EXPOSITORY LECTURES ON THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. BY THE REV. ROBERT J. MI'GHEE A.M., M.R.I.A. t AT MINISTER OF HAROLD'S CROSS CHURCH, I DUI B RECTOR OF IIOLYWELL CUM NEEDINOWORTHI, HUNTS. NEW YORK: ROBERT CARTER & BROTHERS, No. 530 BROADWAY. 185?'. DEDICATION TO THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL OF RODEN, K.S.P.. &c., &c., &c. MY DEAR LORD, Various are the motives which influence men in the dedication of their Works. Sometimes it is from a conviction that the Person to whom their Work is inscribed takes a warm interest in the cause in which it is written. Or, it may be, that he is eminently distinguished in knowledge and attainment on the subject of which it treats; and that, therefore, his judgment and approval are highly appreciated and prized by the Public, as well as by the Author. Or, the Writer may consider, that the sanction of a venerated name must reflect an honor on his book. Or, perhaps he may select this as a mode in which he desires to express the feelings of respect and grateful affection to a revered and distinguished friend. These motives, which, in various degrees and modifications, may dictate other Dedications, so combine to induce me to inscribe this Work to your Lordship, that I know not to which of them, I could ascribe a preponderating influence. To those which relate to your Lordship, I could not adequately or truly advert, without inflicting a wound on the individual whom I desire to honor. As to those in which I am myself concerned:While I trust I can truly say, that I desire not to seek any Patron for this work, but HIM, whose Blessed Word, it is a very weak and unworthy effort to expouna-and that I desire to commit it to Him, to bless and direct its circulation, as far as, through His grace, it may con IV DEDICATION. duce to the promotion of His glory, and the edification and salvation of souls-yet, I may be allowed to add, that there is not a Layman in the Church of England, on whose opinion, as to its sound and Scriptural fidelity, I should more confidently rely; and by whose approbation of it, I should feel more truly gratified and honored, than by that of ONE, to whose judgment and advice, on subjects of the gravest moment, I have felt so often and so deeply indebted-whose kindness and affection I have been permitted, for nearly half of my life, to feel as one of its greatest privileges, and best enjoyments; and in whom I have found, all that could be included in the truest, highest sense of that sacred name-A FRIEND. These Lectures in fact, owe their existence to your Lordshipas they had never been delivered, if you had not erected the Infant School-house at Bray. To your Lordship, then, with the sincere hope, that you may consider them true, though so inadequate to the mighty subject; and Scriptural, though alas! so very defective and unworthypermit me to inscribe them, as an humble testimony of that grate. ful respect, and sincere affection, with which I am, My Dear Lord, Your Lordship's Most Obliged and Faithful, R. J. M:GGHEE. PREFACEs THE Author would think it in some degree presumptuous to present the following Lectures to the Public without a few words of apology, or at least excuse, for their many defects and redundancies, of which he is fully conscious. He need not deprecate criticism upon them as literary compositions, from those who know the circumstances which led to their delivery and publication; but as they are now submitted to a more extended tribunal, he thinks it due to the importance of the subjects on which they treat, to account for the existence of many faults which he might be supposed to have been able by care and labor to have corrected. Having been precluded by ill health for many years from parochial duty, although willing to work according to his ability, he undertook to deliver a weekly lecture in the Infant School-House at Bray, near which place he resided, and after proceeding through an exposition of the Epistle to the Romans, he commenced the following course: The Lectures were delivered quite extemporaneously, without any other preparation than sincere prayer, that God would be graciously pleased to bless His own Word, plainly and simply expounded,to the instruction and edification of those who attended, and they were preserved as delivered, by a Reporter whom the Congregation assembled there, kindly employed to take them down. Since the Author's subsequent restoration to health and engagement in official duty, time was not afforded him to prepare them however imperfectly for the press, and therefore this Work, though frequently called for, has been unavoidably delayed. Under these circumstances the Author does not desire to incur the charge of obtruding himself on the public in general, with self-sufficient presumption as a Commentator on the Scriptures; he rather offers his book as a tribute due to those, who considering the Lectures profitable to themselves when delivered, subscribed to preserve them, and (doubtless with indulgent partiality) encouraged and urged their Publication. These Lectures, therefore, consist of a very plain, unadorned exposition of that Apostolical Epistle, which next to those addressed to the Romans and the Hebrews, may be said to comprehend the fullest scope of Divine truth of any in the New Testament. There are not any vital doctrines which are not fully developed or implied, nor any precepts which are not enforced in the Epistle to the Ephesians, and which must not be consequently treated of, in any consistent Scriptural exposition of it. It has been the anxious desire of the Writer to adhere with the closest simplicity to the letter of the text. He can conscientiously say, that according to the best of his judgment, he has not strained a single verse or a single word to support any opinion of his own,-or of any other man,-or of any party,-nor has he attempted to force a single expression, to maintain V1 PREFACE. any system derived from human authority. He has not endeavored to press the Scriptures into the principles of his exposition-but he trusts he can say with truth, that he has endeavored throughout, that the principles of the exposition should simply follow the Scriptures. He has not tried to make the Bible support the doctrines of our Church,-but he can say with honest truth, he finds the doctrines of our Church, in the plain letter of the Bible. He does not accord with the opinion which is frequently expressed and written, that we cannot find a system in the Sacred Volume. He is fully satisfied that there is a perfect system in the Word, as well as in the Works of God; and that the laws that rule the Planets in their orbits, are not more accurately ordered in their influences and operations, than are all the plans, principles, and movements, of that mighty moral government, which is developed in the Word of Truth —ll the course of that everlasting covenant" which is "ordered in all things and sure." It is true, that in the lofty heights and wondrous depths of the eternal Word, as in the mighty altitudes and profundities of nature, we find that we have neither instruments adequate to measure the height, nor lines to fathom the depth; and so far we must in many things await in humility and patience, the full development of those truths which we have not the means or power to comprehend-but we can advance so far in the knowledge of the system of eternal truth, that we can be sure and confident as of our existence, of the certainty of the truth we have attained; and we do not fear, in its clear and practical application, to maintain it against the sophistries of those errors that are inconsistent with, or oppose it. We can tell the right ascension or declination of a star, though we cannot measure the angle of its orb, or calculate its distance from our sphere. We can steer with firm hearts and joyful hope, under the blessing of God, over the bosom of the deep, though we cannot fathom the depths of the abyss beneath us. There are truths in the system of redemption, bright as the stars, yea, brighter than the orb of day; fixed as these luminaries in the firmament, and firmer than the boundaries of the fathomless ocean, on which the soul can fix its gaze with as perfect certainty, as we can see the lights that rule the day or the night, and on which it can rest with as fearless security, as we stand upon the mightiest rock that mocks the advances of the rolling billows. Of these truths there is one which stands in the Sacred Word-the fundamental basis of Christianity.-That Christ, our glorious Redeemer, is the Alpha and Omega of man's salvation-that every sinner that shall ever enter into the gates of eternal life must enter by the righteousness and atoning blood of a crucified Saviour, through faith, and not by his'own works or deservings, in whole or in part. This sacred truth-with those that are dependent on it, and implied in it, is largely treated of in this Epistle. "Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne and unto the Lamb" is the theme of joy and inspired instruction to the Church on earth, as it is her song in glory. And those who tell us that there is no system in the Scriptures, but help to undermine the confidence of truth and faith, and to encourage the presumption of ignorance and error-to transfer the dependence of the heart from the unerring oracles of God, to the wavering opinions of men, varying between the extremes of sceptical latitudinarianism and drivelling superstition. PREFACE. vii Those indeed who set up a system of their own, or of a party, or a Church, into which they endeavor to compress the revealed will and mind of God, will find no system, if they mean their own system, in the Bible. But those who through Divine Grace are enabled to cast their souls with confidence on their Master's truth, as far as it is fully revealed to them in His word, and to wait in patient humility, for clearer knowledge, on those deeper subjects, or less clearly revealed-truths, or seeming inconsistencies which as yet they know not, can rejoice in the light that shines in the system of eternal truth, with as full a confidence in all its great realities, its Divine perfections, and its unerring laws, as a man can bask in the beams and warmth of the noonday sun, without knowing the laws and properties of light, or troubling himself when he hears of the spots upon the solar disc, on which learned Astronomers may please to differ and debate. The Manna from heaven was given for food and not for chemical analysis. -" The Living Bread that cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world," was given to support, to nourish, and to save; and not to supply a subject for vain and speculative theories. How satisfying is the Gospel to thb soul, when the weary and heavy laden sinner comes to Christ for refuge! How sweet the green pastures of the Fields of Promise, when the soul lies down to repose and. ruminate in them, beneath the watchful eye of her Shepherd! " I know in whom I have believed," is the language of the Apostle — but it may be that of every sinner who believes the Gospel of Christ, with as much confidence as it was that of St. Paul. Christ being the object of hope for both through the Spirit, is as worthy of the confidence of one, as of the other. " The same Lord over all is rich unto all them that call upon him." Rom. x. 12. "Henceforth," saith the Apostle,; there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord the righteous Judge shall give to me in that day, and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing." 2 Tim. iv. 8. All who with the Apostle look to Christ as " the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth," Rom. x. 4,-all who with him trust that "being now justified by his blood we shall be savedfrom wrath through him," Rom. v. 9, and therefore, who " love his appearing;" may look with joyful hope like the Apostle to a crown of righteousness. Here is the rest'of those who look for "a kingdom which cannot be moved." Here the solid repose of the heart, which has Christ for its refuge and His purchased inheritance for its home. It is this alone that can enable the soul to adopt the language of the Psalmist as its joyful song-" God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble; therefore will we not fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea, and though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, and though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacle of the most high. God is in the midst of her, therefore shall she not be moved; God shall help her, and that right early." Psal. xlvi. 1 —5. It is this, which in that great and dreadful day when this scene of terror shall be realized at the coming of the Son of Man -when " The kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bond-man, and every freeman shall hide themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains, and shall say to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth upon the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, viii PREFACE. fbr the great day of his wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand?" Rev. vi. 15, 1, 1 17,-it is this that shall then enable the believer to lift up his head with joy and triumph, and to cry, " Lo, this is our God, we have waited for him, and he will save us. This is the Lord, we have waited.for him; we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation." Isa. xxv. 9. This is indeed that "hope that maketh not ashamed," when Christ is known as " The Way, the Truth, and the Life," as the Foundation of Hope-the Source of Consolation-the Rock of Trust-when He gives peace to the conscience, and comfort to the heart,-when faith in our blessed Redeemer, brings salvation to the soul, and love to Him becomes the mainspring and motive of the conduct, making our duty our pleasure, and teaching us to feel that the service of our God, is indeed "perfect freedom." These blessed truths, which are so fully comprehended within the scope of this Epistle, are alas! very imperfectly and unworthily treated in the Exposition. But if the Author may be permitted to express a general opinion, he would observe, that detailed expositions of the sacred Scriptures, appear to be the most useful and important religious works, that can be published or studied in the present day. The best must be indeed defective in exposition of the fulness of truth, But if they are sincere and simple as far as they go, they may serve to guard the mind under the Divine blessing, against the pertinacious, and persevering perversities of error. Many modern works, as those of Papal and Tractarian subtlety, abundantly illustrate, how far Scripture, in detached quotations, may be pressed into the service of the grossest falsehood. And those who are not acquainted with the letter or spirit of the Bible, are in danger of being misled and perverted by them. Those anti-Christian principles, under the guise of a strict and sanctified morality-a scrupulous observance of the ordinances and ceremonies of religion-or a mortified abandonment of the pleasures of the world, undermine the very foundations of the Christian faith, and lay the axe to the very root of all Christian morals, by totally corrupting the principle from which alone they can spring with acceptance before God. Thus really subverting morals, by the pretended interests of morality, and overturning the faith of Christ, under the pretence and semblance of religion. There is but a step from the cell of the ascetic to the carnival of the voluptuary. It is an easy and natural transition for an emancipated mind, to pass from the adoration of a piece of paste, to the worship of the goddess of Reason-from being a posture-master in religion, to become a profligate in infidelity. It is all alike to the Prince of darkness whether he can dishonor the Majesty of God and destroy the souls of men by infidelity or superstition. Both alike reject " the record which God hat/h given oJ his Son," and both alike shall perish in their ignorance and unbelief. The one makes God a liar, because it affirms He has only told part of the truth. The other makes him a liar, because it denies He has told any truth at all. But it seems to the writer that the most effectual mode of guarding against error ourselves, and opposing it in others, is to bring it to the test of God's Holy Word, not merely by comparing it with detached passages of Scripture that oppose it, but by taking a portion of Scripture, such as an Apostolical Epistle, in which the mind of God is given in its own perfect consecutive arrangement on the subject, and testing by that, any system that is opposed to it. This is a process, by which, the man who inquires after or maintains truth, will only more fully investigate, or more PREFACE. ix fearlessly sustain his Master's cause; while the opponent of truth meets at every step, principles which he cannot make to square with the falsehoods and incongruities of his scheme of error; and he will therefore shrink from the ordeal, with a conscious incapacity to endure the test to which it subjects his principles. To follow the revealed mind of God in faithful simplicity, is necessarily to attain to truth under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and where this is really the object of a Christian teacher, he has reason to trust that a blessing will attend his labors. The following Lectures, the Author trusts he can truly say, were begun, continued, and ended with that object. In whatever he has failed, he desires to express regret for his inability to succeed; and for whatever measure of success has crowned his efforts, he desires to express his humble gratitude to that God, to whose grace and mercy alone he owes it; and to pray that He Will abundantly bless it to promote His own glory in the salvation of men, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. THE demand for this work having almost exhausted the numbers of. the first volume before those of the second could issue from the press, the Author is induced to print a second edition. Having learned from several quarters that it has pleased God to bless it to the edification and comfort of manv into whose hands it has fallen, the Author can only say, that it adds another to the list of the many proofs, that God can, in His great mercy and power, work by humble and insignificant instruments. Fully conscious that to Him alone any good which it can effect is to be ascribed, he therefore desires to commit this edition to His grace and power, with an earnest prayer that as far as it is consistent with His blessed word, it may be accompanied with His Divine blessing to the souls of men, and prove to many "a savor of life unto life." " Unto him be glory in the Church, by Christ Jesus, throughout all ages, world without end. Amen." Eph. iii. 21. CONTENTS. PAGE PAUl FIRS T LECTURE. good pleasure, which he hath purposed in himself: That in the disEPHESIANS i. 1, 2, 3. pensation of the fulness of times, he might gather together in one all'Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by things in Chiist, both which are in the will of God, to the saints which heaven, and which are on earth are at Ephesus, and to the faithful even in him." - - 5 in Christ Jesus: Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath FIFTH LECTURE. blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ." 17 EPHESIANS i. 11, 12. "In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated acS E~C ONDLEC T TR Ecording to the. purpose of him who SECOND L E ~CT URE, worketh all things after the counsel EPHESIANS i. 4, 6. of his own will; That we should be to the praise of his glory, who "According as he hath chosen us in first trusted in Christ." - - -55 him before the foundation of the world, that we should be h.ly and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the SIXTH LECTURE. adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself; according to the good EPHESIANS i. 13 14. pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein In whom ye also trusted, after that he hath made us accepted in the ye heard the word of truth, the gosBeloved." 28 pel of your salvation: In whom also, after that ye b'elieved, ye were sealed with that Holy' Spirit: of promise, which is the earnest of our R111 D LECTURE. inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto EPHESIANS i. 7, 8. the praise of his glory." - (9 "In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his SEVENTH L E CT U RE. grace; Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and pru- EPHESIANS i. 15, 16, 17. dence." -36 "Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the sa-nts, Cease not FOUR TH L ECT URE. to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; That EPHIESIANS i. 9 10. the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto "Having made known unto us the you the spirit of wisdom and reve-.mystery of his will, according to his lation in the knowledge of him." - 85 COlNTENTS. xi PAGE ~ PAOG E I GHT H L E C T URE. Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the EPHESIANS i. 17, 18. lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind;'That the God of our Lord Jesus and were by nature the children of Christ, the Father of glory, may wrath, even as others." - - 15 give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, TWELFTH LECTURE. and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints." - 92 EPHESIANS ii. 4, 5, G. "But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in N IN T H L E C T U RE. sins, hath quickened us together with Christ; (by grace ye are EPIIESIANS i. 18. saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in "The eyes of your understanding be- heavenly places in Christ Jesus." - 137 ing enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints." - - 101 THIRTEENTH LECTURE. EPHESIANS ii. 7. TENTH LECTURE. "That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his EPHESIANS i. 19, 20, 21, 22, 23. grace, in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus." - - 14; And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, Which he FOURTEENTH LECTURE. wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at EPHESIANS ii. 8 9. his own right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all principality, For by grace are ye saved through and power, and might, and domin- faith and that not of yourselves: ion, and every name that is named, it is the gift of God: Not of works, not only in this world, but also in lest any man should boast." - - 156 that which is to come; And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth IFTEENT LECTURE. all in all." - - -113 EPHESIANS ii. 10. " For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, ELEVENTH LECTURE. which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." - 168 EPHESIANS ii. 1, 2, 3. And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; SIXTEENTH LECTURE. Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, EPHESIANS ii. 11, 12,13. according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now work- "Wherefore, remember, that ye being d h in the children of disobedience; in time past Gentiles in the flesh, xii CONTENTS. PAGE AOB who are called Uncircumcision by Christ himself being the chief corthat which is called the Circumcis- ner-stone; In whom all the buildion in the flesh made by hands; ing, fitly framed together, groweth That at that time ye were without unto an holy temple in the Lord: Christ, being aliens from the com- In whom ye also are builded tomonwealth of Israel, and strangers gether for an habitation of God from the covenants of promise, hav- through the Spirit." - - - 223 ing no hope, and without God in the world; But now, in Christ Jesus, ye who Sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of CQhrist." 180 TWENTY-FIRST LECTURE, EPHESIANS iii. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. " For this cause, I Paul, the prisoner SEVENTEENTH LECTURE. of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, (If ye have heard of the dispensation EPIIES:ANS ii. 14, 15, 16, 17. of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward; How that by rev-'I For he is our peace, who hath made elation he made known unto me both one, and hath broken down the mystery; as I wrote afore in the middle wall of partition between few words; Whereby, when ye read, us; Having abolished in his flesh ye may understand my knowledge the enmity, even the law of com- in the mystery of Christ, Which in mandments contained in ordinan- other ages was not made known ces; for to make in himself of twain unto the sons of men, as it is now one new man, so making peace; revealed unto his holy apostles and And that he might reconcile both prophets by the Spirit; That the unto God in one body by the cross, Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, and having slain the enmity thereby; of the same body, and partakers of' And come and preached peace to his promise in Christ by the Gospel." 233 you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh." - - -190 TWENTY-SECOND LECTURE EIGHTEENTH LECTURE. EPI.ESIANS iii. 7, 8. EPHEESIANS ii. 18. "Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of For through him we both have ac- God given unto me by the effectual cess by one Spirit unto the Father." 202 working of his power." - - - 241 NINETEENTH LECTURE. TWENTY-THIRD LECTURE. EPHESIANS ii. 19. EPI-IESIANS iii. 8, 9, 10.: Now therefore ye are no more stran- Unto me, who am less than the least gers and foreigners, but fellow-citi- of all saints, is this grace given, that zens with the saints, and of the I should preach among the Gentiles household of God." - - - 210 the unsearchable riches of Christ; And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created TWENTIETH LECTURE. all things by Jesus Christ; To the intent that now, unto the princiEPHESIANS ii. 20, 21, 22. palities and powers in heavenly places, might be known by the'And. are built upon the foundation church the manifold wisdom of of the apostles and prophets, Jesu God." -255 CONTENTS. xlii TWENTY-FOURTH LECTURE. TWENTY-EIGHTH LECTURE. EPHESIANS iii. 9,10, 11. EPHESIANS iv. 1, 2 PAGE PAGS < And to make all men see what is the " I therefore, the prisoner ofthe Lord,) fellowship of the mystery, which beseech you, that ye walk worthy from the beginning of the world of the vocation wherewith ye are hath been hid in God, who created called, with all lowliness and meekall things by Jesus Christ: To the ness, with long-suffering, forbearing intent that now, unto the principal- one another in love. - - - 314 ities and powers in heavenly places, might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord." 266 TWENTY-NINTH LECTURE. EPHESIANS iv. 3-6. " Endeavoring to keep the unity of the TWENTY-FIFTH LECTURE. Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as EPHESIANS iii. 12, ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one'In whom we have boldness and ac- baptism, one God and Father of cess with confidence by the faith all, who is above all, and through of him." - 277 all, and in you all." - - - 3 TWENTY-SIXT LECTURE. THIRTIETH LECTURE. THIRTIETH LECTURE. EPHESIANS iii. 13, 14, 15, 16. EPHESIANS iv. 7-12.' Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which But unto every one of us g grace according to the measure of isyour glory.) Forthis cause I bow gace accorg o h measure of my knees unto the Father of our the gift of Christ. Wherefore he my knees unto the Father of our ^^ ^ he ^ ^ Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the sath, when he ascended up on whole family in heaven and earth high, he led captivity captive, and whole family in heaven and earth s V i, is named, That he would grant gave ifts unto men. (Now that you, accodig to he ri, eso his, t. he ascended, what is it but that he you, according to tile riches of his also descended first into the lower glory, to be strengthened with might'. y,?tuetrngneea parts of the earth. He that deby his Spirit in the inner man." - 290 psts of the earthe He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.) And he gave some, apostles; and some, TWENTY-SEVENTH LECTURE. prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; EPHESIANS iii. 17,18, 19, 20, 21. for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the; That Christ may dwell in your hearts edifying of the body of Christ." - 342 by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love THIRTY-FIRST LECTURE. of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the EPHESIANS iv. 12-16. fulness of God. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abund- "For the perfecting of the saints, for antly above all that we ask or think, the work of the ministry, for the according to the power that work- edifying of the body of Christ: till eth in us, Unto him be glory in the we all come in the unity of the church by Christ Jesus, through- faith, and of the knowledge of the out all ages, world without end. Son of God, unto a perfect man, Amen." -.. 301 unto the measure of the stature of X1V C)ONTENTS. PAGE PAGa the fulness of Christ: thatwe hence- for we are members one of another. forth be no more children, tossed to Be ye angry, and sin not: let not and fro, and carried about with the sun go down upon your wrath. every wind of doctrine, by the Neither give place to the devil. Let sleight of' men, and cunning craft- him that stole steal no more: but iness, whereby they lie in wait to rather let him labor, working with deceive; but, speaking the truth in his hands the thing which is go'A, love, may grow up into him in all that he may have to give to kht things, which is the head, even that needeth." - - -'193 Christ: from whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body, unto the THIRTY-FIFTH LECTURE edifying of itself in love." - - 355 EPHESIANS iv. 28-33. "Let him that stole steal no more but rather let him labor, working THIRTY-SECOND LECTURE. with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to EPHESIANS iv. 17-20. him that needeth. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your "'This I say therefore, and testify in mouth, but that which is good to the the Lord, that ye henceforth walk use of edifying, that it may minisnot as other Gentiles walk, in the ter grace unto the hearers. And vanity of their mind; having the un- grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, derstanding darkened, being alien- whereby ye are sealed unto the day ated from the life of God through of redemption Let all bitterness, the ignorance that is in them, be- and wrath, and anger, and clamor, cause of the blindness oftheir heart: and evil-speaking, e put away who, being past feeling, have given from you, with all malice: an be themselves over unto lasciviousness, ye kind oneto another, tenderto work all uncleanness with greed- hearted, forgiving one another, even iness. But ye have not so learned God for Christ's sake ath forChrist." - 371 given you." - 404 THIRTY-THIRD LECTURE. THIRTY-SIXTH LECTURE. EPHESIANS iv. 20-24. EPHIESIANS V. 1-6. "But ye have not so learned Christ; "Be ye therefore followers of God, as if so be that ye have heard him, and dear children; and walk in love, as have been taught by him, as the Christ also hath loved us, and hath truth is in Jesus: that ye put off, given himself for us an offering and concerning the former conversation, a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smellthe old man, which is corrupt ac- ing savor. But fornication, and all cording to the deceitful lusts; and uncleanness, or covetousness, let it be renewed in the spirit of your not be once named among you, mind; and that ye put on the new as becometh saints; neither filthiman, which after God is created in ness, nor foolish talking, nor jestrighteousness and true holiness." - 382 ing, which are not convenient; but rather giving of thanks. For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inherTHIRTY-FOURTH LECTURE. itance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you EPHESIANS iv. 25-28. with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of'Wherefore, puttingaway lying, speak God upon the children of disobedievery man truth with his neighbor; ence." - 417 CONTENTS. XV PAGE PAGI THIRTY-SEVENTH LECTURE. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of EPHESIANS V. 7-12. the church; and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore, as the Be not ye therefore partakers with church is subject unto Christ, so let them. For ye were sometimes dark- the wives be to their own husbands ness, but now are ye light in the in everything." 470 Lord: walk as children of light; (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, and righteousness, and truth;) proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. And have no fel- FORTY-FIRST LECTURE. lowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. EPHESIANS v. 25-27. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of' Husbands, love your wives, even as them in secret." -- 431 Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word; that he might present it to himself THIRTY-EIGHTH LECTURE a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but EPHESIANS v. 13-16. that it should be holy, and without blemish." - 4-80 "But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light. Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from FORTY-SECOND LECTURE. the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. See then that ye walk cir- EPHESIANS v. 28 —33. cumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because "So ought men to love their wives as the days are evil." - - -445 their own bodies: he that loveth his wife loveth himself For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: for THIRTY-NINTH LECTURE. we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this EPHESIANS v. 17-21. cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined " Wherefore be ye not unwise, but un- unto his wife, and they two shall derstanding what the will of the be one flesh. This is a great mysLord is. And be not drunk with tery: but I speak concerning Christ wine, wherein is excess; but be and the church. Nevertheless, let filled with the Spirit; speaking to every one of you in particular so yourselves in psalms, and hymns, love his wife even as himself; and and spiritual songs, singing and the wife see that she reverence her making melody in your heart to the husband." -494 Lord; giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God." - - 457 FORTY-THIRD LECTURE. EPHESIANS vi. 1-3. "Children, obey your parents in the FORTIETH LECTURE. Lord: for this is right. Honor thy father and mother, (which is the EPHESIANS v. 22-24. first commandment with promise,) that it may be well with thee,' Wives, submit yourselves unto your and thou mayest live long on the own husbands, as unto the Lord. earth." 507 Xvi CONTENTS, PAGE PAGe FORTY-FOURTH LECTURE. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able EPHESIANS vi. 4. to withstand in the evil day, and "An~d, ye fathers. provoke not your having done all, to stand. Stand "-And, ye fathers: provoke not your cr' children to wrath: but bring them therefore having your loins girt about with truth, and having on up in the nurture and admonition eastplate of ri of the Lord." - 518 the breastplate of righteousness." 570 FORTY-NINTH LECTURE. FORTY-FIFTH LECTURE. EPIESIANS vi. 15, 16. EPHESIANS vi. 5-7. "And your feet shod with the prepa"Servants, be obedient to them that ration ofthe Gospel of peace; above are your masters according to the all, taking the shield of faith, whereflesh, with fear and trembling, in with ye shall be able to quench all singleness of your heart, as unto the fiery darts of the wicked." - 582 Christ; not with eye-service as men-pleasers, but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; with good-will doing ser- FIFTIETH LECTURE. vice, as to the Lord, and not to men." 534 EPHESIANS vi. 17, 18. "And take the helmet of salvation, FORTY-SIXTH LECTURE. and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of Gol: praying always EP-HESIANS vi. 7-10. with all prayer, c." - - 598 ~' With good-will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men; knowing that whatsoever good thing any FIFTY-FIRST LECTURE. man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be EPIIESIANS vi. 18-20. bond or free. And, ye masters, do the same things unto them. forbear- "Prayig always with all prayer and ing threatening: knowing that your supplication in the spirit, and watchMaster also is in heaven; neither ing tereunto with all perseverance is there respect of persons with him. and supplication for all saints; and Finally, my brethren, be strong in for me, that utterance may be given the Lord, and in the power of his unto me, that I may open my mouth might." - - - -544 boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to FORTY-SEVENTH LECTURE. speak." - 611 EPHESIANS vi. 10, 11. "Finally, my brethren. be strong in FIFTY-SECOND LECTURE. tLc L-'r;I?z' -:v:er of his might. Put on the whlole armor of EPHESIANS vi. 21-24. God, that ye may be able to stand a m k against the wiles of the devil." - 558 But that y also may know my affairs, and how I do, Tychicus, a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, shall make known to FORTY-EIGHTH LECTURE. you all things: whom I have sent unto you for the same purpose, that EPHESIANS vi. 12-14. ye might know our affairs. and that he might comfort your hearts. Peace "For we wrestle not against flesh be to the brethren, and love with and blood, but against principalities, faith, from God the Father and the against powers, against the rulers of Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with the darkness of this world, against all them that love our Lord Jesus spiritual wickedness in high places. Christ in sincerity. Amen.". (27 THE EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE, TO THE EPHESIANS, EPHESIANS I.-1, 2, 3. "Paul, an Apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus. Grace be to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ." THE Apostle Paul commences this Epistle in the same manner in which he commenced that to the Romans, which we have just concluded, and as he begins all his Epistles except that to the Hebrews, by prefixing his name (as was the custom in writing in those days) instead of subscribing it at the close of the letter as we do. "PAUL AN APOSTLE OF JESUS CHRIST BY THE WILL OF GOD." You perceive he not only prefixes his name but his authority too. This is a point which few, if any of us, sufficiently consider. I do not mean that when we take up the Scriptures, we have not generally a conviction of their divine authority and inspiration; but we have not as we ought to have, that influential operative conviction which receives all that is therein contained as the pure truth of God-the whole truth; we have need to pray continually for this conviction, and the more so, because of the false opinions that are frequently not only entertained, but even expressed on the subject. Many persons will tell you that they prefer the Gospels to the Epistles, as if they possessed some authority superior to the apostolic letters. They even profess to make from them a standard of doctrine, as it were contradistinguished from that of the Epis ties. Hence you often hear persons say, especially those who argue against salvation by grace, and quote the morality of the Scriptures, against its doctrines of redemption; "Paul expresses himself in such or such terms, but Christ says so and so-now I take the word of Christ in preference to that of Paul!. Now there * The Author had just finished a Course of Lectures on the Epistle to the Romans, similar to this, and there are so many allusions made to it in these Lectures, that it,s necessary to mention the fact. 2 18 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. is a three-fold reason for this: First-Ignorance of the plenary inspiration of the Scriptures; that " all Scripture is given by inspiration of God," 2 Tim. iii. 16 that "I Holy men of old spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." 2 Pet. i. 21. Secondly-Forgetfulness of our Lord's testimony, "' It is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you." Matt. x. 20. " He that heareth you, heareth me, and he that despiseth you despiseth me, and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me." Luke x. 16. They do not understand or believe these and similar passages, or they would know the identity of inspiration and authority in these sacred documents; and that such a comparison between the words of Christ and His apostles. was, as it really is, a contempt of Himself of his own authority and truth. But there is a third reason for this, viz.,-that the Epistles are more calculated to awaken the enmity of the natural mind against God than the Gospels; for although the Gospels contain much that cannot be clearly understood by these persons in a spiritual sense; still the parables, of which many are so clearly illustrative of moral truth, and the precepts of our Lord, come home at once to the natural judgment and conscience, and commend themselves to both; and therefore are not so calculated to provoke objections as the Epistles. Therefore you will find, that some persons who would substitute extracts from the Bible for the Bible itself, for the instruction of the people, are exceedingly cautious in the selections which they make from the Epistles; and are fond of quoting the passage from Peter, which they pervert, saying, that in the Epistles of Paul " are some things hard to be understood." Because, as the Apostle Paul sets forth so fully salvation by grace, and holds forth the Gospel of Christ so freely, this being foolishness unto them-as " the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God," I Cor. ii. 14; therefore such men give a preference to the Gospels, and so will often quote, and ignorantly appeal to their authority against the Apostolical Epistles. But let, us remember that every word spoken by the Apostles, claims for itself the full authority of "thus saith the Lord;" because apcording to the words of the Lord Jesus, " It is not they that speak but the Spirit of their Father that speaketh in them." Matt. x. 20. We find then the Apostle Paul exceedingly tenacious of this authority, and always setting it forth, as if to remind the churches, -that the authority with which he addressed them, was that of God; and thus, we ought to receive every word of his inspired testimony. "To THE SAINTS WHICH ARE AT EPIIESUS, AND TO THE' FAITHFUL IN CHRIST JESUS.' We considered so much at large, the persons who are included in the term sain ts" in the Epislle to the ]Romans, that I shall now but briefly recall to your remembrance, that it is the Scriptural appellation of all believers in Christ. All who are justified by faith in Jesus, are also sanctified in Him, and in this sense all are alike sanctified-none moro c o LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 19 than others-the babe in Christ is sanctified in Him, as well as the young mnan, the young man as well as the father. There are indeed different gifts of grace, as well as different degrees of growth in grace, in the Church of Christ, and in this sense some believers are more than others under the sanctifying influences of the Spirit of God. And this ought to be the continual object of attainment, to all the children of God. But in the sense in which all are one with Christ, as united to Him by faith, they are all sanctified in Him alike, dedi cated, set apart, consecrated in Him to God forever. In this sense their sanctification is ascribed to the salvation wrought by Christ, so saith the Apostle Paul: " By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all," Heb. x. 10; and again, " The bodies of those beasts whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin are burned without the camp. Wherefore Jesus also, that he night sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate," Heb. xiii. I1, 12. And so our blessed Lord ascribes the, sanctification of his Church, in this sense, to faith in Him, in His commission to the Apostle of the Gentiles, "to whom" saith he "now I send thee to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God; that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in ne," Acts xxvi. 17, 18. Therefore I say, every believer in the Lord Jesus is sanctified in him, the weakest as well as the strongest-the poorest believer of this day, as much as the Apostle Paul. It is the more necessary to explain this from the gross errors that are prevalent on the subject. Many persons are in the habit of making justification only as it were an initiatory act, whereby men are brought into a state in which they may be sanctified and saved; and think they are not warranted to trust in Christ for salvation till a certain puzrifying process takes place in them which they call sanctification-a work of the Spirit separate f.rom the salvation wrought by Christ. Nothing can be farther from the Gospel than this-this error keeps, I am satisfied, many of the children of God mourning all their days, looking for this purification in themselves which they never feel or can feel. They confound two things which are quite distinct-the sanctifying influences and power of the Spirit, which it is ever their privilege and duty to pray for-to watch for, and to receive as being the children of God; that they may serve and glorify their heavenly Father-with that work of the Spirit whereby they are quickened and brought to Christ, pardoned, washed, justified fiomall their sins, sanctified in Him and presented in Him to God without st sp or wrinkle or any such thing." The truth is equally opposed to every error, whether those that are more specious, and approach nearer the Gospel in appearance; or those by which, as in this case, the Church of Rome runs into an antiScriptural apostacy, canonizing, as she calls it, certain persons as saints, who are pretended to have advanced to some imaginary stage of perfection in holiness, but of whotm multitudes have been 20 LECTURES ON THE S1 HESIANS. characterized by devotion indeed, to her, but by ignorance of God, and enmity against His Gospel. I need not enter at length on the no less awful state of those, who profess to protest against the idolatry and superstition of Rome, but who use the very name of " SAINT" as a term of reproach and mockery, applied to those who do not fear to profess the faith, and follow the conduct of those who really are servants of Christ. Recollect then, that " the saints and faithful brethren in Christ" are synonymous terms for all those who truly believe in Him as the hope and refuge of theil souls. "GRACE BE TO YOU, AND PEACE FROM GOD OUR FATHER AND FROM THE LORD JESUS CHRIST." This is the apostolical benediction with which Paul generally commences and concludes his Epistles. So we had it in the conclusion of that to the Romans on our last day. " The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all." Rom. xvi. 24. Believers, then, as now, required grace continually to keep them, and enable them to stand before their God. As our bodily frames require fresh food for their daily subsistence, and without it would grow weak, languish, and die; so do we in a spiritual sense require continual supplies of heavenly refreshment. If the Israelites were obliged to go and gather the manna, morning by morning in the wilderness, so have we, my dear friends, daily need of supplies of " the Bread of God, which is he that cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world." John vi. 32. So should we pray continually in the language of those who heard this truth from his own lips, "Lord, evermore give us this bread." v. 33. And if we " have not" let us remember the reason is " because we ask not." Jam. iv. 2. We should use the means if we expect the end. Remember the promise, Prov. viii. 17, " They that seek me early shaell find me." Again-" They that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eaglesthey shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint." Isai. xl. 31. We ought to use industry for the soul as well as for the body; for, " The soul of the diligent shall be made fat." Prov. xiii. 4. This may be viewed as an apostolical prayer for the Church as well as an apostolical benediction. All require grace to keep them as well as to call them. We need daily supplies, and we receive them too, as we have just been singing in our hymn:" Grace turned my wandering feet, To tread the heavenly road, And new supplies each hour I meet, While passing on to God." But it is not only grace, but peace too, for which the Apostle prays for them.-True peace cannot exist without grace-and peace is the consequence of grace. The believer stands, through grace, accepted, justified by the precious blood of Jesus; the sweet apprehension of Christ by faith, brings pardon and peace to LEI'CTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 21 his soul; so saith the Scripture, " being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ; by whom also we have access into this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God," Rom. v. 1, 2, they are justified by faith, and have peace-they stand in a state of grace, and rejoice in hope. Jesus " has made peace through the blood of his cross," Col. i. 20, and so to know him and to enjoy the peace he has purchased through the grace that is given to them, is the subject of the apostolical prayer and benediction,-" grace be to you, and peace." And, as then, so now it is our consolation to remember the source from whence alone grace and peace can flow. It is not from Paul, or from Apollos, or Cephas; but "from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ." Jehovah, the Father, the fountain, and Jehovah, the Son, the channel of all blessings. " Jesus the same yesterday, to-day, and forever." Heb. xiii. 8. The Fountain of living waters, as redundant as at the creation-the Sun of Righteousness with undiminished effulgence-the Ocean unfathomable in the depths of love and mercy,-" an ocean with out bottom or shore." Oh how lamentably we live below our privileges, my friends. How little we bathe in that fountain! how little we bask in that sun!-how little we ride buoyant on that ocean with our anchor cast within the veil! "Lord increase our faith." " BLESSED BE THE GOD AND FATHER OF OUtR LORD JESUS CHRIST, WHO HATH BLESSED US WITH ALL SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS IN HEAVENLY PLACES IN CHRIST." The Apostle bursts, as it were, into a strain of praise and thanksgiving at the contemplation of their present position, and the present blessings they enjoyed through grace. He ascribes all those blessings to the source of all blessing, to Jehovah, the Father, and he calls Him, THE GOD AND FATHER OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST," conveying thereby the ideas included in the amazing manifestation of His love in giving His Son to die for us, and the unity of the divine will in the salvation of all the Church of God. If it is' a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners," 1st Tim. i. 15, it is no less so that " God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John iii. 16. The Father cannot be separated from the Son in the whole covenant and completion of the work of Redeeming love, nor the Holy Ghost from both. The revelation of that love in the glorious person and work of Immanuel, is the revelation of the Father's character, government, and love to sinners in Jesus. " No man knoweth the Father save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him." Mat. xi. 27. The " light of the knowledge of his glory" is revealed " in the face of Jesus Christ." 2 Cor. iv. 6. In the great work of salvation it may be affirmed that the unity of the divine will in the blessed persons of the Trinity is manifested 22 LECTrUiES ON THE EPHESIANS. through all the Sacred Volume, in the salvation of all His Churclh. Our Lord saith, " All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him, that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out." And IHe gives as the reason, "For I came down from Heeaven. not to do mine own will but the will of Him that sent me, and this is the Fathers will which hath sent me, that of all which He has given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of Him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son and believeth on Him, may have everlasting life, and I will raise lim up at the last day. John vi. 37-40. It is manifest from these words of our Lord that all Htis Church are the gift of His Father to Him, they shall all come to Him and He will in no wise cast them out. Again, the love by which they are given to Him by the Father, and received by Him, is immutable; it carries them on to the end, for it is the Father's will that " of all which He hath given Him He should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day;" and again it is the same will which causes that "every one who seeketh the Son and believeth on Him," or, as our Lord saith in another place, " who have not seen and yet have believed," "may have everlasting life." " The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord," and so whosoever hath come to Christ that he may have life, whosoever has been drawn to Him as the hope and refuge of his soul, is warranted to ascribe, as the Apostle does here, the blessing of all their mercies to " the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." We see the Apostle Peter uses the same language; " Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his abundant mercy, hath begotten us again unto a lively hope, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, ctc., I Pet. i. 3, and so the song of the redeemed before the throne is "Blessing and honor and glory and power, be unto H-im that sitteth on the Throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever." Rev. v. 13. We perceive here for what the Apostle ascribes this blessing to God. " WHO HATH BLESSED US WITH ALL SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS.)" They were blessed with them, all things were theirs-Christ is all and in all, and they were Christ's-as the Apostle says, I Cor. iii. 21-23, "All things are yours, and ye are Christ's and Christ is God's." This is a truth of which believers, alas! are lamentably ignorant, and of which even those who know most, know but very little. How little are our hearts and hopes lifted up above their natural state! how heavily we drag on our spiritual life, compared with our high and holy privileges! The Apostle, in the second chapter of this Epistle, enters more fully (as we shall see, if it pleases God to spare us,) into this subject. He contrasts the position of sinners in their natural state with that of -inners in their spiritual state-they were " dead in trespasses and sins," " children of wrath,"-now " quickened together with Christ-raised up together and made to sit together LECTURES ON THE EPIESIANS. 23 in heavenly places in Christ Jeseus." Chap. ii. 1, 5, 6. The believer may ask, how can this be?-how can I feel this to be so It is not proposed to you as an object of feeling but of faith-God speaks it-Jehovah declares it to be a fact, and it is firm as the foundations of eternal truth. We considered this subject at length, in reading the 6th of Romans, and it will come more at large than in this verse, under our consideration in the 2nd chapter, but you recollect what the testimony of the Holy Spirit is in the 6th of Romans — We are buried with him by baptism into death, that like as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life"' again, " Reckon yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God, through Jesus Christ our Lord," verses 4, 11,-again in Colossians, ii. 12, "Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, vwho hath raised him from the dead,"-again, in chap. iii. 3, 4,' ye are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." Their actual state of spiritual life and union with Christ is the subject not of sense indeed, but of faith. The Lord declares it to them, for it is so seen in his eye, "according as he hath chosen them in Christ before the foundation of the world." v. 4. God views all his own mighty works in progress as in completion. The architect surveys in his mind's eye the building of which he has laid but the foundation stone, as a complete and perfect structure, according to the plan and elevation he has laid down for it,-the shipwright when he lays the first beam of the keel of his vessel on the stocks, views it as complete as if it were sailing on the bosom of the deep, with every sail expanded in the breeze-and if architects and shipwrights were infallible and immortal, their works and their conceptions and plans must ever correspond. But how often do we see that they who lay the foundation may never live to raise the superstructure! how often do their structures vary from their plans, and how often do their resources fail! so that in all these senses we may say, " this man began to build and was not able to finish." But God is the omnipotent, infallible, eternal architect. When the foundations of his church were laid before the foundations of the world, it stood as perfect and finished in His view as it shall appear when the "head stone shall be brought forth with shoutings of grace, grace unto it." Zech. iv. 7.-And the mind of Jehovah shall be reversed-and his plans be changed-and His resources fail-or, He Himself shall cease to exist, before one stone shall fall and perish of that building which he viewed as complete from eternity. Jesus the living head of His church is exalted at the right hand of His Father, every member of His mystical body is beheld complete and safe in Him, "' raised up together with him, and made to sit together in the heavenlies in himn.-not one of them shall be lost-his sheep shall never perish, John x. 28. It is as true of His mystical as of His natural 24 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. body, " a bone of him shall not be broken." John xix. 36. Prom+ ises and means are given us here, but it is the privilege of every believer in resting on those promises, and in the use of these means, to look beyond this tabernacle, to rise above this poor world of sorrow, sin, and death, and to enter by faith into those mansions, of which his Lord spake when He said, " Igo to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also." John xiv. 2, 3. He is made unto His people, " wisdom and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption." 1 Cor. i. 30. " How am I to feel thus," some poor believer will say, 1 when I feel so deserving only of hell, so bowed down beneath this body of sin and death-struggling under the pressure of this corrupt and wicked heart-constrained continually to cry out, " 0 wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death " Rom. vii. 24. Paul was constrained to cry out thus before you-but you see when he records this sad experience of his own evil heart, and the power of sin in his members-even then in the midst of his complaint of sin and of his body of flesh, he bursts forth in the exercise of faith, and while groaning he asks the question, "who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" Faith answers in the same breath, " Ithank God through Christ Jesus our Lord." Rom. vii. 25. It is our privilege and our joy to rise upon the wings of faith and hope, and to soar up to our heavenly home above the strugglings of these dying bodies: how often do we see the believer even in the depths of suffering, and in the hour of death enjoying this blessed privilege. I had a dear friend,* a physician, who died very lately of this disease that has been so prevalent and so fatal, this influenza: and there was another dear friend of his and mine, who had the privilege of watching by his bed of death; his daughter who would else have occupied that post, lay dying of consumption at the same time; indeed it was to a devoted attendance on her, humanly speaking, that he fell a sacrifice, for when he caught the disease, he would not omit his late and early watching, nor give up till he was beyond the reach of human aid. This lady who attended him told me some circumstances of his death, which evince how a believer may rise above his earthly tabernacle, and look down on it as it were while he sees it crumbling into dust before his eyes. The day before his death he requested his medical attendant to read for him the 23d Psalm in Buchanan's Latin translation of the Psalms; he requested him afterwards to read the same Psalm in the Bible-he repeated with great joy the 4th verse, "yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil, for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff they comfort me."-When this was done he said, "As all his concerns were arranged for eternity, he would now settle his affairs for Dc Dr. Samuel Robinson,-he fell asleep in Christ, January 29th, 1837, LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 25 time," accordingly he arranged his will and all temporal matters. That night about eleven o'clock, a violent fit of coughing came on, he said to his dear friend who was sitting beside him, in metaphorical language, to the use of which he was very much addicted, " That was a heavy blow from the iron mace of death-I thought I should have gone off about twelve o'clock to-night, but I see from the strength of that cough that I shall last three or four hours longer"-this was precisely the case, for at four o'clock in the morning he fell asleep. Soon after he had spoken thus he added, "Now my dear friend, you will see my hands and my feet swell, and then they will grow cold and bluish in their color, and if you will be so kind when you see this to roll a little warm flannel round them, it will alleviate the bodily suffering,-you see my hands are swelling already-then you will see the cold sweat of death breaking out on my forehead, and just wipe it off with a warm cloth-I shall then fall into a sort of stupor, but I shall not be dead for some time, and let them not touch me till I am dead."-He spoke this and gave these directions, just as deliberately as if he was giving them for another dying man, and seemed just to speak of his body as of that of another person, then, after a little time he said as it were with a sort of playful triumph, " Who would have thought that I should have won the race from Sophy after all?"-alluding to his daughter, who was so near the goal, that he had been daily expecting the termination of her race. Soon after this, he fell asleep. Thus, is it the privilege of a believer to rise above his earthly tabernacle, and while he sees and feels it sinking into the dust of death, to behold with the eye of faith his immortal spirit risen with Christ, and to long to burst the fetters which bind him here below, and spring at once to the realms of light. It is his privilege to turn his eyes away from the shroud, the coffin, the clay, and the worm, and to behold the glorious company of his brethren around the throne, and to hear the song of the redeemed as they cast their crowns at the feet of Jesus. Death is his as well as life-his, for good and glory too. "All things are his, whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come, all are his, and he is Christ's, and Christ is God's." 1 Cor. iii. 21, 22, 23. He is " blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ." Oh! consider this, believer-you have all thingsthough now for the present you do not enjoy all things. It must be so, the Holy Ghost assures us, that the premises must involve the conclusion-the reasoning on them is infallible, "He that spared not his own Son but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" Rom. viii. 32. How shall he not? that is to say, it is impossible but that he must. Therefore it is our glorious privilege to look out of ourselves in the flesh, and to behold ourselves by faith safe in our blessed Lord-" Surely shall one say in the Lord I have righteousness and strength." Isaiah xlv. 24-in ourselveswe have neither one 26 LECTURES ON THE EPHIESIANS. nor the other-all weakness and all sin-" all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags." Isaiah lxiv. 6; the more we examine the fact, the more we shall feel it to be so. Bring filthy rags into the light of the sun and they will appear ten times more filthy than before, so it is with all our works-bring them into the light even of our own judgment, we must condemn them, what must they be in the light of God's holy law, when we say " thou hast set our misdeeds before thee, our secret sins in the light of thy countenance." Psalm xc. 8. 0 how should we stand if he were to " enter into judgment" with us! but if we are looking out of sin and self to the covenant promises of our God in the everlasting Gospel, then we may " lift up the hands that hang down and the feeble knees." Heb. xii. 12, then we may say in spirit and in truth, as I fear we so often mutter over in a cold heartless form, " 0 come let us sing unto the Lord, let us heartily rejoice in the strength of our salvation." Psalm xcv. 1. 0 what would become of us without the Bible?-all peace, all joy, all consolation, all hope forever gone-it would be like blotting the sun from the firmament, the soul would be in outer darkness. Let us think of that testimony of the everlasting covenant, "all things are yours" —and remember this is spoken of spiritual, not of earthly blessings. Poor Lazarus was not enjoying earthly blessings when he was laid at the rich man's gate full of sores, and when the dogs were coming and licking his sores, and when he was longing for the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table-but "he was blessed wi^th all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ"-as one of his members " all things were his"-all his very trials were just his Father's means of preparing his soul to be transported in a little time by the angels into Abraham's bosom. Poor Job was not enjoying earthly blessings when his oxen and his asses, and his sheep and his camels, and his servants, and his sons, and his daughters, were all swept away from him in a day, when Satan was let loose on his possessions, and his person; and his wife, as if leagued with Satan, bid him " curse God and die." Yet read the whole of his history, and mark the Apostolic comment on it, " ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord, that the Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy;" James v. 11-ye have seen the end of the Lord, ye have seen how all things were working together for his own good and his Master's glory. And do you not think Job knew this when he saw " the end of!he Lord" himself? So shall you see, 0 believer, when you shall see his end in all dispensations towards yourself-you shall see all trials working for your good. Then learn to "glory in tribulation" with Paul, and you shall feel as it's in the hymn. " Since all that I meet Shall work for my good, The bitter is sweet, The medicine is food; Though painful at present'Twill cease before long, And then, 0 how pleasant The conqueror's song." LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 27 Remember then, it is the privilege of faith to look at Providences in their end, to " look, not at the things that are seen, but at the things that are not seen." Yes, believer, it is your privilege to see " all things working together for your good"-" all things are yours," whether inward or outward crosses, all afflictions, all trials, all temptations, all difficulties, all bereavements, all your sorrows whatever they be, and sooner or later you must feel sorrows:-no child of God can be more or less without them-as an old writer remarks, " God had one Son on earth without sin, but he never had one without sorrow,"-but these very sorrows teach you the preciousness of a " brother born for adversity," who is the man of sympathy, and the God of love and power, and who can speak peace to the winds and waves in the heaviest storm of trouble, and cause the heaving of the sinner's bosom to sink like the sea of Galilee into a great calm.-He can give peace which all the world can neither give nor take away" And if such peace While under his afflicting hand we find, What shall it be to see him as he is, And past the reach of all that now disturbs The tranquil soul's repose, to contemplate In retrospect unclouded, all the means By which his wisdom has prepared his saints For the vast weight of glory that remains. Come then affliction if my Father bids, And be my frowning fiiend-a friend that frowns, Is better than a smiling enemy." Yea, even your very sins shall be made to work together for your good-they shall " humble you, and prove you, and make you know what is in your heart," and they shall serve to develop and to enhance " the unsearchable riches of Christ." You will not misunderstand me as if I were to say it can be good for you to sin, God forbid! but I mean that the grace and mercy of God will overrule even your sin, and so humble you under the convictions of it, as to make Christ more precious to you, and that you shall learn more and more to love him, and to hate your sin, and hate yourself, for as it is sin that sets forth the grace and love of Christ to the sinner, so it is the love, the constraining love of Christ that illustrates the evil, and aggravates the bitterness, and increases the hatred of sin. Now consider-dwell on these two points, the position of a sinner by nature, and the position of a believer by grace, and as we are all without exception by nature, in the first, O may we be found by grace, " blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places'n Christ." Amen. SECOND LECTURE. EPIESIANS 1. 4-6. "According as he hath chosen us in him, before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him, in love. Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children, by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the Beloved." WE considered, the last time we met, the position which those who believe in Jesus occupy by grace, and the privileges they enjoy, namely, being " blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places, in Christ." And the reason of this is stated in the 4th verse with which we commence to-day-" ACCORDING AS HE HATH CHOSEN US IN HIM, BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD.P7 God's everlasting love is the source of all that believers enjoy in time, or shall enjoy in eternity. We entered, you recollect, at large into this subject, as we went through the 8th and 9th chapters of the Epistle to the Romans. We dwelt on the uses and abuses of the doctrine of God's predestinating love, which forms such a prominent subject of those chapters; and considered how profitable the practical view of the doctrine is to the believer; and how vain and unprofitable the speculative controversies to which it so often gives rise. It is, in fact, a portion of that "strong meat which belongeth to those that are of full age, even those who, by reason of use, have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil."Heb. v. 14. When men do not understand the fundamental principles of the Gospel of Christ, every effort of their mind to comprehend the doctrine of election is vain; so that, to reason with them on the subject, is like reasoning with a man born blind on colors, or with a deaf man on harmony; while, to the practical use of this, the believer owes the whole of his hope of being brought to eternal life. If we think that our own goodness, or our good intentions, reso-'lutions, prayers, or anything tending to excellence or superiority in us over our fellow-sinners, was the cause why God looked in his mercy upon us, we cannot believe the Gospel; we cannot really be looking to Jesus, under a consciousness of our own guilt and vileness as lost and helpless sinners. Again, if we think that our own goodness, or faithfulness, or profitable use of means, or the purity of our intentions, or the subjection of our will, or anything in us derived from ourselves, or our own good disposition, is to be the cause of our perseverance, and final salvation, we are equally far from the knowledge of ourselves, or of LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 29 the Gospel. We cannot be really looking to and leaning on Jesus, as lost and helpless sinners-we are trusting to a source of salvation as uncertain as the weathercock, or the wind that blows it about. Look, my dear friends, not merely to the written Word of God, but look also into your own deceitful hearts-look at the working of your wayward will, not only before you knew Christ as your refuge, but now. Look at the wandering idolatrous clinging of your earthly affections to the creature, and you will see the necessity of being chosen in Christ; you will confess that it is all " by grace ye are saved,"-not as righteous in yourselves, but as rebels-and this merely —- ACCORDING AS HE HATH CHOSEN US IN HIM BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD." Man was seen in the whole detail of his existence, and not alone in the abstract-therefore all cavilling questions, such as, Why was man allowed to fall?