divine complacency, owes this to " the mercy of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ." It is Christ who, in his mercy, sends forth his 
 Spirit, to produce tliat faith in the sinner by which he is " inter- 
 ested in the justifying efficacy of his atoning sacrifice, and becomes 
 the proper subject of the sanctifying and comforting influence of 
 the truth as it is in him." All true Christians have thus obtained 
 " the mercy of the Lord Jesus ;" they have had a satisfactoiy 
 manifestation of his mercy, his distinguishing mercy, to them ; 
 they have " tasted that the Lord is gracious." From that mercy 
 they have received much ; but from that mercy they are warranted, 
 encouraged, commanded, to expect more. It is to the duty of 
 the Christian, in cherishing these expectations of fiu'thcr manifes- 
 tations of the mercy of the Lord Jesus, and to the influence 
 which the discharge of this duty is calculated to have on " our 
 keeping ourselves in the love of God," that our attention must 
 be turned in the remaining part of the discourse. 
 
 The general statement of the apostle is, that Christians should 
 " look for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life." 
 This is equivalent to a statement that Christians, having experi- 
 enced the mercy, the free grace, the tender compassion, of the 
 Lord Jesus Christ, having " tasted tliat their Lord is gracious," 
 should cherish an humble, confident expectation, that they shall 
 receive fi'ora him continued manifestations of his mercy, in the 
 communication of blessings suited to their circumstances ; all of 
 them introductory to, preparatory for, that final state of absohite 
 l)erfection in lioliness and happiness which is termed " eternal 
 life," to which lie is ultimately to bring them, and in which liis 
 
SER. IV.] UNTO ETERNAL LIFE. 365 
 
 infinite mercy will be as fully expressed towards them as their 
 limited natures admit. All this is obviously included in these 
 pregnant words, — " Looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ unto eternal life." 
 
 Wo must endeavour to break down this magnificent thought 
 into its component parts, that we may the more distinctly perceive 
 its meaning and feel its power : — I. (1.) Clu'istians should look 
 for eternal life ; (2.) They should look for it as the result of 
 mercy ; (3.) Of the mercy of the Lord Jesus. II. And till they 
 obtain this " eternal life," " the salvation that is in Christ with 
 eternal glory," they should look to that same mercy, which is 
 thus to crown at last, for all that is necessaiy for them till the 
 period of bestowing on them eternal life arrives, for all that is ne- 
 cessary to preserve them to, and prepare them for, its enjoyment. 
 Such is the hope and ex])ectation which the Christian, in the 
 passage, is enjoined to cherish. After a few remarks, illustrative 
 of the objects and grounds of this hope, I shall shut up my illus- 
 trations of the passage, by showing how the holding fast the 
 confidence and rejoicing of this hope is fitted to be subservient 
 in enabling Christians to comply with the leading injmiction in 
 the text, — " Keep yourselves in the love of God." 
 
 Our first remark, then, is. Christians should look for " eternal 
 life." Life, eternal life, is not unfrequently used in Scripture to 
 denote that state of spiritual being into which men enter, when 
 they believe the Gospel, in contrast with the state in which they 
 are by natm-e. As when our Lord says, " He that heareth my 
 word, and believeth on Him who sent me, hath everlasting life," 
 " is passed from death to life." " Whoso eateth my flesh and 
 cli'inketh my blood hath everlasting life ;" "I give unto ni}^ sheep 
 eternal life." " God," says the apostle John, " hath given to us 
 eternal life." Eternal life is, in these passages, spoken of as 
 something which the Christian already possesses, something that 
 belongs to him as a Christian, something received in believing. 
 
 The term is, however, also often employed to denote that state 
 into which the Christian is to enter after the general judgment. 
 After the final sentence has been pronounced, the righteous are 
 said to go into " life eternal." They who have made sacrifices 
 for Christ, are said to be recompensed in various ways " in this 
 time;" but, "in the world to come," they ai'e to receive "eternal 
 life." And, when Goil " renders to every man according to his 
 
366 LOOKING FOE THE MERCY OF CHRIST [SER. IV. 
 
 works," it is said tliat "then" lie will render "eternal life" "to 
 them who, by a constant continuance in Avell-doing, seek for glory, 
 honour, and immortality." There can be no doubt, that it is in 
 the last of these references that the phrase is employed in the 
 passage before us ; and that it is descriptive of tlie last and most 
 perfect state of the saved ; of what the apostle Peter calls, " the 
 salvation laid up in heaven," " the gi'ace to be brought to Chris- 
 tians at the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ." 
 
