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ESS AY S 
 
 ON 
 
 ALL THE SCRIPTURAL NAMES AND TITLES 
 
 OF 
 
 CHRIST; 
 
 OK, THE 
 
 iSconomy of tfjc v'osprl Dispensation 
 
 AS EXHIBITED IN THE 
 
 PERSON, CHARACTER, AND OFFICES 
 
 OF 
 
 THE REDEEMER. 
 
 BY THE LATE 
 
 REV. WILLIAM GOODE, M. A. 
 
 RECTOR OF THE UNITED PARISHES OF ST. ANDREW BY THE WARDROBE 
 AND ST. ANN BLACKFRIARS, &C. &C. &C. 
 
 TO WHICH IS PREFIXED, 
 
 A MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR. 
 
 IN SIX VOLUMES. 
 
 Vol. V. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED FOR L. B. SEELEY, FLEET STREET; AND 
 J. HATCHARD AND SON, PICCADILLY. 
 
 18 22 . 
 
FJIfrton and Henderson, Printers, 
 Johnson's Couit, London. 
 
CON TENTS 
 
 V^e e ? 
 
 OF THE 
 
 FIFTH VOLUME. 
 
 SERIES IX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 ESSAY I.—Creator; the Beginning of the Creation of 
 
 God . 3 
 
 II.—The Holy One of Israel; the Holy One of 
 
 God . 17 
 
 III. —Surety; Day’s-Man. 30 
 
 IV. —Help; Helper . 47 
 
 V.—Gold. 62 
 
 VI.—Strong Habitation .. 76 
 
 VII.—Faithful Witness . 90 
 
 VIII.—Israel . 107 
 
 IX.—Palm-Tree . 121 
 
 X. —Ointment; Camphire . 135 
 
 XI.—Strength . 150 
 
 XII.—Precious . 167 
 
 SERIES X. 
 
 ESSAY I.—Immanuel. 185 
 
 II.-—Shiloh; Deliverer... 202 
 
 III. —Refuge . 219 
 
 IV. —Guide; Leader . 234 
 
 V.—Anchor of Hope . 252 
 
 VI.—Inheritance . 268 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 ESSAY VII. —Head of the Church . 286 
 
 VIII.—Physician; Healer; Balm of Gilead. 303 
 
 IX.—Tabernacle; Temple . 320 
 
 X.—Passover . 343 
 
 XI.—The Power of God ; the Arm of Jehovah ; 
 
 the Right Hand of Jehovah . 364 
 
 XII.—Wisdom; the Wisdom of God . 381 
 
ESSAYS 
 
 ON 
 
 ALL THE SCRIPTURAL NAMES AND TITLES 
 
 OF 
 
 CHRIST. 
 
 NINTH SERIES . 
 
 VOL. V 
 
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 ESSAY I. 
 
 Createv—Cfjc Beginning of tfjc Creation of dofc. 
 
 This must ever be considered as one of the most ulorious 
 characters of the Redeemer. It is a character which is 
 the property of Jehovah alone, and is as far above that of 
 every creature, as self-existence is above all derived and 
 communicated being. He alone must be supremely, and 
 eternally, the suitable object of our adoration, and praises, 
 and confidence, who himself, being self-existent and un¬ 
 created, is the Creator of all things which exist. Creation 
 is the object of faith: by “ faith we understand that the 
 worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things 
 which are seen were not made of things which do appear.” 
 (Heb. xi. 3.) 
 
 As nothing passes before us which can bear any proper 
 analogy to creation, so there is nothing, in all the objects 
 around us, that can give us any original idea of it. We 
 can easily conceive of formation, and of bringing into 
 order what already exists; but the production of some¬ 
 thing out of nothing, of being out of non-entity, which is 
 the proper idea of creation, is a subject of pure revelation, 
 and must therefore be an object of simple faith*. No 
 one can effect this but He who is himself self-existent, 
 self-sufficient, and omnipotent; who exists by a necessity 
 of nature and being, and is therefore from everlasting to 
 everlasting the same, in his eternity, as well as in all his 
 
 * See Ellis on Divine Things. 
 a 2 
 
4 
 
 SERIES IX.—ESSAY I. 
 
 other perfections, or the properties of his essence. He 
 is far above all our conceptions, and must therefore be 
 most of all adorable, as these most of all discover his 
 eternal Godhead in the work of creation. But is this our 
 Jesus? Is this character applicable to him, in every 
 respect, and in its fullest extent ? No doubt it is, if we 
 receive the testimony of Scripture. This name is there¬ 
 fore among the first of those which relate to his essential 
 Divinity; for if he be the Creator, then he must be God 
 over ALL. 
 
 In order to illustrate this essential article of our faith, 
 and to shew how intimately it is connected with our hopes 
 as sinners, we will prove that the name is frequently ap¬ 
 plied to Christ both in the Old Testament and in the 
 New; and the inferences arising from this consideration 
 will be found to unite themselves most closely with the 
 ground of our faith, hope, and consolation. Blessed Jesus, 
 let thy Holy Spirit prepare our understandings and our 
 hearts to receive and welcome so necessary, and at the 
 same time so inconceivably glorious, a truth; that we 
 may be prepared also to glorify thee aright, and to rejoice 
 in thy salvation! 
 
 Let us first take a view of its application to Messiah in 
 the Old Testament .—The very first word of the Old Testa¬ 
 ment is referred by the Jerusalem Targum to the Mes¬ 
 siah, atkd considered as relating, not to any point of time 
 when creation was effected, but to Him whose name is 
 “ The Beginning.” (Col. i. 18.) The word tviLWP is 
 translated by them NDDirD, by the Wisdom, or Messiah; 
 which at least shews the views that the ancient Jews 
 entertained concerning it. Reference seems also to be 
 made to this name of the Messiah in the Book of Pro¬ 
 verbs (viii. 22): “The Lord possessed me,” not “ in the 
 beginning of his way,” but “PH miW), “ as the beginning of 
 his way,” the head of his way or work of creation. This 
 will then concur with the language of the Apostle,—God 
 “ created all things by Jesus Christ;” not as a mere 
 agent, but as a co-operator in the great and divine work, 
 
CREATOR. 
 
 which was effected by the DTib«, or Three Persons in one 
 Godhead, the Triune Jehovah. 
 
 The great contest which was maintained between Je¬ 
 hovah, God of Israel, and the worshippers of false gods, 
 appears to have been as to this very point; who was the 
 supreme Creator, and therefore the absolute Proprietor 
 and Governor of all? Very soon after the fall of man, 
 the generality of mankind having no idea of simple 
 creation, the first step in idolatry seems to have been the 
 exalting the agents in nature into the place of Him who 
 was the first cause of all causes, who created them out of 
 nothing, who gave them their influence and powers; and 
 who, therefore, of necessity, had all nature, and all the 
 powers of nature, under his command and controul. If 
 we consider the nature and kind of those miracles which 
 were wrought throughout the old dispensation, especially in 
 Egypt, at the Red Sea, and in the Wilderness, we shall 
 find that they were calculated for this very purpose, to 
 shew that Jehovah was the God of their vainly imagined 
 gods, and could controul them at his pleasure. Nearly 
 the first miracle was wrought upon that which they had 
 exalted into a god on account of its beneficent influence, 
 the water of the Nile, which was turned into blood, 
 to shew that the whole was under His o wn almighty power, 
 and all its benign influence from Himself alone. It would 
 lead us into too large a field of discussion, were we to 
 consider minutely under this view every miracle which 
 was then wrought for the deliverance of the Israelites, 
 or for their preservation afterwards in the wilderness. 
 But when the Lord controuled the current of the waters; 
 when he brought water out of the rock ; when he com¬ 
 manded the air to bring the locusts upon the Egyptians, 
 or to drop down the manna for his people; when by fire 
 from heaven he consumed Nadab and Abihu, or guided 
 his people by the pillar of cloud and of fire; the design 
 was to preserve his people from idolatry, by discovering 
 to them that those agents in nature which they were 
 
SERIES IX.—ESSAY I. 
 
 6 
 
 inclined to worship, were all under him—that fire, light, 
 air, the earth, the heavens, the waters, were all in his 
 hands, as they were all the works of his hands. In refer¬ 
 ence to these miracles, we find the Lord Jehovah thus en¬ 
 couraging the faith of his people in future generations, and 
 assigning the same motive for the display of his Divine 
 power. “ I will open rivers,” says he, “ in the high 
 places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will 
 make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land 
 springs of water: that they may see, and know, and con¬ 
 sider, and understand together, that the hand of the Lord 
 hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created 
 it.” (Isa. xli. 18—20; compare xlii. 5; and xlv. 5—7, 
 12—18.)—If then we look into the New Testament, we 
 still find that this very Jehovah, God of Israel, who thus 
 led them through the wilderness, is none other but the 
 Lord Jesus Christ, the Angel Jehovah, the Angel of the 
 Covenant. It was he whom they tempted; he who wrought 
 these miracles on their behalf; he whose character, at¬ 
 tributes, and power, were declared by them, and who 
 thus proved that he was Jehovah-Aleim, the Creator. 
 (See Acts vii. 35—38; 1 Cor. x. 9.) 
 
 2. The title of Creator is also frequently connected 
 with that of Redeemer, and other titles of Messiah, in the 
 language of the Prophets. “ Thus saith Jehovah, that 
 created thee, O Jacob ; and he that formed thee, O Israel; 
 Fear not; for I have redeemed thee.” (Isa. xliii. 1, and 
 see ver. 7.) Again: “Thus saith the Lord, your Re¬ 
 deemer, the Holy One of Israel; For your sake I have 
 sent to Babylon, and have brought down all their nobles, 
 and the Chaldeans, whose cry is in the ships. I am the 
 Lord, your Holy One; the Creator of Israel, your King.” 
 (ver. 14, 15.) Again (Isa. xliv. 1, 2): “ Thus saith 
 the Lord that made thee and formed thee ;” but this is 
 (ver. 6) “ the King of Israel, and his Redeemer.” And 
 (ver. 24), “ Thus saith the Lord thy Redeemer, and he 
 that formed thee from the womb, I am the Lord that 
 
CREATOR. 7 
 
 raaketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens 
 alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself.” 
 He who commands his people to “ look to him and be 
 saved, from the ends of the earth,” is also the “ Lord 
 that created the heavens, God himself that formed the 
 earth.” (Compare Isa. xlv. 22, with ver. 18, &c.) He 
 who came as a shepherd to “ gather the lambs with his 
 arms, and carry them in his bosom,” can surely be no 
 other but the Lord Jesus Christ; but he is “ the Jehovah- 
 Aleim of Israel.” (Compare Isa. xl. 11, with ver. 10.) 
 And he is “ the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends 
 of the earth,” &c. Of him also all those glorious things are 
 spoken throughout the whole chapter, (compare especi¬ 
 ally ver. 26 and 28.)—Many similar passages might here 
 be produced, but these will be sufficient as a specimen of 
 the rest; and to shew that the promised Messiah was con¬ 
 templated by the ancient Prophets, and by the faith of the 
 Old Testament church, in all the glory of his Divine 
 person. But if there be any darkness or obscurity upon 
 the interpretation of such passages as these, from the pro¬ 
 phetic Scriptures, the language of Prophets is abundantly 
 confirmed by the language of, 
 
 3. Evangelists and Apostles .—Here the glory of our 
 Redeemer shines forth in all its clearness. The darkness of 
 every former dispensation is removed, and the Sun of Righ¬ 
 teousness shines out without a cloud, in the brightest efful¬ 
 gence of his Divine glories. Here we are plainly told, 
 that He who is the Word “ was in the beginningwith God, 
 and was God : All things were made by him, and without 
 him was not any thing made which was made.” (John i. 
 1—3.) And again, “ By him were all things created, that 
 are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible; 
 whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or 
 powers: all things were created by him, and for him.” 
 (Col. i. 1G.) No testimony can be more decisive than this; 
 nor can any words be of plainer import. (Compare Eph. 
 iii. 9.) The Apostle has not scrupled to apply to him the 
 striking passage of the prophetic Psalmist in the!02d Psalm ; 
 
8 
 
 SERIES IX. —ESSAY I. 
 
 “ Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation 
 of the earth; and the heavens are the work of thy 
 hands,” &,c. (Heb. i. 10—12.) It is in this view that he 
 is called in the Revelations (chap. iii. 14), “ The Begin¬ 
 ning of the creation of Godthe word ap\V signifying, 
 not the first in time only, but the Author, the Prince, the 
 Source, the Ruler, “ the Beginning, the Head, the efficient 
 Cause” —(Parkhurst.) And in this view, it corresponds 
 with the passages before cited from Gen. i. 1, and 
 Prov. viii. 22. 
 
 Here there is no ambiguity, no uncertain deductions, 
 no conclusion from doubtful premises, or from intricate 
 reasoning; but plain declarations of inspired writers, under 
 the influence of the Holy Ghost, in which it is declared 
 that Jesus of Nazareth, the Saviour, the Redeemer, the 
 once crucified Man of Sorrows, was the Creator of all, 
 by his own power, and for his own glory. This is evi¬ 
 dence, the force of which it is impossible to resist but by 
 invincible prejudice or determined unbelief. It would be 
 needless to spend time in proving what is the meaning of 
 these passages of inspired revelation, since their language 
 is so evident and clear. We must either believe the doc¬ 
 trine of the Divine glory and creating power of Jesus, or 
 we must deny the testimony itself. We must either disbe¬ 
 lieve that this is the testimony of God, or we must acknow¬ 
 ledge that the Redeemer is the Creator of the world. 
 But in the acknowledgment of this, what a glorious 
 view opens to our faith, what encouragement to our ador¬ 
 ing and admiring confidence ! Here the ground and foun¬ 
 dation of all our hope is laid sure and immutable ; and, 
 though we shall never be able, through eternity, fully to 
 understand, and much less fully to celebrate, the glory of 
 Immanuel, God our Saviour, we must eternally contem¬ 
 plate and admire this mystery of godliness, and shall ac¬ 
 knowledge it as the only security to us of the eternal en¬ 
 joyment of all our blessings. There cannot be a more 
 indubitable proof of the essentially Divine glory of the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, as one in the Godhead. If we only ascertain 
 
CREATOR. 
 
 9 
 
 the tact, there can be no doubt of the doctrine ; for He who 
 is the Creator, must be the Mighty God: but who, that 
 believes the Scripture, can disbelieve or doubt the fact, 
 which is there so constantly and unequivocally asserted ? 
 The glory of creation belongs only to the self-existent and 
 self-sufficient Jehovah ; for who besides can bring forth 
 existence out of nothing ? “ His glory he will not 
 
 give unto another:” and surely then he will not give 
 the glory of creation, which is his most distinguishing 
 glory, to any creature, however high and eminently exalted. 
 This glory, however, he hath given to Christ Jesus ; and 
 therefore he is not another, but one in the Divine 
 Nature. Who can resist the force of this evidence, 
 unless, through pride or obstinacy, he be wilfully blind 
 and perversely prejudiced ? I will adore thee then, thou 
 Blessed Jesus, as the glorious Creator of all, and there¬ 
 fore “ God over all, blessed for ever.” 
 
 But who, then, can cease to wonder thathe should conde¬ 
 scend to assume and bear on earth such a character, and 
 should execute such an office, as Mediator in the nature of 
 his brethren ! If we look by faith to the throne of glory, and 
 contemplate the adorable Jehovah ; while our minds are 
 lost in the dignity of his infinite, eternal, and inscrutable 
 perfections ; when w r e behold there the adoring seraphim, 
 the angels with veiled faces, offering their lofty but still 
 unequal praise if we then turn our eyes to the Child of 
 Bethlehem, the humble Man, the Man of Sorrows; if we 
 consider his poverty and contempt, his reproach and igno¬ 
 miny ; if we view all the agonies of the garden, and the 
 sorrows of the cross,—surely we must say. How hath he 
 made himself of no reputation, how hath he emptied 
 himself! * Though he was rich, yet he hath in¬ 
 deed become poor! And for whom ? for us! for man, for 
 rebels, for worms, for me ! Oh the wisdom, the love, the 
 grace, which are displayed in the person of the condescend¬ 
 ing Saviour! Never let me meditate upon it, but with 
 adoration, gratitude, and praise. 
 
 # karjTQV exsvojcrs , Phil. ii. 7. 
 
10 
 
 SERIES IX.—ESSAY I. 
 
 But when we consider that this was He who created 
 all things, who stretched out the heavens alone, and laid 
 the foundations of the earth by himself; before whom the 
 morning stars sung together; in the consideration of his 
 voluntary condescension we not only contemplate the most 
 astonishing mystery of love, but we behold his infinite abi¬ 
 lity to save . The value, the merit, the efficacy of his 
 atonement must be beyond all our calculation. The sacri¬ 
 fice of his cross must be acceptable, and altogether precious, 
 to the Father, the sacrifice and offering of a sweet-smell¬ 
 ing savour. The righteousness he wrought out and brought 
 in, must be, like himself, everlasting. What a virtue must 
 there be in all that he performed; what a certainty in all 
 for which he engaged ; what a faithfulness in all that he 
 has promised ! This may well give a firm security to my 
 faith, and an unshaken confidence to my hope. When 
 such love, such grace, such merit, unite in the person of 
 my Saviour, I may fly to him, with assurance of shelter and 
 protection, from all the guilt and consequences of my sins. 
 Though my guilt be great, it cannot be so great as the 
 value of his blood, the merit of his righteousness, the effi¬ 
 cacy of his atonement, or the unbounded virtues of the 
 sacrifice of his cross. I need not fear to bring all my sins 
 and all my pollutions, and to lay them by faith beneath that 
 stream which flows from the pierced side of my crucified 
 Redeemer ; and I shall be pardoned, I shall be justified, 
 I shall be accepted, I shall be sanctified, I shall be puri¬ 
 fied from all. “ Though my sins be as scarlet, they shall 
 be white as snow ; though they be red like crimson, they 
 shall be as wool;” for the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth 
 from all sin, wherever applied by the Spirit of his grace, 
 and that shall be wherever applied to, in the exercise of 
 faith. He who is the Almighty Creator can also, and will 
 surely, fulfil every promise; he has fulfilled every engage¬ 
 ment of the eternal covenant, even to the death upon the 
 cross : and now upon the throne he is ruling and order¬ 
 ing all tilings, as well as interceding, for the benefit and 
 salvation of his people. His power in the new creation, 
 
CREATOR. 
 
 11 
 
 in the new world of his church, is equal to his display of 
 power in the old creation, and the world of nature. He 
 has all power to call, to regenerate, to sanctify, to pre¬ 
 serve, and to perfect his redeemed in glory. Upon this 
 ground he encourages their believing dependence upon 
 him : “ Look unto me, and be ye saved; for I am God, 
 and there is none else.” The Apostle assumes a similar 
 ground of encouragement; that “ He is able to save to the 
 uttermost, because he ever liveth,” as Jesus the Son of 
 God. His power also to overcome all our enemies, 
 both for us and in us, must be sufficient; for if he triumphed 
 over them upon the cross, how much more shall he triumph 
 in their total destruction upon the throne l He will carry 
 on his people to final and everlasting victory, and bring 
 them to that happy place where no enemy shall enter, 
 where there shall be no fear of enemies, though the gate 
 shall never be shut. My soul must be safe in his hand: 
 there I may rest in peaceful satisfaction for pardon, for 
 grace, for preservation, and for glory. Let me therefore 
 rest it there, in confidence upon this almighty Saviour ; by 
 whom, and for whom, all things were created : to whom 
 be the glory of all for ever and ever. 
 
 But not only is he able and willing to save my soul; but, 
 as the great Creator of all, who hath engaged to be the 
 Saviour, I may, with the most perfect security, trust all my 
 concerns in his hands. It is this very view which the Lord 
 Jehovah offers to the Israelites as the ground of their en¬ 
 couragement to trust in him through all their trials and 
 dangers : “Thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob! 
 and he that formed thee, O Israel! Fear not, for I have re¬ 
 deemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art 
 mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be 
 with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow 
 thee; when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not 
 be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.” (Isa. 
 xliii. 1, 2.) And again ; “I am the Lord your Holy One, 
 the Creator of Israel, your King.” (ver. 15 : see also xlii. 
 5, 14, 16.) And again ; “ Hast thou not known, hast thou 
 
12 
 
 SERIES IX.—ESSAY I. 
 
 not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator 
 of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary ? 
 there is no searching of his understanding. He givelh 
 power to the faint; and to them that have no might he 
 increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be 
 weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: but they that 
 wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength ; they shall 
 mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not 
 be weary, and they shall walk, and not faint.” (Isa. xl. 
 28—31.) When the humble believer has ventured to trust 
 his soul in the hand of his Redeemer for everlasting salva¬ 
 tion, he often finds still greater difficulty in trusting him 
 with all his earthly concerns, when trials, difficulties, or 
 wants press all around him. But not only are the power 
 and wisdom of the Redeemer engaged for his good, but 
 all his various characters, works, and offices are undertaken 
 on his behalf. And all his promises ensure his preservation 
 and supply of all that is good. These, uniting with his 
 almighty power and infinite wisdom for the benefit of 
 his people, what need they fear ? If he be with us, if 
 he be ours, our God and Saviour, all things must be ours. 
 (1 Cor. iii. 21.) 
 
 He who created all things, must have the power to 
 direct all things. The order of nature is his; the conduct 
 of providence is his; the hearts of his people, and the 
 hearts of all, are in his hands. With him it is as easy to 
 reverse as to carry on the order of nature; for what we 
 call the order of nature, is only his constitution, his ap¬ 
 pointed order of causes and effects, which depend upon 
 his sovereign will. What therefore can he not do ? Mira¬ 
 cles are with him the same as common acts. The rising sun 
 would appear to us as great a miracle as any ever wrought, 
 if it were not the daily operation of his hand. He therefore 
 encourages his people to trust in him in all their distress, 
 by an allusion to his conduct toward the Israelites in the 
 wilderness, and by a promise of renewing towards them 
 the same miracles of his power and grace, if needful 
 for their preservation and supply. “ When the poor and 
 
CREATOR. 
 
 13 
 
 needy seek water, and there is none” (like the thirsty 
 Israelites of old), “ and their tongue faileth for thirst, I, the 
 Lord, will hear them; I, the God of Israel, will not for¬ 
 sake them. I will open rivers in high places, and foun¬ 
 tains in the midst of the valleys : I will make the wilder¬ 
 ness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water,” 
 &c. (Isa. xli. 17—20.) What a powerful reproof to our 
 prevailing unbelief! “ I shall one day perish,” says the 
 trembling believer, “ by the hand of this mine enemy. 
 If the Lord would make windows in heaven, then indeed 
 I might hope for supply in the midst of so many wants, 
 difficulties, dangers, and distresses.” Thus he sinks under 
 his trouble, and is ready to despair in temptation. He 
 doubts the faithfulness and certainty of the Divine pro¬ 
 mise, and dishonours the faithfulness of his Lord. “ But 
 who art thou, O strong mount ? before Zerubbabel thou 
 shall become a plain.” Such puny creatures, with our 
 narrow and contracted span of intellect and ability, are 
 ready to limit the power and wisdom of the Divine mind 
 by our own. We judge of probability, and what we esteem 
 possibility; but that which is impossible with men, is pos¬ 
 sible with God. We have nothing to do but with the 
 Divine promise ; and there we may rest secure : “ Hath 
 he said, and shall he not do it ? or hath he spoken, and 
 shall he not make it good?” “ In hope of eternal life,” 
 says the Apostle, “ which God, that cannot lie, promised 
 before the world began.” He has promised to his sheep 
 eternal life, and that they shall never perish: and who 
 then will doubt his faithfulness ; or who will give way 
 to those faithless doubts which insinuate that they may ? 
 Therefore, “ hearken to me,” says he, “ O house of 
 Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, which 
 are borne by me from the belly, which are carried from 
 the womb, and even to your old age I am he, and even 
 to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made” (I am your 
 Creator naturally and spiritually; by me your were born 
 into this world, and new-born into the world of grace; 
 
14 
 
 SERIES IX.—ESSAY I. 
 
 and therefore) “ I will bear, even I will carry, and will 
 deliver you.” (Isa. xlvi. 3, 4.) 
 
 What glorious expectations, then, may the humblest 
 believer form, as united and interested in the covenant 
 love of such a Saviour! Instead of indulging gloomy 
 doubts of unbelief, to the dishonour of Christ and the dis¬ 
 comfort of the soul, faith may take its stand upon the pro¬ 
 mise of his word, and in the midst of conflict anticipate the 
 song of victory and triumph, in the midst of afflictions 
 and distress may solace the soul with the confidence of 
 almighty power, unchangeable care, and everlasting love. 
 Faith may take its flight from the region of sorrow and 
 darkness, to the region of everlasting peace and joy; from 
 this scene of conflict and enemies, to the happy place 
 where no enemy shall enter; from this world of infirmity 
 and death, to the everlasting hills, the mounts of glory; 
 and contemplate that great goodness which the Lord hath 
 laid up for them that fear him, which he hath wrought out 
 for them which trust in him before the sons of men,— 
 that exceeding great and eternal weight of glory which 
 awaits his church above. “ He who hath promised, is 
 able also to perform.” The humble believer cannot extend 
 his faith and hope too far, when he surveys his privilege in 
 the line of those promises which are exceeding great and 
 precious ; for “ eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither 
 have entered into the heart of man the things which God 
 hath prepared for them that love him.” Nothing can be 
 too great for his power, or too large for his all-sufficiency, 
 who, by the same word of power by which he makes a 
 worm, can create an archangel; and therefore can, when 
 he pleases, lift the poor from the dust, and the beggar 
 from the dunghill, to set him among princes, and to make 
 him inherit the throne of glory. (1 Sam. ii. 8.) 
 
 The littleness, the nothingness, the emptiness, and in¬ 
 sufficiency of his people, are no obstacles to the purposes 
 of his love and grace towards them, when his promises are 
 to be realized. It is his power and truth we are to look 
 
CREATOR. 
 
 15 
 
 to ; and not the objects, however insignificant and mean, 
 to whom the promise has respect. Their guilty state, their 
 ruined situation, was not sufficient to prevent the exercises 
 of his love : his mercy triumphed over all their guilt and 
 the condemning sentence of the law, when, by the suffer¬ 
 ings of his death, and the righteousness of his life, he 
 justified them from all things. Who but He, whose power 
 is almighty, could have stopped them in their course of 
 sin, changed their corrupted nature, and given them a new 
 heart and a right spirit ? The exercises and acts, indeed, 
 of this new nature, in the present state, are mixed with 
 the corruption of the old; but he who has begun the good 
 work, is able and will complete it, to the day of his glory. 
 His work already wrought is an earnest of what he can 
 and what he will do for them : for “ he is able to do 
 exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, ac¬ 
 cording to the power which worketh in us.” (Ephes. iii. 
 20.) He who has new created, is able to prepare for, and 
 to bring to, the glory which he has provided. The Apo¬ 
 stle, therefore, argues the certainty of the fact, from the 
 greatness of the love already displayed; “for if, when 
 we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death 
 of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved 
 by his life.” (Rom. v. 10.) 
 
 Soon, may the believer say, soon all my troubles shall 
 cease, all my infirmities be no more, all my enemies be 
 vanquished, and, above all, all my sins be destroyed for 
 ever. I shall be brought into that life eternal which he 
 has 'promised, which he possesses, which he preserves for 
 his people; for “ now are we the sons of God, and it doth 
 not yet appear what we shall be : but we know, that, when 
 he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him 
 as he is.” (1 John iii. 2.) Is this the hope of my soul, 
 through the infinite and almighty power of Jesus my Friend 
 and Saviour ? Then let it be my ambition to live worthy 
 of such a Redeemer, and of such exalted views and ex¬ 
 pectations, till they are realized above. 
 
 Often let me review my need of such a Saviour, through 
 
16 
 
 SERIES IX.— ESSAY I. 
 
 the miserable fall and depravity of my nature; for this will 
 tend to keep me in my proper place of humiliation and de¬ 
 pendence. Let me continually contemplate his love and 
 condescension, to prevent that lukewarmness which is so 
 natural to this earthly state, to warm my heart with the 
 view, and to animate me in obedience to his will. Let 
 me frequently behold his character, his office, his works, 
 and his engagement; for this will make him precious to 
 my faith. Let me frequently direct the eye of faith to 
 the ground of encouragement which his promise affords, 
 to reprove my unbelief; and then direct it still forward # 
 to the glorious objects of expectation, and contemplate, from 
 the misery of this present state, what I am to be at his 
 appearing and coming. This will teach me what I ought 
 to be now,—that i ought to be more like him now, living 
 above the world, above the meanness of its highest en¬ 
 joyments, and above the power of sin. Let it then be 
 my only concern to glorify him and to obey his will. And 
 in doing this, I may safely trust to him the keeping of my 
 body and my soul, and all my concerns on earth and for 
 eternity. He stands engaged to accomplish all my hopes 
 and to prevent all my fears; and most assuredly, contrary 
 to the gloomy apprehensions of unbelief, he will accom¬ 
 plish all his promises. The almighty Creator will be the 
 faithful Redeemer, and will consummate all his works 
 towards his redeemed in their everlasting salvation. 
 
17 
 
 ESSAY II. 
 
 ^De l^olp <©ne of Brad—Cfje f&alj) <®ttr of <25otr. 
 
 The Holy One, the Holy One of God, and the Holy One 
 of Israel, are titles which are frequently given to the 
 Redeemer, throughout the Old and New Testaments. 
 Thou wilt not “ suffer thine Holy One,” says the Psalmist, 
 “ to see corruption.” (Ps. xvi. 10.) But the person to 
 whom the Psalmist refers is declared, by the Apostle 
 (Acts ii. 27), to be none other than the Lord Jesus. In 
 Acts iii. 14, the same person is called, by way of emi¬ 
 nence, “ The Holy One and the Just,” which can be no 
 other than the Holy One of Israel, to whom the Prophets 
 so frequently refer, and who is always considered as the 
 God of Israel, the Redeemer. “ For I am the Lord thy 
 God, the Holy One of Israel thy Saviour.” (Isa. xliii. 3.) 
 And again (ver. 14), “ Thus saith the Lord, your Re¬ 
 deemer, the Holy One of Israel.” He who is the God 
 of Israel in his Divine nature, is therefore the Holy One 
 of Israel in his mediatorial person, and the Holy One of 
 God. 
 
 The testimony of an enemy is sometimes considered as 
 decisive ; and we have therefore recorded, in the New 
 Testament, the constrained acknowledgment of the great 
 enemy; “ I know thee, who thou art, the Holy One of 
 God.” But, in addition to this, we have the testimony of 
 the Father, who, in fulfilling the prediction of the pro¬ 
 phetic Psalmist, has proved him to be the person there 
 spoken of, by raising him from the dead. Emphatically, 
 therefore, and in distinction from any one on earth, who may 
 possibly be alluded to under the same title, he is the 
 Holy One of Israel and of God ; titles which, at 
 
 VOL. v. 
 
 c 
 
18 
 
 SERIES IX.— ESSAY II. 
 
 the same time, are expressive of his Divine glory, the 
 excellency of his mediatorial character, the authority of 
 his mission, and the subjection of his enemies, and which 
 contain within them much which may afford direction 
 and consolation to his believing people. 
 
 In entering upon this character, that we may more 
 accurately conceive of its extent, it may be proper to 
 inquire. What is holiness ? Holiness in man consists in 
 a conformity to the nature and the will of God ; but we 
 must inquire what it is in God ; for this also it is in 
 Jesus, as God. Holiness in God, is justice, truth, and 
 goodness, in the abstract: or, as it is explained by some, 
 it is the love of order; i. e. of that order which is suitable 
 and fitting to his nature, and to every relation in which a 
 holy God can stand to any creature in his vast, universal, 
 and infinite empire. We can form an abstract idea of the 
 thing, or that such a thing is, and must be; but what it is— 
 what that suitableness, fitness, or order is—we are alto¬ 
 gether incapable of conceiving, excepting so far as he 
 hath revealed it. Proud man, indeed, is often presuming 
 to assert what he conceives it to be fitting and proper for 
 the infinite Jehovah to do; but thereby he is only shewing 
 his ignorance, his folly, and his pride. It will often be 
 found that his ways are not our ways, nor are our thoughts 
 his thoughts ; but as the heavens are high above the earth, 
 so are his ways high above our ways, and his thoughts 
 above our thoughts. He often sees it right to do what 
 we should not have done in the order of his acts, and to 
 refuse to do what we should have conceived he must have 
 done; so incompetent are we to judge of what is suitable 
 to him : yet all his ways are righteous ; and, where we can 
 the least understand, just and true is the Lord. A holy 
 God is therefore essentially, and in his very nature, what¬ 
 ever he hath revealed of justice, truth, and goodness, in 
 his word. In him all these are pure and unmixed, com¬ 
 plete, uniform, and infinite. In man, holiness is the imi¬ 
 tation of these his dispositions and his character, according 
 to the several relations which he sustains; but as we can 
 
HOLY ONE. 
 
 10 
 
 only know this by his word, the clearest definition of holi¬ 
 ness in man is a conformity to his will and commandments. 
 In both these respects the title belongs to the Lord Jesus, 
 the Holy One, the Holy One of God, and of Israel. 
 
 Let us see how it belongs to him, 
 
 (1.) As God.— Upon this ground, and in allusion to this 
 character, the Prophet, or rather the Lord by the Pro¬ 
 phet, encourages the hope of his people of old: “ Fear 
 not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel: I will help 
 thee, saith Jehovah, and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of 
 Israel.” (Isa. xli. 14.) “ Thou shalt rejoice in the Lord, 
 
 and shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel.” (ver. 16.) 
 “ That they may see, and know, and consider, and under¬ 
 stand together, that the hand of Jehovah hath done this, 
 and the Holy One of Israel hath created it.” (ver. 20.) 
 Passages to this effect might indeed be multiplied without 
 end in the Prophets. It is also in reference to his Divine 
 glory that he is called “ The Holy One.” (1 John ii. 20.) 
 “Ye have an unction from The Holy One.” Holiness is 
 therefore in him, as God, essentially and fundamentally, 
 by necessity of nature, as in union with the Divine es¬ 
 sence. This is indeed the peculiar glory of the Divine 
 nature; and that which above all must be the object of 
 our love and praise, of our delight and confidence. For 
 this he is adored and celebrated by the host above. In 
 that sublime vision of the Prophet, when he beheld the 
 Lord sitting upon his throne, surrounded by the adoring 
 seraphim, covering their feet and their faces with their 
 wings, the subject of their praise is this, “ Holy, holy, holy, 
 is the Lord.” (Isa. vi. 3.) “ Yet this,” says the Apostle, 
 “was the vision of the glory of Jesus.” (John xii. 41.) 
 The same is represented, in New Testament prophecy, to 
 be the subject of their adoring praise, where the cherubic 
 emblems are described as giving all glory to him, to whom 
 all glory is due ; “ They rest not day and night, saying. 
 Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, 
 and is to come.” (Rev. iv. 8.) As such, therefore, in an 
 eternal and invariable union of nature and of will with 
 
 c 2 
 
20 
 
 SERIES IX.— ESSAY II. 
 
 the Father and the Holy Ghost, he must will that which 
 is holy, suitable to the rule of right order, of justice, 
 truth, and goodness, as it exists in the one infinite and 
 spotless essence of the Godhead. And his eternal mind, 
 in all its motions and volitions, must move and will, ac¬ 
 cording to his own revealed discovery of righteousness and 
 of goodness in his word. 
 
 “ The Lord is, therefore, righteous in all his ways, and 
 holy in all his works.” He must be so in all his opera¬ 
 tions; for the works of the Holy One must be like him¬ 
 self. In the original creation, as he viewed the various 
 works of his hand, “ he saw that they were good and 
 when he had completed his highest terrestrial workman¬ 
 ship, in man, formed in his own image, he saw every 
 thing that he had made, and behold it was very good. 
 
 He is also, in his Divine nature, communicatively the 
 Source of all holiness. All the holiness which creatures 
 do, or shall possess and enjoy through eternity, is derived 
 from the unmeasureable abyss of God’s holiness, the foun¬ 
 tain of all holiness and purity. 
 
 This he is especially suited to become to us, because 
 his own holiness is essential and underived, and is there¬ 
 fore perfect and unchangeable: in this, as in every indi¬ 
 vidual perfection, he is “ from everlasting to everlasting 
 the same.” The title, therefore, of The Holy One implies 
 much more than that he is holy, as other upright crea¬ 
 tures are; for it leads us to contemplate him as essen¬ 
 tially and unchangeably so, and the Source of all supply 
 to the creatures of his hand. As the term, however, may 
 apply not only to his Divine nature, but to his mediatorial 
 person as Immanuel, it leads us to a different view of 
 the same important subject. In this view, the Apostle 
 asserts that our great High Priest was eminently and 
 emphatically “ holy, undefiled, and separate from sinners.” 
 (Heb. vii. 26.) Here, then, we must contemplate him, 
 not in his Divine nature only, but in his human nature; 
 nor in his human nature alone, but in the unv of both — 
 God and man in one Christ. And as such 
 
HOLY ONE. 
 
 21 
 
 2. He is also necessarily and absolutely holy; holy by 
 nature, as no other man was or could be. —The peculiar 
 manner of his miraculous conception was designed for 
 effecting this important purpose, which could never have 
 been effected in the natural order of human birth. Hence 
 his human nature was formed in an extraordinary manner; 
 so that, though he was true and very man, he was not 
 conceived or born as other men; but deriving his flesh 
 from the Virgin Mary, his mother, he was produced imme¬ 
 diately by the work and operation of the Holy Ghost. 
 “ The angel said unto her, The Holy Ghost 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.” (Luke i. 85.) 
 Hence it is said, “ she was ftfftnd with Child of the 
 Holy Ghost” (Matt. i. 18); and the Babe of Bethlehem 
 is called the Holy Child Jesus; holy in his origin and 
 nature, as well as in his acts; and therefore holy in all his 
 acts, because perfectly so in his nature. Upon Him, also, 
 in his human nature, the Spirit of holiness rested without 
 measure; for “ God giveth not the Spirit by measure 
 unto him.” (John iii. 34.) Anointed, therefore, with this 
 oil of gladness above his fellows (Psa. xlv. 7), above all 
 who held the distinct offices which were united together 
 in him, he appears as “ the only-begotten of the Father, 
 full of grace and truth.” 
 
 By such an unction of the Spirit, and by such a peculiar 
 indwelling and union of the Spirit, he must be eminently 
 the Holy One. But as the human nature in the person 
 of the Saviour is taken into union with the Eternal Word;— 
 “ the Word was made flesh ;” “ God was manifest in the 
 flesh;”—in him, therefore, necessarily “ dwelt all the ful¬ 
 ness of the Godhead bodily.” He is, as such, the author 
 of his own holiness, which is from himself, even from his 
 own self-sufficiency: his divinity fills his humanity with 
 all grace and holiness, preserves it from every stain and 
 defilement, adorns it with all its glories, and will through¬ 
 out eternity shine through it on the eternal throne. What 
 
SERIES IX.—ESSAY II. 
 
 22 
 
 a Holy Saviour is the Lord Jesus! liovv suitable to be the 
 object of our unwavering confidence and faith ! In all 
 his acts, therefore, his holiness is pure, unstained, and 
 unsullied, without the least mixture of defilement. In the 
 best of saints, pollution mingles with all they do, or think, 
 or say; their unholiness is much more than their holiness; 
 yea, unholiness is their very nature; and all their holiness 
 derived from, and dependent upon, the continual indwelling 
 and influence of his Holy Spirit. But he is “ the Lamb of 
 God without blemish and without spot: he did no sin, 
 neither was guile found in his mouth he was altogether 
 lovely in the sight of God, as in the sight of his people. 
 
 Unmoved by provocation, unstained by temptation, un¬ 
 contaminated with the evil customs or ways of men; not 
 all the allurements of the world, nor all the assaults of 
 satan could ever defile his heart, his thoughts, or his ways. 
 In the midst of all. He is still the same humble, meek, up¬ 
 right and Holy Jesus, insomuch that his enemies could 
 find no reply, when he put the question to them, “ Which 
 of you convinceth me of sin ?” (John viii. 46.) The judge 
 who condemned him, acknowledged that he found no fault 
 in him. (Matt, xxvii. 24.) “ I have betrayed,” said the 
 traitorous Judas (Matt, xxvii. 4), “ the innocent blood 
 and the Apostle Peter calls him, “the approved of God” 
 amongst them. (Acts ii. 22.) But he is not only without 
 sin, or unstained, but through the holiness of his nature, 
 his holiness of conduct is absolutely perfect, not only in all 
 its parts, but to its highest degree. Though the real be¬ 
 liever is renewed in every part, in every part that holiness 
 is incomplete, as well as mixed with corruption; but the 
 Holy Redeemer in his human nature, and mediatorial cha¬ 
 racter, possesses the fulness of all Holiness. “In him,” says 
 an old writer, “is the fulness of the fountain, in his people 
 the fulness of the vessel; in Him is the fulness of the root, 
 in them of the branches; in Him the fulness of redun¬ 
 dancy, in them of (communicated) sufficiency : they enjoy 
 some of the drops, He himself is the ocean.” He indeed 
 must be holy without measure, who hath the Spirit without 
 
HOLY ONE. 
 
 23 
 
 measure; and as that Spirit is the Eternal Spirit, and He 
 himself is the Eternal God, so his holiness is undecaying, 
 and eternal. It cannot be subjected to loss, as was that 
 of man in his original state; nor to any decay, variation, 
 or fluctuation, as ours in the present state. As it is sus¬ 
 tained by his own infinite self-sutficiency, it must therefore 
 be eternal: He has been the Holy One of Israel for ages 
 past, and is and will be so to-day and for ever. 
 
 The fulness of the Godhead, which is in him, is said 
 therefore, to dwell in him. (Col. i. 19.) It is not a tran¬ 
 sient guest, but a rightful and perpetual inhabitant, in the 
 purity of his human nature. In us it ebbs and flows ; but 
 he is the full sea, where no such changes are known, where 
 all is infinite, all is immutable, all is eternal. But if as 
 Mediator in the person of Immanuel, all fulness is in him; 
 if he be the fountain, or if he be the root, it is with the ex¬ 
 press design that we may receive from him: and it is the 
 glory of his character, that this, as all his mediatorial fulness, 
 is communicative to his people. There is not a drop of 
 this living water, but what comes from him: in him we 
 must be placed, united to him, and by that union deriving 
 from him, that we may bring forth the fruits of righteous¬ 
 ness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise 
 of God. (Phil. i. 11.) It was he who created man in his 
 Divine image: it is he who creates him, in righteousness 
 and true holiness, in the image of him who created him. He 
 alone is our Sanctification, who alone can make his people 
 holy; so that we are holy in him, and holy before him, 
 sanctified in Christ Jesus, and called. The most holy parents 
 cannot transmit their holiness, nor can the highestangel com¬ 
 municate from his store; but His grace and virtue flow out 
 from him to his people, to the lowest of his members, or to 
 the topmost shoot of the tree. He quickens to spiritual 
 life: he supplies, for spiritual fruitfulness, those fruits of 
 the Spirit, which are in all goodness, righteousness, and 
 truth. 
 
 What a glorious Saviour is this! my Jesus corresponding 
 with my wants! He is holy in himself, essentially holy in 
 
24 SERIES IX.—ESSAY II. , * 
 
 himself: therefore he is infinitely lovely ; but how much 
 more so, as he is all this to and for me ! He can make such 
 an unholy sinner perfectly holy in the sight of God, as in 
 union with himself, as one with him : He can make such 
 an unholy sinner, holy in principle and in practice now, 
 and at last perfectly like himself: but all pretended holi¬ 
 ness in nature’s garden, that is not derived from him, is 
 but like the apples of Sodom, beautiful without, but full of 
 corruption within ; it is an imitation, an image without 
 life. The very spring and source of all is in Him, and the 
 constant supplies must be received from him : the highest 
 believer, after all his exercises of grace, is still equally de¬ 
 pendent upon him, and would wither and die away without 
 his gracious influence; and by him all is enlivened, quick¬ 
 ened, and invigorated as he pleases. In every means of 
 grace, this must be especially remembered : to Him our eye 
 must be directed ; from Him alone we must expect the ef¬ 
 fectual blessing for which we are waiting in his ordinances, 
 and thus shew that he has all the glory, while the abundant 
 grace redounds, through the thanksgiving of many, to the 
 glory of God. But while we remember that all grace is 
 derived from Him, we cannot set before us a more beau¬ 
 tiful pattern for imitation than his own holy character. In 
 Him we have an absolutely perfect example, the pattern of 
 every Christian grace and virtue, the mark set before us. 
 His life is recorded, that we might lay it before us, as the 
 golden example, according to which we are to write and 
 work. He has left us “an example, that we should follow 
 his steps, who did no sin, neither was guile found in his 
 mouth.” (1 Pet. ii. 21, 22.) “Take my yoke upon you,” 
 says the Redeemer himself, “ and learn of me, for I am 
 meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your 
 souls.” (Matt. xi. 29.) This is the measure, the standard to 
 which we are to aim. What room for daily pressing for¬ 
 ward 1 Well may we say with the Apostle, “Not that I have 
 already attained but may add, “ I press forward toward 
 the mark, forgetting the things that are behind, and reach 
 forth to things that are before; if I may apprehend that 
 
HOLY ONE. 
 
 25 
 
 
 for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.” (Phil, 
 iii. 12, &c.)—My Christian brethren, is this what we are 
 daily proposing- to ourselves, in the Christian life l Is this 
 the daily pattern of our imitation ? We are not then in¬ 
 quiring what are the customs, the fashions, or the ways of 
 the world, but what would my Lord have done in such and 
 such a situation ? What is the path he would have trod ? 
 there let me follow him. How shall 1 be more like him? 
 Whatever direction we may need for our daily conduct, 
 we need only look at Him, and we shall find in his spirit, 
 temper, and conduct, a sure directory. (Heb.xii.2.) Let 
 us then endeavour to copy his holiness, and to encourage 
 and promote the same, in the heart and in the practice of 
 others all around us. Holiness is the beauty of Christ’s 
 character. It is for this, that he is so lovely to the Father, 
 and so precious to his people. He shines in all the beauty 
 of holiness: and how beautiful is the Christian character, 
 and profession, when it is thus adorned with practical holi¬ 
 ness! This is the excellency of any character, and is there¬ 
 fore the most glorious gift of Christ. If indeed we could 
 make our children holy, we should do more than if we could 
 bestow upon them all the riches and honours of the world; 
 and if we were convinced of this, surelv we should be more 
 diligent in the use of the means, in which the Lord Jesus 
 can, and in which he usually does, bestow the blessing, and 
 which he has promised to bless for this purpose. If we 
 ourselves would be holy, we must learn our own unholiness, 
 and our total inability to change our miserable state. We 
 must use the means and ordinances of his appointment, 
 and above all we must go to Christ, look to him in the 
 prayer of faith, and be daily comparing ourselves with him, 
 that we may learn what is the rule and mark at which we 
 are to attain; for though without him we can do nothing, 
 abiding in him and receiving grace from him, “ we can do 
 all things;” can “bring forth much fruit” of practical 
 holiness, by his grace, to his glory. (John xv. 1—3.) In 
 Him we shall grow up in all things, who is the Head of 
 vital influence. (Eph. iv. 15.) Thus we shall increase 
 
SERIES IX.—ESSAY II. 
 
 26 
 
 more and more; grow in the grace and in the knowledge 
 of our Lord Jesus Christ; be more aud more like him ; be 
 changed into the same image from glory to glory, while we 
 more and more glorify Him, by attributing all without re¬ 
 serve, to his own power and sovereign grace. The wicked 
 indeed very often revile and scorn the very name of holiness: 
 a saint, once sanctified in Christ Jesus, is the object of 
 their derision ; so it was of old. “They think it strange,” 
 says the Apostle, “ that you run not with them to the same 
 excess of riot, speaking evil of you” (1 Pet. iv. 4); and so 
 it is still. But in as far as holiness is the image of Christ, 
 and to be holy is to be like Christ; to hate the believer for 
 his holiness, is in fact to hate and dishonour Christ himself, 
 who will soon arise to plead his own cause, to the awful con¬ 
 fusion of the scorner. Yea, not only is it necessary that 
 we should not be soorners of holiness, but that we our¬ 
 selves should be made holy, sanctified in heart and nature, 
 and so in temper and in practice. Without this, we shall 
 remain “ earthly, sensual, and devilish which is not the 
 character of his people; and when we appear before the 
 judgment-seat of Christ, however now we may deride 
 every pretension to holiness, it will be to our eternal con¬ 
 fusion to be found without it. “ Verily, verily,” these are 
 the words of our Lord himself, “ I say unto you, ye must 
 be born again.” The promise of the new covenant is a 
 new heart: the Apostle, therefore, speaks of being re¬ 
 newed in the Spirit of our minds. The change, though 
 imperfect, is real and universal: all his people, who are the 
 objects of his love, are therefore by his grace made like 
 himself. Though he loved them and redeemed them, 
 while in a state of sin (Rom. v. 6—8), yet it was not his 
 design that they should continue in that state. No: He 
 gave himself for them, “ that he might redeem them from 
 all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zea¬ 
 lous of good works.” (Tit. ii. 14.) For this purpose he 
 gives to them the Spirit of holiness, whose first operation 
 upon the heart is to convince of sin ; and his constant work 
 is the renovation of the heart into the love and the prac- 
 
HOLY ONE. 
 
 27 
 
 iice of holiness. Thus the humble believer, accepted and 
 justified in Christ, is brought to love a holy God ; yea, to 
 delight at the remembrance of his holiness. With holy re¬ 
 verence he contemplates his character; with holy delight he 
 engages in his worship; with holy love he studies his word ; 
 and in his house he longs to behold all the holy beauty of 
 the Lord, that he may worship in the beauty of holiness; 
 for “ Holiness,” says be, “ becometh thine house for ever.” 
 And how shall a sinner enter into a holy heaven, into the 
 presence of a Holy God, a Holy Saviour, and a Holy Spirit, 
 while the love and the defilement of sin are upon the heart ? 
 No : there is an essential difference between the sinner and 
 the saint, effected by the sovereign power and grace of 
 Jesus, by the work and constant abiding of his Spirit. 
 The believer longs for its increase, that it may be more 
 evident to the glory of his Lord now in time; and he 
 looks forward as the consummation of all his desire, when 
 it shall be completed without deficiency or mixture in the 
 kingdom of glory. And let us not deceive ourselves with 
 vain words ; for without this essential change by Divine 
 grace, a Holy Saviour will be our eternal terror, and not 
 an eternal salvation. He forms his people for himself, by 
 the renovating influences of his Spirit now, and makes 
 them to delight in that which will be their eternal enjoy¬ 
 ment above. 
 
 His people therefore now love, and praise, and admire 
 him, for his holiness. Holiness is always admirable, even 
 as it appears now in his people, with all that mixture of 
 sin and imperfection ; but how glorious must it be in him 
 who is the Holy One! We find the church, therefore, 
 continually praising and adoring the God of holiness. 
 ** Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods ? 
 who is like unto thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in 
 praises, doing wonders?” (Ex. xv. 11.) “ Exalt the Lord 
 our God,” says the Psalmist, “ for the Lord our God is 
 holy.” And such is the triumph of the church above. 
 (Rev. iv. 8, 10, 11.) Let him then excite our reverence : 
 let us fear to use his name in vain ; that fearful, that holy 
 
28 
 
 SERIES IX. — ESSAY II. 
 
 name. As such he deserves our highest love : holiness is 
 spiritual beauty; and when we love him for his holiness, we 
 evidence the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. We 
 may love his bounty, his kindness, his goodness, his com¬ 
 passion ; but to love the Lord for his holiness, is a temper 
 of mind which can be infused by the operation of his own 
 Spirit alone. Those who fancy they love a Saviour, but 
 hate the Holy One ; who would be partakers of the bless¬ 
 ings of his salvation, but have no desire of the holiness of 
 that salvation; are certainly deceived, and ignorant of the 
 very nature of that salvation which he bestows : but those 
 who love the Lord Jesus for his holiness, are certainly par¬ 
 takers of his holiness. The holiness indeed of his cha¬ 
 racter is the security of his people, both as to the perfection 
 of his sacrifice, and the faithfulness of his engagement. 
 In and through it he himself is perfectly acceptable, the 
 Father looks upon him in his holy person with infinite de¬ 
 light and pleasure ; and as such he is equally endeared and 
 acceptable to him in all his work, in the bitterest sorrow 
 and sufferings of his cross: yea, there he is peculiarly 
 acceptable; for “ therefore,” says he, “ does my Father 
 love me, because I lay down my life for my sheep.” (John 
 x. 17.)—No animal upon whom there was any blemish, 
 might be offered to the Lord in sacrifice under the Law 
 (Mai. i. 7, 8), as an emblem of the unblemished purity of 
 Him, who, once in the end of the world, hath offered him¬ 
 self an offering and a sacrifice, to put away our sin. What 
 a valuable atonement, what a suitable sacrifice is the imma¬ 
 culate person of Jesus our Redeemer ! When such a holy 
 Jesus himself became the sufferer; his atonement, ac¬ 
 cepted of the Father, must be infinitely meritorious : surely 
 it shall save me from all my unholiness ; and when this 
 offering is mine by faith, I may rejoice in the confidence of 
 infinite blessings. A Holy Saviour will also be faithful to 
 complete his own work, to fulfil his promises, and to bring 
 his people to himself. He cannot fail the expectation and 
 faith of his people, because his truth and faithfulness can¬ 
 not fail, and his promise must stand fast for ever. Without 
 
HOLY ONE. 
 
 29 
 
 this the holiness of his character would be impeached : he 
 must, therefore, accomplish all his purposes of grace ; he 
 must persevere and finish his work ; and since he has said, 
 “ I give unto my sheep eternal life, and they shall never 
 perish,” he must bring them all around his throne, and put 
 them into possession of those mansions, which he is now 
 preparing for them. If then he has put the desire into the 
 heart, he will preserve and perfect that desire in enjoy¬ 
 ment. Bless him then, O believer, for the least genuine 
 evidence of the work of his grace. When completely like 
 him, then you will be completely happy, in the full enjoy¬ 
 ment of his salvation. There nothing shall enter which 
 defileth, or that maketh unclean : all that are with him shall 
 be like him ; and seeing we look for such things as these, 
 “ what manner of persons ought we now to be, in all holy 
 conversation and godliness; looking for, and hastening 
 unto, this coming of the day of Godfor these words 
 are true and faithful. 
 
30 
 
 SERIES IX.—ESSAY III. 
 
 ESSAY III. 
 
 Suretp— 
 
 The title of Surety bears a near analogy to that of Medi¬ 
 ator ; or rather, it is one specific part of that comprehen¬ 
 sive office. We before considered the title of Mediator in 
 its most extensive sense as belonging to Him who carries 
 on every concern between God and man; who is the only 
 Medium of all communication between God and sinners, 
 and between sinners and a holy God ; established as the 
 Head of creation and redemption, in nature, providence, 
 grace, and glory, the Fountain and communicating Origin 
 of all. The office of Surety is one well known amongst 
 men : it was of old usually entered upon by the striking 
 of hands, and is therefore thus referred to in the Book of 
 Proverbs (vi. 1, 2): “ My son, if thou be surety for thy 
 friend, if thou hast stricken thine hand with a stranger, 
 thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art 
 taken with the words of thy mouth : ” and Job, in the 
 midst of his affliction, thus humbly supplicates, “ Put me 
 in a surety with thee : who is he that will strike hands 
 with me ? ” (chap. xvii. 3: compare Prov. xvii. 18. and 
 xxii. 26.) It implies a solemn engagement or under¬ 
 taking to fulfil a certain obligation for another, which obli¬ 
 gation naturally rested upon the party undertaken for ; but 
 is thus voluntarily assumed to himself by the Surety, and 
 which being fulfilled, and legally acknowledged, all the 
 benefits result to the party for whom it is undertaken, 
 who thus, in the eye of the law, is considered as fulfilling 
 and accomplishing the obligation in his Surety. 
 
 The office, as it refers to the Lord Jesus Christ, is par¬ 
 ticularly to be referred to the terms of the everlasting 
 
SURETY. 
 
 31 
 
 covenant of grace, on behalf of his people: therefore he 
 is called “ the Surety of the better covenant All 
 those terms he engages to fulfil for the glory of the Eternal 
 Jehovah, in the salvation of sinners: and in consequence 
 of this, all its blessings are committed into his hands to 
 bestow, and to ensure their engagement in the souls of 
 all the redeemed for ever. This is, therefore, one of the 
 most glorious characters of the Redeemer, and one ad¬ 
 mirably suited to be the foundation of the faith, the hope, 
 and the consolation of every believing sinner. For our 
 glorious Surety hath indeed accomplished his undertaking; 
 and in him his people do, and shall eternally enjoy all its 
 glorious benefits. We may therefore consider the cha¬ 
 racter, as branching forth into two leading ideas:— 
 
 1. The undertaking of the ever blessed Redeemer, for, 
 and on behalf of, us poor sinners towards God ; in doing- 
 all that could be required for the promoting of his glory 
 in our salvation. 
 
 2. His undertaking, for and on behalf of a holy God 
 towards his redeemed, that all the blessings of the cove¬ 
 nant shall be eternally communicated to them. 
 
 1. The undertaking of the ever-blessed Redeemer ,for,and 
 on behalf of, us poor sinners towards God; in doing all 
 that was necessary to the glory of God, in the salvation of 
 sinners. —It was for this cause that the adorable Jesus came 
 into the world. “When sacrifice and offering thou didst not 
 desire, then said I, Lo ! I come to do thy will, O God.” 
 What that will of God was which he thus engaged to do, 
 he tells us in John vi. 39, 40: it was the redemption, and 
 ultimately the final salvation, of his people. If He who was 
 in the form of God humbled himself; if he was made under 
 the Law, and if he endured the cross ; it was not for him¬ 
 self, but for us: our state required his condescension to 
 redeem and save : our state, and the everlasting love he 
 bore to his people, induced him to undertake the act of 
 mercy, and to endure till he had accomplished it. A know¬ 
 ledge of our state will indeed make this Saviour appear 
 suitable and glorious, and render him exceedingly pre- 
 
32 
 
 SERIES IX.—ESSAY II. 
 
 cious to our souls, by believing-. May the contemplation 
 now be sweet and enlivening, by the kind teaching of his 
 own gracious and almighty Spirit! 
 
 The life and blessings which were promised to obe¬ 
 dience (for the threatening and the curse attached to dis¬ 
 obedience implied such a promise to obedience, of the 
 continuance of life and blessing) are now forfeited by 
 transgression; the first surety having fallen, and all his 
 posterity in him. Sin has entered into the world, and 
 death by sin; and so death passeth upon all men, because 
 all are sinners. (Rom. v. 12.) In whatever light, there¬ 
 fore, we consider man, he is wretched and helpless, as 
 under a covenant which he has violated, and a curse 
 which he has justly merited, but can neither evade nor 
 avert. As a debtor, he has nothing to pay ; as a trans¬ 
 gressor of the Law, he has no satisfaction to render; and 
 as a rebel, he is under the sentence: but, without pay¬ 
 ment, the debt subjects the debtor to imprisonment; with¬ 
 out satisfaction, transgression must be punished; and a 
 rebel, without an act of grace, is exposed to the penalty 
 of death. But behold the infinite and sovereign love of 
 God our Saviour, in his everlasting compassion and love 
 to his church. He interposes, undertakes the cause of 
 his people, and becomes, in the engagements of eternity, 
 the Surety of that better covenant, to secure the salvation 
 of those whom he also covenants to redeem. 
 
 In the eye of the Law, the debtor and the surety are but 
 one: when his mediation is accepted, he legally bears his 
 person, and becomes responsible for every demand upon 
 him ; and in the fulfilment, the debtor is legally entitled 
 to the benefit of his surety acts. Nothing can more clearly 
 represent the nature and design of the undertaking and 
 work of Christ, who thus, according to the arrangement 
 of the everlasting covenant, sustains, in law, the person of 
 the sinner, bears all his guilt, and becomes responsible 
 for every demand which justice could make upon him, 
 that the full benefit of his whole work may be enjoyed by 
 all who arc thus legally united with him. This is the great, 
 
SURETY. 
 
 33 
 
 She peculiar, truth of the Gospel, in which hrs substitu¬ 
 tion for his people is continually held forth; his work is 
 represented as undertaken and executed for their benefit; 
 and his dying upon the cross is described, not only as a 
 confirmation of his character and doctrine, not only as an 
 example of patience and obedience, but the sacrifice for 
 sin, and the substituted offering instead of the sinner. 
 In this the language of Prophets and Apostles concur: 
 “ He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows”— 
 “ He was wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for 
 our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon 
 him.” Jehovah laid on him the iniquity of us all: “ For 
 the transgression of my people was he stricken,” that he 
 might make his soul an offering for sin, that he might 
 justify many, as he bare the sin of many. (Isa. liii.) “ He 
 was cut off, but not for himself,” but to finish transgres¬ 
 sion, and make an end of sins ; to make reconciliation for 
 iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness. (Dan. 
 ix. 24—26.) Thus says the Apostle, “ He, his own self, 
 bare our sins in his own body on the tree.” (I Pet. ii. 24.) 
 And again, another Apostle; He became “sin for us, 
 who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteous¬ 
 ness of God in him.” (2 Cor. v. 21.) “ And hath deli¬ 
 vered us from the curse of the Law, by becoming a curse 
 for us.” (Gal. iii. 13.) Th«f whole tenor of the Apostle’s 
 argument in Rom. v. 15—21, rests upon this very truth, 
 that as sin and death entered by the disobedience of the 
 first Adam, so righteousness and eternal life are received 
 by the obedience of the Second Adam, the man Christ 
 Jesus. This presents the blessed Jesus in a character, 
 which, as it is absolutely needful for us as sinners, is 
 exactly suited to our state; in which, therefore, he is 
 most glorious, and will be most precious to his believing 
 people. It presents him to us in a covenant relation, 
 which secures all we need ; and when faith beholds him 
 in it, and rests upon him, in the confidence of his having 
 fulfilled all his undertaking, the most certain ground is 
 laid for the assurance of pardon, life, and salvation, to 
 VOL. v. D 
 
SERIES IX_ESSAY III. 
 
 34 
 
 the believing sinner. This wonderful undertaking and 
 work of Christ Jesus divides itself into two parts, obedi¬ 
 ence and suffering —both of which were due on the part 
 of man—both of which are completed in the person of 
 the Surety; obedience to satisfy the demands of the Law, 
 and suffering to accomplish the sentence which man had 
 merited by transgression. 
 
 1. By the absolute purity of his nature, by the perfect 
 holiness of his life, and by his complete fulfilment of all 
 the will of the Father, he wrought out, and brought in, an 
 everlasting righteousness ; so suited to the honour of the 
 Divine perfections, and to the demands of the holy Law, 
 that infinite truth, justice, and purity can require and 
 desire no more, since the Law is thus magnified and made 
 honourable. As, therefore, “ such an High Priest became 
 us, who was holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sin¬ 
 ners, and made higher than the heavens” (Heb. vii. 26), 
 our Jesus is, in nature and in act, the Holy One and the 
 Just; the Lamb of God, without blemish and without 
 spot; the eminently Righteous One. And as this was 
 the voluntary undertaking and obedience of him, upon 
 whom the Law otherwise could have no demand, and who 
 was, therefore, by his own voluntary act, as well as by the 
 will of the Father, in the fulness of time made under the 
 Law; it was a righteousness which extended beyond the 
 benefit of him who wrought it; a righteousness which 
 could be wrought for others, and become meritorious for 
 their justification and salvation. “ He for us, therefore, 
 paid the ransom by his death; he for us fulfilled the law 
 in his life ; so that now in him, and by him, every true 
 Christian man may be called a fulfiller of the Law*.” 
 
 From the legal and covenant union which there is 
 between Christ and his people, this righteousness, thus 
 wrought in the person of the Surety, being designed as 
 the fulfilment of all the covenant terms, and, being in 
 every respect suited to, and adequate to, the terms of 
 
 * Homily on Salvation. 
 
SURETY. 
 
 35 
 
 that covenant, could be imputed to them, and, as imputed 
 by the free act of the eternal Jehovah, becomes experi¬ 
 mentally theirs by faith ; for, says the Apostle, “ it shall be 
 imputed to us, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus 
 our Lord from the dead ; who was delivered for our offen¬ 
 ces, and was raised again for our justification.” (Rom. 
 iv. 24, 25.) Here then is, in the person of the Surety for 
 his people, a complete fulfilment of the preceptive part of 
 the Law, a righteousness every way answering its demands, 
 without defect or defilement. Yea, as this is the obedi¬ 
 ence of Immanuel, the God-man, it must partake of 
 the dignity and honour of his Divine nature, and is there¬ 
 fore, in its excellency, infinitely above the aggregate obedi¬ 
 ence of all creatures. It must, therefore, be more glorious 
 to the Law, than the unsinning obedience of all creation 
 could be. Hence also it is called the righteousness of 
 God, which is by faith; and he who is a partaker of it, is 
 made the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, who is, ac¬ 
 cording to the purpose of the eternal Jehovah, “ the End of 
 the Law for righteousness to every one that believeth,” and 
 so our Righteousness, the Lord our Righteousness. 
 
 In this holiness of nature and of act, the Father looks 
 upon him with infinite and uninterrupted complacency as 
 Mediator; and in every character and office which is con¬ 
 nected with that fundamental office, as well as in every act 
 which he performs in it. “ Behold,” says he, “ my ser¬ 
 vant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul de- 
 lighteth: I have put my Spirit upon him; he shall bring 
 forth judgment to the Gentiles,” &c. ; for “ the Lord is 
 well pleased for his righteousness sake.” (Isa. xlii. 1, 21.) 
 “ This is my beloved Son,” says the voice from heaven on 
 his public entrance upon office, “ in whom I am well 
 pleased ;” always well pleased, well pleased with his per¬ 
 son, his work, his undertaking, his sufferings, his exalta¬ 
 tion, his completing the redemption, and consummating 
 the salvation, of his redeemed. Oh, glorious Redeemer! 
 may my delight in thee ever correspond with the delight of 
 the Father: let me be found in thee, not having mine own 
 
 d 2 
 
3 G 
 
 SERIES IX.—ESSAY III. 
 
 righteousness, which is of the Law ; but that which is 
 through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of 
 God by faith. On this account the Apostle gloried in the 
 Gospel, that therein the righteousness of God was re¬ 
 vealed from faith to faith. (See Rom. i. 17, &c.) And 
 again, therein “ the righteousness of God without the Law 
 is manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Pro¬ 
 phets; even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of 
 Jesus Christ, unto all, and upon all them that believe ; for 
 there is no difference.” And such is the efficacy of this Di¬ 
 vine righteousness, that through its completion in the person 
 of Christ, and by its imputation to the sinner, God is just 
 when he becomes the justifier of every such sinner be¬ 
 lieving in Jesus. (Rom. iii. 21—2G.) Here every doubt 
 and difficulty is solved; here every fear is anticipated, 
 which may arise in the mind of the penitent sinner, inquir¬ 
 ing the way to God, and the ground of pardon and accept¬ 
 ance. The whole is out of self in Christ Jesus : and thus 
 secured in him, whosoever believeth in him is justified 
 from all things; to him there is no condemnation, he shall 
 not perish, but shall have everlasting life. Yes, humble, 
 trembling, penitent, notwithstanding thy guilt and wretch¬ 
 edness, it is the free gift of God in Jesus Christ our Lord ; 
 notwithstanding all thy unworthiness, by the grace that 
 made it thine, his righteousness is thine by faith, and thou 
 shalt enjoy all his salvation. 
 
 2. The debt of punishment, which was due to the 
 government, the law, and the justice of God, could never 
 have been exacted, but to the eternal destruction of the 
 offender. Who could undertake the payment of the vast 
 amount? How solemn the undertaking, when the wrath 
 of God and the severity of justice hung over the guilty, 
 to interpose in order to save; yea, to give himself, to bear 
 the whole even to the uttermost, to deliver me! Here 
 surely it was eminently true, “ he that becometh surety 
 for a stranger shall smart for it.” The blessed Jesus him¬ 
 self undertakes the work ; himself endures the penalty 
 and bears the curse, when he offered himself up an offer- 
 
SURETY. 
 
 37 
 
 ing and a sacrifice to God. Yes, he endured that immen¬ 
 sity of wrath which, without his suffering, must have fallen 
 upon us, never to be exhausted throughout eternity. Let 
 the Prophet describe his undertaking, and the design of 
 his bitter agony; and he will tell us, that “ He was wound¬ 
 ed for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities; the 
 chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his 
 stripes we were healed,” when the Lord made to meet upon 
 him, like so many floods pouring themselves into one 
 mighty overwhelming stream, “ the iniquity of us all.” (Isa. 
 liii. 4—6.) This it was that rendered his condescension 
 into our nature so necessary, that “ He who was rich,” 
 for our sakes might become poor ; that “ He who was in 
 the form of God” should take upon himself the form of a 
 servant. For this he became the Child of Bethlehem ; for 
 this he was cast out from the womb, and took part of the 
 same flesh and blood, of which his children were partakers, 
 that through death he might destroy him that had the power 
 of death, and deliver those who were under its power. 
 The Apostle gives us this reason for his condescension, that 
 “ being made of a woman, he might be made under the 
 Law.” (Gal. iv. 4.) The Law could otherwise have no de¬ 
 mand upon him, except as he took the place of sinners; and 
 as such he invited it, as it were, to spend all its sentence 
 upon him ; that those for whom he sustained and suffered, 
 might obtain eternal deliverance and redemption. It was 
 in this character that the Lord Jehovah called his sword to 
 awake against the Man that was his Fellow". If we follow 
 him to the garden, and behold the bitter cries, the bloody 
 sweat, but the patient acquiescence; it is on this account 
 that the cup cannot pass away from him, except he drink 
 it. If we behold the cross, the thorns, the nails, the spear; 
 if there compelled by the unequalled, unparalleled scene of 
 suffering, we exclaim, “ Behold, and see if any sorrow 
 were like unto his sorrow, in the day when the Lord 
 afflicted him, in the day of his fierce anger!” It was 
 on this account as bearing; our sins, and in this cha- 
 racter as the Surety of the covenant, that it pleased the 
 
serie's IX.—ESSAY III. 
 
 Father to bruise the Son of his eternal love. Tell us, 
 ye who deny the necessity and the value of his atoning' 
 sacrifice, why it is that the most innocent is the greatest 
 sufferer? why the holy Lamb of God, w r ell pleasing to the 
 Father, and never more so than in the bitterest agony of 
 his death, endures the utmost severity of his wrath, and 
 is compelled to exclaim, “ My God, my God, why hast 
 thou forsaken me ?” In any other way, or upon any other 
 ground, it is impossible to account for it; but the Apostle 
 will give us a decided answer : it was, that “ by the grace 
 of God he might taste death for every man ;” for “ it be¬ 
 came Him for whom are all things, and by whom are all 
 things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the 
 Captain of their Salvation perfect through sufferings.” 
 ** It behoved him to be 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.” (Heb. ii. 9,10, 17.) He himself declaring, 
 that the very design of his coming was to give his life 
 “a ransom for many.” (Matt. xx. 28.) Here he stands 
 to pay that ransom : here the Law demands, and justice 
 enforces the demand to the very uttermost. But behold 
 the mighty Redeemer is able to endure; and there he does 
 endure, through all, till he could exclaim, “ It is finished:” 
 there, upon that cross, the full amount is paid, the full 
 discharge proclaimed ; and there he took away the hand¬ 
 writing that was against us, which was contrary to us, 
 nailing it to his cross; for now, “ by his one offering, he 
 hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified,” and 
 obtained complete and eternal remission, and the fulness 
 of the Spirit, to apply all the blessings of his salvation. 
 (See Heb. x. 14—18.)—Blessed Surety ! he has done for 
 me what not all the creatures upon earth, not all the 
 angels in heaven, could have accomplished; he has borne 
 all the curse, that I might have redemption through his 
 blood, even the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches 
 of Divine grace. Still, therefore, he appears in the same 
 character, though before the throne; and when the heavens 
 
SURETY. 
 
 39 
 
 were opened to the eyes of the admiring Apostle, lie 
 beheld, in the midst of the throne, a Lamb as it has been 
 slain (Rev. v. 6); intimating, that still he bears the im¬ 
 press of his wounds, pleading them as he appears upon 
 the throne, the Prince and the Priest of our profession : 
 and though the Advocate and the Lord, still it is remem¬ 
 bered that he is the Propitiation for our sins. How in¬ 
 finite the debt of love we owe to such a Saviour! Bre¬ 
 thren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, but to Jesus, our 
 Surety and our Friend : for the love of undertaking in the 
 everlasting counsel, for the love of his condescension in 
 our nature, and the agony of the cross ; for the love in 
 bestowing all still from his throne above; we are under an 
 infinite debt of obligation to the Lord our Saviour. We are 
 not our own, being thus bought with the immense price of 
 the blood of Jesus: let the love of Christ, therefore, con¬ 
 strain us. Never was love, never were sufferings, never 
 can blessings be like his. His love was not the love of the 
 worthy, but of rebels—of the ungodly. (Rom. v. 6.) His 
 sufferings were not the common sufferings of human na¬ 
 ture, but the wrath of God for us ; the very sting of all 
 sufferings, the curse which is the bitterest of all. The 
 glories of all the world, or, if possible, of ten thousand 
 worlds, can bear no comparison with the blessings he 
 bestows—blessings which will endure when the heavens 
 and the earth are in eternal ruin. The great goodness 
 which he has prepared, is what eye hath not seen, nor ear 
 heard; neither hath it entered into the heart of man to 
 conceive it. It is an exceeding great and an eternal 
 weight of glory: and for whom? for me, a miserable sinner, 
 redeemed for it by his own precious blood, and brought to 
 it by his own unbounded grace. Let this blessed Surety 
 have my love, my confidence, my service, and my praise. 
 To reject his person and his work, through ignorance, 
 pride, or corruption, is of all guilt the most awful, and 
 will be found the most overwhelming. The state of a 
 sinner who has never embraced Christ, by faith, as his 
 Surety, is the same as though lie had never become the 
 
40 
 
 SERIES IX-ESSAY III. 
 
 Surety; still as without Christ, he is without hope. As 
 this blessing is, therefore, received by faith, without this 
 faith the sinner is still in a state of nature and of wrath ; 
 nay, of worse wrath than that of the Law, the wrath of the 
 Lamb. I cannot however, believe on Christ for salvation, 
 unless I see and feel myself totally lost and helpless with¬ 
 out him ; and hence so many in their ignorance reject the 
 only Saviour, and remain under the Law. But if under 
 the Law, as transgressors, the sentence must fall upon the 
 guilty; if then it fall on us, what can we do, whither 
 shall we fly ? who can endure ? who can sustain the worm 
 that dieth not, and the fire that never can be quenched? 
 None but almighty power could endure and overcome; 
 and therefore the Almighty Jesus undertook, and the 
 Almighty Redeemer has sustained, but oh, what bitter 
 agony and suffering, in order to the mighty triumph! 
 What however will all this avail us, if we reject or despise 
 it? Now from his throne he invites the condemned, and the 
 perishing to come near and receive his blessings : let not 
 sin so bind our heart, or so delude our understanding, as 
 to prevent the application of penitence and faith ; for if so, 
 it will eternally ruin our immortal souls. May the Holy 
 Spirit of Jesus so melt our hearts under sin, and convince 
 us of our need, that we may remember with gratitude, and 
 embrace with faith and joy, the ransom, the atonement of his 
 cross, and, in union with the Surety of sinners, through him 
 obtain eternal deliverance. Then washed with his blood, 
 redeemed unto God, and clothed with his everlasting righ¬ 
 teousness, the eternal benefit of his Mediation and Sureti- 
 ship must be ours : for as my Surety he stands forth also, 
 to overcome every enemy for me, and to remove every 
 impediment, in the way of pardon, life, and salvation. He 
 engaged to conquer, as well as to atone; to triumph, as 
 well as to suffer; and thus in the very first promise, he 
 was prophetically exhibited, as “ the Seed of the woman, 
 who should bruise,” or overwhelm, “ the serpent’s head.” 
 This was the very promise of the covenant, the suretyship 
 of which he undertook, that when he should make his soul 
 
SURETY. 
 
 41 
 
 an offering for sin, he should see his seed, and prolong his 
 days, and the pleasure of the Lord— i. e. in the salvation of 
 his people—should prosper in his hands, &c. ; that he 
 should divide a portion with the great, and divide the spoil 
 with the strong. (Isa. liii. 10—12.) In the confidence of 
 victory, he assumes, in the prospect, the language of tri¬ 
 umph : “ O death, I will be thy plague; O grave, I will 
 be thy destruction.” (Hos. xiii. 14.) And when he died 
 upon the cross, and rose again from the grave; by death 
 he conquered him that had the power of death. He 
 made a shew of all his enemies, triumphiug over them 
 upon the cross ; and there the captives of the mighty were 
 taken away, and the prey of the terrible was delivered, &c. 
 (See and compare Isa. xlix. 24—26; Col. ii. 15; Heb. 
 ii. 14.) Behold then the Mighty Conqueror ascend on 
 high, leading captivity captive, and receiving gifts, to give 
 unto men (Psa. lxviii. 18); while with the voice of conquer¬ 
 ing triumph, he exclaims, “ Lift up your heads, O ye gates ! 
 and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors! and the King 
 of Glory shall come in.” But who is this King of Glory? 
 In his Divine nature, the Lord of Hosts ; in his medi¬ 
 atorial character, as Immanuel, the Lord mighty in battle. 
 Here is the completion of his work, and the vast security of 
 my hope : my Surety engaged in eternity, and in the fulness 
 of time became man, to accomplish his covenant engage¬ 
 ments ; and now he hath paid the debt of obedience, and 
 of suffering, atoned for sin, satisfied the law, and honoured 
 the righteous government of God—has overcome every 
 enemy, and every impediment that obstructed his own way, 
 and that lay in the way of my pardon, justification, and 
 salvation. What then shall we now say, to the accusation 
 of every enemy 1 “ Who shall lay any thing to the charge of 
 God’s elect? It is God that justifieth : who is he that con- 
 demneth ? It is Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen 
 again; who is even at the right hand of God, who also 
 maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the 
 love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecu¬ 
 tion, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword ? As it is 
 
42 
 
 SERIES XI.—ESSAY Ill. 
 
 written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long - , we are 
 accounted as sheep for the slaughter; nay, in all these 
 things, we are more than conquerors, through Him that 
 loved us. “ For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor 
 life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things 
 present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any 
 other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of 
 God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom. viii. 
 33—39.) 
 
 Nothing now remains, but that the benefit should be 
 applied and received into the hearts of his people. But 
 how is this to be accomplished ? This, I apprehend, may be 
 considered as another part of his mediatorial character, 
 and surety engagement, 
 
 2. On behalf of a holy and faithful God, that all the 
 benefit of his redemption should be communicated to his 
 people .—It is for this purpose, viz. that the grace of the 
 covenant should be bestowed, that he himself is exalted 
 upon the mediatorial throne: “ Him hath God exalted 
 with his own right hand, as a Prince and Saviour, to give 
 repentance unto Israel, and remission of sins.” In the 
 view of this he triumphed, when about to ascend to his 
 glory; and in his last prayer to his heavenly Father, en¬ 
 treats that he would glorify his Son, because he had given 
 him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life, 
 to as many as the Father had given him. (Compare Acts 
 v. 31; John xvii. 1, 2.) This he entreats, because from 
 that glorious throne alone, could he exercise that covenant 
 and mediatorial power, for the benefit of his redeemed. 
 When therefore exalted on high, his first work of power 
 in his glorified state, as a proof of his exaltation, was the 
 gift of his Holy Spirit, in all its necessary influence upon 
 his church, as the spirit of life and glory. Hence the cove¬ 
 nant promise was fulfilled : by the rod of his strength, sent 
 from Mount Zion, his enemies are spiritually brought 
 under, and his people made willing in this day of his 
 power. (Psa. cx. 2, 3.) 
 
 The application of these redeeming blessings to hi s 
 
SURETY. 
 
 43 
 
 people, by the power of his Spirit, is as necessary for the 
 final salvation of every chosen vessel of grace, as the ac¬ 
 quisition of them by his atoning blood. The promise of 
 this Spirit constitutes the only security that any sinner 
 should ever receive and enjoy the blessings of salvation; 
 but those whom he predestinates he also calls, and whom 
 he calls he also justifies, and whom he justifies he also 
 glorifies. Hence his people are actually brought to re¬ 
 pentance, are enabled to believe, are directed and influ¬ 
 enced to return, are actually sanctified, and constantly pre¬ 
 served. By his mediatorial government and continued 
 intercession, he also secures the continual communication 
 of all the blessings of the covenant to his believing people. 
 He who hath loved them unto the death of the cross, will 
 see that all its purchased ones are brought to himself, and 
 all its blessings are communicated and enjoyed. “ There¬ 
 fore,” says the Apostle, “ blessed be the God and Father 
 of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all 
 spiritual blessings, in heavenly places in Christ.” He the 
 Head is in possession, and his people may be considered 
 as actually possessing in him ; and thus he secures the full 
 enjoyment to them throughout eternity. When brought 
 to himself by his grace, his Spirit becomes the Spirit of 
 adoption, whereby they are enabled to cry, “ Abba, 
 Father.” He witnesses with their spirit, seals them to the 
 day of redemption, and becomes the earnest in their heart 
 of the final blessedness. “Justified by faith, they have 
 peace with God” in Christ Jesus our Lord: they have ac¬ 
 cess into his grace, and stand therein, and rejoice in hope 
 of that glory. How should their hope, or their salvation 
 fail in the hands of such a glorious Redeemer; who stands 
 engaged to complete his purpose, and the covenant engage¬ 
 ment of Jehovah, in the eternal glory of his redeemed t 
 For, says the Apostle, “ if when we were enemies, we 
 were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much 
 more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.” (Rom. 
 v. 10.) He is their Surety, to bring them to eternal glory : 
 
 “ Father, I will,” says he, “ that they whom thou hast 
 
44 
 
 SERIES IX.— ESSAY III. 
 
 given me, be with me, where I am, that they may belmld 
 my glory, which thou hast given me ; for thou lovedst me 
 before the foundation of the world.” (John xvii. 24.) His 
 work shall not be in vain: he hath accomplished all for them, 
 and will accomplish all in them, and finally complete all his 
 promises to them. He loved them from everlasting, and 
 equally loves them through time, and will do so through¬ 
 out eternity; and therefore he has said, “ I give unto 
 my sheep eternal life; and they shall never perish, nei¬ 
 ther shall any pluck them out of my hands.” 
 
 As he stands engaged to save all his purchased seed, his 
 truth and faithfulness secure the accomplishment of it, till 
 all the ransomed and redeemed of the Lord “ return, and 
 come to Sion, with sougs, and everlasting joy upon their 
 heads ; when they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sor¬ 
 row and sighing shall flee away.” (Isa. xxxv. 10.) O blessed 
 Jesus ! bo thou the Surety to thy servant for good. (Psa. 
 cxix. 122.) 
 
 Let us then commit our persons and our cause into his 
 hands alone. Sinners, you must; or you never can find sal¬ 
 vation ; never can you render the atonement, the satis¬ 
 faction, or secure the honour of the Law, in the bestowal of 
 mercy and forgiveness ; and if God be not just in salvation, 
 he must be just in condemnation. Hence there is no other 
 name under heaven, whereby we must be saved ; and all 
 other dependence will delude the hope of the perishing sinner. 
 —Penitent sinner, you ought to rest on Him alone: He can 
 perform what none else can do for you: He hath completed 
 the work of redemption, and is able to save even to the ut¬ 
 termost all who come unto God by him. Such a Saviour 
 presented in the word of the Gospel, demands your atten¬ 
 tion, your faith, your love, and your dependence. And 
 blessed be God, thou most guilty, unworthy, helpless sin¬ 
 ner, you may rest your soul, and all its eternal concerns, 
 safely and without reserve in his hands. He invites you to 
 look to him and be saved; and promises, that whosoev er 
 comes to him, he will in no wise cast out. Why art thou 
 fearful, O thou of little faith (—Believer, stand and rejoice 
 
SURETY. 
 
 45 
 
 in the security which his undertaking, his woik, his pro¬ 
 mises afford thee. The faith which he has given you, and 
 whereby you do rest in reliance upon him, is itself the 
 proof of his everlasting love, and your covenant union with 
 him as your Head and Saviour. Hence you know, that he 
 hath stood in your place, undertaken your cause, paid 
 your debt, and transfers his righteousness to you. You are a 
 sinner, but in his righteousness you shall appear righteous : 
 you are unholy, hut in him, justified from all things, you 
 shall be presented, without spot or wrinkle or any such 
 thing, before theThrone. Your Surety makes it sure.(Heb. 
 vi. 1G, &c.) Not only has he opened the way, to render 
 our return possible, but he has made all the perfections of 
 God most glorious in the pardon and salvation of a believ¬ 
 ing sinner. He now loves to give the grace, to prepare 
 the heart, to bestow the blessings, till glory surrounds all 
 his redeemed people. This grace he has given you, which 
 has enlightened your mind, humbled you under your fallen, 
 guilty, and corrupted state, and led you to fly for refuge to 
 Jesus, and look to him for righteousness, sanctification, and 
 salvation: why then shouldst thou doubt ? He who has 
 given the desire, will satisfy the desire of grace: be not dis¬ 
 couraged with the sense of your own unworthiness; you stand 
 in Christ Jesus: he hath completed the redemption (Isa. 
 xliv. 23): God has accepted it, faith receives it, and God 
 will acknowledge the faith and dependence of his people, 
 in the bestowal of all the blessings. All those blessings then 
 shall he yours : there can be no further legal demand on 
 the believing sinner, who has done all in the person of his 
 Surety. Come then to him as your sins arise, for pardon, 
 righteousness, strength, and victory. Come with all your 
 temptations, trials, weaknesses, and fears: he is the Surety 
 of the better covenant, to secure the fulfilment of all its 
 promises, which rest not on your worthiness, but are all 
 yea and amen in Christ Jesus. The humble penitent and 
 the believing soul shall find the word of truth unfailing. 
 (Rom. viii. 1 ; vi. 14.) His eternal engagements, his de¬ 
 signs of love, shall be eternally completed ; and through all 
 
46 
 
 SERIES IX.— ESSAY III. 
 
 their weakness, infirmities, corruptions, and want of zeal 
 in the Christian warfare, he will conduct his redeemed 
 and ransomed people, till they triumph over all, and till he 
 has brought them to the kingdom of his glory, where nei¬ 
 ther sin, nor sorrow, nor enemies, shall delude, oppress, 
 distress or injure them more ; and where he will magnify 
 his grace and truth, by placing in their hand the palm of 
 victory, and clothing them with the robes of eternal glory. 
 
47 
 
 ESSAY IV. 
 
 When the king of Syria, jealous of what he supposed to 
 be the secret information of the prophet Elisha, had deter¬ 
 mined to seize upon him in the city of Dothan, he sent 
 horses, and chariots, and a great host; and they came by 
 night and encompassed the city about: and when the ser¬ 
 vant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, 
 behold, an host compassed the city, both with horses and 
 chariots ; and his servant said unto him, Alas, my master ! 
 how shall we do ? But behold the views of faith ; Elisha 
 answered, “ Fear not; for they that be with us are more 
 than they that be with them. And Elisha prayed, and the 
 Lord opened the eyes of the young man ; and he saw, 
 and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and cha¬ 
 riots round about Elisha.’’ (2 Kings vi. 14—17.) Such 
 is the change which takes place, when faith enlightens 
 the mind of the believer, and opens his views upon the 
 things which are unseen; those glorious realities which 
 are as surely taking place in the invisible world of spirits, 
 as those which, because more obvious to our senses, strike 
 upon and engage our attention. When the believer, con¬ 
 templating his present situation, his weakness and infir¬ 
 mities, his enemies and dangers, is ready to tremble, no¬ 
 thing but the views of faith can relieve or console the 
 mind; but in every character of Jesus, as presented to 
 the eye of faith, there is a suitableness to our state, to our 
 fears, and to all our wants. He is the Helper of the poor, 
 and of those who have no helper: his wisdom, power, 
 and covenant care are the security of his church, and will 
 (eternally supply a sure ground of confidence to faith, til! 
 
48 
 
 SERIES IX.—ESSAY IV. 
 
 triumphant over all. As in him are all the sources and 
 treasures of might and power, of grace and blessing, he is 
 said to be our Help; and our Help is in him, is laid upon 
 him: and as the mighty Helper, in discharging the office 
 which he has thus undertaken, he stands engaged to apply 
 and to communicate that help, to call, to sustain, to pre¬ 
 serve and bless his people. In this exercise of his grace 
 and power we are now to contemplate him. 
 
 When man sinned he was immediately driven out from 
 the presence of Jehovah, and entered upon a wide and 
 desert wilderness, exposed to difficulties and to dangers, 
 without any one to guide or to deliver him in this world of 
 darkness and of misery; so that he became the prey of 
 sin, of satan, and of every enemy. It is true he does not 
 see this; because he is naturally ignorant of spiritual things; 
 and therefore satisfied with the enjoyment of present and 
 sensitive good : he remains at ease in the bondage of cor¬ 
 ruption, under the controul of satan, till he sink down to 
 everlasting ruin. But when enlightened with the rays of 
 Divine grace, he discerns innumerable dangers all around 
 him; he is neither able to set out in the way of the Lord, 
 nor to keep himself in the way, nor to secure himself from 
 the enemies that beset it. The hope of obtaining a happy 
 issue, and finally obtaining the life and glory to which he 
 aspires, is often beclouded with doubt, and sometimes 
 almost lost in despair. Sin, satan, the world, and self, 
 (the most dangerous enemy of all, by the power of natural 
 depravity) oppose his course through earth to the king¬ 
 dom of his desire; and where shall he look? where secure 
 an unfailing assurance of deliverance through and above 
 them all ? All his inquiries must have been vain, had not 
 the blessed Jesus undertaken to be the Helper of his 
 church. On him their help was laid in the counsels of 
 eternity, when he was constituted the great and eternal 
 Head of redemption. As Such he sets himself forth in his 
 word, invites the needy to fly to and trust in him, and 
 promises, with all the faithfulness of Divine truth, with 
 all the grace of infinite compassion, and with all the abi- 
 
HELP—HELPER. 
 
 49 
 
 lity of almighty power, to take them under his protection 
 with a never-failing, a never-ceasing care. His Divine 
 nature, in union with ours, presents to our faith a Person 
 completely suited to the mediatorial undertaking and office. 
 
 In his Divine nature he is the essential Fountain of 
 all being, and of almighty power and might. And as 
 all creation has derived its nature, its faculties, and its 
 powers, as well as its being, from him ; so must the powers 
 and faculties of every creature be under his direction and 
 controul to accomplish his pleasure. When, therefore, 
 our Helper is the Lord our God, in him our help must be 
 secure. If, indeed, he were not so, to rest upon him 
 would be but a vain, an idolatrous confidence, and subject 
 the believer to the curse which is denounced by the Pro¬ 
 phet : “ Thus saith the Lord, Cursed be the man that 
 trusteth in man, and which maketh flesh his arm, and whose 
 heart departeth from the Lord: for he shall be like the 
 heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh, 
 but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a 
 salt land, and not inhabited.” (Jer. xvii. 5, 6.) But “ blessed 
 is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the 
 Lord is : for he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, 
 and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall 
 not see when heat cometli, but her leaf shall be green; 
 and shall not be careful in the years of drought, neither 
 shall cease from yielding fruit.” (Ver. 7, 8: compare Psa. 
 cxlvi. 3—6.) When God is our salvation, when the Lord 
 Jehovah is our strength and our song, then “ we may trust 
 and not be afraid.” (Isa. xii. 2.) This renders him suit¬ 
 able for, and this sustains him in, his mediatorial undertak¬ 
 ing and office. When we behold the blessed Jesus enter¬ 
 ing upon his work, we see him pledging all his attributes, 
 all the perfections of his nature for its accomplishment, 
 and, by his office, devoting all for the help and salvation 
 of his people ; for when engaging to act in such a charac¬ 
 ter, all his Divine abilities are pledged for the fulfilment of 
 all his designs. He looked, and there was none to help ; 
 and when there was no intercessor, he placed himself 
 VOL. v. E 
 
50 
 
 SERIES IX.—ESSAY IV. 
 
 in our place and stead : “ Therefore his arm brought salva*- 
 tion unto him, and his righteousness it sustained him.” 
 (Isa. lix. 16.) 
 
 Now, then, he has finished the atonement, brought in 
 the everlasting righteousness, completed the redemption, 
 and, as exalted upon the throne, will complete all his de¬ 
 signs of mercy.—How glorious is my Redeemer ! I flv to 
 him for help : he encourages my reliance, and promises 
 the continual exertions of his arm. I admire and adore 
 his love, and have every reason to trust his ability and his- 
 truth. Let me only secure him as my friend, and I may 
 renounce all confidence besides, and trust in faith the pro¬ 
 mise which he has made to his believing people. I secure 
 as my aid his own infinite wisdom, his omniscient and 
 omnipresent eye, his almighty arm, his covenant grace, 
 and his unchangeable truth and love. With such a Helper, 
 what though I am helpless in myself, in him I shall be 
 safe : though not sufficient to do or to think any thing of 
 myself, in and by him I shall be enabled to do all things. 
 Jesus, Almighty Saviour, be thou my Helper, and I need 
 no more. Let us contemplate him in his Omnipresence and 
 Omniscience; and in him we may boast an Helper ever 
 present , suited to every season of difficulty or of necessity. 
 In this view, how encouraging is the language of the 
 Psalmist! The Lord Jehovah is a refuge for the oppressed, 
 a refuge in the time of trouble. “ They that know thy 
 name will put their trust in thee; for thou. Lord, hast 
 never forsaken them that seek thee.” (Psa. ix. 9.) The 
 whole Book of Psalms is, indeed, an illustration of this 
 view, and a constant discovery of the Psalmist’s faith in 
 the ever-present help of the God of Israel. To him he 
 flies : “ O God, be not far from me; O my God, make 
 haste for my help.” (Psa. lxxi. 12.) In him he places his 
 trust and confidence : “ God is our refuge and strength, 
 a very present help in trouble ; therefore will not we fear, 
 though the earth be removed, and though the mountains 
 be carried into the midst of the sea.” (xlvi. 1.) In thank¬ 
 fulness for former deliverances, he pleads them as an en- 
 
HELP—HELPER. 
 