-Why made liable to sin? &c., resolve themselves into the one point; Why was evil permitted to exist? to which we can give but one answer-the fact. Look around you, and look within you —if you are taught of God, the whole testimony of your conscience, as a voluntary, accountable, rational creature, will correspond with your Lord's revealed will. And if not, if you cavil at it, and object, then I know no other answer than that of the apostle, " Who art thou that repliest against God?" Rorm. ix. 20. Oh, my friends when we come to appear before our God, no fallen child of Adam shall be able to throw the blame of his sin on his Creator, more than his fallen forefather was. Do you think that Adam convicted his Creator of wrong, when he replied, " The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat"? Here my brethren, is the one simple rule: all the evil that we feel within, comesf from ourselves and our enemy; and all the good that we can ever put in practice, or feel, or even desire comes solely from the free gift of God. Were we to depend on ourselves, we must perish. God does not deal with us as a creditor might deal with a broken merchant, to whom he would give a capital again, to trade with, and to try to retrieve his affairs, by his own exertions and resources. We are not pardoned by a divine decree, as it were to a certain time, and then left again to ourselves, to try if we shall walk aright, and maintain our state of salvation;-no, blessed be our God, " We are kept by the power of God, through faith unto salvation." i Pet. i. 5. Indeed were it possible that we were all placed in a state of innocence like that of Adam, like him we should individually transgress our Master's law. Oh how much more secure the salvation of those who have Christ as their Covenant Head and Covenant Hope and who can say, "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost." Tit. iii. 5. Who can say, "Behold God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid, for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song.' he also is become my salvation." Isaiah xii. 2. 30 LEGCURES ON THE EPHESIANS. Yes, every child of God-every converted soul, must know that he is saved indeed by free and sovereign grace. If he confesses Jesus as the Saviour, he will confess him too as the seeker of his soul, "He is come to seek and to save that which was lost"-and having gone as the good Shepherd into the wilderness after the sheep, and found it, and " laid it on his shoulders rejoicing," he does not cast it down again to perish; no, he brings it home to his friends and neighbors,-Luke xv. 5, 6-the company of his redeemed, " having loved his own he loveth them unto the end," John xiii. 1. Looking unto him we have all the promises secured, for he is "faithful and trute, —and " all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him amen." But observe to what believers are chosen in Christ, "THAT WE SHOULD BE HOLY AND WITHOUT BLAME BEFORE HIM IN LOVE, -IAVING PREDESTINATED US UNTO THE ADOPTION OF CHILDREN BY JESUS CHRIST TO HIMSELF, ACCORDING TO THE GOOD PLEASURE OF HIS WILL." They are chosen, "to be holy"-chosen to be "without blame before himn in love"-and mark the source of all, "HAVING PREDESTINATED US TO THE ADOPTION OF CHILDREN;" " ACCORDING TO THE GOOD PLEASURE OF HIS WILL." They are chosen to be holy, as He also is holy-so saith the Apostle Peter, " as he who hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation." I Pet. i. 15. Here, perhaps, the believer will say, " ah! that is the very thing I feel I want; if I were holy I should be happy-but I feel myself, alas! unholy and unclean." Now, we must again observe, on this point, that there are two senses in which the term holy is to be considered. " lHoly-" is to be considered in an absolute and relative sense, ana I believe much distress of conscience arises to believers, from not having a clear Scriptural knowledge of this subject. Every believer is, and is considered as absolutely holy before God. Just as the vessels of the temple were sanctified, consecrated and set apart to the service of God-so, in this sense, is every vessel of the spiritual temple, every believer, chosen in Christ, sanctified, consecrated, dedicated to the Lord's service; he is taken from the mass of the world, that lieth in wickedness-his guilt is cancelled-sin blotted out forever; he stands washed in the precious blood, and clothed in the perfect righteousness of Immanuel, without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing. In this sense, he is absolutely and positively holy; so saith the Psalmist, " Preserve thou my soul, for I am holy." Psalm lxxxvi.; though in the preceding verse he cries, "Bow down thine ear, 0 Lord, hear me: for I am poor and needy;" he mourns his sin and poverty in the same breath in which he says, " I am holy/." God looks not at him as he is in himself, a poor, miserable sinner; I say, in this sense God looks not on him as such, but He looks on him as a n'ember of the risen body of his risen Lord and covenant head, Christ Jesus. So it is the believer's privilege and duty to contemplate himself also as the Apostle commands, Rom. vi.'" Likewiss LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 31 reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God, through Jesus Christ our Lord." In this sense the sanctification of the believer is the immediate and necessary consequence of his justification. As soon as he is justified from all his offences by faith in the Lord Jesus-so soon is he considered in the eye of God as sanctified in Christ. This is the sense in which the term is used in the passages before quoted. Acts xxvi. 18, in which the Lord Jesus speaks of the " inheritance among them that are sanctified byfaith which is in him." So it is used in Heb. x. 10, where it is said, " By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all" -and in the 14th verse, "For by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified;" and again the same effect is ascribed to the blood of Jesus, Heb. xiii. 12, " Christ also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, stffered without the gate;" and therefore it is, that the Spirit, by the Apostle addresses all believers as " saints," or persons who are sanctified. I will not apologize for again quoting these passages of Scripture and calling your attention again to this subject; for I believe that whenever the Lord uses words in the Scripture, it is our profitable duty again and again to consider them; for we have daily need of the same truths to be applied as living principles to our hearts. This great truth, which the believer ought to know and feel and live on as his high and holy privilege, is too much put out of sight, and is perhaps one cause why the Church of Christ seems to be so low at this day. The view which God takes of His Church is that of a perfect building, not one stone wanting, and every stone perfect, and perfectly fitted in its place: as He shall behold it in eternity, so He sees it in time, and so He saw it before time began. It is the privilege of believers to know this, that they may abide with full confidence and joyful hope in Christ their covenant head-" abide int ae and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine, no more can ye unless ye abide in me." John xv.'4. If the branch could speak it would say, it rejoiced that it was not independent but that it was part of the tree, that all its life and fruit were from the sap that nourish the parent stem from which it grew: so all the joy of the believer should be, tlat he is nothing and has nothing in himself, but that all he has and is, is derived from the Lord Jesus, his covenant head, with whom he is united; " of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption, that according as it is written, he that glorieth let him glory in the Lord." 1 Cor. i. 30, 31. It is perfectly clear that the pure and positive holiness in which a believer is accounted as holy before God, is that holiness which he possesses, as being sanctified perfectly in Christ. " For if the first fruit be holy the lump is also holy, and if the root be holy so are the branches." Rom, xi. 16. Therefore believrs are all in the 32 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. same sense called holy, "ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people," 1 Pet. ii. 9; therefore this is one of the grounds on which they are exhorted to practical holiness, "put on therefore as the elect of God holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsu'ffering," Col. iii. 12; they are exhorted to holiness because they are holy, as the vessels of the temple ought to be used in the Lord's service, because they were consecrated to Him. How difficult is it, in our unbelief, to realize these truths! how difficult for a poor sinner who feels the burthen of his own sin within, to believe that he is accounted holy and without spot before God!-When we take the holy law as our standard and Christ the living pattern of it as our example, how deeply must we feel as we frequently confess, that " there is no health in us"-how must we feel in the language of the Apostle, " I know that in me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing." Rom. vii. 18. Therefore what need have we continually to hear the apostolic admonition, " Put ye on the Lord. Jesus Christ and make not provision for theflesh to fulfil the lusts thereof," Rom. xiii. 14; what need to say with Paul, (Oh! that we may say so in spirit and in truth!) " the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me." Gal. ii. 20. Yes, it is in Christ alone we can stand in the presence of our God-it is in the Beloved alone we are accepted, in Him alone complete, in Him alone presented " without spot or wrinkle or any such thing," Eph. v. 27; and although in this body of sin and death the believer must ever say and feel when he looks into himself, that he is blameable, and sinful and vile, yet as surely as he is looking unto Jesus, so surely is he seen in Him, and chosen in Him, as " holy and without blame before God in love." But in the other sense, the believer is not only positively holy. but he is relatively holy too, and although if you are believers you are always sensible how infinitely short you fall of the perfect standard of God's holy law, yet you are holy not only positively, as has been explained in Christ, but you are relatively holy too, that is, you are holy compared with yourselves before your conversion, and holy compared with all others who are not brought to Christ " if any man be in Christ he is a new creature," 2 Cor. v. 17; that which you once hated you now love, and that which once you loved you now hate-the holy principles, the holy word, the holy conduct, the holy companions, the holy law, which once you hated, you now love, the holy God against whom your hearts were enmity, you now adore as your reconciled God and Father. Christ is precious to you, you love His cause, his honor, and his people, and though you feel you do nothing, and desire nothing, and love nothing of all, as you ought to do, yet you will and desire to love and act as in your unconverted state you never did,-the sins, the pursuits, the pleasures, the companions in which you once delighted have not only lost their charms, but would make you miserable, and even now as they recur to your mind, or as your carnal LECTURES ON TIE EPHESIANS. 33 nature would desire them, they bring guilt and pain on your conscience, and the sense of your continual sin makes you constantly learn more that Christ is precious as your Redeemer and your Refuge. It is true you cannot always feel that there is this change in your own character, the power of sin and unbelief often makes you doubt whether you can be indeed children of Godand therefore I would not refer you to evidences in yourselves for peace-I neither think it safe nor scriptural to do so; but it is very important to refer you to them for self-examination, for humiliation, to stir you up to watch and pray, that you may learn to look unto Jesus, to live on Him for your peace and your salvation, and to Him for his praise and glory, that you may learn more and more to " mortify your members," "to crucify the flesh with its affections and lusts," because God hath chosen you in Christ, that, in every sense, " you should be holy, and without blame before him in love." Yes, dear friends, we are indeed vile and miserable sinners in our best estate; and if left to ourselves, must assuredly perish: but though condemned in ourselves, yet we are delivered from condemnation in Christ-unclean, yet clean-defiled, yet without spot-" black, but comely"-lost, but saved. Oh, what wondrous paradoxes are these for the poor believer. While he feels that he deserves to be cast into hell, yet " he is raised up and made to sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus," as we shall see in the next chapter. God looks not on him as the judge looks on the criminal, but as the tender father looks on the beloved child, so that his very trials are to be received as tokens of love-therefore the apostle saith-" If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the Father chasteneth not? but if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons." Heb. xii. 7, 8. If we are " PREDESTINATED TO THE ADOPTION OF CHILDREN" trials must be the portion,. in a greater or less degree, of every child of God-they must pass under the rod of the outward cross, pains, sufferings of many kinds, disappointments, difficulties, temporal losses, bereavements of those dear to them, various afflictions; or they must suffer under the pressure of the inward cross-doubts, darkness, unbelief, being left to themselves to feel their own weakness, to mourn under their own corruptions, to suffer under temptations, like Paul under the buffetings of Satan.-But mark the end, the object of their suffering under the rod-" that they may be partakers of his holiness." Therefore, as this is the object for which the rod is sent, so it is the motive given of our submission to it-" We have had fathers of our flesh, which corrected us, and we gave them reverence; shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the father of spirits, and live? for they verily for a few days chastened us after their pleasure, but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness." Heb. xii. 9, 10. He hath predestinated his children to be holy, and therefore he will surely make them so-the beginning is love-the end is love-so all the intermediate means 3 3~4 LECTURES ON THE,P.HESIANS. are love. Therefore if we are indeed his children we are called to be holy-" as obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts, in your ignorance, but as he who hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because it is written, be ye holy, for I am holy." 1 Pet. i. 14, 15, 16. You are graciously adopted as children, and lovingly chastened because you are such-and why? He tells us, it is "for our profit that we should be partakers of his holiness."-, Heb. xii. 10. Let us suppose a man of property to adopt the child of a beggar-to make him his heir-to bring him up as his own-to provide for all his wants-to educate, to discipline, and to fit him for the sphere in which he was to nove, and the inheritance he was destined to enjoy-we should consider this an act of great kindness to that child-men would say, what a fortunate and happy child he was, and how thankfully he ought to receive the instructions, and submit to all the necessary discipline of his benefactor. But if this were kind from one fellow-sinner to another, what shall we say of the love of that God, who has called and adopted rebellious worms like us-who has pardoned us, kept us, watches over us, disciplines, instructs, corrects us, and gives us the joyful hope of an " inheritance incorruptible and undeJiled, and that fadeth not away." I Pet. i. 4. " Behold," saith the apostle, " behold," as if he were pointing to some remarkable object, "behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed on us, that we should be called the sons of God." I John iii. 1. THE HATH PREDESTINATED US TO THE ADOPTION OF CHILDREN BY JESUS CHRIST TO HI-MTSELF ACCORDING TO THE GOOD PLEASURE OF HIS WILL.' Herein are all blessings-all the blessings of paternal love and paternal power-included. If the Lord of glory has. predestinated us to be adopted as His own children, then He has involved in this all the blessings necessary to fit us for our inheritance-all that wisdom, love, and power can plan, can wish and execute, must belong to those who are adopted as the children of God. His own glory is involved in the salvation of those whom He adopts. It is all " TO THE PRAISE OF THE GLORY OF HIS GRACE WHEREIN HE HATH MADE US ACCEPTED IN THE BELOVED." The manifestation of God's glorious attributes is the legitimate end and scope of His dealings with man. Tro manifest supreme good is the righteous object of supreme goodness, and all the dealings of God with His redeemed servants, are now and shall be finally exhibited to be "T TO TE PRAISE OF TIHE GLORY OF H1IS GRACE." The fact stated in the beginning of the 4th verse, namely, that He had " chosen them in Christ, before the foundation of world," is a proof that their salvation proceeded from the sovereign grace of God, and these words "according to the good pleasure of His will," are but an illustration of the principle on which they were chosen in Christ. They prove that it was not from any good foreseen in them, or any other cause, but purely the good pleasure of His will, as we have in Rom. ix. 15. LECTURES ON THIE EPHESIANS. 35 16. "He hath mercy on whom he will have mercy, and He hath compassion on whom he will have compassion, so then it is not o.f him that willeth, or of hinm that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy." And therefore it must be" TO THE PRAISE OF THE GLORY OF HIS GRACE;" because if it be, as indeed it is, the mere gratuitous act of His own sovereign will, it cannot be from any source, but His own gracious and unmerited bounty by which he "passed by them while they were yet in their blood and said unto them, Live," Ezek. xvi. 6. Yea, they were chosen in Jesus before the world began-therefore His grace must be the theme of their everlasting praise, because it is in truth the whole cause of their being called and saved in Christ; and surely there is not one amongst us, whose eyes have been open to know the hope of the Gospel, who must not confess that Grace is the only source of that mercy. " Who maketh thee to differ from another and what hast thou that thou didst not receive?" The first stone of the temple is laid by Sovereign Grace, and the last that shall be laid on the summit, shall be laid with shouts of " Grace-Grace unto it." The effects of this grace are manifested to the souls of all men, in the fact that they are " accepted in the beloved." You see "He hath made us accepted." It is a finished work for the believer-Jesus and his work are accepted with the Father, and all his people are accepted in Him. This the Apostle adduces as the glorious exhibition of grace to sinners. 2 Cor. vi. 1. " We beseech yoiu" saith he, " that you receive not the grace of God in vain; for he saith, I have heard thee" (i. e. Christ) "in a time accepted and in the day of salvation have I succored thee; behold now is the accepted time, behold now is the day of salvation"-that is, now is the promised time come-now is Immanuel and his glorious work accepted with the Father-now, the day of salvation proclaimed to sinners; and now, saith the Apostle here 4 IHE HATH MADE US ACCEPTED IN THE BELOVED"~ —we were'4 PREDESTINATED TO THE ADOPTION OF CHILDREN," therefore now are adopted as children-accepted in the Beloved as children! so that to all who believe in Jesus, as the hope and refuge of their souls, this is the language of inspired truth, " Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God, beloved now are we the sons of God." Hear then, these words, let us behold what manner of love it is; how great- how full-how free-how unchangeable! "I have loved thee with an everlasting love; therefore with loving kindness have f drawn thee." Jer. xxxi. 3. This is His language. "Wherefore, lift up the hands that hang down," 0 believer! Let us pray for a more enlarged view of this love of our heavenly Father-a more simple confidence in Him-that we may have our heart's affections drawn forth to him, in filial gratitude and love; that we may be enabled to feel the force of the love, and the power of the appeal when we shall come to the passage, if we are spared to do so, in this Epistle, Chap. 5, " Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, 36 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God, for a sweet smelling savor." 0! may our hearts feel all the blessed confidence of the relationship of children, and all the power of filial, holy love; that " we may show forth the praises of Him who hath called us out of darkness unto his marvellous light." I Pet. ii. 9. "Not only with our lips but in our lives, by giving up ourselves to His service, and by walking before Him in holiness and righteousness all the days of our life." Amen, Amen. THIRD LECTURE. EPrHESIANS I.-7, 8. " In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace. Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence." IN our last Lecture we traced the spiritual blessings of the children of God to the source from which they are all declared, in His eternal Word, to spring, that is, to His eternal purpose, His everlasting love " according as he hath chosen us in Him, before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestinated us to the adoption of children, by Jesus Christ, to Himsef, according to the good pleasure of His will." In tracing this, we found the entire glory of our salvation, from first to last, ascribed to the Creator, and no part of it to the creature. Man's glory had been his obedience, had he been faithful; but he is a fallen rebel, and God's glory is his salvation. Nothing of merit in it belongs to man, or God would be robbed of His glory; and if we are indeed His children by adoption, we shall be brought to see this. Can a child adopt its parents? or can it adopt those who stand towards it in the room of parents? Surely not! neither then can a sinner be truly called the adopted child of God, and adopt his Heavenly Father; the spiritual child of God is not born of himself any more than the child of an earthly parent. He is " born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." John i. 13. So saith our blessed Lord, John, xv. 16, " Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you." Consider this, God's people are called by sovereign grace to be a peculiar people-to be His-to " be holy and without blame before Him, in love." Now, instead of puzzling ourselves with the theological difficulties which man's presumption is continually suggesting on this subject; let us oc LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 37 cupy our hearts with humbly meditating on the revealed fact; and we shall find, both as it regards the world and ourselves, that, as all things come from God, and are ordered by God, that are good; so even those things that are evil shall all be finally overruled for His glory. Yea, the very sins of this fallen guilty world shall be ultimately made subservient to that great end-the sins of the sinner, when he is cast into outer darkness, shall redound to the glory of His eternal justice, as those of the redeemed who have." washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb," Rev. vii. 14, shall redound to the everlasting glory of His grace, who bore their sins " in His own body on the tree." 1st Peter, ii. 24. The Apostle here reduces this to the simplicity of the Gospel, and shows the grandeur of it to be commensurate with the attributes and character of God. If there be any here, any soul in this assembly, ignorant of the Gospel, all the peace of such an one, hollow as it is, and all his hope,-vain as it is, depends on something he has done, or expects to do for himself, instead of on the redemption which is in Jesus, " IN WHOM WE HAVE REDEMPTION THROUGH HIS BLOOD." And here we are taught in what this redemption consists, " THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS." The measure of this redemption too, we see -it is " ACCORDING TO THE RICHES OF HIS GRACE,/ as the Psalmist says, " with Him is plenteous redemption." Ps. cxxx. 7; how plenteous must that be which is commensurate with the riches of the grace of God! Redemption-that is, the purchasing sinners back from the bondage of sin, death, and hell, unto eternal life,-bestowing on them the forgiveness of sins, and blessing them " with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ." You perceive-it is not said, in whom we have had redemption, or, in whom we shall have redemption, but," IN WHOM WE HAVE REDEMPTION,' this is all we want to know and rest on to obtain solid peace, for " being justified by faith, we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ." Rom. v. 1. We are called here to consider the person of Him " IN WHOM WE HAVE REDEMPTION." Who is this Being, this Redeemer? He is Jehovah, " God over all, blessed forever," and he is the' man Christ Jesus," He is the " child born unto us," the " son given unto 5us" of whom saith the Prophet, " His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace." Isaiah, ix. 6. He, of whom it is written, " He is before all things, and by Him all things consist," Col. i. 17. He who was " made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem then that were.under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons." Gal. iv. 4, 5. In this is the "great mystery of godliness, God was manifest in the flesh." 1st Tim. iii. 16. It is evident that if it were not so, the Gospel scheme of salvation must necessarily involve idolatry. The Being who brings fuli redemption and forgiveness of sins to the soul-relief to the distressed conscience-peace and balm to the wounded heart, of which He is the Comfort, the Refuge, the Resting-place, the Sal 38 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. vation, and this too, at the expense of his own most precious blood; to Him must the affections of that heart be drawn out, in Him must they be centered. In vain had the command been given, " Thou shalt have none other Gods but me," if He who saith " Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest," (Mat. xi. 28,) were not that God himself. In this consists the blasphemy of Socinianism, which, if it admit of anything it calls atonement, robs the Being who made it of His Godhead, and therein makes him an object of idolatry. In this also consists, in part, the idolatry of the church of Rome. It applies to the Virgin Mary, and to the saints, the titles which belong to Christ alone, and so it proves thereby the idolatry which it inculcates in the sinner's heart. When it addresses, as in its books of devotion to the Virgin Mary, the titles that belong to Christ; as for example in the Rosary of the Virgin: "Refuge of Sinners, pray for us." "Comfort of the afflicted, pray for us." And as the Pope, in his encyclical letter of the year 1832, calls her, " The whole foundation of our hope." It is perfectly clear that that on which the heart leans as its hope, and to which it flies as its comfort and its refuge, is the object on which its affections must be centered. Therefore that apostate church gives His glory to another. But of Jesus we say: " Behold God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid, for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song, He also is become my salvation." Isai. xii. 2. Of Him we say: " Be thou my strong habitation whereunto I may continually resort." Ps. lxxi. 3. Of Him, " tI God is my salvation and my glory, the Rock of my strength and my refuge is in God. Trust in Him at all times ye people, pour out your hearts before him, God is a Refuge for us." Psalm lxii. 7, 8. But the manhood of our blessed Lord is no less to be borne in our minds. He who knew our nature, who " knew what was in man,' saw that we needed a " merciful and faithful High Priest:" " ~Such an High Priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens." Heb. vii. 26. Yet such an one too who is "touched with the feeling of our infirmities; who was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." Heb. iv. 15. So that if the nature of God's moral government, and the work of Christ as surety for sinners and fulfiller of the law in our stead, had not required it, yet even in compassion to our necessities " such an High Priest became us." So that when we can say to the Father of our spirits, speaking of the Son, " Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, even the son of man whom thou madest strong for thyself." Ps. lxxx. 17. We can say with Thomas to that blessed Son of Man, though we have not seen Him, " IMy Lordand my God." How we need, then, continually to have the person of Him who hath wrought our redemption ever present with us, so St. Paul saith: " Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus' Heb. iii. 1. LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 39 Then consider what he has wrought-REDEIMPTION-pause anld think of the fact-we require to bear this in our hearts every hour, It is not a vain, but a life-giving truth, which should be present in all its fulness in our souls continually. It is that truth which tunes, and shall tune, to all eternity, the harps of the redeemed before the Throne, " They have washed their robes and?made theme white in the blood of the Lamb, therefore are they before the Throne of God, and serve him, day and night in his temple." Rev. vii. 14, 15. Therefore they cry " with a loud voice, saying, SALVATION TO OUR GOD, which sitteth upon the Throne, and unto the Lamb.'" Rev. vii. 10. Then observe " WE HAVE' REDEMPTION THROUGH HIS BLOOD,D' the blessing is spoken of in the present time, "in whom we have redemption," we have it this day, now, this moment, present salvation for present necessities, for present sins. Consider, since last we met, how often in thought, word, and deed, have we sinned! how often have we needed this redemption! 0 then! what it is, if we can look unto Jesus and take up this language of faith, and say, "IN WHOM WTE HAVE REDEMPTION THROUGHI HIS BLOOD.' If there be any here ignorant of their lost condition, trusting to some outward form, saying, "Lord, Lord,' while they do not his will, " drawing near with their lips,'while their hearts are far from him." Mat. xv. 8, who instead of enjoying present redemption, are resting in some vain system of their own, or of man's invention, thinking they cannot be authorized to look to Him, until they change their lives, and reform their habits, and who are thus trying by their vain and weary efforts to recommend themselves to the favor and mercy of God; I would say to such, alas I mly poor friend and fellow sinner, all your religion consists in resolves never to be executed, and intentions never to be performed, and which, if even carried into effect would profit you nothing, and never can even help to make your peace with God. " Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or can the leopard change his spots, so soon may you do good that are accustomed to do evil." Jer. xiii. 23, this is the testimony of God concerning such persons, as those who try to make themselves clean in his sight. But 0! the good news of the Gospel is present salvation to sinners, a proclamation of present pardon and forgiveness through the blood of Jesus. Mark these words, "IN Woi[OM WE HAVE REDEMPTION THROUGH HIS BLOOD." What is that? he tells us what he means, "THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS ACCORDING TO THE RICHES OF HIS GRACE.' Have you been all your life far from God? Then hear at this moment pardon is proclaimed to you through the blood of Jesus. Are you farther than the thief on the cross? when at the first in conjunction with his fellow-thief as two evangelists inform us, reproach and blasphemy hung upon his lip, yet, when through grace touching his heart, and opening his eyes, he turned to Jesus for pardon, to him was given present redemption and salvation. " To-day shalt thou be with me in Paradise." Luke xxiii. 43. 40 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. Although salvation is given to us according to our several circumstances, yet it is the same salvation to all, for though all are in different states of sin, all are alike sinners. You may be a Pharisaical sinner, perhaps, high in reputation, not only for morality, but for religion, and yet be only a whited sepulchre; the devil can transform himself into an angel of light, and so does he often clothe his servants in the same livery. Saul was high in reputation, and " after the most straitest sect of his religion, he lived a Pharisee," at the time when he was "breathing out threatenings and slaughters against the disciples of the Lord," Acts, ix. 1. when by his subsequent inspired testimony he was " a persecutor and blasphemer, and injurious." 1 Tim. i. 13. When the Lord smote him to the earth, when trembling and astonished he cried out, "Lord what wilt thou have me to do," and when the Lord ordered him to go to Damascus, the message which He sent to him there by Ananias, was a message of present pardon and salvation, "Arise and be baptized, and wash away thy sins." Acts, xxii. 16. The Philippian jailer, a sinner of a different character, was a persecutor, and a cruel one in his trade, up to the very moment when the songs of praise of Paul and Silas from the stocks, where he had fastened them —the earthquake-the falling off of the chains from the prisoners, and the bursting open of the prison doors, startled him fTom his slumber, when he was about to commit the most awful murder man can perpetrate, self-murder-when his sword, all but steeped in his own blood was flung down, and he cried out trembling at the feet of Paul and Silas, " Sirs, what nmust I do to be saved," What was the answer? present salvation through the blood of Jesus, " Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved?" What was the result? he embraced with gratitude and joy the present remedy-that same hour of the night " he rejoiced, believing in God." Acts xvi. 31. 34. Now you are not worse than he, nor are you better. Does not your own conscience tell you that by nature and practice you are a guilty sinner? Hear then the glad tidings, salvation is proclaimed to you through the blood of Jesus. " Be it known unto you men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins, and by him all that believe are justified, from all things,from which you could not be justified by the law'of Moses." Acts, xiii. 38, 39, that is by your own efforts, by anything that you can do, by laws, by ceremonies, by forms, ordinances or morals. 0! then embrace this salvation, trust in it — rejoice in it. It is not a half redemption, it is not a sort of condi tional redemption, that places you in a condition to struggle as it were for your soul's deliverance, and leaves you to complete the half done work of your salvation. 0 no! It is full, free, finished, and complete redemption just suited to your wants, and suited to them at this moment. Perhaps there may be several here, too, who would be much offended if I were to ask them, t do they know the meaning of the LECTURES ON THE EPHI SIANS. 4l word redemrrption?" who would say, " we have known it all our lives." Yet it is an important question, and it is to be feared the word is but too little understood.-Let us consider it. Suppose any article pledged for a certain sum, and that it was redeemed; would it not revert to its owner again, and be his own, and be free? Suppose a man a prisoner, and ransomed, or redeemed by having a ransom paid for him. If the ransom were sufficient and accepted, would he not be free? Suppose an estate mortgaged and redeemed from its mortgage, would it not be free? Does not redemption in all these cases mean a complete and perfect deliverance, so that if there be not deliverance, then the term redemption cannot be applied; for the person or the thing is really not redeemed. Hear, then, 0 sinner, the good news of the Gospel. Here is the redemption that is in Christ. It is full, free, complete redemption. Nothing remains to be paid. The prison doors are burst open, and the captive is free; pardon, liberty, and life are in the word, 0! think of it, "IN WHOM WE HAVE REDEMPTION THROUGH HIS BLOOD.? Again, consider the means of its accomplishment. Consider the price. " THROUGH HIS BLOOD." Consider if any other means had been sufficient, is it possible, think you, that Christ would have died? Would the precious blood of the Lamb of God have been poured out if any price less costly had been sufficient? If you could save your children from destruction by any other means than the peril of your life, would you risk that life unnecessarily? And surely the Father had not sent his beloved Son to die upon the cross, if other ransom could have been found for guilty man. " If righteousness come by the law," (that is, by anything that man can do,) " then Christ is dead in vain." Gal. ii. 21. But 0! what can be added of weight or value to the blood of Jesus? His blood is an all-sufficient ransom. It " cleanseth us from all sin." 1 John i. 7. He has purchased sinners with His own blood, and that is price enough for their redemption. This is the whole ground of our forgiveness, so observe how different this is from the natural expectation of the heart. How different from the miserable hope that men derive from the thought that they are not so bad as others. How different from the miserable hope they derive from the idea that they have amended their lives and reformed their habits, and are better than their former selves, and therefore trust that they are on this ground more acceptable to God. How different from any such miserable hope-if hope it can be called, which must ever be clouded by the consciousness of sin, by the feeling that, however imperfect and false the standard of attainment be which we have raised, we must fall short of our own standard, and sink beneath its level, when measured even by our own conscience. True it is indeed, that if a sinner believes the Gospel, his life will be totally changed; he will be different from those who believe it not, and different from what he was himself as an unbeliever, " If any man be in Christ he is a new creature," 2 Cor. v. 17, but this is the effeet 42 LECTURES ON THE EPIJESIANS, not the cause of his salvation; he is changed not to be saved, out because he is saved. Salvation by grace and salvation by works, are not only distinct from, but opposed to each other, light and darkness are not more opposite. They cannot be combined, they cannot be dove-tailed together. The Scripture declares they are excluded from each other by a universal negative, " If by grace it is no more of works, otherwise grace is no more grace, but if it be of works, it is no more of grace, otherwise work is no more work." Rom. xi. 4. It is impossible they can co-exist as conjoint causes of salvation, and consequently as conjoint grounds of hope. The Word of God is,'" REDEMPTION THROUGH His BLOOD, THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS, ACCORDING TO THE RICHES OF HIS GRACE.." Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith." Rom. iii. 27. If salvation were in any degree of works, then indeed, were there some room for boasting in man; the man who had attained it by his performance, could boast over him who had lost it by his failure. But no boaster shall ever enter into eternal life, except those who boast in Christ Jesus, as it is written, " He that glorieth let him glory in the Lord." 1 Cor. i. 31. What encouragement then is here for the heavy laden heart and conscience? What a blessing to be called by the glorious Gospel to look out of itself to Jesus? to look from the depths of its own distress, to the glory and the fulness of that redemption, which is'" ACCORDING TO THE RICHES OF HIS GRACE." 0! how great is this redemption? well might the Psalmist say, " with the Lord is vmercy, with Himn is plenteous redemption." It is a redemption commensurate, not only with our sins, but with the riches of the grace of Jehovah. Hence He saith, Psalm, ciii. 11, 12, "as the Heaven is high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward them that fear Him, as far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us." Heaven and earth, east and west, must meet together, before the sins of His people shall be brought against them before Him. Yea, they are not only blotted from the face of heaven lke a cloud, but, they are said to be blotted even from the remembrance of the Most High, " their sins and iniquities will I remember no more." Heb. x. 17. This is the redemption, the forgiveness, we need, and this is the redemption through the blood of Jesus, "WHEREIN HE HATH ABOUNDED TOWARD US, or, as in Romanss, "where sin abounded, grace did much more abound." Rom. v. 20. Does this then (as men say who believe not the Gospel) afford encouragement to sin? We can only answer with the Apostle, when he proposes the same question, " What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid." Rom. vi. 1, 2. Suppose you hlad been injured deeply by some dependent, that he were doomed by the law to forfeit his liberty or his life for his offence, and that, at a great personal loss and sacrifice, you were content to pardon, and to procure his deliverance, and receive him LECTURES ON THE EPltESIANS, 43 again into your family-could you ever suppose him to understand, from your clemency and kindness, that he might therefore take license to repeat his offence? No-you would consider, and justly, that you had an everlasting claim on his gratitude and his affection, you would consider it as the most atrocious aggravation of his crime, that he should ever again abuse your mercy. If we would say and think thus of our fellow-man, in reference to ourselves, how much more should the principle apply to a sinner in reference to his Redeemer! surely it were the worst state to which a fallen-creature could be reduced-the deepest mark of perdition that could be branded on his brow-that he should use the means of deliverance from his sins, which the grace of God proclaims to him, as an incentive or excuse for continuing to rebel against that God. No! the salvation of the Gospel, on the contrary, is the only means whereby we can be delivered from the love and power of sin, as well as from its condemnation; all human inventions ever have failed, and must fail, to take away the love of sin from the heart, or plant the love of God within it. Vain are all the penances, the austerities, the mortifications imposed by superstition to undermine the power of sin and to attain salvation. Self-exaltation, self-deliverance, self-redemption is the virtual scope of all such religion, and genuine holiness is therefore not only unattained, but unapproached, yea, unknown even in its principle, by those who practise them; the motive, the only allowed and acceptable motive, of moral action, cannot have a place within them-and that is LOVE TO GOD. Let me suppose that a parent saw a child or a servant performing some labored acts of obedience, but that he had means of ascertaining that these acts were performed to attain some interested and selfish end, could he give him credit for these performances? -would he not rather consider them a subject of reproof than of reward?-must he not condemn this conduct as hypocrisy, when the motive which it seemed to affect had no place in the heart? Such exactly is the same selfish feeling that dictates the seeming obedience of the man who expects in any degree salvation from his works-the acknowledged scope of his conduct is to serve inimself-to save his soul-and therefore, on his own principle, not to serve or glorify God. But how can we ever sufficiently appreciate the language of the Spirit by the Apostle here in this amplification, if I may so speak of this redemption. Speaking of it in reference to God, as coming fiom him, it is "ACCORDING TO THE RICHES OF His GRACE." It is the mercy, the love, the grace, not of a king, but of the King of kings. It is exhibited in the fact that "WE HAVE REDEMPTION BY IHis BLOOD,"-what " RICHES OF GRACE" in God the Father, to.give His Son. The Apostle John does not attempt to describe this love, but leaves it as it is, beyond description-" God SO loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John iii, 16 44 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. He "SO loved," but how much, who can calculate! What " RICHES OF GRACE" in God the Son, to pour out that blood for our redemption. " Greater love" He saith "bath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." John xv. 13. This is the utmost extent to which human love can go. But what were" THE RICHES OF HIS GRACE," who laid down His life for His enemies! " God commendeth his love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Rom. v. 8. How horrible must be that sin, which cost such a price for the redemption of those who were sold under it! How unsearchable 4" THE RICHES OF THAT GRACEa that paid the price!-how inestimable the value of that blood that "cleanseth from all sin!" The riches of this Grace shall be the Hallelujah chorus of the saints in glory forever, " Unto Him that hath loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen." Rev. i. 5, 6. Then, considered in reference to His saints, the Apostle says " WHEREIN HE HATH ABOUNDED TOWARDS US,' " the RICHES OF HIs GRACE," are the unsearchable riches of the King of kings, and He hath not only given us of them, but He " HATH ABOUNDED IN THEM TOWARDS US.) It is not only grace but " THE RICHES OF HIS GRACE," and then, not in a scanty measure, but in the very abounding of God to our souls. The table of the wedding feast is no niggard banquet to which He invites " the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind." His language is " Eat, 0 friends -drink, yea, drink abundantly, 0 beloved." Cant. v. 1. So by the Prophet-" Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness, incline your ear and come unto me; hear, and your soul shall live." Isai. lv. 2, 3. So the response of the soul that feeds on the banquet of His love, is that of the Psalmist, -" Because thy loving kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. Thus will I bless thee while I live; I will lift up my hands in thy name. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips." Psalm lxiii. 3,4, 5. ~This is alas! foolishness to the world-to those who know not Christ and the blessed redemption in his blood, but how different is it, in its real nature and value as it comes from God. The Apostle saith, that in this grace " HE HATH ABOUNDED TOWARDS US IN ALL WISDOM AND PRUDENCE." "All wisdom" in the plan of such amazing redemption-all "prudence" in the execution and communication of it. This is full of force and power as addressed to the Ephesians. Wisdom was professedly their great ~object. " The Greeks seek after wisdom." 1st Cor. i. 22. " Philosophy, falsely so called," was one of the many idols of Greece, but the Apostle as if to show them where alone true wisdom was to be found, places it as it were all here. Here are the abounding riches of God's grace. Here is that which your philosophers have LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 45 been seeking in vain, here is "ALL WISDOM." So he saith to the Corinthians. " The Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block, and to the Greeks foolishness, but unto them which are called both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God." 1st Cor. i. 22-24. As if He had said, all wisdom is in Christ; as he does to the Colossians, " In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge," Col. ii. 3. To attain knowledge is accounted wisdom; to attain wealth, rank, glory, which men call happiness, in even the little scanty measure in which such blessings are attainable in this passing world, these are accounted as the attainments of wisdom, though all these "perish in the using." But what must that wisdom be which secures all these, and secures them for eternity! To know Christ is to attain that wisdom. If we know Him, it is of small moment that we should be ignorant of other things here, because those who know Him shall surely be with Him forever, and then shall their knowledge of all things be adequate to their glorified capacity; " then shall I know even as also I am known." Ist Cor. xiii. 12. The wisest man in all other knowledge, who is ignorant of ChriAt, knows nothing, nothing worthy of an immortal being, soon shall " all his thoughts perish;" and the man who knows Christ though ignorant of all things else on earth, knows that which shall make him wise and happy through eternity." If therefore, in reference to God, He " aboundeth towards us in all wisdom and prudence" in giving us Christ; our highest wisdom and prudence must consist in receiving this " unspeakable gift; in endeavoring to understand and appreciate its value; this is the treasure hid in the field, which when a man hath found, he selleth all he hath to purchase it. O! may our souls enjoy the blessings of this redemption, rejoice in the riches of the grace that hath wrought it, and instructed by the wisdom wherein God hath abounded in it to our souls. May we be made "wise unto salwation throughfaith that is in Christ Jesus." Amen. FOURTH LECTURE. EPHESIANS I.-9, 10. Having made known unto us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He hath purposed in Himself: That in the dispensation of the fulness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in Him." THE Apostle having expressed among the causes of blessing and praise to God, (verse 3,) for himself and his brethren at Ephe * "Si Christum discis nihil est quod altera nescis. Si Christum nescis, nihil est quod altera discis."-HooKER.. 46 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. sus, that they were accepted and redeemed by the Lord Jesus. "He hath made us accepted In the beloved, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace," proceeds to show in these verses how they had been made partakers of this redemption-what a glorious mystery it is-and what shall be its glorious consummation. You will perceive, on reflection, the vast importance of this, for this is one great point, on which all unenlightened men, professing Christianity, are ignorant; all such, whatsoever their shades of opinion may be, are included within the scope of two classes. One class, (if we can call them Christians, they profess to call themselves so,) expect to be saved by their own virtues, without any reference to Christ, except, perhaps, they might admit that He was an exemplar of morals. But Christ does not come into their contemplation as the hope of their salvation. There is another class, (and this is by far the more numerous) who believe, that there is no salvation without Christ. They will say, " we believe there is no salvation without the death of Christ; we believe it is impossible for man to be saved without his atonement." These persons will insist on redemption by Christ, as they call it, but they deceive themselves when they think that they believe in Him-and that they believe the Gospel. They believe that Christ has brought salvation within their reach, that is, put them into a condition or capacity to save themselves, but then, they say, " We must labor to make ourselves worthy of this salvation, we must labor to gain it, we must labor to recommend ourselves to the favor of Christ —we must labor, (as is their common phrase,) to perform the conditions of the Gospel Covenant which are, required on our part in order to the salvation of our souls, we must be righteous before we can hope in Christ." Now, to save ourselves, without Christ, and to save ourselves in this manner ly Christ are two very different principles, but they are both equally false, they both deny Jesus as the Saviour of sinners. One of them sets up a false Christ, that is, a Christ who helps sinners to save themselves; the other denies Christ, and shuts him out of their scheme altogether. To this latter class who deny Christ, may be reduced Deists, Arians, Socinians, a great multitude of those who call themselves, as is the fashion in these days, " Liberals" in religion. The other class embrace all the Church of Rome, and all the Protestants who hold the principles of popery, (and we all hold the principles of popery by nature-a modification of popery is the natural religion of the heart,) and this class embraces all such Protestants, and most especially, those individuals of the Church of England, those false teachers of the present day, who are setting up a system of popery within her pale. NoTw, let me entreat you to consider these questions which I proposeIs salvation altogether by ourselves without Christ? Or is salvation partly by Christ, and partly by ourselves? LECTURES ON THt EPHESIANS. 47 Or is salvation by Christ alone? The scheme of salvation must be included within these three. You must consider-you must understand the answers to these, if your souls are to be saved. Now, salvation is not by ourselves alone, otherwise Christ cannot be a Saviour, we cannot have "redemption through His blood." Salvation is not by ourselves and by Christ, He performing one part, and we another; otherwise Christ is but half a Saviour-a helper to salvation —a helper to redemption. Salvation is by Christ alone, and Christ is an all-sufficient Saviour, " in whom we have redemption through Hlis blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace." Men who are ignorant of this, may, notwithstanding, have very strict principles of religion, they may be very pious, very devoted men, they may labor very hard for their salvation, as many do, as the Israelites of whom the Apostle testifies, " they have a zeal of God but not according to knowledge. For they, being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth." Rom. x. 2, 3, 4. All false religion, and all false morality, that is, morality based on false principles, may be reduced to this. So these persons who are striving to save themselves, and yet, who are lost through their ignorance and rejection of the Gospel, are described in Ecclesiastes, x. 15, " The labor of the foolish wearieth every one of them, because he knoweth not how to go to the city." If you wish to see the spiritual meaning of this, you may find it in Romans, ix. 31, " Israel which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. Is not that marvellous? is it not a wonderful rhing that the man who follows after the law of righteousness cannot attain to it? Do you think if you follow after it you must attain to it? You see it is not so. Here were men who followed after it, " Israel, who followed after the law of righteousness, hath:not attained to the law of righteousness" Now, " wherefore?' what is the reason? " because they sought it not byfaith, bait, as it were, by the works of the law, for they stumbled at that stuzmbling stone." They stumbled at Christ. Take care lest he be a stone of stumbling to you-beware! 0 beware! Remember, the Lord's words, Mat. xxi. 44. Now, in opposition to this, stands the knowledge of Christ, as you have it in St. John's Gospel, xvii. 3, " This is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ w/hom thoua hast sent." To know the Father and Christ is life eternal. This brings us then to consider the meaning of these verses. You will observe in this passageFirst, they had received redemption, " we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins." Then, you see thi 48 LECTURES CN THE EPHESIANS. means whereby they attained to this, namely, God having made it known to them-God having revealed to them, the glorious mystery of redemption by Jesus. Look at the connection of the 7th and 8th verses, " In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace, wherein, He hath abounded towards us in all wisdom and prudence, HAVING MADE KNOWN UNTO US THE MYSTERY OF HIS WILL, ACCORDING TO HIS GOOD PLEASURE WHICH HE HATH PURPOSED IN HIMSELF." God made it known to them, therefore, they had received it. We have also the reason why God made it known to them "ACCORDING TO HIS GOOD PLEASURE WHICH HE PURPOSED IN HIMSELF." We have more-We have the end, the consummation of the mystery which He did make known to them, namely, "THAT IN THE DISPENSATION OF THE FULNESS OF TIMES, HE MIGHT GATHER TOGETHER IN ONE ALL THINGS IN CHRIST, BOTH WHICH ARE IN HEAVEN, AND WHICH ARE ON EARTH, EVEN IN HIM." Now, then, let us consider here, the means whereby God brought redemption, even the forgiveness of sins, to this people-the means whereby they were made partakers of it, and whereby, alone, we can be made partakers of it. Let me entreat your attention to this, because this is a point on which so many individuals are ignorant, and so many constantly full of doubts. Persons frequently say, "I know there is redemption for sinners in the blood of Christ, but how am I to be made partaker of this redemption?-how am I to be redeemed?" Here is the answerGod making known unto you His truth, by His word, and His Spirit teaching you to understand and to believe that word-to embrace the truth it reveals as the hope of your salvation. This is the means whereby God conveys his salvation to sinners. No man, by his natural reason, can know or understand Christ, as revealed in the Scriptures-no-not had he even seen Him and His miracles, except by the teaching of the Holy Ghost. So our Lord saith to St. Peter, in St. Matthew's Gospel, xvi. 17, on St. Peter confessing Jesus to be the Christ, B lessed art thou Simon Bar-Jona, for lesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven." So, you perceive, the Apostle Paul speaks exactly in the same language, 1st Cor. ii. 9, 10, 11, "But as it is written, eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit' for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man that is in him?-even so, the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God." God must reveal His truth to the sinner's heart, before the sinner can understand or receive it. So you have it set forth in the 14th verse,~ l;,te natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned." So our blessed Lord, himself ex LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 49 essly promises to His Apostles, in St. John, xvi. 13, " When He, he Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth; for He shall not speak of Himself, but whatsoever lie shall hear, that shall he speak. And He will show you things to come." The Apostles, though hearing the word of our Lord Himself, were only guided into truth by the Spirit; and the Spirit that taught them. alone can teach any sinner the truth as it is in Jesus. So our Lord says in verse 14,-" He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you." And lest you should suppose that our blessed Lord speaks here, merely of the inspiration of the Apostles, which was no doubt included in it, but lest you should suppose, that it is not equally necessary that all His people should be partakers of the divine instruction of the Holy Ghost, as to His own person, work, and offices, you will find in 1st Cor. xii. 3,-" No man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Hol/ Ghost." You may name the name of Christ, and you may set up in your own imagination, a being born of the Virgin, who has performed such and such works, vwho lived and died, and rose again, to whom you may apply the name of Christ, but the Christ that is revealed in the Bible, as the Saviour of guilty sinners, and the work of that Christ, you know not, and cannot know, till Christ teaches you, by His Spirit, to receive as little children, the revelation of His holy word. Many, in these days, call this enthusiasm or fanaticism, but wide is the difference between enthusiasm or fanaticism, and the true scriptural expectation of the teaching and guidance of the blessed Spirit. Enthusiasts speak of sensible or visible impulses and revelations of the Holy Ghost, which are not found in, and will not stand the test of, God's eternal word. The Holy Spirit is discernible in His effects, and not in His, operations-thus our Lord teaches, " The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit." John iii. 8. It is not the office of the Holy Spirit to give new revelations-it is enthusiasm-fanaticism, to expect them. But it is the office of the Holy Spirit to teach the sinner's heart to understand, to receive, to believe, and walk in the revelations that God has given in this blessed book. Hence God's word is the guide of those w1ho are taught by the Spirit. Therefore, true religion studies the Bible, true religion prizes and throws open the Bible, true religion calls on man to hear our Divine Master, and to. search the Scriptures." Falsehood shrinks from the Bible, shuts up the Bible from the instruction of mankind, and deprecates the study and diffusion of the Bible. I say then, the means that are here stated to have been used by God, towards the Ephesian church, to bring them to this blessed state of redemption, were His " HAVING MADE KNOWN UNTO THEMI THE MYSTERY OF HIS WILL,' which He did by His word preached by the Apostle and His Holy Spirit. Again we have here, secondly, the reason why God made it. knolwn to them. ACCORDING TO His GOOD PLEASURE, VH-ICHi 4 .SO LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. HE HATH PURPOSED IN HIMSELF." This part of the subject is very plain in its expression, but I shall not enter into it in this verse, because it will come under our consideration, in verse 11, it it please God, and I shall refer to it on that occasion. We shall consider now, the glorious consummation of that mystery, which according to His good pleasure, God had revealed unto them, it is this,-" THAT IN TIHE DISPENSATION OF THE FULNESS OF TIMES, HE MIGHT GATHER TOGETHER, IN ONE, ALL THINGS IN CHRIST, BOTH WHICH ARE IN HEAVEN AND ON EARTH, EVEN IN HIM." The Apostle here takes a most comprehensive view of the subject of divine revelation, in which he had instructed the church at Ephesus. He had sojourned with that church for more than two years, as you may recollect, Acts xix., and in that time, the whole scope of his apostolic teaching, had been brought fully before them, as he tells the elders of Ephesus, Acts xx. 27, " Ihave not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God." He embraces then in this verse, not merely one, but many subjects, and for the sake of perspicuity, I shall divide them. He says, "IN THE DISPENSATION OF THE FULNESS OF TIMES." Observe, he does not say, the fulness of a time, speaking merely of one period, you will find him speaking of this in Galatians iv. 4. There he speaks of one epoch in the dispensations of God, that is, the first coming of Christ, " when the filness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, ec." But here he speaks of a' DISPENSATION OF THE FULNESS OF TIMES," and that in this, HE MIGHT GATHER TOGETHER ALL THINGS IN CHRIST, BOTH WHICH ARE IN HEAVEN AND ON EARTTH, EVEN IN HIM." NOW this is a part of the mystery of his will, as you will find on considering it; and it involves several parts, each of which is a mystery in itself, as the whole is a mystery. The first mystery which God makes known to them is, THE MANIFESTATION OF CHRIST TO SINNERS, AND SINNERS GATHERED IN CHRIST. This is a mystery, as you will find in 1 Tim. iii. 16, " Great is the mystery of Godliness: God was manifest in the flesh." This was one mystery, which, " in the dispensation of the flness of times," God made known. And, oh! what a nmystery! that He whom the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain, should take upon him our flesh in the womb of a virgin-that He should be born into this world, and live and die for us, and send his ministers to proclaim this Gospel-this good news, to every creature-as, in his most blessed name, I proclaim to you as sinners this day, pardon of your sins, through the blood of " God manifest in theflesh." Oh, what a mystery! that the holy God, who sees each of us-such vile sinners-who measures and fathoms what we cannot ourselves-the depths of iniquity in our heartsthat that God should proclaim to us pardon through the blood of his Son-that He should " so love the world as to give his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." Here is a mystery; that such sinners as we are should be gathered-if, indeed, we shall be gathered LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 51 out of a world of guilt and sin, snatched from hell-plucked, like brands from the burning, and brought to God, through Christ Jesus! Oh, it is a mystery-an amazing mystery! No wonder the Apostle Peter says, " the angels desire to look into these things." It is this mystery of salvation into which they desire to look; for, when he says that the prophets who foretold this salvation diligently sought what it was, that the Spirit within them signified; he adds, "unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you, with the Holy Ghost sent down from Heaven: which things the angels desire to look into." 1 Peter i. 12. The manifestation of God in the flesh, and this, that he might die for guilty sinners, and send the Holy Ghost from Heaven to teach them "the unsearchable riches" of His love; what wonder, these were mysteries of divine and amazing grace, into which " the angels desire to look." But there is yet another mystery which forms a part of that gathering in of all in Christ, of which the Apostle speaks in this verse. That is:-THE CLOSE AND INTIMATE UNION THAT SUBSISTS BETWEEN OUR BLESSED SAVIOUR, AND THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN His BLESSED NAME, AND LOOK TO HIM AS THE REFUGE OF THEIR SOULS. This is set forth as another part of the mystery, as you see in this Epistle, v. 32. St. Paul in that chapter is speaking of the union between husband and wife-he is speaking of the devoted attachment of the husband to the wife, and the dutiful subjection and affection of the wife to the husband; and having dwelt on this practically, with regard to husbands and wives, he says,' this is a great mystery; but I speak concerning Christ and the Church." Oh, how wonderful the union between the Lord Jesus Christ and those who believe on his name!-As a husband is responsible for all the debts of his wife, Jesus is responsible for the sins of his people, and pays the mighty debt of every poor sinner that depends upon him-As the wife is lifted up, and taken even from the meanest rank in the world, and if the husband is on a throne, she is lifted up to the rank of her husband-if he is a king, she is a queen-so the blessed Jesus takes the poor sinner out of the depths of guilt and sin, clothes him with his own righteousness, washes him in his own blood, gathers him in his arms, carries him in his bosom, and will never leave him nor forsake him, until he raises him up to sit upon his own throne. " He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill, that he may set him with princes, even with the princes of his people."-Psal. cxiii. 7, 8. This is an exhaustless mysterybut this is a mystery which God had taught the Ephesian church, and thus enabled them more to rejoice in that blessed hope, that they "had redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness.9f sins, according to the riches of his grace." But there was another part of the mystery comprehended in that of gathering in all in Christ, in the dispensation of the fulness of 52 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. times, and that was-THE BRINGING IN OF THE GENTILES These had been living without God, worshipping stocks and stones, and various idols, yet now were called into the church of Christ. You know that the Apostles did not for somle time believe that the Gospel should be preached to the Gentiles. You know that it was by a vision from heaven (as you find in Acts x.) that St. Peter was induced to go and obey the invitation sent to him by a Gentile, to come and declare to him the way of salvation. In this Epistle, the Apostle speaks of the calling of the Gentiles as a hidden mystery now revealed. You see the passage at length, chap. iii. fromz 1st to 11th verses. And, in the 3d and 4th verses, he expressly calls it " the mystery," and " the mystery of Christ, which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy Apostles and Prophets by the Spirit, that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the Gospel." Ch. iii. 5, 6. That mystery, you perceive, the Apostle says, was now revealed; and how mysterious it was that God should, for so many centuries, have separated to himself a people from the whole world-should have given to that people ordinances and laws, by which they were kept distinct in their government, their religion, their habits, their customs, their manners, from all the nations of the earth-that He should have promised to them the Messiah in their family, and should promise, as He did, the amazing blessings that are predicted to the Jews hereafter-that then the Lord should command,. that all the barriers between them and the other nations of the earth, should be broken down and levelled at once, and that the same salvation which was proclaimed to the Jews,. should be proclaimed to the Gentiles. throughout the whole world-that the same salvation proclaimed to those who had had the " adoptio.n, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises."-Rom. ix. 4; should be sent to those who were worshipping " the image that" they said "fell down frogn Jupiter," and shouting out in the ears of the Apostles, who had been preaching the Gospel to them, "great is Diana of the Ephesians!" How marvellous, that God should send his Gospel to them., and to us! Go through the fields in this very country, look at that massive stone, supported on those rude pillars, and ask your antiquarians -what was that? They will tell you that was an altar where human victims were offered, in this land, as a sacrifice to idols. And now, is it not a marvellous and mysterious blessing, that, to the descendants of those, whose hands have reeked with the blood of human victims, the Gospel should be proclaimed as it is proclaimred now, that we should be blest as we are with the oracles of God, and that our children should be taught in the way of everlasting life " Great indeed is the mystery of godliness " and that this very thing is part of that mystery, is stated in that same verse, " Great is the mystery of godliness, God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of Angels, preached unto the LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 53 Gentiles, received up into glory," 1st Tim. iii. 18-this is a mrarvellous mystery, the preaching of salvation, pardon of sin, to a lost and guilty world, through a crucified and risen Saviour. But there is another mystery still, which is the consummation of that here spoken of. The " GATHERING TOGETHER -OF ALL THINGS IN CHRIST, BOTH WHICH ARE IN HEAVEN AND ON EARTH." This you know is not as yet fulfilled, but this includes that mystery of which the Apostle speaks in Ist Cor. xv. 51, 52. THE MYSTERY OF THE RESURRECTION. " Behold Ishow yoz a mystery, we shall not all sleep," (that is, all believers in Christ shall not be asleep when Christ comes,)' but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality." 1st Cor. xv. 51, 52, 53. This is a part of the mystery of which the Apostle speaks, as having been revealed to them, for this was given as the hope of the Church from that day to this present. But the mode in which " ALL THINGS IN HEAVEN," things being put for persons, that is those who have fallen asleep, and are departed to be with Christ, and "THINGS ON EARTH,' that is the whole Church on the earth at His coming, whom He calls collectively, chap. iii. 15, " the whole family in heaven and earth," the mode in which they shall be gathered together, completes the mystery he speaks of, and this is fully set forth by the Apostle in 1st Thess. iv., where he says, speaking of those who had fallen asleep in Jesus, 14th verse, " if we believe that Jesus died, and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus, will God bring with Him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord, shall not prevent them which are asleep,' we shall iot be beforehand with them, a man's being alive on the earth when Christ comes, shall not give him precedence of those who have died in the faith, of one twinkling of an eye in eternal life, or in resurrection glory, it shall not give him the precedence of all the dead that have fallen asleep in Christ, from Adam to that moment,'" For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them, in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord." 1st Thess. iv. 14-17. In the same twinkling of an eye that he who is alive is changed, and fashioned like to the glorious body of Christ, in that same twinkling of an eye the dead shall be raised incorruptible, when he shall appear who said, " let there be light and there was light." And as the dew-drops spangle the ground, ere they are exhaled, when the sun bursts in his glory from the morning sky; so shall his people awake from their graves, and stand in regenerated life and glory, as they rise to meet their Lord in the air. This is the consummation of that great mystery, 54 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. "the gathering together of all things in Christ," of which the Apostle speaks; then shall we 3ehold Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the saints of old, all the Old Testament Church, and the New Testament Church, " the whole family in heaven and earth," then shall we behold them all " gathered together in Christ." And you, if you be indeed His disciples, if you be indeed washed in his precious blood, you shall be of that blessed number, who shall arise in glory to meet your God. This is that " DISPENSATION OF THE FULNESS OF TIMES,' when all shall be " GATHERED TOGETHER IN CHRIST, BOTH WHICH ARE IN HEAVEN, AND WHICH ARE ON EARTH, EVEN IN HIM." Great is this mystery then, in all its cou m-e and its consummation. Great is the mystery of Godliness, that " God was manifest in theflesh." 