 "We have thus fixed the reference of the expression. But 
 what is its meaning "? What is the truth about that state which 
 is meant to be placed before the mind, when it is called " Life, 
 eternal life" ? It has been common to say, that death is 
 figuratively used for miseiy, and that eternal death is just equiva- 
 lent to eternal misery ; that life is figui*atively used for happiness, 
 and that eternal life is just eqmvalent to eternal happiness. But 
 this is not satisfactory. A state of eternal death is a state of 
 eternal misery, and a state of eternal hfe is a state of eternal 
 happiness ; but the one is a state of misery because it is a state 
 of death, the other is a state of happiness because it is a state of 
 life. The question is, what is that death, what is that life, the 
 perfection and perpetuity of which constitute absolute miseiy or 
 absolute happiness ? 
 
 The most general notion Ave can form of life, is the capacity 
 of action and enjoyment. The more any being is capable of 
 action and enjoyment suited to its nature, the more life has it. 
 God is the Living One ; that is the leading idea when lie is 
 said to be "a Spirit;" He is "the Eternal Life," eternally pos- 
 sessed of infinite capacities of action and enjoyment. Man was 
 originally created " in the image of God," as a living being " a 
 spirit," capable of action, capable of enjoyment. ISIan's peculiar 
 nature is constituted by a union of the material and the im- 
 material. His body is a piece of organised matter, wdiich is 
 animated by an immaterial principle, possessed of various 
 capacities or faculties of action and enjoyment, — some of them 
 possessed in common with the lower animals; others of them, 
 though still referring merely to " things seen and temporal," of 
 a kind greatly superior to the endowments of mere animals ; 
 and some of them of a higher kind still, connecting him with 
 the invisible and the infinite, with God and eternit3^ 
 
 In man's nature, as it came from the hand of God, the higher 
 
SER IV.] UNTO ETERNAL LIFE. 367 
 
 principles of his life possessed the control of the lower ; the 
 animal and the merely rational being subordinated to the 
 spiritual. To adopt the apostle's arrangement of the constituents 
 of human nature, " the soul" animated and ruled " the body ;" 
 " the spirit," that which connected him with God, animated and 
 ruled " the soul." 
 
 The functions of life, with regard to the highest faculties of 
 man's nature, were activities and enjoyments having God for 
 their immediate object ; ^^■ith regard to the intermediate faculties, 
 activities and enjoyments of intellect and affection, having for 
 their object the tilings which God has made ; with regard to the 
 lower faculties, activities and enjoyments of an animal kind, of 
 which the material portion of man was the instrument. Every 
 one of these classes of capacities or species of life, had its own 
 appropriate activities and enjoyments; and in the full har- 
 monious exercise of these faculties on their appropriate objects, 
 man would haAC manifested his complex life, and found his ap- 
 propriate happiness ; and, while this continued, life and happi- 
 ness would have continued ; and it would seem, from the capacity 
 of improA'ement Avhich belongs to human nature in almost all 
 its faculties, would have constantly increased. 
 
 Man sinned ; and by sin death came into the world, and passed 
 on all men. The death of man is tw^ofold, referring to him both 
 as a rational animal and as a spiritual being. The immediate 
 principle of animal life is the soul, and the withdrawment of it 
 from the body is natural death. Innocent man was immortal ; 
 man the sinner is mortal. His animal frame is liable to disease, 
 and pain, and decay, in an endless variety of forms; and, after a 
 few short years, a dissolution of the connection between soul and 
 body takes place, and the material portion of man, by a process 
 peculiarly revolting to the imagination, is resolved into its ele- 
 ments, — the dust returning to the dust, as it was. Man, as an 
 animal, becomes thus utterly incapable of activity or enjo_>-ment ; 
 and this state, but for the restorative dispensation, it would seem 
 must have been perpetual. 
 