 51 
 
 couragement to his faith for future aid. “ Hide not thy 
 face far from me; put not thy servant away in anger: thou 
 hast been my Help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O 
 God of my salvation.” (xxvii. 9.) Again ; “ Unless the 
 Lord had been my Help, my soul had almost dwelt in 
 silence.” But “ when I said, My foot slippeth ; thy mercy, 
 O Lord, held me up.” (xciv. 17, 18.) The language of 
 the Psalmist is beautifully expressive of the believers sen¬ 
 timents and experience, in the various exercises of his 
 mind, and the various steps of the Christian life. None 
 but the Omnipresent, Omniscient Jehovah can be theHelper 
 of his church of innumerable believers, scattered through 
 the earth. Who else could attend to all their various 
 wants, at the same time, in the different parts of the world, 
 and be equally present, equally attentive to them all ? No; 
 it is the infinite Jehovah, upon whom our Help is laid, who 
 hath undertaken the office, and who is able and faithful to 
 execute it in the preservation of all his people. If we 
 contemplate his unchangeableness, the faithfulness and 
 truth of his very nature, we shall behold in him an ever- 
 constant and never-failing Helper. Under the character 
 of the Angel Jehovah, he is therefore represented by the 
 Psalmist as constantly surrounding those who fear him, 
 and securing their defence as surely as the encampment 
 of innumerable hosts spreading their tents all around. 
 (Psa. xxxiv. 7.) Similar to this is the original promise 
 of protection which the Lord Jehovah, as the Leader of 
 Israel, gave to Joshua, when he appointed him as the 
 captain of his chosen people, to bring them into the land 
 of promise. “ As I was with Moses, so I will be with 
 thee ; I will not fail thee nor forsake thee : be strong and 
 of a good courage.” (Jos. i. 5, 6.) “ Have not I com¬ 
 
 manded thee ? Be strong and of a good courage: be not 
 afraid, neither be thou discouraged: for the Lord thy God 
 is with thee, whithersoever thou goest.” (Ver. 9.) The 
 idea seems to be that of one whose power is secure, stand¬ 
 ing by another; who is unable to observe his enemies, 
 
 dangers, wants, and perplexities, in order to direct, de- 
 
 p o 
 
52 
 
 SERIES IX.—ESSAY IV. 
 
 fend, and to deliver him. And the Apostle has told us,, 
 that though this promise was directly given to Joshua, it 
 is as really given to every Christian soldier, fighting under 
 the banner of the Captain of salvation,—to every believer in 
 Christ Jesus who is fighting the good fight of faith. He 
 has therefore directed us to draw from it this comforting 
 and animating conclusion : Since the Lord hath said, I will 
 never leave thee nor forsake thee; therefore “ we may 
 boldly say. The Lord is my Helper ; I will not fear.” (Heb. 
 xiii. 5, 6.) 
 
 The same continued care over his church, the same un¬ 
 remitting constancy of supply, is beautifully represented 
 by the Prophet Zechariah (iv. 1—7), by two olive-trees 
 standing beside a candlestick of gold, with a bowl upon 
 the top of it, and pouring into it by seven golden pipes a 
 constant supply of oil, from its own living sources, to re¬ 
 plenish it with an unfailing sufficiency for the lamps which 
 are burning around it. And this is so explained by the 
 angel who dii'ected the Prophet, and answered his in¬ 
 quiries, as designed to lead us to a sense of our entire de¬ 
 pendence, fortlie constant supply of grace, upon the fulness 
 of Christ and of his Spirit, and a confidence in the all- 
 sufficiency of that supply from that ever-living Fountain, 
 (ver. 14.) “ This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, 
 
 saying, Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, 
 saith the Lord of hosts.” Read the whole chapter in this 
 view, and it will be found an admirable illustration of the 
 doctrine of Divine influences. As such, therefore, we must 
 contemplate Him, as containing in himself infinite fulness, 
 the all-sufficient, yea, the infinitely sufficient Helper of 
 our souls. As he is always present in every time of need ; 
 as his ability, his grace, his truth, and faithfulness are un¬ 
 changeably the same; so, in the unfathomable and boundless 
 fulness of his perfections, his sufficiency must extend, not 
 only to the full extent of all our wants, but infinitely exceeds 
 them all. Contemplate, O believer, his Divine nature, his 
 mediatorial character and offices, the work which he has un¬ 
 dertaken, and the work which he has performed. Then look 
 
HELP —HELPER. 
 
 53 
 
 at the promises of his word, and see if any thing can be 
 wanting, or if any thing can be added; if there be not in 
 Jehovah our Helper all we can wish, desire, or need ; and 
 an infinite fulness yet remaining, beyond all that we can 
 ask, or think, or enjoy. 
 
 Like dying Jacob, the believer shall in the end bear his 
 testimony to his fulness, faithfulness, truth, and grace, 
 when he has fed him all his life long, and redeemed him 
 from all evil. (Gen. xlviii. 15, 16.) Then his blessings 
 shall extend “ to the utmost bounds of the everlasting hills;” 
 and eternity shall never exhaust that fulness which shall 
 eternally flow from him into the glorified spirits of all his 
 redeemed. Let then this delightful consideration be 
 brought home by faith into my heart, and applied to the 
 various necessities which I feel in my Christian life and 
 warfare. This is the gracious use which the believer is 
 encouraged and directed to make of a doctrine so full of 
 the most animating consolation. I feel the power of num¬ 
 berless infirmities which distress and dismay my soul; but, 
 weak in myself, I am strong in him. He makes me to feel 
 my weakness, that I may see my need, and learn to value 
 the grace and strength of my Redeemer. He says to me, 
 “ My grace is sufficient for thee; my strength is made 
 perfect in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, will I glory 
 in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon 
 me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, 
 in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s 
 sake; for when I am weak” in myself, “ then am I strong” 
 in the strength of my Lord and Saviour. (2 Cor. xii. 9, 10.) 
 
 I feel my corrupted nature; I lament the rising of my 
 sins; guilty fears oppress my mind, and their power disturbs 
 and dismays my soul. But He says, “ Come unto me, all 
 ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you 
 rest.” I look to him and am helped: none can help me 
 in this situation but He who can assure me my sins are 
 forgiven me. Who can give me the confidence that sin 
 shall not have dominion over me, but He who, when I was 
 sinking into the pit of destruction, stretched forth his hand 
 
54 
 
 SERIES IX.—ESSAY IV. 
 
 and delivered me ? “ He sent from above; he took me ; he 
 drew me out of many waters.” (Psa. xviii. 16.) He brought 
 me also out of the horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set 
 my feet upon a rock, and established my going.” (Psa. xl. 2.) 
 This was the help he afforded in my ruined state of nature, 
 and still his blood cleanseth from all sin; still as the Ad¬ 
 vocate with the Father, the righteous Saviour, the Pro¬ 
 pitiation for sin, he secures to me the continuance and the 
 repetition of the same blessings. Still I may take up the 
 language of the Psalmist, and say, “ Bless the Lord, O 
 my soul; and all that is within me, bless his holy name. 
 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits; 
 who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy 
 diseases.” (Psa. ciii. 1—3.) This is the help that the helpless 
 sinner needs; this is the aid He graciously and continually 
 vouchsafes to his believing people, and which he will 
 supply against all the power of sin, and against all the 
 consequences of sin in guilt and condemnation. It was He 
 who found the ransom, and He will therefore secure the 
 deliverance of his redeemed. In my Christian course, I 
 am continually experiencing the power of temptations, 
 the assaults of spiritual enemies, and opposition both from 
 within and from without to my spiritual progress. Who 
 then can deliver mel When wrestling against flesh and 
 blood; and not only so, but against principalities, and 
 powers, and the rulers of the darkness of this world; how 
 often am I ready to faint, inclined to yield the contest, 
 and about to fail ? In myself I have neither inclination 
 nor strength for the warfare. If there were not a Helper 
 provided, in whom all the fresh springs of grace and 
 strength were treasured up ; if it were not for the promises 
 of his aid, what encouragement could I derive, what 
 incitement to go forward? When faith is low in its 
 exercises; when it cannot rest upon the Saviour, or rely 
 upon his word; the ground of hope fails, and discourage¬ 
 ment presses down the soul. But to be able to say, “ The 
 Lord Jehovah is my Helper;” and to remember that He 
 hath said, “ I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee 
 
HELP —HELPER. 
 
 55 
 
 is then suflicient to revive the sinking spirit, to re¬ 
 animate the dying hope, and to excite again to the 
 Christian warfare. Behold, my soul, the promise of his 
 grace: “ Fear thou not,” says he, “ for I am with thee ; 
 be not dismayed, for I am thy God: I will strengthen 
 thee.; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with 
 the right hand of my righteousness. Behold, all they that 
 were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confound¬ 
 ed: they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with thee 
 shall perish,” &c. (Isa. xli. 10, 11.) “ I, the Lord thy 
 
 God, will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee. Fear not; 
 I will help thee. Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye 
 men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy 
 Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel,” &c. (Isa. xiii, 16: 
 compare lix. 19—21.) 
 
 My soul, hear again the language of the Apostle: “ There 
 hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to 
 man;” “ but God is faithful,” which implies his covenant 
 engagement for that purpose, “ who will not suffer you 
 to be tempted above that ye are able, but will with the 
 temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able 
 to bear it.” (1 Cor. x. 13.) 
 
 In the Christian life I have duties to perform; but where 
 shall I look, when of myself I can do nothing,—when I 
 feel that I am not sufficient of myself “ to think any thing 
 as of myself?” The real believer is desirous of living to 
 the glory of God, and therefore of acting agreeably to his 
 calling, and suitably to the duties of his station. He would 
 live in the exercises of faith and love; he would be lively 
 in devotion, earnest in prayer, and ardent in praise; he 
 would be patient in trial, diligent in duties, and active 
 m services, in the elevation of holy joy, and the ready 
 performance of willing obedience ; but when he would do 
 good, evil is present with him, and he feels a law in his 
 members warring against the law of his mind. In himself, 
 that is, in his flesh, dwelleth no good thing : who then shall 
 deliver him from the body of sin and death ? who shall set 
 him free from the bondage of corruption, and confirm him 
 
SERIES IX.—ESSAY IV. 
 
 56 
 
 in the glorious liberty of the children of God ? Never will 
 he be better; never will he obtain any aid but by looking 
 unto Jesus ; and out of his fulness he must receive grace 
 for grace : for he alone of God is made unto us wisdom, 
 righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. The living 
 branch must be united to the living Vine : it must abide in 
 the Vine if it ever become fruitful, for separate from it the 
 branch itself will soon wither and decay. The stream must be 
 constantly supplied from the ever-flowing Fountain, or the 
 stream itself will be dried up; but the branch, abiding in 
 the Vine, will bring forth much fruit; and the stream, con¬ 
 stantly supplied from the Fountain, will flow unceasingly, 
 and spread its different currents to refresh and beautify 
 the surrounding fields. Hence the Apostle was taught 
 both “ how to be abased and how to abound: every where, 
 and in all things,” says he, “ I am instructed, both to be 
 full and to be hungry; both to abound and to suffer need. 
 I can do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth 
 me.” (Phil. iv. 12, 13.) Is not the Lord Jesus still the 
 same in himself ? and is he not still the same to all his 
 people ? Are not his promises as really given, and as 
 faithful and true to us, as they were to the Apostle ? If 
 we were living more by the faith of the Son of God, we 
 should have a more abundant discovery of his glories and 
 Ills grace, and should thus bring them more into exercise 
 and enjoyment. Let the prayer of faith be continually 
 entreating the supplies of grace from Him who is full of 
 grace and truth; in whom all fulness dwells, and who is 
 the Head and Root of his believing people; and the promise 
 of God secures the supply in rich communication to the 
 glory of his name, and to the comfort and safety of our souls. 
 
 While in this body ] must feel the effects of sin, in 
 varied afflictions which lead down to the gates of death 
 and of the grave. I know not what or which of the mul¬ 
 tiplied diseases and afflictions which sin has introduced, may 
 seize upon my frame; nor when they may receive their com¬ 
 mission from the great Disposer of all, from Him who hath 
 the keys of death and of the grave. But Jesus has taken 
 
HELP—HELPER. 
 
 57 
 
 away the sting of all, and can turn, by his presence and his 
 grace, the bitterest sorrow into joy; death into life, and 
 the grave into the gate ot heaven. Though I go down to 
 the grave, there has my Jesus been before me: there has 
 he triumphed and passed through, and carried the gates of 
 death to the hill of Sion. He who is the Helper of his 
 people will not fail them at that moment when they most 
 stand in need of his sustaining power. When all other 
 helpers must fail, must withdraw for ever, then he will 
 standby and conduct through the gloomy vale : His rod and 
 His staff will be their stay and their support; and when flesh 
 and heart fail, He will be the strength of their heart, and 
 their portion for ever. 
 
 Read his promise, O humble believer! In the exercise of 
 faith embrace it with holy delight: trust it with confident 
 assurance: “Thus saith the Lord that created thee, O 
 Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not; for I 
 have redeemed thee; I have called thee by thy name : thou 
 art mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will 
 be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not over¬ 
 flow thee : when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt 
 not be burnt; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. 
 For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy 
 Saviour. I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and 
 Seba for thee.” (Isa. xliii. 1—3, &c.) Oh, let me then 
 adore and trust that blessed Jesus who is the Helper, the 
 only Helper, but the all-sufficient Helper, of helpless 
 sinners ! How absurd is the conduct of the man, and 
 how dangerous his state, who ventures to live without 
 Christ; without seeking an interest in Christ; without 
 placing himself under his eye and care, in the most im¬ 
 plicit dependence and submission ! Daily are we reminded 
 of our own weakness and insufficiency, and of our state of 
 sin and misery. We have wants, which none but Jesus 
 can supply; sins, which none but Jesus can pardon; ene¬ 
 mies, which none but He can subdue; fears, which none but 
 He can allay ; trials, afflictions, temptations, and distresses, 
 under which none but He, with his almighty power and 
 
SERIES IX.— ESSAY IV. 
 
 58 
 
 grace can support. Never can we meet affliction or death 
 with peace and joy but through Him; nor shall we ever be 
 able to stand before a holy God with acceptance, but as in 
 Him: yet these are circumstances into which we must all 
 and every one ultimately be brought. Why then should 
 the sinner neglect the only Saviour, the only one who can 
 effectually help us, in this trying season? If the sinner 
 comes to Him, his promise assures him that he shall not be 
 cast away: His grace is ready, and His fulness all-sufficient. 
 But if the sinner reject him, and, with guilty unconcern, 
 neglect to secure an interest in his care and blessings, no¬ 
 thing in heaven or in earth can ever deliver from the sen¬ 
 tence of the law, the curse of sin, and the wrath of God. In 
 the Christian course through life, here must the believer be 
 continually seeking the supplies he needs ; and to run the 
 Christian race aright, he must be looking off from all be¬ 
 sides, to look to Jesus. 
 
 He who is the first refuge of the enlightened and con¬ 
 vinced sinner, must be the only refuge to the end. It is 
 the security and happiness of the church to go up out of 
 the wilderness leaning upon her Beloved. While this is 
 thy great duty, believer, and while the promises of his w ord 
 encourage thee to its exercise, be persuaded it is your only 
 way of safety, and the only means of consolation. The 
 people of God are, therefore, directed to cast all their cares 
 on Him who careth for them ; to be “careful for nothing, but 
 in every thing by prayer and supplication, to make their 
 requests known unto God; and the peace of God, which 
 passeth all understanding, shall keep their hearts and minds 
 by Christ Jesus.” (Phil. iv. 6, 7.) Dismiss then, O be¬ 
 liever, your unbelieving fears ; by a simple faith, and cheer¬ 
 ful dependence upon the wisdom, care, and love of the 
 Lord your Redeemer. As a child, holding by the parent’s 
 hand, will be encouraged to pass through scenes of difficulty 
 and darkness; while the confidence of a parent’s wisdom 
 and care allays its fear, excites its confidence, and gives it 
 assurance of getting safely to the end; so let your faith rest 
 on Jesus amidst all the darkest scenes of earthly sorrow. 
 
59 
 
 HELP—HELPER. 
 
 fears, or afflictions. Be assured His wisdom and love will 
 conduct you safely through all; will lead you in the right 
 way, and bring you to the right end. This was the view 
 which influenced the mind of the Psalmist, and excited his 
 lively faith, his holy resolution, and his confident expecta¬ 
 tion of a finally happy issue in whatever path the Lord 
 might lead him. He is celebrating the care and love of 
 the God of Israel under this very character, and has 
 presented to the faith of the believer the grounds of his 
 confidence, and the various benefits he may expect from him 
 as such, through life, to the kingdom of eternal glory. Let 
 the believer read it with the same exalted faith, and say, 
 “ I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence 
 cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord, which 
 made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be 
 moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, 
 he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. 
 The Lord is thy keeper, the Lord is thy shade upon thy 
 right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the 
 moon by night. The Lord shall preserve thee from all 
 evil: he shall preserve thy soul. The Lord shall preserve 
 thy going out, and thy coming in, from this time forth, and 
 even for evermore.” (Psa. cxxi.) Let, however, the 
 humble believer recollect that he communicates his help in 
 the use of his appointed means. Here alone he promises 
 to be found ; and here alone, therefore, may we expect to 
 find him. “ Wait on the Lord ; be of good courage, and 
 he will strengthen thine heart: but wait, I say, on the 
 Lord.” If then you feel your need of Divine grace and 
 help, under a consciousness of your own total insufficiency; 
 if you know where only your help is laid up, here you will 
 be found in the application of faith; for “Blessed is the 
 man,” says Jesus the Divine and Heavenly Wisdom, “that 
 heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the 
 posts of my doors. For whoso findeth me, findeth life, 
 and shall obtain favour of the Lord. But he that sinneth 
 against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me 
 love death.” (Prov. viii. 34—36.) Realize then, O be- 
 
60 
 
 SERIES IX.—ESSAY IV. 
 
 Jiever ! by faith, your privilege and your security : and when 
 depressed with enemies, difficulties, and dangers, turn 
 your eyes to him who is able to deliver. He has graciously 
 encouraged your trust and confidence. What covenant 
 love, what infinite wisdom, what almighty power, what 
 constant care, what abounding grace, is treasured up in 
 Jesus ; and for the very purpose, that he might be the faith¬ 
 ful, the effectual Helper of his church ! His promise secures 
 the whole, in all their unfailing exercises, to promote and 
 effect the eternal salvation of his people. How then can 
 His promise fail ; the promise of Him who cannot lie, the 
 promise of the God of truth, the promise of the Infinite, 
 Eternal, Almighty Jehovah; a promise made, not for 
 eur worthiness, but of his own grace, and therefore not 
 to be prevented, in its fulfilment, by the demerit of the 
 objects ? He delights to magnify his grace in bestowing 
 his blessings upon the unworthy, when suppliant at his 
 feet. His ability to perform is beyond a doubt; and who 
 can suspect his faithfulness or truth ? Let not then a sense 
 of unworthiness discourage the exercise of my faith ; since 
 it is not upon this I plead, when supplicating at the Throne, 
 but upon the infinite atonement, righteousness, and redemp¬ 
 tion of the Saviour, together with the promises of his 
 grace made through him, and secured by the faithful¬ 
 ness of the Promiser to the most unworthy who fly 
 to him for refuge.—Whatever may be my sin and guilt. 
 He is able to deliver me by the merit of that precious 
 blood that cleanseth from ail sin, and through which we 
 have redemption, even the forgiveness of sin. Whatever 
 are my trials and distresses; however intricate and per¬ 
 plexing ; still he is able to become my effectual Helper, to 
 the very end. He bids me in all to trust in him, to cast my 
 burden upon him, and he will sustain me, &c. The omni¬ 
 present, the omniscient, the almighty, the infinite Jehovah 
 can never be at a loss for means to effect deliverance, or to 
 supply with grace and consolation. His help shall never 
 fail, till 1 am got beyond all my sins and fears, beyond all 
 my afflictions and distresses, beyond all my difficulties, 
 
HELP—HELPER. 
 
 61 
 
 and dangers; and then though I shall not need the same 
 help that I stand in need of here below, He will be my 
 Eternal Helper, my eternal security, my source of ever¬ 
 lasting blessedness, in the world to come: for “ who 
 shall separate us from the love of Christ ? Shall tribula¬ 
 tion, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, 
 or peril, or sword ? As it is written, For thy sake we are 
 killed all the day long ; we are accounted as sheep for the 
 slaughter: nay, in all these things we are more than con¬ 
 querors, through Him that loved us. For I am persuaded, 
 that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, 
 nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor 
 height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to 
 separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus 
 our Lord.” (Rom. viii. 35—39.) And will Jesus become 
 such a Helper to me ? Let his word be my rule of judgment; 
 and has he not there promised to become such to all who 
 fly to and trust in him ? Let faith then take the encou¬ 
 ragement; let it look to, and rest upon, him, through all 
 the fears that conscious guilt would introduce into the mind. 
 Through all the afflictions, trials, or temptations, which 
 attend me through life, let me still continue waiting 
 upon him, in the firm reliance of faith, who giveth power 
 to the faint, and to them who have no might, increaseth 
 strength. For though “ the youths shall faint and be 
 weary, and the young men utterly fall, they that wait upon 
 the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up 
 with wings as eagles ; they shall run and not be weary” 
 (Isa. xl.20—31), and shall continue their heavenly progress 
 to the end; and by his help, and in his strength, shall never 
 faint. 
 
62 
 
 SERIES IX. —ESSAY V. 
 
 ESSAY V. 
 
 Let us now view the Lord Jesus Christ, represented by 
 that which is most valued upon earth; which engages the 
 attention of men, which excites their ardour, the desire of 
 which carries them through toil, difficulties, and dangers; 
 and which, when obtained, procures for its possessors, 
 honour, dignity, and respect, and all that this world can 
 bestow. To this, the Lord Jesus Christ is compared; 
 though he is infinitely beyond it, in his personal excel¬ 
 lencies, and in the benefits and advantages which result 
 from the knowledge and enjoyment of him and his salva¬ 
 tion. Under the character of Wisdom, He is frequently, 
 in the Book of Proverbs, compared and preferred to the 
 finest gold. In the same manner He is represented in the 
 Book of Job (xxviii. 12—19); “Wisdom cannot begotten 
 for gold; neither shall silver be weighed for the price 
 thereof. It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with 
 the precious onyx, or the sapphire. The gold and the 
 crystal cannot equal it; and the exchange of it shall not 
 be for jewels of fine gold,” &c. &c. Considering Wisdom 
 as a personification of Him who is the Essential Wisdom of 
 the Godhead, and the communicative Wisdom of his peo¬ 
 ple we may apply to Him, in its fullest sense, this interest¬ 
 ing allusion. Yet the gold or the precious stone, can never 
 equal his glories, or his value to my soul. What can be 
 compared to Him, who is all my salvation ? With Him are 
 unsearchable riches ; and if a partaker of Christ, I have 
 more in Him, than all the riches which all the mines on 
 earth could supply. Thus the church on earth, in figurative 
 language, celebrated his glory, and his value. My beloved 
 
(30LD. 
 
 m 
 
 is white and ruddy, the chief among ten thousand. His 
 head is as the most tine gold, )Q-DD3, the word is doubled 
 crD, as the gold stamped with the royal image, m the gold 
 of purity and solidity. As though the sacred writer had 
 said, there is nothing here beyond gold to which I can 
 compare Him. But that is not enough : I double the de¬ 
 scription, to intimate his superior excellency and glory, 
 who is far, very far, yea, infinitely beyond its brightest 
 splendour, its perfect purity, its utmost solidity and 
 durability. 
 
 The most evident and obvious excellency of gold, as that 
 which first strikes our attention, is, 
 
 1. Its splendour, arising from the solidity of its parts. 
 —When unmixed and unalloyed, it is the most solid of 
 metals, and therefore the most bright and resplendent. It 
 is used for the purpose of beauty and ornament, and is 
 spread over other things, to give them a splendour and a 
 glory. And when the bright sun shines upon the burnished 
 gold, it is the most dazzling spectacle upon earth. In this 
 respect, it justly, though inadequately, represents the 
 glories of Immanuel either in his Divine nature or his ex¬ 
 alted and glorified manhood. When heavenly things are 
 to be represented by earthly things, it is only by such allu¬ 
 sions that we can form any idea of their grandeur. Thus 
 the heavenly city, the New Jerusalem, is described, as 
 being “ pure gold, like unto clear glass, the gates 
 of pearl “ and the street was pure gold, as it were 
 transparent glass.” (Rev. xxi. 10—21.) These, how¬ 
 ever, are but feeble images, by which to describe the 
 external glory of the once crucified but now exalted 
 Lord. When he appeared to the persecuting Saul, the 
 brightness of his glorified human body was above the 
 brightness of the mid-day sun. And in a more familiar 
 discovery of his personal glory, to the Apostle John, the 
 brightness of his countenance is resembled to the sun, 
 when he “ shineth in his strength : and when I saw him,” 
 says the Apostle, “ I fell at his feet as dead.” (Rev. i. 
 16,17 : compare Heb. iii. 3, 4.) If this partial discovery 
 
64 
 
 SERIES IX.—ESSAY V. 
 
 to the eyes of mortals was such as to overwhelm them 
 with the insufferable blaze of brightness ; if they were not 
 able to sustain even this half-veiled manifestation, what 
 shall be the glory of his presence, where he unveils him¬ 
 self to the eyes of adoring angels and the spirits of the 
 just made perfect? We have, however, at present no 
 better, nor more apposite allusions; for it is indeed “ what 
 eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, and which it hath not 
 entered into the heart of man to conceive.” Not all the 
 dazzling glory of the cherubim of pure gold, in the holy 
 of holies, in the Jewish temple; nor indeed all the awful 
 glories of Mount Sinai, when the Lord descended upon 
 it, veiling his splendour, which he discovered to Moses, 
 from the eyes of common observers, in clouds and dark¬ 
 ness, and thick darkness; can equal the majesty of his 
 Divine nature, shining through his glorified human nature 
 in the full blaze of infinite perfection, blending and uniting 
 together, to attemper itself to the limited power of the 
 highest order of angelic nature, or casting forth its mag¬ 
 nificence all around to astonishing and admiring hosts. 
 Here, in figure and in reflection, he is revealed as the 
 glory of Jehovah ; there he appears as indeed the bright¬ 
 ness of the Father’s glory, and the express image of his 
 person. (Heb. i. 3.) And when he comes on the throne 
 of his glory, he shall come invested with that glory of the 
 Father with all his holy angels, and then shall he sit upon 
 the throne of his glory. But that supreme and ineffable 
 glory none can behold and live. The mortal must put on 
 immortality ; the earthly tabernacle must be changed ; the 
 dying body must become like his own glorious body, and 
 the feeble power of flesh and blood must be formed for 
 the inconceivable vision, before they can enter into that 
 city, “ where the glory of God doth light it, and the 
 Lamb is the light thereof.” New faculties must be pre¬ 
 pared for those new discoveries of Divine glories, when 
 all the majesty and brightness of Jehovah shall shine in 
 the God-man Christ Jesus, upon the eyes of his adoring 
 ransomed saints, in the world eternal. 
 
GOLD. 
 
 65 
 
 2. The solidity and weight of gold is also attended, not 
 only with splendour, but also tvith durability .—Gold is 
 the hardest of all known bodies ; and it is indestructible 
 by fire or air, and therefore will not rust nor consume. 
 It will endure the fire so that not a grain of it is lost, and 
 “ the strongest heat will not change its metallic qualities.” 
 How true, but at the same time bow weak, an emblem 
 of the glory of our Jesus, who is the same yesterday, to¬ 
 day, and for ever ! If we contemplate his essential God¬ 
 head, “ with him there is no variableness, neither shadow 
 of turning.” And in his person, as Immanuel, though 
 “ he humbled himself,” and veiled his glory, by an act of 
 voluntary humiliation for a time, it was but for a little time 
 that he was made lower than the angels in human nature, 
 that in that nature he might be crowned with glory and 
 honour throughout eternity. (Heb. ii. 9.) In this com¬ 
 plex person, uniting the human and the Divine nature in 
 one Immanuel, we behold him as the purest gold, tried in 
 the furnace of Divine indignation ; enduring the fire of 
 the Father’s wrath, which would have consumed us, yet 
 still retaining the same glory ; yea, rising still brighter 
 and more illustrious. Oh, what a furnace was that through 
 which he passed in the garden and upon the cross, when 
 the Father made to meet on him the iniquity of us all; 
 when he bare our sins, and carried our sorrows; when he 
 became a curse for us; when it pleased even the Father 
 to bruise him ! But Oh, the amazing power and dignity 
 of our Divine and Almighty Saviour ! Through all, and 
 over all, he triumphed, that he might be our all-sufficient 
 Redeemer; and therefore he is highly exalted in our 
 nature, and hath received a name above every name, 
 “ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of 
 things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under 
 the earth; and that every tongue should confess that 
 Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” 
 The purest gold can bear no comparison to the rising 
 Saviour, when he burst the tomb, the Conqueror over 
 death and the grave; or when he ascended on high, 
 VOL. v. F 
 
SERIES IX.—ESSAY V. 
 
 66 
 
 leading captivity captive, and took his seat at the light 
 hand of the Majesty on high. The flames of justice and 
 of wrath tried him to the uttermost, in his almighty power, 
 his covenant love, and the purposes of his grace ; but 
 after all he appears more resplendent in dignity and 
 excellency, and is more evidently glorious to the eye of 
 faith. Now he lives, and now he reigns, Head over all; 
 and is, to his believing people, the Man more precious 
 than gold, even the Man more precious than the golden 
 wedge of Ophir. Here faith delights to contemplate his 
 infinite and eternal excellencies; and the glorified spirits 
 of his redeemed will dwell on the contemplation with in¬ 
 creasing delight, through the same eternal duration. 
 
 3. The excellent uses to which gold is applied may 
 justly represent the infallible excellency of the Redeemer , 
 in the blessings of his salvation. —“ Money,” says the 
 Wise Man, “ is a defence.” (Eccles. vii. 12.) “ The rich 
 
 man’s strength is his strong city.” (Prov. x. 15.) “ The 
 
 ransom of a man’s life are his riches.” (xiii. 8.) Yea, 
 “ money answereth all things.” (Eccles. x. 19.) To this 
 sentiment the hearts of the worldly wise readily assent; 
 nor can there be a doubt that that is the most valuable of 
 all earthly properties, by which we are enabled to pro¬ 
 cure whatever else we need ; and this is gold. There is 
 not, in a proper state of society, any comfort of life that 
 depends on property but what it will procure. Yea, if a 
 man be rich, it will often procure for him, not only the 
 useful conveniences and comforts of life, but the respect 
 and attention of all around him, while poverty, and neg¬ 
 lect, and even contempt, are often too nearly allied. 
 “ The rich man hath many friends.” All are ready to 
 attribute to him the respect which he chooses to demand ; 
 yea, the credit of wisdom and superior understanding is 
 very easily acquired by him who has the lustre of riches 
 with which to adorn them. If, then, man possessed no¬ 
 thing hut a mortal body, if his supreme happiness were in 
 present things, his great earnestness and ardour in the 
 pursuit of riches would be justifiable ; for what could he 
 
GOLD. 
 
 67 . 
 
 possess better ? To obtain and to enjoy this would be 
 his supreme objeet, his highest good. Of man, merely as 
 mortal, it might truly be said, without any limitation, 
 “ Behold that which I have seen: it is good and comely 
 for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all 
 his labour that he taketh under the sun, all the days of 
 his life, which God giveth him; for it is his portion. 
 Every man also to whom God hath given riches and 
 wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to 
 take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour; this is the 
 gift of God.” And the surest evil under the sun, is a man 
 “ to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honour, 
 so that he wanteth nothing for his soul, of all that he 
 desireth, yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof.” 
 (Eccles. v. 18, 19; vi. 2.) 
 
 But man has an immortal spirit: he is formed to con¬ 
 verse with., and to enjoy, spiritual things. The things of 
 this world can never satisfy his thirst for immortality. He 
 must possess still higher blessings, or be miserable ; and 
 what gold is to the natural sense, such is the Lord Jesus 
 Christ to the immortal spirit: what the one is to the na¬ 
 tural man, the Lord Jesus Christ is to the spiritual man: 
 what the one is in the natural world, the other is in the 
 spiritual world. If I have Jesus, I have all my soul can 
 want. He can bless me, and make me truly happy ; and, 
 clothed with his righteousness, I shall be honourable and 
 beloved of God : He can secure and defend me from every 
 evil, make all things in friendship with me, and fully satisfy 
 the desires of an immortal soul, without any deficiency or 
 failure through time and through all eternity. It is only 
 the ignorance and the carnality of man that prevent his 
 valuing the Lord Jesus Christ, his grace, and his blessings; 
 for while sin is in the heart, while the mind in its carnal 
 state is formed to relish only earthly things and sensual 
 objects, there can be no apprehension of the nature and 
 excellency of spiritual things, and consequently no value 
 tor the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the glory of the spiritual 
 world. It is therefore the great aim of the enemy of souls 
 
 f 2 
 
68 
 
 SERIES IX.— ESSAY V. 
 
 to engage the attention of the natural man to the things 
 of time, and to the various objects of sense which surround 
 him, and to lead him to estimate them so highly, and, alas! 
 so falsely, as to place all his happiness in the enjoyment of 
 them. Hence amongst these things which are lost— i.e. 
 among the perishing things of earth—the god of this world 
 blinds the eyes of them that believe not, lest the light of 
 the glorious Gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, 
 should shine unto them.” (2 Cor. iv. 3, 4.) Thus deceived 
 as to their true state, ignorant of their real wants, and mis¬ 
 taken as to their true enjoyment, the world at large are 
 careless of Christ, and unconcerned as to the possession 
 of him and his salvation. But, while the sensual world, 
 deluded with imaginary bliss, pity and despise those who 
 value Christ, they are themselves truly the objects of pity, 
 since they are ignorant of the only Saviour and only Bless¬ 
 ing of the human race. The humble believer compassion¬ 
 ates the miserable fallacy that deceives their mind, and 
 confirms them in errors so fatal to the happiness of an im¬ 
 mortal soul, and so dangerous to their eternal welfare ; 
 and, with the kindness and philanthropy which conforms 
 him to his benevolent Master, earnestly supplicates the 
 Spirit of the Lord to enlighten their understanding, and 
 lead them to the knowledge of that only good thing for 
 the sons of men. The richest man on earth soon finds 
 that there are several things which all his wealth cannot 
 procure, and without which he has no power of enjoyment. 
 It can give him neither health of body nor peace of mind, 
 nor restore them when they are declining. It fails to help 
 in matters of the greatest importance, and especially at the 
 time when help is most needed. Go, ask through all the 
 world, amidst the various things which the stores of gold 
 can procure, where is the place of happiness 1 And each 
 will answer for itself, “ It is not in me.” “It cannot be 
 gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for the 
 price thereof,” &c. (Job xxviii. 12—28.) But what gold 
 cannot purchase, the Lord Jesus Christ can bestow ; even 
 that without which we must be poor indeed. Riches can 
 
GOLD* 
 
 69 
 
 procure food and raiment, and the luxuries of each. They 
 can supply all bodily conveniences and comforts. They 
 can secure our temporal possessions, and adorn our tem¬ 
 porary habitations. They can do still more; they can, in 
 ordinary cases, conciliate the favour, the esteem, and the 
 respect of men ; and, by rewarding, can retain their homage 
 and their services to administer to our wants and our grati¬ 
 fications. But in the most important seasons of trial, afflic¬ 
 tion, or necessity, they can afford no aid, no support, no 
 consolation. But here is the peculiar excellency of the 
 Friend of sinners, and of the blessings which he bestows : 
 they are suited to the seasons of trial, to support, and to 
 carry through all; yea, to turn all into blessings. The pe¬ 
 culiar benefits which he bestows are of a nature suited to 
 the power and the duration of an immortal spirit, being 
 spiritual and eternal. He can give me the pardon of all 
 my sins, peace with God through the justification aud ac¬ 
 ceptance of my person, the consciousness of Divine love 
 and favour, the joys and consolation of his Spirit, the calm 
 of soul in the season of trial and affliction, the hope of 
 everlasting glory that can sustain even in the hour of 
 nature’s dissolution, and the satisfactory assurance of an 
 unalienable title to an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, 
 and that fadeth not away. These are true riches which 
 never fade and never fail ; riches which can never lose 
 their value, and of which the true believer shall never lose 
 the enjoyment. In comparison with these, how do all 
 earthly things, in their highest glories, fade and vanish 
 away before the eye of faith ! Hence we see that the 
 poor and humble believer is often happier than the richest 
 of the sons of men : for he has joys and pleasures, and an 
 unfailing source for their supply, which the world knows 
 nothing of; a source undefiled with sin, which supplies him 
 with gratifications free from guilty fears and gloomy appre¬ 
 hensions, and which do not terminate with the present 
 system of things, but are suited to that glorious system 
 which shall be the felicity of eternal ages, into which he 
 is speedily advancing, and where they shall bo perfectly 
 
70 
 
 SERIES IX.—ESSAY V. 
 
 matured. The first blessing of pardoning mercy and justi¬ 
 fying righteousness, which the Lord Jesus Christ bestows, 
 opens the way to all besides. (Rom. v. 1, &c.) So that 
 all things are theirs who can say Christ is theirs. (1 Cor. 
 iii. 21.) Sense values earthly blessings, because they are 
 present, and suited to the gratification of the body ; the 
 instrument through which alone, in the present state, the 
 immortal soul can act or enjoy. But spiritual blessings, 
 though unseen, are infinitely preferable in just estimation ; 
 and when faith beholds them (and it is the great work of 
 the believer to live by faith, and not by sense), they appear 
 so to the believing mind. But these are all treasured up 
 in Christ Jesus, that they may be given to the believing 
 sinner, and are secured to the enjoyment of faith, by the 
 precious and never-failing promises of his word. What¬ 
 ever, then, we may be destitute of, let us seek to have an 
 interest in Christ, nor ever be satisfied without the know¬ 
 ledge of its attainment. The Apostle surely was not mis¬ 
 taken in the sentiment which he entertained of the incom¬ 
 parable value of the Saviour, when he accounted all things 
 but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ 
 Jesus his Lord; nor was he unwise in his determination 
 when he resolved to suffer the loss of all things, that he 
 might win Christ, and be found in him. 
 
 A small piece of gold will purchase immense loads of 
 other things, which, though great in their bulk, are, per¬ 
 haps, little comparatively in their value. And one grain 
 of the grace of Christ, if we may be permitted so to speak, 
 is, in its excellency and utility, infinitely beyond all the 
 riches, the treasures, the glories of the world; and gladly 
 would the dying sinner, enlightened by the light of truth, 
 sacrifice all, and give up all that he ever possessed in this 
 world, for its enjoyment; for it is the salvation of the soul 
 for eternity. But in Him are hid all the treasures of 
 wisdom and knowledge. He is full of truth and grace ; 
 in Him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead; and he that 
 is in Christ has a right, by union with him, to all his com¬ 
 municable excellencies and blessedness. We need not 
 
GOLD. 
 
 71 
 
 fear to overvalue the excellency of such a Saviour; for all 
 without him will in the end be as nothing:: it will leave its 
 unhappy possessor under guilt, under fear, under the ter¬ 
 ror of conscience, the curses of the Law, and the wrath of 
 God ; but to have Christ will turn every thing into blessed¬ 
 ness. Then let us rejoice in Christ Jesus, but have no 
 confidence in the flesh : let Him who is all our salvation 
 be all our desire. Of him we may say, what never can be 
 said of gold, or of all the wealth of India, There is not a 
 want but He can supply for body and soul, for time and 
 for eternity. And blessed be his adorable name, whatever 
 he is, he will be to his people. If, then, we are asking 
 how to obtain him and his inestimable benefit, it is our 
 felicity that he freely gives what we stand so much in 
 need of, and for which we have nothing equivalent to pre¬ 
 sent, nothing that is suitable to offer, for its attainment. 
 
 Ask,” says he, “ and ye shall haveCome, and I will not 
 cast you out: Believe, and ye shall be saved.—Poor needy 
 sinner, fly to this rich Repository of all grace and gracious 
 blessings, and he will enrich thee with all his fulness of in¬ 
 effable and eternal delight. “ I counsel thee,” says he, “ to 
 buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich, 
 and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that 
 the shame of thy nakedness do not appear, and anoint 
 thine eyes with eye-salve, that thou mayest see.” (Rev. 
 iii. 18.) You need not wait to bring with you any thing 
 that may recommend you to his bounty ; for his blessings 
 are gifts, free gifts. There is with him the gift of pardon, 
 the gift of righteousness, the gift of grace, the gift of his 
 Spirit, the free gift of eternal life, the inheritance of the 
 saints in light. All that is requisite is, to see your need, 
 and to apply in the prayer of faith. He will not cast you 
 out: he will not send you empty away, without the bless¬ 
 ing you need : “ This is the confidence that we have in 
 him, that if we ask any thing according to his will,” that 
 is, upon the ground of his irrevocable will, “ he heareth us.” 
 Ask, then, to have an interest in himself; for “ he that 
 
72 
 
 SERIES IX.—ESSAY V. 
 
 hath the Son of God hath life ; ” yea, hath in him all things 
 that are good. 
 
 4. Gold is also made use of to cover and adorn other 
 things, and thus to make them shine with its oivn splen¬ 
 dour. —The vilest wood, thus covered, will shine in this 
 borrowed lustre, with the most dazzling beauty. Is there not 
 here, my soul, a true representation of the infinite advantage 
 which I derive from union with Christ, from putting on 
 Christ, from having his righteousness imputed to me by my 
 heavenly Father, and wrapt round about me in the exercises 
 of faith ? So shall I shine arrayed in all his glories, who 
 is the Lord my righteousness. However guilty, however 
 black and uncomely, however defiled and deformed, I shall 
 be comely in that comeliness which he puts upon me. 
 Thus the church rejoiced of old, and thus may every be¬ 
 liever rejoice now ; “ I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, 
 my soul shall be joyful in my God : for he hath clothed me 
 with the garment of salvation, he hath covered me with the 
 robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with 
 ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.” 
 (Isa. lxi. 10.) Thus arrayed, I shall appear glorious and 
 beautiful, even in the eyes of infinite purity; and thus he 
 shall present me without spot or wrinkle, or any such 
 thing. (Ephes. v. 26, 27.) I shall be “ complete in 
 Christ Jesus.” The Lord God will not behold iniquity 
 nor spot in me: he will not see iniquity in Jacob, nor 
 perverseness in Israel, since he sees nothing but that which 
 adorns and covers them,—the beauty, the glory, the radi¬ 
 ancy of the Lord Jesus Christ, their garment of everlast¬ 
 ing splendour. Oh, let me then be found in Christ, not 
 having on “ mine own righteousness, which is of the law, 
 but that which is of the faith of Christ, the righteousness 
 which is of God by faith !” 
 
 Gold, therefore, 
 
 5. .4s it is most valuable, is invariably most valued. —So 
 is, or ought to be, the Lord Jesus Christ, in his Divine per¬ 
 fections, his mediatorial excellency, and his infinite blessings. 
 
GOLD. 
 
 73 
 
 He is the Beloved of the Father, his own Elect, in whom 
 the eternal Jehovah delighteth; his beloved Son, in whom 
 he is well pleased. He has found an eternal, ineffable, 
 delight in his person, in his union with him in Godhead, 
 in the union of his Divine nature with his manhood, and 
 in his characters, offices, works, and benefits which he be¬ 
 stows upon his people. He is most glorious in the sight 
 of angels, who worship and adore him, and who eternally 
 will contemplate the wonders of his mysterious person, 
 still discovering new wonders in infinite succession. 
 
 He is glorious in the sight of all his redeemed people. 
 Faith discovers his inconceivable excellency; and therefore 
 “ He is precious to them that believeprecious in his 
 person and character, his undertaking and his work, and 
 in the infinite fulness of his blessing, so suited to, and so 
 all-sufficient for, the wants they feel, or the desires that 
 arise in their renovated and sanctified spirits. The grand 
 distinction between true believers and others, is the ad¬ 
 miring views which the former entertain of the Lord Jesus ; 
 and the grand chorus above, in which all the redeemed 
 shall eternally join, is the ascription of all wisdom, and 
 power, and honour, and glory to the Lamb. (Rev. v. 
 8—14.) Let our hearts be in union with them now. They 
 will, they must be so, if our faith is, as it ought, directed 
 by the discovery of his word, and realizing the beauties 
 which it presents to us. And while faith admires and 
 triumphs in the fulness of the Saviour, it brings into the 
 heart also a joy that is unspeakable ; it draws down all his 
 blessings upon the soul of the believer, and anticipates the 
 heavenly felicity. Not all the riches of the world can 
 give that happiness which is thus secured to the believer, 
 in the fulness of Jesus, communicated to faith.—O be¬ 
 liever, sit loose to earth, and raise thy hopes and expect¬ 
 ations far, far above. Such a faith in such a Saviour, 
 and such inestimable blessings, will indeed teach thee and 
 enable thee to overcome the world ; for what can so elevate 
 thy soul, and lift thee up above present allurements, as 
 views like these l Dost thou indeed believe the glorious 
 
74 
 
 SERIES IX. —ESSAY V. 
 
 things the word of Divine Truth speaks of thy Saviour and 
 thy Lord ? of Him who is the fountain of thy blessings, on 
 whom thy hopes depend ? How little, then, will all things 
 here appear? Even gold, which answereth all things, is 
 vile in the comparison. Let the poorest believer here find 
 a ground of confidence, a motive for quiet satisfaction, in 
 all the dispensations of Providence. What though obscure, 
 and little,and poor, and mean upon earth, if thou art interest¬ 
 ed in Christ Jesus, and hast union with him, of whom are all 
 things, and in whom is all fulness; if faith unites thee with 
 him, by faith thou art rich indeed, rich towards God, rich 
 for eternity. How exceedingly precious is this Jesus to 
 thee now 1 what blessings, what consolation, what support, 
 what joy, does he not supply to thee by the way! But how 
 infinitely precious are those blessings which he has given 
 thee to expect in him and from him, hereafter and through 
 eternity ! What is it of which he has made thee an heir, 
 to which he has given thee a title, by uniting thee eternally 
 with himself in the bonds of his everlasting covenant, and 
 now in time by the quickening influence of his Spirit ? 
 Thou art “ an heir of God, and a joint heir with Christ.” 
 Think of this, and shake thyself from the dust. Encourage 
 thyself for the Christian race and warfare : “ gird up the 
 loins of your mind : be sober, and hope to the end, for the 
 grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of 
 Jesus Christ.” Thou art not called to give up much for 
 thy Divine Master even of earthly good. To sacrifice 
 thy lusts and corruptions to him ought to be thy delight 
 and ambition; but if thou wert called to give up all on 
 earth for Christ, what is it but to give up dung and dross 
 for pure and sterling Gold? Only then be concerned to 
 know, to love, to enjoy, and to serve him. Then shalt 
 thou lay up the rich abundance of spiritual blessings, more 
 precious than the gold of Ophir. (Prov. viii. 17—21; Job 
 xxii. 21—30.) O believer, keep looking at Jesus while 
 thou art looking off from all besides. Realizing your need, 
 and comparing with it his glory, his* suitableness, his 
 fulness of everlasting blessings, every thing else will fade 
 
GOLD. 
 
 75 
 
 and die away. The fine, the durable gold, shall perish in 
 the general conflagration ; but then his glory shall shine 
 forth more bright and more splendid. You know, indeed, 
 but little of his glory on earth ; the highest exercises of 
 faith discern his infinite perfections but darkly: but when 
 you see him as he is, they shall excite thy eternal adora¬ 
 tion ; while they enrich thee with all the spiritual felicities 
 of his love, and invest and adorn thee with all the lustre 
 of his beauties for evermore. Amen, and Amen. 
 
SERIES IX.—ESSAY VI. 
 
 7G 
 
 ESSAY VI. 
 
 strong Salutation. 
 
 Food and clothing, shelter and covering, are articles of 
 the first necessity to the body, in the present system ot 
 things. Without the first we must soon die, and without 
 the others we are exposed to every inclemency of the 
 seasons, and must pass a miserable and wretched exist¬ 
 ence. Hence, as spiritual things are always represented 
 by earthly, the suitableness of Christ, and the provisions 
 of his grace to the necessities and consolation of his 
 people, are frequently presented to our view under this 
 allusion. He hath prepared for them the food of their 
 souls, the Bread of heaven, and the rich provision of a 
 feast; he is the covering of their souls, his righteousness 
 is the wedding-garment, with which they are clothed and 
 ornamented, and himself is their peaceful and secure habi¬ 
 tation, to which believing souls may continually resort. 
 Thus the Psalmist supplicates the protection of the Lord 
 (Psa. lxxi. 3), and the humble believer is represented as 
 making the Most High his habitation, (xci. 9.)—Many 
 ideas will here present themselves to our view, similar to 
 those that occur under the title The Refuge: but the pe¬ 
 culiarity of the present title is the idea which it raises in 
 the mind of domestic peace and tranquillity, of pleasant¬ 
 ness and order, security and ease ; in a word, the beautiful 
 idea of an home. While we see how the Lord Jesus 
 Christ answers these purposes to his believing people, if 
 we can rest upon him in faith, and realize him in all his 
 benefits, as ours, the meditation will be sweet and refresh¬ 
 ing, affording a delightful foretaste of that rest and joy, 
 which fill and crown the mansions of the blest. 
 
STRONG HABITATION. 
 
 77 
 
 An habitation must be, 
 
 1 . A place of security .—Without this it can scarcely 
 be called an habitation, or a home ; for it ought to afford 
 a sufficient shelter from storms and tempestuous weather, 
 and secure us from the nightly depredations of thieves and 
 robbers. We look to it in the wintry season as the place 
 where we expect to find ourselves in safety and at ease, 
 though the stormy winds may blow all around us. We 
 pity those who are exposed to the fury of the blast, when 
 the bleak north, or the piercing east, pour forth their trea¬ 
 sure of hail and snow, and cover over the path of the 
 wandering and perplexed traveller. We retreat into our 
 habitation; and, encircling the bright and cheering blaze 
 of the comfortable hearth, we congratulate ourselves upon 
 our protection from the inclemency of the season, and our 
 shelter from the howling storm, which beats upon it, and 
 spreads its terrors all around. 
 
 Every man’s habitation, in a well-regulated state, is 
 protected by the laws, and is under the guardianship of 
 the equity, the justice, and the power of the state. There 
 the peaceful inhabitant sits under his own vine and under 
 his own fig-tree, none daring to make him afraid, fn 
 this happy nation, the security of the subject is often re¬ 
 presented by the proverbial saying, that every man’s house 
 is his castle. These views may afford a just emblem of 
 the security of the believer in Christ Jesus, as to the pre¬ 
 servation, peace, and salvation of his immortal soul. When 
 the penitent sinner is, by faith, got as it were experi¬ 
 mentally into Christ Jesus, he finds a secure and peaceful 
 shelter, from every storm which sin brings over a disordered 
 world. There the storms of guilt and wrath can never 
 enter; nor can they injure the man who is in Christ Jesus. 
 He is the secure retreat, the peaceful habitation of his 
 people. When sin is forgiven, peace with God disarms 
 them of all their power and terror; softens down their 
 furious blasts, or stops them in their destructive current. 
 The stormy tempest beat heavy on the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 the Shelter of his people, that it might never reach to 
 
78 
 
 SERIES IX.—ESSAY VI. 
 
 them, disturb their peace, nor destroy their souls. It may 
 be said of his church, as of the Kenites of old ; Let then 
 the inhabitant of the rock sing, “ Strong is thy dwelling 
 place, and thou puttest thy nest in a rock." 
 
 But that which shelters them from the storms of wrath, 
 is also a secure defence from every enemy ; no thief nor 
 robber can enter this habitation of rest, to hurt, to injure, 
 or destroy their souls, or rob them of the rich treasure of 
 Divine love and favour; which their heavenly Father, in 
 covenant mercy, hath bestowed upon them. Here in Jesus 
 is security, absolute and unfailing—the wall of fire: the 
 glory of Jehovah is their defence. The church is therefore 
 represented as thus triumphing in their safety: “We have 
 a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bul¬ 
 warks.” (Isa. xxvi. 1, &c.) Trust ye then in the Lord for 
 ever, for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength. In 
 the wintry storm, or in the summer sultry heat and rains, how 
 miserable would the man be, who was constantly exposed, 
 without a suitable habitation to which to resort! But how 
 feeble a representation is this, of the destitute and dan¬ 
 gerous state of the man who is out of Christ, unsheltered by 
 his covenant love, or the arm of his almighty power! What 
 can such a sinner do, what peaceful hope or quiet satis¬ 
 faction can he find, in the storm of affliction, death, and judg¬ 
 ment ; when the fiery law beats in tempests, and the thun¬ 
 der of its curse rolls in tremendous sounds of judgment 
 all around him \ If a sense of guilt now alarms and ter¬ 
 rifies the convicted sinner, what can he do, or how can he 
 sustain himself, in the views of eternity and at the bar of 
 God ? There none will ever stand with confidence, but 
 those who are found in Christ Jesus ; who have received 
 Christ by faith, who are interested in him, who are washed 
 with his blood, and clothed with his righteousness ; who are 
 vitally united to him, and therefore partakers of the benefit 
 of all he hath done, of all that he hath received, of all the 
 glorious characters and offices he bears, for the salvation of 
 his people. To hear the awful sentence, “ depart, ye 
 cursed ; I never knew you,” will indeed appal the soul;. 
 
STRONG HABITATION. 
 
 79 
 
 but this must be the solemn, the dreadful fate of all who are 
 out of Christ. O my soul, how should I endure that sound ? 
 O my reader, how wilt thou bear to hear that awful sen¬ 
 tence ? But the Law brings us all in guilty ; and there is 
 no other name under heaven, whereby we must be saved, 
 but the Lord Jesus. Fly then from the just sentence of 
 the Law, and the wrath of a holy God, to Jesus : let nei¬ 
 ther pride, nor love of sin, keep thee from him : look unto 
 him, and thou shalt be saved. Let faith receive and rest 
 on Jesus, and thou shalt hear the gracious declaration, “ I 
 have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and 
 as a cloud thy sins those storms shall never more strike 
 upon thee to thy destruction. “ Return unto me, for I have 
 redeemed thee.” (Isa. xliv. 22.) O blessed Jesus ! be thou 
 my Habitation by faith: there let me defy every storm, 
 and glory over every enemy. Secure in thine almighty 
 power, and everlasting love, I flee to thee, as the strong 
 hold of my refuge, and trust my soul, and all my concerns, 
 and all my salvation unto thee. (See Psa. xlviii. 12—14.) 
 
 2. An habitation is the place where provision is made 
 for the accommodation, comfort, and supply of the family. 
 —This supply will generally be regulated according to the 
 ability of tbe master of the house. If he be opulent and 
 wealthy, there will be no deficiency in the accommodation 
 of furniture or of food. All will be provided that may pro¬ 
 mote conveniency, that may gratify an elegance of taste, 
 or that may secure the enjoyment of ease, if not the plea¬ 
 sures of luxury and refinement. All will be prepared, as 
 to provision, which may not only be absolutely necessary, 
 but which may satisfy the appetite with delicacies and 
 with abundance. Thus the blessings treasured up in the 
 heart of Jesus, for his people, are represented by the rich¬ 
 est luxuries of a feast; “ A feast of fat things, a feast of 
 wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on 
 the lees well refined” (Isa. xxv. 6); prepared by Jehovah, 
 God of Hosts himself, for the enjoyment of all people. 
 For this purpose, Wisdom hath budded her house, hewn 
 out her seven pillars, killed her beasts, mingled her wine, 
 
80 
 
 SERIES IX.—ESSAY VI. 
 
 and furnished her table, and sent forth her maidens to in¬ 
 vite the simple to turn in, and to partake abundantly of 
 her soul-reviving dainties. (Prov. ix. 1—6.) Under the 
 same figurative allusion, our Lord represents the blessings 
 provided for sinners, in the Gospel. (Matt. xxii. 1.) “ Be¬ 
 hold,” says the all-bountiful Redeemer, “ I have prepared 
 my dinner; my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things 
 are ready; come unto the marriage.” What rich provision 
 hath the Infinite Saviour made, out of the infinite fulness 
 of his heart, for all the family and household of faith ! To 
 be in Christ, is to be invited to all; all that he can give, 
 all that the immortal soul can want or enjoy. The bless¬ 
 ings of pardoning mercy, the richest enjoyment of Divine 
 favour, all the graces and consolations of the Eternal Spirit, 
 all the sweetest manifestation of the Divine presence, the 
 peace of God which passeth all understanding; the joy 
 that is unspeakable and full of glory ; the hope that an¬ 
 ticipates that glory, till the table of everlasting love shall 
 be spread in the glorious mansions of the blest above, and 
 covered with the immortal provisions of everlasting glory. 
 These are all in Christ Jesus, treasured up in him ; for in 
 him it pleased the Father that all fulness should dwell. 
 (Col. i. 19.) In him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead 
 bodily (chap. ii. 9); so that we are complete in Him, 
 having nothing that we can want but we find it treasured 
 up in his infinite, inexhaustible, eternal fulness; and why 
 is it laid up there but that, according to the purpose of the 
 covenant of eternal mercy, “out of that fulness we might 
 receive, and grace for grace.” (John i. 14—16.) 
 
 Let not then the humble and the poor believer repine 
 at the present trifling inconveniency that may attend his 
 earthly habitation, or even at the failure of his earthlv 
 tabernacle. He is but a stranger and a pilgrim here: 
 earth is not his home ; this body is not his dwelling-place 
 he lodges here at best but as a traveller at an inn, as a 
 way-faring man for a night. If his accommodation here 
 be comfortable, it is well: let him thank the God of pro¬ 
 vidence for the bounty and liberality of his hand for the 
 
STRONG HABITATION. 
 
 81 
 
 kind and abundant provision he hath made for the happi¬ 
 ness of this lower world, which he dispenses to his people 
 as he pleases, and as he sees may promote their good. 
 But if it be not so, he shall soon arise and be away: he is 
 going from stage to stage through the wilderness; and he 
 only awaits the happy morning, the rising day of immor¬ 
 tality, and he shall leave all its inconveniences for ever. 
 What though our houses here on earth be poor and mean, 
 badly accommodated, badly provided ; of how little con¬ 
 sequence is it to the Christian pilgrim ? There is a brighter 
 dwelling-place in the skies, a building of God, an house 
 not made with hands, eternal in the heavens ; mansions 
 prepared for him by the Lord, his Redeemer, his glorious 
 Forerunner. Interested in Jesus, he hath a title to all 
 the blessings he hath obtained and provided; and very 
 soon he shall get through, and enter upon his inheritance, 
 which shall be incorruptible, undefiled, and shall never fade 
 away. That he hath been poor in this world, will be no 
 disgrace to him there, no bar to his taking possession ; 
 since he hath been rich in faith, and is a rightful heir, by 
 union with his Elder Brother and Redeemer, of the pro¬ 
 mised inheritance. Whatever may be the glory or extent 
 of earthly possessions, the body itself in which we hold 
 these possessions is but a tenement of clay, a tabernacle 
 frail and vile, put up in order to be taken down, and soon 
 to die and turn back again to dust. But faith, the sub¬ 
 stance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not 
 seen, points us to a city which hath foundations, whose 
 maker and builder is God ; to a better country, even an 
 heavenly one. (Heb. xi. 1, 10, 16.) Well, then, might 
 the Apostle exhort the afflicted believers of his time to 
 gird up the loins of their mind, to be sober, and hope to 
 the end for the grace that is to be brought unto us at the 
 revelation of Jesus Christ. (1 Pet. i. 13.)—Let us con¬ 
 template the believer’s privileges as united to and in Christ, 
 in the view of the Apostle; and it will wonderfully support 
 us under all the troubles and sorrows of life, and greatly 
 encourage our heart as we are passing through the trying 
 VOL. V. G 
 
82 
 
 SERIES IX.—ESSAY VI. 
 
 scenes of an earthly pilgrimage: “All things/’ says he, “ are 
 yours.” Paul, Apollos, or Cephas,—all ministers and instru¬ 
 ments, all means and ordinances of the church,—are in¬ 
 tended for your good ; all the gifts and graces with which 
 he endues his ministers or fills his ordinances: “ The 
 world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to 
 come, all are yours why ? “for ye are Christ’s, and Christ 
 is God’s.” (1 Cor. iii. 21—23.) Into what a richly fur¬ 
 nished and well provisioned habitation does the believer 
 enter, when, by faith, he enters into Christ Jesus? When 
 faith unites him with and in Christ Jesus, then under his 
 eye and care, and interested in his everlasting love, he 
 feasts upon the atoning sacrifice which his love has made, 
 and on all his rich redeeming blessings even here below 
 in faith. While he dwells securely under his care, he 
 feeds on all the enjoyment a spiritual mind can desire ; and 
 in him, as his eternal habitation in the heavenly world of 
 glory, all the effects of sin shall be for ever done away, 
 and the bounteous provision of redeeming love afford 
 eternal and increasing felicity. O Lord, increase our 
 faith on earth; and let it feed more abundantly upon the 
 provision of thy grace, till we eat and drink with thyself, 
 what thy love hath prepared for thy redeemed in glory 
 everlasting! 
 
 3. Men delight to adorn their habitations, wherein they 
 constantly reside, that they may not only be suited for 
 residence, but for pleasure. —It is a great recommendation 
 to a dwelling-house, that its situation is beautiful, cheerful, 
 and elegant; and that it commands a pleasant and exten¬ 
 sive prospect. On this account the Psalmist commends the 
 holycityof God, the emblem of his spiritual church: “Beau¬ 
 tiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Sion ; 
 on the sides of the north, the city of the great King.” 
 (xlviii. 1, 2.) This, however, is only a type of him, who 
 is himself “ Beauty and Glory ” (Isa. iv. 2); who is repre¬ 
 sented by every thing beautiful and glorious upon earth, 
 but “ in all things hath the pre-eminence.” And what can 
 equal that prospect which opens to the eye of faith, when 
 
STRONG HABITATION. 8!) 
 
 the believer stands secure in Christ Jesus ? Not the view 
 into an earthly Canaan, from the top of the Mount Pisgah, 
 with which the eye of the Jewish lawgiver was delighted, 
 and his mind revived; but over the everlasting hill of 
 promise into the heavenly Canaan. The eye of faith pe¬ 
 netrates through the veil of death, and looks beyond its 
 darkest shades, where the passage has been opened, by the 
 rising and ascending Redeemer, to “ that inheritance 
 which is incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not 
 away—“ to the exceeding great and eternal weight of 
 glory.” Faith beholds the city of the New Jerusalem, 
 where there is “ no need of the sun, neither of the moon to 
 shine in it; for the glory of God doth lighten it; and the 
 Lamb is the light thereof. And the nations of them which 
 are saved walk in the light of it: and the kings of the 
 earth do bring their glory and honour into it.” (Rev. 
 xxi. 23—27.) The habitation, says the believer, in which 
 I dwell, shall never decay nor fail: it is a building of God, 
 an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 
 There shall I dwell in Jesus, and with him through eternity- 
 This was the subject of my dear Redeemer’s last address 
 and supplication to his heavenly Father for his church, 
 when he was about to lay down bis life for it; and his 
 prayer is heard and answered, and shall prevail on behalf 
 of his redeemed people for ever. “ I pray,” says he, 
 “ that they all may be one ; even as thou. Father, art in 
 me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us, that the 
 world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory 
 which thou gavest me I have given them ; that they may be 
 one, even as ive are one ; I in them, and thou in me, that 
 theymay be made perfect in one, &c. Father, I will that they 
 also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am ; 
 that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me,” 
 &c. (See John xvii. 21, 22.) Is it possible for words to 
 give us a more accurate and interesting view of that union 
 which subsists between the Lord Jesus Christ and his re¬ 
 deemed people, and the security and happiness which they 
 must enjoy eternally in him ? In him they are safe; and, 
 
 g 2 
 
84 
 
 SERIES IX.—ESSAY VI. 
 
 dwelling in him by faith, they realize that security: they 
 find the rich provision of his house continually spread be¬ 
 fore them, and take the most unbounded prospect through 
 life, and through the veil of death, into mansions of ever¬ 
 lasting light and glory. There let me dwell, and, in humble 
 but believing confidence, survey the goodness with which 
 he favours his chosen, and triumph with his inheritance. 
 
 4. An habitation or house is a place where all the fa¬ 
 mily have a right to enter when they please, ancl have 
 that free access and admission which is not allowed to 
 strangers. —A poor perishing sinner, who feels his need, 
 is indeed exhorted to come to Jesus for life and salvation, 
 and is promised the privileges of adoption by faith in Christ 
 Jesus; and when he comes as a humble beggar to the door, 
 he shall not be sent empty away. When once admitted, 
 among the family and household of faith, he has a right to 
 enter at all times to realize its security; to feed upon its 
 rich provisions ; and to delight himself with its glorious 
 and everlasting prospects. The state of the believer is, 
 therefore, thus described by the Apostle, “ Through Jesus 
 Christ we both have an access by one Spirit unto the Fa¬ 
 ther;” and are “no more strangers and foreigners, but 
 fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of 
 God.” (Eph. ii. 18, 19.) And again (chap. iii. 12); “ In 
 whom we have boldness and access w ith confidence by the 
 faith of himthere they are made “ to comprehend with 
 all saints, what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and 
 height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth 
 knowledge,” and are “ filled with all the fulness of 
 God .” (ver. 18,19.) They are, therefore, represented as 
 entering in and finding salvation, and with free access 
 going in and out to find pasture. (John x. 9.)—The ser¬ 
 vants of a family have a right to many of the privileges of 
 the house; but the children of the family are privileged with 
 a liberty which neither strangers nor servants enjoy. They 
 expect, and justly expect, all the blessings and advantages 
 which the house affords: they come to their father with 
 all their wants and all their desires: without suspicion or 
 
STRONG HABITATION. 
 
 85 
 
 fear they participate of all the comforts and gratifications 
 which the head of the house hath provided. The provisions 
 indeed are often prepared only on their account, to render 
 them comfortable and happy; nor does an affectionate 
 parent find any delight in them, but as communicated to his 
 children around him. Yea, the ungrateful and rebellious 
 prodigal, when returning to a sense of his folly and his 
 duty, is welcomed by a kind parent, and restored to the 
 best privileges of the family. Such is the grace of the God 
 and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ: he runs to meet the 
 backsliding but returning prodigal; rejoices over him as 
 though restored to life from the dead, and employs his 
 servants to clothe him again with the best robe, the robe of 
 a Redeemer’s righteousness; to set before him the fatted 
 calf, the sacrifice of atonement for sin once made upon the 
 cross; to assure him of covenant and everlasting love, by 
 putting on his finger the ring of covenant mercy, and to 
 prepare him again for his heavenly course, by the applica¬ 
 tion of the precious promises of the Gospel, which, as the 
 shoes upon the feet, enable him to tread down every dif¬ 
 ficulty, trial, or temptation, that, as the thorn in his path, 
 would otherwise obstruct his passage. Then faith may come 
 to Jesus at all times, with all its necessities and wishes ; 
 nor shall the believing sinner be ever cast out of his Fa¬ 
 ther’s habitation, nor ever denied the enjoyment of its 
 blessings as far as his infinite wisdom sees to be for his 
 good. It is the covenant habitation of his family, unto 
 which they may continually resort. (Psa. lxxi. 3.) 
 
 5. And it becomes, or ought to be, the place of family 
 order, harmony, love, and peace .—There the members of 
 the house expect to find domestic happiness and peace : one 
 interest alone should govern the whole ; and every heart that 
 dwells therein should be aiming to promote the general good, 
 and the felicity of all. In a place where different persons 
 take up their habitation, who are unconnected with each 
 other, different interests may arise, different parties may 
 be formed, and various contentions may agitate the un¬ 
 comfortable lodging; but the united family will dwell 
 
86 
 
 SERIES IX.—ESSAY VI. 
 
 together in union and in peace.—This allusion is therefore 
 frequently used in Scripture to represent the union and 
 harmony of the church, the family of Jesus. All be¬ 
 lieving sinners meet in Christ: they are united to him as 
 their one Head ; they are under him as their one Lord and 
 Saviour; they look to him as their one Portion and Hope, 
 and therefore, as members of the same family, are, or ought 
 to be, united in Christian love. This would be the case in 
 a much greater degree, if they did but constantly reflect 
 that, as in a well-ordered family, so each, in the appoint¬ 
 ment of God, has in the church his proper station, em¬ 
 ployment, and duties: that these are regulated by the 
 providential disposal of the great Master: that all are as 
 necessary in their several stations, as the different mem¬ 
 bers of the body are in the natural body; and all have 
 their proper use and benefit for the preservation and com¬ 
 fort of the whole : and that, as the weakest member of the 
 body has its proper place, and must not be despised 
 by the most honourable ; so, in the family of Jesus, none 
 must despise another because his situation or usefulness in 
 the church appears to be of an inferior order, for all will 
 in the end be found to have been arranged by a plan of 
 infinite wisdom and everlasting love to the whole. United 
 in Christ Jesus, each shall be found to have been useful 
 to his glory, and all for each other’s good. When thus 
 an habitation is formed with every circumstance of secu¬ 
 rity, and provided with sufficiency and abundance, so that 
 no pinching poverty, nor even the cares of a too rigid 
 economy, corrode the mind : when social harmony and 
 order is preserved, and love and kindness pervade the 
 family circle, how sweet, in the secure, the peaceful, the 
 plentiful habitation, are the comforts and enjoyments of 
 domestic life ? This indeed, even in the present state of 
 things, can never take place, or long continue, without an 
 union in Jesus, without the love of Jesus influencing the 
 heart of all, or without enjoying even present comforts in 
 and with him. Then indeed the happy family oil earth will 
 be an emblem of that state to which the believer is admitted 
 
 i 
 
STRONG HABITATION. 
 
 87 
 
 in Christ Jesus : it will bear a resemblance to that hea¬ 
 venly state where believers shall all be admitted near their 
 God and Saviour; not like a stranger or a guest, but like 
 a child at home. This is the believer’s privilege now ; faith 
 realizes it in part; and, if more in exercise, it would bring 
 more of the sweet anticipation into the heart, till the family 
 of faith shall be removed to the eternal habitation in the 
 heavens. For the dwelling of the believer in Jesus is not 
 like the tenure of a temporary lodging, but like the constant 
 residence in an abiding dwelling-place: all which we can 
 trust in, all that we enjoy on earth, all the possessions we 
 acquire, are at best but the temporary lodging of a pilgrim 
 hastening on his journey to the land he has in view. He 
 is continually reminded that he must be up and going 
 forward. The various providences and changes of life are 
 thus continually recalling to our recollection our transitory 
 and uncertain state below : they frequently and solemnly 
 charge us to “ arise and depart, for this is not our rest, 
 because it is polluted.” But when by faith the penitent 
 believer gets into Jesus, there he finds a resting-place 
 that shall never fail him. It is the very same in which he 
 shall find his eternal rest above, though at present in a 
 land afar off. There has been no other resting-place or 
 secure habitation to the people of God from the beginning, 
 nor shall be through eternity. The believer, therefore, 
 never changes his hope, his confidence, or his reliance : 
 he never seeks nor wishes to hear of any other place to 
 dwellin', in the storms of trial, affliction, death, or judg¬ 
 ment, he flies to the same place for security and ease. Thou, 
 Lord, says he, “ hast been our dwelling-place in all genera¬ 
 tions : before the mountains were brought forth, or ever 
 thou hadst formed the earth and the world,” &c. (Psa. xc. 
 1,2.) He, therefore, “that dwelleth in this secret place of the 
 Most High, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty, 
 and shall say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress, 
 my God, in him will I trust.” (xci. 1, 2.) In this con¬ 
 fidence the Psalmist again rejoices: sheltered here, he 
 would fear no evil in life or in death; yea, even in the 
 
88 
 
 SERIES IX.—ESSAY VI. 
 
 presence of his enemies, he found the table of everlasting 
 love abundantly provided. And when goodness and mercy 
 had followed him all the days of his life, he assures him¬ 
 self that he shall dwell in this house of the Lord for ever, 
 (Psa. xxiii. 4—6.) Thus also the Apostle did triumph in the 
 prospect of eternal joy and security beyond the chang¬ 
 ing scenes of life : “We know that, if the earthly house 
 of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of 
 God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the hea¬ 
 vens and “ in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be 
 clothed upon with our house which is from heaven.” (2 Cor. 
 v. 1, 2.) And what is this hope, in its fullest extent and 
 felicity 1 It is to be “ absent from the body, and to be 
 present with the Lord.” (ver. 8.) The prophetic Apostle 
 takes a view of that delightful dwelling of the Lord with 
 his people: “ I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying, 
 Behold the tabernacle of God is with men ; and he will 
 dwell with them, and they shall be his people: and God 
 himself shall be with them, and be their God ; and God 
 shall wipe away all tears from their eyes,” &c. (Rev. xxi. 
 3, 4.) There is “ the throne of God and of the Lamb, and 
 his servants serve him ; they see his face, and his name is 
 upon their foreheads. And there shall be no night there; 
 and they need no candle, neither light of the sun ; for the 
 Lord God giveth them light, and they shall reign for ever 
 and ever. And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful 
 and true. And the Lord God of the holy Prophets sent 
 his angel to shew uuto his servants the things which must 
 shortly be done.” (xxii. 3—6.) “ And behold, I come 
 quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the pro¬ 
 phecy of this book.” (ver. 7.) 
 
 What then can be of such importance to the sons of 
 men, as to be assured of an interest in Christ Jesus? 
 Without this, all the glories of earth will soon be abso¬ 
 lutely nothing, passed and gone, to appear no more for 
 ever; but with this, all its sorrows are trifles, soon to be 
 changed into everlasting joy ; and faith even now antici¬ 
 pates the approaching scenes with a joy unspeakable and 
 
STRONG HABITATION. 
 
 89 
 
 full of glory.—But even to thee, my fellow-sinner, these 
 joys are open: Jesus is an open door; enter by faith, and 
 thou shalt find the security and the provisions of his 
 house. While this is infinitely important to thy present 
 peace, and especially to thine eternal welfare, he invites 
 thee to himself; he engages to receive thee; he promises 
 to bless thee. Fly into this Refuge : let faith rest upon 
 his promise ; and while he fulfils his promise, in the abun¬ 
 dance of his pardoning and saving grace, be thankful and 
 gratefully obedient. There, my soul, find thy refuge, thy 
 rest, and thy constant dwelling-place : shelter thyself, by 
 faith, in Christ Jesus. He is almighty to save, and all- 
 gracious and unchangeable in his love. In him, though 
 storms may arise around thee, no storms can hurt thee; 
 nor can any enemy, in this shelter, injure thee. Here 
 thou shalt find abundant blessings of pardoning mercy, 
 justifying righteousness, sanctifying and comforting grace. 
 The glorious prospect will stand open before thee into 
 the eternal world, the glorious habitation of the just in the 
 heavenly Canaan; and soon thy present joys shall termi¬ 
 nate in the full enjoyment of all their felicity, when ex¬ 
 alted with them into his presence and at his right hand. 
 Let faith realize the prospect with gratitude, thankfulness, 
 and love.—Seek no other refuge, O my soul ! none other 
 can alford thee either protection, provision, or peace: none 
 other can be needed in all thy trials or temptations. Glorify 
 the Lord thy Redeemer, as thy constant and unchangeable 
 hope and confidence in all; and let him be thy strong 
 habitation, to which, in every time of danger or of want, 
 thou wilt continually resort. 
 
90 
 
 SERIES IX.—ESSAY VII. 
 
 ESSAY VII. 
 
 * 
 
 .dfaitfjful S2aitite0$* 
 
 “ I come,” says the adorable Redeemer, “ to bear witness 
 to the truth.” Through the whole of his life, therefore, 
 his life itself, and the doctrines which he taught, were one 
 continued testimony to the truth of God, confirmed after¬ 
 wards by the influence of his Spirit upon his Apostles, 
 who taught the very same truth as was before delivered in 
 the personal ministry of our Lord, and was transmitted to 
 us as it now stands recorded in the sacred Scriptures, not 
 in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but in which 
 the Holy Ghost instructed them. We need, then, look 
 no further than to the declarations of our Lord himself, to 
 answer that important question, What is truth? Here 
 we find the full display of all the great truths of God, 
 which concern the salvation of man; and at the same time, 
 we must fix upon our minds the firm and unshaken per¬ 
 suasion, that whatever we find in the teaching of our Lord 
 is the truth itself, the truth of God; and that “ heaven 
 and earth shall pass away, before one jot or tittle of his 
 words shall fail.” 
 
 There are some who, desirous of invalidating the great 
 leading doctrines of the Gospel, profess that they are 
 willing to rest the proof of every doctrine upon the per¬ 
 sonal testimony of Christ himself; rejecting the testimony 
 of his Apostles, though inspired by the very Spirit that 
 rested upon Christ, as a mere human reasoning upon, and 
 explication of, his divine teaching. Though we must ob¬ 
 ject to such a conclusion, yet the believer in those doc¬ 
 trines need not fear to rest the decision of their truth 
 upon this testimony alone, fairly examined and candidly 
 
FAITHFUL WITNESS. 
 
 01 
 
 submitted to. It is true, in the discourses of our Lord 
 Jesus, we do not find those doctrines so fully stated, so 
 clearly explained, so amplified by reasoning, and the 
 necessary deduction from them, as in the writings of the 
 Apostles, who were sent forth for the very purpose, under 
 the Spirit of Christ, to explain the doctrine of the Lord, 
 and to instruct mankind in the knowledge of salvation. 
 But every doctrine which relates to the state of man, the 
 divine person of the Saviour, the way of salvation, the 
 regenerating and preserving Spirit of Christ, the hope 
 and expectation of the believer, is there decidedly affirmed, 
 and can leave no doubt iii the mind of the candid inquirer 
 what is the truth of God. Let us but go to this Divine 
 Teacher, sit humbly at his feet, inquire with humility and 
 a child-like disposition ; and we cannot err, nor be doubt¬ 
 ful, as to the great doctrines which belong to our holy 
 religion. He himself, however, has taught us the need of 
 the illuminating influence of his Spirit, to open the under¬ 
 standing and clear away the darkness from our minds, 
 without which the laboured researches and the reasonings 
 of men may only confirm the prejudice of the carnal mind. 
 We must therefore come in dependence upon his grace 
 and illumination, while, with humble fear and firm reliance 
 upon the faithfulness of our Divine Witness, we implicitly 
 believe and receive whatever he hath spoken. For the 
 partial admission of his truth is as injurious to ourselves as 
 it is dishonourable to him, and will bring down the judg¬ 
 ment of a holy God, perhaps in the judicial blindness and 
 infatuation of a corrupted heart, and the wilfully perverse 
 reasoning of a darkened understanding. 
 
 When we consider the character of Jesus, as the Faith¬ 
 ful Witness, we might point to the display and confirma¬ 
 tion which the truth derives from his person, his works, and 
 his instructions. But as to the evidence derived from his 
 person, this is fully considered under his title as The 
 Truth. To this also may, with more propriety, be re¬ 
 ferred the testimony of his works : we shall, therefore, 
 under the present character, principally confine ourselves 
 
92 
 
 SERIES IX-ESSAY VII. 
 
 to the testimony of his words, or personal instruction. This 
 instruction may be considered as branching itself forth into 
 the truths and doctrines which he taught, the invitation or 
 promise which he has given, the awful threatenings he has 
 denounced, and the prophetic declarations whereby his 
 character and testimony were originally confirmed. Here 
 will open a vast field of information, confirming the faith of 
 the believer, and glorifying the great Christian Teacher. 
 We may consider the faithfulness of his witness, er tes¬ 
 timony, 
 
 1. In the truths and doctrines which He taught .—And 
 this again, may branch itself forth into his instructions, 
 as to, (1.) The covenant engagement in the work of re¬ 
 demption, the person and will of the Father, the under¬ 
 taking of the Son, and the personality and office of the 
 Spirit;—(2.) As to ourselves, the state in which man is found 
 as a fallen creature, and the method of his recovery ;—and 
 (3.) As to himself, his character, his work, and the suitable¬ 
 ness and fulness of his salvation. These are subjects of 
 infinite importance to the hopes and happiness of man ; 
 and on this, the testimony of Jesus will give us the most 
 decided and unequivocal information, to the most certain 
 confirmation of our faith. 
 
 (1.) The covenant engagement, in the work of redemption 
 between the Eternal Three, is no doubt the primary cause 
 of all the hope and the salvation of sinners. Let us shortly 
 hear the testimony of our Divine Teacher upon this most 
 interesting point. The Father is represented by him as 
 having a will, or certain determination, for the salvation of 
 his people ;—a will which he himself came to do, to per¬ 
 form, to fulfil, while the Spirit testifies of both ; viz. the will 
 of the Father, and the fulfilment of it in the person of Mes¬ 
 siah, the Christ; and applies the salvation of Jesus to the 
 heart of his redeemed. There are, therefore, according to 
 the testimony of our Lord Jesus, as well as by the decla¬ 
 rations of the Apostle, “ Three which bear record in hea¬ 
 ven, and which Three are One” in nature and in design : 
 the language of the Redeemer on earth is correspondent 
 
FAITHFUL WITNESS. 
 
 93 
 
 with his covenant engagement as represented by the 
 Psalmist (xl. 6): “ Lo, I come, to do thy will, O God.” 
 
 Then he fulfilled this prophetic declaration: “ He saw 
 that there was no man, and wondered that there was no 
 intercessor : therefore his arm brought salvation unto him ; 
 and his righteousness, it sustained him.” And in the ful¬ 
 filment and application of the glorious plan, the Spirit 
 Jehovah lifts up the standard against the overflowings of 
 the power of the enemy ; and, resting upon the Redeemer 
 without measure, rests also on his covenant-seed for ever. 
 (Isa. lix. 16—21.) These views are beautifully stated in 
 those incomparable chapters, the 5th and 6th of St. John’s 
 Gospel. The mission of the Father, and his own voluntary 
 and perfect acquiescence in it, are most clearly stated in 
 chap. vi. 32—40; where, comparing himself to Bread, he 
 says, “My Father giveth you the true Bread from heaven; 
 for the Bread of God is He which cometh down from 
 heaven, and giveth life unto the world. I am the Bread of 
 Life,” &c. And again ; “ I came down from heaven, not 
 to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me ; 
 and this is the Father’s will that sent me,” even the salva¬ 
 tion of all his people, “ that of all which he hath given 
 me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at 
 the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that 
 every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may 
 have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last 
 day.” But without the influence of his Spirit, no sinner 
 can ever know his own state, return to God, or embrace 
 the blessings of his salvation. Hence he tells us expressly, 
 “ No man can come to me, except the Father which hath 
 sent me draw him; ” and this is in fulfilment of the pro¬ 
 phetic promise, “ They shall be all taught of God.” (ver. 
 44, 45.) And again ; “ It is the Spirit which quickeneth; 
 the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto 
 you, they are spirit, and they are life.” (ver. 63, 64.) As 
 his people, therefore, are the gift of the Father to him, 
 they are and shall be effectually brought to him by his 
 Spirit; “ for all,” says he, “ that the Father giveth me 
 
94 
 
 SERIES IX.—ESSAY VII. 
 
 shall come to me.” (ver. 37.) He calleth, therefore, his 
 own sheep by name, and leadeth them out: he gives unto 
 them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall 
 any pluck them out of his hands. (John x. 3, 28, 29.) For 
 this purpose he prays the Father, who gives this other 
 Comforter to dwell continually with and in his people, 
 (xiv. 16, 17.) He teacheth them of all things, (ver. 26.) 
 He reproves of sin, by enlightening the mind, and display¬ 
 ing the spirituality, holiness, and extent of the Divine law, 
 and the consequent sinfulness of transgression ; of righ¬ 
 teousness, by displaying the complete redemption of the Lord 
 Jesus ; and of judgment, in the everlasting triumph of the 
 Redeemer over sin, and death, and hell. (xv. 7—10.) 
 Hence he guides them into all truth (ver. 13), glorifies 
 Christ, and reveals him and his blessings to his people, 
 (ver. 14, 15.) We have chosen this passage from the 
 Gospel by St. John, because that Evangelist decidedly 
 recorded, more than all the rest, the discourses of our 
 Lord, as a discovery and illustration of the doctrines 
 which he taught. Nor is it possible to find plainer asser¬ 
 tions or clearer testimony to these solemn truths, in any 
 of the sacred writers. The effects of his instruction, 
 when he enforced upon the Jews these very humbling 
 doctrines, were also similar to those which are now pro¬ 
 duced whenever the same doctrines are preached. Many 
 were offended at him, and went back and walked no more 
 with him. He will, however, be found the Faithful and 
 True Witness. Let us, therefore, rather imitate his faith¬ 
 ful disciple, who with holy indignation replied to the in¬ 
 quiry, “ Will ye also go away?” “ Lord, to whom shall we 
 go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.” (John vi. 
 67-69.) 
 
 (2.) Let us hear the testimony of this Divine Teacher, as 
 to ourselves, or as to the state of man .—He knew, we 
 are told, what was in man; and he hath given us a faithful 
 testimony as to his guilty, ruined, and helpless situation. 
 What can more explicitly depict the total fall and depra¬ 
 vity of human nature, than the declaration, that “ that 
 
FAITHFUL WITNESS. 
 
 95 
 
 which is born of the flesh is flesh” (John iii. 6); only 
 fleshly and sensual; that out of the heart of man proceed 
 (as its natural fruit) evil thoughts, adultery, fornication, 
 murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lascivi¬ 
 ousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness; “ all 
 these evil things come from within, and defile the man.” 
 (Mark vii. 21, 22.) His inability to help himself out of 
 such a miserable situation is strongly implied, when he is 
 represented as perishing (John iii. 14, 15); as condemned 
 (ver. 18); as lost (Luke xv. 4—7); as dead (John v. 25.) 
 In consequence of this, he not only stands in need of some 
 spiritual assistance to aid his own endeavours in the work 
 of reformation ; but of the regenerating grace and power 
 of the Holy Ghost, to turn his very heart to God. Here 
 the testimony of the Saviour is most decisive, confirmed by 
 the strongest asseveration with which he was accustomed to 
 claim attention to the most important points of his instruc¬ 
 tions. “ Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a man be bom 
 again, born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter 
 into the kingdom of God.” (John iii. 3—5.) And with¬ 
 out any figure, he tells us that no man can come to him 
 except the Father, which hath sent him, draw him; or 
 except it were given unto him of the Father. (John vi. 44, 
 63—65.) That this is to be referred to the sovereignty of 
 his grace, he plainly informs us, when he says, “ I know 
 whom I have chosen” (xiii. 18); and again, “Ye have not 
 chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that 
 ye should go and bring forth fruit,” &c. (xv. 16.) In this 
 sovereign disposal of the Father, He, who knew with the 
 most cordial and unreserved acquiescence the mind of the 
 Father, cheerfully expresses his submission. “ I thank 
 thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou 
 hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast 
 revealed them unto babes : even so. Father, for so it seemed 
 good in thy sight.” (Matt. xi. 25, 26.) Upon this subject 
 the Apostle has enlarged in Rom. viii. 1—9; but no words 
 can ever express more clearly the great doctrine of human 
 depravity, the need of regenerating grace, the sovereign 
 
SERIES IX-ESSAY VII. 
 
 96 
 
 communication of that grace, and its sanctifying effects, 
 than the various parts of our Lord’s discourses, to which w e 
 have now referred. But not only are we taught the need 
 of the regenerating and sanctifying grace of the Spirit, for 
 the renovation of our fallen nature, but the necessity of an 
 atonement; a ransom, a sacrifice for sin; in order to a 
 sinner’s pardon, justification, and salvation. He expressly 
 tells us, he came to lay down his life “ a ransom for many,” 
 (Matt. xx. 28); that God so loved the world that he gave 
 his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him 
 should not perish, but should have everlasting life ; and 
 that for this purpose the Son of Man must be lifted up 
 upon the cross, as the serpent was lifted up in the wilder¬ 
 ness (John iii. 13 —15) ;—that he giveth his life for the 
 sheep, lays down his life for the sheep ; and that, therefore, 
 the Father loveth him as Man and Mediator, because 
 he lays down his life and taketh it up again, (x. 11, 
 13, 17.) In what manner can this possibly be under¬ 
 stood, but as referring to the atonement for sin, in the 
 blood of his cross, and teaching us, according to the lan¬ 
 guage of the Apostle, that we have redemption only 
 through his blood, even the forgiveness of our sins, accord¬ 
 ing to the riches of Divine grace, that God hath set him 
 forth as the propitiation to declare his righteousness in our 
 forgiveness. (See Eph. i. 7; Rom. iii. 25, &c.) 
 
 If man then be in this state, if this be the only way of 
 his salvation, through the atonement of the Redeemer, 
 then its blessings must be freely given and received by 
 faith ; and therefore, “ It is of faith, that it might be by 
 grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the 
 seed ; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also 
 which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us 
 all.” (Rom. iv. 16.) With this testimony of the Apostle, 
 the testimony of the Saviour also agrees: “ He that 
 believeth shall be saved. Whosoever believeth shall not 
 perish, but shall have everlasting life. He that believeth 
 is not condemned. He that believeth on the Son hath 
 everlasting life.” (John iii, 15, 18, 36.) And yet from 
 
FAITHFUL WITNF-SS. 
 
 07 
 
 the regeneration of the heart by the Spirit of grace, he 
 tells us that the fruits of holiness must necessarily flow forth 
 in the temper and the life; for make the tree good, and 
 its fruit will be good. (Matt. xii. 33.) Every good tree 
 will bring forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth 
 evil fruit. From their fruits, therefore, must arise the 
 evidence of the state in which professors of his religion 
 really are: and the tree that does not bring forth good 
 fruit will “ be hewn down and cast into the fire.” (Matt, 
 vii. 1G—23.) These are the grand doctrines and foun¬ 
 dation truths of the Gospel, which, being so contrary to the 
 pride and corruption of man, excite in general his decided 
 enmity and opposition, against which the human mind is 
 continually cavilling, and which the pride of reasoning 
 often tempts him to deny. They stand, however, revealed 
 in the clearest manner as the doctrines of the Lord him¬ 
 self ; and they are connected with, and enforced by, the 
 doctrine of his resurrection from the dead, of a final judg¬ 
 ment, and an eternal world. (Matt. vii. 22, 23; John v. 
 28, 29.) In all he will be found the Faithful Witness : his 
 doctrine will be found the truth of God; and it is our 
 wisdom to submit our understanding to his testimony, and 
 our heart to his command; and to receive, as little children, 
 the instruction of this great Prophet of the house of God. 
 
 3. As to his own person ,—His actual character, the 
 nature of his work, his design in accomplishing it, the all- 
 sufficiency of his grace and power, and the blessings of 
 his salvation ; here also we have his own testimony in the 
 most decisive manner. “ I am one,” says he, “ that bear 
 witness of myself” (John viii. 18); and “ if I bear witness 
 of myself, my witness is not true” (John v. 31); for “ I know 
 whence I came, and whither I go.” (viii. 14.) As to his person, 
 therefore, we cannot have clearer testimony, nor one more 
 decisive of his Divine nature and union in the essence of the 
 Godhead. When he calls himself the Son of God, it was in 
 such a manner that the Jews well understood his meaning : 
 nor does he endeavour to deny the charge, or to lower 
 down his pretension, when they accused him of thereby 
 VOL. v. H 
 
98 
 
 SERIES IX. —ESSAY VII. 
 
 making himself equal with God. (John v. 17, 18, &c.) 
 At another time be himself decidedly claims this equality, 
 and declares, “ J and my Father are one and at another 
 time he asserts his title to equality of worship, that “ all men 
 must honour the Son, even as they honour the Father.” 
 (John v. 23.) The Apostle has not more fully declared 
 his Divinity and Godhead, when he tells us that “ He was 
 in the form of God, and thought it not robbery to be equal 
 with God.” We need not wonder at the expressions of 
 subordination which we find him at other times using : we 
 shall easily perceive that they are not at all inconsistent with 
 the claim of equality in Godhead, if we consider his com¬ 
 plex person as Immanuel, God and man in one Christ, 
 and the character of subordination which he assumed in 
 the covenant of redemption. If he acknowledge his sub¬ 
 ordination in his human nature or mediatorial character, 
 while he asserts his Divine equality as one in Jehovah, 
 these can never be considered as inconsistent positions. 
 As man, he is indeed inferior ; as God, he is one with the 
 Father; as God-man, and Mediator also, his office, or the 
 character which he voluntarily assumed, is that of sub¬ 
 mission and obedience, to do the will of the Father in the 
 salvation of his people. Hence arose those different, but 
 not contradictory, assertions of our Lord : “ My Father is 
 greater than I.” As Man and Mediator, “ I and my 
 Father are one,” as a person in Jehovah. This view 
 corresponds with the universal and invariable language of 
 Scripture: this from the whole concurring testimony of 
 Scripture, with the testimony of our Lord himself, we 
 must assert to be the truth of God ; while those who deny 
 it have no other reason for a denial, but that exceedingly 
 absurd one, that they cannot understand it. 
 
 When, again, the Lord Jesus Christ represents his ac¬ 
 tual character in v aich he appeared on earth, we find that it 
 is exactly the same which he is described as condescending 
 to take in the counsels of eternity. Not only is he the 
 Teacher, but the Mediator, the Redeemer of his people; 
 and as such he presents himself to us under different 
 
FAITHFUL WITNESS. 
 
 99 
 
 allusions. He is the Door of our access to God; He is 
 the Way in which we come near to God, as our Father; 
 He is the Light to enlighten a dark world ; He is the 
 Life of his people; He is the Bread from heaven, the 
 means of supporting and sustaining that life. The work 
 which he performed in order to this, as before stated, was 
 to give himself a ransom, to lay down his life; and the 
 great design of all this work of his love and condescension 
 was, that they might live before him, or that they might 
 have everlasting life. And as to his all-sufficiency for 
 this work, as it relates to the glory of God, he himself 
 appeals to the Father, that he had finished the work which 
 was given him to do ; and proclaims upon the cross, “ It 
 is finished!” as it relates to the salvation of man. And 
 when about to ascend on high, where the heavens have 
 received him till the time of the restitution of all things, 
 he informs us that he has received all power in heaven and 
 in earth ; and that the Father hath given him (as Mediator) 
 power over all flesh, to give eternal life to as many as were 
 given him. (John xvii. 2.) When we put together these 
 declarations of the Lord Jesus, what a Divine, what a Glo¬ 
 rious Saviour, is here presented to our faith! What man, 
 what prophet, did or ever could so speak of himself as the 
 Lord Jesus Christ spake? His own testimony leads us 
 into the most, adoring views of his person; claims our 
 worship, our trust, our confidence, and our love ; but He 
 is the Faithful Witness. Let him, then, be my Teacher; 
 and while I implicitly submit to all his instructions, let 
 him who is all my salvation be all my desire ! 
 
 Having considered the truth to which this Faithful 
 Witness bore his testimony on earth, there are two or 
 three other views which will deserve somewhat more of 
 our attention. As this, however, is the principal design 
 of his bearing the name, upon the rest we shall dwell but 
 little. We may however, observe that He is a Faithful 
 Witness, 
 
 2. In all the gracious invitations and precious jiromises 
 which he hath given .—While in the former part of this 
 
 H 2 
 
SERIES IX_ESSAY VII. 
 
 TOO 
 
 character, we have seen him conveying wisdom and in¬ 
 struction to the inquiring mind, in this he will be acknow¬ 
 ledged as bringing consolation to the humble penitent, 
 and to the tried and fearful believer. While the cha¬ 
 racter of a Saviour is that in which the Lord Jesus ap¬ 
 pears most suited to the necessity of sinners, when he 
 comes into the world as such, the language of his lips 
 corresponds with the grace and gentleness of his character. 
 He came to seek and to save the lost, the perishing, the 
 guilty ; and He is therefore continually found encouraging 
 sinners to come to him for pardon, life, and salvation. 
 “ This man receiveth sinners,” was the malicious but ab¬ 
 surd accusation of his enemies against him, though it was 
 the very design of his taking that humble nature in which 
 he appeared. It was the glory of his ministry, and of 
 the office which in it he sustained, and the fulfilment 
 of all the purposes of his condescension. He, therefore, 
 never casts out any who come to him, and has assured 
 the humble penitent, by his faithful promise, that he never 
 will. He hast left on record the most gracious invitations 
 to perishing sinners, attended with the most encouraging 
 promises of acceptance, and the bestowal of every blessing. 
 “ Come unto me,” says the compassionate Redeemer, 
 “ all ye that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give 
 you rest: take my yoke upon you, and learn of me ; for I 
 am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto 
 your souls.” (Matt. xi. 28.) “ Him that cometh unto me 
 
 I will in no wise cast out.” (John vi. 37.) The accept¬ 
 ance of the returning penitent by this gracious Saviour im¬ 
 plies the gift of all the blessings of salvation, from pardon 
 to everlasting glory, with all that is needful by the way. 
 “ For he that cometh unto me,” says he, “ shall never 
 hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.” 
 (ver. 35.) And when he has fed and guided his people 
 through all the wilderness, then he has engaged to conduct 
 their steps to his Throne above, and bring them all to the 
 full enjoyment of his salvation; for this is the will of the 
 Father towards all his redeemed and believing people. 
 