1st Tim. iii. 16. Great is the mystery of this Salvation, that he should be "wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities, that the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed." Isai. liii. 5, and that we should "have redemption through his blood, even theforgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace." Great is the mystery of that union, that exists between Christ and his redeemed people, that " we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones." Eph. v. 30. Great is the mystery that the times of the Jewish Dispensation should be completed, and that it should be revealed, "t that the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the Gospel." Eph. iii. 6. Great is the mystery of the mighty renovation that is to pass on us in that day of resurrection glory, " When we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound; and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." 1 Cor. xv. 51, 52. And when " the times of the Gentiles shall be fulfilled —and the promised day shall come, when all these dispensations shall be past-great is that mystery, when " He shall send His angels, and shall gather together his elect, from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth, to the uttermost part of heaven," -that-" IN THE DISPENSATION OF THE FULNESS OF TIMES HE MIGHT GATHER TOGETHER IN ONE ALL THINGS IN CHRIST, BOTH WHICH ARE IN HEAVEN, AND WHICH ARE ON EARTH, EVEN IN HIM."' And now, 0 friends, and brethren beloved, shall we be gathered in Christ in that day? Is this " God manifest in the flesh," our life and our salvation? Have we indeed " Redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace?" Do we know the value of that mystical union between Chbrst and His church, that oneness of Head and members, by wlich we LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 55 are called, as we had it in the 6th of Romans, to reckon ourselves dead with Christ, and risen with Him:'" dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord." Rom. vi. 11. Is the Gospel of our salvation precious to us sinners of the Gentiles? shall this dispensation of grace to the Gentiles be unto us, " a savor of life unto life, or of death unto death?" Are our privileges, our ordinances, our churches, our Bibles, all our blessings, are they all the means of leading us to Jesus-keeping us looking unto Jesus-strengthening us and building us up in our most holy faith, upon the Rock of ages? or had it been better for us to have perished, like our pagan forefathers, without the aggravated curse, of Christ professed in name, but in heart despised, rejected, and trodden under foot by us, in guilt, hypocrisy, ungodliness, and unbelief? Is the glorious hope of resurrection in Christ our comfort in all our conflicts in these bodies of sin and death? Shall it be true or false of us, as the solemn words are spoken over our sleeping dust, that we are committed to the ground,"" earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust, in sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life, through our Lord Jesus Christ," "who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself." Phil. iii. 21. 0, brethren! when the trumpet shall sound, shall we be among those " Blessed and holy, who have part in the first resurrection"? Rev. xx. 6. And, " IN THE DISPENSATION OF THE FULNESS OF TIMES," shall we be among those of earth or heaven that are " GATHERED TOGETHER IN CHRIST," by grace, to glory? FIFTH LECTURE. EPHESIANS I. —1, 12. In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: that we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ." THIS world were indeed a weary pilgrimage to the believer, if he were not cheered in all his trials and sorrows by the way, with the blessed hope of eternal rest, in that which is to come. " If in this life only," saith the Apostle, " we have hope in Christ, we are * Service for the Burial of the Dead. 56 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. of all men most miserable."-l Cor. xv. 19. Even here, the prospect of any future good, if it be reasonably well founded, liable, as it is, to ten thousand confingencies, still cheers and supports the heart through many intervening years of anxious expectation-as we are told, " Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her."Gen. xxix. 20. And if that be so with respect to this world, in reference to the future hopes of time, how much more, when the heart is enabled to repose with a solid assurance of hope upon that blessed " rest" which " remaineth for the people of God." This supports the believer under all trials, yea, in the most afflictive of them-" Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts, all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me," saith the Psalmist; but in the midst of these deep waters, faith looks up and cries -'" Why art thou cast down, 0 my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God; for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God."-Ps. xlii. 7, 11. Therefore, we see, that the Apostles, inspired by the Holy Spirit, continually cherish and strengthen the hope of the believer in his blessed Lord; for in direct proportion to our faith in the promises of God, and, therefore, to our hope of attaining the blessings which those promises hold out to us, so shall we be lifted up above the things of time and sense, and be enabled to realize and live for that eternal world of glory, where we look for an incorruptible inheritance. With this view, the Apostles, you perceive, confidently dwelt on God's eternal covenant promises-as, for instance, in Hebrews vi., where the Apostle, speaking of the covenant and oath of God, says, " that by two immutable things," (namely, God's covenant and oath) " in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation who havefled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us, which hope we have, as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast."-Heb. vi. 18, 19. So he prays for his brethren, Rom. xv. 13-" Now the God of hope fill you wi:h alljoy and peace in believing, that ye may abozund in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost." So, he exhorts the Ephesians, that they may be enabled to lift up their head in all their difficulties, to " take the helmet of salvation."Eph. vi. 17; and he explains this in 1 Thessalonians, v. 8-" putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and for an helmet, the hope of salvation." There could be no confidence of hope without a security of the inheritance for which we hope. Therefore, the glorious covenant of salvation gives that inheritance, makes it over, with everlasting security, to all the elect people of God. This hope must be built alone on Jesus. When men know not the Gospel of Jesus, they cannot understand-they oppose-they hate the doctrine of any assurance of hope; therefore, this doctrine is opposed by all the principles of the Papacy: there is no such thing as assurance of hope within the pale of Rome. How can there be, when, in the darkness of Papal error, man's salvation is made to depend on his LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 57 own works? Well, indeed, may such a system of ignorance as that, shut out the security and joy of hope from the soul. So, in the same manner, this grand fundamental doctrine of consolation, is also shut out from that similar system, on which, I am sorry to have occasion to remark, but which it is necessary that the faithful minister of Christ should notice in these days-that heresy in our own church, which is another form of Popery, setting up the works of man, and the sacraments, as the ground of his trust, instead of Christ, or what is virtually the same, in conjunction with Christ. There can be no such thing as assurance of hope in such a system —impossible! it opposes and denies the Gospel. The Gospel of Christ alone-Jesus, his precious blood poured out for the guilty, his finished righteousness, wrought out for man, in which Jehovah declares, he is " well pleased," that, and that alone, affords security and joyful hope to the fallen sinner. Now, the security of the believer's inheritance in Christ, depends upon the electing love of his God and Father, as is set forth in the passage which I have read to you. Observe:"IN WHOM ALSO WE HAVE OBTAINED AN INHERITANCE."How? " BEING PREDESTINATED ACCORDING TO THE PURPOSE OF HIM WHO WORKETH ALL THINGS AFTER THE COUNSEL OF HIS OWN WILL." Being so'predestinated," "we have obtained an inheritance." Here you will perceive, first-they have obtained an inheritance -" In whom te have obtained an inheritance." Secondly-the cause of their having obtained it-" being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will." And, thirdly-you see the end of their election-" that we should be to the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ." Now let us consider these things. I. "WE HAVE OBTAINED AN INHERITANCE.' This is the necessary result of their being the children of God. All believers are the children of God. So you see in St. John's Gospel i. 12, 13, " As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name; which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." So you have in Galatians, iii. 26, " Ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus." So you perceive in Romans viii. 17, the result, if children then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together." Jehovah has no paupers in his family. They may be, indeed, and they often are, in this world, poor. " God has chosen the poor of this world," we are told -but then, they are " rich in faith, and heirs of his kingdom,"the children of the King inherit the kingdom. So, in this first chapter of Ephesians, (read from 3d verse) you see, the Apostle shows, that believers are God's children, and predestinated to that -' Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 568 LLECTURES ON THE EPHIESIANS. who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ; according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love; having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved." Therefore, I say, if they be children of God, they must be heirs of.the Lord's kingdom. They have their inheritance indeed, not in possession, but they have it in reversion; and it is not like an earthly inheritancehere is no flaw to be found in the title deeds-here no error in the settlements-here no fear of cutting off the entail-here no doubt whatever as to the certainty of the possession-there are no contingent remainders, as they call them, in God's testamentary dispensation to his people. No, "' Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ," saith the Apostle Peter, 1st Pet. i. 3, " which, according to his abundant mercy, hath begotten us again unto a lively hope, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead," mark to what he hath begotten them-verse 4, 5, " to an inheritance incorruptible, and unde.filed, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation." They are begotten to this inheritance-this inheritance is reserved by God, in heaven for them, and they are kept, by God's power, on earth for it. The mansions of Jehovah's house must be overthrown, the power of Jehovah's arm must be paralyzed, before their inheritance in these mansions can be taken from them, or before they, in this wilderness can be debarred from it. So saith the Lord Jesus Christ, in St. John's Gospel x. 27, 28, 29, 30, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my hand. My Father, whichgave them me, is greater than all: and none is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Fcather are one." Therefore are they "kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation"-therefore have they "OBnTAINED AN INHERITANCE, BEING PREDESTINATED, ACCORDING TO THE PURPOSE OF HIM, WHO WORKETH ALL THINGS AFTER THE COUNSEL OF HIS OWN WILL. II. The cause of their having obtained it," BEING PREDESTINATED." Now, we come to consider this subject, which I said we should consider in the 9th verse. There is no doctrine which is more misrepresented or more cavilled at. But there is not one more clearly laid down in the Bible, than the doctrine of God's predestinating grace and love; it is inseparably interwoven with the whole of the Gospel dispensation. One man may say " I do not understand it"-another may say "I do not believe it"-another may say " I do not like it, or, I hate it" —but I confess, I do not see how any honest man can say, it is not plainly written in God's eternal word; and if it be plainly LECTURES ON THE EPHESINS. 59 written there, and that you know that it is God's truth, then let me entreat you to pause and consider, with calm sobriety, that solemn truth before you speak, in the manner that too many presume to speak on the subject. It is peculiarly hateful to the natural heart of man, because it levels all his pride and self-righteousness to the dust, it leaves him a helpless, hopeless sinner at the feet of his God, depending solely as we must all be, on his free mercy. I well remember, myself, the difficulty I had in my own mind on the subject. I well remember how I fought against the truth, I well remember all my own cavillings and arguments, and therefore, I desire to deal tenderly and gently while I deal faithfully with others. It is not possible, before we clearly know and believe that we are justified alone by Christ, scripturally to understand this subject. It is the strong meat of the Gospel, it is utterly unintelligible in its true scriptural sense to those who know not, and understand not, the simple truth as it is in Jesus-they cannot comprehend anything about it; therefore, salvation by Christ is the first thing for the mind of man to be applied to. Whosoever feels his heart opposed to the doctrine of God's election, depend upon it, he does not know, with perfect scriptural clearness, the foundation on which his own soul is to be saved; therefore let me entreat you to consider carefully the point. I do not know any human composition in which the subject is more clearly, simply, compendiously, and scripturally laid down than in the 17th Article of our church. I pray you to attend to it: " Predestination to life, is the everlasting purpose of God, whereby (before the foundations of the world were laid) he hath constantly decreed by his counsel, secret to us, to deliver from curse and damnation, those whom he hath chosen in Christ out of mankind, and to bring them by Christ to everlasting salvation, as vessels made to honor. Wherefore, they which be endued with so excellent a benefit of God, be called according to God's purpose by his Spirit working in due season; they through grace obey the calling; they be justified freely; they be made sons of God by adoption; they be made like the image of his only begotten Son Jesus Christ; they walk religiously in good works, and at length, by God's mercy, they attain to everlasting felicity." This is, in plain terms, the scriptural truth on the subject. It cannot be more literally expressed than in these words. But, mark -the Article goes farther: " As the godly consideration of predestination, and our election in Christ is full of sweet, pleasant, and unspeakable comfort to godly persons, and such as feel in themselves the working of the Spirit of Christ, mortifying the works of the flesh, and their earthly members, and drawing up their mind to high and heavenly things; as well because it doth greatly establish and confirm their faith of eternal salvation, to be enjoyed through Christ, as because it doth fervently kindle their love towards God; so, for curious and carnal persons. lacking the spirit of Christ, to have contihually before their eyes the sentence of God's predestination is a most dangerous downfall, whereby the devil doth thrust them either into desperation, or into wretchedness of most unclean living, no less perilous than desperation. " Furthermore, we must receive God's promises in such wise, as they be generally set forth to us in holy Scripture: And in our doings that will of God is to be followed, which we have expressly declared unto us in the Word of God." 60 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. Now, let me recommend you to study that Article, if you have not studied it before, and if you read it, as a commentary on passages, where the subject is treated of in the Scriptures, you will find how truly scriptural it is. The Article, you see, declares:-First, what the doctrine of God's word on the subject is. Secondly, what the use of that doctrine is to the Lord's children, to those who believe the Gospel. Then, thirdly it sets forth a most dangerous and awful abuse of the doctrine. And lastly, it tells us how men are to receive God's promises, and to do His will, and that is plainly and simply, as God hath written and revealed them. Now, I shall touch, briefly, on both these views of the case, on the use and abuse of the doctrine. I shall speak, first, of the abuse of it. It is very necessary to consider this, because, I have myself known persons who have strangely abused it; and I tell you where that abuse is sometimes to be found. It is sometimes to be found among young people, in pious families. Their father and mother, perhaps, have endeavored to bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord-they have heard the doctrines of grace repeatedly set forth and dwelt upon, in conversations, expositions of Scripture, sermons, or books. Being in themselves unregenerated, unconverted, as all must be until the grace of God converts them, they try, from this, to satisfy themselves in their own course of sin and folly. And let my young friends, or any others, whose minds may be perverted or ignorant on this subject, consider their language. "We are told," say they, (adopting another of our Articles,) " that man cannot turn and prepare himself, by his own natural strength and good works to faith, and calling upon God, wherefore, we have no power to do good works pleasant and acceptable to God, without the grace of God by Christ, preventing us, that we may have a good will," (that is, beginning the work in our heart, and giving to us a good will,) and working with us when we have that good will."-Art. x. "Now, since none are to be converted except by God's grace, if I am to be saved, I must be saved, and if I am to be lost, I must be lost-if I am to be saved, I cannot destroy myself, and if I am to be lost, I cannot save myself, so I will go on in my present course, and God, in His good time, will save me, if I am to be saved, and if not, I can, I know, do nothing of myself." I have heard that argument used-I have known persons profess to act on that principle. Therefore, you see, how wisely the 17th Article lays down the awful falsehood of such an abuse of the doctrine as this. Let us, therefore, consider this view of the subject.-The omnisci ence of God the Almighty Creator, may be said, in one sense, necessarily to determine the whole course of all created beings, and all created things: I mean it predetermines it in this sense,-that, as LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. Gl they appear to Him-as they are seen in his omniscient eye throughout the course of time and eternity, so they must remain forever unchangeable. This you must admit, unless you deny such a thing as omniscience in the Deity. The mechanist will make a machine, whether it be a clock, a locomotive engine, or anything else you please, and when he puts it out of his hands, he knows not what may become of that machine; he knows not to what use it may be turned, to what end it may be applied, nor does he know what part will stand, nor what part will fail, or anything more as to its fate or destination, after it is delivered from his hands. But do you imagine that the eternal Creator has thus formled us in this world that we inhabit? We are not indeed machines, but rational, voluntary, responsible moral agents-formed so-conscious that we are so-and treated so accordingly by God. But do you think He has been ignorant of all the results that should follow from all the works of his own mighty hand? When He endued the beings and the things He formed with reproductive and vegetative power, do you believe that he was ignorant of all the consequences that were to follow from the exercise of all the powers with which He endued them? Nay, there is not a single leaflet that ever burst from a tree in the forest, from the creation to this hour-there is not a single blade of grass that ever grewthere is not a single grain of sand upon the shore-there is not a single insect undiscovered or undiscoverable by the human eye, or by the microscopic power of human instruments-there is not a drop of water in the ocean-not a single atom of dust in the world, or anything connected with them all, that was not known as well in the mind of the Eternal God, as any single fact is known to Him at this moment. And you must admit this to be the case, unless you deny that it is He that " clothes the lilies of the field," unless you deny that there is not a single sparrow that falls to the ground unmarked by His all-seeing eye, unless you deny that He numbers the hairs of your head, unless you deny what seems more difficult than all the rest, that He will bring the secret thoughts of every sinner's heart into judgment, and that all are noted in His eternal book. Therefore, it is wholly impossible that anything different could occur from that which was present to His omniscient mind before the foundation of the world. But now mark! there is no predestination connected with man, irrespective of man's full accountability to God, as a voluntary, rational, responsible, agent. And this is just as true in temporal, as in spiritual things. Let me illustrate this.-Whether your immortal souls or mine shall be saved or lost is as certain in the mind of God as any other act that ever shall occur. But, again,-your life, your bodily life, its continuance, its close, the place, the mode, the moment of its termination, everything connected with your life and death is as fixed in the counsel of the living God as anything concei ing your immortal souls,-and you must admit this, unless you suppose that some contingency can arise connected with you which is 62 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. unknown to Almighty God. But you know that such an idea is incompatible with His divine attributes; there is no use in arguing about it, it is absurd. I suppose you to admit this, for I cannot imagine you to deny it. Now, I suppose you tell me you are tired of life: I shall place before you a cup of wine and a cup of poison; which will you drink, that wine or that poison? It is just as fixed and as certain before you were born in the eye of God, as it shall be after it is done, which you will take. But will you dare to say, will you pretend to think, that you have not the power, the freedom, as a voluntary, rational, accountable being, of taking the one or the other? Do you pretend that you act under any irresistible constraint? Do you mean to say, that if you drink that cup of poison, you are not guilty of the crime of self-murder, and that you shall not be justly accountable at the tribunal of the holy God? Again, let me suppose an assassin,-he has his dagger in his hand-he is watching for his victim. Now, whether that victim is to fall, by the dagger of that assassin, or not, is as clearly settled in the counsels of God, that is to say, it is as clearly known to Him as it is to you, if the deed be done. But, if that murderer plunges his dagger into the victim's heart, will you say that he is not accountable as a moral rational agent for his crime to God? Will you sit on his jury, and when the fact is proved before you, give in your verdict before God, that you think he is not fit to live in human society, but that he should fall a sacrifice to public justice, and will you venture to say, that the Judge of earth and heaven is not to pronounce sentence on him, as you and the judge on the bench will do? Will you be an assassin, and will you presume to lay your guilt on your God? You know you dare not do so. Conscience-Conscience answers your cavils against the prescience of the Omniscient God. We will go farther-I suppose you are afflicted with a disease, -your physician says, your disease is certainly mortal unless you take a certain remedy. He says to you, " here is a specific, take this." Will you say, "Oh, if I am to die, I must die; and if I am to live, I must live; and therefore, there is no use in taking any iemedy, I will not take it-my fate is fixed"? Nay, verily, you would seize the cup, and drink it with an earnest, anxious, trembling hand, and invoke a prayer, I hope, for the blessing of God on the means you use.-And then-when your immortal soul is infected with a fatal distemper-YWhen God tells you so — when the Physician of souls holds out to you a cup of mercy-a cup of his own precious blood-a cup of healing, life-giving power, -will you dash it away, and say, if my soul is to be saved, it shall be saved; and if it is to perish eternally, it must die"? Surely, if you dare to reason thus,-if God be in heaven, and you on earth, and if you are a rational being, your blood shall be upon your own head.-And when the Lord shall bring you into judgment, and when he shall lay the cavils of your guilty heart open to the eye of man,-the whole world must sheut " Amen," when LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 63 He says, " Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." Now, let me go farther still. I said, there was not a blade of grass that ever sprang from the field, without the prescience and power of God. It was but last Sunday that we returned thanks to God, as indeed we ought to thank and bless him, for the gracious harvest he has been pleased to send us. Now, let us take a field of wheat, and I propose this question to you," Do you think did that productive crop of wheat spring up by accident, or was it the gracious gift of God? Do you believe, that the harvest in this field arose as a contingency, or do you believe, that before the creation of the world, the gracious produce given by God this year, was as clearly in the all-seeing eye and mind of that God, as it was when he sent the rain upon it, and commanded His sun to shine upon it this summer T' Now, let me suppose the owner of that ground to have said:" Oh, here is my field to be sure-but, if it pleases God to give me a good crop He will give it to me-and if He does not please to do so, He will not-so I may sit down idle-I will neither till; nor sow, or do anything." Do you think would not this sluggard, this idler, this daring speculator on God's providence, be justly left to starve in his indolent audacious presumption? Yea, you know he would. Again, whether you be engaged in business, or trade, or farming, or in a profession, I hope you look unto God-I hope you know and feel, that if you are prosperous, it is God that prospers youthat it is He who sends orders into your counting houses, and customers into your shops, grants you the increase of your ground, or prosperity in your profession, and supplies you with daily food and everything that you enjoy. Now give me leave to ask, will you say, " Oh well, if God sends me orders, I shall have them-or if he sends me customers, I shall have them-or if he sends me produce in my farn, or prosperity in my profession, I shall have them-there is no use in my doing anything; I shall have them, if I am to have them-and I shall not have them, if I am not to have them-therefore I will do nothing"? Will you thus reason? Will you presume to give utterance to such sentiments? Willyou pretend to think so? Nay, you know well, that if you did so, you would be left justly to starve. You know well, that if you are not diligent in your business, if you do not take care of your counting houses-of your shops-of your farm -if you are not diligent and laborious in your profession or calling whatever it be, you know full well, you neither could or ought to expect a blessing from God on your own indolence, your neglect, your presumption, your audacious tempting of His mighty power; you know this is true. Now you will admit, I suppose, that your temporal and spiritual affairs are alike in the hand of God. Will you then venture to reason respecting your immortal souls, as you would not reason respecting the smallest trifle in all your tempo 64 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. ral concerns? Will you presume to say, when you neglect the means that God has been pleased to give to you in His holy word, that you are to expect any blessing for your souls, or any salvation fromr your God? And will you dare to charge your own neglect? your own unbelief, your own rejection of the use of means, will you dare to charge them on him? Surely, conscience must convict you. Your own conscience must make a liar of you, if you dare to charge your own crime on your Creator! You are moral agents, voluntary agents, you are responsible agents, you have to deal with a righteous, just, and holy God, and if you are to rebel against your Maker, in speculating as to your immortal souls, as you would not attempt to speculate in any temporal concern,again, I say, your blood be upon your own head.* Remember, it is with respect to spiritual things, as it is with respect to temporal things; that as far as man's knowledge, as far as manys view, as far as man's salvation is concerned, there is no predestination irrespective of his responsibility and conduct as a moral agent. Remember, that no impenitent unbeliever, continuing in impenitence and unbelief, is predestinated to enter into eternal life. No believer is predestinated to perish. Your business is to repent, and believe the Gospel, while it is called to-day. " To-day if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts." Heb. iii. 7, 8. You say, " We can do no good of ourselves. The doctrine of election, as it is written in Scripture, plainly shows that man has it not in his power to do any good to his own soul." Most true. But, while it tells you your own impotence, it tells you where to go for strength and assistance, " Ask and it shall be given you, seek and ye shall find, knock, and it shall be opened unto you; for * Without attempting to enter into any abstruse or metaphysical discussion on the subject, the author would venture to suggest that, much difficulty seems to have arisen from those who vindicate this doctrine of Scripture by speaking or writing against what they call the freedom of the will. This appears to be at least an unscriptural mode of treating the subject, and gives ample ground to those who oppose it, to array against them the whole body of the Word of God, which deals with man, as it con. fessedly does, as a voluntary responsible agent, as he certainly is. it is the corruption of the will, the depravity and wickedness of the heart, which aggravates, instead of excusing, the guilt of a moral agent, that appears to be charged on man throughout the scriptures, and which makes his impotence to do good rather an enhancement than a palliation of his iniquity; and this appears to be not only a Scriptural truth, but a truth constantly admitted and applied to moral evil in our ordinarv parlance and our common dealing with our fellow-creatures. We say, speaking of hem, " That man cannot speak a word of truth,-That man cannot keep his hands firom pilfering,-That man cannot keep himself sober,-That fellow cannot speak a civil word to you, or cannot speak without blaspheming, —That child cannot treat its parents with common respect or decency."-These, and shiilar phrases which we habitually use, and justly apply, never are considered by us, to imply either a want of freedom of will in these persons to do right, in anyr sense which affects their moral accountability, or any impotence to discharge their duty, which could induce us either to excuse or extenuate their guilt; on the contrary, we use the expression "cannot" in a sense that implies an aggravation of their crime and an indurated impenitence of character which makes them subjects of severer judgment. When we thus deal with our fellow-creatures in their several relations of accountability to us, we surely vindicate the ways of God in all his various judgments and dealing with us. And the man who denies original sin. and the man who traces all practical evil to that source alike refuse it as a plea against accountability of their fellow-creatures to themselves LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 65 every one that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh it shall be opened." Luke, xi. 9, 10. If it is written, " No man can come to me, except my Father which hath sent me draw him," John, vi. 44, it is also written, " him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out." John, vi. 37. He who saith this, invites sinners to come to Him. " Come unto me all yc that labor, and are heavy laden and I will give you rest." Mat. xi. 28. He complains of their refusal, "ye will not come to me that ye may have life." John, v. 40. Ye do not choose to come to me. In willingly doing what conscience testifies we can do; there is always strength vouchsafed to those who seek it, to do what the Bible tells us we cannot do. " Stretch forth thine hand," saith Jesus. Mat. xii. 13. The man does not say, "It is withered and I cannot." No" he stretched it forth and it was restored whole as the other." Depend on it when the Judge of heaven and earth shall come, there shall be neither metaphysics nor casuistry heard at His tribunal. Therefore, let me address all in their respective circumstances. Those that are "dead in trespasses and sins,"-If you speak to me on the doctrine of election, and say, "Alas! I am perfectly dead, perfectly insensible, I have no regard for my soul, I am living recklessly in sin, and you cannot say I am among the elect of God." Indeed I cannot, nor is it my province to pronounce. You certainly give no evidence of being one of God's people. You are as the Apostle speaks of himself, and of this very church in their unregenerate state-" Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wvrath, even as others."-Ephes. ii. 3. But, neither can I say, that you are not among the elect of God. When the two thieves were hung on the cross and when they joined the mob in reviling Christ, if any had asked, "Are these God's elect people?" —the answer must have been, " Alas, no, they evince that they are the children of Satan." Nevertheless, God's sovereign grace touched the heart of one of these poor sinners, and he turned to Jesus, and said, " Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdomn." You know the answer! Now, though you may have been a hardened rebel against God to this very day, man can neither pronounce nor know whether or not you are one of God's elect. But it is my office to address you, and it is your duty to listen, as you are-a guilty sinner; it is my office to proclaim to you in the name of Jesus, pardon and free salvation from your God. I know, if you hear me, it is God's sovereign grace, overcoming your naturally hard heart, and inclining your ear to listen, opening your heart to attend to the things that are spoken, as he opened the heart of Lydia, " to attend unto the things that were spoken of Paul," Acts, xvi. 14, and as the Apostle in the passage which I have quoted, (Eph. ii. 3.) shows of himself and the Ephesians, that they had been delivered from their 5 66 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. guilt, " But God who is rich in mercyfor his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." Eph. ii. 4, 5, 6. And perhaps this very subject, perhaps these very words spoken this day, may be God's blessed means of bringing the truth to your heart and conscience, and of leading you to say, " Since free salvation is proclaimed in Christ, though I cannot repent or believe myself, yet God's grace is mighty to save. O let me pray that God may bring a sinner, such as I am, to the feet of Jesus." May the Lord bring this truth to your hearts! and though " dead in trespasses and sins," to this hour, yet God can give you light and life, and salvation, in Christ Jesus, the Lord. Now, let me address those who are very weak, and who are awakened to a sense of their own inability. A person who is " dead in trespasses and sins," feels no spiritual life, nor is he conscious of spiritual death, any more than a dead body. But sinners who are awakened, begin to feel their inability to do good, they feel they are not able to will or to do, they mourn over their own sin and corruption, and each is ready to cry out, " Alas, I must be lost, I cannot be one of God's people, or I could not be such a guilty sinner as I am." Nay, my dear friend, let us rather trust, that this is " the day of small things" with you. God saith, " who has despised the day of small things?" Zech. iv. 10. As much as to say, " Surely not I." No, he does not. " A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench." Isa. xlii. 3. And if indeed you are awakened to see, and feel your own helplessness, it is not you who have awakened yourselves, nor is it the enemy of your soul, who has awakened you. Oh, no surely, if you are awakened, it is the gift of God. " For by grace are ye saved, through faith, and that, not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast." Ephes. ii. 8, 9. Therefore, take courage, the sight of your own disease, should lead you to prize the blessing of the Great Physician, and Oh, relmenber, that you cannot be so guilty, but that Jesus is more mighty to pardon and to save. Then, again, you who. are enlightened, who are strong in the faith, I need not say to you what the blessedness of the doctrine of God's sovereign electing grace is. Ignorant persons imagine, and speak of those who hold this doctrine thus:-(it is right to mention this error,) " Oh, these persons say, they are the elect of God! they are the good! they are the holy! they are the excellent people of the earth but for us, poor, guilty creatures, we are lost, we have not any lot or part in the matter, these men say to us,' come not near to me, for I am holier than thou."' Isai. lxv. 5. Oh, my dear friends, it is not the knowledge of his goodness, but it is a knowledge of his deep guilt and misery, that makes a believer prize the doctrine of God's electing grace. It is not because there is anything good in him, but because he feels himself sc full of sin, that if he could not look to LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 67 God's sovereign grace and mercy to take him, and bring him to Zion, he knows, he would not come,-he knows, that nothing but God's grace could overcome his wicked will at first, or carry on any plans of love and mercy to his soul. And therefore, I say, you who are strong in the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ, your sin has taught you the blessing of the doctrine of election. But again, it is said, " Oh! then, you may go on in sin, and if you are elected, you may presume on the grace of God. If God has given us his grace, we may go on and live in sin." Remember, Oh! sinner, that God's promises of election are always inseparably connected both with the use of means,' and with an appropriate faith and character, so the Apostle saith, " We are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them, chap. ii. 10, Again, " If any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of his, again, " As many as are led by the spirit of God, they are the sons of God." Rom. viii. 9, 14. Again, while our Lord testifies, "As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me." So He adds the proof of the fact, "He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing." John, xv. 4, 5. So here you see in the text, the end of their election, "THAT WE SHOULD BE TO THE PRAISE OF HIS GLORY, WHO FIRST TRUSTED IN CHRIS r.7 That we who have been brought, as it were, the first-fruits of his grace from Jews and Gentiles,-I, a blind, selfrighteous persecutor from amongst the Pharisees —you, blind idolaters from the worshippers in the temple of Diana, that WE SHOULD BE TO THE PRAISE OF HIS GLORY7-lnmonuments as we are, of His sovereign grace, that we should remember "we are not our own, but bought with a price, and should therefore glorify God with our bodies and spirits, which are God's." 1 Cor. vi. 19, 20. That " we should show forth the praises of him who hath called us out of darkness into his marvellous light." 1 Peter ii. 9. That we should "present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, and acceptable unto God, which is our reasonable service." Rom. xii. 1. That we should " let our light so shine before men, that they may see our good works, and glorify our Father which is in heaven." Mat. v. 16. Yes, if men are chosen out of the world by the grace of God, it must be for the service of God. There could be no election to serve the devil, for that is the natural course of all. If men are * The belief in God's purposes and promises, as connected with the use of means, is remarkably illustrated by the conduct of St. Paul in the storm, Acts, xxvii. God had promised him that " there should be no loss of any man's life" on board, verse 22; so he confidently asserted to the crew, to cheer their hearts. Yet though God had promised, and though he had asserted it on God's authority, still when the sailors were about to make their escape out of the vessel, " Paul said to the centurion, and to the soldiers, Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved," verse 31; to profess to trust in any promise of God, and to despise the use of the appointed means, is not Scriptural faith, but unscriptural presumption. S8 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS, elected from this service, the only proof that can be given of it i, that they are called to the service of God. As St. Peter says, " elect, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ." 1 Pet. i. 2. Believers know and feel too deeply the bitterness of si —the burthen of the heavy conflict-the anguish of that lusting of the flesh against the spirit, so feelingly described by the Apostle, Rom, vii. 14-24, not to know and feel that their calling is an holy calling -they feel that holiness and happiness are essentially connected together. Sin is the pleasure of the unregenerate heart, it is the grief and cross of the believer-" we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burthened." 2 Cor. v. 14. Alas! how often, O believer! has your sinful corrupt heart experienced as a bitter evil what the ignorant world imputes to you as a principle-how often has your sinful heart presumed on the Lord's grace!-how often have you provoked and grieved your Master! Yet, let me ask, did you. ever do so in your life that you were not made to feel it bitterly?-did you ever sow to. the flesh, that you did not reap corruption? Gal.. vi.. 8,-did you ever sow the wind, that yoa did not reap the whirlwind l Hos. viii. 7. No; if you be a believer, you have felt what the evil of sin is, you feel it continually, and you know you are not elected to go to eternal life by living in your sins,-you know that you are elected to eternal life, if you are indeed one of God's people, to serve and to glorify your Father which is in heaven. But when you feel your inward corruption. when you feel the struggling of sin in your soul-the power of those temptations that would hurry your natural heart away, and draw it on into the vortex of ruin-Oh, then you know what it is to bless God that you have a mighty hand to hold you, and to keep you safe in Jesus, that he will not leave you to perish. You know how sweet are these exceeding great and precious promises and truths-" My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, and I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my hand. My Father who gave them to me is greater than all, and none is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one." John x. 27, 28, 29. Again "This is the Father's will, which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me, I should lose'nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day." John vi. 39. You know the consolation of that blessed promise-' He hath said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee." Heb. xiii. 5. You love the doctrine of election, not because you think yourself good, but because you feel what a guilty sinner you are, and that if God did not keep you, you could never keep yourself; therefore you prize that glorious truth of His word, that His people " are kept by the power of God throughfaith unto salvation." 1 Peter i. 5. And now, beloved friends, pray over these things, pray, that God may instruct you. Oh! beware how you tempt God. Beware how you deal wit God in spiritual things, as your own LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 69 natural thoughts and feelings-your own carnal interests and ob jects make you know and feel, you would not dare to deal with Him in temporal things.-Beware of this! And O! prize the day of small things. Cherish every feeling of conviction, every emotion of spiritual sensibility, every whisper of an awakened conscience in your hearts, cherish every gleam of hope in Jesus-if it be genuine, it comes from the Lord God, and it shall " shine more and more unto the perfect day." Prov. iv. 18. Remember our Lord's words, "watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation." Mat. xxvi. 41. And ye who are strong in faith, pray, that your strength may be renewed day by day. True Faith builds no storehouses for " the Bread that cometh down from heaven," but lives daily on the fresh supplies it gathers from the hand of God. Pray that you may be enabled to" glorify God in your bodies and spirits which are His, 1 Cor. vi. 20, and " as he who has called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because it is written, Be ye holy for I am holy. 1 Pet. i. 14, 15. Let every promise be turned into prayer, that it may be fulfilled, and every precept, that it may be observed. Pray that, during all your course you may be enabled not to " yield your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin," but to yield yourselves unto G-od as those who are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God." Thus shall you glorify your Father, and LIVE TO THE PRAISE OF HIS GLORY. SIXTH LECTURE. EPHESIANS 1.-13, 14. "In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also, after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory." HAVING considered how God's sovereign, predestinating grace, of which we read in the last passage, no more interferes with man's responsibility as a voluntary, moral agent, or supersedes the right use of means, or the legitimate operation of second causes in spiritual things, than the predeterminate order and succession of all things on earth, supersedes them in man's temporal concerns -lhaving shown its use and consolation to His elect people-and that those who are called by his sovereign mercy and power, are called to glorify Him, as monuments of grace, "to the praise of his glory." Let us observe, how the operations of divine grace 70 ~LECTURES ON THE EPHE'SIANS. are manifested in those who are the objects of it,-that is, how those who are the objects of divine grace are to be known. How does it appear that men " have obtained this inheritance?" how that they are "predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will?" This is evidently exhibited in the words which I have read to you, "IN WHOM YE ALSO TRUSTED, AFTER THAT YE HEARD THE WORD OF TRUTH, THE GOSPEL OF YOUR SALVATION; IN WHOM ALSOY AFTER THAT YE BELIEVED, YE WERE SEALED WITH THAT HOLY,SPIRIT OF PROMISE, WHICH IS THE EARNEST OF OUR INHERITANCE, UNTIL THE REDEMPTION OF THE PURCHASED POSSESSION.? Now, you perceive here how their election to their inheritance, was manifested by the power of divine grace through the Gospel, and I would specially point out three things: I. -In their attenthion to the " Word of truth," when it was preached to them. II.-In their believing the Gospel of their salvation and trusting in the Lord Jesus. III.-In the operations and influences of the Spirit of God upon them. Now, let me entreat you that in the very consideration of this subject, as applied to the Ephesians, you will endeavor to carry out its practical application to your own souls. Let us remember, that the preaching of the Word can no more convey a blessing to our souls, than it could convey a blessing to the beasts that perish, unless the Spirit of God accompanies it. I can neither derive a blessing to my own soul in reading the Bible, or in preaching; nor can you in hearing, unless God by His Spirit teaches us. May the Spirit of the living God then accompany His Word to our hearts. May He give us those blessed gifts which come alone from Him! May the word spoken in weakness be accompanied with " demonstration of the Spirit and of power'" 1 Cor. ii. 4, to Our souls, so that it may be to us "a time of refreshing from the presence of the Lord." I.- The power of divine grace was proved in their attention to the Word preached by the Apostle. The natural character of man is exhibited in this, as well as many other instances, in his utter disregard of God's Holy Word. The natural man is a " deaf adder," he stoppeth his ears-he never hears the Scriptures with attention. Men will listen to the language, indeed of the preacher; they will attend, perhaps, to nis voice-to his manner-they will criticise them for you, together with the style and expression of everything he says-if you ask them their opinion of these things, they will be able to give it to you readily enough-but, ask them the meaning of the holy Word preached to them-they know nothing about it, except perhaps totally to misrepresent or pervert it. How many of you can give an account of the spiritual truths that are set before you, when you leave this or any place of worship? I dare say, you will find, LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 71 if you examine yourselves, that there are but too many who cannot give any. Our blessed Lord illustrates their case, in the parable of the sower, by the seed sown on the high-way-side.' When any one" saith our Lord, " heareth the word of the kingdom and understandeth it not," (it never reaches to his understanding nor his conscience) " Then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which receiveth seed by the way-side." Mat. xiii. 19, Now, what must be the end of those who hear, and hear, aind hear, and hear again, and again, and again, and again, but who are at the last as though they had never heard? Do you think, is not man responsible for this inattention? When we say, that this is your natural heart, and when we say, that nothing but divine grace can deliver you from it, do you think you are not responsible for your guilty disregard of God's Word? Your mother would have corrected you when you were a child, for inattention to your alphabet, if you would not learn your letters. Your school-master or school-mistress would punish you if you neglected your lesson. If you be a clerk, or a servant, or an apprentice, your employer would dismiss you, or cancel your indentures, if you were not attentive to your business. If you be a professional man, or if you be in business yourself, your clients and customers would forsake you, if you did not attend to your profession, or counting-house, or shop. You know, this is all right and just, and you would deal so yourself with your fellow-man. And "' shall not the judge of all the earth do right"-Gen. xviii. 25,-in bringing you into judgment, when you neglect His blessed Word? When you neglect His expostulations-His entreaties-His warnings-His promises-His threatenings-His mercies? Shall your Creator —your Preserver-your Benefactor-your Redeemer, appeal to you, and shall you neglect and despise Him-shall you be irresponsible and unpunished? Your consciences echo the justice of that solemn question, " I:Howz shall we escape if we neglect so gr'eat salvation?" Heb. ii. 3. But your consciousness of this, if you feel your own negligent and inattentive hearts-if you feel the burden of that thoughtless, wandering, distracted spirit that tells you, it is not in yourselves to direct your way, but that the gift of attention is the gift of God, this should lead you to pray with the Psalmist, " Consider and hear me, 0 Lord my God, lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death." Ps. xiii. 3.-_ Teach me thy way, 0 Lord, and I will walk in thy truth. Unite my heart to fear thy namne." Ps. lxxxvi. 11., And if the Lord Jesus Christ, speaking of the natural wickedness of the human heart, in St. John's Gospel, vi. 44, saith, " No man can come to me, except my Father, which hath sent me, draw him,"-so, remember that your prayer should be the prayer of the church, in the Canticle, i. 4, " Draw me, we will run after thee." Oh! that this may be the prayer of your hearts and mine! If you feel the want, remember-the God who can supply all your wants, invites you to come and ask,-" if any of 72 LECTURES ON TtHE EPHESIANS. you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him," James i. 5. "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh, receiveth; and he that seeketh, findeth; and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened. If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the H oly Spirit to them that ask him?" Luke xi. 9-13, for " the hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the Lord hath made even both of them." Prov. xx. 12. " The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue is from the Lord." Prov. xvi. 1. Therefore attention to God's truth is one of the first manifestations of the grace of God. Oh then, if your heart is inclined to listen to the Word of God, if you are anxiously inquiring into divine truth, cherish, I beseech you, that spark of grace in your heart. It may be but a spark but remember, Jesus " will not quench the smoking flax," Isa. xlii. 3, nay, but " He giveth more grace," Jam. iv. 6. Remem ber that the refreshing showers that brought life to the land of Is. rael, were at first but a little cloud, as a man's hand in the sky. And remember, again, you have a God to come to who saith, "Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." John, vi. 44. Oh! cherish every desire for truth, pray for more of it, "if so be that you have tasted that the Lord is gracious." I Pet. ii. 3. But again, I said,-II. Faith in the Gospel of Christ, and trust in the Lord Jesus, is the manifestation of the power of divine grace, "I~N WHOM YE ALSO TRUSTED, AFTER THAT YE IHEARD THIE WORD OF TRUTH, THE GOSPEL OF YOUR SALVATION." Inattention necessarily must produce unbelief. How can they believe who do not hear or consider that which is proposed to their belief? " Faith cometh by hearing." Rom. x. 17. Faith, the belief of the truth, is, lIke attention, the gift of God. You have that principle laid down in this epistle:-ii. 8. " By grace are ye saved, through faith, and that, not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast." The disciples, though they had been long with their Lord, hearing His words, and marking the character of His divine power, imprinted on every act He did, and every word He uttered, yet, they were ignorant of Him, and of all the Scriptures concerning Him, till after His resurrection, when, as we read in St. Luke, xxiv. 45, "he opened their understanding that they might understand the Scriptures." The Apostle Paul, speaking of the impotence of man to produce any effect on the soul by his own power, saith, 1 Cor. iii. 5, 6, 7.-" Who then is Paul, or who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man. I have planted, Apollos watered: but God gave the increase LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 73 So then, neither is he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth, but God that giveth the increase." So God alone is to receive the praise. Thus again, in 2nd Corinthians, he sets this clearly before us, contrasting the power of Satan over the human mind, in blinding it, with the power of God in enlightening it, iv. 3, " If our Gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost." Now, how is it hid? ver. 4, "i in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God should shine unto them." How then, had he and those whom he addressed been delivered from this blindness? We see, verse 6, "But God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." The same power that commanded the light to shine out of darkness, the same God who said, " let there be light, and there was light," alone can shed light into the heart and conscience of the sinner, alone can enable him to "believe the record that God hath given of his Son," 1 John, v. 10, therefore, whei the Gospel is received by faith, when the sinner embraces the hope that is set before him in that Gospel,-that, I say, is a manifestation of the power of the spirit of God, as producing that influence on the soul. So you see in 1st Thessalonians, the Apostle sets forth this, as giving to him a clear testimony of their election of God, 1 Thess. i. 4, "' knowing, brethren, beloved, your election of God." How did he know it? " _For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance." He knew that they were taught of God, because his Gospel came to them, not in word only, but in power. So, brethren, when we see the Gospel come with power to the consciences of sinners, when we see the sinner thoughtless, careless, hardened; and when we see him awakened, anxioushumbled-and brought low to the feet of Jesus-when we see him who took no interest whatever in the blessed Bible, who took no interest in prayer, no interest in instruction, when we see him searching the sacred Scriptures-when we see him calling upon his God in spirit and in truth-when we see him delighting to listen to instruction-ready to receive it as a little child-when we see him who was proud and self-righteous, counting "' all things loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus his Lord," we know, that that man must be taught of God; for this is not of nature, it is of God's gift alone. Now, faith produces that effect which the Apostle speaks of in the text, "IN WHOM YE ALSO TRUSTED, AFTER THAT YE HEARD THE WORD OF TRUTH, THE GOSPEL OF YOUR SALVATION." Trust in Jesus is the consequence of faith in Jesus, some confound these, but there is an important distinction between them. The belief of the Gospel of Jesus may often exist and does exist in the heart of many a sinner, when that sinner is not trusting or reposing, in Christ as he ought to do-he is not casting his care on Him as he 74 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. ought to do-he is not rejoicing in him as he ought to do-he has no confident assurance of hope as he ought to have. The Apostle says, " I2 whom ye also trusted, after ye heard the word of truth, the Gospel of your salvation." The word, " trusted," is supplied in our translation, but it is properly and necessarily so, being carried on as you perceive from the preceding verse, " That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ, in whom ye also (as well as we) trusted." It is the word which the sense demands. It literally signifies "hoped." When we "believe the record that God has given of his son," when we know what Jesus hath done for-us, it is our privilege to trust with holy confidence upon the glorious work of our blessed Master. But, alas! how few do so! how few there are who really enjoy the confidence of hope which it is their privilege to feel! It appears to me of moment to consider this subject more attentively; for it seems of the utmost practical importance to the peace and strength of the soul. As far as my experience of the state of believers whom I have visited, both in health and sickness, extends, I feel the importance of it more and more. The point of view in which the subject seems to me to demand attention is this, that we should endeavor to ascertain satisfactorily to our own minds, the difference which, as I have stated, exists between the belief of the Gospel and trust in the Gospel. I have said there is an important distinction between them, and though I know there are authorities high and deservedly esteemed on the opposite side, I must reiterate the assertion; and I entreat your attentive consideration of it, for I think there is not a servant of God in the world to whom it is not, at least at some times, of vast importance to his own peace. We shall first briefly consider what the Gospel is, and then the difference between believing it and trusting in it. The Gospel is that good news which God proclaims to man of salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ. He proclaims that blessed Saviour as our Surety, who has paid both our debt of obedience to His holy law, and of penalty for its violation. Of obedience-" Christ is the end of the law for righteousness, to every one that believeth." Rom. x. 4. " This is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHtTEOUSNESS. Jer. xxiii. 6. Of penalty — Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree." 1 Pet. ii. 24.'" Who was deliveredfor our offences, and was raised again for our justification." Rom. iv. 25. When our Lord gave His apostles their divine commission "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature," He said, "U He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved." Mark xvi. 15, 16. There cannot be a doubt that he suspended salvation on the belief of that Gospel. Now the Gospel is a relative term-the belief of it necessarily involves the belief of several other truths-such as the lost state of the sinner-the impossibility of salvation by anything he can do for himself-the sins and imperfections that cleave to his best ac LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 75 tlons and intentions-in fact a full conviction that he is totally unable to fulfil the holy law of God-that " by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin." Rom. iii. 20. Therefore, the belief of the Gospel necessarily involves the conviction that the ordinary refuges of the sinner's heart are all refuges of lies, such as the hope that his virtues will be weighed against his sins, and preponderate in his favor; or if not, that Christ will be, as it were, a make-weight, thrown into the scale to turn the balance for his salvation. His virtues-his alms-his good resolutions-his prayers-his reading the Bible-his observance of religious ordinances-his respectability and high character amongst men-all these things which formerly were combined to give him some hope of acceptance with God, and which, though he believed that Christ's merits alone could make them efficient, yet he believed as sincerely must be necessarily added to Christ's merits to save him-all these he has now ceased to trust in as giving him a shadow of hope-he has learned to "count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus his Lord," Phil. iii. 8, and that he is not to be saved because Christ gives weight or value or acceptance to his works, and thus to his person, —but that Christ hath purchased redemption for his person,not as being righteous, but as a lost and helpless sinner; and that thus it is his blessed privilege to transfer all hope from his own miserable efforts, to the righteousness and blood of this crucified and risen Redeemer. Thus new light and hope break in on his mind, and whether it has come by slow and imperceptible degrees, as it more frequently does, one shade of error after another vanishing before " the Sun of Righteousness," as He arises on the soul, " with healing in his wings," Mal. iv. 2, or whether it has come, as it sometimes does, like light to a man whose eyes are opened in the noon of day, the result is the same; the enlightened sinner has been brought to see, that all his salvation is in Christ, and not in himself, or in any other, he has been brought to understand the word of the Apostle, " Neither is there salvation, in any other, for there is none other name under heaven, given among men whereby we must be saved," Acts, iv. 12, he has learned that therefore his whole obedience to the commandments of God is to be rendered, not as before, with the vain expectation of its helping to obtain forgiveness for him, but because that forgiveness has been dearly purchased and fieely given through the precious blood of his Redeemer. Thus the whole foundation of the hope of his soul-the whole principle of his moral conduct-has been totally changed, in the mind of the sinner who has been brought to repent and believe the Gospel. His hope has been transferred from himself to his Redeemer, and his obedience from a principle of the self-interested efforts of a slavish fear, to the real principle, not only of the Gospel, but of the Law,-a principle of grateful love. Well may it then indeed be said, " Therefore if any man be in Christ he is a 76 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. new creeature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us unto himself by Jesus Christ." 2 Cor. v. 17, 18. But now we come to consider the nature of that faith with which a sinner believes in Christ; and this is to be viewed as differing from that trust, from which it appears so necessary to distinguish it. The object of faith must be the same in all who believe the Gospel-Christ is all their salvation. If they do not believe the record that God hath given of Christ, then they do not believe the Gospel. " He that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." 1st John, v. 10, 11, 12. If men do not believe this record, then the thing which they believe is not the Gospel, but some scheme of salvation different from that propounded by God. But although the object of faith must necessarily be the same to all the children of God, for if there be but one Gospel, making all allowance for errors not affecting vital truth, they can believe but one Gospel, and there is indeed but " One Lord, one faith, one baptism." Eph. iv. 5. Yet there is no truth more certain, both from Scripture from fact-and from the experience of every believer, than that the degree of confidence with which they trust or hope in Christ, differs in almost all persons, and in the same person, at different times. When the understanding is enlightened to know, and when the heart receives the salvation proclaimed through Christ to sinners-((for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness," Rom. x. 10,)-when it receives Christ as the true and only foundation on which it rests all hope of salvation thereby excluding and rejecting every other-then the sinner be lieves the Gospel. But how fluctuating is the confidence of hideceitful heart in the faithfulness and truth, the power and love ol Him in whom he still believes as the only refuge of his soul. It iB then he begins to feel and to lament his weakness, and his wan: of faith. He feels so often that he wants that trust, that confidence of heart in Christ, which ought to accompany the belief of his salvation, that he fears and complains he has no faith at all. It is this that marks one great difference in the flock of Christ, and draws forth so much, the glorious character of their tender, gracious Shepherd, for thus spake the Prophet, " He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young." Isai. xl. 11. The tottering steps of him who is weak in the faith-the trembling fearfulness in their pilgrimage of many a weary heavy-laden believer in the flock of Christ-too clearly illustrate the difference between him who boldly walks, with trust and confidence in his Lord, and him whose feeble hope hangs sometimes between doubt and despair. I have known persons whose faith was in Christ alone —jealous LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 77 for His truth-fervent in. His cause-full of love to His peopleand devoted to His service, who have nevertheless gone heavily most of all their days, from want of trust and hope in their Lord. Surely, a large proportion of the book of Psalms appears inspired for the consolation and support of the weak and timid believerthe 77th, the 143rd, and many others, are the language of their hearts; and if forfaith in Christ, as the salvation of the soul, you substitute trust in Christ for its salvation, in speaking to suchinstead of strengthening their faith, and comforting their heart, you rather confirm their doubts and fears, and join the enemy in harassing and afflicting them. Trust in Christ implies a consciousness that you believe, nay more, it implies a consciousness that you believe with such implicit faith-that you repose a confidence in Him to such an extent, that you feel it consolatory to your heart. Now it is the very fact of confounding faith with the consciousness of faith; or faith with trust, which necessarily implies this, by which I have seen the mind of many both living and dying, harassed and perplexed most deeply. Many a painful hour have I sat beside the dying bed of a believer, and when I would read of Christ and all his glorious work and offices, I have heard these words:" Oh! yes; I know that-that is all true-but, Oh! that I could believe it-O! that I had faith-O! that I could find peace," &c. &G. Instead of deriving their consolation from Christ, they have been seeking for consolation in themselves; and instead of being satisfied with believing in Him, they have been seeking for satisfaction, in believing that they believed. Unless they feel confidence, they cannot think they have faith. In looking to their own hearts for confidence and hope, they have been looking away from the only source from which alone either could be derived. This seems to me to be produced by the erroneous principle of confounding trust with faith, and only to be overcome by showing the difference between them. To such a one I would say-" How vain to be looking into yourself for confidence-nay, look out of yourself unto Jesus. If Jesus is the only ground of your salvation, however weak your faith, when Jesus is its object-fear not, but rejoice. " Let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord." Psalm cv. 4. The fact is, that faith is generally weak; and when a believer feels his faith to be so, if his mind has been imbued with the idea that confidence or trust in Christ is the only true faith, and therefore necessary to salvation, he is discouraged and oppressed; yea, I have seen him overwhelmed by looking into his own heart for this confidence, without which he could not think himself a believer. It may be said by some that this is only contending about words, for that trust or confidence is only a stronger degree of faith -or faith in lively exercise. I am not inclined to cavil as to words, but granting this to be so, though indeed it is not-yet what havoc in the Church of Christ a man would make, who should represent 78 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. strong faith as necessary to salvation! this were to frighten away the Lambs from Him who " gathers them with his arm, and carries them in his bosom"-this were to harass and to drive to death, instead of "gently leading those that are with young." Such is not the word of Him who saith to the " weary and heavy laden,' " Come unto me, and I will give you rest." How often have I seen the heart refreshed by speaking thus to those who were sinking under this oppressive error. " You are turning, my friend, into your own heart, and not to Jesus-you are looking into your own heart for confidence instead of looking unto Him in whom you may have confidence and strength-" Look unto me and be ye saved," Isaiah xlv. 22, is His word. " Look" -even to turn the eye to Jesus as our All in faith, can bring salvation to the soul-true your faith is weak, but Jesus is mighty, and remember it is written, " God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John iii. 16. Think of'" whosoever," surely you are included here —" whosoever believeth," no matter whether his faith be strong or weak —whether confident or trembling-whether a lamb of the flock or the strongest of the flock a Babe in Christ or a Father in Christ-if Jesus is indeed the only refuge of his soul, " whosoever believeth shall not perish, but have everlasting life." The infant is as safe as the giant, when both are in the fortress-the timid child as safe as the stoutest sailor, when both are in the vessel that outrides the storm. Cheer up your heart, and look unto Jesus. The question is not, whether we are strong, but whether Jesus is our refuge-not how confidently we believe, but in whom we believe.-Therefore, " Trust ye in the Lord forever, for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength." Isaiah xxvi. 4. 0 how often have I seen the soul refreshed and lifted out of its doubts and fears, and brought to trust and confidence, and peace, by showing that when Jesus is indeed the object of faith, the weakest believer may rejoice in Jesus. I have seen them, " out of weakness made strong, waxing valiant in fight," Heb. xi. 34, triumphing over sin and death, and hell, " in all these things more than conquerors, through him that loved them.' Rom. viii. 37. Though this does not strictly belong to the interpretation of this text, yet as I have drawn a distinction between believing and trusting, I think it necessary to explain it knowing its practical importance; but it is clear, as I have stated that, faith in the Gospel of Christ, and trust, in the Lord Jesus, is the manifestation of the power of divine grace, there can be no faith, no confidence in Christ, but by the grace and power of the Spirit of God. But we see, III.