^3S Incarnation and other sermons, 'f^\J%f^^^ ♦ (y, gatherings from a colonial mini S:^^ 1^1^^ 'iiW^Ui tiiT!nani LmMJt±v) t m.wm m THE INCARNATION AND OTHER SERMONS BEING GATHEEINaS FEOM A COLONIAL MINISTKY BY J. C. MACINTOSH, CONGREGATIONAL MINISTER. PORT ELIZABETH : IMPEY, WALTON & Co., MARKET SQUAEE. LONDON : ELLIOT STOCK, cvl PATERNOSTER ROW, 1887, IMPEY, WALTON AND CO., PEINTEES, 8TATI0NEES, AND BOOKBINDERS, J'OKT ELIZABETH, SOUTH AFEICA, EKRATA Read ethereal for etlierial, page 'A, line 28. „ '32, „ 11. the for this, page 138, line 26. ? after "is" and not after "present," page 233, line 24. : between "of" and "but," page 237, line 24. . after "has" instead of "ever," page 2(32, line 6. .4i PREFACE. *' Every author," .saj-s a recent Tvriter, "has, of course, a more or less sufficient reason for sending forth his book to the world." To the reasons that I liave already given in a circular, which the subscribers to tliis volume have seen — mainly the rec[uests of friends and the sliortness of my time now — whether sufficient or not, I shall not here add. I there said that the sermons to be published would not be polemic, and any such utterances here are few and far between : but I have not omitted things that may seem so to some, which were really preached formerly, when the truth, as I see it, seemed to demand their retention. My hearty thanks are due, and are hereby tendered, to all subscribers for a response to my proposal beyond my expectations ; and I am specially thankful for many letters and short notes — all kind, some touchingly so — received from ministers and members of various religious com- munions, as well as my own. The general tone of these communications increases my serious fear lest the book, as it is, may disappoint many of the writers. I see many blemishes in it, and other and more impartial eyes will doubtless see more. IV P REPACK The fact of the sermons being written and preached at dates wide apart — for some are sermons of youth, and some of recent date — explains certain repetitions of ideas and expressions, which I have not tried to avoid, and also differences of style. For I have in every case re-written for the press, but in no case re-made, or seriously altered, the sermons as preached. I may further say that about half the sermons in the volume are there by request. This precludes the sermons forming a series, or having much of a plan ; but they are mostly about Jesus Christ our Lord. Sermons amounting to the whole number have been named and requested since my purpose of publishing became known ; but these re- quests have come in at various dates, some of them after I had finished copying for the press ; and the main reason why more of the sermons that have been asked for are not inserted, is the extra labour that putting these in the place of sermons already selected and copied would have needed. ''My design," I repeat, '-'is the promotion of true godliness, by asking my readers to look with me, in the quiet of their own homes, at some of the things which I have seen in God's Word." That my readers may seize, prize, and profit by whatever of divine ' treasure ' I, as ' earthen vessel,' may have been able to offer them here, is the desire and humble prayer of their brother in Christ, J. C. M. 1, Havelock Square, 18th March, 1887. CONTENTS I. THE INCARNATION; OR, CHRIST'S VISIT. FIRST SERMON. PAGE Mat. i. 23. .. .. .. .. .. .. 1 II. SECOND SERMON. Mat. i. 23. .. .. .. .. .. ..17 III. O0D\S LOVE; OR, CHRIST S ERRAND. FIRST SERMON. JoHNiii. 16. .. .. .. .. .. ..29 IV. SECOND SERMON. John iii. 16. . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 V. THE GREAT BURDEN-BEARER. FIRST SERMON. Mat. xi. 28-30. .. .. .. .. .. ..68 VI CONTENTS. VI. THE GREAT BURDEN-BEAREll SECOND SEKMON. TKGTt Mat. xi. 28 30. ., .. .. .. .. ..90 VII. THIRD SERMON. Mat. xi. 28-30. .. .. .. .. .. ..116 VIII. FOURTH SERMON. Mat. xi. 28-30. .. ..... .. .. ..132 IX. LlVIXa UXIUX WITH ClIREiT, John XV. 4-8. .. .. .. .. .. ..1.30 X. ETERNAL LIEE IN CHRIST. John vi. 47, .. .. ,. .. .. ..176 XI. THE SUDDEN AND UNEXPECTED CALL. Mat. xxiv. 44. .. .. .. .. .. ..107 XII. A LOOKINCl BACKWARD THAT PnEPAnKS FOR aOIXG FORWARD. Genesis xxxi. 13. ,, ,, ,, ,. ,, 21G CONTENTS. vii XIII. THE LAWt^ OF SPIRITUAL PRCXillESS. PAOS Job xvii. 9. .. .. .. .. .. ..239 XIV. J)IVIXK 'UlEASl'Rt: IN EARTHEN VEHHELS. •2 Coll. iv. 7 .. .. .. .. .. ..276 XV. TJIE PERFECT BOND. Coi.. Ui. 14, ,, .. .. .. .. ..306 I. THE INCARNATION ; OR, CHRIST'S VISIT. FIRST SEEMOX. ^'Immauuel: wliicli is, being interpreted, God with us." — Mat. I., 23. IN the sacred name of Him wliom vre meet to worship, and serve, I would say to each one of you this morn- ing, my beloved hearers, ''put off thy shoes from off thy feet," that we may tog-ether enter a holy shrine, reverently io worship God there. For I invite you, and would fain help you to contemplate for a little, with devout reverence and holy joy the incarnation of Christ, '' the mystery of Godliness," to look on Him ''who was manifested in the flesh." In one word, I ask you to behold, with me, Jesus our Lord, Him whom our text calls "Immanuel, which is ■God with us." But before we turn our thoughts to the contemplation •of God with us, and as preparatory to this attractive surve}', let us try to meditate for a few moments on God, as he presents himself to us, his human famih-, otherwise than in Christ. First let us try to grasp in our minds a correct concep- tion of the invisible God in His own Nature and Attributes, as he is in Himself, apart from all manifestations, and 2 TJIE INCARNATION; OR, expressions of Himself : and let us strive to worship Hinij. ''in spirit and in truth," who was, and is, and is to come; ''who only hath immortality, dwelling in light, unapi^roachable ; whom no man hath seen, nor can see." Yes, let us try with our keenest vision to see the invisible God, as He is seated on His Heavenly Throne, eternally self-existent, and the author of all existence, infinite in knowledge, power, wisdom, and goodness, infinitely just, and true, and hoty — seeing all the past, the present, and the future. If we try so to look upon God, we see in a moment that we cannot full}- realize what such descriptive terms as self-existent, eternal, and infinite mean. Nor can we grasp Ilim in our feeble thought, of whom alone the words are true : though it concerns us much to know Him the judge of our actions, and the God with whom we all have to do. But in such an effort as I am describing, the mind painfull}', but vainly, lahours to draw near unto God. Some image of vast and vague sublimity rises before us, as we strain our exhausted powers in the vain attempt to hold immensity in our feeble grasp, and to pierce eifectually with our short-sighted glance the gloom — from excess of glory — of the eternal God. An emotion of awe overwhelms us in our efforts to see God, for we realize that he is ; but no definite idea occupies the understanding, no distinct feeling touches the heart. And so it becomes evident to us that such a Being as the Infinite God is far removed from us alike in His nature and in His character. IVe are limited in 4eYery aspect of our being, while He is infinite. AVe are- CHRIST'S VISIT. 3 fallen and sinful, while He is the Holy One, And hence we cannot by native strength of intellect wing our way to His unknown seat, and see Him as He is. Nor, though we could enter His presence thus, is ours the eagle-eye that can gaze on this uncreated sun, undazzled and un- dimmed. Angels veil their faces with their wings in God's presence : and He Himself says : " Man shall not see m& and live." And, if for relief from such ineffable bright- ness, we turn our eyes away from the direct effulgence of the divine glory to the reflections of it that are to be seen in the works of the divine hands, still ''the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.'^ AVe consciousl}' stand afar off from God. AVe cannot,, by looking ever so intently on the face of nature, get nigh to God Himself. AA^e know that all nature as the product of God's hand proclaims aloud His power and His wisdom : but nature is not God Himself. And hence, even when we try to " rise through nature up to nature's God," the way is far to us, and the time needed for such a journey is long, God's great universe is far too vast for our little minds ta traverse or to measure. AVe come back from our best search after God, throughout the wide creation, fatigued with our far and venturous flight, sighing and longing for a shorter and simpler revelation of God than the bound- less creation presents. AVe feel our need of a revelation that comes more directly home to our hearts, and to our whole spiritual nature, than that does, and more fully meets and satisfies the natural and instinctive longings of oui' souls for God Himself. 4 TIIE INCARNATION; OR, Now tlie Bihle yields us, and our text in particular gives us just tliat for whicli our hearts and minds alike crave, for it speaks of Grod, as not only being every where ])res6nt, but as being specially with us men. It speaks of God as visible not only in all His great universe, but also, as more clearly visible in the Man Christ Jesus. Here is the revelation of God in a person, and in our own humanity ! iact most wondrous, most glorious, and also most true and significant, '* God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself !" And to this much-needed and most welcome revelation of God, summed up in our text in one old Hebrew word, Immanuel, we now thankfully and gladly turn as the lest, the clearest, the simplest, and the fullest revelation of Himself of all that God has given us. I shall invite your attention to the following points as included in the sublime and gladdening revelation of our text. I. Grod witli us in place. II. God with us in Xature. III. God with us in Love and Sympathy. IV. God with us in Work and Suffering. V. God with us in our Sin. VI. God with us in Dying. VII. God with us both in Grace and in Glory. And I. — I invite your attention, as specially appropriate to the season of the year, to the contemplation of Immanuel, God with us in i^lace, to God dwelling with us upon the earth. It is indeed the unceasing and unsolved wonder of wonders that He, who cannot be limited to a place, but fills immensity with His glorious presence, should have been in a literal and peculiar sense, God with us in place. CHRISrS VISIT. 5 Here is a true marvel, that though the Heaven of Heaven's cannot contain God, He should, in the person of His Son Jesus Christ, have submitted to the limiting con- ditions of an inhabitant of this world, and should in a human form, have visibly walked Judean streets and fields as a teacher revealing the highest truth to men. Is it no marvel that He should have climbed the hills, sailed the waters, and frequented the Synagogues of that fair land, and have at last hung on a cross of shame and pain, and that He the author of life, should have lain in a tomb among the silent dead ? Yes, and have risen from the dead, and even walked the earth in His resurrection body ? God's thus coming to us in place, is itself a bright j)rophecy of coming good to man. This cheering fact that God was with us in place, has made the whole earth a consecrated temple for redeemed men's worship of God. This has made the ordinary every-day walk of Christians a sacred pilgrimage from one consecrated spot to another, until they appear before the Lord in the Zion above, which is the place of Christ's rest, not, like the earth, merely the place of His sojourn. Even Christ's temporary presence on the earth has removed from the ground and turned into a blessing the curse that followed man's sin. Manifestly '* the earth is the Lord's," for He has visited it. Now, ''the earth is full of the loving-kindness of the Lord." Now we mortals, while we are here below, daily, in a literal sense, walk in Christ's footsteps. We now live in a God-visited, God-redeemed, God-blessed, and yet to be 6 TRE INCARNATION ; OR, blessed world. For this is the birth-place and the burial- place of Jesus. This is also the hallowed scene of His glorious resurrection. Earth is holy, classic ground. We all in some measure share tlie veneration that is felt by the wise and good for the birth-places, residences, and tombs of men of genius and worth. Such places become classic ground, and we delight to visit them on pilgrimages of affectionate admiration for their mighty dead. But this kind of hero-worship is for the most part the privilege of the few, and of the far-travelled. Few of US have either time or money for many such visits. There are many of earth's most famous spots which we have not seen, and shall never see in the body. But the fact of the text much concerns us all. It is now the glorious privilege of all to know that through Christ's presence with us on earth, the whole world has become classic ground. The true glory of earth now is that Christ was here. The glorj^, not of Jerusalem and Judea, and Galilee and Samaria only, where Christ's feet literally trod — but the true glory of our whole world is that Christ Jesus was born into it, lived and walked on it, dwelt among us, and here on earth manifested His own, and His Father's glory. Heaven's best gift to earth was Immanuel, God with us in iilace. Do not then, I beseech you, think meanly of the world in which we live, for it is manifest that He, who made it, does not. It is only one of count- less worlds all made by Him. It is but a small speck in the immensity of God's vast creation. And it is a fallen world too, and has had in many respects a dark and God- CUEIST'S VISIT. 7 • dislionouring history. But yet, all that has transpired upon the earth has not been dark, and all is not dark now. " The light is come into the world." '' The dark- ness is passing away, and the true light already shiueth " upon us. The annals of the earth record at least one fact, which makes all who know the worth of that fact exceeding glad. It is a fact that we should ever remem- ber, and growiugly prize ; it is a fact that Heaven will not forget when eternal ages have run their ceaseless round. It is the fact of tiie text. For this shall be the everlasting song of both redeemed men and holy angels, that Grod ifas with us mankind upon the earth, that He Himself dwelt on it. And thus "we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father," veiled but not concealed ; obscured, and yet exceeding bright. And why was God here thus ? I answer, and it is an answer sanctioned by the word of God : God was with us in place, God was here on earth, that we who believe on Jesus may jet be with God in place 3-onder in heaven where Jesus is: "which," scripture tells us, " is far better " than here ! So that Jesus once descended to earth for a short time, that as the Captain of our Salvation He might lead us in our ascent to Heaven as our eternal •home. II. — Contemplate Jesus as Lmmaxuel, God with m in ■nature ; God in our human nature. It is much to us in many ways, as we have already seen, that God was literally here with us in place. Such a celestial visit made to us is proof sufficient that God has -not forgotten man : and that He is not indifferent to man's 8 TJIU INCARNATION; OR, well being. But it is far more to us, and far better tliat God was also with ns, and is yet witli us in nature. Holy Angels have been witb us in place. They are doubtless with us often, as protectors and benefactors, when we know not of their presence. "Are they not all ministering S23irits, sent forth to do service for the sake of them that shall inherit salvation." We often owe these ministering spirits much. We owe them far more than we shall ever know in this world. For they are as j^et unseen, unknown benefactors, with whom we cannot at present establish personal friendships We can on good grounds rejoice that there are in the universe of God such holy servants of His, and willing benefactors of ours as the Holy Angels are. But still the}'- and we are strangers at present, dwelling far apart from each other in place and nature : and we feel the chilling effect of being at this great distance from them. We do not seethe angels, nor do we know them, when they see, know, and are near us. Moreover, those of our race who, here on earth, have seen Angels have not been filled with joy and strength at the sight, but with fear and weakness. We mortals cannot at present know the Angels personally' and love them one hy one. We occupy much the same position towards angelic benefactors that the mass of the ignorant heathen do towards the unknown contributors in distant lands who combine to send them the Gospel. Those of them who are taught from above to value the Gospel, will feel grateful to their benefactors who send it, even though they are unknown. But those who really represent Christendom to CERISrS VISIT. 9^ the heathen, those who beget their confidence, and draw forth their love, are not so much the distant and unseen givers of money, as the Missionaries who are present and visible, who come to live and labour among them, and speak to them the word of life. And so is it with us and the unseen angels whom we cannot at present know and love individually. For it is not angelic visitants to earth, on offices of love to man, however beneficent, who really touch our hearts : But it is the Son of God, who is ivith us in our own nature as the Son of Man, who forms the One and ouhj appropriate Mediator between God and man, and wins back the alienated heart of man to his Father God. For though the Holy Angels are strangers to us, not so is Jesus the Son of God : and through him who is " the way, and the truth, and the life," God the Father is no stranger, to man, but is revealed. God is not now ''the unknown God" to us who know Jesus, for He, the only begotten Son of God, and the revealer of the Father, is our great elder brother, one with us in nature, while He is also one with God, who in Him has thus come very nigh to us. For Jesus is truly " bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh." He had a human body that became hungry, and thirsty, so that he ate and drank : that became weary and drowsy, so that He rested and slept like as we do. He had a human heart like ours, and felt as we feel joy and sorrow, pleasure and pain, hope and fear, love and anger. And yet. He was and is very God, and could say without robber}-, '' I and the Father are one." And He proved it by turning in a moment by His own will water into wine : calming the stormy sea with his mighty word, and walking on it, as on the solid 1 THE IN CARNA HON ; OR, earth : healing any sick in a moment, and without means : raising the dead to life whenever he pleased : knowing and answering the unspoken thought of men : knowing also the mind of God : Lord alike of matter and of mind, and yet truly and really a man, with us in nature ! There is a mystery here which we cannot fully solve : but the Incarnation is not all obscure. Nay, the mystery of Christ's person is delightfully illuminated by an inner light and glory. The fact involved in these mighty deeds which is God ivitli us, is well fitted to fill our whole soul with holy wonder, solemn awe, and unending joy. The meaning of this fact Christ with us in nature, must be good. For He who is with us in nature is very God : and ■thus He is able to help us. And He is also reri/ man : and thus He can feel for us : and we can know Him, trust Him, and love Him. Thus he is able and willing, he is fit and forward to save us ! Man's case demands both divine and human help : and Jesus Christ gives us both. For he is Immanuel God with us in nature. Do you wonderingly ask : And why is God with us in nature ? The answer is simple and joyful. God is with us in nature, that we may be with God in His moral nature, in the possession of His own holy image. With God, not in possessing divine attributes. That is impossible to us. But that we may be with God, yea, that we may be one with God in having the divine image vividly impressed iipon a regenerated, holy human nature. And therefore, my fellow man, and fellow Christian, do not, I entreat you, degrade our human nature by willingly yielding it up to the ignoble service of sin and Satan. Tor CHRISrS VISIT. 11 It is Christ's nature that we are wearing, as well as our own nature, and " he is not ashamed to call us brethren." No, Christ is never ashamed, and he is nowhere ashamed of our nature ; he is only ashamed of our sin. Nay, so great is God's love for mankind that He, " the high and lofty one that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy," kindly courts a lowly alliance with our fallen family in order to break up our degrading fellowship with sin and Satan, and to raise us permanently to more than our prestine glory and honour. And Christ's community of nature with us is something permanent. It is not, like Christ's humiliation and sufferings, which were only temporary, and are now left behind Him for ever. For Jesus not only iva.s a man, but He is a man. Jesus not only had a community of nature with us when He was on earth, but He retains it still. He has carried human nature to the throne of the universe, and still wears it in his state of glory. The Apustle John saw Jesus in apocalyptic vision, amid the splendours of Heaven, not like an Angel or an Archangel, but still like to what he was on earth, still *' One like uxto a son op MAN." And He is the same to-day. He is still clothed in a glorified humanity. He is still God with us in nature. III. — Consider Jesus Christ as Immanuel, God with us in love and sj^mpathy ; God with us in giving us his tenderest love and sympathy. And this you will see is more still than to be with us in^i^ace, and even to be with us in nature. For all who are with us in place, and with us in. nature even, are not, as they ought to be, with us in love .and sympathy. The divine doctrine of the universal 12 THE INCARNATION; OB, Tn'otherhood of mankind, as the children of the one Fathery is not very generally believed and practised, is it ? Nay men, though "made of one blood," may be widely alienated from each other. There may be no brother's heart binding them together. There is in truth but little love to one another among fallen men till the God of love changes and renews their sinful hearts into His own holy image. Nay, there often is in human hearts hatred in place of that love, which, as containing the germ of all duty, is the fulfilling of the law. Yes, mutual hatred well nigh oversj)reads the world. Men being alienated from God are hateful, and hate one another. Look at only one illustration of unrealized human brotherhood, war, and at two late seats of war, America and France ; and you will see that it is not the same to be one in nature and one in S3mlpath5^ What a terrible spectacle was it to see in America brother men, lately one people, and happily again one people, mangling and killing each other, and sometimes by thousands in a day, and for years ! And 3'et war is not worse, and hardly more terrible than some other outrages on human brotherhood, as slavery, oppression, extortion, and the vanity, pride, ambition, and lust of territory, that often bring on wars, and of which war is both the fruit and the punishment. In America the crime of slavery prepared for the destructive curse of war" as its punishment, and its cure. For, " Remember Heaven has an avenging rod ; To smite the poor is treason against God." And, moreover, CIIRISrS VISIT. 13 "There is a time, and justice marks the date, For long-, forbearing' clemency to wait ; That hour elapsed, the incurable revolt Is punished, and down comes the thunderbolt." And much in tlie conduct of man to man, provokes the •descent of divine thunderbolts. How often must the 'Christian still say, ** My ear is pain'd, my soul is sick, with every day's report Of wrong and outrage with which earth is filled ; There is no flesh in man's obdurate heart ; It does not feel for man : the natural bond Of brotherhood is severed as the flax, That falls asunder at the touch of fire." But in striking contrast to the sad failure of our com- mon humanity in the manifestation of human brotherhood, is the attitude of Jesus Christ, who is Grod with us in nature. For He is also in the fullest sense God with us in love and sympathy. And in order to acquire and manifest this sympathy, Jesus became not only a man, but a servant. He came quite down to the humblest of us, and was made in a low condition. Nor was Christ's choice of a lowly career of slight meaning and of slight utiIit3^ His low condition formed a real part of His manifo d fitness to be the world's Redeemer. For it is all but impossible for a great man in the world's sense, whose residence is in courts and camps, and whose employments relate to the affairs of nations and of dynasties, fully to sympathise with the interests and feelings of common men. Grreat national schemes of war and iDolicy, by which the few be- come renowned and great, seldom take much account of the real interests of the many. A great and famous vic- tory, or a successful campaign, by which a new province 14 THE INCARNATION ; OR, is added to an empire, by whatever means, and at what- ever cost, may make one man famous and one home "bright with honours and rewards ; but may destroy many other men just as worthy, and darken and desolate many other homes, with hearts just as loving and as precious as the conqueror's. But not such as these were the career and the conquests of Jesus Christ. His victories tvcre not won, and are not now won, with " the armed men in the tumult, and the garments rolled in blood." Jesus was with us on earth, not as a great actor in courts and camps, skilfully diplomatising awaj^, or trampling down by the brute force of war, the most precious of human rights, instincts, and interests. For not only may an ambitious warrior unrighteously deluge his own or his neighbour's country with blood, but even a war that is on the whole just and beneficent entails the shedding of much innocent blood. Jesus did not defend even the rights of men by such rough means. But Jesus icas, and is, with us all in manifest- ing the profoundest sympathy with all the interests of all men. The meek and lowly Jesus knows — the great throbbing, suffering heart of common humanity — for such a human heart throbbed in his own breast. Thus Jesus was, and is, God with us in feeling for us the fullest sj^mpathy. His love passeth knowledge. What but love made him, who is the invisible God, become God with us ? And He who was so truly tclth m in love and sympathy, that He " spared not his own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how sball He not also with Him freely give us all things ? " Jesus, as an expression of his sympath}^ with us in our varied human relationships, and also to set us an example CHRIST'S VISIT. 15 of the loving discharge of the duties therein involved, which form so large a part of the sum of our human life, Himself assumed the relations of son, brother, preacher, teacher, friend, pastor, host, and guest. And in all He was the perfect pattern of all human duty and of all brotherl}' sympathy. Jesus revealed to us as had never been done before, both God and man. " No man hath seen God at any time ; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him." And Christ declares, as the sum of all His teaching, that God is love, and He, the sent of the Father, abundantly proves this by word and deed. And as no man hath seen God aright, but as He has seen Him in Christ, so no man hath seen God's ideal of our humanity; but as he has seen that also in Christ, God's living law. This law is lovelier, more persuasive, and more perfect than that law which was written by the finger of Jehovah on the tables of stone on Mount Sinai. So that Jesus was icith us to reveal in his own person both God and man to us. And iclnj did Jesus manifest Himself as so truly one with lis in sympathy, but to make us one with God in sympathy ? Jesus knows that it is our ruin and misery not to love God, and that it is our very life to do it, and so He who lirst loves us makes us feel that it is so, and thus draws out our love to God. And the love of Jesus, as shown to ■us, io further meant to restore us to the fullest sympathy with our fellow men. Hear His own words: "This is my commandment : that ye love one another, even as I have loved you." So that the manifested love and sympathy of Jesus bless us not only directly, but as 1 6 THE INCARNA TION. showed to us and felt by us, they do more than anything else to beget in us a like love to each other. And thus Christ's love brings to us in large measure the double benefit of knowing that we are loved by God, and of awakenino' our love for our fellow men. n. THE INCARNATION ; OR, CHRIST'S VISIT. SECOND SERMOX. ^'Immanuel: Avhich i«, being interpreted, God with us." — Mat. I., 23, IN the morning I sliowed that not the invisible Grod^ not God in nature, but G-od in Christ ; God with us in place, God with us in nature, God with us in love and sympathy was the revelation of God that we most need. Now, IT. — I invite you to contemplate yet again Jesuf* Christ, of whom my text speaks, as Immanuel, God with us in ivorJc and suffer in [/. This is another idea, and one of no small practical moment, for we live in a world of toil. Most men, and many women, must work hard during all their days on earth. AVork, nut play, is the common lot of man. '• All things are full of weariness," or labour; "man cannot utter it." And Jesus Christ as one proof of both his love and sympathy was with us here, in our heav}^ toil, to share and to lighten it. " The Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister." His life was a life of unceasing and laborious activity for ethers. ''He went B 18 THE INCARNATION^ ; OB, about continually doing good" to the souls and to the bodies of men. His avowed motto was, *' I must work the works of Him that sent me while it is day : the night cometh wlien no man can work." i^nd in Him execution kept pace with aim. Such was the pressure of life's work on Jesus Christ that sometimes '' He had no leisure so much as to eat." '' The zeal of God's house ate him up." In any act of humble, active good doing which we perform for man, we are not innovating on the master. For we can claim Him who is Immanuel as having been with us, and before us in doing it when he was on the earth. And even the veritable working man, who has most of his waking hours filled up with some engrossing — it may be hard — secular toil of his hands, may yet remember for his great ennoblement Jesus, the carpenter of Nazareth. Yes, the carpenter for far more j^ears probably than He was the public teacher and preacher. And he, the man of work, ma}' thus see his own humble and hard toil ennobled by a real companionship in labour with the Grod-man Jesus, who has gone before him even in that. For He who could say ''My Father worketh even until now, and I work," did not exclude from His own consecrated activities such works as any of yours may be. And not in toil only was Jesus with us. For Jesus is Immanuel, God with us in svfferings also. And we much need Him, too, in this fiery furnace. There are some who would willingly work with us at life's lighter and pleasanter tasks, who would yet fain flee the jokQ of fellow- suffering if they could, and would selfishly leave CHRIST'S VISIT. 19 ►us alone ia those dark hours when we most need sympathisers, friends, and helpers. Not so did Jesus. He was not only a real man, a real human brother, hut He was a fellow-sutferer with us as a Man of Sorrows. Jesus was o/w with us in heart, and gloriously evidenced • this great love hy suffering with us, and for us. And this fellow-suffering is much to man. There is a special strength and a special sweetness in the bonds that unite well-deserving fellow-sufferers. The furnace of fellow- suffering cements and strengthens all holy ties, all proper bonds Sorrow and suffering weld a family more ffrnily into one. Husband and wife, parent and child, brother and sister, become doubly united when they have suffered and sorrowed together, and after mutual help rendered in the furnace of affliction, they, having been brought out of it, are led to rejoice together in the Lord's deliverances. Still it is very difficult, if not quite impossible, for any t^vo human beings so to blend in heart and experience as to be fellow-sufferers fully. Even husband and wife, 2)arent and child, brother and sister, cannot be so in all things. Every man, ever}- human, must bear his own, or her own burden. A fellow-man not only often will not do it when he can, but quite as often he cannot do it when he would. Jesus alone can, and has borne the burden of all men. Jesus was I'eally with us, among us, of us, as our fellow- sufferer. Only remember this aright, fellow-Christian, and it will help you much to bear all f/uiir sufferings well. JFor as Jesus was made perfect through sufferings, so are 20 TEE INCARNATION; OR, we, too, made perfect. No human character becomes-' perfect in strength, gentleness and beauty, without the- discipline of suffering. But Christ's sufferings were far more than icitJi us ;. they were all for us. He had none of His own apart from us. He was the ever blessed God. He dwelt in celestial glor}'. " He covered Himself with light as with a garment." But what a change ! "When the prophet, con- densing His history in a brief prophecy, says of Him : " Surely He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. ■a- ^- '\' He was wounded for our transgressions, he wri,"-: bruised for our iniquities ; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed." Yes, that was fulfilled which was jspoken by Isaiah the prophet, snj'ing : '' Himself took our infirmities and bare our diseases." And why was Jesus thus with us in Tvork and in suffering ? The answer is a real gos^^el to man. ¥vv Jefcus was with us in work and suffering, that we with Him, and by Him, may enter into final and glorious rest, and have all tears -uiped away from all our eyes. Do then, and suffer all God's holy and righteous will,. ntEicted Christian brother, leaning lovingly on the bosom of Jesus, who was for us the greatest of all sufferers. Por "if so be that we suffer with Him," it is ''that we mny be also glorified with Him." For " if we endure, we shall also reign with Him." AVeeping may tarry for the night, but joy cometli in the morning." And the joyful 2norning of the true Christian will soon dawn, and become an unending day. CUEIST'S VISIT. 21 Y. — I invite you to contemplate Jesus Christ as Imnianuel, Gol with us in our sin. Yes, my hearers, God's Christ was with us in our sin. For " the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all." He was with us, not in the guilt of our sin, for He was ''holy, guileless, uudefiled, and separated from sinners." But He was with us in its penalty. Jesus was with us, not in sinning ; but He was with us in enduring sin's consequences. This is the strangest, grandest fact of ail Christ's strange, lowl}^, sublime career. This is the most Christ-like thing in Christ, and for us tjie most blessed and the best. This is the thing without which all else that Christ has done would avail us little. This voluntarily assumed relation to our sin was Christ's .great errand to earth. " For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost." Jesus became the Son of Man to give Him a brother's right to interfere on man's behalf, who by his sin is lost i iJeed. Jesus is thus the brother born for adversity, lie is the friend of sinners. '• For all " other men " have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God." "All we, like sheep, have gone astray." Jesus offered himself to bring the wanderers back to God. He came into the world for this very thing. " Now once at the end of the ages hath He been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself." And such is the worth of Christ's sacrifice that the law of God asks no more. " It pleased the Lord for His righteousness sake, to magnify the law and make it honourable." The righteous judge justifies the ungodly for Jesus' sake. " There is therefore now no condemnation to 22 TILE INCARNATION; OE, them that are in Christ Jesus." In truth, the law of God is- more magnified and honoured by Christ's willing obedience' to its demands, and b}" Christ's eager suffering of its penalty,, than it would have been if all the sinful race of Adam had unwillingly suffered its just penalty both here and hereafter. And God, because He is rich in mercj^ accepts His own provision, His son's person and work, as the sinner's surety. He acknowledges the worth of Christ's atonement. He proclaims pardon on the ground of it to everyone who believeth on Jesus, and He bestows it, too, as a present blessing. This many living men everywhere can gratefull}' testify ; and that not a few here can do so, I gladly believe. I have already said vhj the H0I3' Jesus was with us in our sin. He came to put it away. He came to deliver us- from its power and curse. He was with us in our sin, " that we might become the righteousness of God in Him " now, and that He might at last ''set us before the l^resence of His glory without blemish in exceeding joy," " not having sj^ot or wrinkle or an}^ such thing, but hoty and without blemish." YI. — I invite your attention to the contemplation of Jesus Christ as Immanuel, God with us at death, and in dying. For He himself died with us and for us sinners. "And apart from shedding of blood there is no remission" of sin. The ever living God could not die ; but Jesus, who is the onl}- begotten son of God, died. And the atoning efficacy, the meritorious worth, the saving power of Christ's death come from His super-human person and nature. CITRISrS VISIT. 