 The principle of spiritual life is the Spirit of God influencing 
 the higher powers of our immortal natm'e, and producing activi- 
 ties and enjoyments of which God is the object. The innocent 
 spirit of man, though an humble habitation for the Divine Spirit, 
 was yet not an unsuitable one ; and he was not disposed to be 
 
308 LOOKIXQ FOR THE MERCY OF CHRIST [sEK. IV. 
 
 " as a stranger, tan'ying only for a night." But man, under the 
 influence of the evil spirit, wickedly, madly, basely, expelled 
 the heavenly visitant ; and he ■withdrew, as it became his insulted 
 majesty and kindness. Man was now spiritually dead. The ra- 
 tional spirit, having "withdraAvn itself from the source of spiritual 
 life, became spiritually lifeless, dead "while it lived. Separated 
 from Him who is " the life," its faculties, now influenced and 
 regulated by the propensities and appetites of the animal frame ; 
 by the world, that is, things seen and temporal, animate and in- 
 animate ; and by the god of the world and his subordinate agents, 
 — however activ^e otherwise, were powerless as to spiritual good ; 
 and its sensibilities, however acute otherwise, callous as to spiritual 
 enjoyment.^ A spiritual and moral decomposition, more revolt- 
 ing than that putrefaction which is the result of natural death, 
 takes place ; and as the soul, from its nature, is immortal, it re- 
 tires farther and fjirther from God, and shiks deeper and deeper 
 in delusion and error, and depravity and wTetchedness, for ever. 
 In the absence of the Divine Spirit, there may be — there is — a 
 species of bestial life, a species of diabolical life, a life like that of 
 the lower animals, a life like that of the fallen angels ; but the 
 Divine life, the life of God, is not — cannot be — there. This is the 
 death of the soul, this is spiritual death ; and, but for the restora- 
 tive dispensation, this too must, in the case of every human 
 being, have been everlasting. 
 
 The state of double death into which sin has thus brought 
 man, must to every created intelligence, on being put in posses- 
 sion of the facts, appear hopeless. The ruin of the body and of 
 the soul would seem equally irretrievable. But the Living One 
 can not only give bvit restore life. He can not only " call the 
 things that be not as if they were," He can also " raise the dead." 
 
 In the case of man, however, this cainiot be done b}'^ a mere 
 act of omnipotence. Death in both its forms is a penal evil. It 
 takes place in accordance with the principles of God's righteous 
 
 ' " If reason he swallowed down into the animal life, it ceases not to operate there ; 
 but all lier operations there are tinctured with that life in which she is immersed : so 
 that she will he active either in crafty contrivances for the K<'tthi,ij of wealth, or 
 in merry wiles for the enjoyment of pleasure, or else be plottinj,' dcsij,nis to satisfy 
 ambition, or at least be jierputually taken «[) for the yettinj^- of a necessary livelihood. • 
 Nor doth she contain herself within the bounds of mere dry action, but according,' to 
 the f?enius of tiie party discovers herself in the power of speech and eloquence." — 
 Dr Hknkt Mokb. 
 
SER. IV.] UNTO ETERNAL LIKE. 309 
 
 moral governiiK'nt, wliicli are just the expression of the perfec- 
 tions of his holy moral nature; and man cannot be restored to 
 life till justice is satisfied, and law magnified, hy a display of the 
 evil of sin, fully equivalent, in the way of answering all the pur- 
 poses of God's holy moral government, to the permanent infliction 
 of the penalty of death on those who have deserved it. 
 
 Created intelligence could never have discovered what could 
 accomplish this object, nor could created power have carried it 
 into efl'ect. This has, however, been realised in the incarnation 
 and atonement of the Only-begotten of God, Avho has " put 
 away sin by the sacrifice of himself," dying " the just in the 
 room of the unjust," and " by thus d^ing has destroyed death." 
 This was a sacrifice " so rich and fragrant, so full of value 
 and grateftil savour, as that by it abundant recompense was 
 made for the wrong man had done to the ^lajesty of heaven ; 
 an injury to which the creation consuming would have been 
 a disproportionate sacrifice ; but the sacrifice of himself, the 
 Immanuel God-man, was both suitable and adequate to the exi- 
 gency of the case, being the sacrifice of him who was man, there- 
 fore suitable to the offence of man ; being the sacrifice of him 
 who was God, and therefore equal to the WTong done to God."^ 
 A deep and broad foundation Avas thus laid for the restoration 
 of life to man. And all who in the appointed way, the faith of 
 the truth, are interested in this great atonement, obtain deliver- 
 ance from their double death, and arc put in possession, in the 
 appointed order, of the two species of life which they had forfeited. 
 