- The power of divine grace, and their electiona to their inheritance, manifested by the operations and influences of the Holy Spirit upon them. " IN WHOM ALSO AFTER THAT YOU BELIEVED, YE WERE SEALED WITH THAT HOLY SPIRIT OF PROMISE." LECT-'..RES ON THE EPHESIANS. 79 It is unnecessary to renark, after what has been said on the second head of this passage, that the inward power and operation of the Holy Ghost, enlightening their hearts to understand and believe the Gospel, and to trust in the Lord Jesus, must necessarily be implied in this place. It was indispensable, not only to the commencement, but to the continuance and support of divine life in their souls. But we are not to understand the scope and meaning of the Apostle, as limited to that power and grace of the Spirit, by which alone their minds could be enlightened to understand the Gospel; it seems here that he is speaking also of the miraculous gifts of the Spirit, which God had given them by the laying on of the hands of the Apostle, after they had received the Holy Ghost in his ordinary operations. This you will perceive by referring to Acts xix. " It came to pass, that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul, having passed through the upper coasts, came to Ephesus, and finding certain disciples, he said unto them, have you received the Holy Ghost, since ye believed? and they said unto him, we have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost." He evidently intended by this question, had they'received the miraculous gifts of the Holy Ghost? but they had not understood or known anything of that, about which the Apostle spoke to them. " And he said unto them, unto what then were ye baptized? and they said, unto John's baptism." Had they been baptized with the baptism of Christ's ordinance, they must have been baptized, " in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost," Mat. xxviii. 19. But these disciples at Ephesus had only embraced the testimony of John, they had not known the Gospel of Christ, until Paul visited them. " Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after himi, that is, on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, and when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues and prophesied." Acts xix. 1-6. You see, the Holy Spirit of whom he speaks as having sealed them, (when we look to the facts of their history,) seems to have comprehended the miraculous gifts of the Spirit, which they received by the laying on of the Apostle's hands after they believed, as we know, they must also have received his influence into their hearts before, to enable them to believe in Christ.' * The explanation of this passage, including both ordinary and extraordinary operations of the Holy Spirit, seems strictly Scriptural to the Author, although men of high name have excluded each of them alternately from the sense of the Apostle. One, whose authority has been long in high repute, with some who ought to be better taught, says, " In the following passage St. Paul represents the faith of the Ephesians in Christ, to have been the consequence of their having heard the Gospel preached, and the communication of the Spirit to have been subsequent to their faith." Then quoting this verse, he adds, " The order to be here noticed is this-first the hearing of the word,-secondly, belief produced by that hearing,-thirdly, the communication of the Spirit in consequence of that belief." The principle which this author intended to illustrate may be seen in a sentiment which precedes this quotation by a 80 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. These miraculous gifts, we know, have ceased. We know they are not now given, although grievous error has been recently propagated on that subject.' It does not come within the scope of my intention to-day, to enter more fully into it than to say, we know that these gifts of the Spirit are not imparted; and we may just make this one observation further, that, if miraculous gifts had always continued, they had long since ceased to appear miraculous. The end for which they were given, namely, to testify to God's truth, had ceased to be answered by them, had they continued in the church. But there are gifts of the Spirit which are always given to the Church of Christ, as you will find by referring to 1 Cor. xii. 4. 5, 6, There are diversities of NgJifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God that worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. To one is given, by the Spirit, the word of wisdom." —the word of wisdom-that is not an extraordinary gift. " If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God who giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him."-" To another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit," that is not an extraordinary gift.-" To another faith by the same Spirit."-That is an ordinary gift. Then the Apostle speaks of the miraculous gifts. But these are the gifts which constitute a man a disciple of Christ,-" the word of wisdom"-being " wise unto salvation." "4 For to one is given, by the Spirit, few pages. He says, " There is not a single passage in the New Testament which leads us to suppose, that any supernatural power was exerted over the minds of ordinary hearers, and therefore we are authorized to attribute their faith to the voluntary exercise of their reason."!!! The writer of this is no more-his name is not quoted — for the author would not inflict reproach on the individual who penned this sentiment -but how many embrace these principles. Scott, in his commentary, on the contrary, says of this passage, " This cannot, with any propriety, be explained of miraculous powers, these were not the earnest, pledge and foretaste of heaven as this seal is declared to have been; for many unsanctified persons exercised miraculous powers. But the sanctifying and comforting influence; of the Holy Spirit, seal believers as the children of God and heirs of heaven:-they are the first fruits of that holy felicity, and they impress the holy image of God upon their souls." "What Scott says of the sanctifying and comforting influences of the Holy Spirit is unquestionably true-but as to, the exercise of miraculous powers by " many unsanctified persons," this is not so very clear. It was through the laying on of the Apostles' hands that these powers were communicated, and though they may have been committed, in some instances, to persons who were false professors, as undoubtedly many such were in the Church; yet it by no means follows, that to those who were indeed the Children of God, such gifts of the Spirit were not a source of consolation and a seal of their Sonship-although distinct from, and inferior to, the inward "joy and peace in believing" which the Spirit's testimony of Jesus alone can give to the soul. But the fact in the historyof the Acts quoted in the text, does not seem to justify this limited interpretation of the passage. The author therefore quite agrees with Bloomfield, who says on this. " Considering the persons of whom it is said, we are, I think, bound to understand the extraordinary and supernatural gifts of the Spirit as well as his ordinary influences and graces, though most recent commentators take it of the latter only." The historical fact, Acts xix. 6, seems quite to preclude Scott's limitation; and it were vain to multiply quotations to prove that the opinion first cited in this note, is quite at variance with the very essence of divine truth. * The Unknown Tongues weve at'his time making a great noise in London. LECTURES ON TIE EPHESIANS. 81 the word of wisdom," 1 Cor. xii. 8, (for example, when men are given to learn from the Scriptures of truth, " which are able to make them wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus." 2 Tim. iii. 15.) " To another the word of knowledge, by the same Spirit," (" thiis is life eternal, to know thee, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." John xvii. 3.) " To another faith by the same Spirit," ("he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, but he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him." John, iii. 36.).These are gifts which, in various proportions, are given to all who are sealed unto life eternal. The other gifts enumerated here, " the gifts of healing," " the working of miracles," "prophecy," " discerning of spirits," divers kinds of tongues," " the interpretation of tongues," were given by the Lord for his own wise purposes, at the time. First, at Pentecost, and afterwards, by laying on of the Apostles' hands, to manifest the divine authority of the Gospel, and to testify the truth of that doctrine which the Lord sent His apostles to preach. But these gifts and fruits of the Spirit which you see in Galatians, v. 22, these are the fruits which the Spirit always produces, though in various degrees in the children of God, " some thirty, some sixty, some an hundredfold," "the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance." These are manifestly the gifts of grace. These manifest the influence and operation of God's sovereign power upon the souls of those who are the subjects of them. So, the Apostle says, in 2 Cor. iii. 2-3, " Ye are our epistle, written in our hearts, known and read of all men. Forasmuch as you are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone but in fleshly tables of the heart." Therefore, the Apostle says, the gift of the Spirit is to them the pledge or " EARNEST OF THE INHERITANCE UNTIL THE REDEMPTION OF THE PURCHASED POSSESSION." He uses this expression in 2 Corinthians, i. 22, "who hath also sealed us, and given us the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts," and he uses a similar expression, again, in this Epistle, iv. 30, " Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption," he calls it an earnest and a seal., Here he says it is " THE EARNEST OF OUR INHERITANCE UNTIL THE REDEMPTION OF TIE PURCHASED POSSESSION." What is the meaning of that? W as not the redemption completed by the Lord Jesus Christ, when He died on the cross? Yes. The price of our redemption was paid, but the redeemed of Christ were not then, and are not yet brought home to the glory of their inheritance. The ransom might be sent out for those poor captives of our country, for whom we all have felt and feel, such deep and painful interest,' who are now prisoners, or have been so, in a distant foreign land, in the hands of savages. The ransom might have been sent out for them, and the ransom might be paid, but * Those who had been taken captive in the Affghan War. 6 82 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. still, they might be travelling in the enemy's land, and not brought home to their habitation, their family, and their rest. Such is the state of the redeemed of Christ. The ransom is paid down for them, but they are not yet come to their inheritance. If you open Romans viii. 16-23, you will see this fully set forth. The Apostle says, " The spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together, for I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." Believers were suffering then, so they are now, but these sufferings " are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." Mark those words, "the glory which shall be revealed." It was to be revealed then, and is yet to be revealed now. But. though it is not yet revealed it shall be. For consider that which follows "for the earnest expectation of the creature, (i. e. all creation,) " waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God." That is, waiteth for a certain time, namely, the time when God's children shall be manifested to the world, that will be " the manifestation of the sons of God." The sense of this passage in Romans, had been much plainer if the original word which is translated "creature," in the 19th, 20th and 21st verses had been translated " creation," as it is in the 22nd verse; the same translation would have given a uniform and a clearer sense to the whole. The Apostle is describing the misery in which sin has placed this whole earth, and he represents the whole world, and all its inhabitants, as it were suffering, and groaning, and longing for deliverance. " For the creation was made subject to vanity," to its present helpless and miserable condition, in which it seems as it were, to have been formed in vain, not to answer its due end, the glory of God, or the happiness of his creatures; "not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same,"-not by its own choice or desire, but under the righteous sentence of Him, who has brought this judgment on it for sin; the sentence of death, the penalty of sin, to its inhabitants-the fear and dread of them to all the living creatures-and thorns, and thistles, to the very ground, for their sake. But though thus subjected now, there is a blessed hope for its deliverance. God hath subjected it to vanity, for the present, but it is still' in hope, because the creation itself shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption, into the glorious liberty of the children of God." The day is at hand when all the children of God " shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption," in which they have been held, in bodies of sin and death, to the resurrection inheritance of everlasting glory; and all creation shall participate in the glorious liberty-such is the triumphal song of the Psalmist, "Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad. Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof, let the field be joyful, and all that ig therein, then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice before the LECTURES ON TI-E EPHESIANS. 8 Lord. For he cometh, for he cometh to judgethe earth, he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth." Psalm, xcvi. 11, 12, 13. That this resurrection glory, is that of which the Apostle speaks, is perfectly clear, because, he proceeds. " For we know, that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now, and not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body." The price is paid, for the ransom of the body and soul of the believer. The soul is delivered, all its guilt is washed away in the blood of the Lamb, and it is clothed in His spotless righteousness. But still it groans in a body of sin. The body is still subject to disease and death, the sentence must be executed on it, " dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." Gen. iii. 18. And we know and feel ourselves, that we are, " through fear of death, all our lifetime subject to bondage." Heb. ii. 15. But the gift of the Spirit, that leads us to look to Jesus, to believe on Him, in whom we have deliverance, this is the pledge, this " THE EARNEST OF OUR INHERITANCE, UNTIL THE REDEMPTION OF THE PURCHASED POSSESSION; until that body shall be raised again in glory from its dust, " to meet its Lord in the air," I Thess. iv. 17, until the glorious " manifestation of the sons of God,"" for which now " all creation groaneth and travaileth in pain." So too the Apostle speaks in Phil. iii. 20, 21, " Our conversation (citizenship) is in heaven, from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ; who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself." If that blessed hope, in Jesus, is then the anchor of our soul-if all the blessed promises that are given us to hope in," are in himt yea and in him amen." 2 Cor. i. 20. The Spirit that teaches you to trust in Jesus is the pledge and earnest of the fulfilment of these promises, until the day of redemption,-then in that hope you may live and die with confidence-you may lift up your head above the waves of trouble in time-you may lay down your head on your pillow of death-and the last sound that falters on your dying tongue may be " O death where is thy sting! 0 grave where is thy, victory!' I Cor. xv. 55. Your friends may commit your body to the dust, " in sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life," and the tear of sorrow may be exhaled from the eye of faith and love, as it is raised to the Sun of Righteousness, with the sweet remembrance " Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints." Psalm cxvi. 15; and with the still sweeter anticipation that " when Christ who is our life shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." Col. iii. 4. "Beloved,' saith the Apostle John, " now are we the Sons of God; and it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." 1 John, iii. 2. Then shall we bear the impress of 84 LECTURES ON THE EP'HESIANS. that seal of " THE HOLY SPIRIT OF PROMISE," whereby we are Cc SEALED UNTO THE DAY OF REDEMPTION," for " as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly." 1 Cor. xv. 19. Then shall every hope be realized, and the soul shall be satiated to all the full capacities of immortality. Such is the Psalmist's joyful anticipation when speaking of those who have their portion in this life, he saith, " As for me," my portion is " Ishall behold thy face in righteousness. —Ishall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness." Psalm xvii. 15. How naturally one may say, might the heart burst into. the Doxology, from this Psalm,-" Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end." Surely, then, this blessed hope and the blessed Spirit who inspires it, is the manifestation of His grace and love to thy soul. 0 believer! surely this is the pledge and "EARNEST OF OUR INHERITANCE, TILL THE REDEMPTION OF THE PURCHASED POSSESSION, TO THE PRAISE OF HIS GLORY," till the trumpet that heralds his glorious coming in the clouds, shall awake the sleeping forms of all his saints-shall echo through the graves, and vaults, and dens, and caves, and rocks, and mountains of the earth, yea, and the depths of the ocean; and every scattered particle of His redeemed people, that had fallen into corruption, organized in death, shall rise in incorruption, glory, power, a spiritual body, "fashioned like unto his glorious body," then re-united to its happy spirit, to sin, to weep, to suffer, and to die, no more. O! how blessed is that glorious hope!-O! how secure that unfading, undefiled and incorruptible inheritance! Happy those who have the pledge and earnest of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to " look for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ."' Titus ii. 13. Well then, let us remember the earnest of the Spirit and the fruits of the Spirit,-if the Spirit is the pledge in the believer's heart, so should the power of the Spirit be manifested in the believer's life, " Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption." iv. 3. " Quench not the Spirit.?' Thess. v. 19. " Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the hlst of the flesh," Gal. v. 16-and remember what the fruits of the Spirit are.-Let me repeat them again,-" love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, against such there is no law." Gal. v. 22. May we not close such a subject with the Apostle's prayer for the Philippians, " This Ipray, that your love may abound yet nore and more, in knowledge and in all judgment; that ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God."-1 Phil. 9, 10, 11. SEVENTH LECTURE. EPHESIANS 1.-15, 16, 17. "Wherefore, I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him." LET me propose this question for your consideration.-What is the greatest proof of love that a Christian can give to his brother? Certainly, in my opinion, to pray for him. Oh, how many there are who would think themselves happy if they had, what they call, interest at court, a powerful patron to speak in their favor to the Sovereign, or to some person in authority-they would think, that if a privileged friend undertook to do so, he would be a faithful friend indeed. But, oh, how much more valuable is the friend who manifests his love to the sinner in bringing him before the notice of the King of kings! You see this strikingly exemplified here. The Apostle having spoken, as we have seen, of the blessings that had been conveyed to his brethren at Ephesus by the Spirit-of their being called in Christ Jesus-being redeemed by His precious blood-and having received the earnest of the Spirit-proceeds to convey to them the consolatory assurance that he did not cease to give thanks for them, and to pray for them.- "WHEREFORE, I ALSO, AFTER I HEARD OF YOUR FAITH IN THE LORD JESUS, AND LOVE UNTO ALL THE SAINTS, CEASE NOT TO GIVE THANKS FOR YOU, MAKING MENTION OF YOU IN MY PRAYERS," and then he tells them the subject of his prayer for them. Why does he say, " AFTER I HEARD OF YOUR FAITH IN THE LORD JESUS, AND LOVE UNTO ALL THE SAINTS?" Had not the Apostle been with the Church at Ephesus? Was it not through his instrumentality that they were called to the knowledge of Christ? Had he not labored long among them? CertainlyWhy then does he say, "after I heard?" He had gone to Ephesus about the year of our Lord 56, about 23 years after our blessed Lord's crucifixion. He had sent, as you read in Acts xx. for the Elders of the Church of Ephesus, to Miletus, where he gave them the charge which you read in that chapter, in the year 60,-and in the year 64 he addressed this Epistle to them. Therefore, he had been absent fiom them, perhaps six years, certainly five, and therefore he says, " after I heard." He had tidings conveyed to him, how the Church of Ephesus stood fast in the faith,-so he says, "AFTER I HEARD OF YOUR FAITH IN THE LORD JESUS; AND LOVE UNTO ALL THE SAINTS.' 86 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. Mark, let me entreat you, mark the characteristics of a Christian church, AFTER I HEARD OF YOUR FAITH IN THE LORD JESUS, AND LOVE UNTO ALL THE SAINTS." The two cardinal points of Christianity, without these, in their true Scriptural sense, Christianity can really have no existence. To what end had the church been founded by Paul, if that church had not held the faith of the Lord Jesus and love to His saints? There is no such thing as an individual Christian, unless a man that has this faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints,Pow then can there be such a thing as a Christian church? It is impossible it can exist without this,-there may be an outward form, an outward semblance, but there is no real, spiritual church of Christ, except that which is composed of men that have the "faith of the Lord Jesus, and love to all the saints."-Remember this. What a blessed guard the Bible is against error! and therefore, those who set forth falsehood, like to substitute tradition or human authority, for the pure and holy word of God. Stand fast, then, brethren, by that word, for your own souls, for the souls of your children, and for the souls of your fellow-men. How precious is the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ, "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life."-John, iii. 36. This is the blessing of faith. " He that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him." John iii, 36, this is the misery of unbelief. And if a man upon whom Paul had laid his hands, or Paul himself, (I speak on his own inspired authority,) aye, l or an angel from heaven, preached any other Gospel than that which he preached," the sentence of God's word is " let him be accursed." Gal. i. 8. Therefore, faith in Christ is one indispensable characteristic, of a member of Christ's Church, and love is another, true "faith worketh by love;" therefore, where there is no love, there is no faith; we argue from the non-existence of the effect, to the non-existence of the cause; so we perceive love is an inseparable test of faith. "If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar; for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?" 1 John, iv. 20, therefore, the Apostle stamps their character, when he says, "AFTER I HEARD OF YOUR FAITH I THE LORD JESUS, AND LOVE UNTO ALL THE SAINTS." Since he gives this summary as the testimony of a true Christian church, we may observe, there can be no vital error where these really exist, and there can be no saving truth, whatever form there may be, where these have no existence. Now what effect had this intelligence of their state on the Apostle? It filled his heart with thankfulness, and led him to pray continually for them: "I CEASE NOT TO GIVE THANKS FOR YOU, MAKING MENTION OF YOU IN MY PRAYERS.. Let us remember this for our guidance. St. Paul was led as LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 87 an apostle, to give thanks for them, he was led as a faithful teacher, to pray for them, he was inspired to record this for their instruction, and for ours, therefore this is for our guidance. We perceive, that the Apostle records the same for other churches of the saints. So we see in Phil. i. 3, 4, 5, "I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, for your fellowship in the Gospel, from the first day until.now." So we see the same thing, Col. i. 3, 4, " We give thancks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints. For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the Gospel." Now, why did he give thanks? he says to one church, "for their fellowship in the Gospel," he says to another, "for the hope that is laid up for them in heaven." This was a continual memorial which he always retained in his own breast, and which he wished that they should bear too; a constant remembrance, that whenever any blessing had accompanied to the hearts of men, the words preached by the Apostles, it was not to them thanks was to be considered due, it was not their zeal, their talents, their gifts, their eloquence, their graces, their Apostleship that produced the effect. "No," he saith " while one saith I am of Paul, and another, I am of Apollos, are ye not carnal? I have planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase." God must have the glory, not man, l" So neither is he that planted anything, neither he that watereth, but God that giveth the increase." i Cor. ii. 4, 6, 7. We are continually prone to give glory to man, to give glory to one fellow sinner, or another, through whose instrumentality, God may have conveyed a blessing to our souls. There is no such thing in the Bible. In that word of truth, all the praise and glory is ascribed alone to God. So the Apostle saith in this Epistle, I Cor. iv. 6, 7, " These things I have in a figure transferred to myself, and to Apollos for your sakes that you might learn, in us," (in Apollos, though so "mighty in the Scriptures," and in Paul, who was "not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles,') " that ye might learn in us, not to think of men above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up, for one against another; for who maketh thee to differ from another?" If you have received any blessing, if your souls are enlightened, and led to the Lord Jesus Christ, " who maketh thee to differ from another, and what hast thou that thou didst not receive 7" God gives this blessing to thy soul, and God is to have the praise and glory. But the same Spirit that taught the Apostle to give thanks, taught him to pray for them also. There is a most important lesson here. Persons are too apt to say, or at least to think, when they know the Gospel of Christ, and when they are brought to rest on Him, "Oh. that is enough, now I am a believer, now I am safe; and 88 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. too many Ministers seem to consider that when a man is converted, he is, as it were, secure. That is the inexperienced language of the inexperienced heart. The believer who knows himself, and who has experienced anything of the depths of sin that are in him, knows that this is no language for him. True, the believer is privileged to know, that he that is in Christ is safe-but his security consists in being "kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation," he is kept through a life of faith, and a life of faith, is a life of conflict, of watchfulness, and prayer'he is safe, but it is in "putting on the whole armor of God,' and the last piece of the panoply, as if it were the clasp that fastens and holds together all the rest, is " Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance." Ephesians vi. 16. Yes, it is then, first, men begin to pray. You never pray to Christ, till you are brought to Christ, you never come to the Father, till you come through Him, "no man cometh to the Father but by me." John xiv. 6. As Grace must begin the work, so Grace must carry it on, and Grace must consummate it. It is the same power that causes the harvest to ripen that causes the seed to spring from the ground, and it is the same God alone that can water the blessing of truth in the heart, that gave that blessing to the heart at first,-therefore, the Apostle says, "I cease not to give thanks for you making mention of you in my prayers." And if I might give an opinion on the sad low condition in which we see the professors of the Gospel, I would say, that it arises from this-want of prayer to God. There is in the present day, much talk about religion, you hear much of what is called religious conversation in various companies, but if you attend to it, you will find it is talk about religious societies, or religious publications, or about preachers,-something of that kind, but, alas, very little about Christ, not many in religious conversation speak of the Lord Jesus, and if we ask, what is the cause of this? I think it might be answered, want of prayer, and being carnal, in the sense of the Apostle to the Corinthians, " one saith I am, of Paul, and another I am of Apollos, and I of Cephas, and I of Christ." Surely when men are "puffed up for one against another," We have cause to fear there must be want of;prayer, want of communion between the soul and God. Oh! if ministers would have a blessing in their own souls, and on their labors, they must pray. If the flock would have a blessing on the ministration of their minister to their souls, they must pray for him. Depend on it you will find a blessing from the ministration of your pastors in direct proportion as you pray to God for them, and for that blessing on their word. If you go away barren and unfed from church, if you go away unedified, and unimpressed by the Word of truth, ask yourselves, have I been praying this week, for a blessing on the word of my minister tc my soul? and you may be satisfied your conscience will answer LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 89 that you have not. Let me entreat you to remember thiscarry this reflection home with you, and carry it with you to your knees, pray, 0 pray, for a blessing on our souls, and our labors; and may the Lord pour the spirit of the Apostle into our hearts, and give us hearts to pray for you. Before we consider the prayer of the Apostle, we must remark the expression with which he introduces it. In speaking of the blessed person of the Trinity, to whom he prayed, and I would request your attention to this, he says, "MAKING MENTION OF YOU IN MY PRAYERS, TI-AT THE GOD OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, THE FATHER OF GLORY MAY GIVE UNTO YOU, c &C., as much as to say, I pray for you, brethren, continually, and to whom do I pray? t pray to " the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory." Remember, that these words are the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, and they seem to have deep meaning in them. And what is that meaning? They seem to imply all that could be wanted to build up, and strengthen his brethren in the faith of Christ. To whom does he pray? " To the God of our Lord Jesus Christ." In saying this, recollect, brethren, he prays to him who " so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life"-he prays to him who not only gives the Shepherd to the sheep, but who gives the sheep to the Shepherd; for, recollect the words of Jesus in St. John x., "m y sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, and I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my hand." Then mark, "my Father which gave them me, is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one." John x. 27, 28, 29, 30; and you remember, the Lord Jesus Christ, in St. John, xx. 17, uses that delightful expression, " I ascend unto my Father and your Father, unto my God and your God." If you are looking to Jesus, if Christ is the refuge for your soul, then His Father is your Father, His God is your God. When the Apostle says, " the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory," he speaks of Him as your God too,-and so he illustrates the character of God as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ most beautifully by associating it with blessings and mercies in 2 Cor. i. 3, 4. " Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." Mark how he connects the Father with the Son, Blessed be God," who is this God? " even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort, who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them that are in trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God." See the illustration that he gives us here of God's character,-" the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort." Out of Christ, God is not to be approached. When you come to God in your own righteousness, you are like one of those who would have approached the mountain when it shook with thunder 90 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. and lightning. No matter with what offering they had come-no matter what costly sacrifices or propitiatory oblations they had brought in their hand, the command was, that they shouldbe "stoned or thrust through with a dart." Heb. xii. 20. Approach to God as you may,-come with your righteousness, come with your'morality, come with your virtues, come with your good resolutions, come with your pious intentions, come out of Christ, and you come to the thunderbolts of God's eternal justice, and you shall perish from his presence forever. Come to Jesus-however vile you are-however guilty-however despised by men-be you an outcast from society-with a self-convicted heart —a conscience writing bitter things against you-trembling at the thought of meeting God in judgment, as well you may,-come through Christ-come, pleading Jesus,come, pleading Him who died for sinners,-come with the blood of the Lamb,-and to whom do you come?-" To the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. To the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort,"-you come to Him; and you come through Him, who saith, "Himn that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." But he calls him not only 1 the God of our Lord Jesus Christ," but, "the Father of glory." How is the greatest glory of God manifested to man? Suppose, you were now called upon to answer that question-Suppose a person examining children, were to say, " Children, how is God's glory most declared to man? Can you show me any text concerning it?" Some perhaps might quote The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmamene showeth his handy-work." Ps. xix. 1. Another might say, " The whole earth is full of his glory," Isai. vi. 3, as we have it embodied in our beautiful hymn, "heaven and earth are full of the majesty of thy glory." But the glory of God declared as it is by the firmament of heaven, is not his greatest glory for the sinner, for how is the sinner to go there? How is the sinner to meet Him who walketh among those orbs of light? How is he to meet that God who " covereth himself with light, as with a garment, who maketh the clouds his chariot, who walketh upon the wings of the wind." Psal. civ. 2, 3. How is he to meet Him? The more you dress God in the glory of His majesty, the more you strike terror into the heart of the unconverted, unenlightened sinner. Oh! no, it is not in all these things that the greatest glory of God, is exhibited to man. St. John tells us where that glory is to be found, i. 14, " The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld its glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." The glory of the heavens, is nothing to a poor condemned criminal, the riches of earth, could give nothing to him, if they were poured out at his feet, but if a messenger came to open his prison door, with a reprieve-a pardon for him-that is a message of joy to his heart. Oh! when the sinner's eyes are opened to see the grace and truth that is in' the Word made flesh," that is indeed the glory of God, revealed to the LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 91 sinner's soul. Yes! then, he rejoices, so the Apostle says in 2 Cor. iv. 6. "God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." in that face that was " marred more than any man's." Is. lii. 14, in that face of the" "man of sorrows and acquainted with grief," Is. Iviii. 3, in that blessed face, that was bowed in death upon the Cross. Oh! that is glory for the guilty sinner, for, " surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows," Is. liii. 4. Surely, in the sufferings and agonies depicted in that blessed face, through that rent side, those hands, those feet, the glorious portals of pardon and mercy are opened to fallen rebels like you and me! Yes, he is " the Father of glory," revealed in His brightest glory through the crucified and risen Saviour, to those who feel their sin. So, the Apostle testifies this in Heb. i. 3, where speaking of the Lord Jesus he saith " Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had, by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high." Oh, yes, this-this indeed is glory! Do I address any of my dear Roman Catholic brethren? Alas my poor friends, whose only expectation is, not glory, but the terrors of that blasphemous fable, Purgatory, listen to this message of glory,-" When he had, by himself, purged our sins, he sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on High." There is a purgatory-a glorious purgatory-the blood of Jesus-an everlasting purgatory. Not one that you have to pass through, but one that the Lord of life and glory passed through, to bear your guilt and take it all away, and to open to you, not a place of punishment, but the gates of glory. Oh, think of this! May the Lord enable you to understand and know this; then you shall know,then indeed shall you understand and see-then-" God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness shall have shined into your hearts, to give you the light of the knowledge of the glory of God, in the face of Jesus Christ". God is called the Father of Glory, as the Giver of Life in Christ Jesus, and in giving life in Christ, He gives glory,-as we have it in Psalm, lxxxiv. 11, "the Lord God is a sun and a shield; the Lord will give grace and glory." And as we have been speaking of election in this chapter, you may see this strikingly set forth, in Romans, viii. 30. " Whom he did predestinate, them he also called, and whom he called, them he also justified, and whom he justified, them he also glorified." He is " the Father of glory," as well as the " Father of mercy," "whom he justified, them he also glorified"; for none shall pluck them out of the blessed hand of Him that died for them. Oh, remember this. Well indeed might the Apostle add, " What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all,"-(this blessed " God of our Lord Jesuts Christ, the 92 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. Father of glory)-how shall he not, with him also, freely give us all things?" The subject of the Apostle's prayer, I reserve for another Lecture, meantimes * * * * * * * * * EIGHTH LECTURE. EPHESIANS T.-17, 18. "That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him; the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints." WE have seen the consolation there was to be derived from the very name that the Apostle, by the Spirit, gives to the blessed person of the Trinity, to whom he addresses this prayer, "THE GOD OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, THE FATHER OF GLORY," we shall now consider the words of the prayer itself. Let us recollect that it was a prayer for the supply of the spiritual wants of the believers in the Church at Ephesus, inspired by Him who knew those wants,-and since it was not only inspired, but recorded by inspiration in the Sacred Volume, for our instruction, it is to teach us, that the same things which were needful for them, are needful also for us, and that, if the Apostle prayed for these blessings for the church at Ephesus, so we are called on to pray for them for ourselves, and for each other. The petition commences, " THAT THE GOD OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, THE FATHER OF GLORY, MAY GIVE UNTO YOU THE SPIRIT OF WISDOM AND REVELATION, IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF HIM." Now, why does he pray for this? Had they not received the spirit of wisdom and revelation, in the knowledge of Christ? Does not the Apostle say, verse 6, that they were " accepted in the beloved;" "he hath made us accepted in the beloved." Does not he say in verse 11, "in whom we have obtained an inheritance?" therefore, surely, they must have known Christ, they must have been " wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus," therefore, why does the Apostle pray, that they may have " the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him," which it appears, they must have had already, by the fact of their being accepted in Christ? * There were some local circumstances and subjects, with which this Lecture was concluded, not properly belonging to an exposition of the chapter, but applicable and important to those to whom it was addressed, and which are therefore omitted from this Publication. LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS, 93 To this we may answer. The time of the believer's conversion to God, is but the beginning of his spiritual life. The stage of ifancy, is but the commencement and not the maturity of existence, wherefore, the Apostle in 1 Peter, ii. 2, addresses believers thus, "as new born babes desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby." What is that knowledge, even of a temporal kind, in which man has not need to grow? And if we have need to grow in our knowledge, of every work of creation, even of any of the natural bodies that the Creator hath formed by His mighty hand, how much more have we need to grow in the knowledge of that God Himself? We only begin to know our own state as sinners, we only begin to know the character of Christ as a Saviour, when we are first brought to the knowledge of the Gospel. It is the long, sad experience of the corruption of our natural heart, that brings out the development of the glorious character of Christ as the Saviour, Prophet, Priest, and King of His people. As they that are sick need a physician, and in a severe and dangerous disease, may, even in its commencement, receive great relief, and so have some experience of his skill,-yet it is in the lingering processes of long protracted illness,-it is in the long and weary suffering of days and nights of anguish, that they know experimentally the wise, judicious treatment, and that they learn to appreciate the skill of that physician, by whose care, under the divine blessing, they have been at length restored to health. So it is with the believer. We suffer daily more and more of the inward disease of sin,-we feel more and more our need of the Great Physician. We are taught to appreciate more and more His glorious skill, and character, and power. The holiest experience of the holiest man is but a sad experience of the pollution of His holy things, of the deceitfulness and desperate wickedness of his own heart, the fell corruption that rankles within, and is but a proportionate experience of the patience, the long-suffering, the grace, the tenderness, the mercy, the compassion, the salvation of his God. Therefore is this blessed prayer recorded for sinners like us. The 17th verse contains the summary of the prayer,. and then the subject of the prayer is expanded to the end of the chapter. The summary is, " That God may give unto them the spirit of wisdon and revelation in the knowledge of Christ." Then the Apostle goes on to show what he means by this, what is that " spirit of wisdom," what is that "revelation in the knowledge of Christ," which he prays that the Spirit may give them. It is this, " THE EYES OF YOUR UNDERSTANDING BEING ENLIGHTENED, THAT YE MAY KNOW WHAT IS THE HOPE OF HIS CALLING, AND WHAT THE RICHES OF THE GLORY OF HIS INHERITANCE IN THE SAINTS," &cd. It is the office of the Spirit to glorify Christ, "he shall glorify me; for he shall receive of mine, 94 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. and shall show it unto you." John xvi. 14. And we see that the " spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him," as here set forth consists: First, in the enlightening of the understanding. Our understandings must be enlightened at first, by the power of God, to know Christ as our salvation, but what clouds and thick darkness still remain upon them! How continually do the murky vapors of the earth, arise and condense in this cold atmosphere around us, and hide "in the dark and cloudy day," the Sun of righteousness, from the eye of faith in the believer! What need we have continually, of illumination from the Spirit of God! We have need that the Spirit should both drive away the clouds and clear our distempered eye to see the light of our Redeemer's countenance! " THE EYES OF YOUR UNDERSTANDING BEING ENLIGHTENED," saith the Apostle. So the Old Testament saints prayed for this illumination. So David prays in Psalm, cxix. 18, " Open thou mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law." Again, " Consider and hear me, 0 Lord my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death." Psalm, xiii. 3. So the Apostle saith in this Epistle, v. 13, 14, speaking of light, " Whatsoever doth make manifest is light, wherefore he saith, awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light." But as the sun may shine in the firmament, and shine in vain, when the eye of man is blinded, but when his eye is open, then he discerns the light that shines around him,-so it is exactly with us,-though the Sun of Righteousness shines before us, though Jesus Christ is evidently set forth crucified among us, yet, our natural understandings are blinded, as blind as the inhabitants of a blind asylum, and we require the illumination of the Holy Spirit to open our eyes, that we may discern Christ at first as our salvation, and then we need increasing light, to behold more and more clearly the character of our Lord and Saviour. Therefore he prays, " THE EYES OF YOUR UNDERSTANDING BEING ENLIGHTENED, THAT YE MAY KNOW" —what? First. —" WHAT IS THE HOPE OF HIS CALLING." We shall consider theseveral subjects of the prayer in regular succession. "THE HOPE OF HIS CALLING." This may be taken either in the sense of the hope which God inspires into the hearts of his people, by the Spirit. Or, it might be taken for the object of hope; in either sense it is scriptural, and might be suitable in this passage; the first includes the second, for when that hope which the Spirit inspires, is given to the heart; the " hope laid up for it in2 heaven," is the object of its anticipation. I therefore take this as being the fullest sense; as the hope to which He calls his people, that is the hope which those who are called by the Lord, are privileged to possess, and to enjoy. God works in the mind through the medium of its natural feelings. Hope is the great, animating principle of all human conduct. Hope is the expectation of a good to be attained, founded on a belief that we can attain it. If we do not believe we can LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 95 attain an object, however desirable, of course we cannot hope for it; therefore, I say, hope is the expectation of a good to be attained, founded on a belief- a persuasion, that it is attainable by us; and it is attended with joy, in exact proportion to the eagerness with which we desire the good, and the confidence with which we expect we shall attain it. But, brethren, how is this blessed principle of the immortal soul, like all its other faculties and powers, dis.ordeied and deranged! It is, alas! how "Fallen from its high estate." Alas! " how is the gold become dim! how is the most fine gold changed!" Lam. iv. 1. Instead of being fixed, as it ought to be, on its God, it is continually turned to some poor perishing object of this earth,-and therefore the hopes of men perish with the objects on which they rest, and sink, one after another, from the cradle to the grave, in sure and sad succession of disappointment, anguish, and despair. Man is, generally speaking, more virtually disappointed in the attainment, than in the failure of his hopes, therefore the poet says:Hope, eager hope, th' assassin of our joy, All present blessings treading under foot, Is scarce a milder tyrant than despair! With no past toils content, still planning new, Hope turns us o'er to death alone for ease. Possession, why more tasteless than pursuit? Why is a wish far dearer than a crown. That wish accomplish'd why the grave of bliss? Because in the great future buried deep, Beyond our plans of empire and renown, Lies all that man with ardor should pursue; And HE who made him bent him to the right. NIGHT THOUGHTS. True, when the heart is fixed on earth —man never is, he never can be satisfied-he never can realize the enjoyment that his eager hope anticipates. When he has attained the object of his hope, he feels that it has disappointed all his anxious expectations, and like a child satiated with a broken toy, he sighs and longs for something else. But " the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." Phil. iii. 14, that is an object of aspiration and of hope commensurate with the capacities of an immortal being. When " the light of the glorious gospel of Christ," 2 Cor. iv. 4, breaks into the darkened heart of the sinner, — hen the glorious prospect of the " life and immortality brought to light through the Gospel," 2 Tim. i. 10, is presented to the eye of faith, as a blessing which he believes he can attain in Christ Jesus-then his desires ascend from earth to heaven-then a field is opened for the hope of the immortal soul, vast as its infinite ambition, and endless as its eternal existence. That hope is " THE HOPE OF HIS CALLING," a hope inspired by the Spirit, of attaining an object revealed by the Spirit. Oh, may the Spirit give us " WISDOMr AND 96 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. REVELATION IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF IIM, THE EYES OF OUR UNDERSTANDING BEING ENLIGHTENED; THAT WE MAY KNOW WHAT IS THE HOPE OF HIS CALLING, AND WHAT THE RICHES OF THE GLORY OF HIS INHERITANCE IN THE SAINTS! Let us consider the nature-and then, the hope, of this calling. I. There are various blessings that characterize the calling of God in Scripture. We are told it is a calling to peace-as for instance, in Colossians iii. 15, " Let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also ye are called in one body." We are called to the peace of God. This is a new and wondrous calling for the sinner.-It is a very new feeling for him to be called to enjoypeace with his God. The sinner, when called by the Spirit of God, asks,-Is there peace for me?-Can it be that there is peace made between such a guilty wretch as I am and God?-Is it possible that God can be at peace with me?-May I come near to God?-May I depend upon God that He will receive me?-That I may call Him my God?-Can my conscience be cleansed from all its sins?-May I indeed be satisfied that He, the Lord Jesus, has " borne our sins in his own body on the tree?" 1 Pet. ii. 24.May I rest on him?-May my soul repose on His love, His faithfulness and truth?-May I lay down my head this night on my pillow, as I never laid it down before?-not afraid of death, but knowing that Jesus has made peace for me? Oh, my brethren, that is a new calling to the sinner, when he can say, yes, " I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord," Rom. vii. 25. Yes -it is a wondrous calling to be called of God through Christ Jesus! Remember, oh, sinner! you are called to this through the Gospel. You are invited-God calls you by His ministers-He calls you by His ordinances-He calls you by His Word-He calls you by His appeals to your conscience-He calls you by His providences. You are called to-day! Now, there is nothing to bar your peace with God; for Jesus has made peace, Christ " has made peace through the blood of his cross." Col. i. 20. He sends us, HIe sends those who preach His Gospel —those who proclaim His glorious salvation-on an embassy of love, as the Apostle says, " As though God did beseech you by us, we pray you, in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God." 2 Cor. v. 20. The testimony of the Gospel is, " that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them," 2 Cor. v. 19, that is the proclamation; and the invitation of the Gospel is, " be ye reconciled to God," trust in Jesus. You are called to peace. That is a blessed calling! Oh, that our ears may be opened to hear it, and that the Spirit may bring it to our hearts and consciences with power! All those who are called to peace with God are called through peace to hope-they are called to " inherit a blessing," and so to hope for their inheritance. So the Apostle Peter tells us, in his 1st Epistle, iii. 9, when he speaks of this as a rule for )ur conduct, he saith, "not rendering evilfor evil or railing for railing, but con LECTURES ON THE EPItESIANS. 97 grariwise, blessing; knowing that you are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing." You are called to inherit a blessing. The calling of the Lord Jesus Christ, is to the inheritance of a blessing. We see, very often, pompously paraded in the newspapers, the birth of some child born as the heir of so and so. But how continually the hope of the inheritance of a family is cut off! How many that have been proclaimed as sons and heirs are soon laid in the dust! How are the churchyards peopled throughout the world with those who have been called heirs to estates, and coronets, and crowns!!! The poor heir of a throne of earth,how soon must he be cut off from his throne! or how soon his throne must totter from its foundation beneath him! The Scripture does not call the heirship to an earthly inheritance a blessing. The Apostle does not say, you are called to inherit a blessing, because you may be born heir to some little spot of this poor world; but he says, you are called to inherit that which God calls a blessing-that of which you cannot be disappointed, that from which you cannot be cut off; for, those who are called to inherit the heavenly blessing, if they were the possessors of all this earth, when they are cut off from this, it is only calling them away from a poor, corruptible, defiled inheritance of dust below, " to an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away," I Pet. i. 4. For it is their happy privilege to say, " We know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." 2 Cor. v. 1. Yes! this is the calling of God-they are called to inherit a blessing. And then, what a blessing! They are told in 1 Thes. ii. 12, that the magnitude and glory of the blessing, is to be the measure and standard of their walk and conversation, " Ye know," saith the Apostle, " how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you as a father doth his children, that you would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory." You are called to "inherit a blessing," to inherit, "a kingdom and glory," the kingdom of God, and the glory of God. Our Lord saith, "to him that overcometh will Igrant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne," Rev. iii. 21; and again, speaking of their glory, He saith in His intercessory prayer, in St. John's Gospel, xvii. 24, " Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me." That they be with Christ, and behold his glory, and partake of His glory: for they shall reign with him in glory. Here then is the calling of the Lord Jesus Christ, so the Apostle Peter saith, in his First Epistle, v. 10, " the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory, by Christ, Jesus," it is the same expression. Therefore, you see, what the nature of that calling is. But then, brethren, there is another point connected with it. It is a sure calling. Those who a-e called by the Spirit of God are 7 98 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. never left to perish. We see in Rom. viii. 28, 30, who they are, and what is the security of their calling; take it in connection with the subject of which we have treated, in this chapter, and observe how they illustrate each other. "Moreover whom he did predestinate, thoem he also called, and whom he called, theym he also justified, and whom he justified, them he also glorified." Those who are called by His Spirit to himself, called to this blessing, called to this kingdom, and glory, they are justified, washed in the blood of the Lamb, there is no other calling, there is no other hope, there is no other means whereby sinners are brought to the kingdom, they are "justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." " And whom he justified, theR he also glorified." If one were lost, that could not be true, "whom he justified, them he also glorified," if it could be said, " except such an one, or such an one," then the general proposition could not be true, but " whom he justified, them he also glorified." Jesus saith of His sheep, " They shall never perish, neither shall any one pluck them out of my hand. My Father who gave them me is greater than all, and no one can pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one." John x. 28, 29,30. You see, then, brethren, the calling of God in Christ Jesus, you see what it is, you see the nature of it, you see the subjects of it, you see the certainty of it. II.-Now, what is the hope founded upon this? WHAT IS THE HOPE OF HIS CALLING? First, it is A HOPE THAT SPRINGS FROM FAITH, that is founded on the belief of the truth; and therefore, let us always remember there is no such thing as enthusiasm admitted into true religion..A man may have very enthusiastic ardent hopes, but if these hopes are not based on the solid word of God, if they are not based on faith in God;s eternal truth, then, such hopes must perish forever. Therefore, it is not that your feelings be excited, or stimulated up to entertain some hope, but it is, "THE EYES OF YOUR UNDERSTANDING BEING ENLIGHTENED,/ remember that, "THE EYES OF YOUR UNDERSTANDING BEING ENLIGHTENED THAT YOU MAY KNOW WHAT IS THE HOPE OF HIS CALLING." It is the solid knowledge, it is the sober, clear, sound certainty of God's truth, that gives solid foundation for this hope. Remember that, therefore, the Scripture tells us in Romans, xv. 4, " whats.oever things were written aforetime, were written for our learning, that we, through patience and comfort of the Scriptures, might have hope." Mark, " through patience and comfort of the Scripttres." "It is written," "God hath spoken," therefore, through them we have hope. Hence you see the awful wickedness of taking God's word from the instruction of men. You see the awful guilt of taking that blessed word from the instruction of children. Because it ought to be the very basis, and must be the very basis of all sound knowledge of truth, therefore, of all firm belief of the truth, therefore, of all solid hope in the truth, and those who take t away, take away the foundation of faith and hope from the LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 99 soul of man, and therefore, you may be sure, very sure, that all persons who do so, must be lamentably ignorant of the great and glorious hope that is built upon that Bible, for themselves. Their hope must be based on some superstition, or tradition, on their Church, or their priest, or on their own works, or on some othet foundation of sand, not on Christ, the Rock of Ages. Again the hope of the calling of God, in Christ Jesus, is a soBER HOPE, drawn from the source of God's truth, it is the hope of the Gospel, and so it is called, you see in Col. i. 5, "the hope that is laid up for you in heaven," how did they know this? "whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the Gospel. "You have heard," he says, of this hope, "in the word of the truth of the Gospel." Then in the 21st verse, speaking of the blessed presentation of the sinner to God, through the salvation of Jesus, he says, " You that were sometimes alienated, and enemies in your minds by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled, in the body of his flesh, through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable in his sight"-~Now mark, " if ye continue in the faith grounded and settled," that is in the belief of the truth, and be not moved away from the hope of the Gospel which ye have heard." You have heard this hope proclaimed to you in the Gospel, therefore it is yours, "if you continue in the faith," the belief of that Gospel, and therefore, are " not moved from the hope of that Gospel." Your hope is founded on the sure belief of the promises of God, that cannot lie. So, in verse 27, he tells them the solid everlasting foundation of that hope, to all the saints, " To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles." And what is this glorious mystery? " which is Christ in you the hope of glory." What is your hope of glory? Let me say to each of you. whose eye or ear may see or hear these words, and let me, beseech you each, to ask yourselves, what is your hope of glory? If you have the hope that shall not be disappointed, if your hope is not the hope of "the hypocrite," that "shall perish," if your hope is the hope that shall not make ashamed, and true "hope maketh not ashamed," then, your hope, you will answer, is built on Christ. "Christ is all my hope. I am a poor lost sinner, Christ is my righteousness, Christ is my salvation, Christ is my hope, Christ is my all in all." This is Christ in you," (that is in your heart,) " the hope of glory." This is the hope of the servants of God in Christ Jesus. Therefore, it is and it ought to be,; A LIVELY HOPE," SO saith the Apostle Peter, 1st Pet. i. 3. " Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which, according to his abundant mercy, hath begotten us again unto a Lively hope, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and thatfadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you." So it is A JOYFUL HOPE, as it is said, rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing instant in prayer, Rom. xii. 12. So. it is A HOPE FULL OF CON 100 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANSS. SOLATION, as St. Paul says, in Heb. vi. 18, speaking of the gloii" ous foundation of the hope of the believer,' that by two immutable things," (God's covenant promise, and His oath, by which His covenant was ratified,) " by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong coisolation who have fled for refuge, to lay hold upon the hope set before us; which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the vail?" An anchor of the soul, an anchor that holds firmly amidst all the storms and tempests of time and eternity. It is not an anchor dropped in the quick-sand, it is an anchor cast within the vail. That anchor cannot drag, it is cast in the covenant salvation of omnipotence, it is cast within the vail, "the hope of our calling" is held by a cable that cannot slip. Why?-because, you are " kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation;f therefore, it is "an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast," whatever storms, hurricanes, or whirlwinds may blow from the heavens,-whatever mountain billows may rise and rage from the deep,-the vessel that is moored, the soul that is secured by the blessed anchor of that hope shall outride every storm, and mount over every billow, till the voice of Him whose voice can still the winds and waves, shall call.the peaceful spirit home to " the haven where it would be." Is not this a blessed hope? Is not this a glorious hope, to pray for, and to enjoy? If the Poet might speak, as we have heard, of the vanity of earthly hope, so might he well change the mode of his lyre, when he comes to sing of this. This Hope is earth's most estimable prize This is man's portion, while no more than man. Hope of all passions most befriends us here; Passions of prouder name befriend us less; Joy has her tears, and transport has her death. Hope, like a cordial, innocent, tho' strong, Man's heart at once inspirits and serenes; Nor makes him pay his wisdom for his joys;'T is all our present state can safely bear, Health to the frame! and vigor to the mind! A joy attempered! A chastized delight! Like the fair summer's evening, mild and sweet! T is man's full cup, his paradise below! NIGI-T THOUG TS. I must reserve the next passage of the prayer, " the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints," if the Lord will, for another occasion. But, Oh, let me ask you, do you not see how inspiration dictated and recorded the apostolic prayer? Do you not feel your own need of praying, that the Spirit may reveal that: hope of his calling" more and more to your souls-? I would ask you, 0 believer, do not you feel your need of this, and that your understanding should be opened more and more to see this blessed hope to feel and to enjoy it more? Alas! my friends, how continually our hearts a id thoughts are agitated and tossed about LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 101 with the trifling concerns of time and sense!-how easily we are afflicted, how soon distressed, how rapidly cast down, how suddenly elated with some poor perishing trifle of this passing scene, how much we forget the glorious hope set before us, " the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus!" Phil. iii. 14.-what need we have to pray, that God will enlighten the eyes of our understanding and reveal the truth, the hope, the prospect of eternal glory more fully and brightly to the eye of faith, for, Oh, brethren, if we had this hope as it is our privilege to possess it-if we rested in this hope-if we rejoiced in this hope-if we put on our head for a helmet this " hope of salvation;"-when we enter into the conflicts in which we have daily to contend-when we engage in the varied strugglings of our warfare here below-we should be enabled to "fight the good fight of faith," 1 Tim. vi. 12, we should quit us like men, and be strong," I Cor. xvi. 13, nay, we should always be " more than conquerors through Him that loved us." Rom. viii. 37. Oh, remember, that it is on this animating hope that all our comfort, our happiness, our enjoyment, our service of our God depends. Surely, then, I may well close the consideration of this part of the Apostle's prayer with a similar petition for another of the Churches in his day, which is, in itself, a beautiful amplification and illustration of the truth-" Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost."-Amen.-Rom. xv. 13. NINTH LECTURE. EFHESIANS.- 18. "The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints." HAVING considered the first part of the Apostle's prayer for the Church at Ephesus, we come to consider the second subject for which he prays, " that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto them the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him." Namely, " WHAT IS THE RICHES OF THE GLORY OF HIS INHERITANCE IN THE SAINTS." There are some commentators of no small name and authority, who interpret this passage thus; what is the riches of the glory of the inheritance, which the saints are to possess in Christ Jesus, or " how gloriously rich is the inheritance which he has prepared for his saints." 102 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. Now I am sure that this is not the meaning of the passage. I feel satisfied it is not, for then the expression would be exactly the reverse of this. If such were the meaning of it, the words would be, "what is the riches of the glory of the inheritance of the saints in Him," or it might be, "what is the riches of the glory of his inheritance for the saints," that is, which He has reserved for them, or purchased for them, whereas it is, "what is the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints," the inheritance of Christ in the saints, the inheritance he has in them. It is not an inheritance merely, but a glorious inheritance, and not only a glorious inheritance, but more-mark the strength of the expression-" THE RICHES OF THE GLORY OF HIS INHERITANCE IN THE SAINTS." Now let us ask, can this be properly applied to Christ? Can we justly assume this interpretation, which is certainly the plain meaning of the words, to be the true one? Can we scripturally adopt it? First.-Is Christ set forth in Scripture as an heir? Yes, He is clearly set forth in Scripture as an heir. You will see that in Heb. i. 1, 2, " God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things." And again, you may see in Rom. viii. 16, 17, where the Apostle speaks of the blessed inheritance of God's children, he says, " The Spirit itself beareth witness with our Spirit, that we are the children of God: and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ." —I might quote various other passages, but these are enough. Secondly-If Christ is an heir,-what is His inheritance? Of what is He heir? Is that revealed in Scripture?-clearly,-Ps. ii. 8. The Father Jehovah saith, addressing the Son, "Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen (the nations) for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession." Again, in Daniel, vii. 13, 14, you see the same truth set forth, " I saw in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of Miian came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought him near before him. And there was g'iven him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed." Christ is appointed heir, and heir of the nations of the earth, " that all people, nations, and languages, should srve him." But how is He heir? How can He be said to be an heir? Is He not Jehovah, and does He not, as God, possess all things?Certainly! How is He then the heir?-This is the misery and ignorance of the Socinians,-the awful error into which they fall. Christ, as man, has no more than any other man in the world:~ Of Christ, as man, it was as true as of any child that ever was born into the world, "naked came he out of his mother's womb."' Job. i. 21. He possessed nothing as man; therefore, whatever he LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 103 receives as man, he has, as a gift or heritage bestowed upon Him by Jehovah. All things that are said in Scripture of the Lord Jesus Christ, as man, are perfectly true of' Him, as man;-because He is very man, " bone of our bone, and flesh of our flesh." And therefore, when the Socinians object what the Scriptures say of Christ as man, they only fall into the snare, through their own blindness, for he is perfect man. But then come in His character and attributes as God, as Jehovah —and this is their stumblingblock. Beware of that! Go ou:, with God's Word, in the full length and breadth of the glorious humanity of Christ, —but if you do, you must perish in your ignorance and sin, unless you go also forth with it in the glory of His Eternal Godhead, and know that He is " over all God blessed forever." Rom. ix. 5. The arm of man cannot save the sinner. But we shall see more of this, in speaking of the inheritance of Christ-" THE RICHE' OF THE GLORY OF HIS INHERITANCE IN THE SAINTS.)' Now, the glory of Christ's kingdom, which you see portrayed in so many passages of God's Word is a moral glory-a glory fir above that of all the kings of this earth. Read the description of the glory of King Solomon and his kingdom, " when the queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon's wisdom, and the house that he had built, and the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his mnisters, and their apparel, and his cup bearers, and his ascent by which he went up unto the house of the Lord: there was no more spirit in her." 1 Kings x. 4, 5,-his throne of ivory and gold, and all the splendor of his court,-that is the splendor of an earthly monarch's kingdom,but the glory of Christ's kingdom is a moral glory,-so you see in Isaiah ii. 2. " It shall come to pass, in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established upon the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it," (you see " all people, nations, and languages, shall serve him,") " and mzany people shall go and say, come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths; for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people; and they shall beat their swords into plow-shares, and their spears into pruning hooks, nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." verse 3, 4. It is not the glory of arms, and the pomp of war, and the shout of victory that graces the kingdom of Christ,-No, it is justice-righteousnesspeace-mercy-love-filling the earth. So you have it in Isaiah xi. 4. " With righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked,"-that is at his coming. Then we have a description of the subsequent peace of his kingdom, verse 6, t the wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall 104 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them." " They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles (that is, the nations of the earth,) seek: and his rest shall be glorious." v. 9, 10. The glory, then, of Christ's inheritance, the glory of His kingdom shall be a moral glory, and the greatest glory of Christ, at this time, is this, to reveal His salvation to lost and guilty sinners, and to make them fit vessels to inherit that glory with Him. Therefore, there is nothing that strengthens the faith of a believer so much as to know and understand, that the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ is as much identified, as much bound up with the salvation of His church, as that salvation is bound up in the humiliation and glory of our Lord. This helps to unfold the reason, why the Apostle prays this for the church at Ephesus. And now, consider the value of this in application to our own state. What do we do? In our ignorance and unbelief, we are doubting and fearing, whether, as sinners, we may come to Christ for mercy. We want to qualify ourselves,-to make ourselves fit to come to Jesus. Alas! the poor inhabitants of anhospital might just as well expect to heal themselves before they applied to the physician. " They that are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick;" Mat. ix. 12.