23 **None * * canby any means redeem his brother" f rem this death of sin. '' For the redemption of their soul is costly." But this more than man can and does redeem his brothers from death eternal. It is by His death that we live ; it is by His stripes that we are healed. And the death of Jesus has a twofold aspect to the believer as a believer after he has been made alive by Jesus. First, the death of Jesus takes out the sting- from the believer's own death. So that he can say, " death where is thy victory ? death where is thy sting ? The sting of death is sin." And that tormenting sting Christ takes away from the believer's death. For sin has no more dominion over him. ''But thanks be to Grod which giveth us the victory," over death also as well as over sin, "through our Lord Jesus Christ." Yes, "precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints." And then, secoiiclhj, as to the influence of Christ's deatli on ours. The believer on Jesus gets from his Lord com- panionship in dying. The godly man need not fear to die ; and he does not greatly fear to die, since he is not alone even in dying. Jesus has gone before him. Jesus waits for him, and is with him even in dying. And the Christian need not fear, and he does not — in so far as he walks by faith — fear to follow Jesus whither-so-ever he goeth, even when the path of Jesus leads direct to the tomb. For He, our Saviour, hath " abolished death, and brought life and incorruption to light through the gospel." VII. — And, finally, out of all this companionship with Jesus comes this blessed truth more, to which I now 24 TEE INCARNATION ; OR, invite your attention, that Jesus Clirist is Immanuel, God with us hoth in the state of grace on earth and in the state of glory in heaven. Jesus is with us in both worlds. He is with us here on earth, and He is with us yonder in Heaven. The Incarnation of Christ is the fullest answer which we have ever gotten, or will ever get, to the momentous question. "■ But will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth ? " For in Christ He has already done it. Christ's body was God's truest temple on the earth. And God does in His spiritual presence, God does by His Holy Spirit, still dwell with men upon the earth. God's presence is to the godly a quickening, transforming reality. And He sa^-s to His Church: "And lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." We read of Christ being in believers the hope of glory. He is called the life— our life. And again we read : " Your life is hid with Christ in God." The Apostle Paul says of himself, '■' I live ; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." And again we read of the believer being in Christ, and abiding in Christ. Each such expression denotes, and all such expressions taken together strongly denote a real, close, abiding union between Christ and believing souls — a blending of their life with the life of Jesus. Bible words teach that Ilis life is not apart from theirs, nor is their life apart from His ; but the Bible shows both to be more and more mingling and blending into one. Yes, the life of Christ, and the life of the believer is one, as the springing fountain and its running stream are one. They are one, as the dropping cloud and the falling rain are CHRIST'S VISIT. 25 .one. They are one as sources, and their issues are ever one. They are one as the head and the body are one. Thus are Christ and His people one, by a living and abiding union. And in and through Christ all real •Christians are one with Grod. God dwells with them, and in them, and the}^ dwell in Grod. They are the temples of the Holy Ghost. A blessed state it is to have Christ with us thus now on earth. For through Him we may and do even now walk with God. And 3^et this is not all that we shall be. We are heirs of glory, and Jesus is Immanuel, God with us in glory. He is with us there, not because we are men, not as we are mere men, but it is as redeemed men that Christ is with us in a state of glory. The Lord Jesus Christ is now in Heaven, and Heaven is the home of the redeemed of the Lord. Hence Jesus is most trul}^ with us of the redeemed who are there. And there where Jesus now is, all the redeemed from among men already are, unless the few by comparison who are at any one time still upon the earth. You know that there are, at the best of times, only a few of the redeemed here on earth, and there are a great many of them yonder in Heaven. For '' we are compassed about with a great cloud of witnesses." It would not be very difficult to number all the godly people in the world, if we had aiij sure mark to know them by. Many we hope and trust they are, and ever increasing. Still, if we knew who they are, we could count them soon, and easily. But the redeemed myriads, ever increasing, who are in Seaven, are spoken of as "a great multitude which no 26 THE INCARNATION; OR, man could number." So that when we speak in thename^ of the whole redeemed family, the words '' Immanuel, God with us," will now mean, and will growingly mean, Christ in Heaven, rather than Christ on earth ; Christ as- being with the many, rather than Christ as being with the few. Just as "the British people" must be taken to mean the many residents of the mother country, rather- than the comparatively few residents of this Colony. The Lord Jesus Christ was, and still is, as we have seen throughout both these sermons, in a most important sense with us, who are pilgrims for Heaven, but are yet on the earth. But now I pass on to urge upon your best attention the glorious truth that Jesus, in a fuller, truer sense than even when he was on earth, is with those of us, with those of the redeemed family, who have already got to Heaven. 'Tor the throne of God and of the Lamb is therein, and His servants do Him service ; and they see His face, and His name is on their foreheads." But those celestials are of us ; and we are of them. For "from the Father everj' family in Heaven and on earth is named," " One family we dwell in Him." And Christ the great elder brother of the human family has carried human nature to the throne of the universe. He is still a man ; and where He is, that is our true final home to which we are journeying. And soon ivhere He is, there shall we be also : ivith Him yonder, who is- now with us here. And now, in conclusion, let us retrace our steps, and glance backward for a few moments over the most prominent ideas that have claimed our notice. CHRIST'S VISIT. 27 Let it be carefully noted, and daily joyed in, how widely the advent of Jesus has changed man's condition and prospects for the better. *' The old things are passed away " with us. " Behold all things have become new." AVe have seen that the earth itself is a different place to live on since God, its maker and ours, was with us upon it to bless it and us. We mortals even now inhabit a royal resi- dence of the King of Glory, prepared for Him and for us. And then we have seen that human nature is different now since Christ shared it. The possibilities and the prospects of our humanity are different as night and day, since Jesus rent the skies, descended to earth, and declared the Father's love to man. The spiritual atmosphere of earth, once dark, and chill, and cheerless, has now more of the light and joy, and Ivrc, and sympathy of Heaven in it than it ever had before. And we have also seen that earnest human work is now a nobler and more bracing discipline of the whole man, mind, and body than before, and leads to nobler issues as '* Me work oat our own salvation with fear and trembling ; for it is God which worketh in us both to will and to work for His good pleasure." And human suffering is a more ennobling and purifj'ing furnace since Jesus shared our work and suft'ering, and sanctified them, and showed what man may become amid, and under, and by them. And even that thing of dread and horror, human sin, is no longer, as a matter of course, a hopeless curse and an end- less miser}'. That cruel tyrant sin shall not have dominion over us, who come to Jesus for help and deliverance. For •28 THE INCARNATION'. lie is mig'lity to save. In Him the sin-siek soul ever finds sovereign balm, and an almighty physician. And moreover human life on earth is not the same empty, disappointing, grovelling thing since Jesus became the perfect pattern, and fair copy of all human worth and duty as it once was. Any human life may now be a life of grace below, growing into a life of endless glory above. Nor is our last enemy, pale and ghasth^ death, the same dread- ful and dreaded enemy now since Jesus died, as it was once. *' There is no death ! What seems so is transition ; This life of mortal breath Is bnt a suburb of the life elysian, Whose portal we call cl^ath." We now see that death may and does lead and open into endless glory. " I heard a voice from Heaven saying, write, blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth." Yes, brethren, let us look and we shall see that all the present is greatly changed to us, and all the future is changed still more by the birth, and life, and labours, and death, and resurrection, and reign of Him who bears the name Immanuel. All our darkness becomes light in the Lord by means of this one fact, long promised, and now also, blessed be ■the Lord, long fulfilled, that ''the light of the world," God Himself, was visibly with us on tlie earth for a time, in order that we may be with Him in Heaven for evermore. Amen, and amen. Thus may it be with us all, and witli ours, and the glory shall be His through endless ages. And that ' it may be so, let us more and more look unto Jesus. Yes, let us all continue *' ever looking unto Jesus," who is at once the perfect, ideal man and God manifest dn the flesh. III. GOD'S LOVE— CHRIST'S ERRAND, FIRST SERMOX. For God so loved the Avorld, that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have eternal life."— John III., 16. THE common places of life are man}*. There are plent y of common place things, common place thouglits, and common place people in the world, but the great is ever rare. Yes, so rare, that all our important interests for time and for eternit}^ torm a uuitj". "■ But one thing is needful." That attended to, and we have not remaining over reall}' a great mistake to make in life; but that neglected to a dvinar hour, and we have made the grand mistake of life,- which cannot possibly be remedied, and "it had been good for us that we had never been born." Ihat " one thing needful " is religion, is the securing of our soul's salvation. But as all our iujportant interests centre in this infinitely important one thing of personal religion, so do all our relationships, though they are many and multiform, centre also in one, even our relation to God, who is the object of thiit religion. 30 GOD'S LOVE—CHRISrS ERRAND. And this, like all tlie really great things that belong to us, is true of all men equally. This supreme relation oversteps age, rank, and all other circumstances. This relation belongs to our common humanity, and it reminds us of our common immortality. For widely as we may, and do, differ in many things, our relationship to God is common ground. We are all equally God's creatures, and he is our common Creator. Nor is there any other relationship in which we can possibly stand that deserves a moment's C(msideration in comparison with this our relationship to the most high God. This rises above all other relationships, and stands alone, as does the infinite God above all His creatures. And this our supremacy of interest in the things of God arises from what God is in Himself, and fr(3m what He is to us. Since God is the most powerful of all beings, with Him for our friend none can make us afraid ; with Him for our enemy none can secure our safety. With Him for our friend, infinite power, infinite resources are with us, and though all the universe beside were ranged in opposition to us, finite power, finite resources only would be against us, and victory must be ours. While with God for our enemy we are miserable as despair, and impotent as infancy. For on Him alone both our existence and our happiness depend. In His hand our breath is, and our happiness is entirely in His power. By a mere volition, He, the Almighty, is able to crush us into hopeless misery. And God is not only all-powerful, but He is all-seeing, and everywhere present. With Him for our enemy escape GOD'S LOVE—CIIRISrS ERRAND. 31 niid concealment are alike impossible ; for we are ever in His presence, and ever in His power. Yes, whether we remember or forget it, God is ever near us. '' For in Him we live, and move, and have our being." So constantly present with us is God that He leaves us not alone for a single moment. Would any of j'ou, my friends, desire to have a solitude where the eye of God shall not break in upon you ? "Well, this cannot be for even a single moment. You have not had this solitude from the first moment of your existence, and you cannot get it throughout eternity. That all-seeing glance which God cast upon each of us when He breathed into our nostrils the breath of life, and made us rational souls, has never been withdrawn froni us, and never shall be while eternal ages run their unceasing circles. Forget, therefore, if you will, a thousand objects of lesser interest ; but oh ! remember, as you would be happy for ever, the ■eye that never either slumbers or sleeps, and ever sees us. Forget, if j^ou will, all earthly relationships, and your crime and punishment will be small by comparison, for they are but short-lived, and are travelling to the land of forgetfulness. AYe shall soon leave all our friends, even the most valued and the best loved, or they shall soon leave us ; but here or yonder God and we shall never pai-t company ; therefore let us never forget Him. This, my hearers, is for us the question of questions Do we all believe in this great unseen, but everywhere present, and all-powerful God, who knows all that we are, whose gaze is ever on us, whose eye peneti ates to our inmost thoughts, and even detects their very formation before 32 GOB'S LOVF—CHRISrS ERRAND. they have assumed a definite shape to our own conscious- ness ? Then, if that be our faith, whatever our worldly cir- cumstances may be, or our connections in life, there are no other questions half so important to us personally as- these : '' AVhat does God, who knows my heart and life, think of me ? How do my character and conduct please- Him ?" " If I should cease to oppose Him, and should give myself wholly up to Him and His purposes, will it be for my advantage or for my injury? Will He prove my friend or ni}^ enemy ? " " What are God's intentions with the race to which I ])elong ? Does He intend our destruction, or desire our good ? With what feelings does God regard us ? W^hat are His aims and purposes with man ? " Now, when we look within, and ask these questions at our own guilt}' conscience, it gives a dark answer, and- says : That we deserve, and must endure the wrath and curse of the holy God for our sin. And when we look abroad upon a guilty world, we get in substance the same dark answer. We cannot })ut think, when we are left to ourselves, that the holy Godi must hate a wicked world like this. And men too often look within them and around them for answers to these questions : " What is God, and how does He look upon man?" But brighter, better, and truer answers to these momentous questions may be got in the Bible than from man himself. For this book is given to explain God's mind, and to reveal God's heart to us. And in this very passage of sacred writ we get the affirmation GOD'S LOVE—CERISrS ERRAND. 33 of the Son, who came to declare the Father's character and will, as to what Grod's feelings towards us really are. This text, then, brings before us the most momentous theme in the Bible, namely, the love of God to man. For that God does love man, not hate him, is what Christ here- affirms. Let us then, by the aid of the Holy Spirit's- teaching, aim to see and realize the delightful meaning" and moment of this cheering affirmation '' God is love.'* That so we may be prepared to reciprocate the divine- love of which our text speaks. The doctrine of the text is and must be a true saying,. as it is a glad saying. For it is one of the greatest utterances of God's great Apostle to the world, Christ Jesus. And it is as glorious as it is true. Hear again Christ's- own gracious words, ' ' For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have eternal life " Look with me, then, at the following points contained in the text : I. — The state of mind that is here affirmed of God. Jesus says tliat God "' loved the world." II. — The practical manifestation into which God's love shaped itself. Namely, into the gift of His Son. III. — The gracious purpose or end that God had in view by the bestowment of His unspeakable gift. " That whosoever believeth on His Son, Jesus, should not perish, but have eternal life." I. — And, first, the state of mind which is here affirmed of God on the highest authority is deeply interesting to us. For Jesus says that " God loved the world." 34 GOD'S LOVE— CUBISTS ERRAND. Our first inquiry is : What is the extent of the term ^* world" which is here used? How. extended as to its objects was the love which Grod felt for man ? I reply, that when Christ speaks of " the world " he means *Hhe world." And He here speaks of the world ia the most general sense. For the Grreek word which is here used for world is one of the widest import It is not the word which is employed in Luke's gospel when we read : that '' there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled." This is a word which is often used in a restricted sense. It is so in this case. It probably means Palestine and the adjacent countries, or, at the widest, the Eoman Empire. But the word for ''world" that is used in our text is the word which is used in John's gospel, where Christ says : ''For I came not to judge the world, but to save the world." There it means the inhabitants of the world generally, mankind. And it is the word which Jesus uses when he saj's of Mary's anointing, as recorded in Matthew's gospel : " Verily I say unto you, wheresoever this gospel shall be j)reached in the whole world, that also which this woman hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her." There it means the globe in its whole extent. It is in truth a word which is generall}^ used in the widest and most unlimited sense. And in our text the word needs no restriction. Nay, we have scripture authority for taking the word world here in its ordinary sense Since this passage does not stand alone in assigning to the love of God, and to the work of Christ a reference to the world in its widest extent. For the apostle John, addressing GOB'S LOVE— CHRIST'S ERRAND. 35 'Cliristiaiis, says of Jesus Christ : "■ And He is the pro- pitiation for our sins ; and not for ours only, but also for the whole world." And when we are told that God loves man, we are in this fact assured of God's doing man all needed good. God loves man ; he is therefore man's friend, not his enemy. For love is the one essential, indispensable element in friendship "Without love friendship is a mere pretence ; while he who loves us is, in virtue of that relation to us, our friend. AVe can have no better security for anyone proving a kind and faithful friend than to have obtained a firm hold •on his best affections '' For the whole law is fulfilled in ■one word, even in this : Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." And again, " For he that loveth his neighbour hath fulfilled the law." And the explanation of these i-strong statements is found in such words as these : " And if there be any other commandment, it is summed up in this word, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour; love therefore is the fulfilment of the law." That is, love is the fulfilment of the law, not actually in •standing for every detailed act of duty, but it is the living germ which naturally produces all the services that we owe to the loved ones. For to love our neighbours as ■ ourselves is to be prepared to treat them in every way as we ought. It is thus that love acts between man and man ; and it is thus that love acts between God and man. And strange as it seems to us, and grandly strange as it is, "God loved the world." He loved the undeserving 36 GOD'S LOVE—CHRISrS EFiBAND. world, the wide world of sinners, wlio had defied His- lawful authority, trampled upon His righteous laws, and even hated His glorious person, His holy character, and' His just government. Let us rejoice, and give thanks to God, that His love was not circumscribed, and is not, within the limits of man's desert. For God loved, and God still loves the perishing, self-destroyed, and ill-deserving world of sinners. '' We love, because He first loved us." And if God had not loved us before we possessed any good desert, He would never have loved us at all. To Him, therefore, and not to ourselves, let us ascribe all the glory of our salvation from first to last. This text, my Christian brethren, speaks powerfully to us. It prompts us to say : 'Since God loves the world shall we not be like Him ; and prove that we are His by cherishing a growing love and pity for a world that is perishing in its rebellion against its Creator and Lord ? And shall we not give those practical manifestations of our love to our fellow-men, which God by word and deed has so earnestly enjoined upon us ? ' Let us all ever strive to realize and remember, Christian brethren, that we are in God's hand the instrumental saviours of this lost world in which we live. And as God has loved the world with His infinite love, and in the exercise of that great love has stretched out His infinitely powerful arm to raise degraded men, in that highest sense which God only can do, so let us. His people, cherish such a love for our fellow-men, and feel so deep a sympathy with their sj)iritual ruin, as shall lead us GOD'S LOVE— CHRIST'S ERRAND. 37 stedfastly to aim, under God, and within our measure, to be the instruments of bringing- eternal well-being to as man}' of them as we may, in raising them from sin, and bringing them back to God. As we so do, we are thus co-workers with God. Bat what does Jesus Christ mean to teach us by these words, '' God loved the word, " as to His Heavenly Father's state of mind and feeling towards sinners ? Xot, surely, that God felt complacency in the persons, or was pleased with the conduct of those who were setting at nought His lawfal authority, trampling upon His righteous laws, and hating His perfectly' holy character. Xo, no ; that be far from God. Such complacency with evil is im^^ossible to God. AVe dare not think of this moral indifference in connection with Him Not so did God love the world. It would introduce complete con- fusion into our ideas of right and wrong to believe that the Hoh' God loves sinful man appro vingl3^ This involves the false idea that God is pleased with all His creatures, because they are His creatures, whether they glorify Him and serve the end that He made them for or not. And that God's love has therefore no visible and close connec- tion with the moral character of those who are its objects. In this case there would be no moral discrimination in God's love. To have it would be no longer the reward of goodness, and of likeness to Himself. God's love would be a mere passion, or feeling, regulated by no principle, having no visible connection with worth, and therefore leaving no well-defined path in which it .could be confidently sought and surely found. All God's 38 GOD'S LOVE— CHRIST & ERRAND. rational creatures would have His love, as a matter of course, and all would have it alike, which is not the case. God does not love sinners, while sinners, approvingly. And yet love is so far different from approval, and so ■ much deeper and wider in all noble natures than approval,, that the Holy God does love sinners. But once again, it is impossible that the Holy God should entertain towards beings of opposite moral characters the same feelings, either of approval or disapproval. And God does, by a moral necessity of His nature, love holy unf alien creatures, who remain what He made them, and He does view with entire complacency His own moral image as seen in them. So that He cannot in the very nature of things love, in the same sense, creatures who are the very opposite in moral character, in whom that holy moral image is defaced and obliterated, and in whom that resemblance to Himself in goodness is awanting. And this is so by an inevitable moral law. For nO' being, neither man nor angel, nor God himself, can love approvingly, moral oppo sites. Of the moral opposites, holiness and sin, good and evil, the one of them, in whom- soever found, must alwaj's have been pleasing to God's moral nature, and the other must always have been revolt- ing to it. Good beings or evil, the one class or the other, must ever have been the objects of God's complacent love, and not them both. And so it was, for the love which is spoken of in our text is not the love of complacency, but the love of pity. It is not that love of comj^lacency and approval which God feels to those in whom He sees His- GOD'S LOVE—CIIRISrS ERRAXD. 31> own holy image reflected, and who compose the members of His own redeemed family. God's love, spoken of in the text, is that general love of pity, benevolence, and good-will which God cherishes towards all men as His rational creatures, as His human sons. A love, or good- will this, which forms the stable foundation ujDon which all God's manifested kindness to man rests — the perennial fountain from which all God's positive gifts to man flow forth. "God is Love." And our text aflirms "the universal and eternal existence of that love which God Himself is." It says that God loves the world. God did not, and could not approve of what man, the sinner, was, and had done. But though God did not approve of man's evil conduct, He pitied his lost condition. Though He did not delight in man, the sinner, as he was, He felt deep compassion for him, and desired with ardour his highest happiness. Let me illustrate this love of the Holy God for erring men by what exists in men to men, and in particular by a mother's love. I know that human feelings and human relationships are very imperfect aids when we try to rise, by means of them, up to what exists in the Divine Being. And yet " the things of a man " are real aids, and God-given aids to our conceptions of " the things of God "' We have no better. Human relationships are all Jacob's ladders. They are " set up on the earth," but " the top of " them reaches to Heaven. They begin in lowly places, but they end on high ; and they are used in the word of God and in our text as means of our rising to what is divine. For ^0 GOD'S LOVE—CnRISns ERRAXI). we can best understand what ''Son of God" and ''love of God" mean by looking at human sonshiii and human love as interpreters of them. And we find in the love of a pious mother for her profligate son such a real God-given aid to the right understanding of what God's love for the world was and is. For she, like God, often loves the persons of her very own, without approving of their character and -career. Can anyone suppose that a God-fearing, bible- reading, prayer-loving mother also loves the God-hating, the bible-despising, the prayer-neglecting, the sabbath- breaking, the profanity, and the immoralit}" of her god- less and abandoned son, because she still loves her son himself '? It is not so. Nay, she sympathizes in her whole mind and soul with God's violated and down- trodden authority, and powerfully pleads His righteous <'ause with that erring son. She is deeply grieved and shocked with his crimes, and loathes and hates them heartil}'. This godly mother cannot hear the Holy Name that she reverences above every other name, and which alone she adores, profaned by her godless son, and approve. She cannot listen while the truths which are the light of her mind an! the rejoicing of her heart become food for his mirth, and ridicule, and scorn. She cannot see in liim the traces of his intemperance and impurity witliout displeasure, and distress, and sometimes even agony of mind. But her entire disapproval of his profli- gate conduct, and p^rofane language has not, and never will extinguish her great love for him. No, she, his mother, loves him still, and she will never cease to love him, even when he is most degraded in character, and GOD'S LOVE—CURISrS ERRAND. 41 anost deeply depressed in circumstances. That lie is still lier son, and that she is still his mother, she never forgets. She cannot, and for love's sake she would not forget. And should her son be laid on a bed of sickness or death — even should his condition of health be clearly traceable directly to his own vices — she will 3'et tend him, on his sick bed, with all the loving care and tenderness with which she watched over his helpless, but innocent and hope-inspiring infancy. She will shed over him, in his lowest degradation, uncounted tears of love and sympathy, and will lavish upon him, in his deepest misery, even though deserved, all the rich, untold treasures of affection that are divinely lodged in the depths of a mother's nature. Nor does she desire his life to be spared and his ■recovery to health less because, being lost to all sense of duty, gratitude, and even shame, he may have heaped upon her venerable head a thousand indignities, and dis- honours, and cruel neglects, in place of that deep reverence and warm affection which are a mother's righteous ■due. And in any circumstances, in sickness or in health, he is interesting and even lovely in her eyes long after others have come to shun him with indifference or contempt. Nay, he cannot sink so low that she, with her eyes of love, does not see redeeming, and even hopeful features in his character. And so is it with God's love for the world. It also extends to the undeserving. Yes, the great Father of all feels for, pities, and loves the sinner, notwithstanding and despite of all his crimes. For it was not the deserving •only, but, our Lord says : It was the world that Grod loved. 42 OOD'S LOVE— CHRIST S ERRAND. And as the son's wretchedness, even though self-inflietecl and deserved, hardens not, but only pierces and softens the mother's heart : so our Father God's bowels of compassion are moved on behalf of foolish, blinded, miserable men, who are ruining themselves by sinning against Him. And He is heard crying in mingled pity, grief, and love : *' How shall I give thee up, Ephraim?" Or in the tenderly melting words of Christ : "0 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killeth the prophets, and stoneth them that are sent unto- her! How often would 1 have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not ?" It was thus that God loved the world ! His was a love- of pure compassion. His was a love that sorrowed over man's wretchedness, and longed to put an end to it. His- was a love that pitied man's degradation, and longed to' raise him from it. God, though he had been deeply dishonoured by the rebel and sinner, man, looked down upon him, not with the severely just eye of a condemning- judge, but with the pitying eye of a sorrowing Father. Yet there was on God's part no conniving at man's sin. There was no overlooking of man's guilt. Theie was no winking at man's rebellion. There was no relaxing of God's law to meet man's relaxed morality. God's pity for the sinner did not dim his clear discernment of the enormity of man's sin. God's love to man did not blind him to the moral wrong which man had done. God, who loved man, hated man's sin with a perfect hatred. God's love, with far more depth and tenderness in it than any human love, has yet nothing of that human weakness that often makes- GOD'S LOVE—CHRISrS ERRAND. 45- a wrong done by one whom we love, to one with whom we stand in no special relation, seem to us less of a wrong than it would seem if it were done by one in whom we felt little interest, to one in whom we felt much. For in Grod's love there is nothing of the weak partiality and sin- excusing spirit which human parents so often entertain towards the sins and crimes of their own children. Yet with more than all the purity from evil, and the impartiality of a just and righteous judge, there is combined in our Creator God the large and tender heart of a loving Father. So that He looked down upon a world of rebel sinners, not with hate and scorn and wrath. For pity, . and compassion, and love reigned supreme in his Fatherly bosom. And all of this love and pity that we see upon the earth comes from above. Thus felt the Heavenly Parent towards His unworthy children of the human family, or else earthly parents would never have known and shown such compassion as they do for their erring oifspring. It was the God of love, the Father of us all, who formed the parent's heart, and implanted in it its deep compassion for an erring child. And His own large heart of love, yearning for the happiness of the rational intelligent creatures, whom He has made, is the glorious original design from which the earthly parent's heart was drawn, and of which the parent's heart is but a faint copy, and 3'et a copy so far real and true. For earthly parents are so pitiful and long-suffering to their erring children only because God was, and is, so pitiful to His erring 44 GOD'S LOVE— CUEIST'S ERRAND. children. God made parents in this respect after His own image and in His likeness. And the love of parents to their children, is one of the few traces of that largely lost image which they retain tlie least obliterated. But earthly parents do not surpass our Father God in love and pity and long-sutf ering ! More than all a father's and a mother's loving tenderness joined in one towards erring children is His tenderness ! God only implanted in human parents a little of that love of which He has much. But how much, none but He Himself can measure and know. The large-hearted- ness of God our Heavenly Father, no one has a heart to perceive as it is, or a tongue to tell ! The ocean of God's love none can map out and fathom ; none can explore and describe. The sounding line that easily measures the deepest fountain of human affection, and soon reaches its bottom, when it is let into the ocean of divine love, finds at its utmost stretch no bottom, and the keenest, clearest eye of man can discern no shore. In that boundless, bottomless, shoreless ocean of divine love all God's unfallen and redeemed creatures may bathe themselves eternally, and leave depths never stirred : for God is infinite, and God is love. So that in order to fathom the love of God, we must fathom God Himself ; and in order to fathom God, we must fathom measureless infinity. Thus you see that we cannot measure the love of God, though we may know that its length, and breadth, and height and depth are boundless. rv. 'S LOVE— CHRIST'S ERRAND. SECOND SERMON, For God so lovetl the world, that He gave His ouly begotten son, that whosoever believeth ou Him should not peri&h, hut have eternal life." — John hi., 1G. WE have considered in the first discourse the state of mind that our text affirms of God. But it may he asked : How do vre know that God so loved the world that all human affection seems, and is in the comparison, contracted, cold, and selfish ? The answer is : that we know this from the words of Jesus in the text, but we also know it from His own and His Father's acts. For consider, II. — The practical manifestation into which God's love shaped itself : the gift of his son. •' For God so loved the world that " for its salvation He gave His only begotten son. Herein is the love of God to us, manifested. And this practical test is ever the true test and crucible of love. What can it do, and suffer, and give up for the sake of its object ? This tests love's equality and measures love's power. For love, in virtue of its very nature, ever seeks out-going 46 GOD'S LOVE—CIIRISrS ERRAND. and mauifestation. Love, wherever found, bears its own appropriate fruits. Tliis is true of the love of complacency and of the love oi pity both. The love of complacenc}'- is fruitful. The love of complacency in God is so. For His approving love diffuses its fragrance throughout the celestial mansions, and fills all Heaven with bliss. God loves all the inhabitants of Heaven approvingly, and His love makes all happy. And the love of complacenc}' in the creature towards ■ God makes suitable and admiring returns. Unfallen angels and redeemed men around the throne of God on high, because they are perfect in love, are free. There is no place so free as Heaven. There are no fetters forged to bind the inhabitants of Heaven to God's throne, and to keep them in allegiance to it. Those blessed ones may go wherever they please, and may become whatever they choose. There is no external constraint put upon them. It is love, and love alone that binds the inhabitants of Heaven to God's throne. B ut drawn by divine love, they are secured to the service of God by the strongest of all ties. There is perfect freedom in Heaven, and may safely be where there is perfect love. For it is love that binds the moral universe together. And the love of complacency in holy beings towards each other is fruitful. Love in Heaven is perfect, and therefore bliss knows no alloy. In like manner the love of 2^ity is also fruitful. In fallen man even it is so. It is the love of pity that feeds the hungry, that clothes the naked, that houses the homeless, that instructs the ignorant, that elevates the •degraded. GOB'S ZOrJS— CUBIST'S ERRAND. 