FAITHFUL WITNESS. 
 
 J01 
 
 And as he has fulfilled that will in their redemption, he 
 will fulfil it also in their eternal glorification ; “ For this is 
 the will of him 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.” (ver. 40.) While his 
 promises, therefore, encourage the humble sinner’s appli¬ 
 cation to him, whatever may be his guilt or his necessity, 
 the faithfulness of his character should confirm the faith of 
 the believer, while resting upon his word, for all the grace 
 he needs. The Apostle has beautifully represented the 
 security which thus arises to the believing soul: “ The 
 Son of God, Jesus Christ,” says he, “ was not yea and 
 nay for “ all the promises of God in him are yea, and in 
 him amen, to the glory of God by us.” (2 Cor. i. 18—20.) 
 He will be found that Faithful Witness who will never 
 deceive our confidence, and in whom we can never trust 
 in vain. This indeed is the great work and business of 
 faith, to take the word of Christ as our dependence, to 
 give him the glory of his truth by believing and trusting in 
 him, and expecting from him all which he has promised to 
 bestow. In this we cannot be mistaken, since he is in¬ 
 fallibly faithful and true. Without the promise of his word 
 faith would be presumption, and the expectation of any 
 blessing for a sinner totally unfounded; but not to trust 
 nor expect when and what he has promised is the most 
 unreasonable unbelief,—the most dishonourable to Him, 
 and the most ungracious to our own souls. His exceeding 
 great and precious promises have secured to the believer 
 every supply: nothing can be wanting to those who are in¬ 
 terested in them. O for faith to believe so as to give him 
 glory, so as to bring down the abundant blessing into sweet 
 enjoyment in our own experience! Lord, increase our 
 faith ; since thy promises are infinite, and thy truth and 
 faithfulness unchanging! 
 
 There is, indeed, another view of the character of Christ 
 as the Faithful Witness which ought to engage our atten¬ 
 tion, since he will be found as true, 
 
 3. To all his aivful denunciations against sin and sin- 
 
SERIES IX.—ESSAY VII. 
 
 102 
 
 ners , as to his promise towards the believing penitent.— 
 Has he declared, that he that believeth not shall die in his 
 sins, and shall be damned; that the unbeliever shall perish ; 
 that he will at last reject the fruitless and insincere pro¬ 
 fessor, as well as the profligate and the profane sinner ' 
 (Matt. vii. 21—23.) Such then shall certainly hear the 
 awful sentence, “ Depart from me, ye cursed”—“ I know 
 you not”—“ I never knew you.” (Matt, xxv.) The faith¬ 
 ful Saviour will be glorified in his justice, as well as in his 
 grace; in his judgments upon those who reject his salva¬ 
 tion, as well as in his blessings upon those who believe in 
 and love him. His threatenings are as true as his pro¬ 
 mises, and eternity shall prove his faithfulness in both. 
 Oh, let the guilty sinner shake off his unbelief, and flee for 
 pardon and forgiving mercy to the grace of the Lord Jesus 
 Christ! then shall he find his faithfulness in rescuing him 
 from his guilt and danger, and introducing him to the 
 peace and privileges of his Gospel: but if he continue in 
 impenitence and unbelief, he shall as surely perish, for the 
 mouth of the Lord Jesus hath spoken it. 
 
 In one other view, and which will close our present 
 meditation, he has indeed already manifested himself to 
 be the Faithful Witness in confirmation of all beside ; viz. 
 
 4. In his prophetic declarations .—Parts of these, which 
 were intended as proofs of his Divine mission, and as evi¬ 
 dences of the truth of his doctrine and his promise, were 
 speedily accomplished in the conduct of his providence. 
 They are, consequently, the most decided proofs that 
 Jesus of Nazareth was indeed the Christ the Son of God, 
 and afford us the most decisive assurance of the fulfilment 
 of all which he hath spoken. The prophecies to which we 
 now refer are those especially which related to the de¬ 
 struction of Jerusalem ; and how remarkably and exactly 
 these were fulfilled in the event, the testimony of history 
 gives us the most decided proof. This was accomplished 
 by the Roman power, under the standard of the Roman 
 eagle. The temple itself was entirely destroyed, notwith¬ 
 standing every eflort of Titus to preserve it from the fury 
 
FAITHFUL WITNESS. 
 
 103 
 
 ol iiis soldiers. The state and polity of the Jewish people 
 were eutirely dissolved, and they themselves scattered 
 abroad over the face of the whole earth. (See Matt. xxiv. 
 and the parallel passages.) The dispersion of this once 
 highly favoured people, for so long a period, and in so 
 humiliating a manner, is a proof of the indignation of the 
 God of Israel resting upon them for some remarkable 
 iniquity and disobedience. This, we know, is none other 
 than the long-predicted refusal of their eminent Prophet and 
 their anointed King. Thus they themselves are the con¬ 
 tinually living monuments of the truth of that Christianity 
 which they deny, and of the faithfulness and glory of that 
 Messiah whom they reject. These declarations are con¬ 
 nected and wrought as it were together with the prophe¬ 
 cies of his future coining. (See Matt, xxiv.) They are a 
 confirmation of the truth of the latter, a standing assurance 
 and a faithful unequivocal pledge of their accomplishment 
 in due season. Then shall he come again in the glory of 
 his Father, with his holy angels, to vindicate his truth and 
 faithfulness, to fulfil all his words of threatening and of 
 promise, to take vengeance on them that know not God 
 and obey not his Gospel; but to the salvation of his people, 
 in whom he will be glorified and admired for ever.—What 
 thankfulness is due to thee, thou great Prophet of the 
 house of God, for all the instructions which thou hast 
 afforded us ! The words of my heavenly Teacher, con¬ 
 cerning my state, or the way of my salvation, are the 
 words of truth unfailing. They shall stand for eternity; 
 and by them I shall stand or fall in judgment; and yet, 
 how awfully are they neglected by the generality of men ! 
 The whole, indeed, of the Scriptures of Divine Truth, 
 which testify of Jesus, are able to make us wise unto sal¬ 
 vation, by faith which is in him. (John v. 39; 2 Tim. iii. 
 15.) Yet, alas! how often is the sacred volume treated as 
 the most useless, and how often does it appear as the most 
 neglected, furniture of the house, if indeed it be found 
 there at all! But in this sacred volume, the words of 
 Jesus himself are words of peculiar grace and beauty. 
 
104 
 
 SERIES IX.—ESSAY VII. 
 
 The grace of his compassionate heart is poured forth from 
 his lips; and never man spake like this Man. While, then, 
 sitting at his feet, let me not, like Pilate, inquire, “ What is 
 truth?” and then retire without waiting for an answer: let 
 me not thus lose the opportunity of instruction and infor¬ 
 mation from this heavenly and infallible Prophet, but 
 humbly learn and patiently do his will. The blessed Re¬ 
 deemer is worthy of our faith and confidence: he has 
 proved himself true in all that he has yet accomplished, in 
 fulfilling his own engagements, even to the cross, in mag¬ 
 nifying the grace and mercy of his character towards all 
 who come to him, and in those prophetic declarations 
 which have been fulfilled in their season. These are stand¬ 
 ing proofs of his faithfulness, and demand an implicit con¬ 
 fidence in all that he hath spoken. If, then, I believe the 
 faithfulness of his words, a lively faith will become in¬ 
 fluential and practical. If I believe the truth of wbat he 
 hath spoken of my state as a sinner, I shall be humble, 
 penitent, and abased. If I believe what he hath spoken 
 of my helplessness, and the need I stand in of his almighty 
 grace and the influence of his Spirit, I shall be found u 
 humble supplicant at his throne, in all prayer and suppli¬ 
 cation. If I receive the testimony which he hath borne 
 to his own person, I shall confess his Divine glory; reve¬ 
 rence, adore it; and honour him even as I honour the 
 Father. When I view his amazing condescension, and 
 hear his testimony as to its design, the glory of God in the 
 salvation of perishing sinners, how shall I admire his 
 grace, love his person, and fly to him for pardon and for 
 eternal life! while the completeness of his work, which he 
 proclaimed finished upon the cross, and all the fulness 
 of the blessings of salvation, which are therefore trea¬ 
 sured up in him, will claim and obtain my continued 
 reliance; and, establishing my faith, will encourage, in the 
 prayer of faith, the unbounded confidence and expecta¬ 
 tion of all the blessings I can need, through time, to life 
 everlasting. If I fear his denunciations, I shall yet re¬ 
 joice in his promise; I shall tremble at sin, and fear to 
 
FAITHFUL WITNESS. 
 
 105 
 
 remain in my sinful state; and never will my heart be 
 satisfied without conformity to his design, and, like the 
 believers of old (Heb. xi. 13), persuaded of and em¬ 
 bracing his promises. By that faith which is the sub¬ 
 stance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things 
 not seen, I shall declare myself a pilgrim and a stranger 
 upon earth, and tend forward to the heavenly mansion, 
 where he already ever is to prepare them for his people. 
 (John xiv. 1, &c.) We must, however, give an account 
 how we have used the faithful words of this Divine Wit¬ 
 ness ; nor will ignorance of them be any excuse, since 
 his light has so shined around us in his word. Has that 
 word then been received in that living faith which has 
 conformed me to its design ? lias the work of his Spirit, 
 which he declares to be absolutely necessary for my en¬ 
 trance into the kingdom of heaven, been wrought in my 
 heart? Have I seen my need of him and his salvation, 
 and fled to and believed on him, that I might not perish ? 
 In a word, have I experienced the quickening influence, 
 and been born again of his Spirit? and am I living as 
 one endowed thus with the principles of a spiritual and 
 heavenly life ? 
 
 Oh, thou blessed Teacher! how infinitely indebted am 
 I to thee for thy faithful testimony ! Let me know, 
 and value, and use the privilege I thus enjoy, as the 
 means of spiritual and saving knowledge, till I know 
 the truth, and the truth makes me free. My blessed Re¬ 
 deemer has obtained, by the merit of his blood, all the 
 blessings that I need; and the truth to which he bore 
 witness in his life, he has confirmed by his death, and by 
 his glorious resurrection. Every poor sinner has the 
 sweetest invitation, and therefore the greatest encourage¬ 
 ment to come to him, and every penitent believing sinner 
 to trust in him: neither of them can want beyond what 
 his promises engage to supply. He has provided all 
 the blessings of life and salvation for his people. His 
 truth displays them, and presents them to the faith of 
 the poor, the guilty, and the needy, in his word; and the 
 
106 
 
 SERIES IX. —ESSAY VII. 
 
 hungry thirsty spirit shall not seek for them in vain. 
 In life, in death, and throughout eternity, “ not one good 
 thing shall fail, of all that he hath spoken, till all come 
 to pass,”—the eternal destruction of his enemies, and 
 the eternal salvation of his redeemed: and his believing 
 people will prove him eternally to be The True and Faith¬ 
 ful Witness. 
 
107 
 
 ESSAY VIII. 
 
 Jterael. 
 
 “ This name,” says Bishop Lowtli (on Isa. xlix, 3), 
 “ in its original design and full import, can belong only to 
 Him who contended powerfully with God on behalf of 
 mankind, and prevailed.” Other eminent writers and 
 commentators also, on the same passage, assert, that the 
 name cannot there be applied to the Prophet himself, but 
 must have referred only or principally to the Lord Jesus. 
 It might be rather read thus ; “ Thou, my servant, thou, in 
 effect, art Israel;” that is, In Thee the name receives its 
 full meaning and import. In this view of it, the title 
 affords us fresh'matter of admiration, love, and praise. It 
 will present to us additional discoveries of the glories of the 
 Redeemer for faith to exercise itself upon, and lay addi¬ 
 tional ground of consolation for the humble penitent and 
 the admiring believer. There is indeed no name of our 
 blessed Saviour but what is rich in meaning. If he assumes 
 the name of his people, it is to mark out his infinite con¬ 
 descension, or his intimate union with them ; but when we 
 consider the original design of this name, it appears to 
 have been given as a name of most eminent dignity to the 
 wrestling Jacob, but prevailing Israel. In each and in all 
 of these views, it is verified in the Lord Jesus Christ, who 
 became the lowest on earth, but was and now is the highest 
 in the heavenly world ; in whom God is indeed most emi¬ 
 nently glorified in all his attributes, and in his most righ¬ 
 teous government; and through whose intercession and 
 victory his people shall eternally be saved. We will 
 consider the name in both these views; as a name of con¬ 
 descension, and a name of glory : in both of which it will 
 
108 
 
 SERIES IX.—ESSAY VIII. 
 
 tend to endear the Saviour to our hearts still more, and 
 make him more precious to our faith. The name may be 
 applied to the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 
 1. In reference to his taking the same human na¬ 
 ture with his people, and becoming their Redeemer, 
 Kinsman, and Brother in the flesh. —This was the great 
 mystery of godliness, that God should be manifested in 
 the flesh ! This was an act of the deepest condescension, 
 that the eternal Son of God, the Lord of glory, should 
 consent to take the form of a servant; that the Lord from 
 heaven should become the Second Adam, in all things like 
 unto us ! The Apostle celebrates and admires this act of 
 grace; for verily he took not on him the nature of angels, 
 but the seed of Abraham, became of the same nature, 
 that he might call them brethren, and assumed even their 
 flesh and blood. (See Heb. ii. II—18.) If then he has 
 not refused to take the nature of his brethren, we need 
 not wonder when he condescended to take the name of his 
 church, to evince his love and affection towards it. This 
 part of the present subject has, however, frequently oc¬ 
 curred, and will occur again in the consideration of the 
 Redeemer’s titles : we shall therefore pass on to another 
 reason for his bearing this title, which may be, 
 
 2. To mark out that close spiritual union which sub¬ 
 sists between him and his people ; by which they are one 
 with him, and he with them.—This union is represented by 
 the closest connections on earth; the father and his children, 
 the husband and the wife, the branches and the vine, the 
 head and the members. They are one body united with 
 him ; and not only this, but “ they that are joined to the 
 Lord are one spirit,” which implies a much closer union, 
 and what is beyond all comparison or conception. 
 
 As he therefore bears the name of his church, so they 
 also are spoken of under his name (1 Cor. xii. 12) ; being 
 as it were but parts of his own body. (Eph. i. 22, 23; 
 1 Cor. vi. 17.) This doctrine of union our Lord has 
 beautifully expressed in his last intercessory prayer to his 
 heavenly Father (John xvii. 20, &c); and in amanner which 
 
ISRAEL. 
 
 109 
 
 gives us the idea of an union infinitely closer than any 
 upon earth. He considers it the same as that which sub¬ 
 sists between himself and the Father : “ That they all may 
 be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that 
 they also may be one in us ; that the world may believe 
 that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest 
 me I have given them ; that they may be one, even as we 
 are one : I in them, and thou in me, that they may be 
 made perfect in one; and that the world may know that 
 thou hast sent me, and hast loved them as thou hast loved 
 me.”—They shall therefore all be gathered together in one 
 (or summed up) in Christ, in the dispensation of the fulness 
 of time, and obtain the inheritance to which they are ap¬ 
 pointed in him. (Eph. i. 10, 11.) The title may also be 
 applied to him, 
 
 3. As He is the Representative of his people .—Such he 
 was on earth, and such he is now before the Throne. His 
 people are therefore considered as suffering, dying, rising, 
 and possessing in him : they are buried with him, they 
 are raised up together with him, quickened with him, 
 having all their trespasses forgiven : he has triumphed for 
 them ; they triumph in him, and therefore they are complete 
 in him. See the whole of that beautiful passage.—Nothing 
 can give us a more encouraging view of the state of a be¬ 
 liever as in Christ. The Lord Jesus, his Representative, 
 has borne all for him, appears for him now before the 
 Throne ; has been accepted on his behalf, and therefore he 
 is also accepted in the beloved. As the high priest on the 
 great day of atonement bore the name of all Israel on his 
 breast-plate, so Christ our Redeemer bears on his very 
 heart before the throne of God, the name of all his people, 
 inwrought by the hand of infinite wisdom and almighty 
 love, never, never to be erased ; that it may be an ever¬ 
 lasting memorial of his love to them, and his work of 
 suffering, sorrow, and redemption for them. Oh, what an 
 encouraging consideration ! 
 
 Blessed be his name, He has completed the work of re¬ 
 demption. This is what I plead : sin and guilt are all that I 
 
110 
 
 SERIES IX.— ESSAY VIII. 
 
 have: I have nothing to bring to deserve his favour; but 
 righteousness and grace are his gifts : He also has con¬ 
 quered for me, and calls me to partake of his triumph, and 
 gives me all its benefits. Why has he prevailed ? Not on 
 his own behalf, but on the behalf of his people ; and when 
 the Lord spake to him, and commanded his triumph, He 
 then spake with us, and thus all his covenant promises in 
 Christ Jesus are yea and amen. Blessed be the riches of 
 His grace, His wisdom, and His love. Have I fled for re¬ 
 fuge to Jesus ? Do 1, in humble penitence and cordial faith, 
 rely upon this Saviour? That faith is the effect of his eter¬ 
 nal love; it is the gift of his Holy Spirit; it is the effect of 
 His Spirit dwelling in me, and by it I dwell in Him, as by 
 his Spirit he dwells in me. What a wonderful union, and 
 how happy its effects ! He condescends to bear my name, 
 as my representative, that I may be viewed only as in Him. 
 “ Now then, we have boldness to enter into the holiest 
 by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way, which 
 He hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to 
 say his flesh.” And having a great High Priest, which is 
 entered into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, we may 
 hold fast our profession, and, satisfied of his sympathy as 
 well as of his power, may “ come boldly to the Throne of 
 Grace, to obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of 
 need.” O, how sweet the confidence of a believing sinner, 
 when thus coming to a Throne of Grace, in Jesus his Head, 
 his Saviour, and his Friend ! 
 
 These views may no doubt justify the attributing of this 
 name to Him; and yet perhaps none of these come up to 
 the design of its being thus given to Him. We must 
 rather consider it as given to Him, because of the like¬ 
 ness which He bears to him to whom it was first given, in 
 those circumstances for which it was given. 
 
 We find the fact thus recorded in Genesis (xxxii. 24— 
 30) : “And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a 
 man with him, until the breaking of the day ; and when he 
 saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hol¬ 
 low of his thigh, and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out 
 
ISRAEL. 
 
 Ill 
 
 of joint, as lie wrestled with him. And he said, Let me go, 
 for the day breaketh : and he said, I will not let thee go, 
 except thou bless me. And he said unto him, What is thy 
 name? and he said Jacob: and he said. Thy name shall 
 be called no more Jacob, but Israel; for as a Prince hast 
 thou power with God, and with men, and hast prevailed. 
 And Jacob asked him, and said. Tell me, I pray thee, thy 
 name: and he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask 
 after my name ? and he blessed him there. And Jacob 
 called the name of the place Peniel; for I have seen God 
 face to face, and my life is preserved.” There is a refer¬ 
 ence again made to the same circumstance in chap, 
 xxxv. 9—15: “And God appeared to Jacob again, when 
 he came out of Padan-aram, and blessed him: and God 
 said unto him. Thy name is Jacob : thy name shall not be 
 called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name : and 
 he called his name Israel. And God said unto him, I am 
 God Almighty ; be fruitful and multiply : a nation, and a 
 company of nations shall be of thee; and kings shall come 
 out of thy loins : and the land which I gave Abraham and 
 Isaac, to thee I will give it; and to thy seed after thee will 
 I give the land. And God went up from him, in the place 
 where he talked with him. And Jacob set up a pillar in 
 the place where he talked with him, even a pillar of stone; 
 and he poured a drink-offering thereon, and he poured oil 
 thereon. And Jacob called the name of the place, where 
 God spake with him, Bethel.” 
 
 We cannot be at a loss how to apply this passage, in 
 reference to this title of the Redeemer. We see Him in 
 his human nature wrestling, like Jacob, with God, for him¬ 
 self, and for his people; prevailing for the blessing; obtain¬ 
 ing the unchangeable promises of life and glory, and thus 
 becoming the true Israel, the Prince with God, the Con¬ 
 queror and the Blesser. Well might the Lord Jehovah say 
 of him, “ Thou my servant, thou art Israel, in whom 1 will 
 be glorified.” The Prophet Hosea notices this historical 
 circumstance in a very remarkable manner, in which he 
 seems to consider Jacob as a public person, acting as the 
 
112 
 
 SERIES IX.—ESSAY VIII. 
 
 representative of all Israel; who by his victory was tri¬ 
 umphant, and to whom, as being in him, the promises given 
 to him belonged. He is speaking of Jacob as a people ; 
 and he refers to them the action of their father, and at¬ 
 tributes to them the blessing which he obtained. “ He 
 took his brother by the heel in the womb, and by his 
 strength he had power with God ; yea, he had power over 
 the angel, and prevailed : he wept and made supplication 
 unto him ; he found him in Bethel, and there he spake 
 with us. Even the Lord God of Hosts ; the Lord is his 
 memorial.” (Hosea xii. 3—5.)—What a beautiful view of 
 our Jesus ! This is his character, this his triumph, this 
 his glory ; and this may be our confidence in Him. He 
 came from his throne above, into this world of sin and 
 sorrow, and took the nature of his brethren, that he might 
 become their Redeemer and Saviour, to procure peace 
 with God, and those blessings which had been forfeited 
 and lost by offending man. How often, while sojourning 
 on earth, and engaged in this arduous work, did he spend 
 whole nights in wrestling prayer, and in supplication to his 
 heavenly Father? This was his frequent, his constant exer¬ 
 cise; but in the close of his work, he enters on the most 
 trying conflict. Then behold him in the bitter agonies of 
 the garden, bathed in blood, uttering his strong crying and 
 tears. Behold him on the bleeding cross, when he cried 
 out, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” 
 Surely the good old Patriarch, wrestling through the gloomy 
 night, until the very break of day, was but a type of Jesus. 
 He would not let the angel Jehovah go, till he had blessed 
 him; nor would the mighty Redeemer cease his work of 
 suffering, nor his powerful supplication, till he had obtained 
 the victory, and the blessing for his people. “ Now is my 
 soul troubled,” said the blessed Redeemer, “ and what 
 shall I say ? Father, save me from this hour: but for this 
 cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify thy name.” 
 (John xii. 27, 28.) And again, “ Father, if it be possible, 
 let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but 
 as thou wilt.” Then upon the cross, he blotted out “ the 
 

 ISRAEL. H3 
 
 handwriting- of ordinances, which was against us, which 
 was contrary to us, and look it out of the way, nailing it 
 to his cross; and having spoiled principalities and powers, 
 he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in 
 it.” (Col. ii. 14, 15.) But when he had endured the con¬ 
 flict, and the sorrow,—after the long night of his death 
 and burial, behold he rises in the morning, to proclaim 
 his victory, and receive the promise of its reward. Then, 
 on the morning of his glorious ascension, he ascends on 
 high, leading captivity captive, and receiving gifts to give 
 unto men. (Psa. lxviii. 18.) He commands the eternal 
 doors to unfold, to give him entrance as the King of Glory, 
 the Lord Strong and Mighty, the Lord Mighty in Battle, 
 the True Israel, the Prince with God. (Psa. xxiv. 7, 8, 
 &c.) In the same dignified and exalted character, we 
 behold him now wrestling in his glorious intercession before 
 the Throne: for “ if any of us sin, we have an Advocate with 
 the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous; and he is the Pro¬ 
 pitiation for our sins.” (1 John ii. 1,2.) Of the nature of his 
 mediatorial intercession, he has given us a specimen, in the 
 exercise of it upon earth, where we see him present his 
 supplication, and rejoicing in its success. “Keep through 
 thine own name, those whom thou hast given me, that they 
 may be one as we are.” “ I pray not that thou shouldest 
 take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep 
 them from the evil,” “ Sanctify them through thy truth ; 
 thy word is truth.” “ Neither pray I for these alone, but 
 for them also which shall believe on me, through their 
 word; that they may be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and 
 I in thee; that they also may be one in us,” &c. “ Father, 
 I will that they also whom thou hast given me, be with me 
 where I am, that they may behold my glory which thou 
 hast given me.” (John xvii. 11, 15, 17, 20, 24.) This 
 office, and this employ, the Lord Jesus Christ is carrying on 
 above, that he may secure the effectual calling of his peo¬ 
 ple to himself, their sanctification and preservation, and 
 bring them to the full enjoyment of all the blessings of 
 eternal salvation. In the exercise of this office, “ Him, 
 
 VOL. v. 
 
 l 
 
114 
 
 SERIES IX.—ESSAY VIII. 
 
 the Father heareth always.” He is therefore represented, 
 sitting before the Throne, as a lamb that hath been slain; 
 presenting the continual memorials of his bloody sacrifice, 
 the atonement of his cross, and thus rendering all his pleas 
 effectual on the behalf of his redeemed. Prevailing in his 
 own person as the Mediator, his people are considered as 
 in him triumphant and exalted; and as the Israelites, in 
 their wrestling Israel, prevailed to obtain the promised 
 blessing; and when the Lord spoke his word of truth and 
 promise to him, he then, in fact, spake it to them ; so in 
 the blessing and the promise to the Lord our Redeemer, he 
 spake them to us. In Him the promises receive their first 
 and most glorious accomplishment; but in Him are we com¬ 
 plete, even we who are found in him by faith, and live by 
 union with and upon him. Thus, “ God, who is rich in 
 mercy, for bis great love wherewith he loved us, even 
 when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together 
 with Christ, and hath raised us up together, and made us 
 sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus ;” and there¬ 
 fore, “ blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, who hath thus blessed us with all spiritual bless¬ 
 ings in heavenly places in him.” (Eph. ii. 5, 6; i. 3.) 
 
 This is the glorious character in which the Lord Jesus 
 is now exhibited to our adoration, faith, and confidence ; 
 the wrestling, the ever-prevailing Israel, the Prince with 
 God, who effectually pleads the cause, and manages all 
 the concerns, of his redeemed and believing people, for 
 time and eternity. In Him the victory is complete, in 
 Him all the blessings are deposited ; to Him the promises 
 are given, to Him they can never fail; and in Him all the 
 promises of God to his people are yea and amen, to the 
 glory of God by us. This is the result of his victorious 
 wrestling, his powerful intercession : and the condescend¬ 
 ing but perfect union with us which is marked out in the 
 name, in connection with that all-prevalent intercession, 
 affords a sure ground of the most gracious consolation to 
 his people, for it secures his sympathy in all their fears, 
 sorrows, and distresses. 
 
I SR A EL. 
 
 115 
 
 When we behold him bearing- our nature, we are led to 
 expect this exercise of kindness and of sympathy: for if 
 both he that sanctifieth, and they who are sanctified, are 
 all of one nature, so that he is not ashamed to call them 
 brethren, and if in all things he was made like unto us, 
 he must be a merciful and faithful High Priest: and having 
 himself “ suffered, being tempted, he is able also to succour 
 them that are tempted.” (Heb. ii. 11, 17, 18.) He must 
 be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, having in 
 all points been tempted and tried like as we are. (iv. 
 15.) As the church is his spiritual body, he is as sensibly 
 affected with every sorrow or pain which her members 
 feel, and with every injury they sustain, as the natural 
 head is affected with the various pains and afflictions of 
 the earthly body ; yea, he compares them to that part which 
 is most sensible of the least injury, the apple or pupil of 
 the eye : he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of mine 
 eye. The care and sympathy which he manifested to his 
 church of old, when he led them through the wilderness, 
 is but the figure of his constant care over his church and 
 all his people, as leading them through the wilderness of 
 this world to the Canaan which is above, “ In all their 
 afflictions he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence 
 saved them : in his love and in his pity he redeemed 
 them; and he bare them and carried them all the days of 
 old.” (Isa. lxiii. 7—9.) 
 
 As in him they are indeed the objects of Divine favour; 
 viewed as parts of himself, they are accepted in the Be¬ 
 loved ; and, being perfect in his righteousness, adorned 
 with his comeliness, and viewed as in his perfect merits, 
 they can want nothing, for they are complete in him. He 
 of God is made unto them wisdom, righteousness, sanc¬ 
 tification, and redemption : in him there is no condemna¬ 
 tion ; yea, all things are theirs, since they are Christ’s, 
 and Christ is God’s. (1 Cor. i. 30 ; Bom. viii. 1 ; 1 Cor. 
 iii. 21.) 
 
 This is a Saviour suited to the wants of such needy 
 sinners ; but when he hath become sin for us, and we 
 
 I 2 
 
SERIES IX. —ESSAY VIII. 
 
 116 
 
 become the righteousness of God in him, what else can 
 be needed to secure the Divine favour and everlastirrg 
 love ? what has the humble penitent more to do, than to 
 come to Christ, and accept of him in all his characters, 
 offices, and fulness in the exercise of faith ? And what 
 can the believer do more than live by faith upon him, de¬ 
 riving all grace out of his fulness, and resting upon his 
 loving-kindness and faithfulness ? He, as one in their 
 nature, is interested in all their concerns ; he feels all their 
 wants, their fears, their distresses, their trials, and tempta¬ 
 tions ; and surely his pity will lead him to relieve them, 
 and in his own due time completely to deliver them. If 
 he bare long with them in their natural estate of sin and 
 guilt, surely he will have compassion upon their unallowed 
 and lamented sins and infirmities. If he call them to bear 
 long in a state of trial and temptation, it must be in his 
 infinite wisdom for their good. It is only, “ if need be 
 they are in heaviness through manifold temptations ; that 
 the trial of their faith, being much more precious than of 
 gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, may be 
 found to praise, and honour, and glory at the appearing 
 of Jesus Christ.” But “ all things shall work together for 
 good to them that love God, and who are the called ac¬ 
 cording to his purpose.” Realize this view, O believer ! 
 and what will be the effect? Surely it will promote this 
 patient acquiescence in all his ways, and this holy con¬ 
 fidence in him in all thy sorrows and trials, to his glory. 
 You may expect his constant love and care, and every 
 blessing from his hand, as being thus united with him, who 
 hath prevailed with God for you. When the humble 
 penitent comes and commits his cause into the hand of 
 this all-prevalent Intercessor, he may realize his safety. 
 His person is safe as in union with his adorable Re¬ 
 deemer and Mediator; all his concerns are safe under his 
 direction ; all his prayers shall be accepted, and all the 
 blessings of salvation shall be poured down upon his soul. 
 This is the glorious consolation which arises to the believer 
 in meditating on the union of the Redeemer in his nature, 
 
ISRAEL. 117 
 
 and his mediatorial intercession before the Throne : this 
 affords a most abundant encouragement to the prayer of 
 faith and the expectation of hope. Let us use the privilege 
 continually, and be thankful. “ This is the confidence 
 that we have in him, that if we ask any thing according to 
 his will (i. e. no doubt, his revealed word of promise), he 
 heareth us ; and if we know that he heareth us, whatsoever 
 we ask, we know that we have the petitions which we 
 desired of him.” (1 John v. 14, 15.) This confidence is 
 grounded upon his own promise ; for, says the Redeemer, 
 “ Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, 
 that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall 
 ask anything in my name, I will do it” (John xiv. 13, 
 14): and again; “ Verily, verily, I say unto you. What¬ 
 ever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give 
 it you. Hitherto ye have asked nothing in my name : ask, 
 and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.” (xvi. 
 23, 24.) What can be more affectionate and more encou¬ 
 raging than such words as these, sweetened with all the 
 affection of our kinsman Redeemer, and confirmed by the 
 solemn pledge and faithfulness of him who is Immanuel, 
 God with us ? The Apostle, when representing the union 
 between Christ and his church by the nearest union 
 amongst men, has given us the most endearing views of 
 the love and grace of Jesus to it. He loved his church, 
 and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse 
 it by the washing of water through the word. That he 
 might present it to himself a glorious church, not having 
 spot or wrinkle, or any such thing ; but that it should be 
 holy and without blemish. No man ever yet hated his 
 own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the 
 Lord the church ; for we are members of his body, of his 
 flesh, and of his bones : a paraphrastic expression to denote 
 the intimate and particular union which exists between the 
 Lord Jesus and his people. (Eph. v. 25—30.) 
 
 Let the oppressor, then, beware how he attempts to 
 injure them; for their enemies are considered by him as his 
 enemies. He says to them, as David of old said to Abiathar, 
 
118 
 
 SERIES IX.—ESSAY VIII. 
 
 “ Abide thou with me ; fear not; for he that sceketh my 
 life seeketh thy life : but with me thou shalt be in safe¬ 
 guard.” (1 Sam. xxii. 23.) Since he hath taken their 
 nature, and united himself thus with his people, he hath 
 also taken a name belonging to them, to express the 
 closeness of this union. To distress them, is to distress 
 Him; to oppose them, is to oppose him: “ Saul, Saul,” 
 said he, “ why persecutest thou me?” And in the gi’eat 
 day of judgment he will consider the treatment which they 
 have received, as in every respect terminating in himself: 
 “ Forasmuch as ye did it to the least of these, ye did it to 
 me: and inasmuch as ye did it not to the least of these 
 my brethren, ye did it not to me.” He cannot injure 
 them himself, who are his body; and though others may 
 attempt it, yet they shall not prevail. “ I give unto my 
 sheep,” says he, “ eternal life; and they shall never 
 perish, neither shall any one pluck them out of my 
 hands,” &c. 
 
 Let us but take a view of what the Lord Jesus Christ 
 has done for his people hitherto, in his work of suffer¬ 
 ings and redemption, in his victory and exaltation, and 
 what he is now doing before the throne ; and surely we 
 cannot doubt but he will supply all the need of his people 
 according to his own riches in glory. He is both able and 
 willing to save them to the uttermost; and while his ability 
 is all-sufficient, his mercy is everlasting, and his love is un¬ 
 changeable. In the mutability of their present state, they 
 may often give him reason to depart from them, and to 
 cast them off for ever ; but though he corrects, he will not 
 cast away : he will visit their transgressions with a rod, 
 and their sins with stripes; nevertheless his loving-kind¬ 
 ness will he not utterly take from them, nor suffer his faith¬ 
 fulness to fail. (Psal. lxxxix. 30—34.) His corrections 
 shall be the proofs of his unfailing love and faithfulness, in 
 order to bring them back in repentance and godly sorrow, 
 that he may again shine upon them with his favour. 
 Surely if we contemplate the way in which he has led us, 
 we shall find reason to lock back and to admire his long 
 
ISRAEL, 
 
 119 
 
 forbearance; that he has not dealt with us according to 
 our sins, nor visited us according to our iniquities; that 
 he hath neither left us nor cast us off. And while we have 
 such proof of the truth of his promise toward ourselves, 
 “ experience will work hope : ” we have yet the most 
 ample encouragement to trust in his mercy and faithful¬ 
 ness for the time to come. “ He who has delivered, does 
 deliver ; in whom we trust that he will yet deliver.”—-Let 
 this confidence encourage our love to him, our zeal in his 
 cause, and our courage in the Christian conflict. The 
 Captain of Salvation has obtained the victory: He has 
 wrestled and prevailed, not for himself, but as the Head of 
 his people, that he may give them the fruit of his victory ; 
 for the blessings which he has thus obtained are for the 
 benefit of his believing people. Those who are united to 
 him are the true Israel of God. The promise, “ I will 
 be with thee,” is therefore sufficient to support the courage 
 of his saints; and he may well charge them to “ fear not, 
 neither be dismayed.” It will, indeed, be awfully destruc¬ 
 tive to be found amongst his enemies, in the ways of sin, 
 or in opposition to his authority ; for he who has prevailed 
 over all for his people, will prevail over all his enemies 
 ultimately in their everlasting destruction. But then shall 
 the triumph of his people be complete, and his glory shall 
 be their glory. All the effects of his triumphs are theirs ; 
 and therefore, in his last intercessory prayer upon earth, 
 he says, “ Father, I will that they also whom thou hast 
 given me be with me where I am, that they may behold 
 that glory which thou hast given me.” (John xvii. 24.) 
 He is in possession, as the prevalent Redeemer, the Fore¬ 
 runner of his people; and therefore our hope is as an anchor 
 sure and stedfast, entering into that which is within the 
 veil, because there our Forerunner is for us entered, even 
 Jesus Christ, “ made an High Priest for ever after the 
 order of Melchisedec.” (Heb. vi. 19, 20.) 
 
 He will enable his people to follow him in their victory ; 
 and to him that overcometh he will grant to sit with him 
 on his throne, even as he hath overcome, and is set down 
 
120 
 
 SERIES IX.—ESSAY VIII. 
 
 with his Father on his throne. (Rev. iii. 21.) Let us then 
 look forward and gird up the loins of our mind, be sober 
 and hope to the end for the grace which is to be brought 
 unto us at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Let us deny all 
 ungodliness and worldly lusts, looking for the blessed hope 
 and the glorious appearing of the great God and our 
 Saviour Jesus Christ. 
 
 Every character, every office, every title of this glorious 
 Redeemer is full of blessings, full of consolation to his own 
 people, who know, believe in, and love him, and who, in 
 love, are devoted to his service. 
 
 Blessed Jesus! who but thyself could thus undertake and 
 prevail for me ? condescending for this purpose to be one 
 in my nature, therefore one with me, though in thy Divine 
 nature One with the Father. I adore thy person, and 
 am amazed at thy condescension. To thee I commit my 
 soul for the pardon of all its sin, and the glories of thy 
 eternal salvation. In thee I shall be safe and happy in 
 time, and when passing through time into eternity, though 
 through the valley of the shadow of death. As thou didst 
 not remit thy work of suffering and conflict till thou liadst 
 obtained the blessing for thy people, so I will not let thee 
 go, holding thee by the prayer of faith, until thou hast 
 blessed me. All blessings are in Thee : O let me enjoy 
 them from Thee ! and to Thee shall be rendered back all 
 the power, the glory, the blessing. 
 
121 
 
 ESSAY IX. 
 
 WE cannot deny ourselves the gratification of considering 
 the Lord Jesus under this allusion, which is so suitable to 
 mark out his excellency, his glory, and his abundant sup¬ 
 plies to his people. It may, indeed, be doubted whether 
 the reference is made to this emblem, in a direct allusion 
 in the Scriptures ; yet, in a more indirect manner, it is con¬ 
 tinually used. The palm-tree, and the palm-branches, 
 which were engrafted all round the temple, were no doubt 
 intended as representations of his glory; and the frequent 
 use of them, in the Jewish ceremonies, was designed for 
 the same purpose. Nor may it be at all unsuitable to refer 
 to Him, who is indeed the Righteous One, the expression 
 of the Psalmist (xcii. 12); “ The righteous shall flourish 
 like the palm-tree.” “ Chiefly,” says Bishop Horne, “ is 
 the comparison applicable to that Just One, the King of 
 Righteousness, and Tree of Life, eminent and upright, ever 
 verdant, fragrant; under the greatest pressure and weight 
 of sufferings, still ascending towards heaven, affording both 
 fruit and protection, incorruptible and immortal.”—The 
 palm-tree is constantly growing, abundantly flourishing and 
 fruitful, and exceedingly various in its use for the benefit 
 of mankind. It is always considered as an emblem of 
 beauty, high dignity, fruitfulness, patience, constancy, 
 peace, victory, and immortality. These were its designs, 
 no doubt, in the ornament of the temple, and especially in 
 allusion to the glory of Messiah ; and we cannot now deny 
 it the honour of coming forth to represent his glories and 
 his preciousness, his humiliation and his victories. May 
 it be the means of strengthening our faith and love, and 
 
122 
 
 SERI ICS iX. 
 
 ESSAY IX. 
 
 raising our admiring view of the person and benefit of the 
 Redeemer! 
 
 The palm-tree is a beautiful tall tree, a native of Africa 
 and the East, where it rises to fifty, and often to a hundred, 
 feet or more in height. It takes its name, in the Hebrew 
 language, from its straightness and uprightness, pon.) 
 On the top, its clusters of leaves or branches, which are 
 about eight or nine feet long, extend like an umbrella, 
 bending a little towards the earth. It is constantly grow¬ 
 ing, flourishing, and fruitful; and though pressed down by 
 great weight, it is said that it will not grow crooked, but 
 will rise superior to the pressure, and be able to restore 
 itself to its former state. The more it is oppressed, the 
 more it flourishes, and grows broader and higher. Some, 
 indeed, refer this to the elasticity of its wood when cut into 
 boards. (See Parkhurst.) The tree itself lives for a long 
 time ; so that, according to the account of the Arabs, no 
 change is observed in it for three generations, and the 
 wood is considered by them as incorruptible. By a variety 
 of shoots or suckers at the root, it spreads itself all around, 
 like a low forest, so that where it naturally grows it is diffi¬ 
 cult to open a passage through. Its fruit is most abundant, 
 pleasant to the taste, useful for food and medicine, answer¬ 
 ing almost all purposes; and there is scarcely any part of 
 the tree but what has its appropriate and important uses. 
 The wood, the leaves, the fibres, the pulps of the young- 
 twigs, and the milky liquor of the sap have all their 
 valuable and salutary qualities, and are all employed by 
 the Arabs for food or domestic uses. Surely, then, it is, 
 among all the products of nature, the most suitable emblem 
 of the adorable Redeemer, in his person and his work, his 
 glory and the increase of his kingdom, and the abundant 
 blessings he bestows. It represents, as far as such an 
 allusion can, his glory and his benefits, who, in his true 
 dignity and excellency, is infinitely beyond all. 
 
 We will specify a few particulars, and contemplate in 
 them the pre-eminent glory of our Redeemer. 
 
 1. Its beauty , its perfect straightness, and its towering 
 
PA LM-TK JiE. 
 
 V21 
 
 height, are the apt emblems of his sublime and heave nig 
 beauties, and of his high exalted dignity. —A number of 
 such trees placed in order, and properly arranged, as they 
 are usually planted, must afford a most pleasing and de¬ 
 lightful appearance ; for notwithstanding every pressure, 
 the stately stem still rises erect, and towers on high, and 
 no oppression can bend or distort it. It is therefore con¬ 
 tinually used as the pattern of uprightness. “ They are,’’ 
 says the Prophet of the stately and erect idols of the Gen¬ 
 tiles, “ upright as the palm-tree.” (Jer. x. 5.) But be¬ 
 hold here the humble figure of the exalted dignity of our 
 Redeemer, from the humiliation of earth, from the scenes 
 of poverty and misery, from the hatred of men and the 
 oppression of all the powers of darkness, he still pursues 
 his way to the Throne of Glory, and rises to his exaltation. 
 All the excellencies of human nature, and all the glories of 
 the Divine, unite in his adorable Person : angels admire 
 and adore; but to them that believe he is indeed precious, 
 the altogether lovely in himself, in all things having the pre¬ 
 eminence. The vision of his glory is beyond the highest 
 powers of man : faith alone can penetrate to view the 
 splendours of his throne, the inconceivable majesty, dignity, 
 and glory of his mediatorial Person. “ Him having not 
 seen,” says the Apostle, “ ive love” He never has been, 
 nor can be, seen by the eye of sense ; but his word to the 
 eye of faith manifests so much of his glory as cannot but 
 charm the eye and delight the heart of the believer, and 
 lead him to long for still clearer and more extensive views 
 of Him whom, even in the little glances of his dazzling 
 splendour, he perceives to be 
 
 “ The brightest, sweetest, fairest One, 
 
 That eyes have seen or angels known.” 
 
 Yes ; he is indeed worthy of our supreme love and most 
 cheerful obedience. The Divine command is, “ Let all 
 the angels of God worship him.” They do fulfil the com¬ 
 mand, and readily worship him on his throneand surely 
 we are not mistaken in imitating those bright intelligences. 
 The word of God is intended principally to magnify him, 
 
124 
 
 SERIES IX.—ESSAY IX. 
 
 to exalt him, to exalt him over all, to exalt him as the 
 highest, and therefore the supreme God Jehovah. The 
 word of truth represents him therefore as worthy of our 
 highest attention, our adoration, praise, and love, in all 
 the perfections of his person as Immanuel, and in all the 
 glories of his exaltation. The only discovery of the Fa¬ 
 ther’s glory to creatures is in, and from, and through him ; 
 and so it shall be eternally; and on his mediatorial throne 
 he is yet the Alpha and Omega, the All in all. What 
 different praise should we offer him, did we but realize 
 his true nature, character, and offices! As faith arises in 
 its clearness and strength of vision, so our hearts are more 
 in unison with the song of the adoring spirits before the 
 Throne ; and soon shall we join them, with all that holy 
 fervour, purity, and delight which animates their songs to 
 the Lamb in the midst of the Throne. 
 
 2. A regular row of such tall and leafy trees must have 
 afforded a most delightful shelter and refreshing shade .— 
 In this manner they were planted, and abounded in some 
 particular places in the land of Israel. Thus Jericho is 
 called the City of Palm Trees (Deut. xxxiv. 3; 2 Chron. 
 xxviii. 15), because of the abundance of those trees which 
 grew around it; and even to the present time, though 
 these trees are found but in a very scanty manner through¬ 
 out Palestine, several of them yet remain about the plains 
 of Jericho. Such was also their protecting shade, that 
 we find it recorded of Deborah, that “ she dwelt under 
 the palm-tree of Deborah,” some lowly habitation sheltered 
 by some ancient and venerable palm-tree ; “ and there the 
 children of Israel came up to her for judgment.” (Judges 
 iv. 5.) It was from this circumstance also, that Tadmor, 
 erected by Solomon in the wilderness, derived its name, 
 being a slight corruption of tcimar, a palm-tree, and 
 which was afterwards called by the Romans, for the very 
 same reason, Palmyra. So the benefits of a good govern¬ 
 ment are represented, by the prophet Daniel, by a wide- 
 spreading tree, which diffuses its shade over all the plain, 
 and affords refuge and shelter to the birds of the air and 
 
PALM-TREE. 125 
 
 the beasts of the field. No allusion can be more suitable 
 or more interesting 1 than this, amidst the heat of this 
 scorching wilderness, where fatigue and thirst so often 
 oppress the weary spiritual traveller. The church thus 
 expresses her sweet confidence in his care : “ I sat down 
 under his shadow with great delight.” (Song ii. 3.) When 
 the believer thus, by faith, trusts in him; when he realizes 
 the shadow of his almighty power, his covenant love and 
 grace, his promise and his faithfulness, in his ordinances, 
 where he graciously discovers them; how pleasant is the 
 season, how grateful the feelings of the soul! Oh ! says 
 the believer, it is good. Lord, to be here. O that I 
 might here abide and rest, beneath the sweet overshadow¬ 
 ings of thy love ! “ Thou, Lord, hast been a shelter for 
 me; I will abide in thy tabernacle forever.” (Psa. Ixi. 
 3, 4.) Such sweet frames are the anticipation of his 
 eternal manifestations of loving-kindness and grace. Safe 
 in thy care (says the believer), here and thus I realize my 
 safety; for he that dwelleth in the secret places of the 
 Most High, who abides under the shadow of the Almighty, 
 will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress, 
 my God, in him will I trust. He shall cover me with 
 his feathers; under his wings will I trust; his truth shall 
 be my shield and buckler. (Psa. xci. 1, 2, 4.) This, in¬ 
 deed, is among the common benefits and advantages of a 
 wide-spreading tree; but in the peculiar property of the 
 palm-tree, we have still further representations of the ex¬ 
 cellency of our Jesus, as it is an emblem, 
 
 3. Of his patience and constancy , in the work of our 
 redemption. — For this purpose it is constantly applied, on 
 account of the great weight and pressure which it sustains 
 without injury, and from which it rapidly recovers itself, 
 restoring its usual uprightness in the tree, or straightness 
 in the boards. 
 
 We may here contemplate the emblem of his awful con¬ 
 flict, and the great oppression of his soul; his amazing 
 patience and persevering fortitude through the whole, and 
 the constancy of his love to his people under all, till he 
 
126 
 
 SERIES IX.—ESSAY IX. 
 
 again ascended the Throne of Glory, as the Eternal Con¬ 
 queror for them. Truly might our condescending Saviour 
 exclaim, in the midst of his bitter sufferings, “ Behold, 
 and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which 
 is done unto me, wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in 
 the day of his fierce anger. From above he hath sent fire 
 into my bones, and it prevaileth against them : he hath 
 spread a net for my feet; he hath turned me back; he 
 hath made me desolate and faint all the day.” (Lam. i. 
 12—14.)—But he loved his people from eternity. (Jer. 
 xxxi. 3.) He then engaged to undergo all that was ne¬ 
 cessary to accomplish their salvation (Psa. xl. 6): he never 
 therefore turned away from the sorrows which met him in 
 his way, nor turned back in the arduous work. “ O death,” 
 said he, “ I will be thy plague ; O grave, I will be thy 
 destruction. Repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.” 
 (Hos. xiii. 14.) The Apostle tells us, alluding to the con¬ 
 stancy and bitterness of his sufferings, that “ in the days 
 of his flesh, he offered up prayers and supplications, with 
 strong crying and tears, unto him that was able to save 
 him from death, and was heard in that he feared.” And if 
 we follow him to the lonely mountains, where, through the 
 gloomy hours of night, he retired to meditate, to pray, and 
 to wrestle for the salvation of his people; or, if we follow 
 him to Gethsemane’s gloomy garden, and behold the awful 
 scene in which he there was engaged, the dreadful con¬ 
 flict and bitter sorrow of his soul; we shall see how truly 
 the Apostle has described his state of sufferings and of 
 sorrows. There, “ being in an agony, he prayed more 
 earnestly; and his sweat was as it were great drops of 
 blood falling down to the ground.” (Luke xxii. 40—44.) 
 But in the view of this it was that he undertook for us in the 
 counsels of eternity; it was “for this cause ” that he came 
 into the world ; and through a life of poverty, ignominy, 
 and sorrow, he cheerfully and resolutely endured. For 
 this he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem, when he 
 knew the last dreadful conflict was to be endured ; for 
 this he surrendered himself up into the hands of men, and 
 
PALM-TREE. 
 
 127 
 
 appeared before the tribunal, silently bearing’ the contempt 
 and reproach of a cruel soldiery, and a more cruel priesthood: 
 and then, “ for the joy that was set before him, he endured 
 the cross, despising the shame, and is now set down at the 
 right hand of the throne of God.” (Heb. xii. 2.) 
 
 Adored be the constant love of my Redeemer, who loved 
 me so as to give himself, in human nature, to sorrow 
 and suffering, and to all the consequences of sin ; to the 
 agony of the garden and of the cross, and to the gloomy 
 region of the grave ; who endured through all the violent 
 assaults of the great enemy, through the hiding of his 
 Father’s countenance, till he had completed the work of 
 redemption, and ascended to his throne. O may I love 
 and reverently adore Him, and, with the obedience of love, 
 glorify his name! 
 
 But the principal excellency of the Palm-Tree is, 
 
 4. The great variety of uses for which it may he ap¬ 
 plied .—There is scarcely any part but what has its peculiar 
 utility. The Arabs dry the fruit, with which they make 
 meal, and so preserve and carry it with them through the 
 desert. It thus supplies the deficiency of corn, and forms 
 nearly the whole of their subsistence. Its juices, when suf¬ 
 fered to flow, by cutting the bark, supply the most delicious 
 milk : the pulp of the young twigs, and the fibrous part of 
 the bark, when eaten, are very nourishing, as are also its 
 leaves. Its stems are given for food to the camel and 
 sheep; and with the fibres arising from the stumps of its cut 
 branches, they make their ropes. No other tree is used for so 
 many valuable purposes, “ In Assyria,” says Mr. Gibbon, 
 “ the face of the country is interspersed with groves of in¬ 
 numerable palm-trees; and the diligent natives celebrate, 
 either in verse or prose, the three hundred and sixty uses to 
 which the trunk, the leaves, the juices, and the fruit were 
 skilfully applied. The tree also rapidly multiplies by scores, 
 and thus affords the most abundant supply of useful and 
 delightful fruit &c. But let me here contemplate the 
 
 * Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol. fT. chap. iv. p. 43". 
 
128 
 
 SERIES IX.—ESSAY IX. 
 
 blessings which 1 derive from Jesus my Redeemer; the 
 abundant provision and fruitfulness which he affords ; the 
 all-sufficiency of grace and blessings which are in him, in¬ 
 finitely more abundant, infinitely more precious and salu¬ 
 tary, than the choice and fertile palm-tree; the blessings 
 of salvation, not only affording a supply for the food and 
 healing of the body, but of the immortal soul. He com¬ 
 prehends all I need, to relieve my wants, to satisfy my de¬ 
 sires, to make me live by grace spiritually and heavenly, 
 and then to comfort and refresh my regenerated and quick¬ 
 ened soul, and supply its nourishment and its delights 
 through time and through eternity. The fruits of forgiving 
 mercy, pardoning love, sanctifying grace. Divine favour, 
 covenant love, and heavenly blessing, grow in rich abund¬ 
 ance upon him. He is my suitable Saviour, all my salva¬ 
 tion ; in him it has pleased the Father that “ all fulness 
 should dwell.” (Col. i. 19.) “ In him is all the fulness of 
 
 the Godhead, that we might be complete in him,” and 
 need no other source of blessings, (ii. 9, 10.) “ He is 
 
 full of grace and truth, that out of his fulness we may 
 receive, and grace for grace.” (John i. 14—16.) And in 
 whatever light I view him, he is all my salvation ; and, 
 “ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings, in 
 heavenly places in Christ Jesus,” &c. (Eph. i. 3.) If I 
 need spiritual healing, as well as spiritual supply, “ He for- 
 giveth all our iniquities, and healeth all our diseases.” 
 (Psa. ciii. 3.) Himself the true Tree of Life, brings forth 
 abundantly his constant and never-failing fruit; and 
 the very “leaves of the tree are for the healing of the na¬ 
 tions.” (Rev. xxii. 2, &c.)—Let faith make use of Jesus 
 for all its wants and desires, and there can be no deficiency. 
 Let me go up to this Palm-Tree, and take hold of its 
 clusters ; then shall I “ sit under his shadow with great 
 delight, and his fruit will be sweet unto my taste.” What 
 abundant provision ! what infinite supplies adorn his beau¬ 
 tiful and ever-verdant branches ! The sweet and delicious 
 fruit will purge and purify my soul from the defilement. 
 
PALM-TREE. 
 
 129 
 
 and from the pollution of all my sins, which can neither be 
 too many, nor too powerful, nor too polluting for his hea¬ 
 venly influence. They shall supply all my wants, and 
 satisfy all my desires. Let me but take a view of Jesus, 
 as presented in his word, and I shall behold a glorious 
 sufficiency, with every encouragement to apply to him, to 
 feed on him, and to place all my hope and happiness in him. 
 Let me then, emboldened by faith in his promise, take of 
 this cluster of heavenly blessings, the fruit of the immortal 
 Palm-Tree, and I shall find my eyes enlightened, my con¬ 
 science peaceful, my heart renewed and quickened, my 
 spiritual strength revived, my hope kindling into immorta¬ 
 lity, my affection sanctified in the love of Jesus, my heart 
 rejoicing in the blessings of his grace, and the promises of 
 his glory. I bless my Jesus, his cross is indeed the very 
 tree of life. He himself is the fulness of all saving bless¬ 
 ings. Be thou then to me, O Jesus ! my wisdom, my 
 righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Then will 
 I glory in thee, though having nothing in myself but what 
 I must be ashamed of. Give me out of this fulness till I am 
 complete in thee in grace, and till I am complete with thee 
 in glory : there thou shalt have all the praise, when the 
 choir of the redeemed ascribe salvation to God and to 
 the Lamb for ever. 
 
 Again; The straight and lofty growth of this tree, its long¬ 
 evity and great fecundity; the permanency and perpetual 
 flourishing of its leaves, and their form, resembling the 
 solar rays ; make it a very proper emblem of the natural, 
 and thence of the Divine, light. Hence in the holy place 
 or sanctuary of the temple, the emblem of Christ’s body, 
 palm-trees were engraved on the walls and doors, be¬ 
 tween the coupled cherubim *. A more beautiful emblem 
 of the glory of my Redeemer cannot be found. He, as the 
 Sun of Righteousness, diffuses his beams of Divine influ¬ 
 ence, grace, and consolation, through all his church, as 
 the rays of the natural sun prevade the whole creation, and 
 
 * Parkhurst, under the word ‘IDD. 
 
 VOL. V. 
 
 K 
 
SERIES IX.— ESSAY IX. 
 
 becomes, like them, the source of all beauty, splendour, 
 fruitfulness, and delight. In his light, I see light; as I 
 live in him, I live holily and happily; and the eternal 
 splendour of his beams is the glory and happiness of the 
 heavenly world. 
 
 5. Its branches also were used as emblems of victory and 
 of peace .—This perhaps arose from the circumstance of its 
 resisting pressure, and restoring itself to its original up¬ 
 rightness ; or from the elasticity of its planks, when cut 
 into boards, which so powerfully resists the incumbent 
 pressure. Here then it is a suitable emblem of Him who 
 went forth conquering and to conquer ; who through every 
 opposition has triumphed over our great enemy, and all his 
 foes ; who, through every oppression and weight of sorrow,, 
 arose from the grave, and, ascending on high, led captivity 
 captive, and received gifts to give unto men. “ Doubtless, 
 believers, by bearing palm branches after a victory, or in 
 triumph, meant to acknowledge the Supreme Author of 
 their success and prosperity, and to carry on their thoughts 
 to the Divine light, the great Conqueror over sin and death. 
 And the idolaters probably used palms on such occasions, 
 not without respect to Apollo, or the sun, to whom, among 
 them, they were consecrated.”— Parkhurst. 
 
 Thus every where around you in the temple, the branches 
 of the palm-tree were engraven on the wall and on the 
 hangings; and the branches themselves were used in its 
 various services, especially on the Feast of Tabernacles ; 
 when they were also appointed to be used, among other 
 goodly branches, in making their booths. (Lev. xxiii. 40 ; 
 Neh. viii. 15.) This, no doubt, was in reference to the 
 glory, the grace, the conflict, and the victory and triumph 
 of the Redeemer ; and also to the peaceful kingdom which 
 he should establish when his victories should be complete. 
 When, therefore, the adoring crowds attended the Re¬ 
 deemer into Jerusalem, on the only occasion when he 
 assumed any appearance of dignity or dominion, they took 
 branches of the palm-tree, and strewed them in the way. 
 The meaning of this emblematical action is evident from 
 
PALM-TREK. 
 
 131 
 
 their own language : they meant to hail him a? the con¬ 
 quering King, and ascribe to Him their triumph and their 
 deliverance : “ Hosannah to the Son of David !’' 
 (Matt. xxi. 8, 9.) Though ignorant of his true design and 
 the nature of his salvation, they thus ignorantly proclaim 
 the glory of the Lord Jesus; they hail him as the Messiah 
 who was about to conquer; but they expected the con¬ 
 quest of their temporal enemies, instead of the eternal 
 triumph of a spiritual Redeemer over sin, and death, and 
 hell. 
 
 But now, says the mighty Redeemer, is the judgment 
 of this world ; now shall the prince of this world be cast 
 out. (John xii. 31.) Behold, then, he rises from under 
 the hidings of his Father’s countenance, from the oppressive 
 weight of justice and Divine indignation, and from the 
 overwhelming power of the prince of darkness. “ He 
 spoiled principalities and powers, and made a show of 
 them openly, triumphing over them upon his cross.” (Col. 
 ii. 15.) There he conquered, that we might conquer 
 through him. From the grave he rises as the Mighty 
 Conqueror over all our spiritual enemies, to establish the 
 kingdom of his peace and glory; with every enemy beneath 
 his feet, that he might place them under ours. “ Lift up 
 your heads, then, O ye gates ! and be ye lift up, ye ever¬ 
 lasting doors! that the King of Glory, the Lord strong 
 and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle, may enter in.” 
 We will hail the ascending Jesus, and still prolong the 
 cry of the adoring multitude, “ Hosannah to the Son 
 of David !” 
 
 The palm-tree is also a suitable emblem of, 
 
 6. Incorruptibility and immortality .—The tree, which 
 was ever growing, was most beautiful, and constantly flou¬ 
 rishing : it endured through many generations ; and its 
 wood is so durable, that it is considered by the Arabs as 
 incorruptible. But our triumphant Jesus on the Throne is 
 the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever ; and “ able there¬ 
 fore to save unto the uttermost all who come unto God by 
 Him, because he ever liveth to make intercession for them.” 
 
 Jv ^ 
 
 rv As 
 
SERI US IX.— ESSAY IX. 
 
 (Heb. vii. 25.) In his Divine nature He is from ever- 
 lasting to everlasting, the eternal Jehovah; “ He who 
 is, and was, and is to come.” As Immanuel, he has 
 received an immortal crown and an eternal throne; for 
 of the Child born and the Son given, it is proclaimed, 
 4 ‘ Of the increase of his government and peace, there shall 
 be no end; upon the throne of David, and upon his king¬ 
 dom, to order it and to establish it with judgment and with 
 justice, from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the 
 Lord of Hosts wall perform this.” (Isa. ix. 7.) 
 
 But while our exalted Jesus is the same in himself, and 
 the same in his glory, he is also the same in his grace and 
 love; in the all-sufficiency of his mediatorial fulness, and 
 in his disposition to bestow blessings upon his people. He 
 is their eternal source of supply, their eternal light, and 
 immutable defence. This is the fulness of his mediatorial 
 glories, that He is the eternal Saviour. Oh, then, be 
 thou my eternal Friend and Portion, thou eternal Jesus ! 
 When the natural sun shall be no more the light of his 
 church by day, and when for brightness the moon shall 
 give no light; or when all means and ordinances shall be 
 for ever passed away; then the Lord shall be unto his 
 church an everlasting light, and her God her glory. Thy 
 own Eternal Sun, the Sun of Righteousness, shall no more 
 go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself; for the 
 Lord Jehovah “ shall be thine everlasting light, and the 
 days of thy mourning shall be ended,” &c. (See Isa. lx. 
 19, 20.) 
 
 Upon the whole, the ultimate effect of this emblem may 
 be to denote, 
 
 7. The superior excellency of our Redeemer above all 
 besides. —No tree is so useful as the palm-tree, nor applied 
 to such a variety of valuable purposes : but none in heaven 
 or earth can equal the glory of our Redeemer; none like 
 Christ to the penitent sinner, to the contrite spirit, or to 
 the believing heart. “ In all things he must have the 
 pre-eminence.” He stands the chief among ten thousand, 
 and altogether lovely: nothing good, nothing excellent, 
 
PALM-TREE. 
 
 133 
 
 nothing- beautiful, can be known or enjoyed without him - v 
 while there is no useful quality, no excellent benefit, no> 
 glory, nor beauty, but what resides in him and flows from 
 him. He concentrates in his adorable person the sum 
 of all the glories of heaven and of earth; and while faith 
 excites the admiration of his people below, the vision of 
 his glory excites the adoring song of glorified spirits above. 
 O may I be found in Christ! may Christ be mine ! and I 
 shall be satisfied with his fulness throughout eternity.— 
 What, then, should be the great concern and aim of his 
 people, but to be like him? The righteous in him shall 
 indeed flourish like himself, by union with him. The 
 palm-tree is a beautiful emblem of what they ought to be, 
 as deriving virtue from him in this barren and wilderness 
 world : though slow in its growth, it is beautiful, durable, 
 and most useful. Such was the Divine Redeemer when 
 on earth, and such should they be spiritually who belong 
 to him. As branches, indeed, of this living stock, they 
 must be like him, of the same spirit, and therefore bringing 
 forth the same fruit. The means whereby this is obtained 
 and carried on, is beautifully represented by the Psalmist: 
 “ They that be planted in the house of the Lord, shall 
 flourish in the courts of our God,” &c. (Psa. xcii. 12—15.) 
 
 Let us then be found in a more diligent use of his ap¬ 
 pointed ordinances; that we may derive more virtue from 
 his fulness, to conform us to his image, and render us 
 fruitful to his glory. Too little, indeed, i£ this fruitfulness 
 displayed, either for the glory of God or the good of man. To 
 live by faith upon Him, is the appointed means of deriving 
 more grace from him, that more glory may be given to 
 him. Let us live in believing dependence on our all- 
 sufficient Saviour, that we may follow the steps of his 
 conflict against sin and satan; and so shall we participate 
 of his victories. Here, O believer! realize thy security 
 and thy defence : Jesus, so beautiful, so glorious in him¬ 
 self, the Righteous One, shall be thy protecting shade, thy 
 constant and abundant supply, thy light of life and glory. 
 Constant in his work, and unchangeably persevering, he 
 
134 
 
 SERIES IX.—ESSAY IX. 
 
 has obtained everlasting victory, and secured everlasting 
 peace. He is himself eternally the same, and his bless¬ 
 ings shall eternally be thine. Soon the palms of victory 
 shall eternally be placed in thine hand ; for to him that 
 overcometh he will give to sit with him on his throne : 
 even as he also overcame, and is also sat down with his 
 Father upon his throne. (Rev. iii. 21.) May we be among 
 that happy number in the temple above ! where we shall 
 behold, not the emblems of his glory, but himself; where 
 we shall not only hear of his victory, but enjoy its benefit 
 among that innumerable multitude, with white robes and 
 palms in their bands, ascribing with the loudest voice of 
 triumph, “ Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the 
 throne, and unto the Lamb.” 
 

 ESSAY X. 
 
 Ointment — 
 
 One grand point in which all true believers agree, in what¬ 
 ever else they may differ, is the supreme excellency of 
 Christ. And as it is the office of the Spirit to testify of 
 his glory, it is their most delightful employ to meditate 
 upon him, to study his word, that they may know still more 
 and more of him; and it is their chief desire to glorify and 
 enjoy him. That sacred book, where this interesting allu¬ 
 sion occurs, is called, The Song of Songs, which is Solo¬ 
 mons ; i. e. the chief of all his songs,—more sweet, more 
 dignified, more comprehensive in its subject, and in its ex¬ 
 pression, than the thousand and five songs which he com¬ 
 posed besides. It is properly a song of love, setting forth 
 the glory of Christ, and his preciousness to his church, ahd 
 the mutual affection and regard which unites them in one 
 indissoluble bond. Sensible of his glories herself, and 
 wrapt up in the manifestations of his love, her mind ab¬ 
 sorbed in contemplation upon this one object, as if all others 
 must be acquainted with Him who is so precious to her 
 heart, she breaks forth in an abrupt manner, and in an 
 allusion without a name, exclaims, “ Let him kiss me with 
 the kisses of his mouth.” (Song i. 2.) Let me enjoy some 
 sweet manifestation of his love, who is the only beloved 
 of my soul. Then to shew the value which she put upon 
 him and his love, she uses two comparisons to things in 
 which sense delights, which are most gratifying to the animal 
 taste, and refreshing to the s nses : “ Thy love is better 
 than wine; ” yea, “ thy name is as ointment poured 
 forth.”—The latter of these is now to engage our atten¬ 
 tion ; and similar to this is the allusion in ver. 14, where 
 
136 
 
 SERIES IX.—ESSAY X. 
 
 the Redeemeris compared to “ a cluster of camphire,” which, 
 though certainly not the same as that which we call by this 
 name, and in the explanation of which learned men greatly 
 differ, must allude to something whose fragrance and uti¬ 
 lity were then well known and delighted in. The allusion 
 must have had a peculiar beauty and effect to them, 
 amongst whom the richest spices grew, who were ac¬ 
 customed to their fragrant perfumes, and by whom they 
 were in continual use for common and sacred purposes. 
 It is not indeed improbable that an allusion might here 
 be made to the holy anointing oil (Exod. xxx. 24), which 
 was designed typically to shadow forth the glory, the 
 beauty, the fragrance, and the utility of the person, offices, 
 and blessings of the great Messiah. Let it now engage 
 our attention; and may it refresh our souls with its spiritual 
 and heavenly fragrance! 
 
 By the name of Christ, some understand the doctrine of 
 Christ: but 1 apprehend we must rather understand by it 
 Himself; i. e. his mediatorial person ; or, if we would 
 carry the idea still further, we may embrace in it literally 
 the names he bears, or the characters and offices which he 
 sustains. The names of Christ may indeed include his Go¬ 
 spel, in which he is set forth in all his glories, and in all the 
 benefits and blessings of his salvation. In the latter sense 
 it seems necessary to understand it in Matt. x. 22, and 
 Acts ix. 16. In each of these views it is true in fact, in 
 the experience of all his believing people. And as to the 
 sentiments which all those entertain of him, who have facul¬ 
 ties to behold and discern his excellencies and blessings ; to 
 them, however the world may appreciate his value. He is, 
 in all, the most suited to give delight and to every spiritual 
 sense, and as the sweetest savour of the sweetest precious 
 ointment. This is especially the case with his Divine 
 Person, uniting in itself the two natures of God and man, 
 and thus constituting him Immanuel, God with us. The 
 glories of that person are infinitely beyond what angels 
 can express, or even conceive; much less the finite power 
 of the human spirit invested with flesh and blood, and thus 
 
OINTMENT—CAM PHI RE. 
 
 137 
 
 beclouded in all its views, and limited in its most extensive 
 range of vision. Here are heights which can never be 
 attained, and depths which can never be fathomed. They 
 will form the subject of everlasting contemplation and 
 everlasting delight, and render his name eternally The 
 Wonderful. 
 
 But if we consider the sacred writer as referring lite¬ 
 rally to his names; names which are never without a mean¬ 
 ing, but which imply the fulness of his characters and 
 offices; here is indeed a rich abundance of heavenly fra- 
 grancies, of spiritual odours to delight the spiritual senses, 
 when rectified and renewed by the Spirit of God. How 
 full of infinite and Divine blessings is the name Immanuel 1 
 How rich in grace the Messiah, the Anointed ! (Isa. lxi. 1.) 
 What an infinite variety of sweets in the name, our Jesus ! 
 The character and offices he sustains may all be summed 
 up under the names of Prophet, Priest, and King. “ Let 
 the disconsolate lamenting sinner lift up his head, and be¬ 
 hold Christ the Son of God anointed a Prophet, to preach 
 salvation and liberty to such ; a Priest, to purchase it; and 
 a King, to give it.” (Leighton.) Under the character of 
 the Prophet, the church of old celebrates the delight which 
 she found in his heavenly teaching: “ His mouth is most 
 sweet.” (Song v. 16.) Grace is poured out upon his lips 
 (Psal. xlv. 2), in the richness of his promises, or the plea¬ 
 santness of his precepts. (Psal. xix.) 
 
 As the great Priest of our profession, he unites in him¬ 
 self several other characters which are infinitely important 
 and precious to the believer ; our Sacrifice, our Surety, 
 our Atonement, our Propitiation, and Intercessor. The 
 dying love of the Redeemer is a sacrifice well pleasing to 
 God ; in which he smells, as in the sacrifice of Noah, a 
 savour of rest; and which is most delightful to the faith of 
 his people, while the odour of his intercession perfumes 
 the heavenly world. As a King, the wisdom, the power, 
 the sovereign love and grace which guide his authority 
 and dominion, are subjects of delightful contemplation. 
 In connection and subserviency to this, what an assemblage 
 
138 
 
 SERIES IX. —ESSAY X. 
 
 of delightful names he bears, significative of the love of 
 his heart, the power of his arm, or the faithfulness of his 
 grace ! He is the Saviour, the Redeemer, and the Lord 
 our Righteousness. He is the Friend, the Husband of 
 his church, the Hope, the Healer, the Refuge, the Rock 
 of salvation. How many are the characters which this 
 dear Redeemer bears, so suited to our wants, so glorious 
 to him, and so precious to us ! When the believer con¬ 
 siders the different views in which he is thus represented ; 
 each so suited to his situation, his necessities, and his re¬ 
 newed desires; Thy names of love, says he, are as the 
 richest perfume, like balsamic ointments poured forth, that 
 spread their savour all around. 
 
 If we refer the name of Christ to his work, and to the 
 benefits and blessings of his salvation , here we have a rich 
 treasury of sweets, a repository of all that can delight the 
 heart of the humble penitent sinner, or the admiring be¬ 
 liever. Without this there can be no enjoyment; but in 
 the possession of it is the sum of all delights. When we 
 are said to draw nigh to the Throne of Grace in the name 
 of Jesus, the name must signify the work which he has 
 performed, and which is the ground of all peace and joy to 
 the church of God. But how iufinitely delightful is the 
 discovery of covenant and adopting love, shed abroad in 
 the heart by the Holy Ghost! How sweet the sense of 
 pardoning mercy, the savour of Divine peace ! (Rom. v. 
 1, &c.) How rich the enjoyment of communion with God 
 in Christ Jesus ! (1 John i. 3.) And the witnessing of the 
 Spirit “ with our spirits that we are the children of God ! 
 and if children, then heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs 
 with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may 
 be also glorified together.” (Rom. viii. 14—17.) These 
 are views of our glorious Redeemer, which render him in¬ 
 finitely precious, and may justly be compared to the most 
 grateful perfumes, or to the clusters of the camphire, what¬ 
 ever may be designated by that name.—Let us contem¬ 
 plate a few particulars of their resemblance. 
 
 1, The precious ointment is principally valued for its 
 
OINTMENT —CAM PH IRK. 
 
 139 
 
 delightful fragrancy, which is most sweet and grateful to 
 the senses .—This is the principal reason of its being used; 
 and this is evidently the principal design of the allusion. 
 Its medicinal virtue may be in some measure referred to, 
 but much more its delightful and gratifying odour, which 
 justly represents how exceedingly precious the Lord Jesus 
 Christ is to the faith of his believing people, in all these 
 admirable views of him. For the use of the tabernacle, and 
 no doubt of the temple, two mixtures were composed of 
 the richest perfume ; the one called the holy anointing oil, 
 with which the priests, and most probably the kings, of 
 Judah were anointed ; and the other called a perfume and 
 confection, which was used for the burning of incense 
 daily on the golden altar ; neither of which were to be 
 imitated, upon a penalty of being cut off from among the 
 people of Israel. The first was not to be poured on any 
 stranger ; and besides the latter, none would be acceptable 
 before God. This holy anointing oil was but a type of 
 that fulness of the Spirit which was poured out upon our 
 great Priest and King, in all his glory, beauty, and excel¬ 
 lency. And all other anointed ones were but the figure 
 of Him who was thus anointed, and on whom truly the 
 holy anointing oil of the Divine Spirit was poured with¬ 
 out measure. This is beautifully expressed in Psalm 
 cxxxiii. by the precious ointment upon the head, which 
 ran down upon the beard, even upon Aaron’s beard, and 
 went down to the skirts of his garment, filling all the place 
 around with its delightful fragrance. So He is repre¬ 
 sented, Psalm xlv. 7, anointed with the oil of gladness 
 above his fellows; while his garments smell of myrrh, aloes, 
 and cassia, as he comes out of the heavenly places to this 
 lower world. This so adorned, or broke through, his human 
 nature, that the presence and power of his Divine nature 
 was most evident; and in the glories of that Divine nature, 
 together with the graces of the Spirit, in his human nature, 
 shining forth in his life and his whole conversation, he dif¬ 
 fuses a most delightful savour of heavenly excellency and 
 grace to his people, to whom he is thus altogether lovely. 
 
140 
 
 SERIES IX.—ESSAY X. 
 
 Not only do the drops of this holy oil descend upon his 
 head ; he derives not his anointing from without, but from 
 his own Divine fulness; and oceans, immense oceans, of 
 the heavenly grace are in him the most abundant : yea, 
 infinite gifts of grace are in him; in whom it has pleased 
 the Father that all fulness should dwell, all the treasures 
 of wisdom and knowledge, all the fulness of the Godhead 
 bodily. Not all Arabia’s spicy groves can send forth so 
 rich a perfume as flows from the names, and the characters, 
 of the Redeemer : when the Holy Spirit reveals them to 
 the heart, in all the love and grace which is contained in 
 them, then they flow like a gale from the heavenly shores. 
 So the soul that has been shut up in the filthy prison of 
 sin, under temptation and guilt, how precious is the name 
 of Jesus, the manifestations of his love by the Spirit, and 
 the joy and triumph of his soul ! He is then like a man 
 brought out from such a filthy situation, into the pure clear 
 air, in the most delightful fragrant spot, where he finds 
 himself surrounded with the odours of innumerable spices, 
 in their richest and choicest perfumes. Then indeed the 
 name of Jesus is most precious : from henceforth it 
 spreads the sweetest odour through all his path. It em¬ 
 balms the bed of affliction, and of death, yea, the regions 
 of the grave, with the savour of heavenly pleasure, and the 
 foretaste of everlasting delight. But the peculiar and un¬ 
 utterable excellency of this holy perfume, when poured on 
 our persons and our services from him in whom it rests 
 without measure, like the composition of the sweet in¬ 
 cense offered on the golden altar, is this, that it makes 
 our persons most acceptable to the heart of Infinite Purity 
 and with it all our poor services ascend, as pillars of sweet 
 incense, surrounding the throne of God, the sweet savour 
 in which he finds rest. O, blessed Redeemer, how glorious 
 art thou in thyself! how useful and precious to my soul! 
 
 This, as it is the first, is perhaps the chief design of the 
 comparison ; though there are some other properties of 
 sweet ointment, which may still further represent his ex¬ 
 cellencies and his glory. 
 
01N T M E N T—C A M P HIR K, 
 
 141 
 
 2. It is reviving and exhilarating to the animal frame 
 and spirits .—“ Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart.’ 7 
 (Prov. xxvii. 9.) It was continually used on the most 
 joyful occasions : then they anointed themselves with the 
 chief ointment. (Amos vi. 6.) “ Let thy head lack no 
 
 ointment” is the direction of the author of the Book of 
 Ecclesiastes, when he calls to a pure, temperate, but 
 cheerful use and enjoyment of all the lawful comforts of 
 the present life. But as the Lord Jesus Christ, in his 
 person, in his names, characters, and offices, is so exceed¬ 
 ingly precious, so the application of these by the Spirit 
 rejoices the heart of the humble penitent, and fills the soul 
 of the believer with refreshment and consolation, beyond 
 the most reviving fragrance of the richest spices. The 
 one is mixed and temporary ; the other is pure and eternal; 
 there can indeed be no true joy without this : the triumph¬ 
 ing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite 
 but for a moment. Without the knowledge of Christ and 
 his salvation the precarious joys of sin are but folly, and 
 the loudest laughter of the gay and thoughtless but the 
 madness of the carnal mind. It is He who is anointed 
 with the oil of gladness without measure, that it may flow 
 down to all his people, that he may be the Consolation of 
 Israel, and that they may receive refreshment and joy 
 from him; “ Come unto me,” says he, “ all ye that labour 
 and are heavy laden, and 1 will give you rest.” The grace 
 of Christ, the consolations of Christ, the fulness of his 
 salvation, and to be receiving out of his fulness grace for 
 grace, are the constant cure of all our griefs and sorrows. 
 For this purpose he was anointed of the Spirit to diffuse 
 his Divine influence of grace and joy over all his people. 
 In this view he thus exhibits himself to their faith: ** The 
 Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord 
 hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek : 
 he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to pro¬ 
 claim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison 
 to them that are bound ; to proclaim the acceptable year 
 of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God ; to 
 
SERIES IX.—ESSAY X. 
 
 142 
 
 comfort all that mourn ; to appoint unto them that mourn 
 in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of 
 joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of 
 heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteous¬ 
 ness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.” 
 (Isa. lxi. 1—3.) This is the only source of peace and 
 refreshment to the penitent sinner, or of holy reviving to 
 the backsliding, but now returning and mourning, believer. 
 “ I rose up,” says the languid church, “ to open to my 
 beloved ; and my hands dropped with myrrh, and my 
 fingers with sweet smelling myrrh, upon the handles of the 
 lock.” (Song v. 5.) When his name is poured forth in 
 his ordinances, and faith contemplates and thus receives 
 the sweet odours, faith itself is enlivened, hope is encou¬ 
 raged, love is warmed, joy unspeakable pours itself into 
 the heart, and fresh impulses of grace direct the soul in its 
 heavenly course. For the consolation of the Spirit in the 
 manifestation of Jesus and his love, is the great spring of 
 all holiness ; it deepens humiliation, it elevates heavenly 
 love, and it animates the springs of obedience. If we 
 were living more upon the fulness of Christ, and, in the 
 exercises of faith, upon his glories and office, because of 
 the savour of his sweet ointment, his name would be as 
 ointment poured forth, and our hearts would not only be 
 more happy buf more holy; and more happy, because 
 more imbued with the holy virtue and influence of his 
 grace. 
 
 The sweet ointment has also, 
 
 3. A mollifying, softening, and healing influence .— 
 So the Prophet describes, under the same allusion, the 
 corrupt and dangerous state of the Jewish Church, by that 
 of a wounded person, whose wounds and bruises and 
 putrifying sores have not been closed nor bound up, neither 
 mollified with ointment. Of this nature was the balm of 
 Gilead; and in the same manner, the good Samaritan is 
 represented as pouring in the medicated oil. It is thus 
 the grace of Christ mollifies the heart; and though the 
 Law r may break the stout and hardened heart in pieces, 
 
OTNTMENT—CAMPH1RE. 
 
 143 
 
 'when applied by the Spirit, it is the discovery of the love 
 and grace of Christ that softens it and melts it down to 
 godly sorrow. Then a Manasseh, a Magdalene, and a 
 Saul can dissolve into tears of repentance, and flow down 
 in humiliation and contrition. The hardest heart then 
 becomes a heart of flesh, loses its insensibility and stony 
 hardness, and becomes tender and impressible to the great 
 evil of sin, the folly and vileness of transgression, and the 
 obligation of Divine mercy and forgiving love. But this 
 is the only balm, the sweet oil, the fragrant ointment, 
 which can heal the wounds of a guilty conscience, and a 
 sinful and corrupted heart; which can stop the progress of 
 the spiritual malady, and restore the soul to health and 
 soundness. By this our dear Redeemer, as the good 
 Physician, “ forgives all our iniquities, and heals all our 
 diseases.” 
 
 Oil, or sweet ointment, was used also, 
 
 4. To beautify ancl to cleanse. “ Oil to make his face 
 to shine.” (Psa. civ. 15.)—It is supposed to get wrinkles 
 out of the skin, and to render it clean and smooth. It 
 was, therefore, in constant use among the Eastern women: 
 it formed part of the directions of Naomi to Ruth, when 
 she sent her to Boaz. (Ruth iii. 3.) We have also a 
 particular account of the manner of purification of the 
 Eastern women, in the court of their prince (Esth. ii. 12): 
 “ for so were the days of their purifications accomplished; 
 to wit, six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with 
 sweet odours, and with other things for the purifying of 
 the women.” It was ever used by wmrriors to make their 
 armour glitter (Isa. xxi. 5): “ Arise, ye princes, and 
 anoint the shield.” Oh, what a faint emblem of the 
 infinite virtues of our adorable Redeemer, when he com¬ 
 municates his grace to his chosen people! While in 
 himself he is essentially glory and beauty in the eyes of 
 God, of angels, and of men, his grace and gracious 
 influences adorn and beautify all those upon whom they 
 are poured, with a spiritual and a heavenly beauty. The 
 spots of natural corruption shall be cleansed and purified 
 
144 
 
 SERIES IX.—ESSAY X. 
 
 from the heart, and the spots of contracted guilt shall be 
 done away, as though they had never been. The power 
 of his grace, even now in the present state of imperfection, 
 beautifies the soul; so that in the eyes of her Beloved, the 
 church is all excellency: “Thou art all fair,” says he, 
 “ my love ; there is no spot in thee.” (Song iv. 7.) And 
 when representing the state of the Israelitish Church, as 
 partaking of his love, washed and cleansed, anointed and 
 clothed with all the sweet influence of his grace and Spirit, 
 he describes her beauty as perfect through that comeliness 
 which he had put upon her. (Ezek. xvi. 14.) Such at 
 present is the state of every believing sinner, as to his 
 justification in the sight of God ; for if found in Christ, if 
 viewed in him, if complete in him, he can have no deficiency 
 in the eyes of infinite Holiness and Purity. When clothed 
 with the garment of salvation, and covered with the robe 
 of righteousness, he stands arrayed as in the beauty of 
 bridal ornaments, and in greater splendor than in the most 
 glittering jewels. (Isa. lxi. 10.) The beauty of his sanc¬ 
 tification is now begun : he shines in all the graces of the 
 Spirit, though mixed, imperfect, and often too sadly 
 blotted with the stains of remaining corruption; but here¬ 
 after in every respect, in justification and in sanctification, 
 he will present his people without spot or wrinkle, or any 
 such thing, before the Throne, and fix them complete for 
 ever. This is the true beauty of all his saints ; the most 
 absolute righteousness in the righteousness of the Saviour; 
 the completion of purity and holiness in the grace of his 
 Spirit. 
 
 And as ointment, 
 
 5. Causes the same delightful fragrance to arise from 
 those on whom it is poured, —so, like the anointing oil, 
 the anointing influence of the Spirit, shed upon the heart, 
 will cause the believer to diffuse the same holy fragrance 
 all around, in his temper and in his actions ; for to partake 
 of Christ, is to be made like him. Oil, or liquid ointment, 
 so diffuses itself into many bodies as to change their 
 qualities, and their appearances; but this holy anointing 
 
OINTMENT—C AMPHI RE. 
 
 145 
 
 changes the very nature of its subject, and transforms it 
 into itself, diffusing its own qualities into the believing 
 soul that receives it. The believing soul spreads around 
 the savour of his sweet ointment, in displaying the grace, 
 the beauty, the virtues of the Saviour. How pleasant to 
 himself the obedience of love, and the exercise of Chris¬ 
 tian graces in the various circumstances and relations of 
 life ! How pleasant to others in their effects ! and how 
 useful in their influence to all around ! How sweet the 
 savour of the Christian’s life and conversation, when it 
 is conformed to the humiliation, the righteousness, the 
 truth, the benevolence, the kindness, the meekness, and 
 the beneficence of the Redeemer ! These are what the 
 Apostle describes as the fruits of the Spirit; “ love, joy, 
 peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meek¬ 
 ness, temperance ; against such there is no law.” (Gal. v. 
 22—26.) “ Put on, therefore,” says the Apostle, “ as the 
 elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kind¬ 
 ness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering ; for¬ 
 bearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any 
 man have a quarrel against any : even as Christ forgave 
 you, so also do ye.” (Col. iii. 12—15.) Yea, “ what¬ 
 soever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, 
 whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, 
 whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of 
 good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any 
 praise, think on these things.” (Phil. iv. 8.) What can be 
 more beautiful, what can be more fragrant to the world 
 around, than these graces, when appearing in the Chris¬ 
 tian’s temper and conduct? But these, as fruits of the 
 Spirit, are the natural and genuine effects of Divine grace. 
 The more it is poured upon us, and received into use by 
 faith, the more will these effects be produced to the honour 
 of the great Anointer, of him who, anointed without 
 measure, is the Messiah, the Christ, who hath the power 
 of anointing. His grace, indeed, must be effectual; but 
 his grace alone can produce these impoi'tant, and salutary 
 effects. Let us learn to know that all our grace is 
 VOL. V. L 
 
146 
 
 SERIES IX.—ESSAY X. 
 
 derived from him, all that, can constitute our beauty in the 
 sight of God, and all the fragrant odour of Christian graces 
 before men. Who made thee to differ from another? is a 
 question which it is of importance frequently to ask, for our 
 humiliation and his praise. Let us acknowledge his grace, 
 and give him the glory, while we seek more grace to glo¬ 
 rify him more. All the offering and service of a sinful 
 creature, without this holy anointing, is but abomination 
 in the sight of God. Nothing could be used acceptably in 
 the temple but what was anointed with the holy oil ; nor 
 could any sacrifice be offered without the holy perfume of 
 the incense: nor can any of our services be accepted but 
 by the anointing of the Spirit and the intercession of the 
 Redeemer. But thus we offer up spiritual sacrifices ; and 
 in him the offering of Gentile sinners is “ acceptable, being 
 sanctified by the Holy Ghost.” 
 
 How sweet is this fragrant Ointment, as it is poured 
 out in the Scriptures of truth! These are but the tes¬ 
 timony of Jesus, where we behold bis glory, aud see and 
 enjoy the communication of his love. The preaching of 
 the Gospel is the bearing his name to Gentile sinners, in 
 all its preciousness. (Acts ix. 15.) It is the preaching 
 Christ, without which all will be of little value, and of no 
 efficacy for the salvation of sinners. And in doing this, 
 
 “ we are to God,” says the Apostle, “ a sweet smelling 
 savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that 
 perish.” (2 Cor. ii. 15.) With this savour of his name 
 he fills all his appointed ordinances. “ No such sweet air 
 blows, as in his ordinances.” There Christ is, as it were, 
 like Mary opening the box of ointment, which diffuses its 
 spiritual savour in the assembly, but which only the spi¬ 
 ritual Christian feels. (See Zech. iv. 2, 3, &c.) But this * 
 only becomes effectual for these delightful purposes, when 
 bis presence and his Spirit are there. Then it is sweet 
 to pray, to hear, and to receive the symbols of his love. 
 Then he conveys the droppings of this precious ointment 
 in all its fragrance, and in all its reviving and transforming 
 influence, which should teach us most highly to value his 
 
OINTMENT — CAM PH I RE. 147 
 
 word and ordinances. Christ alone is the precious, fra¬ 
 grant, reviving, sweetening Ointment, that can perfume 
 with a heavenly fragrancy all on which it is poured forth. 
 But these are the appointed means of receiving, and here 
 he has promised to pour forth the savour of his Name. If, 
 then, we would enjoy it; if we would have our souls re¬ 
 vived, beautified, or rendered fragrant in his graces, we 
 must be daily coming to him in the reading and hearing 
 of his word, in prayer and meditation, and in the ordi¬ 
 nances of his house. These are the channels in which he 
 has appointed that it shall be conveyed to my heart, and 
 thus alone. Hence the believer so delights himself in 
 these means of his grace: there he has beheld his glory, 
 and he longs to see it there again. He is satisfied as with 
 marrow and fatness. (Psa. xxxvi. 8.) There he waits to 
 be revived and blessed; and there let us wait, for there 
 alone can we expect the sweet influence and enjoyment. 
 But, waiting in all his appointed means, let us not fear to 
 derive a rich abundance from him. That this Ointment 
 is poured forth, denotes that there is an exceeding f ulness 
 treasured up in himself. There can be no failure, no 
 deficiency: it flows continually from Him, in whom all 
 fulness dwells, and in whom there is sufficient and to 
 spare, when the wants of all his believing people are 
 supplied. The pouring out of this sweet Ointment 
 must denote also the liberal communication which he 
 affords to all his people. He gives abundantly of what 
 is in him: his mediatorial fulness was received, not for 
 himself, but to communicate: “ He received gifts to give 
 unto men, even for the rebellious, that the Lord God 
 might dwell among them;” and he will discharge the 
 trust. He is not like those who receive in order to keep; 
 he is as willing to give as we are to receive, as much as 
 we can want, as abundantly as we can desire. The holy oil 
 on the head of our Priest flows down even to the skirts of 
 his clothing, or to the lowest of his people. (Psa. cxxxiii. 
 2.)—When, under another allusion, his blessings are com¬ 
 pared to a fountain, it is a fountain not shut up, but open 
 
 l 2 
 
SERIES IX.—ESSAY X. 
 
 148 
 
 (Zech. xiii. 1); anti under the same allusion lie calls all 
 who are athirst, whosoever will, to come unto him and 
 drink. (John vii. 37, 38. This renders him so precious, 
 because he is so gracious, so free, so rich, in communi¬ 
 cating all the fulness of his saving blessings. 
 
 To taste, indeed, the natural savour, and relish the 
 sweet odours of nature, there must be suitable natural 
 senses to perceive them ; so to relish and enjoy this de¬ 
 lightful savour of grace, there must be a believing mind. 
 That man who sees no beauty in Christ, nor perceives 
 any fragrancy of his grace, has not the spiritual faculty of 
 enjoyment; and this faculty is a living faith. It is not to 
 the world, to the profane, to the careless, or to the self- 
 righteous, that these excellencies of Jesus are made 
 known, but to the convinced sinner, the humble penitent, 
 the virgin souls who are partakers of precious faith. This 
 perfume also must be poured out around him, or they 
 cannot be received or delighted in. But what can equal 
 Christ and his grace to the humble penitent, the poor, 
 the doubting, the distressed, the tempted believer! AH is 
 misery without him; and his returns to the soul, in the 
 manifestation of his love, are the most grateful and re¬ 
 viving, represented by the most delightful things on earth : 
 in value, in fulness, in duration, he excels them all. The 
 soul of the believer, like the Apostle, desires to know 
 nothing but Christ; Christ crucified, Christ exalted. 
 All things are loss in comparison of him. The name of 
 Christ, like the perfume which sweetens every thing it 
 touches, gives a beauty and an excellency to every thing with 
 which it is connected. He is the sweetener, the beauty 
 of all, the all in all, and himself above all. If such be his 
 glory on earth, what shall be his heavenly glory? If such 
 the enjoyment of him on earth, what shall be the enjoyment 
 of him above? If such the pleasures of faith, what shall 
 be the pleasures of actual vision ; to be with him, to be like 
 him, to see him as he is? All other enjoyment, even the 
 sweetest odour, must end in unceasing corruption; but the 
 glory of Christ is eternally precious, and with himself more 
 
OINTMENT — C A M P HIRE. 
 
 149 
 
 and more delightful, and shall be a growing' savour of de¬ 
 light to his people through eternity. In his presence there 
 is fulness of joy, and at his right hand there are pleasures 
 for evermore; and to wake up in his likeness, will yield 
 immortal satisfaction. Let faith now dwell upon his glo¬ 
 ries, and it shall receive of the sweet savour of his precious 
 ointment, and diffuse its fragrant influence all around. The 
 odoriferous gales of Divine consolation, from the spicy 
 shores of the heavenly world, shall afford a delightful anti¬ 
 cipation of its joy and blessedness, till the immortal soul 
 be covered, be filled, be immersed in its richest, fullest 
 odours, in the land of unbounded and everlasting fragrancy, 
 and of pure and unmixed delights. 
 
150 
 
 SERIES JX.—ESSAY XI. 
 
 ESSAY XI. 
 
 The Strength of Israel is a name and title of the Re¬ 
 deemer, which is peculiarly acceptable and dear to the 
 mind of the believer. Sensible of his own weakness and 
 insufficiency, he would find no hope, and could enjoy no 
 consolation, but in the confidence of being in better hands 
 than his own; under the guardianship of those eyes, 
 which never slumber nor sleep ; and in the keeping of that 
 wisdom which is infinite, and that power which is almighty. 
 In the natural world we find many beautiful illustrations of 
 this truth. Those who are conscious of their own weak¬ 
 ness fly to the stronger for refuge and protection : there 
 they seek and find the shelter which they need, and may be 
 said to be strong in the strength of those by whom they are 
 defended. So is it with the believer, whose mind is en¬ 
 lightened by the Holy Spirit: humbled under a sense of 
 his fallen and depraved condition, he feels, and therefore 
 readily acknowleges, his guilt and extreme helplessness; 
 and with such a sense of need, he contemplates in Jesus 
 a suitableness and all-sufficiency, both of grace and of 
 power. Without him, in whom is all his salvation, he 
 knows himself to be undone ; but oh, if faith beholds, 
 believes, and trusts in humble reliance upon him, what se¬ 
 curity, what confidence, and what peace, possess the soul! 
 His promises secure his Divine aid to all who, renouncing 
 self-righteousness and self-dependence, trust in the Lord 
 Jesus alone, as their everlasting Strength.—Blessed Jesus! 
 thus glorify thyself now, as the Strength of thy people. 
 Let thy Spirit testify of thee thus, to thy honour and our 
 joy; that, though weak and helpless, we may be strong 
 
STRENGTH. 
 