 In the case of all the saved, the IIol}' Spirit, sent in conse- 
 quence of the atonement made by the Saviour, by an agency on 
 the mind which we cannot understand, but which for potency 
 the apostle Paul compares to the energy by which Christ was 
 raised from the dead, quickens the dead soul, producing faith in 
 it — that is, leading it to understand and believe the truth respect- 
 ing the Divine character — unites it to the SaA-iour, " creates it 
 anew in him" in "the image of God," makes it " a new creature," 
 brings it into a new creation, communicates a new life which ad- 
 mits of indefinite increase, and which, though liable to partial 
 decay, is not only incapable of extinction, but secrnvd of an end- 
 less, ever-expanding development in spiritual activities and spirit- 
 
 1 Howe. 
 
 *2 A 
 
370 LOOKING FOR THE MEllCY OF CHRIST [SER. IV. 
 
 ual enjoyments. When men, under Di\ inc influence, lielieve, 
 " they pass from death to life ;" and in reference to this Ufa it is 
 said "they shall never die." The source of that life is in them a 
 well of living water springing up unto everlasting life. Living 
 in the Spirit, they walk in the Spirit ; they through the Spirit 
 mortify the deeds of the body ; they have joy in the Holy Ghost; 
 they have an inner life, whose appropriate enjoyments are inde- 
 pendent of things seen and temporal ; and, while their outward 
 man decays, their inward man is strengthened day by day. 
 
 The law of mortality is not repealed in reference to these 
 favoured ones. The life of God, in them, is incapable of death ; 
 but the life which directly animates their material fi'ames is a 
 mortal life. All of them must die, and see corruption. But 
 when " the end cometh," " the last enemy," physical death, 
 " shall be destroyed." The bodies of the saved shall be raised 
 powerful, glorious, inconiiptible, and immortal ; and these living 
 bodies shall become the meet habitations of their living spirits. 
 Thus, delivered from death in every form and degree, the nations 
 of the saved shall " reign in life hy Christ Jesus," \oith Christ 
 Jesus for ever and ever. 
 
 This is the account which the apostle gives of those to whom 
 " there is no condemnation, being in Christ Jesus " who is " set 
 forth a propitiation in his blood ;" those who, on the ground of 
 that propitiation, are " made free, by the law of the Spirit of life 
 in Christ Jesus, from the law of sin and death." With regard 
 to them, Christ is in them, and they are in Christ ; " their body 
 is dead," it is mortal, it must die, " because of sin," the first sin 
 of the first man ; " but the spirit is life," the soul is quickened, 
 made capable of spiritual activity and spiritual enjoyment, it is 
 made truly holy and happy in God ; and " He that raised up 
 Christ from the dead, shall also" at the appointed time, in the 
 due order, " quicken their mortal bodies by," or rather because 
 of, " his Spirit dwelling in them." The bodies, which are the 
 purchase of the Savioui*'s blood, and the place of the Spirit's 
 abode in the souls which dwell in them, shall, according to their 
 nature, be put in possession of the life, in which, in reference to 
 the saved, " mortality is to be swallowed up." 
 
 With regard to those who arc not interested in the Christian 
 salvation, "dead in trespasses and sins," they never see life ; their 
 souls become as it were twice dead ; and, though their bodies 
 
SEU. IV.] ITSTO ETERNAL LIFE. 371 
 
 are to be raised up, it is not to the resurrection of life, but to tlie 
 resurrection of condemnation, to be " cast into the lake of fire, 
 which is the second death." 
 
 " The eternal life," spoken of in the passage under considera- 
 tion, plainly denotes the state which is to be the ultimate state 
 of the saints ; a state in which no change but that of indefinite 
 regular progression shall take place for ever. It brings it before 
 our minds as a state in which there is no death, no feebleness, 
 no decay, no tennination ; a state of unmixed life, where all the 
 powers and capacities which belong to human nature, all the 
 powers that can be possessed by such embodied spirits, all the 
 powers of intellect, and affection, and action, and cnjopnent, 
 shall be possessed and exerted in the best possible manner ; a 
 state of perfect, holy happiness, in entire conformity to the 
 character and will of Him who Kvetli for ever and ever, the 
 Holy, Holy, Holy One, the ever-blessed God ; a thinking along 
 with Him, choosing along with Him, willmg along with Him, 
 acting along with Him, being like Him ; a partaking of his holi- 
 ness, his happiness, his life ; a being holy as He is holy, happy 
 as He is happy, full of life as He is full of life. And it brings 
 this state before the mind also as one that shall continue for 
 ever ; when God dies they may die, but not till then. This, 
 then, is the ultimate object of the Christian's hope. 
 
 For this he is to " look." " Looking for eternal life," is an 
 expression which naturally suggests three ideas. Counting it 
 certain, habitually thinking of it, earnestly desiring it. 
 