47 It was the love of XDity that raised the infant Moses from ihe Nile. For when the young and hel^iless Hebrew babe wept, Pharaoh's daughter, with a kind and womanly heart, had comx^assion on him, and drew him out of the -water. So David loved and x:)itied his son, but was far from apjDroving of his conduct, at the time when he •exclaimed in an agony of grief : ''0 my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom I would God I had died for thee ; O Absalom my son, my son." But far more fruitful is God's love of pity than man's. ISIark how this love was disx)layed in Christ's human nature. He, the Son of Man, felt for all human woe ; His human sympathies brought sighs from His bosom and tears from His eyes at the grave of His '' friend " Lazarus. Here Jesus wept with them that were weeping. And He wept tears of pity as well as spoke words of pity over :guilty and judgment-doomed Jerusalem. But I dwell not on any other instances of God's love of pity than the cne which our text brings before us, namely, the gift of His Son. This proof of God's self-sacrificing love rises up, and stands quite alone in single Alpine grandeur. Let us a];)^)^^ o^^' practical test already spoken of to the love which is here displayed, and ask: ''How •did God love the world ? L"p to what practical manifesta- tion did He love it ? "What could His love do, and give up, and suffer for the world ?" And we find upon examina- tion that God's love nobly stands every test. For the triumphant answer to our question is : " God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son " to die for its salvation. We know that parental affection is almost 48 GOD'S LOVE—ClIRISrS ERRAND. unfailing. We know tliat it is the most uniformly strongs and the most largely instinctive of all love by what parents in general can do, and suffer, and give up for their children. And our Heavenly Father God, who is the best of Fathers, to help us to see and know in some degree the strength of His love for man, tells us that He, a Father, gave up His Son, His only begotten Son for man. God not only gave up something dear to Him, some one- dear to Him ; but He gave up for man that one object for whom the parents would give up all other objects. He gave up even His Son, the dearest object of His affection. *'God so loved the world that He gave" up for its salvation what He had most valuable to give. For the- son is the Father's most valued possession. And less the terms here employed cannot be meant to teach us than this : That when the omniscient eye of the omnipresent God embraced all space, which is bounded only in Himself, and scanned that eternity, past and future, which is His own life time : and when it comprehended in its view all existence, past, present, and future, it did not rest upon another object so valued by God, so dear to Him as this one. His son Christ Jesus. All this is meant by the words of the text. For care is taken to mark Jesus- out as God's only begotten son, to show that the universe does not contain another being whom God puts upon an equality with Christ. And this is much to say. For none can number all God's creatures or estimate their worth, but He who made them all. GOD'S LOVE—CHBISrS ERRAND. 49. But because this is no created being whom God gives up for man, therefore no creature can compare with him. '' For God put all things in subjection under His feet."" Nay, we read, ' ' Christ '" ^' who is over all, God blessed for ever." He, and He alone, is in the highest sense the Son of God. As Creator, God the universal Father has many sons and daughters ; but he has only one son of equal nature. In this sense Jesus Christ is God's only begotten. Son. If you would behold the love of God to man think of the worth of that Son whom God so freely gave up for man ! Christ's worth and dignity, and rank stood so high that when the Father '* bringeth in the first born into the- world He saith : And let all the angels of God worship Him." And again He saith, "Thy throne, God, is for ever and ever. And the sceptre of uprightness is the sceptre of Thy kingdom." Now, God is not only a God of righteousness, and can do no wrong to any, but He greatly delights to honour and reward worth in all. And we may well ask, ' What honour, what favour, what dignity, what reward did Chri&t not deserve from God and man ? ' Rejection, shame, suffering, and death were not the due rewards of such noble deeds as His. Even a condemned malefactor could clearly see this, and say to his guilty companion in crime, of their own condemnation and of Christ's : ''And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds ; but this man hath done nothing amiss." How, then, did the just God give His Son Jesus up to so great shame and suffering? **God so loved the world 50 GOD'S LOVE—CHRISrS ERRAND. that He " did it. Jesus thus suffered, brethren, only be- cause God's love to the world could not find another fit object whose willing sufferings could effect its benevolent purpose. But why Grod would rather give up His own Son to all that He suffered for man than abandon this. His great purpose of love, I cannot explain. Jesus does not try to explain this mystery of divine goodness, but only affirms the fact. The reason of this self-sacrifice lies deep down in the heart of God. '' God so loved the world that He " did it, and love is its own reason. And it is noblest in the noblest. "We cannot get beyond love for an explana- tion of love to anything lying deej^er. It is just the nature of love to be self-sacrificing. That is all that we can say of this divine thing. It will not be further questioned, and give reasons lying outside itself, for its self-sacrifice. And thus love can only be understood by a kindred spirit. Only love interprets love. Hence, " he that loveth not, knoweth not God ; for God is love." Behold the love of God to man, yet again, as you think of the great love that must have subsisted, and does subsist, between the Father and the Son ! Jesus was, and is, God's beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. This means much. For none can inter-penetrate and unfold their pure and holy inter-communings together. None can enter fully into such sacred sympathies as theirs. None can conceive how hallowed, and holy their intercourse — as the Son lay in the bosom of the Father from eternity — must have been ! How weak and imperfect are our strongest attachments compared with the love of this Father and Son ! How selfish, suspicious^ and distant are GOD'S LOVE— CHRIST'S ERRAND. 51 our closest unions in comparison with this holiest of holy atfections ! The bonds of which I speak were so close, and the union was so strong, that Christ says : ''I and the Father are one." They are two persons, but only one •God, and in sj^mpathy as in nature, one. How, then, I ask once more, could God the Father give up to suffering and death a Son so beloved ? Only God's great love to man can explain the wondrous fact. The great dignity of man's nature, admitted to its fullest extent, -cannot half explain why Jesus the Son of God died for us. The full reason of this unspeakable gift is to be found a,lone in God Himself, who is love. '' God so loved the world, that He gave " up His Son for its salvation. If it had not been for this, God's so great love to man, He would, He must have spared His own Son. But God's love for man was too strong for any reserve in its flowing forth to save him. The ocean of God's love — now when the fulness of the times had come — no ancient tide-mark could restrain. That love swept away every barrier which kept it from joining together in abiding union, Heaven and Earth. God's Son, even His only begotten Sou, was not spared, but freely given up for sinners. And to what did God give His Son up, let us ask ? First God gave Christ up to the ordinary weaknesses and sinless infirmities of our humanity. God gave Him up to become a man, a real man. "For indeed we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened." Yet we have had no experience of a higher, and more etherial state of existence. H we had once known a higher and happier state, doubtless we should now groan more heavily, and 52 GOD'S LOVE—CHRISrS ERRAND. feel our "burden of clay to be yet more burdensome. How much harder in some respects would it be for Moses, and. Job, and Daniel, and Paul, and all the martyrs of all ages, to descend from the bliss of Heaven to the sorrows of Earth, and to suffer now again what they suffered once before ? Do we not say, through our tears and in our loneliness, and rightly saj' : * That we would not, even if the power were given us, bring our loved ones back from glory to repeat the sufferings of earth ? ' ' We would go to them rather than bring them back to us.' And yet Heaven, that higher and more etherial state of existence, was Christ's native home. All its joys and honours were His by nature and by right. And still God gave Him up to share our weak and suffering humanity. God gave Him up to what is, at its best, but an imperfect and burdened condition, from which the renewed spirit often longs to be free, and earnestly desires '' to be clothed upon with our habitation which is from Heaven," '' a building from God, a house not made with hands eternal in the Heavens." Think of Jesus Christ, the mighty God, enduring childhood's feebleness, just as we have all done. Think of Him, the wisdom of God, condescending to be subject to the sometimes wise, sometimes foolish, commands of Joseph and Marj-. Think of Him, the maker of the world, working with His human hands as a carpenter ! Think of Him '' that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, '^ and before whom " the inhabitants thereof are as grass- hoppers — that stretcheth out the Heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in " — wandering GOD'S L0VE—CERIS2'S ERRAND. 53 over tlie land of Palestine, weary and footsore, as an itinerant teacher and preacher ! Think of Him, who is the Bread of Life, and upholdeth '' all things by the word of His power," hungering and thirsting, and being wearied ! Think of Him who has gone to Heaven to prepare man- sions of glory for all His people, oftentimes on earth not having "where to lay His head ! " Well, God the Father . gave His well -beloved Son up to all this for man. But still further, Christ's lot was not the ordinary lot of humanity. It was not even the ordinary lot of the labouring poor ; but one of special suffering and reproach. Christ's life was no average human career. He was ' ^ a Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief." He says : *' I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair : I hid not my face from shame and spitting." '' He was despised and rejected of men." "Wherever He went His real followers were but few, and His open or secret enemies were many. But these were not all, or the worst of Chi-ist's many sorrows. He had come to do the Father's will, not man's ; and the rejection and persecution of men He could lightly esteem. But Jesus bore on earth heavier sorrows than man's hand laid on him. For to deepen his sorrows far more than any hand of man could do, the heavy hand of the righteous law-giver and judge of the universe was laid upon him, the sacrifice for the sin of man. Penetrate and -solve, if you can, the deep mystery of that dread conflict which Jesus endured in the Garden of Gethsemane. See the Son of God with no hand of man laid upon him, ;-^uffering no disease of body, in the prime of life, and 54 GOB'S LOVF— CUBIST S ERRAND. feeling no remorse within, and yet He saj^s, '' My soul is- exceeding sorrowful even unto death." Whence comes His^ great sorrow ? He is in a great agony, and as it deepens- He prays the more earnestly to His Father, asking ^ that if it be possible the cup may pass from Him.' And that agony of soul becomes so intense, that, though it is now the cool of night, and Jesus is in the open air, His temples- are suffused with a profuse perspiration, and the great drops are seen falling down to the ground. But when we- draw nearer, and look more narrowly on the sacred sufferer^ the greatness of His agony becomes jet more manifest. For the moisture that oozes through His hair, dies His- throbbing temples, and falls to the ground in large drops, is sweat, mingled with His own most precious blood. History records a very few instances only, of human agony having risen to this intensity of sweating blood as Jesus did. Yet G-od freely gave up His only begotten and well -beloved Son to such agony on our account. ' ' Grod so loved the world." But, again, God gave up His Son to a propitiatory death. Jesus left the garden of His agony only for the mockery of a judicial trial, and for the cross. Our world was then, to an uncommon degree, reeling in crime, and groaning in blood. It much needed a saviour. Every man from Adam, all down the ages to Christ, had been a sinner. But a break in the wearisome succession has taken place. Jesus, the first immaculate child, had at length been born into the world, had grown up a sinless man, and had lived a sinless life. But the privileged nation in which God had long placed His own word, the nation which God. GOD'S LOVE—CHRISrS ERRAND. 55 had put in training for ages, to know and receive His own Messiah at His coming, now rose up, and leagued itself with God's avowed enemies, both with militant heathendom and with hell, to banish incarnate goodness from the earth. And hence, by the joint efforts of men and of devils, the only spotlessly pure and sinless man, upon whom the sun had shone for four thousand years, was now condemned to death, and crucified in the sacred names of law and justice ! ''0 justice, what terrible crimes have been done in thy sacred name ? " And this is the worst of all such crimes before or since. Jesus condemned by men, and left in their power by God, was led forth to crucifixion, and nailed upon the cross between two robbers. He said to His enemies, "This is your hour and the power of darkness " But a still deeper draught of sorrow must be drunk before Jesus could say in triumph, " It is finished." For upon Him, although God calls him ''my Shepherd" and " my Fellow," awoke the sword of the eternal Father. And this extorted from the hitherto uncomplaining and silent sufferer the melancholy and agonized cry, ' ' My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? " iis if Jesus had said : ^' I have been all through my life on earth despised and rejected of men. And now in the hour of my greatest trial, even my few hitherto steady and loving disciples have all forsaken me, and fled. One has betrayed me, and another has denied me. At all this I wonder not. For all this I am prepared," But, " My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me ? " It was that hiding of His Father's face from Him that was the source and essence of Christ's extremest agony. 56 GOD'S LOVE— CHRIST'S ERRAND. See, my hearers, God's only begotten and well-beloved Son a spectacle, and a sufferer upon the Cross of Calvary, that would make any father and mother here shudder to think of seeing any child of theirs become. See the Holy Jesus dying a criminal's death at the hand of law, like one not worthy to live ! What does this mean? Our text explains the unparalleled fact. '' Grod eo loved the world," that He made Christ's pure and spot- less soul an offering for sin, though He had done *' no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth." And now, my fellow sinner, what think you of this love of God, and of the gift which is its richest fruit ? I would fain fire your soul with a glowing admiration of God's great love, and fill it with holy gratitude for the priceless ^ift of His Son. I gladly confess, and solemnly protest to you, that I have found nothing anywhere so wonderful and so noteworthy as this fact — that Jesus died to save sinners ; and that though I had years in which to address you instead of this one hour, I have nothing else to relate of equal importance or of equal interest either to myself, or you, as this wonderful Story of the Cross. The love of God displayed in the gift of His Son is the gospel which I both rejoice to believe and to preach. The only begotten Son of God dying for sinners, for love's sake, seems to me the most wonderful and the most glorious fact of which it is possible to know or conceive. Ask human history for another fact like this, and equal to this; and history, looking abashed, meekly owns ''It is not in me." Ask the inventive human mind for a fiction GOD'S LOV£—CRRISrS EBB AND. 57 ■jto match this fact ; and the fertile brain also confesses : •Such an imagination *' is not in me." The Cross of Christ stands quite alone on the horizon of humanity, a matchless celestial phenomenon, towering in glorious, solitary grandeur above fact and fiction both. '' And, without controversy, great is the mystery of godli- ness; He who was manifested in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached among the nations, be- lieved on in the world, received up in glory." Well, this manifested one, '' suffered for sins once, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God." *' The breadth and length, and height and depth," of the divine Jove that is here displayed pass knowledge. Holy angels and redeemed men ever desire to look more and more •deeply into this love. But it will require the unending length of an eternal day, and the perfect light of the, divine presence in Heaven, after ''this corruptible shall have put on incorrution, and this mortal shall have put on immortality," fully to master this study of studies, and theme of themes. But do you ask ' what worthy end this unparalleled gift of God serves ? ' And the question is a reasonable one. Well, our third head of discourse treats of this, the why .and the wherefore of the gift. III. — The gracious purpose or end that God had in view by His bestowment of this unspeakable gift on man, .Jesus tells us, was '* that whosoever believeth on Him. should not perish, but have eternal life." This is a glorious, as well as a gracious purpose. Facts, the doing of God, so unparalleled as the incarnation and the death 58 GOD'S LOVE— CHRIST'S ERRAND. of Christ, must have had some worthy end in view ; and' these had. For we learn here that fallen man's state by nature is- a state of condemnation ; is a state in which, if he remain, he must perish. ''The soul that sinneth, it shall die." " And so death passed unto all men, for that all sinned." "Cursed is every one which continueth not in all things that are written in the Book of the Law to do them." And that curse rests on mankind. So that if God had not sent His Son into the world to die for sinners, we, and all mankind, must have perished, because we have not continued perfectly in anything, much less in all things that are written in the book of the law to do them. We have all deserved to perish as breakers of Grod's holy law. Have we ever seriously thought, and all of us, what this means ? What is it for a sinner to perish ? This cannot be fully conceived of by us, and I will not attempt to describe so much even as I can conceive. To perish, however, may not mean to cease to exist, but to be deprived of eternal life. To perish may be for one to exist, and yet feel existence to be his greatest curse. In the Bible, goodness, in union with happiness, often means life ; and sinfulness, in union with misery, often means death. To perish may not be the being annihilated, but the enduring of great misery. And that misery flows in upon the lost in a twofold stream whose one origin is sin. The sinner's misery arises first from his own character, from what he is in himself. Being bad, he must be miserable, and the worse that he grows, the more un- happy he becomes. And, secondly, his misery also arises GOD'S LOVE—CHEISrS FBRAND, 5^ from God's treatment of him. We must glance at both- these elements of misery in the lost. To perish, is first for the fever of unholy desire and passion to grow up to the madness of entire God-hating ; and that state, when reached, is of itself misery and torture unutterable. For sin loved and cherished in the soul naturally tends to putrify and destroy its every source of enjo}Tnent. And the presence of sin, loved and un- repented of, also banishes the vivifying, purifying presence of God, leaving the sinner to perish hour by hour of the misery of his own moral loathsomeness. And with God ever awanting to the soul there must be growing misery. *' For lo, they that are far from Him shall perish." Alienation and separation from God are the death of the soul. For He is its life, and light, and joy. Oh, the untold and unsupportable jjain and weariness of a whole existence of dreary ungodliness in that region where no smile of God shall ever come ! How shall the sensitive soul of man, made to live in God's love, sustain this ? Such an existence must be to the soul, ever thirsting for wells of joy, an infinite desert of parched, leafless, burning sand. For the unholy soul, unblessed of God, will be a hell to itself. There ' ' their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." But all the lost sinner's misery will not be from within. Heaven and Hell are places as well as states. They are respectively the palace and the prison of the moral universe. And need you wonder that the monarch of all worlds has not fitted up and prepared the prison that He has uiade for the wilful and persistent enemies of 60 GOD'S LOVE— CHRIST S ERRAND, His throne and government, in the same manner as He has prepared and adorned the endless home of His own beloved family, both angelic and human ? No, brethren, both places have been prepared for their respective inhabitants. The one place has been prei)ared to show the riches of God's glorious giace, the munificence of His unspeakable love towards them that believe on Jesus. And the other is a place that has been ' ' prepared for the devil and his angels," to show the power of Grod's wrath towards His wilful enemies, the dreadf illness of His injured goodness, ''the wrath of the Lamb!" These abodes have been prepared, the one to manifest how wise and safe and right it is to fear Grod and serve Him. And the other to show how unspeakably foolish and wrong it is to reject Christ, to live in sin, and to have God and our own consciences for our enemies. Where this glorious Heaven is, I cannot tell you. But this I can safety say : That the place in the universe of God which is best fitted to promote the well-being and •enjoyment of its residents, and is most richly stored with proofs of the divine wisdom, love, and goodness : that place, wherever found, must be Heaven. And that region which is least of all blessed with tokens of God's goodness and benevolence, and most of all darkened with manifes- tations of his just displeasure : that place, wherever found, must be Hell. Now, it was to raise sinful men from that fathomless .-gulf into which they were sinking by their sin, and to elevate them to that unspeakable glory amid which God dwells, that Christ came into the world. GOD'S LOVE—CIIRISrS ERRAND. 61 And we have here set before us the present state of all gospel hearers as produced by the incarnation and atone- ment of Christ. It is not now what men's state would have been but for Christ, one in which they must have perished. Nor is it, as a matter of course, a saved state. But Christ's completed atonement puts sinners into a salvable state. For the work of Christ is not a special remedy made for persons, but a general remedy provided for man. The work of Christ itself does not define who shall be saved , but it opens up the way for the return of all who are willing to come unto God by Him. It is not the work of Christ, but it is the work of the Holy Spirit which is special and seals believers unto the day of redemption. But Christ's work has been long finished, and yet many have heard of it, and of its being a finished work, and, after all, have perished ; and we may. That you and I shall never perish, my hearers, is not an infallible sequence, from the glorious fact that Christ has died to save sinners. But the condition is, that whosoever believeth on Jesus shall be saved. Actual personal benefit from the great general remedy comes to each one to whom it is offered only through a personal reception of the saving truth of Christ, which act of faith is our own act. Christ's work has left for us all an open way of return to God ; but along that way we must each personally walk, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, in order to obtain the provided salvation of God. Do 3'ou ask, * how sinners pass from an unsaved but salvable state into a saved state ; or, in other words, how 62 GOD'S LOVE—CHRISrS ERRAXD. dinners pass from a state of nature into a state of grace?' By faitli, I answer, by soul sympathy, or trust in Christ. For Christ died that whosoever believes — i.e., whosoever puts himself into the divinely appointed position of mind towards God's Son — the divinely provided remedy — should not perish, but have eternal life. He that believes on Jesus receives the unspeakable boon, salvation, eternal life. All believers on Jesus are saved, and all unbelievers perish. Thus you see that the soul-act, the mind-act of faith on Jesus, is the turning-point in our personal salvation. And faith, as we have seen, .is in its actual exercise our own act ; but in its moral prerequisites faith is the gift of God, and to be had for the asking. It is a fruit of the Spirit. But you ask again, '' What is the saving truth of Christ that is revealed to our faith, and in what way does it be- come saving to us ? " The saving truth that is offered to our faith in the text, and in all scripture, is Christ ; is '' the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world ; " is '' that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners ; " is that God so loved the world as to send Him for this purpose of grace. And the way by which this message of God's love be- comes saving truth to the individual sinner is, as we have seen, through faith. It is His own faith that forms the meeting-point, the act of saving contact between the be- lieving sinner and the reconciled, forgiving God. There is no wrath on God's part to remove by something that we can do. He is reconciled to sinners. He is the sinner's friend. His gift of Christ proves this. And GOB'S LOVE— CHRIST'S ERRAND. 63 the work of Christ on earth completed the salvation of man in so far as that salvation is without, not within, the sinner. But our personal salvation is also the reno- vation of our moral nature by the action of God's love as seen in Christ. And that salvation cannot begin within a man until his mind lays hold of the glorious facts without him relating to Christ, that become his salvation. The saving object held up to our faith is ^' Grod in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself." Not something for us to do for salvation, but something for us to believe and accept, and rest on as done, Christ's own finished and God-accepted work. For the man who takes God at His own word in this matter, who honestly and cordially believes that God speaks the truth when He saj^s that He '' was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself," and that the man addressed is the sinner who needs the blood of reconciliation, that man shall not perish. And the reason is a good reason. For if any man really believes that Ood means such a free salvation for him, and that he needs this very salvation, he must, he surely will, entreat . and remove all men's burdens. But men of the world have never agreed on what this unfound good is, much less- have they found it. '^ Man}- there be that say : Who will show us any good?" This is still the eager cry of the world. For men, as men have been, and still are, bur- dened and toil-worn. And are often ready to cry out : ''Vanity of vanities, all is vanity. What profit hath a man of all his labour, wherein he laboureth under the sun?" Scripture testimony is explicit to the same eftect as- general history. The alienated from God are not happy.. F 82 THE GREAT BURDEN-BEARER. '^ The wicked are like the troubled sea, for it cannot rest.'* '' There is no peace, saith My Grod, to the wicked." ^' Man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fl}' upward." '' Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble." ^' The wicked travaileth with pain all his days." Having thus spoken of the testimony of history and of Scripture as sources of evidence of man's burdened condition, I would direct your attention to another source of evidence, our own consciousness, that I may, if possible, rivet 3^our attention the more closely upon the investiga- tion, and that we may each for ourselves conduct it the more personally. Have you, my hearers, not discovered anything in your- selves to confirm the testimony of history and of Scripture, that you are burdened and heavy laden sinners ? If 3'ou have no humbling conviction of alienation from God as your sin, as something that you ought to be sorry for : yet do you meet with none of its effects as a curse and plague, and a destruction of your peace of mind? If you plead innocence of the crime of rebellion against God, whence come its effects ? AVheuce comes the brand of un- hapx^iness with which j'ou are stamped ? How has the God-given fountain of joy, with which He alwa3^s accom- panies existence, become dried up within you '? If you are not sinners, how are yow sufferers ? If you are not sufferers, then j^ou must be like all the other creatures of God, completely happy. Look around you, and even downward upon the inferior animals, and you will perceive every creature to be all that it wishes to be, THE GREAT BURDEN-BEARER. 83 and enjoying itself to its utmost desire, unless when the cruelty of man, or of some fellow, mars its enjoyments. And where is the natural man who can honestly and rtruthf ally say this of himself ? You, my unconverted hearers, are not satisfied to the full with your enjoyments. Is it not so ? Hence your strange unsettledness of mind, your endless craving after something which you have never yet found. Something which change of place, and of circumstances, and of pursuits lias often promised 3'ou : but the promise you found to be a niockery, and the pursuit onlj vanity. There is a deep- -seated disease within the soul of man for which no clime of earth grows a cure. Its only balm is in the celestial -Gilead, and its sole phj'sician of value, is there in the Canaan above. "We all need the rest and healing of my .text ; the rest and healing of the soul that come only, irom Christ. What say you to man's state ? How are we thus by nature ? Has God made us, the crown of this lower crea- tion, to be miserable, and all His other creatures to be happy ? AVe dare not entertain the ungenerous thought. >God made all His creatures happ}', and fitted for remain- ing so. Does it follow, from our high elevation above the brute creation, that we must be miserable ? Is it no precious gift, but rather a curse, to be endowed with the high pre- rogatives of conscience, reason, and immortality ? Such suppositions would be greatly derogatory to the character and power of Grod. For they would contain the .assumption that He, the great Creator, in making man. 84 THE GREAT BURDEN-BEARER. had made a being with necessities for his happinesS' greater than the power and bounty of God coiikl supply ; and who is miserable, therefore, not from himself, but because God is too poor to fill him with real joy. No ! this thought is monstrous, and degrading to God. The real explanation of man's condition cannot be found in such a view of his relations to God. For God is infinite in power and in goodness. And since He is so, ''in His- jjresence is fulness of joy ; in His right hand there are pleasures for evermore." Every creature that remains as God made it is not only '' very good," but happy. It is so throughout creation, from the insects that sport their short day in the sun, to the mighty, everlasting arch-angels before God's throne, "His ministers that do His pleasure." In truth, the cause of our misery is in ourselves, not in God. AVe have fallen from our first estate. AYe are sinners, and therefore burdened with a load of guilt on the conscience. For God has linked sin and suffering together in eternal and indissoluble union. This is why man is burdened and heavy laden. The moral laws of God are immutable, and their penalties cannot be avoided. Is not this your experience, unpardoned sinner, if I speak to one ? Does not your sin bring with it suffering ? AVhy can you not enjoy 3-ourself as fully in the ways of the world and of sin as you could wish, and at the same time feel and realize the claims of the divine law which you have broken, and meet the all-seeing gaze of the holy,. and sin-hating God, whom you have justly offended? THE GREAT BrUBEK-BEARER. 85 The world with all its delights is now before you. You Christ." That is an immediate rest, and comes from, without us. THE GREA T B URBEN-BEARER. 1 03 The second element in this rest is described thus : '* But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long- suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, temperance." As such holy dispositions rule the heart and life, there is an ennobling rest springs up within the heart and fills the life. And the last constituent of this rest is spoken of thus : " There remaineth, therefore, a Sabbath rest for the people of God," namely, the rest of Heaven. And in further speaking of the matter of the promise, which is in one word, rest, I would speak of it as including the three elements already mentioned. First, the immediate removal of guilt from the conscience : that is, rest. We have already spoken of this felt sense of guilt as forming a large part of the unforgiven sinner's burden. The sentence of condemnation has been passed upon him as a transgressor of the divine law. " The soul that sinneth, it shall die," is the sentence. And so long as a clean thing cannot be brought out of an unclean, so long the sinner can never make himself deserving of a better sentence from tne lips of law. And so long as desert in himself, or from another, is awanting^ so long will the just sentence of his condemnation stand unrevoked. For Grod " is in one mind, and who can turn Him?" And His law expresses His mind about sin. The sentence of '' eternal destruction from the face of the Lord " hangs over every unbelieving sinner, and its exe- cution only waits the individual sinner's brief span of life. But on the sinner's coming to Christ, who has 'magnified the law and made it honourable,' the sentence of condem- nation is removed ; or rather, the sinner so coming to 104 THE GREAT BURDEN-BEARER. Jesus, now ceases to be an implicated party in the sentence. The sentence of condemnation stands unrevoked as before against all whom it may concern ; but " there is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus." And the believer being in Christ Jesus, has peace with God, because threatenings addressed to unbelieving sinners do not refer to him in his new relation to Grod, and to His law. In the eje of God, he who has come to Jesus is not now a law-breaker, but he is part of the body of Christ the great observer and vindicator of lau'. The new relation that I have just spoken of is the transference of the complacency which God has in Christ, the sinner's surety, to the believing sinner himself ; and tlius begins peace with God, " the peace of God that passeth all understand- ing," the rest promised in our text. This new relationship to God commences with each one when the sinner takes home God's charge against him: ''Thou art the man," who hast sinned against Me, and art perishing ; and when he, stripped of every creature refuge, and of every creature hope, commits himself to the gospel to stand or fall with the truth of God's promise of pardon through Christ. It is then that He enters into rest. The man who, believing himself to be the sinner that God says he is, at the same time gives a real credence to God's true testimony, that His Son Christ Jesus has made a full atonement for sin, and that God Himself, the law-giver and judge, is satisfied with and honoured in that atonement, so that he the believing sinner may go free, enters into rest. The man who believes this has an immediate and blessed rest from THE GREAT BURBEN-BEARER. 