-and it is guilty sinners, like you and nie, that need a Saviour. But I repeat, that in our ignorance and unbelief, we are keeping back from Christ, doubting, whether we may trust Him. " Can I come, can I depend on Christ? Can I believe that such sins as mine are blotted out?" This is continually the language of unbelief in the human heart. But we ought to remember that the very glory of Christ consists in this, that He receives and pardons sinners. In Luke, xv. 2, we have an account, that the Pharisees and Scribes murmured, when the publicans and sinners drew near to hear Jesus. and this was their complaint, " This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with tthem" and the Lord Jesus Christ, answering them, sets forth three parables-that of the man who had lost a sheep, and who " leaves the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and goeth after that which is lost," and carries it home " on his shoulders rejoicing";-the poor woman who had lost a piece of money, and searches the house until she finds it;-and the tender father who receives the prodigal son in all his tattered garments and his misery,-illustrating thereby the glory of his own character. As if when they murmured and said, " this man rece (eth sinners," He might answer them and say, " Assuredly, I receive sinners," "for the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." Mat. xviii. 11. Instead of knowing that the glory of our Redeemer's character, consists in receiving sinners-in pardoning the guilty-in redeeming the lost —in pouring forth as the " Founm LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS., 105 tain of living waters," the tide of love, of mercy, of salvation, to guilty man —we stand doubting, and fearing, and questioning, whether we have salvation in Christ or not. This may lead us well to comprehend the reason why the Apostle prays, " That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give them the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him, that THE EYES OF THEIR UNDERSTANDING BEING ENLIGHTENED, THEY MAY KNOW WHAT IS THE HOPE OF HIS CALLING, AND WHAT THE RICHES OF THE GLORY OF HIS INHERITANCE IN THE SAINTS.' The voices of the prophets declare, that the glory of Christ was to consist in the salvation of sinners. I might quote a multitude of passages to show this, but I shall only refer to a few. The Lord saith by Isaiah, xliv. 22, "I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and as a cloud, thy sins; return unto me, for I have redeemed thee." Then, mark, how the prophet bursts out in the following verse, " Sing, 0 ye heavens; for the Lord hath done it: shout, ye lower parts of the earth: break forth into singing, ye mountains, 0 forest, and every tree therein: for the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified himself in Israel." He hath glorified himself in their redemption, in their pardon, in their deliverance, and the prophet calls upon heaven and earth, the mountains, the hills, the forest, every tree and every leaf to praise the Lord for his redeeming love to those guilty sinners-His people. In Isaiah xlix. 13, you see the same thing, " Sing 0 heavens, and be joyful, 0 earth, and break forth into singing 0 mountains; for the Lord hath comforted his people, and will have mercy on his aficted." Now look at unbelief in the following verse, "but Zion said, the Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me." There is unbelief, doubting His love, doubtng His mercy. What is his answer? " Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I notforget thee." See how the voice of the prophets glorify the Lord God in the pardon of sin. Let me read one or two more passages. Isaiah lx. 19, 21, where he speaks of the glory that shall dwell in His Zion, in the day of his inheritance. " The sun shall be no more thy light by day, neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee, but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. Thy sun shall no more go down, neither shall thy moon withdraw itself; for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. Thy people also shall be all righteous, they shall inherit the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that Imay be glorified." Here are some golden beams of light that shine on the treasures of " THE RICHES OF THE GLORY OF HIS INHERITANCE IN THE SAINTS." 106 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. I shall refer you but to one more prophecy, Jer. xxxiii. 8, 9, where He speaks of the glory of pardoning the sins of His rebellious Israel, when he shall call them home, " And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity whereby they have sinned against me, and I will pardon all their iniquity whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against me." And now mark," i And it shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and an honor before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do unto them, and they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness, and for all the prosperity that I procure unto it." His grace, His mercy, His salvation shall be a praise, honor, joy, and glory to them, through all the nations of the earth. When the Lord Jesus Christ was born, what were the first words that burst from the lips, of the heavenly choir, that came to celebrate his birth? Suddenly there was with the angel, a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and sayingglory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." Luke ii. 14. And the history of Christ's kingdom-the history of Christ's church from that day to this-the history of that which is really the holy Catholic church, not the Church of Rome-nor the Church of Scotland-nor the Church of England-nor any other outward church, that the eye of man has been able to discern, but of Christ's spiritual Church-that is, Christ's believing people — those who have fled to Christ for refuge —those who have embraced Christ's salvation,-they are Christ's Church and none other; then, I say, the history of them from that day to this, has been a history of the glory of Christ. Oh, what glory! when the Apostles went and preached " repentance and remission of sins beginning at Jerusalem," Luke, xxiv. 47, proclaiming pardon through the blood of the Lamb, to those who had embrued their hands in that blood, see Acts, ii. 37-47. And Oh, how often, from that day to this, as each succ&sive sinner has been brought to trust in his Redeemer, how ofteit has the expression, " Glory be to God," broken in sincerity from his lips, as the light of pardon and peace from his Redeemer, has broken in on his poor, benighted soul! So it is continually, when a sinner is brought to know the riches of the grace of Christ-" glory be to God," is the language of his heart-this is the glory that Christ has received from all his saints to this day. But this glory, however great, has been as yet but partially unfolded. It is yet all undeveloped to the world. It is not yet manifested-His dealings with all the members of His church are yet to be revealed. We have indeed, the history of them in some degree in the Bible. We have the history of Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob-we have the history of many saints of the Old Testament-we have the story of Zaccheus-of the thief-we have the history of Saul-we have the record of many individuals, who were brought to Christ, we have much of their history given to us in the Word of God. But the secret dealings of God vith all their souls, " the unsearchable riches of Christ."-Eph. iii. 8, — LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 107 as they have abounded to each individual among them are not known, and shall not be known, till the revelation of His glory. Again eternal life is not yet known, it is a subject but of faith and hope; you believe in it, and you hope for it, but it is not yet seen. The Church of Christ hath not yet risen, "the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now, and not only they, (all created beings) but we (believers) ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body." Rom. viii. 22, 23. Our bodies are not yet redeemed, they must pass through the ordeal of death, they must enter into the grave, they must be subjected to that process of decay which awaits them, " dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." Our present life is but animal'life, animal. existence-that must soon be extinguished, but that eternal life which the believer has in Christ, is as the Scripture tells us, "hid with Christ in God." Col. iii. 3.-it is not yet seen or known, but it shall not be always so; for "when Christ who is our life shall appear, then shall we also appear with him in glory." Col. iii. 4. Oh, what a glorious day, when those who sleep in death, in the dust of the earth shall " burst their cerements"-when all the redeemed of Christ shall break forth at the sound of the trumpet, springing in their renewed, regenerated bodies, from the earth and the depths of the sea, " to neet their Lord in the air." Then shall the glory of Christ be revealed, then shall be displayed "TIIE RICHES OF THE GLORY OF HIS INHERITANCE IN THE SAINTS." When " the travail of his soul" shall encircle him with songs of everlasting joy! Oh! what a blessed day for those who know Christ, to look for, and to hope for! Then, indeed, shall be fulfilled the testimony of the Apostle, as he says in 2d Thessalonians i. 7, "to you who are troubled, rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels." Then is beheld the fearful fate of the ungodly,-verses 8, 9, 10, " in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power." But then shall be revealed the life now hidden of His Church-then shall be revealed His own glorious majesty, and faithfulness, and truth, " When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe." Here is " TE RICHES OF THE GLORY OF HIS INHERITANCE IN THE SAINTS," He shall then " come to be glorified in his saints, and admired in all them that believe." Then His Church shall appear the bride of His love-then His children, " the travail of his soul,"-then His glorious inheritance the purchase of his bloodthen His royal diadem, with all the jewels of His crown of glory. And Oh, what glory shall then be manifested in Christ and his saints! What glory to that grace that has been proclaimed to sinners, as I proclaim to you this day in His most blessed name, tree full, complete pardon for all your sins. Heard you not the 108 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. words of that book this day, as they were read in the Churlch " Come now and let us reason together, saith the Lord, though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow, though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." Isa. i. 18. Oh! what glory to the grace of Christ, in pardoning the very chief of sinners. How shall Manasseh, Mary Magdalene, the Thief and Saul, and you, and I, if we be there among them, sing! Alas! are any among you looking to any other refuge? No matter what your morals, or your amiability, or your fancied excellence may be-no matter with what self-delusion in your pride and ignorance, you may deceive yourselves, in reviewing your own character-n( matter how your friends may blind you, by calling you amiable and excellent, as perhaps, relatively speaking, you may really be -before God you are a guilty sinner, and the wrath of God abideth on you as a sinner, and there is no hope, no shadow of hope or refuge, for your soul, but pardon in Christ. The glory of Christ is to have been a substitute for sinners, to fulfil the law for us, which we had broken, and to be "the Lord our righteousness." He came to bear our sins on the cross, and therefore, the glory of His grace consists in pardoning sinners. 0 look unto him and be vou saved. But glory shall be to His justice. The sufferer, the victim of a violated Law, who acknowledges the justice of the sentence that dooms him to die, honors that justice as much as he who pronounces the sentence, and inflicts the blow. The thief on the cross, when God enlightened his eyes to see the Saviour, honored the justice of his sentence when he said, " we indeed, justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds, but this man hath done nothing amiss." Luke xxiii. 41. But if man glorifies human justice in acquiescing in its sentence as pronounced against himself, how then, was the character ot Jesus glorified, when he came to give himself a willing victim to the sentence of that eternal justice which had pronounced a doom and a curse on guilty man! Who can tell, what the sense of justice was in Jesus, when "he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem," Luke ix. 51,-knowing all that should befall him? Oh! "when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe," then shall be proclaimed the glory of His justice when he underwent the " agony and bloody sweat" of Gethsemane-the mocking-the buffeting-the "shame and spitting" of the judgment hall-the cross of Calvary-the vinegar-the gall-the dark desertion of His Father, when, in that mysterious agony of suffering, He cried out, " My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Mat. xxvii. 46. Oh! then, it shall be seen by a guilty world, that He who came to be a willing victim for sinners, is the Lord of life and glory. Then, how shall the justice of Immanuel shine forth in the Judge of Heaven and earth! How shall the patient sufferer of justice shine forth in glory as the vindicated executor of justice when He shall come "to be glorified in his saints" in that day! LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 109 3,d.iu.ti, —-what glory to His mercy! Who shall appear among ai tdhe hosts of the Redeemed —who shall appear there, that is not a monumeni of grace and mercy! There shall be Manasseh, that deluged Jerusalem with blood —there, shall be Mary Magdalenethere, the persecuting Saul-there, perjured Peter-there, that blaspheming thief who was just rushing, with blasphemy on his lips, into hell, when the grace of God arrested him, and showed him, that he who hung beside him on the cross, was the Lord of grace and mercy. Oh, how shall the mercy of Christ be glorified in these, as in all His saints! Oh! yes! and believer, you can say, and I can say, if we be there, " Oh, how glorious is that mercy, that saved a wretch like me!" Yes, each individual who knows the secrets of his own heart-each who knows the guilt of his own corruption, his baseness, his ingratitude, his unbelief, his rebellion, his enmity, his crimes against his God, whether perpetrated, meditated, or desired-each who knows the vileness of his own nature, shall emulate the song of the loudest as he feels, that none should shout forth " GLORY TO CHRIST" louder than a sinner such as he. Do not you know this, Oh believer? Yes, you do, every one of you who knows the Gospel of Christ, you know, that this is true. Then, what glory to his faithfulness! Mark his words by the Prophet Isaiah, xlviii. 8, 9, 10, 11. "I knew that thou wouldest deal very treacherously, and wast called a transgressor from the womb." How often has this been bitterly echoed by the voice of conscience! But how faithful is He to His covenant and alas! how great our unfaithfulness! Yet He saith, " For my name's sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain for thee, that I cut thee not off. Behold I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I do it; for how should my name be polluted? and I will not give my glory to another." Oh, how His faithfulness and patience shall be glorified in the salvation of sinners, like you and me, in that day. His patience! How has He not borne with our manners and waywardness! Look back at your life, and see, how Christ has borne with you! See, how you have provoked Him, remember, how continually you have dared Him to His face-rushed into the jaws of temptation-fallen into them again and again-and yet, your God has not cut you off! He has pardoned you-He has given yout again peace, and restored you to His mercy! How often have you had to say of your Shepherd, "he restoreth my soul." Psalm xxiii. 3. Oh! when you remember this, how must you glorify the faithfulness and patience of your Saviour! And again, what glory to His power! What deliverances He hath wrought for you! How His providences have delivered you, how His power has rescued you from danger, from snares, from temptations, trials, yea, from what depths of sin, the Lord of life and power has rescued your soul! How often has His arm lifted you up from the precipice of death and hell! Oh, how must you glorify the Lord in that day 110 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. And then, what glory to His holiness, when out of such a mass of sinners, he "presents to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but holy and without blemish." Ephes. v. 27. How the character of Christ, His moral character shall be glorified! all the attributes of His divinity, and all the perfections of His humanity, shining, not only in himself but in all His redeemed saints! How they shall all be manifested, and how they shall all be glorified in that day, " when HIe shall come to be glorified in the saints," and to display to all the worlds of heaven, earth, and hell," THE RICHES OF THE GLORY OF HIS INHERITANCE IN THE SAINTS!" for they are His inheritance, they display His character, they manifest His grace, they exhibit His justice, mercy, truth, love, faithfulness, patience, power, they exhibit them all, they are the inheritance of Christ. His glory-the very essence of his glory is manifested and displayed in them. How wonderful, that even the fall of the world, that the sin of man should be, in the end, overruled for good! to confer blessedness on the sinner that is redeemed, and to magnify and enhance the character and glory of his God. Oh! believer, let us think what does this demand from us? a Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid." Rom. vi. 1. Because Christ is glorified in the pardon of sin, and in the salvation of sinners, shall we therefore sin against our God?-God forbid. No, it is the very manifestation of this love, it is the exhibition of Christ's character, as brought home to the heart and affections of man, by the power of the Holy Ghost, that draws that heart and these affections to his God. And it is thus, that even here, in the life of His people, their Lord is glorified, " herein," saith He, "is my Father glorifed, that ye bear much fruit, so shall ye be my disciples." Then, do you not see, what a blessed prayer, " That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, might give unto them the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him?" Do you not perceive how inspiration shines in the petition, " that THE EYES OF THEIR UNDERSTANDING BEING ENLIGHTENED, THEY MAY KNOW WHAT IS THE HOPE OF HIS CALLING, AND WHAT THE RICHES OF THE GLORY OF HIS INHERITANCE IN THE SAINTS?" How is not this calculated to glorify Christ? -to make them glorify Him in their faith, their confidence. their hope in Him, their love to Him-in their life and conversation, as the disciples of the Lord-the redeemed of such a Saviour? Oh! that the Lord may grant, that these blessed results may flow to our souls from the revelation of the knowledge of Him! Let us remember, that the Apostle preached these truths much better than we can preach them. He set these things forth by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. Yet he does not say, my preaching shall produce such and such an effect upon you. Nay, brethren. You may say, and I trust you do, when you hear the word of LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 111 God faithfully set forth, " That is true,-that preaching is scriptural, -that testimony is faithful,-that word is sound." But then, this truth can produce no effect on you or me but by the power of the Holy Spirit. We may preach, but our own heart and life shall be all uninfluenced by the very word we teach, unless God by His Spirit brings it home to our own souls. So must it be with you. Therefore, remember, the Apostle does not say, I have preached to you, my preaching shall be effectual-my word shall take root and bring forth fruit in you. No, but he offers this petition to the Throne of Grace. He knows that even the very words of God himself, whether spoken or inspired, must be accompanied by the Holy Spirit to reach the heart of a sinner. He knows that all the glory of Immanuel's character, the riches of His grace, and the fulness of His salvation, shall shine in the firmament of God's eternal world as vainly as the sun in the firnament of heaven on those whose eyes are blind, unless " the Father of glory shallgive them the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him-unless THE EYES OF THEIR UNDERSTANDING SHALL BE ENLIGHTENED, THAT THEY MAY KNOW WHAT IS THE HOPE OF HIS CALLING, AND WHAT THE RICHES OF THE GLORY OF HIS INHERITANCE IN THE SAINTS."? And now, perhaps, some poor blind sinner may have come in here to-day, to whom this is all unknown. He does not understand these words. He cannot tell what is " THE RICHES OF THE GLORY OF CHRIST'S INHERITANCE IN THE SAINTS." Well-perhaps through God's grace, the Spirit of eternal truth may bring home this word to your heart, and enable you to understand it ere you leave this Church. You may have come here as many come, because they think it is right to do so on the Sabbath-day, because they think it right, as they say, to do their duty — to go to church-to say their prayers-and to hear a Sermon, or, perhaps, as many do, they come to lounge away an hour-or thinking, it may be, that it is a very meritorious act, and shall be entered as an item to their credit in the Book of God for their salvation. Perhaps that such an one may be offended at being told, that a all their righteousnesses are as filthy rags." Isa. lxiv. 6, and that all their religious observances, and all their duties can never save, or help to save their souls. Nay, I say to such a one, my friend, you are a sinner: and " the wrath of God abideth on you." What are you to do? My dear fellow-sinner, the riches of the glory of Christ are set forth to you, in the proclamation of the pardon of sin to sinners. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, I proclaim to you, on the authority of God's eternal word, pardon of your sin through the blood of Him, which " cleanseth us from all sin," I John, i. 7. You may ask, " What! do you mean to say, that what Christ has done and suffered, is enough for me to rest my soul on? May I depend on Him this day? Is there in Him full pardon for a thoughtless sinner like me?" Oh yes, " today zf you will hear His voice, harden not your heart." Psalm, xcv. 7, 8. Remember he said to Zaccheus the chief of the publi 112 LECTURES ON MIRE EPHESIANS. cans, " This day is salvation come to this house." Luke xix. 9. Recollect He said to the Thief, " To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise," and do not forget this glorious truth, that he who said thus, is " Jesus Christ the same yesterday, to-day, and forever." Heb. xiii. 8. Oh may He by the Spirit, enable you to receive these glad tidings, and then your salvation shall redound to the glory of Christ. Then you shall be able to say, as many a sinner like you hath said, " Ah, when I was not thinking at all about myself, about my sins, quite ignorant of my own state, and ignorant of Christ, God sent His word home to my conscience, I saw, I was a guilty sinner. and I heard for the first time in my life," (for if you have been listening to it all your days, it is not till it comes to your heart with power, that you hear it,) " I heard for the first time of forgiveness through the blood of Christ." May the Lord enable you to see and to receive it. Then you shall be among those whose salvation shall redound to the glory of Christ-then you shall understand and participate in " THE RICHES OF THE GLORY OF HIS INHERITANCE IN THE SAINTS." Now they give Him glory, now they praise Him for his pardoning love and mercy. But Oh, what shall it be in that glorious day, when he shall have " spoken and called the earth from the rising of the sun, to the going down thereof!" When " Out of Zion the perfection of beauty God hath shined " When " Our God shall come and shall not keep silence, a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him!" When' He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people." " Gather my saints together unto me, those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice!" When " The heavens shall declare his righteousness, for God is.hedge, Himself!" Psalm 1. 1-6. What shall it be when He who " hath been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refege from the storm, a shadow fron the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall." What shall it be when " He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off allfaces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad, and rejoice in his salvation." Isa. xxv. 4, 8, 9. Then, and not till then, shall be the full response to the Apostle's prayer-then, and not till then, shall the Song of Moses and the Lamb echo from every voice of the assembled hosts of the Redeemed-then shall they enjoy in full possession their "inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away"then shall be enjoyed in full fruition the glorious " HOPE OF HIS CALLING," and then revealed in the light of His countenance before the throne " THE RICHES OF THE GLORY OF HIS INHERITANCE IN THE SAINTS." Anen. TENTH LECTURE. EPHESIANS I.-19, 20, 21, 22, 23. "And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: and hath put all things under his feet, and given him to be head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all." THERE are, as we have seen, three principal subjects in the Apostle's petition for the Church at Ephesus —three distinct points in which he prays the Father of glory to grant to them " the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Christ, that the eyes of their understanding being enlightened they may know1st. What is the hope of his calling. 2d. What is the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints. 3d. What is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward, who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised hin from the dead and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places." We have in this, as has been set forth, in the First-The blessedness of the saints in the hope to which it is their high privilege to be called in Christ, " which hope they have as an anchor of their soul, both sure and steadfast." Heb. vi. 19. In the Second-The riches of the glory of Christ's inheritance in them, when He shall be crowned and glorified in all the salvation of His Redeemed-when the " ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands shall say with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing." Rev. v. 11, 12. As the first refers to the hope of the saints in Christ, and the second to the glory of Christ's inheritance in them, so we have in the Third-The glory of both Christ and His Church in their present union. He, as the risen head; they, as His members; one glorious mystic body. He as ".the head over all things to the Church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all." Eph. v. 22, 23. Having considered the two first,-the third point is for our consideration to-day, " WHAT IS THE EXCEEDING GREATNESS OF HIS 8 1. 14 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. POWER TO US-WARD WHO BELIEVE, ACCORDING TO THE WORKING OF HIS MIGHTY POWER, WHICH HE WROUGHT IN CHRIST, WHEN HE RAISED HIM FROM THE DEAD." Some commentators consider, that the Apostle means here simply the resurrection of Christ, and the blessings which God, by His power, in raising him from the dead, has conferred upon the Church. Others imagine, that it refers to the resurrection of believers, in that He will raise them, and that the Apostle means that this is "THE GREATNESS OF HIS POWER TOWARD TI-.OSE WHO BELIEVE" that they also shall arise, "ACCORDING TO THE WORKING OF HIS MIGHTY POWER, WHICI HiE WROUGHT IN CHRIST, WHEN HE RAISED HIM FROM THE DEAD.?' Most unquestionably both of these must be included in its meaning. It must include both the resurrection of Christ, and the future resurrection of believers. But, I think, there is much more than either one or both of these in this passage. It appears to me most especially to mean, the present spiritual life which believers have in Christ Jesus, being risen with him as their risen head. In order to understand the passage, you must refer to the whole context, and examine it at length in the Epistle. The sentence does not appear to me to be concluded till the 10th verse of the next chapter. The Apostle does not appear to have fully given out his meaning till he gets to that verse. If we are spared to reach the 5th and 6th verses, you will see, I trust, the whole connection of the passage,-meantime, I would just remark, that the 5th and 6th verses of the 2nd chapter appear to me to be the explanation of this 19th verse. Here he prays, " that the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, you may know WHAT IS THE EXCEEDING GREATNESS OF HIS POWER TO US-WARD WHO BELIEVE, ACCORDING TO THE WORKING OF HIS MIGHTY POWER, WHICH HE WROUGHT IN CHRIST WHEN HE RAISED HIM FROM THE DEAD, AND SET HIM AT HIS OWN RIGHT HAND IN THE HEAVENLY PLACES." Now, in the 5th and 6th verses of the next chapter, he saith, " he hath quickened us together with Christ, * The Author in referring to the opinions of commentators, in several parts of these Lectures, thinks it better to omit names and authorities. First, because it might give a controversial tone to this work, which is generally not profitable to our own souls. It is enough to be obliged to use the Word of God, controversionally with opponents, and it is the least that we may be allowed to enjoy it, spiritually and devotionally ourselves. Besides many persons are so wedded to names and authorities of men, that the very insinuation that a favorite commentator, was not right in every point, would disgust them, and not allow them to consider a passage with common patience or attention, it would be quite enough to stamp it as false, to suppose that Scott, or Henry, or Whitby, or Macknight, or Poole. or Bloomfield, or some other Commentator. was not almost infallible in their interpretation. But the author earnestly entreats others to do, as he would humbly desire to do himself-to study the Lord's word simply with prayer, comparing spiritual things, with spiritual; and thus he trusts they will find, that though in general, sound pious Commentators are right; yet there are many portions of Scripture, which God may be pleased to throw light on, to meek and humble enquirers, of which they may impart some feeble ray, to a fellow-sinner, which even the best Commentators, may perhaps have but slightly noticed; how often do we N THE EPIESIANS. blessed transfer, of all his guilt and misery and curse to Jesus," The Lord hath caused to meet on him the iniquity of us all;" -and Jesus transferring, God the Father imputing, and the sinner by faitithwith joyful gratitude receiving all the riches of Christ's righteousness, redemption and salvation, put down to His account as a guilty sinner. If you understand this, then you know, that the only means of your salvation, are the obedience unto death and the resurrection of Jesus. Alas! if you are looking to any other means of salvation, — beseech, I implore you, for God's sake, pause, and consider how vain, and false your hope is! "If righteousness come by the law, Christ is dead in vain."-Gal. ii. 21. If man's works could save him, Christ's death is of no value. If then, you are looking to other means of salvation, let me beseech you to turn from them all, to the hope that God sets before you in Christ,-" Repent and believe the Gospel." Are you looking to your Church for salvation? What is to save the poor Church?-One set of lost sinners looking to another set of lost sinners for salvation! One poor debtor who cannot pay one farthing of his debt, looking to other poor bankrupts like himself to discharge it!-one starving wvretch, turning to others, starving like himself, for amorsel of bread! Such is man looking for salvation to his church. Are you looking to the Sacraments for your salvation? To what are you looking? Is it to the outward sign in the ordinance? Or is it to the truth which it represents? Oh beware! Can water wash away your guilt? Can bread and wine atone for it? Are these your Saviours? The glorious Lord hath left them to us as precious emblems, as blessed memorials of Christ the substance of salvation,-but if the sinner looks from Christ to them, he turns his eyes from the substance to the shadow, from truth to falsehood, from the only hope that God has given to man, to emblems and memorials of that hope! You might as well take a picture, and embrace that picture, and bestow all your affections on it, and call it the being or thing it represents, and put. it in the place of that being in your affections, and in your house, as depend your salvation on sacraments or anything that man can do for you, instead of on the Lord of life and glory. Oh think of this. Salvation by sacraments in the Church of England is as great a falsehood as salvation by Sacraments. in the Church of Rome. A shadow is a shadow, whether it is projected by the sun in Italy, or by the sun in England, and sacraments can no more save the soul in Britain than they can in Rome. Christ, the glorious Redeemer, the Lord of life and glory, He is the only Saviour of the lost. You must stand on that Rock, if you ever hope to stand firm amidst the coming floods and storms.-If you ever hope to rest with peace upon your dying bed, or to lift up your eyes when the clouds shall be rent asunder, and when the Lord Himself shall be revealed,-if you hope then to join the chorus of the redeemed, and say, " Lo, this is our God, we have waitedfor LECTURES ON TIE -:PHESIANS. 143 him, and he will save us, this is the Lord, we have waited for himn, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation." Isai. xxv. 9. If you'hope for these things, you must not be looking to miserable shadows and miserable fallen sinners to save your souls, instead of Christ. I am sorry to say, it is too necessary to preach on these topics in our pulpits. I am grieved to think that falsehood and heresy should creep into the Church of England to corrupt our congregations from the simplicity that is in Christ. May the Lord keep us "looking unto Jesus,"-continually looking to Christ alone for salvation,-for this is His word, " Look unto me, and be ye saved, all ye ends of the earth, for I am God, and there is none else." Isa. xlv. 22. When the Apostle saith then, "HE HATIH QUICKENED US TOGETHER WITH CHRIST." He sets forth the means of salvation, God quickens the sinner together with Christ, implying, of course, the death of Christ, for Jesus to be quickened: must have been dead. Now forgiveness of sins is set forth through the Scriptures, as being proclaimed and secured through the resurrection, as well as the death of Immanuel, so we are told in Romans, iv. 25, He " was delivered for our offences, and raised again for our justification." It was a proclamation that God had accepted the work of Jesus, the atonement of Jesus for the salvation of rebellious man. So, the Apostle speaking to the Corinthians, of some of those in that Church, who had set forth heresies; (for there are always heresies springing up in the Church, there always have been, and always shall be, until the Lord himself shall come to reign over His kingdom, and Satan shall be bound,) referring to those who denied the resurrection of Christ, I Cor. xv.-17. "If Christ be not raised your faith is vain, ye are yet in your sins." The Apostle uses an expression, similar to this 5th verse, in Colossians, ii.-13. " You being dead in your sins and the uncircu.tmncision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him,. having forgiven you all your trespasses," raised up with Christ, and. your sins buried in his grave and forgotten, never to be mentioned again. Therefore, the means of salvation which the Apostle speaks of here, are the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ; and he asserts the interest His people have in Him, in virtue of their union with Him, being raised together with Him. II. Now, we come to consider THE EFFECTS OF SALVATION, the effect of their being saved in Christ, " AND HATH RAISED US UP TOGETHER, AND MADE US SIT TOGETI-ER IN HEAVENLY PLACES IN CHRIST JESUS." Let us ask, what meaneth this? Where were the Ephesiansat that time? They were at Ephesus, walking about, engaged in their ordinary occupations, or perhaps engaged at home, or in the congregation, as you are sitting in Church, occupied with the word of God, and I hope lifting up your hearts to ask for a blessing on it. Then, what does the Apostle mean by saying, he " IIATH RAISED US UP TOGETHER. 144 LEICTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. AND MIADE US SIT TOGETI-ER IN HEAVENLY PLACES IN CHRIST JESUS?" What is the meaning of that? How can men on earth be said to have been raised with Christ, and to have been cmade to sit together in heavenly places with him? Believers are spoken of, and deemed to be now as they shall be.' Their blessed inheritance in reversion, is spoken of as in possession, and their faith in God's promises of what they shall be, enables them through His grace to rejoice in what they are. What are they called? "Children of God." " Ye are all the children of God, by faith in Christ Jesus." What is their inheritance as children? The Apostle tells us, in Romans, viii. 17, as indeed we are told in various other passages of Scripture, " If children, then heirs, heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ." Your children, you would say, are your heirs, they are to possess your property. Men make their eldest son the heir of their properties. The law which subverts that of primogeniture, which divides estates, and necessitates that property be divided among all the members of a family, soon reduces the family to beggary, for our poor earthly properties are easily exhausted. But the children of the King of kings, are all heirs of eternal glory. The rays of the sun are undiminished in their bright eflulgence, the lustre of that luminary is not dimmed, although the beams of his glorious orb have been diffused throughout the world from the first moment of the morning when God set him in the firmament of the heavens to rule the day; he still pours forth from his redundant fountain floods of unexhausted, and exhaustless light, and every creature that basks beneath his beams enjoys the fulness of their power too much to leave him room to grudge the world beside. But what is all the glory of the orb of day compared with that of Him whose fiat struck that orb but as a spark from solid darkness? and what is the inheritance of him who is an heir of God and a joint heir with Christ? " The glory that thou gavesi mne I have given, then, that they may be one even as we are one." John xvii. 22. Christ's inheritance-Christ's glory is their inheritance and their glory, and there is not one whose glory is diminished by the fulness of glory that all enjoy. This is the blessed hope-this the glorious inheritance of the saints in light. Oh, you who perhaps are fixing all your thoughts and your anxieties on your little earthly inheritance,-wrapt up in. all your comforts, pleasures and enjoyments, without one thought, or fear, or hope as an immortal being,-" what will yout do in the end thereof'? What will you do when your all is gone' You may be obliged to' pull down your barns, and build greater." but what can this avail when God shall say, " Thou, fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee." Luke xii. 20, Oh, consider this. and ere it be too late, receive the glorious inheritance that is fieely given to sinners in Christ Jesus the Lord. Now, on the other side, there may be some, yea, I doubt not there are some here, who are oppressed with want, poverty-stricken, and often not knowing one day how their wants may be supplied the LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 145 next. Well, my poor friends, if you are looking to Jesus,-if Christ is your hope and refuge,-think what an inheritance you have! think, what a glorious inheritance is secured to you in Him. Remember, 0 poor believer, you are an heir of God, a joint-heir with Christ. Whether would you rather be the rich man or Lazarus? Your days of poverty will soon be past-you will soon be beyond the reach of want, or pain, or sin, and your Lord is now watching over you, and numbereth the very hairs of your head. Wherefore lift up your heart-better be poor, and have unsearchable riches in reversion, than be reigning on a throne without Christ. " Lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees." Heb. xii. 12,-and remember, that;" God hath chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom."' James ii. 5. This is the inheritance of which Daniel speaks, when he says, " a kingdom, and dominion and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose king dom is an everlasting kingdom, and all domninions shall serve and obey?him,." Dan. vii. 27.-' Happy is the people that is in such a case, yea, happy is that people whose God is the Lord." Psal. cxliv. 15. Believers then are spoken of, I say, as they shall be, they shall be raised up together, they shall be glorified together with the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Apostle says, they are so. They are so in God's counsels, they are so in God's purposes, they are so in God's promises, they ought to be so in the joyful confidence of faith and hope, and when they believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, it is their happy privilege to know they are so in reality. Allow me to enlarge a little more on a former illustration. I desire an architect to give me an estimate for building a church, he draws his plan, he furnishes me with the ground, and the elevation, and he gives me a specification of all the various expenses, and if he be a professional man who knows his business, the whole of that church is just as clear in that man's eye, while he is: drawing the plan and estimate of it, as when he beholds it erected and completed. Now let me ask, does not Jehovah hold His Church, complete and finished in His eye? Is there a single stone in the building that is not marked in the specification of His counsels, from eternity. The architect may not perlaps know the quarry, where he is to find the stones to erect the building he proposes, or if he expects to find them in a certain quarry, he may be disappointed in his expectations,-but do you think there can be any disappointment in the materials of the Church of the living God? The architect may change his plan, perhaps from caprice, perhaps from necessity, from some unforeseen difficulty, some unlooked-for contingency, which serves but co show the imperfection of the individual himself, or the unavoidable difficulties and disappointments that attend all human plans and calculations. But, do you think, can God encounter these? Do you think, can God's plans be changed? Can unforeseen contingencies arise to make Him vary from the course laid down in the plans of His Omniscient wis10 L46 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. dom? Can He be disappointed or deceived in any quarter from which the living stones in the mighty fabric of His spiritual temple are to be collected? Nay, when He gives His command to His angels to gather the elect from the four quarters, from every kingdom and nation and tongue and people,-and to bring them together to Himself-and when He beholds the finished structure of His glorious Church, and sees " the top stone brought forth with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it," Zech. iv. 7-there shall not be a single individual-not a single saint in glory in the building that was not marked in the counsels of the eternal God, and his very position allotted in the Church, in which Jehovah sees him. Eternal resurrection life and glory are given-received-embodied into being in the word " HATH." The architect will point out in his plan to his employers-" There is the aisle-there the navethere the chancel-there the tower," &c.-he calls these things of his ideas and intentions as if they were real existences, but their only being is in his own conception, they may perhaps never have any other. But Omniscience and Omnipotence give present existence to the future. In the fiat of His eternal word, He " calleth the things that are not as though they were." It is the province of faith to embody the existences of her Maker's word, and therefore, " Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Heb. xi. 1. Therefore they are " RAISED UP TOGETHER AND MADE TO SIT TOGETHER IN HEAVENLY PLACES IN CHRIST JESUS."-These are the privileges of the believer-they are written in the word of his God. And now, brethren, what shall we say to these things? these glorious present blessings of the Church of Christ? Surely we may say with the Apostle to the Romans, xii. 1, " I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, and acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." Surely we may say with St. Peter, 2 Pet. iii. 14,' Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot and blameless." The Church of Rome is very right in her marks of the church, — Catholicity, unity, apostolicity, sanctity. Very true they are all marks of the church, they are marks of the church of Christ,not indeed of the church of Rome, no, nor of the church of England. You will see men contending about the term Catholic, as if its real sense a.nd meaning is not that in which it is to be applied to the whole church of Christ through all the world. That is the Catholic Church;-and so it has that mark of Catholicity,all believers in Jesus that have been, are, or shall be, through the whole length and breadth of the globe, yea, " the whole family in heaven and earth" are all in Christ, and are all one in Christ. And so they have the mark of Unity. Recollect that blessed testimony that was given to His Church by the Lord Jesus Himself, in that wondrous prayer He offers up, commencing, as it were, His glorious mediatorial office on earth,-St. John's Gospel, LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 147 xvii.-9, 1" I pray for them," (that is for His disciples,) "I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine." Now, O believer, look at the glorious testimony in the 20th verse, " Neither pray Ifor these alone," (His disciples were then around Him,) " but for them also which shall believe oin me through their word, that they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in me and I in thee, that they also may be one in us." So that glorious unity of hidden life exists in all the members of His Church, and shall be manifested, when all who have believed on His name, shall be gathered together a; His coning in His glory. So you may see too the Apostolicity of the Church. Our Lord saith, "for them also which shall believe on me through their word," those who shall believe the testimony of the Apostles, therefore, those whose principles and doctrines will stand the test of God's eternal Word, and therefore, who are one with Christ Jesus, their Lord, "built on the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ, Himself, being the chief corner stone.'? Eph. ii. 20. So is the Sanctity of the Church-they are sanctified in Christ Jesus, and so, though holiness is no part of their hope; for Christ is all their hope, it is an inseparable part of their character, an inseparable test of their fidelity; and therefore, though no man can be saved by his works, the Scripture tells us that all men can be;udged by their works, because it is thus, and only thus, that the sincerity of the disciples of Christ can really be known. If we be servants of our blessed Master, we cannot be serving another master, " no man can serve two masters; for, either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and Mammon." Mat. vi. 24. Let us then deeply consider these things. It is difficult in lecturing through these consecutive portions of the Scripture, not to leave each portion more or less incomplete, because in its full meaning it stands so connected with its context; but still it is, I believe, the most profitable mode of instructing from the sacred Scriptures. It calls all who hear, to study the portion of God's blessed Word, which is under consideration, to bring what we say, always to that standard of truth. Recollect you are not to be judged by the sermons or the ministry of your pastors, you are to be judged by the Word of God, itself, which it is their province to teach you. " The word," says Christ, "that I have spoken, the same shall judge you at the last day." John xii. 48.-" To the law and to the testimony, if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." Isa. viii.-20. And if we speak according to that Word of truth, —woe be to those who neglect our word, not because it is ours, but because it is according to the Word of the living God. The Lord write His truth in our hearts, and sanctify it to our souls, for His great Name's sake.-Amen. THIRTEENTH LECTURE. ErPESIANS II.-7. " That in the ages to come, he might show the exceeding riches of his grace, in his kindness towards us through Christ Jesus." WE are now to consider more fully the effects of man's salvalion, as set forth in this passage. In part we have seen them to consist in this, the raising man from the death of sin, its curse and condemnation, and the exalting him to be an inheritor of the kingdom of Christ, —-God, who is rich in mercy,for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace are ye saved,) and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." Another result we see is to follow —namely, the manifestation of the glorious attributes of God, and the exceeding riches of his grace, " THAT IN THE AGES TO COME, HE MIGHT SHOW THE EX. CEEDING RICHES OF HIS GRACE, IN HIS KINDNESS TOWARDS VUS THROUGH CHRIST JESUS' I shall not apologize for adverting again to the first of these subjects briefly to-day; for, if we be indeed the children of God, it ought to be the theme of our continual consideration,-as it must be, it alone can be the joy and consolation of our hearts. I. Recollect, then,that the state of a believer, is a state of present pardon and acceptance with his God. Remember that. It is not a contingent future forgiveness, as most persons, yea, as all unenlightened sinners believe it to be. It is not, I say, a future forgiveness, contingent upon their own present morality and virtue, -this is not the salvation of Christ-but present pardon, present forgiveness, proclaimed to them through the blood of their Redeemer, in the everlasting Gospel, and ratified on the authority of the eternal God Himself; therefore, their state, being a state of present forgiveness, is a state of present exaltation to the kingdom of Christ,-I say, of present exaltation. Though the believer is on this earth, living in this world, a poor, helpless sinner, yet, in the covenant counsels of his God, as a believer in the Lord Jesus, Christ, he is raised up with his Heavenly Head, and as a member of Christ, he is exalted to the right hand of God, so that the glorified members of the human body of Christ are not more exalted with Christ at the right hand of God than the members of His mystical body, that is, all the members of the Church of Christ Jesus are raised up in covenant, and made to sit together- in heavenly places LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 149 in Christ Jesus their Lord. Consider one or two passages on this subject. In Acts, xxvi. 18, you see the commission which the Lord gave to the Apostle Paul, speaking of His sending him to the Gentiles, He says, "unzto whom. now I send thee, to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and front the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me." You perceive here what they were to receive. Now compare this with the testimony of the Holy Ghost as to the state of those who received the Gospel. In chapter i. 3, of this Epistle, we see the fact, " Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ,"-hath done so.-Compare this again with Colossians i. 12, 13, " Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath iande us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light; who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son."-Now observe, "hath made us meet,"-" hath delivered us from the power of darkness,"-" hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son." This is the actual state of all who truly believe the Gospel -the actual position in which they should consider themselves to be. Look again to 1 Pet. i. 3, 4, 5, he says, speaking of the state of believers, " Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which, according to his abundant mercy, hath begotten as again unto a lively hope, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and thatfadeth not away," (there is their inheritance,) "reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God througzh faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time." Now, this inheritance is reserved for them, and they are kept for it. Then it is to be revealed. It is as secure now as when it shall be revealed. So in St. John's 1st Epistle, iii. 1, you see the same truth set forth, " Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not." Ah, brethren, these truths are above the comprehension of the unregenerate world, " the world knoweth us not because it knew him not."-Consider these facts, verse 2, "Beloved, now are we the sons of God." If Jesus is indeed our refuge, then, beloved, we are, and must be the sons of God; for "whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ, is born of God." 1 John v. 1. " Ye are all the children of God byfaith in Jesus Christ.""-Gal. iii. 26. But it doth not yet appear what we shall be."-that is not yet known-" but we know, that when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see himz as he is." When He shall be revealed, then His redeemed church shall burst from the earth in light and glory, and in the likeness of their blessed Master, having their vile bodies "fashioned like unto his glorious body." Phil. iii. 21, they ~" shall meet their Lord in the air, and so shall 150 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. they be ever with the Lord." 1 Thess. iv. 17. So, in the last verses of this same chapter, which we are now considering, tile Apostle, having told them to remember what their former condition had been, compares it with their present state, and says, verses 19 and 20, " Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God, and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone." You see, therefore, this is the effect of a sinner being brought to Jesus, this is the immediate result of a sinner embracing the glorious Gospel of Christ. But this is an exhaustless subject; for it is a subject that is to be expanded into infinity and prolonged to eternity. Oh, that it may be so with each of us! II. But we come now to consider another effect of salvation, not merely individually, but collectively, as embracing the salvation of this whole church of Christ, which is the passage before us to-day. Observe, how directly and consequentially it depends on that which precedes it,-" he hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.-THAT IN THE AGES TO COME, HE MIGHT SHOW THE EXCEEDING RICHES OF HIS GRACE, IN I-IS KINDNESS TOWARDS US THROUGICHRIST JESUS." The highest privilege, the first duty, the noblest exercise of the faculties of a moral being as such, is the setting forth of moral excellence, the manifestation of moral virtue. Hence, the glory of angels is their holiness-that which becometh the house of God forever, is holiness. This is clear, most especially in all situations of authority, from the father and master of a family to the ruler and governor of nations, in which not only their own individual existence is concerned, but also the relative position which they hold to all that are placed under them. But to do this man cannot set forth, or set up himself. If he does, it is ignorance, it is pride, it is selfishness and falsehood. All the faculties, all the powers of a moral agent, to be' exercised as they ought, must be exercised in manifesting, in holding forth the power and glory of the Creator. The perfection of man as a moral agent, would be the observance of the holy law of God. In this, the perfection of Jesus, " of God manifested in the flesh," consisted. The perfection of Jesus was in doing the will of His Father,-" my meat," said He, " is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work-. So it must be in all created intelligences, men or angels,the will of their Creator is the highest summit of perfection. To set themselves up or to set forth themselves is to forget their God. I must then take occasion here to remark on the objection, the infidel objection that I have heard made against the Scriptures, against such passages of the Scripture as this, in which God sets forth His own glory as the great end of His dealings with man., They say" Surely, if man was to set forth himself as the end and scope of his actions would we not call him sinful and selfish and proud in LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 151 setting himself up. It is in consideration of others that men should show forth moral excellence. Therefore is it not attributing to God that which we admit to be moral evil in man, to make his own glory the end and scope of his government?" This is like all the other objections against God's word. It only shows the blindness, the corruption, the ignorance of the unconverted, proud, natural heart of man;-stupid, contemptible, worthless, the moment it is put into the balance of the sanctuary. Why is self-exaltation criminal in man? What is the reason why he ought not to set himself up as the end or scope of his actions? Because the standard of perfection is Jehovah, therefore, he rejects that standard, if he does not aim at it,-if he aims at anything lower. But the infinite perfection of God's moral government as it really consists in the exercise, so it can only be exhibited in the display of His own glorious attributes.-I say, the perfection of His government can only consist in this, in the exercise and in the manifestation of His own individual glory. Why? Because He can have no higher standard of perfection than Himself, unless there is something above God. He can have nothing less than Himself, He cannot descend from the Creator to the creature; for that would be to descend from the standard of perfection to imperfection, from the standard of the glory of the Creator to the insignificance of the thing created. Therefore that men or angels should make themselves the end or scope of their actions is sin. But that God should make Himself the end and scope of His actions is the necessary result of His perfection, as the holy God. It could not be otherwise, —not to do so, would be, that He must cease to be God,-it were to abdicate His throne-to take Llp imperfection instead of perfection, as the standard of His moral excellence and moral glory. Hence, all the Scripture testimonies on the subject of the manifestation of God's glory, in all His dispensations and all His dealings with man. Hence, the salvation of His people should be the glorious manifestation of the glory of His grace; and hence, the very existence of sin, the wickedness of man, the rage and malice of the devil, shall redound at last to the glorious manifestation of the attributes of Jehovah,-His justice, His power and His mercy, -the power of His justice in judgment, and the power of His mercy in salvation. So you must see-you must acknowledge it, unless you are blind, in all the history of the Scripture. The overwhelming of a rebellious world by the flood, was as great a manifestation of the glorious attribute of God's righteous judgment and justice, as the saving of Noah and his family in the ark, was of His grace and mercy. The gaping of the earth, and the swallowing up of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, was the righteous manifestation of Jehovah's character, as much as the sanctification of Aaron to the priesthood-the miraculous budding of his rod-and the setting up the sacrifices for sin,-the types of that blood of " the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world." 152 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. The fire of Sodom manifested the glory of God's righteous judgment, as much as the deliverance of Lot exhibited His mercy. And the sentence of the last day, when " the secrets of all hearts shall be disclosed," in the day of the righteous revelation of the holy judgments of the mighty God,-the sentence against those upon his left hand, " depart ye cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels', Matt xxv. 41, shall redound to the righteous justice of the eternal God, as much as the glorious manifestation of His love to those on His right, " where mercy and truth meet together, where righteousness and peace have kissed each other," " Come, ye blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world," Mat. xxv. 34. Yea, " the weeping and gnashing of teeth" of the damned shall glorify the righteous judgment of Jehovah, as much as the song of the redeemed. Oh think of this. Remember what it shall be, when instead of man being everything and God nothing, "the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low, and God alone shall be exalted in that day." Isa. ii. 17. 4 Oh, consider this, ye that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver you." Ps. 1. 22. But our attention in the passage which I have read is directed to the glory of God's grace in the ages to come, in the redemption, the salvation, the exaltation, of His Church, —"THAT IN THE AGES TO COME, HE MIGHT SHOW THE EXCEEDING RICHES OF HIS GRACE, IN HIS KINDNESS TOWARDS US THROUGH CHRIST JESUS." DO you ask the meaning of this —-do you ask, how is this manifested? —how is the "exceeding riches of God's grace" shown " in his kindness towards us through Christ Jesus?" I will endeavor to explain it and to teach you how it is to be shown even in this very congregation. I will divide you this day —not by persons, for that is not man's province, but by principles, of which I must leave the application to each person's own conscience. I will divide you, as you are divided in fact and truth, if there be, as there are, alas, too many here, who are not servants of God,-and that is, I will divide you into unconverted sinners, and the people of God. You are divided, you must be, into these two classes. There is not a sinner here, or a sinner in all the earth this day, who does not belong to one or the other. You must be an unconverted sinner, or you must be a sinner that is "brought to the Lord Jesus Christ, and made a servant of God. I will show you how the riches of God's grace is manifested,how, in the ages to come, the exceeding riches of His grace shall be manifested towards you in Christ Jesus,-and I hope and trust in His blessed name, that it shall be manifested this day to the ungodly, unregenerate heart and conscience of every unconverted sinner that is here. For example,-I care not who or what you'are-I suppose you to be some wretched, guilty creature, whom all your neighbors know to be a character that ought to be avoided,-there are such people who come into church frequently. LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 153 There maly be here some this day of whom those who know you say" Ah, til at is a rogue, that is a thief, there is no dependence tc be placed on that man." Or agai -- " Look at that poor wretch, that miserable drunkard, he cannot. keep himself sober a moment, he has plunged himself and his fa alily into ruin." " There is a Sabbath-breaker,-what could have brought him te church to day?-I never saw him in church before, what could have led him here?-he spends his Sabbaths in idleness and wickedness." Again " There is a liar, you cannot depend on one word that comes out of his lips,-he speaks truth and lies, alike with the same facility." " ThPere is a wretch that is a blasphemer, cursing and swearing from morning to night." " There, there is one whose hands are stained with blood-that man ought to have been hanged for murder." Again,-" Ah! there is a woman who is a reproach to modesty, and to her sex-one whom we must shun as a pestilence, whose very touch is contagion." Perhaps there are some such here of various grades and shades of guilt to-day,-and some perhaps who have never been detected, but whose conscience echoes the charge from the pulpit in the ear of God. Such, I say, may be here to-day, stained even with blood, -yea, if your hands are not, the hearts of many of you are, because it is written, "whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer." 1st John, iii. 15. And there are murderers in this and in every congregation, those of wicked passions, who hate, or who have often hated their brother. tow then are the riches of the grace of God to be manifested here? It is our commission to proclaim, in His blessed name, salvation to every creature-to proclaim mercy to the very chief of sinners, and the exceeding riches of His grace are manifested in the magnitude of the guilt he pardons, and the mercy He extends to those who are ready to perish. But there is another, and perhaps a more common character,a white-washed Pharisee! A man who presents a fair exterior, of whom his neighbors say, and as far as man sees, justly say, "that is an upright, moral, worthy, decent, respectable man." But God is not in your heart, and God is not in your house,-His Holy Word is not opened in your family, you do not kneel down with them, and seek His pardoning grace and mercy on your souls,you do not, in your own closet, kneel down and call upon God to wash away your guilt in the blood of the Lamb-you value not the fountain opened for sin and uncleanness-you think you have but little sin to pardon-your pride is, that you are not as other men. " God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers,"-this is your consolation, and this is the hope of your salvation, when you look at such characters as I 154 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. have been describing, to comfort yourself with the thought-" l am not such a character."-Alas, if this be so, you are but a whited sepulchre. God looks through the whitewashing-the varnish of the exterior, and He sees within, the heart of His own description, the corrupt, unwashed, guilty, rebellious heart,-the heart, " deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked." Jer. xvii. 9.-1 The carnal mind is enmity against God." Rom. viii. 7. But now, I care not what you are-in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I proclaim to you this day, free and full forgiveness. Oh thou poor, black, and guilty sinner, who would be afraid that your fellow-sinners would look at a single movement of your heart, -Remember God sees you, remember He sees every depth of sin and every winding of deceit,-but God sends you pardon in His everlasting word,-this day he commands you to " repent, and to believe the Gospel." Mark i. 15. He proclaims mercy and forgiveness in your ears,-"Go ye," He says to His ministers, "go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature," Mark, xvi. 15-the good news of salvation. Whatever be your character, or whatever the cause why you came into this Church -whether to build up a Babel of your own righteousness-to go through an accustomed form-to salve your conscience by the discharge of a duty-to trifle away an hour of an idle Sabbath, yea, even to hear and scoff-Yet, look unto Christ, and be ye saved, " He came into the world to save sinners," 1st Tim. i. 15. Think of the words of that sacred Hymn which you repeat so often in our Liturgy, " When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death, thou didst open the kingdom of heaven to all believers." Oh, it is true-it is true-hear it —believe it, and " Let fools who came to scoff. remain to pray." I went, last week, to see an old friend of mine, who had been a member of this congregation. He is dying, and he told me, " Oh) sir, I remember when you preached on a text, to illustrate these words,' When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death, thou didst open the kingdom of heaven to all believers,'-my heart rejoiced to see such pardon, grace and mercy in Christ Jesus my Lord." Well-your hearts may rejoice this day, for you are, like him, sinners, and Christ is the same Almighty Saviour. And is not this "THE EXCEEDING RICHES OF HIS GRACE? and if the Lord quickens you who are " dead in trespasses and sins,""-leads your souls to know and rejoice in his pardoning mercy to-day-if you are enabled, instead of coming here next Sunday, a poor, blind, profligate rebellious enemy of God-or a proud self-righteous Pharisee,-if you are enabled to come, as a believer in Jesus —a reconciled child of God-longing to hear the word of Christ-kneeling down in faith and hope, in truth and love, to call upon your God-not going through the service in mere mockery and form-but worshiping "in spirit and in truth" that God who " seeketh such to worship Him"-if He leads you, LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 155 who have hitherto been serving the world, the flesh, and the devil, to serve and glorify your God-will not that manifest "THE EXCEEDING RICHES OF HIS GRACE, IN HIS KINDNESS TOWARDS YOU THROUGH CHRIST JESUS." Will it not be " to the praise of the glory of His grace" in time and eternity. Oh, think of this, and may the Lord send this message of mercy and salvation to your hearts, to-day, my friends and fellow-sinners! for this is the good news of the Gospel-it is the same alike to all, that which is for you, is for me, we are all by nature vile, rebellious sinners,-if God should enter into judgment with us, we must all perish. Oh, then, " to-day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts." a To-day, while it is called to-day," Heb. iii. 7, 8, 15, "look unto ne," saith He, " and be ye saved." Is. xlv. 22. Believer, you know something of this, but, alas! we know but very little of it, as we ought to know. But are you at a loss to understand-are you at a loss to know, how God manifests the riches of His grace, in His kindness towards you? Were you not such as we have described, once living without God in the world? Do you not remember what you were? Do you not remember your guilt-your enmity against God? Do you not remember when you hated, or at least totally neglected His word? When you never prayed in spirit and truth? —when you turned a deaf ear to the Gospel?-when you disregarded it, and cast it from you? Who remembered you in your low estate?-who found you an outcast in the wilderness? Who "passed by you, and said unto you, live?" Ezek. xvi. 6. Who, "for his great love wherewith he loved you, even when you were dead in sins, hath quickened you together with Christ"? Ch. ii. 5,-Who " sent his word and healed you, and delivered you frown your destructions?" Ps. cvii. 20. Who brought His word to your heart, and led you to see Jesus as your refuge, and gave you hope and peace in His salvation? And then-when you look back, and think of what you have been since-your innumerable provocations how you have tempted Him to withdraw His grace from you, and yet, up to this hour, how His patience has borne with you!-How often you have turned back in your heart " to the flesh pots of Egypt!"-how often you have cherished in your soul, instead of detesting, the very thought of sin-and yet, the long-suffering of.your God has not cast you off! Oh! how great has been his mercy to you! How many your backslidings, your innumerable sins!-Perhaps the world has seen them,-perhaps they are only known to God and your own conscience!-but, Oh! how often have you fallen, and He has lifted you up! —watched over you-not left you to yourself-not allowed you to depart from Him-followed you with His grace, His mercy, His providenceshedged up your way with thorns-visited you with stripes, to chastise-to reprove-to correct-to humble you, to bring you back-sending a messenger to you, like Nathan-bringing His word to your soul in a thousand different ways,-and here you are to-day, a monument of grace!-and in the ages to come, when 156 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. it is all known,-Oh! how shall every dealing of his wisdom, providence, and love display "THE EXCEEDING RICHES OF HIS GRACE, IN HIS KINDNESS TOWARDS YOU THROUGH CHRIST JESUS." When "we know even as we are known." 