 The Christian should look for eternal life as something that 
 really exists. He should reckon the existence of such a state 
 absolutely certain. The world thinks of such a state as an airy 
 dream. But the Christian ought to regard, and, so far as he 
 acts in character, he does regard that future state as certain 
 as, and far more real than, the state of things which at present 
 exists. Plis faith is " confidence in reference to things hoped 
 for, conviction with regard to things not seen." It is indeed 
 strange that such a state should remain for men who are spirit- 
 ually dead, and who must all submit to natm'ul death ; but it 
 is the most reasonable of all things to believe it, for the living 
 God, " God who cannot lie," has promised it. Nothing in the 
 scriptural revelation is more frequently and more clearly stated, 
 than the existence of such a state. It is, and it ought to be, one of 
 
372 LOOKING FOR TIIE MERCY OF CHRIST [SER. IV. 
 
 " the things most surely believed" among Christians ; and, as all 
 douljts in reference to it are most unreasonable, so are they fitted 
 to be injurious to the Christian's best interests. 
 
 But tlie Christian is to look for eternal life, not only as certain 
 in itself, but as certain to him. He is to look for it as something 
 which he is himself to enjoy. The promise of eternal life to the 
 believer is just as certain as the revelation that there Avill be 
 eternal life. Can any words be plainer than the words of our 
 Lord, "I give unto my sheep eternal life, and they shall 
 never perish ; neither shall any pluck them out of my hand. 
 My Father, who gave them me, is greater than all, and none 
 shall j)luck them out of my Father's hand." The Christian 
 man, who is giving all diligence to " make his calling and 
 election sure, by," under the influence of the faith of the 
 Gospel, " adding to his f uth Airtue, knowledge, temperance, 
 patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, charity," cannot too con- 
 fidently reckon on " an abundant entrance being ministered 
 to him into the everlasting kingdom of oui' Lord and Saviour 
 Jesus Christ." It is only, however, in the faith of the truth, 
 and yielding to its sanctifying influence, that such confidence 
 can be legitimately or safely maintained. Every smful feeling 
 and action is calculated to shake this confidence ; for it is a 
 proof that the ground on which it alone can safely rest, " our 
 most holy faith," the testimony of God, is out of the mind's 
 view. It is in " a constant continuance in well-doing," produced 
 by habitual faith, that the Christian is to look for that " eternal 
 life" which is "the gift of God, through Jesus Christ our Lord." 
 
 The Christian is not only to count eternal life a thing abso- 
 lutely certain, certain to him, but he is to make it the subject of 
 habitual earnest consideration. lie must "mind the things 
 which are above, Avhere Christ sits at God's right hand." If his 
 faith is enlightened and firm as to eternal life, it must occupy 
 many of his thoughts. It is impossible for a man to hope for a 
 thing, but he will be thinking of it. There is no looking /or the 
 things unseen and eternal, without looking at them. 
 
 And still farther, this looking for eternal life imj)lies earnest 
 desires for it. The soul, living by the new life connnunioated 
 by the Spirit, is " burdened," both with a " mortal body" and 
 " a body of sin and death," with which it is closely connected ; 
 and, though naturally shrinking from dissolution, is more than 
 
8EK, IV.J UNTO ETERNAL LIFE. 373 
 
 " willing to be unclothed." Knowing that, till the mortal body 
 is put off, the body of sin will not be got rid of, and that death 
 is the way to- eternal life in both of its constituent parts, perfect 
 spiritual life and perfect natural life, the language of his heart is, 
 " O, when shall I come and appear before God ! " "With Him is 
 " the fountain of life." AVhen shall I escape from this " congre- 
 gation of the dead," at best of the " half quickened" ? When 
 shall " that which is perfect come, and that which is in part be 
 done away?" AVhen shall I be "like God, seeing Ilhn as He 
 is"? When shall "this mortal put on immortality"'? When 
 "shall death be swallowed up of life"? 
 
 While the Christian is thus to look for eternal life, he is to 
 look for it as the result of mercy. " By grace are we saved," 
 " Eternal life is," not the wages of merit, but " the gift" of 
 mercy. "Death is the wages of sin, but eternal life is the gift 
 of God, through Jesus Clu'ist our Lord." The Christian knows 
 he deserves hell, and that he never can deserve anything else, 
 but he trusts to mercy, sovereign mercy, for eternal life ; and 
 he does not trust the less confidently on this account, for he 
 knows that God is rich in mercy, that he takes pleasm'e in those 
 wdio trust in his mercy, and that He has said, " Mercy shall be 
 built up for ever." This is his first hope, this is his last hope. 
 "You are going to receive yoiu' rew^ard," said one to a very 
 good man, full of good w^orks, on his death-bed ; " I am going," 
 said he in reply, " to find mercy." 
 