105 i;lie alarms of conscious guilt. But such rest is found nowhere else. For it is Christ aloue that gives rest to the soul. Secondly : But the promise of Christ also includes, as I have already said, deliverance from the power of sin. That is rest, too. The seat of the sinner's disease is in the heart, and there the cure is applied. To change his position in the eye of the law, though a great step towards what follows, would of itself be but a small matter. The promise of Christ is rest. But to the wicked there is no rest, there is no peace within. Rest must not alone come ■from without man, the sinner, but must also be wrought within him. Man could not have been saved from sin, without a .great salvation being wrought without him. But he can- not even now be saved, without a great salvation being wrought within him. For it is within that the root of the sinner's misery is. It is there that wild confusion and anarchy reign. It is there that treason against the King •of Heaven is nursed. And it is there, too, that the gospel, whose effects are ''righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost," begins to operate. And it is there that the work continues to progress. It is in the heart, so far as the origin of anything good is human, that all the graces are moulded, coined, and stamped, that adorn the Christian character, and prove its vitality. Religion, where the heart is awanting, is but an empty and hollow form, that can fill the place of a real living heart-religion no better than a dead body can fill the place and perform the duties of a living man. And thus 106 THE GREAT BURBEN'BEARER. true rest to man is found in his soul, not in hi* circumstances. The spiritual change which is wrought in the believing^ sinner, does not consist of mere negatives. There was in some natural men positive hatred entertained towards- God formerly, and now there is positive love ; in others there was distrust : now admiration and gratitude rule. The believing sinner has become, in the fullest sense, a son of God ; and the relationship produces its own appro- priate feelings. To be a son of God, and an heir of glory, is not merely a new state into which the sinner has come- in the eye of the law — although it is also that — but it includes a new character and life. For the very thought that he, the forgiven one, occupies such an honourable, but undeserved, position, becomes a purifying furnace in the soul of the man, that begins to consume the dross of sin as soon as it has an existence in the mind. All this change of heart and life is wrought by faith in Jesus. Faith purifieth the heart, and overcometh the world. Nor do we find in this connection between faith in Christ and holiness of heart and life any insoluble^ mystery. There is here in faith no arbitrary, nor hidden, nor mysterious principle at work. So that we cannot under- stand nor see, in a measure, how such effects should flow from it. Faith is a simple act of the mind. There is no- unusual mystery about it. Not in the act of faith, but in the wonderful object of gospel faith, our Lord Himself,- does the mighty transforming power of the gospel reside. For gospel faith lays hold on Christ crucified, and there- THE GREAT BTTBDEN-BEAREB. lOT is in Him ''lifted up," the proper object of faith, trans- forming cause sufficient to account for all the change that any human character ever underwent. To avoid technical, theological terms, and to employ the language of the home, and the heart : When fear, and hate, and suspicion of Grod have been removed from the heart, and we begin to breathe the air of liberty, of love, and of trust ; it is impossible but that the influence of the new state should be to repress and crush all the fiercer and baser qualities of humanity', and to strengthen and develop all the finer and gentler, purer and nobler prin- ciples and affections of man's whole nature. A reconciliation between loving friends who have differed, and been separated, but are agaio united, when it is genuine and complete, has a most joy-diffusing, healthful, and mellow- ing influence on the character. How much more * peace and reconciliation with Grod, through our Lord .Jesus Christ.' The understanding of the pardoned sinner finds rest in the knowledge of Grod ; his affections find rest in Grod's love ; and his whole being finds its rest in looking upon God in Christ with admiring complacency. I spoke formerly of the sinner as oftentimes labouring under the burden of an oppressive ceremonialism, engaging in religious services which he yet feels to be no joy, but a burden, to him. But faith in Jesus sets us free from a burdensome ceremonialism, and makes all the services of religion sweet and pleasant. By the believer on Jesus, these services are no longer looked upon as the means of wringing from an unloved but dreaded being a future salvation ; but they are the willing expressions- a08 TRE GREAT BURDEX-BEARER. .of his gratitude and love towards a loving Father who has already saved him. They who come to Jesus feel .like the Indian devotee, with his self-inflicted tortures. For when he heard the missionary under a tree proclaim- ing that ' the blood of Jesus cleanseth from all sin,' he at once felt, and said: ''That is what I need." He ceased his penances, and found rest in Christ. And so do all who come to Him. But Christ gives rest from the manifold burdens of life . already spoken of, which are all the effects of sin, such as disease, loss, disappointment, and all that causes sorrow. Although it is not the main design of Christ's coming into the world to remove these secondary burdens from men, yet He does lighten all kinds of burdens to those who come to Him, and He removes many burdens altogether. For true religion goes to mitigate, or to remove, all the ills of life. As an example, much human suffering arises from the - conduct of man to man ; from the ignorance, and selfish- ness, and cruelty, and want of love existing among men. And as Christ and Christianity are ever warring against all these evils in human character, so, just as ' Christ comes to bear a wider and fuller sway over men, do the same men come to lighten the burdens that they impose on their fellow-men. And thus it is Christ, who . does really what those who are influenced and inspired by His spirit do. Again, as the Christian sees all his burdens to be • ordered for him by a God of love, and believes them all to .be working for his good, he feels them to be light. THE GREAT BUBDEN-BEABEB. 10-^^ And this spirit in relation to Grod's dealings, Christ teaches. The man of the world knows it not. And, again, the Christian's burdens become light as He obtains the aid of the Almighty in bearing them, and also as He sees them by faith to be but ' ' light afflictions, and for a moment." Forget not, my hearers, the c^uarter from svhich the promise of our text emanates. It is Christ who says: ''I will give you rest." This rest is the result of His .redemptive work. It comes through His peaces- speaking blood. " He is the one mediator between God and man." And he may well so speak, when God's entire satisfaction in His character and work found, among many other striking manifestations, audible expression for itself by a voice from the excellent glory : '' This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." When the divine Eedeemer gives rest to the soul of man, there is- no- object in existence that can produce unrest and fear.. And that rest Jesus here promises to all who come to- Him. *' God is not a man, that He should lie; neither' the- Son of Man that He should repent. Hath he said, andi shall He not do it ? Or hath He spoken, and shall HJe not make it good ? " Thirdly : But the promise of our text, as already said,. includes not only a present rest from the guilt and power of sin, but also a prospective and complete rest in Heaven.. The sinner who comes to Christ is at once united to Him, as the living branches are united to the vine : and thus he becomes conformed to Christ in his sufferings, in his- death, and in his glory. aiO THE GREAT BUBDEN-BEAREB. We see even now the Christian's conformity to Christ in his sufferings, and we know that because He lives they shall live also. We know that those who take up the •Cross and follow Christ shall, without fail, obtain the crown. Notice in few words the complete fulfilment of the promise of our text in the final and perfect rest of Heaven, The yoke of humanity is sin, and also sorrow, which is the fruit of sin. In Heaven there is no sin, and there is no sorrow. Nay, there is the very opposite. There is perfect holiness and an ever-growing excellence. And hence there is joy, positive and perfect joy. 'There is fulness of joy, and there are pleasures for evermore.' Who of us, then, will be so foolish as not to listen to Christ's invitation; as not io come to Christ ? Let no one fail to come to Him. Come all, come now ; come dail3\ And final perfect eternal rest is sure to us. The promise of Christ must include this ^prospective and perfect rest in Heaven. First, because of the imperfection of the rest which even the true Christian now enjoys. The history of Christ's Church has been generally a record of visible struggle and suffering, povert}^ and privation ; it has been rarely a record of external peace and outward prosperity. And in such circumstances Christians have felt and said : '^ If in this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all men most pitiable." And yet Christ has never taken His people by surprise in this matter. This state of earthly THE GREAT BURDEN-BEARER. 11! ■suffering they ought not to look upon as a '* strange thing." For it is what He gives them all to expect in measure. Here are the terms of our enlistment into Christ's service. '' These things have I spoken unto you, that in Me ye may have peace. In the world ye have tribulation ; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." These words point us '* unto an inheritance incorruptible ■and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in Heaven for us," and not to earth, nor earthly circum- stances, as fully exhausting the promise of Christ : ^' I will give you rest." But when we embrace the future life as included in the promise of our text, this fully makes good the consistency of this absolute promise of rest with the present imper- fection of its fulfilment. There is in Christ, when we come to Him, rest even in this life, compared with the former slavery of sin. For within the unconverted heart the fever of sin rages uncontrolled. But within the renewed heart, only its dying fires smoulder. Within the unrenewed heart spiritual darkness reigns ; but within the renewed heart light and darkness, holiness and sin, struggle together. Purity, even in the pure, is not complete, and cannot yield perfect peace, which is its proper and natural result. And still more true is it that sin is not the master principle of the renewed soul, and -cannot bring forth death as it does in the unrenewed. The moral opposites, holiness and sin, so counter-work >each other in the average Christian man, that neither has an unfettered development. So much is this the case, that where the divine life has begun, man's heart is sometimes 112 TRE GEEAT BUIWEN-BEAEEE. the seat of a struggle between holiness and sin, between light and darkness, that is a real miniature of the greater struggle that divides the moral universe ; the struggle between holiness in its author, and sin in its author, between light in its origin, and darkness in its origin, between the righteous government of the almighty and eternal God, and the unrighteous rebellion of that proud arch-angel, Lucifer, Son of the Morning, who daringly seized upon the sceptre of the Ancient of Daj's, and strove with angelic power to wrest it from His almighty grasp ;. but strove for this in vain. For he, having been driven from Heaven by the matchless arm of Omnij^otence, has made earth the disputed borderland of his kingdom, and has transferred the seat of the combat against God and- goodness from Heaven to earth : and now struggles •with only a partial, arid yet a too great success to wrest this earth from the rightful rule of Heaven, and add it to that dark domain of which he is the actual lord. But as surely as the divine arm shall finally quell all rebellion in the universe, so surely shall final and perfect peace be the lot of every child of God. And it is so in. part now. But the Christian, while imperfect in holiness, expects- not, and even wishes not, perfection in happiness. It were — did we understand its full meaning — an impious- and unholy wish to desire to feel complete satisfaction with a state of imperfection and sin. The Christian does not wish to be perfectly happy until he shall have be- come perfectly holy. He does not wish to be pleased with a state in which there is anything offensive to God's pure- THE GEE A T B URDEN-BEABER. 1 1 3 rand lioly eyes. ^' The wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable." But the causes of this continued imperfection in the Christian's happiness are not only in him but also around him. The world is too full of sin and misery of all kinds, for him to be as happy a man as he could and would be in himself, were all like himself. Men are perishing around him of sin and unbelief, and fruitful fields, and fair skies, a prosperous business, and even a happy home, cannot, and ought not, to blot the painful fact of prevailing moral evil from the good man's memory, nor a sense of personal responsibility from his 'Conscience. But the state of the Church often hinders his enjoyments, too. When he sees the Church with hardly love enough to keep it as a whole visibly together, with only zeal • enough in many cases to keep its ground against the encroachments of the world, without being able to take possession of more territory for Christ ; when many of its members in deep repose, though not in joy, seem as if they had already entered upon their final rest ; when vigorous health seems almost the exception in the Church, and a kind of sickly life the rule, and death not rare — all this will cause pain to everj^ real Christian, in the exact pro- portion that the brighter spots in the picture give him pleasure. Yes, the dawn of the millennium will bring much added rest and joy to every Christian, and the dawn of Heavenly glory yet more. Secondly : But the rest promised here must grow into -the rest of Heaven, because there is no second conversion 114 THE GREAT BUEDEN-BEABEB. takes place. Salvation once begun shall be carried on for evermore. Heaven only completes wbat justification begins. The peace that follows believing on Jesus shall stand all life's sorrows, all time's changes, all death's terrors, all nature's convulsions, and all judgement's solemnities, and shall remain unbroken. '' For the gifts and the calling of God are without repentance." And now our duty is plain. '' Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden," saj-s Christ, "and I will give 3'ou rest." '' And the spirit and the bride say, oome." Come from sin, the most degrading of all bondage, to freedom from sin, the freest of all liberty : for it is that wherewith Christ makes His people free. Here is a most blessed change, wrought upon the character and state- of man ! Where shall we find a comparison fit to rightly^ set forth this change ? Shall it be in the degraded slave- who, crushed in body and in spirit, groans under the iron rod of man's oj^pression when contrasted with the- most delightful home of freedom and love which we have ever seen, or can even picture as possible ? Or shall we find the comparison that we seek in the- undiscovered, but guilty murderer, who hears among his- fellow-men an accusing voice which none else hear but he, and such as he, and who only remains among the haunts- of men, because this unwelcome voice is loudest when he is alone ? Who sees his victim as an unwelcome com- panion haunting him even at the unghostly hour of noon. Shall we find the parallel that we seek in the experience^ of such a man contrasted with the happy, laughingv THE GREA T B URBEN-BEARER. 1 1 5 innocence of childhood ? No, they alike fail to set forth the full contrast between the experiences and the prospects of the natural and the spiritual man. Earth has no other such fact as conversion to God. It presents no other such change as that. God has but one Son of equal nature ; Christ our Saviour is God's only begotten Son. For man there is but one redemption l)rovided, and only one state of probation ; only one of two final abodes to be chosen ; and that one to be fixed now as ours eternally. God is one ; to whom shall we resemble Him ? This is His own new creation in man ; and where on earth shall we gather the materials to form its like ? We can only join the exulting strain of Scripture, and say: ''Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven^ whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile." For he has entered into rest. His is "the peace of God which passeth all understanding." VII. THE GREAT BURDEN-BEARER, THIRD SERMON. ' Come uuto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy ladeu, and I will give you rest. Take ray yoke upon you, and learn of me ; for I am meek and lowly in heart : and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." — Mat. XI., 28-30. T HAVE already spoken of : I. The state of tliose who are here addressed by our Lord. II. The invitation which is given them by Christ. III. The ])romi8e which He makes to those who come to Him. IV. — And now I would direct your attention to the contrasted yokes and burdens of which our text speaks. The yoke of sin, Christ saj^s, is laborious, and its burden is heavy. The yoke of Christ, which He calls '' My yoke," He says ''is easy," and the burden of Christ, which He calls ^' My burden," He says "is light." And then the yoke of sin grows ever more and more grievous, and its burden grows heavier and heavier ; while the yoke of Christ grows ever easier and easier, and His burden grows lighter and lighter. THE GREAT BVBDEN-BEABEB. 117 And as the means by which the rest spoken of in the text is gained at first, is coming unto Jesus ; so the means by which it grows up into the perfect and final rest of Heaven, is by willingly taking up Christ's yoke daily, and learning of Him. The rest that follows justification, comes from resting the soul on Jesus by faith. And the rest that springs up from a growing sanctification comes from evermore taking up the yoke of Jesus and learning of Him. And even the rest of Heaven, into which the believer enters, is Christ's own rest. So that this rest in its beginning, in its growth, and in its perfection is found in, and comes from, Jesus. He is *'the author and the finisher" of that rest from the accusing guilt and reigning power of sin which the believer in Him ever enjoj's. We have already seen at length the nature of the one' yoke and burden : that which man bears by nature. How different is Christ's yoke and burden ! The burden of sin is heavy and grievous, while that of Christ is light and easy. But, perhaps, you ask, ' What is the meaning of Christ's yoke ? What is the yoke ? ' I answer : The words ''my yoke," as used by Jesus, may mean any one of two things. They may mean either the special yoke of service and suffering, that Christ as our Lord and Master imposes upon us. It is His, as given by Him. Or the words may mean the yoke that He, as our example and fellow-man bears along with us. For Christ as God imposes a yoke upon His servants. Yes, He is our Lord and Master ; and He lays on us, as it is His right to do, our burdens. But He Himself, as the sent of the Father, and as a man, bears a yoke as we do, the yoke of dut}" and service. 118 THE GREAT BURBEN-BEARER. And all Christ's people are called upon to take up, and do take up along with Him, that yoke of duty, and learn of Him in the bearing of it, ' whose meat and drink it was to do God's will.' However, there is not all the difference between these two views of Christ's yoke that would at first sight appear. For the very yoke that Christ, as being Himself divine, imposes upon mankind, He, as being also human, bears along with us. So that we shall, perhaps, most trul}^ and fully apprehend the yoke of Christ if we understand that what He calls ** ni}^ yoke" is not merely the j-oke which He. as ruler, imposes on others ; but that it is likewise tlie yoke which He Himself, as Grod's Son, apostle, and servant, bears. And hence, taking up Clirist's yoke is equal to taking up the cross, and bearing it after Christ. But the yoke of Christ does not involve the bare idea of subjection to authority. The Lord explains Himself by the words ''learn of Me," instead of saying, submit to Me. Still both obeying God, and submitting to God, are involved in taking Christ's yoke upon us. For without this willing subjection to God we are not really learning of Christ. For to learn of Christ is not only to listen with the ear to His words, but also to drink into His spirit, and copy His actions. He cheerfully bowed His neck to the divine yoke. And truly to learn of Him means that we must go and do likewise, be what it may, that God lays on us. But the words yoke and burden suggest the ideas of subjection and of labour. And we here learn that though the sinner may be, and is, set free from degrading sub- jection to sin and Satan, and a painful labouring in that TUE GREA T B URDEN-BEARER. 1 1 9 " ^' and being' made free from sin, ye become servants of righteousness." Yes, all men serve righteousness or sin, God or Satan. None are without a master and a yoke. The yoke of Christ, as we «hall see, is easy; still, '^ owing to the conflict with evil that is ever incident to our corrupt imperfect nature, even under ^race, the rest which Christ gives is yet to be viewed as a- yoke and a burden." There is something, with a measure of difficulty in it, to do and to bear still; but the inner rest in the soul, a peace '^ which passeth all understand- ing," bears the spirit up against all the conflict of the .spiritual life. It is remaining sin that makes religion a yoke at all. It was sin, not His own, but the sin of the world, that laid a yoke upon Christ. Even the divine life appears to man in a measure onerous and oppressive, because there remain in him the workings of sin which formed so large a part of his old, and heavy burden. But Christ's yoke and burden are only felt to be onerous by man to any extent so long, and so far, as he is encum- bered by sin. 120 THE GREAT BURDEN-BEARER. The nobler self of the renewed man, feels the spirit and"! life of Christ to be its very native air and vital element. And when the new nature shall be set quite free from the- ^'bondage of corruption," and shall be translated to Heaven, then when there shall be no sin, then and there only no burden, and no yoke will remain, but freedom will be perfect and eternal. But in entering into this fellowship of spirit and life- with Christ, to which we are here invited, it is well to remember that, notwithstanding Christ's speaking of relief and rest, there is still something to be endured, still a yoke to be borne, and a burden to be carried. While there is, notwithstanding, and in the very bearing of them, something of inestimable value to be gained, rest — rest unto the soul. Notice then : First, that there is something to be endured. ''Take my j^oke upon you." And again, '' If any man would; come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me." In real religion there is ever something to do and suffer, as well as much to gain. Observe the meaning of the terms which Christ uses. The yoke is an emblem of servitude, and servant is the- Christian's relation and position to Christ, a voluntary and entire devotement of himself to Christ's work in the world. Servant to Christ, means an entire consecration to do Christ's will, to allow himself to be put to use in^ Christ's service, in auy way that He, the Master, sees fit. And, as I have already said, Christ's yoke in our text does not mean, in my opinion, the yoke of Christ as a master strictly, or at least entirely, but also the yoke which Christ TEE GREA T B URDEN-BEA REE. 1 2 1' Himself was tlien bearing as the Lord's servant for man's- redemption, the yoke of a loyal obedience to God in all things. And knowing, as Jesus Christ did, loving submission to- God to be the only true bliss, and the only true freedom, He here invites those who have thrown off this yoke, and have taken upon themselves other yokes, heavy yokes, and grevious to be borne, as all men have done, to throw them all off, and to assume this in their place. This is a yoke in the bearing of which Christ Himself is our' example, and fellow-labourer in the Kingdom of God. The yoke is easy for us, mainly because we have an infinitely strong helper in bearing it. For Jesus has ^' borne " for us " the burden of the day and the scorching heat." He has performed all the services for us which' lay beyond our own power. ''His right hand, and His holy arm, hath wrought salvation " for us, and "gotten Him the victory " in our struggle. It now remains that we show our subjection to God by taking up along with Christ, and after Him, the yoke of willing obedience unto God; and God will accept our unworthy persons and services for the sake of Christ's all-worthy and perfect obedience, and give us rest in serving Him The word translated burden is used in Scripture figuratively, to denote the burden of sin, and also to denote the Jewish ceremonial ; and it denotes Christ's service by antithesis, as being in comparison with the Jewish ceremonial a light and easy service. To ''learn of me" means to learn in the sense of" " be ye trained or discipled by me." For the force of 122 THE GREAT BURDEN-BEARER, this term *' learn" is not exhausted by one formally teaching so much of any knowledge to anyone else, and by that other one formally acquiring that knowledge from the other. Really, to learn of one means much. To learn of Christ is to come under His personal tuition and influence, so as to be thoroughly indoctrinated by His views and spirit, to be entirely moulded by His character, and made anew. But when Jesus Christ demands of His professed followers that they take up His yoke, and bear His burden, let it be remembered that His yoke and burden come in the place of far heavier yokes and burdens — in the place of yokes and burdens both heavy and numerous. For Christ asks no one to leave a better service for a worse, an easier service for a more difficult. The sinner is a great gainer in coming over to the service of Christ. The yoke of Christ consists in doing, and in not doing. It consists in putting forth an activity for Christ which is contrary to the bent of the natural man, and in imposing a self-restraint, which is also contrary to the impulses of the natural man. What the actual yoke is which Christians have to bear, will be best seen by inquiring what the yoke was which Christ bore, not as the divine .and sin-atoning Mediator, in which character He can be no example to us, but as a man, and thus under law to God. Christ's yoke in this sense may be summed . up in an entire resignation to the divine will ; a com- plete giving up of Himself to subserve the divine purposes ■without a single reserve. That is the yoke which God Jays upon His family here below. And this yoke may THE GREAT BURDEN-BEARER. 123 -once again be summed up in a life of self-denial to all that is wrong, and of self-renunciation for the promotion • of all that is for God's glory and man's good. The Psalmist says, *' The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up." And Christ's disciples remembered that this was written, and they applied it to their Master when in holy anger He drove the traffickers and their wares out of the -temple of God. And to Christ this yoke of duty was easy. Yes, the ■''yoke is easy," says Christ, and the ^'burden is light." Love makes it so to a Christian. For it is Christ's yoke, who bore for us, not only all that we bear along with Him, but an infinitely heavier yoke. Love makes all yokes easy. It is so in a family. Its natural and proper inter- 'Communion of kind offices may be viewed as a disagreeable, •drudgery that is never done with ; and the performance -of family duties must be so viewed if love be absent or weak. But if love be present and strong, the services -that we render to each other in the family afford abiding •delight to both givers and receivers. And so of all kinds of service that we do for each other. None of them is easy if love be awanting ; while love can cheerfully render almost any service, and not feel it heavy. And divine love is the yoke that securely fastens the burden of Christ to the willing neck of the true disciple. I have already shown that love makes Christ's yoke easy. But that is not all. The ease of Christ's yoke is not imaginary. It is not mere sentiment. It is in itself easy. His service is a reasonable service. His commands are not grievous. Wisdom's " ways are ways of pleasantness. 124 THE GREAT BURDEN-BEARER. and all her paths are peace." As, for instance, the sum of God's law ; that supreme love to God and man which is- enjoined on us by Christ as the sum of the divine law ! Well, the possession of that love, which is enjoined as duty, is yet found to be the life, and health, and joy of the- human spirit, by all who cultivate it. Again, that purity of heart, life, and action which is a part of Christ's yoke, is also a noble freedom from all debasement and pollution. And so of the practical exercise of benevolence which is enjoined upon us by Jesus Christ. The injunction of benevolence as a duty, is really informing us how we may be happy ourselves, as well as how we may make human intercourse helpful to others. And taking up the yoke of Christ as our religion is- easy, compared with the practice of any other system of religious belief in the world. Christianity is the simplest type of religion, requiring least of outward form, and resting most of any religion in the world, upon the spirit that we possess and manifest. And where it is most simple in its forms and observances, its inner life seems ever to thrive the best. Christianity i» also an easy religion compared with any system of unbelief. For all such are systems of freezing, soul-killing negations, Christ's yoke is an easy yoke, again, as it imposes restraint upon man at the point where restraint is most easy to- be borne. For the Bible says : ** Keep thy heart with all diligence,' for out of it are the issues of life." And here the check upon what is wrong is not only most effective^. but it is most easy to interpose. THE GBEAT BURBEN-BEARER. 125 And the yoke of Christ is easj' — the easiest that can be put on — because every man, if he would not be an utter slave to evil, must put a restraint upon his own evil tendencies somewhere. And Christ's laws go to check ihem in the bud, or rather to hinder their springing up ; and this early check is easy compared with checking them in any other stage of their growth. As an illustration of this : The most depraved of men have often more severe struggles fighting unsuccessful battles with their sinful desires, appetites, and passions, ihan the most holy men have in fighting successful battles with the same evil things. Some of you may object to this, and say * that the depraved man puts no restraint upon his evil desires.' But I say he must, and does. A man may put before him as his standard of conduct either the perfect law of Christ, or the imperfect average practice •of the professing Church of Christ, or the practice of reputable society without religion, or the general practice of the avowedly ungodly, or even the riot of the libertine. No matter which standard of all each man adopts, that •standard imposes its own restraint ; and if an individual man go far bej'ond the laws of his circle, he loses caste. Even the dishonest, the intemperate, and the impure have their conventional laws and usages, which a member of the immoral fraternity dare not widely overstep if he Tvould escape disgrace, and, it may be, expulsion. Now, what I am asserting is that to put the restraint upon what is evil where Christ commands us to put it, upon the rising thought, upon the budding inclination to evil, is far easier than to pat it on anywhere else in the 126 THE GREAT BURBEN-BEARER. chain of evil. AYhile checking sin in the bud saves us"- from all its shame and misery, present and future. As- an illustration : You will find single drunkards who make- greater efforts to keep moderately sober, without ac- complishing it, than all the practical abstainers from, intoxicants in a whole town require to do. And so with a liar ; so with a slanderer ; so with all kinds of sinners. It is easy not to begin a sinful habit compared with the- breaking it off when formed. In contrast with the easy yoke of Christ, let me name- some of the heavy yokes that men impose upon them- selves, upon one another, and have imposed on them by- sin, and Satan. In one word, sin is that yoke which enslaves the Avorld,. and the devil is the hard task-master that fits a growingly heavy share of it upon every neck, unless the necks of those who have been emancipated by Christ, who alone sets men free from it. But the yoke of sin is compiicatedl and varied in form. One of its forms is the yoke of evil thoughts indulged in until one is no fit company for him- self, and is deluged by his own unholy and unhappy imaginations and memories. There is the yoke of evil,. sinful habits, the 3'oke of unamiable dispositions, the- yoke of unholy tempers, the yoke of God-dishonouring- actions, the yokes of envy, pride, and hatred. In a word, every unsubdued sin im2)0ses a yoke upon the soul — lays on it a something harrowing and destructive of its peace. While Christ's yoke as a present service,, altogether apart from a future world, and the contrasted reward or punishment that awaits severally those who- THE GREAT BVRDEX-BEARER. 121" fear God, and those who fear Him not, is far easier and- more pleasant than the lightest yoke which sin imposes ;. and moreover Christ's yoke ever grows lighter, while ever}" 3^oke of sin grows day by day more heavy. Pat in few words, Christ's yoke is, *' Do thyself no • harm," man I Restrain thyself from sin, for in gratifying your sinful desires you commit self-destruction. And that needed, saving restraint should not seem to a wise man a grievous j'oke. For, anomaly- as it seems, self-denial to all that is wrong is on the whole, and in the long run, even for this world, an easier yoke than self-- gratification. And in our taking up Christ's yoke, and learning of Him, He puts before us something of immense importance- to be gained, even rest to the soul. AVe must observe and remember who the persons addressed are. They are those that suffer from the- disquiet and unrest of sin. They are those "that labour and are heavy laden." The rest of Christ begins with the forgiveness of sin,. and it comes in its fulness hy a personal resting of the soul upon Christ's atoning death, and whole work. That part of the rest of Christ which comes at once by faith I look on as si^ecially referred to in the 28th verse; and having spoken of that alread}^ I do not refer to it now, further than to remind you that this believing rest in Christ is the foundation of the growing rest which is more especially spoken of in verse 29th, and which arises from a personal likeness to Christ, and a living oneness with Him. Or, in other words, the one rest springs from 128 THE GREAT BURDEN-BEARER. Justification before God, and the other springs from a growing sanctification in Christ Jesus. And there is a very close connection between the two states. The connection, as we have said, of foundation and superstructure. We grasp Christ's atonement feebly as we wander away from following His steps. That .atonement, it is true, is ever the same, and we may ever resort to it. For no personal merit is needed for our acceptance before Grod, and none avails. But it is not any the less true that personal sin disturbs our rest upon the atonement of Christ, and darkens our .€onfidence in it. It must be so. This painful but monitory effect of wrong-doing is one of our strongest protections from self-deception and ruin. Every one in this assembly who has once trusted in Christ, and found rest in Him, shall, I believe, be finally saved as the result of a divine purpose. But no one here obtains rest to his soul from that divine decree apart from his present state, because no one knows anything about the purposes of God in regard to His own case, but as they .are being realized. But God's people bear a certain moral image, and are stamped ■« ith a certain spiritual character, and the way in which everyone here who has rested on Christ, or thinks that he has, may prove this, or disprove it for himself, is by an habitual personal ;scrutiny of himself, and a careful testing of himself in Ood's sight by the presence, or absence, of the fruits of the Spirit. •What I now speak of is not anything to rest in towards Ood. But I sx)eak of a satisfactory proof that we have THE GREAT BURDEN-BEARER. 