 151 
 
 in thee; and in the language of holy triumph rejoice in 
 thee, “ as the Lord Jehovah, our Righteousness and our 
 Strength .”—In contemplating Jehovah Jesus, as the 
 Strength of his people, our view must no doubt be 
 directed, 
 
 1. To the Strength which is essentially in himself. —His 
 own Divine glory and Almighty power are the foundation, 
 and therefore the security, of every mediatorial character 
 which he bears: his own self-sufficiency in himself con¬ 
 stitutes his all-sufficiency to his people ; for if he were not 
 such in himself, he could not become such to us. Every 
 character under which he is designated rests upon, and leads 
 us up to, his Divine glory and Godhead ; without which he 
 could not sustain, so as fully to accomplish, all that those 
 characters imply to his people. If he is called a Rock for 
 Strength, he is the Rock of Ages, to denote his eternal 
 might, and that in him is everlasting Strength. The great 
 evidence of his might is the work of creation ; and under 
 this character, as the great Creator, the God of Israel of 
 old encouraged the faith and firm reliance of his people, 
 when ready to faint and be discouraged: “Lift up your 
 eyes on high, and behold who created these things; that 
 bringeth out their host by number : he calleth them all by 
 their names, by the greatness of his might; for that he is 
 strong in power, notone faileth.” (Isa. xl. 26.) “Whysayest 
 thou, O Jacob! and speakest, O Israel! My way is hid 
 from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over from my 
 God l Hast thou not known, hast thou not heard, that the 
 everlasting God, the Lord Jehovah, the Creator of the 
 ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary ? There is 
 no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to 
 the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth 
 strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and 
 the young men shall utterly fall: but they that wait upon 
 the Lord shall renew their strength ; they shall mount up 
 with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; 
 and they shall walk, and not faint.” (ver. 27—31.) But 
 our confidence is the same : this God is alone the true 
 
SERIES IX.—ESSAY XI. 
 
 rock of our salvation : by our Jesus “ were all things 
 created that are in heaven and that are in earth, 'visible and 
 invisible ; whether they be thrones, or dominions, or prin¬ 
 cipalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and 
 tor him. ’ (Col. i. 16.) It is in this view, and under this 
 character, that he proposes himself to us as the confidence 
 of our salvation, “ Look unto me, and be ye saved ; for I 
 am God, and there is none else.” (Isa. xlv. 22.) Let us 
 always keep this in view, in contemplating every character 
 of our Redeemer and Saviour: this alone renders his 
 ability complete ; and assures us of his infinite sufficiency 
 to perform his offices, and fulfil the hopes of his people. 
 
 Rut absolute Power and invincible Strength could afford 
 no consolation to sinful creatures, unless they were exer¬ 
 cised and engaged for their benefit and on their behalf. If 
 we derive any consolation from the Strength of the eternal 
 Jehovah, we must contemplate it as exercised according 
 to the designs and purposes of his everlasting covenant 
 love, in which all his might, yea, all his perfections, stand 
 engaged lor the redemption and salvation of his people. 
 
 It is the Strength of his love, by which he becomes the 
 Strength of his people. In the counsels of eternity our 
 help was laid upon the Mighty One ; our help was then his 
 peculiar concern: this was the covenant engagement 
 arising from his own sovereign grace, to help us out of our 
 sinful state, out of all its miseries and dangers, from all its 
 curse and consequences, from all our enemies and conflicts 
 with them, into the kingdom of his eternal glory. This must 
 for ever be the object of our admiration, as it is the ground 
 of our hope. Who could claim the manifestation and 
 exercise of such love as this ? But who can doubt the 
 efficacy of such love, its continuance, its success, its ever¬ 
 lasting triumphs ? Or who can fear the faithfulness of 
 such a friend ? This love is made known to his people in 
 the exceeding great and precious promises of his word, 
 without which never could a sinner have expected or 
 hoped for its amazing display, and its exertion in the varied 
 works of redemption and salvation. But now what peni- 
 
STRENGTH. 
 
 153 
 
 tent sinner can doubt of his ability to save, or of his 
 willingness to receive him ? What humble believer can 
 question his inclination to bless his people, to deliver them 
 from all, and through all, their trials and dangers? 
 
 This view brings his strength near to me, gives me an 
 interest in it, and perfect security by it, when I am found 
 believing in him, and relying upon him. If, as a penitent 
 believing sinner, I embrace his mercy and his grace ac¬ 
 cording to his promise, and rest in humble hope upon his 
 promised aid, surely I may say, “ In the Lord Jehovah 
 have I righteousness and strength —But this confidence 
 will be confirmed, when I take a view of the Almighty 
 Redeemer still further, in fulfilling the characters which 
 he has assumed, and discern how he has exercised his 
 almighty power, 
 
 2. In overcoming every difficulty, and completing the work 
 of redemption. —Here his covenant Love comes forth into 
 act, and his almighty Strength is brought into effect: here 
 we discover the almighty working of his Power. The 
 prophet Isaiah has given us a most glorious view of him, 
 when going forth upon the work, clad in his armour of 
 invincible might. He saw that there was no man, and 
 (therefore) placed himself in our stead, when there was no 
 intercessor; therefore bis arm brought salvation unto him, 
 and his righteousness it sustained him. For he put on 
 righteousness as a breast-plate, and an helmet of salvation 
 on his head ; and he put on the garment of vengeance for 
 clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloak, &c. Thus the 
 Redeemer shall come to Zion, and to them that turn from 
 transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord (Isa. lix. 16—20); 
 or, as the Apostle has stated it; “ and shall turn away 
 ungodliness from Jacob.” Thus prepared for his work 
 and warfare, who but must expect a glorious issue ? The 
 same Prophet, therefore, presents us with a view of him 
 returning from his conflict with the spoils of victory.” 
 (Isa. Ixiii. 1—6.) “ Who is this that cometh from Edom, 
 
 with dyed garments from Bozrah ? This that is glorious 
 in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his Strength ? 
 
SLR I US IX.— ESSAY XI. 
 
 104 
 
 1 (hat speak in righteousness,” whose purposes of love and 
 mercy never change, “mighty to save. Wherefore art thou 
 red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth 
 in the wine-fat? I have trodden the wine-press alone, 
 and of the people there was none with me the mighty 
 Saviour hath alone accomplished, and must alone have 
 the honour of salvation: “for I will tread them in mine 
 anger,” &c. The Prophet again recals to his view, and 
 expresses, in nearly the same words, the voluntary under¬ 
 taking, and the substitution of the Redeemer himself in 
 the place of his people; and thus represents him, in the 
 firm determination of his unchangeable purpose, to tread 
 down the strength of all his enemies to the earth. But in 
 the work, the suffering, the victory of the cross, we behold 
 the prophecy in its absolute completion; and as with the 
 voice of triumph he himself proclaims, before he yields up 
 the ghost, “ It is finished .” Then was he strong to atone 
 for the sins of his people; then was he mighty to endure 
 the wrath of God, the curse of the law, and the vengeance 
 of Almighty justice. Then was he strong to drink up the 
 cup of bitterness and woe, to endure the piercings of the 
 sword of the Almighty; then was he mighty to bruise the 
 serpent’s head, to overcome the powers of darkness; yea, 
 to become the plague of death, and the destroyer of the 
 grave. “ By death, he conquered him that had the power 
 of death; that is, the devil.” But behold he rises ! Neither 
 death nor the grave can hold its prey : the mighty Re¬ 
 deemer ascends on high. Lift up your heads, O ye gates; 
 and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors ; that the King of 
 Glory may come in, even the Lord mighty in battle. By 
 his own blood he enters into the holy place, having ob¬ 
 tained eternal redemption for us. Yes, thou mighty 
 Saviour, I adore thee: the victory is thine; thine be all 
 the glory. But though he conquers, it is my enemy that 
 he conquers; it was for me he engaged, he fought, he 
 suffered, he subdued, and triumphed over sin and satan, 
 death and hell. Let me then triumph in him. O Lord, I 
 will praise thee, &c. Behold God is my salvation: I will 
 
STRENGTH. 
 
 15a» 
 
 trust, and not be afraid; for the Lord Jehovah is my 
 strength and niv song - ; he also is become my salvation. 
 (Isa. xii. 1, 2.) Now let the sinner come to Jesus, and 
 trust in him, and fear no evil. It is the voice, it is the 
 call, of mercy: Let him take hold of my Strength, saitk 
 Jehovah, him whom I have appointed as the Strength of 
 salvation, that he may make peace with me, and he shall 
 make peace with me (Isa. xxvii. 5); for the Strength of 
 Israel cannot lie nor repent. But while I contemplate 
 redemption completed in the Strength of the Lord Jesus, I 
 need the same might and power to bring me to him, and 
 to lead me through, to the complete enjoyment of it in 
 everlasting salvation. In this view I must adopt the same 
 language, and look to the same source. I must cleave to 
 Jesus from day to day: he is still the Strength of my sal¬ 
 vation; nor has the strongest believer any security besides; 
 but he that glorieth must glory in the Lord. 
 
 Let us view him, 
 
 3. In the continual exertion of that Almighty Strength, 
 in carrying his redeemed through all their dangers to his 
 ■promised rest. —Men, in their natural estate, and ignorant 
 of their true character, neither feel nor will confess their 
 weakness: they smile at the humble confessions of the 
 believer, as enthusiastic folly; while the pride of their own 
 natural powers, or moral goodness, deceives and destroys 
 them. Nothing, however, but the constant conviction of 
 the Redeemer’s eye upon him, and the Redeemer’s arm of 
 power exerted on his behalf, could keep the believer’s 
 mind quiet, or prevent his being tossed about and agitated 
 with continual fears and apprehensions. “ If the Lord 
 had not been on our side, will Israel say, they had swal¬ 
 lowed us up quickly ; yea, the waters had overwhelmed 
 us, and the stream had gone over our soul.” (See Psa. 
 cxxiv. 1—5.) A sense of their own weakness, and the 
 power of their spiritual enemies, affords a continual and a 
 just ground of alarm, independently of the promised grace 
 and aid of the mighty Saviour. And when faith is not 
 in exercise upon the almighty power and love of Jesus, as 
 
156 SERIES IX. —ESSAY XI. 
 
 % 
 
 engaged by covenant promise to preserve and uphold hiV 
 people, the confidence of the mind must sink ; the mind 
 itself must be overwhelmed with fear, and all its hopes be 
 destroyed. But when, on the contrary, the believer con¬ 
 templates the power of Jesus as engaged for his security, 
 his heart takes courage; he trusts in Him who has deli¬ 
 vered, to deliver to the end. Blessed be the Lord, says 
 he, who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth : our 
 soul is escaped, &c.: our help is in the name of the Lord 
 Jehovah, who made heaven and earth. (Psa. cxxiv. 6—8.) 
 He in whom is everlasting Strength hath engaged, from 
 everlasting, to be the Strength of his servants : with an 
 almighty arm he hath gotten himself the victory ; and with 
 that almighty arm he will still fulfil his characters of cove¬ 
 nant mercy, and his designs of love, till he has brought 
 them through, as eternal conquerors with himself. “ Fear 
 not, O Jacob, O Israel,” says he who created and formed 
 him ; “ fear not, for I have redeemed thee : I have called 
 thee by thy name; thou art mine. When thou passest 
 through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the 
 rivers, they shall not overflow thee : when thou walkest 
 through the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall 
 the flame kindle upon thee; for I am the Lord thy God, 
 the Holy One of Israel thy Saviour. Fear not, for I am 
 with thee; I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather 
 thee from the west.” (Isa. xliii. 1 —5.) Let us see how 
 this Strength is applied for their peace and deliverance. 
 
 He is, no doubt, ( 1 .) The Strength of their justification. 
 —This, indeed, is the same as his being their righteousness; 
 and therefore it will not require any enlargement here. 
 They feel themselves guilty, as transgressors of the Law of 
 God; every commandment of which is holy, just, and good; 
 and as such, they feel themselves, and confess themselves, 
 exposed to the wrath of God. “Fear not then,” says 
 Jehovah Jesus, “ I am the End of the Law, for righteous¬ 
 ness to every one that believeth.” I have prevailed, by 
 almighty power, to sustain the guilt and the curse of sin : 
 I have satisfied the justice of God, by enduring all itsrigh- 
 
STRENGTH. 
 
 157 
 
 leous vengeance: I have honoured the Law, by suffering 
 and obeying in all that it could demand : though you are 
 altogether as an unclean thing, and all your righteousness 
 but as filthy rags, I will clothe thee with the garment of 
 my salvation, and cover thee with the robe of my righ¬ 
 teousness. Justly would you be separated from a Holy 
 God, who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity ; but my 
 blood cleanseth from all sin, and my righteousness justifies 
 from all things; through these, peace and reconciliation 
 are promised with God, and shall be manifested to the soul 
 of every believing penitent sinner. But this name rather 
 relates to him as the Strength of their calling, their Sancti¬ 
 fication, and their Preservation in all the various states of 
 their pilgrimage, and in all the dangers of their conflict.— 
 They feel themselves filled with infirmities, and failing 
 through the weakness of natural and spiritual powers : here 
 they faint and fear, but here he is, 
 
 (2.) The Strength of their support in all their infirmi¬ 
 ties .—When 1 see the slender ivy encircling around the 
 sturdy oak, I see the emblem of the believer cleaving unto 
 Jesus. Feeble in itself, it would necessarily fall to the 
 ground, and be crushed by every passenger; but twining 
 itself around the strong and majestic trunk, that stands 
 firmly rooted and unmoveable, it strikes its fibres closer 
 and closer, deeper and deeper, as it grows and shoots along; 
 till at last it can scarcely be distinguished from the vene¬ 
 rable tree on which it grows, nor be separated from its 
 body. Let me here learn a lesson of faith : thus let me 
 cleave to Jesus, and I shall be strong in the grace which 
 is in Christ Jesus. Let me never lose my hold, but grow 
 up into Christ Jesus in all things ; cleaving closer and 
 closer, striking deeper and deeper, in every exercise of the 
 Christian life, and in every advance in the Christian pro¬ 
 fession. 
 
 When the feeble bird is apprehensive of danger, it flies 
 to the maternal wing for protection ; when the child is 
 alarmed, it flies to the arm of the parent, and beneath his 
 wisdom and his power expects protection and deliverance. 
 
158 SERIES IX. — ESSAY XI. 
 
 Let me see in all this the emblem of my own insufficiency, 
 mv duty and privilege, and the protecting power of Jesus. 
 If I leave him, slender as the ivy, feeble as the bird, help¬ 
 less as the child, my strength will in all be perfect weak¬ 
 ness ; the slightest danger will overwhelm me, and I shall 
 soon learn, that without him I can do nothing. Indeed, it 
 appears to be the principal design of many of the Divine 
 dispensations to the servants of God, to shew them how 
 vain is all wisdom and might without Him, to drive them 
 to Him, in dependence and faith, and to put the honour 
 upon his own power and grace in their deliverance. There 
 alone is my security ; his arm alone can raise me up, can 
 support and preserve my soul. 
 
 (3.) He is the Strength of protection against all our 
 sins, corruptions, and temptations , against all our in¬ 
 ward and spiritual enemies. —Alas, says the believer, 
 like the servant of the Prophet, alas, master ! what shall we 
 do ? But let the Lord open the eyes of faith into the in¬ 
 visible world, and the almighty power of Jehovah Jesus, 
 infinitely more glorious and powerful than the horses of fire 
 and chariots of fire round about Elijah, appear engaged 
 and ready to defend the weakest of his servants, who put 
 their trust in him. 
 
 I lament over the inward corruptions that I cannot 
 dislodge from the recesses of my heart: I feel the burden 
 of my sins, which, when I w ould do good, are urging and 
 oppressing my reluctant soul. I feel myself compelled to 
 cry out, “ O wretched man that I am ! who shall deliver me 
 from the body of this death V’ What could I do ? What 
 consolation could I find, if he had not promised, “ Sin 
 shall not have dominion over you?”&c. When I sink 
 under the sense of my own weakness, and my proneness to 
 transgress, I can find no other refuge but the pow r er and 
 grace of the Lord. That this power, however, shall be ex¬ 
 erted on my behalf, that this grace shall be bestowed upon 
 me, I can have no assurance, except from his own promise; 
 the promise which must arise from his own sovereign plea¬ 
 sure. And blessed be his Name, his word abounds with ex- 
 
STRENGTH. 
 
 X39 
 
 ceediug great and precious promises, to the humble peni¬ 
 tent, and the renewed believer, who feels, but laments, his 
 corruptions, and is longing for deliverance and salvation. 
 “I had fainted,” said the Psalmist, “unless I had believed 
 to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living : 
 wait on the Lord ; be of good courage, and he shall 
 strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.” (Psa. 
 xxvii. 13, 14.) But the inward corruptions of the believer’s 
 heart are assisted and abetted, 
 
 (4.) By the outward enemies which labour to destroy his 
 soul. — “ We wrestle not ” (only) “ against flesh and blood, 
 but against principalities and powers, and the rulers of the 
 darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high 
 places.” We are unable to oppose, with any hope of suc¬ 
 cess, these invisible and powerful adversaries: but go 
 forth, says the Lord the Redeemer, in my strength: en¬ 
 listed under my banner, look to me for direction, for 
 courage, for strength, and for victory. “ I will never leave 
 thee, I will never forsake thee : ” though thou art weak, 
 I am strong ; and the supply of my strength shall be equal 
 to thy day. And though no store can be treasured up in 
 thee, it is treasured up in my arm and heart, and shall be 
 supplied at the time, and in the measure which thy neces¬ 
 sity and thy conflicts require. Hence the believer must 
 always be kept conscious, that in himself he has and can 
 do nothing, while in Christ he has and can do all things. 
 “ Sing ye to the Lord,” says the Prophet concerning the 
 church, “ a vineyard of red wine. I the Lord do keep it; 
 I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep 
 it night and day.” (See Isa. xxvii. 2—4.) Can any lan¬ 
 guage more beautifully or more expressly represent the 
 unremitting care of Jehovah over his church, and her se¬ 
 curity ? Under the allusion to a fortified place, the Pro¬ 
 phet again assures the church of the Divine protection, 
 beyond the possibility of a failure. “We have a strong 
 city : salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks, 
 Szc. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is 
 staved on thee, because he trusteth in thee. Trust ve in 
 
1G0 
 
 SERIES IX.—ESSAY XI. 
 
 the Lord for ever ; for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting’ 
 strength” (Isa. xxvi. 1—4); and in his strength, the feet 
 of the poor, and the steps of the needy, shall bring down, 
 and tread upon, the loftiest ramparts of the enemy, (ver. 
 5, 6.) Fly, believer, with all thy corruptions and enemies, 
 to the arm of Jesus: his almighty power stands engaged 
 to defend and save thee. “ They shall never be ashamed 
 that trust in him. He is engaged in the covenant of his 
 grace for them; he is able to fulfil to the uttermost all his 
 engagements; and for this his faithfulness stands immu¬ 
 tably pledged. By his promise aud by his oath he has laid 
 the sure ground “of strong consolation to all who have 
 fled for refuge to the hope set before them,” in the Person 
 and the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Corruptions* 
 sins, and enemies may be many ; they may assault the soul, 
 perplex the spirit, darken the mind, and alarm the fears of 
 the believer; but “ I will be with thee,” is sufficient for his 
 security and consolation. This was the consolation of the 
 Apostle, when, distressed with the thorn in the flesh, the 
 messenger of satan, he besought the Lord thrice that 
 it might depart from him ; and though denied this request, 
 yet received that encouraging answer, “ My grace is suffi¬ 
 cient for thee.” This we know supported his faith and hope, 
 and encouraged him in the conflict. But the same pro¬ 
 mise is made to every believer. Faith is the means by which 
 the blessing is conveyed ; and where the grace of God hath 
 wrought this faith, the believer will not only confess his own 
 inability, but gladly glory in his infirmities, that the power 
 of Christ may rest upon him. Thus believing in Christ, 
 and receiving grace according to his necessity out of his 
 fulness, the weaker he feels himself, the stronger will he 
 be in the Lord; the more his weakness is felt in himself, 
 the greater will be his dependence on the all-sufficiency of 
 the Lord the Saviour. He will, like the Apostle, take 
 pleasure in infirmities, &c., for Christ’s sake, because in 
 such situations he has the most clear proof of the all-suffi¬ 
 ciency of his Saviour, and finds that, “when he is weak, then 
 he is strong.” This was the view which seemed always to 
 
I 
 
 STRENGTH. * 161 
 
 impress the mind of the Apostle. “ Such trust,” saith he 
 ill another place, “ have we through Christ to God-ward ; 
 not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing, as 
 of ourselves ; but our sufficiency is of God.” (2 Cor. iii. 
 4, 5.) And again; “ I can do all things through Christ 
 which strengtheneth me.” The Lord may indeed at times 
 suffer his people to go mourning for awhile ; and through 
 the weakness of faith, and the darkness of sense, they may 
 not he able to see his hand, or rest upon his power. They 
 may apprehend, with fearfulness and terror, that soon they 
 shall be swallowed up or finally destroyed. But his love is 
 unchangeable, and his power almighty, and his presence is 
 ever with them. “ Fear thou not,” says he, “fori am 
 with thee : be not dismayed, for I am thy God : I will 
 strengthen thee ; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold 
 thee with the right hand of my righteousness. All they 
 that are incensed against thee shall be ashamed and con¬ 
 founded; they shall be as nothing; and they that strive 
 with thee shall perish,” &c. (Isa. xli. 10—16.) It is true, 
 they shall “ gather together against thee, but they shall fall 
 for thy sake,” &c. “No weapon that is formed against thee 
 shall prosper ; and every tongue that shall rise against thee 
 in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of 
 the servants of the Lord ; and their righteousness is of me, 
 saith the Lord.” (Isa. liv. 15—17.) Resting on such an 
 arm, and confident in such promises, the believer may be 
 assured, that he who hath begun the good work in him 
 will complete it to the day of Jesus. The youths may faint 
 and be weary, and the young men utterly fail; the self- 
 confident will always be disappointed of their vain-glorious 
 hope; but he that flies to Jesus, out of weakness shall be 
 made strong and victorious, for the glory of his name and 
 his truth. This is the lesson that w r e have continually to 
 learn, weak in self, strong in the Lord ; nothing in self, all 
 in Christ; weak, yet strong; self-humbled in the dust, yet 
 always rejoicing in the Lord. Christ will be exalted upon 
 the throne, and glorified in all his characters ; his strength 
 will be made perfect in w eakness; and the most w r eak, the 
 VOL. v. M 
 
SERIES IX.—ESSAY XI. 
 
 LH2 
 
 most humble in himself, will be ever the most secure ; re¬ 
 ceiving most from the fulness of the Redeemer, and ren¬ 
 dering him the most abundant returns of glory. O Jesus, 
 be thou the strength of my salvation, and my enemies shall 
 fall before me! 
 
 But our Jesus is also the Strength of supply, in all the 
 wants of his people. The only measure of his fulness is 
 the infinity of his nature, the boundless extent of his attri¬ 
 butes, and the immeasurable heights and depths of his 
 love. The measure of our expectation is his own pro¬ 
 mises, which he hath given us in his word, “ exceeding 
 great and precious yet all these in his infinite power he 
 is able to fulfil, and in his immeasurable love he is deter¬ 
 mined so to do. But there is not a want nor a desire which 
 the renewed mind can feel that does not here meet with a 
 suitable provision. What a delightful view does this present 
 to the humble fearful mind ! The strength of those promises 
 is in Jesus ; their security is in him; the fulness necessary to 
 accomplish them is in him; and they are all yea and amen 
 in Christ Jesus. “ He of God is made unto us wisdom, 
 righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.’' Yea all 
 are yours, if ye are Christ’s, says the Apostle : let faith rise 
 and triumph over present distresses, trials, or afflictions : 
 rejoice in Jesus by the way, and anticipate the fulness of 
 enjoyment in the realms of glory.—But Jesus is still more; 
 he is, 
 
 5. The Strength of all grace for duties , or for fruitful¬ 
 ness .—The representation which our Lord himself has 
 made of this humbling but encouraging truth, by an 
 allusion to the vine and its branches, is a striking and just 
 illustration of our dependence upon him, and of the man¬ 
 ner in which we derive the needful grace out of his fulness. 
 As the root, or stock, is the strength of the branches, 
 which must all die when separated from it; so is the 
 Lord Jesus, the Strength of all the life of the believer, and 
 of all his fruitfulness, so that without him (separate from 
 him) we can do nothing. It is only by abiding in him, in 
 the exercises of faith, that we can bring forth the fruit of 
 
STRENGTH. 
 
 163 
 
 righteousness to his glory. In vain do we seek for this 
 from corrupted nature ; for here there is no source of 
 holiness, but a great strength of corruption, which brings 
 forth its fruits accordingly. All the appearances of spiritual 
 religion are but a delusion in the carnal and yet unrenewed 
 heart, which knows not Christ, and has no union or com¬ 
 munion with him. They are false in their principle, 
 defective in their motives, and selfish in their ends. In 
 vain do w'e seek for this, even in regenerate hearts : there 
 no stock of grace independent is treasured up ; but the 
 grace to sanctify my heart, to subdue my corruptions, to 
 preserve me in the exercise of Christian tempers, or the 
 fruits of Christian holiness, is in Christ Jesus, and can 
 come from him alone. And if I am now seeking for it 
 from any other quarter, from the remains of strength or 
 virtue in a depraved nature, or in external means and 
 ordinances, I know nothing of its source, or of its true 
 nature.—He is the Strength of my humility and repentance, 
 of my faith and reliance, of my love and zeal, of my grati¬ 
 tude and obedience, and of my comfort and consolation. 
 Never let me expect this, nor the increase of this, but 
 from him ; or their liveliest exercises will soon decline, 
 and their brightest lustre soon die away. But when he 
 becomes the Strength of my soul, the support of my spiritual 
 life, the enlivener of my spiritual faculties, by the gracious 
 influences of his Spirit, then how easy are trials, how weak 
 the power of temptation, how pleasant the duties of life ! 
 My soul rejoices in the Lord, delights in his ways, and 
 finds its only happiness in his salvation! The Prophet 
 lias represented this in a poetic strain of spiritual allegory, 
 in allusion to the abundant dews which fall in those warm 
 climates, whereby all nature is revived aud fructified: 
 “ I will be,” says Jehovah, “ as the dew unto Israel: he 
 shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. 
 His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the 
 olive-tree, and his smell as Lebanon,” &c. (Hos. xiv. 5—8.) 
 
 Let me then be convinced, that self-sufficiency and self- 
 dependence are the most dangerous of all errors. To rest 
 
 m 2 
 
164 
 
 Series ix.— essay xi. 
 
 in any thing without Christ, is to have no interest in him. 
 He is constituted the source and fountain of all life, grace, 
 strength, and blessing ; and if I am not willing to submit 
 to receive them all through and from him, 1 must remain 
 altogether destitute : however I may fancy myself rich in 
 virtue, I must be poor in grace : however I may conceive 
 myself to be strong and sufficient for duties or trials, I 
 shall soon find myself weak indeed ; and however I may 
 be confident of security by my own power or watchfulness, 
 I am in a state of the most imminent danger. The man 
 who sees not his need of Christ, is in darkness even until 
 now : he is in a state of guilt under the Law, and deluded 
 by the artifice of sin and satan ; and he who thinks that of 
 himself he can turn to God, repent, exercise faith, and 
 become holy and spiritual, knows not the nature of this 
 grace, nor the state in which he is. As there is no re¬ 
 demption but in Jesus; no pardon, righteousness, and 
 acceptance but in him ; so without him there is no grace, 
 no victory over corruption, no glory in the end ; and, 
 therefore, to be without Christ is to be lost for ever: 
 “ He that hath the Son of God hath life ; he that hath 
 not the Son of God hath not life.” 
 
 If the believer get into a state of self-dependence, he 
 will be sure to fail, for this is the cause of all our declension 
 in holiness or consolation ; whereas, the way to lay aside 
 every weight, and the sin which doth most easily beset us, 
 and to run the race set before us, is looking unto Jesus, 
 “ who is the Author and Finisher of our faith.” To make 
 his people sensible of this, the Lord will humble their self- 
 confidence, and shew them their own inability and total 
 helplessness, that they may seek all grace and strength 
 from him, and that he that glorieth may glory only in the 
 Lord. The true spirit of Christianity is the living upon 
 Christ for all, and so liviug daily the life of faith upon the 
 Son of God (Gal. ii. 20); going to him, in the prayer of 
 faith, to receive from him the continual and needful sup¬ 
 plies. It is the great work of the Spirit to convince the 
 heari of this ; and the more w’e see of the holy nature of 
 
STRENGTH. 
 
 165 
 
 that God with whom we have to do, the purity of liis Law, 
 its spirituality and the justice of its sentence : the more we 
 see the necessity of a complete righteousness for justifi¬ 
 cation, the need of regeneration, sanctification, and per¬ 
 severance in grace and holiness to enjoy the kingdom of 
 God, the more shall we see that, without Christ, we are, 
 and can do, nothing; that we are strong only in the Lord, 
 and in the power of his might, by putting on the whole 
 armour of God (see Eph. vi. 10—18); and that we are 
 filled with might by his Spirit alone, in the inner man, 
 when Christ dwells in our hearts by faith. Union with 
 Jesus is the source of all good ; communion with him is 
 the source of all life, happiness, and joy ; for a sinner out 
 of Christ is defiled, guilty, and helpless. O, let us fly to 
 him as sinners, and cleave to him as believiug sinners ; and 
 when he is glorified in the dependence of faith, he will 
 communicate abundantly of his grace and strength.—We 
 adore thee, O thou blessed Jesus ! for that love which led 
 thee to engage for, and thus interest thyself in, the con¬ 
 cerns of thy people, to secure their safety, their spiritual 
 prosperity, their victory, their everlasting salvation. 
 
 Thine almighty power exerted hath borne our curse and 
 sorrow, and subdued our enemies ; and now that almighty 
 power is engaged to bring us through every trial, and 
 secure an everlasting victory. (Isa. xxv. 0—12.) Thy 
 sovereign grace hath exceeded all our demerit, and thine 
 unchangeable love hath risen above all our ingratitude and 
 neglect: still we are weak, exposed to sin, to enemies, 
 and to fears ; but thy power, thy grace, and thy promise, 
 secure our perseverance and our victory. 
 
 “ Awake my soul, away my fears ; 
 
 Let every trembling thought be gone,” &c. 
 
 If brought back to God, if enlightened and convinced ol 
 sin, if turned from darkness to light; if sin be the object 
 of hatred, and its power and love be subdued ; it kept in 
 the exercise of grace, in the serenity ot peace, or the 
 triumph of holy joy ; if, in a word, I have not been suffered 
 to fall back to sin and to perdition, 1 must acknowledge 
 
166 
 
 SERIES IX-ESSAY XI. 
 
 Jesus as the Author, the Supporter, the Preserver of the 
 faith, the grace, the consolations of my soul. (Isa. xxvi. 4.) 
 Yes, blessed Jesus! thou shalt be the object of my delight 
 and gratitude, as of all my confidence and hope. This, though 
 weak and helpless in myself, shall be my boast, till I get be¬ 
 yond every trial and danger, that the Lord Jehovah, Jesus 
 the Saviour, is my Strength. Yes, he will be the Strength of 
 the everlasting victory of his people. “ Thanks be to 
 God, who givetli us the victory, through our Lord Jesus 
 Christ.” Let me, then, go on, emptied of self, and trust¬ 
 ing in him: never shall 1 get higher than this while here 
 below ; and indeed, through eternity, he shall be the only 
 source of life and felicity. Let me, as a sinner unable to 
 do any thing as of myself, trust in the Lord ; and in him, 
 when weak, I shall be strong. Let me take the armour 
 he hath prepared for me, and from day to day go forth in 
 his strength for the Christian warfare. Let me continue 
 using it to the end, and I shall endure safely and triumph 
 eternally over all. But then, to him alone shall be ascribed 
 the “power, the riches, the wisdom, the strength, the 
 honour, the glory, and the blessing; from my grateful soul, 
 and the souls of all his redeemed for ever and ever.” 
 (Rev. v. 12, 13.) 
 
1<77 
 
 ESSAY XII. 
 
 Urmous. 
 
 In the works of nature, there are beauties which the eye 
 of the naturalist meets with delight: in the works of Pro¬ 
 vidence, there are beauties which delight the heart of the 
 wise and careful observer : in the Scriptures of truth, and 
 especially in the plan of redemption, there are still more 
 exalted beauties which engage the attention of the Chris¬ 
 tian ; but in the person and work of the adorable Re¬ 
 deemer the believer beholds, by faith, the essence of them 
 all. The glories of Jesus are, therefore, the continual 
 subject of his meditation and admiration ; the more he 
 contemplates them, the more he discerns of their beauty 
 and excellency, and their suitableness to his own wants 
 and enjoyment. Whether he considers them as in them¬ 
 selves, or views them in comparison with all besides; or, 
 whether he contemplates their connection with, and influ¬ 
 ence upon, his present and eternal hopes; they become 
 more endeared to his heart. He in whom they centre is 
 the most glorious object in heaven or in earth ; the object 
 of love and of desire, and deserves to be infinitely more 
 so. It must therefore be equally true now, as it was in 
 the times of the Apostle, that “ to them w ho believe Christ 
 is precious.” The word used by the Apostle is very pecu¬ 
 liar : it is the abstract term ripj, denoting honour } pre¬ 
 ciousness itself; as though the Lord Jesus was the only 
 honourable, the sum and substance of all preciousness. And 
 is he not so ? Let the believer’s heart reply, that knows 
 and that enjoys his blessings. Let us consider some of the 
 various ways in which the term is applicable to him. And 
 may his own Spirit glorify him by discovering his excel- 
 
168 
 
 SERIES IX.~-ESSAY XII. 
 
 lency to the eye of faith, and then all things will be ac¬ 
 counted but loss for the excellency of this knowledge. 
 Whatever may engage the attention of the world, nothing 
 can ever bear comparison, in the mind of the believer, with 
 the incomparable glories of Immanuel. He knows he 
 never can fully conceive, and he never can possibly exhaust, 
 the fulness of his excellencies. Hence lie is continually 
 discovering new beauties, new subjects of love and praise; 
 for, as his person is infinite, his glories must therefore be 
 infinite ; and we must fall infinitely short in their descrip¬ 
 tion. The copious subject has neither beginning nor end: 
 where then shall we begin ; and where can we end ? 
 Eternity must prolong the theme, and run unceasingly 
 forward in the discoveries of his perfections. But though 
 we must fall far short in each, a few particulars will more 
 accommodate the subject to our present faculties, and ele¬ 
 vate the view r s, strengthen the faith, and impress the mind 
 of the believer.—Let us then contemplate his preciousness, 
 1. In the essential glories of his Divine nature .— 
 Whatever difficulties may occur to the mind upon a subject 
 so vast and so unfathomable, faith refers them all to the 
 wisdom and the truth of God, and believes the testimony 
 of his word. Here it learns that he is one with the Father ; 
 that he is a partaker of the same attributes, entitled to the 
 same names, a performer of the same ivories, and a receiver 
 of, the same worship. Here the believer reads of him as 
 the great God our Saviour, as He who was in the form of 
 God, though he humbled himself to the form of a servant; 
 as the brightness of the Father’s glory, and the express 
 image of his person ; as God over all blessed for ever ; in 
 a word, as the Alpha and Omega } the Beginning and the 
 End; and of consequence the independent, the self-existent, 
 the eternal, Jehovah. This indeed could alone constitute 
 his all-sufficiency to become the Saviour of men: infinite 
 wisdom, and power, and grace, were necessary for his 
 undertaking and accomplishing so vast, so stupendous a 
 work ; for applying it to the hearts of sinners, and com¬ 
 pleting its enjoyment in the souls of his people. How glo- 
 
PRECIOUS. 
 
 109 
 
 nous and precious is the blessed Redeemer to the eye of 
 faith, in the contemplation of all his Divine perfections, 
 which so fit him to be what he has undertaken to be, in 
 the salvation of his chosen ! As this is the ground-work of 
 all his suitableness to sinners, and is the strength and secu¬ 
 rity of every office he bears, so it constitutes the great ex¬ 
 cellency of that in which the believer delights most especi¬ 
 ally to contemplate him ; viz. of his mediatorial person, in 
 which he appears as Immanuel, God and man, God with 
 us.—Whenever we attempt to contemplate the attributes 
 of Deity, as they exist simply and absolutely in the Divine 
 nature, we are lost and bewildered in the search. But 
 when we behold them in the person of Jesus, united with 
 the manhood, his infinite glories displaying themselves 
 through our nature, in the one person of the Redeemer; 
 though this is indeed “ the great mystery of godliness,” 
 yet those perfections appear more accommodated to our 
 state and faculties, and assume a milder ray, on which our 
 feeble sight can gaze, without being totally overwhelmed^ 
 and confounded with its brightness. That he should thus 
 condescend to take upon him, not the nature of angels, 
 but the seed of Abraham—human nature in its low and 
 humbled state, in the form of the lowest servitude—must 
 ever form a subject of the most exalted admiration to 
 angels and to men : and when faith contemplates this two¬ 
 fold nature in one person, how precious does he appear! 
 
 This is the very Saviour a sinner needs ; without whom he 
 •/ 
 
 must have perished, but from whom he may justly expect 
 eternal redemption. On the one side he beholds his 
 ability and his strength ; on the other, his grace and com¬ 
 passion, his sympathy and pity ; and here is a suitable ob¬ 
 ject of love and delight, of faith and hope. This glorious 
 person is called Jesus,—a name implying both his nature 
 and his office—the same as Immanuel, that is, Jehovah the 
 Saviour. The increasing discovery of the nature of this 
 mysterious union, which perhaps we shall never be able 
 fully to conceive, will render him increasingly and eternally 
 the delight and admiration of his saints. The contempla- 
 
170 
 
 SERIES IX.—ESSAY XII. 
 
 tion indeed of this name opens to us a view of his glorious 
 designs and engagements in the covenant of redemption, 
 in the counsels of eternity ; in every part of which, the be¬ 
 liever, who feels himself eternally interested in them, must 
 admire his wisdom, and his love. He is therefore most 
 precious, 
 
 2. In the transaction , and in the fulness of his work 
 of redemption. — Only such a Divine person could be suit¬ 
 able to accomplish so mighty a work : but since he has 
 undertaken it, who is so infinitely able, the eye of faith, 
 fixing itself upon this adorable object, traces every step of 
 his condescending path with fresh delight and wonder. 
 He who was in time born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the 
 design and purposes of that love, had “ His going forth from 
 everlastingand when set up in the mediatorial charac¬ 
 ter, as the Eternal Son of God, or ever the earth was, 
 his delights were with the sons of men. Who can recal to 
 mind, this eternal love of the Redeemer to a race of 
 beings so infinitely beneath his glory, without sentiments 
 of the most cordial gratitude and affection l From the 
 very beginning of time, and from the fall of the human 
 race in their original parent, we behold the providence of 
 God preparing the way for the accomplishment of this 
 plan of heavenly love and mercy, as if anticipating with 
 delight his entrance into human nature, before his actual 
 incarnation. How often did He appear in the form of the 
 son of man, though with that glory which proclaimed and 
 determined his Divine person, to patriarchs and prophets, 
 and holy men of old! But at length “ the Child is horn, 
 and the Son given.” He “ is horn the Saviour“ in the 
 fulness of time , behold God sends forth his Son, made of a 
 woman, made under the Law, to redeem us who were under 
 the Law, that we might receive the adoption of sons” And 
 now he displays a character which endears him greatly to 
 the believer’s heart; while in it he accomplishes all that 
 is necessary for the salvation of his person. Every step, 
 while it discovers more his voluntary humiliation, exalts 
 still higher the greatness of his love, and places him in a 
 
 \ 
 
PRECIOUS. 171 
 
 view in which faith discovers more in him to delight in and 
 admire. The weakness of infancy, the indignity of the 
 manger, the meanness of poverty, the reproaches of con¬ 
 tempt, together with the purity and integrity of his obe¬ 
 dience in the midst of all, the bitterness of his sufferings, 
 the scourging and the mocking of the barbarous soldiery, 
 and the ignominy of his cross, are circumstances which 
 give a beauty and a grace to the person and character of 
 the Redeemer. In all this, says the believer. He is pre¬ 
 cious ; for all these were endured for us men, and for our 
 salvation. Did He take upon himself the lowest form of 
 a servant? Was He made sin, or was He surrounded with 
 continual griefs and afflictions ? It was for us : in his bit¬ 
 terest conflicts, he was contending against our enemies; 
 in his greatest exertions of overwhelming sorrow, he was 
 putting away our sin; in his agonizing sufferings, he was 
 bearing our curse ; in his death, he was procuring our life; 
 and in all the ignominies of his cross, he was preparing for 
 us a crown of glory that fadeth not away. Look at Him 
 thus, believer, by faith, and say, is he not precious ? How 
 precious, the tongue of the brightest seraph cannot tell! 
 Go, stand at his cross ; and while others despise and 
 reproach, who look no further than to the appearance of 
 sense, let faith penetrate the darkness and the veil, till it 
 behold his amazing glory, and is overwhelmed with his 
 amazing grace. Then thy heart will exclaim with the 
 Apostle, God forbid that I should glory, save in this 
 scene of inexplicable wonder, in which all that is glorious 
 and all that is debasing uuite together—the cross of 
 the Lord Jesus Christ. There the High Priest of my pro¬ 
 fession “ offered himself an offering and a sacrifice to God,” 
 for the sins of his people. There the atoning blood flowed 
 from every vein ; and now we have redemption through his 
 blood, even the forgiveness of our sins, according to the 
 riches of Divine grace ; and we, who were afar ofl, are 
 made nigh by the blood of Christ, since he has reconciled 
 us unto God in one body by the cross. (See Epb. i. 7; 
 ii. 13—-16.) How glorious was the Jewish High Priest, 
 
SERIES IX.— ESSAY XII. 
 
 172 
 
 how precious to the believing- Israelites, when, on the 
 great day of atonement, dressed in his priestly garments 
 of purity and holiness, he offered the atoning sacrifice, to 
 put away the sin of the nation ! But infinitely more glo¬ 
 rious is our great Priest, when once, in the end of the 
 world, he puts away sin by the sacrifice of himself; his 
 garments of humiliation and purity dyed with blood, his 
 own blood, the blood of his heart. Now He has finished 
 transgression, made an end of sin, and brought in ever¬ 
 lasting righteousness. He has completed the atonement, 
 by his one offering perfecting for ever them that are 
 sanctified. (Heb. x. 14.) Thus my dear Redeemer becomes 
 suited to my wants, my situation of danger, my weakness, 
 and my fears. He of God is made unto me wisdom, 
 righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. His work 
 is perfect: he did not enter into the mansions above till 
 he had obtained eternal redemption for us, and secured 
 our admission with him to his kingdom. Now r the gift of 
 God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord.—He 
 is then increasingly precious, when viewed by faith, 
 
 3. In his mediatorial fulness; carrying on his redeem¬ 
 ing work from his throne of glory, in the world, in the 
 church, and in the hearts of his believing people .—Here 
 he maintains all his characters in the fullest manner, and 
 fulfils all his offices in the most perfect exercise of them. 
 If we behold Him as the Priest on the cross, as offering 
 the sacrifice, shedding his own precious blood for us, and 
 completing the atonement; here we behold Him entering 
 within the veil into the holy place by his own blood, and 
 in the virtue of it claiming admission as the Surety and 
 Advocate of his redeemed. (See the whole of that beautiful 
 passage, Heb. ix. 11—15.) There He liveth who was 
 dead, and is alive for evermore. (Rev. i. 18.) There He 
 ever lives to intercede for his people. Under these en¬ 
 dearing views he offers himself as the confidence of our 
 soul; able to save unto the uttermost all that come unto 
 God by him, as a merciful and a faithful High Priest in 
 things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the 
 
PRECIOUS. 
 
 173 
 
 sins of his people. Through his dignity, as Jesus the Son 
 of God eutered into the heavens, we are encouraged to 
 hold fast our profession ; and, as the Son of man, touched 
 with the feeling of our infirmities, we encourage ourselves 
 in the sympathy and kindness of his nature, in the dis¬ 
 charge of all his offices of love, and come boldly to the 
 Throne of Grace to obtain mercy and find grace to help in 
 every time of need. (See Ileb. vii. 25 ; ii. 17; and iv. 
 14—16.) Here, then, faith beholds him as infinitely pre¬ 
 cious. I come and commit my cause and my soul into his 
 hands, with all my sin, guilt, and infirmity; for He is my 
 Advocate with the Father, who is the Righteous One, the 
 Propitiation for my sins. (1 John ii. 1.) 
 
 If there be something most admirable and engaging in 
 this character, when as a Prophet he instructed the family 
 of his disciples, when he taught the people, and spake as 
 never man spake, how glorious does he appear when, 
 teaching by his Spirit, he teaches to the heart; when at 
 the same time he gives the disposition to sit at his feet, 
 and to hear his words, either of reproof and conviction, of 
 direction and instruction,—or of peace, joy, and consola¬ 
 tion, in the messages of redeeming mercy ! This is pecu¬ 
 liarly the promise of our exalted Jesus: to this he pe¬ 
 culiarly directed the faith and hope of his disciples, before 
 he left them alone on earth, to ascend to his glory. And 
 his promises are so worded as evidently to belong to his 
 church, to the very end of time. “ I will send you,” said 
 he, “ another Comforter from the Father, who will abide 
 with you for ever.” (John xiv. 16.) “ He shall teach you 
 
 all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, what¬ 
 soever I have said unto you.” (ver. 26.) “ He shall con¬ 
 
 vince of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment.” (xvi. 8, 
 &c.) “ He shall glorify me: he shall take of mine, and 
 shall shew it unto you.” (ver. 14.) His primitive servants 
 experienced the truth of his promise ; their minds were 
 enlightened in Divine knowledge, their hearts sanctified 
 by his Divine grace; and they rejoiced in all those power¬ 
 ful, kind, and glorious influences of the Spirit which 
 
SERIES IX_ESSAY XII. 
 
 174 
 
 endeared their Lord and Master to them, and led them to 
 a certain demonstrative evidence of the truth of his salva¬ 
 tion. This Spirit of his grace, not only testified by out¬ 
 ward miracles in confirmation of his mission—for these 
 were peculiar to that time, as being then peculiarly neces¬ 
 sary—but by a secret, though powerful, influence, en¬ 
 lightened their understanding, and renewed their heart, 
 and wrought in them all that was necessary to salvation. 
 And this same influence is equally necessary at the pre¬ 
 sent time, equally promised, and as really experienced by 
 all true believers ; so that it may be said of real Chris¬ 
 tians, that they are really partakers of the Spirit of Christ, 
 poured out from him as the great Anointed One, and the 
 only Anointing One, the true Messiah. “ And the anoint¬ 
 ing,” says the Apostle, “ which ye have received of him, 
 abideth in you ; and ye need not that any man teach you;” 
 i. e. as to the great essential truths of the Gospel, neces¬ 
 sary to the regeneration, justification, and salvation of 
 sinners; “ but as the same anointing teacheth you of all 
 (these) things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it 
 hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.” (1 John ii. 27.) 
 
 But he has all power committed to him, as the King upon 
 the throne, to govern all things for the good of his people, 
 and bring them to eternal life and glory. (Matt, xxviii. 18; 
 John xvii. 2.) In this is summed up all the fulness of his 
 glories ; and whether faith contemplates his regal dignity 
 upon the mediatorial throne, as exerted over, and in, his 
 people; or as displayed for them in the extent of universal 
 nature, earthly or heavenly, visible or invisible; in all, the 
 person, character, and office of the Redeemer are above 
 all, exceedingly precious. 
 
 He is exalted to reign in and over his people, and by 
 his Spirit he asserts his authority, and claims and takes 
 possession of their heart; and then his people are willing- 
 in the day of his power. When the Spirit of his grace 
 becomes a Spirit of couviction, their corruptions become 
 their grief and sorrow, and the objects of their avowed and 
 decided hatred. They would not insult their Lord, by 
 
PRECIOUS. 
 
 175 
 
 joining him with such companions as these, but desire for 
 ever to have them driven from their heart. When the 
 hand of their Almighty Lord and Saviour subdues them 
 under his control, bending their wills to his; when he 
 melts down their heart in contrition and godly sorrow ; 
 when he mortifies their pride and passion by the sweet 
 influence of his grace, and reduces every thought into 
 obedience; when they feel an entire submission to his 
 will, and their whole hearts devoted to his service;—these 
 are the favoured seasons in which they most rejoice, and 
 taste the felicity of heaven amidst the afflictions, sorrows, 
 and burdens of earth.—Oh, says the believer, that it 
 might always be so ! The sweet enjoyment I have ex¬ 
 perienced of it has degraded all other joys in my esteem, 
 and makes me weep, and mourn, and lament, when my 
 yet polluted and sinful heart again disobeys and displeases 
 my Lord. Well, O believer! rejoice in hope: through 
 the grace of Christ it soon shall be so; and the time shall 
 come when neither sin nor guilt nor sorrow shall defile 
 thy heart, dishonour or grieve thy Saviour or his Spirit, 
 or separate thee from the sweet enjoyment of him more. 
 How precious is the view! how precious the Saviour that 
 shall thus exalt thy soul! But all things are in his hands ; 
 and he is Head over all things to his church, which is in¬ 
 deed the most endearing and illustrious of all his charac¬ 
 ters. All the affairs of the world, and all the conduct of 
 Providence, is in his direction ; all my afflictions, trials, 
 difficulties, temptations, and enemies are under his guidance 
 and control; yea, they are his, for he sympathizes with them 
 all. Yea, still further; universal nature, the powers and 
 principalities of the world of spirits, the things which are 
 beyond the view of mortal vision, and beyond the grasp of 
 finite understandings; the things invisible, spiritual, and 
 immortal, are all in his view, under his power, and obedient 
 to his almighty word. But is he able to direct the vast ma¬ 
 chine, in all its boundless extent, and in all its minutest 
 operations? No doubt he is ; for he hath “ all power in 
 heaven and in earth And here is the peculiar suitableness 
 
178 
 
 SERIES IX.—ESSAY Xlh 
 
 of our Redeemer; here is the sure encouragement of our 
 faith, that he is Immanuel, Jehovah, the Saviour. None but 
 such a Divine person could be able to conduct the concerns 
 of that infinite and everlasting government which is upon 
 the shoulder of the Child born and the Son given. But 
 he who is the mighty God as well as the infinite Jesus, 
 can do all, and accomplish all, and rule over all things for 
 his people. How encouraging to look, by faith, through 
 the veil to the throne of God, and by faith behold there 
 such a Friend and Saviour, and to see all under the 
 guidance of his hand! He who loved me in eternity, who 
 redeemed me in time; who laid down his life for me, who 
 scrupled not such an expense of love; He reigns in in¬ 
 finite wisdom, in covenant mercy, truth, and grace, in un¬ 
 changeable love and delight,—and, at the same time, in 
 almighty power, over all things, that he may accomplish 
 the salvation of his redeemed. Surely he must be “pre¬ 
 cious to them who believe \”—He is, indeed, precious to 
 his people, 
 
 4. In every relation, ancl in every character which he 
 there sustains .—He has discovered his love to his people, 
 and his suitableness to them in every respect; and thus 
 endears himself to their hearts, by representing himself in 
 his word under a vast variety of allusions, under many 
 gracious and interesting characters, which express his 
 relation to them, his love towards them, his care over 
 them, and their security in his hand. He is the Sun to 
 make my day to shine upon me with the light of grace, 
 till he rise in the realms of glory; and he is my Shield, to 
 defend me from the arrows of justice or the shafts of the 
 enemy. I adore him as the Rock of Ages, on which I 
 safely build for eternity. He is the Ark of my safety, my 
 Strong Tower, and the City of my Refuge. In allusion 
 to the most interesting relations of life, he is my Father, 
 my Husband, my Brother, my Friend ; and in all the 
 most endearing offices of life, he is my Counsellor, my 
 Guide, my Helper, my Deliverer, my Advocate, and, in a 
 word, my eternal Saviour. It is indeed impossible for us 
 
PRECIOUS. 
 
 177 
 
 here merely to enumerate, much less to expatiate upon, 
 those peculiar characters of the Redeemer, which render 
 him so suitable to his church. These are distinctly the 
 subject of the present Essays; and after all we shall fall 
 infinitely short of his glories; in each the believer will 
 discover fresh beauties, by and in which he will become 
 more precious to faith. Contemplate him then, O be¬ 
 liever ! in all these adorable views, till he become in¬ 
 creasingly precious to thee. But here let it be observed, 
 there must be the inward manifestation of his glories by 
 the Spirit, or all his beauties will pass by unobserved ; and 
 he is therefore only precious when he makes a manifesta¬ 
 tion of himself in his glory, grace, and love, 
 
 5. By the discovery of his Spirit, in his ordinances to 
 the heart. —Then, “ beholding, as in a glass, the glory of 
 the Lord, we are changed into the same image from glory 
 to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” (2 Cor. iii. 18.) 
 Then we so behold him as to love him, and so love him as 
 to imitate him, and be conformed to his likeness. How 
 precious to behold his face, though with a veil of ordi¬ 
 nances between, when the glances of his beauty shine forth 
 in the means of grace; to behold him in the closet, when 
 he visits the secret retirements of the soul, when prayer 
 draws down his favour, and praise returns him all the 
 glory; to behold him in his house, in the publication of his 
 word, in the memorials of his dying love, and the sweet 
 communion of his saints, how sweet is the enjoyment! 
 These make the believer long for more of his visits below, 
 and for the state in which all his glories shall 6hine without 
 a veil above. Let me, says he, behold thy power and thy 
 glory, so as I have before seen thee in the sanctuary. 
 
 “ My willing soul would stay, 
 
 In sucli a frame as this, 
 
 And sit and sing itself away 
 To everlasting bliss/' 
 
 These are the moments of such delight on earth, as savours 
 of the relish of that pleasure which flows at his right hand 
 for evermore. If then He be not precious to us, the reason 
 VOL. v. N 
 
SERIES IX-ESSAY XII. 
 
 is evident; we are destitute of the eye of faith, that spiritual 
 faculty which discerns his excellencies. Hence it is that 
 the world seeth him not, neither knoweth him. Ignorant 
 of their state and want as sinners, they never think it neces¬ 
 sary to inquire after his character, his glory, or his works; 
 and blinded by the love of sin, when they hear of his beau¬ 
 ties, they can neither discern nor believe them. “ The 
 natural man knoweth not the things of the Spirit of God, 
 for they are foolishness unto him ; neither can he know 
 them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Cor. 
 ii. 14.) Men make a profession of attachment to Christ 
 through education and habit, or in compliance with the 
 profession of those around them; but never seeing their 
 need of salvation, or their state as sinners, they are totally 
 ignorant of what the Lord Jesus has undertaken and per¬ 
 formed to save sinners,—and what he must do and is doing 
 in the hearts of all his people, for their enjoyment of 
 that salvation. Hence all their religion is but a mere pro¬ 
 fession, attended with a total ignorance as to the true na¬ 
 ture of Christianity, its doctrines, and its blessings, and 
 without any realizing views of the preciousness of Christ. 
 No wonder, then, that there is no power from such a pro¬ 
 fession, no influence upon the heart, no benefit in the con¬ 
 science ; for no such blessings are expected in and from 
 Christ Jesus. None, therefore, can here be obtained ; 
 and hereafter the neglect of such a Saviour will only aggra¬ 
 vate the guilt and condemnation. We may know, by these 
 considerations, whether we are partakers of the precious 
 faith of the Gospel. We see what its effects will be: it 
 will exalt and glorify the Lord Jesus Christ as to his 
 person, work, and character, in the heart of the believer. 
 As faith is the gift of Christ, and the work of his Spirit; 
 and as it is the office of the Spirit especially to testify of 
 Christ, surely he must testify the same things of him, to 
 every one whom he teaches. Every believer, therefore, 
 will have the same views, though in different degrees ; and 
 He will be precious to all who believe. So of old, Abraham 
 rejoiced to see the day of Christ; and the Prophets testified 
 
PRECIOUS. 
 
 179 
 
 of him, for the very spirit of prophecy is the testimony of 
 Jesus. Of Him David, the sweet singer of Israel, wit¬ 
 nessed and wrote in the noblest and sweetest of his Psalms; 
 and the Apostle of the Gentiles joins the sacred throng, 
 and accounts all things but loss for the excellency of the 
 knowledge of Christ. The great question, then, to which 
 we should direct our attention is this ; Is He precious to 
 us ? otherwise it is evident that we have not that faith 
 which filled the hearts of all his ancient servants. But, 
 O believer! say, is He not so to you ? have you not found 
 him rendered so in the actual experience of his grace '( 
 When faith is lively, all his glories open to view; the heart 
 is raised in adoring love, admiring gratitude, and humble 
 confidence. The more precious, indeed, Christ is to us, 
 the more do we concur in the dispositions of the redeemed 
 above, as a sure token that we shall soon be among them. 
 There he is accounted worthy of all the honour of redemp¬ 
 tion and of salvation. 'Worthy is the Lamb that hath 
 been slain: He hath loved us, and redeemed us to God 
 with his blood; therefore to Him be the honour, the glory, 
 . the worship, the praise, with the Eternal God for ever. 
 (Rev. v. 12,13.) Faith views the same object now, though 
 at present in a glass, through his word and ordinances, and 
 therefore darkly. It takes also the same view of him, 
 though at present imperfectly, and, in proportion, it has 
 correspondent effects. The more, then, we contemplate 
 his glory in the light of Divine truth, the more precious 
 will he appear; every thing connected with him and the 
 enjoyment of him, will be precious to the believer; and 
 therefore it is that he puts such a value upon the word of 
 the Gospel, prayer, meditation, the Sabbath, and ordi¬ 
 nances of the Lord ; for these are his means of communi¬ 
 cating faith, of strengthening the views, the powers, and 
 the consolation of faith. Without the use of means, faith 
 will languish, as surely as the natural life will do so, with¬ 
 out its proper food; and it is in these means that he 
 communicates himself in faith, as the Bread of Life to 
 the soul. The neglectful use of these means, or the not 
 
 n 2 
 
180 
 
 SERIES IX.— ESSAY XII. 
 
 exercising faith in them, is the cause why there is so 
 little power of Divine influence attending them, and such 
 coldness of affection to the great Redeemer, even in those 
 who are partakers of real faith. Use them, then, believer, 
 with all diligence, to the full assurance of faith to the 
 end. Pray for an increase of faith, and employ it more 
 in meditation upon the infinitely worthy object that is dis¬ 
 played in the Gospel for the hope, and joy, and salvation 
 of perishing sinners. Here you have every reason for 
 strong faith, as to his person, his work, and his promises, 
 and as to your security by trusting in them. And when 
 faith in his person and fulness is lively, it will soon lead to 
 the reliance of faith, and the sweet confidence upon his 
 word. If, however, you have such a view of him by faith 
 as to endear him to you above all the world besides, bless 
 him for it. As you go on, faith will increase; you will find 
 more reason to love him and trust him in all and with all, 
 and more evident obligation to live to his glory. You will 
 find him a Tried Stone, sufficient to support you in all your 
 trials and temptations, upon a dying bed, yea, at the bar 
 of God, and throughout eternity. Experience of his love, 
 grace, and faithfulness will make him more precious, till 
 you behold and enjoy him above, in all the fulness of his 
 glory. When an Apostle had but a glance of this, he 
 saw things which it was not lawful, or rather not possible, 
 for him to utter. He could find no human language to 
 convey an adequate idea ; and should the brightest seraph 
 before the Throne condescend to come down to tell the 
 glories of the Redeemer, the language of mortals would 
 fail him : never could he make known below the vast, the 
 full, extent of the glories of our Redeemer above. When 
 admitted to behold those glories, and to see them as spirits 
 see them, we shall freely confess, not only that not the half, 
 but not the thousandth part, hath been told us. (1 Kings 
 x. 6—9.) 
 
 But will this Jesus, in all his glories, be mine ? Is he 
 now my Friend, my Saviour; and will he then be my ever¬ 
 lasting Portion ? When lie comes upon the throne of judg- 
 
PRECIOUS. 
 
 181 
 
 ment, will he come without sin for my salvation, and place 
 me at his own right hand for ever ? How ravishing the 
 hope and expectation ! Lord, give me more faith to ad¬ 
 mire and love thee more now ; to realize thy grace, thy 
 presence, thy sweet consolation in every situation, through 
 the pilgrimage of life, through all the darkness of the wilder¬ 
 ness; then shall my heart call thee my precious Saviour. 
 But when I see thee as thou art, thy glories will render 
 thee precious beyond the capacity of mortal faculties to 
 describe ; and my immortal powers shall be employed in 
 the delightful exercise throughout eternity. 
 

 
 
 
 
 ’ I 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ■ 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 \ t 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
ESSAYS 
 
 ON 
 
 ALL THE SCRIPTURAL NAMES AND TITLES 
 
 CHRIST. 
 
 TENTH SERIES. 
 

 
 
 ? 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 v 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
TENTH SERIES. 
 
 ESSAY I. 
 
 Immanuel. 
 
 The fulfilment of Prophecy is the great glory, and the de* 
 cided evidence, of Christianity. Nothing can afford so 
 great an incitement to our attention, so strong a confirma¬ 
 tion to our faith, or such an enlivening influence upon our 
 hope, as the application of prophetic testimony to the 
 person and work of the Redeemer. By this we discover, 
 beyond a doubt, the glory of the Saviour, the truth and 
 faithfulness of God, and the fulness and security of his 
 salvation. Blessed be God that we have in the Scriptures 
 the fullest testimony of this kind, that we might want no 
 evidence as to the person in whom we are to trust, in a busi¬ 
 ness of such infinite and eternal importance ; and that we 
 might want no assurance which is needful, for the con¬ 
 firmation of our faith in his ability and his grace. We find 
 the humble Jesus ushered into the world, passing through 
 it, and departing from it, with this appeal; that “ all these 
 things were done , that it might he fulfilled which was 
 written in the Scriptures concerning him —We are now 
 to contemplate a name which holds a very high place in the 
 language of Prophecy, concerning the glorious Messiah; 
 and which, according to the interpretation of the Evan¬ 
 gelist, had its full accomplishment in the person of Jesus 
 of Nazareth. The Evangelist has elucidated the Prophet; 
 and his language has divested the prophetic name of all 
 prophetic ambiguity, and thrown upon it the brightness of 
 
186 
 
 $ ERIKS X.—ESSAY I. 
 
 Gospel light and glory. (Isa. vii. 14; Matt. 1. 23.) We be¬ 
 hold in it the clearest display of the essential divinity of Mes¬ 
 siah, connected with the greatness of his humiliation, and 
 the condescensions of his love. The prophecy itself is 
 both glorious and lucid; but the evangelical interpretation 
 is most decisive and indubitable. Oh, may this glorious 
 Immanuel, who has indeed been God with us in our nature, 
 be still God with us in all the discoveries of his grace to 
 our hearts, and in all the hope and the blessings of his 
 salvation! 
 
 A short consideration of the original design of the pro¬ 
 phecy may perhaps be useful to develop its meaning, and 
 discover its true application to the person of the Messiah; 
 and, in consequence, to him whom we acknowledge as 
 Jesus the Lord our Saviour. Ahaz, the king of Judah, 
 was at this time under great alarm from the invasion of the 
 Israelites, joined by their neighbours the Syrians; and from 
 so powerful a confederacy, apprehended the destruction of 
 the nation, and of the house of David. The Prophet 
 Isaiah was therefore sent by God to encourage him ; and 
 to assure him that the house of David, of which he was 
 the head, though very unworthily, should not be destroyed. 
 For this purpose he is directed to offer him a sign in the 
 depths, or in the heights above ; but though in other in¬ 
 stances Ahaz was rebellious against the Lord, on this 
 occasion he affects an extraordinary reverence for Jehovah, 
 and assigns as a reason for his not asking the sign, that he 
 would not tempt the Lord. It is, however, generally sup¬ 
 posed, that this arose from the same spirit of rebellion ; 
 that he was unwilling to take the advice of the Prophet, 
 and quietly to wait for the Lord; and that he did not wish 
 to have the Prophet’s prediction thus confirmed by a sign, 
 being more desirous to pursue his own way, and trust in the 
 power and in the gods of Assyria. Upon this a sign is 
 given to him of the Lord ; viz. the promise of the future 
 Messiah from David’s race; “ Behold a virgin shall con¬ 
 ceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” 
 This was exceedingly calculated to invigorate his hope, 
 
IMMANUEL. 
 
 187 
 
 and excite his courage; for if Messiah was to come of the 
 royal line of David, while Judah was yet remaining' a king¬ 
 dom, though it might be five hundred years before its ac¬ 
 complishment, yet he who designed to work this salvation 
 among them would certainly work out all salvation for 
 them : nor could the nation, amongst whom the Messiah 
 was to appear, of the family of David from whom he was 
 to arise, possibly perish while such a blessing was in them. 
 Now as every prophecy of this illustrious event became 
 clearer and clearer, so it is in this instance. Not only are 
 we told that He was to arise from the tribe of Judah and 
 the family of David, but a further illustration was given of 
 the first promise as to the Seed of the woman ; viz. that he 
 was to be born of a virgin, and therefore to be eminently 
 the woman’s Seed. We are informed also who and what 
 he was to be ; that he was to be called—and if called, he 
 was surely to be, for we cannot suppose a name imposed 
 upon him unsuitable to his character, or that he was to be 
 called what he was not; no, He was to be—and to be ac¬ 
 knowledged as Immanuel, which the Evangelist interprets 
 for us ; that is, God ivith us. And yet, though so glorious, 
 he was to be truly a child in human nature, and nourished 
 and educated as other children, eating butter and honey, 
 the usual food of children in those regions; not that he 
 might, therefore, be more enlightened than others, but 
 until (as the word should be rendered) he should so grow 
 up to the time of maturity, when he should “ refuse the 
 evil and choose the good which mode of expression in its 
 most literal sense can only be true in Christ Jesus, and 
 might refer to the absolute purity of his nature, in refusing 
 what other children naturally prefer, and choosing what 
 others naturally refuse. As a confirmation, therefore, of 
 the truth of this distant prediction, and a satisfaction to 
 the mind of Ahaz, in the confidence of present deliverance, 
 the Prophet seems to have pointed to his own child, whom, 
 by Divine direction, he had taken with him for this pur¬ 
 pose ; for his being thus taken with him by the command of 
 God, implies that he must have some part, and answer 
 
188 
 
 SERIES X.—ESSAY I. 
 
 some end, in the deliveringof the prophecy, assuring him that, 
 “ before this child p)»n) should know to refuse the evil, 
 and choose the good, the land which thou abhorrest shaH 
 be forsaken of both her kings;” a prophecy which was 
 literally fulfilled. (See 2 Kings xv. 30, and xvi. 9.) 
 
 The great object of attention here, is that which every 
 where meets us in the language of Prophecy: the Child 
 born of a virgin mother, the Infant in the manger, wrapt 
 in swaddling bands, who yet is denominated, by the Pro¬ 
 phet, Immanuel, and whom the Evangelist declares to be 
 what the name implies, our Jesus, God with us. The 
 several views which we may thus take of his person and 
 character, will all be calculated to excite our adoration and 
 worship of his Divine nature, joined with admiration and 
 wonder at his humiliation and voluntary condescension to 
 ours. The chief view, and that upon which every other 
 interesting view of the subject must rest, is that Jesus, 
 being our Immanuel, 
 
 1. Is God in our nature, God incarnate .—This won¬ 
 derful truth and fact is the very basis of Christianity. If 
 we yield up this important truth, we are at once deprived 
 of all the peculiarities of the Christian system, and that 
 which constitutes in it our firmest and unshaken consola¬ 
 tion. It is true the doctrine is altogether incompre¬ 
 hensible to our finite minds, and therefore we would not 
 attempt to account for it; but when we find it to be the 
 declaration of God in his word, we therefore believe the 
 fact, because we believe what God has declared. The 
 subject presents itself to us in two views, in both of which 
 the fact is indeed most wonderful: (1.) That Jesus, who is 
 in our nature, is true and very God; (2.) That He, who is 
 God, hath taken upon him our nature. Let us contem¬ 
 plate a little both these amazing, but incontrovertible, facts. 
 
 (1.) That Jesus who is in our nature, is true and very 
 God .—That he who was born into this world, in the city 
 of Bethlehem, a child like others,—who was cast out from 
 the womb, and laid in a manger, an infant with all its 
 feebleness and helplessness, wrapt in swaddling bands. 
 
IMMANUEL. 
 
 189 
 
 nurtured at a mother’s breast, and borne in a mother’s arm, 
 —should at the same time be the Great the Mighty God; 
 He who was the Creator of the heavens and the earth, 
 who is the constant Upholder, and finally to be the Judge, 
 of all; is indeed such a stupendous truth, that could admit 
 of no belief, if it were not upon the testimony of God him¬ 
 self. But is it not the uniform testimony of Divine truth ? 
 Is it not the doctrine of Prophets, of all the ceremonies of 
 the Jewish dispensation, of Evangelists and Apostles?—Let 
 the Prophet Isaiah inform us of the true dignity and 
 glory of Him who was long expected by believing Jews, 
 as the Messiah, upon whose shoulder the government of 
 the church was to rest for ever, and who for this purpose 
 was, in the fulness of time, to be the Child born and the 
 Sou given; and He will tell us, that He is the Wonderful, 
 the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, or the Father 
 of Eternity*. An Evangelist will join the same testimony, 
 and assure us, that it was the Word that was with God, 
 and was God, which was made flesh and dwelt among us. 
 (John i. 1—14.) The great Apostle of the Gentiles, when 
 speaking of Him who came according to the flesh, of the 
 seed of Israel, declares, that in his Divine nature He is 
 “ God over all blessed for ever” (Rom. ix, 5): and in 
 another place, his testimony is decisive, and he himself 
 asserts, that it is a fact that can admit of no controversy 
 in the church of God, that “ great is the mystery of godli¬ 
 ness ; God was manifest in the flesh.” (1 Tim. iii. 16.) 
 While the fact is thus asserted by the testimony of the 
 Holy Ghost, though reason staggers, faith will stedfastly 
 adore. We will leave it therefore to pride and folly, to 
 endeavour to account for it; and to unbelief and infidelity, 
 to dwell or venture on its denial. Let us take the other 
 view of this subject, in which it will appear, if possible, yet 
 more wonderful, in the depths of Divine condescension and 
 mercy which it displays, that 
 
 (2.) He who is God, hath taken upon him our sinful 
 fallen nature ,—not indeed with its sinfulness in his own 
 * See that sublime and astonishing passage, Isaiah ix. 0, 7. 
 
190 
 
 SERIES X.—ESSAY I. 
 
 person, but yet with our sins upon him, with all their guilt, 
 and in all their consequences. Hence the deep humiliation, 
 which marked his first entrance into this state of existence, 
 and the poverty, meanness, and sorrow which attended 
 him, in every stage of his life on earth. If the Eternal 
 Jehovah, the God of heaven and earth, should condescend 
 to appear among us for any purpose of his pleasure, we 
 might naturally have supposed that he would have assumed 
 a form of dignity and glory. We might have expected at 
 least something of angelic splendor, if not that awful pomp 
 and form of Divine Majesty in which he appeared at the 
 giving of the Law, when he forced the attention of the 
 afflicted Israelites, and the mountains trembled at his pre¬ 
 sence. But no : He comes on purposes of love, and his 
 terrors shall not make us afraid. If He appears among us. 
 He appears as one of us. The Word is made flesh ; God 
 is manifested in the flesh. This term is never used, but to 
 imply the frailty, the weakness, the infirmities of our mor¬ 
 tal nature When therefore, the Divine nature, the glory 
 of Jehovah (Isa. xl. f>) tabernacles among us, he comes 
 into this world, though by a miraculous and absolutely pure 
 conception in the Virgin by the Holy Ghost; yet in appear¬ 
 ance in the same weakness of infancy, and is born a child 
 like us, though of a virgin mother. From childhood to 
 youth, from youth to manhood, he grows up as others of 
 the sons of men : sometimes his Divine glory breaks 
 through the veil of human nature : “We saw his glory, the 
 glory as of the only begotten of the Father:” but lowliness was 
 the peculiar character of Jesus, and sorrow and suffering 
 were his lot, while he was God in our nature, with us. 
 Miseries and calamities, hunger and want, contempt and 
 pain, followed him through life, till he closed his residence 
 on earth, in our mortal nature, with the bitterest agonies 
 and an ignominious death. Never was sorrow like unto his 
 sorrow, from the moment when he was cast out as an infant, 
 till he bore his cross upon the mount of Calvary, and was 
 fixed upon it there, and finished the work of his redemption. 
 But why was this mystery of Divine Wisdom, this miracle 
 
IMMANUEL. 
 
 191 
 
 of Almighty Power, thus manifest to sinful man? It was 
 none other than the fulfilment of a plan of infinite love, the 
 work of infinite compassion. Since there was no other 
 way to restore sinners to God, to raise up the fallen nature 
 of man into a re-union, and therefore communion, with his 
 great Creator; therefore, He who was the highest in heaven 
 stooped to become the lowest upon earth, and to display his 
 unequalled love, in his unequalled condescension. This 
 is the reason, which the great Apostle has given us of 
 this his inconceivable incarnation : “ Forasmuch as the 
 children were partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself, 
 in like manner, took part of the same.” For in this, his de¬ 
 sign of redeeming love, “ it behoved him in all things to 
 be made like unto us, that He might be a merciful and faith¬ 
 ful High Priest, in things pertaining to God, to make re¬ 
 conciliation for the sins of his people.” It is evident, that 
 to accomplish the work of redeeming sinners, consistently 
 with the Divine perfections, the nature which transgressed, 
 must endure the penalty ; the nature that fell, and was 
 overcome, must arise and conquer; the nature that sinned, 
 must render the due and satisfactory obedience to the Law 
 of God. But human nature, in its lapsed condition, could 
 never effect this; nor, even in its best estate, could it bear 
 the punishment, so as to rise above it: never could it meet 
 the powers of hell, so as to triumph over them, or even 
 render an obedience such as the Law requires. 
 
 Human nature, unaided by the Divine, must for ever 
 fail in the work of redemption; and the Divine nature, 
 without the human, was impassible, and therefore unable 
 to suffer the deserts of sin. But when the human nature 
 is united with and upheld by the power of the Divine na¬ 
 ture, in the person of Immanuel, behold the important work 
 is effected; everlasting obedience is rendered, trans¬ 
 gression is finished, and eternal redemption obtained. 
 Therefore He is said (as it is properly rendered in the 
 margin of our Bibles) to have taken hold of the seed of 
 Abraham, when he came down from heaven. He then 
 took upon himself the nature of his brethren, that he might 
 
SERIES X.— ESSAY I. 
 
 192 
 
 thereby secure its union with God and its access into the 
 presence of God : and he so took hold of that nature, that 
 he might never more let it go, but hold it united in an 
 indissoluble bond, and carry it with him to his Throne of 
 Glory, as the pledge and security to all his people, that 
 they in their whole frame of body and soul should follow 
 him there. It was no doubt the same view which animated 
 the mind of the Prophet, when he thus exulted, “ Behold, 
 God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid : for 
 the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; He also is 
 become my salvation.” We must here, I apprehend, lay a 
 peculiar stress on the word become; for as there is no neces¬ 
 sary connection between the idea of God, or Jehovah, and a 
 Saviour; and as in the full range of his infinite perfection, 
 independent of the covenant of redeeming grace, we be¬ 
 hold nothing but justice and holiness, which tend to a 
 sinner’s destruction rather than to his salvation ; it is only 
 by an act of infinite condescension that he can become the 
 Saviour; i. e. according to the covenant of redemption, in 
 the person of Messiah, becoming Immanuel, God with us, 
 God and man, in one Christ, and so effecting reconcilia¬ 
 tion. Here, then, we can account for the exalted and 
 sublime descriptions which are continually given of the 
 person of our Redeemer, and for the glory that is put upon 
 him ; which, upon any other system, must appear inflated 
 by the ardour of imagination, and destitute of reality and 
 truth. Had Jesus been born a common man, like one of 
 us, or even a prophet of the Lord, why should all the glory 
 of prophetic description be so eminently directed to him, 
 and exhausted, as it were, in his person? Why should 
 he be the sole object in which all the prophecies meet 
 and are accomplished? Why should he alone be par¬ 
 ticularly attended with all the glories of heaven at the 
 time of his nativity on earth? And why should we 
 retain the commemoration of his birth in a manner so 
 superior to that of all besides? No: the songs of the 
 heavenly host will proclaim to us who he is. Though born 
 into this world as the Child of the virgin, He is born 
 
IMMANUEL. 
 
 193 
 
 a Saviour, the Christ, the Lord. (Luke ii. 10, 1L.) In 
 this angelic song no doubt a reference is made to the de¬ 
 claration of the Prophet (Isa. xl. 5), in which he is styled 
 Jehovah, who was to be the Messiah, and the glory of 
 Jehovah revealed, that all flesh may see it together; and 
 which, according to the angelic choir, can alone afford 
 tidings of great joy to all people. What angels, then, 
 adore and worship, we need not fear to admire and cele¬ 
 brate in the highest songs of praise, and the most exalted 
 strains of gratitude and love. O what a wonderful view 
 does this present to us of the grace of the Father, the con¬ 
 descension and compassion of the Son, and the infinite 
 designs of love to man in each person of the ever-blessed 
 Trinity! In the fulness of time “ God sent forth his Son, 
 made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them who 
 were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of 
 sons,” into which we are brought by the Spirit of his Son, 
 sent into our hearts. (Gal. iv. 4—G.) That he who was 
 in the form of God should take upon him the form of man, 
 as a child, as a servant, in its lowest debasement, should 
 indeed excite our gratitude in proportion as it raises our 
 admiration. Well might the Prophet exclaim, “ Sing, O 
 ye heavens, for the Lord hath done it; shout, ye lower 
 parts of the earth ; break forth into singing, ye mountains, 
 O forest, and every tree therein : for the Lord hath re¬ 
 deemed Jacob, and glorified himself in Israel.” (Isa. xliv. 
 23.) And well might the Apostle, when celebrating the 
 glories of the Redeemer, be so animated with the view of 
 the “ unsearchable riches of Christ;” for whenever we 
 proclaim this Saviour, we do indeed set before the eyes 
 of men riches unsearchable ; unsearchable riches of grace, 
 of mercy, and of truth, and ending in the unsearchable 
 riches of his everlasting salvation. If we admit the fact, 
 that Jesus is Immanuel, God with us, we must admit the 
 inference, that he is worthy of our highest adoration and 
 love; worthy to be celebrated through eternity for his own 
 humiliation, and the benefit of his redemption bestowed 
 on us. Angels stoop down to pry into this amazing 
 VOL. v. o 
 
194 
 
 SERIES X.—ESSAY I. 
 
 mystery, and obey the Divine command to worship the infant 
 Jesus : our praise shall join with theirs, and bless the in¬ 
 carnate Lord, our Saviour. This view of this wonderful 
 Name, is no doubt the peculiar view which it is designed 
 to convey to our minds, and the ground of all the blessings 
 which are contained in it. For in whatever other way 
 God is with us, it is because he has been with us in our 
 nature, in the person of Christ Jesus. The title has been 
 considered as implying still more, and including in its 
 comprehensive meaning all the benefits which we derive 
 from his mysterious union in our nature; and it has there¬ 
 fore been considered as comprehending the idea of “ God 
 for us ,”—God so with us as to stand engaged for us and 
 on our account, for our benefit and salvation. This indeed 
 could not be, except as He is God in our nature; but 
 retaining this as the great and fundamental truth contained 
 in the name, we may then take a different and more ex¬ 
 tensive view of it, and consider what infinite advantage 
 and benefits are implied in it, to all his people. That this 
 is implied in the name appears evident from the explana¬ 
 tion of the Evangelist; for the corresponding name in 
 which the fulfilment of the prophecy took place, certainly 
 includes all the blessings of his salvation. “ His name 
 shall be called Jesus,” says the Evangelist, as fulfilling the 
 title which we are now considering: but the name Jesus 
 is literally Jehovah the Saviour. He is Jehovah the Sal¬ 
 vation of his people, God with us in human nature, become 
 our salvation ; and so called expressly, because he shall 
 save his people from their sins.—We contemplate him, 
 then, as Immanuel, God with us, as in Him, 
 
 2. God is reconciled and at peace ivith us .—The human 
 nature of Christ Jesus, in union with the Divine, having 
 obeyed and suffered to the uttermost of the demands of 
 justice; having satisfied the law and honoured the govern¬ 
 ment of God ; having thus obtained eternal redemption, 
 and entered itself into the enjoyment of its glory, now 
 sinners of the sons of men may come and partake of what 
 their Surety hath done and obtained, and plead his work 
 
IMMANUEL. 
 
 195 
 
 iii bar of the sentence which the Law denounces upon 
 them; and God, who is well pleased in Christ Jesus, 
 will not only be reconciled to, but well pleased with, all 
 who fly to him, believe in him, and rest upon him. We 
 who were afar off* (by nature and by practice), are brought 
 near “ by the blood of Christ; for he is our Peace.” This 
 mystical and mysterious union is no doubt alluded to by 
 the Apostle, as the ground of all our peace with God, when 
 He says, “ God in Christ, reconciling the world unto 
 himself.” The Apostle certainly refers to that discovery 
 of reconciliation which hath taken place between an offend¬ 
 ed God and guilty sinners, by the Divine nature in the 
 person of Christ, who hath thus honoured and satisfied the 
 offended Majesty of Jehovah by his perfect work, and now 
 proclaims in his Gospel its gracious effects, inviting sinners 
 to return with confidence of acceptance to the God of 
 peace in Him. The proclamation of peace was the most 
 engaging part of the Saviour’s employment on earth. It 
 was peculiarly suited to his character and office, which 
 was designed to convey peace to the needy and guilty 
 sinner. The Spirit of the Lord was upon Him, anointing 
 him “ to preach good tidings to the meek; to bind up the 
 broken-hearted ; to proclaim liberty to the captives, and 
 the opening of the prison to them that are bound.” (Isa. Ixi. 
 1, &c.) And when the Lord Jehovah directs the attention 
 of his people to Him, as his Servant, which alludes to his 
 taking upon him that nature in which he might appear in the 
 form of a servant, he leads him to the faith and confidence 
 of his people, as one who would not break the bruised reed, 
 nor quench the smoking flax, till he send forth judgment 
 unto victory; and now he dwells with us, though not per¬ 
 sonally, yet spiritually, in his Gospel. As the Gospel of 
 Peace, peaceful are all its doctrines, its declarations, its 
 invitations, and its promises. The God of Peace in Christ 
 Jesus, we are assured, will bruise satan under our feet 
 shortly; and he who now dwells with us, as our God of 
 Peace, will bring us to dwell with him in the kingdom of 
 
 o 2 
 
 1 
 
196 
 
 SERIES X.—ESSAY I. 
 
 his eternal peace.—But Christ Jesus is God with us, as 
 He now, 
 
 3. Dwells with us, as our covenant God, to exert his 
 Divine power, and display his Divine love and care for 
 our salvation. —Still our Immanuel is God with us, though 
 not visibly, yet spiritually; though not seen by the eye of 
 sense, yet glorious to the eye of faith; not as with his dis¬ 
 ciples in his bodily presence, but in the power and influence 
 of his Spirit. In this manner he will dwell with his church 
 to the end of time, and promises to every individual of his 
 people, “ I will never leave thee, I will never forsake 
 thee.” When he visited us once in human uature, it was to 
 open an intercourse which should never be broken, and 
 redeem a people to himself. And were our faith lively and 
 strong, it would behold him still equally present, managing 
 the affairs of his church, as when in the body of his flesh 
 he conducted the concerns of his little family in the land 
 of Judea. The very name of the New-Testament Church, 
 according to the prophet Ezekiel, is Jehovah Shammah, 
 “ The Lord is there and some of the most exhilarating 
 promises on record refer to his constant presence among 
 his people. “ Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion,” 
 says the Lord, by the Prophet Zechariah (ii. 10, 11); 
 “ for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, 
 saith the Lord. And many nations shall be joined to the 
 Lord in that day, and shall be my people ; and I will dwell 
 in the midst of thee, and thou shalt know that the Lord of 
 Hosts hath sent me unto thee.” But the Prophet Zepha- 
 niah lias recorded a still more delightful engagement of 
 the Lord and Saviour, expressing the delight of his heart 
 in his communion with his saints: “ Sing, O daughter of 
 Sion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the 
 heart, O daughter of Jerusalem.” “ In that day” (in the 
 Gospel-day) “ it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not; 
 and to Sion, Let not thine hands be slack; the Lord thy 
 God in the midst of thee is mighty. He will save, he 
 will rejoice over thee with joy ; he will rest in his love; 
 
IMMANUEL. 
 
 107 
 
 he will joy over thee with singing,” &c. (iii. 14—17.) 
 This prediction may indeed have a reference to his personal 
 appearance on earth in our nature ; but it does more espe¬ 
 cially relate to his presence in his Spirit, and in that love 
 and care which he peculiarly displays in the New Testa¬ 
 ment-church, and over all believers in his name. 
 
 Immanuel is also still God in our nature, as glorified 
 in that nature ; and, though not present with us in it, is 
 bearing it for us before the Throne, in consequence of his 
 having borne it in his humiliation upon earth. There he 
 appears as our great Priest, most glorious as the Son of 
 God, most compassionate and sympathizing as the Son 
 of man. It is Immanuel who is the Head over all things 
 to the church; and the human nature of the Redeemer 
 before the Throne is the instrument of universal govern¬ 
 ment. This certainly implies that still he has a knowledge 
 of his people; is engaged in constant attention to them, and 
 observance of them ; and that he is now present with them 
 for all the purposes of their preservation and salvation. 
 Yes ; blessed be liis Name, he is thus still “ God with 
 us.”—There is only one other view which we will take of 
 this amazing subject; that he who is God in our nature is 
 also God with us, as he is, 
 
 4. God in union and communion with all his people .— 
 Having taken human nature, or part of their flesh and 
 blood, he hath thus confirmed their union in himself. He 
 is, therefore, so present with them, that he is intimately 
 and really united with them. Thus in his last supplication 
 for them to his heavenly Father, after he had expressed 
 what he had done and would do for them, in calling them 
 out of the world, and sanctifying them for himself, he 
 beautifully expresses that close and indissoluble union which 
 subsists between him and them, in which they are one 
 with him as he is with the Father; one body, one spirit, 
 with him their Surety and Redeemer. And thus all the 
 glories of the Divine nature, which otherwise are at an 
 infinite distance from our view, are softened down, and 
 brought near to us, as viewed in Christ Jesus; and those 
 
SERIES X-ESSAY I. 
 
 198 
 
 who are the called of his grace, the disciples of their in* 
 carnate Saviour, as he bare their nature, are one with him 
 and he with them. So that since he who sanctifieth, and 
 they who are sanctified, are all of one nature, he is not 
 ashamed to call them brethren. (Heb. ii. 11.) All the 
 Divine relations also which exist between the Father and 
 the Son as in our nature, are applicable to them as one 
 with him. He who is the God and Father of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ, is their God and their Father in Him. 
 Coming near to him in Christ, they are viewed in him, the 
 fulness of his body : He looks upon them, therefore, with 
 all that favour, love, compassion, and design of blessing, 
 with which he looks upon Christ Jesus when he finished 
 the work of redemption, and when for the suffering of 
 death he exalted him on high, and gave him a name above 
 every name. There our nature is the Head over all in the 
 person of Christ, that in all things lie might have the pre¬ 
 eminence ; but in this lie appears only as the Forerunner of 
 his people, who, possessing virtually in him, as their Repre¬ 
 sentative, shall soon actually possess all with him and in him 
 through eternity. Sinners of the sons of men, once afar off, 
 are now brought near into fellowship and communion with 
 the Eternal Father. When the Apostle is speaking of this 
 amazing mystery of Divine communion, be traces it up to 
 this very source, the condescension of the Son of God into 
 our nature, that by his becoming like one of us, and par¬ 
 taking of our nature, those who are in him might be brought 
 back to fellowship with the Father in him. This certainly 
 is the force of liis reasoning, when, in 1 John i. 1—3, he 
 speaks thus ; “ That which was from the beginning, which 
 we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which 
 we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the 
 Word of Life.” This Word of Life is no doubt the essen¬ 
 tial Personal Word, manifested in the flesh of Christ; 
 “ for the life was manifested,” &c. ; and the grand design 
 of all is, “ that ye also may have fellowship with us ; and 
 truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, 
 Jesus Christ.” 
 
IMMANUEL. 
 
 199 
 
 How great the glories implied in this wonderful and 
 delightful Name ! God in our nature, Jesus, Immanuel 
 God with us, is a God at peace with us, our covenant 
 God present in his almighty power, his infinite wisdom, 
 his love and care, to bless his redeemed. And as he has 
 united himself with the nature of his brethren, herein he 
 has begun a most astonishing union, which shall lead to 
 an everlasting fellowship and communion with him above. 
 What an animating, what an ennobling truth ! how elevat¬ 
 ing to the mind of a poor penitent sinner! Jehovah hath 
 taken our nature, and therefore our nature is in union 
 with himself, for all the purposes of everlasting salvation 
 and glory! Let us welcome him then into our heart by 
 faith, and receive the message of his condescending mercy 
 with gratitude and love. To neglect and despise this 
 Saviour will incur a guilt, that never could have rested 
 upon us without such a display of mercy. (Heb. ii. 1, 2, 
 &c.) His Divine glory was so hid, when he first appeared 
 in flesh, behind that veil of his humanity, that many could 
 discern no more than his poverty and his meanness: but 
 when he appears again, he will indeed appear as God with 
 us; he shall vindicate the honour of his Name, and the 
 glories of his Majesty.—Let it then be our concern, while 
 we contemplate his condescension, to avail ourselves of 
 the greatness of his compassion, and thankfully receive 
 him into our hearts, who will never refuse to receive the 
 returning sinner into his. But if we would do this, let us 
 remember that it must be dune with a deep sense of our 
 need through sin, and an earnest application to him for 
 pardon and salvation. Then we shall joy before our con¬ 
 descending Immanuel with the joys of faith, and the be¬ 
 lieving expectation of his promised blessing. Not with 
 the joy of the drunkard, the sensualist, or the profane, but 
 with those joys which arise from a spiritual apprehension 
 of spiritual things'; from the sweet relish and enjoyment of 
 them, with thankfulness to that Redeemer who hath ob¬ 
 tained and who bestows them.—Here, then, let the children 
 of Sion rejoice in their King. His name is called Im- 
 
200 
 
 SERIES X.—ESSAY I. 
 
 manuel, and he is what he is called, and he will make 
 good the name in all its glories to those who trust in him. 
 He is God with us, our Friend and our Redeemer : nay, 
 as God, the great God our Saviour, with all his attributes 
 engaged for our everlasting salvation. How infinite the 
 security which thus arises to his ransomed people, to en¬ 
 courage their dependence of faith ! O how infinite his 
 mercy, that he should undertake, and that he should still 
 continue to carry on, such purposes of grace; not only by 
 his almighty power, but by his love united ! While as God 
 he rules with all his absolute dominion, he rules over all 
 through that nature in which he became like us, and 
 in which he bare the sins of his people. While, there¬ 
 fore, he is able to overcome all our enemies, and direct 
 all our concerns, in the sympathy of his human nature he 
 compassionates our infirmities. What can the humble 
 penitent desire more to engage his love or to establish his 
 faith; or, though miserable and guilty, to encourage his 
 expectation of all the blessings of salvation? We may, 
 perhaps, assert, though we would do it with the most pro¬ 
 found reverence, that Infinite Wisdom itself could not de¬ 
 vise more, nor infinite grace give more, to encourage the 
 returning sinner and the humble believer. “ Lord, we 
 believe ; help thou our unbelief.” Oh, our Immanuel! we 
 love thee, but not as we ought. O that our love might 
 increase more and more in knowledge and in all judgment, 
 till we behold, and serve, and glorify thee with better 
 powers, all consecrated to thy glory in the realms of bliss. 
 There he who hath been God with us hath determined 
 that all his redeemed shall be with him, and as one in 
 nature, united as the fulness of his body, who filleth all in 
 all. (John xvii. 24.) This was the great design of his 
 humiliation, of his tabernacling in our nature, of his suffer¬ 
 ing, and of his cross; and as he came down to unite his 
 Godhead with a portion of our flesh and blood, so he shall 
 come again to raise up and purify the flesh, yea, the dust 
 of his redeemed, that he may receive them into eternal 
 union with himself, in all the enjoyment of all his glory. 
 
IMMANUEL. 
 
 201 
 
 On earth he hath lived with them ; in heaven they shall 
 live with him ; and when he has changed our vile bodies 
 that they may be made like unto his own glorious body, 
 according to the working whereby he is able to subdue 
 all things to himself, then will he present the whole of his 
 church, without spot, or wrinkle or any such thing, as part 
 of himself in his mystical body before the Throne of God : 
 and our Immanuel shall reign in the midst of his redeemed, 
 still bearing their nature, and still one with them, and they 
 with him, throughout eternity. 
 
202 
 
 SERIES X.— ESSAY II. 
 
 
 ESSAY II. 
 
 £fjUof)—JBtUtomv* 
 
 The name and title which is now under our consideration 
 ( nVttt) is, by all Christian commentators, and many of the 
 Jewish, especially in their old Targums, referred to the 
 Messiah, It occurs but once in the sacred Scriptures; 
 namely, in the last and dying blessing of Jacob to his 
 sons (Gen. xlix. 10), and has given rise to many conjec¬ 
 tures as to its etymology and meaning. But as to its 
 accomplishment in some remarkable person, there can be 
 no doubt, from the circumstances which are described in 
 the passage itself: for as Judah hath no longer a governor, 
 and as the tribes are not now accurately known, if it hath 
 not been already accomplished, it is now absolutely impos¬ 
 sible that it ever should be. It stands therefore as an un¬ 
 answerable evidence of the mission of Jesus, as the Mes¬ 
 siah ; of the truth of Christianity ; and of the blindness and 
 obstinancy of the Jewish people. By the Seventy it 
 is rendered, ra ’cnroKei/utvci ’aww, i. e, “ till he come to 
 whom it is reserved.” Some would read it “ the Son 
 of the Lord,” or “ the Son of Jehovahothers, “ her 
 Son,” considering it as including the idea of the ori¬ 
 ginal promise, and giving an intimation of the miracu¬ 
 lous conception of the Redeemer, as the Son of the 
 virgin. It has also been considered as derived, with slight 
 variation, from to send ; and to imply, he who was sent 
 of the Father: and others have derived it fromnbttf, under 
 the sense of being weary, suffering; and to refer to the 
 suffering Messiah (until his passion and suffering come 
 to pass). But it is more generally referred to nbttt as 
 its root, as signifying to free, to loosen, to rescue, to de- 
 
SHILOH— I) E LIV F, R K R . 
 
 203 
 
 liver, or to make peace; to be quiet, happy, prosperous ; 
 and to point us to the Redeemer as the great Deliverer; 
 he who loosens our bonds, or the great Peace-maker, the 
 Procurer of our happiness and prosperity. Both of these 
 ideas are most probably included, and are well united in the 
 title of Him who is all our salvation. So the Psalmist cele¬ 
 brates his mighty salvation, “ He hath delivered my soul in 
 peace, from the battle which was against me.” (lv. 18.) Here 
 then is another most delightful and encouraging character 
 of the Redeemer, which, in whatever point of view we 
 consider it, makes him suitable to our wants, and the glo¬ 
 rious object of faith and love to all his people. 
 