 And the Christian not only looks on his receiving eternal life 
 as the result of mercy generally, but as the result of " the 
 mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ." He knows that with Christ 
 he has dii'ectly to do, and with God only in him, through him. 
 The Father has given his chosen to the Son, and has given him 
 all power in heaven and in earth, that he may give eternal life 
 to them. His love, his mercy, had, at an infinite expense of 
 labom* and suftering, opened the way, which sin had shut up, to 
 this eternal life appointed for them before the foundation of the 
 world ; and therefore they may well tiiist him for doing what 
 must be so congenial to his generous, compassionate heart, 
 the bringing them into the full enjoyment of this eternal life ; 
 — the putting them in possession of " the salvation that is ui him 
 with eternal glory." 
 
 But the Christian is not onlv to look for eternal life as the 
 
374 LOOKING FOR THE MERCY OF CHRIST. [SER. IV. 
 
 grand ultimate result of the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ ; 
 lie is to look to the same mercy for all the blessings that are 
 needfiil previous to, and preparatoiy for, the full enjoyment of 
 " eternal life." This idea, as well as the foi-mer, is obviously 
 included in the words, " looking for the mercy of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ unto eternal life." The Christian is not to receive 
 " eternal life," in the full extent of meaning belonging to these 
 words, till the coming of oiu' Lord Jesus. But he is not to 
 wait till then for manifestations of "the mercy of the Lord 
 Jesus." He has already tasted that he is gracious, and he is to 
 expect from the same exuberant foimtain every needful bless- 
 ing till he receives the crown of eternal life. He has obtained 
 " spu'itual life;" but, without the constant exercise of the mercy 
 of the Lord Jesus, that life would soon be extinguished. The 
 murderer fi'om the ' beginning would deprive him of life as he 
 did his primogenitor ; the pestilential elements of this evil world, 
 and the infection of the disease which is consuming its inhabit- 
 ants, would destroy it ; nay, such is the madness that is in liim, 
 " that is, in his flesh," that, left to himself, he would commit 
 spiritual suicide. But he must trust in the mercy of the Lord 
 Jesus, and believe in his gracious declarations, " Sin shall not have 
 dominion over you." "I have overcome the world;" "This is 
 the victory that overcometh the world, even your faith." "I have 
 prayed for you, that your fiiith fail not." " Satan shall be 
 bruised under your feet shortly." AVlien difficulties appear in- 
 sm'mountable, when duties seem impracticable, when sufferings 
 seem insupportaljle, he must trust in Him who says, " My grace 
 is sufficient for thee : my strength shall be perfected in weak- 
 ness." " As thy days, so shall thy strength be." " Fear not, 
 I am Avith thee." " I will never leave thee ; I will never for- 
 sake thee." He must trust that He will " deliver him from every 
 evil work, and preserve him blameless to his kingdom and glory." 
 And when "the mortal body must die because of sin," still he 
 must " look to the mercy of the Lord Jesus." He must in his 
 last moments commit his parting spirit into the hands of IIIM who 
 has redeemed it, and consign his body to the grave, in the fiill 
 assurance that the mercy of the Lord Jesus will in due time 
 bring it up again, knowing whom he has believed, and persuaded 
 that he will keep that which he has committed to him against 
 that day. Tie must die, trusting that the Saviour will give his 
 
SER. IV.] UNTO ETERNAL LIFE. 375 
 
 soul a hearty welcome to the resting-place of the just, and 
 " looldng for the Lord Jesus from heaven to change his vile 
 body, and fashion it like unto his own glorious body." He must, 
 in a word, " look for the mercy of tlic Lord Jesus," manifesting 
 itself in his coming " the second time without sin to his salvation," 
 bringing his happy spirit with him, re-establishing its union with 
 its raised, powerful, glorious, spiritual body, acknowledging him 
 as his in the presence of an assembled universe ; and solemnly in 
 the exercise of mercy *•' reigning through righteousness," adjudg- 
 ing him to the full possession of life in all the holy activities and 
 enjoyments of which perfected humanity is capable. The mercy 
 of Christ has now consummated the happiness of its object ; and 
 it only remains to trust that the mercy which has made that 
 happiness complete will make it permanent, that perfect life 
 shall be eternal life. Such is the Christian's duty, " looking for 
 the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life." 
 