129 .rested on Christ, arising from finding that God has put His Spirit into our hearts, and made us, like Christ, ''meek and lowly in heart." You never can disjoin, therefore, the rest that springs from Christ's atonement, and that which springs from becoming possessed of Christ's spirit. It is true we distinguish, if not disjoin, the two in works on S3'stematic •theology, and properly so. So are man's mind and body treated as distinct in works ob anatomy and surgery ; and in works on mental and moral science. Yet mind and body never exist in this world apart. Neither do justifi- cation and sanctification. Both states and experiences go to make a Christian, as much as both body and mind go to make a man. And it is as impossible to separate them in fact, and have a' living Christian, as to separate soul and body in fact, and have a living man. And this rest, as we saw in a former discourse, is what man needs. Yes, this rest for the soul is a universal want. For man, while a sinner, is out of harmony with God, and he is out of harmony with all the universe. He carries within him a heart ill at ease. He is haunted by .a guilty conscience; and though he is ever seeking rest, he finds none that deserves the name. We find proof of this unrest in the many attempts which are everj'where made to remove it, and to find rest to the soul. We find proof, too, of man's unrest in the many and bloody sacrifices of heathendom. We find like proof also among ourselves. We find the proof among the votaries of amusement on the one hand. 1 30 THE GREA T B URDEN-BEARER. who are anxiously seeking without themselves for what they cannot find within. And we also find proof that man needs rest for his soul among the votaries of the blind and uneducated religious impulses, on the other hand, who attempt in many man-appointed ways to jilease God, and to bribe Ilim to be at peace with them, while thej^ have never come to Christ, and found rest in Him, which i^ God's way of being saved. And then we must remember that but a very little of the actual unrest of the unconverted comes out. Men who' continue in the ways of sin and worldliness, are ashamed to own that sin makes them unhappj-, or so unhappy as it does. These men have no such experience meetings a& our Methodist brethren hold. Men continue for years to- be bosom companions in the ways of sin, and companions- in disquiet and unrest, and yet never plainly confess to one- another the existence of that disquiet and unrest, that ' vanity and vexation of spirit,' which they feel. And still they do have these feelings. But from all this unrest Christ promises deliverance. He promises rest to the soul ; and this being soul rest,. reaches to the man proper. Many people live for the body mainly, provide for, and nourish and cherish the body, mainly or solely ; while- not a few live mainly for the mind, which is a much liigher object. But it is to be feared that fewer, than any of these, live for the soul, the spirit, the immortal man. But rest to the soul such as Christ ]3romises, being for the- immortal soul, must be, and is, an eternal, ever-enduring- rest. For while the throne of God remains unshaken, and. THE GREAT BURDEN-BEARER. 1311 tlie walls of the New Jerusalem above remain unassailable- and unassailed, so long the redeemed by Christ shall enjoy there, in that safe retreat, eternal rest and unending: pleasure. There is, in and through Christ, a present rest and peace,, such as tne world can neither give nor take away, in knowing and feeling that the Supreme Power in the- imiverse is our friend, is with us, and not against us, and in being prepared willingly to yield ourselves up to His- purposes and will. "While there is, on the other hand, no rest to the man who has, and cherishes, favourite designs which he knows that Grod does not approve, but is ever counter-working, and will finally overturn. There is no- rest to the man who is ever in dread lest the hand of Omnipotence should at any moment be raised to dash hi^ favourite schemes all to pieces. And this is the position of all unbelieving men as the enemies of God. vni. THE GREAT BURDEN-BEARER. FOURTH SERMON. Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me ; for I am meek and lowly in heart : and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." — Mat. XI., 28-30. T WOULD now direct your attention : V. — Fifthly, to tlie qualifications of Him wlio invites burdened sinners to Him, and promises them rest, for the fulfilment of what he thus undertakes. It is matter of universal observation that man is easily taught by pictorial representations, while he is slow in learning rules and principles ; that he cannot help being taught and influenced by examples, while he must determine to learn before he can readily master precepts. We may find a field of observation where we can prove the truth of this assertion for ourselves, wherever we find humanity. We see it in the j^oungest child. We prescribe to the infant no formal tasks. He is not fit for them. We submit him to no formal examinations, and he could not pass them if we did. And yet it is a matter THE GEE A T B URB EN-BEARER. 1 33 of universal observation and knowledge, how very much the infant learns from example only, before he under- stands the simplest precept. The truth that "example is better than precept," is seen as we find the increased power that any principle obtains which is embodied in an earnest, able, and eloquent advocate. The truth, or the principle which he repre- sents, though it may have been little known, or half forgotten before he took it up, obtains in him a resurrec- tion to new life and 2^0 wer. Look at the principle of ''humanity to the prisoner," as it was embodied and represented in a Howard, and ''the claims of the slave," as pleaded and put into prominence by a Wilberforce and a Buxton, and their many coadjutors in Great Britain, and later on by a Lloyd Garrison, a Harriet Beecher Stow, a Ward Beecher, and many such like in America. Eemember the might}^, and beneficent, and permanent results of their labours ; and learn what a few earnest men and women, inspired by a great principle, may do. And forget not that, as a matter of fact, half the power of divine truth, to make its way in the world, lies in its becoming embodied in living men, and in being trans- ferred from the Book of God into the life of man. Here lies much of the Church's present weakness in influence upon the world. We have here in this perfect book, the whole truth needed to convert the world. But we need far more, and far better living examples of the truth. Men who desire not the knowledge of God's ways, can keep theii Bibles shut, and often do, and 134 TEE GREAT BURDEN- BEARER. tlien those Bibles are powerless for good. While shut and unread they utter no reproofs, they convey no warnings, they proclaim no promises, and they furnish no instructions. But a living example of the transforming power of divine grace, you cannot lock up, or lay aside upon a shelf, and keep quiet as you may a book. A human character clearly seen to be of divine workmanship, created anew in Christ Jesus unto good works, with something truly Grod- like about it, when found in a man among other men, you cannot shut up, and put away as you might put away an unwelcome book. Hence, if we only had more earnest and living Christians to embody, and live out divine truth, it must mightily 2)revail. And to the extent that we do have them, they are jDowerful instruments for the propagation of the Redeemer's cause, and cannot fail to do good. So much «o, that though the life of such men, as to its inspiration and power, depends entirely upon the Divine Book, and the Divine Spirit, though it is drawn from, and is sustained by them alone, yet, perhaps more truth is effectually taught to the unconverted, and more impres- sion is made upon them by God's truth lived before them, than by God's truth read by them, or preached to them. Hence, the dependence of the pulpit upou the i^ew, and the dependence of the Church upon the family. Here in the House of God we aim to beget, and endeavour to guide to saving issues, religious conviction. But you, my Christian brethren, may light up the torch, or extinguish it, by the character of your ordinary walk and conversation. THE GREAT BURDEN-BEARER. 135 So mighty a power is tliere in a living, loving Christian example, that many a sinner who has not been convinced of sin, and allured to holiness by this perfect book, has yet been so by some imperfect Christian example. Nay, what Christ's perfect example in a written form, and read in the gospels, has not done, some faint and feeble, but true shadowing forth of it, in a living disciple has done, in burning many a sinner '^from darkness to light, and from ihe power of Satan unto God." A Christian example is hence of vast importance. Divine truth lived, is one of ihe most potent instruments in operation for eifecting the world's conversion to God. But examples live in history, which is a record of deeds •done. And when we cannot find all that we want, and tneed, in the living examples that we see around us, we may find many of the mighty dead of past times embalmed in history, not their bodies, but their thoughts and feelings, and experiences, and character, and spirit ; and we may turn back to hold converse with them. It is often well for us to do so, if we do not carry admiration of the past too far ; but ever remember, along with the aim to preserve all of the past that lives, or ought to be resuscitated, the j)oet's wise maxim : " Let the dead past bury its dead." Here two o^Dposing currents run strongly at the present lime. One would carry us back in religion to some, it may be noble, but very imperfect past, and attempt to reproduce at in every respect, which is impossible and undesirable, .-even if it were possible. The other current would hurry us forward at such a j)ace as to leave both the wisdom and the errors of the past 136 THE GREAT BURDEN-BEABER. alike behind us, whicli is both a folly and a crime. Let' all of the wisdom and the truth of the past be made ours- that we can. But if we would bear our proper share in the- moulding of the present, we must first understand it, then, adopt its forms of thought, and speak in its language. Let us be ourselves. A rigid imitation, in the region of religion, of any merely human models unfailingly dwarf s- the proper development of the imitators. But I turn you once again this morning to an example- of the past that never grows old. And not I alone, but the exemplar Himself invites your attention to Himself. He is not a being of the past time however, and not of the present. He is the true contemporary of every genera- tion. Before Abraham, and before angels He is, and was ; and He ever lives. He is the first and the last, and the living one. Who knows the power of noble examples ? Who feels- the force and the influence of exalted models ? Let him accept Christ's own invitation, and make Him a study. How unspeakably important is it to have such a model as this to look upon ! Doubtless, as we gaze upon this divine model, this imaged-forth God head, with devout awe, holy reverence, and admiring love, we shall be- changed more and more into the same image, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. You will observe that Jesus here invites us to fellowship with Himself. His teaching fixes on His own life and character as its great subject. Before entering upon the consideration of that fellowship with Christ, which is the remaining theme of our text, I would direct your special THE GREAT BVRDEX-BEAREE. 137 attention to the qualifications of Him who invites burdened sinners to Him, and promises them rest — His qualifications for the f ulfihnent of all that He here undertakes. His cj^ualifications as here given by Himself consist in His Almighty power, and in His divine gentleness- " All things have been delivered unto Me of my Father," says Jesus. And again he says, " And no one knoweth the Son, save the Father ; neither doth any know the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son willeth to reveal Him." Here the Son's power is set forth. Among the " all things " that have been delivered unto Christ b}' the Father are all kinds of spiritual gifts to bestow upon men. " Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led tliy captivity captive ; thou hast received gifts among men, yea, among the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell with them." And chief among these celestial gifts that Christ has received for men, we read that He, *'the Son of Man, hath power on earth to forgive sins." Or, in other words. He has power to do what He in our text promises to do. He has power to lift oft' the heavy burden of human guilt and misery ; he has power to break the grievous yoke of sin from off man's neck. Nor let it be forgotten that this yoke of sin is a yoke under which ' the whole world has groaned and travailed in pain together until now.' And no man has been able to redeem his fellow-man from its power. It must plainl}' appear then, that no one less mighty than He, to whom " all things have been delivered" by God, is equal to the task of being man's deliverer from sin. But Jesus is able to do this. 138 THE GREAT BURBEN-BEABER. And again, Christ's ability to reveal the Father to men, qualifies him for the task which he has uiidertaken, of giving rest to the labouring and heavy laden sinner. For, as much of the sinner's burden consists in the un- happy effects of sin in itself, so does much of the burden also consist in this sad result of sin's presence : that it separates between the sinner and God, and hides Grod's face from the sinner. And therefore the Saviour that man needs, is one who can both remove the guilt of his many sins, and also unveil before him the true character of God, as just and holy, and yet a loving and merciful Father. And Jesus Christ, in thus inviting a guilty world unto Himself, and promising to all ''who labour and are heavy laden," but come to Him, "rest," puts Himself upon an equality with God the Father, who says : " Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth : for I am God, and there is none else." Language this which is the same in substance, and in sweep with the invitation and promise of our text. They are divine utterances both. But along with Christ's almighty power, the other great qualification that is possessed by Him for the accomplish- ment of what He here undertakes is His divine gentleness which is thus expressed : "For I am meek and lowly in heart." We read in the prophecies of Isaiah : " For thus saith this high and lofty One that inhabiteth 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." And here in our text the Lord Jesus THE GREA T B URBEN-BEARER. 1 39 ■Ohrist, as the exemplar, leader, and prince of all meek and lowly ones and as Himself the perfect embodyment of this spirit, which is so attractive to the eyes of the High and Holy One, the spirit with which Jehovah promises to dwell, saj^s to us all: "Come unto Me." "Come unto Me," for I only can teach you the proper spirit in which to draw nigh unto Grod. I only can bring you into His presence with acceptance. I am your example and model. "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 ; for my yoke is easy and my burden is light." This meek and lowly spirit best displayed itself in Christ's whole career. " He was oppressed, yet He humbled Himself and opened not His mouth ; as a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep that before her shearers is dumb ; yea, He opened not His mouth." He did " not strive nor cry." And when Christ's deepest cup of sorrow was presented to His lips, He said to His Heavenly Father, "Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from Me; nevertheless, not My will, but Thine be done." It is this meek and lowl}'- spirit, when found in man, in the renewed man, that makes the divine j^oke easy and pleasant to him. Just as the possession of this spirit in perfection, made it ' Christ's meat and drink to do His Father's will, and to finish the work which was given Him to do.' This meek and lowly spirit, by whomsoever possessed, ever makes the divine yoke easy, and the burden that God lays ■on us light. Nay, further observe, that the meekness, and lowliness ■of Christ when learnt, form in themselves the true rest of 140 THE GREAT BURDEN-BEARER. the soul, even though the burden of external disquietude- may not be removed. Anger and pride, envy and hatred,, discontent and self-will, create disquietude and turmoil in the human soul, which die out and give place to rest and peace as the meek and lowly spirit of Christ is learnt, and possessed. A^I. — Notice the comjmnionsJiip that is enjoyed by Christians in all their yokes, labours, and burdens. The yoke which I ask you to bear, says Christ, is *' My yoke ; " the burden that I call upon you to take up, is "My burden." The easiness and lightness of the yoke and burden will thus more fully appear as we look at the delightful com-- panionship which the Christian enjoys in bearing them. He to whom all things have been delivered of the Father,. He Himself bears along with us, the yoke which we must take up as Christians. He Himself takes hold of the yoke of siu; and removing it from our necks, He puts the easy yoke of duty in its place. And Jesus Christ, taking hold with us of this, and of all the yokes and burdens of life, causes them all to appear easy, and to become easy. The easiness of a 3'oke, and the lightness of a burden, are ever to be compared with the strength of him that bears them. And it is no longer our own strength alone which has to be counted, when we would estimate the ■weight of the Christian yoke, but it is Christ's strength, too. For we have His companionship and aid in bearing it. And '' we can do all things in Christ that strengtheneth - THE GBEA T B URBEN-BEAEER. 141 It is ^' My yoke," and My burden, says Jesus Christ. 'They are Mine as well as yours, they are more Mine than yours. The words, '■'■ My yoke is easy " mean, My j^oke is not exacting. The same word when used of persons is sometimes translated ' kind ' As of God Himself, *' for He is ' kind ' to the unthankful and evil." And the same word is used of the divine com- mands when we read : ''and His commandments are not grevious." Christ's 3'oke is easy, kindly, not burdensome, and His burden is light compared with the toilsome yokes, and the heavy burdens of sin. Christ's yoke is easy, and His burden is light in the same sense that it is an easy yoke and a light burden for the man who has long struggled with a deadly disease, that had almost sunk him into the grave, to use the health-restoring remedies of the phj^si- cian. For Christ's yoke and burden just form a medicinal discipline and exercise, whereby the man who under- goes them, may attain to spiritual health, and may Uve for evermore. And to those who will keep this high end in view, this great design ever in mind, all the means that lead to and secure it must be counted easy. When the prescribed remedies of the physician are day by day bringing renewed health to the late invalid, the most bitter pill will be looked upon as easy to take. And so when a holy walk, and the service of Christ generally, bring growing rest and peace to the soul, the whole duty that Christ lays on us must be viewed as easy. And again, the religion of Jesus Christ imposes on us :an easy yoke and a light burden, if it be compared with any 142 THE GnEAT BURDEN-BEARER. other religion in the workl. Its outward observances are- few and simple. Christ's commands are truly not grievous. He imposes no long and wearisome pilgrimages. He enjoins no bodily tortures as penance, or atonement for sin. He demands no hvmian sacrifices, and He exacts no costly offerings. The man himself and all that He has- are Christ's, it is true. For he is ' bought with a price,' even with 'the precious blood of Christ.' 'He is not his- own.' But a man never rightly enjoys himself till he feels that he is not his own. He never has the proper use of what he possesses until he has learnt to count it not his own, but Christ's, and to act as a steward of all that he- possesses, not as an owner. But further, Christ's j'oke is easy and His burden is light,, because of the new spirit that He imparts to those who come to Him. For " the love of Christ constraineth " them. Their whole service of Christ is like the fourteen years' service of Jacob, to Laban, for Eachel, which " seemed unto- him but a few days, for the love he had to her," and on account of the presence of her for whom the service was- entered on and fulfilled. For the yoke of Christ is the yoke of love. And supposing that yoke to involve toils as exhausting both to the body and to the mind, as the service- of sin does : and that is supposing much. Still these sacred- toils are '' works of faith, and labour of love." And hence there is all the contrast between them, that there is between the oftentimes over-wrought, but loved and honoured mother and wife, in voluntarily tending her own beloved- children, and the compulsorily overtasked and whipped slave, in whose person every noble and elevated feeling- THE GREAT BURDEN-BEARER. 143'. and principle of humanity is oftentimes outraged and' degraded. Both labour equal!}-, we shall suppose, and both exces- sively. But the one obeys the God-implanted and noble impulses of duty, and of love ; and would not accept of freedom from her yoke, though you would add to this freedom a reward of gold and diamonds. AVhile the other acts under tlie de^^ressing pressure of fear, and the degrading influence of coercion, and often risks punish- ment, if not life, by attempting to run away. And so the one • sings, and grows into noble wifehood, and motherhood' amid her toils ; and the other groans and becomes soured ; ■ though outwardly their toils are only equal. And so with the exertions of the over-wrought, well-doer, and evil-doer, saint, and sinner. Let us suppose that their exertions are equal ; yet in a higher sense they are most unequal. Tlie Christian in the highest sense is-free. He serves as a son with the Father. He beara the yoke of love. While the unforgiven sinner groans- in spirit under the iron slavery of sin and Satan ; and; the iron enters into his soul. But still further, Christ's 3-oke is easy in itself, and His ■ burden is light in itself. There is, as we have seen, anew spirit possessed in bearing Christ's yoke. For it is the - yoke of love. But that is not all the- difference betweem Christ's yoke and burden, and the yoke and burden of sin.- The yoke of sin would oftentimes be utterly intolerable did not the sinner love it too well, and roll its insnaring- pleasures as a sweet morsel under" his tongue. But the- greatest slave of sin, he who loves- ib most, labours under' 144 THE GREAT BUBDEN-BEAEEH. it, and is heavy laden. While he who serves Christ has a yoke that is in itself easy, and a burden that is in itself light. Christ's yoke is called a yoke, and is a yoke, and yet it is no yoke. St. Bernard finely says: ''What can be lighter than a burden which takes our burdens away, and a yoke which bears up the bearer himself ? " And such in truth are Christ's yoke and burden. But in order that Christ's yoke and burden may become such an easy yoke and light burden, we must learn of •Christ. For just as we do so, the yoke becomes easier, and the burden becomes lighter. The 'learning of Christ' which he commends to us, and the ' finding of rest ' which He promises, go on together : both are continuous. And the measure in which we learn of Christ, or become like Him, is the measure of His rest that we enjoy. To learn of Christ denotes that we come to Him, abide with Him, and ever look to Him. It is from His own teaching that we can best attain to any measure of His meekness and lowliness, and thus enjoy His rest. For His 3^oke is easy and pleasant, and His burden is light to the meek and lowly, because there is nothing in that 3'oke and burden to gall the yielding neck and the offered shoulder. There is nothing in Christ's j^oke and burden to hurt, and much to refresh and cheer the humble spirit. Christ's yoke and burden are especially easy, because of the companionship and assistance that we receive in bear- ing them. "This is the covenant that I will make with the House of Israel after those days," saith the Lord ; '*I 'will put my law in their inward parts, and in their heart THE GREA T B TJRB EN-BEARER. 145 -^vill I write it ; and I will be tlieir God, and tliey sliall be my people." ''And I will sprinkle clean water upon yen, and ye sliall be clean: from all your filthiness and from all your idols will I cleanse you. x\. new lieart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you ; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put mj^ spirit within you, and cause 3'ou to walk in my statutes, and j^e shall keep my judgements, and do them." For observe that there is companionship both in what is to be endured, and in what is to be gained. If we inquire " how we are to bear the yoke ? " the answer is : that it is Christ's j^oke, and we must bear it after Him. And if we inquire how the rest comes to us ? the answer is : "We have this rest just as we get Christ'S' spirit. He is 'meek and lowly,' and because He is so, those who ' learn of Him' somehow find such a rest spring- ing up within them, as can be found nowhere else. How they find it we have seen. The rest grows out of the Christ-spirit, and hence we must get His meek and lowly •sj)irit before we obtain this rest that is here promised. Let us [try to conceive, as justly as we can, what the ■elements of character are which Christ here claims for Himself, when He says : "I am meek and lowly in heart." He says, ' I am possessed of that meek and quiet spirit which, in the sight of Grod, is of great price.' The word low, or lowly, here means low in place, low in -condition, as "the brother of low degree." And it is then applied to the mind, as here, and means lowly, modest, humble. And this is a spirit which, though it is pleasing 146 THE GREA T B URBEN-BEAR ER. to Christ, is most offensive to the world, and utterly alien' from its sj)irit. In nothing does the sj^irit of Christ and the spirit of the • world contrast more widely than in the meekness of the • one, and the arrogance of the other. And because they do so contrast, the men of the world, while remaining such, cannot enter into the rest of Christ, God has * hidden from the wise and understanding the things which He has revealed unto babes.' As to God, human pride and passion often will not allow men to come unto God as humble suppliants for mercy,. and thus obtain the rest of Christ to their souls. But he- that comes to Christ and learns of Him, finds that Christ^- though '' being in the form of God," " He counted it not a prize to be on an ecj^uality with God ; " " yet emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant •" ^'' and being found in fashion as a man," He took to Himself, and possessed that spirit of entire resignation to His Father's- will, and reverence for His character, that when learned by any sinner puts him, and keeps, him in his proper position before God. And so as to man. Very much unrest to us, and in us,, springs from the character of our intercourse with our fellow-men in some way. Some real, or fancied injustice, or unkindness done to us, or some omission on the part of some one of what we think was due to us, chafes our self- love. Or the fact of our rights and interests in some way seeming to clash with the rights and interests of others, disturbs our peace of mind. Now, when we copy the meek and unselfish spirit of Christ, when we cease to try how THE GREAT BURDEN-BEARER. 147 much we can claim and exact from our fellow-men, and constantly \vy how much we can bear from them, and how much we can do for them, our selfish strife with them ceases, our struggle for unjust, or even for just ascendency^ or a fuller recognition at the hands of our fellow-men, is broken off, and we sink into the rest of love and good will — the rest of Christ. Christ seems here to say that the types of character, after which we are ever prone to form ourselves^ tend to mar, and to destroy our intercourse with both Grod and man, for time and for eternity. And He here calls upon us to abandon all the fals& types of character after which we may have been trying^ to frame ourselves, and to make Him our t3'pe and exemplar, cultivating towards Grod and man, His own meek and lowly spirit, in which alone is real rest t© the soul. It is in this spirit that we must draw nigh to God, in order to find favour with Him. When we yield ourselves up to God, and accept His great salvation, our foolish^ selfish struggle with Him ceases, and we find true, abiding rest. The want of this Heaven -taught spirit keeps us at a distance from Christ, and shuts us out from God. For when we come to Jesus humbly as sinners, we find access into God's presence with acceptance for Christ's sake. The grand contest between God and the sinner at this point is, *' How shall man be just with God?" 'You may be accepted and justified by Christ as your only way to My Throne.' These are God's terms. And to- Him who comes to God as a sinner, and submits to Him, there is a blessed rest given : He is saved with an 148 THE GREAT BURDEN-BEARER. everlasting salvation. For there is ^'now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus." Christianity presents to our view, along with manj^ things that are simple and plain, sublime mysteries and wondrous anomalies. Here is one of them, when Jesus speaks as He does in the text. For in it. He who is the Man of sorrows, promises to banish all our sorrows, not for time onlj^, but also for eternity. He who is from some points of view the most heavily laden of mankind, promises to remove all our burdens, and does this to all who will trust Him, and cast their burdens upon Him. Yes, in this case, bearing a j^oke lies in our way to being free and happy. Just as we bear that yoke, so do we find rest. "Never man so spake " as this Man speaks. '' God, having of old time spoken unto the fathers in the prophets by divers portions and in divers manners, hath at the end of these days spoken unto us in His Son." And He speaks to us thus still. '' See that ye refuse rot Him that speaketh. For if they escaped not when they refused Him that warned them on earth, much more shall not we escape, who turn away from Him that warneth. from Heaven." And what an instructor is Christ ! What a maker and mouldt^r of character ! Those whom He teaches can teach others. Surely, too much has been said of the Apostles of our Lord, as the illiterate fishermen of Galilee. No doubt but they were in a sense unlettered, " unlearned, and ignorant men." But what ordinary educational advantages, what collegiate training at the feet of ancient scribe, or modern professor, let us ask, has in it so much TUi: GBEA T B URBEX-BEAREE. 149 power to evolve and stimulate the dormant intellect, to purify the depraved heart, to spiritualize the earthward affections, to ennoble the whole man, and thus to fit him for ]3re aching the glorious gospel of the blessed God, holding forth and exalting the Lamb of God, and other such like Christian works, as two years of daily and hourly converse, with a mind so exalted, with a heart so pure, and a love to God and man so intense, as that of Christ, our Divine Redeemer ! The whole nature of the men must have been greatly ennobled by that intercourse. Christ's words, Christ's actions, Christ's spirit. His whole man, left an im- pression on them which one, speaking for all, thus describes: "And the word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory." We ask what it was like ? And the Apostle continues : ' ' Glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth." And these words leave us very much, as to objective portraiture, where we were. John is good at description, but the inner glory of Christ, rendering His very body a transparency for the indwelling-God to shine through, baffles even his spiritual insight and his utterance. John could not describe the glory of Christ ; but he had seen much of it, and had felt its power. And so may we all do, with divinely opened and divinely anointed eyes. Let us covet and pursue this best of knowledge, that so the rest of sanctification, the seeing by faith, may, as we continue to look, become the rest of Heaven, the very vision of God. IX. LIVING UNION WITH CHRIST. •** Abule iu me, aud I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine ; so neither can ye, except ye abide iu Me. I am the vine, ye are the branches : he that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit ; for apart from Me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in Me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered ; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatsoever ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is My Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit ; and so shall ye be My disciples." — John XV., 4-8. fMHE union that exists between the Lord Jesus Christ -■- and His own believing-, regenerated people, is a very <^lose, and a ver}^ endearing union. In proof of this, we find that in God's holy word all nature and all human life are ransacked and laid under contribution for fit emblems to set that blessed union forth. Hence, Christ is spoken of as the head of " the Church which is His body." And to His whole people it is said : *^ Now are ye the body of Christ, and severally members thereof." There is a most entire oneness with Christ taught us here. And yet, though the body be one whole, there is inferiority in position, and honour, and there is subordination in the other members of the body to the head. And so is it of the Church, the body of Christ, to LIVING UNION WITH CHRIST. 151 'Christ the Head. For as the head guides all the body, ea • does Christ guide the whole Church. Again, Christ is spoken of as the husband of His Church, and she is spoken of as '' the bride, the wife of the Lamb.'' 'There are the closest union and the warmest love between 'Christ and His Church, taught here in this relation in which ''the twain become one flesh." For "he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit." And Christ, who is ^ our maker and our husband,' '* also loved the Church, and gave Himself for it." Again, Jesus Christ is spoken of as the Son of God, and •our human brother, and thus appointed by God heir of all 'things for the whole redeemed family. And we all, as 'Christians, are the brethren of Christ, and, as children, -fellow-heirs with Him of God. For "if children, then Jieirs ; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ." Again, Jesus is the friend who " loveth at all time," the ''friend that sticketh closer than a brother." And He ^says to all His professed people : " Ye are my friends, if ye do the things which I command you." And Jesus is ' the good shepherd that layeth down His Jife for the sheep,' and His disciples are ' the sheep of His ipasture, who know Him and hear His voice.' And so in our text the Lord Jesus adding another to the many terms used in Scripture to denote the close union rthat exists between Himself and His people, says to them : "I am the vine, ye are the branches." And every one of these figures is to be taken in its fullest meaning, and -even then the figure comes far short of the great reality, :to which it points. For Christ is the true vine, not a mere 152 LIVING UNION WITH CHRIST. vine, not any vine. He sa^-s "I am the true vine, the- real, the essential vine, of whom the vine of nature is- but a shadow." Nor is the visible Church without Him, and apart from Him, any part of the vine. And so, again,, He is the true manna, the real bread from Heaven. Thus> He Himself speaks. He says : '' I am the bread of life ; " not that which fell in the wilderness. '' I am the living, bread which came down out of Heaven : if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever." And He also, not Aaron, not Melchizedek, is the one true priest, * ' a great high priest who hath passed through, the Heavens." And He is the one real sacrifice for sin. It is His^ Blood that '^ cleanseth us from all sin." Not the blood of Abel : not the blood shed under the law. And so Jesus, in. the first verse of this chapter, says : '^ I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman." These gracious love- strenghtening words were spoken by Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed. And not only so, but they were spoken very near in time to that event. They seem> to have been spoken in the Garden of Gethsemane, or on. the way thither. For Jesus had said, on rising from the last supper, as recorded at the close of the last chapter, *' Arise, let us go hence." And rising from the communion table with His disciples, they had walked forth together, and He had continued His instructions to them, as we find them recorded in thiS' chapter. This figure of the living, growing vine, and itS' living, growing branches, as setting forth the relation of the living Christ, and His living members, may have beea. LIVING UNION- WITH CHRIST. 