 If we consider the season when the prophecy was to be 
 accomplished, there seems to be a peculiar propriety in the 
 name which is here given to him : the sceptre was then 
 to depart from Judah, and the Jewish people to be reduced 
 under the Roman power ; but then the glorious nb'tti should 
 come, and should set bis people free, with the glorious 
 liberty of the children of God. Let me then in this view 
 contemplate the promised Shiloh, the glorious Deliverer, 
 and Peace-maker between God and man. The bonds of 
 their captivity were but the emblem of mine and of all the 
 guilty race of Adam, bound with the chain of sin under 
 the dominion of Satan : but he can loosen the bonds of my 
 captivity in sin and sorrow ; he can deliver me from mine 
 enemy; he hath procured, and can introduce, peace be¬ 
 tween God and my soul; yea, can make all things at 
 peace with me, till I obtain everlasting deliverance from 
 every evil. Oh, let my soul realize the view, while con¬ 
 templating the name, and, being blessed with his salvation, 
 return him all the glory ! The Jewish people indeed ex¬ 
 pected a deliverer, and one who was to introduce peace to 
 his people ; but their sensual minds could look no further 
 than to a temporal deliverer from the power of the Roman 
 yoke, and to the peace and prosperity of their nation. But 
 how infinitely was this beneath the true dignity of Messiah! 
 how little, how contemptible was this in comparison of deli¬ 
 verance from the bondage of sin and satan, and his blessings 
 
(SERIES X.—ESSAY II. 
 
 204 
 
 of everlasting peace and glory! It was peculiarly in those 
 views that he was held up by the Prophet, as bringing peace 
 to the broken-hearted, and deliverance to the spiritual cap¬ 
 tive. How and in what manner he effects this will now en¬ 
 gage our attention, uniting both these ideas in the several 
 instances of his power and love. —Our mighty Shiloh is, 
 
 1. The great Peace-maker and Deliverer of his servants, 
 hy loosening the bonds by which they were held under the 
 righteous law of God. —As this lies at the ground of every 
 hope of a sinner; so this was the first and principal office 
 and design of God’s appointed Shiloh. He came to roll 
 away that curse of the Law which rested upon all the fallen 
 race of Adam; and to deliver his people from that curse 
 in a way most wonderful, by “ becoming a curse for them.” 
 What a view does this present to us of the wretched state 
 of man as a sinner, and the cause and method of his deli¬ 
 verance ! As the child of a fallen parent, I was held under 
 the Law, by an obligation from which none of the creatures 
 of God can ever be absolved ; by the obligation of creature- 
 ship, whereby I am bound to obey or to suffer its righteous 
 penalties. But that Law condemns me as a sinner, and 
 denounces me justly accursed : “for as many as are of the 
 works of the Law, are under the curse; for it is written. 
 Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things 
 written in the book of the Law, to do them.” (Gal. iii. 10.) 
 “ But behold he is made under the Law, to redeem them 
 who were under the Law;” and therefore, “ the Lord looseth 
 the prisoners.” (Psa. cxlvi. 7.) The cross of Jesus, as it 
 is the suffering of my curse, so it insures my liberty, when, 
 flying in penitence and faith, I claim the benefit of this dis¬ 
 pensation of grace, thus ratified and secured. I fly now from 
 my state under the Law, to the Law-fulfiller, and am there¬ 
 fore no longer under the Law but under Grace ; no longer 
 under that covenaut which condemns me, but that dispen¬ 
 sation of grace which secures the bestowal of all grace and 
 eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Our blessed Re¬ 
 deemer hath thus blotted out the hand-writing which was 
 against us, which was contrary to us, and taken it out of 
 
SHILOH — DELIVERER. 
 
 205 
 
 the way, nailing it to his cross : and, by the powerful influ¬ 
 ence of the Spirit of life, makes his people free from the 
 Law of sin and death ; that Law which discovers sin, and 
 denounces death. 
 
 The manner in which the believer is brought into the 
 knowledge and experience of this privilege, the Apostle 
 represents by a very just and striking comparison. He 
 considers the Law as the husband of the creature, which, as 
 long as it livetb, hath the power aud dominion over him ; 
 but when its covenant obligation is dissolved, by the intro¬ 
 duction of a dispensation of Grace, in the person and by 
 the death of Christ Jesus, the man who is interested in 
 that dispensation is discharged from his obligation to it; 
 
 i. e. as a covenant; is free to be married to another, and is 
 
 / 
 
 actually united in another covenant-engagement to the Lord 
 Jesus, and thus a partaker of all the blessings of his grace 
 and mercy, that he might bring forth fruit unto God. For 
 when we were in the flesh, the motions of sin, which were 
 discovered to be such by the Law, did work in our mem¬ 
 bers, to bring forth fruit unto death; for nothing else 
 could be the fruit of such a union between the Law and 
 guilty sinners: but now we are delivered from the Law in 
 all its destructive influences, that being dead whereby we 
 were held, even its covenant obligation, that we should 
 serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the 
 letter. (Rom. vii. 1—6.) The Apostle then goes on to shew 
 how he had been brought into this knowledge and expe¬ 
 rience, which is also fulfilled in all who are partakers of 
 the same grace. (7—9, 24, 25.) What a mighty Deliverer, 
 what a suitable Peace-maker with God is here ! Jesus the 
 Shiloh! In being justified by faith, his people have peace 
 with God, have access into his grace, and stand therein, 
 and rejoice in hope of his glory; and all things are at peace 
 with them, when his love is shed abroad in the heart by 
 the Holy Ghost. (Rom. v. 1—5.) Jesus, be thou my Shiloh, 
 my effectual Peace-maker, my Almighty Deliverer from 
 the condemning Law. The sweet effect ot this will be, 
 
 (2.) The peace of the conscience, in its deliverance 
 
SERIES X.—ESSAY II. 
 
 % 
 
 306 
 
 from all its guilty fears. —Those, like the fetters of iron 
 or the bars of brass, detain the soul of the convinced sin¬ 
 ner, in a dreadful bondage under darkness and distress. 
 
 I am so fast in prison, said one of old, that I cannot get 
 out: no ray of Divine mercy, no beam of hope, no glimpse 
 of consolation, can break in upon the afflicted mind: the 
 consciousness of deserved wrath fills the gloomy appre¬ 
 hensions, and the prison of sin appears, but as the fore¬ 
 runner of the dreadful prison of hell. If the Lord let 
 loose his terrors, without the displays of his covenant grace 
 and mercy, this must be the state of every enlightened 
 conscience : it is the just desert of every sinner; it is ac¬ 
 tually the state of every impenitent sinner, whether he 
 discern it or not; and the discovery of it to the mind by 
 the Spirit of grace, though the first step in deliverance, 
 hath often driven the penitent to the border of despair. O, 
 bring my soul out of prison ! says the trembling penitent: 
 but who can effect this mighty deliverance ? None but 
 Jesus. He, however, is able to accomplish it; since the 
 Spirit of Jehovah is upon him for this very purpose, to 
 proclaim deliverance to the captives, and the opening of 
 the prison to them that are bound, &c. (Isa. lxi. 1.) How 
 sw r eet the change, when lie enters the prisoner’s dungeon; 
 when he bids his chains fall off; when he illuminates the 
 darkness with the beams of his countenance, or brings him 
 forth to the light, to behold his righteousness, the righteous¬ 
 ness of faith, the pledge of eternal salvation ! Now the 
 terror of the Law, the fears of condemnation, of wrath, of 
 death, and of hell, loose their hold : though firm as adamant, 
 and indissoluble to any power but his, they fall like the 
 torrent from the heart of the believing penitent, when he 
 says, “ Come forth, go free.” (Isa. xlix. 8, 9.) Look to 
 Him, thou afflicted, tempted, contrite, fearful, penitent 
 sinner: he can easily dissolve all the bonds which bind 
 thee in darkness and distress, and fill thy soul with light, 
 liberty, and joy. This is the office which he bears ; this the 
 design of the character which he sustains, especially as 
 the promised Shiloh; this is his delight to accomplish for 
 
SHILOH—DELIVERER. 
 
 207 
 
 his people. The gift of his Spirit is in order to com¬ 
 plete this design, whose peculiar office and work it is to 
 be the Comforter. By his sweet influences, he speaks peace 
 to his people, and to his saints ; and the same voice which 
 convinces of sin proclaims the righteousness of the Re¬ 
 deemer, and, discovering its everlasting sufficiency to the 
 view of faith, bids the law-condemned sinner, exult in par¬ 
 doning, justifying grace, and the assurance of eternal 
 liberty.—O come, thou blessed Shiloh, into my heart! 
 proclaim there the liberty of thy grace, and say unto my 
 soul, I am thy salvation. He who delivers from the bonds 
 of guilt, will also deliver all his people from that which is 
 the cause of all their misery,— 
 
 3. The bonds of sin and inward corruj)tion .—Of this 
 deliverance the unbelieving Jews had no idea, since they 
 had no knowledge of the spiritual bondage under which 
 they were held, while the servants and the slaves of sin. 
 The freedom, therefore, which the Saviour held out to them 
 was unintelligible to their carnal minds: “ We have 
 never,” said they, “ been in bondage to any man: how 
 sayest thou then, Ye shall be made free?” But Jesus an¬ 
 swered them, “ Verily, verily, I say unto you. Whosoever 
 committeth” (or liveth in the practice of) “sin is the servant 
 of sin; but if the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free 
 indeed,” in a high exalted sense, with the spiritual liberty 
 of the sons of God. The Apostle Peter also intimates the 
 same awful truth: “ While they promise liberty” (to others), 
 “ they themselves are the servants of corruption; for of 
 whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in 
 bondage.” (2 Pet. ii. 19.) This is the entire state of the 
 world, or of all unregenerate and unconverted sinners: 
 their ignorance of which is the strongest proof of its fatal 
 and delusive influence. The first effect and first step of 
 gracious deliverance is the knowledge of our natural 
 bondage, without which there can be no desire, nor just 
 sense, of that deliverance. Then the humble penitent be¬ 
 gins to lament over the law in his members, warring 
 against the law of his mind, bringing him into captivity to 
 
208 
 
 SERIES X.—ESSAY It, 
 
 the law of sin which is still in his members. (Rom. vii.) 
 He is often compelled to utter the heart-felt confession,, 
 and the sincere and earnest prayer, “We are tied and 
 bound with the chain of our sins; yet let the pitifulness 
 of thy great mercy loose us.” This is the liberty for 
 which every renewed soul must long, by the very nature of 
 its spiritual birth ; for “ that which is born of God cannot 
 commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot 
 sin” ( i . e. commit or practise sin) “ because be is born of 
 God.” The very breath of the spiritual life is the prayer 
 of faith, for all the blessings of salvation; and never can 
 lie be satisfied till the liberty be completed, where sin shall 
 be no more: the promise, therefore, of the new covenant 
 is a new heart and a right spirit, with an assurance that 
 sin shall not have dominion over them who are in the 
 covenant of grace. (Rom. vi. 14.) The work is now really 
 and effectually begun, constantly and finally preserved, 
 and shall in the world to come be absolutely completed in 
 deliverance from the being of sin ; for we shall be like him, 
 when we see him as he is. (1 John iii. 2.) Though every 
 professor is not, yet every real believer is, a witness of this; 
 he hath experienced the power of the Spirit breaking the 
 bondage of sin and corruption, as the earnest of continued 
 and everlasting deliverance. Convinced of the guilt and 
 evil of sin, he hath been turned in sincerity from the love 
 and power of it: it is no more the object of his delight, 
 nor the pursuit of his life, but by the grace of the Spirit 
 he finds the daily victory, and shall do so continually; and 
 his trust is, that “ He who hath delivered from so great a 
 death, and doth deliver,” will deliver even to the end. 
 The ground of his trust is indeed the promise of God; 
 which is also confirmed by the consideration, that the 
 very office of the Spirit in the covenant of redemption is 
 the Sanctifier of the elect people of God. If sin be ever 
 ready to bring us into bondage ; if it “ still dwelletb in 
 us if the body of sin and death cause us to groan being 
 burdened, he having undertaken to be the Sanctifier, the 
 Preserver, and the Comforter of the redeemed, is con- 
 
SHILOH—DELIVERER. 
 
 209 
 
 tinually carrying on his work in the hearts of his people, 
 in opposition to the power of corruption. For this pur¬ 
 pose he dwells in all the people of God ; their bodies are 
 the temples of the Holy Ghost. (1 Cor. vi. 19.) They 
 are the subjects continually of the unction of the Holy 
 One, and the anointing ichich they receive of Him 
 abideth in them, &c. that they also may abide in Christ. 
 (1 John ii. 20—27.) Thus united to Jesus, they are not 
 only one body with Him, as members of his church, but 
 they are united in a still closer union, as “ one spirit with 
 Christ Jesus f since the same Spirit that dwells in him, 
 dwells also in them, their life-giving, life-preserving, and 
 life-securing Friend. Here are all their fresh springs of 
 grace: in themselves unable to do any thing, abiding in Christ, 
 from him they derive an ability for all things: they feel 
 in corrupted nature a natural tendency to fall back again 
 into all its depravity and pollution ; but his continual com¬ 
 munication preserves the life which he hath given, enlivens 
 its exercises, and renews its decays, and will do so to the 
 end; “ for faithful is He that hath called you, who also 
 will do it.” Thus the grace of his Spirit is the earnest 
 and the pledge of his perfect work, sealing the children 
 of God as his, until the redemption of the purchased pos¬ 
 session, unto the praise of his glory: thus he shall vindicate 
 them into eternal liberty, and, as the kinsman Redeemer, 
 shall see them set perfectly at liberty, and placed in the 
 inheritance which he has redeemed for them, and to which 
 he has redeemed them.—Let the power of the great enemy 
 assault them by the way, 
 
 4. He will loosen the power of every enemy, under 
 whom they were naturally in bondage; and ivill “ de¬ 
 stroy them with a mighty destruction, until they be de¬ 
 stroyed .”—Satan himself is represented in Scripture as 
 “ the god of this world, the prince of the power of the air, 
 the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobe¬ 
 dience and, therefore, “ the whole world” is said to be 
 lying in wickedness, or under the power of this wicked 
 vol. v. e 
 
210 
 
 SERIES X.— ESSAY II. 
 
 one (Ephes. ii. 2; 1 John v. 19); and to be resting in 
 the snare of the devil, being “ taken captive by him at his 
 will ” (2 Tim. ii. 26); and the effect of this is evident, 
 in that universal opposition to authority and to the law 
 of God. 
 
 Man, originally deceived by the great tempter, is now 
 voluntarily joining in his rebellion, and follows the ima¬ 
 ginations of a corrupted heart; influenced by the sug¬ 
 gestions of the enemy, and submissive to his power. But 
 our mighty Deliverer came to take away the prey from 
 the mighty, and set the lawful captive at liberty: to de¬ 
 stroy him that had the power of death, i. e. the devil, and 
 at the same time to destroy his works. His own life on 
 earth was therefore from first to last a scene of combat: 
 he entered especially upon it in the wilderness, where he 
 overcame all his spiritual temptations. In the dreadful 
 conflicts of the garden and the cross, the powers of dark¬ 
 ness exerted the utmost of their might; but, glory to the 
 Almighty Redeemer, they exerted it but in vain. His hu¬ 
 man nature, indeed, sinks into the grave in death ; but this 
 was the appointed means of getting himself the victory: 
 and this completed, behold, “ He ascends on high, lead¬ 
 ing captivity captive.” During his abode on earth, he 
 often manifested his power over satau by casting him out 
 from the bodies of men ; and now the same almighty power 
 is manifested over the same enemy, by casting him out 
 from the souls of his people, delivering them from the 
 powers of darkness, and bringing them into his own king¬ 
 dom of grace. (Col. i. 13.) The conquered enemy is now 
 in the chains of the Conqueror; and, amidst all his malice 
 and his rage, only so far shall he go, “ and no further,” 
 if our Mighty Redeemer restrains, and bounds, or prevents, 
 his destructive efforts. But if he suffer him to tempt, to 
 distress, or to torment, his saints, he is not let loose from 
 his controul; his arts shall be turned to his own confusion, 
 and his power rage no longer than it can answer the pur¬ 
 poses of His own love, and be overruled to His own glory 
 
i 
 
 SHILOH—DELIVERER. 
 
 211 
 
 and the salvation of his redeemed. Every believer indeed 
 must join with the Apostle, and say, “We are not igno¬ 
 rant of his devices,” his subtilty and art, his malice and 
 his power ; and will be ready often to exclaim with the 
 trembling Israelite, “ These enemies are too strong for me: 
 how shall I overcome them ?” or with the pious Jehoshaphat, 
 “ We have no might against this great company that comes 
 against us.” “ We wrestle,” says the Apostle, “ not 
 against flesh and blood, but against principalities and 
 powers, and the rulers of the darkness of this world, against 
 spiritual wickedness in high places.” (Ephes. vi. 12.) 
 Through darkness, through sorrow, and through fears, 
 how often does the trembling believer apprehend that 
 he shall be one day destroyed, or that he is even near 
 to destruction! But while he takes unto himself the 
 whole armour of God, he shall stand (ver. 13, &c.) Let 
 him look to the Captain of his salvation : since he hath 
 triumphed on the cross, he hath triumphed, not for himself, 
 but for his people. Here is the pledge and the security 
 of their victory. If our enemies are ever watchful. He 
 is omnipresent: if they are great and powerful. He is 
 almighty : if they are malicious, he is unchangeable in 
 his love : if they are subtle, he is omniscient. This is 
 the character, this the ability, of our Mighty Shiloh, that 
 we may commit ourselves to him, and peacefully rely upon 
 his protection and his care. He hath fulfilled the engage¬ 
 ment of his promised love: with his great and strong sword 
 he hath punished Leviathan, the piercing serpent, even Le¬ 
 viathan, the crooked serpent; and hath slain the dragon 
 of the sea. And he will still keep his vineyard, water it 
 every moment; and, lest any hurt it, will keep it night 
 and day. (Isa. xxvii. 1—4.) He bids his people fear not, 
 nor be dismayed : their covenant God will strengthen, will 
 help, will uphold with the right hand of his righteousness. 
 When dangers appear most pressing, then generally his 
 deliverance is the nearest at hand; when weakest in our¬ 
 selves, his power is ready to appear. “ Fear not,” says 
 he, “ thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel: I will help 
 
 p 2 
 
SERIES X.—ESSAY II. 
 
 ‘212 
 
 thee, saith the Lord, and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of 
 Israel. Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing- 
 instrument, having teeth : thou shalt thresh the mountains, 
 and beat them small, and make the hills as chaff,” &c. 
 (Isa. xli. 10—15, &c.) Though he defer his aid, and 
 wait beyond the season of our expectation, it is only to 
 discover to us our iniquities, and then he will appear to 
 manifest his own glory ; for the Lord will be a refuge for 
 the oppressed, a refuge in the very due time of trouble. 
 (Psa. ix. 9.) He shall judge the poor of the people; he 
 shall save the children of the needy, and break in pieces 
 the oppressor. (Ixxii. 4.) When his people have no 
 helper, then shall his own almighty aid be ready for their 
 deliverance, (ver. 12.) His daily care and watchfulness 
 shall afford continued preservation to those who trust in 
 him, till shortly he bruise satan under his feet for ever. 
 Then shall he manifest the truth of his promise; then 
 he will give to his people eternal life; and they shall never 
 perish, neither shall auy one pluck them out of his hand. 
 (John x. 28, &c.: compare Deut. vii. 17—24.) To accom¬ 
 plish this, our great Peace-maker and Deliverer hath, 
 
 5. Loosened the bonds of death and the grave. (Psal. 
 cii. 20.)—This was his covenant engagement: “ O death, 
 I will be thy plague ; O grave, I will be thy destruction.” 
 (Hos. xiiio 14.) It was by death that he was to atone, 
 and that he was to obtain salvation ; and therefore he vo¬ 
 luntarily condescends to yield his dying breath, and lie 
 under our sentence of death in the gloomy regions of the 
 grave : but therefore, also, he could not be holden of death; 
 the grave must give up its prey: Him hath God raised up, 
 having loosed the pains of death, because it was not pos¬ 
 sible that he should be holden of it. (Acts ii. 24.) The 
 bands which bound our Mighty Deliverer were but like 
 the cords which bound the Israelitish Judge, when he arose 
 and took the gates of Gaza, and bore them away, in tri¬ 
 umphant contempt of the malice of his enemies. Behold 
 thus the breaker-forth hath gone up before his people : 
 they therefore have broken up and passed through the 
 
SHILOH—DELIVERER, 
 
 213 
 
 gate, and are gone out by it; for their King shall pass 
 before them, and the Lord Jehovah on the head of them. 
 (Mic. ii. 13.) When he burst the bands of death, he 
 proved the fulness of his redemption: he obtained, there¬ 
 fore, for his people an eternal discharge from sin, the sting 
 of death, and from all its consequences upon the persons 
 of his redeemed. His victory is theirs ; and being now 
 planted in the likeness of his death, they shall be also in 
 the likeness of his resurrection. Yea, they are risen 
 with him, through the faith of the operation of God, who 
 raised him from the dead. (Col. ii. 12 ; Eph. ii. 5, 6.) 
 How often does he thus remove the dreadful bondage of 
 the fear of death, which must ever be a solemn considera¬ 
 tion to a dying sinner ! But where the power of his resur¬ 
 rection hath been felt, in the communication of spiritual 
 life to the soul, death and the grave have no destructive 
 power : they shall have no victory, and need not therefore 
 excite any terror. Of the sweet effects of this we have 
 abundant proofs in the living and dying experiences of 
 his saints, who, like the Psalmist, rejoice in the valley 
 of the shadow of death, where the rod and staff of the 
 Redeemer support their spirits, and sustain them through 
 the gloomy passage, to the realms of glory. (Psal. xxiii.) 
 They join the triumph of the Apostle ; What shall separate 
 us from the love of God? neither death uor life, nor angels, 
 nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, northings 
 to come. (Rom. viii. 35, &c.) Life is ours, and death is ours. 
 (1 Cor. iii. 22.) Soon this corruptible shall put on incor¬ 
 ruption, and this mortal shall put on immortality. Where, 
 then, O death! is thy sting ? O grave! where is thy vic¬ 
 tory ? Thanks be to God, he giveth us the victory through 
 our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Cor. xv. 53, &c.) Glory be to 
 the power of our Mighty Deliverer, to him who hath so 
 successfully undertaken our cause! to obtain and to secure 
 our peace with God, what hath he not wrought! When 
 I take a view of the calamities and evils from which his 
 mercy hath ransomed me ; when I consider myself ex¬ 
 posed to all the consequences of sin, in all its manifold 
 
214 
 
 SERIES X.—ESSAY II. 
 
 afflictions and misery, and contemplate what he hath done 
 in order to my deliverance ; here I must find a ground of 
 admiration throughout eternity, for so long its benefits will 
 continue, and still increase. Surely the love of Jesus is 
 an height and depth, a length and breadth, which PASSETH 
 knowledge, for IT is infinite. O thou, my Peace¬ 
 maker, and my mighty Saviour! thy submission, thy sorrow, 
 thy curse, are the only causes of my escape and triumph 
 over all: thy cross has loosened the bond of sin and guilt, 
 and broken the power of satan: thy sufferings have ransomed 
 me from sorrow and affliction : thy death hath loosed the 
 bond of death ; and thy resurrection secures my triumph 
 over the grave. Thy ascension hath rescued me from the 
 depths of hell, and opened for me the way to God : by thy 
 Spirit, power, and grace, the bonds of satan and of corrup¬ 
 tion are now broken in my soul: I am brought from dark¬ 
 ness to light, from the power of satan unto God ; and thy 
 own almighty power shall bring all the blessings of thy 
 salvation into experience, and crown them all in everlasting 
 felicity. Adored, then, be my Jesus 1 O Lord, truly I 
 am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son of thine 
 handmaid; for thou hast loosed my bonds. I will offer to 
 thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the 
 name of the Lord. I will pay my vows unto the Lord, 
 now, 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. (Psa. cxvi. 16—19.) If delivered now from 
 the bondage of corruption, the work of his grace is but 
 the pledge and earnest of everlasting triumph ; and we 
 know that he is able to do exceeding abundantly above all 
 that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh 
 in us. (Eph. iii. 20.) 
 
 The language of prophetic inspiration hath informed us, 
 that, when he comes in this character, unto him shall the 
 gathering of the people be : and where should guilty, help¬ 
 less sinners fly, but to him who is the effectual Peace¬ 
 maker, the mighty Deliverer, the Source of his people’s 
 prosperity and happiness? Those who feel their state will 
 
SHILOII—DELIVERER, 
 
 215 
 
 welcome him in this glorious character, “ and fly as the 
 clouds, and as the doves to their windows.” Only those 
 who are ignorant of their wretched slavery will ever reject 
 or neglect this Saviour or his salvation. Ignorant, like the 
 unbelieving Jews, such men, when he proposes in his 
 Gospel the spiritual liberty of his dispensation, will no doubt 
 wonder at the invitation to liberty, since they are insensible 
 of any bondage: but the convinced sinner, striving against 
 sin and satan, and lamenting the awful bondage under 
 which he is still held, will fly to the Mighty Shiloh, and 
 place himself under his gracious protection. And indeed, 
 without this, or unless we are made free by him, all his 
 mercy, and grace, and salvation, and his power and de¬ 
 sign to vindicate the liberty of his people, will avail us no¬ 
 thing.—If we would know our interest in the benefits of 
 his salvation and deliverance, we must seriously ask our¬ 
 selves the important question,—Has the Spirit convinced 
 us of our enthralled and condemned state without him; 
 and enabled us to fly to and rely upon him as our Helper, 
 to avail ourselves of the proclamation of liberty in his Go- . 
 spel, and take him as the Object of our faith and de¬ 
 pendence ; in a word, to bow down in allegiance to him, 
 and willing submission to his authority ? “ The Jews had 
 
 no idea,” says a learned and pious writer, “ of this 
 spiritual and holy freedom, and wished to live without 
 rule : they were too wise, too righteous, too free, in their 
 own conceit, for the wisdom, righteousness, and deliver¬ 
 ance of Shiloh : their hopes and desires were below : his 
 joys and dignities were spiritual, their expectations were 
 carnal; his liberty was heavenly, while all the liberty they 
 desired was to be independent of God, and to be free 
 from righteousness.” God grant that this may not be our 
 character ! The prophetic declaration, indeed, related to 
 the calling of the Gentiles into the church of God ; and in 
 a degree this hath been accomplished : for as soon as the 
 Shiloh was come, his name and his salvation were pro¬ 
 claimed to Gentile nations; and, though rejected of his 
 own, they heard, they believed, and by the power of his 
 
216 
 
 SERIES X.—ESSAY 11. 
 
 grace were gathered to his church. Still, through Gentile 
 nations, his name and his salvation are glorious; but the 
 time is coming when it shall receive a more glorious ac¬ 
 complishment, when “ the people shall be blessed in Him, 
 and all nations shall call him blessed when the whole 
 earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the 
 Lord, and the powerful influence of his Spirit; when He 
 shall collect his saints, numerous as the dew-drops of the 
 morning, and the fulness of the Gentiles shall come in. 
 Then nothing will remain of the work of our glorious 
 Shiloh, but the collecting of all his redeemed to himself, 
 in the heavenly world. 
 
 How glorious the deliverance in the end, when the 
 blessed Shiloh shall come again in his glory, with the glory 
 of the Father, and of his mighty angels, without sin to the 
 salvation of his people! When this effectual Peace-maker, 
 this Almighty Deliverer, this Fountain of Prosperity, and 
 felicity to his chosen, shall fulfil his office, in delivering his 
 redeemed from all the troubles and sorrows of the curse, 
 and free them from all sin, all their enemies, and all their 
 sorrows; and place them triumphant over the second death, 
 in peace, undisturbed peace, in undefiled holiness, in ever¬ 
 lasting felicity and glory ! Though as prisoners in sin, they 
 had nothing naturally to expect but the prison of hell, 
 when he loosed the bonds of sin and guilt, he opened the 
 door for their escape ; and there is, therefore, now no Con¬ 
 demnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. When he 
 loosed the obligation of the Law in its covenant demand, 
 and delivered from its curse, and the sentence of its con¬ 
 demnation upon the cross, he then in fact completed the 
 deliverance of his redeemed; so that the Apostle speaks 
 of it as already effected,—“ Jesus who delivered us from 
 the wrath to come,”—for then his victory was complete, 
 and in his hands the salvation of his people secure. 
 
 When the soul quits this tabernacle of clay, absent from 
 the body it shall be present with the Lord ; and when the 
 trump shall awake the sleeping dust, the voice of Him who 
 is able to subdue all things to himself, shall change this 
 
/ 
 
 SHILOII — DELIVERER. 
 
 ‘217 
 
 vile body? and make it like unto his own glorious hotly. 
 Then shall their triumph over all their enemies be complete 
 in their eternal destruction from the presence of the Lord : 
 sinners shall hear the sentence, “Depart;” and rebels 
 who would not submit to his grace, will be crushed by his 
 arm. Where Jesus is not the Deliverer, he will be the 
 Righteous Judge; and the wrath of the Lamb constituted 
 the most awful and destructive source of righteous indig¬ 
 nation and destruction. Then he who destroyed the power 
 of satan and all the powers of darkness on the cross, and 
 who reserves them in chains of darkness to the judgment of 
 the great day, shall bring them forth before his Throne, to 
 receive their final, their irrevocable, sentence: while all 
 who were in league with them, led captive by them at their 
 will, thus yielding themselves into willing slavery, shall be 
 joined in their condemnation. This shall secure the ever¬ 
 lasting felicity of his saints, when not an enemy remains 
 to annoy their peace, nor injure their soul for ever. Then 
 shall they be welcomed to his bliss, in these delightful 
 words, “ Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the king¬ 
 dom prepai’ed for you from the foundation of the world.” 
 Here is the true liberty of the sons of God, brought forth 
 from this prison-like world of sin and sorrow, from the 
 prison of the grave and death, to enter upon their restored 
 inheritance. The bonds of sin and sorrow are loosened 
 for ever, the bonds of death for ever broken, and the liberty 
 of life, glory, and immortality, eternally secured. They 
 rise above all, to be eternally with and like the Saviour; 
 to enjoy and glorify him in the kingdom of peace and glory. 
 Here their prosperity is indeed exalted, to its highest con¬ 
 summation, and the glorious Shiloh fulfils his character in 
 its utmost excellency, beatifying power, and blessings. 
 This the work of redemption is the alone work of the 
 Almighty Jesus, from the beginning to the end, from the 
 design in eternity to its accomplishment in everlasting 
 glory. The redemption, the victory, the deliverance, is of 
 Him ; though the glory, the felicity, the enjoyment, is the 
 happy portion of his saints. O, thou Mighty Deliverer, set 
 
218 
 
 SERIES X.—ESSAY II. 
 
 me free from the bondage of corruption, into the glorious 
 liberty of thy grace here, as an earnest of its eternal con¬ 
 summation above. To all these sorrows 1 am justly ex¬ 
 posed ; and, without thy almighty interposition, must for 
 ever remain in the miserable bondage of sin, satan, and of 
 death. Deliver me by thy power and grace, and thou 
 shalt have all the glory. I will bless thee in the character 
 of my Shiloh, in the experience of its benefit in the sweet 
 peace of God and the deliverance from sin and guilt in 
 all its power and condemning influence. Then shall I an¬ 
 ticipate by faith, and hope soon to obtain, that happy state, 
 under thy protection and unchanging love and goodness, 
 where all that I now groan under, and lament over, and 
 grieve for, shall be no more ; and I shall join the song of 
 the redeemed, set free from all the bonds of sin, corruption, 
 and sorrow, in the everlasting freedom and felicity of thy 
 kingdom. 
 
210 
 
 ESSAY III. 
 lUftige*, 
 
 A refuge is a place of strength, fortified by nature or 
 by art, to which the oppressed and persecuted may fly in 
 times of danger, and find protection and safety. Under 
 this allusion, the power and grace of the Lord our Re¬ 
 deemer are continually represented in Scripture ; since He 
 in any trouble is the only Refuge, and in all troubles is 
 the all-sufficient Refuge, of his saints. He is eminently 
 that Man, that God-man, who is “ the Hiding-place from 
 the wind, and a Covert from the storm” (Isa. xxxii. 2 ); 
 “ a Strength to the poor, a Strength to the needy in his 
 distress; a Refuge from the storm, a Shadow from the 
 heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm 
 against the wall.” (xxv. 4.) To this view of the name we 
 have been repeatedly directed, under various titles of the 
 Redeemer; such as the Rock, the Covert, and the Strong 
 Habitation. It is indeed implied in almost every name 
 and title which he bears, and under which he is represented 
 in the Scriptures : and the vast variety of allusions which 
 are there made, seem designed to confirm our faith and 
 confidence in Him, as the Protector and Salvation of his 
 people. A different view of the title will, however, now 
 claim our attention, in reference to the Cities of Refuge, 
 which were appointed in the land of Israel, and which, 
 while they constituted a part of the Jewish polity, were 
 also so arranged as to be the type of the Redeemer, and 
 spiritual emblem of the nature of his salvation. The ori¬ 
 ginal appointment of these cities, with the political purpose 
 
 * In allusion to the Cities of Refuge. 
 
220 
 
 SERIES X.—ESSAY III. 
 
 of such an appointment, we find recorded in the Book of 
 Numbers, (xxxv. 9—28.) They are again mentioned, 
 (Deut. iv. 41—43), where the separation of them for this 
 purpose, in the lands on this side Jordan, is actually made 
 with the name of the city so separated : and again (Josh, 
 xx.) where the same separation is made by the direction 
 of the Lord to Joshua, on the other side of Jordan, in the 
 land of Canaan. According to the Jewish law, in cases 
 of accidental murder, the nearest of kin, who is called the 
 avenger of blood, and who was also the redeemer (as the 
 word signifies) had a right to punish and kill the manslayer 
 wherever he found him ; but, by the Divine appointment, 
 this merciful provision was made for his deliverance : Six 
 cities were appointed by lot, to which he might immediately 
 fly for refuge; and as these were so situated through the 
 whole land, that some one or other of them must be within half 
 a day’s journey of every part of the land, and as the avenger 
 of blood would rarely be upon the spot, the manslayer 
 would have the advantage of him in point of time; and 
 as no one else had a right to stop him in his flight, he most 
 generally reached his refuge before the enemy could over¬ 
 take him. But then he must immediately hasten his 
 escape, leaving his beloved family and connections, his 
 profitable employment, his dearest interests, and his 
 choicest comforts. He must neither loiter nor yield to 
 weariness; nor slacken his pace, nor be deterred by any 
 difficulty which might meet him in the way, till he got safe 
 within the wall of the city. Here he was secured, not by 
 the strength of the city, but in virtue of the Divine in¬ 
 stitution. In order, therefore, to aid his flight, the cities 
 themselves were easy of access, the roads were preserved 
 in good repair, bridges were erected where necessary, 
 and at every turn way-posts were placed with the inscrip¬ 
 tion refuge upon them, that there might be no mistake; 
 and strangers and proselytes were included in the mer¬ 
 ciful provision. In the city no weapons might be formed, 
 and it was well supplied with every necessary and comfort 
 of life. When once within the inclosure, the avenger of 
 
REFUGE. 
 
 221 
 
 blood could only act as the prosecutor; and the party had 
 time to appeal for his defence and justification. The 
 cause was tried at or near the place where the murder 
 had been committed; and if the act appeared to be un¬ 
 intentional, he was conveyed back to the city of Refuge, 
 and was there protected, though as a prisoner at large, 
 until the death of the high priest. But he must not go 
 off, nor leave the city till then ; otherwise the avenger of 
 blood was justified in slaying him, as a despiser of the 
 ordinance of God ; and no atonement or compensation 
 could purchase his liberty till the event of the high 
 priest’s death. 
 
 This, in a political point of view, was amongst those 
 useful, humane, and solitary institutions which distinguish¬ 
 ed the Jewish people; who were at that time, whatever 
 infidelity may conceive and suggest, or intimate, far be¬ 
 yond other nations in the mildness and justice of their 
 laws and customs. But there can be no doubt, from many 
 of the attending circumstances, that this institution was 
 also designed as remarkably typical, and affording a 
 striking representation of the preciousness of Christ to a 
 guilty sinner. He is the Refuge prepared by God for the 
 deliverance and protection of the guilty, fearful, penitent; 
 easy of access to all who are willing to fly to him. Thi¬ 
 ther the perishing sinner flies from the avenger of blood, 
 and within that sacred enclosure finds security from every 
 enemy and every accusation. In the city of his Refuge 
 his wants are well supplied ; he is safe through time 
 while dwelling in Christ; and when death shall set him 
 free, through the death of his great Priest, he shall be 
 safe in eternal liberty, in the inheritance of the heavenly 
 Canaan. I will fly for refuge, then, to Thee, thou Almighty 
 Saviour. O that I may be found in Christ! and in my 
 salvation, thy name, thy power, and thy grace shall have 
 all the glory 
 
 * As this institution was typical of the sinner’s Refuge from the 
 deserved wrath of God, the signification of the names of these cities 
 has been noticed in application to the person, character, office, and 
 
222 
 
 SERIES X.—ESSAY III. 
 
 While we confine ourselves to this view, a few circum¬ 
 stances of similarity will illustrate the type, and discover 
 the more eminent glory of Him in whom all the types and 
 shadows have their most complete fulfilment. 
 
 The first point of similarity is, 
 
 1. In the state of the persons who were permitted to flee 
 thither .—This privilege was granted to the manslayer who 
 by accident had occasioned the death of another, and who 
 was therefore exposed to death by the sentence of the law, 
 under the hand of the avenger. Now as this appointment was 
 both political and typical, while there is sufficient to answer 
 the type, the whole is so arranged that the curse of the 
 law and the demands of justice may not be prevented. 
 The wilful murderer must by all means be put to death ; 
 no hand must stay it; and, to inspire the mind with horror 
 even at involuntary homicide, the unhappy perpetrator is, 
 even under this merciful provision, condemned to a kind of 
 banishment till the death of the high priest, which perhaps, 
 in many cases, might be for the term of his natural life. 
 When such an unfortunate circumstance took place, what 
 an apprehension of danger must have alarmed the mind of 
 the unhappy offender, exposed every moment to death, ac¬ 
 cording to the law, if he did not obtain the protection of 
 the appointed city before the avenger of blood discovered 
 and overtook him ! Every one he met in the way must 
 have excited an alarm, lest in him he should behold his 
 dreaded enemy; and every circumstance around him must 
 have been full of suspicion : all his aim, all his efforts, 
 must be directed to get within the city; for life is there, 
 and death every where besides. What a just picture is 
 
 love of Christ. Thus Kedesh signifies “ holy,” and Jesus is the Holy One 
 of God, and our Sanctification ; Sliecliem, “ a shoulder,” and the govern¬ 
 ment is upon his shoulder; Hebron, “fellowship,” and believers are 
 called into the fellowship of Christ our Lord, and through Him have 
 fellowship with the Father; Bezer, “ a strong-liold,” for He is a strong¬ 
 hold to all them that trust in Him ; Ramoth, “ exaltation,” for Him hath 
 God exalted, with His own right hand, to be a Prince and a Saviour; 
 Golan, “exultation” or “joy,” for in Him all believers are justified 
 and shall glory, or triumph.—See Gill, Henry, Scott, Brown, &c. 
 
REFUGE. 
 
 223 
 
 here of the state of a guilty sinner, of every descendant 
 o fallen Adam! It is my state by nature : it is, my reader, 
 yours by nature; and yours still, unless you have sought 
 and found the Refuge that is in Christ Jesus. A due con¬ 
 viction of this is of the utmost importance ; without which 
 we shall never discern the excellency, necessity, and pri¬ 
 vilege of that Refuge. It is this that lays the necessity for 
 the union of the Divine and human nature in the person 
 of Immanuel, of his condescension, the redemption of his 
 cross, the influence of his Spirit, and the constant supplies 
 of His grace, for the salvation of his redeemed. The Law 
 denounces wrath ; the curse rests upon the transgressor; 
 and death and judgment, with all their consequences, are 
 appointed to men. A sinner out of Christ (whatever be 
 his state besides) is, as under the Law, exposed to the 
 sword of justice, the shaft of death, and the misery of 
 eternal death; and has reason to apprehend that every 
 tiling around him, in the creation of God, stands armed to 
 vindicate the great Creator's quarrel. It is ignorance 
 alone that keeps a guilty world in the security of a false 
 peace: the sentence is only suspended upon the brittle 
 thread of life : the avenging arm of justice is in pursuit 
 of the transgressor: death, the minister of Divine wrath, 
 is following close behind him ; nor is he one moment secure 
 from his unerring shafts ; and if death overtake the sinner 
 before he reach the City of his Refuge, then his soul is lost 
 for ever !—Is not this the real state of man l Consult the 
 fact, the general condition of mankind : let our own ex¬ 
 perience speak in confession of our own guilty state and 
 danger; and this, compared with Scripture testimony, 
 will solemnly confirm the humbling, alarming truth, that 
 “ all have sinned and come short of the glory of God ” 
 (Rom. iii. 23); “ that every mouth must be stopped before 
 him, and all the world stand guilty before God” (ver. 9); 
 and that “ as many as are of the w r orks of the Law, are 
 under the curse.” (Gal. iii. 10.) With this conviction, 
 the enlightened penitent will cry out for deliverance, with 
 the earnest supplications of a Saul, the cry of the asto- 
 
224 
 
 SERIES X.—ESSAY III. 
 
 nished Jews, or the anxious inquiry of the terrified and trem¬ 
 bling 1 Jailor. Becauseofthe possibility of sucha circumstance 
 occurring 1 in the land of Israel, these cities of refuge were 
 appointed; and adored be the sovereign mercy of our 
 eternal God, because of the certainty of our state of sin 
 and wrath, Jesus is set forth as the Propitiation, the Sa¬ 
 crifice, the Saviour, and therefore the Refuge of a sinner. 
 “ It is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, 
 that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners 
 that “ God so loved the world that he gave his only be¬ 
 gotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not 
 perish, but should have everlasting life.” He came to 
 seek and to save the lost. What need then have we of 
 such a Saviour ! and how suitable a Saviour is He to such 
 perishing sinners! We have redemption in his blood, 
 even the forgiveness of sins. It hath pleased the Father 
 that in him all fulness should dwell; and, having secured 
 the reconciliation through the blood of his cross, he brings 
 those who were alienated and enemies in their hearts by 
 wicked works, to be reconciled to God, and thus secures 
 them under his grace, for his everlasting kingdom. (See 
 Col. i. 14, 19, 23.) 
 
 The next circumstance of similarity which I shall 
 notice is, 
 
 2. In the method of obtaining the benefit of these cities , 
 which we may properly denominate a practical and ope¬ 
 rative faith in God's appointment. —The person who in 
 this state was thus exposed to danger, dreading the wrath 
 and the hand of the avenger, must naturally seek for safety. 
 If he believed that this was God’s appointment for his de¬ 
 liverance ; that here was safety, and here alone, as he 
 valued his life, and as he was anxious for deliverance ; he 
 could not but quickly flee hither for protection. The man 
 who was not in this state, did not need it. If he did not be¬ 
 lieve that this was the appointment of God for deliverance, 
 he certainly would not trouble himself to fly away to its 
 sacred enclosures. If he did not believe there was safety 
 there, he would lightly regard it ; and if he did not believe 
 
REFUGE. 
 
 225 
 
 that there only was safety, he would probably hesitate to 
 his destruction: but the contrary conviction would, most 
 certainly, urge him forward without delay, to hasten to the 
 refuge set before him.—Such is the faith which is the gift 
 of God, the faith of God’s elect. Jesus is exalted as the 
 only Saviour. “ There is but one Mediator between God 
 and man, the Man Christ Jesus “ neither is there salva¬ 
 tion in any other; for there is none other name under 
 heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” 
 “ He, therefore, that hath the Son of God hath life: he 
 that hath not the Son of God hath not life.” This is the 
 invariable testimony of the Divine word, which must be 
 found true in the experience of every sinner. Whatever 
 the convicted conscience exalts in the stead of Christ, 
 will be found both defective and destructive; and in what¬ 
 ever way the sinner hopes to come near to God but in 
 Christ, he will find it shut against him. Had the un¬ 
 happy manslayer fled to any other city, however fortified, 
 he must have been brought forth to his destruction : this 
 only afforded the desired security, because of the appoint¬ 
 ment of the God of Israel; nor can the best works, the 
 deepest sorrow, or the most laboured exertions, save a 
 sinner from the wrath of God. “ None but Jesus can do 
 helpless sinners good,” because none but Jesus is ap¬ 
 pointed of God the Redeemer and the Saviour of lost and 
 ruined men. But him hath God appointed for every pur¬ 
 pose of redemption and salvation; and lodged in him 
 all the power, the ability, the grace, the fulness, which is 
 necessary to accomplish the vast design. In him is the 
 fulness of wisdom, the fulness of the Godhead, that his 
 believing people may know him and glory in him, as their 
 “ Wisdom, Righteousness, Sanctification, and Redemp¬ 
 tion and be “ complete in him.” 
 
 When the guilty sinner feels his true state under the 
 Law, warned by the minister of Christ to flee from the 
 wrath to come, and directed by him also to the Refuge of 
 the Gospel, believing his state, believing the record, his 
 faith becomes practical, and his conduct is beautifully ex- 
 vol. v. Q 
 
22G 
 
 SERIES X.—ESSAY III. 
 
 pressed by the Apostle, in allusion to this very circuni-- 
 stance: “ He flies for refuge to take hold of the hope set 
 before him.” (Heb. vi. 18.) Behold how the unhappy 
 object flies towards the city! how eager, how earnest! Me- 
 thinks I see him, when first the fatal blow exposed him to 
 the avenger’s wrath, looking all around, and then direct¬ 
 ing his flight without delay. He forgets, for the moment, 
 all his friends, all his former comforts, and engagements, 
 and hopes : he speeds his journey, watching every turn, 
 and observing every way-post of direction. He neither 
 stops, nor yields to fatigue or difficulties, till he has got 
 safe within the walls of the city ; and then he congratulates 
 himself upon his felicity. So let me, a poor sinner, ex¬ 
 posed by the Law to the sentence of justice and the stroke 
 of death, fly earnestly to Jesus: let no consideration of 
 earthly friends, interest, or hopes, deter me from, or delay, 
 my flight. The language of the Lord to me is like that to 
 Lot; “ Escape for thy life: look not behind thee, neither 
 stay thou in all the plain: escape to the mountain, lest 
 thou be consumed.” (Gen. xix. 17.) Danger is behind, 
 deliverance is before ; certain destruction is without, cer¬ 
 tain salvation is within, the city of our Refuge. Let me 
 fly to Jesus; all the hopes, the honours, the riches, the 
 possessions of the world, will leave me soon to perish ; all 
 the hopes of self-righteousness will deceive the expecta¬ 
 tion of the sinner; but Jesus “ is able to save to the utter¬ 
 most all who come unto God by him.” 
 
 We cannot here but lament over the general insensi¬ 
 bility of sinners, so exposed to danger and destruction! 
 How affecting is the difference of our conduct in regard 
 to our bodily and our spiritual dangers ! The one class we 
 immediately feel, and desire deliverance ; while the other is 
 hid from the eyes of the generality of mankind, and it neither 
 concerns them to prevent nor to escape from it. The man- 
 slayer could not but know his danger, and therefore flee 
 from the impending vengeance ; but the poor sinner, who 
 has broken the Law of God, and is exposed justly to its 
 curse, yea, who carries the very sentence of death within 
 
refuge!. 
 
 2*27 
 
 him,—will still ignorantly maintain his integrity, fancy 
 himself upright, and rest in the security of a false peace, 
 like a man in the delirium of a fever, or under the insen¬ 
 sibility of a lethargy. It needs, however, little discern¬ 
 ment to perceive that the world is full of misery; because 
 the world is full of sin, and Scripture declares faithfully 
 what the consequences must be ; and if men, through ob¬ 
 stinacy or pride, will not attend nor believe, what can 
 ensue but total ruin ? (Isa. xxviii. 17.) Who can stand 
 before the holy Lord God, without an interest in the 
 Saviour? Sinner, lay it to heart; consider the state of 
 the world, look into thyself, look into the Scriptures of 
 truth: the one confirms the other, and denounces thy 
 certain destruction, without the knowledge of Christ, and 
 faith which is in him.—But what must abundantly secure 
 the hope of the returning sinner, is another circumstance 
 of similarity; viz. 
 
 3 . The sure warrant which the poor unhappy offender 
 had to flee thither for protection. —This, no doubt, was 
 the general direction of the God of Israel, the appoint¬ 
 ment of the city for this very purpose, and the direction to 
 all, without exception, to flee thither, who should find 
 themselves in this peculiar circumstance of danger. Such 
 then is Jesus: He is given of God, appointed of Godj set 
 forth by God, made of God unto us all we need. He 
 came into the world for this only purpose, to save sinners, 
 to seek and to save those who are lost. The invitations 
 of the Gospel are also directed to men as sinners; as 
 ruined, lost, condemned, perishing; to all, without any 
 exception, of those who are willing to embrace the invita¬ 
 tion, to come to the Lord Jesus Christ, for pardon, justi¬ 
 fication, life, deliverance, and salvation. “ Ho, every one 
 that thirsteth, come ve to the waters, and he that hath no 
 money; come ye, buy and eat; yea, come, buy wine and 
 milk, without money and without price.” Whosoever be- 
 lieveth shall not perish ; whosoever cometh unto me, I 
 will in no wise cast out. (See Isa. Iv. 1, &c.; xlv. 22: 
 Matt. xi. 28 : John iii. 16 ; vi. 37: Rev. xxii, 17.) 
 
 q2 
 
228 
 
 SERIES X,—ESSAY III. 
 
 This is the scriptural warrant for the perishing sinner to 
 come to Christ; and surely he cannot wish for more. 
 Who can have any reason to think himself excepted, or to 
 fear that he shall not be received ? The doubts of unbelief 
 are as dishonourable to the character of Christ, and the 
 truth of God, as they are injurious and distressing to the 
 penitent soul. 
 
 The way to the cities of refuge was open and plain; 
 at every turning a way-post was erected, pointing to the 
 refuge: and such are all the ordinances of the Gospel 
 in the Christian church. They point the sinner to Christ, 
 and tell him, there is his Refuge from all guilt, and fear, 
 and danger. Such are the ministers of the Gospel: “ Cast 
 ye up, cast ye up,” (ye ministers of the Lord,) “ prepare 
 the way, take up the stumbling-block out of the way of my 
 people ; for thus saith the High and Lofty One that in- 
 habiteth eternity, whose name is Holy, I dwell in the high 
 and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and 
 humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to 
 revive the heart of the contrite ones.” (Isa. Ivii. 14, 15.) 
 It is the very office of the minister of Christ, as his 
 ambassador, to declare that God is in Christ reconciling 
 the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto 
 them, and so to beseech sinners, in Christ’s stead, to be 
 reconciled to God. (2 Cor. v. 20.) 
 
 Such is the very spirit and the language of the Christian 
 service and Christian ordinances; the highest of which 
 represents, by the most striking and simple signs, the love 
 of Christ crucified for sinners. Yes, trembling sinner, 
 nothing can obstruct thy coming to Christ, and partaking 
 of his salvation, but thy own love of sin and unbelief of 
 heart. His salvation is prepared, is given to every willing 
 soul, to all who find its suitableness : “ And the Spirit and 
 the bride say, Come ! ” Let us direct you to this blessed, 
 this secure, Refuge. Nothing is in thy way, if thou art 
 willing. This willingness may, indeed, imply more than 
 what some suppose; while it certainly implies less than 
 that which many would exact of a helpless sinner. It 
 
REFUGE* 
 
 229 
 
 implies, no doubt, a real sense of the guilt, the vileness, 
 and the danger of our sins; a believing view of Christ as 
 the Saviour of the guilty; a desire of pardon, justification, 
 and acceptance ; and the real longing of the heart to have 
 the heart renewed, the conduct sanctified, and the soul 
 conformed to the image of the Redeemer. Witt thou be 
 made whole? Then Jesus maketh thee whole. He can, 
 he will, nay, he does, when he begins to subdue the love 
 and power of sin in thine heart, and leads thee to long for 
 his salvation. Seek not for any warrant in thyself. How 
 absurd had it been for the manslayer to have waited till he 
 could have found some plea of worthiness, to enter the 
 city of refuge, or by any vain excuse to have delayed his 
 flight thither! So absurd is the conduct of the guilty 
 sinner, who fears to come to the Saviour for salvation, 
 till he can procure some recommendation, some worthiness 
 of his own, to present, as his plea for resting on the Saviour. 
 Thy warrant is this; that Christ is the appointed Saviour ; 
 that the sinner is invited to him, is commanded to come to 
 him, and has the promise, that, when coming and believ¬ 
 ing, he shall not perish, but shall have everlasting* life. 
 To wait till the work is done before you come to Christ, 
 would be as unwise as the conduct of the man who should 
 wait till he is healed before he send for the physician. 
 Come as you are, guilty and perishing, if you desire to be 
 made whole ; for this is the method of his grace, to mag¬ 
 nify itself in the wretched and the helpless. Wait at his 
 Throne of Grace in prayer and supplication, till he perform 
 the work and justify and sanctify your heart; for he will do 
 it. Let faith rest on him, and his fulness and his promise; 
 and, glorifying the Redeemer, he will honour it by realizing 
 its expectation, grounded upon his word. The exercise 
 of faith is compared to many things which are suitable to 
 the different views which the Scripture gives us of Christ. 
 Thus, if he be an Object presented before us, we are to 
 look to him; if he be a Foundation, we are to rest upon 
 him ; if a Fountain, we are to drink of him ; and if a 
 Refuge, we are to flee to him. All these are designed to 
 
SERIES X.—ESSAY III. 
 
 230 
 
 shew, that he only is the Confidence of our hope; and 
 that he is the All-sufficient One. The excellency of his 
 Gospel is the peculiar abundance of its grace : it proclaims 
 pardon for the guilty, yea, even to the murderer ; not, 
 indeed, pardon in impenitency ; and yet, though not for, 
 in the way of, penitence, faith, and prayer. “ Such were 
 some of you,” says the Apostle, after enumerating the 
 blackest catalogue of sins; “but ye are washed, but ye are 
 justified, but ye are sanctified in the name of the Lord 
 Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Cor. vi. 11.) 
 The pledge which he has given you, humble penitent, in 
 thus enlightening your mind, and calling you to himself, 
 he will most certainly bring to perfection, and complete in 
 glory, in eternal health, life, and salvation, and eternal 
 conformity to himself. The only circumstance of simi¬ 
 larity which we will remark besides is, 
 
 4. The security of the place .—Once within the city, no 
 enemy could approach : here the unhappy object was safe 
 from every injury, from all the resentment and anger of 
 the avenger. If he followed him close to the gates, he 
 could proceed no farther : for, admitted within, he im¬ 
 mediately claimed and enjoyed all the privileges of the 
 favoured spot.—Believer, contemplate the glory of Christ 
 in this view. Thou hast fled to him, and obtained shelter 
 in his heart: then all the benefits of his grace shall be 
 thine ; and the infinite glory of his sovereign grace must 
 be his own. Let my soul, then, contemplate the glory of 
 my Redeemer as thus appointed, thus furnished by God, 
 thus accessible, ever open, well supplied with all the 
 needful provision for my soul, the Refuge from the broken 
 law, the guilt of my conscience, the rage of mine enemies, 
 and the wrath of a righteous God. O believer ! once 
 brought into Christ Jesus by faith, the Law has no covenant 
 demands upon thee, that being dead whereby thou wast 
 held ; for “ Christ Jesus is the End of the Law for righte¬ 
 ousness to every one thatbelieveth.” “ There is, therefore, 
 now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus:” 
 wrath cannot follow thee ; for he was made “ a curse for 
 
refuge. 
 
 231 
 
 ?us, to redeem us from the curse of the Law.’’ And if 
 “ Jesus hath delivered us from the wrath to come,” the 
 sword of justice shall not slay thee; for thou hast to plead 
 the privileges of this favoured City, into which thou art 
 fled by faith : and “ the law of the Spirit of life in Christ 
 Jesus hath made thee free from the law of sin and death.” 
 No enemy can injure thee, for here is Divine shelter and 
 protection; the power of the Almighty surrounding thee 
 in the Refuge appointed by the grace of the Almighty God. 
 “ In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah ; 
 We have a strong City; salvation will God appoint for 
 walls and bulwarks. Open ye the gates, that the righte¬ 
 ous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in. Thou 
 wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on 
 thee, because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the 
 Lord for ever; for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting 
 strength.” (Isa. xxvi. 1—4 : compare xxvii. 1—5.) No 
 want shall there distress thee, for the city is well pro¬ 
 vided with all thy immortal soul can need ; with the water 
 of life, the bread of life, the rich provisions of grace. There 
 flows “ the river which maketh glad the city of our God.” 
 |Psa. xlvi. 4; Rev. xxii. 1.) There his people are abun¬ 
 dantly satisfied with the fatness of his house, and drink of 
 the rivers of his pleasure. (Psa. xxxvi. 7—10.) O how 
 excellent is thy loving kindness, O Lord! This, in a word t 
 is the sure Refuge of his saints. God (said one of old) “ is 
 our Refuge and Strength, a very present help in trouble: 
 therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, 
 and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the 
 sea; though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, 
 though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.” 
 (Psa. xlvi. 1—3.) “ God is in the midst of her, therefore shall 
 she not be moved ; God shall help her, and that right 
 early” (ver. 5): and again says the triumphant Psalmist, “In 
 God is my salvation and my glory, the rock of my strength, 
 and my Refuge is in God.” Fear not therefore, O be¬ 
 lieving penitent! “Trust in him at all times, ye people; 
 pour out your heart before him ; God is a Refuge for us. 
 
232 
 
 SERIES X.— ESSAY III. 
 
 Though there be safety no where else, though all besides 
 should fail and disappoint the hope of the trembling sinner, 
 here there is no failure, and can be no disappointment. When 
 the trembling soul, like the Psalmist, looks all around and 
 is compelled to say, “ Refuge fails me; no one careth for 
 my soul;” then may he adopt the language of his faith, 
 and say, “ I cried unto thee, O Lord ; and I said, Thou art 
 my Refuge, and my Portion in the land of the living.” 
 (Psa. cxlii. 4, 5, &c.) Then, O my soul, I, even I, a 
 poor guilty trembling sinner, may hope to find, yea, I shall 
 find, Refuge in the heart of Jesus my Redeemer; and 
 under the shelter of his hand, in this appointed city, where 
 my God has secured the Refuge of his people. (See Psa. 
 iv. 8.) From day to day, then, O believer! realize in faith 
 his suitableness and preciousness, and thine own security 
 by reliance upon him. Continue in this city of thy Refuge, 
 by the daily exercises of faith : never be found without, 
 for there alone is thy security : go on in the faith of Jesus, 
 and live by faith upon him, and thou shalt keep within these 
 walls of his almighty power and love, unchangeably secure. 
 Jesus, thy atoning Sacrifice and Righteousness, and all thy 
 Salvation, is able and willing to deliver thee to the utter¬ 
 most. Yes, my soul, I cannot need more than is in him; 
 nor greater encouragement and security than is given me, 
 in his invitations, and the faithful promises of his word. 
 
 But there is one circumstance of peculiarity, which we 
 have not yet noticed. The unhappy object was to remain 
 within the confines of the city, till the death of the High 
 Priest, and then he was restored to all the privileges of the 
 Israelitish nation. In this view politically, the place must 
 have been considered in some measure as a place of con^ 
 finement, and the person a prisoner at large there: and 
 such is the state of the believer while on earth; here he 
 lives upon Christ by faith, and cleaves to him in obedience 
 and love; here he is protected in safety, by the love and 
 grace of the Redeemer : but he is not yet in the full enjoy¬ 
 ment of all the privileges and blessings of the Christian 
 dispensation ; for this he waits the appointed season, and 
 
REFUGE. 
 
 233 
 
 waits in the certainty of hope. But viewed typically, it 
 teaches us, that the death of Christ has indeed extraor¬ 
 dinarily set his people at liberty; that through his dying- 
 love, they are now delivered from the guilt of sin, and its 
 condemning power. Their Great Priest, by his atoning 
 sacrifice, hath obtained their eternal redemption; and he 
 is himself entered within the veil, as their forerunner, to 
 secure their exaltation with himself. He has promised, 
 that where he is, there all his people shall be. When 
 death comes, it shall only, through him, the dying and 
 risen Saviour, set them into perfect liberty, in the Jerusa- 
 salem which is above, the Canaan of eternal rest, and 
 bring them into all the privileges of the chosen Israel of 
 God. When brought before the Throne of Judgment, 
 then shall it be evident that, like the manslayer of old, 
 when brought before the judges, they had a right to flee 
 to this city of appointed Refuge, and through the promise 
 of God had a right to claim its sacred protection. Then 
 will it be evident, that they came in faith, and committed 
 themselves in sincerity to the grace and care and influ¬ 
 ence of the appointed Saviour. Then will it be evident, 
 that the atonement and redemption of Christ is the safe 
 reliance of every penitent sinner; that in Him, and in 
 Him alone, is salvation, while all who neglect this sal¬ 
 vation must perish in their sins. 
 
 Blessed be the Lord, for such an appointed and suitable 
 Refuge. Flee, O sinner! flee, my soul, to Him, in hu¬ 
 mility, faith, and sincere surrender. Seek his protection, 
 encouraged by his own word of invitation and of promise, 
 and He will be thy Refuge, from all the curse of the Law, 
 from all thy guilty fears, from all the rage of thine enemies ; 
 in a word, thy Refuge in every time of trouble. 
 
 But when death has set thee free from thy prison-house 
 below, then shalt thou be secured, in the city of our God, 
 and enjoy all its unchangeable immunities, its glorious 
 privileges, its ineffable delights, with all the company of 
 the redeemed, in the presence of thy Lord, thy Redeemer, 
 and thy Friend, for ever. 
 
234 
 
 SERIES X.—ESSAY IV. 
 
 ESSAY IV. 
 
 ®uilre — Ueatrer. 
 
 When called to pass through ways which are intricate 
 and dangerous, how important is the presence of one who 
 is competent to direct us, and to guide our steps, and to 
 defend us from evil, especially if overtaken by the darkness 
 or surrounded by the storm! Without such an aid, con¬ 
 tinual fears must alarm the mind, and continual anxiety 
 oppress the spirits. But under the guidance of such a 
 Friend, and in proportion as we feel a confidence in his 
 wisdom and his care, our fears will be allayed, our anxieties 
 composed, and our minds rest in peaceful confidence. 
 What is life but an intricate and dangerous road, which 
 lies through a howling wilderness, surrounded with beasts 
 of prey, opening on uncertain labyrinths ? Through it we 
 must travel, though encompassed with darkness, and by 
 nature ignorant of the various tendencies of its different 
 paths. Mankind are wandering all around us, and the de- 
 ceitfulness- of their different pursuits is evident to every 
 observer: each one discerns the folly of his neighbour, and 
 hears the lamentation of general disappointment. And 
 yet the great difference of the end renders it of infinite 
 importance to distinguish the path in which we are walk¬ 
 ing; since the issue must either be life or death, heaven 
 or hell, eternal glory or everlasting sorrow. In this di¬ 
 lemma, Jesus our Saviour offers himself as our Leader and 
 our Guide, in all respects suited to our necessity: he is 
 altogether willing to afford us his constant presence and 
 direction, and invites us to put ourselves under his guardian 
 care. Ignorant where we are, and how to direct our 
 steps, surrounded with darkness, and uncertainty, and 
 
GUIDE—LEADER. 
 
 235 
 
 danger, his aid is absolutely necessary, if ever we would 
 get safely through the desert wilderness. And who that 
 feels his state would not welcome the offer of such a 
 Leader;—He who, “ through the tender mercy of God, 
 hath visited us, to give light to them that sit in darkness 
 and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of 
 peace?” (Luke i. 78, 79.) Let us commit ourselves to his 
 direction; and then to contemplate him in this character 
 will only be learning more and more of his protection and 
 our safety, and will afford sweet satisfaction to the believer’s 
 mind, while his heart is stedfast, trusting in the Lord. The 
 first inquiry of a person placed in such a situation as to 
 need a guide would be, for one who is capable of directing 
 him, and willing to afford his aid. Let us make the same 
 inquiry, and we shall find a full and satisfactory answer in 
 the power and love of the Lord Jesus. If we ask as to his 
 ability to perform the task, here we shall find that our help 
 is laid upon One that is mighty. The almighty power, the 
 all-sufficiency, and the infinite grace and fulness of the 
 Redeemer, are the unfailing security of every character 
 which he bears, and make him the proper Object of our 
 confidence and our glorying. If he had not undertaken 
 for us, in vain had heaven or earth proposed its aid : but 
 with him on our side, nor earth nor hell can hurt us : we 
 shall go on securely, rejoicing in Christ Jesus, when we 
 have no confidence in the flesh. A Leader and a Guide 
 must be furnished, 
 
 1. With suitable wisdom ;—and the more extensive his 
 knowledge, he is in proportion more suited to discharge 
 his office. But our Jesus is suited to the office by infinite 
 wisdom and knowledge ; for in him are laid up “ all the 
 treasures of wisdom and knowledge,” and “ all the fulness 
 of the Godhead.” (Col. ii. 3, 9, 10.) He who hath all 
 knowledge cannot be mistaken nor deceived ; but where- 
 ever information is partial, and knowledge of course limited, 
 which is the necessary imperfection of human nature, de¬ 
 ception may be practised, and mistaken views delude the 
 mind. Mistake and error arc therefore natural to man. 
 
23G 
 
 SERIES X.—ESSAY IV. 
 
 If, then, the Redeemer was himself a creature, he could 
 not be the Object of our implicit confidence: eternally de¬ 
 pendent and limited in his knowledge, we might justly 
 apprehend the possibility of mistake; but when he pos¬ 
 sesses in himself the fulness of the Godhead, being self- 
 sufficient, and in himself containing all the treasures of 
 wisdom and knowledge, he must be all-sufficient for us, 
 unerring in all his determinations, and infallible in all his 
 directions. Creatures may err in the most important con¬ 
 cerns : whatever we commit to them is liable to failure ; 
 nor can any mere human wisdom guarantee our absolute 
 security; and in the guidance of our views, our senti¬ 
 ments, and our conduct, the dictates of the v wisest and 
 best must ever be brought to the one unerring standard 
 of Divine truth. The boasted gift of infallibility, could it 
 be proved as any where existing, would be the greatest 
 blessing to mankind ; but unproved must be the’most dan¬ 
 gerous and delusive. To the care of Jesus we may, however, 
 trust without reserve, without fear, and without the possi¬ 
 bility of failure. And when we are following his direction, 
 we are sure that we are following in the best way, and to 
 the best end. A guide to be useful must also be present; 
 nnd to the omniscience of the Lord Jesus is added, 
 
 2. His omnipresence .—In the expanded deserts of the 
 East, where there was no beaten track, the necessity and 
 utility of a guide was continually felt. And in passing 
 through those intricate and unknown ways, no step would 
 be safe without his immediate observation. In the present 
 times, the traveller could never find his way through those 
 inhospitable deserts without the aid of a person thus pre¬ 
 pared and instructed to direct him, who generally goes 
 before, marks out the path, abides constantly near, and 
 continues with him to the end. In other difficulties of a 
 mental nature, where we stand in need of such assistance, 
 it is impossible to be continually near the source of informa¬ 
 tion, or to have a leader and director continually at hand : 
 we must therefore obtain general information, and act to 
 the best of our own judgment or opinion : we therefore must 
 
GUIDE— LEADER. 
 
 237 
 
 often be in uncertainty, and must be exposed continually 
 to err. But the Lord our Redeemer is ever near: his 
 eyes behold his people when they see not him : no storm, 
 no clouds, no time, no distance can ever separate them 
 from him.” “ Behold, I go forward,” said holy Job, “ but 
 he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him: 
 on the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold 
 him; he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot 
 see him : but he knoweth the way that I take: when he 
 hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” (Job. xxiii. 
 8—10.) The conduct of Jehovah, when leading forth his 
 chosen Israel, and guiding them through the desert to the 
 promised Canaan, is a beautiful type and a striking repre¬ 
 sentation of that constant care with which he beholds and 
 preserves his church. “ The Lord went before them by 
 day, in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way ; and by 
 night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day 
 and night. He took not away the pillar of the cloud by 
 day nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.” 
 This led the Jewish Lawgiver, in his first triumphant song, 
 to anticipate their final preservation, confident that he would 
 lead them to the end : “ Thou in thy mercy hast led forth 
 the people which thou hast redeemed ; Thou hast guided 
 them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation.” (Compare 
 Exod. xiii. 21, 22, &c.; xv. 13, 17, 18.) His promise to 
 his people is still the same : and his constant and unre¬ 
 mitting care is represented by the Prophet, in allusion to 
 this very circumstance : “ The Lord will create upon 
 
 every dwelling-place of Mount Sion, and upon her as¬ 
 semblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of 
 a flaming fire by night; for upon all the glory shall be a 
 defence.” (Isa. iv. 5, 6.) His promise to Joshua is applied 
 by the Apostle to every individual of his people : “ I will 
 never leave thee, I will never forsake thee,” (Josh. i. 9; 
 Heb. xiii. 5,6): “ therefore we may boldly say, The Lord is 
 my Helper.” The Prophet Isaiah represents the same con¬ 
 tinued care under another allusion ; and, comparing the 
 church to a vineyard,—I, says the Lord, do keep it; I will 
 
238 
 
 SERIES X.—ESSAY IV. 
 
 water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it 
 night and day. (Isa. xxvii. 3, &c.) How suitable, how 
 all-sufficient the consolation, to recollect in every trial, 
 perplexity, difficulty, or danger, that the eye of Jesus is 
 constantly upon me ! that he to whom I have committed 
 the keeping of my soul, is guiding me by his infinite 
 wisdom, and ordering all my concerns aright! That he 
 who can never be deceived, is never ignorant of my state, 
 and never absent from my path ! “ I set the Lord, there¬ 
 
 fore,” said the Psalmist, “ always before me: because he 
 is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.” (Psa. xvi. 
 8, 9, &c.) This, which was the triumph of the Redeemer, 
 is equally the triumph of his people in him ; and shall be 
 till he shew them the path of life which he hath trod before 
 them ; where, in his presence, there is fulness of joy, and 
 at his right hand pleasures for ever more.” 
 
 As it is of the utmost consequence, that a guide and 
 leader should be well acquainted with the way, so it adds 
 greatly to the confidence, 
 
 3. When he hath trod the path before; searched out 
 all its labyrinths; and is well acquainted with all its most 
 intricate , its dark, or gloomy passages. —And here the 
 suitableness of our Redeemer is most strikingly evident. 
 What path of trial, affliction, or temptation has he not 
 known by its experience ? When he came into our nature, 
 he took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses; yea, in all 
 things he was made like unto us. (Heb. ii. 17, 18.) He 
 passed through this wilderness world, as the man of 
 sorrows; acquainted with reproach and contempt, with 
 affliction and temptations, and with all the power and 
 malice of human and of spiritual enemies. In the agony 
 of his soul he bore the hiding of his Father’s countenance, 
 the just effects of his indignation ; till bearing all the con¬ 
 sequences of our sins, he passed through the valley of the 
 shadow of death, and in the strength of his almighty arm 
 rose the conqueror over all. “ In that he suffered, being 
 tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted 
 and has the feeling of all our infirmities, because he was in 
 
GUIDE—LEADER. 
 
 239 
 
 all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. (Heb. 
 iv. 15.) He knows, therefore, how to deliver his people 
 out of temptation ; to carry them through all their trials ; 
 to make the trial of faith, which is much more precious 
 than of gold that perisheth, to be found unto praise, and 
 honour, and glory ; to make all things here work together 
 for good ; to lead them through the waters, or through 
 the fires ; to conduct them through the valley of death, 
 to make them triumphant in and over all; and then, to plant 
 them in the land of rest and glory. In all they are safe 
 under his eye, under his care and direction. Whatever 
 be the darkness or difficulties of the path, it is the right 
 way in which he is leading them ; soon shall they get 
 beyond all, and possess the great goodness which he hath 
 laid up for them ; nor will he ever leave them, till he 
 hath performed all the good things which he hath spoken 
 to them of. 
 
 But nothing is so great an encouragement as the fact 
 itself, that the person in whom we trust hath before acted 
 successfully in this character, and guided many a weary 
 passenger to the destined end. Behold the skill of our 
 infallible Leader! 
 
 4. He hath been the guide of thousands, and ten thou¬ 
 sands, in one generation after another ; who have all got 
 safe through to the promised inheritance. —He never lost 
 one for whom he undertook ; not one who hath committed 
 his way to him, and relied upon his wisdom and his care. 
 Multitudes which no man can number, called by his grace, 
 washed in his blood, justified in his righteousness, sanctified 
 by his Spirit, guided by his eye and care through all their 
 difficulties, trials, and enemies, are now more than con¬ 
 querors before the Throne; all ascribing the power, the 
 glory, the honour of their salvation to him, and to him 
 alone. They followed the Lamb, and he led them through : 
 they bore their testimony by the way to his wisdom, his 
 power, his constant care and faithfulness; and they bear 
 their testimony now from before the Throne, and say, 
 Come to Jesus! they that believe in him shall never perish ; 
 
240 
 
 SERIES X.— ESSAY IV. 
 
 they that trust in him shall never be ashamed. Sinners, 
 learn to trust in him and rest npon him, and you shall 
 experience the same guiding- care, till you join our 
 happy society, to depart no more; for he will be “ glo¬ 
 rified in his saints, and admired in all them that believe.” 
 Here, then, are abundant proofs of his ability to guide 
 his people through all the dangerous paths of the wilder¬ 
 ness, and conduct them safe to the desired end.—But 
 another question may perhaps arise as to, 
 
 5. His ivillingness to execute the important office .— 
 And this must be satisfactorily answered to every in¬ 
 quiring mind, by his undertaking for his people, and the 
 promises of his word to all who trust themselves to him. In 
 the counsels of eternal love he gave himself to the accom¬ 
 plishing of their salvation, and proposed to himself at first 
 the ultimate effect, that by giving himself for his church an 
 offering and sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour, 
 he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water 
 by the word, and so present it to himself, out of the ruins 
 of the fall, made a glorious church, not having spot or 
 w'rinkle, or any such thing. (Ephes. v. 2, and 25—27.) What 
 greater proof could be given of his love to his church, than 
 the condescension to which he submitted, the sufferings 
 which he endured, the victories which he obtained, and all 
 the wonders which he wrought for them! These are the most 
 indubitable proofs how he loved his people ; nor can there 
 be a stronger pledge of the continuance of his love, and 
 the bestowal of all his blessings on them. He who hath 
 thus accomplished all his undertaking for them, will as 
 certainly fulfil and complete all his designs towards them 
 and in them, till he hath brought them all around his 
 Throne. And in order to confirm their confidence in his 
 wisdom and his care, he hath indeed given to us “ exceed¬ 
 ing great and precious promises “ Cast thy burden 
 upon the Lord, and he ivill sustain thee .” “ Cast all thy 
 care upon him, for he careth for thee .” “ Commit thy 
 way unto the Lord, and he will briny it to pass yea, 
 “ in all tliy ways acknowledge him , and he will direct thy; 
 
GUIDE—LEADER. 
 
 241 
 
 paths When the Psalmist is enumerating the grounds 
 of the blessedness of the man whose iniquities are for¬ 
 given, and whose sins are covered, to whom the Lord will 
 not impute transgression, we find this among the number, 
 the promise of Divine direction: “ I will instruct thee” 
 says the Lord, “ and teach thee in the way in which thou 
 shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye .” (Psa. xxxii. 
 8.) How beautiful the allusion! He goes before his 
 people; yea, the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous. 
 His eyes are directed around in every quarter, to discover 
 the best path, or to discern the most distant danger; “ for 
 the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout all the 
 earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them that 
 fear him.” If the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are 
 in Jesus, they are not like the treasures of the miser, but 
 of the liberal man, “ who disperses abroad and giveth to 
 the poor.” The character of the Lord Jesus, his under¬ 
 taking and design, and the whole of his conduct, seems 
 designed to assure his people how ready he is to take them 
 under his care; to guide them through the wilderness, to 
 stand by them, and never leave them till they are got safely 
 to the end. But what can exceed the extent of that pro¬ 
 mise, which stands on record for the encouragement of his 
 church from one generation to another? “ When thou 
 passest through the waters, I will be with thee, and 
 through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee; when 
 thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned, 
 neither shall the flame kindle upon thee; for I am the Lord 
 thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour,” &c. “ Fear 
 not, for I am with thee.” (Isa. xliii. 2, 3, 5.) But it may 
 be asked, Will the Lord take sinners under his care ? will 
 he direct the guilty and unworthy? Surely it is to such 
 that he must shew his loving-kindness, if ever he discovers 
 it to any of the sons of men. The guilty ana the un¬ 
 worthy, who desire and seek his aid, shall not be dis¬ 
 appointed in their hope. In the 25th Psalm throughout, 
 we have a display of the temper of his people, and of his 
 VOL. v. R 
 
SERIES X.—ESSAY IV. 
 
 242 
 
 amazing grace: we behold the penitent sinner in his per¬ 
 plexity directing his prayer to the Throne of God. (ver. 
 4—7.) “ Shew me thy way, O Lord; teach me thy paths. 
 Lead me in thy truth, and teach me; for thou art the 
 God of my salvation: on thee do I wait all the day. Re¬ 
 member, O Lord, thy tender mercies and thy loving-kind¬ 
 nesses ; for they have been ever of old. Remember not 
 the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to 
 thy mercy remember thou me, for thy goodness’ sake, O 
 Lord.” The prayer of the humble shall not be rejected, 
 which relies not upon its own worthiness, but the greatness 
 of Divine mercies; for good and upright is the Lord, 
 gracious in bis nature, and faithful to his promise : there¬ 
 fore will he teach even sinners in the way. (ver. 8.) The 
 meek will he guide in judgment; the meek will he teach 
 bis way. (ver. 9.) This delighful promise, this kind en¬ 
 couragement, inspires the supplicant with confidence, 
 which vents itself in the continued prayer of faith, the firm 
 reliance and joy of hope to the end of the Psalm, assured 
 that all the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth to them 
 who keep his covenant, rest upon his covenant mercy in 
 Christ Jesus, and then delight to do his testimonies, (ver. 
 10 : see ver. 11—22.) 
 
 And here it is of the utmost importance for the direction 
 of our hope and conduct, to be acquainted with the method 
 which the Lord uses in the present state to guide his 
 people, and to communicate his direction to them ; that we 
 may not encourage an unfounded expectation, nor be dis¬ 
 couraged by disappointment. In the present dispensation 
 of his mercy, we are not to expect the visible manifestation 
 of his person, for “ the heavens have received him, until the 
 times of the restitution of all things.” We cannot see his 
 person, nor audibly hear his voice. Nor does he commu¬ 
 nicate the intimations of his will, as he did formerly, on ex¬ 
 traordinary occasions, to Patriarchs and Prophets. Let us, 
 therefore, remember not to expect such interpositions in 
 the present state. Visions, revelations, and mental im- 
 
GUIDE —LEADER. 
 
 243 
 
 pressions, are much to be suspected ; nor can they in the 
 present dispensation carry any certainty in them of pro¬ 
 ceeding- from God. In matters of truth and practice they 
 must be tried by the Divine word, which is altogether 
 sufficient without them : and in matters of general conduct 
 they must be tried by that wisdom which is profitable to 
 direct; combining and comparing the various circumstances 
 of Providence together, that we may find out the path of 
 duty. They are therefore as needless as they are useless. 
 Those who have yielded to them, and given themselves up 
 to be governed by them, have often found themselves de¬ 
 ceived ; and if the mind has been so infatuated as to rest 
 upon them, considering them as Divine manifestations, 
 such deception and disappointment hath tended greatly to 
 shake their faith even in the word and promise of God, 
 and to bring great distress and sorrow into their minds. 
 When God spake to man in dreams and visions of the 
 night; when he often appeared to his people by a visible 
 manifestation, and no doubt attended with circumstances 
 which authenticated its certainty ; those expectations were 
 justifiable, and such discoveries were suited to the spirit 
 and general tenor of that economy: but at present, when 
 no such interpositions are promised, nor, according to the 
 present method of the Divine working, generally afforded, 
 they are dangerous, and commonly delusive. The Lord 
 has now his established and appointed means of instruction 
 and guidance; and when he intends mercy and grace to 
 his people, he sweetly inclines them to use those means, to 
 assent to the direction which he affords, and to be found 
 for these purposes diligently in the way and means of his 
 appointment.—To instruct us in the knowledge of his 
 truth and doctrine, and open to our view the nature and 
 glory of spiritual things he has given us, 
 
 1. His Word .—This is the only sure guide of faith and 
 practice, and, blessed be his Name, this is all-sufficient. 
 This is our standing rule; nor can we ever err in attending 
 to its directions. The cause of all error is an inattention, 
 neglect of, or want of submission to, the dictates of the 
 
 r 2 
 
244 
 
 SERIES X.—ESSAY IV. 
 
 word of God. If we judge of its truth by the standardof 
 our own reason; if we are determined proudly to reject 
 what is there plainly revealed, because we cannot under¬ 
 stand how or why it is so; if we warp its truth to our 
 prejudices, or substitute our fancies in the stead of it, no 
 wonder, if, under the dispensations of the clearest light, 
 we run into darkness, and are bewildered in the labyrinth 
 of error, amidst the plainest declarations of the truth of 
 God. If we studied the Scriptures, in the temper in which 
 the Psalmist wrote the nineteenth and one hundred and 
 nineteenth Psalms; if we had the same view of his sta¬ 
 tutes, his law, his ordinances, and his judgments, as that 
 which filled his mind ; and if we could say with him, 
 “ Thou shalt guide me with thy counselwe should not 
 long hesitate as to the truth itself, we should never mate¬ 
 rially wander from it in our understandings, nor depart 
 from it in our practice. The various parts of the Divine 
 record are indeed surrounded with a different degree of 
 light and clearness ; but since the blessed Jesus hath come 
 to bear witness to the truth, even in his own discourses, 
 which are left on record, we shall behold a complete testi¬ 
 mony to every part of Divine truth; and when speak¬ 
 ing in and by his Apostles, through the light and influence 
 of the Eternal Spirit; though none but the same truths are 
 displayed, we behold them more clearly stated, and more 
 abundantly amplified. This has arisen, not from any 
 defect in the Divine Teacher himself, nor in the manner of 
 his teaching, but from the incapacity of his hearers. Even 
 his disciples themselves, to whom the truth was directed, 
 and must have been communicated, could not understand 
 nor receive many things which he spake to them ; but 
 under the dispensation of the Spirit, given by him from the 
 Throne, the light of truth was clearly to shine forth, and 
 hath, therefore, spread its brightest beams abroad with all 
 the refulgence of its glories. Let our understandings 
 submit to his truth, and our hearts to his direction, and we 
 shall always be in safety. But this discovery of his will is 
 not in itself sufficient to produce these effects in the present 
 
GUIDE— LEADER. 
 
 245 
 
 Uate of man; for how often do we need to present the 
 prayer, “ Open thou mine eyes, that I may see wondrous 
 thing's in thy Law !” “ What I see not, teach thou me.” 
 
 2. He guides his people, therefore, secretly and in¬ 
 wardly by his own Spirit of unerring wisdom.—This is 
 the peculiar promise of the Redeemer; and in his last 
 discourse with his disciples, the promise is again and again 
 repeated for their encouragement, and for the consolation 
 of the church, and of every one of his true disciples, to the 
 end of time. That it refers not only to his immediate 
 disciples, but to his people, from generation to generation, 
 is evident by the terms in which it is expressed. The pro¬ 
 mised Comforter is to be always with his people, to teach 
 them all things, to testify of him ; to convince of sin, of 
 righteousness, and of judgment; to guide them into all 
 truth, to glorify his name, and to abide with them for these 
 purposes for ever. (See John xiv. 10, 26; xvi. 7—14.) 
 These were his gracious influences on the hearts of the 
 primitive Christians, as the Apostle testifies; “Ye have 
 an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.” 
 “ The anointing which ye have received of him abideth 
 in you ; and ye need not that any man teach you ; but as 
 the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, 
 and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide 
 in him.” (1 John ii. 20, 27.) “ Now if any man have not 
 
 the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.” (Rom. viii. 9.) It 
 is evident, therefore, that he gives this heavenly gift to all 
 his people, illuminating the mind spiritually, not inde¬ 
 pendently of the Scriptures, but inclining the mind to the 
 study of them, and thus opening the understanding to per¬ 
 ceive, and the heart cordially to believe and embrace them. 
 To set up the written word, in independence of the Spirit’s 
 teaching, is the pride and self-confidence of carnal wisdom ; 
 and to exalt the work of the Spirit, in independence of the 
 written word, is mere enthusiasm, and opens the way for 
 the unlimited operation of a wild and uncontrolled imagina¬ 
 tion. These are graciously united together in the provi¬ 
 dence and the dispensation of Cod to his church, and must 
 
SERIES X,—ESSAY IV. 
 
 246 
 
 bo united in the dependence of his people.—But to this 
 he hath also kindly added, N 
 
 3. The ministry of the Gospel .—This is the established 
 means which he hath appointed for the calling, the conver¬ 
 sion, and the edification, of his saints. Here his people 
 are to come for direction, for quickening, and for consola¬ 
 tion, Though the ministry of his Gospel can convey no 
 new truth; nor exhibit any new ground of hope, nor founda¬ 
 tion of spiritual blessings ; yet, by the light and aid of his 
 Holy Spirit accompanying it, old things are often placed in 
 a new light, the decayed impression of scriptural truths is 
 renewed and revived, and the Divine power and blessing 
 attend the ordinance for the refreshment and strengthening 
 of his people. Here the believer has found the promise 
 of the Saviour fulfilled: here he has found in his house 
 the fountain of life springing up, and the table of mercy 
 spread with all the rich provision of the Gospel: here he 
 has delighted himself in fatness, and his soul has been 
 abundantly satisfied; nor can the believer expect the power 
 and blessing of the means without their use. Ministers 
 themselves, indeed, are but empty channels ; and some¬ 
 times they are found so, to make the believer know the 
 source of his dependence. They are found but earthen 
 vessels, unsupplied and empty, that the excellency of the 
 power may be of God, and not of us. “ But they that 
 wait upon the Lord shall (here) renew their strength : they 
 shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and 
 not be weary ; and they shall walk, and not faint.” 
 
 These are the established means of spiritual instruc¬ 
 tion ; means in which the humble inquirer shall never be 
 left without light to guide him, or consolation to support 
 him. And then as to the outward concerns of life, and as 
 far as spirituals are connected with them, he will guide, 
 
 4. His people in the right way by his providential care; 
 and by so disposing the circumstances of life as to mark out, 
 to the candid and sincere inquirer, the path of duty.—To 
 his character, as such, and to his covenant engagement to 
 his people in this respect, he directs the faith and confii 
 
GUIDE—LEADER. 
 
 247 
 
 deuce of his church of old : “ Thus saith the Lord thy 
 Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the Lord thy 
 God, who teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by 
 the way that thou shouldest go.” (Isa. xlviii. 17.) Here, 
 indeed, as well as in the search after truth, it is dangerous 
 to expect or to trust in the strongest impressions of an 
 indulged imagination. This is not the way in which the 
 Lord generally leads his people. He has not, indeed, 
 bound himself, not thus to direct his people in very peculiar 
 circumstances; but he has given us no reason to expect 
 it, no promise to guide our faith or hope that way. And 
 even granting the possibility of some special case of the 
 kind, it can never afford an example to follow, nor a con¬ 
 duct for imitation. Yet, while waiting at the Throne of 
 Grace in humble supplication for Divine direction, using 
 the means which he has afforded us ; and comparing the 
 circumstances of providence together, and watching their 
 leadings ; the believer may expect and does receive the 
 plainest discovery of the Divine Will and his own duty. 
 The Lord leads the blind by a way which they know not, 
 and in paths which they have not known : he makes dark¬ 
 ness light before them; and crooked things straight. “These 
 things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.” (Isa. 
 xlii. 16, &c.) They do, as it were, hear a voice behind 
 them, saying, This is the way ; walk ye in it; when they 
 turn to the right hand, or when they turn to the left. How 
 beautifully has the Jewish Lawgiver and Prince described 
 the care of God over his Israel of old, and his constant 
 attention to their comfort and supply in their protracted 
 journeys through the wilderness! “ The Lord’s portion 
 
 is his people ; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. He 
 found him in a desert land, and in the waste-howling wilder¬ 
 ness : he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as 
 the apple of his eye. As an eagle stirreth up her nest, 
 fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, 
 faketh them, beareth them on her wings ; so the Lord 
 alone did lead him, and there was no strange God with 
 him, &c. (Deut, xxxii, 9—14.) The scriptural allusions 
 
248 
 
 SERIES X.—ESSAY IV. 
 
 to this are very common and very beautiful. (So Isa. lviif. 
 8—11.) “ Thy Righteousness,” the Lord thy Righteous¬ 
 
 ness, “ shall go before thee; and the glory of the Lord 
 shall be thy rere-ward. Then shalt thou call, and the Lord 
 shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. 
 If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the 
 putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity ; and if 
 thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the 
 afflicted soul, then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy 
 darkness be as the noon-day: And the Lord shall guide 
 thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make 
 fat thy bones ; and thou shalt be like a watered garden, 
 and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.” (So 
 also chap. xlix. 10, 11.) “ They shall not hunger nor thirst, 
 neither shall the heat nor sun smite them : for he that hath 
 mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of 
 water shall he guide them. And I will make all my moun¬ 
 tains a way, and my high-ways shall be exalted.” In other 
 places his guardian care is represented by that of a shepherd 
 fending his flock, with unremitted attention, and the tender- 
 est affection : “ He shall feed his flock like a shepherd ; 
 he shall gather the lambs with his arms, and carry them in 
 his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.” 
 (Isa. xl. 11: Psa. lxxviii. 52, &c. ; xxiii.) 
 
 Here, then, we have a most delightful character of the 
 Lord Jesus. His infinite wisdom, together with his infinite 
 grace and love, ensures the constant protection of his eye 
 and the direction of his hand. But no doubt in this is im¬ 
 plied the correspondent duty of dependence in us, the con¬ 
 stant seeking for his aid, and the constant reliance upon his 
 word, his teaching Spirit, and his guiding providence. A 
 guide would but avail but little to the man who was too wise 
 in his own conceit to seek or follow his direction; and little 
 will it profit us that there is a Leader of his church, if we 
 are following our own fancies, or the vanities of our own 
 minds. When the Lord promises to guide his people 
 with his eye, then follows the direction, “ Be ye not as 
 the horse or as the mule, which have no understanding 
 
GUIDE—LEADER. 
 
 240 
 
 \vhos6 mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they 
 come near unto thee.” (Psa. xxxii. 9.) If we feel a 
 spirit of dependence, the expression of it will be the lan¬ 
 guage of prayer: it will drive us to prayer, quicken us in 
 prayer, and keep us in the exercise of prayer. “ Then 
 shalt thou call, and the Lord will answer: thou shalt cry, 
 and he shall say, Here I am.” (Isa. lviii. 9.) How often 
 do we hear this language from the lip of the devout 
 Psalmist! “ Lead me in thy righteousness and in thy truth ; 
 lead me in a plain path for thy name sake, because of mine 
 enemies. Send out thy light and truth ; let them lead me 
 and guide me; let thine hand lead me and guide me. O 
 lead me in the way everlasting !” Let us not, then, be dis¬ 
 couraged by the various difficulties and perplexities of our 
 way; but be led thereby to Jesus, that he may lead and 
 guide us through. He has undertaken it as his office, and 
 promised it in his love: “ To whom then, Lord, should we 
 go but unto thee?” As his promise is connected with 
 our dependence upon him, so far from being afraid to 
 come in the time of difficulty, it is both our duty and our 
 privilege. Blessed be God for such a confidence ! Let us 
 use it in faith, and, as we have constant need, let us main¬ 
 tain the constant sense of it, and be engaged in the con¬ 
 stant application of faith for his protecting care. Our 
 security is not in self-confidence, but in self-diffidence; 
 not in our own wisdom, but in discovering our own igno¬ 
 rance ; not in our own power, but in feeling our own weak¬ 
 ness. If this keep us ever looking to Jesus, there we 
 cannot fail: then when we are weak'we shall be strong; 
 and the weaker in self, the stronger in the Lord. But 
 let us always remember that the use of means is connected 
 with the promise of his wisdom, power, and care: we cannot 
 expect his guidance but in the means of bis own appoint¬ 
 ment; and there we ought not to doubt of it. He has 
 appointed the end by the means, and the means in order 
 to the end. His promise should incline his people to use 
 the one, and insure their minds of the other. Yea, he has 
 promised to keep his people in this dependence, that 
 
SERIES X. —ESSAY IV. 
 
 -250 
 
 they may partake of his love and favour. I will not depart 
 from them, that I may do them good ; but I will put my 
 fear into their hearts, that they shall not depart from me. 
 While, then, He keeps his people that they shall walk 
 with him ; the most ignorant, the weakest, the most simple, 
 who walk with him, are in his guidance secure, though 
 they know not a step of the way in which he is leading 
 them, or though the paths of Providence may be intricate. 
 They are wise and right: it is no doubt the right way to 
 the city of habitation. Rejoice then, my soul, in the 
 wisdom and goodness of thy guiding Saviour: never be 
 discouraged, but trust thy all to Him: he is as able as he 
 is willing, to lead and to defend thee, and therefore thou 
 shalt soon be safely conducted through all to the rest 
 above. Remember, my soul, the infinite wisdom of his 
 mind, the omniscience of his eye, and the almighty power 
 of his arm. Remember He himself has trod through 
 every path of trial, sorrow, and temptation, and has con¬ 
 ducted thousands and ten thousands through the same 
 path: nor has he ever lost one committed to him, or who 
 hath committed himself to his care. And remember the 
 willingness of his heart, secured to thee by his undertaking 
 and his faithful promise. These considerations embrace 
 all Jhat thou canst possibly need. Let me then be found 
 in the use of his word, under the ordinance of the Gospel 
 church, its ministry and its sacraments, in humble depen¬ 
 dence upon the Spirit of his grace. Thus shall I know the 
 truth, all that is necessary for salvation, and be led in the 
 right path of his providence to its enjoyment; for error 
 arises, in general, not from the weakness of the under¬ 
 standing, but from the unwillingness, the pride, the pre¬ 
 judice, the perverseness of the heart. Commit, then, all 
 thy ways to him, nor ever perplex thyself with events, 
 with consequences, with possibilities. He that now fol¬ 
 lows Jesus as his Guide, shall follow him to his glory. In 
 the way of holiness he will lead all his people safely ; for 
 ho will be with them in the way ; and the wayfaring man, 
 though a fool, shall not err therein. (Isa, xxxv 8, Margin.) 
 
GUIDE—LEADER. 
 
 251 
 
 He whose arm was mighty of old, to cut Rahab and wound 
 the dragon; He who dried up the sea, the waters of the 
 great deep, and made the depths of the sea the way for 
 his ransomed to pass over, shall renew the miracle of his 
 wisdom and his power from age to age, till all the redeemed 
 of the Lord shall return and come with singing unto Sion, 
 with everlasting joy upon their heads; where they shall 
 obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall for 
 ever flee away. (Isa. li. 9—11.) 
 
SERIES X.—ESSAY V. 
 
 252 
 
 i i > ' 
 
 ESSAY V. 
 
 -■, • t ’» i ' . ; , * > ‘ 
 
 &nc!)or of $ope. 
 