1st Cor. xiii. 12. Whien we see the precipices on which we have been standingthe pit-falls from which he has rescued us-the ruin into which we would have rushed, if God had left us to ourselves-if He had not taken us, and dragged us back-and held us in His mighty hand-and not allowed Satan to pluck us out of it!-Oh, dear brethren in Christ, if there can be a contest in eternity, it must be, which of us should sing in the loudest strain, " Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen." Rev. i. 5, 6. Well then, may we understand in some degree, yea, I know you feel something-when I speak to you of the blessed hopes and prospects of His servants, and of that love which has opened them to your ears-something of the meaning of these words, "THAT IN THE AGES TO COME, HE MIGHT SHOW THE EXCEEDING RICHES OF HIS GRACE, IN HIS KINDNESS TOWARDS US THROUGH CHRIST JESUS." To Him be praise and glory forever and ever. Amen. FOURTEENTH LECTURE. EPHIESIANS II.-8, 9. "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." WE have seen, that one of the effects of the salvation of the Lord's Church, is the manifestation of the glorious attributes of Jehovah Himself, in the exceeding riches of His grace,-as we had in verse 7, " that in the ages to come, he imight show the exceeding riches of his grace, in his kindness towards us through Christ Jesus." The Apostle seems to introduce the 8th and 9th verses, as an emphatic repetition, a fuller explanation of the momentous truth which he had inserted parenthetically in the 5th verse, " by grace are ye saved." He had said "But God who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace are ye.saved,") and here again he evidently introduces it, for the purpose of reminding them again of the important lesson, which is necessary to be so continually impressed on the heart of the sinner, LECTURES,ON THE EPHESIANS. 157 viz., that the whole of man's salvation from first tc last is to redound, not to his own glory, but to the glory of his God, as you observe by the word "for."-" That in the ages to come, he might shoio the exceeding riches of his grace, in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus,-FOR,-BY GRACE ARE YE SAVED THROUGH FAITH,"-he shows the exceeding riches of his grace, FoR-by grace alone are ye saved. It is indeed necessary to have this truth perpetually reiterated to man; for it is a truth of which, though the heart, in its constant sense of its own want and sin, has continually need, yet the believer is as continually prone to turn from it. Therefore, you may perceive, how frequently it has been introduced, even in this short portion of the epistle we have read,-as for instance, in verse 2 chapter i. The Apostle uses the term as he always does in his benedictory salutation, " GRACE be to you, and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ," and he repeats the word in verse 6, " to the praise of the glory of his GRACE," wherein "he hath emade us accepted in the beloved," and in the 7th verse, in whom we e have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his GRACE,' and then in verse 5th of this chapter, as I have already remarked, "by GRACE are ye saved,"'and in verse 7, "that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his GRACE," and in the verse now before us, " BY GRACE ARE YE SAVED THROUGH FAITH.Now, when we meet a truth repeated again and again in God's vword, we are not to pass over it lightly, and say, "This is the same truth we met in the other verse, we have spoken of this before."-No-God repeats truths in his holy word that we may continually reconsider them, that we may again, and again, and again, and again pray for His Spirit to apply them to our hearts. When we preach-at least for my own part, I can say, that when I come to preach or lecture on these great truths to any of my fellow-sinners, I feel I have need when I have set them forth to others, to preach and lecture upon them again, as it were to myself, that the same truths may be impressed upon my own heart, that I have endeavored to impress on others, which, however we mnay know them as abstract truths, we are continually ready to forget, if God whose grace teaches them to us, and keeps us, would allow it. So the Apostle exhorts in the 2nd chap. of Hebrews, verse I, a Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip." If one of the members of our body is fractured, or dislocated, or distorted, it can be set and bandaged up and bound to some support, to keep it in its natural and right position. But Oh! what human force-what power-what skill-what instruments can we find to bind up and heal those dislocated, disjointed, and distorted thoughts and hearts of ours! If we are attracted for a mo ment to the holy word of God, and if our attention seems fixed for 158 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. a time to the standard of truth and sober wisdom, alas! the next moment we fly off again, like a wandering bird. " The wicked," saith the Prophet, " are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mn'e and dirt." Isa. lvii. 20,-and we often feel our hearts fluctuating, like the waves of the troubled sea, which, though, as you heard this day, at the moment when the voice of Jesus spake, they were hushed and stilled into a calm, yet were again lashed and convulsed by the very next storm that swept over them, or ruffled and disturbed by the next breeze that passed across their surface. So it is with the heart of sinful man. So do we require the continual impress, the continual acting of the word of God, the grace, the power of the Spirit to move over the face of the waters,-so must we have " line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, and there a little." Isa. xxviii. 10, — that we be not " carried about with every wind of doctrine," Eph. iv. 14-and turned from the truth of God to fables. Therefore, may the great God bless us and teach us by His Spirit, and by His holy word, while we consider it this day and at all times. The Lord tells us in these words, expressly by the Apostle, HOW WE ARE SAVED, " BY GRACE ARE YE SAVED, THROUGH FAITH, AND THAT NOT OF YOURSELVES, IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD, — AND HOW WE ARE NOT SAVED, " NOT OF WORKS, LEST ANY MAN SHOULD BOAST." We are saved by grace through faith; and we are not saved by works. Grace is taken in various senses in the word of God,-Tsometimes in a very limited, and sometimes in an enlarged sense. It appears to me in this passage to be taken in its most comprehensive sense, embracing within its meaning all that is implied in its application to the salvation of man in the Scripture. Grace is sometimes put to signify the everlasting love of God to His people. As for instance, 2d Timothy, i. 9, " who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,"-and you have nearly the same sense of it in this Epistle, i. 5, 6, " having predestinated us to the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved." Sometimes, it signifies the effectual calling of the sinner, by the operation of the Spirit of God, quickening his soul, as we have it in this chapter, verse 5, " even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace are ye saved"). Sometimes, grace signifies abounding mercy, as in Rom. v. 20, 21, " where sin abounded, grace did much more abound, that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life, by Jesus Christ our Lord." So you have the same idea expressed, though the same word is not used, in Isa xl. 1, " Comfort ye, comfort ye, my LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 159 people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned; for she hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins." Superabounding grace for aboundintg sin. Sometimes, it is taken for the free and full pardon of sin, as in Romans iii. 24, " being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,"-and that was the view taken of it in our last Lecture, in setting forth the riches of God's grace, as proclaiming pardon to ungodly sinners, and the continual exercise of love and mercy to His redeemed people. Sometimes, it means the being in a state of pardon and acceptance with God, as for instance, in Romans v. 2,-" by whom also we have access byfaith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God," and you have the same idea in Romans vi. 14, " you are not under the law, but under grace," -under a covenant of grace, —in a state of gracious acceptance through the goodness of God. Sometimes, it signifies the final salvation of the Lord's people, as in 1st Pet. i. 13, " be sober, and hope to the end, for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." Now here I conceive it comprehends all these things, all the blessings of the grace which brings salvation to the sinner's soul. " BY GRACE ARE YE SAVED THROUGH FAITH, AND THAT NOT OF YOURSELVES, IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD," froml first to last-from beginning to end-from the grace that called you to the grace that shall open the folding doors of eternal glory to your view. " BY GRACE ARE YE SAVED THROUGH FAITH." It is important to attend to this, it is necessary to put faith into its right place, it is indispensable to have the judgment, the understanding clear upon this subject, for I know of no subject on which the minds of believers are more frequently in error, perplexed and harassed than on this. They are not saved by works, they say, but they are saved by faith. But, when they find their faith weak, when they find doubts and darkness arise in their minds, then their hope of salvation is gone,-they are all agitated, " Oh we are saved by faith, but I do not believe-I feel I have no faith." Now, it is of the greatest importance rightly to understand this, " BY GRACE ARE YE SAVED THROUGH1 FAITH." Faith no more saves you than works, considered in itself. It is no more the act of your mind in believing, or it is no more your strongest confidence that saves you, than it is your works. Faith is the channel through which salvation is given to you. Your salvation is Christ,-the glorious grace of God in giving Christ; Christ's righteousness, the gift of grace,-Christ's blood, the gift of grace,-Christ's glorious sacrifice, His finished salvation, the gift of grace,-all, is the grace of God, all, the manifes'ation of the riches, " the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus." Faith is merely, as it were, the vessel by which this salvation is given to you. If man rejects it and casts 160 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. it off, of course he must perish, if a man receives it and embraces it, all the blessings of it are his, -but, remember, the blessings are all in Christ, and not in his faith. Faith receives and embraces the blessing, but is not the blessing itself,-because, salvation is in Christ, and not in faith. It is the medicine that heals the body, and not the cup in which that medicine is conveyed. If a medicine is administered to you in a vessel of gold, silver, china, delpb, or glass,-yea, though the vessel be not only fragile, but cracked, or partly broken,-it matters not, it is the medicine and not the vessel, that conveys healing to your body. And it is the balm oi Christ's blood, it is the salvation of the Lord Jesus Christ, by which your soul is saved, though the faith may be very weak by which you receive Him-"' BY GRACE ARE YE SAVED THROUGH FAITH.' An illustration, perhaps, will convey more clearly to your minds. that the important difference lies not between a weak and a strong faith, but between a true and a false one. Let me suppose two shipwrecked mariners, swimming from the waves to a bank of sand, one very confident,-the other, trembling with fear. They reach the bank of sand, but it is a quicksand, and both are engulphed. Why? All the spirit, the courage, and confidence of:he one could not save him, because the ground on which he trod sLunk under his feet,-the other perishes, not by his fears or appreaensions, but because the ground on which he stood sunk beneath htim too. So it is with sinners. It is not the strength or weeakness of their faith, but it is the truth of their faith, that is, the truth of the object in which they believe. It is not the strength or confidence with which one believes, or the weakness with which another believes,-but it is this,-that the thing which we believe is God's eternal truth. So if two men believe a lie as the hope of their soul,-one going on with the utmost possible confidence, and the other, trembling and fearing,-they shall both perish in the lie they have believed; for they have not "fled for refuge to lay hold on the hope set before them^," Heb. vi. 18, but they have fled to a refuge of lies. Let me speak affectionately, and entreat their attention, if I address any of my Roman Catholic friends and neighbors to-day. No doubt there are very different degrees of confidence with which you may believe, that the sacrifice of your Mass is a propitiatory offering that satisfies God for your sins, or that your priest can forgive you. So there are different degrees of confidence, with which many ignorant Protestants may believe, that the Sacrament will be an atonement for their sins, and make their peace on their deathbed, or that their minister can do something for their souls. But it is no matter, whether men believe in such things with confidence or whether they believe in them with trembling doubt and apprehension, they shall perish in their iniquity, if they rest upon such refuges of lies, for there is no offering in either the Mass or the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper nor in anything in earth cr heaven for the sinner to save his soul, but the blood of our crucified Redeemer. LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 161 Now let me again illustrate true faith. Two shipwrecked mariners buffet their way from the wreck to a rock,-one is confident and joyous-the other trembling and fearing, lest the waves should overwhelm him and sweep him again into the bosom of the deep; -but the rock is inaccessible to the waves, and both are equally secure. Why? It is not the courage or confidence of the one that saves him, but because he is on a rock. All the doubts and fears of the other cannot overwhelm him. Why? Because notwithstanding all his doubts and fears, he is on a rock.-So when sinners have indeed "fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before them," when they have indeed fled to Jesus,-the Rock, the Fortress of their salvation, whether they believe with joyous, lightsome heart, with full assurance of faith, or whether they are, as many are, doubting, trembling, fearing in the weakness and unbelief of their own hearts,-still they are both equally secure;-for both are resting upon the "Rock of ages,"-Jesus is the Hope, Jesus is the Rock, Jesus is the Salvation of them both. Wherefore the babe in Christ is as safe as the father in Christthe weakest believer is as safe as the strongest,-because it is not their faith, but Christ that saves them-it is not by faith you are saved through grace, but " BY GRACE ARE YOU SAVED, THROUGH FAITH?I" Grace is that which gives salvation, and therefore, that may "be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might," Eph. vi. 10, "strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus." 2nd Tim. ii. 1. This may seem to some of you not very important,-but if you are distressed and agitated with doubts and fears, as certainly some, perhaps many of you who believe the Gospel are,-you will see, what a blessing it is for a sinner to be taught to look out of himself, and how blessed it is for him to see, that all his salvation is in Christ Jesus his Lord. Oh, how hard it is, when persons have taken up a false system, and have not been rightly instructed in God's truth, to drive these vain fancies out of their minds! How often have I seen the servants of God doubting and trembling, and writing bitter things against themselves, even on the bed of death, because, instead of looking to Jesus as their all, they were looking into themselves for confidence, and expecting comfort and courage from the strength of their faith, instead of from Christ, the strength of their salvation. Remember this. You who are strong in the faith of Christ Jesus,-you who are resting with joyous confidence on your Lord, —beware-we are in an enemy's land, and always in danger. " Let himn that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall." 1 Cor. x. 12. We are often encouraged when faith is strong, to look away from Christ to ourselves, to transfer our confidence from Jesus to our faith. Beware, lest the confidence of faith should degenerate into confidence in faith. Remember David-" In my prosperity I said, I shall never be noved, Lord, by thy favor thou hast made my mountain to stand strong." What are the next words? " Thou didst hide thy face, and I was trouble." Psalm xxx. 6, 7. Oh, brethren, 11 162 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. watch and pray." If you are strong in the faith that is in Christ Jesus, pray that the Lord may keep you strong, keep you humble, and keep you lowly. Remember, the Apostle says, " when I am weak then I am strong." Strong faith is often a very hard tried faith. Recollect strong faith ought to be victorious faith. " This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." 1 John v. 14. If your faith is strong, you may be called upon to put it into exercise against a storm of corruption and sin within, or such power of temptation without, that it may make you tremble, and ask yourselves, "Is it possible I can be a believer?" I repeat then-" Watch and pray." Mat. xxvi. 41. And those of you who are weak in the faith that is in Christ Jesus, — trembling and doubting,-if indeed you are looking unto Him, take courage. Look out of your faith. It is not your faith,-it is Jesus that saves you. It is not the strength of your own confidence, it is the strength of Him in whom you confide. Think of this. —Lift up your hearts. Remember that Jesus is the same to the weakest as to the strongest. The Rock is the same to the man that trembles on it, as to the man who stands with the stoutest heart upon it. Jesus is the same to both. 0 weak believer! lift up your hands that hang down,-you may be " walking in darkness, and have no light,"-but he that does so,-" let him trust in the Lord, and stay himself upon his God," Isa. 1. 10 -upon " his God" when he is weak as well as when he is strong, -" his God," in darknessas well as in light, —' his God," in doubts as well as in confidence,-" his God" in difficulty as well as in the easy course of prosperity. Therefore, " Lift up the hands that harng down, and the feeble knees." Heb. xii. 12. Let the weak take courage,-let the strong " watch and pray." Remember the character of your Shepherd-remember what is said, " he gathereth the lambs in his arms, and carrieth them in his bosom, and gently leadeth those that are with young." Isa. xl. 11. The strong walk firmly and boldly on,-he gathereth the weak ones in His arms,-He gently leadeth those that are weary and heavy laden with burdens of anxious doubts and fears-" I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now," He saith, John xvi. 12. You then that are weak and weary, heavyladen, burthened with a sense of your sins,-Oh! look out of yourselves to Jesus, cast your burden on Christ, —He is able to sustain it,-He is mighty to bear it. Remember, "underneath are the everlasting arms." Deut. xxxiii. 27. The bearer of your burthen is Omnipotent. What weight of sin or sorrow is too great for Christ to carry? and what burthen ought to be too heavy for us to cast on Him? We cannot bear it, but Jesus can.; BY GRACE ARE YE SAVED, THROUGH FAITH, AND THAT NOT OF YOURSELVES."-Now, the word " that" does not mean either grace or faith. The original does not directly admit of its reference to either, but it means both together, namely, salvation by grace through faith, "BY GRACE ARE YE SAVED, THROUGH FAITH, AND THIAT" (namely your salvation by grace through LECTURES XN THE EPHESIANS. 163 faith) "IS NOT OF YOURSELVES, IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD: NOT OF WORKS, LEST ANY MAN SHOULD BOAST." It is not by your works you are brought into a state of salvation, and it is not by your works you are kept in it, for you can do nothing to save your soul, you are a lost sinner,-you are saved, not by anything you can do, but by the work of Jesus, proclaimed to you in His blessed word, and brought home to your hearts by His mighty Spirit. Some men will go very far indeed in ascribing salvation to a being they call Christ, and to a thing they call Grace, if you will only allow them to have some little share in their own salvation. Only allow, that there is some little credit due to themselves, and they will give to Christ and Grace as much as you please. I repeat it again, they will ascribe salvation to a being they call Christ, and to a thing they call Grace. But they do not really mean Christ or Grace. It is neither the Christ nor the Grace of the Bible that men really call by such names, when they hold such principles in their hearts. This is of the greatest possible importance to consider, because such awful falsehoods are set forth with such ingenuity and sophistry, and come recommended by such names and such authority, that if men are not built upon the " Rock of ages," if their faith is not established on the Word of the living God, they will be led away by the " cunning craftiness" of men who "lie in wait to deceive." I shall read for you a brief specimen of this system of religion to which I advert: " Religious doctrines and articles of faith can only be received, according to certain dispositions of the heart."-That is very true. " These dispositions can only be formed by the repetition of certain actions." This is very false, and mark the false principles engrafted on it. "And therefore, a certain course of action can only dispose us to receive certain doctrines." And here the writer says, " It is curious to observe, how entirely Aristotle's system in this respect coincides with Holy Scripture."' Whether this be the doctrine of Aristotle, it is of no importance to us to investigate; but if it be, the writer of this sentiment is, at least as far as the Pagan author whom he quotes, front either truth or the doctrine of the Bible.-You will perceive how directly the principles here maintained contradict the express testimony of our Lord. This doctrine is-make the fruit good, and you make the tree good. Our Lord's doctrine is, " Make the tree good and his fruit good." Mat. xii. 33. And our Lord expressly testifies,' Every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit; neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit." Mat. vii. 17, 18. Outward actions are not in themselves * Tracts for the Times, as cited by Mr. Goode, in his excellent Tract " The Case as it is," p. 32, 33. 164 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. really good-because they may seem to be so-their goodness depends on the motives and principles of the heart on which they are performed-just as the excellence of the fruit depends not on its outward appearance, but on the taste and flavor when you try it. You may have seen apples that appeared beautiful and tempting to the eye on the tree, but when you tasted them, you found them sour and not fi; to be eaten; so actions on false principles, that are not, as it were, flavored with the motive of love to our blessed Master, are only falsely tinted with the seeming glow of virtue. The application, therefore, of this doctrine is as false as the doctrine itself. The writer says, a For instance charitable works alone will make a man charitable and the more any one does charitable works, the more charitable will he become." " He only will be humble in heart who does humble actions." Mark how directly this transposes the order both of truth and Scripture, as if it were not charity and humility of heart that could alone make men either really charitable or humble; as if men might not "bestow all their goods tofeed the poor, and give their body to be burned," 1 Cor. xiii. 3, without one spark of charity in their heart; or, " make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments," Mat. xxiii. 5, and stand praying in seeming humility at the corners of the streets, with the pride of Satan in the heart-garnish and whitewash the sepulchre without, while nought but death and corruption were festering within. He adds-" He who most of all practises these duties, will be most of all brought by a necessary and moral consequence to embrace the cross of Christ." And by forming men to these actions, there is to be " a preparation of the heart previous to the imparting of the highest knowledge" namely,'the doctrine of the Cross." How miserably ignorant of divine truth is man when not taught by the Word and the Spirit of the living God. How clearly do such doctrines illustrate that the "unlearned and unstable" who i'" wrest the Scriptures to their own destruction," 2 Pet. iii. 16, do not mean those who are not learned in Classics or in Science, in modern literature or Pagan Philosophy, but those who are untaught in the sacred oracles of truth. For these doctrines, I am ashamed to say are put forth from learned men in one of our English Universities, and this system is but another edition of the falsehoods of Rome. But this illustrates the use of scriptural terms in an unscriptural or antiscriptural sense. For this is a system that sets forth a thing that is not grace, and a being that is not Christ! Christ and the cross are not for the good, but for the guilty. " They that are whole need not a Physician, but they that are sick." Mat. ix. 12. This is like prescribing to a man in an hospital —" Get up and make yourself better, and walk about a little, and take exercise, and then you will be fi, to be healed by a Physician." LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 165 This is exactly the same thing. Set men to work, to do some good deeds, in order to make them acquire good habits, and then they will come to the doctrine of the cross by a "moral consequence"! Is this the word of the living God? Is this the salvation of Christ for the lost? Preaching Christ to men who have acquired good habits-preaching the doctrine of the cross to save humble charitable men! Alas! such a system as this can only come from the father of lies. Blessed be God it is written in His word of truth, " This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners," 1 Tim. i. 15-uncharitable sinners, proud sinners, guilty, rebellious, vile sinners, sinners such as are in this and in every congregation. The glorious Gospel of Jesus is, that Christ came into the world to save sinners such as you and me. Oh, that is the blessing of the Gospel! " BY GRACE ARE YE SAVED, THROUGH FAITH, AND THAT NOT OF YOURSELVES, IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD, NOT OF WORKS, LEST ANY MAN SHOULD BOAST.' If such a system as this were true, what would be the consequence'? Why, that man could boast, and must boast. The man who prepares himself by this sort of system, by his charitable works, and humble works, and similar works, to come to Christ, what must that man's song be? what must his principle be? Is it not this? " God, I thank thee, lam not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers," Luke, xviii. I1. "I have done a variety of charitable actions, and so made myself charitable-I have performed a number of humble actions and so made myself humbleand therefore, I have prepared myself to profit by the doctrine of the cross-I have prepared myself for the reception of this'highest knowledge' —this neighbor of mine has not done so,-therefore, " stand by thyself, come not near to me, for lam holier than thou." Such must be their language if they speak as they think. But what saith the Lord? " These are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burneth.all the day." Isaiah lxv. 5. It is impossible to call principles such as these the principles of the Church of England! Naythey subvert the very foundation of truth —they pervert the doctrines, not only of the Bible, but of our holy religion! —they deny the truths, which those martyrs whom the Lord raised up, our blessed reformers, to deliver us from Apostacy and superstition, embodied as the principles of God's holy truth into the articles of our religion, and into the whole framework of our Church, to raise a bulwark in this land, against such false and ignorant corruptions of the blessed Gospel, as this. Hear our Article on this subject,ARTICLE X.-" The condition of man after the fall of Adam is such, that he cannot turn and prepare himself by his own natural strength and good works to faith, and calling upon God." He cannot do so, that is, by doing charitable or humble actions or any such thing as this, he cannot even turn himself to faith and prayer, much less give himself a claim upon God. 166 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. Tile Article proceeds; " Wherefore we have no power to do good works, pleasant and acceptable to God, without the grace of God, by Christ preventing us, that we may have a good will, and working with us, when we have that good will." Grace must go before any actions that the sinner can do, before they can be called good; therefore good actions cannot lead him to faith, but, as we shall see, if we are spared to consider the next verse, faith in Christ leads him to good actions, to serve his God. Again, in Article 13" Works done before the grace of Christ, and the inspiration of his Spirit are not pleasant to God, forasmuch as they spring not of faith in Jesus Christ. Neither do they make men meet to receive grace, or (as the school authors say) deserve grace of congruity." All works that are done before the grace of Christ, are not pleasant to God, because their principle is false and hollow, and when that principle is on the system of making men meritorious, and making them fit to come to Christ, fit recipients of His mercy, making them deserve grace of condignity, or congruity, (as the Popish authors say,) when this is the principle of such works-it is a denial of the Gospel, it is a total subversion of God's holy truth. The Article continues," Yea, rather for that they are not done, as God hath willed and commanded them to be done,-we doubt not but they have the nature of sin." And indeed they need not doubt it; for there is not a shadow of doubt upon the subject. They have, and must have the nature of sin; they do not fulfil the law, and the motive they spring from is false, it cannot be love. The works of a believer, although they do not fulfil the law, and all have in them much to be forgivenyet they are graciously accepted by God, because the man who does them is accepted-the person is accepted, so are his worksand the motive is accepted, because it is love. The sinner whom Christ has washed in His precious blood desires to serve his Lord, because he loves Him-so a cup of cold water given in the name of Christ shall by no means lose its reward. Love —the attractive power that gravitates to the centre of all good-is that which gives weight to acts of obedience. It can cause " two mites which make a farthing" to weigh more than " all the gifts of the treasury,' and " a cup of cold water" more than " thousands of rivers of oil." But the unconverted sinner is dead in sin, and be is dead in law; his person is condemned, so are his works; and all he does, or can do, will but accumulate sin on his head before God, when God shall enter into judgment with him. He must be saved by grace, or he must perish. Herein then comes the glory of the blessed Gospel, —" BY GRACE ARE YE SAVED THROUGH FAITH, AND THAT, NOT OF YOURSELVES, IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD, NOT OF WORKS, LEST ANY MAN SHOULD BOAST.- It proclaims rich salvation to the very chief of sinners, to man in the depths of his guilt, and to man in the depths of his LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 167 proud imaginary virtues, the pride, the self-righteousness of the natural rebellious heart-for the one is as deep an abyss as the other, and both alike are alienated from God. If, then, I say again, a man were to be saved by his works, or if he were to prepare himself for grace by the merit of his own actions, his humility, charity, or anything else, I say, that man must boast over his fellow man, who had not so prepared himself as he has done. " I do not frustrate the grace of God," says the Apostle, Galat. ii. —21, "for if righteousness come by the law,, themn Christ is dead in vain." If righteousness come by anything a sinner can do for himself, that is, by his obedience to the law, then " Christ is dead in vain," so in Romans, xi. 6, "if by grace thene is it no more of works, otheriegace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it is no more grace: otherwi&e work is no maore work." Surely, a man could not possiby be delivered from death, both by the verdict of a jury, pronouncing him innocentand by the sovereign sending him pardon for his guilt. If the jury pronounce him innocent, he does not want a pardon, he is saved from condemnation, because he is not guilty. If the sovereign send him pardon, then he must have been pronounced guilty by the jury, and his only hope depended on the remission of his sentence. So it is, if a man is saved by his own righteousness, he cannot be saved by Christ. Christ has nothing to say to him, he wants not Christ,-he cannot look to Christ,-Christ never came to save those who can save themselves,-there is no salvation proclaimed to righteous men. A righteous man cannot need salvation,-again, I repeat the Scripture, "they that are whole, need not a physician, but they that are sick," "I came," saith Christ,' not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." The salvation of the Lord Jesus Christ, is a salvation for sinners, for us who know and feel that we are sinners. Glorious indeed is the sound of the gospel to us, " BY GRACE ARE YE SAVED THROUGH FAITH, AND THAT NOT OF YOURSELVES, IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD, NOT OF WORKS, LEST ANY MAN SHOULD BOAST.? Such a system as this-salvation by works, by merit, by preparing the sinner to make himself worthy to receive pardon from God, —such a system completely frustrates the grace of Godsubverts, denies the Gospel, and makes Christ dead in vain. It turns away the hope of the sinner's soul from Christ on earth-it would reverse the song of the redeemed in glory; for that song could not be " Unto him who loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood," but, " Unto me, who have prepared myself, and made myself fit for salvation and glory, and made myself worthy to receive the mercy of God,-unto me be praise and glory"! Oh, blasphemous abandonment of God's eternal truth blasphemous subversion of the salvation of Jesus, and of all the hope that God proclaims to man in His eternal word! Blessed be God, "BY GRACE ARE YE SAVED"! Blessed be Gods the same grace is opened for us to-day that was opened foi 168 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. us when first we believed. Blessed be God, we have a Saviour who is " the same yesterday, to-day, and forever." Heb. xiii. 8. Blessed be God, we have "a fountain opened for sin and for uncleanness," Zech. xiii. 1, and though mountains of sin have rolled into it,-it is still as deep, as fathomless as ever, —for it is written, " Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea," Micah vii. 19. Oh, grace is the song that we must sing. "Grace all the work shall crown, Through everlasting days; It lays in heaven the topmost stone, And well deserves the praise." Yes, when the top stone is laid in the arch of the Spiritual Temple, "grace, grace unto it," Zech. iv. 7, shall echo through the vault of heaven,-" grace, grace, redeeming grace, salvation to the Lamb for all eternity!" " that with yonder sacred throng, We at His feet may fall, There join the everlasting song, And crown Him Lord of all." Amen. FIFTEENTH LECTURE. EPHESIANS II.-10. " For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus, unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." NOTHING can be more opposed to true religion or to common sense, than to suppose that any dispensation could come from God to man, in which he did not provide for the authority and observance of his holy law. The relation between Creator and creature, Governor and subject, God and man, precludes the possibility of such a monstrous anomaly; for, as long as that relation subsists, it must be regulated according to some rule, it cannot be undefined. There must be a rule, according to which the governor is to govern, and the subject to obey, —and that rule can only be the holy law of God. Can you imagine a sovereign, ruling over his subjects without any law? Or, can you imagine a sovereign so absurd as to make any proclamation to his subjects, which would give -them license,to tread his laws under foot? So soon might you suppose the Almighty Ruler of the universe making any revelation of His will to man, in which there could be any dispensation for His holy A. or any relaxation of its divine obligation. LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 16" The objectors to the Gospel scheme of salvation, by which it is provided, that "by the deeds of the law," (i. e. by man's obedience to the law,) "no flesh can bejustified," cry out against this Gospel, because they say, it relaxes obedience to the law, on the part of man; it relaxes the obligation of the law, on that of Goa. In this they only show their own ignorance, both of the law and of the Gospel: for it is because the law cannot be relaxed, it is because the perfection of its authority must be maintained, it is because " It is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail,"-this is the very reason why by that law, no flesh can be justified before God. It is admitted, that if man keeps the law, he shall be saved. This is a principle laid down in Scripture over and over again, as in St. Matthew, xix. 16, 17, where the young man came to our Lord and asked him " Good master, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?" and our Lord answers him, "if thou wilt enter into life keep the commandments." If man will attain eternal life by the good that he is to do, that good must be to "keep the commandments," And again in Romans, x. 5, you see the same principle stated, "! Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, that the man that doeth these things shall live by them;" therefore, it is a principle laid down in the Scripture, that if a man keeps the law, he shall be saved.-But if we suppose that a man were only to break the law in one single instance, and that with that single exception he could be justified by his previous and subsequent obedience to the law, then the law must be relaxed for him in that instance;-his violation of the law in that instance must be passed over, and his obedience, before or after, must be taken as a satisfaction for his disobedience in that one point. But it is because, this is utterly impossible, it is because the law of God cannot be relaxed in a single particular, that therefore, it is written in St. James, ii. 10, " whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." So to prove the impossibility of justification by obedience to the law, it is written in Gal. iii. 10. Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them." And so, when the Apostle proves in Rom. iii. 20, that " by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh, be justified in his sight; for by the law is the knowledge of sin,"-and when he concludes from his argument in verse 28, " Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith, without the deeds of the law,"-so far from relaxing the obligations of the law of God, the Apostle demonstrates that it is by this alone the law can be maintained,-verse 31, "Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid, yea, we establish the law." So in this chapter, in the passage we had under our consideration, in our last Lecture, " by grace are ye saved, through faith, and that, not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast,"-while the law is there excluded from the justification of the sinner, provision for obedience to the law is immediately set forth, as we have it in our text, 170 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS.' FOR WE ARE HIS WORKMANSHIP, CREATED IN CHRIST JESUS, UNTO GOOD WORKS, WHICH GOD HATH BEFORE ORDAINED THAT WE SHOULD WALK IN THEM." In the very place where he tells you, that the law can have no place whatever in the salvation of the believer, he tells you in the very next verse, which we have now under consideration, that it must have a place in his conduct and character. So that, though it is clear from the Scripture, that no man keeps the law of God absolutely, so that he can never call himself a fulfiller of the law,-on the contrary, it is written, " in many things we offend all." James iii. 2-on the contrary, it is written, that at any time or under any circumstances, " if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." I John i. 8,-yet it is as clearly set forth in Scripture, that the believer must be a keeper of the law relatively; that is, in a manner totally different from his own former life, and totally different from the customs and practices of an unregenerate and ungodly world; "FOR, WE ARE HIS WORKMANSHIP, CREATED IN CHRIST JESUS UNTO GOOD WORKS, WHICH GOD HATH BEFORE ORDAINED THAT WE SHOULD WVALK IN THEM." So yOU see this is set forth of the believer in I Pet. iv. 2, 3, " that he no longer should live the rest of his time in thefJlesh, to the lusts of men, but to the will of God, for the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries." Such had been their walk, but now it is changed-and all their former companions see it to be so-ver. 4 " wherein they think it strange, that you run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you." You did run with them, but now they think it strange that you do not do so,-and that is the very case this moment with the sinner who is brought through grace to know Christ. He was a merry pleasant fellow, as his companions thought him,-but now, what a great change has come over him!-he will not go with them as he used to do, he no longer joins with them in their former pursuits, he has become a new man. They tell him most truly, but alas! for them, in mockery, " He has become a saint." He has become a changed character. It must be so, it could not be otherwise. "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." 2 Cor. v. 17. So you see the same thing in 1 Cor. vi. 9, 10, 11, " Know ye not, that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Be not deceived, neither fornicators nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers] nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you" —(that is, what they were, their former character) —" but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." "Such were some of you," but now you are no longer such-you are totally changed. So you have it in this very chapter, verse 2, " wherein in i imo LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 171 past ye walked, according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience;"-and then Paul includes himself,-" among whomn also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others"- "But"-a mighty change hath passed on us — God who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with. Christ, (by grace are ye saved,) and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come, he might show the exceeding riches of his grace, in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus; for by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works, lest any man should boast."' But are we now living as we once were, among an ungodly world? are we walking with them as they walked? No, God's mercy hath been revealed to us, God hath stretched out His hand over us, He hath quickened us,-and now, "WE ARE HIS WORKMANSHIP, CREATED IN CHRIST JESUS UNTO GOOD WORKS, WHICH GOD HATH BEFORE ORDAINED THAT WE SHOULD WALK IN THEM.'7 Now we have in this textI. The power that acts on the sinner to bring the sinner into obedience to his God-" WE ARE HIS WORKMANSHIP.." II. The anode in which that power acts upon him, so as to produce this effect, " CREATED IN CHRIST JESUS UNTO GOOD WORKS." IHI. The certain securityfor the operation of this power and for the effect it will produce, "'WHICH GOD HATH BEFORE ORDAINED THAT WE (his people) SHOULD WALK IN THEM." It is His appointment-it is His will-it shall be done. We consider then1. THE POWER THAT ACTS ON THE SINNER TO BRING HIM INTO OBEDIENCE TO HIS GOD. What is the power? The power of God alone,-no other power. Oh that men knew this! then instead of looking to men and means, they would look to God! instead of resting on preachers, and running about, as many do, from one preacher to another, to try and derive profit from them, * Some readers may think it very unnecessary to quote at length these passages of the chapter which have been lately so frequently cited, and so much dwelt on, and that a mere reference to the verses would be quite sufficient. The Editor does not think so-he has often felt in reading religious books that mere references to the passages in the Word of Go on great principles of doctrinal or practical truth, lose their power and effect when not fully inserted-for few will open their Bibles to refer to them, they take them for granted, and pursue the thread of the subject-but the Editor is persuaded, that the greatest blessing to be hoped for in any work, is to be found most especially in this, how far the Author in his work, may be able through grace to set forth, in truth and faithfulness, the mind of God by His own blessed word. Here the whole course of the Apostle's reasoning, which had been considered in its doctrinal meaning, is now brought forward in its practical bearing on the subject of this Lecture, so that the truth is applied which was before explained. 172 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. -and turning from one religious book to another, and often from one error to another, —Oh! that they would remember that the only real profit a sinner can find for his soul, is not to be derived from his fellow-man, but from God!-that " men are born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." John i. 13. There is no truth more clearly set forth in Scripture, than that it is impossible for man to reform himself.-" Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good that are accustomed to do evil." Jer. xiii. 23. And now, consider, how opposite this is to your own natural sentiments, because there is not a single person in this congregation who is not brought to the Lord Jesus Christ, that admits this principle. You do not believe it,-you think you can amend your life, you think you can reform your character. You might as well imagine that an Ethiopian could wash himself white, or a leopard change his skin! God who knoweth all things tells you, that " then" -when they do so-" then may you do good who are accustomed to do evil." This is repeatedly shown in those portions of this Epistle which we have been considering. We should consider them over again, to prove the principle from them. Man is represented as dead, and God as the quickener. The same power must be put forth to quicken the dead soul, that Jesus Christ put forth to quicken the dead body, when he said, " Lazarus come forth." John xi. 43. If man cannot quicken his own soul, how can he reform his own life? If man cannot set the cause in operation, how shall he be able to produce the effect? If you cannot make the tree good, how will you make the fruit good? and, if you cannot generate in yourselves good principles, how can you possibly produce in yourselves, the conduct that flows from good principles? It is impossible. "WE ARE HIS WORKMANSHIP." God's power alone can produce holiness of life. So we have this repeatedly set forth in God's holy word, as for instance in Jeremiah xxxi. 33, where the Lord speaks of men becoming new creatures,-what does he say, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts, and will be their God, and they shall be my people." " I will do it," saith the Lord. There is the royal fiat of the King of kings, "I will put my law in their hearts, I will be their God, they shall be my people." And again, xxxii. 39, 40, "I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for the good of them and of their children after them. And Iwill make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will. not turn away from them to do them good, but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me." " 1 do it,"-they do not do it for themselves,-it is God's work, " WE ARE HIS WORKMANSHIP." So you have in 2d Cor. v. 5, " he that hath wrought us for this selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit." And so in Philippians i. 6, " being confident of this very thing, that he who hath begun a good work in you, will LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 173 performn it unto the day of Jesus Christ." He does not say, I am confident, that as you have begun to reform your lives, you will continue to do so. No, but " being confident of this very thing, that he who hath begun a good work in you, will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ." Oh, what a blessing,-what a blessing it is, that it is God's work. All of you who are ignorant of this, in the pride of your heart are angry at it, you think that it is an unreasonable thing to suppose, that you are not to have some strength in your own power -some share in quickening your own soul,-in your own deliverance —you, I say, are displeased. But you who know the Gospel of Christ, and you who know the corruption of your own hearts, -you thank God, that it is God's work-you bless God, that it is His power you have to look to, and not your own- your hearts rejoice when you pray to Him and say: "forsake not thou the work of thine own hands!" Ps. cxxxviii. 8. Yes, those who know their own helplessness, know, that if they had not the Almighty hand of God to take them and keep them, and bring them to Zion, they must perish forever. Now we consider —II. THE MODE IN WHICH THE POWER O0 GOD ACTS UPON THE SINNER. It is God's power that brings the sinner to obedience. " WE ARE HIS WORKMANSHIP" this is His power. Then " CREATED IN CHRIST JESUS UNTO GOOD WORKS," —this is the mode in which His power acts on the sinner, he is " CREATED IN CHRIST JESUS UNTO GOOD WORKS," and thus brought in Christ to serve his God. Now this is again opposed to the natural sentiment of the unregenerate Christian; I use the term unregenerate Christian; I am sorry to say, that a vast mass of those who are called Christians, are so,-so false is the principle, that men are spiritually regenerated by the ordinance of baptism, (who live and die, alas! what countless thousands of them) ignorant, impenitent, unbelieving, and consequently unregenerate and unredeemed to eternity! Now, I say, this is totally opposed to their opinion, for what do they think? They directly reverse the truth. They think that they are created in good works unto Christ Jesus;-not that they are "created in Christ Jesus unto good works." Pray consider this. They think that they are created in good works unto Christ Jesus. Ask them how are they to be saved? They will say, " we must endeavor to make ourselves fit to come to Christ." Do you depend on Christ?-Have you a solid hope that your soul is saved in Christ? "No. I trust I shall have, but I have not now." Why? " I am not yet worthy of Christ." I beg of you to consider whether or not this is the religion of many of you? " I am not fit. I am not worthy. I must be a different crea 174 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIAN,. ture before I can have that hope. I must make myself fitter to come to Christ. I must prepare myself to come to Christ." What will you do? " Well, I will endeavor to read more-to pray more,-I will attend the ordinances of grace betitr, and I trust that, after I have persevered in this for some time, then I may have some hope." Now all these things are very right to do. It is right to read, it is right to pray,-it is very right to attend the ordinances of grace,-all these are very important-but when you do this as a means of making yourselves fit to come to Christ,-do you not see what your religion is? It is this:-" we are created in good works unto Christ Jesus," or we hope to be. Now you perceive this is the very reverse of the truth; for the Scripture is, We are " CREATED IN CHRIST JESUS UNTO GOOD WORKS." When we are enlightened by divine grace to believe the Gospel, and thus united by faith to Christgrafted into the Living Vine-then " WE ARE HI S WORIKMANSHIP CREATED IN CHRIST JESUS UNTO GOOD WORKS." SO the Apostle tells us in 2nd Cor. v. 17, " if any man be in Christ he is a new creature, — a new creation; he must be in Christ, to become a new creature. Would you expect fruit from a branch, before it was grafted into a tree, or after?-this is a simple question. Consider it simply. What would you think of a gardener who should take a branch which was to be grafted into a tree, and expect to find fruit on the branch before it was grafted into the tree? Would you think him a wise man or a fool? Certainly a fool. Such are you, when you think you can bring forth fruit before you are grafted into Christ. What saith the Lord Jesus Himself? St. John xv. 3. "now are ye clean through the word which I have spokenz unto you." Mark that,-they do not make themselves clean, they are clean through His Word, through His Gospel. Verse 4. " Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me." You must be grafted into Him, and abide in Him, ere you can bring forth fruit unto God. So, though your works can never produce justification, justification must produce works. Bearing fruit will never graft you into the vine, but being grafted into the vine, then afterwards you are to bear fruit; so we have in the text, "WE ARE HIS WORKMANSHIP, CREATED IN CHRIST JESUS UNTO GOOD WORKS." The sinner that is brought to Christ, washed in the blood of Christ, clothed in the righteousness of Christ must necessarily produce fruit unto God. Thus you see in Romans vi. 17, 18, how clearly this is set forth, " God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine that was delivered unto you; being then made free from sin, (through the Gospel of Christ) ye became the servants of righteousness." Then in verse 21, " TVhat fruit had you then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed; for the ezid of those things is death; but now being made free from sin, (that is, being delivered from its curse, being delivered from its condemnation,) and become servants to LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 175 God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life." So in the Epistle to Titus ii. 11, 12, 13, 14, " The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us, that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world, looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works." The Gospel brings salvation first, and then teaches men to live soberly, righteously, and godly. They are redeemed from all iniquity, and so they are purified unto Christ, and thereby made zealous of good works. So in 1st Peter i. 15, 16, " as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation: because it is written, be ye holy; for I am holy;"-therefore, I say, as it is utterly impossible that God could, by any dispensation, relax the obligation of His law, so it is only by the Gospel of Jesus that provision for the observance of that law is made by God for sinners,-they must be "CREATED IN CHRIST JESUS UNTO GOOD WORKS." The law of God, proclaimed to the sinner, in its spirituality and its justice, shows his guilt, his condemnation, his state of death and ruin. So it was with the Apostle Paul " when the commandment came, sin revived and I died." Rom. vii. 9, 10. Then, the Gospel, proclaiming Christ as our glorious surety, fulfilling the law for sinners-bearing its curse-proclaiming thereby, deliverance from the wrath to come-staying the sentence of eternal judgment,-satisfying the demands of eternal justice through the blood of the Lamb —speaking peace and pardon to the sinner's con science, leads his heart by the Spirit to know the love of his Redeemer, and draws his heart to respond to that love. What is that response? That response is love. And what is that love? " Love is the fulfilling of the law." Love is a spontaneous movement of the heart, it can neither be enforced nor restrained by obligation. The practical glory of the Gospel is that it leads the sinner into the Law, because it draws him into love. The impulses of gratitude and affection become identified with the obligations of obedience. " I delight in the law of God after the inward man." Ronr. vii. 22. An obligation embraced by the heart, and the affections, turns duty into happiness, and, therefore, our glorious Deliverer and Benefactor saith, "my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." Mat. xi. 30. Holiness is the burden of the unconverted sinner, —sin is the burden and the cross of the redeemed saint. III. WHAT NOW IS THE SECURITY FOR THIS How is IT THAT IT MUST BE SO? God hath ordained-God hath appointed it. God hath ordained that His people should walk in good works. We are " CREATED IN CHRIST JESUS UNTO GOOD WORKS, WHICH GOD HATH BEFORE ORDAINED THAT WE SHOULD WALK IN THEM." You have this set forth in this Epistle, i. 3, 4, " Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed 176 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love." So you have in 1st Peter i. 2, "Elect, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience, and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ"-" elect unto obedience"-" created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." Therefore, you perceive, why throughout the Scriptures, the works of man are made the test of his salvation. He is not to be justified by them, but he is to be judged by them;and this is a difficulty that often occurs to the mind,-how is man to be judged by his works if he is not to be justified by them? because they are taken as the test of his faith, they are taken as the proof of his sincerity. A cup of cold water could not purchase salvation for the sinner,-but "a cup of cold water" given in the name of Jesus, "shall in no wise lose its reward," Mat. x. 42, because it is the test that the believer loves his Master. An act from the principle of love to Christ never was done, and never can be done, by the unconverted sinner. Of all the motives to moral action, which can influence the heart of man (and there are innumerable motives,) the love of Jesus can have no place among them; for man by nature does not know what to love Him for,-he fears and hates Him as his Judge. The brightness of Christ's example, so far from alluring, repels the heart of man. So it was in His own day. You see how the Scribes and Pharisees hated Him, because He was holy. So He is just as hateful this moment to the natural heart of man.-But when the sinner is enlightened to see that Jesus is the Refuge for his soul,-that Jesus is the Friend of sinners,-that he can come to Christ as a Saviour,-that he can pour out his heart at His feet, —that He can depend upon His blood to wash away all his sin,-that he can come as a vile sinner, as we had in the language of the Psalm to-day, "for thy name's sake, 0 Lord, pardon mine iniquity, for it is great" —Psal. xxv. 11, instead of thinking, as the sinner in his natural state thinks, that he can, at least in some degree, make himself clean, and come with the prayer, "pardon mine iniquity, for it is little,"-when he knows, he can say, "pardon mine iniquity, for it is great"-when he knows, he can thus dome to Christ, with his sins, and cast them into the fathomless ocean of eternal love, " the fountain that is opened" in the blood of Jesus for the guilt of sinners,-when he knows this-then he loves his Lord and Master; and then, the least work of love becomes the test of his faith, and is certain of acceptance and of reward,-not for its own value, for it is nothing; but because it is a proof that this man is a disciple of Jesus-that he had fled to Jesus as the salvation of his soul-(fledfor refuge to lay hold on the hope set before him," Heb. vi. 18. The act that brought sin and death into the world was, not in itself, an act of good or evil. There was: no moral good or evil in LECTURES ON THE EPIIESIANS. 177 the act of eating the fruit of a certain tree more than of any other tree;-but whon that act was made a test of the law, that is, of love to Him who commanded it, then the very lightness of the test itself aggravated its guilt ten thousand fold, and it became sin, pregnant with death and ruin to the world. So, the act that is a test of love to God,-that act, however little, is graciously received and rewarded. Allow me to entreat you to consider again the articles of our church on this subject, that you may compare and see how sound and scriptural they are. Our text says, "WE ARE HIS WORKMANSHIP, CREATED IN CHRIST JESUS UNTO GOOD WORKS.' ARTICLE X. " The condition of man after the fall of Adam is such. that he cannot turn and prepare himself, by his own natural strength and good works to faith and calling upon God." Now, is not this an epitome of the instruction I have been endeavoring to give you? " Wherefore, we have no power to do good works, pleasant and acceptable to God, without the grace of God, by Christ, preventing us," (that is, going before us,) "that we may have a good will, and working with us, when we have that good will." So again in Article xiii., the same principle is laid down. " Works done before the grace of Christ and the inspiration of his Spirit, are not pleasant to God, forasmuch as they spring not of faith in Jesus Christ." They want the motive, they want the test, they want the true principle of moral action. " Neither do they make men meet to receive grace, or, (as the School authors say,) deserve grace of congruity; yea, rather that they are not done as God hath willed and commanded them to be done, we doubt not but they have the nature of sin." NOW, "WE ARE HIS WORKMANSHIP CREATED IN CHRIST JESUS UNTO GOOD WORKS.' Consider Article xii. " Albeit, that good works which are the fruit of faith, and follow after justification, cannot put away our sins, and endure the severity of God's judgment." We cannot be justified by them, nor challenge God to enter into judgment with us for them. " Yet, are they pleasing and acceptable to God in Christ, and do spring out necessarily of a true and lively faith; insomuch, that by them a lively faith may be as evidently known, as a tree discerned by the fruit." They necessarily flow from it. It must be, that a man if he is a believer in Jesus, must show that he is so. It is impossible that the heart can love any human being, if it have an opportunity of showing that love, and that it will not show it. We cannot conceal our affection, if we love any one. Much less, if the heart is fied with love to Jesus, when we love our blessed Redeemer. we cannot but endeavor to prove it by our life. Therefore, all who are grafted into the Living Vine, are "CREATED IN CH:tIST 12 17 8 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. JESUS UNTO C:OOD WORKS'" "' insomuch, as by them a lively faith may be as evidently known as a tree discerned by the fruit." You see, how sound the articles of our church are on this subject,-and therefore, it is no wonder, that those who endeavor to subvert the Gospel of Christ in our communion, should endeavor to explain away the articles with sophistry and falsehood. They are a solid bulwark for the faith of the church, because they stand the test of comparison with the word of God, and because, when you search the Scriptures, and bring them " to the law and to the testimony," Isa. viii. 10-there you find, that they are sound in the faith. I would now address unbelievers in this congregation. My dear friends, what is all your morality, if you are not in Christ Jesus? Whatever be your character before men, you are, alas! guilty, condemned sinners before God,-and it is in vain you struggle to deliver yourselves from your sin. You cannot do it, —all these efforts that you make, and that you think you are making, for which, as you expect God will give you credit, and which you shall have put down to your account, are all vain, they can profit you nothing, they evince nothing but this, that you are ignorant of yourselves and ignorant of God. What are you to do? Hear the glorious proclamation of divine grace and mercy to you in Christ Jesus,-The Gospel addresses us all, each and every sinner only in one character-as sinners. It makes no allowance for our morality. Whatever we may have, comparatively before men, we have none before God, —" there is cnone righteous, no, not one." Psalm xiv. 3-Rom. iii. 10. God's judgment is proclaimed against us-God's judgment is written in this book against us. Read your Bible. There you read the sentence of God against your souls, when you think of your sins, and your deserts in His sight. Now we do not mean to drive you to despair, by such testimony as this, but on the contrary to brine you out of despair,-a state of real despair, though yet not felt -- to bring you out of that, to the hope of the Gospel. For Oh, my criends, when you read that Bible, you see also the good news, ~hat the sentence has been executed on Him who came into the world to bear it for sinners. How mad a man wzould be, who was indictable for a capital crime, if there were conclusive proofs against him- if it were wholly impossible he could escape when brought to trial-whose sovereign should issue a command that he might go free, and not be indicted or prosecuted to conviction,-how mad he would be to say, "' I will insist on a trial, — demand a prosecution." That is the mode in which you act. Depending on your own claimis-your own morality-your virtue-your own miserable efforts to save your soul,-you are going on to judgment, challenging God to condemn you, and refusing the glorious deliverance that is proclaimed to you in the Gospel of Christ. David says, " Enter not into judgment wc'ith thy servant, 0 Lord, for in thy sight shall no man livinv be justified." Ps. cxiiii. 2. Now we proclaim to you mercy, that God has entered into judgment with LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 179 Christ for you. Some will say, "you speak of this very often, you preach this doctrine continually,"-most certainly I do so; God forbid, I should ever leave the pulpit without preaching it —for as there is no other hope of salvation, so there is no other sound principle of Christian conduct. Do you not come here as sinners?Do I not address some who are under the wrath of God? some who have not fled to Christ for salvation? some who come here vainly endeavoring to save their own souls, rejecting the hope of the Gospel? and must I not set that Gospel before them again and again.? How many, alas! shall never hear its blessed sound once more. Besides, I want to keep it ever upon my own heart; every day of my life, I want to have the Gospel preached to my own soul. May the Lord bring it home to our hearts by the Holy Spirit. Are you looking to Christ for salvation? Remember if you are not in Christ, you cannot bring forth good works. You who are indeed looking unto Christ as your hope and refuge, remember this, - WE ARE HIS WORKMANSHIP, CREATED IN CHRIST JESUS UNTO GOOD WORKS, WHICH GOD HATI BEFOPE ORDAINED WE SHOULD WALK IN THEM." Remember, that the same testimony of God's word that gave you hope in the faith of the Gospel, gives you also directions for the walk of those who embrace that faith. The same word, the same Gospel which tells you, that, " there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ.esus," tells you too that they " walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Rom. viii. 1,-tells you that they who are in Christ are " CREATED IN CHRIST JESUS UNTO GOOD "WORKS, WHICH GOD HATH BEFORE ORDAINED THAT WE SHOULD VWALK IN TI-IEIM. Remember my friends, my beloved brethren, that if you are walking carelessly with God, you cannot be walking safely or peacefully with God. If you are not watching against your own sins, you are not enjoying confidence in your Lord. Do you remember what the Apostle says? " I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I not as one that beateth the air." 1st Cor. is. 26. There is great uncertainty in the faith and hope of the believer, where there is unsteadiness in the walk of the believer. Our own experience tells us so; I know it from my experience, and you know it from yours,-and therefore, though there is no reward for the works of the law, considered in themselves,-there isa a amazing reward in the works of the believer, " in keeping. of them, there is great rewtard." Psalm, xix. 11. Even the ungodly world will tell you, that "virtue is its own reward,"-and if that is a maxim, even of those who know not Christ, how much more do those who know Christ, feel that in walking carefuilly with their Lord and Master, they are walking happily and confidently? This is what the Apostle means, when he says, "If our heart condemn us, God is greater than our hearts, and knoweth all things, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God." 1 John iii. 20, 21. It is not if our heart condemn us not of sin, for our heart must always condemn us of sin, —but if, instead of coming to our Lord Jesus Christ, with our sins, and 180' LECTURES ON THE E PHESIANS. pouring them out at his feet, and crying for strength against them, we cherish any of them in our heart, —we must feel the bitter consequence, the Lord will made us feel it. He loves his people too much, not to make them feel it. Thus He visits them with the rod,-this is the reason why, " whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth." Heb. xii.-6. Therefore, dear friends, if we are under the chastening of the Lord, let us take the chastening thankfully, gratefully; remembering how much we need it —remembering, how much we have drawn it on ourselves —remembering, how tender our Father is to chasten us, to humble us, to prove us, that we may know what is in our heart, and to bring us again out of the furnace, strengthened and refreshed, to His feet, that we may " run in the way of his commandments, when he shall enlarge our hearts." Ps. cxix. 32. Oh think of this, and may the Lord, in His great mercy supply the innumerable defects and deficiencies of these instructions, and bring home His own truth with demonstration of His own Spiril and with power to our hearts and consciences for Jesus' sake Amen. SIXTEENTIH LECTURE. EPHESIANS I.-I 1, 12, 13. Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ." IT is a common exhibition of the evil of the human heart, that when a man has been raised from some low condition by the favor of his sovereign, and placed in one of rank and influence, he is apt, as we say, to forget himself,-to forget the mean estate in which he formerly was-to forget, that he has been raised to that which he now enjoys, only by the favor of his sovereign —to forget what he owes to his benefactor, what he owes to his superiors, what he owes to his equals, what he owes to all over whom he is placed, in every relative position of duty. If this be a common evil with respect to our fellow-men,-how much more in reference to God. What innumerable mercies have we all received! what temporal mercies! —How could we ever enumerate them? What spiritual mercies — what a mercy that LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 181 we are here this day with the sound of the Gospel in our ears,yet, which of them have we remembered as we ought? which of them have we not forgotten? If we were asked, what is it that man ought most to remember, and what is it that man most forgets? The answer must beHis GOD. Well may He complain, then, as He does in Jeremiah,. ii. 32, " Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire' Yet, my people have forgotten me, days without number." So, we perceive, when God warns the Jews against departing from Him, he warns them against forgetting Him,-we see this in Deuteronomy iv.