153- suggested to tlie mind of Jesus by the wine-cuj) which they had all so lately partaken of together ; or, more likely still, the figure may have been suggested by the over- hanging and surrounding vines, leading to and shading the Garden of Gethsemane. For, as you know, it was very often our Lord's method to teach spiritual and invisible realities by means of things that were near and visible. But whatever may have suggested the lesson of the vine, the lesson itself is plainly before us in our text, which is a truly South African text. In further attempting to open up these words by the aids of the Holy Spirit for our instruction and growth in grace, I shall direct your attention to : I. The very close relationship which is spoken of in the text. II. The duty of Christ's people in that relationship. III. The glorious results of a real abiding union with Christ, and the terrible danger of a mere pro- fession of religion without the reality. I. — First, the very close relationship which is spoken of in the text, is that existing between Christ and Christians. And this spiritual relation is set forth by the relation of a vine and its branches. "I am the vine, ye are the branches," says Christ. He further says : ''I am the true vine, and My Father is the husbandman." ' As I, not the material thing, am the true vine, so My Father is the husbandman ; that is, My Father is the great vine proprietor, planter, and dresser, who has originated the relation between Me, the Christ, and you. My people.' 'For God sent Christ, His Son, into the world to save it,' while the Son willingly came on this, God's errand. 1154 LIVING UNION WITH CHRIS I. In Psalm SOth, from the 8th verse, Israel is represented hy the same figure, substantially, as a single vine brought from Egypt, the ground having been prepared, which iook deep root, and filled the land, covering the moun- - tains, and sending out her branches unto the sea ; and then it was burned with fire, and cut down. And so in Isaiah, 5th chap., from the 1st verse, Israel is also represented as a vineyard in a very fruitful hill, prepared and hedged round, and planted with the . choicest vine, which had yet brought forth '' wild grapes." And in Jeremiah II., 21, God says of Israel : '* Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed : how then . art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me ? " See also Ezekiel, 19th chap., 10th verse, where God says to the same people : *'Tliy mother was like a vine in thy blood, planted by the waters " And in our text, Christ Himself claims to be the living vine-stock, or parent-plant, into which every believer on Him has been engrafted, and of which each has become a living branch. In seeking to unfold, so as to make real to you the . analogy that there is between the relation of a vine-stock and its branches, and the relation of Christ and Christians, I remark : First, that there is between a vine-stock and its branches the union, the connection of visible external support. Their connection is not a hidden thing. All the branches of the vine, or of any tree, are its visible offshoots. And the stock of the vine visibly and manifestly supports and upholds all its branches. It is plainly seen to do so by LIVING UNION WITH CHRIST. 155 •every onlooker. The beautiful spreading branches of the vine, or of any other tree that bear themselves aloft so .gracefully, nodding gently to every passing breeze, or lean upon the artificial props along which vine branches are often trained, would all fall prostrate on the earth dead, decaying things, but for the external support which the -tree gives them. And in the same way every Christian is a visible off- shoot from Christ ; and all the Church is so. And as the vine-stock supports all its branches, so does Christ support all His people ; and He is seen of all observers to do so. Their spiritual strength is visibly His strength imparted to them. As Christians, they all spring from Him at first, and they all hang upon Him for ever after. It is He alone who keeps them from falling. Without union with Christ, Christians would have no centre of union with each other, and no power of self-support. And as of Christians individually, and collectively, so of -the corporate system of Christianity. It, too, is an off- shoot from Christ. For, but for Christ, Christianity, as an organization, and a power in the world, would never "have been. And Christianity all hangs upon Christ still. That divine society, called the Church, which in its later form first sprung from Christ, and from His career on ► earth, still exists, has power, and spreads, because He manifestly supports and extends it. But the union of visible external support is not the only union that exists between a vine and its branches, nor rbetween Christ and His people. Por, secondly, there is a continual flowing of unseen 156 LIVING VNION WITH CHRIST. vitality proceeding from the vine-stock into its every living branch ; and this process both gives the branches their life, and maintains in them life, and greenness, and beauty, and fruitfulness. Anyone, looking only from the outside, can see that a vine-stock supports its branches ; but anyone cannot see the internal processes by whicli the tree's own very life circulates and extends throughout all its branches. Still that unseen process ever goes on as an essential part of the tree's inner economy. Now this diffusion of the tree's life through all its parts is far more than visible external support. The walls of this Church, or of any other building, as really uphold the roof as a tree supports • its branches. So when two pieces of wood, or stone, ar& joined together to form a pillar, the lower piece supports, and visibly supports, the higher. But their mere mechanical, local relation to each other is not the living relation of a living tree and its branches. External support is all the union that exists in these cases. There is no common life passing from the walls of the house to the roof, and from the lower j^art of the pillar to the upy)er part. But there is such a communication and receiving of life ever ■ going on between one part and another part of the same tree. And this, Christ here teaches us is the kind of union that exists between Himself and believers on Him. Their life is hid with Christ in God. Their real life is drawn from Christ, and there is a continued flowing of His life into theirs. So that it is not so much they who live, as^ Christ who lives in them. He is the soul of their soul,. LIVING UNION Wrm CHRIST. \b1 and the life of their life. They live and believe on Him, and hence they shall never die. Thirdly, but there is sameness of life between a tree and its branches, and between Christ and His people. There is not only a circulation and an interchange of life through the various parts of the tree, but there is same- ness of life, there is sameness of nature, extending all through the tree from the deepest root to the topmost branch. So far as the tree is concerned, this point would hardl}' need separate mention, much less special emphasis. But in relation to Christ and His people it is not so. He and we seem in many things so far apart, and so unlike, that this point of both having the one life calls for both mention and emphasis. For there is this sameness of life, -there is this sameness of nature in Christ and in believer.9 •on Him. The new life in us, is the same life as the life that is in 'Christ. This higher life is native, as found in Him ; it is borrowed, as found in us. It is strong and perfect in Him ; it is often weak and imperfect in as. And still it is the eame life in kind, if not in degree. The supreme affections, and desires, and aims, and purposes of Chris- "tians, are the same as those of Christ in the sense of being borrowed from Him, and only becoming ours because ihey have been His first, and because we are in living union with Him. For '* Christ was always consciously in the presence of -the Father, serving, praising," honouring, and pleasing Him. And such is the life, a life like His own, which He ^ives to them that come to Him, in order that they, too, may 158 LIVING UNION WITH CERIST. have it. This life, in and from Christ, is " a life of com- munion with God, of submission to His will, and of confidence in His love." '' The intimacy " of the union between Christ and His people is as '^ ^' if one life, one blood poured through them all." But still further : Fourthly, a vine-stock and its branches are connected' together, in a real organic oneness, and so are Christ and His Church. The vine-stock and its branches are not two separate- organisms, two distinct j)lants ; they form, when taken together, but one plant, but one vine, but one whole living thing. Not any part of the plant is complete in itself, without all the other parts. Branches alone do not form a tree or plant, nor does the stock alone form a tree,, but the union of both parts, of all the parts forms the tree. So that there are — all through the tree — but the various- parts of a common organization, and one and the same life. And so there is in like manner a real union, a manifest oneness, between Christ and believers on Him. For just as all the members of a body form but one body, and as the vine-stock, including the root and all the branches, form but one vine, so of Christ and the Church — they are one. When He says to His disciples, " I am the vine, ye are the branches," He says in effect : ' Ye, my people, are not a complete body in yourselves; ye are only a part of Me.' And as of Christ's people, so of Christ. In a very important sense Christ is not comx)lete without His Church. Personally He is, but ofiicially, mediatorially, as the head LIVISG UNION WITH CHRIST. 159 of humanity, He is not complete in Himself. The hiddeu- life of the unseen Christ, which the world would not other- wise see, now that He is no longer upon the earth, unfolds itself in the spiritual life and beauty of His Church. It is He alone who in the fullest sense is ^' the righteous" one of the first psalm, '' like a tree planted by the streams of water, that bringeth forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also doth not wither ; and whatsoever He doeth shall prosper." And every man who answers in any good measure to tlie great realit}^ set forth by this fair figure does so because he is in Christ, and abiding in Him shares His fruit fulness. And all this dejiendence of the branches uj^on the vine, and of Christians upon Christ, is api:)arent in the case of both. The union, the oneness of both the literal, and the spiritual tree can be seen. Nay, it is a oneness that cannot fail to be seen. And the other figures which are used in , the word of God, to denote this same relation between- Christ and His own redeemed, bring out the same grand central trutli, of a real close union as existing between Christ, and His people. For the Church and people of Christ are often represented . in Scripture as the kingdom of Christ. And just as both- the sovereign and his people united, form but one nation : so of Christ and His disciples — they, too, form but one nation, but one people. But you may ask me : AVliat does all this about Christ and His people truly mean without figure ? What is the spiritual reality. When St. Paul calls this mystery of Christ, and of the- Church ' great,' we may well own that it leads us beyond- -160 LIVING UNION WITH CHPdST. our depth. But I answer, tliat from the practical side the text means two things. First, that all who believe on Jesus are treated in law at once, according to His good deserts, and not according to their own evil deserts. And, secondly, the text means, that all who believe on Jesus become really like Him in personal character, and disposition, and conduct. So that men ^ marvel and take knowledge of them that they have been with Jesus,' and have caught His spirit and learnt His laws. And Christ's words, *'I am the vine, ye are the branches," are true of all who are in Him, and they are true of none besides. For all others draw their true life from some quite different source. But ''he that eateth My flesh," says Jesus, "and drinketh My blood, hath eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day." And out of this close and (nidearing union between •Christ and his people springs another important union — their union with one another. Our text unfolds this union also, though it does so indirectly. For all the branches of a tree do not directly meet and touch each other — all are not directly joined to one another ; but they all meet in a common centre, the trunk of the tree, and all join there in it, and become one. And so is it with the inter-relationship of real Christians with each other. That is often not direct. The living members of Christ are often far separated from each other in manj^ ways — as in time. For one is safe in Heaven long before the other comes upon the spiritual ^battlefield of earth. And they are often far separated in LIVING UNION WITH CHRIST. 161 space, too. One lives in the torrid zone, another lives in one of the temperate zones, and another, still, lives in one of the frigid zones, and they have never met. Or they are far separated in rank and position. One is a noble- man, and the other is a peasant. They live very different ontward lives ; and they have never met on intimate and equal terms and unburdened to each other their common faith, and hope, and love, and life. And yet it is the Holy Spirit who by regeneration " fashioneth the hearts of them" all alike. Or some of the members of Christ may be so far separated in their speculative theological opinions, or in their ecclesiastical homes, as to consider each the other ' a heretic,' a dangerous man ; so far as to keep wilfully aloof, and never to seek to know each other. Or some personal misunderstanding, which probably ought not to have arisen, and certainly ought not to have been kept up between such persons, may have kept others, who were both Christ's, asunder for years, or for life. But yet each true Christian is connected really and truly at the centre of his life with Jesus Christ, with whom each, and all other Christians are also really and truly connected. And that union with Christ is a strong, as well as a real bond with each other. This bond makes all Christians really one in spirit even on earth, whether they fuUy know it or not. For '' all good men are exceedingly alike inside." And deeper than our many important differences of view and organization as Christians : '' There is one body, and one spirit, * ^' one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all, and 162 LIVING UNION WITH CHRIST. tlirougli all, and in all." And these blessed bonds shall yet draw those who are in Christ all together in a visible^ acknowledged union, and that for ever. II. — Secondly, consider the duty of Christ's disciples in the relationship that is here unfolded. It is to ''abide" in Christ. He says, '' Abide in Me, and I in you." When the believer is engrafted into Christ, Christ becomes his only source of spiritual nourishment, and he must abide thus, keeping up the vital connection with Christ, living on Christ, living from Christ. You observe that our Lord uses the figure of the vine, and its branches, as far as the figure will carry out His ideas. But He has always the reality of the relation with His people before His mind, and would make us have the same reality before our minds also. And hence He says, ''Abide in Me," thus departing from the figure, and speaking of the reality. For a branch can do nothing to make itself abide in the vine. Not can it do anything to sever itself from the vine. These words forsake the figure of the vine, and address the personal will and conscience of believing men. For we can strive to 'abide in Christ,' or we may exercise our free will in not striving to 'abide in Him.' "Abide in Me," says Christ. There is no purely material figure there. But there is added to the figure, a personal duty held out before us in the plainest terms, and an appeal made to our freedom of will. And the very words " abide in me," carry in them what the spiritual class of persons is to which ihey are ad- dressed. " Abide in Me," says Jesus. Now, these words LIVING UNION WITH CHRIST. 163 -were manifestly addressed to those wlio were already in "Christ, and they are addressed to such still. To those who are not yet in Christ, His invitations are different. He addresses them in the words, " come unto Me," '^ believe on the Son of God." ''Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ." But not so is the order given in the text to abide in •Christ. In these words, Jesus speaks to those who are already in Him. First, and in order to see and set forth more clearly the duty of abiding in Christ, let us together look for a little .at what it is to be in Christ. To be in Christ denotes both a certain state, and a certain character. The man who is in Christ is, as to state, a justified man, and he is, as to character, a sanctified man. To return to the figure of our text, the believer on Jesus is cut off from the wild and worthless stock of nature, and by faith he is engrafted into Christ, the living vine. And just as we become united to Christ at first, and are found in Him by exercising faith on Him : so to abide in Christ, means ever to continue making Him the great object of our faith. Abiding in Christ, means a growing :faith in His work, in His character, in His doing, and dying for us ; but all as leading to a fuller faith in Himself. For He Himself is the glorious object of our faith. And thus we abide in Christ by repeating, daily and hourly, the act of faith that first made Christ ours, until faith become with us, the unbroken habit of living a lifa ■of faith upon the Son of God. 164 LIVING UNION WITH CHRIST. Secondly, the expression "abide in Me" shows that' the connection of the believer on Christ, with his Lord, is^ not an act, but a life-long connection. Christ is '' the alpha and the omega " of the spiritual life in man. '^ He is the author and the perfeoter of our faith." That which we at first receive from Christ by faith, is not a gift that never more needs to be repeated. On the contrary, we must abide in Him by receiving- daily supplies of grace, that so we may ever continue in a growing and fruit-bearing condition. In order to abide in Christ, we must abide in the daily reception and use of that divine gift which first made Him, ours, and made us, His. For our connection as Christians- with Christ is not an act, but a life. Thirdly, our text plainly implies, that the believer on Jesus has means put within his power which he may use, and ought to use, for abiding in Christ. Two of the most important means of abiding in Christ, that we may use, are even mentioned and commended to us in verse 7th: and they are first having Christ's words abiding in us, leading to the right use of prayer to Gfod and Christ. '' If \Q abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatso- ever ye will, and it shall be done unto you." What a lesson on the stud}' of the Bible, and what a promise to prayer! Here we find that our abiding in Christ, and our having Christ's words abiding in us, are closely con- nected. For we abide in Christ best when His words abide in us most. The words, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom," are in the very spirit of our text. LIVING UNION JFITIT CUEIST. 165 And then the other important means of abiding in 'Ohrist that is mentioned is prayer. For both our abiding in Christ, and our having Christ's word abiding in us, are closely connected with our receiving answers to our prayers. It is not any man and every man who may ' ask of God whatsoever he will, and find that it shall be done unto .him.' But some people may do so. And it is the man who is abiding in Christ, and who has Christ's words abiding in him, who thus asks and gets, and he alone. For God gives the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him. And every such man who is thus taught from above asks "according to God," and asking so, gets what he asks. And the true Christian being thus under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, is sure to ask for things that are, in the main, agreeable to the will of God. ^'If ye abide in Me," says Christ, ''and if My words abide in you," 'you will ask aright, and you will be answered.' So that .prayer, too, is an important means of abiding in Christ. Prayer both private and social is so. " Ask, and it shall be given you ; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you," is the promise. And social prayer has this blessed assurance from Christ : "Where two or three are gathered together in My .name, there am I in the midst of them." Christian fellowship also is a pleasing and helpful means to the same important end of abiding in Christ. We have already seen, that abiding in Christ stands vfilosely connected with success in prayer. Let us not forget this, but ' continue stedfast in prayer.' 166 LIVING UNION WITH CHRIST. Fourthly, and so does abiding in Christ stand closely connected with all spiritual good. It is with the believer on Christ, as it is with the vine-branch. It has no life or fruitfulness apart from the tree. And he has no life or fruitfulness apart from, or out of Christ. A genial atmosphere, a fruitful soil, copious and refreshing showers, and fertilizing streams and rivers — all contribute greatly to the fruitfulness of the living branch that is in the living vine, and is drawing nourishment from its life. But atmosphere, and rain, and soil, and stream, produce no fruit from the broken withered branch, that lies on the ground separated from the vine. For the branches cannot get nourishment from the fruitful earth, nor from air and stream, but through the living vine. And so is it with the soul of man, and Christ. Man's higher nature lives and grows by a living contact with Christ, not by the observance of ordinances and means of grace, out of, and apart from, Christ. The exercises of prayer and praise, the reading and preaching of God's holy word, Christian fellowship in the observance of the Lord's supper, and in much else, all these God-appointed things become real means of grace to him who is already in Christ, and is abiding in Christ. But even these divine institutions ]3rove no vital spiritual blessings to the mere professor of religion, who, while he observes them, has no living union with Christ in them. Hence, from the same religious services, the man who is in Christ retires, filled and refreshed with the goodness of God, and the man who is not in Christ, retires as- empty of spiritual good as he came. LIVING UNION WITH CHRIST, 167 Hence, under the same preaching, and in the same Church fellowship, the one person grows strong in the Lord, and the other remains stationary, or goes back and becomes twice dead. And Christ's abiding in us stands very closely connected with our abiding in Him. '' Abide in Me," he says, " and I in you." There is thus a voluntary inter-communion between Christ and His people ; and there is here a clearly implied promise of Jesus, that if we do not forsake Him, but abide in Him, He will not forsake us, but abide in us. ' Abide you in Me, and I promise you that I will abide in you ' is the force of Christ's loving words. III. — Thirdly, we have in our text the glorious results of a real abiding union with Christ, and the terrible danger of a mere profession of religion without the reality. Being in Christ, and abiding in Christ, are not mere names. " He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also to walk even as He walked." The glorious results of a living union between Christ and believers have in part appeared from the very nature of the union itself. We have seen that the believer obtains external visible support from Christ ; nay, he gets anew life from Christ, the same in kind with Christ's own life. And we have also seen that he becomes really one with Christ, as a vine and its branches are one. All this we have seen and dwelt upon. But we have to notice further, now, that this union with Christ produces important results beyond the believer himself, results which are summed up in our text in the 168 LIVING UNION WITE: CHRIST. one attractive word, fruit ! a thing which others pluck and enjoy. For you notice that our Lord selects a tree, or plant, that is not very valuable for its wood, but is very valuable for its rich, delicious, wholesome fruit. Jesus chooses a plant that its owner plants, and tends, and prunes, and nourishes, not for its worth as timber when once it has been cut down, but for its great value as a grape growing, fruit-bearing plant. Now, it is so also with the believer in Jesus Christ. One of the most important purposes for which He, destined for transplantation into celestial soil, is left in the world for a time, is that he may bear fruit that shall be to God's glory and for man's good. The design of God, the great husbandman of the moral world, in all His dealings with us Christians, is the same as the vine-dresser's design in planting and training his vines. Both seek fruit. God seeks ' the fruits of righteous- ness, which are to His own praise and glory.' And those who are in Christ, and those alone, yield such fruits. The sure result of union with Christ is always fruit, more or less abundant. And in some cases union with Christ produces much fruit. For even all the living branches of the living vine are not equally fruitful, and strong, nor alike fruitful and strong at all times. But while all genuine fruit borne by us honours God, Christ affirms, in our text, that it is in those who bear much fruit that God is especially glorified. But what is the fruit which is here spoken of ? It must, of course, be like the vine and like the branches both. There is in this fruit something that is human, and much LIVING UNION WITR CHRIST. 169 iliat is divine. We get in Galatians V., 22, a list of some of the fruits of union with Christ. For this is a yine ■^'bearing twelve manner of fruits," and all are super- naturally good. For " the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long- suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, -temperance." Enough of this kind of fruit would make -the world to bloom as the Paradise of Grod. The fruit that is first named in the list is "love." 'For it is Christ's new commandment that His disciples should love one another.' * And by this all men are to know them for His.' For '' love is of God;" and love is mighty for good. Love has •done much for humanity, and it can do much more. ^' Above all things put on love, which is the bond of perfectness." Love, divine and human, ' shed abroad in human hearts,' .and ruling human lives, is what the world most needs to heal its many wounds and woes, and give it health and joy. And the love of man to man, as well as the love of man to Grod, is a fruit of union with Christ. Another 'fruit of the spirit,' or, what is the same thing, a fruit of 'abiding in Christ,' is ''joy." "But if any man Jiath not the spirit of Christ, he is none of His." " For the joy of the Lord is our strength," as His people. 'The ■disciples of Jesus are always glad when they see their Lord.' And joy is a sure fruit of union with Christ. And "peace," too, is another such fruit. " Peace I leave with you," said Jesus to His disciples ; " My peace I give unto you." "Let the peace of God rule in your Jiearts." And this peace, which is a fruit of union with 170 LIVING VNION WITH CHRIST. Christ, is "the peace of God which passeth all under- standing." And so is *' long suffering " a fruit of union with Christ. " And we exhort you, brethren," says Paul, ^' * " be long suffering toward all." And so we read: " Put on there- fore, as God's elect, holy, and beloved, a heart of compas- sion, kindness, humilty, meekness, long suffering;, forbearing one another, and forgiving each other, if any man have a complaint against any ; even as the Lord for- gave you, so also do ye." This grace, too, is learnt in the school of Christ. And so is " gentleness." " Now I, Paul, myself intreat you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ." '' For as many of 3'ou as were baptised into Christ did put on Christ." Another fruit of this union with Christ is "goodness." Paul writes thus to the Pomans, who were believers on Jesus : ' ' And I myself also am persuaded of you, my bre- thren, that ye yourselves are full of goodness." But this goodness was not native to them or to any. It, too, was a fruit of union with Christ. And so is " faith." "For we walk by faith, not by sight," says one speaking for all Christians. "Faith is counted for righteousness." " AVe are saved by faith." We are exhorted to " put on the breast-plate and shield of faith and love." We are called on " to fight the good fight of the faith." For "without faith it is impossible to be well pleasing unto God." " And this is the victory that hath overcome the world, even our faith." 'And it is by faith that God cleanses our hearts.' And another fruit LIVING UNION WITH CHRIST. Ill of this uniou with Christ is ''meekness." And ''blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." Another fruit of union with Christ is "temperance." And the Christian, as a " man that striveth in the- games," whose goal is glory, must be "temperate in all things." And while all these, and many such like fruits, grow in greater or lesser abundance on all the living branches which are found in Christ, the living vine ; you may as soon look for ripe grapes growing in the open air among the frosts and snows of Greenland, as you may look out of Christ, the true vine, for such excellent fruits of the Spirit as those upon which we have been looking. Let me again remind 3'ou of what our Lord here tells us, that God is not fully satisfied, or much glorified, with fruit in us without regard to its amount as well as its equality. Our Heavenly Father seeks and expects much fruit.' But there is oftentimes much wandering awaj^ from Christ among believers on Him, and hence there is but little fruit in them. It is by nearness to Jesus, it is by abiding in Him, that we are able to bring forth much fruit. From being in Christ comes fruit ; and from abiding in Christ comes much fruit. For in proportion to the intimacy and the constancy of our union with Christ, will be our preparedness to bear much fruit, and so to glorify God, and to bless our fellow-men. And, on the other hand, the text warns us against the terrible dangers of a mere profession of religion without the realit}- : or, in other words, against the danger of not abiding in Christ. ;J72 LIVING UNION WITH CHRIST. " For apart from Me," says Jesus, separated from Me,- " ye can do notliing." " As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine ; so neither can ye, -except ye abide in Me." For as dependent as the branches of a vine are upon the parent stock for life, growth, and f ruitf ulness, so dependent are believers upon Christ for their life, gro^Ytll, and fruit- fulness. I do not understand Christ to say in our text that a man may be a living branch in Him at one time, and then 'become withered, and be burned as a useless thing. The life that Christ gives is everlasting life. But I take it that He speaks here as often, according to appearances. The withered and unfruitful branches which are spoken of in the text, are probably all professors of religion who are not its possessors ; all who are in Christ by profession and appearance and outward con- nexion, but not in Him by a real living unicm. As, for ■example, the Jewi!«;h Church generally in the days of Christ, who were cut off from Him by their own act, but still were really cut off: for they were only withered branches, the Gentiles being grafted into Christ in their place. And all professing Christians who are not living members of Christ, are only withered branches of Him. First we shall notice the description, that is here given of these withered branches, and then their doom. For the professor of Christianity who is not in Christ is withered and fruitless. I need not ask you if you ever saw such a withered professor of religion? For alas ! alas ! how many withered professors have we all seen ; how many do we LIVIXG UNION WITH CHRIST. \1^ still see ? And all from this cause tLat is named in the- text, they are not in Christ, and abiding in Him ; but they are separate from Christ, they are apart from Him. They are in the visible church, and they seem to be in Christ ; . but they begin to wither, and the withering process goes on, and that visible decay betrays, even to the eyes of men^ that they are separate from Christ, and without the divine- life of grace. Observe some of the signs of one being only a withered professor of religion. The visible signs of people being withered, fruitless- professors of religion, generally begin with their devotions • and not in public prayer, but in the closet. The flame of devotion begins to become weak, and languid, and low in the closet. And then when the spiritual affections have become cold, such private devotions become irregular and infrequent, and by-and-bye they are often or quite - neglected. And then the conduct of devotion in the family becomes manifestly heartless and formal. And then public worship itself becomes a weariness, and attendance- upon it irregular. And then the man's religious efforts become languid and relaxed. He gives up many or most of his former efforts to 'grow in grace,' and to save souls. Instead of doubling his diligence in the way and work oi the Lord, as he sees the day of reckoning approaching, he halves his diligence, and then lessens it still more, and soon stands still. And then in due time his own personal character manifestly suffers in all ways. His walk before God and^ 174 LIVING UNION WITH CUF.IST. man becomes less watchful, tender, and faultless tlian before. He does not keep the Sabbath holy, as he once did. He becomes more fond of worldly amusements, and less fond of religious services than once. And in time all this often appears visible, even to the men of the world. As in the case of Judas Iscariot, who, though an Apostle of our Lord, came at the last to be known by all his contemporaries, and has been known since by all the ages, as only a withered, fruitless branch of Christ, the vine. But whether the real character of such a withered professor be seen and known by men or not, the fact is : That such useless branches, such fruitless professors, are known unto Clod and reserved unto burning. As men first cast away the withering, fruitless branches of fruit trees, and then gather them together and make firewood of them, and burn them : so does God cast forth and reject, and then gather for destruction, those whose religion is only a withered, empty, fruitless profession. You remember that the word of God in the first Psalm says '' the wicked are like the chaff which the wind driveth away," in the day of trial. They are light and worthless. And here in our text they are compared to worthless, withered branches of fruit trees, ready to be gathered together and burnt up as firewood. These are figurative expressions, no doubt, but no unreal, empty figures come from the mouth of God, and of Christ ; and the reality meant by them must be some- thing inexpressibly awful. '' Can thine heart endure, or can thine hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal LIVING UNION WITH CHRIST. 175 -with thee ? I, the Lord, have spoken it, and will do it." Are there any here present who are consciously not in ■Christ ? Any who have no personal experience of the soul-renewing truth of my text ? Are there any here who are only withered branches of Christ, fruitless professors ? or who do not even profess to be in Christ, and are not in Him ? Why is this so ? And of whom here is this terrible thing true ? Let each one of us urge the ques- tion, ''Is it I, Lord ?" on Him who knows us as we are, ;and can let us see ourselves aright. In conclusion, we learn that life is essential to religion, and so is also growth. All the branches of a fruit tree need not be of the same size, but for fruit, all must be living. And we are specially taught how we may glorify Grod. It is by bearing much fruit. The text urges self-examination on us all, lest any of us ' should be nothing to Christ. And this text explains many of our afEictions, trials, and sorrows. In and by them the great husbandman is 'cleansing every branch that beareth fruit, that it may bear more fruit.' He means no less good, and no less kind an issue b}^ our afflictions than that. Let us therefore not shrink too readily from the uplifted pruning-shears that are wielded by the hand of love, with the design of obtaining from us, for our Lord's glory, more and better fruit. X. ETERNAL LIFE IN CHRIST. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth " [on Me] "hatb eternal life." — Joiix VI., 47. THE Bible contains no deeper truths regarding the- relation of the Lord Jesus Christ to humanity than some of the utterances contained in this chapter ; and alL are from His own lips, 4nto which grace was poured, lips that keep and disperse the knowledge of Grod.' As an example, he says, in the words that follow our- text and explain it, '' I am the bread of life." 'I am the true manna which came down from Heaven.' And^ again, ^' I am the resurrection and the life." And here- in our text he says, in substance, 'lam not only the life,, but the life-giver.' The subject of this morning's discourse was given meas- a magazine article by a friend now in glory — the Eev. Hobert Spence, M.A., of Dundee — who named it ''Eternal life the present possession of the believer in Jesus." And. in turning the subject that he appointed me into a sermon, with bowed head I lovingly beckon my sorrowful, yet congratulatory, adieu to him who is gone. " Servant of God, well done." Thou hast gone^ before; we are aU. ETERNAL LIFE IN CHRIST. 