 ** Blessed is the man,” says the Prophet (Jer. xvii. 
 7, 8), “ who trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the 
 Lord islike the tree planted by the waters, he shall 
 never want a suitable and abundant supply for growth, 
 fruitfulness, or beauty. But the hope of ancient Israel 
 was the Messiah ; and the hope of the Christian church is 
 Christ the Lord, even Jesus, who is our Hope. (Compare 
 Acts xxviii. 20; 1 Tim. i. 1.) Thus, when the Apostle, 
 in the verse preceding that in which the present title of 
 the Redeemer occurs, is speaking of the Hope set before 
 us, to which the trembling sinner flies for refuge (Heb. 
 vi. 18, 19), he certainly does not allude to the grace of 
 hope, as it is exercised in the mind of the believer, which 
 is often much shaken, and which is subject to a great 
 variety of changes, but to Him who is the object of our 
 hope; which Hope, says the Apostle, we have as an an¬ 
 chor : and that the same is meant as in the preceding 
 verse is most evident; for the word “ hope” is not re¬ 
 peated by the Apostle, as appears by its being found 
 here in italics, but the relative pronoun alone is used, 
 which can refer to nothing but this very antecedent, “ The 
 Hop>e set before us.” In this view then we justly con¬ 
 sider it as relating to Him who hath laid the foundation 
 of our hope in his incarnation, his obedience, his cross, 
 and his resurrection; to Him by whom all our hopes are 
 upheld, in whom all our blessings are treasured up, all 
 that his people, in the exercise of grace, do or can hope 
 for; who is, in a word, “ Our Hope of Glory” —When 
 faith goes out to embrace this glorious object as set before 
 
ANCHOR OF HOPE. 
 
 253 
 
 tjs in his word, then the grace of hope springs up in the 
 heart; and as its exercise is secured in the believer bv 
 the covenant promise of God, though it may waver in its 
 exercise and enjoyment, it shall never fail of its ultimate 
 expectations. “ This Hope,” says the Apostle, “ we 
 have,” or rather, ive hold fast*, “ as an anchor.” 
 
 The use of an anchor is, to hold fast the ship in the 
 uncertain ocean, and amidst the raging of the storm; and 
 if itself be sufficiently strong, and, while it holds fast 
 beneath, be sufficiently secured to the vessel, then the 
 ship will ride out the storm in safety. But the Anchor 
 which we have is sure and stedfast, and entereth into that 
 within the veil, “whither the Forerunner is for us entered, 
 even Jesus, made an High Priest for ever after the order 
 of Melchizedec.”—The allusion affords us another most 
 interesting view of the glory, suitableness, and precious¬ 
 ness of the Redeemer, by whom we are encouraged to 
 hold fast, till we are passed through the stormy sea of 
 life, to the haven of rest above. The soul of man must 
 here be considered as a vessel upon the uncertain and 
 tempestuous sea, laden with stores of infinite value, its 
 own immortal powers and capacities of enjoyment: it is 
 sailing to the eternal world; bound to the heavenly shores 
 in desire and expectation, even the haven of everlasting 
 rest; but in its passage it is exposed to the winds and' 
 waves of affliction, the storms of persecution and tempta¬ 
 tion, all the evils and calamities which sin has introduced/ 
 and is therefore in danger of being cast away, and of 
 never attaining the wished-for country. The truth of this 
 part of the comparison is well known to all mankind : we 
 cannot but feel the uncertainty of every thing that sur¬ 
 rounds us, and the dangerous state in which we are 
 placed by the disorder, and darkness, and confusion of 
 sin. As this is a matter of sensible experience* we 
 
 , . » 
 
 * The word tx elv t generally translated “ to have,’’ as it denotes posses¬ 
 sion, may sometimes be better rendered by tenere, “ to hold and so, I, 
 apprehend it ought to be rendered here; as also in Heb. xii, 28, 
 where see the margin. 
 
254 
 
 SERIES X.—ESSAY V. 
 
 are indeed often too much affected by it, and ready to let 
 go the hold of faith, which alone can keep us in tran¬ 
 quillity, and the expectation of hope, which alone can 
 encourage us in proceeding forward to the end. The 
 most tranquil, the calmest life, is sometimes exposed to 
 distress and apprehension : but if no outward trials shake 
 the confidence, the inward trials of the soul, where the 
 nature and value of that soul is known, are often more 
 severe and more distressing than the most dreaded cala¬ 
 mities of life. What darkness beclouds the mind, what 
 tempests shake the faith and agitate the soul, when the 
 sea of life is stirred into commotion by the stormy blasts 
 of conviction, amidst the gloomy terrors of Divine justice, 
 and the righteous sentence of the holy law; which, like 
 the pealing thunder, or the lightning’s dart, pierce to the 
 soul! When the dreadful apprehension of deserved wrath 
 gives reason to expect the stroke of destruction; or, when 
 the enemy of the soul, and all the powers of hell, surround it 
 with temptations, and clothe it with astonishment and dis¬ 
 may ; conceive, in the affrighted spirit, the preludes of 
 everlasting sorrow. How often does the soul, amidst all 
 these various difficulties and perplexities, feel the dan¬ 
 gerous state in which it is placed, and fear its own total 
 destruction, from the many rocks and breakers with which 
 the dangerous sea of life abounds ! What a beautiful 
 descriptive view has the Psalmist given us of this scene 
 of a stormy sea, the true emblem of human life! “ They 
 that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great 
 waters; these see the works of the Lord, and his wonders 
 in the deep. For he commandetb, and raiseth the stormy 
 wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof. They mount up- 
 to the heaven, they go down again to the depths; their 
 soul is melted because of trouble. They reel to and fro, 
 and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their witV 
 end. Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and 
 he bringeth them out of their distresses.” (Psa. cvii. 23— 
 28.) In such a situation, while the dangerous tempest 
 continues, the only natural security of the vessel is to have- 
 
ANCHOR OF HOPE. 
 
 255 - 
 
 a something which can hold it steady ; and this is the de¬ 
 sign of the anchor: when the wind drives, when the storms 
 and tempest are up, when the sea beats around, agitated 
 by the raging winds, the anchor, if strong and secure, will 
 preserve it in safety. Though it cannot prevent the feeling 
 of the storm, it will prevent any injury from it, and keep 
 the rolling vessel from being carried hither and thither by 
 the fury of the wind, or from being driven afar upon the 
 ocean. Here, then, is our necessity, and surely we need 
 not ask any of our fellow-sinners, if they have not felt, 
 at times, some of these distressing trials, been involved 
 in these afflicting scenes, or been terrified by the stormy 
 blasts and waves of sorrow. But here also is the glory 
 and the suitableness of our Redeemer; whatever be our 
 difficulty, danger, or necessity, in him is the suitable 
 remedy. And whatever name our sorrows bear, he bears 
 some name, some character, which corresponds therewith, 
 and which promises us the desired relief. When passing- 
 over the tempestuous sea, he becomes the Anchor of the 
 soul: and, while we examine its qualities and its excellen¬ 
 cies, we shall find increasing cause of faith, confidence, and 
 love; for he is both sure and stedfast, and entered far 
 beyond all the changes of sublunary things himself, even 
 within the veil, where all his people long to arrive, and 
 where all, by his power and faithfulness, shall soon be 
 brought. 
 
 Let us then contemplate how Jesus, the Anchor of 
 our Hope, is able to hold us fast through all the storms of 
 life, and preserve us from every danger, till he bring us 
 there. We know well that nothing else can ; all the hope 
 of the world, and all hopes that are placed upon the world, 
 are uncertain and delusive: they leave us to be tossed 
 about with every accident, and every casual event, and 
 fail us in the moment when we most stand in need of 
 them. But this is the confidence of faith: Thou, Jehovah, 
 “ wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed 
 on thee; because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the 
 Lord for ever; for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting 
 
25G 
 
 SERIES X_ESSAY V. 
 
 strength.” (Isa. xxvi. 3, 4.) And we shall now see that 
 he only can be, and that he is, our sure Anchor of eternal 
 Hope. 
 
 1. An Anchor is secure according to its strength .— 
 It is made of the strongest metal; and this is of the utmost 
 consequence, that it may be capable of holding fast with¬ 
 out breaking in the trying storm. And this is what the 
 Apostle means, by its being “ sure.” Here then is the 
 glory of our Jesus ; and here is that which should draw 
 our hearts to him, that “ our help is laid upon the Mighty 
 One.” While every allusion shews, that the only depend¬ 
 ence of his people is on Him, it also presents to our faith 
 his sufficiency; and never can we too constantly be re¬ 
 minded that our security is in Him, in belonging to Him? 
 in being in Him, and in living by faith upon Him. 
 
 Here then, in contemplating his ability, we are again 
 led up to the view of his Divine power and glory. We 
 are reminded that our security is in Him, because “ in 
 Him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead .” It seems 
 in the Scripture view, that no character could properly 
 be undertaken nor sustained by Him, unless as He is God 
 our Saviour, Immanuel, God with us. Nor can any of 
 his characters be understood by us, except as we consider 
 him in this light. How could he bear, support, and pre¬ 
 serve his people, and all the concerns of his people, in 
 every age and at every time, in every place, and in all 
 places, at the same time, and this continued through all 
 time unto eternity, except as the Omniscient, Omnipresent* 
 and Eternal God 1 Without this, our confidence, instead 
 of meeting the approbation of the Lord, would rather ex- 
 pose us to that solemn curse which he himself has de¬ 
 nounced against all human dependence; for “Thus saith 
 the Lord, Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and 
 whose heart departeth from the Lord ; for he shall be like 
 the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good 
 cometh ; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wil¬ 
 derness, in a salt land and not inhabited.” (Jer. xvii. 5, G.) 
 But no; we boast “ God is my Salvation,. I will trust and 
 
ANCHOR OF HOPE. 
 
 257 
 
 not be afraid ; for the Lord Jehovah is my strength, and 
 my song: he also is become my salvation.” (Isa. xii. 2.) 
 He who feeds his flock, who hath assumed the delightful 
 character of its Shepherd, who gathers the lambs in his 
 arms, and carries them in his bosom, is the Lord God, 
 who is come with strong hand, for their salvation. (Isa. 
 xl. 10 , 11 .) 
 
 In the fulness of !he Godhead which he possesses, we 
 behold almighty power, infinite wisdom, unchangeableness 
 of nature, and of love, yea, all the perfections of Jehovah ; 
 for none can contain in himself the fulness of the Godhead, 
 but he who is the Lord God. And in the grace of his 
 Mediatorial character, we behold all these perfections 
 united with the sympathy and tenderness of human nature. 
 Thus we behold him complete in ability and grace, en¬ 
 gaging in, appointed to, prepared and fitted for, and fully 
 executing, the work of redemption ; and engaged to com¬ 
 plete it finally, in the salvation of all his redeemed. This 
 Anchor has proved its sufficiency ; for when all the possi¬ 
 ble storms which could assault and try human nature, were 
 experienced in his own person, he remained the same. The 
 storms of life have followed the persons of his redeemed, 
 ever since sin entered into the world ; but he has sustained 
 them all, and borne them safely through: and since all 
 their souls’ concerns are committed to his care, they may 
 still safely depend upon his ability and grace. O how in¬ 
 finite is his power ! What can be beyond his might? what 
 can He not do, what has He not done, for his redeemed 
 of old, that his people can now want? We cannot have too 
 much even of guilt, nor of fear, or trouble, to trust to Him ; 
 nor can we, in the exercise of humiliation and faith, trust 
 in Him too much. But of what use is this Anchor, how¬ 
 ever sure, unless I am secured by it ? This is indeed a 
 most important inquiry. For an anchor, 
 
 2. Secures only when there is a firm and mutual con¬ 
 nexion between itself and the vessel, without ivhich it is of 
 no utility. —The vessel connected with it rides safely and 
 secure, through the midst of the storm, while all besides 
 VOL. v. s 
 
258 
 
 SERIES X.—ESSAY V. 
 
 are tossed about and exposed to perish. The fact is 
 equally true with regard to the immortal soul: unless 
 united to Christ, all the things in earth or heaven cannot 
 protect and save me. The Apostle, therefore, speaks of 
 fellowship with the Gospel; the fellowship of the mystery, 
 i. e. of redeeming love; a fellowship with Christ, the 
 power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his suffer¬ 
 ings. As this is necessary to salvation, so it is a fact in 
 the experience of believers ; Christ is in them, and they in 
 Christ. (See John xvii. 20, &c.) This leads up our view 
 to one of the most wonderful mysteries of Divine and 
 Sovereign Grace, in the experience of believers: being 
 united to Christ in the purpose of his covenant love, they 
 are in time actually united by the communication of his 
 Spirit, and practically united in the exercise of faith : this 
 is that three-fold cord which can never be broken.— They 
 are united to him in the purposes of his covenant and 
 unchangeable love. To this Fountain the Apostle traces 
 up all their blessings. “ Blessed be the God and Father 
 of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all 
 spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 
 according as he hath chosen us in him before the founda¬ 
 tion of the world, that we should be holy, and without 
 blame before him in love.” (Eph. i. 3, &c.) In this view, 
 the blessed Jesus is said to be “ the Lamb slain from the 
 foundation of the world." In the counsels of eternity he 
 undertook, and was then accepted for, and on behalf of, 
 his people. They were given to him by the Father, to 
 redeem, to call, to regenerate, to sanctify, preserve, and 
 save *. This is the ground, the efficient cause, of all their 
 present enjoyment and future hopes ; and as this love was 
 from everlasting, without any cause in themselves, arising 
 from their worthiness; so their unworthiness cannot affect 
 its exercise, which is as unchangeable as the nature of 
 Jehovah. “ I have loved thee,” says the Lord to Israel 
 of old, “ with an everlasting love: therefore with loving- 
 
 • John vi. 37; x. 27—30 ; xvli. 2. 
 
ANCHOR OF HOPE. 259 
 
 kindness have I drawn thee.” And in that beautiful 
 allegory, in which the Lord Jesus Christ is represented 
 under the character of Wisdom, “ set up from everlasting 
 then his delights are described as being with the sons of 
 men. (Prov. viii. 31, &c.) This is the only security of 
 his people: his stability, engaged for them, engages and 
 secures their stability to the end. “ They shall be my 
 people, and I will be their God ; and I will give them one 
 heart and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for 
 the good of them, and of their children after them ; and I 
 will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will 
 not turn away from them to do them good : but I will put 
 my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.” 
 (Jer. xxxii. 38, &c.: see also Mai. iii. 6.) From hence it 
 comes to pass, that they are actually in time united to him 
 by his Spirit given to them. This is eminently the Gospel 
 promise, and the great gift of Jesus : thus he brings into 
 effect the purposes of his love, and actually unites himself 
 with them. So close is this union, that they are not only 
 one with him, as in his one mystical body, but they are 
 said to be one spirit with him; and thus he dwells in their 
 hearts, ever present for their security and defence. By 
 his effectual calling he brings them into the power and 
 grace of the Gospel, and realizes that union which he 
 eternally designed ; “ We are bound, therefore,” says the 
 Apostle, “ to give thanks unto God 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; whereunto he called you by the 
 Gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ.” (2 Thess. ii. 13, 14.) 
 
 This Spirit dwelling in his people, is the only security of 
 their faith, of every grace, and of their eternal salvation ; 
 and as the promise secures his abiding in his people for 
 ever, to dwell with them, and to be in them, upon this 
 the prayer of faith is grounded; “ Take not thine Holy 
 Spirit from me ;” and thus the expectation of faith is 
 
 s 2 
 
260 
 
 SERIES X.—ESSAY V. 
 
 secured, that he “ will not leave them nor forsake them 
 Hence arises that exercise of faith whereby the believer 
 actually takes hold of Christ, and becomes practically and 
 experimentally a partaker of his grace and salvation ; 
 “ which hope we hold as an anchor of the soul, both sure 
 and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil.” 
 Now the believer realizes the power and grace of his Sa¬ 
 viour, and his own security in him : he holds it fast in every 
 storm of an accusing conscience, a condemning law, and an 
 afflictive world. As faith is in exercise, it tranquillizes 
 and satisfies the mind in the midst of every trying scene, 
 till all the storms of sin are passed over, and he be passed 
 through them to eternal rest. Hence, we see why the 
 being and acting of faith is considered as of such importance 
 in the Scriptures; because faith is not some speculative 
 opinion, but a living principle in the heart: it leads the 
 believer, under a discovery of his guilt and danger, to 
 behold the glory of Jesus : it brings and enables him to 
 recline and rely upon him ; yea, it is itself that reliance and 
 resting on him. Thus it expects and derives all grace out 
 of Christ, in whom there is that all-sufficiency of supply. 
 It is, therefore, by faith, and by the power derived through 
 faith from Christ, that the believer triumphs over his guilt 
 and sin; over the sorrows or the delights of sense, the 
 frowns or smiles of the world, and over the last great 
 enemy, death. Faith, as it holds fast by the person and 
 work of the Redeemer, and holds firmly by the precious 
 promise and faithfulness of God, anticipates the rest above ; 
 and in proportion passes through a dying life, with a joy 
 full of immortality. Such was the faith of the ancient 
 Patriarchs, who, not having received the promises, yet all 
 lived and died in the faith of them ; were persuaded of 
 them in their truth, and embraced them in their excel¬ 
 lency ; and so declared that they were only strangers and 
 pilgrims upon earth, looking for their inheritance above. 
 (Heb. xi. 13, 14.) And nothing but the same faith ever 
 has or will produce the same effects, carry the believer 
 
ANCHOR OF HOPE. 
 
 261 
 
 over the sorrows of life, to triumph in them, to triumph 
 through them, to triumph over them. Lord, we believe; 
 help thou our unbelief. Lord, increase our faith. Faith 
 in exercise is an evident work of the Spirit, and a proof of 
 his indwelling within the heart. It is the evidence of 
 everlasting love, and the means of deriving all blessings 
 from Christ Jesus : it is that grace which gives the greatest 
 glory, yea all the glory, to Christ, while it brings the 
 richest consolations into the soul.—But, still further, the 
 anchor is then only secure when, 
 
 3. Itself is fixed beyond the reach or influence of the 
 storm, upon a sure and firm foundation .—This is the 
 meaning of the Apostle, when he adds, this Anchor is 
 stedfast. As it can never be broken itself, because of its 
 strength ; so it can never miss or let go its hold. Strong 
 in itself, as eternal and almighty power, as infinite wisdom 
 and unchangeable love, it rests or is grounded upon that 
 which secures it beyond a failure; the nature of Jehovah, 
 the eternal covenant, the unchanging promises, all the 
 glorious realities of an eternal world. Thy hope, O 
 believer! is “ entered within the veil” Jesus, the object 
 of thy hope is there; and when the graces of faith and 
 hope pass through the waters of life, they find their security 
 in him, who is fixed before and upon the Eternal Throne. 
 Here is the peculiar distinction of this Anchor, as it is the 
 Anchor of the soul, in which it differs from all others. 
 They are cast downwards to the earth : He rises upwards 
 to the Throne of God; and there remains for ever, that he 
 may be able to bring all his people there. A common 
 anchor does not, however, rest in the midst of the waters, 
 but, sinking to the bottom, takes hold of the ground ; and 
 the deeper it fixes, the greater is its security. The hope 
 of a person who is trusting to the things of this world, 
 is like an anchor swimming in the waters, which has no 
 hold, and therefore no stability in itself, and is totally 
 insufficient to secure any thing besides. But the hope of 
 the believer enters beyond the things of this world : these 
 are the causes, the incitements of the tempest, and there- 
 
262 
 
 SERIES X.— ESSAY V. 
 
 fore in them there can be no rest; but Jesus is passed 
 through, beyond the waters of trouble and of sorrow to the 
 Eternal Throne, and there let our faith follow him. What¬ 
 ever is in this world, is changing ; and the trust and con¬ 
 fidence which is placed in it must therefore be the same. 
 How evident, how serious, is the proof of this solemn 
 truth! But when the believer looses his hold of earth, 
 and grasps at heaven, upon the commands and promises of 
 God, he apprehends everlasting realities, takes holds of 
 certain objects, and, having a sure hold by faith, pursues a 
 certain expectation of the final and complete enjoyment. 
 There is the fixed unchanging state, the kingdom which 
 hath foundations, the inheritance which is incorruptible. 
 There the Anchor of our Hope is fixed upon the unchang¬ 
 ing faithfulness of Jehovah. 
 
 Thus, when the Prophet is proclaiming the approach 
 of Messiah, as the glory of Jehovah ; to fix our hearts to 
 him in love, he contrasts his excellency with the fading 
 vanities of earth: “ The voice said, Cry: and he said, 
 What shall I cry 1 All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness 
 thereof as the flower of the field : the grass withereth, the 
 flower fadeth, because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon 
 it. Surely the people is grass.” All earthly glory is but as 
 the grass, and its sweetest, richest beauty is the soonest 
 gone; like the tender flower that fades ere its beauty is 
 matured ; “ The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, but the 
 word of our God shall stand for ever.” (Isa. xl. 6—8.) 
 “ This,” says the Apostle Peter, “is the Word which by the 
 Gospel is preached unto you,” which is no doubt the essen¬ 
 tial Word of Jehovah, who became Immanuel for us. While 
 then by faith we behold the blessings promised in the Go¬ 
 spel, this gives the hope of the believer security beyond a 
 change, and beyond a failure. Though the believer may 
 be tossed about at times, with guilty fears, with the be¬ 
 setting power of corruption, the violence of temptations, 
 and the sorrow of afflictions, his security is yet the same; 
 be is held by the power, and love, and grace of God, under 
 the influence of the Spirit of Christ; and thus faith takes 
 
ANCHOR OF HOl'li. 
 
 2G3 
 
 hold of the immoveable Anchor. But let him always re- 
 member, tbat his security does not depend upon his know¬ 
 ledge of it: it does not arise primarily from his faith, much 
 less from its strength, or its appropriation of the blessing, 
 though his consolation and the sanctifying effects most 
 certainly do. He ought not, therefore, to let go the hold 
 of faith: he is directed to hold fast this confidence, which 
 hath great recompense of reward ; a present recompense 
 now in the consolation of the heart, and all its gracious 
 effects upon the conscience, and upon the conduct. Hold 
 fast then, believer, by Christ, this Anchor of thy Hope: 
 commit the keeping of thy soul to Him : trust his person, 
 his covenant, his work, his fulness, his promise, and thou 
 shalt enjoy much of its gracious efficacy, now in the pre¬ 
 sent time of trouble ; but thy eternal confidence shall never 
 be disappointed. No : it shall be completely realized in 
 his kingdom, where this Anchor of our Hope is sure and 
 stedfast, entered within the veil. O, how superior is the 
 hope of the Christian, to that of the worldling, in its high¬ 
 est glory ! It is superior in its object, and as superior in 
 its security. “ Who will shew us any good V’ is the constant 
 inquiry of a thoughtless and ungodly world : and the good 
 which they are seeking after, is only that of sense and 
 present enjoyment, suited to the body, or at best to the 
 rational powers and animal affections. But what are all 
 these, if obtained, but vanity and vexation, empty in them¬ 
 selves, unsatisfying in their possession, and quickly passing 
 away? Uncertainty is stamped upon them all: the hope 
 therefore which rests upon them must be equally uncertain. 
 How indeed can it be otherwise, when it is fixing amidst 
 the storms and tempests,—among those things which are 
 in constant revolution ? 
 
 If such a hope may be sufficient to satisfy the deluded 
 sinner, in the time of health and strength, it fails him in 
 the moment of necessity, when all shall fail besides. 
 When some affliction approaches, and death draws near, 
 then the insufficiency of all earthly hopes and dependency 
 will be evidenced, in the dreadful apprehension of guilty 
 
264 
 
 SERIES X.— ESSAY V. 
 
 fear, or the sorrow of despair. What can I do, when the 
 springs of nature are breaking, when the chords of life are 
 loosening, when reminded by some fatal disease of ap¬ 
 proaching mortality; which seizes, and retains its hold of, 
 some vital power in spite of every effort; which proceeds 
 forward and tramples down all before it, in its solemn way 
 to death ? What can I then do, if earth sums up all the 
 objects of my desire and hopes ? The vain delusion will then 
 be manifested ; and all the structure which the earthly mind 
 has raised upon them will fall down into destruction, and 
 bury the sensual sinner beneath its ruin. Nothing but 
 Christ, nothing but a real interest in Christ, nothing but a 
 vital union with Him, by his Spirit, and in the exercise of 
 a living faith, will then secure the immortal soul from 
 death : nothing but the knowledge of this, will support and 
 comfort the spirit through the last trial, till landed safely 
 above. Without this, O sinner ! thou wilt be driven away 
 in thy wickedness ; the tempest of affliction will shipwreck 
 all thy hopes ; and the storm of Divine wrath will hurry 
 thee forward to death, hurry thee before the throne of 
 judgment, and hurry thy soul to hell. 
 
 The hope of the formalist and self-righteous, though 
 more refiued, is equally delusive as that of the sensualist 
 and the profane. The hope that rests on man will only 
 procure the curse of God. The confidence in moral excel¬ 
 lencies, in prayers, repentance, duties, which rejects Christ, 
 is but a refined act of rebellion against God; for it opposes 
 his appointed way of salvation, exalts the wisdom of the 
 creature against the wisdom of Jehovah,—substitutes an 
 imperfect, defective, and polluted obedience, instead of 
 the perfect righteousness of the Saviour, as its hope of 
 pardon and acceptance before God. It debases the Law, 
 degrades the Gospel, dishonours the Saviour, and renders 
 his work and his grace vain and unprofitable. “ For if 
 righteousness come by the Law, then Christ is dead in vain.” 
 No hope but that which rests upon the person, the work, 
 the redemption, and the grace of Jesus, will ever bear the 
 trial of the great decisive day. But happy, happy is he. 
 
f 
 
 ANCHOR OF HOPE. 
 
 265 
 
 who has fled to Christ for refuge ! The world rolls on 
 through all its sublunary changes ; but his hope is within the 
 veil, beyond the stormy sea. He has hold, firm hold, of 
 Him who is the Rock of Ages, the Rock of Eternity; and 
 all his hopes are secured by the faithfulness of a covenant 
 God. His Anchor of Hope, sure in itself, is stedfastly 
 fixed before the Eternal Throne ; and though the believing 
 soul may be driven about, and agitated by the winds and 
 waves of affliction and trial, secure by union with him, 
 it never can be lost. He shall experience constant pre¬ 
 servation, and be safely landed, in the end, on the shores 
 where he would be. The storms of life shall only.carry 
 him forward to his desired port; as the ark of old was pre" 
 served and supported on and by the waters of that deluge, 
 which overwhelmed all besides, till it landed on the moun¬ 
 tains of the new world. 
 
 Come, my fellow-sinner, thou art exposed through sin 
 and misery to all the vicissitudes and storms of mortal life ; 
 all its pleasures and enjoyments are blasted through sin, 
 are unsatisfying in their possession, and rapidly passing 
 away; so that the trust which is placed in them will first 
 deceive, and then destroy. As a ship without an anchor, 
 upon a stormy sea, so is a sinner on the sea of life with¬ 
 out Christ; but behold the blessing set before thee in the 
 Gospel! it is Jesus, the Anchor of Hope, sure and stedfast. 
 He has been prepared for the design of saving sinners, by 
 the power of the Holy Ghost resting on his human nature. 
 He is adapted, in his person, his work, and characters, to 
 accomplish all a sinner can need, and is set forth by God 
 for faith to embrace, and for hope to rely upon. In what 
 does the mariner place his greatest earthly confidence in the 
 time of extremity ? In the strength and security of his 
 anchor. So let the believer hold fast by Jesus, encouraged 
 by the promises of his word. When the sinner feels his 
 danger, he is then more apt to fear, and more cautious of 
 what he ventures to trust upon. He examines the object 
 of his hope, and the warrant he has to hope in it. Rut the 
 more minutely examined, the more excellent, the more 
 
266 
 
 SERIES X.— ESSAY V. 
 
 glorious, the more suitable, will this Saviour appear in him¬ 
 self ; and the more evident will be the encouragement of 
 the guilty penitent to cleave to him, from the invitations 
 and encouragement of the Divine word. 
 
 Doubt not then, thou broken-hearted penitent, sur¬ 
 rounded with the fears of guilt, the storms of conviction 
 and temptation. When the dark clouds of guilt arise, and 
 darken thy sky, intercepting the Sun of Righteousness; 
 and the winds begin to agitate thy soul; still hold fast by 
 Christ, and remember, that an anchor is designed for use, 
 and this Anchor of Hope is cast for faith to take hold of. 
 (Heb. vi. 18.) 
 
 Dismiss thy fears, thou trembling believer ! They arise 
 only from contracted or defective views of Christ, and the 
 weakness of thy faith. Thy Anchor is sure; the ground on 
 which it rests is secure, the fulness and the faithfulness of 
 Christ thy Saviour. Here there can be no possibility of 
 doubt. But have I really hold of it ? and shall my faith 
 hold fast to the end ? These are questions which you 
 think may justly agitate and perplex your mind. Do you 
 really see your need of such a Saviour l Are you resting for 
 all your salvation upon him ; and desiring all that salva¬ 
 tion that is in him ? Then take encouragement; thy 
 faith is the faith of God’s elect; and though its lively 
 exercises may be shaken, and your comforts waver, he will 
 yet pray for thee, as he did for one of his disciples of old, 
 that thy faith fail not. Therefore rejoice: thy soul shall 
 not perish, but be brought unto the land of everlasting life. 
 
 The more you realize these views, the more will they 
 support and console thee; the more will they tend to sanc¬ 
 tify and elevate thy soul. Live not then at so low a rate: 
 let faith and hope retain their hold of Jesus. Be not dis¬ 
 couraged at feeling the storm ; the Anchor is not designed 
 to prevent this, though it be secure. This is the season for 
 storms and trials ; the haven of rest is above. Expect these 
 scenes of trial here ; but in all look to Jesus, and in all 
 trust in Him. 
 
 While the Anchor is sure, the cable of faith also has a 
 
ANCHOR OF HOPE. 
 
 267 
 
 secure hold ; and the power of God shall hold both, for the 
 salvation of his people, who are “ kept by the power of 
 God through faith unto salvation .”—Pray then only for 
 more faith to trust and to love the Saviour more. This will 
 be to the glory of his Name, as well as to your own sanc¬ 
 tification and consolation. 
 
 What a beautiful assemblage of ideas has the Apostle 
 put together to express the design of God, in the security 
 and felicity of the Christian ; who, feeling his need and 
 danger, has fled to Christ, and reclines all his hope upon 
 Him ! No expectation can be too large for his faith, since 
 it cannot exceed the power of God, the fulness of Christ, 
 the grace of his Spirit, and the precious promises of his 
 word. For “ God, willing more abundantly to shew unto 
 the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, con¬ 
 firmed it with an oath; that by two immutable things, in 
 which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a 
 strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold 
 upon the hope set before us : which hope we have as an 
 Anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which 
 entereth into that within the veil, whither the Forerunner 
 is for us entered, even Jesus,” constituted, after the order 
 of Melchisedec, the Priest and the King upon the Throne 
 for ever. (Heb. vi. 17—20.) 
 
268 
 
 SERIES X.—ESSAY VI. 
 
 ESSAY VI. 
 
 SMtfjmtancG 
 
 In this world of earth and .sense, a title to some great 
 estate gives honour and respect, and often procures a most 
 commanding influence among our fellow-creatures; nor 
 ought we to attempt to diminish its influence, since it 
 tends to promote the established order of God in the due 
 subordination of the different ranks of men, and so to pre¬ 
 serve the peace and welfare of society. But what are all 
 the riches or possessions of this world, in comparison of 
 the riches of grace ; the possessions which faith opens to 
 the prospect of the true believer ? Whatever advantages 
 may be derived on earth from earthly possessions ; to be 
 rich towards God is infinitely superior in its eternal conse¬ 
 quences. Who, then, is so truly great, when viewed as to 
 the whole extent of his being, and in his eternal relations, 
 as the real Christian, the child of God, the heir of glory ? 
 Here, perhaps, he has no possession ; nothing which he can 
 call his own ; no riches, nor honours, nor influence among 
 men; yet “ all things are his,” since “ he is Christ’s.” Here 
 he has no inheritance ; but how glorious that to which he 
 is entitled by the promise of the Gospel ! It is none other 
 than all the fulness of Christ Jesus. “ The Lord Jehovah,” 
 says he, “ is the Portion of mine Inheritance.” By faith 
 he views the immensity of his possession, suited to the 
 nature, equal to the wants, and commensurate with the 
 duration, of his immortal soul. And, though the earthly 
 house of this tabernacle be dissolved, when all earthly good 
 shall pass away for ever, then “ he knows that he has 
 a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal 
 in the heavens,” where the Lord his Redeemer shall be 
 
INHERITANCE. 269 
 
 the Object of his delight, and the Source of his felicity 
 for ever. 
 
 This opens to us a new view of the preciousness and 
 grace, the sufficiency and glory, of the all-comprehending 
 Object of our faith and love. Under the title of The 
 Portion of Jacob, we have already considered the na¬ 
 ture of this Inheritance as all-sufficient in itself to the soul 
 of man, constant, ever present, never failing the believer 
 here, and everlasting enduring hereafter. We would now, 
 then, take a different view of the subject, and inquire how 
 Christ Jesus may be considered as the Inheritance of his 
 people, and view the title as obtained and made over to 
 them, by their Elder Brother in human nature. This will 
 discover to us the persons to whom this right and title be¬ 
 longs, who may claim it now by faith, and are assured of 
 its eternal enjoyment. Oh, happy are the people who are in 
 such a case ! With him as their Inheritance, the poorest 
 are rich indeed ; whereas, without him the richest are poor 
 for eternity. 
 
 1. In every point of view, we must trace up all our 
 blessings and hopes as sinners, to the eternal love of our 
 Redeemer; and we know, that all our spiritual possessions 
 and enjoyments are only in and through him. —The inhe¬ 
 ritance of the Law has long been forfeited by the transgres¬ 
 sion of our first parent; the gates of paradise for ever 
 barred, and the access to the original tree of life for ever 
 prohibited to fallen creatures. No longer can we approach 
 near to God in that way, nor receive our blessings from 
 that source. This the Apostle has fully decided. Be¬ 
 lievers are “ heirs," says he, “ according to the promise .” 
 (Gal. iii. 29.) “ But if the inheritance be of the Law, it is 
 no more of promise .” (ver. 18.) If, indeed, “ there had 
 been a law given which could have given life, verily righ¬ 
 teousness should have been by the Law. But the Scripture 
 hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of 
 Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.” (21,22.) 
 The inheritance of grace is the effect of covenant love, con¬ 
 firmed, according to the terms of that covenant, by the 
 
270 
 
 SERIES X.—ESSAY VI. 
 
 precious blood, the cross and passion of our adorable Sa¬ 
 viour, who took our nature, that, as our Kinsman, he might 
 be able to become our Redeemer. We have, in the Jew¬ 
 ish polity, a beautiful representation of this ; for when a 
 person or a family was enslaved, and the inheritance was 
 sold away from its original possessor, the nearest of kin 
 (’hu) had the right of redemption. He who was the 
 avenger of the blood of his kinsman, was also the redeemer 
 of his person, or of the inheritance which had been alie¬ 
 nated. “ If thy brother be waxen poor, and hath sold 
 away some of his possession; and if any of his kin come 
 to redeem it, then shall he redeem that which his bro¬ 
 ther sold.” (Lev. xxv. 25: see Ruth ii. 20; iv. 4—6; 
 Jer. xxxii. 7, &c.) The possession was thus brought back 
 again into the family which originally held it. No doubt we 
 have here the shadow of good things to come, the body of 
 which is Christ. The lost inheritance is a just resemblance 
 of our state, who, by the rebellion of our first father, have 
 lost all title to Divine favour or inheritance in the love of 
 God; while our Kinsman-Redeemer perfectly fulfils his 
 office, and of sovereign grace redeems and restores the 
 forfeited possession. He, “ in all things, was made like 
 unto us,” that he might call us brethren. “ Made of a 
 woman, he was made under the Law to redeem us who 
 were under the Law, that we might obtain the adoption of 
 sons.” (Gal. iv. 4, &c.) Hence the lowliness of his birth, 
 the sorrows of his life, the agonies of Gethsemane, and 
 the tortures of his cross. What were these but the ran¬ 
 som of our souls, the price of our redemption ? who are 
 redeemed, not “ with corruptible things, as silver and 
 gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb 
 without blemish and without spot,” whom God hath raised 
 from the dead, and exalted to glory, that our faith and 
 hope might be in God. (1 Pet. i. 18—21.) Let the name 
 of our Jesus be blessed, who hath thus become the Almighty 
 Redeemer of his people. Our inheritance in grace and 
 glory is altogether dependent upon him : the Avenger of 
 our wrongs, the Ransom of our souls, the Redeemer of 
 
INHERITANCE. 
 
 271 
 
 our forfeited rights, and the Author of life eternal to pos¬ 
 sess them.—But not only are our blessings derived from 
 him, but, 
 
 2. All the blessings which a sinner can hope to enjoy are 
 in him. —He himself is the Sum and Substance of all ex¬ 
 cellency, and of all enjoyment. In his person, as Im¬ 
 manuel, “ are laid up all the treasures of wisdom and 
 knowledge ; ” in his person is “ all the fulness of the God¬ 
 head ,” all the glories of heaven and earth. To have Christ 
 as ours is to have all, since he is the “ All, and in all.” His 
 presence and favour, enjoyed by faith, is heaven upon earth: 
 His presence and favour above, is the glory of heaven it¬ 
 self. Let me have Christ; and if I know my riches, I 
 shall have nothing left to be desired. Well might an 
 Apostle say, “ To whom shall we go but unto thee? Thou 
 hast the words of eternal life.” This is the language of 
 faith in every true believer. A discovery of guilt makes 
 Jesus precious as a Saviour ; and a sense of want makes 
 him precious in the infinite provisions of his grace, whose 
 all-sufficiency can never be exhausted, and whose infinite 
 fulness can never fail. It is the believer’s felicity that his 
 Inheritance is God himself, the Lord Jehovah; but t as 
 there can be no communion between the great Creator, as 
 an absolute God, and sinners, but only through his dis¬ 
 covery of himself in Christ Jesus, it is in him as a covenant 
 God in Christ Jesus, and especially in that person of the 
 Godhead, who “ hath become our salvation,” that the be¬ 
 liever rests his hope, and finds his blessedness. In the great 
 God our Saviour, Jehovah Jesus, the believer is entitled, 
 not only to this or that particular blessing, but becomes 
 “ an heir of God.” He has the Lord himself as the Por¬ 
 tion of his inheritance, upon the ground of covenant love 
 and promise ; for all the attributes of Jehovah, all his infi¬ 
 nite perfections, all his abilities of blessing, stand engaged 
 to call, to keep, to bless, and save his people. (Rom. viii. 
 13 ; Gal. iv. 7.) The Portion of Jacob is not like that of 
 the worldling; for He is the former of all things, and Israel 
 is the rod of his inheritance ; the Lord Jehovah, God of 
 
272 
 
 SERIES X.—ESSAY VI. 
 
 Hosts is his name. (Jer. x. 16.) What an astonishing and 
 delightful view does this open to the mind of the believer! 
 He who filleth all in all, who is the Former of all things, 
 is not only with him, has not only given himself for him, 
 but gives himself to him for everlasting enjoyment. He 
 has made over, by covenant promise, all that is in himself 
 communicable to creatures for his felicity ; all his power, 
 grace, love, and faithfulness for his present support and 
 defence, and all his fulness and excellencies for his ever¬ 
 lasting inheritance. This honour have all his saints in time 
 and through eternity. When the believer gets beyond 
 this world, that eternal life which awaits him, as it is the 
 purchase of his blood, so is it in itself only the enjoyment 
 of his presence, of union and communion with himself. 
 i‘ Thou shalt shew me,” says the believer, “ the path of 
 life; in thy presence is fulness of joy, and at thy right 
 hand there are pleasures for evermore.” “ I will behold 
 thy face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake 
 in thy likeness.” Then that God, who is the strength of 
 his people, when flesh and heart faileth, will himself be¬ 
 come “ their Portion for ever.” This view animated the 
 mind of the Apostle, when, in the confidence of adopting 
 grace and fatherly love, he exclaimed, “ Behold, now 
 are we the sons of God ; and it doth not yet appear what 
 we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we 
 shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” (1 John 
 iii. 2.) This is the confidence which inspired the Psalmist 
 when he sums up all the security of the church in that one 
 great and comprehensive view, “ This God is our God 
 for ever and ever ” (Psal. xlviii. 12—14.) Let, then, the 
 believer behold his glorious inheritance in the presence 
 and enjoyment of God his Saviour! This is that Inheritance 
 which alone is “ incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth 
 not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the 
 power of God through faith unto salvation.” How beau¬ 
 tifully expressed by the Prophet! “ There the sun shall 
 be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall 
 the moon give light unto thee: but the Lord Jehovah 
 
INHERITANCE. 
 
 273 
 
 shall be thine everlasting light, and thy God thy glory 
 Thy Sun, the Sun of Righteousness, shall no more go down; 
 neither shall thy moon withdraw itself; for the Lord Jehovah 
 (himself) shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of 
 thy mourning shall be ended. (Isa. lx. 19, 20: see also 
 Deut. xxxiii. 26—29.) 
 
 But the idea of an inheritance implies something more 
 than the simple idea of a portion or possession: it in¬ 
 cludes in it a certain mode of coming into possession : it 
 is something which a person obtains a title to, by right 
 of succession or relationship. An inheritance, properly 
 speaking, is “ a perpetual right or interest in lands in¬ 
 vested in a person and his heirsand the inheritor is one 
 who comes into possession of a patrimony or hereditary pos¬ 
 session, by succession or hereditary right, which can be 
 the case with none but the heir. If ever the term be ap¬ 
 plied, as it sometimes is, to simple possession, it is by an 
 improper or inaccurate use of the term in common language. 
 Let us then inquire a little further, into the title which the 
 believing sinner obtains to the glorious inheritance of 
 light, and the manner in which it is made over and secured 
 to him. 
 
 That a sinner can have no legal right, no right of natural 
 succession, is self-evident. The rebellion of our first 
 parent forfeited our inheritance, to which we have ever 
 since ceased to have any claim; nor can all the power, 
 wisdom, or goodness of fallen nature restore the title. The 
 purchase is far beyond our ability : we indeed have no 
 valuable consideration to give; we are nothing ; we have 
 nothing but what we have received, nothing but what our 
 corruption has polluted and defiled. Who then can re¬ 
 deem the lost inheritance ? “ The redemption of the soul 
 is precious, but it ceaseth for ever.’ , Upon the ground of 
 right then, or of merit, we have no claim ; yea, we have no 
 hope. The natural relation to God, as his children, is 
 dissolved by sin; and the relation to him in which we now 
 stand, as rebels, leaves us nothing to expect, as our right¬ 
 ful inheritance, but everlasting misery. It is grace, grace 
 
 VOL. v. T 
 
274 
 
 SERIES X.—ESSAY VI. 
 
 alone, which could change, or that has changed, our in¬ 
 heritance of sorrow and despair, for the prospect of life 
 and immortality in the heavens. A purchase indeed has 
 been made, and the inheritance redeemed, but not bv us: 
 “ Christ loved the church, and gave himself for it.” The 
 purchased inheritance to him was dearly bought, that it 
 might come again to us through him, through his union 
 with us, and our union with him, as our brother in human 
 nature. And “ this is the record, that God hath given to 
 us eternal life ; and this life is in his Son.” (1 John v. 11.) 
 Hence though the natural title be for ever lost, it comes to 
 us again, according to the new dispensation of the cove¬ 
 nant of grace, by relationship and right of succession; and 
 the believer, as a child of God, is an heir of God through 
 Christ, and by right of relationship to him. This is the pe¬ 
 culiar and most exhilarating view which is presented to 
 the believer, in this title of the Redeemer ; as to us, in¬ 
 deed, the whole plan of redemption, with all its provisions 
 and blessings, even that which fits us for the enjoyment, 
 as well as the title and enjoyment itself, comes as the 
 free gift of eternal and undeserved love. To this view the 
 Apostle directs our faith, even to that eternal love of the 
 Father, which, placing his people in Christ Jesus, in Him 
 determines to bestow all blessings upon them, and to give 
 them, in Him, the sure and rightful title to them. “ Blessed 
 be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who 
 hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly 
 places in Christ; according as he hath chosen us in Him 
 before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy, 
 and without blame before him in love; having predesti¬ 
 nated us unto the adoption of children, by Jesus Christ to 
 himself, according to the good pleasure of his will.” (Eph. 
 i. 3.) What infinite love here claims our astonishment and 
 praise ! Were a prince to lake a poor beggar into his house, 
 determined from bis poverty and rags to make him a man 
 of great authority, and the heir of his riches, his honours, 
 his dignity, and his glory; this would afford but a faint 
 emblem of the love of God in exalting a sinner, a rebel 
 
INHERITANCE. 
 
 275 
 
 iiUo his favour, ami into the enjoyment of all his commu¬ 
 nicable excellencies. Under this view, the Scripture 
 beautifully represents it : “ He raiseth up the poor out of 
 the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to 
 set them among princes, and to make them inherit the 
 throne of glory.” (1 Sam. ii. 8 : so also Psa. cxiii. 7, 8.) 
 
 Well might an Apostle say, “ God so loved the world;” 
 for this is love, the height, the depth, the length, and 
 breadth of which passeth knowledge ! All the blessings 
 therefore of this covenant, of this dispensation of mercy, 
 with all that is preparatory for its enjoyment, in the mind 
 of sinners, is, as it must be, the free gift of God in Christ 
 Jesus. The gift of pardon, and of righteousness, does 
 away the legal disability of the sinner; who, as a rebel 
 under the sentence of death, has no right to any possession 
 in the heavenly world ; and the gift of his Spirit, in sanc¬ 
 tification and preservation, forms the mind to a meetness 
 and suitableness for the enjoyment. In no other way 
 could a sinner obtain or hope for the possession of 
 glory. Whatever had been left for sinners to do, would 
 certainly have been left undone, unless, in the covenant of 
 redemption, the Spirit of the Lord had engaged to work 
 it in them. While therefore nothing remains to be done 
 as to the acquisition, he has promised to effect in them 
 that which must fit them for the enjoyment; and when 
 exhorted to “ work out our salvation with fear and trem¬ 
 bling,” we are informed, “ it is God that worketh in us, 
 both to will and to do of his own good pleasure.” (Phil, 
 ii. 12, 13.) Every necessary qualification is the free gift of 
 God; and when, seeing our need, we desire and ask the 
 blessing, the promise of God secures its communication. 
 Thus prepared and provided by Sovereign Grace, it is re¬ 
 served for those who, according to the terms of the new- 
 covenant dispensation, have the right and title to it; 
 viz. thus, 
 
 1. By union with Christ Jesus as their Elder Brother, 
 and become the children of God, and brought into his 
 family; for children only are the rightful heirs of a father■, 
 
276 SERIES X.—ESSAY VI. 
 
 and brethren of an elder brother. This leads us into 
 that deep but delightful mystery of redeeming love, the 
 believer’s union with his Lord; one with Christ, and 
 Christ with him, Their title and their blessings are mu¬ 
 tually the same : found in Christ, they claim in him: “ in 
 him,” says the Apostle, “we have obtained an Inheritance.” 
 (Eph. i. 11.) Upon this alone every right and title of the 
 believer is grounded, to every blessing he enjoys or hopes 
 for, and much more to the glorious Inheritance itself. 
 
 When entering into the eternal possession, they will be 
 presented as in Christ; and when the Apostle is alluding to 
 this (Eph. v. 25—27), he considers their blessings secured 
 by their close relation to the Redeemer, as a wife to the 
 husband, who enjoys all things in his right, and as legally 
 one with him. But as an inheritance naturally falls, or is 
 bequeathed, to the children, who have a natural right to the 
 father’s inheritance, or the possession of the family; so 
 according to the order and constitution of the covenant of 
 grace, the Eternal Jehovah has established a beautiful simi¬ 
 larity, who, as he is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, is our God and our Father in him. He gives 
 indeed to sinners according to his own purpose and grace; 
 but in order to their enjoyment, he takes sinners as his 
 sons and daughters. By his adoption, he appoints them as 
 such; and by his sovereign grace and power he makes them 
 such. This no doubt is an act of his own free grace; for 
 what inducement could he discern in rebel creatures for 
 such an act of beneficence ? Here then is the ground of 
 all their privileges, his adopting love: and in consequence 
 they are made partakers of his Spirit to bring them into the 
 privilege; for “ because ye are sons, God hath sent forth 
 the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Fa¬ 
 ther.” (Gal. iv. 6.) This is what our Lord refers to, when 
 he insists upon the necessity of a new birth ; the being born 
 again, born from above, born of the Spirit, in order to the 
 entering into his kingdom. This, says the Apostle James, 
 he hath effected in us, who are believers : “ of his own will 
 begat he us, by the word of truth.” (James i. 18.) And 
 
INHERITANCE, 
 
 277 
 
 the Apostle Peter blesses God for the same : “ Who hath 
 begotten us again,” says he, “ to a lively hope by the 
 resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,” in order to 
 our possessing that eternal inheritance. (See 1 Pet. i. 3, 4.) 
 Partakers of this Spirit, they become, 
 
 2. Believing sinners , and are thus by faith actually 
 united to Christ Jesus: they live upon him, and live in 
 him: believing the testimony of God as perishing sinners, 
 they fly for refuge to take hold of the hope set before them, 
 and thus shelter themselves as in him. The Apostle has 
 stated this as the Divine means of entering experimentally 
 into this union with Christ: “ Ye are all the children of 
 God by faith in Christ Jesus.” (Gal. iii. 26—29.) Hence 
 united to Jesus, they become vitally and experimentally in¬ 
 terested in all that he has done ; take hold of his precious 
 promises, claim their right to all upon them, and rejoice in 
 them as securing all even to returning rebels. By this 
 means they are brought, 
 
 3. To bear the character and exercise the dispositio?i 
 of children .—Without this there could be no capacity of 
 inheriting the holy kingdom of Christ Jesus : our heavenly 
 Father, therefore, in the purposes of his love, could never 
 by the most wonderful grace and exertion of almighty 
 power, prepare the Inheritance for them, and then leave 
 them incapable of the possession? No—“How shall I 
 put thee among the children, and give thee the pleasant 
 land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations ?” says the 
 yearning heart of a heavenly Father. “ And I said. Thou 
 shalt call me. My Father; and shalt not turn away from 
 me.” (Jer. iii. 19.) Hence by the Spirit of grace, ful¬ 
 filling the purposes of adoption, they do acknowledge the 
 dear relation, delight in the privilege, and would not 
 change the honourable estate into which they are brought 
 by grace, for ten thousand worlds. A new disposition 
 conformable to this relation and character is wrought in 
 their hearts, suited to their state, and to the nature of that 
 spiritual and holy Inheritance to which they are advancing. 
 The great design of the preaching of the Gospel, under the 
 
SERIES X.—ESSAY VI. 
 
 278 
 
 power of the Spirit, is to produce this: opening the eyes 
 of sinners, turning them from the power of satan unto 
 God ; ** that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and 
 inheritance among them which are sanctified, by faith that 
 is in Christ Jesus.” (See Acts xxvi. 18; Col. i. 12, 13.) 
 When convinced of sin, and when the grace of the Spirit 
 has opened the eyes upon divine and spiritual realities> 
 faith takes hold of the blessings : and thus the heart is 
 brought to love, and delight in, the filial duties of the 
 spiritual family; to honour and obey their heavenly 
 Father, and promote his glory in the world, and in the 
 church. Thus when the Spirit of adoption has wrought 
 the disposition of children, then their filial relation is ma¬ 
 nifested; “ for as many as are led by the Spirit of God, 
 they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the 
 spirit of bondage again, to fear; but ye have received the 
 Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The 
 Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are 
 the children of God : and if children, then heirs ; heirs of 
 God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer 
 with him, that we may be also glorified together. For I 
 reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not 
 worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be re¬ 
 vealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature 
 waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the 
 creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by 
 reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope; be¬ 
 cause the creature itself also shall be delivered from the 
 bondage of corruption, into the glorious liberty of the 
 children of God.” (See Rom. viii. 14—21; Gal. iv. 
 4-7.) 
 
 Yea, this exercise of faith, this work of the Spirit, these 
 childlike dispositions, affections, and desires, together with 
 the frequent testimony of a Father’s love, manifested by 
 the Spirit to the soul in the way of duty, are the earnests 
 of the future enjoyment. Thus, in believing, his people 
 are “ sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is tlie 
 earnest of our inheritance, until the redemption of the 
 
INHERITANCE. 279 
 
 purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.” (Eph. 
 i. 13, 14.) 
 
 What sovereign grace, thus to prepare and bestow the 
 inheritance ! nor less to prepare the heart of rebel sinners 
 for the enjoyment! Oh, Spirit of adoption! form our 
 hearts into the character, and enliven our hope and ex¬ 
 pectation of the enjoyment, that we may be “ followers of 
 God as dear children,” till we come to the possession. 
 
 But every blessing thus made over to the children of 
 God, the children of faith, we behold in the Scripture, in 
 the exercise of faith, secured to them under the character 
 of returning sinners, who are always the heirs of promise, 
 by the covenant oath and promises of God. This, as re¬ 
 corded in his word, we may consider as the title-deeds of 
 the inheritance, secured as firm as a covenant God can 
 make them, by his own faithfulness and truth. “ God, 
 willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise 
 the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath, 
 that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible 
 for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who 
 have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us 
 in the Gospel.” (Heb. vi. 17.) Observe how sweetly the 
 character of a returning sinner and the heir of promise is 
 here blended together, that the humble penitent may not 
 hesitate, as though he was excluded by the high appear¬ 
 ance of the character, but assure himself of the fatherly 
 love of his reconciled God, who, having thus bestowed his 
 grace, will welcome his return, and admit him, even him, 
 again into all the privileges of his beloved family. (See 
 Luke xv. 11—32.) 
 
 The word and promise of God constitute the only 
 ground of hope to any of his creatures. The highest 
 angel in his presence possesses nothing but as his own 
 gift of grace, and is dependent upon that grace for its 
 continuance. How much more so the sinner, who has 
 forfeited all by his rebellious contempt of his authority, 
 and disobedience to his commands ! So peculiarly is this 
 the case, that we generally, though improperly, limit the 
 
SERIES X.—ESSAY VI. 
 
 280 
 
 idea of grace to that mercy which is shewn to sinners* 
 In vain had any transgressor hoped or attempted to return 
 to God, bad he not himself devised and shewn to us the 
 way in which we might return with acceptance, and had 
 he not engaged by promise to receive the returning 
 sinner. Our hopes can go no further than his word; and, 
 therefore, can only be founded upon Christ Jesus, as he is 
 there set forth in his person and in his work ; and can find 
 no certainty but in the promises of his truth. Oh, blessed 
 be the name of our Redeemer! in him there is an all- 
 sufficiency of all we need ; in him we have exceeding great 
 and precious promises ; and “ in him all the promises of 
 God are yea and amen.” The Gospel, therefore, which 
 is the manifestation of the purpose of God in the cove¬ 
 nant of redemption, the dispensation of the grace of God, 
 is constantly spoken of under this very idea: it is “the 
 promise,” and as such opposed to the claims of law. “ If 
 the Inheritance be of the Law, it is no more of promise ; but 
 God gave it to Abraham by promise. Wherefore then 
 serveth the Law ? It was added because of transgression, 
 till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made; 
 and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a Mediator. 
 Ts the Law then against the Promises of God ? God for¬ 
 bid ! for if there had been a law which could have given 
 life, verily righteousness should have been by the Law. 
 But the Scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the 
 promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them 
 that believe.” (Gal. iii. 18, 21, 22, 29.) “ Heirs ac¬ 
 cording to the promise ,” says the Apostle; not on any 
 legal claim, but the covenant promise of God, received 
 and pleaded by faith (compare Heb. ix. 15); in which 
 the Apostle tells us, that Christ Jesus has fulfilled his 
 mediatorial work, and by his death secured, that they 
 which are called might receive the promise of eternal in¬ 
 heritance. When the middle wall of partition was broken 
 down, and the Gentiles called into the church of God, the 
 great object was that they might receive the promise in 
 Christ by the Gospel. (Eph. iii. 6, and Tit. iii. 4—7.) 
 
INHERITANCE. 
 
 281 
 
 What a most encouraging view is here presented to us of 
 the nature of the Gospel, whereby the hope of a penitent 
 believing sinner is eternally secured, independently of any 
 worthiness in himself, by the free grace and the covenant 
 promise of God in Christ Jesus! Here let faith take 
 hold, and hold fast, and preserve securely in the heart 
 its title to pardon, life, and heavenly blessedness. That 
 hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised 
 before the world began, in and to Christ Jesus, the Head 
 of his redeemed ; for the promise before the ivorld began 
 could only be to Him, the Surety of the covenant, who had 
 undertaken their cause in the counsels of eternity, and to 
 whom all the promises were given on behalf of his elect 
 and redeemed people. (Tit. i. 1, 2; 2 Tim. i. 1.) Though 
 his children may be disobedient, and deserve and receive 
 chastisement, yet still the loving-kindness and truth of 
 God shall never fail to Him, till all his seed be brought 
 to the inheritance of glory. (Psa. lxxxix. 28—34; Isa. 
 lix. 21.) 
 
 The inheritance can only be possessed on the death of 
 the relative, through whom the right of inheritance de¬ 
 scends. The Apostle, therefore, has represented the 
 blessings of salvation as not only a gift by promise, but as 
 confirmed by the dying love of Christ Jesus, and by liis 
 own testamentary bequest; “ for where a testament is, 
 there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. 
 For a testament is of force after men are dead ; otherwise 
 it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth.” And 
 as all things were, therefore, typically, by the Law cleansed 
 by blood, so without shedding of blood there is no remis¬ 
 sion. The blood, therefore, of our great Mediator has 
 been shed to take away sin, to remove the bar which lay 
 in the way of our enjoying the inheritance; and thus, by 
 his one offering, he hath now perfected for ever them that 
 are sanctified, and “ we have boldness to enter, through 
 the blood of Christ, into the holiest.” (Heb. ix. 15—18; 
 and x. passim.) 
 
 This view of the subject gives a peculiar beauty and 
 
282 
 
 SERIES X.—ESSAY VI. 
 
 security to it. For when once that which is made over 
 by a testamentary bequest, or by right of inheritance and 
 succession, is confirmed by the death of the testator or 
 possessor, it becomes irrevocable: no other terms or con¬ 
 ditions can be added but those which are stated in the 
 will; and nothing can set aside the right of the lawful and 
 acknowledged heir. If, then, Jesus has bequeathed all 
 the blessings of his salvation to returning sinners, who 
 shall deny them their right, or the consolation of its enjoy¬ 
 ment l If he has secured all by his death, to the heirs of 
 promise, there can be no alteration for ever : and the 
 sinner who comes to God, in Christ, has a right to that 
 promise, and may plead it before the Throne, for all the 
 blessings of salvation. In this view our Lord alludes, when 
 he says to his disciples, “ Peace I leave with you, my peace 
 I give unto you and again, “ I appoint unto you a king¬ 
 dom, as my Father hath appointed unto me.” The grant is 
 sure and irrevocable, and its posession must be “ sure to 
 all the seed.” Their title is indefeasible and unalienable, 
 the death of Jesus. He who condescended to become 
 their Elder Brother in human nature, hath established their 
 claim beyond a controversy ; and none shall ever prevent 
 their enjoyment of his blessings of grace and his inherit¬ 
 ance of glory. No other terms can ever be advanced 
 than those which were fulfilled in him. The promise can 
 never be altered, nor its conditions changed. The prayer 
 of faith shall obtain the blessing, and the returning peni¬ 
 tent be admitted to all the privileges of the children and 
 family of God. The believing sinner shall be secured for 
 glory. Let faith, then, survey its glorious inheritance. 
 If, with a heart formed for its enjoyment, the believer would 
 frequently contemplate the views which the Gospel opens 
 to the eye of faith, the grand objects set before us, the 
 blessings of the promise, the glory which is to be revealed, 
 and the eternal kingdom which awaits the children of 
 God,—how would it enlarge the heart, and elevate it above 
 the gross pleasures, the empty glories, the fading riches, 
 the vanishing possessions of earth ! Such was its effect 
 
INHERITANCE. 
 
 283 
 
 upon the believers of old, who, when persuaded of and 
 embracing this promise, declared themselves “strangers 
 and pilgrims upon earth.” (Heb. xi.) How poor is the 
 richest inheritance on earth, in comparison of that of the 
 believer ! The natural portion of man is indeed nothing 
 but sin and sorrow, which will unite themselves with every 
 earthly good, and put vanity into it. The richest man on 
 earth, the mightiest possessor, is, without Christ, but an 
 object of pity. 
 
 Ye rich and noble, who grow great and self-sufficient 
 in your extended possessions; who boast of secure titles 
 of along succession; what is that long succession but itself 
 a proof of the uncertain tenure by which your possessions 
 have been held, and by which they are now held by you? 
 Ye who are adding house to house, and field to field, be¬ 
 hold the vanity of your pursuit, and turn your attention to 
 better things. Take the most enviable situation upon 
 earth ; feed a dying creature with all the honours and 
 glory, with all the fame and renown, which earth can 
 yield; let him accumulate all the treasures which earth 
 can alford him, and riot in all the enjoyment and pleasures 
 of sense with which the world abounds ; still are they not 
 unsatisfying even in the present enjoyment? Are they 
 not uncertain and insecure? and, alas ! how soon do they 
 totally pass away ! But what is the degradation of that 
 poverty which is rich in faith, and which cannot prevent 
 the right of inheritance to the kingdom of glory? Be¬ 
 liever, though poor in this world, thou hast an inheritance 
 above : it is suited to the nature of an immortal soul,—it 
 is nothing less than the infinite fulness of thy Redeemer 
 himself. Its present earnests afford a satisfactory enjoy¬ 
 ment, which shall not pass away with the dying body, 
 but then be consummated. Death shall only realize thy 
 title, and place thee in the full and eternal possession, 
 O let me not then be satisfied without the knowledge of 
 Christ; without an interest in his pardoning mercy and his 
 sanctifying grace; without a vital union with him ! Then 
 shall he be my portion and inheritance for ever ; his Spirit 
 
284 
 
 SERIES X_ESSAY VI. 
 
 will become the earnest and the pledge, and give the pre¬ 
 sent foretaste, and will form my soul into a meetness for 
 the inheritance of the saints in light, and then bring me 
 securely there. Soon every thing shall else fail, and then 
 I shall know the value of this incorruptible inheritance, 
 whether my title be secure or not.—Believer! though in this 
 world you should meet with troubles and trials, affliction and 
 distress, poverty and want; remember that here is not thy 
 inheritance. Let the view bear thee up, carry thee on, 
 and help thee patiently to endure under all, till thou art 
 got through. Faith is the ground of patient hope ; and 
 surely with such prospect of blessings before thee, so un¬ 
 deserved, so graciously bestowed, so faithfully secured, 
 thou canst have no reason to complain now, let thy present 
 lot be whatever it may. How infinite the value of such a 
 hope! how sweet its solace under all the afflictions of life, 
 and especially in the moment of death ! All hope of hap¬ 
 piness in life without this is vain: and my situation of life, 
 blest with this prospect, must be happy, since nothing can 
 break the security of this hope, nor dissolve its joy; yea, 
 that which closes all below, is only the consummating of 
 this. Lessen then, believer, thy hold of earth ; take faster 
 hold of eternal realities ; of Jesus, by, through, and in whom, 
 thou art a possessor of all things. Wipe away thy fears, 
 dismiss thy sorrows, wait through all these changes for the 
 glories of eternity. This faith sustained the suffering 
 Christians of primitive times : under all, they believed 
 and fainted not, looking for the far more eternal and ex¬ 
 ceeding weight of glory. (See 2 Cor. iv. 13—18; v. 1—9.) 
 
 Let us then walk worthy of such glorious hopes, and as 
 the heirs of such a heavenly spiritual inheritance. Be ye 
 followers of God, as dear children ; walk as children of the 
 light, since God hath not appointed us unto wrath, but to 
 obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. (Ephes. v. 1—8; 
 1 Thess. v. 4 — LO ; 2 Thess. ii. 13—17.) Seeing that we 
 look for such things, let us be diligent, that we may be 
 found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless. (2 
 Pet. iff. 11—11.) We live beneath our privileges, beneath 
 
 V 
 
INHERITANCE. 
 
 285 
 
 our character, beneath our glorious expectations: how 
 shall we not, having such hope, purify ourselves even as 
 he is pure ? how shall we not desire and aim to be more 
 assimilated to that which we hope for, that state to which 
 we trust we are rapidly advancing through the dreariness of 
 time. Thus, O believer, while thy title is secure, and thy 
 possession certain in Christ Jesus ; thus shall thy interest in 
 these glories be more evident. Thy peace and joy will be 
 more uninterrupted here, thy thankfulness and gratitude 
 more excited, and a growing meetness be formed for the 
 enjoyment. The anticipation in the soul will then be more 
 sweet and delightful, till the full possession be attained above, 
 for the Holy “ Spirit of promise'’ will thus be the “ earnest 
 of our inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased 
 possession, unto the praise of his glory.” 
 
286 
 
 SERIES X.—ESSAY VII. 
 
 ESSAY VII. 
 of ttje Cljurct)* 
 
 The union of Christ with his people is the glory of the 
 covenant of redemption: it is the chief effort of Infinite 
 Wisdom and Power; and the noblest act of Sovereign 
 Grace, in the mystery of everlasting love. We find it 
 frequently represented in Scripture by the most striking, 
 expressive, and interesting allusions to those unions in 
 nature which are the closest and the most indissoluble; 
 the most effective in their communication, and the most 
 sensible in their enjoyment. By this, the love of Christ, 
 his care over his people, and his constant communication 
 of supply to them, are presented to the eye of faith in 
 the most engaging manner; their dependence upon him 
 enforced, their enjoyment of him encouraged, and their 
 security in him maintained. But amongst these, that 
 which we are now to consider is the most eminent; viz. 
 The close connexion which subsists between the head and 
 every part of a living body, as the source of sensation, of 
 nourishment, and direction ; indeed, of every communi¬ 
 cation and supply for the purposes of life and action. The 
 figure is not only used in Scripture, but very frequently in 
 common life : the governor or director of any society is 
 commonly called its head, and the collective society, there¬ 
 fore, bears the name of the body. Thus, we speak of the 
 head of an army; the head of a people; the head of any 
 place ; or the head of a house : and the propriety of the 
 figure is evident in each of these instances, by the least 
 consideration of the natural object, from which the allusion 
 is derived, but especially in its reference to the work and 
 offices of the Redeemer. If we consider the relation 
 
HEAD OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 287 
 
 which the head holds, or the offices and uses which it 
 performs to the body, we shall see how beautifully it figures 
 out the glory and the grace of Jesus, as holding and per¬ 
 forming the same spiritually to his body, the church. Our 
 faith and love will thus be confirmed; our comfort and the 
 refreshment of our souls increased; and our simple and 
 satisfactory reliance upon him established, by dwelling 
 upon the various interesting parts of this mystical, but 
 very intelligent, character of the Redeemer. Indeed, like 
 every other character of Christ in the sacred Scripture, it 
 tends to encourage the believer. While looking to Jesus, 
 realizing his connection with him, and living as he ought 
 in dependence upon him, it tends to lift him superior to 
 his difficulties, trials, and perplexities; and, while pro¬ 
 moting the glory of the Lord Jesus, to increase the con¬ 
 solation and the spiritual advancement of the humble 
 dependent Christian. 
 
 The first, and the principal, truth or doctrine which the 
 allusion is intended to impress upon our mind is, the 
 believer’s total dependence upon Christ, for the communi¬ 
 cation of all spiritual life, and the sustaining of all spiritual 
 vigour ; for this is the first office of the head, 
 
 1. That it is the source of all vital influence .—This 
 appears to be the case, even from the first formation of 
 the human body, and continues to be so in every stage 
 of its existence. The natural head being united to the 
 body, is the seat of all communication and influence : it is 
 the peculiar property of the head to communicate its virtue 
 through the whole, as it is the seat of life and of the 
 animal spirits, the spring of motion and of action. So is 
 Jesus the Head of union with his people ; the Head of 
 influence, and of all vital communication to all the mem¬ 
 bers of the body. “ The head pours and diffuses into all 
 the members, motion and sensation, by means of the animal 
 spirits, which, from the head as their spring, spread them¬ 
 selves through all the body, flowing through the nerves, 
 the channel of communication.” By something similar to 
 this the order of society is preserved in the political body; 
 
288 
 
 SERIES X.—ESSAY VII. 
 
 for from the seat of power are diffused, in their different 
 degrees, all the authority, the ability, and the influence 
 throughout the state, which preserve the life, the vigour, 
 and the health of the empire. But, in a spiritual view, 
 this admirably illustrates the relation which subsists between 
 Christ and his church. He, as the only source of life, 
 and grace, and strength, enlightens, enlivens, and invi¬ 
 gorates every member, from the greatest even to the least. 
 This Divine Head diffuses into them all they have and are; 
 all spiritual life, with all its sensations, motions, liveliness, 
 and operations. The first view, therefore, which faith 
 takes of him in this character is, as the Head of quickening 
 influence in himself, and as the living, and therefore as 
 the life-giving. Head of his people. 
 
 The state of all mankind by nature, one with another, is 
 the same—“ dead in trespasses and sins.” The situation 
 of Israel, as represented by the Prophet, (Ezek. xxxvii. 
 1—10), is the just representation of the state of mau, like 
 a valley of dry bones, without life or action. That man is 
 a rational creature, capable of being wrought upon by 
 motives, does not at all affect the truth of this statement; for 
 though naturally and rationally alive to the things of sense, 
 he is really spiritually dead to the things of God, destitute 
 of spiritual understanding, spiritual power, or spiritual 
 activity: as unable morally to help himself out of that 
 state, through the depravity of his nature and the corrup¬ 
 tion of his will, as the valley of dry bones to restore them¬ 
 selves to spiritual life. The inability, indeed, is not of the 
 same nature; but it is equally true, yet arising only from 
 his corrupted heart and affections, for which he must be 
 considered as accountable before God, and must incur 
 guilt and condemnation. His spiritual death is not, there¬ 
 fore, in one respect, like the natural death of the body, 
 • or the deathlike state of an inanimate subject; but its effects 
 are as morally certain, since he is not only dead to God, 
 but at enmity with God. As a rational and intelligent 
 agent, he is the proper subject of warning and admonition; 
 and his obligations, as the creature of God, are unchange- 
 
 / 
 
HEAD OF TIIE CHURCH, 
 
 289 
 
 ably the same; and his guilt in rejecting them can never 
 be prevented or lessened by the natural indisposition of 
 his heart to attend to, or obey, them. But while under 
 the power of his fallen state, he will as surely reject them 
 as any cause will surely produce its effect. What then 
 can be the hope of the servants of God, in performing their 
 office to call sinners to repentance ? Nothing but the 
 hope of the Prophet: “ Can these dry bones live?—Lord, 
 thou knowestbut “ Prophesy upon these bones;” “ Pro¬ 
 phesy unto the wind and “ Thus saitli the Lord God 
 unto these bones. Behold, I will cause breath to enter into 
 you, and ye shall live: and I will lay sinews upon you, 
 and cover you with skin, and put breath into you, and ye 
 shall live ; and ye shall know that I am Jehovah,” the living 
 and life’giving Lord. (Ezek. xxxvii. 5, 6; compare 11—14.) 
 Like the Prophet, therefore, at the command of God, we 
 exhort, we command; and his wind, his Holy Spirit, attends, 
 and renders the admonition, the exhortation, the per¬ 
 suasion effectual. The glorious truths of the Gospel are 
 unfolded to the mind ; and the whole truth of God, re¬ 
 ceived in faith, alarms, allures, quickens, and draws the 
 now spiritually living and believing soul to God; influences 
 it to all the actions, and sweetly blesses it with all the 
 consolations, of the spiritual and the heavenly life. But 
 this is wholly the effect of that Divine Grace which is com¬ 
 municated from Christ Jesus, the Head of his church, 
 whose office it is to quicken them to himself. Now, they 
 arise from the death of sin to the life of righteousness ; and 
 actually united with him by his Spirit, by virtue of union 
 with him they derive from him all life, all grace, all 
 strength and spiritual vigour. They know that they are 
 entirely indebted to him for their regeneration, their call¬ 
 ing, their sanctification, and their consolation, and so pass 
 on, through the life which they live in the Jlesh, living 
 spiritually by the faith of the Son of God. 
 
 The blessed Redeemer, indeed, fulfils this character 
 only towards, and in, his church and people. They only 
 are united to him by his Spirit in the exercise of faith, and 
 
 VOL. v. u 
 
290 
 
 SERIES X. —ESSAY VII. 
 
 so receive the communication which the Head imparts. The 
 natural head performs this office only to the body of which 
 it is a part, and which completes the fulness of that parti¬ 
 cular human frame ; and its vital communications are cir¬ 
 cumscribed by the members of the body. So the church, 
 which is the body of Christ, is said to be the “ fulness of 
 him which filleth all in all.” His mediatorial fulness con¬ 
 sists in possessing, or having in himself, all the members 
 of his church : he cannot be complete without them ; and in 
 them all his designs of grace, and all his purposes of love, 
 are consummated, and his mystical person is full and com¬ 
 plete. But as the head is of the same nature as the body, 
 so to become the Head of his church, he becomes (O 
 wonderful condescension!) as a part of them in taking 
 their nature; and it is in that very nature that he is ex¬ 
 alted especially to bear and fulfil the character before the 
 Throne (Eph. i. 20—23); from thence communicating his 
 vital power and influence by his Spirit through all the 
 members and parts of his mystical body. They all, and 
 each of them, are brought into union with them ; an union 
 experimentally realized by faith, and discovered by its sanc¬ 
 tifying and transforming efficacy in the heart and life of 
 every one of them. For “ if any man have not the 
 Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.” What, then, must 
 be the character of all those who thus rejoice in Christ 
 Jesus? There is a real, vital, experimental union between 
 Christ and them : they are quickened by him, and there¬ 
 fore live upon him. This, according to another very simi¬ 
 lar allusion, is compared to the insertion of a scion or 
 branch into a stock, which, thus ingrafted, becomes a part 
 of it, and receives vital moisture from it, for all the pur¬ 
 poses of vegetable growth and fruitfulness. Separate from 
 Him, we can do nothing ; but abiding in Christ will neces¬ 
 sarily produce vigour and fruitfulness. (See John xv. 
 1, &c.) There are no doubt different degrees of vigour, 
 both in animal and vegetable life: there are decays and 
 revivals ; there is sickness, and there is health. But life is 
 a reality, however low, and will long for, and tend to, health 
 
HEAD OP THE CHURCH. 
 
 201 
 
 and fruitfulness. Nor is the spiritual life a mere name, 
 or a mere profession ; it is equally a reality in the spiritual 
 world, though it also may have its different degrees, its de¬ 
 cays and revivals, its sickness and its health. But the 
 believer is not among the world lying in wickedness, dead 
 in trespasses and sins : he is planted into Christ Jesus, a 
 partaker of the power of his death and his resurrection. 
 Let not then the Sabbath-breaker, the careless sinner, the 
 sensual, or the profane,—let not those who are following 
 the course of this world, alive to all its pleasures, amuse¬ 
 ments and enjoyments, but insensible to the love of God,— 
 fancy that they are in union with Christ Jesus, or living 
 members of that life-giving Head. No : Christ has no fel¬ 
 lowship with Belial, nor God with the world ; and “ all that 
 is in the world,—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and 
 the pride of life,—is not of the Father, but is of the world.” 
 If in Christ, in the covenant of his love, he must “ bring 
 such, and they shall hear his voicehis grace will bring 
 them to repentance, and turn them by faith to himself, or 
 the dead in sin shall perish with the world which lieth in 
 sin and wickedness. 
 
 Fruitless professor, art thou of the body of Christ, united 
 to the Life-giving Head ? Consider, and let conscience 
 judge. Art thou ingrafted into Christ? This only can 
 change thy state and character. Talking of the grace and 
 glory of Christ Jesus, hearing of his supreme and ado¬ 
 rable excellency, may excite some affections and desires 
 which are merely natural or animal; as the representation 
 of any thing which is excellent, if believed, must excite 
 some motion of natural affection towards it: but this is 
 very different from the view and experience of the true 
 believer, who is thus led to Christ, really united with Him, 
 living by faith upon him, and actually deriving grace and 
 consolation from him. O that those who profess to be in 
 Christ, would thus manifest the effect of such an union! 
 which, though operating in different degrees, must be 
 found real and true in every believer. 
 
 Happy is the believer, whose faith is most lively in its 
 
 u 2 
 
SERIES X. — ESSAY VII. 
 
 292 
 
 exercises, and dependencies upon the only Fountain of all 
 life ; for he feels most of the virtue, and enjoys most of the 
 blessedness of such an union. As in Christ the fulness is 
 all-sufficient, yea, infinite ; from him the communications 
 are diffused through every part, and through every indi¬ 
 vidual member, for duties, for trials, for temptations, for 
 afflictions, and for all the fruits of Christian graces, to the 
 glory of the giver, and the consolation and spiritual im¬ 
 provement of the receiver. The various situations in which 
 he places his people ; the various offices which he has ap¬ 
 pointed for them, and appointed them to, in his church; 
 and the various duties which arise from the different re¬ 
 lations of life, require, no doubt, different and varied sup¬ 
 plies of grace, like that which is diffused from the head to 
 the different members of the body. And thus the Apostle 
 beautifully represented the efficacy of his grace, in the 
 whole church of believers: “ Speaking the truth in love, 
 grow up into him in all things which is the Head, even 
 Christ; from whom the whole body fitly joined together, 
 and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, ac¬ 
 cording to the effectual working in the measure of every 
 part, maketh increase of the body, unto the edifying of 
 itself in love.” (Eph. iv. 15, L6.) Under the same beau¬ 
 tiful allusion, the church is represented as one undivided 
 body, united to Christ its Head, and yet consisting of its 
 several distinct parts ; all and each of which are necessary 
 in the body, receiving, according to their necessities and 
 uses, diversities of gifts and graces, from the one Spirit of 
 Christ Jesus, and which ought therefore to be united in 
 the strictest bond of love and mutual harmony, without 
 reproaching or blaming each other, and without murmur¬ 
 ing or repining at their own appointed situation. (See 1 
 Cor. xii; also Col. ii. 19.) The view which thus opens to 
 the mind—of the glory, of the all-sufficiency, of the grace of 
 Jesus, and its constant and sure communication to his peo¬ 
 ple—is indeed the most delightful and encouraging which 
 the mind can receive. It does, as it were, solicit the most 
 cordial reliance, and the sweetest confidence of the heart, 
 
HEAD OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 2J3 
 
 upon the Divine Saviour. This, however, is not all: there 
 are other views which are included in the title, and of 
 which we must now hasten to the consideration. 
 
 2. The head is the seat of intelligence; and, as such, 
 the Lord Jesus Christ is the Source of all ivisdum to his 
 people. “ In Him,” says the sacred record, “ are hid all 
 the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." (Col. ii. 3.)—In 
 the head are placed the bodily eyes, by which we discern 
 the objects around us. There also is the seat of the eyes 
 of the understanding - , by which we discern intellectual ob¬ 
 jects, reason and judge concerning them, and regulate 
 our life and conduct according to the wisdom that is found 
 there; so that the actions of the body are wise or the 
 contrary. “ A wise man’s eyes are in his head i. e. they 
 are placed in an elevated situation for observation and 
 use, and are made use of by him there : “ but a fool 
 walketh in darkness i. e. as though he had no eyes there. 
 Such is the relation of Jesus to his people. Those who 
 make use of him walk in the light, while those who neg¬ 
 lect him walk in the darkness of ignorance and sin. In 
 the dear Redeemer is the source of infinite wisdom : no 
 object can escape his observation or attention, no multi¬ 
 plicity of objects perplex his mind, no state nor circum¬ 
 stances be beyond the measure of his understanding. But 
 whatever is in Christ, as the Christ , from this vital union 
 which exists between him and his people, is for their use 
 and benefit. If it was pleasing that in him all fulness 
 should dwell, it is that we should be complete in him; if 
 in him is all wisdom, it is “ that he may be made of God 
 unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and re¬ 
 demption.” The eye of his observation also never slum- 
 bereth nor sleepeth. It may appear so to do, to our 
 limited comprehension ; but the very suspicion arises from 
 ignorance and unbelief: and if his eye be always open, it 
 is as certainly directed towards his church’s interest and 
 welfare. (Psa. cxxi.) He knows, i. e. he observes, his 
 people, the least as well as the greatest: he knows the 
 state of their souls; he is acquainted with all their afiairs. 
 
294 
 
 SERIES X.—ESSAY VII. 
 
 with all their enemies, and with their power and subtilty : 
 he knows their warfare and their weakness, their fears, 
 their trials, their perplexities,—how far he may sutler the 
 enemy to assault them without injury, and what will be 
 too much for the weakness of their state. Nothing can 
 evade, deceive, circumvent, perplex, or overcome him ; 
 and, therefore, while his eye is upon his people, and his 
 attention thus directed for their preservation : and while 
 they look to, trust in, and are guided by him, nothing shall, 
 or can, overcome or destroy them. The prayer of faith 
 shall draw down the special manifestation of his love, and 
 the tokens of his care. The leadings of his providence, 
 or of his grace, may be mysterious to them ; but they are 
 assuredly the effect of his wisdom, who has promised to 
 “ guide them with his eye,” and “ search out their path” for 
 them ; and though Sion may sometimes say, “ The Lord 
 hath forsaken me, and my God hath forgotten me; Can 
 a woman,” says he, “forget her sucking child, that she 
 should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, 
 they may forget; yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have 
 graven thee upon the palms of my hand : thy walls are 
 continually before me.” (Isa. xlix. 14, 15: compare xl. 
 27—31.) What security, what safety, does this view 
 afford to the believer, who can say, I have trusted my soul, 
 my all, to Jesus ! Take courage, he will not cast thee out; 
 be will never leave thee; and whenever thou lackest 
 wisdom ask it of him, and he will give liberally, nor ever 
 upbraid thee with thy ignorance and folly. Happy be¬ 
 liever ! Precious Saviour! let us trust him more, and 
 praise him more, till we are finally more than conquerors, 
 through him.—Allied to this part of the subject, there is 
 another interesting view, which is calculated for the security 
 and consolation of the believer; for, as by the wisdom of 
 the head, all things are arranged for the guidance [of the 
 actions and the ordering of all our concerns, so, 
 
 3. Jesus also, who is infinite in wisdom, is the Head 
 of direction and of government to his people .—The figure 
 is used to this effect, in the illustration of natural things. 
 
HEAD OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 295 
 
 The prince or the general, as the head of the state or of 
 the army, regulates and governs all things according to his 
 wisdom; and in proportion to the ability of each, we ex¬ 
 pect success in the campaign or happiness in the state. 
 The internal and spiritual government of his church can 
 be in no other hands but those of the great Head of the 
 church. He has appointed its different orders; and his 
 providence so directs, as to place his people in their several 
 situations and offices there ; while his grace is bestowed in 
 fulfilment of his promise, according to their several neces¬ 
 sities, wants, or duties. Well would it be, if we were 
 always attentive to this great truth. Well would it be, 
 candidly and carefully to observe the leadings of his pro¬ 
 vidence, and to fix our minds especially on the duties of 
 those situations in which it has pleased him to place us. 
 There it is that he expects us to honour and serve him; 
 not in the duties of another ; not in those duties which be¬ 
 long to other situations and offices in his church, but in our 
 own. There it is that we may justly expect his all-suffi¬ 
 ciency of grace and help ; and wherever he has placed us 
 in duty and in trial, we may be confident that there he will 
 not leave us, nor deny us the grace and strength which are 
 needful to suffer, to bear, or to act for him. His grace 
 shall be sufficient for us, and his strength made perfect in 
 our weakness. The very idea of a body implies the exist¬ 
 ence of different members, which have very different duties, 
 and require very different degrees of grace for the dis¬ 
 charge of them. Yet the lowest and the least member of 
 his body is the object of his love and care, and shall be sup¬ 
 plied with the proportionate supplies of grace, according to 
 its measure. But while he governs his body the church, 
 his government is also universal over all for it (Eph. i. 22 ); 
 the several concerns of his people are all managed by the 
 exalted Redeemer, and conducted by his hand. In his 
 general providence he so rules, orders, determines, pre¬ 
 vents, or overrules all things, as to preserve a church for 
 himself in the world, and to promote their present and 
 everlasting good. (Isa. ix. 0, &c.) In the midst of a tins 
 
29G 
 
 SERIES X.—ESSAY VII. 
 
 bulent world, and of all things which oppose them, he sits 
 above and smiles at every attempt of his enemy. Wil¬ 
 lingly or unwillingly, all are under him and shall obey him 
 and promote his purposes. His honour shall be maintained, 
 his Gospel shall spread, his people shall be collected, his 
 church shall be preserved, fed, and blessed. The wrath 
 of man shall praise him, and the remainder of wrath he 
 will restrain. (Psa. lxxvi. 10.) If the skill of the com¬ 
 mander gives well grounded confidence of the success of 
 his army; or if a wise and able governor promote the happi¬ 
 ness of his people ; infinitely happy must be the people of 
 the Lord under his government, as the Head of his church^ 
 and surely successful must be the warfare of his people 
 under him, whose wisdom is over all. He sees all the 
 parts of his kingdom, with one glance of his all-pervading 
 eye, which no earthly prince can pretend to : his eye is 
 present with every individual of his church; and he knows 
 how best to manage all for their present good and ever¬ 
 lasting triumph. What an encouraging idea ! He who 
 loved me, and gave himself for me, even to the death 
 upon the cross, is the Governor of all things in nature, 
 providence, and grace, to promote his designs of salva¬ 
 tion to his people! Let the recollection calm every fear, 
 and bring every thought into obedience to his will. But 
 this view of the subject has obtained a separate considera¬ 
 tion under another title ,—The Head over all things to 
 his church. We pass on, therefore, to another most in¬ 
 teresting part of this allusion. The head is the seat of sen¬ 
 sibility, which immediately feels the sorrows of every part. 
 And this leads us to consider the Redeemer, 
 
 4. As the Head of sympathy and compassion. —No¬ 
 thing can more fully represent the affectionate kindness, 
 the tender concern, and the constant care, which the Lord 
 Jesus Christ feels for all his people, than such a comparison 
 as this. That he makes his people the members of his 
 body, is the nearest and dearest connection into which he 
 can possibly take them, and the highest honour to which 
 he can advance them. And shall he not then sympathize 
 
HEAD OP THE CHURCH. 
 
 297 
 
 with all their pains, feel all their distresses, and be tenderly 
 sensible of all their wants and necessities ? And what can 
 afford them so great a security of relief, assistance, and 
 blessing as this l There are many terms of natural rela¬ 
 tionship which are used to express the greatness and ten¬ 
 derness of his love ; but none so intimate, so endearing as 
 this. As a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth 
 his people. (Psa. ciii. 13.) As the parent eagle stirreth 
 up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad 
 her wings, taketh them and beareth them on her wings ; so 
 the Lord Jehovah of old led, and still leads and looks with 
 cordial delight upon, liis people. (Deut. xxxii. 11, &c.) 
 The tenderest affection of the tenderest mother, looking 
 with affectionate fondness upon her sucking infant, cannot 
 represent to the full the compassion of his heart. (Isa. 
 xlix. 15.) Nothing can be so intimately dear to us as a 
 part of ourselves. For others we may have great affection 
 and regard ; but nature itself has taught us an involuntary 
 care of ourselves ; for “ no man yet ever hated his own flesh, 
 but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the 
 church ” (Eph. v. 29); “ for we are members of his body, 
 of his flesh, and of his bones.” (ver. 30.) A member may be 
 very painful; it may be diseased; but still we are unwilling 
 to part with it. The head utters its lamentations over it, 
 it suffers with it; and would, if possible, communicate a 
 virtue effectually to heal it. What a beautiful resemblance 
 of the unchanging and unchangeable love of Jesus, and of 
 his sympathetic care and concern for the happiness of his 
 people ! He liateth putting away ; yea, in all their afflic¬ 
 tions he is afflicted (Isa. lxiii. 9) ; and therefore, “ in every 
 temptation he will make a way for their escape, that they 
 may be able to bear it.” Nay, there is one part of the human 
 frame which is above all the rest in susceptibility of pain, 
 and which is therefore guarded with the utmost care, and 
 in itself has provided its watchful defenders, which close at 
 the approach of danger: to this he compares his people ; 
 and by this illustrates the minuteness, the jealousy, of his 
 care : “ He that toucheth you, toucheth the apple of mine 
 
298 
 
 SERIES X.—ESSAY VII. 
 
 eye.” (Compare Zech. ii. 8; Dent, xxxii. 10; Psa, 
 xvii. 8.) 
 
 If an Apostle, in love to the church of Christ, and as 
 united as a member in that spiritual body, could appeal thus, 
 “ Who is weak, and I am not weak? who is offended, and 
 I burn not ? ” (2 Cor. xi. 29); how much more shall not 
 He who is the very Head and Source of all its vital influ¬ 
 ence, feel for the infirmities, and resent the injuries, of his 
 people! It is his peculiar character “ to bear the lambs in 
 his arms, and carry them in his bosom ; ” that “ he will 
 not break the bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax.” 
 If a member of his mystical body be weakly and infirm, 
 shall he therefore separate it and cast it away? No, 
 surely: he will treat it as we treat a diseased limb. It is a 
 limb still, and it is ours: we therefore peculiarly observe 
 it, attend to it, cherish it, administer remedies, endeavour 
 to effect its cure and its restoration to perfect health, that 
 it may enjoy, with honour and with ease, its place amongst 
 the members of the body.—Let this ever remind us of the 
 love and care of our Redeemer, and excite our gratitude 
 and confidence. This also should teach us the lesson of 
 brotherly love and kindness to every fellow-member of the 
 body of Christ, who is thus beloved of our common Lord 
 and Head. If we are all of one body, one spirit, and 
 united in one Lord, how should we, with “ all lowliness 
 and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another 
 in love, endeavour to keep the unity of the Spirit in the 
 bond of peace!” (Eph. iv. 2—16.) Strange would be the 
 sight to see the members of the body contending with 
 each other, because of their different places, offices, and 
 duties ; but as strange, yea much more so, must it be, for 
 those pure spirits above, who can make the observation, 
 to see the members of Christ, united in one mystical body, 
 in a state of disorder and continual contest with each 
 other, because of their different gifts, and talents, and ap¬ 
 pointments in the church of Christ. “ Let us then put 
 on, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mer¬ 
 cies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffer- 
 
HEAD OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 299 
 
 ing; forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if 
 any man have a quarrel against any : even as Christ forgave 
 you, so also do ye; and let the peace of God rule in your 
 hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be 
 ye thankful.” (Col. iii. 11—15.) One more idea will com¬ 
 plete our contemplation of this interesting figure. As the 
 head is exalted above the rest of the body, so, 
 
 5. Jesus is the Head of superiority, dignity, and ex¬ 
 cellency, in the spiritual body. —He is the Head of the 
 body the church, who is the Beginning, the First-born 
 from the dead, that in all things he might have the pre- 
 eminence .” (Col. i. 18.) Since he is above all his people, 
 and above all things in the heavenly world, he is thus cal¬ 
 culated to display his wisdom, power, and authority, for 
 their benefit; as the Head, taking the highest place in the 
 body, is suited to look around it, and observe, at the 
 greatest distance, whatever may concern its interests, 
 “ once he bowed himself from the Throne of Glory, for 
 their benefit, and eame down to earth ; but his proper 
 seat is the Throne of Glory and of immortality on high.” 
 (Daille.) There he reigns above the whole church mili¬ 
 tant or triumphant. He rose, the First Fruits from the 
 dead, and thus became the Head of the resurrection, and 
 is exalted, and “ set at the right hand of God in the hea¬ 
 venly place, far above all principalities and powers, and 
 might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not 
 only in this world, but also in that which is to come.” 
 (Eph. i. 20, 21.) From hence he beholds and looks down 
 upon the things which are done in heaven and in earth, 
 and is able to gather together now his mystical body by 
 the Gospel; to regulate its affairs, to preserve it for him¬ 
 self, and save it to the uttermost. And then the voice of 
 the archangel shall bring it to himself, when God, in the 
 dispensation of the fulness of times, shall gather together 
 in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and 
 which are on earth,—the church militant and the church 
 triumphant,—even in him. (Eph. i. 9, 10.) Now the crown 
 of glory is placed upon him; for to whom can all glory 
 
300 
 
 SERIES X.—ESSAY VII. 
 
 belong- but to him who hath redeemed his church with his 
 blood; who calls and collects them to himself, who pre¬ 
 serves and supplies them, who secures them and saves 
 them with an everlasting salvation; for “ of Him, and 
 through Him, and to Him, are all things : to whom be glory 
 for ever. Amen.” This is the dignified, the delightful, 
 employment of the spirits before the Throne. They cast 
 their crowns before him, 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.” (Rev. iv. 10,11: see also Col. i. 16.) He 
 is there acknowledged as the King of kings and Lord of 
 lords; and on his head are many crowns. (See Rev. xix. 
 11—16.)—Believer, you will now cheerfully join the song, 
 which ere long you shall be admitted to join around the 
 Throne; and, expecting and receiving all from him, will 
 readily yield to him the superiority, the glory, and the 
 praise of all. O what power, what glory, what infinite 
 fulness of excellencies dwell in Jesus, as he is the Head of 
 his body the church ! Let him then have the dependence 
 and confidence of my faith. In thus looking to him by 
 faith, the communication of his grace shall be granted; and 
 in those lively communications my soul shall be more 
 ready for every duty; and, laying aside every weight, and 
 the sin which does most easily beset me, I shall run with 
 patience the race that is set before me. (Heb. xii. 1, 2, 
 &c.) Let me ever recollect that there can be no supply 
 of vital influence but from the Head. 
 
 He is the all-sufficient and the only Source; and from 
 him only must I expect the communication of all spiritual 
 life and spiritual liveliness. When the Apostle is de¬ 
 scribing the state of some in the primitive church, who 
 had widely wandered into error; tracing it up to its un¬ 
 happy origin, he considers it as arising from this one cause, 
 “ their not holding the Head, from which all the body, by 
 joints and bands, haviug nourishment ministered, and 
 knit together, increaseth with the increase of God.” (Col. 
 ii. 19.) 
 
HEAD OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 301 
 
 If he be the Head of all vital influence and quickening 
 communication, then let me expect all from him ; if he 
 be the Head of wisdom, let me seek his enlightening in¬ 
 fluence to lead me into all truth, and to shew me every 
 path of duty. Let me trust all my concerns and ways to 
 his direction, and be ever ready to submit to his wisdom 
 in the way in which he leads me. As the Head of sym¬ 
 pathy and compassion, he claims it at my hands: his ever¬ 
 lasting love and unchanging tenderness of affection secures 
 the interest and welfare of his people, since they secure 
 all his infinite ability, all his infinite fulness, and all his 
 infinite perfections, as Immanuel, to be exerted on their 
 behalf.—I cannot doubt of his love and care, whatever 
 may be the outward aspect of his ways of providence. 
 He who feels and resents every injury done to his people, 
 as if done to himself, cannot possibly abandon them to the 
 power and malice of their enemies. But behold him, my 
 soul, on the Throne of Glory, in all the dignity of his 
 exaltation over all worlds, as well as over his church, 
 employing all his attributes and perfections in universal 
 government, and surely thou canst not fear nor be dis¬ 
 couraged. In the dark clouds of his providence, and 
 amidst the tumults of the world, we are indeed very apt to 
 doubt and indulge gloomy apprehensions ; but this is only 
 our weakness and our unbelief, whereby we see not his 
 wisdom nor his love, when looking forward through the 
 mazes of uncertainty. The retrospect, however, will clear 
 up every difficulty, and manifest his manifold wisdom. 
 Every member in the human body is immediately obedient 
 to the will of the head, and moves willingly at the impulse 
 of the mind : and shall the members of the Living Head 
 refuse to him their obedience of love ? This must indi¬ 
 cate a diseased, if not a dead, member: it proves either 
 that the professed member is not really united to him, or 
 that there is some unhappy obstruction that prevents the 
 communication of vital efficacy. If not really united to 
 him, but merely in profession, such a member will cer¬ 
 tainly be taken away (John xv. 2); and every diseased 
 
SERIES X_ESSAY VII. 
 