-9. " Only, take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life." We have the same in chap. viii. 11, speaking of their readiness to forget the blessings they have received from God, " Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day; lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein, and when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied,-then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the Lord thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage." And, as He warns them thus not to forget Him, so in the promises of His covenant love to the Jews, to gather them to their own land, and to pour upon them the blessings He has promised; He provides for their fidelity by providing, that they shall reemeber all their own sin, and all His mercies to them. You see this in Ezekiel xvi. 60. " Nevertheless, I will remember my covenant with thee." (namely with the people of the Jews,) " in the days of thy youth, and I will establish unto thee an everlasting covenant." then in verse 62 and 63, "And I will establish my covenant with thee, and thou shalt kHow, that I am the Lord, that thou mayest remember and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more, because of thy shame, when I am pacified toward thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord God." You see the same in Ezek. chap. xx. 42, 43, " And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country for the which I lifted up my hand to give it to your fathers. And there shall ye remember your ways, and all your doings wherein ye have been defiled; and ye shall loathe yourselves in your own sight, for all your evil that ye have committed." The same is in chap. xxxvi. when the Lord promises to give them a new heart, 26th and following verses, "A new heart also will 1 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 an heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that Igave to your fathers, and ye shall be my people, and I will be your 182 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. God. I will also save you frorn all your uncleannesses; and I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you. And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that ye shall receive no more reproach of fanmine among the heathen." Now, mark,-" then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight, for your iniquities and for your abominations. If such is to be the humility of the saints in that blessed time of promise when the " earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea." Isa. xi. 9,-surely, it ought to be the humility of the saints now. One of the offices of the promised blessed Spirit is, that he shall be a Remembrancer. What wonder, then, that the Apostle, having enumerated the misery and guilt of the saints at Ephesus, and having set before them, as we have seen, the glory to which they had been raised, by the Lord Jesus Christ,-what wonder that he should come to the conclusion with which my text conmmences, " WHEREFORE, REMEMBER,:' remember what you have been, and remember what you are. He had showed them, from verses 1 to 3 (which I need not now recapitulate to you, as we have gone through them so lately,) he had showed them there, their state of sin by nature,-he had showed them from verses 4 to 10, their present state by grace, "raised up together, and made to sit. together in heavenly places in Christ," —and now he calls them to remember from what they had been rescued, and to what they had been brought. You will observe, that in this place, he addresses especially the Gentile converts at Ephesus,-and it is necessary for the understanding of the passage, that you should attend to this, and that you should refer to the history of the fact. You perceive, on referring to the history, which you find in Acts xix., that the Church at Ephesus consisted of Jews and Gentiles. When St. Paul came to Ephesus, as you see in verse 1, he found certain disciples, and then he asked them, as we find in verse 3, " Unto what were ye baptized? They said, unto Johnls baptismz,therefore they must necessarily, have been Jews. John had never come to Ephesus, nor had the idolatrous worshippers of Diana gone to Jerusalem; but the Jews had gone up to Jerusalem, and there some of them who believed, had been baptized unto John's baptism. So, you perceive, they had a synagogue at Ephesus, as is evident from Acts, xix. 7, 8,' all the men" (that is the disciples) " were about twelve. And he went into the synagogue, and space boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God." The Jews, in the synagogue at Ephesus, rejected Paul, they rejected his testimony, and then we are told, verse 9, "when divers were hardened, and believed not, but spake evil of that way before the multitude, he departed from them, and separated the disciples"-that is, those who did believe the Gospel,-he separated them from the unbe LECTURES ON THE EIHESTANS. 183 lievers and scoffers, and he " disputed daily in the school of one Tyrannuss." He left the synagogue, and went to the school of Tyrannus; and there, we are told, this daily disputation, " continued by the space of two years, so that cll they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks." verse 10. We see, then, that the church consisted of a mixed assembly,of believing Jews and believing Greeks, and likewise the immense progress which the Gospel made among the idolatrous Greeks at Ephesus at this time. If you read the whole chapter, you will see it more fully, I can only cite a few verses, 18, 19, 20, " And many that believed, came and confessed, and showed their deeds.Many also of them which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men, and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed." And then, you perceive, one of the idolatrous workmen at Ephesus, who made silver shrines for Diana, named Demetrius-called together lhs, fellow workmen, and said to them, verse 26, "ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying, they be no gods which are made with hands. So that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at nought, but also, that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised, and her mnagnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worshippeth." St. Paul had no notion of that unchristian charity of the present day which is to be found among Protestants. He had no notion of saying, or believing in his heart and conscience, that people were idolaters, and then professing, that indeed he did not wish to proselytize them. There was no such unbelief, no such ignorance of his own apostolic mission-no such contempt of his duty-no such abandonment of his Master and his Master's cause, and of the souls of men, there was nothing like that in St. Paul. He did wish to proselytize those who, he knew, were idolaters,-and he testified before God and before them, that " they were no gods that were made with hands"-no matter of what they were made-whether made of stone or iron, or brass, or wood, or flour, he testified, "they are no gods that are made with hands." Paul asserted this, and God's blessing rested upon his testimony, and God's power accompanied His word, and God's salvation was brought to the souls of men,-many believed. So it would have been in this country, if there had been fidelity, apostolical fidelity, as there ought to be among those who profess to call themselves the servants of Christ. So you see the testimony against Paul,-they cried out against Paul that he said, "they be no gods which are made with hands' —therefore said Demetrius, "not only this our craft is in danger to be set at nought, but also, that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised, and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worshippeth." You see, how the 184 LECTURES ON HE EPHESIANS. Lord, by the fidelity of His apostle, battered down the temples of idolatry. This was by Christian fidelity, turning men, through God's grace, in the spirit of faithfulness and love, "from darkness to light, from the power of Satan unto God"-as he had been sent by his Lord to do. Acts xxvi. 17, 18. It is clear, then, from the history, that the church at Ephesus was composed of Jews and Gentiles. We perceive how numerous were the converts from the worship of Diana,-and the Apostle, in the passage which I have read to you, is addressing, as you perceive, these Gentile converts, reminding them of their state of aggravated guilt and misery, and of the great blessing which God had vouchsafed to them, in bringing them "from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God," he says, " REMEMBER, THAT YE BEING IN TIME PAST GENTILES IN THE FLESH, WHO WERE CALLED UNCIRCUMCISION BY THAT WHICH IS CALLED THE CIRCUMCISION IN THE FLESH,'-he reminds them, that they had been looked down upon as Gentiles, by all who knew anything of the true God, as the Jews,-that they had been in a despicable state, they "were called uncircumcision." The rite of circumcision was that especially, which separated the Jew, from the time of his birth, from all the other people of the world; it was one of the great distinctions that God had placed between them, and all the other nations; therefore, the "uncircumcision" was the name given by the Jews to all those persons who were separated from God, outcasts from God;-so you remember the story of David and Goliath,-you recollect David's contemptuous sneer at the giant, —he did not care for his being a giant, or for his staff, or for his spear, but he said-" who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?" 1st Sam. xvii. 26. He was an "uncircumcised Philistine," such is the term of contempt with which David brands him. And so in Acts, xi. 3, you see the charge that all the Apostles brought against Peter, thou wentest in to men uncircumcised, and didst eat with them." They were angry with him for doing so. It was a thing totally unknown to the Jews, and unknown to the world, that the Gentiles-that any nation except the Jews should be brought into the covenant of Christ; therefore we perceive, when the Lord intended to send Peter to Cornelius, he sent a vision from heaven to Peter to show him that the distinction between clean and unclean, was now done away. " TWhat'.God hath cleansed that call not thou common," Acts x. —15,-and if you look to Ephesians iii.-2, you perceive this subject clearly set forth, " if ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward," 5th, "which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit,-that the Gentiles should befellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the Gospel." It was not known to the sons of men, but it was now revealed, that the Gentiles should ne fellow-heirs; therefore the Apostle reminds them of their state LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 185 of former separation from God, and of the contempt in which they had been held by His people, before the mercy of the Lord had visited them, "Ye know" saith the Apostle Peter, " how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company, or come unto one of another nation." Acts, x. 28. The Apostle Paul had set forth, as we have seen in the first part of the chapter, the state of the Jews and Gentiles universally as sinners. He had set forth their state positively, " dead in trespasses and sins," utterly insensible to their guilty, miserable condition-unable either to feel it, or deliver themselves from it-walking " according to the course of this world,"-under the power of the devilwalking in the lusts of the flesh-"fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind," and " by nature the children of wrath, even as others." This was the positive state of them all. But now, in this passage he sets forth the state of the Gentiles, negatively,-he shows what they were not. "' Remember," he says, in addition to your state of positive sin,-remember, that at that time, you were called uncircumcision,"-you were not circumcised-shut out, by that means, from the only people upon the face of the earth who were the recognized, acknowledged people of God.-" Youwere without Christ," you had no Saviour, in type, or ordinance, or promise,-you were " aliens fromn the commonwealth of Israel,"-you had no lot or part in the commonwealth of God's Church-you were "strangers from the covenants of promise," you knew nothing about the glorious salvation provided in the Covenant of Grace. You had " no hope"-eternity was a dark and fearful precipice a gulf that yawned before you. And you were'without God in the world." You knew not Him who formed you-your idol Diana was a senseless image, made with hands. That was their condition. Not so the Jews. We see in Galatians, iii. 8, that God had "preached the Gospel unto Abrahan." We see, in Romans, iii. 1, 2, when the Jew is supposed to ask, " what advantage then hath the Jew?" (because the Apostle had proved that "both Jew and Gentile were all under sin,") " or what profit is there of circumcision?" He answers, " Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God." They had much blessing, much profit, of which all other nations were destitute-?ut the greatest blessing of them all was this, that "unto them were committed the oracles of God." You perceive, that the Scriptures are counted the greatest blessing that a people can enjoy,-therefore, the privation of the Scriptures is the greatest curse with which a nation can be visited,the worst of all famines is " a famine of hearing of the word of the Lord." Amos, viii. 11. Compare these advantages of the Jews again with those mentioned, Romans ix. 4, 5, " Who are Israelites, to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; whose are the fathers, and of whom, as concerning the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, God blessed forever." So 1886 LECTURES ON TIHE EPIIESIANS. you see in I Corinthians x. 2, " they were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and did all eat the same spiritual meat, and did all drink the same spiritual drink, for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ." 1 Cor. x. 3, 4. So in St. John's Gospel our Lord saith, v. 45, 46, " Do not think, that I will accuse you to the Father, there is one that accuseth you, even lVloses in whom, ye trust; for had ye believed Aioses, ye would have believed me, for he wrote of me." Therefore, the Jews had Christ revealed to them in the Sacred Volume,-they were not " without Christ," as the Gentiles were. The Gentiles were deprived of the oracles of God, therefore " WITHOUT CHRIST, ALIENS FROM THE COMMONWEALTHI OF ISRAEL, AND STRANGERS FROM THE COVENANTS OF PROMISE,' which promised Christ, whom Abraham knew-in whom he believed and rejoiced.-" Your father Abraham," saith Christ, " rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it, and was glad." John viii. 56. They were strangers from the promise of the coming of Messiah to savestrangers from the promise of the coming of the glorious King, who was to " arise and to reign over the Gentiles, in whogm the Gentiles should trust." -They were strangers from the covenant of the glorious priesthood to be fulfilled in Christ Jesus the Lord, the "priest forever, after the order of Melchisedech." Ps. cx. 4. They had no prophets, no promises, no sacrifices to the true God, no types, no shadows, no law, no blessing or privilege derived friom the Gospel covenant which the Israelites possessed. Therefore, they had " no hope." In what an awful state a sinner is, without hope! Did you ever see a man die without hope? and feeling he was without. hope? I have-it is an awful sight. This was the state of all the Gentiles, they had "no hope." They had not, indeed, a clear revelation of the awful eternity that was before them,-but they had within, the conscious apprehension of an immortal existence, a sense of sin that barbed the arrow of death, and made that which is the sting of death rankle in their consciences; and they had no balm of mercy to pour into the wound,-being "without Christ, without hope, and without God in the world." It is of great importance that we should know and consider this,-we had in the second of the Psalms of this day, xcvi. 5, 1"asfor all the gods of the heathen, they are but idols, but it is the Lord that made the heavens," and again, xcvii. 7, " confounded be all they that worship carved images, and that delight in vain gods, worship him all ye gods," and the Apostle says, "the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God. 1 Cor. x. 20. It is of vast moment that all who bear the name of Christians should remember these things, for what were the privileges of the Jews compared with the blessings that we enjoy! We ought to form our judgment and our opinion respecting the state of the heathen world, not from the ignorance of man, but from the rec:)rds of God's eternal truth. This would give us, both a right sens3 of LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 187 the privileges and blessings we enjoy ourselves, and make us feel as we ought, for the destitution of those who have " no hope," and who are " without God in the world." But while the Apostle calls on them to remember what their state had been, he teaches them also to remember the blessing of their present condition, "BUT NOWr IN CHRIST JESUS YE WHO SOMETIMES WERE FAR OFF ARE IMADE NIGH BY THE BLOOD OF CHRIST." Amazing mercy! made nigh-by what means -- "made nigh by the blood of Christ,"-brought to behold the' glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth," John, i. 14-brought into a state of pardon, peace, and salvation through Him. The change that had passed upon them was like the light bursting on the dark world, when " God said, let there be light, and there was light." For " God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness had shined into their hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God, in the face of Jesus Christ." 2 Cor. iv. 6. There they behold all the prophecies of Jesus fulfilled, "to him give all the prophets witness, that Ihrough his name, whosoever believeth in him should receive remnission of sins." Acts x. 43. All the glorious promises of God are accomplished in Jesus, for, " all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him, amen." 2 Cor. i. 20; in H-im, are all the blessed covenants ratified, as you see in the song of Zechariah, St. Luke, i. 67-75, where he so beautifully sets that forth, as he speaks, being " filled with the Holy Ghost,"-'Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he hath visited and redeemed his people, and hath raised up an horn of salvation for us, in the house of his servant David; as he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began; that we should be saved fromn our enemies, and from the hand of them that hate us; to perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant; the oath that he sware to our father Abraham, that he would grant unto us, that we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and rig.hteousness before him, all the days of our life." Here they were no longer " strangers from the covenants of promise," they behold them all fulfilled in Christ. Here, they were not brought merely into the shadows of the Jewish law, but into the substance of the glorious Gospel, not offering daily sacrifices, but resting on the one finished sacrifice of Christ. Hebrews, x. 11, 12, " Every priest standeth daily ministerin2g, and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices which can never take away sins; but this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God." And so, they had the antetype instead of the type. Though they had not the covenant of the priesthood of the Jews, they had the everlasting covenant of Christ's glorious priesthood, " Christ being come an high priest of good things to comne, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building, neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, he entered in once into the [88 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us." Heb. ix 11, 12. That precious blood of Jesus, the "fountain opened for sin and for uncleanness" hath been revealed to them, that they who bathe in that blessed fountain, though like Naaman, full of leprosy, should come up healed and clean as a little child. Oh, the blessing of being " BROUGHT NIGH BY TIE BLOOD OF CHRIST!" Then, instead of having no hope, they had " hope as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast." Heb. vi. 19. Instead of being "without God in the world," they were made " children of God, by faith in Christ Jesus," Gal. iii. 26; brought nigh to Him as a reconciled Father in Jesus. Brethren, if the state of the Jews who neglected the privileges they enjoyed, although these privileges were only typical, was awful-if the state of the Gentiles who were without these privileges that the Jews possessed, was such as described in this passage by the Apostle.-What must be the state of those who have all those privileges, which "many prophets and kings desired to see, and have not seen them?" if we speak of the Jews. And who have all the privileges and blessings enjoyed by these Gentiles when they were " brought nigh by the blood of Christ," and yet who "neglect such great salvation?" It may be,-it must be, that I address some, perhaps many in that state to-day. Remember, "all were not Israel who were of Israel." Remember, all are not Christ's who are Christians in name and profession. Remember, that "a name to live when we are dead,"-privileges when neglected-the blood of Jesus as a fountain, when it is despised-the righteousness of Christ, as a robe to clothe our nakedness, when it is cast by as an unclean thing-remember that these, instead of blessings, are all turned into curses, judgments, accumulated causes of ruin on the heads of those who thus trample on these mercies. If I address some, as I trust I do, who are awaking to a sense of the state in which they have been living in the midst of blessings and privileges,-who are asking " the way to Zion with their faces thitherward,"-who say in their hearts, "Oh that my lot were cast among the people of Christ." Remember, my dear friends, the means by which these persons were brought from their awful state of ignorance, of guilt, and misery, both Jews and Gentiles-remember it is all contained in that one word, "m ade nigh by the blood of Christ,"-alone.-There was no process to be gone through by them,-no long and labored return from their dark idolatry and guilt, to come to God, but to believe the glorious proclamation of God's everlasting mercy, of His eternal love, of Hik rich grace, of His free and full salvation sounding in their earsthis was enough,-even all that they could want. The blood of Jesus Christ has been poured out, a ransom for the guilty. The ransom is paid down, the prison doors are opened, — come forth ye prisoners of hope into life, and light, and liberty,the life that Christ has purchased with His blood.-The light of "the Sun of righteousness," of Him who is "the light of the LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 189 world." —-The liberty of the everlasting Gospel,-" If the iSon therefore shall make youfree, ye shall be free indeed. John viii. 36. Oh, think what brought them nigh,-why should it not bring you nigh to-day? Remember, the fountain of Immanuel's blood is like Himself, " the same yesterday, to-day, and forever." And you, brethren, who see, and taste, and hope, and rejoice in the glad tidings of salvation, who can repeat in spirit and truth, " 0 conme let us sing unto the Lord, let us heartily rejoice in the strength of our salvation." Ps. xcv. 1. Remember what you were; in one sense, far worse than these Ephesians; you were not brought up like them to worship Diana, or to believe that that image had fallen down from Jupiter, —you were not placed in the midst of darkness and idolatry, without the Word of God, " ALIENS FROM THE COMMONWEALTH OF ISRAEL,-STRANGERS FROM THE COVENANT OF PROMISE, HAVING NO HOPE, AND WITHOUT GOD IN THE WORLD." No, you were baptized in the name of Jesuswhen you were born into the world, you were brought to that holy ordinance, which Jesus has appointed as the instrument of confessing His faith-being adopted into His family-entering into His church. You were brought to that ordinance as the sign and seal of salvation, a fountain of water, emblematic of a fountain of blood,-bathed in that, or sprinkled with it, it matters not which, it is emblematical of the cleansing power of the blood of the Lamb. You were brought by that means into all the blessings and privileges of the Christian church,-and how have you used them? Alas! how long you despised these mercies! how long you slighted them. Even when your Ministers perhaps have been endeavoring to explain to you,-listen to me, children-listen to me, my beloved young friends-listen to me, you who are learning your Catechism,-when your Ministers have been endeavoring to explain to you, and to set before you the privileges and blessings, the solemn obligations and responsibilities of those who are brought into, and brought up in the Christian church.-Oh! how have you neglected and turned a deaf ear,-slighted them, disregarded the instructions you received, and provoked the Lord to cut you off in your sins. Remember this. But God hath touched your hearts-God hath reached your consciences-God hath visited you with His mercy-God hath led you to the feet of Jesus-and now you see, that " you who some times were afar off" in spirit, though near in profession, are now "made nigh by the blood of Christ." Wherefore, remember what you were, and remember what you are,-" ye are not your own; for ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." 1st Cor. vi. 19, 20. You are no longer debtors to the world, or to the flesh, to live after the flesh-you owe to Jesus all you have, and all you are; for Jesus hath " redeemed you from the curse of the law.' He hath bought you with his precious blood-And "Now IN CHRIST JESUS YE WVHO SOMETIMES WERE FAR OFF ARE MADE NIGH BY TIE BLOOD OF CHRIST." 190 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. Oh! then hear the words of the Apostle,'"I therefore, th6 prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness. with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all." Ephes. iv. 1-6. " Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen." Jude, 24, 25. SEVENTEENTH LECTURE. ErIPESIANS I. —14, 15, 16, 17. "For lie is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh." WE have seen in our last Lecture, the distinction between Jews and Gentiles,-that although all were alike sinners before God, as we see from the first to the third verses of this chapter, yet that there was, in the case of the Gentiles, a peculiar degree of alienation from God, they were in a much more deplorable condition than the Jews. This has been shown in our last Lecture. " At that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world." But he adds,' But now in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off, are vnade nigh by the blood of Christ." Then the Apostle proceeds to explain how they were made nigh.-He shows the mode in which it was effected, that Jews and Gentiles should be brought nigh, both to each other and to God, " FOR HE IS OUR PEAcE, WHO HATH MADE BOTH ONE,"' — C. Now, observe,-First, " PEACE" between Jew and Gentile, making them, who were so totally separated from each other, " BOTH ONE." Then,'PEACE" between both and God,-having been both separated from Him, and being both brought nigh to Him. Now, I say, first, that this passage shows us, that peace was made LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 191 between Jew and Gentile. You know what a barrier God had erected between the Jews and all the other nations of the earth, — what an impenetrable barrier. We should go through the whole of the Jewish polity, civil and ecclesiastical, if we were to enumerate all the means by which this separation had been effected. There was circumcision-their sacrifices-their passover-their priesthood-their daily food-the whole system of their worship and ordinances, —by all these means they were separated from all the other nations of the earth. God had placed these as an impassable barrier between them. You see this mentioned in a variety of passages in the Scripture, but I shall only point your attention to one or two,-for instance, Esther iii. 8, you see here what the Gentiles thought of the Jews,- " And Haman said unto kiing Ahasuerus, there is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of thy kingdomn; and their laws are diverse from all people; neither keep they the king's laws." This was the ground on which Haman induced Ahasuerus to issue his decree for the destruction of the Jews,-the complete separation there was between them and all the rest of the nations. And again, you see that marked in a passage, familiar no doubt, to you all, Acts x. 28, where Peter says to Cornelius, ye know how that it is an unlawftl thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company or come unto one of another nation. But God hath showed me that I should not call any man comzon or unclean,"-as the Jews had always considered the Gentiles. Now, I need not quote other passages, to prove to you a fact with which, of course, you are all acquainted, but the argument of the Apostle in the passage I have read is this, that all these ordinances, all these means by which the Jews were separated from all the other nations of the earth, had all been done away by Christ. Consider the verses in reference to this point, the reconciliation of Jew and Gentile, " FOR HE IS OUR PEACE, WHO H-ATH MADE BOTH ONE, AND HATH BROKEN DOWN THE MIDDLE WALL OF PARTITION BETWEEN US; HAVING ABOLISHED IN HIS FLESH THE ENMITY,"-and you see what that enmity was — what it was that constituted that enmity,-" EVEN THE LAW' OF, COMMANDMENTS, CONTAINED IN 01RDINANCES; FOR TO MAIKE IN HIMSELF OF TWAIN ONE NEW MAN, SO MAKING PEACE; AND'THAT HE MIGHT RECONCILE BOTH UNTO GOD IN ONE BODY BY THE CROSS, HAVING SLAIN THE ENMITY THEREBY; AND CAME AND PREACHED PEACE TO YOU WHICH WERE AFAR OFF, AND TO TIHEM THAT WERE NIGH., Now we shall see that all these things were done away in Christ. Circumcision is done away, as you see in Colossians iii. 10, 11,'And have put on the new mnan, which is renewed in. knowledge after the image of him that created him: where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor fiee: but Christ is all, and in all." The rite of circumcision is superseded by baptism, "for in Christ 192 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS..Tesus neither circumcision availcth anything', nor uncircumcistonz but a new creature." Gal. vi. 15,-He saith in another passage, "for as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither few nor Greek, there is neither bond norfree, there is neither male nor fenale: for ye all are one in Christ Jesus." Gal. iii. 27, 28. Again, the Sacrifices were done away. You see this in innumerable passages, I shall merely quote one, Hebrews x. 4, where the Apostle says, " It is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins," speaking of the sacrifices as " a shadow of good things to cone," " even of the sacrifice of Christ," "'wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:" &c.-he quotes here Psalm xl. 6, 7, 8, and then mark the Apostle's reasoning upon it, " above"-that is, "in the first place, when he said, sacrifice and offering, and burnt-offerings and offering for sin, thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; (which are offered by the law;) then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, 0 God, he taketh away thefirst,"-that is, all the legal sacrifices, He sweeps them all away at once, " that he may establish the second," that is, His own sacrifice,-" by the which will" (by His doing His Father's will, or by the decree of which will, since He hath fulfilled it,) we are sanctified, through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ oncefor all." Therefore, in writing to the Hebrews, he tells them, that, while the continual repetition of their sacrifices proved that they could not take away sin, they are all done away by the one atoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, because by Him is the remission of sins. So he argues conclusively in this chapter, and proves, that the sacrifices were repeated because they could not take away sin; but that the sacrifice of Christ was offered once for all, because in it, there is full and everlasting remission of sin. Then, their Passover was taken away. You recollect the remarkable words of our blessed Lord, in St. Luke xxii. 15, 16, "He said unto them, with desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer; for I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God." What did our blessed Lord mean by these words, "until it be fulfilled in, the kingdom of God." If you turn to 1st Corinthians, v. 7, you will find the explanation of it, — Christ our passover is sacrificed for us." When He bowed that blessed head upon the cross, and said,' It is finished," then that passover was fulfilled in the kingdom of God, the Lamb of God, typified by the paschal lamb, being then slain upon the accursed tree —the blood, typified by that sprinkled on the lintels and door posts of the Israelites, was then poured out from the side, hands and feet of the dying Saviour, and that precious blood proclaimed in the record of His eternal word both to Jew and Gentile, guilty sinners like us, that it might be sprinkled upon our consciences and our souls, and that we might be passed over in the day of God's vengeance. Oh, that it may LECTURES ON TIHE EPHESIANS. 193 be so! Oh, remember that passover is "fulfilled in the kingdom of God," —remember, " Christ our passover is sacrificed for us, therefore let us keep the feast, not with the old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." 1st Cor. v. 7, 8. Again, the Priesthood was another barrier between the Jews and all the other nations of the earth. But that priesthood is all done away in our glorious Redeemer. You see this argued at length in Hebrews, vii. The Apostle argues in verses 11, 12, of that chapter, " if perfection were by the Levitical priesthood,(for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron? for the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law." He then speaks of our blessed Lord; of Him, he says, verse 16, " who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life," and then, verses 23, 24, 25, " and they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death: but' this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. WVherefore, he is able- also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by hint, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them," and he closes the chapter in these words, "for the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was since the law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated for evermore." Therefore, the Lord Jesus Christ has superseded the whole of the Levitical priesthood; but He has not come to establish another priesthood as a priesthood to offer sacrifice for sin. Recollect, that all the Lord's people are called " an holy priesthood," and so, we call the ministers of our church, whose business it is to offer up prayers, whose business it is to administer the ordinances of the Lord, we call these priests, as being appointed in the Christian covenant, " to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable.to God, by Jesus Christ." I Pet. ii. 5. But when this principle is set forth, that the priesthood of the church is appointed to offer sacrifices for sins-when, for example, that blessed ordinance, the commemoration of our blessed Lord's sacrifice, is corrupted from its glorious intention-and instead of being made, as it is, the blessed memorial of the finished sacrifice of Immanuel- when it is, corrupted and perverted into a sacrifice, propitiatory unto God for sin,-the priesthood of the Lord Jesus Christ is denied-the work, the sacrifice of Christ is denied-the axe is laid to the very root of the Gospel, and instead of preaching "Jesus Christ, and him crucified," men, whether in the church of Rome or in the church of England, who preach such falsehood as that, preach not Jesus Christ, but themselves as the priests and ministers to take away sin from men. Mark this. Christ hath finished transgression, Christ is the priest, the only priest to offer up sacrifices to God for sin. Beware, how you turn your poor guilty consciences firom the Lord Jesus Christ to priests or ministers.. 13 194 LECTURES ON THE EPHIESIANS. Now, my dear Roman Catholic friends, if I address, as I trust I do, some of you to-day, this is one of the desperate corruptions of your church, that your priests are called sacrificing priests,-they profess to offer sacrifice for your'sins, they call the mass " a propitiatory sacrifice." Beloved friends, the good news of the Gospel is, that our precious Redeemer hath offered one sacrifice for sins. — Oh, look unto Him. There can be no repetition of it. Repetition must prove its utter insufficiency. That is the argument of the Apostle on the Jewish sacrifices, that the repetition of the sacrifices proves their inefficiency, their imperfection, but the oneness of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ proves that our blessed Redeemer's sacrifice was sufficient once for all, as he says in Hebrews x. 11, 14, " Every priest standeth daily ministering and ofering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: —but this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God; from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified." Why? because it was finished, the work was done, salvation was completed, the good tidings of the Gospel which He commissioned His Apostles to preach to sinners, now proclaim finished salvation through His precious blood shed once for all. Through Him this barrier of the priesthood between Jew and Gentile is swept away, and both Jew and Gentile pointed to the great High Priest, who " ever liveth to make intercession for us." Their daily food was also another barrier. You see that in Acts x., where the Apostle Peter, in the vision that he had of a sheet let down from heaven, in which were numbers of beasts of all kinds, four-footed beasts and creeping things, all mingled together, which, if you recollect, were separated by their law for the use of the Jews,-you remember the distinction marked between clean and unclean beasts, so that the Jews were obliged in their daily food to take care that they eat nothing unclean; and even to this day, most Jews will not touch a morsel of meat that has been slain by any one but their own Rabbies; they must have their meat slain by them, that they may be sure, that according to their law, not a drop of blood is left in it. At the same time that this vision appeared to Peter, " there came a voice to him, rise, Peter. kill and eat, —but Peter said, not so, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean. And the voice spake unto him again the second time, what God hath cleansed, that call not thou common." Acts x. 13, 14, 15. God hath broken down now. the barrier between Jew and Gentile, which consisted so much in the use of certain food, in things clean and unclean. God hath abrogated that now, God hath cleansed it, therefore thou art no longer to call that common. You see this set forth in Romans xiv. This principle could not be brought immediately into operation among the Jewish converts. The Jewish converts had been all their lives accustomed to the strictest care and vigilance in what they eat; and they could not be brought at once to see, that there LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 195 was no difference between clean and unclean meats: and therefore, their consciences were in a great number of instances, extremely scrupulous, and could not touch the things that they had been accustomed to consider unclean. This is that principle on which the Apostle writes in Romans xiv., to which it is important to advert. It begins, "Him that is weak in the faith, receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations; for one believeth that he may eat all things, another who is weak, eateth herbs." Some of the Jews did not think that they might eat all things, others of them did. Then the Apostle is here exhorting them to patience and forbearance and tenderness with one another on such points as these,-because, if a man's conscience is not sufficiently enlightened on a subject, provided he believes the truth, you are to receive him as a Christian brother, but not " to doubtful disputations.' This shows us, that there are many points on which the consciences of many may be weak, that is, not clearly enlightened, and that we should be tender and kind, and charitable, and careful of wounding them on minor indifferent points, if they are, by God's grace, brought to hold the head, and lean on Christ Jesus the Lord, as you observe the Apostle says, " Him that is weak in the faith,"-" in thefaith," —though " weak" in it. He says, verse 14, " I know and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself, but to him that esteemeth anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean." I read this verse to show you the complete abrogation of the ceremonial law on this subject. " I know and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself." Now, that text completely shows, that the whole system of clean and unclean meats is abrogated by the Christian dispensation. But I have known some instances, of devoted servants of God, who have had a tenderness of conscience about eating blood, they would not therefore eat game. or any animal that was shot. I have known highly intelligent Christians whose consciences are tender on the subject. I merely mention it to illustrate what the Apostle means-namely, persons whose consciences are weak in things in which the mind is not enlightened. But you see the ordinances as to all unclean meats were completely done away by the Lord Jesus, " nothing is unclean of itself," says the Apostle, "but to him that esteemeth anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean." If a man thinks he is doing wrong in anything, let him not do it, — happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth." verse 22. The whole system of the worship of the Jews was another barrier.-It is unnecessary for me to dwell on this for a moment, because you know it must have separated them from the whole world. You will find that dwelt on at large, in Hebrews, ix. 9, 10, 11, 12, where the Apostle speaks both of their worship and its abrogation, by the fulfilment of its types, " WVhich was a figure, (that is, their worship, their tabernacle worship,) "for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that cocld not make hin: that did the service perfect, as pertaining to 196 LECTURES ON THE EP'HES'IANS. the conscience; which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them till the time of reformation. But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redenption for us! All that worship of theirs, was but an emblem of the great and glorious work of Jesus-their sacrifices finished in the sacrifice of Christ-their priesthood abrogated in the priesthood of Christ. No longer was the High Priest to enter into the holy place with blood of others-when the blessed Jesus bowed His head on the cross, the vail was rent in twain from the top to the bottom, to show that the way into the Holiest of all was now made manifest to the sinner —when He Himself, the Great High Priest, passed into the heavens, there " to appear," once for all, and that forever, " in the presence of God for us." Therefore, you perceive that all the ordinances that had separated the Jew from the Gentile, had been completely done away. Now, let us read over the passage again, and I trust you will all understand it clearly, HE I IS OUR PEACE, WHO HATH MADE BOTH (Jew and Gentile)' ONE, AND HATH BROKEN DOWN THE MIDDLE WALL OF PARTITION BETWEEN US; HAVING ABOLISHED IN HIS FLESH THE ENMITY, EVEN THE LAW OF COMMANDMENTS CONTAINED IN ORDINANCES; FOR TO MAKE IN HIMSELF OF TWAIN ONE NEW MAN, SO MAKING PEACE; AND THAT HE MIGHT RECONCILE BOTH UNTO GOD IN ONE BODY BY THE CROSS, HAVING SLAIN TIE ENMITY THEREBY; AND CAME AND PREACHED PEACE TO YOU WHICH WERE AFAR OFF, AND TO THEM THAT WERE NIGH.ISo these are His own blessed words, speaking of the Gentiles,' Other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must, bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall bZ one fold, and one shepherd." John x. 16,' WVhere there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all." Col. iii. 11. But this passage of Scripture, not only shows, that He had made peace between Jew and Gentile, but further, L"THAT HE MIGHT RECONCILE BOTH UNTO GOD IN ONE BODY, BY THE CROSS, HAVING SLAIN THE ENMITY THEREBY." Now let me call your attention to the difference that there is between these two words, or rather this same word in these two verses. The word " enmity" in the 15th verse, and the word " enmity" in the 16th verse. The enmity in the 15th verse is the enmity between Jew and Gentile, HAVING ABOLISHED IN HIS FLESH THE ENMITY," and He tells you what that enmity was, " EVEN THE LAW OF COMMANDMENTS, CONTAINED IN ORDINANCES." But the " enmity" in the 16th verse, is the enmity that both Jew and Gentile have to God. This is the enmity that you read of in Romans viii. 7, " the carnal mind is emity against God." But LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 197 mark, too, the different expressions that are used — HAVING ABOLISHED IN HIS FLESH THE ENMITY, (between Jew and Gentile) EVEN THE LAW OF COMMANDMENTS, CONTAINED IN ORDINANCES "-but the enmity between God and man is spoken of differently,-" HAVING SLAIN THE ENMITY THEREBY." The first enmity is "ABOLISIHED"-the enmity between Jew and Gentile is taken away, the commandments and ordinances are abrogated. The second enmity between them and God, is " SLAIN," because the carnal mind, the carnal nature, the carnal heart, the old man, all the rebellion of the believer against his God, is slain foreverdead upon the cross of Christ. I pray you attend to this. He says "HAVING SLAIN THE ENMITY THEREBY." Look to Romans vi. 6, 7, "Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin." I have dwelt very often on this passage of Scripture and the glorious truth contained in it. But now, let me dwell on it again, for we ought all to dwell on it every day,-" our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin, for he that is dead is freed from sin." There is no sin chargeable upon a dead body, a dead body can have no sin. He that believeth in Christ Jesus the Lord is accounted by God as dead with Christ upon the cross'; he is accounted as one with Christ, and dead with Christ. As the justice of God had been fully satisfied, all the demands of God's righteous law had been finished when Jesus died-finished forever, not only for the Jew, but for every sinner that believeth on Him,-so all who believe are dead with Christ, as you have in this chapter, Romans vi. 11, " Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord," and in Colossians iii. 3, " Ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God." What is the practical application of this?: Look to the next chapter, Romans vii., and you will see it practically applied by the Apostle Paul;-he, speaking of his own sense of sin, his own corruption, his own burden, says, " I see a law in my members warring against the law of my mind, and bringingg e into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members." He felt what you, believer, feel. I say, you believer,-every one of you who believe the Gospel of Jesus, feels as Saint Paul feltif'you believe, you feel within, your own corrupt heart, rebellious against your conscience, against your own standard of right, which is the holylaw of God, and when you would desire to do good, you find evil present with you, you feel that " law in your members, warring against the law of your mind, and bringing you into captivity to the law of sin that is in your members,"-it is the law of your body of sin and death,-you feel that law evermore contending against the law of your mind, and bringing you into captivity every day. This very day, since you came into this congregation, there is not a single one among you, that has been able to worship God as you desire to do. There is not a single 198 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. one among you who feels you have worshipped God as you ought to do. Any of you who are dead in trespasses and sins,-you think you are very good —you have come to church,-you have said your prayers,-as you call it, and you think you are very good for doing so. But you, believer, feel very differently, you feel your poor heart distracted, vain and foolish thoughts have come into your mind since you came into this house, and defiling all your prayers, you feel how little you worship God as you long to do,-you mourn that you are continually more inclined merely to' "say your prayers" than to pray-thus you feel that corrupt heart of yours warring against the law of your mind, you feel you cannot do as you ought,-so did the Apostle Paul, and then he cries out, " Oh, wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" then he adds, "I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord,"-as much as to say, " I am delivered from it, it is dead with Christ, though it is living in meworking in me-though it is bringing my heart down-making me sink under a sense of my own guilt and vileness,-yet, I thank God it is dead with Christ-it is crucified with Him-its transgression is finished-its sin is made an end of-it never can come against me-my God has blotted it out-the blood of the Lamb has washed it away, and therefore, I thank God through.Jesus Christ.' My blessed Redeemer has slain the enmity of this guilty heart to God, and so has reconciled me, a guilty sinner to my God and Father." Oh! then, rejoice, believer, lift up your heart, look to your Lord and Saviour, triumph over death, sin, and hell, and thank your God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Then-when groaning and brought low as he was-then-when like him constrained to cry out, " Oh, wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" let faith triumph over sin and death, and say, " I thank God through Christ Jesus." That is faith, that is trust, that is confidence in God's blessed word. " Lord increase our faith." So then, " HAVING SLAIN THE ENMITY THEREBY,72 and reconciled Jew and Gentile unto God, "IN ONE BODY BY THE CROSS, HE CAME AND PREACHED PEACE TO YOU WHICH WERE AFAR OFF, AND TO THEM THAT WERE NIGH, -peace to the Gentile, and peace to the Jew, i PEACE TO THEM THAT WERE AFAR OFF, AND TO THEM THAT WERE NIGH." And is not this peace? Is it not peace to see your sins blotted out through the blood of Jesus? When Jesus has made peace by the blood of His cross, what can make war? If God is satisfied, if eternal justice is satisfied, what have you to fear then? " It is God thatjustifieth, who is he that condemneth?" Who can condemn when God acquits? when the Judge of heaven and earth pronounces the sinner innocent? Oh, what an amazing expression! what a paradox! But what a truth!! when God pronounces the sinner innocent?-Innocent sinner! Did you ever hear of such a thing? Yes, blessed be God! though a sinner, yet counted innocent,-though guilty, yet counted clear, through the blood of the Lamb! Oh, is not this LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 199 peace? "HE CAME AND PREACHED PEACE TO YOU W HICH WERE AFAR OFF AND TO THEM THAT WERE NIGH." How did Christ preach peace? How does He preach peace? He preached peace by His prophets, Isaiah xxvii. 5, "Let him take hold of my strength, that he may make peace with me;" (that is, Christ,) " and he shall make peace with me." Then again He saith, lii. 7,: How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, thy God reigneth!" And again, lvii. 19, " I create the fruit of the lips; peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near, saith the Lord; and I will heal him." This appears to be the very passage that the Spirit suggested to Saint Paul, when he quoted this verse, " PEACE TO YOU THAT ARE AFAR OFF, AND TO THEM THAT ARE NIGH.") Again, He preached peace by His angels. What was the song of the angels when the blessed Redeemer was born?-when they came to announce the birth of the Saviour?' Glory to GoJ in the highest, and on earth, peace, good will towards men." Again, He came and preached peace by His own word, as he says in St. John's Gospel, xiv. 27, " Peace I leave with you, my peace Igive unto you, not as the world giveth, give I unto- you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." Again, He closes His conversation with His disciples in these words, " These things have Ispoken unto you that in me ye might have peace." John xvi. 33. And what was that peace You see that peace explained in chapter xx. 19. After our blessed Lord arose from the dead, when He came on the first day of the week to, the room where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, what were His first words, when He came and stood in the midst of them? The first accents that fell from His blessed lips were these, " Peace be unto you!" The very men that "forsook him and fled." Peter that denied Him with an oath-to him He saith, "' Peace be unto yotu." And again, in eight days after, to Thomas, who said he would not believe unless he put his finger into the print of the nails, and thrust his hand into His side,-what is the first word that Jesus speaks to them all? "Peace be unto you, and when he had so said, He showed them his hands and his side." As much as to say, " Peace be unto you," and, behold here is the purchase of that peace-here is the price of peace, here is the security of peace,-"Behold my hands and my side." Well indeed may those words be added, " Then were the disciples glad, when'they saw the Lord." v. 21. " HE CAME AND PREACHED PEACE TO YOU WHICH WERE AFAR OFF, AND TO THEM THAT WERE NIGH.)" To His disciples, who were Jews-to Saul, a Jew too, a persecutor and blasphemer-to you, poor idolatrous worshippers of Diana at Ephesus,-and blessed be His name, it is the same peace to us who are far off, poor Gentiles in these islands. So He preaches peace by His Apostles. What is His commission to them? " Go ye into all the world, andpreach the Gospel 200 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. to every creature." Mark xvi. 15. What is that Gospel? Peace with God, through Jesus Christ our Lord, pardon through His blood, and peace through His salvation. So you see the Apostles preaching. I should go through the whole of the Apostolical epistles, were I to quote on this subject. How do they commence all their epistles? " Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father, acndfrom our Lord Jesus Christ." How did St. Peter preach his first sermon? To whom was the first proclamation of peace made? To whom did the Apostles make the first proclamation of peace? To the men whose hands were embrued in the blood of Christ. See Acts ii., when Peter had testified against them for their crimes, and when they cried out, what shall we do? "Repent, and be baptized every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, for the promise is unto you, and unto your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call." v. 38, 39. Come to the Saviour whom you have slain, come to Him, whose blood has stained your guilty hands, come to Him, receive pardon and peace. He preaches " PEACE TO YOU WHICH WERE AFAR OFF, AND TO THEM THAT WERE NIGH." He preaches peace by His ordinances. What is that feast? What is that which is spread on that table? Who instituted that ordinance? For what purpose was it instituted? Was it not by Him "who in the same night that he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he brake it and gave it to his disciples, saying: take, eat, this is my body which is given for yozu: do this in remembrance of me. Likewise after supper, he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, drink ye all of this, for this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for you and for many for the remission of sins. Do this, as oft as ye shall drink it, in remembrance of me." The pledge of peace-the memorial of peace, purchased by the blood of Jesus, just as fresh this day as when it came from His own blessed hands. There is the ordinance remaining, immutable to this day, from the night He instituted it among His disciples to this moment. There it is, just as it was, broken bread and poured out wine, the memorial of peace, and this TO YOU WHO WERE AFAR OFF,: says the Apostle, " AND TO THEM THAT WERE NIGH." Oh, blessed be God! peace is purchased for them that are afar of, and I dare say, I address some sinners who are very far off from God, to-day. I have no doubt, I address many who are very far off from Him indeed-sunk in sin and wickedness-coming into a church-perhaps, they do not know why-perhaps some-who seldom attend a place of public worship-sabbath-breakers-liars ~drunkards —thieves-murderers-adulterers-all, or any other class of sinners. If such be your character, you are far from God-you have no peace with God-no comfort-terror at the thought of death-trying to forget that you are immortal beingshating anything that forces you to remember it-perhaps greatly LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 201 displeased, now, at my thus addressing you-perhaps anxious to go, but ashamed to go out of the church-ashamed to get up and go out-hating me, for testifying against your guilt and misery; and thinking I am speaking to your case-perhaps you think soan accusing conscience has a fearful power in applying the Word of God. You are far from God. What shall I say to you? What is my commission to you? " PEACE, PEACE TO YOU WHO ARE AFAR OFF." However guilty your poor soul is, the message of the Gospel is peace. The message of God's law indeed is terrible-the message of God's justice is terrible-it is vengeance, judgment, curse, death and hell. Oh! " consider this, ye that forget God, lest he pluck you away, and there be none to deliver you." But that is not the message of the Gospel. I must speak of these things to you, but for what purpose? to enhance to you the glory of the everlasting Gospel, the riches of Immanuel's grace, who sends a message of peace and mercy to your souls, " PEACE, PEACE TO YOU WHO ARE AFAR OFF. I address, I doubt not, some, who compared with you, think they are very nigh, some who may be very diligent in all their observances of religion, some Pharisees who are strict in all the ordinances of their Church, and who would not for the world, omit one of them,-but who still are resting their souls on these observances and ordinances, resting their souls on what they are doing for themselves. They may be said in one sense to be nigh to God; for they attend on the worship of God, "they draw nigh with their lips," but " their heart is fr from Himi," they are just as far from peace as you, such persons are all alike far from peace, -they are as far from peace as the publicans of old. The Pharisees and Scribes were just as far from peace and from God, as the publicans and harlots; and so it is with them. Indeed, often as of old, the publicans and harlots go into the kingdom of God before such, and often it is, that to a poor, wretched, guilty, vile sinner, whose character is blasted among men —the sound of the Gospel will reach his ear-the peace of Christ Jesus will touch his heart-his soul will be melted at the foot of the cross, and he will come, like her who had her mighty debt forgiven —lie down at his Saviour's feet and wash them with his tears. Oh, that it may be so among you to-day! And remember, dear fellow-sinner, whoever you are, there is but one peace. "PEACE TO YOU WHO ARE AFAR OFF AND TO THEM THAT ARE NIGH," peace to the Gentile-peace to the Jew,-peace to all who bear the name of Christian, whose heart may be as far from God, as Jew or Pagan-our message is, peace to all through the blood of Christ. Oh! that God, by the blessed power of His Spirit, may bring this home to your hearts and consciences, my friends, that you may know what it is to have peace with God through Christ. May the Lord apply it,-may the Lord bring it home with demonstration of the Spirit and of power to your souls, that you may know the sweetness of having the blessed message of God's mercy. 202 LECTURES ON THE EPHFLSIANS. and the blessed ordinance of Christ's salvation spread before you, and that your souls may be enabled to feed on Him who is our Peace, our Rest, our Rock, our Salvation,-to "feed on Him in'your hearts, by faith; with thanksgiving." Amen. EIGHTEENTH LECTURE. EPHESIANS IL-18. "For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father." ON the last day, we considered the state of the Gentiles by nature, as expressed in 11th and 12th verses-severed from the people of God, the Jews-severed from the ordinances and the revelation of God, and consequently from God Himself. " Having no hope, and without God in the world." We considered the means by which they were brought nigh to the people of God-brought from a state of guilt and condemnation, into a state of union with God's people, and into a state of peace with God Himself, even by Christ Jesus. " Now in Christ Jesus," adds the Apostle, in the 13th verse, "ye who sometimes were afar off are made nigh by the blood of Christ,"-made nigh to the Church of the Jews,-Jew and Gentile united together, and both made nigh to God-all one in Christ Jesus; "for he is our peace." He-that is Christ Jesus, " who hath made both one" —Jew and Gentile who believe in Him, -~ and hath broken down the middle wall ofpartition between" us, -which separated the Jew from the Gentile,-" having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances, for to make in himself, of twain, one new man, so making peace, and that he might reconcile both unto God in, one body by the cross." Recollect, then, the way in which alone we can be reconciled to God,-by the blood of Christ, by the cross, " having slain the enmity thereby:" having slain the enmity between man and God by the cross, having "borne our sins in his own body on the tree," 1 Pet. ii. 24,-having taken our flesh, " that through death, he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil; and deliver them, who through fear of death, were all their lifetime subject to bondage." Heb. ii. 14, 15, and so "having made peace by the blood of his cross, he came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh:"-to the Gentiles who were afar off, and to the Jews who were nigh, who had the oracles of God, and the ordinances of God, and the means of grace, but who sl;ill, though nigh in outward LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 203 form and privileges, were just as far separated in spirit and truth as you were. Outward forms, ordinances, and privileges, may be said, in one sense, to bring a sinner nigh to God, as they do. They bring him within the means of grace, they enable him to come. and hear the Gospel preached, to come and attend instruction from the word of the living God, as in Lectures, to come and attend the ordinances of God, as in public Worship and Sacraments, these things all bring a sinner, in a certain sense, outwardly nigh to God. You are all, of course, in this sense, far nigher to God than many of your poor countrymen and countrywomen, who have no Bible, no Gospel preached to them, no message of peace or salvation to their souls, but vain superstitions substituted for the Gospel of Christ;you are much nearer to God in that sense than others. But remember that these things do not bring the sinner spiritually nigh to God; you may enjoy all these outward ordinances, and be just as far from God as the heathen, or the idolater who never heard His name. The Scribes and Pharisees were just as far from Christ as the worshipper of Diana of Ephesus, though they enjoyed all His ordinances, and in that sense were nigh to God; they disbelieved the record of the eternal Gospel, and were, in that sense, as far from God as the remotest heathens. Therefore, remember this distinction, and it is very important, for Alas! my dear friends, we are so apt to rest in outward means, and outward ordinances, to mistake the forms of religion for religion itself, the privileges of spiritual religion for spiritual religion itself-that we have great need to be driven every moment back into our own hearts, and to stop in the midst of ordinances and privileges, and ask ourselves,"What is this to me? Is my soul brought nigh to God by the blood of Christ? Have I peace with God through Him that died on the cross? Am I ready and watching when my Master calls me? or when my Master comes?" These are important questions; -take heed, you do not rest in outward privileges. Outward privileges are only aggravations of guilt, if they do not bring us nearer to God in spirit and truth, therefore mark and recollect this distinction in reading this passage of Scripture-He came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh." The Apostle proceeds, "FOR THROUGH HIM WE'BOTH HAVE ACCESS BY ONE SPIRIT UNTO THE FATHER.? This is the text at which we commence this day. Observe in this passage, the only way in which a sinner can come to his God: " THROUGH HIM, WE BOTH HAVE ACCESS;" Jew and Gentile alike-none other access for either. Observe how this agrees with the expression of our blessed Lord Himself, in the 14th chap. of St. John's Gospel, 6th verse, " I am the way and the truth and the life, no man cometh to the Father but by me," and again he says in the 10th chapter, 9th verse " I am the door, by me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out andfind pasture." Therefore, observe, through Him alone we have access. Now consider, 204 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. what need of access a sinner has to his God. We must all ap. pear before the judgment-seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in his body." 2 Cor. v. 10. Time is hurrying us on. We are, as it were, grasped in the mighty hand of time, and dragged or driven along, however reluctant we may be, to the precipice of death. Like the poor culprits of old, who were sentenced at Rome, to be hurled down from the summit of the Tarpeian rock, we are, as it were, hurried along under the sentence of death to the verge of the precipice of eternity;-on-on-down -down we must go. We cannot turn about and parley with the officers that are hurrying us along; we cannot turn about, and say to the minutes, hours, and days-" Oh! stop,-wait,-linger a little slower,-give me a little more time,-do not fly so fast,-a little space-a little respite." Impossible! on, on, on, on we must go; who or what shall arrest the rapidity of our progress? What barrier can be erected to stay the flight of time? Is it not necessary then, for the poor sinner to have access to his God? If you could suppose a culprit, such as I have been speaking of, doomed to be cast from the summit of the Tarpeian rock-if, when he was in the act of being dragged to the execution of his sentence, it were possible that he could even then have access to the means of pardon -if it were possible that even then, his voice might reach the ears of the judge who could reverse his sentence-Oh! with what joy would he pour forth that cry, would he send forth that supplication to the judge's ear, if haply indeed, his fate might be arrested, and he might be restored to liberty and life! Though we cannot pause on our progress to eternity, yet may we have access every moment to the ear of our Judge; and remember, that it is not a sinner crying to God for respite, and for pardon.-No —but this is the awful point of the case, that it is God crying to the sinner to receive respite and pardon;, turn ye, turn ye, why will ye die?" Remember this;-it is not, only, come you to God, cry you to the judge, for the judge will have mercy upon you. But the language of the Gospel is a message from your God to you, crying to you.-Oh! sinner, peace, peace, pardon, pardon, " come unto me and I willgive you rest," " look unto me and be ye saved." Oh! think of this; "he came and preached peace to you who were afar off," here is the access; you may have access continually to your God. God invites you, —commands you,-to cry to Him, to come to Him, He proclaims peace to you, however far-pardon, however guilty. Now, " through Him, we have access" —then' if we feel the need we have of this access, let us consider the nature of it. Let us open the 4th chapter of Hebrews, and we shall see, that such is the nature of the access which the sinner has to his God, that he is not only privileged to come, invited to come, but to come with confidence and boldness. Look at the last verse, " let us therefore come BOLDLY unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." " Let qs therefore"-wherefore?-what is the reason?-what is the means? You observe, it is exactly the same that is set be LECTURES ON THE EPIIESIANS. 205 fore us in this text, for in this text it is said, " THROUGH HIM, WE HAVE ACCESS, BY ONE SPIRIT UNTO THE FATHER." Now, if we look at the reason, 4th chapter of Hebrews, why it is said, "let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace,"-if we look at the word " therefore" and ask ourselves the question, wherefore? We shall find it answered in the 14th and 15th verses, " Seeing then that we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest who cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us THEREFORE come boldly unto the throne grace." Mark-" Seeing then that we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens." Who is this High Priest? what is the office of this Priest? what is the necessity of a Priest? what has a Priest to say to us? " Every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices." Heb. viii. 3. We see the office of a priest is to offer gifts. and sacrifices. Then, we find in the 7th chapter of the Hebrews, 26th verse, " Such an high priest became us," was suited to us " who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than, the heavens; who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for his own sins, and then for the people: for, this he did once, when he offered up himself; for the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity; but the word of the oath which was since the law, maketh the Son, who is consecratedfor evermore." Now we are told, in this passage of Ephesians which we have been reading, that sinners are " made nigh by the blood of Christ" -— we are told that He slew the enmity between God and man, on the cross, by giving His own life on that cross for sinners-we are told that He offered up Himself as an atonement for man's transgressions,-He was a Priest, He was a victim,-such is the language of St. John, " Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world!" Behold the Lamb of God slain on the cross for sin:-now, behold the Lamb risen from the dead, and ascended into heaven, not only a Lamb and a victim, but a Priest, " he is passed into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God," "having obtained eternal redemptionfor us." We read in the 9th chapter Hebrews, from the 24th verse, " Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place'every year with blood of others; for then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself." And in the next chapter, from the 11th verse, "Every priest standeth daily ministering, and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God; from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool; for by 206 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before, this is the covenant that Iwill make with them after those days, saith the Lord: I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them: and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin." Where is remission of sins? whence is it? How is it to be found? In the blood of Christ. " The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin." Then, where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin,"-there is nothing more to be done.-" Having, therefore, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; and having an high priest over the house of God; let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised:) and let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching."' Heb. x. 19 25. Now, to compare these passages of Scripture. We have here, in Ephesians, the blood of Christ bringing the sinner nigh-we have that blood poured out on the cross as a way of access-we have, in the 4th chapter of Hebrews, and in other passages to which I have called your attention, Jesus, the high priest, who is passed into the heavens, the Son of God, a merciful and faithful High Priest-we have his two offices as a Saviour:-his office as a victim, an atonement; and His office as a priest to carry that atonement into the presence of the Father-we have both these brought together, in the 10th chapter of Hebrews,-and in these three passages, we have announced this blessed truth, that a sinner, a guilty sinner,-you,-I,-any-every sinner, has access to God, freely, boldly, continually, through the blood of the victim, and the glorious intercession of the great High Priest, who hath taken that blood into the heavens, and appears with that blood as an all sufficient offering, to cleanse the chief of sinners, " THROUGH HIM WE BOTH HAVE ACCESS BY ONE SPIRIT TO THE FATHER." Thus, as in the 4th chapter of Hebrews, " let us, therefore, come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need;" and as in the 10th Hebrews, " having, therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; and having an high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith." Oh! sinner, see what an access there is for you here! There is no qualification necessary for you, except that which you possess; there is not one LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 207 ot us who has not this qualification —the only qualification that is necessary for us to come with the greatest confidence to the throne of grace,-and what is that? It is that we are sinners, that we are guilty sinners; that is our qualification. What is our plea? There is the victim offered for the guilty,-there is the Great High Priest who is passed into the heavens, and who has carried that victim, His own pierced hands, and feet, and sides, to the throne of grace; that victim, that bleeding victim is the sinner's plea; the One who offers it, is the sinner's Priest, his Friend, his Refuge, his Redeemer, his God. What more can we want? Oh! my friends, that we were all but enabled to enjoy this blessed Refuge as we ought to do! When we think of the constant, the ever-during need the sinner has of access to the throne of grace! and of the glorious way of access,-Christ "the way, and the truth, and the life," how can we sufficiently appreciate THE NATURE of this access. It is a free access, an open access, an access in which the sinner may have boldness with confidence, as we see in the very next chapter, Ephes. iii. 12, " in whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of Him." How blessed, then, is the thought that it is an ever open access, the way is always open, so saith David, Be Thou my strong habitation whereunto I may continually resort:" Ps. lxxi. 3, "continually resort:" there is not a moment of our life, not a circumstance of our existence, there is not a state of want, misery, destitution, wretchedness, bereavement, guilt, ruin, there is no earthly position in which we can be placed, in which the cry of the Gospel is not just the same to us, come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest," Mat. xi. 28,' look unto me and be ye saved." Is. xlv. 22. Oh then consider, dear friends and fellow-sinners, consider what a privilege is here open to us! Here may we all have access, every Jew and every Gentile. But there is an important word here, there is an important person, an important agent, that must not be left. I fear not to assert, that the truths which I have just laid before you, and the passages of God's eternal Word which I have quoted to substantiate these truths, are as irrefragable as the foundations of the earth itself-for they are the truths of the living God. But such is your state, such is my state, that-important and true as they are, and supported as they are on the foundations of God's eternal Word-I might as well address them to the seats you sit on, as address them to you, or to myself, unless the Spirit of the Living God, who indited these truths, should bring them home to your hearts, and to mine. Therefore observe, " THROUGH HIM, WE HAVE ACCESS BY ONE SPIRIT TO THE FATHER." YOU see, how the Three Persons of the ever-blessed Trinity are brought together, in this verse, in their different offices, as they are in so many passages of God's Word. You see the Three Persons so distinctly mentioned here, that they cannot be confounded or mnistaken. 