177 following, '' but each in his own order." However, we who are in Christ all go to the fulness of life that is in God, and in glorv. I speak then of life; for Jesus says, '* Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believetli" [on Me] ^' hath eternal life." So that eternal life is not only some- thing to be hoped for, and waited and longed for, though in its perfection and fulness it is so. But this life in Chi'ist is not all to come. It is both now, and it is to come. It begins here, but it ends never. It is something- to be possessed, experienced, and enjoyed now, not fully, yet in part, and really. I — The great theme that our text opens up on this occasion is life— life in the highest sense. What an over- flowing fulness of meaning there is in that short word life ! But what then is this highest form of life, which is called by Christ Himself eternal life ? Nay, let us ask first of all : What is life ? What is any form of life ? No one can tell by strict definition what life is. All life is a mystery, "hid in God," the great Author and Giver of life. Or, it science and philology will not own life to bo a mystery, yet both theology and philosophy, looking deeper, readily own that life is a great mystery. Life overflows all the banks of scientific definition, and floods, the universe everywhere as a great all-abounding mystery^ whose solution is hid in God. The Bible contains no deeper word, nor thing, than the word, and what it means, life. For all life brings us very near to Him who is the great central mystery of the- universe — who is both the Living One and the life-giver^ in whom '^ we live, move, and have our being." 178 ETERNAL LIFE IN CLIRIST. It matters little to our present purpose what life is to scientific definition. Here it concerns us much more to tnow what, and how much, life is to sentiment, to the social affections, and to religion. If we cannot define, we can 3^et name some of the most characteristic elements and features of life ; and we can see its forms of organi- zation, and perceive its growth. We can see many of its ■workings, we can describe many of its outgoings, if we cannot see itself. We can describe living creatures as organized, capable of movement and of growth, and so forth. We can seo the workings of life, if we cannot see life itself. The living move, and breathe, and act ; the rompted the unwilling Jacob to steal away Esau's blessing. And Esau, I fear, was not sorry that the prospect olfered of soon making their mother also, to suffer in Jacob's punishment. Esau was the unwise child of impulse and passion, a strange compound of anger and love, revenge and generosity. And he was too impulsive, and at this time too angry, to keep his own dark secret for long. Such a secret must have weighed very heavily on such a mind. And sore burdened as he must have been, we find out that he uttered his evil intentions to someone, as an angry boast, it may be=.- •j218 A LOOKING BACKWARD THAT At any rate, the dark secret once uttered, Tvas whispered about until the quick and watchful ear of EeLekah caught the ill rumour ; and once warned, her sharp eye soon saw in Esau sufficient proof of its truth. And she, who was far from a helpless woman, acted promptly, and was glad to hurry her beloved favourite, Jacob, away from his home and hers, out of her sight and bej'ond her reach, in order that he might escape the infuriated Esau. It was to Ttebekah a sad issue of all her seemingly successful -scheming. And though she flattered not only herself, but also Isaac and Jacob, with the fond hope that his absence would be •short, she calls the expected time ''afewda3^s until thy brother's fury turn away ; " yet Jacob's absence proved twenty long years, and she saw him no more in this world. Both mother and son were severely punished for their •sinful meddling t(3 guide the unerring hand of providence. And in that severe punishment to them both — Jacob's ^ enforced absence from home, and the separation for life by this means of mother and son, fondly attached as they were — they might well read, were meant to do so, and I hope they did read, their own sin in too much meddling to secure their own future. For God most manifestly ' made their own wickedness to correct them, and their back-slidings to reprove them, in order that they might know and see that it is an evil thing and a bitter that they had forsaken the Lord their God.' Jacob goes from home at once ; he goes without prepar- ation, he goes alone, that he may the more surely go PREPABES FOR GOING FORIVARD. 219 without Esau's knowledge. And on his way from home, and apparentl}' the fii-st night, Jacob slept in the ox^en air, and dreamed. You remember the place and the circumstances. '^ Jacob went out from Beer-sheba, and went toward Haran. And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set." And though Jacob had been up to this time 'a plain,' or quiet 'man, dwelling intents,' he has for this evening no shelter for his head. '^ And he took one of the stones of the place, and put it under his head, and lay down in that place to sleep. And he dreamed," no common earthly dream, the natural product of his anxious heart and sad circumstances. But he dreamed a supernatural dream that looked up as high as Heaven, and reached forward until all the families of the earth had been blessed in his seed. It was then and there that Jacob saw that wonderful ladder set up on the earth which stretched away upward, and connected Heaven and earth, and on ^vhich he saw the angels of God ascending and descending, and above which the Lord stood and spake to him. Mark the immediate, and the great effects of this eventful dream. For we read : '* And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not. And he was afraid, and said : How dreadful is this place ! this is none other but the House of God, and this is the gate of Heaven. And Jacob rose up earl}-- in the morning, and took the stone that he had put under his head, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it. And he called the name of that place 220 A LOOKING BACKIVARD THAT Beth-el," 'the House of God,' and vowed to God to be God's- for all the time to come, and to love and serve Him only. And so Jacob rose up, and went on his way with new thoughts, and new feelings, and new resolves — in truth, a new man, in much. But that was twenty years before the- time when God spake to Jacob in the words of our text. And Jacob had known many changes during that long time. For next day after his memorable dream he rose up and went on from Beth-el, staff in hand : and God- protected him, and guided him to his desired destination, the house of Laban, his mother's brother, in Paddan-aram. There he was well received, and lived usefull}^, and on the whole happily, for many years. He loved EaeheL much, and was beloved in return. But he was himself cruelly deceived by Laban in the delicate and vitally important matter of his marriage, just as he had deceived.^ his father and brother, and wounded them, in matters that were also very important. And as the result of this- gross deception, Jacob was married unhappily to Leah, whom he loved but little ; but he was also married hapj)ily to his own much-loved Rachel. He had a large family. And after many struggles with the greedy, selfish Laban for wages, and for general justice, he saw resting down upon the face of his father-in-law the settled look of anger and dissatisfaction growing into dislike. So that this is a time of great darkness and trouble to Jacob. But in his need God visits him, speaks to him, and brings to him light, direction, and hoj^e. I take to do at present with only one part of God's- important communications to Jacob— that part which i£> PREPARES FOR GOING FORIVARD. '221 ^contained in the 13tli verse : ''I am the God of Beth-el, where thou anoiiitedst a pillar, where thou vowedst a vow unto me : now arise, get thee out from this land, and return unto the land of thy nativity." From which I remark : I. That almost all men have, like Jacob, consciously met with God at some time of their life. II. At such times, and in such meetings, such persons have done as Jacob did. They have prayed, and praised, and promised, and vowed to God. III. God reminds us in this text that He remembers all such meetings with us, and He speaks in it to recall them to us, as to Jacob. IV. As God reminded Jacob of the past, in order to stir him up to the performance of a present duty, so God in this text, and in many waj^s, is reminding us of the past, and still speaking to us, to command our immediate performance of present duty. You will notice that this is the kind of sermon of which -the hearers must bring the larger part with them. The preacher on such a theme can hope to do no more than, under divine guidance, by stray touches to unlock the hearers' treasures of memory and of conscience. Preaching some kinds of sermons may be compared to the one part of the process in which the monster steamship, the Great Eastern, was some years ago engaged, when she left the shores of Britain for America. Her first office, after taking on board the Atlantic cable, was to sail across the ocean gradually paying out the cable that she had on board as she went on. So, I say, in some sermons, our design is to 222 A LOOKING BACKWARD THAT -give out on some topic, all that we have at hand that is- best, or all that our hearers will take in. We are givers- at such times. But the Great Eastern had another, and also an important, work to do, to which the intention of other sermons may be compared. That other process which she- also accomplished was fishing up from the bottom of the sea the lost cable of a former year. And this last is the- kind of sermon that I seek to preach this evening, with a like design. The process that I attempt at present is not to tell you anything directly of my own religious ex- perience, but to help you to grapple up, recover, and use, if I may, some of the lost, forgotten, submerged lines of your own experience, in the hope that the remembrance of some past may be the very thing that is most fitted to stir you up to present duty. I am a fisher to-night in the sea of 3'our past experience. I. — And the first plunge that I venture to take into the- wide ocean of your experience is to affirm : That almost all men have consciously met with God at some time of their life. Nay, all of you, or almost all of you, I doubt not, have done so. Jacob did at Beth-el. Jacob was not an earnestly godly man in his early days, if he was godly at all. Jacob was not manifestly a spiritually changed man when he left home at this time. If he was really a godly man then,- his character was most faulty and ill-shaped. But he had on his way to Paddan- aram, as we have seen, a wonderful meeting with God, and a wonderful dream. Yes, Jacob had real intercourse with God Himself on PREPARIlS fop going forward. 223* that memorable night at Beth-el. That broad ladder, or rather terrace, that he saw stretching across the sky and joining Heaven and earth, connected Jacob, as he had never been before, with God and angels and Heaven : he heard. and saw spiritual objects in his dream with a quickened interest, and he awoke a new man. And why not ? " For God speaketh once, yea twice, though man re- gardeth it not. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth ux)on men, in slumberings uj)on the bed." And he speaks not always in vain. For we further read: " Tlien He openeth the ears of men, and- sealeth their instruction, that He may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man." I do not mean to say that Jacob was converted to God in his sleep. But I do mean that he may have had his first real soul-awakening meeting with God in sleep, and seems to have had. Jacob had, it would seem, his first soul-trans- ■ forming view and thoughts of God in sleep by a dream. And this meeting with God of Jacob when he was- asleep. seems to have led to his conversion when he was- awake. I believe that he had got from God in sleep a solu- tion of the doubts, and difficulties, and burdens, and fears, and sorrows of the previous claj-, and of days past. So much for Jacob at present. Now, almost all men, I believe, have, like Jacob, con- sciously met with God at some time or other of their lives, and been made to feel that He is, and that He is very near- to us ; and that He is the God with whom we have to do. This awakened sense of God, may have been experienced; by some of yow when you first left a godly home,. and went '224 A LOOKING BACKIVARD THAT . out into the world with its manifold temptations. This is a testing time. And to the young person who has enjoyed all the privileges of such a home without deciding for God, removal from home sometimes seems to say : ' Take your evil, godless way now without restraint, and reap its fruits, since you will prefer the way of sin to the way of God.' But the real danger of the new position being realized, not seldom through God's mercy, leads th(^ wisely alarmed soul to God. So that many, like Jacob, have left a godly home un- converted to meet with God at, or soon after that time, and to be converted to Him. Others of you may have had a first real meeting with God at the death-bed of some near and dear relative or friend, whether the friend has been godly or ungodly, and ■the lesson been, 'let me die such a death, or let me not ' When you lost your dearest earthly friend, and needed ■more than ever before an object to love, then God came near to j^ou, and revealed Himself to you as the best of friends, and revealed Jesus as ' the brother born for ad- versity,' and so God won your heart for Himself. Others of you may have really met with God first, in some great sorrow, or disappointment, or disaster, or bereavement. You then for the first time felt, in good earnest that you needed a comforter, a portion, and an inheritance more enduring than the world could give ; and you sought and found that lasting joy and treasure in God Himself, the true portion of the human soul, the true home, shield, and reward of all His people. PREPARES EOR GOING FORWARD. 225 Others here may have had such a real meeting with God ■after some great sin had been committed, and its bitter remorse felt. You then first felt the need of a saviour from sin. Before, you were wise in your own esteem. Till then j'ou were the whole that did not need a physician. Then when you had plainly, it may be foully, fallen, you felt your hurt, you became conscious of your soul-sickness, and first betook yourself to the great physician. Others here may have had such a conscious meeting with God when you were exposed to some great, visible danger. You then saw that you needed a deliverer from danger ; and 3'ou sought and found in God the true deliverer from all dangers, seen and unseen, present and future. And others of jou may have trul}^ met with God under some living, breathing, searching sermon, that singled 3^ou out, every word of which seemed spoken to you, and fitted for your case — just fitted for yourself alone, as much as if you only had been addressed. You then felt -that God Himself, not the preacher only, was speaking to you in very deed. And others of you, it may be, truly met with God by the means of some good, wise word, fitly spoken in private by some child of God. It is just as likely that the God- sent, God-owned word was spoken by some humble, obscure instrument of God's love, who had been watching iu prayer for you, as by one who was eminent in the Church. The word was from God more than from man, and proved a word in season to your soul. Some others of you, it may be, betook yourselves to -earnest prayer ; and while you prayed God heard, 226 A LOOKING BACKWARD THAT answered, and visited you. Almost ' before yoii called? God answered, and while you were yet speaking He* heard.' Gcd met others of you as you were devoutly reading and searching your Bibles ; and He, God in Christy showed Himself to be the treasure hid in the field, the- pearl of great price, for which one may safely sell all that he has. Another can trace the beginning of religious concern to nothing else than a train of thought, whence arising you cannot say, or j'ou do not remember. "I just began to think," was a young man's laconic account given to me, and more than once repeated in the- same words, of the genesis of his religious thought and life, when I questioned him as to what had awaked his religious interest. And the answer was good. For some of you may not have got so far as to think much about God and the soul. But it is little matter which of all these experiences was your first experience of religious concern ; or if in some- quite other wa}', less usual you obtained the experience which I have spoken of, if you really had it. That is the- vital point. But the effect, if you have had such an experience, was to bring God near to you, and your heart near to God. But I cannot grapple up from your past an experience^ that you never had. If you know no such experience of God being near to you as I have been speaking of, you will hardly understand what I mean by all that I have- said. PREPARES FOR GOING FORWARD. 227 But if you have met with God, and in His presence had the eternal world unveiled to j'ou, had sin brought home to your conscience, death brought near, and judgement and eternity made most real, then you will understand quite well what I am now saying. You, too, will go back to some hour, or spot, or event, or exercise that brought God very near, and opened Heaven to you, which reproves your present state. But you must bring the personal experience for which I have been casting the net. I cannot give you that ; I can only try to recall something of what has been, to arouse within you sacred memories that may have been slumbering, but are not yet dead. II. — All who have had such meetings with God have at such times done in sj^irit as Jacob did. Those of you who have had such meetings with God as Jacob had, and as I have been describing, have done in substance, if not in form, as Jacob did at Beth-el. AVhat things did Jacob do and say ? He '' took the stone that he had put under his head, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it. And he called the name of that place Beth-el." And he vowed a vow to God : To take Him, the Lord, for his God, to be His, and to love and serve Him. His stone pillow he erected into a pillar as a monument of God's goodness in visiting him, and as a memorial of God's presence with him that night. And Jacob anointed the pillar. For oil was much used in sacrifices, and in consecrations ; and it had a deep religious meaning. The reality pointed at by the pouring- of the holy oil in Scripture is the descent of the Holy 228 A LOOKING BACKJVARD THAT Spirit. And Jacob vowed to God. That is, lie promised to be God's, not his own, and to serve God. And in particular he promised to make Luz, 'the place of meeting,^ into Beth-el, ' the house of God.' Thus Jacob did three things. He expressed a deep-felt sense of God's goodness to him. He next did God present service and worship. And then he made solemn promise and entire surrender of himself, and his, unto God for the future. And you, mj^ hearers, if you have ever met with God, you also, I am sure, did likewise. You confessed something to God — your sins, your unworthiness. And you did some- thing to God : you rendered Him a present worship and service. And you promised something to God for the future. It is the practical atheism of not realizing who God is, and how near to us He is, that makes men irreligious. The sinner cannot realize God as living and near, and yet say and do nothing to please Him. Nay, the convinced sinner, when he really feels himself in God's presence, must worship Him. As soon as he believes that God is, he becomes in earnest in his intercourse with God. The man then feels it to be either a most dreadful or a most delightful thing to be in God's presence ; but he is no longer indifferent to God. When you, my friend, found yourself in this state, perhaps you turned to your Bible, jowr too much neglected Bible, and began to read and study it with new interest, as the work of a living author concerning you. You bowed the knee to God in prayer, though you had been prayer- PREPARES FOR GOING FORWARD. 229 less before. Or if you had not been absolutely prayerless before, yet instead of tlie lifeless form which had satisfied you formerly, you now really poured out yoiu' heart before the Lord. Instead of often neglecting the House of God as you did before, you now waited on public worship and the preach ing of the gospel regularly. Or if you had been regular in your attendance before, you now heard the glad tidings of mercy with new interest ; ' you received the word with joy.' You forsook also many evil things and ways of which you had been guilty before. You shed tears of godly sorrow for sin. You were in deep earnest in seeking salvation. And it maj' be that you, like Jacob, gave the place, and the time, and the experience a name. You called the place the House of Grod, and the time and the experience your conversion to God. Y'ou gave some solemn religious name to the experience of that time and place. You professed to accept of Christ as your Saviour, and to surrender yourself, soul, body, and spirit to His service. And you then and there raised some pillar, some memorial stone, and promised never to forget what had occurred. That was years ago, it ma}' be. And at such a time you doubtless, like Jacob, vowed to God ; and whether you now remember your vow to God or not, it was doubtless recorded in Heaven. You promised to renounce r^l sin, and to live a holy life. You promised to God that neither the prevailing theories, nor the ordinary jiractices of men, but His revealed will, as you read it in His word, should rule and regulate your 230 A LOOKING BACKWARD TEAT life. Nay, only God and you know how much you promised, how far you went in ' opening your mouth to the Lord.' But this I may safely affirm, that all of you who have really met with God, vowed some vow to Him. And He heard it, and hears it still as distinctly as when you were making it. We may change, but He changes not. We may forget our vows to Him, but He never does. There are spots of earth where in the open air, and in (Solitude, or in the House of God, or in the closet in prayer, or in intercourse with some man of God, very solemn things were said and done between God and you, things like what passed between Jacob and God at Beth-el. But we further learn from our text, that : III. — God not only remembers all such meetings that we have had with Him, but He often reminds us, as He did Jacob, of them ; and He does so with us, this day, in this text. God says to us to-day as He did to Jacob in our text : 'Look back and remember the past.' Our text says to us now : * God saw your memorial stone when you set it up, and He sees it now, for it still stands unchanged in His sight.' Yes, He ever sees all our memorial stones. He has seen your pillar of the past all the time that you have been walking away from it, and, it may be, forgetting it quite. I do not know how it has been with you all. But we learn that Jacob too much forgot this solemn, sacred hour and place. He too much forgot both his own hallowed impressions, and his own sacred promises. PREPARES FOR GOING FORWARD. 231 There were strange gods in Paddan-aram, and Jacob igot so familiarized to them as to permit their presence in his own family. And he was not quite free from the charge of using doubtful arts to increase his substance. The process of ^ diamond cut diamond ' soon goes beyond honest cleverness, when an honest man honestly tries it against such a man as Laban. It might be a hard question to answer : whether Jacob had gone backward or forward in spiritual things after the lapse of twenty years. And there can be no question at all, but that he should have made far more of twenty years •given him to grow in grace than he had done. And hence it was that' though all God's spiritual promises to Jacob centred in Canaan, and his return there, ^God needed to remind him of it, and came to remind him ■of the i)ast at Beth el, with the promises concerning Canaan which were linked to it, which he had too much forgotton. Jacob needed God's prompting by event and word to send him back to Canaan. He would not if Beth-el had been nearer his heart. And so may you have forgotten the past, that you ought •most to have remembered. Your goodness may have been ''as a morning cloud, and as the dew that goeth earl}- away." You may have been only a stony ground hearer, in whom the truth has taken no deep root. Or you may have proved a back-slider. Or you may have begun to be religious in your own strength, not in God's ; and so you have soon halted, and declined. But now God this day in this text reminds you of the past. It was God who sreminded Jacob of his past acts and words, of his too much 232 A LOOKING BACKWARD THAT forgotten past religious exj^eriences and deliverances,- saying, '' I am the God of Beth-el, where thou anointedst a pillar, where thou vowedst a vow unto Me." God says, 'You remember saying of Beth-el, "surely the Lord is in this place." I am the same God as I was> then, when you felt Me to be so near, and so great, and My presence to be so solemn. I have been the same all the time since we met at Beth-el, and I am the same now. Are you the same to Me still ? I remember all that passedi just as it was ; do you ? ' It may be that God is saying to some of us : ' No, youi have forgotten Me, and you have forgotten your own past experiences ; and I am come to remind you that I am the- Lord, and change not. I am come to carry you back, as I did Jacob, to the experiences of that night when you most vividly realized My presence and claims, and when you surrendered yourself to Me by solemn vows.' And so God comes to remind each of you, my hearers, this evening, in this text, by my mouth, of some past in your experience. God is telling you by my lips that He is as near to you now as you once saw Him to be, and as great, and as holy, and as good, and as rich in mercy, and as willing to save, and as terrible to the workers of iniquity. ' I am,' says Jehovah, ' the God of that past time as really as of this present time ; and of this as of that. Go back to the hour when you left home, and met Me ; or to that solemn death-bed where you met Me ; or to that great sorrow ; or to that great sin from which I lifted you ; or to that searching sermon in which I spoke to you ; or to that most PEJEPARES FOR GOING FORWARD. 233- aifec'ting Bible reading where we met ; or to that real outpouring of your heart in prayer which I heard. And know that all that you then saw Me, and felt Me to be, I am still.' " I am the God of Beth-el." Thus God conies to us all this evening. And how much we all need to be reminded of the past — of the good that was in the past, as well as of the bad I And it is of the good in the past, not of the bad, that our text reminds us — of the best, not of the worst. Are you sorry for much in your past, my friend ? It is well. Godly sorrow is needed by us all in view of much- in the past. And I would not, by a single iota undo the force of your jjenitent feeling for the faulty past. But I would recall your noblest and holiest past, and carry you back to it. What I would fain do now, is to add to penitence for the wrong past a deeper penitence on account of the wrong present. "With all that may be amiss in our past, and ought to be mourned over, are there no parts of that past which ought to make us much ashamed of this present ? Is there in our religious history no past that is better than the present, or at least relatively better ? Better, taking the date into account ? A past that was more promising than the present ? is a past that promised a better future than we have yet reached, and promised it soon ? Are you all satisfied with your own present, when you compare it with the best j)age in your past history ? God nieans in the text : That Jacob's Beth-el experiences and doings shamed the experiences and doings of his later r234 A LOOKING BACKWARD THAT life. Is it so with 3^ou ? Do any past experiences of yours : shame your present experiences of things divine ? And does any past course of action for God shame your present course of action ? IV. — Well, God still speaks to us in this text, and in many other ways, and commands us to arise to the per- formance of present duty ; it may be of some specific duty. God spoke so to Jacob. He said : '* Now arise, get -thee out from this land, and return unto the land of thy nativity." This was the present duty to which Jacob was imperatively called by God. And the meaning of the divine command was this : * I am the God of Beth-el, who met j^ou there on your leaving home, who promised you guidance and pro- tection on your journe}^, and afterwards ; and I have fulfilled My part of the engagement thus far. You know something of what I have done for j'ou. And now I am about to complete My promise of bringing you into your own Canaan. This is the promise that I made to you twenty years ago, when you were fleeing from Canaan, and saw no way of return. And now I say to you : Arise, get thee out of this land, and return to that. Do you still foresee danger from Esau ? Yet confide in Me now, and obey Me by going back at once. My time for your return is come, and all the dark and painful • events that tend to drive you from Paddan-aram, I intend as sails and oars urging you away from here, and wafting you thither — I intend them all as finger-posts, plainly -pointing you away to the Canaan of my past promises.' PREPARES FOR GOING FORWARD. 285 Well, so much for Jacob. But what is our duty, one and all, in this retrospect that I have been seeking to help us all to take ? It must be to awake up and arise to the ^performance of some neglected duty, or duties, and to the better performance of all our duties. *'Soul ^' * "^^ take thine ease, eat, drink, be merry," are not God-given words. ''Thou foolish one," is God's description of the man who -f30 speaks. The words " soul, take thine ease," are not fit for saint or sinner. Not in this world of tremendous spiritual peril, where the soul must be saved or lost, where the good fight of faith must be fought and won, can souls wisely and safely take their ease. Nay, the words, 'Now .arise, gird up the loins of your mind,' well describe the present duty of all here. But to what shall we arise? you say. The duty may mot be the same to us all. Doubtless it is not the same to us all. It may be to some of us, to seek the Lord, and thus -to fulfil a promise made to Him years ago, but not yet per- formed. Is that not the special duty of some who are here? But others, it may be, have gone further than to -promise to serve God. One such saj^s : ' I; like Jacob, did sacrifice to God. I sought the Lord, and thought that I had found Him. I thought that I both loved and served Him. But that is years ago. And I have practically forgotten my past agonised experiences and earnest promises both. They are almost strange to me now, when in my present comparative indifference I try to recall them. What a declension from God, and from godliness, I have 'been guilty of ! I have back-sliden from God. I have -been asleep in sin and wordliness.' 236 A LOOKING BACKIVARD THAT Well, I say in God's name, Arise now. It is not too late to be saved. God has spared you in the land of the living until now, and in the place of hope ; and He yet waits to be gracious unto you. '' Behold, now is the acceptable time ; behold, now is the day of salvation." The duty of others here may be to seek a deeper piety. You live to God, but you are not strong, earnest, and fervent. 'Arise: grow in grace.' But the immediate duty of others here may be different still. No matter what the special duty that God and your own past ex- perience are laying on youv conscience, my texts peaks to you also. It says, ' Arise.' "What is your state of mind, one and all? The text is for you, whatever it be. Does anyone say: "Well, my state of mind is utter indifference to spiritual things." I answer : A very bad state indeed. But let me ask now : To what, and to whom are you utterly indifferent ? Do you say : To God, and to things divine ? Well, I answer : If it be so, you are, and must be much to blame for that indifference. If you are indifferent to God it must arise from ignorance of Him, ignorance of who He is, and of what He is, and of what He can do. You cannot be indifferent to God, you dare not be indifferent to God, if you know Him, who He is, and what He can do, and how completely you are in His power, as an abiding realized knowledge. I might venture to challenge you to a daily and an earnest study of what the Bible says about God, and to assure you that if you will stand in such a light, jowy indifference will not long con- tinue. You are not indifferent to your own happiness,. PREPARES FOR GOING FORWARD. 237 and cannot be so. Nor can you be indifferent to God, in whose hands all your happiness is, if you know Him, and if you really believe that your well-being is entirely de- pendent upon Him, and on 3'our standing in right relations to Him. But that is not at all my state of mind, says another. My state of mind is despair, hopelessness, dark, dismal, leaden-eyed despair. But why should you despair, I ask? Where did you learn this godless mood of mind ? God does not teach jou that view of your relations to Himself. Look to the cross of Calvary. It teaches us quite another lessen than despair. Look there, and love, hope, and live. See Jesus the Saviour there. He is willingly doing, even to the death. His saving work on that painful, shameful cross. Saved men and women, the trophies of His mercy, are around the cross mourning His earth to the temple on high: 'Faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, love of the brethren^. and love.' And from this last step of the terrace, love,. THE LAWS OF SPIRITUAL PEOGIIESS. 2G7 not a little of Heaven's interior glories become visible to the single-^ncl purified eye. The interlinking of past progress with present progress is very close. One spiritual victory helps to another. The man who conquers one of his own evils is doubly armed to encounter and root out the next. For he knows how victor}' over evil is gained, and he has felt the pure joy that follows such victor}". And as it is of the war with inward, evil j)ropensities so is it of the war with outward temptations. Experience of victory is one great element of strength for this war. Do you point me to painful facts, and say : That it is seldom so with professed Christians ; that often they do not seem to advance, often they do not seem to grow stronger. It may be so with many, and it may be so even with some of you. Painful experience as well as accurate observation may dictate your objection. No matter, our text is true, and the explanation of the sad facts is simple. If it be so, have we been righteous and kept our hands clean ? Have we really tried to progress in goodness ? Surely not. If we hirv'e halted or gone back, may we not all discover when our growth in spiritual strength stopped, and from what cause '? I am sure we shall not inc[uire earnestl}', as a matter of life and death, why we do not advance in divine things without discovering the true reason. " If any man willeth to do Grod's will, he shall know " that will. But do we all fully mean what we say in our pra^-ers for spiritual progress ? And do we act out our praj'ers to the full ? Ye who • 268 THE LAWS OF SPIRITUAL PROGRESS. staud still in religion, or go Lack, instead of holding on your way, surely you are not righteous, or your hands are not clean. You are regarding iniquity in your heart ; you are clinging secretly or openly to known sin. Fourthly, but the righteous man, and of clean hands, holds on his way, and grows stronger and stronger because religion is a life of which Christ is the source. Regeneration is the beginning of this life. The man is first of all born again. And then comes his spiritual infancy. He is yet but a babe in Christ, and must grow. And he who does not grow stronger in the divine life may well doubt if ever he has 'died unto sin, and become alive unto righteousness.' For as really as it is the nature of an infant to grow, so really is it the nature of a child of God to grow in grace. A child of Grod must grow. " Rivers to the ocean run, Nor stay in all the'r course ; Fire ascending' seeks the 8nn : Both speed them to their source. So, a soul that's born of God Pants to view His glorious face ; Upwards tends to His abode, To rest in His embrace." But this life is immortal, eternal, everlasting life. And ^' he that believeth on the Son hath [that] eternal life." ''And whosoever liveth and believeth on Him shall never die." He whose '• goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the dew that goeth early away," has not this life. Surely that is not the divine life which dies out of man's soul as mortal life does out of his body ; nor is that fire THE LAWS OF SPIRITUAL PROGRESS. 