 31)2 
 
 member must submit to the regimen or prescription of the 
 heavenly Physician for its recovery. Beware then of that 
 profession which has no power, no evidence of union with 
 Christ; no communication from him, and no effectual influ¬ 
 ence directing to holy obedience. The living believer, 
 considering the place he holds in the body of Christ, will 
 there be desirous of learning what he is called to do in 
 his situation and relation for the glory of his Lord ; and by 
 the grace derived from Jesus will be found in the discharge 
 of it. But in all, thou Head of thy church, we will place 
 the crown upon thee, by faith, and in our songs of devoted 
 praise. We rejoice, O our Redeemer! that, sitting on 
 the Throne above, all the many crowns of nature, provi¬ 
 dence, and redemption are on thy head. If angels adore 
 Thee, we need not fear to join them in attributing all glory 
 to Him who is God over all, blessed for ever. Soon, O my 
 soul! thy glorious Redeemer shall bow himself again from 
 his Throne of Glory, not in humiliation, but for the salvation 
 of his people. He comes down to take thee up with him 
 to His glory; and then all his people, all who have be¬ 
 lieved through grace, shall be collected around his Throne. 
 His grace shall be perfected, their desires shall be com¬ 
 pleted ; nor shall one of them be missing: for the church 
 is his fulness ; and if any of them were found wanting, 
 there would be discovered some deficiency in that fulness 
 of his mediatorial body. But this can never be: they 
 must therefore all surround his Throne, and be united in 
 his glories throughout eternity, while casting their crowns 
 before the Throne, and celebrating his eternal honours. 
 
303 
 
 ESSAY VIII. 
 
 OTimcian ~ dealer—ISalm of 0ileatb 
 
 Nothing can be more truly descriptive of the state- of 
 man by nature, than a state of sickness and disease; for 
 sin is the spiritual malady of the soul, which tends to death 
 eternal. The disorders of the soul are therefore frequently 
 represented in Scripture by those of the body ; and from 
 thence is derived the most interesting representation of the 
 method of their cure. A peculiar discovery here also 
 opens to the mind, of our spiritual wants and dangers ; 
 and the Lord our Redeemer appears in a new and suitable 
 character, as the Spiritual Healer and Divine Physician. 
 To Him alone must we look, till all our iniquities are for¬ 
 given, and all our diseases are healed. In every step of 
 the spiritual discovery, his grace alone is the effectual 
 remedy : his care and wisdom alone are the security of our 
 hope; and under him the health of the soul, begun in 
 pardoning mercy and regenerating grace, is carried on, till 
 a perfect conformity to his will in glory shall manifest that all 
 his redeemed are made perfectly whole. If we feel our true 
 state, the view of the Redeemer in such a character will 
 be the most gratifying and the most interesting. This 
 discovery is indeed of the first importance; for though 
 sin be the fatal disease of man, which is spread throughout 
 all his vital powers, and will assuredly carry his soul down 
 to death ; like many of those natural diseases which stupify 
 the mind, the more we are under it, the more insensible 
 we are even of its existence, and the more ignorant of our 
 real situation. Till then the dying sinner discovers no excel¬ 
 lency in Christ, manifests no concern about him, nor makes 
 any inquiry as to his ability or his grace. But when, like 
 
304 
 
 SERIES X.—ESSAY VIII. 
 
 those poor and perishing objects who flocked around our 
 Lord in the days of his flesh, the destroying malady is 
 felt and feared, how precious is that Physician who is able 
 to save,—willing to save all that come, and able to save 
 them to the uttermost ! This is the delightful character 
 in which we are now to contemplate him. If we consider 
 the spiritual faculties of man, and that which constitutes 
 their spiritual health, it will need little observation to dis¬ 
 cover the corrupting poison which has shed its baneful 
 influence over them all. The power of sin, entering into 
 the soul, has debilitated, polluted, and infected every 
 faculty. The eyes of the understanding, the ears of spi¬ 
 ritual perception, all the powers of spiritual sensation, the 
 hands and the feet, or, spiritually, all the powers of action, 
 are contaminated and disordered. In another view, the 
 judgment, the imagination, the passions and affections of 
 the mind, are under the influence of corruption, and the 
 will is most infected of them all. Well may it be acknow¬ 
 ledged, The whole head is sick, and the whole heart is 
 faint: from the crown of the head to the sole of the foot 
 there is no soundness in it; but “ wounds, and bruises, and 
 putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound 
 up, neither mollified with ointment.” (Isa. i. 5, 6: com¬ 
 pare Gen. vi. 5.) 
 
 It has been sometimes observed, that there is a very 
 near and peculiar analogy between the diseases of the 
 body and those of the soul: for what is lust but a burning 
 fever ? What are pride and anger but the raging frenzy 
 of the mind ? What the indulgence of worldly desires, but 
 a fatal plethora, which has a tendency to stop all the vital 
 functions ? What is carnal security but an overwhelming 
 lethargy? And what that spiritual indifference to God 
 and the things of God, but a dead palsy, or a wasting con¬ 
 sumption ? while the defiling loathsome leprosy, spreading 
 through the whole frame, most justly represents the ge¬ 
 neral depravity and total corruption of the heart. The 
 comparison might no doubt be enlarged into a variety of 
 other particulars, which would still further discover the 
 
PHYSICIAN, &C. 305 
 
 total corruption, and the imminent danger of the soul of a 
 dying sinner, of which he is, alas! too often fatally igno¬ 
 rant. Insensibility of danger, in a mortal disease, often 
 constitues the very extremity of that danger; and thus it 
 most certainly is with the dying sinner. The first step 
 towards spiritual healing, is the discovery of spiritual sick¬ 
 ness ; and this is the first effect of the Spirit of grace. In 
 other words, a sinner under a law which condemns him, 
 under the wrath and curse of God, destitute of all righte¬ 
 ousness which is the health of the soul, and disordered in 
 every power of the mind, every affection of the heart, and 
 every passion of the soul, cannot but need a Saviour, a 
 Physician of divine and heavenly skill. This however is 
 the state of all, since all have sinned ; and nothing but the 
 deadening influence of sin could make the sinner insensible 
 of the truth and danger of his state. Without spiritual 
 healing, the death of an immortal soul for eternity is as 
 sure as the death of the body labouring under the most 
 destructive malady. The discovory of this must make the 
 Saviour indeed precious, and the suitable remedy which 
 he has provided most desirable to the sin-sick soul; espe¬ 
 cially when it is known and felt that Jesus is the only all- 
 sufficient Healer; that the remedy he has provided and ad¬ 
 ministers, can alone effect the perfect cure; and that it 
 must be applied and received in his own appointed way, to 
 complete the purpose. All besides will but “ heal the 
 wounds of his people slightly and, covering over the 
 surface with a deceitful appearance, leave the wound to 
 rankle within till it break out in greater virulence. While, 
 however, men think themselves well at heart, while they 
 see and feel nothing of their departure from God,—of the 
 alienation and depravity of their mind, that plague which 
 is spreading there, that root of every particular spiritual 
 disease ; while, confident in their own moral excellency, 
 they boast of spiritual health, since they see no need of 
 the help of the spiritual Physician; no wonder that they 
 discover no excellency in him, no suitableness in his grace. 
 They may pay him, perhaps, some customary honour, some 
 vol. v, x 
 
SERIES X.—ESSAY VIII. 
 
 306 
 
 compliment "of dependence ; but never can they apply to 
 him, nor ever receive or use the directions of his word. 
 But is thy conscience labouring- under g-uilt, thy heart la¬ 
 menting its ruinous depravity; and “ wilt ihou he made 
 whole ?” Art thou willing to be saved from guilt and sin, 
 and every spiritual disease ? Blessed be God for this 
 heavenly Physician, and for the Balm of Gilead which he 
 has abundantly prepared. We need not shew you your 
 need, nor bring you to the application; we have only to 
 point him out in his person and character, and to shew who 
 and what this glorious Redeemer is, to excite your confi¬ 
 dence and love. And thus, blessed be God, we can direct 
 the dying sinner to one who is the all-sufficient Healer of 
 souls ; who freely administers his effectual aid, and will not 
 deny his fullest benefits to the most miserable and wretch¬ 
 ed, who seek to him, and commit the salvation of their 
 souls to him.—Let us then, - 
 
 1. Contemplate his ability, his rvisdom, and his 
 skill. —Without the assurance of suitable ability, we do 
 not venture the life or health of our body in the hand of 
 any one; nor can we do it with any confidence or satis¬ 
 faction. But a soul is of more worth than ten thousand 
 worlds; as far beyond the body, as eternity is beyond time. 
 If the soul die under sin, it dies for ever: this is its 
 natural termination, unless prevented by a Divine and 
 efficacious remedy. It is declared, “ The soul that sinneth 
 it shall diebut all have sinned, and the spiritual disease is 
 hastening forward to its awful and fatal issue. If then Jesus is 
 set forth as the heavenly Healer; if we are directed to look 
 for it to him, and to him alone, surely the first question 
 that the sinner, who feels himself in a dying state, will 
 ask, must he, Is he able to deliver my soul ? This may be 
 of little consequence to the careless, to the ignorant, or 
 to the self-righteous, but must necessarily be of infinite 
 moment to the convinced and enlightened mind. Happily 
 then the wor 1 of the Lord tells us, “ that there is salvation 
 in no other” It opens to our view the Divine glories and 
 abilities of his person, and continually sets before us what 
 
•307 
 
 PHYSICIAN, &c. 
 
 he has done and is now doing; and what he therefore can 
 do to save, and to restore our souls. He is represented to 
 our faith, in the glories of his Divine nature : “ Immanuel, 
 Gocl with us ”—“ the Great God,'' and our Saviour ,”—• 
 “ the Lord Jehovah become our Salvation .” (Isa. xii. 2.) 
 Under this character he invites the confidence of dying 
 sinners: “ Look unto me, and be ye saved, for I am God.” 
 (Isa. xlv. 22.) Then in the fulness of his mediatorial cha¬ 
 racter, uniting the human and the Divine nature in his own 
 person, we are assured that he has done all that was neces¬ 
 sary in redeeming sinners to God; and that now also upon the 
 Throne, he is able to do all for their calling, their justifica¬ 
 tion, their sanctification, and their final salvation. For 
 this purpose he was first anointed, as the Christ, “ to preach 
 good tidings to the meek, and to bind up the broken 
 hearted ; to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening 
 of the prison to them that are bound” (Isa. Ixi. 1—3); 
 for this “ all power is given to him in heaven and in earth.” 
 (Matt, xxviii. 18 : compare John xvii. 2.) Who can doubt 
 but that a Saviour so glorious in himself, so furnished with 
 all the fulness of the Spirit and the plenitude of all power, 
 is able to deliver us from all our diseases, and supply our 
 need l Though as miserable as sin can make us ; though 
 the whole head be sick, and the whole heart faint; his 
 ability is equal to the most desperate case of sin and 
 misery. That he is both God and man assures us of this 
 ability; for thus he is infinite in wisdom as he is almighty in 
 power. If we give up this truth of God, we lose the foun¬ 
 dation, the life, the spirit of the Gospel. But, if such be 
 his person, then is he ever present for us to seek to ; then 
 in his omniscient wisdom he knows all our diseases, in their 
 nature, their symptoms, their operations, and their tenden¬ 
 cies ; and he knows the suitable remedy, and when and how 
 to administer it for effectual relief. The past discoveries 
 of his skill encourage the application of the dying penitent, 
 who, whatever may be the peculiarity of his case, need only 
 look into the record of his skill, in the word of truth, 
 to see how soon one or other in similar circumstances 
 
 x 2 
 
308 
 
 SERIES X.—ESSAY VIII. 
 
 of guilt and danger, has found pardon and healing: that he, 
 in whom we are directed to trust for our future deliver¬ 
 ance, has delivered the whole church of believing sinners 
 from the beginning, while he is still delivering all who 
 trust in him. It was foretold, that, when he should come 
 to save his people, “ the eyes of the blind should be 
 opened, the ears of the deaf be unstopped, the lame man 
 leap as the hart, and the tongue of the dumb should sing.’ 
 (Isa. xxxv. 4—6.) To this display of miraculous power, in the 
 healing of the natural diseases of the multitude, he appeals, 
 as the evidence of his person, his true character, and his 
 Divine mission. We are even told, that “he healed all man¬ 
 ner of sickness and all manner of diseases among the people. 
 He spake, and they were made perfectly whole.” These dis¬ 
 plays of healing power were, however, but the figure of 
 the true spiritual healing of his church. His hand is not 
 shortened now that he cannot save. No: he is still the 
 Life, the Life-giver, and the Life-preserver. “ This is the 
 record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this 
 life is in his Son.” (1 John v. II.) He gives eternal life to 
 his people, and must therefore first deliver them from the 
 power of spiritual death: and what he gives he preserves, 
 for thus only could it be eternal. Let me come to him 
 with all my diseases, as I discover and feel them in a 
 sin-sick soul; and his hand shall be stretched out to relieve 
 and heal me. “ He that believeth in him hath eternal 
 life he feels its restored influence, and shall soon enjoy 
 its perfect felicity. Then let my faith acknowledge his 
 power, and trust his faithfulness, pledged by his promises to 
 exert it. “ Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make vie 
 clean.” “Speak, Lord,” only, “ and thy servant shall be 
 made whole.” Yes; my spiritual malady, the pride, the 
 lust, and the carnality of my heart, shall yield to thy 
 grace ; the love of earth, and sense, and sin shall be sub¬ 
 dued ; my corrupt tempers and dispositions shall be ex¬ 
 changed for the love of God ; the purity of holy affections, 
 the desires of heavenly blessings, the beginning of that 
 spiritual health, which sweetly anticipates the perfect in- 
 
309 
 
 PHYSICIAN, &C. 
 
 tegrity of the soul ; its consummation of Divine health 
 in all its powers, in unspotted holiness, and the perfectly 
 restored image of my God.—Let us then, 
 
 2. Contemplate, the remedies which his skill and wis¬ 
 dom have provided, and which he applies to complete this 
 glorious design .—In the nature of things, remedies are 
 generally unpleasant to the natural senses in their applica¬ 
 tion ; since they are intended to correct what is out of order 
 in the natural system, and therefore put restraint, and 
 produce a powerful influence, and exercise a force in re¬ 
 placing the disordered parts, or in correcting or expelling 
 the offending humours. Such also in general, as to the 
 natural feelings, are the remedies of sin, which has put 
 the whole moral frame out of order, and which it pleases 
 God to employ for the purposes of spiritual recovery. 
 In the process of the spiritual healing, afflictions ofteu 
 come with the kindest design ; and when sent in covenant 
 love, to humble under sin, to discover its malignant evil, 
 to render the cure and grace of the heavenly Physician de¬ 
 sirable, they must be reckoned amongst the choicest bless¬ 
 ings : for, as there is no proper evil but sin, whatever de¬ 
 livers from it, or is the means of God's determination for 
 that purpose, must be so esteemed. But if we escape 
 outward afflictions, an afflicted conscience, more or less, is 
 generally employed by the Great Physician, for the spiritual 
 healing; for it is the most encouraging token that he de¬ 
 signs the healing of that soul which he has taught to feel 
 its destroying malady. These, however, are only the exter¬ 
 nal means of administering the true remedy ; the good 
 Physician can effect his purpose, either by affliction or 
 prosperity, by darkness or by light, by pain or by peace. If 
 there were not something employed far beyond this, the 
 disease of sin would be found too inveterate, to yield to 
 their combined power or influence ; and without his own 
 sanctifying power, these are sometimes observed to increase 
 the malady, to irritate the corruption, and the rebellious 
 tempers of the human mind. In connection with these 
 means, and indeed for the effecting of this very purpose,. 
 
310 
 
 SERIES X.—ESSAY VIII. 
 
 the Lord in general employs the doctrines of his word, the 
 preaching of his Gospel, and the appointed ordinances of 
 his house. These, as external means, are what he has com¬ 
 manded us to use, and to which alone he has promised his 
 effectual blessing. Here then we are to wait, like the poor 
 cripple at the pool of Bethesda; nor does the Lord in 
 general manifest his saving power but through these 
 means. Let us then put a due value upon them, neither 
 exalting them, as containing within themselves the sove¬ 
 reign remedy, nor debasing them, as needless or unim¬ 
 portant. The blessing indeed is his own, independently 
 of all means ; but though he has not bound himself to bestow 
 no blessing but through them, he has not promised to 
 bestow any blessing without them. There he generally is 
 found as the Lord our Healer; and to the use of them he 
 has limited the expectation of faith. But let us then re¬ 
 member, that the heavenly Physician has indeed provided 
 an infallible remedy for a guilty conscience, and a diseased 
 sinful heart, which, when rightly received, is certain and 
 efficacious. It is his own precious blood, applied by the 
 power of his Spirit. It is the water and the blood. It is 
 beautifully represented, by the oil and wine of the good 
 Samaritan: it is the Balm of Gilead, the Portion of Life and 
 Health. He shed the precious stream from his own 
 wounded heart, to bring us near to God, that we might 
 have redemption, and that he might speak peace to all 
 our maladies, through the blood of his cross.—What an 
 amazing mystery of love is here ! When nothing but his 
 own precious blood could heal our wounds, and cure our 
 souls, he spared not his own self: he so loved the church 
 that he gave himself for it; so that we are redeemed, not 
 with silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, 
 as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He who 
 was in the form of God, and thought it not robbery to be 
 equal with God, emptied himself, took upon himself the 
 form of a servant, and humbled himself even to the death 
 upon the cross. Upon the cross he consummated the mys¬ 
 tery of love: there the water and the blood flowed, freely and 
 
311 
 
 PHYSICIAN, &C. 
 
 abundantly flowed, to purify and heal our souls. There he 
 was wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our ini¬ 
 quities : the chastisement of our peace was upon him, that 
 by his stripes we might be healed. There he bare our 
 griefs and carried our sorrows ; yea, the Lord laid upon him 
 the iniquity of us all. (See Isa. liii.) Here is the ground of 
 all our hope ; and here the way is prepared for our pardon, 
 justification, regeneration, sanctification, and eternal life. By 
 the influence of his Spirit, he renders the provision of grace 
 effectual; and while he uses externally the ordinances, and 
 various means which his wisdom sees fit, he puts his power¬ 
 ful influence into them, and they become “ the power of God 
 unto salvation.” This alone is the way of a sinner’s heal¬ 
 ing. Since this kindness and love of God our Saviour to¬ 
 wards man has appeared, not by works of righteousness 
 which we have done, but according to his own mercy, he 
 saves us by the washing of regeneration, and the renewing 
 of the Holy Ghost. And this being shed on us abundantly 
 through Jesus our Saviour, we are justified by his grace, 
 and made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (See 
 Tit. iii. 4—6: compare 1 Pet. i. 2—5 : 1 Thess. i. 4, 5 ; 
 ii. 13: 2 Thess. ii. 13,14 : 1 Tim. i. 14: 2 Tim. i. 9,10.) 
 Here opens a source of great confidence and unfailing 
 consolation, to the conscience of a guilty dying sinner, in 
 the all-sufficiency and certainty of the remedy which his 
 love has prepared, when administered and applied in the 
 use of his own means, by his own Almighty Spirit.—Let 
 us contemplate a moment, 
 
 3. The universal efficacy of this heavenly remedy, to 
 all the diseases of the soul .—The great disorder of the 
 soul is sin ; that malady which includes within itself every 
 evil. Sin in its several branches, and in its various afflic¬ 
 tive consequences, comprises all the evils of life. The 
 salvation of the Lord Jesus is therefore summed up, in the 
 one great blessing of saving his people from their sins. 
 He came to put away sin : the Lamb of God came to take 
 away the sin of the world. This he has effected as to its 
 guilt and condemnation in the work of redemption, and is 
 
312 
 
 SERIES X-ESSAY VIII. 
 
 exalted to complete the grand design, by the regenerating 
 and renovating grace of his Spirit. By this, the love and 
 power of it is broken in the hearts of all his people; and 
 that new and heavenly nature, those spiritual and holy tem¬ 
 pers and characters are formed, which shall be consum¬ 
 mated in the life eternal. This sovereign remedy, the water 
 and the blood, which flowed from the heart of a dying 
 Saviour on the cross, is indeed the true panacea, applicable 
 to every malady, and effectual for its removal. The Divine 
 glory of the person of our Redeemer, has given an infinite 
 merit, and therefore an infinite efficacy to his work, to his 
 atoning sacrifice and finished righteousness ; and what 
 then can be too polluting for that blood to purify, or too 
 obstinate and inveterate for his grace to subdue ? No: 
 when the guilty sinner feels his disease; when with an 
 afflicted conscience, in sorrow for his sins, he makes his 
 application to the Great Physician; though no one else 
 can do him good, though all besides are physicians of no 
 value, here is the effectual Healer of all his sorrows. Let 
 him bring every disease to him, and he shall find his blood 
 and his grace sufficient, varying their efficacy, according to 
 the discovery which he makes of his varied distresses, suited 
 to every soul-sickness, and every disease among the dying 
 sons of men. He will glorify his wisdom, and his power, 
 and shew the universal efficacy of the remedy which he has 
 prepared, in the perfect deliverance of every believing sin¬ 
 ner. The spiritual recovery must no doubt correspond with 
 the various consequences of sin, in the present and the 
 eternal state, and will be felt in the conscience and the 
 heart, by the effectual removal of those consequences, the 
 symptoms of spiritual decay, the beginnings of eternal 
 death. If the conscience be afflicted with guilty fears, 
 which forbode eternal sorrows, where shall the afflicted 
 soul find deliverance ? Nothing in nature, nothing around 
 us, can ever encourage the hope of salvation. “ Thou hast 
 destroyed thyself,” is the solemn charge of the Divine word; 
 “ But I,” says the heavenly Healer, “ I have borne thy sins : 
 behold me the Lamb of God ; I have taken away the sin of 
 
PHYSICIAN, &C. 3l2» 
 
 the world : my blood cleanseth from all sin ; and as far as 
 the east is from the west, so far have I removed thy trans¬ 
 gressions from thee. Come now, let us reason together: 
 though thy sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow ; 
 though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." 
 Does the guilty sinner feel the awful effect of being desti¬ 
 tute of that righteousness which is the spiritual integrity of 
 the soul, and in which alone it stands with perfect accept¬ 
 ance before God. Behold Jesus has been made sin for 
 us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righ¬ 
 teousness of God in him. As the End of the Law, 
 he is the Righteousness of every one that believeth, 
 and surely may every one of his believing people say, 
 “ In Jehovah Jesus I have righteousness and strength." 
 The awful effects of sin are discovered by their darken¬ 
 ing and beclouding influence on the understanding, and 
 all the powers of the mind. Who but Jesus can remove 
 that spiritual ignorance and insensibility l But his Spirit, 
 and light, and grace, can clear away every obstruction 
 which prevents the spiritual vision, or the exercise of the 
 spiritual understanding, and purify, and enlarge, and 
 strengthen all its powers to behold, contemplate, and discern 
 the glory of the Gospel, the nature of its doctrine, and the 
 excellency of its blessings. (1 John v. 20.) If all the moral 
 powers of man are out of order, his high celestial faculties 
 sink down into the stupidity of sin ; the grossness of earth, 
 labouring under the corrupting influence of sensual objects, 
 altogether polluted and defiled ;—if his passions, which ori¬ 
 ginally all harmonized in the love of God, and in sweet 
 delight in heavenly objects, are all in disorder and insub¬ 
 ordination ;—if his whole frame be spiritually enervated, 
 without any spiritual understanding for spiritual objects, 
 or spiritual appetite for spiritual blessings, or spiritual 
 faculties for spiritual enjoyments; if pride and worldly 
 mipdedness, and lust, and every evil temper and disposi¬ 
 tion reign within him, and spread their destructive influence 
 through his soul; who shall restore the disordered frame, 
 correct and remedy the prevailing and destroying corrup- 
 
314 
 
 SERIES X.—ESSAY VIII. 
 
 tions, and renew within the soul the powers of spiritual 
 life, and health, and vigour ? Behold the heavenly Physi¬ 
 cian : he bids the sinner trust his skill, and submit to his 
 direction, and the most inveterate malady, whatsoever 
 disease sin has introduced into my soul, beneath his hand 
 shall yield to returning health and vigour. His precious 
 blood, his healing grace, has a quickening energy, a reno¬ 
 vating power. The remedies which we administer to the 
 body can only revive and restore what is injured or diseased; 
 but his almighty influence can even restore what has been 
 lost, and can give life to the dead, as well as revival to the 
 living. When he gives peace with God through the blood 
 of his cross, he gives also a new heart, and creates a right 
 spirit within us. How powerful, then, is the efficacy of 
 his grace, when the perverse passions become regulated 
 and holy, when pride is humbled into humility, worldly- 
 mindedness exalted into the glorious hope of heavenly 
 blessings ; when lust is changed into purity of heart, and 
 all the evil passions of the mind yield to the mild and 
 generous influence of the Christian graces, the sweet 
 fruits of the Spirit! Thus pardoning and sanctifying grace 
 effectually unite in the restored health of his people. 
 (Ezek. xxxvi. 25; Heb. x. 16.) Yea, he heals the de¬ 
 structive influence of their corrupt backslidings, when, 
 neglectful of his direction, they again relapse from spiritual 
 health into corruption and guilt. (Hos. xiv. 4—6.) Now 
 the understanding discerns the beauty of his word; the 
 spiritual appetite relishes and enjoys the blessings of his 
 love; the spiritual faculties are alive to spiritual enjoyment; 
 the soul, again enlarged by grace in the love of God, rises 
 out from the corrupting influence of sense and carnal de¬ 
 lights, and again finds its delight in God, and grows into a 
 conformity to his holy will and heavenly image. This is 
 spiritual health; this is what the heavenly Healer has un¬ 
 dertaken to effect, aud what he is infinitely able to effect 
 in the soul of his redeemed. The remedies which he has 
 provided are suited to the purpose ; and in their use and 
 application the convalescence is begun, and under his 
 
315 
 
 PHYSICIAN, &e. 
 
 hand and care shall finally be completed. Though now, 
 indeed, the believer only finds the beginning, and at pre¬ 
 sent mixed with much of the remains of sinful corrup¬ 
 tion, yet is the renovating power of his grace actually 
 felt, his newly quickened soul aspires to, aims at, and is 
 continually tending towards, that perfect health and sound¬ 
 ness which he shall assuredly attain, under the great Phy¬ 
 sician, in that world where the happy inhabitants “ shall 
 no more say, I am sick, because the people that dwell 
 therein are forgiven all their iniquities.” For as the effi¬ 
 cacy of his remedy is universal, and his skill unfailing, so 
 also his blood and his grace, 
 
 4. Have an unfailing virtue wherever they are received 
 and applied .—This is far from the case in human remedies. 
 Whatever may be the skill of the medical professor, there 
 are many circumstances of disease and affliction to the 
 knowledge of which he cannot attain. The cause is latent, 
 the discovery is dubious, and the remedy required alto¬ 
 gether uncertain. After all the experience employed, and 
 all the pains endured, the remedy used may prove ineffec¬ 
 tual, or may be found to have been improper and injurious. 
 What anxiety must have filled the mind of an afflicted, 
 dying sinner, sensible of his danger, and of all the solemn 
 consequences of his sin, if the least doubt of this kind could 
 be justly harboured in the mind, as to the heavenly Phy¬ 
 sician ! He might mournfully exclaim, Though I apply 
 to this Physician, and though he administer to me his much 
 commended balm, the long-famed remedies of his providing, 
 they may not perhaps be suited to my peculiar case; they 
 may fail to heal or restore me. How awful is my case in 
 such extremity of danger, without any certainty of relief! 
 But no: his blood was sufficient to atone for sin, and is 
 therefore all-sufficient to purify from guilt: it cleanses 
 from all sin. His grace is almighty in its efficacy to heal, 
 and his power to deliver from all the consequences of sin. 
 He who has purchased his church with his own blood, 
 who is God our Saviour, the Lord our Righteousness, is 
 able to save unto the uttermost. Whenever in the days 
 
SKRltS X—liSSAY V111. 
 
 31G 
 
 of his flesh he undertook the healing of a diseased person* 
 he spake and it was done; he perfected the healing and 
 the cure. And so shall it be, O thou fearful penitent 1 
 waiting for spiritual healing in the prayer of faith, at 
 the foot of his Throne. Have you committed yourself to 
 him—the salvation of your soul into his hands? He will 
 never fail them that trust in him. The efficacy of his 
 grace comes recommended to thee by the experience of 
 all his people from the beginning. Thousands and tens 
 of thousands can give their probation est , their testi¬ 
 mony, to its unfailing virtue. They sought and they 
 found complete salvation in Him ; and now before the 
 Throne above they bid thee come and find the same. Yea, 
 his skill is recommended to thee still further by the tes¬ 
 timony of God himself. He is no self-obtruding empiric, 
 but divinely appointed to discharge this very office, ap¬ 
 pointed of God unto us as wisdom, righteousness, sancti¬ 
 fication, and redemption, and delighting to perform the 
 office to all his people. A circumstance, therefore, which 
 most recommends this heavenly Physician to the needy 
 sinner, is the freedom with which he administers his re¬ 
 medies to all who come to him. Many of our fellow-mor¬ 
 tals die under disease and affliction, for want of that assist¬ 
 ance which they have no ability to procure: and if the 
 door of mercy was not opened to every comer; if we were 
 required to bring any suitable recommendation for obtain¬ 
 ing its relief; the salvation of Jesus, upon conditions 
 which we were unable to perform, could be of no use to 
 us. But as it is freely given, it becomes suited to our 
 extreme necessity, who are as indigent as we are miserable. 
 But lift up your eyes, O dying penitent! to the door of 
 mercy. Behold there inscribed in the characters of ever¬ 
 lasting truth, “ Ask, and ye shall have ; seek, and ye shall 
 find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” (Compare 
 Rev. iii. 18; xxii. 17: Matt. xi. 28.) 
 
 He cannot possibly be a gainer by any thing that we 
 could give him: therefore he gives his blessings without 
 money and without price. The only requisite is, that the sick 
 
317 
 
 PHYSICIAN, &C. 
 
 and dying sinner should know his state, and desire his 
 recovery; and, glory be to his Sovereign Grace 1 this know¬ 
 ledge, this disposition, he himself bestows upon his re¬ 
 deemed. Look then, thou dying sinner: behold this 
 Jesus; contemplate his wisdom, his grace, his all-sufficiency 
 of mercy, and his fulness of power. “ Is there no Balm 
 in Gilead, is there no Physician there,” thou fearful dying 
 sinner? Yes, the word of God is the continual testimony 
 to the person of Jesus ; his character, his glory, his all- 
 sufficiency. He is set forth as the propitiation, through 
 faith in his blood, to declare the righteousness of God in 
 our forgiveness and salvation. The invitation of his word 
 encourages thy return, and insures thy reception and 
 blessing. Thou canst not come in vain; for through this 
 Jesus is preached to us the forgiveness of sins, and in him 
 all who believe are justified from all things. (Acts xiii. 
 38, 39.) Blessed Saviour, and glorious salvation ! his be 
 all the praise that it is so suited to our necessity and 
 misery. None have ever been rejected as beyond his 
 power or grace: all the saints on earth, and all in glory, 
 bear their testimony to his ability and his compassion. The 
 blood and grace of Jesus are suited to you, to me, and to 
 all: it is therefore “ a faithful saying, and worthy of all 
 acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save 
 sinners.” How shall I sufficiently adore, or trust, or praise 
 thee, thou good Physician of my sin-sick soul. Thou art 
 Jehovah Ropheh (KEfi), the Lord that healeth me. (Exod. 
 xv. 26.) 
 
 But let me always recollect that a remedy, in order to 
 be effectual, must be received and applied. How then 
 shall we expect the Divine remedy of the heavenly Phy¬ 
 sician to be effectual, unless there be an application to him 
 by faith; and an application to the heart, of his atoning 
 blood and sanctifying grace by the power of his Spirit? 
 What application, then, O my soul, hast thou made to this 
 Friend of sinners? What application has been made to 
 my heart by the Spirit of the Lord, of his healing and re¬ 
 storing grace ? And what effects have been produced by 
 this upon my soul, by nature diseased with sin, and in- 
 
318 
 
 SERIES X.—ESSAY VIII. 
 
 fected with every symptom of that mortal and soul-de¬ 
 stroying plague? Have I come by faith to Jesus ? Have 
 I trusted his atoning blood and righteousness, and found 
 the sweet effects of it in the peace of my conscience and 
 the justification of my person, in which alone I can be 
 accounted whole, or perfectly righteous, in the sight of 
 God ? Have I experienced the humbling, cleansing, sanc¬ 
 tifying, saving power of his grace ; and am I living in the 
 use of his appointed means, in the exercise of faith upon 
 him for the carrying on of the healing effects ? Am I thus 
 making fresh applications daily to Him whose continued 
 care and daily influence can alone preserve what has yet 
 been imparted, establish and confirm the benefit already 
 received, and promote and increase the holy health and 
 vigour of the new and spiritual life ? This is the appointed 
 method of receiving and rejoicing in spiritual health and 
 continued recovery. And how absurd is it to commend 
 the Physician, and to praise his prescriptions, and to talk 
 of his excellency of life and health, and yet to avoid the 
 means of its attainment, and to dislike and be averse to 
 the cure itself! Such an inconsistency would be obvious, 
 and readily condemned in the distempers of the body; 
 and. yet, alas ! how often does it occur in the diseases of 
 the soul! But, if desirous of deliverance and salvation, 
 let not the dying sinner, in the most desperate state of 
 spiritual disorder, be distrustful of the skill or grace of 
 the Redeemer : let him apply to and trust in the ability 
 and willingness of this Divine Restorer ; “ for he healeth 
 the broken in heart, and bindeth up all their wounds.” 
 (Psa. cxlvii. 3; Mai. iv. 2.) His sufficiency is equal to 
 his willingness. His willingness knows no limits but his 
 infinite sufficiency; and what then can prevent the com¬ 
 munication of all his benefits to the needy sinner at his 
 feet ? He can, and he has promised to, forgive all our 
 sins : he has engaged that sin shall not have dominion 
 over his people, to quicken his redeemed to the life of 
 grace, and consummate it in the life of glory, where every 
 believer shall be made perfectly whole.—Let me then go 
 forward in the constant exercise of faith, and trust him 
 
PHYSICIAN, &c, 319 
 
 that it shall be even as he has spoken. While my cor¬ 
 ruptions and miseries humble me before him, let me not 
 forget the value and the efficacy of the Saviour’s blood. 
 If my soul, convinced of sin, be long mourning under it, 
 it cannot be for want of fulness in him, but of a believing 
 continued application to him. It will, however, be need¬ 
 ful also, always to remember, that this is only the con¬ 
 valescent state of the people of his love: the cure is not 
 yet completed, though in a certain progress. Still I shall 
 find the remains of spiritual disease to grieve, to humble, 
 to debase me, and to make the Divine Saviour more pre¬ 
 cious, while it teaches me the necessity of constant appli¬ 
 cation to him and dependence upon him. But it is the 
 glory of his cures that they shall all be perfected. The 
 period is coming, the happy state is approaching, where 
 there shall be no more sickness, nor death, nor sorrow, 
 nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the 
 former things shall be passed away. (Rev. xxi. 4.) This 
 is the glorious consummation of the great Redeemer’s 
 work and cares ! Blessed Jesus ! now indeed the whole 
 head is sick, and the whole heart faint: the spiritual 
 disease indicates the spiritual death, and threatens death 
 eternal: but I come to thee; hast thou not begun the 
 spiritual restoration ? I trust myself under thy care, the 
 only spiritual Healer, who hast undertaken the gracious 
 design, and art able to accomplish it. Let thy blood 
 cleanse my conscience; let thy grace heal my heart, 
 bring every passion into order, every thought into the 
 obedience of righteousness, the obedience of faith and 
 love; and carry on the healing process. Let spiritual 
 life increase in its exercises, its acts of duty, its vigorous 
 efforts, and its heavenly enjoyment, till every power and 
 every faculty be perfectly restored; till thy favour be 
 perfectly enjoyed in renewed and exalted affections; and 
 thy holy image again be apparent in my body and in my 
 soul, united and glorified together, in the world where sin 
 and sickness shall never enter! 
 
320 
 
 SERIES X.—ESSAY IX. 
 
 ESSAY IX. 
 
 CaficrnacU — Cemple. 
 
 From the fall of man to the actual appearance of the 
 Redeemer, the great doctrines of salvation were repre¬ 
 sented to mankind by a variety of sensible emblems, till, 
 in the Jewish dispensation, the whole were embodied into 
 a system of types and figures eminently calculated, as 
 appears upon the review of them, to represent the glory 
 of Christ, and the fulness of his salvation. Amongst these, 
 the tabernacle in the wilderness, and, afterwards, the 
 temple at Jerusalem, were the most remarkable; for in 
 their construction, together with their sacred vessels and 
 ornaments, and the various services which were there 
 appointed, the transactions, the doctrines, the blessings of 
 the covenant of redemption, were all typically displayed; 
 and here, as in one grand point or centre, all the parts of 
 that dispensation met and were united. It could only be 
 on this account that so particular a charge is given to 
 Moses, in the erection and furnishing of the tabernacle, 
 to attend in every circumstance to the divine model which 
 had been set before him by God himself; “ And look that 
 thou make them after their pattern, which was shewed 
 thee in the mount” (Exod. xxv. 40.) The Apostle, 
 alluding to this admonition given to Moses, tells us ex¬ 
 pressly what was their scope and design ; They “ serve 
 unto the example and shadow of heavenly things .” They 
 were examples , which set before the eyes of those who 
 observed them, and raised in their minds, by the interven¬ 
 tion of sensible objects, the idea of spiritual things. They 
 were shadows which delineated and gave, as it were, the 
 outline and sketches of them; and they were patterns , 
 
TABERNACLE—TEMPLE. 
 
 321 
 
 which, when just and accurate, represent clearly the na¬ 
 ture of those more extensive objects which they are in¬ 
 tended to exhibit to the mind. So the whole of these 
 institutions were earthly rudiments of heavenly things, 
 intended to represent them as they are in Christ Jesus, 
 the living Temple, and as derived from him to all his 
 people. When, therefore, an inspired Apostle enters into 
 an explanation of the leading facts, we cannot but admire 
 the wisdom and the grace which is manifested in them. 
 AVithout this indeed it must appear strange and unac¬ 
 countable that such exactness should be divinely pre¬ 
 scribed in the arranging of them, such time be spent in 
 the completing of them, and such a strictness enjoined in 
 the observance of them. But when all are seen as leading 
 up to that one great object which is the glory of heaven 
 and of earth, “ Jesus, the same yesterday, to-day, and for 
 ever,” and exhibiting the glory of his person, the acts of 
 his condescension, the doctrine of his Gospel, and the 
 blessings of his salvation, the reason of this appears evi¬ 
 dent; and the Divine wisdom is justified, and even greatly 
 exalted, in their minute' and exact appointment. The 
 Tabernacle and the Temple will now particularly claim 
 our attention in this view ; both of them being designed for 
 one purpose, and being nearly alike in their several parts,— 
 except that the temple, in its stability and grandeur, 
 greatly exceeded the other. In both, therefore, we shall 
 behold the same object, especially that eminent person in 
 whom, as in the temple, all the Divine glory was dis¬ 
 played. We have the authority of our Lord himself, that 
 the temple was the type of his human body, filled with the 
 glory of his divinity. “ Destroy this Temple ,” says he, 
 “ and in three days I will raise it up again;' but “ he 
 spake of the Temple of his body." (John ii. 21.) An 
 Apostle, speaking of the same subject (viz. the body of 
 Christ), calls it the “ true Tabernacle, which the Lord 
 pitched and not man" The body of Christ, indeed, is 
 not complete without his church : the temple may, there¬ 
 fore, represent him in all his fulness, connected with the 
 YOL. V. Y 
 
SERIES X.—ESSAY IX. 
 
 322 
 
 church, which is his body, the fulness of him that frlletfa 
 all in all. It may, therefore, relate to him, either per¬ 
 sonally or mystically; and, as such, every part of the fur¬ 
 niture represents something- of the glory which dwelt in 
 the humanity of the incarnate God our Saviour, the Divine 
 graces of his wonderful person, or all that fulness of bless¬ 
 ing which is in him, for the supply of his church. Its 
 structure, its furniture, its design, will all lead us to some 
 further discovery of the glory and all-sufficiency of our 
 Redeemer. What, then, the Psalmist speaks literally of 
 the Jewish tabernacle, will be the language of every 
 Christian, as to him who is the great Antitype of the 
 whole : “One thing have I desired of the Lord ; that will 
 I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all 
 the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and 
 to inquire in his Temple. For in the time of trouble he 
 shall hide me in his pavilion : in the secret of his taber¬ 
 nacle shall he hide me : he shall set me upon a rock. And 
 now shall my head be lifted up above mine enemies round 
 about me : therefore will I offer in his tabernacle the 
 sacrifices of joy” (of shouting). “I will sing; yea, I will 
 sing praises unto the Lord.” (Psa. xxvii. 4—6.) In the 
 living Temple of my Saviour's body, I shall behold all the 
 beauty and glory of Jehovah: there shall my soul be se¬ 
 cured from every danger, and hid from every enemy ; and 
 therefore in him shall my song of praise ascend, acceptable 
 to God in Jesus Christ.—Let us attend, 
 
 1. To their buildings, or the structures themselves, as all 
 the minutiae of these were strictly enjoined. No doubt they 
 are capable of affording spiritual instruction; and that 
 which is worthy of God’s appointment must be worthy of 
 man’s observation. Too particular an investigation might, 
 however, lead us into fruitless minuteness, and, unless very 
 cautiously pursued, degenerate into fancy and wild imagina¬ 
 tion ; besides, that it would diffuse itself into too extensive 
 a source of remarks for our present limited plan, which 
 prescribes to us only the great and leading features, as the 
 subjects of our attention. The construction of the taber - 
 
TABERNACLE—TEMPLE. 
 
 323 
 
 nacle is described by the sacred writer, in the xxvith and 
 xxviith chapters of the Book of Exodus. A spacious court 
 was to be formed by curtains of fine linen a hundred cubits 
 long, to be hung upon twenty pillars of brass filleted with 
 silver on each side, and fifty cubits broad to be hung upon 
 ten pillars of brass filleted with silver at each end. And 
 for a gate, in the centre of the east end, a hanging of twenty 
 cubits of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined 
 linen, wrought with needle-work, upon four pillars of the 
 same. (Exod. xxvii. 9—18.) Into this all the people had 
 a right to enter, that they might come into his gates with 
 thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise. Within this 
 enclosure, and nearly at the west end, was the tabernacle 
 itself, divided into two apartments, into the first of which 
 only the tribe of Levi and the priests might enter. It con¬ 
 sisted of a tent about thirty cubits long, about ten cubits 
 broad, and ten cubits high, formed with boards of Shittim 
 wood overlaid with gold, fixed in sockets of silver, united 
 with bars of the same wood covered with gold, through 
 rings of solid gold. The east end being reserved for an 
 entrance, was hung with a veil of blue, and purple, and scar¬ 
 let, and fine twined linen wrought with needle-work. (Exod. 
 xxvi. 31—33, 36, 37.) When the tabernacle was thus 
 erected, having no roof, it was covered over, and on each 
 side, with five curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and 
 purple, and scarlet, embroidered with cherubim of cunning 
 work twenty-eight cubits long, and four cubits in breadth; 
 affording a beautiful internal roof, over which was another 
 covering of curtains of goafs hair thirty cubits long, four 
 in breadth, five on the one side, and six on the other, 
 half of one of which was doubled back in the front, and 
 the other half hung over the back side of the tabernacle. 
 Over this was another covering of rams’ skins dyed red; and 
 above all, another of badgers’ skins, or strong leather. The 
 tabernacle itself being divided into two apartments, into 
 the holy place the priests alone might enter for the service 
 of God; and into the most holy place the high priest alone, 
 and that but once a-year, on the great day of atonement, 
 
 y 2 
 
324 
 
 SERIES X.—ESSAY IX. 
 
 The separation between these was made with a beautiful 
 veil of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen of cun¬ 
 ning work, with cherubim hung with hooks of gold upon 
 four pillars of Shittim wood, overlaid with gold in sockets 
 of silver. (Exod. xxvi. 31, 32.) The whole being thus 
 erected by Divine appointment, and every part formed ac¬ 
 cording to the Divinely appointed pattern, was consecrated 
 to the service of God, and filled with his own Divine glory. 
 Such, also, in future times was the more glorious temple ; 
 for the tabernacle being moveable, was in time set aside for 
 that more splendid display of magnificence and dignity in the 
 temple which was intended for the same purpose, and a more 
 noble exhibition of the same truths and blessings. Of this 
 we have a more particular detail in the sixth and seventh 
 chapters of the First Book of Kings, and the third and 
 fourth chapters of the Second Book of Chronicles. It was 
 built according to a plan and model devised by God himself, 
 and erected by his own command upon Mount Moriah, one 
 of the hills of Mount Sion, the name of a general range of 
 hills in th^ neighbourhood of Jerusalem, and, it is supposed, 
 on the spot where Abraham offered up his son Isaac. The 
 form of it was much the same as the tabernacle, except being 
 every way of larger dimensions. Its outward court was a 
 circumference of half a mile walled round about, where 
 every clean Israelite might enter, and into part of which 
 afterward even the Gentile converts were admitted. Within 
 this court was another for the Priests and Levites, surrounded 
 with alow wall that the people might, over it, see what was 
 doing by the priests ; near to the west end of which stood 
 the temple ; and at its entrance were two pillars, the one 
 called Jackin, “ stability,” and the other Boaz, “strength.” 
 You then entered a porch twenty cubits from north to 
 south, ten from east to west, and a hundred and twenty 
 in height, which served as a steeple to adorn the build¬ 
 ing, and a place of shelter and prayer to the serving 
 priests. Beyond this was the sanctuary itself, or the holy 
 place, forty cubits in length, twenty cubits in breadth, and 
 thirty cubits in height; and passing through the sanctuary 
 
TABERNACLE—TEMPLE. 
 
 325 
 
 you entered by a fine veil, and two-leaved doors of olive 
 tree, into the oracle, or the most holy place, twenty 
 cubits square, as in the tabernacle ; appropriated to the 
 same uses, and to the entrance of the high priest alone. 
 The walls of the house were reared with alternate rows 
 of fine cedar-wood, and hewn stones, most probably the 
 finest marble ; the figures of palm-trees and of cheru¬ 
 bim appeared every where within, wrought upon its cur¬ 
 tain, and carved upon its materials. The oracle had no 
 window, and was therefore particularly dark ; nor had the 
 sanctuary any in the tabernacle; and in the temple but 
 narrow windows, light against light: the pavement, walls, 
 and roof within were overlaid with gold, and the roof with¬ 
 out covered with the same precious metal, which, when the 
 sun shone upon its top, must have given it a most splendid 
 and dazzling appearance. We may reasonably suppose 
 that, as the model of this structure was laid by a Divine 
 Architect, it was the completest building ever erected ; 
 and it is no improbable conjecture of some, who would de¬ 
 rive all the Grecian orders, and greatest ornaments in archi¬ 
 tecture, from this temple. When thus prepared, it was 
 dedicated by feasting and sacrifices, which were consumed 
 with the holy fire, which anew came down from heaven ; 
 and the Shechinah, or cloud of Divine glory, entered into 
 it to take up its rest over the ark between the cherubim *, 
 which constituted its peculiar honour, its own conclusive 
 grandeur and heavenly dignity. 
 
 But now let us contemplate its emblematical design, and 
 see how exactly and justly it is calculated to represent the 
 person and glory of our Divine Immanuel, when in future 
 times, as God incarnate, he appears among his people; 
 and when in his human body, as in the Temple of the Lord, 
 all the Divine glories dwell. “ Then 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 
 
 * For further account of the Tabernacle and Temple, sec Brown's 
 Dictionary of the Bible under these words ; and Jenning’s “ Jew ish 
 Antiquities.” 
 
326 
 
 SERIES X.—ESSAY IX. 
 
 and truth.” His Divine person is of no human origin, 
 but is the plan, the model, the work of an heavenly Ar¬ 
 chitect, “ the Tabernacle which the Lord pitched, and not 
 man” (Heb. viii. 2) ; “ the greater and more perfect 
 Tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of 
 this building.” (Heb. ix. 11.) His human nature itself was 
 prepared for him by his heavenly Father; for “a body,’’ 
 says he, “ hast thou prepared me.” It was wrought and 
 formed by the Holy Ghost; then it was anointed without 
 measure by his influence, and adorned with all his gifts 
 and graces. By his Divine power it was conceived in the 
 womb of a virgin mother; according to the declaration of 
 the angel, “ The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and 
 the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee : there¬ 
 fore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee, shall 
 be called the Son of God.” (Luke i. 34, 35.) Here is a 
 suitable preparation for the residence of the Divine glory. 
 In the pure and spotless body of Jesus, in the Temple of 
 his Manhood devised of God, and reared up with infinite 
 wisdom and skill, consecrated with the oil of the Holy 
 Spirit, and his own bloody sufferings and sacrifice, is the 
 glorious residence of his Godhead.—The temple was emi¬ 
 nently the house of the Lord Jehovah: of this place he 
 had said, “ My name shall be there ” (1 Kings viii. 
 
 27—29); and therefore, “ it came to pass,” at its conse¬ 
 cration, “ when the priests were come out of the holy 
 place, that the cloud filled the house of the Lord, so that 
 the priests could not stay to minister because of the cloud. 
 For the Glory of the Lord (Jehovah) had filled the house of 
 the Lord.” (Compare Exod. xxix. 42—46, andxl. 34—38.) 
 Thus in the dear Redeemer “ dwells all the fulness of the 
 Godhead bodily.” “ He is the brightness of the Father’s 
 glory, and the express image of his Person.” “ God in 
 Christ reconciling the world unto himself.” This was the 
 design of both the tabernacle and the temple ; the taber¬ 
 nacle, however, though most glorious within, had its out¬ 
 ward covering of meaner and rough materials, and was 
 a just representation of the outwardly mean and lowly ap- 
 
TABERNACLE—TEMPLE. 
 
 327 
 
 pearance of our Redeemer, though inwardly most glorious, 
 when tabernacling on earth. Being moveable, and at last 
 entirely taken down, it represented the human nature of 
 the Lord Jesus as about to be cast down in death: it there¬ 
 fore particularly marked out his great humiliation, when 
 going up and down among his people, in a body like ours, 
 subjected to the same infirmities, till he died upon the cross. 
 And as the tabernacle was taken down, or rested in the 
 temple, which was erected in its stead, and was virtually 
 the same, though vastly more glorious; so the dying Sa¬ 
 viour, dropping all his infirmity and meanness in the grave, 
 rises again in the same body infinitely more glorious, to ex¬ 
 ecute all the same glorious offices upon his Throne. The 
 Temple therefore, besides presenting- to the eye the emblems 
 of the same object, was the type of the firmness and stabi¬ 
 lity of his heavenly glories ; the very names of the pillars, 
 at its entrance, though designed, not for support, but 
 ornament, immediately directed the mind to this view, the 
 stability and strength of the great Antitype. The whole 
 building was the perfection of all wisdom, skill, and beauty, 
 human and Divine, and formed the best representation 
 which could be given on earth of him who is “ the All in 
 All”—“ theBriyhtness of Glory.” But not only were the 
 tabernacle and the temple the residence of the name 
 Jehovah, but they were intended to manifest Jehovah as 
 reconciled to us : they exhibited therefore his person, by 
 the sovereign mercy of God set up to be our Mediator; 
 the appointed, the sure, the glorious and eternal means of 
 our fellowship with God, and of receiving all blessings 
 from him. This was the design of all their officers and ser¬ 
 vices : both of them together represented the fulness of 
 his mediatorial excellency, the perfection of his glories ; 
 and the two apartments, the holy and the most holy, in 
 the tabernacle and temple, intimated that the Divine 
 and human nature of our Redeemer were but one Christ, 
 God and man but one Immanuel. As the medium of 
 an Israelite’s approach to God, it was only in that temple, 
 or as looking by faith towards it, that any of his services 
 
328 
 
 SERIES X.—ESSAY IX. 
 
 were accepted ; and it is only through Jesus that we have 
 an access by one Spirit unto the Father. (Eph. ii. 18 ; 
 compare Col. i. 14—22.) He is the means of all fellow¬ 
 ship with God, the treasury of the atonement, the light, 
 the purification, and all the provision for our souls. In 
 every view, therefore, it reflects the glory of Christ Jesus. 
 Its design is accomplished in him ; but in all he rises infi¬ 
 nitely above, and the eminent, the exalted, glory must be 
 to our Jesus, in whom it hath pleased the Father that all 
 fulness should dwell. The conformity and propriety of the 
 type, but the pre-eminent excellency of the Antitype will 
 appear, especially as the appointed and all-sufficient me¬ 
 dium of our approach to God, if we proceed to con¬ 
 sider, 
 
 2. Their typicalfurniture and their services .—All these 
 mark out some distinct excellency, work, or blessing of the 
 Redeemer: in their different parts, his different works, 
 offices, and benefits; and collectively, his all-sufficiency'and 
 the fulness of his salvation. Though far beneath the 
 Christian dispensation in clearness and in glory, their 
 testimony is not now to be despised nor rejected ; for these 
 were the things which led the believing Israelites to the 
 knowledge of Jesus and his salvation : and still they shew to 
 us that it was the same Gospel which was preached to them, 
 and which they received; and, illuminated by the Gospel, 
 they reflect back a mild lustre upon all its truths and 
 blessings. 
 
 Let us then pursue the inquiry. In the entrance, or in 
 the first uncovered court, by the door stood the brazen 
 altar, and the brazen laver (See Exod. xl. 29, 30), visible 
 to all, because they conveyed a truth necessary to all, the 
 dying love, the atoning sacrifice of Jesus, and the regene¬ 
 rating influence of his Spirit. 
 
 (1.) The altar of burnt-offering (Ezek. xxvii. 1—8), 
 
 in the court of the tabernacle. This was five cubits 
 
 / 
 
 long, five cubits broad, and three cubits high ; but in the 
 court of the temple, twenty cubits long, twenty cubits 
 broad, and ten cubits high. (See 1 Chron. iv. 1.) That 
 
TABERNACLE—TEMPLE. 
 
 329 
 
 belonging to the tabernacle was built of Shittim wood, 
 overlaid with brass, but that belonging to the temple was 
 altogether of brass, an emblem of glory and strength. 
 Upon this, the burnt-offerings and meat-offerings were 
 offered, as the Lord commanded Moses. At the four cor¬ 
 ners, were four horns of the same, upon which, after the 
 sacrifice had been slain, some of the blood was to be put 
 with the finger of the priest. (Lev. iv. 25, 30, 34.)—The 
 spiritual import of this emblem is given us by the Apo¬ 
 stle : “We have an altar, whereof they have no right to 
 eat which serve the tabernacle ; for the bodies of those 
 beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary, by the 
 high priest for sin, are burned without the camp. Where¬ 
 fore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his 
 own blood, suffered without the gate.” (Heb. xiii. 10—12.) 
 Jesus, who is our Sacrifice, is also our Altar, in the humi¬ 
 liation of his human nature, and the glory of his Divine, 
 bearing all our offerings, and giving efficacy to them all; 
 his almighty strength and glory, justly represented by 
 its usual emblems the strong and polished brass, able to 
 bear up all, and give a virtue to all. The Altar was four 
 square, denoting his perfection, and so his all-sufficiency ; 
 or, it might denote the universality of his salvation, to all 
 the ends of the earth, the four quarters of the world, 
 though this was especially denoted by the four horns at the 
 four corners. These also, as they were the natural em¬ 
 blems of the rays of light, the glory and strength of the 
 firmament, must be considered as representing his Divine 
 power, and all the splendid rays of his Glory, and his Ma¬ 
 jesty. And as these were undivided parts of the altar*, they 
 intimated, that the mediatorial strength of his salvation was 
 derived from what he bore and suffered there : the blood 
 put upon the tips of them plainly shadowed forth the 
 virtue of his sacrifice and obedience, as sufficient to atone 
 for all his brethren to the end of the earth, and spreading 
 the all-sufficient grace and power of his redeeming blood, 
 for the salvation of his redeemed, wherever scattered among 
 
 * See Essay on the title Altar, Ser. vi. Ess. ix. 
 
330 
 
 SERIES X.—ESSAY IX. 
 
 the sons of men; and that he who was the glory of his peo¬ 
 ple Israel would be God’s salvation to Gentile sinners. 
 Thus, the first object which strikes our attention atfords 
 the most eminent display of a dying Saviour, in the merit 
 of his atonement. This is the foundation and the glory of 
 every dispensation of God to man, since man became a 
 sinner, and stood in need of such an amazing display of 
 sovereign grace, and boundless love. 
 
 (2.) The next thing which struck the eye of the be¬ 
 lieving Israelite was the brazen laver, placed a little fur¬ 
 ther on, in the court of the tabernacle (Exod.xl.30 ; xxx. 
 18; xxxviii. 8); and in the stead of which was the capacious 
 brazen sea, or molten sea of brass upon twelve oxen, be¬ 
 sides the ten lavers, in the court of the priests, before the 
 temple. (I Kings vii. 23—49; 2 Chron. iv. 1, 6, 10.)— 
 Does not this represent the purity and innocence of Jesus, 
 that Lamb without blemish, and without spot? Yes ; but 
 still more they represent, not only his own purity, but his 
 cleansing efficacy to my heart. Here let me behold then 
 the fulness and all-sufficiency of his righteousness and of 
 his Spirit, to justify and sanctify his people, through his 
 blood, his grace, and his Spirit; their sacrifices of prayer 
 and praise, and their every service is acceptable before 
 God : through him they come near, and their offerings 
 together with their persons, who are the spiritual priests of 
 God, are continually well pleasing. The vessel so large, 
 and so capacious, may justly, though indeed feebly, repre¬ 
 sent the infinite fulness that ever dwells in Jesus ; to 
 sprinkle all nations, his elect in all the quarters of the earth, 
 in every age and generation; to wash away the sins of 
 “ all who come unto God through him.” It is the type 
 and emblem of that fountain ever open for sin and for un- 
 cleauness, &c. The twelve brazen figures of oxen ; three 
 looking towards each quarter, which supported this im¬ 
 mense laver, (which is therefore called a sea); may remind 
 us of the Twelve Apostles of the Lord, going forth into all 
 the world, to preach the Gospel of the kingdom to every 
 creature, and proclaiming pardon and salvation to polluted 
 
TA15 KRN AC L li—T EM P L E. 
 
 331 
 
 sinners. Here we must wash, if ever we would be cleansed 
 from the filthiness of sin, “ that we may draw near to God 
 with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, having our 
 hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies 
 washed with pure water.” And though justified from 
 all things by the faith of Jesus, still must we daily wash 
 our hands and our feet there ; our daily walk and conver¬ 
 sation must be purified again and again, through the blood 
 and grace of Jesus. No nitre nor soap can ever without 
 this cleanse my conscience, my heart, or my actions ; but 
 here is the sovereignly efficacious Purifier: washed in this 
 laver I shall be white as snow, yea, perfectly clean. In 
 this laver of Innocency, this water of perfect purity and 
 effectual purification, will “ I wash my hands, O Lord,” 
 as did the Psalmist, “ and thus will I compass thine altar 
 in the confidence and joy of faith, that I may publish with 
 the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all thy wondrous 
 works. (Psa. xxvi. 6, 7, &c.) 
 
 But now, with sacred awe, let us enter within the taber¬ 
 nacle, or the still more august and magnificent temple 
 itself; and the first thing which strikes us in this solemn, 
 beautiful, and venerable place, is the blazing light, 
 
 (3.) That diffuses itself from the candlestick of gold; 
 or, in the temple of Solomon, the ten golden candlesticks , 
 arranged five on each side of the mystical building. (Exod. 
 xxv. 31, &c.; 1 Kings vii. 49, &c.; 2 Cliron. iv. 7—20.) 
 This must have constituted a great ornament, and formed 
 a most magnificent appearance in the tabernacle, but more 
 especially in the temple. From the main shaft six branches 
 shot forth, all of one piece of beaten gold, forming to¬ 
 gether seven supporters to seven lamps of equal height, 
 which were kept continually burning. (Lev. xxiv. 2.) These 
 were calculated to represent the light and glory ever 
 dwelling in the Lord Jesus : they might be considered as 
 emblems of the sun in the natural world, the source of all 
 light and beauty; but in their spiritual import must point 
 us to Him who is the Sun of Righteousness, arising now 
 with healing beams beneath his wings; the Light of his 
 
332 
 
 SERIES X.—ESSAY IX. 
 
 people, the only Light which lighteth every man which 
 cometh into the world. The tabernacle, as it was con¬ 
 structed, could receive no light but from this ; there being 
 no window for the admission of outward light: and even in 
 the temple, the brightness of the lamps must have greatly 
 outshone all the light received from without. And does 
 not this teach us a truth which we are unwilling to learn, 
 but which is evident to the enlightened mind, and shines 
 in the strongest characters in the word of truth,—that man, 
 a fallen darkened sinner, can have no light to know spi¬ 
 ritual and heavenly objects, but by the revelation of God, 
 and in the person of Jesus, in whom alone shines “ the light 
 of the knowledge of the glory of God” In ourselves, there 
 is no heavenly spiritual light: the true state of man is 
 described by “ darkness and the shadow of death,” yea, 
 “ gross darkness ” (Isa. lx. 1—3) ; in ignorance of God and 
 of his soul, of his own state and the way of salvation, of the 
 present blessings of Divine grace, and of the objects and 
 glories of eternity. Nothing can be more awful and un¬ 
 pleasant than total darkness; but such is spiritually the state 
 of man. Could we conceive of the state of the world 
 without the sun, such would be the state of man without 
 the Sun of Righteousness : and ever must he have remain¬ 
 ed in this cheerless gloomy state, had not the true Light 
 shined, and brought to light life and immortality, pardon¬ 
 ing mercy, saving grace, and endless glory. All our light 
 of knowledge, our light of grace, and light of peace, and 
 joy, and happiness, comes forth from this immaterial Sun, 
 and is beautifully held forth in this illustrious type. This 
 blessed Jesus now fills the temple of his church with the 
 Divine light and illumination of his Spirit: he is now come 
 forth in all his splendour, shining in all the glory of his 
 Gospel, by the word and grace of his Spirit, into the un¬ 
 derstandings and hearts of his people. This is the glo¬ 
 rious day to which the Prophet alludes, when he calls the 
 church to arise from its state of dejection and torpor, and 
 welcome its approaching glories. “ Arise, shine ; for thy 
 Light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon 
 
TABERNACLE—TEMPLE. 
 
 333 
 
 thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, 
 and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise 
 upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the 
 Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the bright¬ 
 ness of thy rising/’ O Lord, hasten it in its time. The 
 number seven, which is always considered as a number 
 denoting fulness and perfection, together with the ten can¬ 
 dlesticks fully occupying each side of the temple, assures 
 us of the fulness of light and glory which is in Him ; all the 
 treasures of wisdom and knowledge, all the fulness of the 
 Godhead, a fulness which is not designed to rest within 
 himself, but which, like the rays of light, must diffuse them¬ 
 selves all around. Thus his light is, and must be, com¬ 
 municated to all his church ; and out of his fulness they 
 receive, and grace for grace. Patriarchs and prophets 
 of old were enlightened with his beams; apostles, evan¬ 
 gelists, and the primitive teachers of his church, derived all 
 their light with which the world was instructed and cheered, 
 from this same repository : and now the overseers and 
 ministers of his church, yea every individual of his people, 
 are all illuminated by the bright beams of this celestial 
 Lamp, and derive from him all which they know spiritually 
 and profitably of the things of grace, or of the world of 
 glory. Are we partakers of the bright influence of his 
 rays? Then, “ though once darkness, now are we light 
 IN the Lord.” We will acknowledge from whence we 
 have received, and glorify the Lord our Redeemer ; not 
 walking in darkness, but as the children of the light 
 and of the day, and, knowing the path of our feet, and the 
 way in which we are going, shall hasten forward through 
 earth to the brighter world above. 
 
 By the candlestick stood next in order, 
 
 (4.) The table of shew-brecid, overlaid with gold; and 
 arranged by the ten candlesticks in the temple stood an 
 equal number of these, all of gold. (Exod. xxv. 23—30 ; 
 1 Kings vii. 48; 2 Chron. iv. 8—20.) Twelve loaves were 
 put upon these, according to the number of the twelve 
 tribes of Israel. They were to be only for the high priest 
 
334 
 
 SERIES X.— ESSAY IX. 
 
 and his sons. (Levit. xxiv. 5—9.) Here then we behold 
 the blessed Jesus in another light, equally important, 
 equally necessary, equally useful to us, as the Bread of 
 Life, which cometh down from heaven, one with his people, 
 made the priests of the Lord, perpetually fed. On this 
 idea our Lord himself has beautifully enlarged ; “ Then 
 Jesus said unto them. Verily, verily, I say unto you, 
 Moses gave you not that Bread from heaven ; but my 
 Father giveth you the true Bread from heaven. For the 
 Bread of God is He which cometh down from heaven, 
 and giveth life unto the world. Then said they unto him. 
 Lord, evermore give us this Bread. And Jesus said unto 
 them, I am the Bread of Life : he that cometh unto me, 
 shall never hunger ; and he that believeth on me, shall 
 never thirst.” (John vi. 32—35: compare ver. 27, and 
 48—51.) “ And the bread which I give is my flesh, 
 which I will give for the life of the world. Except ye eat 
 the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink his blood, ye have 
 no life in you.” (ver. 52—58 *.) In allusion to this it 
 most probably was, that the Psalmist repi’esented the care 
 of Jehovah, the Shepherd of his flock, by his spreading 
 a table before him, in the presence of his enemies, to feed 
 his sold with heavenly food, in the midst of a disordered 
 world. 
 
 The twelve loaves, exactly proportioned to the twelve 
 tribes of Israel, most certainly were designed to assure us 
 of the all-sufficiency of the provisions of his grace for all 
 his people: all his sons and daughters shall eat of this 
 Bread of Life, shall find a full supply, shall rejoice in his 
 abundant blessings, and eat and live for ever. Here there 
 can be no deficiency: it is the infinite fulness of Jesus that 
 is provided for the relief of their wants ; and till finite can 
 exhaust infinity, there will still remain an inexhaustible ful¬ 
 ness, when the w r ants of all his people are supplied through 
 time or through eternity. A little further on, just by the 
 veil that separated the holy from the most holy place, was. 
 
 * Sec Essay on the title Bread of Life. —Scr. iii. Ess. x. 
 
TABERNACLE—TEMPLE. 
 
 335 
 
 (5.) The altar of incenseoverlaid with gold. (Exod. 
 xxx. 1—6.)—Upon this the high priest was to burn the 
 incense both morning and evening (ver. 7); and once a 
 year the blood of the sin-offering was to be sprinkled upon 
 the horns of it (representing the same as the horns of the 
 brazen altar) as an atonement. (Ver. 10; 1 Kings vii. 48; 
 2 Chron. iv. 19. See the nature of this incense in Exod. 
 xxx. 34_38.) Formed of a composition of the sweetest 
 spices, when burnt upon the altar it must have yielded the 
 most delicious perfume; but on the great day of atonement 
 it was to he burnt in a censer, full of burning coals from 
 off the altar before the Lord within the veil, that the cloud 
 of the incense might cover the mercy-seat that is upon 
 the testimony. (Lev. xvi. 12, 13.) As the brazen altar in 
 the court denoted the atonement and sacrifice of Jesus, so 
 by this was emblematically signified the powerful, effectual, 
 and continual intercession of the great Mediator, which is 
 always well pleasing to God; the sacrifice of a sweet 
 savour and always prevailing, though only through the 
 merit of his atonement, intimated by the sprinkling of the 
 blood of the sacrifice upon the horns of the altar. None 
 but the high priest could perform this part of the cere¬ 
 monial service, nor he but in the appointed way, under 
 pain of death ; and none but our great Priest can ever 
 approach unto God for us, with the blood of his own sa¬ 
 crifice and the power of his own fragrant intercession. 
 The Apostle thus beautifully unites them : “ But Christ 
 being come an High Priest of good things to come, by a 
 greater and more perfect tabernacle” (that of his own body), 
 “ not made with hands; that is to say, nut 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 ob¬ 
 tained eternal redemption for us,” &c. (See Heb. ix. 
 11—15.) For Christ is not entered into the holy places 
 made with hands, which are the figures of the true, but 
 into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God 
 
 See the title Altar, Ser. vi. Ess. ix. 
 
336 
 
 SERIES X.—ESSAY IX. 
 
 for us. (ver. 24.) As with this he entered within the veil, 
 therefore the altar was placed just by it, and the incense 
 once a year presented within it. His intercession is infi¬ 
 nitely more precious than the sweetest and most fragrant 
 perfume: in him alone is all that is acceptable to God, and 
 well pleasing in the redemption of his people. Let us then 
 come and commit our persons, our cause, and our services 
 to him; for in him we, as an holy priesthood, offer up 
 spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 
 (1 Pet. ii. 5.) “ By the blood of Jesus we have boldness 
 
 to enter into the holiest by a new and living way, which he 
 bath consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say, bis 
 flesh ; and having an High Priest over the house of God, 
 we draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, 
 having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and 
 our bodies washed with pure water.” (Heb. x. 21, 22.) 
 For he is able to save unto the uttermost all that come 
 unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make interces¬ 
 sion for them. (vii. 25.) This is the encouragement which 
 the Apostle holds forth to his believing people, under a 
 consciousness of renewed guilt and sin : even then we 
 have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righ¬ 
 teous, who maketh intercession for us, on the ground of 
 his being the Propitiation for our sins. (1 John ii. 1, 2.) 
 
 Between the holy and the most holy place was hung, 
 
 6. The beautiful veil of blue, and purple, and scarlet, 
 and fine twined linen; adorned with the figures of the 
 cherubim. (Exod. xxvi. 31—33; 2Chron. iii. 14.) Besides 
 which, in the temple of Solomon, there were doors of 
 olive-tree, with curtains of cherubim, and the palm-trees 
 and open flowers overlaid with gold. (1 Kings vi. 31, 32.) 
 •—This was, no doubt, a glorious figure of the body of our 
 Redeemer, while the cherubic representation only marked 
 out the union of his Divine nature, and the palm-branches 
 and trees his triumph and his victory. This veil being 
 rent at the time of our Lord’s crucifixion, shewed plainly 
 what was its design, and manifested that now the way was 
 opened into the holiest, the heavenly state; and that the 
 
TABERNACLE—TEMPLE. 
 
 337 
 
 Lord Jesus had finished his humiliation and debased ap¬ 
 pearance on earth, which awhile concealed his true and 
 heavenly glories. Now <£ He is our peace, who hath made 
 both Jew and Gentile one, and hath broken down the 
 middle wall of partition between us; having abolished in 
 his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments con¬ 
 tained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one 
 new man, so making peace; and that he might reconcile 
 both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the 
 enmity thereby.” (Eph. ii. 13—18.) He has, therefore, 
 consecrated the new and living way for us through the 
 veil of his flesh, and hath opened the dispensation of 
 superior glory in the Gospel. (2 Cor. iii. 7—11.) All 
 without this veil represented what the Lord Jesus was and 
 did on earth; and all beyond, or within, is representative 
 of the heavenly state, of what the Eternal Three are doing 
 in the heavenly world, especially the person of our Re¬ 
 deemer. This is intimated by the Apostle, when he de¬ 
 clares that the Holy Ghost, signified by the veil which 
 the high priest alone could pass once a-year, that the way 
 into the holiest of all was not yet manifested, while as the 
 first tabernacle was yet standing, &c. (Heb. ix. 8 : com¬ 
 pare 11, 12, and 24.) But if we enter into this most 
 holy place, we shall discern the figurative representa¬ 
 tions of the Divine glories; and the first thing which de¬ 
 mands our attention is, 
 
 (7.) The arlc of the testimony , anclits lid, or cover, called 
 the Mercy-seat, described Exod. xxv. 10—21.—It was 
 formed of Shittim wood, overlaid with pure gold within 
 and without, richly ornamented with curious workmanship, 
 and its lid of pure gold. It was intended principally as a 
 repository of the two tables of the Law *, written by the 
 
 * The Apostle tells us (Heb. ix. 4), that in the ark was also “ the 
 golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded;” though it 
 is very likely these were beside it, in the holy place, as the Apostle’s 
 words may bear this meaning, referring In y, not to ' x</3urrov, but to 
 erxrivri, the more remote antecedent, and which thus concurs with 
 1 Kings viii. 9. 
 
 VOL. V. 
 
 Z 
 
338 
 
 SERIES X.—ESSAY IX. 
 
 finger of Goil, the testament; therefore called the Ark of 
 the Testimony. Did not the wood here represent the 
 humanity, and the fine gold the Divine glory, of the Lord 
 our Redeemer, being the proper hieroglyphic of light and 
 glory, and both together represent the person of our Im¬ 
 manuel, God and man ? In his very heart was the holy 
 law of God, and in him all blessings were treasured as our 
 complete Mediator and Surety. This ark was therefore 
 the great object of attention in all that dispensation. Its 
 covering of gold was called the Mercy-seat, or the Propi¬ 
 tiatory, which was of exactly the same dimensions as the 
 ark, and thus denotes the perfect satisfaction of the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, in his obedience, just answering to the de¬ 
 mands of the Law, and to our transgressions, magnifying the 
 Law, and making it honourable, and thus securing mercy to 
 his people. It repi'esented, therefore, the covering of all 
 their transgressions of the Law, and the effects of his mercy 
 to the transgressors themselves. There the Lord Jehovah 
 appeared, and manifested through the high priest his favour 
 to his people according to his promise: “ And there will I 
 meet with thee, and commune with thee from above the 
 mercy-seat, from between the two cherubim, which are 
 upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will 
 give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.” 
 (Exod. xxv. 22.) It is in reference to this that the Apostle 
 speaks of Christ, as set forth by God as the propitiation 
 through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for 
 the forgiveness of our sins through the forbearance of God, 
 “ that God may be just, and the Justifier of him that be- 
 lieveth in Jesus.” (Rom. iii. 26.) This blessed Redeemer 
 is the glorious reality of all these typical shadows, in whom 
 God again returned with mercy and love to his redeemed. 
 He, indeed, is the covering of the Law, that it may no 
 longer charge the guilt of its transgressions upon the be¬ 
 lieving sinner; for he is the End of the Law for righteous¬ 
 ness to every one that believeth.—Have we seen and felt 
 our sins, our need of him? and, renouncing our self-righ- 
 ‘eous dependence, are we presenting our persons and ser- 
 
TABERNACLE—TEMPLE. 
 
 339 
 
 vices in and through him alone ? In him, then, we draw 
 near to God, and God will draw near to us : his Law is 
 honoured: the righteousness of that dear Redeemer shall 
 cover our souls, and the perfect delight in his work shall 
 render all his people the objects of his everlasting love and 
 favour. What, then, might we naturally expect over this, 
 but some emblematical display and representation of the 
 Divine glory ? Behold it, then, in 
 
 The cherubim of glory , shadowing the mercy-seat 
 of beaten gold, formed of the same piece as the mercy- 
 seat itself. (Exod. xxv. 18—20.) Over this Solomon ap¬ 
 pears to have made two others of olive-trees, overlaid with 
 gold, which overshadowed the two golden ones, and stretch¬ 
 ed their wings the whole breadth of the house. (1 Kings 
 vi. 23—28; 2 Chron. iii. 10—13.) Though the descrip¬ 
 tion of the figure of these is not given us, either by Moses 
 or by Solomon, yet there is every reason to believe that 
 they were the same as were seen by the Prophet Eze¬ 
 kiel, and which are described by him. (Ezek. i. 5—10 ; 
 x. 22*.) If this be the fact, then they had the appear- 
 auce of a man, or of a human body, with four faces; the 
 face of a man and of a lion on the right side, and the face 
 of an ox and of an eagle on the left side. The lion is the 
 king of beasts, and most probably marked out the Lion of 
 the tribe Judah, the King of glory ; and as this alone was 
 united with the man, we have a beautiful emblem, or hiero¬ 
 glyphic, of the union of the Godhead and the manhood in 
 the person of the man Jesus Christ. 
 
 The laborious ox may be considered as the emblem of 
 the Father, in his justice calling for vengeance: for the 
 language of justice is this, “ Nothing but an infinite atone¬ 
 ment can appease for infinite offence.” This had been done 
 by the Lion-man; and he is therefore represented in a 
 triumphant posture : He has satisfied, and therefore he 
 has triumphed. (Col. ii. 15.) The eagle is the constant 
 hieroglyphic of the wind, and this is the constant emblem 
 of the Holy Spirit; and therefore under this he appeared 
 
 * See Parkhurst’s Lexicon on the word 
 / *> 
 
340 
 
 SERIES X.—ESSAY IX. 
 
 on the great clay of Pentecost. (Acts ii. 2, &c.) We have 
 here, then, as apt an illustration as such a mode of descrip¬ 
 tion can give us, of the Eternal Trinity, uniting the man 
 Christ Jesus in the Second Person, and all joined together 
 in the covenant of mercy, for the redemption of sinful 
 man, looking down upon the mercy-seat, viewing with 
 complacency and delight the full satisfaction, the finished 
 righteousness, the complete redemption of Jesus, and, as 
 such, we discovered the one Jehovah manifesting himself 
 in the Three Persons of the covenant Aleim, the reconciled 
 God of his people. This seems evidently alluded to by 
 the cherubim being beaten out of the same mass of gold of 
 which the mercy-seat was made, and which was doubtless 
 an emblem of the Deity and absolute purity of the Saviour. 
 The name, also, may justly be considered as implying the 
 likeness of the Great Ones : the Prophet Ezekiel describes 
 them as the representations of the God of Israel, as the word 
 might be rendered. (Ezek. x. 20.) This seems to be implied 
 in both these prophetic representations ; and in their ori¬ 
 ginal design they are described by Moses as set up to keep, 
 most probably to preserve, to man the knowledge of the 
 way to the trueTree of Life, according to the new dispensa¬ 
 tion of mercy. (Gen. iii. 24.) Thus considered, they repre¬ 
 sent the Three Persons in one Jehovah, in covenant for 
 the salvation of elect sinners.—Being thus led from step 
 to step to the emblematical furniture of the temple, w r e 
 here see the whole consummated, as might be expected, 
 in the master-piece of all the hieroglyphic representations 
 figurative of the Divine Persons, and the mystery of the 
 covenant of redemption. The Jews, therefore, always 
 spoke of the cherubim as the foundation, the root, the heart, 
 the marrow of the whole tabernacle and Levitical service, 
 which it could not be in any other view, or not so com¬ 
 pletely. This may account for their constant representa¬ 
 tion every where, and on every thing throughout the tem¬ 
 ple, on the sides of the temple; and upon the garment of 
 the high priest, especially the Lion-man, the emblem of 
 the great object there exhibited, the God-man Christ Jesus. 
 
T A R1SRN A C L E—T E M P L E. 
 
 341 
 
 And tliis being united continually with the branches of the 
 palm-tree, and flowers in bloom, beautifully designated the 
 glory, the beauty, the victory, and the triumph of the con¬ 
 descending Redeemer in his human nature, and all the 
 fulness of grace and glory which now resides in him. This, 
 then, is the Christian Tabernacle, the Christian Temple 
 Jesus, our All in all. Blessed be God for his glory and his 
 fulness, realizing all the types, but infinitely more glorious : 
 for we no longer have the type and figure, but the reality ; 
 no longer the shadow, but the body and the substance. 
 How much clearer is the light, how much brighter the 
 glory, of the Gospel-dispensation? If that which was done 
 away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glo¬ 
 rious. (2 Cor. iii. 7—18.) My soul shall carry on all its 
 spiritual service, all its intercourse with God in this hea¬ 
 venly Temple, in and through, or looking to, the Lord 
 Jesus Christ. No other way of acceptance with God was 
 appointed under the Old Testament: its figures all pointed 
 here. And still there is the same way to God, but, blessed 
 be his Name, now fully opened even within the veil. Thus 
 would I glorify the blessed Jesus; look to God only in 
 him; look for and expect all through him, expect all in him 
 alone, and in every offering having respect to his atone¬ 
 ment, righteousness, satisfaction, intercession, and infinite 
 fulness of saving blessings. It is dangerous, infinitely 
 dangerous ; yea, surely destructive to neglect this glorious 
 Saviour, or seek salvation in any other way. (Heb. ii. 2, 3; 
 x. 28, 29.) But we shall be accepted in the Beloved, and 
 behold the glory of God in the face of our Redeemer.—■ 
 Happy believer! Jesus has all fulness of grace, and every 
 blessing in him now. He is my Altar of atoning sacrifice, 
 the laver of my purification, the Golden Candlestick of 
 light and glory, the Table which supports the bread of life 
 by his Divine fulness, and that Bread of Life itself. From 
 him as the Altar of incense, the sweet and fragrant Odour 
 of intercession ascends to God, and perfumes my person 
 and my services. He is the Mercy-seat and true Propi¬ 
 tiatory, through whom God looks down with delight upon 
 
342 
 
 SERIES X.—ESSAY IX. 
 
 my believing soul. Pie appears as One in the Eternal 
 Trinity; his manhood united with the Second Person 
 through which, all and each of the Persons stands engaged 
 in, and delights in, the work of redemption. And thus I 
 behold a God, a covenant God in Christ, my God, my 
 heavenly Father. Beholding thus the Eternal Jehovah 
 as the covenant Aleim for the salvation of all who be¬ 
 lieve in him, let me draw near confidently, thankfully, but 
 adoringly; cleave daily to him ; and through time rejoice in 
 those displays of his grace which are made through the 
 medium of all his appointed ordinances. Eternity shall 
 discover still more, and unveil all the communicable and 
 discoverable glories of his Person, and of his salvation. 
 There, if a believer in him, shall I enter into the highest of 
 all, where Jesus is entered, the Forerunner of his people. 
 There shall I behold him without a veil, and beyond a 
 figure, in a manner infinitely surpassing, not only the sha¬ 
 dow of the Law, but the glories of the Gospel. I shall 
 behold him os he is, and, enjoying his fulness, be changed 
 into the same image, from glory to glory, through the end¬ 
 less progressions of eternity! 
 
343 
 
 ESSAY X. 
 
 The ceremonies of the Jewish Law form together, a beau¬ 
 tiful and enigmatical picture of spiritual and heavenly 
 things. When we have once obtained the right clue for 
 the interpretation of them, we are surprised how every 
 part answers its design, and illustrates the subject which it 
 represents; and discover with what admirable, what Divine 
 wisdom and skill, the whole of them are constructed and 
 arranged. The design of the Eternal Jehovah in the whole 
 of revelation, from the very beginning, and in all his dis¬ 
 pensations, has been but one,—“ the testimony of Jesus." 
 This, which formed the substance of the first revelation to 
 man, after his fall, has constituted the substance of every 
 future discovery of God to his creatures. Every institu¬ 
 tion exhibits some part of his character and work ; and the 
 whole collectively represents and illustrates, as far as 
 earthly emblems and sensible figures can do, the person of 
 Christ, his Divine and mediatorial glories, the nature of 
 his work and its completion, the riches of his grace, and 
 the freeness and fulness of his blessings ; thus opening the 
 sinner’s way to God, and encouraging his confidence of 
 acceptance and salvation. To this the Apostle Paul fre¬ 
 quently alludes in all his Epistles; but in that to the He¬ 
 brews the subject is distinctly and explicitly treated, and 
 the clue to spiritual interpretation clearly afforded us. How 
 do the glories and excellencies of the Lord our Saviour 
 continually break forth upon our minds! While we here 
 contemplate him as the Antitype of every ceremony of that 
 mystical dispensation, our understandings are instructed, our 
 consciences consoled, our views enlarged, our hearts de- 
 
344 
 
 SERIES X.—ESSAY X. 
 
 lighted, and the humble penitent sinner is encouraged to 
 trust in him, and expect from him, all the blessings of 
 salvation. It needs only a lively faith in the truths and 
 blessings there discovered, as treasured up in Jesus, to 
 bring peace and joy into the soul, and fill the heart with 
 gratitude and love. We see the types themselves, while 
 they shew their own inadequacy, reflecting a glory upon 
 the great object of their appointment; and while they fade 
 away before him, they proclaim him as the only design, 
 and the great consummator of them all. Amongst these, 
 the doctrine of sacrifices holds the most conspicuous part, 
 and is the ground and foundation, and the principal object 
 in every dispensation. In no view does the Lord Jesus 
 appear more suitable in himself, and in a manner more 
 humbling and affecting to us ; or more engaging and more 
 animating, than when he is represented as offering himself 
 an offering and a sacrifice for our sins. The figurative sa- 
 crifies, indeed, as being imperfect and ineffectual, were 
 continually repeated ; but Christ, our infinitely meritorious 
 sacrifice, having once offered himself for us, has thereby 
 completed the atonement, obtained the redemption, and 
 bestows the everlasting blessings. Amongst the sacrifices 
 of the Jewish Law, the Passover , or the Paschal sacrifice , 
 was one of the most eminent, and must therefore be con¬ 
 sidered as one of the most eminent types of the dying love 
 of our Redeemer. The institution of the Passover was 
 appointed on the night of the Israelites’ deliverance from 
 the land of Egypt, and was primarily designed to com¬ 
 memorate that event. (See Exod. xii.) It was called 
 Pascha, from HDQ, “to pass over*,” from God’s passing over 
 and leaving the Israelites in safety ; on whose doors the 
 blood of the lamb was sprinkled, when he slew the first¬ 
 born of the Egyptians. Our English term “ Passover” is 
 
 • Some of the primitive Christians, viz. Tertullian, Chrysostom, &c. 
 considered Pascha to be derived from the Greek *ra<r^w, “ to suffer,” as 
 alluding to the antitypical sufferings of Christ, though they might per¬ 
 haps only mean that it was so ordered by God, that the term might 
 correspond with both the type and the antitype- 
 
PASSOVER. 
 
 345 
 
 therefore very suitable, and very properly marks out its 
 nature and design. On the tenth day of the month Abib, 
 the first of the ecclesiastical year, each man for his family; 
 or, if his family was too small, for his and his neighbour’s 
 family, took up the lamb. It was to be a male, of the first 
 year, without blemish: it was to be kept in the house alive 
 till the fourteenth day, between the evening; that is, be¬ 
 tween three and six o’clock, about that time, most probably 
 near five o’clock ; it was to be slain, after a careful search, 
 that no leaven was to be found in their houses in Egypt, 
 in the private houses, but afterwards at the place which 
 God should have appointed or chosen to place his name 
 there. (Deut. xvi. 2.) Any one might kill the Paschal 
 Iamb, though the priest alone afterwards could sprinkle the 
 blood ; the blood, being received in a bason, was in Egypt 
 to be sprinkled with a bunch of hyssop upon the upper 
 lintel, (not the threshold,) and the two side door-posts, that 
 the destroying angel might not enter their houses ; but in 
 future times the blood was sprinkled upon the altar, as in 
 other sacrifices. The flesh of the lamb was then to be 
 roasted whole, and eaten by the circumcised Hebrews, and 
 their circumcised servants, and afterwards by proselyted 
 Gentiles, who were circumcised, with unleavened bread 
 and bitter herbs : not a bone of it was to be broken, and 
 what remained was to be burnt with fire. At the first ob- 
 
 l 
 
 servance of it in Egypt, they were to eat it as travellers ; 
 their loins girded, their shoes on their feet, and their staff 
 in their hand, with great haste, as immediately departing: 
 but afterwards they ate it in the usual posture of recum¬ 
 bency, drinking a cup of wine, and singing a sacred hymn. 
 In the original observance, they were not to go out of the 
 door of their house till the morning-, which was then indeed 
 necessary, but peculiar to its first observance; and in future 
 time, he who wilfully neglected it was to be put to death. 
 In consequence of this, the Israelites, delivered from the 
 hand of the destroying angel, were brought forth with a 
 high hand from the power of Pharoah and the Egyptians, 
 and went in a triumphant manner from the land of their 
 
84G 
 
 SERIES X. —ESSAY X. 
 
 bondage. These circumstances must no doubt have been 
 remembered by every pious Israelite with the devoutest 
 gratitude, whenever the Passover was again celebrated. 
 But while it led to a remembrance of past blessings, it 
 pointed as a type to a still greater deliverance, which at 
 length has been accomplished by the Lord our Saviour. 
 On the very same evening, while the solemn service was 
 performing, the fulfilment takes place ; after himself par¬ 
 taking of the type, the great Antitype goes forth for its 
 accomplishment, and enters upon his bloody agony in the 
 garden, which was soon afterwards completed on the cross. 
 
 Now we say “ Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us: 
 therefore let us keep the feast, not with the old leaven, 
 neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with 
 the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” Whatso¬ 
 ever was represented by this mystical ordinance he 
 actually is, has actually done, and effectually obtained ; 
 and in all these he has been “ sacrificed for us.” Let us 
 contemplate it with humiliation, gratitude, and godly love. 
 A variety of circumstances attending the sacred service, 
 will afford us instruction, delight, and infinite benefit. If 
 we consider how the solemn festival exhibits the person and 
 character of the Redeemer, the sacrifice which he offered, 
 the fruit and benefits of it, and the means of our attaining 
 an interest in them; we shall comprise in this, the various 
 circumstances which may promote this important object; 
 and surely we shall then be inclined to ascribe to Him who 
 loved us, and redeemed us to God with his blood, from 
 the power of every enemy, all the glory, and the eternal 
 praise. 
 
 1. Let us consider the Passover, as to the view which it 
 seems designed to give us, of the person ancl character of 
 our Redeemer. —The offering on this occasion was a lamb; 
 and under this allusion the person of our Jesus is frequently 
 represented. It seems indeed, to have been the peculiar 
 delight of the Holy Ghost, to testify of Him, and repre¬ 
 sent Him under this emblem, in the New Testament, to 
 express his love, his condescension, his gentleness, and 
 
PASSOVER. 
 
 347 
 
 his grace. “ Behold the Lamb of God,” says the Baptist, 
 “ who taketh away the sins of the world.”—There is a pecu¬ 
 liar fitness and propriety in the type, either as to the natu¬ 
 ral properties of a lamb, or the peculiar circumstances of 
 the Paschal Lamb. As the lamb is perhaps the least subject 
 to choler of any animal, it is a fit emblem of Hirn who is 
 the meek and lowly Saviour, who, in the days of his flesh, 
 was most eminent for the gentleness, the humility, the 
 kindness and inoffensiveness of the whole of his conduct. 
 Though the Lion of the tribe of Judah , yet when he 
 appears amongst us, it is eminently as the meek and lowly 
 Lamb of God. (Compare Isa. xlii. 1—4.) The emblem 
 may also naturally represent his exemplary patience and 
 submission to his Father’s will; for “ He was led as a 
 lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before his shearers 
 is dumb, so he opened not his mouth and though “ op¬ 
 pressed and afflicted,” when £< it pleased the Father to 
 bruise him,” still in the lamb-like submission of his holy 
 soul, he resigns himself to his pleasure: “ Father, not my 
 will, but thine be done.” Though he could have com¬ 
 manded twelve legions of angels, and no one could have 
 taken away his life from him, he meekly submits to the in¬ 
 sults of men, and, in the compassion of his heart for sin¬ 
 ners, “ lays down his life of himself.” O my soul ! ever 
 behold with faith and wonder this Lamb of God, who 
 taketh away the sins of the world. As to the peculiar cir¬ 
 cumstances of the Paschal Lamb, this most strikingly re¬ 
 presents the character and the circumstances of Jesus : it 
 was first to be a lamb without blemish, free from all natu¬ 
 ral defects. And does it not thus represent the immaculate 
 Redeemer, made without sin, conceived of the Holy Ghost, 
 in the womb of the virgin, that he might be born without 
 any of the contagion of natural defect or corruption, and 
 who therefore “ did no sin, neither was guile found in his 
 mouth V* His very enemies bore their testimony to his un¬ 
 spotted purity ; and his unjust judge proclaims, “1 find no 
 fault in him.” He by whose precious blood we are redeemed, 
 was “the Lamb without blemish and without spot.” When 
 
348 
 
 SERIES X.— ESSAY X. 
 
 this lamb was taken up from amongst the flock, did it not 
 represent our Redeemer, as appointed of God in the ever¬ 
 lasting counsels, and in time chosen from the people, that 
 he must therefore become like one of us in all things, 
 taking our flesh and blood, that he might bear the nature 
 of his brethren, and be suitable to the office of the Kins¬ 
 man Redeemer, and be able to become “ the sacrifice for 
 our sins.” The paschal lamb was also to be a male of the 
 first year, when its flesh was in the highest state of per¬ 
 fection for food, intimating the excellency of that sacrifice 
 which he was to offer for us, and that he should be cut off 
 in the very flower of his age, in the strength of youth and 
 health. This circumstance may perhaps still further sha¬ 
 dow forth the glory and unchangeableness of his Divine 
 nature, with respect to which all the relations of time are 
 but one, all absorbed in the infinity and eternity of his 
 essence. In this view, our adorable Redeemer is “ the 
 same yesterday, to-day, and for ever.” “ His years are the 
 same,” i. e. but one and unchanging: every part, indeed 
 even the minutest circumstance of the type, must be accom¬ 
 plished in the great Antitype. Thus, as the lamb was to 
 be taken up on the fourth day, before its being offered, in 
 the place which the Lord should choose, so was the Lord 
 Jesus employed four years, if we consider them as pro¬ 
 phetic days, in his public ministry : and literally on the 
 tenth day of the month, the fourth before his crucifixion, 
 the humble Saviour made his solemn entrance into Jeru¬ 
 salem, and there devoted himself to God, and to his work 
 of sufferings, which he knew he was then about to ac¬ 
 complish. 
 
 When the lamb was thus prepared, it was to be slain 
 by the effusion of its blood before the whole assembly of 
 the congregation of Israel, each for himself, and be roasted 
 in the fire, not sodden nor boiled. It was to be roasted 
 whole ; and care must be taken that it should be perfectly 
 and thoroughly done, and not a bone of it be broken. The 
 peculiar directions here given are intended most minutely 
 and accurately to represent the sufferings of our Re- 
 
PASSOVER. 
 
 349 
 
 (leetner , and his death by the shedding of his blood;—the 
 strict severity of justice executing the sentence of the Law 
 upon his whole person, even to the uttermost, when he 
 took our law-place, when it was “ exacted of Him, and 
 he answered the demand for us.” Then the whole mul¬ 
 titude of the Jewish people conspired his death ; the priests 
 and scribes, the elders and the rulers, exciting the aban¬ 
 doned populace, who, in the fury of their zeal, call for 
 the sacrifice of this devoted victim, “ Away ivith him, 
 away with him!” “ Crucify him, crucify him /” But not 
 only the whole estate of the Jews, but all his people, bore 
 their part in this scene of ingratitude and death. Yes ; 
 your sins and mine, my reader, then had a voice : they 
 called for the condemnation, the scourge, and the cross. 
 They administered the cup, platted the thorns, struck the 
 nails, and fixed the willing victim upon the ignominious 
 tree. If I may so speak, the hand of all his people, of all 
 the congregation of his Israel, was upon him, to put him to 
 death. Your hand and mine were there for this purpose; 
 or, virtually in confession of guilt, to cast our sins upon 
 him. But what were all these to the hand of God 
 causing to meet upon him, as an overwhelming confluence 
 of waters, uniting in a mighty torrent, all our iniquities in 
 all their guilt and curse ? When He thus became sin for 
 us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteous¬ 
 ness of God in him; then, presenting himself as the Surety 
 of the better covenant, and standing forth in the place of 
 sinners, he submitted to endure all the consequences of 
 our transgressions : he was slain, and shed his blood for 
 us. The roastiny of the paschal lamb with fire “ justly 
 represents the great Antitype enduring on our account the 
 fierceness of God’s anger, which is said to burn like fire 
 The sentence of the Law denounced the curse of death ; 
 the justice of the Law requires its execution ; and the Lamb 
 of God offers himself to the endurance of it. In this view 
 it pleased the Father to bruise the Son of his love; the 
 fire of the Divine wrath awakes against the man who is Je¬ 
 hovah’s Fellow, and burnt even to his very souk (Zech. xiii. 
 