 Li conclusion, let us now, in a few sentences, show how this 
 hope in Christ, this looking for his mercy unto eternal life, is 
 calculated to be subservient to "our keeping ourselves in the 
 love of God." The honour that is done to our Lord Jesus, 
 when we entirely confide in his power, and wisdom, and faith- 
 fulness, and kindness, when we " look for," expect, " his mercy 
 unto eternal life," is and must be well-pleasing to his Father, 
 who is well pleased m him, intrusts him with all tliat con- 
 cerns his glory, and delights to honoui' him ; and whose de- 
 clared will it is, that all should honour the Son as they honour 
 himself. Nothing displeases the Father more than dishonour 
 done to the Son. Nothing is more fitted to keep us in his love 
 than showing oui' confidence in " his sen-ant whom he upholds, 
 his elect in whom his soul delights." 
 
 The mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ is, indeed, the mercy of 
 God ; for " God is in Christ Jesus." Distrust in his mercy is 
 peculiarly dishonoimng and displeasing to God. " The feai'ful 
 and unbelieving" are among the objects of his special disappro- 
 bation ; while, on the other hand, " the eye of the Lord is on," 
 that is, rests complacently on, " them that fear Him, or those 
 that hope in his mercy." The more generous any being is, the 
 more does he delight in being trusted, and the more does he 
 love those who trust in him. 
 
370 LOOKIXG FOR THE MERCY OF CHRIST. [r>El{. IV. 
 
 Confidence in tlie mercy of Jesus Christ, as securing to us 
 every necessary blessing, excites gratitude, which naturally ex- 
 presses itself in that obedience which is necessary to our keeping 
 ourselves in the love of God. It arms too against temptation 
 to act in a way which would prevent us fi-om keeping ourselves 
 in the love of God. What can the world promise better than 
 what the mercy of the Lord Jesus will bestow i What can 
 the world threaten against which the mercy of the Lord Jesus 
 cannot defend ? " Hope" is " the helmet of salvation." 
 
 Finally, when we consider the nature of the ultimate blessing 
 which the Christian is looking for from the mercy of our Lord 
 Jesus, we will see that this exercise has a direct and powerful 
 tendency to enable us to keep ourselves in the love of God, by 
 cultivatintT universal holiness. For what is that eternal life 
 which we look for, but just perfect happiness in perfect holiness? 
 If that be the great object of our hope, contemplation, and desire, 
 present holiness of heart and life must be the result. What 
 says the apostle John ? " Now are we the sons of God ; but it 
 doth not yet appear what we shall be ; but we know that, when 
 he shall appear, we shall be like him." The life Ave shall partici- 
 pate with him is eternal life ; " we shall be like him, for we shall 
 see him as he is ;" perfectly, experimentally know him ; and " to 
 know him is eternal life." Now, mark what follows : " Every 
 man that hath this hope in him, purifieth himself even as he is 
 pure." Every one who " looks for the mercy of our Lord Jesus 
 unto eternal life," Avill, just in the degree in which he does so, 
 " keep himself in the love of God ;" for " looking for this blessed 
 hope " deepens the lesson taught by " the grace of God," " the 
 mercy of the Lord Jesus," to " deny ungodliness and worldly 
 lusts, and to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this world." 
 Having the promise of eternal life, understanding and believing 
 it, we cannot but " cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the 
 flesh and spirit, and perfect holiness in the fear of God ;" thus 
 "doing what is well ])leasing in his sight," and "keeping our- 
 selves in his love." " Hope to the end, for the grace which is 
 to be brought to us at the revelation of Jesus Christ," is one of 
 the means prescribed by the apostle Peter for enabling us, " not 
 to fashion ourselves according to our former lusts in our ignorance, 
 but to be holy as he who has called us is holy, holy in all manner 
 of conversation." And the author of the E])istle to the Hebrews 
 
SER. IV.] UNTO ETERNAL LIFE. 377 
 
 calls on Christians to " give all diligence to the full assurance of 
 hope to the end, that they may not be slothful, but followers of 
 them who, through faith and patience, are inheriting the promises." 
 Thus have I completed the plan laid before you, when we 
 entered on the consideration of this subject. The discourses 
 have all of them been, from the nature of the subject, practical, 
 and much exhortation has been mingled with the exposition. 
 Formal application is therefore felt to be unnecessary. I con- 
 clude with the prayer, that all " tlie sanctified by God the Father, 
 and preserved in Christ Jesus, and called among us," may have 
 their " pure minds stirred up by these remembrances," and be 
 enabled to " keep themselves in the love of God." 
 