269 from Heaven that dies from, off the altar of his heart, as an earthly affection may die. But all life is much affected by food, climate, and exercise, and so is this higher life. Divine truth is the fit food of this life. And hence we must, if we would grow in grace, "as new born babes, long for the spiritual milk which is without guile, that we may grow thereby unto salvation." We must avoid a too spare diet, and we must not partake of this Heavenly manna too seldom. The climate of earth, too, is unfavourable to the liighest spiritual health, but it is varied. Let us not choose its worst places, but its best. Earth has Beth-els, Peniels, Olivets, and Bethanies, its places ' where Grod dwells,' where 'prayer is wont to be made,' and where 'they that fear the Lord speak one with another ' — it has home retreats in which there are confined sick ones whom Jesus loves and visits. Earth has also Sodoms, Baby- Ions, Chorazins, and Jerusalems, places where ' there is no fear of God before men's eyes,' and Avhere 'the wicked- ness of the inhabitants is great.' Let us choose well. The prayer meeting and the theatre are both open for our entrance, and so are both the House of God, where HiS' word is preached, and the spirit shop, where that is sold which makes reason reel and passion burn. Even on earth we may choose our haunts, and find them. spiritually wide apart. We may spend our evenings in the ball-room and at the card-table, or we may spend^ them in reading our Bibles, and such books as lead to the' Bible, and in speaking one to another of the best thingS' such words as God Himself shall hear and record. 270 TEE LAWS OF SPIRITUAL PROGP.ESS. But, fifthly and lastly, the great reason Avhy the righteous man, and of clean hands, holds on his way and grows stronger and stronger, is that his God and Father holds him up and strengthens him. And He is the living God. According to the divine constitution of this spiritual kingdom, '' whosoever hath," as the result of improving whatever God gives him, " to him sliall be given, and he shall have abundance;" and the greater the man's im- provement of God's older gifts, the greater God's newer gifts become. And thus the good man grows. For he '' may boldly say, the Lord is my helper.' This warrior ever grows stronger for battle because the great Captain of our salvation ' teaclies His hands to war, and His fingers to fight.' All through life God makes good the promise when the way proves rough : ' ' Thy shoes shall be iron and brass ; and as thy days, so shall thy strength be." Thus when others stumble and fall, the righteous man rises and stands upright, because God strengthens and upholds him. But for this mighty hand even the righteous man could not hold on his way against the opposition of the world, the devil, and the flesh. For his strength is derived- It comes from God. Hence it is great, and it never fails. For he trusts in God, and by faith he walks with God. His outer life is moulded into beauty and usefulness after 'Christ's all perfect life, and his inner life is hid with 'Christ in God. ' He walks by faith, not by sight.' TUB LAWS OF SPIRITUAL PROGRESS. 271 His hands are not only clean before men, but He has ■'washed His hands in innocency ' before God. He * works out his own salvation with fear and trem- bling ; for it is God which worketh in him both to will and to work for His good pleasure.' Our text does not stand alone in its gospel of God-given strength. Listen to the words that follow : ' ' Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord ? And who shall stand in His holy place ? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart ; who hath not lifted ujd his soul into vanity, and hath not sworn deceitfully. He shall receive a blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation." Yes, the measure of our hold upon God's strength is the measure of our own strength. Well may the righteous man wax stronger and stronger when he is so helped. " He shall be like a tree planted by the streams of water, that bringeth forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also doth not wither ; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The wicked are not so." Yes the two, the good man and the fruitful tree, are very like each other in many things. Both are fertile, and the fertility of both is seen. But the source of that fertility in both is deeply hidden in the well-watered earth, and in God. And so of their beauty, strength, and fruitfulness. All spring from unseen roots, grasping invisible nourishment. The godly man's invisible life of faith in God feeds his risible life of works. As his inner life lays hold on God, 272 TILE LAWS OF SPIRITUAL PROGRESS. so does his outer life expand in beauty, strength, and" fruitfuhiess. Hence it is that the righteous, though in himself weak and dead as other men are, " shall flourish like the palm tree : He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon." Who then need fall down in the Christian journey, overcome by weakness, when the strength of the Divine arm is pledged for his support, if he will only lean upon that invisible stay ? Who can fail to grow stronger when he is ever being strengthened and renewed by Grod in the inner man ? A godly man is only weak when he feels strong in him- self, and does not go out of himself for strength from God. If he but feel his own weakness, and his need of divine help, he has any amount of strength at his command that he will draw upon the Almighty God for. ' For God's strength is made perfect in his weakness : ' and he who has that strength in sufficient measure ' can do all things in Christ that strengtheneth him.' But the unbelieving and unrighteous heart does not cling to God in love and confidence. Such a heart cannot make God's faithful promises its own ; only the believing heart can do so. The lips that have not a believing heart to prompt their utterances, will not so ask of God that they shall receive. "I will not let thee go except thou bless Me," is the language of faith as well as of importunity. And so clean hands and such alone can lay a firm hold upon God, and lovingly constrain Him in His visits tO' THE LAWS OF SPIRITUAL PROGRESS. 273 leave a blessing behind Him. Polluted bands have no such power. While the stronger that our hold of God is, ' the stronger we are. It is, then, an essential condition of •growing strength that we cleave fast unto Grod. For there is much in this world that is fitted to impair spiritual ■strength. Our way is often difficult. It is a pilgrimage. It is a race. It is a struggle with inveterate enemies. Many are against us. There are sources of weakness within and without us. But despite of all opposers, we, who live in Christ, and in whom Christ lives, shall grow •strong if we rightly exercise ourselves in the wa3's of 'God ; if we make His service the daily habit of our life ; if we faithfully follow the God-given teachings of our own experience ; if we earnestly cultivate and nourish religion as the true life of our soul ; and if, above all, we rise to a living union and an abiding communion with God. And thus we see that spiritual strength is the joint result of God's best gifts and of man's best endeavours. '' Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel : I will help thee," saith the Lord, *' and thy redeemer is the Holy One of Israel." The man who seeks and finds this helper must hold on his way, and grow stronger. ' For the Lord is his •God, and underneath and around him are the everlasting arms.' "Why sayest thou, Jacob, and speak est, Israel, my way is hid from the Lord, and my judgement is passed away from my God? Hast thou not known ? hast ihou not heard ? the everlasting God, the Lord, the s 274 THE LAW& OF SPIBITVAL PFiOGFiFSS. 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 him that hath no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be wear}^, and the young men shall utterly fall ; but thej^ that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength ; they shall mount up with wings as eagles ; they shall run and not be weary ; they shall walk and not faint." Wait, then, upon the Lord in His word and in l^rayer, and be strong. For it is in the Bible that we learn to know Grod, whom to know is life and. strength. The beneficial influence of the Bible on the formation of character is incalculable. Its holy precepts, its noble examples, its lofty principles, its inspiring motives, its ennobling prospects, its glorious rewards, its terrible punishments, its realized power from on high, act on human character, brought trul}' under their benign influ- ■ ence, as light and air, sunshine and shower, act on springing seed and on growing grain. The whole atmosphere of Scripture is strongly pro- vocative of robust spiritual health. Here we may daily kneel with ever growing admiration before the Lord Jesus Christ, that only perfect model of all worth, who combines in Himself all divine and all human beauty. This Gcdward attitude continued in makes weak men to become strong, and strong men to become stronger and stronff.n-. THE LAWS OF SPIRITUAL PROGRESS. 275 But in order to fully benefit by this Book divine, we- much need a profound humility towards Grod, who speaks in it, and a large-hearted receptivity of all divine liglit and influence. If you would be strong, brother, '• wait on the Lord : -•' '^' and let thine heart take courage ; yea, wait thou on the Lord," and be strong. XIV. DIVINE TREASURE IN EARTHEN VESSELS. But we have this treasure in eartheu vessels, that the exceeding greatness of the power may be of God, and not from ourselves." — 2 Cor., IV., 7. OUE text is very like its human author. It is a very Pauline utterance. It is very full of Loth human tenderness and pathos, and also of a fervent desire for the glory of God. It touches human frailty, and lays hold of it, onl}^ to link it to divine power. AVhat the apostle Paul evidently means by "this treasure " is the gospel of Jesus Christ — is the message of God's love to man — is, in one word, Christianity. Paul also calls it " our gospel." And this gospel is to its possessor, as you know, Christian brethren, an enriching treasure beyond all price. And Paul as evidently means by the ''earthen vessels" that hold this precious treasure, himself and his fellow- apostles, and the preachers of the gospel as a whole. He means by this phrase the whole human ministry of the gospel who were then on the earth. And if they were such as Paul here describes them to be, so are we all who are still in any way engaged in the same great work. DIVINE TREASURE. 277 You observe that the apostle strongly contrasts the two things — the " treasure," which is so precious, and the ^'vessels," which are so frail and weak. And this wide contrast which is here noted as existing between the earthen vessels that contain the gospel treasure and the treasure itself, which is contained in them, is a fine, instructive thought, most true and most aifectings It is a thought that is full of practical im- portance, and of tender teaching, for both ministers of the gospel and their people. For we here learn that the ministers of the gospel are only earthen vessels, and that yet though they are so, the truth of Grod as ministered by them is none the less precious, and it is none the less life-giving on that account. The gospel is God's own gift to man. And God, in giving His treasures to men, may put them into whatever kind of vessels He pleases ; but they are His treasures all the same, and are to be valued by us accordingly. This thought of our text, affirming the all-sided frailty of the ministers of the gospel, may teach us all many lessons worth learning. But it specially teaches, I think, the gospel ministry a godly humility, and it teaches the people of their charge a true and wise sympathy with their ministers. And the text clearly teaches us all, ministers and people alike, to look in all our Church relations first, last, and supremely to God, if we would have the gospel in them and by them to become ' the power of God unto our salvation.' 278 DIVINE TREASURE But those of 3^ou who may have been led by the words of the text, and b}'- these words of mine in explanation of it, to expect this morning a sermon all about ministers, and on the not quite unknown subject to most congre- gations of ministerial frailties, will not on this occasion realize your expectations. For that is not my subject. I intend at this time to take a far wider view of the main affirmation of the text than the apostle Paul's present ap- plication of the leading idea to the gospel ministry : although I do not exclude that more specific application of the apostolic idea, but fully embrace it in my wider survey, and even emphasize its special lessons on the subject of the ministry. But still I intend to apply the text in this sermon, not to the gospel ministry only, but to the whole of the gospel instrumentalities hj which Grod usually reveals Himself to man. I want to show you tliat all Gfod's instrument- alities, and all the varied agencies by which He reveals Himself to us in the gospel, are, in the sense of the text, but "earthen vessels," and yet that all of them contain '' divine treasures" for our enrichment. So that my present subject is this : ' That the instruments and the agents by which God sends us the gospel are all of them, as well as the preachers of the gospel, but frail earthen vessels in contrast with the divine treasure which they contain. And yet it is God Himself who puts the divine treasure into them all.' But let me warn you that I do not attempt to embrace in my present survey all the instrumentalities by which God is revealing Himself to us, though, as I have said, AV EARTHEN VESSELS. 279 my text miglit be shown to hold true of tliem all. Nay, I purposely exclude from our view at this time God's reve- lation of Himself in His works in external nature, because they reveal God the Creator, but they do not reveal God the Redeemer. But I shall on this occasion name five of the principal instruments by which God is ever revealing Himself to man as the God of Salvation. And I shall try to show you that they are all apt illustrations of the one truth of our text, that God is wont to send to us mankind, as our text says that He does, Heavenly treasures in earthen vessels. On reflection you will see this to be true : I. Of 2Ia)i himself. II. Of the Mlnhtry of the Gospel. III. Of the Church of Christ. lY. Of the BiUe. And V. Of Chrht Himself. All these are divine agencies and instrumentalities that 'God is ever using for the preservation, and the circulation, and the inculcation of His own gospel. And I shall try to show you that in all of them we have these two things — divine treasure, and earthen vessel — brought into close contact, and into striking contrast. We have in all of them a divine treasure contained in an earthen vessel. And I shall strive to show the reason why such a treasure is put into such vessels; that in all cases we have these two things thus brought into contact, and into contrast, by God's own deliberate design ; and that God has done this, at first glance, strange thing, for the purpose of jnaking the divineness of that which is revealed more 280 DIVINE TREASURE iiiauifiest to us than it would have been, if it had been sent to us by a different, and more perfect instrumentality. For, as the arrival of night permits the stars, which are hidden from our view by da}^, to become visible, and as dark settings often best show off brilliant things, so do earthen vessels become, on the whole, the fittest holders- and conveyers of divine treasures to mankind. Now for the practical a2:>plication of this divine law and usage of wrapping up sacred and divine things in humble earthly exteriors. The proper lesson is : That if this humble earthen element be a true characteristic of all the instruments that God employs for our spiritual good, then when we see such a contrast re-apj)earing in any particular case between the human messenger and the divine mes- sage, we should, instead of stumbling at the earthen vessel as disproving the divinity of the message which is- being brought to us, rather stand prepared to expect Grod's hand to be there, sending us in this way some fresh, utterance of His truth. For — I. — We have in wan himself, as a son of God, and God's chief work on earth — when he is in any way used as an instrument for teaching God's truth — just such a combination of earthen vessel and precious treasure as our text describes. Yes, we have in man a combination of earth and diamond, of pottery and precious stones, of earthly and Heavenly things. For both the very great and the very little meet and mingle in man. It has been boldly said that ''man is compounded of dust and Deity." Man, as we see, is largely an animal, and yet he may become largely an angel, even on earth. Man IX EARTHEN VESSELS. 281 has in himself both a material body and an immaterial soul. He is both mortal and immortal. Man is a creature of here and no^y, and he also belongs to all the ages to come. Man has relations with the humblest of earthly things, and also with the loftiest of Heavenly things. Man is in himself both an animal — oul}' the crown of the animal creation — and he is also a son of Grod, made in the image of God, and an heir of coming glory. As to part of us, 'we die daily.' We are perishing, and passing away. * Our outward man is decaying.' ' Behold, we are all dj'ing.' But as to j)art of us, we 'live for ever.' Yes ; and if we live and believe on Jesus we cannot die. But for the present we but dimly see the divine and deathless in man, for it is half hidden under a humble material, mortal form. And because the spiritual in man is so largely con- cealed, and because many people are so spiritually blind, some who wear the human form are earthly enough, and animal enough to deny the divine in man, and to claim to be all of the earth, earthly. An idea which is as base- born as it is false. Does it not seem to all of us, brethren, a most ignoble kind of humility for any of us, men to deny our nobler self y For we are the sons of God, who ' is a spirit ; ' we are made in His image. We are not mere material things. ( )Lir true ' life is hid with Christ in God.' You thus see that my first point — in which I trust you all fully go with me — is that man has in his own nature both an earthen vessel and a divine treasure ; and yet that 282 DIVINE TREASURE God uses man, the earthen vessel, as well as immortal man, His son, to be the messenger of His divine truth, to he the ordinary teacher of his fellow-man in the very highest things. Por all our human relations, though imperfect, are emblems of Heavenly things. These re- lations are all from God, and, true to their divine origin, they all speak for God, and are all meant and fitted to lead to God. II. — But what our text directly affirms is that we have in the gospel miiustnj such a combination and contrast in vessel and treasure, as we have already seen is to be found in the whole family of man as the representatives of God on the earth. Yes, as it is with man himself, so is it with the gospel ministry which we exercise among you — this, the highest human ministry of which we know anything. The gospel, which is the message of our Father, God's own love and grace, and is an inestimable treasure to man, is yet ministered instrumentally to man by man. The twofold idea which is mainly conveyed to our minds by the words '^ earthen vessels" is first frailty, weakness, and then imperfection, the being of slight worth. And both the things, frailty and imperfection, are most true of the human ministry of the gospel. We sorrowfully own that the apostolic expression in our text, ''earthen vessels," is profoundly true of Christian ministers. In all ways we are but earthen vessels, as you no doubt very well know. I name the gospel ministry in this connection separately from the Church as a whole, because the apostle does so I.y EARTJIEX VJESSELS. 283 in our text. But I would have you to remember that, in strict truth, the ministers of the gospel are only a part of the Church itself. They hold a special office in the Church, but they are not an order apart from, and outside of, the Church. And Paul, no doubt, names the gospel ministry separately here because the work of the ministry is his great theme in our text, and context ; and also because he desires, in treating of it, to emphasize the importance of its teaching and preaching functions. For the apostle speaks of the ministry as having, in a special sense, had a dispensation of the gospel committed to it ; as having, in a special sense, had the precious treasure of the gospel put into it. And the phrase " earthen vessels " closely applies to the ministry of the gospel in many ways. For instance, Paul says : ' AVe are troubled, perplexed, persecuted, cast down, with death working in us.' How very human is all this ! The phrase ''earthen vessels" applies to the views of divine truth, which are taken by the ministers of the gospel as a whole. How slight and partial are those views often, how one-sided, how incorrect, how contra- dictory often. All who are the professed preachers of the one gospel of Christ do not manifestly speak the same thing, as all real preachers of Christ ought in spirit to do. And though all preachers of the gospel are by their sacred profession the ministers of the truth, yet herein the earthen vessel prominently appears in that in all of them some error, and in many of them much error, often mincrles 284 DIVINE TREASURE with, and corrupts 'the truth as it is in Jesus,' which by their sacred profession, their life is given up to teaching. Alas ! ' how far is the gospel of Christ from being made in fact, all the world over, by the lips of it» living teachers, the clear, glorious one message of God's- great love to man, that it really is in truth ! And then the gospel ministry is sometimes perverted into a human, priesthood, of which no man finds any trace in the New Testament, either by precept or example. And then again, all the ministers of the gospel are but " earthen vessels "as to personal character. How faulty in many respects are most of us ! How faulty in some respects are we all ? And then as to ability our text holds true. How ordinary in this resj)ect is the gospel ministry ! Great men are almost alwa^'s rare, in the gospel ministry aS' everywhere else. Burning and shining lights in the gospel ministry, are they not all too rare among us ? And then as to want of adaptation, our text is often painfully true. How easy, and how common is it for us to miss the minds and the hearts of the very people who are before us, though we may have that in our own minds and/ hearts which, really transferred as a living thing to theirs, would do them large and lasting good ! Not all those who are godly, and able and earnest ministers of Christ, have always the right word, in its right season to speak to those before them who need it most. And in truth it is eas}' to find, not only manufactured faults, but real faults in every preacher of the gospel whom you know and hear. For all of us are but J.Y EARTHEN VESSELS. 285 '^' earthen vessels." The preacher and pastor who is the minister eagerly coveted of all the churches, the much looked for and longed for man, who should be both nega- tively faultless, and possess in over-flowing measure all posi- tive excellencies of body and mind, conscience and heart, is yet an ideal, not a fact — one sought for, but not yet found. We have not seen him, and we shall nowhere find him on earth. While an American college professor is reported to have warned certain American churches that the now perfected preachers, who, he thinks, are alone quite equal to what some of the churches would desire to have, as Paul, Peter, Apollos, and John, who now belong to the church celestial, will not, he is sure, accept the inducements that churches in America hold out to preachers and return to earth. And thus both there and here we have only ''earthen ■vessels" for preachers; though it seems to me that here in South Africa, as well as in America, something more perfect, and something more ethereal than " earthen vessels " is very generally desired by many persons in all our churches. But facts are facts. The joerfect men are eagerly sought for, but they are not found. And the preacher being himself faulty, so do his personal faults necessarily run more or less into all his presentations of divine truth. More than a fair share of gifts and graces combined in one man is not an attainment so common in the gospel ministry as it ought to be. Nor is eminent grace much more common among ministers than eminent talent. And then the strong in spirit may be frail in body. The best of men grow old, 286 DIVINE TREASURE too. ^Tlie outward man decays.' All die. And the most useful often die soon. By the time that a man has got a real hold of something to teach that is worth teaching, it not seldom happens that he is getting too old to teach it with effect. Sometimes eminent men find no fit successors,, so that their work languishes. And yet the gospel deserves the best of advocacy. Now, an agency with all this of human frailty, "com- passed with infirmity," may seem to us but a poor instrumentality for the performance of so divinely great a work as preaching the glorious gospel of the blessed God. And yet this selection of frail, imperfect men, not of holy angels, nor of 'the spirits of just men made perfect' — for- the stated preachers of the gospel is of Grod, not of man — and it is, our text assures us, no mistake. This human instrumentality, Paul allirms, is not, as some seem to say, a regrettable weakness in the divine plan of saving men that needs to be apologised for. Nay, God's purpose in the selection of this instrumentality for- the promulgation of His gospel is a high and wise purpose. For it is God's design thereby to strongly emphasize the wide contrast that there is between the- divine things and the human things that are in the gospel. That by men's seeing how very human the human vessel that carries the divine treasure is, God Himself may be the more glorified in all its success. Elsewhere the divine lesson is put thus : * ' Therefore let no man glory in men ;: but he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord." For though the truth of God is necessarily more or less> coloured and flavoured by the human medium — by the IX EAUTIIEX VESSELS. 287- earthen vessels through which it comes to men — yet it is'- the saving truth of God still. The human infirmity of the gospel ministry does not destroy the divine efhcacy of the truth which we pro- chiim. So that one of the greatest and most successfid of preachers said: ''Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my weaknesses, that the strength of Christ may rest upon me." And so ought we who j^i'each the gospel now, to glory in all that exalts the message itself, and exalts Him who sends it. For the gosj^el as preached by weak men is still seen to be the power of God unto salvation. For "we j^reach Christ crucified." But do not, I pray you, read into these pathetic, noble words of Paul, nor read into my honest, if poor, words on the imperfections of ministers, any plea for bad men as- preachers of the gospel, or even for the bad preaching of good men. I believe in neither. Neither ''cometh from above." But the aj^ostle means to affirm, I take it, that if we wisel}' look at what the gospel ministi^y as a whole • really is, so human, so frail, so imperfect, and at what the- gospel of Christ, as preached by that ministl-y actually is,. and does, manifestly a most divine thing with most divine- issues, we shall have overwhelming evidence' broughf" home to our hearts of the divinity of the gospel messagje- itself. He says : That rightly viewed, the evidence of the' divinity of the gospel will be more overpowering, in view of the actual instrumentality that has been selected for its dissemination, than it would have been if the instru- mentality which God has employed for this purpose had^ been a more perfect, and a more faultless- agency. " the •288 DIVINE TREASURE depth of the riches, both of the Tvisdom and knowledge of God ! How unsearchable are His judgements, and His wa5'S past tracing out ! " Why is an}^ man converted to God by another man's preaching? That grand result is really of God in every case, and not of man. " Come, Holy Spirit, come." And 3^et there are men wise in winning souls. But Christ Him- self is the real treasure that the vessels carry. He is the pearl of great price. " For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake." III. — Further, I ask you to consider, that not only the whole Christian ministry, but — though this that I am now going to say to you may be a truth less fully known to some of you, and its presentation less welcomed than a confession of the infirmities of ministers — that the ichoU Church of Christ contains just such a combination of the human and the divine, of the weak and the strong, of the worthless and the precious, as our text describes. Yes, this description is more or less true of any church, and it is true of the whole Church of Christ. As Christians we are put in trust with the gospel of Christ. It is ours to spread abroad as widely as we can. But the divine "treasure" being entrusted to us, is put into ''earthen vessels." It is ''our gospel" as we have it in our hearts and on our lips, and in our commis- sion as the servants of Christ. Surely the contrast between the human vessel and the ■divine treasure, between the earthly casket and the Heavenly jewel, is great. For the glorious gospel of the IX EARTHEN VESSELS. 289 blessed God is a treasure of inestimable and enduring- worth. The gospel is a treasure in Grod's estimation. The gosj^el is a Grod-given treasure. The gospel is in its own nature a treasure. The gospel is above all a treasure to the man who reall}- receives it in its power and love. But the gospel, like food or medicine, must be taken into us in order to do us its greatest possible good. While in and by the gospel he who receives it into his heart is made rich for evermore. For it means to him who so uses it, the pardon of sin now, and •' glor}', honour, and immortality " in the world to come. And the Churches of Christ, though they are im- perfect and divided, still both contain and convey to men the precious treasure of God's saving truth. Moreover, the living Church never dies out of the world ; nor does the living ministry of the gospel die out : though oj^inions may and do differ as to how the life of both the Church and the Ministry- is created, sustained, and perpetuated. I cannot see how any particular kind of Church order, or any kind of external, historic succession from the apostles, but only the power of the Holy Spirit and the presence of the truth of Christ, quickening dead souls into a divine life, can possibly perpetuate a living Church and a living- Ministry. The apostles have no successors. But in an important sense not only the ministers, but all the living- members of all sections of Christ's Church, are successors or followers of the apostles, just as far as they hold the doctrine of the apostles, and walk in their footsteps. For although the claim of any exclusive apostolic succession made in a polemic sense as something belongino- 290 DIVINE TREASURE to one section of the Chiircli, but not to another, without any apostolic powers of wraise principally on account of its great strength ; on account of the ease with which it is worn ;; THE PERFECT B OSD. 3 1 o on account of what it unites ; on account of its attractive look; on account of its endless duration; and, lastly, be- cause it is a self-imposed bond. Love is the bond of perfectness on all these grounds, and on other grounds. Let us look briefly at each proof which I have named of love being the bond of perfectness. • First, love is the bond of perfectness, if you look at its great strength. See love at its best, and it takes the place of all other bonds, and supersedes them all. There is no place in God's universe so free as Heaven. There are no other bonds in Heaven but the bond of love, because there this bond is so strong. Heaven is so free because in Heaven love is so perfect. And even in those relationships into which other bonds than love enter, such as the bonds of law, justice, private interest, and public opinion, as in the relation of marriage, of ChurcJi-fellowship, and in the relations of parent and child, of king and subject, ruler and ruled — yet in all it is not the bond of law, but the bond of love that is the stronger, that is the highest or perfect bond. As an example of this : The law of tlie land will not allow a man to treat even his own wife, or his own child just as he pleases. And j'et when this bond of love is as strong in tlie family and in the Church as it ought to be, or half as strong, the other and coarser bonds of law, of interest, and coercion are unheard of, and nn- needed. In such relations as I have named, only where the bond of love is awanting, or is abnormally weak, are these other bonds either needed or employed. Who ever heard of 316 TIIE PERFECT BOND. the dutiful and loving wife, or child, resorting to the arm of law against the like dutiful and loving husband or father ? Secondly, love is the bond of perfectness if we also look at the perfect ease with which it is worn Some bonds are ver^^ heav}", painful, and galling to the weorer, but not so is this bond of love. It gives strength to the wearer, and lightens all his burdens. Love is a bond so easy and pleasant, that all true hearts long for it, and rejoice under it. Love is indeed the bond of perfectness, for it is a bond so strong that it will not easily break, and yet it is so divinely soft and gentle that it does not hurt the most delicately moulded wearer, but does much to heal the hurts of all other and rougher bonds. Thirdh% love is also seen to be the bond of perfectness if you look at what it unites, and at those whom it unites. For love unites, not purses as in business, though that lower bond is not wrong in its own place ; love unites, not bodies as in slavery, joint imprisonment, marriages without love and all other forced, painful and revolting unions of mere personal proximity ; love unites, not fortunes and residences as in unloving marriages of mere interest and convenience ; but this bond, like all noblest bonds, unites together hearts. Yes, as the higher forms of love only act with real power upon the morally pure and good, so this bond of Christian love unites most closely the best of beings by what is best in them. This love unites most firmly the best of beings by their noblest . and purest affections. Hence this holy love is the true and perfect bond TEE PERFECT B OXD. 3 1 T uf tlie moral universe. It is an all-embracing bond, stretching far into tlie unseen, and tlie invisible. There arc many blessed unions formed in the world, Imt there are none so hoi}', there are none so spiritual, there are none so disinterested as those into which the Church of Christ introduces us ; and in the Church, as every where else, the perfect bond of all bonds is the bond of love. Fourthly, love is the bond of perfectness if you look at its more than earthly beauty. "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples if ye have love one to another." "Whether you look to the individual, or to the family, or to the Church, or to the community, this is the perfect bond of 2')erfect beaut}', which gives the crowning touch of Heavenly grace to all manifestations of human character;. It is no wonder that He, in whose ' sanctuary are strength and beauty,' calls upon us to put on this beautiful bond. Fifthly, love is the bond of perfectness if you consider its endless duration. For love '• abideth." *'Love never faileth." It is an everlasting bond. And this bond not only forms a lasting union in itself, but it is this bond alone which makes other unions, as the famih' and the Church, of which it becomes one of the bonds, everlasting also. Let us in this world of death and decay more and more put on love, the bond of perfectness, which 'never faileth.' Sixthly, love is the bond of perfectness, as it includes iu itself, and binds up in one, all the other graces and virtues of the Christian character. ' Eloquent S2:)eech, prophetic insight, large knowledge, strong faith, abundant alms- .3 1 8 THE PERFECT B OND. giving, and martyr-zeal, profit him nothing who has not love.' While * long-suffering, kindness, humility, un- selfishness, gentleness, and love of truth ' are the sure accompaniments and fruits of this divine love. Seventhly, love is the bond of perfectuess, as it is always a self-imposed bond. Love is such a bond as must be self-imposed, or it cannot be at all. In many respects the self-imposed bonds are ever the best of bonds. Unions that are in and of themselves God-given, God-imposed unions, and thus truly blessed, are only seen at their best when their God-imposed bonds also include, as self-imposed bonds, the ties of love and duty. Take as examples of unions, which are only perfected by the presence of this bond in its power, the unions of marriage, of family relations generally, of Church fellow- ship, and of religious friendship. In all of these unions with their manifold and strong bonds, Christian love is yet the crowning bond, "■ the bond of perfectness." And now, men and brethren, what shall we do in this matter of love '? IV. — Fourthly, as an answer to this question, in the last place consider how we shall use this bond, or our duty in relation to this bond. The duty here urged on our attention in relati