208 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. " THROUGH HIM," through whom?-Christ, the mediator of the new covenant, God the Son. " WE HAVE ACCESS" unto whom? —" UNTO THE FATHER," from whom the sinneriis separated by nature-from whom he is at a distance-cast off by his own rebellion. THROUGH HIM, WE HAVE ACCESS TO THE FATHER. But who brings us? Do we come of ourselves? Are we willing, are we ready? Never:-" you will not come to me, that you might have life." John v. 40, is language that is just as suited to our hearts as to the hearts of those to whom it was addressedthe Scribes and Pharisees,-" You will not come to me that you might have life." How are you brought?-" Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power." Ps. cx. 3. Our Lord saith, "It is written in the prophets, and they shall be all taught of God; every man, therefore, that hath heard and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me." John vi. 45. And thus " THROUGH HIM WE HAVE ACCESS, BY ONE SPIRIT UNTO THE FATHER." The Spirit of God must quicken the soul, the Spirit of God must open the understanding, the Spirit of God must bring the truth home to the sinner's heart and conscience, or the sinner remains dead in trespasses and sins, and perishes in his iniquity, for " no man can say, that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost," 1 Cor. xii. 3. What therefore are we to do? We find these truths written in the word of the Living God,-our own guilt, our own misery, our own condemnation. We see written in that Volume, our own entire inability to do or think anything good. We see written ill that word, the glorious testimony of salvation proclaimed fully, freely, through the blood of Christ, to the chief of sinners-we see that this is brought home to the sinner's heart by the word of God; accompanied by the Spirit of God; and we see that the Spirit of God is freely given to every poor sinner who asks for it. " If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give himi a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? or if he shall ask an egg will he offer him a scorpion? If ye, then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the holy Spirit to them that ask him." Luke xi. 11, 12, 13. Now, there is Christ's promise,-take that promise, plead that promise on your knees before the Throne of God. Did you ever try it? Did you ever take your Bible and go into your closet, and take one of the promises of God, for example that promise in the 11th chap. Luke,-did you ever take that promise, kneel down on your knees, and cry to God thus:"Oh, God, I am a poor, lost, helpless, vile sinner: I have no inclination to come to Thee, I have no power to come to Thee; Lord, Thy word tells me, thy precious promise assures me, that Thou wilt give Thy Holy Spirit to them that ask Thee; Lord. I come, I would plead Thine own promise before Thee, it is Thy word, Lord; it is written, Lord, as a promise to poor guilty sinners LECTURES ON THlE EPHESIANS. 209 I come to Thee for bread, Thou wilt not give me a stone! iMy Father, my earthly father never cast me off; he never, when I went to him for bread, sent me empty away, or gave me a stone: O Lord, wilt Thou do so? Oh, no, Lord, I know that Thou wilt not, yea, how much more wilt Thou give Thy Holy Spirit to them that ask Thee. Oh, give it to me, incline my heart to read Thy blessed word, bring Thy promises home to my understanding, to my conscience, to my heart, teach me to know Christ as my refuge, teach me to bathe in the fountain of His precious blood, to wrap my soul in His spotless righteousness, give me access with confidence by the faith of Him to Thee. Lord hear me-Lord fulfil Thy promises for Jesus' sake to my soul." Now did you ever do this? If a friend, a patron wrote to you, giving you a promise of anything that you wanted, and that you could not possibly obtain through any channel or from any person but Him, what would you do? Suppose he delayed to give it to you; suppose you did not get it in time as you required; suppose your need of the fulfilment of his promise pressed on you, what would you do? You would take his promise, go to him, or write to him, remind him of his own letter, tell him what he had promised you, tell him your want, ask him to fulfil his word. And is not that the use to make of the promises of the living God? Would you not expect your friend, if he were true-if he were a person of integrity and power,-would you not expect he would keep his word-that he would fulfil his promise? And shall we not trust in the truth-the faithfulness and power of our God? Did you ever know or hear of any one who trusted in the promises of God, and was disappointed? You never did, and you never shall. " Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away2' Mat. xxiv. 35. Then think of these things, consider, what a blessing is comprehended in this one verse; it is quite sufficient to consider at one time; — THROUOGH HIM, WE B30TII HAVE ACCESS BY ONE SPIRIT TO THE FATHER." May the Lord the Spirit enable you and me to profit by this. great and precious truth of the word of God this day, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. 14 NINETEENTH LECTURE. EPHESIANS II-19. "Now therefore ye art no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God." I HAVE endeavored in the course of my Lectures on this chapter, t.o impress on your minds the great truth which is so continually brought before us in the word of God,-namely, the actual state of every individual on the face of the earth, either that he is before God in the actual condition of guilt and condemnation, so that, if cut off in that state, he must perish. Or that he is, before God, in the actual state of acceptance and salvation; so that whenever he is called away in that state, he departs and is with Christ; so that he may say with the Apostle, " whether we live, we live unto the Lord, or whether we die we die unto the Lord, whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's." Rom. xiv. 8. And I wish you to bear this continually in mind, because I believe there is no one truth of which persons are more entirely ignorant than this. They believe they are in an uncertain state, they believe that they are in a doubtful condition, they will not say, that they are children of God; that, they think, would be too much to assume; they will not admit that they are children of Satan,-that, they consider would be too awful to contemplate: but remember, my friends, you must be in one state or the other. If you believe, that all sinners when they die, must go to either of two places. either enter into that "rest which remnaineth for the people of God," or that they must have their portion among those to whom the Lord shall say, " depart ye cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:" if you believe that that is the condition of every individual at the hour of their death, remember, they must be fitted for one or the other of these conditions, at every moment of their existence. You and I must be so now, and I entreat you to consider this chapter over and over again, with reference to this one great truth. Observe the condition in vwhich the Apostle again and again asserts that men are by nature; and observe the state In which the Apostle testifies, that believers are by grace. It is to this latter view of the subject, our attention is called to-day. On the last day, you recollect, we considered the access which the sinner has, through Christ, unto the Father, by the Spirit; and in the 19th and following versos, you see the state of every believer who enjoys this blessed access. " Now therefore ye are LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 211 no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; and are built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone, in whom, all the building, fitly framed together, groweth into an holy temple in the Lord, in whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit." Now, I pray you, refer to the 12th verse, and contrast it with the 19th. You see, in the former, the state in which he describes them as having been. "At that time ye were without Christ, being aliensfrom the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:" that was their state;-observe now their present condition, 19 v. "Now THEREFORE YE ARE NO MORE STRANGERS AND FOREIGNERS, BUT FELLOW-CITIZENS WITH THE SAINTS, AND OF THE HOUSEHOLD OF GOD:' you were "aliens fromt the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from t-he covenants of promise," but now " YE ARE NO MORE STRANGERS AND FOREIGNERS," yOU had "no hope, and were without God in the world," —but now you are " FELLOW-CITIZENS WITH THE SAINTS, AND OF THE HOUSEHOLD OF GOD." Can there be a more plain or striking contrast between the two conditions than there is in these two verses, the 12th and 19th. Now, there is one great blessing contained in these verses-and that is, that these two verses refer to the same individuals. Observe, you were so and so, you are now so and so. You and I certainly were, and perhaps, too, many among us yet are, as he describes in the 12th verse " without Christ," and as to all real spiritual blessings, "aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world." These same individuals, who were in that condition, are now brought out of it; you are not what you were, the Apostle says, you are' NO MORE STRANGERS AND FOREIGNERS, BUT FELLOW-CITIZENS WITH THE SAINTS." Now, dear friends, is not this a most important question for us to consider? There may be many among us who have never seriously considered it; for certainly if there are any (as it is to be feared there are,) who are not brought to the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, you never have considered this question-how am I brought from the one condition to the other, from being " an alien and a stranger, without hope and without God in the world," how am I brought from this, to be made a " FELLOW-CITIZEN WITH THE SAINTS, AND OF THE HOUSEHOLD OF GOD?" IS it not most important that you should be brought from one state to the other? Consider what is your condition if you are not brought. And then consider. what is your blessed condition, if you are. Remember then, remember the way, 13th verse, " Now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off, are made nigh by the blood of Christ." Let me dwell on this, for those whose consciences testify that they are not brought nigh, and let me illustrate the truth 212 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. We have just sung that beautiful hymn of Cowper's containing these lines: "There is a fountain filled with blood, Drawn from Immanuel's veins; And sinners plunged beneath that flood, Lose all their guilty stains. The dying thief rejoiced to see That fountain in his day; And there may I, as vile as he, Wash all my sins away." Let us then consider the case of the Thief on the Cross. When he hung there as a malefactor, having joined his fellow-culprit as we know he did (Mat. xxvii. 44) in mocking Christ-in reviling that blessed Saviour who was hanging on the Cross beside him; what was his condition? Was he not, as those mentioned in the 12th verse, an' alien from the commonwealth of Israel, and a stranger fromn the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world?" But we see in his case the work of the Holy Ghost-there was no preaching to that thief, he had no Bible in his hand or in his heart when he was nailed to the cross-it was the Holy Ghost's work, whose special office it is, to take of the things of Christ, and show them to the sinner. He alone can enlighten by means-or, as in this case, without means. But when that blessed Spirit touched the poor thief's heart, and taught him to know, that he who was hanging crucified beside him, was the Lord of life and glory, that He was indeed the King of kings, in whom it was to be fulfilled, " Lift up your heads, 0 ye gates, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in." Ps. xxiv. 7.-I say, when that blessed Spirit touched this poor thief's heart, and taught him to know Christ, to turn to Him, whom but a moment before he had been revilingto look to Him as his Refuge, and to cry to Him, " Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom"-what was then his condition? he was then "no more a stranger and a foreigner, but a fellow-citizen with the saints, and of the household of God," his Lord's answer of mercy sealed his inheritance and adoption to his dying ear,-" This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise." He was then ready to be transplanted to glory. Now the same fountain that washed that thief is open to you and to me,-there is no other means to cleanse the least stain of sin, "there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved," Acts iv. 12. And if there be any of you who have not come to bathe in this fountain, Oh, come and bathe there to-day! See how soon the poor sinner can be washed in it! See, how soon the dying thief was washed in it! Turn ye then, and behold the blessed condition of those who are "made nigh by the blood of Christ,"-they are " No MORE STRANGERS AND FOREIGNERS, BUT FELLOW-CITIZENS WITH THE SAINTS AND OF THE HOUSEHOLD OF GOD." LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 213 Consider the image used here by'the Apostle-how it illustrates the difference between the state of man as unreconciled, and as reconciled to God. A stranger and a foreigner in a city has no home there-he has no property-no privileges, no rights, in the city-no habits, interests, pursuits, in common with its inhabitants. Therefore his heart, his desires, his affections, his feelings, are alien from that city where he is a stranger, and are given to his own city and his home. He is in all these points contrasted with the inhabitant of the city. There is his home-there his property-all the privileges and rights of the city belong to him; even though he is absent from it-still they are his-his interests and his cause are one with its inhabitants-therefore his heart, his desires, his affections, his feelings, are all identified with his city and his home. How truly does this apply to the difference between the unconverted and converted sinner. Speak to a man who is not "nmade nigh by the blood of Christ," of the blessings, the rights, the privileges, the possessions, and the home of the saints-tell him of the great Charter of their Salvation, and all its glories in the blessed word of God and you see he evinces that he is "a stranger and a foreigner," he shows he has neither home, property, privileges, interest, feeling, care, or concern in the matter. To dwell on such subjects-to engage in the pursuits, or to be occupied in the company of those who are "FELLOW-CITIZENS WITH THE SAINTS, AND OF THE HOUSEHOLD OF GOD,' would be to him intolerable, His possessions, his home, his interests and his heart are in the world. But not only are they strangers and foreigners, but enemiesmen are more than aliens from a city, when the very name of its inhabitants is a term of reproach, as that of Samaritan was with the Jews. So they said to our Lord, " Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil." John viii. 48. And alas! my friends, as I have before remarked, in what an awful state is the nominal Christian church. —In what an awful state is the Protestant Church, when there are so many thousands, nay, tens-hundreds of thousands belonging to it, who in their blindness and ignorance, take the very name of God's servantsthe very name of those, of whom some serve Him here on earth, and some surround the Throne of His glory-to be fellow-citizens with whom is the highest privilege of man-and make it a nickname to mock at,-" SAINTS!!" The very term with multitudes is a name of scorn. Is not this an awful state of blindness and ignorance, when even the title that God bestows on his people, is borrowedfrom His holy Word, as a name of reproach? Are not these "aliens?" Are not these "strangers and foreigners?" But remember that the Church of Christ-those who are " made nigh by the blood of Christ," are truly enrolled among the saints; they are " FELLOW-CITIZENS WITH THE SAINTS," they are sanctiied in Christ Jesus. Recollect the means whereby they are brought 14 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. to God and sanctified. Recollect our Lord's own words to the Apostle Paul, when He sends Him to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles, He says, " To whom now I send thee, to open their eyes, to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and an inheritance among them which are sanctified, byfaith that is in me." Acts xxvi. 17, 18. And recollect, in the 13th of Hebrews, the same truth is set before us, 11th and 12th verses, " The bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp, wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate." Thus they are sanctified by the blood of Christ, by faith in Christ, through the teaching of the Holy Ghost by the Word, that is, they are made saints, they are " made nigh by the blood of Christ," they are made holy, they are taken from the mass of a guilty world, and they are " washed, they are sanctified, they are justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God," 1st Cor. vi. II; therefore he says, YE ARE FELLOWCITIZENS WITH THE SAINTS." We have this expression used by the Apostle in the 3rd chapter of Philippians, though our translation does not exactly convey it, yet the original word is the same, -it is according to our translation, " our conversation is in heaven," but the original word is, " our citizenship (noZrlevuva) is in heaven," we are citizens of heaven;-our citizenship is there. St. Paul was a Roman citizen, he had the privileges, and enjoyed the privileges belonging to one. He demanded, as you recollect from Claudius Lysias the rights of Roman citizenship. But he was a citizen of a far higher city than that of Rome, he was a citizen of the Kingdom of God, he was a "FELLOW-CITIZEN WITH THE SAINTS." We have this subject expanded more in the 12th chapter of the Hebrews, where the Apostle contrasts the state of those under the law, with that of those under the Gospel-of the Jews when in unbelief, with that of Jews as believers-of those under condemnations with that of those who are sanctified in Christ, 18, 19, 20, 21, verses, " For ye are not come unto the Mlount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they'that heard entreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more; for they could not endure that which was commanded, and if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart: and so terrible was the sight, that loses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:" That is-ye are not come to the Mount that was to be seen and touched, namely, Mount Sinai-where the Law was given amidst thunderings and lightnings, and clouds and tempest-where blackness and darkness, and flame, and the terror of the trumpet, and the sentence of death pronounced against any, even a beast that should touch the mountain, all proclaimed aloud that " the law worketh wrath." Rom. iv. 15, and that by its deeds "no flesh coui LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 215 bejustifed." Rom. iii. 20, that it was-as it was, and is-a ministration not of life, but of death to the soul. Ye are not come, saith the Apostle, to that Mount;-" But," he adds in the 22, 23, 24, verses, " Ye are come unto lMount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the first-born, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus, the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, which speaketh better things than that of Abel." The contrast in this passage of the Hebrews between the condition of the unbeliever and the believer, is the very same that we find in this chapter of the Epistle to the Ephesians, only expressed in different terms. Let me entreat those who hear, who have not fled to Christ for refuge, to consider how solemn that contrast is. Some there are of you, perhaps, whose hearts are wholly occupied about this passing, perishing world,-taking anxious thought for " what ye shall eat, and what ye shall drink, and wherewithal ye shall be clothed." Mat. vi. 31-thinking how you shall maintain yourselves-improve your trade-increase the profits of your shop or farm-advance yourselves in your profession-or perhaps only considering how you may amuse yourselves, if-in the lan guage of the poet, you are " Cursed with means To dissipate your days in quest ofjoy-" but never-never thinking of your God, " asfor the ungodly; he, careth not for God, neither is God in all his thoughts:" Ps. x. 4, -never contemplating that awful eternity to which you are rushing on, as fast as time can hurry you; and never considering the fearful condition of the sinner, passing, in such a state, into the presence of his Judge. Some perhaps there are again different from these-religious, not in God's way, but in their own. Many are religious in their own way, " we have turned every one to his own way:" Isa. liii. 6.-man has his own way of religion, as well as his own way of iniquity, and some of you may be very religious thus-laboring to wash your Ethiopian skin-to qualify yourselves to come into the presence of your Creator-abstaining from certain sins, and hoping that God will give due merit to your self-denial, —practising certain virtues, and expecting that God will give you credit and reward for them. So you may be either, perhaps careless, without any religion, or secure, as you vainly imagine, in a false religion" going about," like the Jews, " to establish your own righteousness, and not submitting yourselves to the righteousness of God." Rom. x. 3. To whichsoever of these classes you belong, (and to some grade of these every unenlightened sinner may be reduced,) consider to what you are come. " You are come to the mount that might be touched, that burns with fire, unto blackness and dark 216 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. ness, and tempest, and the sound of the trumpet, and the voice of words"-that sinners' ears could not endure. That is, you are come to the mount of the Holy and Eternal Lawgiver-the flames of justice and the clouds of the outer darkness surround His throne-the tempest that shall sweep away every refuge of lies rolls before Him-the sound of the trumpet that shall summon the guilty to judgment, heralds the sentence of your doom-and the thunder of that voice that the ear of the unpardoned sinner can never bear to hear, peals from His lips. You are come to the law, which, as a careless sinner, you are daring to despise-or, which, as a self-righteous Pharisee, you are vainly and ignorantly expecting to fulfil. You come to " the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones," 2 Cor. iii. 7; you are come to " the ministration of condemnation" v. 9.-you are come to the law that condemns you-to the Judge that pronounces sentence upon you-you are drawing near to the mountain -and as certain as you come to it, you shall be, not " stoned or thrust through with a dart,"-but bound hand and foot, and cast into outer darkness, as a rebel against God! Such must be your state, if either living carelessly in your sins, or "going about to establish your own righteousness," you know not Christ, and seek Him not. He is dead in vain for you. You are a " stranger and a foreigner." But if you have indeed'fledfor refuge to lay hold on the hope set before you," Heb. vi. 18,-if you know your sin and misery, and know Christ as the Hope and Refuge of your souls, Oh, lift up your head, and see the blessed testimony of your God concerning all who are indeed, "c made nigh by the blood of Christ,"-you have access by Christ unto the Father, " you are come unto mount Zion, unto the city of the living God," to " the city which hath foundations, whose builder and mnaker is God," Heb. xi. 10, you are " FELLOW-CITIZENS WITH THE SAINTS.' And, then, see what that city is,-" the heavenly Jerusalem," there is your home -there the place which Christ hath gone to prepare for His people -there is your " house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens," —2 Cor. v. 1, there your " inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away." 1st Pet. i. 4. But you are not only come to His city, but His Household, ye are " FELLOW-CITIZENS WITH THE SAINTS, AND OF THE HOUSEHOLD OF GOD," — and who are your fellow-citizens? who are members of this household? You are come to " the innumerable company of angels, the general assembly and church of the first-born, which are written in heaven." Their names are enrolled there in the book of life, and you are their " FELLOW-CITIZENS," SO your names must be written there too. Who reigns in this city? " and to God the Judge of all,"-the Judge that has pronounced the sentence, not of condemnation, but of acquittal upon you, for " it is God thatjust Jifeth, who is he that condemneth?" Rom. viii. 33, 34, you are "washed in the blood of the Lamb." You are come to Him, then, not as a Judge, but LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 217 as a Father-not only to His city, but to His household-and you have come "to the spirits of just men made perfect," those who have gone before you, through the wilderness-some, perhaps near and dear to your hearts, who have trodden the pilgrimage through trials, sufferings, sorrows and sins-through vexations, cares, temptations, perplexities-tears often starting from their eyes —and many sighs bursting from their hearts-but who are now "rested from their labors," and departed "to be with Christ, which is far better." Phil. i. 23,-you are come to these-and to Him who saved both them and you, " to Jesus, the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, which speaketh better things than that of Abel." " You, who sometimes were far off; are made nigh by the blood of Christ," "YOU ARE NO MORE STRANGERS AND FOREIGNERS, BUT FELLOW-CITIZENS WITH THE SAINTS, AND OF THE HOUSEHOLD OF GOD, AND ARE BUILT UPON THE FOUNDATION OF THE APOSTLES AND PROPHETS, JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF BEING THE CHIEF CORNER-STONE.? Oh, what a blessed privilege it is for a sinner to be enabled to look to such a rest, such a city, and such a home. Observe, he says, " ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched;" Sinai, with all its terrors and judgments, was visible and tangible, as the fruits of sin are sensibly felt and suffered here below-and so " in this tabernacle we groan being burthened." But the blessings which are purchased for sinners by our glorious Lord are all as yet unseen. That for which we'hope is hid from our eyes, for " what a man seeth why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it." Rom. viii. 25,-so saith the Apostle, " your life is hid with Christ in God." Col. iii. 3, the life that you enjoy is a hidden life;-you see it not, it is not a life of sense or of sight, it is a life of faith, "we walk by faith, and not by sight." 2nd Cor. v. 7. Faith indeed may give substantializing views of this, but still it is " the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Oh, believers, consider what a blessed privilege it is to realize by faith the things we hope for! Oh, that we all could see, and feel, and rejoice by faith as we ought to do! How would it lift up our hearts in the midst of our trials, cares, and conflicts within, and without, in our pilgrimage,-if, as we are toiling along in our weary journey, we could lift up our eyes and look at the turrets of the city whither we are going, and behold by faith the pinnacles of the New Jerusalem! Oh, blessed cheering prospect! Like the poor weary traveller, when he comes within sight of his home, and sees the smoke curling among the trees, and anticipates his reception, his welcome, and his rest Oh, how blessed for a poor sinner, if he knows his privileges, to' look for, and haste unto the coming of the day of God." 2 Pet. iii. 2. That is what St. Paul means in the passage of Philippians to which I have adverted, when he says "our citizenship is in heaven." Observe the use he makes of it-"from whence also, 218 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself." Phil. iii. 20, 21. And this, too, is what the Apostle John says in his first Epistle, 3rd chap. 1st and 2nd verses; -" Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God! therefore, the world knoweth ius not, because it knew him not; beloved, now are we the sons of God; and it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know, that when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is." You see with what confidence the Apostle speaks "Beloved, now ARE WE THE SONS OF GOD, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but WE KNOW that when He shall appear, we SHALL BE LIKE HIM, for we shall see Him as He is." We are His children, we are OF His HOUSEHOLD, we are "FELLOW-CITIZENS WITH HIS SAINTS," and, therefore we are "looking for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things to himself." This is the very same idea that the Apostle uses in the next chapter, "for this cause I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named." Observe, " the whole family in heaven and earth;" one family:-part of the family are at home, part of the family are abroad, part are still travelling in the wilderness, and part have travelled through it, and have reached the end of their journey, and are at rest on the bosom of their Lord, " The toilsome way thou'st travelled o'er, and borne the heavy load, But Christ hath taught thy languid feet, to reach his blest abode: Thou'rt sleeping now like Lazarus, upon his Father's breast, Where the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary are at rest." Part of the family are safe in Canaan, part are on their journey coming up to the River Jordan" One army of the living God, At his command we bow, Part of the host have crossed the flood, And part are crossing now." Some are beyond the flood, some coming up to the banks, but it is one family, " the whole family in heaven and earth." And think you, that that family in heaven, are safer than the family on earth? No; for those who are on their way, are "kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation." Allwho are looking to Jesus " are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints and of the household of God." Well then, is not this a blessed truth? And now, believer, perhaps, you may be often weary in your earthly household. There may be many things in your tabernacle here that distress and afflict you. Your habitation may be poor, and very sad, and melancholy, in many respects. But, pause LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 219 and look at the fact-Is that your household? Is that indeed your home? Is the place that you are living in here-is this your real rest? Nay, have you not another and a better household? Is not this rather your little tent, pitched here for a. few nights, or the inn you are lodging at for a few days? Are you indeed a' FELLOW-CITIZEN WITH THE SAINTS"? Are you " OF THE IOUSEHOLD OF GOD?" What! " OF THE HOUSEHOLD OF GOD!!" think of this expression; " OF THE IOUSEHOLD.7 It is one word; it occurs but three times in the New Testament,I.-Galatians, vi. 5, where we are exhorted, " whilewe have time let us do good unto all men especially unto them that are of THE IOUSEHOLD of faith." II.-It occurs here where those who are of "THE HOUSEHOLD OF FAITHI are declared to be of " THE HOUSEHOLD OF GOD." The last place it occurs is in 1st Tim. v. 8, in which it is said that " if any man provide notfor his own and specially for those OF HIS OWN HOUSE he hath denied the faith and is worse than an infidel." Shall the Lord commend' to our special love and care,' THE HOUSEHOLD OF FAITH?" Shall he assure us that they are HIS HOUSEHOLD, His FAMILY? Shall He tell us, that he that "provideth notfor HIS OWN HOUSE hath denied the faith and is worse than an infidel?" and shall not He provide for His OWN HOUSEHOLD'? Yes! my brethren, "JEHOVAH-JIREH," is written on every page of the history of His Church. When He provided the Lamb for the burnt offering, He provided all things in Jesus; for " He that spared not his own Son but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?' Rom. viii. 32. Fear not, believer, " all things are yours, whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come, all are yours, and ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's." 1st Cor. iii. 21, 22, 23. Fear not, believer, whatever be your wants, spiritual or temporal, fear not. It is written, " my God shall supply all your need, according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus," Phil. iv. 19. Surely this is the inheritance you derive under your Father's will -this is the possession which your Lord assures you is your own, as of His household. Therefore, lift up your heart, and look unto Jesus. " Gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Christ Jesus." 1 Pet. i. 13. And Oh! unbelievers, my poor unbelieving friends, if there be any here, who as yet know not, and belong not to this " HOUSEHOLD"-you too are uneasy perhaps, about your earthly habitation; and thinking how you may embellish, enlarge, adorn, improve it-perhaps meditating how you may exchange it for a better, thinking how happy you would be, if you were in such or such circumstances —or how much better off, if you were in such or such a place. Well-suppose your wishes gratified-your ex pectations realized-and that you had all your hearts could desire This question comes-" what will you do in the end thereof?" If 220 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. this is your all, what a miserable all it is. Is it a cottage? Or is it a palace? How poor is a palace when the unhappy owner has no hope beyond it!-how poor is a throne!-how poor is a perishing world!'Alas! "what shall it profit a man, to gain the whole world and lose his own soul?" Mat. xvi. 26. But, Oh! there is a better household, there is a better inheritance. Think what it is to be " OF THE HOUSEHOLD OF GOD!" Oh! look unto Christ, and be ye saved.-You have, no doubt, a wounded conscience, and a troubled heart. You have tried, perhaps, many physicians to heal your distempered soul, and you are nothing better, but rather worse,-and so must it be to the end unless you come to Jesus. Come, then, and touch the border of Immanuel's garment; the woman mentioned in the Gospel said, "f If I ay but touch his garment, I shall be whole." Mat. ix. 21. Come now He is as near to you as He was then to her,-come touch the border of His garment. It was not only that poor woman, but " as many as touched him, were made perfectly whole." Mat. xiv. 36. " The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin." Remember, what Christ saith to His disciples in the 14th ch. St. John, " Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe in' God, believe also in me; in my Father's house are many vmansions, if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you, and if Igo and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also." If He is gone to prepare a place for you-then, lift up your eyes to those mansions! that household of God where Christ is gone to prepare a habitation for His people; look to that, there is a rest, a rest indeed-and indeed there is no rest in anything beside. There is no rest for the sole of our foot on the troubled waters of this weary world, no more than there was for the dove on the waters of the deluge. And it is well for those who look for a better rest, that they cannot find a rest on earth-how ready would we be to make nests for ourselves, to nestle here below-but our God, our Father will not allow us. If we are looking to Christ, He has prepared some better things for us. If your father and mother expected you at home, and if they thought, you were lying lazily down to sleep in some hovel on the road-side, instead of hastening on to them, how would they be disappointed and distressed. They would send, if a messenger could reach you, and say to you, " Oh, come home, why rest in such a place as that? We are waiting for you, expecting you at home." Thus, our heavenly Father will not let us take up our abode in hovels on the road side, He will compel us, He will constrain us to come home, He will send His messenger to reprove, to quicken us, to chide our dull delay. He will make us " gird up the loins of our mind," and teach us to " be sober and hope to the end." How can we sufficiently appreciate the blessing till we reach our Father's house, of being "FELLOW-CITIZENS WITH THE SAINTS, AND OF THE HOUSEHOLD OF GOD!" I said, St. Paul was a Roman citizen, and therefore had a right LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 221 to the privileges of his citizenship. And do you remember how he used them? Do you recollect when the chief captain bound him, and would have scourged him, he asks, " Is it lawfulfor you to scourge a man that is a Roman, and uncondemned?" Acts xxii. 25. And do you remember how, when the chief captain heard he was a Roman, he was afraid, and let him go, the terror of the Roman name was upon him, and he dare not scourge or bind a Roman citizen. And do you think there are no privileges belonging to the citizenship of the city of the living God? If the chief captain feared the Roman Emperor, if he should dare to invade the privileges of a Roman citizen, or to infringe the rights of Rome, do you think, the King of Glory is not watching over his citizens, and vindicating their privileges and their rights in all their trials? Oh! remember —Satan, and the flesh, and the world, shall no longer have power to hold you captive-" sin shall not have dominion over you,for you are not under the law, but under grace." Remember, all your foes can do nothing that the King your Father does not permit. They shall do nothing but what is for your good, for " all things are working together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." Rom. viii. 28. Think, then, of these things! Oh blessed thought! we shall never reach the end of our privileges-they are for eternity. Oh, may we be enabled, through the grace and mercy of our God, to know -enjoy-live on them as we ought, to live to the glory of our God and Father-to "glorify God in our body and in our spirit, which are God's." I beseech you consider these things, compare these two verses, the 12th and 19th-study the intermediate verses, and they will show, how man is brought from the state of an unbeliever, in the 12th verse, to the state of a believer, in the 19th. Mark —how in that short compass you have laid before you " the fulness of the blessing of the Gospel of Christ," and let us pray that the Lord may enable us to know, to understand, to believe, and rejoice in the unsearchable riches of our adorable Redeemer. Amen. TWENTIETH LECTURE EPHESIANS II.-20, 21, 22. "And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone: in whom all the building, fitly framed together, groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord, in whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit." ON the last day, we considered some of the privileges of believers, as they are set forth in the 19th verse. We contrasted the state in which they had been, as " aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world," with that in which they now are; being'" made nigh by the blood of Christ," having " through him access by one Spirit unto the Father," "no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God." The Apostle proceeds to show them the stability of all their privileges, in the 20th verse, which we consider to-day, "AND ARE BUILT UPON THE FOUNDATION OF THE APOSTLES AND PROPHETS, JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF, BEING THE CHIEF CORNER-STONE.' You are " BUILT UPON THE FOUNDATION,"-this is an expression, or rather an image, which is repeatedly used throughout the whole of the Scriptures;-the Church of Christ is compared to a building, and the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, to the foundation. We meet it in the Prophet Isaiah, xxviii. 16th verse, the Lord there declares "Behold I lay in Zionfor afoundation, a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner-stone, a sure foundation, he that believeth shall not make haste." We find the Apostles repeatedly using this image; we see it, in the sermon of Peter, in the 4th chapter of the Acts, where he says, alluding to our Saviour who was foretold in the prophecy that I have just read to you-to His rejection by the Jews, and His exaltation as foretold Ps. cxviii., 22, he saith 11th and 12th verses, " This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner, neither is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." And so the Apostle in the 3d chapter 1st Cor. 11th verse, " Otherfoundation can no man lay, than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." The Lord Jesus Christ. is set forth as the foundation on which the sinner must rest all his hope, He is the foundation on which rests all our salvation, the foundation, on which, as on a rock, the whole Church of Christ is built. LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 223 Now, before we consider this any farther, let me pause, and ask all who are here, or rather let me entreat you my dear friends to ask yourselves, " Is Jesus my foundation?-Is all the hope of my salvation built on Christ?" It is a question, which perhaps every nominal Christian would be ready to answer in the affirmative, " Oh, yes," he would say, " I have no hope of being saved but by Christ, I could not be saved without Christ." But we shall find on examination, that while many persons make this confession, nevertheless, He is not the foundation of their hope. Their confession is a sentiment which they have been accustomed to admit in words, not in principle. They prize it, and they have learned to confess it with their lips; but in saying, that they cannot be saved without Christ;-They mean this, " I know that my own righteousness-my own works-my own merits-my own efforts, are not a sufficient foundation for me to rest my hope on, if I had not Christ to make them so; if Christ's merits were not to be added to the best that I can do, I know I could not be saved, but I trust through Him that my humble efforts will be accepted." Such is, I fear, the hope of multitudes who call themselves Christians. If this is your opinion, be assured that Christ is not the foundation of your hope at all. If we say, "this house is founded on a rock," we do not mean, it is partly founded on a rock, and partly on the sand, but we mean to say, it is altogether founded on a rock. Now, your hope, if it be as I have described, is founded partly on a rock, and partly on the sand; and if a house is partly founded on a rock, and partly on the sand, it might as well be all founded on the sand; for the foundation of the half will be soon washed away, and then it must fall to ruin. If you think that Jesus makes your works and efforts acceptable to God for your salvation-and that therefore, He is necessary, so that, in this sense, you cannot be saved without Christ-if you mean this -then Christ is not your foundation at all; He is merely the helper of your salvation,-He is not your Saviour. The foundation that is laid on Christ, or rather the hope that is built on Christ, is entirely built on Christ. The whole of Christ's righteousness, without any mixture of your own whatever, that is the righteousness of the sinner whose hope is built on Jesus. The whole of Christ's redemption-the finished pardon that He has bought with His blood-which gives the soul complete and full acceptance with God, without any reference to his own works-except this that they are sinful and therefore unable to save him that is the resting place for the soul of every sinner who trusts in Jesus. He can say " Jesus hath paid my debt, He' is the end of the law, for righteousness' Rom. x. 4.-for me. He hath satisfied the divine justice for me. He hath passed into the heavens, as my Great High Priest, having obtained eternal redemption for my soul. Christ is my peace. He is my Lord, my Master, my eternal 224 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. Salvation. If I look to myself, I am all doubt, all fear, all apprenension. If I look unto Christ, I have no doubt, no fear, no apprehension, because Christ has done all,'finished transgression, made an end of sin, made reconciliation for iniquity, brought in everlasting righteousness.' Dan. ix. 24. Therefore,'Why art thou cast down, Oh my soul, and why art thou disquieted within me, hope thou in God.' Ps. xlii. 5, lean on this rock, rest on this foundation." Such is the language of a soul that is built on Christ. Here an expression is used, which is a peculiar one, "ARE BUILT UPON THE FOUNDATION OF THE APOSTLES AND PROPIIETS." What is the meaning of being " built on the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets?" There are two passages in Scripture which seem similar, one in the 16th chapter of St. Matthew, where our Lord says to Peter," I say unto thee that thou art Peter, and upon this rock will I build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." This is the passage from which the members of the Church of Rome take their doctrine, that Peter is the foundation of the Church, that the Church is built upon Peter. If the Church is built on the Apostles at all, we see it is built, not alone on Peter, but on all of them; for here it is said, BUILT UPON THE FOUNDATION OF THE APOSTLES AND PROPHETS," and we have a similar expression in the 21st chapter of Revelations, 14th verse, "the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb." But what is the meaning of being "built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets?" Is it that the Apostles or Prophets, Peter or all of them, are a foundation on which sinners are to rest their hope or their salvation? No more on them than any other sinners. We might just as well say, that we are built on one another, or on any sinner on the face of the earth, as built on one or all of the Apostles, if you consider the Apostles or Prophets in reference to themselves, or their persons. It does not signify built on them as a foundation, but built on that which was their foundation. The foundation of a wall or city does not mean the wall or the city itself, but the foundation on which the wall or city is built-so it is here. " The foundation of the Apostles and Prophets," is not they themselves, but the foundation on which the Apostles and Prophets were builtand the testimony which the Apostles and Prophets bore, was a testimony of Christ, and a testimony to Christ, as the foundation of our salvation; so they say, as we have said before, "'other.foundation can no man lay, but that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." This is equally true, whether we consider with some, that the word " Prophets" refers to the inspired Prophets of the Old Testament-or to the evangelical preachers of the New. I am rather inclined to adopt the former opinion, and if that be right, then of them it is true, " To him give all the Prophets witness, that, through his name, whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins." Acts x. 43. If the latter opinion be LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 225 correct, then to testify of Jesus as the foundation, is the office of all faithful preachers since Jesus died. I need not enter into the question of the Church of Rome, in reference to Peter, further than to quote the Apostle himself. He cites this very passage from the Prophet Isaiah, to which we have referred a little before; and he gives the interpretation of that passage, he says, 1 Peter ii. 4, 5, speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ, " To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God and precious, ye also as lively stones are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ." If Peter were to have been called, in himself, the foundation of the Church, we see he here deserts his post-he abandons his place as the foundation of the Church, and leaves the Church built on him to fall, because he renounces such a title, and calls the Church to its true foundation, even to Christ; —and then he quotes the passage, verse 6, " Wherefore also, it is contained in the Scripture, behold, I lay in Zion, a chief corner stone, elect, precious; and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded;" verse 7, " unto you therefore who believe he is precious." Here he describes believers; then alluding to those gwho reject the testimony of God, he says, "but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence, even to them that stumble at the word, bein2g disobedient." He shows us what their disobedience isstumbling at the Word, and denying the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, " the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets" is the very same thing which our Lord means, in that passage where he addresses Peter, when, in reply to the question, " Whon say ye that I am? Simon Peter answered and said, thou art the Christ, the Sonl of the living God; and Jesus answered and said unto him, blessed art thou Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say unto thee that thou art Peter, and upon this rock will I build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." " On this rock." This is the foundation laid by the Apostles and Prophets in their testimony,the Prophets prophesying of Christ as a foundation-the Apostles testifying of Christ as a foundation-Peter here acknowledging and confessing Christ as a foundation, as we see him calling sinners, and calling the Church in his Epistle to rest on that foundation. So "' upon this rock will I build ny Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." So the Apostle here speaks of it in a consolatory manner, to the Church of Christ, " YOU ARE BUILT UPON THE FOUNDATION OF THE APOSTLES AND PROPHETS,"-that which is laid in their testimony and in their word, and in which they trusted themselves-on which they themselves are built, and on which they call the world to rest. As they were first built on Christ, and, as it. were, the stones immediately laid on Him, and then the Church called by them laid 15 226 LECTURES ON TIE EPHIESIANS. next to them-so, in this sense, it might be said, you are built upon that foundation, " JESUS CHRIST BEING THE CORNER STONE" on which the building rests-on whom, and by whom, Jew and Gentile are united, and thus, "IN WHOM ALL THE BUILDING FITLY FRAMED TOGETHER, GROWETI INTO AN HOLY TEMPLE IN TIE LORP." Here then, the church of Christ, its foundation, and superstructure are described. Its foundation-the Lord Jesus Christ. Its superstructure-all the members who rest on Him —all the other parts of the building. He it is " IN WHOM, ALL THE BUILDING IS FITLY FRAMED TOGETHER.? And in Him the building itself, " GROWETH INTO AN HIOLY TEMPLE IN THE LORD." And then, that the Church at Ephesus might know their own place in the building, he adds, " IN WHIOM YE ALSO ARE BUILDED TOGETHER FOR AN HABITATION OF GOD THROUGH THE SPIRIT." We may here remark how the grace of God, of which the Apostle had been speaking throughout this chapter,-is prominently set forth in this image. As well might we say, that the stones, of which the walls of this building in which we are assembled, are composed, could quarry themselves out of the mountainconvey themselves to this spot-fit themselves together into that wall-and raise this structure which we behold around us-as say, that the church of Christ is collected and gathered together by the natural good will-good inclinations-good understanding-reason — faith-excellence-or merits of the persons who compose it! Not more certainly does the hand of the workman quarry the stonesbring them together-lay them in order on the foundation-and erect them into the superstructure which they compose; than the Lord of life and glory calls sinners by His Spirit and His power, out of their state of natural darkness, ignorance and death-brings them to the Lord Jesus Christ-layeth them on Him as a foundation-buildeth them up on Him, and fitly frameth them together as a holy temple in the Lord. We may observe then, in the first place, the grace of God, in gathering His Church. " By grace are ye saved, through faith."' Then we observe, the stability of that Church; they are " BUILT ON THE FOUNDATION OF THE APOSTLES AND PROPHETS"-their foundation is Immanuel. Their "builder and maker is God;" -they have been brought by sovereign grace, every individual among them, to know the " truth as it is in Jeszus"-There is no member of the church of Christ that is not taught these lessons; their guilt-their ruin-their utter helplessness-their utter inability to deliver their own souls,-none who are not instructed in Christ as their hope-their only hope and refuge-yea, all their salvation. They are all taught of God, though their degrees of knowledge and experience in all the doctrines of truth may be very different. One man may have a much greater fear of his guilt and condemnation-another man may have much deeper views —more humbling, self-prostrating views of his own coirup LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 227' tion and abomination-another may have much clearer and brighter views of the finished work of.s glorious Redeemer-a much more lively assurance of faith and hope,-these principles may be, and are exceedingly varied, not only in different believers, but in the same believers at different times; but they all learn the same lesson, they are all brought to renounce themselves-to fly to Christ as their hope and refuge; they are all brought to know — to look to —to lean on, and rejoice in Christ. So the Apostle Peter, in the passage I have quoted, speaking of the church being built on this living stone, says, " Unto you therefore who believe, he is precious." This is the characteristic of every true child of God. Yes, " to you who believe, he is precious," whatever may be your state, whatever may be your circumstances or feelings, now or at any other time, Christ is precious to your soul. Those who know not Christ, as the foundation of their hope-He " hath no form or comeliness," Isaiah liii. 2, to them. But to those who know Christ, he is indeed precious, " the chiefest among ten thousand," yea, "altogether lovely." Cant. v. 10, 16. Some may say perhaps, " Alas! I wish it were so with me, but I find my heart so cold and dead, that this is the very thing that distresses me, I do not feel that I love Christ as I ought to love Him, and therefore I am cast down, that thought casts me down, to those who believe Christ is precious, but I do not feel Him so, as he ought to be to me." Well, I say unto you, if this be your feeling, lift up your heart; for if He was not precious to you, and if you did not love Him, your own coldness and deadness could not be a source of grief to you: you would not feel that coldness and deadness if you did not love Christ: and those who love Him most, feel how little precious He is to them, compared to what He ought to be. For Oh! how precious ought Christ to be to us! How contemptible everything else on this earth ought to be, when it comes into competition for a moment with Christ! " WVhom have I in heaven but thee, and there is none on earth that Idesire besides thee," saith the Psalmist. Ps. lxxiii. 25. There is no sin, no earthly joy or pleasure, no carnal gratification-nothing that the whole world could bestow that we could not count it all loss for Christ, if He was precious to us as IHe ought to be. Let us seek that we may know Him more and more, for if He is not precious to us as He ought, it is because He is not known to us as He ought. Let us all consider what we are, what Christ has suffered, what He has done for us, —let us remember how He has borne with us —let us reflect what provocations, what innumerable provocations He has received from us, since He taught us that He was our Hope and Refuge,-let us consider our ingratitude-what vile returns we have made to Him for all His love and tenderness-and yet how He has kept us-and has borne with us,-and has not withdrawn His grace and mercy from us He has brought us here to-day-He has opened His glorious Word before us-again He calls us to Himself-again He testifies of the riches of His love-the exceeding riches of His grace, His invita 228 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. tion is-" Come unto me and I will give you rest." Mat. xi. 2S. Oh yes! Christ ought to be precious to us, indeed-and cold, compared with what we owe to Him, are the warmest affections of our hearts. We behold then, the grace of the ILord in building His church, as set forth in this chapter-and this stability of the church, as resting on that foundation. The church is founded on a rock, and the stability of this foundation is one of the things -which makes Christ precious to the soul. Do not be doubting, 0 believer! do not be distrusting yonr Lord —do not allow your own sin, your own ingratitude, your own unbelief to make you doubt your Lord's love. Surely it was not for anything good in you that He loved you first, and brought you to Himself; and He will not cast you off now, for all your unworthiness, and all your vileness, when you bring it all to Him, —' Trust in him at all times ye people, pour out your hearts before him, God is a refuge for us." Ps. lxii. 8. We are told continually that this is great encouragement to licentiousness, an encouragement to go on in sin; nay, but, it is the encouragement the Lord gives to His people, to love and serve him, and if the grace and love of Christ is abused, as we grant, that the doctrines of grace, have been abused, and may be abused again to licentiousness, yet, if they are so, is that a reason that we are to stint the children of God of the " Bread of life," because the devil chooses to mix poison with it for his own children? The children of God will not turn the grace of God to licentiousness, they shall not do so. We have seen, verse 10, that they " are his worckmanship created in Christ Jesus, unto good works, which God hath before ordained that they should walk in them." They shall be taught to know and feel the power of this truth, Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound, God forbid. How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein?" Rom. vi. 1, 2; they. shall be taught to know and feel, that as' where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:" It is not that they are to " continue in sin that grace may abound," but " that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord." Rom. v. 20, 21. Nay, this is only the means of lifting up the sinner's heart from the love and power of sin. It was the grace and love of Christ that first brought your soul to know, and to rejoice in Christ, and it is the same power alone that shall keep, and carry you on to trust and serve Him, so saith the Apostle, " the love of Christ constraineth us, because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead, and that he died for all, that they which hlve should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him that died for them, and rose again." 2 Cor. v. 14, 15. Therefore, consider, that God is the foundation on which your soul rests, and the stability of the Church is derived, not more from the security of her foundation, that she rests on Christ, than from the power of her Lord, who keeps, and guards, and preserves her for ever LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 229 more, I the Lord do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, Iwill keep it night and day." Isa. xxvii. 3-He saith by the Prophet. So they are kept, " kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation," saith the Apostle Peter, i. 5. Then we are to consider, not only the grace of the Lord, and the stability and security of His Church, but also, the unity of the Church in Christ. This is, perhaps, a view of the question which it requires as great an exercise of faith to see distinctly, as any truth connected with it; for alas, what divisions do there appear in the Church of Christ! yea, even among those who clearly profess to believe the Gospel-among those, who from their life and conversation, we suppose make a true profession that they know Christ-that they love Him, and that He is precious to their souls! Yet alas! what divisions appear among them! how we see them " contending about words to no profit but to the subverting of the hearers!" 2nd Tim. ii. 14. What contentions exist about forms of government-of discipline-forms of worshipforms of words-ordinances of various kinds —modes of administering ordinances-opinions. on points of speculation-some looking in the church on earth for the purity of the church in glory; separating-dividing among themselves-causing divisions and schisms in search of a pure church —trying " to bring a clean thing out of an unclean," Job xiv. 4, foolishly and ignorantly anticipating the work of the angels in separating the tares from the wheat, and forgetting that both must grow together till the harvest!!! Alas, what a heart-rending view the state of disunion among believers, presents to one that really knows and feels, what the spirit of union ought to be among all the children of Christ! Yet, in spite of all this, whatever it may appear to the eye of sense, still, "'THE WHOLE BUILDING FITLY FRAMED TOGETHER, GROWETH INTO AN HOLY TEMPLE IN THE LORD." Out of all the various outward churches, and outward denominations of those that profess the name of Jesus, the Lord is gathering in His own flock into His fold-the stones of His own temple, they are all'' FITLY FRAMED TOGETHER' in His eye, and all " GROWING INTO AN HOLY TEMPLE IN THE LORD." This is the proposition that is written here, it must be true, it is as true as His word,-and yet, there is nothing, perhaps, connected with the Church of Christ, that requires a greater exercise of faith than the belief of that truth. But so it was even in the days of the Apostles. See what a dissension arose even between Paul and Barnabas, a contention so sharp " that they departed one from the other," Acts xv. 38.-and that too, about Mark. Yet, the Lord overruled this, one goes one way, and the other goes another. And while their contention is calculated to humble them both, and make them feel what they are; the Lord can overrule the evil to make them go and declare His Word in different countries, and bring the message of salvation to the souls of sinners in different places. The Lord can thus overrule even evil for good in gathering the stones of His spiritual temple. Paul was obliged to with 230 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. stand Petel to the face, for Peter was temporizing with the Jewish believers. Yet that stands recorded in the word of eternal truth, and a blessed record it is; for that, among other testimonies stands as a witness against the awful delusion of that fatal apostacy, which would make that Apostle the foundation on which men were to build the hope of their salvation! You see then, the Lord can overrule even the evil in His Church for good; and to this very moment, although we have to mourn over the contentions and divisions in the church, yet the Lord overrules, and will overrule them, as the very means of making His people more watchful, more vigilant, more circumspect, and drive them more from resting on their forms, and trusting in themselves, to the pure spiritual principle of faith in Christ, and love to the brethren. Pure and undefiled religion cannot consist in outward ordinances, it cannot consist in outward privileges, however important they may be, but it must consist in genuine faith and love-in a real trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, and the vital principle of a real Christian spirit that will lead the heart not only to love its Lord, but all who love Him, for His sake, and to say and feel the last words of this Epistle;-" Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity." Amen. "IN WHOM ALL TIHE BUILDING, FITLY FRAMED TOGETHER, GROWETH UNTO AN HOLY TEMPLE IN THE LORD. Then, again, consider what a beautiful view this presents to us of the different circumstances of the members of the church of Christ, —the different circumstances in which they are called. One is called in a higher, another in an humbler walk of life, one is called as a parent, another as a child —one, as a master, another, as a servant-one may be called as a king, another, as a subject —one may be called as a noble, another as a commoner;persons are called in all the different departments of life: —and remember, that in all their circumstances and situations they are called, for what? that in those circumstances, and in that situation, they may glorify God. The king on his throne. If he is a servant of his God, his faith in his Lord and Master is the brightest jewel in his crown. The great and good George the Third, in his own prayer-book, in the prayer for the King, where the words occur, 4 our most gracious Sovereign Lord King George," -wrote in the margin,-" a poor guilty sinner," What a blessing it is to see a king, laying down his crown at the feet of Jesus. He knew and loved his Lord and Master-and he has now cast a crown far brighter than his earthly diadem, at the feet of his Redeemer. But, now, I address, no doubt, persons moving in varied circumstances of life. If I address any in poor and humble stations, I would say to them, remember, that as surely as you are brought to the Lord Jesus Christ, he has placed you, as a living stone in His temple, in the very position in which you are-He has called you, and fixed you in the very spot which you occupy -all the circur LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. 231 stances of the Lord's people, how different soever they may be, and all things connected with them, are all arranged by the infinite wisdom of God-because we know that " all things work together for good, to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." Rom. viii. 28. Therefore, I say, whatever your circumstances in life may be-whatever your situation — how poor and humble soever,-however overlooked or disregarded by men-how numerous soever your trials-how weighty soever the cross you have to carry-how humble, how low, how poor, how mean, how despised soever you may be-you are placed exactly in the very position in the temple of the living God, in which He has been pleased to call you, to glorify your Lord and Master, "4THE WHOLE TEMPLE IS FITLY FRAMED TOGETHER." The Lord requires for His own All-wise and mighty purpose, every single stone in His temple-not one is to be left out, all are to be gathered-placed-fixed in their own position, no matter what it is. The smallest stone that the mason takes, to fill up and fit in the wall, is just as necessary in his eye to the building, as the larlo, stone, the thorough stone, or the quoin, he lays beside it. And remember, it must be true of every single stone in His spiritual temple, that the Lord is the one who has laid it there-who has fitted it there —who keeps it there —and there, in your position, whatever it be, you are called upon to serve and glorify your Lord and Master. Therefore our true happiness is, as it is well and simply expressed in our Catechism, "to do our duty in that state of life unto which it shall please God to call us." Oh! how contented that should make us, how thankful in all our situations, in all our circumstances! We should each reemember, " I am just as the Lord has placed me." And therefore, believer, in any purpose-in any desire-in any thought of change of position, you should seek the Lord's guidance, you should seek the Lord's gracious and special providential direction. Look to Him, cast all your care upon him, " in all, thy ways acknowledge him, and he will direct thy paths." Prov. iii. 6. What a beautiful view this gives us of the temple of Christ, the temple of the living God, " THE WHOLE BUILDING FITLY FRAMED TOGETHER, GROWETH INTO AN HOLY TEMPLE IN THE LORD." We have the church of Christ spoken of in another chapter under the image of the body and the members, iv. 15, 16, you' may grow up into him in all thingis,g which is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, fitly joined together, and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body, to the edifying of itself in love." What a beautiful view that is! Every muscle, nerve, and fibre is necessary for the body-so every believer, whatever he be in place or condition in the church, is necessary, and they are all, every one of them, growing together in one body, exactly adapted and formed by Him. Well may we say of the body of the church, it is "fearfully and wonderfully made." Ps. cxxxix. 14. Each is to hold their own place-to serve their Lord's purpose, and to glo 232 LECTURES ON THE EPHESIANS. rify that God, who has "called them out of darkness into his marvellous light." 1st Pet. ii. 9. And then, dear friends, consider this, "THE WHOLE BUILDING FITLY FRAMED TOGETHER, GROWETH INTO AN HOLY TEMPLE IN THE LORD." Consider, it is not only a temple, but a " HOLY TEMPLE;" and we see the reason why it is a holy temple, "IN WHOM YE ALSO ARE BUILDED TOGETHER FOR AN HABITATION OF GOD THROUGH THE SPIRIT." He saith, " I will dwell in them, and walk in them," 2 Cor. vi. 16, " Iwill put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them, and will be their God, and they shall be my people." Jer. xxxi. 33, with fleb. x. 16. This is the way in which the charges of licentiousness that are brought against the freedom and glory of the doctrines of grace are to be answered. We are not to cramp, to contract the glorious liberty of the everlasting Gospel, we are not to confine, to curtail, or explain away the blessed privileges of the Lord's people, to meet the ignorance a-nd carnal objections of an ungodly world. We are to walk through the land of promise, in the length and in the breadth of it, unshackled by what men may say or think. But we are to prove —to manifest-to demonstrate to all, that we give no just ground for such a charge. Not only is it to be denied in our doctrine, but practically disproved in our lives. Our whole life and conversation is to be the answer to the charge that is made against us. " For so is the will of God, that with well doing, you may put to silence the ignorance offoolish men; as free, but not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness, but as the servants of God." 1 Pet. ii. 15, 16. " Holiness becometh thy house, 0 Lord, forever." Ps. xciii. 5. Oh yes! and if Christ hath called us, and "loved us, and washed us from our sins, in his own blood." Rev. i. 5.-' what shall we render to the Lordfor all his benefits toward us." Ps. cxvi. 12. How shall we serve Him? How shall we glorify Him? Surely, that ought to be the inquiry-the aim of our existence. Consider then, what a blessed portion of Scripture this chapter is. It might be very justly compared to the history of a magnificent building-a Palace for the residence of a king. As if you were to describe an architect, who employed his workmen to go to some vast quarry; who there quarried the stones-took them out-drew them-brought them together-wrought-squaredchiselled-fitted, and erected them into such or such a mighty structure, which you behold for the habitation of a monarch. This chapter is, as if even thus, the history of the Church of Christ.'Here the materials are represented as in a mass of sin in the beginning, " dead in trespasses and sins'"-quickened by the grace