SERIES X.—ESSAY X. 
 
 050 
 
 7; Isa. liii.)—Let us view for a moment the scene of in¬ 
 explicable and unequalled sorrows. It was on the cold 
 night when he entered into the garden of Gethsemane 
 (literally interpreted, the Press for Olives), to tread the 
 wine-press of the Father’s wrath alone: there, lying in the 
 open air, in the coldest season of the night, and on the 
 chilling ground, which would naturally have driven the 
 blood inward to the heart, he sweats profusely without 
 heat, and bleeds at every pore without a wound. It was 
 the fire of Divine wrath burning in his very soul which 
 caused his extreme agony, and made the vital blood 
 burst through his flesh, so as to bedew his garments, and 
 fall in great drops upon the ground. (Luke xxii. 44.) No 
 nail as yet pierced him ; no cross yet suspends him by his 
 pierced hands and feet; no spear yet pierces his side and 
 his heart; and yet he bleeds copiously. What agony 
 must have affected his very soul! What wrestling, what 
 conflicts, what bitter sorrow! Of him most eminently 
 might it be said, “ Behold, and see : is it nothing to you, 
 O ye that pass by ? behold, and see if there be any sorrow 
 like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me, wherewith 
 the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger.” 
 (Lam. i. 12—14.) When he stands before the tribunal, 
 as the sheep dumb before its shearers, under all the pain, 
 the ignominy, and the reproach, he continues silent, nor 
 answers reproachfully again the calumny and the insults 
 of his accusers. But the derision of men, the mockings, 
 the scourgings, and even the agonies of the cross, were 
 what others might have endured, and are what his people 
 have actually endured and triumphed over, when God has 
 vouchsafed to be with them there ; yea, even the secret as¬ 
 saults of the powers of darkness, his people through his vic¬ 
 tory have been enabled to sustain, and come forth more than 
 conquerors. But He, in the awful conflict, was left alone ; 
 and when the hour of his enemy was come, and the power 
 of darkness surrounded him, alone he sustains the insult, 
 and meets and overcomes the mighty enemies. On the 
 tormenting cross his soul is left to cry out, “ My God! 
 
PASSOVER. 
 
 351 
 
 my God ! why hast thou forsaken me ?” Who can fully 
 understand the meaning of that bitter lamentation, that 
 deepest cry of bitterest sorrows ! The absence of God is 
 the curse of sin; but behold the perfect acquiescence and 
 submission of the Saviour. For this work he had engaged 
 even from eternity. He enters upon it with the full view 
 and knowledge of all its unequalled grief: “ Now,” says 
 he, “ is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, 
 save me from this hour?” No: “for this cause came I unto 
 this hour. Father, glorify thy name.” (John xii. 27, 28.) 
 Nature, in the midst of its deepest sorrow, shrinks back: 
 “ If it be possible, let this cup pass from me.” But Infinite 
 Purity, in absolute resignation to the will of God, acquiesces 
 in all. “ Nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt.” 
 (Luke xxii. 42: compare Heb. v. 7—9.) Then, in the 
 beautiful language of the prophetic Psalmist, “ His strength 
 v T as dried up,” by this fire of Divine indignation, “ as a 
 potsherd.” “ My tongue,” says he, “ cleaveth to my 
 gums, and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.” 
 See the exact and minute description, which, though re¬ 
 presented in prophetic vision, is the exact counterpart of 
 the historic fact, in the 22d and 69th Psalms. Yes, it is 
 the fierce and burning anger of God against sin which 
 thus flames against it in the soul of the Redeemer, that 
 thus consumed his reins and burnt up his spirit. The indig¬ 
 nation indeed is just; the flame is a holy flame ; to it the 
 Saviour voluntarily submitted, that he might magnify that 
 justice. He delights in his bitterest sufferings, and cheer¬ 
 fully courts them all; assured it is the truth, the jus¬ 
 tice, the absolute holiness of Jehovah, which requires and 
 is honoured in them ; which thus displays the dreadful 
 evil and curse of sin in him, to magnify in all his people, the 
 number of his redeemed, the exceeding riches of his grace 
 and mercy ; and thus undertaking to magnify and harmonize 
 all the Divine perfections, he exults when the glorious pur¬ 
 pose is completed, in the language of triumph, “ It is 
 finished!” Oh! had that curse fallen upon us; had 
 justice exacted its due, and Divine indignation against 
 
SERIES X-ESSAY X. 
 
 352 
 
 sin displayed all its terrors, how had it sunk us into 
 sorrow; without a remedy, and without an end!—O for 
 an interest in this redeeming work of our Almighty Saviour! 
 that He, having answered for us, we may have the be¬ 
 nefit in Him, and that we may never experience the 
 vengeance of everlasting fire. Behold then, my soul, 
 “ Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us ;’—for us, and 
 in our stead ! How serious, how humbling, and yet how 
 animating, is the truth implied in this declaration ! 
 
 If for us these sufferings were endured, then were they 
 our due : our guilt demanded them, and our souls were 
 justly exposed to them. But if for us, then behold the 
 substituted offering, in whom all the fire of Divine wrath 
 has expended itself, that it might for ever cease from the 
 redeemed and believing sinner. When we consider the 
 whole scene in this light, what a wonder of grace, con¬ 
 descension, and love opens to our view ! But yet, in what 
 other light can we consider it? why else should the Father 
 delight to bruise the Son of his everlasting love, and never 
 more beloved than when thus fulfilling his will in the sal¬ 
 vation of his people ? Why the immaculate Lamb of God 
 be the eminent sufferer, uniting in himself, and upon his 
 sacred person, the sum of all suffering; the fullest measure 
 of grief and sorrow which ever afflicted man ? Why else 
 should the Innocent suffer, when suffering is only the con¬ 
 sequence of sin ? Why, but because he suffered for us; 
 because “ he bare our sins in his own body on the tree;” 
 because he bare our griefs and carried our sorrows, was 
 wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, 
 and the chastisement of our peace was upon him. (Isa. 
 liii. 3, 4, 6.) We inquire no further, we no longer wonder 
 at the awful scenes; we admire the grace, and triumph in 
 the sure salvation. But observe the value put upon the 
 blood of the Paschal Lamb : it was not to be poured upon 
 the ground, as in common things, or as in a common sa¬ 
 crifice (Lev. iv. 18, 25, 34); but it was to be received in a 
 basin, and then used in a very peculiar manner, for a very 
 important purpose (as we shall see presently), as a token 
 
PASSOVER. 
 
 353 
 
 between God and them, and as the means of their deliver¬ 
 ance. It is perhaps in allusion to this that the Apostle 
 calls the blood by which we are redeemed, “ the precious 
 blood of Christ This is the price of our redemption, 
 which, brought into the conscience of his people, is the 
 token between God and them, as the means of their deli¬ 
 verance from sin and satan. This is what our great Priest 
 is offering continually, while he pleads before the Throne, 
 in the most holy place of the heavens. “ For if any of us 
 sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ 
 the righteous,” who still is the Propitiation for our sins. 
 And upon this the Apostle sweetly argues in Heb. ix. 
 11—14, &c. for the consolation of the people of God: 
 Christ, by his own blood, is entered into the holy place, 
 having obtained eternal redemption for us. The most 
 engaging view of the Redeemer to the beloved Disciple, 
 when the heavens were opened to him for the discovery of 
 his glory, was under the appearance “ of a lamb, as it had 
 been slain — indicating that the virtue of his sacrifice still 
 remains, and ever will remain, and is unchangeably the 
 same; that it yet has the same efficacy in the sight of 
 God, and for the benefit of his people, in insuring the 
 acceptance of their persons and all their services. — But 
 a bone of him was not to be broken. The literal fulfilment 
 of this was particularly secured ; for when the soldiers 
 brake the legs of those crucified with him, as they found 
 him dead already, they brake not his legs; that it might 
 be fulfilled which was written, “A bone of him shall not be 
 broken” (John xix. 33—36); intimating also that he was 
 to be a perfect and unbroken Saviour, our complete and 
 all-sufficient source of blessings and deliverance from 
 every evil. Oh, what a Paschal Lamb is ours! not like 
 those of the Jewish service, which could not make the 
 comers unto them perfect, as pertaining to the conscience; 
 but the Lamb of God, who, offering himself once for all, 
 hath taken away sin, and continually taketh away the sin 
 of all who in the world come to and believe in him. No 
 wonder then that his blessings, though represented by, are 
 VOL, V. 2 A 
 
354 SERIES X.— ESSAY X. 
 
 infinitely beyond, those received by the efficacy of the 
 Paschal offering. 
 
 2. Let us compare them for a moment, and admire the 
 infinitely happier fruits and consequence of the death of 
 Christ. —When the appointed sacrifice had been slain, 
 and used according to the Divine direction, then the de¬ 
 stroying angel went forth to slay throughout all the land 
 of Egypt; but passed over every house on which was 
 sprinkled the blood of the Paschal lamb. (Exod. xii. 12, 
 13.) “ For I will pass through the land of Egypt this 
 
 night, and will smite all the first-born in the land of Egypt, 
 both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I 
 will execute judgment: I am the Lord. And the blood 
 shall be to you as a token upon the houses where ye are; 
 and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and the 
 plague shall not be upon you, when I smite the land of 
 Egypt.” We have here the nature of the judgment: it 
 was some pestilential plague from the immediate hand of 
 the Lord, which instantly destroyed those whom it struck. 
 But no plague shall come near the dwelling of his people. 
 Behold the protection of his blood! neither the sentence 
 of the Law, nor the sword of justice, nor the wrath of 
 God, shall ever affect those who have an interest in Christ. 
 The blood of sprinkling upon their heart, the blood of the 
 covenant which God has enjoined them, insures all the 
 blessings of the covenant for theirs. They need not fear 
 the destroying angel, though he be out, destroying all 
 around them: in Christ they have pardon, justification, 
 peace, and deliverance. How beautifully represented by 
 the Apostle! “ By his one offering, he hath perfected for 
 ever them that are sanctified.” And our sins being: all 
 forgiven, and our nature renewed, no more offering for sin 
 is required ; but “ we have boldness to enter into the holiest 
 by the blood of Jesus.” (Heb. x. 14—23.) Delivered from 
 the powers of darkness, we are brought into the kingdom 
 of the Son of God ; have redemption through his blood, 
 even the forgiveness of our sins ; and are fully reconciled 
 to the Father, all cause of enmity being removed (Col. i. 
 
PASSOVKR. 
 
 355 
 
 13, &c.); vea, all things indeed are reconciled to those who 
 are reconciled to God in Christ Jesus. While the Israelites 
 were eating the mystical food, the first-born of Pharaoh were 
 slain; judgment was executed on the gods of Egypt; and 
 Pharaoh, their implacable tyrant, was divinely constrained 
 to let them go. Delivered from the Egyptian slavery, they 
 are at once restored to full liberty, of which they had been 
 so long deprived. The bonds of their captivity are broken, 
 and the way prepared for their journey to the land of pro¬ 
 mise. Behold the fruits of the death of Christ in a spi¬ 
 ritual and nobler sense, to all who believe in him. He 
 has delivered them from the hand of all their enemies, and 
 brought them into the glorious liberty of the children of 
 God ; and, having obtained eternal inheritance for them, 
 prepares their way to its possession. Sin and satan no 
 longer possess, nor shall claim, a right in those who are the 
 redeemed of the Lord, the purchase of his blood, the ser¬ 
 vants of the Lord Christ. He triumphed over all upon 
 the cross, and nailed to it the hand-writing which was 
 against them. There he overcame death and him that had 
 the power of death, that is, the devil; that he might de¬ 
 liver them who through fear of death are subject to 
 bondage. (Heb. ii. 14, 15.)—Sin, in its guilt, cannot 
 injure them ; for “ the blood of Christ cleanseth from 
 all sin.” Sin, in its power, shall not injure them ; for 
 he has subdued it, and promises “ it shall not have do¬ 
 minion over them.” Sin, in its condemnation and curse, 
 shall not destroy them; for “ there is no condemnation to 
 them who are in Christ Jesus.” It may assault and dis¬ 
 tress them, but shall not again bring them under its 
 bondage ; for the Son has made them free, and they shall 
 be free indeed. Their enemies may follow them, with all 
 the rage of an infatuated Pharaoh ; they may persecute and 
 distress them; but they shall not destroy them, nor touch 
 them : the Lord is their strength and their song, and is 
 become their salvation. The Lord is a man of war : Pha¬ 
 raoh’s chariots and his horses hath he cast into the sea. 
 The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will 
 
 2 a 2 
 
35 G 
 
 SERIES X.™ESSAY X. 
 
 divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them. 1 will 
 draw my sword ; my hand shall destroy them. Thou didst 
 blow with thy wind, the sea covered them ; they sank as 
 lead in the mighty waters. Who is like unto thee, O 
 Lord, among the gods ? who is like unto thee, glorious in 
 holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? Thou stretchedst 
 out thy band, the earth swallowed them. Thou, in thy 
 mercy, hast led forth the people whom thou hast redeemed, 
 and hast guided them, in thy strength, to thy holy habita¬ 
 tion, &c. Thou wilt bring them in, and place them in the 
 mount of thine inheritance ; in the place, O Lord, which 
 thou hast made for thee to dwell in ; in the sanctuary, O 
 Lord, which thy hands have established. “ The Lord 
 shall reign for ever and ever.” (Exod. xv. 1—18.)—This 
 was the song of Moses, which, we are told, every one ot 
 the redeemed shall also sing before the Throne above. It 
 must then be equally applicable to their state now, as to 
 the state of the delivered Israelites. In a word, not earth, 
 nor hell, can ever injure those who are sprinkled with the 
 blood of the Lamb; the true Israel of God, who are partakers 
 of the virtue of the Paschal offering, and interested in the 
 great Redeemer’s love. Now the language of the Gospel 
 invites the captive sinner to leave his chain, to enter into 
 liberty and peace. It proclaims liberty to the captive, the 
 opening of the prison to them that are bound, the ac¬ 
 ceptable year of the Lord, and the dqy of vengeance of our 
 God to all his enemies. (Compare Isa. lxi. 1—3, and xl. 
 9—11.) O hear, thou trembling sinner, under the bondage 
 of the great oppressor! look to Jesus, and be saved. 
 Come, all ye that are weary and heavy laden, and he will 
 give you rest. Plead the blood of sprinkling, and claim 
 the promises of the Lord, and all the blessings of this 
 great salvation shall be thine, in present deliverance and 
 victory, and in everlasting triumph. But if these bless¬ 
 ings are in Christ, how are they to be enjoyed ? 
 
 3. What are the means by which we may obtain the 
 benefits, and the blessed fruits of this Paschal sacrifice ? — 
 The Israelites, feeling their bondage, and believing the 
 
PASSOVER. 
 
 declaration of God, that the destroying angel should go 
 forth, to slay all the first-born in the land of Egypt; and 
 fully persuaded that this was God’s appointed method for 
 their deliverance, both from the destroying angel and 
 from the hand of Pharoah, therefore they killed the Pass- 
 over : every one was to kill his own lamb. But, blessed be 
 God, we have not now to kill our Passover ; for it is already 
 prepared and done by the power and providence of God* 
 Yet the means of our attaining the benefit are still the same ; 
 faith in Him, who is the means of God’s appointment, for 
 deliverance from sin, satan, and the wrath to come. They 
 who believe not their danger will never use or welcome 
 the remedy: and here the type affords us several of the 
 most striking emblems.—When the lamb was killed, the 
 blood ivas to be sprinkled upon the door-posts and the 
 upper lintel. This was the token betwen God and them 
 it was the sign of their faith, the symbol that those within 
 were feeding upon the appointed sacrifice, in the faith of 
 God’s promise, and meant thus to plead it before him. “ The 
 door-post signified, no doubt, the heart of man, which is the 
 door by which the King of Glory is to enter, and which is. 
 as manifest to God, as the door of our house is to any one 
 that passes by.” The blood of Jesus, then, must thus be 
 sprinkled upon our hearts and consciences for purification : 
 “ Having your hearts,” says the Apostle, “ sprinkled from 
 an evil conscience.” Then we may be considered as 
 sprinkling our heart with this precious blood, if we sted- 
 fastly embrace the atoning sacrifice of Jesus, apply to, and 
 trust in, him, especially as to the virtue of his sufferings on 
 the cross, to redeem our souls to God. In a word, in all 
 our dealings with God, we must present the blood of the 
 Lamb, that it may always appear upon all our services, and 
 as our only plea; and then we shall never be rejected of 
 him. It will secure our pardon and justification, our peace 
 and our deliverance from all evil ; our soul shall be set. at 
 liberty, and triumph in the destruction of all our enemies. 
 
 The Paschal-lamb was then to be eaten, and nothing to 
 remain till the morning. Does not this signify that real 
 
358 SERIES X. — ESSAY X. 
 
 communion which must subsist between Christ and his 
 people, in order to their enjoyment of his salvation t 
 Our Lord represents the exercise of a saving faith in 
 him, under the same allusion, — “ eating his flesh, and 
 drinking his blood,”—intimating that he must be really 
 received into the heart. It is not the mere profession of 
 the name or doctrine of Christ, which will save or feed our 
 souls: no ; he must be received by faith (John vi.), whereby 
 a real union must be formed between Christ and the soul. 
 He must be brought into use ; his benefits must be re¬ 
 ceived into the soul, and digested there, as the food is 
 first received, and then becomes as it were, part of the 
 body, and so aflords its vital nourishment. And thus alone 
 can Christ Jesus become the vital nourishment, for the 
 everlasting life of our immortal souls.—The lamb, it must 
 be observed, was to be roasted whole ; to be all eaten, and 
 none of it left: and this fitly represents, that in order to 
 our receiving the benefit of Christ’s death, we must re¬ 
 ceive him wholly in all his characters, in all his offices, and 
 in the whole of his salvation, or we cannot expect the whole 
 of his blessings. We must have fellowship with him there¬ 
 fore in his sufferings, his death, and his resurrection, if we 
 would be with him in his triumph and glory. 
 
 It was to be eaten also with bitter herbs .—This ori¬ 
 ginally marked the afflicted state of the Israelites at the 
 time ; but spiritually it teaches us, that never shall we re¬ 
 ceive Christ aright, nor value nor enjoy him, unless we 
 are brought into the experience of true repentance, by 
 godly sorrow for sin and deep humiliation. To such only 
 Christ is precious, when we look upon Him whom our sins 
 have pierced, and mourn with godly sorrow. To them who 
 mourn, Christ is the comforter ; to the broken-hearted, he 
 promises his consolation (Isa. lxi. 3), and to the weary he 
 gives rest. And if no sense of sin afflicts the conscience, 
 we can have no apprehension of the love of Christ, nor any 
 exercise of love to him. It might also signify still further, 
 that if we would be partakers of the glory, we must be 
 partakers of the sufferings, of Christ ; and that wo must 
 
PASSOVER. 
 
 359 
 
 suffer with him, if we hope to reign with him.—In the ori¬ 
 ginal appointment, they were to eat it standing, with their 
 shoes on their feet, their staff in their hand ; and to eat it 
 in haste, in the habit and posture of travellers ready to de¬ 
 part. Afterwards this was omitted, the necessity of it 
 having ceased; yet the emblematical design is still highly im¬ 
 portant; for if we would feed on Christ, no time is to be lost: 
 we must be in haste, and fly to him : it must be as strangers 
 and pilgrims, ready for our heavenly journey, for the work 
 of the Lord, for every duty, and for the spiritual conflict. 
 We are not to consider this world as our home, but re¬ 
 member that we are travellers to a better country, even 
 an heavenly one, leaning on the staff of faith, and our feet 
 shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace: we must 
 gird up the loins of our mind, and be girded about with 
 truth ; and, as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly 
 lusts, which war against the soul. So did the believers 
 of old: in the exercise of faith, persuaded of, and em¬ 
 bracing, the promises, they declared that they were stran¬ 
 gers and pilgrims on the earth, seeking a country which 
 was above. 
 
 It was to be eaten also with unleavened bread .—This 
 the Apostle has explained: “Let us keep thefeast, not 
 with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and 
 wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and 
 truth,” with sincerity in our dependence, in our attach¬ 
 ment to him, and in our love towards him. Let there be no 
 mixture of legality in our faith, to spoil the simplicity of 
 our dependence, which will deprive us of all the conso¬ 
 lation flowing from it. Let there be no mixture of carnal 
 confidence, or love of sin, which must effectually prevent 
 our receiving Christ, or feeding upon his blessings. The 
 sincere, the simple dependence of faith, will alone unite to 
 Jesus, derive the grace out of his fulness, and bring the 
 nourishment and consolation of his grace into our hearts. 
 No person legally unclean was to eat thereof. Though the 
 benefit of Christ’s salvation, be indeed for dying and pol¬ 
 luted sinners, yet the enjoyment of it can only be in that 
 
SERIhS X.—ESSAY X. 
 
 360 
 
 heart which is really cleansed, purified from every staid, 
 by the imputation of the Redeemer’s righteousness, re¬ 
 newed and sanctified in reality by the grace of his Spirit. 
 And though this is not the cause of our enjoyment, it is 
 the only temper in which it can be enjoyed. 
 
 The Israelites were also to eat the passover each one 
 in his oivn house ; and none might go out of his house, 
 while the destroying angel was gone forth, until the morn¬ 
 ing.—If we would be safe, we must abide in the church 
 of Christ, or rather in Christ himself, in the exercise of a 
 living faith. “ Abide in me,” says the Saviour, “ and I 
 in you : as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it 
 abide in the vine, no more can ye, except ye abide in me. 
 1 am the vine, ye are the branches : he that abideth in me, 
 and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit, for with¬ 
 out me ye can do nothing.” Never must we leave our 
 appointed Sanctuary: here only we shall be safe in time, 
 surrounded with the enemy of our souls, while the blood 
 is sprinkled upon our hearts ; while Jesus dwells within, and 
 while we are dwelling in him. And when the morning of 
 the eternal day shall come, then shall the believing sinner 
 enjoy the everlasting benefit, and be set perfectly at liberty. 
 Here he is set at liberty to take the way, and pass on in 
 his journey to the heavenly Canaan ; but then he shall 
 come to that land of eternal rest, through the merit of the 
 Paschal offering of his Lord and Saviour. Though the Pass- 
 over itself was instituted for the Israelitish nation alone, 
 yet there were many typical notices in it which seemed to 
 imply that its great and typical benefits were to be ex¬ 
 tended even to the Gentile world. This is considered 
 by some as intimated in the gathering together of all the 
 people, from every part of the country, which might signify 
 the gathering together of the people to Christ, and into 
 his church, from all parts of the world, under the Christian 
 dispensation. “We are come,” says the Apostle, “ to 
 the general assembly and church of the first-born, which 
 are written in heaven; and to God the Judge of all, and to 
 the spirits of just men made perfect.” It was intimated 
 
PASSOVER. 
 
 361 
 
 also by the second season appointed for the observance of 
 the passover, in the next month, for those who were at the 
 time ceremonially unclean, &c. So the Gentile world, for 
 , a long time considered as unclean by the Jewish nation, 
 are at length no longer considered by God as “ common 
 or unclean.” (Acts x. 14, 15.) The ceremonial unclean¬ 
 ness is removed, and the door of faith opened. The ad¬ 
 mission, also, of the Gentile proselyte was another emblem 
 and a kind of earnest, that hereafter the Gentile should be 
 united with the Jewish Church, and all constitute but one 
 fold, under one Shepherd, one flock of his redeemed people. 
 While thus beholding the person, the love, the grace of 
 Jesus, so beautifully represented in the Jewish figure, we 
 behold also in it another most serious truth, the danger of 
 neglect in so great salvation. If any Israelite disregarded 
 the declaration of God, and disobeyed his command ; if 
 the blood was not sprinkled on the posts of his door, the 
 destroying angel would certainly enter to his destruction. 
 And thus no professing Christian will ever be acknowledged 
 as among the saved of the Lord, without the sprinkling of 
 the blood of Christ; without the receiving of that blood by 
 faith, and the pleading it before God, as the whole of his 
 dependence and hope. He who in future times wilfully 
 neglected the observance of the feast, was to be condemned 
 to death. Thus shall it be also with the sinner who neg¬ 
 lects the salvation of Christ. How, says the Apostle, 
 shall he escape ? Though the Sacrifice is appointed, and 
 already slain ; though Christ our Passover is sacrificed for 
 us ; it will be of no avail, unless we have an interest in it. 
 And let us always remember, that it is faith that gives the 
 efficacy to the heart, and makes Christ Jesus to be to 
 us, what he is in himself. My fellow-sinners, the destroy¬ 
 ing angel is out; the violated law demands redress, injured 
 justice requires satisfaction, the holiness and truth of God 
 demands to be honoured; and the great enemy of souls de¬ 
 tains every son of man by nature under his captivity, from 
 which he never can ransom nor rescue himself. The blood 
 of sprinkling is the only means of deliverance and salva- 
 
SERIES X.— ESSAY X. 
 
 362 
 
 tion, received and pleaded by faith. God has given the 
 destroying angel his commission against all who are out of 
 Christ: “ He that believeth not, is condemned already.” 
 No soul will be safe from his sword of justice, but those 
 who put themselves by faith under the protection of his 
 blood, to whom it is applied by his Spirit, and sprinkled on 
 their very hearts and consciences. Consider thy danger, 
 my fellow-sinner, from the power of Satan and the wrath 
 of God. Was the cup of wrath so terrible to the human 
 nature of Christ? what then shall it be to the sinner? 
 Fly to the blood of sprinkling; be in haste to feed on 
 Jesus, as a stranger and pilgrim here below, in deep 
 repentance and godly sorrow; and then, delivered from 
 the sentence of death, set out on thy way to Canaan, and 
 go forward in faith in the confidence of the care and pro¬ 
 tection of thy reconciled God in Christ. 
 
 But stand there, my soul, for a moment, and adore the 
 love of Jesus, in the greatness of his condescension, and in 
 the mystery of his sufferings, as the Paschal Lamb sacrificed 
 for us, and welcome the consolation that it offers to thy 
 wounded spirit. 
 
 Nothing can so discover to us the great evil of sin, as 
 when we see it at the cross of Christ, when we consider 
 that none but such a sacrifice could atone for and take it 
 away. Nothing can afford us such a proof of his Divine 
 and everlasting love, who thus loved us and gave himself 
 for us. The cup he drank for me was what angels could 
 not have borne, but must have sunk for ever beneath its 
 power. Nothing can lay such a ground of consolation : it 
 holds out to the fearful sinner,—the captive of sin and satan, 
 and exposed to the wrath of God,—the confidence of deli¬ 
 verance from guilt and righteous indignation, the hope of 
 spiritual liberty from every oppressing enemy, and the confi¬ 
 dence of everlasting triumph over all, and everlasting sal¬ 
 vation in the promised Canaan of glory. 
 
 O let me, sensible of guilt and danger, welcome the dis¬ 
 coveries of his grace, adore my dying Saviour, admire his 
 dying love, trust his precious blood, sprinkle it on my con- 
 
PASSOVER. 
 
 363 
 
 science by faitb, and present it and plead it before God, 
 as my only but confident hope ; then nothing can hurt me. 
 And being as willing to receive, as he is to give the bless¬ 
 ings of his salvation, let my soul triumph in my dying Re¬ 
 deemer. With the bitter herbs of deep humility and godly 
 sorrow, as a stranger and pilgrim upon earth, I will feed 
 upon this spiritual sacrifice, and hasten forward on my jour¬ 
 ney heavenward. The Jewish emblem is now changed for 
 one equally simple, interesting, and clear : the table of his 
 love still presents to my faith the same glorious object. 
 There let me come and realize the sufferings of my dying 
 Saviour; and, while looking to him, there rejoice in his 
 blessings. I may there take him, trust in him, feed upon 
 him, and rejoice in him : and while there I wonder at him 
 as the Man of Sorrows, I behold him as the great God my 
 Saviour! The Lamb of God, who has taken away the 
 sin of the world, is the Lord Jehovah, become the salva¬ 
 tion of his people. I will believe in, receive him, and 
 adore him, till he deliver me from every oppressor. He 
 will force satan to yield his captive : he will set me at liberty, 
 and place me among his ransomed church and people; and 
 he will conduct me through all the wilderness, the pilgrim¬ 
 age of life, to everlasting liberty, in the Canaan of rest and 
 glory. 
 
364 
 
 SERIES X.—ESSAY XI. 
 
 ESSAY XI. 
 
 ©f)c Ua&er of of - Ojc 
 
 liigljt iiMnO of g|r?)ooaf). 
 
 How different are the ways of God to the ways of man ! 
 When man by his feeble reason presumes to judge of them, 
 he finds them far above out of his sight (Psa. cv.), and 
 extending very far beyond his comprehension. (Job xxxvii. 
 5.) The outward aspect of them is often quite contrary 
 to what he would have expected from any a -priori 
 reasoning upon the attributes, perfections, and glories of 
 Jehovah : and if he be not inclined, by a humility of spirit, 
 couscious of its own ignorance, to submit in the simplicity 
 of faith, he will frequently be induced to cavil, if not t» 
 revile, the wisest operations of the Divine hand. This was 
 remarkably the case with the Jews and Greeks at the 
 first introduction of the Gospel dispensation. The humi¬ 
 liation of the Saviour, the lowliness of the first instruments 
 of his grace, and the simple methods which he employed to 
 introduce the infinite glory and blessings of the Gospel to the 
 minds of men, confounded the carnal pride of the one, and 
 the learned pride of the other. The Jews required a sign, 
 —some great and noble proof of the glory of the Saviour, 
 and which might justify their acceptance of such an humble 
 Messiah; and the Greeks sought after wisdom,—some deep 
 and laboured arguments, consistent with their philosophical 
 views, to prove the truth of his doctrine; whereas the 
 great object which the Apostle held out to them, was 
 nothing but Christ crucified ; proclaimed by men of humble 
 origin, and received in general by the poor of this world. 
 The preaching of the cross was therefore to them a stum¬ 
 bling block and foolishness ; and the weakness of its mini- 
 
365 
 
 POWER OF GOD, &C. 
 
 sters, and the poverty of its subjects, indicated to them 
 nothing but weakness and inefficiency. But “ the foolish¬ 
 ness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is 
 stronger than men.” He chose “ the foolish things of the 
 world to confound the wise, and the weak things of the world 
 to confound the things that are mighty; and base things of 
 the world, and things which are despised, hathGod chosen; 
 yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that 
 are, that no flesh may glory in his presence.” (1 Cor. i. 
 18—29.) His appointed means, however contemptible in 
 the eyes of men, were therefore effectual beyond their most 
 admired systems. In his hand, by the meanest instrument, 
 the preaching of the Cross became “ the power of God 
 unto salvation.” Thus it has been ever since. The wise phi¬ 
 losopher and the rational religionist have produced the same 
 objections against the doctrine and glories of the Gospel, 
 while God has justified his own ways, and shewn, by the 
 testimony of fact, that they have been suited to his design, 
 powerful to accomplish his own purpose, and eminently 
 to display his own glory. He has made use of the most 
 simple declaration of his own truth, by the weakest in¬ 
 struments, for the enlightening, the calling, the justifica¬ 
 tion, the conversion, the sanctification, and salvation of 
 believing sinners. As Christ Jesus is therefore the great 
 object and subject, and the All in all of this most gracious 
 and yet glorious dispensation, hence he derives another 
 name and title, which exalts the glory of his person, and 
 invites our faith and love: “ Christ the power of 
 God.” In the Old Testament we find two similar names 
 continually occurring, or rather the same name doubly 
 expressed, in the figurative language of prophecy; viz. 
 the Arm , and the Right Hand of Jehovah. We may, 
 therefore, properly unite them under one consideration. 
 That these are prophetic names of the Redeemer, is, I 
 conceive, evident from their application. In the prophetic 
 Psalms, which celebrate the resurrection of the Redeemer, 
 the Stone despised of the Jewish builder, but by the mira¬ 
 culous act of Jehovah made the Head Stone of the corner, 
 
SERIES X.—ESSAY XI. 
 
 366 
 
 he is spoken of under this very title, “ the Right Hand of 
 the Lord doeth valiantly.” “ The Right Hand of the 
 Lord is exalted, the Right-Hand of the Lord doeth va¬ 
 liantly.” (Psa. cxviii. 15, 16, &c.: compare xcviii. 1.) 
 Thus again, He is spoken of by the Prophet Isaiah; “ Be¬ 
 hold, the Lord God will come with a Strong Hand, and 
 his Arm shall rule for him. Behold, his reward is with 
 him, and his work before him.” (xl. 10.) But this is more 
 evident in the 53d chapter, where he is spoken of (ver. 1) 
 as the Arm of the Lord revealed, who was to grow up as a 
 tender plant, and a root out of a dry ground, &c.(ver.2), and 
 to become the suffering Saviour for his people (ver. 3—12 : 
 compare John xii. 37, 38, where its reference to Christ 
 is most evident.) The arm and the hand are used to 
 express the capacity of power and of exertion, and the 
 right hand the more perfect and ready exertion of power. 
 “ By the arm is meant the extent of his power ; by the 
 stretched out arm his infinite might, reaching to all things ; 
 by his hand the more exact and minute displays of power and 
 skill, and by the right hand the bright displays of omnipotent 
 majesty: and, if by his finger he created the heavens, who 
 can comprehend the reach of his arm and of his right 
 hand?”— Searle . But power in God is his very essence ; 
 and, when applied to the Lord Jesus Christ, it denotes 
 his existence as one in that Divine essence, and as such 
 having “ all power in heaven and in earthas the per¬ 
 son in Jehovah, the Trinity, by whom all the displays of 
 power have been made, or are making, in creation, pro¬ 
 vidence, and redemption, and especially in the Gospel- 
 dispensation, in the application of its truth to the heart, 
 and for the salvation of his redeemed. This view glorifies 
 the Lord Christ; and Christ the power of God encourages 
 our faith and hope, and demands our confidence and ado¬ 
 ration. We cannot consider less implied in this title, 
 than that He who has a right to it, 
 
 Possesses all power in heaven and earth, as one in the 
 Divine essence; and, if it be applied to the person of 
 Messiah, such must be his majesty and glory. The Arm of 
 
367 
 
 POWER OP GOD, &C. 
 
 Jehovah and Jehovah himself, are evidently the same : 
 when the Prophet cries, Awake, awake, put on strength, 
 O Arm of the Lord! Jehovah, awake, as in the ancient 
 days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that 
 hath cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon ? Art thou not 
 it which hath dried up the sea, the waters of the great 
 deep; that hath made the depths of the sea a way for the 
 ransomed to pass over ? (Isa. li. 9, 10; see also Luke v. 
 17; Acts xi. 21, &c.) He who led the chosen tribes was 
 the angel of Jehovah's jJresence, the great angel of the 
 covenant; the person in Jehovah, who in the fulness of 
 time became incarnate. This title then, which is applied 
 to Jehovah himself, is also applied to the Messiah, the 
 Lord the Christ, whereby this can be no other than Jehovah, 
 or one to whom all the attributes, perfections, and power of 
 Jehovah belong. He also who exerts all the power of the 
 Lord, must be essential power ; and, as such, we need not 
 fear to adore and worship the great God our Saviour. 
 
 But this title principally refers to him in a mediatorial 
 view, as that person in and by whom all the acts and dis¬ 
 plays of Divine power have been, or are, made in creation, 
 in providence, and especially in redemption. As to cre¬ 
 ation and providence, it is impossible to read and believe 
 the declaration of the Apostle, without acknowledging that 
 this gloz-y belongs to the Redeemer: for “ By Him were 
 all things created that are in heaven, and that are in earth, 
 w hether 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 consist.” 
 (Col. i. 16, 17.) Again, the Apostle declares, that God 
 “ created all things by Jesus Christ.” (Eph. iii. 9.) And 
 again, that by him “ he made the worlds,” who being the 
 brightness of glory, and the express image of the Father’s 
 person, “ upholdeth all things, by the word of his power.” 
 (Heb. i. 2, 3, and 8, 12.) 
 
 These views, having occupied a distinct consideration in 
 other places, will not now be enlarged upon. It is sufficient 
 to have hinted at them in the present Essay; and we now 
 
368 
 
 SERIES X.— ESSAY XI. 
 
 turn to that which seems to be the principal design of this 
 title, as given to the Redeemer ; viz. that display of the Di¬ 
 vine power of Jehovah which is made in Christ Jesus, in 
 Christ crucified, or in the plan and dispensation of the Go¬ 
 spel salvation by a crucified Saviour. Herein, though the 
 Divine mystery is weakness and a stumbling-block to the 
 Jew ; and to the wise Greek, foolishness ; though to the 
 reasoner of this world, it still appears the same; yet a 
 dying and crucified Saviour is found in fact to be alone the 
 power of God to the salvation of men. In the God-man, 
 the humble suffering Jesus, is made a discovery of God’s 
 wisdom and power, more than in any object in heaven and 
 earth besides ; and in and by him, God has displayed 
 and put forth all his exertions and acts of power, in ac¬ 
 complishing the redemption of sinners of his people. 
 
 The first view which claims our attention to him, in this 
 character is, the power which he has effectually exerted in 
 the work of satisfaction to the law and justice of God ; and 
 the thus glorifying all the Divine attributes and perfections, 
 in the mystery of redemption. This wonderful act, not all 
 the host of heaven could have effected, either separately 
 or altogether; yet w r e see and know that it has been 
 wrought out and accomplished by the God-man Christ 
 Jesus, that arm and power of Jehovah, in a way as far 
 beyond their comprehension as ours. He saw there was 
 none to help ; therefore his own arm brought salvation unto 
 him, and his holy zeal upheld him : and, though appearing 
 in the form of the most abject weakness, he effects a work 
 which requires a power no less than Divine. To obey the 
 Law in all the extent of its holy precepts ; and work out 
 a perfect righteousness in human nature; still further to 
 satisfy all its just demands upon sinners, and suffer all its 
 penalties which sin had deserved ; to endure all that infi¬ 
 nite justice could inflict for sin, till its righteous indigna¬ 
 tion was all exhausted, and yet to rise superior to this 
 oppressive conflict, the weight of duty and of sorrow, 
 required a power beyond the ability of all creation. Who 
 can undertake and accomplish the mighty work l Who is 
 
309 
 
 POWER OF GOD, &C. 
 
 this that engages his heart to approach before God for us ? 
 It is Jesus, the Arm of the Lord : he bears our griefs, and 
 carries our sorrows ; he is oppressed and afflicted, when 
 the Lord laid upon him the iniquity of us all, and there¬ 
 fore was pleased to bruise him. But, lo ! he prolongs his 
 days ; he rises to divide the portion with the great, and tire 
 spoil with the strong ; that he may see the travail of his 
 soul and be satisfied. (See Isa. liii.) Such a work as this 
 implies in it a humiliation which must veil his true glory; 
 but it implies also an absolute, infinite, and almighty power, 
 a glory no less than Divine, veiled under that humiliation. 
 And this is the true glory of God our Saviour: therefore 
 lie is able to finish transgression, make an end of sin, and 
 bring in everlasting righteousness, and to make reconcilia¬ 
 tion for iniquity. (Dan. ix. 24.) Or, in the similar language 
 of the Apostle, to become our “ propitiation through faith 
 in his blood ; to declare the righteousness of God in the 
 forgiveness of our sins that are past, through the forbear¬ 
 ance of God.” (Rom. iii. 25.) “ And that God might 
 
 be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.” 
 (Ver. 26: compare 2 Cor. v. 19.) 
 
 What a display of power and glory is here made through 
 the humble Jesus, apparently in the lowest degree of weak¬ 
 ness, but exerting no less in his work and triumph than the 
 power of the Almighty God ! In the same state of apparent 
 humiliation and weakness, lie ransoms by his cross a people 
 to himself, accomplishing his victory over sin, satan, death 
 and hell. This was the end and object of his covenant 
 engagement in the counsel of Eternal Love ; and therefore 
 he is frequently spoken of in prophecy, under the character 
 of the Mighty Conqueror, in allusions made to the enemies 
 of ancient Israel. These solemn prophecies deceived the 
 Jewish people, who could see nothing more in them than 
 the promise of temporal victory, and a mighty temporal 
 deliverer. But had they well considered the nature of those 
 predictions, they must have seen that the enemies spoken 
 of were spiritual, and the promised Messiah a spiritual 
 Redeemer and Deliverer. “ Who is this,’ inquires the 
 
 2 B 
 
 VOL. V. 
 
270 
 
 SERIES X.—ESSAY X(. 
 
 evangelical Prophet, “that coineth from Edom, with dyed 
 aarments from Bozrah,” from the land of Israel’s well 
 
 o 
 
 known enemies ; “ this that is glorious in his apparel, 
 travelling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in 
 righteousness,” replies the Heavenly Conqueror, “ mighty 
 to save,” &c. (See Isaiah lxiii. 1—5; and compare lix. 
 16—18.) These passages no doubt represent him going 
 forth, roused to holy vengeance against the enemy of 
 Israel, clothed with strength, and armed with righteous¬ 
 ness. Again, the Prophet calls upon him to awake, as 
 when he led the chosen tribes from Egypt, through the sea, 
 and through the wilderness, into the land of promise. (Ii. 
 9, 10.) But if the outward colouring of these prophecies 
 seem to encourage the hope of a temporal deliverer to 
 the Jewish people, (and in which sense it may perhaps in 
 future times be fulfilled to them, when they seek in peni¬ 
 tence the Lord their God, and the Beloved their King, in 
 the latter days,) a little observation would discover, that the 
 blessings spoken of, as the result of his victories, are spiri¬ 
 tual and heavenly, and not of an earthly or carnal nature ; 
 the deliverance from sin and satan, and the blessings of 
 salvation. (See lxiii. 8; lix. 19—21; Ixi. 1,2; li. 11.) 
 The glorious effects of his triumph are represented by 
 the Prophet in another place, as procuring a feast of all 
 blessings unto all people ; rending and removing the 
 dark veil of ignorance which was spread over them, yea, 
 swallowing up death itself in victory, wiping every tear, 
 from every eye of his redeemed ones, and suffering no 
 longer the rebuke of the enemy to injure or oppress them. 
 (Isa. xxv. 6.) This is represented, as the final object of 
 his everlasting engagement, from which he would not 
 draw back, till he had fully accomplished it. “O death, 
 
 I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction ; 
 repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.” (Hos. xiii. 14.) 
 The victories of our Redeemer, then, are evidently spiritual 
 victories. “ He ascends on high, leading captivity cap¬ 
 tive, and receiving gifts to give unto men; yea, to the re¬ 
 bellious also, that the Lord God may dwell among them/* 
 
POWER OF GOD, &C. 37L 
 
 (Psa. Ixviii. IS.) The Mighty Conqueror demands ad¬ 
 mission into the gates of the heavenly Jerusalem, into the 
 everlasting doors of glory, as the Lord strong and mighty, 
 the Lord mighty in battle. But into these doors no con¬ 
 queror can have a right to enter, no conquest can give a 
 right to claim admittance, but those of a spiritual and 
 heavenly nature. He, however, who has triumphed over 
 every spiritual foe, must have a right to enter, and is there¬ 
 fore entered there for us. In the act of effecting these 
 glorious purposes, the appearance was most contrary to the 
 design; the means the mostunlikcly to accomplish the event. 
 Y et were they most suitable in the wisdom of God, whose 
 amazing power is manifested by bringing such glory out 
 of such weakness, making it the very means of producing 
 the most important ends ; and, as the Apostle expresses 
 it, “ by death itself, conquering him that had the power 
 of death, that is, the devil.” The eye of sense sees nothing 
 in the humble Jesus, but the circumstances of the manger 
 in his birth, the man of sorrows in his life; the poor, the 
 afflicted, the persecuted, the arraigned, the condemned, 
 the crucified, and the buried Jesus. The eye of faith be¬ 
 holds in the feeble Infant, the Child born, and the Son given, 
 the Mighty God and the Father of Eternity : in Him who 
 emptied himself, and took upon himself the form of a ser¬ 
 vant, and humbled himself to the death upon the cross, it 
 discovers the form of God, the person who thought it no 
 robbery to be equal with God. On the cross it views his 
 triumph, and sees him spoiling principalities and powers, 
 and triumphing over them. (Col. ii. 14, 15.) If then the 
 cross affords so glorious a display of power, how much 
 more his victorious resurrection, and his glorious ascension 
 to his Throne ! That humble Jesus has conquered forme. 
 When he made his soul an offering for sin, he completed 
 the atonement: justice is satisfied; and now I draw near 
 through him to God, every impediment being removed out 
 of the way by his mighty power. There all my enemies 
 assaulted my humble Saviour: he appeared there in the 
 most extreme weakness, because he appeared under my 
 
 2 b 2 
 
872 SERIES X. — ESSAY XI. 
 
 sin ; hut the arm of the Lord hath gotten himself the vic¬ 
 tory. Sin assaulted him with all its consequences of guilt, 
 and suffering: but he endures under all, and bears up, till 
 he had finished transgression. Satan with all the hosts 
 and powers of darkness, in the hour of Divine permission, 
 surrounded him, and assailed him with all their malice and 
 rage; but behold, “ the prey is taken from the mighty.” 
 Death and the grave beset him with all their terrors, but 
 could not retain the mighty prisoner. “ Thou wilt not 
 leave,” says he, “ my soul in hell ; neither wilt thou suffer 
 thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou wilt shew me the 
 path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy ; at thy right 
 hand there are pleasures for evermore.” (Psa. xvi. 10,11.) 
 Thou hast conquered and triumphed, then, my blessed 
 Jesus, though every impediment obstructed thy progress; 
 and so shall I,—so shall all his people through him. What 
 can resist Him who hath already all his enemies beneath 
 his footstool ? That same Jesus, therefore, who was once 
 so lowly, is represented by the prophetic disciple, as the 
 Faithful and the True, whose eyes are as a flame of fire, and 
 on his head many crowns, followed by the army of heaven, 
 while out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword to smite the 
 nations; and having on his vesture, and ou his thigh, a name 
 written, King of kings, and Lord of lords. (Rev. 
 xix. 11—]6.) 
 
 Now, in and through this exalted Redeemer are made 
 all the displays of power, in the church and in the world, 
 for the salvation of his elect. He alone has power to open 
 the book, and to unloose the seals, as having all power 
 given to him, to be the Head over all things to his church, 
 and as the Power of God. 
 
 He brings forth his redeemed from the hand of the 
 enemy, from the captivity of sin and satan, as he once 
 brought forth his chosen Israel, as the arm and the right 
 hand of the Lord, from the bondage of Egypt. In calling 
 them by his grace, he subdues them to himself; and, de¬ 
 throning the power of the great enemy, makes them will¬ 
 ing to desert the slavish service of satan, and to choose 
 
POWER OF GOD, &C. 373 
 
 the service of the Lord. As the word of the Gospel is the 
 general means whereby this is effected, it is also called 
 “ The power of God unto salvation ,” since it is the in¬ 
 strument by which his power operates for the convincing 
 of sin, turning from the love and power of it, bringing to 
 faith, and to the obedience of faith. This was long ago 
 foretold by ancient Prophecy, as the effect of the ascen¬ 
 sion and government of Jesus, who, seated on the right 
 hand of the Father, should send forth the rod of his 
 strength out of Sion, to make his people willing in the day 
 of his power. This is evidently the peculiar design of this 
 name attributed to the Redeemer. We well know how it 
 was fulfilled, in the effusions of the Spirit immediately 
 after his ascension. Philosophy, and human reason, and 
 human wisdom, had tried in vain to enlighten, or to reform 
 mankind, when the preaching of the Cross becomes the 
 power of God to save his people. It pleased God by the 
 foolishness of preaching, by that which men of wisdom and 
 reason call foolishness, to save them that believe. The 
 subject, which was thus held forth before the eyes of men 
 was nothing but a crucified Christ, the Object of their de¬ 
 rision : but behold, by the simple preaching of a crucified 
 Redeemer, the powers of darkness and idolatry are put to 
 flight; and by the doctrine of the Cross, the minds of sinners 
 are enlightened, converted, and turned effectually from 
 sin to God. A change is effected in the hearts of hundreds 
 and thousands, who are brought from the kingdom of satan 
 into the kingdom of God’s dear Son, and brought to the 
 obedience of righteousness, and obtain an inheritance 
 among them which are sanctified by faith which is in Christ 
 Jesus. He who had determined to destroy the wisdom of 
 the wise, and to bring to nothing the understanding of the 
 prudent; to discover to every enlightened observer its in¬ 
 efficiency for the knowledge and communication of spi¬ 
 ritual things ; does, as it were, triumph over their pride and 
 unbelief, by the simplicity of the Gospel. For where is 
 the wise, where is the scribe, where is the disputer of this 
 world ? What has all their wisdom, knowledge, or reason- 
 i ng effected ! Has not God made foolish the wisdom of tills 
 
374 
 
 SERIES X. — ESSAY XI. 
 
 world, or plainly discovered their folly and their insufficiency £ 
 For after that in the wisdom of God, displayed in all his 
 works and ways, the world by wisdom knew not God; 
 the demonstration of the Spirit, and the power of God 
 accompanying the word of truth, cause it to work effec¬ 
 tually in all who believe. (See 1 Thess. i. 4—10 ; ii. 13 ; 
 and 2 Thess. ii. 13—17; Col. i. 5, 6.) The same grace 
 and the same power now accompany the same simple de¬ 
 claration of the truth of God in a crucified Saviour, the 
 only hope of sinners. Thus he still brings sinners “ from 
 darkness to light,” and shall bring all his redeeemed out of 
 the world, from under the power of sin. Thus, still the 
 stronger than the strong man armed subdues his power in 
 the heart, and brings down every rebellious inclination to 
 the obedience of faith. If you know yourself, my reader, 
 you will readily acknowledge, that nothing but the power 
 of such grace could have converted your heart to the faith 
 and love of Christ Jesus ; and that which has brought you 
 to him is able to bring any sinner to the same submission 
 and obedience to his authority. All, therefore, that the 
 Father hath given him, the Saviour declares shall come 
 to him, and him that cometh to him he will in no wise cast 
 out. (John vi. 37.) This work of effectual calling and 
 renovation is actually going forward, wherever the Gospel 
 of a crucified Christ is simply and plainly proclaimed, and 
 thereby is effected what all the wisdom, the reasoning, or 
 the power of men can never produce,—the calling of sinners 
 from the error of their ways, and the effectual turning of 
 the heart to God. The mixture of human wisdom, the ac¬ 
 commodation of the truth of God to the prejudices of man, 
 will always injure its effect; while the power of God will 
 always attend and testify to his own truth : and thus the 
 simplest and plainest instruments are often made much more 
 powerful than the most worldly wise, in effecting the great 
 object of the Gospel, the conversion, sanctification, and 
 consolation of his people, in order to their salvation. 
 For now, as the Power of God, he receives to himself the 
 right of conducting forward, maintaining and preserving, 
 his work of grace in the heart. The arm and the right 
 
375 
 
 roWKR OF GOD, &C. 
 
 hand are the iustruments of communicating every gift; 
 and in application to the person of Jesus, they teach us, 
 that, as all the fulness of grace is in him, he reaches forth in 
 his mercy to communicate to every needy believing sinner. 
 While there is such a fulness in him, and such ability and 
 disposition to communicate, what can his believing people 
 want, what can they desire, but to be continually under 
 his care l When he promises, he at once leads our view 
 to the end ; the consummation of all, including every neces¬ 
 sary gift by the way ; he gives “ grace and glory,” and 
 denies no good between. (Psa. lxxxiv. 11.) I give unto 
 my sheep, says he, eternal life; aud they shall never perish, 
 neither shall any pluck them out of my hand. (John. x. 
 28, &c.) His grace is therefore compared by himself to a 
 fountain of water, springing up into everlasting life. (John 
 iv. 14.) And this made the Apostle confident, that he who 
 had begun a good work would complete it. (Phil. i. (>.) 
 His calling is the pledge of everlasting salvation ; and 
 therefore he assures the Thessalonians that he is faithful 
 who called them, who also would do it. Our security rests 
 upon the promise, in which he has pledged his power to 
 preserve us. “ I will never leave thee : I will strengthen 
 thee; yea, I will uphold thee.” (Isa. xli. 10, &c.; liv. 
 11, &c.) While, then, he is by me, who has almighty 
 power, rich grace, and infinite supply, I shall have sufii- 
 cient for my preservation, sanctification, and consolation ; 
 for my direction through time : and, thanks be to God, he 
 giveth the eternal victory through Jesus Christ. As the 
 Power of God, he stands engaged to subdue all the sin and 
 corruption, and all the invisible and spiritual enemies, of 
 his church and people. Though he appeared oppressed 
 himself and borne down, it was only for a little season : 
 the prophetic language represents his humiliation to death 
 iu human nature but as the bruising of his heel, while, at 
 the same time, he was treading upon the serpent’s head ; 
 then the Captain of our salvation was made perfect by 
 sufferings, and his own conquests are the pledge and the 
 security of ours. That he died, that he arose again, that 
 he triumphed, that he ascended on high, that he there ever 
 
SERIES X. — ESSAY XI. 
 
 liveth, and is therefore able to save to the uttermost all who 
 come unto God by him ; these are the grounds upon which 
 rests our hope of victory. The scene of his utmost weak¬ 
 ness was astonishingly powerful in its effects : what, then, 
 must be the result of his glory and his exaltation ? Though 
 his church, like himself in his humiliation, appears some¬ 
 times as if ready to sink and be destroyed, yet the gates of 
 hell shall not prevail against it. From time to time he has 
 revived the dying interests of his kingdom in a world where 
 every power is in opposition to it, and it shall in the end 
 triumph over all. Though his people are sometimes in 
 difficulties and in troubles, in trials and temptations, and 
 apparently near to destruction, in the mount the Lord hath 
 appeared, and commanded deliverance ; and he who has 
 delivered, does deliver, in whom we trust that he will 
 vet deliver us. The greatest difficulties glorify his power 
 the most, and prove that he is almighty to save; sins, cor¬ 
 ruptions, enemies, shall fall before him, and his power 
 shall fulfil his promise : “ sin shall not have dominion over 
 you nor shall any enemy pluck you out of my hands. 
 What gracious changes does he sometimes produce in the 
 frames of his people, when involved in doubts and dark¬ 
 ness, ready to be overcome and to despair! By some means 
 of his grace, filled with the influence of his Spirit, he re¬ 
 stores the peace and tranquillity of the conscience, strength¬ 
 ens the exercise of faith and every grace, excites a holy 
 love in the breast, and brings, by the present communication 
 of grace and consolation, the earnest of future perfection 
 and felicity. It is a practical truth which we must ever 
 remember, that we must look to him for strength, or we 
 shall never be able to stand through all; .and when the 
 accuser of the brethren is cast down, and salvation, and 
 strength, and the kingdom of our God and the power of 
 his Christ are come ; all the glory will be ascribed to him 
 by those who have overcome by the blood of the Lamb 
 alone, and by the word of their testimonv. (Rev. xii. 
 10, 11.) Then shall the power of their Redeemer bring* 
 every redeemed sinner, to the kingdom of eternal glory. 
 
 Brought through every storm of the vast ocean of life. 
 
377 
 
 POWER OF GOD, &C, 
 
 they shall be safely landed on the eternal shore: conducted 
 through every danger of the wilderness, they shall possess 
 the heavenly Canaan : he will guide them, by his strength, 
 to his holy habitation, and bring them in, and plant them 
 in the mountain of his inheritance, the sanctuary which 
 his hands have established. The work of grace being 
 perfected, they shall be eternally with him and like him; 
 sinners, rebels, changed into children, into the saints of 
 the Most High, shall adore that power which effected the 
 mighty transformation shall bless the grace and faithful¬ 
 ness which brought them there, and ascribe salvation to 
 God and to the Lamb. The change which we are in¬ 
 structed to expect shall then take place in the glorified 
 powers of the soul, all fitted for the heavenly and ever¬ 
 lasting enjoyment, could scarcely be believed, when we 
 consider what we now are, if it were not for the con¬ 
 sideration of the power by which it is to be effected. He 
 shall change our vile body, that it may be made like unto 
 his own glorious body, according to the working, or the 
 effectual energy, whereby he is able even to subdue all 
 things to himself. For this power nothing can be too 
 difficult; for its effects nothing too glorious. The change 
 of such a poor corruptible frame into a glorious and in¬ 
 corruptible temple of Jehovah, is but a common act of the 
 Almighty Creator: its purification from all its guilty stain 
 and evil propensities, is what the arm and right hand of 
 Jehovah can with ease effect. That Word of Power which 
 spake, and it was done, shall again give the command¬ 
 ing fiat, and this corruptible shall put on incorruption ; 
 this mortal shall put on immortality. He shall place the 
 perfected souls and bodies of his redeemed in the man¬ 
 sions of light and glory, and, with faculties prepared for 
 the enjoyment, shall diffuse around them all his eternal 
 blessings of salvation, and bid them, and enable them, to 
 enjoy them without mixture and without end. Then the 
 mediatorial power of Jesus shall be consummated; and he 
 shall reign in the midst of his redeemed for ever, while 
 they ascribe to him the eternal glory, honour, and power. 
 
 Behold then, my soul, and contemplate this glorious. 
 
SERIES X.—ESSAY XI. 
 
 3/S 
 
 Object of faith and confidence. Though he appears on 
 earth as the humble and the dying Saviour, his condescen¬ 
 sion was only in order to his exaltation, his humiliation to 
 his victory, and his sufferings to his glory. Now that 
 every enemy is beneath his feet, now that he has led 
 captivity captive, where can we find such a suitable 
 object of adoration and of confidence ? Lord, if thou 
 wilt, thou canst deliver me; thou canst subdue my sins, 
 corruptions, and enemies, and give me the present and 
 eternal victory. Rejoice in him then, O my soul; his 
 mediatorial power is received for this very purpose, to give 
 eternal life to his people. He ever liveth upon the Throne, 
 to exert that power, to carry on the purposes of his love, to 
 bring his redeemed to himself, to watch them with his eye, 
 to guard them by his arm, to sanctify them by his Spirit, 
 and to prepare and bring them to his glory. Shall not He 
 who condescended to come from heaven to earth to re¬ 
 deem them with his blood, from his throne in heaven, in 
 the exercise of universal dominion, be faithful to bring 
 them there? Let me present my enemies before him, and 
 seek his strength in the confidence of victory. None can 
 be too subtle, too great, or too powerful for him. What 
 are all my enemies, corruptions, or weaknesses in the 
 hands of the Almighty Jesus? The Lord is my strength 
 and my song, and he is become my salvation: out of weak¬ 
 ness he can make strong: he makes his strength to appear 
 in our weakness. Who art thou then, O great mountain? 
 Before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain. He says 
 to all, as he said to one, “ My grace is sufficient for thee; 
 for my strength is made perfect in weaknesstherefore let 
 me glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may 
 rest upon me. (See 2 Cor. xii. 9, 10.) 
 
 The people of the Lord have a faithful pledge of his 
 power and salvation already in their hearts; in that work 
 which be has wrought there, the change which he has 
 effected, and the grace which he has communicated; for 
 thus they know that “ He is able to do exceeding abun¬ 
 dantly above all that we ask or think, according to the 
 power that worketh in us.” (Eph, iii, «?0.) The doctrine 
 
POWER OF GOD, &C. 379 
 
 of a crucified Saviour is indeed the only testimony to 
 which the Spirit will set his seal by his own Divine power. 
 This alone, from the beginning, has been the power of 
 God unto salvation; and let his ministering servants ever 
 remember this, nor ever dare to accommodate his truth to 
 the corrupt prejudices of men, nor think to commend it to 
 the carnal heart by concealing any of its parts, or any of 
 its humbling and debasing truths. The simple declaration 
 of all the truth of Christ, as connected with the Cross of 
 Christ, the only hope of sinners, will still be acknowledged 
 to the conversion, sanctification, and salvation of his people, 
 when all the reasoning of human wisdom and carnal pru¬ 
 dence will be of no avail, but to injure the truth of God 
 and prevent its efficacy. Let us always remember that 
 our strength also is in that dying, ever-living, Saviour alone; 
 nor ever venture to attempt any spiritual duty, or spiritual 
 conflict, in our own strength. Never let us expect grace 
 for duty, or strength for victory, but in simple dependence 
 on the Lord Jesus Christ, and on him crucified. Then, 
 when he obtains the glory, he will give us the victory; and 
 when weak in ourselves, we shall be strong in him. “ Be 
 not afraid,” said the Lord to Israel of old—“ be not afraid 
 of them, though they are too mighty for thee: for the 
 Lord thy God is with thee, a mighty God and terrible; 
 he will cast them out before thee, by little and little, until 
 they be destroyed.” (Deut. vii. 21, &c.) Be not afraid, O 
 believer ! of all thy foes, when the Lord thy Saviour is still 
 with thee, the Power of God for thy salvation. But Oh, 
 let me not be found among the enemies of this mighty 
 Lord ! for who can resist the Arm of Jehovah or the 
 Power of God? Who can stand before this Jesus, when 
 he comes with the glory of his Father and his holy angels; 
 when he comes in flaming fire, to take vengeance on them 
 that know not God, and obey not the Gospel of the Lord 
 Jesus Christ? If he be not then our Friend, awful will 
 be the sight of him as our enemy, when he comes to 
 judge the world in righteousness. The self-righteous, 
 the careless, the impenitent, all who have not fled to 
 
SERIES X.—ESSAY XI, 
 
 380 
 
 him, and obtained ail interest in his Cross, will then perish 
 before his Throne. Ob, fly to him, sinner! now while 
 he is upon the Throne of Mercy, where he is almighty 
 to save, before he appear almighty to destroy. 
 
 But then, O believer! contemplate the destruction 
 of all thy enemies, and the completion of all thy hopes. 
 Jesus, who has undertaken it for thee, is the Power of 
 GocT: he has manifested himself as such, even in his 
 deepest humiliation, and in the lowest weakness of his 
 human nature and his human sufferings; but in the glpry 
 of his kingdom and triumph, all his designs of love, and 
 all his promises of grace, shall be fulfilled to thee. Here 
 is the ground of your hope ; not resting upon any un¬ 
 certainty, any human instability, but upon the power and 
 promise of Christ Jesus,—“ in whom all the promises 
 of God are yea and amen, to the glory of God by us.” 
 Here you must feel much weakness, must meet with 
 many enemies, pass through many scenes of trial, and 
 temptation, and affliction ; and this may be attended with 
 many fears. These fears would be just, if you entered 
 upon the warfare in your own strength; but behold the 
 Lord your Righteousness is also your Strength. He sends 
 you not to the warfare at your own charges; his pro¬ 
 mise is your stay and your support: fear not; triumph 
 in hope, give him the glory now, and soon you shall 
 triumph with him, where sin, sorrow, and enemies are no 
 more. You shall, in the end, acknowledge that not one 
 good thing hath failed of all that the Lord hath spoken, 
 but all hath come to pass (Josh, xxiii. 14); and that 
 what he has spoken with his mouth, he hath fulfilled with 
 his hand. (1 Kings viii. 15.) The Arm of the Lord shall 
 again awake, to lead his people through the deep seas 
 of affliction and of death. All the ransomed shall pass 
 over, and the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and 
 come with singing unto Sion, and everlasting joy shall 
 be upon their heads : they shall obtain joy and gladness, 
 and sorrow and mourning shall flee away. 
 
ESSAY XII. 
 
 Mttf&ow — m)t 2i2Hi0trow of <I3oir, 
 
 It seems to be one of the designs of God, in the mystery of 
 redemption, to confound the pride of all human wisdom, and 
 to stain the splendour of its glory. If his ways in general are 
 above our ways, and his thoughts above our thoughts, here 
 especially, both in theplan and conduct of the design, we find 
 “a height, a depth, a length, and breadth, which passeth 
 all understanding.” But not only does the display of this 
 in the Gospel, the result of Infinite Wisdom, rise so far 
 above our comprehension, but there are so many things 
 connected with that display which are contrary to expec¬ 
 tation, and confounding to the reasoning of man, that he 
 boldly ventures to dispute its facts, and to disbelieve and 
 deny the truth or excellency of its doctrines. The person 
 of Christ, the work of Christ, and the doctrines connected 
 with both his person and his work, as manifested in the 
 dispensation of Redeeming Love, are subjects calculated to 
 engage the powers of angels, and into which angels desire 
 to look with reverence and devout admiration; but man, 
 because he cannot comprehend the whole, ventures to dis¬ 
 pute and to revile. Hence, as in opposition to that weak¬ 
 ness, which was attributed to a crucified Christ by his 
 enemies, he is styled, “ Christ the Power of God so in 
 opposition to that foolishness which men attributed to him 
 and the doctrines of his word, he is styled also, “ Christ 
 the Wisdom of God.” And fact itself has proved, that 
 “ the weakness of God is stronger than men, and that the 
 foolishness of God is wiser than menfor “ where is the 
 wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this 
 world ? ” What have all their plans and philosophical 
 
SERIES X.—ESSAY XII. 
 
 382 
 
 systems availed for the reformation and happiness of man¬ 
 kind? They all sink into darkness and contempt, as totally 
 inefficient, beneath the effect of the light and glory of that 
 Gospel which they foolishly despise. The God of Wis¬ 
 dom, hath thus confounded the wisdom of the wise, and 
 brought to nought the understanding of the prudent: he 
 hath made foolish the wisdom of this world; i. e. he hath 
 manifested the foolishness of their wisdom, by the simpli¬ 
 city of preaching, which they accounted foolishness. A 
 crucified Christ has prevailed, to effect what none of 
 them can pretend to have effected ; viz. it discovered to 
 man, the nature, the glory, the perfections, the salvation 
 of God; and still leads the humble sinner to the experi¬ 
 ence of its enlightening, sanctifying power in time, and 
 to the enjoyment of all its blessings through eternity. As 
 the great object and subject of this dispensation is Christ, 
 and Christ crucified; as all its plans are laid in him, ex¬ 
 ecuted by Him, and all its blessings treasured up in Him, 
 He is the sum of all its wisdom. He is indeed, essen¬ 
 tially the Wisdom of Jehovah; Wisdom itself in the ab¬ 
 stract, and spoken of as such in the Old Testament ; be¬ 
 cause in Him it dwells, or rather He is it. It is, as it were, 
 himself: it shines forth from Him, is exhibited by means of 
 Him, and shall do so for ever. By this then is presented be¬ 
 fore us another view of that glorious person, all the views of 
 whom in the Scriptures are calculated to raise our admira¬ 
 tion still higher. It shews the prejudices and folly of those 
 who deny his glory, the foundation of our faith, the sin¬ 
 cerity of our hope, or the security of our prospects, as sus¬ 
 tained by Him, who, being himself the Wisdom of Je¬ 
 hovah, is suitable to be made of God unto us, wisdom, 
 righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, that we may 
 glory and rejoice in Him. 
 
 In considering Christ as the Wisdom of God, it will be 
 necessary to follow much the same course, as when con¬ 
 sidering him under the character of the Power of God. 
 We shall be led to the same conclusions, and learn again 
 some of the same lessons of instruction. This is a same- 
 
WISDOM. 
 
 383 
 
 ness, however, which never cloys the mind of the believer: 
 he hopes eternally to be employed in contemplating the 
 same object, in all its various parts and glories, which, 
 though ever the same, will be for ever new. In his Divine 
 person, he will appear essentially the Wisdom of Jehovah; 
 perfectly so in his mediatorial character ; and all the dis¬ 
 coveries of Divine Wisdom, in the covenant of redemption, 
 and the dispensation of it in the Gospel, will appear to us 
 as in the person and face, the character and work, of Jesus 
 the Redeemer. Let it captivate every thought into obe¬ 
 dience, to this “ only wise God and our Saviour Jesus 
 Christ.” 
 
 It is evident from Scripture that he bears the character 
 and title, 
 
 1. As a Divine Person , one in Jehovah Aleim, without 
 which it could not with propriety, and in an absolute sense, 
 be applied to him. In this view he is not only said to be 
 wise, but he is styled the Wisdom (a name which corres¬ 
 ponds with that of the Divine Logos, or Word, of the Evan¬ 
 gelist St. John), which implies not only that he has wis¬ 
 dom, but that he is it. 
 
 This is a name which occurs frequently in an absolute 
 sense in the Book of Proverbs; where Wisdom personified 
 is most justly applied to the person of the Divine Logos, 
 the Word or Wisdom of the Father ; for who besides could 
 assert, “ I was set up from everlasting, from the begin¬ 
 ning, or ever the earth was ?” &c. “ When he gave to the 
 sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his com¬ 
 mandment; when he appointed the foundations of the 
 earth, then I was by him, as one brought up with him ; 
 and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him; 
 rejoicing in the habitable parts of his earth, and my delights 
 were with the sons of men.” Do we not here immediately 
 recognize the adorable Son of God, eternally with the 
 Father, engaging in the counsels of eternal love to man, 
 and “ whose goings forth have been from old, from ever¬ 
 lasting?” (Compare Prov. viii. 22—31; Micah v. 2: see 
 also Prov. viii. 1,11, 12, 17, 21.)—The title of Wisdom 
 
384 
 
 SERIES X.—ESSAY XII. 
 
 cannot in this view belong’ to any creature: a creature 
 may be wise, but all the wisdom which it possesses is 
 derived and dependent, however great and extensive. The 
 term, “ the Wisdom,” cannot therefore be applied to such, 
 but in a highly figurative and comparative sense. He that 
 is Wisdom itself, must be Jehovah ; but the Lord Jesus 
 Christ is the Wisdom, and therefore He is Jehovah. He 
 who is the Wisdom of God, must also be God himself; for 
 wisdom in this respect is not used to imply an attribute in 
 the Godhead, but that which is the very essence of God¬ 
 head. And if in this view it be applied to Christ, as it evi¬ 
 dently is, then he must be also God. In the same manner, 
 therefore, in which God is said to have “ created all things 
 by Jesus Christ,” he is said to have created them by 
 Wisdom. “ The Lord by Wisdom hath founded the earth : 
 by understanding he hath established the heavens.” (Prov. 
 iii. 19: compare Psa. xxxiii. G, and Ephes. iii. 9.) But 
 as the title refers to him principally, as coming forth eter¬ 
 nally from the Divine essence, in all the acts and works of 
 Jehovah, being the Person in the Trinity by whom are made 
 all the discoveries of the wisdom of God, which otherwise 
 must for ever have been hid within himself, so still, in his 
 
 Mediatorial person, as God incarnate, he is the me¬ 
 dium byivhich the perfections and acts of Divine Wisdom 
 are displayed .—In his human nature ail the fulness of 
 Wisdom rested, communicated by the Eternal Spirit. He 
 filled his human nature with the fulness of his Divine in¬ 
 fluence, when he was poured upon him, and into him, with¬ 
 out measure, as “ the Spirit of Wisdom and understanding, 
 the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge 
 and of the fear of the Lord to make him of quick under¬ 
 standing in the fear of the Lord, that he should not judge 
 after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing 
 of his ears. (Isa. xi. 2, 3.) 
 
 In his complete person, as God-man, Immanuel, is made 
 the brightest display of Divine Wisdom. Angels could 
 never have conceived nor accomplished such a mysterious 
 union. It will be the wonder of eternal ages, unfolding' 
 
WISDOM. 385 
 
 still more and more the unsearchable Wisdom of the Eter¬ 
 nal Jehovah ; and it is perhaps to his eternal designation in 
 this character, that the sacred writer alludes in Prov. viii. 
 22, where he describes the setting up of Wisdom from ever¬ 
 lasting. The fulfilment of his engagement in this cha¬ 
 racter, with all its fruits and benefits to mankind, is 
 beautifully symbolized by the enigmatical representation 
 of Wisdom building her house, hewing out her seven 
 pillars; killing her beasts, and mingling her wine, and 
 furnishing her table, that she might invite the simple and 
 the sinful to forsake the foolish, and live; and to turn in 
 and enjoy the rich provisions of her love. (chap. ix. 1—G.) 
 In this Divine person all the treasures of Wisdom are said 
 to be laid up, and all the fulness of the Godhead to dwell. 
 His infinite Wisdom embraces the past, the present, and 
 the future, in one vast eternal glance : or rather, the Di¬ 
 vine nature and intelligence knows no past nor to come. 
 All is one eternal present now. (Rev. i. 8.) He knows 
 the possibility of things as well as the realities ; what might 
 have been as well as what is. He searches the most hidden 
 places, and sees into the most invisible recesses, and 
 pierces into the very heart. The Wisdom and Knowledge 
 of Jehovah are described by the Psalmist in a most solemn 
 and impressive manner. “ O Lord, thou hast searched 
 me and known me. Thou knowest my down-sitting and 
 mine up-rising; thou understandest my thoughts afar off. 
 Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art 
 acquainted with all my ways: for there is not a word in 
 my tongue, but lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether. 
 Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand 
 upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me: it is 
 high, I cannot attain unto it.” (See Psa. cxxxix. 1—12.) 
 What mortal can attain a knowledge so sublime and so 
 minute! Yet this infinite knowledge is in Jesus. It is 
 He who is described by the Apostle as the essential Word 
 or Wisdom of Jehovah; “ as quick, and powerful, and 
 sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the 
 dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and 
 vol. v. 2 o 
 
386 
 
 SERIES X.—ESSAY XII. 
 
 marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of 
 the heart: neither is there any creature that is not mani¬ 
 fest in HlS sight; but all things are naked and open to 
 the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.” (Heb. iv. 
 12,13.) He is represented in his glorified human nature 
 as having his eyes like a flame of fire, penetrating through 
 all: and in every ascription of praise from the heavenly 
 host, the Wisdom, as well as the power and glory, are con¬ 
 tinually ascribed to him. (Rev. v. 12, and vii. 12.) These 
 views exalt the personal glories of our Redeemer, and are 
 no doubt comprehended in the name. But its more pe¬ 
 culiar design seems to be, to impress upon our minds that 
 most interesting doctrine. 
 
 That all the displays of the Divine Wisdom, from eter¬ 
 nity, in the ways and acts of God, have been made to 
 creatures, through and in the person of the Son.- —“ No 
 man hath seen God at any time ; the only-begotten Son, 
 which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.” 
 (John i. 18: compare xiv. 9, &c.) As “ by him all 
 things were created,” the displays of creative Wisdom are 
 the emanations only of the Wisdom of God in Christ Jesus. 
 As He is the Head over all in providence, all the manifesta¬ 
 tions of Divine Wisdom in the conducting of it are but 
 by and through the person of Christ, since all Wisdom in 
 the direction of universal providence is by Him ; for, “ by 
 him, and through him, and to him, are all things.” The 
 Apostle, however, when he uses this title, is evidently 
 speaking of the plan and conduct of redemption, and the 
 discovery of it in the Gospel. This he tells us is “ the 
 light of the glorious Gospel of Christ, who is the image of 
 God,” by which, when “ He who commanded the light 
 to shine out of darkness,” shines into the heart, in spiritual 
 illumination, he gives “ the light of the knowledge of the 
 glory of God in the face” (or person) “ of Jesus Christ.” (2 
 Cor. iv. 4—6.) Here, as every other Divine attribute, 
 so the Wisdom of God eminently shines, glorifying our 
 Jesus as all-sufficient to support the faith, and realize the 
 hopes of all his people.-—We behold it shining, 
 
WISDOM. 
 
 387 
 
 1. In the glorious plan and work of redemptiom through 
 Christ Jesus. —“ Herein,” says the Apostle, “ he hath 
 abounded towards us in all wisdom, and prudence” (Eph. 
 
 i. 8.) And as in this wonderful economy the infinite 
 Wisdom of Jehovah is manifested to man, more than in all 
 his other works, the Gospel which reveals it is called 
 Wisdom. The plan itself is styled the Mystery which 
 from the beginning of the world has been hid in God 
 (Eph. iii. 9); the Mystery of Christ (Eph. iii. 3, 4); the 
 Wisdom of God in a Mystery (1 Cor. ii. 7); the 
 Mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ. (Col. 
 
 ii. 2.) The Gospel dispensation is “ the Revelation of 
 the Mystery which was kept secret since the world began, 
 but now is made manifest, and by the Scriptures of the 
 Prophets, according to the commandment of the ever¬ 
 lasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience 
 of faith” (Rom. xvi. 25, 26.) And its intent is this; 
 “ that now unto principalities and powers in heavenly 
 places, might be known, by the church, the manifold Wisdom 
 of God” What words could be found more calculated to 
 impress our minds with the deepest solemnity, and the ut¬ 
 most reverence ! And yet they raise our expectation of 
 inconceivable glories, to infuse the most genuine simpli¬ 
 city and fervent zeal, in investigating its unsearchable and 
 sublime truths. We cannot be surprised to find in that in¬ 
 vestigation many discoveries far beyond the reach of human 
 powers ; and which, when revealed, elude, in various ways, 
 our researches. Man, by mere reason, could never have 
 thought of discoveries which are suited only to the sim¬ 
 plicity of faith, giving implicit credit to the word and truth 
 of the Lord; glories which eye hath not seen nor ear heard* 
 and which would never have entered into the heart of man 
 to conceive. (See 1 Cor. ii. passim.) The glorious plan and 
 purpose of Divine mercy to save sinners, the most exalted 
 being before the Throne could never have devised. Thus 
 wise intelligences are represented as stooping down to pry 
 into this mystery; and no doubt are discerning in it daily, 
 more and more of the Divine Wisdom; and the eternal 
 
 c 2 
 
SERIES X.—ESSAY XII. 
 
 388 
 
 contemplation will unfold, to saints and angels, an eternal 
 subject of increasing knowledge, and everlastingly growing 
 delight. The first grand doctrine of revelation, which is 
 altogether the testimony of Jesus, is itself “ the great 
 mystery of godliness;” the most astonishing wonder in the 
 plan which Eternal Wisdom has devised, God manifest in 
 the flesh, God become man, theWordmade flesh ; He who 
 was in the form of God taking upon himself the form of a 
 servant! This mystical union will ever excite the admira¬ 
 tion, as it will ever employ the powers, of men and angels; 
 and yet so as never to be fully comprehended. In this it 
 becomes us rather to adore unsearchable Wisdom, than re- 
 belliously to cavil, or rashly to deny that, in the nature 
 of fallen creatures, He should come to obey, to satisfy, and 
 to honour his own law; that God in this way should appoint 
 justice should be satisfied, and mercy triumph ; that full 
 satisfaction should be given for sin, and a free pardon to the 
 sinner, the full purchase of spiritual and eternal blessings 
 be made by the blessed Redeemer; and yet bestowed as 
 free gifts of sovereign grace to the sinner. (Eph. i. 7.) 
 These are considerations which, when properly considered, 
 will be discovered as involving in them mysteries which 
 none but the Divine Wisdom could have devised or re¬ 
 vealed. The infinite Wisdom of Jehovah alone could 
 know how to reconcile his attributes, in discovering mercy 
 to sinners who had deserved his wrath, and to render 
 mercy triumphant in the exaltation of justice. But, lo, 
 “ mercy and truth meet together, righteousness and peace 
 embrace each other” (Psa. Ixxxv. 10,11), in the person of 
 Immanuel, and are all equally and eternally glorified in 
 his work of redemption. When again we take a view of 
 the means by which the plan of sovereign grace has been 
 effected, here we are overwhelmed with astonishment and 
 delight. The whole of this transaction is, however, repre¬ 
 sented as “ his own purpose and grace;” as taking place 
 according to the counsel of Jehovah. It is so represented 
 as if the result of deliberation and consultation, in con¬ 
 formity to the views and conduct of men, who in their most 
 
WISDOM. 
 
 3*9 
 
 important concerns are used so to act that they may act 
 wisely; and that it may impress us with the unsearchable 
 wisdom of God, which has been exercised in the sovereign 
 purposes of his love. The means themselves are very 
 different from what the wisdom of man would have pro¬ 
 posed : his condescension is our exaltation ; his death the 
 cause of our life; his humiliation, poverty, and sorrows, 
 the means of our glory; his contempt, of our honour; his 
 agony, his sufferings, and his cross, of our salvation. (See 
 Isa. liii.) Here every thing, in its outward appearance, 
 was the very reverse of what man would or did expect; it 
 excited not only the wonder of the Jewish people, but an 
 indignant despising of his person and his cause. Yet, 
 justified by the event, we behold the admirable wisdom of 
 God in effecting, by the weakest and most unlikely means, 
 the most glorious of all his purposes. In this plan of sal¬ 
 vation, nothing can more effectually excite our astonishment 
 and delight, than the union of sinners in the person of 
 Christ, and the union of Christ with the persons of his 
 people ; whereby he became sin for them, and they become 
 righteous in him. And yet, is not this the admirably con¬ 
 stituted method of their justification and acceptance, and 
 the firm security of their life and everlasting salvation l 
 (See 2 Cor. v. 21; compare Isa. xlv. 24, 25; 1 Cor. i. 
 30, 31.) This truth is the most sublime, most interesting, 
 and most elevating of all the grand truths of revelation. 
 They are one with Christ, and Christ one with them *; He 
 bearing their person, they bearing his before God; and thus 
 becoming virtually united in all that he did, in all that he 
 suffered, in all that he obtained; how deep the mystery, 
 how glorious the consequence ! Yet no doctrine in the 
 whole of revelation is more clear or more decisively main¬ 
 tained. (See John xvii. 21, and xv. 1, &c. ; Eph. i. 22, 23.) 
 To be in Christ is the great privilege of the Christian, and is 
 spoken of through the whole word of God as the immediate 
 cause of enjoying his blessings. In Christ Jesus we have 
 
 * Sec the Homily on Justijicat ioru 
 
SERIES X.—ESSAY XII. 
 
 390 
 
 access ; in Christ we are built up as the habitation of God ; 
 in Christ we are made new creatures; in Christ all the 
 promises of God are yea and amen, to the glory of God by 
 us. Such a system of redeeming love unites in it infinite 
 wisdom with infinite grace, and provides and secures the 
 greatest blessings to guilty, ruined, and helpless sinners. 
 In the person of this Saviour, in the work which he has per¬ 
 formed, in his union with the church, and the blessings he 
 has obtained, a mystery of Divine Wisdom will be eternally 
 unfolding. “ The wisdom of this world,” or of the prince 
 of this world, can never comprehend its amazing extent. 
 The mind of the inquisitive reasoner with difficulty receives 
 or submits to it as the testimony of God : yet, without the 
 mysterious plan devised in the counsels of Jehovah, how 
 sure had been the destruction of guilty sinners ! Glory be 
 to that Wisdom and that Grace, which so adjusted the 
 eternal purpose, and which has made it known to us by his 
 Holy Spirit! As this is the sole design of Revelation, let 
 us ever remember that it is our truest wisdom to study to 
 be acquainted with that revelation, and implicitly to submit 
 to its decisions. This is the word of Wisdom which disco¬ 
 vers to us the person and offices of Him who is the Wisdom 
 of God: never can we, without this, become wise unto 
 salvation. All our most boasted wisdom independently of, 
 and opposed to, revelation, will prove but folly, and in its 
 effects destructive to the soul. But to reject the Gospel, 
 because it does not agree with some previous principles 
 which our imaginations have conceived, which, in the dark¬ 
 ness of nature’s ignorance, have been entertained as 
 truths, and which the pride of the mind induces us to hold 
 fast, is the most fatal error of delusive reasoning. The 
 truth which a Christian seeks after is, “ the truth as it is 
 in Jesus.” His truest wisdom is to know Christ, to come 
 to him, to sit as a teachable disciple in his school, to be in¬ 
 structed by him, and implicitly to receive the words of his 
 ips. And the more we discern the true character of 
 Christ, as exhibited in his word, the more shall we see his 
 suitableness for the work in which he has engaged, and the 
 
WISDOM. 
 
 391 
 
 confidence which he justly requires of us. We shall see 
 that, as the wisdom of God, he is the complete, the in¬ 
 fallible, the never to be deceived, the never decaying 
 fountain of light and knowledge; suited to be the Surety, 
 the Guide, the Head, the Saviour of his people, from eter¬ 
 nity to eternity. 
 
 A further display of Divine Wisdom has been made in 
 Christ, 
 
 2. In the execution of that glorious plan in his media¬ 
 torial person .—“ When the fulness of the time was come, 
 God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the 
 Law, to redeem them that were under the Law, that we 
 might receive the adoption of sons.” Could we behold the 
 various connections and relations of things, one with another, 
 no doubt but we should discern, that the time itself when 
 the Son of God appeared on earth to accomplish redemp¬ 
 tion was most suited to the glory of God, and the execution 
 of the work; and is therefore called “ thef illness of time." 
 In all his conduct in human nature we behold a fulness of 
 wisdom, far beyond what mortals exercise : for never man 
 spake like this man; never man acted like him. He ap¬ 
 pears as the perfection of holiness, the living copy of the 
 Law, the absolute pattern of piety to God, and of righ¬ 
 teousness to man. In accomplishing his design, in per¬ 
 forming his work, in instructing his disciples, in confounding 
 his enemies, he manifested a wisdom which none could 
 gainsay nor resist. When he overcame in the garden, 
 when he triumphed on the cross, when he conquers death by 
 dying, when he derives his glory from his humiliation, and 
 his highest glory from his deepest sufferings and debase¬ 
 ments, and when he rises victorious over all, we stand 
 amazed at the mystery of his redemption.—But, 
 
 3. In bringing the knowledge and power of his salva¬ 
 tion into the heart of his people, here peculiarly he must 
 he acknowledged as the Wisdom of God .—This is the work 
 of the great Prophet alone of the church of God ; for as 
 all the discoveries of God are made in Christ, so are they 
 made by him to his people. What amazing wisdom do 
 they sometimes trace in the way in which he first led them 
 
392 
 
 SERIES X.—ESSAY Xli. 
 
 to prepare their mind for his purposes of mercy towards 
 them, in bringing them under the means of grace, and 
 subduing and counteracting the former prejudices which 
 armed them against his truth, and finally, in making these 
 means effectual for conviction and conversion. The proofs of 
 his Divide Wisdom thus arose in their own hearts, and from 
 their own state ; when by it, their prejudices have been 
 softened, and their minds enlightened ; when they have been 
 led and taught by his providence, word, and Spirit, and 
 their once stubborn hearts brought down to the obedience 
 of righteousness,—the obedience of faith ; they cheerfully 
 confess “ that he led them in a way that they knew not, 
 and in paths which they had not known ; that he made 
 darkness light before them, and crooked things straight.” 
 Having in his providence revealed himself in his Gospel 
 by his Spirit, he has now revealed himself to their hearts and 
 consciences, according to that Gospel; and they feel that 
 “ none teacheth like him.” His Spirit being poured forth 
 upon them as the Spirit of wisdom and knowledge, they 
 begin to arise from the darkness of ignorance, and to become 
 acquainted with themselves in the light of a holy law ; they 
 are convinced of the guilt and exceeding sinfulness of sin ; 
 they discover the world in its vanity, God in his holiness, 
 grace, and mercy ; Christ in the fulness of his redemption, 
 and the heavenly spiritual blessings of his salvation, in all 
 their reality, suitableness, and glory. Then let his name be 
 ever glorious, since whatever he is, as the Mediator, that he 
 is to and for us : he has engaged to become our Wisdom, to 
 make his people wise unto salvation, and conduct them 
 through to the full enjoyment. If all the treasures of 
 wisdom and knowledge are laid up in him, it is as that 
 rich treasury to which we may go in every perplexity, and 
 ask and find counsel and direction. Happy, therefore, is 
 the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that thus get- 
 teth understanding; for the merchandise of it is better than 
 the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine 
 gold.” O Jesus ! be thou my Wisdom, and in all the 
 dangers of the wilderness I shall be safe. This part of the 
 subject having, however, found a separate consideration 
 
wisdom. 893 
 
 under the title of “ Our Wisdom ” it will be sufficient at. 
 present to pass on to the wisdom of God in Christ, 
 
 4. In his conducting the concerns of his church, and 
 of all his jieople, amidst and through all their enemies and 
 dangers .—It is the sweetest source of consolation to the 
 mind of the believers, that that wisdom which is the 
 Wisdom of God is engaged for them, for their direction 
 and preservation. A character inferior to this could never 
 attend to all the concerns of each, in every time, in every 
 age, in every place, and in all their vast connection and 
 extent, in universal nature. But as the Wisdom of God, 
 he is capable of conducting them aright and securely, of 
 providing for all their wants, and defeating the projects and 
 the powers of all their enemies, as he led the chosen bauds 
 through the wilderness of old. His ways may not always 
 be suited to our comprehension, but they are most wisely 
 adapted to his own glory, and for the benefit of his people ; 
 to lead them forwards, and prepare them for the glory that 
 he has provided for them. His infinite Wisdom laid the 
 plan, and adjusted every part of it, in the counsel of eternal 
 love. That same Wisdom is now carrying it on to its ac¬ 
 complishment ; and neither enemies, perplexities, difficul¬ 
 ties, nor dangers, shall ever interrupt his progress, defeat 
 his designs, or disappoint his fixed purposes of love. His 
 power is almighty; and his infinite wisdom shall direct that 
 almighty power to complete his counsels, and fulfil his pro¬ 
 mises of grace and salvation to his people. (See more of 
 this under the titles, the Head of the church, and the 
 Head over all things to the church *.) 
 
 Then shall he most eminently appear as the Wisdom of 
 God, when he has conducted them safely through, and 
 brought them to the kingdom of glory; w'hen all the 
 dangers of the campaign are over, and the victory ob¬ 
 tained through Him who loved them ; when carried safely 
 over and beyond all the storms of the sea of life, and 
 brought to the haven of rest, where they would be ; when 
 the dangers of the wilderness are escaped, and all sur- 
 
 * Ser. X. Ess. VII. 
 
394 
 
 SERIES X.—ESSAV XII. 
 
 mounted by the guidance of their heavenly Leader; and 
 they enter upon the possession of the land of light and 
 glory, the Canaan which is above ;—then they will be 
 better able to trace the Wisdom which conducted them ; 
 which ordered and arranged every step, disposed every 
 circumstance, and finally completed their faith, and fulfilled 
 all their expectations. In the retrospect, they will assuredly 
 see that “ He led them by the right way, to bring them to 
 the city of habitation.” The chief employment of that 
 heavenly world will doubtless be, to trace the wisdom of 
 God in the fulfilment of the counsel of redeeming love. 
 Then shall they mark how the plan was laid in Christ, and 
 accomplished in his person, in his humiliation and victo¬ 
 ries : they shall discern how wisely it was conducted by his 
 providence, for the calling of his people by his grace ; for 
 the leading and guiding them through the world, amidst 
 their corruptions, enemies, and temptations ; in the last 
 closing scene of affliction and of death, and in the final ex¬ 
 altation of all his redeemed, to his kingdom of glory. There 
 the Divine Wisdom shall appear in its most illustrious dis¬ 
 play in the person of Christ; all its purposes consummated, 
 and all its glory developed; the whole shall then redound 
 to the praise of the riches of his grace, and by the church 
 be made known “ the manifold wisdom of God.” 
 
 How suitable to our state is this additional character of 
 the blessed Jesus! how eminently calculated to display 
 and illustrate his own glory! Let us cheerfully submit to 
 all the dispensations of his providence, and the methods of 
 his grace, who is so infinitely exalted in wisdom and un¬ 
 derstanding : His ways may be above our comprehension : 
 but they are, no doubt, the effect of his Wisdom ; yea, it is 
 the infinite Wisdom which is involved in them which ren¬ 
 ders them unintelligible to finite creatures,—to creatures 
 so ignorant as we. Future providences, even at present, 
 often make his dispensations and dealings plain, which, at 
 the time, were perplexing and distressing. When we look 
 back upon the past, we are compelled to adore him in 
 those scenes in which, while exercised with them, we 
 
WISDOM. 
 
 395 
 
 were confounded and afraid ; which led us to suspect his 
 goodness and his truth, and excited the doubts and mur- 
 murings of unbelief. We ought then to be satisfied in 
 whatsoever way he pleases to lead us, confident that if we 
 could but see and understand his design, we should rather 
 be inclined to admire and adore, than to distrust and to 
 blame. So attached are we to sense and sensual objects, 
 that we are never satisfied but with the things of sense; 
 and are desirous of seeing and accounting for every path, 
 and every dispensation. But the Lord our Redeemer 
 calls us to the exercise of faith ; and, as Christians, it is 
 our duty and privilege to walk by faith, and not by sense, 
 giving him the credit of his word, and promise of his 
 grace, and faithfulness to fulfil them. Let us not then, in 
 unbelieving distrust, find fault with his dispensations. A. 
 man of acknowledged wisdom feels indignant to be called 
 to an account for his determinations by ignorance and 
 weakness. But we may be well assured it is our igno¬ 
 rance, and not his want of wisdom or of love, that causes 
 our perplexity in the ways of providence or grace. We 
 see not the reasons of his ways: these are concealed from 
 us, but perfectly known to him. He sees the end from 
 the beginning; the whole plan of nature, providence, and 
 grace stands before his infinite mind, which comprehends 
 and embraces the whole, from eternity to eternity; and 
 the method of conducting and accomplishing the whole 
 will, in the end, magnify the Lord our Redeemer, as the 
 Wisdom of Jehovah. He calls us, therefore, confidently 
 to rest upon his care. Our almighty and only wise God 
 and Saviour is able to attend to all the concerns of his 
 people: the greatest are not above, nor the meanest 
 beneath, his infinite understanding. And if not a sparrow 
 falls to the ground without his knowledge, surely not the 
 least circumstance which can affect his people can be 
 deemed unworthy of his observation. Here is a faithful 
 and all-sufficient security against our own ignorance, the 
 malice or craft of our enemies, and the danger and per¬ 
 plexity of our way. We need much wisdom, yet we have 
 
396 
 
 SERIES X_ESSAY XII. 
 
 none; but O the glory of Christ our Saviour! his Divine 
 wisdom is employed unchangeably in our guidance and 
 defence, and shall complete our hopes and joys. 
 
 Let, then, my soul sweetly repose in the bosom of my 
 Redeemer; let me rest, without distraction or anxious 
 thought, upon his guidance in all my concerns. He bids 
 me trust in him with all my heart, and not lean to my own 
 understanding; in all my ways to acknowledge him, and 
 he will direct my paths. He calls me graciously to cast 
 my burden upon him, and he will sustain me; and surely 
 he has abundantly proved, in his conduct to all his servants 
 of old, that he knoweth how to deliver the godly out of 
 temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of 
 judgment to be punished. (2 Pet. ii. 9.) T cannot find a 
 better, nor a more secure, Friend and Helper: he will 
 uphold me in all, and will guide me through all, to the 
 end. He hath completed the redemption of the cross, 
 and will complete the salvation of his redeemed from his 
 Throne. 
 
 What an infinite fulness dwells in Christ Jesus ! What 
 a suitableness to the needy sinner, opening still more 
 in every character, and secured by every office, which he 
 sustains ! My soul, believe and trust in him, and dis¬ 
 miss all thy anxiety and fears. Engage all thy affec¬ 
 tions in his love; and devote, my heart, all thy immortal 
 powers to his service, and to his glory. When I arrive 
 above, in the region of the blest, then shall I do it better, 
 ascribing, amongst the glorious company that there sur¬ 
 round the throne, the power, the riches, the wisdom, the 
 strength, the houour, the glory, and the blessing, to Him 
 that sitteth upon the Throne, and to the Lamb for ever 
 and ever! 
 
 END OF VOLUME V. 
 
 Kllerton and Henderson, Primers, 
 Johnson’s Court, Fleet Street, London, 
 
Princeton Theological Seminary-Speer Library 
 
 020 4594