 But how can I close without saying something to those, some 
 of whom, I doubt not, are in this audience, who, if they were 
 aware of their true state, could not help seeing, that not only in 
 the vista of their futurity is there the spectre death, sometimes 
 seeming to approach, then to recede, but always keeping the 
 middle of the path, so that there is no passing him ; but that 
 beyond him in the distance, closing the prospect, is an object 
 more terrific still, — not eternal life, but everlasting destniction ; 
 and who have nothing to look to, for anything good, in the mean 
 time, but the patience, the long-suffering of God, which they have 
 madly presumed on, fearfully insulted, which will not continue 
 for ever — which even now may be all but exhausted ? 
 
 And what shall I say to you who are in these circumstances ? 
 Continuing in impenitence and sin, I can bid you hope for no 
 good. I can promise you no blessing. I bid you fear, and tell 
 you, you cannot fear the worst ; the evil to be feared is worse 
 than your most fearful apprehensions of it. But why should 
 you continue impenitent and unbelieving? There is mercy, 
 mercy for you, if you will but receive it in the only way God 
 can bestow it or you enjoy it, through the mediation of his Son, 
 in the faith of the truth. 
 
 The King of Israel is a merciful King ; merciful even to the 
 rebellious. He has received gifts for such, and he is ready to 
 bestow them. Pic still " receiveth sinners." Come to him, be- 
 lieving the testimony of the Father respecting his grace. Cast 
 yourself on his mercy. He is " rich in mercy." He " waiteth to 
 be gracious." Jesus is now passing by. He is very near you, 
 
378 LOOKING FOR THE MERCY OF CHRIST [SER. IV. 
 
 in tlie word of the truth of tlie Gospel whicli we preach. Oh ! if 
 you but knew the truth about yourself and him, you could not help 
 crying like the poor blind mim, in earnest desire and humble hope, 
 " Jesus, Son of David, Jesus, Son of God, have mercy on me ;" 
 and, though men should attempt to make you hold your peace, 
 you would, like him, but cry so much the more " Jesus, Son of 
 David, Jesus, Son of God, have mercy on me." And do you 
 think he would lend a deaf ear to such a cry ? Oh, no ; " Jesus 
 is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever." Full of compassion. 
 He would say, " Be it to thee according to thy faith. Thou 
 hast found mercy. Go in peace ;" and henceforth, amid all the 
 trials, and struggles, and sorrows of life, " Look for my mercy 
 unto eternal life." 
 
 Oh ! how happy, how secure, is he who has thus found mercy 
 of the Lord ! Hear the Divine declaration. " The mountains 
 may depart, the hills may be removed," the earth may be burned 
 up, and the heavens depart as a scroll when it is rolled together ; 
 "but my loving-kindness shall not depart from thee, neither 
 shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord God, 
 who hath mercy on thee." 
 
 Remain despisers of his mercy, and what must be the conse- 
 quence 1 The death of the body finding you in this state — and 
 how soon, how suddenly, may it lay hold on you ! — will convey 
 you into a region where the death of the soul becomes fixed, 
 immutable, eternal ; a state in which there is no mercy to those 
 who, in the time of their visitation, despised and abused mercy, 
 but where justice has free course and is glorified ; a state in 
 which " He who made you can have no mercy on you, and He 
 that formed you can show you no favour " for ever. Life and 
 death are before you ; make your choice, make it now. Is there 
 room for halting between two opinions here? 
 
 Think not of obtaining salvation in any way but through 
 " the mercy of our Lord Jesus." You never can have it from 
 the Divine justice ; mere justice can never award you any thing 
 but condemnation and punishment, for you dcser\e these and 
 never can deserve any thing else. Think not of obtaining it 
 even from the Divine mercy, apart from our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 That mercy is indeed infinite, but it cannot be displayed but in 
 consistency with justice ; and it can, in consistency with justice, 
 find its wav to vou only through the channel of Christ's atone- 
 
SER. IV.] UNTO ETERNAL LIFE. 379 
 
 meiit. It is " in Clirist that God is reconciling the world to 
 himself." All that the mercy of God can do for sinful men, all 
 that his omnipotent love can bestow on them, is done and offered 
 " through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." Life, hope, 
 happiness, are here, here only, to be found. He that believes 
 tlie testimony of God hath the Son. " He that hath the Son 
 hath life. lie that hath not the Son shall never see life ;" " HE 
 abideth m death," and " the wrath of God abideth on him " for 
 ever. 
 
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